《This Young Master is not Cannon Fodder》 Illustration Within the Huang Realm, a world where the era of divinities has ended and the era of immortals is nearing its waning years, exists the Buzhou Immortal Sect. And within the Buzhou Immortal Sect on Jade Peak was a disciple of the sect, Xi Tianyi. He was of noble birth, the only child of the Sword Empress who reigned invincible. But the truth was that Xi Tianyi, was originally an ordinary mortal from Earth who suddenly woke up one day as in another world filled with immortals and demons. Under heavy pressure, knowing that his life is at stake to whoever is strongest, Xi Tianyi quietly cultivates in hopes of one day fearing no one and discovering the circumstances of his transmigration. But¡­ ¡°You bastard, you stole my fiance!¡± Said a former genius who had lost all his cultivation. ¡°Bastard, pay with your life for the death of my entire clan!¡± Said a cultivator with blood leaking from his hatred filled eyes. ¡°What the hell!? I¡¯ve been cooped up cultivating quietly so why are you guys suddenly finding trouble with me!? Besides, I''m only ten!¡± Cried out Tianyi in disbelief. ¡°Fine, if you want to make me your stepping stone, I¡¯ll step on your corpses for my ascension! ¡± Discord: https://discord.gg/WCTeWEH Twitter: https://twitter.com/KaiserBlak0 First Cover Spoiler : Second Cover Spoiler : Third Cover Spoiler : Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Xi Tianyi Spoiler : Xi Mengfei Spoiler : Jiang Daoyi Spoiler : Juedai Fenghua Spoiler : Chapter 65 Spoiler : Chapter 173: Beach Episode Spoiler : Chapter 226 Spoiler : Chapter 254 Spoiler : Volume Covers Spoiler : Chapter 1: A Good Birth is Important Central Heaven Region, Heaven Continent On Caimen Peak, a mountain where the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s outer disciples resided, stood two figures. Both of them wore the traditional white clothing of disciples. ¡°Hmpf, don¡¯t get too proud, Xi Tianyi. Didn¡¯t you reach the Foundation Establishment Realm just because you have a good mother?¡± The speaker was a youth, his tan skin taut with bulging muscles. ¡°Indeed, I''ll admit it. I¡¯m fortunate enough to be my mother¡¯s son. Thanks to her, I was able to cultivate with the best cultivation method since stared my immortal path, and even reach the Foundation Establishment Realm at age ten.¡± The pitch of the voice was quite high, as expected of a child. Xi Tianyi looked at the blue-edged white mantle that covered his purple robes, as he rubbed the soft, smooth and silky fabric with spells woven into it, before turning his eyes upon the tan youth. ¡°What about it? Should I bemoan my good birth?¡± The youth was visibly stunned, before rage colored his face. ¡°Xi Tianyi, if you have the guts, disperse your cultivation and see if you can reach the Foundation Establishment Realm in five years again!¡± Tianyi looked at him as if he was an idiot. ¡°Why would I even do that? Taking shortcuts is detrimental to your cultivation, but I¡¯ve cultivated diligently without taking any shortcuts. So why should I disperse my cultivation to entertain your fanciful delusion of competition?¡± ¡°You just don¡¯t dare! In your heart, you know that without your mother, you are nothing!¡± The youth sneered, his eyes stabbing into Tianyi¡¯s defensive silk clothing. Tianyi frowned, his milky white skin stretching from his action. ¡°At the very least, at this moment, I¡¯m at a higher realm than you. Besides, I¡¯m only ten years old, don¡¯t you feel ashamed for trying to manipulate me just because you think I¡¯m easy to provoke?¡± ¡°Age has nothing to do with it!¡± The youth¡¯s face reddened even more. ¡°In this world, those with strength are respected. Nothing else matters!¡± Tianyi nodded in agreement. ¡°I agree. So, as your elder in the Foundation Establishment Realm, I will warn you¡ªAs a puny seventh level Qi Gathering Realm disciple, do not go provoking people just because of your hotheadedness. You won¡¯t live a long life this way.¡± Gnashing teeth could be heard, as Tianyi turned around to leave. ¡°Hold it right there!¡± the youth practically screamed, as he reared his fist back and launched himself at Tianyi. However, just as he was about to reach Tianyi, an invisible pressure began to press down upon him, causing him to fall onto all fours. The youth¡¯s heart struggled to desperately pump his blood that had suddenly slowed down like glue. ¡°Have you gone insane? You aren¡¯t even at the twelfth stage of the Qi Gathering Realm, yet you dare to attack a foundation establishment disciple? I¡¯ll let it slide this time, but next time, your target may not be so merciful,¡± saying those words, Tianyi continued to walk away, leaving the sweat-drenched youth to stew in his own thoughts. ¡°Senior Brother, are you alright?¡± a girl near the tan youth¡¯s age walked up to Tianyi with a smile like that of a blossoming flower and asked in concern. Tianyi spared her a glance. ¡°Big sister, that youth is your childhood sweetheart or something similar, right?¡± The girl froze, as an awkward smile arose. ¡°This¡­¡± ¡°It does not matter, but rather than being concerned about me, you should pay attention to him. I think he is very concerned about you.¡± Tianyi''s voice was filled with sarcasm that a child his age should have never possessed. Did the girl think he was blind? Her actions were so obvious to the point that even someone like him, who wasn''t skilled at reading a person''s thoughts, could see her intentions. Tianyi continued on his way and, as qi circulated in his body, turned into a blur to the outer disciples of the Buzhou Immortal Sect that were still in their Qi Gathering Realm. Once he was at the foot of Caimen Peak, Tianyi injected spiritual qi into the short sword on his waist with several hand signs. As the sword flew out and hovered in front of him, Tianyi stepped onto the flying sword and flew into the air. The journey took several hours, as he flew past the numerous other mountains and even bumped into a few other members of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. He arrived at a mountain covered in greenery, making the mountain seem as if it was sculpted from pure jade. Tianyi returned to his abode on the mountain. ¡°Goddammit, I wanted to clear my heart after being cooped up so long. But then I had to meet those idiots. Arghhh!¡± Tianyi let out a low scream of frustration, with none of the calm and collective bearing he had shown before. A chuckle was heard as a white-robed elder with ruddy skin like an infant¡¯s and a long white beard walked forward. ¡°Tianyi, did someone make you angry again?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t even mention it, Elder Shan,¡± Tianyi sighed as he sat down. The white-robed elder sat down next to the young child, whose feet dangled in the air. ¡°Why don¡¯t you go play with the other young children of the elders? I¡¯m sure Grand Elder Xi won¡¯t mind,¡± Elder Shan suggested with a chuckle. ¡°Don¡¯t want to. They are little devils, and everything they want to do is nonsensical and immature,¡± Tianyi immediately rejected the suggestion with a pout. ¡°Then what about the older ones?¡± Elder Shan tried again. Tianyi rolled his eyes. ¡°They¡¯re even worse. One, they either don¡¯t think too highly of my age, or are jealous of my cultivation. Or two, they are just wastrels who do nothing but drown themselves in pleasure.¡± Elder Shan smiled, as he reached his hand out to rub Tianyi¡¯s head. Tianyi dodged. ¡°Don¡¯t. You¡¯ll mess up the coronet on my head.¡± ¡°How about this, I¡¯m going out of the sect to visit an old friend in the Northern Region of the Heaven Continent, would you like to join me?¡± Tianyi¡¯s eyes shone at the suggestion, and a sheepish smile appeared as he glanced at the elder. Disciples under the Core Formation Realm were not allowed to leave the sect without permission. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I¡¯ll go ask your mother for you,¡± Elder Shan chuckled. Tianyi let out a pleased smile. After talking for a few more moments, Elder Shan excused himself, leaving Tianyi alone. Aside from a few elders and his mother, there wasn¡¯t another disciple on Jade Peak. Luckily for Tianyi, aside from some menial chores, his home was a mansion, incorporated with spells that kept it clean without him needing to do much of anything. Tianyi stood up and wiped the imaginary dust off his robes, before walking towards the pond inside his estate. It was surrounded by vibrant grass, and the water was perfectly clear with no hint of murkiness. One could easily mistake the pond for being filled with air, if not for the occasional glint of light reflecting off of its surface. In the center, was a giant lotus that could easily fit a grown man. With a leap fueled by the spiritual qi from his dantian, Tianyi landed onto the lotus and sat down. ¡®Being born as the son of an immortal is great and all, but this world is just so bland. No novels, games, or the internet, but at least I don¡¯t have to suffer what most protagonists have: something like getting your fianc¨¦e stolen, being robbed of your foundation, or even having your whole clan exterminated. Actually, a fianc¨¦e leaving you for another man would probably be the most humiliating one of those for a man.¡¯ With a shake of his head, to cast his miscellaneous thoughts aside, Tianyi closed his eyes. Tianyi started to cultivate the Three Pure True Self Visualization Technique that he had appeared directly in his mind when he started cultivating in this myth-like world. It was his secret, the advantage that gave him a head start in his cultivation and increased his potential. Tianyi sank his senses deep inside his mind and into his inner world. Within this inner world of his, existed three figures, two of which were blurry. The middle figure was a man that resembled an aged version of himself, wearing black imperial robes with dragons embroidered onto them. No matter from which angle, the first word to come to mind would be ¡°emperor.¡± But he had no breath, or sense of life, and felt more like a sculpture carved out of stone, with only the tiniest hint of color. Surrounding the three figures were endless grey clouds obscuring everything, allowing only the tiniest hint of starlight to shine through. Tianyi could not peer out of them, and even the occasional observation would cause his mind to be fatigued if he strained his sight on them for too long. Tianyi began to cultivate the visualization technique. The chaotic clouds began to turn into multicolored particles, before streaming towards the three figures, with the majority of the particles funneled towards the emperor. With each passing moment, the small space increased in size, but the three figures remained unchanged. No matter how hard Tianyi had circulated the technique, only the distance of the clouds ever changed. It wasn¡¯t until recently, when he entered the Foundation Establishment Realm using the Primordial Heavenly Scripture cultivation method, that the central figure had been chiseled into the form it was currently. Allowing his thoughts to wander, Tianyi began to recollect his previous life. He dared not to think outside of this space, impervious to most scanning techniques of cultivators. Back on Earth, he was just a man, one who hadn¡¯t even finished college and had nothing but a small circle of good friends. Actually, his situation was below average, as he only had a single parent from a young age. Then one day, boom, he suddenly woke up to see the woman, now known as his mother, holding him. He also did not expect her to be flying at the time, and let¡¯s say an infant¡¯s control of their bowels was... not perfect. As he grew older, he learned that there existed many realms and worlds, not just the Huang Realm he resided in. With such a discovery, he had begun his journey in cultivation to, one day, visit Earth once more. There was some obsession in his mind concerning his parent''s fate that would not leave him alone, but there was no point in concerning himself over such matters right now. He was simply not powerful enough. And also, immortality. Being able to live forever sounded great to Tianyi. Stopping his cultivation of the Three Pure True Self Visualization Technique, Tianyi felt his thoughts become clear, processing information better and faster than before. ¡®Not only that, I can feel my soul reached the threshold of the Core Formation Realm. At this stage, I can produce spiritual sense and use it to daze those at the Spiritual Pillar and Spiritual Altar Foundation Establishment Realm.¡¯ A visualization technique could strengthen the mental energy of a cultivator, and the highest grade of visualization technique can even increase the strength of one¡¯s soul. To a cultivator, the soul was essential, as it was the foundation of one¡¯s existence. Without a sufficiently powerful soul, they could not control the massive spiritual qi within them or reach the next realm. Tianyi stopped focusing on what he''d gained from the visualization technique this time, and instead, allowed the spiritual qi in the environment to enter his body. His previous cultivation of the visualization technique did not cause any fatigue to accumulate inside of him, instead, it revitalized him, like getting into a high state. Not that Tianyi had experience with such a state in his previous life. After one opened all twelve meridians in the Qi Gathering Realm, they would link their meridians to form a qi circulatory system. To break through into the Foundation Establishment Realm, one must open up their dantian and form their spiritual sea inside. It wasn¡¯t well known, but aside from the twelve ordinary meridians correlating to the twelve stages of the Qi Gathering Realm, there also existed eight extraordinary meridians that most cultivators did not unlock. But once one did so, their potential would increase several-fold. As the son of the Immortal Sword Empress, Tianyi naturally had the resources and tutelage to unlock his twelve ordinary meridians. But the eight extraordinary meridians required more than just resources and conveyed knowledge. Otherwise, he would have reached the Foundation Establishment Realm at the age of seven. And, in the Foundation Establishment Realm, there are three stages: the Spiritual Pillar Formation Stage, Spiritual Altar Formation Stage, and finally, the Spiritual Crucible Formation Stage. When the embryonic core forms inside the crucible, one becomes a peak Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator. From then on, a cultivator would form their spiritual core, resulting in them stepping into the Core Formation Realm and becoming a core formation master. From Core Formation, comes the Nascent Soul Realm, from Nascent Soul Realm, the Unity Realm. From Unity, comes the Transcending Mortality Realm, the final realm before ascending to the Immortal Realm. Tianyi had just entered the Foundation Establishment Realm and, as such, had spent some time stabilizing his cultivation. And now, he was using the spiritual qi inside of him to form his spiritual pillars to enter the Spiritual Pillar Formation Stage. The spiritual qi sea within his dantian rippled, as nine points formed inside his dantian. One large point in the center, with eight smaller points around it, all distanced equally. Those points devoured the qi within his spiritual sea until it was dried. And, when he was low on qi, he would absorb the qi outside of his body from the Jade Lotus Clear Pond his mother had arranged for him. The Jade Lotus Clear Pond was a formation created using the Jade Clear Spring Water, Immortal Lotus Seat, and numerous other treasures. The formation calmed the cultivator¡¯s mind and soul, in order to allow them to have clear thoughts during cultivation and accumulated purified spiritual qi of heaven and earth for them to absorb. It wasn¡¯t an injustice to say that without the Jade Lotus Clear Pond, he would not have entered the Foundation Establishment Realm in five years of cultivating. When Tianyi opened his eyes with a slight smile on his lips; he had just formed the skeleton of his spiritual pillars. Chapter 2: Fleeting Mist Sect ¡°Good day, Senior Brother Xi.¡± ¡°Ah, Junior Nephew, it seems your foundation has stabilized, and there seem to be hints of you entering the Spiritual Pillar Stage. Congratulations.¡± ¡°So that¡¯s the son of the Jade Peak Lord.¡± ¡°Waaah, the aura around him isn¡¯t cold like the rumors.¡± ¡°Sword Immortal Xi is the one with the frost-like aura around her because she was born with a mutated heavenly yin spiritual root. The prince was born with a heavenly lightning spiritual root, so naturally, there will be differences.¡± ¡°The prince has a small sword on his waist. As expected, he¡¯s cultivating the Heartless Sword Art created by Grand Elder Xi.¡± ¡°I¡¯m more interested in who the father is? Who could make spring arrive for Heartless Sword Xi?¡± ¡°Shhhhh! Do you not want your life anymore, daring to gossip about the Grand Elder?¡± ¡°He¡¯s like a jade doll. I just want him to bring him home with me!¡± ¡°Junior Sister, be careful of what you say. But... ah, I totally understand that feeling!¡± ¡°It¡¯s best to strike first while the prince is still young!¡± ¡°But, but... we¡¯re still just outer disciples, can he even put us in his eyes now? The prince is already in the Foundation Establishment Realm.¡± ¡°Psh...we can just be his mistresses. Even then, we would receive a lot of resources!¡± Tianyi ignored all the gossiping voices and continued towards his destination. The Mortal Severance Gate, a landmark that officially divided the external world and the Buzhou Immortal Sect. At the gate, Elder Shan stood there, waiting for him. ¡°Tianyi, you¡¯ve arrived.¡± Elder Shan looked at the adolescent wearing a purple robe and a sword at his waist. He laughed, as Tianyi¡¯s coronet shimmered under the sun. ¡°It seems you didn¡¯t bring any spatial bags with you. Is that fine?¡± Tianyi showed his left hand, which had a gold ring with three jewels encrusted onto it on his middle finger. ¡°I put everything in my spatial ring.¡± The amiable expression on Elder Shan¡¯s face disappeared, and he showed a serious one instead. ¡°Little Tianyi, although you can use the spatial ring once you entered the Foundation Establishment Realm, it doesn¡¯t mean you should. Don¡¯t use it out in the open where others can see. Even if you are Elder Xi¡¯s son, many are willing to risk offending Elder Xi to attain a spatial ring, especially in a remote place like where I¡¯ll be taking you. Use your spatial pouch for most matters. Although a spatial pouch is rare, it isn''t as valuable as that spatial ring.¡± Tianyi nodded. ¡°I understand, Elder Shan. I¡¯ll just say it was you, then, whenever I need to bring something out.¡± Elder Shan¡¯s face twitched as he rubbed his own spatial ring on his right thumb. ¡°Little brat.¡± ¡°So this is your mount?¡± Tianyi looked behind Elder Shan to see a large eagle with red wings standing obediently. ¡°Is that your spiritual beast?¡± Elder Shan smiled proudly. ¡°The Crimson Winged Eagle has the bloodline of the Vermillion Bird and is naturally attuned to fire. Had it not been for me using a nascent soul ranked fire to hatch it from the egg, it would not easily have been easily tamed.¡± ¡°Where did you find such an egg?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°What, you want one too?¡± Elder Shan asked curiously. Tianyi shook his head. ¡°No, just curious. I heard that Vermillion Birds are rare to find in the modern world and have been sequestered to their own little realms for a thousand years now.¡± ¡°You even know this secret?¡± Elder Shan said, surprised. ¡°Mmmm, since we humans have won the war against the divine beasts, they no longer dare to openly show themselves in the Huang Realm.¡± ¡°But I¡¯d rather have a dragon than a bird as a mount. They are much more dignified,¡± Tianyi commented. Once again, Elder Shan¡¯s lips twitched. ¡°Not even your mother has a divine beast as a spiritual beast, much less a mount, so don¡¯t even dream about it. We should get going before it¡¯s late,¡± Saying so, Elder Shan jumped onto the Crimson Winged Eagle. Tianyi, naturally, also joined him. With a mighty flap, the Crimson Winged Eagle sent all the surrounding loose soil flying. The eagle soared through the sky, reaching an astonishing speed that most Unity Realm cultivators would not be able to without a secret technique. Luckily for Tianyi, Elder Shan had spared some attention to him, and used some of his qi to cover him so that the high altitude and turbulent wind would not affect him. With the trees flying past like a green blur below, they soon left the headquarters of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Lakes, mountains, meadows, forest, and clouds passed by, and soon, Tianyi grew bored. ¡°It¡¯s all going back to cultivation. It¡¯s always cultivation in the end.¡± With a sigh, Tianyi sat down in a lotus position and closed his eyes once more. Despite having Elder Shan¡¯s protection, Tianyi did not enter his inner world where the three figures existed, as that would mean cutting off all his senses to the outside. If he were to fall, he would be unable to laugh or cry, not even knowing how he died. Tianyi thus focused once more on forming his spiritual pillars. However, different from when he was cultivating in his Jade Lotus Clear Pond, when Tianyi¡¯s spiritual sea ran dry, he needed to purify the spiritual qi of heaven and earth he absorbed from his surroundings. As a result, the time consumed was severalfold longer. Elder Shan, who saw this scene, nodded with a smile of acknowledgement. ¡®Born with a mutated heavenly lightning spiritual root, even if Little Tianyi just cultivated occasionally, he would still be counted as a genius. But a genius who works hard and is born with a silver spoon in his mouth will rise above geniuses who work hard without the silver spoon.¡¯ Their journey continued for two weeks, before they finally reached Elder Shan¡¯s destination. Luckily, Tianyi had already reached Foundation Establishment, which allowed him to exhale the impurities within his body. Otherwise, they would have needed to make several resting stops along the way. The Crimson Wing Eagle floated above an enormous mountain that seemed to be eternally covered in a mist. At the foot of the mountain was a wall-less gate, separating the outside and inside, but it was too far away for Tianyi to distinguish the words written upon it. But Tianyi guessed that the words ¡°Fleeting Mist Sect¡± were written on it, just like Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s Mortal Severance Gate. ¡°Old Codger Yun, I¡¯ve come to visit you. Are you not coming to greet your old friend? Or have you already kicked the bucket?¡± Tianyi covered his ears with his hands at the sheer volume that Elder Shan had spoken in. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Rumbling laughter was soon heard from the mountain below. ¡°Stubborn Shan, have you forgotten why you¡¯ve come? Unless¡­ in your old age, you forgot I sent that letter to you?¡± A middle-aged man with white sideburns flew out atop a fan from the mist. He wore airy grey robes with a gauze light blue mantle atop. The man gave an unsettling laugh, of which, Elder Shan responded in kind. The strange manner of the two men¡¯s laughter deeply unsettled Tianyi. He couldn¡¯t help but think whether it was a wise choice to follow Elder Shan or not. Old Codger Yun then glanced at Tianyi, who stood slightly behind Elder Shan. ¡°Oh? A child who has already reached the seventh stage of the Qi Gathering Realm,¡± he sighed in admiration. ¡°How envious, your Buzhou Immortal Sect is full of dragons and phoenixes. Is he your disciple?¡± Elder Shan stroked his beard, clearly pleased. ¡°This child is Tianyi. He is the son of a senior of mine. Since I was coming here, I thought I¡¯d take him out to see the wider world. The child has been raised in the sect since young and had never left before. Tianyi, go greet the Sect Master of the Fleeting Mist Sect.¡± Tianyi smiled and brought his right fist and left palm together in a salute, bowing slightly before the man before him, unsure of his cultivation realm. ¡°Tianyi greets Sect Master Yun,¡± he said, solemnly. Sect Master Yun smiled, his long eyebrows twitching in delight. ¡°A cute child, polite too. Much more pleasing than an old man like you.¡± Sect Master Yun threw a half-hearted glare at Elder Shan. He retrieved a jade folding fan from thin air, before handing it to Tianyi. ¡°This is just a little greeting gift from me.¡± Tianyi accepted the fan, the cool jade feeling especially pleasing in his hand. He silently rubbed the jade ring on his right pinkie finger with his thumb before thanking Sect Master Yun. The reason Sect Master Yun thought Tianyi was still at the seventh stage of the Qi Gathering Realm was due to the effects of the ring on his pinky. Elder Shan frowned as he saw the fan. ¡°Hey, wasn¡¯t this the foundation establishment artifact you won from me all those years ago? You¡¯re using the artifact you gained from me to give to my junior nephew?¡± Elder Yun snorted. ¡°I¡¯m a poor Core Formation Realm sect master of a sect in a backwater region. This is already the best. I¡¯m not like you, a nascent soul elder of the hegemonic sect.¡± The two had landed onto the tallest peak, at the main hall where Sect Master Yun had flown up from, while talking back and forth. Elder Shan pointed his finger at Sect Master Yun, ¡°You, ah you¡­¡± before helplessly letting it fall to the side. ¡°Greetings, Sect Master!¡± Once the trio entered the hall, the Crimson Winged Eagle having been left outside on the doorsteps, the elders and a disciple within the hall greeted Sect Master Yun. Inside, were four elders at the Core Formation Realm, one elderly woman, and three middle-aged men, and one girl at the Qi Gathering Realm, who still had the tenderness of youth. ¡°This is my sworn brother from my adventures during my younger years, Elder Shan of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, and this child is a disciple of the Buzhou Immortal Sect,¡± Sect Master Yun introduced the two, causing the people in the hall to look at the duo with shining eyes upon learning of their background. In the Heaven Continent, there was hardly an organization worth their salt that did not know of the Heaven Continent¡¯s hegemon, the Buzhou Immortal Sect. They were the equivalent of the emperor of mortal worlds¡ªa single word could decide their fate. ¡°Yue¡¯er, come here and greet Uncle Shan.¡± Sect Master motioned for the girl to come forward. ¡°This is Pan Lanyue, a girl I discovered from the royal family of the Pan Kingdom. Her talent is extraordinary, comparable to the disciples of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, having a perfect fire spiritual root with a minor flawless water spiritual root!¡± Sect Master Yun gave Elder Shan a meaningful look as he turned his eyes toward the fan in Tianyi¡¯s hand. Elder Shan felt his lips twitch at Sect Master Yun¡¯s shameless action. He looked at the jade fan in Tianyi¡¯s hand, before looking at Pan Lanyue¡¯s empty hands. Forcefully suppressing another twitch, Elder Shan pulled out a scarf from his spatial ring. It was a transparent milky white, and seemingly woven from air. ¡°This is my greeting gift for you, the Fleeting Wind Scarf. It seems to have karmic fate with little friend Pan. It can block any attacks under the Core Formation Realm and might even slow down an actual Core Formation Realm expert¡¯s attack.¡± Lanyue accepted the gift with glowing eyes of awe, as she felt the smooth sensation of the sheer scarf. ¡°Alright, why don¡¯t you show little friend Tianyi around?¡± Sect Master Yun immediately suggested afterward. ¡°Old men like us will only bore little juniors like you.¡± ¡°As you command, Master.¡± Lanyue bowed before pulling Tianyi¡¯s hand with hers. Tianyi saw the glance Elder Shan offered and did not resist, as he allowed himself to be guided away. Once they were far enough away from the main hall, Lanyue turned around to observe the disciple of the mythical Buzhou Immortal Sect. As a princess of the Pan Kingdom, she thought her royal brothers and her royal father had a dignified air, but they could not compare to the dignity exuded by the child before Especially his pair of bedeviling eyes. Just a single look could cause anyone to lose their breath. ¡°Little Brother Tianyi, what do you want to see? Big Sister will take you.¡± Tianyi held his chin in his hand for a moment before replying. ¡°Where do the disciples of your sect cultivate?¡± Lanyue led Tianyi towards the back of the mountain, where the mist was heaviest. ¡°Here, take this, Little Brother.¡± Lanyue handed Tianyi a jade pendant with the word ¡°mist¡± carved on it. ¡°If you don¡¯t have this, you¡¯ll get lost and attacked by the formation protecting the location.¡± The two reached a gate, where two Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators stood guard. ¡°Master Uncles.¡± Lanyue handed her identity token to them. ¡°So it¡¯s Junior Niece Pan. What business do you have here? I recall you recently broke through to the tenth stage of Qi Gathering Realm,¡± one guard, a fierce-looking bald cultivator, asked. The other guard smiled amiably at the two, contrasting greatly against his partner. Lanyue took back the token before smiling. ¡°Sect Master told me to show Little Brother around. Little Brother Tianyi is a disciple of the Buzhou Immortal Sect.¡± The two guards shared a look before smiling. ¡°So it¡¯s an esteemed guest from the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Come in, but be wary of the Lightning Sea.¡± ¡°Lightning Sea?¡± Tianyi asked as they passed through the gate. Lanyue nodded. ¡°It¡¯s the source of the pure mist that we absorb. Part of the reason our sect is so powerful is because of the pure mist that allows us to cultivate twice as fast with half the effort.¡± Tianyi felt the qi around him grow purer and purer, but still far from his Jade Lotus Clear Pond. ¡°Hmmm, the spiritual qi here is leaning more towards yin and water, so the ones who would benefit the most are water and earth spiritual root cultivators.¡± ¡°Little brother is knowledgeable,¡± Lanyue said, ¡°Indeed, the strongest cultivators in my sect mostly have water and earth spiritual roots...¡± ¡°What about the Lightning Sea?¡± Tianyi asked. Lanyue shook her head. ¡°It is too dangerous. It has been here for thousands of years. Although the elders can venture deep into the Lightning Sea, they cannot absorb the qi there. It¡¯s too tyrannical. Unless you have the legendary lightning spiritual root, it is useless.¡± Tianyi smiled, ¡°I just so happen to possess the lightning spiritual root.¡± ¡°Wow, little brother is very impressive. I heard that all lightning spiritual roots are able to become geniuses!¡± Lanyue said. They soon reached a circular platform over a hundred meters in diameter with several runes carved into it. And above that, was another platform only a third as large, with only a fraction of the number of people on it. Both of them were covered in a formation that continuously pulled in mist from the Lightning Sea and purified it into a dense mist-like qi for the people on the platform to absorb. From where he stood, Tianyi could see the continuous lightning strikes in the distance like an everlasting heavy downpour of rain. ¡°Big Sister, I only see Qi Gathering Realm cultivators on the first floor. Are only Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators allowed on the second floor?¡± Tianyi asked, curious. ¡°The Foundation Establishment Realm seniors naturally need more than the Qi Gathering Realm disciples. I heard that there is a special location for Core Formation Realm elders, although I¡¯ve never personally seen it,¡± Lanyue explained. Tianyi nodded. He had been excited at seeing another sect¡¯s cultivation grounds, but he was honestly quite disappointed. Tianyi felt it was a bit too boring just having the disciples all cultivating on a single platform. Shouldn¡¯t there be some competition for the best spots? Where was the excitement? Losing interest, Tianyi turned his attention towards the Lightning Sea. The Lightning Sea wasn¡¯t truly a sea, but a location where dense dark clouds gathered and constantly spewed lightning nonstop. And under the clouds, was the pure mist that the Fleeting Mist Sect prized. ¡°Big Sister, I¡¯m going to check out the Lightning Sea,¡± Tianyi suddenly said, as he jumped towards the lightning. ¡°Huh? Wait!¡± Ignoring the disciples whose attention she held, Lanyue ran forward to stop Tianyu, but she was too slow despite her ¡°higher¡± cultivation level. Lanyue sighed in relief when she saw that the lightning did not affect Tianyi when he was struck. Still, she felt endlessly helpless, not daring to enter herself. ¡°What should I do? Should I ask for Master, or should I look for a senior brother or elder?¡± Chapter 3: Tribulation Essence Xi Tianyi shivered, not from fear, but from pleasure. The lightning arced around his body, covering him with a golden glow and making Tianyi seem like a lightning spirit that had descended upon the mortal realm. Walking further in, Tianyi frowned as he discovered himself unable to proceed any further, even with his released Foundation Establishment Realm cultivation. He stretched his hand outward as if catching raindrops. ¡®This lightning is very strange, not formed from nature. It seems to contain a tiny trace of the power of tribulation,¡¯ he thought. As the lightning struck his body, he felt all the pores on his body open, absorbing the lightning that covered him. Flashing yellow qi that seemed more like lightning began to circulate through Tianyi¡¯s body. As tyrannical as the lightning was, his body was even more so, as it forced the sharp and jagged bolts to become spiritual qi, smooth and flowing like water through his meridians before entering his dantian. Just as it seemed that the lightning qi would quietly settle in his spiritual sea, it ran amok. ¡°Refining the essence of tribulation isn¡¯t that easy after all, no matter how weak,¡± Tianyi said, as he sat on the ground in a lotus position. He closed his eyes, fully concentrating on refining the essence of tribulation. First, the chaotic lightning qi that had been agitated by the tribulation essence within was broken apart into two clumps, one real and one illusory. Having been split at its foundation, the overall amount of power was the same, but the effect was less than half as effective. Then, the two disintegrated into a primordial cloud, at some points wanting to destroy everything, and other times seemingly all benevolent and all-encompassing. Tianyi then absorbed this cloud into his spiritual sea, robbing the tribulation essence, like the universe of its stars. At the end of the day, tribulation essence was something born out of the Heavenly Dao that governed all realms, and Tianyi was still just a mere Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator. Sweat trickled down Tianyi¡¯s forehead as he controlled his spiritual sense to refine the essence while the spiritual qi in his body held it down. It was an excruciatingly long process, but by the end, the first segment of Tianyi¡¯s spiritual pillars had fully formed, and it exuded a slight pressure unique to tribulation lightning. If there were any other cultivators who saw this, they would have absolutely gawked in disbelief. Even if Tianyi had the heavenly lightning spiritual root, the success of his actions could not be attributed so simply. Still, luckily for Tianyi, there were no experts nearby, or he might have been kidnapped for research. Whether or not they could survive attempting to kidnap the son of the Sword Empress was another matter altogether. When Tianyi opened his eyes, he saw numerous lightning attributed beasts closing in upon him. ¡°These beasts, are they spawned from the lightning remnants?¡± Tianyi muttered to himself. As for why they didn¡¯t attack him during his refinement, it was probably because of the lingering tribulation essence that was running rampant. Now that the essence had been absorbed and hidden, it was no longer pressuring them, bestowing them the courage to encroach upon him. Tianyi slapped his head. ¡°I should have been more careful! If these beasts really did attack and I had split my attention, that would have been bad.¡± After warning himself, Tianyi leisurely unsheathed the sword on his waist, looking rather valiant for his age while awaiting the lightning beasts to come forward. The first one that charged forward was met with the tip of Tianyi''s sword. Just from a single touch, the beast¡¯s body shattered, dispersing into lightning and dropping a golden gem onto the ground. Tianyi¡¯s eyes shone with interest, but now was not the time to count his rewards. All the lightning beasts charged forward from all sides towards the lone human as if on a signal. Wherever Tianyi¡¯s sword passed, the beasts erupted like balloons, and left behind a lone gem. Although Tianyi was fatigued by the earlier exertion, he had enough strength to destroy these lightning beasts, that were below the Foundation Establishment Realm. Even though over ten had died, the beasts still charged forward with no fear of death, as if greed had consumed them. ¡®Are they aiming for my lightning spiritual rein?¡¯ Tianyi questioned himself. Although it was a bit troublesome, Tianyi was still happy to comply, using these beasts that kept attacking to hone the Heartless Sword Art. As time passed, Tianyi¡¯s sword strikes became more refined, and what used to take him three slashes, now only took one. Before long, he had soon slain all the lightning beasts, leaving behind an assortment of golden gems that surrounded Tianyi in a circle, all of them within the range of Tianyi¡¯s sword. With a wave of his hand and some qi, he stored all but one of those gems into his shrinking pouch at his waist. He had brought it out during the journey due to Elder Shan''s urging. Tianyi held the last gem, admiring the pure gold color that resembled flicking lightning. Tianyi walked back, while he observed the gem in his hand. Although he had used the lightning beasts earlier to train his sword skills, being endlessly assaulted wasn¡¯t a good feeling. ¡®Hmmm, this is lightning attribute qi. But there¡¯s no essence of tribulation within. It would make sense as they seemed to be born from the remnants of lightning, but rather than beasts, they seem more like shades than anything. Although I had already thought of this earlier when they refused to approach me when I still had tribulation essence in my dantian, this is still disappointing.¡¯ As Tianyi thought this, the gem in his hand shattered, having all its energy absorbed. Tianyi did not bring another one out as he strolled towards where he came from. Tianyi looked at the sky, at least where the sky should have been, since the whole area was covered in mist, but judging by the amount of light passing through, ¡®I should have spent at least a few hours in the Lightning Sea, right?¡¯ He could never tell, even as a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator, and easily lost track of time when he started cultivating. Tianyi smiled when he saw Lanyue, who had a face full of worry, and glanced at the Core Formation Realm elder next to her. ¡°Big sister, Elder Kun.¡± The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The Fleeting Mist Sect elder finally released a sigh of relief at seeing Tianyi come back out unharmed, although Elder Shan just laughed it off and said nothing would happen. If something were to truly happen, the one who would take the blame would be their Fleeting Mist Sect. Not even a hundred of them could survive the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s wrath. However, unlike Elder Kun, Pan Lanyue was still rather angry as her eyes glared at Tianyi. ¡°Little Brother Tianyi! Do you know how dangerous the Lightning Sea is!? You may have come out unharmed this time, next time you might be crippled, or even lose your life!¡± Tianyi looked at Lanyue, revealing a sheepish smile as he hid his lower face behind the fan that Sect Master Yun had gifted him. ¡°Big Sister, the Lightning Sea is rather good. I like it a lot. It¡¯s beneficial for my cultivation. I might return inside later.¡± ¡°Beneficial for your cultivation?¡± Pan Lanyue finally sensed something different as she looked deeply at Tianyi. ¡°Eighth stage of the Qi Gathering Realm!?¡± Elder Kun, who finally noticed the difference, was also somewhat speechless. ¡°Eighth stage... a ten-year-old at the eighth stage of the Qi Gathering Realm.¡± In all the history of the Fleeting Mist Sect, the youngest person to achieve the Foundation Establishment Realm was already in their thirties. But judging by the speed of the youth before him, he had a chance to reach it before reaching twenty. Elder Kun could only sigh in admiration and helplessness. With such talents, it was no wonder the hegemon of the Heaven Continent could reign supreme eternally. Lanyue herself was already an exception, also having a chance to reach the Foundation Establishment in her twenties, but she had been meticulously groomed and even used all sorts of resources and naturally formed treasures given by the Sect Master. If Elder Kun were to know that Tianyi was already in the Foundation Establishment Realm, who knows what sort of faces he would make. As for Lanyue, she did not have the same disbelief in her eyes. The way she saw it, she herself reached the tenth stage of Qi Gathering Realm at a young age, so for Tianyi to be more outstanding, it would not cause as deep a shock. The only thought that crossed her mind was ¡®As expected of a disciple of the Buzhou Immortal Sect.¡¯ And so, Tianyi, under the disbelieving gazes of the Fleeting Mist Sect members, continually entered the Lightning Sea over the course of the next weeks. He would sometimes even disappear for several days at a time, causing the Fleeting Mist Sect disciples to gossip on what exactly Tianyi was doing. The combination of a disciple from the Buzhou Immortal Sect and the mysterious Lightning Sea caused their inquisitive hearts to be set ablaze. In this manner, three months later, when Tianyi once again exited the Lightning Sea, the gazes of the disciples who once had openly gawked at him were no longer apparent, as they had long gotten used to the sight. Even the gossiping nature had diminished. Perhaps those weaker outer disciples, who had finally managed to attain a chance to cultivate in the mist, would still be shocked at this point. Tianyi happily fanned himself, his mood exceptional. He had constructed the second segment of his spiritual pillars, and his was progressing faster than he expected. He licked his lips, wondering how long he could use the Lightning Sea for. Tianyi couldn¡¯t hope for Elder Shan to accompany him each time just so he could use the Lightning Sea in the Fleeting Mist Sect. Luckily, it seems that Elder Shan would stay at least a few more months. ¡°Little Brother.¡± Tianyi smiled as he saw Lanyue approach him. Out of all the disciples Tianyi interacted with, Lanyue was the only one he maintained constant contact with. Out of all the disciples who interacted with him, Pan Lanyue was closest to him in physical age, and had no fear towards him. Perhaps the older disciples understood what would happen if he was displeased with them, so they acted servile in front of Tianyi. ¡°Yes, Big Sister?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to visit my royal father before going to Jinyang City. Do you want to come?¡± Lanyue asked. Tianyi¡¯s eyes shined. Since arriving in this world, he had only lived in the Buzhou Immortal Sect, never leaving. And in the Fleeting Mist Sect, it was far incomparable to the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Had it not been for the Lightning Sea, Tianyi would already have thoughts of wanting to return. The allure of seeing the outside world was indeed considerable for Tianyi. ¡°Let me ask Elder Shan.¡± Elder Shan naturally had hesitations, as he had to aid his friend Sect Master Yun and couldn¡¯t leave to protect Tianyi. But Tianyi assured him that with the defensive treasure his mother provided him, even if he was knocked out, a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator wouldn¡¯t be able to harm him. With this reassurance, Elder Shan relented. With a smile, Tianyi followed Pan Lanyue and a group of Fleeting Mist disciples down the mountain. They naturally did not walk on foot, and instead rode upon a white crane with black-tipped wings led by Elder Peng. ¡°Little brother Tianyi, Elder Peng is one half of the KunPeng duo, along with Elder Kun,¡± Lanyue explained as she saw Tianyi observe the elder of the Fleeting Mist Sect. ¡°When working together with Elder Kun, the KunPeng Duo is said to be able to rival a nascent soul grandmaster.¡± ¡°...that¡¯s impressive,¡± Tianyi finally said. In fact, Tianyi was wondering why Elder Peng was accompanying Pan Lanyue to the royal capital and Jinyang City. The Fleeting Mist Sect was known as the overlord of the surrounding area, including the Pan Kingdom. If they really wanted to protect Pan Lanyue, they would only need to send a Foundation Establishment Realm elder. Of course, it could be that the sect was overly invested in Pan Lanyue¡¯s safety. But Tianyi thought there was a deeper meaning but¡­ ¡®Well, not like it had anything to do with me.¡¯ With those thoughts, Tianyi merrily followed along. The Pan Kingdom could be said to be a rather prosperous country, having numerous Qi Gathering Realm cultivators. Tianyi even detected some formations protecting the larger estates but, without any time to explore, Tianyi was led into the castle in the center. Inside, he saw two people waiting, both men. One had speckled hair and was wearing a crown on his head. He was Pan Feng, the current king of the Pan Kingdom, and next to him stood a younger man who bore a similar appearance. Pan Lanri looked to be in his early thirties, and emitted the qi that resembled the vast ocean, a hallmark of a Spiritual Pillar Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator. Lanyue introduced Tianyi to them, but Tianyi only returned words that were dictated by manners, which made him seem distant and unapproachable. Lanyue could only helplessly watch this. The reason Tianyi treated her well was because of the relationship between their elders. Lanyue suspected that, without this layer of relationship, Tianyi would not even glance at her. She had even seen outer disciples of her sect acting arrogant to weaker forces in the Pan Kingdom. Nothing needed to be mentioned of a disciple from Buzhou Immortal Sect. Conversing could already be said to be giving them face. What she didn''t know, was that Tianyi''s natural response to meeting strangers was becoming cold and distant. The reason he could act intimately with Sect Master Yun was because he was Elder Shan''s bosom friend. And Pan Lanyue was young, so the mentally adult Tianyi treated her like a cute kid. After spending the night, the group quickly departed from the royal capital towards Jinyang. Compared to the Crimson Winged Eagle, the white crane they rode was far inferior, but this allowed Tianyi to observe the happenings below, such as the fight between beasts, cultivators against beasts, and even cultivators against cultivators. Chapter 4: Breaking the Engagement Jinyang City, compared to the royal capital of the Pan Kingdom, was far less prosperous. One cause was due to the instability because of the three powers fighting for control over the city; the Yan Clan, the Xie Clan, and the Guang Clan. This resulted in the city''s power not being unified and wasting the overall potential of the city. When Tianyi and the group arrived, it was already late, and thus, they could only find lodging before setting out to do what they came for. The next day Tianyi followed Lanyue and Elder Peng to visit the Yan Family Manor. ¡°Little Brother Tianyi, you really don¡¯t need to come,¡± Lanyue said with a sigh. ¡°Big Sister, I¡¯ve already looked around. There¡¯s nothing really that interests me. Extremely disappointing.¡± Tianyi said. ¡°Except the auction held by the Yi Auction House that¡¯s coming up, there¡¯s nothing else that catches my eye.¡± Lanyue could only sigh at the gossipy shine in Tianyi¡¯s eyes. ¡°I really shouldn¡¯t have brought Little Brother Tianyi here. I¡¯m going to let Little Brother Tianyi see a joke.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Pan Lanyue. I¡¯m here to see Uncle Yan,¡± Lanyue said to the guard when they arrived at their destination. Elder Peng just sat back and watched. Tianyi, however, observed the recognition from the guard¡¯s eyes. ¡°So it¡¯s Princess Lanyue, please excuse us for a moment from any discourteous actions.¡± Saying so, one of the two guards entered the gates. The group of three did not have to wait long as a jovial middle-aged man soon appeared. ¡°Hahaha, Yue¡¯er, what brought you to a little place like Jinyang City? Come in, come in.¡± ¡°Uncle Yan,¡± Lanyue said. However, her tone was neutral, a far cry from the enthusiasm of the Patriarch of the Yan Clan exhibited. Tianyi observed the middle-aged man. Although he seemed to be a bit frail, the heavy qi that resembled heaven and earth did not lie. This was a Spiritual Crucible Foundation Establishment cultivator, just that his Spiritual Crucible did not contain the essence of heaven and earth and seemed more like a mirage. Tianyi inwardly shrugged but still followed through. As they walked through the beautiful stone path under peach trees, a large gust of wind appeared, causing many blossoming peach flowers to scatter their petals. The pink petals contrasted beautifully against surroundings like phantoms of a different world. It was mesmerizing. Tianyi especially thought so. However, Pan Lanyue could be said to be average in the eyes of Tianyi, who had seen many beautiful women in the Buzhou Immortal Sect, the scattering petals against her inky black hair created a picturesque scenery, a painting of a beauty in spring. However, Tianyi suddenly had an ominous premonition. ¡°Please, have a seat.¡± The Patriarch of the Yan Clan said inside the main hall, while he sat at the head. He motioned for Elder Peng to sit on the highest seat beside him, recognizing him as someone from the Royal Pan Clan instead of the Fleeting Mist Sect. The members of the Yan Clan who had assembled inside were staring at the trio. First, they all stared at Elder Peng. Although he didn¡¯t deliberately release his aura, the invisible pressure of his Spiritual Core was still enough to silently weigh down all the people in the hall. Then there was Pan Lanyue. Many who did not recognize her were blown away by her beauty. However, the one they glued their eyes to after a single glance was Xi Tianyi. Nevermind his apparent Qi Gathering eighth stage cultivation at his young age, just his face was apparent enough to draw their gazes away. A doll-like face with milky white skin, but the most mesmerizing feature of his were those eyes of his. Many young ladies of the Yan Clan near Tianyi''s age couldn¡¯t help but redden their faces as they secretly looked at Tianyi. Ah, the first crush on these little girl''s hearts. Tianyi sat down on one of the guest seats, and one of the servant girls gave him a cup of tea, which he received. He then looked up to see Lanyue and Elder Peng still standing with a serious expression on their faces. Tianyi awkwardly held the teacup to his lips. ¡°This... I sat down, but they haven¡¯t¡­¡± Not just Tianyi, but even the Patriarch of the Yan Clan finally felt something was off. ¡°Yue¡¯er, this is¡­?¡± Elder Peng stood forward. ¡°I am Elder Peng of the Fleeting Mist Sect.¡± The Patriarch of the Yan Clan had a foreboding feeling as he straightened his posture at those words. Even the other people in the room were drawn to those words. Fleeting Mist Sect! The true lords of the region, even the Pan Royal Family, could only bow before them. ¡°We¡¯ve come here for a single purpose. Pan Lanyue is a talented seed, we do not want needless emotions and commitments to weigh down her future, and thus we¡¯ve come here to null the engagement of Pan Lanyue and your son.¡± A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. All the Yan clan members in the main hall who heard this froze. ¡°This... this... It was a promise made between the king of the Pan Kingdom and me back in our youth. Shouldn¡¯t your father have brought this up?¡± Patriarch Yan finally said. Tianyi ignored the commotion and just pressed his lips together as he drank the tea that could not be said to be too pleasant. ¡°Not even spiritual tea. Why did I feel so bored that I wanted to join in on this? Ugh, as they say, curiosity killed the cat.¡± Tianyi turned his attention away, trying to pay attention to anything but the ongoing conversation between the two men. He even began to count the number of grains on the wooden ceiling, but his ears couldn¡¯t help to perk up. ¡°Does your heart not feel guilty? Rumor has it that your youngest son was a genius who reached the seventh stage of the Qi Gathering Realm at the age of twelve. If this continued, then our Fleeting Mist Sect could still accept it. But four years ago, that genius son of yours suddenly lost all his cultivation and could no longer cultivate. A cripple!¡± At this, Tianyi¡¯s lips began to twitch. A former genius who suddenly can¡¯t cultivate, and then his fiance comes to break the engagement. But from his broken engagement, the former genius rises up like a phoenix, surpassing his former self and becoming an even greater genius. A great hero that all forces will try to suppress, but the hero will continue to overcome each trial before becoming the strongest under the heavens. Tianyi really couldn¡¯t help but recall all those cultivation novels he read back on Earth. ¡°If Miss Pan had been engaged to your elder sons, while they may not be fitting, we would not have such a reaction. However, Miss Pan¡¯s current engagement is not suitable. Best be that engagement is annulled, each going their own way. They are people of two different worlds, after all.¡± Sure enough, after a few more back and forth, that ¡°cripple¡± son rushed forward, his face full of righteous fury. Tianyi couldn¡¯t help but sense the third stage Qi Gathering realm cultivation. His eyes twitched at this point. ¡°Sure enough, a phoenix rising from the ashes.¡± ¡°You do not wish to marry me, then I, Yan Nie, will tell you, Pan Lanyue, I do not wish to marry you either!¡± At the indignant words, Pan Lanyue could still accept as she was the one who wanted to break the engagement, so naturally, she would feel guilty. ¡°Just because you suddenly desire to be with someone else, you do not need to use the excuse of my loss in cultivation as a wool to blind everyone''s eyes!¡± ¡°Yan Nie, what nonsense are you blathering!¡± Finally, Pan Lanyue couldn¡¯t resist anymore and rebuked Yan Nie. ¡°Nonsense?¡± Yan Nie made a mocking laugh as he suddenly pointed at Tianyi. ¡°Just say that you found a better genius than me to marry!¡± Tianyi''s twitching face just froze. ¡°This...this¡­ is really minding my own business but still but getting shot in the crossfire.¡± ¡°Nonsense!¡± Elder Peng couldn¡¯t resist any longer either. If they angered Tianyi, although nothing may happen, it was equally possible that Tianyi may influence Elder Shan from aiding their Sect Master from ascending to the Nascent Soul Realm. ¡°Little Friend Tianyi is a disciple of the Buzhou Immortal Sect accompanying his sect elder. There is no other relationship!¡± Buzhou Immortal Sect, those words resounded like thunder into their ears. As part of a region with not even a cultivator that ascended to the Immortal Realm, the Buzhou Immortal Sect was like an Immortal Emperor that they would never come into contact within their lives. The atmosphere was tense as they realized just who Tianyi was, and wary glances were sent his way. This was like treating Tianyi as a mortal emperor. When an emperor became angry, the officials are the ones to bear the brunt of it. But Tianyi just calmly sipped his tea as if this had nothing to do with him. And indeed, this had nothing to do with him at all! He was just an innocent bystander in all of this! The conversation went back and forth before an agreement was made. In ten years, a duel between Yan Nie and Pan Lanyue would be held. Whoever wins will have to apologize to the other. It wasn¡¯t a simple apology but one that represented their clan''s and sect''s reputation on the line. It was when Tianyi, Elder Peng, and Lanyue were about to leave that a youth appeared. His features were exquisite, although it was on a lower level than Tianyi¡¯s features, but still fine nonetheless. He held Yan Nie¡¯s shoulder and then gave a meaningful look at Lanyue. ¡°Miss Pan, this decision in the future don''t regret it.¡± The youth¡¯s voice was clear and tender and pleasing to the ears. ¡°I will never regret my decision.¡± Lanyue solemnly said as if reciting a vow. Tianyi, however, was occupied by other thoughts. ¡°Hey... isn¡¯t it supposed to be a female childhood sweetheart that would come and comfort the protagonist while he is down and become the true love? Why did the female sweetheart suddenly become a male childhood sweetheart?¡± Tianyi couldn¡¯t help but think of a scenario. The genius from the Buzhou Immortal Sect was originally drawn and had good feelings towards Pan Lanyue that would eventually blossom into love. But after witnessing Yan Nie¡¯s heroic actions and genius, maybe even having been saved from him, he would soon change the target of his love to the brave Yan Nie, eventually sacrificing his chrysanthemum to him. At this, Tianyi instantly stopped his chain of thoughts as a shiver ran up through his spine. ¡°This couldn¡¯t be¡­ a world where the protagonist is homosexual, right?¡± He had nothing against homosexuals. Although it would be awkward, he did not disprove of the love between two members of the same gender. But love is love. He even supported it as long as they weren''t too flirty in front of his eyes. But the prerequisite was that he was not dragged into the equation. He would have rather been treated as the mini-boss who, in an effort to please Lanyue, went to find trouble with Yan Nie and then offered his life and treasure to the protagonist as a stepping stone. Just that, ignoring whether he would fall, his mother was the final boss of final bosses, so his status as a mini-boss for Yan Nie was questionable. Neither of those options sounded good. Just that one was better than the other. ¡°Should I just slap him dead now?¡± Tianyi silently mumbled to himself. ¡°Little brother Tianyi, sorry you had to be dragged into this,¡± Lanyue said as she watched Tianyi deep in thought. ¡°When you grow up, you¡¯ll understand people¡¯s feelings.¡± The corner of Tianyi''s lips couldn''t help but twitch madly. Chapter 5: Assassination! The Yi Auction House was a mysterious business that sprung up in Jinyang City over a hundred years ago. Even though it monopolized a large portion of the city¡¯s business, none of the three clans stopped them. If anything, they were longtime customers of the Yi Auction House. There was a rumor that the Yi Auction House¡¯s backer originated from the Central Heaven Region. ¡°It¡¯s probably not a first-rate clan or sect, but a personal venture of some elder.¡± Tianyi speculated to himself. If the backer was someone that originated in the Central Heaven Region, that is. He didn¡¯t exactly trust the information that Elder Peng had gathered, especially if it concerned the Central Heaven Region. Tianyi didn¡¯t particularly care as he stared down at the auction platform from the private booth with the rest of the Fleeting Mist Sect. As the de facto lords of the region, they were naturally given a private booth from the Yi Auction House. The auctioneer was a beautiful woman seemingly in her early twenties. Her vibrant red dress conformed to her body, giving the impression of a voluptuous beauty and her smile was like a blossoming flower, in other words, a perfect honey trap. ¡°Hello, today¡¯s auction will be directed by me, Yi Meiran!¡± The woman said, causing those on the first floor to roar with excitement. Tianyi was unable to confirm whether they came to buy items or to see the beauty. ¡°To be honest, there¡¯s a special item that¡¯s going to be auctioned today! It¡¯s rare to the point that after this, we do not know how long until we will have to wait till we hear news of another one appearing, the Yi Auction House could put only this item up for today''s auction, and we would still make a massive profit!¡± Yi Meiran said, whetting the crowd¡¯s appetite. Tianyi looked to his side to see Elder Peng, especially serious. ¡°Now, with that said, let¡¯s start the auction!¡± After successfully raising the crowd¡¯s appetite, Yi Meiran directed their attention to the first item that had been brought out. ¡°Although it cannot be considered too rare, today we have ten bottles of top tier qi condensation pills.¡± Yi Meiran picked up one of the bottles on the tray. ¡°Each bottle contains ten pills. I¡¯m sure you know the effects of the qi condensation pills, but a top tier one has a ninety percent effectiveness! The Yi Auction House can guarantee the alchemist who refined these pills is at least a rank three alchemist!¡± Alchemists like pills were divided into ranks, too, from rank one to rank ten. Beyond rank ten were the Immortal Realm categorizations, knowledge those not near the Immortal Realm were not privy to know. The rank of each pill will be further divided into the low, middle, high, top-tier, or perfect classification. Naturally, perfect pills were the best, but most alchemists would only be able to refine middle-tier pills of the same rank as them. ¡°We will be auctioning each pill bottle separately at five hundred low-quality spirit stones each!¡± Yi Meiren said, directly stating the price of the first auction item. Before the others downstairs could even make a bid, Elder Peng had already spoken. ¡°The Fleeting Mist Sect will bid eight hundred low-quality spirits for one bottle.¡± At the mention of the Fleeting Mist Sect, the ones on the first and second floor of the auction house sucked in a cold breath. They looked at each other. Would it really be worth it to fight the Fleeting Mist Sect for a bunch of top-tier rank one qi condensation pills? The answer was no. And thus, the first item of the day was won anticlimactically by the Fleeting Mist Sect. But luckily for those below, Elder Peng didn¡¯t bid anymore for the qi condensation pills, allowing other cultivators to have a piece of the pie. The customers were incredibly excited after the qi condensation pills appeared. That was just the first item. What about the rest? Next were nine talismans, split into three bundles. Each talisman could unleash an attack at the level of a Spiritual Altar Foundation Establishment realm cultivator. A few Artifacts at the level of the Foundation Establishment realm were revealed, but most of them were middle or low-tier Artifacts, unlike the jade fan in Tianyi¡¯s hand. ¡°And up next, we have three middle-tier Foundation Establishment Pills.¡± At those words, Tianyi once more paid attention to the auction. ¡°Five thousand spirit stones!¡± ¡°Five thousand and two hundred spirit stones!¡± ¡°Six thousand spirit stones!¡± Tianyi took a glance at Lanyue, who didn¡¯t seem too surprised at the fight below. ¡°Big Sister, are Foundation Establishment Pills really that important?¡± Lanyue looked at Tianyi in surprise. ¡°Little Brother, you don¡¯t know about Foundation Establishment Pills?¡± Some of the other disciples also perked their ears to listen in. Tianyi shook his head. ¡°I only heard about them today.¡± Lanyue didn¡¯t know what to say. ¡°Foundation Establishment Pills are necessary for Qi Gathering realm cultivators to ascend to Foundation Establishment Realm. They strengthen the meridians and purify the circulation flow within. It¡¯s practically impossible to ascend from Qi Gathering to Foundation Establishment without one.¡± ¡°What about the first Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator? How did he ascend?¡± Tianyi asked, his eyes full of sincerity. Lanyue opened her mouth, but no sounds came out. ¡°... the cultivation methods back then were different, I¡¯m sure there was a different method. Perhaps he was a martial cultivator.¡± Seeing the flushed cheeks on the girl¡¯s face, Tianyi only smiled and nodded like he accepted it before giving Lanyue a look that spoke of admiration, causing her face to redden even further in shame. But Tianyi was thinking even further. ¡°I didn¡¯t use a Foundation Establishment Pill when I broke through from Qi Gathering to Foundation Establishment. Did I do something wrong? No, mother was there to oversee me, and she didn¡¯t tell me to use a Foundation Establishment Pill, so there must be some reason. Maybe as long as you are talented enough, you don¡¯t need a Foundation Establishment Pill?¡± Putting it in the back of his mind, Tianyi continued to watch the auction. Sometimes Fleeting Mist Sect would put a bid up for an item. Sometimes people would fight for it; other times, not. But Fleeting Mist Sect wasn''t the overlord of the region for nothing. Their wealth was far greater than the rabble below." ¡°Next, we have this mysterious fragment obtained from a loose cultivator.¡± Yi Meiran gestured towards a near-black fragment of some sort. It was small enough to fit in the palm of her hand. ¡°We had our experts inspect it, but we do not know this fragment is made of. Even our Core Formation realm expert couldn¡¯t do a thing to it. As we do not know what this is, we set the price at only five hundred low-quality spirit stones!¡± You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Tianyi felt his body pulse at the sight of the fragment, like something within him was calling to it. There was a strange sense of familiarity that he had never felt before. ¡°Five hundred spirit stones!¡± Before Tianyi could voice out his bid, someone else from the lower floor did instead. Tianyi looked down at the owner of the young voice. It was a very familiar voice that he could not pinpoint where he had heard it from. Just from the back of the head, Tianyi felt a strange sensation similar to when he had laid eyes upon the fragment. Tianyi focused his attention away from the youth as he laid his eyes back on the fragment. Making up his mind, he spoke. ¡°Five thousand spirit stones.¡± There was a sudden silence at the high price for such an unknown object, but once they saw where the voice originated from, they quieted down. Although the voice sounded young, it was from the Fleeting Mist Sect. ¡°Six thousand spirit stones.¡± There was a sudden silence as the people observed the young man, who seemed to be about fifteen to sixteen, yet continued bidding. ¡°Ten thousand spirit stones.¡± The youth gritted his teeth and started to raise his hand to raise the bid, but someone stopped him. ¡°Little Friend, that¡¯s the Fleeting Mist Sect. No good will come out of offending them.¡± The youth removed his hand and cupped it towards the person who spoke to him. ¡°Thank you, but I know what I¡¯m doing.¡± At this, he raised his hand and spoke. ¡°Ten thousand and ten spirit stones!¡± The person who spoke to convince the youth only shook his head in pity, no longer attempting to convince the youth. Unseen by the man, the youth¡¯s eyes flashed with hatred. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to meet you here of all places,¡± he muttered. Tianyi quirked his eyebrow up. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect a Qi Gathering Realm fellow to have this many spirit stones.¡± ¡°Little Brother, isn¡¯t it too expensive?¡± Lanyue asked, her fellow disciples were already dazed from the sky-high price for the seemingly useless fragment. Tianyi shook his head. ¡°Big Sister, I want it. I feel that it will be very beneficial for my cultivation.¡± He glanced at the first floor where the youth was. ¡°Besides, the more people fight me for it, the more I want it.¡± ¡°One hundred mid-quality spirit stones.¡± Although a single mid-quality spirit stone could be used to exchange for a hundred low-quality spirit stones, hardly anyone would make such a trade. Not speaking of the rarity of a mid-quality spirit stone compared to a low-quality spirit, the mid-quality spirit stone had far more beneficial uses. It was expected as mid-quality spirit stones were primarily used by Core Formation and Nascent Soul Realm cultivators. Even Elder Peng couldn¡¯t help but look at Tianyi, who could bring out such wealth. As expected, there were no more bids from the bottom as Yi Meiran smiled. ¡°Sold to the fellow daoist on the third floor.¡± After this little incident, the auction returned to normal, with no more similar incident coming up. ¡°And next the second to the last item of the day is the Core Formation Pill.¡± Tianyi felt his lips twitch at the name. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me there are Nascent Soul Pills, Unity Pills, and Transcending Mortality Pills? Perhaps even an Immortal Ascension Pill?¡± In the end, the Fleeting Mist Sect, Elder Peng, purchased the Core Formation Pill. ¡°And last, the item you all were waiting for.¡± At these words, the atmosphere seemed to have tensed, and silence reigned. Not even a single breath could be heard. Yi Meiran gave the most beautiful smile of the night as a servant brought out a small box. Yi Meiran took the box and opened it before everyone¡¯s eyes. A dense herbaceous fragrance assaulted them. Those of the Qi Gathering realm even felt their mind clear, and circulation of qi within their body grow smoother. Inside the box was a withered purple herb. But soon after, the box was closed, and only the remnant herbaceous aura was left. ¡°As you have all seen, this is the genuine deal. We have here a Violet Cloud Fern. It has many uses, but the most well-known use is that it''s a core component for the Nascent Soul Pill. I won¡¯t say anymore except that the bidding price will start at one thousand mid-quality spirit stones!¡± Finally, even those that didn¡¯t know finally understood the implications. Elder Peng clenched his fist. Finally, their Fleeting Mist Region will birth a Nascent Soul cultivator. Overall for the region, this increase in strength would be a good development for them as it would improve their strength above the Green Scorpion Region and Unseen Whale Region. Tianyi finally realized what Elder Shan had personally come here for. Pan Lanyue''s engagement might have been only a side matter compared to this. As a rank six alchemist, Elder Shan was fully capable of refining a Nascent Soul Pill. Of course, Tianyi, who was not knowledgeable concerning alchemy, might be wrong. But Tianyi didn¡¯t think so. ¡°One thousand spirit stones!¡± ¡°One thousand and two hundred spirit stones!¡± ¡°Two thousand spirit stones!¡± ¡°Two thousand ad one hundred spirit stones!¡± Just like that, many people from the second and third floors began to bid, which each bid higher than the last. Finally, when the price reached three thousand middle-quality spirit stones, Elder Peng spoke. ¡°Five thousand spirit stones!¡± It was a whole jump from three thousand to five thousand middle-quality spirit stones. There was a sudden silence at the price increase. ¡°The honored guests on the third floor have bid five thousand middle-quality spirit stones. Is there anyone else? If not, then this-¡± ¡°Five thousand and one hundred spirit stones!¡± After a while, someone yelled out another bid from the second floor. But he was doomed to be disappointed because¡­ ¡°Six thousand spirit stones¡± Another massive increase in price. It caused all others who wanted to purchase it to despair at the Fleeting Mist Sect''s determination. ¡°Six thousand going once! Six thousand going twice! Sold, to our friends from the Fleeting Mist Sect!¡± At those words, Elder Peng smiled. Although his mission wasn¡¯t a hundred percent complete, it was halfway done with the acquisition of the Violet Cloud Fern. Soon the servants of the Yi Auction House came for the payment, Elder Peng naturally paid. And Tianyi did so as well. To the amazement of the Fleeting Mist Sect disciples, he grabbed one hundred mid-quality spirit stones from his spatial pouch and gave it to the servant. Even the servant was surprised that the youngest one would suddenly take out one hundred mid-quality spirit stones, but upon observing Tianyi some more, he didn¡¯t say anything and backed out to retrieve the items. ¡°Senior Brother Tianyi is very... wealthy.¡± One disciple of the Fleeting Mist Sect said, but Tianyi only smiled, saying nothing. Soon the servants returned with the items the group had bought from the auction. Elder Peng directly took the box containing the Violet Cloud Fern. Opening the box to verify the contents, he quickly closed it once more. Tianyi, however, didn¡¯t care as he held the black fragment in his hand. There was a pulsing sensation that was extremely warm and pleasing that ran through his arm to his heart. The pulsing turned into a beat that began to match his own heartbeat. Tianyi frowned and made a motion as if to place it in his shrinking pouch but secretly stored it in his spatial ring. Although it felt safe, there was also an uncertain feeling coming from it. Tianyi dared not to carelessly interact with it anymore. Best to ask his mother once he returned to the sect. ¡°Everyone, our business here is done. We should return to the sect as soon as possible. Is that fine with little friend Tianyi?¡± Although Elder Peng posed it as a question, there was no doubt he was in a hurry, and should Tianyi say no, he would likely find a reason to change Tianyi¡¯s mind. Tianyi nodded. It wasn¡¯t like there was a reason for him to stay. Just thinking about meeting the Yan Clan members was already awkward enough. Soon the group exited out of the Yi Auction House, heading towards the exit to Jinyang City. But a voice called out to them. ¡°Fellow daoists, please wait!¡± Elder Peng heightened his guard as he turned around only to relax as he saw a youth in the Qi Gathering Realm, but his eyes widen in appreciation as he noticed the youth¡¯s tenth stage Qi Gathering realm cultivation. Tianyi, however, was thinking of another matter. The youth was the same youth who fought him for the fragment. Wearing black robes and a sword by his waist, the youth seemed exceedingly valiant with his calm and confident demeanor. But Tianyi couldn¡¯t help but feel that he had seen the youth¡¯s face somewhere before. Not only Tianyi but Lanyue also felt the same as she stared at the handsome youth coming closer. Just as he was a meter away, he suddenly drew his sword, and with hatred in his eyes, he thrust his sword toward Tianyi''s heart. ¡°Surnamed Xi, go to hell!¡± Chapter 6: Smashing a Nascent Soul Cultivator to Death with Wealth Although the sword strike came from a mere Qi Gathering cultivator, the precision exhibited behind the strike and the intricate technique fueling it was enough to break through a Spiritual Pillar Foundation Establishment cultivator¡¯s defense. There was no hint of doubt in the youth¡¯s eyes as his sword came closer to striking Tianyi¡¯s forehead, who was still unresponsive to the sudden attack. But when the youth¡¯s sword was a hair''s breadth away from striking true, a sudden pressure descended, freezing the movements of all Qi Gathering Realm cultivators and some weaker Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators. The youth¡¯s expression changed as astonishment flashed across his face as he found a slender hand gripping his sword in a claw-like grip. ¡°You! You were already in the Foundation Establishment Realm!?¡± Tianyi did not respond as he struck out with his free hand. His hand formed a claw with golden qi covering it like a golden dragon''s clawed hand superimposing over his hand. The youth felt his body stiffen at Tianyi''s counterattack. Although it was also due to the difference in realms, but the youth was someone who had experienced battle far above his current realm. He could clearly feel an underlying tyrannical intent in the claw, forcing his body to be voluntarily be struck. Thankfully his will was strong, and he immediately broke out of that mindset and, with a loud roar, abandoned his sword and ran away. He tore a talisman, and a white light surrounded him and carried far away in an instant. Tianyi, who had struck out and struck nothing, was left dazed at the sudden retreat of his assassin. ¡°This...isn¡¯t he a bit too decisive?¡± Elder Peng had already released his spiritual sense in an attempt to capture the assassin, his eyes flashing with rage. Suppose a disciple of the Buzhou Immortal Sect were to be killed under his watch. Nevermind him; even the entire sect might be destroyed under Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s wrath. If they were to luckily survive, their lives would become miserable until their death. But unfortunately, whatever treasure the youth used, it had already escaped the full range of Elder Peng¡¯s spiritual sense, and thus he could only give up. Elder Peng then looked at Tianyi with a complicated expression. Should he say that he underestimated the disciples of the Buzhou Immortal Sect? This was a Foundation Establishment realm cultivator at the age of ten! Ten! No matter how outstanding the disciples of the Buzhou Immortal Sect were, those that reached such a realm at age ten could be said to be as rare of qilin horns and phoenix feathers, rare even to the whole Huang Realm. Not only Elder Peng but the Fleeting Mist Sect disciples were even more shocked as they ignored the assassin and openly stared at Tianyi. Not because of his peerless appearance nor because of his status as a disciple of the Buzhou Immortal Sect but rather shock with hints of fear for his Foundation Establishment Realm cultivation base. Even Lanyue was in a sort of daze. Perhaps she hadn''t realized it, but in her heart, she harbored a tiny bit of pride because she had a higher cultivation than Tianyi. Despite Tianyi being younger, she rationalized it as him having more resources as a disciple of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. But this tiny bit of pride was shattered when she was pressured by Tianyi¡¯s Foundation Establishment Realm cultivation base. Tianyi retracted his hand and held both hands behind him like a little lord. His cultivation was no longer concealed, but he did retract it so that unless one deliberately sought to know, no one would notice unless the person was at least a Foundation Establishment or Core Formation Realm cultivator. ¡°Elder Peng, we should quickly leave. The commotion has already gotten quite big.¡± Tianyi said as he surveyed the numerous Qi Gathering Realm cultivators who looked like their eyes would pop out of their sockets. Elder Peng returned to his senses and quickly nodded. He led Tianyi and the Fleeting Mist Sect disciples out of the city and aboard the crane mount. Wasting no time, Elder Peng ordered the mount to fly back towards Fleeting Mist Sect. ¡°...Little Brother Tianyi,¡± Pan Lanyue finally couldn¡¯t help it and call out to Tianyi, who was looking ahead and not speaking since the event. ¡°Hmmm? Yes, Big Sister?¡± Tianyi turned his head and gave the same smile as before. Lanyue heaved a sigh of relief, but her heart still felt apprehensive in front of Tianyi¡¯s newly revealed cultivation and a little lost, but she quickly buried those feelings. ¡°You seem to be deep in thought?¡± Tianyi looked at Lanyue before finally speaking. ¡°Big Sister, don¡¯t you find that assassin very familiar? I feel like I¡¯ve seen him before.¡± Lanyue blinked as she recalled the youth¡¯s face and immediately was struck by a deep sense of familiarity. ¡°But that isn¡¯t possible. I¡¯m sure this is the first time I¡¯ve seen him. But Little Brother Tianyi also has seen him, but he has only been at the Fleeting Mist Sect since coming here. For both Little Brother Tianyi and I to feel familiar, is it someone from the Fleeting Mist Sect?¡± Lanyue muttered under her breath, but even so, Tianyi could still make out her words. Lanyue then looked up to look at Tianyi¡¯s face and immediately froze. Tianyi raised an eyebrow at Lanyue¡¯s strange action. The time increased, and even Tianyi began to rub his face wondering if something was on it. Finally, Lanyue spoke. ¡°Little Brother Tianyi, I feel aside from your eyes, once you grow a few years older, you¡¯ll look very much like that youth.¡± Tianyi froze as his mind overlaid the youth¡¯s feature over his own reflection in his mind. Indeed the similarities were striking. Aside from Tianyi¡¯s eyes, which he inherited from his mother, all his other features should have come from his other parent. The natural conclusion was that he inherited his sperm doner¡¯s look. ¡°Could that youth be my half brother or something?¡± Tianyi was struck by those ridiculous thoughts, and it couldn¡¯t have been his true elder brother because he knew his mother¡¯s personality well. ¡°Still, that sense of familiarity isn''t just from having similar features.¡± ¡°Is it because of the fragment? No, the fragment may be the reason why he noticed me, but he shouldn¡¯t have gone so far as to try to assassinate me in front of a Core Formation Realm cultivator, and his words contained deep hatred. He seemed to even know who I was.¡± Lanyue didn¡¯t continue to speak as she saw Tianyi sink even deeper in his thoughts and just concentrated on the journey back along with her fellow disciples. Although the white crane¡¯s speed was quite fast, something, or rather someone, came and stopped them. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°Fellow daoists, please wait a moment.¡± Seeing the green-robed Nascent Soul Realm cultivator that had appeared in front of them, Elder Peng cupped his hands and said. ¡°Greeting senior, I am an elder of the Fleeting Mist Sect. What business might you have with us?¡± The green-robed man smiled, but Elder Peng could only curse at that smile as he opened up his mouth. ¡°My younger brother is approaching his Nascent Soul Tribulation soon. I was hoping fellow daoist can sell the herb in your possession. I¡¯ll buy it at market price.¡± Elder Peng inwardly cursed at the shamelessness of the cultivator in front of him. Market price? The Violet Cloud Fern was so rare that the end price was always several times more than the market price. This was practically daylight robbery! ¡°Apologies, but this one has come out on a mission for the Fleeting Cloud Sect to retrieve this spiritual herb.¡± The green-robed man continued to smile as if he had expected it. ¡°Your little sect doesn¡¯t need such an herb. It won¡¯t amount to much to those without talent anyways. It¡¯s much better to be in my hands. Since you don¡¯t like soft methods, I can only use hard methods!¡± Seeing the Nascent Soul cultivator change face so fast, Elder Peng immediately cast a spell and ordered the white crane to fly away, the crane¡¯s speed had increased immensely, but a chuckle could be heard behind them. ¡°The one aspect I''m not afraid of is competing in speed.¡± The Nascent Soul realm cultivator was covered in a black wind, and his speed drastically increased and as if it was teleportation, appearing in front of the white crane and blocking the escape route. ¡°Evil Wind Flower Picker Zhou!¡± The Nascent Soul Realm cultivator chuckled with sinister undertones. ¡°I was originally going to leave after taking the Violet Cloud Fern, but it seems you have quite a beauty there.¡± Tianyi subconsciously turned his eyes towards Lanyue, not just Tianyi but the rest of the disciples as well. Flower Picker, what was a flower picker? It was just a euphemism for a serial rapist. Tianyi began to move forward, his hand holding onto the jade pendant on his waist, but the Nascent Soul realm cultivator¡¯s next words made him freeze. ¡°This lord hasn¡¯t seen such a boy with such good looks, especially those eyes. Hehehehhe... if you follow this lord, this lord will definitely not mistreat you.¡± Tianyi stood petrified as the rest of the people who had looked at Lanyue in pity all turned towards Tianyi. Heavens! It wasn¡¯t Pan Lanyue that pervert was planning on deflowering, but my chrysanthemum! ¡°Hmpf, open your blind eyes! This little friend is a disciple of the Buzhou Immortal Sect! Lay a hand on him, and you won¡¯t have a good end!¡± But Evil Wind Flower Picker Zhou remained undisturbed. ¡°Don¡¯t make a fool of this lord, so what if he is a Buzhou Immortal Sect disciple? To be sent here means he committed something wrong, and even if he hadn''t, who would know if all of you died? No one will know.¡± ¡°Hey, pervert.¡± Evil Wind Flower Picker Zhou scrunched his brows as he heard the pleasant voice, but the words were anything but. ¡°Hmpf, little beauty. It seems this lord will have to educate you when I take you back.¡± Tianyi rolled his eyes as he inserted spiritual qi into the purple jade pendant that was now held in his hand. Immediately a formation that spanned kilometers appeared and formed an image of nine mountains and nine seas. Evil Wind Flower Picker Zhou immediately sensed danger and moved to escape. As cultivators of the devilish path that offended many people, one of the largest reasons he had survived was because he retreated at the slightest hint of danger. Unfortunately, he had kicked the steel board known as Tianyi. No, not a steel board, but a board made of divine metal. ¡°W-who! Who are you!¡± Evil Wind Flower Picker Zhou managed to force those words out of his mouth, but it felt like he had used up all of his strength in his lifetime, unable to utter another word. The boy before him was clearly in the Foundation Establishment Realm, but how could he have such a powerful formation!? Although Evil Wind Flower Picker Zhou couldn¡¯t recognize the formation, he could see that the formation separated itself from the world, meaning it has reached the level of ¡°Formation Equivalent to a World¡± level. Only the most outstanding Nascent Soul Realm cultivators could set up a formation at this level with this range so quickly. But the person who activated was clearly that boy. Evil Wind Flower Picker Zhou cursed his luck. He already has second thoughts once he heard Buzhou Immortal Sect, but he didn''t want to appear weak. Besides, If he killed all the witnesses, then no one would know. But once the boy activated the formation, he knew he was in trouble. A little Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator shouldn''t be capable of having an Artifact such as this. Tianyi smiled as he walked off the white crane, each step in the air like walking on flat land. ¡°This one¡¯s mother is an Immortal. That should be enough, right?¡± Tianyi hid his mouth behind a fan as he laughed, but his eyes were incredibly frosty as they looked at the Nascent Soul realm cultivator before him. Evin Wind Flower Picker Zhou felt his scalp tingle in fright as he saw those eyes, but as soon as he heard Tianyi¡¯s words, he felt rage consuming him. He was a proud Nascent Soul Realm cultivator. When had he ever been threatened by a small Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator? He began to circulate the qi within him, but to his horror, he found himself unable to muster even a minuscule amount of qi. It was like he had become a mortal. Fear and rage overtook him as he glared furiously at Tianyi, his eyes seemingly able to swallow Tianyi whole. Even his spiritual sense was locked within his body, unable to make a peep. But Tianyi didn¡¯t bat an eyelash. ¡°It¡¯s a pity that the assassin escaped too fast before I could unleash this formation.¡± He said with regret, but it didn¡¯t last long as he took out several talismans and spread them out in his hand like playing cards. Tianyi mockingly waved the talismans in front of the Nascent Soul Realm cultivator¡¯s enraged eyes. He used the first one, and a white wind buffeted Evil Wind Flower Picker Zhou¡¯s body, shredding his robes, a defensive Artifact at the Nascent Soul Realm. Evil Wind Flower Picker Zhou inwardly roared in rage as he watched his defensive treasure become rags under the effect of the talisman. Finally, fear overtook his rage as he began to realize that he might really die under a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator. But no matter how much he struggled, his body was locked and unable to move, unable to even beg for his life. The next attack wasn¡¯t from the talisman but Tianyi as he neared the Evil Wind Flower Picker Zhou and unsheathed the sword and unleashed several sword strikes that only left white marks on the skin. Tianyi nodded. ¡°As expected, even if he is completely trapped, my power alone is unable to pierce through his body.¡± But Evil Wind Flower Picker Zhou was unable to be happy at Tianyi¡¯s failed attempt as the only movable parts of his body, his eyes, trailed after Tianyi as he sheathed his sword. Tianyi aimed the talismans in his left hand at Evil Wind Flower Picker Zhou. ¡°My first kill in this life, for it to be a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator is not bad.¡± And with that, an all-consuming flame engulfed Evil Wind Flower Picker Zhou. Without his defensive Artifact, he was quickly consumed until nothing was left. Tianyi sucked in his breath as he realized that he had burned away the spatial pouch and all that was in it. Tianyi slapped his forehead in regret, but he quickly recovered and returned to the white crane. Because he had not attained the spatial pouch, he didn¡¯t feel bad losing it. It would¡¯ve been worse had he gotten the spatial pouch but then destroyed it. Never having attained, never having lost. Elder Peng, who was finally able to move once more now that the formation was dispersed, looked at Tianyi and carefully asked, ¡°Little Friend Tianyi, did your formation and talismans come from your father?¡± Tianyi shook his head. ¡°Not my father, but my mother.¡± ¡°This time, it''s this one¡¯s fault for causing Little Friend Tianyi to use your valuable talisman. One that can destroy a Nascent Soul Realm Artifact is sure hard to come by. When we return, I¡¯ll ask the Sect Master to compensation for Little Friend Tianyi.¡± Elder Peng said. Tianyi nodded. ¡°I better not tell him I have a lot more.¡± Tianyi held his chin as his eyes became slits. ¡°Although this is the first time I killed someone, I don''t have a shred of guilt. Is it because that asshole deserved to be killed, or that the shock hasn''t settled? Or maybe I''m just coldblooded... but, smashing a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator to death with wealth as a Foundation Establishment cultivator... it feels pretty good!¡± Chapter 7: Return As Tianyi had expected, Elder Shan had forbidden him from leaving the Fleeting Mist Sect again without his explicit permission. Not only had he been the target of assassination -forget the fact that it was a Qi Gathering Realm cultivator who had done so- but a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator could have potentially killed Tianyi had he not lowered his guard and allowed Tianyi the time to deploy the formation. Elder Shan was even displeased because Tianyi was brought into the matter because of Fleeting Mist Sect¡¯s mission, making Sect Master Yun apologetic. Sect Master Yun gifted Tianyi a Core Formation Artifact as an apology. Although Fleeting Mist Sect had a single Nascent Soul Artifact, it was the Sect Guardian Treasure. Using a Core Formation Realm Artifact as a gift was sincere enough for the sect that currently only had Core Formation Realm cultivators. And so Tianyi accepted it, even though it wasn¡¯t as pleasing to him as the jade fan. At least with the jade fan, he could bring it out and act like a young master of some noble or wealthy family. For the next few months, Tianyi quietly cultivated in the lightning sea. It can also be considered as part of the compensation from the Fleeting Mist Sect. Within Tianyi¡¯s dantian, his nine pillars, one large pillar surrounded by eight pillars equally spaced apart, gave off a solemn light. Each pillar was separated into nine segments and gave off a terrifying aura that would cause those of similar and weaker cultivation to be suppressed. ¡°I have finished forming my Spiritual Pillars, recently my speed seems to have increased, and the tribulation essence feels more like a part of me now.¡± Tianyi rubbed his chin, deep in thought. ¡°I feel like my speed even outside has become different. I have a feeling that even without using the lightning sea that has smidges of tribulation essence, I can produce my own tribulation essence when I cultivate. When I get to my Core Formation Tribulation, the Heavenly Tribulation won¡¯t increase because of that, right?¡± The more Tianyi thought about it, the more he began to worry about forming his core. ¡°Tsk, at this rate, my Sole Yin Eight Trigram Yang, Nine Core Revolution Formation will be much harder than I thought. Forget it, I should focus on reaching the peak of Foundation Establishment first.¡± With those thoughts put aside, Tianyi began to form the outline of his Spiritual Altar that rested upon his nine Spiritual Pillars. Soon an altar platform that resembled a nine-pointed star began to appear like an illusionary construct. After he finished, Tianyi circulated his Three Pure True Self Visualization Scripture to heal his fatigue. Tianyi then stood up from his lotus position and began to go through several martial forms. Each form had his hands shaped like a dragon''s claws, and each form had tyrannical force and majesty. If a bystander were to see Tianyi, they would hallucinate a coiling dragon around Tianyi¡¯s form. Upon closer inspection, you could see that every pore on Tianyi¡¯s body would habitually open and close like it was breathing. With each breath, the skin cells would change, becoming refined like jade and delicate like a newborn infant. The change didn''t result in the skin becoming fragile. And instead, Tianyi¡¯s skin became tougher than average Qi Gathering Realm Artifacts. Tianyi was cultivating a martial cultivation technique, also known as fleshly cultivation, called the Dragon Emperor Fist. It was a fleshly cultivation technique that his mother had given him, said to have been developed by the Dragon Emperor. Although he was known as the Dragon Emperor, he was the nemesis of the Dragon Clan because he was a human that hunted down dragons and refined their flesh for his own cultivation. Martial cultivation was less popular than spiritual cultivation, but it had the advantage that it didn¡¯t depend on the cultivator¡¯s Spiritual Vein as much as spiritual cultivation and thus was widely more available and widespread. But few truly made it far in this path because of the resources and commitment necessary. But most people did dabble in martial cultivation if they could, as it brought many benefits. The body of a martial cultivator was robust than a spiritual cultivator on average. By the time Tianyi was done, there was a faint outline of a golden dragon that seemed to soar under his skin. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to so easily master the first stage of skin tempering of the Dragon Emperor Fist. Perhaps it because my body had already been tempered in the immortal elixirs mother prepared before I began cultivation, or maybe it¡¯s due to the lightning tempering my body went through.¡± Tianyi said as he pinched his own skin. It was more elastic now and had a flexible toughness to it. ¡°And also¡­¡± Tianyi brought out the black fragment that he had bought at the auction. He felt an even greater familiarity to the fragment now as it seemed to vibrate upon touch his skin. ¡°This couldn¡¯t be connected to the Dragon Emperor, could it? But why would I feel familiar with it? I only started to cultivate the Dragon Emperor Fist today. That assassin also wanted this. Could he be connected to the Dragon Emperor too?¡± As Tianyi rubbed his chin, a scandalous thought flashed through his mind. ¡°My father couldn¡¯t be the Dragon Emperor, right? It was said that Dragon Emperor was licentious and even dared to kidnap fairy maidens of the three hegemonic sects of the Huang Realm resulting in the whole realm uniting against him and exterminating him. That youth wouldn¡¯t happen to be my older half-brother, would he? Finding out that I am a disciple of a sect that killed his father, he swears revenge upon me?¡± The more Tianyi thought about it, the more he felt how ridiculous it was. ¡°Forget, the Dragon Emperor died hundreds of years ago. I¡¯m only ten this year.¡± Tianyi felt that after he went out, his thoughts became more and more ridiculous as he equated everything to those novels he read in his past life. ¡°Forget it, forget it. Now that I completed forming my Spiritual Pillars, I should be able to trek deeper into the lightning sea.¡±This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. He began to delve deeper into the lightning sea, and as he got deeper, the density of the lightning increased as well. By now, the lightning beasts did not dare to attack Tianyi because he was releasing an aura familiar to the tribulation essence and, in fact, seemed to have become invisible to the lightning beasts. Tianyi stopped as he felt fluctuations of extreme yin qi. Normal Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators couldn¡¯t detect it, but Tianyi was able to detect the slight fluctuations in the lightning seas because of his Heavenly Spiritual Lightning Veins. He was also familiar with the feeling of yin qi because his mother cultivated yin qi due to her Heavenly Yin Spiritual Vein. His curiosity grew as he ventured deeper, but soon his path was blocked. Not because the lightning sea was too strong, but the tribulation essence was too strong, one wrong step he might incur a true Heavenly Tribulation. ¡°This couldn¡¯t be a naturally formed treasure undergoing a Heavenly Tribulation, right?¡± The records within Buzhou Immortal Sect had numerous details of naturally formed treasures. They could range from those that barely reached the realm of Qi Gathering to supreme Immortal treasures. ¡°The lightning sea has been here since the founding of the Fleeting Mist Sect, and so it can be considered at least a thousand years old. For a treasure to be undergoing this long, it should be a supreme treasure. And since the mist originates from the lightning sea, it should either be a water or yin type treasure. Mother should be interested in this.¡± For the following months, until Elder Shan was finished with his business, Tianyi cultivated within the lightning sea and practiced the Dragon Emperor Fist. Then one day, Tianyi felt the lightning sea begin to tremble. He stopped his cultivation and left the lightning sea as soon as he sensed it. Confused, Tianyi exited the lightning sea and saw the Fleeting Mist Disciples all staring at the Sect Master Yun¡¯s peak. High above, black clouds began to gather as an invisible pressure began to press down on the cultivators. Tianyi was unlike the disciples, who had been forced onto their knees, as he had some resistance to the pressure of Heavenly Tribulation and began to move towards the peak. ¡°Tianyi.¡± Tianyi paused and saw Elder Shan standing with the other elders of Fleeting Mist Sect. ¡°Elder Shan, is Sect Master Yun undergoing the Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation?¡± Elder Shan nodded. Sect Master Yun had invited his old friend because he had gathered all the necessary ingredients for the Nascent Soul Pil except for the Violet Cloud Ferb. And as a sixth rank alchemist from the Buzhou Immortal Sect, concocting a Nascent Soul Pill would be well within Elder Shan''s capabilities. After months, Elder Shan had finally concocted the Nascent Soul Pill and spent some more time aiding Sect Master Yun in setting up the formation that would aid in passing the tribulation. ¡°Tianyi, watch the tribulation. It should help you in understanding the Dao of Lightning as well as widen your experience.¡± Tianyi nodded and watched as lightning began to crash down upon Sect Master Yun. Elder Shan sighed when Sect Master Yun began to command the formation after the first seven strikes of lightning. At first, the lightning was white, but it began to turn bluish after the twenty-first strike of lightning. Then it began to turn a deep red at the forty-second bolt lighting. Tianyi watched as Sect Master Yun deployed Artifact after Artifact and the aid of the formation to combat the Heavenly Tribulation. After the forty-ninth strike of lightning, Sect Master Yun¡¯s Artifacts and formations were all destroyed, and a painful shriek rang out. The elders and disciples of the Fleeting Mist Sect began to panic at the sound, but Tianyi saw that Elder Shan shake his head. ¡°Only seven-seven strikes of lightning, at best he can attain a three-colored Nascent Soul with the Nascent Soul Pill with practically no hope of ascending to the Unity realm.¡± For Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, the more colors their Nascent Soul had, the closer to perfection it would be. Unlike the requirements of starting cultivation, where the fewer types of Spiritual Vein you had, the faster you cultivated, Nascent Souls represented the five elements that made up this world. Thus, if you had all five colors, you had a perfect Nascent Soul. Those with five colored Nascent Souls had a higher chance of ascending to immortality. It was days later that Tianyi and Elder Shan stood atop of the Crimson Winged Eagle where Sect Master Yun, now bearing the aura of an early Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, the elders, and Pan Langyue were sending them off. Sect Master Yun sighed as he watched the Crimson Winged Eagle fly off in the distance. Then he turned towards his disciple, Pan Lanyue, who was giving him a complicated look. ¡°Master, what level has Little Brother Tianyi reached?¡± After returning to the sect, perhaps having been stimulated by the assassination or the Nascent Spirt Realm cultivators, Evil Wind Flower Picker Zhou, Tianyi had spent the majority of his time in the endless sea, enduring loneliness to cultivate. ¡°Little Friend Tianyi has begun exhibiting qi that resembles the heaviness and boundlessness of earth. It seems to also have hints of vast and encompassing heavens. If master was to guess, Little Friend Tianyi should be close to the Spiritual Crucible stage.¡± Even Sect Master Yun found this information a little hard to believe as he spoke. He had only not seen Tianyi for a little over a year, yet progress was so swift. It would take even geniuses perhaps a decade to cultivate so swiftly. ¡°Little Brother Tianyi said that he has a Heavenly Lightning Spiritual Vein and that the lightning sea was beneficial to his cultivation. Perhaps that¡¯s why he has cultivated so fast.¡± Lanyue said, trying to find a reason for the monstrous cultivation speed. ¡°Will Little Brother Tianyi be fine? His cultivation has advanced in leaps and bounds. What if his foundation isn¡¯t stable enough?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no need to worry. Stubborn Shan is a skilled Nascent Soul elder. If he isn¡¯t worried, then little friend Tianyi¡¯s cultivation is fine and has no problems.¡± Sect Master Yun said. ¡°Master, how strong is the Buzhou Immortal Sect?¡± Lanyue asked curiously, all she knew were from legends, and there was no detailed information that she could obtain with her current strength and status. ¡°I don¡¯t know about the overall situation, but I have heard that the Buzhou Immortal Sect has someone near the level of divinity or even at the divinity level.¡± Sect Master Yun chuckled at Lanyue¡¯s uncomprehending look. ¡°Forget, Immortals are far too away from us. How about this, Stubborn Shan can defeat ten people of the same realm as him as long as they are not from first-rate powers.¡± ¡°Ten?¡± Lanyue said, shocked. ¡°Hahaha,¡± Sect Master Yun laughed. ¡°Don''t be fooled by how amiable that old fellow looks. Deep down, he has a prideful temperament as a result of being a member of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. If it weren¡¯t for us facing danger together back in our youth, I, your master, wouldn¡¯t have been able to invite Stubborn Shan to help me refine a Nascent Soul Pill.¡± Chapter 8: Xi Mengfei Tianyi and Elder Shan¡¯s return to the Buzhou Immortal Sect did not stir up any large waves, and they immediately returned to the Jade Peak after walking through the mountain gate of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Only those at the Immortal Realm were allowed to fly into the sect without walking under the mountain gate. ¡°Elder Shan, it¡¯s been nearly a year. I¡¯ll go visit mother. Perhaps she has exited her secluded cultivation.¡± Tianyi said. ¡°Go, go. Grand Elder Xi must miss you. After all, you¡¯ve been away for over a year. You¡¯re already eleven now.¡± Elder Shan said with a smile. Tianyi nodded as he ascended Jade Peak towards the palace situated at the top, Jade Peak Palace. It was a magnificent palace full of aura of supremacy, just from the materials alone used to construct the palace would even cause those first-rate powers to cry tears of blood. Outside the palace gates, Tianyi coughed. ¡°Mother, are you done cultivating?¡± The majestic palace doors opened silently, granting entry to Tianyi. Tianyi naturally walked inside the grand palace. Inside there were no attendants or servants as his mother did not like other people disturbing her cultivation. After walking for a while, Tianyi entered his mother¡¯s room. A woman who seemed to be in her early twenties was lying indolently on a red silk cushioned couch. Her face was peerless, especially those mesmerizing phoenix eyes that Tianyi had inherited. Just one look would make it unforgettable for the rest of your life. Her hair was like snow, long and silky, with half of it styled upwards with various hairpins and two phoenix buyaos on both sides of her head. She was dressed in an elegant violet brocade long-sleeved gown. Red phoenixes were meticulously embroidered into it, making them seem to be alive and capable of flying off at any moment. Compared to other female cultivators, Tianyi¡¯s mother, Xi Mengfei, was dressed far more elaborately. Her current attire was in the style of the princesses of the Xi Dynasty that Xi Mengfei had originated from. Speaking of Xi Mengfei, her story can also be considered a legend. She had been born as an unloved princess of the Xi Dynasty, but by chance, her master, an Immortal elder of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, had happened to pass by and happened to discover her mutated Heavenly Yin Spiritual Vein and brought her back as an inner disciple. From there, despite only starting cultivating at the age of fifteen, she rose up the ranks like a shooting star. At age eighteen, she entered the Foundation Establishment realm, spending only two years in the Qi Gathering Realm. At age twenty-four, she entered the Core Formation Realm. At age thirty-six, she entered the Nascent Soul Realm. Those who entered the Nascent Soul Realm under the age of fifty were candidates that had the highest chances of entering the Immortal Realm. At age forty-three, she entered the Unity Realm, spending even less time than entering the Nascent Soul Realm from Core Formation Realm. At age forty-nine, she entered the Transcending Mortality Realm, the final juncture between a mortal and Immortal. At age fifty-five, Xi Mengfei overcame the Immortal Heavenly Tribulation and ascended into the ranks of immortality, becoming a legend amongst the many disciples of the Buzhou Immortal Sect and all over the Huang Realm. From there, all manners of legends and tales were created as Xi Mengfei rose through the realms of immortality before becoming the publicly acknowledged number one expert in the Huang Realm at age nine hundred and forty-one. ¡°Come here, Yi¡¯er, let mother see your cultivation.¡± Xi Mengfei said without a change in her expression or rather lack of expression. Tianyi nodded and walked towards his mother. Xi Mengfei showed no change in expression as she grabbed Tianyi¡¯s wrist, her hand even whiter than Tianyi¡¯s. Tianyi could not feel anything, but he knew that his mother had injected some of her Immortal qi and Immortal sense into him. A mortal couldn¡¯t feel an Immortal''s existence unless they were in the Transcending Mortality Realm, and that was only when they had the qualification to become an Immortal. ¡°Yi¡¯er, you started martial cultivation, and your progress isn¡¯t bad, already reaching Muscle Changing stage. However, your progress in cultivating your Spiritual Pillars and Spiritual Altar is even greater. Did you have any fortuitous encounters?¡± Mengfei asked as she released Tianyi¡¯s hand.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Tianyi nodded as he went up and sat on a chair near the couch. ¡°I did. When I entered the Fleeting Mist Sect, there was a lightning sea. Although no one else has discovered it, I could sense the tribulation essence within the lightning. It was very faint and weak, so when I cultivated, I absorbed the lightning and turned it into spiritual qi and the tribulation essence within.¡± Tianyi described the process that he used to absorb the tribulation essence as well as the possible supreme natural treasure at the center of the lightning sea. Xi Mengfai stayed silent before she opened her mouth once more. ¡°Next time, if you do something so dangerous, make sure to inform me first; otherwise, if something went wrong, your future may have been destroyed. As for the treasure, that is something I''ll investigate later.¡± Tianyi nodded. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for worrying you.¡± Mengfei sent a glance at Tianyi before closing her eyes once more. ¡°Still, your actions have resulted in a good thing. Your Heavenly Lightning Spiritual Vein has begun to mutate.¡± Mutate? Tianyi furrowed his brows. Heavenly Lightning Spiritual Vein was already a mutated Spiritual Vein. What would it become under further mutation? ¡°Spiritual Veins under certain circumstances can change and improve even further. Naturally, this is only available to those with Heavenly Single Spiritual Veins; double, triple, quadruple, and pentad Spiritual Veins cannot mutate.¡± Mengfai said. ¡°What kind of mutation did I undergo?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°Years ago, when I was still at the Foundation Establishment Realm, I had a fortuitous encounter. I happened to discover an Extreme Nine Yin Pond. I entered the pond hoping to increase my cultivation.¡± Mengfei¡¯s eyelids quivered as she recalled that event. ¡°I nearly died from absorbing too much Yin Qi and destroyed my soul. But I overcame it, and my Heavenly Yin Spiritual Vein became the Heavenly Extreme Yin Spiritual Vein.¡± ¡°So my Heavenly Lightning Spiritual Vein became a Heavenly Tribulation Lightning Spiritual Vein?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°It can be considered so. When you cultivate, if you cannot produce the tribulation essence, your Spiritual Vein will revert to its previous state.¡± Mengfei said. ¡°If I continue to increase the mutation of my Spiritual Vein, will there be any unwanted side effects? Such as suddenly having Heavenly Tribulation strike me from out of nowhere?¡± Tianyi asked. Xi Mengfei opened her eyes, numerous thoughts lurking within her eyes. ¡°I do not know. When I formed my Spiritual Core, the power of the Heavenly Tribulation increased, and so did my future Heavenly Tribulations compared to those of the same realm. But I do not know what will happen if you form a Spiritual Core with tribulation essence. The power of tribulation is the power of the Heavenly Dao, forming a core with the tribulation essence is essentially declaring yourself the Heavenly Dao, like a rebel performing a coup. If you choose this path, your Heavenly Tribulations will be far more dangerous than any other cultivators. Perhaps you should not tread this path. Death is a likely occurrence. Perhaps before you reach the Immortal Realm, your Heavenly Tribulation will have the power of an Immortal¡¯s.¡± Tianyi smiled. ¡°Mother, don¡¯t you always say to cultivate is to go against the will of the heavens and that one should cultivate to their full capabilities? There are already so many rebels in the realm, so what if another rebel tries to overthrow the heavens? Overthrowing the Heavenly Dao, I find it perfect. Mother, you named me Heaven¡¯s Will. I will make my name true. Besides killing some people I don¡¯t like just by calling down heavenly tribulation must feel pretty satisfying.¡± Xi Mengfei stayed silent. ¡°But this path is too dangerous. The chance of your death is too high.¡± Tianyi smiled happily. Since young, his mother had always been expressionless and had a heart set on cultivation. Aside from discussing cultivation with Tianyi, Mengfei hardly concerned herself about other matters. For her to openly worry about Tianyi had never happened before. ¡°Mother, you should already know about my future cultivation plans. My talent isn¡¯t as high as yours, and my comprehension abilities aren''t either. I want to dominate the world like you. That¡¯s why I formulated a new cultivation method in order to increase my strength. Mother, didn¡¯t you approve of it too?¡± Truthfully speaking, Tianyi¡¯s talent in cultivation was already high. He had a Heavenly Lightning Spiritual Vein, which already made him a genius. Even if he didn''t work hard, he would still stand out. But with Sword Empress Xi¡¯s wealth and aid, his cultivation was incredibly smooth, much smoother than hers as she had to fight for all her opportunities, unlike him. She wasn¡¯t a very friendly person and was often time silent, making it hard to form friendships with others. But from the bottom of her heart, she was thankful to the Buzhou Immortal Sect for taking her in as a disciple. ¡°Also, mother, I met an assassin in the Northern Region.¡± As soon as Tianyi said those words, the air seemed to freeze as Mengfei turned her eyes toward him with turbulent emotions behind them. ¡°He said, surnamed Xi go to hell. That assassin looked a few years older than me and had almost the exact same face as mine except the eyes. We noticed each other after we both bid on this item.¡± ¡°Afterwards, when I was cultivating the Dragon Emperor Fist, I felt it was extremely easy and natural. It was like my body had already gone through the steps. I even felt a resonance with a fragment I bought at the auction that led me to interacting with the assassin. Both the fragment and the assassin gave me a very similar feeling, and I hypothesize they might be related to the Dragon Emperor.¡± Tianyi took out the black fragment from his spatial ring as he looked at his mother, whose pupils shrunk as she gazed upon the fragment. ¡°Mother, would you happen to know why I feel this way?¡± Xi Mengfei stayed silent but finally spoke. ¡°I do.¡± Tianyi nodded. ¡°He wouldn¡¯t happen to be my half elder brother and son of the Dragon Emperor, right?¡± Chapter 9: The Dragon Emperor This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Chapter 10: Absorbing the Blood Essence + Poll ¡°The martial way is different from spiritual cultivation. There is no Qi Gathering or Foundation Establishment Realm. Instead, both realms are combined into the Body Transformation Realm. There are six stages in the Body Transformation Realm: Skin Toughening, Muscle Strengthening, Tendon Reinforcement, Bone Refinement, Marrow Enhancement, and Organ Fortification. The first three stages correlate to the Qi Gathering Realm while the latter three correlate to the Foundation Establishment Realm." "Following the cultivation method, you will take in qi to alter your skin, making it more elastic and tougher than bronze. Then you alter your muscles, making them dense and tough, capable of exerting incredible strength and able to store qi within. Afterward, changing the tendon, so it becomes more durable and flexible enough to absorb all stress." The next phase would be to strengthen the bone, making it supple with the strength of steel. From which, the cultivator will experience a qualitative change like a spiritual cultivator entering the Foundation Establishment Realm from the Qi Gathering Realm. After the bones have been altered, the marrows will be fundamentally changed. Despite this not being the last stage, it is the most difficult and dangerous process. Once you reach this stage, new blood that can absorb and retain qi will be circulated throughout the body, slowly altering the body without input." "Once the changes have slowed down, then you can enter the Organ Fortification Stage. This stage is the most arduous and time-consuming process, but once it is done, the body will enter a perfect state that is comparable to a pseudo Core Formation Realm cultivator." "However, if there is a mistake in the alteration process, the body will be imperfect. You will be stuck in the Body Transformation Realm until you can fix the imperfect.¡± Tianyi listened intently as his mother spoke about the early stages of the martial path, her insights greatly deepening Tianyi''s understanding of how to cultivate the Dragon Emperor Fist. ¡°The Dragon Emperor Fist at the early stages is not that outstanding and also requires the blood essence of a dragon after completing the Foundation Establishment. The purer the blood of the dragon, the better. After you finished the perfect Body Transformation, the process can be simply referred to as refining the blood within you to become purer and purer with the end goal of eventually attaining blood similar to the True Dragon. This will continue even after entering the Acupoint Opening Realm, the martial cultivation equivalent of the Core Formation Realm. After each refinement of blood, you will alter your body once more to eventually become a human-shaped dragon." "You were fortunate enough to attain the blood essence of the Dragon Emperor even though the essence had weakened considerably. The Dragon Emperor¡¯s body could be said to be unequaled even compared to True Dragon, and there is no better blood to use to cultivate the Dragon Emperor Fist." "If it were an average cultivator of the Dragon Emperor Fist, they would need to seek out numerous treasures to refine their blood, there is a shortcut, and that is to directly take the blood essence of higher rank dragons. But that is nearly impossible in this day and age, not to mention the chance that your body cannot contain the pureblood essence of a dragon resulting in it exploding. So until you reach the Dragon Emperor¡¯s level, you will not need to worry about treasures or attaining dragon blood until then." Tianyi held his chin. Did that youth know about the blood essence contained within the fragment? If the situation was reversed and Tianyi had been the one who had the blood essence taken away by the youth, he was afraid that he would curse all nine generations of the youth. But even if the blood essence was partially the motive, that did not explain why he knew what Tianyi¡¯s surname was. Tianyi frowned. I shouldn¡¯t let my thoughts wander to him. If he knew that I lost some benefits and harmed my cultivation because I was analyzing him, I¡¯m afraid he would laugh himself to sleep. Better focus on mother¡¯s speech right now. Tianyi continued to listen to his mother speak of martial cultivation, benefiting greatly. ¡°For this process, when you absorb the Dragon Emperor¡¯s blood essence, I will aid you in absorbing it in using the Blood Absorption Ritual. Although you are at the Muscle Strengthening stage, we will skip this stage and directly alter your bone marrows with the blood. Bone marrows produce blood and are the best place for the blood essence to be used. " "Once you absorb the blood essence and use it to alter your bone marrow, the blood it produces will be extremely helpful. You should re-cultivate your skin and muscles with the newly produced blood. Using the changed blood to finish the Body Transformation Realm. It can be considered as saving a huge step in your future cultivation.¡± Tianyi nodded as he was brought to the Jade Lotus Clear Pond. ¡°Mother, are we going to perform the Blood Absorption Ritual using the Jade Lotus Clear Pond?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°Yes, the Jade Clear Spring Water will be helpful in aiding you to retain your consciousness and prevent the blood essence from leaking and being wasted,¡± Mengfei said. Tianyi had an ominous premonition. ¡°Mother, enhancing my blood marrow using the Dragon Emperor¡¯s blood essence won¡¯t be painful, will it?¡± Mengfei looked at Tianyi while tilting her head. ¡°Of course, it will be painful, altering your bone marrow by introducing foreign blood essence. And the blood essence is extremely pure and came from an Immortal, although it is minuscule. You need to direct it to alter your marrow, and if you faint, then ninety-nine percent of it will be wasted.¡±This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Tianyi could only look up in despair. ¡°Mother, setting up the Blood Absorption Ritual will require the formations of the Jade Lotus Clear Pond to be taken down, right? Why don¡¯t we wait until we have come by some treasures? Otherwise, the material used to set up the Jade Lotus Clear Pond will be wasted, right?¡± Mengfei shook her head. ¡°Now that you have embarked on the path of martial cultivation, I have decided to alter the formation. The treasure I can easily save and those I can¡¯t aren''t worth much. Don¡¯t worry. You can rest easy and absorb the blood essence.¡± Tianyi felt himself nearly choking on his saliva. ¡°T-thank you, mother.¡± He felt his teeth chatter as he imagined the pain, but he couldn¡¯t reject his mother¡¯s good intentions. Back on Earth, he wasn¡¯t filial to his mother. At the very least, he cannot disappoint the mother of this life. So Tianyi gritted his teeth and sat on the Immortal Lotus Throne and allowed himself to be submerged. Although his whole body was submerged underwater, Tianyi did not have any trouble breathing or, more accurately; he could absorb the spiritual qi within the Jade Clear Spring Water to substitute for air. Due to the special characteristic of the Jade Clear Spring Water, the light wasn¡¯t refracted, allowing Tianyi to see his mother activating the formation. A blood-red glow could be seen forming, and Tianyi prepared himself for the pain, but nothing happened. Tianyi felt his heightened expectations fall flat, although it was good that the pain hadn¡¯t come, but the feeling of having prepared to take pain only to feel nothing gave birth to a complicated emotion that Tianyi didn¡¯t know how to describe. Then Tianyi saw his mother, who was outside of the pond, hold the fragment and squeeze it like a fruit. A shining droplet that seemed to be made of molten gold dripped into the pond. And in an instant, the formerly clear Jade Clear Spring Water instantly became translucent red while shining gold. Then the pain came, and Tianyi had to grit his teeth in order to not howl in agonizing pain. As for biting the inside of his cheek? You kidding? If Tianyi actually did that, then the inside of his cheek would be missing a chunk of its flesh with how strong his bite strength was. Every pore on Tianyi''s body opened, and from every pore, it felt like tiny needles were being inserted into his body. Not only that, each needle seemed to have been made of molten lava carrying an unbearable heat as it swam within his bloodstream. Tianyi¡¯s fair skin instantly became red like a cooked lobster, and his eyes became teary. The tears lingered at the edge of Tianyi¡¯s eyes that he inherited from his mother and caused one to feel pity with just a glance. Unfortunately, there was no one else, but Xi Mengfei who could see, and her eyes contained no trace of pity as she urged Tianyi to hurry to circulate the revised reversed circulation Marrow Enhancement of the Dragon Emperor Fist. Tianyi could only grit his teeth as he used the spiritual qi inside of his body to guide the torturous lava needles through his bloodstream before making them meld into the marrow within his bones. Once that happened, Tianyi instantly regretted it. Now not only did it feel like he had needle lava for blood, but there were thousands of tiny termites biting into his bones, and each bite felt like a ferocious demon had bitten his body in two! Tianyi really regretted agreeing. What was wrong with slowly cultivating? Although it was slow, it would be stable, and there wouldn''t be any pain that would make one want to be killed instead of suffering. But Tianyi looked up to see his mother looking at him. Although her face was expressionless as usual, Tianyi saw the look in her eyes. It was a look of absolute confidence, not confidence in herself but confidence that her son would overcome the trial before him. As a child Xi Mengfei did not receive the love of her Emperor-Father, and her Consort-Mother only had her Emperor-Father on her mind all day without a single shred of concern for her. She did not understand love, not even the love of her parents¡¯ because she received none. Had it not been for her half-brother, Xi Mengfei would have long died before her master took her in as a Buzhou Immortal Sect disciple. But now, although Xi Mengfei did not realize it, she was showing Tianyi a parent¡¯s love. A love that manifested as faith that her child was special and able to accomplish anything. ¡°That¡¯s cheating,¡± Tianyi muttered to himself. His usual aloof and expressionless mother was showing that much confidence in him. How could he disappoint her? So Tianyi could only grit his teeth and endure the pain and slowly absorb the blood essence that had dissolved in the pond. Each second felt like an hour to Tianyi as his senses had sharpened to the extreme in order to carefully guide the blood essence into the center of his bone and alter his bone marrow. Slowly the Jade Clear Spring Water became clearer and clearer with the red tint disappearing. Tianyi didn¡¯t know how long he was absorbing the blood essence, just that it felt like an eternity. When the pain completely disappeared, Tianyi dazedly looked around only to see that the Jade Clear Spring Water returned to its previous crystal clear state. His brain felt like mush after extended use while resisting against the pain. The Immortal Lotus Throne rose above the water by itself, and Tianyi could see that the Jade Clear Spring Water, although crystal clear, now had a golden aura and glow to it. But Tianyi didn¡¯t dwell on it as he looked around to find his mother walking towards him by stepping onto the water''s surface. ¡°Congratulations, you absorbed over ninety percent of the blood essence.¡± There was a slight hint of pride in Mengfei¡¯s words that even she did not realize. ¡°Hehe,¡± Tianyi made a foolish face as he laughed. He stood up, but before he could even take a step, he stumbled. Luckily his mother was already nearby and caught him. Tianyi, who was being held by Mengfei, discovered that her hands were especially cool. Comparing to the current feverish state of his body, it was a paradise for the young child. Without warning, Tianyi shook away her hand and wrapped his hands around Mengfei¡¯s waist in a great bear hug. He looked up and gave a foolish smile, and giggled. Mengfei was at a loss. Ever since Tianyi had been born, unless she had been careless and allowed Tianyi to get injured, he would usually never cry. As he grew up, he seemed to be far more mature than children his age, never needing her to worry and always behaving like a miniature adult. She had never seen her son show such a childlike expression before. But now, for the first time, her child was hugging her and being clingy with her while giving her a foolish laugh. And now Xi Mengfei discovered the destructive power of cuteness. Her hand couldn¡¯t control itself and began to rub Tianyi¡¯s head like a pet. Days later, when Tianyi recovered his mental faculties, he would seal away that piece of memory deep into his soul. That foolish little boy who was giving a stupid laugh and clinging onto his mother definitely wasn¡¯t him! Chapter 11: Immortal Scripture Repository Within the unknown space appeared three figures, two of them were blurry, and only the central figure had distinct and recognizable features. And surrounding the three figures was the primordial universe with numerous gaseous clouds of myriad colors. This was the inner world of Tianyi, where he cultivated the Three Pure True Self Visualization Technique. It did not exist physically inside of his body nor his soul, but an unknown space. Compared to before, there was a noticeable change this time. Although the two figures were still blurry, the emperor had gained a flesh-colored skin tone like a thin layer of paint had been added. His hair now had a translucent black layer above the stone-colored hair. But what changed the most were the pupils. They now radiated a golden color that seemed to pierce through all. When Tianyi had trained in the Three Pure True Self Visualization technique after absorbing the blood essence, the changes had already occurred. Tianyi further confirmed the fact that the three figures were connected to him deeply. When Tianyi exited his inner world, his pupils flashed with golden light like the emperor¡¯s before it quickly disappeared. ¡°Hell, this is really boring. Cultivating day in and day out, if I cultivate any more, I¡¯m going to have mold growing on me!¡± Tianyi said as he stood up from the Immortal Lotus Throne. With a simple leap without using any spiritual qi, Tianyi leaped out of the Jade Lotus Clear Pond. His martial cultivation has already reached the stage where he was able to leap a hundred meters without using spiritual qi at all. After absorbing the blood essence, Tianyi spent countless days cultivating the Dragon Emperor Fist. It was not that he was extremely dedicated to the Dragon Emperor Fist, but the blood introduced into his body was saturating his body with unneeded excess qi. If Tianyi didn¡¯t cultivate and use the excess energy, it would eventually accumulate in his body before detonating. In other words, Tianyi was a walking bomb that could go off anytime. After completing the Tendon Reinforcement stage and entering the Bone Refinement Stage, Tianyi could finally relax. Although there was still an excessive amount of energy, it wouldn¡¯t be to the point where he had to cultivate all day to not waste the blood essence or have his mother help him extract the energy. But now Tianyi finally had time! Tianyi stepped on his flying sword and flew to the Immortal Scripture Repository. There Tianyi saw numerous elders and disciples outside and milling about. The Immortal Scripture Repository was a pagoda with nine floors and was surrounded by massive amounts of formation both to maintain and protect it. As it contained numerous cultivation manuals, techniques, and arts, it was one of the busiest places in the whole Buzhou Immortal Sect. Aside from a few secret manuals, techniques, or arts that were held in the hands of the Immortal Elders, it could be said that all the knowledge of the Buzhou Immortal Sect was concentrated here. Tianyi moved past the numerous disciples, ignoring their inquiring gaze, and showed his jade token to the two guarding Earth Immortals, who nodded and allowed him entrance. ¡°Although you have Grand Elder Xi¡¯s token, you are still only a Foundation Establishment Cultivator. You can only access the third level.¡± Tianyi bowed in thanks before entering the Immortal Scripture Repository. As soon as Tianyi entered, his eyes were greeted by the sight of numerous shelves packed full of books and protected by numerous formations to prevent theft and protect the books themselves. Although Tianyi was a disciple of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, he had actually not visited the Immortal Scripture Repository all that much. All his cultivation techniques had been given to him directly by his mother, so he had not really seen the need to visit. The sword art he cultivated in, the Heartless Sword Art created by his mother, was superior to at least all the other sword arts in the Immortal Scripture Repository. Probably only those on the highest and ninth level could compare. As the Heartless Sword Art''s creator, his mother had full control of who could and couldn¡¯t be taught. Tianyi was the only person in all the Huang Realm that knew the Heartless Sword Art aside from his mother, Sword Empress Xi. Tianyi¡¯s interest was piqued as he read the names of one of the books. ¡°Supreme Domination Art? Looks interesting.¡± However, after flipping a few pages, Tianyi immediately shut the book closed and returned it to the shelf, his face completely black. ¡°Goddammit, what kind of name is Supreme Domination Art?¡± The Supreme Cultivation Art was a dual cultivation method. Not only did it need two people to cultivate at once, they needed to have sex at the same time, and if that were it, Tianyi wouldn¡¯t have minded so much, but it required the user to be in an orgy. The larger, the better. The only thing that Tianyi could praise it was that it was progressive. There was a version for the male and female to cultivate. Tianyi lost interest in the first level and moved all the way to the third level, which corresponded to the Core Formation realm. The first level had manuals that were in the Qi Gathering Realm. The second level had manuals that were in the Foundation Establishment Realm and the corresponding Qi Gathering Realm manuals. The third level had Core Formation Realm manuals and the corresponding lower manuals of the lower realm. All nine levels were arranged this way. If a cultivator had to jump between levels to find the corresponding manuals, that would just be ridiculous. There were many manuals that didn¡¯t have a manual at the lower realm, some needed one to be at the certain realm before they could cultivate in it. Naturally, there were incomplete manuals from the primordial era hidden within. Sometimes a few disciples would even cultivate in these incomplete manuals would unearth the true power within. Tianyi released his spiritual senses. Although one could only normally use spiritual senses when he reached the Core Formation stage, this was mainly due to the strengthened soul when he once advanced his realm. As Tianyi¡¯s Three Pure True Self Visualization Technique had improved due to absorbing the blood essence, his soul had reached the threshold of an average Core Formation cultivator, allowing him to gain and use his spiritual sense. Tianyi wasn¡¯t surprised when he found the manual for the Dragon Emperor Fist. Although it was an immortal level cultivation method, due to all the sects working together to extract the knowledge from the Dragon Emperor¡¯s clones, all the sects had it, so it was pointless to hide it like a treasure. ¡°Dragon Slaying Saber Art, the Dragon Emperor¡¯s most profound technique. With one swing, he was capable of beheading ten dragons. Unfortunately, I¡¯m not interested in sabers.¡±Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°Coiling Viper Fang, how insidious. Refining one¡¯s nails with poison and adding the poison attribute to one¡¯s attack. The Dragon Emperor sure was deceitful despite his overbearing name. Maybe it was a technique he learned early in his cultivation and never used once in his later life.¡± ¡°Heaven Suppressing Palm Art. Oh, this looks interesting. With one palm, all under heavens must bend under. Not bad, although this wasn¡¯t what I was looking for, I can try cultivating this palm art.¡± ¡°Once Clawed Dragon Sword Art, using dominating force in one¡¯s sword and slicing everything in its path. I like it. I can cultivate this and use it to help me comprehend mother¡¯s Heartless Sword Arts.¡± ¡°Dragon and Phoenix Synergy Art sounds interesting... why is this another dual cultivation technique!? At least it doesn¡¯t require an orgy this time.¡± Tianyi spent over six hours looking through all the books before he concluded with no results. ¡°Let alone the Dragon Emperor¡¯s Visualization Technique, if he even had one, I can¡¯t find any other Visualization Techniques at all. Perhaps Visualization Techniques are actually very precious and rare?¡± Tianyi muttered to himself. Although Tianyi treated the Three Pure True Self Visualization Technique as his cheat and trump card, it was only now that he had realized how precious a Visualization Technique might be. Good thing I told no one. Tianyi memorized the Heaven Suppressing Palm Art and the One Clawed Dragon Sword Art before walking down the stairs and out of the Immortal Scripture Repository. The sun had only just started to dip, so the sky was still bright with only a hint of redness in it. Should I walk around a bit more? This is a rare chance to relax. After all, maybe I should go to the armory and check out some treasured swords or maybe go to the pill hall.¡¯ Just as Tianyi was deciding, someone called out to him. ¡°Senior Brother.¡± Tianyi gave the young man that addressed him as senior brother a look-over. He had long hair that flowed in the breeze and an above-average face with an aura of confidence that increased his attractiveness. Tianyi noticed the blue-edged robe that the young man was wearing, making the youth a core disciple like himself. However, he was of a higher standing since he was the personal disciple of his mother, a grand elder of the sect. ¡°Yes?¡± Tianyi habitually held his hand behind his back. He would have looked like an unfathomable senior but coupled with his age and childish looks, made him look like a young child playing an adult. ¡°Ah, that¡¯s Senior Brother Sima Ming!¡± ¡°I heard that he has just passed his tribulations and entered the Foundation Establishment Realm!¡± ¡°Indeed, having just reached the age of nineteen and entering the Foundation Establishment stage, what a genius.¡± ¡°Not only that, I heard that his family are ordinary mortals. To have these accomplishments with no family supporting him at his age indeed makes him a genius! I heard he was even eyed by many elders when he passed the Disciple Acceptance Ceremony.¡± ¡°Ah, but the little prince looks so adorable too.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you mean the little prince is a genius too?¡± ¡°Shut up! You don¡¯t know anything about cuteness, we¡¯ll only have a few more years before the little prince grows up, and we won¡¯t be able to admire his cute looks anymore!¡± Tianyi naturally heard these words. Although he was unwilling, he was quite helpless at his own childish looks. He could only hope the years would go faster and that he would mature faster. ¡°Senior Brother, I have heard that you are a genius of the sword. My master told me that I need to spar with others in order to increase my understanding of the sword. Might I request a spar?¡± Sima Ming said as he cupped his fist. Tianyi, however, remained expressionless. This guy, asking a spar in front of all these people. Does he want to use me as a stepping stone? No, probably not. I hardly leave Jade Peak, and he must have seen me, so he jumped at the chance to request a spar. However, calling me a genius of the sword. I think it''s just because I train in the Heartless Sword Art, so people mistakenly believe I am a genius in the sword. Although I like the sword, I don¡¯t feel like I have any true genius in it. Talent, yes. Genius, no. ¡°Since Brother Sima has already said this much, I¡¯ll accept.¡± Tianyi and Sima Ming moved to an open area close to the Immortal Scripture Repository, and they both drew their swords. ¡°Please do not laugh at my meager skills,¡± Tianyi said, ¡°Please advise.¡± Sima Ming said. Sima Ming struck first as he made a piercing move that resembled a meteor. Tianyi naturally reacted in a quick manner and tilted his sword, so the flat of the sword made Sima Ming¡¯s sword slide off to the side, deflecting the strike before countering with a simple slash. Sima Ying frowned. His sword strike had been redirected, and thus his momentum was kept, not lost. If he followed the momentum, he was just delivering his body to be chopped. Even if Tianyi¡¯s sword didn¡¯t move, Sima Ying would just impale himself on Tiayi''s sword edge. He gritted his teeth and circulated his qi, and jumped over the sword strike. Tianyi leisurely turned around to look at Sima Ying. This spar could be considered competition to compare their sword skills, and that counterattack had already forced him to use his qi, making him lose the spar. Sima Ming didn''t think that the first clash would already cause him to lose. ¡°Senior Brother Xi¡¯s skills have really impressed me, catching me off guard.¡± Tianyi quirked his brows. Is this guy saying that I won only because I surprised him? Nevermind, although his sword strike is fast, the Heartless Sword Art¡¯s foundation is actually a formation. At the pinnacle of formation, it is said a separate world can be formed. Although I only have reached the beginner stage in the Heartless Sword, this is more than enough to beat Sima Ying and his Sirius Sword Arts. Thus Tianyi made a ¡°, please go on¡± gesture and allowed his sword to relax at his side. However, Sima Ying was already thinking through numerous calculations. That sword strike that Xi Tianyi used to deflect and strike back, although it seems to be full of holes, perfectly countered my strike. It¡¯s impossible for the Heartless Sword Art to have a specialized move to counter the Sirius Sword Art¡¯s Meteor Star Strike. Was it a coincidence or... Although the Heartless Sword Art was famed under all heavens, most of those who have faced it have already fallen under its sword arts. Only those of Immortal Realm have knowledge concerning the exact details of the Heartless Sword Arts, and thus not many people actually knew much about it except that it''s the famed number one sword art. This time, Sima Ying started off with a few moves that were not fully committed. Just as quickly as he struck, he could just as easily pull back. But Tianyi¡¯s moves were like a steel wall allowing none of his moves to even make a dent in Tianyi¡¯s defense. Tianyi seeing that they were not making progress with how careful Sima Ying was, stepped forward. Instantly Sima Ying felt that the number of swords strikes increased fourfold like Tianyi held four swords instead of one. The closer you were to a user of the Heartless Sword Art, the more embroiled you were in their domain. Sima Ying felt his back become drenched in a cold sweat as he felt sword strikes coming from his side. Even though Tianyi was in front of him, he could even see the strikes surrounding him from all sides. It was as if countless invisible Tianyis were surrounding him from numerous sides. He gritted his teeth, and his body seemed to become ethereal yet solid. He suddenly appeared behind Tianyi and struck out eight times. This was the Canis Eight Star Sword Strikes, you can see but not touch me, but I can still hit you! Tianyi didn¡¯t turn around, and Sima Ying felt his spirit become elated. Although he had not mastered the move and it would cause him internal injuries, but to defeat the son of Sword Empress Xi, it was all worth it. But Sima Ying suddenly stoped in a cold sweat. Without him noticing and without Tianyi turning around, the tip of Tianyi''s sword was already only a hair''s breadth away from Sima Ying¡¯s adam''s apple before he even noticed. Had he taken one more step, he would¡¯ve pierced himself on Tianyi¡¯s sword. ¡°I lost.¡± Sima Ying collapsed onto the ground, his confidence broken. ¡°Had you not have used that last move and showed so many openings, you would not have lost as quickly.¡± Tianyi said as he sheathed his sword and clasped his hands behind his back. He looked from high above at the kneeling Sima Ying, but the effect was ruined by his short body. His eye level was only slightly higher than Sima Ying''s. ¡°Thanking Senior Brother Xi for this guidance.¡± I always wanted to act like an expert and be cool. I can already hear the crowd¡¯s admiration! Although I beat up Sima Ying, the elder behind him won¡¯t find trouble for me. Even if his master is an Elder, my mother is the Grand Elder, even though she doesn''t technically hold any power. Right? Chapter 12: Great Xi Dynasty This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Chapter 13: Tribulation Lightning Spiritual Vein This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Chapter 14: Heavenly Tribulation If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
Chapter 15: Jiang Daoyi Within Tianyi¡¯s inner world, the three figures changed once more. Although the emperor appeared the same, the light of wisdom in his eyes could not be hidden. It was as if a man had been encased in stone and was slowly breaking out of its shell. The figure on its right, although there was no change in form, flashes of lightning began to occur inside the clouds surrounding it as well as the occasional roar of thunder. The figure on its left was still a mass of clouds, but it was in the form of coiling rope or worm. The space that contained them had expanded by a fair bit. Although the surrounding primordial clouds were still as dense and ever-changing as before, starlight could be seen through them. Tianyi opened his eyes. ¡°Although the emperor changed when I absorbed the Dragon Emperor¡¯s blood essence, the changes this time compared to that time are more evident. Is it because I upgraded my Spiritual Vein, or was it because I comprehended more about myself?¡± Three Pure True Self Visualization Technique, Tianyi still didn¡¯t know where the technique originated from except that it had appeared in his head when he began cultivating the Primordial Heavenly Scripture. Although Tianyi had apprehension about cultivating it at first but with the massive advantages it brought Tianyi, he was unable not to cultivate it. As the name suggested, it generated three selves inside Tianyi, but Tianyi didn¡¯t know what the three represented. Were they aspects of his character, possible future selves, or even representing his soul, mind, body? There was simply not enough information. Tianyi had a feeling that increasing the strength of his soul wasn¡¯t the only ability the technique had. Tianyi had already tried to investigate the origins of the visualization technique. When the words Three Pure came up, it naturally referred to the Three Pure Ones or the Three Pristines. First was the Lord of Primordial Beginnings, the one closest to the beginning and associated with the primordial creation. The Primordial Heavenly Scripture Tianyi cultivated was said to be of his lineage. The second was the Lord of the Numinous Treasure, the one most associated with Yin Yang principles. The third was the Lord of Way and Virtues, said to be the founder of cultivation and said to be the teacher of all beings. Aside from some basic information concerning their myths, Tianyi could not discover any detailed information concerning the Three Pure Ones. Rather it was the Jade Emperor and the Immortal Courts that had more records to the point that the Buzhou Immortal Sect had the Scripture the Immortal Court soldiers commonly cultivated in as well as secret realms that were related to the Immortal Court. Dispersing his wayward thoughts, Tianyi reigned in the majesty of the tribulation essence within him. It had taken him only a day to heal from his injuries, he could have taken a few days to heal naturally with his own powers, but Tianyi just popped some pills like candy to aid in his healing. Concealed Vitality Pill, although it wasn¡¯t an Immortal ranked pill and was a spiritual pill instead. That didn¡¯t mean it wasn''t valuable. The Concealed Vitality Pill was something that even Unity realm Venerable would covet. The pill''s medicinal power would flow throughout the body and gently heal the taker of the pill. What¡¯s more, it could even be ingested early, and the healing properties would be concealed within the body only to erupt when the ingester becomes injured. For Tianyi to pop even one to heal an injury that would need only a few days to heal naturally, those Unity Realm Venerables probably wouldn''t be able to hold themselves from scolding at how much a wastrel Tianyi was. Tianyi¡¯s response? ¡°So what if I¡¯m a wastrel? My mother is the most powerful expert in the world right now. If I could take the effect of an Immortal rank pill, I would have eaten that instead.¡± Tianyi stood up and gave his body a few stretches. Although his body wouldn¡¯t be sore or rusty from sitting for long periods of time anymore, it was still a habit that Tianyi retained. ¡°I¡¯ve been consolidating my foundation for quite a bit. I should see mother for a bit.¡± Then he looked up to see the giant hole in the ceiling. ¡°Mother and Emperor-Uncle won¡¯t blame me for destroying the ceiling, right?¡± ¡°Your highness, Sword Empress Xi and his majesty have ordered this slave to lead you to them once you exited.¡± Outside the door, a eunuch said. Tianyi gave a stiff smile. They wouldn¡¯t really blame me, right? Maybe they are just concerned about me, yeah that¡¯s right. Tianyi quickly arrived in the Xi Emperor''s study room, and inside the study room were his mother and his emperor-uncle. But what surprised Tianyi was actually the appearance of the girl who had reminded him of his time back on Earth also being there. In battle, the one who has the initiative has the upper hand! I¡¯ll strike first! Before Mengfei or the Xi Emperor could say anything, Tianyi already cupped his fist and bowed. ¡°My apologies Emperor-Uncle, while cultivating, I made a breakthrough accidentally triggering the Heavenly Tribulation. The ceiling was destroyed due to my negligence.¡± As for asking for punishment? Hah! Tianyi naturally wouldn¡¯t ask for punishment. He was just worried that because the palace belonged to his Emperor-Uncle, his mother might punish him. But if he apologized first before they blamed him, then it would hard for them to punish him. He was still a child right now, after all. Both Mengfei and the Xi Emperor were stunned at Tianyi¡¯s words. The thought of punishing Tianyi hadn¡¯t even crossed their minds. But the Xi Emperor naturally felt happy, such a polite and well-mannered nephew. Disregarding his status and apologizing to him, who was on the lower end in status despite his seniority, naturally made Xi Emperor feel even greater intimacy to this nephew he had only seen a few times. ¡°Small matter, it¡¯s a small matter. Do not put it to your mind. It was something that couldn¡¯t be helped.¡± The Xi Emperor said with a laugh. Tianyi gave an apologetic smile before turning to his mother. ¡®Yi¡¯er, what happened?¡¯ Seeing that his mother was not asking about the ceiling, Tianyi released a sigh of relief. He replied to his mother using his spiritual sense. "Mother, last night I gained enlightenment on the nature of tribulation essence, and my Lightning Spiritual Vein mutated into the Tribulation Lightning Spiritual Vein." Mengfei frowned. Back when she mutated her Heavenly Yin Spiritual Vein into the Heavenly Extreme Yin Spiritual Vein, there was no Heavenly Tribulation. Yet when her son mutated his Spiritual Vein, a Heavenly Tribulation occurred. "Yi¡¯er, is your body okay? Do you feel any aftereffects from the Heavenly Tribulation or your Spiritual Vein?¡± "No, mother, I feel perfectly fine. In fact, the rate of absorption is even faster now, and I feel like I gained some insights into lightning type concepts."Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Xi Mengfei stayed silent. Perhaps it was because of the unique nature of Tianyi¡¯s mutated Spiritual Vein that incurred the Heavenly Tribulation. But Mengfei couldn¡¯t help but worry. She didn¡¯t have the necessary knowledge, but perhaps the seniors back at the sect could. "Mother, why do I feel Emperor-Uncle is especially shiny today?" Tianyi asked as his eyes roamed to his Emperor-Uncle. It was hard not to, especially with the flashy golden aura around him. "Shiny? Is that light golden and seems to stick on Emperor-uncle like a second skin?" Tianyi confirmed that it was. "That is Karmic Virtue." "Karmic Virtue?" ¡°Karmic Virtue is the blessing of living beings in the world. Karmic Virtue has many uses. The most basic and useful one is increasing one¡¯s luck. I¡¯ve said before that Emperor-Uncle is a good emperor. He has managed the Xi Dynasty well, preventing the deaths of millions of citizens allowing him to attain this much Karmic Virtue." Tianyi nodded in understanding. "But Karmic Virtue can only be detected by Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, who have started to harmonize oneself and heaven and earth." Tianyi blinked. "Then why can I detect it? The only change recently is my Heavenly Tribulation Lightning Spiritual Vein." Mengfei was stumped as well. "I do not know, but perhaps a senior at the sect will know. I cannot discern any harmful effects, so it should be fine as it is. Yi¡¯er, if you encounter anyone with a heavy aura of Karmic Sin, you should be wary of that person." Since Tianyi could detect Karmic Virtue, there was no reason he couldn''t detect Karmic Sin. As for why Tianyi should be wary, there was nothing that needed to be said. ¡°Mother, Emperor-Uncle, is there a reason for summoning me here?¡± After finishing the conversation with his mother, Tianyi asked. Although the conversation took a few moments, it was still quite quick with how fast cultivators thought, especially with how much information could be conveyed through spiritual sense. Conversing with spiritual sense was actually much faster than just straight talking. The Xi Emperor might have detected it, but he stayed silent and acted as if he hadn¡¯t seen it, already guessing that it concerned some secrets or the Heavenly Tribulation. The Xi Emperor smiled and chuckled. ¡°Nephew Tianyi, it is not we that have summoned you but your mother.¡± Tianyi directed his look towards his mother and then at the girl standing next to her. ¡°Yi¡¯er you are a growing boy, it is natural that you start noticing the opposite sex. Soon you will reach marriageable age.¡± Tianyi stilted as he looked at the girl once more. He noticed that her face was a bit pale. Mother didn¡¯t suddenly decide to find a girl for me to marry, right? ¡°I noticed you staring at this girl¡­¡± Mengfei paused as if not knowing what to say about her son suddenly being smitten by a girl. ¡°Jiang Daoyi, the third daughter of Duke Qi.¡± The Xi Emperor helpfully added. ¡°Jiang Daoyi, the third daughter of Duke Qi,¡± Mengfei repeated. ¡°...¡± Tianyi. ¡°It is fate that you share the same character in your name. So I asked Emperor-Uncle to bestow her unto you as a concubine.¡± Mengfei finished. ¡°...¡± Tianyi. His hands were slowly raised before he covered his face with them. ¡°Mother, I¡¯m not even twelve yet. Why of all things did you look for a concubine for me? Did you even ask if she was willing?¡± Mengfei revealed confusion in her eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t know when I will enter secluded cultivation again. When I exit my next secluded cultivation, Yi¡¯er may already be of age. If I don¡¯t find a woman for you now, when will I? She is a subject, and we are the rulers. There is no issue.¡± Tianyi took a few deep breaths. ¡°Mother, right now, I just want to focus on cultivation. We, cultivators, have long lives, and eventually, I will reach Immortality. I feel that waiting a bit longer won¡¯t change much. We are cultivators, not mortals.¡± Tianyi said but then added some more words after a moment. ¡°I don¡¯t want concubines, only a wife. I feel that having more than one woman is too tiring.¡± ¡°Which man doesn¡¯t have three wives, four concubines. A man may say words of having only one wife or love like I will only cherish you this lifetime, but those are just words of passion. Emperor-Father was like this. Your Emperor-Uncle is also like this. This world is always more forgiving towards the fickleness of men.¡± Mengfei said. Fuck! Why do I feel so stifled!? It should be my enemies and rivals making me feel stifled, not my own mother! Motherfu-...wait, Tianyi, don¡¯t go there. That is your mother. Tianyi¡¯s eyes met with his Emperor-Uncles eyes, who just so happened to look over, just as quickly Emperor-Uncle averted his gaze, making Tianyi feel even more stifled. Goddammit! What are you feeling guilty for? You¡¯re the goddamn emperor. If you did something, openly admit it! No one will rebuke you! And also, mother, even after almost a thousand years, why do you still have so many habits and common sense from when you were an imperial princess? ¡°Mother, although polyamory isn¡¯t exactly uncommon in the cultivation world, most Dao companions are only comprised of two people.¡± Tianyi finally said as his hands slid down his face as he looked at his expressionless mother. ¡°Really?¡± Mengfei said, surprised. ¡°Mother, have you not attended any Dao Companion Union Ceremony or even weddings?¡± Tianyi finally asked, truly shocked at his mother¡¯s lack of knowledge concerning this. ¡°I have received a few invitations, but on the day of the ceremony, I¡¯m usually in secluded cultivation and missed it,¡± Mengfei said. ¡°All of them?¡± Tianyi asked, half in disbelief. Mengfei nodded. ¡°Eventually, I stopped receiving the invitations.¡± Tianyi resisted the urge to facepalm once more. How is mother¡¯s interpersonal relationship still this good despite all the mistakes she made? Mother¡¯s master must have grown a lot of white hairs managing mother¡¯s relationships with the other sect members. ¡°Yi¡¯er you sure you don¡¯t want this girl as your concubine? You were staring at her in a daze at the banquet.¡± Mengfei asked once more. Tianyi felt his face pale and redden at the same time. I wasn¡¯t staring because I gained a crush, okay? ¡°Mother, at this moment, I absolutely do not want a concubine at this time...or any time, really!¡± Although the allure of a harem is great and all, but for a person like me, it sounds like too much work reaching out to so many people. Mengfei didn¡¯t show any expression at Tianyi¡¯s rejection and instead nodded. ¡°If it is your choice, very well. Emperor-Brother, please send this girl back.¡± At this moment, the Xi Emperor coughed into his fist. ¡°Actually... we sent out an imperial decree for the third daughter of Duke Qi. As you know, an emperor¡¯s decree cannot be easily rescinded, and if she were to be sent back like this, her reputation would be ruined, and she would likely never be able to marry in this life.¡± Tianyi only had two words in his head right now. Pig Teammate! ¡°This¡­¡± Tianyi saw the unconcerned look on his mother¡¯s face and internally sighed. ¡°How about this, how about we test Miss Jiang¡¯s Spiritual Veins. If they are good, we can bring her back to the Buzhou Immortal Sect with us.¡± And suppose Jiang Daoyi¡¯s Spiritual Veins were unsuited for cultivation. In that case, Tianyi could only ask Emperor-Uncle to take extra care of her and reimburse his Emperor-Uncle for rescinding his decree. Well, his mother will. It wasn¡¯t his fault this happened in the first place. It was all his mother¡¯s idea. The Xi Emperor nodded. In truth, he felt that Jiang Daoyi¡¯s Spiritual Veins would not be too outstanding. Otherwise, Duke Qi would have already allowed his third daughter to cultivate. Her results should be even more outstanding than Jiang Qingwa if she had the potential to be accepted into the Buzhou Immortal Sect. ¡°Eunuch Mu, go retrieve and Spiritual Vein Testing Orb.¡± The Xi Emperor said to his personal eunuch. ¡°No need,¡± Mengfei said as she held Jiang Daoyi¡¯s wrist in her hand and sent a wisp of her immortal qi into her. Mengfei¡¯s eyes furrowed a bit before relaxing again. ¡°Heavenly Water Spiritual Vein.¡± Tianyi was happy when he heard Heavenly Spiritual Vein, but when he heard the word water afterward, his face immediately turned solemn. ¡°This¡­¡± Tianyi didn¡¯t know what to say. ¡°Impossible, I have Pentad Spiritual Veins.¡± Jiang Daoyi finally spoke. Tianyi felt his ear twitch at the pleasant sound of her voice. When Jiang Daoyi was young, she too thought of gaining status by cultivating. Unfortunately, she tested for the most useless Spiritual Veins. She could only accept her fate of being an invisible person in her own home. As for martial cultivation? The noble family of the Great Xi Dynasty did not allow their children to cultivate the martial way unless they had good Spiritual Veins first. ¡°Her Spiritual Veins were hidden by a spell.¡± Mengfei simply said. ¡°Someone must have cast it on her before she was tested.¡± The Xi Emperor thought for a moment. ¡°I heard that the Duke Qi once had a concubine who was a former Core Formation realm Master, but her core was shattered, severing her Immortal path.¡± Tianyi sighed. ¡°Mother, how about you accept Miss Jiang as your disciple? I feel that Jade Peak is a bit lonely. It¡¯ll be good to have a junior sister to liven it up.¡± Mengfei thought for a moment before nodding. The Xi Emperor couldn¡¯t help but be slightly jealous of Jiang Daoyi. He has asked his sister to take his son as her disciple, but she refused and said that with his Spiritual Vein, getting accepted was almost a sure thing. As for his future accomplishment, it would be all up to him. And now Jiang Daoyi, who would have likely been turned into a Living Pill if her Spiritual Veins were to be leaked out, had her fortunes reversed. ¡°Emperor-Uncle, please keep Miss Jiang¡¯s Spiritual Veins a secret. After all, we don¡¯t want those of ill intent to get any needless thoughts.¡± ¡°Naturally,¡± The Xi Emperor replied. Chapter 16: Living Pill This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Chapter 17: Shopping The Shopkeeper of the Phoenix Jade Store quickly arrived at the front door to greet the noble personage. He was a willowy man with greying hair, but the smile on his face was exceptionally welcoming and harmless. His sharp eyes took in the detail of the carriage. Although it was a plain carriage from a single glance, his discerning eyes could make out the Hornless Dragon Wood that was used to construct the carriage and the subtle formations that were carved onto it. Aside from the imperial family, afraid that only the dukes and marquis were able to afford such a luxurious carriage. The shopkeeper sucked in a cold breath when a child wearing purple robes and white a mantle with a gold coronet on his head stepped out. Aside from the imperial family, no one else was allowed to wear a coronet with dragon engravings in the Xi Dynasty. But more than that, he was shocked by the child¡¯s beauty, especially those phoenix eyes of his. Which prince is this? Could it be the legendary ninth prince? No, the ninth prince should be older than this, perhaps a son of one of the princes? The child was naturally Tianyi. He turned back and spoke to Daoyi. ¡°Junior Sister, how about we pick a gift for my mother together? Mother doesn¡¯t receive many gifts, so if she receives a gift from you, her newest disciple, I¡¯m sure she will be happy.¡± Tianyi said. Daoyi shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t have much. I can¡¯t afford the items here.¡± Tianyi just laughed. ¡°No worries, I¡¯ll foot the bill for now.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± Daoyi started to speak, but Tianyi cut her off. ¡°The items here aren¡¯t that expensive. If you really don¡¯t want to owe me, just repay back when you receive your monthly stipend of spirit stones. As for the quality of stuff here, it¡¯s the thought that matters. My mother has numerous treasures that could allow her to purchase the whole dynasty if she wanted. Just pick a gift with sincerity.¡± Tianyi said. Jiang Daoyi still looked reluctant, but after Tianyi convinced her some more, she finally nodded and stepped down from the carriage. ¡°Shopkeeper, bring out your most beautiful pieces of jewelry. It doesn¡¯t have to be of high rank. It just needs to be beautiful.¡± The shopkeeper happily nodded as he heard this and led Tianyi and Daoyi along with eunuch Gao, who had changed into inconspicuous clothing to hide his identity, towards a private room. Tianyi stopped momentarily as he looked around him. ¡°Your highness?¡± Daoyi asked, confused as to why Tianyi suddenly stopped. Tianyi didn¡¯t reply as he sent out his spiritual senses, only to find nothing. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I thought I felt killing intent for a moment. And Junior Sister, how many times do I have to tell you? Call me senior brother.¡± ¡°This...I¡¯m afraid that this isn¡¯t proper. I haven¡¯t officially been accepted as the Sword Empress¡¯s disciple yet.¡± Daoyi said. Tianyi just waved his hand. ¡°It¡¯s only a matter of formality.¡± He said as they were brought into a private room where four servants quickly brought some refreshments and snacks to Tianyi and Daoyi, who sat down on chairs. Very soon, trays upon trays of all sorts of hairpins, bracelets, earrings, necklaces, and various other sorts of jewelry were brought up to Tianyi to browse. Daoyi sat on the side, trying to distance herself from purchasing anything. ¡°This is a jade hairpin made from Peacock Essence Jade and is a Foundation Establishment ranked artifact, capable of blocking and deflecting attacks from Foundation Establishment Realm experts and also able to heal minor wounds.¡± The shopkeeper said; he was rather proud of this piece of jewelry. Aside from their shop, no other stores were able to sell Foundation Establishment ranked artifacts. Tianyi went into deep thought as he saw this. ¡°Shopkeeper, can this artifact be activated without qi?¡± The shopkeeper paused as Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator himself, and one filled with a myriad of life experiences, he was naturally able to put two and two together. ¡°This one can¡¯t, but we do have jewelry of the same rank and materials...just that it¡¯s not as beautiful.¡± Tianyi waved his hand. ¡°Bring it out for me to see.¡± Very soon, an azure-colored jade bracelet was brought out. There were hints of white marbling throughout the delicate-looking bracelet looking especially pleasing, along with sculpted sparrows on it. ¡°This Peacock Essence Jade Bracelet doesn¡¯t need any qi to activate it and can block an attack from a Foundation Establishment Realm expert, but it does not have a healing effect.¡± Tianyi motioned for it to be brought up, and once it was, he directly held it in his hand, inspecting it. ¡°Not bad, although it can only block the attacks of an average early Foundation Establishment Realm expert. Speak your price.¡± The shopkeeper found himself shocked at how accurate Tianyi¡¯s analysis was but soon quickly recovered. Sure enough, a prince, what good treasure hasn¡¯t he seen, especially with a Nascent Soul Realm emperor for a father or grandfather. ¡°5000 low-quality spirit stones.¡± The shopkeeper said. ¡°Deal.¡± The shopkeeper was shocked at how quickly Tianyi agreed without even trying to barter, but soon his insides were filled with delight. If he did well, the portion of spirit stones that would belong to him would be much more than all the previous months combined. Very soon, even more pieces of jewelry were brought out. In the end, Tianyi bought a silver buyao hairpin, the material was good, but due to improper handling, the artifact was stuck at the Qi Gathering Realm. ¡°Honored guest, we do have one more treasure.¡± The shopkeeper said, a bit disappointed that Tianyi had only bought two items. ¡°Oh? Then why have you not brought it out before?¡± Tianyi asked. The shopkeeper smiled. ¡°The hairpin is meticulously crafted, and we used a lot of treasures just that...we used an identified material that ruined the artifact. Once the artifact was forged, the unknown material sucked away all the spirit qi of the other materials.¡± Tianyi had his interest peaked. Mysterious materials meant a chance to strike gold while looking for coal. Perhaps it might even be a treasure that might interest his mother. ¡°Bring it forward.¡± The shopkeeper immediately ordered the servants to bring that artifact up. Very soon, a servant boy in the Qi Gathering Realm brought a tray where a gold buyao lay on a plush red cushion. As soon as Tianyi saw it, he felt an incredible sense of familiarity and immediately shivered. My luck can be considered good, right? I found another body fragment of the Dragon Emperor, but why can¡¯t I feel happy at all!?The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Seeing Tianyi¡¯s dark face, the shopkeeper immediately thought he had done something wrong and ordered the servant boy to return the artifact. ¡°Stop,¡± Tianyi ordered. The Qi Gathering Realm servant stopped and looked at the shopkeeper for instructions while the shopkeeper looked at Tianyi, who ordered the buyao to be brought to him. Tianyi inspected the buyao in his hand. It was made of gold-like metal, but the mysterious material naturally wasn''t the gold but the pearl-like stones that dangled from it. Not just one but three of them, although all of them looked to be smaller than the fragment he bought at the Yi Auction House. ¡°How much?¡± Tianyi felt his throat become dry as he could already imagine the pain he would go through once more. ¡°This¡­¡± The shopkeeper hesitated for a moment before he said. ¡°50,000 low-quality spirit stones.¡± Tianyi nodded without even batting an eye, and in the end, he brought out mid-quality spirits stones, much to the joy and surprise of the shopkeeper. Tianyi even received a discount because he used mid-quality spirit stones. In the end, Jiang Daoyi didn''t select anything much to Tianyi''s frustration. ¡°Junior Sister, return to the palace first. I have something to do.¡± Tianyi said. Soon Daoyi and the carriage returned to the palace first while the eunuch followed Tianyi. ¡°What¡¯s the best place to buy instruments?¡± Tianyi asked. Eunuch Gao immediately answered. Although he didn''t know everything, as one of the emperor¡¯s most trusted servants, how could he not know the famed stores within the capital? Eunuch Gao led Tianyi to Silent Meditation Tower. Although it was a place for scholars to gather and socialize, the owner was also one of the famed musical masters in the capital, and thus high-quality instruments were also sold here. When Tianyi walked in, he was greeted with the sight of many noble scions and scholars being served by beautiful female servants with fairy-like elegance and a fox-like beauty on the center stage playing music. He raised an eyebrow upward and looked at eunuch Gao. ¡°You sure this isn¡¯t a brothel or some other entertainment establishment?¡± Tianyi asked using voice transmission. Eunuch Gao lightly coughed. ¡°Your highness, this establishment is highly praised by many officials and as said to be one of the greatest places for scholars to gather.¡± It was only after eunuch Gao replied that he had realized that he was spoken with spiritual sense. His eyes widened, and he looked at Tianyi. He had heard that only Core Formation Realm experts could use spiritual sense. Tianyi physically stopped himself from rolling his eyes. ¡°Go get someone and tell them I want to buy their best instruments.¡± Quickly recovering from his shock, eunuch Gao quickly summoned a servant and asked for a private room. Soon Tianyi was sitting in a private room on the third floor with a table full of side dishes. The room itself looked to be a private booth for a large gathering. It was needlessly large for a single person, but since eunuch Gao was the one who asked for it, Tianyi didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°Bring me the best instruments you have of each type. I will pay in mid-quality spirit stones.¡± Upon hearing this, the servant there was shocked silly and looked up and stared at Tianyi before he quickly looked down once more. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t have enough authority. I¡¯ll call for the manager.¡± The servant quickly left, and a rather plump man with a jovial face appeared to replace him. His keen eye and intuition as a businessman called out to him immediately once he laid upon Tianyi. ¡°This young lord, you said that you want to buy the best instruments of each type?¡± The manager did not mention the matter of purchasing with mid-quality spirit stones. Tianyi nodded, and the manager immediately ordered for servants to bring out the best instruments. Servants quickly brought various instruments into the room, making the original large room quite cramped. Tianyi could see an erhu, guzheng, guqin, pipa, dizi, dulcimer, huqin, liuqin, hulus, xiao, suona, lusheng, sun, and chimes. He wasn¡¯t a person who understood musical instruments. But he could sense the spiritual qi that had seeped into these instruments, making them products of materials that were able to absorb spiritual qi. Compared to Daoyi¡¯s old erhu, the difference was like heaven and earth. With a wave of his hand, Tianyi purchased every single one of them. This action even shocked the manager, who had initially thought Tianyi might buy a few types of instruments but not all of them. But it was a happy shock, so much that manager could feel his face cramping from smiling so much. With his business done, Tianyi decided to leave the establishment before his mother somehow knew he was here and then cause some misunderstanding that would result in his mother pushing more troublesome things onto him. ¡°How dare you!¡± Tianyi blinked when he heard those words, he looked onto the first floor where the shout came from. On the first floor near the front where the fox-like beauty had been playing, there were two youths glaring at each other. ¡°How dare I what? I simply stated the truth.¡± Tianyi recognized him. How could Tianyi not? This was the youth that tried to assassinate him. There was no way Tianyi could mistake him for anyone else...unless it were another Dragon Emperor clone, but Tianyi was pretty sure since they wore the exact same style of clothing and equipment. And the other person was a third stage Qi Gathering Realm cultivator who looked to be a young master of some family, judging by his attire. ¡°Beauty Hu is a perfect match for me! She should be happy that I even deign to give her a fragment of my time! And who are you to intrude on this young master¡¯s pleasure!?¡± The beauty on the stage instantly had an ugly look on her face. Tianyi held his chin as he watched in great interest. ¡°Who am I?¡± The youth sneered as he unsheathed his sword. ¡°I am Lei Jingye, your granddaddy!¡± Without saying another word, he slashed at the young master, causing a gash to appear on his arm and making the young scion pale in the face as he rapidly retreated. ¡°Mu Ye! Beat the crap out of this bastard for me!¡± A muscular guard behind the young master immediately drew his saber and clashed at Lei Jingye, his qi rippling out resembling the denseness of earth, a Spiritual Altar Foundation Realm cultivator. But Lei Jingye did not shrink back as he clashed head-on against the saber with his own sword, his own qi resembling the vastness of the ocean, a Spiritual Pillar Foundation Establishment cultivator. Tianyi was surprised to see that the youth had already broken into the Foundation Establishment Realm. Although he didn¡¯t see the exact reason for the fight, it should be two men fighting for the woman called Beauty Hu, right? Tianyi then revealed a mischievous smile as he unsheathed the sword at his waist, shocking eunuch Gao. Tianyi pushed a finger in front of his lips, gesturing to eunuch Gao to stay silent. Tianyi wasn¡¯t an assassin, nor was he skilled at slinking around, so he just raised his sword and imbued it with his spiritual qi and covering the sword¡¯s surface with lightning. And then, with the toothiest grin he could muster, Tianyi leaped off of the floor towards Lei Jingye, his qi forming an illusion of heaven and earth. ¡°Whatever your surname is, I¡¯ll return the words you spoke to me before! Go to hell!¡± Lei Jingye seemed shocked at the sudden turn of events that he only had time to place his sword in front of him like a shield, while the guard was too shocked to react even as Tianyi''s sword flew past him. Tianyi¡¯s sword pierced through Lei Jingye¡¯s sword, bifurcating it in two and making the edge clatter onto the ground while Tianyi¡¯s sword pierced into Lei Jingye¡¯s body and out of his back. Lei Jingye had an uncomprehending look on his face as blood leaked from his mouth as he stared at Tianyi. Tianyi, however, was also inwardly stunned. That¡¯s it? You shouldn''t have died so easily, right? You were able to dodge the senses of a Core Formation Master. Although I did sneak attack you, you really shouldn¡¯t have died so quickly. Tianyi pulled out the sword, letting the stopped blood flow resume. Lei Jingye¡¯s clothes were dyed a dark red from his bleeding wound, and the dense smell of blood leaked out. "I didn''t kill the wrong person, did I? Is he an unrelated clone?" Tianyi muttered to himself. Tianyi ignored the frivolous young master and the wary guard as well as the stunned customers as he poked at the still bleeding corpses with his sword. ¡°Your highness!¡± Eunuch Gao said as he followed Tianyi by jumping down from the third floor. Tianyi looked at him and then pointed at the corpse. ¡°Help me find any information related to him. His name should be Lei Jingye. Even if it¡¯s a false name, you should be able to discover something, right?¡± Eunuch Gao stilled for a moment at the heaviness of Tianyi''s tone before he bowed. ¡°Of course, your highness.¡± It was at this moment that the corpse on the ground began to change. The flesh began to bubble as it melted away, revealing white bones. Tianyi had an ¡°as expected expression¡± on his face. ¡°Tsk, is this an avatar technique? How did he get a clone technique that works at the Foundation Establishment Realm?¡± Tianyi muttered to himself. Afterward, Tianyi compensated the Silent Meditation Tower for the trouble before leaving with Eunuch Gao to return to the palace, but not before glancing at the white-faced young master behind his guard. ¡°Hmmm, even a small Qi Gathering cultivator has a guard. Why don¡¯t I have one?¡± Chapter 18: Disciple Acceptance Ceremony Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Chapter 19: Junior Sister Daoyi + New Cover Tianyi glanced one last time at the gathering of hopeful disciples standing outside the mountain gate. He had never seen the trials that the Buzhou Immortal Sect use to select their disciples. ¡°Mother, are we not going to stay and watch the Disciple Acceptance Ceremony?¡± Mengfei didn¡¯t even look back as she controlled the immortal boat to directly fly to Jade Peak. ¡°There is no point. If they are fated to embark upon the Immortal path, then we will meet eventually. However, for Daoyi, it would be best to complete her Disciple Acceptance Ceremony as quickly as possible. She has already wasted her early years, and to rise above the rest, she must put in more effort than her peers.¡± Tianyi blinked. It seemed that he had underestimated his mother¡¯s care towards Daoyi. He didn¡¯t say anymore as the boat made its way to Jade Peak. Although there are many masters who would put much importance on their disciples, Mengfei was not one of them. Inheriting the seriousness her master treated her, Mengfei was wholeheartedly preparing Daoyi for her future cultivation. When they stepped onto her palace on Jade Peak, Mengfei immediately sent out messages towards the elders as well as the residents on Jade Peak. As this was Sword Empress Xi¡¯s first official, it was not a matter that should be rushed, but due to her solemn personality, the date was set to be three days later. Tianyi was technically without a master, but he didn''t need to find a master in the Buzhou Immortal Sect with a Grand Elder as a parent. ¡°Yi¡¯er wait,¡± Mengfei said to Tianyi, who was about to return to his own estate. Tianyi looked back to his mother, who motioned for him to follow her. Jiang Daoyi had already been arranged for a Nascent Soul elder to take care of. On Jade Peak, the lowest level cultivators were Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, so they were assigned to do most of the chores. That is, aside from Tianyi and now Jiang Daoyi as well. Mengfei led Tianyi into an inner room where he saw a frosty beauty with ice-white hair who seemed to be in her late twenties. She wore the customary white robes of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. But on her, it made the plain robes seem to be the most beautiful dress woven from strands of ice crystals. ¡°Greetings, senior.¡± Tianyi politely greeted the unknown senior with a salute. This was the inner room of his mother¡¯s palace, and those without her permission would never be allowed to enter.'' The senior moved her head a little, and her ice-blue eyes looked at Tianyi, causing him to feel a chill as if every secret on his body down to his soul was exposed. ¡°Yi¡¯er, this is Grand Elder Zhang. The people outside the sect addressed her as Empress Voidink. When I was still a Qi Gathering Pupil, Senior Zhang was already an Immortal Monarch.¡± Mengfei introduced. ¡°Grand Elder Zhang.¡± Tianyi greeted once more, although inwardly he was thinking of another matter. Mother, are you trying to brag about your fast cultivation speed? Grand Elder Zhang didn¡¯t say anything and instead took a step forward and grabbed Tianyi¡¯s wrist, and Tianyi instantly felt a cold energy seep into his body from the contact point. But he didn¡¯t resist, his mother didn¡¯t react, so this must not be anything detrimental to him. If Grand Elder Zhang was capable of harming him without his mother¡¯s notice, then Tianyi could only lament his fate. Grand Elder Zhang finally released Tianyi¡¯s wrist when Tianyi was at his limits from the cold energy and felt that his body would undergo hypothermia. Grand Elder Zhang had her brows slightly furrowed when she released Tianyi¡¯s hand. She gave Mengfei a look. ¡°It¡¯s fine. You can tell me here.¡± Mengfei said. Tianyi inwardly raised an eyebrow. Is it something she doesn¡¯t want me to know? After deliberating for a few moments, Grand Elder Zhang glanced at Tianyi before turning her attention towards Mengfei. ¡°His Spiritual Veins have gone past the limits of what a Heavenly Spiritual Vein should be able to accomplish. It even harbors concepts of the Grand Dao.¡± ¡°The Grand Dao? How can Yi¡¯er¡¯s Spiritual Vein hold the concept of the Dao? He hasn¡¯t even reached the Core Formation Realm yet.¡± Mengfei said. Grand Elder Zhang shook her head. ¡°There are records of Spiritual Veins holding concepts of the Great Dao.¡± She sneaked a glance, Tianyi without him noticing before sighing once more. ¡°Junior Xi may not have heard of it, even I only have heard of it by chance. Back during the primordial era where divinities still roamed, there was a supreme Spiritual Vein known as the Dao Spiritual Vein.¡± ¡°Dao Spiritual Vein?¡± Mengfei said, testing the words on her lips. ¡°Indeed. It is called the supreme Spiritual Vein because it holds the concept of the Grand Dao within. If the holder manages to survive, their Immortal Ascension will be all but guaranteed¡ªa mortal who is both loved and hated by the Heavenly Dao. There are only records of one Dao Spiritual Vein, the Dao Chaos Spiritual Vein. However, he does not have that. If I were to name it, it would be known as the Dao Tribulation Lightning Spiritual Vein.¡± ¡°I do not know what you or he did, but he managed to steal the power of tribulation from the Heavenly Dao and refine it into his own power.¡± There was a tinge of reluctant amazement hidden in her voice. ¡°However, to claim the power of the Heavenly Dao is not to be taken lightly. If he does not cultivate well, there will be a high chance that he will fall on his Immortal path.¡± Grand Elder Zhang looked at the expressionless Mengfei. Although there was no outward change, how could an old monster like her who lived for countless ages not know the worry and concern beneath her facade? ¡°I¡¯ll go search the records, Junior Xi. Until then, you should do everything you can.¡± After saying those words, Grand Elder Zhang left without looking back as if she couldn¡¯t wait to leave Jade Peak Palace. ¡°Mother, I get the feeling that Grand Elder Zhang doesn¡¯t like me that much.¡± Tianyi idly said as he processed the information he just received.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Mengfei glanced at Tianyi. ¡°Her master sacrificed her life in order to create an opening for us to kill the Dragon Emperor. For you who shares the exact same features except for your eyes, naturally, she is unwilling to accept you.¡± ¡°...¡± Tianyi. Fine, against this face, I have nothing to defend it with. For the next three days, Tianyi quietly focused all his efforts on his martial cultivation. His mother had already told him that if he wished to complete his Sole Yin, Eight Trigrams Yang Core Revolution Formation, he should first increase the strength of his body to the Core Formation Realm at the very least before attempting to form his Spiritual Cores. The Core Formation Realm of the martial cultivation was known as the Martial Body Realm. When a cultivator reaches the peak of the Body Transformation Realm, it was suitable to be altered into a martial body. There were numerous martial bodies, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. But a Dragon Martial Body was top tier. As for the information concerning his Spiritual Vein becoming a Dao Spiritual Vein? Tianyi simply put on the side. He originally had a noble birth as Sword Empress Xi¡¯s son and the resources that came with it, the supreme cultivation scripture, Three Pure True Self Visualization Technique, the talent and inheritance of the Dragon Emperor. So for his Heavenly Lightning Spiritual Vein to mutate into the Dao Tribulation Lightning Spiritual Vein was just adding flowers onto gold for him. In the end, the gold was still gold. But today was different. After all, today his mother would accept Jiang Daoyi as her second official disciple. Tianyi exited out of his estate and made way for the Jade Peak Palace, where the ceremony would be held. He passed by many cultivators he normally didn¡¯t see outside of their estates along the way. Jade Peak was a bit different compared to the other peaks of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Their lineage was descended from the Queen Mother of the West, Xi Wangmu. But there were many cultivators of other lineages residing on the mountain as his mother''s control, at least in name. The reason for this was perhaps because they all had a heart focused on the Dao, and they didn''t want to be bothered by the power struggle between the factions of the sect. And because of this, they were considered the strongest neutral faction within the Buzhou Immortal Sect that didn''t fight for greater power or influence. Of course, if one were to treat the people of Jade Peak as easy to bully, they would discover that they kicked a board made of divine steel. But they would only react. His mother didn''t have any true authority over them. Upon entering the palace, Tianyi immediately noticed many Immortals that he recognized. It had to be said that during Tianyi¡¯s time on the mountain, he was impacted too much by these Immortals. Thus he committed them to his memories. His mother usually reigned in her aura and appeared like an ordinary mortal. But these Immortals did not have the same gentleness, leading to Tianyi remembering them even though he was terrible at remembering names. The two that stood out the most were Elder Zixue, known as Monarch Violetsnow in the outside world, and Elder Luhou, known as Monarch Jadeflame. Tianyi blinked, and then he realized he skipped over the Sect Master who had also shown up. It couldn¡¯t be wholly blamed on Tianyi. Sect Master Xia Meng had the appearance of a forty-year-old man with an ordinary appearance. Even his elegant white robes embroidered with blue clouds didn¡¯t seem to bring out anything but ordinariness. Tianyi didn¡¯t go over to greet Sect Master Xia and instead went over to great Xia Yushan, a descendant in the Xia Clan where Sect Master Xia was part of. Xia Yushan was also Sect Master Xia¡¯s disciple and the strongest acknowledged Core Formation Spiritual Master in the Buzhou Immortal Sect. ¡°Senior Brother Xia.¡± Tianyi greeted. ¡°Junior Brother Xi.¡± Xia Yushan glanced at Tianyi and felt the qi that resembled heaven and earth and couldn¡¯t help but sigh. ¡°You really surprise me with your cultivation speed. Not only have you reached the Spiritual Crucible stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm, but your martial cultivation is almost on par. It took you five years to reach the Foundation Establishment Realm, but it took only a year for you to reach the late Foundation Establishment realm. Truly admirable.¡± There was no jealousy in Xia Yushan¡¯s voice, only admiration. Was he not the least bit jealous of Tianyi? Of course not. But he was also supremely confident in himself. Cultivating fast in the early stages could be seen as good, but anyone could accomplish the same things if they used enough treasures. The later realms were even more important because the further you walked, the more critical the Dao and your Daoheart were. Xia Yushan was in his forties, but he was at the peak of the Core Formation Realm, and within the next few years, he would be able to enter the Nascent Soul Realm. This meant that he was not that far off from Xi Mengfei¡¯s record of reaching the Nascent Spirit Realm under the age of fifty. Those who entered the Nascent Spirit Realm under the age of fifty and those that entered the Unity Realm under the age of one hundred all had high chances of becoming Immortal and were important disciples that sects would pour resources into. Tianyi spent a few moments talking to this senior brother of his for no other reason than he admired Xia Yushan. People called him a sword genius, but the true genius of the sword was Xia Yushan, and even his mother had told him that Xia Yushan had even embarked on the Dao of the Sword. Unfortunately, Tianyi just wasn¡¯t suitable for the sword, according to his mother. Tianyi could have still chosen to persist in the sword, but he didn¡¯t like to force himself to do things that he wasn¡¯t good at, and in the end, he chose a different path. Though Tianyi still practiced sword arts as a hobby. Very soon, the Jiang Daoyi''s Disciple Acceptance Ceremony began. Tianyi stood behind his mother, who was standing at the center where two rows of people stood across from each other, creating a scene that resembled judgment. Jiang Daoyi stilted when she walked through the entrance and was blasted by the aura of people inside. Her legs trembled as she stood there slightly shocked, and she turned her gaze towards Xi Mengfei for reassurance, but all she was met with was an expressionless gaze, neither happy nor sad. Her sight found its way towards Tianyi, who was standing behind Xi Mengfei, his gaze was gentle, and he gave an encouraging smile to her. Daoyi sucked in a deep breath and steeled herself. Step after step, her feet carried her forward through the evaluating gazes of the people. Her mind was numb as she could only repeat in her head the procedures of the Disciple Acceptance Ceremony like a mantra. Daoyi felt an eternity had passed when she stood in front of Xi Mengfei, her posture rigid. But she persevered and kneeled and kowtowed. Because of her nervousness, Daoyi harshly hit her head on the ground during her first kowtow, making her slightly dazed. But Daoyi could only grit her teeth and rise and kowtow eight more times. By the time Daoyi was done with her nine kowtows and stood up, she saw stars. Right after, a Nascent Soul Realm elder walked forward carrying a tray with a cup of tea on it. Daoyi had to consciously restrain herself from holding her head as she held onto the teacup with both hands. But after she lifted it off of the tray, she felt her body sway. Daoyi paled, but she soon discovered that her body had miraculously stabilized. She didn¡¯t know who helped her, but she wasn''t one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Mengfei took the teacup from Jiang Daoyi¡¯s hand and took a sip. ¡°En, with this, you are officially my disciple,¡± Mengfei said as she handed the teacup to the elder who brought the tray with the tea. Soon rounds of congratulations rang about, congratulating Xi Mengfei for accepting another disciple and continuing her lineage. Jiang Daoyi stood still, unsure of what to do. Then Tianyi came forward, he looked incredibly out of place with his child¡¯s stature, but his walk was full of confidence as if he belonged in this world. Tianyi smiled at Daoyi and said. ¡°Greetings, Junior Sister Daoyi.¡± Daoyi found a smile rising up on her own face. ¡°Greetings, Senior Brother Xi.¡± Chapter 20: Ruin of the Immortal Court This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Chapter 21: Tianyis Method A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Chapter 22: Preparation for the Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation A brush was dipped in black in ink, just the tip before it was pulled out. Allowing the brush excess ink to drip off, the hand moved the brush onto the parchment and left a mark on it. An image of a dragon was formed. Tianyi was imitating the one-stroke dragon painting technique that he had seen a web video of in his past life, but with a twist. When the painting was completed, the words ¡°Reverse Soaring Dragon¡± could be seen written in white. It was a black and white painting. However, where it should be black, it was white, and where it should white, it was black. Rather than black ink on white parchment, it looked like white ink on black parchment. It gave off an incredible feeling of harmony yet disharmony as well, like the laws of the world had been reversed. Tianyi nodded with a smile as he finished the painting. Since that day when Tianyi heard his junior sister play the guqin, it suddenly occurred to him that he didn¡¯t have a hobby, and aside from cultivating, he did nothing else! If this continued any longer, Tianyi might even consider himself a cultivation freak! And so Tianyi chose painting and calligraphy. As for why he didn¡¯t choose anything else? He hated physical exercise the most back when he was on Earth, and two, there was no such thing as electronics in the Huang Realm, so he decided to pick up a hobby that he hadn¡¯t done in a long time. Reading novels didn''t count as a hobby but as a pastime. Since he chose painting, he decided to add calligraphy. Look how elegant he was! Tianyi left the painting on the table to dry as he left his study room. It had already been a few months since Jiang Daoyi became his junior sister and many things changed while many things stayed the same. Currently, she was already in the third stage of the Qi Gathering Realm and made friends with many of the elders on Jade Peak who were interested in music and would often visit one another to play music together. Xi Ri had also adjusted to life in the Buzhou Immortal Sect and was no longer suppressed or bullied after the incident with Chun Dan. Being rather popular with the other outer sect disciples, Xi Ri became something of an unspoken leader or representative. He had also broken through to the next stage of his cultivation, cementing his status even more. With his potential, Tianyi concluded that Xi Ri needed less than five years to become an inner sect disciple with the resources currently available to him. Within Tianyi¡¯s dantian, his Spiritual Crucible had already fully formed, and at any moment, he could start forming his Spiritual Core. But the most crucial component wasn¡¯t ready yet, and so Tianyi could only wait until the final component was ready. For this Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation, Tianyi, or rather Mengfei, amassed many materials for Tianyi, even using Immortal level resources. ¡°Hmmm, I should see how Junior Sister is doing,¡± Tianyi said to himself as he once again made his way to Daoyi¡¯s estate. When he arrived, he saw an unexpected guest. ¡°In the Qi Gathering Realm, one must absorb the spiritual qi from the air and open the twelve meridians, and thus there are officially twelve stages in the Qi Gathering Realm. As spiritual qi is most easily absorbed when we breathe in the air, the first meridian we open is the Major Yin Lung Meridian located in the lung. Following that, we open the Minor Yin Heart Meridian, which is located in the heart. As for how dangerous it is, Junior Sister has already experienced it and broke through, so there is no need for me to explain.¡± It was Xia Yushan, surprisingly. He was standing in the courtyard with Jiang Daoyi in front of him and listening to him speak on how to cultivate in the Qi Gathering Realm. ¡°Junior Sister Jiang is already at the fourth stage, so your next step is to accumulate qi to open up the Major Yang Small Intestine Meridian. The best time to open the meridian is between 1 to 3 pm.¡± ¡°Senior Brother has especially come to give Junior Sister pointers?¡± Tianyi asked as he walked up. "As expected of the most respected Eldest Senior Brother of the sect. Xia Yushan wasn¡¯t surprised by Tianyi¡¯s appearance as he had long sensed him. Daoyi, however, was surprised. ¡°Hello, Senior Brother.¡± Her smile, although slight, was especially bright and carefree; not a hint of her introverted self from when she was still a concubine-born daughter could be seen. ¡°Junior Sister.¡± Tianyi greeted before looking back at Xia Yushan. Xia Yushan just laughed. ¡°I heard that Grand Elder Xi has been at Elder Jin¡¯s Pill Palace for the past month, so I came to check on Junior Sister Jiang to see if she needs any help.¡± Tianyi lightly coughed. The reason that Mengfei was at Elder Jin¡¯s, also known as the Divine Pill Alchemist by the world at large, was for him. Although a month wasn¡¯t long for his mother, for Daoyi, who had just started cultivating not long ago. It could be said to be delaying her cultivation. ¡°So Senior Brother Xia is recounting your experience during your cultivation?¡± Tianyi asked, directing the conversation elsewhere. ¡°En, to receive pointers from a genius who has reached the Nascent Soul Realm is indeed a fortune for Junior Sister.¡± Daoyi¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. She remembered a few months ago that Xia Yushan was still at the peak of the Core Formation Realm, but now he was already in the Nascent Soul Realm. She heard tales of how hard and arduous it was to cultivate, but it was only now that she personally experienced herself that she knew how hard it was. Her eyes showed shock and admiration when she looked at Xia Yushan again. He had deliberately hidden his aura so he wouldn''t exert unneeded pressure on Daoyi. She was a small Qi Gathering Pupil, and he was a Nascent Soul Grandmaster. Just a powerful glance from him could cause her breathing to become erratic. ¡°As expected, I couldn¡¯t hide it from Junior Brother Xi after all.¡± Xia Yushan said, but he didn¡¯t show any despondence at having his realm seen through. ¡°Congratulations, Senior Brother.¡± Daoyi sincerely said. Xia Yushan¡¯s pointer indeed did give her a huge direction in which to break through to the next stage. ¡°Haha, thank you, Junior Sister.¡± Xia Yushan said.¡±Still, Junior Brother, you are amazing as well. You¡¯ve already completed the Organ Fortification stage of the Body Transformation Realm, shedding your mortal shell and perfecting the foundation of your martial form, forming a martial body, and entering the Acupoint Opening Realm. And at such a young age too.¡± Xia Yushan didn''t find it much of a surprise for Tianyi to enter the Acupoint Opening Realm, the Core Formation equivalent of martial cultivation. But Xia Yushan wasn''t surprised. For martial cultivation, the most important thing was the amount of resources available. The more resources you used, the quicker you could cultivate. But at the Acupoint Opening Realm, the cultivator''s talent became more important, and many people who relied on resources slowed down their speed of cultivation.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Junior Brother Tianyi, you may just be one of the youngest cultivators to reach the Core Formation Realm.¡± There was a hint of envy in Xia Yushan''s voice. With Grand Elder Xi''s resources, the martial body Tianyi formed was no doubt peerless. Even the Five Element Martial Body he planned to form couldn''t compare. Tianyi smiled. He wasn¡¯t surprised that Xia Yushan was able to tell. He didn¡¯t deliberately hide it, and with Xia Yushan¡¯s new perceptiveness from entering the Nascent Soul Realm, it was child¡¯s play. ¡°I had a fortuitous encounter within a year, allowing me to speed up my martial cultivation. If it hadn¡¯t been for that, I would have probably needed a year or two before I completely perfect my martial body.¡± Tianyi¡¯s smile stiffened slightly as he recalled the catalyst that allowed him to reach Acupoint Opening Realm so quickly. As he had expected, the hairpin he bought before contained some slight blood essence of the Dragon Emperor, although it wasn''t as strong as the blood essence in the first fragment he found. After another Blood Absorption Ritual, his martial cultivation increased even further. Just thinking about the pain he experienced made Tianyi inwardly shiver. However, unknown to Tianyi, Xia Yushan felt his self-confidence take a blow. Just a year or two? Even if Tianyi did have a fortuitous encounter, this meant that he only needed around a year to cultivate all the way to the Acupoint Opening Realm from scratch! That was heaven-defying even with the resources available to Tianyi. Tianyi wasn''t the only one who had the resources available to cultivate all the way to the Acupoint Opening. After all, it wasn''t like the Acupoint Opening Realm was that high of a threshold even for a third-rate sect. There were numerous other people who could form a martial body, but none as young as Tianyi. The closest one was fifteen-years-old, and the martial body he formed couldn''t even compare to Tianyi''s. Naturally, Xia Yushan wasn''t in on the know concerning Tianyi''s relation to the Dragon Emperor that allowed him great ease in cultivating the Dragon Emperor Fist. ¡°Junior Brother is modest. No matter where you go, such speed cannot be overlooked.¡± Xia Yushan said as he calmed himself and then spoke once more. ¡°Junior Brother, do you have any pointers to give to Junior Sister Jiang? You must have some experience you can give to Junior Sister.¡± Tianyi held his chin as he thought. ¡°I don¡¯t think my experiences will be useful.¡± He said after a moment of deliberation. ¡°Nonsense, every experience is useful. Tell us, Junior Brother.¡± Xia Yushan said. Daoyi also looked on, interested at how this senior brother of hers cultivated. Despite being three years younger than her, he was already at the peak of the Spiritual Foundation Establishment Realm and entered the Acupoint Opening Realm. It was only after entering the Buzhou Immortal Sect that Daoyi understood how monstrous this speed was. ¡°I don¡¯t really recall much about opening my twelve meridians. I think I reached the twelfth stage within a year.¡± Tianyi said as he tried to recall his experiences. ¡°I didn¡¯t particularly wait for a period of time to break through. When I accumulated enough qi, I just broke through.¡± ¡°...¡± Daoyi. ¡°...¡± Xia Yushan. ¡°Junior Brother, you broke through when you wanted to? Didn¡¯t it take you any time to discover your meridians?¡± When a Qi Gathering Realm pupil broke through, not only did they need to accumulate enough qi, but they also needed to discover the exact location of their meridians. As each person was unique, there were slight differences where each person¡¯s meridians were, and it wasn''t like a human¡¯s meridians could be easily detected. When accumulating qi, they would also disperse it within their body to feel it out and detect the next meridian. ¡°No? I already knew where they were the moment I started to cultivate.¡± Tianyi said. ¡°Oh right, before I started cultivating, I was bathed in a lot of precious herbs and elixirs to cleanse my body in preparation. When the medicinal qi coursed through my body, I think I detected them.¡± Xia Yushan could only sigh. He also had his body cleansed with herbs and elixirs, but he didn¡¯t detect anything inside except the vague locations. Sure enough, a tiger father, or rather a tiger mother would not beget a dog son. ¡°Right, Junior Brother, you said it took you only around a year to reach the twelfth stage. Why did it take you a year? With Junior Brother¡¯s talent, you shouldn¡¯t have taken another four years to reach the Foundation Establishment Realm.¡± Tianyi sighed. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. Those four years were the hardest in my life.¡± Tianyi clasped his hands behind his back and sighed like a middle-aged man. ¡°It took me four years to open all Eight Extraordinary Meridians. And that was with my mother¡¯s help, the location of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians are truly esoteric and hard to decipher.¡± ¡°Junior Brother, you said you opened all the Eight Extraordinary Meridians?¡± Xia Yushan said, slight disbelief in his voice. ¡°Eight Extraordinary Meridians?¡± Daoyi asked in confusion. ¡°Senior brother, what are the Eight Extraordinary Meridians? I thought there were only twelve meridians?¡± Xia Yushan looked at Daoyi and calmed himself before revealing his trademark smile. ¡°In truth, the Qi Gathering Realm doesn¡¯t have twelve meridians but twenty. Opening these extra eight meridians is even harder than entering the Foundation Establishment Realm. I didn''t want you to get distracted, so I didn''t mention it.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Daoyi said in surprise. ¡°I, too, tried to open all eight, but I only opened three.¡± Xia Yushan said. ¡°If I delayed it any longer, not only would I not be able to open them all, but I might even harm my future prospects. The Eight Extraordinary Meridians are extra reservoirs for qi, and they can each be considered a mini dantian. You know what this means?¡± Xia Yushan didn¡¯t wait for Daoyi to reply and instead continued to speak. ¡°This meant that those with all twenty meridians have an innate advantage over all other cultivators of the same level. They are able to store and create more qi depending on the manual they cultivate. Furthermore, it is said that opening all Eight Extraordinary Meridians allows one to perceive the Dao easier.¡± For the rest of the time, Xia Yushan seemed a bit lost in his own thoughts. But it was still enough to give pointers for Daoyi to cultivate. When he left, he even gave Tianyi a deeper look before sighing. ¡°Junior Sister, have you considered what you want to do on your Immortal path?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°What I want to do?¡± Daoyi repeated. Tianyi nodded. ¡°The sect says that one cultivates in order to ascend to Immortality, but then what? What do you do when you attain Immortality?¡± Daoyi stopped to think about it for a moment. ¡°What about you, Senior Brother?¡± ¡°Me?¡± Tianyi chuckled. ¡°I wanted to live forever. I originally cultivated because I don¡¯t want to die.¡± ¡°But Senior Brother is so young, do you really need to think about death right now?¡± Daoyi asked, finding it weird that a twelve-year-old would ponder about death. ¡°Hmmmm, well, maybe because I¡¯ve always been self-sufficient since young, I think more like an adult. In fact, other than my childlike appearance, I consider myself an adult, you know?¡± Tianyi spoke in a matter as if telling a great secret. ¡°Umm. Right now, I¡¯m satisfied, but in order to keep this current lifestyle of mine, I have to keep cultivating to become stronger so that I can keep this lifestyle. As for what I would do after I become an immortal... I want to roam the world, try out all the delicacies, collect paintings of the sceneries I visited. Naturally, I want to learn all sorts of music and even play for a large group of people so that they can appreciate music too.¡± Daoyi stopped for a moment before speaking again. ¡°There is also a place I want to search for. I don¡¯t know where it is, only that after I gain strength can I search for it. But before all that, I want to complete my mother''s wish." Tianyi stayed silent. He, too, had a place he wanted to search for once he became strong enough. When Tianyi returned to his estate, he found his mother waiting for him. ¡°Mother?" ¡°Yi¡¯er, Elder Jin has completed the Yin Dragon Pearl Elixir,¡± Mengfei said as she held out a jade bottle with a stopper on it. Even with the stopper, Tianyi could feel his blood calling out to it. His martial body that was created using the Dragon Emperor Fist craved what was inside the bottle. ¡°Yi¡¯er, are you sure you want to cultivate the Sole Yin, Nine Trigram Yang Core Revolution Formation? Although the concept behind it is brilliant, and I helped you deduced a correct path, cultivating it is a huge risk.¡± "I want to. With it, I can rise and match the other supreme geniuses. With it, my Immortal path has an even higher chance of success." Tianyi''s eyes were full of expectation. His black eyes were shining like they were full of stars. Chapter 23: Nine Heavenly Tribulations Tianyi sat cross-legged on a lotus, an artifact of the Core Formation realm that he had refined, in a clearing near the edge of Jade Peak Mountain. Next to him were a few jade bottles filled with pills as well as the Yin Dragon Pearl Elixir. Tianyi was preparing to take his Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation. He didn¡¯t use the Jade Lotus Clear Pond to transcend his tribulation for multiple reasons. For one, the Jade Lotus Clear Pond was for cultivating only, and there weren''t many defensive measures in the formation. The second more important reason was that Tianyi did not construct it, and if he initiated the Heavenly Tribulation there, the Heavenly Dao would recognize it as outside help and increase the power of the tribulation. He didn¡¯t have a death wish, especially since his mother, an Immortal realm expert, constructed formation. He would be struck dead by the first strike of Heavenly Tribulation! A fair distance away stood his mother, Xi Mengfei, his junior sister, Jiang Daoyi, Elder Shan, who had watched him grow up from a baby, the ever flirtatious yet distant Spiritual Unity Venerable Jiao, and a few other Elders. ¡°Master, Senior Brother won¡¯t have any trouble passing his tribulations, right?¡± Daoyi asked. ¡°He has already entered the Acupoint OPening Realm and formed his martial body. Forming a Spiritual Core shouldn¡¯t be an issue, right?¡± Although Daoyi believed that Tianyi would have no problems, but to see so many seniors and her master all watching her senior brother left Daoyi with a sense of unease. ¡°That is hard to say,¡± Mengfei said. ¡°Disciple, your senior brother, isn¡¯t planning to form a single Spiritual Core but nine.¡± ¡°Nine?¡± Daoyi said, shocked. ¡°But I thought a dantian could only store a single Spiritual Core. How can senior brother¡¯s dantian store nine Spiritual Cores?¡± Mengfei shook her head. ¡°Normally that would be the case, but your senior brother has opened all of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, each of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians acts like a miniature dantian, and with the modified cultivation manual, it is possible.¡± Tianyi didn''t just want to form nine Spiritual Cores, but he wanted to create a formation using the nine Spiritual Cores in his body as well." ¡°Then...won¡¯t senior brother have to endure nine Heavenly Tribulations to form nine Spiritual Core?¡± Daoyi asked. ¡°Unclear,¡± Mengfei said. ¡°No cultivator can discern the truth behind the Heavenly Dao. Perhaps it will be nine separate tribulations, or perhaps the Heavenly Tribulation will mutate into one larger one.¡± ¡°This...isn¡¯t it very dangerous?¡± Daoyi asked. She already knew the answer but still couldn¡¯t help but ask. Mengfei stayed silent as she watched her son begin his Heavenly Tribulation. Within Tianyi¡¯s dantian, where his Spiritual Crucible existed, a golden light emanated from within the crucible. At the same time, black clouds began to gather in the sky above Tianyi. It gathered and merged very slowly, but the hidden arcs of lightning flashed every once in a while as if to remind one that it could strike at any time. But lightning did not strike down as the sun in the sky finished rising to its highest point and then starting to descend towards dusk. ¡°This...Junior Nephew Tianyi shouldn¡¯t be unable to form his Spiritual Core, right?¡± ¡°Nonsense, with our senses, we could already tell that Junior Nephew Tianyi has already entered the Acupoint Opening Realm. There¡¯s no reason for Junior Nephew Tianyi not to be able to form his Spiritual Core.¡± ¡°Then why is Junior Nephew Tianyi¡¯s Heavenly Tribulation taking so long? The first strike hasn¡¯t even fallen yet.¡± ¡°This...perhaps Junior Nephew Tianyi¡¯s unique cultivation method? Junior Nephew Tianyi is a rare genius that is going to form nine Spiritual Cores according to what we were informed. But even then... isn¡¯t it taking too long?¡± ¡°Junior Nephew Tianyi looks like he is struggling.¡± Indeed, Tianyi¡¯s forehead was currently covered in sweat as he furrowed his brows with his eyes closed. Currently, in his dantian, nine embryonic cores were formed within his Spiritual Crucible, but they were all being suppressed from flying out by the crucible. As a result, the crucible was shaking from the pressure, and all nine of the segmented Spiritual Pillars were trembling nonstop. The crucible had already turned red from the energy it was contained, and the color was deepening even more. As the color deepened, it slowly started to turn violet. Once the crucible turned violet, a low hum sounded as one of the embryonic cores within Tianyi¡¯s crucible flew out successfully. Its shape, at a glance, was a perfect gold sphere glowing brightly. If all went well, the embryonic core would form into a Spiritual Core once Tianyi finished his Heavenly Tribulation. The Spiritual Cores of Core Formation realm cultivators could be said to be separated into six categories. The color of the core itself did not matter, but the color it emitted did. Mixed Color, red, orange, yellow, gold, and violet gold; those were the grades of Spiritual Cores a Core Formation Realm cultivator could form. The mixed-colored grade was the worst result with no hope of advancing to the Nascent Soul Realm, while a gold grade core practically guaranteed one¡¯s ascension to the Nascent Soul Realm should no accident occur. But a violet-gold grade Spiritual was supreme. Just as the embryonic core flew out of the crucible, one segment on all nine of the segmented Spiritual Pillars collapsed and dispersed in the Spiritual Sea. The Spiritual Crucible and Altar were both lowered a level due to the shattering of one of the segments. Tianyi still had his attention focused on his Spiritual Crucible and his eyes closed, but he reached out and popped one of the pills he had prepared beforehand. Instantly his previously drying up Spiritual Sea was revitalized and full once more. And his Spiritual Crucible that was starting to cool back down to a reddish color became violet once more. And another embryonic core popped out, and another segment of his Spiritual Pillars collapsed, lowering the Spiritual Crucible and Altar even more. But for Tianyi, this was all planned. Since he had conceived the Sole Yin, Eight Trigrams Yang Core Revolution Formation, he had already formed his Spiritual Pillars, Altars, and Crucible with the intention of forming nine Spiritual Cores! When the fifth embryonic core flew out, Tianyi suddenly opened his eyes and looked skyward. ¡°Finally, couldn¡¯t wait any longer, huh?¡± The tribulation clouds didn¡¯t wait any longer as five bolts of lightning began to descend. Since Tianyi had only released five embryonic cores, only five of them descending at the same time. Each one correlated to one of Tiany¡¯s five embryonic cores. Tianyi clapped his hand together, and a golden light enveloped him. The five bolts reached him not long after, but Tianyi sat there still as if he didn¡¯t feel the five bolts of lightning striking him. With each strike, the golden light around him dimmed. Tianyi ignored the five bolts of lightning as he continued to put forth the majority of his attention inside of his dantian. He didn¡¯t have the extra mentality and energy to absorb the tribulation lightning into him. He needed his full concentration to absorb tribulation lightning. After all, it was not simple lightning but carried the tribulation essence of the Heavenly Dao. One wrong move and Tianyi could shatter his partially formed Spiritual Cores as well as his Spiritual Pillars, Altar, and Crucible. Luckily for Tianyi, the five bolts of tribulation lightning weren¡¯t merged and were five separated attacks so he could manage the opening move of the Heavenly Tribulation with his martial body alone. If all five of the bolts of tribulation lightning had merged into one, then it wouldn¡¯t have been so simple anymore. A merged attack of tribulation lightning wasn¡¯t the sum of its components, but rather the final attack would be amplified. Although it wouldn¡¯t have been as extreme as being squared, it was terrifying nonetheless.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. The gathering of people who were watching the Heavenly Tribulation was baffled by the strange tribulation. ¡°This...isn¡¯t it a bit too strange?¡± ¡°Five lightning strikes came down at once. I had thought JuniorNephew Tianyi would separate all nine Heavenly Tribulations in sequences, but taking multiple ones at the same time...this is¡­¡± ¡°Perhaps Junior Nephew has simply formed multiple cores at once. It is not strange when one thinks about it. The Spiritual Crucible is under heavy stress during the formation of a Spiritual Core. Once the core forms, the Spiritual Crucible will normally shatter.¡± ¡°But using this method, how well can Junior Nephew¡¯s core turn out to be? When forming multiples of something, what is most important is balance. If Junior Nephew Xi has several different cores of different grades, then it wouldn¡¯t boost Junior Nephew¡¯s cultivation at all but hinder him instead.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t forget this method was perfected by Grand Elder Xi. This aspect must have already been considered. See how calm Grand Elder Xi is? We just simply have to watch and have faith in Junior Nephew like Grand Elder Xi.¡± Daoyi glanced at her expressionless master. Since she first became Mengfei¡¯s disciple, the only expression she has seen on her face was one of nothing. Nothing could move her heart, but her woman¡¯s intuition was telling her that Xi Mengfei was even more worried than all the people watching combined. Besides, as a mother, what mother wouldn¡¯t worry while her child was under great danger? Tianyi had already lost count of how many lightning bolts had descended, his clothes were slightly tattered, and the tips of his black hair were singed. Even his gold coronet had faint cracks and melted due to the extreme heat. Eight golden embryonic cores had already been formed, and the Spiritual Crucible was covered in numerous small fissures. The only reason it hadn¡¯t been destroyed was because Tianyi was consuming numerous pills that were concocted to heal the Spiritual Crucible and using his spiritual qi to forcibly hold it in place. There was one last embryonic core inside the crucible, and it was the final one. Unlike all the others, it seemed slightly smaller, but the qi and pressure it emitted were even denser and more powerful. Tianyi opened his eyes and picked up the jade bottle containing the Yin Dragon Pearl Elixir. If it hadn¡¯t been for his mother, he probably wouldn¡¯t have had a chance to obtain such an elixir. It was concocted using the dragon pearl of an Immortal Realm dragon. A dragon¡¯s pearl could be considered a dragon¡¯s outer core and contributed a major portion to a dragon¡¯s power. Should a dragon lose its pearl, the loss wouldn¡¯t just be a dip in its strength but its overall potential. That¡¯s why most dragons, unless under extreme circumstances, wouldn¡¯t even reveal their pearls. A dragon¡¯s pearl could be considered something of an equivalent of a lifebound Artifact that spiritual cultivators could form at the Core Formation Realm, only more innate. Don¡¯t speak of even the current era. Before the Human-Divine Beast War, such a pearl was already nearly impossible to attain. Whoever attained it would face the Dragon Clan¡¯s wrath and be hunted down ruthlessly. Although the possessor would no longer be hunted down by the Dragon Clan, but it was also harder to find a dragon''s pearl. And now such a valuable treasure had been concocted into an elixir for a puny Foundation Establishment Disciple to form their Spiritual Core. Tianyi was only able to attain due to his mother¡¯s transcendental status within the sect, as well as the fact that she had slain many dragons and obtained their pearls during the Human-Divine Beast war. She naturally contributed a portion to the sect but kept some for herself. Tianyi opened the stopper and swallowed the liquid. Instantly an ice-cold qi assaulted his body. Tianyi felt as if he had hypothermia to the point of frostbite starting from the inside of his body. However, such pain was nothing compared to what he felt during the Blood Absorption Ritual, so he quickly calmed his heart down and began to guide the liquid into his dantian. The Yin Dragon Pearl Elixir lost its physical form as it converted into pure qi and entered Tianyi¡¯s dantian and then further into his Spiritual Crucible. The Heavenly Tribulation seemed to have been enraged, and the power of the tribulation lightning increased even more. Tianyi could only grit his teeth as he tried his best to defend against it while directing most of his attention inside his dantian. By now, Tianyi''s body was already a bloody mess with burnt skin covering his entire body. Even some of his robes seemed to have melded into his skin. His gold coronet had long fallen off, causing his hair to billow wildly in the turbulent winds created by the Heavenly Tribulation. The Yin Dragon Pearl Elixir began to merge with the embryonic core causing the color to become pitch black, like a dark hole, an empty space in reality. The Spiritual Crucible, Altar, and Pillars all began to turn even darker past the color of purple as it began emitting a golden glow. BAM! In a bright burst of light and explosion, the Spiritual Crucible, Altar, and Pillars exploded into tiny little fragments that soon turned into qi and were absorbed by the newly formed embryonic black core that emitted a violet gold light. At this instant, all eight golden embryonic cores began to revolve around the black embryonic core that emitted a violet-gold light like celestial bodies. At the same time, nerves seemingly made of lightning began to appear in Tianyi¡¯s dantian and covered all the embryonic cores like a heavenly net. This was the manifestation of Tianyi¡¯s Dao Tribulation Lightning Spiritual Vein. The last step needed to enter the Core Formation realm was to fuse one¡¯s Spiritual Vein¡¯s into their embryonic core, allowing one to produce true qi from the core, perfecting their Spiritual Core. This was also the reason why if a Core Formation Master had their core shattered, their Immortal path would be severed. Because they fused their Spiritual Vein into their core and so a loss of their Spiritual Core also meant they lost the ability to sense and absorb spiritual qi. Tianyi looked up. Before he fused his Dao Spiritual Vein into his cores, he needed to pass the Heavenly Tribulation first. However, after the most recent strike, the Heavenly Tribulation didn¡¯t send another attack and seemed to be waiting. Tianyi, who had already experienced this before, knew that the Heavenly Tribulation was biding its power. Tianyi stood up from the lotus position he had been staying at, the fractured remains of the lotus-shaped Artifact at his feet, broken and useless. ¡°I didn¡¯t think I would have to use it here,¡± Tianyi said to himself, his voice hoarse and scarred from the damage done to his body. Immediately the blood inside Tianyi¡¯s body began to boil as dragon qi began to surge through his body. It wasn''t the impure dragon qi his martial body formed, but one akin to a true dragon''s. In order to get through this tribulation, Tianyi was burning his blood essence, or rather the Dragon Emperor''s blood essence that was stored in his body. Already, due to the massive power of dragon qi, his body began to creak with each movement. The tribulation clouds rumbled with majesty as streaks of lightning appeared. Tianyi¡¯s pupils shrunk as he felt those streaks of lightning. At first, there was only one, but soon there was two, three, four, all the way to nine. But even with nine gathered, the lightning didn¡¯t immediately descend but rather started to coil around each other. Tianyi had already transcended nine sets of eight bolts of lightning. In other words, seventy-two bolts of lightning and now the remaining nine bolts of lightning were being merged into one. Finally, it descended. It was like a flash of light, a large towering bolt of lightning that was far larger than the sum of the size of the nine lightning strikes that it was composed of. Tianyi opened his mouth and roared as he used both hands and clawed upwards. From his hands, an illusionary dragon made of the burnt blood essence and dragon qi burst forth. It was a golden dragon that sometimes became dark and illusionary, but other times shone with a majestic presence as if announcing its presence to the world. It, too, roared as it ascended towards the lightning bolt. The two clashed and struggled for supremacy, neither giving an inch as they coiled around each other and ruthlessly attacked each other. This clash seemed to go indefinitely yet infinitely short as the next moment both the tribulation lightning and dragon burst into a golden light that showered down on Tianyi. It was an attack that used the Dragon Emperor''s blood essence to fuel it. How could it lose to the power of a Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation? Tianyi stood there weakly with his eyes closed as he allowed the golden light to enter his body. At the same time in his dantian, his Dao Tribulation Lightning Spiritual Veins began to fracture into nine parts. The largest part that was composed of nearly half of his original Spiritual Vein merged into the violet-gold core while the rest were split evenly and merged with the other eight gold-ranked cores. After that was done, the eight newly formed gold-ranked Spiritual Cores began to move away and entered Tianyi¡¯s Eight Extraordinary Meridians creating a formation. Inside Tianyi, an illusionary octagonal trigram template with the taiji symbol in the middle was formed. Grey gaseous qi began to be produced and filled his whole body at an astonishing rate. His injuries began to heal at a visible rate, although his clothes were in tatters, but his fleshly body was regenerating. Soon his muscles and skin returned to their previous appearance. ¡°Master, Senior Brother, he -¡± Daoyi showed an elated expression and turned to speak to her master, but she discovered that Mengfei had already disappeared from her side and was now in front of Tianyi. ¡°Yi¡¯er,¡± Mengfei spoke as her hands reached out but stopped, not knowing what to do with her hands. "Congratulations." Tianyi showed a happy expression. But he suddenly grimaced quickly paled. A pained expression appeared on his face, and blood sprayed from his mouth, dousing Mengfei''s clothes in his blood. He didn¡¯t have any time to ponder the sudden change in his body as he soon fainted. Chapter 24: Imperfect Cultivation Method Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Chapter 25: Towards the Three Heavens Connection Meeting Four years had already passed. Although Tianyi was already a youth in his teenage years but due to his high cultivation and his sickly appearance, he appeared no older than thirteen or fourteen. He was still at the Early Core Formation realm and hadn¡¯t undergone the minor wind tribulation where his cores would be polished and ground by the tribulation wind to become truly perfect spheres. When a Core Formation Realm cultivators'' core was first formed, although they looked perfectly spherical, it was actually full of deformations. There were some mixed-color grade cores that didn''t look spherical at all. After undergoing the wind tribulation, the Spiritual Core would become perfect spheres and increase the cultivator''s strength. But in Tianyi¡¯s case, should he undergo the minor wind tribulation, nevermind the problem of whether he was able to endure it due to his chaotic qi. But if he successfully passed, the amount of chaotic qi would increase again and cause his body to explode gloriously. If he couldn''t fix this problem of his, he would be stuck at the early Core Formation Realm, not daring to undergo the three minor Core Formation tribulations. ¡°Cough, cough.¡± Tianyi covered his mouth with a handkerchief as he felt himself go into a coughing fit. When he removed the handkerchief, red splotches of blood covered the white cloth. But the red splotches soon disappeared, leaving only white. Tianyi stored the handkerchief in his spatial. ¡°Young Master.¡± By his side, an elderly woman with speckled gray hair and wrinkled face couldn¡¯t help but say in worry. Although she had the visage of an aged woman, her skin was as white and tender as a newborn infant. Tianyi waved his hand. ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s not like this is the first time I¡¯ve coughed blood in all these years...or even the first time today.¡± The elderly woman stayed silent. The two were walking to the gardens of Jade Peak Palace. Ever since Tianyi¡¯s Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation, he lived here in the palace with his mother. Not just him, but the elder behind him, an aging Unity Realm Venerable, and his junior sister. ¡°Senior Brother Tianyi, Granny Meng.¡± Daoyi greeted the two when she saw them. ¡°Junior Sister, I heard you opened one of your Eight Extraordinary Meridians.¡± Tianyi congratulated. ¡°Junior Sister is not far away from the Foundation Establishment Realm. To celebrate, here¡¯s a little gift from me.¡± Without waiting for Daoyi to respond, Tianyi took out a giant war hammer, the hammer itself larger than Tianyi¡¯s torso, and placed it into Daoyi¡¯s hand that habitually reached out. As soon as Tianyi let go, the war hammer dropped onto the ground with a large crashing sound. It was a good thing that even the tiles of Jade Peak Palace were treasures that Immortals had trouble destroying. Otherwise, a large crack would have been created from the impact. ¡°Senior Brother!¡± Daoyi cried out helplessly as she looked at the cumbersome weapon in her hand that she could hardly lift. ¡°Senior Brother, this¡­ you already gave me a halberd before and a three-pointed, double-edged spear before that.¡± There was a helplessness in Daoyi¡¯s voice. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m suited for any of these weapons.¡± ¡°Nonsense,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°It doesn¡¯t hurt to have them or even practice them. In fact, you can even just bring them out and brandish them. Junior Sister, with your beauty and your special circumstance, adding deterrence is a necessity.¡± Indeed, unlike four years ago, with the aid of her rising cultivation, Daoyi¡¯s exquisite features were further enhanced. Especially now that she had started using light makeup, causing her appearance to bloom like a flower. What¡¯s more, compared to the other female cultivators of similar age and realms, she was rather petite in terms of height, causing Tianyi to feel worried over her. Not that Tianyi was taller than her. Daoyi could only silently accept her senior brother¡¯s goodwill. However, she always had a feeling that Tianyi wanted her to specialize in these types of brutish and savage weapons. Just thinking about herself violently swinging around the halberd or war hammer was already enough to make Daoyi cringe inside. The disparity of her slender arms swinging the handle of a weapon even thicker than she was... was just too beautiful. So beautiful that she couldn''t bear to think of it any longer. Tianyi smiled. What weapon should I give Daoyi next? Maybe a scythe? Hmmm, I need another reason, maybe when she opens her next meridian?¡± ¡°Junior Sister Daoyi, are you having any trouble recently? You can ask me. Recently, I¡¯ve been brushing up on my foundations, and I¡¯ve researched numerous cultivation manuals. Perhaps I can give some guidance.¡± Tianyi said. And indeed, in the past four years, who knows how many times he had researched numerous manuals and arts pertaining to his situation. With the aid of his mother and various elders, he was capable of circulating his qi and fighting without self-destructing now. ¡°Just in general, I feel as if the Eight Extraordinary Meridians just don''t exist within me. Intangible and ethereal, like they are out of my reach.¡± Daoyi said. She had spent over a year opening even a single one of her Eight Extraordinary Meridians. Furthermore, the more meridians she opened, the harder it would be for her to open the next one. She now had a deeper understanding of why Xia Yushan was so shocked at Tianyi opening up all Eight Extraordinary Meridians. ¡°That¡¯s normal. I also felt that way back then.¡± Tianyi said as he recalled those days when he was frustrated at not being able to sense the Eight Extraordinary Meridians. ¡°Junior Sister, have you heard of the phrase ¡°the person who knows you best is your enemy¡±?¡± Daoyi nodded her head. ¡°Yes, it means that your enemy knows you better than even yourself.¡± ¡°Yes, however, why would your enemy know more about you than yourself? Isn¡¯t it illogical?¡± Daoyi nodded at Tianyi¡¯s words. ¡°I won¡¯t speak much about this situation, but isn¡¯t simply because we don¡¯t know ourselves well enough? It¡¯s very hard for yourself to notice traits that you yourself don¡¯t even know exist, but it is different for an outsider. But the body is different.¡± Daoyi perked her ears up. She felt that Tianyi was reaching the main point. ¡°As the owner of our body, we should know them better than anyone else. And the best way to do so is to seal off all your outward senses. Your sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. Under such a situation, you will discover more than you even knew about your body. However,¡± Tianyi paused. ¡°Saying it is easy, but once you experience it. Whether you are able to calm yourself once you lose all your senses is another matter.¡± Daoyi stayed silent as she pondered over the suggestion. Sealing off all your senses would be even worse than being locked up in a monotone room with no human interaction. She knew that humans in such an environment would have their spirit impacted, and if a long enough time passes, they may even go insane.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°Naturally, it must be under the supervision of my mother. With her experience, she will be able to monitor your situation.¡± Tianyi added. ¡°I understand. Senior Brother, did you undergo the same thing?¡± Daoyi asked, and Tianyi instantly gained a faraway look in his eyes. ¡°Hehe, it was worse for me,¡± Tianyi said. Daoyi stopped herself from asking, even though she really wanted to know, but the dead fish eyes of Tianyi really scared her. ¡°But Senior Brother is still amazing! I understand it even more now that I¡¯ve reached this stage.¡± Daoyi wholeheartedly complimented. Tianyi felt himself stand straighter at the praise. Who doesn¡¯t like praise, especially if it was someone close to you? ¡°Say, Junior Sister, are there any artifacts you want me to forge. Recently I¡¯ve been getting into artificing. I¡¯ve even run out of ideas on what to forge.¡± Daoyi thought about it for a moment before asking. ¡°Can Senior Brother forge boots or shoes?¡± Normally you ask for weapons or shields, right? Who asks for clothes? Although Tianyi thought this, he didn¡¯t show it. ¡°Of course, Junior Sister. I dabbled in it for a bit, but my skills should be sufficient to forge an Artifact at the Foundation Establishment Realm.¡± Daoyi smiled as she described what she wanted to Tianyi. He felt his lips twitch at Daoyi¡¯s description. Daoyi is describing platform shoes, isn¡¯t she? And she wants three inched ones too. After agreeing to Daoyi¡¯s request, Tianyi left with Elder Meng after speaking a few more words. ¡°Elder Meng, how many of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians do you think Junior Sister will be capable of opening?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°Hard to say.¡± Elder Meng said. ¡°But in this old one¡¯s eyes, disciple Jiang is suited more towards soul cultivation, and the number of her meridians won¡¯t be as important in the future.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Tianyi said in surprise. Soul cultivation was by far the most difficult and esoteric cultivation method because it involved the soul. Those who cultivate the soul have a massive advantage against those of the same rank and can directly attack the opponent¡¯s soul, the root of a cultivator''s life. Unfortunately, only when a soul cultivator reaches the Nascent Soul Realm can their power be truly unleashed. And the other unfortunate fact was that using soul cultivation to cross the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation is far more demanding than any other cultivation system. Tianyi would rather Daoyi choose a spiritual cultivation method and ascend to Immortality than choose a soul cultivation method and fall on her Immortal Ascension Heavenly tribulation. When he returned to his forging room in the palace, it was littered with various trinkets and half-finished products: a giant golem that was at least fifteen meters tall, an unwieldy executioner''s blade, western-style swords, a shield that could transform into a bow, and even armor. But Tianyi never did finish forging Daoyi¡¯s boots because he soon received a summon from the sect master. At Jiuzhong Peak, where the Sect Master resided, Tianyi saw various disciples from the Core Formation Realm to the Nascent Soul Realm and various Unity Realm Venerables. ¡°Senior Brother Xia.¡± Tianyi found Xia Yushan and made his way towards him. ¡°Junior Brother, your complexion looks much better.¡± Xia Yushan said. Tianyi looked around and recognized a few of the disciples standing around Xia Yushan. Wei Daying was a dual cultivator of both the spiritual and martial systems and in the Core Formation Realm and Acupoint Opening Realm like him. Heng Huesheng was a disciple at the Nascent Soul Realm like Xia Yushan and can be considered his good friend. Ji Shuye, also in the Nascent Soul Realm, but Tianyi¡¯s eyes lingered on her a bit longer because she was female. Ummm, indeed. The male-to-female ratio in the sect is way too unbalanced. Seeing Senior Sister Ji is like a breath of fresh air. But there was a person who Tianyi didn''t recognize and didn¡¯t wear the Buzhou Immortal Sect uniform. Xia Yushan, who saw this, immediately introduced Tianyi to this unknown man. ¡°Junior Brother Xi, this is the strongest Core Formation disciple from the Monolith Sword Sect, He Yongli. Although he is only at the peak of the Core Formation Realm, he can cross realms and fight Nascent Soul Realm Grandmaster.¡± ¡°Greetings, fellow Daoist He.¡± Tianyi smiled and greeted the Monolith Sword Sect disciple. The feeling that He Yongli gave him was one of steadiness to the point of dullness. Tianyi didn¡¯t find it strange that He Yongli could cross realms; first, he was the disciple of a first-rate sect, and second weapon cultivators such as sword cultivators were known to be able to punch above their weight. I just don¡¯t know if he had forged a lifebound weapon yet. ¡°Greetings, fellow Daoist Xi.¡± He Yongli said. ¡°This is the first time I met the famous son of the Sword Empress. To think you really were at the Core Formation Realm, it seems not all rumors are lies.¡± Tianyi felt his lips twitch. Why does it seem like He Yongli was provoking him? ¡°Haha, a Core Formation Master at the young age of twelve. Junior Brother, not speaking of other sects, even many of us didn¡¯t believe it at first.¡± Xia Yushan interjected, helping smooth the atmosphere and confirm Tianyi''s suspicions. ¡°You live up to your fame as the child of an Immortal Emperor. I hope during the Three Heavens Connection Meeting, we will have a chance to fight.¡± Throughout the rest of the conversation, He Yongli explicitly and implicitly hinted at sparring; the sooner, the better. But thankfully, with Tianyi''s fellow disciples there, Tianyi didn''t let He Yongli accomplish his goal. Are you kidding me? I have to save my energy for the Three Heaven¡¯s Connection Meeting and then the ruin of the Immortal Court afterward. I don¡¯t want to waste energy and make myself puke blood just so you can have a chance to fight me! Not long after, Sect Master Xia gathered all the disciples and elders and gave them information as well as directions for the Three Heavens Connection Meeting. Tianyi even spied a few Immortal Realm elders standing next to the Sect Master Xia. "Tianyi, are you sure you are able to participate in the Three Heavens Connection Meeting?" Tianyi heard a voice in his head and instantly recognized Sect Master Xia¡¯s voice. "Yes, as long as I don¡¯t push myself too hard, most Core Formation Masters should be no problem. If I were to really go all out, I could even exchange a few moves with Nascent Soul Grandmasters." Hearing this, Sect Master Xia was satisfied. Suddenly there was an indescribable pressure emanating from the sky. Everyone looked up to see a fissure appear in the sky, and out came two Immortals. Tianyi recognized them instantly. One was his mother, and the other was Grand Elder Zhang, Immortal Empress Voidink. ¡°Grand Elders, to what do I owe the occasion to?¡± Sect Master Xia asked as he greeted the two Grand Elders. Mengfei didn¡¯t speak as the duo landed near the Sect Master. Instead, it was Grand Elder Zhang who spoke up first. ¡°I haven¡¯t been out in a while. It just so happened that I wanted to go out and take a look. I¡¯ll be joining the journey to the Three Heavens Connection Meeting. I hope Sect Master won¡¯t mind?¡± Mind? How could he mind? Although Grand Elder Zhang had rarely shown herself to the world these past few centuries to the point, many younger cultivators forgot about her, but she once had her name spread throughout the world to the point no one didn¡¯t know her. As for why such an esteemed Grand Elder would suddenly want to join in on a small matter as the Three Heavens Connection Meeting, Grand Elder Xi standing next to the Grand Elder Zhang was very thought-provoking. Grand Elder Zhang boarded the immortal boat, followed by the other Immortals from the Buzhou Immortal Sect and the subordinate sects, then the Unity Realm cultivators, the Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, and finally the Core Formation Realm cultivators. Tianyi compared the immortal boat in front of him to his mother¡¯s. If his mother¡¯s immortal boat was a yacht, then this immortal boat was a bonafide cruise ship! When Tianyi began walking towards the immortal boat, the people around him stiffened, and Tianyi turned around to his mother walking towards him. ¡°You''re¡­¡± Mengfei started to speak but stopped. ¡°When you go, be sure to eat well...sleep well¡­ be safe...and...come back safe.¡± Mengfei spoke as if she was reciting from a book, taking every few moments to recall the words she memorized before speaking of them. Tianyi helplessly smiled. ¡°Okay, I understand, mother.¡± Mengfei nodded and then looked at Elder Meng, who had been silently standing behind Tianyi. ¡°Take care of Yi¡¯er for me, Elder Meng.¡± ¡°Of course, Grand Elder.¡± It was only at this point when Elder Meng spoke that many people sensed her existence. It was as if she had become a transparent person to the surrounding people causing them to overlook her, even the other Unity Realm Venerables. After exchanging farewells, Tianyi and Elder Meng boarded the immortal boat and left for the Three Heaven Connection Meeting. Tianyi''s eyes shone with hope in anticipation of acquiring the solution to his current issue. Chapter 26: Huang Realm An enormous and luxurious boat the size of a cruise ship drifted over neverending waters. The only difference was that the boat wasn''t drifting on the water but in the air. Standing on the deck of the immortal boat was a boy, who appeared to be around thirteen to fourteen, wearing purple robes. He had an unnatural pallor, but it could not hide his handsome visage. However, the most striking features on him were his pair of bedeviling eyes that seemed to hold the whole world within them. His name was Xi Tianyi, son of Sword Empress Xi Mengfei, the strongest immortal of the Huang Realm. Tianyi frowned as he stood atop the deck on the immortal boat making its way towards the Three Heavens Connection Meeting. It had already been a few days, and the immortal boat had long traveled past the edge of the Heaven Continent and entered the Endless Seas. Tianyi had felt a sense of discomfort once he saw the unending waters. He just didn¡¯t know why. It was as if there was a sense of wrongness that he couldn''t pinpoint. He had even asked Elder Meng if she noticed anything strange, only to receive a negative reply. Tianyi sighed as he looked at the ''edge'' of the world where the water ended and the sky began. Or rather, should have. Suddenly, he frowned as he discovered that he could not locate the curvature of the planet. Even now, he could still make at the line that was the Heaven Continent even though the immortal boat should have long gone past the point where it disappeared. But that¡¯s impossible. Due to the shape of a planet, everything will eventually disappear after a certain distance. Tianyi continued to be puzzled by what he saw. However, the next moment Tianyi''s body stiffened as a thought occurred to him. What if I¡¯m not on a planet? It was an absurd thought that went against all conventions Tianyi had learned in his previous years on Earth. But the more Tianyi thought about it, the more Tianyi was sure of his hypothesis. Why did I think that I was living on a planet? The fact that this world has cultivation already goes against my common sense. There is a reason why the Huang Realm is called a realm, after all. If anything, a realm would be like what people call a flat-Earth with boundaries at the edge. In that case, how does day and night work here? Does the realm revolve around the sun, or does the sun revolve around the Huang Realm? How do the seasons change? Without an axis of rotation, how does it all happen? Tianyi found himself more and more confused and befuddled as questions and conjectures began to flow into his mind. Then he suddenly spat out a large mouthful of blood. ¡°Young master!¡± Elder Meng, who had been standing behind him while he had been in a daze for the past few days, cried out in worry, but Tianyi waved her concern away. Tianyi covered his mouth with a white handkerchief, but even as blood leaked from his mouth, Tianyi¡¯s eyes were flashing unprecedentedly bright light. Even his pupils seemed to have changed to molten gold. ¡°Hahahaha, the Dao, Heavenly Dao! What governs the laws of this world!? Hahaha!¡± Tianyi laughed uncontrollably as if he had found something hilarious, but he had not gone insane. His eyes were perfectly clear and sharp, seemingly too sharp. It was as if he was a half-blind man who suddenly received Lasik surgery. His awareness of the world around him had never been clearer. First, the Huang Realm has three continents: the Heaven Continent ruled by the Buzhou Immortal Sect, the Earth Continent ruled by the Eight Pillars Sect, and finally, the Mortal Continent ruled by the Saintly Scholar School. It is said that the Huang Realm was formed from the world the Immortal Court ruled from, and so it was formerly known as the Jade Emperor (Yu Huang) Realm, but after so many years, the name became what it is today. The three continents are separated by an apparently endless sea, and the distance from each continent is said to be so immense that mortals cannot cross the distance. Within the endless seas, there are numerous small islands where minor powers have established themselves. But that¡¯s not the important part! Legend has it if you travel straight far enough, you will reach a wall, the end of the realm where no living beings could pass through. I used to think of it as nothing more than a fairy tale, but now there¡¯s a high possibility that this is true. Thinking logically, this world has powerful immortals. If the wall were false, then the legend would have been corrected a long time ago by the immortals. Then the question arises: are there any other planes besides this one, do planets and solar systems exist in this reality? How do the laws of physic play into all of this? From my experience till now, physics still exists. How exactly does the world work? Does outer space exist? Tianyi continued to stand until seven days and nights passed, unmoving like a stone sculpture. Tianyi had entered a special state that many would term enlightenment. Enlightenment was varied. An example from Earth would be Sir Isaac Newton, who gained sudden enlightenment when an apple dropped on his head. In the Huang Realm, Confucius, the Patriarch and Founder of the Saint Scholar School, gained enlightenment after more than fifty years of study and directly reached the Immortal Realm in a single leap. Throughout this time, Elder Meng stood by like a guard, not letting anyone come close to Tianyi. It even shocked a few cultivators when she appeared out of nowhere when they tried to approach Tianyi. Thanks to Elder Meng¡¯s actions, Tianyi was able to comprehend many things during these seven days and nights. ¡°So the moon is not a satellite but a star.¡± Tianyi found himself muttering, half in disbelief and half in amazement. During the seven days, he gained some enlightenment concerning the sun and the moon, the Solar Star and the Lunar Star. Through this, he deepened his understanding of yin and yang. It wasn''t to the point of directly understanding the fundamental Law of Yin or Yang, but more like concepts. Concepts were partial portions of the worldly law that governed the Huang Realm. If physic was a complete law, then concepts were theories. However, Tianyi''s greatest gain was the concept of gravity, or rather attraction. Inside Tianyi''s body, the unruly true qi of chaos within his body were attracted to his dantian, like space debris attracted by a planet''s gravity. At the same time, some color returned to Tianyi''s sickly white skin. ¡°Young Master, have you solved the issue that has plagued you all these years?¡± Elder Meng asked with a hint of approvement in her eyes. Tianyi chuckled, obviously pleased. ¡°How could it be that easy, Elder Meng? I¡¯ve just gained some basic insights into the nature of yin and yang. More importantly, I''ve seemed to found a breakthrough to create a method to control my nine spiritual cores.¡± ¡°Young Master, your aura has changed and is no longer as chaotic. I must congratulate you on stepping closer to your goal.¡± Elder Meng said, a slight smile on her aged lips. It was one of the few rare times that Tianyi had seen her smile. Even though it wasn''t as beautiful as a blooming flower, it was still nonetheless pleasant.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Much appreciated,¡± Tianyi replied. ¡°Although I look better, the truth of the matter is that I¡¯ve only stabilized a portion of my qi. My control has only increased marginally, but with more time, I believe my control will increase to the point that I will no longer puke blood with no warning.¡± ¡°This is truly a joyous matter.¡± Elder Meng said, her smile disappearing. Tianyi smiled bitterly. Was it truly a joyous matter that he no longer puked blood with no warning? He would still puke blood if he were agitated enough. The only way to break free was to create a new cultivation method that allowed him to fully control all nine spiritual cores. He only found a possible breakthrough. However, the chances of success were still slim. Throughout the four years, Tianyi kept running into a wall when he was designing a martial cultivation manual for himself, and that was space! Most martial bodies simply didn''t have enough space to house the true qi produced from nine spiritual cores. Furthermore, it wasn''t just regular true qi but true qi of chaos, which had strong destructive properties. Tianyi needed to create a martial cultivation method that formed a martial body that was strong enough to stand the true qi of chaos and with enough capacity to contain all his qi. His current martial body, formed with one of the peak martial methods, made his body comparative to a young dragon, but even that was not enough. Even now, Tianyi still needed to use a treasure to siphon the excess qi, but Tianyi''s mood was still good. ¡°Senior Brother Xia, I have some Serene Spirit Wine. Want to have a drink?¡± Tianyi asked, wanting to celebrate his gains. Logically it would be best for him to consolidate all his gains first, but Tianyi was far too excited. He had the first enlightenment in his life, and his gains were massive, but he could not calm himself down. Even now, he had to physically restrain himself from openly grinning and looking like a loon. Xia Yushan also sensed Tianyi¡¯s good mood, and he had also heard about Tianyi¡¯s strange state and immediately connected the two. ¡°Hahaha, since junior brother is offering a rank seven wine, then I, as your senior brother, cannot afford to give anything less. Although a Sword Tailed Peacock is only a rank five monster, the meat is still extremely precious, worthy of the Serene Spirit Wine Junior Brother Xi has.¡± Soon, Xia Yushan and Tianyi were seated at a large circular table, but they weren¡¯t the only ones as Heng Huesheng, Ji Shuye, and Wei Daying were also present. Each of them brought out an item at least of the fifth rank to the miniature banquet. The three nascent soul grandmasters did not look down on Tianyi or Wei Daiying, the only core formation masters on the table. First of all, Tianyi was the only son of Grand Elder Xi and was the richest among the four. Second, all three of them knew it was only a matter of time before Tianyi and Wei Daiying became a nascent soul or soul nourishing grandmaster like them. They were all cultivators. No matter what the topic was when they first sat down, it would always lead to a discussion about cultivation in the end. ¡°Senior Brother Xia, your attainments in the Five Element Sword Arts are truly a sight to behold, worthy of being the number one sword cultivator in the current generation of disciples.¡± Tianyi praised. He truly admired Xia Yushan¡¯s skill with the sword. One could even say that he envied Xia Yushan''s talent in the sword. ¡°You overpraise me. Although I may be the acclaimed number one sword cultivator of this generation, Junior Brother Xi is not any worse than me when I first entered the Core Formation realm.¡± Xia Yushan was happy at Tianyi¡¯s praise, and he naturally praised Tianyi back. ¡°Don¡¯t make fun of me, Senior Brother Xia. I can admit I am a little talented in the sword, but that is only treading through the predecessors¡¯ footstep.¡± Many of the people seated at the table snorted. Talented? That was underestimating Tianyi''s abilities too much. From their discussion, they could already ascertain that Tianyi''s techniques were far above the norm of most Core Formation cultivators. If the sword prodigies outside heard Tianyi¡¯s word, how many would cry and scream from Tianyi¡¯s words? There are many who wished they could have Tianyi¡¯s ''minor'' talent in the sword. ¡°Junior Brother Xi, don¡¯t say such words in the future. You¡¯ll make a lot of people cry.¡± Ji Shuye said, her voice was like her appearance, gentle and soft, making one feel pleased. ¡°I heard that Junior Brother recently created the Nine Strokes Sword Arts that has many variations and is extremely complex.¡± Tianyi sipped the wine and felt the turbulent qi within calm down a bit. ¡°Haha, most sword cultivators focus wholeheartedly on the sword and fuse the concepts they comprehended into sword arts. On the other hand, I use sword arts to execute techniques based on the concepts I mastered. I''m doing everything in reverse.¡± The conversation continued, and many topics were discussed, such as the current situation of the three continents or how the Eight Pillar Sect was under threat by the Anti-Earth Alliance, an alliance formed of first-rate powers on the Earth Continent. The Eight Pillar Sect that existed for eons might even get replaced, but of course, the chances were still slim. No matter how weak a hegemonic sect became, it had heavy accumulations and would not fall so easily. Both sides would likely suffer heavy losses, but the Eight Pillars Sect would come out victorious. Also, during this time, Tianyi noticed that Heng Huesheng and Wei Daiying were a bit of a yes man to Xia Yushan. It wasn''t that obvious¡ªat least to Tianyi¡ªbut he found them very agreeable to whatever Xia Yushan said and often reinforced him. ¡°Speaking of which, I wonder what the top disciples of the other three continents are like and how they compare to the disciples from our sect,¡± Tianyi asked. He himself was already a top talent in the Buzhou Immortal Sect, and those he knew were also the cream of the crop, so he didn''t pay much attention to the common disciple. He had tried to find cultivators with heaven-defying talent outside the Buzhou Immortal Sect, but none could compare to the Buzhou Immortal Sect on the Heaven Continent. Tianyi had stopped looking, but the Three Heavens Connecting Meeting roused his interest once more. From what Xia Yushan, Heng Huesheng, Ji Shuye, Wei Daiying knew, there were the two disciples that stood out. First was Li Mu, a cultivator who was skilled in both formations and alchemy. If you gave him enough time to prepare, he may not win against you but defeating him was nearly impossible. Li Mu was one of the most outstanding geniuses of the Saint;y Scholar School. The news was that he had formed his nascent soul years ago when he was only forty years old. Other than Li Mi, all the disciples of the Saint Scholar School were about the same, so no one stood out. It was almost terrifying in a way, since all of their disciples were consistently above average compared to other hegemonic sects. From the Earth Continent was San Mirong, an Acupoint Opening Realm cultivator. She was a female cultivator¡ªa rarity¡ªwho was skilled in martial cultivation and specialized in thunder arts. Furthermore, she was able to compete and defeat nascent soul grandmasters. But the most surprising thing was that she did not come from the hegemonic sect of the Earth Continent, the Eight Pillar Sect, but the Extremity Night Sect, a first-rate force and member of the Anti-Earth Alliance. However, the latest information was a decade old, and it was likely she had already entered the Soul Nourishing Realm. It was rather sad that the ruler of the Earth Continent didn''t have an outstanding disciple to compete against the Anti-Earth Alliance''s top disciple. Although it was just as likely that a top disciple was being secretly trained. ¡°Senior Brother Xia, don¡¯t you think it¡¯s a pity to have slaughtered the Sword Tailed Peacock for meat. If it reached ranked six, then you would have a magnificent mount.¡± At Heng Huesheng¡¯s words, Tianyi stilled for a moment. ¡°Senior Brother Xia, if I recall correctly Sword Tailed Peacocks are born at rank three at birth and have opened spirituality, right?¡± Tianyi asked. When a beast or magical beast opened spirituality, their intelligence was not lower than a human¡¯s, even if their mentality was that of a child''s. ¡°Hahaha, of course. Truthfully I had high hopes for this Sword Tailed Peacock, but unfortunately, when it formed its demon core, the process was imperfect, and thus its future road was severed. Even if I had not killed it, it would have died anyway.¡± Xia Yushan calmly said. That means this Sword Tailed Peacock we''re eating had opened spirituality, right? At this point, Tianyi felt a bit green. He looked around the table to see Heng Huesheng nodding his head in agreement. Even the gentle-looking Ji Shuye did not feel repulsed by this. So killing beasts, even those who have attained spirituality, is no different than killing livestock here, even though they have the same intelligence as average mortals? Tianyi instantly recalled all sorts of delicacy he ate before and felt himself become even more agitated. Suddenly he started hacking, and his face looked green. ¡°Junior Brother!?¡± The four other disciples called out to Tianyi in worry. The other people called out to Xi Tianyi in concern. Although they knew that Xi Tianyi''s health had problems, seeing it happen in front of them was another matter. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I just got overly excited. No need to worry about me.¡± Tianyi gave a slight smile. Had the soul inside the beasts been human, would Senior Brothers and Sister still happily eat the meat? Forget it. In this world, eating monster meat, even those that have opened spirituality is normal. But for me, it¡¯s like cannibalism. I cannot, in good conscience, eat them without care. "They say when in Rome, do as the Romans do, but I honestly cannot do it," Tianyi muttered lowly, but someone still heard him. "What do you mean? What is Rome?" Ji Shuye asked. Tianyi paused before he gave a melancholic smile that made him seem isolated, as if he was sitting at another table even though he was physically sitting at the same table. "Forget it. You wouldn''t understand." Chapter 27: Heaven Shroud Island The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Chapter 28: Attracting Weirdos Tianyi stood there stunned. This was an open declaration of love! Tianyi wondered whether Nanfang Wubai had a hole in her brain for using this precious chance to openly declare her intentions rather than focusing on being qualified to enter the secret realm. Not to mention Tianyi still had the appearance of a child who had just entered their teenage years. Unless Nanfang Wubai had a special interest in young boys? And who would openly express love in such a way in front of everyone? Even though Nanfang Wubai¡¯s confession was spoken in dulcet tones and had a hint of shyness, creating a very alluring contrast, Tianyi only felt wariness. His intuition was warning him to be extremely careful against this unknown cultivator. ¡°Buzhou Immortal Sect disciple, Xi Tianyi, please advise.¡± Tianyi cupped his fists towards Nanfang Wubai. His intentions to fight couldn¡¯t be more evident. Nanfang Wubai showed an expression that made her seem truly disappointed at Tianyi¡¯s reply, and she half-heartedly cupped her fist. ¡°Myriad Sun Sect disciple, Nanfang Wubai, please be gentle~.¡± Tianyi shivered again when Nanfang Wubai said gentle. Everything in his body felt repulsed by her. Tianyi felt blood rise up his throat and instantly brought his handkerchief to his face. However, Nanfang Wubai didn¡¯t seem intent on attacking and simply raised her hand from her sides and displayed her broad sleeves as if to say she was not up to anything. Tianyi was alert and released his spiritual senses. Although he did not purposely cultivate and was still in the early Core Formation Realm, that did not mean Tianyi didn¡¯t make any improvements. He cultivated the Three Pure True Self Visualisation Technique every day. And thanks to his painstaking efforts, his soul barely reached the threshold of the Nascent Soul realm, and his spiritual sense was naturally more powerful than the majority of the Core Formation Masters here. He cannot claim to be the only one with a soul at the Nascent Soul realm while in the Core Formation realm, but in terms of soul strength, he was one of the strongest at the Core Formation Realm on Heaven Shroud Island. Tianyi frowned. His spiritual senses didn¡¯t capture any rippling of qi as if Nanfang Wubai truly was open with her intentions, but he sensed a strange absence of space the size of wood splinters. Tianyi coughed even harder, but his body began to release a strange pressure that made his outline seem to dissolve and blur into the environment. It wasn¡¯t a true spell or technique. He simply released his true qi of chaos from his pores, creating a small film of destruction protecting his body. All the while, Tianyi stared at Nanfang Wubai, who still had a mesmerizing smile on her face and hands spread apart as if to say she had no ill intent. Tianyi pricked his eyebrows as he felt something touch the film of destruction that layered his body. His eyes hardened as he realized what was attacking him. They were thin sewing needles attached to strings, each of them was undetectable. He could sense the distortion of space that hid the needles, but he couldn¡¯t detect the strings at all. ''What a sinister method.'' Ever since he had gone through the Blood Absorption Ritual, Tianyi had gained an intense hatred for needles. Tianyi raised his free hand upwards and then smashed down towards Nanfang Wubai. Although he was a fair distance away, Nanfang Wubai felt as if she was under tremendous pressure and she saw an illusionary palm seemingly formed from heaven itself, crushing down towards her. Nanfang Wubai didn¡¯t show any change in her demeanor, and strings unseeable by the naked eye erupted from all her body and pierced through the illusionary palm. The illusionary palm began to dissipate, and before it could reach her, it had already lost its form and dissipated. All that it left was a breeze that made Nanfang Wubai¡¯s hair flow in the wind. ¡°Ah...sweetheart, if you wanted to touch me, you can directly do it. No need to use a proxy. I won¡¯t mind if you want to directly touch me with your hand~.¡± Tianyi coughed even more. Ever since Nanfang Wubai had opened her mouth, his goosebumps had never disappeared. Especially now that Nanfang Wubai hugged herself and squirmed erotically. He even had half a mind to rip her tongue out, just to make the goosebumps disappear. Screw being a gentleman! He didn¡¯t close the distance but rather distanced himself from her and pointed his finger at her. Instantly blurry spears made of what seem to be grey clouds were formed and shot towards Nanfang Wubai. Since his Heavenly Suppressing Palm didn¡¯t work, Tianyi abandoned using that move and instead agglomerated his chaotic true qi into weapon shapes using a simple spell. His true qi of chaos was not easy to manipulate due to the ever-changing nature of it, aggravated by the constant imbalance of yin and yang in his body. However, after years of cultivation, forming them into shapes and launching them was still doable. It was a brutish method, but the destructive power of true qi of chaos was not to be underestimated. Although Nanfang Wubai felt great danger from the grey cloud spears, she still continued to hug herself as invisible strings shot towards the grey cloud spears. However, her expression finally changed when her invisible needles were destroyed upon with the grey cloud spears. Even the strings were being destroyed as the destructive qi wormed its way towards Nanfang Wubai through the strings. Nanfang Wubai instantly disconnected the strings and dodged the grey cloud spears. ¡°Sweethearts attack is really impressive, but such an attack, how many can you use?¡± Nanfang Wubai asked. Tianyi didn¡¯t say anything as he continued to form hand seals and point his finger at Nanfang Wubai, volleys after volleys of grey cloud spears pierced towards Nanfang Wubai. With the increasing number of spears attacking her, Nanfang Wubai could no longer leisurely dodge and in both her hands appeared a golden needle with a red string attached to it. She shot the needle out, and a barrier made of red thread covered in a golden glow appeared and shielded, blocking Tianyi¡¯s line of sight. Tianyi stayed expressionless as he increased his attack, and in mere moments the barrier was destroyed, but Nanfang Wubai seemed to have disappeared. Tianyi didn¡¯t panic as he pointed his finger in a seemingly random direction and directed his grey cloud spears there. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Ah, your eyes are so sharp. I feel naked before you~!¡± Nanfang Wubai appeared in the air and was surrounded by red threads to the point that Tianyi could not make out her appearance with all the red threads. Tianyi¡¯s eyes twitched, and he increased the number of grey cloud spears. Although Nanfang Wubai continued to dodge, soon her thread defenses were destroyed, and a grey cloud spear pierced through her abdomen. In that instant, a second Nanfang Wubai appeared behind Tianyi and reached out towards his head! Nanfang Wubai¡¯s eyes shone with glee as her hand inched closer and closer to Tianyi¡¯s head, with him seemingly none the wiser. Her face turned ashen as a short grey cloud short spear appeared behind Tianyi and shot towards Nanfang Wubai¡¯s head. She tilted her head to dodge, but the spear still left a gash on her cheek. Not staying any longer, Nanfang Wubai flipped away from Tianyi. At the same time, Tianyi felt a tiny prick on his head as he looked back to see a strand of his hair being pulled away by a red thread. Nanfang Wubai reeled in the strand of hair and stroked it lovingly. ¡°Sweetheart is really amazing. I thought that sweetheart needed to point the direction where the spears went, but sweetheart was actually lying. What a bad man! But...I like that~~.¡± Tianyi¡¯s eyes began to grow increasingly cold. His hand reached towards the sword sheathed on his waist, but Nanfang Wubai next action shocked him. ¡°I forfeit. Getting a lock of sweetheart¡¯s hair is enough for me. I¡¯ll be sure to treasure it and hug it whenever I sleep.¡± Nanfang Wubai even gave a wink at Tianyi and blew a kiss before she jumped off the arena. Tianyi felt incredibly stifled. He even contemplated jumping off and hacking that damn pervert into pieces. Of course, that was only a wishful thought. Unfortunately, Tianyi still had a strand of reason and thus did not chase after Nanfang Wubai. Tianyi coughed into his handkerchief even more until he finally calmed down his agitated emotions. Tianyi felt the corner of his lips twitch when the next contestant jump onto the stage. He was a gaunt male who looked to only have skin on his bones. But his hair was extremely short to the point that he was almost bald, and what little hair he had was singed. His stupidly thick robes weren¡¯t clean with burn marks all over and reminded Tianyi of an astronaut suit. ¡°Eternal Night Sect Disciple Baoja, please advise.¡± Tianyi felt his lips twitch even more. "Buzhou Immortal Sect Disciple Xi Tianyi, please advise.¡± After the two greeted each other, the air tensed, and to Tianyi¡¯s surprise, Baoja flew into the air on a small basket he brought out. Tianyi wondered what Baoja wanted to do, and he soon found out as tiny round iron balls fell towards him. Once they neared him, they exploded brilliantly, with each explosion being at least ten meters in diameter. Tianyi instantly deployed his true qi as a barrier, greatly reducing the shock and explosive power of the bombs. He stayed on the defensive and waited for Baoja to reveal another move, but after more than ten minutes, the explosions still hadn¡¯t stopped. ¡°Is he...carpet-bombing me?¡± Tianyi asked himself with a bit of incredulity. But no matter how long Tianyi waited, the bombs never stopped. Finally, Tianyi couldn¡¯t wait anymore and unleashed a torrent of grey cloud spears. When the grey cloud spears pierced through the iron balls, they detonated, but the spears only decreased in size and continued onto their course towards Baoja. Baoja frowned. ¡°Just what are these spears made of? Even my bombs couldn¡¯t destroy them. They seemed to be made of qi, yet this power is nothing like I ever experienced before.¡± Baoja wasn¡¯t idle because as soon as the spears neared him, his body became blurry, and the heat surrounding the arena instantly surged upwards. The grey cloud spears passed harmlessly through the blurred form of Baoja. ¡°What is this? A heat mirage, but it can¡¯t be so simple. Even my spiritual senses can¡¯t pinpoint his location.¡± Since he couldn¡¯t pinpoint Baoja and snipe him, Tianyi decided to make up his deficit with numbers as hundreds of group cloud spears surged towards Baoja. When that didn¡¯t work, Tianyi added another hundred. What Tianyi was the least afraid of was using his true qi! In fact, if the amount of true qi in his body was expended by fifty percent, his combat prowess might even increase by a hundred percent. Baoja seeing that the situation wasn¡¯t good for him as Tianyi didn¡¯t seem to be running out of true qi anytime soon, abandoned the basket he was on and started to fall towards Tianyi. Tianyi naturally saw the blurred form of Baoja falling towards him and sent the grey cloud spears at him. This time the grey cloud spears didn¡¯t harmlessly pass through Baoja, and instead, Baoja¡¯s form became clear for a single moment and shone brightly. BOOOM!!! Tianyi¡¯s lips once again started to twitch. ¡°He stopped carpet bombing and instead became the bomb himself? He didn¡¯t die from that suicide bombing, right?¡± Tianyi¡¯s worries were unfounded as once the smoke from the explosions cleared, Baoja¡¯s form was revealed, and he was still flying towards Tianyi. With the true qi of chaos clouds destroyed, Tianyi instantly retreated with a giant leap as the place he was standing on became charred black from Baoja exploding himself once more. Baoja only looked a little bit worse for the wear as smudge coated his face and robes. Tianyi''s heart felt really tired. Not only did he have to deal with a weird pervert in the first round, but the second one was even stranger! He was a pervert with a hobby of blowing himself up. Tianyi couldn¡¯t see any change in Baoja¡¯s expression, but the more Baoja exploded, the greater the power. Grey clouds began to disperse from Tianyi¡¯s body until it completely covered him, but it didn¡¯t stop there as the grey cloud grew larger and larger until it formed a grey cloud giant that took up more than thirty percent of the arena. This was Tianyi¡¯s self-invented technique, Inner Outer Reversal Form. To say it nicely, it was just a trick to use one¡¯s qi to form a giant around the user. This technique would quite literally be useless to anyone else, as the expenditure was simply not worth the results. But it was perfect for Tianyi. Although Baoja resisted Tianyi¡¯s cloud giant form, his explosions simply couldn''t extinguish the cloud giant before Tianyi could replenish it, and soon he was caught. The grey cloud ground away at his robes and destroyed their defensive properties, but before the grey cloud''s destructive power could reach Baoja, he was thrown out of the arena. Tianyi sighed as he waited for his next opponent. He seriously regretted coming into the arena so early. Once he stepped up, all the weirdos came out of the wood. The next person to step up was a man in his early twenties wearing purple robes, a gold coronet, and had a jade fan in his hand. Eight out of ten females would fall in love with his looks. ''This one at least looks normal, and his bearing is great too. But...why do I feel like I¡¯ve seen this from somewhere.'' Tianyi was sure that the man before him wasn''t a Dragon Emperor clone because the sense of familiarity didn¡¯t appear, nor did he have a similar appearance. But Tianyi still felt like he had seen this image somewhere. ''Seeing that fan reminds me of the fan Sect Master Yun gifted me. Maybe I should refine another one?'' ¡°I¡¯ll give you one chance. Step out of the arena before you get hurt under this king¡¯s might.¡± His voice was regal, but there was a strong sense of disconnection from reality. Tianyi felt like his face would get a cramp from how much his lips twitched in a single day. ¡°Buzhou Immortal Sect Disciple Xi Tianyi, please advise.¡± Tianyi cupped his hands half-heartedly. ¡°Hmpf, not knowing what is good for you.¡± The man folded his fan and clasped his hands behind his back. ¡°I am the crown prince of the Gan Dynasty, Gan Linyou! But others called me the Esteemed Sage Ascendant Soul Venerable sent by the Wise Nascent Trigram Immortal of the Nine Great Heavens.¡± Tianyi felt that his face would be permanently stuck in the dumbfounded expression he currently had. There were so many wrong words in that title that he didn''t even want to think about it. Tianyi just made a backhand motion, and to his absolute not-surprise, his Heavenly Suppressing Palm sent the Esteemed Sage Ascendant Soul Venerable sent by the Wise Nascent Trigram Immortal of the Nine Great Heavens out of the arena. When the next person who appeared in the arena was a man without both his arms, Tianyi could only look at the sky and release a sigh. Chapter 29: Core Formation Rankings Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Chapter 30: Nascent Soul Rankings Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Chapter 31: Entering the Secret Realm In the endless seas, three gargantuan boats sailed on the clouds. Each one of them had an ethereal and indescribable aura, even the one that seemed the most plain. These three flying boats were naturally the three immortal boats containing the people of the three continents. The Three Heavens Connection Meeting had already ended, and naturally, the next destination was the entrance to the secret realm that contained a fragment of the Immortal Court. All the hegemonic sects had already pre-arranged this in advance. The final composition of the group entering into the secret realm was somewhat surprising. Nearly half were comprised of those that came from the Earth Continent, with the Heaven Continent group taking about three-tenths of the slots, while the Mortal Continent took the last two tenths. Even though the Earth Continent took about half of the slots, the Eight Pillar Sect wasn''t delighted with the results at all. How could they when nearly half of their slots were occupied by the first-rate sects they had brought along? It was common knowledge that the forces of the Earth Continent were divided into two forces, one belonging to the Eight Pillars Sect and the other belonging to the Anti-Earth Alliance composed mainly of first-rate sects. The two factions only managed to form a truce due to the emergence of the Immortal Court ruins. Even so, the immortal boat they were on had to be separated into two sections, and even then, when the two members met each other, it was with swords drawn, and bows bent. But it must be said that the Earth Continent taking nearly half the spots was still a surprise. Due to the constant turmoil and frequent battles on the Earth Continent, their disciples were on average far more tempered than the other two continents. The entrance to the secret realm was actually on the other side of the Huang Realm, the near exact opposite of where Heaven Shrouding Island was, but with various means and techniques, it took only seven days to arrive. It was a turbulent area near the edge of the Huang Realm, where the space was chaotic. There were constant fissures in the area with an occasional opening into the ¡®void.¡¯ Even the sea level was not constant, and sometimes heaven and earth seemed to flip. In short, this was a dangerous area that only those in the Immortal Realm could explore, and even then, not all immortals would be able to explore it. Only the stronger immortals, those with the title of Monarch, would be able to resist the spatial tears and compression. Normally, the three hegemonic sects would only send at most those at the peak of the Pathfinding Immortal Realm. But the sects sent immortal monarchs for the current Three Heaven Connection Meeting to deal with any accident that could occur. The three immortal boats paused at a specific spot for a moment, and Headmaster Ren, Monarch Dong, and Monarch Fiendblood all exited. Although they exited, the immortal boats were still under their control, so they could stay unaffected by the special forces. The three immortal monarchs pooled their spells and immortal qi together and unleashed a combination technique. Soon a ¡®bubble¡¯ materialized and began to grow larger until it encompassed over ten kilometers. Space seemed to have stabilized, the sea was no longer warping, heaven and earth were no longer flipping, and all seemed well. But at this moment, in the center of the sphere of peacefulness, a gate slowly appeared like a mirage before condensing into a solid state. This was the entrance to the secret realm formed from the fragment of the Immortal Court. Under the immortal monarch''s orders, all the Unity Realm Venerables, Nascent Soul Realm Grandmasters, and Core Formation Masters exited the ships. Some, for the first time, saw the edge of the Huang Realm were incomparably shocked, while others who had already heard of it were far more calm, just that their breathing couldn¡¯t help but quicken when they saw the tears leading to the void. Tianyi, however, was shocked the most. ''This...this is the edge of the Huang Realm? Space is folding over itself like it''s self-sealing! Just how deep does the earth reach? How high is the sky!?'' Many conjectures began to appear in Tianyi¡¯s mind as he thought of many possibilities. Was the Huang Realm shaped like a go piece, a flattened sphere? What¡¯s more, from the tears, Tianyi could see the void, and it wasn¡¯t what Tianyi imagined. He had thought the world outside the realm would resemble space. From what he saw, the void was completely pitch black as if nothing existed and the darkness was infinite. It lived up to its name as the Vast Void. ''I¡¯m uneasy. Once I get back, I have to ask mother the truth of how this world works.'' Tianyi filed away the matter into the back of his mind. He had already asked Elder Meng, and even she wasn¡¯t clear. Elder Meng was a longtime Elder of the Buzhoul Immortal Sect, and if she didn¡¯t know, Tianyi doubted the other venerables would know.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. In addition, seeing as no one else was curious and asking, Tianyi felt that it wasn¡¯t worth it to stand out at this point and direct all attention to himself. At least that was the excuse he used to console himself and ignore the fact that he was just too self-conscious to speak out among so many unfamiliar faces. Soon, all the chosen disciples and Unity Realm elders were in front of the gate. With Monarch Bloodfiend¡¯s lead, the three immortal monarchs controlled the gate to open. Once it was opened, it resembled a myriad of colors from the rainbow, yet there was a mixture of colors. Green was green. Red was red. Blue was red. Violet was green. Despite this, the color seamlessly linked together with no abrupt change in the surrounding color. Like an artist spilled all their paint together, but the mixing of colors didn¡¯t create brown, black, or any other dark color. Should anyone look at the back of the gate, they would discover that it resembled a solid stone wall with no hint of any strange occurrence or colors in the front. The venerables entered first. All of them except Elder Meng, who stayed beside Tianyi, entered. ¡°Elder Meng, just go. This is a great chance for you. With your ability, there might be a fortuitous encounter awaiting you. The Immortal Court is shrouded in mysteries, but there is no doubt that their treasures are better than the modern era¡¯s. You might be able to become an immortal.¡± Tianyi said. ¡°I have no need, young master. This one¡¯s job is to protect you. That¡¯s all this one wants to do.¡± Elder Meng said . Tianyi tried to convince Elder Meng, but in the end, she didn¡¯t agree no what he said. He could only give up in the end. Despite Elder Meng being a Unity Realm Venerable, no one seemed to notice her staying beside Tianyi, not even the immortals, as if she was transparent, and thus Tianyi was saved from being the object of everyone¡¯s focus. Although a few wondered why the Heaven Continent lacked one Venerable but seeing as the immortal realm elders didn¡¯t say anything, they stayed silent too. Next were the Nascent Soul disciples and then the Core Formation disciples. When Tianyi entered, he felt as if he had entered complete darkness, and even Elder Meng had disappeared from his side. But he didn¡¯t panic since he had already experienced a similar environment. First, Tianyi tested his current state. He wasn¡¯t able to see anything, but he could perceive his body as if under direct sunlight. He was standing on flat ground, and he was able to walk and move. His voice didn¡¯t echo, and there was no response to his voice. His spatial ring was sealed, and he was unable to activate any of the artifacts on him. Tianyi started walking, seeing that standing still would do no good. He was alone with no company but compared to when he had all of his senses sealed in order to sense his Eight Extraordinary Meridians. At the least, Tianyi felt he could hold on for some time before he started to panic. Tianyi felt as if he was walking endlessly for days or perhaps even months. It wasn¡¯t that Tianyi didn¡¯t get bored, but with his spatial ring sealed, he was unable to take anything out. So he could only continue to walk forward. And just as suddenly as Tianyi arrived in this space of darkness, Tianyi also instantly arrived at a verdant mountain. This mountain wasn¡¯t unpopulated, and marks of humanity were evident, stone steps leading towards the peak and various palaces or estates littered throughout. This was obviously not through mortal means but by the hands of cultivators. Tianyi recognized this mountain very well. How could he not? It was Jade Peak where he grew up. ¡°I shouldn''t have been teleported back to Jade Peak, right? If the entrance to the Immortal Court could teleport someone into Buzhou Immortal Sect, then there would be trouble." As for whether it would be trouble for the Buzhou Immortal Sect or the people who teleported into it? Hehe. This was Sword Empress Xi¡¯s Jade Peak, after all. ¡°No, this is more likely an illusion or a dream created from my memories.¡± It was ridiculous to think that the gate to the Immortal Court would just happen to lead to the Jade Peak of the Buzhou Immortal Sect and Tianyi, by chance, happened to arrive back at the sect. Tianyi heard footsteps coming from behind him and looked down the steps to see a middle-aged man coming up the stairs. After deliberating internally, Tianyi decided to call out to him. ¡°Elder Shan.¡± However, Elder Shan seemed not to have heard him and continued to walk up the mountain. Tianyi called out again, but the same thing happened. No response. Elder Shan had a gloomy expression on his face, and his whole body was radiating displeasure. Tianyi even circled around Elder Shan and waved his hand in front of his face, but nothing happened. He could touch Elder Shan, but it was like he was an unstoppable object, and no matter how much strength Tianyi expended, Elder Shan continued to walk forward. Tianyi, curious and slightly creeped out, decided to follow Elder Shan up the stairs. ¡°This...isn¡¯t this the direction towards my estate?¡± Tianyi couldn¡¯t remember a time when Elder Shan was this displeased, or perhaps Elder Shan was just displeased, and he masked it up when he visited Tianyi. Still, Tianyi had a strange thought. Perhaps this world was one where everything was against him, and nothing went his way?¡± Like those inner devil tribulations, he heard about it. The Immortal Court was far more powerful than any hegemonic sect that existed today, so for them to have his kind of capabilities wasn¡¯t too absurd. Sure enough, Elder Shan arrived at Tianyi¡¯s estate. The strange thing was that he stopped outside the gate and didn¡¯t go in until the door opened by itself. This was strange to Tianyi because he recalled giving Elder Shan permission to enter at his leisure, at least the outer courtyard. What¡¯s more, Elder Shan became even more gloomy as he stepped past the gates and didn''t bother to hide it. Upon entering the main hall Elder, Shan threw a bottle of pills at the person sitting loftily on the main seat with no politeness at all. Tianyi was dumbstruck as he stared at the person on the seat. The boy appeared to be thirteen to fifteen years old, wearing purple robes with a gold coronet on his head but no Buzhou Immortal Sect uniform as a cloak. Four women were serving him, all of them peerless in appearance. He even had one hand on one of the woman''s waists without a hint of embarrassment. Rather than disciples, they seemed like a courtesan, although they still had cultivation from the Qi Gathering Realm to the Foundation Establishment Realm. While the boy also radiated a Foundation Establishment Realm, more prominent was his martial cultivation was already at the Acupoint Opening Realm. However, Tianyi was most surprised by the boy''s face. ¡°Why is he here?¡± Tianyi couldn¡¯t help but mutter as he recognized his assassin''s face. Chapter 32: Xi Longyi Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Chapter 33: Origin of Hatred Famous weapon users such as sword immortals could condense their will into a physical form known as intent. There were three stages of this, from sword qi to sword light, and finally, the manifestation of sword intent. Most users of intent were over a hundred years old, so Xi Longyi''s talent could be described as terrifying for condensing sword intent at such a young age. Xi Longyi''s saber slash carried a destructive power that sought to cleave everything before it into two. This was a manifestation of his saber intent and was only the most basic application of saber intent. If he so wished, he could even infuse saber intent into his fingers. A cultivator could only cultivate one kind of intent, and with the creation of one''s intent, the cultivators'' understanding of himself and his weapon would drastically increase. It was not wrong to say that for a saber cultivator or sword cultivator, condensing an intent is a significant benchmark for all cultivators. Of course, not every cultivator condenses an intent. The intent itself wasn''t important, but the concept behind the intent. Lei Jingye could only barely manage a dodge in the face of the majestic saber intent. "Look at your wretched appearance, it even makes me pity you." As expected of a villainous character, Xi Longyi didn''t forget to insult Lei Jingye while he was down. "Xi Longyi, I''ve never done anything to you. Why did you kill my clan? And now you even kidnapped my woman!" The words Lei Jingye spoke weren''t doing Tianyi any favors either. He felt as if he had become a character in some fantasy soap drama. Just imaging his junior sister becoming dao companion with the man who tried to kill him sent shivers down his spine. Surprisingly, Lei Jingye was also in the Nascent Soul realm in the way of martial cultivation. Despite this, no matter what arts or techniques Lei Jingye unleashed, they were all easily blocked by Xi Longyi. Xi Longyi even had the leisure to hold Daoyi at his side by her waist, not worried about Lei Jinye harming Daoyi or her breaking from while he was distracted. However, it could also be that due to Daoyi being kept to Xi Longyi, Lei Jingye was unable to unleash his killer moves for fear of harming her. All this while, Xi Longyi still had enough energy to taunt Lei Jingye. "Oh, little worm, don''t you find it weird? Before I even killed your clan, your soul should be urging and even pushing you to kill me no matter what. Don''t you find it strange?" Lei Jingye''s movement became stiffened for a moment before he resumed his attacks. "Aren''t you curious? What is this feeling that you can''t explain in your heart? The killing intent that you had the moment you and I met is even stronger than the one you gained from me killing your clan? Is it not?" With each word that came out of Xi Longyi''s mouth, Lei Jingye''s fist became even more powerful as a vast and encompassing aura surrounded him, like a giant mountain. Xi Longyi finally lost the carefree smile on his face and tossed Daoyi to the side, away from the battle. "Dao''er!" Lei Jingye cried out, but he soon didn''t have time to worry about Daoyi as Xi Longyi''s attack became even more focused and unrelenting. Tianyi, however, had the leisure. Although the battle at this level was rare even for him, he still checked on Daoyi. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that she was just unconscious. A thought soon occurred to him. Maybe it would be better for her to die here rather than be used for Xi Longyi''s plans. "I didn''t expect you to exhibit this much strength. I guess it wasn''t a coincidence you were able to escape from me the first time!" Even as he said this, Xi Longyi didn''t appear worried and still had a trace of his carefree demeanor. Lei Jingye stayed silent throughout and strengthened his assault on Xi Longyi. Tianyi could tell from the red light that was beginning to condense on Lei Jingye''s body that he had begun using a forbidden technique to burn his blood essence for the sudden increase of strength. Yet Xi Longyi didn''t back off as Lei Jingye''s strength increased. Although the rate of accumulation of injuries on Lei Jingye''s body decreased, Xi Longyi continued to be as stable as Mount Tai. There wasn''t even a single injury on his body. It was clear to Tianyi that Lei Jingye wasn''t a match for Xi Longyi. Before long, Lei Jingye''s assault began to weaken, and so did his momentum. Taking this chance, Xi Longyi unleashed one of his killer moves. His saber began to shine like the sun as a magnificent dragon''s roar entered Tianyi''s ears, and he slashed down. The attack seemed to cut through space itself as it struck Lei Jingye. When all hope seemed to be lost, a crimson glow covered Lei Jingye''s body and protected him. The crimson light only diminished the lethality of Xi Longyi''s saber slash, so a gaping gash still appeared on Lei Jingye''s chest, revealing his rib bones. The crimson light, although weakened considerably, didn''t fade and carried Lei Jingye away. For the first time, Xi Longyi appeared stunned before rage colored his face. "Worm, you actually refined my Red Dragon Lotus!?" There was a tone of incredulity in his voice, like he had been betrayed by his ally as he gave chase, but he was unable to catch the red light streaking away in the sky. "Xi Longyi, just wait till my injuries heal, and I make a breakthrough. The day of your death will be near then!" Lei Jingye''s words echoed in the sky and carried heavy killing intent, but it was evident that there was weakness in his voice. Xi Longyi snorted as he calmed himself down. "Just a worm that was lucky. The next time I see you, it will be the day of your death." Without another word, he picked up the unconscious Daoyi and flew off. Over time, Tianyi felt increasingly helpless as Xi Longyi suppressed Daoyi and forcibly made her cultivate the Nascent Soul Realm. Tianyi didn''t know the method to create a Living Pill, but Xi Longyi did. With each passing day, Tianyi wanted to run away even more and not watch the step-by-step process. But it was like watching a horror movie. No matter how much he dreaded what came next, he couldn''t avert his eyes. It was human''s innate sense of curiosity and hiding a small hope that all would be well. Tianyi was currently in such a state. There was faint hope that Lei Jingye would be able to rescue Daoyi. Although there was a sense of disconnection in his chest, knowing that Daoyi was Lei Jinye''s woman in this world, Tianyi sincerely hoped that Lei Jingye would be able to rescue her. But the hope diminished with each passing day as Daoyi''s Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation came closer and closer. Coupled with Xi Longyi''s increasingly powerful cultivation base, Tianyi could already see Lei Jingye arriving and being too weak to make a difference. "Lei Jingye, you useless piece of shit. Xi Longyi isn''t even in the sect, yet you can''t even find him and disrupt his plans?" Tianyi couldn''t help but curse. Because refining Living Pills was a major taboo, there was no way Xi Longyi would bring Daoyi back to the Buzhou Immortal Sect, where he would be under the supervision of elders. Xi Longyi hated this, so he had been living outside of the sect in a secluded immortal estate for the past few decades. He only returned when he needed resources. Even if he left his estate, he would still have ways to watch over Daoyi.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Tianyi could see that with each passing day, the hope in Daoyi''s eyes was slowly being extinguished. When the day before her Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation arrived, Daoyi''s eyes lost all hope and only held a single expectation, the expectation towards death. The next day Daoyi was sitting in a formation that Xi Longyi had helped her set up. Xi Longyi himself was watching from afar so that he would not be caught up in the Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation and watch over her. However, Xi Longyi began to frown when Daoyi did nothing as the tribulation clouds began to condense and even streaks of lightning appeared. "Daoyi, what are you doing? Do you want to die?" Xi Longyi said. Hearing this, Daoyi looked up and gave her life''s most beautiful smile that stole Xi Longyi''s breath away. "What difference is there? The only choice I have is whether to die from the heavenly tribulation or to die to you after you turn me to a Living Pill. Even though you didn''t explicitly say it, I am not stupid." Daoyi glanced in the direction of her birthplace with a sigh. "I should have followed Mother''s instructions." Xi Longyi was stunned for a moment before a rare gentle smile appeared on his face. "Don''t be foolish, Daoyi. How could I bear for you to die? After everything is over, I have an immortal pill that can let you keep your life and beauty." Daoyi laughed. It was a laugh as pleasant as the chime of bells filled with madness. "And then what? Live under you without any power, waiting for the day you tire of me? Xi Longyi, don''t overestimate yourself. Do you think women are just things you can use and throw away!?" Daoyi looked away from Xi Longyi and stared straight at the tribulation clouds. "Come." A lightning bolt descended and struck her without doing anything, stunning Xi Longyi. He couldn''t believe that this woman was really crazy enough to allow tribulation lightning to kill her. If a cultivator died to tribulation lightning, their souls would be destroyed and be unable to enter the cycle of samsara to be reborn again. Xi Longyi only stayed stunned for a moment before he directly flew above Daoyi and blocked the next strike of tribulation lightning. Even Tianyi was stunned by Xi Longyi''s actions. Even if you have a Living Pill, if the damage caused by tribulation lightning was too much, then having a Living Pill would be a useless venture. It was like getting damaged by fifty percent in order to refine a medicine that can heal a person for forty percent. Of course, with Xi Longyi''s strength, it was entirely possible for him to block Daoyi''s tribulation for her even if the heavenly tribulation Increased his strength. But what shocked Tianyi even more, was that the Heavenly Tribulation seemed to drastically increase its strength far above the Nascent Soul realm. "Unity Heavenly Tribulation!?" Tianyi cried out in shock as he looked at Xi Longyi as if he was a madman. Not only did he take the initiative to enter Daoyi''s heavenly tribulation, but he also started his Unity Heavenly Tribulation at the same time. "Haha, Jiang Daoyi. Interesting, interesting. I''m beginning to become even more interested in you!" Xi Longyi said as he released an aura that seemed to make heaven itself bow beneath him. Tianyi watched the Heavenly Tribulation strike Xi Longyi repeatedly while he protected Daoyi. It was an incredible display of strength. Even Tianyi, who despised Xi Longyi, had to admit he was incredibly valiant at this time, almost like a hero out of legend. However, an accident occurred. Or rather, an interloper interfered. "Xi Longyi! Today is your death date!" A familiar figure appeared on the horizon and shouted. Lei Jingye had changed drastically as his formerly black hair was now stark white. His face still retained his youthful looks, but his skin was sallow and grey as if death was a hair''s breadth away. Without any scruples, Lei Jingye entered the range of the heavenly tribulation, increasing its power even more! At this moment, Lei Jingye revealed his shocking blood-filled aura and his Unity Realm cultivation base! "Lei Jingye, you maniac! You refined countless mortals and forcibly raised your cultivation, but your lifespan is reduced to the point that you don''t even have half a year left to live. Even if you manage to enter the cycle of reincarnation, you will be tortured for thousands of years!" Xi Longyi could see what Lei Jingye had done at a glance. Although he had called Lei Jingye worm before, he had expended countless resources to look for Lei Jingye, and with each failure, the name of Lei Jingye was deeply carved into his mind. What was the scariest opponent? Many people had different answers. Some might say it was someone whose strength far surpasses theirs. Others would say it was an unknown enemy. But for Xi Longyi at this moment, it was a suicidal maniac who didn''t fear death. Lei Jingye fought Xi Longyi crazily without rest, unleashing killer moves after killer moves. Each attack decreased his remaining lifespan, but the blood aura on his body increased even further. Xi Longyi was being continuously pushed back, unable to attack. Not only did he have to block Lei Jingye''s attack, but also the tribulation lightning whose strength increased past his threshold. It was an exciting battle for sure, one that Tianyi watched with bated breath. He hoped that Lei Jingye would be able to triumph or at the very least kill Xi Longyi before he died. This way, Daoyi would at least be able to live. By now, Tianyi had already realized why Lei Jingye hated him. Lei Jingye was a transmigrator from the future, where his other self, Xi Longyi, pushed him to the brink, and so Lei Jingye swore revenge on Tianyi, even though they were two different people. Perhaps, for Lei Jingye, it probably didn''t matter. Tianyi was his nemesis who killed his clan and stole his woman. ''Although, if he found out that Daoyi became my junior sister, what expression would he make?'' Tianyi found his thoughts wandering again as he pinched his chin. There was a sense of anticipation in Tianyi''s heart. In the end, Xi Longyi prevailed over Lei Jingye and successfully passed his tribulation and entered the Unity Realm, but wounds riddled his body. Xi Longyi glared hatefully at Lei Jingye before stumbling towards Daoyi, who had also been successfully promoted to the Nascent Soul Realm. Daoyi could not move as Xi Longyi had activated the seal on her body that he set up beforehand. Daoyi watched with wide and fearful eyes with each step Xi Longyi took, coming closer and closer to her. Finally, his bloody hand latched onto Daoyi''s throat before he roughly kissed her on the lips. Her heart became even colder as she felt her qi, her vitality, even her soul being sucked out of her body and into Xi Longyi. "Y-y-you bastard. Stop this!" The whites of Lei Jingye''s eyes had already been dyed red from his tears of blood as he watched the woman he loved slowly wither under Xi Longyi''s hands. With each passing moment, Daoyi aged before she finally became a skeleton with only skin latching onto her, and all the hair had long fallen off of her head. It was a wretched appearance that made Tianyi want to vomit. And vomited he did with blood leaked from his mouth. He could understand why Lei Jingye wanted Xi Longyi dead. Unfortunately, this grudge had to be shouldered by his innocent self. Tianyi watched as the last spark of Daoyi''s life faded away, and Xi Longyi recovered from all his injuries. But Xi Longyi had an extremely gloomy expression as he stared hatefully at Lei Jingye as if Lei Jingye was the one who killed his whole clan and stole his woman. For the remainder of Lei Jingye''s life, Xi Longyi tortured him every day without rest. By this point, Tianyi had also formed a hatred as deep as the sea for Xi Longyi. Although he didn''t know of the Daoyi of this world, she was still his junior sister, and to see her go through all that made his heart fill with fury but with nowhere to vent it. Tianyi continued to watch on with cold eyes as Xi Longyi passed his life after that day until he reached the Transcending Mortality Realm and began his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. In the middle of Xi Longyi''s Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation, an unexpected person appeared. It was none other than his mother, Xi Mengfei! However, different from the looks that Tianyi remembered it to be, her appearance was that of sixteen to seventeen years old, like the first time Tianyi saw her as a baby with none of the maturity and aura of a mother. Her eyes were indifferent as she looked at Xi Longyi, and Tianyi even sensed a coldness he had never felt on her. Suddenly a translucent sword that seemed to have been made from black crystal appeared in her hand. It was a breathtakingly beautiful weapon, and Tianyi even saw his own reflection on it, despite having no reflection in this dreamlike world. Xi Mengfei raised her sword and then slashed downward. Instantly a sword made of tribulation lightning descended onto Xi Longyi. Xi Longyi didn''t have any chance to evade and was directly pierced by the sword. Afterward, the tribulation clouds disappeared immediately, having judged that Xi Longyi failed. Xi Longyi looked incredulously at Xi Mengfei while blood leaked from every orifice on him, and his vitality seeped away. He had already lost his ability to speak, but his expression spoke for itself. "Dragon Emperor, did you really think that I didn''t know?" Xi Mengfei asked, causing Xi Longyi to show disbelief. His shocked expression soon turned to wrath as he glared hatefully at Xi Mengfei. "I had hoped that it was simply me overthinking, and it was simply the Dragon Emperor''s influence. But I gave you so many chances. I learned long ago my true child was already dead. Dead the moment he was conceived, killed by you." Mengfei didn''t say anything else as she watched Xi Longyi, no, the Dragon Emperor waste away. When the Dragon Emperor lost all signs of his life, Mengfei raised her sword and minced the Dragon Emperor''s body with sword light. Tianyi felt his lips twitching. "Can this also be considered cutting grass at its roots?" He soon stiffened as he saw Xi Mengfei directly gazing into his eyes. His heart chilled as he realized that the Xi Mengfei of this world could see him! But he didn''t have to worry for long as when the sword light that minced the Dragon Emperor''s body faded away, his consciousness also faded, and he soon entered nothingness. Chapter 34: The Murals in the Immortal Court Tianyi''s long and delicate eyelashes fluttered as he began to arouse from his unconscious state. Upon seeing the unfamiliar ceiling, all hints of drowsiness instantly disappeared as Tianyi quickly planted his two feet on the ground and stared warily at his surroundings. "This is a hall in the Immortal Court?" He was in a dilapidated hall, the walls and pillars were cracked, but even so, it could not hide the grand magnificence of its history. Tianyi''s mind instantly recalled the dream-like experience he had and instantly connected the dots. Although the memory was a bit blurry and unclear, Tianyi still remembered the important bits. As for waking up alone, Tianyi wasn''t surprised. He had already expected such a thing when he entered the door, and all the people in his surrounding disappeared. Tianyi wandered the hall a bit, but there were no hints of what hall it was, nor were there any treasures or anything of value left behind. The spiritual qi, however, was incredibly dense. Far denser than even the Jade Lotus Clear Pond that Mengfei had created for Tianyi. But so what? Spiritual qi wasn''t anything rare, and although the rate of progress cultivating here was more than ten times faster anywhere else, it was useless for Tianyi, who couldn''t cultivate at the moment. Even if he could cultivate here, Tianyi would still prefer to look for treasures. It was not like he could bring the ruin of the immortal court with him, right? After checking that he could still access the items inside of his spatial bag, Tianyi released a sigh of relief as he stepped out of the hall. The outside was even worse than the inside of the hall that Tianyi walked out of. Tianyi didn''t know what the road resembling marbles were made of, but holes and cracks littered them. Some of the cracks had white mist rising while the blue skies and clouds peaked out from the holes. Tianyi unsheathed his sword and stabbed the ground with it, but as expected, only a few sparks resulted from the clash. Morbidly curious as to what was below the ground of the Immortal Court, Tianyi first observed the hole filled with white clouds. The clouds were too dense for Tianyi to make out anything, so he kicked a small piece of rubble into the cloud. As Tianyi expected, once the rock entered the clouds, there was no sound of it hitting anything. ''So there''s nothing under the cloud. Tripping and falling into one would not be a laughing matter.'' Thinking so, Tianyi navigated the ruins until he discovered a large hole that almost severed the path but also allowed Tianyi to see the land below the Immortal Court. It was a giant landmass with no end in sight. Tianyi had a feeling that it was even bigger than the Heaven Continent by severalfold. There were even large lakes that he couldn''t estimate the size of, but what surprised Tianyi the most was that he could see the "edge" that connected the end of land and the sky. "The Immortal Court exists in the sky of a planet?" He had thought all the realms of the universe were like the Huang Realm, flat planes. Just as Tianyi was about to retract his site, his eyes suddenly glued onto a certain spot. It was a place he was very familiar with, although it looked a little different with different structures upon it. Tianyi could never mistake the Buzhou Mountain Range, where the Buzhou Immortal Sect was based. It wasn''t exactly the same. It was far larger, and a giant pillar of light connecting heaven and earth, the ground to the Immortal Court. Tianyi couldn''t see it clearly as the complete picture was limited by the size of the hole. He would have to descend into the hole to see if it truly connected the Immortal Court. Tianyi recalled that the base of the pillar was situated at the forbidden ground of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, Broken Heaven Valley. Although Tianyi flew into the air several times and didn''t see such a pillar originating from there, there were numerous formations that could hide such a thing. He was curious about if his sect did contain such a pillar, but the more pressing question was why a fragment of the Immortal Court would have such a landmass beneath it. Tianyi''s thoughts ran at a million miles an hour. "Legends have it that the Huang Realm was created from a fragment of the Immortal Court, so the Buzhou Mountain Range here should be a fake. Or more like a remnant scenery created from the fragment?" Tianyi guessed. He shook his head, there were not enough clues, and he didn''t have the pre-requisite information to reach a conclusion. Filing the information for later, Tianyi continued to explore the ruins. Tianyi unsheathed his sword once more and used a spell to make it fly, only to see the sword clank lifelessly on the ground. His face instantly darkened. Without being able to fly, the danger of falling increased immensely. After testing a few more times, he discovered there was a limitation that prevented people from flying or even using artifacts. Thankfully, talismans could still be used, allowing him to feel a sense of security. Tianyi sighed and picked up the sword from the ground. So what if he couldn''t fly? He would just have to be a little more careful. If Tianyi didn''t even have this little bit of courage, he can just lie on the ground and wait for Lei Jingye to kill him.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Despite the Immortal Court being in shambles and so desolate, there was a hidden beauty in the vestigial structure, but the silence made such a beautiful scenery incredibly eerie. Tianyi wondered where the disciples from his and the other sect were. Don''t all the novels write about people competing for treasures in a ruin? Why was he alone? After nearing a building, a pleasant medicinal aroma wafted into Tianyi''s nose. Just by smelling it, Tianyi felt the aches in his body lessening significantly. Even his true qi of chaos became calm and malleable. ''Could this be the legendary pill hall of the Immortal Court, where the legendary Eight-way Trigrams Crucible and Samadhi True Fire resides?'' Tianyi''s eyes began to glisten with light. As a fanboy of Journey to the West, and especially Sun Wukong, his knowledge of the pill hall could be said to be comprehensive. ''Maybe there is a pill that can help me. Even if I don''t recognize it, my mother or the elders surely will be able to.'' As Tianyi came closer to the pill hall, the medicinal fragrance enveloped Tianyi like mist, making him feel comfortable all over. It was a pleasant feeling he hadn''t experienced in years. When Tianyi entered the Pill Hall, it was dilapidated as the rest of the Immortal Court ruin, but Tianyi wasn''t deterred as he searched the hall, but sadly there was nothing for Tianyi to take. In the concocting room, there was a dent where the Eight-way Trigrams Crucible should have been placed. There was even a hint of melted metal where the Samadhi True Fire once was, but now it was all gone. "Seriously? There''s nothing even left. I had thought that there would be something for me with how strong the pill fragrance was." Tianyi sighed in regret as he spoke aloud. Suddenly, he snapped his head behind him. He furrowed his brows, ''Was it my imagination? I was sure I felt that someone was staring at me.'' While searching for the source of uncomfortable feeling, Tianyi''s eyes brightened at a small round pill on the ground next to a few pieces of rubble. It was perfectly spherical and had a dim golden luster, different from the surrounding rubble. Tianyi kept his vigilance as he neared the golden pill and kneeled down. He wrapped his hand around it and pulled and pulled and pulled and pulled. Tianyi''s face hardened as he discovered that he couldn''t even roll the golden pill. It was not even the size of his palm. Yet, a core formation master like Tianyi, who had qi reservoirs a nascent soul grandmaster would be jealous of, could not even make the pill budge. After several tries of physically moving it, Tianyi finally used both hands and pulled with all his might. His legs were in an "M" shape as he used his legs and his waist to try to pull the pill up. After several more tries, Tianyi gave up and stood up. Before leaving, Tianyi looked around to see if anyone saw his unseemly appearance trying to take the pill. He kept having the subconscious feeling that someone was looking at him. Tianyi sighed as he slapped his hand onto his forehead. Tianyi''s eyes brightened as he felt the cooling sensation of his ring against his forehead. ''Right, why didn''t you think of this. If I can''t physically move it, I''ll just put it in my spatial ring. After all, this pill isn''t an artifact or anything.'' Tianyi, who had an epiphany, knelt and touched the pill once more. The pill showed no signs of shifting into his spatial ring, contrary to his expectations. Tianyi''s facial expression froze like an ice sculpture. Tianyi tried several more ideas, but all of them were fruitless. Tianyi felt his veins bulge. "This pill is too strange, even the rubble would be able to be stored into my spatial ring, yet the pill couldn''t. Is this pill special or something?" Tianyi began to doubt whether it was a pill but some strange material instead. If it were an immortal artifact, then he wouldn''t be able to refine it since he was a far cry from an immortal, but there was no harm in trying. So Tianyi sent a strand of his true qi into the sphere in an attempt to refine it. "Cough, cough" Tianyi quickly covered his mouth with a handkerchief as he felt his blood rise up once more from his usage of his true qi of chaos. He wasn''t worried but rather excited as he felt a reaction from the pill. Even as Tianyi continued attempting to refine it for over two hours, there was still no reaction. Never one for patience, Tianyi decisively gave up. Although the fake pill seemed special, Tianyi gave up on it. This was the ruins of the Immortal Court, there would be a lot more fortuitous encounters for him to discover. The fake pill can just wait for its fated person like in those cliche novel plots. Since I can''t enter your eyes, I don''t want you either. Tianyi stood up and left, but he turned back to look once more just before stepping out of the doorless exit. Although he gave it up, there didn''t mean he didn''t have any regrets about not obtaining it. He blinked when he saw the spotless ground around the fake pill. He recalled that a few drops of his blood should have spilled on the ground, but there weren''t any traces of blood. "Maybe I remembered wrongly. I mean, it''s not the first time I coughed blood. I could just be having deja vu." The pill hall could make him feel pleasant, but it did not solve the root of the problem, so it would be pointless to waste any more time there, especially since it was empty. ''Speaking of which, why is it so empty> Did the members of the Immortal Court take them away before the downfall, or was it someone who discovered it before the three hegemonic forces? What could cause the legendary Immortal Court to perish, though?'' Tianyi one wasn''t the only one with a similar question. The end of the primordial era and the disappearance of all the experts was one of the greatest mysteries of the modern era. As he moved through the hole-filled road, Tianyi kept feeling that something or someone was staring at him, but no matter what Tianyi did, he could discover no one. His spiritual sense was as strong as a nascent soul grandmaster''s, so Tianyi should have been able to sense them unless they had a unique method. As for a Unity Realm Venerable? Why would a Unity Realm Venerable be so bored as to spy on him without doing anything? Tianyi wasn''t so arrogant enough to believe he could fight a unity venerable. Attributing it to his imagination, Tianyi continued on his way. The next structure Tianyi came across looked more complete and stable than the first hall and the pill hall Tianyi visited. Raising his awareness, Tianyi entered the hall and was instantly stunned. The new building Tiany entered was a pagoda with nine levels, but the inside, aside from the stair and walkways, was completely empty. Tianyi could even see the ceiling when he walked into the center. But that wasn''t what stunned Tianyi. It was the murals on the inside of the pagoda. From a single glance, Tianyi could already recognize the Jade Emperor on the mural, but he was fighting a Caucasian man with long graying hair and beard who wore a toga and wielded a lightning bolt in his hand. "Why is Zeus fighting the Jade Emperor?" Chapter 35: Another Meeting The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Chapter 36: I Dont Want This Powerup! Tianyi''s face instantly paled. The more stars that appeared within his Sword Formation as World domain, the more pale Tianyi''s face became. The Heaven and Man Connection Pagoda was a special tool that the Immortal Court used to allow promising seeds to link themselves to the celestial stars and form a stellar avatar within themselves. Stellar avatars allow users to increase their cultivation speed and the strength of the true qi and can even be turned into an actual avatar with a paired technique. The Heaven and Man Connection Pagoda originally didn''t have any murals painted on it, but it was added on later. As for who did it, it was beyond Lei Jingye''s knowledge. Lei Jingye had coincidently acquired information on an entrance that led to the fragment of the Immortal Court as well as knowledge concerning the usage of Heaven and Man Connection Pagoda. The stellar avatar wasn''t a true avatar. True avatars were copies of the user with their thoughts and actions linked. They often required the user to split their soul, which would damage the user''s potential, so not many cultivators were willing to create an avatar. Why? Because the soul was the foundation of all things, splitting your soul was equivalent to splitting a practitioner''s overall potential. Splitting the soul was only the first step as the soul needed a suitable body to inhabit. Perhaps a practitioner would be able to reach the immortal realm, but after creating an avatar, they would no longer be able to reach the immortal realm. Even after an avatar was formed, the avatar would also die if the original body died. The only way for an avatar to continue to live was if it wasn''t an avatar but a clone. So the original body was still far more valuable than the avatar, but an avatar was still incredibly useful. The myriad realms naturally also contained numerous treasures that could heal the loss of potential from splitting the soul. And Tianyi naturally had access to such resources. But due to his current condition, Tianyi was not able to form an avatar. If he split his soul, even if he could make up for the loss of potential, there was a high chance that he would lose control of his true qi and explode. There was also the fact that he was still in the Core Formation Realm, although with his Nascent Soul Realm level soul, there were many techniques that he could use. But even though his soul strength reached the threshold of the Nascent Soul realm, he still did not have a true Nascent Soul level soul. Unless he was a soul cultivator, he could only wait. But the stellar avatar that the Heaven and Man Connection Pagoda created was different. Rather than splitting off the soul, it formed an empty soul husk that formed inside the cultivator''s dantian. It did not have direct combat strength and instead was more of a supportive skill. By forming a stellar avatar, it would automatically refine and purify the starlight into qi for the cultivator''s use. And that was only its most basic effect. Stellar avatars had different ranks as well. Lei Jingye''s Heavenly Wolf Stellar Avatar was considered top tier even among the available stellar avatar recorded in the history of the Immortal Court. Only the Four Symbols Constellations were undeniably superior. And those who connected to the Azure Dragon of the East, Black Tortoise of the North, White Tiger of the West, or Vermillion Bird of the South could be counted on one hand. But now, there was a completely unprecedented stellar avatar that was being formed. It did not correspond to any known constellation, but it surpassed even the Four Symbols Constellations. It was like comparing a firefly to the moon. However, Tianyi was not even one bit happy creating such a record. The reason was simple, his spiritual cultivation, which he had purposely stagnated, began to advance once more. It wasn''t his normal advancement speed from cultivating. Not that Tianyi wouldn''t know since he hadn''t dared to cultivate in fear of triggering the first core formation tribulations, the Minor Wind Tribulation. Tianyi began to speculate that Lei Jingye purposely cornered Tianyi into such a situation, turning fortune into misfortune. ''Lei Jingye shouldn''t know the exact circumstances of my cultivation. The most important thing at the moment is to stop this as soon as possible.'' Tianyi released his Sword Formation as World, but even though it disappeared, the stars didn''t. Instead, they began to accumulate inside Tianyi''s dantian like a bridge made of stars, but the speed was slower than before. Seeing as that didn''t work, Tianyi fled to distance himself from the Heaven and Man Connection Pagoda. The abnormality originated from the pagoda, so once he left, the accumulation of stars inside should cease if not disappear.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Tianyi had seen how once Lei Jinye started to move, the formation of the Heavenly Wolf above his head began to blur as if unstable. Unfortunately for Tianyi, an invisible barrier had been erected at the exit, blocking him from leaving. At this point, Tianyi could already feel the blood rising up his throat. He glared at Lei Jingye. "Lei Jingye, how do you stop the pagoda!" Lei Jingye saw all of Tianyi''s actions as well as his paling face. A sneer appeared on his face. "I don''t know, even if I did know. Do you think I would tell you, Xi Longyi?" A cold light entered Tianyi''s eyes. "I thought I told you not to call me by that incorrect name." The sword in his hand began to be covered in a golden hue, and a majestic pressure began to emit from it. Tianyi wanted nothing more to sit down and resolve the problem, but how could he peacefully inspect himself with a wolf eyeing him? Since Lei Jingye didn''t know how to stop the process, nor would he help, then Tianyi didn''t mind getting rid of him so that he wouldn''t be able to harm him in the future. Tianyi didn''t use Sword Formation as World as that would speed up his issues and instead imbued his sword with tribulation essence and lightning. Lei Jingye, who sensed the majestic pressure, immediately raised his wariness as Tianyi charged forward and slashed at him. Lei Jingye''s sword skills were incredibly profound, having inherited the legacy of a sword cultivator who reached the Immortal Realm and with the added benefits of two life experiences. Even though he was not a sword cultivator in his past life, the path he embarked in this life was. But Xi Tianyi''s realm was higher than him, and he cultivated the Heartless Sword Arts. Sometimes, brute strength beat skill. Lei Jingye''s heart was willing, but his body was not. Strike after strike, Lei Jingye found himself being pushed back. Tianyi was also releasing his true qi of chaos without care, and a gray fog began to appear in the Heaven and Man Connection Pagoda. It wasn''t a purposeful tactic of Tianyi''s; he was helpless as the more advanced his spiritual cultivation became, the more true qi would accumulate in his body and the less control he had over his true qi. So he could only lessen the amount of true qi in his body to mitigate the effect, the process couldn''t prevent all his problems, but it alleviated some of the symptoms. The fact that it made Lei Jingye take damage over time like a poisonous fog was an added bonus. No matter how unwilling Lei Jingye was, he had to admit the current he was not Xi Tianyi''s match, and soon Tianyi''s sword tip penetrated Lei Jingye''s flesh. At that instant, both Tianyi and Lei Jingye''s faces immediately changed. Tianyi immediately jumped back towards the wall and looked up, his lips twitching a bit. Lei Jingye didn''t have any more energy to look at Tianyi as his thoughts were all focused on the sky beyond the pagoda. He was at the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm. He had already formed his spiritual crucible and planned to undergo the Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation after forming his stellar avatar, but after being struck by Tianyi''s sword, his Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation suddenly arrived without his consent. It seemed that Heavenly Tribulation had patience as it waited for Lei Jingye''s Heavenly Wolf Stellar Avatar to form before the first bolt of lightning came down. Lei Jingye''s Heavenly Tribulation was abnormal as there were no tribulation clouds, and the tribulation lightning seemed to have materialized from thin air. Tianyi, who had distanced himself as far as possible, held his chin. ''Why are there no tribulation clouds, is it because this is the ruins of the Immortal Court or because of me? Never mind that. It seems that I have the ability to induce heavenly tribulation for others who are at the peak of their realm. Hehehe... or it could just be a coincidence. I should test this later.'' Tianyi didn''t have time to laugh anymore as he spurted out blood. ''Forget about him, I have to resolve my own problems first.'' Luckily, although Tianyi might have induced Lei Jingye''s heavenly tribulation and was extremely close to Lei Jingye, maybe because of being trapped in the pagoda or the strange cloudless tribulation, the heavenly tribulation did not attack him. Still, this did not mean that Tianyi did not devote some of his attention to Lei Jingye in case he wanted to try something. It was the same for Lei Jingye as he kept an eye on Tianyi as well. Inside Tianyi''s dantian, the number of stars had already accumulated to a frightening degree, and the inside of Tianyi''s dantian in his Eight Extraordinary Meridians now also resembled the star-filled night sky. At the same time, his spiritual cores were advancing, and the amount of true qi of chaos being formed inside of him was accelerating. The gray clouds already present in his dantian grew denser with each passing second. This scene struck Tianyi as extremely familiar. It was nearly the same as his inner world, where he cultivated the Three Pure True Self Visualization Technique. Tianyi had to file that thought away as he felt his Minor Wind Tribulation become closer with each passing moment. Left with no other choice, he began to cultivate the Dragon Emperor''s Fist using his true qi. As the grey cloud qi circulated throughout his Dragon Emperor Martial Body, his nine spiritual cores shone brilliantly, illuminating the gray fog. Part of the reason was that Tianyi had absorbed the blood essence of the Dragon Emperor. The other large reason was that the true qi of chaos stimulated the blood essence to the extreme. But there was a downside. Blood continuously leaked from Tianyi''s mouth as pain wracked his body. Tianyi wasn''t hoping that he could use all his true qi of chaos. Instead, he wanted to increase his martial cultivation so that once he passed through his Minor Wind Tribulation, he would be able to withstand the increased amount of true qi. That''s right, Tianyi didn''t have any worries of failing to pass the Minor Wind Tribulation. He had at least this much confidence. In addition, the Minor Wind Tribulation was the easiest of the Core Formation Realm''s three minor tribulations. It was what was after the Minor Wind Tribulation that worried Tianyi. Chapter 37: Escape A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Chapter 38: A Literal Living Pill When Tianyi awakened, he froze. He blinked a few times before rubbing his eyes. He blinked again. There was the tiny golden sphere frolicking in his blood. It appeared exactly like the fake pill, except there were now four tiny legs on it. The fake pill didn''t have a mouth, but whenever it touched the blood puddle on the ground, the blood would be absorbed cleanly into the pill from its surface. There would not even be a speck of blood left on the floor. Tianyi watched with morbid fascination as all of his vomited blood was absorbed into the pill. ''Is it just my imagination, or is the golden color even deeper now?'' When all the blood was gone, the pill kept turning around as if trying to find something or someone. Tianyi saw an imaginary lizard head and tail on the pill. He could even imagine it forking its tongue out. But it was a lizard with a sphere for a body. In other words, it was incredibly fat. Tianyi felt that the fake pill looked incredibly dumb, searching around but never registering himself. Tianyi didn''t know how a pill attained spirituality, but it seemed closer to an animal''s intelligence than a human''s, so the formation easily hid Tianyi from it. ''Don''t tell me this was the gaze I felt on me?'' Tianyi thought. Ever since he had left the pill hall, he had always felt a gaze on him, but Tianyi couldn''t find the source, so he thought he was hallucinating the sensation. After being injured by the Red Dragon Lotus¡ªTianyi refused to acknowledge that Lei Jingye''s injured him¡ªTianyi was far too fatigued to think about the gaze. Now that Tianyi had found the truth, he felt incredibly amused. Tianyi stood up and tapped the jade pendant at his waist. The fake pill was frozen still as it suddenly sensed Tianyi appeared out of nowhere. Tianyi quirked his lips upward as he walked towards the pill. His eyes were unprecedentedly bright. "So little fatty-" Tianyi never had a chance to finish as the fake pill launched itself like a cannon at Tianyi''s stomach. Once again, Tianyi vomited blood out as he felt the equilibrium in his body shatter once more. "FUCK!" Before Tianyi had no time to calm down the turbulent true qi rampaging in his body, the fake pill circled around him like a mosquito and frequently attacked him. Normally, this wouldn''t be much of a problem, but this mosquito had the force of a mountain behind it. Tianyi could only let himself be pummeled with no power to resist. Every time he tried to reach towards his pendant, the fake pill would smash into his hand and knock it away. After being battered to the point that he could only lay on the ground, Tianyi watched the fake pill roll around in his blood as if playing in a water puddle. Tianyi could feel his right cheek beginning to swell from being hit by the fake pill. Whether it was on purpose or not, all of his injuries were only skin deep and easily recoverable. He helplessly closed his eyes and once again began to restore the delicate equilibrium inside of him. Tianyi was shocked to discover that his body actually felt incredibly light like it had never been before. Ever since Tianyi entered the Core Formation Realm, his body had always felt his body was incredibly heavy, like a mountain was constantly weighing down on him. Tianyi knew it was because of the massive amount of chaotic true qi within him. After receiving the beating of his life, over eighty percent of the true qi of chaos within Tianyi had been carried out by his blood. Although his body still felt a bit cumbersome, it was incomparably to a moment ago. Inside his dantian, the density of gray clouds had also lessened by about half. Tianyi furrowed his brows, the Sole Yin, Eight Yang Trigrams Core Revolution Formation no longer spun on a broken tempo. Well, at least not as much. The formation was now working as intended, and Tianyi watched with fascination as the yin and yang inside of him intermixed to create the true qi of chaos within him. There was a sense of beauty to the process as if watching ink stain white parchment. Tianyi lay there in a daze watching the process. He had not been able to witness the formation within him work properly. Only after his true qi had dropped was he able to do so. It didn''t take long, but soon the formation within his body once again began to return to its broken tempo after his true qi reserves reached about thirty-five percent. Tianyi opened his eyes and looked at the fake pill with a complicated look. With his massive reserves of qi, his bruise had long healed. Watching the process of yin and yang intermixing to become chaos gave Tianyi new insight into the worldly laws and what path he should take. The Law of Yin and Yang weren''t as important. It was helpful to use those two laws to understand the Law of Chaos, but chaos was all-encompassing. Yin, yang, wind, fire, lightning, and so much more made up chaos. It could be said that the fake pill helped point out a direction for Tianyi to tread on. Still, it was an arduous task. The more Tianyi comprehended, the more he knew how vast the Law of Chaos was and how insignificant his progress was. The fake pill had already absorbed all the blood Tianyi had coughed up. Its four limbs seemed to have melted into its pill body. The pill hopped up and down once it saw Tianyi observing it as if happy. It then jumped towards Tianyi''s empty hand. The fake pill jumped onto his hand and rolled around it as if rubbing and showing affection. Tianyi felt his lips twitch. "Stupid fatty, are you trying to apologize for beating me up?" After Tianyi spoke those words, he immediately covered his forehead with his other hand. "Damn, I can''t let anyone else know that I got beaten up by a pill, this black history must be buried forever." He could already imagine the pitying looks he would receive if anyone found out. "Since you like my blood and absorb so much, you should just follow me," Tianyi said as he brought the pill up to face level. "As for what I''m going to do with you, let''s just wait till mother comes back." The pill jumped up and down as if saying yes. Tianyi then placed the pill inside his robes and began to walk out. He stopped once he realized the pill had rolled out of his robes and onto his belt. The pill seemed to roll around for a moment before seeing the jade pendant. Then to Tianyi''s amazement, the pill turned into a near-exact replica of his jade pendant with the only difference in it retaining its color.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. "You can change form to anything you want?" Tianyi said in amazement. The transformed fake pill only swung a little bit before it stopped moving. Tianyi felt as if the little fatty had just had its fill and was now sleeping to digest all that it ate. The food naturally beingTianyi''s blood. Tianyi released a sigh and stepped out of the Heaven and Man Connection Pagoda. Whatever the reason, the fake pill was actually a good thing for him. Although Tianyi didn''t want it to pummel again, he couldn''t deny it significantly alleviated his problems for a while and was a good stop-gap measure. In high spirits, Tianyi tried to track Lei Jingye''s location, but to his disappointment, he could not find any trace of the regressor. And in the Immortal Court, the sun never set, so Tianyi didn''t know how long he slept nor how long Lei Jingye had escaped for. Tianyi began moving towards the direction Lei Jingye had escaped to with a shrug. Perhaps, he could get lucky. All the while, he used his true qi to power his numerous techniques that increased his speed. Tianyi could not use techniques that required precise control because of his previous issues, but now that he could, it almost brought him to tears at the convenience of all the techniques he had learned. He had learned various techniques, but he could not use more than ninety percent of them. As expected, Lei Jingye had already disappeared without a trace no matter how far Tianyi traveled. He folded his arms with a sigh.''It seems I can''t resolve the issue with Lei Jingye this time. Next, I hopefully won''t be hindered by my issue.'' At least he had some gains and wouldn''t return to the Buzhou Immortal Sect empty-handed. He didn''t know what the Heavenly River could be used for, but he knew it would be a great help for him in the future. Even if his cultivation speed accelerated, he now had the fake pill to suppress his chaotic qi. Tianyi couldn''t sense it earlier, but now he could feel the fake pill pendant on his waist gradually absorbing the true qi of chaos inside him. Since Tianyi couldn''t find Lei Jingye, he''ll continue looking for opportunities. Who knows when the next chance to visit the Immortal Court would be. After who knows how many days passed, the only thing that Tianyi found was a calabash bottle gourd. It seemed completely ordinary, but once Tianyi opened the stopper, an incredibly dense aroma of wine wafted out. Just smelling the alcoholic aroma made Tianyi dizzy, so he quickly put the stopper back on. Although he didn''t know what it was, this thing was from the Immortal Court, so it definitely wasn''t simple. Aside from the gourd, Tianyi didn''t find anything else; it was like everything had already packed up before the Immortal Court fell into ruins, leaving only behind sparse crumbs. "What exactly caused the Immortal Court to fall into ruins?" The longer Tianyi stayed, the greater the number of questions he had. The Buzhou Immortal Sect had records of the primordial era where immortals were as common as clouds, and divinities, although rarer, still roamed about. But suddenly, it seemed as if they all disappeared and the Immortal Court was destroyed. During his exploration, Tianyi discovered a giant mountain in the ruin of the Immortal Court. When he arrived at the mountain after many days of traveling, he discovered that it was full of dense spiritual qi, and there were numerous herbs and plants that Tianyi didn''t recognize. His eyes shone as he picked up his jade pendant. This jade pendant was the same one he used to unleash the formation that allowed him to kill the Nascent Soul Grandmaster, Evil Wind Flower Picker Zhou. According to his mother, the name of the jade pendant was Pendant of Mountains and Seas. Apparently, it was a failed attempt at recreating the divine artifact known as the Classic of Mountains and Seas. Even though it was a failed and incomplete artifact, its power was still immense. Just stimulating the essence within the pendant allowed Tianyi to kill a nascent soul grandmaster as a foundation establishment disciple. Mengfei had told him that in order to complete this artifact, he would need to absorb at least nine mountains and nine seas into the formation. The greater the quality of the mountain or sea absorbed, the better the artifact would become upon completion. Although Tianyi didn''t know what mountain this was in the Immortal Court, it would be a great addition to the Pendant of Mountains and Seas. Without wasting another second, Tianyi deployed the formation, and nine illusionary mountains and seas appeared. He didn''t even consider the possibility of failure or the consequences. Under Tianyi''s will, the first mountain overlapped with the actual mountain situated within the Immortal Court. Tianyi sat down into a lotus position and began to refine the mountain. His brows furrowed deep in concentration as he lost all sense of his surroundings. Without his notice, the amount of true qi he was expending was continuously rising even with his insane production of qi with his nine spiritual cores. Elsewhere Lei Jingye was making his way towards the entrance he had used to enter the Immortal Court ruins. Although he was unwilling to leave without exploring more, Lei Jingye still had not been blinded by greed. Xi Tianyi was the son of the Sword Empress and would naturally have numerous treasures on him. If he tried to use the Red Dragon Lotus to escape once more, there was a high chance that he would be trapped. The only reason it worked before was because he caught Tianyi off guard. Although he didn''t want to admit it, Lei Jingye was not Tianyi''s match. Tianyi was also in the Core Formation Realm and had been for far longer. Lei Jingye also felt the pressure of a nascent soul grandmaster from him. Thinking about his gains, Lei Jingye couldn''t help but clutch his chest in pain. He had gained the Heavenly Wolf Constellation Stellar Avatar, but he aided Xi Tianyi in forming a Heavenly River Stellar Avatar. Even though the Heavenly River Stellar Avatar had not been recorded down, even an outsider would be able to discern how amazing it was for Xi Tianyi to form it. Suddenly, the ground of the Immortal Court began to tremble, and Lei Jingye''s footing became unsteady. "What''s happening? Is the Immortal Court ruins falling apart?" Tossing aside all other thoughts, Lei Jingye increased his pace towards the exit. Thankfully he was already near the exit; otherwise, it remained unknown if he would have been in danger. Lei Jingye sneered. "It seems the heavens are helping me! Since I can''t get anything else here, you won''t be able to do so either!" As for whether Xi Tianyi would perish with the collapse of the secret realm? Lei Jingye believed that Xi Tianyi would not die in such a way. After all, his end can only be the result of his, Lei Jingye''s, hand! Unknown to Xi Tianyi and Lei Jingye, there was actually a third person in the ruins of the Immortal Court. The third person in the Immortal Court ruins was a woman wearing a blue dress and had an exotic lily instead of her right eye. It was Hu Landie. She was in what seemed to be a medicinal valley, and numerous wild herbs and a single giant tree, all full of spirituality, surrounded her. At a visible rate, the herbs began to wither. From those herbs that have completely withered, insects crawled out from them and entered Hu Landie''s robes. There were numerous worms, cockroaches, poisonous centipedes, grasshoppers, mantises, and many other types of insects. All of them had cloudy eyes as if they were drunk. Hu Landie''s sole eye was like a bottomless abyss with no fluctuations despite the insects crawling into her robes. Her eye widened when she felt the sudden tremors from the land. She frowned and recalled all the insects, even the ones still in the process of extracting the herb''s property, back to her. But even after the last insect was absorbed, she did not leave as if waiting for something. A few minutes later, what she was later was revealed as it tunneled out of the tree trunk. It was a caterpillar with a yellow-brown body and a pattern resembling floorboard. Its whole body was glossy as if it was painted in wax. The caterpillar vibrated its body and flew to Hu Landie, but it didn''t fly into her robes and instead flew onto the iris flower on her right eye. Once it landed, the larvae crawled into the center of the flower and disappeared. Throughout the process, Hu Landie didn''t show any change in expression, even as the insect tunneled into her head through the flower. With a wave of her sleeves, Hu Landie''s body became covered in countless butterflies, each one flapping its wings. Hu Landie flew into the sky towards the entrance from whence she came. Contrary to Tianyi''s belief, aside from the three of them, there was no one else inside this Immortal Court ruins. It was as if Tianyi, Lei Jingye, and Hu Landie had entered a different world than the rest of the disciples. Chapter 39: Those at the Trial Land Xia Yushan waved his sword, and two five-petaled, five colored lotuses appeared in front of him and blocked the lightning that was barreling towards him. Standing in front of him was San Mirong of the Eternal Night Sect. Her fingers were smoking after launching the lightning at Xia Yushan. The two were surrounded by a fog that blocked everything from view. Even their spiritual sense could not penetrate the fog. Not just the two of them inside this fog, all the other Nascent Soul Realm and Core Formation Realm disciples were also wandering inside the maze and occasionally bumping into each other. When they met each other, if it were from the same sect or the same continent, they would group up, but they would immediately attack if they met people from other continents. The reason was very simple, because this was the task set by the second trial. When the group of disciples and elders entered the gate, they were all transported into a miniature realm and scattered throughout it. From there, they realized they had entered a trial land. Those that passed would receive rewards, while those that didn''t were expelled. The first trial was simple. In the miniature realm, there was a set number of entrances. In order to pass, the participants needed to use those entrances to leave the miniature realm. But the entrances would seal up once they had been used, so the number of slots to the second trial was limited. In addition, throughout the miniature realm were numerous spiritual herbs and monsters from the Qi Gathering Realm to the Unity Realm that have gone extinct in the modern era. Just by staying in the miniature realm and harvesting these beasts and herbs was enough to make the trip worth it, but humans were creatures that were never satisfied with what they had. Since better rewards were awaiting them if they passed the trial, why would they be satisfied with what they could attain in the first trial? Thus many fights broke out between the disciples, and even those from the same sect weren''t exempt. Many also fell to the monsters and even plants that have opened their spirituality, becoming nutrients for their growth. The trial land was not merciful at all. If anyone died during the trials, their corpses would be absorbed to supplement the miniature realm, and their treasures would be used as rewards for future challengers. The second trial was a fog maze, and each participant was given a token on their body. The goal of the participants was to collect five emblems, including their own. The way to collect emblems was to defeat the other participants. There were no rules except those that voluntarily threw away their token would be teleported out from the trial land. The participants could band together and hunt the scattered participants. They could even choose to go alone as long as they collected five tokens in the end. Xia Yushan had already collected a total of three tokens, including his own, so he only needed two more. One was from a Core Formation Realm disciple, and the other was a Nascent Soul Realm disciple of another sect. Core Formation Realm disciples, Nascent Soul Realm disciples, and even Unity Realm elders all of them were undertaking the trial at the same time as if there was no difference in realms between them. If they happened to meet a cultivator of a higher realm and different faction, then they could only blame their bad luck. Earlier, San Mirong had immediately attacked Xia Yushan once she caught sight of him, but Xia Yushan''s reaction was quick and blocked her move. Now the two looked warily at each other. San Mirong turned into a streak of lightning as she flew away. If she had successfully gained the upper hand with her sudden attack, she would have continued her assault, but she gave up upon seeing Xia Yushan block her attack easily. It wasn''t that she wasn''t able or willing to duke it out, but the cost wasn''t worth it since their main goal was to move on to the next stage. If they tired each other out, it would only benefit others. This was also the reason why Xia Yushan didn''t block San Mirong from fleeing. Xia Yushan didn''t allow himself to relax and tightened the grip on his sword as the fog surrounded him and hindered his vision once more. There was no technique Xia Yushan could use to navigate the fog maze, so he could only choose a random direction. Xia Yushan''s luck was quite good. Despite having encountered a Unity Realm Venerable, he was able to escape. Afterward, he found two more Nascent Soul Realm disciples and defeated them, gaining the last two tokens needed. Once he obtained all five tokens, Xia Yushan was covered in a silvery-white light and teleported out of the second trial. When Xia Yushan regained his sight, he was in an enclosed space, but he didn''t panic. The last time he was here, he received five Unity Realm ranked sword artifacts that perfectly complimented his Five Element Sword Arts. And now, before him were five peacock tail feathers. Each one contained the essence of the five elements. Xia Yushan''s eyes brightened at the five peacock tail feathers. Although he couldn''t use them right now, Xia Yushan was able to recognize that these were the five tail feathers of a Five Element Peacock that was in the Transcending Mortality Realm. He cultivated the Five Element Method, the conventional method of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Even if he didn''t use the five peacock tail feathers to refine an artifact, he could absorb the elemental essence to deepen his foundation and increase his cultivation. Once Xia Yushan stored the five peacock tail feathers, he felt his body shift again. When he opened his eyes once more, he found himself standing in a circular hall with an arena in the middle. The only other person aside from Xia Yushan was a Core Formation Realm disciple from the Eight Pillars Sect.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Xia Yushan glanced at her. She was a beauty that seemed to have been carved from a block of ice. Xia Yushan searched his memories but couldn''t recall seeing her at the Three Heavens Connection Meeting. As a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, Xia Yushan''s memory was perfect, but despite this, he could not recall who the Eight Pillars Sect disciple was. Her aura was very similar to Yang Linyin, just diametrically opposite. Xia Yushan didn''t allow his curiosity to get the better of him as he leaned against one of the pillars. No matter why he didn''t recognize her, she couldn''t have sneaked in with all the immortal present, could she? As time passed, more and more people began to appear. Ji Shuye, Heng Huesheng, Wei Daiyin, Nanfang Wubai, Duan Muli, San Mirong, Li Mu¡­ In total, there were sixteen people total. Five came from the Saint Scholar School. Five came from the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Three came from the Eight Pillars Sect. Two from the Eternal Night Sect and one from the Myriad Sun Sect. Xia Yushan was surprised to see none of the Unity Realm elders present. Logically, they were the ones with the highest chances to pass the trials, yet none appeared. Aside from that, Xia Yushan was also surprised to not see his junior brother, Tianyi. Out of all the Core Formation Realm disciples from the Buzhou Immortal Sect, he had the highest expectation for Xi Tianyi. Before Xia Yushan had the chance to ask his fellow disciples about Tianyi, an old man materialized above the arena. He had white hair and an aged face with white robes. His size was over ten meters tall but translucent. He was the trial spirit that had appeared when they entered the miniature realm and explained the rules of the trial. "Congratulations, juniors, for reaching the third and final trial. The final tournament is a simple tournament. Oftentimes, it is not your potential or strength that decides the victor but how you utilize what you have. You will each be pitted against one another, one on one. The one who becomes the final victor will receive this." An ethereal lotus seemingly containing all the colors in the world on all of its petals simultaneously appeared before the elder. When one looked closer, they would discover that it wasn''t actually a lotus, but a mirage created from a lotus seed. "This is the Heavenly Law Lotus Seed, there are many uses, and it''s an ingredient for numerous pills and artifacts. But even directly ingesting it will allow the ingester to increase their ability to comprehend worldly laws. During the era of the Immortal Court, it was listed as the number seventh useful treasure in comprehending the laws. There are no other rewards aside from this in the third trial." Hearing that the reward would be the Heavenly Law Lotus Seed, many of the disciples present couldn''t contain their excitement. There was no longer any Heavenly Law Lotus growing in the modern era, at least in the Huang Realm. It was said that Heavenly Law Lotus was birthed from the primordial chaos and the Thirty-Six Petaled Azure Lotus. If a cultivator were to refine and absorb a Heavenly Law Lotus, they would directly enter the Immortal Realm! Although the seed of a Heavenly Law Lotus seed was not as heaven-defying, it was still an incredibly precious treasure. Even those at the Immortal Realm would covet it, much less these Core Formation and Nascent Soul Realm disciples. The first round was Ji Shuye against a disciple of the Saint Scholar School. Both of them floated on the stage, the wind causing their clothes to flow and creating a picturesque scene. The man was talented, and the woman beautiful; it was a scene straight out of a painting. "Buzhou Immortal Sect Disciple Ji Shuye, please advise." Ji Shuye said, her voice as gentle as water. "Saint Scholar School Disciple Long Wanji, likewise." The scholar''s voice was as light as the wind. The two started fighting. Trading spells back and forth without anyone having the upper hand. "Did any of you see Junior Brother Xi?" Xia Yushan asked while paying attention to Ji Shuye''s fight. The disciples of the Buzhou Immortal Sect looked at each other, but none of them had any positive confirmation. "Junior brother Xi might have been unlucky and was unable to pass the second trial or the first trial. Maybe he has regrouped after being sent out of the trial land." One of the disciples said. "That seems to be the only possibility." Xia Yushan said. Although those were his words, his brows furrowed as his intuition told him that this was not the case. Back on stage, Ji Shuye and the disciple of the Saint Scholar School continually traded spells back and forth like a dazzling performance displaying their abilities. Suddenly Ji Shuye stopped and jumped back, causing the scholar to also stop and give a slight smile at her. He was at the mid Nascent Soul Realm while Ji Shuye was at the early Nascent Soul Realm. His smile froze when he felt Ji Shuye''s early grandmaster level suddenly rose to the late grandmaster level. Previously Ji Shuye had been giving off an impression as being as gentle as water, but now that water had turned into scalding hot steam. With a wave of her hand, a halberd that was two meters tall appeared in her hand. Ji Shuye swung it a few times, displaying her immense familiarity with it before brandishing it toward her opponent. "This...Senior Sister Ji was actually at the late Soul Nourishing Realm?" a disciple couldn''t help but cry out. Not only was he surprised, but aside from Xia Yushan, all of them were surprised. "Senior Sister Ji is actually a cultivator of the martial path. But because of certain reasons, she decided to hide it and only expose her spiritual path cultivation." Xia Yushan couldn''t help but twitch his lips as he recalled the reason. He had joined the sect only a bit later than Ji Shuye, so he was there to witness her prodigious talent in the martial way. Back then, she was incredibly valiant to the point that no one could see her as a woman. "To think that Senior Sister Ji was actually hiding so deeply!" Words of amazement flowed out from the rest of the Buzhou Immortal Sect disciples causing Xia Yushan to tremble from trying to suppress his laughter. Xia Yushan knew that Ji Shuye was paying attention to him and the rest of the disciples. If he laughed, there would be a beating for him later. "Take my strike!" Ji Shuye cried out as she leaped forward with her halberd raised, ready to deliver a devastating blow. Her hair no longer had any accessories as they had been blown away from her by the force of her movement. The scholar was shocked by Ji Shuye''s sudden change in demeanor, but he quickly regained his calm and unleashed a number of spells at Ji Shuye. A black glass-like armor appeared and covered her whole body, blocking those spells like they were minor annoyances. The scholar saw that his spells weren''t working and immediately moved to dodge, but at this moment, Ji Shuye''s speed suddenly increased, and she became a blur in the scholar''s eyes. The next thing he knew, he felt a mighty blow on his stomach. He had been struck with the back of the halberd and sent flying out of the arena, and crashed onto the walls with a resounding impact. He vomited blood out of his mouth and felt his bones fracture and his organs broken. He paled when he thought of what would have happened had he taken a blow from the blade of Ji Shuye''s halberd. He cupped his hands and said. "Thank you for showing mercy." Ji Shuye smiled and stepped off the stage. Her halberd had been stored, and although her hair was no longer tied, she exuded a gentle aura as if her previous valiant self had been an illusion. When she returned to her fellow sect members, she saw Xia Yushan trying to hold back his laughter at the fearful and awestruck look of her junior brothers. Ji Shuye glared at Xia Yushan, causing him to burst out in laughter. She rewarded him with a fist embedded into his stomach. Chapter 40: Reversal If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Chapter 41: Taiji vs Five Elements After the first round, the remaining eight participants were given half a day to recuperate. Some, like Ji Shuye, Duan Muli, Xia Yushan, and Li Mu, who won with relative ease, did not need to rest, but Yang Linyin''s condition was far more dire. Sweat slid down Yang Linyin''s brows as he circulated the true qi within his body. The true qi within his body had extreme heat and was like an inextinguishable fire. Every once in a while in his dantian, a flicker of a small core bearing cold yin energy would appear but immediately disappear. "Senior Brother, I won''t be able to use my yin form in the upcoming match. I''m afraid that I won''t be Five Changes Sword''s match." Five Changes Sword was the moniker that outsiders had started to call Xia Yushan since he was in the Core Formation Realm. It wasn''t popular at first, but after he had entered the Nascent Soul Realm, many more people started to address him as Five Changes Sword due to his sword that seemed to be able to change to any of the five elements at a moment''s notice. "It seems that the battle with San Mirong caused more damage than we thought. If we had known this, throwing the match may have been a better option. San Mirong and Xia Yushan can just injure the other, letting us reap the benefits." Duan Muli said with a frown. Yang Linyin''s constitution was unique, and it allowed him to master the Dual Yin Yang Transformation Technique. It allowed the user to form a True Yang Martial Body and a True Yin Spiritual Core, but it was like two sides of the same coin. Only one could appear at any time. Yang Linyin had already been forced into his Yin Form during the earlier trials, and now he was stuck in his Yang Form. If he reached a high enough level, he could switch interchangeably and even merge the two forms and display the supreme power of Taiji, but Yang Linyin''s realm was too low for that at the moment. Not even becoming a true immortal would guarantee the consummation of the Dual Yin Yang Transformation Technique. "There is no point in pondering about what if. Who is to say that Eternal Night''s San Mirong would not happen to defeat Xia Yushan and all her competitors to attain the Heavenly Law Lotus Seed?" Yang Linyin idly commented. "It is better for another sect to get the Heavenly Law Lotus Seed than allowing a disciple of the Eternal Night Sect a chance to attain the treasure." Duan Muli grunted. His facial expression only darkened for a moment before it returned to normal. It was very abnormal for a single disciple to have attainments in Yin and Yang Laws, like Duan Muli and Yang Linyin. Most Eight Pillars Sect disciples only had partial attainment in either Yin or Yang, unlike them. It could be considered a rare fortune for the Eight Pillars Sect to have two disciples with the potential of merging Yin and Yang into the supreme Taiji. Especially during their troubling times. But because of this, both Yang Linyin and Duan Muli had formed a rivalry and became each other''s greatest opponents. They were both considered candidates for the position of sect master in the future, and whoever showed more potential and promise would be rewarded with more resources. If mishandled, then the existence of these two could lead the Eight Pillars Sect into an even bigger downward spiral. Perhaps the only reason Duan Muli and Yang Linyin hadn''t fought seriously was because of the pressure brought on by the Eight Pillars Sect''s enemy on Earth Continent. Soon half a day passed, and the second round of the third trial began. Ji Shuye stepped onto the stage with a serious expression on her face as she gazed at her opponent. "Buzhou Immortal Sect Disciple Ji Shuye, please advise." "Eight Pillars Sect Disciple Duan Muli, please advise." Although Ji Shuye felt a bit apologetic, her junior brother, who fought Duan Muli, did not even manage to bring out his true abilities. They were not on the same level at all. But Ji Shuye didn''t fully show her abilities either. Both of them were promising immortal seeds raised by their sects. Because their sects were separated by the endless seas, the only information they had were rumors and what they gleaned from their short time in the Three Heavens Connection Meeting and the Trial Land. Ji Shuye didn''t try to use her spiritual cultivation base to fight and instead immediately released the power of her martial body and brought out her halberds. It was not one halberd but two. She held one in each hand, appearing extremely domineering. Duan Muli sensed the change, and his eyes immediately sharpened. One eye became completely black while the other became utterly white. With a fearless roar, Ji Shuye leaped high into the air with her halberd poised to strike down like a falling meteor. It was an incredibly forthright move that exposed many weak points. Duan Muli pointed his fingers at Ji Shuye and unleashed eight steel spiked chains towards Ji Shuye, but it was as if Ji Shuye was covered in an invisible barrier. All the spiked chains bounced off of her without even touching her robes. The chains were not meant to deal damage to her, and they instead began to wrap around Ji Shuye. "Hmpf!" Ji Shuye snorted derisively, and explosive air was released from her whole body, scattering the chains, but with a few hand movements from Duan Muli, the chains began coiling around Ji Shuye again. No matter what she did, the chains continued to coil around her. Even though she was trapped in a steel chain ball, her trajectory had not changed at all. Duan Muli took a step back as Ji Shuye crashed at his previous locations, and the ground below splintered with inconceivable force. Even the chains were sliced into tiny fragments that flew everywhere. The tiny chain remnants even battered Ji Shuye''s robes, but they did nothing to her at all. Very soon, those chains dissipated into thin air. They were materialized from Duan Muli''s qi, after all. A coin sword appeared in Duan Muli''s hands. Although the blade was formed from numerous cash coins and seemed dull, Ji Shuye quickly used one of her halberds to block the slash from it and used her other hand to strike at Duan Muli. At least, that was her plan. When Duan Muli''s strike connected with the flat side of her halberd, an enormous force caused her to be sent flying back. When Ji Shuye regained her footing, she looked at Duan Muli in a slight daze. She could not detect Duan Muli having any martial cultivation, yet in a competition of pure strength between them, she had been pushed back. Ji Shuye slammed the sharp ends of her halberds into the ground and formed several hand seals. Duan Muli charged at her, the coin sword''s edge began to cycle between black and white. But Ji Shuye was faster, and the top of her robes exploded into tiny pieces. But before the audience could enjoy the sight, they soon saw the bandages that covered her whole torso and left only her shoulders uncovered. The disappointment in the audience only grew when Ji Shuye grew a second head and another pair of arms. Now each pair of hands wielded a halberd. The technique was called Two Heads, Four Arms and was a lesser version of the Three Heads, Six Arms Technique. She crossed her two halberds in front of her and defended against Duan Muli''s sword. She frowned when she found herself still being pushed back. Ji Shuye relaxed and allowed her body to be pushed back, but she dispersed the force within Duan Muli''s attack at the same time. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Ji Shuye didn''t back off entirely as she immediately moved within Duan Muli''s range again and unleashed a combo of attacks using both her halberds. Each of the halberds seemed to contain enough power to split a mountain in half. Duan Muli didn''t back off either as he attacked with his coin sword. When his sword met with Ji Shuye''s halberd, her halberd would be pushed back, and her momentum and balance would be thrown off. At the same time, since he only had one weapon, Duan Muli dodged her other halberd''s attack by the slimmest of margin. He was like a fish in the water while Ji Shuye was a mortal trying to use her hand to capture him. They continued this balance between more than a hundred moves. Duan Muli''s plan was very simple. He wanted to exhaust Ji Shuye''s power and hide most of his abilities and techniques from his competitors. But as time passed, Duan Muli realized that Ji Shuye still had a lot of energy and did not seem to slow down at all. Finally, when Duan Muli''s coin sword clashed against Ji Shuye''s halberd again, the cash coin on the sword scattered, and Duan Muli was only left with a hilt. Ji Shuye was stunned for a moment, but she quickly capitalized on it and unleashed a flurry of moves against Duan Muli, who danced through them. Duan Muli made a single hand seal, and half of the eighteen scattered coins became black while the other half became white. At this instant, a taiji symbol appeared below Duan Muli and Ji Shuye. ''Not Good.'' Ji Shuye''s skin turned deep bronze, and her halberd emitted a golden light as well. But the moment the changes appeared, they began to disappear simultaneously. In the same instant, Duan Muli''s skin also took on a bronze tint, and his bladeless hilt emitted a sword made of golden energy. The spectators immediately turned wary at the formation Duan Muli used. No one else was affected as Ji Shuye felt the formation suck the true qi out of her body and her technique to be absorbed by Duan Muli. She was unwilling to give up so easily, so she began to burn her blood essence, and a red glow covered her body and her halberds. But even that was sucked away towards Duan Muli. Without having to do anything, Duan Muli gained the power of a martial expert who burned their blood essence. Everything Ji Shuye did, Duan Muli would absorb and take for himself. There was unwillingness in Ji Shuye''s eyes as she clashed again and again with Duan Muli. Still, with each passing moment, her momentum weakened while Duan Muli only defended, yet his advantage grew bigger and bigger. After another thirty moves, Ji Shuye suddenly sighed, and she dispersed her techniques and stopped burning her blood essence. "I have learned much, thank you for your guidance." It was a clear admittance of defeat. "You let me win." Duan Muli cupped his hands and walked off the stage. Ji Shuye returned to the assembly of the Buzhou Immortal Sect disciples in defeat. She didn''t say anything as she sat down with an unwilling expression. Xia Yushan sighed as he took out a cloak and covered Ji Shuye with it before walking towards the stage. Ji Shuye looked at Xia Yushan''s back with a deep look while her grip tightened on the cloak. "Buzhou Immortal Sect Disciple Xia Yushan, please advise." "Eight Pillars Sect Disciple Yang Linyin, please give me your guidance." When the match began, Xia Yushan instantly drew his sword and unleashed a sword light that contained the colors of the five elements. Yang Linyin didn''t even have a chance to defend before the sword light knocked him out of the arena. This carried none of Xia Yushan''s usual way of defeating his opponents. Although he seemed the same, there was a trace of unpleasantness in his heart, and Yang Linyin simply became the unlucky victim that was vented on. Yang Linyin could only bitterly smile at what his senior brother''s action caused. The match between Li Mu and Heng Huesheng was rather one-sided as well. Heng Huesheng was not able to make Li My display any abilities he had yet to display, unlike Ji Shuye, who forced Duan Muli to reveal his formation. The next battle afterward pitted an Eternal Night Sect disciple against a disciple of the Saint Scholar School. Although the Saint Scholar School''s disciple had superior technique, he was not able to overcome the difference in battle experience and lost to the disciple of the Eternal Night Sect. The four semi-finalists were Duan Muli, Xia Yushan, Li Mu, and the disciple of the Eternal Night Sect. It was apparent that Duan Muli, Xia Yushan, and Li Mu stood head and shoulders above everyone else. And to this point, only Duan Muli revealed some of his abilities. While Xia Yushan did display a technique that he had not used before, it was only one swift strike, and nothing much could be gleaned. Li Mu hid even more than the previous two. The rest time was still half a day, and soon, the first match of the third round began, Duan Muli vs. Xia Yushan. "Buzhou Immortal Sect Disciple Xia Yushan, please advise¡­" "Eight Pillars Sect Disciple Duan Muli, likewise." Once the Duan Muli finished his words, the air instantly became tense as Xia Yushan revealed his mid Nascent Soul Realm cultivation base. Xia Yushan had only entered the Nascent Soul realm less than five years ago, and throughout the Three Heavens Connection Meeting and the dangerous moments in the trial land, he never revealed that he had increased his cultivation base. His actions could be seen as an open declaration of challenge against Duan Muli, who was at the peak Nascent Soul realm. Xia Yushan brandished his sword, and five lotuses, each one representing each of five elements, appeared. Each one had five petals and was created from sword qi and revolved like a terrifying buzzsaw. Duan Muli''s face tensed, and his eyes changed. One turned completely black while the other became utterly white, and he revealed his sword with a blade created from eighteen cash coins. The five lotuses floated towards Duan Muli and surrounded him in a circle. Duan Muli felt as if space around him was being constricted, and even his senses began to diminish and grow chaotic when he tried to peer past the colored lotuses. It was as if Duan Muli only existed in a world within the confine of the five lotuses. He tapped his cash coin and caused it to disperse, half the coins became black, and the other half became white. A taiji symbol was created on the ground and spun in a circular motion, causing the five lotuses to dim. Compared to when it spun when Duan Muli used it against Ji Shuye, the speed was obviously slower. The five lotuses spun in the opposite direction, and their speed was even slower than the taiji symbol. The moment Duan Muli could no longer feel the constrictive power of the five lotuses, Xia Yushan, who was already within the taiji symbol, stepped forward towards Duan Muli, his sword displaying a watery light. Xia Yushan seemed to move in concert with the taiji symbol and swung his sword down at Duan Muli. Instead of going down, Xia Yushan''s sword swung upward instead, and Duan Muli pierced towards Xia Yushan with a blade that was composed of white-colored energy. Xia Yushan frowned and tried to move to the left, but his body moved towards the right in the end! "Grk!" Xia Yushan managed to partially block Duan Muli''s slash by deflecting it with his sword that gained a wooden light, but his shoulder was still injured from the piercing attack from Duan Muli. He felt as if almost all his motor controls were reversed, but Xia Yushan continued to unleash his sword techniques in a head-on clash against Duan Muli. Xia Yushan''s clumsy strikes became more and more refined with every confrontation. After more than a hundred exchanges between the two, Xia Yushan began to push Duan Muli back. Just as it seemed as if Xia Yushan was about to deliver a critical blow on Duan Muli, Duan Muli''s energy sword became pitch black in color. Xia Yushan, who was in the middle of a piercing attack, felt as if his whole body accelerated and his body moved forward. His eyes hardened as he saw the upcoming tip of Duan Muli''s sword. With how his body was moving at the moment, he would be sending himself to be pierced against Duan Muli''s sword. His qi was already in circulation. If he forcibly canceled his technique, he would cause an internal backlash and allow Duan Muli a critical opportunity to deliver a devastating blow. Xia Yushan remained calm as his sword took on a five-colored glow and his speed returned to normal, but it was still not enough to stop himself from being impaled by Duan Muli''s sword. At this moment, the sword in Xia Yushan''s hand seemed to have become five, one of the swords was placed to block Duan Muli''s sword while the other four continued their path towards Duan Muli. The black sword in Duan Muli''s hand suddenly became half white, and Xia Yushan suddenly found his body incredibly slow and cumbersome. Not just his body, two of his five swords became slow while the other three became fast, and their direction all scattered, depleting the strength behind his technique. It was as if Xia Yushan''s defenses and techniques were being peeled away one by one to reveal his defenseless core. Just as it seemed that Xia Yushan would be dealt the finishing blow, the five lotuses going against the taiji symbol''s flow shone brilliantly as a line stretched out from their center towards Xia Yushan. At that instant, a beautiful five-colored, five-petal lotus that enveloped both Xia Yushan, Duan Muli, and the taiji symbol materialized. Xia Yushan disappeared from Duan Muli''s view as five versions of Xia Yushan appeared and surrounded Duan Muli; they were only differentiated by their robes that correlated to the five colors. All of them unleashed a sword strike representing one of the five elements to create an attack that was not just the sum of its parts. This was an application of the Buzhuo Immortal Sect''s Five Element Incarnation Technique that could only be practiced by those who cultivated the Five Element Method and the Five Element Sword Art. The audience who were watching this battle couldn''t help but be dazed. In the last clash between the two proud geniuses, the multiple reversals all took place within mere moments of each other, and most of them couldn''t even keep up. Only Li Mu could calmly analyze it all. Even San Mirong had an ashen expression, although she understood more than most. Chapter 42: Collapse Duan Muli sucked in a cold breath as he took in the ambush from all sides. His two eyes began emitting black and white light as his body began to turn illusionary as if he was but a mirage. It wasn''t an illusion as his figure gradually disappeared. Xia Yushan''s five-colored lotus began to emit an even greater pressure, and the stability of the space within increased, causing Duan Muli''s technique to slow down as if trapped in a quagmire. All this while the five swords of the five different robed Xia Yushan continued to strike down. The taiji formation on the ground increased in power and made the five Xia Yushan slow down as well. The two top disciples of the premier Daoist lineages entered a power struggler. It was a contest to see whether Xia Yushan''s sword would strike Duan Muli first or would Duan Muli disappear from within Xia Yushan''s Five Element Sword Lotus first. In the end, both the Five Element Sword Lotus and the taiji on the ground fractured into tiny little pieces. The backlash exploded and injured both contestants. When all the pieces disappeared, there was only a single Xia Yushan standing. He clutched his chest while his other hand held his sword. His face was extremely pale, and he looked like he could puke blood any moment. A moment later, Duan Muli''s figure appeared out of nowhere and collapsed onto one knee. His robes were in disarray and filled with various gashes made from Xia Yushan''s sword. It was soon dyed red, and Duan Muli vomited a mouthful of blood. His eyes had returned to their original appearance as he warily observed Xia Yushan. With trembling legs, he forced himself to his feet. His trembling soon faded away, and his pale face turned ruddy again like he never fought with Xia Yushan. Xia Yushan frowned as he saw the chaotic qi in Duan Muli''s body calm down and even show signs of recovering. He suppressed his injuries as the sword in his hand disappeared. Under everyone''s eyes, Xia Yushan reached into thin air and grasped something. That something was revealed when he pulled his hand back to reveal a sword. The sword appeared very plain with no embellishment on it. It was a simple sword with a silvery blade, dark iron hilt, a wooden handle, and a bronze pommel. But only Duan Muli, who was standing in front of the sword and Xia Yushan, could feel the dense and heavy killing intent imbued within the sword. That sword was a sword of slaughter. Duan Muli felt that he could even see a world filled with countless corpses, some rotting and some already having no flesh on the bones, reflected on the blade. Never in his life had he felt any greater danger than at this moment. He never even felt this close to death, even when he was facing the incarnation of an immortal. He knew that the moment Xia Yushan drew that sword, there was a high chance that one of them would die on this stage. It was no wonder that Xia Yushan did not use his lifebound artifact before. He could not fully control the killing intent within, but Duan Muli wasn''t an opponent Xia Yushan could defeat without using his lifebound weapon. Duan Muli''s face that had been shocked by the dense aura of slaughter, soon calmed down once more. Both of them aimed to attain first place to attain the Heavenly Law Lotus Seed in order to ascend to the realm of immortals. So what if the people blocking their way had to die? Duan Muli''s right hand emitted a black light while his left emitted a white light. His face, which had regained some color, began to pale once more and a trail of blood leaked from his lips down to his chin. He clapped both hands together, and a taiji symbol was superimposed upon him. At this moment, Duan Muli looked like a god of the universe, and everything seemed to be under his control. Down on the stage, Ji Shuye''s nails pierced her palm, and blood leaked out while her heart clenched as she watched the fight between Xia Yushan and Duan Muli. She wanted to call out to stop Xia Yushan, but when she saw his broad and unrelenting back, all her words were stuck in her throat. Just as it seemed that both Xia Yushan and Duan Muli would clash head-on, the room began to shake as cracks appeared on the walls. Even the arena began to crumble. "This!" "What''s going on? Is that part of the trial?" "Impossible. The trial spirit told us that the third trial was a tournament. Something like this shouldn''t have occurred!" Just as it seemed that the trembling would continue, the trial spirit appeared once more above the arena. He gave a long sigh. "I did not expect that he would do such a preposterous thing, taking away an anchor of the Immortal Court. Forget, forget it. The third trial is canceled. It cannot go on anymore. Did you foresee this, Your Majesty?" The trial spirit said as he waved his sleeves, and all of the cultivators in the room were enveloped in white light. Before they could say anything and process it, they realized that they were once more outside the gate that led to the Immortal Court ruin. That wasn''t all, as all of them were healed and returned to their top condition. Except for San Mirong, although her martial body was healed, burned scars remained, and she still only had a single arm. Xia Yushan looked around with confusion as he saw himself standing in the air with his fellow disciples, even those that had not entered the third trial. He looked at the gate to see it filled with cracks and seemed to be able to crumble at any moment.
Tianyi gasped for air as he clenched his teeth. All awareness of his surroundings had long disappeared as he focused on refining the mountain in the Immortal Court into the first mountain of his Pendant of Mountains and Seas. With each passing moment, more sweat drenched Tianyi''s robes, but at the same time, the first mountain of the Pendant of Mountains and Seas became more real and even began to look like the mountain of the Immortal Court. Unknown to Tianyi, the ruin of the Immortal Court was fracturing. It started in the vicinity of the spiritual mountain, with cracks originating from the mountain crawling towards other areas.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. When the first mountain from the Pendant of Mountains and Seas fully merged and took on the likeness of the mountain within the Immortal Court, Tianyi almost collapsed, but a content smile appeared on his face. He could already feel that the formation within the pendant increased its power severalfold. He felt a sensation that he had not felt since he entered the Core Formation Realm, and that was the near-complete drainage of all his true qi. In the past, it wasn''t like he hadn''t tried to waste his qi to help stabilize the problems of his body, but it was not worth the effort. Tianyi produced as much true qi as fast as he used it. His mother could help him siphon his true qi, but that would require her near-constant presence. It was ultimately an issue that Tianyi had to deal with himself in the end. He waved his hand so that the formation would return to the jade pendant, but nothing happened even though Tianyi could feel that his connection with the formation only increased since refining the first mountain. He tried once more, but the mountain only seemed to budge slightly. He frowned and tried several more times, each with increasing strength in his control. Finally, using almost all his spiritual sense, he recalled the Mountains and Seas Formation into the pendant, but Tianyi soon regretted it. Because where the mountain stood was a gargantuan hole that didn''t lead to the underground but the Vast Void. It became like a black hole, sucking everything in, even the light. Tianyi tried to step back, but the tremendous force sucked him and the ground beneath into the void. He could feel opposing forces distort and warp his body, and the relief he attained from having near-empty qi reserves was gone and replaced with fright and the impending sense of doom. He tried to calm himself down as he ignored the pain, a technique he had long ago learned to cope with the constant damage dealt to his own body, and tried to recall anything that would save his life. Tianyi gritted his teeth and injected his true qi into his spatial ring, but before the spatial ring could open for long, the qi that he had injected was sucked away into the void. Tianyi frowned and continued to inject qi into his spatial ring, and only after he injected a sizeable steady stream of qi into his spatial ring was he able to keep it open. He had never been so thankful for his abnormally large amount of qi. Tianyi could already feel the defensive properties of his robes beginning to weaken to the point that he would be ripped to shred by the spatial tides of the Vast Void. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, a golden talisman appeared in his hand. This talisman was the most valuable treasure he carried with him. His mother had said to use it only when death was inevitable. He certainly felt that death was looming over him, and he didn''t want to risk using any treasures that would fail and cause him to die without being able to unleash this life-saving talisman. Under the injection of Tianyi''s qi, the talisman emitted a bright light, and an illusionary form appeared. Tianyi''s eyes widened as he saw Mengfei''s figure wearing her purple robes, but her body was translucent and seemed to be able to disappear at any moment. Mengfei frowned and looked at her own body before looking at the surroundings. "Yi''er, how did you get trapped in the void outside of the Huang Realm? I am unable to absorb the qi of heaven and earth, so this incarnation cannot even use ten percent of its power." Tianyi''s face darkened. "Something happened in a secret realm relating to the Immortal Court." Tianyi was unaware of how much this incarnation of his mother knew, so he gave a short answer. "Does this mean that you are unable to help me in this situation?" Mengfei shook her head. "Hard to say, but I will do my best. Whether this incarnation can last long enough to send you back into the Huang Realm will be up to fate." Saying so, Xi Mengfei''s talisman incarnation held Tianyi''s shoulder and soared towards the Huang Realm that resembled a biconvex lens. Tianyi couldn''t calm himself down, but he grasped the pendant on his waist. He allowed himself to look at the Huang Realm. It looked so tiny compared to the vastness of the void, like looking at the Earth from the Moon. He didn''t have time to question the numerous other realms that appeared below the Huang Realm or the other star-like objects as Tianyi wholeheartedly prayed that he was able to make it back. Throughout the journey, Tianyi constantly turned his sight towards his mother''s incarnation. Although she still had the same facial expression, her body became more translucent by the second. Tianyi couldn''t help but tremble as he weighed his options if he couldn''t return to the Huang Realm. Would it be better to die, or if he could somehow protect himself from the spatial forces, would it be better to float aimlessly in the void, not knowing when someone would save him? He quickly got rid of those dark thoughts. He reviewed several spatial techniques he had learned and tried to devise a way to return to the Huang Realm in case his mother''s incarnation didn''t have enough energy. Moments passed before Mengfei''s incarnation sighed. "It looks like I won''t be able to take you back." His heart sank to his stomach, but before he could say anything, he felt himself being lifted by Mengfei and felt his vision blur and sudden force compressed onto him. Tianyi was stunned for a moment before he realized he had been thrown. His mother''s talisman incarnation had thrown him like a projectile. A silhouette of a sword covered him and powered his flight towards the Huang Realm. He only bore the pressure and looked forward as his Huang Realm became larger and larger until he was only microscopic dust in comparison. When Tianyi neared the very edge, the sword silhouette burst out with great power and pierced a hole into the Huang Realm. Just as Tianyi was about to enter the opening, a familiar suction force latched onto his body and pulled him backward. Tianyi gritted his teeth and unleashed the Mountains and Seas Formation. The greatest power a formation could have was exhibiting the same power as a world. Using this as a basis, Tianyi made a gamble. He linked the edge of the formation with the boundaries of the Huang Realm and made the Mountains and Seas Formation temporarily become a portion of the Huang Realm. Instantly, the suction force disappeared, and Tianyi could use his power to fly through the air on his flying sword. Because he linked the Mountains and Seas Formation with the Huang Realm, he had lost the ability to control it. Despite the temporary safety, he didn''t know how long it would last, so Tianyi quickly flew towards the Huang Realm. Once he confirmed that he was fully inside the Huang Realm, Tianyi looked back outside to the Vast Void. He didn''t even attempt to recall the formation as his eyes locked onto his mother''s incarnation, who almost completely dispersed form. Even from this distance, he could see a rare expression of gentleness on incarnation''s face. The incarnation''s body soon dispersed into countless lights in the void, never to be seen again. Seeing this, Tianyi sighed, and a sullen feeling emerged from his chest. Tianyi waved his hand, trying to recall the formation, but when he did so, the Mountains and Seas Formation completely shattered into countless motes of lights shocking Tianyi. He didn''t even do much but try to move the formation back. Tianyi felt that he was fortunate. Had the formation shattered while he was inside, Tianyi would have no doubt perished. The tiny motes of light moved away from the void as if unaffected by the spatial pressure and towards the jade pendant on Tianyi''s waist. Among the motes of light, a group felt similar to the immortal mountain he had refined. He released a sigh of relief, as expected of a treasure even though it was a failed attempt to create the Classics of Mountains and Seas. It'' With one more look at the void through the tear of Huang Realm, which was slowly closing, Tianyi sighed. He had been doing a lot of sighing lately. He waved his hand, and an immortal boat that was similar to the one Mengfei had, appeared. Although he was fatigued to the point that he felt that he could collapse into unconsciousness at any moment, Tianyi persisted in staying awake and drove the immortal boat. He had to find a safe haven, at least. Chapter 43: Lost This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
Chapter 44: Bliss Earth Sect Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Chapter 45: Bai Tiezi Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Chapter 46: Becoming an Unfathomable Senior Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Chapter 47: Too Lazy to Even Sneak Due to the chapter being so short, it has been merged with the next chapter. Due to the chapter being so short, it has been merged with the next chapter. Due to the chapter being so short, it has been merged with the next chapter. Due to the chapter being so short, it has been merged with the next chapter. Due to the chapter being so short, it has been merged with the next chapter. Due to the chapter being so short, it has been merged with the next chapter. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Due to the chapter being so short, it has been merged with the next chapter. Due to the chapter being so short, it has been merged with the next chapter. Due to the chapter being so short, it has been merged with the next chapter. Due to the chapter being so short, it has been merged with the next chapter. Due to the chapter being so short, it has been merged with the next chapter. Due to the chapter being so short, it has been merged with the next chapter. Due to the chapter being so short, it has been merged with the next chapter. Due to the chapter being so short, it has been merged with the next chapter. Due to the chapter being so short, it has been merged with the next chapter. Due to the chapter being so short, it has been merged with the next chapter. Due to the chapter being so short, it has been merged with the next chapter. Chapter 48: Immortal Riverrats Legacy Tianyi fiddled with the sundial-shaped token and looked at the direction it pointed towards. He had originally planned on watching Bai Tiezi to see what trouble the Qi Gathering Realm cultivator would get into, but it seems that his luck was actually pretty good. There was an inheritance relating to the Law of Space on this tiny island. Between amusing himself and solving his cultivation issue, Tianyi naturally chose the latter. Without wasting any more time, Tianyi flew towards the direction of the inheritance. After three days of travel, Tianyi arrived at a large mountain, and it was at least three times taller than any of the mountains that Tianyi saw on the island. The closer Tianyi got, the brighter the light the sundial exuded. "Halt! This mountain is the forbidden ground of the Bliss Earth Sect, if you go any further, don''t blame us for attacking." Just as Tianyi reached the foot of the mountain on his flying sword, a man wearing the robes of the Bliss Earth Sect stopped Tianyi. Tianyi looked at the man who was flying atop an unfolded fan. He should have expected that the Bliss Earth Sect would have quarantined the location of the entrance to the inheritance site. He didn''t answer the man as he released his spiritual sense and enveloped the whole mountain. Under his spiritual sense, he could detect two cultivators at the Acupoint Opening Realm and an unaccountable number of body transformation acolytes and foundation establishment disciples scattered throughout, guarding the borders. Tianyi quirked his lips upwards and used his spiritual sense to sneak attack the two acupoint opening masters. He had no qualms about attacking the members of the Bliss Earth Sect at this time. He feared no one at this tiny island. Even if there were somehow a unity or world merging venerable, Tianyi would still be confident fleeing from them with his Mountains and Seas Formation. The long months on the ocean allowed the pendant to recover enough energy for at least that. Just as the Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator was about to speak out once more, they heard an enraged roar from the mountain. "YOU DARE!!!" ''Oh? My attack was only effective on one of them. Is it because I''m not proficient enough with the technique, or is that person''s soul especially strong?'' Tianyi didn''t leave his position as an acupoint opening master standing atop a crystal orb appeared behind the Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator. "Speak, why are you here?" Although the acupoint opening master of the Bliss Earth Sect was enraged, once he felt the pressure emanating from Tianyi, his thought instantly cleared. Tianyi quirked his lips upward. "Why do you think I''m here?" Tianyi asked with a knowing smile. The acupoint opening master''s face became solemn at Tianyi''s word. "Fellow daoist, you should know that this is the jurisdiction of the Bliss Earth Sect, and we have sectioned it off by the orders of Sect Master Roving Dragon." "Roving Dragon? Is that your sect master''s title? How interesting." Tianyi said as he held his chin in his hands. "But so what? Even if he has reached the World Merging Realm, I need not fear him." Confusion appeared on the faces of the Bliss Earth Sect members, but they could judge from Tianyi''s tone that he would not back off. "Seeking death!" The acupoint opening master said as he moved to attack Tianyi, but before even flying a few meters, he felt his neck being lifted and all strength leave his body. "If you want to fight me, at least have a top-tier martial body," Tianyi said and then looked at the gathered Bliss Earth Sect members. None of them dared to move, seeing as how Tianyi had easily captured their strongest elder present. They were all below the Acupoint Opening Realm, and Tianyi directly ignored those in the Qi Gathering Realm. "Don''t worry, as long as you behave yourselves, I won''t kill any of you. After all, I have no interest in¡ª" Tianyi never had the chance to finish as the sky darkened and lightning struck him. The onlookers became shocked as they saw the mysterious cultivator suddenly be struck by lightning. They quickly moved farther away lest they were implicated for staying too close. Some of them hoped the lightning strike would fatally injure Tianyi, while others hoped the elder was fine, but no matter, they didn''t have the power to interfere and thus could only watch as the black clouds sent two more strikes of lightning before disappearing. When the blinding sparks of lightning disappeared, the onlookers stood there dazed. Tianyi appeared absolutely fine, not a hair out of place. The same could not be said for the acupoint opening elder. His body was pitch black, appearing to be encased in a black shell. Everyone could tell that the acupoint opening elder was fatally injured as red-black liquid dripped from his body. "Well, that was inconvenient," Tianyi said. He threw the half-dead cultivator in his hand towards the Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator that spoke out to him first. "Remember, do not bother me and do not contact your sect. A fate worse than his will await you." '' Saying those words, Tianyi began to fly towards the mountain''s peak. The spectators looked at each other, not knowing what they should do. "Should we contact the sect? It seems that only the sect master can fight this monster." Some of them agreed, while others disagreed. However, amidst the argument, the one who was adamant about contacting the sect took out a communication talisman and used it. Under the eyes of everyone, he suddenly stopped moving and collapsed onto the ground and his communication treasure shattered into uncountable pieces. Seeing this, all of them had a cold bead of sweat run down their forehead. Tianyi saw everything with his spiritual sense. Aside from the acupoint opening master, who could resist his initial attack, none of the other cultivators on the mountain could defend against him. Naturally, he couldn''t continuously keep his spiritual sense out, but an initial warning was enough to deter them for a while. There was a slight hope that it would be enough to stop them from having any thought of contacting the sect if he made himself appear omniscient enough. Tianyi continued on his way towards the mountain and soon found a cave entrance that blocked his spiritual sense. The sundial in Tianyi''s hand grew brighter the closer Tianyi got to the cave. He didn''t immediately enter the cave and instead inspected the surrounding. Seeing that he could discover nothing from the outside, he looked at the cave entrance. At first glance, it just appeared to be a naturally formed cave from the passage of time. But no matter what, Tianyi couldn''t detect past ten feet inside the cave using his spiritual sense, sight, or sound. Tianyi steeled himself and began to walk into the cave. Although there were risks, the legacy was incredibly important to him. He started to walk inside, but it felt as if time had stretched indefinitely. No matter how long he walked, the entrance was always ten feet behind him. "Figures it wouldn''t be so easy," Tianyi said. He looked at the sundial in his hand. Although the glow was the same brightness, the pattern seemed to have changed. Having an idea, Tianyi tested it and changed his direction according to the changes in the sundial. Unsurprisingly Tianyi found himself in another different location. It seemed to be a floating landmass above a river made of silver threads. Tianyi stood in front of a doorless gate that led to a long and narrow road towards a large platform with three white steles.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. "Immortal Riverrat''s Abode." Tianyi read the plaque affixed to the top of the gate. "Is this the first test? I have to reach the steles by walking this path?" The road looked perilous, and stone statues covered each side. Perhaps the stone statue would come to life and attack Tianyi and cause him to fall off the edge. The narrow passage was a trial. Only those who safely walk through it will have the requirements to inherit the legacy of Immortal Riverrat. Tianyi didn''t immediately walk past the gate. Instead, he brought out various treasures and tested them first. If his treasures worked, he would have no problems, but if they didn''t, he would have to be warier. Luckily, the late immortal probably didn''t expect a moving treasure vault, like Tianyi. Full of confidence, Tianyi walked past the doorless gate. Once he neared the first two statues, they moved to block his way like gate guardians. The two statues wore impressive scale mail and wielded long stone spears. Tianyi couldn''t help but think of Bai Tiezi, who also specialized in the spear. "I couldn''t have stolen his fortuitous encounter, right? Pei! He willingly gave it to me. How is this stealing?" Tianyi made a slapping motion with his hands and directly crushed them into dust. Although they seemed impressive, the two stone soldiers were only at the Spiritual Pillar Stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm. To Tianyi''s surprise, once they disappeared, two new stone soldiers stood at either side of the road, but as Tianyi neared, they did not move at all. "This means I passed the first stage, right?" Tianyi continued walking and was soon met with the subsequent trial, two Spiritual Altar Foundation Establishments Realm stone soldiers. After that were two Spiritual Crucible Foundation Establishment Realm stone soldiers blocking his way. And then two stone soldiers at the early Core Formation Realm. Then it was two Polished Core Stage Core Formation Realm soldiers, followed by those in the Tempered Core Stage, then Polished Core Stage Core Formation Realm stone soldiers. Luckily, the next stage was nascent soul stone soldiers, finally giving Tianyi some challenge. Only when the peak nascent soul stone soldiers appeared did Tianyi have to take out a talisman. "Geez, is this really an inheritance site? Unless you''re in the Unity Realm, it doesn''t seem like you''ll be able to pass." ''What is the point of setting up such a hard trial at this tiny island for? The chances of any locals passing this are so minuscule. You''d have to be incredibly lucky to pass unless I''m doing the trial wrong?'' As Tianyi had expected, the next two stone soldiers were at the early Unity Realm. Tianyi didn''t want to waste any more of the talisman and tapped the jade pendant on his waist. Although the jade pendant was more powerful, it was also easily reusable, unlike talismans, which disappeared after one use. Instantly nine illusionary mountains and seas descended onto the world. One of the mountains exuded great pressure that caused the silvery river below the road to tremble. This was the First Mountain, created from absorbing the spiritual mountain from the ruin of the Immortal Court. The two stone soldiers that had been moving were instantly frozen, and under Tianyi''s will, they were crushed into dust. Tianyi continued his path on the road, but the stone soldiers along the way didn''t move and instead were crushed by Tianyi using the formation. "Counting all of them, these last two should be the one at the Transcending Mortality Realm?" Tianyi asked to no one as he looked back at the crushed stone soldiers that hadn''t reformed under the might of his formation. Tianyi released the formation once he walked past the last benchmark, but he still was prepared to unleash it again should anything unexpected occur. The stone soldiers only reformed, and there was no other movement. "This feels like cheating." Tianyi couldn''t help but mutter. "But it also feels really refreshing!" Tianyi clicked his tongue as he walked towards the steles. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be made of an unknown white material and exuded an archaic aura as if it had existed since the beginning of time. On the first stele were words engraved upon it, it seemed to be the last will of the Immortal Riverrat. In all my years, I did not expect that I, Immortal Riverrat, would fall at the hands of a devil. I do not know from whence it came from, but I knew it was not a devil created from when an inner devil overtook a cultivator. I didn''t fall to one, but a whole army. If the devils possess the ability to come out of the realm of sin and invade the Huang Realm, then the world is in grave danger. I fear that by the time anyone reads this message, it will be too late. Whoever sees this, I hope you can deliver my words to the Cultivator Alliance or Buzhou Immortal Sect. The payment will be all the treasures I have left in the chest on me and my inheritance. You must prevent the invasion of the devils at all cost. Like in the novels Tianyi read, cultivators could have their darker emotions, thoughts, and trauma warp into separate sentient entities known as inner devils. Whenever an inner devil overcomes the cultivator, then a great calamity would descend to those nearby. Since the creation of the Cultivator Alliance, there were twelve grand elders that led them called the Twelve Zodiacs. Each of the Twelve Zodiacs corresponded to an animal of the zodiac. Immortal Riverrat should have held the title of the Rat Zodiac based on his name, but the current Rat Zodiac was an immortal known as Immortal Fisherrat. "Judging by his prefix, Immortal Riverrat should be a member of the current Cultivator Alliance. After all, when the Cultivator''s Alliance held hegemony over the Mortal Continent, the members of the Zodiacs were titled Monarchs instead of just Immortal." Tianyi''s brows furrowed at the implication. If Immortal Riverrat was a member of the current Cultivator Alliance, then the greater of a devil invasion. Although the Loose Cultivator''s Alliance had fallen from power, they were still above many first-rate sects. Yet Tianyi hadn''t heard of such an event. Of course, it might have been something from a long time ago, and the cause and effect had already been solved. Devil invasions had occurred several times in the Huang Realm''s history. The most Tianyi could do was report it to The Buzhou Immortal Sect and allow them to handle the aftermath. He looked at the chest at the base of the stele. Tianyi was actually quite excited at getting the wealth of a dead immortal. He had been given everything nearly at his beck and call, and so he had long lost any semblance of understanding of wealth. Earning something himself felt completely different. "Ah, I should give my thanks first." Tianyi stopped moments before opening his chest. Directly opening the chest and attaining the immortal''s wealth would be a bit too ungrateful. Besides, it was a small gesture in the grand scheme of things. Tianyi kneeled onto the ground and kowtowed before the stele. "Thank you, Senior, for your kindness. Junior will help you report your fall and words to the Cultivator Alliance. Tianyi got up with a refreshed smile. With nothing holding him back, he happily opened the chest before stiffening. The inside of the chest was empty, and Tianyi''s dream of possessing the wealth of an immortal disappeared like the contents of the chest. "Did someone else appear here before me?" Tianyi''s first thought was that the Bliss Earth Sect had already taken everything, but he quickly shot down that idea. If the Bliss Earth Sect had taken the inheritance and the wealth, they would no longer need to guard the inheritance site. Unless they wanted to keep the techniques from the other people. Tianyi sank into deep thought before he shrugged. Although he was disappointed at not getting the wealth, his main goal was the space-related inheritance, though he did feel a sense of disappointment. He walked towards the second stele, and he felt a stifling feeling bind his chest. Worldly Ubiquitous Spear Art It was a spear art created by Immortal Riverrat that allowed the user to appear to be everywhere at the same time. Judging from a periphery scan, its specialty was having the user face off against many foes who were of similar strength or lower. ''Is the reason I didn''t get the treasure because it was meant for Bai Tiezi?'' Just one look would, Tianyi knew that it was perfect for Bai Tiezi. Bai Tiezi planned to rebel against the Bliss Earth Sect, Tianwei Continent''s largest and most powerful organization. Having the Wordly Ubiquitous Spear Art would allow him to fight many people at once. Compared to the Unwavering Dragon Spear Combat Art Tianyi gave him, this suited Bai Tiezi far more. Unwavering Dragon Spear Combat Art was a technique that focused more on fighting a single opponent at a time. Tianyi suddenly had the feeling that he had kidnapped someone else''s bride. ''Forget it. This is still a good spear art. It would be a waste not to learn it. But first¡­'' He moved to the third stele. But once he saw what Law the techniques were related to, he felt the blood rising up to his throat. Tianyi covered his mouth once more and quickly calmed his agitated state. The reason for Tianyi''s agitation was very simple. Spring Autumn Scripture. Broadly speaking, even Tianyi had heard of the Spring Autumn Scripture as it was one of the most powerful manuals that had been lost to time. It was said to have been the cultivation the Yellow Emperor had used to ascend to immortality. The Spring Autumn Scripture embodied the concept of spacetime, exactly what Tianyi needed. The problem? The Spring Autumn Scripture recorded by Immortal Riverrat was incomplete. And worse was that it contained only the portion related to time! As Tianyi skimmed through it, he came to understand many things. The Worldly Ubiquitous Spear Art was something Immortal Riverrat created out of his comprehension of the Law of Time. The omnipresent ability of the spear art was the user summoning force the attack of his future or past self. Or at least, it emulated it. Not only that, but the silver river below the floating landmass was also Immortal Riverrat''s attempt at creating a miniature River of Time. Its true form once it was refined was to transform into the Immortal Realm artifact, River Spear of Time. Tianyi took several deep breaths before a complicated look appeared on his face. "Time and space can be combined into spacetime. In fact, back on Earth, they are intrinsically linked on a universal scale. I can derive spatial techniques from the Spring Autumn Scripture and form martial cultivation that uses spacetime as its base. In the end, it will allow my body to withstand my true qi of chaos." There was an unresigned expression on Tianyi''s face. He knew this was only him, consoling himself. How many people wanted to comprehend spacetime, yet how failed? But learning the Spring Autumn Scripture would at least broaden his horizon, and there was no downside. Besides, Immortal Riverrat had derived many simpler time techniques and even some spatial techniques. Tianyi brought out the lotus artifact from his spatial ring and sat atop it before, and began to comprehend the Spring Autumn Scripture. Chapter 49: My Body as the Cosmos Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Chapter 50: Nine Strokes Sword Art Tianyi looked below at the collapsed mountain as he rubbed his face. He saw the countless injured bodies and corpses below him, and he couldn''t help but feel awkward. Strictly speaking, he did not have a deep hatred for the Bliss Earth Sect. He had already killed the two protectors that offended him. Not that the Bliss Earth Sect needed to know that. His hands formed several hand seals as he recalled a technique inscribed upon the stone stele, Temporal Reversal Art. It was a technique that allowed one to heal from their wounds by reversing time, but it was only suitable for those weaker than the user and those who hadn''t ascended to the Immortal Realm. Normally, it would have been to reverse time for so many people, but Tianyi had absorbed the artificial River of Time into his pendant. Under his control, silver strands emerged from his pendant and attached themselves to all the members of the Bless Earth Sect, and their injuries healed at a visible rate. After Tianyi healed all the disciples, the soul nourishing grandmaster burst out of the rumble and headed straight for Tianyi. "Give this old man your life!" Tianyi felt his lips twitch. It just so happened that he attacked after Tianyi healed them all. Was there such a coincidence in the world? Just as the old grandmaster reached Tianyi, Tianyi chopped down. Tianyi''s hand flattened, and he sliced down. His hand became like Pangu''s ax, separating the chaos into heaven and earth. The soul nourishing grandmaster felt as if his body was splitting into by itself without any external influence. Gritting his teeth, he crossed both of his arms in front of him, having no time for any other action and his attack long forgotten. Then he felt pain, indescribable pain. Tianyi''s hand sheared through the grandmaster''s arms like a hot knife through butter. After severing both arms, Tianyi''s hands clenched into a fist and hammered the grandmaster''s defenseless chest. The soul nourishing grandmaster was sent careening into the ground with a strangled cry and created a new hole. His arms, now stumps, weren''t bleeding, but that was more because of Tianyi instead of the unconscious grandmaster. Tianyi glanced around the collapsed mountain. None of the Bliss Earth Sect members dared to meet his eyes. "I had expected the Roving Dragon to be here, but it seems that he did not think it was worth his time to come here." Tianyi calmly said. "Since that is the case, then I will leave first. As he said he would, Tianyi controlled the flying sword he was on to soar into the distance. The remaining Bliss Earth Sects looked at one another. Have them stop that calamitous star? Wasn''t that just asking them to die? Even if all of them banded together, they did not have the confidence to take down Tianyi. Especially the ten acupoint opening masters. Some of them recognized the now tragic figure of the soul nourishing elder dispatched by Tianyi in one strike. Who would dare go against someone who could crush a mythical grandmaster-level expert in one strike? The members of the Bliss Earth Sect all could only watch with complicated gazes as Tianyi disappeared into the distance.
Bai Tiezi roared as he thrust his spear forward. The spear was like a flood dragon leaving the water, unstoppable. The Bliss Earth Sect member in front of Bai Tiezi could not deflect the attack in time, and a spear pierced through his body. Not just him, but Bai Tiezi continued his thrust, and his spear pierced through two more people. Bai Tiezi swung the spear and disposed of the three corpses. Such was the scene that Tianyi had arrived upon. When he left Bai Tiezi, he had secretly left a tracking mark on Bai Tiezi. Never did he expect he would meet Bai Tiezi so soon. With his eyes and viewpoint, he could see that this road was en route to the Bliss Earth Sect. Just a few more days, and the procession would reach their destination. Tianyi even spotted the girl that Bai Tiezi pined after. She, along with tens of other girls, was gathered in one carriage, guarded by over ten body transformation acolytes. Tianyi understood the reason why Bai Tiezi chose this moment to attack. If he did not attack now, then he would never have the chance to if the procession reached the Bliss Earth Sect. Although the chance of rescuing his beloved here was slim, the chance was not zero as he had reached the Spiritual Pillar Foundation Establishment Realm. Coupled with the Unwavering Dragon Spear Art Tianyi taught him, his strength surpassed most members of the Bliss Earth Sect. Tianyi was content to watch the show, and as he had expected. The more perilous situation Bai Tiezi was in, the greater his strength. His combat techniques continued to be polished with each clash. The members of the Bliss Earth Sect were the perfect whetstone for Bai Tiezi to digest everything he had learned from Tianyi. If Bai Tiezi learned at a turtle''s pace with Tianyi, then right now, he was learning as fast as a running rabbit, making Tianyi question his teaching ability. Tianyi shrugged. It was only his first time teaching someone like this. He was brought out of his musings when a snort reverberated through the sky. The members of the Bliss Earth Sect showed joy upon their faces as they craned their necks to look at the black-robed figure standing in the sky.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The black-robed figure did not look at the figures on the ground and instead looked at the area in the air where Tianyi was. "Show yourself." The voice was majestic and had the tone of an overlord that ruled over all. Tianyi''s pupils shrunk when he saw the black-robed standing in the air. When a cultivator reached the Nascent Soul or Soul Nourishing Realm, they gained the ability to solidify air under their feet into a solid platform and no longer needed an artifact to travel through the air. Step by step, like he was descending a flight of stairs, Tianyi slowly walked off his flying sword towards the Bliss Earth Sect Master, Roving Dragon. With each step, the majestic tribulation aura within him was released, and he was like a heavenly monarch descending into the mortal realm. Roving Dragon had a sneer on his face, but Tianyi''s eyes were just ice cold. His gaze flickered towards the girls at the ground before looking at Roving Dragon again. "Just parlor tricks. Do you think just because you could step on air, I would be afraid of you?" "Those girls wouldn''t happen to have Water Spiritual Veins, would they?" Roving Dragon''s pupils shrunk as he heard Tianyi''s words, but he gave no other indication otherwise. "I did not expect the infamous figure to cause the collapse of the Inheritance site to be so young and at such a realm. But this is my Bliss Earth Sect''s territory, not someplace you can cause a ruckus as you like," Roving Dragon said. Roving Dragon''s face was that of a handsome man in his mid-twenties. He didn''t have the air of steadiness a hundred-year-old cultivator should have. Instead, he was filled with the hot-blooded passion of youth. Tianyi looked at the familiar face that was across from him and said nothing as images of the tragic fate of Daoyi flashed through his mind. "You must also be the one who killed the two protectors. Aside from you, there is no one else able to kill them in such a short time." Roving Dragon took Tianyi''s silence as admission as he revealed the hidden intent that had been hiding in his eyes. His fist shot out like a cannonball towards Tianyi. Tianyi wasn''t one to back down either, and he also unleashed a punch. This was a fist art from the Dragon Emperor Fist. Its movement mirrored that of Roving Dragon''s punch. When the two first clashed, shockwaves erupted from the impact, and Tianyi was sent back several tens of steps. Roving Dragon was only slightly better as he was forced back ten steps. His right hand tingled, and he felt as if he had punched a steel cube. An unprecedented solemnity appeared on his face. Ever since he had entered the Soul Nourishing Realm forty years ago, there had been no one who could contend with him. And now appeared a kid, who was of a lower realm than him, could contend with his fist head-on. Roving Dragon guessed that it was the work of the inheritance in the inheritance site. In his eyes, although Tianyi could defeat master-level experts, he was still lacking in many areas against a true grandmaster like himself. The Bliss Earth Sect Master took out two black gloves with white plates and wore them on his hand. They were his Dragon Scale Gloves, a soul nourishing ranked artifact that he had forged using his own blood and bones. Despite being forced back even more than Roving Dragon, Tianyi''s hand didn''t tingle at all, and only at the moment of impact did his skin ripple. The force from the attack had traveled inside his body and was dispersed by the true qi of chaos and the large space within. Although Tianyi would not lose, he could not defeat Roving Dragon with his fists alone. So he reached out and grabbed the flying sword, instantly an invisible sphere appeared with Tianyi at the center. It resembled the void, but it was filled with countless stars, and there were even hints of celestial objects. Tianyi ran towards Roving Dragon and unleashed a slash that Roving Dragon blocked with the back of his gloves, sparks cascading off from the impact. Tianyi''s attacks were swift and fierce, attacking five times in an instant, but Roving Dragon blocked them all with ease. Just as Tianyi backed up, Roving Dragon was about to rush forward to change the tempo of the battle, but his instincts screamed at him. Roving Dragon immediately dodged to the side as Tianyi thrust his sword forward for a piercing strike. "Kill (ɱ)" It was only a single word. But with that word, Tianyi''s sword strike was filled with a murderous aura as if it would exterminate all life that it touched. Roving Dragon had a cold sweat run down his forehead as he narrowly dodged that attack. He could feel his body stiffen and slow down within this special area of Tiany. He was a martial cultivator, so he could only resist against the compressive aura to engage with close combat against Tianyi. Tianyi immediately turned to attack Roving Dragon again. This time Roving Dragon was prepared, and in the eleven sword strikes that Tianyi unleashed, none gave the same feeling of death. But on the twelfth stroke, the same ominous feeling appeared again, and Roving Dragon suddenly jumped to the side to avoid Tianyi''s two-handed slash. "Slaughter (ÍÀ)" An aura of slaughter had covered the blade after Tianyi said that one word. Roving Dragon finally found a pattern to Tianyi''s attack, but this just made him even more vigilant. Earlier, Tianyi''s kill strike was unleashed on the sixth strike, and the character for "kill" needed six strokes to complete, corresponding to the number of strikes Tianyi unleashed. The slaughter strike was the same. The limit to Tianyi''s move was only suppressed by his own imagination and the number of characters in the world. A golden aura began to cover Roving Dragon''s body, and faint dragon roars rang. It covered him like golden armor, and he became a human-size dragon temporarily. Tianyi frowned as he could feel suppression on Roving Dragon from his Sword Formation as the World weaken. Tianyi still chose to engage with Roving Dragon, and only after suffering numerous light scratches was Tianyi able to unleash his final strike for another character. "Cage (Áý)" Roving Dragon paused as if something had encased his body, but he broke through a moment later and continued his attack, even though he was confused why Tianyi''s tenth strike didn''t have any attacking power. Whatever the purpose, for Roving Dragon, it was not a good thing. He could discern that Tianyi''s qi reserve wasn''t dropping, which created a sense of urgency within him. His golden dragon armor expended a large amount of his qi constantly. It was a flawed and incomplete technique. If he ran out of qi, Tianyi could likely kill him. Tianyi reengaged Roving Dragon, and after his fifth strike, he said, "Dragon (Áý)" Upon hearing that word, Roving Dragon''s instinct screamed at him. His attacks became even fiercer, and he even ignored some of Tianyi''s sword strikes just to land a blow on Tianyi. After Tianyi''s fourth strike, a sense of annihilation Roving Dragon never felt before came upon him. He decisively disengaged from Tianyi and attempted to leave the domain formed by Tianyi''s usage of the Heartless Sword Arts. But upon coming into contact with the edge, he felt an invisible cage blocking his way. He roared furiously and punched the cage. Before he could unleash his second punch, Tianyi was already behind. He grasped his sword with two hands as it emitted a murderous red light and slashed downward. "Extermination (Ãð)" Roving Dragon gave a bestial roar as a red aura appeared on his body, and he unleashed two of the most powerful punches in his life, side by side, but Tianyi''s sword sliced through his fist qi as if it was nonexistent and cleaved his body in half. Dragon Extermination was extremely lethal to a person who cultivated to make themselves a human-shaped dragon. It was even more so for Roving Dragon, who had on his golden dragon armor, a technique that brought out the dragon blood within. The overlord of Tianwei Continent died just like that. Chapter 51: Wrath The battle between Tianyi and Roving Dragon was like a clash of divinities for the spectators. Any stray strike from them could cause the land below them to fracture and death to anyone unlucky to be struck. With such a cataclysmic battle overhead, no one was able to focus on Bai Tiezi. Everyone was far too busy concerned over their own lives. When the deities battle, the mortals are the first to suffer. Bai Tiezi watched the battle overhead with passionate eyes. He had known that the senior who taught him was not simple, but he only truly realized it when he saw the battle between the senior and the Bliss Earth Sect Master. Compared to Tianyi, who mysteriously appeared, Bai Tiezi would be more familiar with Roving Dragon, the legendary sect master of the Bliss Earth Sect. The current generation had heard tales of how he single-handedly defeated the four sects and created the current balance of power on Tianwei Continent. Roving Dragon was a legend amongst the younger generation. Despite his tyrannic nature, many aspiring cultivators wanted to emulate him. They hoped to replicate his legendary feat of cultivating from a no-name mortal to the overlord of the land. Bai Tiezi was no different. He had placed Roving Dragon as his role model and goal. That all changed when his beloved was chosen to be Roving Dragon''s woman, though. All admiration turned into grievance and wrath, but he was not blinded by it. Seeing as the members of the Bliss Earth Sect were no longer paying attention, he moved towards Feng''er. The members of the Bliss Earth Sect who noticed wanted to block him, but they were only able to fight against Bai Tiezi by teaming up. So in their disorganized state, they were not Bai Tiezi''s match at all. "Feng''er!" "Big Brother Tie!" Bai Tiezi froze for a moment when he felt an ominous feeling above; he looked up to see a stray golden qi making its way towards the carriage where the girls were located. He gritted his teeth and leaped into the air with a spear thrust that resembled a flood dragon flying out of the sea. Unwavering Dragon Spear Art performed best when there was a stable foothold for the user to perform on. Bai Tiezi''s action was equivalent to weakening himself, but he had no choice. If he deflected the attack, he had a chance at survival, but if the attack landed on the carriage, then the girls inside would no doubt all die. His spear struck the fist-shaped golden qi. The two opposing forces briefly contested for a moment before the fist dissolved under the force of the spear, but the formless golden qi continued to blast forward and struck Bai Tiezi''s body. Blood spurted out of Bai Tiezi''s mouth as he was launched backward. Despite his paling face, he stubbornly grasped the spear in his hand, even as he crashed and skidded across the ground. The surrounding cultivators naturally noticed the commotion, and they all gathered their focus at where Bai Tiezi crashed. Under the upturned soil and rocks, a hand burst out. Bai Tiezi climbed out from the hole. His skin was deathly pale, a trail of blood was leaking from the corner of his lips, his hair was in disarray, and his clothes had long become rags, but his eyes were incredibly sharp to the point that none of the Bliss Earth Sect members dared to meet them. Slowly Bai Tiezi made his way towards the carriage. Each step was like crossing a river. His body was shaking to the point that he had to use his spear as a crutch, but no one dared to block his way. It was as if whoever blocked his path would receive a death sentence. Feng''er stood there on the carriage with teary eyes as she saw the tragic appearance of Bai Tiezi. Her hands holding the carriage doors were white from her grip. "Feng''er stand back." Bai Tiezi said. The guards around the carriage had already retreated into the distance, afraid to be struck down by this death god. He held the spear in two hands, and with a short thrust, the carriage door was blasted apart. Feng''er jumped down from the carriage and into Bai Tiezi''s chest with tears streaming down her face. "Big Brother Tie, we are finally back together again." "Yes," Bai Tiezi released a tranquil smile that he had worn for months. "Yes, we are." At this moment, seeing as Bai Tiezi had lowered his guard, a foundation establishment disciple began to cast a spell against Bai Tiezi''s defenseless back. Rage colored Bai Tiezi''s face as he felt the change of qi in the air, and he furiously swirled around to see the determined look on the Bliss Earth Sect member, but before any of them could do anything, an unknown force smashed the Bliss Earth Sect member into a meat paste. Bai Tiezi and the crowd around them stood there stunned and staring at whatever remained of him. "Junior, we meet again." Bai Tiezi looked up to see a youth in black brocade robes with his hands clasped behind his back. An air of leisure hung on that youth while his hair flowed in the wind, extremely picturesque. He and the surrounding cultivators were struck by the youth''s exquisite features as if they were sculpted by immortal hands. Especially those eyes of his, just one look could steal someone''s soul. Bai Tiezi forced himself out of his stupor as he quickly asked. "Senior, what about the Bliss Earth Sect Master?" Tianyi gave a slight smile as he pointed his thumb behind him. Bai Tiezi and the people in the surroundings looked at where Tianyi pointed at and sucked in a cold breath. Lying on the ground was Roving Dragon''s bifurcated body.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. There was stunned silence as the members of the Bliss Earth Sect around Bai Tiezi began to flee, following the actions of their fellow sect members who had been paying attention to the battle. Roving Dragon was the Bless Earth Sect''s greatest pillar. Without him, the Bless Earth Sect would not have risen to its current position. With him on the battlefield, their morale would be raised to its limit, but if Roving Dragon perished before the members'' very eyes, then the morale would drop to rock bottom. Bai Tiezi broke out of his second stupor, an extremely complicated feeling was reflected in his eyes. He cupped his hands at Tianyi. "Many thanks for Senior''s aid." Tianyi waved his hand without care. "Don''t worry about it. I was just passing through. I originally was just going to watch, but who knew that Roving Dragon would seek death for himself?" He then glanced at Feng''er, who was still hugging Bai Tiezi. "Why don''t the two of you follow me? I still have something to pass onto you as thanks." "Thanks?" Bai Tiezi questioned. "There is no need. Senior has helped enough. I could never repay the kindness you showed me." Tianyi shook his head. "No, the token you gave me solved a major problem for me. I have to repay you. Otherwise, I would not feel at ease." Seeing Bai Tiezi still hesitate, Tianyi added. "How about this? You can repay me in the future if you leave the island and ever reach the Immortal Realm." "Immortal Realm?" Such a thought had occurred to Bai Tiezi, but it was more like a fleeting dream. Bai Tiezi was an orphan who by chance had met Feng''er, and then on his dream was to marry her and live a peaceful life. "Senior, I''m just an average person." "The way I see it, you have the fortune to become an immortal," Tianyi said. "Besides, only when you reach the Immortal Realm will you be able to aid me." After saying those words, an immortal boat appeared in the air with a flip of his hand. Bai Tiezi and Feng''er both looked at it with awe. Tianyi waved his hand, and the two of them were pulled onto the deck of the immortal boat. "Senior, dare I ask what realm you have reached?" Bai Tiezi asked after marveling at the boat for a while. This senior was extremely mysterious, and his background even more so. "I''m only in the Core Formation Realm." Tianyi lightly said. Bai Tiezi bitterly smiled. How many cultivators dreamed of reaching the Core Formation realm in Tianwei Continent, but in Tianyi''s mouth, it was something that could easily be achieved. But thinking about how Tianyi slew Roving Dragon, such an attitude seemed acceptable. "Don''t overthink it. If I had actually lost, then I would have wasted every advantage I had. I would have been trash not worthy of cultivation. Although Roving Dragon seemed impressive to you guys, aside from his martial cultivation and that golden qi armor of his, all his techniques were subpar." Tianyi gave the two a sideways glance as he brought out a pill in his hand. "Let me put it this way, Tianwei Continent is a frog, and the seas surrounding it are a well. Do you understand?" Bai Tiezi smiled bitterly. What else could he say? From Tianyi''s eyes, they indeed were incredibly weak. He opened his mouth to speak, but when he did so, Tianyi threw a pill in his mouth, and it soon entered his throat and into his stomach. "Big Brother Tie!" Feng''er cried out in worry, but Bai Tiezi held out his hand to stop her. He could feel the potent vitality flow out from within the pill and heal all the injuries that he had accumulated. Even his old injuries from before were healed. Bai Tiezi kneeled in gratitude. "Many thanks for Senior''s aid." "Get up, since I''ve already decided to help you. I will thoroughly finish what I started." Tianyi then glanced at Feng''er and threw a crystal orb at her. Although she was slightly shocked, she was still a cultivator in the Qi Gathering Realm, and she caught the crystal orb. The moment she caught the crystal orb, two lights shone within. One was a small green light, but the other was a brighter blue light that nearly consumed the green light. Upon seeing this, Tianyi''s eyes narrowed. "As I thought." "Senior?" Bai Tiezi said, confusion evident. But Tianyi just waved his concern away as he stored the crystal ball away. He then looked outside the immortal boat. Bai Tiezi also followed his eyes, and his pupils shrunk. Although the view was different, there was no way he didn''t recognize the Bliss Earth Sect. "Stay here," Tianyi said as he stepped off the boat. Upon walking off, three acupoint opening masters flew up and greeted Tianyi. "This friend, for what reason have you visited our sect?" Although they didn''t know who Tianyi was, just the fact that he possessed an immortal boat made him a major figure that wasn''t easy to deal with. Just moments before, they had received news of a battle not far away requiring their sect master''s aid. Tianyi ignored them, and his eyes focused on a certain mountain within the Bliss Earth Sect. Tianyi stretched his hand out and made a grabbing motion. A black cloud with numerous motes of light in the shape of a hand appeared over the mountain. The hand grabbed the mountain and directly uprooted it. Tianyi''s pupil shrunk as his sharp eyes caught the numerous female corpses buried under the soil. "You are offending the Bliss Earth Sect!" "Hmpf, if you stop now, we can still talk it over. But once the sect master returned...hmph!" The three acupoint opening masters were shocked by Tianyi''s power technique, ut they had confidence in their sect master that he would be able to deal with this intruder. Tianyi did not look as he spoke again. "You knew what your sect master was doing to the girls that were brought over, right?" These words floated by the three''s ear, but the killing intent hidden within could not be concealed at all. Two of the three acupoint opening masters'' faces changed, while the last one didn''t change at all. Tianyi''s expression darkened. Although the last one didn''t have a change in his expression, Tianyi could sense his heartbeat quicken exponentially at his question. Under the eyes of the three, the mountain that was the center of their Pill Creation Hall was crushed into oblivion by the giant hand. The three of them had a pained expression as if their flesh had been torn from their body. For the development of a sect, the necessity of pills was not low. Now, in less than a time than five minutes, their Pill Creation Hall had been destroyed, but they didn''t have time to worry about the destruction of it anymore as all three of them felt space compress around them. With each passing moment, the compression increased, they wanted to scream, but it felt as if the words in their mouth would not come out no matter what they did. Slowly they experience the excruciating pain of being crushed alive. Tianyi let their corpse fall into the ground, but the anger in his heart hadn''t been sated at all. He could still sense several master-level experts in the Bliss Earth Sect, and his eyes became colder. "Since you enjoyed the glory of the Bliss Earth Sect for so long, you should also experience their ruin." Several more hand-shaped black clouds appeared, and all of them uprooted the crucial structures and mountains and crushed them into dust. Some members may not know what Roving Dragon was doing to the girls being brought over from outside the sect, but anyone with half a brain could guess a few points. Even if they didn''t know, so what? Ignorance was not innocence. From this day onward, although the Bliss Earth Sect still existed, their foundation and top echelons were erased. They were destined to fall in from heaven to hell and be overtaken by other sects, just like the four sects that they had overthrown. Chapter 52: Departure Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Chapter 53: Monarch Soulfish Within Tianyi''s inner world, the galaxy had become dim, the starlight started to fade, and darkness began to cover the three figures hidden within that world. Unbeknownst to Tianyi, two of the three figures had changed. The emperor need not be said as his clothes became authentic silk brocade robes, but the greatest change was the worm-shaped cloud. It was no longer worm-shaped at all and instead was nine spherical objects, eight brightly lit spheres that revolved around a larger black sphere. But they too began to dim with the darkness encroaching upon the world. Just as it seemed the world would be extinguished, the third indistinct figure began to emit a brilliant rainbow that illuminated the galaxy once more. Outside Tianyi felt his sweat drench his clothes as he regained the functions of his mind. He didn''t know what happened, just that his vision had gone dark for a moment, but the danger Tianyi felt still lingered within his heart. Not only that, but Tianyi discovered that his soul, which had reached the threshold of a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, had regressed to the quality of a Core Formation Realm cultivator. He didn''t dare ponder anymore as he activated the Pendant of Mountains and Seas. Nine mountains and nine seas descended onto the world, but Tianyi''s pupil shrunk as he saw that the area near the four-story pagoda was untouched as if that area was detached from the world. His hand didn''t falter as he took out the most powerful talismans his mother had given. He activated three of them at once. Three swords formed of immortal qi immediately appeared and pierced towards the unknown immortal. Tianyi didn''t bother to see the aftereffect as he activated another talisman. This time, he was enveloped inside a sword-shaped qi and sped away inside it. He left the Mountains and Seas Formation to blockade the immortal. Just as it seemed that Tianyi would leave, a transparent figure began to form in front of Tianyi, causing him to leave the sword of qi as it jetted towards the half-transparent man, but the sword qi only phased through him as if he didn''t exist. Once the man in red fully formed, the four-story pagoda appeared behind him again. Tianyi felt his heartbeat quicken as the reality of the situation descended upon him, but he was unwilling to give up. The sensation that lingered within him was just too frightening. Without any more care or reservation, Tianyi began to use all the talismans he had been given. The horned man did not change his expression as he deflected or countered everything Tianyi threw at him. Even the mountains and seas formation was locked in place, unable to move. Just as all hope seemed to be lost for Tianyi, a figure appeared in front of him. It was someone who Tianyi knew extremely well, although this person had been standing behind him all the time that he knew her. "Elder Meng!" Tianyi cried out in surprise. "Young Master, please escape." Those were Elder Meng''s only words as she stared off at the immortal in the distance. The immortal, in turn, seemed to be wary of Elder Meng, who had just appeared even though she was in the Unity Realm and not immortal like him. All of Tianyi''s talisman that he had used were attacks at the Immortal Realm, but that hadn''t made the immortal as guarded as seeing Elder Meng. Under Tianyi''s visibly shocked eyes, Elder Meng''s speckled gray hair began to turn black as if it had been dipped in ink, and a ghostly garment appeared and wrapped around her robes. He couldn''t see her face, but he guessed that she must have used a special technique to drastically increase her strength that resulted in her regaining her youth. Her intent to fight couldn''t be clearer. "Elder Meng, I have some talisman¨C" Before Tianyi could finish, he felt an invisible force push him away. The force was gentle, and there was no intent to harm. Tianyi felt his body seize up under the force as if his body wasn''t his to control anymore. "Eld-" Before he had a chance to call out anymore, another gentle force made his body fly far away. Tianyi completely understood now; this was Elder Meng wanting him to leave. He had not expected Elder Meng to be so strong. He had grown prideful because of his special cultivation method, but he didn''t expect the quiet Elder Meng to be so strong. All around Elder Meng were the phantoms composed of skeletons, all of them wearing a bridal dress that had been bleached white, creating an eerie scene. Their ghoulish cries crawled through the quiet night, sending a chilling sensation everywhere. In contrast, the red-robed youth''s phantoms were elegant dolphins. They were pleasant to the eye if a bit disconcerting to look at. They gave off a feeling of a child''s purity. Just from this scene alone, it would be easy to mistake the immortal as someone who was out delivering justice against a devilish cultivator. "Lady Meng, do you need to stake it all for an outsider?" The red-robed youth spoke as he controlled his phantom to clash against Elder Meng''s skeleton brides. "For Monarch Soulfish to know of this Junior is my honor. But I will not let your words sway me. I am an elder of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, and I will protect Grand Elder Xi''s son at all cost!" At Elder Meng''s rejecting words, Monarch Soulfish''s brows furrowed at Elder Meng''s words. More dolphin phantoms appeared with a wave of his hands and began to swarm Elder Meng''s skeletal brides. At the same time, the confusion in Monarch Soulfish''s eyes became even more evident. "Does she truly not know, or was I incorrect about her true identity?" No matter what Monarch Soulfish''s questions were, since Elder Meng had decided to stand against him, he would show no mercy.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Upon seeing that her skeletal brides were no match in both numbers and strength against the dolphin phantoms, Elder Meng made several hand seals. Flesh began to grow upon the skeletal brides, revealing the grievances they had before death. Their eye sockets were empty and leaked tears of blood while their mouth started shrieking horrendously. Wherever the shriek passed, space seemed to blur. Even the pagoda seemed to shake not from the effect of the shriek but rather something within responded to the grieving shrieks. Monarch Soulfish gently patted the pagoda, and it quieted down. The phantom dolphins began to grow bigger under his control until the shrieks no longer had any effects. Elder Meng''s hand didn''t stop as various hand seals were formed. The phantom brides'' skin soon attained a rosy blush on their cheeks as she did so. The only difference between them and a living human was their empty eye sockets. The greatest was to come as the bleached bridal dresses soon regained their vibrant red color. But that wasn''t because the bridal dresses'' colors were returning. No, it was being colored red from soaked blood. Once the dress became a hundred percent red, a ghastly red light surrounded the phantoms. At the same time, Elder Meng''s body became gaunt as if something had sucked away all the blood in her body, but the steel in her eyes never dulled. Monarch Soulfish''s eyes hardened. Some of the bridal phantoms had barely reached the threshold of the Immortal Realm, while the rest were all firmly in the realm of an Earth Immortal. He had no problems dealing with the phantoms, but if he delayed any longer, then his target might escape. He clapped his hand together before fully separating them apart. As if working on its own rules, space appeared above the pagoda behind Monarch Soulfish. A torrent of azure water started to descend and wash over the entire area. Elder Meng moved her bridal phantoms in front of her to block against the torrential waters. Soon the water engulfed Elder Meng and her phantoms. She felt like she was in a fragile bubble in the deep sea. All around, she could see those dolphins circling her. Strangely numerous tiny rats were flailing in the water while they kept drowning yet never being able to die, only able to flail aimlessly. The protective bubble around Elder Meng continued to shrink under the pressure of the azure sea with no end in sight, as if she was in a world that was comprised only of water. No matter where Elder Meng moved, she could not escape the water. The first to go was the weakest ghost brides. Water crashed into them, and they separated away from Elder Meng. After each ghost bride separated, would be encased in a cocoon, and when the cocoon broke open, a white dolphin appeared and became part of the sea. The Immortal Realm bridal phantoms became red-skinned horned dolphins. The more time dragged on, the more bridal phantoms became separated from Elder Meng until there were only nine bridal phantoms at the Immortal Realm left. And even they were beginning to weaken as small patches of white could be seen on the wedding dresses. There was simply no way Elder Meng could escape this azure sea world. Despite this, the direr the situation, the more peaceful Elder Meng''s expression became. She waved her arms, and the bridal phantoms all merged with her. Elder Meng''s robes shifted to a red wedding dress not soaked in blood but made of the world''s finest brocade. It was embroidered with phoenixes and parasol trees, and a red veil completely covered her head. Beneath the veil, Elder Meng had peerless features and unearthly beauty that suppressed all the women in the world. A woman was most beautiful on her wedding day. That saying was not wrong, but it was a pity that there was no one to lift Elder Meng''s veil and reveal her beauty to the world. The only hint of her beauty was the crystalline skin on her hand and the inky black hair poking out under the veil. There was a sigh, one of hopelessness and regret. The barrier was gone, and azure water encapsulated Elder Meng''s body. Unlike the bridal phantoms, Elder Meng wasn''t covered by a cocoon. Instead, she flowed with the currents. Slowly her figure became transparent and dissolved into nothingness. Inside the four-story pagoda, Monarch Soulfish watched this all with a calm expression. Amidst the endless water with no surface or bottom, the only structure that existed was the dull red pagoda. "Qiu." Monarch Soulfish whirled around to see a girl younger than him smiling at him. Her hair was dark brown, and her eyes carried traces of innocence as she spun in her red-brown dress. "Chun." Monarch Soulfish involuntarily spoke the girl''s name, but his face was twisted in a furious expression. Forcibly calming himself down, Monarch Soulfish closed his eyes. "Qiu, what''s wrong?" His body shivered at Chun''s words as if physically impacted, but he continued to ignore her. When he opened his eyes once more, Monarch Soulfish was standing outside of the pagoda, and his target was standing right in front of him. But he knew that he no longer had any chance because standing beside his target was a silver-haired woman in ethereal white robes.
Tianyi followed the direction the force pushed him towards. His heart wasn''t feeling good at all, this feeling called powerlessness. Just as he was speeding along the way, the space in front of him seemed to have become a two-dimensional painting as it tore apart like parchment, and a silver-haired woman wearing white robes came out. Tianyi''s eyes brightened. He had never been so excited to see Grand Elder Zhang in his life. "Grand Elder Zhang! Elder Meng is fighting against an immortal! You have to help her!" Maybe Tianyi himself never realized how desperate his voice had become, but Grand Elder Zhang did. She placed her hand on Tianyi''s shoulder, and before Tianyi''s vision could even blur, he noticed himself across from the four-story pagoda once more. Monarch Soulfish had his eyes closed, but it wasn''t long before he opened them. There was a trace of sullenness in his eyes as he stared at Tianyi and Grand Elder Zhang. "Zhang Cuiying, you should know the boy is an outsider. Why do you protect him so?" Grand Elder Zhang''s eyes became cold. "Monarch Soulfish, I do not recall ever being so close to you. If I do not protect him, what else would I do? Collaborate against my sect member with you?" A brush appeared in Grand Elder Zhang''s hand. It had a splendid handle that emphasized the grain of the wood and a brush made of strands of silver. Upon seeing the brush in Grand Elder Zhang''s hand, Monarch Soulfish immediately began to retreat, but it was already too late. A painting of the dull red pagoda appeared before Grand Elder Zhang. With a few swishes of her brush, the pagoda immediately became like an old building able to crumble apart at any moment. "No!" There was a fierce cry from Monarch Soulfish as he saw the pagoda begin to crumble. His body withered, and blood leaked continuously from his mouth, but the pagoda had returned to normal. On the other hand, his body had become like an old building ready to crumble at any moment. Grand Elder Zhang did nothing as she watched Monarch Soulfish flee. "Grand Elder Zhang, what about Elder Meng?" Tianyi asked as he searched around for his guardian. Grand Elder Zhang said nothing and instead grabbed Tianyi''s shoulder once more. When Tianyi regained his bearings, he discovered that he was in the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s Soul Lamp Hall. The Soul Lamp Hall was where the members of the Buzhou Immortal Sect left their soul lamps, so the sect knew whether they were alive or dead. Only inner disciples and above had the qualifications to leave a soul lamp. Understanding Grand Elder Zhang''s meaning, Tianyi quickly scanned the numerous soul lamps and released a sigh of relief when he saw Elder Meng''s soul lamp still burning. But the strange thing was that her soul lamp wasn''t with the other Unity Realm elders but placed among the Immortal Realm elders. Chapter 54: Home "These are troubling news that you bring me." Sect Master Xia said as he held his hands behind him with his brows furrowed. "A whole army of devils invaded the Huang Realm without our knowledge. Impossible." The other immortal elders also had solemn expressions on their faces as they heard Tianyi recall his side of the events from the Immortal Court, especially when he recounted the contents of Immortal Riverrat''s inheritance. Immortal Riverrat had been immortal of the current Cultivator''s Alliance, and his death could be considered recent, but there had been no significant sighting of devils. Sect Master Xia released an amiable smile towards Tianyi. "Alright, Little Xi, although you did not manage to receive anything good from the Immortal Court, you were fortunate enough to acquire the Spring Autumn Scripture, even if incomplete." Sect Master Xia gave Tianyi a look over. "It also seems Little Xi''s condition has stabilized. This is great news. I''m sure Grand Elder Xi will be happy to know once she returns." Tianyi bowed. "Many thanks, Sect Master." "There is no need. I had originally intended the trip to the Immortal Court to be a boon for you, but it seems that it had become a disaster for Little Xi. Don''t worry. The sect will compensate you for your troubles and bringing back the Spring Autumn Scripture." Sect Master Xia said. "As for the matter with Immortal Riverrat and his last request. The sect will take over. No need for a junior to concern yourself with the business of us old fogies. It would be best not to ponder on the murals you saw. You won''t reach the point of needing to know until you are at least in the Immortal Realm." "Sect Master about Elder Meng¡­" Tianyi started to say but trailed off, not knowing what to say. Sect Master Xia didn''t seem to be bothered in the least concerning Elder Meng''s situation. "Elder Meng is unique among us. There are many things I cannot tell you at this moment, but rest assured, Elder Meng will return soon. Aside from that matter, are there any matters you wish to ask about?" "Am I able to impart the Spring Autumn Scripture to my older cousin?" Tianyi asked. Daoyi didn''t need the Spring Autumn Scripture as she had access to equally powerful manuals being the direct disciple of his mother. Even if they were a little worse off than the Spring Autumn Scripture, they were at the very least complete. His older cousin was different. Xi Ri had only been given a chance to enter the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Aside from that, his mother provided nothing else. How could the manuals available to the outer disciples compare to the legendary Spring Autumn Scripture? The Sect Master thought about it for a moment before replying. "You may do so, but your contributions will be deducted." Tianyi smiled. "I am willing to accept that." "If that is the case, go ahead and impart the Spring Autumn Scripture to Disciple Xi Ri." Upon seeing the confused expression on Tianyi''s face, Sect Master Xia chuckled. "Disciple Xi Ri has already been promoted to an inner disciple, Elder Fanli of the Assignment Hall has taken him as his disciple." Tianyi was enlightened. The Assignment Hall could be said to be the most powerful hall as they managed the appointments of positions. "Then please excuse this disciple," Tianyi said as he retreated out of the hall. "Junior Brother Xi, I heard you were back. Are you okay?" Xia Yushan, who had hurried over as soon as he received word that Tianyi returned, asked. He paused as he observed Tianyi. No longer did Tianyi''s complexion carry that sickly paleness, and he seemed to have aged a year or two since the last time the two of them met. But the most striking thing was the aura around Tianyi. There was a distance that seemed to exist, like seeing the moon but never touching it. "I almost got killed, but other than that, I am completely fine," Tianyi said with a bright and cheery smile on his face. "That''s go¨C" Xia Yushan said, but he stopped as he processed the words Tianyi just said. "Junior Brother, you...ah¡­ never mind." "I heard that you were transported to a completely different place than me? What was it like?" Tianyi asked. The sect master had immediately summoned him after he left the Soul Lamp Hall, so he hadn''t had the chance to talk to other people yet. Along the way back to Jade Peak, Xia Yushan explained the trial and hardships he and the fellow disciples endured in the trial land, the duel against Duan Muli, how Yang Linyin had defeated San Mirong, or how the third trial collapsed and no one was able to receive the Heavenly Law Lotus Seed. "There were four of us left, and I was about to defeat Duan Muli as well." Xia Yushan sighed in regret. "I was so close. If I could have gotten the Heavenly Law Lotus Seed, I would have become an immortal without a doubt!" Xia Yushan shook his head. "It''s a pity that something caused the trial land to crumble. If I find out who caused the collapse, I will tear his flesh off, piece by piece, and feed it to him! Junior Brother Xi, that person most likely caused you to be separated from us too. Don''t worry. If I find out the truth, I will definitely take revenge for you." The said culprit released a strained laugh. "Isn''t the most important thing, is that we all came back safely?" "You''re right. Perhaps it was the Immortal Court simply being too old and not being able to support itself anymore, even though there was spirit directing it. What are the chances that some person caused the collapse? I simply wanted a person to vent on, that''s all."Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. "Senior Brother Xia, you shouldn''t dwell on such matters. If an inner devil formed because of this, then it won''t be a laughing matter." Tianyi ''sincerely'' advised. "You''re right. Thank you," Xia Yushan said. "We are from the same sects. This amount of care is expected." Tianyi said. When the two of them reached Jade Peak, more specifically Jade Peak Palace, the sound of music composed from numerous instruments flowed out. Tianyi stopped. Daoyi couldn''t have all of them, right? Xia Yushan placed a hand on Tianyi''s shoulder. "It must be the Eighteen Flower Fairies. For the past few months, they have been giving Junior Sister Daoyi advice on her cultivation." At Xia Yushan''s word, he felt a tiny tinge of guilt, but he quickly buried it. He would just have to treat Daoyi better in the future. Perhaps when Mengfei had left, she had asked the 18 fairies to look after Daoyi. The air inside the Jade Peak Palace was filled with joyfulness. Four fairy maidens were paying the pipa, flute, guzheng, and drum, respectively, while three beauties were dancing on stage. The person in the middle and front of the two wore a broad-sleeved blue robe. Her hair was untied and flowed with her movements. Without a doubt, she was the main attraction of this performance. Her movements did not comply with the orthodox dancing styles. Orthodox dancing styles were flowing like a stream of water, each movement was wide, and each step was noticeable. Those movements still existed, but there were more unique slight movements only those near her could see. Rather than calling it dancing for a large audience, it would be a performance for those nearest to her. ''That kind of dancing would be perfect for a music video.'' Tianyi thought. He looked to his side to see Xia Yushan completely dazzled. ''Did he get dazzled by the Eighteen Fairy Maidens?'' Tianyi chuckled at how the usually steady and unfazed eldest senior brother became seemingly love-struck at the sight of the scene before him. The music and performance immediately stopped once the fairies realized that there was an outsider who had entered. The fairy playing the guzheng frowned and directed her ire towards the two men who dared enter their paradise. Just as she was about to reproach them for entering without permission, she paused as she observed Tianyi. It couldn''t be called entering without permission as Tianyi was a resident of the Jade Peak Palace, but the fairy maiden still couldn''t help but increase the intensity of her glare. Tianyi felt the cold gaze of the fairy maidens, but after experiencing the abyss-like feeling from Monarch Soulfish''s attack, a few glares were nothing. The Eighteen Flower Fairies had another name, the Eighteen Love Scorned Fairies. Speaking of their story, it was both tragic and contemptuous. When each of the fairy maidens had been young, they were tender young ladies who thought the world of love and gave everything for love only to be betrayed by that very love¡ªthe experience, instead of forming an inner devil that tempered their minds and hearts. After experiencing the fallacy of love, they cultivated to the Immortal Realm. The only downside was that they came to hate all men. They even avoided coming into contact with the male members of their family. In fact, Tianyi had heard that they used to dwell at Jade Peak but moved away after he was born. How much hate did they have to not even be able to stand living on the same mountain as a male infant? Xia Yushan felt as if his very bones had frozen at the ice-cold gazes from the six immortal fairies. There was no fluctuation of qi, yet his heart had gone cold and his mind frozen mid-thought. "Greetings, Seniors," In contrast, Tianyi could calmly face the hostile gazes and properly greet these immortal seniors of his. The leading fairy revealed a begrudging acknowledgment, but she didn''t continue to look at Tianyi and instead turned towards Daoyi. She revealed a smile that was even more beautiful than a blossoming flower. "Daoyi, till next time." All traces of the fairy had disappeared, the flowing flowers, the delicacies on the table, the wooden couches, etc. The only thing that remained were the instruments that each fairy had played. "Senior Brother," Daoyi came forward and grabbed both of Tianyi''s hands, her eyes revealing the relief within. "You''re back. And you seem even better than before? And you''re about as tall as me now? Master will be glad when she comes back." Tianyi held still as Daoyi fussed over him. Despite him having a greater number of mental years in addition to the physical years he spent here, he felt like a small child as Daoyi fussed over him. He looked for anything that could distract her. "Junior Sister, congratulations on advancing to the Foundation Establishment Realm." Tianyi blinked as he processed what he had just said. Daoyi smiled. "I have to thank Senior Brother Xia for guiding me and protecting me during the tribulation." Tianyi looked at Xia Yushan, who had his hand out and looked slightly out of place. "Many thanks for Senior Brother''s aid." Xia Yushan waved the thanks off. "It''s nothing. I am simply doing my duties as the eldest senior brother." The three of them sat at a table together and started small talk. "I''m afraid that with my return, those Seniors won''t be able to visit you anymore," Tianyi said. Daoyi blinked before a teasing smile appeared. "Is Senior Brother disappointed that the pretty big sisters won''t appear anymore? That''s right, after all. Senior Brother is at that age." Tianyi stared at his junior sister uncomprehendingly for a moment. ''How did the conversation veer into this territory?'' "No, of course not," Tianyi said. "If words of this conversation even reach them, I''m afraid my days would be quite miserable before my mother returns." Daoyi paused for a moment. "Alright, then Senior Brother has to tell what type of girl you like. Otherwise, next time I see the big sisters, I''ll definitely tell them." Tianyi gave a helpless smile. He held his chin as he thought about it, and a flash of blond lock flashed in his mind, but he could not say those words. "Definitely long hair." Xia Yushan. "Of course they''re going to have long hair. Unless you are considering a nun, if you are, I''m afraid you are going to have tough times ahead of you." Tianyi never felt Xia Yushan was as annoying as he was now. "What about you, Senior Brother? Surely you must have a high standard for the girl in your heart. You have so many admirers after all." Xia Yushan paused before smiling. "The woman I seek is beautiful, of course. But more than that, she has a demure presence. Just being next to her calms my heart. Although I haven''t heard her sing, I know her voice is beautiful." Tianyi blinked. He never expected Xia Yushan to have somebody he liked. Like Daoyi, he also gained a mischievous. "So who is this lucky girl, eh Senior Brother?" Daoyi also looked interested. Who could''ve attracted the attention of this kind and gentle senior brother? He fulfilled almost all the requirements for a dao companion for all the girls in the realm. Xia Yushan was handsome, maybe not the most handsome but far above average. He had the talent and the ethics to work hard. Before even reaching fifty, he had already reached the Nascent Soul Realm. His future could be said to be limitless. He had both status and position. "It''s still too early to tell." Tianyi and Daoyi wanted to pry more, but upon seeing the iron-clad defense of Xia Yushan, they could only give up. Afterward, Xia Yushan left. As the eldest senior brother, it was destined that he would not have too much free time with his duties. Tianyi also excused himself, feeling rather tired. From the time Monarch Soulfish had assaulted him, he hadn''t even slept a wink. All this while, Tianyi had been running on the adrenaline of reaching the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Now that he was finally back in his room, despite the months spent away, he felt a sense of safety that could never be replicated. A sense of homesickness that he had not experienced all those months instantly assaulted him. "I''m home." Chapter 55: Talented in Spacetime Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Chapter 56: Lotus Ascension Soul Art This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Chapter 57: Coincidence? Sole Yin, Eight Trigrams Yang Core Revolution Formation Spacetime Martial Cultivation Method Lotus Ascension Soul Art Cultivating three different paths should have hindered Tianyi''s progress. Instead, he became a tiger that grew wings. The individual methods complemented one another and filled up the deficiencies in the other. It was as if the three were actually three parts of a singular whole. ''My understanding of the Law of Chaos is increasing at a frightening rate. I''m so close to mastering the Concept of Dust and Emptiness, but I still feel as if I can only see a single pixel of a whole image. At least, I''m progressing on the Law of Spacetime since I already mastered the Concept of Distance, and I''m making progress in the Concept of Progression.'' Previous flaws he hadn''t seen in his spacetime martial cultivation method became glaring. Even the Sole Yin, Eight Trigrams Yang Core Revolution Formation perfected by his mother using formations was starting to look even more imperfect. Even the Lotus Ascension Soul Art seemed to have flaws. There wasn''t anything Tianyi could base it on except his gut feeling. He was currently focusing on strengthening his soul using the Lotus Ascension Soul Art. Soul cultivation only truly began in the Nascent Soul Realm. He was currently building the foundation for becoming a soul cultivator. After several modifications to his cultivation methods, his complexion became better than before. At the rate Tianyi was improving, he might fully recover without needing his mother''s aid in perfecting his cultivation methods.'' I have a feeling that without me purposely doing anything, these three cultivation methods will be able to merge perfectly. Is it because all three of them originated from the Ten Heavenly Scriptures? But that isn''t right either. Perhaps all the Ten Heavenly Scripture all lead to the singular end?'' ''Before, when I trained in spacetime techniques or read about soul techniques, my comprehension of them wasn''t as good as me comprehending the Heavenly Scriptures. My aptitude for the Heavenly Scripture is abnormal. Sect Master Xia said that cultivating the Heavenly Scriptures carried great risk, yet the time since now, I have not felt it at all... if you discount the over-accumulation of qi threatening to explode me, that is.'' ''And now that I practically cultivate three different types of Heavenly Scriptures, I still feel no different. Instead, it feels completely natural as if I was born to cultivate the Heavenly Scriptures. The only thing that I can think of that would explain this is the Three Pure True Self Visualization Technique. But the more I think about it, the more it doesn''t seem to be a simple visualization technique anymore.'' Tianyi had already seen the changes in the three figures within his inner world. First was the emperor, the second was the nine celestial bodies corresponding to his spiritual cores, and finally, the third blurry figure changed into a pure white lotus. All three figures changed because of the Heavenly Scriptures. When he attained the Primordial Heavenly Scripture, the emperor was formed. After learning the Spring Autumn Scripture, an attempt to merge the Spatial and Timeless Heavenly Scriptures, the nine celestial bodies were created. And now, after learning the Lotus Ascension Soul Art, a method derived from the Soulheart Heavenly Scripture, his third figure had formed into a white lotus. If there were no connection between the Three Pure True Self Visualization Technique and the Ten Heavenly Scriptures, then this would have been too much of a coincidence. Thinking back after he left the Immortal Court and returned from the Vast Void, he just happened to reenter near Tianwei Island where the Spring Autumn Scripture was at. And when he returned to the sect, he happened to chance upon the Lotus Ascension Soul Art. Although the Sect Master didn''t outright say it, Tianyi felt that the Lotus Ascension Soul Art had been placed there specifically for him. Tianyi felt that every action he took was already predetermined by another individual. His fate was in another person''s hand. No matter what he did, he would be like Sun Wukong, never being able to escape Buddha''s palm. He was unsure if that invisible hand that guided him was a good thing or not. On the surface, it benefited Tianyi as his strength was incomparable in the same realm. He felt that he was invincible under the Nascent Soul Realm. Tianyi released a stale breath as he stopped cultivating. Even if there was an invisible hand, he could do nothing right now. In the end, it came down to the same issue, Tianyi was simply too weak. His spiritual and martial cultivation didn''t improve much, but his soul became much stronger than before. Walking out of his room, he allowed himself to bask under the sun''s light. Although the pressure of exploding because of his own cultivation disappeared, an even greater web and invisible chains seemed to have appeared and tightened around him even more. Suddenly the sky darkened, and several bolts of tribulation lightning struck Tianyi without mercy. "Of course, if the tribulation lightning will stop appearing out of nowhere to hit me, that would be great," Tianyi said. Tianyi heard sweet laughter and saw Daoyi walking towards him. "It doesn''t feel like Jade Peak Palace without the constant lightning." Tianyi became speechless at his junior sister''s words. Did she become so used to lightning that unless she heard it, it would feel weird? "Junior Sister, it is very inconvenient for me. Yet you''re laughing at me."Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Daoyi''s smile didn''t slip at all. "I heard that only after you become an immortal will the Heavenly Dao stop sending tribulation lightning down. Isn''t this the best motivation to become an immortal?" Tianyi felt his lips twitch. This kind of motivation, who would want? "Junior Sister, why don''t you try?" "Unfortunately, I don''t have Senior Bother''s luck and can only self-motivate myself," Daoyi said. "Why don''t you cultivate back on the Jade Lotus Clear Pond? It should at least help." Tianyi shook his head. "At this moment, the help of the Jade Lotus Clear Pond is negligible to me. To the current me, whether I cultivate on it or not, there is not much difference." "Then how about inviting Brother Ri to cultivate in it?" Daoyi asked. Tianyi blinked. The thought hadn''t occurred to him at all. "I hadn''t thought of that. I didn''t expect your relationship with older cousin Ri to be so good that you would ask for him." "My relationship with him is just friends. But aside from a few elders, the only people near your age you talk to are Brother Ri and me." Daoyi didn''t consider Xia Yushan because, despite his youthful appearance, he was already a middle-aged man in her eyes. ''Is she calling me a friendless person? Thinking about it, I can''t deny that the number of people I talk to is too few.'' "Once Brother Ri finishes rebuilding his foundation, then we can all work on the formation messenger together," Daoyi said. "Formation messenger?" Tianyi said and then recalled the project that Xi Ri was working on. "Formation messenger sounds like a mouthful and isn''t easy to intuitive at all. How about¡­" Tianyi paused. He wanted to say cell phone, but there was no such concept in the cultivation world at all. "Anyways, that name won''t be used. Besides, Older Cousin Ri and I know formations. How can you help us?" "I can make music. The formation messenger would ring when a new message appears or when someone on the other side wants to talk through voice transmission." Tianyi paused. Indeed, she could make the ringtones. "And I can cheer you two on!" Tianyi felt the edge of his lips quirk upwards. Daoyi seemed very invested in Xi Ri''s project. "Alright, I''ll send a message to Older Cousin Ri. If he accepts and finishes rebuilding his cultivation base, we can work on it as soon as possible. What features do you think we should have?" "Music video," Daoyi said immediately. Seeing Tianyi''s stunned face, she elaborated. "It''s a recorded scene of people dancing with music at the same time. Like those operas that mortals like to watch. We can record the scenes and play them on the formation messenger." "No, I understand what you mean." ''I didn''t think that people would think of the concept of music videos so soon. It seems like I can''t underestimate the ingenuity of cultivators.'' After sending the message to Xi Ri, Tianyi asked Daoyi. "How is your cultivation progress? Any troubles?" "None, my spiritual pillars are forming nicely," Daoyi said. "That''s good," Tianyi said, happy that progress was well for Daoyi. "What about any concerns and questions? Anything you need?" Daoyi shook her head. "Everything is progressing smoothly. Senior Brother Xia answered many of my questions while you were away. As for needs, I currently don''t need anything." Tianyi furrowed his brows. It seemed that there was nothing he could do to help this junior sister of his. The images of a withered Daoyi flashed through his mind. He released a sigh. At the very least, the Daoyi before him was safe and sound. He could at least protect the current her, although the Daoyi before him was slightly different than the Daoyi of Lei Jingye''s memories. He curled his lips upward, wondering if Lie Jingye knew that Daoyi was his junior sister. He couldn''t help but feel joy thinking about Lei Jingye''s enraged expression. He was a petty person. After being assaulted by Lei Jingye, even if there wasn''t a grudge before on Tianyi''s end, there was a grudge now. He looked at Daoyi. Going by the rate of her cultivation speed, Tianyi wondered if he could increase her cultivation speed to the point that it surpassed Lei Jingye. People, especially men, had large egos. The thought of his lover from another timeline being more powerful than him should set off some emotions, right? Tianyi immediately shot down the idea. It wasn''t worth compromising his Daoyi''s foundation just to get a cheap thrill from Lei Jingye. And he would be treating Daoyi as a tool to get back at Lei Jingye. Wouldn''t that make him like Xi Longyi? When in doubt, ask yourself, "What would Xi Longyi do?" And then do the complete opposite. "Are you busy tomorrow?" Daoyi asked when she saw Tianyi sink into silence, unaware of the world around him. "Huh? No, I have nothing to do." ''Besides cultivation, and soon mold might even grow on me.'' "Why?" Tianyi asked. "I haven''t visited the city at the mountain''s base. I heard there was a marketplace where you could gamble your luck. I want to visit there. How about you go with me?" Daoyi asked. Tianyi thought about it, it was a small request, and it made him feel like he was doing something for Daoyi by accompanying her. So he agreed. The next day, Tianyi and Daoyi flew to the city at the mountain''s base. The Buzhou Immortal Sect didn''t create the city, but it was under the umbrella of their influence. Under the protection of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, it became a holy city of commerce for cultivators. Many disciples of the Buzhou Immortal Sect came here to sell and purchase goods that they didn''t want to exchange for contribution points with the sect. When Tianyi and Daoyi arrived, they caused quite a commotion. First, Daoyi, although she wasn''t wearing her blue dress anymore and returned to her disciple uniform, her uniform was still blue boarded, signifying her status as a personal disciple of an elder. She already had delicate features, and she exuded a unique aura that seemed disconnected from the world after cultivation. Tianyi was even more eye-catching. He forwent the disciples'' uniform and returned to wearing his gold coronet and a purple robe, but that didn''t detract from his unique aura. He stood out even more, especially after learning the Lotus Ascension Soul Art. His eyes that others would find their sight gravitating towards seemed to be a portal to another universe. He ignored the gazes, having grown up with them in this life. But to his surprise, Daoyi was able to calmly ignore them, too, as if she had gone through a similar experience. The two of them browsed the items the sellers put out on their stall or floor mat. Some of them were from loose cultivators, while others were from fellow disciples. While inspecting through the wares, Tianyi''s eyes were drawn to a minor commotion. On the ground lay a muscular young man, and around him were other disciples kicking and beating him. All of them were Buzhou Immortal Sect disciples. Tianyi had some memories of that youth. Wasn''t he the one that said all his results were because of his mother? "Senior Brother, are you not going to help?" Daoyi asked as she, too, saw the commotion. "No, this is an internal matter of the disciples. Even if I helped him today, what about tomorrow or the rest of his life? Humans, in the end, have to rely on themselves. Besides, that disciple doesn''t seem that popular. Look at the other disciples, they all see this, yet they aren''t stopping the beating." Tianyi said. "A pitiful person has hateful points," Daoyi suddenly said. Tianyi looked at Daoyi in surprise and saw her expression that didn''t change at all. He had thought she had been asking him to save the person from getting beaten up, but it seemed that he was wrong. ''Well, it doesn''t matter. I probably won''t interact with that disciple ever again anyways. Best to forget him.'' Chapter 58: Daoist Lu Tianyi and Daoyi continued their shopping, putting the matter of the conflict between disciples in the back of their minds. Daoyi was interested in all sorts of jewelry, necklaces, rings, earrings, etc. When she saw a necklace that interested her, she would stand in front of the stand and look at it, contemplating. But in the end, she would refuse to buy it and move on. The poor sacrifice, Tianyi, could only stand behind her and wait for her to finish looking. "Junior Sister, if you like it, I''ll buy it for you," Tianyi said, after not being able to take it any longer. "Senior Brother, this is called window shopping. Just by looking at the items, it satisfies the heart," Daoyi replied, making Tianyi speechless. Could that even be called shopping? Tianyi continued to follow Daoyi on her window shopping. Along the way, Tianyi saw Daoyi pick up a singular crystal earring that shone like moonlight. It was an earring that was missing the other half. Daoyi obviously liked it, but the price was too high for her, so she could only leave it. After half a day of shopping, Tianyi and Daoyi decided to eat at a popular teahouse in the city. They sat on the second floor, where it was less crowded. Daoyi gave Tianyi a strange look after hearing him order dishes that didn''t use any ingredients that have opened their spirituality. Daoyi didn''t say anything in the end. Tianyi told Daoyi that he had forgotten something and left the teahouse, and when he returned, the dishes were ready. Their peaceful meal was interrupted by a man who wore tattered rags and had a sword strapped on his back. With Tianyi''s experience, he could gleam that man was definitely in the Unity Realm or above. "Little Friends, do you have room for one more?" The man asked. Tianyi saw that although the man was unkempt, his hair was in disarray, his beard was untrimmed, but his features were noble and refined. If he tidied up a bit, he would look very captivating. Daoyi looked at Tianyi, and Tianyi made a "please" motion. Tianyi couldn''t detect the man''s cultivation, and he had a mysteriously good impression of the man despite having not met him before. Besides, this was the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s domain. You had to be in the Immortal Realm to even think of causing trouble, and even then, you had to consider several times. The man sat down without hesitation, picked up Tianyi chopsticks, and immediately dug into the food as if he hadn''t eaten for months. Tianyi was struck speechless by the man''s manners. Wanting to be the bigger man here, Tianyi simply called the server for another pair of chopsticks and a bowl while asking for a few more dishes. "Youngsters, why didn''t you order any wine? Such food deserves good wine!" The man said. Tianyi felt his lips twitch but nonetheless made a motion to call for the server again but was stopped by the man. "Don''t you have good wine there?" The man pointed at the gourd fastened at Tianyi''s waist. It was the gourd that he had picked up from the Immortal Court. Tianyi instantly heightened his wariness towards this man. From the outside, the extraordinariness could not be detected at all. Yet this man was able to detect the wine scent from it. ''Is he someone from the Immortal Court? No, that''s impossible. Or is he powerful enough to detect the wine within the gourd? Is that why he approached us?'' "Senior has a good nose. May this junior know Senior''s esteemed name?" Tianyi asked as he cupped his fist towards the man. Daoyi, seemingly detecting the abnormality, also looked at the man. "Ha! You can call this old man Daoist Lu. I don''t expect youngsters like you to recognize me. I''m just a washed-up has-been." There was a tone of self-depreciation. Tianyi furrowed his brows, not recognizing the aim. In the end, Tianyi decided to take a gamble. He unfastened the gourd bottle and handed it to Daoist Lu. Daoist Lu took the gourd. He uncorked it, and the scent of wine instantly enveloped the whole floor. Just a whiff of the smell sent many of them into a drunken stupor. Tianyi was better off than most, but he still felt slightly dizzy. He hadn''t expected the wine scent to be so much more powerful than compared to the time in the Immortal Court. Tianyi looked at Daoyi, who was a realm lower than him, in worry. He became stunned as Daoyi looked perfectly fine. "Senior Brother, are you alright?" She even had the spare attention to worry about him. As if unknowing of the drunken frenzy he was causing, Daoist Lu reared his head back and directly poured a mouth of wine into his mouth. He unleashed a massive sigh of satisfaction, but the atmosphere around him only became more gloomy. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. When Tianyi turned to look at Daoist Lu, he was struck by the overpowering sorrow from the latter''s eyes. It appeared to drown the world in a heavy downpour of sadness. After Daoist Lu looked away, Tianyi released the breath he hadn''t realized he was holding. "Much feeling¨C but it''s just as if there''s none," "I think behind my cup, but cannot smile." "The candle has a heart¨C it too hates parting," "In our place, it sheds a tear at dawn." There was an indescribable sense of sorrow at the words of parting. Daoist Lu''s eyes became glazed over as he looked at Tianyi and Daoyi, who were sitting at the table with him. "It''s just you two today? Our group just keeps getting smaller and smaller." Daoist Lu seemed to have gone mad as his thoughts became muddy as if he was reliving his memories. "Come! Drink the sorrow away!" Out of nowhere, Daoist Lu pulled out two exquisite wine cups and filled them with the wine from the gourd. Tianyi and Daoyi each had one. The two looked at each other and then at Daoist Lu, who was looking at them with half-crazed eyes. By now, all the other people on the floor had collapsed into unconsciousness. Unknown to the two, the second floor became sealed off from the rest of the world, so no one discovered the abnormality. After a moment of hesitation, Tianyi drank first. He had already realized that Daoist Lu was no doubt an immortal, and he had already used up all his immortal rank talismans against Monarch Soulfish. The best course of action would be to go with the flow. Just a sip doused Tianyi''s whole inner cosmos in a liquor fragrance. The vast space became blurry as if the universe itself became drunk. Even the stars began to move in an unsteady motion. Tianyi''s eyes became heavy, but he still looked in worry at Daoyi with worry. Daoyi was, in complete contrast against Tianyi''s drunkenness, only had flushed cheeks but was otherwise fine. She even had the leisure to toast Daoist Lu and drink more! Tianyi''s looked incomparably miserable, with his whole face flushed red and his eyes unfocused. "Hahaha, Brother Cao, you can''t even beat Sister He in your ability to drink, aren''t you embarrassed?" Daoist Lu took another swig of from the gourd and began to talk nonsense that neither Tianyi nor Daoyi could understand. But when he spoke, illusory lotuses would form from his words and give off a sense of immortality and eternity. When the wine cups were near empty, Daoist Lu would refill them. Both Tianyi and Daoyi struggled to drink as much as they could. The longer they could listen, the more they would benefit. Laughably, Tianyi fell unconscious first. Although he was in the Core Formation Realm in two cultivation paths, his alcohol tolerance wasn''t as good as Daoyi, who was only a foundation establishment disciple. "Hahaha, Brother Cao, you looked ridiculous. Come, Sister He, forget about that drunkard. Let''s toast to our five fallen brothers and sisters!" Daoyi wasn''t actually that better off than Tianyi. Her mind was in a daze and unable to formulate any complete thoughts. Her body just moved according to the flow, and she clinked her wine cup against the gourd before downing it in one gulp. Daoist Lu seemed to be stunned by Daoyi''s action before laughing loudly and taking another swig from the gourd. Daoyi soon also drifted into unconsciousness after a few more cups. With both Tianyi and Daoyi unconscious, Daoist Lu seemed to have regained his clarity as he looked at the two unconscious mortals with a mournful expression. Two trails of tears streamed down his face as he stood up. "It''s not the same. Not the same!" Daoist Lu''s figure disappeared as if he had never existed. The only evidence of his presence was the floor of drunken people and the gourd left on the table. When Tianyi awoke, a never-before-experienced hangover assaulted his mind to the point that he couldn''t even stand up. Everything was a blur, Tianyi just wanted to keel over and sleep the hangover away, but he still had an inkling of where he was. He blinked away the blurriness in his eyes. To his surprise, he discovered that he wasn''t at the teahouse but in his room. He looked around to see if anything was there, but he saw no one. But he soon realized why he was back when he saw Daoyi walking in with a tray. "Senior Brother, are you alright?" Daoyi said as she set the tray down and propped Tianyi up with pillows. Tianyi rubbed his temples. "Not so loud. My head still hurts. What happened?" "I woke up earlier than you and everyone else. Everyone at the restaurant was shocked at the scene, haha." Daoyi giggled at the faces of the teahouse owner upon the scene of countless drunkards on the second floor. "I don''t think anyone realized that Daoist Lu was there, so I brought you back here before reporting to the Sect Master." Tianyi abruptly glanced at his body before releasing a sigh of relief. It was still the same clothes he wore. "Daoyi, do you not have a hangover?" Tianyi asked, envious of Daoyi''s healthy physique at the moment. "No, it seems my alcohol tolerance is really good. I woke up even before some of the nascent soul grandmasters." Daoyi said with a proud smile on her face. Tianyi wasn''t having such a good time, though. He didn''t even want to think how Daoyi carried him to his room. He lost all face as a senior brother. "What did Sect Master Xia say?" "Sect Master Xia said that it should be a reclusive immortal. We don''t have to pay attention to it. When you awoke, do you have a new technique in your head?" Daoyi asked, and Tianyi froze. His head still pulsed, but there was indeed a new technique in his head. "Evil Purifying Jade Bestowment, it allows me to bestow attributes to a vessel to give it evil slaying properties. It can be considered something of a karmic spell. What about you, Daoyi?" Daoyi brought the teacup that she carried on the tray to Tianyi''s cracked lips. "Drink this sobering tea first." Tianyi drank the sobering tea in the cup in one gulp. He grimaced at the bitter taste but said nothing. "I awoke with the Flying Moon Vibrations. It''s a technique I can use with string instruments." Tianyi tried to crack a smile. At least one of them got something that they wanted. Truthfully, the Evil Purifying Jade Bestowment wasn''t that useful to him. He continued to rub his forehead. "Daoyi, who do you think Daoist Lu was? He shouldn''t be an unknown immortal." Daoyi shook her head. "Sect Master said nothing. Perhaps he''s an immortal who completed his path eons ago? It seems that his friends had long perished, though, and he is stuck in the memories of his past." Tianyi nodded, but he felt that Daoist Lu''s companion didn''t perish in a normal way. Suddenly he had a thought. "Damn! I should have dragged Xi Ri too today!" "Yeah, it would have been good for brother Ri to receive an impartation too," Daoyi said while nodding her head. "What? No! If I''m going to suffer through this hangover, I want him to suffer with me as well!" Tianyi said, his face forming a pout he didn''t know he had. Daoyi opened her mouth but didn''t know what to say. If Tianyi had any resemblance as a senior brother, he had lost it all now. Chapter 59: Formation Cards Tianyi, Daoyi, and Xi Ri sat facing each other. Their expression was incomparably serious. "We have a serious problem at hand," Tianyi said as the head of the trio. Daoyi and Xi Ri nodded in agreement. It was a problem that would affect the proliferation of their creation to the broader realm. It was so crucial that no cultivator would use their creation if done incorrectly. "What are we going to name this... thing?" Tianyi finally posed the main issue at hand. Both Daoyi and Xi Ri crossed their arms as they sunk deep into thought. Daoyi suddenly raised her hand and said. "Formation Tablet!" "Rejected. Sounds like a tool used to set up formations." Tianyi immediately said. Daoyi lowered her hand and pouted, but she continued to think. In front of them, jade slates cut into rectangles of the exact same size, large enough to fit comfortably in a palm. Each one was half-finished with incomplete formations engraved on them. "Sending Slates." Xi Ri said after a while. "Better, but it still doesn''t quite sound right," Tianyi said. "Most messages are sent through slips, but calling our creation a skate is a bit... yeah, no." "We need a term that appropriately identifies what kind of artifact it is first. " Xi Ri said. "What can it be classified as..." Tianyi tapped the table as he began to think. Daoyi suddenly raised her hand once more. "All-in-One Talisman! It''s perfect. It embodies everything about the All-in-One Talisman; it can send messages, connect two people with voice transmission, send videos, and even play music." "Talisman does indeed sound good. But All-in-One? I don''t think most cultivators would agree." Tianyi said. "Wireless Talisman?" Xi Ri suggested both Tianyi and Daoyi gave Xi Ri strange looks. "Brother Ri, aren''t all talisman wireless? Why would a talisman need a wire in the first place?" Daoyi said, her tone gentle. Xi Ri awkwardly coughed into his fist. "It was just a thought. No need to dwell too much on it." "We need something like a brand, something that would automatically link the talisman with quality. Something like the Three Pure Ones or the Eight Immortals." Daoyi said. "We don''t need something immediately to be linked to quality." Xi Ri said. "But we must have something that shows our uniqueness and eventually become famous. I don''t think any of us here have the capability to monopolize our creation, but we must leave a brand imprinted into the users'' minds." Tianyi grimaced. Although he was skilled in formations, that didn''t mean that there was no one else who was better than him. Just in the Buzhou Immortal Sect, many cultivators were more skilled than him, much less the whole Huang Realm. "Xi and Yi Talisman, Xiyi Talisman..." Daoyi''s words were soft, but towards the end, they became incredibly loud and clear. Tianyi and Xi Ri both looked at Daoyi before sharing a glance and smile. "Then it''s decided!" Tianyi said and then held his chin as he mouthed the words on the tongue; it flowed incredibly well and was catchy. The more he said it, the more pleased he became. "Xi as in happiness and Yi as in will, just hearing the name will give the notion that it is a good thing to use." Xi Ri analyzed. "I think Senior Brother is especially pleased with the name because it contained two characters from his name. It''s a pity that brother Ri and I each can only contribute a single character." Daoyi teased. "What, no? This is just a coincidence!" Tianyi denied, a little too quickly. "Haha, for bringing the three of us together, Senior Brother does indeed deserve to have two characters in the name." Xi Ri said, but he couldn''t stop his lips from curling upward. After a few more teasing words, Tianyi''s face became serious again. "Back to the previous matter, although I am confident in my formation skills. I cannot guarantee that another person won''t copy our design." "I don''t understand formations as you two, but can''t you write the formation in a code?" Daoyi asked. Tianyi and Xi Ri looked at each other before chuckling. "Strictly speaking, most formations are already in a type of code. There have been greater formation masters than us whose formations have been decoded. Just go to the Immortal Scripture Repository, and you will find many." The trio engaged in a heated discussion of the Xiyi Talisman''s security before Xi Ri said. "We should focus on creating a prototype first before daydreaming about the extravagant features we are going engrave into it." Tianyi stopped and awkwardly scratched his chin. "Sorry, I tend to get ahead of myself. I don''t try to run before learning to walk; I try to fly before even knowing how to walk, haha..." He recalled his Sole Yin, Eight Trigrams Yang Core Revolution Formation, and the lesson it taught him, yet he still hadn''t learned. As they say, bad habits are the hardest to change. With the group having solved their current dilemma, they immediately began to dive deep into the experimentation. Xi Ri was the busiest with his duties as a disciple of the Assignment Hall, while Tianyi and Daoyi were both people with more significant free time. But Daoyi wasn''t skilled in formations and could only give novel ideas from a layman''s perspective, not to say they were all useless. The problem was Tianyi. Without any pressure for a deadline or, more importantly, a threat to his life, his interest in the project quickly waned whenever he hit a roadblock. That''s why without Xi Ri, there was practically no progress at all.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The project had been going for a few months, but it still wasn''t near completion. Tianyi toyed with the Xiyi Talisman in his hand, whether by coincidence or on purpose, it had reached a smartphone''s size. He didn''t know if his memories had unconsciously affected him, but the result was this familiar shape in his hand. Neither Xi Ri nor Daoyi was beside him today, as both had their own business to attend to. There were numerous other Xiyi Talismans on the table beside him. Growing bored with the single one in his hand, Tianyi began to fiddle with them. Eventually, he stacked them all atop of each other like a deck of playing cards. Having a mysterious urge, Tianyi drew the top talisman from the deck in a needlessly dramatic fashion. "My turn! Draw!" Tianyi felt his face heat up at the childish action he had just performed. He quickly checked his surroundings to see if anyone was there to witness his shameful act. Releasing a sigh of relief, Tianyi stared at the Xiyi Talisman in his hand as an idea began to form in his mind. Soon ten jade rectangles were on the table, each one the same size as a Xiyi Talisman. The materials used to make them were the same as a Xiyi Jade Talisman, Lingering Dew Jade. But the material wasn''t the critical point; it was the formations Tianyi engraved upon them. Although Tianyi wanted to use paper as a base material, it was simply cheaper to use Linger Dew Jade to engrave formations than parchment that could withstand the formation engraved upon it. Although Tianyi hadn''t realized it, a few days had already passed without his notice. Progress would be incredibly slow when he wasn''t interested in something, but when Tianyi was interested and invested, he would lose track of time. Tianyi stacked them up all in a deck and moved a distance away. Ensuring that there was no obstacle in his immediate vicinity, Tianyi controlled the jade cards to circle him linearly. Suddenly Tianyi swiped a card from the circling group and revealed the engraving on it to an invisible opponent in front of him. "Activate attack card!" The engraving on the jade card glowed and revealed the image of a flame. Simultaneously, the image seemed to have sprung to life as it materialized from the jade card and a fireball shot out of it. The jade card grew dim as the spiritual qi within it depleted, and it floated back with others. Then Tianyi pulled another card and said. "Activate defense card!" The image on the jade card currently in his hand was a shield, and after he spoke, a translucent shield appeared in front of him. Tianyi didn''t end his experiment there as he tested out the other cards. There was a disembodied hand that punched forward, a leg that kicked ahead, a saber that sliced steel in half, spears that seemed to pierce through any walls, a massive hand that grasped whatever was in front of him, and even a giant that enveloped Tianyi. All those skills that popped up from the jade cards were techniques that Tianyi frequently used before, but the only difference was that they did not contain the true qi of chaos that powered Tianyi''s attack, causing them to be several times weaker. But they were still all outstanding attacks in the Foundation Establishment and the Core Formation Realm. All these attacks were duplicated using formations. Even if Tianyi didn''t know the principles behind the skills, he could still use them. "I shall name them Formation Cards." "Pft!" Tianyi felt his body become petrified as he heard smothered laughter. He turned his head like it was on rachet to see Jiang Daoyi standing at the entrance. Her eyes were incredibly bright and filled with mirth. If medusa existed in the Huang Realm, then Jiang Daoyi would undoubtedly be medusa in Tianyi''s eyes. Her vibrant eyes seemed to petrify the very blood flowing through Tianyi''s veins. "I-I-can e-explain!" The next day Xi Ri was met with the scene of Tianyi perpetually covering his face with his hands while Daoyi hid the lower half of her face with her sleeves. Her continuously shaking shoulders tipped Xi Ri off on her laughter. "Did I miss something?" Xi Ri asked. "Nothing, Senior Brother, just thought of a brilliant idea for the Xiyi Talismans," Daoyi said. "What sort of idea?" Xi Ri asked, seeing that Tianyi did not object; it was something plausible. Daoyi didn''t say anything and passed the formation cards Tianyi had created to Xi Ri. Xi Ri picked them up and observed them. With his formation expertise, he could discern that they didn''t have the same formations as the Xiyi Talismans. Xi Ri sent a questioning look at Daoyi and Tianyi. Daoyi was instructed to make the card face an empty space before uttering the activation phrase. "Formation Card activate!" Xi Ri nearly dropped the formation card in shock at the sudden attack. After seeing the card dimmed, Xi Ri tried activating it again, but nothing happened. "You need to replenish the qi inside of it," Tianyi said from behind his hands. Having come to an understanding, Xi Ri injected spiritual qi inside of it and activated it once more. "This is good! It''s not like normal talismans. Although the power is lacking, it more than makes up for it for being reusable. Only I don''t understand what this has to do with the Xiyi Talisman." "It''s made from the same material as the Xiyi Talisman. Whatever is engraved onto the formation card can also be engraved onto the Xiyi Talisman. Senior Brother said the Xiyi Talisman can store a number of formation cards, acting like a versatile and reusable talisman. All you have to do is simply erase the old formations and download a new formation." Daoyi explained. Xi Ri''s eyes lit up. With this, as long as they kept producing formation cards only compatible with Xiyi Talismans, the people who used Xiyi Talisman will be returning customers and keep using it. Xi Ri gave a look of admiration to Tianyi for innovating such an idea, but Tianyi kept his face behind his hands. "We have a guest," Tianyi said. He was in control of the formations controlling Jade Peak Palace, so whatever happened inside Jade Peak Palace, it was simple as flipping through a book for Tianyi. Including whenever there was a guest outside the door. "Hello." The guest was none other than Xia Yushan. He was slightly surprised by the presence of Xi Ri, who he had not seen before. Tianyi introduced the two, and then Xia Yushan looked at the jade talismans on the table in interest. "What are these." As the principal director of the project, Xi Ri explained the concept behind the talisman. Xia Yushan was inwardly dubious of the Xiyi Talisman. He was more interested in the formation cards created recently by Tianyi. "Junior Brother Xi...Tianyi," Xia Yushan added after realizing there was another person surnamed Xi in the vicinity. "How did you make these? Replicating the effects of techniques based on formations, you must have spent quite a bit of time on each one." "Not really," Tianyi mumbled. "They were actually quite easy." Xia Yushan gave an impressed expression towards Tianyi. Tianyi wasn''t the first one to think of it, but the ease of Tianyi creating them was another matter. Most of the time, it wasn''t worth replicating the technique through pure formation alone. It simply wasn''t worth investing high-end materials to create a reusable talisman when they could be better spent on creating one-time but more powerful talismans. "Senior Brother Xia seems interested in the formation cards?" Daoyi asked. Xia Yushan nodded. "Using just these cards and some qi to attack, and could be a trump card when you run out of qi. I admit I have never done such a thing before." Daoyi peaked at Tianyi, "Why don''t you and Senior Brother Xi fight using the formations cards; we can see if there are any defects this way." Tianyi glared at Daoyi through his hands. Before Xia Yushan could say anything, Tianyi spoke. "It would be unfair. I am the creator of these formations cards, so I have an inherent advantage. Why don''t Senior Brother Xia and Older Cousin Ri spar with them? I''ll adjust the power so that they can only at most have the power of a foundation establishment disciple." Xi Ri and Xia Yushan looked at one another before they both agreed. It didn''t make any difference to them. Despite having her plans foiled, Daoyi was still happy to see two people fight with the formation cards. Chapter 60: Inner Disciple Tournament Xi Ri stood in front of Xia Yushan on the training grounds within Jade Peak Palace''s boundary. Neither of them held any conventional weapon, but rather, thin cards made of white jade were in their hands. Off to the side, Daoyi was watching with great interest. Tianyi had also stopped hiding his face behind his hand and was staring intently at the two''s battle. The battle started without any signal. Xi Ri aimed a formation card with the image of a fist and yelled. "Formation Card activate!" Within a second, a disembodied hand materialized and punched towards Xia Yushan. Xia Yushan calmly raised a formation card of his own and activated it. A fist also emerged in front of Xia Yushan and clashed with Xi Ri''s. Both of them were of the same strength, and soon, they dissipated into nothing. Xia Yushan waited, but Xi Ri did not activate the next formation card. He looked at his foe and saw that Xi Ri had flush cheeks, and he was staring at the formation cards as if he just wanted to throw them away. "Brother Ri has discovered the detriment of the cards, it seems," Daoyi said with a giggle. Tianyi showed a pleased expression. Finally, someone else was suffering the shameful feeling he had experienced. He wasn''t someone who would warn others of the pit to begin with; rather, he would tell the other person to jump headfirst. Xi Ri continued to hold the cards as if they were ticking time bombs; he stood petrified as the horrid reality settled into his head. "Junior Brother, if you aren''t going to attack, then allow me." Xi Ri watched as Xia Yushan dramatically drew a formation card from the deck and, in a flourishing manner, revealed the image to Xi Ri. A ball of fire appeared and shot towards Xi Ri, and he scrambled to activate a formation card. A wall of water appeared in front of Xi Ri and extinguished the fireball summoned by Xia Yushan. Xi Ri moved to draw another card but stopped mid-motion as his face reddened once more. He couldn''t help but look towards Tianyi and Daoyi. Tianyi and Daoyi were clearly enjoying Xi Ri''s embarrassment and even had the time to give him a small wave. Even someone as mild-mannered as Xi Ri couldn''t help but deliver a glare at the two for his current predicament. Xia Yushan watched in confusion as Xi Ri seemed to be restrained by something. He had planned to allow Xi Ri to attack while he defended a bit more, but seeing Xi Ri pause with no intention to attack, Xia Yushan decided to go on the offensive. The ''spar'' consisted of Xia Yushan attacking Xi Ri to goad him into an offensive, but Xi Ri did not play along, and he activated the formation cards stiffly in defense. He never went on the offensive again. "Senior Brother Xia, what do you think of the formation cards?" Tianyi asked, his eyes filled with expectation. Xia Yushan looked at Daoyi comforting Xi Ri, who seemed to have lost his soul for some strange reason that was incomprehensible to the nascent soul grandmaster. "It''s excellent. If there were a Nascent Soul Realm formation card, I would undoubtedly buy it. If I had any critique, I would have to say that activating the formation card by qi would be enough, instead of using voice." Tianyi blinked. "Senior brother, you didn''t feel anything while using the cards?" This time it was Xia Yushan''s turn to be confused. "Should I have felt something? The usage of the formation cards is straightforward. Not once did I feel that there was something wrong with them. Is there a problem I''m not aware of?" "N-no, it''s nothing." Tianyi gave Xia Yushan a strange look. It wasn''t only Tianyi, even Daoyi and Xi Ri were giving Xia Yushan strange looks. Xia Yushan felt as if there was a mark on his face that only the three before him could see. "Senior Brother Xia, if we were to sell this. Do you think that people would buy it?" Daoyi suddenly asked, her voice serious. Xia Yushan looked surprised for a moment, but after careful consideration, he nodded. "It should sell well, but the condition would be that people would have tested it first. I was skeptical at first, but after using it, I found it simple and easy. Between formation card and a talisman, seven out of ten, I would choose the formation card." "Senior Brother, do you think you will be able to mass-produce these for foundation establishment disciples?" Daoyi asked Tianyi, an idea at the tip of her tongue. "I can produce them quite easily, but only core formation masters would be able to afford it," Tianyi said. "But is there some way you can make it cheaper for foundation establishment disciples?" "I mean, it isn''t impossible. I''d have to experiment to be sure. Why?" Tianyi asked. He was sure that Daoyi wasn''t asking for no reason. "We can sell these Xiyi Formation Cards before the Xiyi Talismans. We can make the activation simpler for ease of use." Daoyi said. "Why? These formation cards are unique, but I don''t see why we should sell them. We aren''t going to make much off of it for the problem they''re worth." Tianyi said. "To build trust." Xi Ri said, causing Tianyi to look at him. "The formation cards are quite similar to talismans, and it is easier for people to buy them. Once we build trust, the people who purchased the formation cards from us will be more likely to buy the Xiyi Talisman." "So, we''re making a brand before selling the Xiyi Talisman," Tianyi said, comprehension dawning in his voice. "But, we need to market it first," Daoyi said.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Tianyi looked at Daoyi in surprise. "We need a way to promote the Xiyi Formation Cards." Daoyi elaborated upon seeing Tianyi''s stunned expression. Tianyi shook his head. "No, I understand what you mean. How are we going to promote it? It''s not like we can have an exhibition match or something." "The Foundation Establishment Inner Disciple Tournament is coming up soon." Xia Yushan, who had been silent all this time, spoke up. All three of them looked at Xia Yushan. "If your goal is to promote the existence of the formation cards, even if you used something else, as long as you reach first place, your goal will have been basically reached." Tianyi and Daoyi shared a look before simultaneously sharing a smile and looking at Xi Ri. Xi Ri immediately saw through the two''s plan before shaking his head vigorously in rejection. "Absolutely not!" "Older Cousin Ri, as the eldest among us, you have to take this responsibility," Tianyi said. "Senior Brother and I are personal disciples of a grand elder. We are not eligible to participate. Otherwise, it would be seen as us bullying the inner disciple." Daoyi said. "Brother Ri, this is for the future of the Xiyi Talisman. It is a task that can only be entrusted to you. " In the end, Xi Ri could not resist the whispers of the devil and succumbed in a moment of weakness.
Thousands of Inner Sect disciples congregated on the day of the tournament. Their uniform bleached the entire arena in white. That was why Tianyi and Daoyi stood out so much on the stands. Tianyi wore his purple robes sans the white uniform he used as his mantle, while Daoyi was in a blue dress with embroidered irises in lieu of her usual blue-edged uniform. There was a noticeable distance between the two and the other inner disciples. The number of inner disciples was huge, but it wasn''t large enough that they would not recognize their fellow disciples unless they were newly promoted outer disciples. No one recognized the two unfamiliar faces for a few moments, but soon the more astute and knowledgable ones spread the knowledge concerning the two''s identity. "Isn''t that Senior Brother Xi? I saw him defeat Senior Brother Sima over five years. I''m sure it''s him!" "Really? I heard that Senior Brother Xi had been cultivating a secret lightning art the past few years and rarely left Jade Peak Mountain!" "Not having seen Senior Brother Xi for such a long time, his aura has become even more stunning!" "Are you talking about his appearance or cultivation base?" "If that is Senior Brother Xi, then the woman beside him must be Senior Sister Jiang." "I heard that she was only a mortal that hasn''t even cultivated until a few years ago." "I can feel that her cultivation base is that of a Spiritual Pillar Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator. Tsk, tsk, as expected of Grand Elder Xi''s disciple." "I wouldn''t be so sure. If I had the same resources, maybe I would have already reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm in five years. Compared to Senior Brother Xi, she is inadequate." There would always be some people who think themselves better. Ignoring that there were no ifs in the world, these people would often fall on the road to immortality. Cultivating was just as much as tempering one''s heart as it was increasing their cultivation base. After discovering the two''s identities, the gap between them and the rest of the inner disciple increased instead of decreasing. "Say, why do you think they are here?" "It couldn''t be because they want to join, right? Senior Brother Xi is already in the Core Formation Realm, so he can''t join. But Senior Sister Daoyi..." "Impossible, the elder would not allow it. Even if they are the personal disciples of Grand Elder Xi, they cannot do as they wish." "Did you guys hear the rumor that there was an inner disciple related to Grand Elder Xi?" "I heard, but wasn''t that just a baseless rumor?" "Hard to say, why else would Senior Brother Xi be here?" Tianyi and Daoyi just conversed among themselves and ignored the inquiring looks of other people. When the tournament began, Tianyi and Daoyi did not stop talking and only separated a fraction of their attention towards the arena. It wasn''t until Xi Ri stepped into the arena did the two entirely focused on the tournament. Even among the white-robed disciples, Xi Ri stood out with his excellent temperament and sophisticated air. Tianyi quickly forgot the name of Xi Ri''s opponent as he wasn''t anyone worth the effort needed for memorization. Xi Ri didn''t immediately start out using the Xiyi Formations Cards. Instead, he brandished his staff at his opponent. His opponent was the Spiritual Pillar Foundation Establishment Realm like him. But how could his opponent''s Spiritual Pillars compare to Xi Ri''s that had been formed using the Spring Autumn Scripture? Sure enough, Xi Ri easily won and advanced to the next round. Xi Ri''s staff techniques weren''t anything special in Tianyi''s eyes, but he could sense an intent of steadiness as if nothing could overcome it. Coupled with Xi Ri''s cultivation, not many disciples were his opponent. He was like an ever-present phantom that could strike from anywhere on the stage, and his qi reservoir seemed to be infinite. As Xi Ri won more and more rounds, his opponents eventually reached the peak Foundation Establishment Realm. It wasn''t until he defeated the fifth peak Foundation Establishment disciple did Xi Ri bring out the cards. Tianyi''s eyes immediately brightened, and the sense of drowsiness disappeared. Xi Ri''s opponent and the audience were confused by Xi Ri''s actions. But their confusion turned to shock once Xi Ri began to activate them. With ease, Xi Ri used the Xiyi Formation Cards to defeat his current opponent. There was some confusion among the crowd at the Xiyi Formation Cards that Xi Ri used as they closely resembled talisman, which was banned from tournament use. However, after Xi Ri explained the mechanism behind the Xiyi Formation Card, the elder presiding over the tournament allowed their use. From then on, Xi Ri continued to win round after round. For any other disciple, the continuous drainage of their qi would have hampered their ability to continue. Still, with the Spring Autumn Scripture''s excellent recovery ability, this was not an issue for Xi Ri. The climax of the tournament was naturally the finals of the tournament. Xi Ri''s opponent was an inner disciple whose power had reached the threshold of the Core Formation Realm while being at the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm. In order to win, Xi Ri went all out. He used five Xiyi Formation Cards at once. Those five cards did not just unleash five separate techniques but instead a head, two arms, and two legs. These five body parts merged to form a titan of power that unleashed a devasting punch that won Xi Ri the tournament. When the Elder pronounced Xi Ri the winner of the bi-decade tournament, many disciples had faces that showed that they were not convinced. Xi Ri had won the first few matches and proved his strength to many. Afterward, he relied on external items, so he did not deserve to be the champion. But everything Xi Ri did was within the rules as for whether there would be a change in the regulations in the future was unknown. After the announcement, Xi Ri did not step down from the arena and instead directed his gaze towards the disciples, many of whom were not convinced. "What I used in the tournament are called Xiyi Formation Cards!" Sneers and words of ridicule were heard, but Xi Ri ignored them and continued speaking. "Their use is straightforward, you simply need to inject your qi into them to use it. After use, the qi originally stored inside will be spent. You can charge it with your own qi. In other words, as long as it isn''t destroyed and you still have qi, you can continuously use it!" "Not only that but there are also many variations, from defensive Xiyi Formations Cards to offensive Xiyi Formations Cards. Some of them even can be used at once to form an avatar like I did at the finals!" The more Xi Ri spoke, the stranger the atmosphere became. The words of ridicule disappeared and were replaced with confusion. "Starting today, these Xiyi Formation Cards will be sold to anyone who is willing to purchase them. The prices are..." "..." The presiding elder. "..." The participants. "..." The spectating inner sect disciples. Only Daoyi was clapping after Xi Ri finished his sales pitch, and Tianyi had taken out a hat and covered his face with it. Chapter 61: Violet Gold Tribulation Lighting Despite the awkward unveiling of the Xiyi Formation Cards, the sales were somewhat decent. It was enough to offset the production and labor costs of the initial investments. The profits weren''t much to Tianyi or Daoyi, who received stipends from Mengfei, but for Xi Ri, the extra income was significant. With it, he could do many things and purchase many materials he could not before. Although everything appeared to be smooth, an unforeseen problem cropped up from an unexpected source. The source of the problem was Tianyi. Because Tianyi was the one who created the formation cards, there was no one more knowledgeable concerning their production. Daoyi, who was unexpectedly adept at business, handled the marketing and finances while Xi Ri was the face and the merchant in charge of selling the wares. This left Tianyi with the production of the so-called wares. If the first thing Tianyi despised were pain, then the second would be tediousness. Not boredom, pure tediousness. The moderate success mentioned previously was only on the scale of the whole sect. The sales were enough to force Tianyi to continuously produce the Xiyi Formation Cards every day to meet demands. This presented a problem as aside from Daoyi, both Tianyi and Xi Ri were busy, ut Tianyi and Xi Ri were the primary ones researching the Xiyi Talisman. Thus progress was brought to a screeching halt. But this was where Xi Ri''s relationship skills came into play. With Tianyi''s permission, several of Xi Ri''s associates were taught how to produce the Xiyi Formation Cards. They were only taught the procedures and not the underlining principles, so they did not know the mechanisms. Xi Ri even found one or two more disciples that he knew with good temperament and reputation and made clerks. All of them were paid with the profit made from the Xiyi Formation Cards. Having resolved the situation, Tianyi and Xi Ri were able to continue the development of the Xiyi Talisman once more.
It was an ordinary day where the trio had gathered together, sometimes Xia Yushan would visit, but today was not such a day. Tianyi suddenly froze mid-motion, drawing the attention of the other two. Tianyi stood up, and his figure seemed to disappear as if he teleported. Tianyi reappeared a far distance away from Daoyi and Xi Ri. Seeing the black clouds gathering overhead, both Daoyi and Xi Ri understood why he moved away. Daoyi was already used to it, but Xi Ri only became immune to the random bouts of tribulation lightning Tianyi incurred after visiting Jade Peak for the Xiyi Talismans. Unknown to the two, this wasn''t the usual tribulation lightning that would periodically strike Tianyi without warning. This tribulation lightning came because his core needed to advance. In other words, this was Tianyi''s Minor Lightning Tribulation. After he passed this, he would enter the Purified Core Stage of the Core Formation Realm. Dazzling lightning of mixed colors struck Tianyi from above. Tianyi did not resist and allowed the lightning to penetrate his body towards his nine spiritual cores. Compared to the regular lightning strikes he received, this one was positively cute as those had already reached the power of the Nascent Soul Realm. The only thing abnormal about these heavenly lightning strikes for a core formation master was the sheer size and quantity. The tribulation lightning struck and covered all nine of Tianyi''s spiritual cores. They were like a shell and caused his cores to appear like they had been formed from the lightning itself. Afterward, the lightning became red. Then orange, yellow, and finally gold. Tianyi frowned when more lightning struck him; the lightning had a tinge of violet within. As more and more lightning struck Tianyi, their color entirely became violet gold. The grade of a spiritual core determined the potential of a core formation master because of the quality of true qi it produced and the type of tribulation lightning that would be summoned at the third minor tribulation: Mixed colored, red, orange, yellow, gold, and violet gold lightning. A mixed color core grade master could only summon mixed color lightning, and a violet gold core master would call all the lightning from mixed color to violet gold. There was a reason why a core formation master would not summon lightning of a higher grade because a spiritual core could not withstand the power of lightning of higher grade. Although Tianyi only had one violet gold grade spiritual core, it invoked violet gold lightning for all nine of his cores. If Tianyi wasn''t careful, there was a real chance that his eight Yang Cores would shatter under the violet gold lightning. If such an event occurred, then it wouldn''t merely be the loss of eight spiritual cores and his ability to produce the true qi of chaos. His martial body would be able to shrink unhindered, and he would be imploded to death by it. It was ironic that the Minor Lightning Tribulation that was within the power of the Core Formation Realm would be more dangerous than the normal tribulation lightning at the Nascent Soul Realm for Tianyi. When the violet gold lightning revealed its true might and struck Tianyi, all nine of his spiritual cores became enveloped by it. Sweat slid down Tianyi''s brows as he entirely concentrated on defending against the tribulation lightning. Tianyi revealed a slight smile as the lightning covering his Dragon Yin Pearl Core disappeared and revealed its shrunken, but the violet gold light it emitted became even more dazzling. Because his Dragon Yin Pearl Core was actually of the violet-gold grade, it passed the Minor Lightning Tribulation first.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Suddenly the Dragon Yin Pearl became like molten gold, shining brilliantly like a sun. Simultaneously, the other eight spiritual cores seemed to have increased in power as the violet gold lightning''s power that they had trouble resisting no longer affected them. Moments passed like this before all the tribulation lightning dispersed from within Tianyi''s dantian and revealed the eight small cores that shone with a black light. Without the threat of the tribulation lightning, Tianyi''s nine spiritual cores reverted to their original colors. The only difference was that the eight Yang Cores now emitted a violet gold light that was only slightly less dazzling than the Dragon Yin Pearl Core. They could be considered half violet-gold grade spiritual cores. "So that''s what happens when you forcibly overcome a Minor Lightning Tribulation a grade higher." Tianyi returned to Daoyi and Xi Ri, who had already guessed that the lightning they had thought was the regular tribulation lightning that struck Tianyi, was his Minor Tribulation of Lighting. "Congratulation Senior Brother on transcending your Minor Lightning Tribulation." Daoyi was the first to congratulate Tianyi on his success. "Senior Brother, how long has it been since you entered the Core Formation Realm?" Xi Ri asked, his voice containing a trace of disbelief. "Hm? About five to six years now. Why?" Tianyi looked at Xi Ri, who still had a stunned expression in front of him. "Senior Brother, do you know what the youngest age someone reached the Nascent Soul Realm in the history of the Huang Realm was?" Xi Ri suddenly asked out of nowhere. "Ummm, fifteen years of age?" Tianyi guessed. "Sixteen years old," Xi Ri said. "And do you know the second-youngest age someone reached the Nascent Soul Realm?" Tianyi shook. "Twenty-six years, a mere twenty-six years. And third is thirty-six years of age, Grand Elder Xi, your mother." "So?" Tianyi asked, still not getting the point that Xi Ri was trying to make. "Senior Brother, you have a chance of being on the same level as that first place. You haven''t reached seventeen years of age yet, so you could possibly gain the title as the youngest nascent soul grandmaster in the history of the Huang Realm." "That''s amazing," Daoyi said as she clapped her hands together. "I don''t think it''s that amazing," Tianyi said, feeling slightly embarrassed by the admiration shining through Daoyi and Xi Ri''s eyes. "If Senior Brother hadn''t been occupied researching the Xiyi Talisman, perhaps you could have reached the Nascent Soul Realm a year ago." Xi Ri said, regret coloring his voice. Tianyi waved his hands at Xi Ri''s concerns. "You overestimate me. Even if I weren''t busy with the Xiyi Talisman, I wouldn''t have reached the Nascent Soul Realm in the previous year. My cultivation method is a bit unique..." "I still think it''s really amazing. Even if Senior Brother can''t become number one, you can definitely be number two and beat your mother''s record," Daoyi said while Xi Ri nodded in agreement. "In the history of the Huang Realm, sixteen may be the age of the youngest nascent soul grandmaster, but what about in the primordial era? I heard that there were even children born at the Core Formation Realm." Although he was ecstatic at the praise, Tianyi said he didn''t let it go to his head. "Besides, do you two know what age the youngest person ascended to immortality was?" Tianyi asked Xi Ri in return. Both Daoyi and Xi Ri immediately nodded. How could they not know? "It''s Master/Grand Elder Xi." Daoyi and Xi Ri said. "Yes," Tianyi said. "Mother was the third youngest nascent soul grandmaster, but she placed first in attaining immortality. The second youngest was already over a hundred years old. She placed even lower when talking about the youngest core formation masters. In the end, the most important thing is still attaining immortality." "Senior Brother is right; I was shortsighted." Xi Ri said. In the end, weren''t they cultivating to attain immortality? What was the point of competing against others? The most important thing was to prove your path and achieve immortality. But after a moment, Tianyi added. "...but this record has existed for eons. I guess it is pretty amazing that I will reach the Nascent Soul Realm soon. Although I probably can''t take first place, there is a huge chance for second place." Xi Ri, who was full of praise for Tianyi moments before, turned completely silent. So everything before was nonsense? "Senior brother does indeed care about being the best," Daoyi said matter of factly. Before Tianyi knew it, another year had already passed since he returned. He was officially already seventeen, but his appearance had stayed the same. That also included his height, much to his chagrin. The day was just a typical day like any other; Tianyi was sitting in the garden as he read the book in his hand. His cultivation in both his spiritual and martial path was already at its peak. With the constant tribulation lightning, the automatic generation of true qi, and the Heavenly River Stellar Avatar, it would be hard for Tianyi not to improve even if he actively sabotaged his cultivation. Nothing needed to be said for his spiritual cultivation. Tianyi''s martial cultivation had also reached the peak, at least theoretically. His martial body didn''t possess acupoints in the normal way. Instead, he turned the numerous stars inside into his acupoints, giving him limitless acupoints. Even now, new acupoints continue to open, but he already possessed the power of a peak acupoint opening master. At this very moment, Tianyi could invoke the Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation whenever he wanted. However, he had yet to do so. Tianyi paused and looked up from the book as he felt a presence within the Jade Peak Palace''s formation. Tianyi froze as he saw the person who he hadn''t seen for nearly two years. When he had learned that his mother wasn''t at the sect, Tianyi''s hadn''t thought much of it. He wasn''t a real teenager, and he had experienced separation from his family in his past life. But when his mother appeared in front of him again, a sense of forlorn joy assaulted him. Xi Mengfei stood in the garden across from Tianyi, her gaze unspeakably complicated as she looked at her Tianyi. For a moment, neither of the two moved, their emotions having petrified them. Tianyi recalled the smile the avatar created from the talisman his mother had given him, and an unknown tranquility washed over him. Before he realized it, he found that he had already stood up and in front of his mother. Mengfei raised her hand forward to caress Tianyi''s head but stopped as she realized that Tianyi had grown during the time she was away. When Tianyi was younger, her immortal sense had practically enveloped Tianyi all day, and his growth was nothing in her eyes because of how gradual it was. She had never felt the passage of time as clearly as she did now, not even all those years of isolated cultivation. In the end, Mengfei reached out with her left arm and gave Tianyi a half hug. Unknown to Tianyi and Mengfei, both of them had the same facial expression that neither could see. Chapter 62: Primordial Chaos Fruit Xi Mengfei watched patiently as Zhang Cuiying finished the painting of a mountain filled with spirituality. Mengfei''s eyes could easily see the slight growth of the plants on the painted mountain. Rather than a painting, it was more like a window to another world where the mountain existed. "Elder Xi, thank you for waiting." Zhang Cuiying''s voice was neither loud nor soft with her words. It was as if she was going through the motions. "It was a pleasure seeing Elder Zhang painting. The painting has almost reached the level of a pseudo realm. There is no need for Elder Zhang to be so courteous after all you have done for me." Mengfei said as she pushed a box forward towards Zhang Cuiying. "What pseudo realm? In the end, it hasn''t reached the level, and the difference between a fake realm and pseudo realm is like heaven and earth." Zhang Cuiying looked at the box and shook her head. "I cannot take this. I agreed to protect your son as payment, but I didn''t fulfill my end of the bargain, and he was drifting outside for months without my aid. If not for Elder Meng, I would not have been able to deter Monarch Soulfish." "No matter what, you still prevented Monarch Soulfish from reaping Tianyi''s soul. This is a fact I cannot ignore. If not for you, Elder Meng would not have been able to stop Monarch Soulfish." Zhang Cuiying saw the resolute will within Mengfei''s eyes and accepted the box. She opened it to see several lotus seeds. Taking half, she returned the box to Mengfei. "I only half fulfilled the bargain, so this will be enough." Mengfei did not attempt to continue to dissuade Zhang Cuiying and stored away the rest of the lotus seeds within the box. The two began to discuss various things while drinking fragrant tea. Zhang Cuiying looked at Mengfei holding the teacup with her left hand and then looked at her right sleeve. There was no hand poking out of it. "How are your injuries?" Zhang Cuiying asked. Again, there was no fluctuation within her voice to reveal her inner thoughts. Mengfei placed the teacup down and pulled her right sleeve back to reveal a fleshly stump. The stump was raw red with pulsating muscles and shattered bone fragments. "It won''t decay anymore, but this injury is the result of a dead divinity. I need at least ten years to heal from it." Mengfei said, her voice was calm as if she had not lost her dominant hand. "Was it worth it?" Zhang Cuiying asked. "Yes," Mengfei said without any hesitation as she glanced at the spatial ring on her left hand. Behind her was a levitating sword casket about two meters long and half a meter wide. The white sword casket had been floating behind Xi Mengfei ever since she had returned to the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Though it was sealed tight with nothing leaking from the seams, Zhang Cuiying could detect the heaven-slaughtering aura within. Even she, who reached the Extremity Immortal Realm, felt fear of the sword within. "I am not talking about physical gains when you explored the Broken Primordial World. If you happened to be caught by the demons? What about the devils? Your fate would be worse than death. All this for a problem that solved itself?" Zhang Cuiying said as she stared at her half-empty teacup. "It is good that Tianyi was able to solve the issue himself. In the future, perhaps he would become even more powerful than me." There was a tinge of pride that Mengfei could not detect in her voice. "Are you that sure of it?" Zhang Cuiying asked, not looking up from her cup. "Had you had the same resources and guidance at your age, your cultivation would have likely surpassed his." Mengfei shook her head in refusal of Zhang Cuiying''s words. "I disagree. Tianyi has shown a great affinity towards the Ten Heavenly Scriptures, even managing to create a new martial cultivation method using the Spatial and Timeless Heavenly Scriptures. He has even successfully cultivated the Lotus Ascension Soul Art that you reconstructed from the Soulheart Heavenly Scripture." Zhang Cuiying''s lips had a slight twitch from Mengfei''s words. She took another sip from the tea. "Speaking of the Lotus Ascension Soul Art, I heard from Sect Master Xia that your son learned it at the seventh level of Immortal Scripture Repository. That technique should have been sealed at the ninth level, yet it was left with a disposable jade slip on the seventh level. Sect Master Xia had already investigated, but no one touched the copy left on the ninth level." "Elder Zhang, you created the fragmented Soulheart Scripture. Do you have any suspects?" Mengfei asked. "What, aren''t you going to suspect me? The Lotus Ascension Soul Art is a forbidden technique I created to allow a fragmented soul to reconstitute itself and be reborn. Alas, it was a failure in the end, not even fit to be cultivated." Zhang Cuiying said, with a hint of self-mockery at the end. "I trust Elder Zhang''s character. Such an underhand trick is beneath you," Mengfei said. If Zhang Cuiying really wanted Tianyi dead, rescuing him and then teaching him the Lotus Ascension Soul Art to get rid of Tianyi was beyond foolish. What Mengfei didn''t mention was that using a method Zhang Cuiying created to revive ''him'' to murder someone else was below her bottom line.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. "You shouldn''t be so decisive of your assessment of others. People change, even immortals like us." Zhang Cuiying looked at Mengfei''s features. Compared to twenty years ago, the sudden maturity of Mengfei''s features may seem negligible. Still, it was a sudden development if you realized that ever since Mengfei started cultivating, her appearance stayed the same, never exceeding twenty. As for when Mengfei began to mature, the answer was obvious. Idly, Zhang Cuiying wondered if she too would age had she had a child with that person. "The scariest part is that people don''t even realize they''ve changed." Saying those words, Zhang Cuiying looked at Mengfei, who seemed not to understand. After a few more words, Mengfei left, but she did not directly return to Jade Peak and instead went to find Xia Meng, the sect master. She had just returned, but she didn''t expect to hear the news of someone deliberately leaving the Lotus Ascension Soul Art for Tianyi. Mengfei had thought Tianyi had chosen it himself, knowing the flaws but successfully cultivated anyways. Her conversation with Zhang Cuiying revealed otherwise. When Mengfei showed up with her inquiries, there was a sense of helplessness from Sect Master Xia. Although he had investigated as much as he could, there were no clues of anyone copying the Lotus Ascension Soul Art onto a jade slip and leaving it in the seventh level of the Immortal Scripture Repository. If the manual hadn''t been copied from the Immortal Scripture Repository''s top level, then the suspicion would fall on Grand Elder Zhang and the members of Voidpoem Peak, who had access to the manual before. Even if it hadn''t been copied from Voidpoem Peak, there was still the matter of how someone was able to slip into the Immortal Scripture Repository without a word. The biggest suspect was naturally Grand Elder Zhang, but Sect Master Xia was clear about Grand Elder Zhang''s personality. On the surface, this was just a matter of a promising disciple and child of a grand elder learning the wrong technique that could have led to his death. But if the culprit was capable of leaving a technique soundlessly on the seventh level, what prevented the culprit from doing the same on the lower levels and harming the disciples'' future? The culprit could have easily stolen all the techniques within. It would be even worse if the technique really were copied from the ninth level. Mengfei left after Sect Master Xia promised to keep her updated on the situation. When she did return to Jade Peak Palace, her nephew Xi Ri was nowhere to be found, Daoyi was cultivating on the Jade Lotus Clear Pond, and Tianyi was waiting near the front. "Yi''er," Mengfei said, more to test the words on her lips than to call out to Tianyi. Looking at this child of hers, perhaps Tianyi himself didn''t realize it, but his features were slowly changing as he grew up. There were some of hers, but there were also the sperm doner''s mixed within. At the very least, the Dragon Emperor''s features were no longer as prominent. Mengfei''s eyes flashed with a hint of coldness too quick for anyone to notice. As she looked at Tianyi, another image began to overlap with Tianyi''s. Both of them wore the clothing, although one was far more ostentatious. Unlike Tianyi, the second figure didn''t inherit her eyes, and his personality was a tyrant. During her cultivation of extremity, she had seen another version of herself also not aborting the accidental child in her womb. But that child wasn''t a child. She had seen that child bully the other people in the Buzhou Immortal Sect and even build himself a harem of beautiful servant girls and disciples. A despot who did as he liked. Many times the thought of just kicking him out and exterminating him crossed her mind, but she never went through with it and instead cleaned up the mess he created. It wasn''t until he was undergoing his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation that she made up her mind and killed that child. No, not child. Xi Longyi, the Dragon Emperor. "Mother, did you say something?" Mengfei broke out of her musings as she looked at this familiar face. She had also seen this face after slaying the Dragon Emperor looking in shock, when she discovered him. "Nothing," Mengfei said. Reaching her realm, during cultivation, she would often enter a dream and experience the lives of her alternate versions of herself. Perhaps she had not entered the Buzhou Immortal Sect and lived the remainder of her life as a princess of the Xi Dynasty, or maybe she had discovered her talent and rose to fame as a loose cultivator. The only significant difference in that one dream was the sudden appearance of Tianyi. It was that one instant that made her hesitate and give birth to the current Tianyi. After checking over Tianyi''s progress, Mengfei took out the box and handed it to Tianyi. "Yi''er, this is a Primordial Chaos Fruit I found in the Vast Void. If you ingest it, your understanding of the Law of Chaos will increase." Tianyi received the box, not noticing that Mengfei''s right hand had been constructed out of qi. "Thank you, Mother. Did you go to the Vast Void just for this?" Tianyi asked as he connected the dots on why Mengfei had left. Mengfei shook her head and looked towards the sword casket behind her. "I had gotten clues of a divine artifact from the Primordial Era; the Primordial Chaos Fruit was something that I picked along the way." That was a lie. Mengfei had entered the shattered primordial world to search for the Primordial Chaos Fruit. The divine artifact within the sword casket was a fortuitous encounter as a by-product of her adventure. Tianyi looked at the sword casket with great interest. "What kind of divine artifact is it?" "The divine artifact used to be four divine artifacts. Right now, only their shards remain. I am nurturing it and reforging it into an artifact." Xi Mengfei said without too much importance. "Yi''er, go absorb the Primordial Chaos Fruit. The sooner you do so, the better." The Primordial Chaos Fruit was one of the top ten treasures to understand worldly laws, but if it were to forge a treasure or concoct a pill, it would have been a better use. If an immortal used it to reforge their body, an average immortal would attain the power of a Seamless Immortal, an immortal monarch. It was even helpful for Mengfei. If she used it for herself, not only would her hand recover, but her physical strength would increase by a level. For her constitution to increase at her current realm was beyond difficult, it would normally take hundreds of years, if not thousands. And that was even considered fast, Tianyi, who was unaware of all this, retreated to his room under Mengfei''s urging to ingest the fruit. Mengfei''s eyes lingered on the wax gold pendant on Tianyi''s waist for a moment, causing it to shiver under her gaze, but she averted it soon after. It didn''t seem to harm Tianyi, so she would not interfere for now. Afterward, Mengfei traveled to the Jade Lotus Clear Pond. Her only disciple, Jiang Daoyi, was quietly cultivating there. Tianyi was her son, and she was worried about having him under anyone else as his master, so she taught him personally. Mengfei had thought Jiang Daoyi would have been an ordinary disciple who would not shine against all the other geniuses within the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Against her expectations, Daoyi had proven herself to be a diamond in the rough, causing Mengfei to put more effort into raising her. As she watched Daoyi cultivate, she had found that Tianyi and Daoyi were slightly similar in a way she couldn''t adequately describe, as if they had some unknown connection. Chapter 63: Pill Debate Yun Wanfeng, or as most knew nowadays, Sect Master Yun of the Fleeting Mist Sect, had his brows furrowed. Recently the Fleeting Mist Sect''s operation had been continuously hindered and disrupted. The most prominent suspects were the Unseen Whale Region''s overlords, the Sky Whale Sect, and the Green Scorpion Region''s Five Poison Sect. Neither of these two powers was any weaker than the Fleeting Mist Sect. In contrast to Sect Master Yun''s expectations, his ascension to the Nascent Soul Realm did not make these two powers afraid and instead agitated them. As if on unspoken agreements, the two sects began to hinder the Fleeting Mist Sect''s operations near their borders. At first, it was nothing consequential, but after a few years, there was a noticeable decline in the Fleeting Mist Sect''s advancement. If you did not advance, then you would be left behind and replaced. Sect Master Yun even suspected that the two sects had a secret alliance to deal with the Fleeting Mist Sect. On the surface, Sect Master Yun was the only nascent soul grandmaster within the three regions. Who knows if the two sects had some old monsters in seclusion. And even if he was the only nascent soul grandmaster in the three regions, that did not give him ultimate power. Both the Five Poison Sect and the Sky Whale Sect had history comparable to the Fleeting Mist Sect. The Sky Whale Sect had a mobile fortress artifact at the Nascent Soul Realm, and the Five Poison Sect had a formation that could exhibit the power of a venerable. Although, rumor has it that the Five Poison Sect could no longer bring out the formation''s full strength. A crucial material that was needed had started to disappear from nature, and what little they did had was not enough. Even if Sect Master Yun were the strongest cultivator in the region, the massive size of the territories would make it so that he could not guard everywhere at once. The Fleeting Mist Sect was only a single power. The human resources they could summon at any one time were limited. The power of a nascent soul grandmaster was better used as a deterrent. "Master," A delicate and proper voice broke him out of his musings. Sect Master Yun looked towards his most beloved disciple. The years were generous to Pan Lanyue; the once immature lass had developed into a splendid woman worthy of being the Fleeting Mist Sect''s future sect master. "What is it, Yue''er?" Sect Master Yun''s voice was gentle and doting, hiding away all of his worries from her. At the very least, before he had passed on the title of sect master, he had to solve the problems plaguing the Fleeting Mist Sect first. "Master, are you alright? You seem troubled the last few days." Pan Lanyue said. "It''s nothing much. You are still ten years too early to worry about your master." Sect Master Yun flicked Pan Lanyue''s forehead causing her neck to snap back slightly. Although Pan Lanyue had already reached the Spiritual Altar Foundation Establishment Realm, Sect Master Yun was ultimately two realms above her. Pan Lanyue hissed as she clutched her forehead. "Master! Be more gentle! If you''re not careful, my head might fly off from your flick!" Sect Master Yun gave a teasing grin. "Nonsense! I, your master, am a venerated nascent soul grandmaster. Controlling the strength of my flick is a simple affair. It is always at the perfect strength!" Pan Lanyue pouted. In the few years she apprenticed herself to Yun Wanfeng, she became even more mischievous , like a pampered granddaughter. "The way I see it, you should be more worried about yourself. Isn''t your match with your ex-fiance coming up?" Sect Master Yun said, directing the conversation elsewhere. "Have you heard anything about Yan Nie?" Pan Lanyue asked, her face no longer pouting. "There have been sightings of the youngster recently, but none of the accounts are reliable." Sect Master Yun said; he had found out the Yan Nie had regained his ability to cultivate soon after his disciple broke off the edgement, but he did not place it in his eyes. His disciple was a genius worthy of even being accepted into the first-rate sects. What realm could a former genius cultivate in a mere ten years? Speaking of geniuses, Sect Master Yun''s thoughts turned towards the most extraordinary talent he had even laid eyes on, Xi Tianyi. The shock that had assaulted him when he had discovered that the true cultivation base of the child had been heart-stopping. He wondered what realm the child reached in ten years. Perhaps he had already entered the Core Formation Realm? Or maybe even the Nascent Soul Realm? Sect Master Yun shook his head at the absurd thought. A nascent soul grandmaster under the age of twenty was preposterous. "Master, what realm do you think he has reached?" Pan Lanyue. "Perhaps the peak of the Qi Gathering Realm," Sect Master Yun deliberated after being brought out of his thoughts by his disciple''s words. "There is a slim chance that he has reached the Foundation Establishment Realm, according to eyewitnesses."Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. "Do...you think it was a mistake to break off the engagement?" Pan Lanyue asked after a moment of silence. "No," It was a straightforward answer from Sect Master Yun. "Frankly speaking, pre-arrange marriage for us cultivatora is a needless complication and one that even may cause us to wander off the immortal path. Even if you do not break the engagement, the result would have been the same." Sect Master Yun thought a bit and then added. "Minus the duel, of course." Pan Lanyue pouted when she heard Sect Master Yun chuckle, but the jovial atmosphere disappeared when someone barged into the hall. "Sect Master, there''s been a report that someone assaulted one of our spirit stone mines!" The sect master''s face immediately darkened. "Explain." An unknown enemy had assaulted one of the Fleeting Mist Sect''s spiritual mines. The mine was under joint ownership by the Fleeting Mist Sect and a vassal sect that had pledged allegiance to the Fleeting Mist Sect, the Plum Wing Sect. The Plum Wing Sect Master''s son was even a disciple of the Fleeting Mist Sect. On the surface, the attack seemed simple, but once Sect Master Yun heard the details, his brows furrowed at the report. It was to the point that he had personally traveled to the mine to verify his guesses. Once he arrived, his facial expression darkened even more. The mine was a lost cause. It could no longer produce any more spiritual stones without at least a thousand years. All the people stationed at the mine seemed to disappear into thin air, and the very environment surrounding the mine changed as if eons had passed. The scariest part was that a nascent soul grandmaster like him could not detect any hints or evidence at all. For him to not discover any evidence, the perpetrator must have been in the same realm or higher. Sect Master Yun suspected that the perpetrator''s cultivation level would be even higher. In comparison, the aftereffect of this attack would almost be cute. Someone had just attacked and ruined one of the Fleeting Mist Sect''s resource points. If they did not handle this correctly, their prestige and influence would take a dive. In the end, Sect Master Yun had a hunch that the matter wasn''t so simple and sent a letter to his friend for his opinion.
Elder Shan''s aged visage twitched when he saw the object at the table. It was a round pill that shone with a golden luster; the limbs poking out of the sphericle body only increased the pill''s abnormal appearance. "You again, can''t you go pilfer someone else''s materials?" Elder Shan said . The pill tilted upward and looked up, but no words came out. "I''m the only one you can take from!? That''s doesn''t mean you should take it from me!" There was a bit of helplessness in Elder Shan''s voice as he talked to the pill. "How are you going to compensate me? Unlike you, I have to earn these materials myself. My cultivation is already harder than others because of my condition. You embezzling materials from me is not helping." "..." "If I have the ability to stop you, I should stop you!? I don''t have the ability. Otherwise, why would we be talking like this?" "..." "I don''t want to be called a loser by a pill who can''t even cultivate even after gaining spirituality after millions of years!" "..." "Heh, you''ll be able to do it soon? Aren''t you just relying on Tianyi''s blood? You have already formed an irrevocable connection with him." "..." "He''s not bad? That must be true if you say so. After all, you''ve existed since the primordial era, unlike me." "..." "How did I do it? Heh, not telling." The pill suddenly shot up and smashed Elder Shan''s nose, causing a noseblood. "Hey, just because I refuse to tell, you directly moved to violence!? Why can''t you take after Tianyi more and talk it out?" "..." "Tianyi is a lot more violent than I think? At the very least, he doesn''t go punching people at the first signs of disagreements. Especially after eating their stuff." "..." "You''re my senior? Technically I made more improvements than you. Based on schematics, I''m technically in a higher realm. Shouldn''t I be the senior then?'' "..." "Might is right? What a tyrant." "..." "Is Tianyi really that special? Sure, his abilities are far above his realm, but it is not like there have not been cases of people of equal talent." "..." "There''s a lot of bigwigs invested? Why would they be so invested in a mortal who has not even attained immortality?" "..." "Not just Tianyi?" "..." "There''s actually such a group of people? The chances of them reaching immortality and their predisposition towards the law is that high?" "..." "They are children of that god? Impossible, that can guy actually had children!?" "..." "Not in the true sense? just a term you used to address those that came from a place called Earth?" "..." "How small, is it really so special? How come I never heard of it?" "... ... ..." "The more I hear, the more I think you are pulling my leg." "..." "Strange, very strange. Is it possible to visit this Earth?" "..." "What? It''s impossible to travel to Earth?" "..." "So that''s why there are so many of his children running about it. Do they know?" "..." "Hm, so not even Grand Elder Xi knows." "..." "They''ve already marked them? Still, I''m surprised that so many could escape Old Lady Meng''s soup of forgetfulness." "..-!" "What''s wrong!?" Elder Shan stood up when he saw the golden pill suddenly became agitated. Without wasting a second, the pill shot out off of the table and away. Elder Shan followed, and he soon reached the destination. It was a surrounding charred black as it had experienced a forest fire with only the smallest sign of recovery, but Elder Shan found very familiar. After all, nearly ten years ago, he had watched Tianyi reach the Core Formation Realm here. "Grand Elder Xi," Elder Shan bowed and saluted. Grand Elder Xi ignored Elder Shan as her hands snatched the golden pill that wanted to fly towards Tianyi and grasped it in her palm. The golden pill wanted to struggle, but it could not escape Xi Mengfei''s grasp. Elder Shan just glanced at it before turning his attention towards the teen who was transcending his Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation. After learning some truths, he had some complications towards Tianyi, but years of feeling couldn''t be erased just because of some information. Tianyi was seated in a lotus position, much like all those years ago. His clothes did not seem to be touched this time and not a hair out of place. The tribulation lightning thundered ominously and flashed with destructive might. At this moment, a five-petal lotus materialized above Tianyi''s head. It seemed fleeting and unreal, ethereal to the point that it might disappear any moment. Chapter 64: Lotus Soul A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Chapter 65: Nine Spiritual Cores, Five Nascent Souls A five-petaled lotus appeared above Tianyi''s head, and the thinning of the tribulation clouds stopped. The crackling clouds grew denser and denser, and the blackness reached the point that it no longer resembled a cloud but a hole in the sky. It was as if the previous tribulations clouds had just been a glimpse of what was to come. The rumbling thunder became silent as it was replaced by vibrations that seemed to shake the very earth. It wasn''t just the physical aspect of the heavenly tribulation that changed but the spiritual aspect as well. The majestic pressure crushed down even those outside the Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation. Mengfei and the Unity Realm elders were fine under the crushing pressure, but sweat dotted Daoyi''s forehead. Her skin paled, and her breathing became impaired as if there was a stone crushing her chest. Mengfei glanced at her disciple, and a barrier was erected in front of Daoyi that shielded her from the abnormal pressure. Elder Shan was only slightly better, but his true qi became slightly erratic under the pressure of the heavenly tribulation. His nascent soul felt as if it was beginning to destabilize, causing him to frown. His body began releasing a medicinal scent and vital qi. At the same time, the stifling pressure was alleviated. "Strange, the heavenly tribulation should have already been over. Why does it seem that Junior Nephew Tianyi is undergoing another heavenly Tribulation." One of the spectating elders said. "The abnormal occurrences started to happen as soon as the white lotus appeared. It seems to be Junior Nephew Tianyi''s Nascent Soul?" "Strange, very strange. The orthodox nascent soul of a cultivator should be human in form unless Junior Nephew Tianyi is practicing soul cultivation as well? Only a soul cultivators are able to form nascent soul that is different from their appearance." "Spiritual, martial, and soul. Grand Elder Xi''s son sure is ambitious. But this doesn''t explain why the tribulation clouds have not dispersed." "When Junior Nephew Tianyi formed his spiritual core, it was nine, and he had to undergo nine Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation. This time, it seems that Junior Nephew Tianyi is going to do something similar." "Nascent Soul isn''t the same as a spiritual core. Even if Junior Nephew Tianyi has nine spiritual cores, that should not give him the ability to form multiple nascent souls." "Perhaps not, but soul cultivation is esoteric. Do you have any insight, Elder Jiao?" Elder Jiao glanced at her fellow Unity Realm elders and contemplated before speaking. "There are cases of soul cultivators splitting their soul when their nascent soul formed to form soul clones. But that isn''t a normal method. I don''t think Junior Nephew Tianyi will take such an action at such a critical juncture." "Perhaps, it is another similar circumstance. Grand Elder Xi must have given some pointers. As expected of the peak immortal of the Huang Realm." "It is a pity that we were not able to witness Junior Nephew Tianyi''s abilities. He doesn''t need to compete for resources in the sect, and rather than compete in a tournament, Junior Nephew Tianyi would rather spectate." "Has junior nephew Tianyi even sparred with anyone in the sect?" At this question, many of the elders fell silent as they tried to find an instance of Tianyi actually fighting with someone in the sect. "I heard that a disciple of an elder requested to have a sword spar with Junior Nephew Tianyi. The result was that he lost in a few rounds." "I''m surprised Junior Nephew Tianyi was able to reach this stage without any battles." "Back then, I heard Grand Elder Xi had constantly been adventuring." Suddenly, one of them pointed at Tianyi, diverting their conversation. "Look! Junior Nephew Tianyi''s lotus nascent soul is showing change!" On the white lotus above Tianyi''s head, tiny light balls had formed on each of the five petals. Each light was a different color: red, black, yellow, green, and white. Slowly the different colored lights began to shape into a form with a head, two arms, and two legs. Each one took the form of an adolescent, not even five years old yet. All five had the exact same face as each other. They all resembled Tianyi when he was at their age. The only difference was the color the robes each wore, all of them corresponding to the light they had once been. Even the coronet atop their heads was the same. It was like a little child trying to dress and act like an adult, Tianyi''s spitting image when he was that age. Adorable, really. As the five robed children formed and their figure''s translucency turned more solid, the lotus petal below them began to grow faint in reverse. The five-petaled white lotus began to wither. The white lotus formed by Tianyi in preparation to form his nascent soul was now used to nurture his five new nascent souls. Each one of Tianyi''s nascent soul emitted a different sort of aura: the red-robed nascent soul emitted a fiery aura, the black-robed nascent soul emitted a watery aura, the green-robed nascent soul emitted a forest-like aura, the white-robed nascent soul emitted a metallic aura, and the yellow-robed nascent soul emitted an earthen aura. Each nascent soul was a one-colored nascent soul. Ordinarily, a one-colored would spell the end of a cultivator''s immortal path, but Tianyi had five one-colored nascent souls, each one corresponding to one of the five elements. When a cultivator formed a nascent soul, the number of colors it contained represented its potential. One-colored was the worst and meant that their path had ended, while five-colored was supreme, and as long they do not perish, attaining unity was all but assured. Although Tianyi had five nascent souls, he had encompassed all five elements that a five-colored nascent soul would possess. Although each one seemed to only be a one-colored nascent soul, with but a thought, Tianyi could easily convert the element they represented. This meant that while each of his nascent souls was a one-colored nascent soul, they were also five-colored nascent souls simultaneously. Not all five-colored nascent souls were supreme. Some were even inferior to three-colored nascent souls. The most crucial aspect of multicolored nascent souls was the balance between each element. The more balanced they were, the more perfect the nascent soul. Xia Yushan, due to his proficiency in the Five Element Sword Arts, had attained a supreme five-colored nascent soul. The Five Element Methods cultivation manuals were perfect in forming the perfect nascent soul. A violet-gold core formation master who formed a five-colored nascent soul might not be superior to a gold core formation master who used the Five Element Method to form their five-colored nascent soul. Even if Tianyi didn''t cultivate the Five Element Method, this didn''t prevent him from learning it. He had already learned the Primordial Heavenly Scripture and the incomplete versions of the Soulheart Heavenly Scripture, Timeless Heavenly Scripture, and Spatial Heavenly Scripture, so it would be a shame not to learn the Five Element Method descended from the Five Phases Heavenly Scripture.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. As the white lotus entirely withered and disintegrated into tiny motes of light, the five nascent souls all opened their eyes. Their eyes held countless flashes of lightning. A single glance would cause a mortal to suffer an attack upon their soul. The five nascent souls sunk into Tianyi and appeared above his Dragon Yin Pearl Core in a circle. Once they appeared there, the stability of the true qi of chaos became even sturdier. Before, there was still a slight leakage of true qi from Tianyi''s body. But now, if Tianyi so wished to, those of the same realm would not be able to discern his cultivation base. He could even completely hide his cultivation and appear mortal to those weaker than him with enough effort. The inside of Tianyi''s body, the cosmos became more natural with the addition of the five nascent souls, and he could feel that his true qi''s potency became even more powerful. The thing that made Tianyi happy the most was the feeling of weightlessness. Until this point, his body still had pressure, slight as it was, from his inability to control his true qi of chaos perfectly. Even when he created his martial cultivation method, the force of the true qi and spacetime clashed and negated each other. Because of this, although Tianyi''s body was no longer in danger of exploding, he felt as if there was a discrepancy between his thoughts and movements. Tianyi rested his cheek on his palm as he gazed upwards at the Heavenly Tribulation clouds. There was a damnable smirk on his face that was just asking for a beating. "I guess forming five nascent souls after fracturing a nascent soul in the process was a bit too much of a loophole even for the Heavenly Dao." Tianyi light said. As if in response, the tribulation clouds rumbled and caused the earth to shake even more. Tianyi stood up and dusted his robes and gazed furiously at the Heavenly Tribulation; his face was saying, "bring it." The pure black tribulation clouds thundered with golden light as a strike of black lightning struck the ground a few hundred meters in front of Tianyi. It wasn''t a meaningless move. Where the lightning struck, a giant composed of tribulation lightning stood. Its golden body crackled as the lightning streaked across its skin. The tribulation clouds no longer looked as dark after sending summoning the lightning giant. The second strike of lightning struck down. The giant of lightning was now covered in armor composed of black lightning. The third strike, a crown adorned the giant''s head. The fourth strike, the tribulation giant grasped a sword of lightning in its hand. And the fifth strike, a divine dragon with two horns and a flowing white beard wrapped around the tribulation giant. The lightning dragon roared at Tianyi in a provocating manner. The tribulation cloud became almost ash in color, having lost a significant amount of its power from forming the tribulation giant. But it still hovered in the sky as if to pass judgment. "This...is new. I never heard of the Heavenly Tribulation having this form. Although the inner devil tribulation is supposed to be the most fearsome of tribulation, I don''t think I have any inner devils. I wonder what my inner demon tribulation will be?" The tribulation giant roared at Tianyi and broke him out of his thoughts as if saying, "you dare look away while this one is before you!" "Whoops, better focus on the matter at hand," Tianyi said, but there was no hint of worry in his eyes or voice. Vapor the color of void began to be released from Tianyi''s pores. The black mist soon entirely encased Tianyi, hiding his form from prying eyes. The mist began to grow larger and larger until it was over a hundred meters tall. The mist then gradually changed shape and formed a giant version of Tianyi down to his features. Two holes emitted crackling light where his pupils would be. Compared to the grey cloud giant Tianyi formed before, this giant had greater detail down to the fold of Tianyi''s robes, and its skin was like a void with countless stars emitting. As if in agreement, both the tribulation giant and cosmos giant began walking towards the other. The air crackled with sparks as the two giants neared each other, neither willing to show weakness. The tribulation giant raised its sword overheard once the cosmos giant neared within its striking range. SSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH The sound of the sky bifurcating was heard as the tribulation sword descended, seemingly like a sea of lightning descending. In response, the cosmos giant held out his right hand and locked the tribulation sword''s blade in its hand. Lightning crackled and thundered rumbled from the sealed sword. But no matter how the tribulation lightning battered the cosmos giant''s hand, it remained stalwart. The cosmos giant was even absorbing trace amounts of lightning through contact. At the same time as the sword descended, the dragon formed of tribulation lightning soared forward. It wrapped around the cosmos giant''s body and even started to strange its neck. The cosmos giant''s left hand pulled against the dragon''s body as it tried to unwrap the dragon. The tribulation giant delivered a mighty kick that launched the cosmos giant onto its back and caused it to release the tribulation sword. The cosmos giant began to distort as the tribulation dragon constricted even more. At this time, the cosmos giant formed its two hands into claws and slashed the tribulation dragon. The tribulation dragon roared in pain as the claws penetrated deep into its body. Lightning bled from its body, and with its integrity ruptured, the tribulation dragon began to deform into pure tribulation lightning. The tribulation lightning shrouded the cosmos giant in an aura of lightning, continuously damaging it. The cosmos giant lumbered into a standing position, the ground quaking with each of its movements. When it stood up, the tribulation giant was upon it as it slashed downward with the tribulation sword once again. Claws met sword as the two giants duked it out. The cataclysmic battle raged on as the two behemoths clashed again and again. Should a normal Nascent Soul Grandmaster intercede within the battle, just the wind generated from each swing of either giant''s arm would result in lethal damage. Crack! The tribulation sword fractured under the repeated strikes from the cosmos giant. Upon shattering in two, the tribulation sword morphed into lightning and enveloped the cosmos giant, much like the tribulation dragon was destroyed. But the tribulation giant was undeterred as it began to rain fist after fist upon the cosmos giant that was still shrouded in tribulation lightning. When each fist landed on the cosmos giant, the lightning rippled outward from the contact point. As the battle continued, the number of stars within the cosmos giant began to diminish, and even its size decreased. The cosmos giant abandoned all thoughts of defense as it allowed the fist to land on its body and returned the assault threefold onto the tribulation giant. At first, the tribulation armor blocked the cosmos giant''s assault. Soon, cracks appeared on the tribulation armor before it, too, shattered and turned into tribulation lightning that reignited the shroud of lightning assaulting the cosmos giant. The cosmos giant ignored this as it continued to engage in a primitive slugfest with the tribulation giant. This battle was an endurance match to see which of these two titans would fall first. The answer was the cosmos giant as glass-like crack began to appear on its body. With each passing second, the web-like cracks grew until the form of the cosmos shattered. The void-like mist dispersed to reveal Tianyi''s figure in the air. His stature was like an ant before the elephant that was the tribulation giant. But the tribulation giant had already lost all its armament. Its base body formed of tribulation lightning had begun to distort. It appeared as if another strike would destabilize it. Tianyi pointed his finger at the giant, and a black sphere condensed upon his fingertips. Without seemingly any outside force, the black sphere shot towards the tribulation giant. With each second, the boundary of space was devoured and fueled its growth. The tribulation giant roared in indignant fury as it brought both arms crashing down upon the blackhole coming towards it in great defiance. Upon contact, the giant''s arms distorted into a mist of lightning and were sucked into the black hole. Before its body could even lose its integrity, the black hole greedily started to devour the tribulation lightning giant. The giant roared once more as it consciously dissolved its form into a net of lightning that soared towards Tianyi. But right as it neared Tianyi, it was pulled back and devoured by the black hole. Tianyi watched the black hole shrank under his commands until it disappeared into the world. Blood started to leak from the edge of his lips, to which he wiped it away with his sleeve. "Sssssssssssssss," Tianyi hissed in pain as his clothes rubbed his skin, slightly pink as if it had been scalded by boiling water. Inside Tianyi''s body, his cosmos body, the tribulation lightning, and the space devoured by the black hole reappeared within. Before it could rampage, black clouds sparkling with starlight encased it. No matter how the tribulation lightning raged, the true qi of chaos ground and dissolved it into pure energy absorbed by Tianyi. Chapter 66: Lovespot "Congratulations Junior Brother Xi. No, it should be Senior Brother Xi now." Tianyi smiled as he thanked Wei Daying for the praise. Contrary to the usual peacefulness and solitude familiar to Jade Peak Palace, numerous guests filled the halls and conjured a festive atmosphere. Members of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, ranging from foundation establishment disciples to unity venerables inhabited the halls, but these were not the usual members of Jade Peak. They were Tianyi''s acquaintances or those with sharp ears who had come to congratulate him. Mengfei had only arrived at the beginning to show her face before immediately leaving, and the immortal elders were not present at all. In their eyes, Tianyi transcending the Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation, although impressive at his young age, was not significant. Should he ascend to the Immortal Realm, only then would Tianyi be qualified to have their congratulations, but it was not so for those under the Immortal Realm. To them, Tianyi achieving the Nascent Soul Realm was a near miracle. Tianyi recognized a few of them that he had not in a decade. They were the scions of the elders that he had met before. He had derisively called them silkpants back then. Those near his age were few and far between. He still remembered when he refused to associate with them because of their immaturity. The ones near his age were still in the Qi Gathering or Foundation Establishment Realm. As for those older... Tianyi smiled as a core formation master raised a toast to him, and both sipped the wine from their cups. He remembered the core formation master, who had ostracized him due to the difference in age and seeing him as a little brat. He had disdained Tianyi for his low cultivation base, but now most, the core formation master could only gaze at Tianyi from below. A nascent soul grandmaster came forward and also toasted Tianyi. It was a far cry from the lofty attitude from before when Tianyi first met him. Tianyi''s smile widened. "Senior Brother Lin, your words back then impacted me very deeply. I have to thank the motivation you imparted to me all those years ago. Otherwise, I probably wouldn''t have reached this height so quickly." Tianyi said with a courteous smile on his face. The smile inside Tianyi''s heart, however, turned into a vindictive grin as Lin Mu''s smile stiffened. It was a lie. To be honest, Tianyi could have cared less about this senior brother of his, but the stifled smile on Senior Brother Lin''s face was just too satisfying for Tianyi. "I am overjoyed that my words back then gave Junior Brother Xi proper motivation." Lin Mu said. His grip tightened around his cup. "But you mustn''t let your success go to your head. Realm isn''t everything. The Dao is most important in the end." Lin Mu said, bringing out a senior''s disposition as if lecturing an overeager junior. A dark flame smoldered in Lin Mu''s heart as he looked at Tianyi''s deviling eyes. Had he been born Xi Mengfei''s son, then he, Lin Mu, would have even more remarkable progress than the little twerp in front of him. It took him over fifty years to reach the Nascent Soul Realm without any aid from his useless father. Lin Mu had been quite proud of that. But as if to mock him, Tianyi reached the Nascent Soul Realm before he had even reached twenty! Thinking of the snotnosed brat that had approached him all those years ago, Lin Mu clenched the fist hidden within his sleeves. If back then he had... "Naturally," Tianyi said. "I don''t see what the big deal is. I was quite surprised when so many people came to congratulate me. Once I reach the Immortal Realm, I''ll definitely invite senior brother Lin to the celebration then." For a moment, Lin Mu''s face turned white, then raging red, before it returned to normal, only slightly paler. "Naturally, then I''ll have to congratulate junior brother on your future success." Lin Mu said, his lip taut. Before Lin Mu could speak anymore, a new voice cut in and joined the conversation. "Congratulations Junior Brother Xi," "Many thanks, Senior Sister Ji," Tianyi said as he smiled sincerely at the demure woman. "Still, I''m quite surprised," Ji Shuye said. "To think that in a blink of an eye, you would have already reached the same realm as me. It took you five years to reach the Foundation Establishment Realm from the Qi Gathering Realm, and then another five years from Foundation Establishment to Core Formation. Going by this pattern, don''t tell me you''re going to reach Unity Realm in five years?" Ji Shuye joked. "Don''t joke with me, Senior Sister," Tianyi said. "It wasn''t exactly five years in between." "Same difference." Ji Shuye said. "Senior Sister Ji, did Eldest Senior Brother also come?" Lin Mu asked. Ji Shuye could be said to be descended from a cultivation clan in the Huang Realm, but to the Buzhou Immortal Sect, there was no difference between her and a disciple from a mortal family. Lin Mu rathered admired how Ji Shuye rose through the realms. It was a pity in his eyes that she started to focus on spiritual cultivation instead of concentrating solely on martial cultivation. "Yushan said that he was busy," Ji Shuye said. "He also told me to apologize for him for not attending Junior Brother Xi''s banquet." Tianyi waved his hand. "No worries, I didn''t really expect a banquet to occur. It just sort of happened. Besides, Senior Brother Xia is the eldest disciple. He has many duties to attend, so it is natural that his time is precious." "Thank you for understanding," Ji Shuye said, relief hidden within her eyes. "Strange, I don''t recall Eldest Senior Brother having any prior appointments," Lin Mu said, his eyes trying to read Tianyi''s facial expression. "How can you understand the difficulty of being the eldest senior brother? Because of some disciples, Yushan is often troubled by them. Especially those with backings and don''t know how high the heavens are. Wouldn''t you say?" Ji Shuye said, staring at Lin Me. Lin Mu quickly averted his eyes and nodded. "Eldest senior brother is indeed the eldest senior brother for a reason. We normal disciples will probably never be able to accomplish the same things as Eldest Senior Brother." "Indeed," Ji Shuye said. "Yushan often visits Jade Peak. Truthfully I''m quite surprised at how often he visits." Tianyi shrugged, "Perhaps it''s the project Junior Sister Jiang and my older cousin are working on. He seemed quite interested in the Xiyi Formation Cards."If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. "I''ve heard about them. Quite a number of the Junior Brothers and Sisters are buying them. Now that you''ve reached Nascent Soul Realm, perhaps it''s time to create Nascent Soul ranked Formation Cards?" Ji Shuye asked. "Maybe sometime in the future. I just entered the Nascent Soul Realm after all." Tianyi said, voice not very interested. Tianyi''s eyes drifted away and widened slightly as he saw Daoyi drinking cup after cup with a group of unknown males. Ji Shuye followed Tianyi''s line of sight. "Is that Junior Sister Daoyi? I''ve only seen her from afar. She is drinking quite a bit, you should check up on her." "Excuse me for a bit," Tianyi said, and he began to walk towards Daoyi. "Senior Brother, congratulations again," Daoyi said, her cheeks slightly flushed, as she raised her cup to Tianyi before drinking it without waiting for Tianyi. Tianyi sighed helplessly. He didn''t drink from his cup. He rather disliked the wine brought out for the celebration. He preferred fruit or flower wines, lighter and sweeter in taste. "Junior Sister, I know you like wine, but you shouldn''t drink too much," Tianyi said. Then he looked towards the three men talking to Daoyi. All of them could be considered to have a good appearance. "Who are these people?" The three male disciples hurriedly stood up from their seats or at least tried to. Tianyi had to take a backstep as one collapsed onto the ground face first, the second swayed drunkenly, and the third directly hurled the contents of his stomach. None of them were in the right state to even speak. Tianyi looked at Daoyi. "You didn''t spike their drinks, did you?" "You''re wrong, Senior Brother," Daoyi revealed a mischievous smile. "They seemed so excited that I kept toasting them. I can''t help it if they don''t have any alcohol tolerance." As if to display her innocence, Daoyi shrugged helplessly. Tianyi blinked as he observed the area. He only now noticed the ten plus empty wine jugs. A distance away, several disciples ranging from Foundation Establishment to Core Formation Realm were sitting on chairs, unable to get up or flat out knocked out. There were even a few who were still conscious, walking around with unsteady footsteps. And judging by the wide berth the other people gave them, the aroma of wine must have clung to them heavily. Tianyi felt his lips twitched as he directed his sight back to Daoyi. She still had that innocent smile. ''I should have known better than to worry about her. She only took a little while to wake up from that immortal wine, after all. Actually, should I give her that wine gourd?'' "That''s...you know what? Nevermind." Tianyi ultimately decided not to say anything. He looked back to see a stunned Ji Shuye staring at him, or rather Daoyi behind him. "Senior Sister?" Tianyi called out. "Huh?" Ji Shuye said. She blinked before covering her lower face with her blue sleeve. "I was struck by a sudden thought, don''t mind me." "Junior Sister, you''ve never met her before, but this is Senior Sister Ji Shuye," Tianyi said. "Jiang Daoyi greets Senior Sister Ji," Daoyi said. Then she looked at the man who was slightly behind Ji Shuye. "This senior brother is?" "Ah right, I almost forgot," Tianyi said as he glanced at Lin Mu. "This is senior brother Lin Mu. He''s ascended the Nascent Soul Realm for quite a while now, despite his appearances." Daoyi ignored the strange way Tianyi introduced Lin Mu and greeted Lin Mu as well. Tianyi blinked as he looked between Daoyi and Ji Shuye. Now that both of them were standing close to one another, he discovered that both of them actually had quite a similar aura. After having chased away the rogues that wanted to integrate themselves with Daoyi, Tianyi left Daoyi with Ji Shuye, who seemed to want to talk. It didn''t take much thought as to why they wanted to integrate themselves with Daoyi. Being the disciple of a grand elder of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, her status was nobler than many outer elders, much less the descendants of those elders. Some were even the direct descendants of an immortal elder, just that the clan had just grown too numerous for them to stand out. Making friends with Daoyi for resources wasn''t exactly a bad idea. Tianyi still didn''t like it, though. Soon after, Lin Mu excused himself, but on his way out, he bumped into someone. Upon seeing who he bumped into, Lin Mu''s face dramatically paled. "S-Senior Brother Lovespot!" The man frowned as he heard Lin Mu. "Is my name something a mere outer elder''s child can randomly say?" "I-I''m sorry, Senior Brother." "Remember to address me lord from no. Scram," Lovespot ignored Lin Mu as he continued towards his destination. As Lovespot left, Lin Mu''s pounding heart gradually calmed down. Upon seeing Lovespot''s goal, his lips couldn''t help but quirk upward. Originally, he planned to leave, but now, he was waiting for the show to begin. "Shuye, I didn''t think you ever go anywhere without that bastard around." Hearing this voice, Ji Shuye frowned as she turned and faced a frivolously smiling man. Her eyes zeroed in on the mole under his eyes, and her breath unconsciously quickened. "Why are you here, Lovespot?" "There is no place this lord cannot go," Lovespot said as he saddled unwelcomely into the group and scanned the people present. His eyes passed over Tianyi and caught sight of Daoyi, causing his eyes to brighten. "Yo, what a pretty little lass. How about coming with this lord and having a good time?" Lovespot said as he focused all his attention on Daoyi. Daoyi''s face heated up, and her eyes glazed over. Before she could sink into a trance, she bit her lips, causing blood to leak out, and clarity returned. She quickly averted her eyes and looked away. "Oh? Fiesty, but I like it. Come, don''t be shy." Lovespot said as he reached out towards Daoyi''s trembling arm, but he frowned when he felt a hand clamp over his wrist. "Let go of this lord''s hand, scum." "Leave. You''re not welcomed here." Tianyi coldly said as he used his body to block Lovespot''s view of Daoyi. "There is no place this lord cannot go to, now let go before I make you." Tianyi smiled, but the anger flowing from his eyes caused that smile to become terrifying. "Nowhere you cannot go? You''ll find that you cannot visit Jade Peak ever again." Before waiting for Lovespot to speak again, Tianyi used his control over the Jade Peak Seal, an immortal artifact that controlled everything on Jade Peak, including the formations, to expel Lovespot. And before Lovespot knew, he found himself at the foot of Jade Peak. Flabbergasted, he tried to enter again, only to discover he had been blocked by an invisible barrier. No matter what he tried, he could not succeed. "Good, good. Xi Tianyi, is it? I''ll remember your name. Just because you''re a grand elder''s son, I''ll have you know that there are some people you cannot offend!" With a huff and wave of his sleeve, Lovespot left. Back in Jade Peak Palace, Tianyi frowned as he watched Lovespot leave. He vaguely saw the image of Xi Longyi overlap with Lovespot, despite the two of them have completely different features. "Who was that?" Tianyi asked Ji Shuye after having Daoyi leave. "Lovespot. The only grandchild of the Justice Hall''s Head Elder, Immortal Redseal," Ji Shuye said. "Pray that you never have to interact with him again, but with his personality, you should be careful of any actions he might take." Tianyi nodded. After the Lovespot fiasco, he was no longer in the mood to celebrate, and the guest left not long after, sensing his displeasure. After Ji Shuye left, a disciple appearing in his mid-twenties appeared in front of Tianyi. "Junior Brother Xi," Tianyi glanced at the newcomer who came forward. Since he was no longer in the mood to smile, he didn''t. "Don''t you remember who I am?" The man asked, seeing unrecognition in Tianyi''s eyes. "Have we met before?" Tianyi said. ''He couldn''t be another person wanting to suck up, right?'' "I guess you wouldn''t have remembered. We met when you were five. I''m Su Bojing." The man said. Tianyi frowned as he tried to put the man''s face to anyone in his memories. "Sorry, can''t remember." "No worries." Su Bojing waved it off. "Junior Brother Xi, I actually have official business to talk with you. Have you heard about the Heavenly Connection Gathering?" Heavenly Connection Gathering, just from its name, one could gather its connection to the Three Heavens Connection Meeting. The two events were related in a certain sense. In fact, Heavenly Connection Gathering wasn''t anything the Buzhou Immortal Sect elders officially acknowledged. It was initially a small gathering created from a meeting of scions descended from immortals from the Buzhou Immortal Sect and the various other first-rate sects. With the passage of time, it slowly morphed into its modern form. The Heavenly Connection Gathering was the most well-known name for the event. The second name of the event was known as the Young Masters'' Gathering because the participants were headed by the children or grandchildren of true immortals. "I am representing Lady Su Wanyu to invite Junior Brother Xi to attend the Heavenly Connection Gathering. This meeting will be slightly different in that the participants will be allowed to invite geniuses to contend." Chapter 67: Once Again Fleeting Mist Sect Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Chapter 68: Daoyi and Lei Jingye Xiao Lingxin, an inner disciple of the Fleeting Mist Sect, could still recall the horror he and his fellow disciples felt when the pillar of light appeared. The air in the sect had been tense from the undercurrents plaguing the Northern Regions. Every day, more and more elders were sent out to maintain the status quo. Even the disciples had been mobilized to maintain the situation. Xiao Lingxin was already twenty, but his cultivation was at the tenth stage of the Qi Gathering Realm, a talented seed by the Fleeting Mist Sect''s standards. In fact, he was one of the disciples with the highest cultivation base within the sect at the moment. This wasn''t because he was exceptional, but rather because most of the disciples at the higher stages had already left the sect to guard the Fleeting Mist Sect''s interest. News had already returned of a few disciples dying. Xiao Lingxin feared that he would be among the corpses should he be dispatched. When the pillar of light descended, he had thought that the Five Poison Sect and Sky Whale Sect had started to assault the Fleeting Mist Sect, but after listening to the explanation, the horror turned into joy. An immortal had descended to aid them. No news was as worthy of celebration as this. How could an unranked force like the Five Poison Sect or Sky Whale Sect dare to attack them? Xiao Lingxin, several of his fellow disciples, and even some elders crowded outside the sect master''s mansion. All of them wished to hear the immortal speak but feared angering the immortal, so they didn''t enter. Inside, Yun Wangfeng wasn''t as joyful as the Fleeting Mist Sect members imagined him to be. The seat of power at the center felt like a hot stovetop under his rear. Sect Master Yun had offered the seat to Xi Mengfei when they entered, but she had declined and casually sat down on a random chair. The normally lofty core formation masters delegated themselves as servants and served tea. When not spoken to, they melded into the background and left everything to Sect Master Yun. ''Damn traitors.'' Sect Master grumbled internally. He cast a glance at his beloved disciple, who was standing stiffly next to him. Every movement from her lacked their usual grace, and her limbs seemed to have been made of stone instead. He didn''t even dare to glare at Elder Shan, who pretended to elegantly sip the tea that was served to him. Sect Master Yun was clear that Elder Shan was immensely enjoying his anxiety. Don''t think he couldn''t see the slight curl at the corners of his lips! "Empress Xi, I did not imagine that my call for aid would have great immortal coming to my humble sect." Sect Master Yun said diplomatically. "Your sect isn''t bad. Although your cultivation talent is subpar, your leadership allowed your sect to rise in a short time. Among the Buzhou Immortal Sect, the number of outer elders comparable to you are few in number." Mengfei said. Sect Master Yun''s face switched between joy and distress. What did she mean? Was she praising him or mocking him? To a cultivator, their talent should be held high above all else. "Many thanks?" Mengfei nodded, feeling quite proud for being able to praise a useless cultivator that had to rely on a pill to ascend to the Nascent Soul Realm. "Snrk!" Sect Master Yun whipped his head towards Elder Shan, who was still sipping his tea elegantly. "Stubborn Shan, don''t you think bringing the great immortal to his place is a bit too much?" Elder Shan elegantly placed his teacup down before gently smiling at Sect Master Yun, his usual attitude gone. "Grand Elder Xi had some business for your sect. It concerns the Lightning Sea." Sect Master Yun straightened his back. "What could the Lightning Sea contain to acquire the attention of a great immortal?" Tianyi sat by the side and waved at Pan Lanyue, who stiffly waved back. ''Elder Shan is blowing this out of proportion. Although I wonder why Mother came to this place, a treasure of extreme yin shouldn''t be enough to entice her to come here. The situation in the Northern Region is probably more complicated than I thought.'' "Senior Brother, who is that?" Daoyi asked, using voice transmission. "She''s Sect Master Yun''s disciple. She''s a princess of the Pan Kingdom, who was talented and caught Sect Master Yun''s eyes." Tianyi replied after a moment. His impression of Pan Lanyue had already grown faint. She was ultimately just a passerby in his life, so he had begun to forget about her upon returning to the sect. Not once had he expected to return, especially before the ten-year deadline. "I heard that the Fleeting Mist Sect was the first place you traveled to outside of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. For you to remember this big sister, is she your first crush?" Tianyi nearly choked on the tea he was drinking when he heard Daoyi''s words. Thankfully he was a nascent soul grandmaster and forcibly controlled his body''s actions and prevented anything unsightly. "Rather than the person, a particular event significantly impacted me during my time here." "Event? What happened." Daoyi asked. "Ah," Tianyi slightly cringed as he recalled the events of that day. He summarized the happenings of that day to Daoyi. "Pft! Haha!" Sect Master Yun and the other people in the room turned their heads towards Daoyi at her outburst. "My apologies, I just heard something funny. Please excuse my rudeness." The core formation elders felt discontent towards Daoyi for shifting the attention away during the vital discussion. But they could only hide it as she was Mengfei''s disciple. "Senior Brother, that''s...that''s... I didn''t think such things happened in real life. And you got blamed while just standing there!" Daoyi giggled. "Talking about getting shot while lying down," Tianyi muttered.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. "It gets even worse. After we left the Yan Residence, we participated in the auction hosted by the Yi Auction House. The auction itself wasn''t anything special, although I learned the existence of pills that help you transcend your realm. The second most memorable event of that day was an assassin. He tried to kill me." Tianyi said, his voice low. "Oh. Assassins kill people. That''s their job after all." Daoyi lightly said. "Oh? That''s it. Someone tried to kill me when I was ten!" Tianyi felt his lips twitch at Daoyi''s noncommital response. "I couldn''t tell. People who undergo assassination usually undergo trauma. But Senior Brother doesn''t seem to have any trauma at all. Also, you''re alive now, aren''t you? The assassination obviously failed." Tianyi was struck speechless by Daoyi''s words. Tianyi fiddled with the jade ring on his left middle finger. It was an artifact his mother had gifted him to protect against soul techniques. He glanced at his junior sister. Speaking of which, he had yet to mention anything concerning Lei Jingye at all to Daoyi. "Hey, Junior Sister, have you heard of Lei Jingye before?" Tianyi asked. His voice was light as if it was not an important matter, but the strength gripping his ring increased. "Lei Jingye?" Daoyi said, "Lei Jingye..." She said once more as if familiarizing the name with her tongue. "I remember!" Tianyi''s grip strengthened even further. "I couldn''t recall because soon after because Master visited the capital. Soon after, I was accepted as Master''s disciple, so I forgot about the matter." "How did you meet him?" Tianyi asked after a moment of silence. Daoyi showed an irritated expression. "He broke into my room!" There was a slight grievance in her voice. "An unknown man broke into my room! He said his name was Lei Jingye and that soon he would rescue me from the ducal estate." Daoyi huffed as she recalled those memories. "If the duke discovered it, I would have been married off to prevent a scandal from forming and prevent me from being a laughing stock! He has no consideration for my circumstances at all!" Tianyi paused. His impression of the event should be different. "Weren''t you moved? He told you he was going to rescue you from the duke''s estate." In his experience, shouldn''t Daoyi be happy that someone came to rescue her? Although Tianyi never asked, her days in the duke''s estate shouldn''t have been good. "Senior Brother, I''d appreciate it if you don''t question my intelligence." Daoyi sighed. "Why would I trust a total stranger''s words. I''d have to be braindead to suspect that he has no ulterior motive. Who rescues someone out of the blue without reason and breaks in to tell you?" ''...that makes way too much sense.'' Tianyi recalled all those romance returner novels he read where the male lead barged into the female''s room, proclaiming their love and intention to rescue them. As for the fact that he read such novels, he would never admit it to anyone. "I can see the other concubine-born noble ladies being overjoyed and falling in love in such a circumstance, though," Daoyi added as an afterthought. "Speaking of which, how did you plan to escape the duke''s control?" Tianyi asked. With Daoyi''s personality, there was no way she''d be satisfied remaining in the Jiang Ducal Estate and obeying her father''s whims. "I was going to acquire a body cultivation manual at the very least before I find a chance to leave. I haven''t shown any overt signs of any rebellious thoughts, so the duke and the madame shouldn''t be prepared for my eventual escape. Of course, I didn''t suddenly expect Master to want me to become your woman." Daoyi said with a teasing smile. Tianyi felt his lips twitch. He really wanted Daoyi to forget that particular meeting. "If I accepted, what would you have done?" "I guess I would try to make you rely on me. Since Senior Brother was so young at the time, I could probably carve a place in Senior Brother''s heart. Even if you found another woman and grew tired of me, I would have already reaped plenty of benefits by then. At the very least, I should be a Foundation Establishment Disciple. Even if I returned to the Xi Dynasty, my position would be unshakeable." Tianyi found himself speechless at Daoyi''s thought process. For women of the boudoir to treat the matter with such a logical mindsight was abnormal. "Even when I was young, I don''t think I''d be so easily deceived or seduced." Daoyi nodded. "You''re right. Senior Brother was surprisingly mature back then." "Wait...what do you mean back then?" Tianyi asked. "Well, you put up a lofty front, but you are surprisingly petty and childish. Didn''t you come here just to witness the duel?" Daoyi asked. "That''s..." Okay, Tianyi had no words of rebuttal. "Speaking of other matters..." Daoyi quirked an eyebrow at Tianyi''s attempt to alter the matter of discussion, but she complied nonetheless. "Then how did Senior Brother know that I met this Lei Jingye before?" "Earlier, I told you someone tried to assassinate me..." Tianyi started. Daoyi nodded, but after a moment, she blinked. "Don''t tell me the assassin was Lei Jingye?" Tianyi nodded. Daoyi held her hands in her lap. "Don''t tell me he approached me to get at you? No, that wouldn''t make sense. I hadn''t even met you back then, and he should not have known I would become your junior sister. If so, why did he approach me?" Tianyi rested his cheek in his palm and looked at Daoyi. "Who knows, love at first sight?" Daoyi just gave Tianyi a looked that said, "Are you stupid?" Tianyi felt his lips twitch. "Senior Brother, you shouldn''t be so naive. There is no such thing as love at first sight. If there was, then it would be lust for my appearance. Although, I wasn''t even of age back then. What kind of pedophile would lust after me? He must have something wrong with his head." Tianyi lit a candle for Lei Jingye in his heart. He knew why Lei Jingye''s heart was set on Daoyi, but no one else did. He diverted some attention to listen to the conversation between Sect Master Yun and Elder Shan. It seemed that the Northern Region wasn''t the only place where the various sects had conflicts. All the outer regions of the Heaven Continent were experiencing some turmoil. Nothing had spilled into the interior regions yet. But the Buzhou Immortal Sect was concerned and sent some elders to investigate. "It has only been ten years, yet little friend Tianyi has improved...a lot?" Sect Master Yun had directed his attention back to Tianyi. It was only today that he had found out the Tianyi''s parent Elder Shan had spoken up was an immortal and the famed Sword Empress Xi at that! Never in his wildest imagination had he thought that Tianyi would have been her son. He didn''t even know she had a child! There was no one that didn''t know of the famed Sword Empress on Heaven Continent. But because of Tianyi''s existence, Sect Master Yun and many other people wanted to ask, "Who was Tianyi''s father?" Earlier, Sect Master Yun had been too shocked by Mengfei to properly assess Tianyi. But now, upon closer inspection, he discovered that Tianyi was in the same realm as him! Not only that, the density of Tianyi''s aura and qi surpassed his own. "Little Friend...Tianyi, you''ve reached the Nascent Soul Realm?" Sect Master Yun''s voice was shaking, still half in disbelief. Something he spent over fifteen hundred years to achieve, Tianyi accomplished in twenty. Upon hearing this, even Pan Lanyue standing by the side, fell into a stupor. She recalled that her master said that Tianyi could likely enter the Core Formation Realm in ten years, and that would still make him stand out among prodigies. "Haha, I was lucky. With some fortuitous encounters and treasures, I was able to ascend into the Nascent Soul Realm recently." Tianyi said, his voice humble, but Daoyi could discern the pride in his voice. She smiled helplessly at her vain senior brother. Chapter 69: Who Are You? "Do you want my help in your duel against...against..." Tianyi paused, trying to remember the name. Tianyi snapped his fingers. "Right, against Yan Nie!" After the shock Sect Master Yun received from learning Tianyi''s current cultivation realm, Elder Shan that Tianyi should leave before giving Sect Master Yun a heart attack¡ªthough he may be the first grandmaster to die of one. Right now, Tianyi, Daoyi, Pan Lanyue, and a disciple, whose name Tianyi already forgot, grouped around a table. Pan Lanyue''s hand that was pouring tea froze slightly before resuming them. To be honest, when she recalled the actions she took so daringly, she felt ashamed of her younger self. Did she really need to shame her ex-fiancee like that? No, but her past self had been venting her bottled-up emotions. She was a proud genius, and everyone around her only reaffirmed the fact. Even without her talent, she was born the first princess of the Pan Kingdom. It had been fine when Yan Nie had still been a genius. Her younger self had even imagined how handsome Yan Nie had been, but that all changed when Yan Nie lost the ability to cultivate. A lofty princess was going to marry a cripple because of an agreement. Pan Lanyue hadn''t thought anything of it at first, thinking that she could take care of both of them if her future prince consort couldn''t cultivate. But she was a child, and children were most sensitive to the adults'' attitude around them. No one said anything overt, but the eyes of mockery and pity were too much for a child like her to resist. So what little goodwill Pan Lanyue had developed for Yan Nie before then all turned into loathing. Not hatred, just loathing. Even if she regretted it, it was too late. Both her and Yan Nie''s pride would never allow them to admit any weakness, but Lanyue had almost forgotten about the duel with the troubles assaulting the sect. "Thank you, Brother Tianyi." Lanyue''s tone was polite and distant. "I''m confident in my victory." The little kid that had followed her around in the past had also changed. He had grown up and even became a lofty nascent soul grandmaster. Furthermore, he was actually the child of The Sword Empress. When Lanyue recalled her self-confidence back then, she felt that her past self was laughable. Lanyue observed the handsome face of Tianyi, especially those eyes of his. In his eyes contained the cosmos. That was what Lanyue honestly felt. If she looked anymore, she was afraid she might get sucked in. There was a sense of distance that Lanyue couldn''t enclose. Back then, it had been fine when the difference between them was still that of a qi gathering pupil and a foundation establishment disciple. But now, the difference was as vast as heaven and earth. And that was ignoring Tianyi''s lineage. Should she be happy that Tianyi still remembered her and offered her aid? Pan Lanyue felt that she should, but her self-esteem wouldn''t allow it. Did Tianyi think that just because she was from an outer region that a nameless nobody like Yan Nie could defeat her? Tianyi asked again, but Lanyue rejected him once more. Seeing that she didn''t want his aid, Tianyi felt slightly down but still accepted Lanyue''s resolution. "Sister Pan, when you fight Yan Nie, you should do so thinking him as a pseudo Core Formation Master," Tianyi advised sincerely. "Yan Nie already reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm?" Lanyue asked in surprise. Tianyi shook his head. "Probably not. He should be in the Foundation Establishment Realm, but his prowess should be above his realm." "You heard about Yan Nie?" Pan Lanyue asked. The Fleeting Sect no longer had any manpower or time to waste searching for Yan Nie. Tianyi shook his head. "Just a hunch." "If he isn''t at the very least at the Foundation Establishment Realm, I would be quite disappointed. But brother Tianyi, don''t underestimate me just because I''m not from the Central Heaven Region like the Buzhou Immortal Sect." Lanyue said proudly. The more concern Tianyi felt concerning the duel, the more irritated her heart felt. "Then, I''ll give you an early congratulations on your victory." Daoyi felt the edge of her mouth twitch. Didn''t Tianyi know he was raising flags? "When is the duel, though?" Tianyi asked, realizing he didn''t know the exact date. "It should be in three days," Lanyue said as she counted using her fingers. "That fast? It seemed that I made it just in time." Tianyi said. Luckily they had used an unconventional method to come. Otherwise, he wasn''t sure he would have been able to make it even with his mother operating the immortal boat. The topic afterward veered away from the duel as the four people chatted. Or rather, three people chatted. The nameless disciple could only keep himself together by nodding. He was just a nameless qi gathering disciple. In front of a real nascent soul grandmaster, the psychological pressure upon him could even be considered an attack. He had never even spoken to the Fleeting Mist Sect Master before. "Sister Pan, what sort of place is the Pan Kingdom? Besides the country I was born in and the Buzhou Immortal Sect, I have never visited another place besides here." Daoyi asked. "Sister Jiang, this may be biased, but I feel the Pan Kingdom is one of the most prosperous countries in the whole Northern Region. Recently my father has reached the Core Formation Realm. He''s the only king in the nearby region to reach the Core Formation Realm!" Pan Lanyue''s voice was filled with admiration and pride. She was truly proud of her family. "That''s amazing!" Daoyi played along and complemented, showing her admiration. She didn''t plan to tell Lanyue that her Jiang Family''s old master was also a Core Formation Master for over a hundred years. In order to cultivate a relationship, you shouldn''t tear down another''s stage.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Tianyi just sipped his tea. He wasn''t as tactless as to praise Pan Lanyue''s father. If he, the son of an immortal and prodigy of a generation from Buzhou Immortal Sect, overly praised, then it would seem more like a mockery. "Senior Brother, have you visited the capital before?" Daoyi said, turning the conversation towards Tianyi. "I have, but it was only so that sister Pan could greet her family before we left," Tianyi said. Although he wanted to show off, he only knew about Jinyang City. "Sister Jiang, brother Tianyi, why don''t I take you to stroll the streets of the Pan Capital?" Pan Lanyue suddenly said with brightened eyes. Daoyi looked at Tianyi. Tianyi smiled. "Sure, last time I was regretful that I wasn''t able to explore Sister Pan''s birthplace. Now I can make up that regret." "Sister Pan, you can''t!" At this time, the silent disciple suddenly spoke up. "The enemies of the sect are everywhere. You could be ambushed!" "Brother Xiao, you don''t have to worry. The enemies haven''t reached the point of being able to stick their hands inside my Pan Kingdom''s capital." Lanyue said. "Besides, with Brother Tianyi here, nothing will happen. He is a legendary nascent soul grandmaster." "Calling me legendary makes me feel embarrassed," Tianyi said as he held his chin in his hands. "I haven''t reached that point yet. But unless an immortal comes, I should be able to protect Sister Pan. Even if an immortal comes, I can still stall and escape." This wasn''t a baseless boast. Now that his mother had returned. Tianyi''s stock of talismans had naturally returned and even increased! If an average true immortal wasn''t careful, they could be killed by Tianyi''s talismans. Unsurprisingly, the three were given permission. Mengfei had always allowed her son to do as he wished, as long as it was not overtly seeking death. No matter how ridiculous Tianyi''s request could be. Once when he was young, he had wasted a staggering amount of precious resources to satisfy his curiosity. It was only after Tianyi discovered how precious the resources he wasted were did he stop. From this point of view, Mengfei was a failure as a mother. Not reigning Tianyi in or teaching him morals and standards. If Tianyi didn''t already have memories of his past life, chances are he would have completely become a wastrel. But that would still be better than becoming like Xi Longyi. Sect Master Yun felt that Tianyi should be more powerful than him. Although ten years had already passed, he was still in the early Nascent Soul Realm. By his estimations, Tianyi should at least have a Four-Colored Nascent Soul. Meaning Tianyi was superior to him in power but not experience. The journey to the Pan Capital wouldn''t take long, but the day was already late. So the three set out the next day on Tianyi''s immortal boat. Along them were two foundation establishment guards dispatched by Sect Master Yun. Trusting Tianyi''s capabilities and carelessness were two completely different matters. Tianyi and Daoyi accompanied Lanyue to visit her family. It could be seen that Lanyue had her family at heart, and this wasn''t the first time she had visited them. Before, her master did not allow her to visit her family in the face of the sect''s current affairs. She was sincerely grateful to Tianyi for allowing her to see her father and brother, whom she hadn''t seen in months. Lanyue''s only complaint was if only her brother could hide his starstruck gaze at seeing Daoyi. But seeing as that her primary role was to show the capital to Tianyi and Daoyi, Lanyue bid farewell to her father. As for her brother? He unceremoniously brought himself along. Lanyue saw Tianyi''s lips twitch for a moment before it was hidden. "Hmm?" Tianyi stopped in the middle of the streets. "Yi Auction House? It seems it''s pretty busy today." "Senior Brother Xi, there''s a reason for it!" Pan Lanri said without missing a beat. "I heard that there might even be an egg of a divine beast on auction!" Tianyi snorted. Divine beast egg? Even the Buzhou Immortal Sect didn''t have such a thing. Or maybe they did. Perhaps it had hatched and was being hidden by the sect. "No need, probably just baseless rumors." The group continued on their way, exploring the many secret spots of the capital known only to the locals. "Don''t go too far!" Tianyi stopped as his ears picked up a commotion in the distance. His heart beat in excitement at the thought of a free show, so he led the group towards the commotion. A fair amount of people had already gathered, but just the pressure released by the guards allowed them a front-row seat. On one side was what seemed to be a scion of some noble clan from the Pan Kingdom wearing dark blue clothing. Behind him stood several armored guards, and he was showing an extremely dark face. On the other side, a gentleman wearing a white robe whose features looked as if they had been carved from jade. It was undoubtedly a face that many maidens would fall in love with at first sight. But what Tianyi''s attention was the woman the white-robed man was standing protectively in front of. He tilted his head as he found the woman extremely familiar. "Yi Dongli, are you prepared to go against the Zeng Family for that poisonous woman!" The blue-robed man angrily said, all his good lucks wasted upon his twisted expression. "Young Master Zeng, don''t you think accusing a weak woman is beyond appalling?" Yu Dongli said, his stance clear. "Appalling?" The young master of the Zeng Family, a high-ranking clan of the Pan Kingdom, derisively laughed. "Don''t tell me the young master of the Yi Clan actually fell for that wenches'' guile? She snuck into my clan and stole treasure from the Zeng Ancestral Tomb. Tell me, Yi Dongli, if I can swallow that, do I even have the qualification to be surnamed Zeng!?" Tianyi tsked, gradually learning the crux of the matter. "Your Zeng Family has a long history. A foundation establishment disciple like miss Jiang here could never break into your family''s tomb. You are just spouting nonsense." Yi Dongli said. "I wouldn''t have believed either, but that woman fatally injured my father with a concealed weapon! She not only took treasures from us, but she has many secrets to her!" The young master of the Zeng Family said as he glared hatefully at the woman behind Yi Dongli. "Hmpf, this is just one-sided arguments from your side. What proof do you have?" Yi Dongli countered. "We''ll know the truth once she reveals the contents of her spatial pouch!" Zeng Young Master said. "That is true. Exposing it in front of spectators isn''t good. How about we go to the Yi Auction House and do so?" Yi Dongli said. "Do you think I would trust your Yi Auction House after you brazenly sided with her?! We should have her royal highness, Princess Lanyue, be the judge!" Young Master Zeng said as he looked at Pan Lanyue. Lanyue finally discovered the feeling of lying down but being shot by arrows that Tianyi felt all those years ago. "Your highness," Yi Dongli said as he gave a slight bow that was neither arrogant nor humble, giving people a good impression. Lanyue sighed. "Young Master Yi, Scion Zeng. If both of you trust the Pan Royal Family, allow me to preside over this matter." Before the Zeng young master could agree, the woman behind Yi Dongli stepped forward and gave a smile to Tianyi and Daoyi. "Long time no see." The woman said. Tianyi blinked, and before he could process what happened, his mouth had already opened. "Who are you?" The woman''s face stiffened. "Long time no see, Second Sister." It was at this moment that Daoyi stepped forward and spoke. Tianyi finally realized who this familiar woman was. Daoyi''s second sister, Jiang Chunye Chapter 70: Jiang vs Jiang Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Chapter 71: Before the Duel A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Chapter 72: Ascending the Mountain Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Chapter 73: The Duel If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Chapter 74: Five Poison Sect The clouds no longer concealed the sky as numerous starlight shined down onto the realm. The lunar star gently encompassed the platform and enveloped Pan Lanyue and Yan Nie in her gentle embrace. As if on prior agreement, the two duelists simultaneously charged at each other. Lanyue wreathed herself in a garment of flames, looking very much like a spirit of fire. Her sword burned bright red as it turned almost mirage-like. Flickering Ember Sword - Ninth Stance: Flame Fairy Sect Master Yun who had been watching the duel calmly before, gasped when Lanyue unleashed her move. Sect Master Yun directed a complicated gaze at Yan Nie. Flickering Ember Sword was a technique he had coincidently acquired from his earlier years. Although incomplete, it had tremendous potential. And Lanyue, who had a perfect fire spiritual root, was a natural at it. After Sect Master Yun reached the Nascent Soul Realm, he spent a good portion of his time revising and restructuring the technique for Lanyue. Flickering Ember Sword - First Stance: Smoldering Sword, Second Stace: Heart Drift... Fifth Stance: Converging Petals... Eighth Stance: Spirit Sword. Those were all techniques meant for Qi Gathering to the Foundation Establishment Realm. In particular, the eighth stance was meant to be mastered by a peak foundation establishment disciple. Before the battle, Lanyue was only barely able to unleash the eighth stance. This was already impressive in Sect Master Yun''s eyes. Not many people could even comprehend the technique. But now, Pan Lanyue directly eclipsed the eighth stance and unleashed the ninth stance, a technique only usable at the Core Formation Realm in theory. In order to use the ninth stance while summoning the intense flames, the user needed to have a tranquil heart in the heat of the battle, unfettered by emotions or extraneous thoughts. Sect Master Yun felt that Lanyue had undergone a qualitative change while waiting for Yan Nie to enter the next stage. There was an air of peace and steadiness to Lanyue now; she had grown. Sect Master Yun allowed a smile to grace his lips. It was excellent news to hear in the dark times of the Fleeting Mist Sect. With her current mindset, the chances of her ascending the Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation increased by a wide margin. In contrast, Yan Nie did not display any flashy moves like the Ninth Stance: Flame Fairy, but his spear began to glow bright green. From the spearhead to the shaft to the butt of the spear. As the spear grew brighter and brighter, it appeared as if he was wielding solid light instead. At the same time, the temperature drastically increased and created a hazy filter. The heat was so great that even the heat produced by Lanyue was suppressed. Clang! Red met green. Lanyue''s sword clashed against Yan Nie''s spear once more. Against Yan Nie''s greater explosive power, Lanyue was forced back. However, like a dance, Lanyue retreated and swung her sword, unleashing three attacks for every one attack from Yan Nie. As time went on, the number of Yan Nie''s attacks decreased while Lanyue''s increased. Finally, Yan Nie''s spear flew out of his hand and into the air. Lanyue did not let go of this chance and poised her sword to pierce Yan Nie''s chest. Yan Nie, who seemed destined for defeat, clasped his hand together, and a bright green light was emitted from within his closed hands. He opened his palms and thrust the small blue light against Lanyue''s incoming sword tip. "Big Bang Explosion!" When Yan Nie uttered those words, all light within the vicinity seemed to have disappeared and plunged the area into complete darkness. After a brief moment of unnatural silence, a tiny light was seen. It only appeared for a brief moment, but it was as if it was the origin of all things. Light dyed the sights of all the onlookers, causing them to lose their vision. When the spectators regained their vision, they saw Yan Nie standing alone on the platform. The platform had been burnt black. Some parts were even melted and flowed red like magma. "Hey, where is Senior Sister Pan?" A disciple from the Fleeting Mist Sect asked. "She couldn''t have died, right?" Just as the disciples were about to fall into a panic, someone shouted. "Senior Sister is there!" Everyone looked towards where the voice originated from. They saw a young disciple kneeling beside Lanyue. Lanyue herself was on her back and unconscious. Her clothing had been burnt black, and burns marred some of her skin, but there was no doubt she was alive with no crippling injuries. The onlookers released a sigh of relief, but then they turned towards the winner atop the platform, Yan Nie. As disciples of the Fleeting Mist Sect, they had long grown accustomed to being superior to everyone else surrounding them. Had it been any other disciple that lost to a no-name cultivator, the title of incompetent would be attributed to the loser. But Lanyue had been with the Fleeting Mist Sect for over ten years, and everyone had seen her limitless potential. If they gave Lanyue the title of incompetent, then what were they? Less than incompetent? It wasn''t just a matter of losing. Nearly all the disciples admired Lanyue, and only a select few were her enemies. Had to say, Lanyue''s relationship skills learned from her time as a princess was useful in her day-to-day interactions. Even though she lost, none of them doubted her strength or mocked her for it. These prideful youth turned their gaze toward Yan Nie. If word leaked out that their eldest senior sister lost to a loose cultivator, then the Fleeting Mist Sect''s reputation would fall from the sky and into the mud. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. If it were normal times, the thought of eliminating the winner and hiding the outcome would already be considered. But now, the Fleeting Mist Sect could ill afford to have their reputation dragged through the mud and invite their enemies a chance to strike at their weakness. At this time, a clear, clapping sound was heard. The source of the clapping was Tianyi. He had reservations about the name of the attack Yan Nie used, but it was nonetheless a magnificent battle in his view. It was certainly a battle that Tianyi himself could never achieve. To him, battles were just a means to an end. But between Lanyue and Yan Nie, he sensed an inextricable link between them, not of love but of rivalry. It was a battle that both of them had to go through, where the winner would achieve a new height. Or at least, that was how the duel was supposed to go. When Lanyue decided to allow Yan Nie to enter the Spiritual Altar Formation Stage, she had achieved an internal breakthrough equivalent greater than what she would have achieved had she won the duel. If Lanyue and Yan Nie were to duel again in ten years with the two of them given the same resources and opportunities, it would be hard to say who would win. Pan Lanyue had lost this battle of pride, but she had gained something as well. Tianyi''s opinion of her elevated. If he was in the same position and the opponent stupidly tried to break through, he would unleash all his strength at once and punish them for such arrogance. With Tianyi in the lead, Daoyi also started to clap, followed by Elder Shan. Sect Master Yun released a sigh. He gave a glance to Elder Shan before also clapping. Seeing as their own sect master, the master of Fleeting Mist Sect, was also clapping, the disciples and elders, no matter how unwilling, began to clap. Yan Nie stood there as if unaffected by the crowd. It was as if it didn''t matter whether they cheered or jeered at him, but he knew it was because he couldn''t. His last attack used up nearly all of his spiritual qi, and he was grasping to control the source of green flames within his dantian. He had no spare mental strength for any other matters. After Lanyue''s breakthrough, should he have held back in any way, the chances of defeat were too high. When he finally regained control, he realized that Sect Master Yun was standing in front of him. Instantly, wariness surged up within him. "Fleeting Mist Sect Master," Yan Nie saluted the elderly man while keeping his guard up. "Yan Nie, it was a magnificent duel." Sect Master Yun sighed once more. "Lanyue fought well, even surpassed her limits, but it was not enough for her to win." "Miss Pan is a worthy foe. Even at the last moment, I couldn''t predict who would win." Yan Nie said. "A win is a win. Lanyue will fulfill the agreement, just that," Sect Master Yun trailed off and glanced at his unconscious disciple, his heart pained at her injuries. He had already checked; there would be no lasting injuries. "No need," Yan Nie rejected. "All that is said has already occurred during the duel. Anything more is needless." At this point, although his heart would be happy with the apology, it would be needlessly tarnishing Lanyue, who he had come to respect in the midst of battle. "How boring." Sect Master Yun immediately shifted around and locked onto the source of the voice. He recognized the voice well. It was the Sect Master of the Five Poison Sect. The Sect Master of the Five Poison Sect stood in the air, and flanking him were four other people also in midair. Behind him stood numerous cultivators standing atop flying artifacts. It was as if something shattered, and as the shards fell, the hidden presence of the Five Poison Sect members was revealed. Their presence was no longer hidden, and Sect Master Yun tightened his face. Although he had a guess, after feeling the Five Poison Sect Master''s qi and the four flanking him, his worst fears had been revealed. "So you''ve managed to reach the Nascent Soul Realm, Threepoison. You sure hid it well." Sect Master Yun said. Threepoison was the title the sect master of the Five Poison Sect chose for himself. It was both a praise and a shame of his. The Five Poison Sect''s ultimate art was to merge five supreme poisons into the ultimate poison, but before this, he could only merge three of the five poisons. "It should be Fivepoison now." Sect Master Fivepoison said, his gentle demeanor hiding his ruthlessness. Sect Master Yun had long stepped into the air and stood on eye level with Fivepoison. His wariness increased even further upon hearing what Fivepoison said. "Hmpf, so what are you here for?" "What else? To watch a good show." Sect Master Fivepoison said. "It was a pity. You should have killed that young fellow. Fleeting Mist Sect is not fit to be a power like the Five Poison Sect." Sect Master Yun snorted. "You have no control over how I manage my sect." Sect Master Fivepoison nodded. "Indeed. After all, after today there would be no Fleeting Mist Sect. There will be no sect to manage." As soon as Sect Master Fivepoison said those words, the invaders from the Five Poison Sect aggressively brandished their qi. Sect Master Yun''s face became increasingly ugly. "Threepoison! This is the base of the Fleeting Mist Sect, don''t think just because you''ve brought a few helpers, you would be able to take us down!" Sect Master Fivepoison revealed a gentle smile. "Of course not, I would never come here without preparation against your guardian formation." Sect Master Fivepoison revealed a round circular disc. Sect Master Yun had a bad premonition, and as he moved to stop it, two of the four nascent soul grandmasters moved to block him. Sect Master Yun had a two-colored nascent soul, and against these two nascent soul grandmasters, he was unable to reach Sect Master Fivepoison. The disc in Sect Master Fivepoison''s hand began to shine brilliantly, and before Sect Master Yun could comprehend anything at all, the disc shattered. At the same time, many cries of fear and pain came from the Fleeting Mist Sect. Sect Master Yun spared a glance behind him and nearly vomited blood. Since the sudden appearance of the Five Poison Sect, the elders had already started to issue orders to the disciples. Lanyue had been taken away, and the disciples were ordered to move to strategic locations and activate the guardian formations. But after the disc shattered and disappeared, the Fleeting Mist Sect''s guardian formation was instantly disabled. And those in control of it all suffered a backlash. "THREEPOISON!!!" Sect Master Yun yelled out furiously as mist began to materialize around his body. His attack power increased sharply and caused the two nascent soul grandmasters to dodge. "Don''t think just because you''ve cracked our formation, you will be able to destroy us. The guests from the Buzhou Immortal Sect will not let you go! "Oh? It seems that you''ve fallen quite low." Sect Master Fivepoison chuckled, his tone full of malice. "Have you fallen so low that you need to rely on external aid to survive?" "I don''t want to hear that from you! What price did you pay to enter the Nascent Soul Realm? Don''t tell me you sold your chrysanthemum?" Sect Master Yun revealed a derisive sneer. Sect Master Fivepoison finally couldn''t keep his cool at Sect Master Yun''s vulgar words. "Hmpf! Sect Master Yun! I will kill you last. I will make you watch as I destroy your Fleeting Mist Sect and send your prided disciple to the pits of hell! Not even the Buzhou Immortal Sect can help!!!" At this moment, lightning appeared in front of Sect Master Yun and struck one of the nascent soul grandmasters fighting him. There was a sudden silence as the struck nascent soul grandmaster lost all signs of life and fell to the ground. Tianyi, still sitting upon his throne, floated upward and smiled. But that smile could not be called pleasant at all and was filled with contempt at Sect Master Fivepoison. "The Buzhou Immortal Sect can''t help?" Tianyi questioned, his tone dangerous. "The Buzhou Immortal Sect won''t help. After all, I, alone, am enough to annihilate you all." Chapter 75: Zhou Erlian The sound of thunder rumbled dangerously as Tianyi sat upon his throne. He rested his head on his hand as he looked at the figure standing next to the sect master of the Five Poison Sect. That figure''s presence was weak, as if he was part of the world. Qi indistinguishable from the world''s qi was the hallmark of a Unity Realm Venerable. Should a venerable wish, those under the Unity Realm would not be able to sense them. The figure''s presence resulted from that ability, but Tianyi was clearly able to sense the cultivator next to Sect Master Fivepoison! It wasn''t because Tianyi''s sensing abilities were extraordinary but because the Unity Realm Venerable had a problem. Tianyi observed the Unity Realm Venerable. He was of average height and wore a green robe artifact that was only at the Core Formation Realm. This, in itself, revealed a problem. A revered Unity Venerable using core formation artifacts? What a joke. The unity venerable had sparse white hair, so thin that it could be ignored. His skin was full of dark blotches, and the numerous wrinkles nearly buried his eyes. The bloody aura and death qi surrounding him were also extremely familiar to Tianyi. It was akin to Lei Jingye from the other timeline, who had forcibly raised his realm, only far worse. Not just the Unity Realm Venerable, the other nascent soul grandmasters, aside from Sect Master Fivepoison, also had bloody auras and death qi. According to Tianyi''s estimation, the Unity Realm Venerable had less than a year to live while the other nascent soul venerable had at most five years. Tianyi snorted. The Unity Realm Venerable was incomplete; otherwise, Tianyi would not be able to sense him. When one ascended to the Unity Realm, there was a qualitative difference far greater than when one ascended to the Core Formation Realm from the Foundation Establishment Realm or Nascent Soul Realm from the Core Formation Realm. It was a unique characteristic known as harmonization. "Hmpf. Friend from the Buzhou Immortal Sect, I advised you to stay out of this. This is a matter between the Five Poison Sect and the Fleeting Mist Sect." Sect Master Fivepoison said. Tianyi gave a mirthless chuckle. "Who was it who said that the Buzhou Immortal Sect could not do anything? Yet the moment I unleashed an attack, you cry for peace?" Sect Master Fivepoison''s facial expression darkened before an ingratiating smile appeared. "I have eyes and did not see Mount Tai. I only heard of the legends of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Seeing the power of this hero, I can see that I was a frog at the bottom of the well. Do not concern yourself with a petty person like me. If I have offended you, I will apologize. But this is truly a matter between the Five Poison Sect and the Fleeting Mist Sect." Tianyi felt his lips twitch at how quickly Sect Master Fivepoison changed his stance and even lowered himself after all those words. "It''s true that I don''t have much of a relationship with the Fleeting Mist Sect," Tianyi said nonchalantly. Sect Master Yun''s face fell while Sect Master Fivepoison showed a joyful expression. "Friend from the Buzhou Immortal Sect-" "But," Tianyi cut off Sect Master Fivepoison. "My elder, who has taken care of me since young, is friends with Sect Master Yun." It was now Sect Master Fivepoison''s turn to have an ugly expression while Sect Master Yun''s expression brightened. "Besides, those nascent soul grandmasters and even that incomplete unity venerable," Tianyi paused as he took in the three of them, ignoring the now-dead nascent soul grandmaster that he had killed earlier. "You guys refined mortals in order to forcibly increase your realms, didn''t you?" Sect Master Yun who heard Tianyi stared in shock at Sect Master Fivepoison and the three others. "Impossible. How come they don''t have any Karmic Sin then!?" For a core formation master to refine people and enter the Nascent Soul Realm, they would incur a huge amount of Karmic Sin. But Sect Master Yun did not detect much Karmic Sin from them and simply thought they were blood or slaughter cultivators. As for Tianyi. Tianyi never considered himself a moral person. At least to the moral stratum developed from modern Earth, but he had this thing called standards. He had no problem causing endless misery to people he didn''t like or just kicking while they were down, but refining an unaccountable number of people for power? And helpless mortals at that? How many people would it take to refine in order to raise a foundation establishment disciple to a core formation master? How many would it take to raise a core formation master to a nascent soul grandmaster? Ten thousand? A hundred thousand? Millions? Tianyi didn''t know, but the numbers would be unaccountable. A mere mortal could never compare to a cultivator, so they would have to make up the difference with quantity. It wasn''t as if Tianyi empathized with the victims used in the atrocity. But he felt that he would no longer be human if he accepted it and let it be. He wasn''t a righteous person; in fact, he was petty and rather unscrupulous in his own opinion. Since they dared to do such a thing, then they should not blame him for taking action. Not that he planned to watch on the sidelines when Fleeting Mist Sect was attacked, Tianyi just had even more reason to kill all of them now. He had to wonder, just where did the Five Poison Sect sacrifice so many mortals? For them to have so many nascent soul grandmasters and a unity venerable, it should be difficult to hide the existence of their actions. As Tianyi raised his hand in preparation to attack, the unity venerable next to Sect Master Fivepoison spoke. "Evil Wind Flower Picker Zhou, do you know of him?" Tianyi paused, sensing hostility. "I do." His lips twitched as he recalled the first person he had ever killed. "I killed him. I am quite proud of that. I was only at the Foundation Establishment Realm back then, after all." The sky was dyed red from the murderous aura the unity venerable emitted. The people in the vicinity felt chills up their spin from it, and Tianyi, as the target, felt it more clearly than anyone else. "HE WAS MY PRECIOUS ELDER BROTHER!!!" With a roar, a tornado formed from Zhou Erlian''s, Evil Wind Flower Picker Zhou''s younger brother''s, hand and shot towards Tianyi. The murderous aura had caught off Tianyi. The killing intent was not something differentiated by one''s realm but a person''s thoughts and willpower. An immortal might have a weaker killing intent than a mortal general who slaughtered countless armies. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Tianyi had never felt anything quite like it before and thus was blown away by Zhou Erlian''s attack. But the tornado began to rumble as lightning streaked. Soon, the tornado dispersed, and Tianyi was revealed without a hint of injury. "Evil Wind Flower Picker Zhou''s younger brother, huh?" Tianyi lightly said. "He deserved to die. I''m sure his victims will thank me!" Zhou Erlian roared in rage as he shot toward Tianyi with a punch. The punch never reached Tianyi as a barrier of lightning erupted from the Thunder Throne and blocked it. His fist began to be burnt black as lightning continuously electrocuted it, but Zhou Erlian acted as if he never felt anything and unleashed a barrage of punches. "WHAT DOES A BRAT LIKE YOU UNDERSTAND!!!" Zhou Erlian seemed to have lost his mind as his oppressive aura increased and the death qi that surrounded him became denser. "HE WAS MY LIFE!! I WOULD HAVE DIED HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR HIM!!!" Tianyi said nothing. He frowned and made several hand seals. Numerous armaments, from swords to spears and even vajras composed of lightning, appeared around Tianyi''s throne. With a flick of Tianyi''s hand, they shot toward Zhou Erlian. "That doesn''t excuse him for all the sins he committed. Walking by the shoreline will eventually cause his shoes to get wet." Tianyi said. Zhou Erlian laughed derisively. He formed several hand seals and formed a barrier of wind, with which the lightning armament clashed against. Several lightning armaments exploded, but even more survived and pierced toward Zhou Erlian. The lightning armaments shattered upon nearing Zhou Erlian, but a few made it through his defenses. His skin became burnt black, his clothes destroyed, and what little left of his hair burned away. But a maniac smile remained upon his face. "Sins? Then you should have more sins! Because of you! I refined numerous mortals just to reach this realm. You are the greatest sinner of all!" Tianyi said nothing and just looked contemptuously at Zhou Erlian. But Zhou Erlian seemed to not have seen this and continued ranting. "Hahaha! This is all because of you! Had it not been for you, all those infants would not have died. Had it not been for you, none of this hell would have EXISTED!!!!!" Zhou Erlian charged toward Tianyi once more, his body seemingly having merged with black gales. Thirteen lightning pillars descended from the heavens and enclosed Tianyi and the black gales inside a lightning cage. From each pillar, lightning bolts struck the black gales until Zhou Erlian was forced out. Once out, he did not care as he recklessly charged toward Tianyi, his aura rising even higher. Without care, he rammed his head into the lightning barrier and unleashed a barrage of punches. He didn''t seem like a unity venerable but a thug using punches like a martial cultivator instead of a spiritual cultivator that he was. Tianyi frowned as the lightning barrier cracked, and Zhou Erlian entered his range. Just as Tianyi was about to stand up, he felt the hairs on his body rise. Zhou Erlian gave a ghastly smile as his body began to become bloated. An enormous amount of energy was ignited within Zhou Erlian''s body. The more bloated he became, the more power there was. The sense of crisis Tianyi felt was nearly the same as when Monarch Soulfish attacked him. "You madman!" Tianyi finally yelled, his composure lost. But Zhou Erlian could no longer appreciate as his thoughts began to blur. His last thoughts were of his gentle older brother smiling at him. Since he was young, he had been sick. His parents had long given up on him, but his older brother never did. He never abandoned him, even when he became a mighty cultivator. What good things he had, he would share with Zhou Erlian. "Senior Brother!" Daoyi, who had been watching this beside Elder Shan, cried out. The explosion was cataclysmic. Zhou Erlian, even as an incomplete unity venerable, was, frankly speaking, underwhelming. His techniques were still that of a core formation master''s. Only his realm had increased, nothing else. In addition, because he had refined numerous mortals in, Tianyi''s attacks were especially effective against him, who was surrounded by Karmic Sin. Lightning already suppressed evil and yin-attributed foes and cultivators, but it was doubly so since Tianyi embued his attacks with his Tribulation Essence. However, Zhou Erlian had never planned to live. He had been planning revenge since the day he received news that his brother had died. A mysterious benefactor had given him the technique to refine mortals to increase his cultivation base. By the time he gathered the necessary amount of mortals, his brother''s killer had long left. It was only recently that the mysterious benefactor contacted him with news that his brother''s killer had returned. Zhou Erlian had wanted to beat Tianyi and mock him with his Unity Realm cultivation base, but alas, he was suppressed in both techniques and attributes. Zhou Erlian unleashed the only method he could kill Tianyi with. He used his body and cultivation base as a bomb and ignited himself. Sect Master Yun and Sect Master Fivepoison were knocked away by the wind created from a Unity Realm Venerable''s self-destruction. "No!" Sect Master Yun cried out. The blast radius of Zhou Erlian''s suicide attack was nothing to laugh at, and he could see the explosion widening even further. At this rate, all the people in the Fleeting Mist Sect would be killed. Even Sect Master Fivepoison had a nasty expression. His own sect members would be caught up within the radius as well. Just as it seemed that the self-destruction would enlarge, the thirteen lightning pillars bent and caged the explosion. Under the disbelieving eyes of everyone, the explosion was locked within the cage. Slowly the light brought about by the explosion dimmed until it entirely disappeared with the lightning pillars. Tianyi stood in the air with smoke rising from his robes; his face was dark as he sent a glare toward Sect Master Fivepoison. His throne was nowhere to be seen, and parts of the landscape caught with the blast radius had turned to glass from the extreme heat. Sect Master Fivepoison and the members of the Five Poison Sect all felt chills crawl up their spines. "Retreat!" It was an action brought about by his intuition, but Sect Master Fivepoison ordered his sect to retreat immediately. Tianyi said nothing and raised his hand in the air. Black clouds gathered above him, and streaks of lightning were even absorbed into it from the Fleeting Mist Sect''s Lightning Sea. Miles upon miles, black clouds could be seen, blotting the night sky. He brought his hand down, and endless lightning bolts struck down upon the fleeing Five Poison Sect members. Sect Master Fivepoison vomited blood after a bolt of lightning struck him, his body burnt black. The last two nascent soul grandmasters attracted the most lightning with their massive amounts of bloody aura and died under the onslaught of lightning. Strangely, half the core formation masters and foundation establishment disciples survived the lightning bolts that fatally injured Sect Master Fivepoison. That did not last long as half of them stopped as they descended into despair. Core Formation and Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation descended upon those near the peak of their realms, sending the whole Five Poison Sect into a panic. Sect Master Fivepoison could feel himself choking as he witnessed this scene. His eyes caught sight of Tianyi''s emotionless eyes as if he was the ruler of lightning passing judgment. The sect master of the Five Poison Sect quickly continued to flee. He didn''t have the leisure to worry about his sect. Even as he ran, his heart bled profusely. After this, how many years would it take to rebuild the lost forces of the Five Poison Sect? That was assuming Tianyi didn''t chase after him. Tianyi paid special attention to Sect Master Fivepoison and deliberately ordered several lightning bolts toward Sect Master Fivepoison. Sect Master Fivepoison in response, split into five versions of himself and fled in different directions. In response, even more lightning bolts descended. A happy side effect was that the lightning falling upon the other Five Poison Sect members decreased in numbers and power. Not that Sect Master Fivepoison would be pleased if it was at his expense. Before Tianyi could continue, an argent pillar of light erupted from within the lightning seas and destroyed the black clouds and, by extension, his technique. Tianyi frowned as he felt himself unable to summon the black clouds and even his true qi being suppressed. He sent one look at the fleeing Five Poison Sect members before he descended to the ground, his innate ability to step on air suppressed by the argent light. As time passed, the fragrance of lotus enveloped the Fleeting Mist Sect and its surroundings. He could see a tiny figure next to the pillar of light. Even from a distance, Tianyi could recognize his mother''s, Xi Mengfei, figure. Chapter 76: Thank You This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Chapter 77: Departure Through circumstances out of his control, Yan Nie found himself grouped with the Fleeting Mist Sect. After gaining victory, Yan Nie didn''t expect the Fleeting Mist Sect to be assaulted by an enemy sect. Had the Fleeting Mist Sect reneged on their promise and attempted to silence him, Yan Nie would have found the attack helpful in his escape. But now, he just found it annoying since he was implicated in the invasion. He felt very out of place among the sea of Fleeting Mist Sect disciples. Although none of them showed him hostility as a result of the invasion and the subsequent eruption of the pillar of light, they did not mingle with him either. Yan Nie could leave, but it would definitely be seen as rude or possibly hostile if he just so left without talking to Pan Lanyue. At the very least, he was given a nice room to stay in, and the density of spiritual qi was very abundant. "Disciple." Yan Nie bolted upright from his bed at the sound of his master''s voice. "Master, you''ve finally responded! I tried to contact you, but you didn''t respond." The ghostly image of Immortal Pillrabbit helplessly shrugged. "If I responded, my existence would have likely been discovered by her." "Who?" Yan Nie asked, curious as to who would be able to sense his master''s presence. Although his master was only a soul at the moment, his master was still an immortal. "Sword Empress Xi, never in my dreams had I imagined that she would appear here." Immortal Pillrabbit muttered. "Sword Empress Xi?" Yan Nie asked, having never heard of her. "You probably never heard of her, having lived in this remote region. Sword Empress Xi is the grand elder of the Buzhou Immortal Sect and publicly acclaimed number one immortal in the Huang Realm. All those in the Immortal Realm should have heard of her. According to legend, she is able to strike anywhere in the Huang Realm at a notice." As Immortal Pillrabbit spoke, there was a sense of admiration in his voice. "Hehe, Master, you seem to know about Sword Empress Xi." Yan Nie teased. "Of course, she is the publically acclaimed number one beauty after all." Immortal Pillrabbit shamelessly said. "But, I didn''t expect Sword Empress Xi to have a child." "How would you know?" Yan Nie asked. "And why would Sword Empress Xi even come here?" Immortal Pillrabbit shook his head. "I suspected that she came for that pillar of light, the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus." "Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus?" Yan Nie repeated, never having heard of it. "Indeed," Immortal Pillrabbit said, a sense of excitement jolting throughout his body. "One of the top ten lotuses of the universe! You can use it to concoct a pill that can directly make a mortal ascend to immortality! If I used it to reform my body, I might even directly step into the Seamless Immortal Realm." Yan Nie felt his breath hitch. The goal of all cultivators was to reach that distant realm, but how many cultivators would be able to reach that realm? But just by using a pill, a mortal could accomplish what so many cultivators dreamed of. Immortal Pillrabbit chuckled. "Of course, using the Sovereign Nine Lotus as an ingredient to concoct an Immortal Ascension Pill is just sheer extravagance." "Hold on, Master said that Sword Empress Xi had a child. Who is he?" Yan Nie asked with excitement coloring his face. Seeing his disciple''s gossipy expression, Immortal Pillrabbit chuckled while he stroked his long white beard. "You''ve met him before. We even discussed him before." "We have?" Yan Nie looked down as he searched his thoughts. He suddenly snapped his head back up. Among the people they discussed related to Sword Empress Xi, there was only one. "Xi Tianyi!" Immortal Pillrabbit nodded. "That does explain his talent. It''d be harder to be average even if you tried if you were born as Sword Empress Xi''s son." Yan Nie felt his breath hitched. The boy from ten years ago, now a young man, revealed his brilliance during the Five Poison Sect invasion. There was a sense of fiery competitiveness ignited within Yan Nie as if telling him not to fall behind. "But Sword Empress Xi''s son really exceeds one''s expectations. Who would have thought he would have reached the Nascent Soul Realm in ten years? Although only at the early stage, he''s still a genuine nascent soul grandmaster, a twenty-year-old one at that," Immortal Pillrabbit continued as he stroked his beard. "When he unleashed his attack, I sensed something even more. It is amazing that one so young could comprehend the concepts of lighting to such an extent, but for him to have control over tribulation essence. Not simple at all." "Control of tribulation essence?" Yan Nie asked. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "What makes a heavenly tribulation a heavenly tribulation? It is because it is embued with the tribulation essence of the Heavenly Dao! For Sword Empress Xi''s son, no, Xi Tianyi, to usurp the power of the Heavenly Dao! What audacity!" Immortal Pillrabbit laughed carefreely. "Furthermore, he even used it to summon the heavenly tribulation of the invading sect! Although he is still young, the title of Junior Tribulation Lord is quite befitting." Immortal Pillrabbit glanced at the quiet Yan Nie. "How does it feel? Knowing there is someone younger than you but has such amazing power and potential?" "I''ll just have to work harder." Yan Nie said. "My Myriad Flame Convergence Manual is not inferior to any heavenly spiritual root or peak cultivation manual. Once I merge enough flames, I don''t believe I cannot surpass Xi Tianyi. Although I might not be his match when I become an immortal, I will surpass him one day. Didn''t you say it before, Master? Some geniuses are quick to reach the Immortal Realm, but they stagnate, not being able to surpass those that ascend later than them. Xi Tianyi may not be such a genius, but the more time I have, the greater my potential and power." "Indeed. Once you reach the pinnacle of the Myriad Flame Convergence Manual and form the Divine Flame, not even Sword Empress Xi will be your opponent." Immortal Pillrabbit nodded his head, satisfied. He hadn''t mentioned Xi Tianyi to deliver a shock to Yan Nie but rather to motivate him. If Yan Nie had really sunk into shock, then he, Immortal Pillrabbit, would have really been disappointed in him. "But it seems that you can no longer stay in the Northern Region." Immortal Pillrabbit said. Seeing Yan Nie''s confusion, he elaborated. "The appearance of the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus is both a blessing and a disaster. In the near future, the Northern region and the surrounding land will become a battleground of immortals. At this stage, even at my level, I would not dare to intrude." Yan Nie showed a shocked expression. "Then what should we do? My clan is still here!" Immortal Pillrabbit deeply looked at him. "Leave, pack up and leave. The farther, the better." Yan Nie furrowed his brows. To leave meant abandoning the roots of his clan. From the records of the Yan Clan, they should have existed in Jinyang City for over a thousand years. To just pack up and leave did not seem possible. But he trusted his Master''s judgment, so Yan Nie would convince the family elders to leave. Before Yan Nie could think anymore, a knock outside his room broke him out. Immortal Pillrabbit dissipated and returned to inside his ring. "Who is it?" Yan Nie called out. "Guest Yan, I am a junior brother of Senior Sister Pan. I''ve come to inform you that senior sister Pan has awoken." The voice sounded older than Yan Nie''s. Sure enough, the person outside looked older than Yan Nie but had a lower cultivation base than him. Yan Nie followed the Fleeting Mist Sect disciple. When he saw Pan Lanyue again, she was no longer wearing the pink dress during the battle but pale yellow clothing. Her spiritual qi had a hint of the all-encompassing heavens. If she had not entered the Spiritual Crucible Stage, then she would soon. "You''re up." Yan Nie said after a moment of silence between the two. "Yes," Lanyue said. Suddenly she abruptly stood up, shocking Yan Nie, and gave a deep bow to the shocked man. "I offer you my apologies. Ten years ago, I was deeply immature, and for my cheap pride, I committed a grave mistake against you." Yan Nie finally had the apologies that he had been waiting ten years for, but hearing it rang hollow in his ears. Yan Nie shook his head. "You don''t need to apologize. Back then, I also let my temper get the better of me. Let''s just forget about it." "I cannot just forget about it, I must make up for my mistake." Lanyue insisted. Yan Nie frowned. "Look, back then, both of us were in the wrong. Let''s pretend it never happened and go about our life." "I cannot. As a princess of the Pan Family, I cannot just pretend it never happened." Lanyue said, standing upright with a frown. "Look! Just forget it. I don''t need your apologies anymore!" Yan Nie said. "And I said, I have to apologize. Just accept my apologies already! I intend to keep my promise!" Lanyue rebutted. When Tianyi walked in with Daoyi, he was met with the sight of the two arguing, much like ten years ago. Only this time, instead of a broken engagement, the topic was about accepting apologies. He felt the edge of his lips twitch at the scene. "You know," Tianyi said, causing Lanyue and Yan Nie to stop and stare at Tianyi, who had arrived without their notice. "Usually, you demand people to apologize and not force them to accept your apology or tell them not to apologize." Daoyi giggled at Tianyi upon seeing the embarrassed face of Lanyue and Yan Nie. Lanyue and Yan Nie''s gazes intersected for a moment, and electricity seemed to have sparked between them before the two turned their head away from each other with a "hmph." Tianyi chuckled. "Sister Pan, I''ve come to say goodbye. Seems like I won''t be able to stay any longer like before." Lanyue nodded. She had already heard of the upcoming battle of immortals. Not just Tianyi but the whole Fleeting Mist Sect will also leave the Northern Regions for the time being. Thankfully, Mengfei had prepared a mobile Sect Guardian Formation for them. As long as Sect Master Yun carried the anchor for the formation and enough spirit stones, then they would not have to worry about being assaulted during their travels. Both Yan Nie and Lanyue noticed that the corners of Tianyi''s eyes were a little red. Despite their curiosity, the two ultimately decided not to ask. For one, Tianyi was a nascent soul grandmaster and would not appreciate them asking about his reddened eyes, which most likely came from crying. Tianyi gave Yan Nie a deep look. "Sister Pan, Yan Nie, the battle between you two was magnificent. I don''t think I ever saw such a battle in my life before." Lanyue and Yan Nie both gave a surprised look. They were just foundation establishment disciples. For a nascent soul grandmaster like Tianyi, their battle must have looked like two children fighting one another. "I have a feeling that one of you might ascend to immortality. But naturally, I''ll become an immortal before the two of you. So I''ll be waiting." Tianyi said. For a nascent soul grandmaster to predict the rise of a new immortal was laughable. But Tianyi was the son of Sword Empress Xi, and the confidence behind his voice could not be doubted. As for the second part of his statement, neither Yan Nie nor Lanyue doubted the rise of a new immortal known as Tianyi. If Tianyi did not meet an early demise, his ascension would be destined. After saying goodbye, Mengfei sent Elder Shan, Tianyi, and Daoyi back to the sect while she waited near the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus for the arrival of her peers. Chapter 78: Reactions from Three Continents Inside the Buzhou Immortal Sect, within the room of a grand elder. Zhang Cuiying paused in her movements as she sensed something. She turned her eyes to the horizon, a place far too distant for her eyes to observe, but the fluctuation of her soul did not lie. "What kind of treasure is born?" She asked with her brows furrowed. "That direction, it should be where Grand Elder Xi traveled to. Should I go too?" She had sensed the nature of the treasure as something beneficial for the soul. Zhang Cuiying pressed her fingers together and calculated. "Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus!?" She was so surprised that she stood up in shock. If she had that, then the rebirth of her lost love would be infinitely closer. If before she had an abysmal chance with no hope at all, there was a clear path for her to travel to now. Zhang Cuiying turned her head towards Broken Heaven Valley, the forbidden ground of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Buzhou Immortal Sect had three publically acclaimed grand elders at the level of an immortal emperor: Sword Empress Xi, Immortal Empress Voidink, and the third and most ancient Immortal Emperor of the Huang Realm, the Concealed Emperor. There were many rumors in the outside world that most ancient immortal emperor had long perished, and the Immortal Buzhou Sect was simply hiding this information. But as a grand elder of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, Zhang Cuiying was clear that the Concealed Emperor was still alive. Between Sword Empress Xi, who boasted the strongest attack of the Huang Realm, and the Concealed Emperor, the most mysterious emperor of the Huang Realm, she did not know who would win. Zhang Cuiying was sure that the other immortal emperors and even immortal monarchs would have noticed the appearance of the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus. She released her immortal sense and discovered that there was no change from Broken Heaven Valley. "It seems like the Concealed Emperor won''t move even for this." Zhang Cuiying stated. She sent a message to Sect Master Xia before she waved her sleeves, and a painting of the Northern Regions appeared before her. With a step, Immortal Empress Voidink stepped into the painting. -line break- In the Mortal Continent and the very core of the Saintly Scholar School, a middle-aged man sat in a lotus position and had his eyes closed. He wore black robes with a white outer coat. His skin was white and tender like a newborn child, but two streaks of white on his temples marred his black hair. Suddenly, he opened his eyes and looked in the direction of the Heaven Continent. "Come in." He said. His voice was soft and gentle, yet it reverberated in one''s very bones. The person who entered was Headmaster Ren, the leader of the Mortal Continent''s delegation at the Three Heavens Connection Meeting. "Grand Founder, the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus has appeared in the Heaven Continent. Should we take action?" The grand founder did not look at Headmaster Ren and continued to gaze into the distance. He was Confucius, the founder of the Saintly Scholar School and the most reserved immortal emperor of the Huang Realm, although most referred to him as the Great Sage. He created the Classic of Ru, and it was said to rival the Ten Heavenly Scriptures. In fact, it was so esoteric that it had to be split into the Four Books: the Great Learning, Doctrine of the Mean, Analects of Confucius, and Mencius. It is said that only Confucius himself could master all four books. "No, whoever we send will likely never be able to leave," Confucius said as he turned his gaze away. "How could it be?" Headmaster Ren said. "As long as we are careful, the Buzhou Immortal Sect cannot claim our lives." Confucius chuckled and gazed at Headmaster Ren like he was the young child who came to him for guidance all those years ago. "You underestimate the influence and power of the Buzhou Immortal Sect." He gave a wistful sigh. "The inheritors of the Immortal Court aren''t as simple as you think. If given a few more thousand years, they would have conquered all Three Continents had it not been my sudden appearance." Headmaster Ren also smiled. "The Buzhou Immortal Sect has ambitions of becoming the sole Hegemon of the Huang Realm, but although we have fewer immortal emperors and monarchs, at least we have unified the whole Mortal Continent." Confucius gave a mysterious smile to Headmaster Ren. "Is that what you think?" Headmaster Ren suddenly became unsure. He bowed. "Please enlighten me, Great Founder." "Within a thousand years, the Earth Continent will become the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s."This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Headmaster Ren showed a surprised expression. "But the Eight Pillar Sect has existed almost as long as the Buzhou Immortal Sect. I find it hard to believe that the Buzhou Immortal Sect would attack the Eight Pillar Sect within a thousand years. I''d find it more likely for them to assault us. Our forces have weakened due to the battle for supremacy against the Cultivator Alliance." "You''re wrong. It isn''t that our forces have weakened, but we weakened the forces of the Cultivator Alliance." Confucius said, his expression peaceful. Headmaster Ren nodded. "Indeed, I did not expect the Cultivator Alliance to have so many immortal monarchs back then." Confucius looked at Headmaster Ren and simply said. "Naive." -line break- "Master, what''s wrong?" The Sect Master of the Eight Pillars Sect, Monarch Pathway, broke out of his stupor as he turned toward his disciple, Duan Muli. "It''s nothing. It seemed that a rare treasure of Heaven and Earth has appeared in the Heaven Continent." Duan Muli frowned. He knew that it was out of his jurisdiction, but he couldn''t help but ask. "Are we not going to send anyone to compete for it?" For his master to sense it all the way from the Earth Continent, the treasure couldn''t be anything ordinary in any way. Monarch Pathway shooked his head. "Muli, ah, Muli, it pains me to say this, but we cannot afford to send anyone out. The treasure appeared in the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s domain. They will send out an immortal emperor to retrieve it. One of our immortal emperors is away from the sect, and we cannot afford to have the grand elder leave for a treasure. Once the grand elder leaves, the hungry wolves will descend." Duan Muli furrowed his brows. The hungry wolves naturally referred to the collation of hostile sects, the Anti-Earth Alliance. At the head was the Extremity Night Sect. It was a sad situation, truly. Out of the seven first-rate forces on the Earth Continent, six of them were in Alliance against the Eight Pillar Sect, while the seventh first-rate force stayed neutral. The only vassal sects under the Eight Pillar Sect were second-rate forces. Numerically speaking, the Alliance had more second-rate forces under them, but how could they compare to first-rate forces? It seemed as if the whole Earth Continent was against the Eight Pillars Sect. Should the Eight Pillars Sect''s remaining immortal emperor leave the sect, then whether the Alliance would take the risk and launch a full-out assault would not be known. In essence, the perilous cold war of the Earth Continent prevented either side from leaving. It would not be a lie to say the peace of the Earth Continent was being balanced atop the edge of the knife, the calm before the storm. "Muli, you should let your thoughts wander to these unnecessary thoughts. Your biggest concern is advancing to the Unity Realm. I heard Yang Linyin has already entered the Nascent Soul Realm. He is going to attempt to enter the Sour Nourishing Realm soon," Immortal Pathway said. Duan Muli frowned even more. "So soon? It is not like him to attempt such his heavenly tribulation so recklessly. I''d thought he would be calmer about this and prepare for another year at least." The only disciple that Duan Muli felt danger toward was Yang Linyin alone. Against the other disciples, Duan Muli was confident in keeping his position as the eldest disciple. But Yang Linyin was born with a special constitution and talent that allowed him to cultivate the Eight Pillar Sect''s premier art. Yang Linyin''s speed also exceeded Duan Muli''s, causing him to feel immense pressure. If Yang Linyin was both a spiritual and martial grandmaster, then he would be able to contend with Unity Realm Venerables. Monarch Pathway smiled at Duan Muli as if saying, "I know something you don''t." Duan Muli stared at Monarch Pathway. "Alright, alright, I''ll tell you why. You don''t have to glare at me for it." Monarch Pathway sulkily said. "It seems that someone in the Heaven Continent ascended into the Nascent Soul Realm before he was twenty." Duan Muli stood there, stunned. He, himself, had entered the nascent soul realm when he was thirty-nine, so he was clear more than anyone how hard it was to achieve such a thing. And Yang Linyin was now thirty-one, meaning that he had entered the Nascent Soul Realm eight years earlier than Duan Muli. So it was no wonder that Duan Muli felt pressure from Yang Linyin. Duan Muli had always been proud of his talent in the Law of Yin and the Law of Yang. Even though Yang Linyin had been born with a special constitution that made light of all his efforts, he still believed in himself. He was confident that he would become an immortal monarch in the future. He had not thought highly of the disciples from the Saintly Scholar School; in his eyes, they were just an upstart that managed to take over the Mortal Continent with only a single immortal emperor to protect them. The same could be said for his view of the Cultivator Alliance. Despite having two immortal emperors, the Cultivator Alliance fell to the Saintly Scholar School. The only hegemonic sect that Duan Muli took seriously was the Buzhou Immortal Sect. He had heard of Sword Empress Xi''s glorious legend from the immortal elders, but due to the battle against the Dragon Emperor, the Buzhou Immortal Sect was the one to suffer the greatest losses. So Duan Muli thought that with no outstanding disciples to come out from the Buzhou Immortal Sect, the Eight Pillars Sect would become the strongest hegemonic sect in the future. But reality struck him harshly. During his era, the undercurrents of the Earth Continent erupted and caused the current tumultuous climate. Still, Duan Muli believed that as long as he worked hard, the Eight Pillars Sect would one day rise to become the ruler of the Huang Realm. Yet during the Three Heavens Connection Meeting, he met his match against Xia Yushan, Buzhou Immortal Sect''s current eldest senior brother. He was both younger and at a lower cultivation level than Duan Muli, but he was able to match him. Duan Muli truly didn''t know who would have won should the match continue. And now, he was informed that Sword Empress Xi''s son, who he didn''t place in his eyes before, reached the Nascent Soul Realm at half his age! "Muli, don''t be discouraged. In this world, there are always heavens above heavens. Although Sword Empress Xi''s son has reached the Nascent Soul Realm, it could be that Sword Empress Xi''s poured many resources into him to achieve the results of today. It will not matter if he cannot even become an immortal. You must remember that your greatest enemy is yourself and no one else. Strive to become an immortal monarch." Monarch Pathway said, seeing Duan Muli''s sunken expression. But Duan Muli only nodded, as if he hadn''t taken in Monarch Pathway''s words. Duan Muli clenched his fist and glared at the ground. Chapter 79: Immortals Gather Within the Heaven Continent existed the Nine Great Forces. The group included the Bright Ascension Sect, Leakless Sect, Monolith Sword Sect, Nihility Sect, Dust Veil Sect, Boundless Mountain, Five Element Sect, Drifting Feather Sect, and Cloud Goddess Cult. This group did not include the Buzhou Immortal Sect as it superseded the rank of a first-rate force. As with the Earth Continent, not every sect was under the control of the local hegemonic sect. The Cloud Goddess Cult, Drifting Feather Sect, and Five Element Sect rejected the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s rule and allied together to resist, known as the Anti-Heaven Alliance. Despite the vast difference in power between the two forces, the Anti-Heaven Alliance managed to survive due to several conditions: the inner conflict between the six vassal sects, the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s indifference, and the power of the Cloud Goddess. The Cloud Goddess, formerly the Soaring Cloud Monarch, ascended and became a divinity through unorthodox means. As a price, her strength did not reach the level of a true divinity that ascended through orthodox means. Still, she exceeded most immortals and possessed the strength of an immortal emperor. Mortals cultivate to become immortals, and immortals cultivate to become divinities. The mortal realm split into six minor realms, while the immortal realm split into four minor realms. Immortal emperors were immortals in the third minor realm. Within the Holy Hall of the Cloud Goddess Cult lay the Cloud Goddess atop an altar-like couch. Skin that shone like moonlight without a single blemish, dazzling eyes that contained the very skies and curves brought out by her white dress. Should she walk the streets, no one would doubt her as a goddess based on beauty alone. The Holy Hall was constructed from white marble-like materials and gilded in gold designs with murals depicting the Cloud Goddess. The whole room seemed to glow with a golden light that seemed similar to the light of Karmic Virtue yet intrinsically different. Her eyes were staring out into the distance, seeing through the surrounding walls. Footsteps rang, and a man wearing white robes entered the Holy Hall and bowed before the Cloud Goddess. "Your holiness, we have received word from the Drifting Feather Sect and the Five Element Sect concerning the information relating to the birth of a treasure in the Northern Region. They are asking for directions." The Cloud Goddess''s long eyelashes trembled as she closed her eyelids and sank deep into thought. Throughout this time, the stately man below her kept his rigid bow without a change in posture. He exuded the aura of an immortal, but there was something different about him from other immortals on a fundamental level. Finally, the Cloud Goddess opened her eyes once more. "Inform the Drifting Feather Sect and the Five Element Sect that they should not interfere. I sense Sword Empress Xi and Empress Voidink already at the location. Even as I speak, more and more immortal monarchs and even an immortal emperor are arriving. It is no longer something we can contest for." "Understood!" The man said as he retreated but was stopped by the Cloud Goddess. "Wait, inform them not to send any immortal monarchs as we cannot afford to weaken ourselves at this juncture. The Buzhou Immortal Sect may be indifferent, but the other vassal sects are eyeing us like wolves. I will go and, if possible, claim the treasure. Even if I can''t, I will not let the others from the Heaven Continent claim the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus. Now go." After the man left, the Cloud Goddess closed her eyes as if drifting away into sleep. In the Northern Region near the location of the pillar of silver light, clouds began to conglomerate. Clouds that resembled feathers, cotton-like clouds, mist-like clouds, and all sorts of clouds started to gather at a single point. It was as if all the clouds within thousands of miles had gathered into a single point. The conglomerated clouds began to change until they became humanoid and formed a near-exact copy of the Cloud Goddess. The Cloud Goddess opened her eyes and looked around. She could sense several immortal monarchs and a few immortal emperors. A few also detected her presence due to the considerable commotion she caused. As a divinity, her presence was different. Unless one had special means, immortals were generally unable to sense her presence, much like how a mortal would not be able to sense an immortal with their spiritual sense. Furthermore, her divine sense was not something an immortal could detect. The Cloud Goddess looked away from the probes and raised her hand. Clouds started to form above her and created a literal castle atop the clouds. Its walls were like marble, and it exuded a holy aura. When the Cloud Goddess was about to enter the castle, she paused and looked back. The space in front of the cloud castle began to twist and distort, and a spiral unraveled. From within the hole formed walked out an elderly-looking man. The Cloud Goddess''s incarnation towered over the man, being three times his size. "Monarch Yonderheart," The Cloud Goddess greeted. "I thought I told the Five Element Sect to stay back." There was neither anger nor disappointment in her voice as if Monarch Yonderheart was not someone of the Anti-Heaven Alliance. Monarch Yonderheart smiled and cupped his hands towards the Cloud Goddess. "My apologies. But as one of the three grand elders of the Five Element Sect, I had to try my chances. Nothing more than testing my luck, if things go south, I will retreat."Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. The Drifting Feather Sect had one grand elder, a half-immortal monarch, while the Five Element Sect had three. Since they had three, the Five Element Sect could be more liberal in deploying their immortal monarchs. In addition, Monarch Yonderheart was one of the rare immortal monarchs who completed his ascension using the Law of Space. It was said that when Monarch Yonderheart was young, he traveled throughout the Heaven Continent and even the Earth and Mortal Continents. He was deeply moved by his experience and wanted to travel to the places he had traveled before and those that he had never visited. This pursuit led him to master the Law of Space. Before he knew it, he became an immortal monarch. The Law of Space was skilled in evasion; this undoubtedly played a large role in why Monarch Yonderheart''s fame. "Just be careful. You are one of the nine monarchs of the alliance. You should prioritize your survival above all else." Monarch Yonderheart nodded. "I will heed the Cloud Goddess''s words." -line break- Mengfei rested her head on her left hand; beneath her floated a couch. The Fleeting Mist Sect had long departed from their former headquarters. Now all that was left was an empty mountain with uninhibited structures. Her right sleeve still concealed her missing arm while the sword casket floated next to her. Mengfei opened her eyes until it was half-lidded, as if she was still half asleep. In front of her, the painting of a beautiful woman wearing white with snow-like hair appeared. As if by miracle, the mesmerizing woman stepped out of the painting and became a reality. "Grand Elder Zhang." Mengfei nodded, her movement sluggish. Zhang Cuiying stopped and observed Xi Mengfei. Previously from her perspective, Mengfei was like an unsheathed sword without a sheathe. Although such a sword was sharp and the perfect weapon, that sharpness made it incredibly brittle. Just as it seemed that the sword known as Xi Mengfei would begin to crack and shatter, she suddenly came back to the sect one day with a new life in her body. It was subtle, but it was as if the treasured sword had found its sheath. No longer was it always bare, ready to draw blood. And now Zhang Cuiying couldn''t see any hint of sharpness from Mengfei. It was as if Mengfei had lost all her sharpness, but that was impossible. Her edge could not be so easily lost. Although Mengfei exuded no aura and seemed to be an ordinary mortal, if devastatingly beautiful, there was no doubt something had changed. She had entered a strange state. Zhang Cuiying turned her eyes towards the sword casket beside Mengfei. That was the largest proof. The murderous aura she sensed within it had diminished, not because it disappeared, but Mengfei was even more capable of sealing it away now. "Grand Elder Xi." Zhang Cuiying replied. She waved her hand, and a painting of a floating boat appeared. Like before, the boat emerged from the painting and became real. Zhang Cuiying stepped onto the deck, where a table rested. Pouring the tea into the cups, she looked towards the indolent Mengfei. "Grand Elder Xi, care for some tea?" Mengfei didn''t reply for a good while as her head nodded off. Only after a while did she speak. "No thank you, I quite like the view here now." Zhang Cuiying became stunned at the indolent words of Mengfei. She almost wanted to ask, who are you, and what have you done with Xi Mengfei? The days turned into weeks, and the weeks turned into months. Mengfei continued to laze around indolently as if months hadn''t passed, and she was only resting mere moments. Zhang Cuiying sat in her immortal boat, tasting tea and painting when the whims visited her. Sometimes she would even write down a few poems when the mood struck her. Mengfei''s half-lidded eyes turned towards the distance at the same time as Zhang Cuiying. The clouds had gathered and formed the Cloud Goddess. It was the first immortal emperor-level expert not from the Buzhou Immortal Sect to arrive. But the two grand elders of the Buzhou Immortal Sect did nothing as if on unspoken agreements. Currently, any stray attacks could land on the maturing blossoming Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus. While it was in this stage, the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus was incredibly fragile to the point that a Unity Realm Venerable would be able to destroy it under certain conditions. The arrival of the Cloud Goddess seemed to have become an unspoken signal. The impatient immortal monarchs began to appear in pairs or even groups. Mengfei, Zhang Cuiying, and Cloud Goddess all turned towards the distance, where the sound of thunder rang in the cloudless sky. A man walked in the air, each step seemed small, but he moved over thousands of miles with each step accompanied by thunderclaps. His appearance was ordinary, and he wore linen robes, but his eyes were crackling blue, and in each eye, lightning dragons swam within. He was the Eternal Night Emperor, the founder of the Extremity Night Sect and the leader of the Anti-Earth Alliance. The immortal emperor of the Eight Pillar Sect did not dare to appear, but the Eternal Night Emperor did. It was as if he was not afraid of the Eight Pillar Sect assaulting them while he was gone. Like the three immortal emperor-level experts who had arrived before him, Eternal Night Emperor quietly waited for the completion of the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus. Time started to flow once more. That was until a youth in a red robe, and a horn on his forehead appeared. Mengfei''s eyes snapped open, her previous lazy appearance gone, and a murderous aura enveloped her. She lifted her head and swiped down with her freed left hand. The skies above Monarch Soulfish distorted, and a sword as if formed by heaven itself descended. The sword did not seem out of place but rather as if it had always existed, and there was nothing wrong with the scene. None felt it more than Monarch Soulfish himself. He felt as if his body was flying to the tip of the heaven-born sword, like he wanted the sword to impale him. Even his own thoughts betrayed him. Everything in his mind told him that "I have to get pierced by the sword no matter what I do." "Graa...YAHHHHHHH" With a yell, Monarch Soulfish''s body ballooned into a giant red fish with a horn atop its head. His body became transparent, and the sword seemingly harmlessly passed through his body and into the ground below. The sword did not damage the earth and instead merged into the ground. Once the sword passed, Monarch Soulfish returned to his original form. But his skin was pale and blood leaked from his lips. His aura was in disarray, and he stared at Mengfei in shock. He didn''t have any more time to think as he felt the sky above him begin to warp once again. With an unresigned expression, he dissolved into space like a phantom disappearing. "Monarch Soulfish, did you really think I would not attack just because the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus is still incomplete?" Mengfei''s voice could be heard as if heaven was announcing them. "You tried to steal my son''s soul. This grudge will not be forgotten. Pray that you don''t appear before me again." Chapter 80: Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus Matures Zhang Cuiying hid her surprise when she saw Xi Mengfei''s second sword strike. Or rather, she sensed the ripples from the aftereffects. The Huang Realm was far too large for even an immortal empress like her to cover in her immortal sense. Xi Mengfei''s Law of Heaven-Earth-Man was infamous to the other immortals of the Huang Realm. With her law as a foundation, as long as she could sense you, she could unleash an attack no matter the distance. Without Zhang Cuiying noticing, Mengfei''s sensory abilities had already surpassed hers. Xi Mengfei''s title as the strongest immortal of the Huang Realm wasn''t officially recognized by other immortal emperors. At their level, they wouldn''t care for a fleeting title such as the strongest of the realm given by laymen. The prestige came from the words of the immortal monarchs and true immortals. She wouldn''t even need to appear personally, and her target would still die. As long as you were weaker than her, the Sword Empress could kill most immortals without even lifting a finger. At least, that was the general consensus. "Did you kill him?" Zhang Cuiying asked. The number of cultivators that passed their immortal ascension was already few. The Buzhou Immortal Sect was lucky to have one ascended in a hundred years, and loose cultivators would be lucky to have one ascended in ten thousand years. In the lower realms, it was even worse. Perhaps, even after a million years, not even one would be able to become an immortal and ascend to the Huang Realm. And among those immortals, the number capable of rising to become immortal monarchs was even fewer. Each immortal monarch was the result of a horrifying amount of resources and time. If one died, it would not be a lie to say that the power balance would change. But Immortal Soulfish was a loose immortal monarch, so his death wouldn''t bring too much impact with how low profile he was. It would have been another story if Begonia Tower had still existed. Begonia Tower was a former first-rate sect that drifted in the endless seas. Terrifyingly, all of their cultivators were soul cultivators. Monarch Soulfish was one of the two publically recognized survivors of the Begonia Tower''s demise, and rumor had it that the Soul Pagoda he carried was Begonia Tower''s immortal sovereign artifact. "No," Mengfei''s half-lidded eyes began to droop, and her breathing slowed. "He disappeared, I can no longer sense...him..." Zhang Cuiying didn''t know whether to laugh or cry, seeing the usually stoic and famed Sword Empress act so sleepy in such a situation. Her earlier attacks had agitated many immortal monarchs and true immortals, causing them to heighten their guard. There was even a slight chance that the battle would start prematurely and disrupt the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus''s maturation. She released a hidden sigh of relief after no battle erupted. Like this, the tension started to ease slowly but never did it entirely disappear. As time passed, the pillar of light started to dim. The size of the pillar also began to decrease until it was as thin as a silk strand. Nevertheless, that single strand shone like liquified light. All parties observing the phenomenon tensed. The moment the light disappeared, the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus would be fully mature. The fragrance of lotus began to disperse from the light. It stretched far and wide until it almost fully enveloped the entire Northern Region. Then the light disappeared. A blinding yet gentle light erupted from the ground, where the light vanished. At the center of this light, a silver-white lotus resided. Each of its nine petals shone like the moon, giving off the feeling of etherealness. At this instant, space around the flower began to distort, and a hole appeared in the fabric of reality. From within the hole, the aged face of Monarch Yonderheart appeared with his hand stretched out towards the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus. However midway, space fractured. An immortal clad in bronze armor charged toward Monarch Yonderheart with a punch. He was Monarch Warflame and someone who ascended by cultivating the martial way. His fist seemed ordinary as if it were just an ordinary punch. In fact, it was just a standard punch, but Monarch Warflame''s body reached a terrifying level of physical prowess. Combined with his flawless technique, not even immortal emperors would receive the attack without defending. Monarch Yonderheart frowned, and his body disappeared back into the hole. He wasn''t disappointed. In the first place, he hadn''t really expected to be able to snatch Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus under everyone''s eyes. He just didn''t expect a martial monarch to be the one to stop him. Monarch Warflame snorted before he quickly flew towards the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus. Before he could reach it, flames descended from the sky and formed a barrier that blocked Monarch Warflame''s way. Monarch Warflame roared and punched the flame wall. The wall distorted for several moments before returning to normal. "Hmpf, a bunch of weaklings banding together won''t change anything!"The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. The three true immortals who were closest to the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus all frowned. They were from the same sect and were relatively well known. Although individually, they weren''t an immortal monarch''s match but together they could defeat an immortal monarch. The three were known as the Three Phoenix Brothers. Monarch Warflame didn''t care, and his body seemed to grow larger than life, but this was only an illusion felt by the spectators. He released a breath, and a tornado formed from his exhaled air. Monarch Warflame unleashed a punch. Before his fist even reached them, the force generated struck the three immortals. The Three Phoenix Brothers felt as if a mountain had just crashed into them, not just any mountain but a mountain over a million miles large. Their faces paled dramatically as they vomited large mouthfuls of blood. Although it seemed as if they only vomited blood, but they knew the attack from Monarch Warflame had nearly pulverized all their internal organs. When a cultivator became an immortal, unless they had a unique method, injuries were even more challenging to heal than when they were a mortal. But there was a reason the three of them were called the Three Phoenix Brothers. Gentle flames engulfed the trio, and when the flames disappeared, their injuries were all gone. However, the fear never left their face as they retreated from the battle. Monarch Warflame continued on his way, the flame wall long gone. Before he could continue, a hammer smashed toward him. He growled and directly punched the hammer and caused it to falter and fly back a little. "Indeed known as the monarch closest to becoming an Emperor." The speaker was a topless man with a body full of bulging muscles and countless scars. "Monarch Hungerwolf." Monarch Warflame said. "Today, let this immortal taste your strength." Monarch Hungerwolf let go of the hammer and opened his mouth. Immediately, an incredible suction force appeared. Monarch Hungerwolf called himself this because of two reasons. First, he cultivated in the martial way using the blood of a Taotie, which granted him the ability to use the innate devouring ability of the demon. The second was because he was a loose cultivator who hungered for battle. Rather than the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus, Monarch Hungerwolf was more interested in fighting Monarch Warpflame. Monarch Warflame gritted his teeth as steam began to roll off his skin. His whole body became red, and the aura of bloodlust enveloped him, causing him to appear like a diety of slaughter. On another side after Monarch Warflame repelled Monarch Yonderheart, three immortal monarchs and a single true immortal were battling. Three of them were teaming up to attack a single immortal monarch, Monarch Underheaven. Monarch Underheaven grunted as he carefully repelled the three immortals'' assault. He was a loose cultivator who would do anything to facilitate his path. Lying, murder, betrayal, he had no bottom line. The three other immortals were part of an orthodox sect, and seeing a cultivator of the devilish way, they wordlessly agreed to deal with him first. It wasn''t just these two battles; numerous battles took place simultaneously. The strangest thing was that none of the immortal emperors or the Cloud Goddess acted. They should have been the first ones to act. Of course, their first action would be to enter the Vast Void before fighting. At their current realm, any attacks would bring countless changes to the Huang Realm, and thus it became an unspoken rule that whenever two immortal emperor-ranked experts fought, they did so in the Vast Void. But none of them acted. The reason was because of Xi Mengfei. When the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus matured, she didn''t react at all as if truly sleeping. Seeing the Sword Empress not move, none of the immortal emperors moved either. What if, while they were fighting in the Vast Void, she struck and took the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus? As time passed, the tension between the immortal emperors turned tenser. Eternal Night Emperor and the Cloud Goddess shared a look before looking at Zhang Cuiying and Mengfei. Zhang Cuiying felt their stares as if they were asking her why Mengfei wasn''t moving. She wanted to say she didn''t know either but could only close her mouth. To her, it was obvious that Mengfei had entered a strange state, as if in the process of enlightenment. Finally, she couldn''t wake any longer. She would compete with the Cloud Goddess and Eternal Night Emperor to determine who would snatch the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus. As for Mengfei? If she didn''t move at all, Zhang Cuiying was sure that she could convince Mengfei to cede the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus to her. She could even compensate her with the treasures she had gathered in her lifetime. Having made up her mind, Zhang Cuiying stored her immortal boat away and started to ascend towards the Vast Void. The Cloud Goddess and Eternal Night Emperor shared a look before glancing at Mengfei before they, too, ascended towards the Vast Void. -line break- Hurricanes clashed against disastrous tornadoes. Volcanoes erupted hot magma into lightning storms. White and black seemed to have reversed at points, while at other times, colors seemed to have stopped existing. Light and darkness reversed. Rather than a fight between immortals, it seemed more like living calamities clashing again and again. This was the scene that Yan Nie bored witnessed, even as he was fleeing from the Pan Kingdom and the Northern Region as a whole. He could not believe his eyes. Yan Nie had bore witness to the techniques of Unity Realm Venerables, but compared to that, this level of battle was even more incomprehensible to him. "Master, is this really the fight between immortals?" Yan Nie couldn''t help but question his master, his clear body floating in the air. "Yes," Immortal Pillrabbit said, his voice quiet and strained. There was admiration within his eyes, but there was even more envy. "To be clear, what we''re witnessing is a battle between many immortal monarchs." "Immortal monarchs? What about immortal emperors?" Yan Nie asked. "Immortal emperors have an ironclad rule they follow. They will never fight within the realm itself; otherwise, their extraordinary powers will cause irreversible changes and perhaps destroy the realm. We don''t have the power to witness their power." But an immortal monarch did. Only immortal monarchs had the power to resist the Vast Void and witness such a legendary scene. Had he not been schemed against, he would have been able to participate. Suddenly Immortal Pillrabbit''s face scrunched and twisted. "Master, what''s wrong!" Yan Nie asked, sensing the agitation from him. "Hehe, it seemed that my traitorous disciple is also participating in the battle. It''d be best if he gets killed here. Otherwise, once I regain my power and become an immortal monarch, he will wish to have his soul dispersed and the rue the day he was born!" Chapter 81: Dao Debate Zhang Cuiying, Eternal Night Emperor, and the Cloud Goddess disappeared into the void. Upon seeing this, the fighting between the immortals began to intensify. Immortal monarchs and true immortals who had been watching from the sideline all started to take action. Even Monarch Yonderheart, who had retreated after being thwarted by Monarch Warpath, felt his hands grow itchy. But at that instant, the area surrounding the Sovereign Nine Yin lotus became dark like it was night. The white clouds within created a stark contrast against the blackness. And all the immortals within the area froze as if they had become still figures in a painting. From the clouds, lighting descended and struck all the Immortals within the area within the blackness. Afterward, the night, the clouds, and the suffocating feeling disappeared as if it had never happened in the first place. The immortals who had been struck by lightning all retreated. Their skin was charred and burned, their armor and clothing in rags, and blood continuously leaked from their mouth and wounds. No one dared to think that it was all an illusion. But while the true immortals left to treat their wounds. The immortal monarchs all had their own methods and immediately started to heal themselves. Although their injuries seemed serious, it was nothing to people of their rank, as the attack was meant as a warning. They all stayed behind in the hope that while all the immortal emperor-level experts fought, they may have a chance to snatch the prize. A few immortal monarchs glanced over at the resting Mengfei. Her lack of movement and complete ease made her stand out against the chaotic battlefield, but no one dared to go near her. The warning from earlier was still fresh in their minds. -line break- Outside in the Vast Void, the three immortal emperor-level experts stared at each other, and a tense silence descended. Logically speaking, Zhang Cuiying and the Cloud Goddess should team up against the Eternal Night Emperor since both of them originated from the Heaven Continent. While this may hold true for those at the immortal monarch-level and below, for immortal emperor-level experts, instead of considering which continent they originated from, they saw the whole Huang Realm as one place instead of being separated into three or four territories. So to have immortal emperors team up based on being from the same continent was foolhardy. At the same time, the Cloud Goddess and Zhang Cuiying were even in a slightly hostile relationship according to the politics of the Heaven Continent. The Cloud Goddess should be more inclined to allow Eternal Night Emperor to attain the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus than Zhang Cuiying. At the same time, the Eternal Night Emperor and the Cloud Goddess should be wary of Mengfei, who was still in the Huang Realm doing nothing. If either one teamed up against the other with Zhang Cuiying, when Mengfei came, they would face a three against one situation. "Allowing a limitless fight between us will benefit no one." Zhang Cuiying was the first to speak. "Indeed, the Eight Pillar Sect will probably hope for such a thing to happen," Eternal Night Emperor said. The Cloud Goddess said nothing but her silence was her consent. "Then what do you propose we do? I hope you aren''t suggesting we offer it up to you." Eternal Night Monarch said. He was smiling, but there was nothing in his smile that suggested he would assent to such an action. "Of course not. We will not compete with our strength but with our comprehension." Zhang Cuiying said as she sat in a lotus position. "Each of us will bring out a technique or treasure. Whoever can make the other two acknowledge their mastery of the worldly laws will win." "So instead of a fight, we conduct a Dao Debate instead," Eternal Night Monarch said. "Very well, I agree. It will be my honor to compare my mastery with a grand elder of the Immortal Buzhou Sect and the only divinity of the Huang Realm." Stolen novel; please report. The Cloud Goddess hesitated before sighing. She also agreed. Eternal Night Emperor followed Zhang Cuiying''s example and sat in a lotus position while the Cloud Goddess lay on her side. "Since I suggested this, I''ll go first." Zhang Cuiying pulled out a scroll from her spatial ring. She unfurled it and revealed a painting of a mountain with great spirituality. "This is a treasure I recently refined, please advise." Eternal Night Emperor caught the painting that Zhang Cuiying had thrown over and inspected. The two others stayed silent as they allowed Eternal Night Emperor to examine the mountain painting scroll. "Impressive." Eternal Night Emperor said finally. "Empress Voidink, all laws lead to the same path. This treasure forged by you exemplifies it. Although it is created from the Law of Painting, the effects resembled the Law of Space and allowed you to forge a minor world. Not just space, but other laws including concepts of the five elements." Eternal Night Emperor then threw the mountain painting scroll towards the Cloud Goddess. She caught it and also began to examine the treasure. After inspecting it, she also spoke. "Although it resembles a lower realm and the space is greater than most, it is a fake realm at best. No life will originate from here, and no heavenly tribulations can occur here. But for the Law of Painting to reach such a degree is impressive and eye-opening. My horizons have been expanded." The mountain painting scroll was returned to Zhang Cuiying. Before the next person could show off their next technique or treasure, Eternal Night Emperor waved his hand, and a bubble created from the night surrounded and cut them off from the rest of the void. There was no intent to attack from the technique, so Zhang Cuiying or the Cloud Goddess did not do anything to stop the Eternal Night Emperor. "My apologies," Eternal Night Emperor said. "I felt someone scrying us and moved to block them." "The Night Shroud Concealment Technique is impressive as always. If I had not seen it formed, I would not have been able to discern it so easily." Zhang Cuiying praised. "Just a paltry trick, nothing that can be used to compete," Eternal Night Emperor said. "Cloud Goddess, how about you go next?" The Cloud Goddess nodded and followed the suggestion of the Eternal Night Emperor, the eldest among them. From her sleeve, a dense purple cloud with a golden glow materialized. "East Originating Purple Qi Auspicious Cloud." The cloud expanded until it enveloped both Zhang Cuiying and Eternal Night Emperor. "Just from being in touch with it, I can sense my Karmic Virtue increasing. This...?" As Zhang Cuiying spoke, she stopped as she realized the true effects of the cloud. "Luck altering fate." Eternal Night Emperor said. "The holder of this cloud can even fool the Heavenly Dao and cause the Heavenly Dao to favor them. Increased chance of pill concoction, greater benefits from heavenly tribulation, and a general increase in lucky encounters. The benefits will even increase the longer the user holds onto this. Not just the user, but the people close will also be affected." Zhang Cuiying gave the Cloud Goddess a deep look. She hadn''t realized that the Cloud Goddess had such a deep foundation in the Law of Clouds. As one in the know of how the Cloud Goddess attained divinity, Zhang Cuiying had subconsciously lowered her opinion of the Cloud Goddess. The two immortal emperors examined it some and more spoke, debating the pros and cons. Soon the Cloud Goddess retracted her East Originating Purple Qi Auspicious Clouds. Next Eternal Night Emperor didn''t take out a treasure and instead held out his hand. A piece of the void was separated into a sphere above his hand. Before the eyes of the other two, the space within the sphere began to change. Time began to revert until the Vast Void within the sphere was no longer the Vast Void but the Primordial Void. "Eon Reversion Art." Eternal Night Emperor smiled and said. "My technique does not mimic the effect of the other laws but goes to the extreme. It is theoretically capable of reverting the time within an area back to the Primordial Era." -line break- Within the Huang Realm in the Northern Region of the Heaven Continent, the battle continued to grow more chaotic. Days had already passed. The true immortals had long retreated, and only immortal monarchs remained. Although the participants had lessened, the intensity had only increased. Monarch Warflame still raged in the battle against another immortal monarch after defeating Monarch Hungerwolf. His aura and immortal qi had decreased, but his ferocity had only increased. Just as he was charging up a killer move against his trapped opponent, he stopped and glared at where the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus was. "What gall!" He bellowed out in extreme rage and punched the area. An illusionary giant, the size of a mountain, appeared above him and copied his movements. This was the martial manifestation of Monarch Warpath. At where the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus was, an ordinary-looking immortal monarch had successfully evaded all detection from the other immortal monarchs and reached the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus. He ignored the pressure from Monarch Warflame''s martial manifestation and uprooted the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus. Chapter 82: Emperor, not Monarch The newly appeared immortal, Monarch Mirrorevil, paid no mind to Monarch Warflame as he clutched the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus close to his heart. He ignored all the immortal monarchs glaring daggers into his body, and instead, he released a pure smile that should not have appeared on a devilish cultivator such as him. It was a smile full of bliss and hope. His eyes even became teary as he held the silvery-white lotus. "Die!" Monarch Warflame said. He had shortened the distance until he was but a mere foot away from Monarch Mirrorevil. His body had morphed; two additional faces now adorned the right and left of his head, and two more pairs of arms had sprouted from his shoulder. All six fists rocketed towards Monarch Mirroevil. Upon the slightest contact, Monarch Mirrorevil''s body turned into glittering mist and dispersed. Monarch Warflame scrunched his eyebrows. ''Illusion!'' He breathed in and released his breath, and calmed down. But his red twitching muscles never relaxed as Monarch Warflame''s six eyes searched the battlefield. It wasn''t just him, but all the immortal monarchs who remained searched for Monarch Mirrorevil. One of them, Monarch Allroot, performed several hand seals. After he finished the last one, all the lotus fragrance stilled in the air before congregating at a single point. "He''s there!" When Monarch Allroot was young, he had a heavenly wood spiritual root, and since then, he embarked on the Law of Wood. As an immortal monarch, his attacks were average, but instead, his defense and vitality were at the peak of immortal monarchs. Only an immortal emperor would be able to easily crush his defense. Monarch Allroot charged towards the source of the lotus fragrance, the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus in Monarch Mirrorevil''s hand. He had confidence in his defenses. As long as he could snatch the lotus and the immortal emperors didn''t take action, he would be able to flee with the lotus. Monarch Mirrorevil no longer bothered to hide since his position had been discovered. His emotionlessly eyes focused on Monarch Allroot. Monarch Allroot''s vigilance heightened when he saw his mirror image appear in front of Monarch Mirrorevil, facing him. Before he could take any action, Monarch Mirrorevil''s hand pierced through the chest of Monarch Allroot''s mirror image. Simultaneously, Monarch Allroot''s face paled dramatically. His body was physically fine, and his vitality was as robust as ever. He clutched his chest as his eyes began to dim. Before his body could even land on the ground, his soul had long perished. The immortal monarchs all stopped their movements, and some even retreated. Finally, one of them recognized the ordinary-looking Immortal Monarch. "It''s Mirrorevil, the Devil Mirrorevil!" At that Immortal Monarch''s shout, many of their eyes flashed in recognition. The number of soul monarchs could be counted on two hands, and each one was famous for being difficult to deal with. Monarch Mirrorevil was a loose cultivator who had appeared over a hundred thousand years ago. Contrary to his ordinary appearance and aura, he had the title Junior Devil Immortal back in the day. The madness and terror he had wrought plagued all three continents to the point that all the orthodox and even devilish forces hunted him. Junior Immortal was a title given to those who displayed great talent and strength whilst mortal. However, when the word devil was added before immortal, the whole meaning changed. It represented the fear and hatred toward the devilish cultivators. Such a cultivator would invite rejection from everyone. Monarch Mirrorevil did not make a name for himself until the destruction of the Begonia Tower. By that time, Begonia Tower had already lost its one and only immortal emperor. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. In the history of the Huang Realm, Emperor Begonia was undoubtedly the fastest immortal emperor to die. Back when he was an immortal monarch, he had reigned for over half a million years. Yet, he had perished within a hundred years of becoming an immortal emperor. Some said he had grown overconfident and explored a danger zone out of his abilities, but more said this was the scheme of the three hegemonic sects. Back then, the Cultivator Alliance was still a hegemonic power along with the Buzhou Immortal Sect and Eight Pillar Sect. In the whole history of the Huang Realm, no force had laid claim to the endless seas. But the appearance of Emperor Begonia changed all that. There was a high chance that he could develop his force into the hegemon of the endless seas. So the three hegemonic sects schemed and rid themselves of the thorn known as Emperor Begonia. After he fell, Begonia Tower was exposed to the world, and many cultivators, including those of the orthodox forces, devilish forces, and loose cultivators came to compete for a piece of the pie. It was during that fight that Monarch Mirrorevil came to fame. He slaughtered orthodox, devilish, and loose cultivators without distinction. Rather than reaping resources as all the other cultivators came for, Monarch Mirrorevil''s goal appeared to reap as many lives as possible. During the chaotic battle, the most shocking moment came when Monarch Mirrorevil, as a transcending mortality saint, slew a true immortal! It was during this shocking moment that the Soul Pagoda had been taken away by another survivor of Begonia Tower, the current Monarch Soulfish. Using an unknown method, the then still Venerable Soulfish escaped from the immortals'' encirclement. Both Monarch Mirrorevil and Monarch Soulfish had risen to fame from this one battle. Monarch Mirrorevil did so by slaying a true immortal as a saint, while Monarch Soulfish did so by escaping from immortal monarchs as a mere mortal. From that point, Monarch Soulfish seemed to have disappeared from the face of the Huang Realm until he transcended his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. In contrast, Monarch Mirrorevil seemed to have become possessed by devils of yore and unleashed bloodbath upon bloodbath on all three continents. Ironically, the moment he ascended to the Immortal Realm, the previous bloody aura around him seemed to have disappeared. It wasn''t until he became an immortal monarch that he engraved his name into the people''s minds once more. It wasn''t like no one tried to kill him out of a sense of justice or revenge during this time, but no one succeeded. One reason was that after he became an immortal, he no longer carried out bloodbaths, and the second reason was that he was a soul cultivator! Once he became an Immortal Realm soul cultivator, it was already destined that no force would take him on lightly. As a loose cultivator, he had no weakness they could grab hold of. Because of this, the infamous name of Monarch Mirrorevil eventually faded from the minds of the Huang Realm as a whole. The newer immortals, such as Monarch Warflame, had never even heard of him. This included Xi Mengfei as well. Monarch Warflame still charged forward. All six of his arms were feared back in preparation to unleash his attack. Like with Monarch Allroot, a mirror image of Monarch Warflame appeared in front of Monarch Mirrorevil. When the hand pierced Monarch Warflame''s mirror image, Monarch Warflame continued his charge unaffected. Monarch Warpath''s cultivation technique used his fleshly body to nurture his soul. As long as his fleshly body remained, his body will nurture and heal his soul back to full strength no matter how damaged. As long as his soul was not extinguished in a single attack, Monarch Warflame need not fear Monarch Mirrorevil. "Give it up! Soul cultivators are the ones I''m least afraid of fighting! Monarch Swordspirit. was defeated by me!" At Monarch Warflame''s cry, many immortal monarchs became enlightened of his victory over Monarch Swordspirit. Monarch Swordspirit was both a soul cultivator and a sword cultivator. Among the soul cultivators, he could be considered the one with the greatest attacking power. Monarch Mirrorevil sighed as he glanced at Monarch Warflame. His body dissolved into a thousand mirror-like shards that converted into streams of light. Those streams of light converged a fair distance away. Monarch Warflame snorted as he charged once more. Monarch Mirrorevil''s hand reached towards him, but Monarch Warflame ignored it and counterattacked. His six fists all landed on Monarch Mirrorevil''s body. In response, Monarch Mirrorevil''s body turned mirror-like, and each part of his body reflected Monarch Warflame''s attacks. Not just in image but in effect too, as Monarch Warflame''s punches were countered by an equal force each time they landed. At the same time, when Monarch Mirrorevil''s hand reached Monarch Warflame, nausea assaulted the martial monarch. A chill ran up Monarch Warflame''s spine as he tried to retreat. But it was as if his mind had split into two. One wanted to withdraw while the other wanted to continue to attack, causing his body to clash against itself. In the next instant, one of Monarch Warflame''s split minds vanished. No, it was extinguished. As Monarch Warflame stared with open eyes in disbelief at Monarch Mirrorevil, his body fell to the ground. "It''s true. Your methods are almost invulnerable against soul monarchs. But unfortunately for you, I''m an immortal emperor, not monarch." Chapter 83: Emperor Soulfish Silence descended onto the remains of the Fleeting Mist Sect. No one expected this turn of events. Before, it was numerous immortal monarchs surrounding a single peer. Now, it was an immortal emperor facing off against a group of immortal monarchs. The aura fluctuations of an immortal emperor rolled off Emperor Mirrorevil like concussive waves and battered the immortal monarchs surrounding him. Each crash caused slight tremors against their souls and caused them to see stars in their vision. Now that Emperor Mirrorevil no longer hid his cultivation base and even the aura exuded became a passive soul attack. But the group of Immortal monarchs soon discovered an inconsistency. The fallen Monarch Warflame landed with a terrific explosion, causing a crater to form. Although he had returned to a mere two-meter height, his body weighed more than the densest metal of equal volume, and as such, the impact was cataclysmic, to say the least. A fair distance away, Monarch Allroot''s body had ceased breathing and lost all signs of vitality. The soul was the basis of all life; a body without the soul would soon perish. His great vitality came from the law his body formed from. Without his soul, his body died despite the vitality that remained even after death. However, Monarch Warflame''s body still had a hint of breath. Although weak, it persisted. If one observed closely, one could even detect that the breath was increasing in strength! Monarch, no Emperor Mirrorevil''s soul attack did not wholly extinguish Monarch Warflame''s soul. His martial body was intact, and through his unique means, he began to heal his weakened soul. Bloodsoul Rebirth A body is created from the blueprints within the cells of the body. This was knowledge long known to martial cultivators who explored the mysteries of their bodies. When the body was injured, as long as you had the resources and energy, a body part, whether a patch of skin or an arm or leg, could be restored with enough time and resources. Then what if someone added the blueprint of the soul into these cells? This was something many soul and martial cultivators tried to do, but the one who came closest was no doubt Monarch Warpflame. As a result, he was the immortal monarch least afraid of Soul Monarchs. But even he would perish to a soul emperor. Had it been a true immortal emperor, that is. "Strange, Monarch Warflame still remains alive while Monarch Allroot has perished!" "Look closely. Although our souls are being pressured, it isn''t from the might of an immortal emperor!" "You''re right!" "Mirrorevil can truly be called an immortal emperor. From the esoteric techniques he used, he must have already reached the Immortal Emperor level in the mastery of the law alone! But his cultivation base is still at the Seamless Immortal Realm!" "Everyone attack him, we still have a chance!" "Fool! Have you forgotten about Monarch Allroot!? Monarch Warflame may have survived due to his unique means, but what about us?" "That was because they all attacked one-on-one! If we attack all at us, the power of his soul techniques will be diluted among us!" "Can you truly take that gamble!?" "Think clearly for a moment. If Mirrorevil ascended to become a full immortal emperor in both law and cultivation, then we would be jumping into a pit of death. But he still hasn''t transcended the Seamless Immortal Realm. Then why did he claim to be an immortal monarch and unleash his soul pressure? It is to call and bluff! We won''t have another chance like this!" "You are right! Comrades, some of you may not have remembered the atrocities Mirrorevil committed, but those of us who have lived from then, do you still remember!? The terror that he brought forth. Before we take the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus, we must kill him! If that devil survives, even if we snatch the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus, he will surely bring disaster. The bloodbaths he committed are the proof!" All this happened in an instant. By using their immortal senses to communicate with the other, the speed and information conveyed were far more than what mere words could do alone. The end result was a temporary coalition whose goal was to kill Emperor Mirrorevil before he could fully ascend to become a true immortal emperor and then snatch the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus. A few immortal monarchs did not join and instead retreated towards the rear. At this moment, they realized Mengfei was still in the Huang Realm but had not taken any action, even with Emperor Mirrorevil''s reveal. A few who thought themselves bright immediately tried to send a message to Mengfei using their immortal sense, but once they entered a certain radius, the immortal sense disappeared. No, it dissolved and merged with heaven and earth. The immortal monarchs frowned but refrained from attempting to do anything else. Monarch Yonderheart shook his head as he watched this. If Sword Empress Xi wanted to take action, she would''ve done so the moment Emperor Mirrorevil uprooted the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus or when he unleashed his attack that utilized his emperor-level law. At this moment, a voice sounded in his head. "Cloud Goddess?" Monarch Yonderheart asked. He looked up into the sky and into the Vast Void. There was no hint of any of the three immortal emperor-ranked experts after they left the Huang Realm. "My cloud clone is hidden by Eternal Night Emperor''s Heaven Covering Night Shroud. We have yet to finish our fight. At the same time, we cannot detect anything outside." "Then, if I may ask, how did you contact me?"This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. "It''s not my cloud clone that is contacting you but my aspect. My true body is still in the Cloud Goddess Cult, but my connection with my cloud clone is muddled." Aspect, it was similar to an incarnation. While an incarnation was created from splitting a portion of a cultivator''s soul, an aspect was created, converting someone into your copy. Naturally, depending on the talent and cultivation of that person, the aspect created will vary wildly. The greatest advantage was that an aspect did not need you to split your soul. But this was a technique that only divinities possessed, and only someone who was wholly devoted and faithful to the divinity in question was eligible to be converted into an aspect. Monarch Yonderheart sighed in amazement. "Monarch Yonderheart, I am unsure of when I will be able to leave Eternal Night Emperor''s Night Shroud. But the same could be said for Empress Voidink. However, I do not know why Eternal Night Emperor hasn''t mentioned the matter of Mirrorevil. Perhaps he is confident in not letting Mirrorevil leave. That is why we must seize this chance!" "Seize the chance? Unfortunately, my battle prowess isn''t as excellent as my evasion skills." Monarch Yonderheart creased his brows. He had come hoping only to try his chances. If he died, although his sect would cause a commotion, the Buzhou Immortal Sect and the six vassal sects would likely ignore it. In fact, they might even celebrate his demise. As such, he placed his first priority on staying alive and his second priority on keeping the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus from the other forces of Heaven Continent. "You only need to use your skill and snatch the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus once I create the opening." Monarch Yonderheart still wasn''t convinced. "Cloud Goddess, I am the only expert in the Law of Space among the Anti-Heaven Alliance. I do not think I am able to make such a decision unless there is a trump card that can make up for all that." "My aspect''s strength is equal to that of an immortal monarch. However, for a short amount of time, I can unleash strength equal to an immortal emperor. The price would be the disintegration of this aspect." Monarch Yonderheart''s eyes lightened up at the Cloud Goddess''s words. "Then what about Sword Empress Xi?" "She will not easily move. Her current state of being is special right now." "Then...how should we split the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus?" There was only one Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus. Before the plan could be carried out, they needed to determine how to distribute the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus. The Cloud Goddess didn''t even take a moment to reply. "I will take the core, seeds, and four petals. You will be given five of the petals." "Impossible. That is far too less. The risk I''m taking is tremendous as the greatest expert in the Law of Space in the Anti-Heaven Alliance. I need nine petals and half the seeds!" Like this, the two haggled over the exact distribution before they both agreed. Rather than a transaction for the whole Anti-Heaven Alliance, this was closer to a transaction between the individuals known as Cloud Goddess and Monarch Yonderheart. The immortal monarchs surrounding Emperor Mirrorevil all had pale faces. Their conjectures were true. Emperor Mirrorevil wasn''t capable of slaying so many immortal monarchs at once with his current cultivation base, but that did not make this battle any easier. Wounds riddled Emperor Mirrorevil, but the immortal monarchs were not much better. Although they had no outward injuries, their faces were pale, and their chest tightened with each passing second. While they prevented Emperor Mirrorevil from feeling, he had deployed a wide domain that continuously drained their souls of their strength. Now the group was attacking even more wildly and in desperation than before. Retreating and giving up might have seemed like an option, but there was more fear in the retaliation of Emperor Mirrorevil, who was once known as the Junior Devil Immortal. At this moment, a black streak crashed into Emperor Mirrorevil''s domain. The black streak was the Cloud Goddess''s aspect. The whole body was black as if formed by miasma itself, not a single part was another color. But the greatest shock was the aura it exuded¡ªa divine and holy aura incompatible with the black miasma. It was an aura that surpassed the pseudo emperor-level strength that Emperor Mirrorevil had. "Cloud Goddess!" Many people realized the identity of her aspect. They had hundreds of questions, such as why she was here, how she came here, and where were Eternal Night Emperor and Empress Voidink. But their reactions weren''t slow as they all retreated from Emperor Mirrorevil''s domain. The Cloud Goddess was an immortal emperor-level expert for a long time, unlike Emperor Mirrorevil. Emperor Mirrorevil was no longer surrounded by the immortal monarchs but found himself in even greater peril. He continuously unleashed soul attacks after soul attacks, but the Cloud Goddess''s aspect just ignored it and allowed it to batter her without care. He frowned. Even if the Cloud Goddess had proclaimed her fame for years, his attacks should not be so meaningless against her. The battle raged, and the Cloud Goddess''s hand latched onto Emperor Mirroevil''s right hand. Her form began to grow blurry as black miasma clouds corroded Emperor Mirrorevil''s arm. Emperor Mirrorevil''s body changed and became reflective, like mirrors. This was a martial body he cultivated, Glass Soul Body. It didn''t have any outstanding defense or attacks but was a support-type martial body that increased the power of his soul attack. With a chop, Emperor Mirrorevil used his right hand to sever his left hand that was holding onto the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus. There was no blood from the stump, and instead, an ethereal silver stream emerged. The severed left hand and hand soon shattered into a million tiny pieces. Light brighter than the solar star erupted and assaulted the Cloud Goddess''s aspect. Even she would not be able to ignore an attack that Emperor Mirroreviled evoked from sacrificing his left hand. But she didn''t care and rammed the attack head-on. When the attack disappeared, the left and part of the torso of the Cloud Goddess''s aspect were missing, but she didn''t care as she used her remaining arm and caught the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus. Just as Emperor Mirrorevil was about to charge towards the Cloud Goddess''s aspect, she threw the treasure in her hand towards the distance where no immortals were near, stunning everyone. Even Emperor Mirrorevil was stunned. At this moment, a black hole in the fabric of reality appeared. From within, stretched out Monarch Yonderheart''s hand and caught the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus. From within the hole, Monarch Yonderheart showed a pleased expression and was just about to retract his arm, but he felt his body ignore his command. Even as he panicked, the pleased smile on his face still remained as he walked out of the hole and just stood there in the air. Mengfei''s eyelids trembled before she opened her eyes, not half-lidded like before but fully open. A ghostly figure materialized behind Monarch Yonderheart, and behind that ghostly figure, a four-story red pagoda appeared. The figure wore red robes and had white hair with a single horn growing out from his forehead. He glanced at Monarch Yonderheart, but Monarch Yonderheart felt his heart chill as his thoughts began to grow dark. Under the shocked gazes of all the immortals present, a gigantic red dolphin with a horn atop its forehead emerged from Monarch Yonderheart. The dolphin then flew into the Soul Pagoda while Monarch Soulfish threw the soulless body inside as well. The immortal felt as if someone had bludgeoned their minds with a hammer. This scene played out eerily similar to a scene moments ago¡ªthe scene of Emperor Mirrorevil exterminating Monarch Allroots''s soul and nearly eradicating Monarch Warflame''s soul. Don''t tell them that Monarch Soulfish was also actually Emperor Soulfish!? Chapter 84: Vanishment The number of immortal emperors within the Huang Realm did not exceed ten. They were the pinnacle of power among the forces of the Huang Realm. Should any force or sect develop an immortal emperor, they would automatically become a peak first-rate force. But since the creation of the Huang Realm over three million years ago, there were less than ten at any time. But now, within the span of a day, two new immortal emperors appeared, and it was two soul emperors at that. The immortal monarchs observing this all felt speechless at this sight. Some of them were over several hundred thousand years old yet never crossed the final step to become an immortal emperor. They had lost all hope but finally saw it again when the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus appeared. Although it couldn''t guarantee success, it drastically increased their chances and improved their talents if they could reform their body with it. Still, that only mattered if they lived to take possession of it. The immortal monarchs'' and true immortals'' blood ran cold as they recalled how easily Emperor Soulfish dispatched Monarch Yonderheart. All of them had witnessed how the expert in the Law of Space had exited out of his portal with a frozen expression and died helplessly under Emperor Soulfish''s hand. The Cloud Goddess''s aspect was unable to do anything either. She had already expended the foundation of the aspect''s lifeforce and was slowly disappearing into the world, fading away like morning fog. All of the immortal monarchs began to retreat. This was no longer a battle they could intervene in. Aside from the three who left the realm, only the incomplete Emperor Mirrorevil and Sword Empress Xi could do anything in this battle between emperors. Emperor Soulfish frowned. His hand reached towards one of the petals of the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus. A dot of light sprang into existence atop the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus. It was a caterpillar with a texture that resembled wood, but its body was shiny, as if it was made from crystal. Its translucent flesh revealed the innard organs that glowed with silvery-white light like the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus. There were little bitemarks and even a few holes on the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus; the culprit was clear. An invisible pressure descended onto the area and caused all the immortal monarchs to feel suffocated. It wasn''t a physical feeling but rather one that their souls felt. All of the true immortals who remained directly had their souls injured by the pressure alone. Nothing needed to be said for mortals. "Spring Autumn Butterfly Larva..." The killing intent in Emperor Soulfish''s voice reached the peak, and his hand continued forward to crush the insect that dared to nibble and take away the petals of the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus. Under the pressure, the caterpillar seemed to wilt a bit as its body stiffened. It lost its grip, fell off the petal, and started to plummet to the ground, but how could Immortal Soulfish allow the little thief to escape? Unfortunately for him, it was at this moment that the Northern Region changed. It was still the Northern Region, yet not the Northern Region. The immortal monarchs all felt the world changed, but only the surface level of change. Emperor Soulfish felt his body become constricted as if he was a mortal plunged into the depths of the sea. Not just that, but his ability to absorb the spiritual qi of the realm and convert them into immortal qi disappear. He calmly turned to face the source of the change. Standing in the air was Xi Mengfei. Her purple robes fluttered in the air, her long black hair danced with the wind, and her very presence was like the ruler of the realm. Emperor Soulfish gently moved the hand he was holding the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus. But the instant he moved, a black crystalline sword appeared in Mengfei''s hand and stabbed towards him. "We can talk. I have the million-year accumulations of the Begonia Tower. If you let me leave, I can give you anything you want." He opened his mouth to speak, but he felt his body become even more constricted. "We are both immortal emperors here. Nothing good will come out if we try to kill each other¡ª" "Shut up," Mengfei only said those two words. The black sword in her hand was black to the point that it appeared as if it was a hole in reality, but at the same time, it appeared perfectly translucent. "I told you, if you appeared before me again, I will kill you." Emperor Soulfish didn''t say anymore. At this juncture, saying anything would be a waste of breath. However, he couldn''t understand why a person like Sword Empress Xi would be so willing to fight for a parasite. Yes, he viewed these otherworlders as parasites. They replaced the original children born and superimposed their existence upon a world that was not theirs, stealing the parents'' love. The longer the fight went, the more Emperor Soulfish found himself weakening. As a soul emperor, he originally should have had many esoteric means to fight Sword Empress Xi, but his soul power had difficulty leaving his body. At the same time, he was protecting the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus. All this was not helped by the fact that he was a newly ascended immortal emperor. It was like Mengfei didn''t care for the bountiful treasure in his hands as long as she could kill him, further constraining him. He wanted to place the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus into the Begonia Pagoda and fight with his full strength, but Mengfei didn''t give him much leeway. His spatial ring couldn''t contain such a treasure and would harm it instead. In addition, Mengfei had completely locked down and controlled the Northern Region. There were immortals who were able to discover some minor realms with cores and refine them to become realmlords. Although being a realmlord didn''t necessarily increase their powers, they were like a god within the realm. It was also this unique power that allowed realmlords to be nearly unkillable within their realm. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Mengfei displayed her abilities and surpassed the state of Formation as the World. She had commandeered the Northern Region and temporarily placed it under her control and commanded it like a realmlord would. ''Strange, according to the information collected, Sword Empress Xi should be more powerful than this. Although I am being suppressed by her formation, her sword arts feel lacking.'' As the fight went on, Mengfei couldn''t land a decisive blow on Emperor Soulfish, but neither was he capable of leaving. As time dragged on, it would be more detrimental to him once the Eternal Night Emperor, Empress Voidink, and Cloud Goddess returned. Every time the blade landed on his body, not only did his body receive an injury but his soul as well. ''I''ve never heard of Sword Empress being able to use soul attack. Had it been anyone else, the pressure on them would be even more immense. Compared to physical injuries, soul injuries are worse by tenfold.'' It was an unexpected piece of information. If word got out, then her status as the number one immortal of the Huang Realm would be even more stable. However, Emperor Soulfish was clear that he couldn''t delay his escape any longer. Although he was an Immortal Emperor, he had just broken through not long ago. Speaking of which, he should really thank Meng Jiang. Although she was the reason he could not capture Tianyi, witnessing her technique that a mortal cultivator should not have possessed allowed him to gain a spark of inspiration. That spark allowed him to break through the bottleneck that had been plaguing him for years. Had he not broken through, the chances of him being able to snatch the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus would have decreased dramatically. Even so, among immortal emperors, although he could not be called the weakest, he could not list himself among the strongest ones either. Against Mengfei, he had no confidence in fleeing without injury. ''Sword Empress Xi''s public title as the number one immortal isn''t for show. I''ve lived a hundred times longer, yet I''ve only now reached the Extremity Immortal Realm.'' Emperor Mirrorevil, who had retreated from the battle between Mengfei and Emperor Soulfish, began to take action. His body began to turn into glass completely. His skin, muscle, veins, blood, organs, and bones shone with reflected light. But before he could complete his technique, he sensed three great presences appear above him. Those three presences were naturally Empress Voidink, Eternal Night Emperor, and the Cloud Goddess. The Cloud Goddess turned to look at Emperor Mirrorevil. Her eyes were emotionless, and not a hint of wrath existed in her body, but her killing intent was genuine. As the only immortal emperor-level expert of the Anti-Heaven Alliance, how could she let the culprit who killed an immortal monarch of the alliance, the most precious one at that, leave alive? "Wait a moment Cloud Goddess." It was Eternal Night Emperor who chose to intervene at this moment. "Eternal Night Emperor, I hope you aren''t stopping me from killing Monarch Yonderheart''s murderer because you admire his talent and potential." The Cloud Goddess''s voice was clear and casual. "Certainly not. I''m just informing Cloud Goddess that unless you unleash all your strength, you won''t be able to stop him," Eternal Night Emperor said. "Did you forget that you''re only an incarnation? Even if you are a divinity, incarnations are but mere puffs of air against soul emperors." The Cloud Goddess''s eyes chilled and glared at the Eternal Night Emperor. "Are you suggesting that I allow you to deal with Emperor Soulfish and then let you flee with the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus?" "Of course not," Eternal Night Emperor said. "I suggest all of us attack him. For him to ignore our agreement is an insult, even if he is also an immortal emperor like us. Thus, all four of his should punish him." "Eternal Night Emperor''s words make sense, allow me to assist you as well, Cloud Goddess," Zhang Cuiying said. The Cloud Goddess frowned. She had won the dao debate in the Vast Void, yet now, her victory had been practically invalidated thanks to Emperor Soulfish''s intervention. When she saw Eternal Night Emperor''s and Zhang Cuiying''s eyes, she knew she had no choice but to accept. The immortal monarchs present witnessed one of the rare occurrences of four immortal emperor-level experts teaming up. As the battle continued, Emperor Soulfish was blasted back again and again from the combined assault. His robe was in near tatters, and his right arm beyond mangled. In spite of all this, he clutched the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus to his chest and protected it at all costs. Even the Soul Pagoda behind him had cracks all over it. "If you give up the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus, you may have a chance to flee." Zhang Cuiying said. Among the four of them, she was one most worried about the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus. "Senior Voidink, you should be very clear. As long as a soul''s remnant enters the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus, they will be able to reincarnate with the perfect body. You, of all people, should understand that this Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus is more important to me than my life!" Emperor Soulfish said, his eyes tranquil despite the disadvantageous circumstance. "You''re right," Zhang Cuiying said. She pulled out a scroll longer than her arm and thicker than a tree trunk. She unfurled it, and inside there were numerous copies of a single figure. It depicted a man in shining silver armor and spear. With a flick, the scroll unfurled until it resembled an infinitely long line in the sky. From the scroll, hundreds of soldiers began to pop out from it. Each of these silver soldiers had the aura of an immortal. Finally, the tone thousandth and last armored warrior appeared. Unlike the aura of true immortals the other soldiers exuded, he exuded the aura of an immortal monarch. Voidink Scroll - Immortal Soldiers Descent The spectating immortal monarchs once again found their mouths hanging open in shock¡ªnine hundred and ninety-nine immortal soldiers and one immortal monarch general. No, ignoring that Empress Voidink was able to summon an immortal monarch from her scroll, just the sheer number of true immortal-level combatants was staggering. And judging by the size of the scroll, she wouldn''t happen to have even more, right? They couldn''t help but question. One thousand immortals was already a staggering amount, perhaps larger than the total number of immortals than any one force, except perhaps the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Eternal Night Emperor, Cloud Goddess, Xi Mengfei, and Emperor Soulfish didn''t show any surprise. To experts of their level, being surrounded by one thousand true immortals was nothing fatal. They may not win against the sheer numbers, but leaving alive was easy. In addition, the scroll soldiers were imitations and incapable of unleashing the power of true immortals. The real problem was the formation they began to set up. If combined with Xi Mengfei''s dominance of the Northern Region, then the chances of Emperor Soulfish escaping would practically become zero. None of the immortal monarchs could comprehend his subsequent few actions clearly. From behind him, the Soul Pagoda began to release a brilliant radiance. It was as if the solar star had descended, but no one felt any heat. Rather, it seemed like a mirage. When the light died down, the spectators who had retreated hundreds to thousands of kilometers away saw that Emperor Soulfish had disappeared. Not just him but everyone within a certain distance of the flash had also vanished. Chapter 84.1: Mengfei SS, Another Life Mengfei blinked and took in her surrounding. She was in a room she didn''t recognize, not her Jade Peak Palace or her Heaven-Earth-Man Trinity Palace. In fact, it seemed closer to her place back in the Xi Dynasty when she was a mere imperial princess, still unloved by her Consort-Mother and Emperor-Father. It was a large room, certainly at least equal to her bedroom. Silken beddings, obscuring drapes, jewelry boxes, masterfully crafted furniture, white porcelain painted blue by seasoned painters, and an assortment of snacks upon the table. The Sword Empress circulated her qi. She could still feel her cultivation. Only it felt as if she was encased by a second skin of foreign origin, restricting her. Mengfei looked around for a few moments longer before opening the doors and walking out. "Madame, the master is asking if you are ready to leave." Mengfei paused. She took in the one who called out to her. It was a young servant girl, but she could not feel any hint of qi or cultivation from her at all, like she was a regular mortal. And who did she mean by madame? ''Me?'' Mengfei asked, "Leave, where?" The servant girl showed a surprised expression before schooling it at once. "Today, Madame and Master are going to visit his majesty and the noble consort." Mengfei furrowed her brows. "Does Emperor-Brother need something of me?" The maid showed a panicked expression. She quickly looked around to see if anyone had overheard Mengfei. "Madame, even if you are the most favored imperial princess, you cannot joke like this!" Mengfei''s confusion grew even more. She tried to recall what happened before she awoke here as the maid led her out towards the main hall. The last thing she remembered was Emperor Soulfish''s Soul Pagoda emitting a brilliant light that engulfed herself and her fellow immortal emperors: Zhang Cuiying, Eternal Night Emperor, and Cloud Goddess. As the youngest immortal empress, Xi Mengfei was immensely talented and caused all those old monsters to sigh in admiration. She was already less than a hundred years old when she transcended mortality and became a true immortal, known as the Pathfinding Immortal Realm. From there, within a hundred years, she comprehended a complete law and entered the Seamless Immortal Realm, becoming the youngest immortal monarch. From there, progressing from the Seamless Immortal Realm to the Extremity Immortal Realm was not easy. It might have taken Mengfei tens of thousands of years. Of course, such speed would still be considered heaven-defying. Other immortal emperors needed over a hundred thousand years on average. But thanks to a tremendous stroke of luck, after participating in the Dragon Emperor clash, Mengfei broke through and became famous to the point that other realms and worlds heard of her name. But that also came with a weakness. Among all the immortal emperors and even some immortal monarchs, her willpower was lacking in comparison to her battle strength. This meant that certain soul techniques were especially effective against her. And Mengfei guessed that Emperor Soulfish unleashed a devastating soul technique against her and her fellow immortal emperors and the Cloud Goddess. "Master," The maid bowed to the man waiting in the grand hall. Mengfei observed the man the maid addressed as master. He was two meters tall, with broad and dependable shoulders. Despite the scar running over his eye, he had a pleasant face and sported a small goatee. He looked about ten years Mengfei''s senior based on appearance alone, but his body had not a hint of cultivation. However, if you were to compare their actual age, then Mengfei would be over ten times his senior. "Dear," Mengfei flinched and stepped back when the man reached out with his hand, causing him to helplessly furrow his brows. "After all these years, you still aren''t used to my touch?" Mengfei observed the man and found some slight similarities to her Emperor-Father, about twenty percent. Judging by his word and the maid''s action, he was likely her husband by all logic. Had she stayed in the Xi Dynasty, perhaps she would have been married and gained a prince consort. "Nevermind." The man shook his head. "It''s fine. Eventually, you will understand my heart. Come, let us go visit Emperor-Father and Consort-Mother." At this time, a small blur ran into the hall and crashed into Mengfei. Mengfei looked down and felt a pair of short arms wrap around her waist. "Mother!" Mengfei found herself revealing a small smile when she saw who the small blur was. He had an adorable but immaculate face, but his most outstanding features were no doubt that pair of eyes that resembled hers so much. "Yi''er."Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. The blur, Tianyi, smiled rather foolishly, but there was no hiding the glimmer of wisdom in those young eyes. "Mother, hurry up. I haven''t seen Emperor-Grandfather and Consort-Grandmother in such a loooong time!" Mengfei blinked. She was not used to Tianyi acting so spoiled, and before she realized it, she was in a black sandalwood carriage pulled by three pairs of horses on her way to the imperial palace. "General Han! Mingzhu Princess!" The palace guards saluted the group of three once they passed the gates. Three sedans were pulled up for Mengfei, the man, and little Tianyi. For them to use carried in sedans in the imperial palace spoke of great favor. Typically, only the highest ranked of the Emperor''s women were allowed to use sedans. For Mengfei, a wedded princess, and her husband and son to receive such treatment spoke of greater favor. In her memories, she was just an ignored and unfavored princess. She hadn''t been given a title, and even if she reached of age, it was even more unlikely for her to be titled Mingzhu, which meant radiant pearl. But what shocked Mengfei the most wasn''t the treatment but what the palace called her husband, General Han. Back when she was trapped in the hell that was the inner palace, she had heard of the name of the great General Han, Han Fei. He was the war god of the Xi Dynasty. His background was that of a commoner, but through his abilities, he rose meteorically through the ranks and became the supreme commander of the Xi Dynasty Army. The most important thing was that he was young when he attained the rank and enjoyed great trust from the Emperor. Those two factors were quite attractive to many unmarried females. However, it was the third factor that made many heads over heels for him. Han Fei was a widower. His wife was the daughter of a low-ranked official, but she tragically died while he was at war. Even so, he never remarried, citing his deep affection for his departed wife. Thinking back, perhaps this was also the reason why the emperor trusted Han Fei so much. With no sons or daughters and no longer marrying, Han Fei posed almost no threat to the Xi Imperial Family. But back to the main point. Han Fei''s fame was great to the point that even she, an isolated and unloved princess, had heard of him. She had heard rumors of how much he loved his deceased wife, including the woman who married him would be the most loved woman in the dynasty. At that time, Mengfei imagined marrying him and finally being experienced what it meant to be loved. As a woman of the boudoir, she had been taught the three heavens. First heaven, her father; second heaven, her husband; and the third heaven, her son. It would be her duty to serve all three faithfully. She thought that since her first heaven did not love, why not seek it out from her second? But before any of that could happen, she was discovered by her master and taken away to embark on the path of cultivation. Mengfei looked towards her son in this world. In contrast to the foolish expression he showed within the general''s estate, Tianyi now sported a lofty and elegant bearing. Mengfei allowed herself a slight smile that she did not realize she had at how some things never change before a thought struck her. If she was married to Han Fei in this world, then didn''t that mean Tianyi''s surname changed from Xi to Han? Xi Tianyi Han Tianyi. Mengfei frowned at the thought. She felt an unknown and unpleasant feeling well up in her chest. Her brows still furrowed, and Mengfei pushed down the unpleasant feeling. The trio arrived at the Palace of Harmony, where the Emperor and Noble Consort waited. "Subject greets the holy one." Han Fei kneeled and greeted the Emperor. "Subject-grandson greets the holy one," Han Tianyi followed his father''s example. The only one who didn''t kneel was Mengfei. She stood with her back straight like the lofty Sword Empress she was. There was a deep unwillingness in her heart that Mengfei herself didn''t understand. After she had been taken away, she had only returned to the Xi Dynasty a few times before refusing to come anymore until her Emperor-Father passed away, so such a situation never occurred back in the real world. Her Emperor-Father may have passed away, but her Consort-Mother still lived. But Mengfei left before seeing her Consort-Mother. According to her Emperor-Brother, Consort-Mother lived to the age of ninety-three and was honored due to her status as Mengfei''s mother. The situation left Mengfei feeling confused. She remembered how her Consort-Mother would say that she couldn''t live without Emperor-Father many times. Yet when Emperor-Father died, her Consort-Mother enjoyed being the most honored woman of the Xi Dynasty for decades more. "Quick, beloved subject and filial grandson, rise." The Emperor laughed before looking at Mengfei and sighing helplessly. "Fei''er, you''re already a mother. Although we and your Consort-Mother don''t mind you acting willfully in private, you must remember the rules on official occasions." Mengfei unknowingly curled her lips. Willful, her? Her days back then were saturated with rules to the point that it felt like she was an emotionless doll. Despite all this, when Mengfei looked at her imperial parents again. She felt a slight resentment and anger, but more than that, she felt a sense of peacefulness. Mengfei knew this was all false, but that didn''t mean her muted reaction to seeing her Emperor-Father and Consort-Mother didn''t surprise even herself. She watched on with emotionless eyes as her Emperor-Father and Consort-Mother interacted with her current family of three. Occasionally they would ask her opinion or converse with her, only to get muted replies. No one minded and seemed used to it. The emperor kept Mengfei and the two for lunch. Rather than an emperor and his subjects, it seemed more like a picture of a harmonious family. When they left, the emperor bestowed many gifts for them to take home, causing those onlookers to watch in envy at how favored Han Fei and Mengfei were. The next few days passed with relative normalcy as Mengfei got accustomed to her life in this false world. The experience resembled how she would experience countless different possible lives in her meditation. For an immortal in the Extremity Immortal Realm to ascend to the Origin Immortal Realm, they must become the one and only, unique across all timelines. Thus, most of Mengfei''s time had been spent seeking her other halves in different timelines and merging them. Mengfei had already experienced multiple of such lives. Yet this one was too unique, as if all her innermost desires were granted. Tianyi never appeared in any other timeline, only this one. Yet despite experiencing such a perfect world, she could not bring herself to truly live within it. Yet, at the same time, she couldn''t bring herself to shatter such a world. For Mengfei, who had always been decisive, this was an unknown experience for her. A few months passed, and just as Mengfei was about to shatter the false world, a change occurred. Chapter 84.2: Mengfei SS, Another Life "Mother, am I handsome?" Han Tianyi spun around to show his attire and asked. In contrast to his usual style of dress, today, he had dressed more grandly. It was a special day after all. Today Han Tianyi was twenty years old, so he would have his capping ceremony. His clothing was embroidered with golden lotuses near the bottom, making it seem as if he was walking through a field of lotuses. Mengfei nodded to the Tianyi of this false world. Ten years had passed in this false world. In a blink of an eye, Tianyi had turned from a bratty ten-year-old to a bratty twenty-year-old. Not that the people of the dynasty would ever be able to see such a side to him, not even Han Fei did, only Mengfei. Mengfei saw Tianyi''s expectant eyes and helplessly opened her mouth. "Are you excited?" "Of course!" Han Tianyi replied immediately. "I can enter the Imperial Examination. I will awe everyone once I become the top thesis author." "Don''t be too confident. If you let your guard down or blindly believe yourself, you will set yourself up for failure or, even worse, death." Mengfei couldn''t help but warn. Although it seemed unlikely that Han Tianyi would die within the Xi Dynasty, Mengfei couldn''t help but recall her real son, appearing humble yet proud to the extreme. Han Tianyi was an exalted child with the blood of the imperial family flowing through his veins. In this world where cultivation didn''t exist, the Xi Dynasty reigned as the world''s greatest power. "You''re right," Han Tianyi nodded after widening his eyes in slight surprise. He rubbed his face and continued. "Emperor-Grandfather might not give me the position of top thesis author even if I am the best. He might give me the position of flower snatcher just based on how beautiful my face is." Mengfei was struck speechless. Soon the capping ceremony started with many guests, both from noble heritages and officials, coming to congratulate Mengfei and Han Fei on their outstanding son. "Princess," Mengfei turned her head to see Duchess Jiang come forward to greet her. "Salutations on your beloved son''s coming of age." "Many thanks," Mengfei replied, her tone aloof. But Duchess Jiang didn''t mind. She recalled that Duchess Jiang had a rather outstanding son, according to rumors. "Is the Scion Scion not here?" Duchess Jiang shook her head. "Unfortunately, he is bogged down by official matters. He sends his apologies." Mengfei nodded and was about to turn away but paused when she spotted the girl behind Duchess Jiang. "Is this your daughter?" Duchess Jiang blinked in surprise and elation before quickly hiding it. "Indeed, your highness. Daoyi, come up and greet the princess!" The Daoyi walking forward was almost precisely the same as the one in Mengfei''s memories. "I greet Mingzhu Princess," Daoyi said with a curtsy, her skin almost luminescent. Duchess Jiang felt herself well up with anxiety at the silence of Mengfei. "Full of talent, as elegant as chrysanthemum and as beautiful as roses," Mengfei said after a long while. Duchess Jiang stood there stunned, struck silent by the favor of Mengfei. Who in the Xi Dynasty that Mingzhu Princess was the emperor''s most favored child, even above the crown prince? She was the apple of his eye, the pearl in his palm. Many wanted to shorten the distance and cultivate a relationship with this famous princess. But, she was said to be born upon the cold mountain tops, a magnolia carved from the ice itself¡ªnone who attempted succeeded. Rather than cultivating a friendship, it was more likely to be struck by misfortune if one offended her. However, Mengfei did something she had never done in the ten years since she arrived. She praised someone, and that someone was her, Duchess Jiang''s daughter. Within a day, word had already filtered out on how Mengfei had praised Jiang Daoyi. People began to speculate about Mengfei''s intent from those words alone. Alongside, word of how good Duchess Jiang was at raising children also spread. The son was an official with limitless prospects, while the daughter was compared to chrysanthemums and roses. Even Mengfei herself was not exempt from the ripples. "Dear, do you like that girl, Jiang Daoyi?" Han Fei asked. The years had been kind to him. Despite a decade passing, his graying temples were the only signs of age. Mengfei blinked at the word Han Fei asked. Throughout the ten years, Mengfei had not slept in the same room as Han Fei even once. It made her wonder how Tianyi was even born sometimes. But Han Fei showed no dissatisfaction and, instead, treated her even better. "I feel that she is good," Mengfei said after collecting her thoughts. "The Yi characters in their name are the same. They have fate," The "their" Mengfei said naturally meant Tianyi and Daoyi. Han Fei only nodded, and Mengfei thought that was the end of it. Life went on, and Han Tianyi attended the Imperial Examination. Although Han Tianyi carried the blood of the imperial family, he was not of the direct line, so he had to attend the Imperial Examination before becoming an official. As Mengfei had said, Han Tianyi did not take the position of the top thesis author, but as Tianyi had feared, he had taken the position of Flower Snatcher. The reason given was that although Tianyi''s thesis was thought-provoking and contained interesting ideas, they were largely untested and showed his inexperience. Han Tianyi had sulked in his room for three days straight afterward, but the greatest shock came after that. "Marriage!?" Mengfei couldn''t help but raise her voice. She had already changed her thought process after bringing Daoyi back from the Xi Dynasty ten years ago. She reflected over Tianyi''s words and accepted them. To cultivators like them, time would be an abyss. Marriage and companionship were not necessarily something that they needed. Han Fei showed a surprised expression at Mengfei''s shock. "Dear, what''s wrong?" "Why did you suddenly bring out marriage? Why out of the blue?" Mengfei asked. The topic had utterly blindsided her.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. "I thought this was your intent," Han Fei said. Mengfei''s expression didn''t change, but confusion emanated from her eyes. Cold sweat began to pour down Han Fei''s back. "I mean, you complimented Jiang Daoyi. This is the first time I have ever heard you praise someone so much. So I thought that you wanted that girl as your daughter-in-law. I already sent a letter to Duke Jiang, and they have already agreed. Today is the day we''re sending betrothal gifts!" Mengfei massaged her temples. She did not think that her words at the time would cause such a mess. It was strangely reminiscent of the time she first saw Daoyi. Only this time, it was her notice that made others take action. By her side, seeing Mengfei''s rare moment of frustration, Han Fei began to panic. "If you don''t want, I can immediately cancel the betrothal!" Mengfei sent him an annoyed look. "At this stage, you should have already exchanged the two''s eight characters. Canceling at this point will only cause suffering for Daoyi. Does Tianyi know?" Even if the Daoyi of this world was also false, she had still been Mengfei''s student. Causing a black mark against her would cause Mengfei to be uneasy. "Uhh..." Han Fei paused. "I hadn''t told him yet?" Mengfei barely resisted the urge to fling Han Fei into the sky and left to seek out Tianyi. The saddest part of all this? This was the longest conversation Mengfei and Han Fei had since she came to this world. "Marriage?" Han Tianyi said with a befuddled look. Mengfei nodded. "Do... do you know the girl?" Han Tianyi asked after a moment of deliberation. "In a way," Mengfei said. Although the Tianyi of this world didn''t have his memories of the real world, he acted shockingly similar to the real Tianyi. The same should apply to the Daoyi of this world as well. "What does Mother think of her?" Han Tianyi asked. "She is a good girl. If you marry her, you won''t have any conflicts." This was Mengfei''s honest opinion on the union of the two. Tianyi nodded. "Okay, I''ll marry her." "Are you sure?" Mengfei asked. "Do you not want to choose your own wife?" "If mother chose her, then it''s fine," Han Tianyi said with a smile. "You''re not saying this because you''re shy, right?" Mengfei asked suspiciously. "Ack!" "I know you''re not good at interacting with others. But this is one of your life''s biggest moments. I think you should choose for yourself," Mengfei said. "I just said it''s good!" Tianyi huffed, his face slightly flushed. Mengfei sighed helplessly. Whenever Tianyi became embarrassed about something, he would clam up and hide it by running away or bouts of anger. In the end, the day of the marriage soon arrived in the spring of next year. The general''s manor was decorated with copious amounts of red and festive music could be heard from the outside and inside. Mengfei and Han Fei sat in the main hall waiting for Han Tianyi and his new bride. Han Tianyi had left the general''s manor and went to the duke''s manor to bring back Daoyi. She felt her heart beat crazily when Han Tianyi returned with Daoyi. An unknown feeling that she could not term welled up within her chest. It was sweet but also slightly bitter. "Kowtow to heaven and earth!" Han Tianyi, in his radiant red groom cloth and Daoyi in her brilliant red bridal dress with a red veil covering her head, faced the sky outside and kowtowed. "Kowtow to the parents!" Han Tianyi and Daoyi faced Mengfei and Han Fei in the master seat and kowtowed. "Kowtow to each other!" And at the final kowtow, Han Tianyi and Daoyi bowed to each other, symbolizing respect for each other. The bride was sent to the wedding chamber, and the guests kept toasting Mengfei, Han Fei, and Han Tianyi in felicitations. After a certain period of time, the guest retreated, and Tianyi also walked to the wedding chambers. Knowing it was bad but not being able to help herself, Mengfei released her immortal sense and covered the whole general''s manor. She saw Tianyi and Daoyi hook their arms and down the wine in their cups. Tianyi made a face at the bitterness of the wine while Daoyi hummed and enjoyed it. Mengfei held her hand towards her heart. There was a sense of loss, but this was only one of the many new emotions she would come to experience. In this false world, she experienced the joy of her child becoming accomplished and regarded as a wise minister at a young age. Her Emperor-Father died and passed the throne to the crown prince, her Emperor-Brother. At the same time her Emperor-Father died, her Consort-Mother also passed away in grief, unlike in reality. On the day of the funeral, where everyone hung white banners outside of their homes, Mengfei''s heart was unnaturally calm, as if rust had been scraped off a treasured sword. It was only now, watching all this, that Mengfei realized how small one mortal emperor''s life was. An emperor was born holy, but he would one day rule over millions of mortals like himself. What made him so different? Death would claim him in the end. It was laughable. She was an exalted immortal empress, yet a mortal emperor and consort left such deep shadows in her heart. Perhaps she was the same. She was also no different from mortals. Her emotions were dulled, but she would laugh and cry like the mortals who venerated her. The world did not stop after the passing of a mere emperor, no matter how white the capital became. Her Emperor-Brother was a good emperor, just as she remembered. The only flaw was that he could not have children, no matter how many consorts and concubines he took. All the imperial physicians said nothing was wrong with his or the consorts'' bodies, but he could not just sire children. If the emperor did not have children, then succession would become a problem that would plague the dynasty. So under pressure, the current emperor had to look at his relatives for an heir. And against everyone''s expectations, he chose Han Tianyi. There were no words to describe the shock and chaos that came afterward. The end result was that Tianyi changed his name from Han to Xi and became the crown prince. Beloved as Han Fei may be, there was no way the Xi Dynasty would allow the name to change from Xi to Han. Han Fei even absconded his position in the aftermath. Mengfei felt strangely delighted, not because Xi Tianyi would become the next emperor but because his name changed back to Xi. "Ridiculous." Mengfei had uttered those words afterward. Realistic, there was no way an emperor would take such an action and name the son of a princess to be the next Son of Heaven. Just like everything else in this world, it seemed that reality was bending itself backward to fulfill Mengfei''s hidden desires. But Mengfei didn''t hate it. It was an introspection of herself. Soon, her grandchild was born. It was a plump little thing, even if it was false. Mengfei adored him and made up for all her missed moments with Tianyi. As time passed, Han Fei was the first to pass away after her Emperor-Father perished. Till his dying breath, he had not slept in the same room as Mengfei. The next to go was her Emperor-Brother, who had not sired an heir till his dying days. Xi Tianyi took up the throne and ushered in the most prosperous era of the Xi Dynasty. He expanded the borders and almost unified the whole world under the Xi Imperial Family. Her grandson also grew up with broad shoulders and tall stature. He didn''t have the beauty that Tianyi inherited from her but valorous features from Han Fei. Mengfei thought he looked perfect as a male. Time passed as everyone around her aged, but Mengfei stayed eternally youthful. No one thought it strange and accepted it like it was common sense. Mengfei stayed till Xi Tianyi''s last breath. Tears streamed down her face. The Tianyi of this world was a fake, yet she had developed feelings for this false son. It was something she had not developed when she experienced other lives. Xi Longyi Xi Feiyan Xi Qiuyue Xi Manlong They were all possible children that could be born to her in different lifetimes. But only Tianyi was able to make her experience the feelings of motherhood. The world twisted and shattered. "I miss you, Yi''er." The world ended. Chapter 85: Dearest Desires Seeing that the immortal emperors and Cloud Goddess disappeared, the remaining immortals left one after the other. One even wanted to collect Monarch Allroot''s corpse but was surprised to find it gone. "Which bastard stole it while we weren''t paying attention? Damn him!" He shouted and left unwillingly. He didn''t want to stay any longer lest the same thing that caused the immortal emperors to disappear happened to him. Once they were all gone, a figure in blue arose from the ground. It was a female cultivator in the Nascent Soul Realm. She wore a pure black robe that seemed to merge with her long hair, and the most striking feature was the blue iris that replaced her right eye. She was Hu Landie A fair distance away, the Spring Autumn Butterfly Larva flew through the air and returned to Hu Landie. It crawled onto her body and into the blue iris. Afterward, she revealed a satisfied smirk. "I hadn''t expected that the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus that was discovered over a hundred years later would appear this early. Last time, Sword Empress Xi never came to the Northern Regions. What changed?" Hu Landie asked before shaking her head. "Forget it. My strength is far too weak now. Many things from before I turned back time were unknown to me. Even when I ascended to the Immortal Realm, I was hunted down because of my Spring Autumn Butterfly." Hu Landie appeared young, but she was an old monster with over ten thousand years of memories and experience. In her first life, she miraculously stumbled upon the tomb of an immortal that cultivated the Spring Autumn Scripture and devised the Spring Autumn Butterfly. Word of it leaked, and eventually, she was cornered. When that happened, she decided to gamble and refined her own heart to complete the Spring Autumn Butterfly. Through that, she was able to turn back time to before she had begun cultivating. Using the advantage of her memories and experiences, she quickly rose through the ranks of the Silk Chrysalis Sect in order to attain a chance to enter the ruin of the Immortal Court. She soon left the sect afterward as there were no advantages for her. The Earth Continent would be embroiled in a war soon. She had then entered Immortal Riverrat''s tomb to complete the fragment of the Spring Autumn Scripture in her possession. The materials he left were also useful for cultivating her Spring Autumn Butterfly Larva. Throughout the years, she had quietly visited the locations that contained essential resources. Eventually, she stopped by the Northern Region by the Fleeting Mist Sect in order to harvest a part of the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus. She had wanted to come back when she became an immortal to harvest the rest of the lotus, but it seemed that it was released early. "The flap of a butterfly''s wing can cause a hurricane on the other side of the realm." Hu Landie said, recalling the words describing the Spring Autumn Butterfly. She soon left. Her harvest was already considerable, especially the corpse of Monarch Allroot. She could have never imagined such a fortune, not even in her former life. -line break- The scene was atop a mountain. Despite the mountaintop being above the clouds, the ground was still green and filled with blooming flowers. The gentle wind carried the soft clouds like a gentle river. Zhang Cuiying recognized this scenery. It was a location that she had never visited or painted since that battle over a hundred years ago. She looked at her hands. Her hands were still the same, milky white and delicate to the point that they seemed to have never held anything. Her sleeves were pale yellow in color, a color she had never worn since he died. In fact, she had never worn any color other than white since he died. Why was she here in such a dress? No, Zhang Cuiying knew. She waited slowly as she watched the afternoon sun dip into the horizon. As dusk started to settle, the scenery was bathed in an orange tint. "The autumn air is clear, The autumn moon is bright, Leaves that have fallen gather and scatter, Jackdaws roost and start anew. Yearning for each other, when shall we meet again? It is hard to love this night" The speaker''s tone was clear as spring water, and the tone was neither hurried nor slow. It wasn''t the most beautiful voice, but the gentle way it was spoken soothed one''s soul and nerves. Zhang Cuiying looked towards the sea of clouds to see an immortal walking toward her. He was robed in light green, and his hair was tied in a top knot. The image of a scholar came up immediately when one looked at him. His face was above average, but that was par for the norm for immortals. As a general rule, immortals were all above average in looks, even if they were ordinary or ugly, before they started cultivating. But his temperament caused his initial six out of ten looks to become nine out of ten. "Daopoet..." Zhang Cuiying whispered as if in a trance. Her eyes widened slightly as if in disbelief. "Ying''er, what''s wrong?" The man, Immortal Daopoet, asked with a smile. His eyes were exceptionally gentle as he brushed the stray petals from Zhang Cuiying''s hair. "Are you worried?" Daopoet asked and then lightly laughed. "There''s no need. I''m confident in my chances of breaking through into the Seamless Immortal Realm and becoming one of the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s monarchs. Rather than worrying about me, it would be best if you thought for yourself more. You should have arrived at the Seamless Immortal Realm earlier than me, but you delayed your progress because you were worried. Ying''er, I''m no longer the hairy brat from all those years ago." Unable to control herself, tears began to leak from Zhang Cuiying''s eyes like little pearls. But she didn''t close her eyes or wipe them; she kept them open as if to take in everything before her. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "Senior Sister!?" Daopoet''s voice slightly cracked at the unexpected sight of Zhang Cuiying crying. His calm and collected senior sister, the one who wasn''t fazed fighting a transcending mortality saint as a unity venerable, the fearless senior sister that protected him from the bullying of the other disciples due to his weak self, the senior sister who would only look at him with disappointed eyes, was now crying before him! "Did I say something wrong!?" Daopoet''s scholarly air completely disappeared as he waved his hand in panic. "Senior Sister, I''m sorry, I won''t do it again. Please just stop crying, I''ll change! Umm, I won''t dare to trick you anymore! Is it because I snuck a peek at you when you were bathing a year ago!? I apologize!" Time seemed to have frozen as Zhang Cuiying''s tears stopped, and her eyes widened with disbelief at Daopoet. Daopoet, in contrast, was staring at Zhang Cuiying with his knees buckling with an expression as if expression, "Oh shit, did I just say that out loud?" Zhang Cuiying slowly broke out of her stupor before giving Immortal Daopoet a truly stunning smile that would make the mountaintop flowers hide in shame. Daopoet stood there, stunned at the rarely seen smile from Zhang Cuiying. Slowly, a smile crept upon his face. But Before he could comprehend what happened, he doubled over in pain with Zhang Cuiying''s fist embedded in his stomach. "You little pervert. I thought you changed from your old habits; it just turned out you learned how to hide them better!!!" Zhang Cuiying growled out through gritted teeth. Daopoet protected his head with both his arms, expecting his noggin to be struck whenever he made Zhang Cuiying angry. But to his surprise, cool fingers pinched his chin and forced him to face up. "Mercy! Senior Sis-ompffff!!!" Immortal Daopoet''s eyes widened like saucers when he felt something hot clash against his lips. His mind stopped working when he realized that his distant senior sister was kissing him!!! "Huwah?" Daopoet made an incomprehensible noise when the two''s lips separated. A goofy grin appeared on his face as he slowly slipped out of his stupor. "Ehehe..." Zhang Cuiying smiled helplessly. "Even if this is an illusion and a fake, you can''t help but be stupid." She shook her head in exasperation. "But in the end, a fake is still a fake no matter how I wish it isn''t. Break for me!" The world stopped, and all noise ceased. As if the color was being sucked away, the world gradually lost its color except for Zhang Cuiying. Like this, the illusionary world shattered. When Zhang Cuiying returned to her senses, she discovered she was on a bed naked with only a blanket covering her. "Ying''er! Let''s get married!" The door to the room burst open, and an exuberant Daopoet walked in. Outside there were a lot of servants who were shocked and peeking in. Zhang Cuiying felt her lips tremble and, through gritted teeth, said. "EM.PER.OR.SOUL.FISH!!!!!" -line break- The Cloud Goddess looked at her surrounding. She was currently kneeling at a mountaintop, but the area surrounding the mountain wasn''t any land but colorless space. It was a mountain that existed only in the Vast Void. In front of her was a man handsome and dignified. He exuded an aura that made him seem like a celestial emperor. He wore jade green dragon robes with golden five-clawed dragon and lotus embroidery. A jade coronet tied a portion of his long black hair. She remembered this scene. The man before her was like a deity to her of the time, a mere immortal monarch who could not ascend to the Extremity Immortal Realm. "Once you take this step, there will be no chance for regrets." The man said, his voice a conglomeration of numerous voices. It was like a thousand people speaking at once and in the exact same way. She felt herself nod. "If I do not take this chance, I will regret it for the rest of my days." The celestial emperor nodded. "Very well, although you will be the weakest of them, you will become a divinity." The Cloud Goddess gained a nostalgic look in her eyes as her body kowtowed out of her control, but she felt her body stiffen when she heard the next words. "Even when you start your own force, remember to remain loyal. Do not think of using Monarch Yonderheart''s death as a way to break free. We can make you a divinity. Naturally, we can drag you down to a mere mortal as well." The Cloud Goddess felt cold sweat on her back. Those words back then! Did the man before her predict that she would fall to Emperor Soulfish''s attack over half a million years ago!? "Break." Following the celestial emperor''s words, the illusion trapping her shattered. -line break- Eternal Night Emperor was standing with his hands behind his back atop the clouds. Below him, an immortal city was bustling with life. Even the street hawkers were at least in the Foundation Establishment Realm. There was joy, and there was sadness in his eyes. All the city citizens wore a variety of clothing; there was not even a hint of uniformity. But more than half of the people had a badge with twelve symbols upon it. "So that little fellow''s attack is so sinister. Bringing us into an illusionary realm that creates our dearest wish based on our memories. In terms of understanding the heart, I''m afraid there is no one more proficient than him. But so what? In the end, a fake is still a fake." Like with Zhang Cuiying, the world started to lose all color before shattering. Unlike her, another world didn''t replace the illusionary world, and he was outside of Emperor Soulfish''s technique. Emperor Soulfish, naturally, had already escaped by this time. He looked around to see that the Cloud Goddess was already out, to his surprise. Although she was an immortal emperor-level expert, that was mostly due to her divine energy and not the power of her law. So it was a surprise that she was out before him. But he saw that her face wasn''t right and stayed silent. It didn''t take long for Zhang Cuiying to appear; her face wasn''t right either. And Eternal Night Monarch carefully stayed silent around these two women. A good man doesn''t fight with women; Eternal Night Emperor stroked his beard and thought this. Strangely, no matter how long they waited, Mengfei didn''t come out. Although young, her strength should be on the higher end in the group of four. ''In the end, although her realm is high, her willpower needs more tempering. Thinking about it, it is already amazing that she is an immortal emperor at only a thousand years old.'' "Empress Voidink, please excuse me for not being able to accompany you any longer. Emperor Soulfish has already fled with the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus. As such, I will return to the sect. I cannot hope to be away from the sect for too long. I''m sure you understand," Eternal Night Emperor said. "I will not delay you." Zhang Cuiying agreed but added. "However, if Emperor Soulfish were to reappear, can I trust you to lend aid?" Eternal Night Emperor paused as he studied Zhang Cuiying. They originally teamed up because they wanted to prevent the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus from being stolen, but it seemed that Zhang Cuiying had a grudge against Emperor Soulfish. Was it perhaps related to his technique? Nonetheless, he didn''t peer deeper into the issue. "If there is a chance, this immortal will aid Empress Voidink." The Cloud Goddess also left with Eternal Night Emperor gone. With them gone, Zhang Cuiying waited for Mengfei to return. Days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months. Just as she was preparing to return to the sect and have some illusion specialists come, Mengfei reappeared. Zhang Cuiying paused and observed the newly emerged Mengfei. Mengfei didn''t have the indolent air to her when Zhang Cuiying first came to the Northern Region. Rather she seemed to have regressed to her previous state of emotion. Mengfei''s face was blank like before, but Zhang Cuiying felt that something had changed. Even the air around her seemed to have evolved. "Elder Zhang, do you know what specialties the Northern Region has?" Zhang Cuiying gave a bewildered look in response. Mengfei, seeing her confusion, elaborated. "I should buy some souvenirs for Yi''er. Because of the appearance of the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus, he didn''t get a chance to go out much. I should buy some gifts to console him." Zhang Cuiying had only one response to this. "Haa?" Just what did Mengfei experience to change her like this!? Chapter 86: Back at the Sect During the time that Zhang Cuiying patiently waited for Xi Mengfei to appear, many things were changing in the Heaven Continent. Perhaps because of the fight between the Immortal Monarchs, the change was most turbulent in the Northern Regions. Smaller areas such as the former White Mist Region, Green Scorpion Region, and the Unseen Whale Region directly waged war. The Fleeting Mist Sect, whose headquarters became a direct casualty, retired from the war for supremacy among the three regions. This was the most volatile area. Not just in the Northern Region, from the Northeastern Region to the Northwestern Region, minor skirmishes broke out, but the possibility of directly evolving into war was not zero. Of course, these occurrences did not concern third-rate forces and above. Third-rate sects also have subordinate forces like how the Buzhou Immortal Sect had Vassal Sects. But the degree of separation between their subordinate forces and the ones waging war was so far apart that it was like they were from a different world. Originally, people who thought the sudden increase in conflict at the edge of the Heaven Continent would subside became puzzled. Not only did the skirmishes not decrease, but they increased instead. The battle between sects that only had core formation masters as their strongest power evolved into battles between sects with nascent soul grandmasters. With the escalating conflict, those near them could only prepare and wait to see. But it had reached the point that even third-rate sects had begun to take notice of this eerie situation. Many people who saw this were puzzled. If this situation occurred within the Earth Continent, they would think it natural. But it appeared in the Heaven Continent. Each continent had a small alliance of forces that did not yield to the hegemonic sect. Most of the time, they did not have the power to cause large ripples. The situation in the Earth Continent was queer, and the alliance in the Heaven Continent was barely surviving, thanks to the Cloud Goddess. No matter what others thought, at the center of all this, the leader of the Nine Regions, Buzhou Immortal Sect of the Central Heaven Region, all was peaceful and unmarred by the conflict. -line break- When he heard of the situation from Xi Ri, Tianyi, who was busy cultivating, only uttered, "Ah," and didn''t think much of it. What he was more concerned about was the actual lack of subordinates. When he returned to the Buzhou Immortal Sect, he wanted to enquire about Jiang Chunye, but Tianyi discovered that he didn''t have any actual means to do so. Thinking back logically, his mother had no subordinates either. She was a carefree grand elder that didn''t interfere with sect matters. When she needed to do something, she did it herself. And when the sect required her help, she would go along, like during the assault on the Dragon Emperor. Tianyi wrung his brains on this matter but didn''t know where to start. Aside from the people sent to deliver the necessary goods, Jade Peak didn''t have any servants! Even the elders living in the mountain were idle elders who did not interfere with sect matters. And it wasn''t like he could casually go ask people to investigate a small insignificant person like Jiang Chunye either. So Tianyi fell into a dilemma. "Senior Brother." Tianyi paused from his rumination and saw Daoyi walking towards him with Xi Ri. "Are you still dispirited that you didn''t make it back for the Disciple Acceptance Ceremony?" Tianyi shook his head. "No, it''ll happen in another ten years. Perhaps it would be better that I missed it. I should focus on my cultivation first." When Elder Shan, Tianyi, and Daoyi returned, they had just missed the Disciple Acceptance Ceremony. It was a bit of a disappointment for Tianyi, who had the heart to take on a disciple. Later, he learned that only elders were allowed to take a disciple. Tianyi was eligible to become an elder but only an outer elder as he was a nascent soul grandmaster. He would have to enter the Unity Realm first to be an inner elder.Stolen novel; please report. So although disappointed, Tianyi didn''t take it to heart. "So why are you two here?" Tianyi asked. Daoyi and Xi Ri shared a look before looking back at Tianyi. "Senior Brother, are you okay?" "Why wouldn''t I be?" Tianyi asked, confused by the two. "It''s just that Senior Brother has been cultivating without rest since coming back," Daoyi said. "Senior Brother also immediately moved out of Jade Peak Palace," Xi Ri said. He also felt that Tianyi had a slight change after returning from the Northern Region. Immediately after coming back, he directly moved out of Jade Peak Palace. And unless there were urgent matters, which were nearly none, Tianyi spent all day cultivating. Did a cultivation demon possess him? Xi Ri couldn''t help but have such thoughts. Daoyi, who felt Tianyi''s change at the Fleeting Mist Sect, had an inkling but didn''t say anything. She just felt that Tianyi madly cultivating wasn''t good for him. The few times she visited, he always had a sullen expression. Tianyi shrugged. "I just feel after experiencing what happened in the Northern Region, my power and cultivation are too low right now." Too low? How many old monsters would vomit blood if the people who heard the twenty year old say such a thing? When one entered the Foundation Establishment Realm, their life expectancy would increase to two hundred years. Entering the Core Formation Realm would extend the lifespan to six hundred. And entering the Nascent Soul Realm, the life expectancy would increase from around one thousand two hundred to three thousand six hundred depending on the cultivator itself. Three thousand six hundred years was the maximum life expectancy of a mortal. Transcending mortality saints were no exceptions. "Senior Brother, all things must be done in moderation. I feel that your previous pace is good. Cultivation cannot be rushed," Daoyi said. "What if you develop an inner devil?" How could Tianyi not understand such a principle? But for the first time in his life, he felt that something was biting the back of his heels, and he was unable to slow down either. "How about researching the Xiyi Talismen? Or the Formation Cards? I feel that Senior Brother should have some improvements after reaching Nascent Soul Realm," Xi Ri said. ''What is this? An intervention?'' "All right, all right," Tianyi said, slightly fed up. The three of them once more found themselves sitting around a table talking about the Xiyi Talismen and Formation Cards. With the improvement of Tianyi''s realm, many things did indeed clear up. For example, to recreate the talisman''s versatility, a server would need to be created to store all the data. Just like on Earth, there would need to be a receiver and emitter to transmit the data, so Tianyi decided just to combine the two and made a black tower for that purpose. And maybe because Tianyi was looking at a new angle, or perhaps it was an increase in his realm, he could devise the first feature, a two-way voice transmitter. Xi Ri held the prototype Xiyi Talisman in front of him. "Hello? Can you hear me? Hello?" There was no response. Xi Ri held the talisman next to his ear like a modern smartphone and repeated what he had said before. Daoyi, who was watching by the side, covered her face with her hand, already expecting what was to come. Tianyi, who was a fair distance away, smiled and inhaled a deep breath. "HELLO!!! CAN YOU HEAR ME???" "Ah!" Xi Ri yelped, and the Xiyi Talisman dropped out of his hand. He felt like he had gone deaf in one ear and looked warily at the Xiyi Talisman on the ground. The sounds of Tianyi''s laughter could be heard booming from the fallen Xiyi Talismen. Xi Ri sighed. Was he too honest? Time after time, he had fallen for Tianyi''s pranks. He glanced at Daoyi, who had long expected this. In the end, he helplessly smiled, but there was a slight relief in that smile. This was the first time since Tianyi returned that Xi Ri had heard him laugh carefreely like this. When the day began to darken, Daoyi and Xi Ri excused themselves. "Senior Brother, I''ll come back in a few days. Right now, the Flower Fairy big sisters are teaching me some interesting things. The big sister referred to the Eighteen Flower Fairies. Almost like magic, once Tianyi left, they began to appear at Jade Peak Palace once more. Tianyi''s tooth ached just thinking about this. As for Xi Ri. He was actually also quite busy. Not just the small business he had made, he was someone who his master favored heavily. Thus he had many duties to fulfill, in addition to finding spare time to cultivate. When the two of them bid farewell, Tianyi stretched his back and looked at his estate. This large estate, only he lived there. It was quite lonely. "No, be strong. Cultivation is a lonely path. If you can''t even withstand this, then don''t even take another step, Tianyi!" Encouraging himself, he returned to cultivation. Chapter 87: Invitation Tianyi flipped through the manuals in his hand without care. The five Nascent Souls in his body formed a cyclical system, and even without him consciously circulating his qi, his cultivation would advance. This was just breathing and eating, yet advancing leaps and bounds. If anyone else were to know how easy it was for Tianyi to cultivate, no doubt, they would become green with envy. But Tianyi himself felt it was too slow. When he tried to cultivate and speed up, the progress wasn''t that much faster than when he just let time passed. Since he can''t increase his cultivation speed, he will have to improve his battle prowess instead. Tianyi began to visit the Immortal Scripture Repository and picked out numerous manuals. His mother said that for a swordsman to become a master, he must have a myriad of experience in sword arts. The easiest way was to practice many sword arts. Tianyi didn''t just retrieve sword arts, but also claw arts, formation manuals, and even some soul techniques. First, Tianyi focused on his claw arts. Till this day, no one aside from his mother knew that he was most talented in claw arts. It wasn''t just claw arts either, but Tianyi even incorporated palm arts. If the claws were the hard techniques, then the soft palm techniques balanced the rigidness. When Tianyi struck, each of five fingers emitted a different aura corresponding to the five elements. And his palm was like a dense world. Each attack, though swift, was also incomparably heavy. At other times, his hand became like the void. Tianyi''s hand didn''t move towards his targets, but the target voluntarily moved their body to be struck by his hand. As the days passed, Tianyi absorbed more and more techniques until he was sick of it. The only rest he had was when Daoyi or Xi Ri visited. Other times, he would visit them. Tianyi felt that he was getting stronger. But without someone to objectively appraise him or anyone to compete against, he didn''t know his own progress. This was also the reason why so many cultivators sparred and tested their mettle against each other so much. As for those who deliberately sought life and death battles? Tianyi would like to say that he didn''t have a death wish. The cultivation world was already cutthroat. Why would he purposely put himself in danger? Sure, life and death battles may increase the chance of one''s breakthrough. But in Tianyi''s opinion, that could only be used as a last resort. Just look at him. He never had a life and death battle before, hadn''t he also reach the Nascent Soul Realm at age twenty? Okay, Tianyi was a terrible example, but he didn''t notice. Plus, he also experienced life and death situations before, from almost being stranded in the Vast Void and nearly killed by the now Emperor Soulfish. With such a thought in mind, Tianyi left Jade Peak for the sparring arenas. There were no shortages of disciples who sparred against each other within the sect, so a special arena was made for such occasions. The arenas were separated into different sections, from Foundation Establishment to Nascent Soul. Tianyi naturally appeared at the Nascent Soul level arenas. When Tianyi arrived, he immediately attracted the attention of all the disciples. He didn''t notice, but ever since he ascended the Nascent Soul Realm, he exuded a unique aura. It caused others not to be able to overlook his existence. As someone used to the spotlight, Tianyi magnificently ignored all this. Tianyi walked around, looking at the neatly arranged stages. Although he was looking for a sparring partner to test his improvements, this didn''t mean he didn''t know his own strength. Being able to survive a Unity Realm Venerable''s self-destruction as an early stage Nascent Soul Grandmaster, this should mean that he should still be top tier, right? So those ordinary Inner Disciples, he ignored. Instead, he was looking for those who were obviously a cut above the rest and able to reach the peak of Nascent Soul Realm in prowess. Just that, some people felt that their hands were itchy seeing this legendary senior brother. "Senior brother Xi, please give this one some guidance." Tianyi had long noticed his approach. The asker was a handsome man of average height who looked to be in his twenties. His skin was quite smooth and white; even though his features were soft like a woman. But he exuded the air of a late Nascent Soul Realm. Strictly speaking, the man didn''t have to address Tianyi as senior brother as they were both in the Nascent Soul Realm. He could address Tianyi as brother Xi or even junior brother Xi, but Tianyi had an additional status as the son and disciple of a Grand Elder. "How can it be called giving guidance. I should be asking for pointers, brother...?" Tianyi asked, his smile carefree. The man cupped his fist. "This one is surnamed Qi, given name Baifan." "Greetings, brother Qi." Tianyi smiled. The two stepped onto the stage. Tianyi made a please gesture and the air between them tensed. Qi Baifan took out a whip and struck the ground with a satisfying crack. Tianyi didn''t unsheath his sword and instead looked at his opponent. If he squinted his eyes a bit, Qi Baifan looked a little bit like a woman. At least the face. Suddenly he gave a bewitching smile and allowed his eyelashes to flutter. It was a small movement. The spectators couldn''t see it, but Qi Baifan, who was the direct recipient of the movements, felt as if he struck by a daze.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. It wasn''t as if he was stunned by Tianyi''s beauty. Tianyi''s beauty would allow others to sigh in praise, but it wasn''t to the point that people of the same gender would be struck speechless. He had used a simple soul trick to make Qi Baifan dazed for a bit. It was a crude soul technique, but the greatest advantage was that it only required eye contact and was easy to use. Qi Baifan stood there dazed for a mere moment. But when he broke out of it, he felt a trickle of sweat flow down his forehead. He didn''t think it was just nervousness, but he couldn''t explain it any other way. It didn''t matter. All he was here for was to test the son of the Sword Empress. Qi Baifan struck first, his whip lashing out like a venomous serpent. Unfortunately, his open strike would be blocked easily. Without Tianyi making any movement, light surrounded his body and repelled the whip. Not deterred, Qi Baifan showed more and more of his techniques. Sometimes the whip felt alive. Other times it split into nine separate lashes and struck. Whatever Qi Baifan did, Tianyi repelled. He conjured weapons formed of lightning and struck back. All those attacks were light and fast, putting Qi Baifan on the defensive. After a good showing, Tianyi delivered the critcal blow and knocked Qi Baifan out of the stage. But the show didn''t end. Who knew where these people got the idea, but more and more people began to challenge Tianyi after seeing him "duke" it out with Qi Baifan. Tianyi at first humored them, but after the seventh match, he wanted to scream, "All of you just come at me at once, let''s get all over with!" Did they think he was weak because he humored Qi Baifan and didn''t knock him down in one blow? Of course, Tianyi didn''t really shout that. That was just openly drawing hatred to himself. So he settled for the next best thing and just directly knocked his opponent out of the stage with mercy or even letting them show their strength. After the third time Tianyi did that, the number of challenges drastically reduced. Another few rounds, no dared to challenge Tianyi. He sent a glance around the spectators who all eagerly wanted to challenge moments before waving his sleeve and leaving. Unknown to him, discussion immediately broke out after he left. "Senior brother is surprisingly gentle." "Very so! When I was struck out, I only lost a bit of air, but I was unharmed otherwise. Not just me, but everyone else too!" "Seeing senior brother Xi going easy on us, it is truly unlike the others. Those other children of the elders, hmpf, if we''re lucky, we would only stay in bed for a week." "Sigh, thinking back to those silkpants...sigh..." "Born of an even higher status, but I never heard of him bullying anyone. If only every Elder descendant could be like him." "No, no. The important thing is did you see the way senior brother Xi looked at senior brother Qi? I think he winked at him!" "No way, that''s impossible." "I swear I saw it!" "You don''t think senior brother Xi swings that way, right?" "If he did, I''d definitely ask to be Dao Companions!" "What? With your looks and talent? Senior brother Xi is talented and beautiful. If he really wanted, even those that aren''t like that would probably be won over! "You guys, it''s alright if senior brother Xi doesn''t mind, but what do you think would happen if he heard this?" "Ugh...he is still the Grand Elder''s son after all. If he really wanted to, he could easily squish insects with no backgrounds like us." "But when senior brother left, his face didn''t look good. Do you think we made senior brother mad?" One of the disciples ask. "...maybe..." Another one said, unsure. "But what did we do to make senior brother mad?" Earlier seeing Tianyi allow Qi Baifan to show his power, all of them had the idea of challenging Tianyi. Many of them had never seen Tianyi fight, so they were all curious. A few even wanted to use Tianyi as a whetstone to compare themselves. Those techniques that they would never usually against a fellow disciple were all easily repelled by Tianyi, causing Tianyi to become almost like an invincible figure in their eye. If against Tianyi, they could unleash anything without worry. In a way, it was a sort of trust in Tianyi. "Maybe you guys all went overboard?" One said. "Senior brother probably came here on a whim. He accepted our challenges out of goodwill. But we overstepped our bounds and kept challenging him. Senior brother is busy, unlike us." "What you said makes sense, brother. For senior brother to have such accomplishments at such a young age, he cultivates day and night without rest. His diligence is something we must all strive for." "But even mad, he didn''t make it difficult for us!" And thus, a beautiful misunderstanding was born. Part of the reason was because Tianyi was too dazzling. A Nascent Soul Grandmaster at age twenty! If Tianyi was only a little bit superior to them, they might feel resentful. But when the difference was so massive, they could only watch on in awe, not being able to birth any negative emotions. Only thinking it is rightly so. Before, many would still compare Tianyi to Xia Yushan or the other geniuses of the sect. But with his ascendance to Nascent Soul Realm, he entered a league of his own. Afraid, only those as monstrous as him would comparable to him now in the eyes of many. When Tianyi returned to Jade Peak, he felt stifled. Why? Every time I go out, they all seem to target me? Geez, when my mood is terrible, I strike out. Was I too harsh on them? They must have a grudge against knocking them out in one blow and not giving any leeway for them to shine. But I didn''t get to test my abilities. Perhaps I should have just gone to senior brother Xia. All those there seemed to be ordinary Inner Disciples. The next day, Tianyi found Daoyi visiting him. "Junior sister, you''re a little early this week," Tianyi said. "I just heard something, so I thought to ask senior brother if it was true," Daoyi said as she rested her arms and head on the table. Tianyi paused for a moment before he made a bitter smile. "Really? What rumors are going around. I just went to the sparring arena, didn''t think that so many people would challenge me. What do they say? I''m arrogant, bullying those weaker than me?" Daoyi raised her head and looked at Tianyi before laughing. "Senior brother, you don''t know?" Seeing that he really thought this way, Daoyi couldn''t help but chuckle. But before Daoyi could say anymore, there was someone outside. That, someone, was a Core Formation disciple, and he was Xia Yushan''s junior. He came to deliver a message to Tianyi. "What does it say?" Daoyi asked, curious. "An invitation," Tianyi said as he read it. "It seemed that even senior brother Xia heard of my little episode. It''s a gathering for the most talented disciples hosted by senior brother." Daoyi''s eyes shone. "Is it like what I heard. Having food and wine, sparring, and offering pointers?" "Should be," Tianyi said. "Why, interested?" "Of course!" Daoyi said, looking a bit envious. "Unfortunately, I''m only at the Spiritual Altar Foundation Establishment Stage." "I can take you," Tianyi said. "The invitation said I could bring my junior brothers or sisters if I want. I only have one junior sister, though. Want to go?" Daoyi nodded. She wondered what it would be like, while Tianyi felt that he should be able to ascertain his growth there. Chapter 88: Just Asking for a Beating A murderous aura filled the air, so dense that it would cause a Qi Gathering Pupil to suffocate. If unlucky, the Qi Gathering Pupil might even die under the murderous aura. The origin of the aura was a young man seated in a lotus position. On his lap was a plain steel sword with no embellishment. It did not look the part of a Lifebound Artifact of a Nascent Grandmaster and seemed to be a common weapon found on foot soldiers, but occasionally a red light would glimmer from the blade. The murderous aura would sometimes become still as if solid, but other times it would fluctuate like an explosion. As it continued, the perimeter of where the aura reached would shrink. Rather than losing its intensity, it increased. It wasn''t shrinking but condensing! When it was condensed within a five-meter radius, the murderous aura fizzled and exploded. The sound of steel slicing through the air was heard, and the ground around the youth was marked with various gashes. Xia Yushan exhaled deeply as sweat slip down his face. He frowned, and a trace of unwillingness entered his eyes. His master had said that he rushed his cultivation. During the Three Heavens Connection Meeting, he had forcibly raised his cultivation to the mid-Nascent Soul Realm in order to compete with the Eight Pillars Sect, Eldest Disciple, Duan Muli. He already had trouble controlling the slaughter aura within his Lifebound Artifact when he first entered the Nascent Soul Realm, but his control drastically decreased when he entered the mid-Nascent Soul Realm. His master, Sect Master Xia, had forbidden him from advancing his cultivation unless he managed to control the slaughter aura. Lifebound Artifacts were often a mirror to their owner. Xia Yushan''s Lifebound Artifact having heavy slaughter aura, also revealed Xia Yushan''s hidden side. If he wasn''t careful, he might be swallowed by his murderous impulses and fall into the demonic path. Xia Yushan rubbed his glabella. When he first formed his Lifebound Artifact, he had never imagined that it would be filled with a slaughterous air. His eyes glazed over slightly as he recalled his life back at the Xia Clan. There was such a large degree of separation from him and Sect Master Xia that it would not be weird to call them strangers. The only commonality was the surname Xia, and it was one of the reasons why Xia Yushan was selected by Sect Master Xia to be his disciple. His life in the Xia Clan was less than stellar. His mother was just a mortal that his father, a low-class member of the Xia Clan, happened to take as a concubine. Because of his father''s low status, he was able to be bullied by even the servants. A lowly thing such as himself wasn''t even qualified to be tested for a Spiritual Vein. Xia Yushan had even fantasized about becoming a powerful cultivator and making all those who wronged him pay. But that were just wishful thinking. His life was hard, but as long as he had his mother, he had happiness. Xia Yushan''s mother was talented in all sorts of instruments and songs, even able to compose scholarly poems despite being an orphan with no surname. He loved it when his mother smiled gently at him, he loved it when she rubbed his head, he loved sitting while she gently sang him asleep, he loved playing with her long locks of ink-black hair. But what Xia Yushan loved the most was when his mother placed makeup on her face as it made her seem like a fairy untouched by mortal hands, but he hated that his father always came that night when she did so. But those happy days were cut short when his mother suddenly died one day. It was only after that he learned the truth. His mother was someone his father redeemed from a high-class mortal brothel. And his mother''s death was simply because she could not withstand his father''s "excitement." The difference between mortal and cultivators was vast. Xia Yushan''s days became worse after his mother left him. So he gambled it all. He would most likely die if he failed, but he was already living like a dead person. His gamble paid off as his Heavenly Spiritual Vein was revealed, and he was taken to the Buzhou Immortal Sect as a disciple. Xia Yushan''s life drastically changed, and he forgot about his former life. No, Xia Yushan forced himself to forget his lowly past. But recently, the faces of those who bullied him flashed by his eyes frequently. Every time he saw them, killing intent burst forth like a broken dam. Xia Yushan quickly calmed down his turbulent emotions, and a gentle expression appeared on his face once more. That''s right; he was no longer that lowly thing that anyone could abuse as they want. He was the Eldest Senior Brother of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, respected by all. He turned his attention towards other matters. He had recently gotten word that Xi Tianyi had appeared at the sparring arenas. After doing a few rounds, Tianyi left. Thinking of Tianyi made him recall that the Heavenly Connection Gathering. Tianyi was like his mother and didn''t have a close connection to the Halls or Peaks of Buzhou Immortal Sect. He invited Tianyi for a small gathering of elite disciples. At the same time, he also invited those talented descendants of elders. It was both so that Tianyi would be able to recognize and familiarise himself with young masters of the sect and allow Xia Yushan to gain a foothold in the clique.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Despite being the Eldest Senior Brother, the Elders'' descendants all gravitated towards the previous Eldest Disciple, the current Inner Elder Su Wanyu. Her influence still remained even after she stopped being a disciple, and Xia Yushan''s tenure as the Eldest Senior Brother was short compared to Su Wanyu. Xia Yushan still needed more time to accumulate and spread his influence. On the day of the gathering, Xia Yushan watched as many familiar and unfamiliar faces congregate. Some of them he recognized during the Three Heavens Connection Meeting, and others were newly emerged elites. A few that he used to know had also ceased to exist, either from failing their cultivation or being killed during missions or tempering. The greatest addition was, no doubt, the young masters who had previously ignored his invitations. Xia Yushan''s eyes sparkled when he saw Tianyi and Daoyi arrived. He motioned for Tianyi to sit next to him, while Daoyi sat on Tianyi''s other side. Once everyone gathered, Xia Yushan clapped his hands. The Outer Disciple Servants from the Personal Subhall placed several rare delicacies and beverages on all the personal tables. There were several gasps of amazement, especially from those young masters and young ladies. Xia Yushan smiled to himself. Although he had to make full use of his connections, he guaranteed the feast was something that even silkpants would have trouble acquiring normally. Three-horned Bull, Frost Pheasant, Dracoscale Carp, Flying Cloud Horse, Silver Snake Wine, Duality Fruit Wine, and much more. Xia Yushan started the banquet. With the rare ingredients to break the barrier, the feast started off on a high note. "Junior brother Xi, I noticed you hadn''t touched the food. Is there something that displeases you?" Xia Yushan asked when he noticed that Tianyi hadn''t picked up his chopsticks at all and only drank the wine. "I''ve gone vegan," Tianyi said as he took another sip from his winecup. Because he didn''t eat any of the food, not knowing which ingredients had opened its spirituality, he had drunk more instead. "What''s vegan?" Xia Yushan asked, confused. "Do you mean vegetarian?" "..." Tianyi stilled as he listened to Xia Yushan. "Sure..." By his side, Daoyi giggled. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, but the clarity of her eyes was crystal clear. If the guests here were eating dishes accompanied by drinks, then Daoyi was drinking accompanied by side dishes. Xia Yushan smiled before returning and directing the conversation. Xia Yusha fully revealed his leadership capabilities as he created a harmonious atmosphere. He glanced at Tianyi. Although he introduced Tianyi to the young master and young ladies, it felt as if Tianyi had stopped talking. There was a strong sense of distance from Tianyi. Xia Yushan felt an intense headache coming from how little Tianyi converse as he recalled how silent Tianyi was when they first met. From Xia Yushan''s view, it seemed that aside from the most elite disciples, Tianyi disdained from interacting with those too weak. When Tianyi was young, he had hung out with the descendants of Elders near his age. But he had stopped afterward after his cultivation increased by leaps and bounds. When the people came to congratulate Tianyi on his ascent to the Nascent Soul Realm, Tianyi didn''t keep in touch with anyone afterward. Honestly, in Xia Yushan''s opinion, if Tianyi weren''t Sword Empress Xi''s son, he would have likely been suppressed by those who were offended by Tianyi. "Yo, such a lively gathering. Why didn''t you invite this young master?" From a distance, a man strode over towards the group of disciples. When he came closer, his frivolous smile and handsome features became apparent. But the most eyecatching feature was the mole under his left eyes, extremely enchanting. Xia Yushan and many of the disciples, including the young masters, frowned. Daoyi felt her heartbeat pace faster at the sight of the newcomer. She frowned as she felt something wrong in her and forcibly calmed down her heart. It wasn''t just her, but many of the female disciples all had the same reaction. Those at the Nascent Soul Realm were frowning, but those at the Core Formation and Foundation Establishment were all blushing and breathing heavily. Upon seeing this reaction, Tianyi figured out who the newcomer was. Even someone as reclusive as him had heard the infamous name of Daoist Lovespot. The disciple with the Daoist title of Lovespot was a silkpants that even other silkpants avoided. His grandfather was an Immortal Monarch of Justice Hall, the equivalent of Punishment Hall in other sects. And because his parents had died when he was still young, the Immortal Monarch doted heavily on him. Daoist Lovespot''s favorite pastime was to woo girls. At least in his terms. Once he saw a beautiful woman, he would pursue them to the point of obsession. Oftentimes it would reach the point of coercion. It didn''t matter who. Even if you had an Elder as a backing, Lovespot would still dare to take action. If the matter became large involved the relative of an Immortal Elder, then his grandfather would step out and settle it. But more often than not, Lovespot would get away scotfree. The now identified Lovespot seemed not to have detected the unwelcoming atmosphere and joined the gathering. "What''s wrong? Why is everyone silent?" There was a charming smile on Lovespot''s faces as he scanned the females. His smile deepened when he saw the flushed faces, but his interest was piqued when he saw Daoyi, who had resisted his charm despite being a Foundation Establishment Disciple. Daoist Lovespot walked towards Daoyi, and the charm around him increased, causing even some of the Nascent Soul disciples to flush. Xia Yushan frowned when he saw this, but before he could take action, a light appeared from Tianyi''s body and covered Daoyi. Daoist Lovespot stopped before resuming his walk towards Daoyi, all the while increasing the power of his charm. He inwardly frowned when Daoyi only stared at him warily. "Hey lass, it must be no fun sitting here silently. How about you accompany this lord for some fun?" Daoyi''s facial expression turned frosty. "Many thanks, but my master said not to associate with perverts." "Aiyo, you have quite a cute little mouth on you." Lovespot''s smile only deepened as his hand reached towards Daoyi. "That''s what they all say, but after spending some time with this lord, you''ll change your mind. Tianyi''s expression was downright murderous as he grabbed Lovespot''s wrist. "My junior sister already rejected your advances. Just leave." Tianyi said. Even he was wary of the Immortal Monarch behind Lovespot, but if he went too far... The image of Xi Longyi flashed through Tianyi''s mind, and his will hardened. This type of person was just asking for a beating. Chapter 89: Tianyis Reverse Scale Lovespot moved to shake off Tianyi''s hands but discovered that he couldn''t move his arm at all as if iron had shackled his arm. He frowned and finally took a good look at Tianyi. The youth in purple had exquisite features, but the most eyecatching was no doubt those pair of bewitching eyes. Lovespot felt that even as a man, he could be enraptured by those eyes. But as soon as that thought entered his mind, Lovespot felt ridicule welling up within him. Because of his grandfather and parents, Lovespot had enormous talent and resources for cultivation. In one hundred and fifty years, he had reached the Nascent Soul Realm. Of course, it was unknown whether he could accomplish such a feat without his grandfather''s support. But after entering the Nascent Soul Realm, his progress decreased dramatically, and even after two hundred years, he had not entered the Unity Realm. But despite this, he was still considered a talent as a peak Nascent Soul Grandmaster was still deemed to be young at three hundred years old. Lovespot himself, however, didn''t seem to care as he spent most of his days wooing girls using any means necessary. But he had another habit geared towards males. Lovespot was proud of his looks to the point of narcissism. If he saw any man more beautiful than him in any way, he would have an uncontrollable urge to destroy and ruin that man. Earlier his attention had been diverted by Daoyi, but after noticing Tianyi, Lovespot''s eccentricities awoke once more. "This junior brother," Lovespot felt the lower cultivation Tianyi and even Tianyi''s young age. "you''re not wearing the uniform. This is breaking sect rules." The sect had the rule of disciples always wearing the Buzhou Immortal Sect uniform. But those elite and core disciples would often modify or wear personal clothing, and the Elders turned a blind eye to this. But Lovespot was the grandson of the Justice Hall''s Head Elder, and if he did make a complaint, that disciple would be punished. Tianyi''s eyes contained mockery. "Then go back to your grandfather and complain." "This junior brother, I''ve seen people like you before. Always proud of your talents, not knowing the immensity of heaven and earth. If you''re smart, you''d have apologized by now." Lovespot said. "If I''m feeling generous, I''ll maybe let you go." The disciples who heard Lovespot''s words felt their faces twitch at his words. If he knew Tianyi''s identity, he wouldn''t be so arrogant, would he? Lovespot was an outcast. None of the disciples who even heard of him liked to be near him. Even the relatives of Immortal Monarchs stayed away from him and viewed him as a blight. Over fifty percent of the rumors concerning the silkpants abusing their power was because of him. "Then show me the immensity of heaven and earth. Otherwise, scram." Tianyi flung Lovespot''s arm away with an unnecessarily large amount of force. Lovespot had to utilize a good majority of his strength to prevent himself from flying off his feet. An ugly expression flashed across his face before a hypocritically gentle smile appeared. "Since you don''t know, then I will teach you. How about a spar? After all, without sparring at such a wonderful gathering would be a waste." "You took the words right out of my mouth." Tianyi agreed without any hesitation. Surrounded by the proud geniuses of Buzhou Immortal Sect, Tianyi and Lovespot stared at each other from a distance. "This...brother Xi is quite daring." "Hmpf, as the only son of the Sword Empress, brother Xi doesn''t need to fear that Lovespot." "Yeah, it should be the opposite way around. That Lovespot should fear brother Xi. Hmpf, our reputation is being dragged down by that wastrel." "Don''t say that. A man as good looking as brother Lovespot shouldn''t be like those rumors said." "What do you know? Junior sister, it''s better for you to stay silent now. Otherwise, once you''re released from his charm, you will wish to bury yourself in a hole." "What? I''m a Nascent Soul Grandmaster. His charm is useless in front of me." "No, no. I heard that he practiced an unorthodox spell. That beauty mark has been refined with countless treasures. Even materials at the Immortal rank have been used. Not even those Earth Immortals can necessarily fully block his charm." "So, fearsome?" "Yes. I heard that he even seduced an Elder''s Dao Companion away!" "Psh, I heard that he even mesmerized a man to castrate himself!" Low murmurs discussing the scourge that was Lovespot could be heard. But Lovespot held his hand behind his back as if the disgusting person they were discussing wasn''t him. Tianyi felt his lips twitch at the hidden disdain in Lovespot''s eyes. Since he wanted to play like that, Tianyi will reciprocate in kind. With a wave of his hand, a monolithic black throne with golden dragon engravings appeared. Thunder Throne Mk III Tianyi had rebuilt the Thunder Throne with even better materials, time, and design! It even came with a reclining feature! Sitting upon the throne, Tianyi stared down Lovespot like a monarch. Daoyi, who was watching, couldn''t help but stifle her giggles at how the artifact floated higher just so Tianyi could literally look down on Lovespot.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Lovespot, in turned felt a vein pulsing on his forehead. He took out a Unity Realm Artifact and held it in his hand. It was a golden vajra with numerous cracks on it. "So junior brother wants to compete in treasures. Then this lord won''t be polite. This artifact is something my grandfather found from another realm. I call it Lightning Caller." Once Lovespot finished talking, dark thunderclouds gathered in the air. He felt something weird as the clouds were even larger and darker than usual. But he didn''t spare any unnecessary thought to it as a lightning bolt twice as large as what he called before struck Tianyi. He frowned and looked at the artifact in his hand. Was it always this powerful? He could feel that the power of the lightning bolt nearing the threshold of Unity Realm. Lovespot originally wanted to make Tianyi suffer more, but he shrugged. The result was still the same. But when the brilliance of the lightning disappeared, Lovespot felt that his eyesight had problems when Tianyi was still leisurely sitting on his throne. Before he could do anything, another bolt of lightning struck down. Only after the ninth lightning bolt struck Tianyi did the storm clouds disperse. The spectators felt something strange as the lightning bolt contained traces of Tribulation Essence but just chalked it up to Lovespot''s treasure being unique. But only Lovespot knew that something was weird. As for Tianyi? He just rolled his eyes at the sky. The Heavenly Dao sure was using any and all the opportunities to attack him. A stone sword appeared in Tianyi''s hand. "Since you have shown me such a treasure, allow me to return in kind. This sword was originally a spiritual mountain before refining into the shape of a sword." Tianyi didn''t do anything special. He just chucked the stone sword at Lovespot. Lovespot just smiled as he waited for the stone sword to fall onto him. Once the blade neared Lovespot, his robes deployed the defensive formation employed within. As Lovespot predicted, the blade didn''t destroy his defenses. But what he didn''t predict was the overwhelming heaviness the sword carried. It caused his face to whiten, and only by using all his strength was he able to prevent himself from stepping back or kneeling. Although to spectators, Lovespot appeared to have stood there effortlessly. It had to be known that his robe was an automatic defense type artifact that could even block a few moves from True Immortals. But just as a shield couldn''t prevent the user from being pushed back, neither could Lovespot''s robes easily disperse the sword''s force. After Tianyi retrieved the stone sword, Lovespot''s smiled deepened. "Haha, junior brother sure is loved. But how many treasures can you take out?" Lovespot said as he took out another treasure. Like before, Tianyi blocked it with his body. His body contained a cosmo. Although it wouldn''t be as monstrous as not being damaged by a non-cosmic destroying force, it was durable to the point that a standard Unity Realm Venerable would cry trying to hurt Tianyi. In turn, Tianyi would take out another treasure and cause Lovespot to use all his strength to remain unaffected. This was a purposeful calculation on Tianyi''s part. After a few more back and forths, Lovespot finally spoke. "Haha, giving you so many treasures, what a waste. That Elder behind you sure loves junior brother." "Naturally, my mother loves me," Tianyi said, his eyes becoming gentle to the extreme for a fleeting moment. "Oh, it''s a female? A pity this lord has never met her. Otherwise, this lord might have become your stepfather, ahahaha!" Lovespot himself knew that it was impossible for such a thing to happen. From Tianyi''s wealth, Lovespot knew that his mother must be an Immortal Elder or possibly an Immortal Monarch like his father. But so what? He was used to being despotic, and he loved attacking another person''s weak point. Tianyi''s expression became ice-cold. If Lovespot''s action of eyeing his junior sister caused him to want to teach Lovespot a lesson, then Lovespot''s words towards Mengfei made Tianyi want to murder him. Tianyi felt protective towards Daoyi because of the feelings he developed over the years. Even without the dream of Xi Longyi, Tianyi would still protect Daoyiu even if he didn''t like Daoyi because she was his junior sister. But his mother, Xi Mengfei, was his reverse scale. Even if he logically knew that Lovespot was spouting nonsense, Tianyi couldn''t control the impulse to murder Lovespot. Lovespot was extremely sensitive to killing intent. He had caused many people to develop such thoughts towards him. Rather than fearing it, he enjoyed it even more when people wanted to kill him but were unable to. "Tsk, tsk. Now that I think about it, this lord rather does want to become your stepfather. How about practicing by calling this lord father, son?" The spectators were flabbergasted by Lovespot''s insolence. Even if Tianyi''s mother was a regular Immortal, Lovespot should have never said those words. When the disciples returned, they were sure to tell their elders, causing Monarch Redseal''s relationships to sour. If he could allow his grandson to be so impudent, then Monarch Redseal did not respect them as Elders! "I had wanted to show this off later, but it seems that you want to see it earlier. I''ll show you right now then." Tianyi waved his hand, and the stone sword from earlier and four other swords corresponding to the other four elements also appeared. Each one was being controlled separately by each of his Nascent Souls and due to this connection, the five swords exhibited a form of unity rarely seen at this level. The swords rotated in a formation, and Tianyi unleashed the five-sword formation upon Lovespot. Lovespot smiled as the sword reached towards him as he brought out a defensive artifact to block. However, he discovered that the power behind the swords was far more powerful, and he was blown back, not even lasting a second. "You think you''re all that just because you only this amount of treasure. Let this lord show what true wealth is!" Lovespot called out in rage. Three artifacts exuding the aura of Immortality appeared. Lovespot had far more, but he was unable to control so much. So the best he could control at his realm was three. Tianyi sneered. "Comparing wealth? That is the one thing I''m not afraid of!" Tianyi raised his hand. The character for the word jade appeared in the sky. The aura it released was even greater than all three of Lovespots treasured combined. Xia Yushan and several other disciples had their eyes widened. What Tianyi brought out was the Jade Peak Seal, an Immortal Artifact of the Seamless Immortal Realm. Only Seamless Immortals, Immortal Monarchs, could become Peak Lords. And each Peak would have a seal at the Immortal Monarch Realm. As long as one had it, within their Peak, Immortal Monarchs would be able to contend with Immortal Emperors for a short period. But outside, without the power of the Peak, it was still powerful enough to allow a mortal to trade blows with a True Immortal. Envy could be seen in many of their eyes. Naturally, without Mengfei''s aid, even Tianyi was unable to control such a treasure. Lovespot, for the first time in his life, felt great danger. He gaped at Tianyi, wondering who he was. He was confident that no one in the sect among the disciples could contend with him in treasures, but today he was proven wrong. As the Jade Peak Seal neared him, he felt his blood slow to a stop, yet his heart pounded like crazy. Lovespot finally felt death nearing him. Naturally, Tianyi wasn''t planning on killing Lovespot. But to have uttered those words without paying the price? Dream on! "Grandfather! Save me!" Lovespot finally couldn''t take it anymore and called out his trump card. Moments later, a thunderous cry rang out, "Fan''er!" Chapter 90: Sowing Enmity The imposing Jade Peak Seal that was descending halted as if slamming into an immovable object. The majesty that it had previously accumulated all but disappeared as the Jade Peak Seal began to tremble. Under the disbelieving eyes of all the disciples, the Jade Peak Seal shattered into countless pieces. None felt it more so than Tianyi. Although the Jade Peak Seal shattered, it only caused Tianyi to be unable to summon it for a period of time. The Peak Seal Artifact wasn''t something that could be easily destroyed even by an Immortal Emperors. It was something Immortal Monarchs could wield to increase their strength to become a Half Immortal Emperor after all. But Tianyi''s face became slightly pale. He used his spiritual sense to control the Jade Peak Seal, but his expression quickly returned to normal. He didn''t use much spiritual power and mostly relied on the accumulated power within the Jade Peak Seal. A man in his mid thirties appeared in front of Lovespot. He had a handsome appearance and a dignified air to him. Wearing a red shu brocade robe with numerous elaborate patterns, Elder Redseal truly gave off the air of an expert. Tianyi upon seeing him stood up from his seat. Even though Elder Redseal had his faults, he was still the Head Elder of Justice Hall. Elder Redseal glanced at his grandson, the face that was about thirty percent similar to Lovespot, and released a sigh of relief. "Grandfather, that bastard wanted to kill me! Punish him, Chain him to the Infinity Lightning Pillar!" The fear previously felt by Lovespot all converted into anger. Elder Redseal''s handsome face frowned as he glared at Tianyi. "Do you admit your crimes?" Tianyi gave a gentle smile. "Crimes? What crime have I committed?" "Attempting to murder a fellow sect member!" Tianyi laughed as if he just heard the funniest joke in the world. "Elder, I was only trying to teach "senior brother" Lovespot a lesson. He besmirched my mother, after all." Elder Redseal actually frowned at that. "Audacious! Bringing out the Jade Peak Seal is evidence enough!" "The Jade Peak Seal is an Immortal Artifact, but didn''t senior brother Lovespot also bring out two Immortal Artifacts? Since he brought out an Immortal Artifact, I simply brought out mine." Tianyi rebutted. "Right, I would like to report senior brother Lovespot as well." Anger colored Elder Redseal''s eyes. "What report!? Disciple Lovespot has not done anything to warrant such a thing." "Not today, of course. I prevent him from touching my junior sister. Your grandson dared to lay his hands on my mother''s second disciple. But since I stopped him, I won''t report that. I''ll report all the crimes he committed before. I''m sure I don''t need to remind Elder of those actions he took before?" Tianyi said, his smile slightly sinister. "A bunch of nonsense! Fan''er was framed by those with impure desires!" Elder Redseal''s vulgar words caused all the onlookers'' hearts to chill. This was the Elder in charge of Justice Hall? The Head Elder of Justice Hall should be impartial and fair, but who knew how often Elder Redseal had secretly paid off the victim or sentenced an innocent? "Fine," Tianyi said. "But he is committing a crime right now. Using an art to mesmerize his fellow disciples counts as an unprovoked assault, does it not?" "Indeed, earlier when he was walking towards this disciple, he tried to increase the power of his charm on me. If it weren''t for senior brother''s aid, I would have fallen for it." Daoyi spoke up at this moment, her eyes chilly. "What does a little girl like you know! Fan''er isn''t doing on purpose. He can''t control so he cannot be judged for this!" Elder Redseal''s face started to turn red from anger. He was a dignified Immortal Monarch and Head Elder when had anyone, especially a mere mortal, dare to talk to him like this? But he was barely able to hold his head high because of all the sins his grandson committed. Tianyi smiled derisively. Just as he was about to speak, Elder Redseal attacked. It was an action that Tianyi never expected. Even if Elder Redseal was an Immortal Monarch and Head Elder, he was still the son of a Grand Elder! None of the spectators expected this either, and they watched with open mouths as Tianyi flew backward. The force caused his Thunder Throne Mk II to shatter from the Tianyi crashing through it. "Senior brother!" Daoyi cried out and ran towards Tianyi. Xia Yushan, who saw this scene, tightened his hands within his sleeves, his eyes murky and unclear. "Impudent, audacious, arrogant to the extreme, daring to question a decision made by an Elder and speaking falsehood. Consider this your lesson!" Elder Redseal waved his sleeve turned away. His eyes contained a trace of hatred within. "Grandfather, that girl-" Lovespot wanted to speak, but one look from Elder Redseal silenced him. Lovespot noticed something wrong with his usual doting grandfather. His state appearing extremely abnormal. Tianyi coughed up blood. Or rather, his body''s equivalent of blood. It was pitched black yet shone with countless motes of light like a liquified night sky. Inside his body, his nine cores had dimmed, and a few even had cracks on their surface. His five Nascent Souls had become blurry and seemed able to disappear at any moment. The light of the milky way within his cosmos had dimmed. But soon, the Five Nascent Sous were no longer blurry, the cracks on his nine cores mended, and stars in the cosmos blinked as they slowly recovered. Tianyi, with Daoyi''s help, stood back up. He wanted to cripple my cultivation! Bastard! Although it seemed that Tianyi had healed, he was clear that it was only superficial at best. Beneath the smooth surface of his nine cores, cracks remained, and his five Nascent Souls were still unstable. Elder Redseal paused in his steps as he turned back. His eyes betrayed his surprise at Tianyi able to retain consciousness. No, before that, he could feel that Tianyi''s realm was still at the Nascent Soul Realm. He clenched his right hand, and immortal qi began to gather. "Elder Redseal, that''s enough." You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. A clear voice caused everyone to break out of their shock. Tianyi and Daoyi felt their bodies shook as they recognize the owner of that voice and turned to see an elderly lady walking forward. "So it''s Elder Meng," Elder Redseal said as he dispersed the qi in his palm. "Why has Elder come out of seclusion? Your injuries should not have fully healed yet." Elder Meng showed no change in expression as she walked forward and aided Tianyi in standing up. "I had thought that young master would be safe within the sect, but it seems like some people are too hasty." Elder Redseal''s eyes narrowed. "I don''t know what Elder Meng is talking about. I am simply teaching an unruly disciple a lesson." Elder Meng smiled, but that smiled didn''t reach her eyes. "Grand Elder Xi will sure to thank Elder Redseal for your actions." "Hmpf!" Elder Redseal flew off into the distance and took his grandson with him. "Junior brother, are you okay?" Xia Yushan came up when Elder Redseal left. "I''m not fine," Tianyi said, his face still pale. "I just received an attack from an Immortal Monarch. Bastard, if it weren''t because my cultivation method was special, I would have been crippled!" The disciples gathered sucked in a cold breath at Tianyi''s words. "Senior brother Xia, why didn''t you speak up when Elder Redseal was obviously flipping black and white?" Daoyi asked, displeased. Xia Yushan showed a bitter smile. "How can I easily do that? Elder Redseal is in charge of Justice Hall if he takes my words and attacks my master. Then I would have brought unnecessary trouble." "So you can watch him bully my senior brother? I can understand others not standing up, but I thought we were friends." Daoyi''s voice was cold as she looked at Xia Yushan. Xia Yushan felt his breath hitch in and a dark emotion just shy of erupting welled within him. "It''s fine, it''s fine," Tianyi said and stopped the two. He felt lightheaded like he was drunk. "Senior brother is the Eldest Disciple. The things he has to consider is much more than we know. Senior brother, I need to go back to recuperate." Xia Yushan prevented the negative emotions from bursting out and gave a smile resembling warm jade. "Of course, you should quickly return and heal yourself." Once Tianyi left with Daoyi and Elder Meng, the gathering lost its meaning. But the things that happened today would no doubt spread throughout the sect.
"Grandfather, who was that? That Elder didn''t seem like an Immortal. Why did you let them go?" Lovespot''s words contained some accusations. "Fan''er, his status isn''t ordinary. I can''t go too far. Otherwise..." Elder Redseal frowned. Going too far? Perhaps he had already done so. Within the sect, who didn''t know that Tianyi was Sword Empress Xi''s only son? Just that, Xi Tianyi wasn''t one that caused trouble like many descendants of Elders, so Grand Elder Xi never had to take action. Because she never had to take action, many people didn''t know the extent of Mengfei''s love towards Tianyi. His earlier actions had some intent of probing Mengfei''s actions. But there was a more primal reason for his outburst, one that was brought about by Tianyi''s face. "His status? How can he compare to you, grandfather? Just cripple and ruin him!" Lovespot gnashed his teeth together in anger as he thought of how he lost face in front of all those people gathered today. "Stupid! That scourge is Grand Elder Xi''s son!" Elder Redseal rebuked. He usually doted on his grandson, but today he was actually reprimanding Lovespot. Although he wasn''t afraid of Grand Elder Xi, her influence wasn''t something he could easily fight against. If it weren''t for him having an excuse of having his grandson assaulted and Tianyi''s attitude, he wouldn''t have tried to destroy Tianyi''s cultivation as a probe. What worried him more was the sudden appearance of Elder Meng. Even before he became an Immortal, Elder Meng seemed to have always existed in the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Her age was seemingly as old as the creation of the sect or even older! "Grand Elder Xi? Xi Mengfei?" Lovespot said from shock, but soon his shock turned into lust. "Is it true that she is the most beautiful woman in the world?" "Fan''er! Don''t speak her name!" Elder Redseal quickly clamped his hand over Lovespot''s mouth. He looked around as if searching for something before releasing a breath of relief. "Grandfather, what''s wrong?" Lovespot asked. He just said a name; what could happen? Elder Redseal gave an unprecedented show of seriousness. "You shouldn''t speak her name carelessly. In the past, her enemies casually said her name, and from the opposite end of the realm, she killed them by summoning her sword. Anyone who spoke her name will alert her to their presence! Luckily it seems that she is preoccupied at this moment. If she disliked it and killed you, even I would not be able to stop it." "How can it be possible? Even if she is a Grand Elder, she can''t arbitrarily kill me. I''m your grandson!" Lovespot said, aghast. "But if she did, I wouldn''t be able to do much to her. So don''t ever speak her name again." Elder Redseal said, his voice stern and strict like never before. "Alright, alright! I heard you the first time, grandfather." Lovespot said, annoyed. He seemed that have thought of something and said. "Grandfather, I heard she isn''t in the sect. We should get rid of that bastard while we still can!" Elder Redseal frowned. "I''ve told you to it''s impossible to ruin the scourge much less kill him. This is an action of harming the enemy by a thousand but harming ourselves by eight hundred. Perhaps we might even be dealt worse than a thousand we dealt depending on how Grand Elder Xi reacts. Besides, even now it''s not so simple, that Elder Meng who protected him isn''t someone that I can casually act against." "How can that be?" Lovespot said, shocked. His grandfather, in his eyes, was invincible. "Then, we have to teach that bastard a lesson, at least!" Suddenly an idea morphed inside Lovespot''s head. "Grandfather, if we capture Tianyi, can I make her give her body to me-" Lovespot didn''t have time to finish as his mouth was clamped shut by Elder Redseal, his face unprecedently pale. "Quiet! I can give a blind eye to your affairs when you are dealing with mortals. Don''t even think about bedding a True Immortal, much less Grand Elder Xi!" He felt his stomach twist in pain, hearing those daring words of his grandson. Just where did he go wrong? "Then, I want that Xi Tianyi to die! I don''t care how. He must pay the price for making me lose face!" Lovespot said. "How can that be possible. In terms of status, I can''t compare to Grand Elder Xi. Immortal Monarchs are rare, but there are over ten in the sect while there are only three Immortal Emperors." Elder Redseal said. Lovesopt frowned, obviously unwilling. "Grandfather, I want to break into the Unity Realm as soon as possible." "Fan''er, your foundation isn''t as stable as it should be. You should at least wait a few more years." Elder Redseal said, worry evident in his tone. "I don''t care. I need to break through as soon as possible. Hmpf, if mother and father were still here, how would anyone dare to resist me!" "...alright," Elder Redseal relented. Whenever Lovespot brought out his deceased daughter and son-in-law, he could never say no to Lovespot''s wants. "Give me some time to find some girls with Water Spiritual Veins for you." "Thank you, grandfather; you''re the best." Lovespot showed a face full of joy. Those with Water Spiritual Veins had an innate beauty that others could not compare. Suddenly a thought occurred to Lovespot. "About that bastard''s junior sister, even if I can''t ruin him-" "Stupid child. We can''t touch them right now, just wait till Grand Elder Xi comes out. It all depends on her attitude. I you really can''t wait, I''ll find some girls with beauty greater than that girl. She isn''t anything special." Elder Redseal consoled with a gentle smile, but inside he was frowning. He had taken the first action against Tianyi, but if he stretched his hand towards Daoyi then there would be even greater pressure on him. Right now, he needed to contact his associates to discuss the matter with Tianyi. If Grand Elder Xi didn''t take action, then they would know that she didn''t place much importance on her son, and they would be able to eliminate one more scourge of the Dragon Emperor. If Grand Elder Xi did show displeasure. Elder Redseal wasn''t afraid; he was the Head Elder of Punishment Hall. It was a position that not even a Grand Elder can easily touch. Besides, he hadn''t even been able to cripple Tianyi. Chapter 91: Karma Right Around the Corner Within Jade Peak Palace, Tianyi sat in the inner meditation chamber that his mother, Mengfei, usually used. The qi within was dense yet gentle. Without Tianyi having to anything, the qi would naturally enter his body. Daoyi and Elder Meng stood outside. Worry colored Daoyi''s face as she paced back and forth. She had been worried since Tianyi entered the meditation chambers weeks ago. "Granny Meng, will senior brother be all right?" It wasn''t the first time she asked, but she still couldn''t help but ask again. "I''ve already checked young master''s injuries. He has already passed the most dangerous phase. Now, all young master needs is time to fully recuperate and avoid leaving behind a sequela." Elder Meng said, her face calm and unperturbed. Hearing the same response didn''t calm Daoyi down. "That Elder, what a bunch of bull! Not teaching his grandson well and instead, blaming others for his fault. Sooner or later, karma will catch up to them!" Elder Meng raised an eyebrow at the angry flush on Daoyi''s face. The usually calm and collected girl had allowed emotion to rush into her head. "Calm down, even if you are angry, what can a little girl like you do?" Elder Meng said. Daoyi sucked in a deep breath and then looked at Elder Meng. She may not be able to do anything, but Elder Redseal seemed wary of Elder Meng. She wondered what position this seemingly invisible Unity Realm Venerable actually held in the Buzhou Immortal Sect. "You''re right," Daoyi said. She calmed her emotions. Since leaving the Duke''s Manor, she had never been suppressed again. Once she calmed down, her thoughts also became clear, like when she made herself invisible in the Duchess''s eyes to preserve her life. "Although Elder Redseal is powerful and a Head Elder, he doesn''t have the jurisdiction to hurt senior brother. Can you do anything, Elder Meng?" Daoyi asked. Elder Meng shook her head. "My position is a bit special. The Elders won''t easily harm me, but I don''t have the power to do anything to them either." Daoyi sighed. "Then, we can only wait until master returns." "Indeed," Elder Meng nodded, but then she frowned. "Just that...will Grand Elder Xi be able to take care of this matter?" "Absolutely not!" Tianyi stepped out of the meditation chamber. His face was still pale but much better than when he had left the gathering. He had just caused his mother trouble at the Fleeting Mist Sect, and he couldn''t bear to bother her with more trouble once she came back. "Senior brother!" Daoyi quickly walked up and checked to see if Tianyi was alright. Seeing that he indeed looked better than before, she released a breath of relief. "Why not? Elder Redseal is unreasonably shielding his grandson and even injured you! We can''t let this go!" Tianyi looked away. "Mother doesn''t have an official position in the sect and isn''t involved in sect matters. If she takes actions then the balance of power within the sect may change. Also, I don''t want to cause mother any more trouble." "Senior brother!" Daoyi looked at Tianyi in disbelief. "This isn''t just about preserving sect balance or causing trouble or not. That Redseal is clearly abusing his power and even wanted to cripple you. If you let this go, then he will dare to do it again!" "I can handle it," Tianyi resisted stubbornly. "Once I entered the Immortal Realm, I''ll get my revenge." Daoyi didn''t know whether to laugh or cry at Tianyi''s words. They were like that of a child''s. "Immortal Realm? How long will that take? Fine, even if you don''t want to cause master trouble, then I will ask master. That Lovespot isn''t a good thing. I''ve seen those eyes before. Unless he learns his lesson, he won''t stop harassing me. Rather than not a good thing, he is worse than shit! He is the enemy of all women. His actions are akin to rape! As a woman, once master hears of this matter, she won''t let him go." Daoyi''s chest heaved as she rapidly spewed out those words. Tianyi grimaced as he heard Daoyi''s words. That''s right, Lovespot wasn''t a good thing. He was a beast in human skin. If he let that bastard go... images of numerous instances of Lovespot defiling Daoyi ran through his head. "Young master, you cannot hide your injuries from Grand Elder Xi. If you don''t explain, she will try to find out herself in the end. By now this matter has already spread throughout the sect. If Grand Elder Xi doesn''t take action, where will her face go?" Elder Meng added. "And as a mother, she will be more hurt if you don''t ask her for aid and instead not rely on her. No parents will not want to help their child." That decided for Tianyi. "All right." Tianyi paused as if lost in thought. "We can''t just rely on mother, her way of doing things is a bit..." He didn''t say anymore as both Daoyi and Elder Meng let out an "ah" in understanding. Xi Mengfei was famous for being aloof and distant. She held a post that didn''t need to do much, and her relationships with others were dull. They worried whether Mengfei would be able to handle the matter without causing a fallout. "I heard that Lovespot caused numerous incidents, but they were all suppressed thanks to Elder Redseal," Tianyi said. Since he decided to pursue this matter, then he''ll cause Elder Redseal and Lovespot to go green with regret for their actions. "If my mother brought up evidence of his son''s actions and pursued it, not even he can suppress it." Elder Meng and Daoyi nodded. "Right," Tianyi said as if thinking of something. "Dammit, I didn''t remember all those who went to the gathering; if we could contact them, who knows whether we can find some allies in this matter." Tianyi felt regret for once at his habits of not committing people to memory. "I remember them. As long as I search a bit, I can find out where to contact them," Daoyi said. Tianyi''s eyes lit up. "Junior sister, you''re amazing!" Tianyi heartfeltly praise. Daoyi blushed a bit. She embarrassed for being praised for such a small matter. Back in the Xi Dynasty, she had to commit even more names to memory and remembered how to deal with each one. "The Xiyi Talisman is partially complete. If we can give one to each of them who agrees, then facilitating matters will be easier." Tianyi had developed the Xiyi Talisman to the point of allowing video conferences and even multi-video conferences. Of course, this was also laying the groundwork for future endeavors. Then he frowned. "It''s bad. We are safe here, but Lovespot can cause trouble for cousin Ri." Worried, Tianyi quickly called out Xi Ri to convey the matter to him. Although Xi Ri couldn''t stay long at Jade Peak due to his duties, he promised that he would contact them at the first sign of trouble. Only after confirming Xi Ri''s safety did the talk between Daoyi and Tianyi continue. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. "Elder Meng, would you be able to find all the instances of Elder Redseal abusing his power?" Tianyi asked. Unfortunately, he and Daoyi didn''t have the power to discover just how many times Lovespot caused trouble. And since this was handle by an Immortal Monarch, mortals like them likely couldn''t cause any waves. Elder Meng nodded. "Leave it to me, young master. I''ll find all the instances of Elder Redseal covering for his grandson." Tianyi shook his head. "I don''t want just those. I want all of them, such as whether Elder Redseal took bribes or purposely made a wrong judgment in order to further his faction." "This...young master isn''t just planning on dealing with Lovespot?" Elder Meng asked as a thought occurred to her and Daoyi. Tianyi gave a dark smirk. "The reason Lovespot is such a despot is because of Elder Redseal. He is the real reason Lovespot was able to act arrogantly all these years. If we want to deal with Lovespot, we have to make sure that the source of his protection is gone." Tianyi didn''t just want to punish Lovespot. He was scheming to pull Elder Redseal down from his Head Elder position. Both Daoyi and Elder Meng were stunned by Tianyi''s thought process and grudge. "Senior brother, I don''t think we can cause Redseal to lose his position from just this," Daoyi said. "Why not?" Tianyi asked. "You said it yourself, Lovespot is an enemy of all women. My mother is a woman, and so is Grand Elder Zhang. Two of the sect''s three Grand Elders are women, not to mention the numerous other female Immortals. I don''t believe Elder Redseal will be able to fight against all the female Immortals. Besides, even if we can''t push Elder Redseal down from the Justice Hall Head Elder position, he won''t come out unscathed, and neither will Lovespot!" "If you speak of female Immortals, then I will have to ask big sister fairies," Daoyi spoke. Tianyi''s words had already convinced her. Can Elder Redseal fight against all the sect''s female Immortals? Who would dare to aid Elder Redseal and earn the ire of the sect''s females? Tianyi''s eyes also lit up. The Eighteen Flower Fairies disliked him, but in this matter, they would definitely provide the largest aid in investigating Elder Redseal and Lovespot. It must not be forgotten that the Eighteen Flower Fairies other alias is the Lovescorn Fairies. There was no doubt that if they heard of Lovespot''s ways, they would make him pay. Perhaps they already head but couldn''t take any action. It was a pity that he had the backing of the Head Elder of Justice Hall. But with Mengfei as the core, they would have no more worries in pursuing this matter. Tianyi distributed the Xiyi Talisman Ver 0.6 to disciples who agreed to help. Naturally, with Elder Meng''s knowledge, Tianyi didn''t ask those who were in the same faction as Elder Redseal for help. If Elder Redseal got word ahead of time, then the plan might fall through. A great majority were females who had powerful families or backings, and there were even some males who had their lover or future companion harmed by Lovespot. Even Tianyi was surprised by how much they hated Lovespot. For Lovespot to not be killed by someone whose judgment had been clouded by hatred was practically a miracle. After finishing all the preparation, all they had to do was wait for the main actor. Strangely, Lovespot didn''t find trouble with Tianyi or Xi Ri during this time. Lovespot may have wanted to find trouble, but how could Elder Redseal allow him to aggravate the situation anymore? Although Xi Ri was just a mere inner disciple apprenticed under an Earth Immortal, but he was Grand Elder Xi''s blood-related nephew. As for Elder Redseal finding trouble with Jade Peak? He didn''t dare. Jade Peak was neutral ground and was inhabited by at least two Immortal Monarchs. If he infuriated them, then he would needlessly weaken his own influence and powers. During this time, Tianyi continued to heal himself. Even if he was going to trouble his mother one more time, he didn''t want her to see him in such a wretched state. But man proposes, heaven disposes. While meditating in Mengfei''s meditation chamber, he noticed that the air had tensed. The atmosphere became extremely heavy, and although he didn''t feel any ill will, Tianyi still felt his breathing become ragged. Tianyi looked up to see Mengfei standing in front of him. Her face was not good, and although expressionless, the wrath in her eyes couldn''t be hidden at all. Even Tianyi was surprised and shocked by the raw emotion from her eyes. Mengfei grasped Tianyi''s hand and inputted her Immortal qi into him. Tianyi didn''t resist and even felt a soothing sensation as the qi interacted with every part of his body. The dull stars in his body cosmos started to shine brightly once more as if they had been injected with raw fuel. "Yi''er, who did this to you." Even Tianyi had to shiver at the tranquil wrath in Mengfei''s voice. "M-mother..." Tianyi rasped out. "It''s hard to breathe..." Mengfei recoiled and saw Tianyi''s paling face. She reigned in her rampant aura, and the meditation chamber returned to its former peacefulness. "Tell mother. I will deliver justice for you." But the cold edge in Mengfei''s eyes never disappeared. Seeing the urgency, Tianyi had no choice but to give Mengfei an abridged version of what happened. "Elder Redseal, Justice Hall." Mengfei nodded and immediately turned around. A black crystalline sword appeared in her left hand, and the killing intent surrounding her caused the walls to quake. Tianyi panicked and reached out to stop Mengfei. "Mother, you can''t! No matter what, he is still a Head Elder! You can''t just go in swords blazing! Even if you are a Grand Elder, the sect will still have to punish you!" "It doesn''t matter," Mengfei said. "Daring to injure my precious son, Redseal will have to pay the price even if I am expelled from the sect." Tianyi reached towards Mengfei''s right hand. Her left hand held a sword, and Tianyi didn''t want to accidentally cut himself even if he believed that his mother would prevent such an incident. But to his surprise, he felt nothing in her sleeve and even almost stumbled. "Mother, what happened to your hand?" Tianyi asked. This time, it was Mengfei''s turn to panic and feel self-conscious. Since young, she hadn''t learned how to lie even while living in the imperial palace. The most she would do was stay silent and omit information. Being asked by her son, she froze. She didn''t want Tianyi to know. If he were to know the truth, Mengfei feared that he would blame himself even more. She didn''t want a repeat of Tianyi''s tears back at the Fleeting Mist Sect. But Tianyi did indeed feel guilty and already came to his own conclusion of what happened. "Mother, I''m sorry. If I didn''t mess with the lightning sea, then you wouldn''t have lost your hand in the fight." Mengfei dispersed the crystalline sword and placed her hand on Tianyi cheek in a comforting manner. "Don''t worry. I''ll be able to heal it within a few months. It''s no big deal." Mengfei wasn''t lying. The dream world had tempered Mengfei''s heart and made her realized what she desired, allowing her heart to have a breakthrough. Although she didn''t break through to the next realm, she had an inkling of how to reach the fourth level of the Immortal Realm. The invasive aura was no longer gnawing at her flesh due to this and showed signs of dissipation instead. "That''s good," Tianyi said. But his mood was still low. His eyes didn''t become watery, but the self-blame was still evident. "Yi''er, don''t blame yourself. I should thank you instead. Because of the fight for the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus, it allowed me to understand my heart and have a breakthrough." Mengfei said, trying to convince Tianyi. "Really?" Tianyi asked, and Mengfei nodded. However, before she could release a sigh of relief in her heart, she heard Tianyi''s question. "Mother, who did this to you? I definitely won''t let this matter rest. Once I become powerful, I''ll get revenge for you!" Tianyi knew it was likely impossible in the short term or even in the far future. His mother was an Immortal Emperor level expert and the publically acclaimed number one expert, so it was unlikely for a mortal like him to get revenge. But this didn''t stop him from righteously swearing revenge. Mengfei opened her mouth. She couldn''t blame Zhang Cuiying, nor Eternal Night Emperor, and even the Cloud Goddess. So this just left one person. "Emperor Soulfish." "Emperor Soulfish?" Tianyi instantly recalled the man who ambushed him and caused Elder Meng to perish for a short while. "That bastard? I thought he was an Immortal Monarch? Did he breakthrough to become an Immortal Emperor!?" Tianyi gnashed his teeth together in anger. Mengfei released a sigh of relief at hiding the truth from Tianyi. As for passing the pot to Emperor Soulfish? Mengfei didn''t feel guilty at all. "Yi''er, don''t go looking for Emperor Soulfish. Before, Elder Meng may have been able to delay him. But now that he is an Immortal Emperor, his strength is far greater than before." Mengfei advised. "I won''t. I won''t offer my life to reaped like an idiot, but once I become an Immortal Emperor..." Tianyi didn''t finish his sentence, causing Mengfei a slight headache at his bullheadedness. The original situation of Tianyi attempting to stop Mengfei from committing a crime in anger somehow reversed into Mengfei attempting to convince Tianyi not to confront Emperor Soulfish. Chapter 92: Elder Redseals Reflection Elder Redseal clenched and unclenched his hands. Recently he had an unsettling feeling in his heart as if it was the calm before the storm. As one attained higher realms in cultivation, that feeling was often a sixth sense that saved his life many times before. He had an inkling of what it was related to. After all, he had nearly crippled the only son of Grand Elder Xi. It was not that Elder Redseal didn''t regret his actions, but whenever the thought of his grandson dying came to him, Elder Redseal felt as if the world would collapse. Normally, he would be able to suppress his inner desires, but seeing that hateful face caused his restraints to weaken. Coupled with how he was being openly challenged, Elder Redseal lost control for a sliver of a moment. But that was all it took. Luckily he had enough control to not slay Tianyi and cause an even bigger problem. But the situation was only slightly better. It wasn''t that Elder Redseal didn''t know what kind of person his grandson was. Licentious and arrogant to the supreme, but Elder Redseal couldn''t reject any requests from Lovespot. That face was a perfect mix between his daughter''s and his most prized disciple held too much pain for him. When did it start? Elder Redseal wondered. It wasn''t like he had only one daughter. In fact, he had several children and even wives, but they all died before ascending to immortality. And Elder Redseal''s emotion towards them became dim and uncaring. He didn''t have the heart to invest in people who would eventually perish and leave him. By nature, cultivation was a lonely and painful path. But as a human, he craved affection. Compared to his own children, who had his blood, he poured more feelings and efforts into his prized disciple. Perhaps it had changed when his beloved disciple became Dao Companions with one of his daughters. At first, Elder Redseal had only treated his daughter better because of that relationship. Love the house, love the crow, such was the saying.* And to his joy, both his prized disciple and daughter became Immortals. Having broken through his greatest worry, Elder Redseal began to love his daughter wholeheartedly. His disciple became an Immortal Monarch, and his daughter was an everlasting existence. Elder Redseal had become someone with Double Happiness. But that happiness came to an end when both his disciple and daughter became grievously injured in the battle with the Dragon Emperor. Both of them survived, but it was no different than a death sentence. Their injuries were severe to the point that no matter what Elder Redseal did, it only slowed down their death date. Living every day was akin to torture to the two, but the two persevered despite wanting to commit suicide. The reason was for the fetus in his daughter''s belly. Cultivators had a hard time conceiving children due to the Heavenly Dao. Take Elder Redseal for example, he had numerous children, but that was only because the mother was still a mortal and not an Immortal. And the time period in which the children were born made it that some children never even saw their elder sibling because they had already long passed before they were born. Knowing that they were not long for this world, Elder Redseal''s beloved disciple and daughter decided to at least give birth to their child. But due to their injuries, it was only after using numerous pills and resources that the Lovespot was able to be born years after the battle with the Dragon Emperor. Soon after, the two passed away while looking lovingly at their newborn son. Elder Redseal had directed all the love and affection for his disciple and daughter towards his grandson. He had not even given this much love to his first child. Had been given the third happiness of his life but at the cost of the first two happiness. "Ahhhhh! Stop! I''m begging you, please STOP!!!" Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Just where did it go wrong? Elder Redseal turned away from the screams of terror. That girl was considered fortunate that she was still able to even scream coherently. But it would not last long. Before he knew it, Lovespot had already developed a twisted personality. Elder Redseal had even tried to discipline Lovespot before but seeing his pained face, flashes of the faces of his half-dead disciple and daughter appeared in his mind. Lovespot was born blessed. Even in a half-dead state, Lovespot was still nurtured in an Immortal''s womb, causing him to be born with a Heavenly Spiritual Vein. Not only that, while he was born with a weak body, but because he had been nurtured with countless natural treasures, Lovespot''s potential was also drastically increased. It can be said that until the Unity Realm, Lovespot would have no bottlenecks. It can even be said that Lovespot''s foundation for cultivation was even more excellent than Tianyi''s before he attained the Dao Tribulation Lightning Spiritual Vein! Alas, because he gained everything too easily and lacked the will to go through hardships, Lovespot always took the shortcut. But never did Elder Redseal ever thought that it would reach the point of using Living Pills. Elder Redseal disdained those who used Living Pills, but in the end, because of spoiling his grandson, he enabled his own grandson to be one of the bastards that used Living Pills. Elder Redseal was broken out of his thoughts by a message. "Redseal, be prepared. Grand Elder Xi has returned and has begun taking action." Elder Redseal felt his heart skip a beat at the content of the message. He recalled the past few months where a few people began to investigate him. He found traces from the Eighteen Flower Fairies to an inner disciple of the Assignment Hall. The Eighteen Flower Fairies, Elder Redseal had always been wary of. They disdained and hated the type of person Lovespot was. A man who treats women like an object, clothes that can easily be changed and self-righteously so. As for the probe from Assignment Hall? Elder Redseal laughed from the audaciousness of the person. Just a Foundation Establishment disciple and he dared to investigate him, the Head Elder of the Justice Hall. Elder Redseal even wanted to punish the little disciple after discovering his relationship with Tianyi. No doubt, it was this relationship that made him investigate. But what gave Xi Ri such confidence to investigate an Immortal Monarch like him? Elder Redseal couldn''t kill Tianyi, but a little Foundation Establishment Disciple, he was still able to kill. His mood was still low from Lovespot''s near-death experience. But before he was able to move, he received a warning from the Head Elder of Assignment Hall. Justice Hall was the most feared and powerful of the Six Great Halls of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. At least that was what most people thought, but the truth was that Assignment Hall was one level higher than his. Not only was the Assignment Hall the leader of the Six Great Halls, but the Head Elder of the Assignment Hall, Immortal Monarch Brightwing, was the one closest to becoming the next Immortal Emperor. Had it not been for an old injury, Buzhou Immortal Sect''s third Immortal Emperor could have been Monarch Brightwing instead of Xi Mengfei. The Head Elder of Assignment Hall was already displeased with Elder Redseal recently. But because he had cleaned up Lovespot''s messes cleanly, Elder Brightwing kept his silence. This time the middle and lower-level members of the sect may not know, but nearly all the higher-ups knew that Elder Redseal had nearly crippled Tianyi. Regardless of what these Immortals thought, they couldn''t reveal it. Thus when Elder Redseal made to move, it was blocked by Elder Brightwing, and he was even reprimanded. "Do you want matters to be blown even more? I turned a blind eye to your coddling because of your loyalty and devotion to the sect, but I feel that ever since Lovespot came to being, you''ve been spiraling out of control. Love without a bottom line is not a type of poison. You are harming your grandson and the sect! With that weak mind of your grandson, I harbor suspicions on whether even reach the Transcending Mortality Realm or even become an Earth Immortal. " When Redseal heard those words, he felt both rage and humiliation. But he knew that those words were correct. Elder Redseal now realized that Monarch Brightwing had actually aided him. If he had actually taken action against Xi Ri, it would be even more evidence to be used against him. Elder Redseal knew that after the battle for the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus, Grand Elder Xi and Grand Elder Zhang had stayed in the Northern Region for some reason. He had hoped for them to return after years. For Immortals like them, years were nothing, and by then, the matter''s consequence would have died down or he would have more time to prepare. But his luck wasn''t good, and Grand Elder Xi returned. Soon he received a summon, ordering him to appear at the Sect Master''s Hall. Elder Redseal looked at where his grandson was and sighed. He erected a formation to hide the actions of Lovespot before he flew towards the Sect Master''s Peak. Chapter 93: Three Charges When Elder Redseal entered, he saw the solemn faces of Sect Master Xia and several other Immortal Monarch Elders. But that wasn''t what caused the goosebumps all over his body as if he had been plunged into the deep abyss. Sitting above Sect Master Xia was Grand Elder Xi. Her face was expressionless as usual, and her eyes as cold as ever. But Elder Redseal felt as if millions of tiny blades had stabbed into his soul just from one glance. His heart dropped into his stomach, but he didn''t reveal any of his agitation on his face. "Sect Master Xia, for what reason have you summoned me here? And for two of the sect''s Grand Elders to be here, has something urgent happened?" Elder Redseal asked. He glanced at the other Grand Elder, Zhang Cuiying. But she was just as expressionless as Mengfei, but Elder Redseal clearly felt her discontent towards him. Elder Redseal felt even more fretful. Sect Master Xia sighed as he looked at Elder Redseal, complicated emotions lurking within his eyes. "Urgent? It''s not just urgent, but a colossal matter." Elder Redseal immediately thought of the matter with Tianyi. But such a matter shouldn''t have alerted so many Immortal Monarch Elders. He looked around the room to see those of the opposing faction hiding delight and wrath within their eyes. Even those of his faction, the Conservative Faction, had rage and disappointment concealed within their eyes. At the same time, they were sending signals with their eyes. Using their Immortal sense to communicate would be far too audacious in this situation. Elder Redseal felt the gravity of this matter. He gave a subtle glance at Sect Master Xia before cupping his fist. He didn''t pretend it didn''t have anything to do with him. All those solemn looks towards him; he couldn''t lie to himself even if he wanted to. "I admit I was slightly harsh towards disciple Xi, but all this commotion for a mere Nascent Soul disciple, is it worth it?" Elder Redseal felt the origin of this matter was because of Tianyi. Although he had imagined and guessed the various ways Mengfei would cause him trouble, he never imagined it would be like this. His actions towards Tianyi seen from a subjective point may have gone too far, but that was not enough for this many Immortal Monarchs to care for the matter. Elder Redseal thought that Mengfei would at most raise a fuss and even have the sect punish him slightly. Or she might even personally appear at Justice Hall and attack him. Mengfei had never raised any ruckus in the sect before, but he never expected her to have such means to gather all the Head Elders and Peak Masters. But the origin of the matter was his actions towards Tianyi. So he wanted to make large matters small and small matters disappear He was, after all, an Immortal Monarch. Punishing him too much would cost the sect far more than a mere Nascent Soul disciple. "The matter with Disciple Xi is one just of the many matters and is on the small side." Sect Master Xia said. Elder Redseal paused, just one of the matters? And it was a small one? Elder Redseal felt his heart skip a bit as he thought of the possibility that they learned him of kidnapping girls with Water Spiritual Veins. If the truth were to be discovered, he may remain unscathed but the sect would undoubtedly cripple Lovespot, or worse, execute him. "Please enlighten me. I have always carried my duties to the best of my abilities for years. Although I cannot guarantee no mistakes, everything I did is for the good of the sect." Elder Redseal said with an air of righteousness. Sect Master Xia sighed. "Let''s start with Disciple Lovespot," Elder Redseal felt his heart thump at the mention of his grandson. "-There''s no need to mention all the crimes he had committed." Elder Redseal interjected. "Sect Master Xia, the crimes aren''t Fan''er''s fault. He was only being used those with ill intent. The testimonies and evidence all points towards this conclusion, and the charges have been dropped." Sect Master Xia sighed as he looked at Elder Redseal in disappointment. "Whether he is innocent or not, we all know in our heart." Elder Redseal wanted to say more, but Elder Brightwing stepped out at this moment. "Elder Redseal, this is an official matter. Please change your way of address towards Disciple Lovespot. Do not let your personal feelings interfere with your sense of right and wrong." Immortal Monarch Brightwing was a man with above-average height. His features were like carved from jade, peerless to the point of seeming unrealistic with his white brows and hair. But what caught people''s eyes the most was the pair of crane wings sprouting from his back. "Sect Master, we should start the official proceedings." Elder Redseal inwardly frowned but said nothing as Sect Master waved his hand. "Elder Redseal, you are on trial for deliberately injuring Disciple Xi for no reason, abusing your power as Head Elder of the Justice Hall and placing the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s foreign relations in jeopardy. Do you plead guilty?" The two rows of Elders on both sides of the hall and the two Grand Elders behind Sect Master Xia gave Elder Redseal an invisible but mountainous pressure. He felt his mind thrum from shock at the allegations. He could understand that Grand Elder Xi was going against him and his grandson for injuring Tianyi and using his grandson''s crimes as an angle of attack, but how did it become an intersect relations matter? "Not guilty!" Still, Elder Redseal confidently called out his objection to the crimes. Sect Master Xia nodded as if expecting this. "As this matter concerns Disciple Lovespot," He turned towards one of the True Immortals that wore a black brocade robe. "Brocade Immortal, bring Disciple Lovespot to the hall." Brocade Immortals was a special group of True Immortals within the Buzhou Immortal Sect. They were called so because of their black brocade robes. All of them were completely loyal to the sect, and no mission was too dangerous or unethical to them as long as it was for the interest of the sect. Rather than immortals, they were closer to Immortal Artifacts. "Sect Master-" Before Elder Redseal could say anymore, Sect Master Xia sent him a look. Sect Master Xia and Elder Redseal were from the same faction, and they knew each other for many years, so Elder Redseal could instantly interpret the message in Sect Master''s eyes. "Don''t say anymore. The matter has already blown up too much. Don''t do anything and follow my cues." Elder Redseal knew that Sect Master Xia was trying to protect him in his own way, but if the Brocade Immortals were to discover Lovespot''s affair, then the situation would become even worse than it was. Elder Redseal inwardly cursed himself for finding Living Pills so quickly. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Sect Master, my grandson- Disciple Lovespot is currently in secluded cultivation. After facing a near-death attack, he is currently attempting to enter the Unity Realm. If he is disturbed, I''m afraid his immortal path may be harmed." Elder Redseal said as he cupped his fist into his hand. Harming or severing a cultivator''s immortal path was akin to the greatest offence against them. Not even killing nine generations of the cultivator''s family would compare. Of course, this was just the general view, and it varied from cultivator to cultivator. The Brocade Immortal stopped his movement and looked at Sect Master Xia. Sect Master Xia furrowed his brows. This move of Elder Redseal was akin to placing a knife on his neck. But he didn''t need to answer as Zhang Cuiying spoke. "If Elder Redseal wants to continue to shield Disciple Lovespot from his crimes, then allow him to do so. Just a worthless Nascent Soul Disciple who won''t ascend towards Immortality." Elder Redseal looked up in shock at Grand Elder Zhang. Those words both condemned him and his grandson of crimes and slapped him in his face. Elder Redseal''s eyes slightly became red, but he quickly calmed down when Zhang Cuiying''s eyes scanned over. "Grand Elder Zhang, the verdict has not been passed. These words of yours are too much." Sect Master Xia interjected and played peacekeeper. Zhang Cuiying looked at Elder Redseal slightly longer before looking away. Elder Redseal felt himself break out in cold sweat. He still had confidence if it was just Grand Elder Xi, but if two Grand Elders allied against him, then his chances were slim. He furrowed his brows as he tried to think of how he may have sowed enmity with Grand Elder Zhang. He couldn''t recall anything he could have done to offended this Grand Elder. His grandson liked to ruin women and harm beautiful men, but Grand Elder Zhang did not have a clan, nor did her deceased Dao Companion have a clan. And she had long stopped accepting disciples. "Since the matter with Disciple Lovespot cannot be tried at this moment, it will be pushed back." Although it wasn''t the conclusion Elder Redseal wanted, at least he had gained more time to prepare to shield his beloved grandson. As for the matter concerning himself? Elder Redseal wasn''t afraid. Aside from his grandson''s matter, there was nothing to nitpick concerning his way of handling things. "Head Elder Redseal, your formal trial will begin. The first agenda; do you admit to the charge of deliberately injuring Disciple Xi with the intent of crippling him unprovoked?" Elder Redseal stood with his back straight and answered confidently to Sect Master Xia. "No." Sect Master Xia looked towards one of the Elders standing on the side. A True Immortal Elder from the Rites Hall stepped forward. He recounted the events of that day as if he was there. Furthermore, the Elder produced a mist that replayed the scene. "Head Elder Redseal, the evidence clearly points to you attacking without provocation. All the points Disciple Tianyi brought up were logical, and within reason, although his tone was disrespectful, this does not change your actions." Sect Master Xia said. Elder Redseal wanted to refute. He wanted to argue with the matter of how Tianyi provoked him by attempting to kill Lovespot and even wanted to argue that Tianyi was deliberate. But he saw the meaning in Sect Master Xia''s eyes. Elder Redseal became alert. If Sect Master Xia wanted him to admit and let it pass, did it mean that the second and third accusation was even more severe than he thought? He deliberated for a moment before accepting. Although it pained his pride to say he attacked a mere Nascent Soul Disciple unjustly, the punishment wouldn''t even tickle him. Elder Redseal was punished to pay reparations to Tianyi. Although he was displeased by the amount he had to pay, he didn''t quibble as it was something he could still easily afford. His face became serious as the next charge came up. "Head Elder Redseal, you are hereby charged with abusing and concealing the crimes of Lovespot. Do you admit guilt?" "No," Elder Redseal said. Once again, the Elder from the Rites Hall came forward. "Disciple Yuan Xiang: raped and abused by Lovespot. Charges were dropped after being given ten thousand middle-tier spiritual stones. Left the sect after being demoted to a servant after having her potential ruined. Double Perfect Spiritual Vein. Disciple Ghostmark: raped and had her cultivation crippled by Lovespot. Her master dropped charges after Elder Redseal paid a visit to her. Exiled from the sect after her Spiritual Core shattered. ... ... ... ... Disciple Softsleeve: assaulted and raped by Lovespot, later died due to injuries. Her master dropped the charges after an Elder from the Justice Hall paid a visit. Not buried in the graveyard due to not dying for the sect or on a mission. Single Perfect Spiritual Vein. ... ... Disciple Zhuan Tai: face was skinned alive and had his Spiritual Core shattered by Lovespot. His master dropped the charges after a visit from an Elder from Justice Hall. Demoted to a servant after no longer able to cultivate. ... ... ... Disciple Umbralight: face was skinned alive and injured to the point that recovery took years. Charges were dropped after reparation was sent. But due to the incident, an inner demon had formed, and he perished to it. Perfect and Flawless Spiritual Veins." As the list went on, the Elders'' faces became even more severe. Even the Elders in the same faction as Elder Redseal gave an astonished look towards him. They had naturally head of Lovespot''s matters, but the sheer number of incidents surprised them. All these victims had good futures, and although the possibility was low, one of them might even have ascended to the Immortal Realm. The sheer waste appalled the Elders who discovered how many were ruined by Lovespot. Elder Redseal stayed calm as the list of incidents grew. All the charges towards Lovespot were written and filed in Justice Hall. Those that looked would naturally easily discover them. He didn''t erase them as doing so would break the law of the sect. But he didn''t need to, as the matter was dropped. Another thing of note was the lack of mention of any Immortal Elders. All the victims listed were those who had no backing and those with False Immortal Masters and below. Elder Redseal knew that it would be even more shocking if the list included those with relations, no matter how distant, to Immortal Elders. But this was likely done so that the Immortal Elders'' faces could be preserved. After all, this matter was just too preposterous. The only thing Elder Redseal did in this matter was to make it so that not many would pay attention to the case each time Lovespot was charged. As the list finally ended, Sect Master Xia turned towards Elder Redseal. "All these matters, you''ve been shielding disciple Lovespot. What do you have to say?" "I did not coerce any of them to drop the charges. They accepted the reparation and dropped the charges." Elder Redseal said. He did not lie. He simply sent his subordinates to negotiate with them to drop the charges. If they dropped the charges, it couldn''t be used against him legally, no matter how the circumstance seemed. As for whether the victim felt pressured by their own conjured implicit threats? That was not his fault. "Sect Master Xia, although disciple Lovespot is indeed spoiled and a scourge, but the charges were dropped. And Head Elder Redseal did everything according to the laws. Wasn''t the matter recorded and kept in the Justice Hall? He didn''t conceal or erase the files." The speaker was an Elder from the Conservative Faction who had a close relationship with Elder Redseal. But Elder Redseal felt both fury and happiness. Anger at the disdain towards his grandson, but joy at coming to his defense. More voices came to his defense, but Sect Master Xia didn''t say anything and looked at the Elder from Rites Hall. "Leakless Sect''s Icesword: raped and killed. Leakless Sect''s Fenzang: raped and killed. ... ... Bright Ascension Sect''s Teng Wuhan: raped and killed. ... Monolith Sword Sect''s Zithersword: skinned alive and killed. ... ... Nihility Sect''s Darklife: raped and killed. ... Boundless Mountain''s Firmwill: raped and killed. ..." With each name and affiliated sect, the blood drained from Elder Redseal''s face as he looked at the Rites Hall Elder in disbelief. "Head Elder Redseal," Sect Master Xia spoke, his tone still the same, but the words boomed in Elder Redseal''s ears. "Although no charges have been brought for these incidents, murdering the disciples of our Vassal Sects is still a crime and one that has been concealed by your subordinates." "The third charge: Head Elder Redseal, you are undermining the relationships between the Buzhou Immortal Sect and five of the six Vassal Sects and harming the sect''s interest and long term plans. Do you admit guilt?" Chapter 94: Redseals Choice The Buzhou Immortal Sect and the Six Vassal Sect had a harmonious relationship. It wasn''t that the Six Vassal Sects never had any thoughts of leaving the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s control, but the Buzhou Immortal Sect was far too strong. The Heaven Continent had four publically acclaimed Immortal Emperor level experts, and three of them belonged to the Buzhou Immortal Sect. As the sect that claimed to be the orthodox lineage of the Immortal Court from the Primordial Era, their foundation was like a glacier. What others saw was only the tip above the water. In addition, the Buzhou Immortal Sect was relatively hands-free in their control over the Six Vassal Sects. As long as the Six Vassal Sects did not break the terms given by Buzhou Immortal Sect and offered the annual tributes, the Buzhou Immortal Sect would not overly control their affairs. Naturally, the Six Vassal Sects were in the lower position and had to respect the authority of their master. Because of this, the relationships between each individual Vassal Sect and the Buzhou Immortal Sect was surprisingly good. This situation allowed the creation of the Heavenly Connection Gathering. The same could not be said for the relationship between the Vassal Sects. But they wouldn''t bring out their internal conflicts to the Buzhou Immortal Sect. However, this relationship had a bottom line. And Lovespot went past that line. The matter could be said to be small, yet not small. It could also be said to be large, yet not large. But there was one certain point. If it was mishandled, then the relationship between the Buzhou Immortal Sect and the Six Vassal Sect will worsen. Although it was absurd, if Lovespot only harmed the girls within his sect, then the matters would not be as severe. Elder Redseal felt as if an explosion had gone inside his head and right beside his ears. He recalled the scenes of the past. The memory was slightly murky, but Elder Redseal still recalled it. His grandson had ventured out to temper himself. When he returned, Lovespot regaled him with the tales of his adventures. When Lovespot mentioned killing the disciple of another sect without provocation, Elder Redseal had warned him not to do it again. But then it occurred the second time. This was one of the few rare times that Elder Redseal had punished Lovespot. Afterward, Elder Redseal never heard of Lovespot mentioning again and thought that he had taken those warnings to heart. He had even ordered the secret guards assigned to Lovespot to watch over him and make sure it didn''t happen again. As for the two disciples Lovespot killed, Elder Redseal ignored it. They were just minor figures in his eyes, and their deaths would be attributed to accidents during their mission or tempering journey. This world followed the law of the strong. It was their fault for being weak. If you wanted to live and rise above others, you had to be ruthless and accumulate more resources than anyone else. Just the amount of resources the Buzhou Immortal Sect used was already more than all the sects of the Heaven Continent combined. But never in his wildest imagination would he ever imagine that Lovespot simply stopped revealing that he had continued killing the disciples of the Vassal Sects. "Is this information true?" One Elder asked, his voice taut with tension. "Who did he kill? If it is just some minor disciples, we can just give reparation and even hide the evidence." An Elder from the same faction as Elder Redseal said. "All those names I spoke from before are all elite disciples that have been nurtured by their respective sects. Although not the most outstanding, without accident, they would become core members of the sect." The Elder from the Rites Hall said. "The situation isn''t good. The Vassal Sects might take Lovespot''s actions as Buzhou Immortal Sect purposely weakening them. If handled incorrectly, then the Heaven Continent might become the second Earth Continent." "Hmpf, they are just mere Vassal Sects. They only have Half-Immortal Emperors at best; they can''t even compare to a single Cloud Goddess Cult. If they dare to rebel, then we will show them the folly of their ways." "Foolishness! The Buzhou Immortal Sect hasn''t recovered from the battle against the Dragon Emperor, yet now you want us to shed more blood? At this juncture, we should not seek war but peace." "Then what should we do? Punished Lovespot? The Vassal Sects won''t be happy with such a decision. This is planting a calamity for the future. The only way to quench their anger would be to hand over Lovespot to them. But then, where would the face of our Buzhou Immortal Sect go to?" "Then should we hide the evidence and information?" "Impossible, this is a ticking bomb. We can hide it for now, but in the future, once they found out, our plans for the future may fall apart. And who says that they don''t already suspect something. " "I think the same. The Buzhou Immortal Sect already lost many Immortals at a critical juncture, forcing us to use our backup plan. If we are forced to divert our attention and manpower, our plan will have a high chance of failing." "I say we should hand over Lovespot and some reparation to quell their anger. Once our plans come to fruition, it would be not too late to seek retribution." "But if the plan does succeed, we still have Saintly Scholar School and Anti-Heaven Alliance to worry about. Not speaking of the future, the Anti-Heaven Alliance is already showing signs of wanting to disturb the peace of the Heaven Continent. The disturbances at the edge of the Heaven Continent are showing signs of enlarging, and the invisible hands of the Anti-Heaven Alliance can be seen directing them." "I''m still more worried about the Saintly Scholar School. Ever since their appearance, we had to change our plan. Over a million years of hard work gone! Then that bastard appeared and caused many of our Immortals to fall. Out of all the forces, we suffered the worst. The only joyous occasion is that Grand Elder Xi emerged." "Speaking of the Dragon Emperor, Disciple Xi has some facial similarities to him," The Elder speaking suddenly broke out in cold sweat. He felt as if a sword upon his neck, ready to decapitate him should he speak improperly. Without looking, he already knew who was the cause. Without changing his expression, he continued to speak. "But he acts nothing like the other Dragon Emperor clones. Only their appearance has some similarities."The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The Elder released a breath when the invisible sword over his neck disappeared. "In contrast -hehehehe- that Lovespot acts more like the Dragon Emperor even though he looks nothing alike." The Elder once again felt a chill down his back. But this time, it wasn''t from Grand Elder Xi but Grand Elder Zhang. What was he thinking? The Elder knew he had a loose mouth, but why did he have to speak those words and agitate the two Grand Elders? In his life, his mouth brought him many calamities. "Preposterous! I had heard rumors of that Lovespot causing trouble, but I thought it was just exaggerations! What gall, to even attack the disciples of other sects. This is harming Buzhou Immortal Sect''s future! He must be punished." Although the speaker seemed to be speaking against Elder Redseal, his words separated Lovespot''s actions from Elder Redseal. "Redseal, did you know about this!?" Another Head Elder demanded, forcefully dragging Elder Redseal into this. His usual calm and peaceful expression had morphed into a livid expression. It was only now that Elder Redseal broke out of his stupor. His mind went through many twists and turns before he spoke. "Impossible! If Fan''er had done such a thing, I would have known.." Elder Redseal thought of claiming that he knew, but his earlier reaction proved contrary. Judging from the complete confidence, the evidence laid out was real, so Lovespot was already declared guilty. So if he admitted knowing, it would only worsen the crime by adding a stain to him. But how could he not know? Elder Redseal thought about the guards he assigned to his precious grandson and felt fury rising within. Why didn''t they say anything? Thinking about the unease and worry before, Elder Redseal gave an inward bitter laugh. This was beyond his worst presumptions. If only he had reigned in Lovespot earlier, then this mess would not have popped up. "Really? I find that hard to believe." "Everyone has at least heard of how much you dote on your grandson. Even when he leaves the sect, you must have secretly dispatched an Immortal to guard his safety unless you are telling us that you have no idea of any of your grandson''s actions. Do not kid us!" "I will investigate this as soon as possible. Please give me some time to gather evidence. I will give you a satisfying answer." Elder Redseal said as he lowered his head. How long has it been since he had last lowered his head like this? "No, the matter is too important and concerns the future of the sect." Sect Master Xia said. "Call forth the guards that have accompanied Lovespot whenever he left the sect." Elder Redseal sent a pleading look towards his old friend, but all he got was the steely eyes. Left with no choice, Elder Redseal summoned the seven Earth Immortals that he had gathered to protect his grandson secretly. Upon entering, the seven were petrified by the solemn atmosphere and the hostilities emitted by those gathered in the room. Elder Redseal allowed them to protect Lovespot because he had gifted each of them a True Immortal Artifact. Thus when they worked together and in a formation, not even a True Immortal could defeat them. A True Immortal was too precious to devote themselves to guarding a mere mortal cultivator. Not to mention, no self-respecting True Immortal would lower themselves to secretly guard a mere mortal, even a child of an Immortal Monarch. Elder Redseal really did dote on his grandson, the Immortal Elders thought. The price of seven True Immortal Artifacts was higher than the average worth of a True Immortal. The interrogation did not last long at all under the heavy pressure of the True Immortals and above. The reason Elder Redseal didn''t know was laughable and pitiful. Using the resources given to him by his grandfather, Lovespot had bribed the seven Earth Immortal to keep their silence. Now Lovespot''s crimes increased. Not only had he murdered the disciples of the Vassal Sects, but he had directly ignored his grandfather, a Head Elder''s order, and continued to commit the crimes even to the point of bribing people. The Immortal Elders couldn''t understand why Lovespot would go to such lengths just to do such a thing. Did he find it too easy to violate his own sect brothers and sister, so he decided to do it to other sects? Did the forbiddance of his grandfather only expound his desires? Did the pleasure of breaking taboos increase the pleasure of his acts? After the initial shock of the revelation passed, the Immortals within the room began discussing the severity of the situation while deliberating the appropriate punishment in a civilized manner. "We should give reparation towards the Vassal Sects and handle this matter in the dark. Although Lovespot''s actions are worthy of sin, in light of Head Elder Redseal''s merit, we should be able to overlook it this once. In the end, Disciple Lovespot is still a member of our sect. Killing him for an outsider is not worth it. As for the dissatisfaction? Let them be. Our prestige should not be lowered to our allies at this time." "I say we should sacrifice Disciple Lovespot. His actions are the shame of the sect. Even without this incident brought to light, his punishment would arrive. Although it will lower our prestige, that is nothing in the grand plan of the Buzhou Immortal Sect." "I disagree! Disciple Lovespot became so daring because of Head Elder Redseal. Had Head Elder Redseal not spoiled him and never punished him, he would dare to commit the crimes he did even if he had nine lives. As a Head Elder, Redseal has harmed the core interest of the sect, disregarding his duty. Head Elder Redseal no longer deserves his post." For, against, even neutral, the arguments from all sides were summed up within those three statements. The faction opposing Elder Redseal wanted him to lose his position as the Head Elder of the Justice Hall. This included Mengfei. Lovespot was but a bug in her eyes, and only Elder Redseal was worthy of being punished for harming Tianyi. The faction supporting Elder Redseal wanted him to keep his position, and to do so meant pushing the majority of the blame onto Lovespot. While the neutral faction felt that making Elder Redseal lose his position would cause too many waves within the Buzhou Immortal Sect and wanted to have Elder Redseal punished yet keep his position. In the end, the verdict was up to Sect Master Xia. "Disciple Lovespot has harmed the interest of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. His crime, unpardonable. He will have his cultivation crippled and, should the Vassal Sect wish, be handed over for them to deliver the remaining punishment. The seven Earth Immortal guards'' sins are only greater, not less. Enjoying the benefits from the sect, but not protecting the sect''s interest. Under their greed, they have even harmed the sect''s interest. They will be sentenced to death!" The seven Earth Immortals all cried out and begged for mercy. But their cultivation and ability to communicate were sealed and were dragged out by the Brocade Immortals. Elder Redseal wanted to speak, not for the guards but his precious grandson. But one look from Sect Master Xia caused him to go silent. "And Head Elder Redseal, although unknowing of the crimes, he has partial responsibilities. Head Elder Redseal will have his wages sealed for the next ten thousand years." That punishment towards an Immortal was but a mere slap on the wrist. All the Immortal Elders in the room knew it. But they didn''t feel that it was too surprising. Elder Redseal had become the Head Elder of the Justice Hall for almost the same time as Sect Master Xia, and even before stepping up to the position, he had incredible merits. The Immortals within the Hall, even those against him, didn''t truly expect Elder Redseal to be deposed from his position. How could Elder Redseal not understand Sect Master Xia''s intention. He wanted Elder Redseal to keep his position, and all he needed to do was cut off his tail as bait like a lizard, to discard his precious grandson as the sole scapegoat. "...wait!" Elder Redseal found himself speaking before he could stop himself. Sect Master Xia''s eyes conveyed his surprise and disappointment, but Elder Redseal didn''t stop. "I beg you to reconsider!" However, this time, a surprising person spoke. "Head Elder Redseal," The voice was clear and melodic, but the chill within was detectable by all. Xi Mengfei pointed her frosty gaze towards Elder Redseal. "You have two options. Either your grandson atones for both of your crimes, or you atone for your and your grandson''s crimes." A majestic presence emitted from Mengfei. It was slightly different from her usual pressure as if all the world''s essence had begun to congregate upon her, and she was the origin of all things. The Immortals in the room all felt shocked at Mengfei''s aura. It was no longer merely the aura of an Immortal Empress, but one higher than that. Did she gain insight into the next realm, or did she fully break through to the fourth Immortal Realm, the Origin Immortal Realm? Elder Redseal felt sweat covering his forehead, his clothes damp, and his heartbeat erratic, a sensation he hadn''t felt for tens of thousands of years. "I..." Chapter 95: Similarities between the Two "At what point do you think the discussion is at?" Daoyi asked. In front of her was a sheet of parchment where she was painting. Tianyi looked on with twitching lips. Compared to her, his painting skills were far inferior. They were the same on the technical level, but his painting didn''t have the same spirituality that Daoyi''s had. "I don''t know," Tianyi said. While Daoyi was painting, he was sorting through all the souvenirs that his mother had purchased for him. It still baffled him why his mother bought him souvenirs. Most of the stuff she purchased were trinkets and novelty items. But the sheer amount meant that Tianyi was still looking through them, although he found a few rare and fascinating things. "My plan aims to remove Elder Redseal from his position as Head Elder. But removing a Head Elder isn''t such an easy objective. In the end, all of Lovespot''s victims were mortals. Their lives would hardly make a dent compared to the value of an Immortal Monarch. Still, I didn''t expect Lovespot to kill disciples of other sects, and elite ones at that. Should I praise him for being daring or ridicule him for seeking death?" "A person like Lovespot doesn''t deserve an iota of praise of any kind," Daoyi said before changing the topic. "So why did you aim for that then?" "Don''t you know, you have to aim higher than what you intend in order to achieve your goal," Tianyi said while wagging his finger. "though, it wouldn''t hurt if Head Elder Redseal was removed from his position. But even if he isn''t, that Lovespot won''t be able to escape punishment." Tianyi''s smile was brilliant, but it contained a dark undertone. "However, it''d be best if Elder Redseal got removed from his position. I don''t feel safe having someone so trigger happy to cripple my cultivation at such a position of power. And if Head Elder Redseal really is removed from his position, do you think Lovespot would be able to live as before? Although Elder Redseal would still protect him, but how can Lovespot live the same as before? Being impeached from his position, Elder Redseal wouldn''t be able to have much clout. At best he can protect Lovespot from getting harmed, but how can a leopard change its spots? Lovespot is going to cause trouble again, and with Elder Redseal not having as much power, his life will become miserable. A quick death is too good for him." "Aren''t you just adding fuel to the fire by having master try to remove him from his post?" Daoyi asked. Tianyi shrugged. "I don''t think avoiding him is going to make it better in any way. It''s not like he can do any worse than killing me after attempting to cripple my cultivation. If he really did try to kill me, I won''t stop mother from trying to kill him either." "That''s not likely. I''ve seen many people in positions of power during my times at the Duke Estate. Humans are creatures who would abandon their own kin in exchange for power. Redseal is an Immortal Monarch who has lived for over a hundred thousand years. Compared to that, the time he spent with Lovespot is like a blink of an eye." "If given a choice between his grandson and his position, I''d think Elder Redseal will choose his Lovespot." "Why do you think that?" "Elder Redseal wanted to cripple me just because I almost hurt his precious widdle grandbaby." Daoyi covered her growing smile at Tianyi''s mocking words. "Senior brother is really focused on the fact that Redseal almost crippled you. This is the third time you mentioned it in a short time." "So what? Fifteen years of cultivation almost got wasted because of that. If my cultivation technique wasn''t special, I''d have been truly crippled. I already formed my Spiritual Core, so even if I gain the ability to cultivate again, my full potential would be damaged." Tianyi crushed the item in his hand while speaking, highlighting his anger. "What about you? You''ve directly gone to removing the Elder when addressing Elder Redseal." Daoyi rolled her eyes. "Someone capable of raising such an asshole doesn''t deserve to be an Elder." "Wow...you really...hate him," Tianyi said, his eyes widening at the crass language and dark aura radiating from Daoyi. "Both Lovespot and him aren''t good things. I don''t expect people to be the epitome of empathy, but Lovespot is unnecessarily cruel and despotic. Redseal, who raised him, is just as wrong if more." "So you wish for Elder Redseal to be removed from his position too?" "I want both of them to be punished." "Not likely, only one of them will be punished." Tianyi before a thought struck him. "Say, want to make a bet?" "A bet? What kind of a bet?" Daoyi asked as she tilted her head at Tianyi. "A bet on whether or not Elder Redseal or Lovespot would be punished." "Since it''s a bet, what are we wagering?" Tianyi stopped. What would they wager? In terms of wealth or items, Daoyi couldn''t compare to himself. He had wealth that would make even a True Immortal green with envy. Aside from the egg, which he did not covet, Daoyi had nothing that he didn''t or couldn''t attain. So if it''s not materials items, it should be an act or service. He looked over and observed Daoyi. She was wearing one of her blue dress today and a feather-like hair accessory that held her sidebang behind one of her ears. Daoyi is really pretty, Tianyi thought. As soon as the thought occurred, he turned his head away to hide his reddening face. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. "B-bragging rights. No need to complicate anything. This is all fun and games at the expense of Elder Redseal and Lovespot, after all." Daoyi giggled. "Alright, I''ll bet on Lovespot being punished. I don''t think Redseal would be willing to give up his power for his grandson. The saying power corrupts isn''t without basis." "Then I''ll wager that Elder Redseal will give up his position to keep his grandson safe."
Once again, Mengfei sat across from Zhang Cuiying. There was a small plate of snacks and cakes that her servant had brought out. Zhang Cuiying took a sip of the fragrant tea before placing it down. "I believe this is the only time met each other within such a short time frame." "Yes," Mengfei picked up a dainty confectionary with her chopsticks and placed it within her mouth, covering her mouth with her sleeve as she chewed. "The first time was to ask a favor, the second time was for gratitude, but I don''t know why you have called me here today. Is it something important?" "Earlier, Redseal''s decision..." Zhang Cuiying began. "He chose to give up his position as Head Elder. I don''t like him. He hurt my son, but I cannot say he is heartless." Mengfei said. Redseal''s action trial gave her complicated feelings towards the whole affair. "Sect Master has also punished him to be confined for a thousand years since he no longer has any wages after being removed from his position. Why do you think he did? In my eyes, removing his position as Head Elder is already punishment enough." Zhang Cuiying asked. Mengfei froze. She hadn''t thought of such a thing. Had she had her way, Redseal would have had his cultivation crippled or at least beaten half to death. But even she knew that such a thing wasn''t likely, so she settled for her son''s plan. "A child with an Immortal Elder with a high amount of power within the sect as a backing and pampered to the point of ridiculousness since birth, doesn''t this situation remind you of someone?" Zhang Cuiying asked once more. There were a lot of Immortal Elders that had descendants, but Zhang Cuiying wasn''t speaking about those Immortal Elders, but rather Immortal Monarchs. Or at the very least an Immortal Monarch or an Immortal Empress like her. "You are talking about Tianyi," Mengfei said, no stated. "Doesn''t the situation look familiar?" Zhang Cuiying rebutted. "Since young, all the best things have been available to him. What Lovespot has, your son already has, what Lovespot doesn''t have, your son also has." Mengfei''s expression darkened. "Yi''er is nothing like Lovespot." "I know," Zhang Cuiying didn''t deny Mengfei''s words. "It''s not your son I''m worried about. If you compare your son to Lovespot, it would be insulting your son. I know not of his character, but at the least, he isn''t a trouble-maker. His accomplishment isn''t something that-are you listening to me?" "Yes," Mengfei said, she was looking very seriously at Zhang Cuiying. "You can continue praising Yi''er more." Zhang Cuiying felt as if something had got caught in her throat, preventing her from speaking anything. Finally, after composing herself once more, she said. "I wasn''t worried about your son, but you." Mengfei looked at her in surprise. "The way you treat your son, I''m worried that you might turn into the second Redseal." Zhang Cuiying said. "You even went to the Vast Void to find a treasure for your son. I''m not worried about him committing a crime. He knows what he should and should not do. But you place too much importance on him. It isn''t good for your Daoheart." "I don''t feel anything wrong. After understanding my heart a bit, I''ve even advanced." Mengfei said, unconvinced. "That''s right. You''ve discovered a path to enter the Origin Immortal Realm, right?" Mengfei nodded. She didn''t deliberately hide her aura so sharp Immortal Monarchs and Emperors would be able to tell. This was especially so for Zhang Cuiying, who she had travel back with. "To be more precise, I''m closer to the Half Origin Immortal Realm than the Extremity Immortal Realm." "That''s why I''m even more worried." Zhang Cuiying said. "From the moment Redseal made his decision, it was clear that in his heart, his grandson is even more important than him than his Dao. If Lovespot were to die, then I''m afraid his Daoheart would collapse. He might even regress to a True Immortal or even return to become a mere mortal." Zhang Cuiying looked at Mengfei in the eye as she spoke her next sentence. "What would happen to you if your son were to die?" "He wouldn''t." Mengfei didn''t even stop to consider before saying those words. "There are no impossibilities. I don''t want your years of effort to go to waste. I''m not saying you shouldn''t love your son, but you shouldn''t let it reach the point of affecting your Dao." Mengfei didn''t speak, and the two descended into silence. "I didn''t begin cultivating because I sought the Dao," Mengfei said after a moment. "I cultivated because my master wanted me to. When she left, I continued because she wanted to. All these years, I''ve never cultivated for myself." "Is it wrong to place my son before my Dao?"
Sect Master Xia sighed as he poured tea for his guest, the Justice Hall''s former Head Elder. The meeting concerning the issue of Lovespot had already finished. Redseal sat next to him with a defeated expression. His features seemed to have aged ten years. There were even streaks of gray in his hair and crow feet around his eyes. "I didn''t think you''d be so foolish. If you really wanted to save your grandson, I could have just let him "die." Sect Master Xia said. Redseal shook his head bitterly. "Do you really think that one would let it end like that?" Sect Master Xia stayed silent. After all, the only reason Redseal had his position taken away was because Grand Elder Xi had spearheaded the proposal. "I''m sorry." Sect Master Xia said. For him to have become the Sect Master of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, Redseal had played a critical role in the affair. "Don''t mind it." Redseal said, shaking his hand. "You helped me become the Head Elder of the Justice Hall, so I supported you to become the Sect Master. Our debts were long paid." Sect Master Xia''s eyes couldn''t help but contain pity. "You only have a few more days before your Thousand-Year Imprisonment; spend it with your grandson." "I know, thank you." Redseal said. "Could you look after Fan''er in these thousand years?" Sect Master Xia felt his temper rising, hating iron for not becoming steel. But in the end, he relented and nodded his head. "As long as he doesn''t break any more sect rules, I will make sure he won''t suffer vengeance." "That''s all I can ask." Redseal said as he stood up and started to leave. "Redseal, I hope you can rebuild your Daoheart in these thousand years." Sect Master Xia said. He didn''t punish Redseal to be contained for a thousand years so simply, but so that Redseal could be separated from his grandson and have time to ponder over his Dao. Rather than improve, Redseal seemed to have regressed in strength. Redseal paused for a moment before he started walking away once more. He had so many things to do: erase all the evidence of his grandson cultivating with Living Pills, asking his friends to look after Lovespot, hiring guards, and... Hatred flashed in his eyes, so quickly that no one would notice. Chapter 96: Departing for the Heavenly Connection Gathering "Mother, what are you doing?" Tianyi asked with exhaustion tinting his voice. "Watching you," Mengfei said as if it was the simplest question in the world. "You''ve been watching me for the past week nonstop. Why!?" Tianyi couldn''t help but raise his tone near the end. "I''m spending time with you." Mengfei once again answered. For the past week, whenever she had time, Mengfei was always looking at Tianyi without blinking. Considering that Mengfei had no official duties, it was pretty much all the time. "I''m pretty sure spending time requires more than just staring at me," Tianyi muttered under his breath. It wasn''t just during the day, but at night as well. Because of this, Tianyi had slept all week. On the bright side, his injuries healed with Mengfei''s aid and Tianyi wanting to take his mind off of his mother''s constant stare. "What should I do then?" Mengfei asked, hearing Tianyi''s mutter. Tianyi paused, not expecting Mengfei to hear him. After a while, "It''s usually people do together. Not I, but we." "Then what should we do?" Mengfei asked. Tianyi held his chin. What had he done with Mengfei? Thinking back, most of their interactions was almost always related to cultivation, one way or another. Aside from their heartfelt talks months ago, the longest conversation the two had was when Mengfei was guiding Tianyi in his cultivation. "Eating together?" Tianyi muttered. "I haven''t eaten in over a hundred years." Was Mengfei''s reply. "Taking a walk?" Tianyi asked. Mengfei thought about it and nodded. So the two descended down Jade Peak. But aside from the Elders who greeted Mengfei before leaving, all the disciples watched from afar without daring to get any closer. Tianyi had already grown accustomed to it, but Mengfei exuded a massive amount of pressure to those foreign to her and caused their hearts to palpitate, especially the disciples who heard of her legend. The worst part was that Tianyi was unable to hold a proper conversation with Mengfei. If Tianyi asked what her hobby was, Mengfei would answer "cultivation" if he asked what she liked, Mengfei would say "you." The worst part was that it devolved back to Mengfei, staring at Tianyi while the two walked. Unable to withstand it anymore, Tianyi led them back to Jade Peak. On the way back, Tianyi noticed a cute and delicate looking girl staring at them nonstop. She wouldn''t have stood out to Tianyi normally, but her gaze was too obvious and too heated, causing Tianyi to take note of her and having a deep impression. As if without a bone in his body, Tianyi melded into his chair after that stressful experience. But Mengfei was still staring at him without blinking! Finally, as if grasping at straws, Tianyi asked. "What did you do with your master?" Tianyi didn''t deliberately investigate Mengfei''s past life. But he knew conversations with his mother and tidbits that Mengfei''s master acted as a pseudo-parent towards her. Mengfei looked away and grasped her chin in her hand, appearing to be deep in thought. Since her master perished, Mengfei had purposely tried not to think about her master. Every time she did, a suffocating feeling in her chest would appear. But now, although the feeling still existed, it was not as painful. Recalling those memories, there was a sweet yet bitter feeling within her. "Master...she often calls me to taste the tea she made." "Did you learn?" Tianyi asked. Mengfei shook her head but continued thinking. "Sometimes, she would take me outside the sect and walk the streets and observe the mortals. Other times she would buy me dresses for no reason. Oh, one time, she took me fishing. But in the end, a Demon appeared, so we killed it instead." Tianyi had no words. He was tempted to ask to go fishing just for the hell of it but thought better of it. He had just recovered and didn''t want to push his luck. "Oh, junior sister." "Daoyi." Tianyi and Mengfei called out. Daoyi was walking towards the two. "Did I come at a bad time?" Daoyi asked, feeling the stiff air between the two. "Should I come another time?" "No, it''s not a bad time. Or rather, please stay!" Tianyi almost begged. "I see?" Daoyi said before looking at Mengfei. "Master, I feel like I should be able to advance to the Spiritual Crucible stage soon." "That''s quite soon," Mengfei said. But thinking back, Daoyi had probably benefited from the maturity of the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus. The Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus''s fragrance was enough for low-level cultivators to benefit immensely, if not apparent. Just catching a whiff of its fragrance should be enough to heal and reinvigorate the soul of Qi Gathering Pupils and Foundation Establishment Disciples. But those were only the surface effects.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. The Fleeting Mist Sect had been forced to relocate because of the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus, ignoring the having to leave because of the conflict between Immortal Monarchs and Emperors, they actually benefitted immensely aside from their new guardian formation. Those who breathed in the fragrance now had an increased chance of advancing their potential. Even Sect Master Yun had benefited. Tianyi didn''t feel anything different, though. Daoyi was different. Her cultivation technique being superior, she had benefited even more than the Fleeting Mist Sect. The proof was that her cultivation had advanced to the peak Spiritual Altar stage. Mengfei didn''t say any words of delay and simply asked if she was confident. Daoyi nodded. "Alright, I''ll watch over you." And so that short conversation ended, and an awkward silence descended. "What were you two doing before I came?" Daoyi asked, wanting to leave but couldn''t due to Tianyi''s pleading eyes. "Thinking of ways to spend time together." Tianyi quickly said. "Why thinking?" Daoyi asked. "Because we don''t know what to do together," Tianyi said with a sigh. "Why not play a game together or something?" Daoyi said. "Game? What kind of games?" Tianyi instantly thought of playing cards, but at the same time, he couldn''t imagine his mother playing any sort of games. "Go?" Daoyi said. Tianyi looked towards his mother. She nodded. As an imperial princess, she had been taught all the necessities to mingle in high society, including the Four Scholarly Arts. Soon a Go board and stones were brought out. The result? Tianyi was slaughtered by both his mother and Daoyi. I never played, but with my enhanced intelligence due to my cultivation, although I can''t defeat my mother, but I also lost to my junior sister? I''m beginning to feel very inadequate. I''m a Nascent Soul Grandmaster, and she''s only a Foundation Establishment Disciple! I shouldn''t have lost so badly! First, it was painting, and now it''s Go. Are my base stats just lower than Daoyi? While Tianyi began to question his life and intelligence, Daoyi and Mengfei continued their war game. A few days later, a disciple visited Jade Peak with an invitation. Tianyi held an invitation in his warily. The last time he got invited to something, it ended with a former Head Elder almost crippling his cultivation. Once bitten, twice shy. Tianyi couldn''t help but question if something would go wrong again. "Another invitation? To what?" Daoyi asked. "Heavenly Connection Gathering," Tianyi said. Daoyi nodded and placed another black stone on the board. "You aren''t going to ask to go?" Tianyi said, half expecting Daoyi to ask to go. Daoyi shook her head. "Right now, I''m at a critical juncture. I can''t afford to leave the sect. Nevermind the fact that I have not reached the Core Formation Realm. I''d be a burden outside the sect." Tianyi nodded. That was true. "I''ll go too." The unexpected words caused Tianyi to freeze. A stiff smile appeared on his face as he looked at his mother. "Mother, could you say that again. I think I may have misheard." "I''ll go with you." Tianyi''s face petrified even more. "Mother, only the children or grandchildren of Elders are allowed to attend." "I know, but I''m worried," Mengfei said. After thinking for a moment, she added. "You got injured in the sect, the outside is even more dangerous." "I''ll be fine. I got injured because I didn''t expect Immortal Redseal to suddenly strike me without reason. I still have the talismans you gave me. Besides, junior sister needs you right now." Tianyi persuaded. But it didn''t work. Mengfai even said she could bring Daoyi with her and follow behind Tianyi. Only after a few backs and forth between the two was Mengfei finally convinced. But not before giving Tianyi even more talismans. Tianyi could only dryly laugh. When the day of departure arrived, Tianyi saw a group of around a hundred people. Only around twenty of them were actually descendants of Elders, while the other eighty were servants. He glanced slightly behind him where Elder Meng stood protectively. Tianyi half expected his mother to assign guards to him with how worried she said she was. But thinking about Immortal Redseal''s reaction to Elder Meng, Tianyi confirmed that the Elder behind him was unique. "You''ve finally arrived, junior brother Xi. I was beginning to think that you wouldn''t come." Tianyi looked up to see the man who invited him in the first place, Su Bojing. "Are you going alone?" Su Bojing asked, not seeing anyone around Tianyi. Tianyi pointed his thumb at Elder Meng. "Elder Meng will be coming with me." Su Bojing, having finally discovered Elder Meng''s existence after Tianyi pointed her out, blinked in surprise. He laughed. "Greetings, Elder Meng." Elder Meng nodded her head in greeting as well. "Come, come, let me introduce you to our companions." Su Bojing said as he led Tianyi towards the group of twenty. Most of them, Tianyi had seen during the celebration for him passing his Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation and the gathering hosted by Xia Yushan. There were only a few Tianyi didn''t recognize. But the one that stood out the most was no doubt Su Wanyu, the Senior Disciple before Xia Yushan. Su Bojing was a far off descendant with a promising future of the same clan. But he didn''t have the qualification to participate in the Heavenly Connection Gathering. He was a tagalong that was considered half a servant among these genius descendants. Su Wanyu wore a silk mask that only revealed her glittering black eyes. She was clothed in pure white, like unstained snow, and gave off an aura of etherealness. Tianyi felt her aura familiar but couldn''t recall where he had seen it. Their eyes connected for a moment. Tianyi felt those cold eyes as if he was being evaluated as an object. But that connection only lasted for a mere moment. "Lady Su, it''s time." Su Wanyu was already a Unity Realm Elder, but those under her still called her lady no doubt due to her young age. Reaching the Nascent Soul Realm under a hundred years of age was considered the mark of a genius, but reaching Unity under one hundred, even more so. The method of transportation was a magnificent immortal boat, controlled by a True Immortal. It bore some resemblance to the ship used to ferry the Buzhou Immortal Sect to the Three Heavens Connection Meeting. So many bright seeds of the sect made it impossible for the Buzhou Immortal Sect not to send an Immortal to guard them. Who knew how many True or False Immortals were secretly protecting them in the shadows. Tianyi boarded the ship with Elder Meng and Su Bojing. Once everyone was aboard, the immortal boat flew off towards its destination. Tianyi couldn''t help but twitch his lips. Where was the rule of not flying inside the sect grounds, unless it was ignored because the control was a True Immortal? Chapter 97: Lady Su Wanyu "Lady Su" Graceful to a fault with no imperfections. The white veil only adding to her mysterious appeal, Su Wanyu inspired countless first loves and confessions. But she coldly rejected all of them. "What have you found out?" Her attendants, ever dutiful, relayed the information she desired. "Lovespot, that cur, hasn''t left his residence at all ever since Immortal Redseal was removed from his position as Head Elder." "Have you investigated why?" Su Wanyu probed. "We have. Word from the servants is that Lovespot is planning on challenging the Unity Heavenly Tribulation. " "With that weak will of his? The only reason he even reached the Nascent Soul Realm is because of the numerous resources invested in him by Immortal Redseal." "...I heard that before Immortal Redseal lost his position, women were coming to and from his room. Disgusting." "Indeed, disgusting." "I can''t wait for justice to be served to that piece of shit." "Immortal Redseal was brilliant all his life. Too bad it was all ruined by his grandson." "What gave him the confidence to act overbearing to the son of Grand Elder Xi? He even dragged Immortal Redseal down with him." "I''d thought that Lovespot would be punished for starting all of this. I heard that he tried to force himself on Grand Elder Xi''s disciple as well." "Lovespot walked by the riverside too much. Not only did he get his own shoes wet, but Immortal Redseal''s as well." "When Grand Elder Xi takes action, she removed a Head Elder from their position. As expected of the Huang Realm''s greatest Immortal Empress." "Enough!" Su Wanyu coldly commanded before the subject devolved into mere gossip. "What of the other matter?" "There doesn''t seem to have been many changes, milady. Sect Master Xia''s faction doesn''t seem to have worsened their relationship with those of Jade Peak. Well, there seems to have been one change. Xia Yushan hasn''t visited Jade Peak since then." "I''ve long grown tired of looking at his hypocritical face. He acts all gentlemanly, but we know how ruthless he is underneath that mask of his." "You shouldn''t say that. Who knows, he may be the successor to the Brocade Monarch." "Has he done any other action?" Su Wanyu asked. "None. Should we enquire from Xi Tianyi on his thought on matters?" "No," Su Wanyu shook her head. "Don''t take unnecessary contact with Xi Tianyi. Even within the sect, there isn''t much information concerning him. Coupled with Grand Elder Xi''s recent actions, he is heavily protected. If we were to tip our hands too much, then our involvement might be revealed. Don''t forget that even a Head Elder got disposed of, not to mention mortals like us." "As you command." "Understood." "Still, to think that just allowing the two to meet would cause such an outcome. Perhaps we should have introduced the two earlier." "Although I do feel sorry for Xi Tianyi. I heard that his cultivation almost got crippled." "What''s there to pity. With Grand Elder Xi''s method, he could recultivate to Nascent Soul Realm in another twenty years. Unlike us without strong backing, having to endure humiliation and ridicule just to climb to our current station." Su Wanyu waved her hands and commanded her attendants to leave. Once they left, she removed her veil to reveal her luminescent skin. Her features were perfect, only marred by a faint scar that stood out against her otherwise flawless skin. Her eyes glossed over as she lost all focus. She giggled and laughed, but there was no happiness in her voice, only bitterness. Nightmare. A nightmare that ruined her innocence and changed her very essence. His biggest pillar of support had fallen. All the machinations she had conceived couldn''t compare to a single Grand Elder. But it wasn''t over yet. It wasn''t over until that bastard felt the rage and humiliation she felt that day. She will carve every wrong done to her into that bastard''s body. He will wish for death but unable to do so.
That Lovespot, he still hasn''t left from his retreat. From what I last heard, he is attempting to enter the next realm. Hmpf, even if he did, I''m confident that just based on my cultivation technique, he wouldn''t be able to do anything to me. If he wants to compare wealth then I have only more confidence, not less. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. When he comes out and hears that his greatest support is gone, I wonder what he will do. Will he fiercely come and attack me, acting as if he hasn''t lost his greatest backing? Heheh, I''d be very happy if he did. I can retaliate in the name of self-defense. As long as I don''t kill or cripple him, no one would bat an eye. But if he doesn''t... How should I make him act to seek death? The biggest question is whether he will be as arrogant and despotic as before. If he still hasn''t recognized reality, without me doing anything he would seek death by himself. There are probably many people who are already eying him. But if he actually starts to wise up, then I should make some plans. I don''t have enough influence to secretly pull some strings. The best course of action would be to let others become my knife. For example, giving a treasure to one of the people ruin before. He had ruined their immortal path and made them lower than even mortals, at least mortals still have Spiritual Veins and could still cultivate no matter how hard. If given the chance, without caring for death, they would definitely take vengeance. But the problem is not killing Lovespot, but tormenting him so that he wished he was dead. Tianyi was broken out of his thoughts by the person beside him jabbering on and on. "Last time, a young master from the Leakless Sect managed to attain victory against all the other Vassal Sects. Afterward, his name spread throughout the Heaven Continent. You might have heard of him, the Frost Flame Young Master." Su Bojing recalled, his body trembling with excitement. "Really, how is he now?" Tianyi asked, his interest piqued. "Last I heard, he seemed to have suffered some trauma concerning love. The person he wanted to become his Dao Companion left and abandoned him. So there hasn''t been much about word of him lately, it''s unknown if an inner demon formed if he regressed or not. But it doesn''t matter much. He''s already over a hundred years old and is no longer qualified to attend the Young Masters Gathering." Su Bojing said. "Has he already entered the Unity Realm? I recall that Elder Su has already entered, but she isn''t one hundred yet." Tianyi said. "How can the two compare!?" Su Bojing said. "The Frost Flame Young Master is from a Vassal Sect, and he only entered the Nascent Soul Realm in his sixties! Besides, it''s unknown how his Daoheart is. It''s unlike he has entered the Unity Realm, unlike Lady Su." "I-I see." Tianyi, reeling back slightly at the veneration behind Su Bojing''s words. "Not to brag, but our Lady Su is a supreme genius! Her grandmother is just a regular True Immortal within the Sect, but Lady Su carved out her own legend through her own power! Not many can enter the Unity Realm under a hundred years of age like her!" There was evident pride in his voice. "You know, I reached the Nascent Soul Realm at twenty. I''ll reach Unity Realm under a hundred too, you know." Tianyi said as he pointed to himself. Su Bojing looked at Tianyi but smiled. "It''s not that I want to say this, but the Unity Realm and the Nascent Soul realm are two completely different things. People say that the Nascent Soul Realm and the Core Formation Realm is the dividing line between cultivators. But I say it is the Unity Realm that is the real divider. I''ve seen people stuck on it for their whole lives, unable to take another step. The Unity Realm is completely different from the Nascent Soul Realm." Sure, sure. Your precious Lady Su can do it, but I can''t... Tianyi didn''t let his thoughts show on his face but made a silent reminder to show up in front of Su Bojing once he attained Unity Realm. "So has there been any standouts that would appear in this iteration of the Heavenly Connection Gathering?" "Hmmmmm," Su Bojing sank into thought. "I don''t know." "Huh?" "You see...I wasn''t actually at the last Heavenly Connection Gathering. I just heard it from the people who did." Su Bojing said, a little embarrassed. Tianyi''s lips twitched in response. "But I do recall someone. They were an artificer. The person was nothing special, but he was able to refine nine Lifebound Weapons." Su Bojing said. "I thought the maximum Lifebound Weapon a person could refine was three. Did he modify the Three Union Lifebound Weapon Manual or something?" Tianyi asked. Su Bojing shook his head. "I am unsure. But I heard that person''s lifebound weapon was very strange. Last time, he took first place amount of the Core Formation Disciples. This time he should have already reached the Nascent Soul Realm. Perhaps junior brother will be able to experience it for yourself." Tianyi nodded, suddenly a bit interested. "Do you think that there will be another Unity Realm Venerable besides Elder Su?" Su Bojing didn''t even hesitate. "Impossible." Tianyi''s response was a dry laugh. Contrary to Tianyi''s expectations, the trip did not take that long. The destination was a series of lake islands. The lake was large enough that ordinary mortals would think it to be an extremely large sea or an ocean, just without the salty water. Hence it was known as the Ocean Lake. There was no local force at the lake, and was a rather gray area as concerned to who ruled it. The surrounding land and lake lacked any significant resources the surrounding forces coveted. Because of this, an unranked-power, Ocean Lake City, was able to exist here. Since the Buzhou Immortal Sect was the host, that meant they had set up the venue for the reception of the young masters from the Vassal Sects. "We actually don''t have to do anything. Lady Su and her attendants will handle it." Su Bojing had said. The young masters, including Tianyi, could just explore the local spots while they waited. The location of each Heavenly Connection Gathering was different, so there was often a period of exploration. Tianyi was no different. Aside from Su Bojing, who tagged along, Tianyi didn''t join with any of the others. Su Bojing acted as the guide, despite never having visited. Apparently, he did his homework and researched the locale before arriving and led Tianyi to all the interesting spots. Tianyi bought some interesting jewelry and some clothing. After all the stuff his mother had brought back as a souvenir, it was only right to buy some in return. While he was at it, Tianyi also purchased some for Daoyi, mostly blue themed dresses or fabric. "What''s that?" Tianyi pointed towards a crowded storefront. He could sense that there were all sorts of people within the crowd, from Qi Gathering Pupils to Core Formation Masters. "I''ll go investigate." Su Bojing said as he talked to some of the people waiting in line. It didn''t take long for him to return. "Junior brother, it seems to be a popular restaurant. The food is so-so, but everyone is attempting to purchase some sort of beverage." "Oh?" Tianyi said, interested. "What kind of drink is it? Some sort of famed alcohol? Maybe only a single jar that will only go to the highest bidder?" Su Bojing shook his head. "Nothing of that sort. It seems to be a novel beverage that was available when the shop opened thirty years ago. Something called coca-cola or coke for short. Apparently, it''s becoming some sort of local specialty." "What?" Chapter 98: Another Reincarnator Tianyi released his spiritual sense and enveloped the whole restaurant. The owner or shopkeeper was only a Foundation Establishment cultivator, yet none of the people lining up were impolite in any way. But that wasn''t what caught Tianyi off guard. What caught Tianyi off guard was that seller was someone who looked to be in his fifties. He didn''t think that the appearance of coke was a coincidence. The first thought that came to Tianyi''s mind was that it was a reincarnator from Earth. But how could a reincarnator from Earth look to be in his fifties? And his cultivation was barely at the Foundation Establishment Realm. Compared to the image of reincarnators within Tianyi''s mind, the difference was like heaven and earth. Also, with himself at the base, reincarnators should have only come to around twenty years ago. Jiang Chunye''s age supported this point. Still, Tianyi was interested in discovering why. So along with Su Bojing, Tianyi waited in line for his turn. Or that was the plan. Su Bojing unleashed the pressure of a Nascent Soul Grandmaster and caused those in line to move aside as if their life depended on it. With a pleased expression, he made a "please" gesture to Tianyi. Desperately holding back the urge to facepalm, Tianyi walked towards the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper''s face, in response, paled as Tianyi came closer. "There''s no need to be afraid." Great, that sounds like a cliche villain line. "My companion was slightly impatient to try out the famous coke," Tianyi said as gently as possible. Su Bojing didn''t say anything, but his dubious eyes said all. "Y-yes! O-of course! What option would you l-like?" The shopkeeper said, not quite managing to keep his calm. Tianyi looked at the menu hanging on the walls. He raised an eyebrow. There were three options, rank one to three. Rank one apparently was suitable for Qi Gathering Pupils, while rank three was suitable for Core Formation Masters. "You''re an immortal chef?" Tianyi asked. Immortal chefs wasn''t a very popular occupation compared to the alternatives. Immortal chefs were able to create incredible delicacies but compared to using the same ingredient in a pill, the efficiency was far worse. In essence, immortal chefs were employed by those with great power and enough wealth to waste it on food. At the same time, the immortal chef would be their follower and be protected. This was because, on average, those who chose to become immortal chefs had no other option, and their own potential was lacking. The number of True Immortals who were immortal chefs could be counted on one hand. "N-no, my s-son is." As the old man said that, contentment and pride shone on his face. "Your son must be very talented," Tianyi said. "We''ll take ten portions of the rank three coke." At the same time, Tianyi became curious about the man''s son. Surely he was someone like Tianyi, a reincarnator. The old man showed an elated expression, and he immediately went to procure Tianyi''s order. "Father, have you forgotten? We don''t serve people who disregard the rules here." Tianyi turned around to see a youth who appeared to be in his late teens. Despite his apparent young age, his Peak Core Formation cultivation base was revealed to all. Tianyi probed a bit and calculated that the cultivator''s age should not be larger than thirty years old. "Chifan, I-" The old man wanted to speak but was cut off. "Please come back after becoming true customers. We only serve those who follow the rules here." Dong Chifan said with neither arrogance nor meekness, but his body language left no alternative. Su Bojing frowned and wanted to rebuke, but Tianyi stopped him with a hand. Then from out of nowhere, Tianyi tapped the tip of his folded fan onto the palm of his other hand. "Aren''t you a bit too stubborn?" Tianyi acknowledged that they were a bit overbearing (he blamed Su Bojing), but refusing to sell to them based on that? That wasn''t very smart in his view. "Senior, the clan has clan laws, the sect has sect laws. Although our little shop cannot compare, we have our own rules. If we bend these rules, what is the difference between having them and not having them?" Dong Chifan said, his eyes resolute and clear. Tianyi appraised him. Although his face was ordinary, the aura he had should make him quite attractive to females. "What if I offered to pay a hundredfold?"Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! This time not only was Dong Chifan and his father shocked, but Su Bojing as well. But after calming down, Dong Chifan said. "Sorry, but rules are rules." Tianyi nodded and fanned himself with his unfolded fan. "Not bad, sticking to your principles. I''ll come back tomorrow to purchase some." Saying so, Tianyi walked away with his group leaving a slightly bewildered Dong Chifan. He expected Tianyi to be unruly and argue on. Although Dong Chifan wasn''t confident of defeating Tianyi, he was confident in protecting himself. "Junior brother, do you want me to send someone to teach the punk a lesson?" Su Bojing asked. Tianyi rolled his eyes. "Do we need to go so far? It''s just a minor matter in the end. Although... I''m quite curious about him. His father doesn''t appear to be too outstanding, but that Chifan was able to reach Peak Core Formation Realm at such a young age. Are we able to investigate him?" "Naturally," Su Bojing said. But he stopped in his step for a second as he gave Tianyi a weird look. Based on age, Tianyi was practically a baby to cultivators, yet now he said someone who was even younger than him had a young age. But Su Bojing quickly forgot about that. What did age matter? Strength was what truly mattered in the end. Take that shop for example. Would Dong Chifan still say the same words if it was a True Immortal or even just Unity Realm Venerable? Naturally, Tianyi wasn''t interested in Dong Chifan just because of his young age and talent. He was interested if Dong Chifan showed more evidence of being a reincarnator like Tianyi. Although, if the Xiyi Talisman were to be fully completed, would others suspect me of being a reincarnator? Would they suspect me, Daoyi or cousin Ri, or maybe all three of us since all three of us would be the creators.? Whatever happens, I''ll have to make sure there are no negative consequences. Tianyi suddenly stopped in his footsteps, and his eyes grew unfocused as a sudden thought struck him. That''s right. The Xiyi Talisman is way too much like a cellphone. And I planned to make a network similar to the internet. Tianyi recalled that it was originally Xi Ri''s pet project. Could it be that Xi Ri was also a reincarnator? "Young master?" Tianyi was broke out of his thoughts by Elder Meng''s voice. "It''s nothing. I just had a sudden thought. Let''s return to our lodging." With such a thought, Tianyi was no longer in the mood to tour Ocean Lake City. Returning to his room, Tianyi sat in a lotus position as his thoughts drifted off. He thought of many things. For example, the time Xi Ri wanted to call the Xiyi Talisman the Wireless Talisman. Tianyi remembered that Xi Ri was talented in the Spring Autumn Scripture, just like how he was. Was it possible that all reincarnators were talented in the Spring Autumn Scripture? Or were reincarnators talented in the Ten Heavenly Scriptures? If so, then why? Although the thought was ludicrous, how would being a reincarnator allow one to cultivate the Heavenly Scriptures? But it didn''t hurt to confirm. The hard part was how to let Xi Ri gain access to a Heavenly Scripture without tipping or breaking any rules. Tianyi was allowed to access the Heavenly Scriptures because of his status as a Grand Elder''s child. It was a thought for another time. Suppose cousin Ri is a reincarnator from Earth, like me. What do I do about this? Should I reveal myself to him? No, it is too soon to conclude if revealing myself would be of any use. All this will have to wait until I return to the sect. And I don''t know how the Elders would react to this. The more pressing matter for Tianyi at this moment was assessing Dong Chifan. Tianyi was fifty percent sure that Dong Chifan was a reincarnator. The other fifty percent was because he hadn''t tasted the store''s beverage and wasn''t sure if only the name were similar. But he was convinced that it wasn''t such a coincidence. The young Nascent Soul Grandmaster wanted nothing more than to grab hold of Dong Chifan and question him. He wanted to discover why they were reincarnated into the Huang Realm and the lower realms. If Tianyi discovered the reason, then it would not be impossible to return to Earth. Although twenty years have passed, Tianyi still had hope. Time flowed differently from different realms, after all. Or perhaps, Earth''s time flow was actually faster, but Tianyi tried not to ponder that. As a general rule, the higher the realm, the slower the flow of time was. Of course, there were exceptions. If Tianyi was a True Immortal, he wouldn''t mind descending onto the lower realms to search for Earth. But this brought up another question in Tianyi''s mind. Earth had many myths and legends concerning different pantheons. The Huang Realm didn''t have any myths concerning other pantheons, and the same should be said of the realms lower than it. Then how did Earth have such a wide variety of myths and legends? Was Earth actually unique? Tianyi shook his head. He should focus on matters at hand for now. The first priority was to talk to Dong Chifan, but Tianyi obviously couldn''t use his true self to converse matters about Earth. Tianyi was afraid. He was deftly afraid of Mengfei learning that he wasn''t truly a child and a reincarnator. He didn''t want his mother to scorn his existence. "I should create a clone." Tianyi always had the thought of creating a clone. Now that his cultivation had stabilized, there was no longer any fear of self-destructing. In addition, Tianyi had also conceived a way to minimize the backlash from splitting his soul. The only question was how he should create his clone. Since he wanted to move without connected to him, the clone should not have any way to link itself to his true body. As such, it would be best to create a clone with as little connection to himself as possible. The cultivation technique would naturally also need to be different. Having made his mind, Tianyi began to take action and prepare the necessary procedures and materials to create his clone. That said, it wasn''t like it was something that could be done in a day or two. The next day, to Tianyi''s disappointment, Dong Chifan was not present at the store. But after taking a sip of the drink, Tianyi was able to confirm his hypothesis. He was now ninety percent sure that Dong Chifan was a reincarnator from Earth. Not long after, Su Bojing delivered the report concerning Dong Chifan. Chapter 99: Heavenly Dao is a Dick Dong Chifan, age: thirty-nine, was born a native of Ocean Lake City. His father migrated to Ocean Lake City over forty years ago with a female, presumably his wife or Dao Companion. The man didn''t stand out due to his average Core Formation cultivation base, but nothing could be found about that woman. Not long after, the man and woman bore a son, which was the birth of Dong Chifan. One day the woman mysteriously disappeared, and Dong Chifan''s father''s cultivation was damaged until he was barely able to maintain his Foundation Establishment cultivation realm. It is suspected that Dong Chifan''s mother had eloped against the wishes of her clan. The information was unable to be further investigated due to the time of the event as well as the resources needed. It is suspected that Dong Chifan''s mother is at least from a second-ranked or third-ranked force in the Central Region. Afterward, Dong Chifan grew up under his father''s care, scraping by, day by day. Dong Chifan grew up very lackluster and was the target of bullying. Dong Chifan''s cultivation talent wasn''t outstanding, but after he went missing when he was fourteen years old, his cultivation speed skyrocketed all the way from Qi Gathering to Foundation Establishment Realm after he returned. Before he left, Dong Chifan was capable of battling peak Foundation Establishment Disciples as a Spiritual Altar Crucible Foundation Establishment Disciple. Dong Chifan most likely stumbled into a cultivator''s inheritance. Before he left, he created what would become a local specialty known as coke, an immortal chef beverage. Although it was unknown what happened in his journey, Dong Chifan returned from his journey as a Peak Core Formation Master. It seemed that he had many fortuitous encounters, just a day after returning, his father''s cultivation, which had regressed, was showing signs of returning to their original peak. Furthermore, Dong Chifan was one of the invited loose cultivators to the Heavenly Connection Gathering by a young master from the Leakless Sect. Fittingly enough, it was the young master who had nine Lifebound Weapons, San Jiuling. Tianyi made a wry smile as he read the report. "Isn''t this just a perfect background story for the main character? Not only that, he has an additional character trait of being a reincarnator. Being bullied when young? That''s to temper his personality so that he doesn''t become arrogant and wild. Only getting his inheritance at a rather late age and missing a chunk of youth for cultivation? That''s so that his Daoheart has developed and made his mind sturdy and to show his worth more when he surpasses those geniuses." Tianyi muttered as he read the report. When he was in Ocean Lake City, his cultivation speed was faster than the local geniuses. Still, it was a far cry from the necessary momentum to become a peak Core Formation Master before forty. "His cultivation speed must have increased greatly during his journey so that he would be comparable to a genius from a first or second-rate force." Tianyi placed the report down and grasped his chin with his hand. "Although Dong Chifan appears very outstanding, but people like him who reached the peak Core Formation Realm before forty are still rather common from first-rate forces. It shouldn''t be enough for San Jiuling of the Leakless Sect to invite him as his special guest. Don''t tell me they met, and Dong Chifan saved his life, causing San Jiuling to have a good impression on him. Perhaps they even had a journey together and become sworn blood brothers?" It''s strange. I know I already met two reincarnators for sure in my short twenty years here, Dong Chifan and Jiang Chunye. There are still several suspected reincarnators, Xi Ri, Yan Nie, Lei Jingye, and perhaps more. Just how many reincarnators are there? And yet, the ones I''ve met are all exceptionally talented. Or perhaps, I just haven''t met the mediocre ones? Even if I haven''t, the number of reincarnators is still weird for me to meet in the Huang Realm. It''s such a vast place, yet I''ve still met at least two, possibly more. This is discounting the fact that there are around three thousand lower worlds. Or perhaps more. The mural I saw in the Immortal Court depicted more than the Chinese Patheon. There are definitely worlds or realms, or even a system of realms like mine that house their pantheon. Do they have a cultivation system? Unlike Chinese mythology from Earth, there doesn''t seem to be any sort of system for a human to become an Immortal or God from understanding the Dao. Although Hercules was able to become a god, some myths said he was originally a full-fledged god before becoming mortal. Unless they can''t become a god without the aid of another god? Arghh!! All this speculation is giving me a headache! I feel as if there''s a massive plot with Earth as its core. There''s no real bases, just a gut instinct! This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Even though Earth was just an ordinary world with no cultivation or special powers, why would it be special? I need to figure out the mystery of the reincarnators first. This just leads me back to my first step. If I can capture Jiang Chunye, perhaps I can have the sect get information out of her. Although as a fellow reincarnator, I feel slightly sorry for her. Tianyi shook his head as he refocused on the matter at hand. Right now, he had to extract information from Dong Chifan. Since he had connections to the Leakless Sect, it wouldn''t be a good idea for Tianyi to capture him to tort-ahem, ask him questions. And he didn''t have a grudge with him like Jiang Chunye. Tianyi sifted through his inventory in his spatial ring. There were times Tianyi wished he didn''t have so much stuff. It made it a real hassle to find the specific material he wanted. I should get more rings so I can sort my items into categories. Why don''t spatial rings have separated storage space for different stuff like item boxes in video games? The son of the Sword Empress took out several objects, but the most eyecatching was only those few. Each one of these would make any Transcending Mortality Sage, Earth Immortal, or some True Immortals green with envy. There was a jade pill bottle, contained within was the Soul Viviacity Pill, a necessary pill that allowed the soul to return to peak condition. Just being near it, Tianyi felt his soul become soothed despite the bottle being sealed. Another bottle held the Soul Duality Severence Pill, one of the critical components for Tianyi''s method of clone creation. Dividing the soul wasn''t a minor matter, and done incorrectly could to the collapse of the soul, the cultivator''s death. If Tianyi didn''t have five Nascent Souls, he wouldn''t have attempted it out of his mother''s eyes. And the third most important component was the egg-like object. It didn''t resemble a regular egg at all, even the leathery snake egg. Instead, it seemed to be unskinned flesh shaped into an egg or an egg-shaped womb. Veins surrounded the egg as it pulsed with a disgusting beat. The egg was something his mother sliced out of Eight-Tailed Fox Demon on the cust of becoming the Demon equivalent of an Immortal Monarch. If Tianyi didn''t want people to link the clone to him, then he had to create a clone with no connection to him at all in any way possible. This included not only changing the gender but the very race of his clone. Briefly, Tianyi wondered how the egg in Daoyi''s care was. It hadn''t shown any signs of hatching before he had left. "Elder Meng, stop anyone from disturbing me. I am at a critical point in my cultivation. Even if it means delaying my appearance at the Heavenly Connection Gathering." "Understood." Hearing Elder Meng''s assurance, Tianyi began the first step. Using the various, Tianyi constructed the Clone Creation Formation. Just this step alone took Tianyi several hours. Out of that, Tianyi created another formation just in case the Tribulation Lightning decided to be an ass and chose that inopportune time to obstruct him. Taking even more time to reach his peak condition, Tianyi felt his mind grow increasingly calm. As if he was just the person holding to remote to the body known as Xi Tianyi. It was much like a gamer controlling his character behind a screen. Of course, that wouldn''t matter if the gamer panicked. "Alright, let''s start." Starting with those words, the Clone Creation Formation began to shine with great luminosity. Inside Tianyi''s body, his five Nascent Souls had a white protective light surrounding them. As time passed, the guardian glow increased until they reached their apex. It was then that Tianyi swallowed the Soul Duality Severance Pill. When it entered Tianyi''s body, it entered a spiritual state of being nonmaterial. Traveling within Tianyi''s cosmos, it reached the Nascent Souls and stopped as if unsure which one to go. But Tianyi didn''t take just one, but five. Most cultivators only had one Nascent Soul, but Tianyi had five. If he only used a one-color Nascent Soul, then his clone would be inferior to those made by those who only had two-colored Nascent Soul. The five immaterial pills split, and each one entered one of Tianyi''s Nascent Souls. The five differently robed Tianyis convulsed as if something was trying to break out. Outside Tianyi felt his brows twitch. If he still had a true human body, then there would be no doubt that sweat would have covered his body. Like something out of a horror movie, the red-robed Nascent Soul was split down the middle head down. The Nascent Soul''s innards were revealed to all. Despite being colored a soft white, there was no doubt that they were human organs, wriggling to the beat of a heart. This also happened to the yellow-robed, green-robed, blue-robed, and black-robed Nascent Souls. The split halves of the Nascent Souls separated from the five still in the formation. Under Tianyi''s control, the separated five halves began to congregate together. Using these five, Tianyi could conceptually create five clones at once, but such an act would strain his mind too much, and it was much easier just to merge them now and create one clone. In addition, the clone would have much more potential this way instead of splitting them into five clones. Once Tianyi reached the critical juncture, Tianyi opened his mouth. "Stop being such a dick, Heavenly Dao." The residents of Ocean Lake City watch awestruck as Tribulation Clouds began to gather in the sky. "Judging by the size and intensity, it should be a peak Core Formation Master attempting to transcend his Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation. I don''t recall anyone undertaking their tribulation, though." An old-time Core Formation Master and resident of the city said. "Fool. That Tribulation Cloud has already reached the peak of the Nascent Realm, how could it be a Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation? If all Nascent Soul Tribulations were like that, there would be no Nascent Soul Grandmasters. The way I see it, a Nascent Soul Grandmaster is creating an Artifact, which incurred the wrath of Heaven." No matter how the resident discussed, the dazzling Tribulation Lightning struck down towards Tianyi. Chapter 100: Juedai Fenghua The shimmering bolt of gold struck down with the intent of exterminating its target with all its might. In response, the unnamed formation outside of the Clone Creation Formation lit up, silver light evoking brilliance. A dome covered Tianyi and the Clone Creation Formation as if separating it in shadows. When the Tribulation Lightning struck, it dispersed and covered the dome in an electrical cage. The nameless formation''s glow began to take on a yellow tint as the dome''s arcing lightning was absorbed. That wasn''t the end as the absorbed lightning traveled through the formation lines and into the eight pillar-like tubes connected to it. The tubes resembled glass with a bubbling liquid encased within. The tube was easily thrice the size of a man and twice as wide. As the energy from the Tribulation Lightning was absorbed, the liquid within the tube also took on a golden hue. The creation of a clone was already perilous enough without the involvement of outside factors. Did the Heavenly Dao really think that Tianyi, who had already been struck numerous times out of nowhere by the Tribulation Lightning, would be unprepared? Sparing only a single glance at the Heavenly Dao''s strike, Tianyi swallowed the Soul Vivacity Pill and ignored all external factors. He remained unaware of the Heavenly Dao''s increased onslaught as if it had been enraged by Tianyi''s dismissal. Tianyi''s five Nascent Souls began to morph and folded onto themselves under the pill''s restorative power. Turning into colored globs of light, they began to reform their shape under Tianyi''s guidance. When it was all done, Tianyi once again had five different robed versions of himself facing each other in a lotus position. But their size had returned to when Tianyi first entered the Nascent Soul Realm. Tianyi released gasping breaths even though his body no longer required it. He felt as if a large chunk of energy, both physical and mental, had suddenly disappeared. Tianyi quickly adjusted his state and forced himself to be accustomed to his new state of being. With his cultivation firmly stabilized, Tianyi focused his attention on the split halves that had merged together. It was an uncanny soul. His split Nascent Soul had five pairs of multicolored arms and legs sprouting chaotically from a fleshly center. Not only that, but there were also five heads groaning. The five colors representing the five elements all distorted and shifted with each passing movement. It looked like a half clown monster out of a horror movie. In all honesty, Tianyi had an impulse to disown his split Nascent Soul. But Tianyi quickly reigned in his unconscious disgust. He created this by splitting his Nascent Souls, and the price he paid wasn''t small at all. Under Tianyi''s careful control, the fleshly core absorbed the flailing limbs and heads until it was just an ordinary ball, well, as ordinary as a ball with numerous veins around it could be. But the changes weren''t done as the five different colors began to merge as well. But the color of the core didn''t become black from the mixture, but rather white and clear like a newborn''s soul. The flesh-like features also began to disappear as the split soul turned transparent. Once it turned into the embryonic state of souls, Tianyi focused his attention outside. His eyes widened ever so slightly as he looked at the battery pillars he had constructed to absorb the Tribulation Lightning. Although they wouldn''t be able to contain the Tribulation Essence, it was still useful to have the pure lightning energy. I''ll have to hurry. He hadn''t expected the battery pillars he constructed to be filled to near capacity so quickly. The Heavenly Dao was going all out this time in his moment of weakness. But Tianya gave a slight smile. He clutched the Demonic Fox Egg close to his chest, and a small transparent orb that was his soul flew out and into the egg. The egg pulsed with life as it began to warm at a noticeable rate in his hand. Tianyi placed the egg into the center of the formation. The Clone Creation Formation had many variations. Some were so different that they were under different formation styles and schools, but they were grouped for ease as they were essentially created for one purpose. The one Tianyi constructed had two main functions: the first was to aid in the splitting of the soul, and the second was to facilitate the merging of the split soul with the new flesh. There were numerous materials used to construct formation to create the effect, such as Yama Tree Bark, Samsara Reverse Cloud, Yellow River Rock, and many more. At this stage, Tianyi no longer needed to actively direct the process. Standing up, he allowed himself to stretch even as the Tribulation Lightning continued to rain down. One of the battery pillars cracked as it began to absorb to overcapacity. If it absorbed anymore, then it would unleash an explosion greater than the Tribulation Lightning descending would cause alone. Tianyi didn''t fret as he stepped into the air and outside of the Clone Creation and nameless formation. As if finally having discovered the target, the Tribulation Lightning moved directly towards Tianyi. Tianyi, in response, formed several hand signs.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. The lines connecting the battery pillars towards the nameless formation dimmed as the connection was severed. At this time, the Tribulation Lightning struck Tianyi, who just stayed in the air, unmoving. Bath in lightning, Tianyi''s smile grew as if to mock the Heavenly Dao. The remnant lightning was directed back to Tianyi by the nameless formation, encasing him even more in lightning. Tianyi wouldn''t have dared to be so brazen, but this wasn''t a Heavenly Tribulation but just some stray Tribulation Lightning. Had it not been for his unique state at the time, he wouldn''t even have needed to set up a formation. Within the Clone Creation Formation, the fleshy egg pulsed as it started to grow. With each passing moment, the redder it became as blood coursed through it. Slowly but surely, a humanoid form began to take shape. Hair woven from raging flames, long fiery lashes, willow brows,, and small tender lips, it was a face that could inspire countless first loves and heartbreaks, a beauty that could cause the downfall of countries and nations. That was the face Tianyi saw when the Tribulation Clouds dispersed, and he entered the Clone Creation Formation once more. Naturally, he didn''t take the formation down as that would be foolish with his clone still incomplete. Tianyi swallowed his saliva. "Tianyi, this is your clone, this is your clone. Ugh, but isn''t she too beautiful?" His unawakened clone was not at the same level as his mother in terms of beauty, and their beauty was also different. His mother was like a magnolia, elegant and lofty, something to be admired from afar. While his clone was like the rose, the queen flowers with bright and flame-like beauty, attracting countless bees to buzz around. Tianyi''s eyes wandered down, and he felt his neck muscles grow taut. Flawless pale skin made the perfect hourglass figure even more mesmerizing. Slim but not to the point of being skinny with enough flesh to give the sensation of softness but not to the point of chubbiness. He paused as he felt his head grow dizzy. It felt like he was seeing through another pair of eyes and that his body was exceptionally chilly. A frown appeared before the sensation was pushed down. There was no need to mention why such a phenomenon occurred to Tianyi. Tianyi''s and his clone''s senses were linked. Like that, Tianyi just stood there looking down. But his clone winked her rubellite eyes at him and placed her arms to cover her exposed breasts and genitals. "Stop staring, you perv~." "..." Tianyi. "I know I''m more beautiful than you, but hurry and give me clothes. Unless you like staring at your own clone''s naked body?" The clone said as she stood up, still covering her female parts. "Unless..." Tianyi looked up at his clone''s face and felt their gaze intersect. It was an extremely bizarre sensation, locking eyes with your clone and seeing the clone''s point of view. "You want to do it?" The clone said. If Tianyi had any liquid in his mouth, there was no doubt he would have spat it out at this moment. "I know you feel lonely. After all, you''ve long been a wizard for over twenty years now. And you''re not daring enough to court a girl even with so many willing if you just gave the word. You can''t even imagine dating Daoyi, ahahaha!" While still covering herself with her arms, the clone struck a sensational pose that could light a fire in any man''s heart. "Of course, you''d want to practice, although it would be strange to do it with yourself. After all, I am still your clone. Would this be masturbation or selfcest? And would you still be considered a virgin after the deed?" "Just get dressed already!" Tianyi nearly shouted, finally unable to stand it as he flung clothes at his clone. Just where did he go wrong? The clone was formed from his split soul. Why was the personality so different and crass? "Hmmm, as expected of me. You''d even want to watch your own clone dress herself." Tianyi turned around. Was it because there was a process gone wrong during the merging? There had been no one who had formed a clone with five Nascent Souls in the records and the word from his mother. Granted, they were still the soul of the same person, but perhaps the merging had an unintended side effect? "Done?" "Mhmm." Tianyi turned around and was struck speechless. Not from beauty but from the image gap he had. His clone had her hair untied and dressed in vivid red robes that enhanced the luster of her milky white skin. Although her inner robes were worn correctly, her outer robes were haphazardly worn with it not even tied, giving the appearance of an indolent beauty. This contrast stood out even more when standing next to Tianyi, who wore his robes perfectly. To Tianyi''s chagrin, he discovered that his clone not only appeared older than him but also taller. Tianyi rubbed his glabella before chucking a ring at his clone. "Oh? Are you proposing? How unromantic." The clone teased as she caught the ring. "You''re me! You know that''s a spatial ring!" Tianyi growled out. If he killed his clone, would that be considered suicide or murder? The clone only smirked as she inspected the ring. She was currently only in the Spirit Crucible Foundation Establishment Realm in both the spiritual and martial way. And in the spatial ring were all the necessary materials and resources to continue her cultivation until the Transcending Mortality Realm, including the Artifacts he prepared as her Lifebound Weapon. "Geez, can''t you take a joke?" The clone said with a helpless shrug. "Despite being over forty years old mentally, you''re still so childish. I know you want to have a hot and passionate romance, no matter how you try to deceive yourself." Murder was beginning to look very appealing to Tianyi with each passing moment, consequences and resources wasted be damned. But the clone didn''t continue as if knowing that she should not continue to tease her main body anymore. But Tianyi was already worried. Although they could share senses and communicate, it didn''t mean that he could control his clone like a puppet. "So, what should I be called? I can''t go around calling myself your clone." The clone asked. Tianyi had already thought of it. "Tianhu, you should already know that." The clone made a face. "Of course, I know. I just don''t want that name. Heavenly Fox, in keeping with the Heaven in your name and adding fox to it. Geez, you sure are unoriginal." Tianyi felt a vein about to pop on his head. "Then what do you suggest?" "Then, Daji." "The fox spirit that mesmerized the king of the Shang Dynasty to ruin? Hell no, even if you biologically female, I''m not letting you get intimate with a man." Tianyi practically yelled. "Don''t worry. I won''t go seducing men. I''ll just cuck your future wife." There was an unrepentant grin on the clone''s mesmerizing face that would have caused many men''s hearts to skip. But to Tianyi, it looked like the devil''s smile. "Alright, alright. I won''t kid anymore. Call me Juedai Fenghua." The clone struck a confident pose as a domineering aura reigned down. "Peerless Phoenix Flower of a Generation?" Tianyi repeated. It did sound good but... "You just stole that name from a novel that I read." Chapter 101: Small Fry Fenghua rubbed her butt with a hiss. "Main body didn''t have to use so much force. It was only a joke." She was currently residing inside Tianyi''s martial body, his cosmos. Normally, this would not have been possible even if Tianyi''s had a conceptual cosmos in his body as it was still far from the real thing. He was unable to bring objects into it, much less living things into his body. Even pills had to be swallowed. But Fenghua was different as she was technically a part of Tianyi. "Why did say I such a stupid thing!?" Fenghua internally screamed as she held her head in a fetal position. She didn''t know what went over her. After awakening, her mind just shortcircuited after realizing that she had been naked and thus leading to her nervousness, making Fenghua speak words without running them through her brain. Although both of them were Tianyi at the fundamental level, they couldn''t share their thoughts at all. Otherwise, Tianyi would have known how nervous Fenghua was. Keep in mind that Fenghua''s core was still Tianyi, so what does this say about Tianyi? "Still, it''s quite lonely here," Fenghua whispered as she uncurled herself from her fetal position and gazed into the infinite cosmos. She could glimpse the single sun-like and eight planet-like cores, the five Nascent Souls sitting above the Dragon Yin Pearl Core, and the endless sea of dazzling stars that filled the space around her. Despite being seemingly stranded in outer space without any protection, a hostile environment that would pose threats to most Nascent Soul Grandmasters, Fenghua felt no such dangers. In total contrast, it felt as if she submerged in a warm liquid that protected her completely. Although it was a disgusting comparison, Fenghua felt like she was a baby still in her mother''s womb. But there was no one else besides her here. She was just a speck of dust in this vast world, alone. Fenghua knew that this wasn''t true, but she still couldn''t shake off the melancholic feeling. It was as if no one in the world truly understood her. As Tianyi''s clone, neither she nor Tianyi could easily allow anyone else to know that they were foreigners, but the more you suppressed something, the more it wanted to erupt. Fenghua closed her eyes as she allowed her body to drift in the warm embrace of the cosmos. The cosmos was saturated with Tianyi''s Chaos True Qi. It was originally something that Fenghua should not have been able to stand, both as a Foundation Establishment Disciple and someone who did not cultivate any of the Heavenly Scriptures. But under Tianyi''s deliberate control, the chaotic qi became gentle like a spring breeze, allowing Fenghua to absorb it. Fenghua snapped open her eyes. There was a deep urgency in her eyes.
Tianyi paused in his steps as he walked out after receiving Fenghua''s message. The corner of his lips twitched while he suppressed the urge to introduce his face to the palm of his hand. Tianyi had exited his room a while earlier. After compensating the owner for the damage caused by the Tribulation Lightning, he and Elder Meng left Ocean Lake City so that he could find a place to deposit his clone away from prying eyes. And he had a small time frame to do it as well because the Heavenly Connection Gathering was starting the next day. But at least it would divert the attention away from his clone. Not that Tianyi was underestimating the local forces, but he was warier of the first-rate sect''s forces discovering his newly created clone. But now, his clone had done it. Tianyi had purposely made his qi gentler so his clone wouldn''t be harmed, but who knew that she would go and absorb it. And she had absorbed too much! Now she would begin her Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation at any moment. Tianyi looked up, expecting to see the aggregation of Tribulation Clouds at this very moment. But there was no such thing, to his surprise. "Is there something wrong, young master?" Elder Meng asked from behind. "No, it''s nothing," Tianyi said as he continued to strode forward. Can the Heavenly Tribulation not detect my clone while she is inside of me? Once she exits, doesn''t this mean that the Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation would immediately begin? Ugh, just when I wanted to be lowkey, she does this! And this is not considering whether or not the Heavenly Tribulation''s power would increase because of my presence or being my clone! And I haven''t finished refining her Lifebound Artifact! Ugh, I''m going to be late for the Heavenly Connection Gathering. I should have kicked Fenghua''s ass more. After finding a secluded location, Tianyi ordered Elder Meng to stay at the base of the mountain while he ascended. The mountain wasn''t particularly dense in spiritual qi or significant in other aspects, but this was enough for Tianyi. Once he finished ascending the mountain, Tianyi spread out his spiritual sense to ensure that no other cultivator or spiritually sensitive individual was near. Concluding that no one would be able to spy on him or anything near, Tianyi began to work. First, he employed a presence concealment formation as insurance. It had no combat effectiveness, but for hiding, it was more than adequate. Even Unity Realm Venerables would be hard-pressed to detect anything. Next, he brought several materials he had pre-selected beforehand. Chaotic Void Silk Strand, a thread that could only be found in the Vast Void, Bodhi Heart Flame, the core of a deceased Bodhi Tree that had been specially treated in an immortal level flame, Purple Cloud Fabric, a cloth that had been woven using a unique purple cloud found in small quantities and known to bestow good luck, Demon Fox Fur, and even an incomplete phoenix tailfeather. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. They were all materials at the Immortal Realm, but they had been pre-treated, so even a Nascent Soul Grandmaster like Tianyi could refine them. The material used to create a Lifebound Artifact had a significant effect on their future potential. Tianyi started to refined each individual component and many miscellaneous but no less essential materials as well. Afterward, under his meticulous control, Tianyi started to shape the Lifebound Artifact for his clone. The preliminary shape was that of a dull dress with fur around the collar. Nothing about the dress seemed too outstanding. Even the fur seamed gray despite having come from a silver Demon Fox. But Tianyi nodded with satisfaction. He reached out and absorbed the unfinished Artifact into his internal cosmos. Tianyi could also absorb other things into his cosmos, like a walking spatial ring. But his chaos qi would always corrode and even destroy whatever that entered without his conscious thought. But this time, he was using his Chaos True Qi and Tribulation Essence to refine the nascent Lifebound Artifact. He could also do it outside his body, but his influence and control would be far inferior compared to within his cosmos. "Watch it!" Fenghua cried within the Tianyi''s body as the unfinished Lifebound Artifact began to go up in flames against the raging Chaos True Qi that assaulted it. Under the Chaos True Qi''s oppression, the flame of sprung from the unfinished Artifact began to decrease, but the flames'' purity and intensity increased. Reduce all the excess, leaving behind only the true essence of the immortal phoenix flame. Just before the completion of the Artifact, Tianyi brought it out of his internal cosmos. Unlike the dull dress that it was before, the dress positively glowed with a warm light. The garment was like brocade with a flame-like pattern over its now crimson body, and the now-former gray fur now seemed to burn white. "Let''s call it the Heavenly Flame Garment," Tianyi said with a slight smile upon his lips. "No, that''s too much. For now, Earthly Flame Garment would work. My clone won''t be able to exhibit its true powers until she is at least in the Unity Realm at least." Tianyi adjusted his condition first before placing the Earthly Flame Garment near the center. With a wave of his hand, Fenghua quickly appeared next to the Earthly Flame Garment, and Tianyi quickly retreated as far as possible from Fenghua. As Tianyi expected, as soon as Fenghua appeared, the Tribulation Clouds gathered above the mountain. Just based on how fast the clouds gathered and the sheer size, it was undoubtedly an unnatural Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation. Tianyi sighed as he quickly returned next to Fenghua and stood protectively in front of her. "For the record, I blame you for this." "Me? Did you forget? I am you. So you are technically blaming yourself." Fenghua unreservedly replied. "...smartass." "Right back at you, who did you think I got it from?" For a brief moment, Tianyi understood why Immortal Redseal attacked him with the intent to cripple his cultivation. But it was only for a brief moment. The tribulation clouds maintained their silence as if gathering power; it was an extremely familiar sight to Tianyi. As Tianyi expected, a giant in an embellished armor created from several bolts of Tribulation Lightning appeared. It appeared slightly different, but the general aspects were nearly the same as the one Tianyi faced in his Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation. Like a video on repeat, Tianyi once again formed his Cosmos Giant to fight the Tribulation Giant. But this time, the process was much different. Unlike the previous time, Tianyi wasn''t physically or mentally exhausted, and he had long grown accustomed to his strength as a Nascent Soul Grandmaster. The Tribulation Giant fell under Tianyi''s hand even faster than the first time. "That''s it? I feel as if that was too simple." Tianyi muttered as he dispersed the Cosmos Giant. Although the Tribulation Giant was defeated, the Tribulation Clouds still lingered despite not having any more strength to send any bolts of Tribulation Lightning. Tianyi descended back onto the ground that had long been destroyed between the battle of two giants. "Damn, it''d be weirder if no one detected anything strange. I can''t release Fenghua here. I''ll have to wait for another opportunity." "Couldn''t you have considered my plight more?" Fenghua grieved to Tianyi. She had worn the Earthly Flame Garment, but aside from that, it looked like someone had dragged through layers of dirt and rocks. Her hair was in a mess, and scratched covered her whole body. "Shouldn''t you be more focused on forming your Spiritual Core instead of bantering with me?" Tianyi asked, annoyed more than anything. "Can''t," "Excuse me?" "I can''t. You took all the tribulation lightning, without overcoming the tribulation, I can''t form my Spiritual Core." Fenghua said with a blaming expression upon her face. Tianyi looked up. "Is that why the tribulation clouds haven''t dispersed?" "So what are you going to do? If I''m stuck at this state, all your efforts would have been in vain." Fenghua asked while resting her head on her palm. "You just need to overcome the Tribulation Lightning of the Heavenly Dao. It''s not like I don''t have away. Have you forgotten? I can produce Tribulation Essence myself." Tianyi said. "Psh, we both know that it can''t compare to the real Tribulation Essence of the Heavenly Dao." Fenghua rebutted. "Yep." Tianyi happily said. "But I just finished fighting a giant formed of Tribulation Essence and absorbed some of the Tribulation Lightning. I haven''t fully digested them, so I''ll just direct them towards you." "W-wa-wait a moment! You don''t even know if that would work!" Fenghua said as Tianyi pointed his finger at her without any warning. "Don''t wanna," As soon as Tianyi said that, a bolt of Tribulation Lightning had been directed at Fenghua. "Besides, since this Tribulation Lightning originated from your Heavenly Tribulation, it should suffice even though it came after me. Why are you such a small fry?" Although Fenghua was unprepared, she still circulated her qi and manifested a barrier of flames. Tianyi''s clone cultivated Suiren''s Primogenitor Flame Scripture and thus was most skilled in flame techniques. After much struggle, Fenghua resisted the first bolt of Tribulation Lightning from Tianyi. "Asshole! That power definitely isn''t something a regular Foundation Establishment Cultivator can manage! It already reached the threshold of the Core Formation Realm in power!" Fenghua raged at Tianyi. "Of course. You have all my experience and memories as a Nascent Soul Grandmaster. This should be a piece of cake for you. There are eight more. If you have the energy to complain, focus on this." Tianyi said. "ASSSSHOLLLEEEE!" For the record, it did indeed sufficed for Fenghua to form her Spiritual Core. Chapter 102: Longwei The Spiritual Core was like a transparent orb made of glass with a violet-gold glow around it. One could clearly see the other side with no hindrance, and at the center of the orb was a smoldering ember. That smoldering ember only released a dying light as if it was on its last legs, but upon closer inspection, a great vitality could be sensed from it. As long as one''s will stay true and firm, the ember will never extinguish. Humankind was originally the weakest of all creatures within the myriad realms of the Vast Void. But through the guidance of Suiren, like an eternal flame, humankind blazed forward and prosper. That legend was the origin of the Primogenitor Flame Scripture. There was no other scripture capable of bringing out humankind''s full potential than the Primogenitor Flame Scripture. For it represented the man''s eventual supremacy of all things. Which was why it was so ironic that Juedai Fenghua, a clone created from the flesh of a Demon Fox, was cultivating a technique meant for pure humans. But why would Tianyi care? This was his second choice of cultivation manual if he couldn''t cultivate the Primordial Heavenly Scripture. He always felt it was a waste, but now he could make up for his missed opportunity. "Couldn''t you have chosen another cultivation manual for me?" Fenghua complained. "My flesh was created from a Demon Fox''s. I''m lucky that I haven''t spontaneously combusted." Tianyi shrugged. "But a Demon Fox cultivating humankind''s first emperor''s technique, don''t you find it interesting? Besides, as long as your soul stays human, what is the difference? The biggest proof is that you have a Violet Gold Rank Spiritual Core. I can''t even recall how many humans became something inhuman by copying the physique of non-humans." "Like you? At least they copied a living being''s physique, unlike you. You''re the anthropomorphization of a goddamn cosmos. I don''t think you can get anymore inhuman than that." Fenghua rebutted. "But my heart is still human," Tianyi said, matter-o-factly. Fenghua rolled her eyes. Tianyi absorbed Fenghua back into his cosmos. After the commotion he caused, it was no longer suitable to release her at this location. He would have to find another time and place to do so and make sure that she would be able to interact with Dong Chifan. But his first priority was to make it to the Heavenly Connection Gathering. The Heavenly Connection Gathering had already begun two days ago while he was still conditioning his clone''s progress. He didn''t even want to think about how the other people and even his own sect members saw him.
The Heavenly Connection Gathering was held in a pavilion outside of Ocean Lake City. The pavilion was a Pseudo-Immortal Realm Artifact created from merging five Transcending Mortality Realm Artifacts. The pavilion wasn''t segregated to facilitate the relationship between the members of the Buzhou Immortal Sect and their Vassal Sects. And currently, the leader of this entourage, Su Wanyu, Hun Jusang, Ji Muyang, He Luoli, and San Jiuling, sat in an embellished area with elevated ground. These five composed the leadership of all the parties gathered. Su Wanyu naturally took the lead as a member of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. And although she only just entered the Unity Realm, no other disciple under the age of a hundred from the other sects had entered the Unity Realm like her. Hun Jusang, from the Nihility Sect, was cloaked in black robes and exuded an aura of negativity accentuated only by his late Nascent Soul Realm cultivation base. The hood of his cloak hid his face, revealing only a few locks of black hair. His voice resembled that of several people speaking at once. Ji Muyang, otherwise known as the Dawn Saintess of the Bright Ascension Sect, was an extremely beautiful woman resembling the sun with a peak Nascent Soul Realm cultivation base. Her eyes burned bright orange, and her skin practically glowed. Of all those gathered, she was the only one who was the Eldest Disciple. He Luoli was a youth who had pleasant yet non-descript features. If he hadn''t been sitting with the other four, he would have melded in anonymously with the other disciples. As a late Nascent Soul Grandmaster, he didn''t stand other either, but one could feel the sheathed sword qi between his brows if one looked closely. And last but not least was San Jiuling from the Leakless Sect, who had the lowest cultivation at the Mid Nascent Soul Realm, but none of the other four dared to underestimate him. He had accomplished the impossible and had nine Lifebound Artifacts. Even if his cultivation was lower, just those nine Lifebound Artifacts was enough for him to fight evenly against a peak Nascent Soul Grandmaster. His eyes drifted towards Dong Chifan, who was sitting with the other loose cultivators invited. "Brother San, is that the loose cultivator you brought?" San Jiuling looked towards Ji Muyang, a polite smile on his face. "Indeed, he is also my sworn blood brother." "Really?" He Luoli said. "I never expected for you to become sworn blood brothers with a loose cultivator. He must be something special then." "How did you become blood brothers? Surely someone, as esteemed as yourself, must not have done so lightly." Su Wanyu said, her voice making San Jiuling''s body go rigid. "It''s a common tale, nothing worthy of being shared." San Jiuling said. "An old foe had ambushed me and dealt a fatal injury to me. If it weren''t for brother Dong, I would have perished."Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. "Someone dared to ambush brother San? You''re the grandson of the Leakless Sect''s Grand Elder. It would be best to exterminate your foe at all costs. Otherwise, the prestige of the Leakless Sect will suffer." "I was just careless. After I recovered, I dealt with him permanently. He won''t appear in front of me again." San Jiuling said, calmness present upon his face. "That''s good." Su Wanyu added, a hint of a smile could be sensed behind her veil. "But, make sure to cull the grass by the roots. Otherwise, there might be annoyances in the future." San Jiuling blinked, unsure if Su Wanyu knew of the actual incident with what she said. "Just a mortal child without any cultivation talents. There''s no need to fret over such a minor character." "You''re wrong." The voice was raspy as if the throat had been parched for years. "You should have made him watch as you personally ripped out that child''s heart and feed it to him. Only then will he know the depth of error that not even a Yama King can save him. He will forever rue the day he made you his enemy to the deepest dip of the underworld. Not even Granny Meng''s soup of forgetfulness will give him respite." "Hahaha, brother Hun hasn''t changed at all." Ji Muyang chuckled at Hun Jusang''s words, seemingly unaffected by his dark aura. "Brother San doesn''t need to take brother Hun''s words to heart. He has always been like that, last time too. Whenever the subject of vengeance comes up, he will always go to the extreme." He Luoli said to San Jiuling. San Jiuling wasn''t part of the group at the previous Heavenly Connection Gathering and was unused to Hun Jusang''s words. San Jiuling could only force a smile, hoping that Hun Jusang''s words were made with no serious intent. "Hmpf, to show kindness to your enemies is to allow them the chance to seek vengeance. Mark my words, you will regret letting that child go." Hun Jusang said, unrelenting. "Yes, yes, Iwe should just kill everyone else, or else I will be hurt in the future. We know." Ji Muyang waved off Hun Jusang''s words, unconcerned. Before long, the subject was direct away from the matter of how Dong Chifan and San Jiuling became blood brother and the issue of Dong Chifan''s strength. "He''s quite outstanding for a loose cultivator. During our adventures, he killed a Nascent Soul Grandmaster." San Jiuling said, but none of the other four were surprised. Strictly speaking, the difference between a Nascent Soul Grandmaster and a Core Formation Master was far greater than the difference between a Core Formation Master and a Foundation Establishment Disciple. But who were these five? They were the cream of the crops among the first-rate sects and Heaven Continent''s sole hegemon sect. Although rare, it was not unheard of for a Core Formation Master to defeat or even kill a Nascent Soul Grandmaster. There were many factors involved, such as the techniques used, the number of colors the Nascent Soul Grandmaster''s soul had, and the grade of the Core Formation Master''s Spiritual Core. San Jiuling didn''t deny it. The Nascent Soul Grandmaster Dong Chifan killed was a One-Colored Nascent Soul Grandmaster. And he suspected that Dong Chifan''s Spiritual Core was at least of the Gold Grade and had the inheritance of a True Immortal. At least that''s what Dong Chifan said he had gotten the coke recipe from. "Although it isn''t unheard of for us who have been meticulously groomed, for a loose cultivator, it already quite impressive." "True, true." Ji Muyang said, an expression that said "I know something you don''t" displayed upon her face. "Even for our sect, those that overcome boundaries and slays those above them are already rare." He Luoli said. "But it seems that you also recommended someone. Is he the reason why you suggested we each bring a loose cultivator with talent?" Indeed, the idea for those young masters and mistresses to bring in a loose cultivator who caught their eye was from Ji Muyang. "I just brought the idea up. It wasn''t like I specifically did it for that guy after all. He''s just the one who was most fitting, so I brought him along." Ji Muyang said lightly as if she placed no importance on the one she chose. "How did he catch your eye then?" San Jiuling asked, quite curious. From what he heard, Ji Muyang had quite a prickly personality and was not easy to get along with. "He didn''t catch my eye, okay?" Ji Muyang insisted, but she still explained. "Do you think any of you could kill a Four-Colored Nascent Soul Grandmaster as a Core Formation Master?" "Uncertain." "Why would I do something so foolish? We are already bound to be claimed by death; I see no point in shortening our trivial lives." "If I fully unleashed all nine Lifebound Artifacts, but the rebound wouldn''t be worth it." "I have a technique that would allow me to unleash a single strike on par with a Unity Realm Venerable, but my cultivation would be crippled afterward." The four from the first-rate sect looked at Su Wanyu in surprise. The difference between Unity Ream and Nascent Soul Realm was greater than Nascent Soul Realm and Foundation Establishment Realm, after all. "Tsk, tsk, as expected of the Buzhou Immortal Sect." "B-back to the main point. Longwei is incredible. He was able to kill with a Four-Colored Nascent Soul Grandmaster as Core Formation Master. And he only needed to recuperate for a few months!" Ji Muyang said proudly as if it was her own accomplishment. "Hoh? He must have at least a Violet-Gold Grade Spiritual Core. Where is this Longwei? If possible, I want to spar with him." He Luoli said as he searched for the Longwei spoken of by Ji Muyang. Not just him but the other four had their interest peaked as well. Ji Muyang didn''t put on any airs and pointed towards a certain corner. Longwei was a handsome man who wore purple robes with a saber sheathed at his waist. His hair was untied and slightly in disarray, giving him a wild but masculine aura. He didn''t hide his Early Nascent Soul Realm aura, and he stood out as the only invited loose cultivator in the Nascent Soul Realm. "Not ordinary, not ordinary at all." He Luoli said. He had cultivated his sword to the point that he almost condensed a sword intent so he could recognize the saber qi that Longwei had. San Jiuling had to agree, and Hun Jusang only looked away, not saying anything. But Su Wanyu clasped her palm over her face. She felt a sense of distrust and repulsiveness she had only felt towards one person. "Sister Su, is something wrong?" Ji Muyang asked, noticing Su Wanyu''s change. "It''s nothing. I just felt as if this Longwei looked familiar." Su Wanyu said to direct the conversation elsewhere. "Familiar?" The other four said, but none of them felt so. Su Wanyu also only said as lipped service to explain the change in her demeanor. But only Su Wanyu would know her own surprise when her random words spoke true as she stared at Tianyi, who had finally arrived. Except for those pair of mesmerizing eyes that could appear to be able to steal souls with just a glance, the rest of his face was almost an exact replica of Longwei''s. Chapter 103: Challenging the Son of the Sword Empress to a Spar Tianyi made his first appearance on the third day of the Heavenly Connection Meeting. He could have arrived midway during the second day, but the disturbance he would have caused would have been greater than if he simply waited for the third day. "Are you alright?" Su Wanyu asked. She was someone who had seen Tianyi on the immortal boat, so she could naturally detect the drop in Tianyi''s cultivation base. "Nothing major. It was a deliberate action on my end." Tianyi smiled and cupped his hands. He explained that he had been struck by inspiration and thus called upon tribulation lightning when creating his new Artifact. "That''s good. As long as your immortal path is not severed, everything is well." Su Wanyu said. "My apologies, it seemed that my junior brother had some urgent business to take care of. The Tribulation Clouds fellow Daoists saw is due to Junior Brother Xi." Su Wanyu introduced Tianyi to Hun Jusang, Ji Muyang, He Luoli, and San Jiuling. When Tianyi heard San Jiuling, he couldn''t help but take a few more looks at the master of nine Lifebound Artifacts. San Jiuling had a passive expression that paired exceptionally well with his noble looks. It wouldn''t surprise Tianyi if someone told him that San Jiuling was a prince. At the same time that Tianyi was observing them, they were also observing Tianyi. Despite being the legendary Sword Empress''s son, it was surprisingly hard for them to acquire information on Tianyi. If he weren''t the son of the publically acclaimed number one expert of the Huang Realm, then Tianyi''s name would have long faded into obscurity with how lowkey he had been. But he didn''t and instead became shrouded in a veil of mystery. Once news traveled that the Sword Empress''s mysterious son would arrive at the Heavenly Connection Gathering, the members of Leakless, Nihility, Bright Ascension, Monolith Sword Sect had their curiosity piqued, especially with the recent news. The news of the legendary battle between numerous Immortal Monarchs and Emperors for the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus had long become common news to the higher-ups of various sects, including the news of a new Immortal Emperor. Although it wasn''t as prevalent, news of Tianyi also spread, just that the amount of importance placed upon it wasn''t as significant. But for the young members of the sects who couldn''t even touch the robes of Immortals, Tianyi''s information was more approachable and grounded for them. He was still someone in reach within the realm of mortals, after all. "Greetings to fellow Daoists," Tianyi said. Since Su Wanyu had introduced them and prepared a seat for him among them, then he wouldn''t shy away and join. The four felt as if the image of Tianyi they constructed in their mind had crumbled. Indeed, there was pride within Tianyi''s eyes, but he wasn''t anywhere near the arrogant cultivator they thought he was. "Junior Brother, no need to be so formal. Although we are from different sects, our relationship is quite close, unlike those on the Earth Continent. You can address them as senior brothers and sisters." Su Wanyu said. Tianyi nodded and repeated. "Greetings, senior brothers and sister." "Greetings to you as well, Junior Brother Xi. Tsk, tsk, what a beautiful pair of eyes." Ji Muyang said as she gave Tianyi an appreciative look, but closer inspection would reveal that she was observing Tianyi''s full face and not his eyes. "Greetings as well. I had heard of you from my younger brother. He''s quite jealous of your new title after all." He Luoli said. "Your younger brother?" Tianyi said, confusion evident. "Haha, you''ve met him during the Three Heavens Connection Meeting. His name is He Yongli. I believe he tried to challenge you before." He Luoli said. "Ah," Tianyi exclaimed as if remembering that person. But in truth, he had long forgotten who that person was and only acted as if he remembered. "I see, we didn''t talk much, so I''m surprised he still remembers me." "Think nothing of it, you underestimate the impression you leave others. My younger brother might request a sword duel tomorrow." He Luoli said, a straight smile on his face. "Don''t even mention your brother. Many of my junior brothers and sister are jealous of brother Xi''s title. Young Tribulation Lord, how awe-inspiring." San Jiuling said with a chuckle. "Ah?" Tianyi said, genuinely confused. "Could it be that Junior Brother is unaware?" Su Wanyu added. "Many of us have already received reports of you were able to summon the Heavenly Tribulation of your enemies." "Indeed, your enemies will quake in fear under your demonic powers. They shall never dare to even slight you the slightest lest you bring down the wrath of the Heavenly Tribulation!" Hun Jusang said ominously with a cackle. "There is no greater deterrent than holding a cultivator''s future as a hostage, truly the greatest and wickedest of minds. I applaud you, great tormenter." "Hah?" Tianyi said, unsure of what to make of his words. "You can ignore this fool. Sometimes we don''t even know if we speak the same language or not." Ji Muyang interjected upon seeing Tianyi''s visible confusion. "Who are you calling a fool! You''re lucky my dark self, the Master of Slaughter, has been sealed away, or else you would rue your words, fool!" Hun Jusang as he dramatically clutched his left hand with his right as if to prevent it from lashing out.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Tianyi desperately controlled himself from commenting and adding unnecessary words to that sentence. San Jiuling looked like he wanted to say something but held himself back. Su Wanyu and the other two just ignored Hu Jusang as if his threats were merely air. Su Wanyu didn''t hint for Tianyi to leave, so Tianyi stayed up with the five leaders in their private area. Tianyi had a distinct impression as if he was a rare animal being shown off to others. But it wasn''t something Tianyi would argue with others over. It wasn''t as if any of them had offended him in any way, so he directed his attention towards the arena at the center where two loose cultivators were duking it out. As the two battle, Tianyi heard Su Wanyu converse with others and appraised the battle from a subjective standout, even pointing out the mistakes and strong points like a good senior! Tianyi took mentals notes; with these examples, he could act more like an unfathomable senior even more! The style of sparring was very casual. Anyone could challenge the winner, and the winner could step down to rest after any match to recuperate and challenge the winner of the future spar. The only way to be disqualified from challenging anymore was to be defeated onstage. Currently, none of the disciples of first-rate sects had gone up, and only the loose cultivators were duking it out. However, Tianyi was surprised at how desperate and how far the loose cultivators were willing to go despite it merely being a spar. He imagined something more relaxed, but it seemed as if they would kill each other if need be. Tianyi enjoyed the show. It was like watching two prized dogs fighting each other in a ring, not that he would know what it was like as he had never participated in such an event. But the next contestant caught his and the other''s eyes. "Oh, it looks like your blood brother has stepped up." Ji Muyang said, her eyes containing some excitement. "Among the loose cultivators here, none should be his opponent." San Jiuling said but added a few words after receiving Ji Muyang''s pointed look. "...aside from Daoists Lonwei, of course." "I would expect nothing less of the one you chose, Brother San. But I am surprised that Brother Xi seems to recognize him. Have you met him before?" He Luoli asked Tianyi. Tianyi nodded. There was nothing to hide after all. He gave a short explanation of how Dong Chifan left an expression on him. "Haha, I wonder what expression he would make if he knew the person he rejected is the son of the famed Sword Empress." He Luoli chuckled. "Who knows, although my mother is famous, it''s still hard to say if he''s ever heard of my mother or me. It''s not like everyone will know about the Sword Empress. The distance between mortals and Immortal Emperors is far too distant, nevermind the fact that he is a loose cultivator, lowering the chances even more." Tianyi said and then looked at San Jiuling. "What do you think, Brother San?" "Hard to say, Brother Dong is relatively informed. So the chances of him knowing the fame of Immortal Empress Xi is high. As for his reaction..." San Jiuling glanced at Tianyi. "He will probably be surprised after learning of Brother Xi''s true identity. He had a few run-ins with some descendants of Elders of a few sects, so his view of people like us is rather... poor." Instantly, Tianyi had thought of numerous encounters between lowly protagonist Dong Chifan and cannon fodder one, which led to stepping stone mini-boss before being sent flying by the Elder boss. "Haha," Tianyi laughed as his thoughts turned towards Lovespot. No matter how the people Dong Chifan met, they couldn''t be worse than Lovespot, could they? Tianyi looked back at the arena where Dong Chifan had defeated his opponent and waited for the next challenger. Tianyi could tell that he stood at least a step above the rest of the invited cultivators. Dong Chifan''s fighting style was extremely straightforward. He cultivated a mighty martial body that was strong, fast, and durable to the point that he was able to use his bare body against Core Formation Artifacts and spells. Tianyi and the five others watched as Dong Chifan continued to take on foe after foe. He used the same simple tactics again and again. After repeated battles, not a single one could overcome his brute strength. And it didn''t seem that he would tire anytime soon. Other than using his martial body''s power, Dong Chifan didn''t even expend that much mental or physical energy. It wasn''t long before Dong Chifan defeated all the invited Core Formation loose cultivators. But he still didn''t step down and waited for the next challenger. Tianyi had the impression of a single man overcoming all odds to take first place. "He''s taking it too far." Su Wanyu commented. Tianyi looked over, confused by her comment, and saw that San Jiuling had a hand over his face. "What does Brother Xi takes this gathering as?" He Luoli said amicably upon seeing Tianyi''s confusion "A place to fight your peers and create a name for yourself," Tianyi said, although there was another reason he didn''t explicitly say. "You''re not wrong. But you aren''t completely right either. Take a look at the invited Daoists that Dong Chifan defeated." Tianyi observed the loose cultivators that Dong Chifan had defeated. It was also quite a spectacle; they clearly knew they were not Dong Chifan''s match, yet they still challenged him. There were some that had admiration as they gazed upon Dong Chifan, but Tianyi saw more had resentment upon their faces. "Get it, brother Xi? This is not a tournament but a spar. Both people should show their worth and techniques before one admits his losses or loses. But Dong Chifan brutishly claimed victory for himself without care. For these loose cultivators, a good performance means a chance to enter a first-rate sect, which would give them limitless futures. But now, they had their opportunity to perform destroyed by Dong Chifan. This type of person easily makes enemies. And now, it seems that he wants to trample the disciples of our sects. I admit his strength is above average even among our junior brothers and sisters, but in all things, don''t go too far. He''s too sharp, but that means he''s also brittle. Eventually, it will all come crashing back down onto himself." He Luoli said, giving Tianyi an eye-opener. "Thank you for senior brother''s lesson?" Tianyi said. "Haha, it''s nothing. I admit that some of our junior brothers and sisters are far too much like him. See?" He Luoli said as he pointed to one disciple who had gone with a fiery spirit as if he wanted to crush Dong Chifan. The end result for that disciple was his loss after five moves. Four of the five people beside Tianyi gave Dong Chifan a higher appraisal after seeing him dispatch a sect disciple in such a manner. But the trampling didn''t end there. No matter who came up, Dong Chifan defeated in a tyrannical manner. The end result would always result in his foes being flung out of the arena. As time passed, the tension in the air increased to an unbearable point. San Jiuling didn''t know what Dong Chifan was after. He had already transmitted a message for him to hold back, but Dong Chifan ignored it and even increased his momentum. A dead silence descended onto the pavilion as no Core Formation disciple came up to challenge Dong Chifan. He ignored the glares sent his way and glanced at his surroundings. "Since no one is willing to challenge me, I want to declare a challenge." It arrogant, an extremely arrogant tone of voice as if proclaiming that he was the one that everyone considered the strongest and wanted to defeat. "I heard rumors that the son of the famed Sword Empress Xi is present today. I challenge the son of the Sword Empress to a spar!" Chapter 104: Fanaticism, not Admiration "Eh?" Tianyi exclaimed at Dong Chifan''s sudden declaration. The eyes of the disciples became unkind at Dong Chifan''s challenge. Did he really think that just because no one wanted to tangle with him that he could openly challenge a Nascent Soul Realm disciple despite only being a Core Formation loose cultivator? And not just any Nascent Soul Realm disciple but the current shining prodigy who became a Nascent Soul Grandmaster at twenty. "Preposterous!" The first to speak wasn''t Tianyi but a Core Formation disciple from the Buzhou Immortal Sect. "Do you really think no one dares to challenge you? We couldn''t stand your inappropriate conduct. Even if you claimed the number one position among Core Formation Masters, this is just a mere spar, not a tournament. What right do you have to challenge Prince Xi? If you are seeking humiliation, I don''t mind playing with you!" The Core Formation Master jumped onto the arena and pointed her sword at Dong Chifan. She looked to be a young girl in her mid to late teens with long black hair tied into two buns atop her head. Her white face was flushed red with anger, but no one could feel any threat from her because her face was too non-threatening. Even angry, one could only see a puppy barking harmlessly. "Hmpf, very well. Once I defeat you and anyone who disagrees, then no one will stop me, right?" Dong Chifan said. Although the girl looked non-threatening, Dong Chifan still felt the aura of a Peak Core Formation Master from her. "Say that after you defeat me. " With her sword still in hand, she clasped her hands together and spoke coldly. "Buzhou Immortal Sect''s Jian Wuyan, please give me pointers." "Loose cultivator, Dong Chifan." Dong Chifan also clasped his hands in response. Tianyi felt his lips twitch at the sudden change in procedures. He hadn''t even spoken yet, but someone had already stepped up to defend his honors. If this were a novel, then Jian Wuyan would definitely be the warmup before the main attraction. "That girl," Tianyi turned around to see Su Wanyu close her eyes in a defeated manner. "Senior Sister, you have a close relationship with Junior Sister Jian?" Tianyi asked, quite curious of what could have elicited such a response from Su Wanyu. "My mother and her mother are bosom friends." Tianyi nodded. It wasn''t too surprising for the children to be friends if their parents were friends as well. "She''s a good girl, just that..." Tianyi felt the urge to scrutinized himself due to the queer look Su Wanyu was giving him. "She greatly admires Grand Elder Xi. It isn''t just her, but her mother, Elder Jian as well. I heard she has a library filled with stories and tales of Grand Elder Xi''s accomplishments. Even her name, Jian Wuyan, was because of Grand Elder Xi. Sword Never Rising, in other words, no sword will surpass Grand Elder Xi while she exists." "R-really?" Tianyi felt himself a bit shaken by the news. "But Dong Chifan just challenged me, it has nothing to do with my mother." Su Wanyu gave Tianyi a look of pity. "Her admiration of Grand Elder Xi extends to everything related to her. Not just you, it even extends to places she meditated before. I believe she calls Jade Peak the greatest Holy Ground of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Any slight, imagined or otherwise, against Grand Elder Xi is enough for her to chop the offender in two." "I-I see," Tianyi said, not expecting Jian Wuyan to have such admiration for his mother. Now that he thought about it, wasn''t this the girl that was staring at him and his mother while they were talking a walk with that heated gaze?
Dong Chifan frowned as he used his forearm to block Jian Wuyan''s sword strike. A loud metallic sound rang as the sword scraped against his bare arms. Ever since the match had started, he had been on the defensive. Jian Wuyan seemed like a delicate girl with her short stature and child-like features, but every move of hers went against that very image. She moved like a raging beast that had abandoned all concept of defense. Every sword swing seemed to be able to shatter the delicate sword in her hand like glass. Dong Chifan wasn''t overthinking this. Jian Wuyan was, indeed, going all out in offense. It was as if she didn''t care for her life and that Dong Chifan was her hated archenemy who had exterminated all nine generations of her family. As a loose cultivator without any support, Dong Chifan wasn''t blessed with resources like these descendants born with silver spoons in their mouths. Had it not been for his fortuitous encounter with an Immortal''s inheritance, Dong Chifan would have lost his life years ago. The cultivation technique he attained allowed him to alter his body to be akin to the World Piercing Mammoth Boar. According to legend, it was called so because the beast had two tusks that allowed it to pierce the spatial fabric of realms and worlds. But Dong Chifan was originally human, so in order to strengthen his martial body, he had to devour countless beasts. The inheritance he had attained also covered this and allowed him to become an immortal chef and create many dishes unknown to the Huang Realm and strengthen his body. Currently, his whole body was akin to a pseudo Core Formation Realm Artifact, while his two arms and hands were like Peak Core Formation Realm Artifact weapons. Unlike many of the cultivators here, Dong Chifan didn''t have a Lifebound Artifact because he did not have the necessary resources to forge one for his Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation. But his two arms were more than enough. With a roar, Dong Chifan swiped his arms outward horizontally. He caused Jian Wuyan to fly backward with such great force that Jian Wuyan had to impale her sword into the ground to stop her momentum, leaving behind a deep gash in the arena. Even the people outside the arena felt the incredible force behind the blow due to the turbulent winds generated from Dong Chifan''s swipe. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Jian Wuyan stood back up, her back swamped from her sweat. Her face was pale, and the only reason she hadn''t spat out blood was because she had forcibly suppressed it. No matter what she did, she was unable to break Dong Chifan''s defense. He was always able to position his arms in front of her strikes. As for using anything but her sword, that would be a crime against everything she stood for! As a (self-proclaimed) disciple of Sword Empress Xi, it would be an insult to use anything but a sword. Although... Jian Wuyan glanced at her spatial ring. The weapon she was most proficient in was also a sword, but it was a colossal sword that resembled more of a giant blade-shaped bludgeon and was the complete inverse of the delicate crystalline blade in her hand. It was naturally modeled after Sword Empress Xi''s sword, of course. If she brought it out, her pride would be hurt and stray from her perfection. But Dong Chifan, that ugly toad dared to dream of eating swan meat, had committed an unforgivable sin of the greatest offense! Jian Wuyan paused. Wait, it seemed that the idiom she used was a bit off. Jian Wuyan shrugged; it was something to ponder over later. Right now, her objective was to teach this rude man a lesson. Having made up her mind, Jian Wuyan replaced the delicate sword in her hand with a giant sword-mace. She effortlessly raised it above her hand with both hands and moved into a stance, ready to strike down the infidel in front of her. She ignored the startled looks as the spectators took in the contrast of a petite girl like her wielding such a barbaric weapon. She ignored her friends, who had never seen her used the sword-mace. Jian Wuyan only had eyes on her objective, the offender of all that was sacred. With a mighty roar, not one bit inferior to the Dong Chifan released moments ago, Jian Wuyan leaped towards her foe. Her whole body exuded the pressure of a brutal beast. Dong Chifan felt as if the air around him hammered down on him as if to nail down in place. But even if it didn''t, he would have moved away. A contest of strength was the thing that Dong Chifan was least afraid of. "RRRROOOOOARRRRRRR!!!!!" Jian Wuyan brought her sword down like an avalanche burying the mountains. Dong Chifan could see nothing but the broad edge of the sword coming down upon him and Jian Wuyan''s eyes that only had white in them. "ROOOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRR!!!!" Sigils that seemed to contain some obtuse laws began to glow and cover Dong Chifan''s fist as he clenched his left fist and punched upwards. It was a simple punch that contained all of his concentrated force at a single point. Yet that simple punch had a momentum greater than any avalanche and seemed to be able to reverse the sky from collapsing. It was a clash of two opposing forces, one of heavenly might dictating calamities, the other the will of man to oppose the very heaven''s itself. When the two met, the very air rippled from the contact point and caused a deafening sonic explosion. Had it not been for the formation to prevent any stray attacks from leaving the arena, then the weaker spectators would have been blown away. Rather than clash from two Core Formation Masters, it resembled something more of a clash between early Nascent Soul Grandmasters. The connection lasted but a moment, but the winner was clear the next second as Jiang Wuyan was sent flying out of the arena, her sword-mace was dented and bent from Dong Chifan''s punch. "Cough... cough..." Copious amounts of blood spurted from Jian Wuyan''s mouth. She was Spiritual Peak Core Formation Master, so her body was naturally weaker than a Martial Peak Core Formation Master like Dong Chifan. She could feel that several of her bones were already shattered, and many of her internal organs were ruptured. Jian Wuyan finally regretted it. She regretted pouring all her resources into making the crystalline sword and crudely forging her sword-mace. Had she not, then she wouldn''t have been beaten back so easily and lose face for her idol, Sword Empress Xi. "Cough...cough," On quaking legs, Jian Wuyan stood back up, intent on returning to the stage. She was fighting in Sword Empress Xi''s name; losing was not allowed. Either she won or died! The determination was evident on her face. No one could turn away from her decision. "Junior Sister Jian," The voice was soft and gentle, giving the hearer a delight in just listening. Jian Wuyan turned her eyes, which had regained their colors, towards the speaker and froze. Why? Because Tianyi was standing in front of her with a slight smile. "P-P-Prince Xi!" Jian Wuyan bashfully looked down, only to freeze in horror as she realized what state she was in. In a flurry of motion, she quickly put away her sword-mace and tidied her clothes, making sure to clean the blood off. "What can I help you with?" Tianyi, who watched this with frozen surprise, couldn''t help but release a strained chuckle. Su Wanyu had told him that he was the only one who could stop Jian Wuyan from fighting to the death, and so, Tianyi stepped down to stop her. Although she was unrelated to him, it would weigh on his conscience for her to die for him because of such a minor matter. "No need to be so formal. You can just call me senior brother." Tianyi said. "I''m here to thank you for standing up for me, but I''m actually quite interested in this Dong Chifan, so could you allow me to spar with him?" Jian Wuyan showed an unwilling expression before it quickly morphed into one of horror as she held her head in despair. "I''m soooo sorry. I didn''t realize I was making it harder for you. Please take my head as punishment." "Stop, stop! No need to go that far." Tianyi desperately said, stopping the girl from chopping her head off in repentance. "I enjoyed your match with Dong Chifan. Especially your last move, unfortunately, your sword was sub-par; otherwise, the outcome would be up in the air." Jian Wuyan giggled and smiled at Tianyi''s praise with a flush face before quickly paling again. When Tianyi was about to ask what''s wrong, Jian Wuyan spat blood out of her mouth again, onto Tianyi''s robes. "..." Tianyi. Jian Wuyan watched in horror at her actions, again. She kowtowed in front of Tianyi. "I''m sorry, please behead me for my sins." "...stand up. Rather than that, shouldn''t you heal yourself first?" Tianyi said as he picked Jian Wuyan up, his heart feeling tired. "You''re so kind, Prince Xi! As expected of the son of the exalted Sword Empress!" Tianyi just stuffed a Concealed Vitality Pill into her hand. "Here, use this." "KYAAAHHHH!" I''m holding Prince Xi''s hand!!! I can die with regrets now!" "Just hurry up and use it!" Tianyi said, finally unable to stand it any longer. "Yes! I will treasure it with my life! I will make it a family heirloom that is to be handed to all future generations!" This isn''t admiration, this is fanaticism! Tianyi wanted to raise his hand in the air in an "I give up" gesture, but with a conviction of a man saving the world, he stopped himself. He took out another pill and directly through it in her mouth before walking up the arena. "Daoist Dong, we meet again. I am Xi Tianyi; sorry for the wait. There was a little trouble." Tianyi said, his voice slightly hollow from the encounter with the fanatic. Dong Chifan showed a surprise at meeting Tianyi again. "So it was Daoist Xi. I did not recognize you. Please give me a few pointers." Saying so, Dong Chifan took a fighting pose as sigils covered both his hands. "If I can, if I can," Tianyi said as he gestured for Dong Chifan to make the first move, acting every bit like a senior of a higher realm. Chapter 105: True Immortals Inheritance Dong Chifan didn''t immediately charge at Tianyi as he had done with his previous opponents. For one, his opponent wasn''t someone in the same realm as him, and he couldn''t shake off the feeling of fear within himself. The fear wasn''t some obtuse sensation of imminent death from a stronger foe but rather a fear of the unknown. Even as Tianyi stood in front of him with a slight smile and his hands behind his back without doing anything, Dong Chifan felt his heartbeats quicken. At the same time, Dong Chifan felt as if Tianyi wasn''t human but a giant mass of ever moving shapes. The feeling didn''t originate from his soul but his martial body. Dong Chifan decided to attack. He wasn''t one to let the initiative go, and Tianyi was obviously waiting for him to open with the first move. But he didn''t immediately attack as he moved into a horse stance and the air around him vibrated from the true qi he was emitting. Behind Dong Chifan, an illusionary figure began to appear. It was only a head, but the appearance caused a slight wariness to form in Tianyi''s heart even though he didn''t know why. The head was that of a black boar with two white shining tusks with the same sigils as that of Dong Chifan''s arms. Its beady red eyes revealed the beast''s desire to trample everything in front of itself. What kind of beast is that? Is that a Divine Beast? Tianyi wondered as the wariness increased. It wasn''t that he felt a life-threatening danger, but a sensation of meeting his natural nemesis had appeared, like a frog seeing a snake. Dong Chifan charged forward with his right hand formed into a drill shape, piercing towards Tianyi. The space leading from Dong Chifan to Tianyi seemed to warp as if twisting. Although Tianyi felt some wariness, he still held his ground moved his hand forward to block the attack coming towards him. The distance between the two drastically shortened in less than a second. Tianyi moved his hand to grab Dong Chifan''s hand, but the pain from his hand after grabbing Dong Chifan made him frown. Dong Chifan felt his mind shake as Tianyi easily caught his moves without even being forced to take a step back. Only the fluttering of Tianyi''s robes proved the existence of Dong Chifan''s charge. However, the next moment he felt an indescribable sense of danger, and pain erupted from his hand as if thousands of tiny saws were slicing his hand''s flesh away. Without much resistance, Dong Chifan broke free of Tianyi''s hold and retreated. He inwardly frowned when he saw that his hand looked as if something had eroded it away before turning his attention back to Tianyi with increased wariness. His martial body, especially his hands, was akin to peak Core Formation Artifacts, yet a single touch from Tianyi damaged them. Even though Nascent Soul Grandmasters could destroy Core Formation Artifacts, it wasn''t to the point that a single attack should be able to destroy them, otherwise. Why would cultivators go through so much hardship to create artifacts? But Dong Chifan was even more surprised by Tianyi''s open frown. Tianyi was observing his hand, which had come into contact with Dong Chifan''s attack. The skin appeared to have been ripped open, but there was no flesh and blood beneath the skin. Instead, there was a black void with countless shimmering lights, and black gas with innumerable motes of light was being released from the gash. At a pace visible to the naked eye, skin began to grow over Tianyi''s injured hand, hiding the black void and absorbing the black gas once more. Looking up from his hand, Tianyi smiled at Dong Chifan. "You''ve really opened my eyes. Even against peak Nascent Soul Grandmasters, unless they have the ability to compete against Unity Venerables, my martial body shouldn''t take a single injury. Amongst Core Formation Masters, you are probably the only one who can injure me. It seems like I underestimated you. I won''t let you touch me again." Seeing Tianyi raising his guard, Dong Chifan gave a bitter smile. While Tianyi''s hand had healed, his hand hadn''t. Even now, it was throbbing in pain. And he could still feel even more of his flesh being corroded with no signs of healing. He had a feeling that the injury wouldn''t be easily healed. Dong Chifan inhaled deeply and clenched his injured hand, and forcibly ignored the pain. He wouldn''t give up just because of a single setback. Under his deliberate control, armor composed of fur and leather covered his whole body, giving him a savage, almost barbarian-like appearance. The boar head behind him had dissolved and was absorbed by his newly materialized armor. Although the armor sealed his greatest attack, the defense and strength increased were more than enough as a tradeoff. Once more, Dong Chifan leaped towards Tianyi. But this time, he didn''t lower his defense even a tiny bit. But Tianyi wasn''t like the first time where he caught Dong Chifan''s fist and, instead, began to weave through Dong Chifan''s attack by the slimmest margins. Every move from Dong Chifan seemed to contain some mysterious force that caused the air to vibrate as if space was tearing. But against Tianyi, the mysterious force seemed to disappeared once it neared him. And just like Tianyi said, Dong Chifan never came into contact with Tianyi again. Dong Chifan felt his true qi reserve dwindle at an incredibly fast rate. Every punch, every kick of his contained slight principles of space. Dong Chifan didn''t know the workings behind it, but the sigils on his body replicated the effect of spatial techniques. For a Core Formation Master, spatial techniques were indeed powerful, but against Tianyi, it was just wasting true qi. His eyes met Tianyi''s calm sight, and Dong Chifan felt something prick the back of his mind. Without any hesitation, Dong Chifan left backward. And just as he did, lightning exploded from Tianyi''s body. "Daoist Dong, it''s impressive that you know spatial techniques at your realm. No wonder why you were able to break through my skin, but this level of spatial technique won''t be enough to defeat me. I suggest you bring out a stronger technique or changing your tactic." The spectators who felt that Dong Chifan was stupid for continuously attacking Tianyi gasped in surprise. From their point of view, Dong Chifan did have great strength, but compared to exquisite techniques, Dong Chifan would eventually fall behind if he only relied on brute force. They couldn''t perceive the spatial techniques that covered Dong Chifan''s body and only saw him wasting his strength trying to land an attack on Tianyi. But once Tianyi''s words were heard, they found themselves shock. Spatial techniques. They required a rudimentary knowledge of the Dao of Space and often required a long time to use, especially for the Core Formation Realm. Not even a Nascent Soul Grandmaster would be able to use a spatial technique, yet Dong Chifan did. Dong Chifan felt himself frown as he heard Tianyi''s clear words. He had always felt proud of his spatial technique that his physique allowed him to use. He didn''t have many techniques, but this near innate ability of his was more than enough to make up for any shortcomings. Again, Dong Chifan attacked once more with even more complex martial techniques, but Tianyi seamlessly dodged them all once more. Even though the ripples from his techniques became more evident and turbulent, he still didn''t manage to land a single hit against Tianyi. Tianyi sighed as Dong Chifan backed away once he unleashed his lightning.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "It seems that you don''t believe me. Did you realized that I''ve never stepped away from this spot since the beginning of the match?" Dong Chifan and the spectator only now realized that since the beginning of the match, Tianyi never moved from his spot, not even while dodging Dong Chifan''s attacks. Sweat coated Dong Chifan''s back as he realized this fact. "Besides," Tianyi spoked as he walked forward, and lightning covered his hand like a glove. Under Dong Chifan''s and the spectators'' disbelieving eyes, Tianyi disappeared as if he walked through an invisible gate. The only evidence of this was the ripples in the air. Dong Chifan immediately jumped away as he heard the crackling of lightning behind. Once he spun around, he saw Tianyi standing behind his previous spot. "I also know some spatial techniques," Tianyi said with a slight smile. Dong Chifan felt as if his mind had taken a hit. How could he not know what happened? There was a technique described in his inheritance that allowed the user to warp through space. It was a technique that only True Immortals could use, but thanks to his martial body, Dong Chifan would be able to use it at the Unity Realm. If Dong Chifan was surprised, everyone else was even more shocked than him. Warping through space was a legendary feat that only some Immortals were capable of. As descendants of Elders, they had an even greater understanding of how special Tianyi''s actions were. Tianyi''s smile widened at Dong Chifan''s shocked face. Inwardly, he was preening at the admiration and shock directed towards him. This feeling was indeed very awesome! "Senior Xi, you..." Dong Chifan''s words word caught in his throat. He only now realized that he had developed an unknown arrogance within him that even he didn''t know about. He had thought himself special, knowing spatial techniques, and thinking that he was unique in the world. "...Senior Xi, my next move will be my strongest. If I cannot even force you to take a step back, it is my loss." Dong Chifan placed down his pride before Tianyi and honestly said. Tianyi, who felt the change in Dong Chifan''s attitude, raised an eyebrow in surprise. With how rampant Dong Chifan was, Tianyi thought he''d have to literally throw Dong Chifan out of the arena before he admitted his loss. "Alright." Dong Chifan held out his uninjured fist in front of him and placed his other hand near his waist. Closing his eyes, Dong Chifan began to release his ultimate move. It required a hefty amount of time to unleash at his current level, so he rarely used it in the heat of the battle. Sigils began to appear around him and formed a circular cone. Not just Tianyi, but everyone present also felt the pressure from the white cone. Just looking at the cone caused space around it to distort. When Dong Chifan opened his eyes, he released an earth-shaking cry and charged towards Tianyi. The white cone was a manifestation of the World Piercing Mammoth Boar''s tusk. Although it was only a shadow of its true power, it still represented a Divine Beast''s innate ability. Tianyi, who had the white tusk piercing towards him, had a strange sensation. The cone shape was really reminiscent of a missile. Tianyi felt as if Dong Chifan had launched a missile directly at him! At the same time, Tianyi made a conjecture that Dong Chifan''s spatial technique was related to the destruction of space, or to be even more precise, the destruction of spatial boundaries. The best way to counteract against this was to stabilize space and prevent the disruptive power from destabilizing the area. A heavy pressure began to be emitted from Tianyi''s body that seemed to cover the whole arena. The spectators couldn''t tell, but they could feel the lessening danger of Dong Chifan''s attack. Even queerer, the World Piercing Mammoth Boar Tusk slowed to a crawl before it completely stopped in front of Tianyi. Crack...crack...crackcrackcrackcrackcrackcrack Under the heavy suppression of space, the tusk''s outer shell began to shatter and reveal the sweat-drenched Core Formation Master inside. "I''ve lost." That was all Dong Chifan said. Tianyi smiled and walked towards Dong Chifan. "You really surprised me. If you were in the Nascent Soul Realm, I wouldn''t have been able to easily break this technique of yours." "But you would still be able to break it." Dong Chifan refuted, utterly sure of his words. "Hahaha," Tianyi just laughed, not denying Dong Chifan''s words. "Give me your hand. Most things aren''t able to withstand my true qi..." Tianyi took Dong Chifan''s hand and removed the true qi of chaos that was still corroding it. After it was taken away, Dong Chifan''s hand began to recover. "Thank you," Dong Chifan said. "No need. It''s just a spar. Leaving you with an injury that could easily be solved would be against the spirit of sparring." Tianyi waved away Dong Chifan''s thanks. "Actually, against anyone other than me, your techniques would have been much more effective. You should also increase the variety of your moves. Being strong in close quarters is a good thing, but you shouldn''t neglect long-distance attacks." "I''m a loose cultivator. All my resources are used for my martial body. I don''t have any long-range techniques or the resources to train in them." Dong Chifan said. Tianyi looked at him before smiling. "Actually, I know of a way." Dong Chifan looked at Tianyi in surprise. He felt expectations rise up within him but also afraid of being tricked by Tianyi. The world of cultivators was cruel. There was no free lunch in the world. "There''s actually an inheritance site created by a True Immortal near here. If you manage to pass the trials, you can get techniques, resources, and even Artifacts. After this gathering, want to go?" Tianyi lightly asked. "Why? Why are you being so good to me?" Dong Chifan asked, his mouth dry. "I don''t have any I can give you. I made a vow not to share my inheritance with anyone without my late master''s consent." "Why? I''m interested in you. Your martial body is unique. It seems really interesting, so I wanted to how far you will go." Tianyi said. Naturally, this was only a partial reason. He wanted to discover more about the circumstances behind the reincarnators, and Dong Chifan was currently his biggest clue. Dong Chifan gave a self-deprecating laugh and felt a sense of loss as he stared at Tianyi. He used his whole strength in an attempt to defeat Tianyi, but his opponent just treated it as a light spar and even wanted to help him. Dong Chifan felt that if a Foundation Establishment Disciple attempted to challenge the current him, he would have severely taught him a lesson and letting him know that there are heavens beyond heavens, much less help him by directing him towards a True Immortal''s inheritance site. Was this the difference between a loose cultivator and the son of a true powerhouse? Why was there such a disparity in attitude and strength? "Is there something on my face?" Tianyi asked. He felt goosebumps after being stared at so intently by Dong Chifan. "You really are great." Dong Chifan sighed as he said those words. "Hah?" Tianyi said, unsure of Dong Chifan''s meaning. Dong Chifan watched as Tianyi walked away after compliment his strength. When he walked down the arena, he saw Jian Wuyan giving him a smug look. "Know the difference between you and Prince Xi now? Know how big heaven and earth is now?" Jian Wuyan said. Dong Chifan didn''t get angry. He even nodded. "Indeed. Senior Xi is really incredible." Jian Wuyan felt as if she launched a full power punch and hit cotton, really unsatisfying. But Dong Chifan''s next words caused her to be even more speechless. "Senior Xi really is incredible. Not just in strength, but in character as well. If everyone were like him, the world would be a much better place." Dong Chifan said wholeheartedly. "...It''s good that you know." Jian Wuyan said, unsure of how to feel. "How good would it be if I can become his junior brother?" Dong Chifan said. "Haah?" Jian Wuyan exploded after hearing those words. "Ingrate! Think of what you did before! Daring to challenge Prince Xi without knowing your place, and now you want the honor of being his junior brother!? You should repent first!!!" "I''ll definitely repay Senior Xi one day." Dong Chifan said. Of course, he still had some misgivings, but it disappeared after he walked back to his seat. Su Wanyu had announced that Tianyi knew about a True Immortal''s inheritance site and that after the Heavenly Connection Gathering was over, he would take everyone there. All the disciples felt their eyes light up, especially the loose cultivators. Even the descendants of Elders had high expectations. Even they had to pay the price or accomplish a feat to be allowed to receive a True Immortals technique from their sect. The loose cultivators and Vassal Sect felt immensely grateful towards Tianyi, while the Buzhou Immortal Sect disciples felt that Tianyi was befitting of being the famed Sword Empress''s son. Chapter 106: Challenging Tianyi walked off the arena after giving Dong Chifan some encouragement and laying the foundation for their future relationship. As he walked, some people smiled and even waved as he walked by. In response, Tianyi smiled back. "You''re quite good." Tianyi paused as he took in those provoking words. He looked at the man who spoke them, and his pupils shrunk into needle points. The man wore yellow robes and had an overly familiar face. He could sense the arrogance and disdain in the man''s eyes. The man seemed to have thought he hid it well, but even Tianyi''s with his sub-par people reading ability could clearly sense them. I don''t feel the urge to kill the Dragon Emperor''s Clones, but each and every one of them seems to want me to kill them. If you don''t appear in front of me, will you die? Tianyi gave a self-satisfied smile. "Naturally, if I don''t even have this minor ability, I can''t call myself the son of the Sword Empress. This Daoist is?" The man''s smile deepened as he heard Tianyi''s response. "Longwei, I am Longwei." "I see, so it''s Daoist Longwei. I look forward to your abilities tomorrow." Tianyi walked off after saying those words. His smile disappeared after walking away, and his brows twitched as if wanting to furrow. Tianyi felt as if Longwei''s eyes seemed to say that he knew Tianyi or at least personally met before. But Tianyi didn''t recognize him at all. Or at least, not as an individual. Does he think I''m a Dragon Emperor Clone? But my existence didn''t provoke the other Dragon Emperor Clones I met before. At least not in the same way as Xi Longyi from the alternate reality. Except for Lei Jingye, he just wanted to plain murder me because of his previous memories. Only when Tianyi saw Su Wanyu and the others did he snap out of his thoughts. "Senior Sister, I have an idea. Would you mind hearing me out?" Su Wanyu stared at Tianyi for a bit before she spoke. "What is your idea?" "It''s like this. There is a True Immortal''s inheritance site near here. Inside, participants will be rewarded depending on how many trials they pass. Perhaps, afterward, everyone can go visit and gain something. Of course, you could also make it a reward for the most outstanding ones." Tianyi didn''t directly speak of the matter but used his spiritual sense to convey the message. Who knew whether Su Wanyu would be forced to take everyone if he said it aloud. Peer pressuring her like this would only invite bad blood between them. "There is such a place nearby? Which Immortal''s inheritance is it?" "It should be an Immortal known as Ironword." "So it''s him. I heard that he was a famous loose Immortal who suddenly disappeared years ago, to think that he left an inheritance site nearby. How did you find it?" "Just by luck. I ran into some information about inheritance sites and natural treasures, but they weren''t worth it for me to take a trip." "Immortal Ironword wasn''t a particularly impressive Immortal according to my knowledge, and his inheritances would not have anything too shocking. Using this to shorten the distance between sects, your idea is good, Junior Brother." "Many thanks, but I can''t compare to Senior Sister. It''s just an inheritance of a True Immortal in the end." Taking in Tianyi''s words, Su Wanyu''s lips twitched under her veil. Just a True Immortal''s inheritance? Even for descendants of important Elders like them, a True Immortal level inheritance was still very hard to come by! Su Wanyu felt as if Tianyi was provoking her but seeing his face that clearly expressed his earlier words were his true thoughts. She could only reevaluate how much Grand Elder Xi valued her son. "Sister Su, come on, tell us. What is Brother Xi''s idea? Ji Muyang asked. Among the ones here, she was the most direct one, preferably to do things in a straightforward and upright manner. At least, concerning most matters.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Su Wanyu naturally informed them of the matter, causing them all to sigh. He Luoli sighed. "No wonder Buzhou Immortal Sect is the hegemonic sect of the Heaven Continent. Even able to give out the inheritance of a True Immortal to us, praiseworthy, praiseworthy." "Than I will thank the Buzhou Immortal Sect, Sister Su, and Brother Xi head of time for this opportunity in place of my junior brothers and sisters." San Jiuling said with a salute. The others also offered words of praise and thanks, even Ji Muyang, who gazed at Su Wanyu with hidden envy and jealousy. Su Wanyu didn''t wait long and announced the matter to everyone. Although it would extend the Heavenly Connection Gathering past what was planned, no one would argue in the face of such an opportunity. If there were one issue Tianyi had, it would be that Longwei would also get such an opportunity. He had already asked about Longwei after talking with Su Wanyu and the others. When Tianyi looked at him when Su Wanyu spoke of the Immortal''s inheritance site, he saw that Longwei''s face stiffen for a moment. Did he know about the inheritance site? Tianyi wondered. The spars resumed for the Core Formation Masters below. But after Dong Chifan and Tianyi''s match, the rest of the spars did not elicit as many reactions from the spectators. There were a few standouts, but it dimmed in comparison to Dong Chifan. But the atmosphere was still high due to the announcement. Like this, the third day ended on a high note. On the fourth day, Tianyi sat away from Su Wanyu, He Luoli, San Jiuling, Ji Muyang, and Hun Jusang. "Junior Brother Xi -no- Brother Xi, yesterday you were too awesome!" Su Bojing, who hadn''t seen Tianyi for days, sat next time and excitedly recounted yesterday''s events to the main actor. "The way you said that you also knew spatial techniques and then appeared behind that Dong Chifan was too awesome!" Tianyi felt as if his ear was going to melt and fall off with how much Su Bojing was yapping into his ear. After seeing Tianyi''s match yesterday, Su Bojing''s attitude drastically changed, and he deliberately placed himself lower than Tianyi like a subordinate than a fellow disciple with higher cultivation. "Don''t be so crude! Prince Xi''s actions were simply giving pointers to a junior and not to show off!" Beside Su Bojing sat Jian Wuyan. Due to her friendship with Su Wanyu, Su Bojing treated Jian Wuyan very courteously. "Indeed, indeed. It was I that was too crude, Sister Jian." Su Bojing said with a smile towards Jian Wuyan. Tianyi sighed and looked into the sky. Then he looked to the person on his other side. Dong Chifan sat there with an awkward smile, feeling out of place. "Ignore them," Tianyi softly said to Dong Chifan. Tianyi felt it was easier sitting next to these three instead of Su Wanyu and the other leaders due to the invisible tension. Dong Chifan managed to widen his smile a bit. Tianyi looked at the stage above before looking back at Dong Chifan. He began to talk, mostly giving pointers to Dong Chifan, beautifully using the words and phrases he heard Su Wanyu and the other use. Dong Chifan listened intently, like an obedient animal, against Tianyi''s expectation. Tianyi had thought Dong Chifan would be too proud to listen to Tianyi critique him, but Dong Chifan was surprisingly receptive to Tianyi''s words. Tianyi had only wanted to find something to fill the time due to boredom. He felt he could easily see through the fight and techniques of the current people on stage. Not long after, Su Bojing and Jian Wuyan seeing Tianyi talk animately with Dong Chifan and immediately joined. But their words consisted of how terribly Dong Chifan lost to Tianyi and how arrogant he was. Tianyi seeing this, quickly directed the conversation to the spar on stage and discussed it instead. In the end, Dong Chifan, Su Bojing, and Jian Wuyan began to animatedly argue the spars on stage, each with their own views. Tianyi just sat there listening. He had said a few words earlier to express his view, but the three of them would immediately agree and not argue, causing Tianyi to be speechless. "He Yongli, please accept my challenge." Tianyi looked up to see He Luoli''s younger brother challenge the current winner. His eyes lit up and focused on the spar. Although he couldn''t remember He Yongli well, He Yongli had supposedly wanted to challenge him to a duel before, right? Tianyi could discern that He Yongli''s sword-arts were spectacular, but they focused more on the strength aspect like a saber. Although his techniques looked brilliant, they lacked the essence of what made it a sword art, the versatility of a sword. He''s using too much brute strength. Although Jian Wuyan''s is similar, her sword is more suited to such attacks with pure force, but He Yongli is wasting his sword''s potential. Tianyi made such a judgment. But he continued to watch, curious as to what He Yongli''s actions would be. He had a feeling that He Yongli would challenge him. As expected, He Yongli defeated his opponents after they traded a few more blows. He wasn''t like Dong Chifan, who defeated his opponent as quickly as possible. Letting his foe show all his brilliance before beating them, this etiquette He Yongli still had. "Who else would like to challenge me? Among everyone here, I believe I have the strongest sword arts!" He Yongli''s eyes were directly on Tianyi. Welp, I saw this coming a mile away. Too bad, my greatest pride is in my hand arts and not my sword arts. However... being challenged like this doesn''t feel good at all. I want to give him a good beating. Also, He Yongli, did you forget about your brother up with Su Wanyu? Casting these thoughts aside. Tianyi planned to accept the challenge. This was openly provoking him. If he retreated, where would his face go? But before Tianyi could go up, another person challenged He Yongli. "I''m quite interested in seeing the person with the greatest sword arts. Please advise." Holding a saber in hand, Longwei stepped up with a provocative smile in place. Chapter 107: The Dragon Emperors Saber Art He Yongli frowned as he turned his attention towards the only Nascent Soul Grandmaster loose cultivator at the Heavenly Connection Gathering. He clasped his hands together and said. "Allow me to witness your techniques." "Likewise," Longwei said, his tone light as if it was nothing. He Yongli pointed his sword at Longwei. Although he disliked how Longwei interrupted his implicit challenge to Tianyi, He Yongli still didn''t completely disregard Longwei. On average, Loose cultivators had a harder path with no strong backing and limited resources. But on the flip side, due to the harshness of the competition, they often had more combat experience and were more decisive than members of sects. He Yongli and Longwei both brandished their weapons -a dull grey sword and a gleaming silver saber- at each other in a standoff. They appeared to be just standing there in a trance, but the battle of wills had already started. San Jiuling''s eyes flashed as he heard the sound of the clash of metal against metal; his eyes could barely make out the invisible, transient form of a saber and a sword scraping against each other. "Congratulations to Brother He. Your brother isn''t far from condensing his sword intent." He Luoli didn''t reply and didn''t appear to be happy nor proud in any way. Instead, he frowned and zeroed in on Longwei. Tianyi couldn''t hear the noise of saber against sword, but he could gently touch upon that there was a clash of wills, and He Yongli was on the losing end. He Yongli felt his body become cold as he continued to stand off against Longwei. There was a trace of shock in his eyes as if he couldn''t believe he was already at a disadvantage before the clash even started. It only naturally to be slightly on the weaker end in our clash of wills. He is a loose cultivator, after all, so he should have more life and death experience than me. He Yongli rationalized. Seeing as he would lose more and more of the initiative if he waited any longer, He Yongli struck. The Monolith Sword Sect was named after the Monolith Sword Art. The creator was a Half-Immortal Emperor that founded the Monolith Sword Sect and was called the number one sword Immortal of his time. His sword became the most prized Immortal Artifact of the Monolith Sword Sect, and just like its name implied, it was a sword that towered over the lands and reached the heavens. When He Yongli struck out, his sword appeared to be an obelisk, colossal and magnificent. Rather than a standard blade, it appeared to hundreds to thousands of times its actual size. Monolith Sword Art Seventh Stance - Obelisk Sword Longwei''s eyes flashed with an indiscernible emotion before he placed his saber in front of his in a defensive position and dodged to the side. But even so, he was knocked back as He Yongli passed by despite their weapons not clashing. Longwei released a grunt as his saber bent slightly from the force before returning to the original shape, but otherwise, he was unharmed. But how could He Yongli let go of his initiative? Deftly turning, He Yongli was upon Longwei once more. Each sword strike was dense and heavy as if an actual obelisk was smashing into Longwei. Furthermore, the range of He Yongli''s attack was greater than just the surface of his sword. It was as if an obelisk had encapsulated his sword, increasing the range of his strikes. However, in contrast, against his earlier performance, Longwei stably fended off He Yongli''s sword strikes. With a flip of his wrist, his saber tilted and curved, the enormous force behind He Yongli''s attacks were all deflected away with him only pushed back slightly each time. It appeared that He Yongli had the advantage and that Longwei was at a disadvantage, but those with sharp eyes and mind could discern the truth. He Yongli was using true qi at a staggering rate, while Longwei was barely using any true qi at all. If He Yongli continued, he would lose his initiative after using up all his true qi, and Longwei would be able to quickly finish him. He Yongli also knew this, but he had a feeling that if he relented, he would be even in a worse position. Right now, he had two choices: to continue his current style and wait for an opening or conserve his true qi and see what Longwei would do. In the end, He Yongli chose to conserve his true qi and redistribute the balance. If he continued his current plan of attack, the chances of Longwei making mistake was far too low. He would rather gamble on it and enter a disadvantaged state and win later. Against his expectations, Longwei didn''t immediately attack once He Yongli weaken his stance. Longwei gave He Yongli and a small smile. Before He Yongli could understand the meaning behind that smile, he instinctively raised his sword in a defensive position. CLANG! He Yongli only felt his hands become numb as the brute strength behind Longwei''s saber strike travel down his sword and into his hand. His eyes widen in surprise, but He Yongli no longer had time to think as he rushed to block Longwei''s next strike. The situation had changed a hundred and eighty degrees. Now it was Longwei pressuring He Yongli. He Yongli was in an even worse state than when Longwei was on the defense. He didn''t have Longwei''s acute judgment to deflect the oncoming saber strikes, Longwei''s flurry of attack, although seeming random, all were purposeful. Each strike flew towards the most significant hole in He Yongli''s defense, and when that was blocked, another attack flew to the new opening in He Yongli''s stance. Longwei''s successive attacks were like an inescapable net that was slowly enrapturing He Yongli. He Yongli couldn''t escape Longwei''s clutches in the end and was sent flying out. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. With a crash, He Yongli landed outside the arena. Although there were no cuts on his clothes or body, his clothes and hair were in disarray, making his current state pitiful to look at. If looks could kill, He Yongli''s hateful gaze would have killed Longwei severalfold, but Longwei wasn''t looking at him at all. He was looking towards Ji Muyang with a provocative smirk that exuded masculinity. Ji Muyang "hmph''d" and looked away, but her eyes would shift back towards Longwei, causing his smile to deepen and express an understanding expression. Tianyi took in He Yongli''s increasingly grudge-filled gaze and shook his head. Cannon fodder, no wonder I can''t recall him at all. But this Longwei should be someone more important. Maybe Lei Jingye''s archnemesis, his greatest stepping stone? "I have long heard of Sword Empress Xi''s Heartless Sword Arts. May I have the honor of experiencing it?" Longwei said his challenge was even more direct than He Yongli. "Prince Xi, Dong Chifan is horrible and overestimates himself, but I feel that this Longwei is abnormal and is hiding something." Jian Wuyan quietly whispered. "..." The innocent Dong Chifan who got randomly attacked by Jian Wuyan. "I know," Tianyi said. He stood up and jumped onto the arena. "Haha, not everyone can see my mother''s Heartless Sword Arts. It''ll depend on whether you can force me to use it or not." Tianyi''s words weren''t polite at all, causing Longwei to lose his smile. "Daoist He said that he is the strongest sword cultivator here. Are you saying that you don''t need to use the Heartless Sword Art to defeat him?" Tianyi didn''t say anything and only smiled. He clasped his hand and said, "Please," without paying attention to the ugly look on He Yongli''s face. "Then I won''t be polite." Longwei sheathed his saber to Tianyi''s surprise and leaped at Tianyi with his hands in a claw form. A gold dragon''s hand overlapped with Longwei''s hands as it struck towards Tianyi. Tianyi''s eyebrow''s twitched once as he recognized it. Wasn''t this the Dragon Emperor''s claw technique that accompanied the Dragon Emperor Fist? Tianyi also struck his hand outwards in retaliation. But in contrast, he didn''t use his most proficient claw arts, but palm arts. It was still not at the point that Tianyi needed to bring that out yet. He originally wanted to reveal his claw arts at a suitable event and wow the world, but now, Tianyi felt as if it was better to have a trump card or two just in case. Using the Heaven Suppressing Palm Arts that he had used during the Three Heavens Connection Meeting, Tianyi felt a sense of nostalgia as his palm clashed against Longwei''s claws. Longwei''s claws seemed to be able to tear through anything, but Tianyi''s palms seemed to be able to compress all things in the world. Tianyi''s eyes widen when he felt Longwei''s claws break through his suppression and directly clash against his palm. Longwei slightly curled the corner of his lips, but it quickly disappeared as his fingers touched Tianyi''s palm. His fingers didn''t tear through Tianyi''s palm like he envisioned and, instead, stopped as if he was a mortal who had punched iron. Tianyi''s hand continued towards Longwei despite having its concept broken, and Longwei jumped back. He suffered the first loss, and a hint of seriousness appeared in his eyes. But Tianyi wasn''t any better. He had felt that his palm techniques were deeper than most people. After all, he had infused his understanding of the Primordial Heavenly Scripture into his Heavenly Suppressing Palm Arts. But Longwei''s mastery was superior to his and defeated his techniques. The only reason he won the first clash was because of his cultivation technique, brute strength, pure and simple. Longwei took a stance with both his hands in the form of claws. If one looked closely, one could see the translucent golden dragons coiling around Longwei''s two hands. When he struck once more, his hands held the majestic pressure of dragons and was even more fearsome than before. Tianyi''s eyes lit up as he saw it. He felt his understanding of the claw techniques deepen. But this wasn''t the time to ponder as Tianyi also brought forth his palm again, the intent within also changed. The color of Tianyi''s palm became dark like the void, and within, countless stars shimmered. When the two clashed once more, Longwei felt as if something had greatly changed. It felt as if it wasn''t Tianyi''s hand that his fingers struck but rather a world eclipsing mountain. The feeling of numbed hands that He Yongli felt, Longwei finally felt. Even worse, he felt as if the bones in his fingers were being dislocated. Before the pressure caused the bones in hands to crack, Longwei borrowed the force behind Tianyi''s palm to retreat backward. Right now, Longwei no longer had any disdain in his eyes as he seriously looked at Tianyi. Without a word, he drew his saber and brandished it at Tianyi. Tianyi was inwardly disappointed that Longwei didn''t display anymore claw techniques. Even if he had slight regrets towards this, Tianyi still raised his guard towards Longwei. Longwei was already this powerful without using his saber; Tianyi felt that his saber arts should be even more powerful. At the very least, Tianyi''s judgment told him that Longwei should''ve been able to easily clashed head-on and even win against He Yongli using the claw arts he revealed earlier. Tianyi moved into a stance with both of his arms crossed and his opened-faced palms facing forward and prepared to receive Longwei''s attack. Longwei didn''t disappoint as his saber strikes were only more ruthless and seamless than his strikes towards He Yongli. But Tianyi calmly deflected and struck back. Tianyi, indeed, was at a disadvantage. His palm arts didn''t contain the subtleties and nuances of Longwei''s saber arts. Based on technique, he was at least a level lower. But so what? Tianyi had a supreme cultivation method that brought him a supremely powerful body that would cause even Unity Realm Venerables to tear their hair out in frustration to deal with. Cultivation was also a strength. If Longwei shouted at the unfairness, Tianyi would tell him to create a cultivation technique too. He had the ability to create such a cultivation technique, which was also part of his technique and strength. Go make your own if you thought it unfair. Below the arena, He Yongli felt his pupils dilate as he took in Tianyi and Longwei''s clash. He had challenged Tianyi only to be defeated by an interloper. But even if he had successfully challenged Tianyi, the outcome might even be worse. Longwei at least defeated him with a saber, but Tianyi might not even deign to draw his sword. He suddenly wanted to laugh. The man he wanted to defeated for years to prove his worth didn''t even view him as someone important. His brother even said that when asked, Tianyi only pretended to recall. But He Yongli was brought of his self-torment. He felt as if a saber was grinding against his heart, and he looked up to see a majestic saber strike from Longwei that eclipsed all of his previous saber strikes combined. Tianyi had been stabling dealing with Longwei''s flurry of attacks, but Longwei suddenly changed styles. He had forcefully pulled back his saber, and instead of causing a backlash, the blade was covered in a golden glow. Tianyi recognized that glow, although slightly different, he had seen Xi Longyi use it before to deal against Lei Jingye. This was the Dragon Emperor''s saber art! Longwei unleashed that brilliant saber strike. It was far faster than all his previous attacks and far stronger than all of them combined. Before Tianyi could even react, that saber strike had connected. A diagonal strike from his exposed clavicle to his waist. The ground behind Tianyi, starting from his feet, had a great gash trailing all the way out of the arena, even the protective formation being unable to contain the strike. It had already surpassed the threshold of a Nascent Soul Grandmaster and touched the Unity Realm. Chapter 108: Forcing a Draw He Luoli stood up in shock as he stared at the arena below. None of the other four blamed him as they also froze in shock at the scene below, but only He Luoli felt it clearer than anyone else. He Luoli as a sword cultivator, was already on the verge of condesing his sword intent, unlike his brother, who was still grasping in the dark. So he could detect the tyrannical strength and unfathomableness behind Longwei''s saber strike. It really didn''t feel like a Nascent Soul Cultivator''s newly formed intent, but rather a saber intent from an old monster. The four of them were momentarily surprised by Longwei''s revealed trump card, but only Ji Muyang felt cold sweat coat her back because the target of Longwei''s all-out attack was Xi Tianyi, the son of the Sword Empress! Unleashing such a level of attack out of the blue can no longer be considered a spar. Even if Tianyi were to luckily live through the strike that could even be lethal to Unity Realm Venerables, fatal injuries were already certain. Where would this leave her? The one who did such action was Longwei, but it was she who invited him and supported the idea of bringing loose cultivators. Even if the culprit was not her, she would not be able to untangle herself from this conflict. Her position as the Bright Ascension Saintess would be in jeopardy, and that was the best situation. Worse, she could even have her cultivation crippled and handed over to the Buzhou Immortal Sect to quell their anger. Before, how much she admired Longwei was how much she despised and hated him now. When she met him, he appeared to have some street smarts and high emotional intelligence. Why couldn''t he think of the consequence of his actions now? Even the arrogant Dong Chifan was much better than a beast that caused a calamity. She could only pray that the situation would not reach that point and that Xi Tianyi was lucky. But her breath hitched, and her eyes widened when she saw what happened next. "What a good move. Aside from Sister Su, I did not think there would be another person at this gathering who would be able to harm me like this, nevermind already having condensed your saber intent." Longwei''s tensed body immediately retreated a distance. His previous confident expression stiff, and his eyes wide like saucers as if he couldn''t believe his eyes. His robes weren''t harmed in the slightest, but Tianyi loosened them to reveal some of his chest and the laceration on his skin. The previously exposed collarbone had an even wider gash because it was directly struck. Tianyi felt an uncontrollable and brutal energy swirling around the injury -the lingering saber intent according to his guess- that prevent his wounds from mending. Shimmering black gas continued to leak out from his wounds out of control. Naturally, there was pain, but it need not be mentioned. Because Tianyi''s eyes flitted over towards Longwei with deep suspicion as he adjusted his robes. I''ve always felt that the Xi Longyi wasn''t an ordinary Dragon Emperor Clone since he could always bring techniques out of nowhere, even ones that he did not see or exist in the Immortal Scripture Repository. But I didn''t ponder it over much since that specific clone no longer existed since I was here. But could it be that Xi Longyi was special? That saber intent is far too similar to the one I''ve seen in the dream, and from that world mother''s word, perhaps the Dragon Emperor has already started to awaken at around that time. Since I was no longer a viable choice, Xi Longyi awakened in another clone''s body? It seems preposterous, but it''s completely viable if it was according to a book''s plot. But I shouldn''t be so quick to believe just because I''ve seen typical story plots appear before me. Perhaps this Longwei isn''t unique, and that many Dragon Emperor Clones will awaken the same saber intent, resources, and potential. ...on second thought, that''d be terrible. That attack, I could sense a deep killing intent. Even if he is aware of his status as a clone, why would he kill me in front of so many people? If he really did fatally injure me or even kill me, he should have more losses than gains. Unless I got something that is worth the risk? What could it be? And even if he did succeed, then that means he should have an escape plan. I''ll ponder over these matters later. That attack would have killed anyone else here except me...or Su Wanyu. Since you dare to use such a powerful attack, then I won''t be polite either. Hehe, since you''ve given such a good reason for me to have a grudge with you, then I''ll accept it. Tianyi gave a smile towards Longwei that was anything but a smile except the superficial expression. "Since you revealed such a technique, I should repay in kind, right?" "Haha, Daoist Xi, I''ll be sure to receive it," Longwei said after regaining his composure. Although Tianyi''s defense surpassed his expectation by a long shot, Longwei had already gauged Tianyi''s mastery over his techniques. No matter what, it should not be as deep as his. In terms of cultivation, although both of them were in the early Nascent Soul Realm, his experience and mastery towered over his foe. Tianyi placed his hand over the handle of his sword, and a formless domain appeared. Sword Formation as the World, compared to when Tianyi used it against the Bliss Earth Sect Master, the suppression and power had increased by severalfold. After all, Tianyi was still a Core Formation Master back then, and his mastery had increased.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! But Longwei didn''t show any surprise or wariness and instead raise his saber. The domineering saber intent dispersed all the suppression from Tianyi''s domain. Tianyi didn''t show much surprise at how easily his domain was broken. Seeing as it didn''t work, he didn''t release it anymore. Why use it when it would just waste his energy? Shiiiinnnngggg Tianyi slowly unsheathed his sword with an ear gratingly loud sound. Since he had reached the Nascent Soul Realm, the seal on his sword decreased by one, and the power it could display was already at the Unity Realm threshold. Without warning, Tianyi leaped at Longwei and unleashed a myriad of thrusts and slices. An unaccountable number of different styles of sword arts were all displayed without the slightest hint of chaos. It was as if Tianyi was using a single school of sword art and all the styles were simply branches of that single school. Not only that, Tianyi''s sheer speed made his movement blurry to the vast majority of disciples at the pavilion. He was like the hurricane, entrapping Longwei in the eye of the storm, unable to escape and striking from all sides. Longwei grunted as he deflected another strike from Tianyi. Yes, Tianyi was able to use numerous sword arts fluidly like it was one single style, but what was even more terrifying was that speed that caused Longwei to be unable to strike back. Even more hateful was the strength behind Tianyi''s attacks. Each strike was like several hammers smashing at him at once. Compared to Tianyi''s sword arts, what was truly suppressing and pressuring Longwei was Tianyi''s sheer speed and strength. The scene was akin to when He Yongli first attacked Longwei, but Tianyi surpassed He Yongli in both speed and strength, causing it to appear even more one-sided. But Longwei didn''t panic. He could tell that Tianyi was going through an enormous amount of true qi at an even greater pace than He Yongli. Although it was difficult to fend Tianyi off, but as long as he persevered, then Tianyi would lose steam and be like fish on a chopping block for him. Longwei confidently thought this, but as time passed and his appearance became even more ragged. Yet, Tianyi still continued to use the same amount of qi at the same pace with a carefree smile; Longwei couldn''t help but suspect whether it was Tianyi or him who couldn''t persist. Longwei gritted his teeth and persevered. But with each passing moment, he began to suspect that Tianyi had an inexhaustible source of true qi or some treasure that would replenish his qi, but Longwei could find it at all. Finally, he gave in first. But this mark, he, Longwei, would remember and return twofold. "Daoist Xi, how about we call this a draw? Continuing like this would be just wasting. I can''t attack you, but you can''t defeat me either." Having a draw looked better than being defeated by Tianyi, at least. Even if it was because he was exhausted, but Longwei was clear that no one would think Tianyi gone overboard after unleashing his full-powered saber strike. Tianyi stopped and stood in front of Longwei. "Oh? But I feel like if I continue, I will win." Longwei''s face stiffened, and a trace of hate flashed by. But Tianyi continued. "But I feel you''re right. If we continue like this, it would be boring. How about this, that earlier saber strike of yours was your strongest move, right?" "Naturally, otherwise, I wouldn''t have been cornered like this," Longwei said it wasn''t a lie. But the end result would remain the same. "If you can block my next sword strike, then I''ll call it a draw. But if you can''t block my sword strike, it''s my win. I did block your saber strike, after all." Tianyi said with a smile, but Longwei felt the pure malice behind that pleasant smile. But Longwei smiled and agreed. He had confidence in his strength, and Tianyi''s technique wasn''t much to him. He only had trouble because of the sheer number of attacks and the power behind them. But Longwei had confidence that if it was a single strike, then he would easily block it. Tianyi began to gather and manipulate his true qi, and his sword was covered in a layer of darkness with countless motes of light, like the infinite night sky. He didn''t immediately attack and swung it a few times, but with each sword swing, the pressure Longwei felt increased. "Dragon(Áý)..." Tianyi lightly said, and Longwei''s pupils contracted into needle points. He felt an unprecedented amount of danger as if the object in Tianyi''s hand was a sword-shaped dragon. But Tianyi didn''t strike again and instead continue to swing it as if he was writing with a brush. "...Extermination (Ãð)" When Tianyi said that word, his final sword strike soared towards Longwei. The spectator had only felt that there was a lot of power in Tianyi''s sword. It was only when Tianyi said the second word did they feel the extinction-like intent behind that strike. But Longwei felt it even more. That sword transformed from a sword-shaped dragon into the antithesis of a dragon''s existence. Just a little nick could prove fatal. Longwei wanted to dodge, but Tianyi only revealed his true intent at the last moment, and he could no longer fully escape the attack. Left with no other choice, Longwei gambled it all and unleashed a full-powered saber strike. Longwei didn''t have to gamble it all; he could have just partially blocked Tianyi''s attack and let the force push him out of the arena. But that would result in his loss. So a draw was his bottom line. You''re just a failed clone, don''t get arrogant! Longwei''s gold-encased saber collided against Tianyi''s black blade. Golden light erupted, but little by little, it was being erased by the void. Longwei cultivated the Dragon Emperor Fist, and his very existence had grown closer to that of a dragon. His claw arts, saber arts, and body only accentuated that fact. But against Tianyi''s sword was like his natural enemy. His counterattack wasn''t being deflected, blocked, devoured, or anything like that. It was destroyed to its very core; the foundation of his attack was being erased. "YAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Longwei yelled and struggled like a mere mortal defying against heaven and earth. The clash seemed to last an infinite amount of time, yet it seemed to only last for an instant. When everyone broke out of their stupor, they saw Tianyi sheathing his sword and walking away. "You blocked my greatest sword strike. It''s a draw between you and me." Blood dripped out of Longwei''s mouth as he kneeled. Only leaning on his saber was he able to prevent himself from falling onto the floor. "Hey, are you alright?" He ignored the changes in Ji Muyang''s tone, who came to help him. His eyes targeted Tianyi''s back like a wolf. The hatred in his eyes couldn''t be hidden at all; everyone saw it. Ever since I cultivated in this life, I have never been in such a sorry state. Not even that Lei Jingye was able to do this to me! Xi Tianyi, those that have antagonized me to this state have never lived long! Chapter 109: Strength Silence descended upon the pavilion. The ones closest to the aftereffects of Tianyi''s slash all felt sweat drip down the back of their necks. When they saw the black sword light near them, they felt as if time had slowed and their life past before their eyes. Only after Tianyi walked down from the stage did they feel the release of death''s shackles. They turned towards the gash with trembling bodies and saw a thin black membrane continuing to erode the cut. One person suddenly stepped back away from the abnormal scene. Like a signal, everyone else all moved away from where Tianyi had slashed. Tianyi''s attack did not cause a single death, but that didn''t help those who felt themselves brush against death. After calming down their erratic hearts, they turned their gazes towards Tianyi. Those gazes held fear, admiration, apprehension, and veneration. It wasn''t just those who were almost struck by Tianyi''s attack that held those emotions within their eyes but all the spectators. "That attack, it must have reached the threshold of Unity Realm at least, right?" "I think so..." "Xi Tianyi only reached the Nascent Soul Realm a few months ago, right?" "He''s not even thirty years old either!" "Frightening, for an early Nascent Soul Grandmaster to have the power to unleash a Unity Realm threshold attack." "Earlier when I heard Xi Tian-Daoist Xi- said only those who have the power to unleash a Unity Realm level attack to hurt him, I thought he was bragging. But now..." "Right, right!" "That Dong Chifan must have some means then. Earlier, weren''t you laughing at Senior San''s choice of picking him?" "Hmpf, he''s still just a Core Formation Master. The only thing worth mentioning is his spatial techniques. If he doesn''t have that, his martial body wouldn''t be much of a threat in a real fight. I''m more interested in Longwei." "You''re right. I once saw my grandfather''s friend use saber intent. That Longwei seems to have condensed his saber intent!" "Is what you said accurate? I thought he just used a secret technique to increase his power for an instant." "If that really was saber intent, how old is Longwei? For him to condensed saber intent, Senior Brother He hasn''t even finished condensing his sword intent!" "I''m not sure, but he can''t be over a hundred years of age; otherwise, he would not be able to attend this gathering." "He''s talented. Unfortunately, it seems that his brain has some problems." "Why would you say that?" "Do you not have eyes? Earlier, he didn''t bring out his saber intent. But he suddenly brought it out and attacked Daoist Xi. Fortunately, Daoist Xi wasn''t fatally injured. If he truly injured Daoist Xi, his little life will be over. If I didn''t know any better, I''d think he was purposely hiding it so he could kill Daoist Xi in an instant." "You''re right; Longwei''s actions are strange." "But, what surprised me more is that how little injury Daoist Xi took. Longwei already has saber intent. His attacks definitely have reached the Unity Realm. I saw it clearly; even if his robes blocked some of it, Longwei''s saber made direct contact with his skin! Yet, there''s only a minor cut to show for it!" "You''re from the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Do you have any thoughts towards this matter?" "I don''t know. I heard that Senior Brother Xi cultivates the Primordial Heaven Scripture and a martial cultivation technique, but I don''t have any other information. Even within the sect, he rarely moves." "Hmmm, he must be a person who is truly dedicated towards cultivation. Otherwise, at his age, how could he have reached the Nascent Soul Realm?" "Not speaking of his age, just his current cultivation base, he is able to block a Unity Realm level attack and unleash an attack of the same level. Worthy of being the Sword Empress''s son." If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Before, if they felt surprise and appreciation towards Tianyi when he sparred against Dong Chifan, it was because of Tianyi''s mastery of the rare spatial techniques. But now, after witnessing Tianyi''s full-powered sword slash, they fully admitted defeat within their hearts. This was the acknowledgment towards the strong. "Prince Xi, that was awesome!" Jian Wuyan said, her eyes glittering. Dong Chifan didn''t say anything, but his eyes were shining too. "Brother-no, Senior Brother Xi, what attack was that? Is one of the techniques from the Heartless Sword Arts?" Su Bojing asked. Earlier, he had some pride in himself, but after seeing Tianyi reveal more of his strength, he placed Tianyi on an even higher level than himself. Tianyi sat down and shook his head. "No, that wasn''t part of my mother''s Heartless Sword Arts. It can be considered a mixture of my self-created Nine Strokes Sword Art and my cultivation." "Nine Strikes Sword Arts? Are you interested in imparting it to anyone?" Jian Wuyan asked, her intent obvious. Tianyi glanced at her. "Right now, I haven''t finished laying down the foundations yet. Besides, you aren''t suited for it." "Oh." Jian Wuyan instantly deflated. But her eyes perked up when she noticed that Tianyi''s hand that was balled into a fist over his wounds was trembling. "Senior Brother, are you okay?" Even now, Tianyi''s wounds were barely being healed, and black gas continuously leaked from them. But that wasn''t why Tianyi''s hand was trembling. The reason was because that stupid pill was trying to fly into his wound. Having already experienced the greediness of the pill several times, Tianyi didn''t want to let the pill have its way. So instead of focusing on clearing the leftover saber intent, he was grasping the pill in his hand. But despite entering the Nascent Soul Realm, Tianyi couldn''t prevent the pill from reaching his wounds for long. Once the pill broke free, it entered Tianyi''s wound and into his inner cosmos. But to Tianyi''s surprise, the saber intent that had been inhibiting his recovering was disappearing at a noticeable rate. His eyes shone in surprise and appreciation, but that did not last for long because he discovered that the pill was rampantly absorbing the true qi of chaos in his inner cosmos. Tianyi wanted to stop it, but he couldn''t reach inside his inner cosmos with his hands, and his natural control of it wasn''t enough to prevent the pill from absorbing his true qi of chaos. He felt helpless, although he was the master and creator of his inner cosmos, but he didn''t have the power to prevent a thief from stealing it. If he could manifest tribulation lightning powerful enough, he would definitely teach that pill a lesson! Tianyi even ordered his clone to do something, but the clone, having memories of how Tianyi had been bashed half to death during their first encounter, ran away instead! Tianyi wanted to spit a mouthful of blood. He had never heard of such a disobedient clone before! In the end, when Tianyi felt that over half of his true qi of chaos had been absorbed, the pill popped out, and his wounds fully healed. The pill was pitch black, and not a hint of color could be seen. It looked like a hole in reality with how black it was. Tianyi sighed as he placed the pill back into his robes. His mother said that he should continue to feel the pill with his blood and true qi, and the payout would be worth it. Afterward, the spars continued. But just like the previous day with the climax of Tianyi and Longwei''s "spar," none of the following clashes of skills could attract the same attention. Tianyi himself also went up on stage a few more times and properly sparred against his opponents. He felt very satisfied, unlike during the Three Heaven''s Connection Gathering, where he kept being challenged by weirdos. But near the end of the day, a small incident occurred. "Junior Brother, I suggest next time you open your eyes. There are some people you can''t touch!" The speaker was a disciple of the Bright Ascenion Sect; his clothes were littered with light scratches and cuts. And the person he was speaking to was also a disciple of the same sect and the cultivation. But his clothes were roughed, and various scratches and cuts littered his body even worse than the person standing looking down on him from above. Rather than disciples of the same sect, the two appeared closer to archenemies, the either you die or I live type. The fallen disciple didn''t yield in spirit and harshly glared back. "Whether I can''t touch or not, Senior Brother doesn''t have the right to decide!" "Hmpf, then don''t blame Senior Brother for being harsh!" The disciple drew his sword and prepared to pierce his sword into the fallen disciple''s body, but a woman ran up the stage and grabbed his hand. She only had an early Core Formation Realm cultivation and ran up the stage to prevent the senior disciple from injuring the junior disciple. She couldn''t be said to have peerless beauty, but her facial features were upright, and coupled with her milky white skin, she had a clean and pure aura. "Senior Brother, don''t..." Tears leaked down from the girl''s face making her look pitiable. The senior disciple softened his face and sheathed his sword before taking the girl''s hand into his own and walking down the arena. But before one final warning. "Lai Wu, this is my final warning, stay away from Weiwei." Lai Wu only laid there on the ground in a despondent manner. His hand stretched out towards the girl, Weiwei, but no sound came out from his mouth. Tianyi felt his gossipy soul blaze alight. "Brother Su, help me find out what the source of the conflict is." Su Bojing looked surprised that Tianyi would be interested but left to gather information. After bidding Su Bojing away, Tianyi turned back towards the stage but stopped as his gaze connected to a look full of hatred. Who else could the owner of those eyes be but Longwei? His appearance was wretched, and he sat alone with no other people near him. Despite this and his injuries not fully healed, he still had time to glare at Tianyi. Tianyi, in response, waved back in a mocking manner. Chapter 110: Severing Herself from Longwei Tianyi only spent a few moments mocking Longwei. That man wasn''t important enough for him to fully pay attention to. Although, if possible, Tianyi wouldn''t mind ridding the world of another Dragon Emperor Clone. He''d have to be an idiot not to notice Longwei''s disdain and killing intent towards him. Not to mention Longwei''s sudden explosive increase in strength mid spar, it was as if Longwei was waiting for that moment to get rid of him at once! Although Tianyi didn''t know why Longwei had such intentions, that wouldn''t prevent Tianyi from taking action. If he could discover the reason, then good. If not, then Tianyi wouldn''t mind not knowing why his possible murderer wanted to kill him as long as he was dead. Curiosity killed the cat, after all. Su Bojing returned not long after, his face slightly weird. "Senior Brother, I have returned successfully." Tianyi motioned for Su Bojing to continue. "The two who were fighting aren''t just members of the same sect but cousins descended from the same Elder. The one who won and the elder is named Lai Erchu, while the younger one who lost is named Lai Wu. Both were born around the same time and with similar levels of talent, so the two have been rivals since young. Although the two fought occasionally, it wasn''t to the point of fire and water witnessed earlier, not to the point of purposely maiming the other one." "But that all changed when that girl, Bai Weiwei, appeared. I don''t know what kind of illness the two caught, but they both started fighting over her. I really can''t see what they see in her. She''s not even the descendant of an Elder, and her talent is subpar. The only reason she''s reached Core Formation before forty is due to copious amounts of pills." Tianyi raised an eyebrow. "If she''s not the descendant of an Elder, why is she here? As a servant?" Su Bojing shook his head. "No, I heard the two cousins forcefully added her as a guest." "And no one said anything? The two cousins don''t look to have that much influence." Tianyi asked. "No... There wasn''t as much resistance from what I heard." Su Bojing said, finding the situation weird. "Prince Xi, you wouldn''t happen to be interested in her, would you?" Jian Wuyan suddenly asked. Tianyi looked at her. "Not really, I''m just curious." Jian Wuyan still had a serious look on her face. "It''s better to distance yourself from her. That woman isn''t simple." "What do you mean?" Su Bojing asked, confused. "Although I find it weird that those Lai cousins would fight over her, it shouldn''t mean that there is anything wrong with her, right?" "Hmpf, just look over there." Jian Wuyan pointed towards where most of the members of the Bright Ascension Sect sat. Although there was some intermingling between sects, most still preferred to group up with their own apprentice-brother and sisters. "What about it?" Su Bojing asked. "The males and females are divided," Tianyi said. "Prince Xi is wise." Jian Wuyan said, her eyes shining in respect, causing Tianyi to feel awkward for being praised for pointing such an obvious observation. "Hmm, They are. But what does that even have to do with anything about that Bai girl?" Su Bojing said, still confused. "Yeah, I feel the same. Aren''t you too suspicious?" Dong Chifan interjected as well. "Tsk, tsk, women know women best." Jian Wuyan said as she looked towards Su Bojing and Dong Chifan like they were dimwits. "Just look, the girls are grouped together except that Bai girl. She''s standing with the male disciples. Although not all of them are appreciative of her, most still are giving her kind looks. Isn''t it strange that all the girls are distancing themselves from her while the guys all seem to have good feelings towards her?" Su Bojing looked over there and observed closely. "You''re right. But that doesn''t prove anything, right?" Tianyi held his chin and narrowed his eyes in thought. "Before the Lai cousins fought over her, did she have any admirers?" Su Bojing shook his head. "I didn''t investigate that far. I''ll immediately go." "Never mind, she''s not even in the same sect as us. Plus, if she really reached her current cultivation through pills, the world we live in is different. Just an unrelated person, no need to go that far." Tianyi said, although he was interested in the story, he felt that the actual situation would make him question the intelligence of his fellow humans. He didn''t see how Su Bojing stiffened at his final words. "Prince Xi is wise!" Jian Wuyan said. "Honestly, it''s better not to underestimate women. Although a woman may appear like a harmless flower, we all have our thorns. Our hearts remember grudges very well, especially those who slighted us in any way. The more harmless a woman appears the sharper her thorns are. You have to be careful!" Tianyi felt his lips twitch as he stared at Jian Wuyan. The earlier part is good, but why does it seem that you are saying that all women are petty. As a woman, should you be saying those things? Plus, the one who looks most harmless to me is you! Tianyi could still remember the baby-faced girl before him glaring savagely at her opponent with a brutal sword-mace in her hand. See, even Dong Chifan agrees. Look at how he is staring incredulously at you with his mouth wide open! Afterward, the rest of the spar proceeded smoothly with no more interruptions or accidents. Before all of the participants returned to their accommodations, Tianyi stopped Su Bojing. "Brother Su, can you find any information on Longwei. Not the surface-level details, but his whole history." "This, it would need some time and resources. It might not be finished before the end of the Heavenly Connection Gathering; that Longwei doesn''t look simple." Su Bojing said. "I''ll have to ask you to help me get his information. I don''t mind the price." Tianyi handed some pills and spiritual stones to Su Bojing. Strictly speaking, Su Bojing wasn''t actually his subordinate. But since he helped Tianyi so much and acted like a subordinate, Tianyi didn''t mind giving him some benefits. Su Bojing wasn''t a slave or anything, after all. As expected, Su Bojing''s eyes alighted with delight. "Thank you very much, Senior Brother! You can count on me! I''ll do this efficiently and cleanly!"Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Tianyi nodded and bid farewell. He was slightly disappointed that none of the big five sparred, the five being Su Wanyu, San Jiuling, Hun Jusang, Ji Muyang, and He Luoli. But what could he do about it? He also turned in for the night.
"Longwei, that Xi Tianyi is too overbearing. It was just a spar, yet he injured you so much." Ji Muyang said with a sigh as she patted Longwei on the shoulder, her face full of sadness. Longwei''s face sank at Ji Muyang poking his sore spot. To think that a hairless brat nearly killed me! I, whose name once resounded throughout the Huang Realm! He wasn''t confused as to why Tianyi used such a move against him. After all, he tried to kill Tianyi before. How could he not expect retaliation? But what he could not accept was that he was the one who lost the clash. Longwei had far more experience and was the greatest heaven-favored prodigy of his era. Yet, he lost to a person at the same cultivation level. If Tianyi was a whole realm above, he could accept. He would just need to hide a bit and cultivate before returning for revenge. This was a smack to his face. It was as if Tianyi was saying Longwei''s talent was less than his! Ji Muyang looked on coldly as Longwei continued to stew in his own wrathful thoughts. She also ignored the several females who were complaining with her earlier about how Tianyi was too harsh. How was she so blind? How could she think the man before her was outstanding? Sure, he had talent, looks, and some street smarts. But that amounted to nothing when the man couldn''t see the big picture and overinflated his own self-worth. He almost caused her to suffer irreparable consequences. "Hmpf, you have such talent and progress despite being a loose cultivator. That Tianyi must have grown jealous of your talent and wanted to eliminate you before you grew up!" Ji Muyang schooled her features as she ridiculed the brainless broad who said those words. How could she not see that Longwei had premediated the actions that caused Tianyi''s retaliation? The simple truth was that Longwei was weaker than Tianyi and thus, suffered for his own actions. Ji Muyang already planned to sever any contact with Longwei after this. Otherwise, who knew how much trouble she would be forced to partake in? As for before she left, she should take some benefits first. Not to mention all these women that followed Longwei. She was the Bright Ascension Saintness and even hinted at Longwei that she would accept as long as he pursued her. Yet Longwei acted as if he didn''t notice and continued to hang around all these women. Worse, they were all loose cultivators or from forces weaker than her Bright Ascension Sect. She was the most outstanding, yet Longwei continued to string her along with all these women. Did he think she, Ji Muyang, would continue to follow him no matter what? "I think you''re wrong." Ji Muyang interjected. "Xi Tianyi doesn''t look like someone who would commit such an act for such a reason. I think it might be that person who instructed him." "That person?" "Yes, Su Wanyu." Ji Muyang nodded confidently. "Longwei is a genius that comes only once in a million years. I invited him so he would likely join the Bright Ascension Sect. How could the Buzhou Immortal Sect allow such a thing to happen?" "This...would they really do such a thing? The Buzhou Immortal Sect is such a powerful existence. They wouldn''t care for a mortal like Longwei, right?" One of the women from a backwater force asked. The Buzhou Immortal Sect had long established its dominance on the whole Heaven Continent, and not even the Anti-Heaven Alliance really dared too much. It was a towering existence that first-rate forces like them needed to venerate and fear. The difference between all the first-rate sect and the sole hegemonic sect wasn''t just a matter of numbers either. "I heard that the foundation of the Buzhou Immortal Sect was greatly damaged when they fought against the Dragon Emperor years ago. Right now, they are at their weakest point since the creation of their sect." Ji Muyang leaned in and lowered her voice as if whispering some grand secret. Longwei curled the corner of his lips in satisfaction as a feeling of triumph flowed throughout his body. "When a sect weakens and can''t recover in a short amount of time, what is the best thing to do to maintain power? It''s to weaken the other powers. Recently, these last hundred of years, the number of our elite disciples have mysteriously disappeared and never returned have risen higher than before the Dragon Emperor''s death." Ji Muyang continued. The women all gave a look of dawning realization at what Ji Muyang implied. There was a look of uncovering some great conspiracy or disbelief. Most of them still held eyes of doubt, but the seed had already been planted. Naturally, Ji Muyang didn''t believe what she was implying. Although what she said was true, it was only slightly higher than average. The rate of death fluctuated around the average quite frequently. But just this suspicion and circumstantial evidence were enough to make many people believe it. What she didn''t know was that the Buzhou Immortal was indeed behind the deaths of some of the elite disciples of her sect, just not for the right reason. Ji Muyang turned towards Longwei with looks of concern, but the words she spoke only added fuel to the fire. "Longwei, you shouldn''t go look for trouble with Su Wanyu. I know you''re strong, but she''s just too powerful. Once this gathering ends, I''ll take you to meet my master. Once you become his disciple, just stay at the sect for a while and don''t go out, okay?" Longwei''s eyes flashed with anger. "No, this enmity, I will return a hundredfold. So what if they are the Buzhou Immortal Sect, so what if she is the daughter of an Immortal? Anyone who schemed against me, I will return back!" "Longwei, don''t be so rash. Perhaps, this is just me overthinking, and it really was only Xi Tianyi being jealous of your potential." Ji Muyang reasoned, but that only served to aggravate Longwei to the extreme. "No, Yang''er, you are right. The Buzhou Immortal Sect is purposefully eliminating the power of other forces to maintain their control. The Dragon Emperor killed nearly half of their Immortal Monarchs and an Immortal Emperor, so they are at their weakest. I don''t mind them. After all, all powers do carry out these little schemes to maintain power, but since they dared to target me, I will destroy them!" Longwei said with complete confidence. Ji Muyang couldn''t hide her shock. She really couldn''t understand why Longwei was so confident in her lie and why he believed that they really targeted a mortal loose cultivator like him. Sure, people like him who have condensed saber intent at his age are scarce, but not unheard of. Even more shocking was his words of destroying the Buzhou Immortal Sect. The Buzhou Immortal Sect had existed since even before it was called the Huang Realm. Many people and geniuses greater than him had tried to do so, but none succeeded. Again, where did his confidence originate from? It was as if he believed the world revolved around him! Ji Muyang earnestly thanked the Heavenly Dao for letting her see his true nature before tangling with him any further. Just this attitude of never backing down or not being able to suffer a loss was enough to sow enmity with countless people. She hid her smile as she left. Ji Muyang sneered at the women who still stayed in Longwei''s room. Those women wanted to stay in the same room for the night; just where were their pride? The next day, Ji Muyang purposely didn''t visit Longwei in the morning. Instead, she met with Su Wanyi and the other leading disciples as they boarded the Immortal Boat towards Immortal Ironword''s inheritance site. Tianyi was also on the boat giving directions. "Sister Ji, what''s wrong. It''s rare to see you so down." San Jiuling asked. "It''s nothing, just Longwei." Ji Muyang pretended to sigh. "The shock of losing to Brother Xi might have been too much for his self-esteem. Right now, he is constantly in a foul mood and even threw a tantrum. He was such a good seed. I even wanted my master to take him in as a disciple. But judging by his character, his immortal path is unlikely to come to fruition. I don''t know whether inviting him is a blessing or a disaster. Perhaps it would be best for us to go our separate ways." The other three nodded in understanding. Some people were too unyielding and unable to accept compromise. Unyielding is a good trait for pursuing the Dao, but too much will make them brittle. Ji Muyang smiled as she hinted at her severed connection with Longwei. Then she looked at Su Wanyu. Envy, admiration, and hate all emerged in her eyes. The two were nearly the same age and had already met several times at the previous Heavenly Connection Gatherings, but each time she always lost to this woman in front of her. She was slower than her to forming her spiritual core than Su Wanyu. Even more, hers was gold-ranked while Su Wanyu''s was violet-gold ranked! She was slower in forming her five-colored Nascent Soul as well! All these years of one-sided envy had long turned into a habit of finding trouble with Su Wanyu whenever possible. It was to the point that if she didn''t find trouble every time they met, she would be unable to calm down her heart. It wasn''t a big problem, but it was like an irritating itch that never went away unless she did so. Ji Muyang smiled. She had seen Su Wanyu''s eyes of hostility when she first laid eyes on Longwei earlier. So if Longwei found trouble with her, Ji Muyang could expect a good show. She couldn''t wait. Chapter 111: Ironwords Inheritance Grotto Longwei stared impassively at the leading immortal boat. He stood on the immortal boat sent by the Bright Ascension Sect, and around him were several beauties. However, compared to when he first appeared and dazzled everyone with his dignified aura, Longwei exuded an almost frost-like aura. Even the beauties who endlessly flaunted their sense of presence were unusually silent and sullen. "...Buzhou Immortal Sect." Longwei spoke those words in a whispering tone as if reminiscing, but the hatred within those three words was deeper than the ocean ravine. The beauties next to him, although not having comprehended the words spoken, all silently shivered.
"Junior Brother, is this the place?" Su Wanyu asked, the immortal boat having arrived at an underwater mountain with the tip peaking and forming a steep island. Tianyi inwardly released a sigh of relief. The journey wasn''t long, just a few days. But the number of people who attempted to talk to him made him tired. "Yes, the entrance is slightly obscured and can''t be accessed from here. We will have to descend on foot." Su Wanyu nodded. Unless a force guarded it, most inheritance sites were hidden and would only reveal themselves to those with fate. Compared to the hundred or so number from the Buzhou Immortal Sect, adding the members of the other four sects, including the servants, increased the overall number to a thousand. Just that, with so many people, Tianyi had a headache. "Sister Su, although I don''t know the exact limits of the inheritance site, a thousand people going in at the same time is too much," Tianyi said. Tianyi couldn''t see Su Wanyu''s lower face, but he got the distinct impression that she was smiling. "No worries. We already discussed this the other day. We have decided to have a total of two hundred people entering this time. After removing the spots from our sect and our guests, we still have about seventy slots. We will take thirty slots to distribute to promising subordinates and distribute the rest of the forty equally between the four sects." "Sister Su is very thorough," Tianyi said, praising Su Wanyu for her foresight. "Brother Xi overpraises. I''m simply used to such matters." Su Wanyu said. "Oh right, is Dong Chifan among the people selected?" Tianyi asked. "He is," Su Wanyu said. She remembered it quite clearly since San Jiuling even caused a small argument to break out because of it. "You and Brother San both seem to have high expectations for him." "Being able to use a spatial technique at the Core Formation Realm, I''m naturally quite interested. Unfortunately, it was Brother San who met him. I possible, I wouldn''t mind referring him to join the Buzhou Immortal Sect." Tianyi said, causing Su Wanyu surprise at how high Tianyi rated Dong Chifan. "Why don''t you invite him then. I''m sure Dong Chifan would be elated." Su Wanyu suggested. "Haha, don''t joke with me, Sister Su. Isn''t this sowing enmity with Brother San? He already claimed him. I don''t want to steal from other people either." Tianyi rejected. Not long after, two hundred people gathered in front of Tianyi. Even with two hundred pairs of eyes staring at him, Tianyi didn''t feel uncomfortable at all. He was used to it as long people didn''t swarm him. Wanting to get it over as soon as possible, Tianyi immediately led them towards the inheritance site''s entrance. He didn''t remember the exact location, so Tianyi released the Mountains and Seas Formation with a flip of his hand. Anything within the formation would be within Tianyi''s eyes. So if there were an anomaly within the formation, Tianyi would be able to discern it. As he expected, Tianyi found a strange location within the Mountains and Seas Formation. Taking down the formation, Tianyi led the group towards an area that was so densely packed with trees that it did not seem possible to traverse. It only looked impossible to traverse without chopping down the trees. With Tianyi in the lead, he walked through the densely populated trees. After a certain point, the area became a cavern, with the trail leading downward. The journey was silent. Despite Tianyi guaranteeing safety, they were still venturing into the unknown after all. There were incidents where immortals setting up false inheritance sites that were actually traps to lure in victims. So the group did not let down their wariness. But their wariness turned for naught as the group entered exited out of the cavern and into a wondrous scenery like out of a painting. It was similar to when Tianyi entered Immortal Riverrat''s inheritance site, but unlike the dull and almost pressuring location, Immortal Ironword''s inheritance site was like that of a paradise. The sky did not seem to be within a cave and seemingly stretched out endlessly with a sun shining down. The only sign of the falseness of the sky was the stationary clouds. The land wasn''t any less impressive. The rivers, the grassy plains, the green forests, and the sloping hills all generate a pleasant sensation to those that viewed them. And in the center of it all was an eight-story tall pagoda. Those skilled in formations were able to detect that these seemingly random landscape features composed a complicated and powerful formation. Even Tianyi was only able to discern a few mechanisms that composed parts of the formation but not the whole.Stolen story; please report. "From my information, the surrounding area here should contain some natural treasures. As long as you can attain them, they should be yours. But the inheritance is contained within the pagoda at the center. I won''t lead you anymore; I''ll be traversing to the pagoda." With his advanced knowledge, Tianyi had a massive advantage in terms of information. Naturally, he knew what treasures and resources were located here, but honestly speaking, there was nothing that caught his eyes. The items in his spatial ring had more value than anything combined in the inheritance site. Of course, he wouldn''t say such words and attract aggro. Dong Chifan didn''t go to the pagoda in the center and instead sought out treasures with San Jiuling. As a loose cultivator who had not yet joined the Leakless Sect, he still had the mentality of seeking as much wealth as possible. Su Bojing also joined surveyed the landscape. The treasures of an immortal were very appealing to direct descendants of Immortal Elders, much less a person like Su Bojing, who was not directly descended from an Immortal. Longwei also did not venture towards the pagoda and instead sought out the resources within the inheritance site. But not before giving Tianyi one last glare. Tianyi naturally noticed but just internally rolled his eyes in response. If you have the guts, come and attack me, what use is glaring? Unless you cultivate a special eye technique, glares won''t kill anyone. Aside from Tianyi, practically all of them left to gather treasures. He looked towards his left. "Sister Jian, do you not need any of the treasures here?" "I do, but they are just material matters. How can it compare to accompanying Prince Xi for even a single moment? Once we returned to the sect, I''m afraid I won''t have the chance. Ah, if I can just accompany Grand Elder Xi just once, I could die happy." Jian Wuyan said with eyes of delight. Tianyi sighed, once more underestimating a fanatic''s dedication. "Then keep up." Without saying another word, Tianyi began to run towards the pagoda in the center. The formation in the inheritance site greatly restricted a cultivator''s flight capabilities, so Tianyi just ran. But he paced himself so that Jian Wuyan wouldn''t fall too far behind. By the time they arrived, Jian Wuyan''s face was flushed red, but not to the point of keeling over right then and there. Allowing Jian Wuyan to recuperate from her exertion, Tianyi and Jian Wuyan walked into the pagoda, one after the other. What entered Tianyi''s sights was the unaccountable number of books lining the walls and shelves. If possible, perhaps Ironword would have directly constructed this pagoda with books. The air within pulsed with power as a figure began to emerge out of thin air. There was no sensation of life from the figure, but emotion filled his eyes to the point of obsession. His soft green robes and refined air made him resemble a great scholar, but his gourd-shaped head conflicted against the image. Tianyi almost quelled the impulse to shout Megamind and stared at the recreation of the immortal. "Junior, what do you think separates us from common beasts?" The figure started speaking, but his eyes looked straight ahead without any signs of recognition of Tianyi or Jian Wuyan. Tianyi already knew it was something of a recording left behind by Immortal Ironword that would play whenever someone came into the pagoda. "It is our ability to communicate and write! Through words, we are able to create anything. Through writing, we are able to recreate anything: past, present, and future! Words give names, and names give meaning. Nothing is more powerful than this! After coming to such a realization and embarking on the Dao of Linguistics, I created the Eight Strokes Word Arts. Don''t judge how simple it sounds. If used correctly, you can replicate the power of other Daos. If you master this Dao, you instantly master all other Daos! But in consequence, the more difficult it is to learn the Eight Strokes Word Arts. I spent my whole life creating this art, but I have not completed it. It is an incomplete art. Oh, how I regret my uselessness. Perhaps I should have risked it all and entered into the Vast Void and researched the language of the other cosmos. But what use is this regret? I can only hope one of you can succeed where I fail. The requirements to learn my Magnum Opus is taxing. You must have knowledge concerning all sorts of techniques, such as alchemy, formations, sword arts, saber arts, spells, and many more. On each level of the pagoda, there are numerous manuals that I have collected over my lifetime in order to create my Eight Strokes Word Art. On each floor, you must learn a certain number of techniques before being tested on how much you learned. If you pass, you can enter the next level, repeat until you reach the eighth floor, where my Eight Strokes Word Arts remains. If you can elevate it to the pinnacle, surpassing the Immortal Realm and becoming a Divinity is a certainty. Oh, how I wished I could have reached the pinnacle, unfortunately, I could not and stalled forever on a bottleneck." The recording sighed in endless regret before dissolving into nothingness, leaving Tianyi and Jian Wuyan to their thoughts. "Prince Xi, I feel that that the Eight Strokes Word Arts is very similar to your Nine Strokes Sword Arts." Jian Wuyan said. Tianyi nodded and didn''t deny it. "They''re similar and shared the same inspiration. I substitute my sword as a brush and write words to replicate the effect of numerous techniques. Eventually, it should reach the level of replicating Daos, but I am far from that level as I am now." "Wow, so this should be easy for Prince Xi to learn, right?" Jian Wuyan asked. "No, although our arts share similar foundations, Immortal Ironword''s technique is broader and encompasses far more." Tianyi also suspected that Ironword''s Eight Strokes Word Arts was far more incomplete than the Immortal imagined. Back on Earth, there was a significant difference between the two major types of languages: Eastern and Western. Not to mention all the numerous languages that did not contain the same origins as those two. "Well, there''s no harm in learning these techniques. Who knows, we might find some obscure techniques among them." Tianyi said as he began to look for books that might interest him. Jian Wuyan followed suit. As long as it did not hinder them, learning more techniques wasn''t a bad thing.
Within the Buzhou Immortal Sect, Immortal Redseal sat in a lotus position. He had been sealed in an isolated chamber, but it was nothing like a jail. Bright sunshine, clear skies, vast greeneries, and the chatter of animals who have not opened their spirituality surrounded him. Just standing there made one feel one with nature and increase their perceptivity towards the Dao. But Immortal Redseal sat in contrast against all this as if in disconnect with nature. Sporting a dark smile, he muttered to him. "Xi Mengfei, oh Xi Mengfei. You can say that your spawn isn''t a Dragon Emperor Clone, and even I believe it. But there will always be some who don''t. For the Dragon Emperor''s enemies who hated his very existence, just because you say he isn''t, do you think they will care? Killing a thousand innocent rather than letting a single sinner go, do you not understand such a thought process?" Chapter 112: Learning the Eight Strokes Word Art Longwei growled as he slashed his saber out, the saber light injuring the people surrounding him. "Don''t go too far! Selfishly hoarding all the treasure will be your downfall!" A cultivator shouted out as he backed away, a large amount of blood leaking from his chest from the gash created by the saber light. Longwei sneered as he brandished his saber. "If you have the ability, then you take these treasures from me! You''re simply a dog that can only bark with no bite!" Even though Longwei acted arrogantly, he still objectively observed his circumstances. Currently, more than twenty Nascent Soul Grandmasters and ten Core Formation Masters surrounded him. Even for him, fighting against so many people would be taxing, not to mention he had to protect the women who followed behind him. All of the cultivators had unpleasant expressions on their faces. Initially, they had been competing for the Sky Azure Bamboo growing on the mountain, but Longwei had popped out of nowhere and snatched it. Who wouldn''t have been angry? An outsider had stolen the fragrant meat in front of them! "Longwei, just because the Saintess admires you does not allow you to be rampant!" A Bright Ascension Sect Nascent Soul Realm disciple said as he brandished a talisman against Longwei. "Hmpf," Longwei sneered, but his eyes darted around, searching for a figure. He turned towards the closest woman to him. "Where''s Muyang?" "Miss Ji went in another direction when we split up. She said there was a material she must collect." The woman said. Her brows furrowed as she thought of how distant Ji Muyang acted and how she went in the opposite direction. "Forget it, if we can meet up, then good. If not, I''ll just have to comfort her." Longwei said as he refocused on the siege against him. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see even more people closing in from afar. This wasn''t the first time Longwei had snatched treasures from a group and sowed displeasure. He didn''t have time to deal with them one at a time, so he just ran to grab more treasure from another area. Hence the ever-growing size of people who wanted to slice him up into a thousand pieces. Longwei waved his hand, and an illusionary red lotus covered him and his women in a red light that carried them off into the distance.
"Prince Xi, you''ve already learned a thousand techniques?" Even someone who was as fanatic towards Xi Mengfei and, by extension, Xi Tianyi couldn''t contain her surprise at how fast Tianyi grasped so many techniques. "It''s not that hard," Tianyi said, not knowing how many people would puke blood hearing his nonchalance. "At the sect, I''ve read through numerous manuals and learned quite a bit. It encompassed all sorts of fields, so it was easy for me to use my foundation to learn these techniques. Plus, the manuals I read were on a higher level compared to these here." Jian Wuyan nodded in understanding. This was the strong point of having a strong foundation in every aspect. What she didn''t think about was that Tianyi was only a bit over twenty years old, yet he already had such a deep foundation. Luckily, she was still in a state of fanaticism. Otherwise, she would be questioning whether her near forties years of life were spent living for nothing. Tianyi bid farewell and moved towards the testing room. Once he entered, the exit disappeared, and only he remained in the bare room. With no prompting, Tianyi began to use each and every one of his newly learned techniques. With each technique, Tianyi demonstrated, a single step would materialize in the room. When Tianyi finished, a thousand step stairs had appeared, leading towards the second floor. Tianyi didn''t know how much time he spent on each floor on the pagoda, and he seemed to have entered a crazed state, madly absorbing everything he could. With each floor Tianyi passed, his repertoire of knowledge increased without end. By the time Tianyi noticed, he had already entered the testing room of the seventh floor of the pagoda. Entering inside, Tianyi didn''t see any books but a statue of Immortal Ironword. The statue had its eye closed, but aside from that, it looked like the actual body of an Immortal. Only, without any presence of light. "Junior, congratulations on reaching this far. This is the last test, but also the most challenging test. Earlier, you only had to learn and replicate the technique within all the manuals I gathered, but this final test is different. You will no longer replicate the techniques and instead write words using calligraphy." The statue said as it opened its eyes. It motioned towards the table where the four treasures of the study -brush, paper, ink, and inkstone- lay. "You will only need to write out a hundred words. However, you must fully demonstrate the concept behind these techniques with a single word. Naturally, the more you write, the greater the rewards will be. Now, pick up the brush." Finish saying those words, the statue closed its eyes and became motionless once more. Tianyi held his chin as he looked at the statue. He had confidence he could pass the test. After all, he was already accomplishing something similar when he used his Nine Strokes Sword Art. The question was how many words with concepts he could write. What he was pondering on was the mechanism controlling the statue. Unlike in the novels Tianyi read, he had not encountered a single formation spirit or Artifact spirit. If Tianyi had to compare it to something, it would be something akin to artificial intelligence that controlled a machine or tool.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Yet in all of Tianyi''s years in the Huang Realm, not even the Buzhou Immortal Sect had such a spirit. Thinking deeper, Tianyi thought it made sense. A cultivator couldn''t create a new lifeform using artificial means, and a formation or artifact spirit would be akin to creating a new life. Then the statue should be something similar to a machine that reacted to certain conditions, only far more advanced to the devices he had seen on Earth. Even his mother''s immortal artifacts contained no spirituality, just a mere tool. Tianyi couldn''t help be disappointed. Taking some time to compose himself, Tianyi walked up towards the table and started to grind the inkstick into the inkstone. Just from a touch, Tianyi could discern that the inkstick and inkstone were treasures upon themselves. The brush wasn''t any different; although not an immortal artifact, it should be at the Transcending Mortality Realm at the very least. And the paper wasn''t ordinary. Logically speaking, no ordinary paper would be able to contain words that were filled with obtuse concepts from the techniques gathered by Immortal Ironword. Just these materials on the table were the core components to create talismans. Depending on the talisman created, specific materials would be required. But Tianyi pushed that thought aside. He wasn''t skilled in talisman creation, after all. With the inkstick ground into ink, Tianyi dipped the brush into the ink. His posture was perfect and elegant, as taught by his mother. It was a skill that his mother had taught him occasionally when it didn''t concern cultivation. It was something she replicated from her past experience because it was required for her to study the Four Arts as an imperial princess. The first word Tianyi wrote was "chaos", as someone who cultivated the Primordial Heavenly Scripture, Tianyi had a strong foundation understanding the concept of chaos. Not to mention the years of suffering he had to endure because of the true qi of chaos his whole produced as a Core Formation Master. The written word was jet-black, like a hole in space, yet countless tiny motes of lights could be seen. The word seemed to contain the meaning of all things yet nothing at the same time. The paper even seemed to distort under the concept written, but it held firm in the end, and nothing occurred. The next two words Tianyi wrote were "yin" and "yang." Both components of chaos, and each holding myriad meanings. He could write yin and yang down several times, each with a unique concept. This was gained from all the time Tianyi had to balance the yin and yang with his body as his understanding from his sole yin and eight yang spiritual cores. The fourth unique word Tianyi wrote was "lightning." Owing to his Dao Tribulation Lightning Spiritual Root that he had, Tianyi also had a very deep understanding toward this word and could write out several concepts using that word. Next was "space." Having an ever-expanding cosmos within his body, Tianyi had gained awareness of the Dao of Space and the ability to use spatial techniques. Then was "jade." Since his mother had allowed him to refined and gain partial control of the Jade Peak Seal, his understand had constantly be polished with each moment he was connected to the Jade Peak Seal. Like this, Tianyi continued to write word after word, imprinting concept after concept into ink and paper. With each word written, he was like a jade being polished with each word written out. All the theoretical knowledge he had accumulated was being applied and increasing his foundation. By the time Tianyi finished, his whole body was haggard as if he was a mortal who had spent countless days cramming for an exam. Had his body been able to sweat, it would have no doubt drenched his body. In the end, Tianyi had written a thousand and eight words filled with their unique concept. He had written two thousand more, but they lacked substance; the ideas within were fragile and did not qualify. Tianyi forced his strained mind to move his body towards the newly formed door. His mind was no longer able to take in what the reanimated statue said, so he walked past the statue and into the room where the Eight Strokes Word Art lay. The room was that of a study, like that of a scholar. Paintings and calligraphy hung on the walls, showing the owner''s learning, books lined up shelves, and in the center was a chair and table where the four treasures of the study lay. The only difference was that each of them emitted an immortal aura in contrast to the tools Tianyi used before. But Tianyi had no mind to care about this. With swaying steps, he crashed onto the chair and slept. After an unknown amount of time, Tianyi woke up with an indolent yawn. Stretching his sore body, Tianyi rubbed his eyes to clear away the drowsiness. It only took a moment for Tianyi to focus and remember what happened. Tianyi cursed himself for letting his guard down so much, but at the same time, delight sprung from his body as he realized how much his foundation and mastery increased. Next, Tianyi looked around the room to find where the Eight Strokes Word Art was located. He found it directly behind the chair. It was a calligraphy scroll hanging on the wall with four words: Eight Strokes Word Art. But it was no mere words as Tianyi felt knowledge being forced into his mind with each second his gaze remained. Forcing himself to look away, Tianyi studied the room more. Seeing nothing else of significant note, Tianyi directed his gaze to the wall where the scroll hung. "I should give my thanks for this..." Although it wasn''t as valuable as the Spring Autumn Scripture to Tianyi, it was still something that gave him massive gains. So Tianyi kneeled before the scroll and bowed. "Thank you, senior, for this blessing. Although I cannot guarantee to bring the Eight Strokes Word Art to the pinnacle, I will do my best to learn and nurture it." Unknown to Tianyi, the air in the room seemed to have vibrated for a slight moment. When Tianyi looked up, he blinked as he realized the black ink on the scroll had slightly changed. It was still black, but it contained a myriad of other colors at the same time. The four words were still Eight Strokes Word Arts, but the words seemed to have changed meaning yet retained their initial shape with each glance. Tianyi began to fall into a daze as the Eight Strokes Word Art began to transmit itself directly into his mind. Chapter 113: Unscrupulous Longwei When Tianyi opened his eyes once more, his pupils were like a black hole, seemingly able to absorb all things within sight. When he blinked, his pupils returned to normal, void-like pupils with countless motes of light shimmering by and flashes of lightning. Inside his body, his five Nascent Souls had slightly changed. Before, they still seemed quite solid, but now they appeared translucent with slight murkiness within. Tianyi inwardly nodded at the progress; when one''s Nascent Soul was first formed, it holds many impurities incompatible with itself. As one progressed, they shed away the impurity and turn the Nascent Soul into a transparent, glass-like body, known as the Glass Nascent Soul Stage. Only at this stage, the mid-Nascent Soul Stage, was the cultivator able to influence the outer world with his soul alone. The early Nascent Soul Realm -the Translucent Nascent Soul Stage- not even mentioning leaving the body, influencing the external world took strenuous effort. Aside from continually refining the Nascent Soul, the other way of increasing the speed of one''s cultivation at this realm was to improve one''s mastery of the Dao. Although Tianyi hasn''t reached the point of mastering a Dao, his experience with the Eight Strokes Word Arts has strengthened his foundation, which resulted in a deeper understanding towards the Dao. Tianyi''s eyes contained a trace of happiness, finally finding a way to increase his cultivation speed. Not only that, the Eight Strokes Word Arts combined many masteries such as formations, alchemy, forging, refinement, calligraphy, painting, etcetera. Tianyi felt as if he found a line thought to improve the Xiyi Talismans. He shook his head. Now wasn''t the time for such things. Right now, it was better to strike the iron was hot and increase his mastery of the Eight Strokes Word Art as much as possible. He felt it was supremely suited for his current self. Sitting down on the chair, Tianyi closed his eyes and began to ponder on the Eight Strokes Word Art and continually tested it within his own mind. Sometimes he would form his hand into a claw shape with a word appearing on his palm and lash out. Other times he would suddenly stand up and unleash his Nine Strokes Sword Art. As time passed, whenever Tianyi slashed his sword, the faint mirage of a brush would layer over his sword. Like this, Tianyi continually honed himself for an unknown amount of time. It was like endless possibilities had been awoken inside. What he lacked were imagination and time. By the time Tianyi stopped, his Nascent Souls had become even clearer, the impurities within them becoming wispier. He had already reached his limit, turning the theoretical knowledge of the Eight Strokes Word Art into a useful tool for himself. Having accomplished his goal, Tianyi stepped out of the room but not before bowing towards the scroll and giving his thanks once more. Tianyi walked down the stairs towards the lower floors. Since he learned the Eight Strokes Word Arts, Tianyi was no longer restricted by the pagoda and was able to freely access every floor. But to his surprise, Tianyi didn''t see anyone from the seventh to the sixth floor. "Sister Su, Brother San," Tianyi said when he saw the two of them reading through the manuals. As Immortal Ironword preferred books to jade slips, he personally wrote many of the manuals in his pagoda. Jade slips were easier to create and use, but the books produced by Ironword also contained more information and his own insights into the arts. "Junior Brother Xi/Brother Xi." The two greeted him as well. "...you''ve already reached the eighth floor?" Su Wanyu asked, her tone slightly off. Tianyi nodded. "Yes, I''ve learned the Eight Strokes Word Arts. Luckily I had some foundation for it since the principles behind it are similar to my Nine Strokes Sword Art." "Haha, Brother Xi is quite lucky." San Jiuling said, but the seriousness in his eyes sharpened tremendously. He had thought that Tianyi only was a level higher than them. He did not think that he was any worse than Tianyi except for not having an Immortal Emperor level parent. San Jiuling prided himself in his superior soul that allowed him to learn and cultivate faster than his peers. But now, San Jiuling discovered that Tianyi''s ability to learn exceeded his expectation, igniting his competitiveness. Su Wanyu already felt uncomfortable that San Jiuling was keeping up with her despite his lower realm. But now that she learned that Tianyi already learned the Eight Strokes Word Art with only a small head start, she focused even more on the manual before her. Seeing as the two were focused on the trial, Tianyi bid them farewell. When he entered the fourth floor, Tianyi discovered many more people, such as Ji Muyang and He Luoli. However, Ji Muyang''s facial expression was dark and almost ominous. On the third floor, Tianyi discovered Hun Jusang, Jian Muyan, and Su Bojing. However, Tianyi was surprised to discover Hun Jusang on the third floor. After contemplating the situation a bit, he accepted it.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. After all, some people were suited to learning a wide variety of things, while others had talent in one subject. Perhaps Hun Jusang was one of the latter. In actuality, the latter was preferable for attaining Immortality. "Why are there so many people here?" Tianyi asked. The sheer number of people seriously learning greatly surprised him. Su Bojing looked at Tianyi and replied. "Senior Brother, this here is a treasure trove! The amount of manuals here is not any weaker than a third-rate sect. Back in the sect, we would like to pay a high price to learn these techniques. Unlike now, where it''s practically free for the taking! I heard that on the seventh floor, there are even Immortal level manuals! Senior Brother, are you giving up?" In Su Bojing''s eyes, although Tianyi was coming down, he shouldn''t have learned the Eight Strokes Word Art yet. No matter how monstrous Tianyi was, he was still less than thirty years of age, and his accumulation should not be deep enough to learn all these techniques. Tianyi accepted the answer. In the Buzhou Immortal Sect, he was able to freely access the fourth floor of the Immortal Scripture Repository. He had thought that it was expected, but now with Su Bojing''s words, perhaps only he had such treatment. As for Su Bojing''s question. "I''ve already learned." Tianyi left Su Bojing with a bewildered expression on his face. The edge of Tianyi''s lips twitched as if wanting to quirk upward. He didn''t bother Su Bojing anymore and instead went towards Jian Wuyan. After giving her a few pointers to facilitate her learning speed, Tianyi directly walked out of the pagoda. The moment he did, he froze. When he first entered the grotto created by Immortal Ironwood, the spiritual qi was dense, and the land was picturesque. But now, it was as if a war had torn through the land. The formerly almost mountain-like hills were flattened, the rivers dried out, the grassy plains became a barren desert, and much more. Tianyi was speechless, unable to even articulate his feelings. Did he actually spend over ten years in the eighth room or something? Barely stamping down his impatience, Tianyi spread out his spiritual sense as far as possible. Spread thin, he couldn''t detect everything accurately, but he could still detect the intense fluctuations of battle. Tianyi soared through the air to find the source of the battle. Upon arriving, Tianyi saw several disciples battling against Longwei. Of which, the Buzhou Immortal Sect and Bright Ascension Sect numbered the highest. "Longwei, you white-eyed wolf! The saintess brought you here out of the goodness of her heart, and this is how you repay her!?" A Bright Ascension Sect disciple cried out as he unleashed an attack towards Longwei. "Hmpf, after we deal with this bastard, don''t think you''ll be able to leave unscathed after pushing all the blame on him!" A Buzhou Immortal Sect disciples said as he glared at the Bright Ascension Sect disciple. Obviously, Longwei did something to turn all of these disciples against him. Tianyi caught a disciple who was blown away from Longwei''s latest attack. Stuffing a pill into the lethally injured Buzhou Immortal Sect disciple, Tianyi received the general backstory after he healed. Longwei was overbearing to the point of wanting to swallow up all the resources in Ironword''s inheritance grotto. It didn''t matter if someone had already snatched it. Longwei would directly beat them up and steal it. Funnily enough, Longwei even seized the treasure that Ji Muyang was eyeing, causing her to leave in anger. Against this person who ignored the underlying rules, all the disciples grew unable to stomach their anger any longer. Unable to tolerate him any further, they allied and encircled him with the intent of teaching him a lesson and handing over the resources he stole. But Longwei was always capable of running away with his party at the critical time, so some people eventually decided it wasn''t worth it and gave up. Hence the people at the pagoda. The situation remained in such a stalemate, Longwei grabbing the treasures from other people and the people unable to stop him at all. Then he killed a Buzhou Immortal Sect disciple. Not only did this not cause Longwei to rein in his actions, but it only served to aggravate the situation even further. It was as if Longwei shed all pretenses and began to attack even more wantonly, killing even more disciples. When Tianyi asked why he didn''t call the True Immortals from the outside, the disciple said that Longwei had used an Artifact to seal the entrance into the inheritance grotto. Tianyi looked over and indeed saw something sealing the entrance. The stronger disciples such as Su Wanyu, San Jiuling, and Hun Jusang had already taken the treasures they wanted and were undergoing Immortal Ironword''s trials. The people here did want to call them for help, but they didn''t have the ability to pass the pagoda''s trials and reach them in time. After this, Longwei killed a few more disciples. Coincidence or not, most of the disciples who died were from the Buzhou Immortal Sect. And right now, more and more disciples were being injured from Longwei''s saber strikes. Tianyi flew a fair distance closer, without incurring Longwei''s notice. Raising his hand up, power began to congregate on it. First, lightning coated his right hand, the thunderous crackling growing louder and louder with each passing moment. As Tianyi imbued more of his true qi of chaos, the lightning began to take on a black shine as the concentrated power further evolved. Then using the Eight Strokes Word Arts, Tianyi began to ingrain the lightning with the power of dragon slaying. When Tianyi aimed his attack at Longwei, Longwei''s eyes locked with Tianyi''s. Tianyi gave a slight smile before he waved his hand towards Longwei and unleashed the attack. It was like heaven and earth had lost all their shine and dulled into a reality without any color. The very world seemed to have been silenced. "BANG!" The world within Ironword''s inheritance grotto was filled with white. Chapter 114: Leave Your Life Here! It was an all too familiar sensation. All the hairs on Longwei''s body started to stiffen as he felt the danger of extinction. Longwei only had a single moment to glance at the origin where his gaze clashed with the one who nearly killed him mere months ago. Longwei felt his phantom wounds aching just from that single look. But he didn''t have to ponder anymore as his body reactively dodged. But no matter how fast he moved, he was soon enveloped by a brilliant light. Blinded, Longwei felt as if his whole body was encased within an electrical cage. Current snaked all over his body and lacerated with each second. The intent behind the lightning only amplified the burning wounds as it moved to corrode his very existence. Longwei could do nothing but activate every form of defensive technique he had to combat the power of Tianyi''s attack. When the light died down, everyone''s vision returned. ""Mister Longwei!/Big Brother Longwei/Longwei!!!"" Longwei''s women cried out in alarm at his ragged appearance. Gone was the carefree and mighty air that emanated from Longwei. His robe was in tatters, and black blotches continually attacked his lacerations to the point that all blood that bled were disintegrated. Right now, there was only fury and hatred in his eyes as he glared at Tianyi. The women employed all sorts of healing and rejuvenation spells, but they only seemed to break down into qi and fuel the black blotches in their efforts, instead. Worried, the women forgot about the situation, and all clamored around Longwei. "Enough!" Longwei said through gritted teeth. His head was ringing, and the women''s grating voices weren''t helping in any shape or form. The women he brought with him were proud geniuses of their circles but compared to the talented descendants of the first-rate sects; they were lacking in many areas, not to mention those from the Heaven Continent''s sole hegemonic sect. Right now, they were nothing but a burden to the current him, especially after Tianyi''s attack. "You go stand to the side," Longwei ordered the reluctant women. Although unwilling, they all obeyed. They once had the capabilities to stand side by side with that man, but as he grew stronger at an increasingly monstrous speed, those women lost all their luster in comparison. Now, they only hoped to be able to chase his back. "Good, good, you are very good, Xi Tianyi!" Anger and madness colored Longwei''s voice. His aura rose and sharp to the point that all the disciples who had been excitedly encircling him could not help but retreat. Tianyi frowned as he had a bad premonition. Without wasting any time to speak useless words, he summoned numerous spears of black lightning with a flip of his hand. These spears had been imbued with his true qi of chaos and thus had the disintegration effect of chaos. Si-la~~! The spears soared through the air towards Longwei. Longwei stopped whatever he was about to say as he brandished his saber in his hand. He didn''t feel the same extinction and nemesis-like power within the spears, but it was already dangerously imbued with the power of chaos. Longwei''s saber shone with golden light. Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! The chaos lightning spears were all pulverized, each with a single swing of Longwei''s saber. Simultaneously, golden light began to shine from Longwei''s numerous wounds. "GRAAaaaaahhhh!" Longwei unleashed a torrential roar that caused a circular shockwave to disseminate with him as the origin. The disciples of every sect still present, and Longwei''s women were all blown back by the powerful roar. A clinking sound could be heard after the ensuing silence. Scale after scale, Longwei began to be covered in golden scales as his form morphed into that of a humanoid dragon. All this while, Longwei never stopped moving as he moved to strike down Tianyi''s endless chaos lightning spears. Longwei charged towards Tianyi, leaving turbulent wind behind him. His saber gravitated towards the chaos lightning spears, and each swing of his saber destroying one or two or two lightning spears. But there was just too much as Tianyi increased the number of spears. But for those spears who passed through Longwei''s saber defense struck his golden scales. They dented or shattered the scales but never pierced into his body. And all areas the stray chaos lightning spears were non-vital areas that Longwei judged was acceptable. In an instant, Longwei was before Tianyi with his saber raised. Tianyi''s reaction wasn''t slow either, as he had stopped generation his chaos lightning spears and unsheathed his sword instants before Longwei appeared before him. CLANG!!! Once again, the sword clashed against the saber. Tianyi frowned as he felt himself being pushed back. After learning the Eight Strokes Word Art, his techniques have elevated onto another level, yet he was still inferior in this aspect to Longwei. Black gas started to surround Tianyi as his strength and speed increased monstrously. Tianyi tore through the wind as he started to circle Longwei and attacked him from all sides. This was the previous tactic he used against Longwei. Even though Longwei''s strength and speed had increased, he was still unable to surpass Tianyi in speed. Although Tianyi couldn''t deal any actual damage to Longwei, Longwei was entirely hopeless against Tianyi''s speed. "Enough! Do you only know how to use these petty tricks?" Longwei roared out. Longwei swung his saber in a circular fashion and unleashed hundreds of saber qi around him like a condensed sphere. Tianyi had no choice but to retreat away, lest Longwei''s saber qi injure him. In this brief respite, Longwei unleashed a technique created by the Dragon Emperor, who in turn had revised a technique unique to the Buddhist Universe. Dharmic Dragon - Three Heads, Six Arms! Immediately two more faces grew from the sides of Lonwei''s head. On his right was the long jaw of a reptile with greedy eyes, two horns, and trailing whiskers, a dragon. On his left was that of a scale horse with a sole horn and pure eyes, a qilin. That wasn''t the end, as the name of the technique suggested. Two more pairs of arms grew out from Longwei''s shoulders for a total of six pairs of arms. Aside from the golden saber in one of Longwei''s arms, the other five pulled out a saber each, presumably from Longwei''s spatial ring.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Tianyi only took a moment of pause before he circled Longwei once more. But unlike before, Tianyi was unable to even land a nick on Longwei''s body. And in contrast, with each sword swing, Longwei''s retaliation became more and more dangerous. If he wasn''t careful, Tianyi would be injured. Tianyi could discern that not all the sabers were of the same quality. If he could break just one of the saber Artifacts, then Longwei''s attack momentum would decrease by a large portion. Tianyi''s idea was good, but before he could even create a nick on one of Longwei''s sabers, Longwei landed a saber slash on his body. "Kuh!" Tianyi was knocked back several meters before he stabilized himself. His clothes were unharmed, but he could feel the white mark on his skin where Longwei struck. Tianyi only glanced at the mark for a moment before he smiled with bared fangs. He could tell that Longwei had already familiarized himself with his movement. Using the same tactic would no longer work, so Tianyi abandoned all defense like a mad man. Charging with reckless abandon, Tianyi unleashed attack after attack like a berserker. But Tianyi calculated incorrectly. His berserker state only made it easier for Longwei to read and counter his attack. Tianyi was knocked back once more, and the white mark on his body had taken a blood-red tint. Longwei had masterfully landed several saber strikes on the same spot where he had attacked before. Tianyi''s speed didn''t allow Longwe to gather strength behind his strikes. Thus he was unable to slice through Tianyi''s skin, unlike the surprise attack he unleashed during the spar the other day. Since he couldn''t do quality, Longwei chose to use quantity. Tianyi retreated a fair distance away from Longwei and sheathed his sword. He took a deep breath before he enveloped himself with his inner cosmos. To outsiders, it appeared as if he had been consumed by frosty darkness-like miasma. As if ignoring the law of conversation of mass, the dark blob that was Tianyi began to grow and grow until it formed a giant that towered over mountains and seas. The giant had no color but absence instead. But countless motes of lights glittered throughout like the sea of stars and in the dantian of the giant was a giant black star orbited by eight golden stars. The giant wore an imperial crown with regal dragon robes. On its back was a halo of the same substance that constructed the giant with numerous weapons from swords, spears, daggers, and axes to scissors, brushes, spindles, and needles attached to it. Longwei''s felt his worldview being shaken as he saw the cosmos giant Tianyi formed. Rather than a technique performed by a Nascent Soul Grandmaster or Unity Venerable, it was closer to a construct created by a True Immortal. From the Qi Gathering Realm to the Transcending Mortality Realm, cultivators were still mortal and thus under the realm''s control. Because of this, mortal techniques all drew upon the power of heaven and earth from the realm. But Tianyi''s cosmos giant was different. It did not touch the power of heaven and earth of the Huang Realm at all as if it was a separate world altogether. There was no fluctuation of spiritual qi, which meant that it was powered without the aid of the realm. Longwei raised his guard as he faced the unknown. The cosmos giant moved with speed, unbefitting its stature, arriving in front of Longwei in a blink of an eye. With a clenched fist, it struck toward Longwei. Longwei didn''t back down either as he struck out with all six sabers. The saber intent imbued within sliced through the cosmos giant''s fist, but it was like a little ant bite to a man. It itched and stung, but nothing worth mentioning. The fist landed onto Longwei''s body, causing him to spurt out copious amounts of blood from his mouth. It wasn''t just his scaled armor that had been cracked, but aberrations tore at Longwei''s internal organs. "Hah!" Longwei roared as he used a secret technique to treat his injuries. However, it was only a stop-gap effort, and if he didn''t fully treat it later, then a hidden danger would be guaranteed. But Longwei didn''t care at this moment. He had an instinct that if he didn''t cut down Tianyi now, his future path would be in danger of destruction. Longwei decided to gamble at this moment. A red light began to gather and envelop Longwei and drastically increased his explosive strength. The cosmos giant reached back with both hands and grabbed a sword in one hand and a spindle in another. The giant swung the hand with the spindle, and a string sprung out from it. The string became a net and covered the skies, intent on restraining Longwei. But the other hand wasn''t idle either as it swung the sword down as if it wanted to cleave heaven and earth apart. Longwei charged forward, fearlessly. The golden saber intent in all six of his hands began to glow with an unprecedented light as if it wanted to replace the sun. With his first swing, the heaven-covering net and the giant''s hand holding the spindle were destroyed. At the same time, the saber shattered, and Longwei''s hand was unnaturally twisted. His hand had become crippled for the remainder of the fight. With his second swing, his saber clashed against the sword formed from true qi of chaos. After a stalemate of once second, the sword cracked in half before dissolving into black gas. But Longwei''s second arm had directly been destroyed, leaving him with only a stump. But Longwei didn''t care as he charged towards the torso where the nine stars were and unleashed four simultaneous saber strikes filled with tyrannical intent as if he could destroy the realm as it wished. The cosmos giant stilled as if the world had frozen before exploding in a cataclysmic bang. Darkness erupted and enveloped Longwei''s body, continually corroding away at his defense. He had spent almost all of his true qi to unleash that last attack and now only had a single saber left, one working arm, one twisted arm, and four stumps. When the explosion caused by the destruction of the cosmos giant subsided, Longwei stood in the air among the rolling blackness. His golden scaled armor had been destroyed, his hair charred, and burns thoroughly covered his whole body. But a pair of shining eyes remained as he searched for traces of Tianyi. As the chaotic gas disappeared like the morning fog, Tianyi appeared a distance away. His face was slightly pale but otherwise unharmed. But what sent alarm bells in Longwei''s head was the talisman in Tianyi''s hand. But Longwei had no more time to think as talisman activated. A heaven piercing sword qi appeared and soared towards Longwei. Tianyi''s eyes shone brilliantly as he witnessed this, but they dulled when a familiar red light covered Longwei''s body. A red lotus filled with dragon qi materialized in front of Longwei and blocked the sword qi. The sword qi continuously ground away at the red lotus, but as if it had been trapped in a quagmire, the sword qi slowed down to a crawl. Longwei felt sweat slide down his brows. If the Red Dragon Lotus hadn''t automatically activated, then he would have died! And the Red Dragon Lotus''s qi was being drained at an exponential rate. Without immortal qi, it would not last much longer. Although unwilling, Longwei could only salvage his losses and run away. He turned and brought out a carriage filled with relief sculptures of dragons and pulled by two qilin horses without any hesitation. The carriage was an Immortal Artifact, including the two horses. Driving the carriage, he grabbed his women and soared off toward the entrance. And not a moment too soon as the Red Dragon Lotus finally expended all its power and returned to Longwei in a semi-dormant state. At the same time, the sword qi, although heavily drained, pierced toward the carriage. Gritting his teeth, Longwei brought out Immortal qi stones and activated the defensive formation on the carriage. The carriage buckled under the sword qi but held firm. And not long after, it entered the passageway out of the inheritance grotto. Longwei retrieved the treasure he used to seal the entrance along the way as the sword qi finally consumed all its power. But Longwei didn''t dare to lower his guard. He didn''t know if Tianyi had anymore talisman that could unleash attacks on the level of a True Immortal. Just as he broke out of the passageway and prepared to escape, the pressure of an Immortal pressured him into place. "SPAWN OF AOTIAN, DON''T THINK OF LEAVING WITH YOUR LIFE!!!" The attacker was a True Immortal at the cusp of the Seamless Immortal Realm. She had an elfin stature with an adorably beautiful face, but her eyes shone with murderous light as she launched a fatal attack towards Longwei, who had escaped from the inheritance grotto, with all her strength. Chapter 115: Immortal Redseal’s Hidden Move Immortal Concubine Chong was a title created not out of honor but of shame. What glory was there for a True Immortal to be called a concubine? But Immortal Concubine Chong still chose such a title in order to forever engrave the humiliation she experienced at the hands of the Dragon Emperor. When Immortal Concubine Chong had still not transcended her Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation, and even before the Dragon Emperor''s fall, she had been the proud child of the sect master of a second-rate sect. Her father was a True Immortal considered to have half a foot into the Seamless Immortal Realm, and her mother had been a True Immortal. Her parents had been the quintessential example of an Immortal couple, receiving looks of admiration, envy, and hate from everyone. And she, the princess of the sect, was born with both peerless talent and beauty that could cause the downfall of nations even as a mortal. But that all changed when the Dragon Emperor laid eyes on her. The Dragon Emperor just kidnapped her without another word, and she was forcibly made into his concubine. Her life turned into hell. She was an object to be used whenever the Dragon Emperor felt the mood. Even worse, some of the women the Dragon Emperor kidnapped developed feelings for him and even suppressed and bullied her because of her beauty. All this for that scumbag! Immortal Concubine Chong thought them brainless. Just because a man stole your virginity, you fell in love? Where was your pride!? It was only later that Immortal Concubine Chong discovered news of her parents'' death. They had confronted the Dragon Emperor over her and were murdered by him in the end. Because of that, not only did her parents die, but her sect was destroyed as well. It was only then that she tasted the deepest despair for the first time in her life. She did not know how she managed to survive those dark days, but when she regained clarity of her mind, Immortal Concubine Chong swore vengeance on not only the Dragon Emperor but the enemies of her sect who schemed all of this as well. From then on, she used any means necessary to grow stronger. Even going so far as to willingly seduce that bastard. With the resources she gained, Immortal Concubine Chong grew by thousands of miles a day. She even managed to manipulate the Dragon Emperor into destroying the sect that had schemed her parents'' death and sect''s destruction. Sometimes Immortal Concubine Chong wondered if the Dragon Emperor knew that he killed her parents or she was plotting revenge. How arrogant did he believe that a girl would fall in love with her parent''s murderer? From a mere mortal to a Transcending Mortality Sage, Immortal Concubine Chong surpassed even the geniuses of first-rate sects. But just as she transcended her Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation, the news of the Dragon Emperor''s death reached her ears. It was as if the world had collapsed for Immortal Concubine Chong. Her mind had almost shattered as she lost the target of her vengeance. But luckily, there were targets for her to vent on. The women of the Dragon Emperor''s harem still existed. All those that bullied and offended her, she tortured and killed. She knew many of them were forced by the circumstances. But she didn''t care, otherwise, the hatred would fester to an unbearable point, driving her to madness. As for those who were unwilling victims and wanted to escape, Immortal Concubine Chong didn''t keep them there either. Those without a place to return to anymore, she gave some resources so that they could live the rest of their life quietly. But afterward, Immortal Concubine Chong became like an empty husk, drifting around without purpose. That is until she discovered the existence of the Dragon Emperor Clones. Like a woman driven mad, if Immortal Concubine Chong claimed number two in killing Dragon Emperor Clones, then no individual would claim number one. It was also at this time that she chose her Immortal title, Immortal Concubine Chong. It was both a vow and a commitment. She would not change her title until the Dragon Emperor ceased to exist in both body and soul, past present and future, no matter the form. Recently, Immortal Concubine Chong received news that the Buzhou Immortal Sect was secretly raising the Dragon Emperor Clone as a chesspiece and that he would be near the Ocean Lake Region. This information completely enraged her. Of all the people and forces, shouldn''t it be the Buzhou Immortal Sect that hated the Dragon Emperor as much as her considering how much of their foundation was destroyed by the Dragon Emperor? She only half-believed the information, but she was not one to let anything escape her net. So she personally made a trip to see whether the information was correct. But it was only now that she learned that the intellect she received was true. Her eyes blazed with anger as she saw that despicable face of the man exiting out of the inheritance grotto. Immortal Concubine Chong could easily see his ragged state and the intent on fleeing. Her mind only screamed one purpose, slay Long Aotian! "SPAWN OF AOTIAN, DON''T THINK OF LEAVING WITH YOUR LIFE!!!" When the Dragon Emperor was alive, he had heavily doted on Immortal Concubine Chong to the point of transmitting several consummate skills of his to her. This included the Dragon Slaying Saber Art.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. A silver saber appeared in Immortal Concubine Chong''s hand, and a red light covered it as she unleashed her saber intent. Each person would have different accomplishments training in the same technique¡ªthe Dragon Emperor, as the creator, absorbing the draconic essence of those slain by the blade. But Immortal Concubine Chong was different. Her only focus was to slay dragons, including the Dragon Emperor himself! Immortal Concubine Chong had unleashed the maximum effect on the Dragon Slaying Saber Art''s slaying concept at her realm through years of practice. If Tianyi were to witness her technique just once, he would be able to unleash an even more powerful version of Dragon Extermination from his Nine Strokes Sword Art. "Chong''er!?" Longwei cried in surprise when he saw Immortal Concubine Chong unleashing the Dragon Slaying Saber Art filled with murderous intent. Disbelief colored his whole face. Immortal Concubine Chong''s eyes narrowed when she heard Longwei''s words, but her movement did not falter one bit. In the end, Longwei''s chariot Immortal Realm Artifact was destroyed by Immortal Concubine Chong in one strike. He only barely managed to stay alive thanks to the automatic defense system of the Red Dragon Lotus, but the Red Dragon Lotus had to pay a heavy price to shield Longwei. Now it lost all its luster and turned grey, unable to exhibit any of its power no matter how many times Longwei called upon it. But to Longwei, that wasn''t the worst part. He could only stare dazedly at the corpses of the woman who were with him in the chariot. None of them had complete bodies. Like broken mannequins, all their body parts lay strewn across the ground. "Mei''er, Qin''er, Wu''er...!" One by one, Longwei called out their names. His eyes brightened when he saw one of his women still alive. Her bottom half had been bisected, but she still breathed. Blood was continuously being chocked out, but there was still hope to survive. But before Longwei could move to save her, a dainty foot was placed on the bisected woman''s head. Longwei''s widened eyes traveled up the foot to see the Immortal Concubine Chong''s insanity saturated eyes. There was a deafening crack before an even louder crunching sound sounded. Immortal Concubine Chong didn''t even blink as blood splattered all over her face, the sadistic pleasure glinting in her eye increased as she watched Longwei''s pained expression. "Chong''er...why!? How could you do this!? WHY!!?!??" Longwei screamed in a mad rage. The sting of betrayal was like a dull knife carving his heart, piece by piece. "Chong''er? Why?" Longwei asked with ragged breath. Immortal Concubine Chong repeated before releasing a peal of bell-like laughter as if it was the funniest thing she ever heard. Then Immortal Concubine Chong spoke with honeyed-words. "Since you called me Chong''er, then you should have some memories of Aotian. Shouldn''t you know then? Do you really not know?" Longwei''s expression clearly displayed his inability to understand. "That''s fine, keep asking that question in hell. Maybe I''ll reveal it to your other clones one day." Immortal Concubine Chong said as she raised her blade high.
Unknowing of what was occurring outside of the inheritance grotto, Tianyi frowned as he pondered whether to chase or not. He did not have any treasures that would be capable of pursuing Longwei. He did have some movement talismans, but he could only point the direction and did not have fine control of their movement. It was unsuitable for chasing Longwei. Tianyi took a look at his surroundings and the various state of injuries the disciples of the Buzhou Immortal Sect and the four Vassal Sects attained. With a sigh, Tianyi decided not to chase after Longwei. Using his life-preserving measures to chase after another person was not worth it. Longwei wasn''t a big enough threat for him to go all out yet. He summoned the Nine Mountains and Seas Formation with a flip of his hand, surprising all people present. Tianyi didn''t allow them to say anything before the silver sea surrounding the first mountain turned into a silvery fog that enveloped everyone. His mastery having increased, Tianyi began to unleashed the technique that rewound time on all the injured people''s bodies. All the people present watched, wide-eyed, as the wounds on their bodies began to heal at a visible rate. They thought Tianyi was using some secret technique to heal them, and instantly gratefulness appeared in their hearts. But soon, a cry of surprise caused everyone to be in shock. "T-this! Th-this is a temporal technique; Daoist Xi is using a temporal technique to heal us!" "Temporal technique? Isn''t that even harder than spatial techniques?" "Indeed, not even True Immortals can unleash a temporal technique! For a Nascent Soul Grandmaster to use such a technique, the price is definitely not small!" "Many thanks to Senior Xi''s benevolence!" "I will repay Senior Xi''s benevolence in the future!" "Daoist Xi, I will never forget this aid for the rest of my life!" Tianyi found himself smiling in appreciation at the words of thanks. But he soon felt that the debt they felt towards him was a bit too heavy. He didn''t pay any price a tall. He simply used his technique using the Nine Mountains and Seas Formation. The one paying the price was the Immortal Realm formation under his control, not him. And it will only need some time to recuperate and return to full capacity. But Tianyi didn''t say anything. For one, he was too lazy to bother, and number two, having these people grateful towards him and the Buzhou Immortal Sect will only have benefits and no disadvantages. What he didn''t know was Longwei''s viciousness. It wasn''t only because of him killing Buzhou Immortal Sect disciples that made everyone surround him. But he also used several moves that would shatter or destroy many of the disciples'' foundations. Tianyi''s temporal method of healing reversed all those hidden dangers from Longwei''s attacks. After he finished healing everybody, Tianyi returned to the pagoda. Tianyi could sense that the chariot Immortal Realm Artifact Longwei had wasn''t simple at all. There was a high chance that Longwei would be able to escape from the True Immortals guarding the entrance. He didn''t have any methods to communicate with them, so he just left it be. He would ascend the pagoda once more and inform Su Wanyu and have her deal with the mess. And so, after collecting the corpse of the dead disciples, Tianyi and the people he healed all moved towards the pagoda. Chapter 116: A Conspiracy Afoot When Ji Muyang heard of what happened outside, she almost coughed up blood. The Bright Ascension Saintess couldn''t help but recall the words she said to Longwei a few months ago. She had expected him to cause trouble for the Buzhou Immortal Sect and, by extension, Su Wanyu. Still, she never expected Longwei to be so daring as to murder Buzhou Immortal Sect disciples! Did he even consider her position? She was the one who recommended him, so if Longwei caused any trouble, she would be held accountable for part of his actions! The more Ji Muyang recalled how attractive she felt Longwei was and the sweet words spoken between them, the more Ji Muyang felt disgusted with him. How blind must have she been!? "Sister Su, this is..." Ji Muyang said, her throat dry as the stress hammered her heart. Su Wanyu gave a comforting smile towards Ji Muyang. "Sister Ji, this isn''t your fault. Who could have known that Longwei would be so daring as to viciously kill our members for mere material goods? No sane person would make friends with such a greedy fiend. I suggest you distance yourself from him from now on." "Of course, it is as you say." Ji Muyang said, her expression turning better. But in her heart, she was insulting Su Wanyu. What "No sane person would make friends with such a greedy fiend."? She, Ji Muyang, had recommended him for the Heavenly Connection Gathering, wasn''t Su Wanyu indirectly insulting her intelligence? But she couldn''t refute Su Wanyu, that bitch, in any way due to her precarious position. "It''s just a pity. Now that such a major matter has occurred. Everyone will have to have immediately returned to our sect and report the matter to the elders." Su Wanyu said with a sigh. If it was just ordinary disciples, although cold, the matter wouldn''t have been as big of a deal. But the people Longwei killed were direct descendants of Immortal elders. The ramifications were naturally different. Ji Muyang''s face immediately darkened at those words. San Jiuling, He Luoli, and Hun Jusang all nodded in agreement. None of them felt that Longwei''s actions were a small matter. It wasn''t that Longwei''s act of killing the Buzhou Immortal Sect disciples made them think that way, but other factors compounded. First, the Buzhou Immortal Sect had near absolute sovereignty over the Heaven Continent. No force or power would outright dare to challenge them. Even less needed to be said of loose cultivators. Buzhou Immortal Sect needed to consider the relationships between forces before acting, but this was not so for loose cultivators. They wouldn''t even need to consider much to give loose cultivators the death penalty. Longwei was a loose cultivator, and his ending could already be pictured. So what if he had heaven-defying talent? Offending the Buzhou Immortal Sect would be his downfall. Even if he did join the Bright Ascension Sect, he would not be safe. If Ji Muyang was the one to commit the deed, there might be room for negotiation. Too bad Longwei wasn''t the Bright Ascension Saintess or even a member of the first-rate sects yet. Second, many of them had doubts concerning Longwei''s identity as a loose cultivator. There was a suspicion that he was actually the secret disciple of some force, probably from the Anti-Heaven Alliance. Successfully condensing a saber intent didn''t just require terrifying talent in the saber but required extreme honing with a myriad of different saber techniques. It was not something a loose cultivator should be able to accomplish under a hundred years of age, even with a True Immortal''s support. Third, the number of Immortal Realm Artifacts Longwei possessed was astounding. Even a True Immortal would at most possess one Immortal Artifact, but Longwei had three! Three! There was no way Longwei could possess such wealth without special circumstances. This only solidified the people present''s guess that Longwei had a strong backing. It could be likely that he was sent to assassinate as many people as possible to prevent Buzhou Immortal Sect and their Vassal Sects from recovering their strength that was lost against the Dragon Emperor. Of course, there were still many holes in the whole theory. Was it really worth the life of a monstrous genius as Longwei to give up his reputation and risk his life just to delay the Buzhou Immortal Sect and their Vassal Sects? But the whole matter definitely wasn''t simple. At least that was what they all thought. Even Ji Muyang, who interacted the most with Longwei, felt something amiss after Longwei''s rampage. There was a great sense of betrayal in Ji Muyang''s heart as she calmed down and analyzed the situation. Even worse would be the discontent from her own junior brothers and sisters. She did not have time to think about the other sect disciples'' thoughts of her aside from the Buzhou Immortal Sect. She even blamed Longwei for enticing her to suggest inviting loose cultivators to the Heavenly Connection Gathering. All those happy and sweet moments became schemes in Ji Muyang''s eyes. And Tianyi, who contributed to repelling the scourge and healing all the injured disciples, was also present. Even he felt that Longwei had a major backer. This wasn''t the first time he had fought a Dragon Emperor Clone, but Longwei had too many similarities to the Xi Longyi in his memories. Perhaps, Longwei was actually born as the son of some Immortal elder in some sect. And the sect wanted to develop and control a new Dragon Emperor. But the only thing that troubled Tianyi was that familiar red glow. He remembered seeing such a red light on Lei Jingye before. Tianyi recalled it especially vividly because had it not been for that red light, Lei Jingye would not have been able to escape from his hands. Did Lei Jingye and Longwei meet up and fought before? Speaking of Lei Jingye, now that I''m a Nascent Soul Grandmaster, I should cut off our grievances with each other. I''ll start with the Lei Clan and set up surveillance for him. The thought of Lei Jingye dying occurred to Tianyi only briefly, before it was dismissed. Someone with the backstory of a protagonist shouldn''t have died so easily. Members of all five sects all started to evacuate the pagoda, intent on leaving the inheritance grotto to return their own sect and report the matter. With the deaths, all the excitement was instantly smothered as a heavy air hung over the group. But before they could leave Ironword''s inheritance grotto, several True Immortals flew inside towards the group. Their faces became unsightly the moment they heard of the deaths of the Buzhou Immortal Sect disciples.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. But they didn''t have time to stand and worry as the True Immortal Elders all brought their sects'' disciples out of the inheritance grotto. Although, there was a slight delay due to Tianyi needing to retrieve something in the inheritance grotto. The True Immortals could only wait for Tianyi with some annoyance, but the majority of the disciples were very willing to let Tianyi act on his own for that brief period. And so, under the protection of the True Immortals, Tianyi and company were greeted by a savage scenery upon stepping out. It looked like a natural disaster had passed through. "What happened?" Tianyi couldn''t help but let out. He wasn''t the only one, as many of the people who came out had the same question. "Young Master," Tianyi looked to see Elder Meng approaching him. Upon asking, Tianyi finally pieced together the general procedure. After Longwei came out, he was assaulted by a True Immortal known as Immortal Concubine Chong, and she called him Aotian''s spawn. Everyone beside Longwei had died under the woman''s saber. The True Immortals of the five sects were stunned at first, but they immediately reacted afterward. They protected Longwei and fought the intruding True Immortal. Their thought process was that Longwei was still a guest invited to the Heavenly Connection Gathering, and they had to show some superficial effort at least. But who knew that Immortal Concubine Chong would directly scold them? In her words, all the True Immortals present were "filthy animals that were enemy of the world." It didn''t end there as she rebuked the Buzhou Immortal Sect as idiots who didn''t learn from their lessons, wanting to raise a Dragon Emperor under their control. This totally enraged the True Immortals present, and so they and Immortal Concubine Chong fought before repelling her off. During this time, Longwei silently snuck off. And it was part of the reason why Immortal Concubine Chong relented, no doubt, to search for Longwei. Tianyi felt his lips twitching upon hearing the series of events. He wonder how green their intestines were when they found out that they protected a murderer of their sects'' disciple? Tianyi imagined that if they didn''t have to consider the disciples'' safety, they would personally hunt down Longwei. Not only were some disciples dead, but they had also suffered injuries due to clashing Immortal Concubine Chong. Unlike Immortal Concubine Chong, all the True Immortals present were far from reaching the Seamless Immortal Realm. In fact, most of them were longtime True Immortals with no hope of advancing to the Seamless Immortal Realm. Holding his chin, Tianyi thought of the words Immortal Concubine Chong spoke, especially her first sentence. "Spawn of Aotian, don''t think of leaving with your life..." "Aotian...Aotian...don''t tell me the Dragon Emperor''s full name was Long Aotian?" Tianyi''s cheeks began to twitch madly. "That can''t be his real name, right?" After entertaining such a ridiculous thought for a brief period, he thought back on to the main matters. Why did Immortal Concubine Chong say that the Buzhou Immortal Sect was raising a Dragon Emperor Clone to control? Did news of how he almost became a Dragon Emperor Clone leak out? If that was the case, Tianyi quirked his lips upward, then Longwei was bearing his pot. In other words, Longwei was attacked because of him. Just thinking about it made Tianyi giddy at how unfortunate Longwei was. Not only did Longwei get beaten up and was forced to flee with his tail tucked between his legs, but he also got implicated because of Tianyi. Tianyi released a chuckle at that thought. But he quickly suppressed his laughter as his thoughts returned to the main point. It was a bit too coincidental. He just arrived for the Heavenly Connection Gathering, and not long after, Immortal Concubine Chong came with such an agenda. The only person Tianyi thought who would do such a thing was Immortal Redseal. Thinking of the man made Tianyi''s facial expression darken. Was he so doting on his grandson that he would do whatever it took to kill him just because of that one incident? Reigning in his headache, he felt that it was better to be more careful when moving outside of the sect now. First, Emperor Soulfish wanted to kill him for some reason, but now he can''t even be safe within his own sect. Well, that wasn''t strictly true. As long as his mother lived, there wouldn''t be anyone who dared to harm him within the sect. But outside was another matter. From now on, Tianyi would have to be on guard for people who believed that he was the new Dragon Emperor raised by the Buzhou Immortal Sect. This was an open scheme that could not be easily resolved. If the Buzhou Immortal Sect forcibly suppressed the rumors, it would only lead to many people being even more suspicious. And the worst part was that those blinded by hatred would really attempt to kill him. Tianyi had already experienced how hateful Xi Longyi was, and that was only a clone! The real person must have been even more hateful. It was a wonder how the Dragon Emperor hadn''t died before he reached the pinnacle. That was why Tianyi believed that there would be many willing to risk it all to kill him among the Dragon Emperor''s enemies. Killing a thousand innocents rather than letting a single guilty man go free, it was entirely possible for the Dragon Emperor''s enemies to commit such an act. Tianyi could only hope that fewer people believed it. He didn''t know if Immortal Redseal had explicitly named him as the Dragon Emperor Clone the Buzhou Immortal Sect was raising. Still, he felt that his features were vastly different than the Dragon Emperor''s features. Tianyi had to thank his mother for giving him her eyes.
Days after the Heavenly Connection Gathering participants left to return to their own sects, a woman with flaming-red hair and an equally vibrant dress stepped out of Ironwood''s inheritance grotto. Tianyi specifically delayed the group so that he could leave his clone inside the inheritance grotto. Otherwise, he didn''t know when he would have another chance to. "Dong Chifan has already left with San Jiuling to return to the Leakless Sect," Fenghua muttered to herself. "How am I going to catch up and talk to Dong Chifan? Man, main body sure gives hard tasks." Although Fenghua said that, she still prepared to chase after the Leakless Sect''s immortal boat. She was still a clone of Tianyi, and as such, she desired the same things he did. She wanted to discover the truth behind the reincarnators. Juedai Fenghua didn''t use a ship-shaped immortal boat but a shuttle. It bore some resemblance to the jets from Earth. For those that didn''t know of jets, they would just think the shape to be strange. But for those that did, it should be enough to tip them off. It was an unexpected side effect of when Tianyi forged the shuttle. He had originally prepared to leave it to settle in the dust, but it was the perfect bait for Fenghua to use. Spiritual stones could also power the shuttle, so Fenghua didn''t have to worry about draining her true qi dry. And Tianyi left Fenghua with enough resources and spiritual stones to last her until she reached the Unity Realm. Like this, the immortal boat chased after the Leakless Sect''s immortal boat. Chapter 117: Bribery Juedai Fenghua had thought that there was only a slight possibility of catching up towards the departed Leakless Sect members. Not only did she have a late start, but a True Immortal controlled the Leakless Sect''s immortal boat. Honestly, the chances of Fenghua catching up was close to zero. Even if she started following them as soon as they left, the chances of catching up were still low. As for why Tianyi made Fenghua leave a few days after everyone else left? His priority was the secrecy of his nature as a reincarnator. Even then, Tianyi was still worried that someone might notice her existence and link her existence to him. He wasn''t concerned with his secret leaking through his clone. Fenghua could always self-detonate if need be, but the pain and resources he spent to create her would make Tianyi cry. However, reality was always full of surprises. "What the hell?" Fenghua unconsciously released those words when she witnessed the scene before her. The land was covered in scars as if a calamity had passed through. It was not unlike the scenery around Ironwood''s inheritance grotto. No, it was actually even worse. Although the landscape was as ruinous as the entrance to the inheritance grotto, Fenghua could sense that the Huang Realm''s spatial boundary was especially weak here with even a few spatial rifts. She could still vividly recall her main body desperately returning to the Huang Realm from the Vast Void. If it weren''t for a combination of factors working in her main body''s favor, such as the Mountains and Seas Formation and the numerous resources allotted to him, then it would have been likely that Tianyi would not have been able to return and, instead, perish within the Vast Void with no one the wiser. Fenghua originally planned to go around the cataclysmic land, but something caught her eye. With great daring, Fenghua neared the wreckage of an immortal boat. "This... isn''t this the immortal boat of the leakless sect?" Just as Fenghua said this, warning bells rang within her head. And soon after, an incredible impact landed upon her shuttle-shaped immortal boat. The shuttle didn''t even last one second before it was destroyed, revealing Fenghua inside. She didn''t even see her assailant before she was flung towards the wreckage. But before she could resist, a suction force took control of her body and began to drag her down towards the spatial rift. "Goddammit!" Fenghua didn''t even have time to ponder as to who was attacking her as she desperately employed every method within her knowledge to stay within the Huang Realm. But, her cultivation was weaker than Tianyi and didn''t have his unique Mountains and Seas Formation. She only let out a despairing cry as she was sucked into the spatial rift. Unknown to her, this series of events may have actually saved her life. A figure appeared in the air. He did not seem to exude any aura or qi, and even if Fenghua were to stand in front of him, she would not be able to detect him in any way. "That lass got lucky." The mysterious figure said as he looked at the spatial rift with annoyance. If it hadn''t been for the spatial rift, his mission wouldn''t have ended so poorly. He had to return and report this. Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Tianyi''s jerked as he felt his connection with his clone break. The corner of his lips twisted into a grimace. "Young Master, is something wrong?" Elder Meng asked upon seeing Tianyi''s face change. Tianyi quickly schooled his features and shook his head. "No, it''s nothing." Although he said that, Tianyi felt as if his heartbeat was thumping against his chest. There was a whole school of butterflies fluttering about in his stomach. He could not help but keep pondering on what happened to his clone. There was a slight impulse to report that the Leakless Sect''s immortal boat of being ambushed, but Tianyi thought better of it. He didn''t want to explain why he knew of such matters. Besides, with how important the personages on the immortal boat were, news should have reached the Leakless Sect soon, or it may have already reached the Leakless Sect. But Tianyi couldn''t help but question whether or not the attack was directed at him in any way. It was an infinitely small chance, of course. The perpetrator was targeting the Leakless Sect, and Juedai Fenghua could have just been eliminated to make sure there were no witnesses or keep the news hidden as long as possible. Tianyi couldn''t help but overthink whether someone was watching him after Immortal Concubine Chong''s attack. If Longwei wasn''t there, he might''ve been the one to be attacked. With Tianyi stuck in his own thoughts, Su Bojing and Jian Wuyan didn''t disturb him. "Senior Brother, what do you think Prince Xi is contemplating so deeply about?" Jiang Wuyan asked Su Bojing. "Hard to say. As the son of Grand Elder Xi, Senior Brother Xi is on a different level than us. He must know some deeper information. Otherwise, why would that Longwei reveal his strength early? I say Senior Brother Xi had already begun to become suspicious of him since before even the spar. He must have access to more crucial information than common disciples like us. Longwei wanted to strike first and silence Senior Brother Xi, not knowing that he would almost be silenced." Su Bojing whispered. "Your words contain merit. But I think you''re wrong." Jian Wuyan refuted Su Bojing''s words. "Although, I think Prince Xi had begun to suspect Longwei. But what kind of person is Grand Elder Xi? She has a transcendental status within the sect. Unless anything major happens, Empress Xi won''t make a move. Prince Xi must have inherited Empress Xi''s temperament. Prince Xi''s heart is devoted towards the Great Dao. Even now, he must be ruminating on comprehending his own Dao." "Perhaps you''re right." Su Bojing relented. "I heard that when Senior Brother Xi fought Longwei, that spatial giant he formed was magnificent and composed of numerous concepts. I heard the disciples were discussing what they should call Senior Brother Xi." An expression of regret appeared on Jian Wuyan''s face. "Ah...so unfortunate. I was inside the Ironwood Pagoda and didn''t have a chance to personally witness Prince Xi going all out." "I didn''t either. And I only made it to the second level before I was forced to leave." Su Bojing felt genuinely regretful. Su Wanyu was the descendant of a True Immortal Elder, but that elder could only be considered average. The only reason Su Wanyu had so much influence was for two major reasons. One was because she was a genius that entered the Unity Realm within a hundred years of age, and number two was because her master was the Peak Lord of the Flower Mountain of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. For Su Bojing, even though he was of the same clan as Su Wanyu, the resources he received were still because of Su Wanyu''s father. The Flower Peak Lord''s only duty was towards Su Wanyu and not her clan. Before Su Bojing entered the Buzhou Immortal Sect, he was the greatest genius of his generation. He outshone his fellow siblings and cousins, but when he entered the Buzhou Immortal Sect, it turned out that he was only average. Su Bojing had some feelings of jealousy towards Su Wanyu. Being born to an Immortal Elder, she could directly enter the sect even if her potential wasn''t good and had many things he had to fight for. But it was also because of her that he gained a lot more resources than he could access before.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. So Su Bojing especially treasured this opportunity to enter the True Immortal inheritance grotto. At first, he had attempted to gather some treasures himself, but his strength wasn''t enough. His cultivation and techniques were weaker than others, and he didn''t have the same quality of Artifacts either. Having given up on competing for treasures, Su Bojing thought at least he could learn some techniques from the pagoda. But it turned out that luck wasn''t on his side. Before he could even access the more esoteric manuals, he was forced to leave because of Longwei''s actions. The two continued to discuss the recent happenings, leaving Tianyi alone to his thoughts. When the immortal boat arrived at the Buzhou Immortal Sect, Su Wanyu and the True Immortal Elders went to report the events that had occurred. On the other hand, Tianyi bid farewell to Jian Wuyan, Su Bojing, and the others who would say to invite him to their place in thanks before returning to Jade Peak. "You''re back, Yi''er." His mother had appeared at the foot of the mountain to receive him. "I''m back, mother," Tianyi said with a slight smile. The trip that should have only lasted one month at most lasted over several months because he had revealed Ironwood''s inheritance grotto''s location. The edge of Mengfei''sl lips quirked upwardly without her control as she hugged Tianyi, who hugged back in return. "How were these few months? Have you eaten well? I feel that you''ve gotten skinner." Tianyi helplessly smiled. "How could I? I''m a Nascent Soul Grandmaster. Even if I actually did not eat for several months, I won''t lose any weight at all." The next day Tianyi visited his cousin, Xi Ri, and left after a few words. But not before leaving a few manuals he copied from Ironwood''s inheritance that he felt were suitable for his cousin. Xi Ri had successfully entered the Spiritual Altar stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm, and there didn''t seem to be any bottleneck for him to enter the Spiritual Crucible stage. Within five years, by Tianyi''s estimate, his cousin should be prepared to enter the Core Formation Realm. And when he returned to Jade Peak, another piece of news awaited him. "That''s great. You''re going to enter the Core Formation Realm soon. If you don''t have a Lifebound Artifact ready, how about I forge one for you?" Tianyi asked, finally seeing a chance to establish his prestige as a senior brother to Daoyi. To his dismay, he discovered that he was still shorter than Daoyi. "That''s okay. Master has already prepared a Lifebound Artifact for me." Daoyi said with a smile. Tianyi looked towards his mother to see her nod. He could only regretfully rein in his desires. He knew that something he prepared against his mother, who was an Immortal Empress, was woefully inadequate in comparison. And even if he had the face to ask, his mother would still reject Tianyi''s request. It didn''t matter if he was her son or not, but a Lifebound Artifact was crucial to a cultivator''s future. So she would not relent to Tianyi on this matter, no matter what. For the next few days, his mother did not cling to him like before he left. Instead, she focused on Daoyi and made sure of her chance of ascending to the Core Formation Realm. Tianyi only felt this was right. After all, his mother and Daoyi were master and disciple. Tianyi busied himself with a thought experiment. He had gained numerous insights and ideas from the Eight Strokes Word Art, and right now, it was perfect for him to test it. The first subject he performed was the formation cards. Going by the rules of a particular card game from his life on Earth, Tianyi created a new set of Formation Cards. Unlike before, the formations weren''t only used on the cards themselves, but also the sequence of activation. With the new formation cards, depending on the order in which the cards were used, the end effect would differ. In other words, Tianyi made a combo system for his Formation Cards. Honestly, the only advantage of such a system would be saving resources for the cards'' production and the numerous effects you could unleash depending on the combo. It was still much more efficient to use a single card of the same power than going through all that trouble. Still, it was only a thought experiment for Tianyi. After testing and creating the new Formation Cards, Tianyi felt his understanding of formation deepening and increasing. This included how he could link other techniques into formations. The next thought experiment consisted of a simple equation that was very famous back on Earth. E=MC^2 Tianyi recalled how Zhou Erlian, the younger brother of Evil Wind Flower Picker Zhou he had killed using his wealth as a Foundation Establishment Disciple, had self-detonated. Honestly, for a pseudo-Venerable, Tianyi felt that the self-detonation was quite weak. And with the creation of his clone, he felt the need to create a better self-detonation technique. But the creation progress turned out to be more challenging than Tianyi expected. He understood the concept of how matter related to pure energy on paper, but he needed to ruminate on the concept more as well as discover a way to turn the idea into reality. "If I could discover a way. Back on Earth, I''d need to start up a new energy company and become rich and famous." Tianyi chuckled to himself. But before he could complete it, a surprising visitor appeared. "Greetings, Sect Master Xia," Tianyi said with a bow. "My mother is currently busy with Junior Sister Jiang''s upcoming Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation. I will send a message to her right now." Sect Master Xia waved his hand in an amicable matter. "No need, I already greeted her before coming here. I''m here for you, little Tianyi." "Matters concerning me?" Tianyi said, unsure of what needed Sect Master Xia to visit him personally. But then he recalled the maters of Longwei and the person who wanted to kill him. "I heard what happened from little Su. I had not thought that it would be possible for such a thing to happen. First, for that loose cultivator Longwei to kill our sect disciples. Had you not been there, then our losses would have been even worse. Naturally, the sect needs to reward such contributions." "I was doing my duty, having grown up in the sect, I have received a lot of aid," Tianyi said, but not refusing the reward either. "Your loyalty to the sect could not be more evident. It''s just that..." Sect Master Xia paused for a moment before continuing speaking. "It seems that there are unsavory rumors concerning our sect''s stance towards the Dragon Emperor Clones. Do you know about the Dragon Emperor?" Tianyi nodded. "My mother explained to me." "Good. Then you should know that there have been cases of forces raising a Dragon Emperor Clone to utilize his power. But such schemes are something our sect has never pardoned. We have forbidden those under our power to do so. But it seems that there are rumors concerning the sect that says otherwise." Sect Master explained. "There are rumors that the Buzhou Immortal Sect is trying to raise a Dragon Emperor Clone?" Tianyi questioned, but it was more of a statement. Sect Master Xia nodded. "Where would the rumors have come from?" Tianyi asked. Sect Master Xia shooked his head. "We are still investigating the matter. But the investigation has led to some links to members of our sect." That confirmed it for Tianyi. Who else would want him dead but Immortal Redseal? Lovespot probably wanted him dead, but he didn''t have the power to. "You should be careful when leaving the sect." Sect Master Xia said heavily before changing the topic. "The sect has decided to bestow you the chance to enter the seventh level of the Immortal Scripture Repository and select a technique of your choosing." Tianyi felt his lips twitch. "Does my mother know?" Sect Master responded negatively. This is a bribe, isn''t it? Sect Master Xia doesn''t want me finding trouble with Immortal Redseal, or, rather, my mother finding trouble. Even if my mother does find trouble with him, I can''t say how the results would turn out. Aside from Lovespot, Immortal Redseal has been pretty spotless. I''m not even sure this matter can be fully linked to him. Who knows, maybe the investigation will clear his name. And most importantly, nothing has happened to me yet. Just like back on Earth, the punishment for the crime of attempted homicide and actually homicide were different. I also don''t know how much Sect Master Xia knows. From what my mother told me, Immortal Redseal and Sect Master Xia were staunch allies. He calls me little Tianyi and has seen me grown up, but compared to the life of an Immortal, these years with me should just have been a blink of an eye. Compared to uncertainties, it''s better to grasp all advantages, although... Tianyi smiled towards Sect Master Xia. "There is a technique that catches my eye on the seventh level of the Immortal Scripture Repository. But I also have my eye on another technique, the Three Union Lifebound Weapon technique. My junior sister is prepared to form her Spiritual Core, so it would be quite beneficial for her to learn it. But I can only choose one, what a conundrum." Tianyi crossed his arms and pretended to be frustrated over the matter while looking at Sect Master Xia. Sect Master Xia found himself speechless for the first time in ages. He shook his head and relented. This matter already had him at a disadvantage from both the objective and moral standpoint. So he acquiesced to Tianyi''s unsaid questin. "Many thanks, Sect Master Xia." Chapter 118: Daoyis Spiritual Beast A few days after Sect Master Xia left, a Unity Realm Elder came over with two jade slips. Since this was sort of an under-the-table deal, it was better to have fewer people know. Tianyi entering the seventh level of the Immortal Scripture Repository would be recorded down. Hence, the delivery. Tianyi inspected both jade slips; one contained the Three Union Lifebound Weapon Manual, while the other held the Heavenly Truth-Seeking Eye Technique. The Three Union Lifebound Weapon Manual was naturally for Daoyi, while what he wanted was the Heavenly Truth-Seeking Eye Technique. In the legend of the Monkey King, Sun Wukong learned the Seventy-Two Earthly Transformation Art was able to transform himself into a myriad of objects and beings under heaven. He was virtually incapable of being discovered by anyone except the Erlang Shen, the divinity of purity and decency, and legendary demon slayer. Born Yang Jian, Erlang Shen was the nephew of the Jade Emperor. Aside from being famed as Heaven Equalling Great Sage''s equal, Erlang Shen possessed three premier techniques. The first was the Trident Spear Divine Art, named after the Three-Pointed Double-Edge Spear wielded by Erlang Shen. The second premier technique of Erlang Shen was his Nine Revolution Divine Skill. This defensive art allowed the user to possess a divine body impervious to all manner of artifacts and spells. But perhaps, Erlang Shen''s most famed technique was his Heavenly Truth-Seeking Eye. It was this exact skill that allowed Erlang Shen to perceive Sun Wukong''s whereabouts and pursue him to the ends of the Earth. The Heavenly Truth-Seeking Eye was supposedly an innate ability that was born to Yang Jian, so Tianyi had been greatly surprised to see the manual for it. Had he not been so desperate for a soul cultivation method, Tianyi would have chosen this art. Tianyi curbed his desire to immediately train in the Heavenly Truth-Seeking Eye and went to look for his mother and Daoyi. When he found them, he saw them in a clearing with abundant spiritual qi. His mother was helping Daoyi set up a defensive formation to transcend her Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation. Although the grass was verdant and the trees were vibrant, Tianyi couldn''t help but get a ghostly feeling that tingle on his skin. But he figured it was his own imagination since neither Daoyi nor his mother seemed to feel differently. However, his mother was strangely standing a fair distance away from Daoyi. Tianyi didn''t think much of it as he walked closer until he felt a chilling sensation, like needles pricking his skin, crawling up his spine, then up his arms. Tianyi rubbed his arms in an attempt to warm up, not thinking of the strangeness until he felt his hand touch a smooth and round object. Looking at his arm, Tianyi''s mind blanked as he took in the sight of it. It had an inorganic crystal ball for an abdomen. Inside the crystal ball were countless silver streams circling around an argent orb, greatly resembling a galaxy. Attached to the crystal ball was the central body, with eight glittering eyes and eight silver legs. A sound that should have never come from a man was released from Tianyi as he flung his arm up and down, attempting to throw off the creep crawly off his arm. Seeing the spider still clinging on, Tianyi hardened his heart as his free hand formed a flat blade. Before he could lop off his own arms, he heard Daoyi''s voice calling out. Like an obedient dog, the spider dropped off of Tianyi and started to crawl towards Daoyi, and once it was standing in her palm, it began to sway back and forth like a dog wagging its tail. "Good girl, you''re such a good girl~! Aren''t you?" Daoyi cooed to the abomination. "D-Daoyi, what is that?" Tianyi said as he pointed at the spider with shaking fingers. "You mean Shuijing?" Daoyi said, gesturing towards the spider in her hand. "It''s the spiritual beast egg you got me during our time at the Fleeting Mist Sect." "That''s what hatched from that egg? Why is it a spider of all things?" Tianyi said, disbelieving his horrid luck. He hated cockroaches the most, followed by spiders. "Strictly speaking, the spiritual beast in Daoyi''s hand isn''t a spider. It simply took the form of the spider because that is what Daoyi wished for." Mengfei said as she appeared behind Tianyi, almost as if she was using his body to shield her from the spider. "Daoyi''s spiritual beast''s true name should be Dreamsilk Weaver Beast, a rare spiritual beast that rarely appears. Our sect has only notes of its existence." "I-I see. So Junior Sister wanted a spider as your spiritual beast." Tianyi said. "Yeah, originally I asked Master if the Tamer Vice Hall had any spider-type spiritual beasts. But a few things happened, and the matter wasn''t mentioned again. But at the Fleeting Mist Sect, Senior Brother stole the egg from Second Sister and gave it to me. I originally thought that since Senior Brother already got me a spiritual beast egg, I would accept whatever came out. But who knew I would be so lucky?" Daoyi said with a happy smile. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Tianyi blamed all this on Jiang Chunye. If she hadn''t stolen the Dreamsilk Weaving Beast egg, then none of this would have happened. "Daoyi''s luck is indeed quite good. The Dreamsilk Weaving Beast can be considered a spiritual beast that focuses on aspects of the soul. With it, Daoyi''s future cultivation will be smoother." Mengfei said, but she still stared warily at the spider in Daoyi''s hand. "Yi''er, for you to come here suddenly, is there something wrong?" Making sure to keep a fair distance away from the Dreamsilk Weaving Beast, or Shuijing as Daoyi called it -seriously, why would she name it crystal- Tianyi explained the reason why he was here. Of course, he included why Sect Master Xia bribed him with two valuable techniques. As expected, Mengfei''s face hardened and prepared to confront Sect Master Xia on his actions, but Tianyi stopped her and convinced her not to take any action, for now. The debt between them and Immortal Redseal would one day be paid. "Since Daoyi will be able to refine three Lifebound Artifacts, she should have one of each type. I already prepared an attack-type Artifact for Daoyi. I will need to prepare a defensive-type and support-type Artifact now." Mengfei said while holding her chin in her fingers. She broke out of her thoughts to see Tianyi''s sparkling eyes. Mengfei blinked, unsure of what Tianyi wanted. Daoyi looked at Tianyi, then at Mengfei before looking back at Tianyi. Thinking about Tianyi''s disappointment a few days before, she couldn''t help but chuckle. "Master, how about letting Senior Brother forging one of my Lifebound Artifacts? I wouldn''t want to trouble Master too much with my problems. Since Senior Brother is the one who created the problem, why not let him bear some of the burdens?" "Are you sure?" Mengfei asked as she looked Daoyi in the eye. Daoyi likely nodded with a benevolent smile. Mengfei relented. "Alright, Yi''er, I''ll forge Daoyi''s defensive Artifact while you forge her auxiliary Artifact," Mengfei said. At the very least, this way, Daoyi wouldn''t be affected by the disparity between her three Lifebound Artifacts. An auxiliary Artifact wasn''t as important as attacking and defensive Artifacts. "Don''t worry, Junior Sister, I will forge the best auxiliary Artifact you''ve ever seen," Tianyi said, excitement coloring his voice. "I believe in you, Senior Brother," Daoyi said as she stepped next to Tianyi, highlighting her superior height, much to Tianyi''s dismay. The first thing Tianyi did before starting on forging an Artifact for Daoyi was to ask what Artifact his mother prepared for Daoyi. Mengfei had already prepared an attack-type Artifact in the form of guqin. She planned to refine a dress using numerous treasures and dreamsilk from the Dreamsilk Weaving Beast. This way, the dress would be able to block both physical and soul attacks. With this information in hand, Tianyi left to design Daoyi''s Artifact. Daoyi will already have a guqin as her primary method of attack. Mom says she will make a defensive Artifact for Daoyi. So what kind of Artifact can I make for Daoyi? Shoes? Nah, she already has them, although I might need to make new ones. But shoes just feel... inadequate? Although some people do say, shoes are a women''s best friend. Something unique of Earth make? Too risky, I can''t and won''t make anything until I test Xi Ri, and I''ll test Xi Ri after my clone acquires the information from Dong Chifan. Now that I think about it, I recall Daoyi was interested in an earring. Tianyi searched inside his spatial ring and brought out a crystal earring that shone like moonlight. He recalled that Daoyi especially liked the earring but didn''t buy it because the price was too high. He had secretly purchased it, intending it to be a gift for her, but it was forgotten after the Daoist Lu''s incident. Observing the earring, Tianyi felt inspiration strike him as his face reflected off of the crystal. Tianyi didn''t know how long he spent working on the auxiliary Artifact. As if obsessed, he burnt through countless materials experimenting with making the perfect earring-shaped Artifact, at least the most perfect he could make at his current state. By the time he was done, there was quite literally a small mountain of failed earrings beside him. "Ah crap, I went overboard again." Tianyi said. When he got into something, he ignored everything around him and only focused on it, screw the consequences. But at least he made the perfect earring-shaped Artifact. He tried not to think about the cost spent forging it, probably several Immortal Realm Artifacts worth of materials if he wasn''t lucky. But Tianyi smiled with delight as he observed the earring in his hand. The silver-white crystal appeared to be crystallized from pure moonlight, but there was a lotus scent wafting from it. Attached to it was a silver chain connecting to a feather-shaped hairpin. The feather was snow-white and used the Craneswan feather as the base. Tianyi could sense powerful true qi emanating from it. The feather had the effect of generating its own true qi and supporting the bearer with it. Unlike his own chaos true qi that was too dominating and corrosive to most people, the feather generated clear true qi. Although common, its most significant advantage was its gentleness and its potential to be assimilated by other types of true qi. The lotus scented earring, on the other hand, nourished the soul. Tianyi could perceive that it was based on the Lotus Soul Ascension Art. If the soul was damaged, it even had the effect of healing it. There was only one problem. "How did I make this?" Tianyi asked. His memories of the past few days or even months were fuzzy. He felt like he would have bags under his eyes if it was possible for his body. And upon closer inspection of his body. "Huh, I''m a mid-Nascent Soul Grandmaster now." Chapter 119: Nuclear Self-Detonation "Thank you very much, Senior Brother. I really like it." Daoyi gave a dazzling smile that blinded Tianyi''s eyes. As the disciple of Xi Mengfei, her views had been broadened considerably since her times a concubine-born daughter of a duke''s family. So with a single glance, she could discover the extraordinariness of the Artifact in her hand. So she could tell that it was extraordinary even as a Foundation Establishment Formation Artifact. The first Artifact forged by Mengfei had also been a Foundation Establishment Artifact. Originally, having used Immortal Realm materials, the rank of the Artifact should have been much higher. But taking into consideration that Daoyi couldn''t handle an Immortal Realm Artifact, especially as a Lifebound Artifact, Mengfei had forcibly downgraded the rank. In the future, just by raising her cultivation, Daoyi''s Lifebound Artifact would rise in rank with just a simple refinement from Daoyi. "It''s nothing much," Tianyi said, averting his eyes. Daoyi thanking him like this made him feel a bit embarrassed. He had pretty much stolen the slot to create one of her artifacts for his personal satisfaction, so the pure admiration and gratitude in those eyes were incredibly piercing. "Hmmm, this..." Daoyi inspected the silver earring closer, find the shape familiar. "I based the shape on the earring you were looking at when we toured the city outside the sect," Tianyi said as he handed Daoyi the blue crystal earring. "I bought it that day, and I wanted to give it to you. But I forgot about it after our encounter with Daoist Lu." "This?" Daoyi took a moment to recall that insignificant memory. "Senior Brother, it''s just an earring. You didn''t need to." "Yeah, I know. But I want to do something for you." Tianyi said before his face flushed at the easily misunderstood words. "As you senior brother! Not as a... you know." The more Tianyi said the redder his face became. Finally, he covered his face with his hands, showing none of the dependability he tried to portray. In response, Daoyi gave a bell-like laugh. "Senior Brother is very cute. Maybe I should call you Junior Brother from now on." Daoyi teased. "No, no, no!" Tianyi said with his hands crossed in front of him. "I''m not giving up this position no matter what." "It''s very good," Mengfei said when she inspected the earring Artifact. Had it not been to her standards, she would have made Tianyi forge another one. And if Tianyi couldn''t make one to her standards, she would have forged one herself. But luckily, Tianyi was able to forge one that met her standards. Still, Mengfei decided to refine the Artifact. Tianyi''s methods were innovative but unrefined. After dropping off the Artifact, Tianyi returned to his abode in order to continue creating the E=MC^2 Self Detonation Technique. But not before making sure to tell them to keep him up to date on Daoyi''s Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation. He did gain some unique insights when he was a trance crafting Daoyi''s Artifact, but that was not at all related to converting matter to energy. Tianyi was not making much progress on converting matter into pure energy, so he tried to think of a different way to approach the problem. Why not try converting pure energy into matter? He already had a good source of energy to work with. With a flip of his hand, the lightning storage capsules appeared all around him. Although lightning wasn''t pure energy and was an ionized state of gas known as plasma, it was an excellent place to start. Since plasma is a state even above a gas, then he had to compress it. Matter changes with temperature, but it also changed with the distance between the molecules. And now Tianyi was simply forcibly compressing the lightning into a solid state. It took a lot more energy than he had expected. Tianyi looked at the golden cube between his fingers. Once he got it into the solid state of matter, maintaining it was simple. He recalled that when the bonds within an atom were split, a large amount of energy was released. And in reverse, it took energy to form bonds. A nuclear fission reactor was powered by breaking the atomic bonds. Tianyi felt like slapping his face. Why couldn''t he recall this information? It was like he was trying to solve the issue by going an unnecessarily convoluted route. "Well, time to follow Occam''s Razor now." Tianyi muttered to himself. Although he found a correct method, saying and doing were two completely different actions. Still, Tianyi never expected that science from Earth would aid him so much. Perhaps he should try to apply more scientific knowledge in the future. He had thought that science wouldn''t work since he was in a different universe altogether, but he was obviously wrong. Perhaps, science can even correlate to the Great Dao.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. A few weeks later... "KABOOOOOM!!!!!!!!" Tianyi walked out of the giant wreckage with soot and dust all over his body. If he needed to breathe, he would have been hacking all over the place. "On second thought, testing out the technique in such close proximity was a bad idea." He then looked at the crater he was in. "And inside my own house too. F@#K!" After spending some comforting his mother that: yes, he was completely okay, and no, this wouldn''t again. He was just careless this one time, thank you very much. Oh, the irony. Tianyi felt sorry for the people who would have to rebuild his house, but hey, he wasn''t an architect nor a builder. Not that it would be hard to learn with him at the Nascent Soul Realm, but leaving it to the experts would be better. Plus, he needed a new house anyway. This time, this new house should last him till the Transcending Mortality Realm, according to his mother. But at the very least, he completed the preliminary foundation for his new self-detonation technique. But it needed a long to accumulate since he needed to break the bonds of as many atoms as possible at the same time. Just breaking one or two atoms wouldn''t suffice. And there was a problem if the enemy could somehow negate or absorb the pure form of energy. So he would need to add another layer of technique to convert the energy to something more lethal. Tianyi slapped his face as a thought occurred to him. "Frick! I just planted another flag for me to turn in a bomb!" Oh well, at the very least, his new technique should be finished. It was the most powerful it could be, but for its current power, even a Unity Realm Venerable should fear dying to a Nascent Soul Grandmaster should they use the technique. And no he wasn''t testing the technique by self-detonating, he was testing it using a puppet with a false Spiritual Core. He wasn''t suicidal. He already had enough of being a ticking time bond when he was in the Core Formation Realm. Ironically, he was purposely creating a technique that would turn him into the bomb. Another good piece of news came as Su Bojing visited him. It was a bit awkward to receive Su Bojing at the Jade Peak Palace, but Tianyi pretended nothing had happened to his house to the clueless Su Bojing. The reason for Su Bojing''s appearance was because of the matter entrusted by Tianyi during the Three Heavens Connection Gathering. But the files received on Longwei were surprisingly thick with little information. It was like Longwei had suddenly appeared out of thin air with no rhyme or reason. His first confirmed appearance was a few years ago. He had already entered the Core Formation Stage at that point and displayed frightening prowess above his realm. But his origins were unclear. "That loose cultivator Longwei is very strange. There are sightings of people with the same appearance as him all over the Heaven Continent, so we aren''t clear what region or even force he is from. Our investigation hasn''t brought many results." Su Bojing said. Tianyi nodded. He hypothesized the documents were censored to leave sensitive information on the Dragon Emperor''s Clones out. The investigation also reported that Longwei visited many regions where sightings of people with the same appearance appeared. So, it was unsure where Longwei originated from. But if Tianyi had to guess, then Longwei was hunting down and absorbing the soul fragments of the Dragon Emperor Clones. On another note, the report had detailed information starting from a few years back because that was when Longwei got his first harem member. With the women following him, it was much easier to trace Longwei''s path. Tianyi could only stare dazedly at the reports of how Longwei kept adding to his harem. Although, Ji Muyang wasn''t mentioned. Probably to leave face for her, being associated with Longwei right now wasn''t exactly an honor. But what made Tianyi''s eyes pop was the amount Longwei was worth. In fact, Longwei''s bounty was currently was enough to even make True Immortals green with envy. The bounty was so high because Longwei carried at least three Immortal Realm Artifacts. So even though he was a mere Nascent Soul Grandmaster, he had a bounty even higher than some demonic True Immortals. At least that''s what most people would think. Tianyi had a sinking suspicion it was due to how much potential Longwei showed. Tianyi asked Su Bojing to check if all the Immortal Realm Artifacts Longwei were connected to the Dragon Emperor. But not before asking him to investigate Lei Jingye''s clan. Tianyi still had information on Lei Jingye from his experience in the ruins of the Immortal Court so that it wouldn''t take too much information to locate him. And Tianyi asked Su Bojing to investigate information on Jiang Chunye as well. Su Bojing left shortly after. Tianyi didn''t ask him to do all this work for free. He thought himself a generous person -as long as you didn''t offend him, that is- and gave Su Bojing several techniques he copied from Ironword''s pagoda in the inheritance site. Once Tianyi finished that. It was time to learn the Heavenly Truth-Seeing Eye. Honestly, Tianyi was extremely excited about this. He had been enamored with the Journey to the West ever since he watched the tv series on it when young. He had seen the drawing of the Heaven Equalling Sage in the ruins of the Immortal Court. With the technique of the eye of Erlang Shen, it only affirmed that the legend and classics he knew on Earth were real. Although there were some minor or major differences. Chapter 120: Tianyis First Subordinate Inside of Tianyi''s inner cosmos, his five differently-colored Nascent Souls began to show changes. They had already advanced past their progress from before he created his clone, Juedai Fenghua. All the impurities and murkiness had disappeared, and they now resembled colored glass, reflecting all light. The Nascent Souls were crystal clear and resembled glass sculptures. This was the Glass Nascent Soul Stage or the mid-Nascent Soul Realm. Tianyi had already reached this stage a while ago, but now, within his glass-like Nascent Souls, brilliants specks of light began to appear. It wasn''t anything like the impurities in the Translucent Nascent Soul Stage, but a sign of progress. For a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator to advanced to the late-Nascent Soul Realm, their Nascent Soul will become increasingly dense until it was like a crystal or gem. The brilliance within Tianyi''s Nascent Soul was a result of that density. And on all of the Nascent Souls, the brightest brilliance was a dot on their foreheads. Not just the Nascent Souls, but Tianyi''s Emperor self birthed from the Three Pure True Self Visualization Technique also had a glowing dot between his brows. Not just them, but Tianyi''s physical body also had a dot on his forehead, although it was red. Tianyi sighed as he rubbed the red dot on his forehead. The first step of cultivating the Heavenly Truth-Seeking Eye was to create a vessel to hold the eye. He had already created the vessel. What Tianyi had to do next was create an eye seed within the vessel and wait for it to mature. There were different grades to the Heavenly Truth-Seeking Eye, and half the reason was material used to create the eye seed. Erlang Shen''s body was born with the Heavenly Truth-Seeking Eye, but it was closer to a natural treasure birthed from the Primordial Chaos. It wasn''t something naturally born or could be created with only the body. So the Heavenly Truth-Seeking Eye needed to use external resources for anyone trying to cultivate the technique. Tianyi naturally had access to the best resources, although he felt a bit bitter having to borrow from his mother again. He silently kept the debt in his heart, hoping to repay her for all that she did one day. Tianyi was someone who lived two lives; he was unable to accept Mengfei''s love without returning anything. Right now, the red dot on his forehead was just that, a pretty mark on his forehead. "This like a pregnancy. How long do I have to wait before the eye is born?" He had done all that he could at this moment. Right now, the vessel was gestating the eye seed. Tianyi could only wait till the eye seed matures into a Heavenly Truth-Seeking eye before using it to do anything. And he was so excited too! "Don''t tell me I have to wait until I become an Immortal before the eye finally opens?" The Heavenly Truth-Seeking Eye was originally a technique meant for those in the Immortal Realm. When Tianyi discovered that fact, he felt like he got ripped off. How come this information wasn''t present when he visited the seventh level of the Immortal Repository? Did they just assume only True Immortals visited there? Actually, that was not far from the truth. Luckily, for Tianyi, after checking with his mother and testing it, he was able to cultivate the Heavenly Truth-Seeking Eye to this point. From the Qi Gathering Realm to Unity Realm, everything was in preparation for refining the vessel into something suitable for an Immortal. It was similar to how a suitable vessel needed to be created for the Heavenly-Truth Seeking Eye. A mortal''s body simply wasn''t a suitable vessel for the divine eye. But Tianyi''s body was different. In terms of his suitability as a vessel, there weren''t many things he couldn''t withstand. Tianyi''s greatest problem was his control over his own body. Although he could perfectly control his power outside of his body and qi, that was only a fraction of the power within his cosmos. Whatever the reason, Tianyi could only patiently wait for his third eye to open. Because of this, Tianyi was sullen for quite a while. While he waited, he began to go over his techniques and retrofit them with the experience he gained when he learned the Eight Strokes Word Art. Turning the concepts behind techniques into formations and turning formations into techniques, Tianyi was slowly ruminating all of this. If he had to compare what he was doing right now in terms of careers on Earth, he was trying to become an omnidisciplinary scientist. Well, he hasn''t reached the extreme yet. Tianyi hadn''t tried alchemy yet. He thought about it, but he already had a lot on his plate at the moment. As time went by while Tianyi waited for Daoyi''s Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation, Tianyi began to ponder on whether or not to test Xi Ri. Tianyi shook his head. He didn''t want to break the tentative peace he had within the sect. He should capture Jiang Chunye and interrogate her first, before asking Xi Ri since Dong Chifan had disappeared along with his clone.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Smiling helplessly to himself, Tianyi released a self-deprecating sigh. He had always been like this. When it concerned people he didn''t care about, he wouldn''t even spare a thought. But when it came to people close to him, he didn''t dare to confront them in any way. During this time, Su Bojing visited Tianyi several times. Thanks to Su Bojing, Tianyi was able to learn of several matters he wanted. He had an urged to hire Su Bojing as his subordinate, but since he was part of Su Wanyu''s clan, he didn''t want to overreach. So he asked Su Bojing if he knew anyone who would like to work under him, but Su Bojing''s answer surprised Tianyi." "Please accept me as your subordinate, Senior Brother!" "Ah? Aren''t you Sister Su''s subordinate?" "I''m not actually part of her inner circle. The Su Clan isn''t that powerful. I''m more of a hanger-on that Lady Su took pity on." "And you aren''t doing this to get information on me for Sister Su?" Tianyi asked. Although Tianyi didn''t have much management skills, he still had common sense. Many people would be willing to be his subordinate, at least the mortals. But Tianyi couldn''t discount the off chance that it would be a spy. He knew that Immortal Redseal still had his own influence within the sect even though he was locked up at the moment. Not just Immortal Redseal, Tianyi couldn''t discount that other Immortals in the sect would not wish him harm. Who knew if Immortal Redseal had collaborated with the other Immortal Elders? Just his status as someone born from the Dragon Emperor''s soul fragment was enough to paint a large target behind his back. Tianyi was beginning to hate the Dragon Emperor more and more now. "I can make an oath." Su Bojing said. "And Lady hasn''t asked any sort of question for me. In truth, I''m on the lower end of the totem among the inner disciples." "Really? You seem to have some skills to me." Tianyi said. He found Su Bojing very well informed. "Haha," Su Bojing gave a self-deprecating laugh. "But I''m not skilled where it matters. I''ve stalled in the Core Formation Realm for over a hundred years. If it were not for Lady Su, I would have been stuck there longer. But even then, there is little hope for me to enter the Unity Realm. If there is a chance to do so, I will grab it!" "Would Sister Su mind? Even if I decide to take you as my subordinate, would that not anger her? I hope you aren''t hoping that I would shield you." Tianyi said. Su Bojing wasn''t unique in the world. Tianyi had familiarized himself with Su Bojing during the past few encounters, so it was more convenient to ask Su Bojing for tasks. His mind flashed back to the past where Su Bojing they had met before. He typically only recalled those who had offended him in some way, so perhaps Su Bojing had actually tried to get on his good side in the past when he was in the Foundation Establishment Realm? "Would you believe me if I said that Lady Su only started to give me tasks only after Senior Brother Xi entered the Nascent Soul Realm? I went as her representative. Otherwise, I wouldn''t have the requirement to participate. Aside from that, all the orders from her were to entertain you. But she hasn''t asked me about any personal information about you or anything!" Su Bojing said while trying to show that he was speaking the truth. "Didn''t you brag to me about her? I find it hard to believe that you would choose me over someone you respected so much." Tianyi still remembered when Su Bojing showed disbelief when Tianyi said that he would enter the Unity Realm within a hundred years like Su Wanyu. Yeah, he was still bitter about that. "Ehahaha, that was because I had nothing else to bring out. You entered the Nascent Soul Realm at only twenty years of age while I took hundreds. Yet now, I''m still in the early-Nascent Soul Realm while Senior Brother has already entered the mid-Nascent Soul Realm. What else could I use to compare? And..." Su Bojing showed some hesitation before continuing. "And I was envious. I thought that you had used a tremendous amount of resources to enter the Nascent Soul Realm at a young age. I lied to myself so that I wouldn''t feel bad about my lack of talent compared to you." Tianyi raised his eyebrow at Su Bojing''s confession. He had heard tales of cultivators despairing at their lack of talent, but he hadn''t expected Su Bojing to be one of them. Of course, Tianyi wasn''t talented at reading people''s inner thoughts, and he wasn''t foolish enough to believe everything Su Bojing said at face value either. Still, Su Bojing was very convenient. "Alright, but if I discover you aren''t wholeheartedly serving me, then prepare yourself. I won''t kill you since we are members of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, but it wouldn''t be hard to make your life a living hell. From what you said, I doubt Sister Su would confront me over you." Not that Tianyi would actually confront Su Wanyu head-on. She was still the leader of the elders'' scions; her influence was far greater than his. Should he start building his influence too? But Tianyi wasn''t well versed in management. And right now, he wasn''t sure he could trust Xi Ri, much less Su Bojing, who had just pledged himself. Trusting Su Bojing too much, too early will lead to disastrous consequences. Either he had to ascertain Su Bojing''s influence or wait until he could test Xi Ri if he was a reincarnator, whichever came first. "Thank you! You won''t regret it! As long as it does not contradict the sect laws, I will wholeheartedly aid you!" Su Bojing pledged with a kowtow. Tianyi waved his hand. "Stop kowtowing; I don''t like it." Chapter 121: Daoyis Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation After officially taking in Su Bojing as a subordinate and receiving permission from his mother, Su Bojing became a member of Jade Peak and moved in. Although, Tianyi had an awkward conversation with him about why they were temporarily living in Jade Peak Palace instead of Tianyi''s abode. Everything Tianyi wanted Su Bojing to do earlier was done at a much more efficient rate. Perhaps it was because Tianyi''s requests had changed to orders. But whatever the reason, Tianyi soon found the next reports, arriving much faster than Longwei''s. The first to arrive was the investigation concerning Lei Jingye. Surprisingly, the Lei Clan was actually located within the Southern Region and reasonably close to the Great Xi Dynasty. Not that Tianyi didn''t know that, there was a reason Lie Jingye met Daoyi in his previous life, after all. But this made Tianyi question how Lei Jingye could have met him in Jingyang City in the Northern Regions, and then quickly travel to the Xi Dynasty before Tianyi when he had ridden his mother''s immortal boat to there. Thinking back to Red Dragon Lotus that was previously in Lei Jingye''s possession, before it reappeared in Longwei''s custody. Tianyi concluded that Lei Jingye had access to some method or treasure that originated from the Dragon Emperor that allowed him to "fast travel" in game terms. It might not be teleportation, but it should be comparable or similar to the speed to the method his mother used to travel to the Fleeting Mist Sect. Lei Jingye didn''t have access to such methods in his first life, and the only legacies or inheritance that Tianyi had seen from him in this life were all related to the Dragon Emperor. So Tianyi came to such a conclusion. And by connecting the Red Dragon Lotus, Tianyi concluded that Lei Jingye and Longwei had fought before. And Lei Jingye had lost the fight and the Red Dragon Lotus in his possession. Tianyi felt that he had a headache with this conclusion. It was highly likely that Longwei had access to the fast travel method Lei Jingye had. Tianyi felt that all of the Dragon Emperor''s clones were going to grow troublesome if all of them had access to such methods. But that situation was on the more extreme side and less likely to occur, or so Tianyi wished. The best-case scenario would be that only Lei Jingye knew of the method, but Tianyi wasn''t going to bet on that. Oh, how Tianyi regretted not finishing Longwei off when he had the chance. But he understood that those thoughts were only self-comforting. Longwei revealed three Immortal Realm Artifacts in his escape, and it was highly that he had more. So the chances of Tianyi actually ridding Longwei was slim. Sure he could have revealed his claw arts and fought Longwei with them, but his mastery was still lower than Longwei and would not have such a difference. His Nine Strokes Sword Art was so effective because he specially tailored that strike towards Longwei''s weakness. But back to the main point, the Lei Clan was originally just one of the many cultivator clans in their area. But ever since Lei Jingye regressed, the Lei Clan started showing dominance over the surrounding clans and forces. Currently, the other forces and clans were showing signs of allying together to resist the rapidly growing Lei Clan. And when the Lei Clan was undergoing a calamity and face eradication, who else should appear but the protagonist, Lei Jingye? Well, that would be the scenario if this whole thing was a novel about Lei Jingye. But Tianyi was planning on this specific scenario. The Lei Clan should have a method to contact Lei Jingye in case of emergencies, and when he did appear... Although Su Bojing couldn''t find any traces of Lei Jingye after Tianyi returned from the ruin of the Immortal Court, Tianyi wasn''t worried. What protagonist didn''t have one or two methods to stay under the radar or a disguise? The other matter was more concerning, though. Jiang Chunye had a more traceable record, especially considering her choice of acquaintances. Tianyi recalled that Yi Dongli, due to his association with Daoyi''s sister, and how he hid his actual cultivation realm. But what really made him stood out was that the Yi Clan was actually a faction within the Jade Cauldron Sect, a second-tier sect of the Central Region. The Jade Cauldron Sect was said to be descended from a divinity that existed from the era of the Immortal Court. So although they weren''t as powerful as the Buzhou Immortal Sect who had ties to the Immortal Court, they could be considered a force with an old lineage only slightly younger than the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Because of this, although the Jade Cauldron Sect wasn''t affiliated with any first-tier sect, none of the first-tier sects dare to be too overbearing to them since they had a close relationship with the Buzhou Immortal Sect. The Jade Cauldron Sect had the ambition to ascend to a first-tier sect, but the other first-tier sect wouldn''t allow such a thing to happen because it either meant that the resources would have to be split even more or one of them would lose their position as a first-tier sect. So the other first-tier sects would still suppress the Jade Cauldron Sect, something that the Buzhou Immortal Sect turned a blind eye towards. The ongoing conflict on the outer regions of the Heavenly Continent had the shadow of the Jade Cauldron Sect behind them, mostly the Yi Clan. Not only that, but the Yi Clan also had contact with members of the Anti-Heaven Alliance. Tianyi didn''t believe that all the members of the Jade Cauldron Sect were unknowing of this matter. It was more likely that executive members of the sect were giving their implicit consent. The only reason Tianyi could fathom was that the Jade Cauldron Sect wanted to become a first-tier sect. If they had to offend the Buzhou Immortal Sect and become a member of the Anti-Heaven Alliance, so what?This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. A frown surfaced on Tianyi''s face. If the Anti-Heaven Alliance was acting through the Jade Cauldron Sect, then it was likely that conflict would only escalate even more in the future, possibly to the point that it reached the levels of the current Earth Continent. Furthermore, Jiang Chunye was in the Western Regions, the territory of the Anti-Heaven Alliance. Tianyi had numerous people who wanted him dead. Chief of which was Immortal Redseal and Tianyi suspected even more within the sect also had this intention. And the now Soul Emperor Soulfish had tried to kill him before. So Tianyi didn''t dare to enter the Western Region. Hell, he didn''t dare to leave the sect without an Immortal Elder accompanying him. So Tianyi could only shelve his intention on locating Jiang Chunye for the moment and wait for the future opportunity. Right now, he was waiting for Daoyi to ascend to the Core Formation Realm before leaving for the Southern Region. Since he was going to go by the Lei Clan, he might as well visit the Great Xi Dynasty. So, why not take Daoyi as well? He still remembered that Daoyi wanted to travel the world and her sense of excitement when visiting the town outside the Buzhou Immortal Sect. And it would give him a perfect excuse to have his mother accompany him. His greatest backing was his mother, and it just so happened that his mother had also healed her arm now. Although he felt guilty, it was not like his mother had any official duties and it can be seen as a sort of family vacation. After ordering Su Bojing to prepare for the trip to the Great Xi Dynasty and visiting the Lei Clan, Tianyi continued to cultivate while waiting for Daoyi''s Heavenly Tribulation. Tianyi was discussing with Xi Ri about the Xiyi Talisman when Su Bojing ran over. "Young Master, your junior sister is going to undergo her Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation soon." Tianyi immediately stood and moved to rush towards the predetermined location where Daoyi would undergo her tribulation. He paused when he recalled that Xi Ri was still there and a Foundation Establishment Disciple. Grabbing Xi Ri, Tianyi quickly soared towards Daoyi. When he arrived, his mother and a few elders were already there. There weren''t as many as when he was undergoing his Heavenly Tribulation, but Tianyi still recognized a few of them, such as Unity Realm Elder Jiao. He greeted Elder Shan, who was bursting with energy. Mengfei had once mentioned that Elder Shan benefitted the most from the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus''s residual effects. He was just a step away from summoning his Unity Heavenly Tribulation. Elder Shan wouldn''t suddenly call his Unity Heavenly Tribulation and undergo it with Daoyi, right? On second thought, I better stop the thought right there. I don''t want to jinx myself. When the tribulation clouds started to gather above Daoyi''s head, Tianyi''s body tensed from habit, ready to receive any bolts of tribulation lightning. Tianyi looked at his feet before looking at Daoyi, measuring the distance between the two. He distanced himself so that he was out of the Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation''s range by several times just to be safe. The Elders, Su Bojing, and Xi Ri all gave him a skeptical glance before returning their attention to Daoyi. But the memory of the second tribulation giant still resounded in Tianyi''s memories. He didn''t know whether his clone''s Heavenly Tribulation mutated because Fenghua was his clone or his close distance, but Tianyi didn''t dare to take the chance with Daoyi''s Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation. A solemn silence descended as the tribulation clouds began to thicken and swirl with a menacing aura. Tianyi frowned when he saw the strange happenings. Having experienced his own share of Heavenly Tribulation, both his and his clone''s, Tianyi could discern that there was something abnormal concerning Daoyi''s Heavenly Tribulation. He looked towards his mother to see her calm and collected. If his mother wasn''t fretting, Tianyi decided to continue watching. If worse comes to worst, his mother could always disperse the Heavenly Tribulation with her powers, although the repercussions would be unknown for Daoyi. But at the very least, her life would be safe. The first strike of tribulation lightning descended. The color was on the lighter side, closer to azure than gold. The color became increasingly eerier and disjointed with each lightning strike, a collage of numerous umbral colors in each strike. The final boat of lightning almost appeared like the Styx river, Tianyi swore he could hear the haunting calls of the dead. Daoyi successfully transcended her Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation. Although she appeared pale and haggard, at least she didn''t suddenly vomit blood like Tianyi had done after his Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation. Soon the onlookers came to offer their congratulations to Daoyi and Mengfei. "Congratulation, Senior Sister." Xi Ri said. "Congratulations to Master Jiang for reaching the Core Formation Realm." Tianyi teased. "Many thanks, Grandmaster Xi, Disciple Xi," Daoyi returned without a hint of fluster, but fatigue was evident was in her voice. Not long after, Daoyi returned to Jade Peak Palace with Mengfei and Tianyi. She needed to recuperate and stabilize her cultivation. The watching Elders returned to their own housing, and Xi Ri descended the mountain. After Daoyi stabilized her cultivation in a few days, Tianyi brought up the topic of traveling to the Great Xi Dynasty and then the Lei Clan. "I do not mind. Or rather, since I have reached the Core Formation Realm, I think it''s time I claim my mother''s belongings." Daoyi said. "Your mother''s belongings? Did you not bring them with you when you left?" Tianyi asked. "My mother''s was from a fallen clan whose origin was from a lower realm." The Xu Clan wasn''t that strong in recent times. Once upon a time, they had many Nascent Soul Grandmasters, or so Daoyi heard. But they only had a dying Core Formation Master at the helm before their destruction. After my mother''s clan was destroyed by their enemies that lusted after our treasures and manuals, she was found by my father. My father would have found all sorts of excuses to keep me from taking it. Besides," A dangerous gleam entered Daoyi''s eyes. "I wanted to take my mother''s belongings back with my own power." Tianyi stayed silent at Daoyi''s words. Using your own power to achieve your goals, it wasn''t like he didn''t understand the feeling. "If you need aid, Master is always here," Mengfei said as a show of support. "Thank you, Master," Daoyi said with a heartfelt smile. Chapter 122: Three Thousand Immortal Realms System Mengfei and Daoyi both agreed to Tianyi''s proposal. Tianyi also thought of including Xi Ri in the expedition. Normally, disciples under the Core Formation Realm were not allowed to leave the sect, but that was only on the condition that they were not accompanying an Elder. This was why Tianyi was able to leave for the Fleeting Mist Sect with Elder Shan over ten years ago. But Xi Ri replied to Tianyi with, "Senior Brother, I am still busy with matters my master has assigned me with. I''m afraid I will not be able to accompany you, Senior Sister Jiang, and Grand Elder Xi." As a disciple of an Elder from Assignment Hall, it was reasonable for Xi Ri to be burden with many matters. But Tianyi got a slight impression of unwillingness within Xi Ri. In the end, Tianyi didn''t bring it up and only left the matter lie. But the matter kept bugging Tianyi even as he left the sect on his mother''s immortal boat. Normally, a human would be nostalgic for their home that they left. The only exception would be because if the person had a negative experience at their homes, such as child neglect or even abuse. But Xi Ri was the most favored child of the Xi Dynasty''s Emperor, Tianyi''s Emperor-Uncle. Logically, as the one with the highest potential, Xi Ri should''ve been pampered and honored, second only to the emperor. So Tianyi didn''t understand why Xi Ri would be unwilling to return. This matter gave Tianyi''s suspicions more credibility. Part of the reason Tianyi decided to take a detour to the Xi Dynasty was for Daoyi''s matter and the blood relationship between him and the Emperor. But even if Daoyi did not come with him, Tianyi still planned to drop by in order to ask questions about Xi Ri. Along the way, Tianyi could sense the heavy mood that Daoyi clad herself in. It was practically screaming, "don''t talk to me." So Tianyi didn''t. In lieu of the awkward atmosphere around Daoyi, Tianyi spent time trying to deepen the bond between mother and if only for the fact that it would be slightly less awkward on him. Tianyi and Mengfei weren''t totally avoiding Daoyi because of her spider-shaped Dreamsilk Weaver Beast. Its threatening gestures did not play a part in Tianyi''s decisions, not at all... Now that Tianyi thought about it, all of his excursions from the Buzhou Immortal Sect never lasted more than a year or two at most. In fact, he never actually left to temper himself outside. The sudden realization came as a shock to Tianyi. But thinking clearly, it was also reasonable. Disciples mainly descended from the sect in order to break through the bottleneck that plagued them. Tianyi wasn''t sure he actually wanted to have a long adventure. What was so fun about continually putting yourself in danger? He would rather tour the Huang Realm and taste all the local delicacies. Although, it was impossible with his current predicament. The Xi Dynasty as a whole didn''t know of the group''s arrival. It wasn''t like Mengfei came every year to the nation either, so most ordinary mortals thought of Mengfei''s arrival as a rare occurrence that only happened maybe once a decade. But that didn''t mean that the Xi Emperor wasn''t aware of the future visitation. It would have been disrespectful for Mengfei to show unannounced in front of her Emperor-Brother. Although the difference in status between the two would have made all disrespect from Mengfei acceptable in others'' eyes, Mengfei still sent an early notice in respect to the two''s relationship.
The Xi Emperor tapped his fingers on his desk within the jade study as he waited for his younger sister''s arrival. Really that younger sister of his, she only sent a message saying that she would be visiting without any reason behind the visit. Instead, she wrote a whole essay praising her son endlessly. The content seemed to be filled with words praising Tianyi, but at the same time, when you think back onto it, you would realize that nothing worthwhile or concrete had been written. The Xi Emperor smiled helplessly. His younger sister seemed to have grown yet regressed at the same time. When he first heard the news that his younger sister had a son, elation wasn''t the first thing within the Xi Emperor''s mind but shock. That sister of his who had the full range emotions of a wooden block was actually capable of conceiving a child with a man!? The Xi Emperor had actually thought that his sister had walked out trauma from her early years. He had even prepared a speech to lay down some ground rules on his future brother-in-law. With their imperial father dead, it was now his duty to make sure that Mengfei''s future companion wasn''t a trickster or liar. That''s why the Xi Emperor was even more baffled when he heard that Mengfei left Tianyi''s father in the lower realm they met. Forgetting the fact that Tianyi''s father was a cultivator who hadn''t even achieved immortality, the Xi Emperor never expected that Tianyi''s conception was a complete accident. When he asked his younger sister, she replied, "It was merely an unfortunate accident that led to the incident. As the event was not his fault, I did not do anything to him and left the Venerable with life. I returned to the Huang Realm and only later discovered the life in my womb." There were so many problems with that statement that the Xi Emperor didn''t even know where to begin. He was broken out of his thoughts by his personal eunuch reporting his Mengfei''s arrival. The Xi Emperor quickly moved out of the jade study to meet his sister. For the past hundred years, aside from the predetermined days, Mengfei had never visited the Xi Dynasty before. So a hint of excitement was budding in the Xi Emperor''s chest as he guessed the reason for the sudden visit. "Emperor-Brother," Mengfei said as she greeted him, her appearance more mature than he remembered. "Emperor-Uncle," As usual, Tianyi''s eyes were strikingly similar to his mother''s, only with his unique flair due to the difference in personality. "Your majesty," Jiang Daoyi curtsied. The Xi Emperor almost couldn''t recognize the current Daoyi. The face was the same, but the way she held herself and the way of dressing had utterly changed. If you told him that Daoyi had a twin sister and that the twin sister was the one in front of him, the Xi Emperor would have fully believed it. Furthermore, with the Xi Emperor''s observation, he could easily discern Daoyi''s Core Formation cultivation base since she wasn''t purposely hiding it. He smiled ruefully to himself. How long had it taken him to advance from the Foundation Establishment Realm to the Core Formation Realm? Comparing himself to others would only lead to him questioning life. Since Daoyi had entered the early-Core Formation Realm, then Tianyi should not be in any way slower than this junior sister of his. The Xi Emperor observed Tianyi with greater attention. He frowned.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. The first time he had laid eyes on Tianyi, he was still only a Foundation Establishment Disciple. Although young, it was only natural for his younger sister''s son to be this outstanding in the Xi Emperor''s eyes. What caught his eyes, even more, was those pair of phoenix eyes so similar to his mother''s. But now, standing before him, Tianyi exuded a sense of inexplicable distance. It wasn''t an emotional distance, but a physical one like how the full moon seemed to be within reach as long as one stretches his hands towards it but always just out of reach. But even more shocking was... "N-Nascent S-Soul Realm!?" The Xi Emperor''s voice was tainted with disbelief despite the evidence right in front of his eyes. The Xi Emperor would have expected Tianyi to reach the Core Formation Realm in less than ten years, but he never expected this. Forget comparing his progress to Daoyi''s. It was even more heart-rending to compare his progress to Tianyi. The Xi Emperor knew that his younger sister would support her son without end, using all sorts of priceless treasures. But the speed of Tianyi''s advancement still shocked him. This wasn''t a realm you could achieve with just resources. The Xi Emperor also knew this since he had been supported with the best resources, and it still took him hundreds of years before he reached the Nascent Soul Realm. Living a dog''s life, the Xi Emperor felt like he finally understood the purest essence of that proverb. Tianyi smiled, a hint of vanity revealed at the Xi Emperor''s exclamation. Daoyi giggled as she saw through how hard Tianyi was trying to maintain his neutral expression. It wasn''t just the Xi Emperor that was shocked, but those who heard his stuttered words as well. Tianyi preened under the gazes of envy, admiration, and hate. After reigning in his shock and returning to his ever peaceful state of mind, the Xi Emperor congratulated his nephew and Daoyi. If they did not die before reaching their full potential, then these two would be juggernauts compared to his little Xi Dynasty. He had already maintained a familial relationship with Tianyi, and he wanted to tighten his relationship with Daoyi. He hadn''t forgotten how he had summoned Daoyi into the palace years ago with the intent of making her his nephew''s concubine. Although, because of this, she was able to become Mengfei''s disciple, a sparrow ascending to a phoenix, the Xi Emperor didn''t discount the possibility of Daoyi harboring a grudge. A human''s heart was a difficult thing to fathom. Even if he could not maintain a positive relationship with Daoyi, the least he could do was prevent her from developing a grudge against him. But as long as the Xi Emperor didn''t do anything foolish, based on his relationship with Daoyi''s master and senior brother, she would let bygones be bygones. Since Mengfei''s appearance wasn''t announced and knowing of her penchant for avoiding noisy affairs, the banquet welcoming her and Tianyi and Daoyi was more of a family meal. The Emperor only brought his empress, favored sons, daughters, sons-in-law, and daughters-in-law. Compared to the banquet of Tianyi''s memories years ago, although it was less grand, but the separation between the two sides was even more vast. Aside from the Xi Emperor, the rest of the imperial family treated Mengfei, Tianyi, and Daoyi cautiously as if the slightest displeasure could spell their deaths. Daoyi just went along with it, having not experienced the treatment years ago. But Tianyi felt a distinct difference. But soon, he felt as if he understood. The current him was a Nascent Soul Grandmaster, not the little Foundation Establishment Disciple all those years ago. Tianyi could sit equally with the Xi Emperor even without his mother backing him now, and because he was of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, his position was even higher than the Xi Emperor. Tianyi didn''t have much time to ponder about this situation since another conundrum reared its head to him. "Mother, do you remember older cousins'' names?" That''s right, Tianyi''s terminal problem had reared its head once more. What did you expect? For him to remember these non-important people in his life? Hell, if he hadn''t interacted with Xi Ri so much, he would have forgotten Xi Ri''s name as well! "No. I just call them virtuous nephew and niece. I don''t need to remember their names." Tianyi was speechless at his mother''s self-righteous attitude toward the matter. He could only imitate her and call them older cousin without mentioning their names. But Tianyi''s savior soon came in the form of Daoyi. Despite not being of the imperial family or related to them, she was the one out of three that memorized all the imperial family members present. Tianyi tried not to dwell on how that reflected on him. But there was an important matter that Tianyi wanted to bring forward. So when the matter of Xi Ri was brought up, he smiled towards his Emperor-Uncle and said. "Emperor-Uncle, Older Cousin Ri is currently favored by an Earth Immortal Elder of the Assignment Hall, so he is too busy with affairs to make this trip, unfortunately. He has switched to a more arcane cultivation method, so he is still in the Foundation Establishment Realm, but that should change soon." "Good, good, good!" The Xi Emperor smiled happily and downed the wine in his cup. Tianyi felt that he was truly happy about Xi Ri''s progress. He looked towards his other cousins. He could see some envy and jealousy, but nothing as overt as hatred, so he didn''t think the reason Xi Ri''s unwillingness to return originated from his siblings. "What was Older Cousin Ri like as a child? I ask him, but he said it was nothing special." "Ri''er, ah. He''s always been humble, always trying to downplay his talent." The Xi Emperor said in an almost dissatisfied tone. "Since young, he has always been a quick learner. He even started speaking at one-year-old!" The more Tianyi heard, the more it confirmed his suspicion concerning Xi Ri. A one-year-old already developing a sense of self and morality shouldn''t be possible. Of course, there was a really such a heaven-defying genius baby. Hell, Xi Ri actually started to cultivate at three years of age and could have reached greater heights, but the Xi Emperor stopped him since he wanted Xi Ri to be chosen as a disciple of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Even more, the Xi Emperor''s next words caught his attention even more. "Why, if I didn''t know that all souls drink Granny Meng''s soup of forgetfulness, I''d think he was a reincarnated Immortal!" Tianyi''s body slightly stiffened before returning to normal. "Why couldn''t Elder Cousin Ri be a reincarnated Immortal? Does everyone who dies drink the soup of forgetfulness?" He spared a glance at Elder Meng, who stood next to Su Bojing behind him. Her sense of presence was so low that even he forgot that she was there sometimes. He couldn''t help but recall how Elder Meng asked him to call her Granny Meng the first time they met. But Elder Meng was a Unity Venerable, a vast gulf compared to the Divinity of the Nai He Bridge. It wasn''t the Xi Emperor who replied, but his mother. "Granny Meng is the custodian of Nai He Bridge. All the souls of beings who have died within the Huang Realm and lower realms will drink the soup of forgetfulness before reincarnating with none of their memories or six desires and seven emotions." "Then is it possible for a soul to not drink the soup of forgetfulness?" Tianyi asked, greatly curious as it also concerned him. "It is possible. Outsiders who reincarnate into Three Thousand Immortal Realms System will have a chance of not forgetting their past lives." Mengfei said, shocking Tianyi. He knew that there existed other universes besides the cultivations realms, but this also made it even clearer that Earth was not among the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. His search had just gotten far more difficult. Chapter 123: East Flowing Nether River Scripture A silvery wisp with a haunting chill appeared above Daoyi''s fingertips. Like a worm, the silvery wisp wriggled grotesquely, and if one looked closely, they could see a face on it. And if one stared for even longer, the terror-ridden howls would penetrate their ears. Soul Technique - Will-O-Wisp Daoyi extinguished the wispy flame with a thought. Inside of Daoyi''s dantian existed a translucent Spiritual Core that exuded a violet-gold shine. In the next moment, a silvery wisp appeared within the Spiritual Core and swam within it, like a fish in water. The light took on a ghastly tone as if it originated from pure malice. Cultivating the East Flowing Nether River Scripture, Daoyi''s Immortal path had long deviated from a regular cultivator''s. Normal cultivators took in the spiritual qi of heaven and earth in order to transform their body to be a suitable vessel for Immortality. Daoyi could also absorb spiritual qi like normal cultivators, but her way of progress lay in refining souls. It was one of the many paths that a soul cultivator could choose to walk, but more often than not, it was seen as an unorthodox way of cultivating. Refining others'' souls to increase the strength of the user''s soul could even be seen as an ''evil'' method. Many devilish cultivators would take refine the souls of countless innocents to increase their own strength. But Daoyi''s method was to refine ghosts, souls who became malevolent spirits due to the lingering negative emotion. Ghosts were rare in the Huang Realm due to the cycle of samsara whisking away the souls of the dead, but those with enough lingering attachment or special reasons could stay behind. Their souls either dissipate, or they became ghosts. If left for too long, they could become calamities, so local sects or forces exterminated them. Daoyi refined these malicious spirits'' ghost qi for her use, allowing her to increase cultivation depending on her attainments and amount of ghost qi absorbed. There was a high risk of her undergoing cultivation deviation if she absorbed more ghost qi than she could withstand, but everything carried risks. At the same time, the ghosts she refined the ghost qi from did not disappear and were refined into her spectral servants, her ghost servants. Right now, she only had one, but the more ghosts she refined, the stronger her battle prowess would rise. Daoyi gave a ridiculing smile as she sensed the vestiges of the ghosts within the imperial palace. Sure enough, the imperial palace was the dirtiest place in the world, producing the greatest grudges. She shook her head, with a Nascent Soul Grandmaster like the Xi Emperor holding the fort, those ghosts were extinguished before they had the chance to develop. Daoyi took out a gourd-shaped container, the material appeared to be organic, but it was ice cold to the touch. This was the Hundred Ghost Dwelling Gourd, an artifact created to store soul-type beings. Daoyi uncorked the Hundred Ghost Dwelling Gourd, and hundreds of grieving wails erupted from the opening. She calmly performed a hand seal pointing at the gourd. Daoyi moved her arm in an arc, and as if a string was attached to her fingers, a chilling blue wisp was pulled out from within the gourd. Once outside, the ghost immediately expanded and returned to its original form, revealing its hideous features. The ghost had only begun to revel in its newfound freedom for but a mere moment before Daoyi opened her mouth, and a large suction force dragged the ghost into her mouth. The ghost screamed in unwillingness as he was dragged into Daoyi''s dantian and chained in place from the ghost qi emanating from her Spiritual Core. Daoyi corked the Hundred Ghost Dwelling Gourd before assuming a cultivating position to absorb the qi of the ghost in her dantian. This method had its own dangers, as placing a ghost near her Spiritual Core was akin to inviting a wolf into one''s home. The ghost screamed inside Daoyi''s dantian as she continuously refined the ghost qi from it. Daoyi''s forehead creased as sweat started to drip down her face. At her side, the Artifact that Tianyi had crafted for her, which she named the Cloudless Crest Link Earring, emitted a gentle warmth as it eased the pain she underwent. Originally, Daoyi planned to refine a few more ghosts before leaving the sect to temper herself. At least, that was the excuse she would give for leaving the sect. She had always planned to return to the Xi Dynasty, but she never expected Tianyi to also drop by on his way. Hence she took the chance. Daoyi didn''t initially plan to cultivate such a method, as refining ghost was highly dangerous. But her talent in other areas was lacking compared to her talent with ghosts and spirits. According to her master, if she cultivated normally, the chances of her becoming an Immortal was at least fifty percent less than if she cultivated the East Flowing Nether River Scripture. She had been still pondering on which path to take as once she entered the Core Formation Realm, it would be too late to regret her decision without harming her potential. But living with Tianyi placed a significant burden on her. She had a few contacts with others not on Jade Peak, and they would speak of how difficult it was to cultivate. But Tianyi seemed to advance in cultivation by doing absolutely nothing. Daoyi didn''t believe Tianyi wasn''t hardworking, but his hard work made a mockery of other people''s efforts compared to others. Each time he advanced, Daoyi would begin to question herself and whether she was suitable to receive such a treatment from her master and Tianyi. She would be lying if she said she wasn''t envious. Sometimes she would think it would be better to have been forced to have been Tianyi''s concubine. At least that way, she didn''t have to feel guilty for her jealousy towards Tianyi. She would have a faultless excuse to hate him. She wasn''t the only one. Daoyi could see the changes in Xia Yushan''s attitude towards Tianyi as well. Before, it was that of a senior''s care towards a junior, but now it was attention towards a rival. Xia Yushan was actually worse than her. She could practically feel the jealously roll off him in waves the last time he met Tianyi, although Daoyi didn''t think Tianyi could see it. She tried warning him once, especially after the fiasco with Redseal, but Tianyi didn''t believe her and even made excuses for Xia Yushan. Sometimes she worried for Tianyi despite him being the stronger of the two. Did her master protect him too much? Daoyi gave a helpless smile. Humans were strange creatures. Towards the target of their jealousy, as long as they perceived an area where they were superior, that jealousy would tremendously lessen. They might even develop a protective streak. But before she could even think about protecting Tianyi, she had to resolve her own problems first. Daoyi''s eyes sharpened once more and fully concentrated on refining the ghost inside her dantian.
Tianyi frowned as he sensed Daoyi''s struggle inside her room. Beside him was his mother. "Mother, this method seems a bit dangerous." "Everything carries its risks, but I believe Daoyi will be able to overcome it. She is steady in her conduct and knows how to pace herself. Nothing will happen to her." Mengfei said in complete confidence. "Elder Meng said that Daoyi''s greatest talent lies in soul cultivation, but I didn''t think she meant it like this," Tianyi said. "Young Master, Miss Jiang''s soul is incredibly firm compared to others. Disciple Xi Ri''s soul is strong, but it isn''t as strong as Miss Jiang''s. In addition, there is a slight chink in his mentality, so soul cultivation isn''t suited for him. Soul cultivation is incredibly dangerous and requires a steady and a certain understanding of the six desires and seven emotions like Miss Jiang." Elder Meng supplemented from behind. "Wait, but I also cultivate a soul method," Tianyi said as he pointed to himself. "Your soul is powerful, more powerful than Miss Jiang''s. But the soul cultivation method you cultivate, although I cannot fully discern, is connected to your spiritual cultivation technique, right?" Elder Meng continued when Tianyi nodded. "Your soul cultivation method is unique and forms a cycle with your spiritual cultivation. If you were to cultivate a pure soul method, then Young Master would need to temper yourself some more and understand the darkest depths of human emotions."You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Tianyi nodded and looked back into the room where Daoyi was cultivating before fully processing what Elder Meng had said. "Are you saying I''m immature!?" "Not at all. Soul cultivation is simply an esoteric path that few are able to embark on. Even Grand Elder Xi, with all her attainments, will find it hard." Elder Meng comforted Tianyi. Tianyi didn''t feel happy at all. Not to look down on his mother, but he was pretty sure her emotions had been emotionally stunted due to her early years in the imperial palace. And did Elder Meng know that he was a person with two life experiences!? He was mentally reaching fifty years of age. In the end, Tianyi could comfort himself by telling him that others were even less suited than him. For a brief moment, a grandmotherly smile appeared on Elder Meng''s face before it was replaced by her usual stoicism. Three days later, Daoyi was still diligently cultivating. And there was only so much Tianyi could do in the palace with his mother. He didn''t want to count how many cups of tea he drank while they stared at each other. So he asked his Emperor-Uncle to have a prince show him around the capital. "Mother, I''m just touring the capital with Older Cousin Chen. It''s boring, nothing you probably haven''t seen in the past." Tianyi said when his mother attempted to follow him. He felt bad for denying her, but the place he was going to would be too embarrassing to visit with his mother. After much convincing, Tianyi left the palace with Xi Chen, Xi Ri''s sixth elder brother. He left Elder Meng to watch over Daoyi''s progress as she was the soul expert. At least, that''s the excuse Tianyi gave. "Younger Cousin Tianyi, where do you want to go? If I claim to be the second-best in knowing all the best spots in the capital, no one would claim number one!" Xi Chen boasted as he slapped his chest. Xi Chen wasn''t outstanding among his brothers and sister. His talent for cultivation was subpar, with him having stuck at the peak of the Qi Gathering Realm. But he had excellent people skills, able to please both the Xi Emperor and the crown prince despite his mother being of low birth. Hence he led the most idyllic and carefree life of all the imperial children. Tianyi coughed into his fist, his cheeks slightly flushed. "What''s the most famous place to drink wine and watch beauties dance and sing?" "Drink wine and watch beauties...?" Xi Chen repeated before a look of understanding appeared on his face, and he gave a sly look towards Tianyi. Tianyi''s face reddened even more. "Not those vulgar types of place. I want a high-class establishment, high-class, got it?" He had wanted to visit one last time he visited. Tianyi had remembered reading countless novels back on earth and how they described these high-class brothels as paradise on earth, so he wanted to experience it himself. For scientific reasons, obviously. He wasn''t hoping to lay in bed with a courtesan. He still very much was wary of sexually transmitted diseases, thank you very much. However, Tianyi wondered if it was still possible for his current self. Could he even have children? Putting the thought into the back of his mind, Tianyi rode on a carriage with Xi Chen to the capital''s most famous brothel, One Jade Flower Pavillion. It was named so because of the establishment''s calling card, Beauty Yu Hua, was called the most beautiful woman in all of the Xi. According to rumor, she cultivated a unique cultivation method that emphasized her youth and beauty. Naturally, One Jade Flower Pavillion didn''t only have Beauty Yu Hua propping up their reputation; she was just the most famous one. When others mentioned One Jade Flower Pavillion, they thought of Beauty Yu Hua. Upon hearing of the sixth prince''s arrival, the head matron immediately came to receive him personally. "Welcome, your highness hasn''t visited us in such a long time. The girls already terribly missed your handsome visage." The head matron flattered. She then turned towards the youth that accompanied the sixth prince. A crescent-shaped mask covered Tianyi''s face and only exposed his eyes. But paired with his bedeviling pair of eyes, it caused an air of mystery to surround him and catch even more attention than if he hadn''t worn it. Seeing the matron''s attention on Tianyi, Xi Chen smiled ruefully before introducing. "This is this prince''s important guest. You must not displease him in any way. Otherwise, even I won''t be able to save you." "Of course, of course." The matron said while bowing. Those words she had numerous times in the past. But since it was a prince''s important guest, she''ll just have to treat the mysterious guest a bite more carefully. The matron initially wanted to bring the two to a private room on the third floor, but Tianyi wanted to experience the atmosphere and excitement. So the two were led to a private booth with a view of the giant stage at the center of the building on the second floor. And then Xi Chen ordered for Beauty Yu Hua to dance for them. The matron made an apologetic expression. "Beauty Yu Hua has already been chosen by someone else for the day. Honored guests, how about Beauty Liluo?" Xi Chen frowned. "Go talk to them and say that this prince will owe them a favor." The matron was still unwilling and said. "That customer is an exalted Core Formation Master, and he is offering an extremely high price. Even if it''s your highness, I''m afraid the other party isn''t willing." "Core Formation Master?" Normally Xi Chen wouldn''t squabble anymore and could only swallow the bitter pill. But so what if the other party was a Core Formation Master? The person behind him was a Nascent Soul Grandmaster. Just that, the money he brought couldn''t compare to a Core Formation Master. He looked at Tianyi with some embarrassment on his face, originally it was supposed to be him who was treating Tianyi, but now it seemed that it wasn''t possible. Tianyi waved his hand and searched inside his ring, and ran into a dilemma. Everything inside was the pinnacle, and some materials were priceless. He didn''t lack these materials but spending them to see a courtesan dance didn''t seem worth it. In the end, he did what he did best, brute force. "Tell him to name his price in middle-quality spirit stones." The matron paused, then looked at Xi Chen, who motioned for her to due ask. Inwardly bitter, the matron left. When she returned, she showed a helpless face. "Honor guests, that customer is unwilling." Tianyi frowned. Middle-quality spirit stones were suitable for Core Formation Masters, only some Nascent Soul Grandmasters and above used high-quality spirit stones. "Tell him I''m willing to pay a hundred high-quality spirit stones." The matron revealed a hint of shock, wondering who this important guest of the sixth prince was. She had only handled a high-quality spirit stone once in her life. With more confidence this time, the matron left to negotiate with the Core Formation Master. Tianyi and Xi Chen didn''t wait for the matron''s return, and instead, an unfamiliar voice was heard outside the door of the private booth. "Junior is a Liu Lang, is Senior willing to meet this junior?" Liu Lang didn''t hide his Core Formation Realm aura at all, so even Xi Chen was able to sense him. Tianyi gave his permission for Liu Lang to enter, wondering what he wanted to meet for. There were hardly any Core Formation Masters within Xi Dynasty, but he had never heard of Liu Lang. So Tianyi concluded he wasn''t a native to the Xi Dynasty. When Liu Lang walked in, he immediately sensed Tianyi. Or rather, he couldn''t sense Tianyi as anything but an ordinary mortal, but the instincts he developed in his long years screamed that Tianyi was far more powerful than him. After Liu Ling entered, the matron entered with a hesitant expression. Tianyi, for his part, was wearing a ring-shaped Artifact that helped him hide his cultivation. He could perfectly reign his aura in, but he could not hide the pressure of his Nascent Soul Realm. So he had to use an Artifact to prevent him from accidentally harming his Emperor-Uncle''s family. Had he not worn it, a Qi Gathering Pupil like Xi Chen would be struggling to breathe at this very moment. "Speak, why did you wish for an audience?" Tianyi said, surprisingly Xi Chen with his sudden majesty. "I wish to make up for this junior''s earlier mistake. I will pay Beauty Yu Hua''s price as an apology." Liu Lang said. Off by the side, the matron had already felt her head go dizzy from the conversation. She had thought that Xi Chen''s important guest was only slightly special, but he turned out to be a major figure! Heavens, she hadn''t offended him in any way, right? "No need. We''re both customers. Neither is higher than the other. I will reimburse you with one hundred high-quality spirit stones." Tianyi said. "No, no, no." Liu Lang said. "I can''t accept such a high price from Senior. just see it as this junior offering an apology for having eyes and not seeing Mount Tai." Tianyi tilted his head for a moment before speaking. "You''re an alchemist, I assume?" Liu Lang froze at how sharp Tianyi''s perception was before nodding. "I won''t give the hundred spirit stones. But letting you take a loss doesn''t sit well with me. Instead, I''ll give you a Core Formation Pill recipe. You won''t reject me a third time, right?" Tianyi said. Liu Lang froze once more. Although the pill recipe wasn''t as valuable as the one hundred high-quality spirit stones, it was priceless to an alchemist like him. "Junior will thicken his face and accept Senior''s generosity." The pill recipe wasn''t anything of value to Tianyi. It was something he memorized from Ironword''s inheritance grotto. Compared to the pills from the Buzhou Immortal Sect, the pill described in the recipe wasn''t anything special. Xi Chen would only later find out that Liu Lang would become the fifth duke of the Xi Dynasty thanks to Tianyi''s action, bringing the Xi Dynasty''s prosperity to another level. Chapter 124: Bing Huoyuan Tianyi would be lying to say that he wasn''t disappointed that Liu Lang didn''t come to find trouble with him. Wasn''t the script suppose to have Liu Lang indignant at someone wanting to snatch his woman and then him finding trouble? Unfortunately, reality went against Tianyi''s expectations. But thinking about it, Tianyi also figured out the reason. For one, booking a Foundation Establishment Realm courtesan for one hundred high-tier spiritual stones was a colossal waste. This meant that the person who was offering to buy Liu Lang''s booking was someone with enough strength to easily waste one hundred high-tier spiritual stones or someone with a huge backing or force behind them. Tianyi was both. Tianyi conveniently didn''t label himself as a wastrel. And number two, Beauty Yu Hua was just a courtesan. Speaking unkindly, she wasn''t Liu Lang''s lover or wife. They were in a relationship as customer and employee. At most, his pride as a Core Formation Master would be damage. But so what? Liu Lang was a loose cultivator; his standing was lower than those on the same realm with sects or clans backing them. He had experienced far greater humiliation in the past. Reality proved that his discretion was correct, he even got a pill recipe in return for his strategic withdrawal. After gaining the recipe, Liu Lang retreated from the room and even the One Jade Flower Pavillion. What interest did he have in courtesan when he had a new pill recipe? And it was an advanced Core Formation Realm pill recipe! Liu Lang returned to his estate. It was a gift from the Xi Dynasty as a show of their goodwill. Naturally, Liu Lang knew what they wanted. But he hadn''t thought much of the Xi Dynasty at first. Despite the size of the nation''s territory and protected by a Nascent Soul Grandmaster, it was surrounded by numerous sects and clans with numerous Nascent Soul Grandmasters. It was a miracle that the Xi Dynasty had expanded to its current size without destroying itself. Liu Lang had initially scoffed at the rumor that the Xi Dynasty''s Emperor was a blood-related sibling with an Immortal of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Now, however... Liu Lang''s eyes narrowed as he recalled how intimate the sixth prince and the mysterious Nascent Soul Grandmaster was. He could naturally discern that the Nascent Soul Grandmaster was far younger than he was despite his higher cultivation with his years of experience. Yet such a genius was being accompanied by a talentless Qi Gathering Pupil. If you said there was no relationship between the two, then Liu Lang didn''t believe it. Maybe it wasn''t an Immortal, but a Unity Realm Venerable or even a Transcending Mortality Sage. Liu Lang sank into deep thought as he weighed the pros and cons of joining the Xi Dynasty. Compared to other sects and clans, the Xi Dynasty ruled by the Xi Clan heavily protected the mortals. The disparity between cultivators and mortals was the least here, so casually stealing or killing from mortals had a graver consequence. But Liu Lang was a loose cultivator and not a devilish cultivator, so he wouldn''t be affected by the stricter restriction. He recalled the implicit hints of the treasures able to be gifted for his allegiance. Earlier, he had ridiculed what the Xi Empire had to offer him, an alchemist when they had no inheritances. But now, Liu Lang''s eyes glimmered. Liu Lang summoned the servant of the estate and told him to send a message to the officials. He decided to give a small test. If the Xi Nation passed, then he would join. The servant took the jade slip and immediately sent it towards the official in charge of hosting Liu Lang. The jade slip directly stated the condition for him to join was the acquisition of a pill cauldron Artifact of the Nascent Soul Realm and some Core Formation pill recipes. Firstly, if the Xi Emperor really had a relationship with an Immortal or someone close to the Immortal Realm, a pill cauldron of that rank should be no trouble. As for the pill recipes, even if he had a recipe for a Nascent Soul pill, it would be useless to him.
The central stage, separated from the ground floor by a small water mote, a mist began to shroud all visibility. Then the clear notes of flutes could be heard, followed by the plucked strings of a pipa. One by one, beautiful dancers appeared on the stage from both sides, cutting through the mist and allowing the audience to regain clarity of the stage. Each one wore the same immaculate dress with long flowing sleeves. Despite this, the beauty of each dancer could not be more unique. The crowd sighed in admiration at the tempting vixen whose waist was so thin two hands could wrap around it, the scholarly lady who appeared to have been born from a painting, the unsullied maiden of which mortal sins could not stain, and many more. Unseen by anyone, a drunken cultivator stared dazedly at the clean and pure maiden. His features were upright and just, causing all those who saw him have a good impression. But right now, his state of dress was in a great mismatch against his feature. Dark bags were under his eyes, an unshaved stubble around his chin, and unkempt and slovenly clothes coupled with the stench of liquor glued to him caused him to appear incredibly desolate. Back on the stage, these fairy maidens have been dancing a while, with the music reaching a crescendo. The dancing fairies made way for a large unoccupied spot in the center of the stage. All the audience members felt expectations well up within their chest. The audience had already wondered why One Jade Flower Pavillion suddenly decided to perform such a grand dance, but there must be a lead in each dance, yet there wasn''t one for this. This situation easily made them overthink and reach a conclusion. All the dancing maidens were all first-rate beauties, but for them to be a sideshow, who else could the main lead be but Beauty Yu Hua? It had to be known that Beauty Yu Hua had a sky-high price. And the customer didn''t choose her; she chose the customer. Otherwise, no matter how much money was offered, Beauty Yu Hua would not choose. It was even hard for her to select a client once a month, much less needed to be said of her public performances. While they waited, the audience all pondered which bigwig had arrived for Beauty Yu Hua to publicly perform a dance. And One Jade Flower Pavillion did not let their expectation down. At the highest point of the music, a green figure floated down onto the stage''s center. Her clothes were a combination of green and yellow, as if woven from strands of leaf and branches, giving her the appearance of a nature nymph. Her disposition was cold and lofty as if she was a flower of high peaks, unattainable. But the more unattainable something was the more one''s heart desire it. Once Beauty Yu Hua appeared, it was as if the ten fairy maidens'' previous dance and performance had lost all luster. There was simply no comparison. No matter how pure and clean, no matter how seductive, or how mesmerizing, all those beauties lost their glamour once Beauty Yu Hua appeared. Tianyi sighed to himself. Compared to the dances of the modern world of Earth he was used to, the dance of women of One Jade Flower Pavillion where on another level. It was as if they dedicate their whole life to the craft. But most of all, the dancers of the modern world simply couldn''t compare to the aura these people exuded. Of course, Tianyi hadn''t gone to any famous dance performance, and these dancers were all cultivators, so they had an inherent advantage.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Just as Tianyi was enjoying himself, an accident occurred. One of the dancers, the one with the pure and clean look, tripped and fell. The momentum and rhythm of the performance instantly disappeared. The other nine fairy maidens looked at the fallen one with hints of disdain but said nothing. They didn''t need to. "Wei''er, how many times is this?" The pointed voice of Beauty Yu Hua could be heard. It was no wonder today was her big performance, yet it was all ruined in a single moment. And judging from her word, this wasn''t the first time that it happened. "I-I-I''m sorry, I''ll do better next time," The girl called Wei''er said, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "Next time?" One of the fairy maidens said, her face mocking. "This isn''t the first time this happened. Out of all of us sisters, you are the only one who would mess up so badly during a performance. I won''t bother mentioning the rest, but who was it that promised that there wouldn''t be an accident during Elder Sister Yu''s performance?" "I-I....I... didn''t mean to," Wei''er said, the unshed tears in her eyes almost bursting, yet not quite to the point like a bubble. The other girls all began to pile up words against Wei''er, as if they finally found an outlet for their anger, causing Wei''er to look pitiable as if the whole world was against her. Finally, she couldn''t take it anymore and yell back. "It''s not like that! I''m not like you people! I didn''t want to do this. You guys forced me to." Wei''er said, her tears finally shedding like two rivers down her face. Her appearance was that of an abused girl forced to dance for strangers, causing many of the men in the audience to have their hearts moved. This only caused the other fairy maidens to be even more displeased. What did she mean by those words? Who did she think she was, standing on a higher moral plane than them? Beauty Yu Hua stayed quiet, letting the girls vent. Just as she was about to speak, a voice from the audience rang out. "Isn''t it just a dance? Start over again." The owner of the voice was the disheveled handsome drunkard. He took another chug directly from the wine jug. "Besides, the girl said that she didn''t want to. You people forced her to sell her body like this, yet you treat her like this?" Seeing as how the situation might get out of hand, Beauty Yu Hua stepped forward and talked with the drunken man. "This gentleman, there seems to be a misunderstanding. The girls of the One Jade Flower Pavillion does not conduct in the trade of the flesh. And we did not force Wei''er to dance. We gave her a choice between entertaining guests or a servant. But Wei''er couldn''t stand being a servant, so she chose to dance instead." Beauty Yu Hua''s words were rational and, coupled with her calm demeanor, made her words believable, causing all those who empathized with Wei''er to lose much of their empathy. The drunken man snorted and chugged another mouthful of wine. He derided. "Who knows how clean this place is. I don''t know what the situation is. All I can see that you are teaming to bully a weak woman." Beauty Yu Hua wasn''t intimidated and instead showed a cold smile. "Gentleman, you must speak reasonably. When one commits a wrong, isn''t it only natural to make up for your mistakes? This isn''t the first time Little Sister Wei''er has committed such an error. Many of the gentlemen here can be witnesses to this fact. We already tried to convince Little Sister Wei''er many times, but she stubbornly refuses. Since she still hasn''t fixed her mistakes, isn''t it only natural there would be consequences?" "Sophistry!" The drunken man said as he stood up and smashed the wine jug onto the floor with a loud bang. "Fine, I''ll speak by your rules. I''ll buy that girl''s freedom from you people, speak how much is it?" Many of the girls on stage all had strange expressions on the faces at the man''s words. The atmosphere instantly became queer. Finally, Beauty Yu Hua explained. "As I said, gentleman, you are misunderstanding. We do not own Little Sister Wei''er. We happened to have picked her up on the road when she was homeless and starving. We fed her to health and then let her leave, but she didn''t have any other place, so she wanted to stay." The man''s eyes cleared a bit before looking at Wei''er. "Is this true, miss?" Wei''er''s tears had stopped, but her eyes still glistened as if they could start again at any moment. "I...I...this..." She could articulate any words, but despite this, her whole body expressed signs that she was forced and it was not of her will. The man''s expression hardened, and he sneered. "I want to see what other lies you concocted!" The aura from his body changed, and the heavy pressure of a Nascent Soul Realm Grandmaster instantly descended on the surrounding. The fairy maidens and Beauty Yu Hua''s expression all changed as they were forced to their knees. Many of them couldn''t help but glare at Wei''er, this unlucky star. Ever since she had appeared, the reputation of One Flower Jade Pavillion fell by the thousands each day. Rumors had started about how they forced their courtesans to commit acts against her will. But even when they directly wanted to chase her out, she clung to them, saying that she had nowhere else to go. And now, their little lives could be lost because of that unlucky star! And then, like a savior descending from the heavens, the pressure disappated, and a voice could be heard saying. "This fellow daoist, the one who seems unreasonable to me, is you. The lady of One Jade Flower Pavillion was conversing with you reasonably, but you resorted to brute force the instant you couldn''t outspeak her. I don''t think it is unreasonable for a man to fight a woman. This world is where the strong reign, after all. But using your power to bully the weak, where is your honor?" "I am not bullying them. I am seeking justice." The man said, his voice full righteous fury. "Justice? Fairy Wei hasn''t even spoken her part, yet you already arrived at the conclusion. I ask of you, can you predict the future?" Tianyi said. It was not like he hadn''t seen what happened, but he felt Beauty Yu Hua''s words were reasonable. "She is too afraid to speak. I am standing up for her." The man said, unwilling to back down. Tianyi smiled. "How about this then, Miss Wei, nod your head if there were any falsehood in the words spoken by Miss Yu, earlier." Wei''er continued to stutter, not able to take any action. Just as it seemed that the Nascent Soul Grandmaster would take action again, Tianyi spoke. "Do not be afraid, Miss Wei. If you have any unspoken injustice, I can ask the emperor to provide over your case personally." Even with this guarantee, Wei''er refused to take any concrete action. Even those who still felt for Wei''er all felt that there was something amiss.
Chapter 125: Vast Heaven Young Master "Vast Heaven Young Master?" Tianyi said, his voice confused. He recalled that his most famous moniker was Junior Tribulation Lord. Where did this Vast Heaven Young Master come from? The aura around Bing Huoyuan immediately changed from that of a desolate drunken man to an upright and dignified man. Even his disheveled clothes became clean and bright, causing him to appear all radiant in complete contrast to his previous appearance. It was to the point that the previous fairy maidens who disdained his drunken persona completely revised their previous opinion. They made excuses as to why the man appeared so slovenly. Maybe he was down in the dumps, or a family member died, or maybe even heartbreak. Even Tianyi was frozen momentarily by the disparity to the sudden change of image. "Vast Heaven Young Master, that is the name that the title decided for you by the participants of Heavenly Connection Gathering." Bing Huoyuan said calmly, his face impassive but giving Tianyi a feeling of goodwill. He made a gesture towards the seat, and Tianyi made a "please" gesture. Once Bing Huoyuan sat down, he observed the mysterious youth before him. He had heard from his friends within the sect of the massive upset during the most recent Heavenly Connection Meeting, as well as Xi Tianyi, who grandly made his fame and stood out even with the five leaders who appeared, completely eclipsing them in fame. At least to the participants. Compared to the rumors, Bing Huoyuan couldn''t feel the vastness of Tianyi''s aura. In fact, Tianyi only appeared to be an ordinary Nascent Soul Grandmaster to him. That alone spoke of a big problem, how could Sword Empress Xi''s son be ordinary? Tianyi courteously poured a cup of tea. Before going to the main topic, he wanted to learn more first. "I was unaware of such a title. From what I recall, Boundless Mountain was not a participant in this Heavenly Connection Gathering. I''m surprised you would have heard of me." "Vast Heaven Young Master is too humble." Bing Huoyuan said as he sipped the tea. It was nothing close to what he was used to, but the refreshingly bitter taste contrasted nicely against all the wine he had been chugging. "Even if Boundless Mountain was invited, I would not have been able to appear. Although, I made some achievements in the previous Heavenly Connection Gathering." "Oh?" Tianyi said, raising his voice in curiosity. "I am not well informed of the previous Heavenly Connection Gathering. Might you inform me of your title?" "Compared to Vast Heaven Young Master, my title as the Frost Flame Young Master is nothing much." Bing Houfeng said self-deprecatingly. Tianyi''s eyes brightened. He recalled Su Bojing mentioning it to him during the journey towards Ocean Lake City. "So it is Frost Flame Young Master, I have long heard of your fame, only I didn''t know your esteemed name." "Haha, what esteemed name?" Bing Huoyuan chuckled bitterly. "The titles are something we gave ourselves for fun. Compared to the wider world, who else knows of my title as Frost Flame Young Master. Unlike you, Junior Tribulation Lord." Tianyi thought about it for a moment before nodding in agreement. Vast Heaven Young Master, Frost Flame Young Master, both these titles contained the words: young master. What did call someone young master mean? It meant they were part of the bourgeois class of people, born with a silver spoon in the mouth. Not many people would use such a title. Only people of the same circle did. There are only wrong names, no wrong titles.* "But your title as Vast Heaven Young Master might be different." Bing Huoyuan continued with a slight smile. "How so?" Tianyi imagined people calling him Vast Heaven Young Master, especially those that looked like old folks. The scene formed in Tianyi''s mind was too beautiful to be put in words. It was like everyone was his servant calling him young master. "The recent Heavenly Connection Gathering was by no means ordinary. Deaths had never occurred before, and were it not you who displayed your might and chased off the scourge? Not to mention words of your accomplishments have been spread by eyewitnesses, such as your temporal methods and your incredible learning abilities. The heaven in Vast Heaven Young Master refers to your supremacy over those in the same generation, while vast refers to the numerous disciplines you have shown and yet to display." Hearing Bing Huoyuan praise him like this, Tianyi felt a little embarrassed. Especially with Xi Chen''s eyes of worship. "You overpraise me. I am still not worthy of such a name. I let the culprit escape, after all." "Not necessarily so. I heard the culprit was in possession of three Immortal Realm Artifacts. And even before that, when Longwei was besieged by tens of Nascent Soul Realm disciples, none were able to deal with him until you singlehandedly defeated him." Bing Huoyuan continued. "Longwei was already besieged for quite some time. I just came at an opportune time to deal with him." Tianyi said, still feeling slightly embarrassed. "But what brings Frost Flame Young Master here? Surely this place isn''t vast enough to contain a young dragon like you." Bing Huoyuan didn''t point out Tianyi''s brutish method of changing the subject. And instead, he shook his head bitterly. "Just a little trouble, I wanted to clear my mind. Let''s talk about the main matter first." Tianyi likewise didn''t point at Bing Huoyuan''s attempt at diverting the topic. And it wasn''t like the conversation between the two didn''t have any meaning. While the two conversed, the previously heated atmosphere settled down. "Miss Yu, how about you explain to Frost Flame Young Master your situation first?" Tianyi said, asking Beauty Yu Hua to speak first gave her the initiative and gave her the advantage over Wei''er. But Bing Huoyuan didn''t say anything.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Beauty Yu Hua had already recomposed herself when the two young masters had been conversing. And so with an eloquent tongue, she spoke of how Wei''er had appeared before them and her circumstance. She didn''t add any bias or how she affected One Jade Flower Pavillion''s business, except how customers would be angry seek compensation for Wei''er poor performance. Thus they no longer allowed her to entertain customers. It was a completely subjective narration of the situation. While she was talking, Xi Chen began to feel out of place. While the fairy maidens and Beauty Yu Hua were standing, he was sitting. Normally, he wouldn''t have minded, but currently, he was sitting between two Nascent Soul Grandmasters! Previously, the only Nascent Soul Grandmaster he interacted with was his father. And Tianyi was relatively relaxed and informal around him, giving him a sense of calmness. But now, the atmosphere between the two was too much for him. It wasn''t like there was a tense atmosphere of enemies, but the formality was cranked up several notches, making him feel stifled. When Beauty Yu Hua was done, Tianyi directly looked at Wei''er and asked for her perspective. He didn''t ask any of the fairy maidens, from what he had seen before, Beauty Yu Hua was the absolute leader, and thus, her words accounted for their views as well. "I...I..." Wei''er stuttered a bit before she looked directly at Tianyi as if finally working up her courage. It was obvious she was deathly fearful, yet she courageously faced him head-on. It incited the image of a weak girl who pretended to be brave, causing most men''s hearts to soften. But Tianyi could only feel his eyes twitching. If he didn''t twitch his eyes, his lips would have twitched, exposing his true feelings. This appearance, he had seen so many times in the shoujo manga he had read. What''s next? Would he develop an interest in her and protect her too? Then without realizing it, those protective feelings of his would develop into love. But how could his mother allow such a thing? She would disrupt their feelings, but Tianyi and Wei''er would remain together no matter what until Mengfei relented and recognized their love. Wait, his mother would probably agree as long as wished it, Tianyi thought. Then the villainess naturally became Daoyi, who, after Tianyi began to grow closer to Wei''er, would show jealousy and purposely create trouble for them. Tianyi almost laughed out loud at his sudden absurd thoughts. With great trouble, Tianyi only allowed a slight tremble to run through his body. Instead, he secretly observed Bing Huoyuan to keep his thoughts straight. "I didn''t want this!" Wei''er''s crisp and clear voice sounded. It was full of conviction. "I only planned her to stay here for a little while. When I was young, my Bai Clan was attacked by devilish cultivators resulting in the loss of my parents." Teardrops started to appear at the corner of Wei''er''s eyes, but not dropping. This gave her the appearance of a young girl trying to remain strong in dark times. "I can still remember my parent''s last words. They said, "Ningwei, you are the eldest sister. When we are gone, you have to protect your baby sister, Qingwei." But I''m not a good daughter. But on the journey towards safety, we were attacked by devilish cultivators, and I lost my sister years ago. Even now, I''m still trying to find her." Tianyi felt himself being stunned. Not stunned by Ningwei''s sob story, but how the topic changed. He was originally asking for her perspective of the events that led to this moment, certainly not her sob story! Tianyi was about to speak, but Bing Huoyuan spoke faster than him. "...is your sister''s name, Bai Weiwei?" Bing Huoyuan asked, causing Tianyi to furrow his brows as he felt the name was very familiar. His eyes widened when he recalled where he had heard it. It was the name of the girl those two disciples from Bright Ascension Sect were having a cockfight over. There was no way, right? Tianyi looked at Bai Ningwei, furrowing her brows. Now that he looked closer, there seemed to be some similarities between the two ladies. Especially the pure and innocent aura they both had. "No, her name is Qingwei." Bai Ningwei said before she thought of something. "We were separated when she was very young, but her nickname was Weiwei!" Tianyi looked at Bing Huoyung. How did Bing Huoyuan know Bai Weiwei, or was it Bai Qingwei now? Tianyi felt his interest light up as he continued watching. "Did she have a jade pendant with the character for Bai (°×)?" And it seemed that the relationship wasn''t simple if Bing Huoyuan even knew of such a matter. "She did!" Bai Ningwei said before she thought of something and took something from inside her clothes. It was a pendant made of white jade with the character for Bai on it. "Where did senior see her? Please tell me. I''m willing to do anything!" "Frost Flame Young Master, the person you are speaking of, is it Bai Weiwei of Bright Ascension Sect?" Tianyi asked, causing Bing Huoyuan to raise his guard. "Indeed, I''m surprised the esteemed Vast Heaven Young Master would know of such a disciple." Bing Huoyuan said, a question within his words. "She caught my eye at the Heavenly Connection Gathering," Tianyi said, deliberately making his situation with Bai Weiwei ambiguous. "I wonder what Frost Flame Young Master''s relationship with miss Bai is?" "We had a fortuitous encounter when I was out tempering myself. After experiencing life and death together, our relationship is quite close." Tianyi smiled at Bing Huoyuan''s words. He said, "I see," while nodding his head. Bing Huoyuan felt confused at Tianyi''s reply. The reason he was here was that he had heard that Bai Weiwei found a potential Dao companion. He had the heart to oppose this, but the two were from different sects, and such a thing was impossible unless he reached a point that no one would oppose. In other words, a True Immortal. He originally wanted to bless Bai Weiwei''s future, but now he found hope. The hope is known as Bai Ningwei, Bai Weiwei''s elder sister. "Forgive me for interjecting." Tianyi and Bing Huoyuan both looked at Beauty Yu Hua. "Little Sister Wei''er has constantly mentioned the matter of finding her younger sister. It is her good fortune to meet Vast Heaven Young Master and Frost Flame Young Master. It is this lowly girl''s one-sided request, but I implore you to please fulfill Little Sister Wei''er''s wish." In Tianyi''s eyes, this was Beauty Yu Hua''s method of ditching Bai Ningwei. From her earlier words, he got the distinct feeling of Bai Ningwei being viewed as a parasite by the members of One Jade Flower Pavillion. Bing Huoyuan was naturally elated at Beauty Yu Hua''s request. He unconsciously ignored Beauty Yu Hua''s abnormal sentence. Even Bai Ningwei gave Beauty Yu Hua a grateful look. Tianyi felt that Beauty Yu Hua would be angered to death the more grateful Bai Ningwei was. Bai Ningwei was a parasitic person, subconsciously draining the resources of others through her actions. Not only that, but she was also incredibly shallow and stupid too. "If Miss Bai is willing to trust me, I will bring you to meet your sister as soon as possible." Bing Huoyuan said with a dependable look. "Willing, willing, as long as I can see my sister again, I''m willing to do anything!" With Bai Ningwei''s intelligence, she wouldn''t even know if she was sold by a liar or not. In fact, she would probably help her traffickers count the money! Not long after, Bing Huoyuan brought Bai Ningwei away as if afraid Tianyi would interject and steal away his chance. Tianyi just watched all this with amusement in his eyes. After this, Tianyi lost all interest in watching the beauties of One Jade Flower Pavillion perform. There was a better show to be watched. But since One Jade Flower Pavillion allowed him to see such a good show, he wouldn''t be stingy with his tip as he brought Xi Chen back into the palace. However, never would have Tianyi thought that his mother would appear before and give him a lecture. Chapter 126: Daoyi Visits Duke Qi "Young Master, what is it that you require of..." The rest of Su Bojing''s sentence fell off as he saw the oppressive aura around Tianyi. The air quite literally distorted around Tianyi due to his leaking and uncontrolled pressure. "Did you hear?" Tianyi asked, his voice low. "Hear what?" Su Bojing was almost afraid to know as the depressing aura around Tianyi dramatically increased. "Young Master, please calm down! Your emotion is making your true qi run rampant. The palace walls won''t be able to last if you don''t!" Su Bojing was afraid his words didn''t reach Tianyi, but he saw Tianyi breathe in deeply before releasing the air. Instantly, the oppressive atmosphere diminished by over ninety percent, but a small portion still clung onto Tianyi''s skin. Tianyi collapsed onto a chair and placed both hands on his face. "So...um...what happened?" Su Bojing asked after finally gathering his courage. "Earlier, I went out with Older Cousin Chen to tour the capital. You know that, right?" Tianyi started off. Su Bojing nodded. He still remembered because he had wanted to go, but Tianyi insisted on him staying. The excuse was to check in on what happened to the members of the Leakless Sect who were attacked on their way back among other information Tianyi wanted. "The truth was, I actually went to the One Jade Flower Pavillion with Older Cousin Chen." Tianyi decided to elaborate upon seeing the confusion on Su Bojing''s face. "It''s an entertainment establishment where you can seek the talents of women." Su Bojing made an "oh" face upon understanding Tianyi''s meaning. His gaze towards Tianyi became strange. Thinking back, Tianyi was already over twenty, but Su Bojing had never heard of him having any relationship with those of the opposite sex. Furthermore, despite being already over twenty, Tianyi still had the appearance of youth in the midst of puberty. So logically speaking, Tianyi would be at the age where he started showing interest in such a matter. Crack The image of Tianyi Su Bojing had built fractured. His gaze became complicated towards the youth slumped in his chair, regret visibly clinging to him. Ah, so geniuses are people too, Su Bojing thought. To him, geniuses like Su Wanyu, Xia Yushan, and Xi Tianyi were like the epitome of perfection, able to do no wrong. There were people of another world, high up in the heavens while he was a beast on land. But now, he felt he had seen the truth, and the distance between him and Tianyi had shortened. Tianyi continued speaking. He wasn''t looking for a conversation but someone to vent on. "My mother originally wanted to go tour the streets with me, but I rejected her since I did not want her to follow me to that kind place. But it turns out that she followed me with her Immortal sense!" Ah, Su Bojing could see where this was going. "So when I returned, I was met with my mother waiting for me! And that traitor, Older Cousin Chen, ditched me and ran away!" Tianyi huffed as he leaned against the chair as if all his bones had gone soft. "Under the eyes of everyone, she started to lecture me!" Su Bojing nodded. For a descendant of an Immortal to visit those places was indeed slightly inappropriate. But the next second, his thoughts came to a screeching halt at Tianyi''s tirade. "She then started to lecture me about the nature of sex between a man and woman in front of everyone! EVERYONE!!!" Tianyi practically screamed the last part. "Do you know how embarrassing it is to chided that seeking unknown women outside is dangerous? That I should make sure that the women''s body was safe before doing the deed? And that if I really wanted to, I should ask my mother to help me find a girl or two to vent!?" Tianyi screamed into his hands. He could recall the condensing awkward tension in the atmosphere the more his mother spoke. Even his Emperor-Uncle, although he seemed to acknowledge his sister''s words, didn''t find it appropriate to speak of such matters openly. Did someone preach the same speech to his mother in a public space when she was young, and that''s why she repeated it with him? If the culprit of such an act ever landed in Tianyi''s hand, he would make the culprit wish for death but unable to die! Sometimes Tianyi forgot that his mother was raised as an imperial princess and her sense of values and common sense differed from his. This was even more so when considering his morals and common sense had been developed on Earth, a land where one person could not rule the world based on personal strength. "Pft!" Tianyi''s body stiffened. His gaze became dangerous as he focused it on Su Bojing. His voice became low as he said, "Did you just laugh, Su Bojing?" Su Bojing started to hack as he tried to contain his laughter. "No...haha...of course...not....hahahahahahahaha...!!!" He tried, he really tried, but he could not contain his laughter as his image of Tianyi and Grand Elder Xi shattered completely as he imagined the scene. Tianyi didn''t leave his room again until Daoyi came out of her secluded cultivation, which was a week later.
When Daoyi exited her secluded cultivation, there were three silvery-blue wisps inside of Spiritual Core. She now had the confidence to confront her dear father and the retired duke of the Jiang Clan.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Daoyi''s eyes became unfocused as she recalled her mother''s smile. It had been a truly gentle smile, full of motherly love yet filled with helplessness. It was the world''s most beautiful yet tragic smile. It was also the only light Daoyi had before darkness submerged the world. She had thought the darkness would continue to follow her until she escaped from that living hell of a place, but luck was on her side as she met Tianyi and her Master. Daoyi didn''t particularly care for the Xu Clan that her mother spoke of, but it was the only other time her mother would smile that wasn''t because of her. When her mother spoke of the Xu Clan, she spoke of the Xu Clan''s glory days. Her mother would speak of the Xu Clan''s treasure, the Spectral Spirit Rising Jewel. It was the clan''s origin. The great ancestor found the treasure and derived a cultivation method that allowed them to display soul techniques despite being only in the Foundation Establishment and Core Formation Realm. With it, the clan had risen to prominence in one of the myriad lower realms. The clan had even migrated to the Huang Realm using the jewel despite none of them ascending to Immortality. But that jewel was also the calamity of the clan. The Spectral Spirit Rising Jewel had a far larger origin than any of the Xu Clan members could imagine. When news of the treasure leaked out of the clan, the Xu Clan became guilty of treasuring a jade ring, inviting the disaster of those who coveted the jewel. It was her mother''s greatest regret. As the sole child of the patriarch, her mother had been tasked with escaping with the Spectral Spirit Rising Jewel in the hopes of one day taking vengeance for the clan. But alas, she had been ambushed, her Spiritual Core was shattered, and the Spectral Spirit Rising Jewel had been fractured. But she managed to keep on a shard of the fractured jewel and escape. But what was the use? Her Spiritual Core had been shattered, and her life would not last long. Had she not been discovered and taken as a concubine of Duke Qi, she would have long perished. When she became pregnant, Daoyi''s other thought of using the child as her tool of revenge. But such thoughts instantly disappeared when her mother saw the infant Daoyi. Her named her Daoyi in the hopes that she would walk her path according to her will. If Daoyi could take revenge, good; if not, so be it. Daoyi''s mother wholeheartedly taught Daoyi, hoping one day she could become strong enough to leave the duke''s influence. But that all abruptly changed one day, her mother told her to never cultivate and instead marry well and live peacefully. Perhaps that had been when her mother had discovered her Water Spiritual Vein. Daoyi had no great attachment for the Xu Clan, but it was her mother''s last wish, her last obsession. If she had enough power, Daoyi didn''t mind fulfilling her mother''s wish. And right now, she had enough power to take the shattered jewel fragment from the Jiang Family. "Senior Brother," Daoyi greeted when she saw Tianyi approach her. He was trying his hardest not to make any discomfort obvious. "Are you going to the duke''s estate now?" Tianyi asked, treading lightly as if he was afraid she might shatter at any moment. Daoyi shook her head. "It''s too late right now. It''s better to go tomorrow. Of course, I won''t inform them of my visit. That way, they won''t be as on guard." "I see, that''s good," Tianyi said. "Are you tired, hungry? I was about to have dinner with mother, would you like to join?" "That sounds pleasing," Daoyi said as she joined Tianyi on his way to see her master. Along the way, a hint of mischievousness appeared in her eyes as she sly glanced at Tianyi. "Senior Brother, I heard some interesting news recently." Tianyi almost stumbled over thin air at Daoyi''s words, causing her to stifle her giggles. But he tried to play it off as nothing as if that would cover up for his fumble. "I see. What news have you heard?" "Is it true that you had an orgy with ten women at the brothel?" This time, Tianyi did trip over thin air and fell onto the ground, causing the whole imperial palace to rumble from the force of Tianyi''s fall. A large crater was now a permanent fixture of the imperial palace where Tianyi fell. Daoyi felt sweat coat her palms. She just meant it as a joke, something to tease her senior brother that always tried to act mature even with his teenage appearance. But she never imagined that Tianyi tripping onto the ground would result in such considerable collateral damage. If Tianyi could cause such destruction from merely tripping, Daoyi didn''t want to know what it was like to be on the receiving end of his punches. Despite the episode, Daoyi enjoyed her dinner with the awkward mother-son combo. She had to stifle her laughter several times when her master would start lecturing Tianyi on proper sexual deeds, who appeared like he wanted to retaliate with a few words of his own but held them back in the end. Instead, he settled for glaring sulkily at Daoyi. Daoyi laughed out loud when he did. But all things good thing must come to an end. Soon it was the day she would face her family and reclaim her mother''s property. "Do you want me to come with you?" Tianyi asked, his worry evident. Daoyi smiled as she shook her head. "Thank you for your concern, but this is something I want to do myself." She was sure she had already said this once, but Tianyi was still worried. Surprisingly, her master did not say anything. Maybe it was confidence in her strength in being able to help Daoyi should anything unexpected occurred. After all, she was able to keep an eye on Tianyi when he visited the One Jade Flower Pavillion. Daoyi didn''t directly travel to Duke Qi''s estate by herself. No matter what, she was still an official titled princess of the second rank of the Xi Dynasty. Even though she was out of the country for most years, the emperor could easily appropriate some servants and carriage for her just as he had just done. In fact, he had set aside the property and servants for Daoyi for years since she was Mengfei''s disciple. She wasn''t tensed as she expected. Perhaps the dinner and interaction with Tianyi and her master had calmed her heart. When she had left, her father and the duchess had been powerful figures she could only worship from under. The only way to escape their influence was to leave the country as the Xi Dynasty only had four titled dukes, their influence was second only to the emperor. Unexpectedly, when Daoyi reached the duke''s estate, the whole main branch was already outside waiting for her. Should she say as expected as one of the Four Great Dukes of the Xi Dynasty? Even though her visit was supposed to be a surprise, Duke Qi still got wind of it. "We greet the Princess Xian De of the Second Rank!" Even though we were family by blood, imperial privilege prioritized that they address me by my title instead of as their daughter. In addition, Daoyi wondered how much humiliation her family was feeling. Yesterday was today, and today is not tomorrow. No one knows what the future would bring. Their station was once high above her, and her death was something that could be decided on a whim. But in the blink of an eye, the roles have reversed. She was the one looking down at them from a high place. Chapter 127: Today is Not Yesterday Daoyi didn''t let her blood relatives bow too long. Deriving pleasure from such a meaningless act was too petty for her. Although such an act was something her senior brother might commit, Daoyi inwardly smiled at the thought. Following the steward, Daoyi stepped through the gate first with Duke Qi, the duchess, the heir apparent, and Jiang Qingwa following behind her. Along the way, she didn''t deliberately hide her Core Formation cultivation base, so the people around her could clearly differentiate her superior strength. None felt it clearer than Duke Qi. Having interacted with his father numerous times, he knew what a Core Formation Master''s pressure felt like. But neither was Daoyi purposely pressuring them. It was just a small negotiation tactic so that Duke Qi wouldn''t feel she was easy to trick. From the years Daoyi spent in the Duke Qi Estate, her father had always been a distant figure, even towards his children with the duchess. Cold and calculating were where the words Daoyi would use to describe him, weighing everything on a scale and choosing the option with the greatest benefits. This was also one reason that Daoyi didn''t ask her master or Tianyi for aid. A man such as him should realize what battles he should or should not pick. Of course, there was an off chance that his pride would be wounded her, this unfilial daughter, and resist her demands. But even then, Daoyi wouldn''t mind severing all relationships between them. She was family only in-name and blood. Even if her Core Formation Master grandfather appeared, she wouldn''t be afraid. Upon entering the main hall of the estate, Daoyi was given the seat of most importance. She didn''t reject it. According to custom, the rank of a princess of the second rank was greater than a duke. Upon sitting down, she could see everyone except the duke below her, like a teacher in front of the class. She silently wondered where her concubine-born brother was but didn''t put too much thought into it. Daoyi looked on amusement at the duchess silently wringing her hands as if sitting below her was a huge humiliation. Since young, the duchess had always despised her and the concubines even if they were unwilling, seeing them as vixen who took Duke Qi''s attention away from her. In other words, she was just a normal jealous woman. The only reason Duke Qi took a Qi Gathering Pupil like her as his main wife was due to the immense benefits brought by her maternal clan. If the duchess''s reaction was within Daoyi''s prediction, then Jiang Qingwa was beyond her expectations. Gone was the proud -some might even call arrogant- miss of the duke''s estate, and in her place was a defeated woman. The face was still that face, only slightly aged. But if you were to compare the current Jiang Qingwa to the one ten years ago, unless you looked closely, you wouldn''t be able to identify them as the same person. The air around them was completely different, Daoyi thought she resembled Jiang Chunye before she nearly drowned. Since young, Jiang Qingwa had always been praised as a genius. The future of the Jiang Clan, people called her. Even her brother from the same mother did not attract as much attention as her, being inferior to her in talent and appearance. So she placed even less attention on her concubine-born siblings. As long as her younger siblings did not aggravate her, she wouldn''t do anything to them as it was below her stature to do so. But everything changed from the moment Jiang Chunye publically defeated her during the banquet celebrating Sword Empress Xi''s arrival. After that day, Jiang Qingwa challenged Jiang Chunye again, but the result was the same. Her second sister had thoroughly destroyed her confidence at the time, but never did she imagine her third sister would be the one dealing the finishing blow. Jiang Qingwa hadn''t thought much of it when Jiang Daoyi had been summoned to the palace. At most, she had derided that sure enough, a concubine''s daughter was destined to be a concubine. Never in her wildest dreams did Jiang Qingwa imagine that Daoyi would be titled a princess of the second rank. But the final blow was the announcement that Daoyi had become the fabled immortal''s disciple. For what reason was she proud for so long? Her reputation as the capital''s most outstanding young miss turned out to be nothing more than a joke. Her idiotic second sister turned out to be pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger. And her third sister, although she was a mortal that hadn''t even cultivated, had been blessed with a Heavenly Spiritual Vein. All the pride she had accumulated in her life, all that confidence was worth shit! Her self-confidence destroyed, Jiang Qingwa couldn''t walk out of the shadow of her defeat under Jiang Chunye, especially after she left to join the Buzhou Immortal Sect. The fact that Jiang Chunye failed was a small comfort at best. If Jiang Chunye failed, didn''t that mean she, Jiang Qingwa, was even less qualified? Despite this, she hadn''t given up just yet. Through her hard work and resources, she managed to raise her cultivation to the twelfth stage of the Qi Gathering Realm. But she failed her Foundation Establishment Heavenly Tribulation not once but twice. Had it not been for her mother and her clan, Jiang Qingwa would have died on both accounts, unable to recover. Even Jiang Qingwa''s father, who had not treated her any differently after her defeat under Chunye''s hands, began to neglect her. From that day on, she began to lose hope and all motivation. Jiang Qingwa severed all her relationships external of the duke''s estate, unable to face them after failing twice. She began to just wait, waiting for her father to marry her away just like Daoyi once had. As for her elder brother, the sole male among Duke Qi''s children, he didn''t seem to have changed not much. Not too outstanding but not incompetent either. Slightly above average among the scions among the capital''s famed families. After making a round of observation, Daoyi ignored the duchess''s hateful glare and glanced at her father. Naturally, she had come prepared before arriving. So she knew about the general happenings of the duke''s estate. "Since I''ve left, I believe the duke''s estate has been well?" "Naturally," Duke Qi said, his tone impassive. "With the emperor''s blessing, the duke''s estate has been on the right track. Your grandfather is even preparing to undergo his Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation." Daoyi inwardly raised an eye at that. She hadn''t heard of this when she investigated the happenings of the duke estate. Of course, she just asked the servant given to her by the palace, so the information she received could be incomplete. She wasn''t sure the emperor knew of her grandfather''s upcoming Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation but thinking of the relationship between the two, the emperor most likely did. Her grandfather, Jiang Ziya, had been a vagrant orphan who happened to wander into the Xi Dynasty. Thanks to the emperor''s benevolence, he was given a chance to take the Imperial Examination. He began his career in officialdom from that moment on before eventually catching the emperor''s eye due to his talent. Eventually, he reached the Core Formation Realm and was titled the first Duke Qi. Now he had passed the title to Daoyi''s father, wholeheartedly focusing on cultivation. "That''s good. Grandfather has been pursuing his immortal path since before my birth. Now, he will finally be one step closer to achieving his dream." Daoyi said. She hadn''t actually met this grandfather of hers but saying a few good words didn''t cost her anything. Conversing a few moments longer, Daoyi stated her objective. "Lord Father, you should know why I am here. My mother was buried plainly without even a tombstone. I want to take her back with me to the Buzhou Immortal Sect along with her possession before she entered the duke''s estate."Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! "You sure have good schemes," The duchess said, finally finding a chance to lecture Daoyi. "Your har- mother was protected by us despite being crippled. She wore our clothes, ate our food, and used our money. And now you found a better backing. You want to take everything away after all we did for you and your mother? You''re just a white-eye wolf." Daoyi returned with a slight smile. What powerful words, reversing black and white. If a bystander were to hear of this, they would have thought that Daoyi and her mother were ungrateful after being served like royalty within the duke''s estate. But Daoyi didn''t need to speak out; someone else did for her. "Enough." Duke Qi stated, his tone severe. The duchess flinched back as if in shock that the duke would reprimand her. "Lord Husband, you raised your voice against me for the vixen''s daughter?" Her eyes reddened from the harm done by the duke''s words. "I toiled day and night to manage the estate, not to mention our long years of relationship as husband and wife, but even all that can''t even compare to a dead woman''s spawn?" The duke looked coldly at her. "Today is not yesterday. Daoyi''s position is no longer the same as before. Don''t think I don''t know the little tricks you used to deal with the estate''s concubine. Even those little assassination plots of yours, I know." The duchess reeled back as if she had been physically struck, looking at the duke in disbelief. "W-w-what is Lord Husband talking about? I don''t understand." The duke looked at her with the same impassive expression even as Jiang Qingwa looked at her usually dignified and noble mother in shock. "All the servants in the estate are my people. Did you really think a sheltered and pampered miss like you could hide anything from me? As long as you did not go overboard, I didn''t mind turning a blind eye to your actions. Why did you think all your assassination attempts on the concubines and their children all failed?" As the duchess''s facial features became terrifying under the revelation from the duke, Daoyi looked at her father in a new light. It turned out everything the duchess was known to the duke. He even hinted that the reason she hadn''t died from the duchess was due to his secret protection, what a crafty man. But the duke didn''t stop there and decided to directly rip off any delusions the duchess still had. "Daoyi''s current status is something that your father-in-law can''t even compare to, the less needed to be said about your clan. If she wanted to, she could have the whole Jiang Family buried because of you, and his majesty wouldn''t lift a finger to stop it." "Impossible, how could his majesty let a little brat like her uproot a family like the Jiang!?" The duchess retorted, not wanting to believe the duke''s words. "Hmpf, his majesty respects his sister, the Sword Empress Xi, the most. Compared to us, she is his backing and foundation. He can lose anything, just not his relationship with Sword Empress Xi. And between the two of us, the disciple of his sister and an officials family, who do you think his majesty would support?" The duchess opened her mouth to speak but found that no sound came out. But the duke wasn''t done just yet. "And even without Sword Empress Xi or his majesty, Daoyi herself can deal with all of us at this moment. You''re too weak, so you can''t discern her Core Formation cultivation base. Not even father-in-law would be able to save you. Open your eyes and face reality!" The duchess totally collapsed upon hearing the duke''s final words. The duke then stood up and kneeled before Daoyi, shocking everyone present. "Princess Xian De, please forgive this subject''s family. The duchess''s spirit hasn''t been well for the past few years due to worry. Do not mind her. Please find it in your heart to forgive her." Daoyi''s brother quickly kneeled beside Duke Qi after he opened his mouth. Jiang Qingwa was a bit slower but quickly also kneeled, hoping Daoyi wouldn''t exterminate her mother. Daoyi waved her hand, motioning for them to stop. "Enough! What the duchess is like, I know very well. This little thing, I was already prepared for. As long as she behaves from now on, I won''t press charges." "Thank you, Princess Xian De, for your mercy." The duke, his son, and daughter said before standing up once more. But the tension was so thick that a knife could slice it. But at least the duchess no longer dared to speak, her face pale with fright, not even daring to look at Daoyi. To her, Duke Qi had always been invincible. Nothing was impossible. If he couldn''t do anything, what could she do? Everything she had, her wealth, her honor was due to Duke Qi. Her maternal clan had long tied itself to the ship known as the Jiang Family. Her father was more like a branch family head of the Jiang Family at this point. Duke Qi ordered the servant to bring what possession Daoyi''s mother had when she was taken in. He tried to convince Daoyi to let her mother''s remain rest in the estate, but upon seeing Daoyi''s adamant attitude, he relented. Her mother''s possession came first, and she inspected all of them. But the one that caught her attention the most was the jade box. Upon opening it, she saw a jewel-like shard and an even more unique aura emanating from it. She was sure this was the fragment of the Xu Clan''s Spectral Soul Rise Jewel. She had half expected the duke to switch the Artifact with a fake. Next was an elaborate coffin where Daoyi''s mother had been entombed in. Her mother had originally been buried in a plain coffin, but the duke ordered her body to be moved into a better coffin after Daoyi left for the Buzhou Immortal Sect in preparation for her return. Daoyi traced her hand across the coffin as if her sight could pierce through the coffin and see her mother''s face. Her eyelashes trembled as she suppressed the turbulent emotions within. When Daoyi faced the duke once more, her eyes were dry and clear, without a hint of emotion. "Since father has treated me well, then what a daughter of the Jiang family ought to do, I will still do." Saying this, Daoyi brought several chests and placed them on the floor. "In these boxes are Foundation Establishment and Core Formation Artifacts." Hearing this, the hearts of the people in the room trembled. But Daoyi wasn''t done yet as she brought out two boxes and handed the larger one to Duke Qi. "This box contains several Foundation Establishment and Core Formation Pills. Both Eldest Brother and Sister are in the twelfth stage of the Qi Gathering Realm. It will be of use to them. And the Core Formation Pill is for father. I asked Master; she said the pills of the Xi Dynasty cannot even compare to these. " The duke''s hand trembled for a moment as he received it. Although the imperial palace had Foundation Establishment Pill and often distributed them to the officials, the Core Formation Pills were rarely distributed. Only those acknowledged by the emperor would be blessed by one. Both of Daoyi''s siblings, who were present, felt jubilation run up their spines, even Jiang Qingwa. Surely this was her final chance. Daoyi then handed the smaller and more ornate box to the duke. "As for this box, this contains a Nascent Soul Pill. It seems that I did not prepare it for nothing, what a joyful happenstance." If the Core Formation Pill made Duke Qi''s hand tremble for a moment, his hands couldn''t stop shaking as he received the box. The root of the Jiang Family''s power was bound to Jiang Ziya, the previous Duke Qi. If he were to successfully ascend to the Nascent Soul Realm, then the Jiang Family would be second to none, rising about all four ducal families. Daoyi left soon after. Since the Jiang Family was this understanding and gave Daoyi her mother''s possession and coffin, she would give a few benefits when she could. She was still the duke''s blood-related daughter in the end. She will just treat them as strangers who she would occasionally give some benefits from now on.
"Father, I''ve done as you asked." Duke Qi placed the ornate box in front of him towards his father, Jiang Ziya. Jiang Ziya appeared to be a middle-aged man with elegant features, long black hair, and a long beard. He took in the box and opened it. Jiang Ziya''s eyes flashed with a pleasant surprise before closing it. "Take it, use it for when you are ready to ascend to the Nascent Soul Realm." Surprise flashed through Duke Qi''s eyes, but he quickly calmed down. "Father, son thinks it would be best for you to use it. You are preparing to undertake the Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation soon." Jiang Ziya shook his head. "I''m unwilling to use external aid. The more external aid I use, the weaker my future potential will be. I didn''t need pills to enter the Foundation Establishment Realm or the Core Formation Realm. I won''t need pills to enter Nascent Soul Realm either!" "Father is wise!" Duke Qi praised before he frowned. "Did we really have to give the Artifact to Daoyi? If used well..." Jiang Ziya looked at Duke Qi with an amused expression and said. "Naive. If my guesses are correct, that shard isn''t a fragment of an immortal artifact but something more. Keeping it in our hands will only invite disaster. Better leave it to more capable hands." Duke Qi still felt regret but accepted it in the end. "But will Daoyi be able to identify it and protect it? What if news of this leaks and harms the Jiang Family?" "It won''t. Don''t forget who stands behind that daughter of yours. It''s none other than the legendary Sword Immortal Xi, the pubically acclaimed number one expert." Jiang Ziya sighed. "If you were able to develop feelings with Daoyi before all this... forget it, there is no use in regretting the past. You can leave." "Understood, father." Bowing once more, Duke Qi left Jiang Ziya to his own thoughts. Chapter 128: Divine Shard Daoyi returned to the imperial palace, unknowing of the conversation between her father and grandfather. She met her master and Tianyi upon returning, but after a few polite words, Daoyi returned to her room. At this moment, she just wanted to be alone. Taking out her mother''s coffin, Daoyi rested her head atop the lip, much like a child would rest her head atop her mother''s lap. Drop after drop, tears splattered atop the lacquered wood lid. She hadn''t cried the day her mother died, not even secretly. Perhaps the shock had been too large. The only person in the whole duke estate who wholeheartedly loved her had died. All the memories came rushing back through her as she reminisced about her times with her mother. Daoyi recalled one time when she had asked her mother if she hated her father. It was one of the few times she had cried, not because she had been mistreated but because she had a close brush near death. She could still recall her mother''s words back then. "Hate? Why would I bother to hate him? It''s not worth it. Compared to when the Xu Clan still existed, your father would not have been qualified to be my boy toy." Those words had brought Daoyi to tears with laughter. At the same time, it made Daoyi aware of how pitiful her mother was. She was a dishonest woman who clung to the glory days of her past, unable to accept how low she had fallen. But now, it was a pleasant memory.
Tianyi sighed as he put away the jade slip into his spatial ring. He hadn''t been reading any information from the jade slip. Instead, Tianyi had been inputting everything he could recall from his time on Earth, from the first time he started to be cognizant of the world to the time before he had awoken in the Huang Realm. He wasn''t just inputting his memories but all his knowledge concerning Earth, such as society, technology, and science. Although Tianyi didn''t think he was losing his knowledge, it was harder for him to detect such a thing compared to his memories. He frowned. Instead of his memories of becoming sharper and sharper with his increasing cultivation, it seemed to regress instead. Tianyi wanted to know why. Was it because the world was rejecting him? It had become increasingly harder to absorb the natural spiritual qi in the environment. But that didn''t matter to Tianyi much. His speed in absorbing spiritual qi was still enormous. But this did make him worried for the future. Tianyi recalled information concerning the Lotus Ascension Soul Art. According to what he could recall, the practitioner''s soul would slowly mutate into that of a lotus''s the more he cultivated the soul technique. Eventually, the practitioner would lose all sense of thoughts and perish due to the incompatible body and soul. But there was no record of a flaw that erased memories, and ones of the previous life at that! The memories of his current life were as sharp as day. After ruminating through all his techniques, Tianyi could only think of one that would affect his memories. Unless it was a soul technique, none of his techniques should be able to affect his memories. Since the biggest suspect, the Lotus Ascension Soul Art, was out, that left only the Three Pure True Self Visualization Technique. Sweat dripped down Tianyi''s forehead as the implication sunk in. The Three Pure True Self Visualization Technique was the one that accompanied him the longest. To be exact, the technique only revealed itself to Tianyi the moment he entered the first stage of the Qi Gathering Realm as if he had fulfilled the criteria. Tianyi placed his hand over his mouth as he felt a chill envelope his body. There was no such thing as a free meal in the world. If the Three Pure True Self Visualization Technique wasn''t something that he carried into this world, then it must have originated from somewhere. Thinking of the Three Pure Ones, the Lord of Primordial Beginnings was the founder of the Immortal Court, and Buzhou Immortal Sect was descended from the fallen Immortal Court. Buzhou Immortal Sect was the greatest suspect. However, before Tianyi worried about finding who had secretly placed the technique in his mind, he had to discover the reason why. He felt his heart calm down as he began to analyze the situation. Aside from wiping his memories of his previous life, it only brought benefits. But his memories of his life on Earth were not something Tianyi wanted to trade as if it was some cheap currency. Taking a few breaths, he narrowed his eyes. The Three Pure True Self Visualization wasn''t directly harming him. The person who imparted the technique didn''t want his life and even seemed to be aiding him secretly. Tianyi recalled how he received the Spring Autumn Scripture and the Lotus Ascension Soul Art. Both of them originated from the Ten Heavenly Scripture. Both of them came to him within a short time frame of each other. While Tianyi was unsure if him gaining the Spring Autumn Scripture was someone''s design, but if the mysterious person who aided him was from the Buzhou Immortal Sect, then the Lotus Ascension Soul Art was undoubtedly his work. Sect Master Xia hadn''t told him anything about the case, after all. How much of his actions were through his own choices? Tianyi''s thoughts drifted towards his mother. Did she know about this? Thinking about the times they spent together as well as the words spoken by her when he hinted at having an innate technique, Tianyi''s heart calmed down. His mother wasn''t the type able to deploy deception beyond silence. With Mengfei no longer a suspect, that left two other suspects. As the ones with the greatest standing among the Buzhou Immortal Sect, the three grand elders were the greatest suspect. It was possible for Grand Elder Zhang to know in Tianyi''s opinion. But the one with the greatest likelihood to have done the act was Buhzou Immortal Sect''s most mysterious and oldest Immortal Emperor, the Concealed Emperor! But the question remained. Why? What did the mysterious person hope to accomplish aiding him while erasing his past identity at the same time, greater loyalty towards the Buzhou Immortal Sect? Or perhaps the Three Pure True Self Visualization''s ultimate end was perfect control over him? That didn''t seem likely from the technique''s name unless it was a false name. Forget it. He had already reaped enough benefits from the Three Pure True Self Visualization Technique. It didn''t matter if he stopped cultivating it. Although Tianyi felt it was a waste. He could discern that there was far more to the technique than it was revealed to him. Although Tianyi cannot promise that his memories won''t degenerate any further, at the very least, the speed should be slowed, which was why it was even more crucial for him to store all his memories from Earth.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. It still all came down to a simple issue. He was too weak. He was too weak to discover why he reincarnated. And now, he was too weak to discover who had implanted the Three Pure True Self Visualization Technique into him. Of course, Tianyi could be overthinking all this, and it could simply be a side effect of reincarnating into another world. Most souls lost their memories after drinking Granny Meng''s soup of forgetfulness. Perhaps souls would naturally undergo such progress with or without the soup. But Tianyi didn''t dare to bet on it. It took everything Tianyi had to stop himself from returning to the Buzhou Immortal Sect and searching the Immortal Scripture Repository for every soul cultivation method he could find. But that would obviously tip his hand. Previously after learning the Lotus Ascension Soul Art, Tianyi had not sought out many soul techniques, much less soul cultivation methods. Compared to all other branches, Tianyi found soul techniques the most esoteric and difficult to comprehend. Tianyi would have to slowly increase his rate of accessing soul cultivation techniques. If he could read through the visualization techniques of the sect, that would be even better. But those are something that can only be accessed from the seventh floor and up. Tianyi''s eyes gleamed as he thought of another method. When he experienced Xi Longyi''s life, Tianyi recalled numerous inheritances that Xi Longyi razed through. Among them, there was an inheritance of a True Immortal known as Immortal Museleech that was adept at controlling the souls of others. It wouldn''t be en route towards the Lei Clan, but not too far either. In fact, Xi Longyi had obtained the inheritance while he was in the Core Formation Realm. Tianyi''s eyes gleamed. He would create another clone by using the remnant Dragon Emperor''s blood within his body, a Dragon Emperor Clone. Tianyi''s forehead creased at the confusing thought, okay, maybe just Dragon Clone. But he wasn''t just creating a clone for the sole purpose of gaining the inheritance but as a failsafe. His clone won''t cultivate the Three Pure True Self Visualization Technique. He hoped that that would be enough to preserve his memories of Earth. Compared to placing it all in a jade slip, Tianyi would rather his clone store the memories. Feeling greater urgency than before, Tianyi immediately asked his mother for aid in creating his new clone.
Daoyi arrived at the location Tianyi would be creating his clone. In the distance, the imperial capital of the Xi Dynasty could still be seen. "Disciple, observe closely. Your technique hasn''t stabilized yet, but in the future, if you plan on creating a clone, this will be very beneficial to you." Mengfei said. She was currently standing a fair distance away from Tianyi, who was once again in the middle of several formations. Daoyi smiled helplessly as she watched tribulation lightning suddenly descend her senior brother in the middle of separating his nascent souls. But due to the formation personally set up by Mengfei, the pain Tianyi felt was greatly mitigated so he could react to the external world. In addition, he had already experienced the process once before, so it was even faster and superior to when he created Juedai Fenghua. The residents of the imperial capital watched the thundering lightning continuously crashed down in the distance with fretful hearts. It wasn''t until an official announcement that the legendary Sword Empress Xi''s son was the one who invited the lightning that the residents calmed down. If it was Sword Empress Xi''s son, then the residents had complete confidence. That was how much they revered Xi Mengfei from the Xi Emperor''s years of deliberate propaganda. Tianyi''s new clone was created without much trouble. The clone''s appearance was that of a man in his late teens. Tianyi had been half tempted to create the clone in the Dragon Emperor''s image but thought better of it. In the end, the clone''s appearance was extremely average, if only slightly above average if you squinted hard enough. But there was obviously something unordinary about him with his bold and manly aura. Holding his chin, Tianyi began to ponder what to name his clone. Unlike the instance with Fenghua, the clone didn''t sass him at all. Tianyi planned to have the clone focus on martial cultivation since it was created with the Dragon Emperor''s blood at its core. Tianyi wanted to him name him Longyi, but one look at Daoyi dispelled that notion. The other option was Long Aotian, but that was the Dragon Emperor''s name. He had confirmed from his mother. Tianyi guessed that the Dragon Emperor changed his name later in life because his original name was too dull. What parent would give their child such a tasteless name? Tianyi never realized his name was just as tasteless compared to Long Aotian, courtesy of his mother. In the end, Tianyi settled on naming his clone Donghai Longzi, or dragon child of the East Sea. But Tianyi wasn''t done yet. He planned on having his clone ascend to the Core Formation Realm before he let him loose, or at least the Acupoint Opening Realm. As with Juedai Fenghua, Donghai Longzi was created in the Foundation Establishment Realm. But that would need more time. Tianyi walked over to his mother, who congratulated him. Daoyi smiled mischievously. "Greetings Senior Brother Xi, greetings Junior Brother Xi." Tianyi laughed and played along. But it was apparent to him that it was more of a forced act on Daoyi''s part than any actual attempt at humor. When the quartet returned, Donghai Longzi returned to Tianyi''s room to cultivate while Tianyi, Mengfei, and Daoyi had tea together. "Daoyi, did you receive something unusual recently?" Mengfei asked. Her gaze was on Daoyi''s spatial ring. Daoyi instantly thought of the artifact fragment she had and nodded. She explained the history of her mother''s clan and brought out the jewel shard. "The clan was exterminated because of this. I heard that the original Artifact was of the Immortal Realm, but only this is left now." Mengfei took it and inspected it. Her eyes narrowed. "This shard contains the mysteries of the Dao of Death. Although incomplete, the concept within is beyond the Immortal Realm. This isn''t a fragment of an Immortal Realm Artifact. It''s a shard of a Divine Realm Artifact." "Divine shard?" Daoyi repeated. "How could it be?" According to her mother, the assailants were venerables at most. How could they shatter a Divine Artifact? Mengfei picked up the shard in Daoyi''s hand and observed it. "To be more exact, it should be a shard of a shard. According to your explanation, the Spectral Rising Jewel of your clan should be an incomplete Divine Artifact. Your clan was too reckless in using it to ascend to the Huang Realm and drained the remnant divine energy, causing the Spectral Rising Jewel to lose most of its power." She placed the shard back in Daoyi''s hand. "The Buzhou Immortal Sect also has several broken Divine Artifacts. You should keep it. Although, it has lost most of its power. It will bring you many benefits if you cultivate with it. There is a faint connection to you and the divine shard. Your clan must have mutated under constant exposure to the divine shard. As for your clan''s enemies, do you want master to help you?" Daoyi contemplated as she clasped the divine shard. "I would like to ask master to help disciple investigate the truth of the matter that year. As for the divine shard, I want to contribute it to the sect." Mengfei revealed a slight smile, so quick that Daoyi thought she had hallucinated. "Disciple, the Buzhou Immortal Sect won''t covet that little shard in your hand. At the very least, they won''t covet my disciple''s belongings. Keep it, I told you it would aid your cultivation. As for the matter of your clan''s enemies, wait till we return to the sect." Chapter 129: Donghai Longzi Tianyi once again realized the greatness of wealth. Compared to spiritual cultivation, where it was more important to focus on the process and the concepts, martial cultivation was mainly about using as many resources as possible to beef yourself up¡ªkind of like steroids. Now that was a thought Tianyi couldn''t erase from his mind. Even with Tianyi''s current resources, it was entirely possible to raise the clone''s cultivation into the Worlding Merging Realm, the Unityh Realm martial equivalent, through brute force if he wanted to. But that would result in a short-lived clone, so Tianyi didn''t. The current Donghai Longzi was bursting with power. Even another Foundation Establishment Disciple would find their hearts palpitating when facing him. Honestly, the amount of resources Tianyi jammed into Longzi was overboard for his realm, but he would soon enter the Acupoint Opening Realm, so that was a moot point. Tianyi brought Donghai Longzi to a different clearing than the one he used to create him. He wanted to test something. During Juedai Fenghua''s Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation, the tribulation had aimed for him. Tianyi wanted to know whether it was because he was in the vicinity or whether the change occurred because Fenghua was his clone. So he deliberately used a different clearing to minimize any lingering effect his presence had. His dragon clone bore the brunt of the first bolt of tribulation lightning or at least attempted to. Donghai Longzi''s face paled as he activated his body strengthening technique. Scales began to cover his body like armor. Tianyi felt his nonexistent heart beat with trepidation as his clone continued to undertake his tribulation. As Tianyi feared, there was something wrong with his clone''s Heavenly Tribulation. The strength of the Acupoint Opening Heavenly Tribulation surpassed the limits and was closer to a Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation in power. Tianyi had never heard of such an occurrence. Not once had he seen a clone undergoing a Heavenly Tribulation that was beyond its realm. No matter what, Tianyi had to intervene unless he wanted his clone to perish and watch all his hard work go down the drain. With a sigh, Tianyi entered the range of his clone''s Heavenly Tribulation. The instant he stepped within tribulation''s range, the air changed. The black clouds rumbled as lightning thundered even more powerfully. The heavenly tribulation''s remaining tribulation lightning bolts all descended one after the other and constructed another tribulation lightning giant. Tianyi sighed as he watched with unamused eyes and even placed his palm on his face. "Is that the only thing you can do? I know they say third times a charm, but you''re seriously just repeating the same thing over and over again, aren''t you?" In response, the tribulation giant thundered as if roaring at Tianyi''s insolence. Tianyi''s only response was to flip a bird at the sky. He even felt embarrassed for the Heavenly Dao, using the same trick over and again. With a sigh, Tianyi placed his hand out towards the tribulation giant, and a character for "seal (·â)" appeared on his palm. The tribulation giant froze as if it was a bug caught in a spider''s web. "If you keep doing the same stuff over and over again, It''ll become useless in front of me." No matter how much the tribulation giant squirmed and struggled, it was unable to break free from Tianyi''s restriction. Tianyi formed a hand seal with his other hand, with several characters appearing and disappearing on his palm. The tribulation giant roared in defiance as the sword in its hand was ripped and disintegrated into pure electricity. The electricity still held the tribulation essence, so Tianyi funneled it towards the Longzi. Under Tianyi''s control, it was at a far more manageable level, allowing his clone to use it to temper his body without the need to activate any of his defense. The tribulation giant roared in indignity at Tianyi''s actions, its howls synchronizing with the thundering clouds. But what could it do? The Heavenly Dao was bound by rules, and it had already used a loophole to funnel all the possible power it could for Longzi''s Heavenly Tribulation. Under this mockery, Donghai Longzi easily transcended his Acupoint Opening Heavenly Tribulation despite the complication at the beginning. The heavenly tribulation formed giant could only roar in indignity as it dispersed unwillingly. Despite his clone transcending its heavenly tribulation, Tianyi was not one bit happy. Not only was the issue with his Earth memories, but it was likely that his clones would be facing heavenly tribulations that were above their grade. He didn''t know whether it was because he, the main body, was at the Nascent Soul Realm or whether the Heavenly Dao used some other loophole. But whatever the reason, Tianyi couldn''t allow his clone to undergo their heavenly tribulation without his supervision. And he was still unsure whether his first clone was alive or not. Once they reached the Nascent Soul Realm or Soul Nourishing Realm, Tianyi could allow them to undergo their Unity or World Merging Heavenly Tribulation. But he didn''t plan on that. What if after his clone entered the Unity Realm and caused his own Unity Realm Heavenly Tribulation to become more powerful? He, the main body, was still most important. Besides, as long as he was powerful enough, didn''t it mean it guaranteed his clones success in passing the heavenly tribulation? When Tianyi returned to the imperial palace, he saw his mother waiting for him. "Congratulations, Yi''er. Your first clone has entered the Acupoint Opening Realm." At those words, Tianyi inwardly sighed in relief. Although told himself to trust his mother, he still had some reservation in his heart. The human heart was truly hard to predict. His mother, Mengfei, then went into a long speech concerning how Tianyi should govern his clones and avoid walking into the common pitfalls. When Tianyi wasn''t paying attention, Daoyi had somehow joined him in listening to Mengfei''s speech as preparation in case she also wanted to create a clone. If Tianyi didn''t know any better, he would have thought that his mother had a clone of her own. Tianyi secretly sighed in relief when his mother was done lecturing. The information was crucial and very informative, but it was given in the most tedious and monotonous fashion possible by man... or woman. However, Tianyi''s heart skipped a beat when he saw what his mother did next. Mengfei raised one of her dainty hands up, with the back facing Tianyi, and curled it into a fist. To Tianyi''s horror, Mengfei raised her middle finger up. Slight tilting her head, Mengfei asked. "Yi''er, what does this mean? I saw you doing it toward the Heavenly Tribulation. Is it an unknown hand seal?" Tianyi quickly placed his hand over his mother''s and forced the middle finger down. Just as he was about to explain, his body froze. Tianyi recalled how his mother disallowed him to use any vulgar words if he were to inform her of the gesture''s true meaning. There was no doubt he would be in for another lecture. Tianyi''s mind whirled at unprecedented speed to find a solution to his current conundrum. A light bulb lit up in Tianyi''s mind. "It''s a special gesture, only meant for enemies you absolutely despise," Tianyi said.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Mengfei still seemed slightly confused. "Why did you use it when facing the heavenly tribulation?" Tianyi gnashed his teeth to show his hate and further convince his mother. "That''s because the Heavenly Dao is my absolute nemesis. Isn''t it the worse? It sends tribulation lightning at me at the most random times, and my clone''s heavenly tribulation is abnormal because of it. The Heavenly Dao is absolutely hateful!" Tianyi inwardly released the breath he had been holding when he saw his mother accept it. But it didn''t last long as he heard Daoyi''s giggle. Daoyi gave Tianyi a knowing look, before giggling even harder. His pupil shrunk into needle points as he turned towards Daoyi. Luckily, Daoyi didn''t seem to have realized his true thoughts as her giggle turned into full-blown laughter. Was Daoyi only laughing because of his reaction to Mengfei''s gesture? Or did she know the meaning of the gesture his mother had used? If it were the former, then it would be nothing. But if it was the latter... Tianyi''s eyes narrowed as he glanced at Daoyi''s laughing form. He recalled when he first saw Daoyi and was struck by the melancholy due to her face reminding him of a person on Earth, resulting in his reminiscing his time on Earth. Although he wasn''t born with the same features of his life on Earth, that didn''t mean other reincarnator didn''t. It seemed more and more likely that Daoyi was also a reincarnator. If it was true, and Xi Ri was also a reincarnator, then the three of them being so close was quite a coincidence. Tianyi couldn''t help but think that this had been planned, but he immediately shook his head at the thought. How could that mysterious person be sure that his mother would birth a reincarnator like him? Xi Ri was a happenstance. It was only by luck that he was Mengfei''s nephew. Less need to be said about Daoyi. If it weren''t for him noticing her, Daoyi would have never come to Buzhou Immortal Sect as his junior sister.
Donghai Longzi stretched his body once he was a fair distance away from the imperial capital and, more importantly, Tianyi. "Man, freedom sure is nice. If possible, I really don''t want to want to return to the main body unless necessary. Who wants to be a servant even if it''s to the main body?" After entering the Acupoint Opening Realm, Longzi had stayed at the imperial capital for a bit longer as he raised his spiritual cultivation. Only after he entered the Core Formation Realm did Tianyi allow Longzi to leave. Before leaving, Tianyi had given Longzi enough items and resources to last him until the Soul Nourishing Realm and slightly beyond, just in case something happened to him like Fenghua. "I thought for sure main body would give me a name with the "Yi" or "Tian" character, but I guess he gave up when the first clone chose Juedai Fenghua as her name." As part of the arrangements by Tianyi, Longzi was currently clad in dull gold armor. Longzi forgone the helmet since it blocked his vision, and it just wasn''t as cool. He blamed the main body for this vanity defect in his personality. All in all, he looked like a valiant general. A broad saber was sheathed on his waist. Originally, Tianyi planned for Donghai Longzi to wield a spear, but after he clashed with Longwei, Tianyi''s understand of the saber had increased tremendously. It was skewed towards the Dragon Emperor''s Saber Arts, and so Tianyi went with the flow and made Donghai Longzi focus on the saber. He was created with the Dragon Emperor''s blood essence as the base and cultivated the Dragon Emperor Fist, making him more like the Dragon Emperor didn''t matter much anyway. Days later, Longzi stopped his immortal boat when he saw a commotion. A group of five cultivators, most likely of the devilish way, were chasing a lone woman. The woman''s clothes were ruffed up, but she was otherwise unharmed. The woman saw Longzi''s boat, and excitement appeared in her eyes as she flew towards him. "Fellow daoist, please save me from these fiends!" Longzi cracked his neck. Finding himself in such a cliche situation, he was happy to oblige. It just so happened that he was itching to test out how strong he was. Placing his immortal boat inside his spatial ring, Longzi blocked the five men with his body. He was not standing on a saber but using the Cloud Treading Boots artifact that Tianyi forged in order to walk on air. He raised an eyebrow when their eyes gleam with greed when they saw his spatial ring. He unsheathed his saber and no longer hid his domineering aura that obviously surpassed the five men. The five men consisted of two Core Formation Masters, one in the mid-stage with the other in the early stage and three Foundation Establishment Disciples. Judging from their poor equipment, Longzi concluded that they were among the weaker ones, especially compared to the geniuses he had seen in the main body''s memories. His aura was stronger than the mid Core Formation Master despite having just stepped into the Core Formation Realm! "Thank you, brave hero. These fiends saw my beauty and attempted to ravished me! I was unwilling and ran away. If it hadn''t been for you, I don''t know what I would''ve done!" The woman was of decent beauty, but every gesture seemed to contain traces of enticement. Longzi shrugged as the woman neared him. "Don''t get too close. You''ll get in the way." He heartlessly said. She was undoubtedly beautiful, but he had seen far more beautiful women. Even so, the woman still neared him. Longzi shrugged. If she got caught in the battle, it was her fault. Cling! The sound of metal scraping against metal rang in the sky. Longzi''s eyes widened and glared towards the woman who had taken out a stilleto and attempted to backstab him literally. The woman''s eyes were still filled with glee at her preconceived thoughts of success. Unfortunately for her, Longzi''s golden armor only appeared like an ordinary artifact, but the materials used to create it were of rank four and five, Nascent Soul and Unity Realm ranked. She never had a chance to express any other emotion as Longzi turned around and severed her head from her body, her face frozen in the triumph of success. Longzi turned around towards the five men, who had similar expressions to the woman, a slight smile on his face as he tried to rein in his rage. "I originally just wanted to test out my techniques against some vagrants, but never did I expect the person I saved would backstab me. That woman is actually part of your group, isn''t she? I never expected that I would be lured by a honey trap!" Longzi kept his smile, but the anger behind his words could not be more evident. "Sixth Sister!" The men cried out in shock and sadness. They turned their wrath-filled gazed towards Longzi. Whether it was actually for the woman''s death or because their plan had failed, Longzi didn''t know and didn''t care. Longzi instantly appeared in front of the five men, his saber clad in a black aura and in midswing. The two Core Formation Masters were able to react in time and dodge. The three Foundation Establishment Disciples were not so lucky and directly bifurcated at their waist in a single swing. "Third brother, fourth brother, fifth brother!" The two remaining Core Formation Masters shouted in grief and charged at Longzi. But even two against one, Longzi did not fall at a disadvantage. Rather, with more time, his advantage even increased. With each swing, the power of his saber increased, becoming swifter and heavier. With a bang, both Core Formation Masters were knocked back. "Boss, hold him down! I''ll use my secret move to eliminate him!" "Alright, Second Brother!" Longzi raised his guard as the mid Core Formation Master charged towards him. What happened next caused Longzi to gape in shock. The boss of the vagrants rushed at him with everything he had, burning his blood essence to temporarily increased his strength. Like a mad man, he continuously attacked Longzi and dropped all his defenses. "Second Brother, are you still not ready!?" The boss shouted even as he felt his strength began to dip after reaching the peak from burning his blood essence. "He ran away. Look behind you," Longzi said, his tone incredulous. "Hmpf, we brothers have been together for years, don''t think such a paltry trick will work on me!" Longzi just facepalmed before pointing behind him. The boss upon seeing Longzi''s action couldn''t help but have his faith shaken. Taking a chance, the boss turned around, and his mouth hung open in shock as he saw his trusted second brother fleeing into the distance. He never had a chance to vent his betrayal because Longzi''s saber pierced through his dantian, destroying his Spiritual Core instantly. Hey, Longzi never said his earlier actions weren''t a paltry trick to lower his guard. After dealing with the strongest cultivator there, Longzi chased after the last survivor and decapitated him. He had been mildly surprised that the second brother was actually an Acupoint Opening Master. The vagrant actually managed to survived without his head, but so what? He was still too weak and Longzi easily killed him by slicing him in half. He made sure to entirely destroy their bodies in case they had some secret revival method. For his first debut, it was quite a sad ending, Longzi thought. He wasn''t even forced to show half of his abilities and his opponents abandoned each other mid-fight at the slightest sign of danger. He was even backstabbed. Taking this lesson in, Longzi raised his guard even more. Chapter 130: Bing Tanghulu "Is there something on my face?" Daoyi asked. Tianyi looked away and shook his head. "I''m just wondering if the artifact I forged for you is working well." Daoyi brushed her hair behind her ear and the feather-shaped Artifact. She looked suspiciously at Tianyi. It wasn''t the first time she caught him glancing at her when he thought she wasn''t paying attention. "It works very well. The clear qi that it produces supplements the nether true qi I produce very well." Perhaps he had an opinion concerning the nature of her cultivation method? The East Flowing Nether River Scripture''s powers were heavily stigmatized due to how many devilish cultivators used similar methods and means. But Daoyi didn''t think that Tianyi would really quibble over such a minor matter, so what made him act so out of character today? "Have you given it a name yet?" Tianyi asked, using the question to openly observe Daoyi. Daoyi brushed her hand against the argent feather before fiddling with the earring. "Since it produces clear qi and the feather and earring are linked, I''ve named it Cloudless Crest Link." "Cloudless Crest Link, it''s a good name," Tianyi said, but his attention was still on Daoyi''s face. Daoyi felt the corner of her lips curled up as she blinked her long lashes at Tianyi and said in a tender voice. "Senior Brother Xi, am I beautiful?" "Yes, you are very mesmerizing." There was a pause as Tianyi was still focusing on Daoyi''s face before he blinked, and it dawned on him what he just said. "Wha!? I mean NO! No! I didn''t mean it that way! I mean, I did, it''s just... ARGHHH!!!!" Tianyi''s face heated up. If he had just accepted what he said earlier and played it cool, he wouldn''t have reached his current awkward state. Instead, he had to backtrack on his statement, leading him to flub over his words. Both of Tianyi''s hands covered his flushed face as he wanted to just dig a hole and bury himself in it. Daoyi laughed unreservedly at Tianyi''s awkward state. Luckily, he appeared to be around fourteen to fifteen-years-old, still having traces of tenderness and naivety. Otherwise, if a grown man made such a pose, it would only invite disaster. So great was Tianyi''s embarrassment because he didn''t even react when Mengfei gently rubbed his head. The original scene of three distinguished people walking down the street with servants instantly collapsed. The citizens on the streets, who were initially part fearful and part venerating, all had a warm expression on their faces upon seeing this scene. Tianyi''s image was furthered shattered in Su Bojing''s mind as he watched with an exasperated expression behind the three. They had already been at the Xi Dynasty for months. Aside from Daoyi''s business and Tianyi creating Donghai Longzi, Mengfei had yet to leave the palace. She recalled the ethereal dream she had when struck by Emperor Soulfish''s spell. In the dream, although rare, she had occasionally toured the streets when Han Tianyi was still young. Suddenly filled with vigor, Mengfei took Tianyi and Daoyi shopping. Hence the resulting scene. Tianyi, finding words failing, took the smart option. He just faced forward and started walking. His ears burned with shame as he heard Daoyi''s laughter become even louder and sweeter. Mengfei blinked, not understanding Tianyi''s embarrassment. Deciding to think about it later, she followed Tianyi. Daoyi and the servants behind them soon followed. Minutes later, Tianyi was still unable to meet Daoyi''s eyes. He could only put a lofty facade so as to ignore his earlier shame, pretending the event never happened. Simultaneously, Tianyi''s mind continued to ponder on the matter of whether Daoyi was a reincarnator again. Tianyi didn''t know whether a reincarnator''s soul was special or not, and pretty much the only way he would be able to discern them was if they leaked knowledge that only those that lived on Earth would know. But if a reincarnator wanted to hide, then it wouldn''t be easy to find them. Reincarnators essentially lived two lifetimes. It would be far too easy for them to assimilate themselves into their new environment. Essentially, it all came down to the problem of whether or not he was willing to take the risk of revealing himself to others. How much did he trust Daoyi? Tianyi couldn''t be sure. They''ve known each other for over ten years. On Earth, that would be enough to be called dear friends, but this was not Earth, and spilled secrets had far greater consequences. Tianyi didn''t want to put themselves through danger just to verify their level of trust. But sometimes, only in the face of death can a person know their true selves, much less others. Tianyi didn''t even know what he would do if he and Daoyi were stuck in a life-and-death situation. If the chances of Daoyi and him making out alive were less than the chances of him making it out alive, Tianyi honestly didn''t know what choice he would make. No one wanted to die after all.Stolen story; please report. He wasn''t shameless enough to ask others to give up their lives for him when he wouldn''t be able to do the same. So the correct choice would be to make the decision after ascertaining whether Daoyi or Xi Ri was a reincarnator. Tianyi stared wistfully at the streets, at these natives who were born and raised in the Huang Realm. They didn''t understand the feeling of alienation in this vast world. He was clearly physically here, but there was a sense of distance that could never be covered. It was the little things, really. When he was young, sometimes when he used words or phrases that were common on Earth, the people around him, such as Elder Shan, would reply with confusion. All these little things reminded Tianyi that he wasn''t a part of this world. Perhaps, he should just forget about his life on Earth. Whenever Tianyi thought about that, the face of his mother on Earth would flash by, and he would feel ashamed of his thoughts. Without a doubt, his mother would be searching for him if she was in the same situation. That''s why he liked hanging out with Xi Ri and Daoyi. Although his speech and words had acclimated to his current life, sometimes phrases and words from Earth would leak out. Daoyi and Xi Ri didn''t become confused. They frowned a bit before understanding, only some of them, though. There were some times that they didn''t understand at all. But thinking positively, it could be the meaning was lost due to translation. The Huang Realm''s language wasn''t the same as Earth''s. But that could all change with Tianyi''s action. What if they weren''t reincarnators? What if they laughed along because he was Mengfei''s son? Hope was like Schrodinger''s cat; it was in a state of possible existence as long as he didn''t open the box. Tianyi didn''t want to open the box and find that they were never reincarnators in the first place. Losing hope would only magnify his sense of alienation from his surroundings. Tianyi would rather lie to himself that he wasn''t alone than to prove that Daoyi and Xi Ri weren''t reincarnators. But that wasn''t the only reason. The loss of his memories didn''t only bring a sense of danger but a cowardly sense of relief. That meant even if Tianyi''s identity as a reincarnator were exposed, he wouldn''t be killed or expelled from the sect. There was written history of Nascent Soul Realm and above cultivators who possessed a suitable body and stole the victim''s identity. There was a period of time when Tianyi refused to sleep for days after having nightmares of Mengfei rejecting him after his identity was exposed. It was a fear that he couldn''t tell anyone, making him feel even more miserable. He tried not to think about it. Sometimes he felt that as long as he hid it, it wouldn''t matter. His past identity as an earthling should just remain hidden forever, but there were some things he could not give up. Tianyi was broken out of thoughts as a stick of candied hawthorns, bing tanghulu, was placed in front of him. He looked to the owner of the hand to see Mengfei looking at him. Her face wasn''t as expressionless as he remembered from when he first saw her. Instead, her brows were slightly furrowed. "Here, you like them, don''t you?" He didn''t. But Tianyi still smiled and took the stick in his hand and bit into it. The hard candied coating shattered with a satisfying crack as Tianyi bit into the berry. The berry itself was rather sour to the point that Tianyi almost scrunched his face due to the sourness. "You don''t like them?" Mengfei''s eyes were sharp. Her brows furrowed more. Within the dream world, Han Tianyi loved bing tanghulus. If it wasn''t because of the bing tanghulu, then what else could it be? "Did I do something wrong?" Seeing his mother ask him with such an unconfident tone, Tianyi became frazzled and quickly waved his hand negatively. "No, nothing''s wrong. I just had some stuff on my mind. I love bing tanghulus!" Tianyi placed the rest of the unfinished hawthorn berry into his mouth and chewed. He instantly regretted it. This time he could not prevent his face from fully twisting and his lips puckered. "Hahaha, Senior Brother, you shouldn''t act tough. If you don''t like it, you should be truthful. Adults won''t lie over smalls things." Daoyi said while laughing. She walked over and rubbed Tianyi''s head. Her laughter increased even more. Tianyi just gave a deadpan look towards Daoyi. He pulled off a hawthorn berry and popped it into Daoyi''s mouth. The reaction was instant. Daoyi''s face seemed to be sucked inward like there was a black hole in her mouth. "What was that? I''m sorry, I didn''t quite catch that. Can you say it again?" He grinned in triumph at Daoyi''s teary-eyed glare. But the sourness in her mouth was too much. Daoyi''s puckered lips prevented her from speaking anymore. Her upbringing prevented her from crassly spitting it out, and the action would be just too vulgar. In the end, Tianyi handed Daoyi a handkerchief. She accepted, but not before punching Tianyi in the arm. Tianyi laughed. Mengfei gave a gentle smile. She wasn''t good at reading people, but it was obvious that something was bothering Tianyi deeply. So she bought a bing tanghulu, something that Han Tianyi enjoyed and always brought a smile to his face. She knew what Han Tianyi''s favorite food was, what his preferred color was, where he liked to go to think, and much more. Compared to that, Mengfei realized she did not know as much about Tianyi as she had thought. Still, the current atmosphere was pleasant. "What''s wrong? Why are we still standing here? Aren''t we here to shop?" Tianyi said as he led the way down the street, walking past the frozen bing tanghulu vendor. His problems hadn''t been solved, but there was nothing wrong with enjoying the present right now. He will confront the issues as they come. For now, he should stick to his current plan. And even if they weren''t reincarnators, it wouldn''t be the end of the world. He may fall into a depression, but it wouldn''t be the end of the world. Chapter 131: Paradise Sand City "Your stay this time was longer than usual. You should visit more." The Xi Emperor said to his sister, Mengfei, as he and his entourage bid farewell. This visit had been truly a surprise. In the past, Mengfei had only visited long enough to attend the banquet and give a Dao lecture. But this time, she stayed for over a month and even walked toured the imperial capital streets. The Xi Emperor had an urge to grab Mengfei by her arms and ask, "Who are you, and what have you done with my sister!?" "Don''t worry, Emperor-Uncle. When we have a chance, we definitely will. I''ll bring Older Cousin Ri next time too." The Xi Emperor''s gaze turned towards Tianyi. The affection in his eyes deepened. He wasn''t blind, and he could locate the source of Mengfei''s change. "Definitely, definitely!" The Xi Emperor said. "Take these as well. I heard you aren''t returning to the sect yet, so these should still be helpful." Saying so, The Xi Emperor clapped his hands, and rows of servants came forward, each with intricate and thoughtful gifts such as food, clothing, and even recreational books. However, the amount of alcohol took about a third of all the gifts. Tianyi glanced at Daoyi, who showed a happy expression at the drinks. Since the emperor prepared them based on what they used every day, how much did Daoyi drink for him to prepare this much alcohol? Tianyi had to remind himself that Daoyi only looked under the age of twenty-one, so it wasn''t illegal for her to drink. Besides, there was no law against underage drinking in this world. But as a rule-abiding citizen in his past life, Tianyi always froze for a second when he saw Daoyi drink alcohol. Speaking of Daoyi drinking alcohol, she always took dainty sips whenever Tianyi saw her drink. It was like a quintessential noblewoman, the perfect posture and manner. But without realizing it, there would be many jugs of empty alcohol piling up. Ninety-nine percent of the alcohol served at the Xi Dynasty went into Daoyi''s stomach. If she weren''t a cultivator, Tianyi would have worried for her liver because she obviously didn''t. Mengfei accepted the gifts without any fuss. In terms of value, the things she gave the Xi Emperor were more than a million times worth of what she had been gifted, but the emotional value of these gifts far outweighed the monetary value. Tianyi, Daoyi, Mengfei, Su Bojing, and Elder Meng all stepped onto Mengfei''s immortal boat and departed for the Lei Clan. The Lei Clan was based within the Southern Region; more specifically, they were located in the Earthsea Land. It was a desert, and the center of the region was Paradise Sand City, located in the largest oasis. Due to being situated on several earth veins, the land was filled with earth-type resources. The Lei Clan was one of the four great clans of Paradise Sand City. They were originally decaying due to their only nascent soul grandmaster nearing the end of his lifespan, but who knew that many of their descendants would suddenly reach Core Formation Realm en masse? Although ten core formation masters could not equal a single nascent soul grandmaster, there was still an advantage if the number was large enough. And there were four peak core formation masters who seemed ready to challenge their Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation. There were only four Nascent Soul Grandmasters in Paradise Sand City, so if the Lei Clan suddenly produce one or two more on an off chance, the power balance would significantly shift. Not only were there clans eyeing the Lei Clan''s position, but the other three great clans also closely paid attention to them. They did not wish to see the Lei Clan become the ruler of Paradise Sand City. So during these few years, whether openly or hidden, the various forces had been suppressing the Lei Clan. Of course, there were some clans that chose to ally themselves with the Lei Clan. If the Lei Clan won, their rewards would be plentiful. But most clans chose to be neutral. They didn''t want to gamble on their clans'' future for a moment of prosperity, instead choosing the safe and stable route. "Sure, enough, the family of the protagonist will rise up with him," Tianyi muttered. "Young Master, did you mean when one person ascends to heavens, their pigs and dogs will follow. Are you saying that the Lei Clan''s rise is due to someone?" Su Bojing asked. Tianyi waved his hand. "You can say that." Lei Jingye wasn''t around yet. But with his future memories, he should be able to predict the future of the Earthsea Land, allowing the Lei Clan to gain the upper hand if they used the knowledge well. Not to mention, even if Lei Jingye didn''t have any treasure at the time, his mind should be filled with numerous cultivation techniques. He was still someone who entered the Unity Realm, no matter what methods he used. Due to Tianyi''s intentions, the group of four arrived in Paradise Sand City quietly. They didn''t directly enter the city without the guard''s awareness. Otherwise, it would only create more trouble than it was worth in the future. The guards were only foundation establishment disciples, but Tianyi could sense three core formation masters hidden within the walls. The guard''s eyes lit up when they caught Daoyi''s appearance. Although Mengfei''s face was obscured, it only made her beauty more mystifying. One of the guards even began to leak saliva as his eyes glazed over. Tianyi frowned and slightly unleashed the pressure of his Nascent Soul Realm cultivation. The guards were instantly awakened from their stupor. Sweat dripped down their foreheads, and they bowed respectfully. "Please forgive our earlier insolence. My brothers are just lowly guards. They have never seen such beautiful fairies in their life." Tianyi impatiently waved his hands. "Hurry up and let us in." "Right, right," The guards quickly welcome Tianyi''s group in. "This esteemed lord, can you divulge why you would come to our Paradise Sand City?" Tianyi turned toward the recordkeeper and curled his lips up. "I''m waiting for an old friend." That was all he said, and the recordkeeper only nodded his head politely. The Earthsea Land was rich in resources, but water and food were still scarce, so the lives of many people were worth less than many regions less prosperous but with more abundant food. If Tianyi killed them, he would only have to pay some reparation if he wanted to enter the city. That was because he was a nascent soul grandmaster! It wasn''t worth it to offend a nascent soul grandmaster for mere foundation establishment disciples. The recordkeeper glanced at the people in Tianyi''s group. None of them were simple. All of them were stronger than him, and their disposition was not normal. Compared to the descendants of the four great clans, this group easily exceeded them in aura alone. The recordkeeper quickly reported to the core formation masters on what had just occurred. "No need, we already have the gist of what happened. Hurry and inform the four great clans. I''m afraid that his arrival spells turbulent times."The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Within the Lei Clan, the Lei Clan patriarch and the Lei Clan nascent soul grandmaster were currently discussing the possible effect of Tianyi''s appearance. "Lei De, what do you think?" "Waiting for a friend, waiting for a friend. Ancestor, I''m afraid that the friend he speaks of isn''t really a friend, but an enemy." "I think so too. It shouldn''t be anyone from our clan. He is a nascent soul grandmaster. All our core formation masters haven''t gone out for the last few years." "It wouldn''t happen to be Jing''er, right?" "Hmpf, that is nascent soul grandmaster. How can a foundation establishment disciple be worthy of him personally taking action? Speaking of Jingye, has he sent any word back yet?" The Lei Clan nascent soul grandmaster wasn''t paying attention to Lei Jingye because of his potential. Although his potential was there, what he paid more attention to was Lei Jingye''s mysterious master. Lei De sighed. "I''m afraid Jing''er hasn''t sent any news back since five years ago. I''m worried." "We can only hope that Jingye is safe. If he came back, it would greatly aid our clan." Lei De nodded in agreement. "But going back to the main topic. Who do you think that nascent soul grandmaster came for?" "Too hard to tell. It could be core formation master from other clans or even the other great clans." The Lei Clan nascent soul grandmaster paused. And he furrowed his brows to think. "I heard that the Meng Clan''s nascent soul grandmaster was away for a time. But it''s only a rumor." "Haha, if that mysterious nascent soul grandmaster can deal with the Meng Clan, that would be great." Lei De nodded along with the Lei Clan nascent soul grandmaster. Back with Tianyi, he had rented a large plot of land. In terms of size and quality, it was only lesser than the four great clans. Tianyi had to stop his mother from setting up a formation. Any casual formation from her would raise a far larger ruckus than the appearance of nascent soul grandmaster. Instead, Tianyi set up the formation. Tianyi wanted to start his plan right away, but he needed to gather some information before then. Well, not him, but Su Bojing. Su Bojing naturally obeyed Tianyi''s order and left to gather information. With Su Bojing''s cultivation, he could fight all the native nascent soul grandmasters without trouble, and he can just as easily sneak around. At least far better than Tianyi can. Not long after, Su Bojing returned and reported what he had discovered to Tianyi. It was only recently that three of the four great clans had been suppressing the Lei Clan. Ideally, the Lei Clan wanted to hide their increasing strength until a new nascent soul grandmaster had emerged, but the news leaked due to one of the nascent soul grandmaster candidates'' spoiled grandson blurting it out. Now that particular core formation master''s chances decreased due to most of his resources being allotted to the others due to his grandson''s wrongs. Tianyi couldn''t help but twitch his lips at just how the Lei Clan''s secret was leaked. Sure enough, wastrels were the sins of the clan. Although the Lei Clan''s secrets were exposed due to the spoiled grandson, they should be hiding far more than what is on the surface. If the three of the four great clans fought against the Lei Clan, it would be hard to predict who would win. Perhaps, the Lei Clan would even emerge victorious. But there was a higher chance of them reaching a stalemate. And if that happened, how could Lei Jingye return to heroically save his clan? A spatial pouch appeared in Tianyi''s hand, which he threw towards Su Bojing. Su Bojing took the spatial pouch with a confused expression. "Inside is a million middle-tier spirit stones." Su Bojing''s hand almost dropped the pouch due to how much it was trembling. This was a million mid-tier spirit stones! Heavens, how long would he have to save until he saved enough high-tier spirit stones that could equal this amount? "Y-y-young Master?" Tianyi pointed waved his hand. "Use this to entice the other great clans to deal with the Lei Clan. Even though spirit stones cannot compare to pure resources, with this amount, even a Unity Realm Venerable''s eyes should turn red. As for how to do it, you''re more skilled at this than me. Remember that the Lei Clan shouldn''t fall too fast. I still want to lure that Lei Jingye here." The next thing Su Bojing knew, he was already flying out of the mansion. "Young Master, I''m not skilled in these matters either!" Su Bojing cried out. But having received the order, he could only grit his teeth and carry it out. "Just think of the rewards! Young Master is willing to take out a million mid-tier spirit stones just to deal with that little foundation establishment fellow. Think of how much he will reward me if I do a good job!" Inside the mansion, Tianyi sighed as he drank a cup of tea. He knew that his actions would cause the innocent Lei Clan members to suffer. But so what? He was only speeding the process up a bit. It truly was an era of clans and descendants sharing glory and death. His eyes frosted over. He felt that his heart had changed ever since he discovered the danger of his position. Before worrying about others, he should take care of himself first.
"Is this the place?" An elderly figure appeared, his nascent soul realm cultivation revealed to the world. He frowned when he sensed another figure, it was the nascent soul grandmaster of one of four great clans. "You too?" The newly appeared figure nodded. A few days ago, they had suddenly received a message through their spiritual senses from an unknown nascent soul grandmaster telling them to meet up at this location. They immediately suspected the young nascent soul grandmaster who had recently entered the city. Their attention was directed away when a third figure appeared. Unlike the two of them, the third nascent soul grandmaster appeared relatively young in comparison. This was Meng Nang, the youngest nascent soul grandmaster of the four great clans. But that was only relative, he was still nearly eight hundred years old. "You''ve all arrived." All three of them increased their guard at the unexpected voice. They hadn''t noticed him until he revealed himself. Su Bojing''s figure appeared as he undid his cloaking spell. "Welcome, grandmasters." Su Bojing said. He didn''t dilly dally and directly took out fifty thousand mid-tier spirit stones for each of the nascent soul grandmaster present. Upon receiving the spirit stones, the Nascent Soul Grandmasters from the great clans all felt their hearts shake. But it was still only fifty thousand, it wasn''t like they couldn''t bring out the same amount. "Speak, what do you want." "Nothing much. My young master doesn''t want the Lei Clan''s days to be good." At Su Bojing''s words, they instantly thought of Tianyi. Unbeknownst to them, there was actually a second nascent soul grandmaster that had entered without their knowledge. Instantly, they all pondered on Tianyi''s background. "This friend, I hope you aren''t asking us to offend the Lei Clan just for this measly amount." "We are suppressing the Lei Clan, but we won''t jump at your order just because of that. All things have a process to them." "Naturally not." Su Bojing smiled. "This is just the first." Saying Su Bojing revealed three hundred and fifty mid-tier spirit stones. "There are more. Just think about it, I''m giving you money for you to do what you already planned to. This also not all that I have left. However, supply is limited. Where the rest of this goes depends on your actions. That''s all that I have to say. If you''re not willing, then you don''t need to come. But for those who are willing, I will be here every six months and distribute the spirit stones according to my liking." Su Bojing left after leaving those words. The three nascent soul grandmasters looked at each other. Naturally, they were unwilling to do the bidding of others. But thinking about it from another perspective, those that actually listened would gain an enormous monetary advantage. In the past few years, their income had already decreased for unknown reasons. Their current investigation led to clues of the Lei Clan''s involvement. Furthermore, they had to wonder what kind of person would have a nascent soul grandmaster as an attendant. Thinking of the report concerning Tianyi, their eyes sharpened. They had glanced at the formation erected and could discern that it was far beyond their abilities. Even if they added the Lei Clan nascent soul grandmaster, they were unsure of whether they would be able to take down the formation. From this perspective, they were incapable of dealing with the newcomers. The three of them shared a knowing glance before returning to their own clans. The Lei Clan''s nightmarish days were just about to begin. Chapter 132: Two years Daoyi''s eyelashes trembled as she felt pain constantly eroding away at her consciousness. She could hear the anguished howls of the departed, the frightful screams of those tortured in death, the unwillingness of those who perished, and much much more. Just listening to them was taxiing on her spirit, much less interacting with them. The sound of death wasn''t coming from the lingering ghost in the Huang Realm but directly from the Nether Realm. Normally, such an act wasn''t possible, but it was possible due to the divine shard in Daoyi''s hand. The Nether Realm was a special realm of the Three Thousand Immortal Realm System. No life was born in it, be it animal or plant. Instead, all its inhabitants were the souls of the dead. Calling them inhabitants was actually a stretch. It was more of a temporary location they stayed at before reincarnating back in the Three Thousand Immortal Realm System, something akin to purgatory. If they committed too many sins in their life, the Yama Kings would directly extinguish their soul. But if they had many karmic merits, they would be reincarnated in a blessed family. All souls had to drink the soup of forgetfulness brewed by Granny Meng before they crossed Nai He Bridge, no exceptions. By interacting with the dead, Daoyi was tempering her soul and increasing her understand toward the Dao of Death. Right now, even without undergoing the first Core Formation Minor Tribulations, the wind tribulation, Daoyi''s Spiritual Core was being continuously polished. When she did undergo the wind tribulation, it could practically pose no threat to her at all. However, not every soul cultivator was suited to this method, much less regular cultivators. If they attempted to do such a thing with the divine shard, their soul would be ground into dust by the howls of the dead before they could even polish their spiritual core. Daoyi was only able to accomplish this act due to her unique soul. In the Three Thousand Immortal Realm System, there existed numerous exceptional physiques that were not in any way inferior to Heavenly or even Mutated Heavenly Spiritual Veins. Not all physiques were inborn, some could even be cultivated, such as the Dragon and Phoenix Physique. Special bodies were called physiques; souls could also have physiques, just that they were rarer and less understood. Daoyi''s soul hadn''t reached the point that it would be classified as a physique, but it was impressive nonetheless. Typically, there was a balance between the soul and body. Both had equal influence over the growth of a cultivator. But Daoyi''s soul was too sturdy, too corporeal. It resulted in her soul heavily influencing her body, even if it wasn''t apparent. Although no one could tell if she remained a mortal and didn''t cultivate, but once she reached the Nascent Soul Realm, her nascent soul would be a level above the rest. Xi Mengfei hypothesized that Daoyi''s unique soul originated from her mother, who had been exposed to the energy released by the divine jewel when it fragmented. Or perhaps it went even further. Maybe the leakage of energy from the Spectral Rising Jewel had been influencing the whole clan since the founding, and Daoyi was just one of many who had such a soul. Whatever the reason, the latent potential of Daoyi in soul cultivation was immense. The divine shard fell from Daoyi''s grasp and fell onto the floor with a clatter. Daoyi hunched over with ragged breaths, and her whole body was soaked with sweat. Although the results were fruitful, it was too taxing. She could only cultivate the shard once a month, or her soul would be unable to bear it. After recuperating for short while, Daoyi went to look for her master. It was too dangerous to carry a divine shard on herself. It was much better to leave the shard at her master''s and retrieve only when she needed it. Daoyi didn''t bat an eye when she entered her master''s room to see that she was seemingly sleeping on the couch. Her master had been in such a state for several months now. She placed the divine shard near her master and quietly left. Outside in the mansion''s main hall, Daoyi saw her senior brother lying haphazardly on the wooden chairs, his legs spaced so that it took up several chairs'' worth of space. Standing off to the side was the ever silent and expressionless Elder Meng. Su Bojing was worse off, his face displaying his exasperation at Tianyi''s immaturity. Su Bojing''s image, the one the majority of the sect disciples also had, of the son of Grand Elder Xi was thoroughly destroyed by Tianyi in the last few months. The more Su Bojing interacted, the more he discovered how much Tianyi liked to pretend. In the beginning, no before Mengfei had started her secluded cultivation, Tianyi could still hold himself together due to Mengfei accompanying him. But after Mengfei started her secluded cultivation, Tianyi had managed to remain calm and quietly cultivated with gusto for a month before his vice struck again. Boredom, Tianyi''s ultimate vice. Or as some would call it, laziness. The spectacle between the four great clans had entertained Tianyi for the first year, but by the time Mengfei went into seclusion, he had already grown tired of it.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. If Tianyi was bored, he couldn''t calm down his heart and earnestly cultivate. Not that it honestly matter much to Tianyi. Just by existing, his cultivation advanced without him doing much, much to Su Bojing''s jealousy. Tianyi didn''t keep his cultivation method a secret, so when Su Bojing asked, Tianyi told him the general gist of his cultivation. Upon hearing that Tianyi cultivated nine spiritual cores and five nascent souls, Su Bojing felt his worldview crumble and even suspected if Tianyi was even human. "Hm?" Tianyi looked up when he felt a shadow cast over his face to see Daoyi. "You done cultivating, Junior Sister?" "Mhm," Daoyi nodded affirmatively. "What are you doing right now, Senior Brother?" "Obviously contemplating the profundities of the Dao. This pose here is a special form expressly used for this purpose." Su Bojing felt his face twitch at Tianyi''s bald-faced lie. He was obviously just staring at the ceiling in a daze. As for why he wasn''t counting each individual grain, it was because he had already had. Daoyi giggled. But Tianyi was still half in a daze. She began to test Tianyi''s reaction by asking him several questions, some boring and normal, and other questions that were bizarre. Although it seemed strange, her actions had reasoning to them. She was relaxing. After using the divine shard to cultivate, it was very easy for her to sink onto a negative spiral of emotions. But Tianyi wasn''t coordinating with Daoyi. After answer the first few questions, his replies degraded into yes''s, no''s, and even grunts. Daoyi sulked. Couldn''t her senior brother play along? Has he transcended boredom to the point that everything was boring? A memory of a recent event that occurred in the Xi Dynasty floated in Daoyi''s mind. Releasing a mischievous smile, she whispered into Tianyi''s ears. "Am I beautiful, Senior Brother?" Mindlessly, Tianyi replied, "Yes." There was a sudden silence as Daoyi allowed Tianyi to process what he had just said. However, no matter how long she waited, Tianyi never became flustered and, instead, continued to stare at the ceiling in a daze. Did he not hear me or not, Daoyi thought. So she asked again. "Yes, Junior Sister, you are very beautiful," Tianyi said in his most monotonous voice. Daoyi reeled back as if physically shocked. What was this? Where was her cute and flustered senior brother from years ago? Truthfully, Tianyi wasn''t as calm as he acted. His heart was beating fast. When he complimented girls that he found physically attractive, his heart always started to beat faster. He was just putting on a strong front so as to not embarrass himself in front of Daoyi again. After attempting to rile up Tianyi a few more times, Daoyi gave up. Instead, she brought her guqin out. Soon, a beautiful but soul haunting melody began to fill the hall. Immersing in infusing her music with the emotions she experienced from the cries of the dead, Daoyi lost her sense of time. This wasn''t the first time it happened. By venting her negative emotions through music, her heart would be calmed, and even her spiritual sense strengthened because of it. When Daoyi regained clarity, she discovered that Tianyi was literally as far as physically possible from her while still in the room and lying on his back. His eyes were locking onto her shoulder. Curious, Daoyi looked towards her shoulder to see Shuijing napping on it, almost like a bird or hamster. Daoyi giggled. It still amused her to this day that her senior brother was deathly afraid of spiders. When asked why he replied, "Years ago, when I wasn''t paying attention, I walked into a spiderweb while talking. I got a mouthful of the web, but that wasn''t the worst part. The spider had entered my mouth with the web." Tianyi didn''t say anymore and shivered. Yeah, that''d give anyone trauma, Daoyi thought. But she had to wonder how Tianyi was able to encounter such a thing in Buzhou Immortal Sect. Ordinary insects were unable to enter Jade Peak at all. Perhaps, he met a special one that caused the trauma to be even worse, Daoyi concluded. Days later, after Daoyi felt that she had rested sufficiently, she set out to search for ghosts. The Earthsea Land was filled with many battles due to scarce resources. The battles only intensified in recent years. Perhaps, Earthsea Land would become the second Fleeting Mist Region in the future. "Junior Sister, how about I follow you?" Tianyi appeared when Daoyi stepped out of the mansion. "Don''t you have to monitor the Lei Clan?" Daoyi asked. "I don''t need to personally monitor it with Bojing here. Plus, if I go, Elder Meng will follow. If anything should happen, she can remedy it the quickest." Tianyi convinced. For the past two years, it was Su Bojing who had been contacting three of the four great clans. Tianyi had expected Lei Jingye to be forced to return after receiving news of the Lei Clan''s dire situation, but who knew there was no news of him even after two years. The million mid-tier spirit stones had already been used up over six months ago, so Tianyi allotted a million more spirit stones to Su Bojing. The current Lei Clan were barely able to fend off the other great clans; balancing on a knife''s edge would be an understatement. Using the money funded to them, the great clans bought many pills and treasures to nurture their disciples and even eclipsed the prosperity the Lei Clan had been hiding. The days of the Lei Clan became a nightmare as they were suppressed in nearly every aspect. If they knew the cause of this was a certain wastrel using millions of spirit stones, they might just die from puking too much blood. On a side note, the elder of the spoiled grandson who first leaked the news had long died in the line of duty. His grandson, the cause of all this in the eyes of the Lei Clan, lived a life worse than death. Unable to take it anymore, he took his own life. Tianyi didn''t know whether he should feel empathy or pity for him. His death could be traced back to Tianyi, after all. If he hadn''t given the spirit stones, the grandson might be alive even if his situation wasn''t as good as before. But Tianyi didn''t dwell on it as he followed Daoyi into the desert. Ultimately, the grandson was just a random stranger that Tianyi would never meet or spare another thought for. Chapter 133: Divine Artifact Tianyi watched with interest as Daoyi discovered a lingering ghost spirit and devoured it into her body. He strained his eyes and made out the human-ish features on the illusory being. Ghosts could only be seen by Nascent Soul Grandmasters and a few Core Formation Masters such as Daoyi. Strictly speaking, ghosts were vagrants of the Huang Realm, beings that should not belong and thus belong on a different plane of existence. Like karmic virtue and sin, ghosts were beings that only those past a certain realm could see. Unity Realm Venerables were able the discern the secrets of heaven the earth the best. This was due to them harmonizing with heaven and earth, able to wield the powers of the world with their power. Tianyi being able to peer at the Xi Emperor''s karmic virtue all those years ago was due to him gaining the Dao Tribulation Lightning Spiritual Vein. That was how much of a cheat a Dao Spiritual Vein was. Just by having it, they could glimpse at the secrets of heaven and earth even as a mortal. But now, instead of being able to discern even more karmic virtue or sin, he had actually started seeing less after he entered the Core Formation Realm. It weakened even more when he entered the Nascent Soul Realm. He had a hypothesis as to why to his case. It all boiled down to his Dao Tribulation Lightning Spiritual Vein. The Heavenly Dao had already tried to kill him the moment he obtained the Dao Spiritual Vein. Although it resonated with heaven and earth, unlike the Dao Chaos Spiritual Vein, which conformed to the will of the Heavenly Dao, the Dao Tribulation Lightning Spiritual Vein was created due to Tianyi stealing the Heavenly Dao''s authority, the tribulation essence. How could the Heavenly Dao allow a thief to steal its authority? Well, not that it mattered much to Tianyi. But in order to enter the Unity Realm, a cultivator must be able to harmonize with the power of heaven and earth. Tianyi was slowly losing the ability to do that since heaven and earth rejected him due to the Heavenly Dao. His ability to absorb the spiritual qi was already decreasing. Perhaps, he would be no longer able to absorb the spiritual qi of heaven and earth before long. Tianyi didn''t mind. The Heavenly Dao was already starting to irritate him long enough. But the greater problem was what Tianyi had to do to ascend to the Unity Realm. Since one had to harmonize with heaven and earth to enter the Unity Realm, Tianyi wouldn''t be able to enter the Unity Realm. Tianyi''s face grew serious as he pondered about the issue. He didn''t believe that he wouldn''t be able to enter the Unity Realm or an equivalent realm; all he needed to do was develop a method. But such a thing was easier said than done. Sensing something, Tianyi glanced up. Speak of the devil, and here he comes, or tribulation in this case. With a bored expression, Tianyi allowed himself to be bathed in the tribulation lightning. The Heavenly Dao didn''t tire and continuously attacked him like a machine, a smart machine that knew when to take opportunities, but a machine nonetheless. Compared to a sentient being''s cunning, it was too naive and tender. Tianyi was about to leave with Daoyi after she absorbed the ghost, but he stopped when he sensed people approaching. The three waited until they saw a group of twelve approaching them. By their attire, they were local cultivators and seemed to part of Paradise Sand City''s forces. There was a peak core formation master and a weaker acupoint opening master in the group, a rarity in the Earthsea Land. "Senior, did you discover the treasure that was born?" The apparent leader asked. Tianyi was confused for a moment before he realized what happened. Due to the tribulation lightning from earlier, they thought that a treasure had been born. As for why it wasn''t a forged treasure, no sane cultivator would do it outside of their base. A cultivator''s base had many formation and tricks to help resist against tribulation when they forged treasures such as when an alchemist refined a pill. "No," Tianyi said. He couldn''t tell if the group believed, but he didn''t care. He didn''t hide his Nascent Soul Realm cultivation. Even if they didn''t believe him, they wouldn''t be able to do anything to him. Just as he turned to leave, Daoyi stopped him. "Senior Brother, they are members of the Lei Clan." Tianyi paused in his movement and observed them. Due to Su Bojing, he got a detailed intelligence report on the Lei Clan, but aside from the patriarch and Nascent Soul Grandmaster, he didn''t bother to remember anyone else. He raised an eyebrow after confirming with Daoyi that those two Core Formation Realm level cultivators were indeed elders of the Lei Clan. One of them was even a nascent soul grandmaster candidate. Just what was such a core member of the clan doing outside of Paradise Sand City? Tianyi stretched his hand out and lightning pillars instantly formed around the group. As a young master background character, he would be shaming his role if he didn''t make trouble for a protagonist''s clan. But before he could seal all their movements, Daoyi stopped him. "Senior Brother, can you let me fight them? I haven''t experienced many life-and-death battles. It would be a good experience for me." Daoyi said as she looked towards the panicking Lei Clan Members. Tianyi thought about it for a moment and asked. "You just refined a ghost earlier. How is your condition?" "No worries, it was only time-consuming. If I''m in trouble, then you have the chance to save the beauty, isn''t that right?" Daoyi smiled. Tianyi rolled his eyes, but he allowed Daoyi to battle. He was in no rush. Elder Cai of the Lei Clan felt his intestine turn green with regret. Why did he have to investigate whether a treasure had formed in the desert? He should have ignored it and directly gone back to Paradise Sand City. And now, the mysterious nascent soul grandmaster seemed to want to deal with him for some reason despite not interfering in matters for two years. But he didn''t give up so soon. "Senior, I''m a member of the Lei Clan!" He had some hope that the mysteriously young nascent soul grandmaster would have some reservation if he knew that he was a member of the Lei Clan. But Tianyi''s reply disappointed him. "I know, I did this because you are members of the Lei Clan. However, I will leave a way out for you. My junior sister just so happens to lacks some opponents to spar with. If you can defeat her, I''ll let you go." Elder Cai sunk into despair. Win in a spar? Who knew whether the nascent soul grandmaster''s were truthful or not, but what choice did they have? Naturally, Tianyi''s words were lies. So what if he lied, what were they going to do? Get revenge? Tianyi felt like his thoughts were becoming more young master-like recently. Walking through the entrance opened in the electric cage formed around the lightning pillars, Daoyi sized up her opponent. Although her spiritual core was no doubt a higher grade and her cultivation method superior, her opponent was still a peak core formation master with countless years of experience. Seeing as the opponents were just observing her, Daoyi decided to make the first move since they weren''t attacking. Daoyi pointed her hands at the group, and nothing happened. Or rather, nonething seemed to have happened until the the core formation and acupoint opening masters leaped away as if dodging some invisible object. The foundation establishment members weren''t so lucky as they mysteriously slumped onto the ground unconsciousness. "What happened!? I just felt a chill and danger, so I moved away!" The acupoint opening master screamed out. Elder Cai, a peak core formation master, had a never-before-seen serious expression on his aged face. "She seems to be a soul cultivator! I''ve once witnessed a soul cultivator attack, so I''m very familiar with the feeling. But only nascent doul grandmaster can be soul cultivators!" At Elder Cai''s words, the acupoint opening master felt his heart tighten. Soul cultivators were the type of opponents that all other cultivators avoided fighting. Their methods were esoteric and hard to defend against, making for the worst type of opponents. Especially for martial cultivators like him. Tianyi, who was outside, saw everything. When Daoyi had pointed her hands at the group, invisible soul-like threads had shot out from her sleeve and struck them. And with a slight jolt to their souls, all of them fell unconscious. They would have a head-splitting headache once they woke up. He pointedly ignored how spider-like that move Daoyi used was and ignored the words at the edge of his mind, and refused to ponder over it. Back within the cage, both Lei Clan elders were speeding towards Daoyi from two different directions in a two-pronged attack. The simplest method to deal with a soul cultivator is to take them down as quickly as possible if you didn''t have any methods to defend against them. Elder Cai unleashed a bolt of lightning towards Daoyi, and the acupoint opening master followed suit. The Lei Clan were most famous for their lightning techniques. But to their dismay, the bolt of lightning fizzled out just moments before reaching Daoyi.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Unfortunately for the Lei Clan elders, after years of knowing Tianyi, Daoyi was very proficient in defensive spells against lightning. Even Su Bojing, who knew Tianyi the least amount of time, had begun to learn some defensive. Although none of them had been struck by any stray tribulation lightning bolts yet, just being near Tianyi without any defensive means was a harrowing experience. Each bolt of tribulation lightning contained the power of a peak nascent soul grandmaster. For Daoyi, it was even more critical as she cultivated a yin-type method. As a primarily yang-type energy, lightning was even dangerous for her. Forming several hand seals, Daoyi opened her mouth, and two core formation realm equivalent ghosts appeared. Tianyi could easily make them out as they were closer linked to Daoyi than the world itself. Wearing ghostly garments, the two stoic-faced ghost servants separated towards each of the Lei Clan elders. They didn''t have any weapons, but their long and terrifyingly sharp nails were dangerous enough. Elder Cai felt something dangerous even though he could not sense anything, so he immediately abandoned his attempt to reach Daoyi and made evasive maneuvers. The acupoint opening master wasn''t so lucky. He was weaker and had less potential than Elder Cai. Not to mention he was a martial cultivator, so his sense of danger towards soul attacks was the weakest among the three main types of cultivators. With a howl of pain, the acupoint opening master started to plummet towards the ground. His every thought was filled with soul-rending pain, making it difficult to do anything else. But he wasn''t out of the battle yet. Controlling the ghost, Daoyi inflicted even more pain to the hysterical acupoint opening master until he fainted. Now Elder Cai had to deal with two ghosts. To an observer, it would look like Elder Cai was just randomly swerving at random moments, but he was actually dodging Daoyi ghosts'' attack quite well. But there was only so much he could do when he couldn''t even sense the ghosts'' presence. Not long after, an attack struck Elder Cai, and he screamed in pain, not even able to endure it for a moment. Each of Daoyi''s ghosts could be considered a mobile soul attack. Just by controlling the ghosts, she could unleash soul attacks without expending any qi. But the effectiveness would drop to any who had any defensive measures. But the two Lei Clan elders were unable to even force Daoyi to do that. "Disappointed?" Tianyi asked as he walked next to Daoyi. She nodded. "It can''t be considered even a fight, more like a one-sided beatdown." Tianyi nodded in agreement. "I''ve always heard that a soul cultivator was the worst type of enemy, but I''ve only witnessed that today. Even among sects, soul cultivators are rare. So it''s not weird that they are so weak to your attacks, not to mention they are only cultivators from a backwater place like this." Daoyi sighed, honestly disappointed at their performance. She didn''t even need to bring out her guqin. Tianyi rounded up the Lei Clan members. He only needed the leader, so he only awakened Elder Cai. When Elder Cai woke up, he hissed in pain, and when he saw Daoyi, he unconsciously shrunk in fear as if Daoyi was the literal devil. Tianyi chuckled. "Speak, what were you doing in the desert." Tianyi asked after he had his laugh. The blurry and dazed Elder Cai immediately regained clarity at Tianyi''s words. "N-nothing, we were hunting a demonic beast, but we failed." Tianyi raised an eyebrow. "You sure have quite a bit of leisure time. Your clan is being besieged by the other great clans, yet you still have time to hunt a mere demonic beast." Elder Cai''s pupils shrunk as a terrifying thought occurred to him "You! You allied with the other great clans!" "Allied? I''m not allied to the other great clans. To be exact, you should say I hired them to be more precise." Tianyi gave a slight smile at Elder Cai''s uncomprehending face and continued. "I''ve already given the three clans over a million mid-tier spirit stones. And my only condition was for them to suppress and make trouble for the Lei Clan. Such a good deal, who wouldn''t do it. All they have to do is speed their plans and get paid handsomely for it." Elder Cai stared at Tianyi in fear. Even for the four great clans, a million mid-tier spirit stones accounted for nearly fifty percent of all their wealth. And this Nascent Soul Grandmaster just used that to make the great clans suppress the Lei Clan. What grudge did he have? And more importantly, who was backing him? "W-why!?" Tianyi''s smile deepened. "Of course it''s because of my old friend. His name is Lei Jingye." Elder Cai found it ridiculous. All this for the patriarch''s son, who was only a qi gathering pupil when he left! How could Lei Jingye offend such a figure!? At most, the current Lei Jingye should be a foundation establishment disciple at best according to Elder Cai''s prediciton. How could he interact with a Nascent Soul Grandmaster? Elder Cai even began to suspect that Tianyi was from a first or second-rate sect. "H-h-how?" His voice was dry and coarse as he forced the question out. "He tried to assassinate me on our first meeting. This grudge, don''t you think I should repay it?" A clan must bear the actions of its members. Elder Cai felt his eyes dim. But his mind blazed as he thought of another method. As long as he didn''t speak, if the clan can refine the treasure, they would have a hope of survival. Not to mention... "Lei Jingye has an Immortal Realm master!" Elder Cai screamed out. This was his trump card. Even a first or second-rate sect would reconsider before making enemies with an Immortal. Tianyi blinked in surprise. Elder Cai started to smile but quickly became baffled when Tianyi started to laugh. "So that''s what he told you? Let me ask, did you receive information about treasures in Earthsea Land that no one knew about from Lei Jingye, or maybe an immortal cultivation manual. And all those came from Lei Jingye''s mysterious master who you''ve never met?" Elder Cai felt his face pale at Tianyi''s words. Why was the youth so familiar with them? No, it must be because the youth was trying to shake and bluff him! He glared defiantly at Tianyi''s smug smile. "Senior Brother, you really look like a villain right now." Tianyi paused at Daoyi''s words. Thinking about it, he really did appear like a villain, didn''t he? And it was the young master type as well! Tianyi could already picture the scenario. Due to sowing enmity with the young master-ist young master of Buzhou Immortal Sect through no fault of his own, Lei Jingye''s clan is targeted by that young master. At the brink of the clan''s destruction, he appears and saves everyone while defeating and maybe even killing the young master. But as a result, the Buzhou Immortal Sect will hunt him down. Eventually, he will become powerful enough to destroy the Buzhou Immortal Sect and become the number one expert. Then he will ascend to a higher realm. AS IF! First of all, Lei Jingye tried to kill him first. And there was no higher realm than the Huang Realm. There is one other realm equal to the Huang Realm known as the Numinous Realm but no higher realm. He had already asked his mother before he even started cultivating. Tianyi turned his sight back on Elder Cai, his amusement gone. "Are you going to take the easy route or the hard route?" "Puh!" Elder Cai spat his saliva at Tianyi. The saliva fizzled into nothing before it could even go near Tianyi. Tianyi rolled his eyes, and Elder Cai was immediately cloaked in lightning, causing him immense pain. When the lightning disappeared, his body was quite literally smoking hot. "So, you going to try that again?" Tianyi asked. Elder Cai said nothing and just glared back. "Junior Sister, want to test your soul techniques against him?" Daoyi turned her gaze towards Elder Cai, causing him to shiver. That soul attack was even more painful than Tianyi''s lightning. "Sure, thank you, Senior Brother." Daoyi''s milky white hand reached out towards Elder Cai. When it touched Elder Cai''s face, Daoyi stopped. Even this fearful, Elder Cai still refused to betray his clan, which Tianyi had to commend him for. "Senior Brother, you really want me to interrogate him?" Tianyi shook his head. He wasn''t going to make his Daoyi dirty her hands by torturing a person. In his eyes, that was worse than killing them. Instead, he made Elder Cai gazed into his eyes. When Elder Cai gazed into Tianyi''s eyes, he felt as if they were the most beautiful pair of eyes in the world. No, not just the most beautiful eyes, but the most beautiful object in the whole universe! He felt that he could even see another world, one with eight suns and one planet. Elder Cai''s eyes glazed over as his facial features slacked. His mouth might even leak drool at any time. "What were you doing out here? Were you on a secret mission for the Lei Clan?" Elder Cai opened his mouth, but only noise came out, no words. Tianyi sighed. Charm techniques could be considered a pseudo branch of the soul branch, but Tianyi wasn''t skilled with it. He was more skilled in fortifying and defending the soul than attacking other souls. It looked like he won''t be able to make Elder Cai spit anything out. He looked towards the other unconscious Lei Clan members. If Elder Cai won''t speak, one of them had to. But their information wouldn''t be as good. But before Tianyi could move to do so, Elder Meng spoke. "Young Master, how about I soul search him?" Tianyi paused. Although Elder Meng was his guard, Tianyi had no authority to order her around. At most, he could request her to do something. It was up to her if she wanted to do it. Since she offered, Tianyi naturally accepted. With Elder Meng''s aid, she easily extracted the information from Elder Cai''s soul. Tianyi was impressed. She was able to extract the information without harming Elder Cai''s soul, something that transcending mortality sages and earth immortals had a hard time accomplishing. It turned out that there was an immortal realm artifact buried secretly in the Earthsea Land. Because it had existed for so long in the Earthsea Land, its aura had become almost natural to the region, making it difficult to spot. The Lei Clan had chanced upon it and prepared to excavate it before secretly bringing it back to their clan. Tianyi nodded. Was this discovered in Lei Jingye''s first life? I don''t know since I only followed Xi Longyi''s view. Or perhaps this is a change unique to this life? How convenient for him, getting real main character vibes now. But too bad, it won''t happen with me here. After trapping Elder Cai and the Lei Clan members in a formation, Tianyi and Daoyi followed Elder Meng to the immortal realm artifact''s location. The location was really barren, with no distinctive landmarks. It was really a wonder anyone could discover the immortal artifact. "It''s here." Tianyi looked down at the indistinguishable landscape. Spreading out his spiritual sense, Tianyi pinpointed the concealment formation. Under his lead, the group entered the formation and into the hole that led to a grotto. Once inside, Tianyi was immediately buffeted by a strong aura. Daoyi''s eyes widened as she felt the aura. Rather than an immortal realm artifact, it felt closer to the divine shard of the Spectral Rising Jewel, only far more potent. Doayi could sense this, much less Tianyi, who actually owned several immortal realm artifacts. Tianyi''s lips twitched. He was really glad he decided to pay a visit to the Lei Clan. If Lei Jingye really attained a divine artifact, then it wouldn''t be a joke anymore, even to the Buzhou Immortal Sect. But just to make sure. "Elder Meng, is this a divine artifact or did I sense incorrectly?" Elder Meng furrowed her brows as she closed her eyes. "Judging by the aura, it should be a divine artifact related to the Queen Mother of the West." Tianyi''s eyes widened. Although he was surprised by how familiar Elder Meng acted with divine artifacts, he was more shocked by what she said next. Queen Mother of the West, wasn''t this the ancestral lineage of Jade Peak? Chapter 134: Lei Jingyes Shocking Cultivation Xiwangmu, or Queen Mother of the West, was an archaic divinity that rose up during the First Antiquity Era. Originally, the Queen Mother of the West was a divinity of death and disease before suddenly becoming a goddess of longevity and life. It was only then that she took up a position as the Queen Mother of the West in the Immortal Court. Her counterpart and husband was known as King Duke of the East. However, with the destruction of the Immortal Court, she mysteriously disappeared, and it is unknown whether she still lives or not. The Queen Mother of the West lived in Jade Mountain, of which Jade Peak was constructed from its fragments. Since then, the successors of Jade Peak could all be considered of the Queen Mother''s lineage. His mother, Mengfei, cultivated the Queen Mother''s Nether Origin Scripture. Daoyi''s East Flowing Nether River Scripture could be said to be descended from the Nether Origin Scripture. Mengfei was the current Jade Peak Lord, a title she kept even after becoming the third grand elder of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. It would seem that she would continue to be the Jade Peak Lord since there was no one else that cultivated the Queen Mother''s lineage until Daoyi came. Going by lineage, if Daoyi managed to ascend to Immortality, there was a high chance she would become the next Jade Peak Lord. Tianyi wasn''t even considered since he wasn''t of the Queen Mother''s lineage. It wasn''t surprising as the Queen Mother''s lineage consisted only of females. Now, upon hearing that the Queen Mother''s divine artifact rested here, how could Tianyi not excited? He immediately motioned for Elder Meng and Daoyi not to enter any further. He didn''t want to repeat the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus incident and bring unnecessary trouble to his mother. Only she needed to know about the Artifact. "This is good." Tianyi couldn''t help grinning as he, Daoyi, and Elder Meng flew back to Paradise Sand City as soon as possible after he established a concealment formation at the entrance. "Then I shall congratulate Senior Brother for acquiring a divine artifact." Daoyi teased as she saw Tianyi''s excitement. "What use do I have for a divine artifact? I can''t even fully control an immortal artifact yet." Tianyi said, "You should congratulate mother instead. She will be able to utilize it the most out of everyone. No one in the sect will have any objections." Daoyi blinked in surprise. She had thought Tianyi was excited because he could acquire a divine artifact. It wasn''t a wrong conclusion. After all, who could resist the allure of a divine artifact? Not even Tianyi should be able to. But it turned out he was excited for Mengfei instead. After thinking about it, Daoyi nodded in agreement. Both she and Tianyi were in the mortals, so there was no need to even consider a divine artifact. And Tianyi was not of the Queen Mother''s lineage, so the divine artifact was best suited for Mengfei, who was of the Queen Mother''s direct lineage. Her case was an abnormality. First, she was cultivating a technique that was extremely compatible with the divine shard. Second, her mother''s clan had been affected by the divine shard''s powers, so it made her even more compatible. Thinking about it, Daoyi wondered whether the divine artifact hidden in the Earthsea Land was damaged or not. If it was damaged, it could even be like her clan''s. She didn''t know what circumstances led to the Spectral Rising Jewel''s shattering, but a divine artifact should not be so fragile. But with the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s wealth, restoring the minimum power of the divine artifact should not be an impossible task. Tianyi immediately noticed something wrong when he entered Paradise Sand City. Since he had arrived, the tension had always been on the rise due to his manipulations in the dark. But if the tension before was fifty, then the tension currently was eight to ninety. There were far fewer people roaming the streets. And those that did were all at least in the late Foundation Establishment Realm. It didn''t take a genius to figure out something had happened while he was out. That''s why Tianyi and the group quickly made their way back to the mansion. However, on the way, Tianyi suddenly stopped and looked in a certain direction. His eyes became extremely dazzling as if they were the only thing left in the world. Daoyi felt her head empty for a second before she recomposed herself. "Senior Brother, what happened?" She asked as they resumed their journey back. "Nothing much. I just discovered some people following us. Despite being in the Core Formation Realm, they were able to almost avoid my senses, so I made them fall into a trance." Tianyi replied. "Isn''t that right, Elder Meng." Elder Meng nodded. She didn''t attack them or inform Tianyi of them because they hadn''t posed a direct danger to Tianyi. Her sole duty was to guard Tianyi''s safety. Anything aside from that was out of her scope of duty. "Someone able to almost avoid your senses?" Daoyi said in surprise. It wasn''t that she didn''t think that such a thing was possible. Many cultivators should be skilled enough to do so, just not the ones in this remote region. So Daoyi was surprised. "It seems to use the principles of space, honestly speaking, if the technique were based on something else, I probably wouldn''t have felt them. Too bad the techniques released ripples in space that I felt." Tianyi said. When Tianyi and the group returned, Su Bojing immediately came up to greet them. "Young Master, something big happened!" Hearing the urgency in Su Bojing''s voice, Tianyi quickly said. "What happened?" "It''s Lei Jingye, he appeared!" Tianyi frowned. Lei Jingye''s appearance he had long waited for but was he the reason for the sudden tension? According to Tianyi''s judgment, Lei Jingye should at most be a core formation master, but he couldn''t discount the off chance that he had the power to kill a weak nascent soul grandmaster." "Not just that. But when Lei Jingye appeared, he was at the peak Nascent Soul Realm!" Su Bojing said, his voice full of surprise. "Calm down and explain it clearly," Tianyi commanded, impatience started to color his voice. He felt that something was off the moment Su Bojing said that Lei Jingye was in the peak Nascent Soul Realm. Tianyi''s considered himself quite fast in cultivation even in the whole history of the Huang Realm, but Lei Jingye, who was only a few years older than him, was able to match and even exceed him.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. The first time Tianyi saw Lei Jingye, Tianyi was in the Foundation Establishment Realm while Lei Jingye was in the Qi Gathering Realm. The second time, Tianyi was in the Core Formation Realm, and Lei Jingye was in the Foundation Establishment Realm. And now, the third time they meet, Lei Jingye suddenly exceeded Tianyi''s cultivation realm. It honestly wasn''t a good feeling. Tianyi estimated that Lei Jingye should be at the early Nascent Soul Realm at most. His lips started to twitch as his brain generated random plotlines on how he would fall. He couldn''t really be cannon fodder, could he? "The Lei Clan''s nascent soul grandmaster suddenly started to fight against the other great clans'' nascent soul grandmasters. The fight started off extremely unbalanced, with the Lei Clan''s nascent soul grandmaster at a disadvantage. But suddenly, Lei Jingye appeared and immediately killed one of them. But that wasn''t all. Lei Jingye then easily dispatched another nascent soul grandmaster. If the Meng Clan''s nascent soul grandmaster had been any slower, then he would have fallen too. Right now, he is hiding behind the Meng Clan''s guardian formation and recuperating." Su Bojing said. When he had witnessed the battle, he had been shocked. "Furthermore, he looked exactly like that Longwei. When I saw Lei Jingye''s portrait, I thought it was only a coincidence that he looked like Longwei and they would look slightly different in reality, but they were exactly the same down their eyelashes! Not only that, but he used the saber strike as Longwei too!" Tianyi frowned. "You sure it wasn''t a sword?" "I''m positive." Su Bojing confirmed. "Do you think that Longwei is Lei Jingye? But that would make him a peak nascent soul grandmaster under forty-years-old!" Su Bojing had originally thought nothing of Lei Jingye, seeing him as someone too stupid to consider the consequences. But after seeing Lei Jingye again, he was shocked that Lei Jingye was several times stronger than him. Contemplating the events, Tianyi started to think deeper into his thoughts. Lei Jingye using the same strike as Longwei surprised him, but Tianyi thought it was Lei Jingye relying more on the Dragon Emperor''s inheritance. If Lei Jingye''s sudden cultivation was due to using a shortcut using the Dragon Emperor''s method, Tianyi wouldn''t be surprised. After all, in his first life, he did something similar. "He''s not Longwei. They share an appearance and similar arts due to a secret. You shouldn''t concern yourself with it." "Secret?" Daoyi asked. Tianyi shook his head. "I''m not sure if I can''t tell you. Ask mother later. Right now, it''s more important for us to inform mother of the divine artifact. I didn''t expect the situation would reverse to this degree so suddenly. If I were Lei Jingye, I wouldn''t bother with the injured Meng Clan''s nascent soul grandmaster but retrieve the divine artifact in the desert first. Even if he doesn''t know that it is a divine artifact and thinks it is an immortal artifact, that would still happen. We have to arrive first, especially since they might find it suspicious that the Core Formation Realm elders they sent out isn''t returning." Daoyi nodded, feeling that Tianyi''s words made sense. Instead, it was Su Bojing that spoke out. He thought he was mishearing when Tianyi spoke about divine artifacts. Even the Buzhou Immortal Sect didn''t have one! At least publically, to Su Bojing''s knowledge. But he found it absolutely weird that Tianyi was in such a rush, afraid that a mere nascent soul grandmaster would steal it from Grand Elder Xi. "There''s no need to be so urgent. Right, Young Master? That Longwei or whatever Lei Jingye can''t even compare to Grand Elder Xi''s pinkie." Tianyi frowned and glared at Su Bojing. "What do you understand!? I can sense a large amount of karmic luck on that Lei Jingye. If we''re not careful, he might actually accomplish it!" That was a lie, but Tianyi didn''t doubt that Lei Jingye had a large amount of luck, he was someone who regressed in time, after all. Tianyi paused as he felt his agitated state. What was wrong with him? He had never been this uneasy. Did Lei Jingye''s cultivation really provoke him that much? "Sorry, for some reason, I''m very agitated right now." "It''s fine Young Master. You''re right. If something happened, that it wouldn''t be something the excuse of not expecting it would fix. This is a divine artifact, after all." After seeing Tianyi''s agitation, Su Bojing half believed that there really was a divine artifact, or at least something equal. It wasn''t that he didn''t trust Tianyi''s words, just that a divine artifact was just too rare, something only divinities could refine. There were no divinities in the current era, so the only divine artifacts were from the divinities of the past. Tianyi quickly made it to his mother''s room, and after Tianyi''s explanation, Mengfei quickly stood up. Although her Dao wasn''t the same as the Queen Mother of the West''s, just ruminating on the divine artifact would be a huge aid to her and her cultivation. The group of five quickly left the city under Mengfei''s powers. But before they left, Tianyi deployed some combat puppets against Lei Jingye just in case. But the combat puppets were something Tianyi made on a whim. There was only one with the power of a nascent soul grandmaster, and the rest were Core Formation Realm puppets that he had forged base on the previous one. But in terms of material, Tianyi absolutely guaranteed their sturdiness.
"Jing''er, what''s the rush?" Lei De asked his son. His son had only returned recently, but he already overturned the disadvantage situation for the Lei Clan. "Shouldn''t we deal with that Meng Nang first?" "Father, one moment the immortal artifact isn''t mine is one more moment that it could be taken. What kind of a thing is that Meng Nang, just a two-colored nascent soul grandmaster, trash." Lei Jingye said, his face extremely cold, not giving any face for Lei De at all. Lei Jingye wore a yellow robe with a saber at his side, and there was a murderous aura between his brows. His body was filled with a bloody aura that could only be accumulated after killing an unaccountable number of lifeforms. Lei De stood there awkwardly. In the past, Lei Jingye had never spoken to him like this, and the strong pressure coming from Lei Jingye oppressed him. Although he felt aggrieved, what could he do? He was weaker than Lei Jingye. And he discovered that Lei Jingye had changed a lot. Just what happened to cause Lei Jingye to become this cold? Lei De felt heartache for his son. "Alright, alright. Just let me contact Elder Cai first, okay?" Lei De said, giving in. The Lei Clan''s nascent soul grandmaster had suffered some injuries during the fight and was in seclusion to heal himself. So Lei Jingye was currently the strongest person present. That wouldn''t change even if the Lei Clan''s nascent soul grandmaster was present. Lei De''s face suddenly changed. "I can''t contact Elder Cai. Something must have happened to them." Lei Jingye sneered and started to leave. "Jing''er! Where are you going?" Lei De asked and followed Lei Jingye. "Where else? To retrieve the immortal artifact before someone does." Lei Jingye said as he soared through the air once he exited the building. Lei De sighed. After summoning half of the remaining Core Formation Realm elders, Lei De followed Lei Jingye, who was far ahead. It wasn''t that Lei De didn''t want the immortal artifact, but he had to consider for the Lei Clan. They had just killed two of the three great clans'' nascent soul grandmasters. They had to wary of any last-ditch counterattacks. Even a cornered rabbit would retaliate, much less a human. If Lei Jingye left, the Core Formation Realm elders wouldn''t be enough to stop the great clans'' counterattack. And the ancestor still had to recuperate. Up ahead, Lei Jingye''s eyes were practically spitting fire. Immediately after he exited Paradise Sand City, he had been besieged by a Nascent Soul Realm combat puppet and numerous Core Formation Realm combat puppets. Recalling how the Lei Clan''s situation deteriorated and the sudden appearance of the puppets that shouldn''t exist in such a remote place, Lei Jingye was sure that someone was dealing with the Lei Clan. What made him warier was that the materials used to construct the Core Formation Realm puppets were completely wasteful. They could have been used to construct a Unity Realm puppet. The person who constructed it should have a considerable background, and this made Lei Jingye even more anxious. He needed to replenish his stock of immortal artifacts. Chapter 135: Third Times the Charm "How is it?" Tianyi asked his mother. Currently, the group of five were flying above the grotto where the divine artifact rested. Mengfei shook her head. "I can''t sense it at this distance." Tianyi raised an eyebrow in surprise. If even an immortal empress couldn''t sense the divine artifact at this distance without entering the grotto, no wonder it was hidden so long. "Then let''s enter, even I was able to sense once we were in the grotto." Mengfei nodded, and the group of five entered the formation and into the underground grotto. Immediately after entering, the dense and divine pressure was immediately felt by everyone. Tianyi, Daoyi, and Elder Meng were fine since they had expected it, but Su Bojing suddenly kneeling was out of Tianyi''s expectations. "Are you okay?" Tianyi asked, bewildered as to why Su Bojing was so affected. "My apologies, Young Master." Su Bojing said as sweat started to drip down his face. Even his voice held slight trembling despite his best efforts. "Every moment I''m here, I feel as if my mind is going to go blank forever at any moment." Tianyi frowned. Did the divine artifact have such a feature? "Then go guard the cave in case someone chances upon the grotto." Su Bojing saluted before leaving in relief. Before leaving, he gave a deep look at Daoyi. He wasn''t surprised Tianyi was able to withstand it. After all, he was a literal monster. But Daoyi being able to withstand it at the Core Formation Realm really surprised him. Su Bojing chalked it up to her clan being in close proximity to the shattered divine artifact. After all, the Xu Clan''s ancestor must be special if he was able to near the divine artifact fragment before it broke apart. "Junior Sister, are you okay?" Tianyi asked in concern. He hadn''t thought much about it since it hadn''t impacted him and Daoyi before. Still, after seeing Su Bojing''s reaction, he realized that for a Core Formation Master, a divine artifact must be exerting even more pressure on them. The distance between her and the divine artifact was between two great realms. In fact, it wouldn''t be weird for some true immortals to be affected by the pressure. Tianyi realized how abnormal his group was. Elder Meng was expected since she even made immortal monarchs wary of her. Daoyi shook her head. "Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother, but I''m fine. Really." Daoyi added at the end after seeing Tianyi''s suspicious look. "If something were to occur, make sure to leave immediately. If you can''t, tell us as soon as possible." Tianyi reminded her, his face extremely serious. "Understood," Daoyi cupped her fist in a mock salute, causing Tianyi to roll his eyes. But it also settled his anxiety. If Daoyi could still afford to play around, then it shouldn''t be affecting her much. After Mengfei returned from investigating the grotto, Tianyi asked, "How is it? Can you sense it more now? Is it really related to the Queen Mother of the West?" Mengfei nodded, her eyes shining. "This is indeed a divine artifact related to the Queen Mother of the West. Specifically, it''s one related to the Queen Mother''s Dao of Life." Tianyi frowned. If he recalled correctly, Jade Peak''s cultivation method should be closer to the Dao of Yin and Death of the Queen Mother of the West. But since his mother''s eyes were shining so brilliantly, it should be a good thing. "Are you able to refine it?" "Normally, no. But since it''s been damaged and its integrity been eroded, I should be able to barely refine a divine artifact like before." Mengfei said. She was delighted with the discovery. Before Tianyi appeared in her life, her only goal was towards the Dao and becoming a divinity. The Queen Mother of the West lineage was comprised of two lineages, one death and one life. The death lineage had been converted towards the modern main method of Jade Peak, shying away from death and leaning towards yin. But it was only half of the Queen Mother''s method. The latter half, the lineage concerning the Dao of Life, had been lost. If she wanted to become a divinity, she would have to ruminate her own method, and that would take hundreds of thousands of years if she was unlucky, or perhaps she might fail. But with the divine artifact before her, although it wasn''t good as the direct cultivation method, it was like a lamp on the endlessly dark paths. "I don''t know how long it will take to refine the divine artifact. Although it is related to the Queen Mother''s lineage, it is the polar opposite of the Queen Mother''s early half. But there should still be a connection, so I should be able to refine it." Mengfei said. "But all my focus will be placed in refining the divine artifact. I won''t be able to protect you if anything happens. I should send you back to the sect first." Mengfei reached her hand to lovingly stroke Tianyi''s head. Tianyi rolled his eyes and blocked Mengfei''s attempt to rub his head. After repeating two more times, Tianyi spoke, "Mother, you said that you need to place all your attention on refining the divine artifact. I''ll stay behind and be your guardian." Mengfei blinked before smiling happily for a reason unknown to herself. "It should be the other way around. I''ll guard you for the rest of your life." "What? No way, I''m a man, so I should protect you." Tianyi said, his eyes glazing as he remembered the words of his mother from Earth. "Soon, I''ll grow strong enough to protect you." Mengfei blinked, not understanding the sudden seriousness in Tianyi''s voice. But she relented to Tianyi''s request. Before she started to refine the divine artifact, she sent a glance at Elder Meng. There should be no trouble for Tianyi with Elder Meng here, but she did worry about Daoyi. Elder Meng would prioritize Tianyi''s safety above all else, so Mengfei gave Daoyi a lifesaving talisman. Elder Meng held a special position in the Buzhou Immortal Sect. No one could order her around, not even the sect master. Mengfei had heard rumors that Elder Meng had existed since the creation of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. There was only one person who could command Elder Meng in the whole sect. That''s why she was surprised when Elder Meng came to protect Tianyi on the order of the Concealed Sovereign. Sitting in a lotus position at the location emitting the heaviest pressure, Mengfei closed her eyes and began to refine the divine artifact. First, she had to reach out and establish a connection. Silence descended onto the group as Mengfei delved deep into the process, ignoring the outside world. After a while, Tianyi suddenly jerked his head up and looked outside the cavern with a serious expression. "Is there something wrong?" Daoyi asked. Tianyi''s reaction had been too abrupt, so she couldn''t help but think that something had happened. "The puppets I left around Paradise Sand City were destroyed," Tianyi said. Although the Core Formation Realm puppets weren''t as strong as the Nascent Soul Realm puppet, they were harder to destroy than the Nascent Soul puppet due to being created from higher quality materials. But they were destroyed in quick succession.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. The Nascent Soul Realm puppet had enough power to fight with all the four original Nascent Soul Grandmasters of Paradise Earth City and still hold the advantage. Tianyi wouldn''t be surprised if Lei Jingye was able to destroy it since he was the chosen one who went back in time. But to destroy all the Core Formation puppets, Lei Jingye must have enough power to release attacks at the Unity Realm threshold continuously. "I''m going out to see if Lei Jingye really appeared again. You stay here." Tianyi said. He didn''t want Daoyi to see Lei Jingye. It was better for her to stay here. "I''m coming along. I''m pretty useless here. Better to follow Senior Brother and stop anyone who wants to disturb master." Daoyi said as she followed Tianyi. Tianyi didn''t put up much resistance. In the end, it was her choice. "Young Master, where are you going?" Su Bojing, who was at the cave entrance, asked in surprise. "Someone destroyed all my puppets around the city. It must be Lei Jingye." Tianyi said. He didn''t forget to add, "See, I told you so," at the end. Su Bojing''s eyes widened in surprise. He sighed at Tianyi''s predictive abilities. Although he had gotten used to Tianyi''s true personality, he had also forgotten how talented Tianyi was. To be able to predict Lei Jingye''s appearance and his next course of action, as expected of a genius to be so farsighted. Su Bojing inwardly praised Tianyi. "You stay here and control the formation. You can add some formations yourself, but don''t bother with any defensive or attack formations." Tianyi said. In his eyes, Su Bojing may be able to battle with Lei Jingye, but he would definitely lose. Of course, Tianyi never planned to let Lei Jingye get past him in the first place. He was just preparing for the worst-case scenario. "Understood." Su Bojing accepted his order. He had seen Tianyi fight with Longwei, so he was completely confident in him, not to mention his insane cultivation method. Even if Tianyi didn''t use any techniques, just a regular punch from him would threaten many peak nascent soul grandmasters.
Lei Jingye immediately noticed something was wrong when he should have arrived at the location of the divine artifact according to the information presented to him, but he didn''t. Scanning the surroundings, Lei Jingye discovered that the environment became indistinct with no clear direction. Everything looked the same. He couldn''t even find the direction back to the city. "Hmpf, just a mere illusionary formation. Did you really think it could hold me?" Lei Jingye said, his voice booming in all directions. But the illusionary formation was extremely insidious, if he hadn''t realized what was going on, he would have been trapped with him none the wiser. "Not speaking, are you? Fine, I''ll see how long your silence can last once I tear down this formation." Lei Jingye growled, his teeth showing through his lips. He unsheathed his saber and struck out several times, seemingly at random. But wherever his saber light struck, space would distort and tremble. Lei Jingye frowned when he saw that space didn''t shatter, or rather the formation didn''t shatter. It seemed the formation master who constructed the formation was more skilled than he thought. Formation masters were terrifying to fight. Their combat strength usually wasn''t anything noteworthy, but on their home ground with a formation constructed, they could display strength surpassing their realm. It was much like how an immortal emperor, say from the Eight Pillars Sect, wouldn''t directly engage with the sect master of the Eternal Night Sect at their home base even if they only had an immortal monarch guarding it. With the sect formation, the immortal monarch could repel the immortal emperor, so it would only result in a waste of time. A foreign dragon couldn''t suppress a local snake. So far, Lei Jingye could only detect the illusionary formation, but only a useless formation master would construct a single purpose formation. He was proven correct when the space around him froze, greatly restricting his movements. Lei Jingye grunted, and he was covered in a golden light, removing the influence of the sealing formation. But he found it difficult to distort and tear space even with a Void Escape Talisman. But Lei Jingye didn''t have time to think as he moved to dodge a spear of flame piercing towards him. After dodging the flame spear, a frosty water spear pierced toward him. Lei Jingye snorted and swung his saber, destroying the water spear and reverting it to liquid. But that wasn''t the end as spears made of metal, rocks, and wood also pierced towards him. When the first round of attack was done, another set of spears were unleashed towards Lei Jingye. But although they were filled with true qi of all five elements, Lei Jingye was easily able to deflect or dodge them. It only served to annoy him as the attack came from all directions. "Enough! Do you only know how to use these little tricks, not even daring to show your face!" Lei Jingye howled at the sky, cursing at the cultivator controlling the formation. But the only reply was silence and the onslaught of elemental spears. Lei Jingye scowled as he continued to be on the defensive. He directed all his focus towards finding the formation''s anchor or core parts. If he could not exit the formation or deal with the formation, he could only resign to being attacked without being able to retaliate. Suddenly the onslaught of spears stopped, causing Lei Jingye to be surprised. Not only did it not cause Lei Jingye to breathe a sigh of relief, but it made him raised his guard even more. Soon, he discovered that the remnant spears on the ground releasing elemental qi. Wood feeds fire, fire feeds earth, earth feeds metal, metal feeds water, and water feeds wood. The five primary elemental qis formed the wu xing cycle, and the final output was greater than the sum of all its parts. Lei Jingye''s eyes could faintly discern a five-pointed star-shaped formation. "Five Element Annihilation Formation!" Lei Jingye growled out as he descended onto the desert floor. Like a raging beast, he swung his saber like mad, destroying the spears and elemental qi as much as possible. The formation master was even more powerful than he thought. All things in the world were created with the foundational elements of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Just as the five elements created all things, so could they destroy. This was the concept behind the Five Element Annihilation Formation created by a major divinity of the Immortal Court. But only the Buzhou Immortal Sect and Eight Pillars Sect were rumored to possess the legendary formation. Usually, only those in the Immortal Realm and higher were able to unleash this formation, but Lei Jingye didn''t discount a simplified version. But it mattered not as the end result was still detrimental to him. Lei Jingye''s eyes were seeped in hatred as his thought turned toward the Buzhou Immortal Sect. His saber-light became even more ferocious and destructive, increasing the rate of destruction of the elemental qi. But there was too much elemental qi created from the spears. By the time Lei Jingye realized the formation master''s plan, it was far too late. The cycle of five elements abruptly halted and began to clash against each other. The clash of elements created a grey gaseous and corrosive qi. It was a qi of chaos. As more and more chaos qi emerged, Lei Jingye''s sphere of defense began to shrink. Soon, it filled the entire space and ate away at Lei Jingye''s body and soul. It was like an ant trapped inside a pressurized tank being filled with acid, Lei Jingye was the ant, and the qi of chaos was the acid. But Lei Jingye knew that this was only a side effect. The actual attack had yet to come. Gathering towards the surface of his body, golden scales began to appear over Lei Jingye''s body. Horns began to grow out of his head, and his incisors and nails elongated, giving him the appearance of a humanoid dragon. And not a moment too soon as his world was enveloped in light. Even his scream of pain could not be heard in the absolute explosion that had just occurred. When the light died down, the desert land below had turned into shiny glass due to the sheer heat, not to mention the gaping hole in the land. And Lei Jingye wasn''t any better. All of his scales were charred black and dropping off like flakes of skin. Blood continuously dripped down from the wounds all over his body. "What was that? The Five Element Annihilation Formation should not be so destructive at that level." Lei Jingye gasped out. His body was in near tatters. The last attack had seriously harmed the foundation of his martial body. Recovery would be hard without any special methods. "The first time we met, you tried to give me a new orifice in my head. Unfortunately, before I could retaliate, you decisively used your talisman and escaped." The voice was pleasant, still bearing some hints of tenderness. "The second time we met, well, it was a clone you created through special methods, so let''s not count that." There was a hint of humor in the voice, but there was no hiding the dense killing intent in the voice. "Our official second meeting was in the ruin in the Immortal Court, but you managed to escape again, thanks to that red light." A figure appeared in the air, leisurely walking towards Lei Jingye. The figure appeared to be in his teens, his face handsome, but the most bewitching features were those beautiful eyes that resembled the night sky. Wearing a purple robe and gold coronet, who else could it be? "Xi.Tian.Yi." Lei Jingye growled out each syllable of Tianyi''s name through gritted teeth as his eyes burned with hatred. "But you know what they say, third times a charm." Tianyi gave a slight smile at Lei Jingye, but cold murderous intent filled his gaze. Chapter 136: Three-Layered Attack Tianyi had a "sure enough" expression upon his face as he detected Lei Jingye entering his illusionary formation. His hands blurred as his fingers flashed through several hand seals. In front of him, the ordinary desert scenery began to distort and even darken in color until a massive black gaseous sphere formed. "Senior Brother, making such a big scene, isn''t this attracting even more attention?" Daoyi couldn''t but interject. Rather with the colossal size of the black sphere, it would be harder for people not to notice. "I''m not too worried about everyone else. Lei Jingye is the greatest threat to me." Tianyi said. He frowned as he made several hand seals, and ripples started to appear on the gaseous sphere as it began to suck in spiritual qi from the surroundings. After creating a sealing formation, he had begun to attack Lei Jingye. "Why are you so focused on a single person? Although he is a nascent soul grandmaster, he shouldn''t be able to defeat you." Daoyi asked. She didn''t think it was weird for Tianyi to be wary of people disrupting Mengfei, but she found Tianyi''s focus on Lei Jingye abnormal. Tianyi stayed silent for a moment before speaking. "Truthfully, he is a bit special. Do you know the concept of time travel?" Thinking back, Tianyi should have done some research on the concept when he returned from the ruin of the Immortal Court. But he hadn''t thought much of it at the time since it was a common plot point in many novels that he just accepted such an extreme concept. If it was such a common occurrence, how come he never heard of it happening before? "As if physically going back in time or mentally?" Daoyi asked. Tianyi felt his suspicion of her increase. But he could just be overly suspicious, and everything Daoyi said was being affected by his bias. After all, if Tianyi recalled correctly, the concept of time travel was far older than he thought, even if it went by a different term. "Generally speaking, physically traveling through time would need far more energy than sending your soul through the river of time. But the difficulty remained the same. I heard that a successor to the Spring Autumn Scripture once tried to create a technique to accomplish this act." Elder Meng spoke up, greatly surprising Tianyi. So it turned that people actually had tried time traveling. "It was during when I visited the ruin of the Immortal Court. I saw a dream. It was about a different version of me called Xi Longyi." Tianyi said as he began to explain what he saw in the dream. "...later, Lei Jingye used a forbidden method to raise his cultivation forcibly. But in the end, he still died under Xi Longyi''s saber." "Senior Brother, that alternate version of you doesn''t resemble you at all. He reminds me more of Lovespot." At Daoyi''s words, Tianyi made a disgusted face. So great was his lapse in concentration that he momentarily lost control of the formation. "Don''t even joke like that." Tianyi huffed. Just thinking about being as stupid as Lovespot made him want to die. He cast a glance at Daoyi, "That woman that Lei Jingye fought for, her name is Jiang Daoyi." Now it was Daoyi''s turned to be stunned. "Would I have met Lei Jingye if I left the household?" Then her thoughts recalled the night where Lei Jingye suddenly visited her and indirectly confessed to her. "Is that why he came to my room that night? Senior Brother, what was I like in your dream?" Tianyi shrugged. "Couldn''t tell. I only knew the other you after Longyi captured you. You were defiant, never easily complying, and even wanting to ruin your cultivation so as to not benefit him. I''m surprised that you''re not questioning that you and Lei Jingye were an item." Tianyi said with a hint of discontent. Now it was Daoyi''s turn to shrug. "The other me is me yet also not me. Perhaps she was shaped by different experiences and thus chose to be with Lei Jingye. But I''m still more surprised at how drastic Senior Brother''s change is." Tianyi glanced at Elder Meng before continuing to speak. "That''s probably due to a secret of my birth. Ask mother later. If she allows you to know, you can know." Daoyi was curious but decided to ask her master later. Tianyi was someone who didn''t mind sharing knowledge, so if it was something that even he needed her master''s permission for, then she wouldn''t pry any further, at least for the moment. Silence descended as Tianyi continued to manipulate the black sphere. Then he began to concentrate as the gaseous sphere began to rumble and thunder as if it was a miniature planet eternally covered in clouds having a fierce hurricane, like a black Jupiter. Tianyi sighed. He hadn''t expected the Five Element Annihilation Formation to kill Lei Jingye. After all, he was someone who regressed, a regressor. But he was still disappointed when the formation actually failed. "Elder Meng, help me watch over the area and Junior Sister, please." After saying this, Tianyi directly entered the gaseous sphere. He didn''t leave time for Elder Meng to reject his request. Elder Meng sighed. Daoyi thought that the situation would remain unchanged for some time. Who knew that not long after Tianyi entered the formation, a group of several Core Formation Realm cultivators would arrive. The group of core formation and acupoint opening masters was naturally the Lei Clan''s patriarch, Lei De, and the group of elders. It had taken him some time to follow after Lei Jingye because Lei Jingye''s speed was far faster, and he tried to search for the missing elders. He wasn''t worried for his son because no one could threaten him in the Earthsea Land, especially after he killed and repelled the other nascent soul grandmasters of Paradise Sand City. But upon seeing the black sphere, Lei De''s vigilance increased tremendously. Who wouldn''t? And he could feel a great danger towards the black sphere. Looking around, he saw an enchanting young woman in blue standing there without anything beneath her feet. She was a core formation master, yet she should stand on air like a nascent soul grandmaster, making Lei De raise his guard, plus the location was near where the immortal artifact. He began to have an ominous feeling. "We are the Lei Clan of Paradise Sand City. Dare I ask fellow daoist''s esteemed name?" Lei De asked as he and the other elders stopped midair atop their artifacts. Daoyi smiled, her voice was not loud, but it seemed to be everpresent and whisper into the Lei Clan members'' ears. "Surname Jiang, given name Daoyi. A disciple of the Buzhou Immortal Sect." Once Daoyi''s introduction was made, it was as if thunder had sounded next to all of their ears. The Buzhou Immortal Sect was a mythical existence they didn''t even have the status to meet a disciple of. There was even some disbelief in their hearts. Why would a Buzhou Immortal Sect disciple appear here? But those who were in the know concerning the immortal artifact, or rather the divine artifact, felt it to be plausible. "Dare I ask, what your esteemed self is here for?" Lei De asked again, courteously. Even if his cultivation was higher than Daoyi, he still placed himself under Daoyi. That was because all the disciples of Buzhou Immortal Sects were geniuses able to transcend realms and fight those with higher cultivation than themselves. "Naturally for the divine artifact. Currently, my master is refining it." Daoyi didn''t hide anything and spoke the truth. "Impossible, the treasure hidden is obviously an immortal artifact." One of the elders cried out. When they had first discovered it, they didn''t even dare to believe it to be an immortal artifact, much less a divine artifact. Lei De glared at the elder, who blurted out those words. He internally sighed. He should have taken action earlier, as his son had said. Lei De didn''t believe Daoyi''s words at face value. For all he knew, she could be bluffing. But he felt a sense of pressure from Daoyi despite his higher cultivation, so he could not help but ask. "Lady Jiang, earlier some of our clan members have gone. Might you have a clue to their location?" Daoyi didn''t hide the information either. "My senior brother happened to meet them earlier. It was from them that he discovered the information concerning the divine artifact. Strictly speaking, my master would have to thank the Lei Clan, otherwise, she would have never known such a treasure was buried here for eons."Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Lei De felt his face twitch at Daoyi''s words. He knew that they wouldn''t dare to leak the news of the treasure since it concerned the survival and prosperity of the clan. That could only mean they used some forceful methods. With a strained voice, Lei De asked, "Might I ask how they are?" "You don''t need to worry about their lives. After questioning them, Senior Brother only trapped them in a formation. They should be able to leave in a few months at most." Daoyi said. "Then I have to thank your senior brother." Lei De smiled with a smile that was uglier than crying. But there was another question that burned in his mind. "Earlier, there should have been a nascent soul grandmaster who passed here. Do you know where he is?" "Oh, you mean Lei Jingye." At Daoyi''s mention of his son''s name, the ominous feeling his heart increased. Daoyi pointed at the black sphere. "He''s in there." Lei De could already imagine why. Perhaps his son didn''t believe the girl and attacked, causing her to trap him inside the formation. Since young, Lei De had always been stubborn, never willing to suffer a loss no matter the odds. "Lady Jiang, we''ll give up on the divine artifact. All I can ask is for you to free my son. We won''t compete and immediately return." Daoyi smiled strangely at Lei De. "My senior brother is the one who constructed the formation. I have no control over it." Lei De showed a helpless look, but before he could plead any more, Daoyi added. "Before you ask, I''m afraid Lei Jingye is going to fall today. Over ten years ago, my senior brother and your son met. Your son tried to assassinate my senior brother. Do you think that your son will be able to leave scot-free?" It was as if something was choking Lei De as he heard the disbelieving news. "Impossible! Lei Jingye couldn''t... wouldn''t do such a thing! There must have been some misunderstanding!" "I wasn''t there, but I recall my senior brother saying that your son yelling, "surnamed Xi, go to hell!" Even knowing my senior brother''s name, what is there to mistake?" Lei De felt his heart chill. Even if he didn''t believe his son would do such a thing, how could he convince her senior brother that his son didn''t? "Lady Jiang, is there any way we could talk this over?" He didn''t want to fight anyone from the Buzhou Immortal Sect. The risks were too high. Daoyi shook her head before she pointed her chin in the black sphere. "My senior brother is already inside. Not even I can contact him at this moment." Lei De sucked in his breath and made a decision. "Attack the black sphere." The other Lei Clan members were wary and objected. But they lowered their stance against Lei De''s forceful decision. They didn''t attack Daoyi and instead attacked the black gaseous sphere, hoping to crack it. Daoyi watched this without moving a muscle. She was clearer than anyone else how strong Tianyi''s formations were. And more than that, she had confidence in the black gaseous qi, the true qi of chaos, that Tianyi produced. As she expected, all the attacks thrown at the black sphere were destroyed and broken down, even the artifacts used to attack it suffered the same fate. Many elders cried out at the loss of their artifacts, their eyes going red. Seeing that none of their attacks were working on the black sphere, Lei De turned his eyes to Daoyi. She was only one core formation master with no one else around. She might be a disciple of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, or she may be lying. But against seven core formation level cultivators, the Lei Clan should have a high chance to defeat her and capture her alive as a hostage. It wasn''t that Lei De wasn''t willing to give up Lei Jingye for the sake of the Lei Clan. After all, he is the patriarch, and he can''t put his personal feelings over the clan''s survival. But Lei Jingye represented too much to the clan. He was so young, and he was already at the peak Nascent Soul Realm! Lei Jingye had a high chance of entering the Unity Realm and Transcending Mortality Realm, and he might even ascend to immortality! Then their Lei Clan would have the chance to become a third-rate force! Lei De also harbored a small hope that Daoyi was lying, that her master wasn''t refining the divine artifact, that she wasn''t from the Buzhou Immortal Sect, that only she and her senior brother were present. Suppose that was the case, as long as they could be silenced. Dead men tell no tales after all. Even if the Buzhou Immortal Sect found out, Lei De was completely willing to relocate the clan and go into hiding. As long as Lei Jingye became an immortal, all was negotiable. Would the Buzhou Immortal Sect really be willing to offend a True Immortal for two mortal disciples? "Attack!" Lei De ordered as all seven of them spread out in an attempt to attack Daoyi from every available angle. Daoyi immediately took out her guqin. The last fight she had was too disappointing as she only got to test one of her techniques. She glanced to the side at Elder Meng. She was surprised at how everyone seemingly forgot the Unity Realm venerable''s existence. If Lei De could sense Elder Meng, perhaps he would have long given up. The moment Daoyi plucked the first string, a soul haunting melody reverberated through space and directly impacted the souls of the seven core formation and acupoint opening masters. Lei De felt his mind slow down as the sound thrummed against his ears. It felt as if his brain was pulsing with each note. But that wasn''t the end of Daoyi''s attack; her recital had just begun. With each passing moment, the sound of each note increased in volume. And with the increase in volume, the seven core formation and acupoint opening masters felt as if someone was taking a hammer and pounding their brain with it. Just when they thought it couldn''t get any worse, Daoyi began the second phase. Her notes became incredibly eerie. All seven of them could hear two sets of notes at the same time, one high and one low. "AHHHHHHH!" One of the seven, an early acupoint opening master, shouted in pain as he fell off his flying Artifact. Lei De and the other elders didn''t have time to care as they all expressed pain. It felt as if someone was shredding their nerves with a jagged and rusty spoon. Only the pain was deeper and originated from their soul. Lei De had a nasty expression as he realized that Daoyi was a soul cultivator. His experience was greater than Elder Cai, who fought Daoyi previously. He had heard that some powerful sects were able to cultivate soul cultivators at the Core Formation Realm. He was incredibly bitter, but he had already made his choice and could not stop now. His only choice now was to succeed or die. But the pain only worsened the closer they were to Daoyi. Suddenly, Lei Da spat out a mouthful of blood. The pain to his soul was so painful that he couldn''t recognize that his physical body was also receiving damage. His eyes widened, unable to discern how he was harmed. Daoyi''s attack was a three-layered area of effect attack. The first layer was to slow down her enemies'' consciousness. The second was to attack their soul. Although it would be painful, it would only serve to hinder their judgment and bodily sense. And the third layer was vibration. By amplifying the vibration of her strings using the air and qi, she would be able to vibrate her enemies'' internal organs directly and damage them by matching her vibration with the natural frequency at which the organs vibrated. She could even use this attack to induce a heart attack in an unsuspecting target. By now, blood was leaking from all of Lei De''s orifices, giving him a demented look. He no longer had a choice, no longer able to have the spare thought to bother whether he captured Daoyi alive or not; he activated a forbidden technique that increased his power but came at a high price. Clad in lightning, he charged toward Daoyi with reckless abandon. Several of the Lei Clan elders actually had the same idea. The others were too hurt and damaged to muster the power. Activating their own techniques that increased their combat prowess temporarily, they either charged or unleashed their strongest technique at Daoyi. Lei De''s eyes showed an ecstatic expression on his pained face as he neared Daoyi, who did not react in time. But his expression froze as he found himself stuck meters away from Daoyi, unable to move. He struggled as he flailed his arms, but the more he struggled, the more he was trapped, and even his limbs became bound, unable to move. His eyes widen when he saw the glimmer under the sun. Inspecting closely, he could see tiny strings in the air wrapped around him. He was like a fly stuck in a spider''s web. How had he not noticed it? No, his opponent deliberately misguided his focus so that he could not spot the trap. Lei De observed around him despite the pain it caused him. To his despair, he discovered that all the elders still conscious were trapped like him. Some had already fainted, unable to take the pain any longer. But he didn''t give up, but he couldn''t even reach inside his spatial bag to bring out any talisman or treasure that could save him. Soon, the accumulated damage became too much, and he fainted after coughing one last mouthful of blood. As his mind began to fade into darkness, his last thoughts were of his son. At the very least, he hoped his son would able to escape. Perhaps he could even take revenge for them in the future. Daoyi sighed when she saw that Lei De finally fall into unconsciousness, but she didn''t let her guard down as she continued to attack them for a little longer. Using the dreamsilk, Daoyi bounded all the living core formation and acupoint opening masters and took away all the spatial pouches they had on their bodies. She wasn''t as composed as she appeared. Compared to her fight against Elder Cai, the danger of this fight was far greater. She raised her hand from her guqin to see it shaking. When Lei De and the others activated their forbidden techniques, she had been worried that her dreamsilk defense would not be enough to block them. Furthermore... Daoyi looked at the corpse of the two acupoint opening masters in the distance. She could not control the degree of her attack for each individual, so inevitably, there would be some who would not be able to withstand her attack for such a long time. Two of them couldn''t make it. Daoyi wasn''t sure, but she was pretty sure she had liquified much of their internal organs. This was the first she had personally killed. The feeling was much more intense than she had anticipated. Daoyi wondered how her senior brother felt when he first killed someone. But due to this feeling, she kept Lei De and the others alive. Chapter 137: The Deviated Plot In the formation, Tianyi stared at Lei Jingye. This encounter was their first meeting in years, but Tianyi felt as if something was off. The face was the same, and so were the hatred-filled eyes, but Tianyi just felt something off about Lei Jingye. It wasn''t a feeling he could put into words. Lei Jingye looked down, and his shoulders began to tremble. Tianyi wondered whether Lei Jingye became scared but immediately threw the thought away. How could a protagonist be scared? He should be excited that he has a chance to kill me or something, Tianyi thought. And as he expected, Lei Jingye began to laugh. "HAHAHAHAAAhaahahaaa," Lei Jingye finally stopped laughing and began to rise in the air until he was slightly above Tianyi''s eye level, allowing him to literally look down on Tianyi. Tianyi had to resist rising any further so he could have the high ground to establish his dominance. Them getting into a height battle would be quite silly. He would allow Lei Jingye to have the high ground and look down on him for now. He was a generous person; he won''t quibble with a dead person over such a small matter. "Hairless brat, I didn''t think you would deliver yourself to me before I looked for you." Lei Jingye said as if gloating Tianyi''s destined defeat at his hand. "You seem to forget, had you not run from our first two encounters, you would have long died under my hands years ago," Tianyi said, rolling his eyes. Lei Jingye sure has changed in Tianyi''s opinion. Before, he would have already tried to kill him, but now he had time to gloat since his cultivation was higher? "Don''t compare me to that failure." Lei Jingye said, his voice full of ridicule. "I admit, compared to me yore, your current self is stronger at the exact same realm." Tianyi froze as he heard "Lei Jingye''s" words. He thought to the storyline he imagined for Lei Jingye, specifically him fighting the Dragon Emperor''s soul for control of his body, eventually winning and inheriting all the Dragon Emperor''s knowledge and wealth. But now, it seems the Dragon Emperor suddenly appeared before Lei Jingye had enough strength to fight back the possession. "Speaking of which, I have to thank you. If it weren''t for you, that twerp, Lie Jingye, wouldn''t have been weakened enough for me to take over." "Lei Jingye" continued to speak. "Since I have taken over his body, I decide to take over his karma and kill the little thief." Tianyi frowned when he saw "Lei Jingye" point his finger at him. "Thief? Haha, if I recalled correctly, weren''t you, the Dragon Emperor, the one that kept stealing maidens and eventually got killed by all the sects. A thief calling another a thief, who would believe you?" "No, that identity was supposed to be mine. Just as I was about to succeed, you invaded and took over. If you hadn''t stolen that body from me, I wouldn''t have needed to possess such a worthless identity." The Dragon Emperor said as he looked coldly at Tianyi. It was as thunder had exploded inside Tianyi''s head. The Dragon Emperor planned to become Xi Mengfei''s son and use her to revive himself! Tianyi''s eyes narrowed, causing them to look even more bedeviling. Xi Longyi was the identity the Dragon Emperor chose to revive himself with! Immediately the memories of Xi Longyi torturing Daoyi surface, of how he took Mengfei''s kindness for granted and even took advantage of her. The murderous intent in Tianyi''s eyes grew even more. Not to mention, he knew that Tianyi wasn''t originally supposed to be Mengfei''s son! Tianyi allowed himself to sneer at the Dragon Emperor. "Long Aotian, Long Aotian. What great plans, too bad that you underestimate my mother." Fury colored the Dragon Emperor''s face as he heard Tianyi brazenly use his name. At his peak, when he was the number one expert in the world, no one dared to casually speak his name, much less a lowly nascent soul grandmaster! "You should thank me instead. After all, you have a chance at living longer. You overestimate yourself. Did you really think your schemes were unbreakable? I''ll tell you, mother, long already saw through it. Even if you got the status, she would still kill you." The scenes of Xi Longyi attempting to transcend his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation flashed through Tianyi''s mind. Especially that last scene where his mother directly looked at him, he liked to think that was what caused him to wake up. "Hmpf, don''t try to swindle me. What does a hairless brat like you know?" Tianyi was almost tempted to expose that he saw Xi Longyi''s life during the time he visited the ruin of the Immortal Court but stopped. Instead, he opted to give a smile that said, "I know something you don''t." The Dragon Emperor felt his temper rising at Tianyi''s smug smile. But Tianyi began to ponder on how he was able to see that dream. He hadn''t thought much of it at the time, but now he was beginning to question why he had. And did it have any reason why he was separated from the rest of the sects when he entered the Immortal Court? It was just another mystery in the web that was his life. "Hmpf," Lei Jingye sneered. "What do you have to be proud about. Your death is already a forgone conclusion. You need not worry. Once you''re gone, I''ll be sure to take care of your mother for you." Tianyi felt his vein almost burst at the Dragon Emperor''s words, and it took every ounce of self-control for him not to recklessly charge at the Dragon Emperor. The Dragon Emperor was still a former immortal emperor despite his current weakened state. As Tianyi glared venomously at the Dragon Emperor, he felt he understood why the Dragon Emperor had been so hated. If the Dragon Emperor was as unbridled as this, his death was just a foregone conclusion. Or, he would sweep all the sects and clans once he attained enough power. "Hmpf, you are just an old fossil. Your era has already ended, wishing to resurrect, what sweet dreams! History will repeat, since we can kill you once, we can kill you twice." The Dragon Emperor laughed. It was a mad laugh filled with ridicule. "Just with you? I may have lost to you once before that, but that was after my strength had been worn down thanks to your relentless disciple-brothers and sisters."The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Tianyi''s eyes widened as he comprehended the implication of the Dragon Emperor''s words. The Dragon Emperor didn''t consider Tianyi''s meeting with Lei Jingye as a meeting between the two. So for him to mention having lost once, then it could only mean that he had interacted with the Dragon Emperor. And the only instance when he met someone with the same face and they had battled with his disciple-brothers and sisters was at the Heavenly Connection Gathering. "You are Longwei?" The Dragon Emperor released a toothy grin, his canines gleaming sharply. Tianyi sneered. "Hmpf, look at your condition. You already lost to me once before, yet you can still boast like this. You are even in a worse state than in Ironword''s inheritance grotto. Dragon Emperor? More like Delusion Emperor. Speaking falsities with open eyes, I really can''t tell how you managed to ascend to the peak with that pig brain of yours. Did your brains regress because your soul was shattered? Just by being yourself, you will seek death." "Enough talk! I will use your skull as an offering for Mu''er, Qin''er, and Wu''er!" The Dragon Emperor became a streak of golden light as he charged towards Tianyi, his saber clad in saber intent. Tianyi was still in the process of replying as if he couldn''t react fast enough to the Dragon Emperor''s actions. Just as the Dragon Emperor reached a few meters away from Tianyi, his face suddenly changed as he immediately stopped and retreated. And not a moment too soon as the area was covered in a silvery layer that seemed to halt time itself. "Tch," Tianyi grunted in disappointment. "Such a disappointment. I thought you were fearless. Turns out the death of your women only meant this little. You''ll probably forget them when you find your next muse." "You tricked me? You set a trap for me?" Disbelief was etched into his face. Then rage overtook the disbelief and twisted the Dragon Emperor''s expression into a horrifying expression." YOU HAIRLESS BRAT BASTARD!!!" Tianyi allowed his teeth to show in his excitement at how rage had consumed the Dragon Emperor. What he feared wasn''t the Dragon Emperor''s techniques or treasure but his wealth of experience. If the Dragon Emperor became a berserker, Tianyi was happy to allow him to do so. After all, in pure strength and qi reserves, he was confident no one was his equal at the same realm. The Dragon Emperor charged through the layer of silver, but his speed dramatically slowed down as if something was pulling him back. This was the Web of Time technique Tianyi unleashed using the sea of time around the first mountain of his Moutain and Seas Formation. Since he controlled the formation that trapped the Dragon Emperor, he could easily hide the Mountain and Seas Formation within it as well. The worst part of facing a formation master was being trapped in their formation. A strong formation would layer formation within formations, creating an endless number of formations for their enemy to face. Tianyi didn''t consider himself a true formation master as it wasn''t his sole focus, but he still considered himself an expert. And with a formation master as a mother, if he couldn''t even do this much, he would be ashamed to call himself Xi Tianyi. But the Web of Time couldn''t hold the Dragon Emperor back for long. Even as the Dragon Emperor was being frozen in time, his thoughts slowing to a crawl, it still wasn''t enough to stop him. But that was okay. Although Tianyi made the trap for Lei Jingye, he expected Lei Jingye to break through it as well, much less a powerful expert like the Dragon Emperor. Tianyi raised his hand into the sky and formed a hand seal before bring it down like an executioner''s blade. Space began to distort even inside Tianyi''s formation as a massive mountain bearing immortal qi began to descend down. Using his maximum effort, Tianyi smashed the immortal mountain onto the Dragon Emperor. The silver layer began to accumulate around the mountain like a silver sea once more, trapping the Dragon Emperor even more as the mountain smashed him into the ground. Like a cataclysmic earthquake, the ground shattered under the horrifying weight of the mountain. Tianyi stared suspiciously at the aftershock. The immortal mountain was embedded into the ground like a nail, and through his connection with the Mountain and Seas Formations, he could detect the Dragon Emperor''s ruined body underneath. Hell, he hadn''t even expected this to work on Lei Jingye, much less the Dragon Emperor. Was it because Lei Jingye was a protagonist character and the Dragon Emperor was a villain type? Just to make sure, Tianyi controlled the immortal mountain to spin on its center axis in one direction while he spun the sea of time in the opposite direction, turning it into a grinder. Under his perception, the Dragon Emperor''s, or rather, Lei Jingye''s body, began to be pulverized into chunks of meat and bones. Once Tianyi was done with that, he recalled the Mountain and Seas Formation back into its jade pendant form on his waist. He reached into his robes and felt for the golden pill. After using his spiritual sense to instruct the pill and carving several formations on it, Tianyi left it in his robes as insurance. After that was done, Tianyi descended down the giant crater to see the remnant flesh of Lei Jingye''s body, chunks of meat, bone fragments, and blood-coated sand everywhere. Tianyi couldn''t even discern which part was which muscle or organ anymore, but even seeing this, Tianyi still kept a careful distance. "So much for the Dragon Emperor, so weak that I didn''t even need to personally take action," Tianyi said, his voice reverberating in the whole area. "How did such a person make it to the peak? What a weakling. Having dreams of grandeur but not the strength to back it up, what a joke." Releasing his spiritual sense, Tianyi tried to sense any abnormality. But no matter how hard he searched, he couldn''t discover anything. Even if Tianyi actually did trap and defeat the Dragon Emperor, if the Dragon Emperor had the skill to hide, Tianyi doubted he could discover any clues. In the end, Tianyi didn''t go near Lei Jingye''s flesh scraps and ascended above the crater. Tianyi took out a small sphere from his spatial ring. The sphere was about the size of a large pill, but its shiny metallic surface had numerous glowing green lines, giving it a strange yet mesmerizing appearance. If someone on Earth were to see it, they would immediately link the green glow to radiation. Truthfully, even when Tianyi knew that his body was not affected by it, he still felt apprehensive handling it due to years of reinforced lessons that radiation was dangerous. Flipping his hand, Tianyi dropped the metal sphere down where Lei Jingye''s remains were. Once it reached a certain point, Tianyi formed several hand seals. Formations began to all over the metallic sphere. They had always been there, just invisible, and when Tianyi formed the final hand seal, all the formations shattered and disappeared. For a moment, it was as if the world lost all sound before a horrifying heat emerged. Even Tianyi, who had designed the detonating false core, was buffeted by the generated winds and pushed back, his clothes flapping. Tianyi''s eyes glinted as he saw the mushroom-shaped cloud began to rise up high into the air as the nuclear bomb did its work. Once the bomb finished its purpose, the ground below was just glass. The extreme heat had melted sand into glass, its appearance full of impurities, but it was especially reflective even with its uneven surface. Tianyi searched the surrounding once more but found nothing. Even as the master of the formation, he couldn''t sense anything. Waving his hand, Tianyi stored the formation he had constructed. As if time had reversed, the scarred lands vanished and were replaced by an untouched desert free of damage. Having an uneasy feeling, Tianyi immediately began to fly off into the distance when suddenly he felt a harrowing sensation on the back of his neck! Chapter 138: Chaos Refining Formation As Tianyi was flying into a distance, the area behind him began to distort, appearing like a drop of water atop a painting. The water droplet began to tremble and blur, and a magnificent saber-light was released. Majestic and domineering as if its intent was the law of the world. Dragon Slaying Saber Art - Dragon Decapitation! It was one of the Dragon Emperor''s strongest one-hit-kill techniques, a secret technique that wasn''t recorded and only known by the Dragon Emperor. It didn''t only target the physical body, but the soul as well. Many dragons had been felled under this technique during the Human-Divine Beast War. And now the Dragon Emperor had taken out that consummate technique once more, although the Dragon Emperor''s mastery of the Dao had weakened and he was only at the peak Nascent Soul Realm, the saber strike held a shadow of its former brilliance. A hint of gravity appeared on the Dragon Emperor''s face as his strike neared the back of Tianyi''s neck. At the next moment, an illusionary mountain enveloped Tianyi and the Dragon Emperor, causing the bubble that hid his presence to be revealed. Inside the bubble, the Dragon Emperor appeared completely unharmed as if the Five Element Annihilation Formation hadn''t struck him. But even though the saber-like slowed down by the immortal mountain, it still was incomparably fast. The saber-light sliced through Tianyi''s neck and continued until all its power was used up and it disappeared into nothingness. But the Dragon Emperor didn''t show a delighted expression as he controlled the bubble to leave the range of the Mountain and Seas Formation. The range had shrunken dramatically due to Tianyi wanting to concentrate the power, so he escaped to outside of it easily. The Mountain and Seas Formation not disappearing after his saber strike had sliced through Tianyi''s neck was the greatest proof that Tianyi was still alive. Had the Dragon Emperor been any slower, he would have encountered some difficulty escaping the formation. Inside the Mountain and Seas Formation, Tianyi gripped his neck with a single hand even as black gas leaked through his fingers. Tianyi hissed in pain and fear; having your neck sliced through was an extremely unpleasant fleeing. Had it been an ordinary nascent soul grandmaster, no, even a unity venerable would have likely died under that strike. Had it not been for his unique cultivation method, Tianyi would have likely perished. "You didn''t use this technique when we fought in the inheritance grotto," Tianyi said, his voice not affected in the slightest by the laceration on his neck. "No, you were also pretending to be angry!" Although the wound seemed threatening, there wasn''t any actual difference between a neck wound and a wound on any other part of his body. Tianyi no longer had any physical weakness of most living beings. The only slightly dangerous part was his dantian. If an attack could reach his spiritual cores or nascent souls, then he would be in danger. He no longer had a physical brain. Instead, it was his nascent souls controlling his body. But if there were someplace that could hurt Tianyi, then it would be his forehead where the Heavenly Truth-Seeking Eye was gestating. The monetary loss would deal a tremendous mental blow to Tianyi. "No, I''m not pretending to be angry." The Dragon Emperor said, churning anger under his calm smile. "My anger is real, but how could I let it control me? If I couldn''t, I would have long died." Then the Dragon Emperor smirked. "As for why I didn''t use this technique. Did you really think I would reveal my strength to the world with so many eyes in a location not under my control? If my enemies were to discover that I''m not a mere clone created from a fragment, then I would have been hunted down." Not under his control? Tianyi tried to control the formation that sealed the Dragon Emperor only to find it frozen. No matter how much he urged it, it would not budge at all. But he couldn''t sense the Dragon Emperor''s will behind, so he must have some other means like an artifact or something. "You already knew I didn''t release the formation." It was a statement and not a question. "I''ve been alive longer than you by a hundredfold. If you were able to trick me, I might as well just self-detonate. What worth would I be if I cannot even see through your little schemes?" The Dragon Emperor chuckled, leisurely enjoying his chat with Tianyi, but the murderous intent in his eyes did not diminish at all. Actually, he had a headache as well. The Dragon Decapitation technique wasn''t something he could use without any preparation. That was why even though he knew Tianyi was guarding against him, he still chose an opportune time to use it. He didn''t want Tianyi to actually dispel the formation and contact the outside world with his information. But who knew Tianyi would be so hard to kill? Tianyi sneered. "So you actually hid all this strength. I pity the women who followed you. You didn''t even expose your true strength to save them. It seems that they are mere playthings to you." The Dragon Emperor stood there, stunned for a slight moment before a smile graced his lips. Immediately after, a myriad of saber-lights crashed onto the immortal mountain, causing great turbulence. Could he say that he didn''t have time to react to Immortal Concubine Chong''s attack? Never, he would never admit weakness to Tianyi, so he displayed his displeasure instead. "I was thinking of letting you live a bit longer, but it seems you are just asking for death." "Hmpf, I don''t believe I can''t withstand your attacks. The longer this goes on, the more disadvantage it is for you. I''m not the one on borrowed time here." Tianyi said within the protection of the Mountain and Seas Formation. "So, the great son of Sword Empress Xi is a coward!" The Dragon Emperor ridiculed. Tianyi only smiled, but like the Dragon Emperor, his eyes contained killing intent. "I''m only showing you the proper respect. Even if you are a mere has-been, you were still a former immortal emperor." "Not immortal emperor, but half-immortal sovereign." The Dragon Emperor said. Tianyi furrowed his brows. half-immortal sovereign? Did that mean he was half a step into the fourth realm of the Immortal Realm? But so what? All his former resplendence is useless for the current Dragon Emperor. Seeing that Tianyi wasn''t coming out of the formation like a turtle hiding in its shell, the Dragon Emperor frowned. When he fled from Immortal Concubine Chong years ago, he ended wasting many of his treasures, so he was even poorer than during the Heavenly Connection Gathering. But that didn''t mean he didn''t have any methods. A crack plate appeared in the Dragon Emperor''s hand. The plate was black and seemed ordinary, but when the Dragon Emperor threw the plate at the Mountain and Seas Formation, Tianyi felt as if the formation no longer obeyed his command. Furthermore, the immortal mountain and the sea of time began to conflict as if they could not allow the other to exist under the same heaven! The end result was him being affected by his own formation. It was much like when Tianyi used the Mountains and Seas Formation like a millstone to grind Lie Jingye''s body into a pulp. Although the effect wasn''t strong as Tianyi controlled, he still felt his body being ground by the opposing forces, sometimes strong, other times weak.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Tianyi felt that he could resist for a long time, but he didn''t know whether Elder Meng would be able to crack the formation. And his mother needed an indefinite amount of time to refine the divine artifact. He never planned on having reinforcements. He just wanted to exhaust the Dragon Emperor''s resources and hidden cards as much as possible. But it turned out the Mountain and Seas Formation couldn''t shield him much. The Dragon Emperor catapulted his body the second Tianyi left the formation. But as his saber sunk into Tianyi''s body, true qi of chaos exploded from Tianyi''s body and buffeted the Dragon Emperor. The Dragon Emperor used his saber intent to block the secondary effects of the true qi of chaos, but injuring the Dragon Emperor was never Tianyi''s goal in the first place. The Dragon Emperor quickly retreated as an endless stream of true qi of chaos was released from Tianyi''s body. The black gaseous qi began to fill the surrounding, covering the earth and shrouding the heavens. Within the mass of black qi, Tianyi''s body was nowhere to be found. Since the true qi originated from him, every part of the space felt like Tianyi''s aura, making it difficult to discover his location. The Dragon Emperor unleashed several saber-lights, but they all passed through the black qi and only destroyed a little bit of them. But that amount was minuscule compared to the sheer amount of qi that filled the environment. How is he able to unleash such a colossal amount of true qi? Even if he is continuously consuming pills to replenish his qi, he should not be able to produce this much, this fast, much less control it all. True qi was different than the spiritual qi found in the environment; the most significant difference was that true qi was produced by a cultivator''s spiritual core. Soon, rather than a desert or even a location within the Huang Realm, the surrounding resembled the primordial Vast Void infinitely more. The Dragon Emperor felt his sense of direction of up, down, left, and right being distorted, much less the four cardinal directions. Furthermore, the innate ability of chaos was destruction. So just being present in this environment, although not as destructive as the true Vast Void, was taxing his body and mind. The Dragon Emperor was cladding his body in saber intent to combat the corrosive effect of the true qi of chaos. But with each passing moment, the more he used his saber intent, the more it would weaken. Saber intent wasn''t an infinite source of power and was tied directly to his mind. If someone were to destroy his saber intent, it would double as a mental attack on his mind. For his current body, any exposure to the true qi of chaos was a terrible idea. He had already experienced it firsthand, after all. And in such a copious amount, it was nearly suicidal. "Can you only hide! You''re a disgrace to your mother! Rather than having such a cowardly son like you, it''d be better for me to comfort her!" The Dragon Emperor loudly proclaimed, trying to bait Tianyi out. There was a snort, but it seemed to come from all directions. "You have fallen quite low for you to resort to riling me up in order to discover me. Weren''t you the number one immortal in the past, surely a technique devised by a junior like me is nothing to you." Junior? The Dragon Emperor wanted to rebuke that Tianyi wasn''t anything but a regular junior. What nascent soul grandmaster could unleash such great amounts of true qi? The scariest part wasn''t that the amount was comparable to an immortal''s reservoirs, but that there seemed to be a limitless amount and the innate destructive concept it contained. "If you''re already finding trouble before I began even attacking you, you should just quietly forfeit and die." Tianyi''s cold voice rang throughout the space. The chaotic qi changed and began to exhibit a terrifying aura of extermination. The Dragon Emperor recognized it immediately since it was the Dragon Extermination that Tianyi had used against him numerous times. If Dragon Extermination were used against anything non-dragon-related, then the power would drop by more than ninety percent. But in exchange for its simple purpose, it was hard to counter against. The Dragon Emperor felt as if he was the Heaven Equalling Great Sage being refined in the Immortal Court''s Pill Cauldron. After Longwei, or rather the Dragon Emperor, escaped from Tianyi in Ironword''s inheritance grotto, Tianyi had been thinking of a way to prevent him from escaping. This was the method he created. The greatest advantage Tianyi had wasn''t his Nine Strokes Sword Arts, his claw arts, or all the treasure he had, or even his cosmos body. No, his greatest advantage was his bottomless true qi. Not even a true immortal would dare to claim to be able to outlast Tianyi. So using the insights he gained from the Eight Strokes Word Art and his techniques, he developed this Chaos Refining Formation. Using his true qi of chaos to construct the formation, Tianyi could unleash it anytime he wanted. And by combining the concept of Eight Strokes Word Art and his Nine Strokes Sword Art, Tianyi was able to make it so that just being inside would cause damage to the Dragon Emperor. The only downside was that it required Tianyi to set up the core of the formation beforehand and continuously supply it with his true qi. Tianyi used the sword that had accompanied him for over twenty years as the core since the basis was the Nine Strokes Sword Art. And as for the usage of true qi? Tianyi had never run out of true qi ever in his life. Even when he was testing, he only stopped because he became too bored after seven days and seven nights. Since he couldn''t defeat the Dragon Emperor in terms of quality, then he will use quantity to smash the Dragon Emperor to death. Tianyi didn''t believe that the Dragon Emperor could outlast him as a nascent soul grandmaster! And the Dragon Emperor was indeed feeling stifled. If it was just a normal battle or even a one-against-many, he wouldn''t be this frustrated. Tianyi didn''t play by the rules. Rather than fighting a person, he felt as if he had fallen into a danger zone. A red glow covered the Dragon Emperor''s body, and a golden suit of armor materialized. His Red Dragon Lotus had yet to be repaired. It was already damaged when Lei Jingye found it, but its foundation was nearly wrecked after Immortal Concubine Chong''s assault. If possible, the Dragon Emperor didn''t want to bring it out, but he had no choice. How laughable, a mere nascent soul grandmaster had forced him to use his Immortal Realm artifacts. The golden armor with dragons engraved was the same. It was one of the armors he used while he was a true immortal. But since he had not reached the Immortal Realm, the Dragon Emperor had to supply the Red Dragon Lotus and the golden armor with his limited supply of immortal stones. His heart just bled at the thought! Tianyi may treat the immortal stones the same as spirit stones, but for the Dragon Emperor who did not have a steady supply, it was rending his heart. Not even when Immortal Concubine Chong chased him had he reached such a point. But how could Tianyi be done with just this? Swords formed from the true qi of chaos materialized in the mini Vast Void, each containing the power of Dragon Extermination. Ping! Ping! Ping! Like bullets against a steel shield, they struck the Dragon Emperor before shattering back into black qi. Reusable and recyclable, how eco-friendly! The Dragon Emperor cursed Tianyi. With the new assault, the expenditure of immortal stones rose to a whole new level. His abilities to battle head-on were unmatched. Comparatively, his investigating skills were lacking, especially in his current realm. He gritted his teeth and continued to be on the defensive. Right now, his plan was a battle of attrition. He didn''t believe Tianyi could continue to uphold the formation for long. But after several hours passed, the Dragon Emperor saw red. How many immortal stones has he used already!? Not just the Red Dragon Lotus and the golden armor, he had brought out two more Immortal Realm Artifacts and used them, but to no avail. He regretted not going all out before Tianyi had yet to unleash this domain move. The cost he incurred would be nothing. At this rate, he felt as if Tianyi would really kill him. Tianyi wasn''t as confident as the Dragon Emperor thought he was. Compared to when he tested the move out, the amount of mental fatigue he accumulated was staggering. There were several times that the Dragon Emperor broke out of his formation, forcing him to restructure his Chaos Refining Formation, draining his mental strength. If this went on, Tianyi didn''t know if he could outlast the Dragon Emperor. He had more than enough true qi, but if he were too mentally fatigued, it would be easy for the Dragon Emperor to defeat or even kill him. Sensing the threat of death from the Dragon Emperor, Tianyi brought out a talisman. It was a talisman that contained an attack at the level of an immortal monarch. For the revived Dragon Emperor to fall to this attack wasn''t a waste at all. Tianyi activated the talisman and sent the attack at the Dragon Emperor. The sword-qi that flew out wasn''t an all-encompassing brightness but rather a shadowy, almost invisible sword-light. It soared towards the Dragon Emperor, and just as it was about to reach its target, Tianyi felt his consciousness explode in pain. "FINALLY FOUND YOU!!!" Chapter 139: Laughable A seamless immortal''s attack! The Dragon Emperor felt all the hairs on his body stand on end. Although he had reverted back to a nascent soul grandmaster, his soul''s foundation was far greater than a mere mortal. He could do far more than a transcending mortality sage could with his soul. The Dragon Emperor quickly processed all the information available to him. It wasn''t an immortal monarch that had unleashed the attack but his foe, who should have used some sort of treasure to replicate the attack. But because of the magnitude of the attack, it cleared an open space within Tianyi''s Chaos Refining Formation. It also revealed Tianyi''s location. The Dragon Emperor''s eyes hesitated for a brief moment before decisiveness appeared. He was going to gamble it all on a single moment. He never imagined that he would have to gamble his life with a cultivator who had yet to even reach the Immortal Realm. If he won, then he would reap the rewards from Tianyi. If he failed, there was still a chance at life! The eyes of Lei Jingye''s body immediately dulled as the Dragon Emperor''s Nascent Soul left his body. The Dragon Emperor''s nascent soul was unique. Despite not being an immortal''s soul anymore, it showed trace amounts of a connection with heaven and earth. As long as heaven and earth exist, so will I. That was the realm of a true immortal, the Pathfinding Immortal Realm! A true immortal was incredibly hard to kill permanently, even for a newly ascended seamless immortal monarch. That was because their existence was intricately connected to heaven and earth. It was also one of the reasons why the Dragon Emperor managed to still exist. After he started the self-detonation process, he paid a high price to forcibly downgrade his cultivation into the Pathfinding Immortal Realm. But as a result, his mastery of Dao was degraded. As for the soul fragments from his from Extremity Immortal Realm soul as of resulting of degrading his soul, he merged his shattered understanding of the Dao into them and formed an unaccountable number of embryonic soul fragment clones. Using his self-detonation as a distraction, the Dragon Emperor merged his soul with heaven and earth, waiting for an opportunity to revive. When the Dragon Emperor awoke, he had originally set his eyes on the unborn child of Xi Mengfei. Using the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s resources to fuel his ascension to the peak once more, there was a poetic justice that the Dragon Emperor loved. Not once had the thought that he would fail or be discovered. But he failed both times. Once in the previous timeline, due to Mengfei already discovering his abnormality. And the second time was even worse. He failed because of Tianyi, who wasn''t even cognizant at the time Because of this, he fell into a slumber for years once more. Through the twists of fate, he attached himself to Lei Jingye before eventually taking over Lei Jingye''s body and roaming the world as Longwei. He had originally planned to absorb his soul fragment clones in order to regain his mastery of the Dao once more. And now, just as he had chosen Lei Jingye''s body, the Dragon Emperor discarded it once more as he charged towards Tianyi. As he soared through the mini Vast Void, Mengfei''s obscured sword strike flew past him and towards Lei Jingye''s body that was still protected by the golden armor. The Red Dragon Lotus''s light had faded away the moment the Dragon Emperor left Lei Jingye''s body. Obscuring Heaven Sword Light, that was the name of the technique that Mengfei had sealed inside the Obscuring Heaven Sword Qi Talisman Tianyi used. It was an assassination technique that could strike from anywhere in the world, even from within the enemy''s body. Unfortunately, that property could not be utilized as an attack sealed within a talisman. Still, the Obscuring Heaven Sword Qi could not be underestimated as it could easily fatally injure an immortal monarch. The Obscuring Heaven Sword Qi struck the abdomen of the golden armor. The sword qi only paused for the briefest moment before it disappeared. Lei Jingye''s eyes brightened with life once more as a howl of pain erupted from his lips. The Obscuring Heaven Sword Qi had phased through the golden armor and directly shattered the spiritual core, and exploding the excess energy after completing its task. The only reason that Lei Jingye''s body hadn''t turn into a mist was because the golden armor had forcibly kept it together. Still, after having his spiritual core shattered, Lei Jingye no longer had any hopes of cultivating unless he manages to find a treasure that could create new spiritual veins in his body. But Tianyi could care less about Lei Jingye at this moment. Before the Obscuring Heaven Sword Qi had destroyed Lei Jingye''s spiritual core, the Dragon Emperor had already reached Tianyi''s location and caused a deep sense of crisis to emerge from Tianyi''s heart. The roars of numerous dragons thundered in Tianyi''s head, causing his mind to be stunned for a brief moment. Then came the pain, the excruciatingly unbearable pain. Tianyi''s mind didn''t become blank from the pain. Instead, it was as if time had slowed down, and he could feel every single moment of the torture. Not even the absorption process of the Dragon Emperor''s blood essence could compare to a hundredth of the current pain he felt. It was as if pain overtook Tianyi''s whole world, and he could do nothing but experience the pain. Crack Crack Crack Inside Tianyi''s cosmos, his five nascent souls were screaming in pain. That moment Tianyi''s mind was overtaken by pain, the Dragon Emperor had unleashed his soul attack. Cracks began to appear on Tianyi''s five nascent souls'' glass-like bodies. The orbit of the eight Yang Spiritual Cores began to deviate and distort around the Dragon Pearl Core, and the resulting cycle of the cosmos sunk into pure chaos. Outside, Tianyi''s body began to distort, parts of his body enlarge or shrinking at random intervals. Fissures appeared everywhere on his skin, causing his true qi of chaos to seep out uncontrollably. It was as if his body would destabilize at any moment and disperse into a fragment of the Vast Void. Tianyi could detect none of this. Right now, even though he could only feel pain, he could sense that if this continued any longer, he would die. His soul would be shattered, not even being able to reincarnate. If he weren''t in so much pain, fear and terror would have long seeped into Tianyi''s heart. But now, all he could think was to dispel the pain. But even if Tianyi had the will, he could do nothing as his nascent souls started to crack even more. Just as it seemed that his nascent souls reached the shattering point, a gentle warmth covered his whole body. His lotus incarnations created from his cultivation of the Three Pure True Self Visualization Technique emerged. The lotus appeared under Tianyi''s five nascent souls, with each nascent soul above one of its petals. The light from the lotus enveloped the nascent souls, and new cracks stopped appearing. Not only did they stop appearing, but the old cracks also began to disappear as his nascent souls were mended. Outside, the Dragon Emperor''s soul was already translucent to the point that it was almost invisible to the naked eye. In order to unleash this secret soul attack of his, he had forced his soul to the limit and even started to burn it to increase the power of his attack. But just as he was about to succeed in extinguishing Tianyi''s soul -he was shocked to discover that Tianyi had five nascent souls- his attack suddenly lost all effect. Not only that... The Dragon Emperor looked at the gaping hole in his nascent soul. Something had erupted from Tianyi''s clothes like a cannonball and created the hole. Although his nascent soul was almost gone and there was a gaping hole, the Dragon Emperor still seemed calm. Calm enough to leave parting words for Tianyi. "Count yourself lucky this time. Next time you won''t be... so for...tun......."Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The Dragon Emperor never finished his sentence as his soul turned completely transparent. His soul had disappeared. Although Tianyi lost control of his formation, the remnant true qi of chaos still damaged the Dragon Emperor''s soul, especially since he had focused all his efforts on exterminating Tianyi''s nascent souls. Tianyi''s body floated briefly in the air before falling to the ground. The Chaos Refining Formation had already started to dissipate the moment Tianyi no longer focused on it. Up and down, right and left became distinguishable. The desert sand became visible once more; only the color was no longer light yellow but pure black. The sky appeared once more, but it was no longer blue and appeared to be shrouded in a black mist. CRASH! Tianyi''s body struck the earth like a meteorite, causing the sand to blast into the air and shattered the ground beneath the sand. Lei Jingye''s body also unceremoniously landed on the sand, but his impact was far smaller and less noticeable. In the distance, Daoyi and Elder Meng rushed towards Tianyi.
Daoyi activated her defensive lifebound artifact when the black sphere cracked and dispersed. The sudden shift in pressure from the inside of Tianyi''s formation and the outside created hurricane-level winds that nearly blew Daoyi into the distance. The Lei Clan members weren''t so lucky as they were blasted away by the force of the winds. Did something happen to Tianyi? The thought flashed through Daoyi''s mind. Compared to the other Nascent Soul Realm disciples of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, Tianyi was far too powerful. There might be some who were equal to him in terms of pure combat prowess, but that was only accounting if they had the same power. Tianyi''s cultivation granted him an immense force that no normal nascent soul grandmaster or unity venerable should possess. As such, the thought of Tianyi losing to a Unity Realm venerable, much less nascent soul grandmaster, had never occurred to Daoyi. Once the winds settled down, Daoyi flew towards the epicenter using the Core Formation Realm Cloud Treading Boots that Tianyi had forged for her. She had thought it would have been hard to search for a human inside the large mass of black sand, but Tianyi was quite easy to spot due to the enormous crater he created from his fall. When Daoyi arrived, Elder Meng was already present. She cradled Tianyi''s head with her brows furrowed. Next to him was the pill that Daoyi occasionally saw revolving around Tianyi, only it was pure black, but she would never mistake the immortal aura it gave off. Daoyi felt her heartbeat quicken and couldn''t help but ask. "Is Senior Brother alright?" Elder Meng held her finger up, motioning for Daoyi to be quiet. She complied. The air was tense as time passed until Elder Meng finally laid Tianyi back onto the ground. "Young Master appears fine; he is just unconscious. But his body is a bit unstable. Until his body stabilizes, we should let him remain here." "Do you know what happened?" Daoyi asked. Elder Meng shook her head. "I could still perceive the inside of the formation for time, but when that Lei Jingye appeared, I could no longer sense the inside. I didn''t act because I felt that Young Master was still fine. But that all changed at the last few moments before the formation collapsed. But now, there is no danger to Young Master''s life." Daoyi heaved a sigh of relief, but then a question popped into her mind. "How can you sense Senior Brother''s safety?" Daoyi asked. She hadn''t seen Elder Meng use any techniques while they were outside. Elder Meng held up a jade plate with the character of Xi engraved on it. "It''s a jade pendant linked to Young Master''s soul lamp. As long as anything occurs to Young Master''s soul, the pendant will react." Tilting her head slightly, Daoyi asked. "Did Senior Brother light his soul lamp? I don''t remember him mentioning it." "Young Master already had his soul lamp lit the moment he was born. He was still an infant at the time, so he may not remember it." Elder Meng said. Daoyi showed an enlightened expression. Usually, only core formation masters were able to light their soul lamps. But Daoyi guessed that there were methods for even babies to light a soul lamp, and Tianyi must have been one of them since he was Xi Mengfei''s, the Grand Elder''s son. "Do you know when Senior Brother will wake up?" Daoyi asked another question. Elder Meng shook her head. "I do not know. I cannot detect anything wrong with Young Master. But as long as his body stabilizes, he should have no problem awakening. Speaking of which, what happened to those Lei Clan members?" Daoyi stilled. She had totally forgotten about them; they were unrelated people in the first place. Why would she put so much thought into them? Muttering some words, Daoyi left to retrieve the Lei Clan members. The five of them were sealed by Daoyi, so they could not use their true qi. It was unknown how much damage the turbulence caused to them. Unfortunately, it seemed an additional member had died due to not being able to withstand the impact. Daoyi took a while to take off his spatial bag due to how gory his ruptured skull looked. Since she felt slightly guilty, she buried him in the ground where the sand was firmer with a stone tombstone. When Daoyi returned, she was surprised to see a third and unconscious man present. The person appeared to be in his early twenties, but his hair had turned white, and his face was unnaturally pale to the point that although there was meat on his cheeks, he appeared gaunt. Despite being covered in golden armor that Daoyi recognized as an immortal artifact, his whole body exuded an aura of death. "Granny Meng, who is this?" Daoyi asked. "He appears to be that Lei Jingye that Young Master fought. His spiritual core is shattered, and I cannot sense a nascent soul from him." Elder Meng said. For a nascent soul grandmaster, even if their spiritual core shattered, they could still possess another person''s body and form another spiritual core. As for taking over a core formation master''s body, a bodiless nascent soul grandmaster usually did not have the strength to do so. "Lei Jingye?" Daoyi said aloud. Although Daoyi had met Lei Jingye once before, it was dark and years ago, so she couldn''t remember his appearance. She had seen his portraits before, but she couldn''t link the half-dead man to the portrait of Lei Jingye. Upon a closer look, she realized that Lei Jingye''s facial features were nearly identical to Tianyi''s. Except that Tianyi''s eyes made the rest of his face give off a different feel, so it looked distinct from Lei Jingye''s face. There was some movement as if Lei Jingye was awoken from the noise Daoyi made. When Lei Jingye opened his eyes, his vision was cloudy and unfocused. Despite having the appearance of a young man, his eyes were cloudy and his hair white like that of an old man. "Cough, cough," Lei Jingye hacked as if he was trying to cough out his lungs. The blood spattered onto the ground and was absorbed by the black sand. "W-who?" Lei Jingye''s voice was hoarse and scratchy as if he had not spoken in years. "Yi''er?" Lei Jingye''s gaze focused on Daoyi in a daze, "You''re alive? Hahaha. It must have been a dream, a dream, hahaha!!!" Daoyi frowned at Lei Jingye''s voice. It was obvious that his current state of mind was abnormal. The tenderness-filled words of Lei Jingye sent goosebumps throughout Daoyi''s body. Unaware of Daoyi''s internal thoughts, Lei Jingye continued to mutter to himself as he looked around in a daze. "Xi Longyi! XI LONGYI!!!" Lei Jingye growled out in his crazed state when he saw Tianyi''s unconscious body. "Yi''er, quick, kill him! Kill him before he can harm you!" Daoyi couldn''t take any more of Lei Jingye''s crazed ramblings anymore and silenced him with a spell. Or at least she tried to. Her spell fizzled out before it could reach Lei Jingye. "Junior Niece Jiang, his body is still protected by an Immortal Realm armor. Ordinary spells won''t work." Elder Meng said to the stunned Daoyi. But compared to the stunned Daoyi, Lei Jingye was even more stunned. His eyes widened as he stared in disbelief at Daoyi. At the very least, Lei Jingye was stunned silent, unable to comprehend the mere act of Daoyi acting against him. But that didn''t last long. "Yi''er, you didn''t do it, right? That bastard Xi Longyi must have done something to you! That''s why you acted against me, right? Right!?" Towards the end, Lei Jingye''s voice took on a desperate tint, despairing etching itself into his voice. "Lei Jingye, stop deluding yourself." Daoyi coldly said. She couldn''t stand listening to Lei Jingye''s crazy ramblings anymore. "Are you already at the point that you can''t differentiate the past and present?" "Y-y-you! You''re not Yi''er! Yi''er would never speak like that. You fake, where did you hide Yi''er!" Lei Jingye''s tone became even crazier upon hearing Daoyi''s response. "Rather than worry about someone whether I am the Daoyi from your first life or a fake, you should be more concerned about yourself. Your spiritual core is shattered, your path to immortality is shattered." Daoyi coldly said. Lei Jingye froze. But soon, a sense of horror overcame him as he realized he couldn''t sense spiritual qi at all. His hazy mind began to clear as reality began to set in. His last few memories were of escaping the ruin of the Immortal Court, and then, he there was blank. It was as if he had awoken from a long dream. "XI.LONG.YI!" Lei Jingye''s fears turned into anger as he shouted at Tianyi. "It must have been you! You schemed against me. If it weren''t for you, none of this would have happened!" Slap! Lei Jingye''s voice became caught in his throat as he was stunned into silence by Daoyi''s slap. The golden armor did protect him from spells and harm, but that didn''t prevent Daoyi from slapping him, even if it didn''t hurt him at all. "I said wake up already. Senior Brother isn''t Xi Longyi. He''s Xi Tianyi." Daoyi''s stern voice reached Lei Jingye''s ears. He looked at Daoyi. The face was the same, so was the attitude, so why was she so foreign? "He''s a beast in human skin... he''s a scourge to the world!" Lei Jingye continued his belief, refusing to listen to Daoyi''s words. "You are someone blessed with another chance at life, yet you cannot let go of your past and wallow inside of it instead, ruining your own future. Laughable." With those words, Daoyi turned around and began to meditate, no longer paying attention to Lei Jingye. Chapter 140: Crystal Nascent Soul "Long Aotian!" When Tianyi woke up, he did so in an explosive fashion. Literally. The ground tens of meters around him disintegrated due to the sheer amount of true qi of chaos that Tianyi released. Tianyi''s eyes were incredibly sharp as if he was still experiencing the Dragon Emperor''s attack. But when he looked around, he saw that he was no longer in the Chaos Refining Formation or any formation at all. "Junior Sister, Elder Meng! Are you alright?" Tianyi asked with worry when he saw them at the circumference of the area of destruction. Thankfully for Tianyi, Elder Meng was able to bring Daoyi out of Tianyi''s sudden attack. But the same could not be said for the Lei Clan members. Out of the five Daoyi captured, another one died so only three remained alive now. Then Tianyi noticed the unconscious Lei Jingye. His eyes were filled with murderous intent. Without even thinking about it, he unleashed a strike at Lei Jingye. The attack struck the golden armor and dissipated, but as a result, Lei Jingye awoke. His face was a near-perfect reflection of Tianyi''s murderous expression, with the only difference being the two''s eyes. "Xi Longyi!" Lei Jingye''s reaction momentarily stunned Tianyi before cold wrath flashed across his face. With a stony expression, Tianyi walked to Lei Jingye and kicked him to the ground. Using the bottom of his shoes, Tianyi smeared Lei Jingye''s face into the sand. "Long Aotian, Long Aotian, you were called the strongest expert in the world, don''t you think that this little act of yours is besmirching your once glorious name? How low you have fallen?" "Who the fuck is Long Aotian!? Xi Longyi, I''ll tell you right now! Don''t think your little tricks will convince me! You tricked Yi''er into going against me, and you''re the one who caused my spiritual core to be shattered, don''t think this is OVER!" Lei Jingye finally managed to say after angling his mouth away from the sand. Still, he still had gotten a mouthful of sand so he was spitting it out as he yelled at Tianyi. Tianyi was about to ridicule him even more but stopped when he glanced at Elder Meng. "Elder Meng, are you able to soul search him? I suspect him to be lying and having vital information." Elder Meng shook her head. "His soul is too weak. The only reason he is still alive is that the immortal artifact is maintaining his life. Without it, he would have died weeks ago when you were unconscious. Even the weakest soul probe would dissipate his soul at his current state." Tianyi frowned at Elder Meng''s explanation. Weak? He shivered as he recalled the pain that the Dragon Emperor afflicted onto him. It was an insidious technique, one that bypassed Tianyi''s soul-protecting measures. That technique used pain as a medium to inflict damage to the soul. Unless one couldn''t feel pain, the technique was incredibly hard to defend against. "Senior Brother, what exactly happened? Why are you calling him Long Aotian?" Daoyi also came forward and asked. Tianyi''s agitated state reminded Daoyi of a cornered animal, like a porcupine with all its quill erected. Tianyi shared a glance with Elder Meng. After a brief moment of hesitation, he decided to share the information with Daoyi. It wasn''t exactly a major secret that concerned the fate of the world. Those that reached a certain realm would eventually learn of it. Back in the past, when there were more Dragon Emperor clones, many nascent soul grandmasters of the sect knew of the secret. "Long Aotian is the name of the Dragon Emperor, over a thousand years ago..." When Tianyi finished explaining the intricacies of the Dragon Emperor''s existence and his connection to himself and Lei Jingye, Daoyi had a shocked expression. "Even if you wrote a book about it, there shouldn''t be such a wild plot, should there?" "Some same reality is stranger than fiction." Hearing Tianyi''s words, Daoyi nodded in agreement. But the one with the greatest shock was Lei Jingye. As a cultivator from a clan that only had a single nascent soul grandmaster as their strongest expert, Lei Jingye would never be able to hear such information even as a nascent soul grandmaster. There would only be a slight chance if he became a Unity Realm venerable. ''"Impossible! You''re lying!" Compared to the shock of losing his cultivation, the truth of him being the Dragon Emperor''s soul fragment clone had an even bigger effect on his soul, causing it to almost dissipate from the mental blow. Tianyi sneered. Perhaps, Lei Jingye was special compared to the other Dragon Emperor''s clones. But that didn''t change reality. "How laughable. If you are Long Aotian, I must praise you for your acting skills. If you had such skills, you should''ve continued acting until the end instead of letting your dick think for you. And if you are Lei Jingye, you are even more laughable!" "Lei Jingye, you proclaim hatred against Xi Longyi. But after you regressed through time, Xi Longyi no longer exists since I am here. Or, to be more specific, the Dragon Emperor couldn''t take over my body in this timeline. In the end, the Dragon Emperor decided to possess your body instead. You, who hated Xi Longyi, became Xi Longyi''s method of revival. Tell me, is it laughable or not?" Tianyi derided. He had already stopped stepping on Lei Jingye, but that didn''t prevent him from kicking Lei Jingye''s body away like a rag doll. "Impossible, impossible, impossible! You are lying!" The mad glint in Lei Jingye''s eyes intensified, completely aware of his body being kicked. His eyes glazed over as if he could no longer differentiate his delusions and reality. "You are Xi Longyi. Stop spouting lies. I refuse to believe them! A scheme, this must your scheme torment me! That''s right! You know you can''t kill me because I will just go back into time, so you want to break my spirit instead. That''s why you controlled Yi''er and set up this play. I''m right, aren''t I? Hahahaha!!!" Daoyi looked away. She didn''t have much of a connection to Lei Jingye, much less the relationship Lei Jingye wished for. But that didn''t prevent her from closing her eye and looking away. It was discomforting to see a man drowning in rejection of reality. He was like a lunatic. "Have you gone off long enough?" Tianyi coldly said as he held his hand behind his back and kicked off enough sand to stuff Lei Jingye''s mouth, causing him to choke. Although it was painful, it helped him regain lucidity. Lei Jingye glared defiantly at Tianyi and spat his saliva at Tianyi''s face. The saliva didn''t travel far before freezing in midair and reversing into Lei Jingye''s throat, causing him to cough and hack even more. Let the spit hit him? Are you kidding? Tianyi wouldn''t tolerate such a disgusting thing to touch his robes much less his face. He rather enjoyed reading how a character would spit at a character he didn''t like, but when it really happened, he just found it disgusting. Daoyi frowned when she saw this. Tianyi seemed unnaturally cruel today as if he was venting. From smearing Lei Jingye''s face into the sand to kicking the sand into his mouth, all of Tianyi''s actions seemed especially petty and nonsensical. Her eyes widened when she spotted Tianyi''s handing shaking behind his back.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. "I''ll pretend you are Lei Jingye since you are so convincing," Tianyi said, his expression stony but the mockery was evident. "Tell me, where did you meet the Dragon Emperor? Perhaps he introduced himself as someone else. He should be a bodiless soul that you met. Unless he managed to cling onto you without you noticing." There was some acknowledgment in Lei Jingye''s eyes, but he kept his mouth firmly shut. All the information he learned today was shattered his understanding of the world, but there was one thing Lei Jingye knew, that he wouldn''t give anything to his archenemy. Tianyi''s stony expression grew even colder. He wasn''t in a patient mood at all. "Look over there," Tianyi pointed at where the Lei Clan members were, but Lei Jingye looked in the opposite direction just to spite Tianyi. Tianyi''s mood plummeted even more. Using his spiritual sense, he forced Lei Jingye to look at the three remaining Lei Clan members. "Father!" Lei Jingye cried out. A terrible premonition began to sink into his stomach. "You shouldn''t need me to say what would happen if you don''t answer, right?" Tianyi said his words were unnaturally calm, but the chill within them could not be mistaken. "Hmpf, you call yourself Xi Tianyi, but how are your actions different than Xi Longyi, who you claim not to be?" Lei Jingye said, not willing to appear weak in front of Tianyi. Tianyi didn''t say anything. Actions speak louder than words, after all. Under the disbelieving eyes of Lei Jingye, his father, Lei De''s, arm separated from his body and disintegrated. "ARGGGHH!!" A scream of pain escaped Lei De''s lips as he was shocked awake. "This is the third time I''ll ask you. If you fail to answer, your father''s little life will disappear." Tianyi said, his voice emotionless. But that lack of emotion caused Lei Jingye''s heart to sink into his stomach. Just as Tianyi''s eyes began to look towards Lei De once more, Lei Jingye finally spoke. "Stop! I''ll speak, I''ll speak!" His hatred-filled eyes focused on Tianyi as if engraving the face to memory. "I don''t know if he was the Dragon Emperor or not, but I met an immortal''s soul who called himself the Heaven Surpassing Great Saint after escaping Jingany City." Jingyan City? Didn''t that mean that Lei Jingye met the Dragon Emperor when he was still in the Qi Gathering Realm? Yet the Dragon Emperor failed to possess his body then, how laughable. Daoyi watched as Tianyi continued to interrogate Lei Jingye. There was something about Tianyi''s current state that frightened Daoyi. Like he was a frightened ferocious beast that could lash out at any moment. "What''s wrong with Senior Brother?" Daoyi asked Elder Meng after stopping Lei De''s bleeding stump. Lei De had wanted to ask questions, but Daoyi silenced him. "Young Master''s emotion is currently extremely agitated. If I am correct, he is lashing out to mask his fear of death." Elder Meng said, her brows were furrowed in worry. "Fear of death?" Daoyi asked and looked at Tianyi. "It doesn''t seem like it. Hasn''t Senior Brother experienced near-death experiences before?" "I do not know. There should be at least one instance, but Young Master didn''t have such a change in behavior at that time. Something must have been different. Right now, there is no problem. But if Young Master''s attitude deteriorates, then the issue will become big. It might reach the point of cultivation deviation or the formation of an inner devil. Hopefully, Young Master can overcome this." Elder Meng said, a hint of worry in her voice. When Tianyi finished interrogating Lei Jingye, the group brought the Lei Clan members, including Lei Jingye, to the grotto entrance. Lei Jingye made a fuss during the journey, but after Tianyi threatened to kill his father, he no longer dared to speak. Daoyi couldn''t blame Lei Jingye for making a fuss this time. If she were being carried by her hair, she would make a fuss too. "Young Master, what happened to you!?" Su Bojing, who felt Tianyi approached and went to greet him, shouted in surprise. "Huh?" Tianyi said. He looked down at himself. He had already healed himself, and his clothes weren''t damaged at all, so what did Su Bojing mean? "No, not that. Young Master suddenly grew a few years. You look older." Su Bojing clarified. "Do I?" Tianyi looked at Daoyi and Elder Meng. "Do I look older?" Daoyi nodded. "I didn''t notice before, but thinking back to your appearance forty-nine days ago, Senior Brother does look older." "Wait, I was unconsciousness for forty-nine days!?" Tianyi thought he was out for a week at most. "Indeed. During this time, your martial body was unstable. As it recovered, your body began to mature." Elder Meng supplemented. Tianyi closed his eyes and checked his body. His inner cosmos had indeed grown larger, and his nascent souls were at the peak of the Glass Nascent Soul Stage. Was this the so-called fortune amidst misfortune? But Tianyi couldn''t be happy about this. He waved his hand at Su Bojing. "I don''t want to talk about it. Go watch over the prisoners while I see how mother is doing." Just as Tianyi was about to walk into the entrance, he froze. If Su Bojing was surprised at his appearance, wouldn''t his mother even be more surprised? Although she said that her concentration would be on refining the divine artifact, that didn''t mean that she wouldn''t be aware of her surroundings. What if her refinement failed because she was worried and shocked once she saw his current appearance? "Young Master, back so soon?" Su Bojing said in surprise. Tianyi shook his head. "I didn''t go in. My current appearance might shock my mother. Junior Sister, can you check on mother''s condition?" Daoyi agreed, and only after Daoyi came out did Tianyi sigh in relief. Since everything had settled, Tianyi calmed himself down and began to cultivate. That brush with death was too frightening for him. His first brush with death against a cultivator was the then Monarch Soulfish, but the difference between the two was so great that Tianyi could only discern his consciousness grow muddle for a moment. Not like his battle against the Dragon Emperor. Although pain dominated his mind, he could still sense the scythe of the grim reaper nearing him. It was not a mental or physically feeling, but an intuition. A complicated emotion appeared in Tianyi''s eyes. If it weren''t for the Three Pure True Self Visualization Technique protecting him at the last moment, it was likely he would have died. On the one hand, it was erasing his past but protecting his current self. Tianyi didn''t know how to approach the matter. Forget it. Tianyi thought as he just stuffed the matter of the Three Pure True Self Visualization Technique into the back of his mind. He was close to entering the Crystal Nascent Soul Stage, and he can think about it after he broke through. As for Lei Jingye. Tianyi was only half sure that he wasn''t the Dragon Emperor pretending to be stupid. After possessing someone, the possessor should have a chance to learn all of the possessed''s memories. And if he really was Lei Jingye, Tianyi didn''t know why the Dragon Emperor didn''t just exterminate his soul. Tianyi gritted his teeth as he thought about the Dragon Emperor. He knew it was foolish to compare himself to a former immortal emperor, but he had absolute confidence in never losing against someone in the same realm as him, much less losing his life. That experience made Tianyi realize how foolish he was to believe in his invincibility. He planned on forking Lei Jingye to the Buzhou Immortal Sect and explain what had happened. At the very least, if he can''t deal with the Dragon Emperor, the sect should be able to. And maybe he can be clarified as to the truth behind the time travel. Days later, Elder Meng glanced over at Tianyi, who was sitting in a lotus position. Daoyi soon glanced over as well, and it was Su Bojing who was the last to notice. Inside Tianyi''s cosmos, the five nascent souls were shining brilliantly, making it hard to look at them directly. Their body had resembled a preciously cut diamond. A single ray of light that entered would be reflected millions of times. Tianyi had officially entered the Crystal Nascent Soul Stage. The only difference between a crystal nascent soul of the late Nascent Soul Realm, and a diamond nascent soul of the peak Nascent Soul Realm, was the perfection of the Nascent Soul. The cultivator must continually refine his Nascent Soul until it is like a diamond cut to perfection by a master jeweler. "C-congratulations, Young Master." Su Bojing felt as if he was seeing a dream. He could still recall the day he came to congratulate Tianyi on his ascension to the Nascent Soul Realm, and now not even ten years later, Tianyi was already in the late Nascent Soul Realm, while he was still in the same spot. "Congratulations, Senior Brother," Daoyi said with a smile. There was a sense of urgency in her. Tianyi had just entered the mid Nascent Soul Realm right before her Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation. But now, she had yet to enter the Polished Core Stage, but Tianyi already improved so much. She had to work harder. Luckily, it seemed that her minor wind tribulation would come soon. Until then, she had to prepare so as to prevent any mishaps. "Thank you," Tianyi said calmly. He would''ve been quite happy before. But now, after his battle with the Dragon Emperor, an improvement by a minor realm was nothing worth celebrating about. He was still too weak. If he can''t even protect himself, how can he even discover why he had appeared in the Huang Realm? Chapter 141: Lei Clans Fate A beam of light visible soared into the sky from the Earthsea Land of the Heaven Continent, so great was the light that it was visible on the Earth and Mortal Continent. At the same, the scent of peaches covered the whole Huang Realm. The fragrance was the heaviest in the Heaven Continent, while the Mortal Continent had the least. All the mortals who inhaled the fragrance felt their vitality strengthen. Those on the Heaven Continent had the greatest benefits. Depending on the circumstances, a mortal could even have their lifespan increased by ten years. Even some cultivators felt the effects as their hidden injuries were nourished or healed altogether. Within the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s forbidden ground, a middle-aged man glanced at the beam of light. He wore a white jade coronet with long white brocade robes with numerous dragons embroidered on it. Although he did not emit any qi fluctuation, just the majesty he emitted was enough to awe immortals. A single tear leaked down the man''s face as he stared at the beam of light. His eyes glazed over as if reminiscing over the past, and his gaze held both tenderness and sadness. He silently mouthed a name. At the Saintly Scholar School, a middle-aged man with two streaks of white hair on both sides of his temples was conversing with a sloppily dressed daoist that had the faint scent of alcohol on him. The former was Lao Tzu, the founder of the Saintly Scholar School, and the latter would shock Tianyi and Daoyi. He was Daoist Lu that the two had met by chance. "Before, I never had the chance to smell this fragrance. It lives up to its name as the Queen Mother of the West''s treasure that judges life and death. You should be even more familiar with this fragrance. Isn''t that right, King Duke of the West?" Lao Tzu asked with a smile at Daoist Lu. Daoist Lu took a swig of alcohol from his wine gourd before wiping his mouth on his sleeves. "That''s just a past life of mine. I no longer have any connection with that identity." Lao Tzu poured a cup of fragrant tea with a smile and didn''t say anything more.
At the epicenter of the beam of light, Tianyi, Daoyi, and Su Bojing received the greatest benefits. Tianyi felt as if his stressed mind had relaxed significantly, no longer as haunted as before. Daoyi felt her soul strengthened, and even her dominance over the ghosts increase. And Su Bojing felt as if he was nearing the next stage of the Nascent Soul Realm. The only one who didn''t seem to have received any benefits was Elder Meng. Even Lei Jingye felt some of his vitality return. But Elder Meng didn''t mind and instead gazed at the light with a happy yet sad gaze, full of complicated emotions. It didn''t take long for the light to rescind, and once the light was gone, Mengfei stood in the air was a bone-white mirror in her hand. The ground below her had a large hole in the ground where the grotto was once hidden. But Mengfei didn''t have a happy expression on her face as she immediately appeared in front of Tianyi as if she had teleported. The bone-white mirror dropped to the ground as Mengfei held Tianyi cheeks with both hands, inspecting every inch of him. Mother, you just dropped a divine artifact like some roadside garbage! What are you doing! That''s a divine artifact! Tianyi roared in his mind. Even if his mother didn''t explicitly say it, the fluctuation coming from the mirror did not lie. Plus, Tianyi wanted to act calm and make sure his mother didn''t sense anything wrong with him. "You''ve gotten thinner," Mengfei finally said after releasing Tianyi''s cheeks. "I''ve gotten taller. Of course, I would seem thinner." Tianyi said as naturally as possible. Then he asked Mengfei with a worried expression. "What about you? Are you tired? You''ve been refining the divine artifact nonstop for almost a year now." Mengfei shook her head. "It just took some time. Are you alright? You don''t seem to be sleeping well." Tianyi''s heart shook at his mother''s question. Before, he had a habit of sleeping once every few days. Even if he didn''t, it would matter due to his cultivation. It wasn''t that he didn''t want to sleep, but every time he did, he recalled his brush of death. Thus he decisively stopped sleeping. "I just gained a great amount of motivation to cultivate. That''s why I didn''t sleep as much." Yeah, a great motivation such as not dying. "What happened?" Mengfei asked, her eyes conveying worry without her realizing. When did mother get so sharp? Tianyi couldn''t help but question. He maintained his position, but under his mother''s unblinking stare, he finally relented. "Remember the Dragon Emperor?" Tianyi asked. Mengfei nodded; it was one of the greatest battles she partook in. "Turns out, his conscious awakened and became a bodiless soul or something. But whatever the reason, he has his complete memories and possessed one of his clones." Tianyi pointed at Lei Jingye. "I don''t know if mother knows, but he took the name Longwei and appeared at the Heavenly Connection Gathering. And due to some circumstances, we fought." "Are you injured in any way? Did he did anything to?" Mengfei immediately asked and began to inspect Tianyi once more. "Don''t worry. Although the Dragon Emperor has all his memories, he''s far weaker than before, not even having the strength of a Unity Venerable. How could a has-been be enough to beat me? I dealt him so much damage that he released his possession of Lei Jingye." Tianyi said, his chest puffed in a display of confidence.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "Has-been?" Mengfei repeated the words, not recognizing the meaning in Tianyi''s usage. But she put in the back of her mind as there was a more important matter. "Yi''er, no matter what, the Dragon Emperor was once a half-sovereign Immortal. His means are far beyond your understanding. We should return to the sect to make sure nothing happened to you." Mengfei said, her face beyond serious. "Wait, wait!" Tianyi said, seeing his mother grabbing his wrist in preparation to take them back to the sect. "We have to take Lei Jingye back too. I don''t know if the Dragon Emperor fled or is pretending to be Lei Jingye. Best to take him back to the sect and investigate clearly." After saying this, Mengfei turned her eyes to Lei Jingye. Lei Jingye glared hatefully at Xi Mengfei. Anyone and anything related to Tianyi or rather Xi Longyi, such as the Buzhou Immortal Sect and Mengfei, Lei Jingye hated by association. "Yi''er, he was the one who tried to assassinate you in the Northern Region?" Mengfei asked. Tianyi nodded, but his heart skipped a beat when his mother pulled a sword out. He immediately grabbed her sword-holding hand. "Mother, what are you doing?" "He''s too dangerous. Whether alive or dead, even a corpse will do. Too dangerous to be left alive." Mengfei righteously said. Tianyi felt that his mother wanted to say that he was too dangerous to Tianyi. She was fine if Tianyi fought with people of the same generation, but an old monster like the Dragon Emperor was a huge taboo, apparently. "Who knows, but we might need some means to soul search him. Elder Meng couldn''t do it because his soul was too weak. It''s better to get more information. Better to cut the grass by the roots. If we can''t stop the Dragon Emperor, more problems will arrive in the future." Mengfei paused and deliberated over Tianyi''s words for a few moments. In the end, she nodded. "What about the Lei Clan?" "No need to bother with them. I''ve already got my target," Tianyi said as he glanced at Lei Jingye. The only reason he was here was for Lei Jingye. He never expected to fight the Dragon Emperor here. The Lei Clan were minor characters without Lei Jingye''s support. Who knows wether they can overcome the over three clans with the disappearance of Lei Jingye? "Yi''er, if they found out about your actions that pushed them to the brink, then they would hate you to the core. It''s better to eliminate them now, cut the grass by its roots as you''ve said." Mengfei warned. Lei Jingye, who heard this, immediately exploded. Although his memories were fuzzy, he knew that Tianyi had done something to his clan from Mengfei''s words. Not to mention how Mengfei wanted to exterminate his whole clan. But before he could speak much more, Mengfei sealed his mouth, the immortal artifact armor not having the power to resist her spells. He could only glare hatefully at this mother-son duo. "They are just inconsequential people. What can they even do when they find out? The only noteworthy one is Lei Jingye over there. I''m afraid that they won''t even have time to worry about me with their current predicament." Tianyi breezily said. He really didn''t place the Lei Clan in his eyes at all. Mengfei sighed when she saw that Tianyi didn''t care at all. "Very well, we must return to the sect as soon as possible." She motioned for the others to come closer to her. But before she left, she sent a glance at the three surviving Lei Clan members, including Lei De. All three of them lost their breath at the exact same time. Mengfei had exterminated their souls in the instant she glanced at them. Lei Jingye went crazy as hot tears leaked down his face. Before he returned to the past, and before the clan''s fall in his first life, Lei Jingye had lived a carefree life. Even though his mother had disappeared, his father gave him twice as much love to compensate him. And it was his father who sacrificed his life for him when the three of the four great clans exterminated the Lei Clan. Aside from Daoyi, his other greatest wish was to prevent his father''s death. But now, his father had just been killed in front of him! And to make it even crueler, his death was even earlier than before! Mengfei frowned and waved her sleeves. Lei Jingye was instantly knocked out. Tianyi just coldly looked on. Honestly, after the fight with the Dragon Emperor, he couldn''t bring himself to empathize with Lei Jingye at all. In fact, it was rather good that he didn''t torment Lei Jingye to vent his anger like when he first awoke. "Wait, mother, aren''t you forgetting something?" Tianyi said before Mengfei Mengfei blinked before looking down at her feet to see the forgotten divine artifact. Under her control, the divine artifact floated next to her. "I didn''t forget. It would''ve transferred with us." Tianyi might have believed her had it not been for her looking away when she spoke those words. But Tianyi didn''t expose her. Instead, there was a hint of a smile, the first time in months. A pillar of light descended from Mengfei''s Heaven, Earth, Man Trinity Palace outside of the Huang Realm and pulled them there before moving them to Jade Peak Palace of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. In Paradise Sand City, the delegates from the four great clans were assembled at the Lei Clan. The Lei Clan naturally didn''t know that their patriarch and the elders were dead, much less that Lei Jingye had his cultivation crippled. They were currently negotiating the terms of surrender. Although Lei Clan was worried about the sudden departure of Lei Jingye, they didn''t put much thought into it. Currently, the only clan able to threaten them was the Meng Clan and their nascent soul grandmaster, who was injured. Even with the Meng Clan''s nascent soul grandmaster, the Lei Clan''s own nascent soul grandmaster was still present, even if he was also injured. Currently, the Lei Clan was hammering out the other three clan''s surrender. They didn''t want to push things too far. Although they had the upper hand, the Lei Clan didn''t know what a cornered clan would do when all that was left was their extermination. Besides, even if they didn''t take action above-board, they were plenty of shadowy methods they could take to eliminate the other clans. Suddenly, a giant sword that seemed to have been formed from heaven itself descended onto the city. Everyone in the city felt their mind blank while the sword was still in existence as if all the Paradise Sand City was frozen in time. Only when the sword disappeared did everyone in the city regained their consciousness. To their amazement and horror, they found all the Lei Clan members were dead, leaving only their soulless corpses. Even the nascent soul grandmaster of the Lei Clan died while sitting in his cultivation chamber. When the remaining three of the four great clans discover this, they felt as if they have been riding a roller coaster full of ups and downs as they glanced at each other, unsure of what happened. Outside the city, a formation stopped working, revealing the tens of corpses inside. They were Lei Cai and the Lei Clan members Tianyi trapped inside over a year ago. In truth, Mengfei was venting. Although Tianyi didn''t explicitly say anything, she could still discern some changes in him. How could Tianyi, no matter how monstrous talented, not suffer fighting the Dragon Emperor, despite his weakened state? That day, there were numerous witnesses of swords descended from the heavens and kill numerous people. To the shock of many, all these people were male and had the exact same face! Chapter 142: Longevity Oracle Mirror Sect Master felt his eyebrows rise up to his hairlines when he saw a beam of light suddenly appear outside his mansion. He was familiar with this method of transportation. Although rare, most immortal emperors who had an immortal estate above the Huang Realm could use this technique to easily teleport around the Huang Realm. It was much easier and faster than flying. When it was Grand Elder Xi who appeared in front of him, Sect Master Xia felt a sense of confusion. Among all the Grand Elders, Grand Elder Xi was the one least involved with sect affairs. And for her to enter his territory in such a method was a major breach of etiquette. Sect Master Xia''s gaze zeroed in on the paled face man wearing an immortal artifact armor, upon seeing face felt his brows rise even higher. "What happened?" He wasn''t dumb. So he could easily link Grand Elder Xi''s impolite actions as something urgent. After explaining Tianyi''s entanglement with Lei Jingye and Longwei, as well as Longwei''s true identity, Sect Master Xia felt a headache coming. He already had enough on his plate with the appearance of the divine artifact, and now another major matter appeared. Although the Dragon Emperor''s current strength wasn''t strong, and he still needed to verify it was actually the Dragon Emperor, his latent threat could not be looked down upon. At this moment, Tianyi spoke up. "Wait, Sect Master Xia, you aren''t surprised about the time travel event I mentioned?" Tianyi asked. He had thought that the time travel he spoke of would shock Sect Master Xia and look at Lei Jingye and him with a different look. Sect Master Xia chuckled. "Little Tianyi, I don''t know, and seamless immortals like me can''t feel the effects. But that doesn''t mean that the Buzhou Immortal Sect doesn''t have methods to detect it. But for immortal emperors like Grand Elder Xi, they probably have sensed something." Tianyi looked at his mother with wide eyes, shocked. Sect Master Xia chuckled and continued speaking. "For those at the Extremity Immortal Realm, they have touched upon the mysteries of time if the timeline is disturbed. Naturally, they will be affected." Sect Master Xia didn''t continue to elaborate. At Tianyi''s current level of strength, knowing too much might actually hamper his growth. "Then are there different timelines with events occurring differently?" Tianyi asked, curious. Sect Master Xia blinked in surprise at Tianyi''s question. Tianyi''s grasp of time surprised him. He glanced at Mengfei, who nodded, so the sect master continued to speak. "There are, but due to certain events, these timelines will eventually be destroyed. Timelines are constantly destroyed and created. But like a tree, certain ones will be pruned while others remain." Tianyi blinked. Wasn''t this like the many-worlds theory back on Earth? "Little Tianyi, don''t think about it too much. At your current level, you should not concern yourself with such matters." Sect Master Xia advised. "One last question," Tianyi said. "Do you know the cause of the timeshift?" Sect Master Xia stroked his beards as he glanced at Mengfei, who nodded once more. Tsk, tsk, Sect Master Xia felt that Grand Elder Meng sure was liberal with this son of hers. Was she not afraid of dampening his growth and potential? Nevertheless, it wasn''t his problem so he answered. "Unclear, but it seems to have some connections with the Yellow Emperor''s Spring Autumn Scripture." "Many thanks," Tianyi said as he cupped his fist in thanks. His thoughts drifted to Tianwei Continent, or Tianwei Island as he called it. He recalled that was where he first came into contact with the incomplete Spring Autumn Scripture. At the time, the treasures left behind had already been collected. Tianyi wondered if there was a connection. Tianyi shook his head. What were the chances? He was more curious about Immortal Riverrat''s killer, the foreign immortal. Sect Master Xia then glanced at the crazed-looking Lei Jingye. "As for him, we will interrogate him for all he knows later. We have a more important matter. For now, Grand Elder Xi came at a perfect time." "What matter?" Mengfei asked expressionlessly. But Sect Master Xia got a distinct impression that she was displeased at this decision. Sect Master Xia coughed into his hands. "Grand Elder Xi must have also felt the appearance of the divine artifact in Earthsea Land. Not just us, but all the forces in the Huang Realm know of it, so we must quickly seize the initiative to refine it." At his words, Tianyi, Daoyi, and Su Bojing all made a strange face, confusing Sect Master Xia. Just as he was wondering why the three were making stranges faces, he felt a hint of divine energy. His eyes snapped to the inconspicuous mirror floating next to Mengfei. The mirror had no handle, and the mirror''s frame appeared to have been made of bones with the characters of the ancient language of the Immortal Court engraved into it. But the mirror was cracked, separating the unreflecting mirror into three sections. Despite its plain appearance, the pressure it gave off was real. Sect Master Xia opened his mouth and then closed it. "T-t-th-this i-i-is!" "It should be the Queen Mother of the West''s Longevity Oracle Mirror," Mengfei said, clearing Sect Master Xia''s doubt. Upon hearing that it was indeed the Divine Artifact, Sect Master Xia couldn''t help but feel that a large pie just fell into the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s hand. Earlier, he had arranged for an expedition to seize the Divine Artifact from the other forces. His first thought was to hide the fact that Mengfei had taken the divine artifact so as to make the other powers, both on the Heaven Continent and the other hegemonic sects to be less wary of them. But he immediately refuted the suggestion. Judging by how fast Mengfei came using the flashy method and the appearance of the divine artifact, Sect Master Xia knew he couldn''t hide the information. He sighed. If the Eight Pillars Sect were to know of their sect gaining a divine artifact, then their wariness would increase even more. Even the Anti-Heaven Alliance might shrink back even more. Sect Master Xia''s eyes began to shine when he recalled the Longevity Oracle Mirror''s purpose. "Grand Elder Xi, is the Longevity Oracle Mirror''s purpose the same as the legends say?" Mengfei nodded. But Tianyi felt his interest piqued. He couldn''t help but ask, "What is the Longevity Oracle Mirror?" It wasn''t Sect Master Xia who answered, but Mengfei. "Queen Mother of the West was in charge of the lifespan of the world. Her mirrors allowed her to peer into people''s lifespan; even immortals were not exempt. At the same time, it can manipulate the lifespan of anyone is reflected by it." Tianyi felt his brows rise up. It doesn''t sound beneficial for a protagonist to have. It was more like a took such as a digger''s shovel or a gardener''s sheers. "Does it do nothing else? Such as defensive or offensive means?" Mengfei nodded. "I can sense a strong vitality flowing into me. Even if I am injured, I will regenerate at an astonishing rate. As for offensive means, this mirror can absorb the lifespan of those reflected by it, instantly aging them." Tianyi nodded. Sure enough, that sounded more like a protagonist''s fortuitous encounter. An artifact that can both protect and attack, how convenient.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "Do you want it?" Mengfei asked, trying to figure out Tianyi''s interest in the divine artifact. Tianyi gave a weird look. "No, I was just wondering what kind of artifact it was." "Are you sure? It has a powerful life protective means." Mengfei asked. The more she thought about it, the more she thought Tianyi carrying the Longevity Oracle Mirror was a good idea. Tianyi felt a chill creep up his spine. He quickly shook his head. "No way, if people were to discover that I have it, wouldn''t they target me even more? I''m only at the Nascent Soul Realm. I don''t want it. Plus, I prefer swords instead." "Are you sure?" Mengfei asked, feeling that it was a pity for Tianyi not to have it. As for a sword-shaped divine artifact, it was too dangerous for the current Tianyi. Sect Master Xia watched this with twitching lips. This was a divine artifact, ah! How many people wanted it, and Grand Elder Xi was trying to push it onto her son like it was nothing. The son was even worse, saying all sorts of words such as how ugly it was or how boring it was, his disdain apparent to the world. If you don''t want it, give it to me. Sect Master Xia screamed inside his head, but of course, he didn''t say it out loud. Coughing into his fist, Sect Master Xia got the parent-child duo to look at him. "Grand Elder Xi, would you mind if I revealed to the world that you refined the Longevity Oracle Mirror?" If it were revealed that Grand Elder Xi refined the Longevity Oracle Mirror, the world at large wouldn''t as wary as the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Despite being a Divine Artifact, it wasn''t one that spread its name far and wide like the Lord of Numinous'' four Immortal Exterminating Swords. It was more of a backdrop to the Queen Mother of the West''s legend and power. It might be useful for weaker sects if they wanted to prolong their cultivator''s lifespan. But the Buzhou Immortal Sect didn''t place much importance on such members who could only remain mortal. They were a hegemonic sect and haven''t reached the point that they would need to extend their mortal cultivator''s lifespan. Oh, there was another benefit. Those who wanted to extend their family member''s lifespan would have to find Grand Elder Xi now. Many immortals had family who didn''t have enough talent to become immortal, so Elder Meng could just raise their lifespan and receive many benefits. It wasn''t like she needed to pay a high price with the Longevity Oracle Mirror. Well, as long as Grand Elder Xi didn''t reveal the offensive means of the Longevity Oracle Mirror, the forces they were plotting against wouldn''t raise their guard too much. After Grand Elder Xi agreed, Sect Master Xia repeatedly told her not to use the offensive means at all unless she had no choice. Sect Master Xia then quickly sent messages to the appropriate people to the spread message before recalling the members he arranged to compete for the divine artifact. After that was done, Sect Master Xia finally focused his attention on the sealed Lei Jingye. He didn''t rush all the matters concerning the divine artifact because Mengfei was staring at him with her pitch-black eyes. Her gaze certainly wasn''t stabbing him to the point it hurt. But he wouldn''t be able to interrogate Lei Jingye, especially since his soul was currently too fragile. So he called for two people. First was Grand Elder Zhang. Among the Buzhou Immortal Sect elders, she was the one capable of the widest range of techniques. Even the sect''s soul immortal monarch was weaker than her in soul methods. The next was the Head Elder of War Hall, Huang Feihong. Among all the immortals in the Huang Realm, the one with the greatest martial accomplishments was him. So he was given the broad meaning title of Martial Monarch to establish his mastery of the martial path. And he was a half Immortal Emperor, able to fight for a period of time with immortal emperors. Elder Huang wasn''t like Grand Elder Zhang, who was skilled in soul scrying. But if he proclaimed to be number two in the amounts of times fighting with the Dragon Emperor, then no one would dare to claim number one. "Sect Master Xia, what have you summoned me for?" Head Elder Huang said as he glanced at Lei Jingye, having an inkling of what it was related to. The saying "no one knows you better than your nemesis" was true. Grand Elder Zhang didn''t say anything, but her movements revealed her unspoken question. Sect Master Xia explained what Tianyi explained to them, causing them to frown. As people who have personally witnessed the Dragon Emperor''s strength, they knew of the danger he posed. Sect Master Xia had Tianyi recount his experience with the Dragon Emperor, especially what the Dragon Emperor said, one by one. "It does sound like the way that bastard would say. No matter the circumstance, his arrogance never changed, always believing that he was the true master of the world and that the world should revolve around him. He always repaid any slights he received, no matter how small. But he also knew when to retreat and how much he should reveal. Back when we fought, I don''t know how many times I almost got tricked by him." Head Elder Huang said as he crossed his arms, his form-fitting robe outlining his chiseled body. "Please," Sect Master Xia cupped his hand towards Grand Elder Zhang. Grand Elder Zhang stepped towards Lei Jingye and brought out a brush. With a swipe of her brush, the ink landed on Lei Jingye''s body despite his struggles. Immediately his eyes glazed over as an unfurled scroll appeared above his head. On the scroll, images of his life began to flashy by; they were his memories. Tianyi felt his heartbeat quicken, extremely wary of Grand Elder Zhang''s technique. But he couldn''t hide his curiosity as he watched the video-like images play across the scroll. The memories began with Lie Jingye''s first life. As his memory played, Tianyi couldn''t help but feel that Lei Jingye was a novel''s protagonist. His early life was worry-free, and he was plain and a bit of a wastrel, but then his clan was destroyed, causing him to grow up quickly. But Tianyi''s eyes focused even more when Lei Jingye met Daoyi. As he watched, he could acutely sense the minute differences between his Daoyi and Lei Jingye''s Daoyi. His thoughts couldn''t help but whirl. The him of Lei Jingye''s memories was Xi Longyi. Could it be that Daoyi was also different? Tianyi smiled self-deprecatingly. I already suspected Daoyi for a long time. What is one more piece of evidence worth? I don''t dare to confront her and change our relationship. Eventually, Lei Jingye''s memories reached the point of his reviving, causing Tianyi to perk up. He saw Lei Jingye''s journey after leaving Paradise Sand City, their first meeting, secretly sneaking into Daoyi''s room, meeting the Heaving Surpassing Sage''s soul, and eventually their second meeting before blacking out. Head Elder Huang narrowed his eyes when he saw the Heaven Surpassing Sage''s soul. The soul had the appearance of a dragon. He had no evidence, but his intuition was screaming that it was the Dragon Emperor. Then the Lei Jingye''s memories resumed when he was awoken in the Earthsea Land after Tianyi defeated him. Watching this, Sect Master Xia furrowed his brows. "Head Elder Huang, what are your thoughts on this?" Although Sect Master Xia was the Sect Master, Head Elder Huang Feihong was stronger and had greater seniority than him, so his tone was full of respect. "I don''t have any evidence, but my intuition is telling me that it is the Dragon Emperor. But there is one fact I am certain of, that Heaven Surpassing Sage is not a mere soul fragment. Maybe it''s a clone that wants to become the main body, but its danger is real." At Head Elder Huang''s words, the situation''s severity increased severalfold. "Little Tianyi, you said that you fought him at the Earthsea Land. Do you have any clues?" Sect Master Xia asked. Tianyi shook his head. "In our battle, I wasn''t even conscious when I won. I relied on a previous preparation to defeat the Dragon Emperor. By the time I woke up, it was Lei Jingye. I thought he was pretending to be Lei Jingye." Sect Master Xia looked towards Grand Elder Zhang. "I already checked his soul. Aside from being a soul fragment clone, I cannot detect anything else." "Seal him away. His future memories will be useful. We can slowly use it to our advantage." Sect Master Xia ordered. He started to arrange for a task force to search the Earthsea Land for any trace of the Dragon Emperor''s soul. When the stony-faced brocade immortals dragged away Lei Jingye, Head Elder Huang called out, "Stop!" The brocade immortals immediately stopped as Head Elder Huang stepped toward Lei Jingye. He frowned as he started to walk around Lei Jingye and closely examined him. "Did you discover something?" Sect Master Xia asked, a bit surprised since Grand Elder Zhang didn''t discover anything. Finally, Head Elder Huang shook his head. "I thought I sensed something, it might have been my imagination." But Sect Master Xia felt his heartbeat speed up as he observed Lei Jingye''s body. Better be safe than sorry. In the end, he ordered the brocade immortals to lock Lei Jingye in the Seven Emotions and Six Desires Abyss. The Seven Emotions and Six Desires Abyss was the most secure prison of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Anyone who was locked inside without the proper protection would be buried under their own delusion formed from their emotions, desires, and obsessions, never able to wake up. Even immortals were not exempt. "Hehe..." Lei Jingye started to mutter to himself even as he was being dragged, already under the prison''s effect. "Xi Longyi, justice is finally dealt! Hahahahah!!! Buzhou Immortal Sect...you raised... the devil... don''t think..."
"What? Lovespot failed his Unity Heavenly Tribulation and suffered a huge backlash. Now, it''s not known whether he can even keep his Nascent Soul Realm cultivation?" Upon returning to Jade Peak, Tianyi immediately heard this news. Tianyi''s lips couldn''t help but twitch. His musing on how Sect Master Xia planned on using Lei Jingye''s future knowledge, long forgotten. He actually wasn''t happy that he didn''t get to off Lei Jingye, but catching the Dragon Emperor was more important. Now, he heard that Lovespot failed his Unity Heavenly Tribulation. His mood skyrocketed, and he instantly sent Su Bojing to learn more information. Chapter 143: Humiliation "Where''s my grandfather? I need to see him! Hurry up and bring me to see my grandfather!" Lovespot grabbed the sleeve of an earth immortal standing in front of the Justice Hall. Lovespot''s face was as white as paper, his lips white as wax, and his eyes bloodshot. Because of his agitated actions, blood started to leak from his lips. The earth immortal frowned when he saw Lovespot. He could still remember when he had been ridiculed and forced to follow Lovespot''s demand every time the wastrel came to Justice Hall. He had no choice. The head elder at the time was Immortal Redseal, and thus he could only lay his head low. Lovespot didn''t break any rules of Justice Hall, and even if he did, the then Head Elder Redseal would sweep them under the rug. So every time Lovespot came, as one of the frequent front guards of Justice Hall, he would be abused and even ridiculed. "Not here." The earth immortal said, his eyes shining as he looked at Lovespot. Finally, he can repay some of the grievances he had received. He could still remember how Lovespot mocked him as a failed immortal with no future. "Not here?" Lovespot''s gasped through pained teeth. He had failed his Unity Heavenly Tribulation. Even though the immortal guarding him had dispersed the heavenly tribulation, but the backlash was too big. Even the true immortal had suffered injuries and had to enter seclusion to heal his wounds. If it was only the backlash from the tribulation, Lovespot wouldn''t be in a terrible situation. But because of him constantly taking shortcuts in his cultivation and his reckless use of living pills, his foundation was precarious at best. If he passed the tribulation, then nothing would have happened, but he failed and now all those problems erupted. And now, his nascent soul and spiritual core had numerous cracks on it. To add insult to the injury, his spiritual core was originally a yellow grade core that had been forcibly raised to the gold grade. Qi constantly leaked from his body as more and more tiny cracks appeared in his nascent soul and spiritual core. With his nascent soul''s condition, he couldn''t even possess someone else. "Then get my grandfather for me!" Lovespot would have screamed those words out if he wasn''t in so much pain. The earth immortal unabashedly rolled his eyes and gave a smile full of ill intent. "I can''t. Immortal Redseal has been imprisoned for a thousand years as punishment." "You''re lying!" Lovespot almost vomited blood at hearing this. If he couldn''t heal his injuries, then he would lose his cultivation and become a cripple! "Quickly get him. If you lie again, I''ll have my grandfather punish you!" How could he die? He only made a little mistake. Next time he underwent his Unity Heavenly Tribulation, he would definitely succeed. He was still young, he still had a long life ahead of him, how could he just become a cripple? A crippled cultivator was even more lowly than a mortal! "Stop making a scene. Leave now, before I force you." The earth immortal coldly said, the disdain in his eyes obvious. At the same time, there was a hint of anticipation. Lovespot was completely enraged by the disdain in the other''s party''s eyes. He moved forward, wanting to punch the other party. But before he knew it, he was already on his back. The impact sent waves of pain through his body, causing him to hack out blood. "Hmpf, do you think today was yesterday? You''re no longer the grandson of the Justice Hall''s Head Elder." The Earth Immortal mocked. "Leave before I have you jailed for causing a public disturbance." In truth, the earth immortal wanted nothing more than to kill Lovespot then and there. His family had already long died years ago, and he was reaching the end of his lifespan. He likely, wouldn''t even make it till Immortal Redseal left imprisonment, so killing Lovespot was appealing. But he could live at least a hundred more years. Wasting the rest of his life on a trash was not worth it. Lovespot stood back up and look at his dirtied clothes. He glared hatefully at the earth immortal guard. Once he found his grandfather, he''ll have this guard punished and crippled! But he was unwilling to leave just like that, so he shouted. "Just you wait, my grandfather won''t let you go!" But before Lovespot could leave, a heavy pressure descended and caused nearly everyone to freeze; the earth immortal guards weren''t an exception. "What''s the ruckus?" "Head Elder!" Upon seeing the person come out, the guards immediately kneeled with their heads low. The earth immortal guard from earlier quickly recounted the events. "Oh?" The new Justice Hall Head Elder exclaimed and glanced at Lovespot as if he was a bug, no he was worse than a bug. A bug wouldn''t cause this much trouble. Lovespot felt a cold sweat drench his body. His grandfather was an immortal monarch but had purposely reigned in his aura to not affect Lovespot. But the new Justice Hall Head Elder wasn''t so thoughtful. In fact, he even had the thought of killing Lovespot then and there. He was of the same faction as Immortal Redseal, but in order to put him into the head elder position, the Conservative Faction had to pay a considerable price. And the root of all this was due to Lovespot. "I''ll consider Redseal''s face and let you go this time. But next time you cause such a ruckus, you won''t escape punishment. Scram!" In the end, the Justice Hall Head Elder didn''t kill Lovespot. Sowing such an enmity with Immortal Redseal for a bug wasn''t worth it. Lovespot had a nasty expression on his face as he quickly retreated. Despite being protected all his life, he could still detect killing intent. Of course, this was because the new Justice Hall Head Elder didn''t bother to hide it. But while he was fleeing, Lovespot felt his feet stumble over something and caused him to fall. "Senior Brother Lovespot, how could you trip down over nothing?" The words were of concern, but the mocking tone was unmistakable. Lovespot looked up and glared hatefully at the hypocrite smiling down on him. "You won''t get away with this!" "Brother Lovespot, what are you talking about? Senior Brother Ke was just worried about you since you clumsily fell down." This time it was a woman''s voice. "Hmpf, now you''re acting high and mighty. But weren''t you crying out in pleasure on bed before?" Lovespot sneered at the woman, instantly recognizing her. "You!" The woman wanted to rush up and hit Lovespot, but another disciple stopped her. "Don''t go up and hit up." The person glanced disdainfully at Lovespot. "He''s weak right now. What if you kill him with a touch? He''s as weak as a bug." "You!" This time it was Lovespot''s turn to shout at them. "You all won''t get away with this!" "What do you mean? We simply heard of Brother Lovespot''s condition and came to help you. Look at how injured you are, falling down over nothing." Another person said. Lovespot glared hatefully at them while standing up. Only now he had realized how many people were there. He was surrounded by over a hundred people. Some of them he recognized as people he had tormented before. He finally became afraid. "W-w-what are you people doing!" The people who gathered here were the ones Lovespot had tormented but managed to avoid the worst possible situation. At the same time, they were people with enough influence to monitor the Redseal Estate for news of Lovespot''s action. Before, Lovespot never left, so they didn''t have a chance to take revenge. But now... "Brother Lovespot, we simply want to help you. Look at how injured you are. We need help carry Brother Lovespot to get treatment." One of them said as he grabbed Lovespot''s arm. "Indeed. As fellow disciples, we should help each other out." Another disciple said as he grabbed Lovespot''s other arm. Lovespot let out a howl of pain under the crushing grips. "H-h-harming a fellow disciple is against the sect laws!" "Oh, Brother Lovespot actually know harming a fellow disciple is against the sect laws? I thought you didn''t know." One of the crowd said. "No, no. Brother Lovespot knowing this law is very natural. He must have heard so many times that he memorized it by heart. Out of all the disciples, Brother Lovespot is definitely the most knowledgable concerning the sect laws." At this, all of them laughed, but the chilly undertone sent shivers down Lovespot''s spine. "Let me go, let me go! Once my grandfather hears of this, you won''t get away!" Lovespot screamed. "Brother Lovespot, we said before, we simply want to treat your injuries." Another one said, refuting Lovespot''s words. But Lovespot was clear that he didn''t want these people''s "treatment." "Besides, we''re helping you. Without your grandfather, who else can you rely on but us?" "Ha, Lovespot doesn''t even put Senior Brother Xi in his eyes. Naturally, he disdains people like us." Another one ridiculed, causing Lovespot''s face to turn red in anger as he recalled the humiliation he faced. "You shouldn''t say such words. Brother Lovespot is the most famous disciple. He naturally has the justification for being arrogant. Even descendants of true immortal like us are just ants to him. Still, it is our duty as fellow disciples to aid each other. Remember how much Brother Lovespot helped us before?"If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. At those words, none of the people laughed. All of them stared coldly at Lovespot and remembered the humiliation they received. Most of them were just side branches of a true immortal''s family or an earth immortal''s family, but how could their family be willing to offend Immortal Redseal for them? They were proud sons and daughters of the heavens, destined to rise above the rest of the rabble. But they suffered humiliation due to his scourge, yet they couldn''t even get justice! Naturally, they didn''t dare to kill Lovespot. Not even speaking what would happen to them when Immortal Redseal found out, their family would kill them first to save the clan. Having already felt the disparity between the two, they just wanted to torment Lovespot as much as possible while they still had the chance. A day later, Lovespot was found in front of the Redseal Estate. The people who brought Lovespot away didn''t dare to bring him away for too long. After all, what if Redseal''s subordinate came looking for them? This time it was only those few who tormented Lovespot. The immortals just turned a blind eye to all this. As long as Lovespot didn''t die under their hand, they didn''t care. Even the servants and earth immortals still in Redseal''s estate looked coldly at him. Most of the true immortal under Redseal distance themselves from Lovespot, disdaining him to the maximum. The only reason the true immortal protector from before helped Lovespot during his tribulation was because it was Redseal''s final order before his imprisonment. But he suffered the Heavenly Dao''s retilation and injured because of Lovespot, so how could he have good feelings towards the brat? From that day on, Lovespot refused to leave the Redseal Estate to the disappointment of all those watching Redseal Estate like a hawk. How come we didn''t know you were so cowardly? Weren''t you so courageous before, when you mocked and torment us? Just because you don''t your grandfather anymore, you became like this? You piece of trash! Lovespot had never been so tormented in his life. Just closing his eyes would make him recall all the acupuncture received as "treatment." He would remember his skin burning up from the cream they applied. As someone who had only tormented others, Lovespot couldn''t stand the same treatment. But as the days passed, Lovespot was constantly tormented by pain as his cultivation regressed. He already ordered his servants and his grandfather''s subordinates to gather pills and treasures to heal him. But none of them could find a definite solution. And the true immortals refused to help him. They way they saw it, once Lovespot died, Redseal would return to his brilliant self. And dying due to injuries from heavenly tribulation was common, so Redseal couldn''t use it to stir trouble for Jade Peak either. He had even forcibly cut short the true immortal''s seclusion to have him gather medicine for him. But the true immortal only rolled his eyes when Lovespot rebuked him for refusing. Did he really think that he was anything without his grandfather? The true immortal had already suffered injuries to protect Lovespot, and now Lovespot wanted him to use his own funds to provide treatment for the wastrel? In his dreams! Without any methods to treat his regressing cultivation, Lovespot could only withstand the pain and hope that his grandfather could quickly exit his imprisonment. He even tried to send messages to his grandfather, but all of them were blocked! "Those bastards! Once this lord''s grandfather exits seclusion, I''ll have them flayed and skinned alive!" Lovespot cursed. It wasn''t the first time he spewed vulgarities. He knew it was useless words, but doing so at least made his heart feel a bit better. "And that Xi Tianyi, he''ll be the first one I torture!" In Lovespot''s eyes, it was all Tianyi''s fault for his current predicament. If it hadn''t been for Tianyi, why would he attempt his Unity Heavenly Tribulation? If he hadn''t failed, would the people dare to bully him like this? Xi Tianyi that bastard should have just accepted his lower status and allow him to do as he wanted! If Lovespot were to know that it was Tianyi''s idea to remove his grandfather from his Head Elder''s position, he would undoubtedly curse Tianyi even more. Even if Lovespot succeeded in entering the Unity Realm, the people he tormented would still find ways to torment him in return. The people he tormented weren''t in the minority. Many had even became Unity Realm elders after escaping his clutches, although they were in the minority. Right now, the true immortal under Redseal had trouble fending for themselves due to Lovespot''s folly. It was already good if they didn''t find trouble with Lovespot themselves. As for shielding him? The same words as before. Dream on! On the day after Tianyi returned, Lovespot''s eyes became red as his hatred for revitalized upon hearing the fact. He wanted to immediately find trouble for Tianyi but stopped once he remembered his regressing cultivation. He was still at the Nascent Soul Realm, if barely, but his combat prowess was only at the Core Formation Realm. "Xi.Tian.Yi! Just wait till my grandfather comes out!" Lovespot growled out, but he suddenly heard a voice out of nowhere. "You won''t be able to take revenge. But don''t worry, I''ll help you." Before Lovespot couldn''t react, and he didn''t even have time to scream from the pain before his eyes clouded over as his consciousness grew blurry. When his eyes sharpened once more, the face was the same, but the soul was different. "That Old Bastard Huang Feihong almost discovered me. Luckily, I possessed a partial inheritance of Lunar Goddess Chang''e, allowing my presence to be hidden." The words were spoken with Lovespot''s voice, but it was no longer just empty arrogance, but one backed by years of authority and experience. "Buzhou Immortal Sect, hmpf. I''ll use your own sect''s resources to fuel ascension and take revenge. I wonder what your faces will look like when I attain the peak using your resources?" The Dragon Emperor grinned as he imagined the scene. But he quickly broke out of it. He had to fix this body. "Luckily, I managed to find a compatible body, and the soul happened to be injured, so I was able to easily take over." Due to his expenditure against Tianyi, his soul had grown incredibly weak. Weaker than before he met Lei Jingye, but it seemed his luck was quite good. He felt that the body he possessed was almost as compatible as one of his clones. But soon, he couldn''t help but curse. "What''s with this shitty body!" The Dragon Emperor cursed. "The foundation is full of holes is unstable. Even with all my knowledge, I can''t save it!!!" When the Dragon Emperor took over, he had to dealt a critical blow to Lovespot''s soul. After he had injured it, the Dragon Emperor sealed the original owner of the body''s soul. Truthfully, the possession would have been more perfect if he had exterminated the soul, but the Dragon Emperor was clear about the soul lamps lit up important disciples. He would not make a rookie mistake and lead suspicion onto him. Briefly, the Dragon Emperor thought of visiting the body owner''s soul lamp and replacing the imprint with his own, but he quickly denied it. This was practically sending information about himself to his archnemesis. However, because he was weakened from before, the Dragon Emperor only barely allowed Lovespot''s soul to hover between extermination and life. He was afraid that if he didn''t do this, Lovespot would have been able to counterattack. As a result, Lovespot''s soul was incredibly weak and fragile, only the barest amount was left. Even if Lovespot''s soul was freed and regained control, he would have lost the majority of his memories. Due to this, the Dragon Emperor didn''t know of Lovespot''s memories and circumstances. But he wasn''t afraid of being found out that he wasn''t the original body''s owner. He could discern that Lovespot failed his heavenly tribulation. He simply had to pretend he lost his memories. It wasn''t as though such a situation never happened before. "Forget it, forget it. Even if the foundation has been damaged, I''ll just have to revert the spiritual core back to a spiritual vein and start cultivating all over again." And with his experience and techniques, it would be a heavenly spiritual vein. When the Dragon Emperor was still a youth, he had triple spiritual veins, but he was confident he would succeed even faster now. With his knowledge, his rise would be much smoother than his first or second time. And plus, this body''s owner seemed to have quite a backing. When he snuck into the estate, the formation protecting it was quite good. The Dragon Emperor began the process of reversing his spiritual core back into a spiritual vein. Although the core was cracked, it still hadn''t completely shattered, so it was still salveable. Only someone like him with the experience of an immortal emperor and knowing the secret technique could turn the core back into a vein. Once it was all done, the Dragon Emperor''s body was that of a mortal once more. Luckily, Immortal Redseal had used numerous treasures to extend Lovespot''s life to the maximum of thirty-six hundred years. Otherwise, the body would have withered to dust immediately after suffering the backlash from its age as a mortal body that lost all cutlivation. With the remnant qi within his body, it was easy for him to re-cultivate back to the twelfth stage of the Qi Gathering Realm. When the Dragon Emperor opened his eyes again, he summoned a maid. When the maid appeared, the Dragon Emperor smiled and caused her to blush and fall under his enthrallment. Brushing his hand against the beauty spot, the Dragon Emperor curled the corner of his lips. Although he was only a qi gathering pupil, the body was still quite good now that he could recultivate its foundation. He could tell that it was supremely suited to the Dragon Emperor Fist. The potential just needed to be unearthed. The Dragon Emperor could already imagine surpassing his peak with this new body. After gathering some information from the maid, the maid left. He reached into his pouch and investigated all the treasure Lovespot had. The Dragon Emperor became filled with joy at the riches. There were even more immortal artifacts than he had before. But he quickly grimaces as he thought of his losses. The two most painful losses were the Red Dragon Lotus, an artifact that could nourish the dragon bloodline. And the second was the most painful of all! Temporal Void Domain was a tower-shaped treasure. Its defense was mediocre, and its offensive power was practically nil. But it could speed up the time within and aggregated the spiritual qi of heaven and earth. It was one of the best treasures for cultivation that the Dragon Emperor had even possessed! What''s worse was that it landed in the hands of Tianyi. Just thinking of it made the Dragon Emperor gnash his teeth. But he forced himself to calm down. He will remember all the debt between the two and repay it back tenfold in the future. "I''ve reached the limit. My spatial pouch doesn''t currently have any of the materials needed to aid me in opening the eight extraordinary meridians. Last time I couldn''t open all of them, but now I can. If I had opened them, I wouldn''t have lost!" The Dragon Emperor left the Redseal Estate as he planned to purchase those materials that could aid him in his goals. "Brother Lovespot, your cultivation has regressed, but your face appears healthy. Have you healed yourself?" A person suddenly walked up to Lovespot and asked. The Dragon Emperor detected the hidden aggression of the person, but he smiled back. "Thank you for your concern. Unfortunately, I seemed to have lost my memories. How do I address this brother?" The person made a queer expression at the Dragon Emperor''s words, but soon a sneer made his way onto his lips. He placed his arms over the Dragon Emperor''s shoulders in a vice-like hold. "Brother Lovespot, don''t think that just because you pretend to have lost your memories, that all your offenses will be forgotten." Before the Dragon Emperor could say anything, he felt his body seize up. He glared at the person who froze his body, but he soon didn''t have time to ponder over that as five more disciples appeared and brought him away. Soon, he was surrounded by over a hundred disciples giving him looks of hatred. The Dragon Emperor couldn''t help but feel stifled. Was he going to die just like this? He had just taken over this body! And if he was forced to leave it again, who knew when he would awake next? "Don''t go overboard! You are breaking the sect laws!" The Dragon Emperor shouted. The disciples sneered, even more sure that Lovespot was pretending to lose his memories. See? Isn''t he repeating the same words, just like last time? The Dragon Emperor had never felt so humiliated. Compared to the physical pain he felt was nothing to the shame he suffered. Even at his worst, he had never been so humiliated by a group of weaklings like this! At the very least, the people who wanted him dead or tortured him were immortals! His expression grew even more unsightly when he caught sight of the person responsible for his current situation, Xi Tianyi! Yes, he blamed everything on Xi Tianyi! Chapter 144: Three Methods Upon hearing that Lovespot finally left the Redseal estate, Tianyi impatiently made a trip. He wanted to how terrible Lovespot''s condition was. And when he arrived, he saw Lovespot being tormented by over a hundred disciples. Most of them had some backing, but not to the point of being a direct descendant or disciple of a true immortal. As such, most of them were core disciples, but Tianyi even spotted a few inner disciples. But what surprised Tianyi the most was that Lovespot only closed his eyes and ignored the torment. No matter what was done to him, he simply gritted his teeth and silently endured it. Lovespot''s greatest support was the treasures given by Redseal and the guards. Unlike Mengfei, Redseal couldn''t bear for Lovespot to harmed even the slightest bit, so his willpower was feeble. He would necessarily be able to endure the pain a foundation establishment disciple could endure despite his former higher cultivation. Just like when Tianyi brought out the Jade Peak Seal against Lovespot, he immediately sent out a call for aid for Redseal once he saw that his immortal artifacts were far weaker and the pressure began to affect him. He couldn''t bear to take any risks either. Perhaps it was because if he were in Tianyi''s shoes, he would undoubtedly attempt to deal a fatal blow. He thought everyone had no morals like him. They just didn''t expose it because they weren''t powerful enough. Tianyi grabbed a Core Formation Realm inner disciple and asked him what happened. "Hmpf, it seems like the pain of failing his tribulation has strengthened his will. The first time, he was screaming every time we did something. He would scream like a little girl. Hmpf, at last, he can understand a hundredth of the pain the people he tormented felt. Don''t you think so- S-Se-Senior Brother Xi!" The Core Formation Realm disciple yelled out in surprise when he saw who it was that asked him. But Tianyi wasn''t paying attention to him because he was looking at Lovespot, who had opened his eyes and was glaring daggers at him. Tianyi smiled slightly and waved mockingly at him. He felt elated at Lovespot''s further infuriated glare. "I heard that Lovespot castrated a few men before. Why aren''t you castrating him?" Tianyi lightly asked. The Core Formation Realm disciple shivered as his legs buckled as if he could already feel the pain. He looked at the calm Tianyi and stuttered. "H-a-aha, Senior Brother Xi, you must be kidding. Lovespot is still Immortal Redseal''s only grandson. These little tricks, we can still do, but if we go too far, none of us can escape punishment." Tianyi didn''t say anything and handed the Core Formation Realm disciple a pill bottle carved from jade. Seeing the uncomprehending expression, Tianyi said, "Inside, there are twenty Concealed Vitality Pills. Even a single pill can regrow his "pride" tens of times." "S-Senior Brother must really hate that Lovespot." The Core Formation Realm disciple said, shocked. How much must Tianyi hate Lovespot for him to give twenty Concealed Vitality Pills just to torment Lovespot? It must be known that a single pill wasn''t cheap, even for a Unity Venerable. Tianyi showed a confused expression. "What are you talking about, Junior Brother? I simply saw that you had talent and needed some help, so I gave you some pills. As for my comment about Disciple Lovespot, it''s just a comparison for you to understand how impressive the pills are." The Core Formation Realm disciple was stunned for a moment before an understanding expression dawned on him. He gave a sly smile and cupped his fist to Tianyi. "Thank you, Senior Brother Xi, for your aid. I will cultivate diligently." The Core Formation Realm disciple pushed through the crowd of disciples and brought up the proposition of castrating Lovespot. When they showed hesitation, the Core Formation Realm disciple revealed three Concealed Vitality Pills. The disciples immediately thought of the people who wanted to take revenge but didn''t want to act personally. But so what? They were willing to be the knife in someone''s hand. Hell, they were willing to be the knife and the hand! Especially the females, whose''s eyes shone at the pills. They had long had the thought of castrating Lovespot, but they were too afraid of causing irreparable damage and causing the situation to blow out of hand. But now that they had the Concealed Vitality Pill, that was no longer an issue. The Dragon Emperor''s eyes nearly bulged out of his sockets when he was force-fed a Concealed Vitality Pill. The Core Formation Realm disciple didn''t hide his voice at all, so the Dragon Emperor knew what was going to occur to him. Even at his lowest, he had never experienced such humiliation! The most hateful part was that the Dragon Emperor knew that Tianyi was the cause of all this. He had been glaring dagger at Tianyi since he heard his voice, so he saw how Tianyi gave the pill bottle to the disciple who propositioned the idea. A beautiful female disciple glared hatefully at the Dragon Emperor. "Lovespot, Lovespot, you probably never imagined karma would bite you back, didn''t you?" The Dragon Emperor didn''t have a chance to answer as he howled in pain for the first time as the female stomped on his family jewels. He could feel two things bursting between his legs as his howl turned incredibly high-pitched. But she wasn''t done after a few stomps, she made sure to twisted her heel and grind the crushed meat even more. The men who heard and saw this couldn''t help but clench their legs together as they saw this. They were gleeful at Lovespot''s pain, but they couldn''t help but sympathize as a fellow man. But their hate was greater than their sympathy, so although they wouldn''t personally stomp on a man''s manhood, they would coldly watch from the side, no matter how the discomfort they felt. Once the female disciple was finished, the Dragon Emperor''s genital was practically turned to mush. The worst part was that he could feel a cool and gentle energy moved towards his crotch and heal his genitals. The healing process made the pain even worse as he felt the nerves of his genital reconstruct themselves. The shame and pain caused his face to go red as he glared hatefully at Tianyi''s disappearing back. Just when he felt that he couldn''t be humiliated any further, Tianyi sent him even deeper into the abyss. Buzhou Immortal Sect prides itself as the number one orthodox sect, but look at how these disciples acts. Even the child of the Grand Elder has such gall! The Buzhou Immortal Sect will eventually fall because of its shameful conduct! And I will be the one to brings its downfall!!! Tianyi didn''t know that he dealt another blow to the Dragon Emperor without knowing it. Although he proposed the idea and even pushed it up, but he had no interest in seeing a man''s genital being crushed. Just hearing Lovespot''s high-pitched howls of pain was enough. He felt the corner of his lips curl upward in satisfaction. Even the tension from almost dying to the Dragon Emperor that accompanied him loosened. He was a person whose mood would lift at the pain of his enemies, but so what? That was just his personality. When he returned, he should ask Daoyi''s opinion on how to torment Lovespot. She should also want to torment that asshole too. But when he asked, he got a surprise.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. "You don''t want to?" Tianyi asked, surprised. Daoyi nodded. "That day, I was unharmed. The thing I hate the most is Lovespot''s character. Since other people will torment him, why should I dirty my own hands for that trash." Hearing his junior sister''s words, Tianyi felt embarrassed about how he personally manipulated the crowd to castrate Lovespot. "But Senior Brother is different. Lovespot''s grandfather was the reason for your injuries, so getting revenge is natural. Although I don''t approve of going after innocent family members of the perpetrator, but Lovespot is hardly innocent." Daoyi added, easily seeing through Tianyi''s thoughts. Tianyi felt joy well up at how understanding his junior sister was. He patted Daoyi on the shoulder. "You are the best junior sister I''ve ever had." Daoyi giggled. "I''m the only junior sister you''ve had." Tianyi chuckled. But he couldn''t maintain it for long as he felt a prickly sensation on his hand. He looked, and he saw Daoyi''s spiritual beast beginning to step onto his hand. With the greatest speed he ever exhibited in his life, Tianyi pulled his hand away and appeared tens of meters away, causing Daoyi''s giggle to turn into full-blown laughter. "I''ll be leaving now, I still have matters to attend to," Tianyi said as he used one hand to cover his face in shame. He totally wasn''t fleeing, not at all! When Tianyi returned to his newly constructed estate, the smile left his face as his eyes darkened. Seeing Lovespot suffered did indeed lift his spirits, but that was only temporary. If it weren''t for Redseal, Tianyi wouldn''t even have considered Lovesopt a threat. Right now, his main focus was to become stronger. His cultivation still increased without him having to do much, so he had to think of other ways to get stronger. He was too careless. The thought of someone in the same realm or even a realm above him being a threat never struck Tianyi much. The battle almost made Tianyi clear of his weakness. His willpower was too weak! If his willpower was stronger, would he have been paralyzed by the pain, would he be unable to retaliate? Thankfully he had made some measures and that the immortal pill had its own spirituality, allowing it to attack while he was incapacitated. After some deliberations, Tianyi thought of three ways to increase his strength quickly. The first method was to increase his power so that when he attacked, his opponent would be dealt with as soon as possible. Tianyi already had a method, and it was inspired by his creation of the Nuclear Self Detonation Technique, or rather, the three states of matter: gas, water, and solid. He could condense lighting into solid, despite how illogical it was. Why couldn''t he condense qi into a liquid state? And then into a solid state? Tianyi''s greatest strength was his inexhaustible source of true qi. His learning ability was high, but none of them were extreme like the sheer inexhaustible qi he possessed. Rather, he was a more all-rounded type of character, easily learning many techniques but needing more effort to master them fully. That''s why his highest mastery was only advanced. None of the techniques have reached the master level. If the power of the energy fueling him became stronger, then he would increase his strength severalfold. The second method was to perfect his cultivation method. Strictly speaking, his spiritual and soul cultivation method had merged with each other, but his martial cultivation method hadn''t. The Body Transformation Realm of the martial cultivation correlated to the Qi Gathering and Foundation Establishment Realm of spiritual cultivation, and the Acupoint Opening Realm correlated to the Core Formation Realm. And for the Nascent Soul Realm equivalent, it was the Soul Nourishing Realm. As the name implied, reaching this realm would, the cultivator would use their martial body to nourish their soul. Although a martial cultivator''s soul wouldn''t be as strong as a spiritual or soul cultivator''s, it was enough. Tianyi''s martial cultivation hadn''t reached this point yet. Strictly speaking, even though it had the power greater than most soul nourishing grandmasters, it was ultimately flawed. Without Tianyi''s Sole Yin, Eight Trigram Yang Nine Core Revolution Formation, anyone cultivating it was just asking for death. But if Tianyi upgraded it, then it should increase the strength of his soul, which would increase his defense against soul methods in turn. But it wasn''t as simple as creating the Soul Nourishing Realm portion of the cultivation method. Tianyi wanted to perfectly merge all three systems of cultivation into a single method. As could be expected, such a thing was easier said than done. At the very least, he had to discover a method that would allow all three of his cultivation method to perfectly merge. Otherwise, his ambition would be a pipe dream. As for the third method, it was the one Tianyi didn''t want to attempt at all, and that was to temper his willpower. To temper his willpower, the most effective method was to suffer! In the Buzhou Immortal Sect, there was a special location known as the Paradise Agony Abyss. As the name suggested, it was a hole in the ground that would continuously bring the people inside to illusions of pleasure and pain. Only by resisting the effects could they temper their will. And a firm will would be able to resist soul methods even without a defensive soul techniques. Tianyi shuddered as he recalled the Dragon Emperor''s soul attack. The Dragon Emperor wasn''t even a soul cultivator, but Tianyi was still almost killed! He finally understood why soul cultivators were so feared. Their means were mysterious and unblockable, bringing terror to their foes. If the Dragon Emperor could unleash such an attack without being a pure soul cultivator, what about pure soul cultivators? What Tianyi didn''t consider was that the Dragon Emperor was a former immortal emperor and possessed numerous inheritances such as the Lunar Goddess Chang''e''s inheritance from the previous era, so he had numerous means. And his soul was special due to having been downgraded from an immortal''s soul, so his soul attacks would actually be more terrifying than most soul cultivators. Really, not understanding till personally experiencing it yourself. Tianyi thought to himself. Tianyi planned on trying the second method first. The first method could be considered a shortcut. Although it would raise his strength temporarily, it wasn''t helping him in anything else. In contrast, both the second and third methods would raise his foundation. He chose the second method first because he really didn''t want to experience the third method. But it was something he eventually had to face. Just as he was about to begin ruminating the Soul Nourishing Realm segment for his martial cultivation, Su Bojing came in. "What is it?" "Young Master, this was sent over from Justice Hall." Su Bojing handed Tianyi a spatial ring. Upon seeing Tianyi''s confused look, he elaborated. "It''s that Lei Jingye''s spatial ring." Tianyi slapped his face. He was a terrible cultivator. One of the first things you had to do when defeating another cultivator was to loot their treasures! Although he disdained many of the things in most cultivator''s possession -he was, after all, filthy rich thanks to his mother. Hell, a true immortal''s eyes might go green if they knew the good stuff in his possession-, but Lei Jingye was different. As someone who had regressed back in time, he had heaven-defying luck. Not to mention that he was possessed by the Dragon Emperor, and how could ordinary treasures enter the Dragon Emperor''s eyes? Excitement colored Tianyi''s eyes. I''ll take this as compensation for almost killing me. I''ll settle the rest of the debt when we meet again. With each treasure brought out, Tianyi felt his disappointment grow. Sure, the immortal artifacts such as Red Dragon Lotus were good, and the golden armor as well, but with Mengfei''s care towards Tianyi, it wasn''t something irreplaceable. Not to mention, they were damaged as well. Tianyi shivered when he saw numerous familiar black stones. Although his body no longer longed for the Dragon Emperor''s blood essence, but Tianyi could never forget the pain that came from absorbing the Dragon Emperor''s blood essence. Thinking back, all of Tianyi''s greatest suffering seemed to have originated from the Dragon Emperor. But when Tianyi brought out the miniature tower covered in silver light, his eyes shone. This was precisely the Temporal Void Domain! After inspecting it, Tianyi became more and more satisfied as he discovered its uses. It was like sending coals in winter, and the sender was Tianyi''s most hated enemy. If the Dragon Emperor knew that Tianyi benefited so much from his suffering, he would probably vomit blood constantly like when Tianyi was still in the Core Formation Realm. Had to say, the Dragon Emperor was pretty pitiful. Both times he met Tianyi, he suffered significant losses. The first time, not only did his women die, but he was chased by a true immortal with deep grudges against him. The second time was even worse. Although he nearly killed Tianyi, his losses were even more severe. Forced back into the Qi Gathering Realm and possessing the most hated disciple''s body and bearing all his karma. Chapter 145: Demon Slaying Expedition Tianyi pondered about whether or not to offer up the Temporal Void Domain to his mother. Compared to him, she was someone who could utilize it better than him. And she was his greatest backing, so it would not be wasteful in any way. But when Tianyi asked, Mengfei rejected the Temporal Void Domain. For her current cultivation, the increase in time flow was negligible. And the amount of energy she would expend to make it practical for herself was too high of a price. So it was better for Tianyi to use it. Tianyi nodded. Since his mother put it this way, he would use it himself. The Temporal Void Domain enlarged to its original size under Tianyi''s control. It had taken some time to refine. Although it was an Immortal Realm Artifact, using the Jade Peak Seal to create a loophole, Tianyi was able to become its master. And entering inside, Tianyi felt his whole view change. Inside the Temporal Void Domain, there were no walls, only pillars, stairs, and floors. Looking outside from the inside, Tianyi couldn''t see the scenery of Jade Peak but a scene of time distortion. There was no color, no shape, only eternity as if Tianyi was alone in the river of time. Tianyi immediately stepped back out and took a deep breath. He hadn''t expected the inside to be so abnormal. After steeling himself, Tianyi stepped inside once more. With his experience with the sea of time of his Mountains and Seas Formation, Tianyi was able to discern that the time flow was about twice as fast outside. Stepping up the stairs, the time flow increased to four times. But the time flow on the third floor was sixteen times the normal rate of time! The rate of time with each level didn''t just double but was squared, Tianyi realized. So the fourth floor''s time flow would be two hundred and fifty-six times the normal speed of time. When Tianyi tried to enter the fourth floor, he discovered that he was blocked by an invisible force. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t enter it at all. After investigating it for a while, he discovered that it was because the Temporal Void Domain didn''t have enough power, so the third floor was the current limit. With a thought, Tianyi began to insert his true qi of chaos into the Temporal Void Domain. Only after a long time was he finally able to open the fourth floor. But Tianyi stepped on the fourth floor for only a short time before he was forced out. Furthermore, he discovered that the generation of his true qi of chaos was much slower than normal. To others, it may be an issue, but for Tianyi, it was only a little problem. Settling his heart down, Tianyi began to ruminate on the next realm of his martial cultivation method. However, the longer Tianyi stayed, the more nauseous Tianyi felt. The issue wasn''t due to the environment but Tianyi himself. It was because he incorporated the Spring Autumn Scripture into his martial cultivation method. As a cultivation method that involved spacetime, the cultivator would be privy to vast amounts of knowledge concerning spacetime. So Tianyi was constantly bombarded with information concerning spacetime while he cultivated on the third level. The information his eyes saw, his ears heard, his skin sensed were too profound, far beyond Tianyi''s understanding resulting in the current situation. If it were someone clueless about spacetime, they wouldn''t even feel dizzy staying in the tower for an extended period of time. Unfortunately for Tianyi, he had significant amounts of knowledge concerning spacetime. Unable to withstand it anymore, Tianyi exited the Temporal Void Domain while rubbing his temples. But he wasn''t without gains. Space and time were two sides of the same coin, two halves of a whole. And Tianyi had always been more talented in space than time. With the new knowledge he gained, it could fix his imbalance. Even if it didn''t create the Soul Nourishing Realm method for his martial cultivation, the foundation of his Cosmos Martial Body would elevate onto a whole new level. After feeling his nausea recede, Tianyi returned to inside the Temporal Void Domain. But he didn''t enter the third floor, but the second floor instead. The temporal laws of the third floor made him too nauseous too fast. On the second floor, he could handle the bombardment of information better. But Tianyi soon discovered another issue. Staying alone made him feel extremely desolate. It was honestly a feeling that Tianyi hated. So he invited Daoyi, Xi Ri, and Su Bojing inside with him. Elder Meng refused and guarded the entrance instead. Upon entering, Daoyi, Xi Ri, and Su Bojing felt their eyes widen in amazement. "Is it really okay for us to use this too, Senior Brother?" Daoyi asked. Xi Ri didn''t say anything, but his face asked the same question as Daoyi. Su Bojing''s face was filled with excitement. He had to curb himself from speaking and telling the other two to just accept Tianyi''s goodwill. Tianyi waved his hand. "It''s fine. At this level, the Temporal Void Domain is autonomous, not costing anything at all. Right, if you feel that the tribulation is going to come, quickly leave the tower otherwise..." Before Tianyi could finish, several bolts of tribulation lightning pierced through the temporal distortion and struck him. "..." Tianyi sucked in a deep breath as he tried to calm himself down. It was like the Heavenly Dao was purposely doing this! "Nevermind." Daoyi giggled, to which Tianyi glared in response. Her giggled transformed into laughter. After everyone had a laugh, each went to their preferred floor. Daoyi and Su Bojing, as cultivators who were clueless about temporal laws, stayed on the third floor. Xi Ri stayed on the first floor as the bombardment of information on the second floor was too much for him. And Tianyi was alone on the second floor. But despite being alone on the second floor, he was comforted by the knowledge that he was not alone in the Temporal Void Domain.
"Young Master Bing, that Vast Heaven Young Master seems very impressive." Bai Ningwei asked with curious eyes. Bing Huoyuan smiled dotingly. Bai Ningwei''s talent was average at best, and since she hadn''t entered Boundless Mountain, he made her his maid. Although this was an abuse of power, Bai Ningwei wouldn''t need to take the disciple acceptance ceremony of Boundless Mountain, where she had a high chance of failing. Currently, the two of them were riding Bing Huoyuan''s immortal boat back to Boundless Mountain, it had been a while since they left the Xi Dynasty. He couldn''t directly take her Bright Ascension Sect. Plus, he had an ulterior motive. If Bai Ningwei became a member of Boundless Mountain, Bai Weiwei would always have a connection with him, tenuous as it was. But her strength was too weak, so Bing Huoyuan decided to help her cultivate to the Foundation Establishment Realm before taking her in as a disciple with his connections. "How can the Vast Heaven Young Master not be impressive?" Bing Huoyuan said. "Have you heard of the legendary Sword Empress?" Bai Ningwei shook her head, a reaction that shocked Bing Huoyuan. In the Xi Dynasty, Sword Empress Xi was practically their goddess in all but name. Their devotion was akin to the Cloud Goddess Cult''s faith in the Cloud Goddess.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. "Sword Empress Xi is the newest grand elder of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. You should have at least heard of them, correct?" Bai Ningwei nodded. "According to legends, she attained immortality at around a hundred years of age and became the youngest immortal emperor, taking only one thousand years. The fastest speed recorded in the history of the Huang Realm." "Wow, Sword Empress Xi sounds amazing." Bai Ningwei said, her eyes full of amazement but not too much shock. Bing Huoyuan gently shook his head, knowing that Bai Ningwei didn''t fully understand why it was so shocking. "The Vast Heaven Young Master is her son. According to rumors, he entered the Foundation Establishment Realm at the age of ten, Core Formation Realm at twelve, and Nascent Soul Realm at twenty. His speed is even faster than his mother''s." Bing Huoyuan added. Bai Ningwei''s eyes bulged. "How old is he now?" "Should be around thirty or so." Bing Huoyuan replied. "You mean he''s younger than me?" Bai Ningwei''s voice was full of shock. Despite her young and tender appearance suggested, she was already over fifty, but her Foundation Establishment Realm cultivation kept her young. Plus, Bing Huoyuan had given her some beauty pills as a present, making her skin whiter and even more tender. "Not to mention you, he''s even younger than me. I only reached Nascent Soul Realm at sixty years of age. I can''t compare to him." Bing Huoyuan said. "No, no, Young Master is plenty impressive. I heard that only supreme geniuses could become a Nascent Soul Realm Grandmaster under the age of one hundred!" Bai Ningwei said, her eyes full of admiration for Bing Huoyuan. Bing Huoyuan chuckled as he poked Bai Ningwei''s forehead. He felt as if his heart was tickled by a feather under Bai Ningwei''s admiring gaze. Their mannerism was slightly different. While Bai Weiwei was more introverted, Bai Ningwei was more extroverted. One was the sun, and the other a moon. But Bing Huoyuan still felt his chest puff under the face that was sixty percent similar to Bai Weiwei. "Young Master, Young Master!" Bai Ningwei suddenly shouted as she pointed at something outside the immortal boat. Bing Huoyuan looked out of the immortal boat and saw a gang of people chasing down a lone cultivator. It was nothing surprising. Fights often broke out over resources or grudges all the time. Even for disciples of first-rate sects like him, if the reward were worth the risk, even he would be targeted. "What''s wrong?" Bing Huoyuan asked, was there something special about the situation? "Young Master, those people are ganging up on a single person! It''s wrong. Why do people like to torment others so much?" Bai Ningwei said, her voice full of sadness as her eyes began to stare off into the distance as if recalling a memory. Bing Huoyuan realized that she was sympathizing with the pursued. It was not strange. She and Bai Weiwei were separated due to being assaulted after all. Controlling the immortal boat, Bing Huoyuan approached the scene of action. Waving his hand, a frosty aura covered the whole area and froze all of them in mid-action. "Young Master?" Bai Ningwei said, her voice full of confusion. Bing Huoyuan only smiled at her before looking down at the cultivators below him. When he spoke again, his voice resounded in the area, full of authority. "Speak, why are you pursuing the lone cultivator." The pursued, a peak Foundation Establishment realm cultivator, excitedly spoke. "Senior! Please save me. Those rascals saw that I had a treasure and wanted to steal it!!!" Bing Huoyuan didn''t respond. Instead, he looked towards the group of pursuers. The oldest looking peak Foundation Establishment Disciple spoke. "Senior, don''t listen to his lies. We are members of the Scarlet Breeze Sect. That scoundrel sneaked and killed one of our members. We are chasing him down for justice! Please see the truth!" Bing Huoyuan turned towards Bai Ningwei and said. "What do you think?" Bai Ningwei blinked in surprise at Bing Huoyuan''s sudden question. She scrunched her brows in deep concentration before speaking. "Young Master, although I don''t like them chasing one person. But the man in black is wrong for murdering someone. I don''t want him to be saved. He should be punished." Bing Huoyuan chuckled, and his eyes took on a doting gaze that he didn''t realize he even had. He waved his hand, and an ice-blue flame covered the black-robed cultivator. The cultivator wanted to beg for mercy, but he discovered that he was like an insect trapped in resin, unable to speak or move. The flame covered him in an instant, but he didn''t burn up. Instead, he felt an indescribable coldness. Terror welled up within him as he felt his conscious turn sluggish as his soul was quietly extinguished. The cultivator''s body shattered into countless tiny fragments, leaving behind his clothes and spatial bag. The members of the Scarlet Breeze Sect felt their spines chill at the horrific sight. "Let''s go." Bing Huoyuan said as he controlled the immortal boat to return to Boundless Mountain. He looked at Bai Ningwei and said. "What''s wrong. Did I scare you?" Bai Ningwei shook her head. "No, I just find it sad that there have to be so many deaths in the world. Why can''t everyone just get along? Haha, Young Master can ignore what I just said. I know it''s impossible. It''s just wishful thinking on my part." Bing Huoyuan reached his hand out and stroked Bai Ningwei''s hair. Bai Weiwei was kind, and she disliked fighting too. Bing Huoyuan quickly retracted his hands upon realizing how inappropriate his actions were. He just moved his hand out on reflex, like how he usually did when he and Bai Weiwei interacted. "Sorry, forgive my earlier actions." Bing Huoyuan said, not looking at the red-faced Bai Ningwei. Still, a smile lingered on his lips. I better not tell her that both parties are at fault. I could sense that the loose cultivator was carrying a treasure at the Core Formation rank. Both parties were probably competing for the treasure. The Scarlet Breeze Sect used the fact that the loose cultivator killed their sect member as a justification. They probably didn''t want me to interfere and lower the chance of me snatching the treasure. Bing Huoyuan shook his head. How could the world not have conflict? The world had limited resources. Every one of them was cultivating to attain immortality. If the resources were truly spread equally, very few would reach the Immortal Realm. Even within the sect, many disciples fought for resources and opportunities. Although rare, murder was not unheard of. Glancing at the blushing girl, Bing Huoyuan vowed to at least let a single person keep their innocence.
"Wow! The spiritual qi is so dense here. And we''re only at the foot of the mountain! And the mountain is so huge!" Bai Ningwei said, her voice full of awe. Like the name suggested, Boundless Mountain was situated on a single mountain. Unlike most other forces, all of Boundless Mountain was located with a single expansive mountain that saw no end, almost as if the mountain was a world onto itself. "The sect formation placed here gathers all the surrounding qi and concentrates it here. But compared to the actual cultivation chambers, the qi here is sparse." Bing Huoyuan explained as he led them past the mountain gate. Once he was inside the sect, he took out a disk. Stepping on it, he brought Bai Ningwei to his father''s estate. Bing Huoyuan''s father was an elderly true immortal that existed long enough to see the rise and fall of numerous immortal monarchs and immortal emperors. True immortals shared life and prosperity with the world. Once a true immortal ascended to the Seamless Immortal Realm, they separated from the world. Their lifespan depended on their willpower and dao. As such, it was not rare to see true immortals who lived longer than immortal monarchs and immortal emperors. Elder Bing, Bing Huoyuan''s father, had lived to the point that he almost lost interest in all things. But by chance, he fell in love with Bing Huoyuan''s mother and had Bing Huoyuan. Since his wife had long died, Elder Bing poured all his love into Bing Huoyuan as that was the only thing he cared for anymore. Without Bing Huoyuan, Elder Bing would be nothing more than a human-shaped tool or returned his body and soul to heaven and earth. Bing Huoyuan ordered his servants to help Bai Ningwei settle in and satisfy all her needs before going to meet his father. "Yuan''er." A white-haired elderly man with a face full of wrinkles smiled at Bing Huoyuan. He was dressed in pale gray, and there didn''t seem to be any of the pressure an immortal should have. In fact, he just seemed like an old man near the end of his lifespan. "Father." Bing Huoyuan smiled. He was worried about his father. He had heard lots of true immortals going into a deep sleep in order to stave off their growing detachment of everything. "You''re back, and it seems you''re in high spirits. Did you recover from your setback?" Elder Bing asked in a gentle and fatherly tone. "Somewhat." Bing Huoyuan. There was no way he could be proud that he had his confidence shattered due to heartbreak. Since young, Bing Huoyuan was exceptional. His junior brothers admired and envied him, his junior sisters were enamored with him. Talented and handsome, it was like there was nothing he couldn''t accomplish. Only she was unaffected by his talent and appearance, treating him like a bosom friend. "Do you know when our sect will collaborate with the Bright Ascension Sect?" Bing Huoyuan asked. Elder Bing sent Bing Huoyuan a knowing look but answered anyway. "Right now, all our forces are preparing for the Demon Slaying Expedition. It should occur within three to four years. You''ll meet your little darling there." Chapter 146: Embryonic Clone Soul "Grandfathers, can you reserve two slots for me?" Bing Huoyuan said. Elder Bing sent a glare toward Bing Huoyuan. "Do you think that as a half-retired immortal elder, I would have such clout? For true immortals like me, the current Demon Slaying Expedition isn''t that important. But with the seclusion of the demon race with the divine beasts, materials that were common thousands of years ago are no longer common. Now the largest source of demon resources is the Demon Cage Realm controlled by the Buzhou Immortal Sect. For this chance, many nascent soul grandmasters and above will fight tooth and nail. What makes you think that I will help you take a slot for that outsider girl?" "I never said it was for Ningwei." Bing Huoyuan mumbled, averting his eyes. "Stinky brat, I remember personally changing your diapers. Do you think I would not understand your little thoughts?" Elder Bing rebuked, causing Bing Huoyuan to shrink even more. "And there is a high chance that lass won''t come. With her natural talent, why would the Bright Ascension Sect waste a slot for her?" "Lai Erchu will definitely fight for a spot for Weiwei! And Weiwei simply needs a chance to shine. Her talent and heart aren''t any worse than me." Bing Huoyuan decisively said. Elder Bing slapped Bing Huoyuan''s head. "Stinky brat, only a nascent soul grandmaster, and you already know how to take back to your old man!?" Bing Huoyuan shrunk his shoulders together. But he quickly straightened them and stared straight at his grandfather. Elder Being glared back as he stroked his beard with perhaps a bit too much force as there were audible snapping sounds and several long beard hair falling onto the ground. "Fine, fine." Elder Bing relented first, causing a sunshine-like smile to appear on Bing Huoyuan''s face. Elder Bing felt a vein nearly pop. Unable to control himself, he slapped Bing Huoyuan''s head once more. Finally, Elder Bing sighed as he looked at Bing Huoyuan with a severe expression. "Yuan''er, I know your thoughts toward the lass, Bai Weiwei. For our alliance with the Bright Ascension Sect, what do you say I include her as part of it? As your wife or Dao companion." It was as if lightning had struck Bing Huoyuan. An expression of delight flashed across his face before it quickly turned to bitterness. "Forget it, forget it. I don''t seek to spend the rest of my life with her. I only wish for her to be happy." "Time after time, you aided her, but has she given anything in return? Don''t say that you don''t require anything from her. A relationship is a two-way street. If only one person gives, can that still be called a relationship?" "If she gives me anything in return, I''m afraid that it will affect her relationship with Lai Erchu. It''s better that she doesn''t. Besides, I''m willing." Bing Huoyuan said. "Yuan''er, you are the only family I have left. I hope you can attain immortality and happiness. If this continues, I''m afraid that you might develop an inner demon concerning that Bai Weiwei, and your immortal ascension will be at risk." Elder Bing said. "Besides, do you really only wish to stand quietly and protect from behind? Yuan''er, the alliance with the Bright Ascension Sect is your greatest advantage, don''t lose this chance." Bing Huoyuan fell into deep thought at his father''s words. Was he truly willing to let Bai Weiwei be with another man? Naturally, he wasn''t! Which man would want to see their beloved be with another person? But at the same time, he didn''t want to force Bai Weiwei and make her despise him. "Father, let me consider it." As Bing Huoyuan turned to leave, Elder Bing said, "That Lai Erchu, which quality exceeds you? In terms of lineage, he is only the great-grandchildren of a true immortal, unlike you, a true immortal''s only child. In terms of talent, he is far inferior to you. How can he protect your beloved? Remember, you only have until after the Demon Slaying Expedition to make up your mind." Bing Huoyuan''s body trembled for a brief moment at his father''s words, but he continued to steadily return to his part of the estate. "Young Master, what do I do?" What awaited him was a fretful Bai Ningwei. She looked incredibly uncomfortable with two outer disciple servants attending to her. Seeing this made Bing Huoyuan recall one of his first memories of Bai Weiwei. It was after they first met, and they were at a teahouse. Bai Weiwei''s face also became like this due to him paying attention to her, causing him to think that she was easily satisfied with such a basic amount of care. Recalling, this Bing Huoyuan laughed. Bai Ningwei puffed out her cheeks as tears started to gather at the corner of her eyes. Just as Bing Huoyuan wanted to apologize for laughing, Bai Ningwei ran up to him and pounded her fist on his chest. The fists were small and adorable. Rather than any pain, he felt as if there was a small animal pawing at his chest. Bing Huoyuan laughed even harder.
Tianyi exhaled a breath as he observed the bottle sculpted out of black jade. According to his memories, the black jade was a material known as Soul Lingering Jade. Its properties were its ability to have souls adhere to it and keep the soul in a stasis-like state as if frozen in time.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Due to the temporal effects of the Temporal Void Domain and his continuously perfected martial cultivation, Tianyi had already reached the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm, the Diamond Nascent Soul stage, quite a while ago. But this resulted in a problem. His soul was beginning to breach the limits of the Nascent Soul Realm. His nascent souls appeared to be sculpted out of diamonds by the greatest craftsmen, each glittering brilliantly. But if he continued to increase the density and strength of them, Tianyi had a suspicion that they would implode onto themselves. The road ahead of Tianyi was dark, and he could see no path. To enter the Unity Realm, a cultivator must be able to harmonize with heaven and earth. But Tianyi couldn''t do that. He could not detect heaven and earth at all. In fact, he felt his absorption of the spiritual qi of heaven and earth weaken as if heaven and earth were rejecting his existence. To harmonize with heaven and earth was to resonate with the Heavenly Dao. The Heavenly Dao was the sky, the lands, and everything in nature. And becoming a true immortal required the acknowledgment of the Heavenly Dao. In other words, Tianyi''s path was filled with numerous unknowns. Tianyi planned to contemplate a possible solution after creating the soul nourishing segment of his martial cultivation method. Currently, he was still trying a method to have his martial body nourish his soul. Coupled with his already strong nascent souls, with his strong body continuously feeding power to his soul, his soul''s defense would reach another level. But in order to prevent his nascent souls from imploding, Tianyi stuck to what he knew, clone creation. Naturally, it wasn''t a full clone creation. He just split his nascent souls and formed an embryonic clone soul. At most, this was a stop-gap measure. There were only so many times Tianyi could split his soul and degrade his realm. However, it wasn''t like there were no benefits to it. A cultivator''s embryonic clone soul had many uses aside from creating a clone. For one, they were prime materials for refining an artifact. If a cultivator were to use their embryonic clone soul to refine their lifebound artifact, the artifact''s power would tremendously increase. If they were lucky, it might even become an artifact spirit, further increasing the cultivator''s power. Of course, being only able to create an embryonic clone soul at the Nascent Soul Realm, and only being able to create a lifebound artifact upon entering the Core Formation Realm create an unsolvable conundrum. As for Tianyi, he still hadn''t decided what to do with them. He didn''t have a lifebound artifact, so forging a personal artifact didn''t sound like too bad of an idea. Aside from the question of how it felt he was cannibalizing his own offspring to forge an artifact, Tianyi didn''t know what kind of artifact to refine. He already had a sword artifact. With each rise of his cultivation level, a seal would be released and bring the artifact closer to its true power. He also had the defensive robes his mother prepared for him. Plus, wearing an artifact forged with your soul just felt weird. As for Tianyi''s most skilled techniques, they were his claw arts. Due to the influence of the Eight Strokes Word Art, Tianyi began to merge his claw techniques, palm techniques, and fist techniques into a single style. In other words, the claw arts he was strongest in never had a chance to reveal themselves before they turned into comprehensive hand arts! On a more serious note, Tianyi felt that he didn''t really need any artifacts at all. His body was already tougher and stronger than artifacts of the same realm. So aside from miscellaneous functions, battle types artifacts were unneeded for Tianyi. Tianyi could always use his embryonic clone souls to create new clones. He wouldn''t mind having a few more clones, but he didn''t want to create a clone arbitrarily. His first clone was created using the womb of a demon fox and cultivated Sovereign Suiren''s Primogenitor Flame Scripture, while his second clone was created from the Dragon Emperor''s blood essence and cultivated the Dragon Emperor Fist. Each clone was special and had immense potential, even compared to the geniuses of first-rate sects. Now that he thought about it. He used the womb of a demon fox which had intelligence equal to humans. It kind of felt like he used the womb of a human. The same situation with the Dragon Emperor''s blood essence, although Tianyi wouldn''t mind personally extracting more blood essence from the Dragon Emperor out of spite. Using the womb of a creature to cultivate his clone, Tianyi felt goosebumps just thinking about it. When did he change? Was it due to his lessening memories of Earth, or did he purposely ignore it because he wanted to discover Dong Chifan''s origin? He decided not to think about it any longer. Tianyi discovered that he couldn''t care less when he felt that his life was in danger. He''ll care about morals when he is strong enough to protect himself. Tianyi sighed and placed the black jade bottle inside his spatial ring. He had asked his mother to modify his spatial ring. Right now, encrusted on his spatial ring were three jewels. Including the ring itself and the three jewels, each had its own space for Tianyi to store his belongings, making it easier to organize. He had tried wearing numerous spatial rings, but it just looked too gaudy for Tianyi''s taste. Walking down from the Temporal Void Domain''s second floor, Tianyi saw Xi Ri cultivating on the first floor. Tianyi didn''t bat an eye at it. He had gotten used to Xi Ri popping up when he wasn''t busy with his duties as a disciple of Assignment Hall. Just as Tianyi was about to walk out of the Temporal Void Domain, he snapped his head back. He could detect the different aura on Xi Ri. "Old Cousin Ri, you''ve transcended your Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation?" Xi Ri opened his eyes and showed a pleased expression. "I''ve managed to enter the Core Formation Realm a few days ago." "Why didn''t you tell me? I could have gone and supported you." Tianyi asked with his brows furrowed. "It''s not a big deal. My master was there for me in case anything happened." Xi Ri said, unconcerned. "Older Cousin Ri, no Xi Ri," Tianyi said as he sat down in front of Xi Ri. "You got to tell your friends when you undergo your heavenly tribulation. It''s a major affair, and we want to be there to support you. Just because you think it is nothing doesn''t mean you should not tell us." "I really don''t think it''s anything important. Compared to entering the Core Formation Realm, I''m more nervous about the Xiyi Talismans. We haven''t made progress in a long time. And the formation cards are becoming more popular. Soon I''ll have to expand the scope of manufacturing them." Xi Ri said. This time, Tianyi averted his eyes. "I''ve been busy with cultivation. A problem cropped up, and I can''t settle down to research anything." After speaking for a few more moments, Tianyi bid farewell. But not before reminding Xi Ri that he had to tell them when he was undergoing the heavenly tribulations. Chapter 147: Paradise Agony Abyss Three boards above atop Paradise Earth Abyss. Each one had a title: Core Formation Realm Ranking, Nascent Soul Realm Ranking, and Unity Realm Ranking. Each board had one hundred thousand ranks on it, and each rank depicted the cultivator''s name and the number of steps they''ve reached. Only when a new record was surpassed would there be a change on the board. The three ranking boards of Paradise Agony Abyss listed all the cultivators who attempted to reach the depths since the creation of the training ground. So anyone who attempted to Paradise Agony Abyss was not only competing against the current generation but the past as well. Aside from fame, there was no other point in appearing on the ranking board. There were no additional rewards or benefits. Still, just appearing on the ranking board was enough for many disciples. Just by putting up three pieces of boards atop the Paradise Agony Abyss, the Buzhou Immortal Sect ignited a fire in their disciples. Without the need to dangle any rewards, the disciples would automatically compete amongst themselves and improve. What a ludicrous bargain. "Hey, isn''t that Senior Brother Xi?" "You''re right. Judging by the direction, he''s heading toward Paradise Agony Abyss!" "So Senior Brother Xi is going to challenge the previous record holder? I wonder what rank he will get?" "Senior Brother Xi hardly comes to these sorts of training grounds, so we don''t have a clear understanding of his strength." "Who knows. Maybe Senior Brother Xi doesn''t come to training grounds like these to hide his inferiorities, hehe." "Psh, do you think Senior Brother Xi is like Lovespot, who only relies on the treasure to get to his current realm? Oh wait, last I heard, he failed his Unity Heavenly Tribulation and lost his memories as a result. Forcing him to recultivate from scratch." "Junior Brother is right. Senior Brother Xi is not yet forty, but he''s already at the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm. That isn''t something you can accomplish by using treasures alone." "Who knows. I heard that in the past four years after Lovespot lost his cultivation, he managed to enter the Core Formation Realm recently. Tsk, tsk, Elder Redseal sure is willing to give so many heavenly treasures for a wastrel." "How can you compare Senior Brother Xi to Lovespot? That''s just muddying Senior Brother Xi''s good name." "Alright, alright. But back to the main point, what rank do you think Senior Brother Xi will attain?" "Hard to say. I heard that Senior Brother Xi is outstanding, even amongst the scions of elders." "Don''t we already know that? What are you repeating facts for? Tell us something don''t know." "No, no. When I''m talking about scions, I mean including the other first-rate sects." "Other first-rate sects? How can they compare to us, the Buzhou Immortal Sect? Our former Eldest Senior Sister Su already suppressed all their geniuses. She''s even a Unity Realm elder now." "But can she suppress over fifty other Nascent Soul Grandmasters at the same realm and at the same time?" "This... Just to be sure, you''re talking grandmasters of first-rate sects, right?" "Of course, why would I compare Lady Su to loose cultivator trash?" "Then I don''t know. One on one, Elder Su will definitely prevail. But against so many, not even Grand Elder Xi can accomplish it at the same realm, right?" "I heard that Senior Brother Xi can! All the other scions call Senior Brother the Vast Heaven Young Master because of it!" "For real!?" "I heard that he suppressed over a hundred at the same time!" "Now you are just lying. During the Heavenly Connection Gathering, why would they all gang up on Senior Brother Xi? Are they not afraid of Grand Elder Xi finding trouble with their sect?" "Well, the process wasn''t exactly clear cut..." "You are all straying from the main point. What rank do you think Senior Brother Xi can attain?" "Hmmm, top ten thousand?" "Who are you kidding? Senior Brother Xi can obviously get into the top thousand!" Tianyi''s ears twitched as he took in the conversation. This wasn''t the only conversation he heard but one of many. His already sullen mood became even more gloomy. He really didn''t want to come to Paradise Agony Abyss. Just thinking of the pain, he would feel made his hairs stand on end. But he had reached a bottleneck in the creation of his martial method and condensing his qi into a liquid form. Qi wasn''t matter or plasma, so Tianyi had a hard time condensing it into liquid form. He had reached the point that he could condense it into a liquid form after long hours of experimentation, but he could not find a way to store it in such a form. The moment he relaxed, the liquid qi would return to its gaseous state. Since he already reached the limit of these two methods to increase his strength, Tianyi now only had the option of tempering his willpower. It was also the first time Tianyi discovered that it was so hard to increase his strength. He couldn''t even enter the Unity Realm to powerup. And now, there was even more pressure on him to do well. If he did poorly, Tianyi was afraid that everyone in the sect would know of his weakness in willpower. The more outstanding one was, the more glaring their weakness would be. Tianyi silently gulped a mouthful of saliva as he stood onto the entrance to the Paradise Agony Abyss. Although it was called an entrance, it was nothing more than one of the many stairs carved into the side of the hole. The longer Tianyi lingered at the entrance, the more he could feel everyone''s stares penetrating into his back. Sucking in a deep breath, Tianyi stepped onto the first step of stairs down into the abyss. Immediately, he felt darkness consume his vision. But that only lasted for an instant before his vision returned. Tianyi tilted his head. Each step would come with a trial for the challenger to face. But Tiany never expected the first step to be so easy. He didn''t even need to do anything, and he already overcame it. Perhaps his willpower was actually quite strong? With far more confidence, Tianyi began his trek down into the Paradise Agony Abyss. Reality proved that he celebrated too soon. At the one thousandth and tenth step, Tianyi found himself nauseous to the extreme. He felt like he would puke his guts out. Compared to the sharp pain he felt when he absorbed the Dragon Emperor''s blood essence or the pain from battle, Tianyi didn''t know what was worse. Tianyi released a sigh of relief when the nausea finally passed, and he successfully passed the trial. He had been too overconfident, resulting in him being caught unaware. He nearly failed the trial because of his overconfidence and carelessness. He almost failed so early on. On the Nascent Soul Realm rankings, the one hundred thousandth place only managed to make it to the 9,676th step. And if he couldn''t even surpass that, wouldn''t that be embarrassing? Tianyi feared pain, especially the pain to his soul, after suffering from the Dragon Emperor''s soul attack. But right now, he had something even more that he didn''t want to experience, being seen as a failure by the rest of the disciples. His pride forced him to continue to undergo the numerous trials in front of him. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. As he descended deeper into the abyss, Tianyi lost track of time. Sometimes it felt he was being tortured for eternity with countless ants biting his soul, but Tianyi would discover only a moment would pass when he awoke. There were several times Tianyi wanted to give up, but when he recalled that the possibility of death, he soldiered on. He didn''t want to die because he didn''t prepare and trained himself when he could have. At the same time, it would be far too embarrassing for himself and his mother if he got too low of a rank. As he persevered, he eventually lost count of how many trials he passed. But Tianyi thought it was better that way. If he didn''t know, he would try his hardest to reach as far as he can. Like this, Tianyi continued progressing forward, trial after trial. Tianyi had just finished an excruciatingly painful trial. It was as if all the pain Tianyi had experienced in his life had concentration into that single point, excluding the pain he felt from the Dragon Emperor''s soul attack. And it was under his internal comparison of the pain compared to the Dragon Emperor''s soul attack that Tianyi was able to pass the trial. After composing himself, Tianyi prepared himself and stepped onto the step, and entered the subsequent trial. The pain he expected never came. Instead, Tianyi found himself in a familiar room. Or rather, a type of room. Clinically white walls, curtains, beds, and sheets with the lingering scent of disinfectant. Beep Beep Beep Tianyi''s body whipped around towards the direction of the heartrate monitor. His mind froze as he saw the patient lying on the bed. She looked different, far different than she did in his memories, with shambling white hair, waxen and rough skin, chapped lips, so skinny that her bones were conspicuous through her skin, and bulging eyeballs even with her closed eyelids. "...mom." Tianyi didn''t know how he arrived in front of the bed. But by the time he was there, he subconsciously called out to the woman. His hands trembled as he tried to reach out to her, but he pulled back at the last moment. He had never seen his mom so fragile, so weak, and close to death. Just a single touch from him could lead to her death if he wasn''t careful. With his discernment, he could tell that his mother wasn''t that old, sixty at most. But she had more wrinkles than a ninety-year-old with failing organs. Had it not been for the machine hooked up to her, Tianyi fully believed that she would have already died. His mom was not yet close to the limit of her lifespan, but her body was a wreck as if she had not rested even once. What could have caused her to destroy her body like this? "..." Tianyi heard his mom gasp as if she wanted to say something. He felt as if knees would buckle any moment now, but he still bent and placed his ear next to her face. When he heard what she was gasping, Tianyi felt something wet slide down his cheek. Just as he was about to say something, he heard the heartrate monitor flatline. It was as if a bomb had gone off in Tianyi''s head. "Senior Brother Xi, Senior Brother Xi!" Tianyi was broken out of his shock when he heard someone addressing him. When he looked around him, he realized he was out of the Paradise Agony Abyss. His surroundings were being affected by the true qi of chaos he unconsciously leaked due to having his emotions in turmoil. All around him, he could see disciples looking fearfully at him from a fair distance. The ground was pitch black and constantly being corroded. The worst part was the some of the disciples had their flesh corroded by his true qi as well. Some howled, and others could only silently grit their teeth and attempt to resist it. Tianyi waved his hand, and all the black gaseous qi separated themselves began to be absorbed back into him. Even though he absorbed the true qi of chaos back, the injuries were still present. Tianyi prepared to revert time back to heal their injuries using the sea of time in his Mountains and Seas Formation. He paused for a moment before closing his eyes. After spending years in the Temporal Void Domain trying to understand spacetime, Tianyi felt that it was possible for him to use the technique without external aid. The true qi of chaos began to be emitted from his body, but moments after leaving his body, the true qi of chaos lost its corrosive and chaotic nature before changing to a silvery mist. The mist permeated the area, and under everyone''s shocked expression, the wounds on their body began to rewind. Once the wounds were healed, many of the disciples cupped their hands and thanked Tianyi. Tianyi waved his hands. "It''s only natural. Since I caused your injuries, I have a responsibility to heal them. It''s my fault. I didn''t expect to be impacted so much by Paradise Agony Abyss that I lost control of my true qi." He looked up at the Nascent Soul Realm ranking board. Each name had the number of steps they took, so it was relatively easy to find oneself. Tianyi felt that the number of steps he took should definitely be over nine thousand, so he started from there. Tianyi''s lips twitched when he saw so many people who failed at the nine thousand nine hundred ninety-ninth step. The ten-thousandth step must have dramatically increased the difficulty. To his horror, Tianyi discovered his name at the 80,091st rank. And the number of steps he took was nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine. He was first among those who took the same number of steps, first among over ten thousand people. But that didn''t comfort him at all. Before Tianyi could sink deeper into his thought, a commotion could be heard from the gathered disciples. He soon discovered why. Because on the Nascent Soul Realm ranking board, the former fourth place was now the new fifth place. And the new fourth place was a person known named Sheng Ni who had taken over thirty thousand steps. Tianyi felt the corner of his eyes twitch as he tried not to react. Perhaps soon, there would be a rumor that Sheng Ni had more talent them him. Tianyi felt like he had become a stepping stone for someone else. He shook his head and looked at the Core Formation ranking board. Perhaps, there would be someone he recognized. He remembered that there was a disciple brother that he met years ago who was skilled in both spiritual and martial ways. Tianyi recognized someone alright, just not the one he expected. Rank 97: Jiang Daoyi, 1002 steps Tianyi felt as if someone took and hammer and smashed his heart. In the five years, Daoyi had reached the mid Core Formation Realm, but Tianyi still felt a sting to his pride. He was a peak Nascent Soul Grandmaster, but he still lost to his core formation master junior sister. It would be a lie to say that he wasn''t envious. He chuckled ruefully. Rather than being jealous, he should congratulate his junior sister. He shouldn''t be so petty over something as small as a ranking. He waved his hand, and instantly several nascent soul ranked materials appeared. "This is just a little compensation from me for injuring you due to my loss of control earlier," Tianyi said. He immediately left afterward before the disciples could reject him. "Senior Brother Xi seems kind of down, doesn''t he?" "I saw his ranking. He was ranked 80,091 at nine thousand nine hundred steps." "Even Senior Brother Xi failed to overcome the hurdle of the ten-thousandth step. Sigh," "I think it is already very impressive that Senior Brother Xi reached nine thousand nine hundred ninety-ninth step on his first try!" "Yes, but compared to the darkhorse, Sheng Ni, Senior Brother Xi''s rank seems too low." "When Senior Brother Xi left earlier, he seemed a little down." "I know, I felt it too! But I think even if Senior Brother Xi only reached nine thousand nine hundred ninety-ninth steps, he is still scarier than that Sheng Ni. Didn''t you see how terrifying he was earlier? Just the qi he released was enough to threaten our lives!" "You''re right. All those who come here are great talents in soul cultivating. I never heard of Senior Brother Xi cultivating a soul method. Even without a soul method, he could reach this; it; it is truly amazing!" "Hmpf, I know that Sheng Ni is only an early nascent soul grandmaster. I think he has more potential than Senior Brother Xi, who is already a peak Nascent Soul Grandmaster." "Don''t exaggerate. Why do you sound as if you''re the one that beat Senior Brother Xi? If you have the ability, then you rank higher than Senior Brother Xi. Hmpf, only knowing how to compare others, never comparing yourself." "Heh, what do you know? That Sheng Ni had a quadruple spiritual vein, and it was by luck that he entered the Buzhou Immortal Sect. I heard that it took him over a hundred years to reach the Foundation Establishment Realm. But once he entered the Core Formation Realm at one hundred and fifty, he only needed ten years to reach the Nascent Soul Realm. He''s a born soul cultivator. If he had a better spiritual vein, Senior Brother Xi wouldn''t even be in the same stratus as him without Grand Elder Xi!" "What do you know? Foundation Establishment at ten, Core Formation at fifteen, and Nascent Soul under twenty, do you think anyone can do that? That Sheng Ni, even if has a heavenly spiritual vein, wouldn''t reach the same height as Senior Brother Xi." "Heh, at least I wasn''t bribed by him. You seem to be holding that Thousand Flower Steel quite tightly." "This is Senior Brother Xi''s kindness. Unlike those other scions who would only disdain us for being too weak. Senior Brother Xi apologized, healed us, and even gave up compensation. Can you apologize if you accidentally hurt someone? Oh, I''m sorry. You probably can only hurt someone if that someone was taking a piss while half asleep." "You!"
Tianyi didn''t fly back to Jade Peak; he walked. He didn''t enter the Temporal Void Domain. Instead, he climbed onto the tallest point of Jade Peak Palace and sat there looking at the night sky. He was down by only getting a low rank on the board, being outshone by Sheng Ni, and shocked by how high Daoyi''s rank was. But compared to seeing his mom''s heartbeat monitor flatline, Tianyi felt that everything else was minor. Tianyi wasn''t worried about other people knowing his trial. Each trial was personal to the challenger, formed based on their weaknesses. Actually, now that he thought about it, he was kinda worried, could the elders see what his trial was? Tianyi sighed once more as he looked at the shining stars. For seven days and six nights, Tianyi stared listlessly at the sky, his eyes reflecting the starlights, and on the seventh night, he fell asleep for the first time in years. Chapter 148: Thirty-Six Heavenly Constellation Art When Tianyi opened his eyes, it was already noon. Tianyi cracked his neck and did some stretches, an action he hadn''t done for years. He thought he would keep his habits as a mortal, but as he cultivated, he gradually forgot about them as they were no longer necessary. He hadn''t felt so refreshed in years. "Mom, I''ll keep looking for you." Tianyi lightly said. Without him realizing it, he had lived longer in the Huang Realm than he had on Earth. Closing his eyes, he recalled how beautiful the starry sky was. It made him recall the Heavenly River Stellar Avatar he had inside his body. Inside his cosmos martial body, the myriad stars dimmed under Tianyi''s control, basking the universe into near darkness aside from the light of his spiritual cores. Simultaneously, Tianyi felt the energy supporting his nascent souls slow down. When the stars lit up once more, his nascent soul''s advancement returned to normal. If his cosmos was yang, then the stars inside his cosmos were yin, the spiritual aspect of the cosmos. Thinking back, Tianyi felt incredibly lucky that he had formed the Heavenly River Stellar Avatar back in the ruin of the Immortal Court. Without it, his martial method would need far more effort from him. Tianyi sat back down onto the roof and hugged his knees. It was a far more comfortable position compared to sitting in a lotus position. Why must he sit in a lotus position to cultivate? Closing his eyes, he began to further integrate his Heavenly River Stellar Avatar into his martial method. He would use the myriad stars as a connection to his soul and formed the Soul Nourishing segment of his martial cultivation. Soon the myriad stars in his cosmos began to undergo numerous changes. Tianyi originally arranged them according to the acupoints of his martial body, but he realized acupoints were for fleshly bodies. His martial body was a cosmos. What use were acupoints? Wait, can he even be called an Acupoint Opening Master anymore? Tianyi quickly erased his thoughts. Just because he no longer needed acupoints anymore didn''t mean he could just arrange the myriad stars willy nilly. There still needed to be an order to all this. Soon the position of the stars shifted. Some grew brighter while others grew dimmer. If there had been any lifeforms that existed in Tianyi''s cosmos, they would have no doubt been shocked by the abrupt changes. Some might even say it was a sign of the apocalypse. Using inspiration from the constellation from Earth, Tianyi began to arrange the stars in such a manner. To his shock, he discovered that the effects were actually quite good. After such a cultivating for a while, Tianyi reached another roadblock. There were just too many stars for him to arrange. At first, it was okay, but as he arranged more and more, they began to clash against one another. It was akin to arranging thousands upon thousands of formations together, one wrong move could cause it to become worthless. Tianyi stopped his cultivation after arranging the stars inside his body so that they didn''t conflict too much. But even so, Tianyi felt that the speed of his nascent soul''s advance rise to another level. Unfortunately, he still hadn''t created the next section of his martial method. At this rate, he would have to split his soul again. Searching his memories, Tianyi tried to find a method to aid him. He recalled the numerous cultivation methods and then recalled the Stellar Heavenly Scripture of the ten heavenly scriptures. Using the myriad stars as an energy source, the cultivator would produce stellar true qi and refine his acupoints into stars. The Buzhou Immortal Sect didn''t have the Stellar Heavenly Scripture. But it did have the Thirty-Six Heavenly Constellation Art. According to legend, Subhuti mastered the Stellar Heavenly Scripture and created two derivations: the Thirty-Six Heavenly Constellation Art and the Seventy-Two Earthly Asterism Art. That''s right. The Seventy-Two Earthly Asterism Art was the origin of the Seventy-Two Transformation Art that the Heaven Equalling Great Sage had learned. It is said if you master both, you would instantly master the Stellar Heavenly Scripture. But Tianyi didn''t care about that. What he cared more about was that it was related to the Heaven Equalling Great Sage, Sun Wukong! Tianyi dearly wished for the Seventy-Two Earthly Asterism Art because of that reason, but unfortunately, the Buzhou Immortal Sect didn''t have it. The Heaven Equalling Great Sage was able to flee and conceal himself with it. It was only thanks to Erlang Shen''s Truth-Seeking Eye that the Heaven Equalling Great Sage could be discovered. Tianyi laughed as he imagined himself equipped with the Seventy-Two Earthly Asterism Art and the Truth-Seeking Eye. Wasn''t this a perfect merge of Erlang Shen and Sun Wukong? Of course, he didn''t really think it was a perfect merger, but the thought was nice. On a more serious note, Tianyi recalled that the Thirty-Six Heavenly Constellation Art could be considered a portion of the Stellar Heavenly Scripture. The last time he cultivated something related to the ten heavenly scripture, he directly solved his dilemma. Now, would his current situation be the same? Would he instantly figure out how to step into the Unity Realm? Standing up, Tianyi jumped down from the roof of Jade Peak Palace. His destination was the Revenue Hall. As for why he didn''t directly go to the Immortal Scripture Repository. As a nascent soul grandmaster and Grand Elder''s son, he was freely able to enter and exit the fourth floor, but the Thirty Six Heavenly Constellation Art would have to be at least on the seventh floor or higher. The Revenue Hall was responsible for distributing rewards and keeping track of finances. This included the sect members'' contribution points. Those that offered treasures, information up to the sect, or accomplished sect missions would attain these points. And with them, they would able to exchange spirit stones or other rewards, such as being able to choose a technique from the seventh floor of the Immortal Scripture Repository. Tianyi could probably have his mother help him gain enough contribution points or offer up the treasures he had been given. But he didn''t want to bother his mother any more than necessary, and using the treasures given to him by his mother to exchange for contribution points felt wrong. But he had a lot of information! His head contained numerous pieces of information regarding the inheritance and graves of immortals. Although pure information wouldn''t be worth as much as the actual inheritance and treasures from the graves, Tianyi was too lazy to search for them all himself. Plus, the treasures and inheritances didn''t meet his standards at all. The Buzhou Immortal Sect would probably use them as rewards for disciples too. Entering the Revenue Hall''s headquarters, Tianyi directly stated his intention. After seeing how many contribution points it would cost to enter the seventh floor of the Immortal Scripture Repository, Tianyi directly stated over ten true immortal''s inheritances and graves. "Immortal Lord Gravekeeper''s inheritance at Thousand Skeleton Mountain in the Eastern Region." "True Lord Flamesurge''s grave at Permaheat Abyss in the Central Region." "Soul Immortal Frosteye''s inheritance in Feather Sky Mountain Range of Central Region." "Immortal Lord Swaysong''s inheritance at Soundless Mist Domain of Central Region." "Immortal Lord Qiflow''s inheritance at Surging Qi Canyon in the upper Southern Region." "Imperial Immortal Embroideredsilk''s grave at Silvermist Moth Forest in the Central Region." "Grand Duke Xuanfei''s grave in the Central Region in Sky Pillar Mountain floating above the Central Region." "Supremacy Grandyin''s inheritance at Nocturne Yang Flow River in the Eastern Region." "Immortal Lord Microchaos''s inheritance at Grand Plain Vast Meadow in the Southern Region." "Sword Immortal Halfmoon''s inheritance at Moonshadow Peak of Thousand Weapon Mountain Range of Central Region." The receptionist felt his hands tremble as he recorded all the information Tianyi listed. Heavens! The receptionist looked at Tianyi in a new light. Such loyalty to the sect. Instead of hoarding it all to the sect, Tianyi offered up all these True Immortal''s inheritances and graves to the sect. And thus, unknown to Tianyi, a new misunderstanding was born.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Naturally, Tianyi''s information had to be verified before he could be rewarded the contribution points. Earning enough points wasn''t easy. If Tianyi hadn''t fought off Longwei, or rather the Dragon Emperor, at Ironword''s inheritance grotto, then he would have at least have to list several more. Tianyi gained an appreciation for how direct Sect Master Xia was when he agreed to Tianyi''s request. Or perhaps for Sect Master Xia, giving techniques out from the seventh level was nothing. If he had known this, Tianyi would have been greedier. But that time, he didn''t want to push his luck too far. He was still the sect master, so Tianyi didn''t want to go overboard even if he was a grand elder''s son. He returned to Jade Peak. There was nothing he could do except wait now. There was actually another method for Tianyi to gather points, the Demon Slaying Expedition. But that was going to happen in a year or two, and there was no way Tianyi would patiently wait that long. He had already signed up. He heard that there might even be demonic beasts of dragonic lineage present in the Demon Cage Realm! He recalled Elder Shan''s Crimsoned Winged Eagle. Although he could easily slap it to death with his current power, it still looked very cool riding on a steed! Tianyi blinked when he felt something rub his palm. He looked down to see the immortal pill rubbing against it. Without another word, Tianyi used his fingers and gouged a hole in his hands, making it leak vast amounts of true qi of chaos. The immortal pill greedily devoured the true qi leaking from Tianyi''s wound. Ever since the battle with the Dragon Emperor, Tianyi didn''t spurn the immortal pill''s needs anymore. It helped that compared to the pain he experienced, tearing a hole in his palm was nothing. After the immortal pill became all black again, Tianyi walked back into the Temporal Void Domain. Just because he was stumped didn''t mean that he couldn''t cultivate. In fact, strengthening his foundations was equally as important since he would be incorporating another derivative of the Heavenly Scriptures into his cultivation method. Upon stepping on the second floor, Tianyi paused. Since he didn''t have any good ideas on how to advance his martial cultivation, why not focus on learning the Dao of Time? Right now, his understanding of the Dao of Space towered over his Dao of Time, although the distance had been shortened recently thanks to the Temporal Void Domain. Space and time were intricately linked, two sides of the same coin. However, the people of the Huang Realm treated them as two separate concepts that only supreme geniuses could merge. Thanks to Tianyi''s knowledge from Earth, he was able to merge at such an early realm. And spacetime was the foundation of his martial body, so it would count as strengthening his foundation. Steeling himself, Tianyi stepped onto the third floor. The dizziness from the information overload didn''t immediately assault him, so Tianyi felt that he could stay on the third floor longer than the first time he arrived. When Tianyi looked around, he saw Daoyi also on the third floor. Thinking that he hadn''t actually talked to her in a while, he sat down in front of her. Daoyi immediately noticed Tianyi''s appearance, and so she opened her eyes and smiled. "Is there something you need, Senior Brother?" "Why can''t I look for you for no reason? I just felt that I haven''t talked to you in a while," Tianyi said. "Yeah, now that I think about it, I''ve been diligently cultivating for quite a while," Daoyi said. "Sometimes, I just lose track of time. The first time I cultivated for a month straight, I became slack-jawed in astonishment!" Tianyi nodded. He could totally understand that feeling. Even now, he would be shocked whenever he cultivated nonstop for days on end. It felt like his sense of time was getting distorted. The two soon fell into an awkward silence. Tianyi kept his expression neutral while he inwardly panicked at the increasingly heavy atmosphere. "S-so, did you find out who exterminated your clan?" Tianyi instantly regretted his words. You idiot? Who starts a conversation asking about if they found their clan''s exterminator!? This is clearly provocation! Instead of getting mad like Tianyi thought she would, Daoyi laughed. "Senior Brother, sometimes I worry about your future interaction with the rest of the sect." Tianyi had no words of refutation. "But, you don''t need to worry about my feelings towards the matter. In truth, I have no attachment to the Xu Clan. The only reason I even bothered to retrieve the treasure and seek revenge is because of my mother''s last wish. I never met them. How could I seek revenge for people I don''t know?'' Tianyi thought about it and realized she was right. Daoyi never met the Xu Clan, so she wouldn''t be devastated by their loss. "But if your clan hadn''t fallen, your mother and you wouldn''t have been in such a situation." "Who knows. The Xu Clan held a divine shard, something they couldn''t protect with their power in the Huang Realm. Sooner or later, people would have figured it out. And if my mother was never captured by the duke, then she might not have been my mother." Daoyi said. Tianyi nodded in understanding. Who knows, if the Buzhou Immortal Sect discovered it, they might have exterminated the Xu Clan for the treasure. And wouldn''t that be a twist? "As for forces that exterminated my clan," Daoyi paused as she recalled the information. "They aren''t anything worth mentioning to the Buzhou Immortal Sect. The strongest expert they have is a Unity Realm Expert. They used to have a lot more, but they were fatally injured when they exterminated the Xu Clan. Their life and death are currently unknown. I hypothesize that they were injured by the Xu Clan''s Spectral Rising Jewel." Tianyi agreed. From what he heard, the Xu Clan''s top experts were nascent soul grandmasters, so their chances of victories were low against a group of Unity Venerables. Of course, he couldn''t discount the Xu Clan''s nascent soul grandmasters. They had an abnormally high percentage of soul cultivators, and Tianyi had already experienced the terror of soul methods. That was an opening, and soon the conversation livened up. Suddenly, Daoyi paused as she recalled something. "Brother Ri was looking for you. He said it was something about the formation cards." "Really?" Tianyi said. He couldn''t think of anything going wrong with the formation cards. At this point, Tianyi was only in charge of creating new formation cards, and Daoyi was like a stockholder with no responsibility. At this point, it was pretty much Xi Ri''s one-man show. Wait, he wouldn''t be resent that we pushed all the work on him while we raked in the benefits, right? Not long after, Tianyi and Daoyi met Xi Ri outside of the Temporal Void Domain. "Senior Brother Xi, please find a way to produce the formation cards more efficiently!" "Huh?" Tianyi said. "Business has grown or something?" "Yeah, maybe it''s catching on. Or because of the Demon Slaying Expedition, but demand is at an all-time high!" "Why would the Demon Slaying Expedition raise the demand?" Tianyi asked. "Who knows, maybe because formation cards multi-use items. If they bought talismans, they are one-time consumables. In terms of usage, wouldn''t the formation card be more useful? The Demon Slaying Expedition doesn''t disallow the use of talisman and treasures, after all." "I can see your point. But can''t you find more people if demand is too much?" Tianyi asked. "I can''t. Even if I wanted to, if I expanded the operation too much, the secret of the process might get leaked. I already discover traces of people snooping around. If it weren''t for the fact that business hasn''t reached the point that it would be coveted by unity venerables and higher, accidents might have already occurred. Your name can only deter them for so long. It''s not like Grand Elder Xi personally backed it." Tianyi nodded. Seeing the point. "Why don''t you move it to Jade Peak then?" "I can? Wouldn''t it bother Grand Elder Xi and the other elders on Jade Peak? It''s just a small operation. Basing it in Jade Peak is a bit..." Xi Ri started saying but trailed off at the end. "It''s fine. As one of the people responsible for the business, I can''t just watch it be in trouble. As for bothering the elders, let''s just use my land. The people on Jade Peak each have their own territory. I''m no different." Tianyi said. "But I don''t have one," Daoyi interjected. Tianyi didn''t know what to say. "M-maybe when you enter the Nascent Soul or Unity Realm..." Daoyi laughed. "I''m just messing with you, Senior Brother." Tianyi coughed into his fist and continued. "A-anyways, my land is actually quite close to the top of Jade Peak, so it might not be suitable. I can ask mother for a piece of land near the base of the mountain. Can you take me to your base of operations? I want to see how you''ve been creating them." Xi Ri agreed. He brought Tianyi and Daoyi to an isolated outer area of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. The land wasn''t filled with dense spiritual qi and was obviously a dead zone even though it wasn''t exactly barren. Although compared to the sects on the edge of the Heaven Continent, even this barren land would have been a sacred land for cultivation for them. But what caught Tianyi''s eyes was the giant metal box-like structure standing out. It was incredibly familiar to Tianyi in shape and function, all it was missing was a smokestack. "I know it''s a little surprising, but the building itself is easy to make and makes the layout convenient. Come in." Xi Ri said as he brought Tianyi and Daoyi inside. Inside, there were god honest conveyor belts with people lined and working. Above, there were inner disciples overseeing the outer and servant disciples in their work. "Xi Ri, what is this?" Tianyi said, not bothering to address Xi Ri as older cousin anymore. He glanced to the side and saw Daoyi staring intently at Xi Ri as well. "Oh, I guess you must have never seen this before. The structure and the people together are called a factory." Xi Ri pointed at a particular group. "They cut the raw materials into the specified shape and size before giving it to the next group. Each group is assigned a single task and specializes in it. This makes the whole process much more efficient overall." "And the overseers are inner disciples that I know are trustworthy. The workers are outer disciples and servant disciples who couldn''t find work. Maybe they were injured during their immortal path and couldn''t advance any further, or maybe some other reason. But they are the lowest status members, so they work extremely wholeheartedly. Of course, I made sure they are loyal and trustworthy." Tianyi placed his palm over his face. "Can you be any more obvious?" "Obvious? What do you mean? I''m pretty sure no one else makes things like this." Xi Ri said, confused. Tianyi didn''t say anything and pulled Daoyi and Xi Ri by their wrist. He took them outside the factory and toward a location near the edge of the Buzhuo Immortal Sect. He constructed a large formation that encased the trio in his true qi of chaos, hiding them from any possible prying eyes as much as possible. Tianyi even went as far as using an immortal artifact for it. Once he was done with that, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then his eyes snapped open, and he glared at Xi Ri. "Do you know how much I was angsting over this!? And then you just you up and reveal the most damning evidence! Return all the time I spent moping!!!" Tianyi screamed at Xi Ri. "Huh? What do you mean?" Xi Ri asked, an expression of loss on his face at Tianyi''s suddenly agitated state. "What do I mean?" Tianyi laughed, his eyes bloodshot and anger in his voice. "Can you not be any more obvious that you''re a reincarnator!?" Chapter 149: Earths Current State A great silence ensued after Tianyi''s declaration. So great was the silence that a gentle breeze sounded like hurricane-force winds to them. "Reincarnator?" Xi Ri said, his voice filled with shock. His eyes locked onto Tianyi as if he couldn''t believe his eyes. "Senior Brother, you were angsting over this?" Daoyi interjected, looking at Tianyi. "You''re latching onto the wrong point over, Daoyi!" Tianyi bit back. "Wait, both you and Daoyi are reincarnators?" Xi Ri said, his face still full of shock. "As in from Earth? Like me?" Tianyi looked at Daoyi. He wasn''t entirely confident in Daoyi being a reincarnator, his gut and logic were saying yes, but there was still a lingering fear that Daoyi wasn''t a reincarnator. But after seeing the factory Xi Ri created, Tianyi just gave up and exposed it. "Mhmm," Daoyi said lightly. "I actually had suspicions that Xi Ri was a reincarnator. I was completely sure after seeing the factory you made. There''s no such structure even remotely similar. But what surprised me the most is that Senior Brother is actually a reincarnator too." "You didn''t suspect me?" Tianyi said, surprised. "I suspected Xi Ri. The Xiyi Talisman concept was very much like a cellphone, so I had my suspicions." "Wait, wait." Xi Ri interjected. "You two didn''t know that both of you were reincarnators?" "I only suspected you and Daoyi after awhile," Tianyi said. "I hadn''t thought that there were more reincarnators after me until after I realized Jiang Chunye is a reincarnator too. I only suspected the two of you later since both of you were so close to me." "You met other reincarnators?" Xi Ri asked. "Wait, what do you mean by that?" Daoyi asked, having not realized that her second sister was a reincarnator. "Remember when we visited the Fleeting Mist Sect, and you dueled with Jiang Chunye?" Tianyi asked, and Daoyi nodded. He took out an object from his spatial ring. "This was the concealed weapon that she used at the final moment." "This... is a bullet?" Daoyi asked, to which Tianyi nodded. "When did you all regain your memories of your past life?" "I''ve always had them," Tianyi said. "Me too." Xi Ri added. "I''m the same. But it seems that Jiang Chunye is different." Daoyi said, no longer calling Jiang Chunye her sister. "Jiang Chunye seemed to have regained her memories after she nearly drowned." "So there are at least two types of reincarnators. Those that were aware since birth and those that only awakened them later." Tianyi said. "Wait, so when did you suspect me as a reincarnator?" Xi Ri asked Tianyi. "Daoyi suspected me the moment she saw me explain the Xiyi Talisman." "I only suspected later as I''ve said. But the Xiyi Talisman were the main points on my suspicions. Then I started to suspect Daoyi too. It is the little things, like words in phrases that originated from Earth" Tianyi said, far calmer now. Suddenly, he frowned. "Wait, you two are awfully calm about this, where''s your shock!?" Xi Ri and Daoyi shared a look before glancing at Tianyi. "Actually, I''m still kinda in shock. I think the reality just hasn''t hit me yet." Xi Ri said. "Mmhmm, me too. But I think that seeing you freak out made it easier for us to calm. I mean, we all can''t freak out like Senior Brother, after all." Daoyi said as she sent a meaningful look at Tianyi, causing him to mutter his breath. Daoyi seemed to have thought of something and looked at Tianyi. "Is that why you were staring at me in the imperial capital? Because I recognized you flipping the bird?" Tianyi coughed into his fist, slightly embarrassed for the reason. The protagonist of books always discovered some major secret of the other reincarnator while he had his suspicions deepened because someone recognized him flipping the bird. Where was the honor in that? Tianyi quickly adjusted the topic. "I''m surprised you didn''t suspect me back. Both of you, especially since I added a lot of inputs for the Xiyi Talismans." Xi Ri shrugged. "I just thought you were a genius. I mean, that''s how your image is at the sect. I just thought you were a quirky but monstrous talented person. And Daoyi too, for Grand Elder Xi to have chosen her, she must not be inferior much." Daoyi nodded in agreement. "I suspected Xi Ri but not you. Do you not realize how easy it is for you to learn stuff that would take us months to learn in moments? Plus, I saw all the weird trinkets in your room, so I assumed you were someone skilled in many areas. As for the phrases from Earth, I thought they were common for cultivators like you who have access to large amounts of information." Tianyi felt his cheeks slightly flush. Wasn''t this indirectly praising him. He might not care if it was before, but these two were reincarnators like him, so feeling them praise him made him even shyer. "As for flipping the bird, I just thought Master was too sheltered to know what it means, unlike you." Tianyi had no words to rebuff that. It was very likely for his mother not to know the meaning behind vulgar gestures. "Senior Brother Xi, you met any other reincarnators?" Xi Ri asked. Tianyi nodded. "And just call me Tianyi now. Since we are all reincarnators, I feel that calling each other by such formal addresses is unnecessary." Plus, they were peers from Earth, so forcing the three to separate themselves by hierarchy felt wrong. Seeing both Daoyi and Xi Ri nod, Tianyi continued. He had cooled down from his agitated state that caused him to act on impulse. Still, a part of him was happy that the three of them realized they were reincarnators. At the very least, he didn''t feel as lonely as before. "I met another suspected reincarnator, Dong Chifan, but before I could secretly contact him, he disappeared due to a sneak attack. Not only him, but many Leakless Sect members from the Heavenly Connection Gathering also disappeared." "So that''s why you had Senior Brother Su investigate the disappearance. Has there been any result?" Daoyi asked. Tianyi shook his head. "Oh right, this is how I noticed him in the first place." He took out three jade cups filled with coke. After taking a sip, both Daoyi and Xi Ri released a nostalgic expression. Xi Ri even seemed to have teared up. Tianyi allowed them some time to contemplate the information that he dropped on them before speaking again. "Right, what do you guys remember about Earth? I don''t know how I reincarnated here. I just woke here one day. It''s strange that so many people are reincarnated here."Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Both Xi Ri and Daoyi shared a look before looking at Tianyi strangely. "You don''t know?" Xi Ri asked. Tianyi felt his heart skip a beat as an ominous premonition hit him. He shook his head negatively. Daoyi and Xi Ri both fell silent. In the end, Daoyi spoke up first. "Tianyi, you probably don''t remember anything because you were one of the first to go from your description." Daoyi looked down at her cup as she slid her fingers across the rim. "Approximately one percent of humanity became comatose before it all began." Tianyi felt his throat and mouth become dry. "Before what began?" "The apocalypse, the end of times, the event spoken of in Revelations." Xi Ri added. He didn''t want Daoyi to break it to Tianyi. He felt that as a man, he should be the one the explain it. "The destruction of the world." Lips chapped, Tianyi opened his mouth once more. "H-how." "Earthquakes, tsunamis, droughts, floods, the destruction of Earth''s ozone layer, and even the eventual slowing rotation of the earth." Xi Ri said. "I died before the destruction of the ozone, so I haven''t experienced as much as you," Daoyi said. Her face was unpleasant. "Perhaps it was for the best that Tianyi left in a coma. You didn''t have to suffer." Daoyi chuckled, but there was no mirth in her laughter. "So everyone on Earth is dead?" Tianyi asked, his voice hoarse. An invisible pressure began to weigh down on Daoyi and Xi Ri like a mountain, causing their breathing to become irregular. Daoyi and Xi Ri finally noticed that Tianyi''s condition was a bit abnormal, but they didn''t know why. Daoyi suddenly recalled something and quickly said. "Yeah, but if we get strong enough, we should be able to search for our deceased family in the cycle of samsara." Tianyi''s body shook at Daoyi''s words before he stabilized and reigned in his aura. That''s right, he had already known that it was unlikely for him to make it back before his mother''s death. The road to immortality was a long and arduous path, not something easily attained within a hundred years. "I think it''s even harder than you realize," Tianyi said. He was sullen, but he wasn''t despairing as he was before. His goal hadn''t changed; he still needed to find his mom. The process just changed a bit. "What do you mean?" Daoyi asked. Tianyi wasn''t the only one who wanted to find their family members. For people like them who died so suddenly, their family consisted of a large portion of their regrets. Daoyi especially missed her parents from Earth after suffering in the ducal family. "Don''t you find it weird that Earth had several mythologies and religions? Yet in the Huang Realm and the many lower worlds, it''s all Chinese based?" Tianyi asked. "I always thought the Huang Realm was mainly based with Chinese culture and that the lower worlds would be different, some western-based and some eastern-based like Japan or Korea," Daoyi said. "Was I wrong?" "I''m not sure about the exact culture. Almost all of it correlates to Chinese culture on Earth. There are no mentions of the Greeks, Hindus, Norse, or Native Americans." Tianyi said. "But the Huang Realm and all the lower words in are the Three Thousand Immortal Realm System. You can consider it the Chinese section of the universe. There should be a system for the Greeks, Norse, Hindus, and more." Daoyi sat there, shocked at the revelation. "I probably don''t need to say this, but don''t speak of it to others. Not many people know, and many less will actually interact with others outside the Three Thousand Immortal Realm System." Tianyi said. "Oh," Daoyi simply let out. "Today has been full of revelations. At least there is still hope that their souls might have entered the same system as us and are sleeping. At the very least, with the shard on me, it should be easier for me to search for my mother of this life." Xi Ri watched with the side. He didn''t mention the possibility of their souls being destroyed. After all, it wasn''t uncommon for a soul to be destroyed and never be able to enter the cycle of samsara. He felt that both Tianyi and Daoyi suspected it, but they didn''t dare to voice it out for fear of breaking that tenous hope within their hearts. "What about you? What are your goals?" Tianyi asked Xi Ri since Daoyi had fallen silent. "Mine?" Xi Ri didn''t hesitate for long before replying. "I''m an orphan, so I don''t have family that I must find. As for goals, I want to create a utopia. A place where everyone can be happy." Tianyi and Daoyi stood there, stunned at Xi Ri''s goals. "Xi Ri, that''s impossible. It was hard back on Earth and even more difficult here. Resources are limited, but the number of people who want to attain immortality is endless." "My goal isn''t that grand or anything like that. I know it''s impossible for everyone to become immortal. I just want to create a place for mortals to be happy." Xi Ri said. "Wow...I don''t know what else to say." Tianyi said. "Compared to you, we two are too selfish," Daoyi added. Xi Ri laughed; his laughter was like a cleansing wind. "I''m not as great as the two of you say. I have my own selfish reasons. Because I suffered in my early life, I don''t want to see other children go through a similar experience." "No, no, that''s still plenty great," Tianyi said. Daoyi nodded in agreement. Thanks to Xi Ri, they didn''t dwell too much on the matters of their family, at least for now. "So, now that we got the heavy stuff over with. Now what?" Xi Ri asked. "What do you mean?" Tianyi asked. "Do we go look for others or live life as usual?" Xi Ri asked. Daoyi looked at him as well. As the one with the highest strength and greatest status, Tianyi was considered the unofficial leader. Not that he wasn''t before the revelation. "For now, just live life as usual. We are too weak. We don''t know how the natives will react to reincarnators like us. If you think you discovered a reincarnator, don''t be hasty to act. Just because we all came from Earth doesn''t mean we will be allies. And there is a risk of exposing our identities." Tianyi explained. "Also, if you meet Jiang Chunye, don''t be merciful. She already tried to kill Daoyi before. Just because we are reincarnators doesn''t mean she will become an ally. Plus, daring to try to kill Daoyi in front of me, she already signed her death warrant." Tianyi added at the end. Daoyi and Xi Ri agreed. It wasn''t surprising for reincarnators to not be on the same team. After all, the countries on Earth were divided. And conflicts occurred between people every day. "So that''s it?" Xi Ri asked, still a bit shocked. He never expected that him showing Tianyi his factory would lead to such a giant bomb exploding. Tianyi shrugged. "I don''t mind finding more reincarnators. But what can we do now? Just because we found them doesn''t mean we they can become disciples of the Buzhou Immortal Sect." "Shouldn''t we at least make an organization or reincarnator alliance?" Xi Ri asked. "Now? We should only speak of it when we have the strength. If we try to make an organization now, it would only endanger us." Tianyi said, trying to end the topic. "Xi Ri, we can''t do much right now," Daoyi said, trying to convince Xi Ri, who looked like he wanted to say more. "Alright." Xi Ri relented. His position still wasn''t secure enough to do anything. As he thought of what he could have done if he was in Tianyi''s position, he suddenly recalled that Grand Elder Xi might not know if Tianyi was a reincarnator. "Does Grand Elder Xi know of your status as a reincarnator? Tianyi froze as he contemplated Xi Ri''s words. It was not that he hadn''t thought of his status being exposed, but his mother never showed any indication that she knew. She still treated him the same. No, in recent years, she began to treat him better and better, almost to the point of coddling. So he decisively said, "No," before changing the topic. "Back to the main point, we should focus all on strengthening ourselves. We finally revealed to each other our status as reincarnators. It would be terrible if any of us died." Tianyi said. "Tianyi, you just raised a flag," Daoyi said helplessly. "Umm, I''ll protect you two?" Tianyi said weakly, wanting to smack his own face for his stupidity. "What''s said is said." Xi Ri added. "So, what did you have in mind?" "The Demon Slaying Expedition," Tianyi said. "It will happen in about a year or two. Not only can we gain battle experience inside, but materials that can no longer be easily found in the Huang Realm after the retreat of the demons will be available. Even if we can''t use it, we can trade it in for contributions that we can exchange for treasures or techniques." "I already attained a spot after competing with other disciples," Daoyi said. "I signed up too. But I still have to compete for a slot." Xi Ri said. "Eh? You don''t just sign up and get a spot?" Both Daoyi and Xi Ri stared at Tianyi, causing him to shrink back. "Why are you two looking at me like that?" "Master said that I should compete for it. Things that are attained too easily aren''t treasured, she said." Daoyi said. "I had to fight over a hundred disciples for a spot." "My master said that I didn''t have a high chance to get a slot, but I could still try." Xi Ri continued. "But for me, since my master is only an earth immortal, I have to compete against at least a thousand disciples." "How nice to be reincarnated as Grand Elder Xi''s son," Daoyi said. "Yeah, why is it that this guy that gets such a nice life?" Xi Ri loudly whispered to Daoyi. "Hey!" Came Tianyi''s indignant voice. "Hahahaha," Daoyi and Xi Ri laughed at Tianyi''s reaction. Before long, Tianyi also joined in. The reveal didn''t go as Tianyi planned. It was abrupt and full of surprises out of his control, but the conclusion was sweet. Chapter 150: The Reincarnators Situation After the laughter finally died down, Tianyi looked at Daoyi. There was a question Tianyi really wanted to ask Daoyi. It was also the reason he first noticed her and resulted in the debacle that made her his junior sister. Tianyi opened his mouth but no words came out. He realized that he didn''t dare to, he was afraid that they would ask what his former identity was. Compared to his current identity, his former identity was heavens apart. It was like a shameful secret he didn''t want to expose. Tianyi didn''t touch upon the subject, neither did Daoyi or Xi Ri. "Something wrong? You''re staring at me again? Or did you discover some other secret?" Daoyi jokingly asked. Tianyi blinked as he realized he was staring in a daze again. He coughed into his fist as he tried to think of a topic to talk about. "What do you guys plan to do in the Demon Cage Realm?" "I did some research, trying to find the rate of death occurring within in the Demon Slaying Expedition, but I only got vague results even as a member of Appointment Hall. There was no clear answer, so either the death rate was insanely high, or the sect is hiding it for some reason." Xi Ri said. "I think that the reason is because there were no deaths at all," Daoyi said, causing both Xi Ri and Tianyi to look at her. "Think about it, if the Demon Slaying Expedition was so dangerous, the sect would have never agreed to send so many disciples to their deaths. I know that life and death situations can help us break through, but the sect would never agree to such a situation if the ratio of deaths was too high. They don''t publicize it so that we are mistaken that the death rate will be high, so we are under pressure." Tianyi and Xi Ri both thought about it and thought it made some sense. "Daoyi, did you deduced all this from Xi Ri''s words?" Daoyi shook her head. "There''s actually another point, I didn''t bring up." "What point?" Tianyi asked and saw Daoyi point a finger at him. "Me?" Daoyi nodded. "Yep. Master specifically signed you up for the Demon Slaying Expedition. According to Master''s personality, she would never sign you up for something with such a high fatality rate." Tianyi had no words at all for Daoyi''s point. Thinking back, it was only recently that Mengfei entered seclusion and stopped hovering around him protectively. He coughed and changed the subject. "Since we are talking about life and death situations, have you two experienced them?" "The only time I went is with you to the Earthsea Lands. In the sect, although there are many training grounds, there were no real threats to our lives." Daoyi said. "I just entered the Core Formation Realm not too long ago either, so I''ve only been to the training grounds as well." Xi Ri. "So I''m the only one who has experienced near-death!?" Tianyi said, shocked coloring his voice. This was illogical, as the one with the highest status was why was he the one who faced the most life and death situations? "Seriously? I''ll have you know that my first life and death situation is when Immortal Emperor Soulfish ambushed me and-" Tianyi stopped as he recalled the strange words the then Monarch Soulfish said.
She placed her hand on Tianyi''s shoulder and before Tianyi''s vision could even blur, he noticed himself across from the four-story pagoda once more. Monarch Soulfish had his eyes closed but it wasn''t long before he opened them once more. There was a trace of sullenness in his eyes as he stared at Tianyi and Grand Elder Zhang. "Zhang Cuiying, you should know the boy is an outsider. Why do you protect him so?" Grand Elder Zhang''s eyes became cold. "Monarch Soulfish, I do not recall ever being so close to you. If I do not protect him what else would I do? Collaborate against my sect member with you?" A brush appeared in Grand Elder Zhang''s hand. It had a splendid handle that emphasized the grain of the wood and the brush was made of what seemed to strands of silver. Upon seeing the brush in Grand Elder Zhang''s hand, Monarch Soulfish immediately began to retreat, but it was already too late.
Outsider, thinking back, Tianyi only suspected that Emperor Soulfish thought of him as a Dragon Emperor clone at most, he couldn''t think of any other reason. What if the reason Emperor Soulfish called him an outsider was because he knew that Tianyi was a reincarnator? "Is something wrong?" Daoyi asked seeing Tianyi fall into silence. "There might be some people who are hunting reincarnators down." Tianyi finally said and decided to share his experience. After hearing of Tianyi''s experience with Emperor Soulfish, both Daoyi and Xi Ri fell silent. Finally, Xi Ri asked. "Could you be mistaken?" "I could be," Tianyi said, unsure. "But that doesn''t mean there aren''t people who aren''t aware of our existence. So whatever you do, do not mention any explicit mentioning our origins or our circumstances, starting now." What Tianyi didn''t say was that there was a possibility of some within the Buzhou Immortal Sect already knowing. He had his suspicions but now proof, and Daoyi and Xi Ri didn''t have the status nor the power to help him. So he didn''t mention it at all so as to not cause them further worry. Tianyi even asked them whether they were missing any memories, but Daoyi and Xi Ri notice anyone particular, given Tianyi even more things to think about. After giving them a few more advice, everyone returned to their homes to muse on what they just learned. It was a day full of ups and downs. The following week when Xi Ri ascended Jade Peak, Tianyi and Daoyi were already waiting for him in the garden with snacks and drinks. Xi Ri sat down on the stone chair with a relaxed expression. "Hey." Tianyi just waved at him while Daoyi simply smiled. Compared to the hierarchical interaction of the three from before, it was obvious that they were more intimate now. Perhaps it was brought upon by their shared origins or the unspeakable secret between them. Whatever the reason was, the invisible distance between the three shrunk. "So about the factory, there are several suitable spots. Which do you prefer?" Tianyi asked as he handed a map of Jade Peak and its surroundings with several marked spots. There was an invisible agreement of not mention Immortal Soulfish and others that might know of their origins. "Already?" Xi Ri said, surprised, as he studied the map. "Aren''t the marked locations too big? We only have one factory right now." "After we split up, I discussed it with Tianyi. We both feel that it''s better to prepare for the future. Right now, we''re only selling formations cards, but what about in the future when we release the Xiyi Talisman?" Daoyi said. "I"m sure it will explode in popularity. When I thought of it back then, I only saw it as something I could create to generate some income for my project." Xi Ri said, still unsure of the idea. "Would cellphones really become popular with everyone that we would need this much land?" Tianyi and Daoyi shared a look before laughing. Tianyi then looked towards Xi Ri, "Xi Ri, it''s like you never had a smartphone before. Just the base Xiyi Talismans might not attract them too much, but what about apps? Apps are incredibly useful. I can even make a formation card app, so as long as they have it, they can use any formation cards instead of having individual cards. It''s like you''ve never had a smartphone before. Not to mention having everyone on one network would facilitate an digital network." After a while, Xi Ri spoke again. "I just don''t see the appeal of it. With how focused everyone is on cultivating, will they spend so much time on the Xiyi Talisman?" "Xi Ri, you seem to be mistaking something. Although it''s true that cultivators focus on the Dao, but it''s not like they don''t entertain themselves. I like to play music with my friends, and Tianyi likes to read novels. Don''t you have any hobbies or interests?" Daoyi asked. "What? I spend most of my time at Assignment Hall. Aside from doing my duties, I cultivate." Xi Ri said, causing Tianyi and Daoyi to look at him in shock. "Workaholic," Tianyi muttered under his breath. Compared to the average cultivator, Xi Ri was a damn workaholic. No wonder he wouldn''t understand the attractiveness of a smartphone. "Anyways, just trust us on this, okay?" Tianyi said. Xi Ri nodded. Since both of them agreed on the same point, perhaps he was the strange one. Even back on Earth, he only bought the most basic of phones because he didn''t feel attracted to the other features, among other reasons.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. "But speaking of the app feature. I plan to create that formation card app as one of the core features. First of all, it might be as you say that cultivators won''t be as interested. So I plan to advertise a Xiyi Talisman as something you can store formation cards on with a side of telephone and texting features. I still haven''t figured out how to create the internet yet. Or rather, I need more people than me, ugh." Tianyi rubbed his temples as he imagined the colossal amount of work. "But I have created a prototype for the signal and communication." "Really?" Xi Ri said. Even Daoyi was surprised as Tianyi didn''t mention it to her. Tianyi pointed at the Temporal Void Tower. "I plan to use that as a signal tower. Using spacetime as the foundation, that is how the Xiyi Talisman can connect to one another. The Temporal Void Tower is a temporal artifact. But since spacetime are both sides of the same coin, I can use it to make a sort of signal." "Then, how soon can we put it into production?" Xi Ri asked. "At most a year. I got some inspiration after yesterday''s talk, so I think I should be able to make a prototype soon." Tianyi said but paused as if he had just recalled something. "Also, after you finish building the new factory, dismantle the old one. And make sure the new factory''s outer appearance fits in with the aesthetics of the Huang Realm." "Why?" Xi Ri asked. "Adding those extra embellishments is just an unnecessary expense." Tianyi glared at him, hating that iron couldn''t become steel. "Did you forget what we talked about yesterday? We have to keep our existence as reincarnators a secret. If mother hadn''t entered secluded meditation, I wouldn''t have chosen to speak about this matter here either. The factory''s appearance is just too conspicuous. There''s a great possibility that we aren''t the only reincarnators in the Buzhou Immortal Sect." Xi Ri opened his mouth, "What about the Xiyi Talisman? Many people would see it as a cellphone if they knew about them." "The talking and texting feature is just a side feature. Most people will think of it as a formation card talisman before thinking of it as a cellphone." Tianyi argued back. "Tianyi, that''s just wishful thinking. Plus, I have already built the factory there for years. I have not seen a hint of reincarnators or anyone probing for it." Xi Ri continued, not wanting to lose the argument. "That''s because it''s built at such a remote place. Unless they had some ulterior motives or worked there, no one would pay attention to it." Tianyi argued back. Just as the argument was going to escalate, Daoyi chose this moment to step in. "Both of you have your point. Tianyi wants to hide our identities to minimize the risk, while Xi Ri wants to gather reincarnators since you discovered that we are not alone in this wide world." Both Tianyi and Xi Ri nodded. Daoyi continued to speak. "Truthfully, I agree with Tianyi''s thinking. If the fact that we were outsiders were discovered, it would be unknown what would happen. Since coming here, we have not heard a word of a situation similar to ours. At most, it would be possession from a higher realm cultivator." Like Immortal Soulfish, went unsaid. Tianyi gave Xi Ri a triumphant smirk. But Daoyi continued to speak. "But it''s not like I don''t understand Xi Ri''s feelings on the matter. Finding out that there are comrades who are in a similar situation make you feel that you are not alone, and perhaps we might receive relevant information on why the world ended. But, as Tianyi mentioned before, not everyone who comes from Earth is an ally. So how about a compromise?" "Compromise?" Tianyi and Xi Ri both asked. Daoyi nodded. "Xi Ri, become bait." "Huh?" Xi Ri blinked, not understanding Daoyi''s intention. "Not too obviously. I mean, continue to do as you were doing before. Although you won''t outwardly shout that you are a reincarnator, but continue to live as if you''re the only reincarnator. Tianyi and I will continue to act as natives and secretly gather information if we see anyone who might be a reincarnator." "So act as we have before," Xi Ri said. "Then what about if we do find one?" Tianyi asked. "We have Xi Ri contact him. After we ascertain the new reincarnator''s character and background, we can reveal ourselves to him. The reason Tianyi revealed himself to us is that he already discovered enough evidence. In addition to that, we already have over ten years of friendship, and you have already ascertained our backgrounds, isn''t that right?" "Y-yeah," Tianyi said. He trusted them, of course. Last week, he had impulsively revealed himself because of all the pent-up stress concerning Daoyi and Xi Ri''s possible status as reincarnator. So when Xi Ri did something so obvious, he exploded. It was not a planned action at all. Thinking back, he had a habit of emotionally driven impulses. Both Tianyi and Xi Ri agreed. Although Tianyi felt the risks were a bit too great, but since Xi Ri offered himself as bait, Tianyi accepted in consideration of Xi Ri''s courage or foolhardiness. Tianyi still wasn''t sure which one it was. The three of them hammered out the exact details, something Tianyi hated. Daoyi must have read or have taken the time to understand the legally binding contracts used on Earth because it was like reading from a textbook or the actual contract. Tianyi then took out four artifacts and several talismans. "These are something I prepared for you two. Now that I know you two are reincarnators, I have to give you something to protect yourselves. Especially you, Xi Ri." Tianyi wasn''t trying to point out how far the difference Xi Ri''s status was compared to himself and Daoyi, but Tianyi knew that the number of treasures he had far surpassed Xi Ri''s master. Daoyi might not need it because his mother probably gave her some life-protecting means, but Xi Ri definitely did. And if he was going to give Xi Ri something, he didn''t want to exclude Daoyi. On the stone table were two bladeless hilts, two feathers, and several talismans. Xi Ri picked up the bladeless hilt while Daoyi picked up the feather. "Try inserting your true qi into it," Tianyi said to Xi Ri, expectation filling his eyes. "W-wait! point away from us or rather, point it at empty space." Tianyi released a breath of relief when Xi Ri did. He had created the two feather-shaped artifacts and bladeless hilts during the week. So when he saw Xi Ri point it at the table, he panicked. "WOAH!!!" Xi Ri found himself letting out a sound of surprise as a white light erupted from the hilt and formed into a cylindrical blade. Now Daoyi was interested. She picked up another bladeless hilt and inserted her to true qi into it. Like Xi Ri''s, a blade of light emerged from it, only hers was a ghostly blue compared to Xi Ri''s silver-white. She tried swinging it a few times. The sword of light was practically weightless, although she was disappointed at how silent it was. "You made a lightsab**?" Daoyi asked as she stopped inserting her qi into the artifact. Xi Ri had also stopped and looked at Tianyi as well. "Not exactly," Tianyi said. "The laser sword I made doesn''t have substance. Recently due to comprehending some concepts of lighting, I managed to understand the nature of magnetic fields. I used a magnetic field to shape the energy of the artifact into a sword. It can''t block anything. But in return, most of your opponents won''t be able to block it either." "I thought about what if you met an opponent you can''t escape from. If you can''t escape, you''d have to kill them first before they could kill you, so I created something almost unblockable with devastating attack power." Tianyi said. "Then the feathers?" Daoyi asked. "Right, that. I thought it about awhile, but in the end, I decided to create a healing artifact. It can only be used once, though. If you were to become fatally injured, it would completely heal you once. But I must warn you that it won''t work if your soul is destroyed." Tianyi explained. "As for these talismans, there all sorts, and all of them are for you to preserve your life." "Tianyi, you didn''t really need to." Xi Ri said. It didn''t take an expert to know that all of them were treasures that many people might even fight to the death for. "Don''t worry and just take them. Not to brag, but these aren''t really worth anything to me, so you can take them without a heavy heart. Don''t forget who my mother is." Tianyi joked. "Then I will engrave this debt in my heart and repay you in the future, Senior Brother Xi." Xi Ri heavily said. Tianyi waved his hand. "Didn''t I say that it means nothing to me? You don''t have to engrave it into your heart or anything like that. And what happened to calling me Tianyi?" "Alright, Tianyi," Xi Ri said, but the intent behind his words was even heavier than when he called Tianyi Senior Brother. Tianyi naturally felt this, but there was nothing he could do about it. Since they were all reincarnators, he wanted them to treat him like a regular friend back on Earth, but he knew there would always be a hierarchy in relationships with one side on the higher point and the other side on the lower point. At the very least, Tianyi felt that Xi Ri wouldn''t betray him. If he was already this grateful over these minor matters, then Xi Ri shouldn''t be someone who repaid gratitude with enmity. "So this is basically a Phoenix Down from that popular video game?" Daoyi said as she picked up the feather again. Its size wasn''t large, but there was a sort of bestial beauty to it akin to a peacock tailfeather. The enchanting design was only highlighted by the glowing light it exuded. "Did you use a phoenix feather to create this? I can sense a large amount of vitality just from it laying on my hand." "I got inspired." Tianyi shrugged. He hadn''t intended to create them like that but he recalled watching a certain movie and playing some iconic video games thanks to interacting with people like himself. So it inevitably influenced him. "It''s not a phoenix feather that I used but a distilled blood of a phoenix." "Tianyi, isn''t that incredibly valuable? I heard phoenixes are extinct in this day and age." Xi Ri''s voice was slightly shaky as he said this. "And for the matter, what did you make the laser sword with?" Tianyi paused and avoided Xi Ri''s gaze. "Don''t worry about it. Just don''t bring the artifacts unless you have to...even in front of your master..." Didn''t that mean it was valuable enough that an earth immortal would covet it? Xi Ri felt as if the object in his possession had become a hundred times heavier. At the same time, he felt touched. He had friends back on Earth as well, but everyone became selfish after experiencing the apocalypse. The apocalypse brought out the greatest kindness from humans and the most savage darkness as well.
Within a year, the new factory was constructed, and Xi Ri officially began to manufacture the formation cards at Jade Peak. With the invisible protection of Jade Peak, the suspicious probings all but disappeared. Simultaneously, Tianyi produced the first generation of Xiyi Talismans. Along with it was a manufacturing process designed to use as many unskilled laborers as possible. The Xiyi Talisman was at least thrice as thick compared to the formation cards. This was due to it being composed of numerous parts created using molds and two shells carved from a special jade that covered it. All in all, it really resembled a modern smartphone. The cost was several times that of a formation card, but that was offset but the lowered cost of the downloadable formation programs on the Xiyi Talisman. It would be better to purchase a Xiyi Talisman than to purchase numerous formation cards in the long run. Not only was the amount of energy stored in the Xiyi Talisman several-fold greater than the formation cards, but you were also able to link them up in a sequence and unleash them automatically after preparing beforehand. After this feature was known, it became surprisingly popular with many buyers of the formation cards. However, a new problem occurred. It was an ideological clash of those who preferred having a deck of formation cards, the old school, versus the convenience of the new style, the new school. There was also a minor defect that couldn''t be called a defect. In order to protect the privacy of certain organizations and factions within the sect, the Xiyi Talismans could only receive reception in what was considered a public location. Chapter 151: The Enraged Heavens After nearly a year, Tianyi finally stepped into the Immortal Scripture Repository. Considering the vast size of the Huang Realm, he should be thankful that it only took a year, but Tianyi couldn''t because, within the year, his soul would strengthen to the limit again and again at an astonishing rate due to his ever-perfected martial cultivation. He had a total of four embryonic clone souls now. The place was still the same as before, not much changed. Tianyi walked through the numerous jade slips, searching for his target. According to his understanding, the Thirty-Six Heavenly Constellation Art shouldn''t be on the seventh floor but the eighth at the very least, ut didn''t he also similarly find the Lotus Soul Ascension Art on the seventh? Tianyi had to strain his face muscles to from twitching upon finding his target. The location was different than where he had discovered the Lotus Soul Ascension Art, in the middle of the techniques related to stars, not a hint out of place. Picking it up, Tianyi accepted the knowledge within the jade slip. Instantly, Tianyi felt himself lose sense of his surroundings, but, unlike when he accepted the Lotus Soul Ascension Art, the time taken to absorb the knowledge was much shorter. As Tianyi expected, the jade slip had shattered in his hand. Time to pay another visit to Sect Master Xia Sect Master Xia showed a flabbergasted expression upon hearing that he found the Thirty-Six Heavenly Constellation Art on the seventh floor of the Immortal Scripture Repository. "Little Tianyi, are you sure that there was nothing wrong with the Thirty-Six Constellation Art?" Sect Master Xia couldn''t help but ask in worry. "I wanted to ask Sect Master as well. Nothing seemed wrong to me, but that''s perhaps my realm is too low." Tianyi said. "Should I speak it word for word on what I learn?" Sect Master Xia nodded. Tianyi began to speak of the cultivation method recorded in the jade slip. With each word spoken, Sect Master Xia''s eyebrows rose higher until the end, where it nearly touched his hairline. "Is there something wrong?" Tianyi asked, seeing Sect Master Xia speechless. "You remembered it quite well," Sect Master Xia finally said after a moment of silence. "Memorizing it all wasn''t that hard." Tianyi shrugged. He didn''t see why it was so shocking. "Little Tianyi, do you know why Immortal Realm techniques are recorded in jade slips?" Sect Master Xia asked. "Isn''t it because it would take too long to write it down and read it from a book?" Tianyi said. Sect Master Xia shook his head. "That is part of the reason, but the more crucial reason is that they can''t be transported by mere words. I''m surprised you were able to transcribe the techniques into words that don''t resonate with the Dao." When one reached a certain realm or understanding of the Dao, when he speaks of it, his words would resonate with the Dao. The words disappeared, and thoughts and intents would be directly transmitted. "But didn''t Immortal Ironword''s inheritance have books too? Wait..." Tianyi paused as he tried to recall the books in the upper level of Ironword''s pagoda. Compared to the books on the lower floor, the words were a bit strange. Tianyi continued to recall his experiences, and he realized that what was transmitted into his head weren''t words but pure thoughts. His shock must have shown because Sect Master Xia chuckled in amusement. Tianyi coughed into his fist. "Sect Master, is there a problem with my method?" "Absolutely not. To be able to explain the techniques purely using words is a testament of your comprehension ability." Sect Master Xia said. After hearing that, Tianyi felt much better. Perhaps he was actually a great genius to be able to shock Sect Master Xia like that. "Sect Master, have you discovered the truth behind the reason why the Lotus Soul Ascension Art was on the seventh floor? It seems strange that both techniques would be on the seventh floor when they shouldn''t." Tianyi asked, coming to the main point of his visit to the Sect Master. "Unfortunately not. I cannot find any evidence of anyone deliberately placing it there. The most plausible explanation is that one of the custodians there placed it there by accident." Sect Master Xia explained. Tianyi inwardly rolled his eyes. "Is that so? Those old fogies should probably retire if they can make a mistake like this." Sect Master Xia felt his lips twitch as he heard Tianyi''s words. The custodians of the Immortal Scripture Repository were all immortals, so there was no way they would go senile and make such a rookie mistake. Not long after, Tianyi left the Buzhou Immortal Court Hall where Sect Master Xia resided. His visit this time was a probe to see if there was really someone aiding him in the background. Half of him didn''t believe Sect Master Xia didn''t know the truth, but another half suspected it was someone that even Sect Master Xia can''t defy or far above in power. And the only person Tianyi could think of would be the Concealed Emperor resting in Buzhou Immortal Sect''s forbidden ground. At this point, he was pretty sure the one aiding him was the Concealed Emperor, but that didn''t help him at all. He had no authority or reason to meet the Concealed Emperor. And frankly, Tianyi didn''t want to confront the Concealed Emperor at this time. As usual, he was far too weak. Tianyi smiled self-depreciatingly. To others, he was the son of the Grand Elder Xi, who looked on from above the clouds. And in terms of cultivation, he far surpassed those of the same realm, but he still felt too weak. When he returned to Jade Peak, Tianyi immediately returned to his mansion. He sat inside his cultivation chamber and closed his eyes. Earlier, he had comprehended the Thirty-Six Heavenly Constellation Art, but now he was merging it with his cultivation method. The Thirty-Six Heavenly Constellation Art was a spiritual cultivation method, while the Seventy-Two Earthly Asterism Art was a martial cultivation method. Since they shared the same origin, he should be able to use the Thirty-Six Heavenly Constellation Art as an inspiration for his martial method. The Thirty-Six Constellation Art allowed the cultivator to turn his spiritual core into a map of the stars, a star chart. The cultivator would engrave the stars into his spiritual core and then formed them into constellations. With each constellation engraved, the cultivator would be able to induce myriad changes as if he had cultivated numerous cultivation methods. There was one aspect that surprised Tianyi, and that was the stellar avatar relationship to the cultivation method. If you could form a stellar avatar, then it would greatly boost your cultivation. It was an increase in all aspects: speed, strength, qi generation, and even comprehension of the Dao. Did the Immortal Court nourish their disciples who cultivated the Stellar Heavenly Scripture with that pagoda? If so, why did they add the murals? Or was it only added after? That question only lingered in Tianyi''s head briefly. He had more important things to worry about. Before, Tianyi used the numerous stars of his Heavenly River Stellar Avatar to discover and open over three hundred and sixty acupoints. It allowed him to reach the peak of the Acupoint Opening Realm. But Tianyi discovered that his method was flawed. His body was a cosmos, what use were acupoints? Or more correctly, all the stars could be considered an acupoint. If that was the case, then he would have over a million acupoints! After recognizing this fact and remedying his martial method, Tianyi felt his control of the cosmos increase. He could summon even more true qi of chaos now. As if he didn''t already have enough. Along with the constellations he had learned in astronomy class, most of them blurry memories they may be, Tianyi formed several Chinese constellations imparted with the art.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Ordinarily, a cultivator would not be able to engrave all the constellations described within the art, and, as such, they had to carefully choose which constellation they would engrave upon their spiritual core. But Tianyi didn''t have that problem. First of all, Tianyi didn''t form a Constellation Spiritual Core, so it was unknown if he could successfully engrave the constellation upon his spiritual core. Second of all, Tianyi was merging the Thirty-Six Heavenly Constellation Art into his martial method that was created based on the Spring Autumn Scripture. And third, Tianyi had the Heavenly River Stellar Avatar. He could directly replicate the constellations. Tianyi''s integration of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Constellation Art into his martial method was very successful, almost too successful. It was as if he was simply assembling a puzzle instead of creating a new cultivation method. There was no difficulty at all. Compared to the time he created the martial method in Tianwei Island, his speed was even faster! Just to make sure, Tianyi double-checked and even triple-checked. But he could not discover anything wrong. Sometimes, being too successful would only bring unease. This was doubly so for Tianyi since this concerned his future accomplishments. Tianyi recalled that the Thirty-Six Heavenly Constellation Art was derived from the Stellar Heavenly Art like how the Spring Autumn Scripture was derived from the Timeless Heavenly Scripture and Spatial Heavenly Scripture. The ease of how he learned it and the Primordial Heavenly Scripture confused Tianyi. Either he was a genius in all the Heavenly Scriptures, or the Heavenly Scriptures were originally a single scripture. After contemplating for a while, Tianyi sighed. He should just try it cultivating his newly formed martial method and test to see if there are any inconsistencies or flaws. Tianyi wished he had a clone that cultivated the same art as him, so he could at least experiment without any danger to himself. Right now, he felt as if he was just a step away from creating the Soul Nourishing Realm segment of his martial method. However, the moment he created the finishing touches, so to speak, Tianyi snapped his head towards the ceiling. Or, more specifically, the sky outside his mansion. "Shit." His newly revised martial method was perhaps too perfect. Once he started cultivating it, it was as if a powerless factory had powered up. Worse, it was fully automated, so he was incapable of stopping it. Tianyi hadn''t even prepared to summon a heavenly tribulation! To others, it would have been a blessing for an automatic cultivation method, but right now, it was a hindrance to Tianyi. But there was no use crying over spilled milk. Tianyi could only grit his teeth and overcome the heavenly tribulation. Plus, this was a Soul Nourishing Heavenly Tribulation, so it shouldn''t be more powerful than his Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation. Oh, how wrong he was. Just the first strike tribulation lightning already surpassed the Nascent Soul Realm. Tianyi felt his breath halt as he experienced the power of a Unity Realm attack, but his cosmos martial body only trembled for a single second. Immediately, his body became covered in a silvery black film. This was a new defensive method he created using the unique characteristic of his cosmos body and contained aspects of spacetime. Once the second bolt of lightning struck, it seemed to halt on the black film as if it was separated by a vast gulf. And the more time the tribulation lightning spent around the black film, the more distorted it became due to the different temporal rates of the black film. Tianyi hadn''t decided on a name, so he just called it Spacetime Fabric for now. But Tianyi didn''t have time to pay attention to the lightning right now because his cosmos had changed. It didn''t become vastly bigger or anything, but it felt different. It had changed, and Tianyi couldn''t find any accurate words to describe it. The stars were brighter and shimmered like jewels in the night sky. His five nascent souls who were nearing the limit of the Nascent Soul Ream had their limits increased. The quality didn''t change, just that their vessel changed. If his nascent souls were like a cup before, now it was a bathtub. Tianyi could feel his cosmos nourishing his nascent souls. It was as if his soul was bathed in a pleasant hot spring, not it was even more pleasurable than that! The changes were the result of him entering the Soul Nourishing Realm in the martial path. Tianyi didn''t expect the limit of his nascent souls would increase, but thinking about it, it was logical. He had merged spiritual, soul, and martial cultivation methods, so it wasn''t strange, there would be a significant increase in the quality of his foundation. The quality of his realm could compete with the Unity or World Merging Realm! However, that wasn''t the main point. He had entered the Soul Nourishing Realm without transcending his Soul Nourishing Heavenly Tribulation. Only after transcending their heavenly tribulation could a cultivator enter the next realm. But Tianyi defied that rule. It was as if he no longer needed the Heavenly Dao''s acknowledgment to promote his realm! No wonder the heavenly tribulation was so abnormal. But Tianyi couldn''t be happy right now. His promotion wasn''t actually complete. Vast amounts of true qi of chaos were constantly being absorbed faster than it could be produced. In fact, the consumption was so large, Tianyi didn''t know whether he could sustain it till the end. How laughable. The situation that forced him to run low on qi wasn''t external factors such as danger or an enemy, but himself! But... Tianyi glanced at the neverending bolts of lightning. By now, his room and the surrounding had already been completely devasted. Only he was unharmed in the immediate vicinity. Tianyi''s lips morphed into a grin. The tribulation lightning that struck him next wasn''t destroyed. Rather, Tianyi destroyed its form and absorbed it. Since he didn''t have enough energy to fuel his promotion, then he''ll just use the tribulation lightning. Once again, Tianyi was treating the tribulation lightning as an energy source. The abnormal heavenly tribulation seemed to have become enraged at this and altered its tactic. After building its power for a while, nine chains formed of tribulation lightning ensnared and rooted Tianyi''s body. But the chains soon lost their shape and were absorbed by Tianyi. "Come! I''ll take whatever you throw at me!" Tianyi''s word''s further enraged the heavenly tribulation and, by extension, the Heavenly Dao. Bolts of tribulation lightning began to rain down upon Tianyi, but the power was actually equal to the first bolt, confusing Tianyi. But the unending source of power still made him happy. Time passed as Tianyi continued to endure, or rather, absorb the free energy the Heavenly Dao was gifting him. He started to pay less attention to the outside and focused most of his attention on the changes in his cosmos. It was becoming more united over time as if he only practiced one cultivation method. Tianyi had even thought that perhaps this was his version of the Unity Realm but quickly discarded it. Although his cultivation had upgraded, he didn''t gain any new abilities as if he would upon entering the Unity or World Merging Realm. Suddenly, the bolts of tribulation lightning stopped. Tianyi furrowed his brows and looked up. The tribulation clouds still hovered in the sky, not seeming to dissipate anytime soon. The heavenly tribulation wouldn''t be creating another tribulation giant, would it? Tianyi thought. And then it happened. Like a warrior descending from heaven, nine bolts of tribulation lightning struck the ground around Tianyi, and nine tribulation giants appeared. But compared to the previous tribulation giants Tianyi faced, they were far more dangerous. All nine seemed to merged with heaven and earth, becoming one with it akin to a Unity Venerable. Tianyi chuckled. If it was united with the world, didn''t he just have to disconnect them? Soon, the immediate vicinity was covered in a black sphere much like Tianyi had done in the Earthsea Land. The Chaos Refining Formation was a formation and could be considered an extension of his cosmos body. Immediately, all nine giants seemed to grown duller as if they lost something important. Since the Chaos Refining Formation could be considered an extension of him, didn''t that mean it was also rejected by heaven and earth? So what would happen if the tribulation giants were inside of it? Naturally, it meant they lost the greatest advantage of a unity venerable! Of course, the tribulation giants couldn''t be considered true unity venerables, and his Chaos Refining Formation wouldn''t be as effective. After that, it was not difficult for Tianyi to restrain them. He just treated them as nascent soul grandmasters with unity venerable levels of qi. After absorbing the eighth tribulation giant, Tianyi successfully entered the Soul Nourishing Realm. The ninth tribulation giant was essentially useless now, so Tianyi just destroyed it, but he still absorbed its energy. Tianyi could feel that he was utterly rejected by the Heavenly Dao, so he couldn''t absorb the spiritual qi at all to replenish his true qi. When Tianyi took down the Chaos Refining Formation, the tribulation clouds were already closed to being dispersed. Earlier, when the Chaos Refining Reformation was still erected, it was being bombarded by stray bolts of tribulation lightning, but that was just more free energy for Tianyi. With an unwilling last roar of thunder, the abnormal heavenly tribulation finally dispersed. Tianyi cracked his neck, feeling it a bit complicated. Heavenly tribulations were supposed to be something to be feared, but for the current him, it was nothing special. In fact, he felt that he could even take on an Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. Okay, that was going too far. As for why it wasn''t Transcending Mortality Heavenly Tribulation? The Transcending Mortality Realm, strictly speaking, wasn''t a separate realm from the Unity Realm. Instead, it was a unique stage representing the pinnacle of harmonization of heaven and earth. The peak of the Unity Realm was ninety-nine percent, and Transcending Mortality Realm was one hundred percent. Even though it was only the difference of one percent, the gulf between the two was incredibly vast. Tianyi looked around and couldn''t help but feel his face cramp up. His newly constructed mansion was practically in ruins after only being constructed in a year. Perhaps he should just give up and live permanently at Jade Peak Palace. Chapter 152: Nine-Five Scripture Goosebumps littered Tianyi''s body as he stood with his back straight like a steel rod in front of his mother. Yet, his gaze was anywhere but forward, landing everywhere but his mother. He was unable to hold his head up like a child who knew he had committed a wrong. Tianyi had to fight every instinct in his body not to bend his neck and fidget with his hands. This was the second time. The second time his mansion was destroyed. The first was when he tested out the nuclear self-detonation technique, and now it was the second time. "Yi''er," Mengfei started as she started stroking Tianyi''s head. The feeling of Tianyi''s hair at her touch felt especially soothing. "It''s only a mansion. But this is the second time already. You should move into Jade Peak Palace permanently." "I don''t want to impose. In addition, I feel that it might be dangerous..." Tianyi trailed off. "You''ve already destroyed two mansions now," Mengfei said, causing Tianyi to feel as if she stabbed a dull knife into his heart. "Your realm does not allow the sect to construct an immortal rank abode for you. Rather than build another mansion for you that will be destroyed, it will be better for you to live in Jade Peak Palace." "What if I accidentally destroy Jade Peak Palace as well...?" Tianyi said. "The Jade Peak Palace combined with the Jade Peak Seal is able to fight off immortal emperors for a short period of time and immortal monarchs indefinitely. You aren''t even a true immortal yet, so there is no possibility of that occurring." Mengfei patiently explained with no hints of doubt in her voice at all. Tianyi had no rebuttal for that. In the end, he could only nod his head and agree to Mengfei''s demands. He was already over thirty physically and fifty mentally, so he felt shame still mooching off his mother. Not that he wasn''t still mooching off of her, but living apart gave an illusion that he wasn''t completing mooching off of her. When Tianyi left, Mengfei found a smiling growing on her lips as she laid back on the couch of the main hall. She had attempted to get Tianyi to move back into Jade Peak Palace after his mansion was destroyed, but Tianyi refused. More than once, Mengfei regretted allowing Tianyi to live on his own. She regretted even more that she allowed him to move out at a young age. Did Tianyi resent her? Is that why he didn''t want to move back in? Mengfei pondered. She had read that a child needed their mother''s attention the most when they were young, but due to her immature emotions at the time, she allowed Tianyi to move out and could even be said to have neglected him. At the time she had no understanding of raising a child and so followed what she knew. Namely, pushing the duty to a servant, like her emperor-father and consort-mother had done to her. Maybe Tianyi secretly resented or had misgivings due to his experience when he was young, and that''s why he didn''t want to live with her. Mengfei had concluded. But now, it all changed. Mengfei had successfully tricked Tianyi into living with her again! With her prestige, as long as she paid the price, she could easily build an immortal-rank mansion for Tianyi. But that would mean living separately, so she convinced Tianyi not to. And now, they would have more time to interact. Mengfei held her chin in her fingers. She had read that mother''s often tucked in their child when they slept at night. Since she didn''t before, should she start doing it now? Or maybe she could help feed Tianyi. She recalled that she only needed to place the food in front of the infant Tianyi, and he would eat by himself. The book said the process of personally feeding the baby was an essential ritual in establishing feelings between mother and child.
Unaware of Mengfei''s thoughts, Tianyi returned to the room that he frequently lived in before he moved out to his first mansion and the time he was still in the Core Formation Realm. To take his mind off of how he wasted his mother''s resources (again), Tianyi began to focus on his cultivation... unsuccessfully. Ugh, I don''t even want to calculate how much I destroyed in spirit stones. Even with the amount I made with the formation cards and newly released Xiyi formations, I would be in major debt. Stop thinking about it Tianyi, just focus on your cultivation! After calming his mind, Tianyi could finally focus on inspecting his new cultivation. With him ascending into the Soul Nourishing Realm from the Acupoint Opening Realm, Tianyi no longer felt like there was any difference in his spiritual and martial cultivation methods as if they were one. His soul method and spiritual method had already combined as he merged the Lotus Soul Ascension Art with his five nascent souls. It could be said that he truly created a perfect merger of all three types of cultivation methods. But the requirements were simply too high. The user needed to enter both the Core Formation Realm and Acupoint Opening Realm within a short period of time. Otherwise, they would not be able to combat the deficiency of either method. It would be best to enter both realms at the same time, but that was practically impossible. To enter the Sole Extreme Yin, Eight Trigrams Yang Core Revolution Formation, the user would need a dragon pearl elixir and form nine spiritual cores. And to enter the Acupoint Opening Realm of the unnamed martial method, the cultivator had to have a certain comprehension of spacetime. One needed extreme wealth, while the other required comprehension that only those in the Unity Realm and above possessed. Aside from Tianyi, who else possessed them? Actually, Tianyi himself was surprised by how lucky he was. If he wasn''t talented in the dao of spacetime, he would have had to stay in the Core Formation Realm much longer. Perhaps he would discover another martial body that complimented his nine spiritual cores, or perhaps he would have had to destroy one or eight of his spirituals. So as a cultivation method, it was a complete failure. Incorporating the soul method only happened at the Nascent Soul Realm. To merge the Soul Nourishing Realm martial method, it required the Heavenly Rivier Stellar Avatar that only Tianyi possessed. And it came with a devastating issue. After Tianyi merged all three cultivation methods, he discovered that he could no longer detect the spiritual qi of heaven and earth. Not only that, whenever he released his spiritual sense, it felt as if it was being restricted by something. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. The only good news was that merging all three methods drastically increased the upper limits of his current realm. Tianyi wasn''t sure if he could be considered a Nascent Soul or Soul Nourishing Realm cultivator anymore. Although he couldn''t absorb the spiritual qi anymore, his cultivation would still increase without his purposeful control. Eventually, he would hit the peak of his new realm, but that issue is what came next. Tianyi created his current method using the orthodox cultivation methods, but now he couldn''t use the Unity Realm or World Merging Realm as references and had to grope in the dark to discover a new method. Tianyi estimated he had the power of a unity venerable, but that was nothing compared to the fatal issue of not being able to advance to the next realm. He cultivated to attain immortality. If his method couldn''t accomplish that, then it would be worthless. Calm down. Since my cultivation is built using the Ten Heavenly Scriptures as a foundation, it should be an orthodox method. Thinking back, every time I had an issue, it was solved when I merged a Heavenly Scripture into it. And it doesn''t need to be the original. Anything derived would be fine, like the Spring Autumn Scripture or the Thirty-Six Heavenly Constellation Art. In fact, the sect''s Five Element Method that was rumored to be derived from the Five Phases Heavenly Scripture was also helpful. If I hadn''t perused it, I would not have been able to create my spiritual Core Formation Realm method or my martial method. Tianyi''s eyes flashed as he thought of the True Pure True Self Visualization Technique but quickly shook his head. I haven''t reached a dead end, no need to resort to desperate measures just yet. I''ll try to gather enough contribution during the Demon Slaying Expedition to see if I can exchange for another derivative of a Heavenly Scripture. But I shouldn''t just place my hope on that. Perhaps it''s simply that my cultivation method is not complete enough, so I can''t see the path ahead. I need to strengthen my foundations even more. Even if it doesn''t illuminate my next step, there is no harm in doing so. I will revise my current method into a mixed cultivation method that anyone can cultivate as long as they have the talent. Who knows, maybe it will even surpass the Taiji Fist as the greatest cultivation method? With that goal in mind, Tianyi began to study his body and soul. He was using himself as the base to create a new merged method that anyone could cultivate. Compared to Zhang Sanfeng''s Taiji Fist that merged spiritual and martial methods, Tianyi planned to incorporate soul methods from the very beginning and not introduce it only at the Nascent Soul Realm. To help facilitate this, Tianyi often used the stars in his cosmos to form temporary clones to test out his newly created methods. The Thirty-Six Heavenly Constellation Art had a technique that allowed the cultivator to replicate other cultivation methods. Tianyi simply modified it to form a pseudo clone. The pseudo clone was created from Tianyi from a constellation from several stars and bringing out of his body. It was not a true clone because it did not have its own thoughts and was an empty husk. To control it, Tianyi needed to use his spiritual sense. As such, Tianyi named it the Constellation Incarnation Technique. Most of them just collapsed into themselves or exploded, some even imploded. After the first one exploded, Tianyi decided to move his experiments to where the rubble of his mansion lay. Although he was confident in the Jade Peak Palace''s sturdiness, he couldn''t calm himself down emotionally. After a year of experimentation, Tianyi felt as if he created a skeleton for his new cultivation method. It had taken many failures before he was finally confident enough to create a clone to cultivate it, but there were several requirements. For simplicity''s sake, Tianyi temporarily based the individual names of the realms on spiritual cultivation. In the Qi Gathering Realm, the cultivator will absorb qi and create tiny stars in their body. Using these stars, they would discover open twelve meridians and temper their body in preparation for creating a martial body. At the same time, the souls would be enlightened by the starlight. At this stage, the cultivator wouldn''t understand the method''s complexity, and all they could do was follow the instructions. Thinking about it, Tianyi felt that his cultivation method was still of mysteries that he himself did not fully understand as if operated on some primordial law. Opening the twelve meridians and preparing the body as a vessel was the only first step in this realm. The most crucial aspect was to open the eight extraordinary meridians. The number of extraordinary meridians opened would decide which grade the cultivator could cultivate. The first grade would be the weakest grade that allowed the cultivator to form one spiritual core and one nascent soul. The second grade allowed the cultivator to form two spiritual cores and one nascent soul. The third grade allowed the cultivator to form three spiritual cores and two nascent souls. The fourth grade allowed the cultivator to form four spiritual cores and two nascent souls. The fifth grade allowed the cultivator to form five spiritual cores and three nascent souls, which Tianyi dubbed the Five Emperor Cores, Three Sovereign Souls. The sixth grade allowed the cultivator to form eight spiritual cores and four nascent souls. Tianyi named this one the Eight Symbolic Cores, Four Direction Souls. As for the seventh grade, that was Tianyi''s current grade with nine spiritual cores and five nascent souls, the supreme grade. Since it could no longer be merely called the Sole Extreme Yin, Eight Trigrams Yang Core Revolution Formation, Tianyi renamed it to the Nine Mandate Cores, Five Heaven Souls. Ignoring the Foundation Establishment Realm, what is achieved in the Qi Gathering Realm is what decides the cultivator''s future in the cultivated Tianyi''s method. Of course, even if a cultivator opened all eight extraordinary meridians, they would not necessarily be able to cultivate the fifth, sixth, or seventh grade. The best a cultivator could cultivate without treasures was the fourth grade, but Tianyi had a bad feeling about it, maybe because it had double fours, which symbolized double death. The fifth form was still okay. As long as the cultivator had a master or a force backing them up, the price wasn''t too much. Tianyi took inspiration from the famed three sovereigns and five emperors of mankind for the fifth grade. According to his calculation, the fifth grade should have numerous variants. But right now, it only had Sovereign Suiren as inspiration with his Endless Ember Scripture. The most famous of them was the Yellow Emperor, who created the Xuanyuan Scripture and the Spring Autumn Scripture. It was only after the sixth grade that it got nearly impossible. The resources devoted to a Foundation Establishment Realm disciple to ascend to Core Formation Realm would be ridiculous. From what Tianyi calculate, it would cost immortal rank or near-immortal rank materials. And the seventh grade was even more ridiculous. Just the price of the dragon pearl would eclipse the sixth grade''s cost by severalfold, not to mention the scarcity of dragons in contemporary times. Not even Tianyi could create another seventh-grade Nine Mandate Core, Five Heaven Soul clone. Well, he could if he asked his mother, but he felt it would be too shameless just so he could create a clone with the same cultivation. Not that he wasn''t reaching into the resources available to him due to his mother currently. After that, the cultivator wouldn''t need to invest in any more resources. But that was a poor comfort at best. Both the sixth and seventh grade were huge drains of resources that no sane person you would have to do. Spending all the resources on a Qi Gathering Realm pupil on an off chance to create a powerful immortal wasn''t worth it. But Tianyi was a wastrel, and it was time to prove it once and for all. Tianyi planned to create a new clone to cultivate his newly devised cultivation method and form the sixth-grade Eight Symbolic Cores, Four Direction Souls. As for the name of this cultivation method? Tianyi named it the Nine-Five Scripture after the supreme seventh grade. Chapter 153: Ba Shifang Tianyi had a total of two clones: Juedai Fenghua and Donghai Longzi. He didn''t know where Juedai Fenghu''s location after she went missing. Even Su Bojing didn''t find any information concerning the missing San Jiuling and Dong Chifan, or any of the disciples of the Leakless Sect actually. The event had turned into quite a scandal. A good majority of the good seedlings from the lineage of the elders had gone missing, significantly affecting the next generation of the Leakless Sect. It had reached the point that the Leakless Sect even set their eyes on the Bright Ascension Sect. The Leakless Sect and Bright Ascension Sect were situated right next to each other, so they''ve always had conflict over resources between them. This was only further aggravated by the Bright Ascension Saintess''s, Ji Muyang''s, crime for inviting Longwei. It had even reached the point that the Buzhou Immortal Sect had to start paying attention to the matter. If there''s one good point, then that would be that San Jiuling''s and most of the other elder''s scions that accompanied the disciple''s soul lamps were still lit. Otherwise, a war between the two sects might really erupt. As for Donghai Longzi, he returned, or rather, arrived at the Buzhou Immortal Sect once a few months ago to drop off the treasures he gained from the inheritance site. Afterward, he left once again to explore more immortal inheritance sites. There was some trouble, but it was nothing Tianyi''s martial clone couldn''t solve. Tianyi only regretted that Longzi didn''t reach the peak of the Acupoint Opening Realm and enter the Soul Nourishing Realm before he left. Donghai Longzi, who knew of this, could only roll his eyes. Did the main body think that everyone was like him who had that illogically powerful cultivation method? His speed was already great, among the top percentage of all geniuses, don''t compare him to the main body''s monstrous cultivation speed, okay? And now Tianyi was going to create his third clone. Compared to the first two clones, Tianyi''s third clone''s future was going to be a bit tragic. Tianyi''s third clone was going to cultivate his newly created Nine-Five Scripture, a self-devised cultivation method that should supersede all current methods. Just the amount Tianyi was going to invest in this clone would make many true immortals go green with envy and rebuke Tianyi as a wastrel. But its whole purpose was to be a lab rat for Tianyi. Unlike Tianyi''s other clones, his third clone was created with no cultivation and the one closest to the original Tianyi. But for some reason, the clone didn''t have Tianyi''s mutated heavenly lightning spiritual vein and had a heavenly earth spiritual vein instead. Thinking about it, Tianyi found it strange that the Heavenly Dao didn''t send some tribulation lightning at him while he created his third clone. This was too strange! The Heavenly Dao loved to take potshots at him! In the end, Tianyi could only conclude that the Heavenly Dao decided that it would not succeed and saved its energy for future chances. Back to Tianyi''s newly created clone. Its face was only thirty percent similar to Tianyi''s appearance. Perhaps it was because Tianyi purged the Dragon Emperor''s influence, Tianyi''s third clone had no trace of the Dragon Emperor''s face at all. In fact, it held more resemblance to Mengfei than Tianyi himself. Tianyi even saw some foreign features that Tianyi guessed were contributed by his sperm donor. But what made Tianyi sullen was that except for those pair of eyes, his clone was actually more handsome and more beautiful than him, the main body! "I should''ve taken a more hands-on approach. Otherwise, this tragedy would have never occurred," Tianyi muttered. Has there been anyone who had a clone more beautiful than the main body? Tianyi was afraid that people who saw this would mutter behind his back and even secretly laugh at him! The newly created clone secretly rolled its eyes. Had there been anyone who was jealous of their own clone''s appearance? The way the clone saw it, as long as Tianyi didn''t say anything, no one would notice. After all, the most eyecatching were still those pair of mesmerizing eyes he inherited from Mengfei. It completely drew away attention from any other features on his face. Even if Tianyi''s face was full of scars, those eyes he inherited would still make him handsome. After the clone''s creation, Tianyi began to think of a name for his new clone. "Bai Laoshu?" The third clone almost spat out a mouthful of blood and glared at Tianyi. "Main body, can you think of a less obvious name? I know I''m a lab rat, but you can''t directly name me white mice!" Tianyi coughed into his fist. He wasn''t angry at his clone''s rebuke and even felt a bit guilty. If someone named him that, he, too, would be infuriated. Not to mention that it was his clone, so their personalities were highly similar. After deliberating for a while, Tianyi suggested a new name. "How about Ba Shifang?" The name literally translated to eight and four directions. Eight referred to the eight symbols, and four directions were naturally for the four cardinal directions. The third clone thought about it for a while before nodding. Although it was not very creative, it was over a thousand times better than Bai Laoshu. So that was how Tianyi''s third clone became known as Ba Shifang. Ba Shifang began to cultivate the Nine-Five scripture under Tianyi''s monitoring. Since the clone possessed all of Tianyi''s experience and memories, he cultivated far faster than Tianyi and, with a vast amount of resources, reached the peak of the Qi Gathering Realm within a month. But that was the easy part, and now, Tianyi wanted Ba Shifang to open all eight extraordinary meridians.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Even if Ba Shifang was the clone most similar to Tianyi, there were still some differences, and as a result, his eight extraordinary meridians were different than Tianyi''s own. And as Tianyi''s clone, even if he can''t cultivate the seventh grade of the Nine-Five Scripture, it must cultivate the sixth grade. And to do that, Ba Shifang must open all eight extraordinary meridians. Tianyi wasn''t willing to wait five years for Ba Shifang to open his extraordinary meridians. So Tianyi chucked Ba Shifang into a special space that isolated him from any external influences, just like Mengfei had done to him all those years ago. And with a carefree heart, Tianyi left to play with his fellow reincarnators. "I rolled an eleven, so I move eleven spaces. I collect two hundred spirit stones and land on Leakless Sect''s Arcane Soul Peak. Since it is not owned by anyone, I''ll purchase it. With this, I own all three of Leakless Sect''s, and I am able to purchase a house and mansion for my property." Tianyi smiled as he paid the money and began setting up houses for the red-colored properties. "Your turn, Daoyi." Daoyi picked up the dice and rolled it across the board. "Seven. Hmmm, I landed on a community chest space. Umu, ''You''ve contributed greatly to your sect, collect one hundred spirit stones.'' My turn is done. Your turn, Xi Ri." "Let''s see. I rolled an eight. Moving eight spaces, I land on Buzhou Immortal Sect''s Jade Peak. I''ll pay six hundred spirit stones for it and end my turn." Xi Ri pointedly ignored Tianyi''s envious gaze. Su Bojing sighed and picked up the dice. "Double ones, I move two spaces and land on a chance space. ''You''ve broken the sect rules and are fined fifty spirit stones.'' Since I got a double, I''ll roll again. A double three this time, so I move six spaces and land on Young Master''s properties. Since there are houses, I have to pay two hundred and twenty spirit stones. I roll again, another double, so I''m sent straight to jail." "Bojing, are you alright? Don''t feel too bad about losing, okay. We played this game more than you. You just have to play a few more times to get used to it." Tianyi comforted Su Bojing, who had the least amount of property and money. Although Tianyi, Daoyi, and Xi Ri had become more intimate, these words could not be spoken by Daoyi or Xi Ri. Daoyi was still a core formation master, and her comforting Su Bojing was insulting him. As for Xi Ri, his position was even worse than Su Bojings had it not been for being Tianyi''s cousin. "Young Master, do you really think I''ll be this sullen just because I played this... monopoly?" Su Bojing asked, his whole body exuding a gloomy aura. That''s right, Tianyi brought monopoly into the Huang Realm. He didn''t spread it and only played it with Daoyi and Xi Ri most of the time. If it were anyone else, he would not have dared to bring out to play. Part of him was using it reminiscence about their times back on Earth, and the other part was using it to remind himself of his origins. "Then why are you so depressed?" Tianyi couldn''t help but ask. "I couldn''t get a spot for the Demon Slaying Expedition." Su Bojing sullenly said. "A hundred years ago, I was already envious of those who could get a spot. And now, after fighting so hard to get a chance at getting a spot, I didn''t get the spot. Even worse, I was defeated in a single move!" "Ah," Tianyi looked away. He glanced at Daoyi and Xi Ri, who both got a spot and felt like he shouldn''t say anything. "Young Master, are you able to get me a spot?" Su Bojing asked, his eyes full of hope. Tianyi coughed into his fist. "For these matters, it''s better to do it with your own strength and not rely on connections. Otherwise, it would disseminate unsavory rumors." Su Bojing stared even harder at Tianyi. "Didn''t Young Master get a spot without fighting for it?" Tianyi felt the edge of his lips twitch at the jealousy in Su Bojing''s words. "Bojing, if I really competed for a spot, do you think anyone would be my opponent?" This wasn''t Tianyi boasting. He really did have the capabilities to say those words. Although he didn''t show his strength off much, but his fight against the Dragon Emperor was more than enough proof of his capabilities. Plus, he had already proven his strength in the Heavenly Connection Gathering. Not to mention, he was even stronger than before after his creation of the Nine-Five Scripture. Tianyi wasn''t done speaking yet. "And besides, do you really have the right to speak such words to me?" Su Bojing stilled upon realizing how disgraceful he was acting towards Tianyi as a follower. "Forgive me." Su Bojing stood up and quickly bowed upon realizing his mistake. Perhaps, Tianyi had treated him too well to make him forget that he was Tianyi''s subordinate and not a friend, allowing him to think that he could take liberties. Tianyi treated Su Bojing more like a friend than an actual servant, even going as far as to joke with him. But perhaps he was too magnanimous and made Su Bojing forget the difference between the two. "Just shut it," Tianyi said as he waved his hand. He didn''t want to hear any more of Su Bojing''s excuses. He hated being told that he only got his current strength and belongings due to his connections, but because most of them were from outsides, he didn''t care much. But Su Bojing was someone who followed him for years, so this triggered Tianyi''s temper. "Go reflect upon your actions for the next month. I don''t want to see your face." "Many thanks," Su Bojing said. It was a light punishment, but the more light it was, the more fearful his heart was. He would be more relieved if Tianyi punished him harshly. At least this meant that Tianyi vented his anger. Unlike now, where he was treading on thin ice. In truth, Su Bojing was treading on thin ice. If Su Bojing made another mistake like that again, Tianyi planned to drive him away. He wouldn''t take away Su Bojing bestowments, but he would no longer aid Su Bojing in anyways. As for the punishment, Tianyi didn''t like physical punishments, so he only made Su Bojing self-reflect. As for a new subordinate? Tianyi could directly ask Xi Ri. Xi Ri had a vast network of connections, and Tianyi''s trust in him deepened due to their shared origins. "What''s use is taking his words seriously? He didn''t mean it." Xi Ri said. "Even though Senior Brother Su is half a friend, but as Tianyi''s subordinate, he should have never spoken those words," Daoyi interjected. "Senior Brother Su isn''t considered too outstanding, you can always find another. As the one closest to Tianyi, he is the one most likely to realize our secret. If he were to be loose with his house, it might spell disaster upon us." Tianyi waved his hand, no longer interested in playing games. "It''s fine, this is his last chance. I just thought of something, so I''ll leave first." When Tianyi stood up to leave, he paused for a moment. "Oh right, the Demon Slaying Expedition is coming up soon. How about you guys travel with me?" Chapter 154: Gathering at the Buzhou Immortal Sect Bing Huoyuan clenched his hand into a fist under his sleeve. Finally, after all these years, he was going to see her again. His heart soared as he envisioned the reunion that awaited him. Standing next to him, Bai Ningwei also smiled. Although she was dressed in plain robes and appeared to be more of a maidservant than a disciple of Boundless Mountain, she exuded a pure and clean aura that made her appear like an innocent young girl, a great contrast compared to most of the female cultivators. The two of them were on an immortal boat with Boundless Mountain''s other chosen disciples toward the Buzhou Immortal Sect for the Demon Slaying Expedition, an event that only occurred once every hundred years. Strangely, there was quite a wide berth between the two and the other disciples. "Tsk, look at the vixen. You really can''t tell a person by their appearance, looking so pure and innocent, but even prostitutes have more dignity than her." A female disciple muttered while glaring daggers at Bai Ningwei. "Pfff! Who knows, maybe Senior Brother Bing just likes this innocent act of hers." "In my eyes, she is just a calamity." Another girl said. "Just look at how terrible Senior Brother Bing''s interpersonal relationship became once girl appeared." "Aren''t you ladies just jealous that country bumpkin caught Senior Brother Bing''s attention?" A male disciple said as he joined the conversation. "And aren''t you jealous that Senior Brother Bing is so attractive?" A girl retorted. The male disciple rubbed his nose in response. "He has the bases for his confidence and admiration. Senior Brother Bing is one of the sect''s greatest genius of the generation. But I really can''t see why Senior Brother Bing fell for that girl, even going as far to offend the other elder''s scions and disciples." "Who knows, maybe he feels that a gentle and clumsy girl is much more to his taste." Another female disciple said, disdain overtaking her words. She could still remember how Bing Huoyuan called her a poisonous woman for punishing Bai Ningwei for failing her tasks. The female disciple rolled her eyes. She''d rather be poisonous than a failure like Bai Ningwei, who failed even the simplest chores. When Bai Ningwei became a disciple of Boundless Mountain under Elder Bing''s insistence, she started as an outer disciple. Not only could she not do her task correctly, but she often failed then. The most hateful thing was that all the male outer disciples defended her when she failed! This became worse when she became an inner disciple due to her connections with Bing Huoyuan. As an inner disciple, Bai Ningwei was even more useless and weak than outer disciples. Even the male outer disciples who stood at her side started to distance themselves from her. When she was an outer disciple, these male disciples might protect her due to their masculinity being stroked when they defended a helpless woman. But their pride was smeared into the dirt when they discovered that this helpless woman had an even higher position than them when she was weaker than them in every aspect. Bai Ningwei''s duties became even more important as an inner disciple, but she nearly failed every single one of them. Because of this, she offended many people and even caused them to lash out at her. At these moments, Bing Huoyuan stepped out and protected her, causing his relations to worsen and many to question his eyesight. In the end, Bai Ningwei became an idle disciple under Elder Bing. For Elder Bing, raising an idle disciple was no issue at all. Elder Bing had thought that Bai Weiwei of the Bright Ascension Sect was bad, but he felt that Bai Ningwei was even worse! There were so many times that Elder Bing had advised his son, Bing Huoyuan, against keeping Bai Ningwei near him., but Bing Huoyuan didn''t listen and, instead, became even closer with Bai Ningwei, causing Elder Bing to nearly spit out blood! In the end, Elder Bing couldn''t stand it anymore and turned a blind eye. As long as that lass didn''t do anything and just stood there, she wouldn''t cause any trouble. As for giving precious cultivation resources to a failure like her, she can dream on! As for Bai Ningwei herself, she felt especially aggrieved. She felt that she just failed some tasks, yet everyone turned against her. She didn''t do anything wrong, so why was everyone so against her? Only her young master, Bing Huoyuan, was a good person. She felt everyone else in the sect looked down at her for being from a backwater place. Because of this, Bai Ningwei felt especially excited to go to the Buzhou Immortal Sect. She had heard how glorious Buzhou Immortal Sect was. Surely they wouldn''t behave like the disciples of Boundless Mountain? Her eyes alighted with delight when she saw the vast mountain range and the giant wall-less gate, the Mortal Severence Gate. Bai Ningwei had an ignorant expression when Boundless Mountain''s immortal boat landed in front of the gate. "Young Master, what''s going on?" Bai Ningwei asked as the disciples began to disembark the immortal boat. "It''s Buzhou Immortal Sect''s rules. Outsiders must walk through the Mortal Severence Gate and aren''t allowed to fly inside the sect." Bing Huoyuan patiently explained to Bai Ningwei. Bai Ningwei creased her brows as she felt her impression of the Buzhou Immortal Sect worsen. "But Young Master, we are guests. How can they treat us like this?" "It''s Buzhou Immortal Sect''s rules. We must follow it." Bing Huoyuan flippantly said, having grown used to it. "They sure are arrogant. Who do they think we are?" Bai Ningwei muttered, not remembering that she did not like associating with Boundless Mountain''s disciple. At Bai Ningwei''s words, Bing Huoyuan also felt that Buzhou Immortal Sect''s actions were disrespectful but didn''t say anything. "Right now, we aren''t the only guests, so we shouldn''t make a fuss." Bing Huoyuan''s words directed bai Ningwei''s attention at the other grounded immortal boats with curiosity shining in her eyes. "Young Master, are these the boats from the other sects that are on the same level as Boundless Mountain?" "The Bright Ascension Sect where your sister resides has also arrived." Bing Huoyuan said with a smile that revealed his white teeth. But that smile soon disappeared when he saw the Leakless Sect''s immortal boat. The conflicts between the two sects have recently gotten worse ever since Leakless Sect''s disciples'' disappearance from the Heavenly Connection Gathering. With a dark face, Bing Huoyuan entered the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Bai Ningwei didn''t say anything. Even she knew of the conflict between the Leakless Sect and Boundless Mountain was. Because of this, Bing Huoyuan had repeatedly warned Bai Ningwei, and as a result, she recognized the Leakless Sect''s emblem on their immortal boat. A look of contemplation and hesitation flashed through Bai Ningwei''s eyes before she followed Bing Huoyuan.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. A Buzhou Immortal Sect disciple, who had been waiting for the arrival of the first-rate sects, appeared and guided them to their temporary abode using an immortal boat. As it was the Rites Hall''s duty to receive guests, all the lodging was situated at Rites Peak, where the Rites Hall was based at. As for the true immortal elder who accompanied them, he was led away by an Immortal Realm elder of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Perhaps it was to exhibit the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s might or a tradition, the Buzhou Immortal Sect delegate disciple didn''t control the immortal boat to fly too fast and took a rather scenic route through the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Bing Huoyuan observed the sect grounds of the Buzhou Immortal Sect with great interest. He had never actually toured the Heaven Continent''s premiere sect. He had only been to the Buzhou Immortal Sect once, and that was to accompany his grandfather to congratulate the Buzhou Immortal Sect on Sect Master Xia for accepting a personal disciple. "Wow, the spiritual qi is so dense here, almost as dense as your cultivation chamber!" Bing Ningwei said with awe. She had thought that the rumors she heard about the Buzhou Immortal Sect perfectly described Boundless Mountain, but only after actually arriving at the Buzhou Immortal Sect did she realized that Buzhou Immortal Sect was on a whole different level compared to Boundless Mountain. Bing Huoyuan''s gaze turned complicated. He grasped his fist before releasing it. "Ningwei, Buzhou Immortal Sect has reigned over Heaven Continent since the creation of the Huang Realm. Other organizations may fall and rise, but only Buzhou Immortal Sect has always existed. Even the Nihility Sect, the most ancient of the first-rate sects, has only existed for a million years, while Buzhou Immortal Sect has existed for over three million years." Bai Ningwei''s eyes widened dramatically as if trying to wrap her head around the astronomical figure. Age didn''t matter much to an organization, only strength. But for the Buzhou Immortal Sect, it was like adding flowers atop gold, just another achievement for them to display. Bing Huoyuan shook his head in amusement and rubbed Bai Ningwei''s head with affection. However, his eyes weren''t focused. Bing Huoyuan''s goal was for Boundless Mountain to become equal and surpass the Buzhou Immortal Sect, but to accomplish his ambition, Bing Huoyuan knew he needed strength first. And unless he could reach the legendary Origin Dao Immortal Realm, he would just be one of the contributors to Boundless Mountain''s growth. It wasn''t just him and Boundless Mountain who wished for this. All sects wished to become stronger and rise to another level, whether it be Fleeting Mist Sect or the Lei Clan to the first-rate sects like Leakless Sect and Boundless Mountain. Every one of them pursued the pinnacle. Not even the Buzhou Immortal Sect was exempt. At their level, the Buzhou Immortal Sect only thought of the Anti-Heaven Alliance as an annoyance at worst and minor threat at best. No, their gaze was towards the other two continents. After sufficiently displaying the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s prosperity, the immortal boat arrived at Rites Peak. And on Rites Peaks, there were several palaces specifically built to accommodate guests. The immortal boat arrived at a palace with a plaque with Peach Flower Palace written on it atop the palace''s gates. Just like its name suggested, the palace had numerous peach trees planted within it, but they weren''t ordinary peach trees, but ones whose barks shone like gems. The fragrance released by the trees was filled with dense spiritual qi, and all of them were producing peaches all year long due to the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s unique methods. "Crystal Bark Peach Trees are planted throughout the palace. Feel free to pluck them and eat them as you like. Not only will a Crystal Bark Peach help reduce any impurities within your body, but it can also increase your vitality and heal minor injuries, even hidden ones." The Buzhou Immortal Sect proudly explained. In his eyes, only the Buzhou Immortal Sect can take these peaches out and let guests just eat them as they like. "You are free to explore Rites Peak as you like. However, do not wander off to any forbidden areas or off the mountain. Otherwise, we might have to offend you." The delegate continued to explain what the disciples of Boundless Mountain were and weren''t allowed to do before finishing off with, "If you have any requests, simply inform the steward. Are there any other questions?" Bing Huoyuan chose this moment to speak up. "Fellow daoist, do you know which palace the members of the Bright Ascension Sect reside in?" The Buzhou Immortal Sect delegate pondered for a moment before answering. "If I recall correctly, they reside in the Noble Plum Palace. They''ve already arrived for over a week." Bing Huoyuan thanked him after hearing this. After Bing Huoyuan''s question, numerous other disciples asked a few questions before the delegate left. He had to report to his superiors about the details. The disciples of Boundless Mountain entered the palace and explored it. This included Bing Huoyuan and Bai Ningwei. After the two chose their rooms, they two decided to explore the garden that was filled with peach trees and numerous beautiful flowers. "Young Master, Young Master!" Bai Ningwei said aloud with excitement as she held a peach in each hand. She displayed an expression of delight as she bit into one of them before presenting the other to Bing Huoyuan. "It''s so delicious. I can feel a cool and pleasant sensation spreading throughout my body. Young Master should try one too." Bing Huoyuan showed an indulging expression as he took a peach from her hand and bit into it. The peach''s flesh was nice and crispy, yet juicy to the point that it almost leaked down Bing Huoyuan''s mouth. Instantly, Bing Huoyuan felt a pleasant and cool expression just like Bai Ningwei said, just not to the same extent as her. However, Bing Huoyuan showed a troubled expression. Bai Ningwei''s talent was meager, and she was only at the Qi Gathering Realm when he first saw her. For her to attend the Demon Slaying Expedition, Bing Huoyuan had forcibly raised her cultivation to the Core Formation Realm using pills and numerous treasures. The reason the Crystal Bark Peach had such a significant effect on Bai Ningwei was due to the large number of aftereffects left behind by the pills and treasures she consumed. She was actually in quite a dangerous situation right now. Her foundation wasn''t stable, and until she could consolidate it, Bai Ningwei would stay at the early Core Formation Realm. "If you like it, you should eat more." Of course, Bing Huoyuan didn''t want to trouble her with this knowledge. Since it was he who caused her situation to become like this by forcibly raising her cultivation, he will take responsibility for it too. As Bai Ningwei happily devoured the peach in her hand, a peach blossom landed atop her head. Bing Huoyuan felt his heart skipped a beat as his hand reached out to grab the stray peach blossom atop her head. But just as he was about to, a voice called out to him, "Mister Bing." Bing Huoyuan felt his heart pound inside his chest, wondering just what he wanted to do. Schooling his expression, Bing Huoyuan turned his gaze towards the servant disciple. His gaze turned complicated as he felt the servant disciple''s Core Formation Realm cultivation. Even a servant disciple of the Buzhou Immortal Sect had more talent than Bai Ningwei. "Did you get the information I requested?" Bing Huoyuan asked. "I have. Would you like me to relay it now?" Bing Huoyuan nodded his head. "Among the disciples who arrived from the Bright Ascension Sect, there is no one named Lai Erchu or anyone with the same surname." At the servant disciple''s words, Bing Huoyuan felt as if all his hopes and aspiration vanish. His face paled. He was clear that Bai Weiwei''s, or Bai Qingwei as she was referred to by Bai Ningwei, talent was only slightly superior to Bai Ningwei''s. With her talent and status, it was already fortuitous for her to be accepted as a disciple of the Bright Ascension Sect. "As for Miss Bai, she is present at Noble Plum Palace." Just as Bing Huoyuan felt his emotions run out of control, those words instantly calmed them. He couldn''t even stop the elation forming on his face. "R-right, thank you." Not just him, Bai Ningwei, who was near him, also showed a happy expression with eyes full of expectation. "Mister Bing, there''s also one more matter." The servant disciple said. After calming down his happiness and schooling his expression once more, Bing Huoyuan asked what the matter was. In response, the servant disciple took out an invitation and handed it to Bing Huoyuan. "This is an invitation from Daoist Moneybag from the Jade Cauldron Sect." Bing Huoyuan looked at the invitation and immediately discerned the precious materials used to construct the invitation, and Fortune Banquest was written on it. He felt his lips twitch at how the materials used to construct the invitation were wasted. Daoist Moneybags was a famous cultivator from the Jade Cauldron Sect, and he cultivated the Dao of Fortune. The more money he had, the farther he would go on his immortal path. At the same time, he was famous for being a spendthrift, using more money than necessary on everything. "Who else was invited?" "I do not know, but it seems that many servant disciples were seen leaving the Pill Flower Palace to all the palaces and even off Rites Peak." So it seemed that Daoist Moneybags invited almost everyone. It was a good chance to form some connections. But first, he had to visit Noble Plum Palace and see Bai Weiwei. Chapter 155: Fortune Banquet "Mister Ji says that Miss Bai doesn''t have time to see anyone at the moment." A servant disciple from the Noble Plum Palace said to Bing Huoyuan and Bai Ningwei, who were waiting outside. Bing Huoyuan furrowed his brows. "But I didn''t ask for that Daoist Ji. I asked for you to send the message to Miss Bai Weiwei." The servant disciple showed an apologetic expression. "Mister Ji wouldn''t allow this one to meet with Miss Bai. As I''m ultimately just a servant disciple, it is not within my power to interfere with their sect matters. Please forgive me." Bing Huoyuan''s worries increased even more. Although he was elated to hear that Bai Weiwei was attending the Demon Slaying Expedition, he soon found the situation strange. He knew Bai Weiwei''s talent wasn''t high, so the only method she could attend was to have someone pay a high price to bring her, as he did with Bai Ningwei. "What is Mister Ji''s full name?" Bing Huoyuan asked, probing for information. "Mister Ji is Ji Wutong." The servant disciple said. It was not a great secret or anything, plus Bing Huoyuan could easily search it up if he asked for the guest name list. All the guests who arrived were written down for the record. "Ji Wutong?" Bing Huoyuan muttered the name as he searched his memories for information concerning that person. His eyes flashed with light as he recalled the rumors concerning that person, and his expression sank. Due to the fiasco of the most recent Heavenly Connection Gathering, Ji Muyang was stripped of her saintess position due to her involvement with Longwei, which was not helped by the disappearance of the Leakless Sect disciples. Currently, there were numerous saint candidates. Ji Wutong was one of the prime candidates and was Ji Muyang''s cousin from a different branch of the Ji Clan. Although Ji Wutong''s talent could not be protested against, his personal life was a stark contrast. There were numerous rumors and scandals of Ji Wutong''s many romances. From the servant girls to his side to even seducing the female disciples of opposing sects. His reputation was extremely awful, but even so, there were still rumors of numerous women pining after him to the point that they didn''t fear death or the punishment from their sect. "Young Master, could it be that my younger sister is in trouble..." Bai Ningwei''s words trailed off, but Bing Huoyuan''s thoughts went wild because of her unfinished words. Bing Huoyuan immediately schooled his thoughts and gave a comforting smile at Bai Ningwei. Earlier, he must have shown too much on his face and made Bai Ningwei worried. Bai Ningwei was hardly knowledgeable about the rumors surrounding Ji Wutong and most of the famous cultivators active in the world after all. "Can you ask for a meeting with Mister Ji for me?" Bing Huoyuan asked the servant disciple. The servant disciple nodded and immediately entered the Noble Plum Palace. Very soon, he reached his destination, one of the better rooms of the palace, and knocked on the door. "Enter." Inside the beautifully decorated room stood a man with fiery-red robes with his back turned towards the servant disciple. The servant disciple kept his head low because the man was seriously too beautiful. When he first saw the man, he felt as if he had lost his soul due to the man''s sheer beauty. "Oh? That Bing Huoyuan hasn''t left yet? Tell me, what does he want?" The man, Ji Wutong, turned around to revealed his milky white skin, exquisite features, seductive red eyes, and a peerless smile on his face. It was a charming smile that could seduce both men and women. "Replying to Mister Ji, Mister Bing wants to have a meeting with you." The servant disciple said, keeping his eyes down. Ji Wutong revealed a ridiculing smirk. "Tell him that this lord does not want to. Tell him that he can forget about Wei''er; she''s mine." The servant disciple wiped the sweat off his brows after leaving the room. That was far too dangerous. The servant disciple didn''t know what he would do if Ji Wutong expressed the slightest interest in him. It had to be known that were rumors of Ji Wutong swinging both ways. Shaking off the shivers, the servant disciple reached the Noble Plum Palace''s entrance and reported what Ji Wutong said to Bing Huoyuan. After all, he was just a messenger. As for the relationship between the sects, why should he care about it? Even though he was a servant disciple, an outer disciple that had stagnated and no longer had any hope of rising, he still had a tiny bit of arrogance and looked down on other sects due to belonging to the Buzhou Immortal Sect. As expected, Bing Huoyuan''s expression turned terrifying. "Didn''t Young Master say that Weiwei''s future dao companion was Lai Erchu?" Bai Ningwei innocently said next to him, causing Bing Huoyuan''s expression to sink even further. The servant disciple thought that Bing Huoyuan would erupt, but he didn''t. Instead, he asked through gritted teeth. "Did he receive an invitation from Daoist Moneybag?" "All the saint candidates seemed to have received an invitation." The servant disciple said after recalling the information. As a cultivator, his mind was far more powerful than mortals, and the invitation was sent out yesterday, so he could recall clearly. "Good, good, good!" After saying good three times, Bing Huoyuan waved his sleeves and left. Bai Ningwei gave an apologetic smile before following and leaving a good impression on the servant disciple. The servant disciple shrugged. If it weren''t for the bountiful rewards, he wouldn''t have chosen to serve as a servant for the members of the vassal sects. But there were also other rewards. For example, someone paid him to pay attention to Bai Weiwei and all information that concerned them. The person who contacted him was an average inner disciple, but the servant disciple discovered hints that the genuine person who wanted the information was someone from Jade Peak! The servant disciple''s eyes shone with a flash of brilliance as his gossipy heart soared. What was so special about Bai Weiwei that caused so many people to pay attention to her, from the saint candidate to a genius from Boundless Mountain and even someone from Jade Peak. He had paid special attention to Bai Weiwei. She was pretty and had a pure aura unique to her, but he couldn''t discern what made it so that so many people noticed her. Whether Ji Wutong or Bing Huoyuan, both of their reputations had long been spread far and wide. As for the person from Jade Peak, it couldn''t be Grand Elder Xi''s son, could it? Thought the servant disciple. He just couldn''t understand why they would pay attention to a nameless disciple like Bai Weiwei.
Daoist Moneybag was a famous figure in the current generation of Heaven Continent, not only because of his pedigree but his methods. As the son of the Jade Cauldron Sect Master, he was born with great fortune. But for some reason, since young, he loved money, whether it was mortal gold or spirit stones.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Because of his unique obsession, Daoist Moneybag wasn''t satisfied with the meager allowance given to him by his father. It had to be known that Jade Cauldron Sect Master was a man who had many romances and just as many children. So Daoist Moneybag started his own business to earn as much money as possible. In the end, he suddenly controlled over five percent of the Jade Cauldron Sect''s wealth and became Jade Cauldron Sect Master''s most outstanding child. Five percent didn''t sound like a lot. But it had to be known that a sect''s wealth wasn''t owned by any single sect member, and the expenditure of a single day was astronomical. For Daoist Moneybag to have five percent practically made him the wealthiest person in all of the Jade Cauldron Sect. Naturally, this didn''t include the priceless wealth owned by the top experts of the sect. And he especially liked to make friends with everyone, so his fortune banquets became equally as famous. Rather than a banquet, it was closer to an auction. Bing Huoyuan and Bai Ningwei arrived at the earliest possible time. Even so, the garden of Pill Flower Palace, where the banquet was held, already had numerous attendees. "So, it Brother Bing!" Bing Huoyuan turned his head and almost thought he saw a ball with limbs walking toward him,but it was actually a rather... plump cultivator wearing green robes. His face was round and amiable with a whisker-like mustache and thin beard. And on each arm was a beautiful woman, each with their unique beauty. "Haha, so it''s Daoist Moneybag. I haven''t seen you for some time. Did you get even rounder?" The words seemed offensive, but the light tone revealed the joking nature. Daoist Moneybag laughed in response and made a fake angry face. "How many times do I have to tell you, call me brother instead of daoist. With the years we know each other, aren''t we friends?" "Brother Moneybag." Bing Huoyuan said, changing his address. Daoist Moneybag then looked at Bai Ningwei, who was quietly next to Bing Huoyuan. "Brother Bing, this wouldn''t happen to be your future dao companion, would she?" Bing Huoyuan sputtered in response, his heart beating unnaturally upon hearing those words for some strange reason. Off by the side, Bai Weiwei looked down to hide her reddening face. "It''s not like that!" Bing Huoyuan hurriedly explained. He couldn''t like Bai Ningwei. After all, it was Bai Weiwei that was in his heart. "Okay, I believe you." Daoist Moneybag said, but his tone was of obvious disbelief. Who were the two kidding with those reactions? He quickly hung his arm around Bing Huoyuan''s shoulder, and a metallic scent drifted into Bing Huoyuan''s nose. Rumor has it that Daoist Moneybag liked to take baths in gold nuggets and not water. "Among the bigshots, you''re the first to arrive!" Daoist Moneybag said as he led Bing Huoyuan towards the main seats. Since it was early, most people were still just conversing among them, and the main event had yet to start. As Daoist Moneybags and Bing Huoyuan conversed, many other guests arrived. Even when the disciples from the Leakless Sect arrived, Bing Huoyuan just made a point to ignore them as much as possible without being too impolite. After all, this was still the Buzhou Immortal Sect and Daoist Moneybag''s fortune banquet. This amount of face, he still had to give. "Brother Xia, you''ve finally arrived. I heard that you went into seclusion for years. I didn''t think that I would have the honor to have you attend my little banquet." Daoist Moneybag said as he stood up to greet Xia Yushan, the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s eldest senior brother. Following Xia Yushan were Wei Daiying and Ji Shuye, both of whom had attended the Three Heavens Connection Meeting with Tianyi. "It was nothing much." Xia Yushan said as he cupped his fist. He still had the flair of the eldest senior brother. He also acknowledged all the various disciples from all the sects who had already arrive. "Oh? It seems that your seclusion went quite well. It seems like you''ll break into the late Nascent Soul Realm soon. I''ll congratulate you in advance." Daoist Moneybag said. "With this speed, you''re among the peak of the recent generations." Contrary to Daoist Moneybag''s expectation, Xia Yushan''s expression stiffened, and a dark look flashed by, so quick that Daoist Moneybag he had mistaken it. But Xia Yushan quickly smiled back and said, "Then I''ll accept your congratulation in advanced." After Xia Yushan sat down at Daoist Moneybag''s right, Daoist Moneybag mentioned a matter. "Right, I have to congratulate Brother Xia. I heard that your Buzhou Immortal Sect had raised another genius. A late bloomer this time, what was his name?" "His name is Sheng Ni," Xia Yushan said. "It was a miracle that he was accepted into the Buzhou Immortal Sect with his low talent, but after he reached the Core Formation Realm, his brilliance has revealed itself. It took less time for him to reach the Nascent Soul Realm than it took him to reach the peak of the Qi Gathering Realm." As the eldest senior brother, Xia Yushan had extensive knowledge concerning all outstanding disciples that appeared during his tenure as the eldest senior brother. Sheng Ni was the most outstanding that appeared during his tenure, and for another reason, he was most pleased with Sheng Ni. "How about inviting Sheng Ni here?" Daoist Moneybag asked. He wanted to form a connection with this rising star. Xia Yushan shook his head. "Sheng Ni that person doesn''t like it when people disturb him when cultivating. Perhaps it''s a habit that he formed due to the hardships he faced when he was weak, but he never misses a chance to cultivate, even at his current realm." Daoist Moneybag sighed in lamentation, but he quickly bounced back and smiled again. Wei Daiying, who was a dual cultivator and now a nascent soul and soul nourishing grandmaster, sighed and said. "Sheng Ni is really worthy of respect. Although he is older than us, his recent accomplishment shows his great potential. He even managed to outshine Senior Brother Xi." "This Senior Brother Xi, he wouldn''t happen to be the Vast Heaven Young Master, Xi Tianyi?" Daoist Moneybag asked, with a hint of excitement in his eyes. "Indeed, he is that Senior Brother Xi." Wei Daiying said before sighing expressively. "In the Paradise Abyss ranking board, Senior Brother Xi also showed an amazing achievement but it can''t compare to Sheng Ni, who grabbed fourth place." Wei Daiying paused a bit before correcting himself. "Actually, recently, he reached first place. I heard that he caught an immortal monarch elder''s eye and was even rewarded for his achievement. Perhaps, he will become that immortal monarch''s disciple soon. He has my admiration. You guys may not know, but the ranking board lists all the disciple''s achievements since the founding of the sect, so Sheng Ni didn''t only beat the current generation but all the previous generation as well." "Then what rank did Daoist Xi achieve?" A Jade Cauldron Sect disciple asked. The Jade Cauldron Sect disciple appeared quite average among the outstanding disciples gathered here and even seemed slightly on the lower end, but the woman next to him was even more eye-catching. The woman wore the same uniform as the Jade Cauldron Sect disciples, but she appeared to have something a little extra that made her stand out even if her appearance wasn''t the best. "Hmmm, Brother Yi''s words also scratches my interest. Brother Xia, what rank did Daoist Xi achieved?" Daoist Moneybag smiled at the man who spoke up, Yi Dongli. Yi Dongli was the grandson of an important elder of the Jade Cauldron Sect, but although he had talent, he was sent off to the Northern Region for years and only recently returned. And when he returned, he brought behind that woman, Jiang Chunye. Although Jiang Chunye''s spiritual vein wasn''t good, she was hardworking and harsh on herself. As a result, she became a peak acupoint opening master and caught up to Yi Dongli, who was a peak core formation master. Wei Daiying showed a hesitant expression before sighing. "Senior Brother Xi reached the 99,999nth step, and his rank is around eighty thousand." "So, he''s only at the level." Yi Dongli said with a strange smile. Even Jiang Chunye felt that her previous wariness of Tianyi was a bit overboard with the way Wei Daiying exposed the information. "Audacious." Xia Yushan frowned and reprimanded Yi Dongli. "You are just a core formation master. What right do you have to discuss a nascent soul grandmaster''s affairs?" Yi Dongli felt his facial expression sink, but he quickly schooled his expression and cupped his hands. "It is my fault, there was no other meaning in my earlier words." "Hmpf," As the eldest senior brother, how could he allow other sects to look down at the sect disciples? This was his duty. "Besides, Brother Xi is not even forty years of age. For his willpower to even place on the ranking board is an achievement in itself. I can sense your age is already over fifty. You wouldn''t even make it on the ranking board." "That''s right, Senior Brother Xi is already a peak nascent soul grandmaster, so how can you compare to him?" Wei Daiying added. Yi Dongli''s expression sank even further. Ji Shuye felt as if the words were a bit strange and quickly added. "Senior Brother Xi probably just felt some interest toward the Paradise Agony Abyss. After all, he only tried once and already placed himself on the ranking board." Xi Yushan felt the hand holding the wine cup stiffen, but he quickly masked it and drank it. The topic was diverted away, but a servant disciple quickly whispered something into Daoist Moneybag''s ear. "Haha, it seems that speaking of that person and he will come! Excuse me for a bit as I go welcome him." Before Daoist Moneybag could stand and go, the spoken person already arrived, causing everyone''s attention to divert toward''s him. Chapter 156: Reunion of Two Sisters When Tianyi arrived, his presence immediately drew the attention of everyone present. So great was the attention that many people forgot to pay attention to the woman beside him. Xia Yushan felt his heart skip a beat when he saw Daoyi, the years having allowed her budding beauty to bloom. Tianyi had the appearance of a young man just shy of adulthood. His height was not too tall nor short. Despite this, when one looked at him, they felt as if they were craning their neck and looking at a mountain peak. And whenever they looked into his eyes, they felt as if they were transported into a vast cosmos and they were inconsequential figures. Earlier, when they heard Wei Daiying mention him, at most, they thought him of a lucky fellow due to his birth. After all, even if reaching the Nascent Soul Realm at age twenty was monstrous, it did not matter if Tianyi did not have the willpower to tread his immortal path. At worst, he would be a fallen genius, unable to advance once he reached a certain point. So what if he was an immortal empress''s son? But now, they felt their previous thoughts to be laughable. Just one glance let them know that the nascent soul grandmaster wasn''t simple at all. The presence they felt from Tianyi was like a giant mountain weighing down on even if he wasn''t doing anything. It was as if they were facing an earth immortal elder from their sect. As Tianyi walked over, there was an awkward silence as none of the people moved upon seeing him. The contrast with the perceived person against the real person was just that great. Many of them even gave a meaningful look at Wei Daiying. They didn''t say anything because it was not their place to interfere with another sect''s matters, especially the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Plus, conflicts between sect members were common as clouds. Their sects weren''t any different, but they made a mental note not to interact with Wei Daiying in the future. Just a single look between Wei Daiying and Tianyi allowed them to know which person they couldn''t afford to offend. Wei Daiying''s face twitched for a single moment when he saw these looks. He gave an imperceptible glance at Xia Yushan and saw no reaction and sighed. Whatever, as a Buzhou Immortal Sect disciple, he didn''t need to curry favor with anyone else. He just had to make sure his cultivation continually advanced. "So it''s Vast Heaven Young Master, I have long heard of your great name!" Daoist Moneybag said as he strode forward to break the awkward atmosphere. Hearing this, Tianyi felt the slight smile on his face stiffen. Why did it feel like he was being called a child? "Vast Heaven Young Master isn''t even my daoist title. How about you call me Brother Xi?" Daoist Moneybag felt his eyes widen in surprise before narrowing them in appreciation. Out of all the people of the current generation that he met, Tianyi no doubt had the highest status, but Daoist Moneybag was most surprised at Tianyi''s attitude. It had to be known that he met several scions of elders who were inferior to him in status, yet they still had their nose pointed at the skies, arrogant to the extreme. Compared to them, Tianyi like the humblest man in the world. Naturally, Daoist Moneybag could still see a trace of arrogance in Tianyi''s eyes, but that came from his confidence in his strength. "Then I will offend you and call you Brother Xi. I will thicken my face and ask you to call me Brother Moneybag." Daoist Moneybag laughed as he introduced himself. Tianyi''s face stiffened when he heard Daoist Moneybag introduce himself, and his face even began to twitch before it immediately settled down. He then gestured toward Daoyi beside him and introduced her. "So it''s Sister Jiang. You don''t mind me calling you that, do you? You can call me Brother Moneybag too, haha." Daoist Moneybag jovially laughed as he introduced himself to Daoyi. Tianyi originally wanted to invite Xi Ri as well, but Xi Ri was clear that he would not fit into the group. In terms of talent, he was top-tier, but not the peak, and he had switched cultivation methods midway, so he had to catch up on that as well. In addition, he had to take care of the ever-growing business. So for a banquet like this, he had no interest or time for. Today, Daoyi wore a blue dress woven from silk, and her sleeve appeared as if it was woven from peacock feathers with a mixture of blue and green colors. Coupled with the peacock hairpin among others and light makeup, Daoyi appeared expressively vibrant today. In fact, it was too vibrant to the point that it was almost out of place compared to the other female cultivators. "Haha, Sister Jiang is quite beautiful today." Daoist Moneybag said after he seated Tianyi and Daoyi to Xia Yushan''s left. Daoyi gave a slightly embarrassed smile and said. "Don''t make fun of me. I''m afraid that you all will laugh at me. Originally I was from a cultivation country, so when banquets occurred, it was imperative for one to dress up. It did not occur to me that this banquet would be so different from the ones in my home country." "Junior Sister Jiang, you don''t need to downplay yourself. If you want to dress up, it is your choice. I think you''re very beautiful today." Xia Yushan said as his eyes flashed an amiable smile at Daoyi. "Junior Sister is indeed very beautiful today. Later, I will have to ask you for tips." Ji Shuye added from the side, deeply imprinting Daoyi''s style into her mind. "Of course, if Senior Sister Ji has the time, I will visit you, or you can visit me at Jade Peak at your leisure," Daoyi replied back with a smile. "I didn''t think Senior Brother Xia would also be here. Are you also attending the Demon Slaying Expedition?" Tianyi asked while Daoyi and Ji Shuye struck up a conversation. "As the eldest senior brother, I naturally have a spot. It''s no secret. After all, the name list for the participants is open to the public. If you want, you could find about which other disciple is attending to." Xia Yushan replied to Tianyi with a shallow smile. Tianyi waved his hand flippantly. "I don''t have such a great curiosity to purposely seek out the information." "Then how about some introductions then? After all, everyone present is a participant of the Demon Slaying Expedition." Daoist Moneybags said as he began to introduce the people one by one. Naturally, he didn''t introduce every single one, just the ones with enough status to be at the central group with him. "And this..." Daoist Moneybag said as he introduced Yi Dongli. Tianyi looked over and smiled. "Long time no see. I believe the last time we saw each other was at the Pan Kingdom. I had thought you were only from a little family that controlled the Yi Auction House; turns out you''re a disciple of the Jade Cauldron Sect." He hadn''t noticed Yi Dongli''s presence at the banquet. Among all the people present, especially around Daoist Moneybag, Yi Dongli was just average. As for Jiang Chunye, Tianyi discovered that her presence was really low, like Yi Dongli''s shadow, not eyecatching at all unless one paid special attention. He wouldn''t have noticed had it not been for Daoist Moneybag pointing toward Yi Dongli.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Yi Dongli gave a gentlemanly smile in return. "When I first saw Daoist Xi, I immediately realized that you weren''t simple at all, and it turns out I was right. For us to meet back then is fate." "I don''t usually remember inconsequential people, but I remember the events of that day very clearly. Do you?" Tianyi gave him a smile full of meaning. Yi Dongli''s felt as if a fire started to burn inside at Tianyi''s words. Inconsequential people, was Tianyi talking about him? But he didn''t let his internal thoughts show on his face. "Naturally, I remember the events of that day." "Of course, of course. How could you forget that the woman behind you almost killed her sister in a simple duel, my junior sister?" Tianyi''s words were like a bucket of ice water pouring over Yi Dongli. Yi Dongli felt worried. What if Tianyi pursued the matter? With Tianyi''s status, even if it was bullying, he could still cause great problems for Jiang Chunye and maybe even kick her out if he was willing to pay the price. For Jiang Chunye''s martial cultivation, she had to participate in the Demon Slaying Expedition. There was even a worse scenario where Tianyi directly acted and killed Jiang Chunye. Although killing a disciple of another sect, especially one invited to the Demon Slaying Expedition, was a grave crime, with Tianyi''s status, his punishment wouldn''t be heavy at all. "Daoist Xi, are you sure you aren''t mistaken? How could Chun''er do such a thing against her sister?" At this moment, another male voice spoke up. Yi Dongli looked over and felt as if the fire inside of him been doused with oil. The speaker was clad in azure green robes and had leisurely waved a fan in front of his handsome face. He was Tong Lizi, a peak nascent soul grandmaster and most talented disciple in alchemy. His influence was not one wit inferior to Jade Cauldron Sect''s eldest senior brother. Course Daoist Moneybag surpassed the eldest senior brother in every way, so it wasn''t as illustrious as it sounded. At the same time, he was another man interested in Jiang Chunye. Fortunately for Yi Dongli, Jiang Chunye was someone who valued relationships and wasn''t seduced by Tong Lizi. But this only made Tong Lizi even more interested in Jiang Chunye. "Mistaken?" Tianyi showed a ridiculing smile. "I don''t remember unrelated things, but I clearly remember that Miss Jiang''s concealed weapon would have punctured a hole in my junior sister''s forehead had she not been quick enough to dodge. If you don''t believe me, how about I show you my memory?" Usually, showing memories involved invasive methods. For Tianyi to go to such length showed his intent on pursuing the manner. "This..." Tong Lizi showed a hesitant expression. In his eyes, all the people Jiang Chunye killed or wanted to kill deserved it, but he couldn''t say such words to the victim''s senior brother. "Hmpf, what a vicious woman to even want to harm her own sister. Really don''t know how low Jade Cauldron Sect''s standards have fallen." After hearing of Daoyi''s near-death experience due to the Jade Cauldron Sect''s disciple and his own displeasure at Jade Cauldron Sect''s recent actions, Xia Yushan wasn''t polite at all with his words. "Tianyi, Senior Brother Xia, don''t mention it anymore. After that day, I no longer consider that person sister. Don''t ruin this good day just because of an unrelated person." Daoyi, who was attracted by the growing commotion, said, not even giving Jiang Chunye a glance. Tianyi snorted, while Xia Yushan felt his brows furrow at Daoyi directly addressing Tianyi''s name. "My apologies, I let my emotion get the better of me," Tianyi said to Daoist Moneybag. "It''s fine, it''s fine. Who here doesn''t have some conflict with each other?" Daoist Moneybag said as he glanced at Tianyi then Daoyi. Going by the way she addressed Tianyi, their relationship shouldn''t be so simple. He took another look at Daoyi''s beauty, he could understand why Tianyi was angry for Daoyi''s sake. Although Daoist Moneybag directed the conversation away from the matter between Daoyi and Chunye, the people present knew of his standpoint. In the future, when Jiang Chunye tried to form connections, they would have to consider whether it was worth it to cut off their future connection with Tianyi or even offend him. Jiang Chunye felt her eyes darken. As someone who experienced the darkness of society, she knew how essential connections were. Strength was important, but how many people could use the strength of one to beat a hundred? This act of Tianyi was like severing over half Jiang Chunye''s plans. "Hmpf, what a petty man, really shaming his status as an immortal empress''s son." Jiang Chunye muttered to herself. Although she said this, she knew that she could only say such words in the shadows. If she really made a big deal out of it, the one with the losses would definitely be her. Yi Dongli might even be dragged down because of it. On the surface, Jade Cauldron Sect was still under the Buzhou Immortal Sect. For a Jade Cauldron Sect disciple to harm a Buzhou Immortal Sect disciple was a grave crime, even if she wasn''t a Jade Cauldron Disciple at the time. Furthermore, there were still many hardliner elders that leaned towards the Buzhou Immortal Sect within the Jade Cauldron Sect. Although they wouldn''t lower their status to deal with Jiang Chunye, just them not favoring Jiang Chunye was enough to hinder many of her opportunities. Tianyi smiled and greeted some acquaintances he had met before, such as Monolith Sword Sect''s He Luoli and Nihility Sect''s Hun Jusang, but he didn''t see Leakless Sect''s San Jiuling or Bright Ascension Sect''s Ji Muyang. When Daoist Moneybag reached Bing Huoyuan, Bing Huoyuan cupped his hand and smiled. "Long time no see, Vast Heaven Young Master." Tianyi laughed, and his eyes drifted toward Bai Ningwei. Upon seeing this, Bing Huoyuan imperceptibly shifted his body in front of her. "You and I both know that title is more of a nickname among people in the Heavenly Connection Gathering. You can call me Brother Xi just like Brother Moneybag." Tianyi said, pretending not to have seen Bing Huoyuan''s little actions. "Then I''ll thicken my skin and call you Brother XI." Bing Huoyuan said. "Right, we haven''t seen each other in a few years. Have you helped Miss Bai meet her long-lost sister?" Tianyi asked. Bing Huoyuan felt his heart skip a beat upon hearing Tianyi mention the matter. He wasn''t sure Bai Ningwei would follow him or Tianyi if Tianyi decided to help her. In his years of knowing Bai Ningwei, although she didn''t say anything, every action made by her expressed her desire to reunite with her sister. A bitter taste entered his mouth before he clenched his fist and harden his eyes. Today, he was going to help Bai Ningwei meet Bai Weiwei. There was no need for Tianyi to interfere, nor would Bing Huoyuan allow a third party to interfere, whether it be Xi Tianyi or that Ji Wutong! Bing Huoyuan was overthinking things. If Tianyi knew Bing Huoyuan''s thoughts, he would directly roll his eyes. If he weren''t waiting for a good show, he would distance himself as far as possible from a troublesome person like Bai Ningwei. Who knows if she would somehow ask him for help despite him only meeting her once and pushing her onto Bing Huoyuan. Maybe Bai Ningwei would think that since Tianyi helped her once, he should continue to help her regardless of their shallow relationship. Tianyi had experienced this type of person before on Earth. Tianyi had seen a pitiful girl and decided to help her. Just this one-time aid made her cling to him like a parasite. He tried to gently tell her not to ask him for aid anymore since he was an unrelated person in the end. Who knew the end result would be rumors of him being a heartless person? That''s why Tianyi learned his lesson and decided to distance himself from helping troublesome people like Bai Ningwei. Even if he were going to help, he would do it anonymously so that they wouldn''t cling to him. "The purpose of this meeting is to let them meet. During the Demon Slaying Expedition, they can develop their feelings." Bing Huoyuan said, giving off an aura of "I got this covered, don''t worry." Upon hearing this, Tianyi couldn''t help but click his tongue. Bing Huoyuan really was willing. He could discern that Bai Ningwei''s cultivation foundation was shaky, so she couldn''t have been chosen for her abilities. Bing Huoyuan must have used his connections, something that Tianyi wasn''t willing to do for Su Bojing. Tianyi might have asked his mother to help Xi Ri, but since Xi Ri was capable, he didn''t have to worry. "I hope Miss Bai reunited with her long-lost sister. You are a good person, Brother Bing." Tianyi said, glee in his eyes. Bing Huoyuan felt that Tianyi''s elation was a bit strange, but he smiled and accepted it. His smile grew wider when Tianyi directed his attention away as Daoist Moneybag introduced him to the rest of the guests. Just as Bing Huoyuan allowed his heart to settle down, a considerable commotion erupted at the banquet. Turning towards the entrance of the garden, Bing Huoyuan felt his brows furrow as he saw the man, Ji Wutong. It was as if all eyes were drawn to him. The commotion Tianyi made earlier was like a sideshow in comparison. Chapter 157: Bai Sisters Bing Huoyuan had to admit that Ji Wutong''s beauty was peerless even to a man like him. His beauty wasn''t a charm created from some technique like Lovesopt''s beauty mark but an innate charm. Every movement had a sense of charm to it, just a glance from Ji Wutong was seductive yet not vulgar. Bing Huoyuan immediately hated the man. Bing Huoyuan jerked his gaze towards Bai Ningwei to see her staring forward with a dazed expression. His heart lurched as he saw the expression with a sour feeling he couldn''t explain, but upon closer inspection, he released a sigh of relief. Bai Ningwei''s expression wasn''t one of lovestruck but shock and surprise. Or perhaps it was closer to disbelief. He turned his gazes towards the focus of Bai Ningwei''s eyes. His breath hitched as his heart beat erratically, like injecting a newfound source of power into his body. Bing Huoyuan felt in his current state that he could even defeat a unity venerable. Bai Weiwei was exactly the same as the one in his memories, time had not left a single mark on her. Clean and pure, without any hint of darkness, that was Bai Weiwei. Bing Huoyuan had dreamed of this moment for years, the reunion between him and Bai Weiwei. He had so many questions for her. Are you living well? How have you been? Have you been eating well? Did you suffer any grievances? Did anyone dare to bully you? And most of all... Did you miss me? But when Bing Huoyuan tried to speak, he found that words failed him. When he tried to walk forward, his legs felt weak as if he could collapse onto the ground at any moment. It was instead Bai Ningwei who took action first. Her feet seemed to glide on the ground as she appeared before Bai Weiwei with watery eyes. Grasping Bai Weiwei in a bear hug, she cried out, "Qingwei! Qingwei! I finally found you." Bai Weiwei felt the corner of her eyes start to become teary, and a familiar feeling surged up in her chest. Unconsciously, she returned the hug of the foreign woman who called her Qingwei with shaky hands. "This big sister, might you have been mistaken? My name is Bai Weiwei." As soon as Bai Weiwei said that, she paused. Why did she automatically address the woman in front of her as a big sister? Furthermore, where was this sense of familiarity coming from? The sobbing of the woman and suffocating hug was so nostalgic to her. "Weiwei is your nickname, your real name is Qingwei! I''m your big sister!" Bai Ningwei said through choking sobs as she tightened her hug even more. The onlookers watched with great interest at this drama, drawing their eyes away from Ji Wutong to this scene. The onlookers attended to develop some connections before the Demon Slaying Expedition. After all, for the next several years, they would all enter the Demon Cage Realm. Even if they didn''t like each other, they had to make sure not to make any enemies during this time., but who would have expected to see such a show? "I''m an orphan. How could I have a family?" Bai Weiwei said, her eyes showing her endless sadness, making many of the onlookers feel a tinge of pity for the girl. Bai Ningwei released her hugs as she showed great hatred in her eyes, scaring Bai Weiwei. "Yes! We are orphans, but that''s because of the despicable Hei Clan! They coveted our Bai family''s fortune and schemed against us, causing us to lose our parents! They aren''t even willing to let us two weak girls leave and attempted to kill us numerous times. You were too young, so you can''t remember, but they were many close brushes with death, and we were eventually forced to separate." At the mention of the Bai and Hei Clan, Bai Weiwei felt her heart stir, but she was still unconvinced. "How can you be so sure that I''m your sister? You said that we were separated when I was too young, so my appearance should have changed since then." Bai Weiwei''s voice was quivering as she spoke as if harboring hope yet fearing disappointment. For many people, what they feared was not having a lineage, being a person without any roots, all alone in the world. "Our blood is proof. Don''t you feel your body resonating like mine? From the moment I first saw you, I knew you were my sister. Do you not feel it?" Bai Ningwei said. Bai Weiwei held heard her palm over her heart as she felt her surging blood and excited heartbeat. It was precisely as Bai Ningwei said, her body recognized the woman in front of her. Bai Ningwei seemed to have thought of something as she took the milky-white jade pendant on her waist and placed it onto her palm for Bai Weiwei to see. The jade pendant had the character "Bai" carved onto it. "This?" Bai Weiwei reached for the jade pendant on her waist with trembling hands and compared it to the one in Bai Ningwei''s hand. The two jade pendants were exactly the same. "Big Sister?" Bai Weiwei''s hesitantly said, her expression full of uncertainty. With tears of happiness, Bai Ningwei gave a heartfelt smile as she hugged Bai Weiwei once more. Feeling the warmth of Bai Ningwei''s hug and understanding the meaning behind it, tears also begin to trail down Bai Weiwei''s face. "Qingwei, how have you been all these years?" Bai Ningwei asked, her voice full of affection. She had so much she wanted to ask, so much she wanted to say, but she settled for a single question. As long as Bai Weiwei was fine, that was enough for her. A flash of hurt flashed through Bai Weiwei''s eyes, but she quickly hid it. "I''ve been good... Big Sister." Bai Weiwei added big sister at the end of her reply, still not used to having an elder sister. "Also, I''ve been called Weiwei all these years. It''s a bit hard to adjust to being called Qingwei." "It doesn''t matter what you want to be called. I''ll call you whatever you want. What''s important is that you''ve been living well all these years. I''m sorry for not being able to protect you all these years." Bai Ningwei said, too excited to hear the lies in Bai Weiwei''s words. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "Big Sister," Bai Weiwei''s eyes began to water, touched by her long-lost sister''s deep feeling of affection. "I was lucky to become a disciple of the Bright Ascension Sect. Right now, my cultivation is higher than yours, so I''ll protect you from now on. In the future, we can be together all the time." At this, Bai Ningwei hesitated. "Right now, I''m a disciple of Boundless Mountain and swore an oath of loyalty. I can''t leave..." "What!? But... but..." Bai Weiwei felt her heart almost stop at Bai Ningwei''s words. "But we finally reunited all these years...there''s still so much I want to talk to you about." "That''s no problem, Miss Bai," At this moment, Ji Wutong stepped forward and smiled. "As long as I send word, I can no doubt get you to join as a Bright Ascension Sect outer disciple." Bai Ningwei looked at Ji Wutong without any signs of being dazzled by his beauty, making Ji Wutong''s eyes flash in admiration. Before Bai Ningwei could reply, someone else did for her. "Daoist Ji, aren''t you being too rude?" Bing Huoyuan said as he stepped forward, seeing as Ji Wutong had started to take action. Ji Wutong''s words was obviously trying to seduce Bai Ningwei to the Bright Ascension Sect. How could he allow such a thing? "Hmmm? What do you mean?" Ji Wutong sent a provocative look at Bing Huoyuan. He heard Bai Weiwei mention how good this was Big Brother Bing was to her. In his eyes, no matter how good Bing Huoyuan was, how could he compare to him, Ji Wutong? "Bai Ningwei is an inner disciple and member of my Iceflame Mountain. She can''t just leave just because of few pretty words from you." Bing Huoyuan coldly said to Ji Wutong. Ji Wutong coldly sucked in a breath. Bing Huoyuan sure was willing! He appreciated Bai Weiwei''s kind character, but he knew that her talent was subpar at best. Even under the numerous pills and resources afforded to her, she was currently only at the mid Core Formation Realm. But Bai Ningwei was even worse, her foundation shaky. How could she be an inner disciple unless someone paid special attention to her? "That means that I can''t stay with Big Sister in the future and that we would have to be separated again?" Bai Weiwei looked at Bai Ningwei with watery eyes. "Can''t you come to the Bright Ascension with me?" Bai Ningwei shook her head. "I can''t. I already swore an oath of loyalty. It''s already our good fortune to meet in this lifetime. In the future, there will always be other chances to meet again." "But I want to stay with you forever." Bai Weiwei tearfully said. Her eyes spun as an idea appeared in her head. "Then, if you can''t come with me to the Bright Ascension Sect, can I come with you to Boundless Mountain?" Upon hearing this, a flash of hurt flashed through Ji Wutong''s eyes. After all that he had done for Bai Weiwei, she didn''t even hesitate before wanting to leave with a sister she had just met today? In contrast, happiness erupted within Bing Huoyuan''s chest. "Of course you can!" He said before he could react. Quickly calming himself down, Bing Huoyuan explained more clearly to the confused Bai Weiwei and Bai Ningwei. "In the future, Boundless Mountain and Bright Ascension Sect will be close allies. To secure our relationship, we may have our disciples stay at the other sect. You can come to Boundless Mountain during this chance." A hint of fury flashed through Ji Wutong''s eyes. That bastard, Bing Huoyuan, was trying to steal his person! "Daoist Bing, although our sects do want to work closer together. The details aren''t set in stone yet. Perhaps Miss Bai could come to our sect instead? Ji Wutong suggested, he expected to see unwillingness in Bing Huoyuan''s eyes but only saw smugness. "Perhaps, but the details still have to be decided by the elders, after all. How about we sit down? We are catching too much attention by standing here." Bing Huoyuan suggested as he looked around them. Almost all the participants of the Fortune Banquet were looking at them. Ji Wutong gave a false smile and introduced himself to the organizer of the event. Daoist Moneybag was still very willing to make friends with Ji Wutong because of his talent in alchemy. As an alchemist, Ji Wutong''s battle prowess was quite high, but it couldn''t compare to his alchemy. The onlookers from the various sect all jotted down mental notes of the important point of the conversation, especially the few members of the Leakless Sect that were present. There were rumors of the Bright Ascension Sect and Boundless Mountain joining forces, but this was the first time they had heard confirmation from the members of the sect themselves. It had to be known that the Leakless Sect was situated between the territories of the Bright Ascension Sect and Boundless Mountain. If those two forces joined, then it would pincer the Leakless Sect and push them into a perilous spot. The Leakless Sect disciples used various means to contact their elders with this information. Although these words were spoken by Bing Huoyuan and Ji Wutong, mere disciples, the reliability was high to overlook. Thanks to Ji Wutong and Bing Huoyuan, both Bai sisters were able to sit down in the central area with Daoist Moneybag, Tianyi, Daoyi, Yi Dongli, Xia Yushan, Hun Jusang, He Luoli, and all the other bright stars that attended the banquet. And when Bai Ningwei sat down once more, her eyes flashed towards Tianyi with gratefulness, giving him an ominous feeling. His feeling came true as Bai Ningwei brought Bai Weiwei in front of him and said, "Thank you, Young Master Xi, for your kindness. Otherwise, I wouldn''t have been able to reunite with my sister." "You were the one who helped my sister reunited with me? Thank you so much, Prince Xi!" Bai Weiwei said, a pink flush on her cheek as she bowed in thanks with Bai Ningwei. Tianyi sat there stunned. How in the world did I help you? Shouldn''t you thank Bing Huoyuan instead? Look at how he''s fuming and glaring daggers at me right now! Tianyi coughed into his fist and adjusted his mood. "Miss Bai, I did no such thing. You should thank Brother Bing instead. He is the one who helped you all these years." "But had it not been for you, Young Master Bing would not have realized my plight and aided me. Only because you took action was I able to go with Young Master Bing." Bai Ningwei said, insisting on thanking Tianyi. "I also have to thank you." Bai Weiwei said, causing Tianyi to show a surprised expression. "If you hadn''t sent that nascent soul grandmaster to me during the Heavenly Connection Gathering back then, I''m afraid they would have bullied me." Tianyi wanted to puke blood. How could he even be thanked for that? How did Bai Ningwei remember the event as him helping her, he was clearly standing against her, okay? And in Bai Weiwei''s case, he only sent Su Bojing to ask some questions, it was Su Bojing''s own actions, okay? Tianyi made a mental note to punish Su Bojing when he got back. "You''ve misunderstood me, Miss Bai," Tianyi said once more. But no matter how he tried to refuse, both of the Bai sisters thanked him and returned to their seats. Tianyi could feel the dagger-like eyes of Bing Huoyuan and Ji Wutong. Tianyi silent looked up in the sky and pleaded innocence. "Wei''er, last I heard, you were with Lai Erchu. Did something happen?" To direct the sisters'' attention away from Tianyi, Bing Huoyuan asked such a question. Plus, he was curious about the matter himself. Why did Bai Weiwei come here with Ji Wutong, and why wasn''t Lai Erchu here? Ji Wutong coldly snorted. "That scum, how could he deserve a kind girl like Weiwei?" "Wutong, don''t say anymore. It was all my fault." Bai Weiwei said, her voice full of sorrow. "Hmpf, I''m only speaking the truth. Just because we met a few times, he automatically assumed that we were doing unspeakable things. In my eyes, it''s better that you two separate. Otherwise, you would suffer in the future. He doesn''t deserve a girl like you." Bai Weiwei looked down in dejection, causing shadows to cover her eyes. Seeing her sister like this, Bai Ningwei''s heart felt as if it was cut into a thousand pieces as she held Bai Weiwei in a suffocating hug once more. As for Bing Huoyuan. Fury was building up within Bing Huoyuan. He had left Bai Weiwei to Lai Erchu because he saw how well he treated her, and they were from the same sect. Who knew that in a few years, such a thing would occur? Sure enough, it was only him that could protect Bai Weiwei and prevent her from being hurt anymore in the future. No matter what, he would believe in Bai Weiwei, unlike that bastard, Lai Erchu. As Bing Huoyuan looked away from Bai Weiwei, his eyes focused on Bai Ningwei, and a conflicting feeling arose within his heart. What was wrong with him? If his plan succeeded, he would be able to reunite the Bai sisters permanently at Boundless Mountain, and he would be able to become dao companions with the woman of his dreams. So why did he feel so conflicted? Chapter 158: Spirit Stones "Since everyone has arrived, I will officially announce the start of the Fortune Banquet!" Daoist Moneybag said aloud with a clap of his hand, gathering the attention of everyone present. Everyone sat in a circle around a platform Daoist Moneybag had placed at the center of the garden. And in front of each person was a table where Pill Flower Palace servants placed exquisite food and drinks. The Buzhou Immortal Sect provided the servants and tables, but Daoist Moneybag contributed everything else. There were many sighs and appreciative sounds at what was placed upon the table, Seven Light Liquior, Desolate Fish Fin, Bewitching Dawn Beans, Parasol Fin Swan, Umbral Hell Ray, and much, much more. Although the items brought by Daoist Moneybag couldn''t be said to be priceless, they were all top-tier stuff that money could buy. He really lived up to his reputation as a filthy rich cultivator, spending so much wealth on food and drinks. Most cultivators would prefer to purchase resources that would contribute to their cultivation instead of lavishly wasting it as Daoist Moneybag had. As such, they all inwardly derided Daoist Moneybag, but their hands were honest as they reached for the food and beverages. It wasn''t their wealth that was spent here. If Daoist Moneybag was to waste a fortune on them, who were they to complain? However, thanks to all the precious food and drinks, the anticipation was raised by several levels. Even Tianyi, who felt that he was a wastrel, felt he was inferior to Daoist Money, and so, asked for tips on the best food and beverages or other ways to enjoy wealth. All the while, Tianyi was also tasting the various foods and drinks. He pointedly ignored the question of whether or not the food was created by monsters who had gained their spirituality. Out of sight, out of mind. As for Daoyi, she just kept chugging the wine down while taking occasional bites from the food. It was to the point that the servant disciple was worried that their stock of liquor wouldn''t hold against Daoyi''s liver. Bing Huoyuan took in none of this as he paid rapt attention to Bai Ningwei and Bai Weiwei. The two had never interacted with the level of decadence Daoist Moneybag heaped onto his guests. He himself never cared too much for fleshly pleasures, including food, but he kept note so that he could pamper his future dao companion. "Daoist Bing, you look as if you''ve never even interacted with these items before. Perhaps it will be a long while before you can taste them again. I suggest you savor them." Ji Wutong looked provocatively at Bing Huoyuan. "Unlike me. As an alchemist, I never worry for money." After saying this, Ji Wutong took out a bottle and poured the powder within onto the dishes. "Try this, it''s my Three Refinement Amplification Powder. When you put it on immortal dishes, not only will it enhance the flavor of the dish, but it increases the ease of absorption of the qi within." Bai Weiwei didn''t react, but Bai Ningwei did as she smiled in thanks at Ji Wutong. Bing Huoyuan, who saw this, felt trepidation in his heart. Compared to himself, Ji Wutong was not any bit inferior. Bing Huoyuan could already see Ji Wutong''s interest in Bai Weiwei, and now he was extending it to Bai Ningwei. Bing Huoyuan wasn''t confident that Bai Weiwei would be willing to come with him to Boundless Mountain if she enjoyed such treatment in the Bright Ascension Sect. Bing Huoyuan knew that Bai Weiwei wasn''t the type of person that pursued material and fleshly pleasures, but he still felt worried. Those worries came from his insecurity regarding Bai Weiwei''s feelings towards him. He knew that Bai Weiwei had a good impression and relationship with him, but would it be to the point she would be willing to come to Boundless Mountain with him? Even if his father ironed out the agreement between the two forces, Bing Huoyuan couldn''t bear to forcibly take Bai Weiwei to Boundless Mountain against her will. Bing Huoyuan knew that Bai Weiwei suggested she go to Boundless Mountain to not be separated from Bai Ningwei, but she could have been spoken because of the impulse of the moment. What if she regretted it? With a shake of his head, Bing Huoyuan shook himself out of his depressing thoughts. Why was it that when he was faced with Bai Weiwei that he became so unconfident? In his whole life, he never doubted himself except for the matter concerning her. No, he shouldn''t doubt himself. It was because of his inaction that Lai Erchu was able to confess to Bai Weiwei and become her future dao companion. But what did Lai Erchu do? He mistreated Bai Weiwei over a small matter that wasn''t her fault, but Ji Wutong''s. Yes, in Bing Huoyuan''s eyes, it was primarily Ji Wutong''s fault that Lai Erchu treated Bai Weiwei as he had. Did Ji Wutong not know of his own reputation? He should not get too close to women who are taken. That is not to say that Bing Huoyuan didn''t look down on Lai Erchu either. If he was Bai Weiwei''s dao companion, he would never do such a thing to her, he would wholeheartedly trust her. That''s why he was the best option to be Bai Weiwei''s dao companion! After thinking it through, Bing Huoyuan paid attention to the conversation between Bai Weiwei and Bai Ningwei. "Weiwei, now that you''re safe and sound, Big Sister can put her heart to rest, now." Bai Ningwei said as she looked lovingly at Bai Weiwei. Bai Weiwei furrowed her brows as she processed Bai Ningwei''s words. Why did it sound so strange to her? "Big Sister, you''re not going to do anything dangerous, are you?" "Dangerous?" Bai Ningwei repeated. "Maybe, but if I don''t do it, I won''t be able to let father, mother, and the Bai Clan rest in peace!" Saying this, the hatred buried deep in Bai Ningwei''s eyes emerged, scaring Bai Weiwei. "Big Sister, w-what are you going to do?" Bai Weiwei was afraid of the answer, but she couldn''t not ask. "What else?" Bai Ningwei gnashed her teeth together to the point that a cracking sound could be heard. "Eliminate the Hei Clan!" It was an expression that Bing Huoyuan had yet to see on Bai Ningwei''s face. He knew that she had a grudge as deep as an abyss, but in all the years he knew her, she never expressed it in any way. The only thing holding her back was Bai Weiwei''s safety. Now that Bai Weiwei''s safety was secured, Bai Ningwei could wholeheartedly pursue revenge. Bing Huoyuan felt his heart ache for this girl he knew for years. She was a kind girl who always tried her best, always sought her long-lost sister. A complicated feeling emerged from his chest as he took in the hatred within her eyes.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Big Sister, what about all the innocent people of the Hei Clan?" Bai Weiwei said, her heart feeling heavy at all the loss of lives that Bai Ningwei''s revenge would take. Bai Ningwei looked at Bai Weiwei as if she had been physically slapped. She turned her hatred-filled glare toward Bai Weiwei, causing Bai Weiwei to shrink back in fear. She had never been leveled with such a stare. At most, there were glares of jealousy, but no glares were filled with a grudge deeper than the abyss. Seeing Bai Weiwei shrink back from her, Bai Ningwei hid the hatred in her heart once more. She softly spoke to Bai Weiwei, "Weiwei, this grudge isn''t only mine, but all the Bai Clan''s as well. You say the Hei Clan has innocent people but was not all the dead Bai Clan not innocent as well? If I don''t make the Hei Clan pay for their crime in blood, how can I let mother, father, and the rest of the clan rest in peace?" "I...I..." Bai Weiwei found herself unable to speak anymore. Bai Ningwei''s revenge, how many deaths would it result? However, she couldn''t find any reason to convince Bai Ningwei otherwise, so she could only stutter. Seeing this, Bai Ningwei softly smiled as she stroked Bai Weiwei''s head. "Weiwei, you don''t need to worry about it. Big Sister will take care of it. You don''t need to do anything." Bing Huoyuan sighed to himself. Bai Weiwei was just too kind, even pitying her enemies. In this case, Bing Huoyuan had to side with Bai Ningwei on this matter. This was a blood debt that must be repaid. If she didn''t, how could Bai Ningwei bear to have the name of Bai? If she could swallow this enmity, how could she bear to face the deceased Bai Clan? An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and the extermination of a clan must be paid back with extermination. What worried Bing Huoyuan even more, was Bai Ningwei herself. He had sent people to investigate Bai Ningwei and Weiwei''s background and discovered everything. The Bai and Hei clan were originally one clan founded by their ancestor, the Black-White Immortal Lord. Before his clan could enjoy prosperity with him, the Black-White Immortal Lord perished. Because of this, the clan that would have reached the power of a third-rate sect immediately became a juicy piece of meat to the eyes of everyone else. In the following turmoil period, the clan was robbed of ninety percent of its wealth. In the end, the final treasure of the clan was split into two, like the clan itself. When the Hei Clan exterminated the Bai Clan, they finally reunited the two pieces of the artifact into one whole again. Although it didn''t fully recover its power, its strength was at least on the level of a pseudo immortal artifact. Coupled with the Unity Realm elder of the Hei Clan, they at least had someone able to exchange blows with a true immortal. How could Bai Ningwei compete against that? Forget Bai Ningwei, even he, Bing Huoyuan, wouldn''t be able to take on such an opponent. "Ningwei, you should focus on cultivation right now. The Hei Clan isn''t a force that a normal Unity Realm venerable could fight against. Right now, you are still too weak." Bing Huoyuan persuaded. Bai Ningwei looked longingly at a faraway location before sighing. "You are right, I was too anxious. The happiness of finally reuniting with Weiwei blinded me." "That''s right, Big Sister. You should focus on cultivation for now." Bai Weiwei also chipped in. As long as Bai Ningwei didn''t go out killing other people, she was happy to find any reason. Bai Weiwei didn''t understand Bai Ningwei''s abyss deep hatred. She couldn''t recall the faces of her father or mother, much less the Bai Clan. So she couldn''t feel any closeness to them except for her sister, Bai Ningwei, who was alive and in front of her. Bing Huoyuan also felt an unknown elation welling up within his chest.
Tianyi, who was perking his ears and eavesdropping on the conversation, quirked the edge of his lips upward upon hearing Bai Ningwei''s words of revenge. "Junior Brother Xi, did the auction item catch your eye?" Xia Yushan asked Tianyi''s smile. After the start of the fortune banquet, Daoist Moneybag had started the auction not long after. As it wasn''t an actual auction, all the items placed up were Daoist Moneybag''s own property that he wanted to sell. Other people could also sell their own property. Tianyi shook his head negatively. "I was just thinking of something." "Perhaps you are looking forward to the Demon Slaying Expedition then?" Xia Yushan continued. "I wonder what Junior Brother seeks from the Demon Cage Realm then." Tianyi paused. Truthfully, there was not much he wanted from the Demon Slaying Expedition but Tianyi wanted to confirm something. Ever since he fought against the Dragon Emperor, Tianyi discovered he would feel apprehensive against nascent soul grandmaster, so he wanted to test this by fighting against nascent soul grandmaster equivalent demons. Naturally, he wouldn''t tell Xia Yushan this. "A mount. Not just any mount, but one with the dragon bloodline." Tianyi said as he recalled Elder Shan''s mount, the Crimson Winged Eagle. He had wanted a mount of his own for a long time. "Haha, Junior Brother Xi''s sure is picky. Even when demons still roamed throughout the Huang Realm, only a few people dared to have mounts with the dragon bloodline." There were so few because the dragons would see it as a humiliation for anyone to take one of their bloodlines as a mount. All those who had committed such an action were ruthlessly chased by the dragons. As for why there were still some who did? Because the owners were strong, the dragons would have to pay a high price to eliminate the owners. Tianyi only laughed in response. Xia Yushan said nothing in return. He also had his own needs, specifically materials to create a sheathe for his lifebound artifact in order to quell the slaughterous intent. If he cannot quell it, then his cultivation would stagnate even more. And he needed the yang essence of a golden crow to further improve his cultivation. "Junior Sister Jiang, how about I buy the artifact on auction right now?" Xia Yushan asked after seeing a ring-shaped artifact up for auction. It was a protective treasure that would be useful for the Demon Slaying Expedition as it was resistant to demonic qi. "Thank you for your thoughts, but I do not need it." Daoyi''s voice was warm yet distant at the same time, causing Xia Yushan''s smile to falter silently. Because of Daoyi''s rejection, Xia Yushan fell into a deep silence, but Tianyi was too focused on eavesdropping onto Bing Huoyuan and the Bai sisters to notice. The silence was kept until Ji Shuye spoke up. "Yushan, look at the new auction item, the Jade Diffraction Sword." Ji Shuye pointed towards the platform where a jade-green bladed sword floated. The sword''s blade was twice as wide as average swords and had several lines running down the blade. "According to the introduction, the sword can split into eight pieces and controlled with the spiritual sense. With your strength, you would be able to display all five of the Five Element Sword Art at once. What do you think?" "Just a paltry trick, nothing worth noting." Xia Yushan directly dismissed Ji Shuye''s words. At this moment, he heard Daoyi speak to Tianyi. "Tianyi, stop being in a daze. Look, there''s an interesting sword. Don''t you like collecting them?" Daoyi said, breaking Tianyi out of his unfocused state. "You''re right," Tianyi said as he looked at the Jade Diffraction Sword on auction and raised his hand. "Five thousand high-tier spirit stones." At Tianyi''s voice, the other people looked at the sword and decided to give up. In response, Tianyi felt strangely surprised at how they just gave up. In truth, he was kinda disappointed. Where were the famous high stakes bidding war? He didn''t consider the time at the Yi Auction House with Lei Jingye back in Jingyang to be a bidding war because Lei Jingye didn''t have the qualification to even enter one with him. They had to be rich enough to purchase an immortal artifact for Tianyi to consider him a financial opponent. Which meant they had to have access to immortal stones. Thinking about it, Tianyi could slightly understand. The Jade Diffraction Sword wasn''t some great treasure, so it wasn''t worth getting into a fight with him over it, especially at his home base, the Buzhou Immortal Sect. With a swipe of his hand, the Jade Diffraction Sword appeared in Daoist Moneybag''s hand. "Since you like it, I''ll gift it to Brother Xi." Tianyi stilled for a second before a polite smile appeared on his face. "I''ll remember this favor from Brother Moneybag in the future." Daoist Moneybag gave a jolly laughed. "What favor? It''s just a minor artifact. For people on our level, what worth is five thousand spirit stones?" Tianyi nodded. Five thousand high-tier spirit stones really weren''t worth anything to him. In fact, Daoist Moneybag was probably the only person of the same generation that had more money than him, so even less needed to be said about him. Wait, spirit stones? Weren''t spirit stones condensed spiritual qi of heaven and earth with some impurities? In other words, solidified spiritual qi? Chapter 159: Amitabha Thinking about it logically, spirit stones were condensed spiritual qi of heaven and earth. They needed a spiritual vein to condense into spirit stones. And depending on their quality and the percentage of impurity, spirit stones were separated into low, mid, high, and perfect tier spirit stones. For a sect, their control of spirit stone mines and the quality of the mine was crucial. As condensed spiritual qi, the amount contained was greater than the spiritual qi in the air of most places even though they contained impurities. As such, spirit stones were used in many applications such as formations, forging materials, pill qi enhancers, or even just resources to absorb spiritual qi. Compared to spiritual qi in the air, absorbing the condensed qi in spiritual stones was actually easier, but cultivators would have to take time to flush the impurities within their bodies after absorbing the condensed spiritual qi. Only a perfect-tier spirit stone had no impurities, but the sheer scarcity of them made it that cultivators treated them as high-tier spirit stones. It simply wasn''t worth it to gather perfect-tier spirit stones. It would not be an exaggeration to gauge a sect''s foundation and power by looking at the number and quality of their spirit stone mines. Tianyi felt like slapping himself. There was the perfect specimen on him the whole time for him to study and base his new energy-storing technique. However, he had subconsciously treated spirit stones as pure currency most of the time because of his unique cultivation method and the energy-producing power of his Heavenly River Stellar Avatar. For him, it would take longer to absorb the condensed qi and expel the impurities, so he hadn''t absorbed condensed qi from spirit stones since he was in the Qi Gathering Realm. Not only that, weren''t there rumors of spirit springs that can aid cultivators in restoring their spiritual qi and cleansing them? However, although a solid state should have been more problematic for qi to take, spirit streams were rarer and did not have as much impurity. Tianyi was broken out of his thoughts by a poke from his side. He turned to see Daoyi looking at him. "...Brother Xi?" Realizing what he had just done, Tianyi coughed into his fist and turned towards Daoist Moneybag and gave an apologetic smile. "My apologies, Brother Moneybags, something just occurred to me, and I couldn''t help but ponder over the matter." Handing over the Jade Diffraction Sword, Daoist Moneybag gave an amiable smile that showed that he wasn''t offended in any way. "No worries. I hope what occurred to you wasn''t problematic?" "No, it''s rather beneficial, actually." Tianyi smiled but didn''t elaborate. After that small episode, the Fortune Banquet continued, but throughout it, Tianyi''s thoughts started to drift off as he entered a daze. It reached the point that anyone with any semblance of detection could sense Tianyi wasn''t paying attention. Whenever Tianyi wasn''t fully controlling his cultivation, a heavy pressure akin to that of a unity venerable would descend, causing others terrible difficulty not to notice. "Senior Brother, how about we leave?" Tianyi was once more broken out of his thoughts by Daoyi. He snuck a glance at her before he answered back. "If I leave, what about you? You were also invited to the Fortune Banquet, and leaving would be too rude to Daoist Moneybag." "The Fortune Banquet doesn''t interest me that much. I lost interest after a while. Daoist Moneybag is a capable person. He won''t mind if we leave early. Besides, you thought of something important, didn''t you? If you don''t capitalize on the inspiration, you might lose it." Tianyi felt his mind waver at Daoyi''s words. After deliberating for a while, he decided to leave with Daoyi. "If you must." After attempting to persuade Tianyi once, Daoist Moneybag didn''t prevent Tianyi from leaving anymore and even gave a cheery send-off. "Haha, since it''s like this, you must grasp this chance. I heard that Sword Empress Xi reached Unity Realm at forty-three years of age. Perhaps you''ll break her record?" "Who knows. Although I''m at the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm, I don''t know how long I will stay at this level." Tianyi said. He was already thirty-three years old this year. Thinking back, if he were on Earth, he might be considered someone who was nearing middle age, but in the Huang Realm, he was still considered ridiculously young for his realm. And no, he did not consider himself a wizard. Perhaps if he had taken a more orthodox route, he would have long entered the Unity Realm or perhaps not. If Tianyi had not created his own cultivation method, he might not have acquired his Heavenly River Stellar Avatar, not merged numerous Heavenly Scriptures, and wouldn''t cultivate so fast. Who''s to say that one path is better than the other? "Junior Sister Jiang, why are you leaving too? Junior Brother Xi seems to have gained some inspiration, but you should stay. Perhaps, there might be an item that catches your eye." At this point, seeing as Daoyi was standing up, ready to leave with Tianyi, Xia Yushan spoke up. Ji Shuye glanced at him before diverting his eyes as if contemplating something. She didn''t even glance at Tianyi or Daoyi. Daoyi shook her head and rejected Xia Yushan. "Truthfully, I was completely focused on preparing for the Demon Slaying Expedition. If it weren''t for Senior Brother Xi, then I would not have come. Besides, my spirit stones are running low, so I don''t have much to auction with." "If you don''t mind, I can lend you some. You don''t have to worry about paying it back. I feel that as your senior brother that witnessed your disciple acceptance ceremony, I haven''t done much for you." Xia Yushan said, continuing to convince Daoyi. "Thank you for your concern as the eldest senior brother, but I don''t want to trouble you much. I''m still of the Jade Peak''s lineage while you are Sect Master Xia''s direct disciple." Daoyi''s words caused Xia Yushan to find himself at a loss, wondering what other reason he could use. In a short time, he couldn''t find any. Daoyi then left with Tianyi returning to Jade Peak. "Senior Brother Xia treats you pretty well. Maybe you should be gentler in rejecting him." Tianyi said as they when they returned to Jade Peak Palace. "It''s because he treats me so well that I have to direct. I don''t want to give him any hope." Daoyi said returned.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Tianyi looked at Daoyi. What did those words of her mean? Well, as long as she was purposely doing it, he wouldn''t interfere with her actions. "By the way, were you really low on spirit stones?" "What? No way. That was just my excuse." Daoyi said with a giggle. "Master gave me so much that I could probably buy a low-level sect when I first became her disciple. Really, if I were an ordinary sheltered fifteen-year-old, I would have long been blinded by the wealth and let it get to my head. Master is too liberal sometimes." Tianyi had to agree on that point. Sometimes his mother''s way of handling wealth dazzled his eyes, even though he was supposed to be used to it since young. Tianyi entered the second level of the Temporal Void Domain after shrugging his shoulders, it would be best to finish the technique before the Demon Slaying Expedition began. However, after a day, Tianyi quickly gave up. He had made some progress, just not the amount he wanted. In the end, what Tianyi was analyzing was the finished product, a perfect-tier spirit stone. What Tianyi needed to observe was the creation process. No matter how many spirit stones Tianyi had or analyzed, that would not help him at all. Luckily for Tianyi, the Buzhou Immortal Sect was the hegemonic sect of the heaven continent, and that equated to having the greatest access to spirit stone mines. In fact, there were several within the boundary of the sect. The spirit stone mines within the sect boundaries were all high-tier spirit stone mines and were mined to ensure that the spiritual vein would not dry up due to over-mining. With this goal in mind, Tianyi made his way towards one of the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s mines. It didn''t matter which one, all of them were the same. He wanted to see the environment that birthed the spirit stones in order to find a way for him to replicate for his use.
Sect Master Xia stood atop a mountain outside of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Behind him were the immortal elder delegates of the Leakless Sect, Boundless Mountain, Bright Ascension Sect, Nihility Sect, Monolith Sword Sect, Dust Veil Sect, and Jade Cauldron Sect. Aside from the seven sects represented by seven immortal present, there was going to be one more additional party participating in the Demon Slaying Expedition. However, their intent wasn''t so much as to slay demons but convert them. "I didn''t expect that the Buddhist Pure Lands, which had secluded itself since the end of the primordial era, would be in contact with the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Truly surprising." The Jade Cauldron Sect''s immortal elder commented as he stared into the distance, waiting for the Buddhists to appear. Sect Master Xia gave a polite smile. "How could it be possible for a great power like the Buddhists to truly separate themselves from the wider realms?" "I''ve only heard of the Buddhist Pure Lands in tales, revealing themselves only to those with karmic ties to Buddhism." The Leakless Sect''s immortal elder sect commented. "But it seems my information was wrong." Sect Master Xia didn''t say anything in reply to the Leakless Sect immortal elder''s words and simply smiled, causing the Leakless Sect''s immortal elder to snort. "In all my years alive, I''ve only heard rumors concerning the appearance of the Buddhists. Perhaps Sect Master Xia can uncover the veil of mystery concerning the Buddhists?" The Bright Ascension Sect''s immortal elder asked with a smiling expression. "This old man would also like to know. I didn''t even know the Buddhists would participate in the Demon Slaying Expedition until we arrived and were informed of the matter. I had thought it weird that we were told that a total of eight sects would accompany the Buzhou Immortal Sect into the Demon Cage Realm, yet after all these days, only seven sects have arrived with no news of the eighth. It would do us good to have a greater understanding of our allies." Boundless Mountain''s immortal elder added. Sect Master Xia didn''t miss the fact that the elders of the Bright Ascension Sect and Boundless Mountain seemed to have formed a team, nor did he acknowledge the grim face of the Leakless Sect''s immortal elder. "The Buddhist Pure Land is far more active than you imagine. Ultimately the Buddhist Pure Lands, their realm, is an artificial realm created from separating all karma. So in order for their disciples to advance, they have to temper themselves outside the Buddhist Pure Land." Sect Master Xia began. "The Buddhists have numerous means left by Tathagata, the Buddha. They are able to send their disciples to any of the numerous realms in the Three Thousand Immortal Realm System. The exception, of course, is the Huang Realm and the Numinous Realm. To enter the Huang Realm, the would need the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s approval, and the Numinous Sword Sect''s approval to enter the Numinous Realm." "Do they not need the Eight Pillars Sect or the Saintly Scholar School''s approval?" The Leakless Sect''s immortal elder interrupted and asked. Sect Master Xia wasn''t mad at the interruption and even smiled kindly at the speaking immortal. "How can they compare to the Buzhou Immortal Sect?" The Leakless Sect''s immortal elder was struck speechless by Sect Master Xia''s declaration, but before the silence could turn awkward, it was dispelled by the immortal elder from the Dust Veil Sect. "As expected of the master of the Heaven Continent and the oldest sect of the Huang Realm." The immortal said as he stroked his long graying beard. Sect Master Xia accepted the compliment as naturally as he breathed air before he continued. "Not speaking of the Divinity Realm, the Buddhist equivalent of the Immortal Realm is the Mahayana Realm or the Fetterred Realm. They aren''t exactly the same, but the difference in power is negligible. They don''t pursue the myriad daos, but severing themselves from all attachments." "As for their mortal realm, it is separated into five realms: the Dalit Realm, Shudra Realm, Vaishya Realm, Kshatriya Realm, and Brahma Realm. In terms of cultivation method, you can consider it primarily a mix of martial cultivation with some soul methods. In terms of soul, they can''t compare to our nascent souls and soul nourishing grandmasters, but their willpower is unyielding. So their soul defense is superior to ours at the same realm." "Speaking of the Buddhist cultivation realms, I heard that they originally came from another system, is that true?" The Leakless Sect''s immortal elder asked "You sure are well informed." Sect Master Xia gave a meaningful look at the Leakless Sect''s immortal elder, causing him to nearly freeze. He was a mere true immortal, how could he withstand the power of a seamless immortal monarch? After staring for a while, Sect Master Xia casually shifted his gaze away. "Yes, Tathagata originated from the Loka System. But it was during the primordial era where the different systems interacted far more frequently. That all changed since the end of the Late Antiquity Age of the primordial era. I heard that their most supreme cultivation method, the Rigveda is equal to the Ten Heavenly Scriptures." The immortal elders behind Sect Master Xia became silent as they processed his words. Compared to the Buzhou Immortal Sect, which knew of the greater multiverse, they were frogs in a well. They thought they were in the same world as the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Only now did they know of the schism between the two. Perhaps, the Eight Pillars Sect and the Saintly Scholar School were no different than them in this regard. Their silence musing was interrupted when they felt the space in front of them fluctuating. Was the mountain that Sect Master Xia brought the immortal elders a normal mountain? The answer was no. The nameless mountain was given the name Realm Entrance Mountain due to the Buzhou Immortal Sect setting a grand formation that would allow it to act as an entrance to the Huang Realm. Only immortal monarchs and above and some true immortals were able to enter through the outskirts of the Huang Realm. If they did so, the Buzhou Immortal Sect would immediately sense it and label them as invaders and send immortals to deal with them unless they originated from the Huang Realm. So it was very difficult for foreigners to sneak in. As for the time Tianyi was forced outside the Huang Realm because he was Mengfei''s talisman, it registered as Mengfei entering, so the Buzhou Immortal Sect wasn''t alerted. And in addition to the unique property of the Immortal Court ruins, Tianyi''s reentry was ignored. For immortals and mortals to officially gain entry, they had to use one of the realm entrances created by the Buzhou Immortal Sect. And realm entrances only existed on the Heaven Continent. A golden ripple appeared in front of immortals, and from the ripple appeared several monks in dull yellow robes. Their bald heads gleamed under the bright sunlight. The leading monk, who exuded an invisible pressure greater than the immortal elders and equal to Sect Master Xia, came forward and bowed with his hands pressed together. "Amitabha, greetings benefactor." He was the Moonlight Bodhisattva, a Buddhist equal to Immortal Monarch Xia of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Chapter 160: It’s Time to Go In the end, Tianyi didn''t finish creating an artificial spirit stone condensing technique. He would need at least a few more years and not days. If he really could devise such a technique within such a period of time, who knew how many predecessors would curse him out of envy? Tianyi''s intent of creating a condensed form of qi or an artificial spirit stone wasn''t something unique to him. Numerous predecessors had failed, some of who were far stronger than him and were true immortals. But what Tianyi did not know was that seamless immortal monarchs and extremity immortal emperors did not even bother to research this technique because this was a domain that the Heavenly Dao did not allow any cultivator to infringe upon. Even if Tianyi did know, there wouldn''t be any sparks of hesitation. He already attained the Heavenly Dao''s power of tribulation and even managed to manipulate the heavenly tribulation of his clones. What did replicating spirit stones matter? For now, Tianyi could only slowly continue to research this technique. There was another matter that caught Tianyi''s eyes, which was the monks'' sudden appearance. Like the vassal sects that were placed in a monastery on Rites Peak instead of a palace. The sudden revelation that the Rites Peak had a monastery surprised quite a number of guests and the disciples themselves. The vassal sects marveled at the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s meticulous preparation and foundation, having even prepared for the arrival of the Buddhists with a monastery despite it having gone unused for thousands of years, if not millions. For the Buzhou Immortal Sect disciples, their views of the sect were refreshed once they learned that their sect had relations with the illusionary Buddhists of legends. And Tianyi himself was among those. He would have asked his mother, but she was current in seclusion, so he chose not to bother her. Recalling the murals he had seen in the pagoda in the ruin of the Immortal Court, and with his knowledge of Chinese mythology from Earth, Tianyi deduced that the Buddhist Sect and the Immortal Court had an intricate relationship. The primordial era was split into the Ancient Era and antiquity eras. The primordial era was full of mysteries, so only legends were left. In contrast, the antiquity era was split into three phases: the Axial Antiquity Era, the Classical Antiquity Era, and the Late Antiquity Era, and were recorded with more details. According to the history recorded by the Buzhou Immortal Sect, the Ancient Era was when the first divinities, such as the Three Pure Ones, Pangu, and Nuwa, existed. After the end of the Ancient Era, these divinities disappeared and were replaced by new divinities such as the Jade Emperor, Queen Mother of the West, King Duke of the East, etc. There were even records of mortals rising up to become immortals before rising to the status of divinities. Among them were the Three Sovereigns: Suiren, Fuxi, Shennong, and the Five Emperors: the Yellow Emperor, Shaohao, Zhuanxu, Emperor Yao, and Emperor Shun. Among them, the Yellow Emperor was considered equal to the Three Sovereigns. Naturally, the Buddha, Tathagata, was considered among the divinities of this era. Even the Heaven Equalling Great Sage, a demon born of a rock Nuwa used to fix the Heavenly Pillar, was considered a divinity on the side of humanity. Humans were created in the primordia era, but they only truly rose to prominence in the antiquity eras. However, all of that changed with the end of the Late Antiquity Era. The Immortal Court was destroyed, all the divinities vanished, and even the world they resided in shattered into the three thousand realms that made up the Three Thousand Immortal Realm System. It was as if the universe had been reset. The vanishment of the established power and divinities became the greatest mystery of the Contemporary Era. Three million years. That was the current period of time that the Contemporary Era existed for. How could the Contemporary Era compare to the glory days of the antiquity eras? Even after all these years, the strongest expert was at most a half-origin immortal sovereign. Not a single divinity had yet to reach the cusp of divinity and undergo apotheosis. Tianyi had also thought deeply on this matter. He categorized the Ancient Era as the first generation and the antiquity eras as the second generation. The first generation consisted of gods like Pangu, Nuwa, the Three Pure Ones, Chronos, Ymir. In other words, the progenitors and creators of the world. The second generation would consist of the Jade Emperor, Odin, Zeus, and the like. The children or inheritors of the progenitor gods. Then the third era would be considered the third generation. Only Tianyi didn''t know what that entailed. If he were to compare it to Earth''s history, it would be the destabilization of myths and legends, the Middle Ages, but he knew that he couldn''t correlate Earth to the history of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. For one, the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System only accounted for their side of the history. What about the Greeks, the Hindus, and other pantheons he witnessed in the murals? Did their gods still exist, or did they disappear too? Furthermore, Tianyi didn''t know where to classify God, the creator from the Bible, in all of this. He had a distinct history of generations. If Tianyi really were to force something, then it would be the Holy Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. All this was far too distant to the current Tianyi. Retrieving the information from his memory, he recalled that the Buddhist Sect and the Immortal Court had a close relationship back then. It was to the point that they participated in the Journey to the West by sending one of their marshals to accompany Xuanzang. Tianyi actually quite pitied that marshal. Marshal Canopy, a general that commanded eighty thousand naval heavenly soldiers. In other words, he was someone who commanded over eighty thousand pathfinding true immortals! Yet, he was cast to be reborn as a pig monster because of a minor mistake, attaining an ugly appearance till the end. How could it not bring one''s pity? If such a thing happened to Tianyi, he would have the urge to suicide immediately upon finding out. Of course, that was on the basis that he could reincarnate. Tianyi decided to return to the main point upon discovering his thoughts had run off on a tangent. The Buzhou Immortal Sect claimed to be the Immortal Court''s successors, so it was no big surprise if they had connections with the Buddhists. It was still shocking to Tianyi. He knew that many organizations liked to overplay their roots and origin to give them a better reputation. Upon the reveal of the sect''s relationship with Buddhism, Tianyi had to reevaluate the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s claims as the Immortal Court''s successor much more seriously. However, Tianyi wasn''t in a hurry to investigate the Buddhist monks. Although he was interested in their cultivation method, Su Bojing investigated that their method was a martial method combined with soul-related methods. As the Buddhist Sect was comprised of a far lower number than the cultivators, their cultivation method was also different. So they had one primary cultivation method with numerous variants that weren''t categorized into a system, unlike the cultivators'' three systems of spiritual, martial, and soul methods. Tianyi was still interested in their methods, though. He heard the main method consisted of using the world to temper their body and hearts before severing the fetters, whatever that meant. If he could attain Buddhism''s most prized cultivation method, perhaps he could find a way to create a Unity Realm equivalent for his cultivation, like how he used the Heavenly Scriptures? However, Tianyi knew this would be a piped dream. Even if the Buzhou Immortal Sect and the Buddhist Sect were close, why would they give their most prized method to Tianyi? In the end, Tianyi continued to make his preparations. There was another reason that he wanted to go to the Demon Cage Realm was to cleanse the darkness in his heart. It wasn''t apparent at first, but Tianyi discovered that when he met another nascent soul grandmaster, he would unconsciously tense up and analyze them for any signs of danger. He guessed this was a trauma left behind by the Dragon Emperor. Thinking about this, Tianyi gnashed his teeth in anger. He even had the sadistic thought of visiting Lei Jingye and torturing him to appease his heart, but he quickly ended that train of thought. He wasn''t depraved enough that he would stoop that low. Thinking about Lei Jingye, Tianyi wondered what the information the Buzhou Immortal Sect pried from Lei Jingye''s mouth. He actually contributed a bit of information as well. Since he had experienced Xi Longyi''s life, Tianyi had obtained some future information as well, but it was all murky as if a fading dream. Only the information closely related to Xi Longyi was clear. Even so, Tianyi did recall some information. Such as the worsening tensions between the Buzhou Immortal Sect and the vassal sects and the Jade Cauldron Sect defecting to the Anti-Heaven Alliance. As if on a script, not long after the war between the Eight Pillars Sect and the Anti-Earth Alliance broke out, war broke out on the Heaven Continent as well. When he turned all the information he knew, Sect Master Xia considered it very deeply. Tianyi had to wonder why Sect Master Xia didn''t seem suspicious of his information. It was really vague as Xi Longyi abstained from the war on the Heaven Continent. Before Xi Longyi died, the most heated battles were just between transcending mortality sages. Immortals had yet to take action at all. Perhaps the appearance of the Buddhist monks was a result of the ripple effect brought about by Tianyi''s or Lei Jingye''s information. Tianyi couldn''t recall any information concerning the appearance of the Buddhist monks, although he did know that Xi Longyi found an egg with the dragon bloodline and even managed to acquire it during the Demon Slaying Expedition. That''s right, Tianyi had inside information on the Demon Cage Realm. The Demon Cage Realm was original a realm used to imprison demons. The exact criteria were unknown, but with the disappearance of the divine beasts and most demons, the Demon Cage Realm became one of the greatest sources of demons for the Huang Realm. Tianyi wanted to use this chance to fight all the Nascent Soul Realm equivalent demons and cleanse the shadow in his heart. He could spar against his fellow disciples, but the one time he tried it with Su Bojing, he nearly killed Su Bojing because of a jerk reaction that caused him to be unable to restrain himself. It would be no joke if he accidentally killed a fellow disciple. So the poor demons were chosen as Tianyi''s sacrifices. The time flow of the Demon Cage Realm was ten times faster than the Huang Realm, so ten years in the Demon Cage Realm would be one year in the Huang Realm. The Demon Slaying Expedition had a maximum time limit of fifty years and a minimum of ten. There was not much time left as the departure date was three days after the arrival of the Buddhists. In these three days, Tianyi prepared everything he could and think of from materials, pills, artifacts, formations, etc., and soon the day of departure arrived. "Tianyi, it''s time to go." Tianyi looked towards to see Daoyi and Xi Ri waiting for him. He smiled and stood up. Unknown to Tianyi, the Demon Slaying Expedition would be the catalyst that spread his fame far and wide. Chapter 161: Your Mother, your Grandmother, and your Great Grandmother! The Descending Immortal Embassy resembled a beautiful pillar that could be found in any palace. However, the sheer size of it dwarfed many mortal palaces by severalfold. If a mortal were to see it, they would think it was a pillar of a titan''s abode or the pillar that separated the sky and earth, preventing the two from intersecting. As an immortal artifact, the Descending Immortal Embassy could only be controlled by an immortal, not because of its rank but its unique abilities. The sole purpose of the immortal artifact was to be used as a base of operations for whenever it shipped its passengers to another realm. That''s right, the Descending Immortal Embassy had the feature of shuttling cultivators to various realms. Only immortal monarchs were able to safely traverse the Vast Void that the various realms of the Three Thousand Realms System. Ordinary true immortals could travel as well, but it would not be as safe and much more time-consuming. Using the Descending Immortal Embassy, true immortals could traverse different realms even faster than immortal monarchs could. And this was an artifact that only the Buzhou Immortal Realm could produce. With their control of the Huang Realm''s dimensional walls, the other two hegemonic sects could only dream on if they wanted to construct their own Descending Immortal Embassy. At this moment, Tianyi, Daoyi, and Xi Ri stepped towards the Descending Immortal Embassy. Although it appeared like a pillar, the inside was an artificial estate with clear skies, meadows, and rivers. Tianyi felt as if he was stepping into Immortal Ironword''s inheritance grotto once more. Tianyi''s group was not considered too early nor too late, just right. Already, numerous participants were arriving at the Descending Heavenly Pillar. Right now, all of them were on the first level of the artifact. Upon seeing Tianyi, Xia Yushan walked over and greeted the trio. "Junior Brother Xi, Junior Sister Jiang, Junior Brother Ri." The three greeted Xia Yushan and began making small talk with Xia Yushan''s group. The conversation naturally drifted towards the Demon Slaying Expedition. "Which elders are in charge of the expedition?" Tianyi asked. The ones present were all disciples, so the immortal elders should be in the core area of the Descending Heavenly Pillar. "Would you even recognize them?" Xia Yushan asked with a chuckle, but before Tianyi could refute, he answered the question. "It''s not a group of elders, but a single elder." "Oh?" Tianyi said with great curiosity. It must be known that despite the disparity of strength between immortals and mortals, true immortals were still just one person. To oversee the disciples of various sects, a single true immortal was not enough. As for whether the immortals of the vassal sects would participate? This particular Demon Slaying Expedition actually had a prefix, the Mortal Demon Slaying Expedition. Given that the time flow of the Demon Cage Realm was ten times faster, a thousand years was more than enough for the resources to grow plump enough to be plucked. However, for those in the immortal realm, it would take far longer. In the Huang Realm, the Mortal Demon Slaying Expedition was held every hundred years, as for the Immortal Demon Slaying Expedition? Every ten thousand years. Ten thousand years might sound like a long time, but it was actually quite short for the near-infinite lifespan of an immortal. The Immortal Demon Slaying Expedition had already been held once, and there were some voices voting to extend the recuperation period of the Demon Cage Realm. The voices surprisingly didn''t originate from the Buzhou Immortal Sect but the vassal sects instead. The thought of having the vassal sect''s immortal elder supervise their own disciples? That was not possible. The vassal sects allowed the Buzhou Immortal Sect to supervise and guarantee the lives of their disciples as both a sign of trust and submission. As for guaranteeing the lives of the disciples, they naturally weren''t informed. If they knew they weren''t in any true danger, could they grow and be tempered? Perhaps, but the efficiency would drastically drop. What else could they do? The Buzhou Immortal Sect was far too powerful. If it were like the Earth Continent, they would at least have an option of inserting their people like how the Eternal Night Sect did to the Eight Pillars Sect during the most recent Three Heavens Connection Gathering. At the very least, their situation was not as bad as the Mortal Continent, where the Saintly Scholar School dominated everything. They at least had their autonomy. "So who is it?" Tianyi asked, his curiosity brimming. "Elder Jadeflame of Jade Peak." Xia Yushan said with a meaningful smile. "Him?" Tianyi said with surprise. Elder Jadeflame was an idle immortal monarch of Jade Peak. Before he retired to wholeheartedly focus on the dao, he used to be a head elder. But now, his influence was actually worse than Mengfei. Why would such a person oversee the Demon Slaying Expedition? Thinking it through, Tianyi couldn''t help but link it to his mother asking Elder Jadeflame to watch over him. He quickly shook his head. Impossible. Why would an immortal monarch lower his position just to protect a mortal like me? It''s more likely that Elder Jadeflame had some business with the Demon Cage Realm, and mother probably asked him to look out for me as a side gig.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Sigh, I feel as if I''m becoming a bit too narcissistic. Why would an immortal monarch specifically come out of seclusion to protect me? Tianyi and co continued to speak with Xia Yushan and co about idle matters from the daily matters of the sect and what to expect from the Demon Slaying Expedition. "I didn''t participate in the previous Demon Slaying Expedition, but from what I heard, there are also humans living there. Heed my advice-" Before Xia Yushan could finish, a commotion broke out at the entrance of the Descending Immortal Embassy. Dressed in virtuous yellow and jade green kasayas, the monks of the Buddhist Sect arrived fashionably late. With their shiny hairless heads reflecting the light, they were like a lamp on a dark road. Tianyi rubbed his chin. Did the Buddhists purposely arrive so late? Before now, none of the disciples of the various sects, including the Buzhou Immortal Sect disciples, had seen or interacted with the Buddhists due to them secluding themselves in the monastery provided by the Buzhou Immortal Sect. "Tsk, aren''t the monks afraid of offending us coming this late?" Wei Daying grumbled in his breath. He wasn''t the only one who thought that way. Not only did the Buddhists arrive near the absolute deadline, but they constantly exuded a holier-than-thou attitude, causing great displeasure among the people present. They walked inside and stood at an empty spot with no intent to interact with others. Finally, a disciple of the Nihility Sect couldn''t stand the silence of the Buddhists anymore. In contrast to the Buddhists who were practically glowing, the disciple who stood out was surrounded by shadows, like an anthropomorphization of darkness. In fact, Tianyi was sure that there was karmic virtue gathered around them, just that he could no longer sense karmic virtue or sin, so he wasn''t entirely sure. Besides, wasn''t karmic virtue a must-have for all Buddhist cultivators in novels? "Amitabha, benefactor, why are you doing this?" A nameless monk stepped out from the group and bowed, showing a deferential and non-confrontational attitude. "Bullshit, as newcomers, how is this showing respect to seniors?" The Nihility Sect disciples crudely retorted. "After offending us, you think you can just say a few pretty words?" At those words, many of the disciples watching this frowned. They didn''t mind probing the Buddhist Sect, but they didn''t want to go too overboard either. The other sect disciples looked towards the Nihility Sect disciples and saw them watching the show calmy. Seeing this, the onlookers shrugged. If the Nihility Sect wanted to play the bad guys, they were happy to play the good guys. This wasn''t the first time such an event happen. Among all of the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s vassal sects, the Nihility Sect had the worst reputation and had the worst relationship with other sects. Their main headquarters was hidden from others and was secretive to the point that their disciples needed to be retrieved by elders if they wanted to return to the sect headquarters. The Nihility Sect operated like an underground power that accepted sabotages and assassinations. They even killed the immortals of other sects, but they didn''t go too far and didn''t cross the bottom line of the other first-rate sects. In fact, many rising powers were nipped at the bud by them. Some even speculated that the Nihility Sect was the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s secret pawn to keep the vassal sects under control. Naturally, this meant that the Nihility Sect didn''t dare to assassinate or sabotage the Buzhuo Immortal Sect. Otherwise, they would be wiped out. However, whether this was true, no one knew. All in all, no one was too surprised at the Nihility Sect disciple''s attitude. "Benefactor, what do you suggest then? I am willing to seek everyone''s forgiveness." The monk asked. The Nihility Sect narrowed his eyes when the monk said everyone and not you. He didn''t pursue the matter and laid out his condition instead. "I heard you Buddhists are skilled in martial methods. If you can withstand my attack for ten minutes, then I''ll call it off." The Buddhist monk didn''t hesitate and nodded. "Please hit me to your liking, benefactor." Despite getting his way, the Nihility Sect disciple felt a little lost and stifled. Where was the reluctance? Where was the aggrieved expression? Don''t agree so easily! Feeling his temper rise, the Nihility Sect disciple released a savage smile. Without any warning, he unleashed a punch toward the Buddhist monk. His expression filled with ferocious glee, the punch landed on the Buddhist monk''s chest. Despite how overbearing he seemed, even he knew that he couldn''t be too overboard and aim for vital spots like head. However, contrary to the Nihility Sect disciple''s expectation, his fist landed on the soft-looking skin of the monk and stopped with a loud sound like that of metal clashing against metal. Not only that, there weren''t any ripples from his punch as if his punch had no effect at all! Disbelief briefly flashed across his face, but he quickly masked it and launched a barrage of punches. Not only did each impact from his punch land, but the sound accompanying them also began to grow louder and louder with each punch. Finally, the Nihility Sect disciple couldn''t bear it any longer. Each punch that landed made him feel like he was a mortal punching a steel plate, so he launched the first attack towards the Buddhist disciple''s head. Crunch! The Nihility Sect disciple''s savage smile that had disappeared finally reappeared. However, when he moved back his fist, he saw that the monk''s head was unmarred and shiny as ever. Then where did the sounds of bones cracking come from? Having a bad feeling, the Nihility Sect disciple looked down at his hand to see his fingers abnormally bent as if a spherical object had assaulted them. Then came the pain. "Motherf***er!" Holding his hand while gasping for pain, the Nihility Sect disciple looked at the Buddhist disciple in disbelief. He had used his full force when attacking, yet the reality was telling him that he was the one injured? What the hell!? The Buddhist disciple bowed once more. "Benefactor, my apologies. This one is average in all but one aspect, but my head is especially hard, equivalent to your Unity Realm artifact in terms of toughness. If you feel that you suffered, please strike me more." The Nihility Sect disciple just stood there with his mouth gaping in speechlessness for a moment. But when he regained his ability to speak... "Your mother! No, your grandmother! No, your great grandmother! No, you great, great, great ancestor mother!" Just as a dark and murky qi began to coalescence around the Nihility Sect disciple, a heavy pressure descended upon the scene and caused everyone to suck in a cold breath and start to sweat. Everyone looked towards the central pillar to see an immortal walking towards them. Although he appeared physically present, his figure seemed to lose its presence as if it was a mirage with each step he took. "Are you done playing around?" Like scolding a bunch of children, Elder Jadeflame scanned all the disciples present. When his eyes locked onto Tianyi, it stopped for the briefest of moments, so brief that no one could detect it. Chapter 162: Descent into the Demon Cage Realm [author]Sorry for the missed chapter, my grandparents were in a car accident, so I had to take care of that. For anyone wondering, they are fine now. Anyways, the schedule will return to normal.[/author] "Listen closely. I will only say this once." Elder Jadeflame said as he coldly scanned the disciples present. Seeing that they were sufficiently cowed, he nodded in satisfaction. "I am Elder Jadeflame of Jade Peak of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. You may be wondering where the other immortal elders are for this expedition. You don''t have to wonder anymore because I am the only elder and overseer for the expedition." Before the disciples could raise questions or even wonder, Elder Jadeflame continued speaking. "Don''t hope that you will be safe just because you are descending into a realm we control. If I bother about every little aspect and protect you from everything, how would you grow? The point of this expedition is to gather resources for yourself and the sect, but it is also a crucial chance for you to temper yourselves." The disciples had heard many rumors about the expedition, but upon hearing that the immortal elder won''t go out of his way to protect, they couldn''t help but tense up. Elder Jadeflame inwardly smiled as he saw this. "That is not to say you are completely unprotected. If an immortal realm equivalent demon ever appears, I will take care of it. You need not worry about their numbers. For an immortal monarch like me, it means nothing much. However, if you die from the mortal realm demons, you can only blame yourself!" Elder Jadeflame nodded in satisfaction upon seeing the seriousness on the disciple''s faces. "I see that you all took my warning seriously, good. Now I will distribute the general information concerning the Demon Cage Realm. As for further information, you will have to gather them yourself." The information generally boiled down to forbidden territories that the disciples shouldn''t enter. If they did and died, they could only blame themselves. Most of the danger zones had mountains as their central points, and the most conspicuous of all was Central Chain Mountain, the mountain that was situated at the center of the Demon Chain Realm. The second most important piece of information was the three clans that controlled the Demon Cage Realm: the Golden Crow Clan, Jade Rabbit Clan, and Leviathan Clan. Among the three clans, the Golden Crow Clan had the least amount of members but the greatest individual strength. They descended from legendary Three-Legged Crows and were proficient in fire techniques and methods. The most prolific clan was the Jade Rabbit Clan. Their individual strength was two or three levels lowers than the other clans, but they compensated it with quantity. The clan itself had no great specialization, but if you faced one, you faced a whole group. At a certain point, quantity became quality in itself. And last but not least was the Leviathan Clan. As a clan that was mainly situated in water regions, they were the most mysterious clan with the least amount of information, but there were rumors that they contained the dragon clan''s bloodline. Among the three clans, their overall strength was the greatest. All three clans were supported by their ancestors: Golden Crow Ancestor, Jade Rabbit Ancestor, and Leviathan Ancestor. It was their ancestor that acted as a deterrent to the other demon clans, stabilizing their position as the top three clans. The intelligence reported their strength to be equal to true immortals. Upon reading this, Tianyi held his chin in thought. Maybe he should focus on the Leviathan Clan? According to the report, they had the dragon bloodline. Although it was a rumor for it to be put on the report, there should still be some basis. Elder Jadeflame allowed the people present to digest a report before he ordered them to move to the third floor of the Descending Immortal Embassy. If the first floor was an artificial paradise, then the third floor was a magnificent throne room. Just standing inside the vast room made all the cultivators feel small and insignificant. The cultivators began to converse among themselves quietly. Elder Jadeflame had informed them that they were going to descend into the Demon Cage Realm, so they had to enter the third for their safety while Elder Jadeflame was in the core room controlling the Descending Immortal Embassy. As far as transportation methods went, it was quite dull. With immortal boats, you could spectate the scenery at the very least. With nothing else better to do, the disciples of the various sects began to talk among each other. This wasn''t idle conversation but to selecting their teammates. Aside from being forbidden to kill each other, the expedition was pretty loose. You could fight and compete with others or team up if you wish to. There was no deployment or management at all. "Please return, benefactor. We have received your goodwill, but we have our own plans." Xia Yushan sighed in disappointment at the Buddhist disciples'' refusal. He glanced at the other discouraged people. At the very least, he wasn''t the only one who didn''t succeed. It seemed that the Buddhists planned to act as one group without anyone else''s aid or interference. It didn''t seem like they were entering the Demon Cage Realm blindly. Instead, they seem to have a clear motive. Seeing as he didn''t manage to recruit any of the Buddhists, Xia Yushan directed his attention towards the other notable disciples that he had been paying to, chief among them, Sheng Ni. "Junior Brother Sheng, have you decided on who you are following?" Xia Yushan asked the white-haired man in front of him. Bloodlust incarnate, that was the first thought that would appear when one met him. Sheng Ni had a plain face, but all the hair on him had lost all color, like snow, as if his vitality had long disappeared. Coupled with his white robes, Sheng Ni appeared to be an emotionless tool of slaughter. "No, I plan to act alone." Sheng Ni''s voice was surprisingly mild and calm. If not for the surprising amount of bloodlust surrounding him, no one would have paid much attention to him, even with his unique hair color. Wei Daiying frowned at Sheng Ni''s brusque tone and said unhappily. "Sheng Ni, just because you placed highly on the Paradise Agony Abyss ranking board, don''t think that you are invincible. On the road of cultivation, willpower is only one aspect." Sheng Ni lightly looked at Wei Daiying, causing Wei Daiying''s heart to palpitate even if Sheng Ni wasn''t doing anything. Just one glance made Wei Daiying peer into an abyss composed of blood and skeletons. "Many thanks for Senior Brother''s advice. If there is not anything else, please excuse me." Only when Sheng Ni left could Wei Daiying regain his senses. He rubbed his noses. Why did it seem like Sheng Ni got annoyed and just left with a sweep of his sleeves? Xia Yushan sighed. He regretted not discovering Sheng Ni''s potential earlier before he became famous. Right now, he was probably only one of many trying to rope in Sheng Ni. He understood that even though he was the eldest senior brother, the conditions given by him weren''t the best.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. But what could he do? Being the disciple of the sect master didn''t mean he was the best. For example, Xia Yushan glanced at Tianyi and Daoyi. He averted his eyes and focused on Xi Ri. Xi Ri. He had researched this cousin of Tianyi. Despite only being the disciple of an earth immortal, Tianyi was actually secretly supplementing Xi Ri''s resources with his own through Xi Ri''s master. Xi Ri was actually none the wiser. Xia Yushan really had to applaud Xi Ri''s master for having the foresight of taking in Xi Ri as his disciple. He guessed that the old fogies of Appointments Hall didn''t live so long for nothing. Xia Yushan''s footsteps paused before he walked towards Tianyi''s group. He had planned to invite Tianyi last, but seeing that Tianyi was surrounded by numerous inviters, he decided to move Tianyi up his priority list. "Junior Brother Xi seems to be quite popular." Xia Yushan lightly said. Tianyi laughed in response and joked. "Maybe it''s because I''m from Jade Peak and Elder Jadeflame is from Jade Peak as well." Upon hearing this, Xia Yushan''s smile dimmed. Unlike Tianyi, he was clear that Elder Jadeflame wasn''t the original choice for the overseer for the Demon Slaying Expedition. In fact, it was supposed to be ten other immortal elders. Being an overseer of the Demon Slaying Expedition allowed the immortal elders to pick up small benefits from the Demon Cage Realm despite it not being the Immortal Demon Slaying Expedition. As long as they didn''t go overboard, the Buzhou Immortal Sect would turn a blind eye to it. Too bad the person they met was an immortal monarch. Xia Yushan had reason to believe that Elder Jadeflame was the overseer to secretly protect Tianyi. And to see Tianyi brag about it made him clench his hands hidden within his sleeves. Some of the ten elders were originally his supporters, but this was all ruined due to Tianyi. Now, most of his plans became obsolete, and he couldn''t move as easily either. "What are your plans? If you don''t have any, how about coming with me?" Xia Yushan asked with a composed smile, not letting any of his true thoughts show. "I plan to see if I can get anything from the Leviathan Clan. Not to hide it from you, I''m quite interested to see if they have the rumored dragon bloodline. If you plan to do that too, we can do it together." Tianyi said. Honestly, he probably wasn''t the only that was interested in the Leviathan Clan due to their rumored dragon bloodline. If there is one material that hasn''t change in quantity or was least affected by the Human-Divine Beast War, it would be dragon resources. Due to their protectiveness and pride, they would assault anyone who desecrated their clan''s corpse. Of course, this was only referring to pure dragons or those close to it and not mixed-bloods. "Unfortunately, I plan to temper myself against the Golden Crow Clan. As a sword cultivator, fire is actually quite crucial for my tempering." Xia Yushan joked before looking at Daoyi and Xi Ri. "What about you two? I don''t think that it would good for you to seek the Leviathan Clan. They are situated near the Demon Cage Realm''s only sea, so they are the rulers. If you come with me to the Golden Crow or even the Jade Rabbit, you should be able to get a wider range of materials." "Thank you for your concern, but I''ve already discussed it with Tianyi. So I plan to seek the Leviathan Clan as well." Daoyi said. Tianyi blinked at her. When did they discuss this? Shrugging carelessly, Tianyi didn''t expose Daoyi''s lie. If Daoyi or Xi Ri went with Xia Yushan, then he would have to abandon his plans. For now, their safety was his main priority. He didn''t want to lose them after reuniting with his fellow reincarnators. Xia Yushan sighed in disappointment and relented. It seemed that he would have to redouble his efforts in the future. After Tianyi rejected everyone and they left, Xi Ri spoke. "I don''t like him." Tianyi glanced at Xi Ri. "Reason?" Xi Ri shrugged. "Just a feeling. I''ve actually felt it before, but I didn''t say anything since he hadn''t done anything yet. Unlike this time. Although he knew that we were in a group, he tried to poach us from you." Tianyi stayed silent at Tianyi''s last remark. He was neither blind nor deaf, so he could detect Xia Yushan''s intent no matter how good it was dressed up. He didn''t plan on separating from Xi Ri and Daoyi at all in the Demon Cage Realm, but he was curious about the first half of Xi Ri''s sentences. "What do you mean by feeling?" Tianyi asked. Xi Ri stayed silent for a moment before speaking. "Disdain. I couldn''t see it in his eyes, but I felt as if he was disdaining me the first time we met. I can''t explain it well, but I felt this feeling before." Tianyi did ask Xi Ri to elaborate on where Xi Ri felt this feeling before. Tianyi felt the chances were low in the Xi Dynasty and in the Buzhou Immortal Sect. So the most likely time was in Xi Ri''s first life. Personally, he didn''t feel that Xia Yushan was that bad, but recently, he felt that Xia Yushan was a bit different from when he had first met him. If Tianyi had to describe it, it was the tinge of danger in Xia Yushan''s aura. "What about you? He seemed quite focus on you." Tianyi asked as he looked at Daoyi. "I feel that I should stay away from him," Daoyi said, her tone light as if it was inconsequential. "Why? I feel that he treats you pretty well." Tianyi said as he gave a meaningful smile. Daoyi rolled her eyes at him. "Exactly, I don''t want to give him any hope at all." Tianyi''s eyes began to shine as if spelling a juicy story. "Do tell." Daoyi gave Tianyi a look before sighing at Tianyi''s expectant eyes. "He might have a great interest in me, but he reminds me too much of my father." At those words, Tianyi immediately clammed up. He knew that Daoyi''s family wasn''t a good topic, so he coughed into his fist and changed the subject, no longer bothering Daoyi. Contrary to Tianyi''s expectations, they arrived at the Demon Cage Realm in less than a day. Naturally, he couldn''t tell what the outside looked like due to being on the third floor. Once Elder Jadeflame gave the permission, the group began to descend towards the first floor and out the doors. Against Tianyi''s expectations, it was nighttime. He felt as if the script was off. Didn''t people usually arrive during the day? Shrugging, Tianyi turned to look at Daoyi and Xi Ri to see them struggling. "What''s wrong?" Daoyi''s movements were sluggish as if she mired in quicksand. Xi Ri was even worse as his legs had begun to tremble as if something heavy was pressing down against him. "You really can''t feel it?" Xi Ri''s voice was full of disbelief. "Feel what?" Tianyi asked, not knowing what Xi Ri meant. He glanced at the other disciples that were coming out of the Descending Immortal Embassy and saw that they showed signs of being affected by something as well. "The gravity is heavier, and the spiritual qi here is less dense than the Huang Realm." Daoyi stepped and explained. She hadn''t expected the environment to change so much just from stepping out. Tianyi frowned as he heard this. He unleashed his spiritual senses and began to investigate and realized that Daoyi was right. The density of the spiritual qi around him was only one-tenth of the Huang Realm, while the gravity was around ten times greater. His eyes flashed. Perhaps this was another method of tempering. Tianyi had heard that athletes would limit their oxygen supply through various methods to increase their body''s oxygen absorption. Perhaps this was the same principle? If two cultivators were the same and had equal skills, the one with the better qi management skills would prevail, just that Tianyi didn''t care. He had long stopped paying attention to the spiritual qi in the air because it did not benefit him much. His own natural generation was superior, not to mention the spiritual qi of heaven and earth rejected him. As for the gravity, Tianyi waved his arms and tried to generate a wormhole only to have no reaction. The stability of the Demon Cage Realm was even greater than the Huang Realm, preventing him from teleporting at all. Tianyi only sighed in relief when he checked that he could still use his spatial rings. "The spiritual qi is about one-tenth as dense as the Huang Realm. Conversely, the gravity is about ten times greater." Tianyi said. "I didn''t feel it because the difference was too minuscule for me to notice." Daoyi and Xi Ri felt their lips twitch. Bro, are you bragging about how powerful you are? "Anyways, I guess this is part of the sect to temper us. Plus, it probably restricts the demon''s growth in a way. But you have to be careful since we are affected by the sudden changes while the demons have grown up in this environment." Tianyi advised. Tianyi waved his hand, and his yacht-like immortal boat appeared. "I''ll take charge of transportation. You two just focus on acclimating to the environment." Daoyi and Xi Ri nodded. They had no objections, boarded the immortal boat with Tianyi. Off in the distance, Xia Yushan frowned when he saw Tianyi had left already. He had wanted to advise the trio upon feeling the effect of the Demon Cage Realm, who knew that Tianyi would suddenly leave. "Hopefully, Tianyi won''t drag Daoyi down." Chapter 163: Brocade Immortal Thirty-Seven Ba Shifang''s eyes lit up with delight the moment he saw the Descending Immortal Embassy vanish from the Buzhou Immortal Sect from his location on Jade Peak. The Descending Immortal Embassy''s sheer size guaranteed that very few in the Buzhou Immortal Sect couldn''t see it from any distance. He lamented his cruel fate. While other clones enjoyed themselves away from the main body, he had to stay and become a lab rat. How pitiful was he! The way Shifang saw it, if Juedai Fenghua survived being sent through the spatial rift, then she had the greatest freedom of them all. Well, not that Ba Shifang was inclined to repeat Fenghua''s accident. Although he was a clone, the main body already invested a lot of resources into him, and his potential was greater than all the other clones. Clearing his thoughts, Shifang called out in a loud voice. "Bojing? Bojing, where are you?" Not long after, Su Bojing landed next to Shifang. "What do you need, Young Master Ba?" Su Bojing knew that Shifang was Tianyi''s clone, so he dared not slight him, even if Ba Shifang was just a mere qi gathering pupil. If Shifang died, Tianyi would definitely look for him to settle the score. Before Tianyi left, Tianyi made sure to tell Su Bojing to look after this clone of his. "Have you finished preparing the Void Isolation Meditation Chamber?" Shifang asked. The Void Isolation Meditation Chamber was precisely the place that Tianyi was sealed when he was still a qi gathering pupil to sense his eight extraordinary meridians. The chamber was something Mengfei specifically create for Tianyi, and since Mengfei never destroyed it, Tianyi wanted Ba Shifang to make use of it. "I have. Are you preparing to enter the Void Isolation Meditation Chamber?" Su Bojing asked. Ba Shifang shook his head. "Not yet. Help me ask Sect Master Xia to give me access to Lei Jingye in the Six Desires and Seven Emotions Abyss." Su Bojing paused, feeling slightly apprehensive. He knew that he would never be imprisoned there, but just like an average citizen feared being jailed, so did Su Bojing fear the Six Desires and Seven Emotions Abyss. "I''ll send a message." When Sect Master Xia received the notice that Tianyi''s clone wanted to meet Lei Jingye, he was befuddled. They had healed Lei Jingye''s soul and extracted much more information from him. Compared to Tianyi''s hazy recounts, excluding the time when Lei Jingye died, his information was much more comprehensive. After deliberating for a while, Sect Master Xia gave permission for Shifang to visit Lei Jingye. Currently, Lei Jingye was still alive because the sect wanted to use him to search for the Dragon Emperor. Who knows, maybe Tianyi or his clone could unearth a surprise from Lei Jingye. Soon, both Shifang and Su Bojing were welcomed to the Six Desires and Seven Emotions Abyss. The entrance was located in the core of Justice Peak Palace and heavily guarded by four immortals, not that Ba Shifang or Su Bojing could sense or even see the guards. The entrance was actually quite plain, contrary to the fearsome rumors surrounding the prison. As Shifang and Su Bojing weren''t members of Justice Peak or even immortals, they had an Immortal Realm warden accompanying them upon entering Shifang and Su Bojing followed the warden closely. All around them was gray fog, even the floor could not be seen. If not for feeling the solid ground underneath him, Shifang would''ve felt that the floor was nonexistent. In addition, the two had been given pendant-shaped tokens before entering. If they did not have the tokens, they would have instantly been enthralled by the Six Desires and Seven Emotions Abyss, becoming prisoners of the illusion. Not long after, they were brought to a small clearing in the gray fog where Lei Jingye was moving around. Shifang didn''t immediately take action and observed Lei Jingye. Lei Jingye''s eyes were exceptionally clear as if he wasn''t bewitched, but his actions proved otherwise. He would move around without any discernible reason and then speak as if he was talking to someone. "Hmpf, thanks to Xi Longyi, the Buzhou Immortal Sect has made enemies with the whole world. We don''t need to take action too quickly. Our strength hasn''t reached the point yet. Let''s become the oriole watching the cicada and the mantis." Shifang felt his lips twitch at this. Enemy of the world, wasn''t that the Dragon Emperor? And Lovespot too. If Lovespot continued his actions of harming the vassal sects, then he would have become the public enemy and drag the Buzhou Immortal Sect down. Shifang made a mental note to check up on the Lovespot Tormenter Chat Group, a text group formed when Tianyi first distributed the prototype Xiyi Talisman. They were the masterminds between the hundreds of disciples giving trouble to Lovespot. Finally, after observing long enough, Shifang stepped towards Lei Jingye. He clenched his hand into a fist and then punched Lei Jingye in the face. When Lei Jingye continued on as if he didn''t feel it despite the obvious impact, Shifang hit Lei Jingye more. Shifang made sure to control his strength as Lei Jingye lost his spiritual core, making him weaker than an average mortal. As for his nascent soul? Lei Jingye never formed a nascent soul; that was the Longwei, or rather, the Dragon Emperor. After a few more hits, Shifang stopped and then looked suspiciously at Lei Jingye. "Lei Jingye, Daoyi is getting a dao companion." Still no response. "Her dao companion is Xi Longyi." Still no response. Shifang couldn''t help but hold his chin suspiciously. He looked towards the warden and asked. "Can I kill Lei Jingye?" "No," The warden said emotionlessly. All the prisoners of the Six Desires and Seven Emotions Abyss could not be killed without permission. After deliberating for a while, Shifang asked again. "Staying here wouldn''t allow anyone to suddenly derive a Six Desires and Seven Emotions soul method or anything, right?" The warden originally planned on ignoring and not answering Shifang unless absolutely necessary, but the ridiculous idea Shifang said made him speechless. "Absolutely not. If it were so easy to escape, then the soul immortal prisoners would have long escaped." Shifang rubbed his chin as he thought. That was true. Perhaps he was just too wary of Lei Jingye. After settling his heart, Shifang left with Su Bojing and returned to Jade Peak. It was time to open his eight extraordinary meridians. Before that, maybe he should find some trouble with Lovespot. After all, as an administrator of the Xiyi Talisman, he could easily monitor the Lovespot Tormenter Chat Group. Although he wouldn''t reveal that he could spy on them, it was counterproductive to the consumer''s trust in the brand, after all. That didn''t mean he couldn''t interfere and make Lovespot''s days worse. It''d be best if Lovespot died due to depression or some crap. If it wasn''t for Lovespot''s backing, he was sure his main body wouldn''t mind abusing his status to get rid of the scourge once and for all. But to Shifang''s disappointment, he discovered that Lovespot had snuck out of the sect with minimal notice when everyone''s attention was focused on the Demon Slaying Expedition.
The Dragon Emperor gave one last glance at the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s Mortal Severance Gate before leaving with a sneer on his face. What leader of the orthodox sect, it was just as rotten as the despicable devilish sects. After several years of possession, the Dragon Emperor had discovered Lovespot''s glorious deeds. It only strengthened the Dragon Emperor''s negative impression of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. In his eyes, Lovespot was complete trash and unable to fully appreciate all the good things he had, preferring to laze around and stagnate. However, the Dragon Emperor had to thank Lovespot, otherwise, where else would he have gotten such a compatible body? However, that didn''t stop the Dragon Emperor from looking down on Lovespot in contempt. No wonder the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s influence had been weakening even when he was at his peak. Ever since the Human-Divine Beast War, the Dragon Emperor had noticed that the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s influence was becoming weaker and weaker. His lips curled as he thought of the further damage brought by him when all the sects allied and sieged him. The Buzhou Immortal Sect lost over fifty percent of their longtime immortal monarchs and hundreds upon hundreds of true immortals. He even killed one of their immortal emperors! The Dragon Emperor made sure to give them special care as they were the mastermind behind his fall from grace.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. The Dragon Emperor also remembered Redseal during the siege. As he was a relatively young immortal monarch, two of the older immortal monarchs had given up their life to save Redseal''s life from the Dragon Emperor''s attack. He never expected that upright-appearing Redseal to have such a pig teammate of a grandson. He didn''t think it was wrong of Lovespot to kill the disciples of other sects. The Dragon Emperor had also been overbearing and fought and killed anyone who was against him. There was nothing wrong with such a tyrannical style in his eyes. If you dare steal from me? Kill! Offend me? Kill! Look at me wrong? Kill! Take a fancy to a woman? Steal! Block my way? Kill! Prevent my immortal path? Kill! However, the Dragon Emperor knew that it was not the style of the Buzhou Immortal Sect who liked to act hypocritically righteously. Instead, it was a method to control the growth of vassal sects from his view. In the past, the Buzhou Immortal Sect would have never committed such an act, but the Dragon Emperor thought it was possible with the Buzhou Immortal Sect being at its weakest in years. Although he couldn''t find any evidence, the Dragon Emperor even suspected that Lovespot''s actions were secretly encouraged because how could Redseal not know about this matter? What truly made the Dragon Emperor disdain Lovespot and the Buzhou Immortal Sect was his actions against his fellow sect members. Acting against your own sect members was a sign of decline. Unless they offended you, you should never purposely hinder your own sect''s growth. Even rabbits do not eat the grass around their burrows. Well, the Dragon Emperor wouldn''t plan for the Buzhou Immortal Sect. In his eyes, the more corrupt the Buzhou Immortal Sect was, the better it was for him. However, he still had reservations and wariness towards the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s trump cards. The Buzhou Immortal Sect had experienced ups and downs. At one point, the Buzhou Immortal Sect had seven immortal emperors. It was an unprecedented time of prosperity for the Buzhou Immortal Sect, to the point that their immortal emperors died of old age instead of battle. But what, or rather, who the Dragon Emperor feared the most was the reclusive Concealed Emperor. The Concealed Emperor had existed since the creation of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, some said he existed even longer then the Huang Realm, back when it was the Yu Huang Realm. The average immortal monarch lived for around a hundred thousand years before they couldn''t bear the passing of time and self-terminated. The longest record of an immortal emperor was five hundred thousand years, aside from the Concealed Emperor. This meant that the Concealed Emperor had lived for over three million years, exceeding all other immortal emperors and even true immortals who shared longevity with the Huang Realm! There were rumors that the Concealed Emperor had long perished and that the Buzhou Immortal Sect was simply hiding it, but the Dragon Emperor didn''t think so. One reason was because the Buzhou Immortal Sect never proclaimed the Concealed Emperor''s death, although they never claimed he was alive either. Still, anyone, even a disciple, who lived within the Buzhou Immortal Mountains could discern that he was alive, or someone was pretending to be him. The Dragon Emperor learned towards the former, mostly due to his intuition, something that saved his life many times. Despite the Concealed Emperor never appearing during the siege against him that went against his intuition, the Dragon Emperor couldn''t help but ponder over the truth of the matter. In all his years pretending to be Lovespot, the Dragon Emperor attempted to probe the Concealed Emperor''s survival, but he couldn''t find any substantial proof. He had a feeling that the Concealed Emperor would be the greatest obstacle to his ascension. As for Xi Mengfei? The Dragon Emperor didn''t believe the rumors outside proclaiming her as the number one immortal emperor. In his eyes, she was just far too young and her accumulation too shallow. The other immortal emperors simply didn''t care enough to contradict the rumors, and they were giving the Buzhou Immortal Sect face. In his eyes, it was likely the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s handiwork spreading the rumors to reclaim their prestige after their devastating losses against him. Having his thoughts drift towards Xi Mengfei, the Dragon Emperor had to admit she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. However, those pair of eyes from her reminded him instantly of Tianyi, causing him to gnash his teeth together. If the Buzhou Immortal Sect was the enemy the Dragon Emperor would topple over a long period of time, then Tianyi was the nemesis he had to kill as soon as possible. Not just once, but he had failed twice due to Tianyi''s intervention. He wouldn''t even mind exposing his identity just to kill Tianyi, as he would have an escape plan after all. Tianyi¡¯s whole existence was a blight against him. Part of the reason for the Dragon Emperor''s journey out of the sect was to increase his strength secretly. Lovespot had a lot of good stuff, but those were known variables. Whenever he decided to betray the Buzhou Immortal Sect, his trump cards would be laid bare, so he needed to hide some of his strength and trump cards. Plus, he was beginning to feel stifled being cooped up in his enemies'' headquarters. Numerous times, he had thought of lashing out, but he held back in the end. Plus, he needed to recuperate his strength, and the best way to do that was to assimilate his soul fragments. In other words, he had to kill his soul fragment clones. A few months later, the Dragon Emperor allowed himself to smirk as he discovered an immortal''s inheritance site. He had chased after a clone of his to Sky Pillar Mountain and discovered Grand Duke Xuanfei''s inheritance site. With high aspirations, the Dragon Emperor began Grand Duke Xuanfei''s trials to acquire his inheritance. He didn''t put a mere true immortal in his eyes, but right now, he would take everything he could, beggars couldn¡¯t be choosers. If he received an immortal artifact, all the better. In the Dragon Emperor''s eyes, no one else could pass through the trials better than he could. When the Dragon Emperor passed all the trials and reached the end, he was covered in injuries. Despite his skill and experience, he was still a Core Formation Realm cultivator in the end, so he didn''t come out unscathed. He had attained the highest evaluation, so his rewards would be the best. When he went to receive his just rewards, the Dragon Emperor discovered that the Grand Duke''s inheritance grotto had been wiped clean with nothing left for him! The Dragon Emperor had spent so much effort only to discover that he was rewarded with nothing! If he had his previous strength, the Dragon Emperor would have wiped the inheritance site out of existence. Alas, he didn''t, so he could only leave with a belly full of grievances. Unwilling to return empty-handed, the Dragon Emperor recalled the inheritance sites and graves he discovered in the Central Region when he was still at his peak. Naturally, he disdained mere true immortal inheritances, but to the current him, they were priceless resources. Recalling how effective his soul attack was on Tianyi, the Dragon Emperor decided to head towards Soul Immortal Frosteye''s inheritance at Feather Sky Mountain Range. To his outrage and shock, it was also cleaned out. There weren''t any techniques or rewards left, only the trials, just like Grand Duke Xuanfei''s inheritance. Leaving empty-handed once more, the Dragon Emperor felt as if he swallowed a fly. He couldn''t stand the feeling, so like an enraged beast, he searched for other inheritances. True Lord Flamesurge''s grave at Permaheat Abyss. Sword Immortal Halfmoon''s inheritance at Moonshadow Peak of Thousand Weapon Mountain Range. Immortal Lord Swaysong''s inheritance at Soundless Mist Domain. Without fail, all of these inheritance sites and graves were empty. "FUCK!!! Does everyone know about them and cleaned them out? How could it be? When I discovered them, all of them weren''t empty." The Dragon Emperor couldn''t help but think that someone was deliberately messing with him, but he quickly dismissed the idea. He didn''t originally plan to visit these immortal inheritance sites and graves, so unless an immortal was secretly following him and cleaning out the place before he could reach the rewards, then that could only mean that someone had discovered them before him. In the end, he could only chalk it up to bad luck. Perhaps some lucky individuals stumbled upon them and cleaned them out before him after his first death. Having been jilted too many times, the Dragon Emperor decided to focus on reclaiming his soul fragments for the time being.
He didn''t have a name, only a designation. Since he was young, all he knew was the Buzhou Immortal Sect and that he had to serve them faithfully. From the Qi Gathering Realm to the Foundation Establishment Realm to the Core Formation Realm and all the way to the Immortal Realm, he had served the Buzhou Immortal Sect with unquestioned loyalty. He wasn''t the only one, as there were numerous like him, but few were able to reach the Immortal Realm and join the Brocade Immortals like him. Most died before they reached the Immortal Realm, becoming one of the unaccountable nameless protectors of the Buzhou Immortal Sect in the shadows. If there were a comparison, he and the other shadow soldiers would be akin to the death guards raised since childhood by the many imperial clans. His designation was Thirty-Seven, Brocade Immortal Number Thirty-Seven. Thirty-Seven had been summoned to shadow the disciple known as Lovespot under the orders of the Concealed Sovereign. Contrary to popular belief, the Brocade Immortals did not serve the sect masters of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. It was just that they had been ordered to follow the sect master''s orders, giving many people the impression that they obeyed the sect master. Their true allegiance lay with the Concealed Emperor. He had wondered why the Concealed Emperor ordered him to shadow Lovespot until he observed him absorbing the Dragon Emperor clones'' souls. Thirty-Seven instantly realized why the Concealed Sovereign ordered him to shadow Lovespot. Based on his preliminary investigation, Thirty-Seven knew that Lovespot had lost his memories a few years ago. It was highly likely that the current Lovespot wasn''t the real Lovespot, despite his soul lamp still being lit. A hint of comprehension dawned in his eyes when he added the pieces together. As a Brocade Immortal, there was little that he wasn''t privy to, including Lei Jingye''s relationship with the Dragon Emperor. Putting two and two together, Thirty-Seven had a daring guess. The Brocade Immortals were not among the participants that besieged the Dragon Emperor at his peak, so their strength remained intact. As a result, most of the aging immortals of the Buzhou Immortal Sect died instead. The Brocade Immortals did not question why, and even now, they had no particular feelings towards the Dragon Emperor. They simply followed orders. Thirty-Seven didn''t kill Lovespot or whoever he was. Lovespot''s current identity didn''t matter, Thirty-Seven obeyed the Concealed Sovereign no matter what, even if he was ordered to die. His current order was to investigate Lovespot as much as possible. Brocade Immortal Thirty-Seven had already reported his findings to the Concealed Emperor. Now the matters were out of his hands. All he had to do was continue to shadow Lovespot. Chapter 164: Mountain King of Flower Fruit Mountain "Has the time of the descent of immortals arrived?" The land was flat and barren. Nothing would have been unique about the lifeless land if not for the largest mountain of the Demon Cage Realm being situated here. Yet, the speaker was nowhere to be found. Instead, the words seemed to be emanating from the mountain itself, filled with the vicissitude of time. The mountain itself seemed inconspicuous, if not for the fact that it was surrounded in layers upon layers of blinding white chains. It wasn''t what was outside that was important, but inside. The hollowed inside of the mountain didn''t appear dark or dingy at all. Instead, there was bright sunlight, clear blue skies with drifting clouds, a sea at the bottom with pillar-like formations popping up, and numerous plants, including fruit trees and vegetables, growing on the pillar-like formations. On the most prominent rock pillar existed a wooden palace covered in vines, and inside sat a golden-furred monkey wearing ancient bronze armor with a helmet covering his ears. In front of him were three apparitions: one in the shape of a giant bird, one a gargantuan sea serpent, and the final one the size and shape of a normal rabbit, contrasting greatly against the other two. "No, great Mountain King, it is not the time for the immortal to descend yet." The speaker was the apparition of the sea serpent. "Then why have the three of you appeared in my Flower Fruit Grotto? Don''t tell me, you''re still interested in an old monkey like me?" The monkey rubbed his chin with a teasing smile. "You three haven''t visited me many times since you entered the True Demon Realm." "Forgive our lack of courtesy. After entering our current realm, our view of time has changed." The rabbit apparition said. "No matter, no matter." The Mountain King said as he airily waved his hand. "I just think it''s a pity that I won''t see you guys anymore after the immortals descend, so you should visit me more. Your predecessors were the same." At those words, the three apparitions became silent. It was unknown if they were offended or agitated by the Mountain King''s words, but the monkey didn''t mind. "Speak, since you aren''t here for pleasantries, why have you come?" "We are here to inform you that we are going to break free of this prison and enter the outside world." The three of them said. The Mountain King moved his pinkie to pick his ears, but he forgot that he had a helmet on, so he picked his nose instead. "It won''t work. You three are extremely talented to enter the True Demon Realm in such a short time frame and conditions, but you still lack the power to break out. Your predecessors had more than ten true demons, although they took longer to reach the realm than you three. What makes you three think you could succeed where they failed? At best, you would be sealed under mountains like me and the other demons above the True Demon Realm." "Then should we let them reap our lives without fighting? Continue to let them farm our descendants like mere livestock!?" The bird apparition roared in indignity. "What can you do? You don''t have the power to change anything. You''d have a higher chance of escaping and repopulating your clan than saving your descendants." The Mountain King said lightheartedly. "You should probably choose which women are fertile enough for you to bring away." "I respect your strength, but your personality is the worst!" The bird apparition said and tensed his facial muscles. "Aren''t you tired of being cooped up here? What if we said we had a way to free you?" The Mountain King''s eyes alighted with surprise and delight before it quickly dimmed again. "Hmpf, stop joking. Do you really think that my seal is so easily broken? It is being constantly watched by that old fogey, the moment you three take action is the day you three perish. Don''t shorten your lifespan so carelessly." "Is there no way we can convince you?" The sea serpent apparition asked with a low mood. "My strength is far greater than you three think. Even my pinkie is more than enough to kill the three of you. And besides, escaping is harder than leaving this prison. You have no idea of the strength of those that control this realm." The Mountain King said, his tone unnaturally heavy. "Thank you for your advice, but we will continue to prepare. We must leave before the next time the immortals descend. Or else, we might as well suicide now if there''s no hope for the future." The rabbit apparition said before disappearing. The sea serpent apparition also disappeared since it knew that nothing it said would convince the strongest sealed demon of the Demon Cage Realm. The bird apparition, however, had some last words before leaving. "Even if we won''t survive the next immortals'' descent, we must make them pay the price for daring to send mere mortals to reap our descendants like simple livestock." Once the bird apparition also disappeared, the Mountain King lost its lackadaisical attitude and sat upright. "You three are still too young, too young. Sigh, I was finally reborn after escaping death, but I never expected to be captured again before regaining my strength."
"So, if you can find a way to apply the knowledge from Earth into your cultivation method or techniques, your efficiency will increase. At least, that''s what I''ve experienced." Tianyi said as he advised his fellow reincarnators. "In other words, the more knowledge of natural science you learned, the better your mileage. Think of it as a new game plus." "I only got a high school diploma. I didn''t go to college since I already had a job and a career," Daoyi said. Xi Ri coughed. "I didn''t have much time to get a high school diploma, only a GED since I had to spend most of my time working part-time jobs before the world went to hell." "So all three of us basically screwed our advantage up," Tianyi said, speechless. "Didn''t you go to college, though?" Daoyi asked. "My major was business. It had nothing to do with science." Tianyi awkwardly said as he scratched his cheek. The three looked at each other before laughing at the same time. "Hm?" Tianyi turned his head and looked down at the passing scenery with some interest. Not long after, a strange expression appeared on Tianyi''s face as he turned back. "Something wrong?" Daoyi asked. As the controller of the immortal boat, Tianyi had his spiritual sense spread out to detect any abnormalities. "I just saw a man peeping on a woman bathing in a stream and getting caught," Tianyi said. "So he got lucky?" Xi Ri said, unsure of why Tianyi was making such a strange face. "Doesn''t it sound like some cliche plot of the protagonist getting into a misunderstanding with a potential love interest slash harem member? Later after the misunderstanding is cleared, the female has a good impression and feels guilty towards the man, leading to feelings that would later turn into love." Tianyi said.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "Does it? I didn''t have much time to spend on entertainment in my last life. I actually preferred watching the news more." Xi Ri said. "Is that so? Now that I recall, it was your idea to make the cultivation version of a smartphone. No offense, wouldn''t it have been easier to replicate something else since you don''t have the basic knowledge of how to make a smartphone?" Daoyi asked. From their past interaction, she deduced that Xi Ri didn''t have much contact with smartphones at all, but directly pointing it out would have been too rude. "Tianyi doesn''t know how to make a smartphone either, but did he make it in the end? I didn''t want to replicate the technology, but the concept." Xi Ri explained. "Plus, I actually wanted to have a smartphone and become like a certain technology company''s president. It''s something unimaginable for the past me." Tianyi chuckled. "So you wanted to strike it rich. But what about your dreams of creating a utopia?" "Those two goals don''t have to be exclusive. Being rich would certainly help me in the future. Compared to becoming an immortal, this seems like a much more tangible goal to me." Xi Ri said. "Why does it sound like you don''t plan on reaching the Immortal Realm?" Daoyi asked. "Of course, I plan to do my best. The more time I have, the more likely I will reach my goal. But how many people can actually reach the point of undergoing immortal ascension, much less pass? My chances are slim at best." Xi Ri said. Tianyi facepalmed. "Haven''t you heard? Attitude determines your success. If you are so fatalistic about your chances, then you''ve already lost the battle. We have advantages other cultivators don''t. My mother is the publicly acclaimed number one expert, Daoyi is her disciple, and you are her nephew. Plus, we are reincarnators. It would be a waste to fail. Have hope!" Xi Ri laughed. "Alright, I''ll have confidence." Tianyi sighed when he saw that Xi Ri didn''t take his words seriously. He could understand Xi Ri''s point of view. If attitude determined everything, then reality would not be reality. How many people hoped to succeed? How many succeeded? Not long after, Xi Ri and Daoyi began to meditate. It had already been a week, but they had yet to fully adjust to the environment of the Demon Cage Realm. Most likely, not even nascent soul grandmasters would be able to adjust to the environment so quickly. Soul nourishing grandmasters would only be better by a little bit since they relied on the strength of the body more than qi. Tianyi estimated that most would choose to acclimate around the protection of the Descending Immortal Embassy for a month before taking action, the average ones at least. A day later, Tianyi suddenly stopped the immortal boat. "What''s wrong?" Daoyi asked. "Did something happen?" Xi Ri added. Tianyi pointed in a direction outside of the immortal boat. When Daoyi and Xi Ri looked over, they saw a lone human being chased by three hound-like demons. Each of the demons was at least three meters long and exuded enlightened savageness. "Humans?" Daoyi said in surprise. "Thinking about it, it wouldn''t be a surprise if humans did live here." Xi Ri said. "We only heard that this is a world ruled by demons, there wasn''t anything that said humans don''t live here. But in a world ruled by demons, their lives probably aren''t good." "So let''s save them," Tianyi said, causing the two to look at him. Realizing that they got the wrong idea, he quickly explained. "Not all the humans, just him. I don''t care enough to save people I don''t see or know, but if they appear before me, I don''t mind saving them." Daoyi clapped. "Hurray for the descent of Savior Xi, messiah from the higher realm." Tianyi''s face started to flush. "Stop teasing me. You''re making me feel self-conscious." "Alright, I''ll stop. Otherwise, the person down there really might die." Daoyi said as she looked at the shortening distance between the man and three demons. Tianyi controlled the immortal boat and instantly arrived above the four beings and unleashed a lightning-type sealing formation, preventing the four from leaving. "Who!?" The leader of the three demons growled. He looked up and saw the powerful aura emanating from the immortal boat and felt his pupils shrink. From the immortal boat floated down two figures, a young man and woman. They were naturally Daoyi and Xi Ri. Tianyi told them to fight since it would help them acclimate to the Demon Cage Realm faster. Taking out her guqin, she thrummed the strings and sent out soul attacks towards two of the demons. To her surprise, the two demons fell and died in ten seconds under her barrage of attacks. "Strange, when I used the same attack before, even an acupoint opening master would have lasted longer," Daoyi exclaimed in surprise. "It''s not strange at all," Tianyi said as he stepped out from the immortal boat. "At lower levels, a demon''s soul is weak compared to humans''. Think about it, the origins of demons are creatures who opened up their spirituality. So even if their body is naturally strong, without thought, their soul is weak. In contrast, humans already have their spirituality opened at birth, unless they are born with a mental defect." ¡°Then is Shuijing a demon too?¡± Daoyi asked. Her spiritual beast was a beast born from an egg, but from Tianyi¡¯s explanation, that would mean that Shuijing was a demon. Tianyi pointedly ignored the spider that had crawled on Daoyi¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Fundamentally, yes. However, even if a spiritual beast hasn¡¯t opened its spirituality, it can still be a spiritual beast. In the end, what separates a demon from a spiritual beast is that demons aren¡¯t on our side.¡± Tianyi paused for a bit before adding, ¡°For creatures that are powerful, but haven¡¯t opened up their spirituality, those are monsters. They are different from demons who know how to think.¡± Daoyi nodded in understanding. "Then what about higher realm demons, will their souls be weak in comparison to a cultivator in the same realm?" Tianyi shrugged. "Demons take longer to cultivate than humans. But this means they have plenty of time to accumulate, even if their soul doesn''t grow as fast. Luckily, these demons only just formed their cores, so their soul is still quite weak. I feel that this exercise is quite meaningless for you." Tianyi and Daoyi glanced at Xi Ri, who was still locked into battle with the final demon. Xi Ri was using a staff to swat away the demon''s attacks and counterattack by hitting the head in the same exact spot over and over again. His technique seemed like nothing spectacular, but Tianyi could see that Xi Ri was bending space around his staff. It was as if a void was coated around both ends of Xi Ri''s staff. Not only did this increase the speed and power of the staff heads, but whenever Xi Ri blocked with it, the demon''s attack seemed to glide over as if slipping off the surface of a sphere. The last demon had long noticed that he was in dire straights. His two companions were defeated, and he could detect the terrifying aura from Tianyi even with him just standing there. It knew that it was facing a losing battle with no escape, especially with it being trapped. Suddenly, it leaped back and barked out. "Humans, you will regret this. For you to dare to strike us demons, you will receive retribution and have your race massacred!" Facing such a threat, Tianyi felt the corner of his lips twitch. "Really? Would people even care if a dog demon like you disappeared? You don''t belong to any of the first or second-rate clans, I can''t recall any large demon clans led by dogs. So is that all you have to say before you die?" "Hmpf, you are wrong, human. The three great clans are recruiting any demon that has formed a core. If you let me go now, I won''t take revenge in the future. Otherwise, you will definitely be sieged by hundreds of demons in the future!" "Sorry," Tianyi said to Xi Ri. Before the demon could react, a hole appeared in his head, and he fell down dead. Waving his head, Tianyi took the three demon corpses. Even if he or Xi Ri and Daoyi didn''t have a use for them, he could still give them to the sect for contribution points. "Seriously, this demon was too talkative." "Did he honestly expect us to believe him?" Daoyi asked. Did the demon take them for idiots? "Tianyi, weren''t you the one who said to have me train. Why did you take my opponent?" Xi Ri asked as he tried to catch his breath. "I already apologized, didn''t I? Besides, I didn''t want him to continue to yap away." Tianyi glanced at the staff in Xi Ri''s hand. "Didn''t you win your spot? Do you only have this one technique?" Xi Ri raised his hand defensively. "I can''t help it. I''m still not used to the sparse spiritual qi. If I used any of my other techniques, my qi would be drained dry too fast, so I chose a stable method. It''s just that you and Daoyi are too strong." "...you...you..." The trio turned towards the man. Perhaps due to the fright, he had fallen onto his butt and was pointing at Tianyi, Daoyi, and Xi Ri with a shaking hand. He wore tan robes, but it and his skin were marred in dirt and his hair was in disarray. "D-did you descend from the immortal world? Are you here to save us!?" Chapter 165: Azure Leaf City The man''s name was Di Gaoli, a resident of Azure Leaf City, the largest city in the vicinity. Di Gaoli was supposed to protect his two juniors as they searched for resources, but who knew that they would meet three demons that had formed their cores? In the end, had it not been for Tianyi noticing him, he would have died as well. The demons most likely targeted Di Gaoli, and his two companions suffered by association. For many demons, cultivators were akin to extremely nourishing pills, devouring one would save them decades worth of effort. Having developed more than curiosity for the humans of the Demon Cage Realm, Tianyi, Daoyi, and Xi Ri followed Di Gaoli back to Azure Leaf City. Along the way, Di Gaoli explained the legends of the Demon Cage Realm, or as the humans inside called it, the Demon Heaven Realm. Long before the human race had begun to record history, demons were the overlords of the world. The humans were helpless, living like rats in the dark. Eventually, they managed to emigrate into desolate lands, too poor to catch any demons'' eye, but even so, if a wandering demon passed, they were at the mercy of the demon''s whims. However, that all changed one day. It was a day that they later called the Descent of Immortals. Immortals from the immortal world descended and unleashed devastation upon the overlords of the Demon Heaven Realm. Afterward, the immortals had disappeared after slaughtering the demons without even giving the humans a chance to interact, but what they left was a gift greater than any other. It was the precious time for humans to develop. No longer did they have to endure the demons'' tyranny, no longer did they have to live on barren lands, and no longer did parents have to sacrifice their children to the demons. With the time given to them, humanity began to develop and cultivate with their strength. Just as it seemed that they would become the overlords of the realm, reality proved to be a cruel mistress. The demons crushed the human''s growing arrogance. Demons far stronger than the human race''s top experts besieged and eliminated them all, once again proving the demons'' superiority. Almost everything the humans had accomplished was wiped out, forcing them to regress to a lifestyle similar to before the immortal''s descent. But as if on some sick joke, the immortals descended again, one thousand years later, and eliminated the strongest demons once more. Since then, the humans and demons noticed that the immortals would descend and clean up the demons once every thousand years. To the humans of the Demon Cage Realm, the immortals were heavenly gods sent to protect them.To the demons, the humans were reapers sent to exterminate them like pests. And now, the immortals have descended once more. Di Gaoli wasn''t exaggerating when he said that Tianyi, Daoyi, and Xi Ri were like gods to them. Once the group entered Azure Leaf City, they were welcomed personally by City Lord Azure Leaf, the creator and protector of Azure Leaf City. As Tianyi was welcomed into the City Lord Azure Leaf''s manor, he scanned the city with his spiritual sense. Compared to the cities he had seen in the Huang Realm, there was less space, and everything was more compact. Although the city walls were taller and thicker than the ones in the Huang Realm, their strength wasn''t from any formations but the quality of the materials. Despite being a city helmed by a cultivator, the roads weren''t lined with stone but bare dirt. All in all, rather than a city, it looked closer to a fortress town. But Tianyi wasn''t interested in Azure Leaf City''s infrastructure. When Tianyi retracted his spiritual sense, he had counted all the humans inside Azure Leaf City. What was strange was that cultivators and mortals mingled alike within the city. Usually, cultivators and mortals did not live together. It would not be wrong to call cultivators and ordinary mortals two different species. Would a human live with a monkey? Obviously not. Furthermore, he could not sense a single spiritual cultivator within the city. All of the cultivators were martial cultivators, and nearly all of them were in the Body Transformation Realm. Tianyi only sensed two acupoint opening masters in the city, one was the City Lord Azure Leaf, and the other was hidden under City Lord Azure Leaf''s mansion. "Welcome, great immortals." City Lord Azure Leaf placed his bearing very low as he welcomed Tianyi into the main hall of his mansion and gave the seat of honor to Tianyi. Along the way, Tianyi had already been lambasted by the city''s reverence towards them. Word had already spread of Tianyi and his group''s arrival, almost like a forest fire. Almost all the citizens had lined up against the road to catch a glimpse of Tianyi and co, but despite this, hints of fear could be seen in the depths of the citizen''s eyes. Tianyi didn''t reject City Lord Azure Leaf''s request. This was a world where strength ruled. If he rejected, City Lord Azure Leaf might think of him as a pushover. Plus, Tianyi felt that City Lord Azure Leaf was too strange, too groveling. This gave him a feeling that City Lord Azure Leaf was planning something. And he could tell that City Lord Azure Leaf''s cultivation method was subpar. Xi Ri could easily defeat ten of him despite not having fully adjusted to the Demon Cage Realm. "We can''t be called great immortals yet." Tianyi lightly said towards City Lord Azure Leaf, but he conversed with Daoyi and Xi Ri simultaneously using his spiritual sense. "This acupoint opening master looks a bit too shifty to me. What do you think?" "I don''t think he is just nervous, although he seems to be sweating a lot," Daoyi said as she also sat down. "City Lord Azure Leaf reminds me of tyrants from the official families of the Xi Dynasty. They''ve gotten used to being the boss, but then someone appears who is far more powerful than they ever thought and made them realize that they are a frog in a well. The way I see it, City Lord Azure Leaf should be the strongest cultivator in the area, or perhaps the peak of humanity in the Demon Cage Realm, so when he sees us, he doesn''t know how to handle us." Tianyi inwardly nodded at Xi Ri''s words. According to Di Gaoli''s words, since the human race was fearful of the demons, it wouldn''t be strange for City Lord Azure Leaf to want to better the relationship between himself and the "immortals." He had already linked the thousand-year appearance of the immortals with the Demon Slaying Expedition that occurred once every hundred years. "Ah? My apologies, how should I address... seniors?" City Lord Azure Leaf asked as he smiled ingratiatingly while rubbing his hand together. Tianyi glanced away, he could detect the overflowing sweat between City Lord Azure Leaf¡¯s palms. "You can address us as Grandmaster Xi, Master Jiang, and Master Xi," Tianyi explained as he pointed at himself, Daoyi, and then Xi Ri.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. "Grandmaster Xi, Master Jiang, Master Xi," City Lord Azure Leaf addressed the trio as he bowed to each one. "But... What do these titles mean? Are they representative of your positions?" Tianyi inwardly rolled his eyes. It was too obvious how City Lord Azure Leaf was trying to gather information about them, but the information was practically public knowledge, so Tianyi didn''t mind sharing. "Thank you for enlightening me," City Lord Azure Leaf said after Tianyi explained it to him. After learning that both Daoyi and Xi Ri were in the realm equivalent to his, City Lord Azure Leaf couldn''t help but give the two a few more glances. He could discern that they were not old at all, practically a baby compared to him. Yet, the aura of power clad around them was far greater than his, highlighting the stark difference between the two sides. One was like the sky, high above, while the other wasn¡¯t even the dirt on the ground. In the Demon Cage Realm, the strongest humans experts were only around his level. Most were immediately killed by the demons after ascending. He was one of the few that managed to survive and establish a city that existed for more than a hundred years. City Lord Azure Leaf had thought that all three of them were above his realm, the illusionary next step that many had failed to grasp, but it turned out that only one of them was actually a realm above him, and the other two were only in an equivalent realm. Despite it being so, City Lord Azure Leaf could already tell without battling that he would lose to the two of them. They were truly blessed to be born in the legendary immortal world. Legend said that the immortal world was a paradise for humanity, and demons were long exterminated. Envy appeared within City Lord Azure Leaf''s heart, but he quickly suppressed it. He could be considered one of the more fortunate ones, enough to cause others to envy him. Just that, it was a pity for all the sacrifices he had made in order to ensure peace for his city. "Seniors, it is late. How about spending the night? I will do everything in my power to ensure your stay is pleasant." City Lord Azure Leaf asked after conversing with the trio. Tianyi glanced at Daoyi and Xi Ri. "Do you guys want to stay? I don''t personally mind. We still have a lot of time before the ten years is up." "I have no plans either, right now. From what we gathered earlier, this place should have quite a frequent scuffle with the demons. It''s a good place to temper myself." Daoyi said. "I want to stay. I want to see what life is like for these people who are constantly under the threat of demons is like." Xi Ri said. He had stated his goal was to create a utopia for people, so the civilization of the humans within the Demon Cage Realm held great interest to him. "Alright." Tianyi lightly said towards City Lord Azure Leaf after quickly communicating with Daoyi and Xi Ri. City Lord Azure Leaf showed visible joy as he called out. "Ziye, show our honored guests to their rooms." After City Lord Azure Leaf''s words were heard, a woman who appeared to be in her late teens or early twenties walked into the main hall. She wore a purple dress with orchids embroidered atop. Her beauty wasn''t head-turning, but the more you looked, the more pleasant you would find it. "This girl is Ziye, my daughter. In all of Azure Leaf City, she is one of the top geniuses. Although it can''t compare to Seniors'' talent, she is one of the most qualified guides for Seniors." The corners of Tianyi''s lips had already started to twitch when he saw the Ziye appear. Now, the twitch was about to spread all over his face. So that''s what that old man is aiming for¡ªsetting a honey trap for us, or most likely me. Tianyi was obviously the leader of the trio, and if City Lord Azure Leaf wanted to rope anyone in, then it would be him. Although, Tianyi pondered why he didn''t just aim for all three. Tianyi glanced at Ziyi. Or perhaps, he only has this daughter, and he doesn''t trust outsiders. In the end, Tianyi didn''t say anything and followed Ziye to their rooms. Ziye was a beauty, but Tianyi had grown up in the Buzhou Immortal Sect. What manners of beauty had he not seen? Plus, his mother was the number one beauty of the Huang Realm, so using a beautiful woman to lure Tianyi really wasn''t effective at all. Furthermore, Ziye radiated a distant aura, her intent on not associating with Tianyi apparent. All her words were perfunctory, with minimal contact at all times. Tianyi shrugged. He never expected to be popular with everyone, not that he wanted to accept women people sent him just to cozy up to him. Well, that and being forced to seduce a stranger wasn''t pleasant to say the least. That night, Tianyi once again spread his spiritual sense out, this time to observe City Lord Azure Leaf. City Lord Azure Leaf had entered the deepest part of his mansion, the area where the second acupoint opening master resided. To Tianyi''s surprise, his spiritual sense became hazy when he tried to focus on the room. The corner of Tianyi''s lips quirked upwards as he discovered this. His interest was awakened. He originally only planned to stay a few days, but now, it seemed that he wouldn''t leave until he discovered this city''s secret. Maybe he could discover some great treasure or inheritance? After all, don''t protagonists usually discover that the local lord had some heaven-defying secret? Maybe a fragment of an immortal artifact from the first Demon Slaying Expedition? Tianyi didn''t consider himself a protagonist, but that didn''t prevent him from investigating. It wasn''t like the Leviathan Clan would move away even if he stayed a few months.
City Lord Azure Leaf glanced behind him for the umpteenth time, he just couldn''t shake off the feeling that someone was spying on him. Instantly, City Lord Azure Leaf''s thought turned towards Grandmaster Xi. Recalling the moment he first glanced at him, City Lord Azure Leaf couldn''t help but break out in cold sweat. Just a single glance caused City Lord Azure Leaf to feel as if the heavens themselves were crushing him. Afterward, even when he wasn¡¯t looking at Grandmaster Xi, he constantly felt his presence next to him. City Lord Azure Leaf knew that Grandmaster Xi wasn''t doing this on purpose. If he had to make an analogy on it, then Ciy Lord Azure Leaf would describe Grandmaster Xi as a ferocious beast lying next to him, a mere rodent. Even if the beast wasn''t interested in the rat, the rat could not help but feel fearful. Entering his secret chambers full of formations and mechanisms from his sponsor, City Lord Azure Leaf glared at the man chained up within. "Gaoli, why did you have to come back?" The man chained up was indeed Di Gaoli. His body was hung from the air by chains, and his body was riddled with wounds. "City Lord, I''m wrong! But I couldn''t complete your mission. Demons attacked me! They even killed Taolan and Luyun! City Lord, you have to avenge them!" City Lord Azure Leaf released a heavy pressure that silenced Di Gaoli. "Silence! All three of you were supposed to have never come back. Do you realize what trouble you brought to the city because of your selfishness!" Di Gaoli became stunned at City Lord Azure Leaf''s words. After he processed the meaning behind those words, he couldn''t help but question City Lord Azure Leaf. "What do you mean by this City Lord! You raised us since we were young. You said we would be the future protectors of humans! How could you watch us die? How could you say such words? Taolan, Luyun, and I have always treated you as our father!" City Lord Azure Leaf didn''t say anything and turned around. "How much longer are you going to stay silent, Dushe? A man walked out from the shadows. His body was thin to the point of being just skin on bones and gave others the impression of a poisonous snake. "My, my, it seems that your little cattle brought back a troublesome person." "Enough!" City Lord Azure Leaf cut off the man''s sentence. "You better not leave this place, otherwise your identity might be discovered. Even coming down here, I could feel someone spying on me until I entered. Can these so-called formations really hide from Grandmaster Xi''s senses?" "Hmpf, he''s just a single human. This formation was created personally by the general. How can a mere human see through it?" Dushe said, completely confident. "If he discovers-" "He won''t," Dushe confidently said, cutting City Lord Azure Leaf''s words off. "You''re a partner that we''ve worked with for over a hundred years. We won''t let anything disrupt our relationship. Besides, the general has only heard of these immortals. He has yet to personally taste one himself. Keep him here for us." City Lord Azure Leaf stood there petrified as he processed what Dushe just said. "You mean to attack Azure Leaf City!?" Chapter 166: Pointing at the Wrong Xi Inside the side hall of City Lord Azure Leaf''s mansion, Tianyi frowned as he retracted his spiritual sense. For the past few days, he had been periodically sending out spiritual sense to investigate any abnormal movements, but to his disappointment, there was a suspicious lack of movement. Even City Lord Azure Leaf hadn''t entered the secret aside from the first night Tianyi had arrived. Did I misread the situation and that there isn''t anything going on? Or is City Lord Azure Leaf stalling since we are here, afraid of us discovering anything? I could just break into the secret room, but that''s pretty much breaking and entering, although no one would blame me. Strength is justice in this world, after all. Nah, my morals haven''t reached that point yet. At least when I notice. I should watch for a few more days. If I can''t detect anything, then I will leave and secretly come back. I don''t believe an acupoint opening master will be able to detect me. Although my stealth techniques are lacking, I have enough treasures to compensate. "Tianyi, you''re scaring them." Tianyi was broken out of his thoughts by Daoyi''s words and turned his attention towards the three geniuses of Azure Leaf City. Well, genius was a relative term. If these three were placed in the Huang Realm, not even third-rate sects would accept them, but Tianyi didn''t have City Lord Azure Leaf bring them because of their talent. No, Tianyi just wanted to study the unique martial cultivation method of the Demon Cage Realm. Due to the scarcity of spiritual qi within the Demon Cage Realm, spiritual cultivation was practically nonexistent. The humans had no inheritance from outside the realm. As such, they had to formulate their own methods, and humans had a knack for stealing knowledge from others and using it for themselves. In other words, the contemporary cultivation methods of the human race of the Demon Cage Realm were copied from the demons. Once they formed their martial bodies, it was akin to turning into a partial demon. According to Tianyi''s predictions, if the method was refined and completed, the humans would transform infinitely close to a true demon, no longer able to be called a human. There were numerous methods that emulated the power of demons in the Huang Realm, but their base was still that of a human. Unlike the method of the Demon Cage Realm, which sought to turn humans into demons. Tianyi couldn''t help but ponder how to classify such humans. Would they be humans or demons? Shaking his head, Tianyi returned his attention to the three body transformation acolytes. All three were men, but Tianyi wasn''t surprised. In general, martial cultivation was generally more suited to males as they had a stronger body than females due to genetics. Their ages ranged from thirty to forty despite the fact that they were only around the Bone Enhancement Stage. Tianyi used around because the martial method of the Demon Cage Realm was not as systemic and refined as the Huang Realm¡¯s, so the stages were more blurred together. In fact, Tianyi could detect that some parts of their body had already started to undergo marrow enhancement despite not completing the Bone Enhancement Stage. As for their age, only those who managed to reach the peak of the Body Transformation Realm under the age of fifty had a chance to enter the Acupoint Opening Realm in the Demon Cage Realm because martial cultivation heavily depended on the body''s vitality. Only when entering the Acupoint Opening Realm, would a martial cultivator be able to enhance their vitality, and thus, his lifespan. Even then, at age fifty, the chances were almost nil. As a result of the shoddy method, the martial body they formed at the Acupoint Opening Realm would be subpar at best. Tianyi doubted that City Lord Azure Lead could even defeat some talented peak foundation establishment disciples or body transformation acolytes from the Huang Realm. Tianyi could discern that although City Lord Azure Leaf''s martial body had high qi absorption abilities, his body''s defense was fragile. Tianyi finished scanning the three cultivators in front of him. All of them were older than him, and looked the part. If Tianyi hadn¡¯t already become accustomed to people who were older than him being deferential to him, he would have long felt awkward. For the three geniuses of Azure Leaf City, they felt their heart finally returning to their chest from their throat after Tianyi''s gaze left them. Just being in Tianyi''s presence made them feel palpitations, especially when his gaze landed on them. It was as if a mountain was pressing down on their body. Due to this, they didn''t even have time to marvel at Tianyi''s remarkably young appearance, and they didn''t dare to let out a sound because of the rumors they heard. According to the rumor, City Lord Azure Leaf brought them to Tianyi because Tianyi wanted to select and raise some talented geniuses to fight against demons. Although the three were the peak geniuses of the city, they understood that less than one in a hundred peak body transformation acolytes were able to ascend to the fabled Acupoint Opening Realm, or Demon Body Realm as they called it. Tianyi waved his hand, and three balls of black qi entered the trio''s body. All three of them were stunned before they felt excruciating pain throughout their bodies. It was as if their blood had been replaced by an infinite amount of molecular-sized glass shards. It constantly scraped and shredded the walls of their veins, muscles, and organs, causing them endless pain. Of the three, only the youngest one in appearance managed to bite back his scream of pain as his scleras became increasingly red. He was the only one of the three capable of thought. As such, he was able to discover that he truly didn''t know his body at all. Martial cultivators must have a deep understanding of their bodies in order to lay a deep foundation. While Tianyi was using brute force to fix their weak foundations, the only clear-headed one among the three was able to reap the greatest benefits from Tianyi''s action. Moments later, all three of them spat out pitch-black blood. Although it appeared scary, it was the impurities within their body that Tianyi had forced out. After that, the pain immediately ended, although the lingering phantom pain caused all three to be wince whenever they recalled it. The clear-headed one immediately kneeled and kowtowed towards Tianyi despite the pain it brought him while the other two were still reeling from the pain, finally able to think again. "Many thanks to Grandmaster Xi for this grace! Whatever Grandmaster Xi requires of me, I am willing to do your bidding even if I need to cross a sea of blades or fire!" The other two body transformation acolytes were stunned by the first''s words and quickly processed what happened. Checking their body, they were shocked to discover that the previous bottleneck that had plagued them had all but disappeared. Not only that, they felt an increase in the robustness of their body! Following the first one''s example, both knelt down and expressed their sincerest thanks to Tianyi. They naturally had their purpose in doing so. Even if they only became servants of Tianyi and not followers, with the improvement brought by that short moment, their futures would be limitless. And if they could receive a few more pointers or aid from Tianyi, they would truly soar into the skies. They might even be able to surpass City Lord Azure Leaf, a local hero that was able to protect and repel the demons by himself for over a hundred years! "Stand up. You three are too weak to even contemplate doing my bidding." Tianyi said, his voice full of majesty. The three of them stood up, inwardly disappointed, but their words of praise did not stop despite Tianyi''s cold face on hearing their flattery. Tianyi waved his hands once more, and the thoughts of all three of them blanked when a martial cultivation method entered their brains. It was far more comprehensive and complete than even the Azure Leaf Longevity Manual that City Lord Azure Leaf had created! When they came to, their eyes were shining with delight and their gazes hot when they looked at Tianyi, but Tianyi only lightly glanced at them as if he did not know how much his actions impacted their future. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. "Leave. Don''t come back until you''ve advanced by a stage." Tianyi ordered. Conflicted expressions appeared on all three of their faces before they bowed and retreated to their abodes. Their hearts firmed as they decided to latch onto the golden thigh that was Grandmaster Xi. "It looks like you really enjoyed that," Daoyi said in a teasing tone. Tianyi turned to look at her, the grin that he could no longer suppress appearing on his face. "I don''t know what you''re talking about." Daoyi rolled her eyes. Even a blind person could see how much Tianyi enjoyed playing superior in front of the three Demon Cage Realm yokels. "What did you do to them?" Tianyi shrugged. "Nothing much. I reformed their shaky martial foundations. Although I reformed it, it still can''t compare to one carefully constructed by themselves with the proper instruction, but for the Demon Cage Realm, it should be enough to let them be a peak master at the Body Transformation Realm even if they don''t enter the Acupoint Opening Realm. I also gave them my revised martial method for them to cultivate." "When did you create a martial method?" Daoyi asked. She was clear that Tianyi didn''t have much time to create such a method at all. "It''s nothing much. It''s only enough for them to enter the Acupoint Opening Realm, so it didn''t take much time. I wanted to gain some inspiration for my own cultivation method, so I thought of revising their methods to test some hypotheses. I''m actually kinda embarrassed that it took so long since I first observed the cultivation method when I entered the city. I still haven''t created the Soul Nourishing Realm portion yet. But for them, the Acupoint Opening Realm is probably the peak of their understanding anyways." Tianyi said. Daoyi blinked. Tianyi was joking, right? There was no way that Tianyi actually created such a method in a short amount of time. Many cultivators spent decades, if not centuries, to perfect their methods, and Tianyi made one in a few days? The thought of Tianyi bragging through a roundabout way occurred to her, and she looked at Tianyi suspiciously. "What''s wrong, is there something on my face?" Tianyi asked as he rubbed his face.
Xi Ri sighed as he returned to City Lord Azure Leaf''s mansion. His understanding of human life was once again changed. For the past few days, he had been walking around the city to gain an understanding of the people''s lives in Azure Leaf City. Humans were truly resilient creatures. Every day, the residents of the city worried about the extermination of their life from the demons. They had to venture outside of the city to hunt and gather resources for survival, but their chances of death dramatically increased once they did. There were numerous deaths every day, which would dramatically worsen whenever the demons assaulted the city. Practically everyone had lost a family member in this city. Despite this, every resident continued with their lives and had a strong will to live. Even with their lives under constant threat, many days of going hungry, and other sufferings, he still saw smiles on the resident''s faces. And this was considered one of the better conditions of living in the Demon Cage Realm. Xi Ri sighed. Even though he thought his life on Earth was unfair and harsh, he realized that he was truly blessed compared to the humans of the Demon Cage Realm. "What''s wrong, Master Xi? Are you disappointed at how weak we mortals are?" Ziye asked from the side, her tone cold. "Disappointed?" Xi Ri shook his head. "I''m amazed. Despite all the difficulties the people of this realm face, you still live with so many aspirations. It''s inspiring." Ziye paused, having not expected such words from Xi Ri. She was unsure of what to make of Xi Ri''s words. As the city lord''s daughter, she was approached by many people with secret motivations and plans since young, so she had confidence in her ability to read people. Everything she learned pointed to Xi Ri''s words being truthful, which made her even more confused. "...that''s good." Ziye finally said, not sure of what else she could say, but Xi Ri didn''t seem to mind or notice as he was still walking, his head in his thoughts. Seeing that Xi Ri didn''t even notice, Ziye finally released a sigh of relief and followed him. She had been instructed by her father to use any means necessary to keep these "immortals" in Azure Leaf City. She hadn''t understood at the time, but upon seeing Tianyi and Xi Ri, she finally understood her father''s thoughts. The sense of betrayal had struck her heart like a hammer. But Ziye still followed her father''s orders. To her relief, she discovered that the immortals planned to stay in the city for at least a few days without her needing to do anything, and they clearly held no interest in her. Even Xi Ri, who interacted with her the most, was only interested in her ability as a guide. When grievances she expected to suffer didn''t happen, Ziye felt a slight sense of disappointment. It wasn''t that she wished to hug Tianyi or Xi Ri¡¯s golden thighs, but her pride as a woman had been hurt. She was confident in her beauty. After all, she was Azure Leaf City''s most eligible bachelorette and had been courted by many geniuses, but the immortals didn''t even bat an eye towards her. Thinking about the female immortal, Ziye felt both helpless and jealous. Helpless in front of her strength as a cultivator and jealous of her beauty as a woman. According to her father, the female immortal was even younger than her yet held greater strength than her! All the pride she held in the past turned into nothing but a joke. Ziye shook her head. It did not matter. All she could hope for was the immortals would not arouse interest in her no matter what and that her father could accomplish his goals. Although she was disappointed in her father, she knew that everything her father did was for the rise and continuation of the human race. A month later, City Lord Azure Leaf hosted a banquet for Tianyi, Daoyi, and Xi Ri. City Lord Azure Leaf sat on the seat of honor after Tianyi refused the seat. He felt it was fine for him to accept the highest seat in private, but it was better for City Lord Azure Leaf to sit at the center for his prestige in public. Tianyi didn''t intend to undermine him, after all. On the city lord''s left were his daughter and subordinates, while Tianyi, Daoyi, and Xi Ri sat on his right. "Grandmaster Xi, please try this Extreme Snakeworm Wine that I brewed. Although it appears light, I guarantee its heaviness!" City Lord Azure Leaf said as he personally poured a cup for Tianyi''s group of three. Tianyi took a sip and hummed. He only felt it was so-so. After tasting Daoist Lu''s immortal wine, Tianyi felt that everything else he drank was only subpar. Daoyi sipped it elegantly and gave her expert opinion, even mentioning some winemaking techniques that only immortal chefs would know, surprising both Tianyi and City Lord Azure Leaf. Xi Ri, however, had his attention elsewhere. After he sipped and nearly choked on the wine due to its heavy alcohol content, he felt a gaze of disdain aimed at him. Focusing towards the origin of the gaze, Xi Ri discovered a peak Body Transformation Realm cultivator who appeared to be in his mid-twenties with a handsome appearance. The gaze of the cultivator was too piercing, making it hard for Xi Ri to ignore. Furthermore, Xi Ri could detect an unfathomable amount of animosity in the cultivator''s gaze as if Xi Ri had been having an affair with his wife. Just as Xi Ri was wondering the origin of the reason, the banquet moved onto its next phase, the exhibition match. The cultivators could go to the stage at the center of the banquet and challenge each other to a spar. Perhaps if they impressed the immortals enough, they would receive some pointers or even treasures, but before anyone else could go up, the cultivator that had been glaring at Xi Ri jumped onto the stage. The other hopeful cultivators stilled, recognizing the man onstage. He was one of the greatest geniuses of the city, having reached the peak of the Body Transformation Realm despite only being forty. The peak body transformation acolyte scanned the other hopefuls and threw a provocative gaze towards them as if telling them to get lost. Under this provocation, many other peak body transformation acolytes entered the stage and challenged him, but without exception, they all lost within ten moves from him. "Is there no one else that dares to challenge me, Lushu?" Lushu asked, and seeing that none of them dared, turned his gaze towards City Lord Azure Leaf. "City Lord Azure Leaf, please listen to my request." City Lord Azure Leaf furrowed his brows, unsure of what Lushu was planning. Of course, he knew of Lushu, one of the most promising youths to enter the Acupoint Opening Realm. Lushu had rejected Tianyi¡¯s call for cultivators, so Azure City Lord was surprised that Lushu had shown his strength during the banquet. "What is your request?" "Please grant me your daughter''s hand in marriage!" Lushu said, causing the banquet to become so silent a pin could drop. Ziye felt her face burn at Lushu''s open confession, but that redness quickly receded into pale white as Lushu continued to talk. Because City Lord Azure Leaf was stunned silent by Lushu''s confession, Lushu took it as a rejection and spoke once more. "I know City Lord plans on having your daughter follow the great immortals, but you aren''t considering for her happiness! How could she be happy following strangers that she just met? Please grant us our happiness!" Instantly, the venue was abuzz with whispers of gossip, but Lushu treated it as if it was just air and continued speaking. "I know City Lord Azure Leaf won''t just take my word for it. That''s why I''ll prove to you that I am not any worse by challenging Grandmaster Xi to a battle!" Lushu pointed his finger towards City Lord Azure Leaf''s right, directly at Xi Ri. Xi Ri pointed a finger at himself and then looked at Tianyi full of confusion. Chapter 167: Nine Demons Attack Xi Ri pointed at himself with confusion evident on his face. He could guess some of City Lord Azure Leaf''s intention after sending Ziye to accompany their every need, but it wasn''t something that bothered him at all. He had long grown accustomed to people offering tribute to those more powerful than them, but why did Lushu point at him when he was obviously talking about Tianyi? "Don''t play dumb," Lushu said, his eyes growing fiercer at Xi Ri''s expression of confusion. "Over the past month, countless residents saw you and Lady Ziye walking the streets. There were even eyewitnesses of you forcing yourself onto her!" Xi Ri wanted to cover his face with his hands. He never thought his investigation into the lives of the city''s residents would cause such a misunderstanding. And when did he ever force himself on Ziye?! Thinking from another point, the residents of Azure Leaf City had to struggle every day for their life, so it was no wonder they would try to find entertainment in any possible way. Stories were one of the greatest pastimes of the city, and where did stories come from? Rumors. It was like a game of telephone. After the story was passed from one person to another, the story of Ziye guiding Xi Ri morphed into Tianyi forcing himself onto her. Because the rumors were about the famous people of Azure Leaf City, something the ordinary citizens could never hope to interact with within their entire lives, the rumors became a hot topic for the residents. Truly, the imagination of humans could not be underestimated. Xi Ri held his hand up to silence Lushu, who seemed to be able to speak for days. "First of all, I don''t have such intentions for Miss Ziye. At most, we are simply acquaintances." "Lies," Lushu calmly said, not believing Xi Ri''s words at all. "Second," Xi Ri ignored Lushu''s rejection and spoke his second point. "The Grandmaster Xi you spoke of is not me. The one people called Grandmaster Xi is over there." Xi Ri pointed at Tianyi, who was also baffled. When Lushu started to speak, he expected Lushu to accuse him, but when Lushu accused Xi Ri, Tianyi''s brain absolutely stopped working. As for the rumors of people seeing him force himself on Ziye, Tianyi just attributed to the rumor mill imagining things up from whatever information that was leaked from City Lord Azure Leaf''s mansion. He never expected Xi Ri to be the cause of the rumors. Seeing Lushu look over, Tianyi only glanced at him and lightly waved, amusement evident on his face as he pondered how Lushu would react. At the same time, Tianyi was looking closely at Lushu, feeling as if he had seen him before. Lushu looked between Tianyi and Xi Ri with disbelief, but he soon calmed himself down. "Even if you aren''t Grandmaster Xi, you must be Great Immortal Master Xi. I saw it with my own eyes that you were getting intimate with Lady Ziye. How do you explain that?" Xi Ri couldn''t hold it any longer and finally palmed his face. "That is just your own imagination. I''m ultimately not someone of this realm. Forging any lasting connections here is meaningless to me." Seriously, what is with these people? This wasn''t the first time Xi Ri had been affected by rumors. It was especially rampant in the Xi Dynasty. Being the most favored child of the emperor, Xi Ri was constantly being watched by the dynasty''s people, from ministers to the common citizens. Still, due to his young age, the rumors were nothing more than who would be betrothed to him and no apparent scandals. Did getting close to another woman mean that they were an item? It was moments like these that Xi Ri missed the culture of Earth. "Be that as it may," Lushu still appeared that he didn''t believe Xi Ri''s words but continued speaking, turning his attention towards City Lord Azure Leaf. "City Lord, please grant me your daughter''s hand in marriage." City Lord Azure Leaf, who was watching this farce, finally found a point that he could interject. In truth, he thought quite highly of Lushu. Lushu was able to enter the Acupoint Opening Realm at any time. All he needed was the right opportunity. Lushu was originally a nameless resident of his city, but over twenty years something years ago, his strength had dramatically and continuously risen until he was at the peak of the Body Transformation Realm. Compared to the immortals that would leave the realm, City Lord Azure Leaf actually preferred Lushu. City Lord Azure Leaf glanced at his daughter, Ziye, to see an appearance of conflict on her dainty face. Normally, in the face of all her admirers, she would reject them all without hesitation, but seeing his daughter conflicted, City Lord Azure Leaf realized that Ziye had some feelings, or at least goodwill, towards Lushu. Glancing at the Tianyi, Daoyi, and Xi Ri, City Lord Azure Leaf made up his mind. "Ziye''s marriage is a major event that can''t be decided on the spot at this time. Give me seven days to think about the matter. I will tell you my answer when you come on the seventh day." Seeing this, the guests couldn''t help but be disappointed. Lushu was a topic that was often discussed in every family''s home. He was someone who was constantly in the spotlight of Azure Leaf City. There were many girls who admired him, but Lushu rejected them all. It turns out that the girl he sought was the city lord''s daughter! Before the immortals had descended, the pair seemed truly fit for the other. One was the peak genius of the city, while the other was the famed city lord¡¯s daughter, a flower of high peak that only Lushu was worthy of. But now, there was the comparison between Tianyi and Xi Ri against Lushu. No matter how they viewed it, Tianyi and Xi Ri¡¯s condition was obviously better. Plus, the citizens had never heard of Lushu having any entanglement with the Ziye. When Lushu stepped up and challenged the leader of the three immortals, the guests were anticipating the show of strength from the immortals. Were they truly as strong as the legends say? They recalled how Di Gaoli praised the immortals when the immortals arrived, praising them to the heavens, able to slay a demon on the same level as City Lord Azure Leaf with but a wave of their hand. The guests wanted to verify the strength of these immortals. Speaking of Di Gaoli, some of the guests wondered where he went. They couldn''t find him at his house, but thinking that Di Gaoli was one of City Lord Azure Leaf''s prized students, they chalked it up as Di Gaoli leaving to complete some important mission for the city lord. So their disappointment could almost be materialized when the matter changed to City Lord Azure Leaf implicitly agreeing to Lushu''s marriage request. At the very least, it wasn''t rejected. If Ziye caught one of the immortal''s eye, then the people of Azure Leaf City would feel pride. Looking at how Xi Ri was holding his face in his palm as if facing some great tragedy, the attendees began to create a fanciful story of how Xi Ri and Lushu were competing for Xiye¡¯s hand in marriage! Look how desirable our city lord''s daughter is. Even the great immortals fell in love with her!Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Luckily for the guests who were disappointed at the lack of conflict, someone heard their wishes. "Lushu, do you think that after besmirching the great immortal''s honor, you can just get down from the stage? I challenge you to a spar!" Lushu looked towards the man who jumped onto the stage and recognized him. It was a cultivator whose name rang throughout Azure Leaf City. The two of them had fought due to some conflict before Lushu prevailed. Afterward, Lushu''s strength rose even more and left his former opponent in the dust. "Zhangya, I heard that you received some pointers from Grandmaster Xi. Do you really think that some pointers will allow you to surpass me in a month?" Lushu ridiculed, looking down at this former opponent of his. "Hmpf, Lushu, don''t speak of things you don''t comprehend. You are a frog in a well, not knowing the immensity of heaven and earth." Zhangya moved into a stance as he coldly stared at Lushu. "I heard rumors of you courting Lady Ziye over a month ago before the immortals arrived. According to the rumors, you were attempting to take responsibility for peeking on her when she was bathing in a lake. It seems the rumors are true." "Stop spouting nonsense and fight!" Lushu sneered as he rushed towards Zhangya. Tianyi, who took this all in, couldn''t help but feel a bit strange. He recognized Zhangya as one of the three people he had advised and foundation he had rebuilt weeks ago. Tianyi didn''t expect him to prolong the matter when it was about to be settled, but he was more interested in Zhangya''s last few words. His eyes lit up as he recalled why Lushu looked so familiar. He was the one who got caught peeking on the woman bathing in the water! Tianyi didn''t find Ziye familiar because he didn''t peek at her and avoided looking directly at her. He had morals, thank you very much. Lushu provoked me earlier, but his tangent went a little off, so the matter didn''t blow up. Because of this, did my "minion" decide to step up to defend my honor? And because he was defeated, I became obligated to defeat or kill Lushu, leading me to become his stepping stone? Who knows, maybe Lushu would gain the attention of the sects and be taken up to the Huang Realm. Tianyi shook his head at the ridiculous thoughts. First of all, Zhangya wasn''t even his student, more like a guinea pig for him. Why would he be bothered by a guinea pig''s defeat? On the stage, Lushu frowned as he continued to exchange blows with Zhangya. Compared to before, Zhangya''s improvement was astonishing. From speed, attack, defense, and stamina, Zhangya improved in everything. It was like the current Zhangya was a completely different cultivator from a month ago! Seeing as it was hardly the decisive victory that he wanted, Lushu prepared to use his trump card. He couldn''t show any weakness after he offended the immortals and asked for Ziye''s hand in marriage. A golden glow began to cover Lushu''s body as the temperature around him began to skyrocket. Tianyi, who was watching this, raised an eyebrow. Lushu entered a temporary state, a super mode so to say. Tianyi could tell that Lushu''s body was currently that of a half-formed martial body. In other words, Lushu could be considered a half acupoint opening master in his current state. What''s more, Tianyi recognized that Lushu''s body was of the yang attribute, something even Buzhou Immortal Disciples would find difficult to achieve. Perhaps if Lushu chose to focus on another easier path, he would have already entered the Acupoint Opening Realm. Just as Tianyi was about to lose interest, as Zhangya''s defeat was already certain, he noticed an abnormality and looked up in the sky. On the stage, Zhangya spurted out a mouthful of blood as he was launched off the stage by Lushu''s punch. Lushu turned his attention towards Tianyi, wondering what reaction he would have upon seeing one of the people he gave pointers to defeated. Lushu was surprised to see Tianyi not even paying attention to the fight. In fact, all three immortals were looking at the sky with serious expressions. Lushu soon discovered why. "Not bad, a human actually managed to replicate the Golden Crow Clan''s power." Lushu felt his body shake as the roof of City Lord Azure Leaf''s mansion exploded, revealing nine figures, obviously not human, standing in the air. Each of the nine figures exuded a heavy pressure that far outstripped the pressure exuded by City Lord Azure Leaf, but there was a uniqueness that all the humans of the Demon Cage Realm could detect. It was the aura of demons. Each of the figure''s bodies was of a different shape, but the one who spoke and stared at Lushu was a colossal snake with purple, white, and blue rings on it. Lushu felt his heart stop beating under that snake¡¯s terrifying gaze. Thankfully for Lushu, the snake demon''s gaze moved away towards Tianyi. "Azure Leaf," The snake demon''s voice seemed to boom into the people''s ears. None felt this more than City Lord Azure Leaf himself. His heart palpitated under the snake demon''s slitted eyes. "Did you really think you borrow the outsider''s power to defeat us? The outsiders have repeatedly come, but they have never been able to fully defeat us demons." That''s because the Buzhou Immortal Sect needed the demon population to be sustainable. Tianyi inwardly retorted. "You were a minor issue in our eyes, so we were content to let you go. Hmpf, but since you dared to collaborate with outsiders, your city doesn''t need to exist anymore. Especially since those outsiders dared to kill our kind!" The snake demon finished, and his demonic aura skyrocketed along with the eight other demons. The city lord still had a calm expression on his face, despite the erratic beat of his heart. He turned to face Tianyi, cupped his hand, and bowed. "Great immortals, please save us from the demons." Tianyi didn''t immediately react, and Daoyi and Xi Ri looked towards Tianyi for instruction. Both Daoyi and Xi Ri weren''t able to take on so many Nascent Soul Realm equivalent demons unless they used the treasures bestowed upon them. "When we dispatched the three demons chasing after your subordinate, I sealed off space, so only those present should know," Tianyi said, looking calmly at City Lord Azure Leaf. City Lord Azure Leaf''s heart skipped a beat at Tianyi''s words, but his expression didn''t change at all. "I do not know, the demons'' means are far beyond mine. There might even be a traitor. Please save us. I will make sure to give an explanation when all of this is over!" Tianyi stared at him some more before turning his attention towards the nine demons flaring their aura. He found it strange that they were provoking him but not daring to attack. Was it because he was inside City Lord Azure Leaf''s mansion? If it was so, then they wouldn''t have blown off the roof earlier. Placing his hand over where his heart should have been, Tianyi felt the nervousness tainting his body. He knew that the nine demons were no match for him, but he still couldn''t help but be nervous. Memories of the pain inflicted by the Dragon Emperor flashed through Tianyi''s mind. Tianyi looked up and focused on the nine demons. He raised his palm towards the nine demons, and lightning surged forth. The onlookers'' vision became dyed in white. When they regained their vision, they discovered that the nine demons were trapped in a cage of lightning. The nine demons became fretful. The lightning cage appeared nearly instantaneously, making them unable to resist. Roaring in rage, all nine demons attacked the lightning cage, attempting to break out, but no matter what they did, they were unable to break out, like insects inside a glass jar. The worst part was those demons who used their body to attack the lightning cage. Their bodies were scorched and electrocuted upon touching the lightning, causing them great pain and injuring them. The nine demons fell a chill on their back as they discovered that they couldn''t do anything to the lightning cage at all. Recalling the horror stories of how the descending immortals slaughtered demons in droves, the nine demons felt regretful. Why didn''t they take their ancestor''s warning seriously!? City Lord Azure Leaf watched all of this with shock evident upon his face. He never expected the nine demons to be able to so easily be restrained by the youth before him. He felt a cold sweat drench his back, afraid for what would happen to him if his schemes were to be discovered. However, Tianyi wasn''t paying attention to him at all and asked Daoyi and Xi Ri. "Do you two want to try fighting a Nascent Soul Realm equivalent demon?" Xi Ri almost immediately blanched. "Forget it, I''m just an early core formation master, and I just acclimated myself to the Demon Cage Realm. Fighting a Nascent Soul Realm level demon is still too early for me." Tianyi nodded. He felt that Xi Ri didn''t need to worry too much with him watching, but he wasn''t going to force him. He then turned to Daoyi. "Can I attack from outside your seal? I want to test how effective my attacks are on Nascent Soul Realm level demons." Daoyi asked as she took out her guqin-shaped lifebound artifact. "Of course," Tianyi snapped his fingers, and the weakest demon of the bunch was instantly segregated from within the lightning cage. In fact, Tianyi just wanted to prolong his battle with the demons. When it came to something he didn¡¯t want to do, Tianyi tended to procrastinate. Chapter 168: We Need to Talk There was a loud gasp as a giant wolf opened his eyes. Jerking to its feet, the wolf glared warily around himself before a confused expression manifested upon his face. Why was he so tense? The wolf was actually a wolf demon that was equivalent to a cultivator''s Nascent Soul Realm or Soul Nourishing Realm. He had just recently ascended to his current realm, so he was the weakest of the demon general''s twelve commanders, both in ability and descendants. His full name was Radiance Devouring Wolf. It was both his personal name and the chosen name of his species. Radiance Devouring Wolf lay down once more and placed his head above his paws as he tried to recall why he was so agitated. There seemed to be something wrong with his memories. The wolf''s eyes gleamed as he tried to recall his missing memory. Right, he was angry because three of his descendants that had formed their demonic cores had been killed, but upon recalling this information, Radiance Devouring Wolf felt that something was wrong. Why was his body so tense as if he was in danger? He had already investigated his surrounding, yet he found nothing threatening. The wolf''s frown deepened as the hairs on his body stiffened. Why did everything feel so wrong? The Radiance Devouring Wolf suddenly leaped up to its feet. Right, how could he have forgotten? The demon general had summoned him and the other demon commanders for a meeting concerning the foreign structure that appeared in their realm. This wasn''t the first time that this had happened. In fact, it occurred every thousand years. Demon Commander Radiance Devouring Wolf even heard rumors that the demon general was a survivor of the previous descent of immortals. Worry began to fill the Radiance Devouring Wolf''s heart as he questioned whether he would be so lucky. He was a follower of the demon general, the overlord of the surrounding land. Originally, it was supposed to be a small part of the Leviathan Clan''s territory, but since the Leviathan Clan only cared about the waters, the land was fought over by numerous demons like the demon general. Radiance Devouring Wolf even dreamed of one day entering the same realm as the demon general and proclaiming a piece of land for himself, but now he regretted not allying himself with one of the three great demon clans. As clans with a true demon backing them, the three great clans were far more equipped to fend off the descending immortals. History had proven that it was the rogue demon forces like them who suffered the most whenever the immortals appeared. Unable to delay it any longer, Demon Commander Radiance Devouring Wolf leaped into the air and flew towards the demon general''s territory, but after flying for several hours, the giant wolf realized that it was taking longer than usual. Was something wrong? The eyes of Radiance Devouring Wolf glazed over before regaining clarity. That''s right, the distance between his territory and the demon general''s had always been long. He just had forgotten about it. Radiance Devouring Wolf couldn''t help but be worried. The demon general''s true name was Earth Burning Venom Serpent, and was famous for being short-tempered. Although he wasn''t the strongest regional overlords, the demon general was the one that others feared fighting due to his venom. Even his subordinates, like Radiance Devouring Wolf, had to tread lightly around him.
City Lord Azure Leaf felt a sinking sensation in his stomach as he watched the young woman floating in the air, playing her instrument. His eyes could make out the ethereal silver glow that covered her body. Occasionally, he could even see ghostly figures swirling around her. He only had one thought. Ghost Cultivator! It was something he had chanced upon, a record of a slain senior who once had the grace of interacting with an immortal. The immortal described the worst opponent he had ever faced, a ghost cultivator. A ghost cultivator''s means were unfathomable and insidious. Chances are, you would never be able to defend against them. And the worst part was that they could enslave the souls of the dead. Even the living weren''t spared as the ghost cultivator could extract their soul and refine them into a slave. The Demon Cage Realm didn''t have many ghosts due to the unique nature of the realm, but the ghosts that could survive always brought tragedy. Often, the ghosts were those of departed humans who attacked their surroundings indiscriminately. City Lord Azure Leaf had only heard tales and never witnessed one himself. Looking at the ferocious wolf demon that had become docile and floated in the sky with vacant eyes, City Lord Azure Leaf felt that his plans had fallen through. If the trio were to discover what he had done, he might not live till the next day. Daoyi sensed none of this as all her attention was placed on controlling Radiance Devouring Wolf. She had tried directly controlling him earlier, but his soul was too strong, and, as a result, she suffered a backlash. Now, she was using various means to control him. First, Daoyi injured the Radiance Devouring Wolf''s soul. As he was newly ascended into his current realm, his soul hadn''t been strengthened enough, so Daoyi was able to hurt it. And then she lulled Radiance Devouring Wolf demon''s awareness using an illusion before finally being able to control him. Her tamed spiritual beast, the Dreamsilk Weaver Beast Shuijing''s thread played a significant role in allowing Daoyi to accomplish such an act as a core formation master. The dreamsilk produced by it was a nearly perfect conduit for soul attacks. Through these various reasons, Daoyi was able to place the wolf demon under her control. "Tianyi, can you take down the barrier? I want to try puppeteering it to fight the other demons." Daoyi turned towards Tianyi and asked. Tianyi nodded. He was also interested in how the demon controlled by Daoyi would fare against the other demons. With a snap of Tianyi''s fingers, another demon was separated from the others and couped up with the controlled demon. As for why Tianyi continued to snap even though it was needless? Because it looked cool. He needed no other reason. The demon that was separated from the group resembled a giant snail. It had been forced away from the group when Tianyi''s lightning struck towards it, and now, it stared warily at its controlled comrade. Tianyi''s lightning barrier didn''t prevent them from witnessing what happened to their comrade, and the events sent an unbearable chill down their spines. Under her control, the radiance devouring wolf began to charge towards the snail demon. However, the ensuing could only be summed up in one word: disappointing! Even the snail demon was surprised at how easily he was smacking Radiance Devouring Wolf around like some poor ragdoll.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Under Tianyi''s judgemental stare, Daoyi averted her eyes as she extinguished the radiance devouring wolf''s soul. "I''m still a core formation master, in the end. Controlling that demon was already the limit of my ability. I can''t replicate the demon¡¯s technique when it is a puppet''s technique at my current level. At most, it can only serve as a meat shield." Tianyi didn''t say anything, but the palpable disappointment was evident. He had gotten excited when he saw the Daoyi control the demon and even asked him to allow her to fight another demon. Return all his expectations! Tianyi looked towards Xi Ri, hoping for him to make up for Daoyi''s disappointing show. Xi Ri quickly coughed and averted his eyes. "Daoyi can control a demon as a puppet. I can probably only last a few strikes before you have to pick up my corpse." Tianyi sighed and looked at the sky. Without another word, his body ascended and entered the sealing formation he used to entrap the remaining eight demons. His earlier banter wasn''t pointless. Even now, Tianyi felt an unnatural nervousness when facing the remaining Nascent Soul Realm equivalent demons. From all the information he had gathered, he knew it was impossible for the eight demons to even harm a single hair of his body unless they had some special circumstances like the Dragon Emperor, unlikely as that was. His mind tried to calm his heart, but his heart disturbed the calmness of his mind. Tianyi rose onto the same level as the eight demons. No matter how tense he was, outwardly, he showed a calm and collected disposition. The demons showed an adverse reaction to Tianyi''s presence as they huddled together. These eight demons that were proud lords of their territory were frightened to the point that they had to group together like a bunch of weaklings. If any of their acquaintances saw them, their eyes would probably pop out in shock. When Tianyi saw the demons acting so defensively, Tianyi felt a bit calmer. He raised a hand and pointed it at one of the demons, and his true qi of chaos surged out from within his sleeves. The black qi was far too fast for any of the demons to react to, and it instantly swallowed one of the demons. Moments later, when the true qi of chaos dispersed, a corpse fell out of the sealing formation. If the demons were humans, their faces would have paled at the sight of their ally dying so easily. No longer able to stay calm, all the demons unleashed their strongest long-ranged techniques against Tianyi. Waving his hand, more true qi of chaos emerged from Tianyi''s sleeve and erected into a translucent black membrane. All of the demons'' attacks were dissolved by the black membrane and turned into pure demonic qi. Tianyi clenched his hand, and his true qi of chaos and the demonic qi was absorbed into his sleeve. Tianyi''s research into developing the liquid and solid state of qi was not totally fruitless. Through his deeper understanding of his true qi of chaos, Tianyi was able to create a technique that would allow him to break down his opponent''s spells and absorb them for his use. Naturally, it wasn''t a perfect technique. If the opponent had a greater mastery of their spell, Tianyi would only be able to disrupt the spell and not absorb it. And the technique only applied to him due to his unique true qi of chaos. If anyone else tried to replicate the technique, they would fail and injure themselves instead. The battle between Tianyi and the remaining seven demons couldn''t even be called a battle. It was a one-sided massacre. None of the demons could withstand Tianyi''s onslaught and were dispatched one by one until only the leader remained. The snake demon watched with great apprehension at Tianyi. If it could sweat, its entire body would have been covered in it. Tianyi looked at the snake demon with a frown. He had wanted to grow more confident and eradicate the shadow the Dragon Emperor left in his heart. However, he discovered that even after dispatching these demons easily, he still felt apprehensive. Maybe it was due to him only attacking and not receiving any attack? Taking down all his defenses, Tianyi approached the snake demon slowly. Contrary to his expectations, the snake demon immediately retreated as if Tianyi was death itself. Which, to be fair, was not far from the truth for the demons. Controlling the sealing formation, Tianyi shrunk the sealed space so that the snake demon would have no choice but to confront him. As the space shortened, the snake demon abruptly unleashed a flurry of attacks towards Tianyi. In response, Tianyi clenched his hands and allowed the attacks to land on him. He felt his body shake each time an attack landed on his body, but nothing the last demon did could even hurt a hair on Tianyi''s body. Seeing this, Tianyi wasn''t happy at all because he felt that the nervousness was growing with each move and not diminishing at all despite being unhurt. Making up his mind, Tianyi decided to allow his nervousness to reach the breaking point to see what would happen. Against Tianyi''s wishes and expectations, the snake demon suddenly stopped and just stood there as if it had given up. Seeing this, Tianyi was speechless. "What are you doing?" Tianyi asked after a moment of silence. "Do whatever you want with me. Whether you decapitate or pulverize me, it doesn''t matter. I can''t win against you no matter what I do." The snake demon said as he closed his eyes. Tianyi became speechless. Aren''t humans and demons mortal enemies? Should you give up so easily?! Tianyi wanted to shout for him to continue but stopped himself at the last moment. Even when he knew the details of his unspoken request, Tianyi felt it was a bit too abnormal. "Why did you know that we killed the three demons, and how did you find us?" Tianyi asked. He was very curious about the answer. The snake demon paused before looking at Tianyi. "If I told you, would you let me go?" "What do you think?" Tianyi retorted. Unwilling to speak? Then you''ll just have to suffer first before dying. The snake demon fell silent before closing its eyes. When he reopened, the disdain was evident within was as clear as day to Tianyi. "We had inside information. For years, Azure Leaf and the demons have an intimate partnership. As long as he sends tribute, we won''t attack his city." Tianyi had a sinking feeling as to what these tributes were, but he couldn''t help but ask anyway. "What are these tributes?" The snake demon snorted. "What else? Humans. To us demons, you human cultivators are the most delicious-" The snake demon never had a chance to finish as Tianyi decapitated his head with a blade formed of his qi. The snake demon silently closed its eyes as it accepted his death. At his realm, he could easily survive a decapitation, but Tianyi''s attack was far more profound than a mere slash. All he hoped was that the demon general, his father, received his message and quickly flee, avoiding all confrontation with the monstrous being before him. Between his father and Tianyi, the snake demon had already determined that Tianyi was someone a realm higher than himself, in the same realm as his father, but in his eyes, Tianyi was still the stronger of the two. Watching the demon''s headless corpse land onto the ground and further destroy City Lord Azure Leaf''s mansion, Tianyi felt a complicated emotion. He knew that demons and humans were mortal enemies, but hearing humans being treated as food left a bad taste in his mouth, especially since it was due to the betrayal of someone that should have been the human''s leader. Tianyi paused when he felt the immortal pill within his clothes burst and fly towards the headless demon. The snake demon''s skin was like paper in the face of the immortal pill''s strength, and it was easily pierced. Under Tianyi''s shocked eyes, the corpse began to shrivel up at a visible rate. When the corpse was nothing but a husk, the pill popped out once more and headed towards the head. The immortal pill repeated before returning to Tianyi. Tianyi looked at the golden pill that had a faint red color to it. What was so special about the snake demon that the pill would suck its blood? The pill didn''t have any reaction to the other demons at all. Tucking away the pill, Tianyi filed the thought away. He had more important matters to attend to. Descending down onto the ground, the aura around Tianyi was gloomy. Under Tianyi''s oppressive aura, the scene became deathly silent. Everyone had witnessed how Tianyi had easily dispatched the demons that could have squashed Azure Leaf City off the face of the realm like some ink smudge. No one wanted to do anything to raise his ire at all. Among all of this, Lushu stared at Tianyi with shock and admiration. Even more than that was the hidden envy and desire within his gaze. Lushu was enthralled by Tianyi''s strength and wanted to attain the same strength as well. Xi Ri wanted to go up and comfort Tianyi. He didn''t know what happened, but leaving Tianyi in his gloomy state was not an option for him. Before he could move up, a hand was placed on his shoulder and held him back. Xi Ri looked at the owner of those dainty hands and saw Daoyi shaking her head at him. Tianyi ignored all this and stared directly at City Lord Azure Leaf, causing all the hair on his body to stiffen. In a low voice, Tianyi said, "We need to talk." Chapter 169: The One at Fault After the battle between Tianyi and the nine demons, City Lord Azure Leaf ended the banquet and sent the guest away. The guest, who had been shocked by the one-sided massacre dealt by Tianyi, had attained a new understanding of the power of immortals. They could understand why it was a calamity for the demons once every thousand years. Before, they harbored some suspicions on the veracity of the tales and legends, but not anymore. Compared to the joyous and hope-filled emotions of the attendees that left, City Lord Azure Leaf was far more somber, despite the fact that he should be celebrating that nine great demons fell within his city''s territory. Such an event would no doubt boost the fame of his city and attracting more talents to immigrate. Yet, City Lord Azure Leaf couldn''t be happy at all. After the guests left, City Lord Azure Left brought Tianyi, Daoyi, and Xi Ri into the main hall of his mansion once more. Only this time, he sent away all the servants and even his daughter, Ziye, away, which cast a gloomy atmosphere in the brightly lit hall. "So tell me, why did the demons know of the matter of us killing three mere demons who have formed their cores?" Tianyi asked. His voice was light, but this just made City Lord Azure Leaf''s heartbeat quicken with apprehension. "Grandmaster- Great Immortal, I really don''t know!" City Lord Azure Leaf began kowtowing before Tianyi as he explained while repeatedly banging his head on the floor, creating an audible sound with each bang. "When Di Gaoli returned, I ordered him not to speak of the matter. Perhaps he wanted to regale others of his story, so it leaked from his mouth and eventually became known throughout the city. The city is so big, I cannot control everything. The demons must have spies!" "Is that so?" Tianyi lightly said once more. "But then, why did I not detect anyone suspicious? I already spread my spiritual sense and covered Azure Leaf City. Not once did I detect anyone within the city making or contacting anyone outside." City Lord Azure Leaf felt a great fright within his heart as sweat damped his back. Tianyi¡¯s explanation was full of holes yet fear had blinded his thoughts. Furthermore, he recalled the first night where he felt something watching him, but after several days of nothing, he just thought it was his nerves thinking it up. However, after hearing Tianyi''s words, City Lord Azure Leaf realized he was not mistaken. "Then it could be from the demon''s side! Humans had always been at a disadvantage against the demons. They have numerous means to scry upon us without us realizing it. Perhaps they left some method on those three demons Great Immortal killed!" City Lord Azure Leaf said, trying to find a reason, any reason. "Perhaps for the native humans of this realm, such means are esoteric, but where do you think we come from? Even if a demon at the True Demon Realm were to scry personally, they would not be able to discover anything." After the experience with the Dragon Emperor, Tianyi had especially traded for immortal artifacts that helped conceal and defend him. Before, it was mostly immortal artifact swords for collection purposes because Tianyi didn''t think he''d actually need immortal artifacts. As long as he kept two or three, he would be fine, but now his thoughts had changed. When he set up the sealing formation, he had purposely used an immortal artifact to enhance the formation from prying eyes. He himself may not be able to detect it and defend against it, but his immortal artifact definitely could. As a mortal, pathfinding or seamless immortal artifacts made no difference to him. Otherwise, he would have exchanged for a seamless immortal artifact to enhance his defensive means. City Lord Azure Leaf opened his mouth, but no words came out. He honestly didn''t know if what Tianyi said was true, but seeing the confident expression on Tianyi melted away ninety percent of his doubts. City Lord Azure Leaf and the rest of the humans in the realm were frogs in a well, not knowing the means of cultivators of the Huang Realm, so they naturally couldn''t make an accurate judgment. "Maybe it''s one of the three Demon Sages! I heard that there exist three great demons far beyond mere mortals!" City Lord Azure Leaf continued to deny any involvement. He knew that if he admitted, only certain death awaited him. And with his death, the other people of the city. How would an outsider who has to leave eventually be willing to protect the people of this realm? "Demon Sages?" Tianyi snorted. "At most, they can be called demon lords. Those three don''t have the power and right to be called demon sages yet. I bet you don''t even know what kind of demons those three are." City Lord Azure Leaf looked at Tianyi with disbelief. He had only heard of the three great demons by chance. The humans of the realm only occupied a small portion of the land. They didn''t even qualify to know the existence of the three great demons. So for Tianyi to know even more than him was shocking to City Lord Azure Leaf. He had some arrogance believing he understood the realm better than an outsider like Tianyi, but he was wrong. "Alright, I don''t want to waste any more time with you." Tianyi snapped his fingers, and City Lord Azure Leaf was immediately immobilized by cuffed formed of lightning. "Why did you do such a thing, offering your fellow humans as tributes? To demons, the more promising a human''s potential is, the greater the benefits of eating them. You must have sacrificed a lot of talents to the demons this way." City Lord Azure Leaf''s face turned ashen. "How did you know?" "It does not concern you how I found out." Tianyi''s voice turned frosty, no longer hiding his displeasure. He didn''t consider himself a good person, but he despised those who would betray their own race. Xi Ri''s face also turned frigid as he comprehended the meaning behind Tianyi''s words. Daoyi also frowned, but her expression was quickly schooled, not leaking her inner thoughts. "No, it must have been the damn demons." City Lord Azure Leaf chuckled to himself, despair tainting his voice. "How good could it have been if both of you calamities killed each other." "So you admit to offering human sacrifices?" Tianyi asked once more. He wanted to hear it directly from a so-called protector of the human race. Compared to this matter, the reason behind the city lord selling him out to the demons didn''t even show up on Tianyi''s radar. He hated those who vowed protection, only to turn back and hurt those he promised to protect. "Human sacrifices?" City Lord Azure Leaf turned his head and looked directly at Tianyi. "No, they were heroes! Because of them, the humans of this city were able to survive!" City Lord Azure Leaf''s eyes then turned sullen as he recalled the nine demons Tianyi had just slain. "But now, it''s all over. The demon general only allowed the city''s continued existence because we were not a threat, but now that you''ve killed nine of his demon commanders, the city will be wiped out. Over a century of existence all gone because of you! My life''s work!"If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Tianyi looked on calmly as City Lord Azure Leaf continued his impassionate speech before saying, "A century of existence because of the people you sacrificed. I wonder, did the people sent as tribute know that they were tributes?" City Lord Azure Leaf slowly closed his eyes. "It was a necessary sacrifice. Because of them, the people of the city were able to live in peace a bit longer. This is all because of you immortals." "Us?" Tianyi questioned. "Yes! Because of your thousand years descent!" City Lord Azure Leaf''s emotion surged as if he had been agitated. "If it weren''t for you immortals, would the demons spend so much time suppressing us!? Because of you, we humans have been constantly hunted down. If you never appeared, we wouldn''t be in such a situation where we would need to sacrifice ourselves to stall the demons!" "Because of us?" Tianyi sneered. "Because of us, you learned that you could cultivate and extend your lives. Had it not been for us, the people would still only live a short thirty to fifty years at most. And you would have long been turned to dust under the ground. What if I told you that I could make it as if the immortals never appeared. Of course, that would mean that the people of this realm never learn how to cultivate, unrefined as your cultivation method is, at least you could attain a higher state of life. Of course, I''m not saying that you won''t learn how to cultivate without us, but how long would that have taken? Hundreds of years, more like hundreds of thousands of years if you were lucky. So? Do you want to accept my deal?" City Lord Azure Leaf opened his mouth, but no words came out. How should he answer? He really wished the immortal had never descended. Otherwise, the humans would have never become targets of being hunted. However, City Lord Azure Leaf couldn''t sacrifice the method to strengthen themselves. "Hmpf," Tianyi snorted. "Wishing to get benefits but not pay the price. What are you, a child? Besides, even if we never descended, humans and demons would never coexist here." The realm was called the Demon Cage Realm, after all. It was a place the Buzhou Immortal Sect used to imprison demons they captured. Seeing as that City Lord Azure Leaf became silent, Tianyi hummed and asked another question. "What about the other acupoint opening master of your city, or should I call him a demon that formed his demonic core?" City Lord Azure Leaf blinked as he saw a snake-like man appear next to him, cuffed in lightning. "Dushe!" "I captured him because I sensed that he was trying to escape. Originally, I had thought he was a secret elder, but upon closer inspection, he''s actually a demon. I couldn''t tell at first because of your cultivation methods that altered your body to become demons. So, I guess he was the one who contacted the demons." Seeing City Lord Azure Leaf still staying silent, Tianyi continued. "Actually, I lied earlier. There is one part that I couldn''t detect clearly, and had a chance of sending messages without me noticing." Tianyi looked at the dawning realization City Lord Azure Leaf''s face. "So are you going to tell me, or do I have to persuade you with other means?" In the end, City Lord Azure Leaf confessed to everything. About how he groomed numerous students over the years and selected a few to be sent as tributes for the demons without the students'' awareness. Each tribute brought around ten years of time for the city and all the other secret actions he took. Tianyi leaned back on the chair and closed his eyes, pondering on what action he should take. After a while, he opened them once more and looked at City Lord Azure Leaf. "Leave." "Leave?" City Lord Azure Leaf looked at Tianyi in confusion and repeated Tianyi''s words. "Take everyone and leave the city. Otherwise, I can''t guarantee the people won''t get caught up in the battle and killed." Seeing as the City Lord Azure Leaf still didn''t get it, Tianyi continued. Oh right, it should be just Azure Leaf now. He would no longer be a city lord anymore. "I sealed the information of the nine demon''s death. Although I''m not sure whether the one you called demon general has realized it or not, but such a thing can''t be hidden for long, even if the informant is killed." "Informant?" Azure Lead asked, but soon he found his answer as Dushe screamed in pain and died, his body charred from the lightning that struck. Seeing this, Azure Leaf''s pupil shrunk. He understood how powerful Dushe was. The two were equal in combat power, but Dushe''s speed was at least five times greater than his, so Azure Leaf was powerless against this demon envoy. "As for your future," Tianyi waved his hands, and numerous silvery-white wisps materialized. The wisps flew out of the mansion towards all the cultivators in the city. The silvery wisps were created from Tianyi''s spiritual sense and contained his newly created martial cultivation method. Even Azure Leaf was got one. Azure Leaf opened his eyes as he comprehended Tianyi''s martial method. His eyes widened in surprise and shock at Tianyi''s actions. His eyes began to tear up. Although Tianyi didn''t say anything, he knew that with Tianyi''s new method, humans would have a chance to enter the same realm as the demon commanders who attacked Azure Leaf City. It was something that could cause the strength of all humanity to rise to another level. "Don''t thank me just yet. My method hasn''t been verified. There might be some problems. But it should be better than grasping in the dark as you''ve done before." Tianyi said, his tone light. Azure Leaf stood up, now that the cuffs had been released and kowtowed to Tianyi, this time with his full earnestly. "This is a gratitude that all of us humans can never repay." Tianyi laughed. "All of us humans? Don''t get over yourself. The humans of this realm are but a small percentage of all humans in the universe." And perhaps beyond, Tianyi said to himself. He waved his hand. "You should hurry up and leave with the people. Who knows, the demon general might just rush over here in the next hour or so." Azure Leaf took one last look at Tianyi before bowing deeply and preparing to leave. "Oh yeah, wait," Tianyi said, causing Azure Leaf to turn around and look at Tianyi with confusion. "Although I can understand you doing this to protect your citizens, swallowing a betrayal isn''t my style." Before Azure Leaf could say anything, he crumpled onto the ground. So great was the pain that he felt his body would disintegrate from it. When the pain finally subsided, all his hair had grown white, and wrinkles covered his face. Azure Leaf went from a middle-aged man to an elderly-aged man in an instant. "You have at most ten years left to live, that is, if you don''t battle," Tianyi said. "Don''t worry, the three I gave pointers to should be able to ascend to the same realm as you as long as you pour resources into them. Even if you don''t, as long as you enter the next realm, your lifespan will increase. Those are my final words, take care." Without waiting for Azure Leaf to respond, Tianyi waved his hand and sent Azure Leaf out of the hall like a ragdoll. After all this was done, Tianyi melted in his chaired and released a sigh as he stared at the ceiling in a daze. After a while, he turned his eyes towards Daoyi and Xi Ri, specifically Xi Ri, who had a complicated look on his face. "What''s wrong? Do you object to my actions?" Xi Ri shook his head. "I just feel that the Buzhou Immortal Sect could do more. Couldn''t they have moved out the humans of this realm out instead of allowing them to suffer like this?" Xi Ri remembered observing the harsh life that the people of the city lived. If this was the best possible life brought about by Azure Leaf sacrificing select humans every ten years, he couldn''t even imagine the lives of humans elsewhere. As an outsider, it wasn''t the right of him to judge how Azure Leaf chose to protect the humans, although it didn''t stop him from disdaining Azure Leaf''s action. Xi Ri even had the urge to clap in agreement when Tianyi punished Azure Leaf. "Who knows. Maybe they just don''t care." Tianyi said. "In the whole Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, the number of humans is unaccountable. What do a few humans of the Demon Cage Realm matter?" "It all comes down to the fact that we are too weak. Perhaps if you become an immortal, you can decide to migrate all the humans in the Demon Cage Realm out." Tianyi said as he smiled at Xi Ri. "I''m not that altruistic." Xi Ri said with a hollow chuckle. Chapter 170: Demon General Earth Burning Venom Serpent Lushu stared into the distance at the diminishing city walls of Azure Leaf City. A mix of emotions was reflected within his eyes; there was nostalgia, there was pain, and there was even a sense of loss. For Lushu, his early years were just like everyone else. He was an orphan, a common occurrence for the people of the Demon Cage Realm, and he lived his life hoping for a better tomorrow. The best chance for orphans like him was the talent testing day that all children went through when they were ten. To Lushu''s disappointment, his talent was average at best. No, it was below average. Since that day, he had lived every day like a third-class citizen, not even knowing if he could have a full stomach before the end of the day. His former playmates all abandoned him, as their talents were greater, or they caught the eye of some patron despite having similar or worse talent than Lushu. It seemed that everyone else had found their place in the world, except Lushu. Lushu was just another unfortunate human in this cruel world. That all changed one day when Lushu was fifteen and stumbled upon the inheritance of a mysterious senior. That senior died due to his injuries from stealing the blood essence of a member of the Golden Crow Clan. Before he died, he created an inheritance site to pass on the fruits of his research to a successor. Lushu just so happened to stumble into this inheritance site while running away from danger. The unnamed cultivation method didn''t require the cultivator to have much talent, but they needed a firm will to withstand the pain, which Lushu just so happened to have. Using the blood essence left behind by the senior, Lushu reforged his body to increase its potential. It was just a pity that the blood essence had deteriorated due to so much time passing, and Lushu needed to hunt down a Golden Crow Clan member with a pure bloodline to extract its blood essence to perfect his martial body. Nevertheless, even with the imperfect remodification of his body, Lushu rose to reach the peak of Azure Leaf City. He even had a chance to reach the same height as City Lord Azure Leaf, the most powerful person Lushu had ever heard of. But now, that was all history. Lushu had thought City Lord Azure Leaf was powerful, but he only now understood that he was a frog in a well after seeing those nine death-bringing demons that assaulted Azure Leaf City. That night, Lushu''s worldview was refreshed twice. First, due to the advent of the nine demons, and second, the display of Tianyi''s divine might that surpassed the nine demons. It was as if Tianyi was the manifestation of a divinity, able to summon lightning at his will. Still, it seemed that even such a powerful cultivator wasn''t invincible because City Lord Azure Leaf had to evacuate all the residents due to the nine demons'' master coming to take revenge. Lushu held out his hand so that the whole of Azure Leaf City seemed to rest upon his palm. Originally, Lushu was content succeeding and following City Lord Azure Leaf¡¯s footsteps, but it seemed that he was still too naive. He would have to seek out a Golden Crow Clan member and extract their blood essence to perfect his martial cultivation, just as his deceased master had said. Lushu glanced at the sea of people leaving the city, some with their expressions full of fear, others anger, but even more held sadness upon their faces. Lushu silently imprinted the memories into his heart and vowed that he would change all this. If the immortals couldn''t reverse the situation of the Demon Cage Realm, then he would be the one to do so.
Tianyi watched silently as the sea of people disappeared into the distance. How many of them would die, Tianyi didn''t know, but there was a strange weight pressing down on his chest knowing that he would be responsible for the deaths of thousands of lives or even more. He hadn¡¯t cared much about it with the Lei Clan since two sides had enmity, but it was different this time. In his eyes, the normal mortals really were like ants. Any single decision from him could decide their fate. Nowhere else was Tianyi able to experience this change better than the Demon Cage Realm, where humans weren''t as developed. As for why Tianyi didn''t just tell the residents to stay in the city while he went to go kill the Demon General? Tianyi didn''t know where the Demon General was, and while his spiritual sense was enormous, it wasn¡¯t large enough to envelop such a vast space and discover the demon general. Even if he found a Unity Realm level demon, Tianyi could not be sure it was the same demon general spoken by the snake demon. Thinking back, Tianyi really shouldn''t have killed all nine of the demons so quickly. He should have at least left one to interrogate. Tianyi didn''t have the power to rewind time, but even if he did, he would not use it for such an act. What''s done is done. Tianyi was also ninety percent sure that the demon general would come seeking revenge. If the demon general didn''t come on an off chance, Tianyi would just continue towards the Leviathan Clan''s territory. The demon general wasn''t so crucial that Tianyi would halt his plans to hunt him down. The one who betrayed his fellow humans was Azure Leaf, not the demon general. In fact, if the demon general aided the humans, Tianyi would have greater suspicions. "So, do you think the demon general would bring his army with him?" Tianyi asked Daoyi and Xi Ri. "I don''t think so. Since you were able to kill his nine commanders, the demon general should be able to deduce that your realm is extremely high. I doubt he has the ability to bring a large amount of his army with him in a short amount of time. He wouldn''t do that since you can easily escape with the time given." Xi Ri analyzed. Daoyi nodded in agreement. "How long do you think it will take for the demon general to notice?" Tianyi held his chin and thought. "The Demon Cage Realm is sealed from the outside world, and only the Buzhou Immortal Sect has the key, so the demon''s heritage within it shouldn''t be as thick as the demons that appeared during the Human-Divine Beast War. Perhaps, they might have gained some knowledge from the true demons sealed within the mountains, but it shouldn''t be too powerful. I honestly don''t know. It really depends on what demons are imprisoned under the mountains and whether they can communicate through their seals. At the very least, it shouldn''t be a divine beast.¡±This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Daoyi and Xi Ri nodded in agreement. The information given by the sect didn''t mention which and what kind of demons were sealed, only the area where the true demons were sealed. "How long are you going to stay here?" Daoyi asked. If Tianyi stayed too long, she and Xi Ri might go their separate ways. They had entered the Demon Cage Realm to temper themselves, after all. "Not long, three months at most," Tianyi said. Daoyi and Xi Ri nodded. Three months was still an acceptable amount of time to them. While waiting for the demon general to appear, Tianyi, Daoyi, and Xi Ri stayed in the empty Azure Leaf City. Without the people living in it, there was a gloomy atmosphere that pervaded the streets, causing the trio to stay within Azure Leaf''s mansion most of the time. Daoyi spent the time absorbing the ghosts from her Hundred Ghost Dwelling Gourd. According to Mengfei, once she absorbed all hundred of the ghosts within, she would be at the peak of the Core Formation Realm and able to enter the Nascent Soul Realm at any moment. As for Xi Ri, Tianyi aided him in perfecting the incomplete Spring Autumn Scripture. The sect had released a revised version for the disciples to learn, but that didn''t mean there wasn''t any room for improvements. Tianyi took this as a form of training and experimentation for himself as he aided Xi Ri, periodically bringing out his pseudo clone formed from the stars within his cosmos to experiment. Like this, a month quickly passed.
The demon general''s true name and species were Earth Burning Venom Serpent. Reaching the Unity Realm equivalent, he was the only one of his species in all of the Demon Cage Realm. Perhaps, outside of the Demon Cage Realm, there would be others of the same species, just with different names. For most demons, their strength came from their bloodline, so they increased the power of their blood with every realm they ascended before becoming more and more unique amongst the demons. The most common and easiest way to do so was to absorb the blood of a demon of higher rank. This was also the basis for the human cultivation method of the Demon Cage Realm. The demon general had immediately noticed when his nine demon commanders had perished. Or, to be more specific, when his most valued descendant had been killed. Despite the anger he felt, the demon general didn''t immediately rush to attack the perpetrator and instead observed them after arriving. From his investigations, there appeared to be only three cultivators within the empty city, one at the same realm as his demon commanders and two at a lower realm. Demon General Earth Burning Serpent had suspected that it was a trap and that there was an expert hiding nearby. Only after a week of observation did the demon general finally believe that there wasn''t a hidden expert. At the same time, this brought the question of how the three were able to defeat his nine demon commanders. In the end, the demon general could only conclude that it was due to them being descended from a higher world. Did this mean that the demon general would let the culprits go? No. How could the demon general allow the culprits to leave after slaying his most promising descendant, whose blood contained trace amounts of the dragon bloodline? He simply had to be a bit more careful. Having decided to attack, Demon General Earth Burning Venom Serpent immediately acted. His aura immediately surged and caused the surrounding environment to darken as the winds howled, the clouds darkened, and the land rumbled from his very presence. "Foul human pests, come out!" Demon General Earth Burning Venom Serpent''s roar sent shockwaves ringing through the surrounding area. His long serpentine body soared into the sky with a length of over ten kilometers. After the demon general''s roar, the environment turned strangely silent. The birds, small mammals, and insects had all died from the roar''s aftershock. Just as the demon general thought that the three humans were frightened by his presence, his world was dyed yellow. A lightning pillar shot out from the center of the city towards the sky. Once it reached the peak, it began to spread out like a net, encasing the surrounding hundred kilometers in a lightning cage. Watching this, the demon general discovered something weird. The concept behind the technique was immature but full of potential. What was shocking was the immensely powerful energy source fueling the lightning cage. Rather from a single person, it seemed to come from something vaster, like heaven and earth. He didn''t have any more time to ponder as a single human stepped out of the city and flew towards him. The demon general found himself mystified. He even questioned whether the person in front of him was a living being at all. The human''s eyes were filled with countless motes of light like the night sky, causing the demon general to find himself mesmerized, but he soon contained his urges. He observed his foe once more. The human was obviously in front of him, but the demon general couldn''t help but feel that the human was in a different plane and indistinct to his spiritual senses. "Do you know what crimes you committed?" Nevertheless, Demon General Earth Burning Venom Serpent didn''t allow the strangeness to dissuade him. No matter how strange his opponent was, he was still a realm above. Even if he couldn''t win, he doubted his opponent would be able to trap him. The demon general didn''t put the lightning cage sealing him in his eyes at all. "Crimes? Demons and humans are natural enemies. There is no crime, only who survives in the end." The human said, his lips morphing into a smile. Demon General Earth Burning Venom Serpent became silent as the human cultivator''s words before saying, "Well said! Then die for me!" Without warning, the demon general struck with its fangs bared. The human cultivator didn''t move and instead reared his fist back before unleashing a fist. The demon general''s fangs clashed head-on against the human''s fist. It was a comical scene of a black serpent kilometers long against a human''s fist. The sheer difference in size made it appear as if a regular snake was striking a speck of dust. What occurred next, however, was even more comical. Demon General Earth Burning Venom Serpent and the human were flung into opposite directions due to the force of the clash. The demon general''s colossal body caused an earthquake as it crashed into the ground, while Tianyi created a super deep crater due to a large amount of force concentrated into his small size. Flying back up into the sky, the demon general''s eyes contained some shock. His realm was higher than his foes, and his body far more massive and powerful, yet they were only equal in a clash? No wonder his nine demon commanders perished under the human cultivator''s hands. It seemed that he underestimated the immortals. At once, the demon general''s body began to shrink and shrink until it was only around a hundred meters long. Although his body had shrunk, his power was condensed, and his power amplified. Suddenly a vast amount of chaotic black qi erupted from the crater the human was in. The black qi towered over the current demon general, seeming wanting to swallow the sky. A short moment later, the towering black qi formed into a giant. The giant''s body was pure darkness, but within its body, there existed countless little stars. And at the center of the giant''s dantian existed a black sun orbited by eight golden orbs. What made the demon general speechless was that the giant''s height was over ten kilometers tall. Furthermore, he could no longer sense the human cultivator''s presence or realm as if trillions of kilometers separated them. Then the giant spoke. "You¡¯ve become so tiny." "..." Demon General Earth Burning Venom Serpent. Chapter 171: Poisoning Tianyi "Daoyi?" "Yes, Xi Ri?" "This is just a kaiju fight, isn''t it?" "As an expert, I concur with your judgment." The two were watching atop the city walls from within a barrier created by an immortal artifact Tianyi had lent them. The three of them had already discussed what they should do when the demon general arrived. In the end, Daoyi and Xi Ri decided that they should just spectate behind a barrier. Daoyi and Xi Ri were merely two core formation masters, so they didn''t have the right to participate in the clash between Tianyi and the demon general. Even if the demon general brought his army, the two were likely to be hit by friendly fire or targeted by the demon general. The best option was naturally not to participate at all unless they wanted to waste all their life-saving treasures. Though, the two never expected to get a front-row seat to something that would send kaiju movie lovers into a frenzy. Tianyi had transformed into a cosmic giant after the first clash. Honestly, Tianyi felt that he was abnormally calm when facing the Unity Realm level demon. He had none of the trepidation he felt against Nascent Soul Realm level demons. Rather, he felt curious as to how he would compare to the Unity Realm level demon before him. Ever since he had merged all three spiritual, martial, and soul methods, he felt that his power far outstripped what his current realm should possess, but he never had a chance to test it out. Tianyi was already so far above most nascent soul grandmasters that he couldn''t truly test out the limit of his power. For Tianyi, the demon general was a perfect whetstone for him to test his limit. Currently, the two of them were duking it out with pure physical ability. The demon general had increased his size to be comparable to the cosmic giant but not as large as his original form. After having its tail slam repelled, Demon General Earth Burning Venom Serpent hissed as he slithered in the air towards the cosmic giant. Ducking under the cosmic giant''s sword, the demon general''s body wrapped around the cosmic giant and began constricting it. The scene was very familiar to Tianyi. He had already experienced the same tactics when he transcended the Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation. Tianyi felt his lips quirk upward. Did all serpentine experts have an urge to strangle their opponents? The cosmic giant''s right hand grasped the demon general''s long body and started pulling with all its strength, while its left hand grasped a dagger formed of true qi of chaos and stabbed into the snake. The dagger''s tip slid across the demon general''s body and only left a pale white mark. Tianyi frowned as he realized that his cosmic giant couldn''t pull the demon off of him, nor could he deal any significant injuries. It was as if the demon had become a natural fixture on his cosmos giant''s body, one that kept shrinking. Already, he could feel the boundaries of the cosmic giant start to destabilize. Since I can''t escape, I might as well just disperse it myself. The cosmic giant''s body burst like a bubble, causing the true qi of chaos to explode out and start corroding everything it touched. Demon General Earth Burning Venom Serpent was no exception and became especially alarmed. Earlier, Tianyi''s attack could only scratch him at best, but just by touching the true qi of chaos caused his body to be corroded. The damage wasn''t much, but the demon general felt his connection with the world dampen. At his level, his true qi was practically limitless thanks to his connection to the world, able to command the spiritual qi that was naturally present in the realm without needing to absorb it. Furthermore, he could isolate the spiritual qi of those in the Nascent Soul Realm and below, causing them not to be able to replenish their qi easily. At the same time, it was akin to placing a debuff that made almost all of their techniques lose effectiveness. This was the first act the demon general had done to Tianyi, isolating his ability to absorb and influence the spiritual qi of heaven and earth, but his foe acted as if he hadn''t felt it at all! Instead, with the enormous amount of qi Tianyi was using, Demon General Earth Burning Venom Snake felt as if Tianyi was the one with the higher realm. This puzzled the demon general to no end, as the advantages of the Unity Realm and its equivalents were their ability to command the spiritual qi of heaven and earth while denying their opponents the same luxury. Even if Tianyi''s realm was equal to the demon general''s, there was no point in not using it. Demon General Earth Burning Venom Serpent didn''t have any more time to ponder as the massive amounts of true qi of chaos began to conglomerate a distance away from him. As if mocking him, the black qi formed a long serpentine body, and upon its head were two horns like those of a deer. Tianyi had formed a cosmic dragon. Since the weapons formed from his true qi of chaos and were kept in place by his spatial techniques, Tianyi decided to forgo the weapons. The cosmic dragon had a black sun shining within its forehead and eight cosmic spheres, each having a golden orb inside, circling around it. Inside the head of the cosmic dragon, Tianyi commanded it to rear its head back as a massive amount of qi began to gather between its jaws. He had noticed how his true qi of chaos could damage the Demon General, so he changed his tactics. Naturally, the demon general wouldn''t allow Tianyi to do as he wished and charged towards the cosmic dragon. He felt as if Tianyi was mocking him and the slight bump atop of his head, a budding horn he had been trying to form with the sparse dragon bloodline within his body, ached in humiliation. When he fully formed the horn, he would ascend to the True Demon Realm. As the Demon General crashed into Tianyi''s cosmic dragon, the breath that it had planned to unleashed was disrupted. It erupted in an explosion that destroyed the cosmic dragon''s head and splashed onto the Demon General. Before the demon general could be too happy, the exploded black qi merged and formed a new head for the cosmic dragon. Simultaneously, the cosmic dragon''s body wrapped itself like a vine around the demon general''s serpentine body, its claws latching on and preventing the serpentine demon from twisting free. The demon general had an ominous feeling as the eight spheres orbiting the dragon began shining intensely. Eight beams of condensed true qi of chaos shot out from the eight spheres and landed on the demon general''s body, constantly eroding his scales. When the beams stopped, the serpentine demon''s scales were cracked, revealing the flesh beneath. However, the scales quickly healed themselves under the demon general''s regenerative powers.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Demon General Earth Burning Venom Serpent continued to tangle with the cosmic dragon. His body began to exude a violet glow as his black scales became purple, and spikes erupted all over his body. The cosmic dragon''s body was sheared by the spikes on the demon general''s body, making the cosmic dragon constantly leak qi from its wounds. The two continued to clash over several days, never getting an advantage over the other. The demon general could continuously absorb spiritual qi and heal itself faster than Tianyi could damage him. While the demon general could damage the cosmic dragon more than it could damage him, Tianyi would always be able to regenerate the wounds with his vast amount of qi. For the first time in his life, Tianyi finally discovered what it was like to fight himself. Well, not exactly, but the difference was practically nonexistent. Like himself, thanks to reaching the realm of harmonizing with the world, the demon general had practically endless reservoirs of qi. At the same time, his defense was obnoxiously powerful, and any and all damage could be easily healed. Furthermore, Tianyi discovered that he was actually losing more qi than he could generate. Tianyi had long stopped relying on absorbing external qi to replenish his reservoir of qi, and when he did try again, he discovered that he couldn''t absorb any qi at all. Tianyi wasn''t fretful as he still had plenty of pills and spirit stones he could use to replenish his qi, although spirit stones would take too long due to Tianyi''s insane amount of expenditure. Seeing no end to their battle in sight, Tianyi dispersed the cosmic dragon avatar he formed. The black qi ruptured and began to be absorbed back into Tianyi''s body. Raising his hand, Tianyi called forth lightning to strike his foe. The Demon General, sensing the weak might of the attack, didn''t bother to dodge and directly charged at Tianyi. "Well, I expected that," Tianyi muttered. His lightning attacks were several levels weaker than his cosmic avatar forms, but since his pure true qi of chaos could bypass the demon''s defense, Tianyi had tested to see if his lightning would be effective. Seeing the Demon General still charging towards him, Tianyi flew backward as his body continuously leaked a vast amount of black qi, enough to blind the demon general''s sight and spiritual sense. Once there was enough true qi of chaos, Tianyi formed his Chaos Refining Formation once more. And this time, he had specially prepared a treasure to reinforce it and prevent others from disrupting it, having learned his lesson after an encounter with the Dragon Emperor. The demon general felt horror as he found himself trapped within the Chaos Refining Formation. He had thought that Tianyi was creating another cosmic giant or dragon, so he hadn''t defended against it. Who knew that Tianyi would suddenly create a giant formation? Even if the demon general knew, he could do nothing to stop Tianyi from forming it either. The worst part was that the demon general felt his connection with the world drastically weaken as if he was no longer within the realm. To a Unity Realm cultivator, this was robbing them of their most significant advantage. Of course, Tianyi didn''t know his Chaos Refining Formation specifically curbed this advantage yet. The demon general condensed its body as it stared warily at Tianyi. At the same time, it was probing the space with his spiritual sense to find an escape route, but it seemed as if space went on endlessly within the formation. Seeing as his disadvantage kept growing larger, the demon general decided to use his trump card. Tianyi clapped his hand, and a mantle formed of condensed space and true qi of chaos covered him. This was a method he formed for use when out of his cosmic giant. His body was stronger than the cosmic giant, but the giant distorted space so that attacks wouldn''t be able to reach him... most of the time. He couldn''t use the cosmic avatar within the Chaos Refining Formation, so he created the cosmic mantle that currently covered him. It wasn''t as strong as the cosmic giant, but it significantly boosted Tianyi''s defensive powers and allowed him access to a vast amount of qi instantaneously. Tianyi looked at the demon general, a gleam in his eyes. It was finally time to show the world his prowess in hand techniques! Or rather, a single demon. Even now, Tianyi still wanted to hide his expertise in the matter. Before, it was to shock the world when it revealed that he wasn''t most proficient with his sword, but now it was out of self-preservation. It was always better to have a trump card. Like a mirage, Tianyi''s body left afterimages as he suddenly closed the distance between him and the demon general. Before the demon general even knew it, Tianyi was in front of its head. Tianyi raised an arm up into the sky and slammed down. It was no longer the Heaven Suppressing Palm, but the Chaos Descending Palm that Tianyi had created using his insights into chaos, spacetime, and the Heaven Suppressing Palm. The demon general instantly felt like his body was being pushed into a singular point the size of a marble. Normally, Tianyi''s technique wouldn''t be so oppressive, but his Chaos Descending Palm synergized perfectly with the Chaos Refining Formation and caused its power to multiply. Demon General Earth Burning Venom Serpent roared in retaliation, its roar containing a spiritual attack that caused those who heard it to become dizzy and nauseous. However, Tianyi''s cosmic mantle caused the sound to appear little more than a whimper to his ears, practically nullifying its effect. Even if Tianyi didn''t have the cosmic mantle, his abnormally strong soul would still be unaffected by the serpentine demon¡¯s roar. Tianyi continued his attack seeing as the demon general was temporarily locked in place. His five fingers united into a drill-like shape, and Tianyi struck towards the demon general''s head, specifically the budding horn. The demon general roared in pain and rage as Tianyi''s attack struck. The ungrown horn was unharmed, but the demon general felt as if an explosion had gone off inside his skull. Not only that, but the absolute control of his body faltered as his qi rampaged within. Tianyi wasn''t done yet as his other hand formed a claw and grasped the demon general''s head. His other hand also formed and claw and grasped the head too. Tianyi''s muscles grew taut as he began to pull in two opposing directions. Essence Bifurcation Claw It was a technique that Tianyi had thought of when he recalled when he first absorbed the tribulation essence within the Fleeting Mist Sect. He had separated the tribulation essence into a corporeal and illusionary form. Using that concept as a basis, his attack would forcibly rip his target soul and body apart. Demon General Earth Burning Venom Serpent roared in agony. It felt as if its whole body was separating at its root. He had a feeling that if he let Tianyi succeed, certain doom would befall him. Finally, the demon general could no longer stand it. His scales began to vibrate, and a high frequency that was grating to the ears but nothing else. Causing sonic damage wasn''t the demon general''s goal, though, as they began to glow red from the heat caused by the vibration. BANG! The Demon General''s scales exploded like thousands upon thousands of bombs, sending its body and Tianyi flying apart. Well, mostly the demon general, as Tianyi''s cosmic mantle mitigated the attack so that his body wasn''t harmed at all. In contrast, the demon general''s body was a sorry mess. His skin and flesh were exposed as nearly all its scales had exploded. Demon General Earth Burning Venom Serpent glared hatefully at Tianyi, all of its careful considerations had been destroyed by Tianyi. He decided to erupt with all his strength to kill Tianyi. Even if he couldn''t kill Tianyi, his attack should allow him to disrupt the formation and give him a chance to escape. The demon general''s body shrunk even more until it was only ten meters long, the smallest form he could take and only for a few seconds at most. At this size, all of his power had condensed to a terrifying degree, including its fangs. To signify the might it had reached, the excess power leaked from his budding horn, forming a false dragon horn atop his forehead. The demon general charged forward, and in a blink of an eye, it was only a meter away from Tianyi. At this moment, Tianyi''s cosmic mantle began to vibrate, and the mere meter between him and the demon general became an uncrossable gulf. No matter how hard the demon general tried, he could never close the distance between him and Tianyi. The demon general hissed in rage as it felt its body began to heat up. He had decided to burn his blood essence in order to increase his speed and shorten the distance. To those that cultivate their bloodline, burning their blood essence was akin to burning parts of their soul in exchange for power. And now, the demon general was forced into this state, his hatred for Tianyi reaching an all-new peak. Swoosh~ The distance instantly closed, and the demon general bared its fang and pierced Tianyi''s body. Without losing a moment''s notice, he injected his Earth Burning Venom into Tianyi''s body, the Demon Cage Realm''s most feared and dangerous venom. Chapter 172: Wealth is Great The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
Chapter 173: The Beach Episode Atop Tianyi''s immortal boat, Daoyi, was currently playing her guqin. The air was filled with musical notes, and moonlight shimmered in and out of existence with every note. Daoyi was currently playing music using the Flying Moon Vibration technique that she had gotten from Daoist Lu years ago. Flying Moon Vibrations was a technique that used string instruments to deliver sound attacks, but that was only on the first level. On the second level of the technique, the user could affect the emotions of others using sound. And on the third level, the user could directly cause their foes to lose control of their body or go insane. Daoyi had just entered the second level. Currently, the emotions she was imbuing into her song were positive, like joy and serenity. In front of her was a Xiyi Talisman 1.5, a new prototype Tianyi had created that had the recording feature. On the same deck, Xi Ri was sitting down and taking a rest. He had been sparring with Tianyi and had used up almost all his qi. Rather than sparring, it would have been more correct to say that Tianyi had been guiding him in the more profound aspects of spacetime. The more Xi Ri understood the Dao of Spacetime, the smoother his cultivation would be. Of course, with Xi Ri''s current realm, comprehending a dao was practically impossible. It was, after all, something that even immortals never completed in their long lifetimes. Comprehending a concept of spacetime was just the first step. When Daoyi finished playing her song, she used her spiritual sense to bring the Xiyi Talisman to her and replayed the video of the song she had just played using the Flying Moon Vibration technique. Tianyi also moved behind her to watch the video, and as he watched, he let out a sigh. "It seems that the recording cannot replicate your technique." Tianyi had expected it, but he still found it disappointing. He could probably figure out a way to replicate sound techniques, but that would require him to understand the basis of sound techniques and then alter the formation on the Xiyi Talisman, something Tianyi absolutely did not want to do. "It was a longshot, anyways. I''m just happy that you can finally add the video and camera functions." Daoyi said. "So when will you add the internet?" Tianyi paused before rubbing his neck. "Don''t know. My biggest problem is that the spacetime signal only exists within the sect. If a disciple with a Xiyi Talisman leaves the sect, that can''t connect at all. I don''t want a Xiyi Talisman that can only connect inside the sect." "Why don''t you use a satellite?" Xi Ri asked. "Xi Ri, do you realize how hard that would be? The Huang Realm isn''t a planet but a plane of existence. I can''t enter and exit the boundary without being at least an immortal monarch. And even if I could, what could I use..." Tianyi paused as he recalled the Heaven, Earth, Man Trinity Palace his mother had. His thoughts began to whirl as he began to form the skeleton of a plan. If he could create his own palace or nexus in the Vast Void and discover a way for his spacetime signal to enter and exit realms as they pleased, would his Xiyi Talisman be able to cross realms? Still, the actual execution needed lots of work, and Tianyi doubted that even a decade would be less than a fraction of the time to devise a method. Tianyi broke out of his thoughts as he detected a change in the environment. Looking out of the immortal boat, Tianyi saw the vast meadow change into a sandy beach, with waves buffeting the sand. The sand was sparkly white, the water crystal clear, and various seashells of all types could be found all over. He even spotted a spire shell as large as a house. The only thing missing was a luxury resort. Tianyi even had an urge to build a resort and shoot a video advertising what a great vacation spot it was. Although, the fact that it was in the Demon Cage Realm would make it hard to operate such a resort. "Wow, I haven''t seen the beach in years. Especially one this beautiful," Daoyi exclaimed in awe. "I have never gone to a beach before. But if beaches are always this beautiful, I can see why people waste so much time and money to go there." Xi Ri added. Tianyi chuckled. "This beach is actually beautiful. Not all beaches are this pretty. I remember going to a beach once. The sand was grayish-white, and the water was closer to green than blue. All in all, it was an average beach, but nothing like what you see in commercials." "Then why didn''t you go to more beaches? Were you scarred for life because of your first experience?" Daoyi joked. Tianyi stayed silent as he began to reminisce about his first time at the beach. His father was still with them at the time, and he had no worries in the world. Finally, Tianyi said in a low voice, "No, my situation just changed, and I didn''t have any more chances." Sensing Tianyi''s change, both Daoyi and Xi Ri stayed silent. Everyone had their own stories and circumstances. If Tianyi didn''t want to share, it wasn''t their business to pry. Tianyi controlled the immortal boat to land on the beach and then turned towards Daoyi and Xi Ri and said, "I haven''t visited a beach in this life either. How about we stay here for a day and relax? For the past weeks on our way here, both of you have just been fighting demons after demons. It''s nice to have a change of pace." Indeed, Tianyi had been controlling the immortal boat to fly towards the territory of the Leviathan Clan after the Azure Leaf City fiasco. Along the way, they had encountered more demons who had formed their demonic cores, so Tianyi let Daoyi and Xi Ri fight to temper themselves. There weren''t that many Nascent Soul Realm level demons for Tianyi to fight. Tianyi always fought them, but he could never seem to erase the nervousness in his heart whenever he faced them. Tianyi couldn''t help but think he had gotten trauma due to the Dragon Emperor and even muttered, "Does the Huang Realm have any therapists? Do they even know what a therapist is?" Daoyi nodded in agreement, but Xi Ri had some issues. "How? We don''t have swimsuits, and swimming in our current robes won''t be good. I mean we can, but it just won''t feel right." Tianyi slightly tilted his head and looked at Xi Ri in confusion. "Just refine some materials to make a swimsuit. We''re cultivators, we refine artifacts. Just do it for a swimsuit. After all, we do have a lot of material from the demons we slew. It''s not like the materials for a swimsuit will take much." Xi Ri thought about it and decided Tianyi made sense. "Alright."The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. "Okay, so everyone agrees? Great!" Tianyi said and clapped his hands. Ten stellar pseudo clones were created using the Stellar Incarnation Technique, and numerous items popped up from Tianyi''s spatial ring. The stellar pseudo clones picked them up and began to set up umbrellas, blankets, chairs, and all the beach necessities. "Hey, Tianyi?" Daoyi asked. "Yeah?" Tianyi responded. "Isn''t that umbrella some kind of spacetime immortal artifact? And the sheet, isn''t that also an immortal artifact or material? I recognize that platform placed on the sand, it''s the Spirit Nourishing Altar that is incredibly beneficial to the soul!" The more Daoyi said, the more disbelief was etched onto her face. "Yeah, I didn''t exactly prepare for a beach day, so I had to find things to substitute. I mean, we can''t use them for their actual purposes, but their form is more than enough for our needs." Tianyi said while scratching his cheek. He realized that he was being wasteful and demeaning the immortal artifacts, but he left most of the artifacts he created at Jade Peak. Plus, most of the artifacts he created were weapons and not umbrellas, sheets, and the like. Xi Ri just stared at Tianyi before sighing. He thought his treatment as a prince of the Xi Dynasty was too much, but compared to Tianyi, all he received was a speck of dust. Hell, what his aunt gave to his emperor-father was probably only worth a tiny scrap of what Tianyi had. The three of them returned to their rooms of the immortal boat, each creating their own swimsuits. Tianyi had created a dark purple swimsuit with dragon designs on it, but that wasn''t why Tianyi was admiring himself in the mirror. Choosing some poses, he flexed his muscles and admired himself... before immediately having his face turned red in shame at how childish he was being. No one must ever know of this! After hiding this piece of memory deep into his subconsciousness, Tianyi held his chin and observed himself. He had always worn robes and didn''t exactly look at his bare body in the mirror, so he never noticed his body shape. Tianyi''s body was lithe but powerful. He didn''t have bulging muscles like a bodybuilder but specialized and condensed muscles like those of a hunter or sprinter. There were no excess muscles or hints of fat at all. If this was back on Earth, coupled with his looks, he would no doubt be at the peak of the human physique. At least in appearance, his pure raw power had long ago surpassed normal humans. Still, cultivation was wonderful! Without having to undergo any strict training regimen, Tianyi had attained a perfect physical body. This was also the reason why cultivators generally had more outstanding beauty than mortals. Even the fat Daoist Moneybag looked highly pleasing to the eye. In fact, as a cultivator''s sense of existence was raised, so did their senses. When using those same senses to look at regular mortals, a cultivator could see an infinite number of imperfections and impurities on the mortals. It was like looking at a person covered in literal crap. Of course, that was just a metaphor, and the mortals weren''t really covered in feces, but most of them still looked extremely dirty to cultivators. Having finished admiring himself in the mirror, Tianyi walked out of his room and onto the beach before immediately regretting it. Tianyi had been the last one to come out of his room despite being the first to finish his swimsuit. His eyes had been immediately drawn to Xi Ri, wanting to compare their swimsuits. Xi Ri''s physique was slightly wider than his but followed the same principles as Tianyi''s. That wasn''t what drew Tianyi''s attention. What really drew Tianyi''s attention was the damn bright red speedo that Xi Ri had refined. It was as if time had stopped, and Tianyi couldn''t help but stare at the pronounced bulge. He had to immediately restrain his urge to blast out an attack so as to wipe the existence of the swimwear from the face of the Huang Realm, or rather, the Demon Cage Realm. And that was after Tianyi stopped himself from gouging his own eyes out and pouring bleach into them. The image was now permanently seared into his memories. Tianyi turned towards Daoyi, hoping to replace the unpleasant image with something more pleasant, and found himself staring. Daoyi''s body didn''t have any noticeable muscle, but it was obviously healthy with milky white skin, which was more pronounced by her black one-piece swimsuit with a spiderweb design. What caught Tianyi''s attention more was Daoyi''s shapely legs. Tianyi never realized how much he was attracted to legs until this day. Perhaps it was because the attire of the Huang Realm was far more conservative than Earth, so mortals and cultivators didn''t show much skin. "Can you not stare so much? It feels kinda embarrassing to show so much skin after years of being fully covered." Daoyi said, her cheeks flushed as she tried to cover her legs with her hands, a futile effort at best. Tianyi coughed into his head and turned away, slightly embarrassed, realizing that he seemed like a thirsty teenager. He only had the appearance of a teenager, but his actual age was over thirty, fifty if you counted his mental age. "Alright, let''s just forget about cultivation today and just enjoy ourselves. Only reincarnators like us can probably enjoy beaches." Tianyi announced, trying to change the topic from his earlier actions. "I''ve been very interested in beaches, so what should we do?" Xi Ri asked. "Of course we..." Tianyi stopped speaking upon realizing he didn''t know what they should do. What did he do at the beach? Holding his chin, Tianyi recalled that he pretty much just tried building a sandcastle, but that was too childish for his current age. "How about beach volleyball? I recall playing it with my team when we went to the beach." Daoyi suggested. "That sounds good." Tianyi agreed but immediately realized the problem. "But we have three people, so should we take turns?" Daoyi and Xi Ri looked at one another and agreed. What could they do? They only had three people. Tianyi went and cut down some trees for the net poles, while Daoyi used her spiritual beast, Shuijing''s silk, to create a net. Tianyi made sure to stand a safe distance from that little beast. Daoyi then made an idle comment while she was weaving the net. "Actually, back then, I wanted to name Shuijing Hotaru because the little light in her abdomen looked like little fireflies, or Hoshi since they also looked like stars. But I didn''t because it wasn''t a native language to the Huang Realm." Tianyi paused and remarked. "I probably would have confronted you later if you were a reincarnator then. It would have saved me a lot of trouble." "Really?" Daoyi said as she looked suspiciously at Tianyi. "Why do I feel like you would have delayed with some excuse... like researching the language of the Huang Realm to see if you could find any language similar?" Tianyi''s mouth shut with an audible snap. Daoyi''s words were spot on. If it weren''t for the stress and trauma the Dragon Emperor inflicted upon him, coupled with the accumulating emotions concerning his status as a reincarnator, not to mention loneliness, Tianyi would have likely not confronted Xi Ri and Daoyi then and there upon seeing the factory. "Hey, are you done with the net yet? I want to hurry up and play. I haven''t played any Earth sports in years." Tianyi said, his intent obvious. Daoyi rolled her eyes and quickly finished the tent. The two people up were Tianyi and Xi Ri. Tianyi''s eyes kept drifting towards Xi Ri''s crotch before he mentally stopped himself. It was much like how a human would constantly poke at their bruise despite knowing how much it would hurt. Tianyi immediately tried to change his thought and muttered, "Sure would be nice if I brought one of my clones." His first clone, Juedai Fenghua''s whereabouts, were still unknown. His second clone was out on adventures. Tianyi planned to have it come back occasionally so he could take the treasures his clone had before exchanging them for more useful resources. The more important thing was to experience his clone, Donghai Longzi''s memories. This way, Tianyi could experience the perils of danger and sharpen himself without having to personally experience danger. Plus, with his abnormal strength, it would require him to fight unity venerables and above. Something that Tianyi wasn''t exactly keen on. Fighting those in the Unity Realm would just take too long, and he had no confidence taking on transcendent mortality sages. Tianyi slammed his forehead and realized he was an idiot. "Daoyi, go join Xi Ri''s team." "Wouldn''t that be unfair against you? You are a realm above us, but we set some rules too." Daoyi said. Tianyi shook his head and dramatically snapped his finger. Instantly, an exact copy of him formed from the white light next to him. It was his Stellar Incarnation Technique. It was kind of a waste to use such a technique just to play beach volleyball, but when has that ever stopped Tianyi? "Don''t worry. I''ll go easy on you two." Tianyi said, his face smug. As it turned out, Tianyi was terrible at beach volleyball even with his higher realm and suffered a catastrophic loss at the hands of Daoyi and Xi Ri. Chapter 174: I Know Where This is Going… "I got you now!" Tianyi leaped high into the air, his hand ready to spike the volleyball down at his opponents. Midair, Tianyi paused and looked at the ball. Why was it glowing a pale golden color? Tianyi''s face lost all traces of color as he realized that the golden pill had somehow become volleyball-sized and was smashing towards him. He tried to dodge, but he discovered his body had somehow been trapped in place by an unknown power. Watching with growing horror as the golden pill smashed closer, Tianyi closed his eyes and prepared for the worse. He waited. And waited. And waited However, after all this time passed and he had not felt the impending beating from the golden pill, Tianyi peaked and saw a scene that stunned him. He was no longer in the air and was standing on the beach alone with no one else near him. Even the volleyball net and all of the furnishing he brought out were gone. "Daoyi? Xi Ri?" Tianyi called out. He wasn''t even shouting, but his voice seemed to echo endlessly through the beach. It was anything but natural. Before Tianyi could come to question the strange phenomenon, the ground started to shake, and Tianyi almost fell over due to it until he remembered he could fly. Looking from his new vantage point, Tianyi could see the source of the quakes. Or rather, the sources. Deep in the waters, numerous giants were rising out of the water. Their movements were sending waves crashing to the shore and causing the ground to tremble with each step. Tianyi didn''t know why he hadn''t noticed them before because they were pretty freakin ''large. He''d had to be blind not to notice them any sooner. Spreading out his spiritual sense, Tianyi detected over one hundred Nascent Soul Realm level sea monsters of all shapes and sizes. Strangely, Tianyi felt calm without a hint of apprehension. Did my fear get cured? Tianyi wondered to himself. Raising his hand, Tianyi summoned lightning to attack the sea monsters. Although electricity wasn''t exactly a sea monsters'' weakness, Tianyi couldn''t help but associate that electricity was water or a water creature¡¯s weakness. He blamed a certain game that told him to catch them all. However, the raining bolts of lightning did nothing more than coat the monsters in a shiny coating of electricity. The sea monsters acted as if they hadn''t even felt the lightning at all, causing Tianyi to frown. Even if they weren''t weak against lightning, his attack shouldn''t have been so easily shrugged off. Tianyi briefly considered retreating as he felt the sea monsters were extremely strange, but he immediately shot the idea down. Daoyi and XI Ri were missing, and Tianyi felt his life wasn''t threatened yet, so he should search for them before retreating. Plus, lightning moves weren''t his strongest technique. Having made his choice, Tianyi engaged the sea monsters. However, no matter what moves he used, the sea monsters remained unharmed and slowly moved to encircle him. Seeing this, Tianyi attempted to form the Chaos Refining Formation, but he discovered that he was cut off from his inner cosmos, depriving him of his true qi of chaos! Furthermore, Tianyi discovered that he was already surrounded before he knew it. Tianyi tried to flee, but he lost all power from his cultivation realm and fell into the water. When Tianyi surfaced again, all he saw were the gargantuan shadows of the sea monsters overlooking him. A sense of familiar fear that Tianyi couldn''t quite place emerged from his heart. Tianyi attempted to swim away despite how hopeless and futile it seemed. No matter what, Tianyi didn''t want to die. Tianyi found himself powerless as he swam, his arms becoming heavier by the second, and before he knew it, he started to sink. Tianyi tried to resist, but his limbs were just too heavy as if they were made of lead. He continued to sink deeper and deeper until he landed on the bottom. He looked up to see himself surrounded by countless sea monsters, and just as he feared that he would be devoured, he began to rise towards the surface once more. Or, to be more precise, the ground below him started to rise. When Tianyi rose above the water, a sinking feeling of despair assaulted him. The ground below him wasn''t ground at all, it was a human''s hand. And the owner of the gigantic hand was looking down contemptuously at Tianyi. "I told you I would have my revenge." Facing the visage of the Dragon Emperor, Tianyi felt like he was Sun Wukong trapped in the Buddha''s hand, unable to resist at all. And like out of Tianyi''s worse nightmare, the giant sea monsters that had been encircling him all morphed into the Dragon Emperor. Tianyi stood there, petrified with fear. He only broke out of it when he heard a shriek, but he soon realized that the scream was coming from him. Soon his perspective changed, and he was directly looking at himself, screaming for help as if he was having an out-of-body experience. "Help!" "HELP!!!" "SAVE..!" Tianyi watched dispassionately at himself; all of his emotions disappeared, and an abnormal calmness took over. Tianyi''s perspective changed again. This time he was looking down at his palm, but he wasn''t looking at himself, but Daoyi. A feeling of dread rose up in Tianyi as he saw this. "Save... him!!!" "Tianyi, hurry... save Xi Ri!" "Wake up!"
Tianyi''s eyes snapped open as he sat up and breathed in heavily. Taking a second to organize his memory, he sighed in relief when he realized he had been dreaming. After losing consecutively at volleyball, he decided to call it quits and laid down on one of the chairs. Due to the cozy weather and the soul-soothing effects of the immortal artifact, Tianyi had drifted off to sleep for the first time in months. He looked towards Daoyi, who was shouting at him and pointing at the waters. Looking where Daoyi was pointing, Tianyi looked towards the waters to see Xi Ri being constricted by tentacles. Tianyi was instantly stunned. Tianyi''s first thought wasn''t that Xi Ri was in danger but something more degenerate in nature. I''ve seen enough stuff to know where this is going. He turned towards Daoyi with a strange look next. Doesn''t this usually happen to girls? Tianyi''s third thought was, Oh shit, that''s a nascent soul level sea monster, Xi Ri is in danger. After finally clearing all traces of sleepiness, sand was blasted into the air as Tianyi charged towards Xi Ri.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Upon nearing, black qi covered Tianyi''s hand like a blade. Slashing out, Tianyi sliced the tentacles and grabbed Xi Ri with his other hand. After saving Xi Ri, Tianyi observed the owner of the tentacles. The sea resembled the Kraken of myths with a body over a hundred meters long, with an uncountable number of tentacles and a circular mouth that was the stuff of nightmares. The only abnormality was the giant cone covering most of its body. After being attacked by Tianyi, the sliced tentacles immediately began to regrow and resumed assaulting Xi Ri. Seeing the bestial instinct in the monster''s eyes, Tianyi could tell that it wasn''t sentient. Most likely, the monster had little to no intelligence and acted only according to its instincts. He had heard of monsters born with powerful realms but little more than beasts. The strongest and most dangerous were the Void Primordials that lived in the Vast Void. Tianyi waved his hand, and numerous spears formed of true qi of chaos formed and pierced the sea monster, even its shell. The sea monster didn''t even have a chance to run or scream in pain before an orb flew out of its body and into Tianyi''s hand. The gaseous qi surrounding the qi dispersed to reveal the monster core of the sea monster. Without its core, the sea monster quickly weakened as its blood leaked out of its wounds, tainting the water in the blood''s color. Tianyi quickly stored the sea monster''s corpse inside his spatial ring, seeing that more and more sea monsters arrived after being attracted to the scent of blood. The sea monsters were like ravenous piranha''s, devouring the blood and stray chunks of flesh from the higher realm sea monster Tianyi had slain. Some even began to devour each other when fighting over the remnant flesh and blood of the Kraken-like sea monster. "Well, beach day is over, I guess," Tianyi said as he brought Xi Ri back to the shore. It turned out that Xi Ri decided to take a swim into deeper waters but had the unfortunate luck of having attracted that Kraken-like sea monster after killing Foundation Establishment and Core Formation Realm level sea monsters. Xi Ri hadn''t been completely out of options, but he decided that having Tianyi save him was better than wasting his treasures to defeat the Kraken-like sea monster. Xi Ri just never expected Tianyi to take so long to save him. Tianyi could only cough in reply before changing the topic. "So since the view has been ruined by..." Tianyi gestured the scene of sea monsters devouring each other. ", the blood bath, let''s just resume our journey. According to our intel, most of the Leviathan Clan should be in this lake here." Although it was called a lake, it was only because the waters were landlocked. In terms of size, it was even larger than all the oceans of Earth. "The information we received didn''t have much information on the exact details of the lake, but I think there should be a lot of treasures in there. I doubt most cultivators would fight water demons in their habitat. We should be able to get a lot this time." Tianyi said. "Yes, but I don''t think we would be able to fight as well in water either. Well, you might." Xi Ri added after thinking about the last portion. Tianyi shook his head. "No, but you shouldn''t be affected much. We don''t need to breathe as long as we absorb qi. Other core formation masters may be hindered, but you trained in spatial techniques, so water shouldn''t matter as it is also part of space. I don''t know about your fire techniques, though." Xi Ri stopped and pondered a moment before realizing Tianyi was right. "You''re right. As for my fire techniques, since I got the Spring Autumn Scripture, I spent most of my time trying to comprehend those and spatial techniques. I haven''t trained in fire-related abilities ever since then." Tianyi then towards Daoyi." As for Daoyi, even less needs to be said. Daoyi''s sound techniques should be even more powerful underwater since vibrations travel faster in water, and soul techniques aren''t hindered by water at all." "I don''t use air or water to transmit my sound techniques, but qi, you know," Daoyi said, causing Tianyi to blink. "Aside from that, you''re right. But it won''t affect my battle capabilities much unless the water pressure is really too much. It seems that all three of us are quite suited in fighting underwater." "Wait, you aren''t going to question how I''m going to fight?" Tianyi asked, surprised. Daoyi, along with Xi Ri, rolled their eyes. "Tianyi, I''d be worried for you if you suggested going here if you couldn''t fight at all. You''re the strongest one out of the three of us. We''re going to be relying on you for protection if we meet any enemies we can''t face against." "Right, stupid question," Tianyi admitted. The three of them changed back into their usual robes and entered the immortal boat. Under Tianyi''s control, the boat flew over the water until it was far away from the bloodbath and submerged under the waters. A barrier had surrounded the immortal boat, preventing the water from spilling in and allowing the trio to marvel at the scenery. Typically, it would be too dark for the naked eye to see anything at the bottom of the ocean-deep lake, but the three of them were cultivators; even in near-complete darkness, their eyes would be able to see the tiniest hint of light. Not to mention all three of them had opened their spiritual sense, so they were able to map out their immediate surroundings even in complete darkness. The trio had encountered several sea monsters, but Tianyi didn''t personally take action and allowed Daoyi and Xi Ri to fight and temper themselves. Xi Ri''s strengths and weaknesses were apparent. Xi Ri''s excelled in one-on-one battles, where he could display the advantages of his spatial technique. Against multiple opponents, the more he had to divide his attention, the weaker he became. This was because Xi Ri hadn''t mastered the Void Veil, a spatial technique that covered the weapon or user with folded space, allowing them to increase their power and defenses. If he mastered it, he would be able to cover himself completely, but it didn''t surprise Tianyi that Xi Ri couldn''t master it. Even nascent soul grandmasters were not able to master. At most, they would only be able to reach the same mastery at Xi Ri. You had to be a unity venerable with talent in space to master it. Xi Ri''s other weakness was against foes of great size. He simply did not have the sheer power or reach to damage giants. His attacks were scratches to them, and he couldn''t use Void Veil to hinder his opponent''s healing abilities. Daoyi''s strengths and weaknesses were less obvious. Daoyi''s techniques were insidious in Tianyi''s opinion. All of her attacks were nearly impossible to block or evade. All of their effects were sinister to the extreme, such as liquifying internal organs or controlling her foes'' bodies. Imagine being awake but unable to do anything as you watch your body move against your wishes. None of the sea monsters were able to come near her. Even if they did, Daoyi had a barrier created from her spiritual beast, Shuijing''s web, that blocked them. Even unity venerables would fight it difficult to cut through them. Pushing through them was another matter. "Daoyi, what are you doing to do if your opponent reaches you?" Tianyi asked. He had never seen Daoyi fight in close combat, so he worried for her if such a situation occurred. In his eyes, between close combat or ranged combat, close combat was the higher priority. Daoyi didn''t say anything and instead reached below her guqin and pulled out a jade flute. Twisting the flute''s mouthpiece and pulling afterward, Daoyi separated the head from the rest of the flute''s body to reveal a sword. "Oh," Tianyi said, surprised. "When did you learn sword arts?" "Master said I should learn something to protect myself in case my opponents neared me, so she taught me sword arts since I have no particular talents in any weapons," Daoyi said. Tianyi held his chin in deep thought before suggesting, "Why don''t you choose something with more impact like a war hammer or polearm?" Daoyi showed an exasperated expression. "Tianyi, since years ago, you''ve been trying to convince me to use large and brutish weapons. I still have some of the weapons you gave me. So let me ask you. Why are you so fixated on this?" "Haha," Tianyi only laughed in response. Can he say he wanted to see her opponent''s reaction to her pulling a weapon that went against her image? Tianyi, Daoyi, and Xi Ri continued exploring the lake floor, looking for signs of the Leviathan Clan. So far, they have only encountered sea monsters, some of which were Unity Realm equivalents. Tianyi used the immortal boat¡¯s stealth features to hide. He didn¡¯t want to spend time fighting them nor expose their presence to the demons. For nascent soul grandmaster equivalent demons, Tianyi fought and killed them. Since they were not sentient, they couldn''t take advantage of their greatest advantage, allowing Tianyi to kill them without alerting anyone. And Daoyi even managed to slay a Nascent Soul Realm level sea monster. Xi Ri, however, had more trouble and could only kill certain peak Core Formation Realm monsters. That is not to say that Xi Ri was weak. For an early core formation master to slay peak Core Formation Realm level monsters was a huge accomplishment. Simultaneously, they made significant gains. The lake floor was littered with bones of sea monsters and other creatures. The higher the realm the creature was, the greater their bones were as materials. Tianyi, Daoyi, and Xi Ri were able to harvest large amounts without any hindrance as most of the sea creatures and demons had no interest in the bones. After a month of searching the lake floor, Tianyi and co finally found members of the Leviathan Clan. Chapter 175: Dragon Palace Walking on a lake floor was a group of seven demons, but they were unlike any demon Tianyi had seen before. It was a group of six crab-shaped demons and one lobster-like demon. Each one of them wore silver armor that seemed strangely perfect for them and wielded a spear. "They remind me of the tales of the lobster and crab soldiers of the Dragon Palace that Sun Wukong encountered from Journey to the West," Tianyi said, still finding the scene strangely funny. It was like watching a crustacean acting like a human. "You mean Son Goku?" Daoyi asked. "That''s the Japanese translation of the name, so it''s actually Sun Wukong," Tianyi replied. "What are you two talking about? What is Journey to the West?" Xi Ri asked, not understanding what Tianyi and Daoyi were talking about. "You''ve never heard of Journey to the West?" Tianyi said, surprised. Even if people haven''t heard of the original epic, the story had inspired countless modern media such as a famous shounen manga. Tianyi summarized the story for Xi Ri. "Oh, that''s it?" Xi Ri said. Tianyi sighed. "I guess you would have to grow up with it to understand the feeling. I remember impatiently waiting for the broadcast on my family¡¯s television during my younger years." Thinking back, those days were so peaceful, and he didn''t need to have any worries either. "What about you, Daoyi?" "Me?" Daoyi said. "I just know a bit about it, and the general gist, I didn''t grow up with it at all. Oh, but I did watch the movie about an American teen returning the Monkey King''s staff and defeating the evil warlord. I don''t remember much about that, only the two actor''s fight scenes, though." "Oh," Tianyi said with slight disappointment. It seemed he was the only one excited about seeing the scene before them. "Still, none of the demons that attacked Azure Leaf City wore any armor or carried any equipment. I wonder why they do." Xi Ri commented. "I guess we''ll find out soon," Tianyi controlled the immortal boat towards the seven demons. The seven demons raised their guard and brandished their weapons threateningly upon seeing the immortal boat. Tianyi ignored them and struck out with his palm. Instantly a large hand-formed of black qi emerged and captured the seven demons in one fell swoop. The demon didn''t even have a chance to resist. Inside the immortal boat, Tianyi inwardly sighed in relief. He held fear towards Nascent Soul Realm experts, but that didn''t mean he liked to show fear in front of others. Tianyi frowned and squeezed his fingers, and the hand formed of qi copied his actions. Muffled screams could be heard in response to Tianyi''s actions. Daoyi and Xi Ri soon discovered why the seven demons were deposited onto the deck of the immortal boat. All seven demons had their limbs severed from their body, making them immobile. The orb-like eyes of the crustacean demons stared at the three humans with unconcealed fear. "W-who are you! Why have you attacked us!?" "Do you not know who we are!?" "You will regret this!" Tianyi unleashed his aura and caused the seven demons to be silenced by the crushing pressure. Seeing as the demons finally calmed down, Tianyi reigned in his aura. "I''ll be the one asking the questions. Understand?" Seeing the demons nod or attempt to nod, Tianyi continued. "First, what are your identities?" "My lord, I am Gammarus, a Sea Commander of the Leviathan Clan. I am on a vital mission for the Leviathan Clan!" The first one to answer was the lobster-like demon, who was at the Nascent Soul Realm level, so Tianyi internally named him the Lobster Commander. "I-I am Ocellatus, a soldier of the Leviathan Clan." Surprisingly, the crab-shaped demon had a rather feminine voice. Tianyi called her Crab One because the names were too weird to remember. The rest of the five crab-shaped demons also introduced themselves with weird names, and Tianyi just named them like Crab One, so they were Crab One, Crab Two, Crab Three, Crab Four, Crab Five, and Crab Six. "My lord, I beg you to consider letting us go. If we cannot complete our mission, the patriarch definitely won''t let you go." The Lobster Commander said. Although his words seemed to be pleading, in reality, he was threatening Tianyi. Tianyi wondered why the demons weren''t worried about their amputated limbs, but he just guessed that they had methods to regrow them like molting or something. "Do you not know who we are?" "My lord is probably one of the demons of the surface. I heard that on the surface, there are numerous demons warring for supremacy. But I want to convince you to give up on the water. The Leviathan Clan has long dominated all territory here. You will only suffer." The Lobster Commander continued. Tianyi felt his lips quirk up. "How do you know we are demons?" Tianyi got the distinct impression that the Lobster Commander was staring at him weirdly. "How can you not? Although most demons prefer to be in their natural forms, the patriarch and his elders take on forms like you. With your strength, you must be on the same level as the elders." "Oh?" Tianyi said. "So, what is your mission?" The Lobster Commander instantly became silent. "I can''t say. If I tell you, you''ll be hunted by the patriarch. My lord, I sincerely advise you to try your luck elsewhere. The water is the territory of the Leviathan Clan. You''re better off conquering the surrounding land." Tianyi continued to question the Lobster Commander and even the Leviathan Clan soldiers, but the Lobster Commander refused to say anything while Crab One to Six didn''t know anything. In the end, it was Daoyi who took action. With Tianyi''s aid, Daoyi was able to control the demons into answering all their questions. It turned out that within Dragon Palace, the core of the Leviathan Clan, existed a dragon egg, and the Lobster Commander led one of the many squads sent out to procure food for the egg. Tianyi felt his eyes alight with interest when he heard this. Wasn''t acquiring a dragon as a mount one of his goals for the Demon Slaying Expedition? However, he soon thought better of it. As the core of the Leviathan Clan, how could it not be protected? Furthermore, Tianyi was clear that the patriarch spoken of by the Lobster Commander was a demon that had entered the True Demon Realm, Leviathan Ancestor. He had many treasures and talismans from his mother that could kill true immortals and true demons, but Tianyi didn''t want to confront one unless absolutely necessary. Too many things could go wrong, especially with Daoyi and Xi Ri.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. To Tianyi''s joy and surprise, he learned that the Leviathan Ancestor was not at Dragon Palace. After deliberating for a while and asking Daoyi and Xi Ri''s opinion, the trio decided to check out Dragon Palace. Naturally, they made sure to ask the Lobster Commander information about the layouts and defensive strength of Dragon Palace. There were three Unity Realm level demons within Dragon Palace, one hundred Nascent Soul Realm level demons, half of whom were sent out, and an uncountable number of demons who had formed their demonic cores. On a side note, the reason they wore armor and used weapons was because they were copying the Leviathan Ancestor. Hearing the tales of how brilliant the patriarch was for using weapons and armors that other demons didn''t, Tianyi felt that the Lobster Commander described a human instead of a demon. Once they were done questioning the demons, Tianyi wanted to let them go after trapping them but decided otherwise in the end. Although the demons thought Tianyi, Daoyi, and Xi Ri were demons who took a different form, that didn''t mean the elders of the Leviathan were so clueless. If word reached the patriarch, he would definitely be able to piece together the truth. Tianyi crushed the seven demons into dust after making sure there was no way to trace their death back to him. Tianyi controlled the immortal boat to move towards the Dragon Palace according to the Lobster Commander''s information. He made sure that all the stealth features of the immortal boat were in the highest state. Since the immortal boat was created by his mother, Xi Mengfei, most true immortals or true demons would not be able to detect it at all. A week later, the immortal boat arrived at Dragon Palace. Upon seeing the actual structure, all three of them couldn''t help but gasp in amazement. Dragon Palace was an underwater palace that was situated on a coral reef and encased in a giant bubble. The walls were formed of white marble, the roof formed of gold, and the coral reef radiated a rainbow light that illuminated the surrounding waters. It was akin to a fairy tale come to life. However, no matter how mesmerizing it was, it was still enemy headquarters, and the trio had to be wary of being discovered. "The bubble seems to be a formation used to detect intruders," Tianyi said upon observing the situation. This was the first formation he had seen in the Demon Cage Realm. "But it shouldn''t be a problem for my immortal boat." "Your immortal boat is really nice," Daoyi commented with slight envy. "You probably can''t get one like mine, but you should have no problem purchasing one," Tianyi said. Daoyi rolled her eyes. "I''d rather spend it on resources for my cultivation. An immortal boat costs a lot of money. It''s like buying a house back on Earth. Sorry, but I''m just too poor." "Oh," Was all Tianyi could say. He just had the feeling of figuratively rubbing his wealth in Daoyi and Xi Ri''s faces. "Maybe that will change after we ransack Dragon Palace. Didn''t the Lobster Commander say that Dragon Palace had a treasure room that was filled with the rarest treasures of the waters?" "Mhmm, probably won''t be able to compare to the contents of your spatial ring, though," Daoyi said, causing Tianyi to fall silent again. He had no rebuttal for that. The Dragon Palace had numerous guards patrolling the premises. Tianyi even spotted a few upright shrimps he called shrimp knights, but that wasn''t the main point. Using the cloaking feature of the immortal boat, Tianyi and his passenger sneaked into the Dragon Palace. Once inside the formation, the immortal boat was too large, so Tianyi, Daoyi, and Xi Ri had to disembark to search the palace on foot. Even without the immortal boat, Tianyi had another treasure that could hide their presence. It was a mantle that allowed anyone who was under it to become invisible and undetectable through sight, smell, sound, and even immortal sense. He had used it as a blanket on the beach. It was a piece of fabric that was even better than a certain boy wizard''s! "Tianyi, doesn''t this artifact allow you to go anywhere in the Demon Cage Realm unhindered?" Xi Ri asked, having long gone numb to the number of treasures Tianyi had. It was like Tianyi''s spatial ring was a particular pocket of a robot cat from the future, having all the solutions to every problem. Tianyi shrugged in response. He had no use for the treasures most of the time, but when he did have use for the treasures gathering dust, they were handy. The three of them continued to explore the vast palace. The corridors and rooms were far larger than Jade Peak Palace, most likely to accommodate the demons that roamed the palace. The three had several close calls in which they almost bumped into the patrolling demons due to how much space the demons took up but always managed to pass untouched in the end. After what seemed like hours, the trio finally managed to make it into the place the Lobster Commander described. In front of a colossal door carved with relief sculptures of a dragon stood eight guards, each equal to a nascent soul grandmaster. As it would be suspicious if the door suddenly opened by itself, the three waited for feeding time. Once enough "food" was brought back, the caretakers would feed the egg periodically. Thankfully, it wasn''t long until the next feeding time. A group of ten turtle demons with large baskets carrying what seemed to be some sort of blood approached the door. After the lead demon talked to the guard, the door to the incubation room opened, revealing what was inside. Inside, there was a large pool with four miniature waterfalls pouring into it. And in the center of the pool was a small platform where an azure egg stood upright. Just from the door opening, the dense spiritual qi within blasted everyone who was near the door. Even Tianyi was surprised as the density of spiritual qi could even compare to his Jade Lotus Clear Pond. Not letting themselves be stunned too long, Tianyi and co quickly trailed behind the turtle-like demons and successfully entered the room. However, just as the three entered, one of them accidentally stepped on one of the demon''s back flippers while trying to move out of the closing door. "Ow!" The demon who had its flippers stepped on said as he looked behind him to see what had stepped on him. "Old Seven, what are you doing? You know we can''t be here too long. We have to do our job and quickly leave." Another demon called out to him. Scanning the surroundings one last time with suspicion, the demon continued to move towards the pool at the center of the room. Tianyi sighed in relief and ignored the pointed looks Daoyi and Xi Ri were giving him. Ignorant of the three intruders, the ten turtle demons took turns approaching the pool and pouring the contents of their basket into it. With each content poured into the pool, the originally clear water took on a more bloody color. The scene reminded Tianyi of the time he absorbed the Dragon Emperor''s blood essence using the Blood Absorption Ritual. When the turtle demons finished pouring the contents of their containers into the water, the pool was almost opaque red. Soon after, the symbols carved into the pool walls and floors began to shine as the water began to produce a red string that was absorbed by the azure egg. With each passing moment, the egg became deeper and deeper in color. "Boss, how long do we have to do this? I cannot even remember when we''ve started to feed the dragon egg with monster blood. We must have poured enough to fill the pool over a thousand times by now." One of the turtle demons asked. The "boss" looked around the room before glaring at the demon who spoke. "Quiet! Do you think making this a true dragon egg is such an easy thing to do? Do you know how thin the dragon blood in the monsters hunted is? If you really want it to be faster, why don''t you jump in? Although you don''t have much dragon blood inside of you, it should be more than the monsters the squads brought back." The turtle demon who spoke shrunk his head back into its shell. "Aha, I was just joking. Although refining the blood essence is hard work, it''s also a stable and easy job with many rewards. Why would I wish for it to end?" After that small episode, the turtle demons left the incubation room, leaving Tianyi, Daoyi, and Xi Ri alone inside. "I didn''t think the dragon egg would be real. At most, I thought it was a mixed-blood dragon egg." Tianyi said and clicked his tongue in surprise. "Is it really possible to create a dragon egg this way? It seems so unscientific." Xi Ri said. "You remember that this isn''t Earth, right? Lots of things that can''t be done with modern science can be done with qi here. Although, you''re right that it is weird. This isn''t a demon upgrading its bloodline but trying to change the very nature of the egg. I''m not sure the soul of the original creature within the egg can withstand a dragon''s body." Tianyi said. Tianyi brought the three in front of the egg and observed it. Although he could sense the increasingly powerful life force within the egg, Tianyi couldn''t sense any soul fluctuations. "Daoyi, can you sense a soul within the egg?" Daoyi held her hand against the shell before shaking her head, answering Tianyi''s question. "Strange. At most, it will be a lifeless baby dragon. What use would such a tiny body have?" Tianyi muttered, but then his eyes alighted. Soulless bodies were perfect materials to create clones from. He even had the idea to make this dragon egg his dragon clone! Tianyi reached out his hand and patted the egg carefully not to raise any alarms. But the moment he did so, the golden pill that had been quietly slumbering within his robe started causing a ruckus. Before Tianyi could do anything, the pill shot out of his sleeves. CRACK! There was now a pill-sized hole in the incomplete dragon egg. Lovely Chapter 176: Spirit Spring Tianyi felt as if his ears were ringing while he stared in disbelief at the pill-sized hole in the egg. Not just him, but Daoyi and Xi Ri was shocked silly as well. The two had always known that the golden pill Tianyi carried was special, something that Tianyi had obtained from the ruins of the Immortal Court. The pill had somehow attained spirituality and followed Tianyi around like a small pet. Tianyi had told them what a troublemaker the pill was, but the two didn''t believe him until now. The formerly intact egg began to tremble as cracks started to appear all over it. As the cracks started to multiply, the egg began to shrink and shrink. Even as it became smaller and smaller, the cracks never disappeared. Tianyi finally snapped out of his shock as he gave a helpless look at the shrinking egg. He had resigned himself to feeding the pill with his true qi of chaos after all these years due to it being something from the Immortal Court. Tianyi was hoping to discover a huge opportunity by nurturing the pill, yet before he could see the benefits, he was stabbed in the back by the pill. How could Tianyi not feel heartbreak? That was a dragon egg. Granted, it was impure, but still! While the egg was shrinking, the pool around it began to rumble. If Tianyi, Daoyi, and Xi Ri hadn''t used their qi to stabilize themselves, they would have fallen over due to the tremors. The red tint of the pond began to clear at a rapid pace, being absorbed by the cracked dragon egg. Soon all the red coloring in the pond disappeared, but the changes didn''t end. The rumbling increased in intensity as streams of water began to be absorbed by the cracked egg as well. The water levels of the pool visibly lowered at a noticeable rate. Simultaneously, the previously soulless aura of the egg began to metaphorize. It wasn''t quite a normal soul, but the egg became more and more complete. At this time, the doors to the incubation room slammed open as the eight guards rushed in. "HALT!" Tianyi felt his body stiffened at the sudden intrusion by the guards. He turned back to see them staring warily around the room. Only then did Tianyi remember that he still had the mantle covering him, hiding him from view. Upon seeing the petrified bodies of Daoyi and Xi Ri, Tianyi realized he wasn''t the only one surprised by the doors slamming open. Tianyi had a strange feeling like he had been almost caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Granted, he was sneaking in with the intent of stealing the dragon egg, but there was a strange sense of guilt lingering in his heart. Perhaps it was because he had never stolen anything in either of his lives before, and he still had the sensibility that stealing was a horrible crime from his life on Earth. The eight demon guards surveyed the room, looking for any suspicious points, but they couldn''t find anything. The only thing that was out of place was the dragon egg itself. "Captain, is the egg hatching?" One of the demon guards asked upon discovering no intruders and the source of the commotion originating from the egg. The captain of the guards, a demon with a cephalopod body and eight arms, shook his head negatively. "According to the elder''s estimates, it should have taken at least another fifty years. For the dragon egg to act like this, I''m afraid something went wrong. Quickly summon one of the elders!" None of the guards had a chance to leave because the gate suddenly slammed shut by itself. "Who''s there!" The captain of the guards shouted as he raised all eight of his weapons and glared around the room. The other seven guards followed suit; each of them unsheathed their weapons and surveyed the room. However, what answered them was a torrent of black qi that sprang up from their feet and swallowed them. The qi swallowed their bodies whole and disintegrated them, starting from the feet. They only had a chance to scream before their whole body was destroyed and turned into dust. The eight-armed demon was obviously the strongest as he managed to resist Tianyi''s true qi of chaos. Still, he wouldn''t be able to last longer as the bottom half of his body had already disappeared. The eight-armed demon roared, and a chitinous shell covered his remaining body, making him look like an octopus with a crab shell. Tianyi felt the eight-armed demon''s aura skyrocket from the Nascent Soul Realm to the Unity Realm instantly. However, the aura was unstable and incomplete, unlike a true Unity Realm expert. At this, Tianyi felt the anxiety that had been building up within instantly disappeared. I couldn''t really have trauma against nascent soul grandmasters, could I? Tianyi thought self-deprecatingly. Even so, Tianyi''s actions did not stop, and he constructed a mini Chaos Refining Formation around the eight-armed demon. Tianyi knew he could take on a half-unity venerable, but as he had never fought one before, he didn''t know how much commotion such a battle would cause. So to be safe, he trapped the eight-armed demon in his formation. And it wasn''t like that his true qi of chaos wasn''t ineffective. All Tianyi had to do was wait until the eight-armed demon was ground into dust. After all, the eight-armed demon didn''t have a way to deal with his true qi of chaos like the Dragon Emperor had. However, there was another being within the room beside Tianyi that could, or rather, something. Under Tianyi''s disbelieving eyes, his Chaos Refining Formation began to be broken under his very eyes as a stream of black qi was absorbed by the pill within the dragon egg. Tianyi recalled the saying, "not afraid of a godlike opponent, only afraid of pig-like teammates." In other words, don''t be afraid of your opponent being too strong, be afraid of your comrades dragging you down. This phrase perfectly summed up Tianyi''s current feelings. Why do you think I''m going through so much trouble right now!? And you''re still dragging me back!? Tianyi screamed internally. Tianyi could feel his Chaos Refining Formation become unstable due to the loss of true qi of chaos, so Tianyi had no choice but to increase the fueling of the Chaos Refining Formation. Which, for the case, was no trouble to Tianyi at all, but it was the principle of the matter! "Tianyi, would anyone else discover the ruckus?" Daoyi asked as she looked around with worry after she saw Tianyi stabilize the situation. Although Xi Ri didn''t say anything, his expression exposed his thoughts. "Most likely. With how important this room is, it''s unlikely for the situation to remain hidden for long. Although no one can discover us with the mantle cloaking us, that doesn''t mean it has great defensive abilities. If we are hit with anything, we''ll still be injured." Well, more like Daoyi and Xi Ri would be injured. Tianyi''s body was perversely strong, a fact that the dead Earth Burning Venom Serpent can attest to. "So what are we going to do?" Daoyi asked. Tianyi curled his lips upward. "For now, nothing. I still want to retrieve the immortal pill. Right now, it seems to be at a crucial stage, so I don''t want to disrupt it. However, once it is finished...how do you guys fancy taking on an army?"The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. "Rejected." Daoyi immediately said. "No," Xi Ri also rejected Tianyi''s proposal without a second thought. "Alright, alright, stop looking at me like that," Tianyi said, a bit embarrassed. "Once we do that, I''ll use some of my Immortal Realm talismans and destroy the Dragon Palace and escape. Of course, if we can, we should raid the treasury as well." Tianyi felt like he could take on all the demons of Dragon Palace and leave relatively unscathed, but he couldn''t do so while protecting his two friends. Not to mention that Tianyi had absolutely no intention of facing fifty Nascent Soul Realm equivalent demons. And he didn''t know when the Leviathan Ancestor would come back. Tianyi was not intent on testing whether he could kill a true demon with Immortal Realm talismans. Thinking back on the first time he used an immortal talisman on a mortal, the Dragon Emperor, he almost lost his life or, at least, suffered excruciating pain. From that, Tianyi learned that using an immortal talisman would not solve everything. Thus, the three decided to wait under the mantle, hidden from every demon within Dragon Palace. Tianyi also constructed a spacetime formation inside the room designed to minimize the disturbance as much as possible as an extra safety precaution. Time passed, and the egg continued to shrink the more qi it absorbed until the pool was practically dry. Due to this, the burden fell on Tianyi to fuel the qi the pill needed. Luckily for Tianyi, he had a vast reservoir of qi, so he didn''t feel too much drain, but he did notice that his qi generation was slower than the pill''s absorption. By this time, the eight-armed demon was long dead, so Tianyi could focus fully on providing qi to the pill inside the egg. When the pond was fully sucked dry, Tianyi''s formation broke. It wasn''t due to the elders of Dragon Palace discovering the trouble Tianyi had brought, but due to the changes at the bottom of the pool. It was as if something had gone crazy at the bottom of the pond as it began to suck in qi crazily. Tianyi''s true qi of chaos was no exception as it was also sucked into the bottom of the pond, but how could true qi of chaos be so easily absorbed? After just a few moments of sucking Tianyi''s true qi of chaos, the rumbling, which only originated from the platform the dragon egg was on, increased. The platform began to tremble like crazy as if an earthquake was occurring. Not just the incubation room, but the whole Dragon Palace began to rumble like crazy. "Crap," Tianyi said as he sensed a massive buildup of qi, ready to explode. Without a chance to explain anything, he immediately formed the Chaos Refining Formation without regard to secrecy and covered himself, Daoyi, and Xi Ri. BANG! An explosion occurred. The whole foundation of Dragon Palace was shaken and even began to show signs of cracking. The coral reef the Dragon Palace was situated on began to show signs of discoloration, and the bubble surrounding the structure flashed several times before disappearing. "What happened?" Xi Ri asked as Tianyi took down the Chaos Refining Formation, allowing the three to see what happened. The walls of the incubation room were filled with cracks, but the whole room was filled with dense qi far more than before. Tianyi looked down and discovered a perfectly clear liquid filled with spiritual qi began to bubble from the bottom of the dried pond. "Could it be?" Tianyi muttered to himself. He flew down to the bottom, touched the bubbling liquid with his finger, and felt qi gushing into him. "I was right. This is a spirit spring!" "Is this the source of the explosion?" Daoyi asked from afar. Tianyi closed his eyes and spread out his spiritual sense. He could feel the spiritual senses of numerous demons clashing against his, but he didn''t care. It was too late to hide anyway after such a large commotion. After discovering the reason, he replied to Daoyi, "To be specific, it should be all the stored up spirit spring." "The Dragon Palace must have been built atop a spirit spring, explaining why the spiritual qi is so dense here. They must have a way to accumulate the spirit spring over a period of years. The pond from before was created from the diluted water from the spirit spring." Tianyi explained. "When the pond dried up, the mechanism drawing the spirit spring water reversed and began to pull qi instead. Unfortunately, it absorbed my true qi of chaos, which it couldn''t digest, resulting in the explosion that shook Dragon Palace." "So, it''s your fault." Daoyi summarized. "Technically..." Tianyi began, not wanting to be blamed. "We don''t have time for this. What is our next plan?" Daoyi asked. Tianyi waved his head, and the dragon egg that shrunk to double the immortal pill''s size landed on his palm, its whole exterior pitch black now. Within his palm, Tianyi could feel a pulse akin to a heartbeat. Tianyi wondered what he should call the pill now. Dragon egg or immortal pill? Or maybe an immortal dragon egg pill? "Well, we can give up on thinking we can stay hidden for one. Every demon must be heading this way now." Tianyi said. "Plus, I''m very interested in this spirit spring. I want to take it away." "I don''t think it''s possible. Spirit springs are like spirit stone veins. You can''t just take it away." Xi Ri said. "Sure I can," Tianyi said as he tapped the jade pendant on his waist. Instantly, one mountain full of immortal qi, a silver sea made of spacetime, eight illusionary mountains, and eight illusionary seas descended and covered the whole Dragon Palace. The Dragon Palace that had stopped shaking began to tremble once more as if it would be ripped from the coral reef. While it wasn''t exactly what was happening, it was close enough. "CEASE YOUR ACTIONS AT ONCE!!!" Three Unity Realm equivalent demons charged into the incubation room through the shattered gates and roared. Their eyes were full of fury as they zeroed in on Tianyi, Daoyi, and Xi Ri. The rage increased even more when they sensed the dragon aura from the pill in Tianyi''s hand. "If you stop now, your death will be quick and painless." The lead elder said. "Otherwise, once the ancestor returns, you will wish for the sweet release of death!" Tianyi curled his lips into a smirk as he looked defiantly at the three elders and the increasing number of demons rushing in.
The scene was that of hell. Red walls emitting steam surrounded the space, and sparks of flame spontaneously flickered in and out of existence. At the bottom was a vast pool of magma emitting smoke, and at the top was an opening revealing the ashen sky. At the center of the magma was feather form bathing within it. The avian had a beak as red as lava and golden feathers filled with flickering sigils. The avian was Golden Crow Ancestor, one of the three true demons that ruled the Demon Cage Realm. Next to it were two apparitions, one of a giant sea serpent and another of rabbit. They were Leviathan Ancestor and Jade Rabbit Ancestor. "Golden Crow, I heard that some of the outsiders had invaded your territory." Jade Rabbit Ancestor asked. "Hmpf," Flames flickered from the crow''s nose holes as he snorted and said in disdain, "Just a minor trouble. This isn''t the first time they have descended. For the past few thousand years, none of them were true immortals, just mortals. They can''t trouble me." "You can''t say it like this. Even if we aren''t affected by them, our descendants will be the ones to suffer." Jade Rabbit Ancestor said. "Then what do you want me to do?" Golden Crow Ancestor asked irritably. "Whenever the outsiders invade, the more we leave the core of our territories, the weaker we become. It''s like the realm itself is suppressing us for the outsiders! As long as the outsiders don''t enter the core territories, we can''t do much to them." "That''s true." Jade Rabbit Ancestor agreed. "How about recalling your descendants?" "You think I haven''t tried that?" Golden Crow Ancestor said. "The older ones return since they remember the disaster from a thousand years ago, but the newer ones are far more foolish, taking my words like air." Jade Rabbit Ancestor sighed as she glanced at the Leviathan Ancestor''s apparition. "We all can''t be like Leviathan Ancestor, having a territory that would make the outsiders too wary of invading." "Don''t push your troubles on me. If you have the ability, choose a territory the outsiders aren''t willing to invade." Leviathan Ancestor returned, his tone arrogant, unlike the humility he showed to the Mountain King of Flower Fruit Grotto. Golden Crow Ancestor stayed silent, so Jade Rabbit Ancestor spoke up, "We know, that''s why the core of our plan to break out of this prison is you." The descendants called the Demon Cage Realm, Demon Heaven Realm, but that was only because they didn''t fully know the truth. After they entered the True Demon Realm, they understood the situation clearly. It may look like demons were the rulers of the realm, but only they knew that this place was a cage. They had already interacted with many sealed demons like the Mountain King. Some of the sealed demons wanted to work together and break out to freedom, while some refused, stating that it wasn''t feasible. "You don''t have to worry about anything. Just leave it to me, and our plans will come to fruition." Leviathan Ancestor said confidently. The three of them discussed their plans more. They had already ironed out their plans, so they were currently discussing how to deal with the mortal outsiders. Specifically, the cultivators that were causing a ruckus in Golden Crow Ancestor''s territory. Jade Rabbit Ancestor also had outsiders invading his territory, but compared to Golden Crow Ancestor, they weren¡¯t as big a threat. Suddenly the apparition of Leviathan Ancestor froze before Golden Crow Ancestor and Jade Rabbit Ancestor heard a furious roar from him as his apparition disappeared. Chapter 177: Leviathan Ancestor’s Fury Tianyi pulled out a talisman from his spatial ring. It seemed ordinary and bland, but it contained a terrifying technique that his mother, the Sword Empress, had sealed within. Without waiting for the elders to react, Tianyi inserted his qi into the talisman, and a bright light erupted from it. With the hand Tianyi held the talisman as the origin, the light spread out and enveloped all of Dragon Palace. Heartless Sword Art - Sword World Using sword light as the foundation, the talisman constructed a sword formation. In essence, the formation emulated the domain ability that only immortals could create. Domains were special. They allowed the user to have near-complete control of everything within, much like how a realmlord could know and control almost everything within the realm they ruled over. Right now, Tianyi could sense everything with the Dragon Palace. All the defense of the palace was a joke to the current him. Under his control, he disabled all the defense and messaging systems of the palace and exterminated every demon inside. The demons didn''t even have a chance to process anything as they all fell down onto the ground, their bodies intact, but their souls extinguished. There was no way Tianyi was going to comply with their demands, nor would he foolishly fight them and allow Leviathan Ancestor to return. Tianyi had no plans to confront the Leviathan Ancestor at all. Although the talisman gave Tianyi an ability akin to a true immortal, against the real deal like a true demon, it was just a trick that emulated their natural ability to create domains. Against mortals, even unity venerables, it made Tianyi invincible. Discounting anomalies like the Dragon Emperor. I still can''t believe that he wasted two talismans against the bastard. With the minor annoyance dealt with, Tianyi turned his attention to the Mountains and Seas Formation. The illusionary second sea had already latched onto the core of the spirit springs and was absorbing it into the formation. With each passing moment, the foundation of Dragon Palace was being destroyed. Tianyi looked towards Daoyi and Xi Ri. "The process will take a while. When I''m finished, Dragon Palace will be destroyed, so we should quickly ransack as much treasure as possible." Under Tianyi''s suggestion, the three of them went to the treasury in order to steal, ahem, save all the treasures from the crumbling Dragon Palace. Of course, the three didn''t forget to store the demon''s corpse as well. Tianyi split the three demon elders between the three of them. And it was only at that moment that Tianyi realized he had probably committed a massacre considering how many demons there were. Well, they are enemies. It''s either me or them...just ignore the fact that I was the one who invaded their home. When Tianyi entered Dragon Palace''s treasury, he was disappointed because of how poor it was. Sure, there were mountains of materials rich with spiritual qi, but for a true demon, it was laughably destitute. He had several times more wealth in his spatial ring than the treasury room. Why was a true demon so damn poor? Logically speaking, as the only three active true demons, they should have been able to accumulate far more wealth than this. Or did Leviathan Ancestor keep the most precious treasures with him? Although I haven''t seen any sort of spatial ring or bags, that doesn''t mean the demons don''t have any. "You two can split. I lost all interest." Tianyi said, the excitement from raiding a treasury all but gone. "Are you sure?" Xi Ri asked, hesitant. He had never seen so much wealth in his life. He wasn''t even sure his master had this much wealth. "Don''t be too bothered," Daoyi said as she began to place as much of the treasury as she could into her spatial ring. "Tianyi probably has at least ten times more stuff in his spatial ring compared to the treasury." "What!?" Xi Ri gasped in surprise. He turned to look at Tianyi in shock. Tianyi avoided his eyes, feeling guilty for some reason. It wasn''t like he was trying to flaunt his wealth, okay? After that small episode, the three of them returned to the incubation room. The room had turned unrecognizable, with the walls having been torn down, the floor cracked, and the tile shards falling into the giant hole that formed. Within the newly formed hole, the three could visibly see the blue sphere that was rising up. The sphere was the core and the origin of the spirit spring. The more it rose, the faster it became until the sphere rose above the Tianyi and neared the shattered ceiling. The core of the spirit spring then began to dissolve and spread apart, merging with the illusionary second sea of Tianyi''s mountain and seas formation. The moment the process began, the Dragon Palace seemed to have lost all luster. The light it had exuded faded away, and even the coral reef it was situated atop seemed to have dulled into a gray color. Tianyi felt the spirit spring completely merge with the Mountains and Seas Formation through his connection with the formation. "It''s done. Let''s leave." The Mountains and Seas Formation shrunk and returned to within Tianyi''s pendant. Not wasting a moment even to inspect the changes, he brought Daoyi and Xi Ri onto the immortal boat and immediately left Dragon Palace. Strangely, even though Dragon Palace had lost its energy source, the spirit spring, there still seemed to be a translucent silver bubble that covered the palace. Tianyi activated all the stealth mechanisms of the immortal boat to the maximum. Thankfully, it seemed that they had escaped in time as they didn''t see a hair nor hide of Leviathan Ancestor. Only after a few hours passed did Tianyi feel it was safe enough to inspect the changes in the Mountains and Seas Formation. Inputting spiritual sense into the pendant, Tianyi began to inspect the Mountain and Seas Formation. The second sea was no longer illusionary and was made up of crystal clear water that could be mistaken for air had Tianyi not known any better. It wasn''t just the appearance that changed, but the function. The spirit spring seemed to be producing spirit water, although the rate seemed slow to Tianyi''s eyes. Studying even further, Tianyi discovered that he could use the second sea to power the Mountain and Seas Formation instead of using his own qi. When Tianyi was still in the Foundation Establishment Realm, he had used the Mountain and Seas Formation to kill a nascent soul grandmaster. At the time, he did not have enough spiritual qi to power the formation and instead relied on using immortal stones to do so. As Tianyi increased his realms, he no longer had such a problem. So the function of the second sea was practically useless to the current him.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Despite this, Tianyi felt relieved because the spirit spring was still intact. Actually, it should be called spirit sea now. When he had time, he should be able to research a method to condense his qi into a stable liquid state. Suddenly, the immortal boat began to rock as if it was facing turbulent waves atop the sea even though it was underwater. Tianyi turned his head towards the source of the disturbance that was causing the disastrous currents underwater. "What''s wrong!?" Xi Ri shouted as he grabbed onto a fixture to prevent himself from being flung around. "Tianyi, did the demon catch up to us?" Daoyi asked as she too stabilized herself. Tianyi shook his head, a ghost of a smile on his lips. Just because he wasn''t willing to stay to confront the founder of the Leviathan Clan didn''t mean that he didn''t leave a small present. "Leviathan Ancestor must be blinded in rage at this point. We better leave as far as possible," Tianyi said, the smile still upon his lips.
Leviathan Ancestor left the Abyssal Depths, an endless trench in the giant lake of his territory. In the Abyssal Depths, the qi was incredibly sparse and the pressure so immense that even Unity Realm experts would be crushed to depth. Still, it was in such a place Leviathan Ancestor could temper his body, continually strengthing himself. It was the location that the sea serpent had spent most of his time in since he found it, but for the first time in hundreds of years, Leviathan Ancestor left the Abyssal Depths. As his serpentine body swam through the water, vibrations rolled off its body, causing the lake floor to form turbulent currents. It was as if the water was entering an enraged state, reflecting Levithan Ancestor''s mood. The farther Leviathan Ancestor swam, the stronger the currents became until whirlpools formed above and under the water, causing the originally treacherous waters to become even more dangerous. In a short amount of time, the founder of the Leviathan Clan arrived at Dragon Palace, but in that short amount of time, the lake''s environment had been irrevocably changed. Old underwater currents vanished as new ones took their place, and new submarine canyons had been formed. Leviathan Ancestor''s piercing blue eyes seemed to smolder with rage as he gazed at the foreign qi encircling his Dragon Palace. He had sensed something happening to the dragon egg he was creating, so he immediately rushed over. Along the way, he noticed his connection with the Dragon Palace disappeared, making him even more anxious. Now that he had arrived, Leviathan Ancestor sensed the power from a being equal to him in realm. Were we wrong? Did the true immortals descend from outside the realm and not just mortals? Leviathan Ancestor placed those unnecessary thoughts outside of his mind and focused on cracking the domain. Qi began to gather in front of his body. A moment later, a blue beam shot out towards the silver-colored bubble encasing palace. To the shock of the founder of the Leviathan Clan, the domain formed from sword-light popped easily, allowing the beam to penetrate the disheveled palace, destroying it even more. Furthermore, the popped silver bubble coalesced into a sword formed of immortal qi and sword-light. The sword shot towards the sea serpent, causing an underwater explosion that enveloped the surrounding kilometer. When the water calmed down once more, the Leviathan Ancestor was fuming with so much rage that it seemed that the ice-cold water of the deep would boil. Almost all the Leviathan Ancestor''s scales, each large enough for a grown cow to fit on, were cracked or had fallen off its body. Blood leaked and diffused into the lake water, coloring the surrounding in a deep purple fog. The Leviathan Ancestor''s body trembled, and it roared in unconcealed rage. He had been tricked! Now that the sword domain had disappeared, using all its energy in that attack, Leviathan Ancestor could sense the deathly silence within Dragon Palace. He could not sense any of his descendants, but more importantly, the dragon egg was gone, and the perpetrator had disappeared. There was even worse news. Leviathan Ancestor shrunk his body until it was that of a humanoid, but his head was that of his true form, only far smaller. He charged into the palace only to found the state even worse than his wildest imaginations. All of the demons inside were dead, their blood coating the floor in a viscous substance. What enraged Leviathan Ancestor even more was that the bodies of the Nascent Soul and Unity Realm equivalent demons had disappeared. Recalling that the cultivators would use the corpse of demons as materials, Leviathan Ancestor found his rage almost overtaking his sanity. However, there was one more crucial location he had to check. When he had arrived, his stomach sunk to the bottom. For years, he had kept the secret of the spirit spring and even built a palace atop to hide the information about it. Now, all the years of hard work had been ruined. Worse of all, the dragon egg he had been nurturing in preparation for possessing had disappeared. "Immortals, this isn''t over! Since you took away my future, I''ll kill all the mortals in the realm!!!" Leviathan Ancestor''s roar sent shockwaves throughout the lake, causing tsunamis to erupt everywhere.
Tianyi felt his body shiver as he felt the power rolling from the direction of the Dragon Palace in waves. Did he like the surprise I left him? He was glad he had chosen not to confront Leviathan Ancestor. Tianyi had some small thoughts that perhaps he was able to receive a blow from true demons or true immortals, but just feeling the waves of power, he realized he was wrong. The True Demon Realm and Pathfinding Immortal Realm could crush Unity Realm experts like bugs, and Tianyi could only be considered equal to unity venerables. "Man, he must really pissed, eh?" Tianyi said as he jokingly looked towards Daoyi and Xi Ri but soon frowned. Daoyi was trembling like crazy while sweat dripped down her face, and Xi Ri had already fainted from the excessive power buffeting them through the immortal boat''s defense. The immortal boat could completely block the rollings waves of power, but that would need it to lower its stealth functions, creating the risk of being discovered. Tianyi brought out the mantle-shaped immortal artifact once more, allowing it to cover Daoyi and Xi Ri. It could not completely disperse the heavy pressure the two were feeling, but it could be alleviated somewhat. "Tianyi, what the hell is that?" Daoyi said through gasping breaths. "That, I assumed, would be a true demon''s rage, causing the surroundings to warp and distort," Tianyi said, confident in his guess. "Never, ever, take with you to sneak into a true demon or true immortal''s lair. The risk of dying once being discovered is too high. I''m still a core formation master, and I can''t even withstand a true demon''s diluted power from this distance." Daoyi said, a hint of fear coloring her voice. "Don''t worry, I don''t think I''ll do it either. Or until I enter the Unity Realm. But don''t worry, I won''t bring you to do anything like this again until I''m also an immortal. If I''m going to bring you to danger, I want to be confident enough to protect you guys. Can''t have my fellow reincarnators reincarnated again." Tianyi joked. "Thanks," Daoyi said, trying to calm down the palpitations within her body and ignoring Tianyi''s attempt at lightening the mood. "Don''t be," Tianyi said with a sigh. "I unnecessarily brought the two of you into danger with me without knowing the true power of my opponent. If he had been able to arrive earlier, I don''t know if all three of us would have escaped." The unsaid words were whether Daoyi or Xi Ri had died. Tianyi had seriously underestimated the difference between him and Leviathan Ancestor. His victory over the Earth Burning Venom Serpent must have developed his hubris or something. "That''s enough excitement for me. I plan to group up with Senior Brother Xia until the end of the Demon Slaying Expedition. Our luck was pretty good." Tianyi said. "You and Xi Ri got a lot of the treasures while I got the dragon egg, even though the immortal pill ruined it. And I got a nice surprise as well." "Yeah, regrouping with the others sounds like a good idea for now." Daoyi agreed. She hadn''t felt any fear when they raided Dragon Palace since Tianyi seemed to have everything under control, but it was only when she felt Leviathan Ancestor''s power that she realized how much danger they were in. Chapter 178: Confession Within the inner territories of the Golden Crow Clan, three avian demons sat atop a tree with yellow leaves and orange bark. The tree was known as Flame Bewitchment Tree, a special breed descended from the legendary Parasol Tree connected to phoenixes. Just sitting on it allowed fire attribute demons to increase the purity of their bloodline and enhance their physical bodies. "More and more of our promising descendants are dying." Ashflame Crow, an elder of the Golden Crow Clan, said with a voice heavy. His body was the color of obsidian, and grey flames would periodically erupt from his feathers. "We tried ordering them to return, but many are still defying our orders." Another elder said with a sigh. Her name was Flametailed Peacock. "They haven''t experienced the might of the immortals like us. The immortals aren''t as strong as us, but they carry numerous treasures and are sinister in nature. Without our ancestor''s aid, we simply cannot hope to fend them off." The third avian flapped its wings, causing fire to flare out before being absorbed by the tree leaves of the Flame Bewitchment Tree. He was Ragingflame Crow and the youngest of the three elders present. "I say we lure them to the core of our territory and teach them a lesson. If our ancestor''s strength is suppressed out of the core territory when the immortals descend, then we simply have to lead the invaders to our core." Flametailed Peacock shook her side to side, her tailfeathers leaving trails of blue embers as it swayed with her movement. "We already tried such tactics before. The immortals seem to know our plan and refuse to enter our core territory where the ancestor can unleash his full might." "Then what can we do? Should we just watch as the invaders penetrate into our territory and rob us of our treasures and desecrate our clan members'' corpses!?" Ragingflame Crow asked his fellow elders, the bitterness within his voice unable to be hidden. Both Ashflame Crow and Flametailed Peacock shook their heads and sighed. Whenever the immortals descended, even Unity Realm equivalent demons like them had to face the risk of death if they were unlucky. For demons under the Unity Realm, their death was practically assured if they fought the immortals one-on-one. "We can only keep ordering our descendants to retreat to the core while carrying as the most valuable treasures as possible." Ashflame Crow said with his tail pressed down, his tone full of dejection. "They will soon learn how helpless we are, then they will retreat." "If we were only able to forge the spatial pouches that those immortals carry, such an operation couldn''t be easier." Flametailed Peacock said, her eyes full of envy. "That''s it? You''re going to run away without even putting up a fight?! Cowards!" Ragingflame Crow questioned as he stood as tall as he could, his red-hot feathers puffing and increasing his size as he did so. Ashflame Crow sighed as he nodded. "We were once like you, infuriated by how helpless we are. We demons are the lords of this realm, but we can only hide like turtles in our shells whenever the immortals descend. If you want to attack them, go ahead. But I warn you not to underestimate them, flee at the slightest hint of danger. I don''t want to see your corpse turned into an artifact by the invaders." "Hmpf, I''ll show you." Ragingflame Crow said as he sped off into the distance impatiently. "Look how reckless that youngin is." Ashflame Crow said, his voice containing the exhaustion of age. "Wasn''t I like him back in the day? If he survives, then he''ll understand how vast the universe is." Flametailed Peacock replied, her voice calm. "Besides, his parents were killed by the immortals. It''s no wonder he has a personal vendetta against them" "Does he think he is the only one that wants vengeance? My most promising descendant, one with a pure golden crow bloodline, died because of the immortals." Ashflame Crow said with unconcealed hatred.
"It''s not pure enough." Xia Yushan said as he released the hand sign he had formed. He was sitting in a makeshift cultivation chamber he had repurposed. It was originally a demon''s den inside of a mountain. In front of the nascent soul grandmaster was the corpse of a bird demon of the fire attribute. Xia Yushan had tried to extract the golden crow blood essence out of the corpse, but the demon trained in the fire path rather than the yang path and muddied his bloodline, so Xia Yushan couldn''t extract much. With a sigh, Xia Yushan waved his hand, and the corpse disappeared into his spatial ring. "This is the strongest demon I was able to slay, but it''s still not enough. I need one with a pure golden crow bloodline." Xia Yushan murmured to himself as he sank deep in thought. We are already quite close to the core territory of the Golden Crow Clan. So far, we haven''t crossed the border, but if we do, the golden crow true demon might suddenly attack us. Xia Yushan desperately needed the corpse of a golden crow for his cultivation, but he had to weigh the risk and rewards of such an act. The Demon Slaying Expedition was the greatest opportunity for him. If he failed, he could always seek his master for aid, but that would no doubt delay his cultivation. A face flashed inside Xia Yushan''s mind. The face was that of a handsome male on the cusp of adulthood, but the most attractive features were those pair of bedeviling eyes. Those eyes seemed to contain the world and the universe itself within them. Closing his eyes, Xia Yushan immediately made up his mind. A week later, Xia Yushan led the group of disciples from various sects deeper into the Golden Crow Clan''s territory. As he had expected, the resistance increase even more, but so were the bountiful rewards. There were some close calls, mostly from the core formation masters, but no one had died yet under Xia Yushan''s leadership, causing his reputation to rise up even more among the disciples of other sects. "The demons are getting more and more difficult to deal with." Ji Shuye said as she stood next to Xia Yushan in the air. Xia Yushan looked down at the battle between the core formations masters and the demons. The nascent soul level demons had yet to participate as both sides were just feeling each other out for now. "We are getting closer and closer to their core territory. And we don''t just see the younger demons anymore." He had noticed how most of the demons they fought were on the younger side for their species. On average, demons had longer lifespans but cultivated slower than humans. Now, with the experience of age, the demons were no longer as easy to defeat as before. "At this rate, I will have to use my martial skills instead of spells." Ji Shuye lamented. She really didn''t want to bring out her polearms and charge headfirst into the fray.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. "Each people have their own strengths. You should focus on your strengths instead of hiding them." Xia Yushan sincerely advised as he turned towards his longtime friend. "You''re still at the early Nascent Soul Realm, but you should have been able to reach the mid Soul Nourishing Realm, yet I can''t sense it at all." "When I first joined the sect, you were already in the Foundation Establishment Realm while I was in the Qi Gathering Realm. If you keep delaying, I''ll leave you in the dust." He jokingly said towards Ji Shuye. "Yeah, looking back, we''ve already known each other for over forty years." Ji Shuye said as her tone took on a tone of reminiscence. "Do you remember our first encounter?" "How could I forget?" Xia Yushan said and held his arms in a shiver. " You beat me half to death. I remember being bedridden for over a month while I waited for all my bones to recover." "That''s only because you called me a gorilla!" Ji Shuye retorted fiercely with none of her previous gentle demeanor. She even raised a fist and shook it at Xia Yushan. "Just because you''re at the mid Nascent Soul Realm now doesn''t mean I can''t break your bones anymore." "I never called you a gorilla ever again after that!" Xia Yushan quickly raised both hands in a defensive posture and leaned away from Ji Shuye. "Hmpf, you wouldn''t be alive if you did." Ji Shuye righteously said, causing Xia Yushan to be unable to laugh or cry. Ji Shuye''s gentle demeanor had disappeared without a trace at this point. "...Senior Sister Ji has returned to your original personality." Xia Yushan said, somewhat unused to the lofty and imposing personality Ji Shuye showed. "Hmpf, just because I treated you gently all these years doesn''t mean you should take my kindness for granted." Ji Shuye snorted. The pressure of her Nascent Soul Realm cultivation receded and was replaced by her Soul Nourishing Realm cultivation. Then, Ji Shuye''s fearless eyes gazed straight at Xia Yushan, causing his throat to dry and butterflies to appear in his stomach. Xia Yushan quickly caused raised his hands once more in a defensive gesture. Ji Shuye frowned at Xia Yushan''s actions, which caused his heart to drop to his stomach. "Yushan, I admire you. I hold a great fondness for you. Let''s stay together for the rest of our lives. Become my dao companion." Ji Shuye stood with her back straight, nothing in the world seemed to be able to make her bend her back, and bravely confessed. Xia Yushan stood there stunned at Ji Shuye''s open admission of affection for him. His mind was struck into disarray, and an unknown feeling rose in his chest. Like a child, Xia Yushan looked around to see if anyone noticed their conversation. "I''m sorry, I can''t return your feelings," Xia Yushan finally said as he forcibly calmed down. For some reason, he avoided looking at Ji Shuye''s eyes as the memory of a gentle woman playing pipa to him before bed popped into his mind. "I see," Ji Shuye''s facial expression showed disappointment at Xia Yushan''s rejection, but her imposing aura seemed to have increased instead. Xia Yushan belatedly realized that Ji Shuye was advancing from the early Soul Nourishing Realm to the mid Soul Nourishing Realm. The whole process took less than ten minutes. "Senior Sister..." Xia Yushan started to speak but stopped upon realizing that he didn''t know what to say. Looking at the confidant woman in front of him, he doubted anyone would have realized she was rejected by him moments before. "The demons have started to send out their Nascent Soul Realm level combatants. I haven''t tempered my martial skills for a while, so I''m going to join." Ji Shuye said and rushed to join the battle, a polearm materializing in her hands. "...take care, Senior Sister." Xia Yushan whispered to no one as a sudden sense of unspeakable loss assaulted him. Xia Yushan quickly pushed down the negative emotion within him as he surveyed the battlefield. For some reason, the demons were particularly aggressive today, with no signs of retreat even as the number of deaths began to pile up. None of the disciples had died yet, and the demons didn''t seem to care at all at the unbalance loss their side suffered. If it were before, they would have long retreated. Xia Yushan grasped his sword and prepared to unsheathe it at a moment''s notice. Although he was the overall leader, he was only in charge of selecting the location of the attack, so during the battle began, most had to look out for themself. If he forcibly took command of the disciples of other sects, that would cause tension between the Buzhou Immortal Sect and the vassal sects. Out of the corner of his eyes, Xia Yushan saw Ji Shuye decapitating two demons, their claws and fangs never coming close to touching her clothes. His heart tightened as he felt entranced by the vivid scene, but he quickly forced his attention away. Next, Daoist Moneybag caught Xia Yushan''s attention. Riding in an immortal boat in the shape of a warship, Daoist Moneybag was using his warship to annihilate the demons. Just even thinking about the sheer amount of money that would be needed to keep the immortal functioning made Xia Yushan''s liver ache. He prayed that Daoist Moneybag made enough returns to at least break even. Xia Yushan observed Bing Huoyuan next. The man was displaying his masterful techniques of fire and ice against his foes. Similarly, Ji Wutong was also displaying devilishly beautiful fire techniques as if to compete against Bing Huoyuan. As for the two bai sisters, both of them were fighting demons together. In Xia Yushan''s judgment, the two would have long perished had it not been for Bing Huoyuan and Ji Wutong''s secret aid, though it seems neither of the two realized it. He just couldn''t understand why these two ordinary girls could attract the attention of the geniuses from the Bright Ascension Sect and Boundless Mountain. Xia Yushan wouldn''t mind if Tianyi became head over heels for either of the girls, though. Off in another corner of the battlefield, a dome of darkness popped. Three shadowy figures appeared from within the popped dome. Each carried some sort of torture instrument and began massacring the demons left and right. Xia Yushan recognized the technique as the Nihility Sect''s Negative Manifestation Art. It was a soul technique that allowed the user to store the negative emotions of those slain into a specter that was utterly loyal to the user. Xia Yushan wondered briefly if his slaughtering sword could combat the soul technique when a surprising scene caught his eyes. He saw an acupoint opening master weaving between the specters and killing demons with honed precision. It must be said that those around the specters would find their emotions running out of control, and only those with incredibly strong wills could resist the effects. Hun Jusang was one of the Nihility Sect''s most promising disciples, so it surprised Xia Yushan that a mere acupoint opening master could resist his specters'' negative influence. Even Xia Yushan couldn''t detect the acupoint opening master''s aura with his spiritual sense. If it were a Nihility Sect disciple, he wouldn''t have been surprised, but that acupoint opening master was a Jade Cauldron Sect disciple, Jiang Chunye. Briefly, Xia Yushan entertained the idea of killing Jiang Chunye and passing it off as the demon''s fault. As the thought entered his mind, a sliver of killing intent reflected in his eyes against his control. Jiang Chunye momentarily froze before retreating into the distance and looking towards Xia Yushan''s direction, shocking Xia Yushan. Due to his cultivating a slaughterous sword intent, sometimes he couldn''t fully control his killing intent and allowed it to leak. Still, he never imagined that just that tiny sliver of killing intent would allow Jiang Chunye to detect his intentions. Although it seemed that Jiang Chunye couldn''t pinpoint the exact source, her reflexes still made Xia Yushan pay more attention to her. Compared to Daoyi, Jiang Chunye''s features were sharp not just physically but also in her aura. She was like a sharp blade that could slit anyone''s throat at a moment''s notice. In the end, Xia Yushan didn''t take any action. Just her sensitivity towards killing intent allowed Xia Yushan to judge that Jiang Chunye wouldn''t be easy to deal with. If she discovered any loopholes and exposed him, his prestige would take a hit. Xia Yushan settled down, waiting for an opportunity. As the battle between the cultivators and the demon escalated, Xia Yushan continued to wait, looking for the perfect prey. Suddenly, Xia Yushan turned towards the distance, where an immortal was flying towards them. The immortal boat stopped just outside of the battle and didn''t take any more action. Xia Yushan recognized that immortal boat. It was the one personally forged by Grand Elder Xi for Tianyi. This meant that Daoyi was also in the boat, watching all of this. Thinking of Ji Shuye''s confession, a thought began to sprout within Xia Yushan''s heart. Chapter 179: Surprise Attack Tianyi hadn''t followed straight after the group led by Xia Yushan. First, Tianyi wanted to make absolutely sure that he had left no trails for Leviathan Ancestor to track them down with. Second, Tianyi only had a general gist of Xia Yushan''s plans, so he headed towards the Golden Crow Clan''s territory. Third, after Tianyi was sure Leviathan Ancestor wasn''t chasing them, he had taken detours to allow Daoyi and Xi Ri to temper themselves. Dragon Palace was pretty much a one-man show. If Daoyi or Xi Ri were there or not didn''t matter. To Tianyi''s disappointment and relief, the three did not encounter anymore Nascent Soul Realm level demons, much less Unity Realm level demons. Even after massacring over fifty of them, Tianyi was unsure whether he had gotten over his apprehension. In fact, when he had activated the talisman at Dragon Palace, he had killed the nascent soul grandmaster equivalent demons before the unity venerable equivalent demons. Speaking of Dragon Palace, Tianyi took out the immortal pill from his sleeves. Before, the pill would periodically disappear within the sect, but it had always stayed with Tianyi whenever he traveled out of the sect. Tianyi couldn''t see any changes no matter how many times he fed the pill with his true qi of chaos, but now, the pill was completely black and didn''t react to him at all. Remembering the incident, Tianyi felt his mood become sullen. Although it wasn''t a pure-blooded dragon, he almost got a mount with a thick dragon bloodline. Even if the egg didn''t hatch, Tianyi still could have turned it into his demon clone... and then used it as a mount. But nope. The immortal pill just had to ruin everything. Tianyi had half a mind to just chuck the pill away for ruining his plans but recalling how much he already sacrificed for the pill¡ªmost memorably, the beating he had received in the ruin of the Immortal Court¡ªTianyi kept the pill. Still, Tianyi wondered what changes would occur with the immortal pill. The round black sphere within his hand was currently emitting pulses, almost like a heartbeat. Tianyi couldn''t absorb the spiritual qi of heaven and earth anymore, but he could still detect the pill passively absorbing it. Tianyi wondered what changes would occur. Maybe it would hatch and become his spiritual beast? Probably not. The more likely scenario would be for the pill to hatch into some dragon hybrid and attempt to eat him. Tianyi really hoped for that to happen. If the pill actually did that, Tianyi would have no reservations to unleashed his immortal level talisman upon the pill. Only this way could Tianyi vent the frustrations in his heart. Detecting no further changes in the pill, Tianyi placed it back within his sleeve. He returned his attention back to the battle that was taking place outside the immortal boat. Contrary to Tianyi''s expectation, chasing after Xia Yushan and the others wasn''t as hard as he expected. Tianyi just had to follow the trail of destruction they left in their wake. Well, a trail of destruction wasn''t exactly accurate. It was more like just following the trail left by bandits. The disciples from the Huang Realm were merciless. They cleaned up every place, den, or nest they encountered, picking everything dry. All of the demon''s hard work over the years was so the cultivators could harvest fruits of their labor. Not that Tianyi had any right to admonish them, considering he absolutely robbed Leviathan Acenstor''s dragon eggs and treasures. And just for extra measure, Tianyi destroyed it too and left a bomb for the true demon. Although it took nearly a year, Tianyi finally caught up to Xia Yushan and the others. He just so happened to catch them during one of their operations too, and since he didn''t know the specifics, Tianyi decided just to watch. "Oh!" Tianyi exclaimed. "What''s happening?" Daoyi asked. She could see the overall battle, but her sight or spiritual sense wasn''t keen as Tianyi''s. "Senior Sister Ji ascended into the mid Soul Nourishing Realm." Tianyi simply said. "Where?" Daoyi looked out, trying to discover Ji Shuye''s figure. "Right there," Tianyi said as he pointed towards the soul nourishing grandmaster that was charging into battle. "She was just talking to Senior Brother Xia and then suddenly entered. Now she''s charging into battle. It''s a bit weird." "Really? Was Senior Sister Ji talking to Senior Brother Xia about something?" Daoyi asked as she observed Ji Shuye valiantly combatting two Nascent Soul Realm equivalent demons. "Don''t know. I only saw them, and I was too far away to detect what they were talking about." Tianyi said with a shrug. "Although, I was wondering when she would enter the next stage. Senior Sister Ji was already at the early Nascent Soul Realm when I entered the Core Formation Realm. Actually, when did Senior Sister Ji become a martial cultivator?" Tianyi''s face was filled with shock now that he realized he didn''t know Ji Shuye was a martial cultivator. "Did she stall at the early Nascent Soul Realm because she was changing to martial cultivation?" "Tianyi, do you think everyone is like you?" Xi Ri couldn''t help but cut in while shaking his head in exasperation. "There''s no way she could cultivate as fast as you think she can. Do you recall that the average age of disciples entering the Nascent Soul Realm after they are a hundred years old? The average for the whole Heaven Continent is three hundred years old, and that''s including all the disciples of the first-rate sects." "Really?" Tianyi said, surprised evident on his face as he turned to face Xi Ri. "I recall that Senior Brother Xia and entered the mid Nascent Soul Realm shortly after entering the early Nascent Soul Realm." "That''s just one person. You can''t base others on him, just like you can''t base Senior Brother Xia on you." Xi Ri said. "You''ll probably enter the Unity Realm before you''re forty. The number of people who have done that in the history of the Huang Realm can be counted on one hand." "Oho?" Tianyi smirked, a bit giddy and shy at Xi Ri''s indirect compliment, but he quickly pulled it down as he remembered his dilemma. "Who knows, maybe I will stall at the Nascent Soul Ream for a few hundred years." Recalling how he had no clue to enter the next realm, Tianyi felt his mood plummet. He still hadn''t found inspiration on how to enter the next realm. Right now, Tianyi was placing all his hopes on finding another one of the Ten Heavenly Scriptures. Unknown to Tianyi, he was releasing a heavy pressure in his silence, causing both Daoyi and Xi Ri not to know what to say. Xi Ri was praising him, so why did he look so down?If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Tianyi quickly snapped out of it. "Speaking of which, what is the average age disciples enter Core Formation Realm?" Daoyi shook her head while Xi Ri answered. "It should be thirty to forty years of age. Why?" "Then aren''t you above the curve too? I blame you two for my skewed expectations!" Tianyi said as he pointed at the two of them in a flourishing manner. "That''s baseless. Besides, we''re different than most people in the first place!" Xi Ri said while objecting to Tianyi''s claim while looking at Daoyi for support. "Actually, I didn''t know the average time disciples entered certain realms. I mainly use you and me for comparisons. Well, when I actually compared." Daoyi said, making Xi Ri reveal an expression of betrayal. While the trio bantered back and forth, the battle between the cultivators and the demons continued dragging on, with the cultivators having overwhelming superiority. Despite this, the demon acted as if they were crazy and continued to throw themselves into battle, not caring about their casualties. After hours of battle, a sudden shift in the situation occurred just as the sun dipped into the horizon. A colossal bird demon seemingly made of raging red flames appeared, but that wasn''t what caught Tianyi''s and everyone''s attention. The newcomer demon was at the Unity Realm level! The crow demon''s surprise attack was too successful. The disciples had grown lax both from their sense of superiority and the fatigue accumulated from the drawn-out battle, allowing the sudden attack to land successfully on them. In an instant, hundreds of Core Formation Realm disciples and seven nascent soul grandmasters were incinerated to dust, not even leaving behind a body. Tianyi felt his eyebrows reaching the top of his forehead, and confusion filled his mind. "Daoyi, Xi Ri, did over a hundred disciples just die?" "Yes." Daoyi and Xi Ri both confirmed what Tianyi saw. Their faces were grave. "We analyzed the records of the Demon Slaying Expedition and concluded that there were no deaths. It seems that we were wrong." Tianyi said, each word unnaturally heavy. "You two stay here and don''t leave unless you have to!" There were no Unity Realm disciples. Or rather, Unity Realm disciples didn''t exist, only Unity Realm elders, but the Demon Slaying Expedition only allowed disciples to participate. If that wasn''t the case, Elder Meng would have definitely followed Tianyi. Thus Tianyi decided to take action personally. He wasn''t saddened by the deaths of the hundreds of disciples since he didn''t know any of them personally, but as a Buzhou Immortal Sect disciple, he had a duty to aid his fellow disciples, whether they were from the Buzhou Immortal Sect or not. Just as Tianyi was about to take action, a giant sword formed of five colors materialized and slammed into the flame-formed bird. Next, the warship that was over fifty kilometers away charged towards the flaming bird. As it neared, the warship changed and formed into a giant humanoid construct and delivered a devastating punch to the flaming bird demon. If the situation wasn''t so serious, and he didn''t have to consider his dignity, Tianyi would have raised both arms and shouted "mecha!" with childish glee. The demon formed of raging flames crashed into the ground, and the next instant, a man appeared in front of the bird, his size positively diminutive in comparison. Tianyi recognized him as Hun Jusang since he left a deep impression on Tianyi during the Heavenly Connection Gathering. The gloomy man started to wriggle as if his whole body was in pain. Just as Tianyi was beginning to worry about him, a shadow erupted from Hun Jusang''s back. That shadow enlarged until it was nearly the size of the Unity Realm level demon and swinging its gigantic scythe and unleashing black crescent energy blades upon the fallen demon. The flaming bird demon roared in rage and swept away the giant warship, golem, and the shadow being with a sweep of its wings, but before it could catch itself, a pillar of fire and ice erupted and trapped each of its wings. In the air, Bing Huoyuan started to unleash the next spell. The pillar of ice and fire began to move closer to each other, and within the space between the two pillars, a chaotic ball of ice and fire continually exploded. The closer the two pillars were, the more devasting the explosion. Eventually, the bird demon freed itself, but by this time, Xia Yushan, Daoist Moneybag, Hun Jusang, and Bing Huoyuan were able to encircle him. Tianyi, who was preparing to strike, found himself a completely unneeded spectator. It turned out that he had thought too highly of himself, and he wasn''t the only nascent soul grandmaster able to fight with Unity Realm level demons. Good thing I didn''t shout anything, otherwise it would be too embarrassing. Tianyi had harbored some pride that he was able to defeat Demon General Earth Burning Venom Serpent, but it turned out that he was underestimating others too much. Or not. Tianyi noticed that despite overwhelming the colossal bird demon earlier, the ensuing battle turned out more even. The flames dissipated and revealed the demon''s true appearance. After that, the cultivators weren''t able to land a hit so easily anymore. Any attacks that landed on the crow demon seemed to not cause any harm at all, except Daoist Moneybag''s immortal stone fueled attacks. Even if attacks did leave a mark, they would soon heal. So Xia Yushan, Hun Jusang, and Bing Huoyuan worked together to create an opportunity for Daoisgt Money to land a hit. More and more nascent soul grandmasters joined in on the assault, causing the Unity Realm level demon to fall into a more precarious situation. Seeing that they would eventually defeat the Unity Realm level demon, Tianyi decided not to take action. Instead, he turned towards the Core Formation Realm level demons. Thinking about it, I haven''t bullied cultivators with lower cultivation realms than me yet. Cultivators, demons, same difference. It''s a crime against my status not to bully those weaker than me! With a mischievous smile, Tianyi waved his hand, and his newly acquired Jade Diffraction Sword materialized in his hand. Turning to look towards Daoyi and Xi Ri, he said, "The Unity Realm level demon is currently being contained. If you want to join the battle, go ahead." "I haven''t experienced such a large battle yet. It''ll be a good tempering experience." Both Daoyi and Xi Ri decided to join the battle. Part of the reason was to gain experience, but the bigger reason was to aid their fellow humans after the devastating loss the Unity Realm level demon unleashed upon them. Tianyi spared some concentration on the two so that he could intervene if anything unexpected were to occur. If the Unity Realm level demon were to break free, he would prioritize saving Daoyi and Xi Ri before repelling him. After seeing that Daoyi and Xi Ri was managing well in the chaotic battle, Tianyi struck. The blade of the Jade Diffraction Sword split into several blades. Using his spiritual sense, Tianyi controlled each blade to fly in different directions. Using his monstrously powerful soul, Tianyi made each blade piece unleash different sword techniques. On the surface, they all seemed to be disconnected, but they were all actually being employed under the Heartless Sword Art. Having seen the sword world unleashed the talisman, Tianyi wanted to create something similar. The more times the sword struck, the more sword marks it would leave, and the more complete the formation would be. It was only a pity that Tianyi couldn''t form sword light yet. He could mimic sword light by using his qi to form sword qi, but that was a bastardized version at best. Once again, Tianyi discovered that his talent in the sword wasn''t as great as his mother''s. He heard that some Core Formation Realm disciples within the sect could create sword light already. Tianyi frowned when he noticed that a Nascent Soul Realm equivalent demon was nearing him. Just as he was about to unleash a blast that would pulverize the incoming demon ten times over, he noticed that the demon was chasing two female cultivators. He didn''t stop his attack, he just controlled it more. Tianyi pointed to fingers at the demon, and a spiraling beam created from his true qi of chaos was unleashed. The demon never stood a chance, and his head and torso were instantly vaporized. The rest of its body began to dissolve as well due to the corrosive nature of Tianyi''s qi. "Thank you, Prince Xi! You saved my life!" "Senior Xi, I was saved by you again." Tianyi had to fight an urge to grimace as he noticed who he had saved. The one who spoke first in an energetic voice was Bai Weiwei, and the calmer one was Bai Ningwei. Just as he was about to speak, the shadow below the three of them enlarged by tens of meters and caused the surrounding ground to become the color of pure darkness. Two demonic eyes could be seen from the shadows, and a raspy, almost shrilly voice could be heard. "I finally got you, I''ll send the three of you to the Nether Realm!" Tianyi instantly felt all his instincts go into overdrive as he the aura of a demon equivalent to a Nascent Soul Realm. He could feel tendrils creeping out of the shadow and binding his feet. Instantly, his soul began to feel phantom pain from when the Dragon Emperor unleashed the soul attack against him. "No!" Tianyi screamed as if reliving that moment. Chapter 180: Rage at Seeing Her Death a Second Time Ragingflame Crow felt humiliated. He was an esteemed demon that had begun to harmonize with heaven and earth, yet these humans were able to suppress him even after he sealed off the spiritual qi of heaven and earth from them. Flametailed Peacock and Ash Flame Crow were right. These immortals had numerous tricks and treasures that allowed them to resist and suppress him, but Ragingflame Crow wasn''t without options. "Nightmare Heart, attack now!" He ordered using his spiritual sense in an attempt to catch them off guard. Ragingflame Crow continued to resist the combined onslaught from the top disciples, waiting for his secret weapon to attack. Xia Yushan, Daoist Moneybag, Hun Jusang, Bing Huoyuan, and the other disciples seemed to have set their minds on exterminating the Unity Realm level demon in front of them. It didn''t take a genius to figure out that they were enraged by him killing over a hundred of their fellow disciples. "Nightmare Heart, what''s taking you so long?!" Ragingflame Crow commanded once more. He had deliberately positioned the cultivators assaulting him within a certain radius so that Nightmare Heart''s range would encompass all of them. However, he was not sure how much longer he could hold them down. Ragingflame Crow turned towards where he sensed the qi of Nightmare Heart and widened his eyes. An explosive pillar of black qi had erupted, seeming as it wanted to shroud the very skies. That pillar soon turned into a colossal humanoid with numerous weapons of all types floating behind it. What was more important was that Nightmare Heart was being grasped in its hand, and he could feel Nightmare Heart''s qi quickly weakening by the second. Nightmare Heart was a unique demon from the Golden Crow Clan. He did not possess the yang bloodline of the rest of the clan, in fact, it barely existed in his body. Instead, he developed his powers towards the soul. Among all the demons Ragingflame Crow knew, Nightmare Heart was unique, and even Golden Crow Ancestor paid special attention to him. "STOP!" Raging Flame Crow roared and broke out of the top disciple''s encirclement before soaring towards the cosmic giant. If Nightmare Heart died, the loss would be equal to that of losing an elder like him. He cursed Nightmare Heart for not obeying his instructions and wandering away from him.
Tianyi immediately formed his cosmic mantle, causing the shadow that had coiled around his feet to dissolve. Then, just as he was about to release more true of qi chaos to form a cosmic giant, his surroundings suddenly changed. Gone was the battered land where the battle between demons and cultivators took place, and in its place was a clinically white room with the stench of disinfectant filling the air. Tianyi didn''t even need to glance at the face covered by the white cloth to know it was his mom. Tianyi''s eyes grew cold as qi began to black gaseous qi exploded from his body. He had deliberately not attempted Paradise Agony Abyss because he did not want to see such a scene. True, he was a little miffed that his score was so low, especially with a dark horse like Sheng Ni appearing, but how could this little bit of pride compare to his mom? He knew that it was nothing more than an illusion and his true mom from Earth had already entered the cycle of reincarnation ¡ªmaybe she already reincarnated¡ªbut Tianyi did not want to see such a scene. Looking at it was like taking a dull knife and scraping chunks out of his heart. Rage boiled within Tianyi life never before. Before, when he saw the scene, it was of his own volition since he attempted the trail of Paradise Agony Abyss, but for someone else to force the scene onto him? Unforgivable! Like a crack on a mirror, the scene that Tianyi saw became filled with countless fractures that spread all around him, the walls were filled with cracks, the windows, even the bed sheets and drapes had cracks. Soon, bits and pieces of shards fell from the fractures, revealing parts of the bloody landscape once more. Tianyi roared and the illusion completely shattered. Tianyi turned his eyes towards the perpetrator of the illusion. Compared to the illusion in Paradis Agony Abyss, the illusion was far too weak, but he had been struck due to the hole in his psyche when he panicked. Even if he easily broke free of it, that did not make Tianyi any happier. In fact, his mind was so overtaken by rage that his mind was unprecedently clear. In the next instant, Tianyi formed a cosmic giant far faster than he had ever condensed previously and stared down upon the crow demon. The crow demon had nightmarish red eyes with feathers that seemed to absorb all light. Rather than black, the color resembled a hole in reality. Sensing that the situation was not as he expected, Nightmare Heart was filled with fear. Since his infancy, his special talent had been unrivaled, and only those of higher realms could even resist his esoteric attacks. First, he would break his foes using an illusion, then his true attack came. Once his prey was broken, their souls were his. Nightmare Heart had spotted two sisters with exceptional souls. He felt that if he could devour their souls, his realm would increase by leaps and bounds. So he had waited when the cultivator using dual ice and fire had been lured away before striking. Who would have expected that the two would be so lucky and dodge his opening strike? The two fled towards a nascent soul grandmaster, but Nightmare Heart was not afraid. Although the cultivator was in the Nascent Soul Realm, it felt as if it was distant and faint. Nightmare Heart guessed the cultivator''s soul must have been injured somehow, making him even less worried or he had just entered the Nascent Soul Realm. Thus, he struck. To his surprise, the weaker of the two sisters managed to break out of the illusion shortly, while the stronger was stuck. As for the injured nascent soul grandmaster, Nightmare Heart hadn''t paid much attention to him. That was the first and last mistake he would ever make. And now, a giant energy body was staring down on him, its body just reeking of destructive qi. Nightmare Heart''s instinct flared up as it had never done before in his life. Every fiber of his being was telling him to escape. So he did. The only demon he knew that could fend against the cosmic giant was Elder Ragingflame Crow, so Nightmare Heart flew towards the demon elder. Nightmare Heart''s became a shadow once more and sunk into the ground or at least tried to. With speed unbefitting of its size, the cosmic giant''s hand reached and out grasped the crow demon within its fingers.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "Elder, save me!!" Nightmare Heart cried out and pleaded to Ragingflame Crow, his voice filled with unconcealed terror. Tianyi brought the crow demon towards the cosmic giant''s face and said, "You should have never shown me that illusion." And then squeezed. Nightmare Heart''s body was instantly pulverized, and his soul wasn''t faring much better as Tianyi''s corrosive true qi of chaos began to dissolve his soul and convert it into pure energy. There was a terrible shriek that would birth numerous nightmares as Nightmare Heart''s consciousness and soul were continuously being torn little by little. Everything seemed to have happened in an instant, but to Nightmare Heart, the process seemed to have taken years. Within Tianyi''s hand, Nightmare Heart and the world around him slowed to a crawl. Or to be more specific, his thought process sped up several times. But that only made it worse for him. The elite descendant of the Golden Crow Clan could feel every fiber, every cell of his body as it was being destroyed one by one. It was as if an ant was biting one tiny piece off, one at a time. He could even feel pain from his feather being shredded by his captor''s true qi of chaos. It was already excruciating enough to madden the demon, but the worse part was the pain from his soul. His soul was experiencing the same process as fleshly body, but the pain was magnified to an unimaginable degree. It was as his very existence was being eroded away, one microscopic bite at a time. It was to the point that he began regretting attacking the two cultivators, regretting ever being allured by Elder Ragingflame Crow''s lies, regret being talented in soul methods, and regret ever being born. When the last portion of his soul could no longer sustain the terrible loss and collapsed within itself, killing Nightmare Crow, he welcomed it with relief. By this point, Nightmare Crow had lost his sense of identity, and all knew he was pain. His memories were all replaced by the torture in the last moments of his life. Tianyi had destroyed any chance of Nightmare Heart reincarnating or fleeing and possessing a new body. If he could, Tianyi wanted to slowly torture Nightmare Heart, but the situation wouldn''t allow it, so that was why Tianyi allowed him a "swift" death. "NOOO!!" Ragingflame Crow roared as his flaming body crashed into the cosmic giant. Flames began surging forward and encased the demon, enlarging his size comparable to Tianyi''s cosmic giant. At the same time, the flames began to spurt onto the cosmic giant in an attempt to encapsulate the giant. "You''ll pay for this." Ragingflame Crow roared, and flames burst forth from it and shrouded Tianyi''s cosmic giant even more, blasting the front in a fiery inferno. However, the raging red flames were soon dyed black as they were broken down and absorb by Tianyi''s cosmic giant. Tianyi had expected the flames to be difficult to break down, but against his expectations, they weren''t. "You must be the leaders of these demons," Tianyi said, his voice thundering from the cosmic giant''s mouth. "I am Ragingflame Crow, and today you will die for your sins!" The Golden Crow Clan elder roared as he flapped his wings and began clawing at the cosmic giant. The cosmic giant snorted and reached behind it to grab a sword that seemed to be from the Vast Void. "No, you will." Tianyi coldly said, his heart was still burning furiously with the image of his dead mom in the hospital bed. He had killed the perpetrator, but his anger was not yet quenched. Tianyi forwent any techniques and skills. Instead, he used the brute strength of his cosmic giant and brawled with the Unity Realm level demon. The Golden Crow Clan elder used every technique it had and tried to incinerate the cosmic giant. However, he soon learned what Demon General Earth Burning Venom Serpent felt as he continued to be entangled with Tianyi. "Don''t interfere!" Tianyi shouted at Xia Yushan, Daoist Moneybag, and the other top disciples who were closing in. The top disciples shared a look with each other, and upon seeing Tianyi holding his own and not suffering any losses, they targeted the other demons. Xia Yushan gave Tianyi a contemplative look before joining the fray with the others. Due to Ragingflame Crow''s sudden sneak attack, the morale of the cultivators had plummeted. Not only that, their formations and line of defense had collapsed, allowing the demons to gain the upper hand in the battle. A few disciples had even died to the demons during the situation, but now with Xia Yushan and other top disciples'' involvement, the situation was being reversed once more. Raging Flame Crow roared once more and tried to harm Tianyi, only to discover that he barely accomplish anything. His eyes glanced and saw the worsening situations for the demons. Gritting his beak, he made a beeline for the cultivators and soared away from Tianyi. The cosmic giant also moved with surprising speed, appearing in front of the Raging Flame Crow and crushing a few demons under its food while it did so. Its hand reached out to grab the Unity Realm level demon''s wings, but the crow demon suddenly decreased in size until it was a third of its size. The cosmic giant''s hand missed Ragingflame Crow as the demon brushed past him towards a group of unsuspecting cultivators. Tianyi frowned and moved to block Ragingflame Crow, but he discovered that his speed was inferior to the Golden Crow Clan elder. Tianyi dispersed the cosmic giant, and a black mist formed of his true qi of chaos began to cover the whole battlefield. Ragingflame Crow ignored the mist as it couldn''t pierce his defensive flames. Tianyi didn''t plan for it to hurt the demon and instead began to form his Chaos Refining Formation. Upon sensing the congealing qi mist, Raging Flame Crow immediately flew away and out with his superior speed, causing Tianyi''s plan to fail. The situation was turning for the worse as more and more disciples were being wiped out. Tianyi had already ordered Daoyi and Xi Ri to return to the immortal boat. Tianyi tapped the jade pendant on his waist, and nine illusionary mountains and seas descended onto the battlefield, encasing all within. Next, Tianyi controlled the sea of time to descend through silver streams towards almost all the cultivators and began reversing their injuries. Raging Flame Crow roared in displeasure, but his speed had been cut in half after the Mountains and Seas Formation had descended. He had half a mind to escape, but upon seeing that Tianyi''s was out of the cosmic giant, he made a decision. Using his spiritual senses, he ordered the demons to retreat. Most of the demons here were his subordinate he had ordered to ambushed the cultivators, but he never expected that even with their numbers, they would lose so tragically without his intervention. Upon receiving his order, all the demons abandoned all forms of attack and started to flee. It was not that the demons did not hold thoughts of fleeing, but they were incapable of disregarding Ragingflame Crow''s orders. Then Ragingflame Crow began to shrink until he was only about five meters tall and his wingspan fourteen meters. Flapping his wings, the Golden Crow Clan elder became a red shooting star and shot towards Tianyi. Even if he failed in his goal, he would take down the cultivator that killed Nightmare Heart. Otherwise, he wouldn''t be able to explain it to his fellow elders, and more importantly, Golden Crow Ancestor. Tianyi didn''t move as he saw the incoming red streak. Instead, the cosmic mantle formed atop of him once more. He raised his palm high into the air and began to concentrate. The space around him began to distort as if Tianyi was ripping a portion of the Demon Cage Realm''s dimensional boundaries. He had been analyzing his battle against Demon General Earth Burning General for the past year and developed a few tactics to counter Unity Realm experts. Of course, the first and simplest way was to disconnect from heaven and earth. Luckily, Tianyi was rather skilled in spacetime. Forming the Chaos Refining Formation was too slow, so Tianyi thought of another method, but he had yet to perfect the new technique. Once Ragingflame Crow neared him, Tianyi slapped down, and a spatial bubble appeared around him. Simultaneously, his other hand reached out and grabbed Ragingflame Crow''s beak. The skin around his hands began to shred, revealing slits of his inner cosmos and causing his true qi of chaos to leak out. It seemed as if time and space had frozen, and everything returned to silence. There was no wind, color, or even movement, just silence. The phenomenon didn''t just occur within the spatial bubble formed by Tianyi, but all around him for hundreds of kilometres, everything was silenced. Chapter 181: End of the Battle + Poll Slowly, one by one, all the cultivators and demons on the battlefield regained their sight and vision. Even so, their sight was filled with spots, their ears were ringing, and a sense of nausea caused them unable to fly or stand straight. Xia Yushan made a retching sound, but nothing came out of his mouth. It had to be known that when a cultivator reached the Core Formation Realm or Acupoint Opening Realm, they had reached a point of total mastery of their body, and nausea was practically impossible. However, the shockwaves of Tianyi''s attack from earlier had allowed these mighty cultivators to feel as if they had reverted to ordinary mortals once more. After finally suppressing the uncomfortable feeling resulting from Tianyi''s clash with the Unity Realm level demon, Xia Yushan surveyed the surrounding. He saw that many cultivators and demons were still too affected even to bother continuing combat, and then he looked towards the origin of the clash. High in the air, Tianyi was panting like a man who had almost drowned to death. His clothes were full of tears and holes even though the materials used to refine them were at the Immortal Realm, and for the first time in years, Tianyi felt fatigued. Not just mental fatigued, but physical fatigue. His previous attack had exceeded all his expectations. The attack, which he temporarily called Spacetime Collapse, had drained over seventy percent of his qi instantly. Tianyi had never planned to use so much in one attack. Once he had unleashed the attack, the mechanism behind the attack began to evolve and move on its own as if it was following some unknown law outside of Tianyi''s control, causing the extreme power. During that instant, Tianyi saw the boundaries of the Demon Cage Realm tear, with wormholes leading to the Vast Void, which all the realms of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System existed in. Luckily, Tianyi''s strength had allowed him to resist the suction of the Vast Void and anchor himself within the Demon Cage Realm long enough for the dimensional tears to heal. Ragingflame Crow, on the other hand, wasn''t as lucky. That wasn''t to say that Ragingflame Crow had been sucked into the Vast Void, but he almost had. As a result, one of his wings and a portion of his torso was severed and missing. This wasn''t just a matter of his body part being torn, but something more esoteric. "Hrahhh!!" Ragingflame Crow yelled as flames burst from his wound. He wasn''t proficient in healing or regeneration, but using the concept of immortal flames, he still had some means. However, to his shock and horror, his missing body parts did not regenerate. Ragingflame Crow even felt that his current state of having only one wing was his natural state. It wasn''t just Ragingflame Crow''s body that had been damaged, but his soul. As a result, his body and soul''s natural state had been changed into his current form, and healing such a wound would be near impossible with the demon''s power. The only reason he had yet to discover it yet was that the damage was brought about by the natural laws of the realm. Because the dimensional tear had been closed by the natural laws of the Demon Cage Realm when it bifurcated Rangingflame Crow''s body, it was considered an attack from the realm itself, thus the aftereffects. Feeling the greatest sense of crisis in his life, Ragingflame Crow ignored everything and fled. He forgot about the death of Nightmare Heart and the numerous demons still on the battlefield. Ragingflame Crow''s only desire was to escape from the terrifying Tianyi. He wanted vengeance, but he would only attain vengeance if he were still alive. Recalling his fellow elders'' words, Ragingflame Crow felt like slapping himself with his missing wing. If only he had taken their words more seriously, he would not have underestimated the cultivators and landed in his current situation. Ragingflame Crow became a flaming meteor once more, only this time, he was fleeing as fast as possible from Tianyi and the rest of the cultivators. Tianyi slowly exhaled as he coldly watched Ragingflame Crow flee. He had never felt so empty before, and even his generation of qi had become a fraction of what it once was. In his current state, he had no confidence in slaying the Unity Realm level demon. Even if he didn''t, there was someone else who was. "Come back here demon and face your judgment!" Xia Yushan yelled as he chased after the fleeing Ragingflame Crow. Not just him, but several of the disciples eyeing Ragingflame Crow from afar before Tianyi had made a move also gave chase. The body of Unity Realm level demon was a treasure trove to disciples like them. Even if they offended Tianyi, it would be worth it in their opinions. However, this only applied to Xia Yushan and the weaker disciples. The top elite disciples would naturally be given resources at the Unity Realm, while Xia Yushan sought the blood that flowed in the crow demon''s body. Tianyi himself didn''t give chase and instead returned to the immortal boat. In his eyes, the corpse of a Unity Realm demon wasn''t worth that much. "Tianyi, are you alright?" Daoyi immediately asked after Tianyi landed. "What happened?" Xi Ri asked soon after. "Nothing much, one of the demons had some soul techniques, and I was struck. It wasn''t much, and I easily broke out of it," Tianyi lightly said, but both Daoyi and Xi Ri could tell Tianyi wasn''t in a good mood. "After I killed him, that Unity Realm equivalent demon attacked me. I guess the demon with the soul abilities was quite valuable." Tianyi didn''t explain what occurred to him when the soul technique struck him and what happened afterward, but both Daoyi and Xi Ri could tell that something must have happened. When Tianyi finished explaining that the last explosion was a result of his newest technique, he said, "Alright, you two drive the immortal boat. I need to recuperate my qi." Both Daoyi and Xi Ri looked at Tianyi in shock. The inexhaustible qi generating monster known as Tianyi needed to actually recover his qi? Was that move really that powerful? Daoyi and Xi Ri had watched the events from inside the protection of the immortal boat. Except for the loud explosion and blinding, nothing seemed different. It didn''t even look a little bit like the apocalypse at all. In fact, they feared the shockwaves from Leviathan Ancestor more.Stolen story; please report. Tianyi felt his lips twitching at Daoyi and Xi Ri''s expression and actions, but he didn''t say anything in the end. He returned to his room within the immortal boat and laid down on the bed. Earlier, when he unleashed his technique, the profundities of his technique explosively increased and ran out of control, but thanks to that, Tianyi was able to gain deeper insight into the concept of spacetime. Not to mention he also directly observed the dimensional boundary repairing itself. With that experience, Tianyi felt that as long as he ruminated for a while, his mastery of spacetime would increase. Tianyi wanted to comprehend the concept of spacetime he had been exposed to and merged them into his budding dao. When cultivators reached an advanced enough understanding of a concept of the world''s laws, they could integrate and form a dao seed from which their dao would sprout. Mengfei had used the concept of man, earth, and heaven to form her Dao of Heaven, Earth, and Man. Usually, this step would begin at the Immortal Realm. Hence it was also alternatively called the Dao Seeking Realm. Still, in the long history of the Huang Realm, there have been some cases of the process beginning at the Nascent Soul Realm. Tianyi hadn''t planned on forming his dao seed now, but the benefits he reaped allowed him to condense a preliminary form of it. But before that, there was something more urgent he had to do. Closing his eyes, Tianyi inspected his inner cosmos. With over seventy percent of his true qi of chaos gone, the generation of his qi had drastically slowed down. Tianyi had originally thought his nine spiritual core were the source of his true qi of chaos, but he realized that he was only partly right upon closer inspection. He discovered that his true qi of chaos was actually naturally generating more qi by itself! Cutlvaitors could only produce true qi when they formed their spiritual cores, and all sources of true qi came from their core. To speed up the production of true qi, cultivators absorbed spiritual qi and converted it to true qi, but there has never been a case of true qi producing true qi. To do so went against the laws set down by the Heavenly Dao. Tianyi knew that such a thing should have been impossible. This wasn''t mentioned at all in Primordial Heavenly Scripture. Could it be a unique feature of my Nine-Five Scripture? I''ll have to confirm when Ba Shifang enters the Core Formation Realm. The Dao produced one, one produced two, two produced three. Tianyi recalled the excerpt from the Dao De Jing. Perhaps an immortal monarch who had completed their dao would be able to accomplish such a feat, but Tianyi was still a nascent soul grandmaster. Logically, such a phenomenon should not occur within Tianyi. Tianyi closed his eyes and began to observe the process of how his inner cosmos operated. He had thought he had understood everything about his inner cosmos but realized he was wrong. Perhaps it was newfound mastery of spacetime that resulted in all this. Nevertheless, Tianyi had a feeling that as long as he understood everything about his inner cosmos, the path to the next realm should be illuminated to him. While Tianyi was cultivating in his room, the battle outside had begun to reach a conclusion. With Ragingflame Crow demon fleeing, the morale of the demons plummeted. Once all the demons were slain or fled, the disciples from the various sect gathered and searched for the corpses of their fallen brothers and sister. To their shock and surprise, none of them could find any corpses, not even their clothes. "That damn demon, not even leaving behind a full body to be buried!" One of the disciples cursed. None of the disciples thought it was strange that there weren''t any bodies left behind. Of course, some may suspect something was strange, but without proof, they could only attribute it to Ragingflame Crow''s destructive power. When Xia Yushan and the others who chased after the fleeing demon elder returned, none of their faces were good. Despite their best efforts, Ragingflame Crow still managed to escape their encirclement. Logically speaking, such an occurrence was only natural because their target was a Unity Realm level expert, but after seeing Tianyi''s fight against Ragingflame Crow, they all felt a sense of inferiority and unwillingness. Why was the difference so big? As participants of the Demon Slaying Expedition, they were all elite disciples of their sect and had great confidence in themselves. In their minds, even if it were the disciples of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, the difference should not be too significant. However, reality showed them how vast the gulf was. Repelling and defeating a Unity Realm level expert as a nascent soul grandmaster were two completely different concepts. For Xia Yushan, he felt an unspeakable emotion burning within him. He still recalled when Tianyi was still a foundation establishment disciple. Although Tianyi had been outstanding then, the difference wasn''t so pronounced then. Now, however... A sense of urgency flickered within Xia Yushan''s eyes. In his view, although some of the top disciples of the vassal sects were comparable to him, that was only currently. In the future, he would surpass eventually, but Tianyi was different. Just the incomprehensible power Tianyi displayed before showed that the difference between would only grow larger. In Xia Yushan''s mind, there was no doubt that Tianyi would have the power of an earth immortal when he entered the Unity Realm. The heavens aren''t fair. If I weren''t born as that bastard''s son, if I were born as Grand Elder Xi''s son, that strength would have been mine! Why is it he that was born as Grand Elder Xi''s son? If it were me, I would have surpassed him. My willpower is far above him, my accomplishment would supersede his! Isn''t it just a difference in birth? I''ll show you, no matter how good your birth is, the most important matter is yourself! Sensing that his emotions were running out of control, even beginning to develop a sense of murderous intent towards Tianyi, Xia Yushan quickly chanted the visualization technique that Sect Master Xia bestowed upon him. Soon after, he felt his mind clear and the burning sensation within him cool. It was a pity. If he had managed to slay the Unity Realm level demon, his goal would have been accomplished. Even though Ragingflame Crow focused on fire rather than yang, just his status as a Unity Realm level existence would have allowed Xia Yushan to extract enough yang essence from his blood. Shaking his head, Xia Yushan turned his head towards the rest of the disciples. Because of Ragingflame Crow''s action, he had many matters to clean up, such as counting the casualties and maintaining morale. No matter how powerful he was, he didn''t dare to assault the Golden Crow Clan by himself. And it was likely this was the safest possible distance they could reach without incurring the Golden Crow Clan''s ancestor''s retaliation. Not to mention, he had to placate the vassal sects'' disciples. Although they had all agreed to the plan and understood the risks, it was unavoidable that they would develop animosity towards him after today''s losses. As someone who was skilled and had experience in such matters, Xia Yushan knew that the longer he delayed, the worse the situation would become. "My fellow daoists..." Xia Yushan said after he gathered the top disciples of each sect, including his own. Even Daoyi and Xi Ri appeared, but Tianyi remained in his immortal boat, something that almost caused Xia Yushan''s negative emotions to flare up once more. However, he quickly suppressed it, he could not afford to act willfully.
"Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!!" Ragingflame Crow screamed as fire erupted around him, burning the vibrant leaves of the tree he was on. Two weeks had passed since the disastrous operation, and he had been continually trying to heal his wound, but nothing he tried worked. Perhaps only his ancestor could heal his injuries, but Ragingflame Crow was too ashamed to face the clan''s reverent ancestor. "Ragingflame Crow, are you done throwing your tantrum?" A serene voice said, causing Ragingflame Crow''s bird face to grimace. He looked up to see Flametailed Peacock and Ashflame Crow descending onto his parasol tree. If Golden Crow Ancestor was the demon he didn''t want to see the most, then his two fellow elders were the demons he didn''t want to face second. "What do you two want," Ragingflame Crow sulkily said, not daring to meet the two''s eyes. Chapter 182: Golden Crow Clan’s Decision [author] Wow, you guys really didn''t like the idea of the title being Tianyi, lol. Anyways, one of my patrons gave me a good idea: Reincarnated as the Strongest Young Master. The original title, This Young Master is not Cannon Fodder, fits the early arcs of the story, but my story has deviated away from the title. How do you guys feel about the title suggested by my patron, or do you have better ideas? I''ll probably put a poll for it on Monday.[/author] "Hmpf, after your mistake, do you think you can still speak so arrogantly?" Ashflame Crow''s said, his ink-black eyes narrowing dangerously. "Ashflame, don''t be too hard on him. It''s not like Ragingflame led ten thousand demons, nearly a fifth of our forces, against the immortals and lost them all, including Nightmare Heart." Flametailed Peacock said, her voice frighteningly calm. "Oh wait, you did just that." Ragingflame Crow grunted. He was highly displeased by his two fellow elders'' attitude, but what could he do? However, he wasn''t willing to endure too much, and when he finally couldn''t take it anymore of his fellow elders'' passive-aggressiveness, he retorted. "If both of you had helped, the situation wouldn''t have devolved to this state." "We warned you about the immortal''s might, but now you''re blaming us?" Ashflame Crow said, displeased by the blame in Ragingflame Crow''s words. "Don''t be too harsh on him. After all, he is still too immature." Flametailed Peacock said, still treating Ragingflame Crow like a kid who didn''t understand the world of adults. Although the words seemed to aim to dispel the conflict, Ragingflame Crow could hear the ridicule within them. "Hmpf, out of all the immortals, only one was worthy of danger. The others couldn''t harm me at all!" Ragingflame Crow said, his irritation leading to his temper exploding. "Harm?" Flametailed Peacock said, her head swiveling towards Ragingflame Crow. "But you couldn''t harm the strong ones either, right?" "..." Ragingflame Crow stayed silent as he recalled Xia Yushan, Daoist Moneybag, Hun Jusang, Bing Huoyuan, and many more. It was true that they teamed up and couldn''t harm him, but neither could he harm them. With that group of cultivators interfering, he had no chance at eliminating the weaker cultivators after his sneak attack. Truthfully, Ragingflame Crow felt that their chances of actually defeating the top disciples were meager. If all three elders had attacked, then they might be able to kill the weaker disciples, but the chances of killing the top disciples were still low. "Not only that, but Nightmare Heart died. Nightmare Heart was the most promising demon after Sunfeather, the descendant that inherited the ancestor''s blood the most." At the mention of Sunfeather Crow by Ashflame Crow, all three elders'' faces distorted. Sunfeather Crow was a demon that had been born over three hundred years ago. At birth, the yang essence within him was extremely potent. With enough time, he had the chance of becoming the next true demon of the Golden Crow Clan, but that all went down the drain when he was killed by a cultivator of the demon cage realm. That incident resulted in the Golden Crow Clan launching a massacre that killed over fifty percent of the humans within their territory and the surrounding territories. Unfortunately, they weren''t able to personally witness the perpetrator. Although the Golden Crow Clan was able to deal a fatal blow to the perpetrator, so the cultivator should have long died by now. The one who was most outraged was Ashflame Crow as Sunfeather was his most prized descendant. At most, it was only a small comfort. To this day, there has yet to be a demon born that inherited Golden Crow Ancestor''s bloodline as much as Sunfeather Crow. Suddenly, all three of them turned their heads towards the highest mountain with smoke coming out of the peak, Sun Origin Mountain. The mountain was a volcano and the most sacred land of the Golden Crow Clan not only because it was Golden Crow Ancestor''s lair and birthplace, but it had the effect of nourishing yang and fire attribute to those who entered. "The ancestor is summoning us," Ashflame Crow said, causing his fellow two elders to nod. Ragingflame Crow had an ugly expression, but he quickly schooled it. He would have worried if only he were summoned, but since Ashflame Crow and Flametailed Peacock had also been summoned, that meant it wasn''t a trial for the death of Nightmare Heart and the thousands of demons that died because of him. Without delay, all three of them flew toward Sun Origin Mountain. The three Unity Realm level demons didn''t enter by flying into the mouth of the volcano. Instead, they entered through the cave wide enough for flight at the side of the volcano. At first, the air was cool, but that soon changed the deeper they were until the rocks were glowing a fiery red. When they reached the center, they saw nine more elders already present. With the addition of Ragingflame Crow, Ashflame Crow, and Flametailed Peacock, all twelve of the Golden Crow Clan''s demon elders had arrived. Some of the elders present spared Ragingflame Crow a glance, and within their eyes was mockery, disdain, sympathy, and much much more. Ragingflame Crow knew that had it not been for the ancestor''s summon, they would have no doubt started mocking him, especially Serenewave Raven. Serenewave Raven did not inherit the yang or fire attribute that most of the Golden Crow Clan had, but a mutated water attribute. This caused Serenewave Raven''s relationship with his fellow demons to be rather poor, especially with Ragingflame Crow. The two rivals locked eyes as electricity seemed to spark between them before averting their gaze at the same time. They were incompatible as fire and water.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Since all twelve elders had arrived, Golden Crow Ancestor did not prolong the wait. He wasn''t the type to lead people on, which was why he immediately summoned the elders after Leviathan Ancestor contacted him. However, some things must be addressed. "Ragingflame Crow, I heard that ten thousand descendants and Nightmare Heart perished under your orders." The voice was surprisingly calm as if Golden Crow Ancestor was just asking about the weather, but the majesty within could not be hidden. If Ragingflame Crow were a human, his whole body would have been doused in sweat. Even now, his body seemed to deflate, and his head unconsciously lowered, not even daring to meet Golden Crow Ancestor''s eyes. Against all odds, he managed to keep his voice steady. "Yes, I will accept whatever punishment ancestor has prepared." Golden Crow Ancestor nodded, not denying the punishment. "Indeed, you are wrong. Had you waited, you might have accomplished your goals." There was a pause before Ragingflame Crow timidly raised his head. What did the ancestor mean by that? Golden Crow Ancestor had already diverted his focus away from Ragingflame Crow and addressed all the elders present. "Leviathan Ancestor contacted me moments ago." The progenitor of the Golden Crow Clan allowed his words to sink in. It was unusual for the three true demons of the Demon Cage Realm to contact one another, at least to the elder''s knowledge. For the Golden Crow Ancestor to mention it, something big must have been brewing. "Leviathan Ancestor plans to hunt down the invaders of Demon Heaven." Golden Crow Ancestor once again allowed his words to sink in before continuing. "He will be mobilizing most of his clan members. In total, he will send around thrice our numbers." All the elders present sucked in a cold breath. The Golden Crow Clan had around a hundred thousand descendants at the Core Formation Realm level and above, ninety thousand now after Ragingflame Crow''s mistake, but that didn''t matter. Leviathan Ancestor planning to send thrice that amount, three hundred thousand, was a huge commitment. "Not only that, he will even offer treasures and resources only available to his territory should we agree to cooperate." At the mention of the resources exclusive to the Leviathan Clan, the elders present couldn''t help but feel their hearts move at the offer. Although water attribute materials were at odds with the Golden Crow Clan''s yang and fire attributes, that didn''t mean water attribute resources weren''t helpful. In fact, they were extremely beneficial. Yang and fire attribute was explosive, and the chances of entering cultivation deviation or injuring oneself were high. If the Golden Crow Clan had certain water attribute treasures, it would not be an exaggeration to say the whole clan''s strength might rise to another level. Before, Leviathan Ancestor had always refused the Golden Crow Clan''s offer of trading for the water attribute resources, so the elders present couldn''t help but wonder what changed. They didn''t think it was specifically the immortals'' descent. After all, this wasn''t the first time they had invaded the Demon Cage Realm. After pondering, they reached the conclusion that one of the immortals must have offended Leviathan Ancestor or hold some sort of treasure or object that was extremely beneficial to Leviathan Ancestor, prompting him to make such a significant movement. "However," Golden Crow Ancestor interrupted their thoughts, his voice severe. "Hunting down the invaders won''t be without any risks. As you know, I cannot leave the core territory whenever the immortals descend, so you will have to judge the situation yourself. Not to mention that the immortals'' foundation is deeper than ours. If they are pushed to the brink, there is no guarantee that you will be able to guard against their trump cards." "Ancestor, even if it means sacrificing my life, I will make sure to make them pay for their massacre of our clan members!" Ragingflame Crow was the first to speak. First, he wanted to wipe away the shame of his defeat. Second, he wanted revenge on the cultivators. Three thousand years ago, his parents had been killed by the cultivators. "I haven''t agreed to Leviathan Ancestor''s proposal yet. Even if I have, you will not participate." Golden Crow Ancestor said, his tone not fluctuating at all as he gazed at Ragingflame Crow. "With your injured state, you are a liability. You are worth more alive, so quickly heal yourself." "When I''m healed, can I join the assault?" Ragingflame Crow asked, deliberately ignoring the fact that Golden Crow Ancestor said that he hadn''t agreed to Leviathan Ancestor''s proposal. In his eyes, it would be a stupid move to turn down Leviathan Ancestor''s proposal. The gains far outweighed the risks. Even if half the remaining ninety thousand Core Formation Realm level demons and above died, it would be worth it if even two more elders were created. And with the Leviathan Clan''s exclusive resources, there was a chance that those who were only a hair''s grasp away would enter the equivalent of the cultivator''s Unity Realm. The lifespans of demons and humans were different. Demons cultivated slower than humans, but they also had a longer lifespan. "That is your punishment for your careless actions. You allowed your emotions to dictate your actions beyond the acceptable boundaries." Golden Crow Ancestor emotionlessly rejected Ragingflame Crow''s heartfelt desires. "But!" Ragingflame Crow cried out, wanting to object, but upon seeing the Golden Crow Ancestor''s emotionless gaze, he could only swallow his words and turn silent. "Now, as I''ve said before, I have yet to agree to Leviathan Ancestor''s demands. I already said the risks, now all of you will vote, yes or no. Whichever decision has the support of the majority, I will follow. In the end, it is you elders who will handle the attack on the invaders should you agree. I won''t be of much help, so choose wisely." Golden Crow Ancestor said. Ragingflame Crow immediately put his vote towards yes. Even if he couldn''t participate, he wanted to deal a blow to the cultivators who killed his parents. If he could become a true demon, he would have long tried to break the seal on the Demon Cage Realm and look for his parent''s killers. Including Ragingflame Crow, nine out of the twelve elders chose yes, cementing the agreement with Leviathan Ancestor''s proposal. "Serenewave, why did you choose no, you coward? No wonder you haven''t made any advancements for the past thousand years with your timid nature." Ragingflame Crow mocked upon seeing Serenewave Raven choose no. "Hmpf, I prefer to err on the side of caution. I''m not a hotheaded idiot who got ten percent of the clan''s demons killed." Serenewave Raven ridiculed, refusing to show any weakness. "You!" Ragingflame Crow said as fire began to appear on his body. "Enough, have you two forgotten in whose presence you are in?" Ashflame Crow said, his wings unfurled and the ash-grey flames burning dangerously at both ends. Immediately, both Ragingflame Crow and Serenewave Raven quieted and apologized. Although Ashflame Crow wasn''t the strongest or the oldest, he was the most dangerous of all the elders. His unique ash flame could turn his targets into literal ash. The effect was near-instantaneous on those on the same level and weaker than him. "Thank you, Ashflame." Golden Crow Ancestor said. "I''m only doing my duty, Ancestor." Ashflame Crow said with great humility. "You can all return, I will speak to Leviathan Ancestor. According to the situation, Leviathan Ancestor''s clan members will all arrive in four to five years. He also gave the same proposal to the Jade Rabbit Clan, so the time we strike at the cultivators is not set in stone." Golden Crow Ancestor said as he submerged himself back into the magma. Chapter 183: One Year When Tianyi opened his eyes, it seemed as if his room was bathed in darkness. If one squinted, they could see tiny motes of light within that darkness. However, that was all just a feeling, and the darkness soon receded from the room, returning everything to normal. Tianyi got off the bed and looked at his reflection. He had already changed out of his torn purple robe into a clean set of clothing, black in color, but Tianyi didn''t focus on that. Instead, he focused on his eyes. His eyes seemed to have no change, still resembling endless darkness filled with countless little star-like lights, but now, Tianyi could vaguely discern his nine spiritual cores within them. Clenching his hands, he felt that his understanding had increased. Although there was no increase in his realm, Tianyi understood now that he had a better grasp of his powers. If before, he could utilize fifty percent of his power perfectly, Tianyi felt that he could use seventy percent perfectly now. Tianyi hadn''t minded the consumption of his true qi of chaos and never fretted over how much he wasted his qi, but he realized how wrong that is now. Perhaps it wouldn''t matter if he entered the Unity Realm, but Tianyi had a vague instinct that if he attempted to undergo the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation without being able to utilize all his strength, he would be destined to fail. Tianyi had thought that he had understood his inner cosmos enough, especially after he integrated the Thirty-Six Heavenly Constellation Art into his Nine-Five Scripture, but he was obviously wrong. It was a sensation he had already detected, but Tianyi once again confirmed that his inner cosmos was functioning on a higher concept that he had yet to understand. Perhaps it was a combination of the fusion of Heavenly Scriptures that Tianyi had merged, but Tianyi couldn''t discern the attribute of his inner cosmos. Most spiritual core or martial bodies had an attribute that resulted from the unique cultivation method. If Tianyi had to attach an attribute to his inner cosmos, it would be everything. Fire, water, wood, earth, metal, yin, yang, spacetime, and so much more. Tianyi could detect every single one of those elements within his inner cosmos as if it was a reflection of heaven and earth. If there were one difference, it would be that his inner cosmos was dead. Tianyi''s inner cosmos was filled with energy, and that''s it. Everything was formed from his true qi of chaos, the stars were qi, and his nine spiritual cores were also formed from qi. The inner cosmos could be said to be an imitation of the Vast Void and planets, and everything was stationary. His eight spiritual cores revolved around his Dragon Pearl Yin Core due to his qi as well. The only thing his inner cosmos didn''t have was anything like the realms that made up the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. If Tianyi could turn this illusionary cosmos into something substantial as a real cosmos, he had a feeling that it would be far beyond most immortal''s powers and limits. At least in terms of energy. What he needed to do was to understand his cosmos completely before his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. The more he understood it, the higher his chances would be. I''m getting ahead of myself. Not speaking of the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation, I haven''t even entered the next realm yet. Right now, Tianyi planned to focus on the dao of spacetime. When Tianyi unleashed the move against Ragingflame Crow, the untested attack had moved by itself as if the concept had touched upon a natural law. After ruminating on the concept behind what happened, Tianyi had gained some insight. Without a doubt, the key to enter the Unity Realm or equivalent lay in spacetime. And now, Tianyi planned to verify his numerous guesses. He didn''t know how long he had been meditating, but he knew the time was not short. Tianyi planned to settle down for a bit and earnestly cultivate until the Demon Slaying Expedition ended. Or at least he couldn''t stand it anymore. Stepping out of his room, Tianyi looked around the boat and saw that Daoyi and Xi Ri were nowhere on it. With a shrug, Tianyi disembarked on the boat, planning on asking his fellow disciples if they knew the whereabouts of his companions. His spiritual sense had already detected that there were disciples near him and even new housing. His eyes lit up as he recognized Jian Wuyan, a fanatic of his mother''s, speaking with a girl from another sect. The girl was a core formation master, but she had two nascent soul grandmasters as attendants. Just as Tianyi planned to walk over and ask, the sky suddenly darkened. Tianyi immediately raised his guard. Ever since he had entered the Soul Nourishing Realm, tribulation lightning no longer struck him. He wondered why it had stopped, but now it seemed the Heavenly Dao was simply biding its time. BOOM! Tianyi furrowed his brows. Why was the tribulation lightning so weak? At most, its strength was only at the early Nascent Soul Realm. His question was soon answered when the tribulation lightning struck towards the girl Jian Wuyan was speaking to. Luckily, Jian Wuyan reacted swiftly and retreated. Just as it seemed that the tribulation lightning would strike the girl, the lightning suddenly swerved and struck Tianyi. "..." Tianyi.
"Must I explain to you again why it is imperative that I speak to Vast Heaven Young Master?" A female said, her voice full of exasperation. Her face was delicate and pretty with large doe-like eyes, but her sickly white skin made her attractive features mute. Instead, it gave people an eerie vibe. Her name was Duwa, and she wore the standard disciple uniform of the Nihility Sect. "And must I explain to you why you can''t meet Prince Xi!?" Jian Wuyan said, full of anger. Her two pigtailed puns bobbled back and forth with Jian Wuyan''s shaking head. "Senior Sister Daoyi clearly said that no one is allowed to disturb Prince Xi!"A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. With the heavy casualties sustained from the previous battle, Xia Yushan and the other leaders decided to build a town at one of the conquered bases of the Golden Crow Clan. It would serve as their base of operations until they decided to leave the Golden Crow Clan''s territory. It wasn''t far from the battle, and under Daoyi''s control, the immortal boat had descended into the nameless town. That was a year ago. Just as the two were about to begin arguing again, the sky suddenly darkened, and Duwa''s skin turned even paler. Having interacted with An Wu for a year, Jian Wuyan was clear that tribulation lightning would occasionally strike the Nihility Sect disciple, so she retreated with practiced ease. However, against Jian Wuyan''s expectations, just as the bolt of tribulation lightning was about to connect with Duwa, it suddenly swerved. Turning her head, Jian Wuyan saw who the lightning had hit and shouted in fright, "Prince Xi!" Unlike when the tribulation lightning usually attacked Tianyi, this time, only one bolt was sent. Plus, it was far too weak even to tickle the current Tianyi. Jian Wuyan ran towards Tianyi, wanting to make sure he was alright, but someone was faster. By the time Jian Wuyan had realized it, Duwa was already in front of Tianyi and holding his hands in hers. "Please be mine!" Duwa said with her eyes practically shining as she stared at Tianyi''s face. "Haah?" was Tianyi''s logical response. Did it finally happen? Did my status and handsomeness finally make the girls chase after me? I had expected it from the girls in my own sect, but I never expected it to be confessed by someone from another sect first. Of course, it could be a ploy. Tianyi thought as he slowly came out of his shock. He couldn''t be blamed for suspecting Duwa. The Nihility Sect''s reputation was the worst among the first-rate powers. Well, it''s not like I''m happy I''m being confessed. Totally not. Unfortunately for Tianyi, both his guesses were wrong. As it turned out, Duwa was a seer. Seers possessed incredibly heaven-defying abilities that allowed them to divine the secrets from the Heavenly Dao. Powerful seers could even predict the future with fifty percent accuracy. However, such power came at a price. The Heavenly Dao loathed seers. Whenever a seer peeked too much into the secrets of heaven and earth, their luck would diminish until, eventually, any random act might become fatal to them. For example, a seer might randomly trip and impale his neck on a rock, or a tree might suddenly fall and snap their neck. Despite the absurdity of the death, especially for a cultivator, such cases have been recorded. Talented seers like Duwa were even rarer. Her situation had reached the point where tribulation clouds would spontaneously appear above her and send tribulation lightning to end her. For a while, Duwa would conceal her presence from the Heavenly Dao using secret techniques, but that was only a short-term solution. Duwa had divined that her chance at survival would appear within the Demon Slaying Expedition, hence why she attended. Her combat prowess was weak, but she had special treatment from the Nihility Sect as a seer. In the entire Huang Realm, only the Nihility Sect had a seer at the Immortal Realm, which allowed them to survive for numerous years despite the other forces'' antagonism. So the Nihility Sect paid special attention to seers such as Duwa and protected them viciously. They even hoped to have a second Immortal Realm seer in their sect. When Duwa had entered the Demon Slaying Expedition, she had divined where her chance of survival lay, hence why she convinced Hun Jusang to follow Xia Yushan. After many twists and turns, Duwu finally zeroed in that Tianyi was her greatest hope. This thought became even firmer when she realized that tribulation lightning would automatically be transferred to Tianyi. Naturally, Tianyi''s answer after finding out was, "Hell no!" He totally wasn''t disappointed that Duwa''s previous words weren''t a confession or a honey trap. Not at all. Duwa showed an expression of genuine surprise as if she truly couldn''t conceive why Tianyi didn''t want to be her lightning rod, twenty-four seven. "But why?" Tianyi felt a vein pulsating on his forehead. "Why do I need to take the lightning strikes for you? How would it benefit me?" "I''m a seer," Duwa said as if that explained everything in the world. It didn''t. Tianyi shook Duwa''s hand away or at least tried to. To Tianyi''s ire, it was as if the Nihility Sect disciple had superglued her hands to his. To combat this, Tianyi began to use more strength. He just never expected Duwa to cling onto his hand so persistently and with so much strength despite her sickly appearance. There were literal afterimages of Duwa as her body moved up and down in the air from the centrifugal force of Tianyi trying to shake her off. Finally, it seemed that Duwa couldn''t hold on anymore and let go, causing her to fly off. "Ah," Tianyi lightly exclaimed. He was annoyed by Duwa''s action, but he didn''t want to launch her into the air. Tianyi was a nascent soul grandmaster, and she was a mere core formation master. He had no habit of bullying those weaker than him unless he was targeted first...well, not usually. Luckily for Duwa, her two nascent soul grandmaster attendants easily caught her, but it seemed that Tianyi''s actions annoyed them. The two glared and showed open hostility at Tianyi. Obviously, it was she who refused to let go, yet you''re blaming me? Tianyi felt innocent in the matter and thus, was even more annoyed by the two nascent soul grandmaster attendant''s displeasure. Should I teach them a lesson? Wait, I shouldn''t beat people up because they looked at me with hostility...athough...this does fit the young master stereotype. Focusing his attention on the two attendants, Tianyi unleashed the pressure of his cultivation. Instantly, the two nascent soul grandmasters felt as if space was crushing them from all sides, wanting to smash their flesh into their bones and make them literal stickmen. They felt a seeping horror creep out of their heart by the difference in strength. Tianyi was obviously a nascent soul grandmaster like them, but why was the difference so vast? Tianyi wanted to punish them a bit longer for having double standards, but when he saw Duwa getting up from the two attendant''s frozen arms, creases appeared on his forehead. He glanced at Jian Wuyan and moved in front of her. Tianyi''s movements were so quick that it seemed like teleportation. Furthermore, there were no fluctuations in the air that would have been caused by brute speed, shocking the two nascent soul grandmaster attendants. Tianyi had incorporated the concept of spacetime into his movements, so each action contained the power of spacetime. Waving his arm, Tianyi stored the immortal boat into his spatial ring and placed a hand on Jian Wuyan''s shoulder. In the next instant, both Tianyi and Jian Wuyan''s figures disappeared from Duwa and her attendant''s sight. "Ah!" Duwa cried out in regret. She quickly whirled her body around and glared at her two attendants. "Hurry up and search for Vast Heaven Young Master!" "Lady Seer, I don''t think it''s a good idea. He is too rude towards you." One of the attendants said. Duwa''s glared deepened. "What do you understand? If I can''t have him, then I''ll die. I already broke the concealment technique when I looked into the future. I can''t place the technique again without Master''s aid. If I don''t have Vast Heaven Young Master, then I''ll definitely die within ten years!" The two attendants never expected the situation to be so serious. Seers had revered status within the Nihility Sect, so although the two disliked Tianyi, they quickly followed Duwa''s ordered to look for Tianyi for her survival. Of course, only one of them looked for Tianyi. The other stayed behind to protect her.
When Jian Wuyan looked around, she saw that her surrounding had completely changed. No longer was she within the town but atop a cliff overlooking the town. "Prince Xi, you should ignore that shameless girl in the future!" Jian Wuyan immediately said after regaining her bearings, making Tianyi speechless. Tianyi rubbed his temples and ignored her advice. Did she think that he didn''t want to ignore Duwa? Focusing on the main point, Tianyi asked Jian Wuyan what happened while he was in secluded cultivation within his room. Chapter 184: Vast Heaven Islands A year and six months, that was how long Tianyi had been cultivating within his room. Tapping his forehead, Tianyi sighed at how much time had passed without him knowing, but he quickly focused on more important matters. According to Jian Wuyan, since the expedition force has almost already reached the core of the Golden Crow Clan''s territory, proceeding any further would be too dangerous as that would invite Golden Crow Ancestor''s retaliation. Instead, they created this fortress town as a base of operation, from where they would continuously use guerilla tactics to assault the borders of the Golden Crow Clan''s core. In this style, there was no more large-scale battle. Instead, small squads of disciples¡ªabout four to eight cultivators at most¡ªengaged in guerilla warfare attacks against the demons. Because of this, most disciples segregated themselves from the disciples of other sects. The only exception was the squad led by Xia Yushan, which had Hun Jusang, Daoist Moneybag, and two others. As for Bing Huoyuan, he was grouped with Bai Weiwei, Bai Ningwei, and Ji Wutong, the latter one to his extreme displeasure. Daoyi and Xi Ri had also joined some squads. Unlike the other cultivators, they had already received massive wealth from Dragon Palace, so they focused more on tempering themselves through battle. Tianyi nodded. He can''t expect them to patiently wait a year for him. After all, the Demon Slaying Expedition was something that occurred once every hundred years. "How are they?" Tianyi asked. "Senior Sister Jiang and Brother Xi are doing well. They have joined multiple squads and always come back without much injuries. It feels like Senior Sister Jiang is already stronger than me even though she''s thirty years younger than me!" Jian Wuyan sighed in admiration, as expected of Grand Elder Xi''s personal disciple! She blinked as if realizing something, "Oh, Prince Xi is the best, though!" "That''s good," Tianyi said as he looked around the surroundings and then at the town in the distance. The town only consisted of about five kilometers, tiny for a town of cultivators. "Do you want to join a squad too?" Jian Wuyan asked, her eyes shining. With a single glance, Tianyi could already tell what medicine she was selling, aka what she was scheming. "Hm? No," Tianyi said, his attention directed away from the town and now looking at a distant mountain range. "Oh..." Jian Wuyan said with her head down, disappointed. She had wanted to join Tianyi''s squad. "Oh!!!" Tianyi glanced at her, wondering what craziness she had cooked up again. Jian Wuyan started to nod to herself as if she had solved everything. "The other disciples must be too weak for your greatness, Prince Xi! That''s why you must be planning on not forming any squad and attacking by yourself!" What the hell is this fanatic talking about? And don''t say such hate-attracting words, okay? "Wrong," Tianyi said, barely keeping his voice from cracking. "There is simply no meaning for me to fight anymore. I''ve already fought at least two Unity Realm level demons and killed one." Not to mention that I doubt the Golden Crow Clan has any treasure that can catch my eye. Dragon Palace was too huge of a disappointment to me. Right now, what I should do is focus on entering the Unity Realm. "Although, if that stupid fried chicken showed up again, I don''t mind finishing the job," Tianyi said as he recalled Ragingflame Crow. He had heard from Jian Wuyan that Xia Yushan and the other disciples who went to pursue the fleeing demon elder had returned empty-handed. Jian Wuyan clasped her hands as her eyes shined even brighter as she gazed at Tianyi. It was almost as if stars were literally shining around her. In fact, this was all Tianyi''s imagination, but he couldn''t help but shiver. Don''t look at me like that. You''re making me cringe. And I called him a fried chicken bastard, and that word isn''t even cool! So why are you looking at me like I said the coolest thing ever?! Tianyi took a deep breath and tried his best to ignore the Mengfei fanatic next to him. Tianyi''s foot began to lift off the ground as his body floated into the air. A nascent soul grandmaster''s ability grants them the control necessary to make a platform for them to step on air. It does not grant the ability to fly in the air naturally. "Prince Xi! T-this, have you communed with heaven and earth!?" Jian Wuyan was sure Tianyi was still a nascent soul grandmaster. Although his qi was completely different from other nascent soul grandmasters, she was a hundred percent positive that Tianyi had not entered the Unity Realm. Not to mention that there was no Unity Heavenly Tribulation when Tianyi was still in the immortal boat, but that didn''t mean he could not grasp the harmonization with the world that was required to enter the Unity Realm. Unity venerables could fly without creating platforms precisely because they could harmonize with the world and grasp partial control of their surroundings. The greater their harmonization, the stronger their command over the world. Flying was one of the first abilities a unity venerable would awaken. If Prince Xi were to truly started harmonization, then he''ll be the youngest unity venerable in the history of the Buzhou Immortal Sect! Jian Wuyan thought with none of her fanaticism, the shock temporarily overriding any other thoughts. Tianyi and paused and revealed a helpless smile. "How can harmonizing with heaven and earth be so easy? This is just a small trick accomplishing by using my qi and spacetime concept." "Oh," Jian Wuyan patted her chest. Tianyi was right. How could harmonization be so easy, but she immediately froze after processing Tianyi''s last sentence. Spacetime concept? That''s even harder to attain than harmonization with heaven and earth! Among the immortals I know, only a few have attained the Dao of Space, and only one loose immortal emperor has attained the Dao of Time. If Prince Xi were to evolve that spacetime concept into the Dao of Spacetime... Jian Wuyan felt her brain began to heat up as she thought of the possibilities. If Tianyi were to attain the Dao of Spacetime, he would be unique. His value might even become equal to an immortal monarch while as a true immortal, or as valuable as an immortal emperor as an immortal monarch! It was at this time that Jian Wuyan''s fangirl mind took over. Prince Xi is the best! As expected of Grand Elder Xi''s son! Ignoring the fervent gaze behind him, Tianyi soon stood high above the nameless mountain range. He tapped the jade pendant on his waist, and the Mountains and Seas Formation instantly descended and overlapped with the nameless mountain range. Throughout the surrounding area, the ground began to quake. Even the disciples in the fortress town felt the land shaking. Not just them, but the demons who were closer to the border between the two forces also felt the astonishing tremors.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Ashflame Crow''s avian face frowned as he felt something blot his senses. As a Unity Realm level demon, his detection range was astonishing. By harmonizing with the world, he could detect everything within fifty thousand kilometers. The only exception was the fortress town constructed by the cultivators. Using a formation, they were able to ward off Ashflame Crow''s and the other Golden Crow Clan elder''s spiritual senses from penetrating. And now, there was another location that his senses were blocked. Although Ashflame Crow''s spiritual sense wasn''t completely obstructed, it became incredibly hazy and indistinct. Without a doubt, the cultivators were making large movements again, so he focused his attention on the surrounding area. Ashflame Crow didn''t dare to personally arrive, fearing that what happened to Ragingflame Crow would occur to him. Ashflame Crow''s eyes narrowed when he spotted a lone human flying in the air. From his appearance, Ashflame Crow quickly recognized Tianyi as the one who grievously injured Ragingflame Crow. Now, he placed even more importance on Tianyi''s actions. Under Ashflame Crow''s shocked eyes, nine of the tallest mountains began to rise high into the air and left gaping holes in the land. Once all nine mountains were high in the air, eight mountains began circling the tallest one of the nine. At this point, Tianyi flew and landed atop the mountain peak of the tallest mountain. Tianyi''s body began releasing his black true qi of chaos en masse, shrouding the surrounding sky as if that portion of the sky was nighttime. In truth, Tianyi had only recovered about sixty to seventy percent of his qi reservoirs, but the more qi he had, the faster he generated. It was much like the half-life of radioactive isotopes broke down, only the principle was reversed. The black qi began to spread and spread until it engulfed all nine mountains. Slowly, Tianyi''s true qi of chaos began to seep into all nine mountains. Half of the qi was absorbed by the central mountain, while the other half was split evenly between the remaining mountains. By the time this had finished, a week had already passed, and Tianyi was still standing atop the mountain peak of the central mountain without moving. Tianyi remained still like a statue for the next few months while tremendous changes began to occur to the nine mountains and the surrounding area. It wasn''t apparent at first, but black liquid began to pool at the bottom of each mountain until it formed a lake that the mountain floated on. The lake was pitch black and exuded a terrifying aura of destruction, which was only natural as it was formed from Tianyi''s true qi of chaos. Once the black lakes had finished forming, each mountain began to orbit around the central mountain on a different layer. At first, it was only at a snail''s pace, but soon the orbiting speed increased, and the difference between the mountains began to emerge. The ones closest to the central mountains were generally smaller than the four furthest away from the center. Similarly, the ones closest to the central mountain completed a full circle in the shortest time, while the eighth mountain completed it the slowest. Once all eight mountains had reached their top orbiting speed, the rest of the mountain range began to break down into giant chunks of dirt and rocks. Those chunks of dirt and rocks then broke down even further and formed a ring around the system formed by the nine mountains. It was at this moment that Ashflame Crow gasped. For the past six months, he had been closely monitoring the changes occurring around Tianyi. His spiritual sense grew murkier and murkier with each passing day until it finally could no longer penetrate into the anomalous domain. Tianyi''s domain formed from the nine mountains wasn''t like the barrier around the fortress town founded by Xia Yushan. In Ashflame Crow''s eyes, the barrier formed a hole in his vision, a blind spot, but Tianyi''s domain was even stranger. Whenever he tried to sense the nine mountains, it felt like the whole area didn''t exist. To make an analogy, it was like someone cut a circle out of a piece of fabric and then sown the hole together. Ashflame Crow could only sense the fixed fabric, but not the circle that was cut away. After realizing this point, Tianyi became the most dangerous figure in Ashflame Crow''s mind, and he quickly reported his findings to Golden Crow Ancestor. If possible, Ashflame Crow didn''t want to face off against Tianyi, who had the ability to eliminate a Unity Realm level expert''s greatest strength. Atop the central mountain, Tianyi tapped the jade pendant tied to his waist. Immediately, the Mountains and Seas Formation disappeared and returned to the pendant. He had used the Mountains and Seas Formation to aid in the creation of his new domain. Without it, he could not have accomplished such an act, but now, since everything had aligned, the nine mountains no longer needed external forces to keep it from collapsing onto itself. Tianyi grasped his chin and observed his newly created domain. It utilized the concept of spacetime, so it could be said to be a miniature realm separated from the Demon Cage Realm. The spiritual qi was formed from Tianyi''s true qi of chaos, but he had diluted it so that it was gentle as spiritual qi, and the density of spiritual qi was even higher than Tianyi''s Jade Lotus Clear Pond. Overall, with the exception of the stars, the domain was a crude reflection of his inner cosmos and can be considered an extension of it. However, Tianyi wasn''t satisfied. Compared to his inner cosmos, there were still too many deficiencies. "Well, I can slowly ponder on this matter. The Demon Slaying Expedition still at least has about six to seven years left." Tianyi said. Overall, he was still quite satisfied. "Let''s see, let''s call it the Vast Heaven Islands." Tianyi''s head quirked up and looked at the base of the mountain. At the foot sat a girl in a lotus position. Who else could it be except Jian Wuyan? He had already noticed when Jian Wuyan had foolishly flown onto the mountain. Had it not been for Tianyi''s deliberate care, there was no doubt the core formation master would have dissolved into ashes from the massive amounts of true qi of chaos. Still, it seemed that watching Tianyi create the Vast Heavens was highly beneficial for Jian Wuyan as she had started to under the Minor Fire Tribulation. If she succeeded, then she would become enter the late Core Formation Realm. Tianyi sighed and held his forehead as he descended the mountain and landed in front of Jian Wuyan. If she wasn''t careful, someone might interrupt her and divert her attention, leading to her failing her Minor Lightning Tribulation. Although minor tribulations of the Core Formation Realm could not compare to the dangers of the heavenly tribulation, it was still a tribulation in the end, so danger existed. At the very least, they were acquaintances, so Tianyi decided to guard Jian Wuyan until her minor tribulation ended.
Within the core room of the Descending Immortal Embassy stood two figures. Both of them were observing the sphere situated in the center of the control room, which reflected the whole Demon Cage Realm. It was as if the whole Demon Cage Realm existed within the sphere. "Unbelievable, what a monster." The speaker was an elderly man that resembled a dried-up prune. He turned around to face his fellow immortal. "Jadeflame, that Xi Tianyi is worthy of being Grand Elder Xi''s son." Jadeflame stroked his beard that reached his waist and said in admiration. "I did not expect Tianyi to have such accomplishments. He practically ripped out a portion of the Demon Cage Realm and formed a miniature realm. Although calling it a miniature realm might be an overstatement." "Still, he is too impulsive. Had I not been the realmlord of the Demon Cage Realm, then his actions would have torn a hole in the dimensional boundaries and sucked him out." The unnamed elder said while slowly shaking his head. "Haha," Elder Jadeflame chuckled. "Stop lying to yourself, Demonseal. Both you and I can discern that the lad mastered a spacetime concept or is close to mastering one. If you didn''t secretly help, he still would have been able to accomplish forming his miniature realm. The only difference would be the time it took. Unless you want to say that you are growing senile in your old age?" "Who are you calling old!" Realmlord Demonseal, the true master of the Demon Cage Realm, roared. He was also an elder of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, just that his duties were slightly different than most. As such, he rarely appeared within the sect. "I''ll tell you. I''m still at my prime!" "How long have we known each other?" Jadeflame chuckled, amused by Realmlord Demonseal''s anger. "I might have only lived a tenth of your age, but my eyes aren''t blind. It''s true that realmlords have their lifespan drastically extended due to controlling a realm, but your willpower is weakening too fast. So unless you can enter the Extremity Immortal Realm, you will die in thousand years." Elder Jadeflame said, his voice becoming solemnly as he stared intensely at Realmlord Demonseal. Realmlord Demonseal didn''t answer and instead gazed at the Demon Cage Realm. His eyes saw everything, from the numerous disciples attacking the territories that did not belong to the three great clans, to the disciples attacking the Jade Rabbit Clan''s territories, to Xia Yushan leading his group and assaulting crow demons of the yang attribute, to Leviathan Ancestor amassing his forces in preparation, his eyes even pierced the mountains where the true demons were sealed. His eyes saw all. Then he focused on the groups of monks who were communicating with the demons sealed within the mountains and snorted derisively. The one place he could not fully peer into with his authority as the ruler of the Demon Cage Realm was Tianyi''s Vast Heaven Islands. Finally, Realmlord Demonseal sighed and spoke once more, his voice visibly fatigued. "Don''t worry. I can at least manage to live for another five thousand years if I slumber. I won''t die until I see the Buzhou Immortal Sect unite the Huang Realm!" Chapter 185: Numinous Sword Sect’s Bao Ling "You can''t go to sleep just yet. You still have to watch over the disciples." Elder Jadeflame jokingly said as his eyes wandered to the glowing spheres at the corner of the control room. Within each sphere existed a figure in a fetal position. If Xia Yushan or any of the other disciples who participated in the battle against the demons of the Golden Crow Clan were present, they would recognize the cultivators within the sphere as those who had ''died'' due to Ragingflame Crow''s sneak attack. As the realmlord of the Demon Cage Realm, Realmlord Demonseal had near-absolute control of everything within. So plucking a few mortal cultivators without anyone noticing was as easy as lifting a finger for the elderly immortal. Even those in the Extremity Immortal Realm will be suppressed by him in the Demon Cage Realm. "That boy Yushan was too greedy and pushed the bottom line of one of the demon elders." Realmlord Demonseal said with a snort. "Don''t be too hard on him." Elder Jadeflame said. He moved away from the sphere in the center of the room and sat down in front of a tea table. "We''ve been watching Tianyi for over six months without moving. Come and have some tea." Realmlord Demonseal sat in front of Elder Jadeflame and accepted the cup of poured tea from his fellow elder. After taking a sip and sighing in satisfaction, he continued. "He''s like a brilliant diamond, glamourous and seemingly full of potential. But he is too hard, too brittle. He will eventually shatter if he continues to push himself above his abilities." "Don''t be too pessimistic. If Xia Yushan succeeds, then he can be another strong pillar for the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Aren''t all sword cultivators brittle in comparison to other cultivators?" Elder Jadeflame said as he set his cup on the table with an audible clack. "Perhaps. Everyone calls Elder Xi a sword cultivator, but the truth is that is she is only a sword user. If she truly cultivated the sword, I''m afraid with her willpower. She would have suffered a major setback. Maybe even perish along her path. On this matter, you should be even clearer than me." Realmlord Demonsealed sighed and glanced at Elder Jadeflame with a meaningful look. "As I''ve said, don''t be too pessimistic." Elder Jadeflame said, his gaze focusing on the image of Vast Heaven Islands within the sphere in the center of the room. "Grand Elder Xi might have become the immortal emperor with the shortest lifespan, but I have a feeling that won''t be the case anymore." Realmlord Demonseal turned to look towards the sphere as well. "Perhaps. But if he died, what are the chances of Elder Xi''s heart collapsing?" "Very high," was Elder Jadeflame''s evaluation. After that, a silence descended before he broke it again. "What do you think of the disciples from the vassal sects?" "Not bad," Reamlord Demonseal closed his eyes as he recalled everything the disciples died within the Demon Cage Realm. As the Realmlord, nothing could escape his eyes, whether it be the birth of natural treasures or the cultivator''s secret actions. "The Leakless Sect''s disciples are subpar, not befitting of their status as the strongest first-rate sect." "That is only natural. Most of their outstanding scions went missing a few years ago, so they don''t dare to send their top talents outside without supervision from their own." Elder Jadeflame said. "Is it possible to be an inside job?" Realmlord Demonseal asked, his attitude carefree as if he didn''t put the Leakless Sect in his eyes at all. "Unlikely from our investigations." Elder Jadeflame then revealed a sly smile as he glanced at the hibernating disciples within the spheres. "The current climate of Heaven Continent is a bit tense. If something were to happen to the disciples of the vassal sects, a war might just break out." "Those fellows are just inconsequential. Their life and death won''t make any big waves." Although Realmlord Demonseal hadn''t left the Demon Cage Realm for thousands upon thousands of years, he still received information concerning the happenings of the Huang Realm. "To increase the likelihood of war erupting, the target of death will have to be someone else." "Who do you have in mind?" Elder Jadeflame asked as he took another sip of tea as if he was asking how the weather was and not which disciple to kill to start a war. "Ji Wutong." Realmlord Demonseal decisively said. "His talent in alchemy is astonishing. I haven''t heard of any of our disciples having similar talents in recent years. If he were to allow to grow, the chances of the Bright Ascension Sect increasing their strength by a small percentage is not low." Realmlord Demonseal then poured another cup of tea for himself. "Of course, compared to the Buzhou Immortal Sect, his danger is minuscule, but for the other sects? He is a huge target of elimination." "I''ll leave it up to you then." Elder Jadeflame said as he also poured another cup of tea. He took a sip before recalling some information. "Right, have you heard of Bao Ling of Numious Sword Sect?" "You mean the hegemon of the Numinous Realm?" Realmlord Demonseal asked, and a tinge of envy and wariness appeared in his eyes. The Numinous Realm was the only other immortal realm besides the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Both the Huang and Numinous Realms were the strongest realms within the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, and the two were on par in terms of strength. If there were a difference, then it would be that the Numinous Sword Sect had conquered and united all of the forces under their leadership, unlike the Buzhou Immortal Sect, which only controlled the Heaven Continent. The Buzhou Immortal Court descended from the Immortal Court, the former ruler of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System when it was still one world and was from the Heavenly Lord of Primordial Beginnings'' lineage. In contrast, the Numinous Sword Sect descended from the Heavenly Lord of Numinous Treasure''s lineage. Even in the primordial era, the two forces had competed for the hegemony of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, with the Heavenly Lord of Primordial Beginnings rising on top in the end. Because of this, even in the contemporary era, the Buzhou Immortal Sect and Numinous Sword Sect were still competing. There was no doubt that one or the other would eventually swallow the other and become the sole ruler of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Elder Jadeflame nodded. "Exactly that Numinous Sword Sect." "Is he a promising junior?" As he asked, killing intent appeared within Realmlord Demonseal''s eyes. "Forget about killing him. The Numinous Sword Sect pays heavy attention to him. I heard that he could even control one of the Heavenly Lord of Numinous Treasure''s four immortal extermination swords." "What?" Realmlord Demonseal exclaimed in shock. The immortal extermination swords consisted of four famed swords. When all four are gathered and used in the Immortal Extermination Formation, it is said that even the Heavenly Lord of Primordial Beginnings and Heavenly Lord of Way and Virtue might perish under it. Luckily for the Buzhou Immortal Sect, the Immortal Extermination Formation was said to have been lost during the primordial era. However, the truth of the matter could not be ascertained. What the Buzhou Immortal Sect did know was that the Numinous Sword Sect controlled two of the four immortal extermination swords. Even one of the swords could easily slay an immortal emperor without using the formation, so it was no wonder that Realmlord Demonseal would be shocked.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it "Tell me more," Realmlord Demonseal said, his voice heavy. Elder Jadeflame complied. From the information gathered from the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s spies, Bao Ling was under heavy scrutiny the moment he became a disciple of the Numinous Sword Sect. It was no wonder since he became a core disciple under one of the Numinous Sword Sect''s grand elders immediately upon entering the Numinous Sword Sect. Bao Ling entered the Foundation Establishment Realm at age ten, Core Formation Realm at age twelve, Nascent Soul Realm at age eighteen, and Unity Realm at age thirty-five. It was predicted that he would enter the Immortal Realm before sixty. Bao Ling''s future accomplishment could equal Mengfei''s, but his current threat level was on the same level as Sword Empress Xi. The reason for this was due to his ownership of an immortal extermination sword, so despite being only a unity venerable, he had a chance of slaying immortal emperors. "Bao Ling, Bao Ling, Bao Ling..." Realmlord Demonseal said as he tried to engrave the name into his mind. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him, and he stared straight into Elder Jadeflame''s eyes. "Does he have any relationship to the Heavenly Lord of Numinous Treasure?" Bao meant Treasure, and Ling meant Numinous, so Bao Ling could be read as Treasured Numinosity. If someone told Realmlord Demonseal that such a name was not related to the Heavenly Lord of Numinous Treasures, he would not believe it. "Unsure, our spies are still investigating the origin of Bao Ling." Elder Jadeflame said. Realmlord Demonseal frowned, causing his crease lines to appear on his forehead. In the end, he could only sigh. He had half a foot in the grave, and it was unlikely he had the power to make any changes. So he should focus on what he can do, nothing more.
After the creation of the fortress town, the skirmishes between the cultivators and the demons seemed to have entered a stalemate. The cultivators could not penetrate into the Golden Crow Clan''s core territory, while the demons could not invade the nameless town.
"Benefactor, why must you continue to err?" A monk solemnly said in front of a mountain. The monk seemed to be talking to himself as there was no one in the direction he was facing, but there was no hint of madness within his eyes. In fact, the monk''s eyes were exceptionally bright and clear. Behind the monk were tens of other monks, each one reciting sutras with their heads bowed low. Time passed, and just as it seemed that the monk who had spoken had really gone crazy, the ground began to tremble, and a voice could be heard. The voice itself did not resemble any noise a living being could make and rather seemed to have come from the very mountain itself. "Go back to your hidey-hole, baldies. I refused to become those daoists'' pet. What makes you think you baldies can make this old monkey submit?" "Amitabha, do you truly not want to consider?" The monk asked again. "If you continue like this, you will eventually fade away into red dust, forever trapped." For a moment, there was no response before the demon sealed within the mountain could be heard again. Only this time, the voice was scratchy, as if it was created from rocks grinding against one another. "Scram, I won''t become a hypocrite like you baldies or anyone''s pet!" The monk sighed and looked off into the distance. Even one who has tempered their willpower like him would grow tired after getting rejected continuously for years. He only hoped that his comrades had more success than him.
"Go away. If you come any closer, I won''t be able to hold back." Hun Jusang gasped out through gritted teeth as he hugged himself, his nails digging into his flesh. A dark aura that didn''t resemble that of humans or demons'' was being continuously emitted from his body. Rather, the aura was insidious and filled with maliciousness. It was the aura of a devil. When Hun Jusang was a baby, his clan had sealed an immortal monarch equivalent devil into his body. He wasn''t the only one with a devil sealed within, but the devil sealed within was the strongest, and he was also the only one to survive. Due to his unique Evil Extermination Constitution, the devil''s malicious energy within him was continuously being purified and converted into qi for Hun Jusang''s cultivation. But Hun Jusang was still a mortal in the end, and the devil sealed within too powerful. As a result, negative thoughts and emotions would constantly bombard Hun Jusang. Sometimes, the threat of endless pain, other times it was the sweet whispers of temptation, but there was not one moment that the devil within him had not tried to take over Hun Jusang''s body. Sometimes, Hun Jusang succumbed to the devil''s powers and entered a berserk state that made him attack both allies and enemies. Had it been anyone with weaker willpower, they would have long succumbed or committed suicide like Hun Jusang''s fellow experimental subjects. Every day was akin to torture, but Hun Jusang never gave up. As long as he entered the Immortal Realm, all the pain that followed him would disappear. Standing in front of the hunching Hun Jusang was a female disciple wearing the uniform of the Jade Cauldron Sect. Her hair was tied up in a tidy ponytail, her eyes were like a pair of daggers, her face wasn''t the most exquisite, but she had a valiant air and gave her a unique charm. The woman was Jiang Chunye. The matter of her almost killing Jiang Daoyi had spread to the other sects due to the Fortune Banquet. As a result, aside from Yi Dongli and Tong Lizi, no one had wanted to be in the same squad as her. Luckily, Hun Jusang didn''t mind and entered the same squad as her. The four had adventured in the Demon Cage Realm together and even managed to slay countless Nascent Soul Realm level demons despite only Hun Jusang being the only nascent soul grandmaster. Due to some fortuitous encounters, Jiang Chunye had managed open over three hundred and sixty acupoints, making her a hair''s breadth away from the peak of the Acupoint Opening Realm. Aside from Hun Jusang, she was the only one who had slain demons at the Nascent Soul Realm level. Yi Dongli and Tong Lizi had also grown in strength, but they were only able to tie down Nascent Soul Realm level demons and not defeat them. A few days ago, due to the sneak attack by a group of demons, the squad of four had been separated. Yi Dongli and Tong Lizi had stayed together while Hun Jusang and Jiang Chunye had stayed together. Not only that, but Hun Jusang had also received a lethal injury. Although the injury had been healed with a pill, the aftereffects caused the devil within him to run rampant. "Run while you still can, Chunye." Hun Jusang''s voice began to quiver as sweat coated his entire body. He was afraid that he wouldn''t be able to suppress the devil inside of him anymore. Eighty years, he had suppressed the devil for eighty years, but now, it seemed that all his hard work would go down the drain. Jiang Chunye frowned and said, "I won''t. We''ve been together through life and death. What else do I have to fear? Death? I laugh in the face of death." Saying so, Jiang Chunye placed her hand on Hun Jusang''s shoulder. Instantly, the malicious aura traveled up through her arms and attacked her mind. Jiang Chunye''s mind entered a daze, and the whites of one of her eyes were dyed black. Hun Jusang released a mournful cry. He had seen the corruption of devilish power kill his friends. The first sign of being devoured was the sclera becoming black, and now he needed to watch another friend die due to the devil inside of him. Because of this, he had been afraid to get close to others and lived a lonely life. Just as Jiang Chunye seemed to be overtaken by the devilish aura, her eyes regained clarity, and the black color in her eye began to recede. She released a deep breath. Earlier she had almost succumbed to the corruption. Seeing Hun Jusang show a dumbfounded look, Jiang Chunye showed an impudent smirk. "What''s wrong? This is nothing. Are you really going to be corrupted by such a weak thing?" Hun Jusang released a pained chuckle and only said one word. "Liar." However, due to Jiang Chunye''s siphoning some of his burdens, Hun Jusang managed to overcome the danger and suppress the devil within him once more. Furthermore, he also gained something from the danger. Fortune hides within misfortune was not an empty phrase. The devil sealed within was equivalent to an immortal monarch and had long attained the state of harmonizing with heaven and earth. After being bathed in the devil''s aura, Hun Jusang managed to grasp a faint trace of harmonization. If nothing happened to him, Hun Jusang would be able to enter the Unity Realm within ten years. When Yi Dongli and Tong Lizi reunited with Jiang Chunye and Hun Jusang again, they discovered that the two had become more intimate. This naturally sent alarm bells in both of Jiang Chunye''s pursuers. We thought of you as a comrade, but it turns out you were after our woman!
"Senior Brother, what''s wrong?" Bai Weiwei asked, looking away from the campfire where she was cooking lunch. Ji Wutong, Bing Huoyuan, Bai Ningwei, and Bai Weiwei had formed a squad and adventured together. Throughout this time, the Bai sisters grew closer as they made up for the lost time. In contrast, Bing Huoyuan and Ji Wutong began to grow more hostile to each other. "Weiwei, ignore him. He''s probably not hungry. I''ll eat his portion too." Bing Huoyuan immediately said. Ji Wutong, who had been lost in thought, immediately glared at Bing Huoyuan. "Who says I''m not hungry? I love Weiwei''s food the most, don''t think of stealing my portion!" "Hahaha, Senior Brother and Brother Bing''s relationship is so good." Bai Weiwei gave an innocent laugh as she watched the interaction between the two. Off to the side, Bai Ningwei, who was already eating her portion, nodded in agreement. After digging into his portion, Ji Wutong began to think of the killing intent he had detected earlier. The killing intent was so fleeting and light that he had almost thought it was his imagination. Chapter 186: Three Years Ji Wutong wasn''t unfamiliar with killing intent, having had his fair share of close encounters, but the killing intent he detected earlier was abnormal. To be more precise, it was closer to a premonition of death than mere killing intent. After all, killing intent was something that came from an individual, but the feeling he felt earlier was more comprehensive, as if the world wanted him dead. It was a sensation that Ji Wutong had never felt before. Facing the unknown, Ji Wutong always raised his guard to the maximum. In his hundred plus years of life, Ji Wutong had come close to death a total of three times. The first time was during his Foundation Establishment Heavenly Tribulation. In his youth, he had ignored his intuition due to his pride and overlooked how terrifying heavenly tribulations could be due to his arrogance. From this experience, Ji Wutong learned never to allow arrogance to cloud his judgment. The second time Ji Wutong came close to death was when he was betrayed by a friend he made outside the Bright Ascension Sect. He had left the sect to temper himself after entering the Core Formation Realm and happened to meet this friend due to a coincidence. From there, they experienced many life-and-death situations together. It was only later that Ji Wutong discovered that everything had been a scheme from the beginning. His friend was actually an assassin sent by the Nihility Sect. Although the Nihility Sect had no qualms about killing anyone except those from the Buzhou Immortal Sect, they never did so without reason. So for an assassin from the Nihility Sect to come after him, someone had to have commissioned them for his assassination. No first-rate sect wanted their competitors to grow stronger, so it was hard to determine which or how many sects wanted him dead. However, Ji Wutong learned an essential lesson from this ordeal¡ªnever fully trust anybody. Although, Ji Wutong felt that Bai Weiwei was different. She was unlike all the others stained by the darkness of the world. The third time Ji Wutong came close to death was when he had concocted a rank six or Transcending Mortality Realm level pill as a nascent soul grandmaster. The pill heavenly tribulation that had appeared would have killed him had it not been for his master''s interference. It was his greatest accomplishment to date, outshining his achievement of concocting a rank four or Nascent Soul Realm pill as a core formation master. It was only after this event that the Bright Ascension Sect began to pay serious attention to him, no less than that of an immortal seed. From this ordeal, Ji Wutong gained an insight into harmonization between heaven and earth, almost guaranteeing his ascension into the Unity Realm. All Ji Wutong had to do was not die. "Where should we go after this?" Bai Ningwei asked after she had finished her meal. Cultivators who had reached the Foundation Establishment Realm and above did not need to consume food in order to survive, but ever since entering Demon Cage Realm, where spiritual qi was sparse, food, especially those cooked from demon or monster meat, became an important source of qi. "What do you mean by that? We still need to hunt for some more demonic cores so that Daoist Ji can concoct pills to increase your cultivation." Bing Huoyuan said as he looked unkindly at Ji Wutong. It''d be best if Ji Wutong died from overworking, but Bing Huoyuan knew that it wasn''t likely. Ji Wutong rolled his eyes. Truth be told, using demonic cores to concoct pills to raise Bai Weiwei and Ninwei''s cultivation was a waste of the cores and Ji Wutong''s talent, not to mention he had to be careful to reduce the aftereffects as much as possible, further wasting the material. Bai Ningwei shook her head, "I''m talking about the people following us. We can''t just bring them to fight demons, most of them aren''t even cultivators." Along their journey, the quartet had encountered many destitute humans. Bing Huoyuan, Ji Wutong didn''t want to bother, and Bai Ningwei felt sorry for them but knew that it wasn''t realistic to aid them. Only Bai Weiwei stretched her hand out towards the refugees. Although both Bing Huoyuan, Ji Wutong, and Bai Ningwei didn''t think it was possible to help, all three conceded to Bai Weiwei''s request. The disciples from the Huang Realm could temporarily shield them while it was still the Demon Slaying Expedition, but what about after? They would have to leave, and the refugees would still meet the same end. Bing Huoyuan glanced at the groups of refugees that numbered in the thousands. At first, there weren''t so many, only a hundred at most, but as time went by, more and more humans started to follow them without the group''s permission seeing the trailing people already following them. "Should we bring them to the fortress town? Even if they only live near there, the demons won''t dare to attack since so many of us cultivators are always present." As for what happened after they left, that wasn''t in Bing Huoyuan''s considerations. Bai Ningwei thought about it and discussed it with Bing Huoyuan and Ji Wutong. After Bai Weiwei returned from distributing rations to the refugees, all four came to an agreement.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. The next day, Bing Houyuan and Ji Wutong brought out their immortal boats and ferried the people to the edge of the fortress town. Letting the refugees walk by foot would have taken far too long. However, when the quartet arrived at the fortress town, they were surprised by the new addition to the scenery. Nine islands, each composed of a mountain situated upon a black lake, floated in the sky surrounded by rings composed of millions upon millions of rocks. "What is that?" Bai Weiwei asked what was on the mind of the four cultivators. They quickly relocated the refugees near the edge of the fortress town and instructed them not to enter the town without permission before entering the town. After asking around, they finally uncovered what had happened during the few months they were away. During this time, the son of the legendary Sword Empress had exited from his secluded cultivation and shocked the disciples. He created a domain that had a first-rate environment for cultivation, which wasn''t inferior to any specialized cultivation grounds in the disciples'' sects. As a result, many disciples had begun to relocate and cultivate on Tianyi''s Vast Heaven Islands. Aside from the central mountain, Xi Tianyi didn''t care what the other disciples did on the other eight mountains. Because of this and the limited space, it resulted in the disciples competing against one another for the best cultivation spots. On a side note, it seemed that the miniature realm wasn''t fully self-sufficient, as Tianyi needed to be constantly present within Vast Heaven Island. Otherwise, it would collapse. So Tianyi had been working to change that, wanting to convert Vast Heaven Islands into an artifact so that it was portable and not stationary. Going back, when the disciples discovered that Tianyi created an artificial miniature realm, they felt as if they had misheard. The creation of a realm, artificial or otherwise, was something only heard of in legends. It was an act that the legendary immortal emperors could not replicate, at least to their knowledge. This single act from Tianyi elevated his status and position from an elite disciple in the eyes of the disciples to someone far above them. Some disciples already thought Tianyi''s ascension to the Immortal Realm was a guaranteed fact. Ji Wutong sighed in defeat. Everyone always secretly compared themselves to others, and he was no different. Although he had heard of Tianyi''s strength that resulted in his moniker, the Vast Heaven Young Master, to be propagated among the scions of various sects, Ji Wutong felt that he wasn''t any bit inferior in terms of accomplishment. His combat prowess wasn''t the best, but Ji Wutong was an alchemist, and what he had confidence in was his pill concoction abilities. In his area of expertise, Ji Wutong didn''t feel any bit inferior to Tianyi at all¡ªuntil now, that is. Ji Wutong sighed again before a thought occurred to him. He wanted to analyze the Vast Heaven Islands. Perhaps he could gain some insights. After all, Xi Tianyi was still a nascent soul grandmaster when he accomplished this. This meant that other nascent soul cultivators should be able to replicate such an act if they had the right prerequisites. Full of motivation, Ji Wutong and his companions flew towards the Vast Heaven Islands. All of the spots had all been monopolized by the elite nascent soul grandmasters, and core formation masters were too weak to dispute this. Ji Wutong knew that he wasn''t likely to be their opponent as his combat prowess wasn''t outstanding without using pills. However, Ji Wutong had a unique advantage. He was an alchemist. Why did he need to fight when he can just exchange some pills? Ji Wutong did precisely that and secured three spots: one for himself, another for Bai Weiwei, and the final for Bai Ningwei. As for Bing Huoyuan? Wasn''t he confident in his battle prowess? Fight for a spot! So under Bing Huoyuan glare, Ji Wutong happily brought the Bai sisters onto the third island away from the central mountain. The quartet stayed for a few months, taking advantage of the Vast Heaven Island''s superior environment to cultivate. To Ji Wutong''s delight and shock, he discovered that the pill tribulations that occurred within the Vast Heaven Islands had been dramatically weakened. Although this decreased the pill''s quality, this meant that he had fewer scruples concocting superior pills. During this time, Xia Yushan returned with his squad. I''ve been trying to catch up to Tianyi''s back all this time. Before I even have the chance to reach the same height as him, he already flew to a height too high for me to comprehend. Xia Yushan sighed as he recalled the heights Tianyi had reached over twenty years ago, his mood low. Tianyi had just reached the Core Formation Realm, and he had just entered the Nascent Soul Realm. Xia Yushan still had confidence in his own talents, but as time passed, Xia Yushan grew to despise his inferior talent. His companions, such as Daoist Moneybag, elected to stay for a few months to experience the miraculous Vast Heaven Islands for themselves, leaving Xia Yushan without a squad. When Daoist Moneybag started to compete for a spot, Tianyi directly allocated a spot for him due to remembering the favor of Daoist Moneybag gifting him the Jade Diffraction Sword during the Fortune Banquet. This action caused numerous disciples to gnash their teeth in envy. Xia Yushan didn''t want to compete for a spot, so he never stepped on the Vast Heaven Islands. Competing for a spot made Xia Yushan feel as if he was beneath Tianyi and needed Tianyi''s aid to progress. Cultivation paid heavy attention to the cultivator''s heart. If a cultivator lost confidence in himself or admitted defeat, his potential and accomplishment would very likely be impacted. So Xia Yushan''s decision prevented his potential from being lowered, but that didn''t mean Tianyi''s accomplishment didn''t impact him at all. On the contrary, Xia Yushan felt a sense of urgency and intensified his search for a crow demon with the pure bloodline of the Golden Crow Ancestor. It was to the point that Xia Yushan started to roam alone without a squad, which significantly increased the risks he had to take. As time passed, the number of refugees began to increase dramatically. The nameless settlement near the fortress town began to grow and grow until it became known as Fan City because its inhabitants were mortals, and it was located near the cultivator''s town, whose inhabitants they considered to be immortals. If Tianyi were to visit, he would have undoubtedly recognized the vice city master because he was Azure Leaf. After leaving Azure Leaf City, the people had drifted and eventually found their way to Fan City. It really was a series of coincidences. Unknowingly, three years had passed before Tianyi was finally able to make it self-sufficient. He had yet to convert Vast Heaven Island into an artifact, but he was finally able to leave. Chapter 187: Saving the Hero instead of the Damsel On the Vast Heaven Islands, numerous people could be seen cultivating on each mountain. The first to eighth mountains were full of people, each in their own territory, and only the central mountain was practically void of people except for a few. Atop the peak of the central mountain stood a boy at the cusp of becoming a man, or at least in appearance. The man was naturally Tianyi, and despite his youthful appearance, he was actually thirty-eight years old now, practically middle-aged. Of course, compared to the other disciples aside from Daoyi and Xi Ri, he was practically a baby. Now that Tianyi thought about it, were there any other disciples near his age? Tianyi shook his head. It was not the time to think about it. Instead, Tianyi raised his hand so that all eight mountains and seas seemed to be within his palm''s grasp. He could clearly sense Daoist Moneybag placing an unnecessary formation and burning through a considerable amount of spirit stones in the process. Simultaneously, he could detect Bing Huoyuan and Ji Wutong fighting "sparring" again. In fact, Tianyi could sense every disciple within the Vast Heaven Islands, and he didn''t even need to use his spiritual sense. As the master of the domain, he could sense everything that was occurring within. It was as if his consciousness had merged with the Vast Heaven Islands. There was a sense of intimacy that he couldn''t quite place, but Tianyi attributed it to being the creator of the domain. Descending down the mountain to the edge where the land touched the waters, Tianyi knelt and moved his hand through the ebony liquid formed from his true qi of chaos. Tianyi had managed to make some minor success in condensing his spiritual qi into a liquid form. The black lakes were proof of it. When Tianyi first formed the Vast Heaven Islands, the black lakes needed his constant presence to maintain their state. Otherwise, they would return to their gaseous state and dissipate, but after three years, if Tianyi left Vast Heaven Islands, the black lakes would remain unchanged. It wasn''t just the liquid qi of the Vast Heaven Islands that had changed, but Tianyi''s inner cosmos as well. Within Tianyi''s inner cosmos, gaseous qi stilled filled the entire space, but now, black streams of black liquid ran throughout the cosmos like pathways. Compared to the entire inner cosmos, the streams were like a line of thin silk, but the benefits brought by them were immense. Tianyi could sense that his inner cosmos was more linked, more complete. Although he would still need a long time to accumulate the liquid qi, Tianyi already perfected the particular method. It was only a pity that he could only change the state of his own qi and not externalized qi for some strange reason. In a sense, the Vast Heaven Islands was an extension of his inner cosmos since the liquid qi could exist. Once the liquid qi exited his body, Tianyi would feel some interference that caused it to return to its gaseous state. Tianyi had Daoyi and Xi Ri try to liquify their qi using the technique he created, but they were met with unanimous failure. Perhaps it was because his cultivation method was unique and one of a kind, Tianyi had thought. It must be known that the true qi of chaos formed from the Primordial Heavenly Scripture could not replicate by itself as Tianyi''s did. Banishing any further thoughts on the matter, Tianyi decided to christen the liquid state of qi as ye. It wasn''t anything revolutionary; it was simply the word for liquid. Surveying the Vast Heaven Islands once more, Tianyi''s figured disappeared from the central mountain. It wasn''t a movement technique but a teleportation technique only applicable within the Vast Heaven Islands. When Tianyi reappeared again, he was at the boundary of the Vast Heaven Islands. He flew towards the nameless fortress town that he had yet to visit. Honestly speaking, the three years on the central mountain of Vast Heaven Islands was a bore. Daoyi and Xi Ri visited whenever possible. And due to the excellent cultivation environment of the Vast Heaven Islands, Xi Ri entered the mid Core Formation Realm, transforming his polished core into a tempered core. Aside from that, Tianyi had to make do with Jian Wuyan''s constant visits whenever she returned. She was the only other person aside from Tianyi''s two fellow reincarnators that Tianyi allowed to step on the central mountain. Interacting with the fanatic of a girl was an experience all in its own, but there was only so much Tianyi could take. As for Duwa, she had attained a territory on the seventh islands thanks to her attendants, but Tianyi never met her. Who would want to meet a girl who only wanted you for your body, especially to use as a lightning rod? Tianyi began to tour the streets of the nameless town with a heart full of expectations whilst ignoring the furtive glances sent his way. The nascent soul grandmaster had an inkling of how prestigious his name had become once the Vast Heaven Islands appeared, but he had underestimated how miraculous his act of creating the Vast Heaven Islands was. Everywhere Tianyi went, there were stares that followed him. If Tianyi didn''t know any better, he''d thought he was an emperor showing his new invisible clothes that only intelligent people could see to his citizens. Steeling himself, Tianyi pretended not to notice as he looked at the wares the disciples were selling. Usually, the disciples of first-rate sects wouldn''t act like loose cultivators and set up stalls to sell their unwanted goods. They could donate it to their sect for contribution points, after all. However, in the Demon Cage Realm, it seemed that disciples were willing to trade or barter their unneeded goods for ones they needed if disciples weren''t willing to accept spirit stones. Much to Tianyi''s disappointment, much of the goods for sale were materials from slain demons, something he had an abundance of. Not to mention, low-grade materials wouldn''t catch his eye at all. He pondered whether or not he would find someone selling a long-lost artifact or inheritance from the previous era but quickly struck down the thought. This was the Demon Cage Realm controlled by the Buzhou Immortal Sect, not an undiscovered realm or land.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it At the very least, I should be able to get a bite. Tianyi thought as he entered a rather plain eatery. The cook was naturally a disciple and not a resident of the realm. And since food was an important source of recovering qi in the Demon Cage Realm, immortal cooks became quite popular. Not as much as alchemists, though. Sitting down, Tianyi''s presence instantly drew in the curious stares of occupants. Calling the chef out, Tianyi ordered the best dishes. Once the dishes came out, Tianyi inhaled the irresistible fragrance of the dishes. Picking up his chopsticks, Tianyi picked up a piece and put it in his mouth. Immediately, the flavor of the mysterious meat exploded. It was like all parts of a chicken had condensed into the single piece of stir fry he partook in. Briefly, Tianyi wondered if the meat originated from a demon or monster. If it was a demon, then he was eating the flesh of a sapient being, but after some thoughts, Tianyi decided he didn''t particularly care at the moment. If the meat came from the severed wing of that Unity Realm level demon, Tianyi would even eat the flesh with even more gusto. After finishing his meal, Tianyi stepping out of the eatery and stopped. He glanced into the sky and saw tribulation clouds forming. Is someone transcending their tribulation? Tianyi didn''t have to wait long to know because the bolt of tribulation that had descended suddenly swerved towards him, and the scene that occurred three years ago repeated itself. "..." Tianyi Not long after, Tianyi saw the familiar figure of the sickly maiden running towards him, her two attendant cum guards following close behind. Tianyi decisively turned around and disappeared. If he could barely tolerate Jian Wuyan''s fanaticism, then Duwa''s one-sided desire to use him was something he didn''t face. It might be cruel, but if Duwa wasn''t a member of Buzhou Immortal Sect''s vassal sects, Tianyi wanted to smash her into the ground and teach her a lesson. Tianyi was proud to be a member of the gender equality club. However, since Duwa was a member of the Nihility Sect, Tianyi decided to flee, hoping that the problematic girl would leave him alone. Deciding that he had enough of the fortress town, Tianyi left and decided to tour the Demon Cage Realm a bit with no clear goals. Before he left, he heard Duwa shout, "Daoist Xi, I divined your future and saw nothing! Do you know what that means? It means that your death is near! If if you help me, I can find a way for you to live!" Tianyi''s face darkened. Was this cursing him to an early death? He didn''t know much about seers, but neither did he care about them either. He once heard his mother said that a seer''s power wasn''t absolute, and more often than not, they were wrong. Hell, some powerful cultivators could divine the future as well. His mother did it once and told him what the weather would be for the next month. After that, Tianyi lost all curiosity for seers. Tianyi''s goal had already been accomplished as he had attained a dragon egg, in a manner of speaking. There was still a second goal, one to cure his ''trauma'' of Nascent Soul Realm level experts, but Tianyi didn''t think fighting more of them would fix it. He quite literally slaughtered a ton during his last battle. After a week of aimless wandering, Tianyi had already gotten bored. Perhaps he should return and work on completing his cultivation method? As Tianyi was flying back to Vast Heaven Islands on his immortal boat, he noticed a commotion below. Perhaps out of habit or just plain laziness, Tianyi hadn''t changed the stealth mode the vehicle was in, so the participants of the battle below didn''t notice him. Below, one cultivator was being assaulted by over seven demons, all of which were at the Nascent Soul Realm level. As the cultivator was in the Nascent Soul Realm, he was not the Demon Cage Realm denizen. Not to mention he wore the uniform of a Buzhou Immortal Sect disciple. Tianyi controlled the boat to descend without being noticed. Since they were fellow sect members, he would lend a hand if things got out of hand. If there was one thing Tianyi was disappointed in, it was that the cultivator was a man with hair the color of snow. Where''s the damsel waiting for the hero to save them? Why am I saving the hero instead? Tianyi thought. He kinda wanted a cliche encounter as well. Plus, saving a beautiful woman was much more enjoyable than saving a man. Maybe he can enjoy the eyes of admiration from a woman? Jian Wuyan and Duwa didn''t count. Why am I so concerned about this? Is it because my body is that of a teenager''s, so my hormones are affecting me? Do I even have hormones? As Tianyi sank deeper into his thoughts, the ensuing conflict below escalated. The white-haired man was Sheng Ni, the same one who ranked first on the Nascent Soul Realm ranking board in Paradise Agony Abyss. Currently, his white robes were soaked in blood, and one of his hands was clutching his chest, but the ferocity within his eyes could never be dismissed. Despite his pale face, a bloody aura of ferocity surrounded him, formed from the blood of countless foes he had slain in his lifetime. The seven demons¡ªnow five as two had fallen in the brief clash between the two forces¡ªeyed Sheng Ni warily. They had originally started out with thirteen demons, but now, over half had been slain by the human in front of them. Sheng Ni wasn''t one to wait passively, so he struck again. Plus, he was grievously injured, so the longer the battle was prolonged, the more disadvantageous it would be for him. Reddish black qi began to gather at Sheng Ni''s forefinger and converged into a spike. The demons were filled with a premonition of death as Sheng Ni stabbed his finger towards one of them. Without delay, all five tried to dodge the Sheng Ni''s finger. Suddenly, one of the avian demons that had dodged Sheng Ni''s finger squawked in fear and rage. His feathers had begun to lose their luster. Furthermore, its vitality had been damaged, and he seemed to have aged instantly. Sheng Ni didn''t miss this chance and appeared behind the avian demon and stabbed his finger into the demon''s heart. Oh, the demon struggled, but it was for naught as life quickly left its body. Simultaneously, some color returned to Sheng Ni''s paling face. After this, it seemed the demon abandoned any trace of their previous wait-and-see attitude as they attacked Sheng Ni with reckless abandon. Rather than Sheng Ni''s disadvantages disappearing with time, it seemed the longer the demons delayed, the greater certainty of death for them. It was in this chaotic clash that Sheng Ni was struck in the back by one of the demons. Sheng Ni gritted his teeth as he felt his consciousness grow bleary from the combination of pain and blood loss. He could see one of the last remaining two demons, the previous one having struck the below behind him, open its maw to deliver a crushing bite, but before it could, it vanished. No, it didn''t vanish but was vaporized, Sheng Ni realized. A black beam had struck from and above and destroyed all traces of the demon. Sheng Ni turned around as he felt a dangerous sensation to see that the last demon had died as well. "You seemed to have found yourself in a bit of a bind." A pleasant voice said, causing Sheng Ni to look up to see a man standing above him. He couldn''t make out any other features due to his blurry consciousness, except that pair of bedeviling eyes and purple robes. Sheng Ni didn''t know why he hadn''t sensed the man earlier. Once he had noticed the man, the man''s presence seemed to erode the very world itself. That was how powerful the man''s aura was. "Disciple Sheng Ni of the Buzhou Immortal Sect thanks for senior''s aid." Sheng Ni said as he cupped his hand. The man seemed surprised at Sheng Ni''s words, but before Sheng Ni could hear the man''s reply, he felt his consciousness slip into darkness. Chapter 188: The Dragon Egg Begins to Hatch Sheng Ni woke up with a start. Years of experience in treacherous environments and situations made him first scanned his surroundings. Upon seeing that it appeared to be some sort of room did not ease his concerns at all. It hadn''t been the first time Sheng Ni had awoken in a seemingly safe environment, only to discover that said environment was far more dangerous than it appeared. The status of a Buzhou Immortal Sect offered certain protections, but due to a combination of him being a late-bloomer and outer disciple for most of his life, he wasn''t valued much. Still, the status brought him enough respect from orthodox sects. It was the devilish forces that were the problems. Devilish cultivators cared not one lick for order or honor. If they thought they could get away with it, the devilish cultivators would even attack the core disciples of the hegemonic sects. Sheng Ni as an unfavored and untalented disciple was their favorite type of prey. Sheng Ni inspected his body and discovered that nothing had been taken from him, especially his spatial ring. He had happened to chance upon the ring from the tomb of a fallen nascent soul grandmaster when he left the sect to search for more resources. As an outer sect disciple, the sect did not care much for an untalented Foundation Establishment Realm disciple to leave the mountain; all he had to do was report it. More importantly, Sheng Ni discovered that his wounds had healed, even his soul felt light and comfortable. Compared to physical wounds, soul injuries were far more difficult to recover from. Judging from this, Sheng Ni concluded that his savior did not mean him any harm, at least for now. Thinking about it more logically, it was likely that his savior was a disciple of the vassal sects and decided to save him thanks to his connection to the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Sheng Ni was silently grateful to be part of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Even if the sect did not nurture him much due to being untalented in his early years, the status still brought him many benefits. Sheng Ni didn''t dismiss the thought that a native of the Demon Cage Realm might''ve saved him, unlikely as that was. After making sure everything was alright, Sheng Ni left the room. It was time to meet his rescuer. It didn''t take long because as soon as he stepped out of his room, he saw a long hallway and the door towards the deck open by itself and a figure in purple sitting on a table waiting for him. Walking out into the sunlight, Sheng Ni''s eyes acclimated to the sudden change in light and recognized the figure in front of him. The reason that Sheng Ni never thought that a fellow sect member rescued him occurred to him was because Tianyi was wearing purple robes, nonstandard clothing for disciples of the sect. Even those who had personalized their robes usually wore something similar to the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s uniform in some form. Of course, Sheng Ni''s injuries from fighting the demons had also contributed to the misconception. "Thank you for saving my life, Senior Brother Xi." Sheng Ni solemnly said as he cupped his hand together and bowed. Tianyi waved his hand and said majestically. "No problem, as fellow disciples, we should help each other. No need to take it to heart. Come, have a seat." Sheng Ni hesitated for a moment before sitting down with Tianyi at the table, where Tianyi poured a cup of tea for Sheng Ni. Tianyi was crap at brewing tea, so the tea he had on hand was pre-brewed by Daoyi and stored away for occasions by Tianyi. "Many thanks," Sheng Ni said and sipped the tea. After allowing the tea to linger in his mouth for a bit and revealed a satisfied expression, Sheng Ni swallowed it. "Good tea." "Is that so?" Tianyi said humbly, but nevertheless, there was a please smile on his face. In truth, Sheng Ni didn''t know what good or lousy tea was. Before joining the Buzhou Immortal Sect, he had been a simple villager, but he had learned a few lessons on how to pretend that he knew. If he didn''t, people might look down and think he was easy to fool. The skill only came in more handy after his cultivation started to soar. Once he entered the Core Formation Realm, more and more people came to notice him, but his introverted personality remained the same. While he preferred to be alone, he still accepted some invites from time to time. After a few more pleasantries, Tianyi got to the main point. "If you don''t mind me asking, what happened for you to be chased by seven nascent soul grandmaster equivalent demons? Even if they aren''t as rare Unity Realm level demons, for seven of them to chase you is still out of the norm." Sheng Ni''s eyes became unfocused before sharpening once more. After a moment of silence, he began his tale. "It wasn''t seven demons that chased me, it was thirteen..." When Sheng Ni had arrived at the Demon Cage Realm, he hadn''t followed Xia Yushan or grouped up with anyone else. Instead, he had gone solo. Sheng Ni had no interest in the fleshly body of demons but rather their souls. And he was picky, too, choosing those Nascent Soul Realm demons with superior strength. A few years passed like this, with Sheng Ni diligently hunting down demons to increase his strength. Not long ago, Sheng Ni had temporarily settled down at a base created by the Leakless Sect and Monolith Sword Sect within the Jade Rabbit Clan''s territory to digest his gains. Sheng Ni had attracted a large amount of hatred from the demons due to his actions of targeting strong demons. By this time, news of him had already traveled far and wide, with numerous demons grouping together to kill him. He had taken residence within the base as a form of defense. Unfortunately, misfortune struck not long after. The Jade Rabbit Clan and the Leviathan Clan had sent over ten thousand Nascent Soul Realm level demons and over a hundred thousand Core Formation Realm level demons and assaulted the base. It wasn''t a frontal assault either but a siege from all sides. The cultivators were lax in their security and allowed the demons to remain undetected until they were a few kilometers away. This distance sounded large, but the sheer number of demons presented filled any holes that the cultivators could escape from. Upon realizing this, He Luoli gathered all the cultivators within the base and led them to break out of the encirclement by focusing all their forces at one point. It was a simple but effective plan, and it would have worked as the cultivators were almost able to pierce through the wall of demons. Just as they were about to break out, the Unity Realm level demons attacked. They had been hiding within the hordes of demons throughout the encirclement. When they saw the cultivators attempting to break through a single point, they assembled around that point and attacked at the critical time, exterminating over eighty percent of the cultivators.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. At this point, He Luoli could only issue for everyone to flee using their judgment. It was true that He Luoli could fend off a Unity Realm expert, but there were simply too many demons, and he could not protect his fellow cultivators. The condition for victory to win was to flee, so He Luoli led a few close allies of his and escaped. Sheng Ni was among those who managed to break the encirclement, but perhaps of his infamy among the demons, a squad of demons separated just to kill him. Sheng Ni had tried to escape using several different means, but there were just thirteen he could not shake off. Normally, Sheng Ni would not mind fighting against those thirteen demons, but he had been injured by the Unity Realm level demons earlier, and he had wasted a large portion of his qi when escaping. After that, Tianyi eventually rescued him while he was on his last legs. "I see," Tianyi said as he held his chin. "And you''re sure that it was the members of the Leviathan Clan?" Sheng Ni nodded. "How strange. According to the information we received, the three great demon clans should not have a habit of forming alliances. Is it because of us or other reasons? Furthermore, is it only the Leviathan Clan and the Jade Rabbit Clan, or are all three clans in an alliance? Judging from the battle five years ago, the Golden Crow Clan should not be in an alliance as the participants were all avian demons. However, that does not mean an alliance could not have been formed after." Tianyi began to mutter and analyze the situation aloud. In the end, he decided that the possibility of the fortress town being attacked was extremely high. With Sheng Ni in tow, Tianyi made his way back as fast as possible. When Tianyi and Sheng Ni arrived, the fortress town was not under attack, much to Tianyi and Sheng Ni''s relief. Using his spiritual sense, Tianyi sent a message to all the available cultivators within the town and the Vast Heaven Islands. Due to his rising prestige among the disciples, although they were unclear for the reason of Tianyi''s summon, over ninety-five percent of them arrived at the town center. Unfortunately, Xia Yushan, who Tianyi wanted to leave the matter to, was not present. With over a thousand pairs of eyes focusing on him full of expectations, Tianyi realized that he had never given a speech to so many people. Before, Tianyi only needed to act cool and mysterious, not speak! Realizing this, Tianyi felt nonexistent sweat coating his back. Shit! I''ve never given a speech before, what should I do? What if I flub it up and make a fool out of myself? He could already imagine it. Whenever he left Jade Peak, numerous disciples would stare at him in disdain. "Hey, hey, isn''t that Senior Brother Xi?" "Yeah, it''s Senior Brother Xi!" "Pff, what a loser. Can''t even talk properly, what a senior brother." "Disgrace of the Buzhou Immortal Sect." Just as Tianyi began to lose himself to his delusions, Sheng Ni stood out and spoke out. He had mistaken Tianyi''s silence as a cue for him to explain the situation. After Sheng Ni finished his tale, Tianyi had already broken out of his delusions, and the crowd of disciples was furiously whispering among themselves. "Those damn demons, huh. What a bunch of cowards, relying on numbers!" One disciple from the Nihility Sect shouted. "You can''t call them cowards, they are fighting for survival. Even a cornered rabbit will bite back, much less demons who can think." A disciple from Boundless Mountain added. "Hmpf, I say let them come. Those people were caught off guard. If we had time to prepare, can the demons even act so rampantly?" An arrogant voice of a disciple from the Jade Cauldron Sect said. As the only second-rate sect invited, he didn''t want to seem cowardly. "That''s hard to say. After all, we lack any unity venerables." This time a Buzhou Immortal Sect disciple analyzed calmly. "We cannot lose sight of our weakness in our arrogance. The Nascent Soul Realm and Core Formation Realm level demons aren''t a big threat individually. With careful planning, we can easily kill and hold them back even if they number over a hundred thousand. Even if we have to waste some spiritual stones or resources, it would be worth it with the corpses of those demons. However, their Unity Realm experts are an issue we cannot ignore." A fellow Buzhou Immortal Sect disciple said, contributing to the former''s analysis. "Senior Brother Xia, Daoist Moneybag, and others could combat against the Unity Realm experts, but defeating them is a bit... not to mention that Daoist Sheng counted more than nine Unity Realm level experts. Who''s to say there aren''t more in hiding?" A third one Buzhou Immortal Sect disciple said. As elite disciples of their sect, after their bout of arrogance, they began to carefully analyze the situation, judging the strengths and weaknesses between them and the demons. If there was one person who could not only defeat Unity Realm level demons and even grievously injure them... As time passed, more and more eyes began to focus on Tianyi once more. Noticing this, Tianyi felt his apprehension rise until someone finally committed the deed. "Senior Brother Xi, what are your plans?" A Buzhou Immortal Sect disciple said, with complete confidence in her voice. "Urk!" Tianyi grunted at the unexpected question. He coughed into his fist and spoke. "I plan on remaining Vast Heaven Islands whether or not the demons appear." "As expected of Senior Brother Xi, so unflappable under the face of hundreds of thousands of demons!" Another disciple from the Buzhou Immortal Sect said. "Since Daoist Xi is so confident, I''ll follow to battle and defeat the demons!" This time it was a disciple of Boundless Mountain. "Senior Brother Xi, I''ll follow your orders and teach those damn demons a lesson!" One disciple who had participated in the Heavenly Connection Gathering and saw Tianyi''s strength and subsequently became a fan, said. Although not as fervent, many more voices of approval could be heard for Tianyi. Tianyi was caught off guard by such clamor to follow him, but under the expectant gazes of the cultivators, he could not say no. The Vast Heaven Islands were immobile, and Tianyi simply wanted to defend the Vast Heaven Islands until he could carry it with him. He wasn''t unafraid of the demon''s assault, the sheer numbered scared him, and he didn''t want to think about how many Nascent Soul Realm level demons were present! If push came to shove, he would decisively flee! Rather, he was hoping that the disciples would flee first. If they did, he wouldn''t have to be responsible for them! Staring despondently into the sky, Tianyi proclaimed his first order as leader of the disciples present. A leadership forced upon him without his consent. Tianyi''s first order was to relocate everyone from the fortress town to Vast Heaven Islands. Although this might incur some unhappiness of the people present as the more people on each island, the fewer benefits they received, Tianyi was the master of the domain, so screw their complaints. He wasn''t even getting any remuneration from their occupancy, okay? After that was done, Tianyi simply told everyone to prepare. With Vast Heaven Island''s natural properties, allowing others to set formations up would interfere instead of aiding them. Instead, Tianyi manipulated the rings of rocks into certain patterns and created a "natural" formation. During this process, Tianyi began to worry about Daoyi and Xi Ri. He couldn''t help but wonder why he didn''t give the two any communication artifacts. At this thought, Tianyi palmed his face. Using his will, he added the feature of a radio tower to the Vast Heaven Islands. "Tianyi?" Daoyi''s surprised voice could be heard from the Xiyi talisman in Tianyi''s hand. "Yeah," Tianyi said. He quickly explained the situation and told her to return. After repeating the action for Xi Ri, only then did Tianyi feel his heart calm down. After giving the Vast Heaven Islands the property of a radio tower, Tianyi began to have an idea. "It could work, if it does...I''d be a genius..." Tianyi muttered to himself as he began to plan. He didn''t have much confidence in turning Vast Heaven Island into a realm-type artifact, so he wanted to fortify the defenses. After all, he had quite a lot of ''volunteers.'' "Hmm?" Tianyi stopped his thought process as he reached into his robes and pulled out a black sphere that was the size of his palm. It was the immortal pill. During the past five years, it had been slowly getting bigger. And now, Tianyi could feel it began rocking back and forth within his palm. Clack Clack Clack Crack! A crack appeared on the outer shell, much to Tianyi''s amazement. Don''t tell me the immortal pill became an egg? Doesn''t that mean that my dream of having a dragon mount can be fulfilled? Chapter 189: Pill Qilin Ever since the immortal pill had absorbed the dragon egg within the Leviathan Clan''s Dragon Palace, it entered some sort of dormant state. Nothing Tianyi did would rouse it from its inactivity, not even the true qi of chaos. Still, Tianyi hadn''t worried because he could sense the growing lifeforce within the pill, or rather, egg. Tianyi held the hatching egg in his hand as he tried to sense the changes happening within the egg, but even with the pill egg existing within Vast Heaven Island, Tianyi still couldn''t sense anything. He wasn''t too surprised, as the egg was something from the ruins of the Immortal Court, so its rank was far too high for him. Even when it was still a pill, Tianyi had already failed in sensing the inner workings, so even though it had become an egg, Tianyi wasn''t too disappointed that he couldn''t sense what was happening. Crack Crack Crack Patiently, Tianyi waited for more cracks to appear on the shell, dropping everything he had been working on. After all, how long did an egg need to hatch? As it turned out? Terribly long. A month later, after Tianyi had finished preparing over a thousand Xiyi Talismans, he noticed something strange. Looking around, Tianyi tried to discover the source of the strangeness. However, everything seemed to be normal and unchanged, but he knew something was different. Tianyi held his chin as he tried to think of what exactly was abnormal, and he could feel it at the tip of his tongue. That''s right! I can''t hear the cracking noise anymore! Tianyi immediately appeared where he had placed the pill egg, on a soft blanket (an immortal rank artifact that conceals everyone under it) and an elaborate basket (another immortal rank artifact meant to seal opponents). Was it incredibly wasteful? Yes. Did Tianyi have any other blankets or baskets? No. Could Tianyi have made some? Also yes. But Tianyi was too lazy, and the two artifacts were just collecting dust in his spatial ring, so Tianyi put them to good use. Holding the egg near his face, Tianyi observed the silent egg. He had gotten so used to the cracking sound that he automatically tuned out the clamorous background noise. Now that it had stopped, Tianyi felt strangely unsettled by the absence. Pushing down the discomfort, Tianyi continued to observe the egg. Strange, the shell is full of cracks, so why hasn''t it hatched? And there are no more sounds coming from it either. Don''t tell me it died?! I recall that chicks need to break out of their shells themselves, and no matter what, you should not help them. I can''t recall why you shouldn''t. Don''t tell me the beast within the egg died?! I mean, thinking about it logically... the egg was originally a pill in the first place. Becoming an egg is obviously strange, I just didn''t question it since stranger things have happened. Could there have been some mishap? Tianyi felt a sense of loss as he stared at the silent egg. He couldn''t sense any more lifeforce from it, so that contributed to his hypothesis. Even if it was a pill, it still accompanied him for many years. He began to recall all the time he spent with it. Instantly, Tianyi recalled the first meeting of beating. Next, he recalled all the times the immortal pill took advantage of him and sucked his blood and true qi of chaos. Now that he thought about it, the memories with him and the pill were horrible. Should I have thrown it away earlier? Tianyi asked himself, but thinking of how much of his "blood" that he fed to the pill, Tianyi felt a sense of unwillingness. He already offered so much for the pill''s growth. Abandoning it now would make all his efforts go down the drain. Should I crack it open? Tianyi decided against it. Instead, he broke open the skin on his palm and allowed his ''blood'' to drip onto the cracked shell. It was true qi of chaos, or to be more accurate, true qi of chaos in a liquid state. Like honey, the liquid qi dripped atop the egg and began slowly to cover the black shell. Already, the black liquid was returning to its gaseous state. After a few moments where nothing happened, Tianyi began to fear for the worst. Thankfully, the light began to shine through the liquid qi, resembling cracks, and the black liquid was absorbed, leaving the egg uncovered once more without any light. Tianyi waiting a while and saw that nothing happened. Perhaps it needs more? Seeing no more movements, Tianyi proceeded to replicate his earlier actions. Rinse and repeat. By the time the egg showed a new reaction, Tianyi had already stopped counting due to how monotonous it was. Finally! The egg had just absorbed the last sprinkle of true qi of chaos, and even without absorbing more, light still shone through the cracks. Tianyi watched with great expectations as the egg began to tremble and move in an almost jumping matter. As its movement reached its climax... BOOOOOOM!!!!The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Unprepared against the sudden explosion that engulfed half of the mountain, Tianyi was launched thousands of kilometers into the horizon before he forcefully stopped himself. The air had two trails of smokes formed from when Tianyi skidded across the air using his ability to tread on air as a nascent soul grandmaster. Aside from some smoke rising from his body, Tianyi was unharmed. The source of the explosion came from true qi of chaos, but it was slightly different from Tianyi''s unique true qi of chaos. He concluded that it was less powerful and didn''t have the unique property his qi had. Still, Tianyi had an annoyed expression as he flew back. Every damn time the stupid immortal pill did something, why was he always the one to suffer? Already, he had received several inquiries from spiritual senses concerning the explosion. After Tianyi assured them that nothing had occurred and the demons had not launched a sudden assault, he returned to the central mountain. Upon seeing the current state of the mountain, Tianyi''s eyes couldn''t help but twitch. The central mountain of Vast Heaven Islands now had a gaping hole at its side, as if someone had carved out a sphere and stole it, making the mountain partially resemble a crescent. Tianyi took a few deep breaths to calm himself down and flew into the gaping hole. At the center of the hole was a strange creature about the size of a squirrel. Not only was it the size of a squirrel, but it had the body shape of one too. Unlike the mammal the squirrel was, the creature was clad in tiny scales the color of darkness. Each scale shimmered with specks of light as if the creature''s body was formed from the night sky. Tianyi found that it resembled his true qi of chaos. The creature had a serpentine head with eyes the color of molten gold, and the tail that made up over half of its size was clad in scales larger than the ones on its body. Stiff hair the color of moonlight lined the sides of its tail like needles. The most eye-catching features were no doubt the single horn sprouting from its forehead. Despite its small size, Tianyi did not doubt its sharpness. The two''s eyes met, and a familiar medicinal fragrance entered Tianyi''s nose. The immortal pill had never smelled like anything, so Tianyi didn''t know why the scent was so familiar. The silence was broken between them when the horned creature started to float towards him. Encouraged by this, Tianyi brought his hands forward, fingers out. Just as his fingers were about the stroke the creature''s black scales, the creature opened its mouth and bit Tianyi''s fingers. A piercing pain registered to Tianyi''s mind as he waved his hands up and down in an attempt to fling the creature off. Fuck, what did I expect?! This damn pill is greedily absorbing my true qi of chaos!!!
"Hoh? That''s the immortal pill that you''ve been carrying around? I never expected it to become your spiritual beast." Daoyi said, sitting on the opposite end of the table from Tianyi. Days later, the creature, having had its fill, was currently resting around Tianyi''s neck like some sort of scaled scarf. Tianyi and the created had formed a spiritual bond after it had drunk his blood, making the horned beast Tianyi''s spiritual beast. Tianyi did not recognize the species the creature was, so he named it a pill qilin. The creature resembled a cross between a qilin, unicorn, and squirrel, but only the qilin was the closest to any beasts recorded in the Huang Realm. Yes, squirrels apparently didn''t exist in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, or at least none that were important enough to be recorded within the Buzhou Immortal Sect. As for the pill in pill qilin, it was obvious where that came from. Aside from the species name, Tianyi decided to name the pill qilin Dandan. Yes, it was incredibly immature of him to name it pill pill, but did Tianyi regret it? Absolutely not. Naturally, Dandan made a commotion and objected to its name through their link together, but Tianyi was firm in his attitude. After all the grief, the damn pill qilin had put him through, Tianyi felt that getting some revenge was justified. Was it incredibly petty? Yes. Dandan had even attacked Tianyi for a day because of it. Unlike before, Tianyi was able to fend it off and make Dandan suffer using his mastery of spacetime concepts. Tianyi even returned interest on all the times the pill had cannonballed him whenever he refused to supply blood. Karma had been served. It was so cathartic that Tianyi even considered continuing beating it up some more had it not been for Daoyi''s arrival. "Yeah, although not one hundred percent of its bloodline is pure, the purity is still very high. A rarity in the modern era," Tianyi said. While Dandan had been an immortal pill, it had actively sought out those with the dragon bloodline. The second one was the nascent soul grandmaster equivalent snake demon that had attacked Azure Leaf City, and the third had been the dragon egg within Dragon Palace. As for the first? It was all the blood of the Dragon Emperor Tianyi had stored in his inner cosmos when he formed his martial body. Tianyi had thought the blood had been destroyed or consumed by his true qi of chaos, but it turned out that the culprit was that damn immortal pill. Tianyi had complex feelings knowing that the Dragon Emperor''s blood flowed through Dandan''s veins but suppressed it. It wasn''t like Dandan was actually born from the Dragon Emperor''s bloodline. "Isn''t that quite amazing?" Daoyi asked, closely observing the pill qilin around Tianyi''s neck. Daoyi raised her hand, and the dreamsilk weaver beast Shuijing, Daoyi''s spiritual beast, crawled onto the back of her hand. "I wonder which one is rarer." Tianyi felt his body stiffen and had to use every ounce of self-control from not shirking away as he eyed Shuijing warily. "I-I think yours should be rarer. Mine isn''t a pure-blooded dragon, after all. And I''ve never heard of d-dreamsilk weaver beast until yours appeared." Seeming having remembered that Tianyi was fearful of spiders, Daoyi retracted her hand, but Shuijing seemed displeased and jumped off her hand and onto the table between them. Dandan seemed to have sensed something too, as it jumped off of Tianyi''s neck and onto the table across from Shujing. Tianyi''s eyes lit up with hope. Maybe Dandan can act as a deterrent against the dreamsilk weaver beast? Although he said Shujing''s species was rarer, that didn''t make Tianyi think that Dandan was weaker in combat ability. After all, Dandan had the dragon bloodline, and its origin was an immortal rank pill from the Immortal Court. Even now, Tianyi could not sense Dandan''s realm. If he had to guess, its state of existence was above Unity Realm, close to the Transcending Mortality Realm or maybe Immortal Realm, although its strength had not truly reached that stage. From Tianyi''s experience, Dandan''s strength was that of a new unity venerable, but it would grow with time. "Ah!" Daoyi let out a sound of surprise as Dandan and Shuijing started to duking it out. The two weren''t using any techniques, just swipes and even a bite or two between them. Had the two truly used all their strength, the table would have been obliterated. Too Tianyi''s immense disappointment, Dandan had suddenly collapsed onto the table and fainted for an unknown reason. Shuijing then used its razor-sharp legs to push Dandan off before turning to Daoyi, raising its front four legs, and standing on the remaining back legs as if asking for praise. Tianyi was left speechless by the one-sided victory. "Tianyi, should you not pick up Dandan?" Daoyi asked as she gently stroked Shuijing with her index and middle fingers. "No, let it be a lesson for it," Tianyi said sulkily, his hopes having been dashed by Dandan. Tianyi suddenly turned his gaze into the distance. "What''s wrong?" Daoyi asked with worry. "Have the demons launched their assault?" "No," Tianyi smiled. "Xi Ri has returned." About an hour later, Xi Ri came aboard the central mountain and found his fellow reincarnations. "What''s with the hole in the mountain?" Xi Ri asked. Tianyi''s smile stiffened. Daoyi giggled. She had asked the same question, but seeing Tianyi''s expression, she knew that he had screwed up somehow and caused the hole. "Forget that. What do you mean plan to do with the residents of Fan City?" Xi Ri asked, his voice full of worry. "Fan City?" Tianyi asked, confused. Did the fortress town finally get named? Seeing the confusion in Tianyi''s eyes, Xi Ri realized that Tianyi didn''t know. "The city made by the people of the Demon Cage Realm near the fortress city. What do you plan for them for when the demons lay siege against us?" "Oh?" Tianyi slapped his forehead. "OH!" I totally forgot about them! This Clone Isn’t Your Golden Finger 1 Allfist Realm. The Allfist Realm was considered an average realm in all of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. The Three Thousand Immortal Realms consisted of about two immortal level realms, two percent peak-rank realms, five percent high-rank realms, twenty percent middle-rank realms, forty percent low-rank realms, and thirty-three percent desolate realms. As a realm that was once considered one of the weakest realms, the Allfist Realm was a world where martial arts reigned supreme. If viewed from an earthling''s viewpoint, it would be a wuxia world. The world''s people cultivated inner energy and martial arts, becoming strong enough to the point of one person defeating a thousand soldiers. However, they were still mortals in the end, and no matter how much inner energy they had, they could not extend their longevity beyond their mortal limits. But that all changed with the appearance of Grandmaster Heartfirst. Grandmaster Heartfist was the invincible martial arts master of his era. He had reached the peak of mortal martial arts but sought more. Just as he neared the end of his lifespan, Grandmaster Heartfirst had an epiphany and learned how to absorb spiritual qi, becoming the first body transformation acolyte of the Allfist Realm. From then on, Grandmaster Heartfirst extended his lifespan and became the number one figure in all of Allfist Realm''s history. He took four hundred years to cultivate to the peak of the Acupoint Opening Realm and incurred the Soul Nourishing Heavenly Tribulation. After passing his tribulation, Grandmaster Heartfist ascended to a higher realm. From then on, the denizens of Allfist Realm called Grandmaster Heartfist Ancestor Allfist. His nine students propagated his teachings and brought a new era of flourishing cultivation to the Allfist Realm. With each ascension to the higher realm, the density of spiritual qi increased until it finally reached the rank of an upper low-rank realm. Just as it seemed that the Allfist Realm would evolve into a middle-rank realm, calamity struck. One day, out of nowhere, the sky of the Allfist Realm was suddenly filled with holes. Flaming balls of iron and rock descended and devastated the land. Those with sharp eyes could even see the broken remains of an immortal boat falling down. To the mortals, it was a heavenly disaster, but to the peak cultivators, it was the aftereffects of a battle between those of higher realms. The Allfist Realm had just unluckily been caught up within it. After ten years, everything started to return to normal after the calamity, but some things have permanently changed. Due to the rush of foreign qi, monsters became more common, and the lives of regular mortals were in greater danger than before. Especially with the destruction of numerous countries, wars for supremacy still continued. At a remote mountain at the periphery of the Allfist Realm existed a nameless mountain. And resting within a cave inside the mountain was a small fox with three tails. The fox''s fur was flaming red, and the subtle breathing caused its fur to shimmer as if it was fire itself. "Finally, my combat prowess has returned to about thirty percent." This fox was Juedai Fenghua, Xi Tianyi''s first clone. After a moment, she added depressingly. "Although, I never actually fought a battle before I fell to this realm." Xi Tianyi was the son of the legendary Sword Empress of the Huang Realm, one of the two immortal realms of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Due to some circumstances, while following the disciples of the Leakless Sect, Fenghua had been ambushed and pushed into a spatial rift. She survived but with grievous injuries and needed ten years to restore a portion of her strength. Worst, she couldn''t contact her main body at all. Not only that, but Juedai Fenghua had reverted to a fox''s body. To regain her human form, she would still need a few years of recuperation, but she didn''t know how long it would take with the sparse qi of the Allfist Realm. Compared to the Huang Realm, the Allfist Realm was like a dessert to her. So Fenghua decided to seek out some natural treasures to restore her strength faster. The current her had the strength of a foundation establishment disciple, and if push came to shove, could unleash a peak core formation master''s strike. Fenghua sighed as she glanced at the damaged spatial ring on her paw. While enduring the turbulence of the Vast Void, her immortal boat had been destroyed, and her spatial ring had lost many of its contents, leaving a bare minimum. She didn''t even have anything to heal her, not even a single Concealed Vitality Pill! With a sigh, Juedai Fenghua stood up and walked out of her cave. As if mocking her, the skies darkened, and rain bashed the lands. Fenghua''s fox face frowned and returned to the cave. There was no way she would exit the cave and get her fur wet. Have you smelled wet fur? It was like smelling a wet sock, and it was especially annoying since fur was part of her body. With a sigh, Fenghua curled her body and hid her face with her tails. Maybe it was better to get some sleep. She could hardly remember the last time she slept. The following day, Fenghua released a large yawn, her open maw revealing her razor-sharp teeth. After loosening in her taut body, she left the cave. The rain had lasted throughout the night and only stopped an hour before sunrise, so the mountain was filled with dew and fog. After walking a few paces, Fenghua spread her spiritual sense and paused. Despite her body only having strength at the Foundation Establishment Realm, she was still a core formation master, so she still retained her spiritual sense.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Continuing her trek down the mountain, Fenghua paused in front of two graves. Calling them graves was like calling a tombstone a mausoleum. The graves were just two mounds of dirt with two sticks marking them. And in front of the grave was a youth, about fourteen to fifteen years old, crying his heart out. The teenager''s hair was a mess, and he wore a brown robe that had seen much better days. "Father and Mother, don''t worry, I will definitely won''t let this enmity rest! I will cultivate and then take their heads as offerings to you!" The teen howled out his lung out grief with bags under his eyes and his eyes bloodshot. "Hey youngster, vowing vengeance on your enemies is good and all, but don''t you think you should do it away from those very same enemies?" The youth paused upon hearing the pleasant female voice entered his ears. He quickly used his rag-like sleeves to wipe away his tears and stood up, his knees damp from the morning dew. "Who are you? What do you mean?" The teenager looked around but saw nothing, not even a shadow of another person. All he saw was the endless forest of the mountain. "Down here." The teenager looked down and was mesmerized. If I skin its fur, how much gold could I get? Upon sensing something wrong in the teenager''s gaze, Fenghua snorted, stopped grooming her paw, and whipped her tail forward, the bushy tail extending as if by magic and struck the teen''s face, causing him to fall on his back with a shocked cry. "Hmpf, do you take me for a mere beast? And to think I was advising you out of my goodwill. If you don''t want to listen to my advice, then I''ll leave you to your fate." The teenager finally realized who had spoken and looked at the three-tailed fox with an open mouth. Suddenly he screamed and ran away. "AHHHH!! MONSTER!!!" "..." Juedai Fenghua. The teenager continued to run away, the shock and fright that had appeared on his face nowhere to been seen. Instead, his expression was unnaturally calm. The youth suddenly stop as if he stomped on the breaks. Because in front of him was a stranger fully covered in black, only those pair of dull, lifeless eyes could be seen, and they were staring straight at him. "Who''re you!" The teenager said, his guard raised to the maximum. The stranger in black didn''t say anything. The sound of a sword being drawn from its sheath entered the teenager''s ears. Only now did he realize that the stranger had a sword at his waist. Not good! Knowing that the man in black held ill will toward him, the teenager immediately turned tail and ran. But how could the man in black let his target run away? Before the teenager even had a chance to take ten steps, he suddenly collapsed onto the ground. Then came the pain. "My tendons, you sliced the tendons on my wrist and ankles!" The teenager roared as he glared at the man in black. The sword used to sliced his tendons didn''t even have a speck of blood on it. "Why are you doing this? What did I ever do to you?" The teenager demanded, but the man in black only continued to walk closer with nary a word. "Am I, Leng Junfeng, going to die like this?" The teenager roared at the heavens, unwillingness filling his heart. "I haven''t taken vengeance on the Teng Family! I am unwilling! Unwilling!" However, no matter how much Leng Junfeng was unwilling, the man in black didn''t care. He just slowly stepped closer and closer to Junfeng''s prone body and raised his sword. "Hmmm, that''s why I asked if it was alright for you to shout your plans of revenge in front of your enemies." It was as if time had frozen. The man in black stared warily at the fox that suddenly appeared a meter away from the prone Leng Junfeng. When time resumed, the man in black immediately thrust his sword towards Fenghua. Fenghua opened her mouth and yawned in boredom. When the sword was about to pierce her head, the type of the sword began to melt as if it was wax. First was the sword tip, but the rest of the sword also started to melt as time passed. As if scorched by fire, the man in black threw away the bladeless handle and jumped a few feet back, all the while never taking his eyes off of Fenghua. Fenghua smirked and seemed to paw at random locations in the air. The man in black was confused until he saw fire spontaneously combust five times. The fire was at random locations, some behind trees, others atop the tree branches. The man in black started to sweat. For this assassination, a total of six assassins had been sent, and the location of those five fires was where his teammates had been hiding. He looked down at the seemingly harmless fox with fear. Fenghua stared back at the man and revealed a foxy smirk. The man in black didn''t have a chance to do anything except turn around, but before he even took his first step, he was engulfed in flames. Minutes later, the flames dispersed, and only ash was left. Silence descended on the foot of the mountain once more as if the previous events had never occurred. Leng Junfeng stared slack-jawed at the red fox. The series of events occurred too fast for him to process, but once he regained his bearings, he immediately kneeled and thanked Fenghua. Or, at least he tried to. Forgetting his injuries, once Junfeng tried to stand straight up, the pain assaulted him and caused him to plant face-first into the ground. Fenghua laughed in delight, finding Junfeng''s actions to be funny. Junfeng''s ears turned scarlet by the laughter. The voice was pleasing to the ears like the strings of a zither. At least it''s a fox. If it were a girl, I''d be embarrassed to death. Suddenly, a warm feeling covered Leng Junfeng''s wounds, and when the warmth disappeared, the teenager discovered that his wounds had all disappeared. He immediately stood up and then kneeled down before the red fox. "Thank you for your grace, Fox Immortal!" "Oh? I¡¯m a fox immortal now? I thought I was a monster, according to you?" Fenghua teased. Leng Junfeng''s face flushed with shame. "I was blind and didn''t recognize Great Immortal." "Alright, alright," Fenghua waved her paw and said, "I''m not an immortal yet. Oh, but I''m not a monster either." Junfeng nodded, but his eyes did not contain any ripples as he did so. "Now, tell me why those people wanted to kill you. If I had to guess, they were a force of your parent''s enemies." Leng Junfeng gained a faraway look in his eyes as he stared at the sky, tears streaming down his face. Luckily, he was staring at the sky. Otherwise, he''d have seen Fenghua roll her eyes at him. "The Leng Clan is..." This Clone isnt your Golden Finger 2 This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. This Clone isnt your Golden Finger 3 Fenghua waited by the cave entrance until Leng Junfeng awoke. During this time, she had already comprehended the martial cultivation method inscribed in the cavern walls. If it was complete, it might have caught her eyes. Unfortunately, one could only reach the Soul Nourishing Realm following this incomplete method. Well, it''s not like I''m the one cultivating it. Besides, I''ll give that youngster a spiritual cultivation method. If he reached the Immortal Realm, my main body can accept him as a disciple. Hehe, the time-flow in lower realms is usually faster. I wonder if this guy or my main body will reach the Immortal Realm first? Main Body, better hurry up and become immortal. Otherwise, your future in-name disciple might out cultivate you. With a head full of evil thoughts, Fenghua told Leng Junfeng to learn the cultivation method carved into the walls. "W-what is this?! This cultivation method is so powerful, much more powerful than my Leng Clan''s World Gale Body Method!" Fenghua snorted. "How good can a cultivation method that is created based on a knockoff of a palm art be? There''s a reason you don''t create a method based on an attack." "Senior, take that back!" Leng Junfeng said. He acknowledged that this fox senior was powerful and was grateful for her aid, but he would not stand for anyone besmirching his clan, even if they helped him. "Youngster, take a look at the cultivation at the wall. That is how a cultivation method should be. The Dragon Elephant Transformation Method aims to give you the physique close to the Dragon Elephant, a descendant of the Dragon Mammoth. Your Leng Clan''s cultivation method aims to cultivate a body that can unleash that Divine Wind Fist. No cultivation method should be structured around an attack." Fenghua lectured. Leng Junfeng pursed his lips, but he recognized the logic of Fenghua''s words but was unwilling to admit defeat. "If it were even in a middle-rank realm, such folly would have caused your clan''s downfall long ago. If you can''t even withstand this little bit of truth, I advise you to give up." Fenghua said. Leng Junfeng grunted, but he still said no words. Fenghua sighed. She felt like she was bullying a five-year-old, was the man in front of her really a teenager? Sure didn''t feel like it. Whatever, I''ll cut him some slack. Youngster did just lose his whole clan, after all. Hopefully, he won''t turn into a revenge-obsessed emo like a certain ninja. "Senior, will I really be able to learn this? I''m a cultivation cripple..." Leng Junfeng dejectedly said, lowering his head in shame. "Did I not explain?" Fenghua tilted her fox head. "You possess the Broad Stream Physique. The weak cultivation method of this realm doesn''t suit you. Long story short, the Dragon Elephant Transformation Method is suitable for you to cultivate." "Senior," Leng Junfeng''s eyes teared up with emotion. "You could''ve taken this method for yourself, but you left it for me. This grace, I will forever remember it!" What the hell. I didn''t even know this place existed. But if you wanted to give me credit, I won''t push it away. Hehe, if you''re really a protagonist, amuse me then. Fenghua paid Leng Junfeng no mind as she began to gather spiritual qi to heal her wounds. Although she seemed fine on the surface, numerous cracks existed on her spiritual core, resulting in her inability to resume her human form. Leng Junfeng spent seven days and seven nights memorizing and comprehending the Dragon Elephant Transformation Method. When Leng Junfeng awoke from his daze, he had already reached the peak of the Skin Toughening Stage. The next step would be to enter the Muscle Strengthening Stage. However, as a side effect, the teenager was suffering from extreme hunger. Had it not been for him entering the first stage, he would have likely died from dehydration from not drinking water. Fenghua goodnaturedly brought out the food she had saved. She said saved, but it was really just the mountain animals she slaughtered whenever she felt like eating. Those who reached the Foundation Establishment Realm and above could subsist on spiritual qi alone. Just as she started a fire, Leng Junfeng spoke up."Senior, allow me. I may not be skilled in anything, but I''m pretty confident in my cooking." Fenghua shrugged and allowed him to roast the meat. She didn''t have much confidence in making the meat taste good without any seasonings, and she doubted Leng Junfeng could accomplish it either. She was quickly proven wrong as a tantalizing aroma reached her nose. Drool even began to pool under her mouth as she watched with rapt attention. "It''s done." Leng Junfeng said as he held up a leg of roasted deliciousness. "Huh?" Leng Junfeng blinked as he realized that the meat in his hand had disappeared. Looking at Fenghua, he realized that it had been snatched too quickly for his eyes to see. Leng Junfeng held back a chuckle as he watched the small fox struggle with the piece of meat that was nearly half her body size. Instead, Leng Junfeng quietly ate his own piece of meat and analyzed his own body. The Dragon Elephant Transformation Method is amazing! In seven days, I was able to reach the peak of the Skin Toughening Stage. I remember that the record for the shortest time was six months! And I did it in a week! Leng Junfeng did not realize the reason he was so fast was due to his special physique and Fenghua cultivating next to him. As a core formation master, when Fenghua cultivated, she would gather massive amounts of spiritual qi around her. He simply benefited from the circumstances, but he would not know the truth until years later. "Now that was delicious. Not as delicious as the dishes I remembered before I split, but still delicious despite only being roasted with no salt." Fenghua praised as she licked her paws. "Youngster, have you considered becoming an immortal chef?" "Immortal chef?" Leng Junfeng repeated but quickly shook his head. Just from the name, he understood what kind of occupation it was. He wanted to avenge his clan, not feed his enemy. "What a pity," Fenghua said with no real disappointment. "Now that you''ve learned a martial cultivation method, it''s time to learn a spiritual method."Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. "You mean the spiritual method spoken of in legends?" Leng Junfeng said, his breath becoming erratic from excitement. "From legends? Spiritual cultivation methods are quite common in the Huang Realm. It is the mainstream, above martial cultivation methods." Fenghua said to the shock of Leng Junfeng. "Anyways, I have a perfect cultivation method for you. It doesn''t seem that your world knows how to test spiritual veins, but let me tell you, you possess a heavenly wood spiritual vein. It is not one white inferior to your Broad Stream Physique. In fact, it is even rarer. You would be invited to peak powers just based on this alone." "Senior," Leng Junfeng said, moved beyond tears. He did not understand what it meant to possess a heavenly spiritual vein, but he understood that Fenghua was telling him he was a rare cultivation talent. For him, who was a member of a cultivation clan and inhabitant of a world where strength prevails above all else, being a cultivation cripple had damaged his self-esteem. Not a single person, not even his father, said he was average in cultivation, much less talented. "Alright, alright, stop the waterworks. If you start to cry, I won''t teach you." Fenghua said, not bearing to look at Leng Junfeng''s reddened eyes. If it was a girl, she might¡¯ve cared, but too bad Leng Junfeng was a boy. Leng Junfeng swiftly wiped his budding tears with his sleeves and looked at Fenghua with a never-before-seen seriousness on his face. "Senior¡ªno, Master, please instruct your disciple!" "Oy, aren''t you jumping the gun too fast? I don''t accept anyone as a disciple, you know. Your heavenly wood spiritual vein is certainly rare, but I also possess a heavenly spiritual vein. Not to mention that my main body is a member of the Huang Realm''s strongest sect and personally powerful too." Fenghua said with disdain, but she was actually quite happy with Leng Junfeng''s actions. Since this was the Allfist Realm, Fenghua didn¡¯t see much point in hiding her status as a clone anymore, but that didn¡¯t mean she would inform unrelated people who her main body was. "I understand. I will work hard to become worthy of being Senior''s disciple!" Leng Jungfeng said with the utmost enthusiasm. "Not bad. For now, call me teacher. You can be my student." Fenghua said. "Understood, Teacher." Leng Junfeng cupped his fist in a salute towards his new teacher. "G-good," Fenghua barely hid the excitement in her voice as she began to impart the Wood Book of the Five Element Method to Leng Junfeng. Don''t let me down, Leng Junfeng. The Five Element Method was the most fundamental cultivation method and the most extraordinary cultivation method of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, excluding the Ten Heavenly Scriptures that existed since the creation of the universe. The Five Element Method was divided into five books, each correlating to the five elements: Fire Book, Water Book, Wood Book, Metal Book, and Earth Book. Each of the five books was further divided into chapters from the Qi Gathering Realm to the Immortal Realm. Rumor has it that an immortal who mastered all five books would be able to cultivate the Five Phases Heavenly Scripture and enter the Divinity Realm. Still, the thought was far too distant for the current Fenghua. Plus, she cultivated the Primogenitor Flame Scripture created by Sovereign Suiren of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, so it did not concern her much. What Fenghua was imparting was the Qi Gathering and Foundation Establishment Chapter to Leng Junfeng. The contents of the Core Formation Chapter and above were too massive and esoteric for a mortal like Leng Junfeng, so it was better for him to enter the Foundation Establishment Realm before imparting the Core Formation and Nascent Soul Chapters to him. "T-this?!" Leng Junfeng stared at his hands in wonder. He had just awakened after digesting all the information he received, and he could barely hide his excitement. In the Qi Gathering Realm, a cultivator mainly focused on condensing qi within their body. Although it didn''t directly allow them to externalize spiritual qi, it increased their qi reserves, something that would greatly aid martial cultivators. Although body transformation acolytes didn''t gain any special abilities either, their strength, stamina, and speed would increase with the extra qi within their bodies. Leng Junfeng immediately closed his eyes and started to cultivate the Wood Book of the Five Element Method, but before he could, a tail slapped his forehead. "Why''d you stop me, Teacher?" Leng Junfeng said, feeling aggrieved as he rubbed the increasingly red mark on his head. "This place isn''t suitable. You possess a heavenly wood spiritual vein, so it''s best to cultivate in a place with plenty of plants." Fenghua said. "Teacher, do you know a place?" Leng Junfeng asked. Fenghua smacked him again with her tail. "Idiot. That tree that grows the fruit you''re looking for is a good place for your current level. Although it can''t be considered the best, for a tree to bear fruit with some effects, the spiritual qi is plenty dense." "Alright, let''s go!" Leng Junfeng jumped to his feet and walked out of the shallow cave, only stopped. He stared up and then down, past the ledge before looking at Fenghua with a pitiful look. "Teacher, how do we leave? Don''t tell me we have to climb up?" "Stupid." Fenghua said with disdain, "You only now thought of this?" His potential is top tier, but his brain needs more work. Fenghua thought with a sigh. Walking towards the ledge, Fenghua rubbed her spatial ring, and an elaborate red dress appeared midair. It was beautiful, more beautiful than anything Leng Junfeng had seen before. Only it was a pity that the dress was riddled with tears and cuts. This red dress was Fenghua''s lifebound artifact. To fully recover, she would need to mend the damages, but recalling what materials were used to forge this, Fenghua had a headache. Why did she think it was a good idea to use immortal rank materials to forge a lifebound artifact again? Oh right, because it gave more potential, but it also made fixing any damages a hundred times harder. How could Fenghua expect to be plunged into the Vast Void? Grrr, just looking at it makes me angry! With a huff, Fenghua straightened the dress out so that it was like a carpet before jumping on it. "Come on, let''s go." Leng Junfeng stared at the floating dress and fox and pointed with shaking fingers. "T-Teacher, you''re a g-grandmaster?" "Well, you can consider me the spiritual cultivation equivalent of a grandmaster," Fenghua said, some disdain leaking into her voice. Due to the cultivators of the Allfist Realm following the martial path, they could not use artifacts to fly until they reached the Acupoint Opening Realm, so all those who could ¡®fly¡¯ were grandmasters to them. "You can do it too if you reach the Foundation Establishment Realm," Fenghua said, causing her student''s eyes to be filled with expectations. "Now, hurry up. I don''t have all day, you know?" "Un!" Leng Junfeng gingerly stepped on the flattened dress. He had expected it to feel weightless and flimsy, but to his surprise, it was like walking on flat ground. When the two flew out of the fissure, Leng Junfeng jumped off and reached for the fruit on the tree, making sure not to fall into any more fissures. "I wouldn''t eat that if I were you," Fenghua advised. "If that fruit really does have physique-changing properties, you''ll only be ruining your Broad Stream Physique. In the future, if you want to reverse the changes, you''d have to spend much more than a single fruit." Leng Junfeng''s hand paused midway. "Of course, you can still pick them. It should be a popular item if you want to sell it to other cultivators." Fenghua said as she plopped next to the tree roots. "Wouldn''t that ruin their physiques too?" Leng Junfeng asked. Although he desired the fruit, he still listened to Fenghua''s words. "Ha! Do you think everyone is like you and possesses the Broad Stream Physique or other unique constitutions? You''re one in a million, and your spiritual root is also one in a million. Actually, considering this is a lower realm, a heavenly spiritual vein might be one in a hundred million." Fenghua said. "For you, it might be a detriment, but for others, it would be a boon." "I see?" Leng Junfeng said, not comprehending how lucky he was to be born with a heavenly wood spiritual vein and Broad Stream Physique. After calming down his heart, Leng Junfeng began to cultivate according to the Wood Book of the Five Element Method imparted to him by Fenghua. With the addition of the dense spiritual qi around the tree and the agglomerated qi near Fenghua, Leng Junfeng only needed one day to enter the first stage of the Qi Gathering Realm. Chapter 190: Grandmaster Xia Takes Interest Within a cave sat a young man. His features weren''t outstanding, but he had a courageous yet reliable aura around him. However, none of that could be discerned at the moment as the man''s body was caked in dried blood. The man sighed as a blood-red mist exited out of his mouth. Once the red mist evaporated, the dried blood on the man''s body began to shatter and fall off. With all the blood off, the man''s naked body could be seen, skin the color of wheat and rippling muscles underneath. "Almost," Lushu sighed with some regret. He had traveled with Azure Leaf City''s refugees and settled in Fan City. It was better than the previous Azure Leaf City as it was close to a settlement where the ''immortals'' lived. Privately, Azure Leaf had shared concerns with Lushu concerning what would happen to the people once the immortal left and with them, their sphere of protection. That''s why he had left on a journey to strengthen himself. If the immortal wouldn''t protect the people, then he would. Sighing again, Lushu looked at the corpse of a crow demon in front of him. Its body was just feathers, skin, and bones. All the blood within had been refined into the purest golden crow blood essence. Unfortunately, the demon did not strongly inherit the blood of its ancestor. It was already the third demon whose blood he had absorbed. Not only that, but the demon was one that had formed its demonic core, so Lushu had suffered grievous injuries when he took it down. Even so, the concentration of yang essence within him was far from enough to form a complete martial body. At most, he could be considered a half-acupoint opening master. "What should I do?" Lushu questioned himself. He normally didn''t talk to himself out loud, but the frustration accumulating in had exploded. "At this rate, I won''t be able to enter the Acupoint Opening Realm in the next few years." Before, the citizens of Azure Leaf City had called the next realm after Body Transformation Realm as the Demon Body Realm, but after gaining Grandmaster Xi''s cultivation method, they gradually switched to calling it the Acupoint Opening Realm. Unlike the rest of the cultivators of the Azure Leaf City ¡ªand Fan City as Azure Leaf had decided to spread the method as wide as possible to propagate as much advancement for the humans¡ª Lushu didn''t switch his cultivation technique. Sure, he integrated the useful portions in his eyes, but overall, he kept the golden crow method that the deceased senior had left. Thinking of the deceased senior, Lushu''s eyes were filled with admiration. Before, Lushu didn''t have anything to compare the golden crow method with and thought it was on the same level as Azure Leaf''s Azure Leaf Manual. Only after learning Grandmaster Xi''s unnamed cultivation method did he realize how profound the golden crow method was. In Lushu''s eyes, the golden crow method was not one bit inferior to Grandmaster Xi''s method, just that it was not as systemic so learning it was more complicated. Grandmaster Xi''s method was all-encompassing and could absorb all sorts of demonic blood, but Lushu''s golden crow method had a narrow path. One was general, but the other was specialized. That wasn''t to say that it wasn''t a good path, just difficult. Like now, without sufficient golden crow blood essence, Lushu couldn''t form a perfect martial body. He could form an imperfect martial body, but that would impact his foundations and future path. Lushu sighed once more. Maybe I should consult City Lord Az¨C Deputy City Lord Azure Leaf and the other seniors for advice. Unlike in the past, Lushu didn''t keep his cultivation method a secret and freely shared it. After experiencing the exodus from Azure Leaf City, his thought process had become progressive, even hoping that another cultivator would rise using the golden crow method. Unfortunately, the material requirements were too high, and only he could cultivate it. Still, that didn''t mean there were no benefits. As a result, most of the acupoint opening masters thought highly of Lushu and even helped him modify the golden crow method, merging the usable parts of Grandmaster Xi''s method and perfecting it even more. Making up his mind, Lushu wrapped the demon''s corpse and left the cave after changing into a new set of robes. Although the demon''s blood had already been drained, the body was still full of valuable materials. The journey back couldn''t be called peaceful, but neither was it too dangerous either. All in all, it was average in Lushu''s eyes, but when he returned to Fan City, his eyes almost popped out at the new addition to the scenery. Only after asking Zhangya did Lushu know that the change in the environment was caused by someone known as Grandmaster Heavenly Will. It was information the residents had chanced upon. The immortals did not like visiting Fan City, so it was truly chance that they learned the name of Grandmaster Heavenly Will. Lushu sighed in amazement. He had thought Grandmaster Xi was already amazing, capable of summoning lightning and slaying nine nascent soul grandmaster equivalent demons in a short amount of time. He wondered who was stronger between the two, Grandmaster Xi or Grandmaster Heavenly Will? Afterward, Lushu sparred with Zhangya and the other two people Grandmaster Xi had personally instructed. After leaving Azure Leaf City, Lushu''s relationship with Zhangya and the other two had gotten closer. It was mostly due to the three of them being the strongest body transformation acolyte of Fan City. "Zhangya, you seem to be bursting with power. Are you going to breakthrough soon?" Lushu asked. Zhangya laughed. "I still need a bit of luck. But yes, I should be entering the Acupoint Opening Realm next." Lushu gazed at him with some envy. "Good job. I just don''t know when I''ll be able to enter the next realm."The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "Haha, Lushu, are you purposely doing this? You have the blood of the golden crow in your body. When you break through, you''ll instantly become a top expert. Compare to that, what''s this little time?" Zhangya said, also envious. He had thought that Grandmaster Xi''s method was impressive, but know who that Lushu was also hiding something so amazing. No wonder Lushu was so powerful back in Azure Leaf City. Lushu nodded. Zhangya was right. "Hmpf, you seek out Zhangya after returning instead of coming home. It seems that I don''t have any place in your heart." When Lushu returned to his home, he was met with Ziye''s ire. The years have eroded Ziye''s previous pride and arrogance, making her appear even more lovely. The two had married after taking residence in Fan City with little fanfare, but neither minded. "I''m wrong, I''m wrong," Lushu begged for forgiveness as he profusely apologized. He walked towards Ziye, who had her back towards him, and hugged, "Forgive me this once, okay?" Ziye persisted under Lushu''s assault before finally giving in. That night, the two didn''t sleep at all.
Lushu sighed. It turned out the Acupoint Opening Realm seniors couldn''t improve the golden crow method in a short amount of time. He could only suck it up and seek out more members of the Golden Crow Clan descendants. After he left Fan City for a little, he stopped as he felt a sense of danger. I just left Fan City. There shouldn''t be any demons here. Lushu observed his surroundings for any sign of the unsettling feeling in his heart. "Who are you?" Lushu looked up to see a man with milky white skin, long black hair, sword-like brows, and a pair of determined eyes wearing white robes. Lushu instantly judged that the man was one of the immortals that had taken residence not far away from Fan City. "Junior''s name is Lushu, a resident of Fan City," Lushu said as he bowed reverently. No wonder he had sensed danger. The immortal before him was far too powerful and just being near him brought endless pressure onto him. It was much like when Lushu first experienced Grandmaster Xi''s strength. Only the sense of danger from the immortal before him was more direct. "I sense the Golden Crow Clan''s blood inside of you. Why is that?" Upon hearing this, Lushu dared not lie and revealed everything. Even if he hid it, it was common knowledge in Fan City, and Lushu didn''t want to offend the expert in front of him. "Interesting," The immortal said. "I wonder what will happen if you manage to absorb the blood essence of Nascent Soul Realm demon. Would your golden crow blood become extremely pure?" Lushu learned that the immortal was known as Grandmaster Xia, and he was one of the elite immortals that had descended. And under Lushu''s disbelieving eyes, a corpse of a Nascent Soul Realm level Golden Crow Clan member was brought before him. The body transformation acolyte stood there stunned as if a giant pie had fallen out of nowhere and struck him right in the head. Even though the demon was dead, the corpse still released a pressure that caused Lushu''s heart to palpitate. "Try absorbing the blood." Grandmaster Xia said, causing Lushu to break out of his shock. After some hesitation and encouragement from Grandmaster Xia, Lushu absorbed the blood from the corpse, or at least he attempted to. "I can''t. My strength isn''t enough," Lushu said, shaking his head with a heart full of regrets. Grandmaster Xia frowned and stored the corpse. Just as Lushu thought Grandmaster Xia would leave without warning, ten bird corpses appeared in front of his eyes. Lushu could sense the aura of their demonic cores. Lushu looked at Grandmaster Xia with a questioning look, to which he nodded. With a heart full of expectations, he began to absorb the blood essence of the demons. It wasn''t that Lushu hadn''t thought of why the immortal was helping him, but the opportunity was too huge for him to miss. Who knows how long it would take him to gather this amount? And Lushu had a precedent when interacting with the descending immortals. From his experience with Grandmaster Xi, he learned that the immortals didn''t place much importance on mortals like him, but that didn''t mean they wouldn''t help. From Lushu''s point of view, the immortals should hold some goodwill towards the humans of the Demon Cage Realm. Otherwise, Grandmaster Xi would not have imparted the cultivation method. After seventeen days, Lushu finally finished absorbing all the blood, but he still felt that it was not enough. Inside of his body, a blood drop rested within his dantian. Its golden sheen had increased, and the aura it exuded, purer, but there was no qualitative change. Lushu looked sheepishly at Grandmaster Xia and said, "Sorry, it doesn''t seem that I absorbed enough." He was really embarrassed. In his estimations, two or three more demons that had formed their demonic cores should have been enough, but he had already absorbed eleven Golden Crow Clan descendant''s blood, and it still wasn''t enough. Grandmaster Xia didn''t say anything, and to Lushu''s shock, took Lushu along with him to hunt demons. To be more precise, it was Grandmaster Xia hunting and Lushu receiving the benefits. Originally, it shouldn''t have taken much time, but the number of demons began to decrease for some reason. This situation caused Grandmaster Xia to bring Lushu for over two years. Only after absorbing over twenty-five demons did Lushu gather enough golden crow blood essence. Upon gathering enough blood, the golden blood drop in Lushu''s dantian began to rumble as its form began to resemble molten gold. Simultaneously, the sky began to darken as tribulation clouds began to gather. Upon seeing this, Grandmaster Xia immediately brought Lushu to an isolated area and distanced himself. He spread his spiritual sense and made sure that no one would disturb Lushu''s Acupoint Opening Heavenly Tribulation. As for Lushu himself, he wasn''t distressed by the sudden heavenly tribulation. He had already prepared himself for months for the heavenly tribulation. Each time he absorbed blood, he would prepare himself. When the first tribulation lightning bolt descended, Lushu used his body to withstand the first bolt. Lushu continued to use his body to defend against the tribulation until he couldn''t resist it with just his body anymore. Lushu began to use defensive techniques to bolster his body''s protection, and he would even unleash an attack in an attempt to destroy the tribulation lightning or hinder it. As Lushu was undergoing his heavenly tribulation, the molten blood drop within his body began to disperse and dissolve into Lushu''s body. Golden streams began to spread under Lushu''s skin and alter his body. His skin became tougher and more resistant to the lightning and all yang-related elements. His bones began to emit a golden sheen as its sturdiness increased. His muscles began to bulk and thin in a cycle, refining and increasing the amount of qi they could withstand and the power they could unleash. His blood''s viscosity reached the point of resembling mercury and exuded a soft golden light. Most importantly, tiny dots representing Lushu''s acupoints shone with a dazzling light before darkening and disappearing. When the Acupoint Opening Heavenly Tribulation was finally over, Lushu''s body was a wreck. Numerous scorch marks littered his body, his hair was singed, and in disarray, blood was continuously leaking from his mouth and wounds, but there was a triumphant smile on his lips. "Hahahahahaha!!! I did it!" Lushu shouted, but the next moment, his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he fainted. However, although his situation seemed dangerous, his body''s natural regeneration had increased tremendously, and his wounds were already starting to heal. Landing on the ground, Grandmaster Xia, or rather, Xia Yushan, looked appreciatively at Lushu. With a smile, his hand reached forward towards Lushu''s unconscious body. Chapter 191: Pure Yang Feather Martial Body Xia Yushan looked appreciatively at Lushu''s martial body. Even without Lushu doing anything, there was a faint golden light enveloping his body. The light gave off a warmth that was neither too hot nor too cold, perfect like spring sunshine. Furthermore, Xia Yushan could see faint apparitions of golden feathers appearing randomly. "Focus, your strength suddenly increased too much, and you can''t control it. Focus on mastering your newfound powers. I''ll guard you." Xia Yushan said. Lushu gave Xia Yushan a grateful smile before closing his eyes and started meditating. Once in a while, yang qi would pulse from his body. Other times, the golden light disappeared as if Lushu''s new martial body was that of a mortal''s. Xia Yushan didn''t stand by idly either. He had long learned the golden crow method from Lushu. The eldest senior disciple of Buzhou Immortal Sect had marveled at the profundities of the method. For a yokel of the Demon Cage Realm to create such a method was truly a miracle. If that deceased acupoint opening master had been born in the Huang Realm, he would have been an immortal seed, a disciple with high chances of entering the immortal realm, and heavily favored by whatever force he joined. A bright yellow orb appeared in Xia Yushan''s hand, holding a considerable resemblance to the molten gold orb within Lushu''s dantian. As time passed, the golden sphere began to glimmer in and out of existence until Xia Yushan could no longer maintain and disappeared in a puff. With a frown, Xia Yushan waved his hand, and a bloodless demon corpse disappeared into his spatial ring. This wasn''t Xia Yushan''s first attempt, and nor would it be his last. Ever since he learned about the golden crow method, he had been trying to replicate the blood essence conglomeration effect. By sacrificing numerous corpses, he could create the blood of a pure golden crow or at least something similar. At least in theory. Xia Yushan took a glance at Lushu. Using his spiritual senses, he could sense that the bloodline within Lushu''s bloodline was even higher than the Unity Realm level demon that had attacked them. If this method was known to the golden crow clan, would they seal it or use it? At its core, the method used the corpses of numerous demons to complete the bloodline of one being. Would the Golden Crow Clan be willing to afford such a price? Even in the Huang Realm, if such a technique were turned on humans, it would have been labeled as a devilish technique. Shaking his head, Xia Yushan attempted to replicate the golden crow clan''s method once more. However, even when Lushu fully mastered the power of his new martial body, Xia Yushan had not succeeded once. When Lushu opened his eyes and stood up, the faint golden glow around his body became denser and illusionary feathers coiled around him. This all lasted for a moment before it all disappeared under his skin until only a faint golden glow remained, but even then, the glow was so dim that it was practically impossible to discern with the naked eye. "Congratulations on entering the Acupoint Opening Realm and attaining a martial body. Did that senior have a name for it?" Xia Yushan asked, a slight smile on his face as he looked at Lushu. "No, the senior just called it a Golden Crow Demon Body, but I feel like there is still a difference between a real golden crow and my body," Lushu replied and observed Xia Yushan''s expression and saw that it was still the same. Even when he entered the Acupoint Opening Realm, Xia Yushan still looked at him the same way. The look in his eyes has not changed. He doesn''t take me seriously at all. Lushu thought. He smiled self-depreciatingly with a hint of unwillingness. Although Lushu felt that his strength had reached a whole new height, but compared to this Grandmaster Xia, he was still only a slightly bigger bug now. If Grandmaster Xia weren''t interested in the golden crow method, he would have probably ignored me, right? "You''re right," Xia Yushan agreed. "How about I give it a name?" Lushu showed a surprised expression. "Please, Senior." "Pure Yang Feather Martial Body." Xia Yushan said. "Pure Yang Feather Martial Body," Lushu repeated the name and felt it was indeed fitting. Furthermore, the senior who created this method had his martial body, the Sky Feather Demon Body, so there was a sense of connection between him and that senior. After naming Lushu''s martial body, the golden crow method was also renamed the Pure Yang Feather Manual. Lushu wanted to return to Fan City to celebrate with his wife, Ziye, and his good friends, but Xia Yushan had different thoughts. Xia Yushan forcibly brought Lushu around to hunt for Nascent Soul Realm level demons with the golden crow bloodline. To this point, he even brought out several corpses of the rank that he had collected earlier. Lushu felt that Xia Yushan was treating him too good and tried to refuse, but Xia Yushan wouldn''t accept no for an answer. Although absorbing the blood essence of the crow demons was very beneficial to Lushu, he felt that it was too much, too fast. He had barely been able to perfectly control his strength when he entered the Acupoint Opening Realm, but now his strength had risen by a few notches after he opened fifty acupoints in his body. It was like a poor man eating to the point of becoming fat but not being able to stop gorging himself. At first, the situation was good, but the man would eventually eat himself to death. Xia Yushan called their cooperation a team effort, but it was just Lushu mostly sitting back and receiving benefits with no end. Lushu began to grow suspicious of Xia Yushan''s aid. Even if he was interested in the Pure Yang Feather Manual, helping out this much was clearly abnormal. So Lushu could help but question Xia Yushan''s motive. Compared to Tianyi''s bequeathment of his manual, Xia Yushan''s action brought numerous suspicions. "Grandmaster Xia, I really can''t absorb any more," Lushu said after finally reaching his limit. "If I increase my strength anymore, I won''t be able to control it anymore." By now, Lushu had opened around one hundred acupoints. Normally, opening acupoints required self-meditation by the cultivator to open them. This way, the cultivator would better understand his body and learn how to bring out the martial body''s potential even more.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. What Lushu has been doing was like taking a shortcut. In the short run, there wouldn''t be much difference. However, the aftereffects could not be underestimated. If Lushu continued to use this method to increase his strength, even if he could control the increasingly mighty strength of his body, he would eventually come to rely on this method. Lushu would no longer be able to open new acupoints by himself in the future. And some acupoints could not be forced open by brute force like Lushu had been doing. If he continued brute force his cultivation, it would be like a drug addiction. He would no longer be able to cultivate without absorbing a demon''s blood essence in the future. And this would result in his lowering his future potential. His martial body might be top-tier, but when he entered the soul-nourishing realm, it might be above average at best. Of course, Lushu knew none of this. Not many cultivators of the Demon Cage Realm had reached the Acupoint Opening Realm, and those pioneers had to grasp in the darkness, finding a method to increase their strength. It wasn''t something that could be done in a short ten thousand years. Lushu only felt a premonition that continuing this way was unorthodoxy and harmful to his future. Xia Yushan emotionlessly stared at Lushu, a smile ever-present on his face. After a moment, he replied, "Alright." Lushu blinked in surprise. He never thought Xia Yushan would agree so easily. Their cooperation was closer to the nascent soul grandmaster giving commands and Lushu following. He didn''t feel it was too wrong. After all, the disparity in strength was too wide. Thus, the two returned to the fortress town created by the disciples of the Huang Realm. Once they arrived, Xia Yushan was shocked that the nameless town had become a ghost town. Even Fan City had disappeared. It literally disappeared. As in, there was a pit where the city used to stand. Lushu almost entered qi deviation because of the impact of the scene. Luckily, he managed to reign in his rampant qi, but still fearing the worst, he searched for clues. Since the fortress town was empty, the biggest clue was the Vast Heaven Islands. Upon pondering it on a deeper level, Lushu found the situation queer. Did the demons attack, and the cultivators flee? Having once witnessed Tianyi''s strength, he couldn''t imagine a demon more powerful than Tianyi, but Lushu knew he was a frog in a well. Holding a faint hope, Lushu followed Xia Yushan and ascended Vast Heaven Islands. Xia Yushan and Lushu soon discovered the missing disciples and where Fan City had disappeared to and the reason for all this change. Tianyi had literally changed into a cosmos giant, dug up Fan City with one hand, and transplanted it into central mountain''s gaping hole. Most of the residents of Fan City had decided to stay once Tianyi offered his protection, and only a portion of the residents decided to migrate. Most of the denizens of the Demon Cage Realm had lived hard lives, and the life in Fan City was the most peaceful they had ever experienced in their life, so they were unwilling to abandon the peace they had tasted. Furthermore, many of the residents felt that Tianyi was akin to a god. They had personally witnessed how the nine mountains had become islands floating in the sky. This notion was further strengthened when Tianyi moved their city. In the Demon Cage Realm, the qi had always been sparsed, resulting in spiritual cultivation not being popular and martial cultivation being the mainstream path. As a result, some people even made shrines dedicated to Tianyi and offered sacrifices daily. Xia Yushan left to meet with Tianyi while Lushu entered Fan City. The first person he looked for was Ziye. "Lushu!" Ziye cried out in joy and jumped into Lushu''s arms. After hearing that the demons had been preparing to attack the "immortals," she had feared the worst for Lushu. "Ziye, don''t cry. Look, aren''t I fine? I''m even stronger than before." Lushu comforted his crying wife. He could see that she looked more fragile than before. Upon taking a closer look, Lushu noticed that her strength had noticeably increased. Although she hadn''t entered the Acupoint Opening Realm, her strength had reached the peak of the Body Transformation Realm. "Ziye, your strength increased so much?" Lushu couldn''t hold his shock. He was happy yet puzzled. Ziye wiped her tears and explained. "It''s not just me, but almost everyone in Fan City. Grandmaster Xi is amazing. He gave us an improved version of the method from before, and almost everyone''s strength drastically increased because of the dense qi here." "Grandmaster Xi is also here? I wonder how he compares to Heaven''s Will Grandmaster." Lushu said, more to himself than others. He had seen Tianyi''s might, so he found it hard to imagine someone even more powerful even though he knew it was possible. Ziye began to giggle at Lushu. "Grandmaster Xi is Heaven''s Will." "What?" Lushu said in shock. "Tianyi is Grandmaster Xi''s given name," Ziye explained. She, too, had been shocked to find out that Heaven''s Will Grandmaster was actually the same person as Grandmaster XI, but upon thinking it deeper, she didn''t find it strange. Grandmaster Xi was powerful enough to bend nature to his will. Making a few floating islands was within the scope of his powers. This was a classic case of outsiders not comprehending the profundities of an expert''s actions. After reuniting with Ziye, Lushu met with Zhangya and the rest of his good brothers. Most of them had chosen to stay, and to Lushu''s shock and joy, many had entered the Acupoint Opening Realm. The total number of acupoint opening masters had reached over thirty in Fan City, a terrifying degree for humans. Within this one city, they could sweep and conquer other human cities, but they still paled in comparison to the demons. "I''d thought I was good for reaching the Acupoint Opening Realm, but it turns out so many of you also reached it. Maybe I should have switched to Grandmaster Xi''s method." Lushu joked. "Stop joking. Senior Azure Leaf and others say that your golden crow method is not inferior to Grandmaster Xi''s method, just more difficult." Zhangya returned. "You were quite lucky. Those stubborn fellas who insisted on not switching are still in the Body Transformation Realm. I can still see them looking at us in envy. A few of those stubborn bastards even lowered their heads and switched, hahaha!" Lushu knew how some of the geniuses of Fan City disliked Grandmaster Xi''s method and disdained those who switched. Although Zhangya appeared unconcerned, Lushu knew that Zhangya wanted to beat those who mocked Grandmaster Xi up. However, any fighting was prohibited as disunity would compromise the human''s ability to fight the demons. At most, only a few sour words would be thrown back and forth. Lushu also felt admiration towards Grandmaster Xi, but he also felt like Zhangya and the other two, who had been given pointers by Tianyi, were total fanatics. "Right, I almost forgot about it." Zhangya slapped his forehead and hung his arm around Lushu''s shoulder. He searched his robes and brought a thing metallic plate that could be comfortably held in his hand. "Hurry and register so you can receive a Xiyi Talisman!" "What''s a Xiyi Talisman?" Lushu had heard of talismans before, but they weren''t very popular and weak. Even a talisman crafted by an acupoint only had the strength of a mid body transformation acolyte. Zhangya smiled triumphantly and explained to Lushu. When Lushu finished listening, he sighed in amazement. Using this tool, even a mortal could unleash an attack at the Nascent Soul Realm, making them even more powerful than the Demon Cage Realm''s most powerful experts. The Xiyi Talismans also had a communication feature, but Lushu didn''t place much value on the utility. In his eyes, it was just something extra added with little to no meaning. Despite this, Lushu once again understood the difference between the immortals and the people of the Demon Cage Realm. He quickly registered and received a Xiyi Talisman, and after learning how to use it, immediately went into secluded cultivation. Compared to using a tool given by others, Lushu preferred relying on his own strength, but he wouldn''t discount the usefulness of the Xiyi Talisman. -line break- "Senior Brother Xia, I entrust everything to you," Tianyi said and immediately rushed away, seemingly busy with something. Xia Yushan just stood there, blinking. Tianyi seemed to be on the verge of tears and roughly shook his hands before leaving. He looked around to see the elite disciples of various sects staring at him. One of them coughed and said. "Cough, Daoist Xia, what should our plan be to resist the demons? We already made some preliminary tactics. How about reviewing them?" Chapter 192: Big Brother Heaven’s Will is Watching "I never expected to become a voyeur." Tianyi idly commented as he looked at the Xiyi Talisman in his hand. The Xiyi Talisman looked almost identical to all the Xiyi Talisman distributed to the people of the Huang Realm except for the gold-rimmed edge. It wasn''t only the external appearance that was different. The formation inscribed within and materials used to create the Xiyi Talisman were of higher quality as well. This was the master remote, the Xiyi Talisman created to oversee the Xiyi Talisman distributed to the people of Fan City, Xiyi Talisman DCR-M. DCR-M stood for Demon Cage Realm-Master. In turn, the Xiyi Talisman distributed were Xiyi Talisman DCR. The abbreviation didn''t need to be explained. Unlike the Xiyi Talisman Tianyi sold at the Buzhou Immortal Sect, Xiyi Talisman DCR were created from materials native to the Demon Cage Realm, but that wasn''t why they were named differently. They were essentially degraded versions that had the same functions but less durability. They would break after unleashing a certain number of Nascent Soul Realm attacks. Even Core Formation Realm attacks were not exempt, although they would only break after unleashing about a hundred of them. Still, Tianyi felt like he had handed modern handguns to cavemen from the Paleolithic Period. Okay, maybe that was exaggerated. If the demons did not exist, the Xiyi Talisman would undoubtedly change the power equilibrium of the era. In fact, Tianyi wasn''t sure if the residents of Fan City wouldn''t go and conquer other humans years after he left. Tianyi only had a single sentence for that situation. "Not my problem." However, the most significant difference between the DCR series of Xiyi Talisman and the main line was the extra feature Tianyi placed in the DCR series. Tianyi was able to remotely control all other Xiyi Talisman DCRs with his DCR-M. Not only that, but everything seen or heard by the talisman would be transmitted to Xiyi Talisman DCR-M in Tianyi''s hand. He just never expected so many of them to be a bunch of horny bunnies! "Well, I guess it makes sense. With the high death rates of people, it''d make more sense to have more children." Tiany said aloud, trying to find an excuse for all the sex that was happening. Tianyi didn''t know what was worse, the sex or the fact that people actually used the video recording function... to make sex tapes. Damn you. I hope all of you suffer for this. It''s not like I''m jealous because I was a virgin in this and my last life! Maybe I should get a girlfriend, but in this society, getting a girlfriend isn''t really possible. You can court someone, but once you succeed, you''re basically expected to become dao companions or marry. Ugh. So when I look for someone, I''d have to do it with the determination of being stuck together for a loooong time. It wasn''t like separation or divorce wasn''t unheard of, but highly uncommon. Often, the woman was treated more harshly, but in the cultivation world, those that separated often never got into another relationship. Hmmm, what are my options? Should I ask my mother? Tianyi recalled the one time Mengfei tried to pair him up with someone and instantly rejected the idea with the utmost vehemence. Daoyi''s beautiful appearance appeared in Tianyi''s mind. Compared to when he first saw her, she only appeared a little older, unlike him. I must never ever ever let Daoyi know about this. She''ll never let me hear the end of it. Tianyi decided as he looked at the Xiyi Talisman DCR-M in his hand. With that little episode over, Tianyi refocused on the upcoming battle. He sighed in relief when Xia Yushan returned and handed over all authority to the eldest senior brother of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Tianyi returned on focusing on converting Vast Heaven Islands into a mobile artifact like his Mountains and Seas Formation, but he was met with little success. At this rate, Tianyi found it hard to believe he would even be able to accomplish it before the Demon Slaying Expedition ended. He had half a mind to leave Vast Heaven Island in the Demon Cage Realm and make it a safe haven for the human denizens of the realm. Unless inspiration struck Tianyi, or he had an epiphany, Vast Heaven Island would remain behind. Still, that didn¡¯t mean he had no progress. In fact, he made a lot of progress, and he was beginning to feel like the Vast Heaven Islands was just another part of him like his inner cosmos. In this manner, two months passed. Aside from researching on improving the Vast Heaven Islands, Tianyi attended several meetings with the elite disciples of all the sects. With Xia Yushan at the helm, everything became much more orderly and proper. When Tianyi still led them, he had relied on Xi Ri for many things. Still, perhaps because of Xi Ri''s own inexperience dealing with such a large amount and variety of disciples and Tianyi''s general lack of leadership skills, they could not compare to Xia Yushan at all. There''s a reason Xia Yushan was chosen as the eldest senior brother, after all. If only strength were all that was needed, then the Buzhou Immortal Sect would have long perished under the leadership of powerful immortals with brawns for brains.
The location was a mansion that Tianyi had arbitrarily constructed on the central mountain for the sole purpose of hosting meetings. The structure bore a remarkable resemblance to Jade Peak Palace as it was the grandest structure Tianyi knew of. Still, compared to the real thing, Tianyi felt something lacking, but that was beside the point. To Tianyi''s horror, the reason for the meeting was due to a certain seer, Duwa. Due to the effects of Tianyi''s Vast Heaven Islands, Duwa did not suffer from the Heavenly Dao''s punishment. She was able to divine without fearing the aftereffects. However, that also meant that her divination''s accuracy dropped a great amount. Tianyi kept getting goosebumps whenever Duwa divined as she was peaking at his body. Not at his naked body, but something more intimate as in his insides, organs, veins, and blood. Plus, Tianyi kept getting a feeling that the accumulated punishment by Duwa¡¯s divining would strike him in the near future. According to Duwa''s latest divination, the demons would have a fifty percent chance of assaulting Vast Heaven Island within the next month. Upon hearing this, Tianyi had an urge to just stand up and leave as he imagined the number of Nascent Soul Realm level demons, but like before, he suppressed the fear that threatened to overtake him. Who knows, maybe he would finally overcome his trauma?This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Having been forewarned, even if it was only a fifty percent chance, all the disciples increased their surveillance on the surrounding area.
"Elder, what should we do? The immortals seem to have discovered our traces. We can''t proceed without revealing our presence." A demon from the Golden Crow Clan asked. Ashflame Crow surveyed the Vast Heaven Islands. Against the flat terrain, the nine floating mountains circled by rings were especially conspicuous. He had already known that the mysterious area constructed by the cultivators was extremely queer, and the sense of queerness only deepened with the passage of time. The demon''s elder wanted to follow his brain and wait even more, looking for a chink in the armor, but his instincts told him that the demon''s advantages would shrink even more if they continued to delay the assault. Finally, after intensely deliberating with his fellow elders, he gave the order. Under his command, thousands upon thousands of demons began to reveal themselves. Among the demons, most of them were sea demons, followed by avian demons, and finally rabbit demons. Most of the sea demons and rabbit demons did not possess the ability to fly, so the crow demons became carriers that led these sea demons. Among the demons, the Leviathan Clan and Jade Rabbit Clan did not deploy any demon elders. Only the Golden Crow Clan elders appeared. Under their command, the demons began to surround the Vast Heaven Islands. From afar, each demon looked like specks or rocks, but with so many gathered, those specks formed a colossal black cloud, much like a swarm of locusts. They blotted the sky with their superior numbers, and the Vast Heavens Islands were shrouded under a massive shadow as the demons neared. As they neared, there were no signs of movement from within the Vast Heaven Islands. Ashflame Crow frowned as he felt something amiss. Logically speaking, with so many demons that didn''t bother to hide their auras, anyone with half a brain, even a foundation establishment disciple, should have been able to sense their approach. Yet, there was no movement at all¡ªonly silence. The quieter it was, the stranger the scene became. Not only the demon elders, but some of the Nascent Soul and Core Formation Realm level demons also felt something off. As a result, the encroachment of the demons slowed down. Still, the elders did not give the orders to stop, so the demons could only grit their teeth or beaks and soldier on. There was no response when the demons flew over the rings formed from rock. There was no movement as they entered the invisible space between the ninth island and the rock rings. But the moment the demons touched the circle of which the ninth island orbited, an explosion resembling a ring engulfed the demons on the ninth orbit. The demons nearest to the front immediately retreated in fear. The explosion was something only Nascent Soul Realm level demons could withstand. They were Core Formation Realm level demons sent out to scout the situation, so how could they withstand the explosion? Luckily for the demons, only about one thousand of them died. However, after the explosion, the ninth island still continued to orbit the central mountain with no sign of the disciples. Ashflame Crow and his fellow elders all frowned, well as frowning as well as an avian could. They couldn''t help but suspect that the cultivators had fled, even though they kept watch and only saw cultivators entering and not leaving the Vast Heaven Islands. The demons didn''t discount that the cultivators had an unknown method to escape their detection, so they continued to send demons to scout ahead with increased wariness. This time, when the scouting forced past the orbit of the eighth island, nothing happened. It was only when they touched the orbital layer of the seventh island did something occur, but it wasn''t an explosion. The demons didn''t enter the eighth layer even when the scouting force was unharmed. They stayed at the ninth layer when their scouting force touched the seventh island''s orbit. Still, that didn''t save them. From afar, it appeared that the Vast Heaven Islands was two-dimensional with nine layers, from the central mountain to the ninth mountain, each orbit composing of a layer. In truth, it was three-dimensional; each layer was not a circle but a sphere. If the Unity Realm level demon elders had entered the ninth layer, they would notice something amiss. Unfortunately, they didn''t. Or maybe they were fortunate. If any of the Unity Realm level demons entered, Tianyi would have set his aim on them and collaborated with the other disciple to kill them as fast as possible. Still, because they didn''t, they lost over thirty percent of the demons present in an instant. The space within the Vast Heaven Islands twisted and shattered as if the dimensional boundaries were being destroyed. There were even cracks leading to the Vast Void, whose suction forced even claimed the demons outside of Vast Heaven Island''s domain. When everything had settled down, there was not a hint of any demons within the Vast Heaven Islands, not even a speck of blood. Ashflame Crow and the rest of the demons felt a chill creeping up their spine. Even though they were in the Unity Realm equivalent, being trapped in the Vast Void would spell certain doom to them. Perhaps only the ancestor of the three demon clans would be able to survive in the Vast Void with their powerful demonic bodies. Yet, none of them even attempted to leave the boundaries of the Demon Cage Realm, much to the demon elder''s confusion. All of the demons backed up several hundred kilometers from the Vast Heaven Islands in horror. They were fearful that they would succumb to the same fate as their fellow demons. "Damn them!" One of the demon elders cursed. "The first explosion was a trap to lure us into a false sense of security. They made us think that they can only attack where the floating island moved and in a circular fashion!" Ashflame Crow said nothing as he, too, concurred with his fellow elder''s judgment. Even if they figured out the truth, what could they do? No matter what anyone said, Ashflame Crow didn''t believe that the cultivators could only use such a trump card once. However, the question became how many times they could unleash it. The easiest way would be to send their forces and engage in a siege, but that would bring an uncountable number of losses. It could be possible to minimize the casualties if they sent an elder to probe, but none of the elders wanted to be the canary sent out. "Encircle them with a perimeter ten kilometers from the ring." Ashflame Crow ordered. He didn''t believe that the cultivators could enlarge such a devastating technique to such a wide margin unless one of them reached the same level as their true demon ancestors. If the cultivators had someone in the Immortal Realm, no matter how many demon elders were present, the demons would lose. Ashflame Crow pondered on what action to take before deciding to contact Golden Crow Ancestor and ask for his instructions. Even though they already lost thirty percent of their forces, most of them were from the Leviathan Clan, so the Golden Crow Clan and Jade Rabbit Clan did not lose much. Still, it was a question of whether they would or would not succeed in their endeavor if they continued. Not to mention that they had not seen a hair nor hide of the cultivators. The operation''s purpose was to kill as many of the invaders and take their treasures for themselves as much as possible. Ashflame Crow had heard of their fellow demons, the Jade Rabbit Clan elder''s, success, so he thought they would experience a similar result, but he was wrong. Damn the Leviathan Clan for being so slow and allowing the immortals to prepare. Still, Ashflame Crow knew that he was wrongly accusing the Leviathan Clan. Before they attacked the cultivators in the Jade Rabbit Clan''s territory, the Vast Heaven Islands already existed. Ashflame Crow was broken out of his thoughts when he received Golden Crow Ancestor''s reply. "Continue attacking. It doesn''t matter if you have to sacrifice all the Leviathan Clan present." Ashflame Crow was shocked at the order. He couldn''t help but wonder if the relationship between the Leviathan Clan and Golden Crow Clan would sour because of this. What he didn''t know was that Golden Crow Ancestor had merely relayed Leviathan Ancestor''s will. Still, even if he didn''t know, Ashflame Crow opened his beak and ordered. "All demons, assault!" No matter how unwilling the demons were, they still obeyed the demon elders'' orders. This was the simple hierarchy among the demons. Those with the biggest fist rule those with smaller fists! Chapter 193: Soldiers Armed with Xiyi Talismans Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Chapter 194: Ashflame Crow Strikes "Hah?" Tianyi couldn''t help but let out a sound of surprise. In the Buzhou Immortal Sect, the Xiyi Talismans were seen as something of a gimmick that a few people bought. Most still preferred the formation cards. Tianyi didn''t expect that a business mogul like Daoist Moneybag would think so highly of the Xiyi Talismans that haven''t really caught on in the Buhzou Immortal Sect. He did want it to become popular, but he expected it to take much longer. Or is it just a tactic to form a relationship with me? Although Tianyi didn''t have great interpersonal skills, he did understand the importance of having connections. Not that he needed to flatter anyone since his mother had an exalted position and power. Still, that did not mean Tianyi was averse to the notion. "I''m also very interested, but I think we should hold off such talks till after the demons have been exterminated. It is hardly the opportune time to discuss such matters now." Tianyi replied, showing a business smile. "Of course, of course. I was in too much of a rush and forgot about the circumstances." Daoist Moneybag said with an affable smile on his face that hid his greedy nature as a businessman. The two of them returned to observing the battlefield. On one of the islands, Lushu looked at the Xiyi Talisman in his hand with a bitter smile. He was one of the numerous late body transformation acolytes or acupoint opening masters who formed a line of defense and repelled the demons. The defenders weren''t repelling the demons out of their personal strength but using the magical tool known as the Xiyi Talisman. Lushu had known that the Xiyi Talismans were powerful, but it was only when he saw how powerful it was with his own two eyes that allowed him to genuinely comprehend how great it was. At the same time, it made him feel a sense of loss. What were the acupoint opening masters of the Demon Cage Realm worth when your strength depended on how fast you could unleash the Xiyi Talisman? With the Xiyi Talisman, even a regular mortal could easily crush an acupoint opening master like Azure Leaf. It made Lushu feel that all of his struggles to become stronger were a joke, like everything was pointless. No matter how hard I try, I can''t even compare to this tool. This wasn''t only Lushu''s thoughts. Using his eyes, Lushu could see the same thought run through the minds of several other acupoint opening masters and peak body transformation acolytes. No! There is a point! Grandmaster Xi already explained that the Xiyi Talismans could only continuously unleash such attacks within the territory of the Vast Heaven Islands. Outside, they might need to recharge for a long time before being able to be used again, and for that, the strength of cultivators like me is still needed! Lushu comforted himself. In the Demon Cage Realm, one''s worth was determined by their fighting ability. So a tool that made the strongest human experts of the Demon Cage Realm useless was akin to saying that they were no longer needed. This was especially the case for people like Lushu. He had attained what he had now due to his strength. If he did not have his strength, he would return to that weak orphan no one cared about, and even Ziye might leave him. Didn''t Grandmaster Xi say that these can only unleash techniques at the Soul Nourishing Realm at most? As long as I reach that realm, the Soul Nourishing Realm, I will be able to stand above once more! Lushu thought. He didn¡¯t believe an actual soul nourishing grandmaster would be worse than a mere tool. Lushu began to eye the demons with a calculative gaze, looking for demons of the Golden Crow Clan with a pure bloodline. In the past six months, he managed to fully digest the blood essence that he had absorbed into his body and even opened a few more acupoints using his own efforts. Lushu didn''t plan on absorbing blood essence to forcibly open acupoints but increase the Golden Crow bloodline in his body and form a sturdier foundation. It seemed that the forces of the Vast Heaven Islands had the advantage as numerous demons fell one after the other due to the attacks unleashed by the Xiyi Talisman. Of particular note was the spatial attacks unleashed by the Xiyi Talisman. The attack''s power seemed to increase due to the synergy it had with the Vast Heaven Islands''s domain. But, such a situation did not last long. After an hour... CRACK! A body transformation acolyte looked in surprise as he saw a large crack appear on his Xiyi Talisman. A small explosion occurred and caused the acolyte to drop the broken Xiyi Talisman in his hand in fright. He wasn''t the only one as more and more Xiyi Talisman broke down, some exploded, and others didn''t. Due to the constraint of time, Tianyi had to downgrade the many features of the Xiyi Talisman, including durability. Tianyi was even forced to create pseudo clones in manufacturing using his Constellation Incarnation Technique. As a result, many of them started to break down after the tenth Nascent Soul Realm attack or the hundredth Core Formation Realm attack unleashed. The residents of Fan City were stunned for a moment, looking a little lost at the breakdown of the tool that made them feel invincible. One moment, they were powerful people that even the strongest cultivators of the Demon Cage Realm had to be wary of, but after the loss of the talisman, they returned to normal as if awakening from a dream. The disparity between the high and the low they felt couldn''t be put into words, but they quickly broke out of it. Recalling Tianyi''s instructions, they all quickly retreated away from the battlefield, and their bodies disappeared as if vanishing into thin air after reaching a certain distance. The other people still operating the Xiyi Talismans saw this, and the expression on their faces became severe. Previously, they had felt a rush of high from dominating the demons who had suppressed them and terrorized them for so long, so they were rampant in unleashing their attacks. With the reminder of the Xiyi Talisman''s limited uses, they began to use them conservatively. No longer did they unleash attack after attack willy nilly, they now aimed for the biggest amount of casualties with a single attack.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. But, no matter how hard the residents of Fan City tried to extend the mileage of the Xiyi Talismans, the talismans were already at their limits. Soon, all the talisman holders were vanishing from the defensive lines. The disciples from the Huang Realm had no expectations for the cultivators of the Demon Cage Realm to defend against the demons, and only Tianyi was confident in his Xiyi Talisman tearing a chunk out of the demon army''s forces. Asking the cultivators of the Demon Cage Realm to fight the demons head-on was just asking for needless sacrifices. "They eliminated more than I thought they would," Tianyi commented. He had already brought down the number of demons to seventy percent thanks to his use of a weakened version of spatial collapse combined with his control of the Vast Heaven Islands. Although Tianyi made a little mistake and allowed a tear to the Vast Void to manifest, he quickly fixed that. Now the number of demons was further brought down to a quarter of its original numbers. The demons were fatigued, while the disciples were fully rested. This did not mean that the demons only had a quarter of their strength left. Most of their Nascent Soul Realm level demons were still alive, and the Unity Realm level demon elders had not struck yet. In conclusion, the demons still had a total of about sixty to seventy percent of their total power. "Huh?" Tianyi exclaimed when he saw that a single person still hadn''t returned. The cultivators of Fan City had been teleported by Tianyi back into Fan City. It was true that Tianyi couldn''t use his teleportation due to the interference of the Demon Cage Realm, but in the Vast Heaven Islands, which excluded the Demon Cage Realm''s influence, teleporting others was as easy as blinking to Tianyi. That lone cultivator was Lushu. Lushu had coordinated with an acupoint opening master next to him. The acupoint opening master had shot several fire-attribute attacks. The instant he did so, Lushu had released the full power of his martial body, the Pure Yang Feather Martial Body! His body began glowing like molten gold with golden gears floating around it. The instant he did so, Lushu had entered one of the fireballs unleashed by the acupoint opening master''s Xiyi Talisman, hiding his presence within the attack. That''s too reckless. Tianyi couldn''t help but think, but he was interested in what Lushu was planning, so he didn¡¯t take action. It soon became evident when the fire attacks rushed towards a yellow crow demon at the Nascent Soul Realm. The demon''s body was already heavily battered, but it still looked to have a lot of fight left in it. The yellow crow snorted and swept its wings, causing the Core Formation Realm fire attacks to disappear. At this moment, Lushu jumped shot out of the dispersed remnant fire like a cannonball towards the demon. The crow demon released a squawk of surprise before it quickly opened its beaks, and a yellow ball of flame could be seen gathering between its beaks. However, before the yellow crow could unleash its attack, Lushu held out his Xiyi Talisman and unleashed a spiritual attack. The spiritual attack only caused the demons to be dazed for a moment or two, so many Fan City cultivators did not use it much, but at this time, Lushu used it and caused the nascent soul grandmaster equivalent demon to be stunned for a brief moment. And that brief moment was all Lushu needed. Lushu released several Nascent Soul Realm attacks in succession, ignoring the strain he was placing on the Xiyi Talisman. Thus, a mighty Nascent Soul Realm level demon was slain by Lushu using the Xiyi Talisman. In the earlier battle, some Nascent Soul Realm level demons died, but most of them died at the beginning due to being caught unprepared. For Lushu to kill one, even a fatigued one, was still impressive. But how are you going to make it back? Tianyi asked internally. He recalled saying they would only be teleported back to Fan City if they reached a certain point on the islands. Tianyi didn''t mention that he could teleport anyone within the Vast Heaven Islands, provided that they were weaker than him. The scene of Lushu being besieged by furious demons did not occur, nor was there a scene of Lushu desperately trying to fly back to the floating islands. Instead, a demon elder attacked. "Human, prepare to die!" Ashflame Crow roared. Although faint, he could detect the aura of his descendant, who had inherited the pure bloodline of the golden crow, within Lushu. He knew that Lushu was somehow connected to the human that killed his descendant. For all his words towards Ragingflame Crow of allowing vengeance to cloud his judgment, Ashflame Crow acted nearly as thoughtless when the target of his grudge appeared. Ashflame Crow''s body was covered in grey and white flames as he charged towards Lushu. Wherever he passed, a trail of fire would be left behind him, making his path towards Lushu resemble that of a spear piercing towards its target. Lushu was stunned for a moment, and a never-before-felt sense of danger erupted in his heart. He never felt this level of danger, not even when the nine demons pressured Azure Leaf City. Compared to that time, Lushu couldn''t completely comprehend how much danger he was in, but he knew that if he did not flee, he would definitely die. The moment Ashflame Crow entered the domain of the Vast Heaven Islands, the flames surrounding him were reduced by fifty percent, and the flames outside of the Vast Heaven Islands began to rank amok as if they were a bunch of drunk bees with no leadership. Not good! Ashflame Crow thought. Ashflame Crow instantly felt something wrong the moment he entered the domain of the Vast Heaven Islands. A unity venerable or equivalent''s greatest strength was their connection with heaven and earth. After entering, Ashflame Crow felt his connection with the world disappear. It was not obstructed, nor was it muted, it was simply just gone. Having been struck awake from his rage-induced madness, Ashflame Crow chose the correct route and tried to fly out of the cultivator''s domain. As a Unity Realm level demon, he was at least ten times more powerful than an average unity venerable even without harmonizing with the world, but he also knew that his enemies were monsters capable of fighting unity venerables at the Nascent Soul Realm. Unfortunately for Ashflame Crow, the momentum from his charge had forced him over a hundred meters deep into the domain. No matter how hard he tried, Ashflame Crow could not fly out fast enough. The more time passed, the more it seemed that his speed had decreased. In fact, it even seemed he was flying backward despite how absurd it sounded. "Demon, since you have entered our territory, why don''t we discuss some things? I feel that bringing so many demons isn''t very nice." Ashflame Crow stopped his futile struggles when he heard those words and turned around. There wasn''t only one person but several cultivators. Ashflame Crow had gathered information on each and every one of them as a competent commander would. The speaker was a fatty that had a pleasant smile on his face, Daoist Moneybag. In the group''s center was a handsome man with an ordinary-looking sword in hand, Xia Yushan. Between the two was a gloomy-looking man that contained an insidious aura, Hun Jusang. To Xia Yushan''s right was a devilishly beautiful man that even caused Ashflame Crow, a demon, to sigh in amazement, Ji Wutong. And next to Ji Wutong was a man who didn''t look as outstanding but was clad in a righteous aura, Bing Huoyuan! To Ashflame Crow''s relief, as much as he didn''t want to admit it, the one who he was most wary of didn''t appear. As the creator of the Vast Heaven Islands, the demon elder was especially worried for Tianyi since he defied common sense. Ashflame Crow had contacted the Golden Crow Ancestor, and even the ancestor said to be careful of Tianyi. In Ashflame Crow''s eyes, the most dangerous individual was Tianyi, so he placed Tianyi''s strength equal or above that of demon elders. And history proved he was right as Tianyi''s creation, the Vast Heaven Islands, had dealt a considerable amount of casualties to the demon army in an instant. Still, that didn''t mean Ashflame Crow did not have any tricks up his feathers. "Hmpf, where''s the creator of this queer place? Do you think that only a mere five of you will be enough to hold me down?" All five of the elite disciples'' faces darkened, Xia Yushan especially. With a frosty tone, Xia Yushan ordered, "Attack!" Chapter 195: A Twelfth Unity Realm Level Demon "Not good," Tianyi muttered aloud as he saw Ashflame Crow''s sudden action. He wasn''t the only one, as the other top disciples such as Xia Yushan and Daoist Moneybag frowned upon noticing that only one of the Unity Realm level demon elders acted. "Tianyi, what should we do?" Xia Yushan asked. The original plan was to wait for when all, or at least half, of the demon elders took action and entered the Vast Heaven Islands'' domain. Although rare, there existed treasures or artifacts that could cut off a unity venerable''s connection with the world. As the son of Sword Empress Xi, it wasn''t difficult for the disciples to accept that Tianyi possessed such a treasure. Though what shocked them was the fact that Tianyi could merge it with Vast Heaven Island''s domain. Tianyi was just too lazy to explain the truth to them. Tianyi pondered for a moment before he said, "Attack." It didn''t matter anymore. Although the amount of fish was only one, it was still one of the eleven demon elders. Plus, if they allowed Ashflame Crow to escape, then it was possible that none of the demon elders would enter after discovering the truth. Xia Yushan, Daoist Moneybag, Hun Jusang, Bing Huoyuan, and Ji Wutong all disappeared with a wave of Tianyi''s hand. He had shifted their location towards Ashflame Crow, and since he had already exposed the truth of the cultivator''s concealment, Tianyi teleported Lushu back into Fan City. Now, what should I do next? Should I just go all out and try to capture all the demon elders and eliminate them in one fell swoop? Even for one of the three great demon clans, this should be most of their elders, right? Although... Tianyi scanned the different types of demons that made up their army. Not only were there avian types but also mammals and sea demons. I''m worried about the large composition of sea demons that up the army. Did the Leviathan Clan and Golden Crow Clan team up to get rid of us? The army was also composed of the Jade Rabbit Clan members, but due to the rabbit''s horn¡ªmating characteristics, there were numerous different types of mammals that made up their members. Still, the stronger forces were mostly composed of pure Jade Rabbit Clan members. Tianyi scanned the rest of the disciples in the room. The disciples that participated in the Demon Slaying Expedition were the elites and the ones in the same room as Tianyi were the elite of the elites. However, they were still a level weaker than Xia Yushan and the other top disciples. Despite this, against Unity Realm level experts who had their connection to the world severed, they were enough. Now the question was whether he should expand Vast Heaven Island''s domain or not. The current domain size was due to Tianyi''s scheme. He had purposely shrunk it so that he could enlarge it at the critical moment and trap all the demons. But the demon elder''s Descending Eruption hampered Tianyi''s plan. True, he had minimized the damage as much as possible, but he couldn''t prevent everything. Tianyi wasn''t sure how much he could suddenly expand the domain or how much he could disrupt the demon elder''s connection with the world once he enlarged it. And worst of all, Tianyi''s spatial collapse that he planned for the final move had significantly weakened. Let''s wait a bit more. I want to see how the demon elders will react. After careful deliberation, Tianyi decided to take a wait-and-see approach. On the screen¡ªnot that he needed it, as he knew everything within the Vast Heaven Islands that was happening as long as he willed it¡ªTianyi saw Ashflame Crow being suppressed. As expected of a Unity Realm level expert, he was easy to deal with.
Ji Wutong swiped his arms, and medicinal powder flew from his sleeves towards Ashflame Crow. Ashflame Crow flapped his wings, and gray dust was sprayed towards the medicinal powder. The confrontation between the powder and dust caused a stalemate for a brief moment before a tiny burst of flames sparked and destroyed the powder before continuing to fly towards Ji Wutong. Upon seeing this, Ji Wutong quickly retreated. As an alchemist, Ji Wutong''s combat strength was at the tail end of the five, but his concoctions were lethal. What he used moments ago was the Immobilization Moth Scale Powder, a powder that could cause anyone afflicted with it to be unable to use qi for a while. Bing Huoyuan stretched out his hands, and the temperature immediately plummeted as the sparks of flame frosted over and became encased in ice. The scion of Boundless Mountain quirked his head towards Ji Wutong with a smug smirk, causing Ji Wutong to gnash his teeth together. Ashflame Crow saw his chance and charged towards the two distracted nascent soul grandmasters, but before he could near them and incinerate them with his flames, two beams of energy stopped him. Watching from above, Daoist Moneybag waved his hands once more, and the two cylinders behind him unleashed the beams of energy again. "You two, even if he is weakened, before careful," Daoist Moneybag lectured, causing Ji Wutong and Bing Huoyuan''s expression to stiffen slightly. The two glanced at one another before their expression turned serious and looked at Ashflame Crow simultaneously. If Ashflame Crow were human, he would have clicked his tongue. Sensing a murderous aura, the crow demon quickly dodged but not fast enough. Three streaks of sword-light passed by, the other two successfully struck him. "Damn humans!" Ashflame Crow growled as he felt the fire and water attribute of the sword-light. The fire sword-light was something his own ash flame devoured, but the water sword-light managed to slice through his feathers and wound his body. But Ashflame Crow didn''t have any more time to retaliate as he felt an ominous feeling surrounding him. It wasn''t a sense of danger but the result of Hun Jusang''s specters nearing him. Ashflame Crow was further enraged upon seeing one particular specter. Although its head had no beak, the specter''s body was avian, and Ashflame Crow could intuitively discern that the specter was formed from his clan members'' death. Flapping his wings, Ashflame Crow quickly avoided the specters, but just as quickly, he felt his surroundings become frosty. In response, ash-colored flames erupted from his feathers and caused Bing Huoyuan''s technique to fail.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Simultaneously, the pill Ji Wutong had thrown moments earlier exploded upon contact with the flames, creating a sizable purple explosion. Ashflame Crow allowed his body to be carried by the blast to avoid the poisonous explosion. However, he did not have a moment to breathe as Daoist Moneybag attacked him again with his two artifacts, followed by Xia Yushan''s sword strikes. Ashflame Crow gritted his beak and continued to entangle with the top disciples. It was not that he didn''t want to escape or kill these impudent nascent soul grandmasters, but that he couldn''t! His strength had dropped tremendously upon entering Vast Heaven Island''s domain, resulting in his current predicament. Ashflame Crow was stronger than Ragingflame Crow, so despite the disadvantageous situation, he could cope with it. However, neither could he escape. Coupled with his inability to regenerate his qi, it was only a matter of time before he fell. Then came the dilemma. Should I order the rest of the elders and army to attack or... Allow himself to be sacrificed and warn the others of the true danger of the Vast Heaven Islands. Ashflame Crow was deeply conflicted for only a brief moment before he made his decisions. "ALL DEMONS RETREAT!!! ELDERS DO NOT ENTER THE STRANGE DOMAIN! IT CAN SEVER OUR CONNECTION TO THE WORLD!!!" After practically using his maximum volume to shout out these words, Ashflame Crow''s body turned gray as flame covered him, making him appear like a withered grey phoenix. He had foolishly entered the domain on an impulse. This mistake, he alone, will bear. With the information Ashflame Crow had given, the elders should be able to create a strategy to offset their disadvantage. Even if they couldn''t, it was better than allowing almost all the Golden Crow Clan''s elders to fall in the Vast Heaven Islands. As for himself? He will take down at least two or more of the cultivators before falling! Ashflame Crow''s thoughts were noble. Unfortunately, Tianyi disagreed. The air began to tremble, and moments later, the eight floating islands surrounding the central island shot outwards past the previous boundary of the domain. With the distanced floating islands, the size of the domain changed and enlarged by several kilometers until it captured over ninety percent of the demons. Against their wishes, the Nascent Soul and Core Formation Ream level demons found themselves teleported inside the inner territory of the Vast Heaven Island and discovered that their body was cumbersome. Inside the mansion, Tianyi was slightly gasping for breath as he held his forehead. Teleporting so many demons against their will was more challenging than he thought. "Vast Heaven Young Master, are you alright?" One of the elite disciples in the room he was in asked. "I''m fine. I couldn''t teleport the demon elders, so I''ll have to teleport you guys to them," Tianyi said. "No worries, leave them to us!" The disciple said, his voice full of confidence. Before, he wasn''t so sure of the Vast Heaven Islands'' suppression against Unity Realm level experts, but after seeing the top disciples facing off against Ashflame Crow, he was assured. Tianyi nodded and waved his hands. Instantly, he was alone in the room. Even Daoyi and Xi Ri were gone. The master of the Vast Heaven Islands sighed as he allowed the tension to leave his body. His head was pulsing, and it would take a while for it to return to normal. At the same time, he sensed that his connection with the Vast Heaven Islands deepened. Outside, the demons quivered at the sudden emergence of thousands of cultivators. Before with their superior numbers, they would have already charged towards them, but under the strange suppression, they felt that they could only exhibit less than half their strength at best. The demons had no confidence right now, especially after months of experiencing the strange means of the cultivators. Not once had the demon''s plans been successful. Since the demons wouldn''t come towards them, then the cultivators would strike first. As if one an unspoken signal, all the cultivators began to charge towards the demons. It couldn''t even be called a fight. Not only were the demons'' physical attributes suppressed, but their attacks were mitigated by the Vast Heaven Islands'' domain as well, resulting in the one-sided slaughter. On the other hand, the battle between the elite disciples against the Unity Realm level demons was another story. Despite losing their greatest advantage, the demon elders were still more powerful than the disciples. In addition, due to the enlargement of the Vast Heaven Island''s domain, their connection to the world wasn''t completely severed, allowing them to exhibit the tall-tale might of a Unity Realm level expert. This naturally included Ashflame Crow, but he couldn''t be happy at all. Considering that this meant all the elders were caught within the cultivator''s domain, Ashflame Crow had a right to be worried especially considering the power of the previously demonstrated spatial collapse. The only good news was that with the addition of the cultivators, Ashflame Crow didn''t think that the person controlling the Vast Heaven Islands would unleash that horrifying spatial move for now. The battle continued, but there was one demon elder who was not facing five or more opponents at once. It was a strange scene of a massive raven demon over ten meters in height facing two tiny dots of an opponent: one a squirrel-like reptile that could fit on an average human''s palm and a spider with a crystal abdomen. Despite facing two tiny opponents, the pressure on Serenewave Raven wasn''t small at all. Both the two spiritual beasts emitted a heavy pressure. It wasn''t a regular pressure but the result of a superior bloodline. I can''t tell what that spider is, but why is that tiny little beast exuding such pure dragon pressure?! Serenewave Raven didn''t have much time to ponder as Dandan started to move. His speed was astonishingly fast and arrived in front of the demon elder in an instant. Opening his mouth, Dandan gathered the qi in his body and unleashed a dragon''s breath attack that greatly resembled Tianyi''s true qi of chaos. Serenewave Raven''s figure blurred as he shifted his body out of the way. Unfortunately for him, he couldn''t completely dodge the attack, and there was a small hole in his right-wing. Don''t look at the hole as if it was just a slight wound. Due to the unique properties of Dandan''s qi that he inherited from Tianyi, the injury was continuously worsening, and Serenewave Raven had to continuously suppress it. Not one to suffer a loss without retaliating, Serenewave Raven flapped his wings, and a wave of red water surged forth. As it surged forward, the water was emitting a dangerously high temperature that could easily cook a regular mortal in an instant, but Dandan wasn''t afraid as he charged through the water and used his horn and punctured the raven demon''s chest. Afterward, Dandan retreated and started flailing as if in pain. He had overestimated himself and got himself scalded. Shuijing looked at Dandan for a moment before looking away, it didn''t need to speak, and it already revealed its disdain to everyone. Serenewave Raven clacked his beak in frustration. If it weren''t for Dandan''s size, that horn could have grievously injured him, but currently, it was only a slight flesh wound. Deciding that he couldn''t hold anything back, Serenewave Raven used all his strength and battled the two spiritual beasts. Fighting Dandan was straightforward. Dandan''s small size gave him incredible dodging capabilities, and his qi attacks were devastating, but his small size prevented his physical attacks from taking much damage. Shujing, on the other hand, was more esoteric. She weaved webs after webs and waited for Serenewave Raven to get entangled like a hunter to prey. The webs weren''t that difficult for the raven demon to break out of, but whenever he touched them, he felt his soul shake and tremble. Having known about the deceased Nightmare Heart''s abilities, Serenewave Raven was clear that Shuijing was targeting his soul. One of the spiritual beasts aimed for his body, while the other attacked his soul. Under this combination and Tianyi''s hidden aid, Serenewave Raven was the first demon elder to fall. The moment Serenewave Raven lost all signs of life, a change in the battlefield occurred. From a group of sea demons emerged the aura of a Unity Realm level expert. The source of that aura was a cephalopod-like demon with a spiral shell. That sea demon turned into a trail of light and shot towards Dandan. Chapter 196: Leviathan Ancestors Intention Did the anger at losing the dragon egg make Leviathan Ancestor lose his calm and ally himself with the other two demon clans to eliminate the cultivators? The answer was no. It was true that Leviathan Ancestor wanted to cull out the cultivators in revenge, but he had not lost sight of his goal. Even if the thief stole the dragon egg he meticulously groomed, they would still need some time to process it or hatch it. During this time, Leviathan Ancestor wanted to force them out and reclaim the egg. Loathe as he was to do so, Leviathan Ancestor placed himself in the thief''s shoes and pondered what he would do after stealing the dragon egg. After hours of contemplation, Leviathan Ancestor decided that he would hide in a place with the most outstanding security, and what place was safer than in a group of cultivators? In addition, only the invaders had the ability to break into his Dragon Palace and steal the egg. The Demon Cage Realm was the lair of demons, so the demons had an advantage over cultivators in knowing the terrain, so hiding in the land was more dangerous. Thankfully Leviathan Ancestor did not know about the Descending Immortal Embassy, and Tianyi didn''t go there. Otherwise, his plan would have failed. After hundreds of years of grooming the dragon egg, Leviathan Ancestor had long prepared anti-theft measures. Although it was successfully stolen, Leviathan Ancestor placed some tracking measures on the egg, but he couldn''t sense the egg due to Tianyi''s method and the Vast Heaven Islands. So Leviathan Ancestor planned to ruffle the cultivators to force out the thief who stole his dragon egg, hence his alliance with the Golden Crow Clan and Jade Rabbit Clan. Naturally, Leviathan Ancestor didn''t expect the Golden Crow Clan or Jade Rabbit Clan to obediently surrender the dragon egg once it was found, so he placed one of his demon elders within the army of demons he sent. That demon elder was equipped with a method to detect the dragon egg''s aura if it was no longer blocked. His role was to steal the egg if discovered and return it to Leviathan Ancestor as quickly as possible. When Dandan and Shuijin appeared, the sea demon elder had already detected him. He was shocked that the egg had already hatched and could already imagine Leviathan Ancestor''s fury. However, just because the egg hatched didn''t mean the sea demon elder would give up. Since he couldn''t bring the egg, then he would bring the hatched being. Dandan released a cute little roar upon sensing the sea demon charging at him and unleashed a beam formed from true qi of chaos towards the demon. The demon didn''t try to block and slightly shifted its course and dodged the black beam. Seeing that his first attack missed, Dandan unleashed several more black beams towards the sea demon elder, causing him to evade with his utmost ability, but he still couldn''t prevent some parts of the beams from landing on his body. Luckily, the sea demon elder''s shell was robust and was able to withstand the beams, but he wasn''t unscathed as his shell''s thickness had been shaved off by Dandan''s black beam. The sea demon elder roared in anger. His shell was his most prized possession. It could be compared to a cultivator''s lifebound artifact, so any damages made the demon feel as if his heart was bleeding. However, he still had Leviathan Ancestor''s mission, so he gritted his teeth and continued charging. Once the sea demon elder reached a certain distance, he took out a strange net. Dandan immediately stiffened upon noticing the net. His instincts were telling him that the net was his nemesis. Without waiting for Dandan to react, the sea demon elder threw the net. Once the net left his tentacles, it started to enlarge until it seemed to shroud the skies from Dandan''s perspective. Dandan made a move to evade the net''s range, but his body involuntarily froze. Just as the net was about to capture Dandan, Dandan''s body was suddenly yanked away, much to the surprise of the sea demon elder. The sea demon elder looked at the spider-like creature with untold seriousness, even as it bonked Dandan on the head with one of her legs. The net was a treasure Leviathan Ancestor had created that had a suppression effect on those with dragon blood, but it had an effect on other demon bloodlines as well. Judging from Shuijing''s action, the net did not affect her whatsoever. Having seen the battle earlier, the sea demon elder didn¡¯t believe Shuijin was a common demon. What kind of creature is that? The sea demon elder pondered, but even as he did so, his actions did not stop. Since he couldn''t catch Dandan due to Shuijing, then he''ll catch both at once. Upon seeing the net fall towards them once more, Shuijing whacked Dandan away like some pest before crawling through the air towards the sea demon elder, ignoring the giant net. Arrogant little beast. The sea demon elder thought. In his eyes, once Shuijing was captured, then capturing Dandan was only a matter of time. However, man proposes, but heaven disposes. Or rather, demon proposes, but heaven disposes in this case. Just as it seemed the net would capture Shuijing, the net passed through Shuijing as if she was just a mere illusion. The sea demon elder tentacles wriggle in displeasure. He began to scan the surroundings, looking for Shuijing''s true body. Earlier, he had been waiting for an opportune time during the two spiritual beasts and Serenewave Raven''s battle to strike, so he had a rough understanding of the two spiritual beasts'' abilities. But the sea demon elder was wrong this time. The sea demon elder''s eyes bugged out when he suddenly felt a sudden force on his body that sent him flying. Eyeing the culprit, the sea demon elder had an expression of disbelief. How did it reach in front of me? Wasn''t it an illusion? Facing Shuijing, the sea demon elder adopted a never before seen seriousness. Although he had seen Serenewave Raven''s defeat, the sea demon elder attributed the raven demon''s defeat to his subpar mastery of water. In his eyes, compared to a true master of the water element, Serenewave Raven was lacking. The sea demon elder fully pulled its body back into its shell, but he wasn''t doing this for defense but offense. A navy blue bubble was blown out of the spiral shell''s open and enlarged itself until it encapsulated an area over one a hundred kilometers in diameter. The bubble formed a mini domain within the Vast Heaven Islands and sealed off all contact. Inside the domain, there was immense pressure on Dandan and Shuijing''s bodies as if millions of tonnes of water were crushing them.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Damn, because of the cultivator''s influence, I can''t entirely release my Deep Sea Domain. The demon sea elder thought. Those at the advanced stage of the Unity Realm or equivalent were able to create a domain that increased the user''s advantages while decreasing their opponent''s powers. In video game terms, the user had a buff while the enemy got a debuff. When advanced unity venerables fought, they often competed using their domains. The winner would be the one who nurtured a stronger dao seed. When the dao seed sprouted, that would be when they truly completed their dao and gave them the qualification to enter the seamless immortal realm. Most Unity Realm level existence could not form a dao seed, and most true immortals could not cause the seed to sprout. So the sea demon elder was rather talented among the demons, hence why Leviathan Ancestor sent him. Within the sea demon elder''s Deep Sea Domain, Dandan felt each and every moment took all his body''s energy. It was as if his body was encased in a steel cage perfectly molded to his shape. With a roar that was smothered by the water-like qualities of the Deep Sea Domain, a black mist began to emit from Dandan''s body. What?! What is that black mist? How can it interfere with my Deep Sea Domain?! The sea demon elder showed a shocked expression as the top of his body exited the spiral shell. The interference has some similarities with the nine islands¡¯ domain, so the master of the nine islands snatched the ancestor''s dragon egg? In contrast, Shuijing seemed to have met her match as her movements slowed to a crawl. As a result, the sea demon elder didn''t pay much attention to her. I better strengthen the Deep Sea Domain. The sea demon elder thought. Using his will, the Deep Sea Domain began to shrink until it was only half its former size. However, Dandan''s black mist interference was still fighting against him, and Shuijing couldn''t move at all as if she was frozen within an ice block. Seeing that his Deep Sea Domain wasn''t doing as much as he wanted, the sea demon elder decided to quickly capture Dandan and leave before any more unexpected events occurred. Shuijing was already immobilized, so this was his best chance to capture the pill dragon. "Not good!" The sea demon elder spoke aloud as he detected that the Vast Heaven Island''s domain was beginning to attack his. How could this be possible? Didn''t the elder say that when the immortals invade, they will either send a group that has the power of true demons or ones that are just shy of demon elders? Obviously, most of the immortals are those equal to demons who have formed their demonic cores; no immortal at the true demon level had descended. How could there be someone with such a strong domain manipulation? Has something changed? The sea demon elder thought, but his actions didn''t stop. After capturing Dandan, he planned on escaping as soon as possible. He felt that if he didn''t escape, he would likely fall at the Vast Heaven Islands. Throwing out his net, unlike previous times, the sea demon elder successfully captured Dandan. As he was reeling back the net, the sea demon elder was shocked to discover that the black mist was corroding the net, an artifact the Leviathan Ancestor personally refined. Sensing that the chances of Dandan escaping during the journey were a high possibility, qi surged from the demon elder''s tentacle as he prepared to ''fix'' the possibility. However, just as the demon elder''s tentacle was about to make contact with Dandan through the net, his mind suddenly became woozy. It was only a single moment, but this lapse of concentration allowed Dandan to escape from the net, much to the sea demon elder''s fury. Temporarily ignoring Dandan, the sea demon elder focused all his attention upon the apparently immobilized Shuijing. With a mighty roar that reverberated throughout the Deep Sea Domain, the sea demon began unleashing attack after attack upon Shuijing. Aqua blades, underwater whirlpools, crushing sea pressure, the sea demon elder unleashed technique after technique upon Shuijing, but without fail, all of them would harmlessly phase through her. Seeing this, the sea demon elder wasn''t surprised and continued attacking. Earlier, he had thought it was an illusion and made a mistake. He will not repeat the same mistake twice. "Not good." The sea demon elder repeated as he looked up to see cracks in his domain. The damage wasn''t from anything inside his domain but external influence. Gritting his teeth, the sea demon elder abandoned attacking Shuijing and charged towards Dandan, who was trying to escape the boundary of the Deep Sea Domain with little success. The moment the sea demon elder launched the net out, there was a loud cracking sound, and the next instant, the Deep Sea Domain was filled with fissures. Simultaneously, blue blood leaked from his orifices. However, the sea demon elder ignored this and successfully captured Dandan for the second time. This time, he didn''t needlessly try to limit Dandan''s ability and tried to escape first. He could worry about Dandan''s resistance later. Damn spatial suppression! The sea demon elder thought. He was a sea demon, so his flying speed was slower than his swimming speed. If it were in the waters, his speed would have been over twice as fast even within the Vast Heaven Islands'' domain. Even now, the sea demon elder was less than halfway out of the domain of the Vast Heaven Islands. Should I use the treasure the ancestor gave me? The sea demon elder suddenly stopped as the space in front of him twisted, and a human wearing a purple robe appeared. The human''s eyes were so mesmerizing that he almost lost his concentration for a moment, but the demon quickly raised his guard. "You have something that is mine." Tianyi raised his hand towards the sky, and the day turned to night. Or rather, it seemed that way to everyone within the Vast Heaven Islands as surging true qi of chaos encased the domain. Bringing his hand downward, the true qi of chaos surged forward and engulfed the sea demon elder. The attack was too fast, too powerful, putting the demon on the defensive. Compared to Dandan¡¯s attack, Tianyi¡¯s was far more powerful and threatening, which was saying a lot. He must be the thief who stole the dragon egg. With his dragon egg, he is completely suppressing me! No wonder he could massacre all the demons in Dragon Palace. The sea demon elder''s conjecture was wrong. The only reason Tianyi''s power surpassed the demon elder was because Tianyi was within the Vast Heaven Islands. If it were outside, Tianyi''s power would have dramatically plummeted. I''ll have to use the trump card the ancestor gave me. Left at wit''s end, the sea demon elder reached into his shell with one of his tentacles and brought out a large tooth. Upon seeing the tooth, a sense of danger assaulted Tianyi, and he increased the frequency and strength of his attack, wanting to prevent the sea demon elder from doing anything. However, Tianyi was too late as the tentacle holding the tooth snapped it in half. All of the beings with the Vast Heaven Islands stopped whatever they were doing to gaze at the sea demon elder and the apparition that appeared above him. A transparent and long serpentine body with scales larger than humans, a mouth with thousands of teeth, and slitted eyes full of power. This was the Leviathan Ancestor. The Leviathan Ancestor''s apparition gazed at Tianyi with no emotion. It opened its maws and gave a mighty roar that ringed in everyone''s mind, causing them to clutch their head in pain as they felt their soul tremble, but this was only a side effect of Leviathan Ancestor''s attack. From his mouth, numerous bubbles came forth and shot towards Tianyi like cannonballs. Tianyi gritted his teeth and used the true qi of chaos to form a defensive formation. The formation only lasted a moment against Leviathan Ancestor''s bubble before shattering and disappearing, but it bought Tianyi enough time to don his cosmic mantle. Frowning, Tianyi discovered that he couldn''t teleport himself out due to the suppression of space brought about by Leviathan Ancestor''s attack. It seemed his pseudo-realm couldn''t allow him to face off against a true immortal level foe. Tianyi gritted his teeth and defended against the bubble. Optimally, Tianyi wanted to form his cosmic giant, but there was simply not enough time. He unleashed all of his palm, claw, and hand arts against the bubble charging towards him. The first bubble caused his cosmic mantle to enter a tattered state. The second bubble caused his cosmic mantle to disperse completely. The third bubble caused numerous wounds and tears to appear on Tianyi''s body. The fourth bubble broke Tianyi''s arm and struck Tianyi''s torso. Without the ability to resist any longer, the rest of the bubble consecutively struck Tianyi''s body, causing him to puke black mist from his mouth. When the ninth bubble struck Tianyi, his body exploded into true qi of chaos. Chapter 197: Hopeless Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Chapter 198: Realm Merge Shit. Tianyi only had this one thought as Leviathan Ancestor''s attack landed on his body. There was a sense of unwillingness in Tianyi''s heart as he felt his body crumble under the immense power of the seemingly harmless bubbles. He didn¡¯t even have time to activate any of his lifesaving means. Soon, his body popped under the barrage of bubbles, and his true qi of chaos poured out like mist. I wasn''t even killed by someone with the background of a character. What the actual hell. Fuck, I thought that I''d at least be killed by someone famous or a rising genius. To be killed by a caged rat in the Demon Cage Realm, so embarrassing. AND KILLED BY FUCKING BUBBLES! I can already imagine my epitaph; here lies Tianyi, killed by bubbles. Tianyi waited and waited before finally realizing something eff. Eh? Wait, I feel fine. Well, not a hundred percent fine, abnormal but still alive. Tianyi knew Leviathan Ancestor''s attack had destroyed his body, but strangely, Tianyi didn''t feel any damage at all. It was as if his body was still perfectly fine. Tianyi tried to move his arms and limbs but discovered that although he was alive, his body was still gone. Still, he was very aware of what was happening around him except that he couldn''t do anything. I couldn''t have become a ghost, right? Pei! Ghosts are just souls with a vast amount of negative emotions that defy the natural workings of the world and forcibly linger outside the Nether Realm. Getting rid of his useless ponderings, Tianyi began to focus in an attempt to figure out what the nature of his abnormal state was. I seemed to have merged with the domain of the Vast Heaven Islands? Tianyi discovered that it felt like he had two inner cosmos. One was the one that had been born when he created his martial cultivation method on Tianwei Island, and the other was the Vast Heaven Islands that he had created based on his inner cosmos. Tianyi wanted more time to uncover the mystery of his strange state, but he didn''t have any more time as he discovered that the sea demon elder and the rest of the Unity Realm level demons were trying to flee the Vast Heaven Islands. Stay! Tianyi wanted to shout, but he remembered that he no longer had a body and could not speak. However, under Tianyi''s will, the Vast Heaven Island''s boundary seemed to have changed. Whenever the demons tried to leave the boundary, they would find themselves at the opposite end of the domain without fail. Seeing this, Tianyi sighed in relief or at least thought of sighing in relief. Now I can quietly ponder on my changes. After an unknown amount of time that felt short yet extremely long, Tianyi sighed. He finally understood the strange state he was in. Heh, this is like at the critical time, the protagonist discovering a bullshit ability that can save their life. Only this time, I''m not going to complain. The strange state Tianyi was in wasn¡¯t the result of a technique. Rather than a technique, it was closer to an innate ability. Most commonly seen in demons and monsters that possess divine bloodlines, innate abilities were techniques that could be unleashed without understanding their principles. Cultivators could also attain innate abilities through numerous methods. The space piercing reminiscent of the World Piercing Mammoth Boar exhibited by Dong Chifan was such an innate ability. The Truth-Seeking Eye that Tianyi cultivated was also considered an innate ability. As long as he successfully opened the third eye, Tianyi would be able to use miraculous abilities without needing to understand them. If Tianyi had to compare, it would be like people on Earth being able to use power tools. They only understood the tool''s basic use and energy source, but they did not know how and why it worked. Tianyi''s new innate ability was realm unification. Using it, Tianyi could merge his body and inner cosmos with any realms or domains under his control, such as the Vast Heaven Islands. Tianyi wondered whether he could merge with the Mountain and Seas Formation since he technically controlled it. What should I call this ability? Perhaps I am the Heavenly Dao? Pfff, if I call it that, I wonder if the Heavenly Dao will deliver divine punishment upon me? For now, I''ll just name this ability Realm Merge. The reason he could never use this ability before was because he was not the master of the Demon Cage Realm or the Huang Realm. Tianyi had thought his control over the Vast Heaven Islands was because he was the master and controller, but the reality was that he had partially merged with the Vast Heaven Islands and exerted his will upon it. Shaking his head, Tianyi focused on more important matters. The reason it seemed that his body had popped was because Leviathan Ancestor''s attack had prevented some parts of his qi from leaving with him when he merged with the Vast Heaven Islands. If he had really popped, the amount of true qi of chaos that would be released would be enough to fill the Vast Heaven Islands ten times over and practically suffocate every human and demon within. In the merged state, Tianyi discovered that his control of the Vast Heaven Islands had increased tremendously. Even the problem that had been plaguing him for years was easily solvable now. But before Tianyi could shrink the Vast Heaven Islands and bring it with him, he had to deal with the demons still trapped inside. Using his will, Tianyi began to delve deeper and explore the nature of his new innate ability. He even allowed a hole to open to test what would happen to a demon that had been sliced by the closing boundary. Tianyi frowned upon seeing that the top half of the crow demon was still alive and kicking despite missing his bottom half. The vitality of Unity Realm level demons is really extraordinary. Still, even if Tianyi was amazed, he didn''t plan on letting the injured demon leave. Although the demon was unlikely to heal in a short time, Tianyi was still feeling stifled by Leviathan Ancestor''s attack that the sea demon elder unleashed. If he didn''t vent a bit, he would feel as if a fishbone was caught in his throat. It was extremely unpleasant. Under Tianyi''s control, the Vast Heaven Island''s boundary was shrouded in a black layer, cutting off the scenery of the outside from the inside. Tianyi had encapsulated the Vast Heaven Islands in his true qi of chaos, and from the layer, beams of qi were shot towards the fleeing demon. Normally, the demon elder would have been able to block the qi beam, and even if he couldn¡¯t fully block it, at least ninety-five percent would have lost its effect. However, in his injured state, the qi beam directly struck him. The corrosive nature of the true qi of chaos was fatal thanks to the demon already being in a grievous state. Like dry wood catching on fire, Tianyi''s true qi of chaos spread all over the demon''s body and continually disintegrated his flesh and soul. Anyone who heard the demon''s excruciating howls of pain would have goosebumps all over their body, even on a sunny day. Not even Tianyi, who had unleashed the true qi of chaos, was unaffected by the howls. Was my true qi of chaos always this torturous? He couldn''t help but wonder. Still, Tianyi continued to observe the final moments of the demon elder. When the demon elder lost all signs of life and his body was completely disintegrated by the true qi of chaos, Tianyi had an idea. Reaching out towards the true qi of chaos that was rampantly corroding its surroundings with his spiritual sense, he commanded it to return, and to Tianyi''s surprise, it really did come back. Why didn''t I think of this sooner? Tianyi couldn''t help but wonder. However, he soon discovered that it wasn''t as useful as he thought. At most, it was another extension of his absorption abilities and aided him in recovering qi, which he almost never needed. From the moment the demon escaped and was killed, only a few breaths of time had passed. Tianyi focused back on the demons inside the Vast Heaven Islands. Under his control, all the cultivators and even Fan City itself were teleported outside of the Vast Heaven Islands. Once teleported outside, all the cultivators were in a state of bewilderment. The only ones who weren''t surprised were the residents within Fan City since they hadn''t comprehended what had happened. While the cultivators were trying to adjust and figure out what had happened, Tianyi was focusing on the demons trapped in the Vast Heaven Islands. Hey, trapping them inside Vast Heaven Islands, isn''t that like how the demons are trapped in the Demon Cage Realm? Very meta. Tianyi even had the notion of raising a bunch of demons, like how the Buzhou Immortal Sect was rearing the demons inside the Demon Cage Realm as livestock, before quickly putting down the idea. In Tianyi''s words, it was way "too troublesome." In the future, should I focus on using qi-based moves instead of physical moves? Personally, punching and kicking are quite wasteful since I have so much qi. En, I should be focusing on my strengths and amplifying them, and my greatest strength is my vast amount of qi. Though, I shouldn''t neglect my martial abilities. My body is stronger than Unity Realm level demons, after all. Making up his mind, black lightning began to gather and strike the demons inside the Vast Heaven Islands. Upon seeing this, all the demons attempted to dodge the lightning strikes. Core Formation Realm level demons who were struck immediately perished into a burnt corpse. Nascent Soul Realm level demons were grievously injured in one strike and dead on the third strike. Only the Unity Realm level demons were able to fend off Tianyi''s attacks, but not fully.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The black lightning formed from Tianyi''s true qi of chaos contained trace amounts of tribulation essence. Normally, when Tianyi infused tribulation essence into his attacks, the Heavenly Dao would erode most of it, but this was no longer an issue since he had merged with the Vast Heaven Islands, which was devoid of the Heavenly Dao. To be more accurate, Tianyi was the Heavenly Dao of the Vast Heaven Islands. Even the Unity Realm level demons were shocked by the tribulation essence. For demons at the Unity Realm level, they only feared two things: true demons like the ancestors of the three demon clans and heavenly tribulation. Suddenly facing tribulation lightning, many demons despaired and allowed the lightning to destroy them in body and soul without resistance. Some demons attempted to escape and flew straight towards the boundary that seemed to lead into the Vast Void. Staying would result in death without even the chance of reincarnating. Why not commit a final gamble? However, they made the wrong gamble. Tianyi used that demon to test his control of the spacetime boundaries of the pseudo-realm. After Tianyi acclimated to controlling the boundary, he formed a layer of true qi of chaos within the Vast Heaven Island. Once the demons touched the newly formed true qi of chaos barrier, it was as if they had caught on fire. The true qi of chaos immediately engulfed their whole body and disintegrated them into a crisp. The other demons who still had some hope left despaired. They can only quietly await their fate. The Unity Realm level demons, on the other hand, weren''t so willing to give up. Seeing the situation worsen, the six remaining elders of the Golden Crow Clan gathered together and unleashed a combination defensive technique. The sea demon elder also wanted to defend himself, but he couldn''t because over fifty percent of the lightning was directed towards him. It was not that he was afraid of lightning specifically, but as a sea demon, he was weak against high temperatures, especially Tianyi''s abnormally powerful black lightning. Dandan and Shuijing had already long been teleported out by Tianyi, so even if the sea demon wanted to use them as hostages, he couldn''t. Tianyi also had another advantage in this state, and that was the amount of qi he could use. Normally, his instantaneous output was limited by the amount of qi he could draw from his inner cosmos at any given time. But once he merged with the Vast Heaven Islands, the limit was increased tremendously since it was akin to directly using his qi without drawing it out from his body. So Tianyi''s current power was over ten times what he could typically unleash. Under the constant assault, the sea demon elder''s qi reservoir was quickly used up. If he could harmonize with heaven and earth, he would be able to infinitely block Tianyi''s attack thanks to the endless amount of qi he could absorb. Unfortunately, he was trapped in the Vast Heaven Islands. Seeing this, the elders of the Golden Crow Clan felt despair. It was not that the Golden Crow Clan elders had any sympathy for the Leviathan Clan elder. In fact, they hated that he couldn''t die fast enough were it not for the fact that if he died, the majority of the lightning would aim towards them. In their eyes, had he not brought out the tooth that could unleash Leviathan Ancestor''s might, the master of the Vast Heaven Islands wouldn¡¯t have reacted so decisively. If they couldn''t figure out a method to resist and escape, they would suffer the same fate as the sea demon elder. "Fellow elders, we can no longer retreat. Our only option is to expend the immortal''s qi and hope that we can outlast him." Hearing Ashflame Crow''s suggestion, the crow demons gritted their beaks and formed a defensive barrier using their combined might. Even so, Ashflame Crow couldn''t help but despair. In his eyes, the chances of the master of the domain being an expert on the level of their ancestor was incredibly high. The chances of outlasting him were infinitely small, but there wasn''t anything else they could do. Am I really going to die here today? Recalling the day five years ago when Golden Crow Ancestor asked for their vote, Ashflame Crow wished to travel back in time and beat himself up for voting to attack the cultivators. You already knew you weren''t the cultivator''s opponent. Why did you deliver yourself to die?! Still, even if Ashflame Crow''s intestine became green with regret, there was no medicine for regret, and he could only grit his beak and hope for a miracle. However, a miracle did not occur. The six remaining demon elders could only watch as the massive demon army they brought perished under the consecutive lightning strikes before all bolts started to target them. There was no great battle between the edge of life and death, only the growing despair as their qi continued to dwindle until nothing was left. Ashflame Crow glared at the heavens with unwillingness in his eyes. He had imagined his death countless times. Whether it was from a battle against his rivals or against demons more powerful than him, but he never imagined that he would be killed without even seeing his killer''s face. "I AM UNWILLI¨C" Ashflame Crow never finished his words as the black lightning broke through his body''s defenses and killed him instantly. Tianyi controlled the demon''s corpses and placed them on one of the floating islands. "Now, how should I unmerge myself?"
Outside, the disciples and the residents of Fan City who had discovered the abnormality stood in a crowd, watching the gargantuan black sphere. "Senior Brother Xi is the only one in, and there are at least six Unity Realm level demons. I wonder how long he can last." One male disciple said aloud. "Last? You got it wrong. It should be how long those demons can last. Did you see Senior Brother''s methods? When the demons first invaded, with one move, he exterminated half of them!" Another one, a friend of the former, said, obviously a Tianyi fan. "Brother, I know you admire Senior Brother Xi, but you have to face reality. If Senior Brother Xi were a unity venerable, I wouldn''t doubt your words, but he is a nascent soul grandmaster like you and me. Don''t you remember the battle five years ago? Back then, Senior Brother Xi couldn''t defeat a Unity Realm level demon. How can he defeat six at once? Not to mention the tens of thousands of remaining demons." A voice of reason said, but his conversation partner only huffed. "Just you wait, this is nothing for Senior Brother Xi!" Before the disciple could speak, another voice interjected. "Right, how could mere demons give Prince Xi any trouble?" The disciple looked at the newcomer. A girl with her hair tied into double buns and worshipful expression said. Who else could the girl be but Jian Wuyan? The disciple moved to speak but was interrupted again. He growled in frustration as he glared at the newcomer, only to still when he saw her sickly appearance. "How could Daoist Xi lose before fulfilling his promise to me?" The speaker was a girl with long black hair and sickly white skin, Duwa of the Nihility Sect. Behind her were her two nascent soul attendants. "You hussy, when did Prince Xi ever promise you anything?!" Jian Wuyan questioned as she pointed at Duwa. The disciple wanted to speak again but was interrupted by his friend. "Sister Jian is right. Senior Brother Xi is our Buzhou Immortal Sect''s. How can a mere core formation master from a vassal sect be worthy of a promise from him?" The disciple opened his mouth and closed it before sighing. Forget it, towards these braindead fans; he had nothing to say. Instead, the disciple observed the gargantuan black sphere that was the Vast Heaven Islands. Huh, is it just me, or did the sphere get smaller? No, it wasn''t the disciple''s imagination as the black sphere that was the Vast Heaven Islands did shrink. Soon, not just him, but more and more disciples noticed the change and began to pay attention. As the black sphere shrink, so did the black barrier that prevented the onlookers from looking inside. Once the black barrier completely disappeared, the Vast Heaven Islands was so small enough that it could fit in someone''s palm, and inside, there was nothing abnormal except there seemed to be a thin glass sphere encasing the Vast Heaven Islands. Everyone''s attention was enraptured by the miniature Vast Heaven Islands. Some of them even had the notion of grabbing and claiming it for themselves. They had seen how Tianyi was able to deal with the demon army just by using the Vast Heaven Islands, but before they could take action, a milky white hand had appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the sphere. Tianyi stood there, wearing his purple robe and golden coronet with not a lock out of place. The onlookers didn''t feel any aura coming from Tianyi, but there was an indescribable pressure bearing down on their souls as if they were facing some monstrous beast. Just Tianyi¡¯s leisurely look could make them feel threatened once they remember how he dealt with the army of demons. Hey, say something. Why are you all silent? Is it because I''m alive? Is it because you wish I were dead? If you don''t speak, I''ll really think you guys wish I were dead! Tianyi thought, feeling aggrieved by the people''s lack of reaction. "What happened to the demons? Did you get rid of them all?" Daoyi, who had just pushed through into the front, asked. Tianyi wasn''t worried for Daoyi. The moment the sea demon elder had brought out the tooth, he had teleported Daoyi and Xi Ri to safety. Among the cultivators, those two were the least affected by Leviathan Ancestor''s attack. "Naturally," Tianyi said. The stronger the cultivator was, the stronger their senses were. So even though Tianyi''s voice wasn''t loud and was talking to Daoyi, many cultivators still heard him. Hearing Tianyi''s answer, even the male disciple who said Tianyi could defeat all six Unity Realm level demons showed disbelief. Not just him, but the majority of the people who heard Tianyi''s words showed expressions of disbelief. Tianyi''s lips twitched. Controlling the Vast Heaven Islands in his palm, he teleported the corpses of the demons out, creating a veritable mountain out of the demon''s corpses. "There are too many demons. Although many of them are damaged, you can take whichever you like. After all, we''re comrades, so good things have to be shared." Tianyi kindly said, but inwardly he was thinking something. Hmpf, don''t believe me? Then I''ll show you proof. Upon seeing the shock coloring the cultivator''s faces, Tianyi inwardly smirked. Soon, more and more disciples came forward to collect some demon corpses. They didn''t allow greed to take them over and take everything they could grab. They still had to consider their image after all. After grabbing about three or four corpses each, they all thanked Tianyi, praising him, causing Tianyi''s smile to widen bit by bit no matter how hard he tried to suppress it. Tianyi is probably only sharing the nascent soul and core formation master equivalent demon corpses. He is probably keeping the Unity Realm level demons for himself. Xia Yushan thought as he stared at the mountain of corpses and then stared at the sphere in Tianyi''s hand. However, he was soon proved wrong. "Daoist Xi, this is a Unity Realm level corpse. Can I really have this?" One Core Formation Realm disciple from the Bright Ascension asked, his breathing rough from exhilaration. Upon seeing Tianyi nod, the disciple quickly stored the corpse and thanked Tianyi before leaving, guarding against others who wanted to take it from him. After this instance, the other disciples, even those who were too prideful, stared at the mountain of corpses with heated gazes. Even Xia Yushan had the urge to search the mountain of corpses for a Unity Realm level corpse. However, this would be akin to owing Tianyi a favor, something Xia Yushan was unwilling to do. Thinking about his need for the blood essence of the Golden Crow Clan, he stepped forward but stopped. Even if I can condense the yang essence out of the blood, I would leave a shadow in my heart because I would attribute Tianyi for my success. My success can be aided by others, but it definitely can''t be because of Tianyi. I''ll have to think of another method. That yokel from the Demon Cage Realm... No matter how many disciples came, the pile of corpses never seemed to shrink. Even Tianyi felt troubled by this. Ah, I have too much that I don''t know what to do with them. Suddenly a girl with tears streaming down her face ran forward and pointed at Tianyi. She wore a white dress, but it was marred by dirt and soot, giving her a pitiful appearance. "Prince Xi, how could you? How could you kill Senior Brother Ji?!" The girl, Bai Weiwei, said with a voice full of grief and anger. Chapter 199: Dragging Down the Bright Ascension Sect "Senior Brother Ji?" It took a moment for Tianyi to recall who Bai Weiwei was referring to. Suddenly, that peerlessly beautiful face flashed through Tianyi''s mind. Why is a man so beautiful anyways? Still, Tianyi was brought back to reality and gazed into Bai Weiwei''s hate-filled eyes. It was a complete contrast to the clear and innocent eyes she previously had. "What do you mean I killed him?" At that time, when he was attacked by Leviathan Ancestor''s attack, he had focused most of his attention on teleporting Daoyi and Xi Ri away, so he didn''t pay attention to anyone else. Even so, Tianyi didn''t think that anyone died because Leviathan Ancestor''s attack was directed at him. Were they truly so useless to be killed by the aftereffects of an attack, even if it was true demon¡¯s technique? "Don''t act like you don''t know! You''re so powerful. You must have been able to prevent his death! You must have done it on purpose. You killed Senior Brother Ji!" Bai Weiwei''s voice was sharp and grating, and there was a sense of desolation hidden within that everyone could hear. It was as if the sky had collapsed for her. "Wait, you haven''t even explained everything. I don''t even know what''s going on." Tianyi said, feeling especially innocent. To him, it was as if Bai Weiwei had gone crazy and accused him out of nowhere. He remembered that he told everyone that there would be risks to the battle, so how could it be blamed on him? Bai Weiwei continued to glare at Tianyi while tears streamed down her face. If no one knew the circumstances, it would appear Tianyi was bullying a weak girl. Years ago, when she had been with Lai Erchu, she had happened to chance upon Ji Wutong and talked to him for a few moments, but because of that one instance, Lai Erchu felt she was unfaithful. As a result, the matter was blown up, and the female disciples who already didn''t like her started to hate her even more. Without Lai Erchu''s protection, her situation became even worse. Pushed to the brink, Bai Weiwei searched for her old friends, but none of them wanted to help her. She couldn''t understand why did everyone hated her. Why did her old friends only look coldly at her? Just what did she do wrong? Lai Erchu had thrown her away without reason, she was the victim! Bai Weiwei felt as if the whole world had abandoned her. At that moment, Ji Wutong appeared like a savior and brought her out of the darkness. Bai Weiwei knew that her status and talent couldn''t compare to Ji Wutong, so she didn''t have thoughts of becoming dao companions. She stayed by his side, only wanting to repay the debt she owed him. However, as time passed, Bai Weiwei''s heart moved. Ji Wutong was a good man, treated her very well, and gave her numerous cultivation resources without expecting anything in return. Knowing that her debt was growing by the day, Bai Weiwei tried to refuse, but Ji Wutong didn''t allow her to. The intimacy between them only increased during their time in the Demon Cage Realm. Bing Huoyuan was a good brother figure, and he treated her even better than before, but Ji Wutong treated her even better than Bing Huoyuan. Ji Wutong even supported Bai Ningwei because of Bai Weiwei. Under Ji Wutong''s sweet actions, Bai Weiwei felt her heart move like never before. It was not that she had felt her heart move by men like Lai Erchu or others who swore to protect her, but it was only now that Bai Weiwei realized her feelings for Ji Wutong were different. Ji Wutong was unlike the men who distanced themselves from her after Lai Erchu accused her of being unfaithful. He was different. Bai Weiwei still had a modicum of logic, so she didn''t act on those feelings, but with each passing day, she felt her defense against Ji Wutong weaken, and her feelings grew stronger. The final straw was when Ji Wutong used his body to shield her from the aftereffects of Leviathan Ancestor''s attack. Ji Wutong had spurt a mouthful of blood afterward, shocking Bai Weiwei. The sweet feeling she had in her heart immediately became panic. Her mind focused on bringing Ji Wutong to safety, completely forgetting about her sister and Bing Huoyuan. Bai Weiwei tried numerous times to heal Ji Wutong''s wounds, most of which consisted of feeding him all the healing pills she could. However, nothing worked. Ji Wutong just lay there in a daze with his eyes opened as if he had lost his soul. Even so, Bai Weiwei thought that there was still a chance of saving Ji Wutong, but that all came collapsing down when everyone was teleported out of the Vast Heaven Islands. Ji Wutong lost all signs of life. "How could you not know? You''re Prince Xi, the son of the legendary Sword Empress!" Bai Weiwei said. In a way, this was her way of showing her faith in Tianyi. In her eyes, Tianyi was infallible and undefeatable. This feeling started when Su Bojing saved her from the female disciple''s bullying in the Heavenly Connection Gathering. This was further reinforced by Bai Ningwei''s praise of Tianyi and solidified when she saw how Tianyi controlled the Vast Heaven Islands to kill thirty percent of the demon army in an instant. There was nothing he couldn''t do, so when Ji Wutong died, Tianyi must have planned it! "Junior Sister Bai, stop it. It''s not Daoist Xi''s fault. Senior Brother Ji wasn''t the only one hurt." A Bright Ascension Sect disciple who couldn''t bear to listen any longer stepped in. Bai Weiwei turned her tearful eyes towards the male disciple who stepped out. She recalled that he was one that hadn''t slighted her in any way, but she couldn''t let the matter go simply. Suddenly an idea occurred to her. "Prince Xi, how are you going to account for all the other injured disciples! We all followed you because we trusted you!" The Bright Ascension Sect disciple felt his scalp tingle. You idiot! Senior Brother Ji is an important disciple of our sect, but that is Daoist Xi, the son of the Sword Empress! He can take down over tens of thousands of demons and the Unity Realm level demons by himself. His potential is limitless! Even if he is responsible, what do you think we can do? Even if he won''t dare to kill us because we are from different sects, this is sowing enmity! Once he attains a position of power, he''ll remember this! To be honest, the Bright Ascension Sect disciple also felt dissatisfied with Tianyi, but he knew it was on an emotional level. Tianyi informed everyone of the risks and gave them a chance to flee before waiting for the demons. So even if someone got injured or died, Tianyi would not be held accountable. The Bright Ascension Sect disciple also had some bias towards Bai Weiwei, but as he was an unrelated person, so he could only keep a superficial politeness towards her. As a bystander, he saw it more clearly than others. Bai Weiwei was an unlucky star. Whichever male was closest to her would get bad luck. He only did some cursory investigation to discover this. Take Lai Erchu as an example. After he broke up with Bai Weiwei, he suffered a series of bad luck and lost his chance to attend the Demon Slaying Expedition, but this was actually all done by Ji Wutong. The Bright Ascension Sect disciple didn''t feel bad for Lai Erchu because Lai Erchu had done the same thing to his cousin, and the previous man Bai Weiwei was close to. All he could say was that it was karma. Don''t get him started on what happened to the females who bullied Bai Weiwei. And now, Ji Wutong lost his life due to Bai Weiwei. Everyone who got close to Bai Weiwei suffered. The Bright Ascension Sect disciple didn''t know the exact sequences of events that led to this, but he knew Bai Weiwei was somehow involved. Xia Yushan watched this without saying anything. Logically speaking, as the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s eldest senior brother, he should step up and back Tianyi up since Bai Weiwei wasn''t attacking Tianyi but the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s prestige at the same time. However, recalling that he also had to deal with such matters when Ragingflame Crow attacked, he didn''t say anything. It was better for Tianyi to learn from the experience and mature, or that was how Xia Yushan lied to himself. In truth, he just wanted company. Misery loves company. Tianyi held his head, feeling a headache coming up. I should have never interacted with this girl at all. Not even her sister! Why did I ask Su Bojing to investigate the girl? Damn my curiosity! Eh, isn''t this Su Bojing''s fault? If he were a bit smarter, this girl would haven''t known about me!Stolen story; please report. Tianyi knew he was a bit unreasonable towards Su Bojing. Since he was the person responsible for the Vast Heaven Islands, he had a large responsibility. Bai Weiwei would still blame him even if she had never interacted with him. He just never expected the demons to have a method to create talisman as well, and an immortal level one at that. "Where are the injured disciples? Let me take a look." Tianyi finally said. Hearing this, Bai Weiwei stopped and felt a spark of hope ignited inside of her. She quickly brought Ji Wutong''s body forward and placed it in front of Tianyi. Aside from his unnatural pallor, Ji Wutong''s body didn''t seem to have any injuries. The moment Tianyi saw him, he knew it was futile. Although the body seemed fine, the soul was already gone. Not just Bai Weiwei, more and more injured disciples came forward. All of them looked worse than Ji Wutong, with wounds all over their bodies. Surprisingly, Ji Wutong was the only nascent soul grandmaster that died, while only five other core formation masters died. One of the core formation masters was from the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Tapping his purple jade pendant, silver light erupted from it and engulfed everyone. Tianyi was using the sea of time''s natural effects to enhance his spacetime technique. Under the influence of Tianyi''s technique, the injuries on their bodies disappeared, and even their qi returned. However, that didn''t mean they were healed. Tianyi frowned as he detected this and sighed. "I can only heal the physical wounds. The attack also injured your soul. I can''t help you with this." Although he said this, Tianyi felt that something was off. When he was blocking Leviathan Ancestor''s attack, he hadn¡¯t felt his soul get injured at all, so how did these disciples get soul injuries? He didn''t believe that his soul was strong enough to ignore a true demon level soul attack. The disciples who had their physical injuries healed still thanked Tianyi. Healing their physical injuries was better than nothing. At this time, Tianyi glanced at Ji Wutong''s body and closed his eyes. Life had returned to Ji Wutong''s body, and his skin wasn''t so pale anymore, but that was only superficial. Ji Wutong''s soul was still gone. In other words, Ji Wutong was still dead, and his body was pretty much a bag of flesh. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, Prince Xi. I knew you could save Senior Brother Ji." Bai Weiwei said as she hugged Ji Wutong''s body. She could feel the breath of life in Ji Wutong''s body. Tianyi felt uncomfortable at Bai Weiwei''s words. It was as if he had healed everyone because Bai Weiwei forced him and not out of his own will, making him displeased. Still, he felt a bit bad for Bai Weiwei, but some things must be made clear. "Don''t celebrate too soon. I said that I could heal physical wounds but not soul wounds. Daoist Ji''s body is fine, but his soul has disappeared." Bai Weiwei froze and looked up numbly at Tianyi, not comprehending his words. However, her eyes soon sharpened as they''ve never had before and stabbed into Tianyi like daggers. "Xi.Tian.Yi! How could you?!" She had just experienced hope and happiness, but her happiness was suddenly knocked out of her by a sucker punch, catching her off guard. All the gratefulness towards Tianyi combined with the previous feelings of betrayal all transformed into hatred. "Is it fun? Is it fun to play with my feelings like this?!" "Miss Bai, Senior Brother Xi isn''t the one who killed Daoist Ji. Why are you directing your hatred at him? Shouldn''t you hate the demons instead?" At this moment, Daoyi stepped out and spoke for Tianyi, catching Tianyi by surprise. "Senior Sister Jiang is correct. Why are you blaming your ally instead of the murderer? Although we are from different sects, for the duration of the expedition, we are allies." Xi Ri also came up and supported Tianyi. As if a dam had broken, those from the Buzhou Immortal Sect and those who had received Tianyi''s aid began to speak up. Truthfully speaking, for six disciples to die from a true demon''s attack was an incredibly low death rate, especially since the strongest cultivators were only at the Nascent Soul Realm. Compared to the assault in the Jade Rabbit Clan¡¯s territory, it was practically casualty-free. Those that had taken some demon corpses from Tianyi''s piles of demon also began to speak up. The casualty rate was too low, so many people hadn''t noticed that there were any deaths until Bai Weiwei''s cries. And since they received good things from Tianyi, it wasn''t good for them to go against Tianyi. Bai Weiwei''s tears which had stopped, began to stream down even harder at so many people standing up for Tianyi. "You, You! You are all Buzhou Immortal Sect''s loyal dogs!" Hearing Bai Weiwei cursed them, even the people who sympathized with Bai Weiwei looked coldly at her, but the person herself hadn''t noticed. "I know you all fear the Buzhou Immortal Sect. That''s why you don''t dare make Prince Xi take the blame. No, not Prince Xi, you don''t dare to point at Xi Tianyi!" "Senior Brother Ji''s father is right. You are all afraid of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. But nothing is eternal, the Buzhou Immortal Sect will disappear one day, and you, their loyal dogs, will follow them!" At this, all the disciples'' faces darkened. It was true that they feared the Buzhou Immortal Sect and pledged allegiance to them because they had no other choice, but no one liked to be compared to a dog, especially these proud geniuses of their generation. Furthermore, Bai Weiwei''s words hinted at a deeper meaning. If their sects were suspected of treason or rebellion, the Buzhou Immortal Sect would heartlessly eliminate them. None hated Bai Weiwei more than the Bright Ascension Sect disciples at this moment. They all came forward and dragged Bai Weiwei back while apologizing to Tianyi and the other disciples, but Bai Weiwei was still shouting. "What''s wrong? I''m just telling the truth! Not just Senior Brother Ji''s father, but other elders are unhappy. The Buzhou Immortal Sect is an unqualified hegemon!" At this, the Bright Ascension Sect disciples'' faces dramatically paled. The disciples of other sects began to sympathize with the Bright Ascension Sect at this point. They still hated Bai Weiwei, but that didn''t stop them. They especially pitied Ji Wutong''s father. His son had died, yet this brainless woman was bringing disaster to him. Some things should be kept in the heart and not spoken aloud. Now, no matter whether Tianyi was responsible or not didn''t matter. What was more important was the question of Bright Ascension Sect''s loyalty. "Halt, I feel as the Eldest Senior Brother, I need to hear Miss Bai out and report it to the Sect Master." Xia Yushan took this time to step out and speak, his face impassive and without a hint of emotion. Despite this, the people who saw his expression paled, especially the Bright Ascension Sect disciples. ¡°Since we are unqualified, we should learn from our mistakes and change.¡± Xia Yushan¡¯s voice was deceptively calm and even held a hint of mockery, but no one dared to speak up. The Bright Ascension Sect disciples all froze as if someone held a knife to their throats. They were unsure of what to do. Should they follow Xia Yushan''s orders? No, definitely not. If they let Bai Weiwei speak anymore, it would only make matters worse. Right now, many people who had grievances with Bai Weiwei hated that they hadn''t dealt with her, fearing the consequences of offending Ji Wutong. If they only knew what she would do, even if they had to suffer punishment and offend Ji Wutong, they would cleanly eliminate her before she had the chance to bring disaster to the sect, but hindsight was twenty-twenty. At this moment, Bing Huoyuan stepped out with Bai Ningwei behind him. Both of them glanced with worry at Bai Weiwei before Bing Huoyuan turned towards Xia Yushan and cupped his fist into his palm. "Daoist Xia, please forgive Miss Bai for her offense. The shock of losing her senior brother made her speak muddied words." "Muddied words? Why do I feel that her words and clear and direct with no other meanings?" Xia Yushan coldly said, causing Bing Huoyuan to grimace. At this time, the Bright Ascension Sect disciples sent a grateful look towards Bing Huoyuan. No one else chose to speak up at this time, so they were especially thankful. As expected of someone who would become their ally through a marriage alliance! "Brother Bing, why are you bowing. When someone is at fault, they should pay for their crimes, shouldn''t they? If it weren''t for the Buzhou Immortal Sect, Senior Brother Ji wouldn''t have died." Too bad a certain someone had a chance to speak with the Bright Ascension Sect disciple''s relaxing their guard. Bing Huoyuan looked at Bai Weiwei with disappointment. He knew that Bai Weiwei was naive and innocent, but did she really not understand the gravity of her words? If she continued, not just Ji Wutong, but the whole Bright Ascension Sect might be buried with her. Granted, the Buzhou Immortal Sect was unlikely to exterminate a whole sect because of an inner disciple''s words, but punishment was a must. If the Buzhou Immortal Sect allowed a mere core formation master to speak ill of them, where would their prestige go? It can already be imagined that the Bright Ascension Sect would shed a layer of skin because of this incident. "Daoist Xia, right now, the situation isn''t the right time. Although your sect''s Daoist Xi had eliminated the dangers, but we can''t lower our guard. What if we are attacked by a true demon level move? We must move to a safer place before discussing." Xia Yushan wanted to speak more, but he stopped. He looked at Tianyi. "Junior Brother Xi, what do you think?" If there weren''t the danger of a true demon''s attack, he would have rather settled the case with her and raised his prestige and influence. He also didn''t like Bing Huoyuan because he gave the most credit to Tianyi for eliminating them. Xia Yushan briefly wondered if Bing Huoyuan wanted to sow discord; two tigers can''t share a mountain, after all. "I feel that it is better to leave for now." Tianyi didn''t say this without reason. After seeing Leviathan Ancestor''s attack, he knew that the true demon hadn''t given up on retrieving the dragon egg, or rather, Dandan. He wasn''t confident that Leviathan Ancestor didn''t have a backup plan, so it was better to leave quickly. Xia Yushan inwardly nodded. "Fine, but this matter isn''t settled. Let''s leave!" Under Xia Yushan''s order, the disciples began to prepare to leave for the Descending Immortal Embassy. Since they could be attacked by a true demon''s power once, then it could happen a second time. After Xia Yushan ordered everyone to prepare, he naturally left Bai Weiwei alone, and Tianyi also left, not wanting to bother with Bai Weiwei. So once they left, the Bright Ascension Sect disciples released a sigh of relief. Originally, they wanted to lock Bai Weiwei up before she could cause any more trouble and maybe even kill her to quench everyone''s anger, but under Bing Huoyuan''s words, acquiesced to releasing her. "Weiwei..." Bai Ningwei''s eyes started to become wet upon seeing how shabby Bai Weiwei looked. She moved to embrace her sister, who had suffered through heartbreak. Slap! But Bai Weiwei pushed her away and slapped Bai Ningwei''s face, stunning Bai Ningwei. It wasn''t just her, but Bing Huoyuan and the remaining Bright Ascension Sect disciples were also stunned. Chapter 200: End of the Demon Slaying Expedition Bai Ningwei held her slapped cheek and looked at her long-lost sister in disbelief. So great was the shock that she didn''t even feel the sting from the slap, only shock. "You don''t deserve to be my sister! How could you not speak up for me and even let them smear me into the ground?!" Bai Weiwei cried out and looked tearfully at Bing Huoyuan, feeling aggrieved. Why? Why did the man, who she treated like a brother and treated her so well all these years, also stand against her as if she was the one who committed a wrong. No, she wasn''t wrong, the Buzhou Immortal Sect was! Bing Huoyuan was stunned speechless! "You! Did you know what you almost did?!" "What did I do? I only told the truth!" Bai Weiwei shouted back. She was in partial disbelief. Bing Huoyuan had never shouted at her. Senior Brother Ji was right. Brother Bing didn''t have me in his heart at all. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have gone against me. Bing Huoyuan just pointed at Bai Weiwei. Did she know how much risk he took to preserve life? Looking at Bai Weiwei''s hatred-filled eyes was like having someone gouging out pieces of his heart with a rusty spoon. Bing Huoyuan felt his temper rist and left with a flick of his sleeve. "Fine! I don''t know if you truly don''t understand or not, but I hope you don''t regret it!" Bai Ningwei looked at her sister, who was crying her heart out upon hearing Bing Huoyuan''s words, and her young master, Bing Huoyuan, who was walking away. She wasn''t sure who to follow. On the one hand, it was her sister who had been separated from her for over forty years. On the other hand, it was Bing Huoyuan who had taken her in at her darkest time. Not to mention that even she could see that Bai Weiwei had gone too far. Having lived in the Xi Dynasty, she knew how a sovereign''s majesty couldn''t be slighted. Even the thought of treason wasn''t allowed. So Bai Ningwei knew that Bai Weiwei had caused big trouble. Thinking of this, she walked towards Bai Weiwei to explain the seriousness of the matter to her. Bai Weiwei had been protected too well by the men in her life and was too naive. If Bai Ningwei could help Bai Weiwei mature, perhaps Bai Weiwei and Bing Huoyuan could make up. Bai Ningwei was aware of her young master''s feelings towards her sister, and she was very supportive of this union since Bing Huoyuan was a responsible man. Unknowing of Bai Ningwei''s thoughts, Bing Huoyuan showed an expression of disappointment upon discovering that Bai Ningwei didn''t follow him. Hours later, the disciples were flying towards the Descending Immortal Embassy. Before they left, Tianyi already distributed most of the demons he had slain. Because of this and the previous battle, most of the disciples already accomplished their goals: tempering themselves and getting demon materials. "What a woman." Xi Ri sighed. It was obvious from his tone that he wasn''t praising the subject of his sentence. Tianyi nodded in agreement. The three of them were riding Tianyi''s immortal boat. The residents of Fan City were currently back in the Vast Heaven Islands, which was floating in front of Tianyi as a small sphere. He didn''t plan on bringing them back to the Huang Realm, but he did plan to relocate them to a safer location. If the humans of Fan City continued to stay near the abandoned fortress town, they would likely be exterminated by the demons once the disciples from the Huang Realm left. Xi Ri wasn''t done with his words, "That Bai Weiwei, I heard that she didn''t want to exact revenge on the clan who exterminated her family because they had innocent people. Hmpf, but now, for a man she started to curse you, Tianyi. I hate people like her the most. She is a selfish woman!" Tianyi blinked in surprise. "Wait, how do you know so much?" "I heard rumors that Bing Huoyuan of Boundless Mountains was going to have a marriage alliance with someone from the Bright Ascension Sect. And the person Daoist Bing wanted to marry was a nameless inner disciple, so I investigated a bit. You''d be surprised at how loose the Bright Ascension Sect disciples'' mouths are when concerning that girl." Xi Ri explained. "When did you care so much?" Tianyi asked, looking at his cousin in surprise. Daoyi rolled her eyes at Tianyi. "Tianyi, I think you''re the only one who doesn''t care. If the Bright Ascension Sect and Boundless Mountain ally themselves, then the Leakless Sect situated between the two''s territories will suffer. It''s a significant event that could affect the balance of power between the first-rate powers." Tianyi coughed into his fist. "So, I hear from your tone that you really don''t like that Bai Weiwei. Although blaming me for Ji Wutong''s death is abnormal, but I don''t think that makes her selfish." "When I was surviving in the apocalypse, my group suffered because of a woman like her." Xi Ri said, not wanting to explain anymore. Tianyi held his chin and said, "Do you think Bai Weiwei could be that woman''s reincarnation?" Xi Ri glared at Tianyi for uttering such a blasphemous idea, shocking Tianyi. How much does Xi Ri hate that woman? I have never seen him so worked up before. He even glared at me. Me! "If Bai Weiwei really is that woman, I''ll make sure she lives a life worse than death." Xi Ri''s words were soft, but they brought a chill to Tianyi. After a moment of silence, Xi Ri continued as if he had never uttered such words. "The reason I call her selfish is that she is selfish." "How so?" Daoyi asked, with Tianyi nodding in agreement. "At first, she seems kind to a fault, but that is only because she is not directly involved. Even if she was bullied or suppressed, that girl never suffered for long before a man helped her vent. Even when she talks about not taking revenge, it''s because she doesn''t have any feelings towards her clan members. But the moment her ticket to a brighter future gets taken away, she gets aggressive and wants to take revenge." Xi Ri said, his face abnormally calm. Every word he spoke seemed to be pointing at Bai Weiwei, but it was actually directed at another person in Xi Ri''s memories.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "That doesn''t seem right. The look in Bai Weiwei''s eyes really looked like she hated me because I couldn''t save Ji Wutong." Tianyi said. "I don''t claim to be an expert in reading people''s emotions, but that was particularly obvious." "That''s the scariest part." Xi Ri said. "The person doesn''t think so, or at least they''ve convinced themselves it isn''t for their own interest. Using the moral high ground, they denounce the opposition." Tianyi felt the edges of his lips twitch at this. You sure you haven¡¯t read any novels? "Tianyi, you wouldn''t get blamed for Ji Wutong''s death. Right? Bai Weiwei did speak some treasonous words, but what if they latch onto the explanation that you killed Ji Wutong to extradite themselves?" Daoyi said. "Aren''t you more clear about this than me? It''s impossible for them to place the crime on me. Their reason is faulty at best, especially since I had to deal with a true demon''s attack." Tianyi comforted Daoyi. He was sure that she also knew the reasoning but was just worried about him, so he tried diverting the topic. ¡°What I don¡¯t understand was how so many disciples died due to it. When resisting it, I didn¡¯t feel my soul get attacked at how.¡± However, in contrast to Tianyi''s outwardness confidence, his inner thoughts were another matter. Even though I said that. I''m actually very worried! I mean, I used the relationships between the vassal sects and the Buzhou Immortal Sect to pull Redseal down from his head elder position, after all! "Tianyi, don''t say things you don''t believe," Daoyi said as she placed her arm on Tianyi''s shoulder in comfort. Tianyi gave a bitter smile. "Can you not expose me like this?" Daoyi and Xi Ri laughed. Daoyi felt her worry lift despite Tianyi''s low spirits. With the words Bai Weiwei spoke, even if Tianyi was blamed, it was inconsequential. "Don''t worry. I''ll visit you every day if you are locked up." "Right, then you''ll have more time to improve the Xiyi Talisman." Xi Ri added as if not noticing Tianyi''s darkening face. Tianyi gave a hmpf and turned around, not wanting to talk to these two any longer. Instead, he focused on the Vast Heaven Islands next to him. Although his body hadn''t dispersed and merged with the Vast Heaven Islands, he felt consciousness merge with it. Under this condition, Tianyi continued to improve his cultivation.
"Demonseal, you''ve chosen the wrong time to strike," Jadeflame said inside the control room. Right now, he was seated at a tea table pouring tea. It seemed that was all he did in these ten years. The elderly Demonseal coughed to hide his embarrassment. "I didn''t want to, but I didn''t expect that the demons couldn''t even deal with Disciple Xi''s pseudo realm. If things proceeded as is, another chance would have been hard to come by. And what better time to sneak attack than under a true demon''s attack?" "Fine. I understand injuring our disciples to make it seem like it was the effect of the demon''s attack, but did you have to kill one of our disciples?" Elder Jadeflame said, unhappy. He understood the need to make it seem more believable, but it was the principle of the matter. What if a disciple who was a friend of the deceased disciple found out in the future? It seemed to be a small matter, but the integrity of the Buzhou Immortal Sect was at stake. Realmlord Demonseal snorted. "The Buzhou Immortal Sect doesn''t need disloyal disciples." Elder Jadeflame paused his hands, the teacup a mere sliver away from his lips. "You mean he is a traitor?" "Indeed. He had already hammered out the details with the Leakless Sect. Hmpf, I don''t know if the Leakless Sect is underestimating me or what, daring to poach our disciples in my realm." Realmlord Demonseal said, unhappy. "They can''t help it. Sometimes I wonder if they even know what a realmlord is. You know that we try to exterminate any immortal monarchs that leave the Huang Realm. It''s understandable if they don''t know." Elder Jadeflame said, a hint of pride in his voice. "Youngster, don''t underestimate them. I wouldn''t put it past them to have the knowledge and only pretend not to know." Realmlord Demonseal said, taking a sip of his tea. "Then why did you kill the disciple? Wouldn''t this tip our hand?" Elder Jadeflame asked, confused. "I said not to underestimate them, not overestimate them. So what if they know? It''s not like they can do anything. Just let an old man like me live the rest of his life in pleasure." Realmlord Demonseal said, causing Elder Jadeflame not to know whether he should laugh to cry. The two of them sunk into silence until they both turned towards the direction of the great lake. Realmlord Demonseal revealed a slight smile. "It seems that Disciple Xi''s actions truly enraged that little snake." "Haha, it''s a dragon egg, after all. That water snake wants to use the other two true demons as a smokescreen to draw our attention from his true plan. He plans on cultivating that dragon egg into a clone and use it to escape while we have our attention diverted. He hid quite well, I didn¡¯t even notice until Disciple Xi brought it out." Elder Jadeflame chuckled. He was unsure whether the vassal sect knew that the Demon Cage Realm had a realmlord, but the demons definitely didn''t know. "Do you want to go?" Realmlord Demonseal waved his hand. "Go, go. Why are you asking me to move out? Do you want me to expose my identity to them? I still have pride as an elder of the sect!" Elder Jadeflame snorted at Reamlord Demonseal''s words. Who was it that said he wanted to live the last few years of his life in pleasure and didn''t care? Watching Elder Jadeflame leave to teach Leviathan Ancestor a lesson, Realmlord Demonseal continued to observe the disciples. Grand Elder Xi''s son is powerful, but so is Bao Ling. Between the two, I wonder who is more powerful. Disciple Xi has near unlimited power and a powerful body, but he is still too tender and needs to experience more battle. I heard that Bao Ling has recently slain an immortal. Even with one of the four immortal exterminating swords, that isn''t easy, so Bao Ling should have a higher chance of winning. Realmlord Demonseal sighed. In less than a hundred years, the next competition with the Numinous Realm will begin. I wonder if we will be able to defeat the Numinous Realm this time? Shaking his head, Realmlord Demonseal closed his eyes. He could sense everything within the Demon Cage Realm with but a thought. He could sense Elder Jadeflame beating Leviathan Ancestor half to death when he flew out of the great lake. He could sense each and every disciple roaming and tempering themselves in the realm. When he opened his eyes once more, Elder Jadeflame had returned for quite some time, and Tianyi and the disciples in the same group had reached the Descending Immortal Embassy. "Are you going to end the Demon Slaying Expedition?" Elder Jadeflame nodded. "The minimum ten years have passed. Around thirty percent of the disciples have ''died'' in the Jade Rabbit Clan''s territory, while the remaining forty percent experience the pressure of a true demon''s attack. It is enough to temper them. As for those who wandered off alone, they can only count themselves unlucky if they haven''t achieved their goals yet." Chapter 201: Starry Sky Immortal Grotto It had been over a month since Xia Yushan, Xi Tianyi, returned from the Golden Crow Clan''s territory. During this time, none of the disciples left, fearing that the demons could unleash a true demon level attack against them again. Bai Weiwei didn''t confront Tianyi again over Ji Wutong''s death. How could the Bright Ascension Sect disciples allow her to do such a thing and increase the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s displeasure towards them? They knew that if the Buzhou Immortal Sect acted against them, none of the other first-rate sects would take action. And the second-rate sects under the Bright Ascension Sect might even celebrate the chance to replace the Bright Ascension Sect. Bai Weiwei didn''t irritate Tianyi, but Bing Huoyuan and Bai Ningwei weren''t so lucky. Since Bai Weiwei couldn''t find Tianyi, she vented all her pent-up frustrations on Bing Huoyuan and Bai Ningwei. Bing Huoyuan still had some feelings for Bai Weiwei, so he allowed her to vent, but he would leave frustrated each time. Every time he left, he would wonder how his kind and innocent Weiwei turned into this madwoman. What was worse was the reason Bai Weiwei turned into her current state, Ji Wutong. Before, Bing Huoyuan felt that he still had some chance because he had a place in Bai Weiwei''s heart, even if it wasn''t one between a man and a woman. Now, however, he could discern that Bai Weiwei had completely shut him out and no longer had any good feelings towards him. Bai Weiwei blamed Tianyi for killing Ji Wutong, she blamed him and Bai Ningwei for not standing on her side, she blamed the Bright Ascension Sect for allowing the Tianyi to kill a brilliant person like Ji Wutong without due punishment, and she blamed the Buzhou Immortal Sect for allowing all this. Within a short month, the decades-long feelings that Bing Huoyuan harbored towards Bai Weiwei had been ground until it was almost all gone. Only the knowledge that he had once deeply loved this woman was left. Once he returned, Bing Huoyuan decided that he wanted to cancel the marriage alliance plans. The only reason he agreed was that he had loved Bai Weiwei, but now, all that was left was pity for her. Now that he didn''t want to be with her anymore, marrying her would only lead to tragedy. Even if it was a marriage alliance, both sides still needed to be able to live peacefully together, which wasn''t possible with Bai Weiwei''s current resentful mentality. If two incompatible cultivators were to be forcibly married, then it would often lead to the enmity between both sides growing, with one side eventually mysteriously perishing. Although his feelings had dimmed, Bing Huoyuan still had some worries for Bai Weiwei. With those treasonous words spoken by her, the best option would be an exile from the sect. And how could an untalented cultivator like Bai Weiwei survive without protection, especially one that was exiled? As Bing Huoyuan pondered Bai Weiwei''s future, he slowly realized that Bai Weiwei was like a delicate flower cultivated in a greenhouse. Without exquisite care, she would wither away. In the past, she survived thanks to meeting people like him or Ji WUtong, who would protect her, but what about when they left? Bing Huoyuan decided that he would help Bai Weiwei fight for a lenient punishment. A demotion to an outer disciple would be best, but exile wasn''t a bad option either. If she were exiled, he would help her change her identity and start a new life. He wasn''t only doing this because of his former feelings as a man towards Bai Weiwei, but also in consideration for Bai Ningwei. Bing Huoyuan had his love slowly torn to pieces by Bai Weiwei''s actions, but Bai Ningwei was different. No matter how Bai Weiwei shouted or acted towards her, Bai Ningwei would only smile and try to comfort Bai Weiwei. Even the disciples of Boundless Mountains who didn''t like Bai Ningwei felt sympathy for her martyr-like actions. All in all, the three of them were living under the limelight. Almost every day, there would be gossip about the three. If Bai Weiwei didn''t go crazy every time she saw Tianyi, he would have brought some snacks and watched the show with front row seats. Tianyi couldn''t help but think, normally the kindhearted Bai Weiwei would have been the female protagonist attracting the attention of male characters, each more accomplished than the previous. From Xi Ri''s investigations, Bai Weiwei didn''t go build a harem but changed through them like new dresses or heels until she found the perfect match. But now, it seems that her kindhearted nature underwent a drastic change. Is it because Ji Wutong was supposed to be her perfect match? Whatever the reason, the current Bai Weiwei doesn''t fit the mold of a female protagonist. Rather, it seems the supporting female character, Bai Ningwei, is more like the protagonist. Actually, she also has a protagonist character background. Her clan was wiped out when she was young, and she was separated from her sister at a young age. However, Bai Ningwei never gave up and eventually entered a first-rate sect and attained the friendship of Bing Huoyuan, an immortal seed. Eventually, Bai Ningwei reunited with her sister but discovered that she had fallen in love with the person who helped reunite her with Bai Weiwei, but because Bing Huoyuan loves her sister, Bai Ningwei will quietly sacrifice herself. Ah, what great sisterly love! However, the current situation seems to be that Bai Weiwei became crazy, and in disappointment, Bing Huoyuan became heartbroken. Who else enters but Bai Ningwei? She will quietly comfort Bing Huoyuan and never gives up on her sister. When Bing Huoyuan turns back, he will discover that it was Bai Ningwei who was always quietly standing beside him. The two would go through twists and turns, misunderstandings and separations, before eventually realizing their feelings for another and hooking up. During this time, Bai Ningwei will succeed in her revenge against the Hei Clan, only to learn that there is a darker force pushing the conflict in the Heaven Continent. The hidden force will eventually overcome the Buzhou Immortal Sect and plunge the Heaven Continent under their tyrannic rule. Through the power of love, Bai Ningwei and Bing Huoyuan will overthrow the hidden force and become the leaders of the Heaven Continent before ascending to a higher plane of existence. The end. Tianyi rubbed his chin. It''s so heart-moving, it should be made into a book. Or maybe a novel? Or a webnovel! I could write it into a storybook for my Xiyi Talisman...although I wonder how many people would like it. Cultivators are serious people, after all. If they didn''t have diligence, they wouldn''t make it far on their immortal path, so I can''t imagine them taking an interest in novels. Not to mention, writing the Buzhou Immortal Sect falling leaves a bad taste in my mouth.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Instead of cultivators, I find it more likely for mortals to be interested in the internet. Should I find a way to make Xiyi Talisman available to mortals? But the cost of making a Xiyi Talismans is quite literally worth more than a mortal''s life, not to mention that not all mortal will be able to use it since many can''t even read. Maybe I should do a test run? Tianyi''s eyes alighted as he thought of a good place, the Xi Dynasty. However, just as quickly, he shook his head. What am I thinking? I should be diligently cultivating. Selling to mortals obviously won''t bring me much benefit. I''ll work on the Xiyi Talisman on the side but before that... Tianyi played with the palm-sized Vast Heaven Islands. I should find a place to settle Fan City. Elder Jadeflame had already announced the end of the Demon Slaying Expedition. Now, all the disciples were returning to the Descending Immortal Embassy, and once everyone gathered, they would return to the Huang Realm. Tianyi thought about taking the people of Fan City to the Huang Realm with him, but then what? He couldn''t let them stay in the Buzhou Immortal Sect, so he would have to let them find a place outside. It may sound good at first, but how many of them will be able to survive in an unknown environment, especially in the Huang Realm, where everyone had superior resources and cultivation methods? It was better to find them a safe location in the Demon Cage Realm. If there was any fate between Tianyi and any of the people, they might meet again in the future. So Tianyi was walking out, planning on searching for a safe location. "Where are you going?" Xia Yushan asked Tianyi, who stepped out of the Descending Immortal Embassy. "Nothing much. I felt the need to settle the people of Fan City since the Demon Slaying Expedition is ending." Tianyi truthfully said. He had nothing to hide, after all. Xia Yushan stilled for a moment and stared at snowglobe-like Vast Heaven Islands in Tianyi''s hand. After a moment of silence, Xia Yushan spoke. "I''ll go with you. I once gave some pointers to a junior from Fan City, so I want to bid farewell." Tianyi''s eyes lit up with interest. "Who?" "Just a small fellow, you might not even recognize him. His name is Lushu." Xia Yushan said. Tianyi frowned. That name seems familiar. Have I heard of him? Forget it. If I don''t remember, he''s not that important. Tianyi and Xia Yushan flew off into the distance. Tianyi wasn''t planning on flying too far since he didn''t take out his immortal boat. The location around the Descending Immortal Embassy was near barren land, so there weren''t many demons. Only the weakest of demons and monsters lived here. It was a safe location, but the environment wasn''t suitable for cultivation. That''s why, even though they knew it was dangerous, many cultivators lived in demon-infested land. The location Tianyi chose was at the juncture between the barren land and the territory of a powerful demon. Controlling the Vast Heaven Islands, Tianyi moved Fan City out, but Tianyi wasn''t done yet. He could just clap his hands and leave, but Tianyi felt that would be too irresponsible, so he decided to add a little extra, plus he wanted to experiment a bit. First, Tianyi brought out Fan City and laid them onto the land, then tapping the pendant on his waist, Tianyi unleashed the Mountains and Seas Formation that encompassed the surrounding kilometers around Fan City. Tianyi wasn''t attempting to create a second Vast Heaven Islands. That would take too long, but creating a concealment and spatial formation with his current spacetime mastery wasn''t as time-consuming. The space began to distort under Tianyi''s control as true qi of chaos continuously flowed from his body. Under the massive amount of true qi of chaos, the sunny sky turned to the starry night sky, causing the surrounding ten kilometers to be plunged into darkness. The residents of Fan City watched with a worshipful gaze. Tianyi had already become a legend in their hearts, and he was already akin to a god to them. So such a nature-altering phenomenon was Tianyi''s will in their eyes. Some of them even began to kneel in worship. Tianyi frowned. What''s this feeling? I feel as if my soul has become slightly stronger? It''s such a strange feeling. Tianyi paused his actions to investigate his changes. Aside from his stronger soul, he felt his thoughts become faster, but only slightly. Other than that, Tianyi couldn''t feel any detrimental effects, and neither could he pinpoint the source of chance. After making sure that there was no harm, he resumed his plan. From Xia Yushan''s point of view, aside from the starry night sky, nothing changed, but after spreading out his spiritual sense, he discovered that that couldn''t be farther from the truth. His spiritual sense couldn''t spread further than ten kilometers as if there was a barrier preventing his spiritual sense from expanding. The land around Fan City had been concealed in space! Xia Yushan clenched his fist under his sleeves. He got stronger again. Tianyi sighed as he retracted the Mountains and Seas Formation. He didn''t try to create a pseudo realm or domain like the Vast Heaven Islands but an immortal grotto. Immortal grottos were unique locations that cultivators created. They were like another world that existed within the realm. Ironword''s inheritance grotto was also an immortal grotto, but it was a rank lower compared to Tianyi''s immortal grotto. The reason was that Tianyi''s immortal grotto was hidden in folded space, and Ironword''s immortal grotto was a hole under a mountain. So despite being larger, having more resources, and stronger formations, Ironword''s immortal grotto was still less desirable than Tianyi''s. Not many people could find an immortal grotto hidden within folded space. Xia Yushan and the resident of Fan City couldn¡¯t tell, but if anyone ten kilometers away were to observe, they would suddenly discover that Fan City had suddenly disappeared. Even if they walked towards the location where Fan City previously was, they would not be able to find Fan City. Furthermore, the formation Tianyi used to conceal space only allowed those with keys to enter. Each resident of Fan City had been marked with a key, and those born to them would inherit the key too, so they didn''t have to worry about demons finding the place unless they knocked up a demon or got knocked up by one. Tianyi didn''t ignore the sparse qi either. The night sky was formed from Tianyi''s true qi of chaos, so as long the immortal grotto existed, it will forever be night. The day it is no longer night is the day that the immortal grotto ceased to exist. The true qi of chaos fueled the spatial concealment formation. Furthermore, it would also be converted into spiritual qi and increase the density of qi within the immortal grotto. Tianyi had used about ten percent of his true qi of chaos, so it would last a while before the immortal grotto disappears. It really depended on how fast the cultivators of Fan City consumed spiritual qi. If no one cultivated, Tianyi had confidence for the immortal grotto to last at least a thousand years, and possibly forever with the unique nature of his true qi of chaos. Even if they produced ten Nascent Soul or Soul Nourishing Realm experts, it would only reduce the immortal grotto''s lifespan by a hundred years. The only con was that no one could undergo heavenly tribulation within the immortal grotto, but that was a common issue with all immortal grottos. Tianyi turned to leave, but Xia Yushan stopped him. "Are you going to leave like this, without saying anything?" "It''s fine. It''s better this way. We are people of two different worlds." Tianyi said, his bearing lofty, but in reality, I can''t stand their worshipful looks. It gives me goosebumps! Tianyi paused and took out his Xiyi Talisman DCR-M and sent out a message to all the holders of the Xiyi Talisman in the Fan City. It gave a summarization of the immortal grotto''s general information and how to enter and exit. Since Tianyi was going to take away the Vast Heaven Islands, the Xiyi Talisman would no longer work unless inside the immortal grotto. Waving his hand, a hole appeared in front of Tianyi that led to outside the immortal grotto. As the creator, he could create doors as he pleased. "Senior Brother, are you not coming?" Xia Yushan looked towards Fan City and shook his head. "I still have to meet that little fellow before I leave. Junior Brother, you can go ahead." "Okay," Tianyi said, but before he left, he pointed at Xia Yushan. Xia Yushan felt a mark appear on his body. It was the key that allowed Xia Yushan to enter and exit the immortal grotto. After giving Xia Yushan the key, Tianyi exited. "Oh wait, I haven''t given the immortal grotto a name," Tianyi suddenly said while flying through the sky. "Let''s see. Since it is eternal night, and the motes of light in my true qi of chaos resemble stars, let''s call it the Starry Sky Immortal Grotto." Chapter 202: Sect Master Xia Seeks Out Tianyi When Tianyi returned to the Descending Immortal Embassy, nothing significant had occurred while he was gone. There wasn''t even new development from Bai Weiwei. She wanted to do something, but the Bright Ascension Sect watched her closely and prevented her from causing any more trouble. About a week after Tianyi returned, Xia Yushan also returned but did not greet Tianyi or anyone else. Xia Yushan had directly sealed himself in a room. The only noteworthy thing to happen was that a Soul Nourishing Heavenly Tribulation had occurred near the Descending Immortal Embassy. Tianyi attributed it to a disciple who had broken through and didn''t think anymore. Did he get sudden enlightenment or something? Maybe he''s going to enter the Unity Realm before returning to the Buzhou Immortal Sect? Just as Tianyi thought this, he slapped his forehead. He had forgotten that Xia Yushan was still in the mid Nascent Soul Realm and not at the peak. Before attempting the Unity Realm Heavenly Tribulation, he had to reach peak Nascent Soul Realm, which was two stages away. Thinking about it, Tianyi recalled that Xia Yushan was at least thirty years older than him, so Xia Yushan should be at least seventy years old. Tianyi sighed. Xia Yushan was around seventy, but he only looked to be in his early twenties. Putting appearance aside, Tianyi found it surprising that Xia Yushan was still only the mid Nascent Soul Realm. With each stage of the nascent soul, progress became harder and harder, thus more time. He expected Xia Yushan to be able to reach the Unity Realm before the age of a hundred like Su Wanyu, the previous eldest senior brother or eldest senior sister in her case. At this rate, Xia Yushan may reach the peak Nascent Soul Realm at most a hundred unless he has a fortuitous encounter. Tianyi blinked as he realized that he had already surpassed Xia Yushan without realizing it. Even with his unique cultivation, Tianyi didn''t have confidence in beating Xia Yushan at the same stage within the Nascent Soul Realm, but it was a different matter if Tianyi was of a higher stage. I unconsciously ignored that I was of higher cultivation than Senior Brother Xia. Maybe it''s because he was already in the Core Formation Realm before I even started cultivating, so I keep thinking of him as someone in a higher realm. Tianyi rubbed his chin as he recalled another matter. Right, another reason I unconsciously ignored that is because Senior Brother Xia kept calling me junior brother. Tianyi recalled the words Daoyi and Xi Ri spoke about Xia Yushan at the start of the Demon Slaying Expedition. Is Senior Brother Xia doing this on purpose, or is it to maintain his image as the eldest senior brother? In the end, Tianyi just shrugged. He respected Xia Yushan and saw him as the role model of a cultivator, one that all other cultivators should emulate. No matter if Xia Yushan was purposely doing this or not, he had yet to cause Tianyi any harm, so Tianyi saw no point in thinking too deeply. Plus, with Lovespot as a comparison, Xia Yushan was practically a saint if that was all he did. While waiting for the rest of the disciples to return, Tianyi also entered secluded cultivation. By using his Realm Merge ability, Tianyi fused himself with the Vast Heaven Islands again. Slowly, under this state, Tianyi''s cultivation continued to rise along with his understanding of his inner cosmos. After three months, Tianyi was forcibly brought out of his secluded cultivation by Elder Jadeflame''s announcement. "All the disciples have returned. I announced the end of the Demon Slaying Expedition!" The voice was omnipresent. All the disciples could hear it inside their heads and from their ears. Tianyi was still merged with the Vast Heaven Islands at the time, and Elder Jadeflame''s voice wasn''t present within the boundary of the Vast Heaven Islands, but he still received it since he could still perceive outside the domain. Canceling Realm Merge, Tianyi walked out of the room he had secluded himself in. It didn''t take long for him to find Daoyi and Xi Ri. Standing next to Daoyi, Tianyi gazed at Xi Ri, who was talking to ten other disciples. "Xi Ri is good at making friends as always." Daoyi giggled. "Something you should learn." Tianyi rubbed his chin. "I want to, but whenever I talk to someone unfamiliar, I go into my young master persona." "Well, with your status, you can afford to wait for people to come to you," Daoyi said. "Still can''t fix my problem," Tianyi idly said. "Besides, I feel like they are afraid of me or something. Whenever I go out, they don''t dare come close to me." "That''s fine. Xi Ri''s social network is probably a habit he formed before." The before didn''t need to be explicitly said to be Xi Ri''s life on Earth during the apocalypse. "Mortals cannot fight against the power of nature. The only chance we had was banding together. Social relationships and creating friendship was a very important skill." "I can''t recall you making any connection like Xi Ri," Tianyi said. Unlike Xi Ri, he had never seen Daoyi interacting with disciples and forming a group. "Our statuses are different. Our target groups are naturally different. My relationships with many of the elders such as Elder Jiao and the fairies from Flower Peak are pretty good," Daoyi said. Hearing this, Tianyi recalled that Daoyi interacted with the residents of Jade Peak more than him and his mother. Thinking about it, many of the elders of Jade Peak didn''t speak to him as much, which he only noticed now. "Geez, I feel like I''m way too introverted to not have noticed this." Scanning the disciples, Tianyi found that the Buddhist disciples weren''t inside the Descending Immortal Embassy. A little curious, Tianyi looked for Xia Yushan. He could ask Xi Ri, but it seemed that Xi Ri was strengthening his relationships with his fellow disciples, and Tianyi didn''t want to ruin his chance.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Xia Yushan wasn''t that hard to find since he was at the center of the Buzhou Immortal Sect disciples. Tianyi even discovered the top disciples from the participating vassal sects and Daoist Moneybag from the Jade Cauldron Sect. Upon walking closer, he discovered that the mood was quite celebratory. "Congratulations for attaining a crystal nascent soul, Senior Brother," Tianyi said with a smile once he was closed enough. He had observed Xia Yushan discovered that entered the Crystal Nascent Soul Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm. When the disciples around Xia Yushan discovered Tianyi walking towards him with Daoyi, they parted a road for Tianyi. During this time, Tianyi''s prowess had spread to the disciples who weren''t present at the battle. No matter where a nascent soul grandmaster who could withstand a true demon''s attack and slay six Unity Realm level demons was special. Perhaps, there may be other nascent soul grandmasters who slew a Unity Realm level expert, but six at once? Unheard of. "Many thanks, Junior Brother Xi." Xia Yushan said with a smile. "With any luck, I might enter the Diamond Nascent Soul Stage too within ten years." Tianyi blinked in surprise. Maybe he can enter the Unity Realm before he reaches a hundred years old. However, reaching the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm does not mean he can easily enter the Unity Realm. To qualify to enter the Unity Realm, a cultivator must possess the ability to harmonize with heaven and earth. He internally sighed as he thought of his own plight. He had researched the Unity and World Merging Realm in an attempt to create a new realm for his cultivation method, so he was quite familiar with it. There is no way I can harmonize with heaven and earth. A nascent soul realm''s ability to detect karmic virtue and sin is a manifestation of a cultivator''s connection with heaven and earth, but I can''t even absorb spiritual qi, much less detect karmic virtue or sin. Before, I wasn''t clear, but now I''m a hundred percent sure that the Heavenly Dao is attempting to block my immortal path. Sigh, what should I do? Will I be able to enter the Unity Realm before the end of my life? Hopefully, I can gain inspiration if I find another of the Ten Heavenly Scriptures. Tianyi''s mind quickly processed his thoughts as he greeted the top disciples. After making some small talk, Tianyi asked, "What about the Buddhists? I do not see them. Are they not returning with us?" Xia Yushan nodded his head. "I had the same question, so I sent an inquiry to Elder Jadeflame. Elder Jadeflame said that the Buddhists won''t be returning with us. They will return after finishing their business." "Eh? I thought their goal was to temper themselves by fighting with the demons like us." Tianyi muttered. "I thought so too," Bing Huoyuan said. "Turns out they had a different objective. No wonder they didn''t join any of our groups." "A pity, I was wondering if they could curb my inner darkness, but it seems I shall have to persevere using my will alone. No matter, I shall break through the darkness in my heart." Hun Jusang said. As always, Tianyi couldn''t understand him, and it didn''t appear he was the only one who didn''t as a few other disciples schooled their confused expression. After gaining the information he needed, Tianyi continued to converse with the group. "Daoist Hun, is there something on my face?" Daoyi asked. She had noticed that Hun Jusang was looking at her rather often. "I seek the truth of the matter. A sparrow told me of you, but upon meeting you, I found myself looking into a fog, so I want to illuminate the unknown." Hun Jusang replied. Tianyi''s head just ached from hearing him talk, but after hearing Daoyi''s words, he paid more attention to Hun Jusang. Why was Hun Jusang paying attention to Daoyi? "Daoist Jun, Junior Sister Jiang is Sword Empress Xi''s disciples, please restrain yourself." Xia Yushan said, not even hiding the warning in his voice. "You need not pay any heed to me. Perhaps soon I will be swallowed by darkness, but I have no regret since I have experienced warmth." Hun Jusang said lightly, causing Xia Yushan''s brows to scrunch even though he didn''t know what Hun Jusang meant. After that brief conversation, silence descended before Daoist Moneybag took Tianyi to the side and began to discuss his previous offer and broke the silence. "I need to inform you that in order for the Xiyi Talisman''s communication function to work, they need to have a sort of relay to transmit information.." Tianyi began to inform Daoist Moneybag of the hurdles for his offer. After hearing everything, Daoist Money showed an expression of contemplation. "How about a trial? If Brother Xi can give me relay tower and some Xiyi Talismans, I can test how profitable it will be." Are you sure? What if I use the Xiyi Talismans to spy on your Jade Cauldron Sect? Tianyi thought to himself but didn''t voice. "That sounds agreeable. But I need to make some preparations, so it will have to wait for a while after we return to the Huang Realm." "No hurry, no hurry." Daoist Moneybag laughed in an understanding manner. "Brother Xi must have struck it rich. I know you need to digest your gains. How about this? When you are ready, send a messenger to me, and I will visit the Buzhuo Immortal Sect to discuss the finer details." Tianyi nodded. After this, he began to happily discuss with Daoist Moneybag. Most of it was Daoist Moneybag regaling Tianyi with his experiences, such as how he created a merchant company outside of the Jade Cauldron Sect that controlled numerous loose cultivators. Tianyi paused and looked ''outside.'' Seeing this, Daoist Moneybag asked, "Is there something wrong, Brother Xi?" "No, it''s nothing. I just sense that the Descending Immortal Embassy has left the Demon Cage Realm." When Tianyi and the other disciples first arrived, he couldn''t sense the external movement of the Descending Immortal Embassy at all, unlike now. Is it because of my deepening mastery of the spacetime concept? I wonder how much longer it will take before I understand enough to call it a spacetime law. "You can even sense this. Your talent in space is amazing. As expected of the Vast Heaven Young Master." Daoist Moneybag praised. Tianyi didn''t correct Daoist Moneybag that it was a spacetime concept, something higher than space or time. Thinking back, who else did I tell that I have mastery of a spacetime concept? Perhaps I should start pretending that it''s only space to leave a trump card for myself. "You overpraise me, compared to true immortals. This little ability of mine is not worth mentioning." Although said humble words, Tianyi''s quirking lips couldn''t conceal his pride. After this, Tianyi didn''t talk anymore and focused on the Descending Immortal Embassy''s movement. When the transportation artifact broke through the Demon Cage Realm''s boundary and started traversing through the Vast Void, Tianyi felt he was being assaulted with various information. It gave him a migraine, but it was also a huge opportunity for him. Tianyi didn''t know when he broke out of his bombardment of information, but he saw Sect Master Xia in front of him when he did. "Little Xi, I heard that you created a marvelous domain treasure called the Vast Heaven Islands. Could you allow me to borrow it for a bit? Don''t worry, I just want to research it. If it is as I expected, you will be richly rewarded." Off at the side, Xia Yushan clenched his fist. When the Descending Immortal Embassy finally returned to the Huang Realm, Sect Master Xia entered. Xia Yushan had thought that his master came here to see him and congratulate him, but he was wrong. Chapter 203: The Buzhou Immortal Sect’s Forbidden Grounds Realmlord Demonseal sighed as he glanced at the broken corpse on the ground. The kilometer surrounding the corpse was charred black, and some parts of the ground were partially glass. Coupled with the faint remnant tribulation essence, anyone who passed by would think that the cultivator died due to failing his heavenly tribulation. However, Realmlord Demonseal knew the truth. Descending towards the corpse, he reached out and closed Lushu''s eyes, wide-open eyes filled with hatred and the shock of betrayal. Upon closer inspection, he could see the signs of healing Lushu''s body was undergoing, but it was cut short. Now, burnt skin peppered the corpse''s body, but what truly made it terrifying to look at was how withered it was, as if someone had drained all its blood. It is a pity. This old man was thinking of taking this youngster as my first and final disciple. He had supervised the Demon Cage Realm for over a hundred thousand years. At first, it was only a prison for demons that the Buzhou Immortal Sect captured. Later, after the seclusions of the demons after the Human-Divine Beast War, the Demon Cage Realm had changed into a farm in all but name. Lushu was the first native of the Demon Cage Realm that Realmlord Demonseal saw adequate talent. He wanted to take him as a nominal disciple and further appraise Lushu''s talent before fully accepting him as his personal disciple. If Lushu passed, then he would take Lushu and his family to the Huang Realm and become a member of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Realmlord Demonseal glanced at a side and concealed himself. If a cultivator were present, Realmlord Demonseal appeared to have disappeared into thin air, but to Realmlord Demonseal himself, he was still standing at the same spot. Not long after, a few residents of Fan City had come out towards ground zero of the heavenly tribulation. His name seems to be Zhangya? Realmlord Demonseal thought. As an immortal, the lifespan of the denizens of the Demon Cage Realm, even the cultivators, was akin to a blink of an eye to him, so he hardly bothered paying attention to them. Zhangya and four others walked forward and saw Lushu''s corpse. He released a howl of grief and punched the ground, shattering it and revealing the earth beneath the charred surface. He wasn''t just mourning for the loss of his friend, but the future guardian of Fan City. Lushu had told that he needed to meet someone outside of Fan City. Although Zhangya didn''t know who, he trusted Lushu and so bid farewell, but after months of no response, Zhangya left the safety of the Starry Star Immortal Grotto to search for Lushu. Immediately after leaving, Zhangya could see the unnatural landscape due to the Soul Nourishing Heavenly Tribulation. Wondering who it was, Zhangya came to investigate, but he never expected to see Lushu''s corpse. "How is this possible?" Zhangya muttered to himself. After he suppressed the sadness threatening to burst out, Zhangya analyzed the scene and noticed the remnant aura of tribulation. Lushu was indeed the one at the most advanced cultivation of all of Fan City, but he had heard Lushu say that he was still far from the next realm, the Soul Nourishing Realm. So why was it that Lushu suddenly died to tribulation? If a stronger demon killed Lushu, Zhangya wouldn''t have been so puzzled, but this was death due to tribulation that Lushu said he was far from. Off at the side, Realmlord Demonseal saw the confusion in Zhangya''s eyes. When he heard Zhangya mutter about ''immortals,'' a withered old hand reached out towards Zhangya but ultimately stopped. Forget it. He''s a good seed that can protect his fellow humans. If I kill him, I''ll just ruin the chances of them rising even more after Lushu''s death, unlikely as it is. Even if he suspects something, he won''t be able to live long to investigate anyway. Lamenting at the death of a promising disciple, Realmlord Demonseal returned to his abode and entered deep sleep to extend what little longevity he had left. Unknown to Realmlord Demonseal, when Zhangya brought Lushu''s corpse back to Fan City, Ziye, Lushu''s wife, had collapsed in sorrow. After inviting a doctor to examine her, it was discovered that she was pregnant with Lushu''s child. Despite the fetus being less than a month old, it already exuded a massive amount of vitality. That child would be named Jinshu after he was born and inherit the golden crow bloodline from his father, giving him the Lesser Yang Physique and allowed him to cultivate the Pure Yang Feather Manual further than his father.
A black lotus was placed at the center of a sealed-off room. The room was filled with sigils and runes that formed a formation that continuously supplied the lotus at the center with energy. The black lotus flickered between transparency and solidness as if it was an illusion ready to be snuffed out at any moment. At the center of the lotus, where the stigma was, lay a girl who appeared to be sixteen years old. The girl''s skin was sickly white, her lips devoid of all color, eyes tightly shut, and dark brown hair. The girl was completely naked and curled up in a fetal position. "Chun''er." The speaker was a man who appeared to be in his early twenties. He had a pleasant if ordinary face with black brows but bone-white hair that reached his waist and a single white horn coming out of his forehead. He was Emperor Soulfish, and the room was part of the immortal artifact Soul Pagoda. With the comparison of Emperor Soulfish by the side, the black lotus, the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus, only reached his knees. The naked girl on the lotus was like a miniature replica of a human devoid of all signs of life. She showed no signs of movement, her chest did not heave up and down, and there were no signs of the girl awakening at all. Emperor Soulfish reached out and gently brushed against the black petals as if he was caressing the skin of his love. I already placed the remnant soul of Chun''er into the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus and used thousands of materials and formations to nurture it, but it is still not enough. There is nothing wrong with the physical body. After ten more years of nurture, Chun''er''s body will be reborn with a Nine Yin Physique, but the problem is her soul. I''ve already used the best materials I have, but the chances of her soul fully recovering is still fifty-fifty. I have to make up for the deficiency of her soul. When Begonia Tower was destroyed, Emperor Soulfish had only managed to save a tiny remnant of Chun''s soul, resulting in his current troubles.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. The best and easiest method would be to collect the souls of humans and refine them into pure soul essence. Using that pure soul energy, I can nourish Chun''er''s soul. Thinking of the day his precious childhood sweetheart fully revived, Emperor Soulfish''s eyes reddened. He had been waiting for this day for so long. But the amount of souls I need to harvest is astronomical. I can decrease the numbers of I go after souls of strong cultivators, but that would draw unwanted attention. The act of refining souls was a heinous sin dictated by all the hegemonic sects. Anyone caught in the act would be labeled a devilish cultivator and hunted by all the sects. Emperor Soulfish was not afraid of anyone. Even if he was caught, he could easily hide, but that would result in his actions being closely monitored. If the hegemonic sects raised their guard against him, how could he harvest vast amounts of souls? The souls of mortals are too weak but not insignificant. I should focus on the souls of weak cultivators and mortals on the side, but the problem is where I should target. I can easily target the islands in the endless seas with my power, but the population compared to the continents is too low. If I were to target a continent, which one should I target? Mortal Continent is wholly grasped by the Saintly Scholar School. There are no large-scale conflicts, and the chances of me exposing myself are too great. And I always have a feeling that the master of the Saintly Scholar School is too queer. His rise is too mysterious; better not entangle with him. Earth Continent is in a state of high tension, and the subordinate sects under both forces will occasionally clash, creating significant casualties. But due to the tension on both sides, the immortal monarchs are likely to be overseeing each battle. If I am unlucky, I might get discovered immediately. I''m not afraid of their immortal monarchs, but I will have trouble if they send their immortal emperors after me. If I kill one immortal monarch, it might lead to the Anti-Earth Alliance and the Eight Pillars Sect jointly attacking me. Their motives will include the death of an immortal monarch, but the resources of Begonia Tower are also another source. Emperor Soulfish glanced at the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus, and his eyes darkened. If they really capture him, then they will definitely stop Chun''s revival. So no matter what, he can''t get captured. If he is killed, as long as he doesn''t reveal the location of the Soul Pagoda, Chun will have a chance at revival. That leaves only Heaven Continent. At the thought of Heaven Continent, Emperor Soulfish''s thoughts drifted towards the Buzhou Immortal Sect. That year when Begonia Tower was destroyed, the hegemonic forces contributed the most. The Heaven Continent isn''t as peaceful as the Mortal Continent but calmer than the Earth Continent. Even so, the Buzhou Immortal Sect is comparatively hands-off compared to the two other hegemonic sects. Lately, the wars between the weaker sects and clans are getting more and more heated. None of the first-rate sects or the Buzhou Immortal Sect is paying them much attention for now. Mentioning the rising wars at the periphery of the Heaven Continent, Emperor Soulfish couldn''t help but analyze the situation deeper. The increasing wars are queer. Someone, or rather, some force is acting in the dark. But that''s better for me, I can use their hands to hide my actions. After an unknown period of time, a colossal red whale emerged above the sea. A sprout of water erupted from its blowhole and created a rainbow. A figure in a red robe with white hair and a horn on his forehead appeared not long after. Emperor Soulfish waved his hand, and the red whale monster submerged itself into the deep once more. The red whale was Emperor Soulfish''s soul puppet. The soul residing within the red whale was not the original, and the body had been converted into an immortal grotto. Although the outer appearance of the whale appeared normal except for its coloring, the inside appeared to be a separated world where the Soul Pagoda was situated at the center. The mobile pagoda wasn''t as elusive as an immortal grotto formed from spacetime laws, but it still allowed Emperor Soulfish to be undiscovered. After making sure that the Begonia Whale Immortal Grotto had completely submerged and hidden itself, Emperor Soulfish flew towards the Heaven Continent while concealing his traces.
While flying through the air of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, Sect Master Xia examined the sphere in his hands and couldn''t help but sigh. The sphere was naturally the Vast Heaven Islands that he had borrowed from Tianyi. When he heard that Tianyi created a pseudo realm by carving out a piece of the Demon Cage Realm, Sect Master Xia thought he had misheard. He was an immortal monarch. How could he have misheard? When Tianyi came back, he had planned on asking Tianyi how he accomplished such an act. It had to be known that no one in the history of the Buzhou Immortal Sect had come close to replicating the act of creating a realm. Even if it was a pseudo realm, Tianyi had accomplished something that not even the immortals could replicate. Did the Concealed Emperor foresee such a day? Is that why he told me to pay special attention to Little Xi? Sect Master Xia wanted to examine the Vast Heaven Islands some more, but he still had an errand to finish. As for who could make the sect master of the Buzhou Immortal run errands? It was naturally the Concealed Emperor! In fact, the end of the Demon Slaying Expedition was also the will of the Concealed Emperor. After a considerable amount of time, Sect Master Xia landed in front of the entrance to the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s forbidden grounds. The Buzhou Immortal Sect only had one forbidden ground, and it was surrounded by mountains from all sides. The name forbidden grounds wasn''t just an empty title either. The secrecy of the forbidden grounds was to the point that even true immortals did not know what it contained. No one was allowed to enter without permission aside from the head elders, grand elders, and sect master. Even then, none of the above-mentioned figures would lightly enter without good reason. Even Sect Master Xia only learned the truth after he ascended to his position, and upon walking in, he was shocked to his core. Sect Master felt his breath hitch at the magnificence before his eyes upon walking through the entrance and entering the forbidden grounds. Although he was the sect master, this was only the sixth time he entered during his tenure. The forbidden grounds of the Buzhou Immortal Sect did not exist within the Huang Realm. To be more precise, it was situated in a realm within the Huang Realm, a realm within a realm. Tiles formed of white jade, walls built on divine clay, bridges formed of primordial stones, pillars forged from divine steel, shingles refined from dragon scales, and palaces constructed from glorious chaos jade. Not only were his eyes lambasted by the splendor, but the dense immortal qi also impacted Sect Master Xia. Regaining his wits, Sect Master Xia made his way towards the largest structure. The structure was a palace yet not a palace because it had walls, pillars, tiles, and everything except the roof. When Sect Master Xia entered, he didn''t take any detours and went straight to the throne hall. Except for the roof, it greatly resembled the throne room of the Xi Dynasty. Or rather, all throne rooms or halls resembled the throne hall Sect Master Xia entered. Upon entering, Sect Master Xia kneeled and bowed to the figure on the throne. The throne was a masterpiece not of mortal make. It seemed to be forged from the hands of divinity. On it, the story of creation could be seen, from the time when the world was still an egg not yet split by Pangu to the creation of the Immortal Court. On the throne sat a figure wearing jade-green robes embroidered with lotuses from golden silk. The figure''s face was that of a peerlessly handsome man in his thirties with long black hair and beard. His eyes seemed to contain the heavens within, and atop his head was a crown of stars. He was the Concealed Emperor of the Buzhou Immortal Sect and a survivor from the primordial era. Chapter 204: Realm Artifact Sect Master Xia presented the tiny Vast Heaven Islands with both hands. Under the Concealed Emperor''s intent, the tiny pseudo realm floated from Sect Master Xia''s hand to the immortal emperor¡¯s hand. While the Concealed Emperor was studying Tianyi''s Vast Heaven Islands, Sect Master Xia did not move and silently recalled Buzhou Immortal Sect''s history. The rumors that the Buzhou Immortal Sect was descended from the Immortal Court were not rumors but the truth. The forbidden grounds of the Buzhou Immortal Sect were the resting spot of the core of the Immortal Court, and the palace he was currently kneeling in was the throne hall of the heavenly bureaucracy that governed the Three Realms. Before the end of the primordial era, when the Three Thousand Immortal Realm system was still the Three Realms System, the Immortal Court existed in a special realm that oversaw the Three Realms. It existed outside the river of spacetime, and only those acknowledged by the Immortal Court could enter even if the other party was a divinity. After the great catastrophe that brought about the end of the primordial era, the Three Realms changed. What once was three worlds shattered into the numerous realms that formed the modern Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. When the three thousand realms had just finished forming, the remnant of the Immortal Court landed into the embryonic Huang Realm. To be more precise, the original name was Yu Huang Realm, but the Yu character was quietly taken off as time passed. Thus was the origin of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Even if it was just the remnant of the Immortal Court, compared to other legacies of the primordial era, the legacies of the Immortal Court remnant were more complete. As time passed, the Buzhou Immortal Sect quietly erased all traces of the Immortal Court, and the location turned into a forbidden ground for unknown reasons. As the orthodox descendants of the Immortal Court, the Buzhou Immortal Sect wished to revive the glory of the Immortal Court, so they have always aimed at conquering the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. However, just like when the Heavenly Lord of Primordial Beginnings competed for supremacy with the Heavenly Lord of Numinous Treasures and Heavenly Lord of Dao and Virtue, the Buzhou Immortal Sect also had its competitors, namely the Numinous Realm and Buddhist Realm. Thinking about the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s rivals, Sect Master Xia couldn''t help but frown in worry. Although the Buddhist Realm couldn''t compare to the Huang Realm in history and power, they were the sole hegemon of their own hidden world. The Numinous Realm was even more worrying since the Numinous Sword Sect had complete hegemony too. Of the three, only the Buzhou Immortal Sect failed to unite the realm under one power. Perhaps, if the Saintly Scholar School did not appear, they would have long accomplished this step, but alas, history was set in stone. Sect Master Xia was broken out of his thoughts when Tianyi''s Vast Heaven Islands was returned. "Concealed Emperor, what are your orders?" "Have Disciple Xi produce more of these pseudo realms. For raw materials, we can provide him with realm essence." The Concealed Sovereign ordered. "Realm essence? But that is too precious. Even our stock is low, and I don''t know when we can gather more." Sect Master Xia cried out in shock. Realm essence was the energy used by realms to form. It was an abundant energy source when the primordial era just ended, but as time passed, less realm essence existed as more and more realms were birthed. Nowadays, to gather realm essence, the sect would have to send out immortal monarchs and emperors to gather them from destroyed realms. The Buzhou Immortal Sect could directly destroy a realm for realm essence instead of waiting, but that would incur a massive amount of karmic sin. If karmic sin only landed on one immortal who was nearing the end of his lifespan, the sect might''ve ordered such an operation, but the karmic sin would be spread to anyone related to the destroyer. In other words, the whole Buzhou Immortal Sect would be drowned in karmic sin. Even grand elders of the sect would not be given realm essence lightly, so for the Concealed Emperor to order realm essence to be given to Tianyi as raw material was shocking. Not just Sect Master Xia, any other elder who heard the Concealed Emperor''s orders would also be unwilling. "So what if realm essence is precious. It is accumulating dust in the storage. Besides, this transaction is highly profitable." The Concealed Emperor said. Seeing Sect Master Xia not understand, he explained further. "Using realm essence to exchange for a pseudo realm that could be forged into realm artifacts is a worthy deal." Sect Master Xia opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Slowly he closed it and asked with a trembling voice. "L-Little Xi, Little Xi is just a nascent soul grandmaster. Can he really do it?" The Concealed Emperor pointed at the Vast Heaven Islands in front of Sect Master Xia. "The proof is before you." Sect Master Xia stared at the Vast Heaven Islands. Before, he only admired the portable domain Tianyi created, but he didn''t think that a mere cultivator who was not yet an immortal could create something that could be used to refine realm artifacts! Realm artifacts weren''t, as the names suggested, realms that were artifacts but artifacts forged using realms. Being the master of a realm artifact wasn''t any worse than being a realmlord, and in some aspects, surpassed them. A realm artifact could come in many forms. The most classic design was an artifact that held a realm within. The cultivator could carry a realm wherever he went, and if he encountered any trouble, could hide in it or bring his enemy and suppress them within it. There were even defensive or offensive realm artifacts, but everything they had in common was that they contained the Law of Space and all the force of a realm. The Buzhou Immortal Sect''s realm artifacts could be counted on one hand. From this, it can be seen how rare realm artifacts were. The reason was that the creation of a realm artifact required a realm as raw materials. Not even realm essence could replace it. The end result was the death of a realm. Like gathering realm essence, few would ever act in such a suicidal manner unless they were alone in the world with no fetters. As there are different classifications of realms, realm artifacts could be separated into peak, high, mid, and low-grade realm artifacts. If they were to create a realm artifact using Tianyi''s created pseudo realm, it would be the lowest and never before seen grade, low-grade pseudo realm artifact.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. But it was still a realm artifact in the end! "Can it really be possible?" Sect Master Xia asked one more time, unable to believe the information. The Concealed Emperor wasn''t impatient due to Sect Master Xia''s disbelief and only nodded. "Remember, any requests from Disciple Xi can be accepted. Even if he asks for a divine artifact." At first, Sect Master Xia wanted to say it was too much, but thinking about the benefits that the pseudo realms could bring, he felt that it was a simple price to pay. "Understood." Sect Master Xia quickly left the forbidden grounds. His heart was pounding as if a hundred horses were stomping on his heart, but it didn''t feel painful at all. On the contrary, he felt a sense of excitement. With this, the Buzhou Immortal Sect might even be able to mass produce realm artifacts and finally unite the Huang Realm. Tianyi was on Jade Peak when Sect Master Xia found him. After Sect Master Xia took away the Vast Heaven Islands, Tianyi and the other disciples were surprised to find out most of their dead fellow disciples were actually alive. As it turned out, there was an elder secretly teleporting the ''slain'' disciples. The only ones to have died were the ones who died under Leviathan Ancestor''s attack. Upon hearing this, Bai Weiwei, whose hopes were dashed once more, wanted to cause another ruckus but was quickly stopped by the Bright Ascension Sect disciples who had been eyeing her this whole time. After that small episode, the disciples returned to their abodes. Tianyi, Daoyi, and Xi Ri returned to Jade Peak. Xia Yushan and the other disciples returned to their residences, and the disciples from the other sects returned to the palaces allotted to them. "Is something the matter, Sect Master Xia?" Tianyi asked. He could tell that Sect Master Xia was very excited for some reason. "Little Xi, can you make more pseudo realms like this?" Sect Master Xia asked as he returned the Vast Heaven Islands to Tianyi. "I think I should be able to," Tianyi said, unsure of why Sect Master Xia was asking. In his eyes, since he could do it, there should be plenty of others in the sect who should be able to accomplish such a feat. "Would you be able to create one now? If you are, you can make any request, and the sect will do its best to satisfy you." Sect Master Xia. "Huh?" Tianyi said. "I can, but I need some mountains, and it might take months to years." "That''s nothing. I''ll bring you to them right now!" Sect Master Xia said as he used his immortal qi to bring Tianyi into the air. "Right, are there any requirements for the mountains?" Tianyi blinked at Sect Master Xia''s eagerness and was a bit dazzled by the sudden sequence of events. "The more spiritual qi, the better." Sect Master Xia nodded, and the two soon found themselves at a mountain range. There were so many mountains that it appeared to be a field of cones from high in the sky. "Here." Tianyi looked at the spatial ring given to him by Sect Master Xia in confusion. "Sect Master, what''s this?" "It''s a spatial ring holding realm essence. Instead of using the space of the Huang Realm, use this as a substitute." Sect Master Xia explained. He had only heard a summarization of the process from Realmlord Demonseal. After receiving the Concealed Emperor''s order, he gathered as much information as possible before meeting Tianyi. The Huang Realm wasn''t a realm with a master, so if Tianyi were to slice a part of the Huang Realm away, he would incur heavy karmic sin. Don''t mention what Mengfei would do to Sect Master Xia if he allowed Tianyi to be covered in karmic sin, even he himself couldn''t bear to. If Tianyi died due to karmic sin, how would the Buzhou Immortal Sect continue to create realm artifacts? Tianyi used his spiritual sense to inspect the realm essence inside the spatial ring. Upon observation, he discovered that the realm essence was very similar to his true qi of chaos, only on a higher level. What relation does true qi of chaos and realm essence hold? He didn''t think long. Once he felt he understood the realm essence enough, Tianyi began to start the creation of a second pseudo realm. Tapping the jade pendant on his waist, the Mountains and Seas Formation appeared and covered over a hundred mountains. Unlike the first time, Tianyi had more experience and wanted to create the best one he could, not to mention it was at the behest of the sect master. It felt like taking a test and getting anything short of excellence was not allowed. Off at the side, Sect Master Xia was surprised by how fast Tianyi started. Shouldn''t you take some more time to prepare? I understand that it only took you six months the first time, but you had the secret aid of Elder Demonseal at the time. However, as time passed, Sect Master Xia found himself speechless. This...this...this has traces of a great law! How can a mortal cultivator like Little Xi command the power of a law?! Sect Master Xia stared at Tianyi with his eyes almost popping out. Upon closer inspection, he understood that it was not as if Tianyi understood the law he was using. In fact, Tianyi probably didn''t even know he was using a law that governed the universe. If Sect Master Xia had to guess, it was closer to an innate ability rather than a technique. How did Little Xi come to possess such an ability? Soon, Sect Master Xia didn''t have time to care. When Tianyi reached the next step and started to use the realm essence, Sect Master Xia found traces of the Law of Fire, Law of Water, Law of Wood, Law of Metal, and Law of Earth in the process. Just what kind of law is Little Xi''s innate ability related to? I can even discern some aspects of the Law of Spacetime too. No wonder the Concealed Emperor told me to pay special attention to him before he even started cultivating and had me prepare the Primordial Heavenly Scripture. Sect Master Xia cultivated the Five Element Method. Of the five books, Sect Master Xia had already mastered three of them. Each book, once mastered, would allow a cultivator to reach the Seamless Immortal Realm. Right now, Sect Master Xia was still mastering the fourth book. If he mastered all five, he would easily reach the peak of Origin Immortal Realm. A year later, Sect Master Xia held the newly created pseudo realm in hand, satisfied. He was satisfied with gains in his cultivation and the results he would present to the Concealed Emperor. As Tianyi used a hundred mountains to form the pseudo realm, it was named Hundred Mountain Pseudo Realm. Compared to the Vast Heaven Islands, it was superior in all aspects. "Little Xi, what rewards do you want? The sect will handsomely reward you for each one you create." Sect Master Xia said with a doting smile. Before, he treated Tianyi well because of the Concealed Emperor and his status as Grand Elder Xi''s son, but now, Tianyi was becoming more pleasing to the eye by the second. "Do you really need me to do it?" Tianyi asked. He had been confused for a long time. "Can''t you ask anyone else?" "Little Xi, it seems that you do not understand how irreplaceable you are. No one else in the Buzhuo Immortal Sect or Huang Realm can do as you did." Sect Master Xia said seriously. "You must not divulge this information to anyone else." Tianyi blinked. Am I really that amazing? He knew he was stronger than other nascent soul grandmasters but never thought he could accomplish something that immortal emperors couldn''t. Suddenly an issue popped up in his mind. "But when I created the Vast Heaven Islands, a lot of disciples saw it." "You don''t have to worry. A soul immortal has already altered their memories. Even the disciples of other sects are not exempt." Sect Master Xia said. How could he allow the other sects to know they have such a trump card? Oy, oy, oy! I feel like you just casually said something terrifying. Tianyi snarked in his mind. "Can you remove memories and evidence of me comprehending a spacetime concept then?" "Spacetime concept?" Sect Master Xia said. Is that the law Little Xi''s innate ability belongs to? But that isn''t right. I feel as if it is more than the spacetime law. Huh...Little Xi comprehended a spacetime concept?! After settling the shocks in his heart, Sect Master Xia nodded. Since they were already altering the disciples'' memories, doing it a second time won''t matter. "Now that you know how irreplaceable your abilities are, what kind of reward do you want?" Chapter 205: The Big Bang "What do I want?" The first thing that Tianyi thought of was more Heavenly Scriptures. Right now, Tianyi felt that he was reaching the limit of his current cultivation realm. Sect Master Xia''s words were like sending coal in during snow. It couldn''t have come at a better time. It was just that Tianyi didn''t know whether his request could be completed. "Are there any more Heavenly Scriptures available? It doesn''t have to be the original. Something that originated from the Ten Heavenly Scriptures like the Lotus Soul Ascension Art or the Thirty-Six Heavenly Constellation Art is fine." Tianyi said. Sect Master Xia hesitated. The Buzhou Immortal Sect was known to have the Primordial Heavenly Scripture, the Five Phase Heavenly Scripture, the Thirty-Six Heavenly Constellation Art descended from the Stellar Heavenly Scripture, and the flawed Lotus Soul Ascension Art descended from the Soulheart Heavenly Scripture. This meant that the Buzhuo Immortal Sect had four of the ten Heavenly Scriptures. Even the Eight Pillars Sect only had the Extreme Yin Mantra and Extreme Yang Tempering Method descended from the Yin Yang Heavenly Scripture, three less than the Buzhou Immortal Sect, and an incomplete one at that. Because of this, the Buzhou Immortal Sect had suffered the attacks of numerous forces in the past, including those from other continents, but without exception, they all failed. They had even exterminated numerous first-rate forces, mainly from the Heaven Continent, proving their strength and cowing the greed in others'' hearts. But did the Buzhou Immortal Sect really only have four of the ten Heavenly Scriptures? To the unknowing members, they may think it was already impressive, but Sect Master Xia had visited the forbidden grounds, so he knew that the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s foundation was deeper than their wildest imagination. It wasn''t that Sect Master Xia wasn''t willing to impart any of the Ten Heavenly Scriptures to Tianyi, but there was always the chance of information leaking. He didn''t think Tianyi would willingly leak such vital secrets, but there was never a leakless secret. The fewer people who knew, the better. "I''ll consider it." Sect Master Xia decided to consult with the Concealed Emperor. In a sense, Tianyi could now be considered a secret of the Buzhou Immortal Sect too. "Do you have any other requests?" Tianyi held his chin and thought for a while before he recalled his attempt to form different states of qi. He had already partially succeeded with the liquid state, ye, and now, he needed to find a way to form the solid state of qi. "Is it possible to give me a spirit stone vein?" "What kind? Low, mid, or high?" Sect Master Xia asked. "It must be hard to part with even one. Even a low quality is fi¡ªhuh?" Tianyi said. Spirit stone veins were essential resources. How could he get one just for something he made in a year? Tianyi shook his head, paused, and looked at Sect Master Xia again. "Could you repeat that?" "What kind of spirit stone vein do you want? Low, mid, or high?" Sect Master Xia repeated again. "I can get a high-quality spirit stone vein?" Tianyi said with disbelief. He pointed at the pseudo realm in Sect Master Xia''s hand. "Is it really that valuable?" Sect Master Xia nodded. "Yes, even trading ten spirit stone veins for one is very worth it." Tianyi nodded, surprised that something he took a year to make would be more valuable than something that might take hundreds of thousands of years to millions of years to form. Still, this was good news for him. As long as he continued to create pseudo realms, he would receive endless resources from the sect. Seeing that Tianyi accepted, Sect Master Xia left. Although a high-quality spirit stone vein wasn''t worth as much as a pseudo realm, Sect Master Xia still had to do some preparations. Almost all the high-quality spirit stone veins were being mined right now, so he needed time to prepare one for Tianyi. Not to mention, if he just gave Tianyi a spirit stone vein without reason, it would incur too much attention. Before all this, Sect Master Xia quickly informed the Concealed Emperor of Tianyi''s request. He didn''t think it would matter much to give Tianyi some of the hidden Heavenly Scriptures within the Immortal Court, but the true ruler of the Immortal Court was the Concealed Emperor. If the Concealed Emperor rejected Tianyi''s request, then Sect Master Xia could only ask Tianyi to think of something else. Sect Master Xia didn''t think that the Concealed Emperor would reject Tianyi''s request. Over twenty years ago, the Concealed Emperor had split a portion of the Immortal Court and turned it into a secret realm. It resulted in the Three Heavens Connection Meeting that Tianyi attended. At the time, Sect Master Xia had questioned why the Concealed Emperor had taken such an action, but in hindsight, he realized the Concealed Emperor must have seen something special in Tianyi. However, he wondered if it was worth losing that portion of the Immortal Court for Tianyi. In truth, the Concealed Emperor didn''t expect Tianyi to take the immortal mountain that formed the Immortal Court Ruin''s formation anchor, resulting in the collapse of the secret realm. After that time, he had seriously reevaluated his attitude towards Tianyi. He expected great things from Tianyi, but Tianyi exceeded his expectations for better or worse. "Granted. Bring Disciple Xi to the forbidden grounds." The Concealed Emperor ordered. Sect Master Xia paused. Never in the history of the Buzhou Immortal Sect had a mortal ever stepped into the Immortal Court hidden within the forbidden grounds, but thinking about it, Sect Master Xia conceded. The forbidden grounds hid the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s greatest secrets, and now Tianyi also joined as one of those secrets. Still, Sect Master Xia found it a bit abnormal that the Concealed Emperor didn''t have him bring one of the ten Heavenly Scriptures to Tianyi. The outside only knew that the Buzhou Immortal Sect had fragments of the Soulheart and Stellar Heavenly Scriptures, but Sect Master Xia knew that the Buzhou Immortal Sect actually had the complete versions. The Lotus Soul Ascension Art resulted from Grand Elder Zhang using her contributions to receive the inheritance of the Soulheart Heavenly Scripture and attempting to create a new cultivation method to find a way to revive her dao companion, but alas, she failed. After a few months, Sect Master Xia went to look for Tianyi. First, he brought Tianyi to the spirit stone vein promised to him. The spirit stone vein was a mine that the Buzhou Immortal Sect had been excavating, but due to its location, transportation was troublesome. Had it not been for Tianyi''s request, the sect had planned to trade it to one of the vassal sects.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. When Tianyi revealed the reason why he wanted a spirit stone vein, Sect Master Xia shook his head. There were many who had similar thoughts to Tianyi changing the form of qi, but they all failed. However, Sect Master Xia forgot one important fact. Creating a realm, even a false one, was far more heaven-defying than changing the state of qi. Under Sect Master Xia''s eyes, Tianyi uprooted the spirit stone vein and turned it into the second mountain of his Mountains and Seas Formation. The mountain did not resemble a mountain at all. It appeared closer to a mountain-shaped statue sculpted out of crystal. Tianyi nodded in satisfaction. The spirit stone mountain generated far more qi than the sea formed from spirit spring. Combined, these two had a multiplicative effect on qi production. I''ll name it Spirit Stone Mountain and Sea. "Okay, let''s go," Tianyi said. Sect Master Xia looked at Tianyi in surprise. He had thought Tianyi would have wanted to study the spirit stone vein more, but it seemed that he desired the Heavenly Scripture more. Sect Master Xia was right; Tianyi did indeed want the Heavenly Scripture more. If Tianyi did create the solid form of qi, it would increase his power, but compared to entering the next realm, Tianyi''s three states of qi technique was not worth mentioning. He planned on continuing the creation of the solid state of qi after he entered the next realm or if he was stuck at a bottleneck. Careful to hide Tianyi''s presence, Sect Master Xia brought Tianyi to the entrance of the forbidden grounds. Tianyi had already been informed that he would be entering the forbidden grounds to accept the Heavenly Scripture and that he must keep it a secret, so he wasn''t too surprised. Just before Tianyi entered, he recalled the scenery he had seen at the Ruin of the Immortal Court. The ruin had numerous holes and cracks on the ground, showing the land beneath. Tianyi remembered seeing a mountain range precisely like the one the Buzhuo Immortal Sect existed on. Where the forbidden ground was located, there was a pillar extending from the ground to the heavens, as if it was a heavenly pillar separating the sky and land. Does the pillar exist within the forbidden ground? Tianyi wondered. But when Tianyi entered, all thoughts of the pillar erased themselves from his mind. The buildings, roads, and scenery were just too familiar to the Immortal Court ruin he had once entered. The only difference was that the Immortal Court inside the Buzhou Immortal Sect wasn''t dilapidated like the one from the Three Heavens Connection Meeting. "Sect Master Xia, is this a ruin of the Immortal Court?" Tianyi couldn''t help but ask. He never expected the Buzhou Immortal Sect to have such a secret. Sect Master Xia revealed a prideful smile on his plain face. "Be honored Little Xi. Not even some immortal monarchs have entered. Only head elders and grand elders are allowed to enter but not without reason. You are the first mortal to be allowed to enter the Immortal Court Forbidden Ground." "Does that mean the sect has all ten of the Heavenly Scriptures?" Tianyi couldn''t help but be agitated by the sudden influx of information. How great would it be for the Buzhou Immortal Sect to have all of them? Then he could just create pseudo realms and trade for them all. Sect Master Xia blinked, not expecting Tianyi to focus on that. Then a chuckle escaped from his lips. "Little Xi, how great are the ten Heavenly Scriptures? Even when the Immortal Court existed in the primordial era and reigned supreme, they weren''t able to collect all ten. Especially those cultivated by the other Heavenly Lords." "Three Pure Ones also cultivated the ten Heavenly Scriptures?" Tianyi asked. He was not too shocked. Although no records mentioned it, how could the Three Pure Ones not cultivate in the ten Heavenly Scriptures, the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System''s most powerful cultivation methods? "You could say that," Sect Master Xia said as he began to lead Tianyi to the palace. "But you aren''t exactly right either. The Heavenly Lords were born from primordial chaos. They do cultivate the Heavenly Scriptures, but it would be more correct to say that they are the Heavenly Scriptures themselves." "Concept gaining sapience?" Tianyi muttered. He knew that the Heavenly Scriptures were created out of the Ten Supreme Laws of the universe. So, according to Sect Master Xia, the Three Pure Ones were lifeforms formed out of laws. If that was the case, no wonder they were worshipped as gods. "What did the Heavenly Lord of Primordial Beginnings cultivate?" Sect Master Xia gave Tianyi a meaningful smile. "The Primordial Heavenly Scripture." Tianyi rubbed his chin. Hehe, kind of makes me his successor in a way, right? He stopped as he recalled the Three Pure True Self Visualization Technique and wondered what relationship the technique had with the Three Pure Ones. He looked at Sect Master Xia and wondered if she should ask if the sect master had heard of the technique. After contemplating a bit, Tianyi decided not to. The reason was still the same: he was too weak. What if Sect Master Xia discovered something strange and wanted to exterminate or lock him up? True, his mother was a grand elder, but what would she do if she discovered the truth? While Tianyi was thinking, Tianyi arrived at the palace, but unlike when Sect Master Xia visited, the Concealed Emperor was not present. Nor did Sect Master Xia mention anything about the Concealed Emperor. "Sect Master, what does the Buzhou Immortal Sect plan to do?" Tianyi asked after seeing the palace where the court was held. He could already imagine the scene of the Jade Emperor ruling over numerous divinities who had been conferred ranks and titles. "Little Xi, right now, you are still too weak. Sometimes, knowing too much isn''t good for you." Sect Master Xia said, sealing Tianyi''s question. Seeing Tianyi obediently restrain his curiosity, Sect Master Xia inwardly nodded. He motioned for Tianyi to stand in front of the throne. "Come here." Tianyi stepped towards where Sect Master Xia had instructed, wondering what the purpose was. He had come because Sect Master Xia said this was the only place he could receive the Heavenly Scripture. Once in position, Sect Master Xia motioned Tianyi to gaze at the throne. Tianyi did so, although with much confusion. The confusion didn''t last long as the golden throne exuded a divine light and entered Tianyi''s glabella, causing his eyes to glaze over. Sect Master Xia bowed towards the throne that was once again occupied. He wondered why the Concealed Emperor didn''t reveal himself to Tianyi but didn''t question it much. "Concealed Emperor, is it really prudent to show Disciple Xi that?" Sect Master Xia asked. "I have my plans." The Concealed Emperor said, not answering Sect Master Xia''s question. Instead, the immortal emperor focused his attention on Tianyi, having been the first time the two had met face-to-face, albeit one looked as if he had lost his soul.
When Tianyi came to, he discovered that he was transported to a strange colorless space. It wasn''t black because color did not exist. There was no light and no darkness. There was not even space or time, but Tianyi didn''t panic. His body didn''t seem to exist, but Tianyi had another reason why he didn''t worry about that. His current state seemed to be similar to when he had used Realm Merge and fused with the Vast Heaven Islands. Even when he had fused with the Vast Heaven Islands, Tianyi discovered that he would become highly logical and calm, so he wasn''t surprised. The final reason he wasn''t panicking was that he trusted Sect Master Xia. The reason he became like this was because of the light from the divine throne, so it should be related to the Heavenly Scripture, or maybe he is receiving the inheritance right now. I wonder what Heavenly Scripture I am receiving. Perhaps I should have asked which ones the sect had and chosen one. As time passed, Tianyi discovered that he was abnormally calm, far more than when he used Realm Merge as if he had lost all his emotions. He didn''t become a completely emotionless being like a machine, but he wasn''t far off. Despite eons seemingly passing, he was able to wait patiently. A change. Tianyi thought. The strange dimension began to gather and coalescent into a sphere. Tianyi discovered that dimension was forming an egg. The process seemed like it took forever, yet it also seemed to have happened in an instant. Tianyi wasn''t sure which. As the strange dimension entirely formed into an egg, nothing else existed. There was only the primordial egg. Tianyi had a sense of suspicion of what he was seeing. And as he expected, the egg exploded, and there was spacetime, light, darkness, colors, and so much more. The primordial cosmos had been born. Chapter 206: Singularity Realm The primordial cosmos was filled with little bits of matter, gas, liquids, solids, and plasma. The greatest amount of matter was a black gas with tiny motes of light flickering within. Tianyi felt that the black gas of the primordial chaos was extremely similar to his true qi of chaos but slightly different. Just what was different, Tianyi couldn''t describe. It was on the tip of his tongue, but he just couldn''t put a word to it. Tianyi''s state had also changed. It was as if his brain had grown a million times. He could sense everything in the cosmos, even the tiniest bit of dust. At the same time, all the concepts of the techniques he learned in his life were experiencing a change. His sensitivity and talent towards the laws of the world were being upgraded. The birth of numerous matters and the chaotic gas was just the start. As the cosmos continued to expand and after an indescribable period of time passed, the chaotic gas and fragments began to integrate into celestial bodies. First were the stars, then the planets, and finally the satellites. There was a limitless amount of solar systems being born, and there were also numerous planetless stars and starless planets. Despite the infinite planets, life did not sprout. With the passage of time, the chaotic gas started to diminish, and in turn, a gray gas appeared and replaced it. What was born from the gray gas wasn''t more planets or stars but gods. Not gods as Tianyi knew them but moving masses of worldly laws and concepts such as the primal monsters or titans of myths. Those first gods did not possess intelligence and were closer to beasts in mind and body, but not any beast that Tianyi was familiar with. One was a body formed from numerous heads; another was a serpent that spanned several lightyears. In short, all sorts of body shapes and sizes existed. As these first gods mindlessly rampaged, numerous stars and planets were destroyed. From these destroyed celestial bodies, realm essence was born. However, they did not form realms as Tianyi knew them but merged with the remaining fragments and gray gas to form the gods as Tianyi knew them. Although some had beastly characteristics, most of them were humanoid. Is this the history of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System? Tianyi wondered, but his question was doomed to be unanswered. The second gods disappeared, or rather, Tianyi couldn''t sense them at all. He knew that they existed and were taking action because the first gods were being killed one by one. As the numerous first gods fell, mortal creatures started to be born on certain planets out of the first gods'' flesh and blood. It was as if a veil had materialized over Tianyi¡¯s senses, purposely hiding some truth. As the first gods started dwindling and planets and stars'' destruction slowed, more and more mortal life was being born. Then to Tianyi''s shock, the planets which housed these creatures were altered, and they clashed against one another. As a result, more and more planets were destroyed, but Tianyi could tell that the mortal creatures didn''t destroy these planets. The planets should have been destroyed by the second gods these creatures worshipped. A phrase popped into Tianyi''s mind. The War of the Gods. After a time, humans were born. It was as if a trend had started as humans of different races popped up everywhere. They, too, joined the war against mortals of other stellar systems. Tianyi was surprised at first, but that surprise turned dull as the war continued to be waged. The wars slowly stopped as the mortals of numerous stellar systems retreated to their own home ground. Tianyi had thought that this meant that the cosmos would usher in a new era, but he was wrong. It was only a brief respite because the wars soon resumed. Tianyi''s mind flashed to the paintings in the pagoda of the Immortal Court ruin that he saw. Does each stellar system belong to a different Pantheon? This pattern was repeated numerous times. During the process, some stellar systems were able to invade the stellar systems of other enemies and destroy them. As a result, more and more planets were destroyed, and from these destroyed planets, more and more realm essence was produced. Merging with the planetary fragments, the realm essence turned into realms like the Huang Realm, only far more gargantuan. As the war continued, more and more realms were produced, and more and more planets and stars were destroyed. Not all planets and stars were destroyed through war. Some simply reached the end of their lifespan. Tianyi eventually realized how meaningless the war was. Why? Because all life was eventually extinguished, but the cosmos still continued to operate. By this point, the black and gray gas had all been used up, and no more life was born. More and more stars dimmed, and many planets went rogue. Realms continued to exist, but they also began to collapse. Realms actually needed more energy than planets and stars to operate, so most of them disappeared before planets. If planets were destroyed due to reaching the end of their lifespan, then they would not produce realm essence. In a sense, what Sect Master Xia called realm essence was a planet''s lifeforce. Entropy; Tianyi realized he was witnessing entropy. This was the longest era of the cosmos that Tianyi experienced. More and more stars died, and Tianyi felt as if he had experienced an unaccountable number of years. Before, he could distract himself with the wars even if they never changed, but once the slow process of death began, he felt the erosion of time against his soul and mind.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. His mind began to slow, and when he felt as if his thoughts would completely halt, his mind suddenly began to turn again. Inspiration had struck him like a hammer to his brain. The cosmos was still. Although there were still numerous stars that had yet to ultimately perish and numerous planets, the starlight was cold and lifeless, and the planets were only empty husks without any vitality. It was a dead cosmos like his inner cosmos. The cosmos was still expanding, but the more the cosmos expanded, the greater the death that permeated, but Tianyi ignored all this. He knew he was in a state of enlightenment, so he wanted to strike while the iron was still hot. How could he not, after finally seeing hope for advancing to the next realm? Right now, Tianyi only hated that the cosmos was dying too fast. The more time he had, the more he could perfect the next step of his cultivation method. The problem was the cosmic cycle was too big and too comprehensive. Tianyi decided that the direction of the next realm should be ''reverse.'' He should amalgamate everything in his inner cosmos, his true qi of chaos, nine spiritual cores, five nascent souls, and his dao seed into a primordial egg. Once it could no longer be compressed, he should be in a similar state to the Transcending Mortality Realm. Tianyi discarded any notion of forming life in his inner cosmos. For one, he could not stimulate the powers of gods or even immortals. Mortals, yes, since his inner cosmos was formed using his body. His inner cosmos was only similar to the near-death state of a cosmos, not an actual cosmos. After what seemed like trillions of years, just on the eve of the death of the cosmos, Tianyi finished the next realm of his cultivation method, the Singularity Realm. In the roofless palace of the Immortal Court, Tianyi opened his eyes. His eyes were cloudy as if he had just awakened from a long sleep, and his thought process was incredibly slow. If Tianyi had to put a comparison, it would be if he was running on the latest hardware only to be forcibly downgraded to the hardware used by a calculator. It took over an hour for Tianyi to familiarize himself with his current processing speed. After regaining his ability to think, Tianyi closed his eyes and organized his gains. His memories of the cosmic cycle had become blurry, and he only recalled a few crucial parts, but he noticed that his spacetime concepts and other concepts had improved. More importantly, the next step of his cultivation method was firmly imprinted into his mind. Tianyi made a fist pump. Yes! I don''t know what that vision was, but it works! It might be even better than a Heavenly Scripture! "Are you finished, Little Friend?" Tianyi nearly jumped out of his skin at the voice next to him. He turned around to see a wizened man with long white hair wearing plain white robes. He recalled that Sect Master Xia said only head elders and grand elders could appear on the forbidden grounds. "Disciple greets Elder." Tianyi cupped his fist and said. Whichever elder it was, showing manners was never wrong. The wizened man smiled and shook his head. "Little Friend, I am not a cultivator." Before Tianyi could ask who he exactly was, the man already answered. "I am the Immortal Court''s spirit." Tianyi''s eyes lit up. This was the first spirit that he met. "Greetings Senior Immortal Court Spirit." He was shocked to see an artificial spirit like the Immortal Court Spirit, but thinking about his background, Tianyi felt it was natural. The Immortal Court''s pill could gain spirituality, so why can''t they create an artificial spirit? It would have been stranger if the Immortal Court didn''t have a spirit taking care of it. Tianyi was surprised that the Immortal Court Spirit survived to this day. The Immortal Court Spirit didn''t say anything and continued to stare at Tianyi until Tianyi felt his scalps tingle. Tianyi rubbed his face and looked at his hand to see nothing. I have nothing on my face. Why is he looking at me that way? The Immortal Court Spirit averted his gaze and walked outward. He stopped for a moment and said, "Follow me." Tianyi didn''t dare disobey and followed him out. Tianyi wanted to ask so many questions, but sensing the ''don''t talk to me'' aura on the Immortal Court Spirit, he stayed silent. This situation continued all the way until the Immortal Court Spirit led Tianyi to the entrance. The Immortal Court Spirit said, "Alright, leave. Don''t come back until you''ve become an immortal." before turning around without waiting for Tianyi''s response. Tianyi cupped his hand and said, "Thank you, Senior Immortal Court Spirit." After leaving the forbidden ground, he saw Sect Master Xia outside waiting for him. "Sect Master Xia?" "The Immortal Court Spirit sent a message to me that you have awakened, so I''ve come to pick you up." Sect Master Xia said. Tianyi nodded and left with Sect Master Xia. Along the way, Sect Master Xia didn''t ask Tianyi anything, so Tianyi didn''t reveal what he had gained. He already knew that he should not speak of his experience in the forbidden grounds, so it did not surprise Tianyi much. Sect Master Xia only said some words after dropping Tianyi off at Jade Peak. "Little Xi, I''ll come by and ask you to create another pseudo realm in a short while." Tianyi blinked and accepted. This was the original reason why he entered the forbidden ground, after all. Even if Tianyi wanted to say no after receiving the benefits, he would not because they had made a promise. If he went back on his promise, even his mother could not protect him, considering that he discovered one of the greatest if not the most significant secrets of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. He did not ascend the mountain by flying. Instead, he walked up Jade Peak one step at a time. Along the way, he saw everything in a new light. After some time had passed, Tianyi felt as if he had experienced a terribly long dream, but reality told him that it was not a dream. His mastery of numerous concepts, especially his spacetime concept, had dramatically improved. It was as if his eyesight was horrible before, and he had been given a new pair of glasses. Once Tianyi reached Jade Peak Palace, he felt that he had advanced his understanding of the world and reached a new height. He decided to digest and reach a bottleneck before he advanced into the next realm. "Daoyi," Tianyi called out once he saw a familiar figure in the Jade Peak Palace. He paused when he discovered that Daoyi was a little different. Daoyi appeared to look a year or two older, and she had reached the peak Core Formation Realm! "What happened? How did you reach the peak Core Formation Realm in such a short time? Did you forcibly raise your cultivation? That''s risky. You shouldn''t let short-term benefits blind you." Tianyi knew that Daoyi had patience, but he could not think of another way for how Daoyi would have advanced so much in a short time. Daoyi gave Tianyi a strange look and said, "What are you talking about? I''m already preparing for my Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation. Rather, where have you been, Tianyi? You disappeared for ten years. If it weren¡¯t for Master''s reassurance, I would have thought something happened to you." Tianyi smartly replied with a "Hah?" Chapter 207: Boom Boom Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Chapter 208: Defective Singularity Realm The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Chapter 209: Daoyi Enters the Nascent Soul Realm "Huh? Don''t you need to prepare? It seems a bit hasty to me," Tianyi said after processing what Daoyi said. "Besides, shouldn''t you wait for Mother to supervise your Heavenly Tribulation in case an accident happens?" "I didn''t plan to either, but after seeing your clone advance, I feel as if my current state is the best to advance," Daoyi said. Also, I feel that my prestige is on the line if I let a clone catch up to me. Tianyi considered it for a moment. Aside from ample preparations, the next most crucial aspect in undergoing heavenly tribulations was the state of mind. He knew that Daoyi had already made ample preparation so she could advance at any time, just that her announcement was too sudden. Since she was confident, Tianyi nodded his head. Daoyi gave a smile that was as beautiful as a blooming flower. "I also believe that you can disperse the heavenly tribulation if I was under any danger." Tianyi blinked before smiling in satisfaction. Although Tianyi technically got stronger after entering the Singularity Realm, the number of things he could accomplish dramatically decreased, making him feel useless. Daoyi''s sentence made him feel more confident again. The group moved to another spot on Jade Peak that Daoyi had long prepared for her Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation. Tianyi was especially interested since this would be his first time witnessing a soul cultivator''s Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation. In the distance, Tianyi watched as black clouds began to gather above Daoyi''s head, high in the sky. As if in response, he saw eight pillars rise from the ground and form a formation in the shape of a protective dome. The first bolt of tribulation lightning descended and struck the dome, but it only scattered around the dome and entered the ground. Within the dome, Daoyi was sitting in a lotus position with her eyes closed as if she was unaware of such matters, even as the lightning continued to strike her defensive formation. Not long after, the final bolt of the first set of nine tribulation lightning struck the dome. Under this lightning strike, the dome shuddered, but aside from that, the formation was not harmed in the slightest bit. Then the first bolt of the second set of lightning strikes began, and as the time it took for the lightning to descend increased, so did the power and color. From afar, Tianyi could tell that Daoyi''s formation could still handle the lightning from the third set, but he wasn''t confident in it withstanding the power of a bolt from the fourth set of tribulation lightning. Still, Daoyi''s formation surprised Tianyi. He had never realized that Daoyi was so proficient in formations, but thinking about it, Tianyi realized that it was only natural. His mother, Xi Mengfei, was a master in formations, so it wasn''t weird that her disciple would be skilled in formations even if she didn''t have much talent in it. Time slowly passed, and the third set of tribulation lightning began. Now, the formation-produced dome was shuddering with every bolt of lightning. Sometimes there would even be cracks in it, but it would soon heal. Under Tianyi''s keen eyes, he could tell that the formation was still going strong, puzzling him. Soon, Tianyi discovered the reason. The formation was actually converting a portion of the tribulation lightning into energy for the formation! With this feature, the heavenly tribulation would have to either unleash consecutive strikes to prevent the formation from draining the tribulation lightning and repairing itself, or the heavenly tribulation would have to unleash a single bolt to destroy the formation instantly. Tianyi''s eyes flashed with light and recalled a miscellaneous piece of memory. It was over ten years ago, his mother had summoned him and asked a strange question. The question was naturally how to convert tribulation lightning into energy. Experts could convert lightning to energy and qi, but it was another story for tribulation lightning that carried tribulation essence. If Tianyi claimed to be number two in absorbing tribulation lightning, then no one would dare to claim number one. At least among the mortal cultivators. As the third set of tribulation lightning ended, the fourth set began not long after. At this time, Daoyi opened her mouth, and a spiritual core, the color of milky silver, came out of her mouth. It was as if moonlight had condensed into a marble, ethereal and distant. The moment Daoyi''s spiritual core left her body, Tianyi could see that her body became dull and lost all signs of vitality despite being alive. Her soul isn''t in her body anymore. Before the Nascent Soul Realm, it was nigh impossible for a cultivator to bring their soul out of their body, but it seems that that wasn''t the case for soul cultivators. Although it shouldn''t be as powerful as a nascent soul, it seemed that soul cultivators at the Core Formation Realm could escape by abandoning their bodies. Not that it would be common. Only the most talented cultivators would be able to claim to be soul cultivators at the Core Formation Realm. The corner of Tianyi''s lips curled upward in pride, but soon, it flipped upside down as worry filled Tianyi. The reason was that the eighth bolt of the fourth set of tribulation lightning had directly destroyed the formation protecting Daoyi. A spiritual core was a cultivator''s greatest weakness. If the core shattered, then it would be near impossible for a cultivator to rise again like Daoyi''s mother. Furthermore, Tianyi knew that Daoyi''s soul had attached itself to her spiritual core, making it even weaker to the tribulation of lightning. Normal lightning had a heavy yang attribute and was the weakness of souls, which were of the yin attribute. Not to mention tribulation lightning possessed more extraordinary powers of annihilation than regular lightning.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Tianyi''s worries were unnecessary as a sliver of silver was released from the spiritual core and blocked the tribulation lightning. The sliver of silver was actually one of the many ghosts that Daoyi had enslaved and kept in her spiritual core. In her spiritual core, the presence of the ghosts increased Daoyi''s cultivation speed, but if she wanted to form her nascent soul, the presence of the foreign souls was a detriment and would pollute her nascent soul. So Daoyi was making use of them one final time. As more time passed, Tianyi''s brows scrunched again in worry. Generally, the act of destroying a soul, even indirectly and a ghost''s soul, would incur karmic sin. However, his worries were needless. When Daoyi was capturing or refining ghosts, the ghosts had heavy karmic sin. Forget incurring karmic sin, Daoyi was actually gaining karmic merit with each soul destroyed. But because Tianyi could not sense karmic merit or sin, he couldn¡¯t help but worry even more. As more and more souls were used to block the tribulation lightning, Tianyi noticed that the color of Daoyi''s spiritual core was changing with each released soul. The milky murkiness was slowly receding into an argent color, giving the spiritual core an august feel to it. Tianyi continued to watch as Daoyi continued her tribulation. As the ninth set of tribulation lightning began, Tianyi was both happy and worried. Happy that Daoyi incurred nine-nine sets of tribulation lightning, as that meant Daoyi''s chances of immortality were higher after passing but worried because it also meant Daoyi was in greater danger. As Daoyi''s spiritual core was getting purer, a saintly halo appeared around it. Simultaneously, Tianyi could see the vague outline of a closed-eye Daoyi appearing, with the spiritual core in Daoyi''s dantian. This was Daoyi''s nascent soul forming. Daoyi''s nascent soul was a copy of her physical self, only formed from a blue-ish white light and clad in a silver aura. Even her hair was white, giving her a distant and holy aura. Her nascent soul was tiny, barely a tenth of her body, but it exuded a horrifying aura that made Tianyi wary. This aura wasn''t the result of her strength but suppression of the soul. "Oh no!" Tianyi exclaimed as he saw that Daoyi''s spiritual core was devoid of all milky murkiness as the final and eight-first bolt of lightning struck. Although Tianyi''s expression was bad and his hands had balled into a fist, ready to intercept at any time, he still didn''t take action as he did not sense any panic from Daoyi''s nascent soul. Reality proved that Tianyi was worried for nothing as Daoyi''s nascent soul opened her eyes and raised both hands towards the sky with a roar. The roar was rather high-pitched and cute coming from the miniature Daoyi. At least that''s what Tianyi felt, but not so much for Ba Shifang and Su Bojing. Both of them held their ears in pain as they felt their souls shake under the delicate roar. The lightning that was about to land on Daoyi''s nascent soul seemed to have struck an invisible barrier and was blocked, but it didn''t immediately disperse and continued hammering at the invisible wall, trying to fry Daoyi''s nascent soul. After a tense few moments, the tribulation lightning used up its remaining power and disappeared. Although Daoyi¡¯s nascent soul had dimmed a bit, but that was nothing worth mentioning in comparison to being struck. With the failure of the final lightning strike, the tribulation cloud thundered one final time before dispersing. Since Daoyi finished her Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation, the final and last step to complete her nascent soul could begin. However, Daoyi''s method was different from the regular method. The regular method was to absorb the five elemental essences with the body to nourish the nascent soul as Tianyi had, but Daoyi was directly absorbing the five elemental essences with her nascent soul. Along with the five elemental essences, Tianyi could discern that Daoyi was absorbing a sixth essence. Yin essence? The end result was that Daoyi''s nascent soul had fifty percent yin essence and the remaining five elemental essences comprising about ten percent each, forming a peculiar balance. With the essence absorption finished, Daoyi''s nascent soul and spiritual core returned to her body, and a rosy blush appeared on her pale cheeks. Daoyi didn''t move and still sat in a lotus position. She had just entered the Nascent Soul Realm, so she had to consolidate her cultivation. Normally, she would have done it at Jade Peak Palace, but inspiration struck her, so she wanted to grasp onto it and not let it escape. Plus, with Tianyi present and being on Jade Peak, she was confident in her safety. A week passed like this. During the week, a storm had passed, resulting in Tianyi getting soaked due to not being prepared. If he could still use his qi, he could easily form a barrier, but now he couldn''t. Even Daoyi could easily erect a barrier while still cultivating. Tianyi looked at the sky and sighed. "You only know to appreciate what you have after you lost it." Tianyi pretended not to hear his clone''s snicker as Su Bojing formed a barrier against the rain around Tianyi while apologizing for not being prepared enough. This only made Tianyi feel worse. While Tianyi was waiting, his mind began to wander towards Daoyi''s nascent soul. He had only heard of one-colored to five-colored nascent souls but never a six-colored nascent soul. Hmm, maybe I should devise a soul cultivation method using seven colors for all the elements and yin yang. It feels interesting. I wonder how a six or seven-colored nascent soul compares to a five-colored nascent soul. After thinking a while, Tianyi gave up. Compared to spiritual and martial cultivation, his mastery of the soul was lacking. In addition, he needed to focus on his own cultivation and didn''t want to split his attention. Finally, Daoyi was done consolidating her cultivation, and she opened her eyes. "Thank you, Tianyi." Tianyi blinked and looked at Daoyi. Although he knew that Daoyi was beautiful, he suddenly felt that Daoyi was extra beautiful right now. It wasn''t a glaring beauty but subdued like the moon, making him want to keep looking. Hm? Is it just me, or is Daoyi taller? Tianyi glanced at Daoyi''s boot to see her platform-style shoes. Tianyi was really pleased that he was half a head taller than Daoyi with her shoes, but now, it seemed he couldn''t lower his guard. It has to be my imagination. Yep, has to be. Better advance to the Immortal Realm as soon as possible, just in case. "You''re welcome." Then Tianyi asked a question he had been wondering ever since Daoyi''s heavenly tribulation. "How did your soul manage to block the tribulation lightning?" "It''s nothing much. I''ve had a lot of practice." Daoyi said as she gave a meaningful smile at Tianyi. Tianyi shrugged without much understanding, and the four of them returned to Jade Peak. Halfway, Tianyi blinked and glared at Daoyi. "Hey!" Daoyi covered her mouth with her sleeve and giggled at Tianyi, making him even angrier. After a while, the quartet reached Jade Peak Palace, and Tianyi looked at Daoyi. "I forgot to say this earlier, but congratulations on ascending the Nascent Soul Realm, Grandmaster Jiang." "Actually, I have a daoist title now, so it''s not Grandmaster Jiang." Chapter 210: Tutorial Videos The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Chapter 211: Hoodwinking Junior Brothers After understanding how to earn Xiyicoins, the first thing Ru Ye thought of wasn''t posting something that would get a lot of likes but the members of the Lovespot Tormenter Chat Group. In his eyes, no matter what he posted, as long as he got them to like it, then he would be able to unlock the video he wanted to watch. Exiting the website, Ru Ye opened the chat app in his Xiyi Talisman. Just as he was typing out the words, there was a new message in the group. [Jadewill: Fellow daoists, I need your help. It''s nothing much, but I created this post, and I need all of you to like it.] Ru Ye''s finger paused over the send button as he read the new message. That''s right, he wasn''t the only one who would want to watch the videos. And not to mention that each one of them might want to watch a different video as well. [Fairy Firefly: Daoist Jadewill, don''t fight me with this. I need the likes more than you. Fellow daoists, please like my video. You''ll have the gratitude of one of the top three core formation beauties!] [Future Immortal Lord Southfist: Beauty? What is that, can I eat that? I plan to watch Prince Xi''s video on spiritual cultivation. For those of you who want to watch it, give me the likes and come over to watch with me. This way, we can minimize the cost.] [Fairy Firefly: Smelly Southfist, you have to fight with this old woman over this matter too? Fellow Daoists, don''t give him likes, he won''t have time to watch it when I''m done with him!] [Future Immortal Lord Southfist: Firefly, what are you planning to do?! I''m telling you, we are civilized people, don''t do anything drastic!] However, no matter how many messages Southfist sent, Firefly never replied, making him extremely anxious. The group members who saw this could only shake their heads and sigh. The relationship between Southfist and Firefly had always been at odds. Whenever Southfist posted something, Firefly would snark at him and vice versa. The only difference was that Firefly was stronger than Southfist, so she would constantly seek him out and teach him a lesson whenever she felt like it. After that, a few more group members popped up and asked what the fuss was. After finding out, all of them went out to watch the videos to see if it was really worth all the troubles Jadewill, Firefly, and Southfist caused. Ru Ye stopped himself from posting his message. He could already tell that relying on the group members to give him likes for Xiyicoins was not possible. So, this meant he needed to think of another method. Crossing his arms, Ru Ye''s effeminate face scrunched up as he pondered on his dilemma. Just as he was thinking, he was brought out by a voice. "Senior Brother Ye, are you busy?" The speaker was Ru Ye''s new junior brother. As both of them came from the Ru Clan, he was addressed as Senior Brother Ye since addressing him by his surname would be confusing. Plus, the two had a rather good relationship. "What''s the matter Junior Brother Xuwen?" Ru Ye asked. Ru Xuwen rubbed the back of his head with slight embarrassment. He appeared to be in his mid-teens, but as a cultivator, his outward appearance was deceiving. Ru Xuwen was actually in his early twenties. "Senior Brother, when will Master come out of his seclusion? I''ve recently hit a roadblock in my cultivation." Ru Ye shook his head helplessly, and coupled with his soft features, appeared indulgent. Ru Xuwen was only at the twelfth stage of the Qi Gathering Realm, so it was more likely he was asking Ru Ye for pointers in a roundabout manner. Just as Ru Ye was about to ask Ru Xuwen what his problem was, his eyes drifted to the Xiyi Talisman still held in his hand. Eyes lighting up, Ru Ye looked at Ru Xuwen again. Only this time, the image of a Xiyicoin was overlayed over Ru Xuwen. "Have you watched Senior Brother Xi''s videos on cultivating the Qi Gathering Realm?" Ru Ye asked. Ru Xuwen scrunched his brows with visible and understandable confusion. "Senior Brother Xi, who is that? And what are videos?" "Senior Brother Xi is the sole son of Grand Elder Xi¡ª" Ru Ye explained with patience. "You mean that Prince Xi, the youngest unity venerable of the sect?! That one?" Ru Xuwen interjected before Ru Ye had the chance to explain what a video was. Ru Xuwen''s eyes were shining with admiration. "Senior Brother, you know Prince Xi?" Ru Ye coughed into his fist, he didn''t even know that Tianyi had entered the Unity Realm, but he didn''t show it on his face. In less than a second, a textbook-perfect business smile appeared on his face. "We have some relationship. Are you interested in Senior Brother Xi''s lectures on the Qi Gathering Realm?" "Interested? Of course I am! But how can a mere inner disciple as me listen to Prince Xi''s lecture?" Ru Xuwen asked with a sigh. In the Buzhou Immortal Sect, he was only considered average, so he didn''t even have the right to speak to Tianyi. Ru Xuwen looked at Ru Ye with envy. Judging from Ru Ye''s words, it seemed like he might be able to listen to Prince Xi''s lecture? If so, how close must they be to ask the lofty son of a grand elder to give him pointers? "Of course you can. All you need is this." Ru Ye showed Ru Xuwen the Xiyi Talisman in his hand. "As long as you have a Xiyi Talisman, you can watch Senior Brother Xi''s lectures on the Qi Gathering Realm and even the Foundation Establishment Realm."If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Ru Xuwen asked many questions in response to that, but Ru Ye just played the first part of Tianyi''s Qi Gathering Realm Tutorial video. In this case, showing was better than telling. "Prince Xi is so amazing and so virtuous. As long as you get a copy of this so-called video, your cultivation path will have fewer detours even if you don''t get accepted by a master." Ru Xuwen commented, but he soon moved to the next point. "What about the next part? What does Prince Xi say on the final juncture before summoning the Foundation Establishment Heavenly Tribulation?" "If you really want to watch the rest, you should buy a Xiyi Talisman yourself. It still has many other uses, so I can''t lend it to you." Ru Ye said as the corner of his lips curled upward. "But you should be able to purchase too. However, you should do it quickly. I estimate word of Senior Brother Xi''s videos should spread soon. After that, even if you want to purchase a Xiyi Talisman, you wouldn''t be able to." "You''re right! Disciples like me who are only nominal disciples won''t have chances to be personally taught by our masters, so Prince Xi''s lectures are a godsend for us!" Ru Xuwen slapped his forehead after he digested Ru Ye''s words. "Senior Brother Ye, how much does one cost?" Ru Ye''s smile deepened. "300 mid-quality spirit stones." Ru Xuwen''s mouth hung agape at the price tag. To core formation masters, 300 mid-quality spirit stones might not be too much as they only needed time to accumulate them, but to a qi gathering pupil like Ru Xuwen, it was an astronomical price. Every month, a Qi Gathering Realm disciple like him would only receive one. If he wanted to accumulate those spirit stones, he would need to wait twenty-five years! "I can''t gather so much spirit stones." Ru Xuwen made a bitter smile. The heart was willing, but the wallet was weak. "Don''t say that, Junior Brother Xuwen." Ru Ye walked forward and patted Ru Xuwen''s shoulders. "We share the same origins. I don''t mind lending you some spirit stones." Three hundred mid-quality spirit stones were a lot to Qi Gathering and Foundation Establishment Realm disciples, but it was inconsequential to a Nascent Soul Realm disciple like Ru Ye. "You''re really willing?" Ru Xuwen asked. His eyes were filled with emotion as he looked at Ru Ye. He had heard that Ru Ye was distant to the Ru Clan due to his father''s actions, and he spent a lot of effort to deepen the relationship between the two. It seemed that his efforts had paid off. "Of course, but I can''t just lend it to you without anything in return." Ru Ye said, but he wasn''t afraid of Ru Xuwen rejecting him. "It''s only natural. I trust Senior Brother Ye''s character!" Ru Xuwen said. "You only have to use Xiyi Talisman to give my posts four likes a day until you return the spirit stones." Ru Ye lightly said as if the price he mentioned was inconsequential. Although Ru Xuwen didn''t understand what Ru Ye meant by likes, he quickly agreed. "Good!" Ru Ye said as he flew both of them to the foot of Jade Peak to purchase a Xiyi Talisman. Not just Junior Brother Xuwen, I should try to hoodwink¡ªah''pei! I mean, help my fellow disciples in discovering Senior Brother Xi''s video. Not long after, both Ru Ye and Ru Xuwen returned to their own abode. Ru Ye had already moved out of his master''s estate once he became a core formation master, and Ru Xuwen returned to his own room in his master''s estate, intent on watching the rest of Tianyi''s Qi Gathering Realm tutorials. Only after he entered the Foundation Establishment Realm and tried to watch the Foundation Establishment videos did he understand the motivation behind his senior brother''s actions. As for Ru Ye, he quickly checked his account for the amount of Xiyicoins he received from Ru Xuwen''s four likes. Every Xiyi Talisman was paired with its own unique number and account upon creation. If a user wanted to transfer his account from an old Xiyi Talisman, all he needed to do was input his old account and password into the new Xiyi Talisman. "None?" Ru Ye frowned as he read the zero on his account balance. "Does it mean that one like doesn''t equate to a Xiyicoin? How many likes would it take to get one Xiyicoin?" After asking Ru Xuwen to give him one more like, Ru Ye''s account balance went up by one. "So five likes equals one Xiyicoin. That means I need fifty likes to have enough coins to watch the Organ Fortification Stage tutorial. What about the Acupoint Opening Realm tutorial? Would I need twenty or maybe even a hundred Xiyicoins?" Feeling a sense of urgency, Ru Ye left his abode almost as soon as he stepped inside. He had some junior brothers to hoodwink.
Another member of the Lovespot Tormentor Chat Group, Acupoint Opening Master Shadowbark, was also pondering on the matter of accumulating Xiyicoins. Unlike Ru Ye, he was the sole disciple of his master, so he didn''t have any junior brothers to hoodwink. Shadowbark''s master was a failed Brocade Immortal, the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s diehard special force unit. Because he couldn''t completely erase his sense of self, Shadowbark''s master was released from the unit and became an immortal elder of the sect. It was only a whim that Shadowbark became his disciple. Shadowbark wasn''t anything special. If anything, he was below average, but his master saw a shadow of his former self in the young Shadowbark. Since he was not gifted, Shadowbark could only replace talent with pure effort. His master was extraordinarily harsh and pursued perfection, so anytime Shadowbark failed, he would severely be punished, but Shadowbark didn''t blame his master. If anything, he would only redouble his efforts. Shadowbark understood that if he hadn''t been picked up by his master, he would''ve likely stayed an outer disciple until he died of old age or was killed. This was Shadowbark''s greatest and worst encounter. As a former candidate to join the Brocade Immortals, Shadowbark''s master was extremely loyal to the Buzhou Immortal Sect to the point of fanaticism. This included obeying any orders from those of higher positions, no matter what. So when Lovespot came to find trouble with him and almost broke his immortal path, his master did nothing to get revenge. After helping Shadowbark recover, his master resumed life as usual, but Shadowbark couldn''t swallow this grievance. Now, one of his greatest pleasures was chatting with his fellow disciples in the Lovespot Tormentor Chat Group. "How should I earn Xiyicoins?" Shadowbark muttered to himself. He had thought about asking the group member to like his post, but he knew that it was unlikely since everyone wanted to get Xiyicoins. In the end, Shadowbark decided to act in accordance with Tianyi''s plan when he implemented the Xiyicoin system. First, Shadowbark opened up the forums and began to type. The post''s title was ''Optimum Methods to Torture your Enemies Without Killing for Qi Gathering and Foundation Establishment Realm Disciples.'' Since Tianyi posted those tutorial videos, Shadowbark knew he couldn''t post about cultivation, nor did he want to record a video that would expose him. So he made a post in his most proficient area, making people wish they were dead. Eight of ten plans used to torment Lovespot from the chat group were his ideas, so Shadowbark was highly experienced in this area. Luckily, most of the Xiyi Talisman users hadn''t posted in the forum, so Shadowbark''s post was eye-catching, drawing in a lot of attention. Shadowbark watched with satisfaction as the number of likes on his post increased at a visible rate. He was surprised to see that his post was even tagged at the highest spot. It took a while, but he got ten Xiyicoins in a day. With a virtual wallet full of wealth, Shadowbark watched the next portion of Tianyi''s tutorial videos for spiritual cultivation. Unlike Ru Ye, Shadowbark had already embarked on the path of spiritual cultivation, but he wanted to fortify his foundations before entering the Core Formation Realm. Chapter 212: Investigating the Xu Clan Massacre When the video started, fog filled the screen. Thankfully, moments later, the fog dissipated to reveal a majestic scenery composed of one large mountain. Tianyi recognized the mountain as Jade Peak. The point of view changed as it got closer to the mountain, revealing the intricate details and Jade Peak Palace. The camera flew into Jade Peak Palace''s garden, and within the garden was an amazing scene. Tianyi''s eyes lit up. In the garden, sitting under the pavilion, swinging on the swings, or just drinking tea on the stone table, were women who were as beautiful as blooming flowers. Tianyi recognized them. They were members of the Eighteen Flower Fairies, or more famously known as the Love-Scorned Fairies. When did they film this? Tianyi mostly stayed at Jade Peak Palace, so he was quite surprised they filmed this without his awareness, and Su Bojing didn''t say anything either. Back to the video, the fairy closet to the camera looked up from and smiled. It even caused Tianyi''s heart to flutter. The cameraman is obviously female. There''s no way any of the Love-Scorned Fairies would smile at a man. The fairy who smiled stood up from the stone seat and walked towards the camera, and reached out as if to grab the viewer''s hand. Once grasped, she pulled them towards the pavilion at the center of the pond. Then the music entered Tianyi''s ears. Thanks to being around Daoyi for so long, he recognized the sound of the pipa, erhu, guzheng, guqin, and other instruments that comprised the tune. The song was slow yet emotional. As if on cue, all the other fairies present all appeared at the pavilion in front of the viewer and began dancing to the song. It was a very mesmerizing sight. Had Tianyi not known that visual and auditory techniques couldn''t be transmitted through his Xiyi Talisman, he would have thought there was a bewitchment spell cast on it. After about fifteen seconds, words started to appear. The lyrics weren''t sung like the singers on Earth, where the tone would flex according to the music. The lyrics were closer to elongated words with the barest inflection, like reciting a poem. As for the song itself, it basically amounted to saying that being single was awesome and that love was literal feces. Well, I wouldn''t expect anything else from them. Tianyi thought. If the Eighteen Flower Fairies suddenly started believing in true love, then he might receive a scare. The video went viral. Already there were over a thousand likes. Which was saying something, considering that it was only recently that the number of Xiyi Talisman sold was around five thousand. This was twenty percent of the user base! On the other hand. How did they think of making a music video? Although the style is a bit different, this is definitely a music video. Hmm, I should also add a music player function to the Xiyi Talisman...later when I regain my ability to use qi. It still baffled Tianyi to no end that it was the Eighteen Flower Fairies that first uploaded a music video. They had no reason to even buy a Xiyi Talisman with their status or the thought process to create one. If anything, Tianyi expected Daoyi to upload the first one. "What''re you watching?" Speak of the devil. Tianyi turned around to see Daoyi walking towards him. "Daoyi." "Tianyi." Daoyi greeted back. "So, what are you watching?" "The Flower Fairies'' music video? I never expected them to make such a thing." Tianyi said, not hiding his surprise at all. "Oh, they didn''t." Daoyi took a glance at the video in Tianyi''s hand. "I taught them." "You did? Why?" Tianyi couldn''t help but ask. Daoyi giggled. "Did you forget? It would be too obvious if I made the first music video. Didn''t you tell Xi Ri and me to hide our identities as reincarnators? Well, Xi Ri is going to be credited as the Xiyinet''s creator as a bait, so he doesn''t really count." "But how does that relate to you teaching the Flower Fairies to make music videos?" Tianyi asked, still perplexed. "Sometimes, you''re so slow," Daoyi said as she stroked her hair. "If I directly made music videos, wouldn''t it make me catch people''s eyes? I had them make it first so I could ''copy'' them. And, there is an additional effect of using them as bait." Tianyi felt his lips twitch. I never expected you to use the Flower Fairies as bait. "Did you need anything? You usually don''t visit me when I''m in my room." Tianyi asked, trying to steer the topic away. "I''m just here to tell you that I''ll be leaving the sect to temper myself. Well, it''s not really to temper myself but to investigate who killed my Xu Clan." Daoyi replied. Tianyi had question marks above his head. "My mother''s clan. The one that got massacred because they held a fragment of a divine artifact." Daoyi said. "Oh!" Tianyi made a face of understanding. "Right, I knew that." Daoyi gave a knowing smile, causing Tianyi to cough into his fist. "Right, so when are we leaving?" "We?" Daoyi asked. "Of course. Since it involves a divine artifact, I don''t feel that it is safe for you to go alone. So I''m coming along." Tianyi said.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. "Tianyi, I''m going with Sister Ling. I don''t think she will appreciate your presence." Daoyi sheepishly said. "Grk!" Tianyi remembered quite well the Sister Ling spoken about by Daoyi. Her full name was Ling Haitang, a gorgeous woman and disciple of one of the Eighteen Flower Fairies. Had it not been for Tianyi''s status as Mengfei''s son, he would''ve likely drowned from all her scathing words she used to insult men. That didn''t prevent her from giving him the stink-eye, though. In her words, "The only blight in the legendary Sword Empress''s life is her son." To say they got along like cats and dogs was an understatement. And they never even spoken to one another at that! "And, this is something I want to do by myself. If I relied on you, I would let down my mother. Plus, you''re way too strong. The place I''m investigating right now''s top expert is only at the Unity Realm." Daoyi said. "What? There''s no way I''m way too strong. I can''t even use my qi in shape or form. If anything, I''ve gotten far weaker!" Tianyi denied vehemently. Daoyi gave him a deadpanned look. "There''s a new crater at the foot of Jade Peak from your punch." "What can I say? The mountain offended me." Tianyi continued to deny. The two locked gazes as if unwilling to budge. However, it soon dissolved into laughter. "Alright, take care. Without Xi Ri here, I''ll be a little lonely." Tianyi stopped for a moemnt as he recalled something. "Wait for a second. Since I won''t be going with you, I''ll lend you some of my artifacts. It''s not like I can use them anyway." Saying so, Tianyi went into the storage room and brought out an immortal boat the size of his hand, a purple jade pendant, and a cloak, among other things. Daoyi recognized all three of them. The boat was the immortal boat that Tianyi frequently used, the pendant was the core of the Mountains and Seas Formation, and the cloak was the one Tianyi used at Dragon Palace in the Demon Cage Realm. "Thank you," Daoyi didn''t reject Tianyi''s offer. She knew since it involved a divine artifact, it was likely that an immortal would be behind her clan''s extermination. Once Daoyi left, Tianyi sighed and walked towards his mother''s room. Even if Daoyi accepted his offer, Tianyi wouldn''t be able to go because Mengfei commanded Tianyi to cultivate wholeheartedly. Tianyi had explained his dilemma to Mengfei. She proposed that he cultivate in the secret space that she prepared when he explored his Eight Extraordinary Meridians. Tianyi was resistant to the idea as he had to endure loneliness, and he couldn''t pinpoint a sense of time, but he ultimately accepted. He was afraid that his lifespan would run out before he even reached the peak of the Singularity Realm. So he could only grit his teeth and endure loneliness to earnestly cultivate instead of cruising along like had before.
A few days later, Daoyi arrived at the Mortal Severance Gate at the entrance of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. A woman wearing bright red clothing like that of a wedding dress stood next to the gate, waiting for her. Her hair was ink-black and appeared as fine as silk. Between her brows was a red flower mark, and the lower half of her face was covered by a gauzy red veil, but her dazzling eyes were more than beautiful enough. They weren''t as good-looking as Tianyi''s, in Daoyi''s opinion. Then again, there wasn''t likely anyone who had more beautiful eyes than Tianyi or her master. "Sister Ling, did you wait long?" Daoyi asked out of courtesy. "No, I just arrived." Ling Haitang said. The lower half of her was covered, but passersby got the distinct impression that she was smiling. "Shall we go?" Daoyi nodded, and the two left under the gazes of many disciples. The image of two beauties, one in a royal blue and the other in a dazzling red, was quite spellbinding. After the two traveled far enough, Daoyi brought out an immortal boat and enlarged it for the two of them. Ling Haitang looked at her own immortal boat and then stared enviously at the one Daoyi brought out. "Your master treats Sister Jiang very well." Daoyi only smiled. It would probably be better not to mention that the immortal boat was Tianyi''s. Who knows, Ling Haitang might reflexively jump out. Along the way, Daoyi reviewed the information on Ling Haitang. She was the newest member of Flower Peak, and she had already been part of Flower Peak for over seventy years. This was due to Flower Peak''s stringent requirements for its members. The two biggest requirements were being female and hating men. Among the disciples, she was somewhat famous in the sect for entering the late Nascent Soul Realm at a hundred and twenty years old. And now, at a hundred fifty, she entered the peak Nascent Soul Realm. Ling Haitang''s story started in the Fu Dynasty. The Fu Dynasty was a dynasty that had over ten thousand years of history, unlike the Xi Dynasty. As such, the Fu Dynasty had a much higher ratio of cultivators to mortals. Like Daoyi, Ling Haitang was the descendant of a noble family, the Ling Family. Unlike Daoyi, Ling Haitang''s life in the Ling Family was much better due to possessing a superior spiritual root and being the child of the main wife. As such, she had a fiance who was a member of the Fu Imperial Family. Ling Haitang had been head over heels for him. She would have given up the chance to become a disciple of the Buzhou Immortal Sect had it not been for her father''s orders. And so, bearing the pain of parting, the prince waited for Ling Haitang to come back. However, absence makes the heart go yonder, and surprise, surprise. When Ling Haitang endured loneliness and cultivated to the Core Formation Realm to be allowed to leave the sect, she found out that her fiance had married her concubine-born sister! Daoyi really had to stop herself from rolling her eyes when she learned of the matter at this point. Ling Lihua, like her sister Ling Haitang, was born extremely talented. In fact, she had been favored by her father more due to her obedient personality and superior spiritual vein, a heavenly spiritual vein. Unfortunately, it was also because of that malleable personality that she failed the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s trial while Ling Haitang succeeded. Ling Haitang made a fuss when she discovered the truth. She made a fuss, but no one, not even her father, stood at her side. Furthermore, her sister had reached the Nascent Soul Realm with the prince''s resources and allowed the prince to become an emperor. In fact, were it not for the fact that they were afraid of offending the Buzhou Immortal Sect, they would have wanted Ling Haitang to tribute everything she had to the cheating couple. After having her heart broken and stomped, Ling Haitang was finally disgusted by them and left¡ªvowing one day to return her pain back to them manyfold. After entering the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm, Ling Haitang had asked Daoyi to come with her. Part of the reason was due to Daoyi''s status. Ling Haitang never stopped sending information back to her family, and by extension, her former fiance. This wasn''t out of kindness, but a constant reminder that they were just minor figures, barely worth a fart. As such, the Fu Dynasty was very clear on Xi Mengfei''s strength and status. It could be considered tying Daoyi to her ship for her plan. The second reason was more altruistic, at least for Ling Haitang. She wanted Daoyi to see that no matter how honest or handsome a man was, they were all liars. She wanted Daoyi to adopt the same worldview as her and distance herself from men, especially Tianyi. Daoyi only understood part of her plan, but she still acquiesced. Ling Haitang didn''t know that the Fu Dynasty was a part of the forces that attacked the Xu Clan. She was happy to use Ling Haitang as a smokescreen. Daoyi couldn''t find any traces of the orchestrator of the Xu Clan''s demise, so they had obviously hidden their traces extremely well. Instead, the orchestrator had utilized the local forces to exterminate the Xu Clan. And Daoyi was hoping to discover the answer from the emperor''s mouth, Ling Haitang''s former fiance. Chapter 213: Zi Zun Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Chapter 214: Heavenblessed Holding the chisel in a reverse grip like a dagger, Zi Zun charged at Ba Shifang. Zi Zun was merciless in his attacks, each stab or slash aimed towards a vital or vulnerable organ such as the eye, heart, or throat. However, Ba Shifang''s brows didn''t even tremble under Zi Zun''s relentless assault. "I thought you were amazing. Can you only dodge like a coward!?" Zi Zun jeered, growing frustrated by his inability to land a hit on Ba Shifang. Ba Shifang didn''t say anything. Instead, his palm crackled with a green light as he slammed it towards Zi Zun. Seeing this, Zi Zun raised his chisel to block the attack. When Ba Shifang''s palm struck the chisel, the green electricity disappeared and was sucked into the weapon in Zi Zun''s hand. "Daring to use lightning against me? Don''t mock me!" Zi Zun sneered. He knew that Ba Shifang was proficient in numerous techniques ranging from fire to even light, but Thricesting never mentioned that Ba Shifang could use lightning. In Zi Zun''s eyes, Ba Shifang wanted to mock him by using lightning that he was most proficient in. And Zi Zun was right. Ba Shifang felt that Zi Zun, a no-named disciple was overly arrogant and wanted to teach him a lesson by using lightning that Zi Zun was most proficient in. Unfortunately, Ba Shifang never calculated that Zi Zun was the successor of the Thunder Duke, Leigong! Ba Shifang didn''t reply and retreated, causing a commotion amongst the spectators. In the past, only peak master level disciples could force Ba Shifang to do this. They didn''t expect an early acupoint opening master like Zi Zun could accomplish such a feat. Zi Zun twirled the chisel before grasping it in the standard grip. The sound of crackling electricity increased like thousands of crickets chirping at once. Blue energy coated the chisel and extended, forming a lightning blade over a meter long. "If you don''t take out your weapon, you''ll regret it." Ba Shifang inwardly rolled his eyes. He didn''t have the spare concentration to form a lifebound artifact like his main body. Not to mention that since Tianyi viewed Ba Shifang as a lab rat, he was given no weapon at all, but how could Ba Shifang expose to the truth? Instead, Ba Shifang raised his fist towards Zi Zun. "I don''t need a weapon. My body is my weapon." As part of Tianyi''s Nine-Five Scripture, the moment a cultivator entered the Core Formation Realm, they would have already formed their embryonic martial body. The only step left was to use the essence of the cores to nourish and birth the new martial body. Using his eight trigrams cores that consisted essence of heaven, marsh, fire, thunder, wind, water, mountain, and earth, Ba Shifang possessed the Eight Trigrams Martial Body. Because of this, Ba Shifang''s current body was comparable to a core formation artifact in hardness. Even against a nascent soul grandmaster''s power attack, he could tank it just by relying on his body''s physical properties, so his words weren''t just a bluff. Not that Zi Zun believed Ba Shifang. "Don''t regret it." Zi Zun leaped towards Ba Shifang, chisel swinging. In response, Ba Shifang used his palms to deflect the strike and unleash an attack of his own. Zi Zun snorted when he saw that it was the same green electricity. He didn''t even need to block it like before as his chisel started to absorb it. When Ba Shifang''s palm reached Zi Zun''s chest, it had weakened to the point that the electricity didn''t affect Zi Zun at all. Zi Zun formed the Levin Judgement Martial Body, so lightning elemental attacks had diminishing effects. What he didn''t account for was Ba Shifang''s brute power. "Gah!" Zi Zun gritted his teeth to keep himself from continuing to howl from pain as he was launched a hundred meters back. After stabilizing himself, he clutched the spot where he was struck. The injury throbbed painfully. Seeing that Ba Shifang was patiently waiting for him to recover, a sense of shame took hold in Zi Zun''s heart. Although Ba Shifang didn''t look like Xi Tianyi at all, Zi Zun felt the image of Tianyi superimposing over Ba Shifang, staring loftily at him. ''Don''t you dare look down on me!'' With a loud roar, Zi Zun leaped at Ba Shifang once more, only this time, he vowed not to be careless again. The two, a core formation master and an acupoint opening master, clashed once more. As the fight continued, the spectators began to cheer and admire the two on the stage. Ba Shifang was as stable as a mountain. He stayed in the same place, deflecting Zi Zun''s attack and retaliating with his own. Zi Zun, in contrast, was constantly moving. He was like a shadowy blur, and the only way to know where his current location was by following the blue light from his chisel. While it seemed that a stalemate had occurred, Zi Zun knew he was at a horrible disadvantage. Zi Zun had been expending his qi at a tremendous rate to find a hole in Ba Shifang''s defense, but his efforts were futile. Furthermore, Ba Shifang was still using lightning techniques against him, and with each attempt, the power behind the technique grew! ''This bastard is using me to train his lightning techniques!'' Zi Zun growled. ''At this rate, I''ll be exhausted and helpless. Although I haven''t mastered that technique, it seems that I have to bring that out if I want to defeat this clone.'' There was a pause as Zi Zun''s figure appeared a hundred meters away. His speed was so quick, it looked like a flash of light to many of the disciples present below the Nascent Soul Realm. Seeing that Ba Shifang was still allowing him to activate his technique, Zi Zun growled. ''I''ll make you pay for your arrogance!'' Zi Zun held both his fist next to his waist in a horse stance as blue light began to emit from his body, enveloping him in a layer of light. The veins on his temple became visible as a strained expression appeared on Zi Zun''s face from the true qi of thunderous lightning coursing through his body. "Hrahhh!!!" With a roar, a yellow-blue aura erupted from Zi Zun''s body. It appeared as if he was at the center of a yellow-blue flame. Zi Zun''s sleeves had been blasted off by the force he had emitted, revealing his bare arms covered in glowing blue tattoos. Still, the most striking change was Zi Zun''s hair. The front and sides of Zi Zun''s hair had turned yellow and were spiked upwards. The only part that was still the original black was hair on the back of his head trailing down his neck. "Don''t regret giving me time to activate this technique." Zi Zun said. The technique he used was called Thunder God''s Descent. By using his true qi of thunderous lightning paired with his Levin Judgement Martial Body, he was able to temporarily release the power of Punishment Lighting that formed the core of his martial body. If used in the World Merging Realm, Zi Zun would have a body comparable to a true immortal of the martial way. The only weakness was the expenditure of qi and mental and physical stress was massive, causing the technique to be time-limited. Zi Zun''s current state was the first level, and his strength was increased by an astonishing fiftyfold! This state was already reaching the threshold of the late Soul Nourishing Realm. Like a flash of lightning, Zi Zun''s figure appeared in front of Ba Shifang, his chisel already in motion. Ba Shifang was surprised by Zi Zun''s explosive increase in speed. Clang! Ba Shifang reigned in a hiss as the chisel sliced halfway to his bone through his flesh. It was only the pain but the electric shock transmitted through the chisel that sent paralyzing waves through his body. But that all that paled in comparison to the dumbfound expression on Ba Shifang''s face as he looked into Zi Zun''s cyan eyes.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. While Ba Shifang was in a stupor, Zi Zun used this chance to embed his fist into Ba Shifang''s face. As a result, his body was launched hundred of meters and cracked the ground when landed, only stopping after rolling several times. "Hmpf, are you surprised?" Ba Shifang stood up and brushed off the dust off his clothes. Zi Zun''s narrowed his eyes when he saw that the cut on his arm was healing at a noticeable rate. After that, Ba Shifang used his fingers to reorient his crooked nose and wiped the blood from his nostrils. "Yes, I''m very surprised." Zi Zun stilled, never expecting that Ba Shifang would openly admit it. He thought that Ba Shifang would deny his shock. However, the clone''s following words sent shockwaves through Zi Zun''s heart. "Do you have more transformations, such as a level two or three? Or maybe one that is called a god state?" "How did you know?" Zi Zun asked, completely shocked. ''How did he know? Does he recognize my Thunder God''s Descent technique? If he does, why is he so calm? Does it mean he still has the confidence to beat me? Impossible!'' Zi Zun rushed towards Ba Shifang again, his chisel-sword flashing like lightning strikes. Unlike before, Ba Shifang didn''t stay in one place and calmly deflected Zi Zun''s attacks. Now, his figure was like the fleeting wind, not one whit inferior to Zi Zun''s speed. In addition, Zi Zun''s palm strikes now incorporated the explosiveness of fire, the denseness of earth, and the fluidity of water. Whenever Zi Zun''s chisel-sword connected with Ba Shifang''s palm, he would feel his lightning''s power be redirected and heavy suppression placed upon him. This made him realize that Ba Shifang hadn''t been taking him seriously at all, enraging him. "Oh, are you going to show me your second state of transformation?" Ba Shifang asked as he saw Zi Zun retreat a hundred meters and repeat the same stance he used to activate the Thunder God''s Descent. "Haaaahhhhh!" This time the accumulation of power took five minutes, a death sentence in a real life-and-death battle, but Ba Shifang was happy to oblige. After entering the second state, the rest of Zi Zun''s hair turned golden. Although it didn''t spike up, his cyan eyes started to glow as if flashes of lightning flowed through them, and there was arcing electricity all around his body. Despite the increase in power, Ba Shifang frowned. From the building veins throughout Zi Zun''s body and blood leaking from his orifices, it was evident that he couldn''t handle the extreme power coursing through his body. Ba Shifang crossed his arms in a defensive position as he blocked Ba Shifang''s sudden attack. He hissed as the chisel sliced to his bones. "Junior Brother, give up. If you continue in this state, you will ruin your body and potential." "Give up? Never! I will never lose to you!" Zi Zun roared as he unleashed a flurry of attacks. Unlike the previous precision he showed before, now he was just a mindless berserker. If Zi Zun barely reached the threshold of the late grandmaster level, now, he was firmly at the peak of the grandmaster level. Ba Shifang wasn''t like Tianyi after he formed his cosmos martial body, so he still couldn''t compare at the early Core Formation Realm and was suppressed by Zi Zun. ''I can continue and outlast him, but that would result in my opponent suffering permanent damage. I don''t mind letting him do it, but I might have to pay a price as well. Plus, if I heartlessly allow his future to ruin, it''s not good for my or my main body''s reputation.'' After thinking it through, Ba Shifang made his choice. "You win. I surrender." Zi Zun stood still in mid-attack, stunned by Ba Shifang''s declaration. "What? What do you mean? You can still fight, can''t you!?" Ba Shifang held his hands behind his back and gave off the air of a senior. "Of course, but what about you? If I continued, I can easily outlast you, but then what? The battle would destroy your body and your potential ruined. We are both disciples. What need is there to go to the point of no return?" "You don''t remember me?" Zi Zun said, his eyes showing shock. "Should I?" Ba Shifang asked. He furrowed his brows. He couldn''t remember at all. It could be said that he perfectly inherited Tianyi''s ability or rather, disability to recognize unrelated people. Zi Zun released his Thunder God''s Descent transformation and glared at Ba Shifang full of hatred. "Then remember my name now. It''s Zi Zun, the man who will crush Xi Tianyi!" Ba Shifang paused a bit and smiled. "Okay." In truth, he didn''t believe that Zi Zun had the ability to crush Tianyi. Ba Shifang was capable of defeating Zi Zun; the question was just whether he was willing to pay the price. He cultivated the sixth grade of the Nine Five Scripture and was only one grade different from the seventh grade, but the difference in power was like heaven and earth. "Bojing, hand Zi Zun his winnings." The duo left after Su Bojing reluctantly gave Zi Zun the hundred thousand spirit stones. After this battle, the name of Zi Zun resounded across the Buzhou Immortal Sect as another disciple with the potential to become an immortal, an immortal seed. Ba Shifang and Tianyi''s names also could be heard again. It didn''t concern their strength, but their character this time. Ba Shifang''s actions of admitting defeat to preserve a prodigious talent made many praise him and, by extension, Tianyi. "Sure enough, Senior Brother Xi is transcendent, viewing winning and losing in a simple light. I''m afraid many disciples would rather die than admit defeat, especially against someone like Senior Brother Zi." Some disciples would say. Naturally, with praise, there was also mocking. Some called Ba Shifang a coward for not daring to continue to fight, but those voices were in the minority. Those people may mock Ba Shifang, but which person wanted to meet a ruthless person who would ruin their opponent''s potential to win? As for the third beneficiary, it was still Tianyi! Because an intelligent spectator decided to record the battle between Ba Shifang and Zi Zun and upload it to Xiyitube, it quickly became one of the most watched videos on the site. Now, the Xiyi Talisman users realized that they could also record videos and release them on the Xiyinet. Wouldn''t they be able to watch high-level battles whenever they want? It wasn''t good as watching in person, but it was a good substitute.
"That little fellow, he''s truly a lucky fellow. He actually broke through to the mid Acupoint Opening Realm after battling Little Xi''s clone. Using the Thunder God''s Descent''s second state must have stimulated his body''s potential even if it injured him." Sect Master Xia idly commented from his seat. As the sect leader, he could view any places that were not the private territory of an immortal monarch or emperor and forbidden grounds. He had been paying attention to Zi Zun after Brocade Immortal Seventeen brought him back and especially after the battle with Tianyi''s clone. "Master, why are you paying attention to an acupoint opening disciple?" Xia Yushan asked. Xia Yushan had changed very little in the ten years that Tianyi was gone. It was as if time had stopped permanently for him. Although his appearance remained the same, his cultivation had risen by leaps and bounds. Currently, he has integrated yin and yang essence to the penultimate point. He was at the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm and was only a step away from incurring the Unity Heavenly Tribulation. "Of course, I have to pay attention." Sect Master Xia said as he fiddled with a Xiyi Talisman. After Tianyi''s importance rose, he had begun to pay more attention to Tianyi, including the Xiyi Talisman Tianyi made. Had it not been for the video recording, Sect Master Xia would not have recognized the Thunder God''s Descent technique Zi Zun used. "Yushan, do you know about the Heavenblessed?" Sect Master Xia asked out of nowhere. Xia Yushan shook his head negatively. "Please enlighten me, Master." "But you must have heard about cultivators who were very lucky, right? They might have ordinary spiritual veins or ordinary potential, but through a stroke of luck, their future changed, and they gained immense potential. The worst example is the Dragon Emperor." Sect Master said. "But what does the Dragon Emperor have to do with the Heavenblessed?" Xia Yushan asked. "Everything. Those people suddenly gained immense karmic luck is because the Heavenly Dao transformed them into Heavenblessed. The Heavenblessed aren''t a race or group, but a special existence favored by the Heavenly Dao." "The Heavenly Dao possesses such power? But I thought the Heavenly Dao had no will." Xia Yushan said, his voice revealing his shock. "It has no will, but it has instincts." Sect Master Xia calmly replied. "The Heavenly Dao of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System seeks to grow stronger, so it bestows karmic luck to people who can aid it. Of course, since it is an action based on instincts, the Heavenly Dao can also make mistakes. Instincts can never understand the depth of the human heart." "Master, are you saying that Disciple Zi Zun is a Heavenblessed?" Xia Yushan cut the point of the matter. "I am unsure. There is no easy identification method. But Zi Zun was an ordinary disciple, but he suddenly gained the Divine Duke of Thunder''s inheritance and changed his physique. The possibility of him being a Heavenblessed is large." Sect Master Xia smiled and then looked playfully at Xia Yushan. "But you don''t have to treat them any differently. Sometimes, the Heavenly Dao makes certain people Heavenblessed to deal with unwanted people. I imagine that the Heavenly Dao isn''t that kind towards the Buzhou Immortal Sect." "The Dragon Emperor was the Heavenly Dao''s tool to deal with us?" Xia Yushan asked, feeling as if he had learned an enormous secret. "That''s the general consensus." Sect Master Xia admitted. "Pay attention to Zi Zun. See if he is any danger towards the Buzhou Immortal Sect or Little Xi, I mean Xi Tianyi. Well, you don''t have to pay too much attention. Brocade Immortal Seventeen is his master and will be in charge of supervising him. If Zi Zun can be a sharp blade of the sect, then it would be good. If not..." Sect Master Xia''s words remained unsaid, but the meaning was evident. He added another word to prevent Xia Yushan from having unwanted thoughts. "Don''t go out of your way to kill them either. Thanks to the Heavenly Dao''s favor, their chances of surviving certain death is unmatched." Chapter 215: Vast Heaven Young Master at the Fu Dynasty "Stop, hand over your valuables, and we might let you live!" A booming voice alerted the occupants of the immortal ship of the situation outside. Ling Haitang didn''t bother and continued cultivating, while Daoyi sighed and stepped out of the ship to see a group of cultivators blocking her way. The bandit group consisted of over ten core formation and acupoint opening masters standing atop their flying artifacts, led by a soul nourishing grandmaster. Daoyi didn''t bother wasting any words and opened her mouth to release a sound attack but paused upon detecting a third party coming. The incoming cultivator was clad in sword-light and traveled with frightening speed, arriving at the scene in less than five seconds after Daoyi detected him. "Stop! Foul vagrants, taking advantage of the chaos on Heaven Continent to commit evil acts, as a disciple of the Monolith Sword Sect, I shall not stand by!" The newcomer''s visage was revealed after the sword-light dissipated off of him, revealing his sword-like brows and the standard uniform of the Monolith Sword Sect. Daoyi recognized him as He Yongli, who she had seen at the Demon Slaying Expedition. She only remembered because Tianyi mentioned that He Yongli wanted to challenge him when both of them were still in the Core Formation Realm. The core formation bandits paled upon hearing He Yongli announce his identity, but the soul nourishing grandmaster bandit only snorted. "Hmpf, you overestimate yourself. You are a mere core formation master, yet you dare to fight me? Don''t think your status as a disciple of a powerful sect will protect you!" Saying so, the soul nourishing grandmaster attacked He Yongli without care of accidentally harming the immortal boat Daoyi was on. Not that anything he could have done would have caused it to rock in any shape or form. "A loose cultivator will always be a shortsighted weakling. You are estimating the strength of our sect. Even as a core formation master, I can defeat ten subpar grandmasters like you." He Yongli retorted before striking back. Daoyi watched with disinterest. Although He Yongli''s words were a bit frank, they weren''t without reason. Loose cultivators didn''t have the same resources as sect disciples, so their foundations weren''t as solid, and they didn''t have access to powerful techniques either. As Daoyi had expected, although the bandit soul nourishing grandmaster had the upper hand in terms of true qi and raw power, he was eclipsed in all other aspects from battle judgment to the exquisiteness of his techniques. "You bunch of waste, why aren''t you helping? Can''t you see that he is a sword cultivator!? Do you think he will let any of you flee!!!" Upon seeing that he had overestimated himself, the soul nourishing grandmaster called out to his little brothers. The core formation and acupoint masters shared a look before gritting their teeth and charging towards He Yongli. Daoyi opened her mouth, speechless. Did the bandits think she was just a bystander and wouldn''t do anything? Waving her sleeves, invisible strings made from Shuijing''s silk shot out and struck the core formation and acupoint opening bandits. Daoyi''s attack didn''t do anything overtly, and the bandits didn''t even know that something was attached to them. That all changed when Daoyi strummed the strings gathered in her hand like some sort of stringed instrument. Almost instantaneously, anguished cries erupted from the bandits other than the soul nourishing grandmaster. Their screams did not last long as the core formation masters'' spiritual core shattered and the acupoint opening masters'' internals liquefied, killing them in a short but brutal manner. When the soul nourishing grandmaster took a look to see what occurred, his face paled as he realized that Daoyi was a nascent soul grandmaster. Even worse, she was undoubtedly more powerful than him since he couldn''t kill the same amount of cultivators in such a short amount of time. Without any hesitation, he unleashed a large area of attack, creating a large smokescreen for him to escape. "Vile cur! Come back and accept your just punishment!" He Yongli roared as sword-light encased his body and materialized a giant sword over a hundred meters long. The sword shot towards the soul nourishing grandmaster and slew him without him having the ability to fight back. "Many thanks for fellow daoist''s aid," He Yongli said as he flew towards the immortal boat with cupped fists. He looked up and then was stunned. "Daoist Jiang?" Daoyi smiled. "My daoist title is Thrallsong." "My apologies, Daoist Thrallsong." He Yongli said as he sized Daoyi up. He gave a bitter smile before leaving. If Tianyi shattered his arrogance, then Daoyi shattered his pride. Daoyi didn''t put the encounter in her mind at all and resumed her journey towards the Fu Dynasty. It didn''t surprise her that she would meet a disciple of the Monolith Sword Sect here. The Monolith Sword Sect''s territory was located near the southern Central Region, so they were focused on quelling the disturbance in the Southern Region. The Fu Dynasty was located in the Southern Region, a bit farther down than the Xi Dynasty, hence why her mother was able to flee to the Xi Dynasty. However, unlike the Xi Dynasty, the Fu Dynasty was already at war with another force, the Skybrush Sect. Many loose cultivators tried to fish in muddied waters in these turbulent times, with some succeeding and some failing. It was an action that loose cultivators who struggled to gather resources were very familiar with. Only the number of occurrences was ramped up with the chaos.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. The rest of the journey wasn''t a quiet affair, but with Daoyi and Ling Haitang appearing, there were no dangerous situations at all. Ling Haitang wasn''t like Daoyi and openly revealed her cultivation, scaring the would-be thieves into fleeing. Nascent soul grandmasters were still a rarity in this region, so not many dared to fight them head-on without scruples. "I''m back," Ling Haitang softly said to herself as she looked down at the capital of the Fu Dynasty, her eyes zeroed in on the Ling Family Estate and the imperial palace. "Sister Ling, should we land at the front gates?" Daoyi asked. "No need, directly fly to the Ling Family Estate." Ling Haitang replied, her words covered in a layer of frost. Daoyi didn''t ask why and controlled the ship to fly directly where Ling Haitang pointed towards. Even when they reached the Ling Family Estate, they didn''t disembark and instead landed in Ling Haitang''s yard when she had lived in the Ling Family Estate. "Welcome back, Miss." After Daoyi stored the immortal boat in her spatial ring, a maidservant appeared and greeted the two. Daoyi could discern that the maidservant wasn''t a living being but a golem in a single glance. "I''m afraid I let Sister Jiang watch a joke. In order to maintain my courtyard, I left a puppet here. I can''t trust my dear father, after all." Ling Haitang joked with Daoyi. Daoyi only smiled. ¡®It isn''t to maintain your courtyard but monitor your family, right?¡¯ Ling Haitang ordered the puppet to prepare some tea for Daoyi and herself. After the two sat down at a table inside her room, a middle-aged madame with a face full of wrinkles entered the room with an elated expression on her face. "Hai''er!" Daoyi saw Ling Haitang finally expose her first genuine smile since they entered the territory of the Fu Dynasty. "Mother," Ling Haitang said as she stood up and helped her mother sit down. Daoyi could tell that although the woman was an acupoint opening master, she was probably nearing the end of her lifespan. Logically speaking, Ling Haitang wasn''t even two hundred, so Madame Ling shouldn''t be nearing the end of her life with six hundred years of lifespan granted to an acupoint opening or core formation master. But the increase in lifespan scaled with the cultivator''s remaining life. So if a foundation establishment disciple with only a hundred years of life left entered the Core Formation Realm, he would only gain three hundred years of life. Madame Ling obviously was such a case. In addition, Daoyi suspected that Madame Ling''s current cultivation was the result of Ling Haitang pouring in resources to forcibly raise her realm. Ling Haitang loathed her father, but it seems it wasn''t the case with her mother. Ling Haitang and Madame Ling entered a warm discussion. Ling Haitang also introduced Daoyi to her mother, causing Madame Ling to be highly deferential. After time passed, Madame Ling mentioned a matter. "Hai''er, there is going to be a banquet tonight." "Banquet? Don''t tell me that Fu Xiuyi already knows that Sister Jiang has arrived and is preparing a banquet." While saying this, a derisive smile appeared on Ling Haitang''s face. "No, no, no. It''s another matter," Madame Ling said as she snuck a glance at Daoyi. "It''s actually this. A week ago, the Vast Heaven Young Master visited the Fu Dynasty, and His Majesty wanted to welcome the Vast Heaven Young Master. Did you not know?" Daoyi and Ling Haitang shared a look. Did Tianyi secretly follow me? Even though he lent me all these treasures, I wouldn''t put it past him to play a prank like this. Daoyi thought. However, she still felt that the chances of Tianyi secretly arriving ahead of her to surprise her to be unlikely. Ling Haitang, on the other hand, was burning with fury. I should have known that scoundrel would appear. Does he think I can''t see how his eyes are glued to Sister Jiang? Trash like him and Fu Xiuyi are a perfect pair! She conveniently forgot that Daoyi and Tianyi also shared a Yi character. "Hai''er" After confirming their attendance, Madame Ling hesitantly spoke out to Ling Haitang, the first time since their meeting. Ling Haitang''s smiling face immediately darkened. "Mother, if you want me to speak to that waste of a man, stop." "But Hai''er, he''s your father. You are his daughter. He only needs some help. You''re a disciple of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. This little help should be easy." Madame Ling pleaded, her face paling accordingly to her daughter''s darkening expression. "Father? Is that what that man said?" Ling Haitang''s smile did nothing to hide the fury that was shining through. "Did he think I was his daughter when he sent my young sister Lihua onto Fu Xiuyi''s bed!?" "Hai''er, there have been cases of two sisters sharing a man. His Majesty was just too lonely, so he couldn''t help but lay his hand on Lihua." Madame Ling said, attempting to resolve the situation. "Besides, once you marry him, he''ll forget all about that lowly slut." Ling Haitang couldn''t help it anymore and let out a cold laugh. "Mother, I do not want to hear any more of this. If you speak anymore, consider our mother and daughter relationship severed." Madame Ling''s face paled. It had to be known that she was growing old, and the only reason she was still able to sit on the seat of the Duke''s main wife was due to her daughter. "But Hai''er, what man doesn''t have three wives and four concubines. As a woman, you have to be virtuous." "Virtuous?" Ling Haitang''s laughter sent chills down Madame Ling''s back. "Mother, sometimes I wonder if Lihua was your real blood-related daughter and not me. Otherwise, how could she be so similar to you in personality?" Madame Ling''s face finally had a trace of fury. Wasn''t Ling Haitang''s words comparing her to a lowly concubine-born? How could she, as the principal wife, be compared to someone of such low birth? "You don''t need to deny it. Father reached the rank of Duke thanks to Lihua climbing onto Fu Xiuyi''s bed and my status as a Buzhou Immortal Sect Disciple. Fu Xiuyi became an emperor thanks to Lihua''s superior cultivation. Both of them rely on a woman to reach their current status, but yet, both of them still constantly grab concubines and mistresses. Only someone like you and Lihua would tolerate it, espousing that it is the virtue of women. Women don''t have to serve men, only strength matters!" Madame Ling''s mouth hung open as if Ling Haitang was advocating some grave crime, or perhaps to her, it was a grave crime. However, Ling Haitang didn''t care. "No wonder Lihua didn''t enter the Buzhou Immortal Sect, her talent is good, but her brain has problems. Enough, Sister Jiang and I have to prepare for the banquet." Madame Ling looked towards Daoyi for aid. Surely someone of her status would understand, right? Daoyi just ignored Madame Ling. In some aspects, Madame Ling reminded her of her master, Xi Mengfei, only if all of her worst aspects were magnified by ten times with none of her charms. When Madame Ling left, Ling Haitang gave Daoyi a bitter and vulnerable smile. It was as if a glamorous rose was reaching the end of its glory, just one step away from wilting. "I really let Sister Jiang watch a joke." Daoyi opened her mouth but didn''t know what to say. In the end, she reached out her hand and pat Ling Haitang on her shoulder. Not long after, both of them boarded a Ling Family carriage to attend the banquet being held at the palace. When Ling Haitang stepped into the imperial halls once more, her face was cold and frosty. It was as if she was a sculpture carved out of an eternally frozen glacier. Chapter 216: World Merging Venerable The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Chapter 217: Do You Know My Masters Name This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Chapter 218: Peng Yun Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
Chapter 219: Wealth System + Illustration Inside an inn in the capital of the Fu Dynasty, Peng Yun was staring at the air in front of him in a daze. Or, at least that was what it appeared to an outside observer. In truth, he was staring at a blue window with words and numbers on it. Peng Yun hadn''t always been Peng Yun. In fact, he was originally an average citizen back on Earth. Well, average citizen that experienced the apocalypse. When he first opened his eyes, Peng Yun had thought he had been dreaming. However, he had truly gotten another chance at life! His second life''s identity was the middle son of a farming couple. Although life was hard, compared to the apocalypse, at least it was stable and without the worry of death. At least, that was what Peng Yun thought until one day, a battle between two cultivators left him the sole survivor of his family. Angry and bitter, Peng Yun once again reaffirmed that power was needed to survive. Whether it was personal power or the power of a group, Peng Yun knew he needed to grasp them in his own hands. His first act was to attend the local sect''s trial to become a cultivator, but his aspiration failed at the first test. Peng Yun was born with a pentad shattered spiritual vein, making him unable to cultivate. Unwilling to give up, Peng Yun started a business in the mortal world and gathered immense wealth. However, without power, he was but a mere fish on the chopping block to cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Realm or higher. This only reaffirmed Peng Yun''s goal of searching for a treasure that could improve his spiritual veins and give him the ability to cultivate. Reality proved that the heavens did not forsake him. Peng Yun didn''t find a treasure to wash his spiritual veins, but he was bound by a certain Wealth System that could elevate his spiritual vein by using wealth and much much more.
Name: Peng Yun Law/Concepts: Space Concept, Explosion Concept, Blaze Concept, Frost Concept, Accumulation Concept, Gust Concept, Shatter Concept, Wealth Concept Cultivation: Glass Nascent Soul Realm, Fleshly Soul Nourishing Realm Cultivation Method: Chaos Heavenly Scripture (Incomplete), Kunpeng Divine Transformation (Incomplete) Physique: Twelve Heaven Meridians (Intermediate Rank) Spiritual Vein: Dao Chaos Spiritual Vein (False), Flawless Fire Spiritual Vein, Flawless Water Spiritual Vein, Flawless Earth Spiritual Vein, Fractured Wood Spiritual Vein, Fractured Metal Spiritual Vein Soul: Flawless Soul Comprehension: High Inheritance: Dragon Emperor''s Inheritance (Incomplete), Divinelight Inheritance, Fivelotus Lord''s Inheritance, Caisheng''s Inheritance, Houtu''s Inheritance, etc Inventory: Spiritual Vein Upgrading Elixir (1), Random Item Box (1), Soulpiercing Awl Talisman (1) Wealth: 504,567 SP
"Upgrade wood spiritual vein." Peng Yun said. In response, a mechanical voice without any emotions responded. "[Forty thousand system points required. Proceed to upgrade?]" Peng Yun felt his kidney ache at the thought of spending 40,000 points at once, but for his future, he gritted his teeth and said. "Yes." "[Ding! Forty thousand system points deducted. Begin spiritual vein upgrade.]" Peng Yun closed his eyes as he felt an enormous amount of wood essence surge into his spiritual core. Since he had already formed his spiritual core, his spiritual veins had been integrated into his core. Upgrading his spiritual vein meant upgrading the rank of his spiritual core. Sweat poured down Peng Yun''s forehead as he felt his spiritual core change under the influx of wood essence. Compared to essence, qi was just diluted energy. Several days later, Peng Yun opened his mouth, and a misty fog full of polluted wood essence poured out. After his wood spiritual vein had been upgraded to a flawless spiritual vein, Peng Yun''s five-colored spiritual core had more green coloring swimming within it. Among the five colors present, green, red, black, and yellow were even, with only the white seemingly being drowned by the rest. "Upgrade metal spiritual vein." Peng Yun ordered. After a few more days, Peng Yun''s metal spiritual vein became a flawless spiritual vein, giving him five flawless spiritual veins. The moment this occurred, his spiritual core underwent a metamorphosis and exuded a violet-gold light. Peng Yun''s spiritual core had evolved and directly skipped the gold grade and became a violet-gold grade spiritual core.
Name: Peng Yun Law/Concepts: Space Concept, Explosion Concept, Blaze Concept, Frost Concept, Accumulation Concept, Gust Concept, Shatter Concept, Wealth Concept Cultivation: Glass Nascent Soul Realm, Fleshly Soul Nourishing Realm Cultivation Method: Chaos Heavenly Scripture (Incomplete), Kunpeng Divine Transformation (Incomplete) Physique: Twelve Heaven Meridians (Intermediate Rank) Spiritual Vein: Dao Chaos Spiritual Vein (Low), Flawless Fire Spiritual Vein, Flawless Water Spiritual Vein, Flawless Earth Spiritual Vein, Flawless Wood Spiritual Vein, Flawless Metal Spiritual Vein Soul: Flawless Soul Comprehension: High Inheritance: Dragon Emperor''s Inheritance (Incomplete), Divinelight Inheritance, Fivelotus Lord''s Inheritance, Caisheng''s Inheritance, Houtu''s Inheritance, etc Inventory: Spiritual Vein Upgrading Elixir (1), Random Item Box (1), Soulpiercing Awl Talisman Wealth: 424,567 SP
Immediately, Peng Yun felt the advantage of dao chaos spiritual vein. Even if it was a low-rank one as a result of only having five flawless spiritual veins, the qi generation of his spiritual core increased tenfold. Ten! ''I can feel the purity of my true qi rise by two levels. Even if the amount of true qi I could generate were the same, I would need a less amount than before to use the same techniques.'' Peng Yun had to do his best to hold back his excitement. Now he knew why people with heavenly spiritual veins were lauded as geniuses and so powerful in the early stages. ''Even if I don''t have a heavenly spiritual vein, even if my dao chaos spiritual vein is only at the low rank, I can confidently say that my advantage is better than theirs!'' Peng Yun''s eyes sharpened. He that his comprehension of the concepts that acquired and unknown concepts become clearer. Having tasted the benefits of having a dao chaos spiritual vein, Peng Yun wanted to acquire a higher grade, and to do so, he would need to upgrade all his spiritual veins into the perfect grade. "Upgrade fire spiritual vein." Peng Yun ordered. "[Two hundred thousand system points required. Proceed to upgrade?]"If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Peng Yun directly cursed the system. "You damn money-grubbing system! Didn''t I already feed you enough spirit stones!?" After venting at the greedy system, appropriately called the Wealth System, Peng Yun sighed and said, "Charge balance." One of the first things Peng Yun bought from the system store was a spatial inventory. Unlike spatial rings or shrinking pouches, there was no physical accessory, so unless he stupidly revealed it, no one would know he had it. Thinking back, Peng Yun realized that it was simply to make charging the balance easier. "[Host currently can exchange 575,433 system points with all items in inventory. Exchange?]" Peng Yun took a deep breath. Somehow, he always had enough treasures and spirit stones inside his spatial inventory for whatever he needed. If you told him that this was an accident, he wouldn''t believe it. "No, I''ll just save for a bit." Peng Yun decisively rejected the system''s evaluation. After saying that, Peng Yun just stayed in the same position, without moving an inch for an hour until the Wealth System finally replied. "[Host currently can exchange 625,433 system points with all the items in inventory. Exchange?]" Peng Yun still didn''t answer. Instead, he moved some items out of the spatial inventory and moved them into his spatial ring. Then he said, "Exchange." The system stayed silent for a bit before replying again. "[Host currently can exchange 575,433 system points with all items in inventory. Exchange?]" Peng Yun rolled his eyes and said yes. ''Forget it. I''ve already gotten used to this greedy system. After I upgrade all my spiritual veins into heavenly spiritual veins, I''ll diminish my use of it.'' "[Ding, host currently has 1,000,000 system points.]" "Upgrade all spiritual roots to perfect spiritual veins," Peng Yun said. "[One million system points required. Proceed to upgrade?]" Peng Yun gritted his teeth and said, "yes." Immediately, Peng Yun felt five different types of elemental essence appearing inside his spiritual core. The process took two weeks longer than it did for upgrading his fractured spiritual roots to flawless spiritual roots.
Name: Peng Yun Law/Concepts: Space Concept, Explosion Concept, Blaze Concept, Frost Concept, Accumulation Concept, Gust Concept, Shatter Concept, Wealth Concept, Whirlwind Concept Cultivation: Glass Nascent Soul Realm, Fleshly Soul Nourishing Realm Cultivation Method: Chaos Heavenly Scripture (Incomplete), Kunpeng Divine Transformation (Incomplete) Physique: Twelve Heaven Meridians (Intermediate Rank) Spiritual Vein: Dao Chaos Spiritual Vein (Intermediate), Perfect Fire Spiritual Vein, Perfect Water Spiritual Vein, Perfect Earth Spiritual Vein, Perfect Wood Spiritual Vein, Perfect Metal Spiritual Vein Soul: Flawless Soul Comprehension: High Inheritance: Dragon Emperor''s Inheritance (Incomplete), Divinelight Inheritance, Fivelotus Lord''s Inheritance, Caisheng''s Inheritance, Houtu''s Inheritance, etc Inventory: Spiritual Vein Upgrading Elixir (1), Random Item Box (1), Soulpiercing Awl Talisman Wealth: 0 SP
Looking at his zero balance, Peng Yun felt his heart drip blood, but at the same time, he reveled in the newfound power gushing forth in his body. It was another tenfold increase in power. Compared to when he entered the capital, his power had increased by at least ten times! At the Nascent Soul realm, the amount of and quality of true qi was only part of the factor that determined a cultivator''s strength. More importantly, it was the cultivators'' comprehension of concepts and laws that played a far greater role in factoring his combat prowess. But, the increase of quality in Peng Yun spiritual core was just too powerful. The true qi was also strengthening his nascent soul. Given more time, his strength would increase again. "System, how much would it cost to upgrade a perfect spiritual vein into a heavenly spiritual vein?" Peng Yun asked, preparing to calculate how many treasures he would have to use. The system''s reply shocked him to his core. "[Five million system points.]" "Y-y-you mean, five million to upgrade all five, right?" Peng Yun asked, fearing the answer. And his fears were proven correct. "[Negative. Five million points are required for each spiritual vein upgrade.]" Peng Yun felt as if his heart had stopped. If he hadn''t gotten lucky and inherited a deceased immortal''s wealth, he wouldn''t have been able to afford the previous upgrades to his spiritual veins. That meant that he would need to raid ten immortal inheritances just to accumulate five million points! ''Luckily, I have a Spiritual Vein Upgrading Elixir. But damn, why is there such a large increase from two hundred thousand to five million!?'' Peng Yun''s eyes drifted to the random item box in his inventory. If he was lucky, maybe he could get another Spiritual Vein Upgrading Elixir. Peng Yun chose to open the random item box, but he was doomed to be disappointed. "[Formation Shattering Talisman. Any formation under the immortal rank can be destroyed. Singe-use item.]" "Argghhh! Dammit. With my Minor Kunpeng Martial Body, my speed is unmatched, even compared to venerables. I''ll escape before my opponents can use formations. What''s the use?!" Peng Yun screamed as he grabbed his head. "You money-grubbing system. You purposely made it impossible, didn''t you?" Finally, Peng Yun calmed down after screaming obscenities at the greedy system. He didn''t plan on using the Spiritual Vein Upgrading Elixir. What was more important for the dao chaos spiritual vein was balance. If he recklessly upgraded one of his spiritual veins into a heavenly spiritual vein, it would downgrade his dao spiritual vein, causing his strength to weaken. After another month after Peng Yun had familiarized himself with his newfound strength, he exited the room. Peng Yun had come to the Fu Dynasty capital with a purpose, and that was revenge. It wasn''t for revenge against the Fu Dynasty, but a clue leading to the culprit who caused his family''s death. Peng Yun had discovered that one of the murderers was a disciple of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. He had heard rumors that the Vast Heaven Young Master was going to appear, so he had rushed over. Peng Yun wasn''t as foolish enough to start a crusade against the whole Buzhou Immortal Sect. He simply wanted to kill the perpetrator and only him. Of course, Peng Yun knew that he had to carry out his revenge secretly. Peng Yun wanted to discover the exact identity of the perpetrator. He knew that it was unlikely since he didn''t even know his name, but forming a relationship with the Vast Heaven Young Master would aid him. "Big Brother Peng, are you out?" When Peng Yun left his room, he saw Bai Weiwei outside. She appeared fragile as if she would shatter at any moment. Peng Yun had met Bai Weiwei a few years ago. He was passing by and saved her from some rascals who wanted to rob her, or perhaps even worse. Originally, he planned on leaving her at a safe place, but the situation made her a constant follower of Peng Yun. "Sorry, did I make you wait too long?" Peng Yun asked. "N-no! I''m relying on Big Brother Peng. I don''t have any problems worth troubling you." Bai Weiwei said, shrinking back. "Haha, don''t worry. Your troubles are my troubles. If you have any problems, just tell me. As long as I can accomplish it, I will do it." Peng Yun promised. Bai Weiwei looked up at Peng Yun with eyes full of hope, but unseen by Peng Yun, within that hope was an abyss of endless hatred. She quickly hung her head again, "It''s nothing. I don''t want you to hate me like them." Hearing Bai Weiwei''s melancholy-filled words, Peng Yun felt his heart tremble. ''Just what would cause such an innocent and kind girl to be so sad? Even before the apocalypse, such a girl is rare.'' To Peng Yun, Bai Weiwei represented a symbol of when times were good. Although he could live longer in the Huang Realm than on Earth, but his life was filled with constant danger. If he wasn''t powerful enough, his life could be at risk at any time. Rubbing her hand, Peng Yun said, "Alright. Just remember, I''ll always be there for you. Okay, be obedient and wait here for me. I need to gather information." When Peng Yun walked away, Bai Weiwei''s eyes stuck to his back. Her eyes were filled with hesitation yet harbored a tiny hope different from the previous one. It didn''t take long for Peng Yun to discover news of the false Vast Heaven Young Master, causing him to curse. Luckily, it seemed there was two real Buzhou Immortal Sect disciples present who slew the imposter. Peng Yun tried his luck at the Ling Ducal Estate but was rejected. Forcing his way through was obviously a stupid choice, so Peng Yun had to think of another method. It was a good thing that the Fu Dynasty was currently starting a war with the Skybrush Sect. Peng Yun had the heart to join because it gave him a chance to interact with the Buzhuo Immortal Sect disciples and gain wealth, something he was in dire need of. With his qualifications, Peng Yun was easily accepted by the Fu Dynasty. On the day of the first battle, Peng Yun finally got a chance to the two Buzhou Immortal Sect disciples. Strangely, Peng Yun felt that one of them was extremely familiar, as if he had seen her before. "System, scan the Buzhou Immortal Sect disciples." Peng Yun muttered so low that only he could hear. "[Ten thousand points required to scan Buzhou Immortal Sect Disciple Jiang Daoyi. One thousand points to scan Buzhou Immortal Sect Disciple Ling Haitang. Proceed?]" Peng Yun cursed once more and even thought about rejecting it but stopped himself. "Why is there such a difference?!" "[Points are calculated based on the karma of the target.]" Peng Yun frowned. Finally, after a moment of deliberation, Peng Yun agreed. Spending Eleven thousand of the points he just added.
Name: Ling Haitang Force: Buzhou Immortal Sect Law/Concepts: Blossom Concept, Photosynthesis Concept, Leaf Concept Cultivation: Diamond Nascent Soul Realm Cultivation Method: Soleblossom Diagram Physique: None Spiritual Vein: Perfect Wood Spiritual Vein, Perfect Water Spiritual Vein Soul: None Comprehension: Intermediate
Name: Jiang Daoyi Force: Buzhou Immortal Sect Law/Concepts: ???, ???, ??? Cultivation: Translucent Nascent Soul Realm, Organ Fortification Body Transformation Realm Cultivation Method: East Flowing Nether River Scripture, Physique: ??? Spiritual Vein: ??? Soul: Three Yin Soul Comprehension: ???
Ling Haitang''s information was fine, but when the system brought up Jiang Daoyi''s information, there was a string of question marks, something that had never happened before. "System, was there an error or something?" "[WARNING! WARNING! System''s probe has been detected, System''s probe had been detected.]" Peng Yun felt his pupil shrink into needlepoints as the system warning blared into his ears. His head snapped up to meet Jiang Daoyi''s inquisitive gaze. Chapter 220: War Formations It was two months after the disastrous banquet. The emperor had summoned all the Fu Dynasty''s civil officials, generals, powerful cultivators, and external experts, who took up arms in response to his call to arms, into the imperial court. Daoyi and Ling Haitang also arrived, but they were currently sitting behind the emperor''s throne as if they were bystanders in all of this. Ling Haitang didn''t plan on participating. She couldn''t care less if the Fu Dynasty fell. All she wanted to do was watch Fu Xiuyi''s expression of despair. As long as he despaired, so would her sister. That is not to say that she wanted the Skybrush Sect to win either. According to the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s intelligence, the Skybrush Sect''s power had been greatly enhanced by the aggressors that wanted to plunge the Heaven Continent into chaos. Daoyi furrowed her brows as she felt something brush against her soul. Instinctually, Daoyi raised and fortified her soul defense. The probe was so light and ephemeral that she had almost thought that it was a hallucination. It took some effort, but she found the source of the probe. Directing her gaze, Daoyi found herself staring eye to eye with a cultivator who appeared to be in his mid-twenties. He was slightly plain but had a self-assured aura that more than made up for his ordinary looks. After a brief shock, the man smiled for turning his gaze away as if their interlinked gaze was a mere coincidence. A sense of suspicion arising within her, Daoyi''s nascent soul opened its eyes inside her dantian. Her silver-white nascent soul began to vibrate and release fluctuations invisible to the eye and spiritual sense. Only another soul cultivator or someone with a powerful soul could detect it. ''I sense over a hundred grandmaster-level cultivators. At least fifty of them should belong to the Fu Dynasty. Peng Yun is the one who I sensed probing me earlier. According to the feedback, he should be at the mid Nascent Soul Realm and early Soul Nourishing Realm.'' When Daoyi used earlier was an investigation method unique to soul cultivators. The concept behind the technique worked similar to a bat''s echolocation, only not really. Whatever the soul fluctuation interacted with, the user would receive feedback. Since the technique needed the user to consume soul essence to unleash, it could not be used as freely as qi-based techniques. ''Weird, really weird. That Peng Yun''s soul is really weird. I''m half sure that the earlier soul probe was from him, but I can''t find any signs that he is a soul cultivator. Among the same realm, I don''t think anyone could hide the fact that they''re a soul cultivator from me, and his soul is thrice as large as normal nascent soul grandmasters. Could he be someone sent by the mastermind?'' Daoyi reflected. She glanced at the Fu Emperor. ''Before I interrogate him, I should get rid of all obstacles. If that Peng Yun really is a watcher, I should get rid of him first. The war between the Fu Dynasty and Skybrush Sect is a good chance.'' Daoyi made her mind carefully observe Peng Yun''s actions and dig out his background. Daoyi took out a talisman that could send messages back to the sect. By using up some contribution points, she could have the sect''s intelligence agency dig out the relevant information. However, it would take some time as the talisman was not instantaneous. ''Sometimes, I wish the Xiyi Talisman was more viable.'' However, Daoyi didn''t place all her hopes in the sect. They might be powerful, but they wouldn''t pay attention to a minor figure near the borders of the Heaven Continent unless said target possessed a certain level of strength or danger. "Sister Ling, can you investigate that Peng Yun for me?" Daoyi asked. Ling Haitang searched her memory and dug out the applicant of the war. Recalling the information, she frowned. "Sister Jiang, don''t tell me you''re interested in that fellow?" Daoyi immediately knew what Ling Haitang was thinking and refuted her thoughts. "No, he seems a bit fishy to me. I tried to detect his secrets, but I couldn''t discover anything." "Even a soul cultivator like you can''t detect anything. Perhaps you''re overthinking?" Ling Haitang said. She had absolute faith in Daoyi''s ability, not just because Daoyi was Xi Mengfei''s disciple but also because her master had praised Daoyi''s talent in soul cultivation. "It''s my intuition. If there really is nothing, just chalk it off as me being overly suspicious." Daoyi said. Ling Haitang nodded. It was better to be safe than sorry. After the court meeting was over, Ling Haitang contacted her subordinate and ordered to gather all information concerning Peng Yun. Since she had planned to bring despair to Fu Xiuyi, Ling Haitang had carefully cultivated useful subordinates as spies. They were also the reason why the Fu Dynasty understood how powerful the Buzhou Immortal Sect was. It didn''t take long for Daoyi to receive a preliminary report on Peng Yun from Ling Haitang. Peng Yun''s information was surprisingly easy to investigate. The earliest sighting of Peng Yun was almost a hundred years ago, and the only reason he was noticed was that he had become a foundation establishment disciple at the outermost area of the Heaven Continent where qi gathering pupils were the strongest. Since then, Peng Yun seemed to have disappeared off the face of the Heaven Continent until twenty years ago. It wasn''t anything Peng Yun did. Instead, it was what someone else had done. A world merging venerable had suddenly targeted Peng Yun, shocking everyone who witnessed the scene. Apparently, the venerable was after Peng Yun''s wealth. Not only did the venerable pursue Peng Yun, but as time passed, more and more grandmaster-level experts chased after Peng Yun. In response, Peng Yun had slaughtered his way out. Not even the world merging venerable had been able to prevent his escape. From then on, numerous cases of the world merging venerable chasing Peng Yun were documented as he fled southwest. Of note would be that Peng Yun originated from the northeast of the Heaven Continent, where the Anti-Heaven Alliance primarily dominated. It led to more credibility that Peng Yun was related to the mastermind behind the Xu Clan''s massacre and the architect behind the current chaos on Heaven Continent. However, that was circumstantial at best.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Around three years ago, someone spotted Peng Yun, but there had been no sighting of the world merging venerable appearing from then on. There was no indication of Peng Yun killing the world merging venerable, but it was likely something had happened. Still, even if Peng Yun didn''t defeat the world merging venerable, he proved his strength by fleeing for seventeen consecutive years. As a footnote, Peng Yun had been seen interacting with a woman in the past few years. It might have been a footnote for others, but to Daoyi, she couldn''t help but question the chances of such a coincidence. Bai Weiwei. ''Should I find a chance to kill her?'' Daoyi knew that some people had no bottom line when it came to revenge. Bai Weiwei didn''t appear to have reached that point, but you never know. ''Forget. Outside of latching onto a person like the Dragon Emperor, Bai Weiwei will never be able to threaten Tianyi or the Buzhou Immortal Sect.'' There was also another consideration Daoyi considered. When Bing Huoyuan shouldered the risk of being labeled as a traitor and spoke out for Bai Weiwei, Daoyi could tell that he held a considerable amount of feelings for the girl. If she were to go out of her way to kill Bai Weiwei and it reached his ears, it might become troublesome. No secrets last forever. Daoyi waited for a more in-depth report. However, before she could receive it, the first battle between the Fu Dynasty and the Skybrush Sect was about to occur, causing Daoyi and Ling Haitang to join the battlefield to spectate. On the day of the battle, both sides were separated by an invisible wall, and the tension could be cut with a knife. The Fu Dynasty fielded an army of over a hundred thousand soldiers, each in the Qi Gathering Realm. Each squad was led by a captain at the Foundation Establishment Realm or its equivalence; they were, in turn, part of a regiment at the level of a Core Formation or Acupoint Opening Realm. At the head of each legion consisting of ten thousand soldiers was a Nascent Soul or Soul Nourishing Realm general. This still left over ninety nascent soul or soul nourishing grandmasters that weren''t part of the army. Daoyi had to be a fool to not detect the disparity of the Fu Dynasty to another country of the same rank. "Sister Jiang, why is your Fu Dynasty so powerful?" Ling Haitang also frowned. Among the remaining ninety grandmasters, only forty weren''t part of the nation. This meant that the Fu Dynasty originally had over fifty grandmaster-level experts. Her spies never reported any of this. "I don''t know." Seeing Ling Haitang''s gloomy mood, Daoyi didn''t inquire any further. Compared to the Fu Dynasty''s soldiers, the members of the Skybrush Sect were only a little more than one-fifth of the numbers. Using her unique detection method, Daoyi could sense that fifteen hundred of the members were at the peak Foundation Establishment or Body Transformation Realm, while the other five thousand were in the Core Formation Realm. Not just that, they had fifty grandmaster-level experts, but Daoyi didn''t detect any venerables. Daoyi looked at the Fu Dynasty. Aside from the hundred or so core formation or acupoint opening masters in the army, nine hundred masters were standing at the side. Compared to the Skybrush Sect, the distribution of experts was lopsided. Still, the Skybrush Sect''s experts obviously exceeded the norm, just like the Fu Dynasty. Daoyi even had a thought that perhaps both sides were being influenced by some shadowy hands behind the scenes. Both sides began dismissing the other side in sonorous shouts. As both forces were longtime enemies and had hatred as deep as a blood sea, their insults were quite creative. Even Daoyi, a reincarnator from Earth, had to raise an eyebrow at many of them. Once the trash talking was over, both sides began to unleash their war formations. War formations were large-scale formations that primarily relied on cultivators instead of treasures or physical locations as anchors. They were designed to pool the qi of a number of weaker cultivators into a single unit that could compare to experts at a higher realm. At once, the number of cultivators on drastically reduced. Instead, numerous colossals appeared. On the Skybrush Sect''s side, a variety of titans of hundreds of meters tall, ranging from a large humanoid with a gigantic brush in hand to a ball with eight hands, each holding a brush. The Fu Dynasty''s side was much more homogenous. Titans clad in armor wielding a spear or sword in hand erupted and became like pillars of heaven. Based on numbers alone, the Skybrush Sect had more than ten times the number of war formation units, but the aura each side gave off was equal. On the Skybrush Sect''s side, only one war formation, the giant holding a brush, gave off the pressure near a unity venerable while the rest ranged from the early Nascent Soul Realm to the peak Nascent Soul Realm. In contrast, all ten war formation warriors on the Fu Dynasty side exuded an air of an unity venerable. Each one stood in line and moved as a single unit like real mortal soldiers, increasing the pressure they exuded. Ling Haitang''s face darkened to the extreme. "How could the Fu Dynasty attain such a war formation. Sister Jiang, do you recognize the war formation?" Daoyi shook her head. She estimated her chances of defeating one. It would take her a long time, and she would only be able to succeed by slowly influencing the souls of the cultivators inside. If she faced three or more, defeat was inevitable. War Formations were unique in that they created an outer shell that dispersed the attack and spread the burden on the numerous cultivators within. Generally, unless the enemy could pierce the shell in one attack, war formations would win. The war formations of both forces clashed in an epic battle. Each swing created hurricanes, and each step brought earthquakes to the surrounding land. If a core formation or acupoint master were to be struck, they would be fatally injured if not dead. Even grandmaster-level combatants had to be careful not to be struck. As the battle raged, the Skybrush Sect tried to use their numerical advantage to overwhelm the Fu Dynasty, but the tight cooperation prevented the Skybrush Sect from getting any cheap shots. Eventually, the Fu Dynasty destroyed five of the Skybrush Sect''s war formations, causing countless deaths. This marked the end of the battle on the first day. The routine continued on the second day, third day, fourth day, and so on. This continued on until only about seventy formations were left on the Skybrush Sect''s side. Just as it seemed that the Fu Dynasty would keep increasing its advantages, a giant formation suddenly covered the battlefield. Caught off guard, two of the Fu Dynasty''s war formations were broken and the soldiers inside slain. Had it not been for the intervention of a squad of grandmasters, even more war formations would have been destroyed. From then on, the battle shifted from the focus between the war formations to the two competing to attacking and defending the battlefield-sized formation. The Fu Dynasty wanted to tear it down, as the longer it existed, the greater their disadvantage, while the Skybrush Sect, who set up the formation, wanted to keep it functioning. Despite the numerical superiority, there was a noticeable quality difference between the grandmasters of the Fu Dynasty and Skybrush Sect. On average, a Skybrush Sect grandmaster was worth two Fu Dynasty grandmasters. Fu Xiuyi had requested for Ling Haitang and Daoyi to intervene, but the two refused. A few sour words were exchanged between the Ling sisters, but Daoyi ignored it. Left with no choice, it seemed that Ling Lihua would have to intervene before the situation became irrevocable. It was an action that Fu Xiuyi hadn''t wanted to take as it would be the equivalent of giving the Skybrush Sect the reigns to control the initiative of the battle. Well, more than they already had, anyways. There was a greater underlying motive of not knowing the enemy''s trump card. However, just as Ling Lihua was about to take action, the battle to destroy the battlefield formation changed. One grandmaster was slaying the Skybrush Sect''s grandmasters at a rapid pace, directly altering the tempo of the battle. Who else could it be but Peng Yun? Chapter 221: Jiangshi It was amazing how one person could turn the tide of war. It was also very shocking that one person could alter the tides of war. Wars were not battles of glory and valor. They were grinding mechanisms designed for one side to destroy another side''s human resources. However, all rationality and logic were destroyed with the addition of Peng Yun''s participation. It was akin to the straw that broke the camel''s back. Daoyi watched with complicated feelings as the Skybrush Sect was being systematically overwhelmed. She knew that personal strength in the Huang Realm could reach an absurd degree¡ªjust look at Tianyi¡ªbut she had never personally witnessed a battle with the addition of such a factor. Since entering the Buzhou Immortal Sect, she had been surrounded and interacted only with elites. Even if the top disciples weren''t as strong as Tianyi, their numbers would rarely reach the level of an army, so she never witnessed such a scene. Not to mention, few dared to challenge the hegemony of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. "Life is so fragile," Daoyi said with a sigh. She recalled the days during the apocalypse. A single death was catastrophic, but once it reached the millions or even thousands, it was just a number. In the Huang Realm, it seemed that the most worthless thing was life. "Is this your first time witnessing such as battle?" Ling Haitang asked. Daoyi nodded. "This is a war between cultivators. Compared to this, the number of deaths in mortal wars is more than a hundred times higher. They may be smaller in scale, but the frequency is something that this war can''t compare." Ling Haitang said. "Still, the Skybrush Sect is so useless. Ling Lihua didn''t even take action yet, and they are already crumbling. It seems that the mastermind behind the chaos is too worthless." Just as Ling Haitang said those words, a change occurred on the battlefield. From the Skybrush Sect, a powerful demonic qi emerged. Unlike the demonic qi Daoyi felt in the Demon Cage Realm, this qi was subdued and stagnant, like rotten water. The demon had abruptly appeared in the midst of the Skybrush Sect''s core area, but none of the leaders were shocked. The demon had a simian body, the claws of a tiger, a snake''s tail, and the face of a human. Its limbs, ankles, and neck were sealed by black shackles made of unknown metal glowing with strange symbols. "I never expected them to have a demon and a venerable-level one at that. But why does its state seem so strange?" Ling Haitang''s eyes took on a confused note as she studied the shackled demon. Daoyi''s eyes turned serious as she studied the strange demon. She wasn''t just using her eyes to observe but her soul. "That''s a corpse." "That''s a corpse?" Ling Haitang said in surprise. "How can a mere Skybrush Sect attain a venerable-level demon''s corpse, much less control it?" It was true that the Skybrush Sect was too weak to attain such a powerful corpse, but what was more concerning was where the corpse came from. Demons hardly appeared in the Huang Realm after the Human-Divine Beast War. The only demons above the venerable level were all spiritual beasts owned by powerful cultivators. Even in the demon cage realm, venerable level demons were rare. This brought the question of who the mastermind exactly was. They must have a deep background to be able to gift such a powerful demonic corpse. "Why have they brought a corpse out, and why is its qi still so potent?" Ling Haitang asked. When a soul disappeared from the body, the qi would also start to evaporate. Of course, this depended on the power of the flesh. Some powerful immortal monarch''s bodies were full of qi even after a hundred thousand years. Daoyi''s expression suddenly changed as the demon began to move. Its movements were stiff and jumpy, almost the point of being comical, but there was a horrifying pressure that was emitted. She faintly felt the fluctuations of an incomplete soul. "It''s a jiangshi!" "Jiangshi?" Ling Haitang''s expression became severe. "Did the Nihility Sect betray us?" Jiangshi''s were corpses that were treated with unique methods in order to give them combat abilities. The users of jiangshis were known as corpse controllers, and the materials used to create jiangshis were the corpses of powerful experts. A soul is composed of three parts soul and seven parts spirit. To create a jiangshi, the corpse controller will divide a complete soul and use the incomplete soul to animate the corpse. Depending on the grade and splitting of the soul, jiangshi can be split into several grades. Their grades were white-haired, black-haired, jumping, flying, plague, and devil. For a corpse controller, the highest level of jiangshi they can control is the plague grade because once a jiangshi becomes a devil grade, it would automatically regain its free will. A devil-grade jiangshi resembles devils in the aspect that they are agglomerations of a living being''s negative emotions. However, unlike a pure devil, since a jiangshi were created from incomplete souls, they weren''t beings of pure malice. Still, the act of creating a jiangshi was seen as an immoral act, so most cultivators would exterminate any sect or force that had corpse controllers. As a result, the lineage of corpse controllers was extremely sparse, and acupoint opening master level jianshis were extremely rare. The only exception was the Nihility Sect. The outside world had rumors that the Nihility Sect controlled immortal level corpses, but disciples like Daoyi and Ling Haitang knew this was a fact. So for a venerable level jiangshi to appear was very concerning. "We should report it to the sect." Ling Haitang nodded. Using their communication talisman, both of them sent the qi signature, appearance, and all relevant information back. "Should we take action?" Daoyi asked. Ling Haitang observed the situation before shaking her head. She didn''t know what sort of technique Peng Yun used, but he was able to stall the venerable level jiangshi. Because of this, the situation hadn''t been completely overturned, but it was evident that Peng Yun was struggling. Without Peng Yun''s aid, the Fu Dynasty''s army was increasingly disadvantaged. "No," Ling Haitang heartlessly said. "If the situation really reaches the point of no return, we can interfere then. But before that, we should allow the Fu Dynasty to act as canaries for us."The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Daoyi gave a wry smile. She didn''t reject Ling Haitang''s proposal since it was beneficial for her too. The situation continued for another month, and by then, the Fu Dynasty''s army was reduced by nearly forty percent. All of the Fu Dynasty''s reserve experts had already been sent out, but that wasn''t enough as the Skybrush Sect had a second venerable level jiangshi. Thankfully for the Fu Dynasty, the quality and strength were slightly poorer, and ten grandmasters could fight it to a standstill. Daoyi shook her head. Somehow, fifty grandmaster experts were worth less than one Peng Yun. If the Fu Dynasty won the war, Fu Xiuyi would use all his efforts to win over Peng Yun, maybe even titling him a king like how the Xi Emperor titled her a princess of the second rank. Still, that was only if the Fu Dynasty defeated the Skybrush Sect. How can Fu Xiuyi title Peng Yun a king if he was no longer the country''s ruler? It was precisely this situation that Ling Haitang wanted to see. "Sister, I know you and I have disagreements, but you are also a citizen of the Fu Dynasty. How can you watch our homeland be destroyed?" Ling Lihua asked, begging Ling Haitang. It seemed that Fu Xiuyi could no longer keep his calm and tasked Ling Lihua to play the sisters card. Although Ling Haitang and Daoyi were both nascent soul grandmasters, their masters were immortals. How could their master not prepare any means for them to deal with venerables? Ling Haitang sneered. "Oh, now you recall that we are sisters. However, it is too late." "Sister!" Ling Lihua cried out her heart unwilling, but recalling Fu Xiuyi''s pained expression, she steeled her heart. "As long as you can help the Fu Dynasty, I promise that I will leave and never return!" Ling Haitang''s sneered deepened. "Such good calculations. Discarding a useless tool for a better one. Tell me, Lihua, what did that man do to you for you to willingly sacrifice yourself to this extent?" "Haitang! You can besmirch me, but you can''t slander his majesty!" Ling Lihua yelled out. "Besides, as a woman, I am very willing to sacrifice myself. It is both my honor and duty." At this, even Daoyi had a strange gaze at Ling Lihua. Was this woman for real? "Enough, no wonder you had to count on a Unity Pill to enter the Unity Realm. Your talent is greater than mine, but your willpower is so poor. Let me guess. You cultivate for that scum and not yourself, isn''t that right?" Ling Haitang mocked, the disdain evident in both her tone and eyes. "Ling! Hai! Tang!" Ling Lihua said as thoughts of teaching her sister a lesson entered her mind. Ling Haitang waved her hand, not fearful of Ling Lihua''s strength at all. "Enough, tell Fu Xiuyi that I won''t take action. Don''t think I don''t know about the formations and trump card in the capital." "We have a trump card hidden in the capital?" Ling Lihua repeated in disbelief. Ling Haitang gave a pitying look towards Ling Lihua. Compared to when Ling Lihua hadn''t married the emperor, she wasn''t so dull or stupid. At the very least, their father did everything to support her and not treat her as a pure tool. Ling Lihua only reluctantly left after Ling Haitang threatened to attack Fu Xiuyi. After that, Daoyi asked, "What is the trump card in the capital?" Ling Haitang had no desire to conceal the secrets of the Fu Dynasty and told Daoyi directly. "I''m not sure, but it should be a puppet or a formation that can unleash the power of an immortal for a short time." Daoyi''s eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Where would the Fu Dynasty get such a treasure?" "I don''t know, but it should be less than fifty or so years ago." Ling Haitang said. Since then, both of them continued to observe the war with no intention of intervening at all.
Peng Yun gasped as he swallowed a pill, and an hour later, a breath full of death qi was exhaled. Only then did the nasty gash on his torso heal. Even with his martial body, a single casual strike from the jiangshis was enough to cause him serious injury. As reanimated corpses, jiangshis were filled with death qi, yin energy that was harmful to those full of yang energy, aka the living. Furthermore, jiangshis absorbed yang energy to grow stronger, so a strong spiritual and martial cultivator like Peng Yun was the perfect source of food for them. "Big Brother Peng, are you okay?" Bai Weiwei asked with worry at the side. "Don''t fight anymore. Let''s just leave. You aren''t their soldier. Why should you have to sacrifice so much for them?" Peng Yun smiled. In truth, he felt that it was a perfect place to cultivate. He feels that as long as he grasped the right opportunity, he would make a breakthrough and enter Crystal Nascent Soul Stage. However, he didn''t want to break the image he had cultivated in front of Bai Weiwei. "How can I do such a cowardly thing. I already promised to help the Fu Dynasty, and I don''t want to go back on word. Plus, I feel that those Skybrush Sect people aren''t good. If we leave them, they might cause more chaos in the Heaven Continent." Peng Yun righteously said. "Big Brother Peng," Bai Weiwei said as she felt her heartbeat increase. After the incident with Tianyi, Peng Yun''s vow of keeping his words moved her heart. Seeing Bai Weiwei''s awed look, Peng Yun felt embarrassed and quickly found a reason to excuse himself.
Name: Peng Yun Law/Concepts: Space Concept, Explosion Concept, Blaze Concept, Frost Concept, Accumulation Concept, Gust Concept, Shatter Concept, Wealth Concept, Whirlwind Concept Cultivation: Glass Nascent Soul Realm, Fleshly Soul Nourishing Realm Cultivation Method: Chaos Heavenly Scripture (Incomplete), Kunpeng Divine Transformation (Incomplete) Physique: Twelve Heaven Meridians (Intermediate Rank) Spiritual Vein: Dao Chaos Spiritual Vein (Intermediate), Perfect Fire Spiritual Vein, Perfect Water Spiritual Vein, Perfect Earth Spiritual Vein, Perfect Wood Spiritual Vein, Perfect Metal Spiritual Vein Soul: Flawless Soul Comprehension: High Inheritance: Dragon Emperor''s Inheritance (Incomplete), Divinelight Inheritance, Fivelotus Lord''s Inheritance, Caisheng''s Inheritance, Houtu''s Inheritance, etc Inventory: Spiritual Vein Upgrading Elixir (1), Random Item Box (1), Soulpiercing Awl Talisman Wealth: 1,265,546 SP
There was another reason that Peng Yun didn''t mention to Bai Weiwei, and that was the treasures he got from the war. For a mere unranked sect, they sure had a lot of treasures. Peng Yun originally planned to save his points up, but now it seemed that he needed to increase his lifesaving abilities. "System, upgrade my physique." Peng Yun ordered. "[One million system points required. Proceed to upgrade?]" The system asked. Peng Yun cursed the greedy system for ten straight minutes but complied in the end. Immediately, he felt a boiling heat spread throughout his body. It was as if lava had replaced his blood, but at the same time, there was a minty coolness that was extremely refreshing. When the upgrade was done, Peng Yun felt the shackles preventing him from entering the mid Soul Nourishing Realm slacken.
Name: Peng Yun Law/Concepts: Space Concept, Explosion Concept, Blaze Concept, Frost Concept, Accumulation Concept, Gust Concept, Shatter Concept, Wealth Concept, Whirlwind Concept Cultivation: Glass Nascent Soul Realm, Fleshly Soul Nourishing Realm Cultivation Method: Chaos Heavenly Scripture (Incomplete), Kunpeng Divine Transformation (Incomplete) Physique: Twelve Heaven Meridians (High Rank) Spiritual Vein: Dao Chaos Spiritual Vein (Intermediate), Perfect Fire Spiritual Vein, Perfect Water Spiritual Vein, Perfect Earth Spiritual Vein, Perfect Wood Spiritual Vein, Perfect Metal Spiritual Vein Soul: Flawless Soul Comprehension: High Inheritance: Dragon Emperor''s Inheritance (Incomplete), Divinelight Inheritance, Fivelotus Lord''s Inheritance, Caisheng''s Inheritance, Houtu''s Inheritance, etc Inventory: Spiritual Vein Upgrading Elixir (1), Random Item Box (1), Soulpiercing Awl Talisman Wealth: 265,546 SP
"System, how much would it be to upgrade my martial cultivation by a stage?" Peng Yun asked. "[Two hundred thousand system points.]" Peng Yun inhaled and exhaled slowly ten times and got his temper under control. "What about two stages?" "[Five hundred thousand system points.]" "So cheap?" Peng Yun expected the system to fleece him by saying one million or something. Why was upgrading his cultivation so much cheaper than upgrading his physique or spiritual veins? "What about spiritual cultivation?" "[Two million system points.]" Peng Yun frowned. Perhaps it was related to his talents, such as spiritual vein or physique. If he had a perfect Twelve Heavens Physique, the price might be much higher. After long consideration, Peng Yun ultimately decided not to take a shortcut. Things others give you are ultimately not as good as things obtained by yourself. Chapter 222: Blood Sacrifice Ritual + Illustration
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Chapter 224: Great Detacher of Emotions
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Chapter 225: A Pitiful Person has Hateful Points This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Happy Lunar New Year! This isn''t a chapter announcement, but just my greetings for the Lunar New Year. Accompanying that is this amazing illustration from FuyuDust! Coincidently, Allanther''s An Old Man''s Journey will be up on sale on audible today, so I decided to give a shoutout. Just click on the image below to go there. At the end of his life, Charles was left with one question: What was it all for? After his tour of duty and an unremarkable post-Army business career, Charles spent his twilight years watching old movies and waiting for his grandkids to call. He''d lived a good life and been a decent man, but now that his wife was gone, he was...lonely.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Until his old friend Bert introduced him to Crossroads, the new VR sensation. In this virtual world he can move without pain, explore new lands, and most importantly - see his family again. For as long as he can hold their interest, in this fast-paced modern world of instant gratification and VR thrills. The solution: Build a place his family wants to visit. Armed only with a magic stick with game-breaking powers that should be nerfed, Charles sets out on a journey to find a place to call his own. Along the way, he will be mistaken for an NPC quest giver, become the antagonist in epic questlines, and attempt to teach the next generation proper behavior - even if he has to beat it into them. This is the story of one man''s search for belonging in his second virtual life. A search for a place to belong, and what it takes to get there. It''s also a hilarious romp through online fantasy clich¨¦s that will appeal to fans of Ready Player One, The Wandering Inn, and slice-of-life comedies. Because at the end of a man''s life, what''s more important than family? Chapter 226: The Third Eye Opens The Fu Dynasty triumphed over the Skybrush Sect, but at a heavy price. Their sole venerable, Empress Ling Lihua, died to deliver the critical blow to the Skybrush Sect''s jiangshi and top echelons. Their emperor committed suicide in grief after the empress sacrificed herself, not naming a successor at all. Their emperor, Fu Xiuyi, had no children despite sitting on the dragon throne for over a hundred years. It was not that no officials had requested the emperor to take more concubines since none of his consorts, including Ling Lihua, had children, but the emperor refused on the point that the empress had yet to conceive the first crown prince. When Ling Lihua had heard Fu Xiuyi say those words, no language could describe her happiness since that meant that her husband, the mighty emperor wanted her to conceive their first child. Yet, she purposely overlooked the fact that he never touched her, so how could she conceive a child unless she gave the emperor a green hat? Fu Xiuyi simply did not want to take concubines and used Ling Lihua as a shield, yet she became happy for over a year because of his deceitful tactics. Because of Fu Xiuyi''s decree, the Fu Dynasty was thrown into chaos with no ruler. A country could not be without a ruler for a day. It was not that there was no official with the thought of renaming the Fu in the Fu Dynasty with their surname. The truth of the matter was that many mechanisms, such as the Dynasty Barrier Formation, could only be controlled by those who inherited the Fu bloodline, not to mention that a Ling Haitang was eyeing them closely. There was one person who tried to sit upon that throne, and that man was Duke Ling. If he had Ling Haitang''s support, becoming the new emperor was but a simple task. When Duke Ling mentioned the plan to Ling Haitang, she directly laughed at his face causing him to turn red from shame and anger. "Father, you''re still as blind as before. What does a mere emperor count as once you have enough strength? Look at all the immortals in the world. Each one can become an emperor if they choose to, yet few do. Why do you think so?" Ling Haitang had asked before leaving without waiting for an answer. Once one''s strength reached a certain point, he could rule the whole world if he wanted to. The Dragon Emperor tried to do so, but he was stopped before he could reach that level of strength. Fu Xiuyi had killed his brothers, uncles, nephews, and even sisters to claim the dragon throne. As a result, the Fu Imperial Family was lacking in numbers. In the end, the hundred officials could only name the daughter of a princess as the next emperor. Even though the selection of the next emperor had been solved, there were still hundreds of problems that had to be taken care of. The majority of the army had been wiped out, and there were numerous forces eyeing the weakened lion that was the Fu Dynasty. There was no other way to describe the issue as nation shaking. The Fu Dynasty could only shed off the border territories in order to protect the heartland with their remaining army. This solution was like drinking poison to quench their thirst. With the decreased amount of land, the overall recovery and potential of the nation would be lowered. It was likely that they would eventually weaken to the point that the surrounding forces could divide their empire without much effort, but what other choices did they have? Unless they could seek external aid. At this point, all eyes turned to Ling Haitang and Daoyi. However, Ling Haitang heartlessly rejected them all. Most left, but those that scorned and openly condemned her for being a heartless woman that didn''t even care about her birth country were beaten half-dead. That was over a week ago. "Sister Ling, do you know who Ling Kang is?" Daoyi suddenly asked as she and Ling Haitang flew away from the Fu Dynasty. Ling Haitang stared at the distance where the Fu Dynasty''s capital had already disappeared. She had been doing so for the past few hours. "I''m sorry, what did you say?" For Ling Haitang, this was the last time she would come back. She should have left gloriously after stomping the cheating couple''s faces into the dirt, yet reality did not conform to her expectation. Ling Lihua died, causing her to feel a sense of numbness, and Fu Xiuyi committed suicide without giving her a chance to enact her plans. All of this caused her to feel a sense of emptiness. There was no exhilaration at that scumbag''s death, only numbness. Perhaps it was because Fu Xiuyi really did love Ling Lihua despite all his actions. Otherwise, such a selfish man would not commit suicide. Still, Ling Haitang thought suicide was not in line with Fu Xiuyi''s style. All of his previous actions showed that he did not care about her half-sister. Maybe Ling Lihua''s death made Fu Xiuyi realize his true heart? Ling Haitang gave a scornful smile. Ling Haitang shook her head. Whatever, the two people who caused the most pain to her were dead, and now, she could wholeheartedly devote her heart to cultivation and overcoming her Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. If there was still one link that made Ling Haitang worried, it would be her mother. She had asked her mother to leave and live with her. Although she would not be able to live in Flowers Peak of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, Ling Haitang had no problem purchasing an estate in one of the satellite cities near the sect. Her mother would be able to live without Duke Ling''s oppression, but her stupid mother chose to reject Ling Haitang''s consideration. Furthermore, her mother asked Ling Haitang to make Duke Ling the emperor after she had already rejected the man. It was at that moment that Ling Haitang realized the truth. It was a fact that her mother loved her, but it was also true that her mother was nothing more than an extension of Duke Ling''s will, albeit one with her own emotions. But what did that matter? A tool would never be able to disobey the user. Ling Haitang couldn''t be said to be disappointed. Perhaps she already knew, and the numbness from Fu Xiuyi and Ling Lihua''s death caused her to open her eyes. Whatever the reason, Ling Haitang decided to let her mother live out the rest of her life as she wished. Who knows, perhaps her father really did care for her mother, as Fu Xiuyi did for Ling Lihua.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. After Daoyi repeated her question, Ling Haitang gave Daoyi a strange look but still answered her question. "Fu Kang is my brother from the same mother. You shouldn''t have met him because he grew up with Fu Xiuyi and usually stays in the palace. Normally, no men are allowed to stay the night in the palace, but he grew up as Fu Xiuyi''s study partner, so he was given special privileges. Why?" Daoyi had to use all her self-control to prevent herself from shouting out that Fu Xiuyi was cut-sleeve, aka he was homosexual for Ling Haitang''s brother. No wonder he could treat Ling Haitang and Ling Lihua so ruthlessly. Ling Haitang''s face darkened as she thought of something. "Was it my father? Did he want Ling Kang to near you in order to seduce you? It seems I should have beaten him half to death before leaving." Daoyi shook her head and said no. She explained that someone said that name, and she grew curious if Ling Haitang was related since they shared the same surname. As for who said it, Daoyi said she couldn''t remember. After processing the information, Daoyi shook her head. ''He''s a dead man. A man whom I no longer need to consider. The one I should contemplate is this mysterious Great Detacher of Emotions." Daoyi thought. She made up her mind to ask her master, Xi Mengfei, when she returned to the Buzhou Immortal Sect, but before that, Daoyi planned on going to the Xi Dynasty. Although her mother''s remains had been brought to Jade Peak, the Jiang Ducal Estate still had her mother''s tombstone erected in the family tomb. She had lived the first fifteen years of her life in that place. Even if it was a place of nightmares, she still had some fond memories. Daoyi decided to report to her mother there before reporting her mother''s second grave in the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Daoyi asked Ling Haitang if she wanted to visit her home country with such a plan in mind. Ling Haitang rejected Daoyi''s offer as she wanted to return to Flowers Peak and sort out through her chaotic mind. Daoyi nodded, and the two went on their separate way when their roads diverged.
The surrounding was devoid of colors, matter, and all life except one. In this void sat a man in his late teens. He wore a gold coronet and purple robes of exceptional quality, but those only enhanced the man''s features. His face was handsome, but what was truly eye-catching were those pair of bedeviling eyes. Even closed, they enhanced his handsome face by threefolds. If his face was an eight out of ten, now it was twenty-four out of ten, and his eyes were a hundred out of ten. However, everything paled in comparison to the red dot on the man''s forehead. The red dot shimmered like the sun, and two flame-like marks extended, one going up and the other going down. While training in the space prepared for him by his mother, Tianyi suddenly had a breakthrough in his Truth-Seeking Eye. At this moment, Tianyi also felt a change in his Three Pure True Self Visualization space. Hardly anything had changed. The emperor, lotus, and eight spheres orbiting one sphere still existed. If there were one change, that would be the aura of the three figures. The emperor was more life-like with no stone-like qualities, the nine spheres were like the solar system with eight planets revolving around one sun, and the lotus exuded an entrancing aura. The space also changed. Compared to before, the chaotic grey clouds and taken on an almost black tint with countless glittering motes of light. Tianyi could no longer discern any distance, only the endless void. The scene felt familiar, but he could not pinpoint why. None of that mattered as the black primordial clouds began to rumble as the same mark appeared on the emperor''s forehead. A slit slowly appeared on the emperor''s head and opened, causing the red marks to be hidden by the folds. When the third opened, Tianyi felt his view of the world change. It was not a figurative change but a literal one. The space where his three selves resided was actually full of tribulation essence. Tianyi knew that this tribulation essence wasn''t created by him but resulted from the Heavenly Dao''s infiltration. A cold sweat covered Tianyi''s back. He finally knew why his memories were slowly being erased, and it was lucky that he stopped cultivating the Three Pure True Self Visualization Technique. It was true that the Three Pure True Self Visualization Technique was a great aid to him. Although the benefits weren''t obvious, the foundation of all life was the soul, and the technique strengthened his soul. Tianyi could say that it was thanks to the Three Pure True Self Visualization Technique that he could cultivate so fast. Still, the technique left a significant vulnerability to him. After some more observation, Tianyi noticed that the tribulation essence was like rootless trees. Although it existed, it could no longer replenish itself and was like an army without a commander, a bunch of sitting ducks waiting to be harvested. Tianyi pondered the matter. If the tribulation essence was without foundation, then it couldn''t have encroached into his mind so deeply. Something must have cut off the link. His eyes brightened as he thought of the reason. "It must be because I entered the Singularity Realm. Right now, I''m cut off from heaven and earth. If my physical body weren''t anchoring me, I would be like living in another dimension. This also means that the Heavenly Dao could no longer sense me." As soon as Tianyi said those words, another thought occurred to him. "Dammit, the Heavenly Dao has been eyeing me since I started cultivating! Thinking back, when I absorbed the tribulation lightning, could the tribulation essence have infiltrated this space?" The cold sweat on Tianyi''s back increased even more. Making up his mind, Tianyi tried to absorb and convert the tribulation essence within his unique space. After some trouble, he discovered that although it was slow and troublesome, it was still doable. If it were before, Tianyi would not be able to accomplish this, but it was possible thanks to his unique Singularity Realm. His dantian was currently like a black hole that could absorb everything, be it qi, tribulation essence, lightning, immortal qi, and even pure energy. ''Thankfully, I opened my Truth-Seeking Eye and saw the hidden danger. Otherwise, once I started my Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation, who knows what would have happened with this tribulation essence in my mind.'' Tianyi thought. The process was excruciatingly slow, but Tianyi gritted his teeth and persevered like never before. When it came to matters that concerned one''s life and death, not to mention Tianyi, anyone would pay special attention. Finally, all the foreign tribulation essence was absorbed, but Tianyi still felt a hint of danger. After some more observation, Tianyi saw no traces of the Heavenly Dao''s secret maneuver, but he still couldn''t help but question if he had gotten rid of all danger. In light of the danger, Tianyi might have asked his mother to scan him and see any foreign influence, but now it was impossible. In the past, Tianyi was afraid of Mengfei scanning his soul and learning that he was a reincarnator by accident, so he didn''t dare to do so, but now he was regretting it. After regretting it for a bit, Tianyi pumped himself up and exited the Three Pure True Self Visualization space. Outside, his body reflected the change of the emperor inside his space and also opened its third eye. With the third eye opened, Tianyi could see the exit to the void space he was trapped, but he didn''t make a move to leave. Mengfei had purposely trapped Tianyi in this space. The condition to leave was that Tianyi had to comprehend even spacetime concepts or at least a good portion of the Law of Space. His third eye was like a cheat that directly allowed him to leave, but that would defeat the purpose of the whole exercise, so Tianyi didn''t leave. His pride wouldn''t allow him to do so. Tianyi''s third eye closed, and the red dot surrounded by two flame-like marks returned. He frowned as he felt like his sight had dramatically lessened. To make a comparison, it was like Tianyi had taken off his glasses, and the world lost all color and turned blurry. Gritting his teeth, Tianyi prevented himself from opening his third eye. Still, he had a question. Supposedly, only an immortal could open the Truth-Seeking Eye, but Tianyi had yet to become an immortal, so why could he open it? Pushing the question in the back, Tianyi earnestly cultivated and tripled his previous effort. Right now, he felt as if some unseen beast was staring ravenously at him, able to attack him at any moment. With his efforts, Tianyi soon discovered the exit. Chapter 227: Unaffected by External Influences If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Chapter 228: Learning Concepts as Easy as Drinking Water "And then, his hair turned all spiky and yellow!" Ba Shifang recounted as he frantically waved his hand to express the shock he had when experienced during the spar while Tianyi was in secluded cultivation. "And then you got punched in the nose by Zi Zun." Tianyi finished for his lab rat, ahem, his third clone. Said lab rat showed a shocked face at Tianyi, knowing that little fact. It wasn''t his fault that his opponent suddenly did something so outrageously that made him lower his guard, okay? "How did you know?" "Su Bojing already reported to me," Tianyi directly sold his only follower without hesitation. "That bastard," Ba Shifang muttered. "It looks like I have to teach him a lesson." Although Ba Shifang was in the early Core Formation Realm, he would soon enter the mid Core Formation Realm. The monstrous power of the sixth grade of the Nine-Five Scripture, the Eight Symbolic Cores, Four Direction Souls, allowed him to possess the power of a nascent soul grandmaster in his current realm. Including the numerous treasures and resources, it was not unlikely for him to beat Su Bojing. If Tianyi heard this, he pretended not to. Instead, he held his chin with his fingers and said, "Zi Zun, he''s very interesting. Do you know if he has a master?" The thought of accepting a disciple formed in his heart. For now, he would unlikely advance in a short time, so taking a disciple to pass the time would be good as well. Not to mention that he could deepen his comprehension with teaching. It took great wisdom to pass down knowledge and make it understandable to those who are not learned. "He''s already taken on a master." At this time, Su Bojing walked in from the errand Tianyi sent him on. "Oh, do you know who his master is?" Tianyi asked. He had confidence that if Zi Zun''s master was an earth immortal or transcending mortality sage that he could take him as a disciple too. "Although I am unsure of the specifics, his master should be a retired member of the Brocade Immortals." Hearing Su Bojing''s reply, Tianyi lost interest. "Speaking of which, the sect''s disciple acceptance ceremony should be occurring soon. Should I accept a disciple then?" Two months later, before the disciple acceptance ceremony even began, Tianyi''s dilemma would be solved by Mengfei. That day, Tianyi entered his mother''s chamber upon her summon. "Yi''er, I heard that you are interested in taking a disciple." Mengfei directly went to the point. Tianyi wasn''t surprised by his mother''s knowledge since he had been inquiring about the details for the past few weeks. "That''s right. Teaching a disciple is also good. This way, I can reinforce my comprehension of the laws and concepts." Mengfei nodded. "It is also beneficial for your Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation." Tianyi raised an eyebrow, wondering what Mengfei meant by those words. Before he could ask, Mengfei already continued speaking. "At the western borders of the Central Region, at the cusp of the borders of the Anti-Heaven Alliance, there is a boy named Qi Xiao. If you want to accept a disciple, take him." Mengfei majored in the Law of Heaven, Earth, and Man. As such, she was capable of detecting the principles of causality. According to her calculations, Qi Xiao was a man born with great luck and talent. If Tianyi accepted such a disciple, his heavenly tribulation would be smoother. Tianyi immediately set off the next day. Mengfei''s words greatly stimulated his expectations. If she wanted to, it was likely possible that his mother could take in a horde of disciples, with a good percentage of them attaining immortalities within a few thousand years. Along for the journey was Su Bojing. Since Tianyi could not control the immortal boat, this duty fell to Su Bojing. The second person was Tianyi''s third clone, Ba Shifang. He didn''t come out for tempering. Rather he was just Tianyi''s porter since Tianyi didn''t want Su Bojing to carry most of his treasures. Due to Su Bojing purposely leaking his aura, few dared to trouble the immortal boat Tianyi traveled on. Although it wasn''t good as his personal one lent to Daoyi, it was still much better than most immortal boats. Still, along the way, there were some venerables and grandmasters who perceived the extraordinariness of the immortal boat that wanted to attack, but they were all solved by Tianyi. For grandmasters, Tianyi could directly launch an air cannon from his punch to kill them. As for venerables, it would take a few more strikes, and under Tianyi''s oppressive might, their body would be heavily injured, but it was not easy killing a venerable based on physical prowess alone, so those venerables all escaped. Thanks to this, Tianyi''s name once again resounded from through the central continent. As the child of the publically acclaimed number one expert, Tianyi''s growth has always been a focus of many forces. Before, there were rumors that he had already entered the Unity or World Merging Realm, but now it was all but confirmed. In fact, some even suspected that Tianyi was in a unique state between mortal and immortal, a half-immortal. Otherwise, how could his physical prowess be so terrifying as to defeat venerables just by punching the air?The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
The borders between the territories under the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s influence and the Anti-Heaven Alliance were rife with conflict. Although it couldn''t be said to be outright war, it was easily the number one chaotic region before the wars at the border occurred. Thanks to this, most of the cultivators residing there were loose cultivators as it was not stable enough to build a sect on the lands where the Buzhou Immortal Sect and their vassal sects would fight the Anti-Heaven Alliance. This also resulted in the loose cultivators being especially adept at combat. Their cultivation might not be high or profound, but their fighting abilities were top-notch. Still, there would be times of relative peace which allowed the creation of towns and cities. Most of the time, they would be destroyed within ten thousand years, but this was already considered a very long period for the short-lived mortals. Qi Xiao was such a mortal who lived in Greenvase City. He was originally a country bumpkin who lived in a village, but his mother happened to be fancied by a city dweller and was taken into the city. After his mother married his stepfather, good days came, but they did not last long. Not long after, his mother died of sickness, and his stepfather began to detest Qi Xiao, a son not of his blood. Left with no other choice, Qi Xiao could only run away, or one day, he would be beaten to death by the man. Leaving with hatred, Qi Xiao made an oath of revenge against his stepfather. Qi Xiao wanted revenge, but it was not easy. His stepfather was a descendant of a soul nourishing grandmaster of Greenvase City, and Qi Xiao''s aptitude for cultivation was average at best. He tried to join many forces of the city, but he was rejected without fail. Then one day, he was caught by his stepfather''s family thugs. After beating him half to death, they dragged him outside of the city and left him for dead in the forest. But for Qi Xiao, this was finding fortune amidst misfortune. Hanging between life and death by the thinnest thread, Qi Xiao managed to survive. When he awoke, he discovered that he was the immortal grotto of a loose true immortal who fell due to the conflict between the Buzhou Immortal Sect and the Anti-Heaven Alliance. From there, Qi Xiao''s fate changed. Although his attitude remained the same, his perseverance yielded results. As long as he had enough materials, he could cultivate all the way to the acupoint opening realm. From there, although his spiritual vein still affected him, his comprehension and willpower took on greater importance. Currently, Qi Xiao was in the peak Body Transformation Realm, and he had finally returned to Greenvase City. Although his stepfather was only a qi gathering pupil, Qi Xiao knew that killing his stepfather would only bring the retaliation of his stepfather''s clan. Since that was the case, Qi Xiao decided to join one of the clan''s enemies. Tianyi listened to Qi Xiao''s story that Su Bojing had gathered. Seeing that Tianyi had no intention of appearing, Su Bojing couldn''t help but ask, "Young Master, isn''t it better to help Qi Xiao and have become grateful to you?" Tianyi waved his hand. "I only heard his report. I want to witness Qi Xiao''s character first. If I take him as my disciple, then our personalities can''t be too incompatible. If I were to discover that I dislike him, then I wouldn''t be as careful in guiding him. If that''s the case, I would rather bring him back for the disciple acceptance ceremony." "Young Master is thoughtful," Su Bojing bootlicked. Ba Shifang inwardly rolled his eyes. As a clone split from Tianyi, he couldn''t be more clear that Tianyi spoke only half the reason. The reason was that Qi Xiao''s story resembled too much of a protagonist. Tianyi didn''t want to be too hasty when interacting with a prospective ''protagonist.'' ''Speaking of which, the first protagonist I met is Yan Nie, but he and I don''t have much conflict. I wonder how he is doing. The second was Lei Jingye, but now he is in no shape to trouble me. The third should be Jiang Chunye, then the resurrected Dragon Emperor. Bai Weiwei of the Bai sisters could be included as well. Except for Yan Nie, almost all of them have a hostile relationship with me. I really fit the young master cannon fodder template, don''t I?'' Tianyi thought with a wry smile. ''What are the chances that this Qi Xiao also has enmity with me?'' Tianyi, Ba Shifang, and Su Bojing quietly watched Qi Xiao''s path. The strongest expert of Greenvase City was only at the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm, so none of the cultivators inside could detect the immortal boat that was in stealth mode. While watching Qi Xiao, Tianyi quietly cultivated. If it were before, he would have definitely been unable to settle down, but his temperament became more steady after experiencing secluded cultivation within the void space. Originally, Tianyi was most talented in lightning and thunder, but it changed with time. His nine spiritual core and five nascent souls represented the essences that made up the world, while his cosmos was an extension of space and time. This made his talent in spacetime skyrocket to a terrifying degree. Now that he couldn''t make a breakthrough in spacetime, Tianyi began to focus on lighting and thunder concepts. A week later, Tianyi made a strange expression. ''I never thought I would master the Concept of Heat Mirage under the Law of Fire before learning any concepts under the Law of Lightning. It wasn''t just the Concept of Heat Mirage, but Tianyi also mastered the Concept of Reflection under the Law of Water, Concept of Growth under the Law of Wood, Concept of Denseness under the Law of Earth, and the Concept of Conduction under the Law of Metal. When Tianyi mastered a concept from each of the five elements, he also gained insights into the concepts under the Laws of Yin and Yang, specifically the Concept of Dimness and Concept of Radiance. A concept for each of the five elements and yin and yang, once this moment occurred, Tianyi felt the lid that had been suppressing his comprehension into spacetime loosen. Never in his life did he expect that when he diverted his attention from comprehending spacetime was the proper path. Suddenly Tianyi frowned. ''Wait, that''s not right. I can feel that the moment the suppression on my spacetime comprehension loosen, I gain more clues to the five elements and yin and yang. Rather the five elements and yin and yang composing spacetime, it feels that both these forces are the lesser parts of a greater whole.'' Once the thought occurred to Tianyi, it felt as if a dark path had lit up for him. Although he couldn''t see the end of the path, he could now see the road. ''That''s right. I shouldn''t focus solely on spacetime. I should comprehend the five elements and yin and yang too.'' Chapter 229: Randomly Picking Up a Disciple While Tianyi was still immersed in comprehending concepts, Qi Xiao walked further on his road of vengeance. As he wished, the young man of immense karmic luck joined his stepfather''s enemies and successfully disrupted many plans of his stepfather''s clan. After numerous failures, his stepfather''s clan noticed him and regarded him as a thorn in their side. The laughable matter was that when Qi Xiao appeared in front of his stepfather, the man didn''t recognize his former adopted child anymore. To further ire Qi Xiao, he saw his stepfather''s new wife standing next to him. This wasn''t the first woman the man married after Qi Xiao''s mother died but the fourth. Furthermore, the woman had a sixty percent similarity to his mother in appearance! Qi Xiao''s stepfather used to be one of the descendants with the most promise and had a childhood sweetheart, but she died tragically, causing his heart to stagnate. Now, instead of cultivating, his stepfather searched high and low for women, who looked similar to his childhood sweetheart. Once he found one, he would woo them and marry them, but there was a reason why the man married numerous times. He would not care about the woman''s origin, but after marriage, if he saw her acting incongruently with his childhood sweetheart''s character, he would fly into a rage and beat his wife. Without fail, his stepfather would eventually go overboard and kill his wife by accident. Qi Xiao''s mother was the fifth woman his stepfather married, and his current and eighth wife would not be the last. Seeing the woman who looked so much like his mother and his stepfather''s indifference caused Qi Xiao to snap and assault his stepfather. His stepfather was at the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm, but years of decadence brought his combat prowess to its lowest point. Had it not been for a foundation establishment disciple''s ability to fly on flying swords, he would have been killed by his stepson, who was at the peak of the Body Transformation Realm. Not only had Qi Xiao failed in killing his father, but he caused the force he joined to be blamed for his actions. During his rampage, he killed members of his stepfather''s clan and innocent bystanders. Naturally, the force he joined abandoned him after he caused such a disaster. But Qi Xiao didn''t think so. In his eyes, the force bent under pressure from his stepfather''s clan, causing him to look down on them. Then, on the day of judgment, Qi Xiao was sentenced to death by the Greenvase City Lord, further worsening Qi Xiao''s impression. He had thought the city lord would rebuke his stepfather''s clan, but instead, he was sentenced to death. "You''re all a bunch of trash that only knows how to bully those weaker than you!" Qi Xiao had shouted that day, causing the onlookers to hate him. Part of the reason was due to his stepfather''s clan''s purposeful propaganda. However, another reason was that Qi Xiao''s rampage really killed a large number of innocent residents, causing them to throw rotten vegetables at him on the day of the execution. Qi Xiao didn''t die. Mengfei had calculated him as a person of immense luck, and as such, many things would occur at random in his favor. Before the executioner sliced off Qi Xiao''s head, another city, Orangewood City, attacked Greenvase City, giving him a chance to escape. Su Bojing sighed in amazement. He had thought that Qi Xiao''s little life would end at that moment and was prepared to save him, but Orangewood City''s action unexpectedly saved him. "Sure enough, Grand Elder Xi''s words are correct. This Qi Xiao''s luck is a bit too good." Ba Shifang just rolled his eyes. "Shortsighted fool." He was already used to the protagonists being saved by lucky coincidences in stories. Although this was one of the few times he had seen it himself, he wasn''t surprised like Su Bojing. Su Bojing said nothing as Ba Shifang''s insult entered one ear and exited out the other. He had long gotten used to Ba Shifang''s dismissive behavior in private, unlike Tianyi''s benevolence. "Should we inform Young Master?" "Don''t bother. He won''t care about it, as long as you inform him before Qi Xiao''s Acupoint Opening Heavenly Tribulation. Once he passes it, his cultivation method will be set." What Ba Shifang didn''t say was that Tianyi would not likely accept Qi Xiao as a disciple. Tianyi wasn''t a saint, but he wouldn''t like Qi Xiao''s actions of harming innocent bystanders. ''Although it might be different if Qi Xiao was a girl. Girls are different.'' Su Bojing nodded, unknowing of Ba Shifang''s thoughts, and continued to watch Qi Xiao''s actions. As expected of a person of immense luck, during Qi Xiao''s escape, he accidentally fell into another immortal grotto. Unlike the first immortal grotto that taught him to cultivate the martial path, the second one taught him spiritual cultivation. It wasn''t just any other cultivation, but one that allowed a cultivator to use their martial cultivation as a foundation to cultivate instead of relying on a cultivator''s natural spiritual veins. Qi Xiao''s martial cultivation wasn''t the best, but it gave him far more capital in spiritual cultivation than his fractured square spiritual veins. Cultivating to the peak of the Qi Gathering Realm was a cinch for Qi Xiao, who was near the Acupoint Opening Realm, but entering the Foundation Establishment Realm from the Qi Gathering Realm was not so simple. Martial and spiritual cultivation shared many similar aspects, but they also shared many differences. Then under Su Bojing''s flabbergasted gaze, Qi Xiao had several adventurers and was even besieged by the Greenvase City cultivators who had repelled the Orangewood City''s assault. After the fourth assault, he fell into a natural immortal grotto. Unlike regular immortal grottos, natural immortal grottos were formed under unique coincidences of nature with no artificial inheritances. This natural immortal grotto existed in a crack of a particular stone known as the Qiankun Stone, and the interior was affected by the Vast Void. As such, time ran a hundred times faster inside. However, the conditions within the immortal grotto were inhospitable, and Qi Xiao couldn''t escape with his current shape. He only managed to survive relying on his defensive artifacts and abundant spiritual qi. It may seem like a crisis, but it was also an opportunity for Qi Xiao. The harsh environment forced Qi Xiao to strengthen his body. Although he couldn''t form a martial body, he was revising his body and filling up the deficiency in his martial cultivation, perfecting his foundation in five years. Compared to before, the martial body he would form now would be at least twice as strong without all the flaws. This also resulted in a breakthrough in his spiritual cultivation and linking all twelve of his meridians. Once this happened, the Foundation Establishment Heavenly Tribulation was summoned. As a result, the temporal immortal grotto was destroyed by the tribulation lightning bolt, freeing Qi Xiao. As a peak body transformation acolyte, the Foundation Establishment Heavenly Tribulation didn''t post much danger at all, and he passed successfully, becoming a Foundation Establishment Disciple and gaining the ability to refine artifacts. The first thing Qi Xiao did was refine all the artifacts he got from his inheritance. He originally planned on doing so when he entered the Acupoint Opening Realm, but he was lucky to enter the spiritual path. Once that was down, Qi Xiao continued his martial cultivation. Even if he became a dual cultivator, martial cultivation was his root, and he would not forsake it for the spiritual path.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. "A pity. If the stone had been brought back, it could have been refined into a temporal treasure. Now it''s been destroyed," Su Bojing sighed. Even Ba Shifang felt that it was a colossal waste. Subojing couldn''t sense the space inside the immortal grotto, but Ba Shifang could. He had all of Tianyi''s comprehension of spacetime concepts before the disconnection was severed. Still, this was only a minor episode as Qi Xiao slowly carried out his revenge. With the aid of his new Foundation Establishment Realm cultivation, a lot of things became simpler now that he could externalize his qi, but the things he did caused Ba Shifang to frown. "Bojing, can you tell me if Qi Xiao''s karmic luck has decreased?" Karmic luck and karmic merit were similar, but Ba Shifang''s current sensitivity to the two wasn''t as precise as Su Bojing, so he directly asked. After looking intensely at Qi Xiao to the point that the recipient felt the hairs on the back of his neck stiffen, Su Bojing finally replied. "I can''t tell." "What do you mean you can''t tell?" Ba Shifang asked incredulously. "I mean what said. Qi Xiao''s karmic luck is like the dazzling solar star. Even if the solar star dims slightly, would you be able to tell?" At Su Bojing''s question, Ba Shifang found himself at a loss. So he didn''t answer and went back to observing Qi Xiao when he wasn''t cultivating. Of the two, only Su Bojing had to constantly observe Qi Xiao so as to answer any question Tianyi had when he exited. Qi Xiao''s method of vengeance was extremely cruel. He camped near Greenvase City and would follow any groups that had members of his stepfather''s clan out. As for what he did with them, what else needed to be said? Ba Shifang and Su Bojing looked down on his actions. It was true that his stepfather abused him, but this was going overboard. In addition, Qi Xiao didn''t let go of other group members even if they weren''t part of his stepfather''s clan, killing everyone without distinction. Under his continuous actions, a bloody aura enveloped Qi Xiao. "Young Master Ba, should we inform Young Master Xi?" Ba Shifang looked at Su Bojing. "No, I can tell you right now that the main body won''t accept him as a disciple, so it doesn''t matter what he does. As for what main body plans for Qi Xiao, wait till he comes out." Neither of the two planned on saving the residents. Although they looked down on Qi Xiao''s actions, did the victims have any relationship with them? Some may say that their inaction made them guilty by association, but with how powerful Ba Shifang and Su Bojing were, how many crimes would they have to stop? It was far too many for too little rewards. Unless it were a heinous sin that involved the death of hundreds of thousands of lives, they wouldn''t care. Not long after, Greenvase City detected something strange about the increasing number of missing squads sent out. Knowing that something was wrong, they planted a trap that Qi Xiao beautifully strung. When the people of Greenvase City saw who the culprit was, their hatred increased by several folds, and they organized several hunting squads to kill Qi Xiao. At the forefront of these hunting squads were members of the force that Qi Xiao joined, causing him to curse at them for being wretched dogs of the city and having no dignity. How could these wretched dogs be happy? It had to be known that killing Qi Xiao was an extremely arduous and dangerous task. Nine times out of ten, Qi Xiao would escape before being caught, and the fine one would result in extreme casualties for the squad. However, they had no choice. After Qi Xiao''s escape, coupled with Orangewood City''s assault, the residents needed someone to blame, and the force Qi Xiao joined was the perfect scapegoat. They could barely live in the city, but leaving was not an option either. So left with no choice, they could only correct their ''sin'' and kill Qi Xiao in order to regain their footing in Greenvase City, but Qi Xiao did not know or think of this. All he knew was that they betrayed him. The Greenvase City pursuer eventually cornered Qi Xiao and forced him to resort to using a talisman that could unleash the attack of a nascent soul grandmaster. While running away, Qi Xiao''s expression was ugly as he thought of the shame he had experienced. "Not one of them is a good thing, only knowing how to bully people in a mob!" "I better ascend to the Acupoint Opening Realm as soon as possible. Otherwise, I won''t be able to attain my revenge. Although they are cowards, it is true that they have strength in numbers," Qi Xiao muttered. After six months, Qi Xiao discovered a mountain that was filled with an abundance of spiritual qi. After setting up some formations, he sat in the center, preparing to undergo his Acupoint Opening Heavenly Tribulation. All that was left was the final push. "Don''t worry, mother, I will let all the people of Greenvase City die as an offering." "Little Friend, don''t be in such a rush. Can you enlighten some of my queries?" "Who?!" Qi Xiao stood up, no longer in the mood to undergo the heavenly tribulation. He was cautious and made sure no one followed or was around him, so he was shocked by the unknown voice. After searching for a while, he looked up to see an immortal boat with three figures at the helm. He couldn''t detect any of the three''s cultivation, so it was apparent all three were above him in strength. However, what made all the hair on his body raise was the leader of the three, a young man wearing purple robes with embroidered dragons. Despite him looking the most harmless, like a rich young master with no worries, a sense of danger blared in Qi Xiao''s heart. Qi Xiao had no basis for this abrupt premonition, but it was as if a voice in the back of his mind was constantly telling him that the man was extremely dangerous, kill him if possible If not, flee. It took every ounce of self-control Qi Xiao had not to run away. Not because Qi Xiao didn''t want to, but he knew that it was impossible to flee or fight back. "I don''t know what Senior wants to know?" Qi Xiao replied after a tense silence. "Nothing much, but do you really plan on slaughtering everyone in Greenvase City?" The leader asked. This question sent waves in Qi Xiao''s heart. It didn''t take an idiot to know that the three of them had some preliminary understanding of him. He opened his mouth to lie, but he discovered that he couldn''t lie at all. "Yes, they all deserved to die! None of them are good things!" The leader of the trio sighed. "If that is your choice, I will not stop you, but I have a warning." Qi Xiao was dazed by the words. He was ecstatic, when the senior told him that he would not interfere, but his heart quickened when he heard the following words. "You are someone born with great luck, allowing you to embark and go far on the path of cultivation. However, your luck will run out in proportion to the amount of slaughter you commit. Commit too much, and you will sever your path." After saying those words, the immortal boat left, leaving a confused Qi Xiao. "Young Master, why did you advise him? In my eyes, he wouldn''t go far and eventually attract trouble that would be his downfall." Su Bojing asked. Qi Xiao''s luck was good, but his personality wasn''t. "Although his personality is not right, he has perseverance. I just didn''t want to see such a good seedling fall." Tianyi replied, giving off the revered air of a senior. "Young Master is kind!" Su Bojing praised. Ba Shifang just rolled his eyes. ''Others may not know, but I know you just wanted to act cool.'' "But what should we do? Grand Elder Xi said that Qi Xiao could be taken as your disciple, but since Young Master has rejected him, now what?" Su Bojing asked. "Mother didn''t say I had to take him as a disciple. Since I don''t li¡ªsince his personality is too stubborn and murderous, I won''t accept him. I''ll just wait for the disciple acceptance ceremony." Tianyi said, changing his words midway after almost revealing his honest thoughts. Su Bojing could only accept Tianyi''s words and hope that Grand Elder Xi wouldn''t implicate him if she felt dissatisfied. Suddenly Tianyi told Su Bojing to land nearby, confusing him. Once on the ground, Tianyi jumped off and landed in front of a cute little girl who appeared five to seven years old. Her clothes were stained with mud and grime, but her face was white, and her eyes were doe-like and shown like stars. The only incongruent part was that she was holding a giant wooden bat twice her height, and there were five men lying on the ground, howling and clutching their injuries in pain. "Little girl, I sensed that there is an amount of fate between us. It just so happens I am looking for a disciple. Are you willing to be my disciple?" Tianyi asked to the shock of Su Bojing. Chapter 230: Im a Good Master Shiya, that was her name, and it meant stone brat. To be more accurate, Shiya wasn''t a name but something her parents called her. Her parents desperately wished for a boy, but Shiya was their ninth daughter. Her second elder sister to her eight elder were all drowned by her parents for not being a boy. Had it not been for her eldest sister growing up and vowing to take care of Shiya, she would have been drowned too. Shiya sighed. Her parents were going to marry her eldest sister, Daya, which literally meant the eldest brat, away. Rather than marrying away, it was closer to selling. The only person who treated her well was Daya, so Shiya was unwilling, and she heard that her husband''s family didn''t have a good reputation. She was only six years old, but Shiya knew that marrying into that kind of family was a calamity for Daya. Because of this matter, Shiya argued with her parents and was even beaten for it. Shiya''s father was a poor and aging man, and he could no longer support his family at his age, but he still wanted a son to inherit his lineage. Shiya''s mother wasn''t much better, this would be her last child to have a child, but fetuses could be easily lost. With the money from Daya''s marriage, her parents planned to nourish the fetus and not allow Shiya''s mother to work. Luckily for Shiya, her parents weren''t able to heavily injure her, and after a few bruises, she ran away. Since birth, Shiya had an unnaturally strong body, which only made her parents despise her more. Why does a girl have such a strong body? If she was only born a boy. Such were the thoughts of her parents. When she left, the local bullies found her and teased her. Shiya would usually ignore them since she was long used to it, but this time her heart wasn''t balanced, so how could she let them off? First, she led them to a location outside the village before picking up a large club-like stick and beating them black and blue. Shiya sighed, "I wonder if anyone can save my eldest sister?" At this time, a foreign but pleasant voice was heard behind Shiya. "Little girl, I sensed that there is an amount of fate linking us. It just so happens I am looking for a disciple. Are you willing to be my disciple?" Shiya stared suspiciously at Tianyi. There were two other people behind him, but they were not as eye-catching compared to Tianyi. She had never seen a person like Tianyi, and there was a sense of dissociation between him and the surroundings as if he was not a member of the mortal world. "Big Brother, who are you?" Shiya asked. Tianyi revealed a mysterious smile. "This one''s family name is Xi, given name Tianyi. Born the exalted son of the Immortal Sword Empress, one of the three grand elders of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. I am Xi Tianyi." Shiya just gave a blank look before finally saying, "Big Brother has a family name. Big Brother must be amazing." Tianyi''s smile stiffened. ''She''s a child, Tianyi. She doesn''t understand. Don''t quibble with her for not understanding your awesome intro.'' "Yeah, you could say that." Tianyi sighed as he rubbed Shiya''s head. Shiya wanted to move, but she discovered that she couldn''t escape Tianyi''s clutches. Still, she soon stopped and narrowed her eyes in enjoyment. Not even her sister rubbed her head like this, mainly because her parents worked her like a mule. "Little girl, if I save your elder sister, will you become my disciple?" Tianyi suddenly asked. "What''s a disciple?" Shiya asked while tilting her head, looking adorable with her large doe-like eyes. "A disciple is the student of a master. The relationship between disciple and master is even more important than parent and child." Tianyi explained. Shiya''s eyes widened with hope. "I wanna be Big Brother''s disciple. I wanna!" Tianyi smiled and narrowed his eyes, but Su Bojing came next to Tianyi and whispered in his ears. He used his qi so that Shiya couldn''t hear. "Young Master, I''m afraid that isn''t good. She''s just a random child. It''s unlikely for her to have the necessary spiritual vein to cultivate." Tianyi waved his hand and told Su Bojing to back down. From afar, he had seen how a little girl had beaten down four men thrice her age with a wooden stick. How could she be average? Even if her spiritual veins aren''t, her physique definitely isn''t. Ba Shifang came forward at Tianyi''s beckoning and began to test Shiya''s cultivation talents. Tianyi wasn''t too surprised when the spiritual vein testing orb glowed three colors. The best of the three was a perfect earth spiritual vein, and the other two were less remarkable. Shiya''s physique was as wondrous as Tianyi expected. The little girl possessed the Condensed Mountain Physique. The Condensed Mountain Physique was of the earth element, comparable and perhaps even more remarkable than the heavenly earth spiritual vein. In fact, Shiya''s perfect earth spiritual vein was probably the result of her physique, but the Condensed Mountain Physique had another trademarked feature: strength, pure brute strength. There was a record of a regular mortal who had this physique but didn''t cultivate. At the prime of his life, his strength was comparable to an early foundation establishment disciple. A mortal who had the physical strength of a foundation establishment disciple! Tianyi resisted the urge to say, "I told you so," and instead ordered Su Bojing to save Shiya''s older sister. Su Bojing respectfully brought Shiya away. While being led away, Shiya turned her head, and a yearning look appeared in her eyes as she stared at Tianyi as if he would disappear the moment she looked away. Shiya''s family was only mortal, so Su Bojing didn''t have much trouble convincing them to let Daya leave the marriage. Of course, he didn''t use brute force and instead left a large pile of precious jewels and gold. For a cultivator, regular jewels and gold were worthless. He could just grab them while near a vein.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Hmpf, Mister Su, why did you give them so much money?" In Shiya''s eyes, although she didn''t want her parents to die, giving them so much money was not worth it, especially after how they treated Shiya and Daya. "Shiya, don''t be rude," Daya quickly said. She then gave a deep bow to Su Bojing and said, "Please, Lord Immortal, forgive my sister. She''s young and doesn''t know any better." Su Bojing didn''t care and smiled. He didn''t give the jewels and gold without consideration but after a conversation with Tianyi. Although Tianyi couldn''t use qi or spiritual sense, they still had a method to communicate. Only all the work fell on Su Bojing''s shoulders. "Little lass, do you really think you''re parents can keep all that wealth?" Su Bojing asked with a meaningful smile. When Su Bojing announced Tianyi''s desire to accept Shiya as a disciple, he did so in a grand way that everyone in the village knew. He deliberately dropped the pile of jewels and gold in front of the door so that everyone could see. Shiya''s parents may have been too enthralled by their new wealth, but Su Bojing could clearly feel the covetous eyes of the villagers. Under the greed of the villagers, how could Shiya keep the wealth? When Shiya returned, she kneeled in front of Tianyi and gave him three kowtows. Tianyi accepted her as his eldest disciple, but since she wasn''t registered in the Buzhou Immortal Sect, she wasn''t an official disciple of the sect yet. As for Daya, Tianyi directly gave her a pill to increase her longevity. If she had good enough qualifications, Tianyi didn''t mind giving her the Longevity Manual, a cultivation manual for the family of members of cultivators so that they could live longer, but Daya didn''t. The pill Tianyi gave her was the Longevity Peach Leaf Pill. Although it wasn''t as powerful as a Longevity Peach, it could still extend a mortal''s lifespan by a hundred years. "Your name is not Shiya. Since you do not have a name, I will bequeath a new one to you," Tianyi said. He paused and held his chin as he stared at his only disciple. "I''ll bequeath you the name Ming Xingyun, Fated Star. Your given name can also be read as lucky star. I, your master, hope that your life from now on will be happy and lucky." Actually, the first word that Tianyi thought of for Shiya was Wei, since it really fitted such a cute little girl, but as soon as the thought appeared in Tianyi''s mind, a cold sweat broke out on his back. If his new disciple became Bai Weiwei or Bai Ningwei 2.0 or 3.0, then he would really want to cry but have no tears. Shiya, no, Ming Xingyun''s eyes widened. Suddenly she felt something wet on her face and touched it, discovering that she was crying. Ming Xingyun remembered the first time she cried, but she couldn''t remember when she had stopped crying. ''I finally have a name.'' That was all Ming Xingyun could think about. Off at the side, Daya covered her mouth as tears leaked down her eyes. She didn''t view her parents as relatives; years of abuse had already grounded whatever feelings she had. Only Ming Xingyun was her family. For her to finally be given a name, and one given by such a powerful person, was a happy occasion. "Master, please give my eldest sister a name too!" Ming Xingyun said as she kowtowed, slamming her head onto the ground. Daya''s face immediately paled. She rushed next to her sister and bowed, slamming her head into the ground. Unlike her ninth sister, Daya knows the reality of the world. If Ming Xingyun annoys Tianyi, then her lucky chance could be severed. Contrary to Daya''s fears, Tianyi smiled. The more sentimental Ming Xingyun was, the better Tianyi felt. This meant she wouldn''t turn into an ungrateful bastard, a white-eyed wolf. Or at least, the chances of her being so will be reduced. "En, since you two are sisters, it is not right to have different surnames. Your elder will also be surnamed Ming, and I bequeath the given name Yayun." Tianyi majestically said. The newly named Ming Yayun froze in place, stunned. Once she recovered her processing capabilities, she kowtowed three times. "This grace, Yayun will never forget." Tianyi lightly smiled as he saw Ming Xingyun and Yayun hug each other in joy and happiness. After accepting and naming his disciple, Tianyi didn''t immediately leave and instead stayed a bit. He wasn''t in a hurry to return to the sect, and he wanted to finish some matters first. His first goal was to purify Ming Xingyun''s body from all impurities. Although she has a Condensed Mountain Physique, years of eating mortal food have contaminated her body, but the good thing was that she was still young. Tianyi didn''t have any Cleansing Pills, so he forced Ba Shifang to refine them. Neither Tianyi nor Ba Shifang were true alchemists, but Tianyi had dabbled in alchemy before losing his ability to use qi, so the duty naturally fell on Ba Shifang. Tianyi discovered that for some reason, Ba Shifang was extremely talented in alchemy, even more than him! This caused Tianyi to scratch his head in confusion. Ba Shifang was his clone, and Tianyi didn''t modify Ba Shifang to have any talents he didn''t have. If there were any differences, it would be that Ba Shifang didn''t have tribulation essence and cultivated the sixth grade Eight Symbolic Cores, Four Directions Souls. Still, Tianyi didn''t look at a gift horse in the mouth and accepted the happy discovery. In comparison to the Cleansing Pill, Tianyi also had Ming Xingyun in medicinal baths. It was true that she possessed the Condensed Mountain Physique, but that didn''t mean her body couldn''t be improved. Like Tianyi, who had soaked in medicinal baths for years before he started cultivating. Although his body''s strength wasn''t as powerful, it cleared many detours in Tianyi''s cultivation path. However, this wasn''t the main reason Tianyi camped near Ming Xingyun''s village. The other reason was to observe her parents using an artifact. Ming Xingyun personally witnessed how their parents lived in luxury after acquiring all that wealth and even thought of moving to a nearby town or city, but they forgot that harboring a jade ring becomes a crime. In other words, having treasures invites disaster due to the greed of others. A few days before Ming Xingyun''s parents planned to move, their home was broken in by thieves. These thieves were naturally the villagers, and they stole all the wealth, causing Ming Xingyun''s parents to be even poorer than before. The next day, they pleaded with the village chief to bring the criminals to justice; however, the village chief also participated, so how could he wholeheartedly help Ming Xingyun''s parents. After some time passed, Ming Xingyun''s parents also discovered some clues and were maddened by the conclusion they came to. They raved and shouted at the villagers, calling them bastards and thieves. The villagers silently endured their criticisms. After all, they committed a wrong first. This all changed when Ming Xingyun''s parents forcibly entered a family''s house to reclaim their wealth. The house''s owners broke one of Ming Xingyun''s father''s legs in retaliation and immediately regretted it. He didn''t regret breaking his legs, but feared the punishment from Ming Xingyun''s master. However, as time passed, the villagers came to discover that no one sought justice for Ming Xingyun''s parents anymore, and so, they were even more unscrupulous in their actions. Eventually, it reached the point where Ming Xingyun''s parents had to beg for food in order to survive, living a life worse than death. They no longer had any dignity and even began to blame each other for the situation, blame the world, and even blame their two daughters, calling them unfilial bastards. In truth, had Tianyi not taken action, they would have long died of starvation, but after he fed the two Longevity Peach Leaf Pills, in a hundred years, they would not die due to sickness or hunger. Ming Xingyun watched all this. Her gaze towards her parents was complicated, but she did not move in to help. As long as they did not die and live a long life, she was satisfied. They treated their daughters like trash, and now everyone treated them like trash, but they never changed. She didn''t even care that her parents didn''t learn what they did wrong, but that was fine as well. After experiencing this, Ming Xingyun''s aura changed. She wasn''t as naive nor clueless and even matured a bit. Tianyi nodded with satisfaction before thinking, ''I''m a good master. Not only did I help cleanse her body of all impurities, but I taught her a life lesson without killing her parents. Am I not the textbook good master?'' Chapter 231: Abnormality in the Xi Dynasty This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
Chapter 232: Jiang Ziya This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Chapter 233: To Cultivate or not to Cultivate Over a year ago, near the border of the Xi Dynasty, Daoyi was controlling the immortal boat to fly to the Xi Dynasty. Along the way, she would integrate with the common people and experience the life of mortals. As a soul cultivator, Daoyi used the vicissitude of life to polish her understanding of the soul and emotions. Compared to mortals, cultivators have an infinitely long lifespan. At the same time, they were less subject to change, so how could they compare to the progress a mortal went through? A mortal near the conclusion of his lifespan might have a will that was even stronger than a cultivator who lived over three thousand years. While polishing her emotions, Daoyi had a sudden thought while eating at a teahouse. There exist numerous mortal societies in the Heaven Continent, but hardly any of them had any contact with cultivation. At most, they would discuss immortals in legends. Some even thought that immortals were only legends and attributed the earth-shaking battles between immortals as natural disasters. Despite this, she still heard numerous mortals aspiring to become immortals. Was immortality really so attractive? The answer was naturally yes. Even Daoyi, who experienced and suffered through the apocalypse, could not deny this. For the chance to live another day, the survivors did everything they could: schemes, betrayals, reckless actions, and much much more. Almost everyone gave up their bottom lines. Some even sunk to the point of resorting to cannibalism. Daoyi was no different. She, too, wanted to live. If she wanted to have a happy and carefree life, she would have committed suicide instead of living a life worse than death. If you could live, who would want to die? Still, was immortality worth giving up the chance of regular life? Daoyi wasn''t Tianyi. She had difficulties in her cultivation and often consulted the elders on Jade Peak and her master. She was already considered a genius, so how hard must it be for those less talented? Daoyi wanted to find out if the mortals would still embark on the path of immortality if they knew of how difficult it would be. Since she wanted to find out, Daoyi immediately took action. She wasn''t someone who procrastinated, and even if she were, she would have died much earlier during the apocalypse.
People called him Daoist Qingli, and he accepted that name too. He had long forgotten what his name was after living on Qingli Mountain for over fifty years. Yes, he was called Daoist Qingli because of the mountain. Daoist Qingli wasn''t a cultivator, and Qingli Mountain didn''t have much spiritual qi. Despite so, numerous wealthy people still came yearly to pray at Qingli Temple, and they all respectfully addressed him as Daoist Qingli. In truth, Daoist Qingli was simply a poor orphan who had a lucky encounter. His family was wealthy. Unfortunately, his parents had died from the river flooding, and he ran up the mountain to avoid the flood. On the mountain, he happened to see an immortal flying high above. With a single hand, that immortal stopped the flood. From then, everyone said that an immortal lived in Qingli Mountain. Even Daoist Qingli thought so. Before, he had always thought that immortals were only myths, but after seeing it personally, he searched the mountain, hoping for an encounter. To his disappointment, he only found a broken temple but not a hide nor hair of the immortal. Just as Daoist Qingli was descending the mountain in disappointment, he met some people who asked him about it. At that time, he didn''t know what he was thinking, but he claimed to be that immortal''s servant. Using the nonexistent immortal''s influence, Daoist Qingli had the rich and wealthy fix the temple, and from then on, he became the respected Daoist Qingli. This day, after sending away the honored guests, Daoist Qingli returned to his room to sleep after dinner. Most of the time, his servants and disciples will take care of miscellaneous matters, and he only needed to appear for important guests and occasions. That night when he fell asleep, he dreamt of the time when the immortal solved the flood with a single palm. Daoist Qingli''s brain was a bit muddied, but he climbed the mountain to search for the immortal once more. Only this time, he found the immortal. "I can see that you and I have a predestined fate. Are you willing to be my, Immortal Qingshui''s, disciple?" Daoist Qingli didn''t even need to consider and immediately agreed. Thus he was taken back to his master, Immortal Qingshui''s sect and from there on, embarked on the immortal path. It wasn''t like anything Daoist Qingli had imagined. He didn''t immediately gain riches or fame but was instead average. He had a triple spiritual vein, and he had to live like an ascetic. For food, he couldn''t eat meat or regular vegetables. Instead, he had to ingest spirit dew for fear of polluting his body and blocking his qi flow. It wasn''t just food that caused Daoist Qingli to harbor suspicion over his choice, but the effort needed. Every day, Daoist Qingli would be awakened before dawn in order to exercise his body, and then he would meditate until he needed to sleep. Twenty years. Daoist Qingli spent twenty years in the Qi Gathering Realm, and after enduring pain and misery from the Foundation Establishment Heavenly Tribulation, he became a foundation establishment disciple. Daoist Qingli thought that all his hardship would be over, but he was wrong. After entering the Foundation Establishment Realm, he only got an artifact and some pills from Immortal Qingshui. Aside from that, he had to fight with his fellow sect members for resources while cultivating. He discovered that as his cultivation increased, the more worries he had. Immortal cultivation did not mean being carefree and worry-free, but troubles and competition. Daoist Qingli discovered that immortal cultivators were like mortals. They, too, had seven emotions and six desires, but they were far more powerful than mortals.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. After realizing this, Daoist Qingli couldn''t help remembering his other life''s experience. Although he lived for far fewer years, he was respected and carefree. He did not have to worry about gathering resources or anything else constantly. An impulse of wanting to run away and live among the mortals struck him. But Daoist Qingli knew it was impossible. Although he had to fight for resources, the sect had also nurtured him. The sect would brand him as a traitor and hunt him down if he left for whatever reason. Knowing this, he could only grit his teeth and continue on his path. Time continued to pass, and Daoist Qingli became used to cultivating. He no longer thought about the life he felt was a dream and wholeheartedly cultivated. Eventually, he reached the peak of the Unity Realm, the Transcending Mortality Realm, and underwent the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. He failed. Daoist Qingli awoke with a start, sweat covering his forehead. He frantically looked around and saw himself in a relatively simple but elegant room. Outside, he could hear the birds chirping in the morning and the first rays of light from the sun. "Didn''t I fail my Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation?" It took another two hours for Daoist Qingli to regain his bearings. "That was a dream, but it was so realistic..." "Master, are you awake? Should I prepare breakfast?" A servant asked. "Yes, I will arrive in a few moments," Daoist Qingli said. His whole body felt unnatural as he said those words, as if there was a dissociation with his current identity. Daoist Qingli prepared to dress. No matter what, he should figure out his exact situation first. He had heard of cultivators entering illusion and dying within because they couldn''t escape. As he got up from his bed, a jade pendant fell onto the ground with a crisp sound. Picking up the jade pendant, Daoist Qingli saw the words Qingli carved into it. His pupils shrunk into needlepoints. In his memories, Daoist Qingli''s sect issued jade pendants to each member. These pendants would be their identification tokens. A moment later, Daoist Qingli knew what the jade pendant was for. As long as he wished to embark on the immortal path, he should break the pendant in half, and Immortal Qingshui will pick him up. If he doesn''t, then he can continue his current life. Daoist Qingli stood there with a conflicted expression as he stared at the jade pendant in a daze.
Daoyi waved her hand and destroyed the jade pendant that Daoist Qingli stored away. At the same time, she erased part of the Daoist Qingli''s memories aside from a few martial arts that could help him strengthen his body. It can be considered compensation for being her experimental subject. If she chose those living at the bottom of society, all of them would choose to become cultivators. In contrast, it is the choices of those who experienced life to the fullest that interested her. After experiencing all the ups and downs of life, would they still choose immortal cultivation? To her surprise, most people chose not to embark on the road of cultivation after learning the truth. Daoyi changed her methods again. Instead of those who experienced a full life, she chose those still in the progress of climbing the ranks of life, perhaps a martial art genius on the cusp of reaching the pinnacle or a business person still in the process of building his commercial empire. Compared to those like Daoist Qingli, who was nearing seventy and whose heart began to lose the will to fight, perhaps they will choose a different option. The difference wasn''t that large. Perhaps only ten percent more chose to embark on the immortal path. Daoyi didn''t understand why. They were people still in the prime of their life and full of ambition, did her illusionary dream cause their ambition to be grounded down? Was it really like her master said, that people who embark on the immortal path because of fate? Daoyi decided that she needed to understand more. She thought that she had seen through the human heart during the apocalypse, but she was wrong. As for those who chose the immortal path, Daoyi didn''t take them as disciples, but she did leave them with the public version of the Five Element Method in their consciousness. She would not take them as disciples, but she still fulfilled her promise to those who wanted to cultivate. As for what would happen to them, it was up to fate. While testing the hearts of mortals, Daoyi reached the capital of the Xi Dynasty. Once she entered, she felt the atmosphere of the capital was off, but she didn''t think too much about it. Even the Fu Dynasty, a nation stronger than the Xi Dynasty, was embroiled in war, so it would not be strange for the Xi Dynasty to be ensnared by conflict. Daoyi did not plan to visit the emperor, nor did she want the Jiang Family to know of her presence. She only wanted to talk to her mother and leave. With her current cultivation, she dare say that none in the Xi Dynasty would be able to detect her unless she wished them to. "Mother, I''m one step closer to finding the mastermind behind the Xu Clan Massacre. I only discover his name, but I don''t know anything else. Once I return to the sect, I will ask them to investigate the mastermind and then set off for the next clue." Daoyi didn''t say the mastermind''s name, the Great Detacher of Emotions, aloud. From Mengfei, she learned that powerful immortals had numerous methods to detect when people mentioned them. Daoyi wasn''t even sure whether she was noticed by the Great Detacher of Emotions when Fu Xiuyi, the Fu Emperor, said his name. After talking to her mother''s tombstone, Daoyi stepped out of the Qi Ducal Estate. When she stepped out, Daoyi paused when she saw a message written outside the walls. It was written in special ink that only soul cultivators could see, but that was not the most crucial part. The most important part was that it was written in a script that only Tianyi, Daoyi, and Xi Ri could know. The three of them discussed methods to leave messages to each other in case something happened. Originally, they wanted to use English or other Earth languages, but they decided not to because other reincarnators would be able to read them as well. So, they essentially made their own version of the language for themselves. The three used a special ink that only soul cultivators could see. Tianyi could no longer see it because of the convergence of his qi and spiritual sense, but Daoyi still could. Xi Ri could too, but he had to use an artifact. However, Tianyi could see them too if he opened his third eye, not that Daoyi nor Xi Ri knew. [Something is wrong, leave immediately!] Daoyi''s pupils shrunk into needlepoints. She didn''t waste a single moment and turned to leave, but a voice stopped her. "Third Sister, how come you are leaving without saying hello to Father or Mother?" Daoyi''s slowly turned around to see Jiang Chunye, a possible reincarnator. She recalled when Tianyi said the concealed weapon she used to attack her years ago was a gun. So, Daoyi knew that even if Jiang Chunye was a reincarnator, they could only be enemies. Still, she couldn''t help but think that their meeting was too coincidental. Daoyi''s eyes drifted behind Jiang Chunye to see a gloomy man wearing the dark-shaded robes of the Nihility Sect, Hun Jusang. "So it''s Second Sister and Daoist Hun. What a coincidence to meet both of you here." Daoyi replied, a perfect smile on her face, but her eyes were like the abyss. No one could tell what she was thinking. Chapter 234: Jiang vs Jiang Two "Third Sister, how about we have a nice long talk since we didn''t get a chance to last time?" Jiang Chunye asked. The last time they met, it was still during the Demon Slaying Expedition, but not many people wanted to interact with her due to Tianyi''s words. Luckily, some people like Hun Jusang were capable of ignoring Tianyi''s pressure and saw her for the unpolished gem that she was. "Yeah, last time I saw you, weren''t you followed by some more people. If I recall correctly, their name was Yi Dongli and Tong Lizi, weren''t they?" Daoyi asked as she stared meaningfully between her second sister and Hun Jusang. Hun Jusang showed a flash of happiness in his eyes that was so quick that Daoyi thought it was a hallucination, but Jiang Chunye was as calm as ever. "Senior Brother Yi currently is preparing to enter the nascent soul realm; he has no time to accompany me. As for Brother Lizi, he has his own matters to attend to." "Then can I take this as an alliance between the Nihility Sect and Jade Cauldron Sect?" Daoyi lightly asked, but the meaning behind those was infinite. Hun Jusang''s gloomy expression turned even gloomier as he stared unkindly at Daoyi while Jiang Chunye lightly smiled as if all was within her control. "You can." Daoyi raised an eyebrow, not expecting Jiang Chunye to admit it so easily. Still, it was the words of two disciples, it can''t represent their whole sect, but it was enough evidence for the Buzhou Immortal Sect to take action. "What astounding news. Congratulations to you two. Perhaps you two may become dao companions as a form of an alliance like that Bai Weiwei and Bing Huoyuan." Jiang Chunye''s face dimmed. "Second Sister, can you be any more creative when you try to mock me?" "Sorry, but I just don''t care. It''s not like you don''t know how the relationship between us is." Daoyi said with a smile. Then she wrapped a piece of cloth around her and completely disappeared. Jiang Chunye frowned and focused her senses. Even as an early soul nourishing grandmaster, her martial body''s senses were not one whit inferior to late soul nourishing grandmasters. Moments passed, and her face showed a trace of astonishment. "I can''t discover any hints of her?!" Hun Jusang also waved his hands, and tens of black shadows whizzed from his own shadow. He was a spiritual cultivator, but his methods were similar to soul cultivators, so he had the confidence to deal with Daoyi, a genuine soul cultivator. "Found her." Jiang Chunye shared a look, and both of them disappeared. According to the plan, it was not yet time to let the Sword Empress discover the abnormality of the Xi Emperor. That''s why they must not let Daoyi return to the Buzhuo Immortal Sect. Not long after, the two of them appeared in a forest clearing near the eastern gate of the capital. This was the route Daoyi took when coming to the capital. Jiang Chunye and Hun Jusang observed the surroundings carefully for any trace of Daoyi. Suddenly, Jiang Chunye pointed at a specific location at the edge of the clearing. "There!" The forest clearing seemed normal, but Jiang Chunye''s acute sense of sound could detect a split in nature''s sound and foreign music. In her eyes, it could only be Daoyi, so she drew a dagger and charged. Like a hole in a piece of fabric, space was torn away to reveal a bluish-white flame, a will-o-wisp, with no sign of Daoyi. "Second Sister, you are too impulsive." Jiang Chunye''s face changed when she heard Daoyi''s voice coming from the flame. She knew she had fallen into a trap and moved to distance herself, but it was too late. The will-o-wisp''s flame erupted and formed a formation over a hundred meters large, trapping Hun Jusang inside as well. Haunting music could be heard, one that caused Jiang Chunye and Hun Jusang''s minds to panic. ''Not good!'' Jiang Chunye thought as she noticed the effect of Daoyi''s musical offense. She was not too worried about herself, she had long trained her mind not to panic, but Hun Jusang was different. Hun Jusang''s willpower might even be stronger than hers, but he was constantly being assaulted by the devil sealed within. As Jiang Chunye expected, Hun Jusang''s face paled, and an expression of struggle appeared on his face. Jiang Chunye couldn''t care whether Daoyi was planning anymore and immediately attacked the source of the music and formation. Jiang Chunye''s attack was nimble and swift, much like her prided nature as an assassin. But no matter how quick they were, her attacks would only momentarily disrupt the formation while passing through the will-o-wisp. It was as if the will-o-wisp existed in a different dimension like the moon reflected the lake. No matter how many times the monkey reached for it, it would not touch the moon. Seeing that her attacks weren''t effective and the deteriorating situation of Hun Jusang, a flash of decisiveness flashed in Jiang Chunye''s eyes. She pulled something out of her spatial ring and attacked the will-o-wisp once more. This time her dagger was cloaked in ethereal silver light, and when the tip made contact with the ghostly flame, the flame burst like a popped balloon with no hint of resistance. Jiang Chunye''s eyes showed an expression of joy as she saw this and moved to check Hun Jusang''s condition, but before she could do so, nine more will-o-wisp appeared and surrounded her. As if in concert, the nine will-o-wisp formed an overlapping formation that was ten times stronger than the last. Not only that, but the ghostly flame began to move around instead of staying stationary like previously. "Damn you, Daoyi," Jiang Chunye muttered with an ugly expression. She never expected that her second battle with Daoyi would become like this, and this was with Daoyi not being personally present. At this point, Jiang Chunye already discovered the suspicious absence of Daoyi. If it were her, instead of sending more will-o-wisp, she would change her tactics, but Daoyi didn''t. This meant that this was a diversion, and the track Hun Jusang discovered was something Daoyi deliberately revealed. "It seems that we can only rely on Senior Starsoul," Jiang Chunye muttered with a trace of unwillingness.
Daoyi''s eyes flashed with some surprise. Not because Jiang Chunye was able to break her will-o-wisp, but because of how. If Jiang Chunye continued to attack the ghostly ember, it would eventually use up all its energy. She never expected the will-o-wisps to defeat Jiang Chunye and Hun Jusang, although she was pleasantly surprised by how effective her mental disturbance music was against Hun Jusang. The will-o-wisps'' most important role was to delay the two and allow her to escape back to the Buzhou Immortal Sect as soon as possible. What surprised her was the silver light coating Jiang Chunye''s dagger. Daoyi''s foot paused as she stopped in midair. Using her spiritual sense, she locked onto the fragment of the Spectral Rising Jewel within her dantian. Had it not been for the divine artifact fragment, her cultivation wouldn''t have been so fast. The Spectral Rising Jewel perfectly suited her immortal path, but she never imagined that Jiang Chunye would also have a fragment. Daoyi was in a dilemma. Should she return and take the fragment for herself or flee? She didn''t know when she would have another chance to discover another fragment. All this time, she had been seeking to return the Spectral Rising Jewel to its complete form but had no luck until now. Daoyi also had an intuition that if she didn''t flee now, there was a high chance that she would fall. After a moment of hesitation, Daoyi''s eyes hardened, and she resumed her escape. Cultivation relied on herself. Only power that was entirely her own would be worthwhile. External objects could be stolen and destroyed. They can be used but cannot be her foundation. Without looking back, Daoyi continued her escape, but around ten kilometers away from the city, she stopped, and not because she wanted to. Her senses could barely detect a thin barrier blocking her. Although it felt nonexistent and flimsy, Daoyi could deduct that her soul would be affected if she touched it. Her brows furrowed. A soul cultivator of at least the Immortal Realm was supporting Jiang Chunye and Hun Jusang''s actions. Furthermore, she worried for Xi Ri since he obviously discovered something. Otherwise, he would have left a message. Daoyi originally planned on informing Mengfei for help. Mengfei taking action was Xi Ri''s greatest chance to survive.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Now that her chances of escaping were lowered, Daoyi planned on making some contingency plans. Tianyi''s immortal boat was fast, but it remained unknown how fast the enemy was, so it was unreliable to place all her hope on an artifact. Daoyi opened her mouth, and an ethereal blueish-white flame floated out. Under Daoyi''s order, the will-o-wisp flew into a distance while Daoyi hid. Once it was at least ten kilometers away, the will-o-wisp morphed into an incarnation of her. This was Daoyi''s Will-O-Wisp Incarnation. It was like Tianyi''s Stellar Incarnation Technique; only it used the will-o-wisp Daoyi produced in her dantian. Slowly, Daoyi''s Will-O-Wisp Incarnation touched the thin barrier and was immediately struck with a soul attack. Most incarnations were created using a strand of spiritual sense, so Daoyi''s soul was fine, but she had a slight headache from the destruction of her spiritual sense strand. Daoyi could detect much, but she knew that the person who set the barrier was far better than she imagined. Daoyi feared that Xi Ri''s and their secrets would be exposed if the soul immortal were to interrogate him. Her eyes drifted towards where her dissipated incarnation once flew. Two streaks of light flew towards where her incarnation touched the barrier from the eastern side of the capital. The two were naturally Jiang Chunye and Hun Jusang. Daoyi hugged her cloak closer to her body and then flew away. She still needed a way to think of a way to escape her predicament. Fighting the two would not help her at all even if she got another shard of the Spectral Rising Jewel. It was more likely that the immortal who set up the barrier would arrive before she killed one of them. She tested the barrier several more times after healing the damage to her spiritual sense, but each time, her incarnation would be destroyed before she could glimpse any weak points. Each time her incarnation was destroyed, Daoyi would receive a migraine and need a certain about of time to heal. As a week passed, Daoyi began to feel restless. Although Tianyi lent her an Immortal Realm artifact cloak that could conceal her presence, she still felt like a noose was slowly tightened around her neck. Her frustrations growing, Daoyi took out a calabash gourd out of her spatial ring and took a sip of the sake inside. Although she liked all types of alcohol, Daoyi still preferred sake the most. The Liquorlight Gourd was repurposed using the Hundred Ghost Dwelling Gourd that Mengfei had given to aid in her cultivation while she was still in the Core Formation Realm and the wine gourd Tianyi had found in the Immortal Court Ruin. Naturally, the sake inside wasn''t regular alcohol but refined from ghosts she caught and refined and the immortal wine that was already inside. Its purpose wasn''t just store sake but had other functions. Daoyi plugged the Liquorlight Gourd and hung it around her waist with a sigh. She had a feeling that she would be drinking from it a lot more in the near future. Now that her spiritual sense was soothed from drinking the Liquorlight Sake she brewed, Daoyi began contemplating her possible course of action. ''If I knew I this would happen, I would have refined an avatar.'' Daoyi thought with some regret. Before leaving the Buzhou Immortal Sect, Daoyi separated a portion of her soul in order to create a clone or avatar in the future to aid in her comprehension of the laws and concepts. Avatars were exact copies of the cultivator, while clones were different from the cultivator, but both of them were linked to the cultivator. Still, if she had an avatar or clone in the Buzhou Immortal Sect, she could easily contact her master. Daoyi paused and wanted to slap herself in the face. She forgot the easiest method of contact! "Xi Mengfei." Daoyi waited and waited, but there were no changes at all around her. Her brows furrowed, and she knew that someone was blocking Mengfei''s detection of the Xi Dynasty. "Found you." Daoyi stiffened and looked up to see Jiang Chunye and Hun Jusang standing in the sky near her position. She could tell that both of them didn''t know her exact position, so she began to flee. "Don''t bother. We''ve locked the surrounding thousand meters. You can''t escape without our notice." Jiang Chunye said as if all was within her control. Daoyi frowned when she detected the barrier spanning a thousand meters. It was like the previous barrier that trapped her, only it was far more condensed and powerful. Just looking at it made Daoyi''s heart palpitate. She knew that she couldn''t escape. With a sigh, Daoyi looked at the Liquorlight Gourd with some thought. She pulled off one of the spatial rings on her hand and dropped it into the gourd after imbuing a silver-white light into it before having Shuijing take it away and hide for a chance. At the very least, she can''t let her treasures be stolen so easily. Least of all, let it fall into Jiang Chunye''s hand. She wasn''t ready to show herself just yet. Using Shuijing''s silk web, Daoyi set up a web-like formation in the thousand kilometers she was trapped in. However, midway through, Daoyi had to stop and dodge an attack. "Third Sister, did you think you would ever have such a day?" Jiang Chunye asked as she stared at Daoyi''s location. Behind her, Hun Jusang stood with vigilance, a black orb filled with countless starlight in hand. Daoyi could feel countless fluctuations emanating from it, forming a search system akin to a sonar. Seeing that her location was exposed, Daoyi removed her cloak and appeared in front of the duo. "Possibly, but at least I know that you will also have such a day." "That remains to be seen." Jiang Chunye said and immediately began her attack. Hun Jusang showed no signs of taking action as if content to watch the battle between the two. Daoyi didn''t dare to allow Jiang Chunye to get close to her. She was a soul cultivator and not a martial cultivator. Without a doubt, she would lose to Jiang Chunye in close combat. Wary of Jiang Chunye''s Spectral Rising Jewel fragment, Daoyi didn''t dare to use the same tricks she used to dodge the imposter Vast Heaven Young Master. "Stop running away and face me like a woman!" Jiang Chunye shouted. Daoyi ignored her. ''I left my three lifebound artifacts with Shuijing and the gourd. Since defeat is inevitable, I don''t want my enemies to have them. Without my defensive artifact, I don''t want to allow Chunye to get to close me at all.'' Forming a hand seal, the silk strands placed beforehand by Daoyi began to vibrate and emit a ghastly tune. The tune was a soul attack that would grind the soul and pierce the receiver''s mind. "Third Sister, you''re using the same old tricks after all these years!" Jiang Chunye shouted. A black light covered her and protected her against Daoyi''s music. Daoyi didn''t say anything and continued to dodge Jiang Chunye''s attacks. Her attacks were insidious and often deceptive. Many times, Daoyi thought she would dodge, but Jiang Chunye would always unleash an attack from an unexpected angle with deceptive range, forcing Daoyi to fatigue faster. Jiang Chunye wasn''t actually much better. Although she could defend against Daoyi''s soul attack but not completely, her thought process was being constantly agitated and bombarded. The more time passed, the greater Daoyi''s chance of victory. At the same time, Jiang Chunye was growing more and more frustrated looking at Daoyi''s face. ''Why are you so calm?! Do you not know what kind of predicament you are in!? I could kill you, and everything would be over!'' Jiang Chunye paused for a moment when she discovered her agitated emotions. She glared at Daoyi. The more agitated she was, the easier it became to dodge her attacks. A sneer appeared on Jiang Chunye''s face. ''Since I discovered your trick, it won''t be useful anymore. I want to see how much longer you''ll last now!'' She moved to attack, but her body stiffened as she vomited a mouthful of blood with an expression of disbelief. Hun Jusang''s expression tightened and moved to aid her but was stopped by Jiang Chunye''s raised hand. "I didn''t think you were so insidious. Not only does your sound attack my soul and agitate my mental state, but it also makes me ignore the damage of my physical body." Daoyi smiled. This was her three-layered attack. Even if you block two layers, there would always be a third layer. Since she stepped into the Nascent Soul Realm, she had comprehended the Concept of Vibration and Tune. "Thank you for your praise, but I feel that Second Sister''s sinister techniques aren''t one whit inferior to me." Jiang Chunye gave a disdainful smile as her body disappeared from sight. Daoyi frowned and moved to use her soul detection method but discovered interference from Hun Jusang. She stared at Hun Jusang before focusing all her senses against Jiang Chunye. Daoyi didn''t just wait for her sister''s assault and increased the frequency and intensity of her sound-based attack. However, she still couldn''t detect any holes in Jiang Chunye''s concealment technique. Compared to their first battle, it was like the difference between heaven and earth. Suddenly, alarm bells rang in Daoyi''s mind, and she shifted her body. And not a moment too soon as a dagger flashed by, slicing through her robes and leaving a gash on her arm. Daoyi took this chance to open her mouth and prepared to attack using her voice, but Jiang Chunye had the same idea as she turned her head towards Daoyi and spat a thin needle-like jewel fragment. Daoyi''s pupils shrunk into needlepoints as she noticed the aura emanating from the needle-like jewel. It was a shard of the Spectral Rising Jewel! She gave up on offense and mobilized all her energy into defense. A brief moment passed, and Daoyi closed her eyes as blood leaked from the corner of her mouth. The ghastly tune disappeared, and the silk-like webs fell to the ground as if they lost all support. "Hmpf, that was a treasure I found specifically to deal with you. How do you like it?" Jiang Chunye said with a sneer. That sneer quickly disappeared as she spurted out another mouthful of blood. Jiang Chunye walked closer to Daoyi and raised the dagger in her hand. "Goodbye, Third Sister." Hun Jusang appeared next to Jiang Chunye and grabbed her arm, preventing her from bringing down the blade. "Jusang, do you want to stop me?" "I know you want to kill her, but don''t forget about the bigger picture. Each Buzhou Immortal Sect disciple will likely have a soul lamp in the sect. If she dies, then the Sword Empress will be alerted." Hun Jusang said with the utmost seriousness. "Hmpf," Jiang Chunye pulled her arm away with dissatisfaction, but she didn''t take any more actions against Daoyi. "Let''s take her back to Senior Starsoul and have him deal with her." Hun Jusang nodded and released a spectral spirit to carry Daoyi back to the capital of the Xi Dynasty. Chapter 235: One Punch "Master, is something bothering you?" Ming Xingyun asked, her large doe eyes staring at Tianyi innocently. Tianyi didn''t answer his disciple and just looked around. His eyes trailed the garden of the side palace he had been allocated. Moments earlier, he had been advising Ming Xingyun''s cultivation of the Nine-Five Scripture but stopped midway when he felt a chilling sensation creeping up his spine. Tears glimmered at the edge of Ming Xingyun''s eyes as she looked down. "Is it because I''m too stupid? You gave me the Nine-Five Scripture, but I can''t cultivate it at all. I''m sorry. Please don''t leave me." "Wait, that''s not it, Xingyun," Tianyi quickly said. "The Nine-Five Scripture is not suited for you, but you can cultivate to build a good foundation." He also had a headache concerning Ming Xingyun''s awkward situation. Almost all the cultivation method Tianyi knew was either too low-level or could not easily be passed on without his disciple becoming a member of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. In his plans, they would''ve already returned to the sect, but the soul cultivator who possessed his Emperor-Uncle''s soul put a stop to that. Tianyi didn''t explain the grave situation to Ming Xingyun or Yayun. One was still a qi gathering pupil, and the other was a mortal with the barest qualifications to cultivate. Telling either of them will only worry them without any real benefits. Ming Xingyun stopped her tears as she felt Tianyi''s hand on her hand. She looked at Tianyi''s gentle expression. "If you really want to cultivate, I can teach you the Earth Book of the Five Element Method now, but you have to make sure not to break through in a hurry. Unlike the one back at the sect, this is a simplified version." Tianyi comforted. "So don''t cry anymore, okay?" "Mm!" Ming Xingyun nodded and quickly wiped her unshed tears using the sleeves of her robe. The little girl''s eyes then drifted towards Tianyi''s other hand that was hanging on his side. "Master, what''s that?" "What''s what?" Tianyi asked as he stared at where Ming Xingyun was pointed. His face when he saw what was hanging off his hand. It was a spider-like beast with a spherical crystal abdomen that seemed to contain the starry sky within. "SPIDER!" Tianyi screamed and flung his arm as hard and fast as he could. Daoyi''s spiritual beast, Shuijing, was a Dreamsilk Weaver Beast, a rare beast only mentioned in the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s records. Despite its tiny size, just enough to fill out a palm, Shuijing was capable of tearing a soul nourishing grandmaster apart with her legs. However, Tianyi was special. His very existence could be called a singularity, an anomaly among anomalies. His very body was a whole cosmos in the process of compression, and any careless strikes would result in disaster. Strikes, say like flinging his arm as fast as he can. BAAAAAAMMMMMM!!!!!!! The aftershocks from the wind pressure of Tianyi''s swipe could not be described in any other way than calamitous. It appeared as if someone had compressed a tornado into a single sword slash and swung it. The tiles were uprooted, and there was a long fissure starting near Tianyi and stretching as far as the eye could see. It was as if there was an invisible line from where Tianyi stood. Anything that blocked the way of his swing was crushed, leaving nothing in its wake. From the palace walls, the artificial mountains in the imperial garden, and even the clouds seemed to have sliced in two. What did Tianyi say in light of his destruction? "Whoops..." The disaster caused by Tianyi could not be hidden at all. You''d have to be locked in an isolation chamber not to notice the damage Tianyi caused. Thankfully, the barrier Ba Shifang had set up beforehand mitigated the damage somewhat, but not all of it. Tianyi had to pacify the eunuch who was sent to inquire as to what exactly occurred. Tianyi only said that he was practicing a technique that went out of control and didn''t say anything else. The eunuch could only be satisfied with that response, not that he dared to condemn Tianyi in any way and left. Thankfully, Ming Yayun was on the other side of Tianyi''s swing, so aside from a few scratches from the turbulence, she was fine. Ming Xingyun was much the same. Although she was much closer to Tianyi, she was not in the direct line of effect in addition to her Condensed Mountain Physique, she also only had a few scratches. After Ba Shifang erected a new formation, Tianyi scratched his head as he saw the half-ruined palace. His group of four didn''t need a whole palace, so what was left was sufficient for Tianyi and them to live in, but he was frowning because of another matter. "Ah, I probably killed a few people accidentally." Tianyi wasn''t a person who killed for no reason. Even those he wanted to kill underwent a strict round of elimination before he decided to take action. Generally, the requirements were whether his targets wanted to kill or harm those close to him. So, he was quite a bit discomforted by the number of deaths by his hands earlier. The deaths of the innocent people only weighed a little bit on Tianyi''s mind. After all, the people who died had little to no relationship to him. What stunned Tianyi was the realization of how much power he held within his body. Just a little mishap at the wrong place could cause an extinction event. Okay, so that was an exaggeration, but the point still stands. Any casual mishaps from Tianyi could kill thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands, at the wrong place. Unknown to Tianyi, the possessed Xi Emperor, Jiang Chunye, and Hun Jusang were meticulously monitoring him due to his previous actions. They couldn''t help but ponder the meaning of Tianyi''s attack. Was it a probe or something else? If so, why now of all times? Was this attack the start of something? "I didn''t expect you to react like ''that,''" "Daoyi?" Tianyi instantly recognized Daoyi''s distinctive voice. In his pondering, he had forgotten that the spider was Daoyi''s spiritual beast. He looked towards the voice and instantly froze. Shuijing was standing atop a giant rock created from Tianyi''s blunder. He also noticed the black calabash gourd attached to the damn bug by a string. However, what astounded Tianyi the most was the tiny silver Daoyi standing atop of the Dreamsilk Weaver Beast. "What happened to you?" Tianyi reflexively blurted out. Daoyi only sighed. "My good sister and that scion from the Nihility Sect." Tianyi furrowed his brows as he brought Daoyi into the palace''s main hall, where Ba Shifang had used a treasure to seclude the room from prying eyes. After Ba Shifang left to take care of Ming Xingyun and Yayun, Tianyi asked exactly what happened to Daoyi. Daoyi had arrived months earlier than Tianyi, but she happened to encounter Jiang Chunye and Hun Jusang. From there, she explained how she was besieged by the two of them and trapped. Left with no option, Daoyi used the split soul she planned to create a clone or avatar with into her body, while her nascent soul was attached to the Liquorlight Gourd. From there, Daoyi continued to hide and investigate the matter. While hiding, she discovered that most of the Xi Emperor''s children and consorts had been planted with soul leeches. Soul leaches were soul lifeforms soul cultivators grew that could embed themselves into others to control the host. The controller could destroy the host''s soul with but a mere thought, so it was far more dangerous than physically controlling the host. Daoyi was able to attach a thread of Shuijing''s silk to most of the emperor''s children. Using this connection, she was able to infiltrate their dreams and, by extension, their souls, thanks to the Dreamsilk Weaver Beast''s innate ability, Dreamsilk. Dreamsilk allowed Shujing to invade the dreams of people connected to her by her silk and eat their dreams. Through this, Shuijing can strengthen herself and learn concepts by stealing the host''s comprehension. Tianyi couldn''t help but internally scream, ''that''s broken!'' in his mind when he heard of this. Anyways, back to Daoyi''s explanation. Although Daoyi was unable to extract the soul leeches, she was still able to exert and control the hosts through Shujing''s silk and seal them at any time to prevent the soul cultivator from tampering or extinguishing their souls.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Why do I feel like I''m pretty much useless," Tianyi couldn''t help but mutter. He had been here for months, unable to come up with a method to save his extended family, yet here comes Daoyi with all the solutions. "It''s all for naught if we can''t find a way to escape. Speaking of which, I noticed your arrival months ago, but I could contact you because you were in the palace. I finally found a chance to sneak, and well, you know what happened." Daoyi said, looking at Tianyi''s hand that caused so much destruction. "You still have my immortal boat, right?" Tianyi asked. "Of course," Daoyi replied from atop of Shuijing, which Tianyi was desperately ignoring by focusing on Daoyi''s nascent soul. "It has the function of fleeing at the speed of an immortal monarch if you use high-tier immortal stones. Its defenses should have been able to block the effect of the barrier. Why didn''t you try that to flee?" Tianyi asked. "Because I didn''t want to take the risk and allow everything on me to drop to Chunye''s hands. Besides, I don''t carry any immortal stones since they''re useless to me. Only you would carry them." Daoyi bluntly said. "I think we should focus on the more important point. Do you think the Nihility Sect is the mastermind behind everything that is happening?" Daoyi also explained what happened at the Fu Dynasty and the appearance of the demon jiangshi, placing suspicion on the Nihility Sect. Tianyi also sunk into deep thought, but unlike Daoyi, who was wondering if the Nihility Sect had rebelled against the Buhzou Immortal Sect, Tianyi''s thought process was completely different. Seeing it from a different perspective, didn''t Jiang Chunye also fit the description of a protagonist, only female and not male? Along her journey, not only does she shame the family that abused her, but she also builds a reverse harem during her journey. Tianyi even suspected that Jiang Chunye seduced hun Jusang and the Nihility Sect had no part in this! Naturally, he didn''t voice out his thoughts. Unless you were a braindead fool like Bai Weiwei, who would risk their backing for mere love? "I know you can prevent the possessed people from being killed, but what about your body and Xi Ri? I know you are a soul cultivator, but losing your body is a big deal. Your potential might even be hampered." "I''m not too worried. Worst-case scenario, I discard my body and my split soul. I''ll just separate another portion of my soul and create an avatar and then possess that avatar as my new body. Honestly, although I am weaker without my body, my soul is a bit unique. I can still cultivate in this form. In fact, I''ve comprehended quite a bit while I was stuck with only my soul." Daoyi said with no tone of urgency. Tianyi felt his stomach cramp at Daoyi''s nonexistent worry. Hell, he was more worried for Daoyi than herself. He could only sigh and ask again, "Then about Xi Ri?" "I can''t sense the exact location, but it should be in a secret chamber under the imperial palace. My split soul locked my body so that it couldn''t be tampered with to prevent them from noticing the truth. From the few times my split soul unlocked the seal, she could see that Xi Ri was in a similar state. Both of us are sealed in a formation, and we can''t use qi or spiritual sense at all." Daoyi said, giving Tianyi a headache. Scratching his head, Tianyi sighed again. "Then what can we do? I can''t exactly Leeroy Jenkins it and barge in to save both your split soul and Xi Ri, right?" "Right?" Tianyi asked again, seeing Daoyi in pondering. Daoyi sighed, "With how perverse your body is, you could contend with true immortals for quite a while. While you distract them, you could have someone save my split soul and Xi Ri. Then I could control those with the leach souls into the immortal boat and fly away." "What about me?" Tianyi asked to point to himself, not hiding his irked feelings at all. "Well, it''s no use. We''re dealing with an immortal and not a remnant soul as you first thought. And I suspect that the Jade Cauldron or Nihility Sect has betrayed us since I can detect the presence of some venerables and possibly above, but I can''t be sure." Daoyi sighed again. "If I had my body, we might have had a chance to succeed, but now we can''t. No matter how heaven-defying your clone is, he''s still in the Core Formation Realm. At most, he would be able to fend off a venerable for a short amount of time." Tianyi stayed silent. His eyes moved frantically as he calculated the probability of success. "I know someone who is in the Nascent Soul Realm but has strength at least at the Transcending Mortality Realm that can help." "Really, who?" Daoyi asked. When Tianyi explained it was her grandfather, Daoyi couldn''t help but sigh. "I never knew. I never once saw him while I lived there. He was constantly in secluded cultivation. If he were a disciple of a first-rate sect, his accomplishments would''ve equaled or surpassed yours." Tianyi grunted in affirmation, unwilling to openly acknowledge that an old geezer was better than him. "If he participates, that greatly increases our chances of escaping. Although we can''t save the emperor, once we inform Master, she should have a method. But that still leaves out a question of how you''re going to escape. You can''t use qi at all, and I''m worried about your condition being discovered if you were captured." Daoyi said. "Don''t worry about it. In terms of physique, I''m afraid I''m even stronger than most true immortals. I can run away," Tianyi said as he patted his chest. "Run away? On your legs?" Daoyi said, skeptically lacing her words. "Well, I also have other trump cards," Tianyi said as he pointed at his forehead where the red mark was. Daoyi sunk into silence before nodding. "If you''re sure. We still have to contact Senior Jiang to coordinate." Her words revealed the distance she held towards the Jiang Family. She did not view them as her family much, if at all.
"Can''t believe I''m doing this," Tianyi said as he walked out of the side palace allocated to him. Next to him, there was a tiny sphere, and inside the sphere were nine floating islands. Space became a significant problem for the immortal boat. There were simply too many people to fit on his immortal boat, the one that could use immortal stones to exhibit the speed of an immortal monarch. Thankfully, Daoyi solved that problem or, at least, pointed towards a solution. Tianyi couldn''t control the Vast Heaven Islands, but what about Dandan? After all, Dandan shared similar origins to Tianyi and could possibly control the Vast Heaven Islands if he possessed the Realm Merge innate ability as well. When Dandan did indeed possess Realm Merge and could control the Vast Heaven Islands through that, Tianyi was struck speechless. He felt like a bride, who had diligently sewn her bridal gowns, only for someone else to wear it. ''Forget it, at least someone can use it now, and it won''t be collecting dust in the spatial ring,'' Tianyi had thought. But this wasn''t caused Tianyi to say those earlier words. He had already collected the Jiang Family into the Vast Heaven Islands, and Jiang Ziya was already cooperating with Daoyi to gather all the imperial family. No, what caused Tianyi to say those words was the fact that Shuijing was hiding in his robes! He had vehemently rejected the idea, arguing that Shuijing should hide in the Vast Heaven Islands, but Daoyi rejected his rejection. Shuijing was Daoyi''s medium linking her to Tianyi''s extended family that were and were not controlled by soul leaches. If Shuijing were inside the Vast Heaven Islands, then Daoyi would not be able to control them. Thus Tianyi had to cope with a giant-ass spider in his clothes. Because Shuijing was hiding in his clothes, Tianyi''s expression was extremely stiff, making him seem severe...or constipated, but he preferred the former. "Stop!" As Tianyi entered the core of the imperial palace, the Immortal Dragon Palace, two guards armed with copper armor barred his way. It took a moment for them to recognize Tianyi, but their expression only turned more severe. One of them was even hostile. "Even if you''re Sword Empress Xi''s son, you cannot enter here. If you walk forward one more step, don''t blame us for punishing you!" Tianyi stopped and partially opened the Truth-Seeking Eye. The red dot turned golden while two wisps of flame remained red. Once the eye was opened, Tianyi could detect the cultivation of the two guards. ''I can sense that their soul is slowly disintegrating. They must be earth immortals. Daoyi was right. There are hidden experts above the Unity Realm.'' The guard, with the hostile expression, sneered. "That''s right, be a good little boy and go away." The corners of Tianyi''s lips twitched. ''Do you think I stopped because I was scared of you two?'' Tianyi took another step and only a single step. It was a blatant provocation to the two guards. "Boy, do you know what you''re doing?" "What, that I''m provoking two false immortals?" Tianyi asked. His expression was leisurely, and he even narrowed his eyes as if he was enjoying a world-class massage. Both of the two guards'' expressions turned frosty. Earth immortal hated being called false immortals because it reminded them that they failed the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation and were forever without hope of immortality. An earth immortal''s soul slowly dissipated and was absorbed by the world, preventing them from entering the cycle of reincarnation. "Hmpf, do you think that you can take us on just because you mastered that technique?" The hostile guard said. He had linked Tianyi''s confidence to Tianyi''s blunder and the excuse given. Tianyi just wagged his finger. "Come and find out." "You asked for it. After I''m done with you, the Sword Empress won''t even find a remnant soul!" The hostile guard shouted and then opened his mouth as wide as possible. Under Tianyi''s disgusted eyes, he inserted his hand into his throat and pulled out a bronze saber. The saber gleamed with saber intent, each ray seemingly wanting to split everything it came in contact with. "Before you die, I''ll illuminate you as to who it was that killed you! Listen well, with a saber in hand. I crushed all my rivals and geniuses of my generation. Those defeated by me call me Sabercrusher!" "Still the words of a failed mutt," Tianyi replied with a sneer. Earth Immortal Sabercrusher''s eyes filled with killing intent. He didn''t say any more meaningless words and condensed all the saber intent on the edge of his bronze saber. With a leap, he charged at Tianyi, saber in midswing. Tianyi also reared his fist back. He didn''t plan on unsheathing his sword just yet. For now, he wanted to test the durability of his physical body, so he planned to meet Sabercrusher''s attack head-on. Despite this, he didn''t lower his guard, and his fully opened third eye was analyzing Sabercrusher''s attack nonstop. "Hah!" Tianyi shouted as he released a punch. It was just a simple punch, but it was a perfect punch using all the force in Tianyi''s body. The brute force and speed behind it could not be estimated. Even before clashing against the saber, a sonic boom was unleashed from the sheer speed. BOOOOMMM! Tianyi''s eyes widened in shock as he witnessed the aftermath of his attack. Sabercrusher''s saber was broken in half, and his right half completely disappeared, revealing his leaking entrails and bone whites. Blood spurted out of his mouth as his expression was a near copy of Tianyi''s, but for different reasons. Chapter 236: Hello Lightning My Old Friend Earth immortals, also known as false immortals, varied greatly in strength. Some were stuck at the level of strength as transcending mortality sages, while others might master a law and rival immortal monarchs in strength. Sabercrusher was not one who rivaled an immortal monarch, but his strength allowed him to fight a few hundred rounds with a true immortal at least. Primeworm had always known that Sabercrusher was powerful. The two were rivals and had fought hundreds of rounds with an equal number of defeats and victories. It was why both of them were chosen to guard the outer gates of the core of the imperial palace for Soul Immortal Starsoul. It is often said that those who failed the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation had no future and were doomed to perish, but that is not true. Earth immortals have no futures because their soul constantly disintegrates and is absorbed by the world as nourishment, but they have a sliver of hope. Nothing is impossible. Just as a cultivator who had their spiritual core shattered could reform another one if they had the right materials, earth immortals could also cultivate once more. It was just that, unlike reforming a shattered spiritual core, earth immortals need to find a method to stop their soul from disintegrating, even for just a moment, so that they could commit suicide and send their soul into the cycle of reincarnation. Sabercrusher and Primeworm were both earth immortals, but they hadn''t given up hope yet. They knew that the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s treasury stored all kinds of rare and precious materials. If the plan succeeded, they would be able to seek a chance for immortality once more. They were the bitterest enemies, the closest friends, and one half of each other. And now, half just died. Being an earth immortal did not mean the same survivability as a venerable. Rather, because they failed the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation, earth immortals were easier to kill than venerables because of the unstable state of their souls. If they met a decently powerful soul cultivator, their defenses were practically laughable, but against head-on confrontations, they were never afraid against those of equal or lower realm. But now, Tianyi one-sidedly crushed that confidence. Primeworm felt sweat drip down his cheek as he watched the light disappear from Saber crusher''s eyes. He felt a range of emotions from shock, sadness, rage, and fear, but mostly fear. Unlike Sabercrusher, Primeworm was a spiritual cultivator, so his body was even weaker. His only chance of survival was to keep his distance while bombarding Tianyi with long-range attacks, hoping that Tianyi range attacks weren''t as powerful as his fist. He knew the chances were slim. When Tianyi first appeared, it shocked both Primeworm and Sabercrusher. Even though the Buzhou Immortal Sect disciple was in front of them, they couldn''t detect him at all. Not even a mortal was imperceptible. However, they attributed that to some artifact Tianyi was carrying. Still, Primeworm knew that the Sword Empress''s son had not used qi in that punch because there was no fluctuation. What was a cultivator''s greatest strength? Some may say their cultivation, their mastery of concepts, but the foundation of that was qi. Since Tianyi didn''t even need qi to kill Sabercrusher, how powerful would he be once he used it? Primeworm even suspected that Tianyi wasn''t Tianyi at all but a true immortal or immortal monarch pretending to be Xi Mengfei''s son. However, he didn''t have time to ponder the question at all as all his focus was on escaping his dilemma and calling reinforcements. Primeworm threw five offensive talismans at Tianyi and leaped onto his flying sword to gain some distance, but like a juggernaut, Tianyi just bulldozed through the talismans and ignored them as he would to flies. "Shi¡ª!" Primeworm never had the chance to finish as Tianyi''s fist demolished his head. "Ew, so much brain goo and bone bits," Tianyi said in disgust. He may have killed several people before, but never as gruesomely as bursting their bodies. After taking a second to fling the blood off his hand and sleeves, Tianyi continued to the core of the imperial palace. Time was of the essence. The front entrance to the core palace was already demolished from Tianyi''s first attack. He didn''t expect such an overwhelming victory. For his second attack, he controlled it so that there wouldn''t be so many aftershocks. "Who goes ther¡ª!" Another punch, another dead enemy. Tianyi''s speed was so fast that all that could be heard was a gush of wind and the sound of shattered tiles. If the venerables were lucky and were killed immediately, they might have a chance to resurrect themselves, but earth immortals weren''t so lucky. "Tch, they''ve already started erecting the defensive formations," Tianyi grumbled as he increased his speed. Inside his robe, Shujing was desperately clinging onto Tianyi. One small mistake would send her and Daoyi''s nascent careening out.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Tianyi wasn''t privy to the method the Xi Emperor used to protect the core of the imperial palace, but he knew that they shouldn''t have been so spectacular. Mengfei wasn''t one to do everything either. At most, she would grant one defensive formation to protect the Xi Emperor at a critical time. "This might be a bit troublesome," Tianyi uttered as the red dot on his forehead turned to gold once more. "Manifold Space Trapping Formation?" As the name suggested, the Manifold Space Trapping Formation was a sealing formation that focused on spatial aspects. The unique aspect of it was the locks used to seal the target. It was akin to using a three-dimensional prison to lock a two-dimensional being. As such, it was one of the top hundred sealing formations. Even if Tianyi could use qi, he had no confidence in understanding and deconstructing the formation, so he only had one other option left, break it using brute force! Tianyi''s body was a cosmos, and that included all the weight and mass that came along with being a cosmos compressed into a humanoid form. It was still fine before when Tianyi could use qi to lighten his weight, or in Jade Peak where the ground was just harder, but once outside? Every step would leave an indent in the ground, but it was then that Tianyi developed internal gravity control and learned the concept of gravity. The Concept of Gravity was powerful and could rival a true law if mastered, but the Concept of Gravity was faulty. To be precise, what is called gravity is actually the attraction to matter, but that was neither here nor there. Point is, Tianyi could control his internal gravity, and the simple application of the force of his sheer mass was deadly beyond thought. Tianyi leaped into formation and fully unleashed the unrestrained mass of a cosmos. What do you get when you launch a human-size cosmos cannonball at a seal? CRAAAAAASSSSSHHHHHHH Tianyi looked at the crumbling architecture around him. "Well, if they didn''t notice me before, they sure noticed me now." Not just in his surrounding but in the distance as well. To create the Manifold Space Trapping Formation, you needed certain anchors to stabilize and lock it into place, and now because Tianyi forcibly broke the formation, those anchors were also destroyed or dislocated. Not just that, but Tianyi could sense that several formations that were beginning to be constructed were also disrupted or destroyed midway with his third eye. It was a happy accident. Tianyi had no time to marvel at his handy work as he rushed towards where Daoyi and Xi Ri''s bodies were being held captive. Thanks to his earlier actions, it seemed that the seal restricting Daoyi and Xi Ri was loosened, allowing Daoyi''s nascent soul to pinpoint the location even more accurately. After piles of bodies later, Tianyi arrived at the prison. The prison was a pillar-like tower that stretched towards the sky, made from slate-colored stone. Tianyi''s third eye could discern that they were some sort of qi-restricting material. ''Good thing that I can''t externalize qi!'' Tianyi sarcastically thought before punching a new entrance into the tower. Once inside, Tianyi saw a guard turning to face him in shock. Obviously, he was paying attention to the actual entrance, but he never expected Tianyi to go off script and just make his own door. A second later, he was just another addition to Tianyi''s list of dead enemies. ''I think I killed more today than I''ve ever had in my entire life,'' Tianyi thought to himself. It was just a thought, and his heart was still as tranquil as ever as he continued his warpath. "We''re here." Tianyi heard Daoyi''s voice and changed his trajectory. Breaking open the door, he saw Daoyi''s body and Xi Ri hanging midair side-by-side, sealed within formations. Guarding them were two shadowy figures, Tianyi recognized them as specters, a hallmark of the Nihility Sect. Tianyi felt they were a bit troublesome. Specters were soul lifeforms, and, as such, regular physical attacks didn''t work on them. Still, Tianyi had to try. Wasting no time, the tiles beneath his feet shattered as his figure disappeared. When they reappeared, he was already next to one of the specters and unleashed a punch. It was as if something had taken a bite where Tianyi''s fist had passed. The specter began to writhe on the ground and released sounds that resembled grating steel, obviously in pain. Tianyi was surprised by the result, but he quickly shifted to the second specter and performed a lariat, bisecting the second one in half. After making sure both of the specters were incapacitated, Tianyi broke the formations sealing Daoyi''s split soul and Xi Ri. "Thank you," Xi Ri said. His face was pale, but there was an unwavering look in his eyes. At this time, Shuijing also crawled out of Tianyi''s robes, causing him to shiver. He had almost forgotten that disgusting thing was in his robes. "Are you going to enter your body now?" Daoyi''s nascent soul atop of Shuijing shook her head. "Not now. I don''t know if they placed any traps on my body. Plus, I''ve been separated from it for so long that it would take at least a week before I can familiarize myself with my body again. Better store it in the Vast Heaven Islands for now." Tianyi nodded and commanded Dandan to come out and suck Daoyi''s body into the Vast Heaven Islands. Next was Xi Ri''s turn, but he refused, surprising Tianyi. "I still have to save Emperor-Father." Xi Ri said. "He''s not trapped in his body?" Tianyi said with some surprise. During cases of possession, the soul would either be destroyed or swallowed. In this case, if the Xi Emperor died, then Mengfei definitely would know, so his soul shouldn''t have been extinguished yet. Still, extricating a soul was a non-standard procedure. Tianyi nodded. Xi Ri had already been explained what the plan was, so he ordered Dandan to follow Xi Ri and Daoyi''s nascent soul to save the Xi Emperor. Meanwhile, it was his part to act as the decoy and cause as much devastation as possible. After they left, Tianyi stared at the two specters on the ground. As soul lifeforms, their advantages were great, but so were their disadvantages. There was a reason why souls lived in bodies, after all. Crouching down, Tianyi placed one of his hands on the first specter and started absorbing it. ''I knew it.'' Tianyi thought as he saw his success. After experimenting for a bit, Tianyi realized that he could still absorb external energy and add it to his inner cosmos. ''Can I still absorb spiritual qi?'' Tianyi thought. Perhaps in the past, he could absorb spiritual qi, but he could never detect. Wanting to test it, Tianyi rotated his inner cosmos and set on to absorb the spiritual qi. CRACKLE!!! The instant Tianyi did, angry tribulation clouds gathered above the tower as if finally discovering its nemesis after years of searching. There was no build-up, only instant punishment as the largest bolt of tribulation lightning Tianyi had ever faced struck him. The prison tower was destroyed, and all that remained was a soot-faced Tianyi standing straight. His gold coronet was cracked and his purple robes dirty, but otherwise, he was fine. "Hello again." Chapter 237: Imperial Family Internal Disputes "Are you alright?" Daoyi asked from her position. Xi Ri spared a glance at the little nascent soul atop the spiritual beast atop his shoulder before looking forward again. Compared to Daoyi, Xi Ri had been sealed much longer, and who knows what method the possessed emperor used on him. Compared to Daoyi, Xi Ri''s soul must have been damaged with the year-long self-sealing technique he forced upon himself. Xi Ri was an inner disciple, he should not have touched upon the core secrets of the Buzhou Immortal Sect like core disciples like Daoyi and Tianyi, but Xi Ri was Grand Elder Xi''s nephew. Perhaps thinking like this, the possessed emperor must have attempted to interrogate Xi Ri numerous times. Xi Ri was someone who spent the last years of his previous life in the apocalypse. Compared to Tianyi, his will could only be firmer, but Daoyi knew the terrifying abilities of soul cultivators, being one herself, so she couldn''t help but worry. "I''m fine," Xi Ri said woodenly. Daoyi sighed as she glanced at the dark circle around Xi Ri''s eyes. She had already inspected Xi Ri for any soul leaches and found none, but that didn''t mean Xi Ri was safe from torture. Sealing one''s soul wasn''t an absolute defense. Take Daoyi, for example, she could induce nightmares into her targets even if their soul was sealed. "It doesn''t matter. I have to save Emperor-Father," Xi Ri adamantly said as if for himself more than Daoyi. Daoyi knew that they were changed men and women after experiencing the apocalypse. How could an ordinary person who experienced the horrifying end of the world remain normal? Daoyi knew that she was far from normal. Several times when she still lived at the Qi Ducal Estate, she thought of hacking the duchess to death with a rusty blade. Luckily for her, reason won out over desire, but she still had dark fantasies. Sometimes, she envied Tianyi for his purity. The apocalypse was a place where love between a parent and child could become worth less than shit. Daoyi, for one, knew that she would never be able to have a relationship without weighing the benefits or detriments. She knew something was wrong with her. Then what about Xi Ri? When she heard that he wanted to build a utopia, she didn''t believe it. Those fools were the first to die in the apocalypse long before the world became worse than hell. Xi Ri was a living contradiction. Obviously, he was an amiable cultivator who made friends as much as possible, but, simultaneously, he never trusted anyone. Daoyi doubted that he trusted Tianyi or herself, yet all his actions suggested that he trusted them. Sure, he displayed emotions such as distrust, anger, sadness, and many more, but they felt like remnant emotions that he used to have. It was as if he was trusting because he had to. He didn''t live like a living being. If anything, it was as if he was playing the act of Xi Ri behind a controller, but it was different at this moment. Contrary to before, Xi Ri''s current actions were far different from his cool-headed persona of the past. Although the situation was dire, Daoyi felt that Xi Ri had some more color for him now, but that also made her worried at the same time. "Prince Ri? What happened to you?!" A eunuch asked with shock. Along the way, Xi Ri and Daoyi passed by numerous servants and soldiers who were running like headless chickens. Coupled with his disheveled appearance, it was a wonder that anyone would have recognized him. Xi Ri said nothing as the space around his hand warped into a sharp point and pierced towards the eunuch running towards him. "W-why?" The eunuch only had disbelief written in his face as Xi Ri pulled his hand out and continued running without looking back. His eyes were still filled with confusion as his lifeblood continued to flow out. Daoyi said nothing. Truthfully speaking, she, too, would be suspicious if anyone recognized her if she was in the same state as Xi Ri, but his actions were far too cold. She could feel his blazing soul, but his efficiency was ice-cold. It reminded Daoyi of herself while she was still living in the apocalypse. In fact, Daoyi also lived like this for the first few years of her life. It wasn''t helped by the toxic environment under the duchess''s management. Her mother helped her acclimate to being a normal person over the years, but Daoyi could always revert to her apocalypse persona at any instance, just like Xi Ri. "Prince Ri! What happened? Why is Your Highness back? Is His Majesty okay?" Another eunuch ran towards Xi Ri. He looked young and fired off sentences like a machine gun, but Xi Ri wasn''t any less merciful in his strike. The young eunuch showed a surprised expression before crossing his arms and blocking Xi Ri''s attack. It wasn''t fully blocked as his sleeves became a bloody mess. "Hmpf, you should have obediently stayed¡ª" Xi Ri didn''t speak any useless words and doubled the intensity of his attack on the eunuch. How could a small eunuch from the Xi Dynasty block Xi Ri''s spatial attack? The answer was that he couldn''t. The eunuch was a spy placed by the Nihility Sect. "Xi Ri, don''t expend so much qi. You aren''t Tianyi. Those spatial attacks are too consuming with your current mastery and state." Daoyi used her spiritual sense to pop open the cork and pull out a pill for Xi Ri. She wasn''t an alchemist, so it wasn''t a true pill. The fake pill was condensed from soul essence and several medicinal materials and had the effect of restoring qi and healing the soul. Xi Ri nodded and swallowed the pill. Instantly he felt his whole body and soul become refreshed like a cool breeze washing over.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. "Thank you," Xi Ri said as he continued on his way. Having been trapped for so long, Xi Ri''s spatial ring had long been taken away, so he didn''t have any flying treasure to speed up. Even if he did, he would not use it since the sky was currently filled with masters, grandmasters, and even venerable. After nearly an hour, Xi Ri arrived at his destination, the Eastern Palace of the Imperial Palace. The Eastern Palace was special among all the palaces located within the Imperial Palace as it was the dwelling of the crown prince. "Stop! No one is allowed¡ª" Xi Ri didn''t bother to allow the guards to finish their words as he formed a spatial blade over his flattened hand and decapitated all of them. "Ninth Brother, are you rebelling?" A calm voice sounded as commented the moment Xi Ri walked through the gates of the Eastern Palace. Xi Ri looked up to see Xi Yao, the emperor''s eldest son. Xi Ri didn''t bother to speak nonsense, "Where is Emperor-Father''s soul." Xi Yao stopped for a moment. He thought that Xi Ri would quibble with him, such as how he dared to occupy the Eastern Palace or whatnot, but it seemed he was wrong. He felt a ball of anger erupt when he saw Xi Ri''s eyes. Those eyes didn''t reflect him at all, as if he was an inconsequential person. It was always like, even when Xi Ri was first born. When Xi Ri was born, he didn''t cry or make a ruckus at all. He was frighteningly calm and caused everyone to fawn over him, saying this was an auspicious sign. Even Emperor-Father thought so. This was only further confirmed when Xi Ri was tested to have heavenly fire spiritual veins. It was as if everyone had forgotten about the legitimate first prince. He, Xi Yao, was the prince born of the empress, the rightful inheritor of the empire! "Xi Ri, this empire doesn''t need you." Xi Yao finally said after a moment of silence. He raised his hand and brought it down. Instantly several men clothed in black appeared and rushed towards Xi Ri. The men in black exuded the cultivation of Core Formation and Acupoint Opening Realm, and in their heads were an assortment of assassination weapons: awls, daggers, flying guillotine, knives, and many more. Just as their weapons were about to reach Xi Ri, they suddenly paused in midair before crumpling on the ground. Xi Yao''s eyes widened with shock and horror as he looked at Xi Ri. "What did you do!" Xi Ri didn''t say anything to him. "Thank you, Daoyi." "Do you need me to deal with him too?" Daoyi asked. Xi Ri shook his head, no need. His face was covered in a layer of frost as he slowly inched closer to Xi Yao, but his voice was steady as if nothing was wrong. "Eldest Brother, do you still remember when I was four years old when I fell into the pond? I almost died that year." Xi Yao took a step back, his heart full of unrest as he took in his ninth brother''s eyes. "N-n-no! W-why are you bringing up unrelated matters?" "Then what about when I was six, and I fell sick one day?" "W-wasn''t just a common cold?" "Then what about when a princess of the second rank poisoned me?" "She d-deserved death. Emperor-Father titled her a princess, yet she dared to strike against the i-imperial family." "When I was twelve, a stray arrow almost struck me in the heart. Who shot that arrow?" "It was a c-careless mistake by one of the official''s children. The whole family h-has already been punished!" "Who do you think sent the assassins after me the month before Sword Empress Xi arrived?" With each question, Xi Ri stepped forward, and Xi Yao took a retreated just as much, his face paler and paler until his back was pushed against the wall. "Ninth Brother, what do you plan to do?!" Facing Xi Yao''s hysterical voice, Xi Ri was as calm as ever. "What you always wanted to do with me." "You!" Xi Yao never finished his words as his Xi Ri appeared in front of him, and his head was sent flying. "Do you want me to capture his soul?" Daoyi asked as she watched Xi Yao''s headless corpse fall onto the cold ground. "No need. I''m not like Tianyi, who likes to play around if possible." Xi Ri rejected Daoyi''s offer. "Then should I extinguish his soul?" Daoyi asked once more. This time Xi Ri stayed silent a bit longer before shaking his head. "It''s fine. Let him enter the cycle of reincarnation. With his previous actions, no matter how much Emperor-Father shielded him, he should have incurred some karmic sins. Whether he can remain a human in his next life remains to be seen." After standing silent for a moment, Xi Ri sighed before entering the main hall of the Eastern Palace. With Daoyi''s help, Xi Ri quickly discovered where the Xi Emperor''s soul was sealed. After he was unsealed, the Xi Emperor''s nascent soul sighed and asked. "How is Yao''er." Upon seeing Xi Ri''s silence, he gave a bitter smile. "I used to think the previous emperor was a terrible emperor and father, but it seems that I''m a good emperor, but not a good father." Blood-related brothers killing each other was not a rarity in the imperial family. Rather, it was the norm, but because of the emperor''s bias, most of it was swept under the rug. The Xi Emperor was different. Just like how he treated Mengfei, he felt that family should not murder each other no matter what. Even if there were no feelings, the blood was there. Although his own brothers tried to kill him, the Xi Emperor never gave the order to kill them. His brothers have long turned into dirt under the passage of time, unable to enter the Core Formation Realm and extend their lifespan. The Xi Emperor knew that his eldest son harbored dreams of becoming the next emperor and expanding the empire, but the Xi Emperor was also clear that Xi Yao overestimated his relationship with Mengfei. Mengfei would only give some resources and cultivation methods at most and wouldn''t take action unless the Xi Dynasty was in danger of destruction. Towards this son, the emperor thought he could treat as an idle person or even slowly teaching, but he realized his mistake when he discovered how much ambition Xi Yao had. Especially the ruthlessness of the imperial family that was ingrained into his bones. The straw that broke the camel''s back was Xi Yao''s attempts on Xi Ri, his future successor. The Xi Emperor slowly began to take away Xi Yao''s influence and power in order to make him an idle prince. The Xi Emperor never realized that Xi Yao would go so far as to extract his soul and collude with external forces. Still, Xi Yao was the son that accompanied him the longest. It was unavoidable that he would feel heartache when Xi Yao died, even though he knew that Xi Ri was finally pushed to the brink. Still, if he had half the responsibility for Xi Yao''s action, then so did the empress. "Xi Ri, remember to cut the grass by the roots. The Empress and Yao''er''s...children all died during the conflict with the invaders." Since Xi Yao has gone too far, then his forces must be extinguished at all costs. Xi Ri lowered his head. "I understand, Emperor-Father." The Xi Emperor sighed when he looked at Xi Ri. He knew that Xi Ri wasn''t conflicting over killing the empress or Xi Yao''s children. Since young, Xi Ri has rather been emotionless if bright. He was closer to a machine than a human, but the Xi Emperor saw potential in him. Only such a person, cold and emotionless, could become a perfect emperor. So, he gave Xi Ri a direction and instilled his responsibility to create a paradise for the citizens. It was also the Xi Emperor''s orders that Xi Ri joined the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Perhaps, he harbored some hope that Xi Ri would become more human. After all, Xi Ri was still his son, no matter his selfish thoughts. He knew that there was something wrong with Xi Ri, but the Xi Emperor had long gone past that. At this moment, the Xi Emperor realized that familial relationship wasn''t only represented by blood but by bond too. Chapter 238: Your Attack is not Effective "Your Majesty, it''s time to go. Time is of the essence." Daoyi could tell that Xi Ri wanted to speak some more with the Xi Emperor, but she couldn''t discount the chance that Xi Yao contacted the perpetrators before he was killed. "Alright," The Xi Emperor agreed. He was the rescuee, not the rescuer, so he knew that there should already be a plan in place. All he could hope for at this point was that none of his other children died in the process. Xi Ri didn''t say any words of comfort and asked Dandan to shift the Xi Emperor into the Vast Heaven Islands. Then, the two Buzhou Immortal Sect disciples ran towards the agreement point where they would meet up with Jiang Ziya. "Do you want to stay inside the Vast Heaven Islands too? You''ve been trapped for months. It''s better not to push yourself." Daoyi asked as she followed Xi Ri towards the side entrance of the Imperial Palace. Xi Ri shook his head. "No, I want to make sure my other siblings and family are okay." Daoyi nodded. She already knew that Xi Ri''s birth mother, Imperial Consort Wang, had already died under mysterious circumstances shortly after he was born. Most likely killed by Xi Yao or the empress. Still, she didn''t believe that Xi Ri felt any kinship with his fellow princes or princess. Rather, after she witnessed Xi Ri''s interaction with the emperor, she believed Xi Ri persisted for the Xi Emperor, which was a surprise because Xi Ri didn''t talk much about his life in the Xi Dynasty in the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Daoyi didn''t pursue the matter as it was Xi Ri''s own personal matter. She didn''t have any good feelings towards her family of this life due to how they treated her, but she could tell that Xi Ri was different. Even if Xi Ri was indifferent towards his siblings, but it seems that his relationship with the Xi Emperor was closer than she thought. "Daoyi, Prince Ri," Not long after, Daoyi and Xi Ri arrived at the appointed destination. Jiang Ziya was already waiting with a little less than two hundred people. The Xi Emperor bore nine princes, and their ages varied from the eldest to Xi Ri, the youngest. All in all, the emperor didn''t have many descendants if his age of a thousand years was counted. "Uncle Ri, is it true that the emperor was possessed?" Xi Ri looked at the speaker and recognized him as one of Xi Yao''s sons. He didn''t waste any words and decapitated his older-aged nephew. He was thankful that Xi Yao hadn''t sired any children recently, so every descendant or woman of Xi Yao he killed were all in adulthood. "Ninth Brother, what''s the meaning of this?!" Xi Chen cried out, shocked by Xi Ri''s cold-blooded murder. "Cutting the grass by the roots. Eldest Prince Xi Yao colluded with external forces to harm the emperor and the Xi Dynasty," Xi Yao explained as he calmly wiped the blood off his hands, shocking the members of the Imperial Family present. "I-is what Prince Ri said true?" One member of the Imperial Family couldn''t help but ask. "It''s true," Daoyi said. "We don''t have much time to explain. Otherwise, our plan to escape will fail. Quickly enter the Vast Heaven Islands, His Majesty is already inside." Although some Imperial Family members wanted to continue questioning, they all complied under the coercion of Daoyi''s cultivation. Some of them were jealous of Daoyi''s status. She was obviously not a member of the Imperial Family, yet her status became more exalted by virtue of being Mengfei''s disciple, making their hearts feel unbalanced. But what could they do? They can only vent their frustration in the privacy of their homes, not daring to go against her openly. In this world, no matter how unfair you felt it was, only the strong have the right to dictate what fairness was. Like all things in life, nothing ever goes as expected. Dandan was in the process of sending batches of fifty people into the Vast Heaven Islands one at a time, but during the second to last batch, Daoyi saw that one of the princesses suddenly threw something shiny at Dandan. Daoyi could never forget the same ephemeral sensation she felt from that jewel sliver. It was Jiang Chunye''s fragment of the Spectral Rising Jewel. "Dandan, watch out¡ª" However, Daoyi noticed too late, and the fragment of the Spectral Rising Jewel had already arrived in front of Dandan, who had already started the transportation process. Just as Daoyi thought it was over, the Spectral Rising Jewel fragment entered Dandan''s body as if it had pierced the surface of a clear lake. Ripples could be seen on Dandan''s skin from where the jewel pierced him. "Dandan..." "Hiss?" Dandan opened his mouth and hissed with confusion with no apparent sign of injury. Unknown to Daoyi or Jiang Chunye, Dandan''s current state was that of a mobile pseudo realm. It was akin to Tianyi''s inner cosmos, only the Vast Heaven Islands was Dandan''s inner world, and anything that pierced his body would enter the pseudo realm within. Had Jiang Chunye''s attack been physical or something else instead of a soul attack using the Spectral Rising Jewel fragment, then it would have caused more trouble. After the Spectral Rising Jewel entered Dandan''s body, Jiang Chunye lost all connection to it. Daoyi sighed in relief. Dandan was one of the cornerstones of the escape plan. If something happened to him, then it was unlikely they would be able to escape with so many people. Her expression turned grave as she observed Jiang Chunye, who no longer pretended to act like a member of the Xi Imperial Family. She had always known that Jiang Chunye''s stealth capabilities were remarkable, but she never knew that her sister could transform herself into someone else too. Daoyi saw Hun Jusang coming out of the corner, and along with him, several of his specters emerged from his shadow. She sighed in relief when she saw that it was only him. The two must have only noticed after Tianyi''s started causing a ruckus. Otherwise, it wouldn''t just be the two of them stopping them. "Tsk, the damn pet is annoying as that bastard." Jiang Chunye cursed as she threw off the complicated imperial dress for the form-fitting martial attire underneath. "Whatever they''re planning, we have to stop them, Jusang." Hun Jusang nodded and sent his specters towards the remaining members of the Imperial Family. At this moment, the silent Jiang Ziya waved his arm. After the specters cross a certain distance, they would disappear as if they had disappeared into another world.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Jiang Chunye focused her eyes on Jiang Ziya. Initially, she thought the most troublesome would be Tianyi''s spiritual beast and Daoyi, even though she was only a nascent soul at the moment. "Dear Grandfather, I never expected the most powerful person in the Xi Dynasty would be you and not the emperor. Senior Starsoul should have eliminated you first." "What, cat got your tongue? The two granddaughters that you deemed useless turned out to be the most excellent. Are you angry? Are you regretful?" Jiang Chunye mocked while casting a glance at Daoyi. "And you, I never expected you to work with our dear family again. You disappoint me." "And what, collude with outsiders to deal with my master''s family like you?" Daoyi shot back without missing a beat. "True, but the Xi Dynasty was never my home," Jiang Chunye replied without any anger. "Enough," At this time, Jiang Ziya spoke, his voice full of authority. It wasn''t full of dignity like the Xi Emperor, but a certain kind of confidence in himself. "I never harbored any hope for my grandchildren, nor do I expect you two to be grateful to me. Compared to relying on others, I prefer to grasp strength in my own hands. Unfortunately, your father did not understand this point." At Jiang Ziya''s words, both Daoyi and Chunye fell silent. The two were undoubtedly enemies, but on one aspect, they could relate to one another, and that was the abuse they suffered in the Jiang Family. "Enough small talk, it''s time to fight," With those words, Jiang Ziya commanded the tempo of the situation. Under his Qiankun Law, Daoyi and Xi Ri didn''t need to do anything as neither Hun Jusang nor Jiang Chunye was able to break Jiang Ziya''s defense. The Qiankun Law was among the best in terms of defense, so Dandan was able to safely store the rest of the Imperial Family members into the Vast Heaven Islands. Hun Jusang frowned at the deteriorating situation. He already suspected such a day would come when he caught Xi Ri, Daoyi, and finally, Tianyi snooping around. He nor Elder Starsoul of the Nihility Sect took any overt action to delay for time. Now, it was all but certain the Sword Empress Xi would be alerted sooner or later. Right now, the only thing he could do was capture Xi Ri and Jiang Daoyi in hopes of grabbing hostages. As for Tianyi, he will leave him for Starsoul, the soul immortal. "Chunye, step back. I''m going to go all out." Hearing this, Jiang Chunye showed a shocked expression but quickly understood. She didn''t say any unnecessary words and retreated as miasma began to exit out of Hun Jusang''s orifices. Jiang Ziya frowned when he detected the ominous energy leaking from Hun Jusang. "This...it feels like an inner devil." He didn''t have to wait much longer as the black miasma covered Hun Jusang like some exoskeleton, revealing only two glowing red eyes for the world to see. The devilfied Hun Jusang leaned back and unleashed a soul-piercing roar. It wasn''t a simple sonar attack, and not even Daoyi''s musical attacks could compare. Anyone who heard it would be entangled by negative desires. "Watch out! Hun Jusang just used a soul attack!" Daoyi shouted in warning. "No," Jiang Ziya rejected Daoyi''s conjectures. "That wasn''t a soul attack, but the natural ability of a devil. The Nihility Sect disciple has merged with a devil. If you aren''t careful, you could form an inner devil." "What?" Daoyi said in shock. "How could a cultivator allow such an inner devil to exist within them for long?" Generally, inner devils were created from trauma or a cultivator''s obsession. If they weren''t careful, the inner devil would become them, a version possessing only negative emotions. "No, it''s not his inner devil. I heard the Nihility Sect dealt with devils, but I never expected that they would be so brazen as to seal a devil monarch in their own bodies." Jiang Ziya gravely said. Inner devils and devils were related. Inner devils were the negative self formed by cultivators entangled by negative emotions and desires, and devils were formed from the accumulated negative emotions of living beings. They weren''t formed in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System but outside in a special location in the Vast Void known as the Devil Abyss. Inner devils could become true devils, and devils could possess a cultivator that birthed them. Devils didn''t cultivate by absorbing any sort of energy like qi but fed on a living beings'' negative emotions. Every so often, large numbers of devils would appear and cause havoc in all the realms. "Be careful, I am not confident in being able to protect you two." Jiang Ziya said. And not a moment later, Hun Jusang, who had grown to ten meters tall, still clad in miasma, charged forward. "He''s coming!"
Tianyi frowned as he rubbed his forehead where his third eye was located. It was pulsating as if an alarm was going off, and not only that, Tianyi had an ominous premonition. Something was agitating him, but he couldn''t put his finger on it. Soon, he would no longer have the leisure to ponder. As he saw the shell of his Emperor-Uncle appear in front of him. "What is the meaning of this, Tianyi?" The possessed emperor questioned, fury on his face. "Please, both you and I know that the act is up. Anyways, what should I call you? I can''t exactly call you Emperor-Uncle, can I?" Tianyi asked with a slight smile as if all was right in the world. Although he was agitated, he didn''t allow it to show on his face. All the fury on the possessed emperor''s face disappeared a moment later as if it was Tianyi''s hallucination. "You can call me Starsoul. Tell me, do you think you can escape from a true immortal''s grasp?" "I''m pretty unique and strong, you know?" Tianyi lightly bantered. He didn''t bother using his Truth-Seeking Eye as he didn''t want to expose it to an enemy that he had no confidence in killing. "By the way, I heard some disturbing news. Is it true that the Nihility Sect is rebelling against the Buzhou Immortal Sect?" "I won''t deny it," Immortal Starsoul openly admitted, surprising Tianyi. "You aren''t even going to struggle a bit?" Tianyi asked. "Are you that confident in defeating the Buzhou Immortal Sect?" Tianyi, who knew some secrets such as the forbidden grounds, found it laughable that the Nihility Sect dared to rebel. Did they think that just because the Xi Emperor wasn''t a part of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, they would be okay in targeting him? This wasn''t just slapping his mother''s face, but the whole sect''s. "I don''t know about the Buzhou Immortal Sect, but what will Sword Empress Xi dare to do anything to us with you and the Xi Emperor as hostages?" Immortal Starsoul asked. Tianyi''s eyes flickered towards the point where Daoyi and Xi Ri should have met Jiang Ziya. Currently, the sound of battle could be heard, and there was a black giant with two horns on its head visible over the palace walls. He had some thoughts of going over there to provide support, but he knew that it would likely cause their situation to become worse if he brought over a true immortal and a soul immortal at that. "I know my Emperor-Uncle, what do you think you can do to me with his weak body?" Tianyi asked. "I won''t need to use it," Was all Immortal Starsoul said. Since the two had begun to talk, he had been buffeting Tianyi with an unnoticeable soul attack, but Tianyi didn''t seem to be affected. Even if he wasn''t affected, he should have noticed something, but Tianyi didn''t, confusing Immortal Starsoul. Immortal Starsoul raised his hand, and the surrounding hundred kilometers turned to a night filled with countless stars. ''Huh, this kinda feels familiar,'' Tianyi thought. It was usually him that released his true qi of primordial chaos and replicated a star-filled void, not the other way around. The countless stars shimmered in the artificial night sky and seemed to become brighter and brighter. ''They aren''t becoming brighter. The starlights are attacking me!'' Countless rays of starlight descended towards Tianyi at speeds far greater than sound but still slower than the true speed of light. But it didn''t matter as there was just too much, and Tianyi could only cross his arms and block it to the best of his abilities. "Huh?" Tianyi blinked as he felt the energy inside of him increase. ''I seemed to have absorbed the energy of the attack.'' Because of the constant need to cultivate, Tianyi was always compressing his inner cosmos. This resulted in him absorbing spiritual qi from his environment, slight as it was. When Immortal Starsoul attacked him, the energy rushed into Tianyi''s body and was absorbed by him. He looked to see the equally flummoxed expression of Immortal Starsoul. ''Ha! Tianyi: one, Starsoul: zero!'' "Your attack doesn''t seem to be effective. Maybe you messed up. Why don''t you try again? Come, I won''t do anything." Tianyi taunted as he slapped his chest. Announcement Hello everyone! Volume 1 of Adelheid, The Seventh Princess has just been released on Amazon! A Tale of Ambition and Power A soul from Earth awakens as Seventh Princess Adelheid of the Vuldar Empire. With a weak body but a monstrous reservoir of mana that threatens her very life, Adelheid engraves an oath into her very soul. She shall seize the throne no matter the sacrifices. Never again, shall her birthright be stolen.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Experience Adelheid''s journey through victory and loss to achieve her deepest desires. Unlike my previous work, The Seventh Princess is a portal fantasy that followers the protagonist as they come into power and influence the world around her. If you having a passing interest or Kindle Unlimited, please give it a try. And if you enjoy it enough, leave a rating or review. I would very much appreciate it. Onto other matters. Volume 2 of the Tianyi series, This Young Master has Enemies, is scheduled to release on April 11, 2022. Pre-order Now! Sincerely, D.C. Haenlien Chapter 239 Inner Devil Infection For the residents of the imperial palace, be they servants or masters, all feared for their life at this very moment, even the foundation establishment disciples. It was as if the ground beneath had turned into a monster and was trying to swallow them whole. In fact, it wasn''t just the people in the Imperial Palace who were frightened by the calamitous quakes, but the whole imperial capital. Age-old buildings, some even existing when the current emperor was still but a prince, were full of fractures, and those were the lucky ones. Some had already directly turned to rubble from the earthquakes, crushing their apocalypse. Corpses lay strewn about on the ground, with even more injured people bleeding out. A crying child could be seen pushing the corpse of his parent that was crushed under rubble. Pillars of smoke could be seen emitting from unlucky places that caught on fire. It was absolute chaos. The soldiers wanted to maintain order, but they were helpless against the hordes of panicking people rushing out of the capital, away from the Imperial Palace. Some even gave into despair and prayed to the Sword Empress for salvation. All of this was easily sensed by Immortal Starsoul, but so what. At his current cultivation realm, he and mortals could be considered two completely different races. His origin was a human, but that was already so long ago that he long cut his connection with them. In addition, it wasn''t his people that were dying, so why should he care? What made him surprised was the callousness of Tianyi''s actions. He secretly nodded. Only such a cold-hearted person could go far on the path of immortality. Immortal Starsoul directly discarded the Xi Emperor''s empty shell and escaped. Tianyi''s hand obliterated the Xi Emperor''s body and caused it to become a meat paste. "How cold-blooded, you destroyed your uncle''s body and spiritual core." Immortal Starsoul said as he revealed his true appearance. He wasn''t a fragment of an immortal''s soul as Jiang Ziya had guessed but a true immortal without any injury. When he transcended the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation, his physical body had been destroyed, but it didn''t matter much to him as he was a soul cultivator. Although his body was a soul lifeform, it could still interact with physical objects. It was just that his body was weaker than the average true immortal. "Hmpf, do you take me for an ignorant fool?" Tianyi laughed. ''Crap!'' "Emperor-Uncle''s possessed a mediocre spiritual vein at best. The only reason he could enter the Core Formation Realm was due to his unique cultivation method and the resources given to him. As long as his physical body is recreated, it will only take some resources for him to return to the Core Formation Realm. He won''t even have to undergo the Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation to return to the Nascent Soul Realm," Tianyi said, and he wasn''t lying. The Xi Emperor''s spiritual core didn''t rely on his spiritual veins to be formed, but the Dragon Qi of the empire. Using the people''s faith, the Xi Emperor condensed a Dragon Vein Core. Depending on the amount of Dragon Qi, a Dragon Vein Core could even eclipse a violet-gold grade spiritual core. However, the conditions to create one would be that the cultivator should be an emperor before forming his core. How many dynasties would be willing to make a foundation establishment disciple an emperor just for his potential? Powerful countries did not need to gamble on the single talent of a ruler. Still, there was one trait that Dragon Vein Cores was universal, no matter its grade. Dragon Vein Cores could allow cultivators to have no bottlenecks until the Unity Realm. It could be said that those cores were violet-gold cores in essence but not strength. Ridding himself of extraneous thoughts, Tianyi shifted into a martial form. How long has it been since he used martial arts? Even before he entered the Singularity Realm, his immense amount of qi was enough to sweep most of his opponents. After he became a venerable, he didn''t even need to physically touch his opponents to get rid of them. "I admit your physical prowess is astounding, even reaching the peak of Pathfinding Immortal Realm, but that''s it. You don''t have the skills to match your physical prowess. Even a mortal could surpass your martial skills." Immortal Starsoul said likely. He didn''t train in martial arts, especially after becoming a true immortal, but he still learned how to fight martial cultivators. "Then you can be my whetstone!" Tianyi shouted as his body blitzed towards the true immortal, and the ground shattered underneath his step. Truthfully, Immortal Starsoul had a headache. Since the beginning, he had been bombarding Tianyi with invisible soul attacks, but there was no apparent effect at all. Logically speaking, Tianyi should be a powerful soul cultivator to defend against his attacks, so why are his physical abilities so abnormal?! Immortal Starsoul didn''t want to use his trump cards either. He already feared that Sword Empress Xi had already detected the abnormal situation, and the barrier he created was no longer useful. Many people focused on Mengfei''s title as the Sword Empress, but what they didn''t know was that her formation was even more powerful than her sword arts. If he killed Tianyi, he could kiss his life goodbye. Regardless of the overall picture, Immortal Starsoul would bet that the Sword Empress would even charge into the Nihility Sect to kill him if he dared to kill Tianyi, so that was why he wanted to subjugate the young cultivator as a hostage. Like a ghost, Immortal Starsoul shifted his body away from Tianyi''s punch. The devastation from Tianyi''s full-powered punch even left him a bit speechless. It was like Tianyi had the body of a martial immortal emperor but none of the control. He really couldn''t understand why Tianyi didn''t use any other attacks besides physical attacks. He had done his research and knew that Tianyi had an absurd amount of qi reservoir, lightning techniques, and other abilities, but he did not use them. ''Unless he can''t?''If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Thinking about it logically, how can Tianyi possess such powerful strength while still a mortal without any conditions? Feeling as if he had discovered the truth, Immortal Starsoul looked at Tianyi differently. "You can only use physical attacks." Tianyi''s body trembled, but he wasn''t too surprised, and his aim was still true. Immortal used that ghostly dodging technique of his again to prevent Tianyi from touching his body. "So what?" Tianyi asked as he stared at Immortal Starsoul as if it didn''t matter at all. "You can''t even use talismans or artifacts, can you?" Immortal Starsoul asked again. Since he discovered the truth, then it meant that he had a way to restrain Tianyi. The biggest weakness of brutes was that it was hard to escape imprisonment. Immortal Starsoul took a rope from his spiritual ring, it was an immortal artifact called the Starbounding Rope, and it can be used to tie an opponent up and prevent them from using their qi while inducing their soul to slumber. Tianyi felt his brows furrow. Truthfully, he hadn''t tested his abilities to break out of bindings, a decision he was beginning to regret. He retreated far enough from Immortal Starsoul but not so far that it would seem like he was running away. He could see that the gigantic black humanoid was still fighting, so he still had to stall for time. The two, one an immortal elder and disciple of the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡ªalthough Tianyi couldn''t really be considered a disciple anymore considering he was a venerable¡ªcontinue to entangle with one another. Tianyi found that he couldn''t close the distance between them with the Starbounding Rope threatening him, so he decided to chuck hill-sized pieces of rocks at his foe instead. Immortal Starsoul almost cursed when he saw this. Being hit by such a gigantic rock would still hurt him. The worst part was that his artifact was a physical item, so he couldn''t enter a pure soul state to phase through the rocks. Frowning, he caused the sky to turn dark once more, and starlight descended. They didn''t attack Tianyi as the Nihility Sect immortal discovered that his attack had no effect. Instead, they gathered on the ground and formed his starlight incarnations. Tianyi, who saw this, wanted to curse. With their interruption, he couldn''t find the time to delay Immortal Starsoul''s main body. Left with no other choice, he could only target the starlight incarnations. Luckily, their reaction was worse than the main body, and he discovered that he could absorb the starlight the incarnation was formed from! "What did you do?!" Immortal Starsoul yelled as he felt a slight pain in his head. Even when his incarnation was destroyed, the spiritual sense should have returned to him, but it felt like Tianyi had ripped his spiritual sense strands into pieces, damaging him. Tianyi smirked and continued to destroy the starlight incarnations. Immortal Starsoul could only growl and control his incarnation to fly into the sky to flee. It was only then that he discovered that Tianyi couldn''t fly! He felt incredulous. Tianyi''s strength was all mismatched. He had continued to fight Tianyi on the ground, thinking that it wouldn''t matter even if he were in the air. Once he realized, this Immortal Starsoul started to attack Tianyi from a distance. Tianyi was helpless. Jumping into the air would only cause him to be a bigger target. It was not that he couldn''t afford to tank Immortal Starsoul''s attack, but he didn''t want to risk his body exploding. Plus, he couldn''t control his trajectory in the air and would become a sitting duck. Suddenly, there was the sound of something akin to a sonic boom, causing both Tianyi and Immortal Starsoul to direct their attention. Tianyi had a smile on his face, while Immortal Starsoul had an ugly expression. "Sword Empress Xi sure dotes on you, even willing to give you such a priceless immortal boat," Immortal Starsoul said. Previously, he only thought it was a normal immortal boat, but after he saw its capabilities, he realized that the immortal boat might equal his whole net worth! "But how do you expect to escape without it?" Immortal Starsoul asked, his tone lowering to a dangerous level. ''By running like hell,'' Of course, Tianyi wouldn''t outright say that, so he simply smiled. Immortal Starsoul had an ominous premonition, so he controlled his incarnations to set up a sealing formation. He had already known that Tianyi had destroyed a sealing formation earlier, so that was why he didn''t use a formation, but now, he couldn''t care anymore. If Tianyi also escaped, then everything he did would be for nothing. Tianyi''s eyes narrowed as he watched the starlight incarnations turn into starlight once more and form strange inscriptions. Although his formation techniques weren''t as powerful as a true immortal''s, his knowledge was still there. "Want to trap me? Dream on!'' He ignored Immortal Starsoul and began to punch the ground. It was as if a meteor capable of wiping all life off a small planet had struck the land. Fissures formed, the ground became uprooted, and there was even a hint of unbearable heat at certain spots. Seeing the suddenly changed landscape, Immortal Starsoul''s eyes bugged out. Previously, Tianyi limited his inner weight so that it would cause too much damage to the land, but now, the more chaotic the land was, the better for his escape. To Immortal Starsoul''s alarm, he lost the trace of Tianyi. He had always felt that Tianyi couldn''t be detected, but it would be fine as long as he didn''t lose sight of him. However, reality proved him wrong. After Tianyi caused a massive environmental change, Tianyi was just like a bug hiding in the forest. He couldn''t detect him at all. Suddenly, Immortal Starsoul''s expression turned extremely ugly. When it rains, it pours. He just received a transmission from Jiang Chunye that Hun Jusang lost control of the devil monarch sealed within and was going to run amok. "You got lucky this time," Immortal Starsoul muttered. Compared to the bleak chances of finding Tianyi, it was better to save a future pillar of the Nihility Sect.
Tianyi wasn''t as triumphant as the Nihility Sect elder thought he was. When leaving the imperial capital, Tianyi had to pass through the streets and see all the devastation. He knew it wasn''t Immortal Starsoul who caused this. It was him. He plunged the imperial capital into chaos. While he was trying to save his Emperor-Uncle, he unleashed devastation onto the citizens. Tianyi felt some sense of guilt, but what caused him more anger was his inability to control the power possessed by himself. "With great powers comes great responsibility, huh? What a farce." Due to his sulky mood, Tianyi didn''t reign in his strength after he left the capital, and the land became a cragged wasteland in his wake. When he saw that there was a settlement nearby, he would control it so as not to affect them, but elsewhere, he would vent out his frustration on the poor innocent earth. A few days later, Tianyi saw a heavenly phenomenon in the distance, a beam of light had shot out from the Buzhou Immortal Sect and descended near the Xi Dynasty. He opened his third eye and sensed that it was his mother''s technique. Without a nary word, he changed his direction and ran towards where the beam of light once was. Tianyi thought his mood could not turn even worse, but he discovered he was wrong. He thought he could receive some good news, but he only learned more bad news. Although the escape operation was successful, there was a casualty. Xi Ri''s spiritual core was shattered, and his mind was infected with an inner devil. Chapter 240: The Tripartite Alliance Devils were an extremely troublesome enemy to fight. If you were not careful, you could be contaminated with an inner devil and go on a rampage or be possessed and have your soul swallowed. Daoyi was a soul cultivator, so she was highly resistant to the devil''s corrosion. Although Jiang Ziya wasn''t a soul cultivator, his willpower was firm, and he had grasped a portion of the Qiankun Law, so the devil-fied Hun Jusang could not contaminate him, but Xi Ri was different. Not to mention he was in an agitated state during the battle, and he was only the Core Formation Realm. Due to the numerous factors, Xi Ri was contaminated with an inner devil by Hun Jusang. It was only thanks to Daoyi and Jiang Ziya exhibiting force beyond their realm that they were able to stall long enough for the rest of the imperial family to evacuate and allow them to flee on Tianyi''s immortal boat. With the speed of an immortal monarch, Hun Jusang was unable to chase, but he also had trouble. The majority of his willpower was used to suppress the devil sealed within him instead of battling, so when the battle ended, he lowered his guard and allowed the devil to possess him. It was also this situation that forced Immortal Starsoul to give up finding Tianyi or chasing the escaping Daoyi. It took some time, but with Immortal Starsoul being a soul cultivator and Hun Jusang fighting from within, the devil monarch within Hun Jusang was successfully sealed again. Still, Hun Jusang fell into a comatose state afterward. Not only did one of their future immortal monarchs fall into a coma without any method to awaken him, but numerous earth immortals had been killed by Tianyi during his rampage. Combined with the fact that their plan had failed, the Nihility Sect paid a great price without any results. Immortal Starsoul and the rest of the Nihility Sect members immediately retreated back to the Nihility Sect. At the same time, Jiang Chunye returned to the Jade Cauldron Sect, fearing the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s retaliation. Logically speaking, the Xi Dynasty had no official relationship with the Buzhou Immortal Sect, so the Nihility Sect taking action against a weak force wasn''t worth mentioning, but the Xi Dynasty had a relationship with Grand Elder Xi of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. This was public knowledge, and no one would believe it if the Nihility Sect went out of their way to interfere with such an unranked force without ulterior motives towards the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Once he returned, Immortal Starsoul reported to the sect''s sole grand elder, a half-immortal emperor. Although the sect master controlled the day-to-day operations, it was this grand elder who truly decided the sect''s strategic goals. "Grand Elder Darklight, I''ve failed. Please punish me." Immortal Starsoul head was dipped incredibly low as he kneeled. Grand Elder Darklight, or Monarch Darklight to the rest of the world, was a soul cultivator. Among the first-rate forces, the Nihility Sect had the highest percentage of soul cultivators, giving them an extra layer of reputation. Contrary to Immortal Starsoul''s expectation, there wasn''t any hint of anger in Monarch Darklight''s tone, as if he hadn''t failed one of the sect''s major objectives. "Since you''ve failed, go to Punishment Hall and receive your punishment." Immortal Starsoul hesitated for a moment before gritting his teeth and asking his question. "...will my action affect the sect''s plans?" "No significant changes will be made to the plan," Monarch Darklight said. "The plan to control the Sword Empress''s brother was only placing flowers atop gold, extraneous. Since it failed, it failed. We''ve already made sufficient operations and can fully announce our existence to the world." Immortal Starsoul released a sigh of relief, knowing that his mistake didn''t cost the sect much. What he didn''t see as he left for Punishment Hall was Monarch Darklight''s strange gaze. A month later, the Buzhou Immortal Sect had dispatched envoys to demand what the Nihility Sect''s actions at the Xi Dynasty meant, but the Nihility Sect directly attacked the envoys, not giving any face at all. Soon, it announced its goal to replace the Buzhou Immortal Sect as the Heaven Continent''s hegemon. When the Nihility Sect declared their intent, the Leakless Sect and the Jade Cauldron Sect also announced their intent to revolt, shocking not only the Heaven Continent but also the Earth and Mortal Continent. The people weren''t idiots. How could two first-rate and one second-rate sect announce rebellion in close succession without any preparation? Their guesses were confirmed when the Nihility Sect, Leakless Sect, and Jade Cauldron announced their Tripartite Alliance to combat the Buzhou Immortal Sect. After the announcement, the whole Heaven Continent entered a strange silence. Even the Anti-Heaven Alliance, the formerly only force that defied the Buzhou Immortal Sect, entered a strange silence. Everyone knew this was but the calm before the storm. Humorously, it seemed that the Heaven Continent was about to enter a state of turmoil akin to the Earth Continent. Only the Mortal Continent was peaceful since only one force existed there, but that didn''t prevent people from maliciously speculating that it would also enter a state of turmoil. Some guessed it would be due to civil war, and others thought it might be the revenge of the Cultivator Alliance against the Saintly Scholar School. During this temporary peace, all forces were gathering their combat personnel, withdrawing them from their missions or journies. Still, the turmoil and wars between the unranked forces did not stop, making people question whether the Tripartite Alliance or the Anti-Heaven Alliance was behind the chaos. However, none of this mattered. The people warring were only sects who had no immortals. Once the melee a trois between the Buzhou Immortal Sect, Anti-Heaven Alliance, and Tripartite Alliance ended, it would be simple to clean up the chaos by sending their immortals. It was not only the forces that were disturbed by this news but the loose cultivators. At this time, the Cultivator Alliance became a favorable option to seek refuge in. After they were expelled from the Mortal Continent, the Cultivator Alliance''s main headquarters were on the numerous islands in the Endless Seas. Still, they had many branches in the Heaven and Mortal Continents. At this time, all three major factions were eyeing the Cultivator Alliance. This neutral party could just be the crucial factor if their main force also joined the battle. Before, it was only the Earth Continent''s two factions that wanted to rope in the Cultivator Alliance. Now, the Heaven Continent''s factions also joined in. During this age of chaos, several special existences who had contact with Tianyi were scheming for profit.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. At a teahouse, a woman wearing a blue dress was calmly sipping tea. She had a silk veil hat that covered her features, but just from her aura, onlookers could tell she was a beauty, but none of the patrons had the spare thought to appreciate it. In fact, the teahouse was abnormally quiet with a sullen atmosphere that seemed to penetrate bones. ''It seems that war is once again coming to the Heaven Continent, but why did the Tripartite Alliance reveal itself now?'' Hu Landie could recall that the Tripartite Alliance only revealed itself after the war between the Buzhou Immortal Sect and Anti-Heaven Alliance became especially heated. When they announced, they dealt a heavy blow to the Bright Ascension Sect and Drifting Feather Sect, earning the ire of both factions. Still, even with two factions besieging them, the Buzhou Immortal Sect was like an undying giant, meeting both enemies tit for tat. This forced the Tripartite Alliance and Anti-Heaven Alliance to put down their grudges and focus all their attention on the hegemonic sect of the Heaven Continent. Even with this, the two factions were at a disadvantage. If the two factions appeared on the Earth Continent, the Eight Pillars Sect would have been at a disadvantage, showing that the Heaven Continent was indeed the strongest of the three Great Continents. What Hu Landie was focusing on wasn''t the war but whether she could fish in muddy waters. If she wanted to fish in muddy waters, it would carry a lot of risk for a loose cultivator like her. However, she could join one of the three factions. It had to be known that the three factions were eagerly recruiting loose cultivators to bolster their numbers. They were aiming for the loose immortals, but they still accepted mortal cultivators. No matter how weak they were, there was truth in the saying of strength in numbers. Even if they discovered that she had betrayed the Chrysalis Sect of the Earth Continent, so what? They were in need, and beggars couldn''t be choosers. Still, that would require a degree of strength. Hu Landie decided to join a faction for greater safety after she entered the Unity Realm. Currently, she was leaning towards the Buzhou Immortal Sect. The Anti-Heaven Alliance had existed for over five hundred thousand years ever since the advent of the Cloud Goddess, but she wasn''t inclined to join them. If they could make waves, they wouldn''t have been suppressed by the Buzhou Immortal Sect ever since their creation. The same could be said for the Tripartite Alliance. Although their momentum seemed great, they were likely even weaker than the Anti-Heaven Alliance. That didn''t mean Hu Landie didn''t think that the Buzhou Immortal Sect had a hundred percent chance of winning. Before she traveled back in time, the Buzhou Immortal Sect was as steady as Mount Tai under the suppression of both forces, but it couldn''t decisively defeat any of the two. For any hegemonic sect, their main goal would be to quell any rebellion against their supreme might unless they couldn''t. That or the Buzhou Immortal Sect was deliberately dragging the conflict, but Hu Landie couldn''t think of any reason why the Buzhou Immortal Sect would do such a thing. "Well, I can decide after I enter the Unity Realm. The conflict lasted for over a hundred years last time. Even if it erupted earlier, it shouldn''t end so soon." Hu Landie said. After paying for her tea, she immediately left. There were a few unkind stalkers following her, but she easily got rid of them.
"Brother Peng, what should we do?" Bai Weiwei asked. She stood there stunned. Although she was a cultivator, she rarely experienced wars. In her innocent little world, this was the first war that she felt a part of. Peng Yun crossed his arms and sunk into thought. "Right now, this is just the calm before the storm. Soon, I expect the whole heaven continent to be embroiled in war. We''re just two loose cultivators. If we don''t seek refuge, we might die." Hearing this, Bai Weiwei expressed her fear, causing Peng Yun to comfort her. "...then what should we do? I don''t want to die." "There, there. I say we might die. In this situation, I heard that the three factions are recruiting loose cultivators. If we join them, we''ll be directly fighting. The safer option would be to hide at a remote location or directly leave the Heaven Continent." Peng Yun analyzed for Bai Weiwei. "Then, then..." Bai Weiwei started to speak, her face showing some happiness yet sadness. She grew up in Heaven Continent and was extremely reluctant to leave, so she wanted to hide at a remote location, but then she recalled Peng Yun. Although he didn''t explicitly tell her, she knew that Peng Yun''s goal was to become a supreme immortal. "How about we join a faction?" Peng Yun couldn''t hide his shocked expression. "Why, Weiwei?" Bai Weiwei showed a shy smile. "Although I''m afraid of dying, I''m still a cultivator. I heard that the factions will give a lot of wealth to those who join." Hearing this, Peng Yun already figured out why Bai Weiwei decided not to run away. She knew he needed an exorbitant amount of wealth, so he was risking her life for him. Moved beyond belief, Peng Yun hugged Bai Weiwei and vowed, "Don''t worry, I won''t let you die. I''ll become an immortal and give you happiness." Bai Weiwei lowered her head to hide her flush. "Idiot, who said I wanted to marry you." "I didn''t say anything about marriage. You said it," Peng Yun teased as he hugged her even tighter. Bai Weiwei struggled out and gave a cute, "hmpf." "Which force will you join?" Bai Weiwei asked. Even one as naive as her knew that which faction they joined would have far-reaching effects. "I''ll tell you right now that I won''t agree if you join those tyrants from the Buzhou Immortal Sect." "Don''t worry, I don''t trust the Buzhou Immortal Sect either," Peng Yun said. During the war between the Skybrush Sect and Fu Dynasty, the Wealth System had informed him that the true culprit of the Fu Emperor''s death was Jiang Daoyi! Due to this, he revised his thoughts of befriending the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Originally, he thought that Bai Weiwei''s grievance was just due to a few bad bugs. What organization didn''t have a bad member or two, but after personally experiencing it, Peng Yun''s thoughts changed. If the top echelon were rotten, then so would the rest. If the Buzhou Immortal Sect allowed a mere disciple to kill the head of forces like the Fu Emperor, it could be seen that the Buzhou Immortal Sect has already become corrupted. Even if he joined them and they won, it remained unknown if they would keep their promise or silence the loose cultivators that joined them. After much deliberation, Peng Yun and Bai Weiwei decided to join the Anti-Heaven Alliance as mercenaries. Of course, this joining really meant Peng Yun fighting in the war while Bai Weiwei was left at a safe location.
"Master, what should we do?" Yan Nie asked with furrowed brows. Off by his side, Immortal Pillrabbit''s wispy soul appeared next to him with his hands behind his back. "I never expected the Heaven Continent of all places to become embroiled in war." After sighing, Immortal Pillrabit focused back on the topic. "Although it is true you can get many benefits in the war, and your combat prowess is unmatched in the same realm, but you''re an alchemist. You don''t need to join these muddied waters. Listen to Master and go to the headquarters of the Cultivation Alliance." Yan Nie nodded, agreeing with his master. Alchemists weren''t known for their fighting ability, but their services were highly sought after. He could gather a group of cultivators to fight for him if he wanted to. Still, he was just an early Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, an ant in this upcoming conflict. Immortal Pillrabbit sensed someone coming, so he immediately returned to the ring. Turning around, Yan Nie saw Pan Lanyue walking over. Although her speed wasn''t as great as his, she still reached the late Core Formation Realm, a veritable expert in the Fleeting Mist Sect. "You''re leaving." Her words weren''t a question but a confirmation. Yan Nie wordlessly nodded. The two settled into silence before Pan Lanyue spoke again. "Then take care." When Yan Nie didn''t answer for a long time, Pan Lanyue turned around to leave, he suddenly spoke. "Come with me!" Pan Lanyue''s footsteps paused. She answered without turning back, "I can''t. My father, my family, my master, and sect are all here. They can''t leave too." After a moment, Yan Nie spoke again. "Then take care." He sighed as he saw Lan Lanyue''s receding back. When they first met, she had humiliated him, causing him to hate her to his core. But after their duel, they came to respect one another and even journeyed together, causing their relationship to become unclear. Yan Nie was sure he had feelings for her, but he also knew he had feelings for his cousin, who he treated like a brother. He had always denied these feelings since he knew he wasn''t homosexual. That all changed when he discovered that this cousin who he treated like a true brother was actually a girl! The nascent soul grandmaster sighed and stared at the sky. Chapter 241: The Broken Primordial World "Heh!" In the wilderness, surrounded by fog, a handsome man with white robes and a beauty mark under one of his eyes scoffed. He was the reborn Dragon Emperor posing as Lovespot. In his first life, because of his low vision, although he became a half-immortal sovereign, he was forever trapped at that level because of sequelae during his ascension. Now that he had another chance, the Dragon Emperor naturally rectified the mistakes. The Dragon Emperor Fist was indeed his self-created cultivation method based on the true dragon clan, but there was a superior version that he kept to himself. The current Dragon Emperor Fist that others cultivated was his original version, but they were all inferior to the improved version he had created. He just never expected that he would use it like this. Still, after the bitter encounter with Tianyi, the Dragon Emperor actually learned to restrain himself. He kept his true strength hidden and would only burst out in situations that threatened his life. The Dragon Emperor also changed his method of operation. After discovering that the wealth of the immortal tombs and inheritance had already been taken, he felt a sense of being targeted, so he became even more careful. The Dragon Emperor''s original plan of recovering his comprehension of the laws and concepts he had previously mastered by devouring his clones was abandoned. Since he could master the law without devouring his fragments, then he could do so again, and he would learn an even more profound concept! There was also another reason, and that was he learned that Sword Empress Xi would kill a Dragon Emperor clone whenever she discovered one. Even if his current identity was the grandson of the former Head Elder of Justice Hall, the Dragon Emperor had no doubts that Mengfei would kill him without a second thought. Hell, she might not even receive punishment if the Buzhou Immortal Sect were to discover his secrets. The Dragon Emperor was very clear on the hatred between himself and the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Just like how he would destroy the Buzhou Immortal Sect if he had a chance, so, too, would the Buzhou Immortal Sect annihilate him if they discovered that he had revived. The Dragon Emperor punched the air, and the fog in front of him dispersed a bit. He furrowed his brows, obviously unsatisfied by his simple punch. After he had possessed Lovespot''s body, the Dragon Emperor had quickly cultivated it to the point that his foundations were even better than his first life, much less a waste like Lovespot. His cultivation speed was fast enough to be called a heaven-defying genius, but each step taken was unimaginably sturdy, so he didn''t have to worry about leaving sequelae. Currently, he was in the mid-Nascent Soul Realm, and his strength was even stronger than when he was posing as Longwei after possessing Lei Jingye''s body. Of course, this is discounting the immortal soul''s power he possessed. Without an immortal body, he couldn''t recuperate back that strength. Still, the Dragon Emperor wasn''t satisfied. He could still recall Tianyi''s tyrannical body and limitless qi. Compared to the average cultivator, the Dragon Emperor was currently in the one percent, but Tianyi was in the one percent of the one percent in specs. How could the proud Dragon Emperor be satisfied with being inferior to a junior? Especially since the junior in question had ruined his good plans! Even now, the Dragon Emperor was planning on revising the Dragon Emperor Fist he cultivated to increase the body strength and qi reservoirs. Luckily for him, he learned that the Buzhou Immortal Sect was organizing an expedition for promising disciples to enter the broken primordial world. "It seems that it''s time for me to return."
Six months had passed since Tianyi returned to the Buzhou Immortal Sect. During this time, Xi Ri was constantly hovering between life and death due to his inner devil. Had it been an ordinary inner devil produced by Xi Ri, the Buzhou Immortal Sect would have been able to guide Xi Ri to expelling or suppressing it, but it was obtained from the corrosion of a devil monarch. This greatly amplified Xi Ri''s negative emotions and thoughts beyond his limit and caused the current situation. Even if Mengfei was willing, there was not much she could do for Xi Ri. The Buzhou Immortal Sect had a method to save Xi Ri''s life, but it would not be worth the investment. In other words, Tianyi had to give something in order for the sect to be willing to save Xi Ri. Tianyi wasn''t so shameless as to ask the sect to save Xi Ri based on his potential. If he failed his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation, wouldn''t the sect have made a huge loss? But what could the son of Grand Elder Xi give to the sect? Everything he owned was given to him by his mother, and the treasure he obtained himself was only a trickle compared to what he already owned. His innate ability to create pseudo realms? He couldn''t even relax his control of the qi within his body, much less create another pseudo realm. In all honesty, there was nothing Tianyi could offer to the Buzhou Immortal Sect to save Xi Ri. Even his foreknowledge of immortal tombs and inheritances could not generate enough contribution points for the Buzhou Immortal Sect to save Xi Ri. Luckily for Tianyi, a chance would come up soon. The Buzhou Immortal Sect was planning an expedition into the broken primordial world. It was a world, not a realm, that the countless creatures lived in before it shattered into the current three thousand realms of the modern era. Some of the shattered remains still existed and formed a dangerous area full of treasures. In fact, Mengfei had adventured into the broken primordial world less than a century ago.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! With such a dangerous area, why would the Buzhou Immortal Sect send disciples on such a dangerous mission? The answer was that certain areas rejected those above a specific realm, say, those in the Immortal Realm, hence the expedition. As long as Tianyi returned with a treasure valuable enough, he could move the Buzhou Immortal Sect to save Xi Ri. Maybe he could even make a small profit along the way. That''s why for the past six months, Tianyi was cultivating like a madman like he never had in his second life. Of course, Tianyi didn''t only cultivate during these six months. He also made time to keep up with current events. For example, the Xi Emperor had already gotten a new body. Compared to Xi Ri''s inner devil, this was a minor problem at best. However, the Xi Emperor, the Imperial Family, and the Jiang Family didn''t return to the Xi Dynasty. At this juncture, returning was asking to be kidnapped as a hostage, so they quietly rested within the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Although it was against the sect''s laws, currently, they were in wartime, so the rules could be bent a bit. More shocking was the fact that Jiang Ziya was accepted as a disciple, and his master was the Concealed Emperor! Even Tianyi felt that it was strange. He knew that Jiang Ziya would become a disciple without a doubt, but he never expected the Concealed Emperor to take an interest in a mere mortal cultivator, even if he was one that nearly mastered the Qiankun Law at the nascent soul realm. What was more shocking was the fleeing Jade Cauldron Sect members. Not every member of the Jade Cauldron Sect was supportive of rebelling against the Buzhuo Immortal Sect. As evident, the rebellers won the internal sect dispute. Those that lost fled under the murderous pursuit of the rebel faction. With nowhere to go, they fled to the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Although the Buzhou Immortal Sect didn''t fully trust them, they weren''t willing to exterminate them without reason, so the loyal Jade Cauldron Sect members were locked up in a secure area within the sect and strictly monitored. Compared to this, Ming Xingyun''s progress was just minor news at best. Before, some people might have paid attention to the fact that Tianyi took on a disciple, but with the current climate, this was a minor affair at best. After returning to the Buzhou Immortal Sect, Ming Xingyun was shocked by the dense spiritual qi, especially the concentration at Tianyi''s Jade Lotus Clear Pond. Her only thought was, ''As expected of my master''s home!'' The only difference from before was her rate of qi absorption. Even if she received the complete Earth Book of the Five Element Method, she was still in the early Qi Gathering Realm, so the effects weren''t noticeable. Compared to that, Tianyi placed much more focus on her martial cultivation. As a holder of the Condensed Mountain Physique, it was a waste not to embark on the path of martial cultivation. After carefully reviewing the available martial cultivation method, Tianyi chose the Xingtian War Art method. Xingtian was a god of the primordial era. In the earliest time of the primordial era, after Pangu cleaved the chaos and opened heaven and earth, he died. Pangu''s spirit was split into three parts, creating the Heavenly Lord of Primordial Beginning, Heavenly Lord of Numinous Treasures, and the Heavenly Lord of the Way and Virtue. Since his spirit was created from Pangu''s spirit, what about his blood? From his blood birthed twelve primordial gods. Compared to gods like the Heavenly Lords or the Jade Emperor, they were closer to titans of other mythology. The leader of the titans was Di Jiang. He resembled a yellow sac with six legs, four wings, and chaos for a face. He was born with mastery of the Law of Space. The one born mastering the Law of Time was Jiuyin. He had a human head and a red snake body. Born mastering the Law of Wood was Jumang. He had the body of a bird but the head of a man, riding on two dragons under his feet. Born mastering the Law of Metal was Rushou. He had a human head and a tiger body, but it was lined with metal scales instead of fur. Not only that, he possessed a pair of wings, a snake coming out of his left ear, and rode on two dragons like Jumang. Born mastering the Law of Water was Gonggong. He possessed the head of a snake, black scales, a dragon under his feet, and a blue python wrapped around his arm. Born mastering the Law of Fire was Zhurong. Unlike the Gonggong, he had a human body covered in red scales, and his head was that of a beast. Two fire snakes pierced his ears, and he rode a fire dragon. Born mastering the Law of Wind was Tianwu. Possessing eight heads, Tianwu had a tiger body and ten tails. Born mastering the Law of Thunder was Qiangliang. He had a snake in his mouth, in his hand, a tiger head, a human body, hoofed feet, and long arms. Born mastering the Law of Lightning was Jizi. He possessed a bird body, a human head, green snakes around his ears, and a red snake in his talons. Born mastering the Law of Weather was Shebisi. He had the face of a human but the body of a beast and ears like a dog''s with green snakes circling them. Born mastering the Law of Rain was Xuanming. He had the body of a beast covered in spikes. Last but not least was Houtu, born mastering the Law of Earth. Half her body was that of a snake, she had seven arms growing on her back and two positioned normally, each holding a snake. Special mention went to the fact that she was the sole female of the twelve titans. Later, she would sacrifice her body to form the Nether Realm and create the cycle of samsara that all life underwent in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. These twelve titans could be said to be the origin of martial cultivation in the Three Thousand Immortal Realm System. Xingtian was not a titan, but a giant descended from these twelve titans. He wasn''t that famous until one glorious event. Xingtian, for whatever reason, charged into the Immortal Court and fought against the Jade Emperor. However, he wasn''t the Jade Emperor''s opponent, so he had his head cut off and was sealed under Changyang Mountain. Xingtian didn''t die but continued to live. He turned his nipples into eyes and his belly button into a mouth. Some say he still lived, waiting to get his revenge on the Jade Emperor. The Xingtian War Art was the cultivation method the Immortal Court created from researching Xingtian''s decapitated head. As usual, the requirements were extremely high, and the cultivator needed to possess a peerless physique that was difficult to find even in the primordial era. Tianyi revised the Xingtian War Art into the Xingtian War Code. Compared to the Nine-Five Scripture, the pure martial cultivation method only gave Tianyi a bit of trouble. The first revised version wasn''t perfect, and Tianyi had to occasionally alter it to suit Ming Xingyun''s Condensed Mountain Physique, but the results were satisfactory. Thanks to the foundation created from spiritual cultivation, Ming Xingyun successfully entered the Muscle Strengthening Stage of the Body Transformation Realm after six months. Although the day was far away, Tianyi was already prepared for when Ming Xingyun entered the Acupoint Opening Realm. Strictly speaking, those weapons were prepared for Daoyi when Tianyi could still refine artifacts. Tianyi saw the light. Daoyi wasn''t interested, so Tianyi decided to place his dreams on Ming Xingyun. A young lass like her was even more suitable. Tianyi had already prepared her first artifacts. According to legend, Xingting used a battle ax in one hand and a tower shield in his other hand. So, Tianyi prepared an ax and shield for his disciple. It was one of the few joys he had left while Xi Ri was still in a coma. Six months later, Tianyi left his secluded cultivation. It was time to depart for the broken primordial world. Chapter 242: Bao Ling Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Chapter 243: Ink Poem Palace Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Chapter 244: The Mantis Stalks the Cicada, Unaware of the Oriole Behind... Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Chapter 245:Unknowing of the Falcon Descending, Heedless of the Dragon Above, Ignorant of the Immort Ye Chen was his name. He had originally been a nameless disciple of a third-rate sect in the Numinous Realm. Having been born with an inferior spiritual root, it seemed that all he would amount to was a mere outer disciple. That is, until his sect''s top genius had taken his childhood sweetheart. After taking a beating from the top genius''s underling, Ye Chen''s blood had dripped onto a divine artifact. The artifact recognized him as his master, which started his rise to fame. The mirror-shaped divine artifact could refine qi into essence, which boosted his cultivation speed. Not only that, it could hide Ye Chen within spacetime folds, an ability that greatly boosted his survival rate after being booted from the sect because he defeated the top genius to wash away his shame. Too bad the top genius''s father was the grand elder of the sect and didn''t like the fact that a no-name disciple had defeated his precious son. Long story short, Ye Chen successfully caught the attention of the Numinous Sword Sect and became an inner disciple. His aptitude seemed average on the surface, but he could always reveal shocking progress. Such a trait made him one of the candidates to enter the Broken Primordial World. Ye Chen was already a transcending mortality sage and only suppressed his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation so that he could reap more benefits in the Broken Primordial Word. Once he returned, he planned to ascend to immortality and exact vengeance on his former sect. While in the Broken Primordial World, time was unstable, and if he wasn''t careful, he could be teleported to another location without warning. Worst of all, the suppression was over a hundred times greater than the Numinous Realm. Ye Chen understood that the higher the rank of the realm, the greater the suppression and the slower the time passed, but the spiritual qi was richer. Conversely, even with the faster time flow in the lower rank realms, the quality of cultivators was lower. For the suppression of the Broken Primordial World to be so superior, Ye Chen had to wonder how much more powerful the Broken Primordial World was before it was broken. Still, the suppression didn''t just put more pressure on his martial body, but it also prevented his spiritual sense from traveling far, at most ten meters. But even a blind man could feel the pillar of light that erupted into the distance. Ye Chen knew that it was the birth of a precious treasure, so he made his way towards it, careful not to elicit the attention of the roving monsters. Compared to him, who had only traveled the Broken Primordial World for a few months, the danger from monsters could not be estimated. On average, they were at least thrice as dangerous as monsters in the Numinous Realm due to their powerful body. That''s why he was so shocked to see another cultivator fighting a true demon level monster. Ye Chen had doubts whether he was a true cultivator because he didn''t display any qi usage. Rather, he seemed like a humanoid monster with how powerful his fleshly body was. But that was a good thing. Both the cultivator and the monster focused on battling each other, ignoring his presence. Ye Chen took this chance to grab the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus. Once he grabbed the lotus, the pillar of light disappeared, but it was already too late for the two contenders to stop him. The spatial corridor appeared around Ye Chen, significantly lessening the suppression and increasing his speed in the Broken Primordial World. A smile slowly surfaced on Ye Chen''s face as the distance between the cultivator and monster increased, but it didn''t stay for long. There was a heaven-shaking roar, causing Ye Chen''s smile to freeze on his face as a gargantuan serpentine body with scales the color of the sky appeared out of nowhere in the sky. The beast had two glowing slitted eyes and two horns growing out of his head, a dragon. "Why is a dragon here!?" Ye Chen shouted as his body sank to the ground from the dragon''s pressure. The blue dragon didn''t deign to speak as a gigantic claw stretched out towards Ye Chen, intent obvious. When the blue dragon''s claw neared Ye Chen, an illusionary mirror materialized in front of him and repelled the dragon''s claw. "Human, it seems you are fortunate to have discovered a divine artifact. Unfortunately, you got too greedy. I''ll accept the lotus and the mirror!" The dragon''s voice boomed as he spoke. Ye Chen gritted his teeth and injected qi into the divine mirror, causing it to appear more solid. The blue dragon snorted and attacked again. Blue energy covered his claws and struck Ye Chen, who was protected by an invisible barrier. Under the blue dragon''s assault, Ye Chen''s barrier stayed strong, and he used the force from the attack as propulsion to send him further into the distance. The dragon snorted and made a grasping motion, freezing Ye Chen in the air. With no way to escape, Ye Chen could only hole up in the barrier formed by the mirror, hoping that the blue dragon''s assault would not yield anything. Unfortunately, he was too hopeful as cracks appeared on the divine artifact, reflecting the cracks on the barrier. Upon seeing Ye Chen''s face pale, the blue dragon''s eyes sharpened. He opened his jaws, and energy began to condense. After a short charging time, the blue dragon unleashed a breath of blue flames against Ye Chen. Ye Chen''s eyes brightened as a smirk appeared on his face. He roared and condensed several hand seals. The barrier protecting him disappeared, and a fully physical mirror appeared. The mirror seemed tiny and inconsequential, only the size of about four hands, in comparison to the blue dragon or even its breath.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. But, against all logic, the blue flame breath that had seemed so menacingly moments before was reflected and enlarged. A roar of pain shook the whole continent and buffeted the environment with hurricane-force winds. When the roar and flame disappeared, Ye Chen was on his knees, panting. Across from him, the blue dragon had numerous burns and cracks on his formerly perfect scales, with blue blood dripping onto the ground. Each drop resembled metal more than liquid as they drilled holes into the land from the sheer weight. "Human! Congratulations, you have managed to enrage me. Give me your life!" The blue dragon released another roar and charged straight at Ye Chen with his jaws opened, seemingly wanting to swallow Ye Chen whole. Ye Chen''s smirk didn''t disappear as he managed to stand up with great difficulty and raised the mirror above his head. The mirror gave off an eerie light and struck the blue dragon. The blue dragon roared once more as its body began to twist unnaturally. It was as if time had increased by a hundred times at some parts while other parts slowed down. The land shuddered as everything below the blue dragon''s hind legs broke off and fell. "Dammit," Ye Chen said. He had wanted to twist the dragon''s head off, not snap its tail. The blue dragon roared again, far too angry to speak as a claw pierced towards Ye Chen. At this moment, a small figure, around the size of one meter, suddenly appeared out of the corner of the dragon''s eye. There was an explosive sound and even greater tremble as the dragon''s body crashed onto the ground. "You dare!" The blue dragon raised its head and stared domineering at Dandan. The monster Tianyi had been fighting with had long run away after feeling the coercion from the blue dragon''s superior bloodline, but Dandan was different. "I purposely allowed a mongrel like you to leave, but since you want to perish, then I''ll send you to the Nether Realm." "Guoh?!" The blue dragon released a strangled cry as something shot down from the sky and hammered his head back into the dragon. That something was naturally Tianyi. He held his chin and looked at the downed dragon. "Human, it seems that you can hide your presence quite well, but do you think that you can safely come and leave just because of that?!" The blue dragon roared again. "Become my mount." "What?" The dragon paused and stared at Tianyi. It was as if he couldn''t process what he had just heard. "I''ve always wanted a dragon mount, so become my mount," Tianyi said again. There was a chuckling sound coming from the blue dragon before it erupted into uproarious laughter. Suddenly, it stopped as the blue dragon emitted a terrifying killing intent as it glared at Tianyi. "Human, you will die in the most painful way possible. To dare humiliate me as you did, I will make sure that not even your soul will be saved!" ''Yeah, didn''t think that would work. Worth a try.'' He thought as he reared back his fist back and began to do battle against the blue dragon. Earlier, Dandan had already wanted to attack the blue dragon, but Tianyi stopped him. Only after the blue dragon had been injured by Ye Chen did he release Dandan. In the blue dragon''s current weakened state, Tianyi had no fear at all, but he was still wary of any trump cards. The blue dragon roared and unleashed the blue flame breath again. Dandan zipped behind Tianyi as if saying, "I leave it to you!" Tianyi had no time to scold Dandan as he raised both hands in front of him and started to absorb the blue flames. When the blue flame breath ended, the blue dragon didn''t unleash a breath again. He roared and started to use physical attacks since energy attacks weren''t effective against Tianyi. Tianyi frowned and leaped back. He crouched and pulled out a giant rock and threw it...completely missing the blue dragon''s body. The blue dragon suddenly roared and turned towards where Tianyi had aimed the rock at. Ye Chen had run away, taking the chance that Tianyi distracted the blue dragon. The dragon roared and rushed toward Ye Chen. The ground beneath Tianyi shattered as he, too, charged toward the fleeing Numinous Sword Sect disciple. Ye Chen gritted his death and glared at the two. His eyes lingered between Tianyi and the blue dragon before he zeroed in on Tianyi. He raised the mirror again, and the eerie light shot out once more. But this time, his face didn''t just pale but also spat out a mouthful of blood. Tianyi''s expression changed. He was confident in his defense, but he didn''t dare to have absolute confidence in the face of a divine artifact, and he moved to dodge by punching the air, using the repulsive force to change his direction in midair. But as the eerie light passed him, it made a u-turn and struck him in the back. Tianyi''s face twisted, and he braced himself for his body to be twisted and snapped like the blue dragon. And waited. And waited. Only nothing happened. He gave Ye Chen a strange look before he resumed his charge. Ye Chen''s eyes widened in disbelief. The divine mirror didn''t only unleash a physical attack but also a soul attack. While the soul was under attack, they couldn''t focus on the spatial warping, allowing their physical body to be easily broken. Yet, all of that was meaningless. He didn''t know why his attack failed on Tianyi, but the reality was in front of him. To trigger the second attack, Ye Chen had paid the price not only physically but also with his soul. If he used the mirror to attack two or three more times, he would undoubtedly fall into a coma. Left with no choice, Ye Chen could only stimulate the divine mirror to carry him away. However, Tianyi and the blue dragon were relentless, as if the two had agreed to an unspoken truce. In less than an hour, Ye Chen''s body tumbled onto the ground as he glared hatefully at his two pursuers. No matter what he threw at Tianyi, it would only be shrugged off, and the blue dragon was even more infuriating, being the main culprit preventing his escape. The time to talk was over as both of his pursuers attacked at the same time. Ye Chen roared in unwillingness. "Since you want my treasures, see if you can keep them!" He chucked the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus into the distance and the divine mirror in the opposite direction, but neither Tianyi nor the blue dragon stopped their attacks. They seemed intent on killing Ye Chen first before doing anything. Ye Chen smiled bitterly, but he fully imprinted the two figures into his memories. As his body shattered and broke, Ye Chen left parting words with his final breath. "Canglong, and you, I will have my revenge in the future!" Tianyi and the blue dragon didn''t take Ye Chen''s word to heart. Since he lost, what was the point of swearing vengeance? Instead, the two separated in opposite directions. The blue dragon reached for the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus while Tianyi grabbed the divine mirror. In truth, he had recognized the divine mirror the moment Ye Chen took it out. It was none other than the Kunlun Mirror, the divine artifact that Xi Wangmu, the Queen Mother of West, had been born with. After grabbing it, Tianyi didn''t put it in his spatial pouch as it couldn''t contain a divine artifact. Tianyi turned around and eyed the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus in the blue dragon''s hand. The blue dragon also eyed the Kunlun Mirror in Tianyi''s hand. Now that they had grabbed the object they wanted the most, both of them wanted to snatch the other''s gains. Just as it seemed that a battle would reignite between the two, a light suddenly descended and passed through the blue dragon''s neck. Moments later, the blue dragon''s head slid off its body and collapsed onto the ground. Tianyi''s pupils shrunk into needlepoints as he snapped his head towards the source of the attack to see a young man in his early twenties wearing a gray robe with silver hair and an ordinary-looking sword in hand. Chapter 246: Tianyi vs Bao Ling
Stolen story; please report. Chapter 247: Grievously Injured In the void between the landmasses drifting in the Broken Primordial World, a silver ball floated. Upon closer inspection, the observer would be able to discover that the ball was not actually a ball at all but a sphere formed from an unaccountable number of swords revolving around the center. The sword sphere continued to float in the void until the gravity of one of the continents pulled the sphere towards it. Once the sphere landed on the continent, the myriad swords splattered onto the ground, powerless, creating a literal field of swords. At the center, a man in bloodied robes collapsed onto the ground. No part of his body was left unharmed, and it appeared as if he had been skinned alive. Even now, blood continuously flowed from his exposed muscle, his hair was all but gone, and half his eyeballs had disintegrated. Strangely, the man''s sword was completely unharmed, plain and unassuming but untouched by whatever calamity befell his user. The same could not be said for the object in his other hand, a nine-petaled lotus. Its color was formerly gold but dimmed from whatever befell the man. Its stem and roots appeared as if thousands of insects had mawed on it, and its nine petals had black streaks of energy swirling within. The spiritual light continuously weakened at a noticeable rate, fighting off against the foreign energy. The man was Bao Ling and surprisingly alive, considering he was at ground zero of Tianyi''s explosive surprise. However, he had almost used up all his qi to preserve his life. Had he not possessed the Immortal Slaying Sword, he would have likely died. Still, the situation wasn''t looking good for him. Tianyi''s explosion had wrecked his spatial ring and almost all the other treasures on his body. Luckily, he still had the pendant given to him by the elder presiding over the expedition into the Broken Primordial World. Bao Ling had thought it was an unnecessary precaution, but reality proved him wrong. Now, it was a matter of staying alive until the elders could pinpoint his location and rescue him. He patched himself up the best he could, but the end result was scabs covering his body. His eyes had been destroyed, so he could only use his spiritual sense to navigate, a challenging task considering that it was suppressed in the Broken Primordial World. Even with his destroyed eyes, Bao Ling''s fighting intent shone through. Throughout his life, he had been unparalleled. No one in the entire Numinous Realm had been his equal. Recently, a rising star of the Numinous Sword Sect, Ye Chen, caught his eye, but now, it seemed that a more fitting rival appeared. Bao Ling already had a guess as to Tianyi''s identity. Among the two immortal rank realms, only the Buzhou Immortal Sect and the Numinous Sword Sect had the ability to travel to the Broken Primordial World. Obviously, the man he faced wasn''t from the Numinous Sword Sect, leaving only one possibility. Despite being the originator of the explosion, Bao Ling didn''t believe Tianyi had died. His conclusion came more so from gut instinct than anything factual. Plus, he could tell that Tianyi wasn''t intent on having a showdown. So it was more likely Tianyi used that explosion to escape from him. "Next time we meet, we''ll decide the winner once and for all." Bao Ling swore, unaware of Tianyi''s murderous intent toward him.
Some time before, on another continent, Zi Zun grunted as he slew another monster. Unlike Tianyi and Bao Ling, the landmass he had arrived at wasn''t as large, and neither was the suppression, but it was almost tailor-made for him. No vegetation existed, and the soil was gray, not tiny rocks or debris but iron sand. Underneath the sand was magnetic ores. The whole landmass was covered in a magnetic field, resulting in constant lightning storms of varying intensity but no rain or water. If there was rain, it was tiny droplets of plasma. Here, even with his Eastern Lightning Physique, one moment of carelessness and a strike of lightning could very well destroy his soul. Under the constant tempering of lightning thunder, Zi Zun''s cultivation rapidly rose to the peak of Acupoint Opening and Core Formation Realm. Even his original gold grade Thunderous Lightning Spiritual Core had upgraded to the violet-gold grade Extremity Lightning Spiritual Core, further increasing his strength. However, fortune and danger coincided in the Broken Primordial World. Strange lightning-attribute monsters inhabited the land, and to them, Zi Zun was the perfect nourishment. Once they caught sight of him, they would chase him down at all costs. It was fine if these lightning monsters were in the grandmaster-level strength or below, but anything higher posed a massive risk to Zi Zun. Luckily, none of these monsters had attained spirituality, or he would have been in trouble. Still, the constant battles sharpened his battle sense, allowing him to exhibit greater power for less effort. In addition, due to constantly being bathed in lightning and thunder and the exposure to the naked worldly laws that formed the Broken Primordial World, Zi Zun had already mastered the Concept of Thunderclap and was on his way to mastering the Concept of Flash. It was to the point that a Daoseed had already begun forming inside of his mind, something that theoretically true immortals accomplished. And even Tianyi only formed the foundation for his Daoseed in the Nascent Soul Realm. After slaying the last monster that had besieged him, Zi Zun plopped on the ground and gasped for breath. The chisel in his hand had attained lightning-like runes on its blade, courtesy of absorbing the raining lightning and restoring it closer to its former glory. Zi Zun took an hour to rest up before traveling again. Safety was always a matter of chance. Unless he could withstand being buried by the iron said, the chances of encountering lightning monsters were always present, even if he stayed put. After traveling for an undetermined amount of time, Zi Zun felt the chisel in his hand react in a specific direction. Feeling that it might be related to the Divine Duke of Thunder''s legacy. He changed his way. The closer he got, the stronger the reaction, but simultaneously, so, too, did the frequency of lightning strikes. Once he was close enough, Zi Zun saw a pillar of lightning. To be more precise, it only appeared like a pillar of lightning due to the constant lightning raining down on the same spot. After closing the distance to nine hundred meters, Zi Zun didn''t dare to come closer anymore. A beast composed of thunder and lightning patrolled the area surrounding the lightning pillar. Thunder accompanied each step it took, and whenever it glanced, lightning descended. After continuously observing the lighting beast, Zi Zun reached four hundred meters away from the lightning pillar. At this distance, should he be careless, the lightning beast could easily reach him. Once close enough, the source of the lightning pillar revealed itself. A tree clad in electric currents stood at the center of the pillar. The leaves were formed of lightning, its bark a metallic gray, and an invisible forcefield funneled all the lightning towards it.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Zi Zun eyed the lightning beast. He had already discovered a pattern to the monster''s movement. Once the lightning beast reached the furthest distance, he moved and reached only a mere hundred meters away. At this distance, the chisel in his hand vibrated with excitement as if reuniting with an old friend. Zi Zun almost couldn''t stop himself from rushing toward the tree, but rationality brought him back to reality. Zi Zun didn''t know how many hours or even days he stayed in the same position. He feared that the lightning beast would catch sight of him and ruin his chances, so he could only observe the lightning beast and wait for the most opportune time. Finally, his chance had arrived. The monster had curled up on the opposite side of the tree and fallen asleep. But just to be safe, Zi Zun waited for a few more hours before moving. When Zi Zun reached a few meters away, the runic symbols on his chisel could be hidden anymore, and he shot out a light towards the iron-colored tree. Under his disbelieving eyes, the tree began to shrink and shrink. The lightning leaves were absorbed into the branches. In turn, the branches receded into the trunk. Even the roots disappeared back into the main body. The end result was a wooden stick with a gray ball atop, a drum mallet. Zi Zun''s breathing became uneven from excitement. It was said the Divine Duke of Thunder had three divine artifacts, the Lightning Punishing Chisel and the Thundercall Drum and Mallet. Just as Zi Zun reached for the mallet, an unrecognizable voice entered his ears. It was grating, like crackling thunder. "Thank you for your hard work. I couldn''t get the artifact because of the forcefield. But now that it''s gone, I won''t need you anymore!" Zi Zun stared in shock at the lightning beast. It wasn''t a monster without any spirituality but a demon! Sweat poured down his forehead as he stared at the demon. Perhaps it was already an expert at the sage or even immortal level.
Lovespot, or rather, the Dragon Emperor, opened his eyes and stood up from his sitting position. He was inside a cave and around him was the skeleton of a dragon. After he absorbed whatever blood essence it had left and entered the peak Soul-Nourishing Realm, the dragon skeleton seemed to have lost all luster. The Dragon Emperor waved his hand, and the skeleton disappeared into his spatial ring. Then, with a flip of his hand, a pearl larger than his head appeared in his palm. "I got quite lucky, to think that I would have even discovered a dragon pearl." His smile gained a ferocious aspect as he stared at the pure white pearl. "And to even store the remnant soul of a True Demon Realm dragon. It''s my lucky day." As if responding to the Dragon Emperor''s word, the dragon pearl began to vibrate. "A mere ant dares to look down on me?!" "Ant? Are you talking about me or yourself?" After saying those words, the Dragon Emperor didn''t bother wasting any more breath and opened his mouth. A faint dragon''s roar could hear as an immense suction force. "How could an outsider like you know the Dragon Clan''s Chiwen Divine Swallowing Art?!" The remnant soul within the dragon pearl screamed, but it was for naught as a silvery wisp escaped and entered the Dragon Emperor''s mouth. A few hours later, the Dragon Emperor released a satisfied sigh. The Chiwen Divine Swallowing Art, named after one of the Nine Sons of the Ancestor Dragon, allowed the practitioner to swallow all things and turn them into nourishment. After swallowing the remnant true dragon''s soul, he could feel his soul become stronger again. Although the strength or size of his nascent soul didn''t increase much, the purity increased substantially, almost to the point of a true immortal. Thinking about this, the Dragon Emperor gnashed his teeth together. His soul had already reached the purity of a true immortal, but thanks to Xi Tianyi, he had become a remnant soul and stooped to the point of possessing a waste. The Dragon Emperor forcibly suppressed his irritation and focused on the dragon pearl in hand. Among the numerous treasures used to create clones and avatars, the dragon pearl ranked among the first for creating an avatar cultivating the spiritual way. Of course, if he had a dragon''s flesh, his avatar would also be talented in the martial way. However, where could he find a live dragon in the modern era? Unless he broke into the dragon''s home base, but he would be seeking death with his current strength. The Dragon Emperor started the process of creating an avatar. He was not worried about anyone disturbing him because the cave he was in was underwater, surrounded by natural barriers. The continent he landed on was composed of the former Four Seas of the Primordial World, so it was filled with dragon corpses and related treasure. After a month, the Dragon Emperor''s face suddenly paled, and a miniature version of him appeared outside his body and sunk into the white dragon pearl. He didn''t have time to deal with his soul injuries, so after popping a pill into his mouth, the Dragon Emperor merged a white bone emanating dragon qi and several other materials, including his own blood essence. Slowly, the materials started to form a human body with the exact same appearance as his original self and not a spitting image of Lovespot. Upon seeing this, the Dragon Emperor frowned. He could not reveal this avatar unless in the direst of circumstances. If the Buzhou Immortal Sect discovered this avatar, then all his plans would be for naught. After the flesh finished forming, the Dragon Emperor''s avatar reached the Acupoint Opening Realm in one fell swoop, but that was the side dish. Inside his avatar''s body, the dragon pearl transformed into a Dragon Pearl Spiritual Core, and his split soul slowly emerged from within, establishing his avatar as a nascent soul grandmaster. Usually, an avatar or clone could at most be created at the Core Formation or Acupoint Opening Realm, but in the Broken Primordial World, such rules were nonexistent. The Dragon Emperor''s avatar cultivated the Nine Dragon Cauldron Method, named after the way Emperor Yu of the Three Sovereigns, Five Emperors, used the Nine Sons of the Dragon to stabilize the nine provinces in the Primordial World. Among cultivation methods, it was on par with the Dragon Emperor Fist and only definitively weaker than the Ten Heavenly Scriptures if practiced by a human. Just as he finished forming his avatar, the seas began to rumble, and even the cave shook. The Dragon Emperor didn''t have time to think and quickly stored his new avatar just as the seawater flooded the cave, slamming and injuring him. The Dragon Emperor quickly fled outside the cave and, after much struggle, flew above the water. To his shock, meteors were descending and impacting the watery continent. "No!" He howled. The meteors didn''t bring good fortune, only disaster. All the resources were being destroyed by the destruction. "If I discover who does this, I''ll torture his soul for nine hundred, ninety-nine years!" This was his biggest fortuitous encounter. As long as he grasped the chance well, returning to his former peak would only be a matter of time, but man proposes, heaven disposes.
Xia Yushan glanced at the sky. His face changed when he saw the oncoming disaster, and he quickly moved to a safe location and deployed all his defensive means. Only after the unrest had ended did he exit. A smile appeared on his face. "Haha, the heavens are helping me!" Xia Yushan had discovered a Great Harmony Fruit Tree. He didn''t have the strength to transplant the tree, so he wanted to pluck a fruit, but it was covered by a barrier, preventing him from entering. Thanks to the meteors, the natural-formed barrier had been disrupted, creating an entrance for him to enter. After absorbing the yang essence from Lushu, a cultivator from the Demon Cage Realm, he had acquired yin essence after some adventures in the Huang Realm. After cultivating and stabilizing the five elemental essences within, he had reached the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm, but this was also his biggest barrier. Before Xia Yushan could enter the Unity Realm, he had to get rid of any disharmony in his body. Originally, he already had to equalize all five elemental essences in his body, but with the addition of yin and yang essence, the difficulty increased by a thousand times. Not just him. It was a step that stymied numerous Buzhou Immortal Sect disciples. Some failed to harmonize and could only be regulated to be outer elders, but how could Xia Yushan accept that? The reason he accepted Tianyi''s bet was to stimulate himself. As long as he ingested the Great Harmony Fruit, he would have no bottlenecks until he entered the Unity Realm and even maybe until the Transcending Mortality Realm. Xia Yushan quickly gathered as many fruits as he could. He could give Ji Shuye and Daoyi one each. The rest would aid him in cultivating, and anything extra would be traded for contribution points. He quickly left and searched for a safe spot to ingest one. After he was done and circulated the fruit''s essence throughout his body, Xia Yushan felt that as long as he returned to the Huang Realm, he could summon the Unity Heavenly Tribulation at any time. Furthermore, even if he was still at the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm, his power had increased threefold! Chapter 248: Four Cardinal Souls
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Chapter 249: The Immortal Slaughtering Sword
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Chapter 250: Immortal Sovereign Mengfei didn''t answer and thrust the Immortal Slaughtering Sword toward Emperor Yanxu''s heart as repayment for his earlier action. Emperor Yanxu easily blocked Mengfei''s sword. "Your sword arts are impressive for how young you are. But your fame as the Sword Empress is overrated!" Mengfei said nothing as she continued to attack Emperor Yanxu. Each strike was precise and methodical, but it couldn''t compare to the spirituality contained within Emperor Yanxu''s swordsmanship. As time passed, Mengfei''s attack lessened while Emperor Yanxu became more and more familiar with Mengfei''s attack and Tri-Unity World''s suppression. "Laughable, for the famed Sword Empress to not have even cultivated sword intent, you are a blight to your title!" Emperor Yanxu roared as the black aura on the Immortal Ending Sword seemed to have come to life. Mengfei was helpless as the first strike knocked her Immortal Slaughtering Sword back, the second strike lacerated her torso, and the third strike directly pierced her dantian. Not once could she muster the time to defend. However, Emperor Yanxu soon frowned as Mengfei''s body dispersed into a slaughterous aura. He quickly spun around and blocked Mengfei, who suddenly appeared behind him. "What tricks are you playing? Incarnation? No, that was too strong to be a mere incarnation." Mengfei said nothing and started to attack with reckless abandon, pushing Emperor Yanxu on the defensive, but it didn''t last long. Emperor Yanxu remained steady and unperturbed by Mengfei''s aggression. Upon seeing a critical mistake, he struck and sliced Mengfei in half. Just like before, the two halves of Mengfei transformed into a slaughterous aura. Emperor tilted his body and avoided Mengfei''s surprise attack. "I had thought you imitated a realmlord, but now I see that you and this world are one. As long as this world does not perish, so, too, will you exist." Emperor Yanxu said. "Then the solution is simple." Emperor Yanxu began to unleash sword energy against the Tri-Unity World. Each strike overturned the land and seas, causing the very world to tremble. Mengfei''s expression finally changed and moved to block him, but it was for naught. No matter how Mengfei attacked, Emperor Yanxu only used minimal effort to avoid or deflect her blows while focusing on destroying the world. Finally, after one fatal attack, the Tri-Unity World started to disappear back into nothingness. Emperor Yanxu grunted as he raised his sword to deflect Mengfei''s blow. At the moment of destruction, she had seized his moment of neglect. CLING! Emperor Yanxu''s eyes widened when he saw that the Immortal Slaughtering Sword was ownerless and attacked him by itself. The first strike was certainly strong, capitalizing on his moment of weakness, but the other times were subpar. His eyes narrowed as he used the Immortal Ending Sword to suppress the Immortal Slaughtering Sword. Since Mengfei threw away her greatest disadvantage, he will capitalize on it and obtain all Four Immortal Extermination Swords for the Numinous Sword Sect. As Emperor Yanxu focused on suppressing the Immortal Slaughtering Sword, Mengfei flew towards the Ten Thousand Swords Formation trapping Grand Elder Zhang. Emperor Yanxu naturally noticed this, but even if she broke the formation, so what? Even if they failed to kill the two Buzhou Immortal Sect''s grand elders, they would have made a profit by finally claiming the last of the four Immortal Exterminating Swords. Mengfei waved her hand, and an unaccountable number of crystalline swords resisted the Ten Thousand Swords Formation. For each sword the formation had, she produced one to counteract, all except the core anchor of the formation, the Immortal Confining Sword. All ten immortal monarchs were frozen in the Ten Thousand Swords Formation. It wouldn''t last long, but it was enough for Mengfei to enter the formation''s core and grasp the handle of the Immortal Confining Sword. Emperor Yanxu''s face changed as he saw this, and he hollered. "Stop her, don''t let her seize the Immortal Confining Sword!" He wanted to suppress and refine the Immortal Slaughtering Sword, but at the crucial moment, it suddenly began to rampage. Emperor Yanxu understood that Mengfei had released her control and made the Immortal Slaughtering Sword an ownerless artifact once more. Now Emperor Yanxu was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Should he abandon the Immortal Slaughtering Sword to stop Mengfei, or should he continue to refine the Immortal Slaughtering Sword and then confront Mengfei? He watched as the Ten Thousand Swords Formation started to change. Its sword aura became natural and represented the world, starting from the core. His eyelids jumped as he realized how fast Mengfei was refining the Immortal Confining Sword. At this rate, it wouldn''t be too long. Emperor glanced at the Immortal Slaughtering Sword and gritted his teeth. He began to focus on refining the divine artifact as fast as possible. As if a joke, the moment he successfully refined the Immortal Slaughtering Sword, Mengfei had completely transformed the Ten Thousand Swords Formation into her Tri-Unity World. Emperor Yanxu''s eyes were impassive as he watched Mengfei effortless deal with all ten immortal monarchs within the Tri-Unity World. He suddenly charged at Ink Poem Palace with a sword in each hand, finally revealing the killing intent hidden in his eyes. Grand Elder Zhang increased Ink Poem Palace''s defense to the maximum. She had the confidence to stall Emperor Yanxu, but not if he held two of the Four Immortal Exterminating Swords. Emperor Yanxu struck first with his left hand, the Immortal Slaughtering Sword instantly delivering a crescent-shaped energy attack that shook ink Poem Palace. He frowned as he realized that he couldn''t fully utilize the Immortal Slaughtering Sword as much as he liked. He struck with his dominant hand. Once the Immortal Ending Sword struck Ink Poem Palace, the light covering it dimmed by a margin. Upon seeing this, Emperor Yanxu attacked again and again with both swords, drastically reducing Ink Poem Palace''s defense and even causing cracks to form. Unfortunately for Emperor Yanxu, Mengfei''s Tri-Unity World chose this moment to engulf both him and Ink Poem Palace. Inside Mengfei''s world, Emperor Yanxu no longer attacked Ink Poem Palace and focused on destroying the world again.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. With each strike, Emperor Yanxu noticed that his attacking power using the Immortal Ending Sword had drastically diminished by thirty percent, while the Immortal Slaughtering Sword was brought to only twenty percent of its power. Not only that, Mengfei''s Tri-Unity World seemed more stabilized, more perfect, and no longer as illusionary. The suppression had increased, and Emperor Yanxu had to divert more of his immortal qi to combat it. At this time, Grand Elder Zhang finally stepped out of Ink Poem Palace. She unfurled a scroll, and ten thousand true immortal soldiers popped out and rushed like a sea of gleaming silver. Emperor Yanxu waved his swords and easily destroyed a hundred of them, but a thousand more took their place. Under this barrage, Emperor Yanxu actually didn''t consume much, but he had to be wary of Mengfei''s sudden attack. He suddenly stilted and brought up the Immortal Slaughtering Sword and blocked Mengfei''s sudden strike. Just as he was about to counterattack, his eyes widened and brought the Immortal Ending Sword up on his other side. A second Mengfei appeared and struck him too. Emperor Yanxu''s surprise wasn''t finished as a third Mengfei appeared and lacerated his back. Emperor Yanxu suppressed his pain and fled a hundred meters away, staring at the three Mengfeis. The first one that appeared was wearing silver robes, the second yellow robes, and the third was wearing purple robes. "Avatars? Impossible, immortals can''t have avatars, but they are too powerful to be mere incarnations." Emperor Yanxu shook his head. He stared warily at Mengfei, waiting for the next strike. Mengfei didn''t immediately attack and struck the air in front of her several times for no reason. Then Grand Elder Zhang''s heavenly soldiers started to swarm him again. Emperor Yanxu continued to defend, trying to find a loophole in the offense. Every once in a while, the three Mengfei would simultaneously attack, causing him some light injuries. He had already swallowed several immortal pills to heal and recuperate his draining qi. Mengfei had obviously gained in the exchange of sword. Not only did she kill all ten of the Numinous Sword Sect''s immortal monarchs, but the Immortal Confining Sword was more suited to her understanding of formations in the first place. Emperor Yanxu glanced at the Immortal Slaughtering Sword in hand. He had already comprehended the laws within the Immortal Ending Sword, Immortal Confining Sword, and Immortal Slaying Sword. As long as he comprehended the law within the Immortal Slaughtering Sword, entering the Origin Immortal Realm would no longer be a problem of how but when. His eyes hardened as he charged at Mengfei once more. As he fought, his understanding of the Immortal Slaughtering Sword deepened, and a third bud appeared atop his Daotree. At that moment, the immortal qi inside underwent a change, and his strength increased explosively. Emperor Yanxu laughed out loud and charged toward Mengfei. The Immortal Ending Sword in his right, and the Immortal Slaughtering Sword displaying eighty percent of its former strength in his hand. At the height of his excitement, a deep gash appeared on Emperor Yanxu''s torso. He looked down in disbelief, wondering how Mengfei had attacked him. But he didn''t have time to think as the three Mengfeis all rushed towards him, just like he rushed towards her. Emperor Yanxu spat mouthfuls of blood as he defended against Mengfei''s attacks. Suddenly, a wound appeared on his arm out of nowhere, causing him to suffer another injury from Mengfei, capitalizing on his distraction. "You, how did you do it?" Emperor Yanxu asked after he had disentangled himself from Mengfei. Mengfei didn''t say anything and struck empty air again before resuming her attack. As the two fought, Emperor Yanxu became increasingly at a disadvantage. "You used the temporal laws?" Emperor shook his head immediately afterward. "That wasn''t pure temporal laws? Law of Causality? No, it has similarities to the Law of Causality practiced by Buddhists, but it''s not completely the same." Mengfei sliced the empty air in front of her. This time, a wound directly appeared on Emperor Yanxu''s chest. "You! This is destiny! The Law of Destiny!" Mengfei said nothing as her aura changed. From once where she exuded the aura of a half immortal sovereign, now, she had completely stepped into the Origin Immortal Realm. Emperor Yanxu had forgotten. Just as he could use the Immortal Slaughtering Sword to step into the half Origin Immortal Realm, so, too, could Mengfei use the Immortal Confining Sword to advance. Seeing that any advantage he had just gained disappeared, Emperor Yanxu decisively erupted with his strongest strike, but it was directed at Mengfei but at the Tri-Unity World. A sizeable spatial tear appeared in the Tri-Unity World, causing Mengfei''s face to turn pale. Emperor Yanxu capitalized on this moment and escaped. In his right hand, the Immortal Ending Sword had turned dull and gray, completely contrasting its former appearance. It would take years to restore his connection with the divine sword, but he had no choice unless he wanted to be trapped and slowly killed by Mengfei. He didn''t leave far, but far enough that he could easily escape if Mengfei gave chase. He had to wait for the Numinous Sword Sect''s disciples in the Broken Primordial World to come out so that they wouldn''t die under Mengfei''s hand. Emperor Yanxu had a solemn expression. Not only did the operation to get rid of one of the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s grand elders fail, but the Numinous Sword Sect lost ten immortal monarchs. Although they still had three of the Four Immortal Exterminating Swords, Mengfei had received the Immortal Confining Sword, which was far more suitable for her. "Was that the Three Pure Qi Incarnation Technique?" Grand Elder Zhang asked after Mengfei dispersed the Tri-Unity World. Although it was an incarnation technique, it was a mythical technique created by the Three Pure Ones that allowed the user to form three incarnations with attributes of clones or avatars and none of their weaknesses. Mengfei shook her head. "The sect''s record on that technique is incomplete, so I devised the Heaven, Earth, Man Incarnation Technique based on it." She didn''t say anymore as she focused on healing her injuries and deepening her connection with the Immortal Confining Sword. Two years later, she opened her eyes, and the aura of an immortal sovereign on her body had stabilized. She glanced at Emperor Yanxu, who was still warily observing her, and moved. Mengfei wanted nothing more than to enter the Broken Primordial World and search for Tianyi. However, if she left, then it was likely that Emperor Yanxu would take this chance to get rid of Grand Elder Zhang, so she wanted to get rid of Emperor Yanxu first. However, although Mengfei was solidly in the Origin Immortal Realm, Emperor Yanxu had entered the half Origin Immortal Realm. She could defeat him, but killing him was hard. After several clashes, Mengfei no longer tried to kill Emperor Yanxu but focused on her cultivation. Two years later, the Buzhou Immortal Sect and Numinous Sword Sect disciples began to exit the Broken Primordial World as if in an agreement. Mengfei didn''t attack the Numinous Sword Sect disciples, and Emperor Yanxu didn''t attack the Buzhou Immortal Sect disciples. Mengfei suddenly frowned and glanced towards the disciple that had just exited. She could sense the resonance with another of the Four Immortal Extermination Sword with the Immortal Confining Sword in her hand. She turned into a dazzling ray of light and shot towards the disciple. If allowed to grow, he would become a threat. However, Emperor Yanxu was one step ahead. He grabbed Bao Ling and disappeared into the Vast Void towards the Numinous Realm. Mengfei waited a bit longer, hoping by some chance Tianyi would also come out. But after a year without seeing him, Mengfei decided to enter. Grand Elder Zhang didn''t stop her since Mengfei had already entered the Origin Immortal Realm, meaning that she was in less danger than if she had been in the Extremity Immortal Realm. Plus, Emperor Yanxu was unlikely to return since he didn''t know the reason Mengfei came to the Broken Primordial World. Grand Elder Zhang looked at the number of disciples left. She saw Xia Yushan and Ji Shuye as she had expected. Her eyes twitched when she saw that Lovespot was alive and had even exuded the aura of entering the next realm. She shook her head and controlled the Ink Dao Palace to return to the Huang Realm. Meanwhile, Mengfei continued to search for Tianyi in the Broken Primordial World. She didn''t know how long she had searched, but time was distorted, so one year for her could be ten for Tianyi and vice versa. And it was by complete luck that she had found Tianyi. Mengfei had wanted to move from one continent to another, and with her strength, she didn''t need to find a spatial distortion. On the way over, she caught sight of a figure at the center of the Broken Primordial World. "Yi''er," Mengfei said. Her heart tightened as she discovered Tianyi''s unresponsive body. His eyes were closed, and he exuded no aura at all. Chapter 251: Mengfeis Sermon "I can''t believe I will have a chance to listen to Grand Elder Xi''s sermon!" A female disciple said in excitement while traveling towards Jade Peak with her fellow disciples. "Grand Elder Xi should be the strongest expert of our sect now. I doubt even the First Grand Elder could stand on the same level as her. She''s the only immortal sovereign in the Huang Realm." Her friend added. "I don''t know about that. There''s got to be some reason the First Grand Elder has existed since the birth of the Huang Realm. Maybe he''s divinity like the Cloud Goddess?" "Psh, don''t talk about them. Now that our sect produced an immortal sovereign, the Anti-Heaven Alliance and Tripartite Alliance would have to ally themselves in order to stand a chance." "Careful what you say. They might really do that." "What are you worried about? Even if they do, so what? Haven''t you seen the mission board? Our sect can still send us to the Earth Continent to help the Eight Pillar Sect, which means we still have enough strength to deal with the two rebel groups." "You''re right." "Not to mention that Grand Elder Xi is so young, only a thousand years old! I''m almost already a thousand, but I''m still stuck at the Nascent Soul Realm. Some people make you envious but powerless as well." "Quiet, we''ve arrived at the mountain. Don''t speak any more nonsense." The first female disciple said. The two were among the many who had arrived to hear Mengfei''s first sermon. Ever since she had reached the Immortal Realm, Mengfei had focused on cultivating and did not interact with the rest of the sect much. It was much the same even after she became a grand elder. Her reputation as the youngest immortal empress had spread far and wide, becoming a legend to many, but even within the Buzhou Immortal Sect itself, few had seen her, causing her to become a tale in the sect. That all seemed to have changed with the birth of Tianyi. None of the disciples had seen Mengfei personally, but Tianyi was a lot more noticeable, not that he wasn''t also reclusive. With the addition of Daoyi and Xi Ri, Mengfei''s veil of mystery had slowly been shed. There had even been a picture of Mengfei on the Xiyinet, causing many disciples to purchase one just to catch a glimpse of their legendary grand elder, but sadly, the picture and related searches had been taken off with no warning. Even now, there''s a rumor that a picture of Mengfei was hidden somewhere on the Xiyinet. Now that Mengfei had become an immortal sovereign, her fame rose even further and even caused the two rebel organizations to halt most of their activity, giving the Heaven Continent a rare moment of peace. What sent ripples through the Buzhuo Immortal Sect was that Mengfei had announced she would publically give a sermon. In reality, Mengfei had only wanted to preach to Tianyi to solidify his foundation before his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. Daoyi had also reached the Nascent Soul Realm, so she had been included, and even Xi Ri tagged along. It was only thanks to Sect Master Xia''s pleading that Mengfei announced that she would publically give a sermon to anyone able to arrive. Naturally, not everyone could come. Outer disciples weren''t allowed, and only inner disciples at the Nascent Soul Realm, its equivalent, or above were even allowed to take the trial to ascend Jade Peak. The two female disciples were at the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm, but even they only managed to barely reach the summit after much struggle. Atop, the whole scenery changed as if they had entered a separate world. However, searching for the right place was a cinch. The two female disciples saw Grand Elder Xi sitting atop a purple lotus throne surrounded by numerous prayer mats. As always, she was dressed in a gorgeous purple dress with phoenix designs with a mist cloaking her face. In the first row sat four figures on prayer mats. The two easily recognized Daoyi, Mengfei''s first and only disciple. What surprised them was Xi Ri. The two had seen him before and had a good impression of him, but the current him exuded a gloomy aura that made them uncomfortable even with their current distance. Even stranger, his hair turned bleached white. The third person was a complete mystery to them. She was a woman that wore the traditional Buzhou Immortal Sect robes with snow-white hair and an ephemeral temperament. Whoever she was, she was obviously someone special, being able to sit in the first row with Grand Elder Xi''s disciple. As for Tianyi, he looked to be in a daze, and they could not detect a hint of cultivation from him. The two didn''t think that Tianyi had suddenly become a mortal. There was simply no way the son of the Sword Empress, now Sword Sovereign, could turn into a regular mortal. It was much more likely that he had reached an unfathomable level in his cultivation. The duo had heard that those who reached the peak resembled a mortal with no qi fluctuation. In the second row were the immortal monarch elders of the sect. The two female disciples saw several head elders that they recognized and ten more immortal monarchs that they had never seen before. It was a shocking number as these monarch-level figures usually never showed their faces to mortals like them. The third row was even more exaggerated with thousands of true immortal elders. The two female disciples'' masters were only earth immortals, so they only caught glimpses of true immortals on rare occasions. The fourth row was composed of elders ranging from venerables to earth immortals and everything in between. Not just elders but talented disciples as well. The two caught sight of Wei Daying, Ji Shuye, Xia Yushan, and to their immense relief, no sign of Lovespot, who had been getting much attention lately. The two heaved a sigh of relief as they managed to squeeze themselves onto the last few remaining prayer mats in the fourth row. Beyond that, there were no more prayer mats. The people who came later could only stand up or sit on the ground. Naturally, this caused an issue.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. "What do you mean I can''t get a seat? You want me to stand up?" The two disciples recognized the speaker. Her name was Bu Fanfan, a descendant of a true immortal elder, and she always liked to fight with other female disciples. "Why do you think you should be any different? I got here first, so go stand with the other people in the back row." The harassed female disciple said impatiently. Although she wasn''t an elder''s descendent, her master was a true immortal as well, so she wasn''t afraid. "Do you know who I am?" Bu Fanfan questioned. "Does it matter, or do you want to steal my seat?" The female disciple retorted. "You should give up your seat if you know what''s good for you." Bu Fanfan said, but upon seeing the female disciple ignore her, Bu Fanfan''s face became red from anger, but before she could speak, a voice sounded. "Little friend, how about giving me some face and giving the seat to my granddaughter?" The female disciple''s face changed. Unfortunately, her master wasn''t in the sect at the moment, and she didn''t think that a true immortal elder would be so shameless as to steal her seat. However, she wasn''t willing to give up so easily. "Elder, why should I give up my seat? I earned it fair and square." Elder Bu frowned. He wanted to force her off her seat, but he saw the other elder''s mocking eyes and knew that it wouldn''t work. He couldn''t use hard methods, so he could only use soft methods. "Don''t worry, little friend. I''ll compensate you in the future." The female''s disciple barked out a laugh out of anger. What could a true immortal give her to compensate for the chance to hear an immortal sovereign''s sermon? "Dare I ask Elder what the compensation is? If it is enough, this little girl will naturally give up her seat." Elder Bu''s face darkened, and just as he was about to speak again, he discovered that the scenery had changed. "Grandfather, what happened?" Next to him, his granddaughter, Bu Fanfan, looked around in confusion. Elder Bu''s face paled. There was only one reason why the two could be so easily teleported out. The master of Jade Peak had personally taken action. "G-Grandfather?" Bu Fanfan said as she took a step back, fearful of her grandfather''s murderous gaze. Elder Bu quickly softened his gaze. He couldn''t bear to blame his precious granddaughter, the pearl of his palm, so he could only blame that female disciple. "Elder, can I ask what happened?" Elder Bu turned and saw a sight that made him darken his gaze immediately. He snorted and waved his sleeve, bringing his granddaughter away. He couldn''t let his precious girl interact with Lovespot. What if he beguiled her? The Dragon Emperor stood in place with a stiff smile. Once he turned away from the mocking gaze, killing intent filled his eyes.
Back in the Tri-Unity World, Mengfei opened her eyes. A quick-witted disciple quickly snatched the vacant prayer mat in the third row, causing a few others to be disappointed since Mengfei didn''t seem to care. She looked at Tianyi, who still had unclear eyes, and inwardly sighed. After she brought him back from the Broken Primordial World, it had taken her much effort to rejuvenate his spirit. Tianyi had spent too much time inside the core of the Broken Primordial World. Alone for so long, even those with the strongest willpower will waver. But it was not all that bad. If he managed to regain his clarity, his willpower would increase. Then she turned her gaze to Xi Ri, this nephew she didn''t care much about. When she found Tianyi, she had found the Kunlun Mirror in his grasp, and when he wanted to trade it in to help Xi Ri, she stepped in. Trading a divine artifact to cure a core formation master''s inner devil was a terrible deal. Grand Elder Zhang also contributed since she wanted to compensate Mengfei a little. Logically, Grand Elder Zhang had no control of what happened inside the Broken Primordial World and should not be blamed, but the human heart was a fickle thing. So she aided Tianyi so that Mengfei would feel less irritated towards her. However, not all was well. Ever since Xi Ri had woken up, he had been in a tense and irritable state. Not only that, but to save him, his spiritual core had to be shattered, rendering him incapable of cultivating despite being in the organ fortification realm. She focused again on Tianyi and began her impartation of the worldly laws. The dao is oneself, and no one could impart the dao, it is something that must be sought by oneself, but the worldly laws and concepts were different. As Mengfei spoke, miraculous events began to occur with her words. Lotus petals drifted in the air, karmic merit rained down upon the listeners, swords of karmic sin erupted from the ground, and illusionary lines appeared from their bodies and connected with one another. Everyone had a line connecting them to Mengfei except Tianyi, but no one noticed amid the numerous phenomena. As the materialized phenomena neared Tianyi, they were unilaterally absorbed into his body. Mengfei purposely controlled the Tri-Unity World to create the phenomena upon seeing this. Although others could not absorb the manifestation of the worldly laws, they still benefited immensely. These phenomena allowed the immortals to catch a glimpse of the truth instead of groping in the dark. The closer to the front, the greater the gains, while those far in the back weren''t as fortunate, but they could still hear Mengfei''s increasingly esoteric words. The longer Mengfei spoke, the more confused they became until all the Unity and Nascent Soul Realm cultivators'' minds shut down due to information overload. The transcending mortality sages and earth immortals were next. Six months later, only the immortal monarchs were awake. Daoyi and Xi Ri had long lost consciousness, but due to them being in the front, they were baptized by the phenomena. Only Tianyi still looked as usual as his body continued to absorb the manifestations. Nine months in, the immortal monarchs started to slumber one after the other, and at the twelve-month mark, only Grand Elder Zhang and Tianyi were still conscious. When Mengfei stopped talking, everyone woke up from their unconscious state. After they woke up, they all kneeled and saluted Mengfei. "Felicitations to the Sword Sovereign for illuminating our path. May you attain divinity and gain eternity!" Mengfei waved her sleeve noncommittally. "I have received your thanks. All of you should return and meditate on your gains, lest you lose the most opportune time." The crowd thanks Mengfei again before leaving. Mengfei, on the other hand, bid farewell to Grand Elder Zhang and looked at Tianyi. "How are you?" Tianyi opened his mouth and finally said a word after a minute. "...fine." Mengfei felt her heart lift a bit. Tianyi''s reaction had noticeably increased. "Your gains? How are you feeling? Is it better?" "...I only learned a few concepts...but...I felt...like the laws...are inside...my body right...now. I...just need to look...inside and can recall them...when I advance." "Then you should hurry and meditate too. The sooner you can recover, the greater your chances of transcending the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation." Mengfei said. Tianyi nodded, but he didn''t go toward his room. Instead, he walked towards the crowd. Specifically, he walked in front of the female disciple harassed by Bu Fanfan and held out a Xiyi Talisman for her. "Senior Brother Xi?" The female disciples asked. "For you," Tianyi said, noticeably speaking faster than earlier. "If they trouble you...use this to contact...me." After saying those words, Tianyi walked away with a dull expression. The female disciple held the Xiyi Talisman in hand, and a hint of redness came on her cheeks. She shyly glanced at Tianyi and cupped her hands. "Disciple Rousui thanks Senior Brother Xi for your care." When Tianyi returned, Daoyi teased him. "What, afraid that something will happen to her?" "...no...I''m...waiting...for them to take...action. It...will be fun." Daoyi palmed her face. She should have expected nothing less. Afterward, everyone went into secluded meditation to digest their gains, with Tianyi coming out three years later with much of his cognitive abilities restored. To his disappointment, Rousui didn''t contact him at all. During this time, the war between the three factions of the Heaven Continent started to show signs of resuming, but Tianyi had no plan to enter. It was better to transcend his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. But before he did, he had a few things tick off his bucket list and a promise to fulfill, like his promise to Xia Yushan. After hearing news of Tianyi''s exit, Xia Yushan, who had firmly stabilized his early Unity Realm cultivation base, challenged Tianyi to a duel. Chapter 252: Xia Yushans Determination Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Chapter 253: Emotion Severance Sutra The Emotion Severance Sutra was an auxiliary cultivation method similar to the lineage of soul cultivation that allowed cultivators to detach their emotions. Without the burden of emotions, they could wholeheartedly seek out their desires, but at the same time, it would intricately affect the mindset of the cultivator, causing them to have no fetters. Without fail, any who cultivated the Emotion Severance Sutra had turned into ruthless characters. They would even purposely break the sect''s laws knowing of the punishment because the gains would be worth it. And there was a crucial defect in the sutra. If the cultivator couldn''t successfully detach their emotions, they would not be able to advance in their cultivation anymore. More often than not, the cultivator would choose to eliminate the source of their emotions, whether it be their parents, children, significant other, or even their masters. Sometimes, Sect Master Xia felt that the Buzhou Immortal Sect should have destroyed all evidence of the cultivation method when they destroyed Begonia Tower. Not only did they have to worry about Emperor Soulfish staring at them in the dark, but many issues had appeared thanks to the Emotion Severance Sutra. Still, no matter how unorthodox the Emotion Severance Sutra was, immortality was all but guaranteed to those who cultivated it. So there were still those like Xia Yushan who would willingly cultivate it despite knowing the detriments. With how fixated Xia Yushan was on Tianyi, if he could not detach his emotions, then Xia Yushan''s future would be destroyed. "Yushan, you should think about it clearly. Once you choose to cultivate the Emotion Severance Sutra, you will no longer be eligible to become the future sect master. The sect master of the Buzhou Immortal Sect can be ruthless, but they must not be heartless," Sect Master Xia said. "I''m determined. If I don''t, Xi Tianyi will be the root of my inner devil." Sect Master Xia sighed. "Don''t be in such a rush. I''ll prepare the materials for you to restore your lifebound artifact. In your current state, you can''t even cultivate. I''ll let you have time to reconsider until after your lifebound artifact is restored." With those words, Sect Master Xia left to prepare pills and resources. Once he left, Xia Yushan forced himself to sit upright. Normally, objects couldn''t be stored in a cultivator''s dantian, but the lifebound artifact was different since it was so intricately linked to the cultivator. He took out his lifebound sword and observed it. Cracks filled the sword body, and the places where Tianyi had punched had dulled to an extreme degree as if he had tried to slice metal with it. But the most glaring damage of all was the hole in the middle. Xia Yushan closed his eyes and recalled the third eye that had suddenly appeared on Tianyi''s forehead. ''Until the end, you never brought out your full strength. Am I that weak to you?'' In the next few weeks, while he was recovering, Xia Yushan discovered what Tianyi''s third eye was. The Truth-Seeking Eye, said to be able to discern all the mysteries under heaven and earth, something only an immortal could cultivate. While Xia Yushan was cultivating, one of the servant-disciples serving him knocked on the door. "Enter." "Master, Miss Ji is seeking an audience," The servant-disciple said after entering and kneeling. "Tell her that I''m still recuperating and won''t see any guests," Xia Yushan said. "Understood," The servant-disciple nodded and prepared to leave, but Xia Yushan stopped him. "Has anyone else asked to visit?" "Aside from Miss Ji, Mister Wei, Mister Heng, Mister Lin," As the servant-disciple listed the names, Xia Yushan''s started to frown, causing him to start sweating. After a long pause, he added. "Mister Lovespot has also asked to visit Master, but I told him that you weren''t accepting visitors now." Thinking about Lovespot, Xia Yushan sneered. ''What does he want? Does he want to ally with me because I lost to Tianyi? Just because I lost doesn''t mean I will stoop so low as to contact him of all people.'' "If Lovespot visits again, you can directly tell the gatekeepers to bar him from entering. Does he think he''s still someone important after Immortal Redseal has been imprisoned?" Xia Yushan said. The servant-disciple nodded and waited for further orders, but Xia Yushan became uncharacteristically silent. Just as the servant-disciple was about to ask to leave, Xia Yushan spoke again. "Did Daoyi come?'' "Who?" "Jiang Daoyi, Grand Elder Xi''s disciple." Xia Yushan clarified. "Miss Jiang? No, I haven''t seen anyone related to Jade Peak aside from Mister Xi sending over materials," The servant disciple said. "He''s still sending materials?" Xia Yushan said. "Yes, but I''ve put them all into storage, per your orders." Xia Yushan nodded. "Alright, you can leave." After the servant-disciple left, Xia Yushan clenched his hands so hard the air within his palm popped. His master''s words floated in his mind once more, and he unclenched his hand. Thanks to Sect Master Xia''s efforts, Xia Yushan repaired his lifebound artifact within a year. The first thing he did after recovering was to visit Jade Peak.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. "Senior Brother Xia!" Tianyi cried out, and then an awkward expression appeared. He coughed into his hands and asked. "How are your injuries?" An even more awkward expression surfaced, but Xia Yushan ignored that. He stared at Daoyi with a serious expression. "Miss Jiang, I have something important to tell you." Tianyi also looked at Daoyi, happy that Xia Yushan directed his attention elsewhere. What could he say? "Sorry, I beat you so badly that I almost destroyed your lifebound artifact. Now that you''re healed, let''s forget that ever happened." Yeah, no. "What is so important that Senior Brother needs to come to Jade Peak immediately? Your face is still pale. Perhaps you should recuperate a bit more." Daoyi politely said. Xia Yushan gave a smile. It was a smile that even dazzled Tianyi. Had he been a girl, his heart might have thumped. "Jiang Daoyi, I have a deep fondness for you. Please become my dao companion." If Tianyi had been drinking something, he would have spat the contents out in shock. Since he didn''t, he could only settle for hanging his mouth wide open. Xia Yushan began to grow anxious upon seeing no reaction from Daoyi. "Daoyi, I have had a good impression of you ever since I heard you play your guqin. Since that time, my feelings for you have only deepened. I promise you that I will never mistreat you, and I will protect you. You are like the celestial moonlight in my heart." "Senior Brother Xia," Daoyi started, causing Xia Yushan''s heart to thump. "What do you like about me?" "Your music is akin to the worldly laws cultivators seek, your gentleness is like Empress Houtu''s embrace, and your beauty surpasses Chang''e. I like everything about you." Even as a bystander, Tianyi felt his face flush up just by hearing Xia Yushan''s words. Daoyi, however, didn''t even have a hint of redness on her cheeks. "Senior Brother Xia doesn''t understand me at all. Music is just an external talent, and I''m only gentle on the surface. As for beauty, that''s even more laughable." Daoyi shook her head. "Senior Brother Xia, please return." Xia Yushan''s face turned ashen. Tianyi even worried that he might vomit blood. He stared at Daoyi, trying to see any trace of falsity. "Daoyi, you won''t even consider a little bit? We don''t have to become dao companions immediately." Daoyi shook her head. "No need. Senior Brother Xia should have understood the moment I distanced myself from you years ago. And, please don''t address me by my given name, we aren''t close enough for that." Xia Yushan staggered back. "Since back then, you already knew?" "I had an inkling, but I didn''t want to risk it." "Is there any chance then? We could complement each other, you just have to give me a chance to understand you!" "Unfortunately, you will never be able to understand me. Few people would." Daoyi said. Xia Yushan''s eyes became heated, and he glanced at Tianyi. "What about Junior Brother Xi? Is he one of them?" Daoyi didn''t even hesitate to confirm Xia Yushan''s words. Xia Yushan staggered back as if he had taken a physical blow. His gaze lingered between Tianyi, who averted his eyes, and Daoyi, who stared straight back at him. "Then I hope you two become...become..." He never finished his words as he turned around and left as if fleeing from some horrifying monster. Xia Yushan didn''t go back to his mansion but went to look for Sect Master Xia instead. At least he still had the last semblance of sanity left and didn''t barge into the grand hall where Sect Master Xia was discussing the current affairs of the Heaven Continent with the other head elders. It was only at night, when the other head elders had left, that Xia Yushan could meet his master. Upon entering, he immediately repeated his request. Sect Master Xia took a deep look at Xia Yushan and said, "Yushan, are you sure? Once you embark on this path, you will never be able to return." "Master, I am sure." Sect Master Xia closed his eyes and sighed. When he opened them, the way he looked at Xia Yushan was completely different. "Since you have chosen to embark on this path, I''ll tell you right now, if you break even a minor law of the sect, I will destroy your cultivation base. Don''t think that just because you are my disciple, you won''t receive punishment. Your punishment will only be heavier." Xia Yushan''s body trembled, and he kowtowed three times to Sect Master Xia. "Disciple thanks Master for your concern." Sect Master Xia only gently shook his head and helped Xia Yushan up. He handed Xia Yushan a jade pendant, one with the characters ''sect master'' carved onto it. "Take this to the Immortal Scripture Repository. The Emotion Severence Sutra will be there waiting for you." Xia Yushan stared hard at the pendant before cupping his hands, thanking Sect Master Xia before leaving. Sect Master Xia shook his head again and resumed scheming for the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s interests. If their plan succeeded, then the million years of planning would be worth it. If it failed, they might have to wait another million years. Xia Yushan took the pendant and entered the Immortal Scripture Repository. Despite the rising moon, numerous disciples were still active. Upon seeing Xia Yushan, they all cast a curious glance at him. Some gazes were more penetrating than most. Xia Yushan clenched his fist and ignored the gazes. While he had been recovering, the news of his defeat at Tianyi''s hand had already spread throughout the sect. There were hardly any detrimental rumors against Tianyi and Xia Yushan since Xia Yushan''s identity and strength as the eldest senior brother had been recognized for decades. Someone posting a video of the battle to the Xiyinet also helped, preventing people from distorting the battle to their will, but that still didn''t prevent a few sour words from being spoken. They questioned Xia Yushan''s ability to remain as the eldest senior brother, citing his absolute defeat from Tianyi. They were both in the Unity Realm, so Xia Yushan should have never been defeated so horribly. Still, they were in the minority and came from the scions who disliked Xia Yushan. Xia Yushan no longer cared. Once he chose to embark on the path of emotion severance, he no longer had any fate with the position of sect master. Why would he need to curry favors with them anymore? He nodded to the elder guarding the Immortal Scripture Repository and ascended all the way to the ninth floor. There, all the jade slips were veiled in an illusionary curtain, preventing him from peeking at their details, all except one. Xia Yushan grasped the jade slip and sent a wisp of his spiritual sense into it. Upon doing so, a massive amount of information entered his mind. When he awoke, a week had already passed. He returned to his mansion and immediately began to cultivate the Emotion Severance Sutra. He continued to cultivate for three years and reached the peak of mid Unity Realm. The more detached Xia Yushan became with his emotions, the greater his sensitivity to the worldly laws. In the past three years, he was able to double the number of concepts he had mastered. However, Xia Yushan came to a problem. He had encountered a bottleneck and an emotion he couldn''t severe no matter what. Love had been the first emotion he had severed, so Daoyi''s presence no longer affected him. To break the bottleneck, Xia Yushan visited Sect Master Xia and asked to visit the Xia Clan to bid farewell to his past. "Since you have embarked on this path, it is about time to say goodbye to your past," Sect Master Xia said. "However, you can''t go during war times for petty reasons like this. Instead, I''ll issue you a mission. You are to investigate the rumors that the Tripartite Alliance is aiming to destroy the clans associated with the sect." "Disciple understands." Xia Yushan nodded. "Also, there, you should go pick up a certain person. The current patriarch has discovered a good seed with heavenly spiritual veins. If his willpower is strong enough, he will become your junior brother." Xia Yushan''s body paused for a moment, and he nodded. "Disciple understands." "Go," Sect Master Xia said. Chapter 254: Red Halls Tianyi opened his eyes once Mengfei''s sermon ended again. It was a short, specialized sermon preached just for him and him alone. Mengfei had been doing this several times, even after Tianyi defeated Xia Yushan in their duel. "Thank you, Mother." Mengfei nodded. "How much confidence do you have?" Tianyi paused to consider before arriving at his answer. "I don''t know." "You have no confidence?" "I have confidence in passing most of Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation, but not Inner Devil Tribulation," Tianyi said while frowning. He worried that his worry for his mom from Earth would become his inner devil. He feared that he would never be able to discover her. "That is a problem. Right now, you can''t temper your willpower at all due to your unique cultivation method." Mengfei''s expression stayed the same, but she held the sofa''s armrest hard enough that it started to crack. "When do you plan to initiate the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation." "Not long. In two or three years, maybe even sooner." "So soon?" Mengfei asked, shock coloring her voice. Tianyi shrugged. "What''s the point of delaying it? Didn''t you say that cultivators have to bravely take a step forward? If I delay my heavenly tribulation just because I''m scared, wouldn''t that decrease my chances more?" Mengfei stayed silent. "Yi''er is right. Mother was too worried." "Mother, what should I do about the Kunlun Mirror?" Tianyi asked as he brought up the divine artifact. "Since you found it, you should keep it," Mengfei said without missing a beat. "I can''t even use it. Plus, the Kunlun Mirror was the original Xi Wangmu''s lifebound connate artifact. As the inheritor of Xi Wangmu, I feel like you should keep it." Tianyi said as he pushed the mirror into Mengfei''s hand. "It''s more suited than the Longevity Oracle Mirror that she later refined." Xi Wangmu, like many of the divinities of the past, had directly been born a god, mastering one of the myriad worldly laws at the divine level such as Daoist Redcloud, Emperor Jun, and Xihe, and could be considered an early peer of the Three Pure Ones. She was more fortunate than most since she was born with a lifebound artifact. Such artifacts were known as lifebound connate artifacts. "You should keep it, the Law of Time contained within will aid you more," Mengfei said, pushing the artifact back to Tianyi''s hand. "I can''t even use it, and staring at it won''t allow me to comprehend the Law of Time. If I could actually use my qi, then it would be another story. You should keep it." "It is useless to me, I don''t cultivate the Law of Time. It''s better for you to keep it for use when you become an immortal." "Let''s talk about it after I become an immortal." Like this, the two continued to push the divine artifact back and forth as if it was a random object that could be found anywhere. Luckily, there was no one else present, or else they might puke blood in envy at this mother-son duo. In the end, Mengfei took the mirror and dropped a sword in Tianyi''s hand. Tianyi looked at the sword. Honestly, even for a sword, it was very plain and was in dire need of embellishment. "What''s this?" "The Immortal Confining Sword," Mengfei curtly said. "Oh," Tianyi said with a nod as he tried swinging. He found that it was the perfect length and weight. His head snapped back to his mother with mouth agape. "What, say that again?!" "The Immortal Confining Sword." "THE Immortal Confining Sword? One of the Four Immortal Extermination Swords, THAT sword?" Mengfei nodded. "Since you gave me the Kunlun Mirror, I should reciprocate in kind." "No, no, no, NO!" Tianyi said as he tried to hand the sword back, but Mengfei moved out of the way. "Mother, you''re the Sword Empress. I mean, Sword Sovereign. This is more suited for you than the Kunlun Mirror." "You and I both know that the Heartless Sword Art''s foundation is in formations and not swordplay. So it doesn''t matter if I have it or not." "Still. This is one of the Heavenly Lord of Numinous Treasure''s divine artifacts, he''s far more powerful than Xi Wangmu. You should keep it." Tianyi tried to follow after his mother, but she simply stepped out of the room. "Even so, it is not the sword most suited for me. You should keep it." With those words, Mengfei''s body disappeared from the room, leaving Tianyi helpless. "Yi''er, join me for dinner tonight." Tianyi forced a chuckle out of his mouth. He scratched his head and returned to his room. Inside, he held the Immortal Confining Sword in front of him. Honestly speaking, Tianyi loved it. He had always loved swords, but he had never gone far on the path of cultivating sword intent. Hell, he hadn''t even formed fist or hand qi yet. Still, that did not prevent him from collecting swords. The previous aesthetic defects he saw on the sword immediately became features instead. The plain appearance he ridiculed before? That''s called streamlining. It''s the perfect representation of a sword. And...actually, Tianyi''s only gripe had been the appearance. Tianyi closed his eyes and recalled Bao Ling''s Immortal Slaying Sword and how it absorbed his eye beam. His eyes narrowed, and he observed the Immortal Confining Sword in his hand. After the duel with Xia Yushan, his Truth-Seeking Eye was no longer a secret, and everyone already knew of it. He only had himself to blame for that. Thanks to the Xiyinet, someone had recorded it and uploaded it, causing people to question what he did at the last juncture, hence the reveal of his third eye. Tianyi stood up and left for the Jade Lotus Clear Pond. He wasn''t going to experiment inside Jade Peak Palace. What if he exploded and destroyed it like his past mansions? Once he sat on his lotus throne, he opened his third eye and sent beam after beam to the Immortal Confining Sword. The sword didn''t change in any way, but Tianyi could see tiny invisible runes glowing on it with his third eye. The Immortal Confining Sword released an invisible light that Tianyi observed. He didn''t know what it was for, but it should be beneficial for him. He felt his teeth ache, recalling how much Bao Ling also benefited from him. In the Numinous Sword Sect, Bao Ling sneezed, causing Emperor Yanxu to look at him in worry. "Are you alright?" Bao Ling shook his head. "It''s nothing. I didn''t expect to sneeze as a venerable." "Will it affect your Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation?" "No." "Then, let''s begin." Emperor Yanxu disappeared into the distance as black tribulation clouds gathered above Bao Ling''s head.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Back in the Buzhou Immortal Sect, Tianyi had spent months nurturing the Immortal Confining Sword, but recently it had entered a dormant state. According to Mengfei, it might be evolving, or rather, regaining its former strength. After that, Tianyi''s progress halted, and he couldn''t discover another way to progress or accumulate. Even Mengfei''s sermons were no longer effective for him. All that was left was to initiate the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation, but before that, he had a bucket list to fulfill. At the top of the list was not dying a virgin. ''Eh, this sounds scummy. If I die, wouldn''t it mean that my girlfriend would have to have a stigma following her for the rest of her life? And I don''t think Mother would let her form another relationship with how old-fashioned she is.'' Tianyi scratched his head. ''Plus, in the first place, I don''t know that many women.'' ''What can I do? Place an ad on the Xiyinet?'' Looking for a single beautiful woman I am offering rich rewards to anyone willing to date me. From, Xi Tianyi ''Yeah, that''s not going to go well. Plus, that sounds like compensated dating. Not to mention how desperate I sound.'' Tianyi thought. He could already imagine the hordes of gold diggers coming after him, and his mother selecting them to become his mistress, concubine, or something along those veins. ''Actually, I am desperate.'' ''Maybe Jian Wuyan?'' Tianyi smacked himself in the face for that thought. First of all, she looked way too young despite being older than him. Second, Jian Wuyan would likely do everything he said without question, even morally dubious requests. Relationships were a two-way street. One side shouldn''t be offering everything while the other side only takes. ''Who else do I know?'' Tianyi thought. He began to list them on his fingers. ''Su Wanyu? Nope, I don''t even know her. Only saw her from afar and talked once or twice. Most of what I know is from Su Bojing. Next.'' ''Emperor-Uncle''s daughters? Cousin marrying is not taboo here, but I just can''t get over the genetics problem. Will genetics even be a problem in a cultivation world like this? Anyways, rejected. Next!'' ''Rousui, the girl that had been harassed by that elder''s scion. Even worse than Jian Wuyan. I only spoke to her once, and it might seem that I''m forcing her in order to gain my protection. That sounds like something Xi Longyi would do. Rejected'' At the thought of Xi Longyi, Tianyi grew even more frustrated. If there was one thing he envied of the Dragon Emperor, it was his sheer confidence towards women, not that he wanted to emulate such a bastard. The Dragon Emperor''s confidence towards women was closer to arrogance and disregard than any self-confidence. ''Maybe I should ask Daoyi if she knows anyone?'' Tianyi thought. It was not that he hadn''t thought of asking Daoyi. She actually ticked off most of Tianyi''s wants in a girlfriend, pretty¡ªyes, he''s vain like that¡ªnice, at least towards him, and they got along well. More importantly, both of them were from Earth, so they had fewer barriers toward each other. "I''ll go visit Daoyi," Tianyi said aloud and went to look for her. He found her playing the guqin in the garden. He stood there, dazed for a few moments. She was sitting in a pagoda with her side facing him. A few locks draped against the instrument as her fingers strummed the strings. The pond filled with lotuses only seemed to enhance her beauty. Tianyi forced himself to stop staring and greeted her. "What''s up? Shouldn''t you be preparing for your heavenly tribulation?" Daoyi asked as her fingers stopped. "Have you thought about what you are going to do when you become an immortal?" "When I become an immortal? Are you that confident in me?" Tianyi joked. "Of course, I never had any doubt," Daoyi said with a straight face. Tianyi felt his cheeks flushing, so he quickly diverted the topic. "Have you visited Xi Ri? He seems really unlike himself. He even said his goal of creating a utopia is foolish and that he had abandoned it." Daoyi sighed. "It feels like he reverted to the state of constant alertness when we were still surviving at that place." "Oh, that place," Tianyi said. "What about you? Were you like that?" Daoyi stayed silent for a full five minutes before speaking. "I was probably even worse. I don''t want to get into details, but I used everything I could to survive. I lied, stole, and even betrayed my companions once, just for a bite of food. Can you understand our feelings during those days? Struggling to survive while hope constantly dwindles?" At Daoyi''s gaze, Tianyi couldn''t help but sit there, stunned. Daoyi and Xi Ri never mentioned what their life was like beyond the basics, but it seemed that it was far harder than he had imagined. "Sorry, I got a bit too emotional. What did you come here for?" Daoyi said, trying to divert the heavy topic. "Ah," Tianyi found himself tongued. He couldn¡¯t say he came here to ask her to be his girlfriend after hearing that, could he? Love just sounded so childish after hearing Daoyi''s somber words. "What is it? You can tell me. I won''t laugh," Daoyi said as she quirked her brows. "Ah, ah," Tianyi opened his mouth a few times, but no words came out. Finally, he scrunched his eyes closed and decided to screw it. "I.came.to.ask.if.you.want.to.be.my.girlfriend.because.I.never.had.one.before.and.I.don''t.want.to.die.without.never.having.a.girlfriend!" Daoyi furrowed her brows and took a full minute to process what Tianyi said. Then, a smile appeared on her lips. She tried to hide it behind her sleeves, but the uproarious laughter sounded, accompanied by the shaking of her shoulders. "Hey, you said you wouldn''t laugh!" Tianyi cried out, face flushed with shame. "I did, but I never promised, did I?" "You liar!" "I did say I was a liar, didn''t I?" Daoyi continued to laugh upon seeing Tianyi''s stunned expression. "Et Tu, Daoyi?" was Tianyi''s only response. She laughed even harder. Her laughter was cut short when the flush on Tianyi''s face receded, and an awkward expression appeared. "What''s wrong?" Daoyi asked. "Senior Brother Xia is here," Tianyi said. He still had control over the Jade Peak Formation, so he allowed Xia Yushan to enter. Tianyi hadn''t meant to defeat and nearly shatter Xia Yushan''s lifebound artifact, but the circumstances forced him into it. Had Xia Yushan''s last attack connected, he would have exploded. All the accumulated true qi of primordial chaos would have erupted and destroyed the mountain they had been on, not to mention killing a good majority of the mortals and perhaps a few immortals too. All in all, he felt that he had reacted accordingly. There was also the fact that he didn''t want to cultivate from the early stages of the Singularity Realm once again. Still, this made Tianyi not know how to face Xia Yushan. He did have Su Bojing deliver all sorts of precious materials and stuff to compensate Xia Yushan, but he still felt apologetic. What he never expected was for Xia Yushan to confess to Daoyi, and on the same day that he had just asked her out too! Tianyi was surprised by how harshly Daoyi rejected Xia Yushan, and when he staggered away, Tianyi couldn''t help but ask, "Is it really okay to reject him so harshly?" "I told you before, I don''t want to give people false hope. After I detected his feelings, I started to distance myself from him." "For how long have you known?" "Maybe a few decades?" Tianyi showed a surprised expression. "That long? Weren''t you only around twenty or so? Senior Brother Xia was over fifty by then too..." Daoyi laughed. "Does age really matter to cultivators?" "You''re right. A grandmaster can live up to thirty-six hundred years. What''re a few decades of age difference?" Tianyi then discreetly glanced at Daoyi. "Were those last words for real? Daoyi gave a teasing smile. "Which ones?" "The one about me being one of the few people...you know." "Yeah, but I never said I would agree." Tianyi turned crestfallen. Upon seeing this, Daoyi laughed again. "I''m just joking." "Then you''ll be my girlfriend?" Tianyi asked, his imaginary heart thumping nonstop. "Who said I''ll be your girlfriend. We should at least have a date first." Daoyi said with a shrug. Tianyi smiled. At least it was a step forward, but he quickly frowned. "Why? You aren''t pitying me or anything, are you?" Daoyi rolled her eyes. "Why wouldn''t I agree? Daoyi raised a finger. "First, you have a high prospect of achieving greatness." She raised a second finger. "Second, I just said the reason to Senior Brother Xia. Third, among all the possible candidates, you''re probably the most affluent of them all. Few can compare. Fourth, we have known each other for years, and I feel like we can get along." She raised her pinkie. "And fifth, you''re handsome enough for my taste." "Why does the last one feel so arbitrary?" Tianyi couldn''t help but complain. "Are you sure? It doesn''t feel like you consider your own feelings at all. It''s like you''re listing the specs of an artifact or car." Daoyi shrugged. "I''ve long given up on love. What is love worth? Can it fill your stomach? You couldn''t survive on love in that place. Rather than risking everything for an impulse of emotion, I feel securing my future is better." "Wow, so pragmatic." Tianyi could help but say. "What, regretting your decision?" Daoyi asked, a teasing smile on her face. "Nope. But I have to ask again, are you sure? If you do go on a date with me, even if we don''t become dao companions, or even boyfriend and girlfriend, my mother probably wouldn''t allow you to see another man for the rest of your life. And she''s an immortal sovereign now, the only one in the Huang Realm." "I never planned on having a relationship in the first place," Daoyi glanced at Tianyi again. "I thought it wouldn''t hurt, so I agreed." "Okay, as long as you''re sure," Tianyi said. Then he paused for a moment, "Now what?" "You''re supposed to think of a date." Tianyi scratched his head. "Do you have an idea?" "Guys are supposed to be the ones in charge of that. We girls are in charge of enjoying, that''s all," Daoyi said. "I feel like there''s a distinct inequality here," Tianyi grumbled. He looked at Daoyi again, but couldn''t help but have his face flush, so he averted his eyes. The two talked until the sun had started to set and returned inside. Once inside, they were stunned by the red decorations filling the palace. They quickly reached the grand hall to see Mengfei decorating the pillar with red banners. "Mother, what are you doing?" Tianyi asked. Mengfei tilted her head, expressing her confusion despite her expressionless face. "I''m preparing for the wedding." "What?!" "Since you two have already determined your relationship, it''s best to get married as soon as possible. You two are already past the prime age of marrying." Chapter 255: The Date This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Chapter 256: Dao Manifestation
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Chapter 257: Inner Devil Tribulation Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Chapter 258: Sword Light? The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Chapter 259: Planetary Purgatory Sword intent had three stages, sword qi, sword light, and sword intent. With the advancement of each stage, the amount of qi used stayed the same, but the willpower used increased. That''s why most users of intent had strong willpower. Otherwise, they wouldn''t be able to sustain the use, and through continuous usage, their willpower increased. Tianyi had always known his willpower was his weakest aspect. His new life had been too successful, and everything was in his favor. Born as the child of one of the strongest experts in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System and heavenly lightning spiritual root, it could be said that he could summon the wind and rain at his beck and call. His mother didn''t know the first thing about raising a child, but Tianyi didn''t really think it was fair to blame her, considering her past. Aside from that, Tianyi''s only other failure was his Sole Yin, Eight Trigram Yang Core Formation Revolution. It took around five years, but he eventually overcame that and reached an even higher level thanks to that. His life could really be said to be too perfect. Because of this, although his willpower is strong compared to the average cultivator, he didn''t think his willpower was as strong or stronger than Daoyi or Xi Ri, who experienced the apocalypse. Coupled with his mediocre talent in swordplay, Tianyi couldn''t help but be surprised at the manifestation of sword light. Tianyi hadn''t even manifested sword qi yet, so he was confused as to why he achieved the sword light stage. The Leakless Monarch War Formation had charged back and thrust its spear towards Tianyi, forcing him not to ponder anymore. Tianyi swung his sword back, and the war formation got knocked back even more. He charged and suppressed the war formation, causing San Jiuling to despair inside. It wasn''t just the junior sect master of the Leakless Sect but all the immortals that had followed him. They couldn''t help but hate themselves for setting a trap. It was true that they solved the issue of the Buzhuo Immortal Sect immortal stationed here, but they got too greedy and kicked the steel board known as Tianyi. Why did they have to be so greedy? They should have run at first sight of the monster. How could they think that the son of the Huang Realm''s only immortal sovereign was so weak as to be captured by them? Not only that, he hadn''t even brought out his treasures and defeated them. The immortals had dreams of riches. They wanted to strip Tianyi''s treasures after defeating him, but they would pay for their mistakes with their lives. Left with no choice, all of them began to push the Leakless Monarch War Formation to the maximum power and even began to use forbidden techniques. After using them, it was unknown how long they had to live, but it was better than dying now. Tianyi knew none of this as he continued to attack with his brows furrowed. Despite having attained sword light, he felt nothing was different. His eyebrows furrowed even more when he saw the Leakless Monarch War Formation increased in size to its former five hundred meters of height, but his spacetime distortion no longer affected it, nor could his immortal qi of primordial chaos corrode it. "I have to focus on the fight for now. I''ll ponder on the matter later.'' Tianyi thought as he redoubled his efforts attacking the Leakless Monarch War Formation. If before, Tianyi appeared to be an ant, now he appeared to be an amoeba compared to the giant war formation, but the two entered a stalemate. Tianyi continually attacked, but he would be hit back by the war formation, but simultaneously, he would damage the formation, forcing San Jiuling and the other immortals to use more qi to heal the damage. San Jiuling felt a sense of loss as he continued to lose. He never thought he was weaker than anyone. True, his grandfather was a true immortal, but he had long reached the end of his willpower and would return to heaven and earth at any moment. Immortals at that stage could be said to be walking pieces of flesh, so how could he care about San Jiuling? His father was also no longer present, and his grandfather only took care of him by the bare minimum that was required. Everything San Jiuling had, he had to win for himself. Luckily, the heavens didn''t abandon him. After showing his worth and potential after harsh competitions, the Leakless Sect''s grand elder took note of him and accepted him as his personal disciple. However, all his pride had been shattered by Tianyi. He discovered that one-on-one, he couldn¡¯t defeat Tianyi. Although he was unwilling, he still accepted the aid of the immortals assigned to him. However, he discovered that he still underestimated Tianyi. And now, even though both sides seemed to be on par, San Jiuling knew that he was on borrowed time. San Jiuling and the immortals under him had to supply more qi every time they repaired the formation, draining their dwindling blood essence and life force. On the other hand, although Tianyi was knocked back, he had not been harmed at all. Once the forbidden technique ran out, they would be akin to a fish on the chopping block. All he could hope for was that Tianyi''s qi would run out, but seeing that Tianyi''s movements had no haste in them, he fell even deeper into despair. Moments later, the Leakless Monarch War Formation dispersed. The corpses of the immortals beside San Jiuling disintegrated under Tianyi''s control. San Jiuling spat out a mouthful of blood as he saw this. He knew that he hadn¡¯t been destroyed by the black gas because Tianyi allowed him to live. This made him vomit even more blood as the shame hit him. "Xi Tianyi, don''t think that I will beg for my life just because I''m at your mercy! I swore that I would never lower my head to anyone ever again!" Tianyi almost had the impulse to control San Jiuling''s body to kneel but suppressed himself. He rolled his eyes instead. "Why do you have to shout like this? Do you want to show others that you''re courageous and valiant, not even fearing death? Unfortunately, only you and I exist in this space."Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. He waved his hands. "Anyways, I just want to ask you a question. Don''t worry. It doesn''t concern the secrets of the Leakless Sect." San Jiuling still glared hatefully at Tianyi. "Where is Dong Chifan?" As a possible transmigrator, how could Tianyi forget about him? It could be said that Tianyi''s impression of Dong Chifan ran deeper than even some geniuses of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Hell, he only remembered San Jiuling because he uniquely controlled nine lifebound artifacts. Hearing this, San Jiuling''s expression became stunned for a moment before he released a bark of laughter. He glared disdainfully at Tianyi, "Didn¡¯t Brother Dong die because of your Buzhou Immortal Sect, why are you asking me?" Tianyi furrowed his brows. "What do you mean?" San Jiuling suddenly started laughing, causing annoyance to sprout in Tianyi''s heart. He suddenly stopped and said, "Don''t you think it was weird that the upcoming pillars of the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s greatest competitor suddenly suffered a sneak attack? Who else would want the Leakless Sect''s disciples to perish before reaching their potential?" "Nonsense. The Buzhou Immortal Sect''s greatest rival is the Anti-Heaven Alliance, don''t stick gold on your face," Tianyi said. "You had to ally yourself with the Nihility Sect and traitorous Jade Cauldron Sect even to be a threat. If the Cloud Goddess weren''t strong enough, your little alliance would have already been destroyed!" San Jiuling''s expression turned ugly. He snorted and said, "Don''t be happy. Do you think that your vassal sects are happily serving the Buzhou Immortal Sect? Just you wait. They''ll eventually rebel too!" "Even if they do, you won''t be alive to see it!" Tianyi waved his hand, and the black qi began to conglomerate on San Jiuling''s body, directly dissipating his body and soul, leaving only his spatial ring and treasures. Tianyi snorted. He wasn''t mad that the Buzhou Immortal Sect sneak attacked the Leakless Sect''s top disciples and scions. Such things happen every day on Earth. Otherwise, so much spy fiction wouldn''t have been created. He was mad that his first clone got caught up in it! After reaching the Immortal Realm, he could sense his clone still existed in one of the lower realms, but he couldn''t pinpoint her at all! Tianyi dispersed the Chaos Refining Formation with a sigh. The black gas quickly entered his body, and the starry void returned to the clear skies of the Huang Realm. After seeing Tianyi''s lone figure, the elders that followed him worked up the courage and flew towards Tianyi. "Elder Xi, what happened to the Leakless Sect''s immortals?" Tianyi glanced at him. "What else? I killed them all." Hearing this, the Unity Realm elders felt their hearts thump. Although they already had guessed, they still couldn''t hide their shock and surprise. The way they looked at Tianyi also changed. "Elder Xi is worthy of being Grand Elder Xi''s son!" One quick-witted elder praised. Another also added. "Elder Xi is truly a dragon amongst men, able to defeat ten true immortals by your lonesome self. The sect''s victory is all but assured with a rising hero like Elder Xi!" As the praise came piling on, Tianyi quickly raised his hand. "Elders overpraise me. I am still inexperienced and still required Elders'' fruitful experience." "Elder Xi is mighty. Despite just entering the Pathfinding Immortal Realm, Elder Xi already has the power of an immortal lord." Although he said this, Tianyi couldn''t quite keep the edge of his lips from quirking upward. However, the elders didn''t forget their mission. "But Elder Xi, we should quickly report to the sect. We still need to destroy the Leakless Sect''s barrier." In his eyes, no matter how powerful Tianyi was, he didn''t think the Tianyi had the power to single-handedly destroy the Profound Leakless Formation. Not even an immortal monarch could easily destroy the formation, but to his surprise, Tianyi shook his head. "Go contact the sect and report the matter to them, I will destroy the formation myself. Make sure to stay away so as to not get caught by the aftereffects," Tianyi said and flew towards the Leakless Sect''s formation. The elders looked at one another, not knowing what to say. They couldn''t help but sigh. Tianyi was too young and headstrong, but they didn''t worry too much. Tianyi would back off once he saw that he couldn''t singlehandedly destroy the formation. Meanwhile, they''d report what happened and request reinforcement. Even if they did nothing, they could gain quite a bit of reward just from being in Tianyi''s squad. Tianyi knew none of this and had already arrived in front of the Profound Leakless Formation. He smiled and held his chin when he saw the defensive properties peaked when he neared. Tianyi already knew that it was impossible for all the immortals to come out to deal with him since a few needed to remain to maintain the formation, but he didn''t know how many were left. With his current insights into the formation, he could tell that the Profound Leakless Formation used the spirit vein to gather all the nearby spiritual qi as fuel. So when he attacked the formation, he wouldn''t just be attacking the immortal inside but the surrounding land as well. However, Tianyi just so happened to have a method to deal with this. He raised his hand, and massive amounts of immortal qi of primordial chaos flew out of his body and covered the surrounding twelve hundred kilometers. "Order!" Under Tianyi''s command, the disorderly qi began to move and form in an orderly fashion like a naturally formed formation. Once it happened, the immortals controlling the Profound Leakless Formation discovered that their connection to heaven and earth had been disconnected, and they could no longer summon anything aside from the amount in the spiritual vein! Tianyi didn''t waste any words and began to attack once more. Under his control, an invisible sphere like his Chaos Refining Formation formed, and gravity started to condense everything within to a singular point. The Profound Leakless Formation glowed brighter as it resisted the gravitational force with all its might and succeeded. Tianyi smiled without care and continued to feed his new technique. The most abundant and his greatest advantage was his near-unlimited qi. He wanted to see if the fuel for Profound Leakless Formation ran out or if he ran out first. After a week, Tianyi''s eyes shone and formed several hand seals. Before, if the space confining the Profound Leakless Formation only oppressed them with gravitational force, now a fiery heat began to spread, causing the speed of consumption to increase even more. Tianyi raised his hand, and everything within his technique rose into the air. The space within bent and the land caved in on itself to form a circle, like a miniature planet. Since the anchor of the Profound Leakless Formation used the spirit vein and land as an anchor, the formation greatly weakened due to the changing landscape. Three weeks later, the formation broke, and the giant twelve hundred kilometers large sphere condensed into a small sphere and flew into Tianyi''s hand. Inside, he could see several of the Leakless Sect immortals trapped and injured. "Not bad. Once I return, I can just give them to the sect to dig out information and use this to form another pseudo realm for Sect Master Xia. Since it makes a mini-planet, let''s call this unfinished move Plantery Purgatory." Tianyi flew back to the elders, who had their mouths hanging agape. For the past month, they had been waiting for reinforcement, but before they even came, Tianyi had already dealt with the Profound Leakless Formation by himself. "What''s wrong? Why are you in a daze for?" Tianyi asked with a smile. After another round of flattery, Tianyi began to wait for reinforcement, but before reinforcement could arrive, an angry voice shook the surrounding hundreds of kilometers. "Jiuling! Spawn of Xi, I''ll have you pay for your sin with your life!" Chapter 260: Monarch Hexlight Tianyi abruptly snapped his head toward the sky and saw a six-colored stream of light flying toward him. He glanced at the elders near him and waved his hand, teleporting them as far as possible. "Leave as quickly as possible, or I won''t be able to protect your life." Then, he rose into the sky, opened his third eye, and placed his hand behind his back. A few seconds later, an elderly man with ruddy skin and black hair appeared. In his eyes, six different colored lights shimmered. The light intensified as he zeroed in on Tianyi''s figure. "Do you know what you have done?" "I simply exterminated my sect''s enemies. What else could I have done? Should I have good-heartedly kept him alive just for you?" Tianyi mocked. San Jiuling''s master, Monarch Hexlight, laughed out of anger. "Good! Good! You have quite the sharp mouth. Since you killed my precious disciple, then I''ll take your life as payment!" Tianyi rolled his eyes. "Don''t say that as if you would let me live if you had the chance. At most, you would¡ª" He never had a chance to finish as Monarch Hexlight pointed his finger at Tianyi and a beam composed of six colors shot towards him. Tianyi quickly shifted his body out of the way. ''Whatever happened to talking is free action?!'' Monarch Hexlight shot another beam of light at Tianyi, seeing as the first one didn''t work. Unlike the first time, Tianyi had prepared himself this time and raised his hand and swallowed the beam into his sleeve. He then raised his other sleeve, and the beam shot out towards Monarch Hexlight. Monarch Hexlight formed a hand seal, and the six-colored beam split into six beams, each with a different color. "Worth a shot," Tianyi said as he condensed the cosmic cloak over his body once more. He left a trail of black qi behind as he flew off, but the six beams of light''s speed suddenly increased, blocking his path. Just as he turned to flee the other side, another six beams from the earlier attack arrived and formed a cage. "Hmpf," Monarch Hexlight snorted as he formed more hand seals, causing the cage to shoot several beams at Tianyi. Tianyi''s cosmic cloak enlarged itself over Tianyi and absorbed the numerous beams. Then, he pointed at the cage, and a massive amount of immortal qi of primordial chaos erupted and engulfed the cage. Monarch Hexlight frowned as he detected his immortal qi of light disintegrating under Tianyi''s superior qi. "So you do have a few tricks, but it''s not enough!" Under the Leakless Sect grand elder''s control, the cage started to shrink and rebuff the corrosive power of Tianyi''s qi. As the cage''s wall came closer, more gaseous qi flowed out from Tianyi''s robe and formed a black sphere around him. No matter how much qi Monarch Hexlight used, the black sphere never cracked or shattered. In fact, a moment later, the six-colored cage suddenly exploded as a cosmic giant over a hundred meters tall appeared. It grabbed a net from the circular ring of weapons behind its back and threw it over Monarch Hexlight. Monarch Hexlight frowned as he saw the cosmic giant. Tianyi didn''t fight much, so aside from what he showed the few times he did, such as the Northern Region and the Heavenly Connection Gathering, this was the first time anyone could gain conclusive evidence of his abilities, especially since he had just completed his immortal ascension. The Leakless Sect grand elder waved his sleeve, and a beam of light shot out and bifurcated the net and the cosmic giant at the waist. But instead of dispersing, the two halves regrew a top and bottom, respectively. The two cosmic giants continued their attacks on Monarch Hexlight. This time, he waved his hand, and a giant ring of light appeared over the land. Destructive bullets of light of six colors began to rain down nonstop toward the two cosmic giants. After five minutes, the land had become a barren wasteland, but Monarch Hexlight''s frown deepened. A towering pillar of black qi erupted from the ground and formed a black sphere, the Chaos Refining Formation. Inside, Monarch Hexlight looked at his hand and felt the subtle corrosive properties of the space. A film of light covered his body and nullified the corrosive effects. Tianyi suddenly appeared next to Monarch Hexlight with a sword in midswing. Monarch Hexlight didn''t even look at Tianyi, and a barrier of light appeared. It slightly bent under Tianyi''s attack but never broke. "Law of Mass? No wonder you could defeat Jiuling," Although he said words of praise, Monarch Hexlight''s killing intent only increased. "I have to admit, among all of the geniuses I''ve seen, aside from your mother, you are uncontested, able to master a worldly law in a hundred years. Too bad you are with the Buzhou Immortal Sect!" Monarch Hexlight reached for Tianyi, revealing his six-fingered hand. A different colored light shrouded each finger as he grabbed Tianyi''s throat before he could react. With a cold gleam, he tightened his grip. Suddenly, Tianyi disappeared and reappeared in the distance, clutching his throat. Even with his fleshly prowess, a hand mark could be seen on Tianyi''s throat as he coughed uncontrollably. Monarch Hexlight didn''t just strangle Tianyi but also emitted a light-based attack at the same time.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Had it been anyone else but Tianyi, they would have likely had their head severed. Tianyi didn''t dare to hold back anymore as he started to attack Monarch Hexlight with everything he had but from a distance. However, Monarch Hexlight was like a juggernaut, overcoming everything Tianyi threw at him. Finally, Tianyi disappeared outside of the Chaos Refining Formation. He glanced at the formation and brought both his hands in front of him as if he was holding a ball. Slowly, he began to bring his hand closer as if wanting to squish the ball, and following his action, the Chaos Refining Formation began to shrink. Chaos Refining Formation plus Planetary Purgatory! Inside, Monarch Hexlight felt the oppression of space as it began to distort and twist, collapsing onto him. ''I never thought that he would have almost mastered space and time as well. What a terrifying kid. He must not live!'' Monarch Hexlight''s body began to glow as light erupted from him as if he was a being purely composed of light particles. Outside, Tianyi''s face paled as the bars of light shot out of the Chaos Refining Formation. A moment later, the Chaos Refining Formation shattered, revealing Monarch Hexlight that appeared like a light spirit. "It seems that I''m still not prepared to take on an immortal monarch," Tianyi said. With each word, black gas leaked from his mouth. "But do you really think you can catch me?" Monarch Hexlight''s light body didn''t change its facial expression, but it suddenly shot towards Tianyi. Unfortunately, Tianyi had already disappeared. Tianyi reappeared in a location far away. He planned to teleport again but paused and turned back. He saw a cataclysmic light show occurring at the location he had been at. ''Hah, serves you right.'' He paused a bit and considered the Immortal Confining Sword still in his possession. After attaining immortality, he tried communicating with it and barely established a connection. Unlike ordinary artifacts, spiritual artifacts like the Immortal Confining Sword had their own will, rudimentary as it was. Powerful as the Immortal Confining Sword was, that was only at its peak. In its current state, Tianyi had no confidence in killing Monarch Hexlight. If he failed, then the whole Huang Realm would know, and he would become an even bigger target. Tianyi didn''t stay any longer and started his journey back to the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Back at the sect, he reported the situation to the sect master and was given a brief rest. After Tianyi came back, the situation reversed, and the Buzhou Immortal Sect gained the upper hand. Even though they lost a whole squad to the Leakless Sect, it wasn¡¯t worth much in the grand scheme of things, but Tianyi destroying the Leakless Profound Formation was. Monarch Hexlight had abandoned his post to rush over to avenge his disciple after discovering San Jiuling''s extinguished soul lamp. Because of this, the Buzhou Immortal Sect gained a huge advantage that couldn''t be recovered after Monarch Hexlight returned to his post. This was just the beginning. With the chink in the Tripartite Alliance''s battle line, the Buzhou Immortal Sect went on the offensive to gain an even greater advantage. The sect''s advantage started to snowball, and it seemed that Tianyi didn''t even have to participate anymore, and the Buzhou Immortal Sect would triumph. During this time, he handed the immortals he captured to Justice Hall. Then, he converted the pseudo planet he formed with his Planetary Purgatory technique into a pseudo realm and gave it to the sect master. After accomplishing all his duty, Tianyi began to meditate and inspect his newly acquired sword light. Although he didn''t feel any different, he could easily bring out the sword light, and the intent behind the sword light was the Law of Mass. In addition, using sword light didn''t consume his willpower at all. ''Is it because I''m different?'' Tianyi thought. ''And why is it the Law of Mass? If anything, I was aiming for the Law of Spacetime.'' No matter how many times Tianyi tried changing the intent, he could change or add any spacetime concepts into his sword light. It felt like he awakened a fake sword light. ''My talent shouldn''t be so bad as to form a faulty sword light, right?'' Tianyi rid himself of any unnecessary thought and began to comprehend the Law of Spacetime. After a week, Tianyi petitioned to go to the three palaces stationed above the Huang Realm. Inside the Huang Realm, he could detect too many laws and concepts, so he wanted to cultivate in the Vast Void where only a few foundational laws like the Law of Spacetime existed. However, inside his mother''s Heaven, Earth, Man Trinity Palace, Tianyi discovered that he could still sense the other worldly laws present within the Huang Realm. Inside his room, Tianyi suddenly opened his eyes and saw his mother. "Yi''er, I heard what happened," Mengfei said as she quickly rushed over. "There''s nothing to worry about. Unless they seal the space, I can always escape. And it remains to be seen if I still can''t escape," Tianyi said with a smile. Mengfei smiled, causing Tianyi''s eyes to widen. "As expected of my son." Ignoring Tianyi''s shock, Mengfei''s smile receded. "But you can''t expect your opponent not to be able to seal you. Mother is busy watching the Cloud Goddess, so I can''t always watch over you. It''s better to raise your strength as much as possible." "I know, Mother. I''m trying to comprehend the Law of Spacetime, but I can''t seem to sense it at all," Tianyi said with some frustration. Mengfei sighed. "The Law of Mass holds spatial concepts. Why not use it to enter the Seamless Immortal Realm?" Tianyi frowned and then looked at Mengfei. "I''m just one step away from mastering the Law of Spacetime. How can I be willing to settle for a lesser law?" Mengfei walked over and held Tianyi''s hand with her own and patted it with her other hand. "Yi''er, people can''t be greedy. It''s a time of turmoil, and entering the Seamless Immortal Realm can''t be done in an instant. What if you are in danger but don''t have the strength to fight back or even escape?" "Listen to Mother, use the Law of Mass to enter the Seamless Immortal Realm." After saying those words, Mengfei stared straight into Tianyi''s eyes. Her fear and worries couldn''t be more evident. But after five minutes, Tianyi pulled his hand from hers and looked away. "I won''t settle for second-best. If I don''t use the spacetime law to enter the Seamless Immortal Realm, I will regret it for the rest of my life." "Yi''er!" Mengfei said, raising her voice at Tianyi for the first time in his life. "Please leave, Mother. I''ve made up my mind." After staring at Tianyi''s back for five minutes, Mengfei sighed and started to walk away, but not before leaving a few last words. "I hope you don''t regret this." Once Mengfei''s figure reached the doorway, Tianyi turned around with his brows furrowed. The Immortal Confining Sword appeared in his hand, and he stared unblinkingly at Mengfei''s receding back. Chapter 261: Emperor Soulfish Appears Tianyi sighed and stored the Immortal Confining Sword back into his spatial ring. After talking with Mengfei, he left Heaven, Earth, Man Trinity Palace and returned to the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Back in the sect, Tianyi arrived at Jade Peak and met Ming Xingyun. Thanks to regaining the ability to use qi again, Tianyi had been able to sync his memories with his clones, allowing him to know almost everything that happened. "Master, look, look, I mastered the Sea Splitter Ax portion of the Sky Splitting Ax Art!" Ming Xingyun said as she hopped around Tianyi. "Oh really? Show me then," Tianyi said to his disciple. Since ten years had already passed during his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation, Ming Xingyun was already over seventeen, but she still appeared to be a preteen. With each swing of her ax, the air split and turned into a sea of wind that buffeted the surrounding. As the demonstration continued, Ming Xingyun''s move left gashes on the ground, her ax head not touching it at all. "How''s this, Master?" Ming Xingyun asked with eyes shining. Tianyi nodded. "Not bad." "Yay!" Ming Xingyun jumped into the air with jubilance. "I''m not done yet," Tianyi said, causing Ming Xingyun''s smile to freeze on her face. "You still have the same problem as before. You''re only able to store a portion of power behind the swing in the axe. You should aim to be able to swing it at full strength without disturbing the air until the moment of contact." Ming Xingyun immediately turned crestfallen at Tianyi''s words, causing Tianyi to be helpless. "Xingyun, you aren''t a child anymore. You have to be able to take criticism to improve." "But I''m obviously still a child. Didn''t Master say age is just a number and you are only as old as you feel?" Tianyi''s lips twitched. He rubbed Ming Xingyun''s head and directed the topic. "No matter who it is, no one can be a child forever. I worry for you. If you do not mature, you might face trouble in the future." "It won''t be a problem since I have Master to protect me," Ming Xingyun immediately said, causing Tianyi to smile. "Some things you have to rely on yourself," Tianyi lightly said as he stared off into the distance. His eyes became cloudy as he recounted the conversation between himself and Mengfei, and he started to frown. "Master?" Tianyi snapped out of his thoughts and removed his hand from Ming Xingyun''s head. "Anyways, you''re already at the peak of the Body Transformation Realm and entered the Foundation Establishment Realm, are you ready to undergo the Acupoint Opening Heavenly Tribulation?" "Yes!" Ming Xingyun nodded with confidence. "Alright, Master will protect you while you transcend your heavenly tribulation," Tianyi said. A month later, Ming Xingyun underwent her Acupoint Opening Heavenly Tribulation. Unlike Tianyi''s or Daoyi''s heavenly tribulation, few people came. One, Ming Xingyun wasn''t Mengfei''s disciple, and two, the Buzhou Immortal Sect currently was in wartime. The location Ming Xingyun chose to undergo her heavenly tribulation was the peak of a nameless mountain, comparatively small to Jade Peak and similar locations. But, thanks to its relatively small size, Ming Xingyun was able to form a formation that covered the whole mountain, known as the Man Mountain Unity Formation. For the first half of the Acupoint Opening Heavenly Tribulation, Ming Xingyun used her fleshly body to endure the tribulation lightning. Only when during the second half did she activate the formation. Once activated, Ming Xingyun seemed to have become one with the mountain. Thanks to her Condensed Mountain Physique, the Man Mountain Unity Formation was practically made for her. The mountain shared a large portion of the burden from the heavenly tribulation, allowing her to successfully transcend her Acupoint Opening Heavenly Tribulation. Not only that, using the whole mountain as a material, Ming Xingyun absorbed it and formed the True Mountain Martial Body. As long as she absorbed more spiritual mountains, she would be able to upgrade her martial body. Tianyi didn''t have any mountains on hand to gift to Ming Xingyun, but with his abilities, he just needed to uproot some mountains from the enemy sect for Ming Xingyun. However, he didn''t and waited inside the sect. While he waited, the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s war efforts increased, and just as it seemed that they would eliminate the Anti-Heaven and Tripartite Alliance, a third party entered the fray, Emperor Soulfish. The snowballing advantage that the Buzhou Immortal Sect had accumulated disappeared, tipping the balance in the rebel factions'' favor. Grand Elder Zhang had suffered a grievous injury and would need years to recuperate. The sect''s third grand elder, the Concealed Emperor, could not leave the sect, so Mengfei could not deal with Emperor Soulfish thanks to the Cloud Goddess. Without Mengfei''s intervention, Emperor Soulfish ran rampant. The Buzhou Immortal Sect also had soul immortal monarchs but no soul immortal emperors. Because of this, the sect had no choice but to make up with numbers, even though numbers were usually useless against soul cultivators. Still, they didn''t just send numbers but brought out their trump cards, half-emperor war formations. Tianyi was also given a mandatory order to lead one of the war formations. Usually, only immortal monarchs were given the responsibility of controlling a war formation, but with Tianyi''s mastery of the Law of Mass, he barely met the requirements. Half a year later, Tianyi and half the sect''s immortal monarchs stepped onto a flying warship and made way for the Cloud Goddess Cult. Between the two factions, using numbers against the Anti-Heaven Alliance was more suitable. Not only that, once the sect got rid of the Cloud Goddess, then what was an Emperor Soulfish worth in front of the Sword Sovereign? While the main assault force made its way toward the Cloud Goddess Cult, the Buzhou Immortal Sect ordered all available members to attack strategic locations to divert the two alliance''s attention, divide and conquer. Heading the operation was Sect Master Xia. Also on board were the head elders of the six main halls of the sect, including War Hall Head Elder Huang Feihong and Assignment Hall Head Elder Brightwing. "Tianyi, are you ready?" Sect Master Xia asked.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. "Yes," was Tianyi''s curt reply. Sect Master Xia nodded and then ordered. "Everyone, Grand Elder Xi will take care of the Cloud Goddess. During this time, you must break the Cloud Goddess Cult''s guardian formation as soon as possible and destroy their shrine. Once the shrine is destroyed, the amount of faith the Cloud Goddess can receive will be dramatically lessened, allowing Grand Elder Xi to defeat and kill her. Once she is defeated, the Anti-Heaven Alliance will soon be finished. After that, the Buzhou Immortal Sect will deal with the traitorous Jade Cauldron, Nihility, and Leakless Sect, unifying the continent and becoming its sole overlord!" The participating immortal roared in approval. "Down with the Cloud Goddess Cult and the Anti-Heaven Alliance." "They are worthy of death, but those traitorous bastards are even worse!" "Down with those traitorous bastards!" "We treated them so well, yet they dare to bare their fangs against us!" "Those Leakless Sect bastards aren''t much better. If it weren''t for us, do they think they could have become a first-rate force?" High on morale, Sect Master Xia commanded, "Form the formations!" Tianyi flew out from within the flying warship. Behind him followed one hundred twenty-eight immortals, twelve thousand and nine hundred venerables, and one hundred twenty-nine thousand grandmasters. "Activate the Jadelight Emperor War Formation!" Tianyi ordered, and the immortals, venerables, and grandmasters flew to the predetermined place. Immediately after, a colossal giant over a thousand meters tall appeared. The giant exuded a brilliant pure white light, gentle yet noble. The giant''s face perfectly mirrored Tianyi, except it had white skin, white hair, and white imperial robes. Inside, Tianyi felt his vision change and adjust to the war formation. Tianyi raised his hand and grasped and clenched the war formation''s hand, feeling the bursting power. He could feel that the war formation''s qi was not one whit inferior to his immortal qi of primordial chaos and, in some aspect, surpassed it. When a mortal cultivator entered the immortal realm, their qi would transform from true qi to immortal qi, and their spiritual sense would transform into immortal sense. However, their immortal qi could be further upgraded. The source of a true immortal''s qi came from their Daoseed. Once the Daoseed sprouted into a Daotree, the amount of immortal qi would also increase, but that wasn''t the most important part. An immortal monarch must comprehend enough of the five elemental concepts to nurture their Daotree. They didn''t need to master the Law of Fire completely; just fifty percent was enough, and so on. When the Daotree has been nurtured by the elemental concepts, it would also introduce one of the five element qis. This didn''t mean the immortal qi would change its attribute or anything, but its power would increase. The energy of an immortal monarch that mastered one of the five elements would be twice as powerful as one that hadn''t, and one who mastered two of the elemental laws would be twice as powerful as one who only mastered one. That meant that a peak immortal monarch was over thirty times more powerful than a new immortal monarch. Of course, the power of immortal qi wasn''t the determinant of an immortal monarch''s strength but the laws they practiced as well. Even Tianyi didn''t have much confidence to say that his immortal qi was as powerful. He had already mastered the required elemental laws, so once he entered the Seamless Immortal Realm, he could very likely enter the late Seamless Immortal Realm. However, now wasn''t the time to ponder such matters. Tianyi''s war formation looked up from its hand and started to walk towards the Cloud Goddess Cult''s headquarters. Once the war formations had appeared, the Cloud Goddess Cult had already deployed their barrier formations. Tianyi saw an armored war formation, the Three-Eyed Emperor Formation, strike the barrier with its weapon, a three-pointed spear. The barrier rippled under the attack didn''t break. Another war formation Tianyi recognized as the Heavenly Maiden Empress War Formation delivered different colored saber lights against the barrier, but it still stood strong. "Elder Xi, we should take action too," At one of the immortals'' reminder, Tianyi no longer paid attention to the others. The Jadelight Emperor War Formation raised its palm towards the Cloud Goddess Cult barriers, and a black sphere emerged in its palm. Like a breeze, the black hole floated over, and upon contact with the barrier, the black hole began to enlarge. The larger it grew, the more space seemed to distort around it, including the barrier formation. Tianyi frowned. He had tried to cause the black hole to phase through the barrier, but it seemed that the Cloud Goddess Cult''s formation had anti-spatial measures in place. Logically thinking about it, what sect wouldn''t have it? If they didn''t, wouldn''t it mean anyone who mastered the Law of Space could enter and leave as they please? More black holes appeared in the Jadelight Emperor War Formation''s hand and floated towards the barriers. Combined with the assault of over ten half-emperor war formations, the first barrier shattered. Before Tianyi and the others could be happy, they looked up to see clouds gathering above, and at the center was a divinely beautiful woman. "You''re opponent is me." With a sword, Mengfei sliced through the gathering clouds and engaged in combat with the Cloud Goddess. Tianyi averted his eyes and resumed attacking the Cloud Goddess Cult''s defensive barriers. Not long after, several monarch-level war formations also appeared, but in front of the half-emperor war formations, they were easily suppressed or destroyed. Even the Anti-Heaven Alliance''s immortal monarchs were hard-pressed under the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s full-out assault. When the final barrier broke, Tianyi immediately unleashed his Planetary Purgatory attack. He couldn''t combine it with his Chaos Refining Formation because the Jadelight Emperor War Formation couldn''t sustain it, and its qi didn''t have the suitable characteristic. Tianyi wanted to rip up the very core of the Cloud Goddess Cult''s headquarters, but his actions brought attention to him. Before he could complete his objective, all of them focused their attacks on him, forcing him to stop. The Jadelight Emperor War Formation raised the power of his techniques, but it also removed the advantage of his seemingly-limitless qi and defensive properties of his body. Still, since most of the attention was on him, this meant that the other war formations could focus on destroying the Cloud Goddess Shrine. Tianyi unleashed several black holes, and they dragged down the Anti-Heaven Alliance''s immortal monarchs and war formations. Thanks to mastering the Law of Mass, his black hole technique had dramatically increased in power, bending spacetime as well. Once the black holes could no longer attract and super-compress matter, they exploded like a nova, causing damage to anyone nearby. Even Tianyi had to be careful since his Jadelight Emperor War Formation was not immune, and since it wasn''t part of him, Tianyi couldn''t teleport it away either. However, it brought more damage to his opponent than himself, so Tianyi was happy to continue. While he fought, the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s forces continued to make their way toward the core of the Cloud Goddess Sect. Along the way, the Anti-Heaven Alliance attempted to impede them, but under the power of the war formations, they were all obliterated. Just as the Cloud Goddess Cult''s headquarters were half-destroyed, a change occurred. Tianyi stopped his actions and suddenly saw numerous war formations and immortal monarchs arriving in the distance. He could even spot a few immortal boats belonging to the Tripartite Alliance. "Everyone, hurry up and destroy the shrine before they can stop us!" Sect Master Xia ordered. He also commanded a Jadelight Emperor War Formation like Tianyi, and in its palm, a five-colored, five-petaled lotus appeared and floated forward, destroying everything in its path. Sect Master Xia wondered how the Tripartite Alliance learned of their operation but didn''t have time to think. Nor did he consider what happened to the forces assaulting the strategic locations. He knew that if the Buzhou Immortal Sect failed, it would place them in a near-unwinnable situation. Tianyi''s face didn''t change as he continued to fight with the immortal monarchs and war formations entangling him. It was not that he didn''t want to double his efforts, but the cultivators inside couldn''t keep up with the energy consumption. His attacks had always been energy-intensive, and it was only a weakness for others, but not him. But now, it fully reared its ugly head in the critical battle. Just as Tianyi launched another black hole, the Jadelight Emperor War Formation suddenly dispersed. Tianyi had a face full of confusion as he turned around to see the one hundred and twenty-eight immortals'' dazed expression. He didn''t have time to consider as they all self-destructed, killing all the venerables and grandmasters. The explosion even killed some of the Anti-Heaven Alliance members, but before Tianyi could process what was happening, a familiar face appeared in front of him. A white-haired man with a single horn in the middle of his forehead appeared. His red robes shifted as his hands reached for Tianyi, with Tianyi unable to move at all, as if frozen in ice. Chapter 262: Sinner Tianyi could only watch helplessly as Emperor Soulfish''s hand neared him. He tried to struggle, explode, unleash his cosmic giant, mantle, anything! But, no, he could do nothing. "I finally captured you," Emperor Soulfish said. His voice sounded plain yet pleasant, giving people a good impression, but Tianyi only felt shivers crawling up his spine. "Yi''er!" From above, Mengfei disengaged from her battle with the Cloud Goddess and flew toward Emperor Soulfish. With killing intent brimming in her eyes, Mengfei brought out the Kunlun Mirror, and Tianyi felt his shift. The next thing he knew, he was standing behind Mengfei. Off in the distance, Sect Master Xia, who saw Mengfei''s action, couldn''t help but sigh. Since the start of the war, Mengfei had never revealed the Kunlun Mirror in order to wait for the best chance to utilize it, but she had wasted the chance to save Tianyi. ''Perhaps I should not have invited Tianyi to this operation. Grand Elder Xi cares too much for him,'' Sect Master Xia thought as he sighed again. "Stay behind me," Mengfei said as she pointed her crystalline sword at Emperor Soulfish. Instantly, nine translucent sword tips appeared from all sides and struck toward Emperor Soulfish. However, before the sword tips could hit Emperor Soulfish, wisps of cloud appeared and protected him. Mengfei turned her head towards the Cloud Goddess slowly descending down. "If you want to kill him, then you''ll have to go through me first," The Cloud Goddess said. Mengfei didn''t say another word and attacked the Cloud Goddess. The Kunlun Mirror shone brightly and captured the Cloud Goddess in its reflection. She seemed to have been frozen in time, unaware of the world around her, and not even a lock of her hair moved despite the billowing wind. Just as Mengfei''s sword reached the Cloud Goddess''s neck, the Cloud Goddess regained her movement. Her body transformed into white clouds, and Mengfei''s sword sliced through harmlessly. Tianyi couldn''t even see what had happened. All he knew was that one moment, his mother had been in front of him, and the next, she was in the distance, slicing through a human-shaped cloud. He knew that he couldn''t participate in such a battle, so he turned around to fight the other Anti-Heaven Alliance members. But the moment he did so, a sense of danger erupted in his heart. He whipped his head to see Emperor Soulfish flying towards him. ''Why are you so fixated on me?!'' No longer being burdened by the Jadelight Emperor War Formation, black gas leaked continuously from Tianyi''s body, and he formed the Chaos Refining Formation. Unlike previous times, he didn''t trap his foe within but used it as a barrier. Tianyi held his breath and waited for Emperor Soulfish''s next move. His face paled when Emperor Soulfish blasted a hole into the Chaos Refining Formation and charged in. He immediately unleashed all his spacetime techniques onto the immortal emperor, but it did nothing to slow him. Tianyi teleported himself to the edge of the Chaos Refining Formation and exited it. He clapped his hand together and used the Chaos Refining Formation as fuel for the Planetary Purgatory, but that still didn''t stop Emperor Soulfish. Left with no choice, Tianyi detonated the Chaos Refining Formation. It would have been best if he could compress it for greater explosive power, but the immortal emperor would have escaped the next second. Tianyi didn''t wait to see the results. He didn''t think such an attack could kill Emperor Soulfish. Hell, he didn''t even have confidence that it slowed him down, so he turned and fled. Or, he would have liked to, but he felt his body freeze up in a familiar sensation. "Soulfish, die!" Emperor Soulfish quickly moved out of the way and dodged Mengfei''s sword swing, but he wasn''t fast enough as Mengfei severed the arm that he reached toward Tianyi with. But, Tianyi couldn''t be happy as his eyes widened. "Mother, watch out!" Mengfei flew in front of Tianyi protectively as a spiraling cloud twister struck her back. Her face paled, and she spat out a mouthful of blood, dousing Tianyi''s face in it. "Mother?!" Mengfei turned around and wiped the blood off with her sleeve. "I''m alright. Don''t worry about me, Yi''er." Tianyi realized for the first time that he had grown taller than Mengfei. That back he had always watched had never seen so fragile in his eyes. He clenched his fists until his nails pierced his palm. He couldn''t even escape. Both the Cloud Goddess and Emperor Soulfish were now targeting him, forcing Mengfei to go on the defensive. Had it not been for Mengfei, that cloud twister would have struck him. "Yi''er, quickly enter the Seamless Immortal Realm!" Mengfei shouted, causing Tianyi''s eyes to widen. "If you become an immortal monarch, you would be able to fend off Emperor Soulfish long enough for Mother to get rid of the Cloud Goddess." Tianyi''s widened eyes narrowed as he unclenched his hand. He stared at Mengfei''s back. "What are you doing, Yi''er!" Mengfei shouted. "You know how important this operation is to the sect! Are you really willing to watch the sect embark on the road to desolation because of your pride!?" The Immortal Confining Sword appeared in Tianyi''s hand, and to Mengfei''s shock, he threw it at her. "With two divine artifacts, you should be able to defend both of them, Mother. Just ignore me, and go." Mengfei caught the Immortal Confining Sword and stared at Tianyi with an emotion that he had never seen in her eyes, disappointment. Tianyi felt his heart throb, but he ignored it and flew off.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. With the boost of the Immortal Confining Sword, Mengfei gained the upper hand again against the two of them, even as they targeted Tianyi. But she could not defeat either of them, and after a few moments, the Tripartite Alliance''s experts and war formations had arrived, instantly reversing the battle into the rebel''s favor. Sect Master Xia''s eyes turned dispirited at the situation. He wanted to believe that they still had a chance, but his logical mind prevented him from that. So, he ordered a retreat to cut their losses before it became even worse. Thankfully, the Buzhou Immortal Sect only lost twenty to thirty percent of their forces due to Mengfei suppressing the Cloud Goddess and Emperor Soulfish. However, seeing the defeated expression on everyone''s faces, Sect Master Xia''s face couldn''t help but reflect their expressions. The Buzhou Immortal Sect had paid a high price for this chance. The forces sent to assault the strategic locations likely would have more casualties than them. He turned his eyes towards Tianyi, reflecting the same disappointment Mengfei had. Unlike Mengfei''s disappointment, Tianyi didn''t feel anything. "Little Xi, why didn''t you ascend to the Seamless Immortal Realm like Grand Elder Xi asked?" Sect Master Xia questioned, a trace of anger that he didn''t even know he was showing appeared. "Sect Master, I gave the Immortal Confining Sword to my mother, isn''t that enough? If she couldn''t defeat them with two divine artifacts, what makes it that me becoming an immortal monarch will?" "Because she wouldn''t have to protect!" Sect Master Xia roared upon seeing him not show one hint of remorse. "The sect raised you for all these years and even gifted so many resources. Is this how you repay the sect?'' "This is my chosen immortal path. If you really force me to ascend to the Seamless Immortal Realm, you are sowing irrevocable hatred between you and me," Tianyi said. "What a good Xi Tianyi. What a good son you have, Grand Elder Xi," Head Elder Brightwing of the Assignment Hall said as he sent Mengfei a mocking gaze. "For your selfishness, you ignored the plight of the whole sect, such a good disciple our sect has!" "Who knows, maybe the two rebels will give Elder Xi commendations for his act of charity to them," Huang Feihong, Head Elder of the War Hall, said. Tianyi closed his eyes and said nothing. His act infuriated the other elders and caused them to spittle him with abuse. Not even Mengfei stepped up to speak for him. Finally, Tianyi opened his eyes and gazed peacefully at the hurling insults. "Are you done?" Tianyi''s question infuriated the elders even more, but he continued on as if not seeing it. "I find it funny that you people are judging me like this. When has the result of the battle ever hinged on me, a newly ascended immortal?" He turned and looked at Sect Master Xia. "With all these years you knew Mother and me, you should have known she would protect. Since you knew, why did you include me knowing that I was a liable weakness?" "You!" Sect Master Xia pointed his finger at Tianyi before waving his sleeve. "Unreasonable! Instead of finding fault within yourself, you blame others? It seems that you are too self-centered." Tianyi gave a slight smile. "Sect Master, should you say that to yourself too?" Sect Master Xia sent a withering glare toward Tianyi. "Elder Xi broke the sect''s law and damaged the sect''s interest for selfish reasons. He will be imprisoned in the Seven Emotions and Six Desires Abyss until he ascends to the Seamless Immortal Realm!" Tianyi watched on calmly as Head Elder Huang Feihong shackled his wrists. He turned and glanced at Mengfei, who had shifted her face with an anguished expression. On the way back, he endured the insults hurled his way and even the disappointed gazes of numerous elders, but he was unmoved. It didn''t take long for them to return, and upon return, he was personally escorted by Mengfei, Sect Master Xia, and the two head elders to the Seven Emotions and Six Desires Abyss. When he entered the Seven Emotions and Six Desires Abyss, he didn''t feel anything, not even a slight hallucination, despite not carrying a token protecting him from the formation. After entering his cell, Tianyi sat in a lotus position as he watched his jailers. "Little Xi, you really shouldn''t have been so selfish. When you know your mistakes, then you''ll be released," Sect Master Xia said before leaving. Mengfei couldn''t even bear to look at him one last time and also walked away. Tianyi said nothing even as he saw the four receding figures. Tianyi tested his shackles a bit and discovered that he couldn''t utilize his qi at all, but he didn''t panic. Instead, he closed his eyes and began to meditate. After an uncertain amount of time, Tianyi heard someone call it to him. "Xi Longyi!?" He opened his eyes and saw that the cell opposite him contained Lei Jingye. Lei Jingye''s appearance was in tatters with messy hair, bloodshot eyes, and rags for clothes, but his eyes revealed a hint of excitement as he released a bark of laughter. "Haha, I knew the Buzhou Immortal Sect dogs weren''t anything good. How does it feel to be locked with me?!" Tianyi''s lips twitched, but he didn''t say anything. Instead, Tianyi began to meditate. His consciousness entered his Three Pure True Self Visualization space, and after a moment of observation, his lips curled into a smile. ''Just as I thought.'' Inside his Three Pure True Self Visualization space, endless amounts of tribulation essence not sourced from him filled the space. Tianyi began to absorb the Heavenly Dao''s tribulation essence, but unlike the first time, he discovered that it wasn''t as easy. Still, Tianyi didn''t give up as he tried to combat the tribulation essence filling his Three Pure True Self Visualization space. He didn''t know how long it took, but he eventually discovered a method by fighting fire with fire. In medicine, one method used to cure poison was to infect the victim with a stronger poison. The stronger poison would swallow the original poison, and the doctor simply needed to cure the stronger poison with the prepared antidote. Tianyi''s method wasn''t exactly the same, but similar enough. He began to control his own tribulation essence into his Three Pure True Self Visualization space and drive out the Heavenly Dao''s tribulation essence. However, this just resulted in a stalemate after he drove out all the Heavenly Dao''s tribulation essence. The Heavenly Dao''s tribulation essence constantly tried to penetrate his mind, and Tianyi couldn''t relax at all. ''Figures it wouldn''t be so simple.'' Tianyi thought. He had harbored some hope that driving out all the foreign tribulation essence would allow him to escape this Inner Devil Tribulation, but he was wrong. ''Think, there''s got to be some method to escape! Even if the Heavenly Dao wants to kill me, it shouldn''t be able to trap me forever since the rules do not allow it to do so. Think!'' Tianyi continued to battle the Inner Devil Tribulation. Sometimes, the Heavenly Dao''s tribulation essence would find a hole in his defense and slip back into him, but he would eventually drive it out, and then the two forces would enter a stalemate. But the number of times the foreign tribulation essence broke Tianyi''s defenses began to decrease and decrease. As his mental defenses became stronger, Tianyi discovered that the world around him felt incredibly fake. During the few times he had the spare consciousness to observe the outside world, he saw the progression of time. The Buzhou Immortal Sect fell under the combined forces of the rebel faction, and Tianyi was even brought out of the Seven Emotions and Six Desires Abyss to be given to Emperor Soulfish, but Tianyi cared not. The only thing that made his defense falter was when he heard Mengfei had died, but he quickly drove out the invading tribulation essence and focused on breaking the Inner Devil Tribulation. Tianyi didn''t know how much time passed, but he eventually grew disinterested in the false world and focused wholeheartedly on defeating the Inner Devil Tribulation. Suddenly, he saw a strand of gold in his mind. He found his vision shifted and saw a young man of around eighteen or nineteen kowtowing in front of him. The man wore a forest green robe and had a healthy tan complexion with lithe muscles, but most eye-catching were his two pupils, which seemed to be a miniature sun. "Great Vast Heaven God, please protect me as I leave the Starry Sky Immortal Grotto to find my father''s killer and avenge him. I, Jinshu, will be forever grateful." "Alright, when we meet again, you can be my second disciple." Jinshu snapped his head up, and that was the last thing Tianyi saw as he grasped an opening in the Inner Devil Tribulation and escaped the false reality. Chapter 263: Immortal Monarch
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Chapter 264: Continental Crush Ba Shifang stared at the looming tribulation clouds overhead. ''How long does it take for Main Body to overcome his tribulation? At this rate, a new generation will grow up thinking that the sky is always covered in black clouds.'' Okay, he was exaggerating. It had only been eight months, far from enough time for a new generation of mortals to mature, but still! "Everyone, quiet down." Ba Shifang and the nine other cultivators turned towards the speaker, an earth immortal. "I know some of you are proud elites of your sect," The earth immortal elder scanned the group of ten, pausing specifically on Ba Shifang and a disciple of the Monolith Sword Sect. "However, this is war. Put away your arrogance, or die. Do you understand?" Most of the cultivators respectfully nodded, but a few from first-rate and took the earth immortal''s words like air. The earth immortal was from a second-rate sect, and he frowned at the blatant disregard for his words despite the strongest among them being a venerable. The earth immortal snorted. "If you step out of line, don''t think I won''t sort you out. Enough, I don''t want to hear your whining. Let''s be on our way. We have a deadline to meet." Ba Shifang didn''t take the earth immortal''s words to heart. Although, he was surprised by the antagonism in the earth immortal''s words. ''What sect did he come from again? Something something Wind Sect? Meh, not important. Though, his attitude is a warning sign of betraying the Buzhou Immortal Sect if this had been a novel.'' He had accepted a mission from the Assignment Hall to join a squad to attack one of the Anti-Heaven Alliance''s resource points. The mission was a joint venture, so members of the vassal sects, and their vassal sects, also joined. "My name is He Yongli. What is your name?" Ba Shifang turned his head and looked at the man who had flown next to him. Like him, the man was in the early Nascent Soul Realm and resembled an unsheathed sword. "Ba Shifang," he said. Then, he scrunched his brows and openly scrutinized He Yongli. "Have we met before?" "I don''t believe we have," He Yongli said, but he also felt that Ba Shifang felt familiar. He just couldn''t quite word it out. Ba Shifang suddenly slammed his fist into his palm. "You''re the guy who challenged Main Body and got demolished!" He Yongli''s expression immediately darkened at Ba Shifang''s words. "What do you mean by that?" "You remember Xi Tianyi? I''m his clone." Ba Shifang said. Immediately, an awkward expression appeared on He Yongli''s face. However, before he could speak, Ba Shifang spoke again. "Why are you still in the early Nascent Soul Realm? Shouldn''t you at least be in the late or peak Nascent Soul Realm?" He Yongli''s anger vanished, and he just stared at Ba Shifang with his mouth agape. "I''ve already reached the Nascent Soul Realm faster than the other scions from the Heavenly Connection Gathering. Over half of them are still stuck at the Core Formation Realm." "So slow?" Ba Shifang said. "I thought everyone who attended the Heavenly Connection Gathering would enter the under a hundred years. Why does it seem like most of you won''t? I''ve been created for less than half a decade, and I''ve already reached this level." "Do you think everyone is as monstrous as you and Xi Tianyi?!" He Yongli practically screamed. "Even among the descendants of immortals like me, less than one in ten will enter the Nascent Soul Realm under a hundred years old. I''m already outstanding for doing it at ninety-nine." "Oh. My bad, it seems that I overestimated you people''s¨C" Ba Shifang paused mid-sentence and immediately changed his words. "¨Cunderestimated the difficulty of reaching the Nascent Soul Realm. My apologies." "You, you," He Yongli kept repeating the same word. Finally, he huffed and flew away, his intestines green with regret. He had wanted to gather more information on Tianyi since rumor has it that the tribulation clouds were his. Instead, he only got his confidence destroyed again. Ba Shifang shrugged at He Yongli''s departure and surveyed the rest of the squad members, but he didn''t recognize any of them. Two came from the Boundless Mountain and Dust Veil Sect. Another one was a loose cultivator that joined, one from the same sect as the earth immortal leader and five from the Bright Ascension Sect. He recognized none of them. ''Or not.'' He blinked when he zeroed in on the blue-robed woman with a lily sprouting out of her right eye socket. "Why is Hu Landie here? I recall seeing her at the Three Heavens Connection Meeting. She was from the Earth Continent. And why as a loose cultivator?'' Ba Shifang, like most of Tianyi''s clones, inherited Tianyi''s memories name memorization skills. Still, he wouldn''t easily forget someone as unique and beautiful as Hu Landie. What? He was a man and liked pretty girls. Bite him. The group traveled for a few days at arrived at their destination, Thousandroot Forest. As the name implied, the forest housed Thousandroot Trees, a core component to making many talismans. The value only increased in times of war, where every faction was creating as much talismans as possible. They had rested beforehand, so the earth immortal elder immediately ordered an attack. Ba Shifang watched as all five Bright Ascension Sect disciples charged forward at the first chance. He blinked in puzzlement. ''Isn''t the smarter strategy to attack from range and feel out the enemy?''This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. He soon received his answer as he recognized one of the people defending the resource point, Bai Weiwei. ''It''s her?" Ba Shifang glanced at the Bright Ascension Sect and saw the murderous intent in their eyes. ''No wonder they sent five members. They must have wanted to eliminate Bai Weiwei as much as possible. They sure are willing, sending three venerables for a mere core formation master.'' Bai Weiwei had been expelled from the Bright Ascension Sect because she had pointed a figurative knife at the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Her words could even be taken as rebellious intent from the Bright Ascension Sect. Normally, the matter would end with her expulsion, but with the betrayal of the Leakless Sect, Jade Cauldron Sect, and Nihility Sect, the Bright Ascension Sect was under magnified scrutiny. At this time, Bai Weiwei''s act of joining the Anti-Heaven Alliance was just a powder keg waiting to explode. It may just be the straw that broke the camel''s back, unlikely as it was. Obviously, the Bright Ascension Sect didn''t want to take such a chance. The three venerables and two grandmasters charged forward and unleashed their attacks on Bai Weiwei. Ba Shifang expected the girl to be pulverized into a flesh puddle, but someone jumped in front of her. He formed several hand seals, and a five-layer, five-colored barrier appeared and blocked the Bright Ascension Sect cultivator''s attack. ''Another one,'' Ba Shifang thought. Surprisingly, the nascent soul grandmaster protecting Bai Weiwei managed to hold his own against the five-person assault. Still, Ba Shifang didn''t pay any more attention to him and zeroed in on the other people guarding the Thousandroot Forest. He spotted a peak nascent soul grandmaster and charged forward. Ba Shifang''s body was shrouded in a layer of true qi of wind, greatly enhancing his speed. The enemy nascent soul grandmaster didn''t have time to react as an earthen yellow light shrouded Ba Shifang''s fist. The nascent soul grandmaster spat a mouthful of blood as Ba Shifang''s fist caved in his chest, but Ba Shifang wasn''t done just yet. With his fist still embedded in the grandmaster''s chest, a fiery qi merged with the earthen yellow qi. The nascent soul grandmaster''s skin began to sizzle as it turned red. Finally, molten lava burst out from all nine of the grandmaster''s orifices. Not long after, the nascent soul grandmaster burst into flames. Ba Shifang waved his arm, and the burning corpse fell to the ground. Not only had he instantly shattered the grandmaster''s spiritual core and incinerated his nascent soul. Ba Shifang turned around to search for his next target, but wherever he looked, all the Anti-Heaven Alliance grandmasters fled as far as possible. "You have some guts, charging into enemies line like this!" An old croaky voice said. Ba Shifang readied himself as a venerable rushed towards him. A piercing shriek of an eagle could be heard as the world merging venerable''s punch sliced through the air. With an explosive thud, Ba Shifang blocked the punch by crossing his arms. His body skidded through the air from the force, and a hiss escaped from his lips. "Ouch, I shouldn''t have tried to block a martial venerable''s punch head-on." The world merging venerable''s expression changed, and he took another glance at Ba Shifang. "I originally thought you were an arrogant nascent soul grandmaster, but it seems that you have some capital since you dual cultivate the martial path too. But, your mistake was to appear before me today!" Ba Shifang didn''t even have time to roll his eyes as the enemy venerable as a wind-green armored appeared. Tufts of feathers could be seen sprouting out of the joints, and an eagle-like helmet covered his head. "Watch out, that''s the Drifting Feather Sect''s Grand Roc Qi Armor! It boosts his speed and attacks dramatically!" One of the venerables from the Bright Ascension Sect called out. Ba Shifang ignored him. Instead, eight strands of true qi burst out from his back. Five colors composed each strand. Some emitted a fiery heat, another a gentle breeze, the third, a rapid torrent, the fourth, a dense heaviness, and the fifth, a stinging sharpness. The eight strands of qi combined to form an illusionary continent. The sky and land were divided in two, mountains sprung throughout, the wind howled between two canyons, volcanoes erupted, numerous forests dotted the land, metal veins peaked out from crags, lightning storms covered mountains peaks, and rivers spread throughout the land like veins. "Parlor tricks!" The world merging venerable shouted as he appeared in front of Ba Shifang. He unleashed a punch, and a spiraling tornado shrouded his arm like a drill. Ba Shifang didn''t say anything, and instead of blocking, he returned the punch. The moment the two fists connected, the world merging venerable discovered that thirty percent of his connection with heaven and earth had disappeared. "What did you do!?" He shouted in horror. Ba Shifang didn''t reply and continued to attack, unleashing a flurry of attacks. Each attack diminished the connection the world merging venerable had with heaven and earth. When a venerable lost their connection with heaven and earth, they were just a grandmaster with slightly more energy and power. After returning from the Demon Slaying Expedition, Tianyi had created this move to deal with venerables. But before he could even use it, he entered the Singularity Realm and lost the ability to use qi, so it was only until now that Ba Shifang reached the Nascent Soul Realm that the move, Continental Crush, had shown itself. The user formed a pseudo world using their qi. While strengthening their attack, it also cut off a venerable''s connection with heaven and earth. By this logic, it also had some uses against those between the Unity Realm and Pathfinding Immortal Realm. Although the effectiveness still had to be tested. Only those with vast amounts of qi and had all five elements qi or chaos qi could perform this move. Ba Shifang didn''t give the world merging venerable time to escape and shatter his Great Roc Qi Armor and impaled his chest with his hand. One of the greatest disadvantages of a martial venerable was that they didn''t have a nascent soul, so once their body perished, they couldn''t escape with their soul. The world merging venerable struggled mightily, but like a butterfly caught in a spiderweb, he struggled for naught. Not wanting to risk the world merging venerable using any hidden trump cards, Ba Shifang directly crushed his head like a melon. Then, he pulverized the rest of the venerable''s body until it was a meat particle. At the same time, he heard a shriek and turned toward the source. "How cruel!" Bai Weiwei said. "Brother Peng, the Buzhou Immortal Sect won''t even leave a complete corpse for Elder Sang." ''What does it matter to you? This is war. Get used to it.'' Ba Shifang thought. He turned and searched for his next opponent, but Bai Weiwei''s following words made him stop. "Brother Peng, you have to punish him for his cruelty!" Bai Weiwei said. ''I wasn''t going to look for trouble for you, but you look for trouble with me?! That''s it, you''re next.'' Ba Shifang turned and glared at Bai Weiwei. His movements paused as he saw Bai Weiwei''s new suitor decapitate one of the venerables aiming at Bai Weiwei. The two grandmasters had already perished, leaving only two venerables from the Bright Ascension Sect. Ba Shifang narrowed his eyes and sized up Bai Weiwei''s Brother Peng. He hadn''t thought much of him at first, but that all changed with a venerable''s death. Even among the Buzhou Immortal Sect, only the top elites could cross realms and kill a venerable as a grandmaster. It wasn''t that the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s geniuses were weak. It was the gulf between a grandmaster and a venerable. Even in the Demon Slaying Realm, no one aside from Tianyi had killed a demon venerable. Ba Shifang flew and stopped twenty meters in front of Peng Yun and asked. "What''s your name." "Peng Yun, the man who will kill you!" Chapter 265: System Transfer A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Chapter 266: Miscalculation ''What the fuck?'' Ba Shifang thought. He tried to inspect his surroundings but found nothing on his body or near his ear. [Host, please do not search for the wealth system. I am bound to the host''s soul. ] "Fuck!" Ba Shifang let out. What was most important to a cultivator? Their soul. For a foreign object or entity to bound themselves to a cultivator''s soul meant serious consequences. [Do not panic. The Wealth System only brings benefits to the host. So long as you offer monetary wealth, your wish for power and woman can all be attained.] Ba Shifang ignored the system''s cold, mechanical voice and sent his spiritual sense into his dantian. In his dantian, he saw his eight Trigram Cores, which were revolving naturally. But his four Cardinal Nascent Souls were another story. Due to Peng Yun''s two Soul Shattering Talisman, he had to diffuse the damage over all four souls. The first time Peng Yun used one, Ba Shifang spread the damage evenly among the South Vermillion, North Sable, and West White Nascent Souls. Had it been any other cultivator, they would have likely died to the Soul Shattering Talisman and had their souls extinguished, unable to enter the cycle of samsara. Ba Shifang even suspected that transcending mortality saints and earth immortals wouldn¡¯t be immune. It caused his unstable Eight Trigram Martial Body to become even more destabilized, but it wasn''t anything he couldn''t handle. Then Peng Yun took out a second one. This time, he even had to diffuse the damage to his East Azure Nascent Soul while the other Cardinal Nascent Souls had become critically injured. Although not to the extent of imbalance Tianyi suffered while in the Core Formation Realm, Ba Shifang needed all four Cardinal Nascent Souls to stabilize his eight Trigram Cores since he entered the Nascent Soul Realm. Ba Shifang''s eyes lighted when he discovered a foreign entity attached to his South Vermillion Soul. It was so imperceptible that he wouldn''t have noticed had it not been for the interlinking feature of all four of his nascent souls. "I don''t mind working with you, but the condition is that you detach yourself from my soul," Ba Shifang said using his spiritual sense. [Ding, the Wealth System has already bound itself to the host. It is impossible to separate, and we share life and death together. You die, the system also perishes.] Ba Shifang narrowed his eyes. "So if the system dies, I also die, right?'' The system stayed silent. "Ignoring the fact that you dying should only take one of my nascent souls, how did you come here?" [The system seeks hosts with an immense amount of potential but not enough karmic luck. In order to aid the host, the system will provide resources no longer available for monetary trade, aiding the host in his rise.] Ba Shifang gave a dark laugh. "So you are just a gold digger. Speaking of which, what is your origin?" [The system does not know. The system just appeared one day and is dutifully fulfilling its mission.] "So you will not tell me your origin and threatened my life. What else can you say that will make me trust you?" [The system is only good for its host.] Ba Shifang gave another dark laugh. "Let me guess, your previous host was that Peng Yun guy, right?" [The system only arrived after sensing the host''s presence.] "Don''t bother denying. If you really are amazing as you say you are, then raising a character like Peng Yun who could kill a venerable as a grandmaster is not impossible." [Has the host also not killed a venerable as a grandmaster?] "Can you even compare me to him? Him and my origins should be very different, right? Let me guess, that Peng Yun was originally a very ordinary guy, but he had a lot of wealth. His spiritual roots were average at best, but he had great potential, so you bound him while he was still weak, right?" [Please do not slander the Wealth System.] Ba Shifang shrugged. "Since you don''t want to be honest, I can only seal you." [Please be warned that sealing the Wealth System will only damage the host. It is not an advisable action.] "You know what? I hate threats, especially if you are holding my own body hostage." Ba Shifang didn''t say another word and took out a talisman. He activated the talisman and placed it on himself. [Host, what are you doing?] The system said, finally a trace of panic in his voice. "Nothing much. It''s just a Soul Sealing Talisman. Don''t worry. If you really are as good as you say, I can¡¯t hurt you or anything. Maybe, just a little dismantling to see how you work. You don''t mind, right?" Ba Shifang''s South Vermillion Soul began to shudder as if something was trying to escape, but it was too late. The Soul Sealing Talisman transformed into a chain inside his dantian and wrapped around the South Vermillion Soul. "Oh, I forgot to mention that I''m just a clone. My main body''s identity is quite unique, so don''t think you can hide anything." Ba Shifang said, perhaps a bit too gleefully. The South Vermillion Nascent Soul shuddered even more. Still, just before the Soul Sealing Talisman could fully complete its purpose, thirty percent of the South Vermillion Nascent Soul split off and escaped Ba Shifang''s dantian. Ba Shifang''s face paled as a red light shot out of his body and into the distance. He spat another mouthful of blood, and cracks began to appear on his body. He wanted to stop it, but he had to first save his disintegrating nascent soul. When the Wealth System left, it didn''t take only thirty percent of his South Vermillion Soul but its core essence as well. Considering the fragility of his nascent soul''s current state, Ba Shifang had to do his best to salvage it.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Ultimately, Ba Shifang decided to allow the Soul Sealing Talisman to finish its purpose. The talisman not only sealed the soul but preserved it in stasis. He could recuperate after the battle when it was safe. Once he fixed the immediate problem, Ba Shifang focused on the second problem, his martial body. However, some didn''t wish for him to recover. Ba Shifang spat out another mouthful of blood as a world merging venerable appeared next to him and attacked him. He glared, and a talisman appeared in his hand. Before the attacking venerable could react, a sword-shaped energy burst and instantly killed him. The sword-shaped energy cleaved through the venerable''s corpse and struck the ground, creating a canyon. He glared at the other members of the Anti-Heaven Alliance that wanted to take advantage of his weakness and grab the immortal rank sword still in his hand. When he saw their hesitance, Ba Shifang popped another pill into his mouth. It only alleviated his injuries but did not solve the foundational issue at hand. Moments later, the cracks on Ba Shifang''s body began to recede, but phantoms of them still remained in the form of glowing lights swimming under his skin, reminding him that his martial body was still volatile. While Ba Shifang was healing, one of the venerables suddenly screamed as he clutched his chest. He turned around to see the earth immortal impaling him with an awl. The two continued to fight, but it was obvious that the earth immortal had the upper hand. Finally, the venerable died under the earth immortal''s hand, leaving only the last two members of the Anti-Heaven Alliance left. The two remaining venerables shared a look before quickly fleeing into the distance. "What are you watching for? Go eliminate the remaining defenders!" The earth immortal ordered. As if awakened by the words, the people who had been shocked by Ba Shifang''s and Peng Yun''s battle resumed their mission. With the venerables fleeing, the remaining members of the alliance also chose to flee. Though, many didn''t succeed under the pursuit. Of note was Bai Weiwei. Ba Shifang didn''t know when she had escaped since he was too busy dealing with Peng Yun and then the Wealth System. ''Next time I see her, I''ll definitely kill her.'' Once the battle was over, the earth immortal said, "Alright, quickly gather as many as the Thousandroot Trees as possible. For those that we can''t carry, just destroy them. We cannot afford to leave any for the Anti-Heaven Alliance." "Why aren''t you joining?" The earth immortal questioned as he looked at Ba Shifang staying in place Ba Shifang rolled his eyes at the earth immortal. "I''m focused on recuperating right now." "You''re not the only one injured. Why do you think you deserve special treatment?" The earth immortal snorted but didn''t comment anymore. "And you, why aren''t you aiding them?" Hu Landie stared impassively at the earth immortal with her sole eye, causing his heart to turn fretful as if she knew everything about him. "I''m a tamer. Most of my beasts were killed in the battle earlier, so I cannot be of much help." "Useless," the earth immortal said. Hu Landie said nothing. She had killed over ten grandmasters and even stalled a venerable during the battle, a record that only placed her below Ba Shifang. Logically speaking, her contributions should have warranted more praise. She glanced at the grandmaster from the same sect as the earth immortal. He only killed one grandmaster, and he wasn''t injured, but the earth immortal didn''t question why he wasn''t helping. An hour later, the Thousandroot Forest had been wholly destroyed. Whatever trees they couldn''t carry with their spatial pouch were drenched in a sea of flames. "Alright, let''s return," the earth immortal said after collecting all the spatial pouches. Ba Shifang also turned around. He planned to return to the Buzhou Immortal Sect later to recuperate. A few days later, Ba Shifang had managed to stabilize his martial body. Cracks of light still occasionally shimmered beneath his skin, but as long as he didn''t push himself, it shouldn''t be an issue for him. His eyes perked when he saw five figures suddenly appearing in front of the group. All five wore the same uniform as the earth immortal leading the squad and exuded the same air as the earth immortal, with the exception of one that appeared to be a transcending mortality saint. ''Strange, this isn''t the designated meeting location. Why are they here?'' However, before he could think about it anymore, he felt a sense of danger behind him. Reacting on instinct, he shifted out of the way. He had tried his best to dodge, but he had still been struck, causing cracks to appear all over his skin again. "What is the meaning of this?!" Ba Shifang demanded, glaring at the earth immortal elder. Most of the squad had not been as lucky as him. The remaining Bright Ascension Sect members died under the earth immortal''s hand, and only a few survived. The earth immortal sneered and didn''t deign to say anything. Instead, he glanced toward his fellow sect members and said, "He''s the one with the immortal artifact. Be careful, he might have immortal rank talismans as well!" Ba Shifang''s eyes almost bulged out. "Are you really betraying the Buzhou Immortal Sect for a mere immortal rank artifact? You''re risking your sect''s extermination." "A mere immortal artifact?" The earth immortal said. "Do you know how precious those are? Even the grand elder of our White Wind Sect only has one, yet they appear to be as common as clouds for you people. A mere grandmaster holding an immortal artifact while our whole White Wind Sect only has one. How is that fair?" Ba Shifang''s mind quickly turned. "You already planned to betray us!" The earth immortal sneered and unleashed a spell. The spell wasn''t aimed at Ba Shifang but at He Yongli, who had tried to use this chance to escape. He released a dying scream and crashed to the ground. Ba Shifang didn''t have any spare thoughts for his companion. The White Wind Sect wouldn''t allow any one of them to escape to spread the news. Of course, the primary target was still him. He pulled out a spatial talisman and prepared to escape, but at that moment, one of the White Wind Sect''s earth immortals took out a plate and threw it in the air. A formation appeared, and when Ba Shifang activated the talisman, it lost its effect. "Did you really think we wouldn''t prepare anti-teleportation measures?" The earth immortal asked. Ba Shifang cursed again. ''I should have taken more treasures before I left!'' He only brought the immortal rank sword and three total immortal rank talismans. He had already wasted one, which meant that he could only kill two out of the five. Without another thought, he took one out and activated it. The sword-shaped energy materialized and shot toward the former squad leader. The earth immortal squad leader would have never thought that the first thing Ba Shifang did when he couldn''t escape was to unleash the immortal rank talisman. It was a precious immortal rank artifact! The earth immortal took out a shield and activated all his defenses, but how could the Sword Sovereign''s talisman be so easily defended against? Like the venerable who died to the first talisman, he too died under it. Ba Shifang wasn''t done, and he glared at the five and charged toward them with another talisman in hand. The five White Wind Sect members all spread out. They didn''t know how many similar talismans Ba Shifang carried, so they had the preconceived notion that he had many more thanks to his earlier action. Ba Shifang flew past them and continued to fly, causing one of their members to shout, "Stop him! He wants to escape the Space Sealing Formation!" The White Wind Sect members weren''t idiots and chased after Ba Shifang, but at this moment, he activated the second one and killed another earth immortal. This act caused the remaining four to freeze until the transcending mortality saint spoke up, "What are you hesitating for? If he escapes, it won''t just be us that dies, but the whole entire sect. Think of your disciples and masters!" Ba Shifang cursed as they resumed their chase. The worst part was that the Space Sealing Formation was mobile, and it slowed him down. He even entertained the thought of using the nuclear self-detonation technique and taking them down with him. Even if he was at his peak state, Ba Shifang doubted he could contend against four experts at the earth immortal level or above. "He hasn''t used any more talismans. He''s most likely run out!" One of them said, causing the rest to redouble their efforts. Ba Shifang gritted his teeth and took out several more talismans. ''Just because I ran out of immortal rank talisman doesn''t mean I don''t have any other treasures left!'' Still, he didn''t use them yet. He wanted to wait for the most suitable time and kill as many as possible with the surprise attack. This way, his chance of surviving would increase. But at that moment, a school of blue moths suddenly appeared and shrouded the four chasing experts. "Who!?" One of them unleashed a fire technique and incinerated all the moths but didn¡¯t escape unharmed. All four had red spots all over their skin, like mosquito bites. They turned their attention towards a blue-robed figure. "You didn''t die earlier?!" Hu Landie said nothing as a blood-red locust and a bone-white beetle flew out of her sleeves. Chapter 267: Beast Tamer Hu Landie had known that the White Wind Sect would betray the Heaven Continent''s hegemonic sect, but she didn''t place too much thought on it. The White Wind Sect had perished under the thorough retaliation from the Buzhou Immortal Sect. They killed every man, woman, and even child with a hint of a relationship with the White Wind Sect as an example. Still, she did not expect them to be so foolish as to reveal their betrayal so soon. If they hadn''t coveted Ba Shifang''s immortal artifact, they could have hidden their true intentions and survived another hundred years. But that begged the question, should she help Ba Shifang? Logically, she could just leave. The four saint-level experts had ignored her, partly because she had activated a stealth technique and partly because of their confidence, so she could leave without them noticing. From there, she could report the betrayal to the Buzhou Immortal Sect and gain a hefty remuneration. However, that was only the short-term benefit. Judging by Ba Shifang''s strength to slay venerables, a rare feat even for disciples of the Buzhou Immortal Sect at the Nascent Soul Realm, he must be an important immortal seed. If she could rescue him, then she would form a connection forged through life and death. The unquantifiable benefits gained from this couldn''t be underestimated. For example, as long as Ba Shifang leaked some news, one that none of the other forces knew, she could have a head start. Despite traveling back in time, Hu Landie had only memorized the important events such as Heaven Continent War and the brewing war against another realm afterward. There was one more critical danger she risked befriending Ba Shifang. If the Buzhou Immortal Sect discovered her Spring Autumn Caterpillar, now in its chrysalis phase, the Spring Autumn Chrysalis, then she would meet an even more gruesome end. Still, that would all require the premise that she managed to save Ba Shifang and escape the four saint-level experts. For her, the choice wasn''t hard. So what if the Buzhou Immortal Sect discovers her Spring Autumn Chrysalis? So long as she paid the price, she could still reverse time and try again. From her sleeves, hundreds of Miragedust Moths flew out and entangled the four saint-level experts. Once they had rid themselves of her moths, two more of her insect beasts flew out from her sleeves, enlarging themselves into five meters behemoths in the process. The first one was a grasshopper with brown-red color and black splotches throughout with numerous dangerous spikes littered its body, giving it a dangerous vibe. This was her Bloodfest Locust that she had recently successfully nurtured. The scone was a porcelain white beetle with a giant horn and a devasting-looking mandible. Its hard exoskeleton gleamed under the light. This was her Whitebone Beetle that she had also recently finished nurturing. "You should have escaped when you had the chance," The transcending mortality saint said. He glanced at one of the earth immortals and said, "Graywind, quickly get rid of her, and we''ll kill Ba Shifang as soon as possible." Earth Immortal Graywind nodded. "Lass, you''ll regret playing hero." Hu Landie didn''t say anything and commanded her insects to charge forward. The Bloodfest Locust arrived in front of Earth Immortal Graywind with surprising speed. Once there, its body began to exude a bloody light as it continued to charge with its mandible ready. Earth Immortal Graywind dodged out of the way, but the Bloodfest Locust had deployed its six legs and managed to leave a small gash on his body. The earth immortal''s face darkened. He never thought a no-named loose cultivator would injure him, and he felt as if his face had been slapped. He formed several hand seals and, after a chant, pointed his hand at the Bloodfest Locust. Visible strands of wind manifested in front of Earth Immortal Graywind''s finger and shot towards the Bloodfest Locust. The gray wind twisted and slithered like a snake, hounding the Bloodfest Locust wherever it flew. In this short period, the Whitebone Beetle had finally arrived, and the Bloodfest Locust hid behind it. Earth Immortal Graywind snorted at the Bloodfest Locust''s action and directed his attack at the Whitebone Beetle. Earth Immortal Graywind''s eyes widened when he saw his attack bounce off the Whitebone Beetle''s shell harmlessly. He didn''t have much time to ponder as the Bloodfest Locust took this chance to charge at him once more. The two sides entered a short stalemate. Earth Immortal Graywind couldn''t keep up with the Bloodfest Locust''s speed, and the Whitebone Beetle would block whatever attack he used. Similarly, the Bloodfest Locust could only cause minor injury at best, while the Whitebone Beetle''s speed proved too slow to touch the corner of Earth Immortal Graywind''s robes. "What are you doing, hurry up and get rid of the girl!" Earth Immortal Graywind felt his face flush at his companions'' words. He glared at Hu Landie. He had wanted to crush her tamed beasts before crushing the tamer herself, but it seemed that he had to go after the tamer and flee the tamed beasts. For an earth immortal like himself, going after the tamer, especially one of a lower realm, shamed him greatly. However, he knew that time was of the essence, so he lowered his pride and flew toward Hu Landie. The Bloodfest Locust tried to stop him, but Earth Immortal Graywind just summoned the gray wind to stall it, and the Whitebone Beetle couldn''t keep up with him to begin with. "I have you now!" He shouted as he attacked Hu Landie, who was in the process of retreating, but her speed could not compare with his. Beast tamers had powerful group capabilities, but that was under the condition of counting their tamed beasts. They often had the upper advantage in a one-on-one fight, but tamers were just weaker than other cultivators in general without their tamed beasts. When his attack engulfed Hu Landie, Earth Immortal Graywind immediately felt something wrong. Hu Landie''s body bloated and burst into silvery-blue dust, and hundreds, maybe even thousands, of moths flew out towards Earth Immortal Graywind. Earth Immortal Graywind tried to blow the dust and moths away, but it was as if his wind had no effect, and they lingered around him. When they dispersed moments later, silvery-blue dust coated every inch of his skin.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. He turned around a glared at the Whitebone Beetle hovering a safe distance away. The beetle opened the shell covering its wing, known as the elytra, to reveal a blue figure. The blue figure stepped off the beetle''s back. Who else could it be but Hu Landie? "I allowed you to trick me once, but you won''t succeed a second time!" Earth Immortal Graywind said as he charged forward. Hu Landie said nothing as she began to form several hand seals. After she finished, she pointed her fingers at her incoming foe. Earth Immortal Graywind prepared to dodge anything coming his way, but Hu Landie did not unleash any sort of technique to his puzzlement. At least, that''s what it appeared. The silvery-blue dust Earth Immortal Graywind''s robes began to glow, and a second later, he stopped in his tracks. His eyes showed disbelief, but the next moment he started to scream in pain, attracting the attention of everyone. In front of everyone, Earth Immortal Graywind''s skin began to wriggle. No, it wasn''t his skin, but something underneath wriggling and twisting. He released a painful roar as his back arced nearly ninety degrees. His scream was cut short as something crawled out of his mouth. Then his eyes turned bloodshot as larvae began to crawl out all of his orifices, his ears, nose, eyes, and mouth. Like something out of a horror movie, Earth Immortal Graywind''s body began to noticeably shrivel as more and more of those larvae crawled out until he was only a husk. Dead, his corpse plummeted to the ground as the larvae''s life cycle dramatically increased. In the fraction of a time it usually took for them to mature, the larvae turned into pupae, then broke out into silvery-blue moths. The remaining White Wind Sect members who saw this felt goosebumps all over their bodies and began to inspect themselves. Hu Landie formed another hand seal, and the moths began to fly towards her. Most of them flew into her sleeves, but the three biggest ones crawled into the blue lily growing out of her right eye socket. Afterward, the lily seemed even more beautiful and exuded an enchanting glow. She glanced at Ba Shifang and the others to see if any of them discovered her usage of temporal techniques. She had gained some understanding of the temporal concepts, but it was far from enough to utilize temporal techniques directly. She had to unleash it through her connection with the Spring Autumn Chrysalis. The three remaining members of the White Wind Sect had entered a dilemma. Earlier, they had fought with Ba Shifang, but despite his injured state, he still had many talismans that could pose danger to them, though not enough to kill them like the immortal rank talisman. It was clear that one earth immortal wasn''t enough to deal with Hu Landie, but if only one person was left to trap Ba Shifang, then he might escape. But if they don''t kill Hu Landie and let her escape, then the Buzhou Immortal Sect would soon learn of their betrayal. The three remaining members were stuck between a rock and a hard place. Since they couldn''t decide, Hu Landie decided for them. She first collected her two insect beasts. Then, a giant armored butterfly crawled out from her skirt and clamped onto her back, giving the impression that she had grown a pair of wings. Hu Landie''s speed dramatically increased and flew towards Ba Shifang. "Stop her!" The transcending mortality saint shouted. One of the earth immortals moved to block Hu Landie, but at this time, she waved her sleeve, and the Bloodfest Locust shot out. The earth immortal sneered. He was a martial cultivator, so his physical was far stronger than Earth Immortal Graywind. As he thought, he stopped the charging Bloodfest Locust with some effort. He just had to be careful of its mandibles, but what he didn''t expect was for the vivid glow of the insect to turn crimson. "Flee!" the transcending mortality saint shouted, but it was too late. The Bloodfest Locust exploded into a red mist, and the earth immortal screamed in pain. Little red dots began to appear throughout his body. Those were bitemarks. The red mist formed from the Bloodfest Locust had transformed into numerous tiny Bloodfest Locusts that gnawed at him, intent on devouring him whole. Some even tried to gnaw deeper into his flesh. To combat this, the earth immortal could only deploy his defensive techniques, but the ungodly pain made it difficult for him to utilize them effectively. Given time, he could expel all of the bloody locusts, but Hu Landie took this chance to bypass him. The remaining two didn''t have the chance as Ba Shifang distracted them with his talismans. He didn''t know what Hu Landie planned to do, but he knew that it was beneficial for him. He proved correct as Hu Landie took this chance to grab him and fly off into the distance. Her wings took only a glow that resembled moonlight and left a trail of silver dust in its wake. "After them!" the transcending mortality saint shouted. The three members of the White Wind Sect gave chase, but to their dismay, they discovered that Hu Landie''s wings had a counteractive force against their Space Sealing Formation, not to mention that Ba Shifang constantly used his talisman to interfere. "Vice Sect Master, I''ll self detonate and kill them at the same time," the more elderly earth immortal said. "You can''t!" the transcending mortality saint said. "Don''t give up hope because you failed the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. As long as you can master a complete law, you''ll immediately become an immortal." The earth immortal laughed self-deprecatingly. "Don''t comfort me. How many false immortals achieved this feat? I know myself, I haven''t mastered half a law. How can I master the rest before my death? Before I die of old age, I want to repay the sect for everything." "Elder..." the transcending mortality didn''t say anything as he controlled the formation to boost the earth immortal''s speed. The earth immortal sped up like a comet. A white-hot aura surrounded him as he activated a forbidden technique, causing the intensity of his qi to rise. His skin turned red, and cracks started to appear. Hu Landie saw this and sped up even more, but she had already reached her limit, so her speed only increased a little bit. Ba Shifang also detected this, so he targeted the incoming earth immortal with all his talismans. The earth immortal faced the talisman''s effect head-on without care. Even as he lost his arm, his legs, he didn''t care. As long as his head and torso were fine, he could complete his duty. "Hahahaha, know the determination of our White Wind Sect!" the earth immortal said one last time as a deafening explosion engulfed the surrounding thousand kilometers. A venerable''s, saint''s, and earth immortal''s self-detonation were completely different from those below. When they detonated themselves, they could use their connection with heaven and earth to dramatically increase the explosion''s power by tenfold! The transcending mortality saint showed an ugly expression as he observed the aftermath. He was already saddened by the elder''s sacrifice, but he couldn''t find any traces of Ba Shifang or Hu Landie! He had no doubt that an earth immortal''s self-detonation would completely destroy a nascent soul grandmaster''s body, but an immortal rank artifact was different. Even if it had been damaged, it wouldn''t have disappeared at all! "Search! If we can''t find them, then the Buzhou Immortal Sect will come to deal with us shortly!" the transcending mortality saint roared. To find them, he deployed every personnel possible from the White Wind Sect. He didn''t dare if it brought suspicion. It was at least better than having the two report the White Wind Sect''s betrayal.
At an indistinct clearing surrounded by trees, the soil broke loose as a giant beetle with a bone-white exoskeleton crawled out. Its shell was full of cracks with numerous burnt portions. After it crawled out, its legs lost all strength, and it collapsed onto his belly. The light of life left its beady eyes. A crash could be heard as its elytra broke off, revealing the two occupants. Ba Shifang coughed as he stumbled out. Hu Landie followed shortly after. Soot covered her whole body, but aside from a few scratches and singed clothing, she appeared fine." "Thank you," Ba Shifang said. "You don''t have to thank me," Hu Landie coldly said. "We shouldn''t stay here for too long. The White Wind Sect will spare no expense to chase us down. Before that, we have to escape and send a message to the Buzhou Immortal Sect." Ba Shifang nodded. "My Xiyi Talisman, I mean, my messaging talisman can''t transmit back to the sect at this location." He felt his intestine turn green with regret. ''Why was I so confident in my mastery of space concepts? Why didn''t I bring any space escaping talisman? Dammit, in my injured state, I can''t even teleport a millimeter!" "Who!?" Hu Landie suddenly said as she readied herself to deploy her beasts. Ba Shifang also readied a few talismans, but his wariness turned to relief as he saw a handsome man with sword-like brows, a straight back, and wearing the distinct white uniform of the Buzhou Immortal Sect come out. "Senior Brother Xia!" Chapter 268: Descending Thunder ''Xia Yushan, the Asura Sword Immortal?'' Hu Landie thought as she carefully observed the newcomer. Even if Ba Shifang recognized him, she did not lower her guard. In the future, Xia Yushan would become known as one of the pillars of the Buzhou Immortal Sect when he had ascended to the Immortal Realm. His moniker from when his time as a mortal did not carry over. Instead, he became known as the feared Asura Sword Immortal. It was a name forged through the countless blood of the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s enemies. In fact, one of the many sacrifices had been the Tripartite Alliance''s true immortals. "You are?" Xia Yushan furrowed his brows and tried to recall the name of the man in the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s uniform. A name fluctuated in his mind. "You are Ba Shifang, Junior Brother Xi''s clone." Hu Landie hid her puzzlement. She had thought that Ba Shifang had simply been another casualty in the war, so he never realized his potential; thus, she did not hear of him. But if someone as outstanding as Ba Shifang was just a clone, who was his main body? She ran through the list of the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s experts. The first one to come to mind was Xi Mengfei, the Sword Empress. Thinking of her, Hu Landie couldn''t help but frown. ''I''m sure that the Sword Empress stayed in the Extremity Immortal Realm for over a thousand years. Why did she reach the Origin Immortal Realm nine hundred years before I died?'' Hu Landie knew that her presence would bring about a butterfly effect on history, but she did not overestimate her influence either. How could a loose cultivator who had not even reached the Immortal Realm change the course of the famed Sword Empress Xi''s cultivation? Still, it was a question she had pondered over a hundred times before and did not find an answer to. So, she refocused on the problem at hand. The first name that she recalled was Xi Longyi, but the current Xi Longyi was no longer Xi Longyi but Xi Tianyi, another anomaly. She couldn''t help but furrow her brows. If Ba Shifang really was Xi Tianyi''s clone, she didn''t want to meet him. She always felt an aversion to anomalies in the present that did not match her future self''s memories. She recalled that Xi Longyi had disappeared without reason around this time. The world later learned that he had failed his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation, but that was it. Xia Yushan''s eyes transferred from Ba Shifang to Hu Landie. He had already entered the Unity Realm, but he felt that the blue-robed woman was not simple. He didn''t place much more thoughts on her and refocused on Ba Shifang. "What happened to you, why do you look so wretched?" Ba Shifang felt his face flush. He did indeed look incredibly wretched. His hair was in a mess, his skin a pallid tone, and if his robes were slightly more damaged, they could be called rags. "It''s the White Wind Sect. After completing the mission, they suddenly betrayed us and attacked me. Only Miss Hu and I managed to survive." Only after Ba Shifang explained the matter head to tail did he notice Xia Yushan''s state. Although he appeared uninjured, Ba Shifang still saw some marks and cuts on the edges of Xia Yushan''s robes. "Senior Brother Xia, did something happen to you?" Xia Yushan scrunched his brows. "I traveled to the Xia Clan under Master''s orders to pick up my future junior brother. Unfortunately, while I was present, the White Wind Sect betrayed us and massacred my clan." He sighed. "My junior brother died while I was caught by surprise. They sent over twenty earth immortals, and the Xia Clan didn''t stand a chance after the patriarch fell. Now, the only Xia Clan members left are those who managed to escape like me and those who became disciples of the Buzhou Immortal Sect." Cultivation clans like the Xia Clan would send their most outstanding disciples to join sects with more power than them. It was not uncommon for opposing sects to contain disciples from the same clan. Still, the Xia Clan resolutely only sent disciples to the Buzhou Immortal Sect after Xia Meng took the mantle of sect master to show their allegiance. "I''m sorry about your loss," Ba Shifang said. "Mhm," Xia Yushan said. "Junior Brother Ba, why don''t we travel back together? The sooner we can report the White Wind Sect''s betrayal, the faster we can exact vengeance." Ba Shifang nodded. Among the three of them, he was currently in the weakest state, so this proposal only had advantages for him. "What do you think?" " I was originally a loose cultivator hired, so I''ll listen to Senior Xia''s arrangements," Hu Landie said. "Alright, let''s go." Xia Yushan said. Ba Shifang and Xia Yushan deployed their flying sword artifacts to soar through the sky. Hu Landie stepped on her armored butterfly and followed right behind them. Along the way, Ba Shifang asked, "Senior Brother Xia, don''t you have an immortal boat?" Xia Yushan answered without even looking back. "Immortal boats are a luxury that I don''t want to pay for. I would rather use my resources for my cultivation." "Ah," Ba Shifang remembered that immortal boats were like luxury yachts or private jet planes for most cultivators. Aside from official sect purposes, most people didn''t have immortal boats. He had thought Xia Yushan would have access to it since he was the sect master''s disciple. He had forgotten that masters weren''t as liberal with their wealth as parents. Although, he doubted that anyone would give their child an immortal rank boat like Mengfei had. Most would gift immortal boats at the unity rank, and even then, those still cost almost as much as an immortal artifact.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. After that, Ba Shifang shut up and didn''t say another word. Due to the need to avoid the scouting White Wind Sect members, they had to make several detours. While they were making a detour, the environment became over ten times brighter, and a familiar warmth that had only existed in their memories for ten months reappeared. All three stared at the disappearing tribulation clouds with some shock. Ba Shifang''s expression changed, and his eyes glazed over. "What''s wrong with Daoist Ba?" Hu Landie asked upon seeing Ba Shifang''s strange state. "Let''s wait a moment," Xia Yushan said. Tianyi''s Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation wasn''t some grand secret. Even if people wanted to hide it, it would be impossible with the commotion he caused, but that didn''t mean everyone learned of it. Only those with enough connection and power, like the first-rate sects, knew of it. As such, Xia Yushan already had an inkling as to why Ba Shifang entered such a strange state. He didn''t know the exact circumstances, but he knew that it must be because of Tianyi. Recalling Tianyi, Xia Yushan''s emotion didn''t fluctuate at all. He could no longer feel the envy and jealousy towards the younger man even if he wanted to. When Ba Shifang regained his consciousness, he revealed a smile. "My main body has successfully transcended the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. I''ve already sent him my coordinates. As long as we move closer, we can reach safety faster." "Alright, which way should we go?" Xia Yushan asked. Ba Shifang directed them in a direction, and all three flew where he pointed. He was confused a bit, though. Neither Xia Yushan nor Hu Landie showed much shock or excitement when he heard that Tianyi had become an immortal. Both just nodded with calm acceptance, giving him an empty feeling. But that was neither there nor here, so Ba Shifang said nothing. However, they soon found themselves surrounded by over twenty saint-level experts and thirty venerables. It was strange that nothing happened to them when they were in the greatest danger, but when they discovered the greatest hope, trouble found them. It was as if heaven was playing a joke on them. "We finally found you brats!" One of the transcending mortality saint-level experts said. "Hand over the immortal artifact, and we can give you clean death." Before Ba Shifang could say anything, Xia Yushan had already struck. He unsheathed his sword and thrust it towards the nearest enemy. The venerable widened his eyes in shock even as Xia Yushan''s sword impaled his body. To his horror, he discovered that his body and soul were collapsing on themselves. Even as he called upon the power of heaven and earth, it could not prevent them from disintegrating. Xia Yushan didn''t bother to give him another look as he pulled out his sword and repeated the same action against three more venerables before a saint-level expert finally obstructed him. "Go to hell!" the saint-level expert shouted as he clashed with Xia Yushan. Xia Yushan said nothing as five different-colored figures flew out of his body. Each one wore a different color corresponding to the five elements, and they were formed from the Five Element Incarnation Technique. With Xia Yushan at the center, the five incarnations flew into five separate but equal distances from Xia Yushan. Not long after, a five-colored, five-petaled lotus emerged and encapsulated Xia Yushan and his incarnations. To his horror, the saint-level expert discovered that his connection with heaven and earth was interfered with. He could still sense it, but his qi could no longer be replenished as fast as before, and he had to use a vast amount to protect his body from Xia Yushan''s five-element lotus. While Xia Yushan battled against the saint-level expert, the rest of the White Wind Sect present also swamped forward. Ten saint-level had split off to deal with Xia Yushan since he was the only venerable present on the opposing side. Hu Landie had deployed a second Whitebone Beetle, but its aura was obviously weaker than the first one. Even for her, it would take a lot of resources to raise one that could withstand a saint-level expert''s attack. Once the Whitebone Beetle appeared, Hu Landie performed a beast tamer''s supreme technique, Man-Beast Unification. The Whitebone Beetle merged with Hu Landie and turned into a bone-white armor that covered her whole body. Man-Beast Unification was a beast tamer''s signature technique. Using it, they could add the traits of their summoned beast onto their own body, remedying a beast tamer''s greatest weakness. Of course, the strength gained from using it was based on the beast that was used to fuse, and if the tamer was too weak for the tamed beast, they ran the risk of being possessed by the tamed beast. Even so, Hu Landie had been pushed to the defensive. Ten venerables targeted her at the same time, resulting in her being thrown around like a punching bag. Luckily, most of the attention was focused on Ba Shifang, so she could still defend with minimal loss. ''Should I escape?'' Hu Landie thought. ''No, I''ll wait a bit longer.'' When the twenty saint-level experts and fifteen venerables charged at him, Ba Shifang went all out. Cracks appeared on his skin as it began to enlarge itself. Soon after, Ba Shifang''s giant formed from primal elements emerged. Compared to the first time it appeared, it was even more unstable, with chunks of land constantly falling off. It was evident that the state could not last long. The White Wind Sect members besieging him wanted to play the long game, but Ba Shifang did not conform to their expectations. Like a raging berserker, he ignored all their attacks and focused on killing with reckless abandon. "We can''t keep doing this, he''s gone crazy!" a saint-level expert said after Ba Shifang killed one of them and five venerables. "I wanted to hide it a bit longer, but form the Palewind Immortal War Formation!" at the leading earth immortal''s words, fifteen of the twenty saint-level experts formed together. Not long after, a giant made of white wind appeared. The remaining venerables charged at Hu Landie while the saint-level experts contained Xia Yushan. Ba Shifang''s giant roared as he punched forward. The Palewind Immortal War Formation replied in kind. When the two giants clashed, the Palewind Immortal War Formation held the upper hand. The elemental giant roared as he crashed onto his back, and whatever rock skin on his arm was shattered in the clash. The giant roared, got up, and continued to clash against the Palewind Immortal War Formation, but anyone could see it was a futile struggle. The difference in power was simply too large. Five minutes later, the elemental giant shattered as all the primal elements fell to the ground, revealing a sickly Ba Shifang holding the immortal rank sword in hand. The Palewind Immortal War Formation unleashed a torrent of wind that struck Ba Shifang, crashing him into the ground and forming a deep pit. The Palewind Immortal War Formation ignored Xia Yushan and Hu Landie as it walked towards Ba Shifang''s last known location, intent on claiming its prize. However, at this time, the sky darkened, lightning rained, and thunder roared. "HOW DARE YOU KILL MY CLONE!" Coupled with that furious cry, a gigantic bolt of lightning struck the Palewind Immortal War Formation. So large was the lightning bolt that it resembled a golden pillar holding the sky from falling against the earth. When the lightning disappeared, the Palewind Immortal War Formation fell onto one knee, and in front of him stood a figure in purple. The figure was shorter than two meters and looked practically diminutive compared to war formation. Still, the crackling lightning around him, coupled with his electrifying aura, made his momentum surge and surpassed the Palewind Immortal War Formation. He had long black hair, a flame-like mark between his brows, with a handsome face, but the most dazzling features were his pair of deviling eyes. A golden throne seemingly formed of solid lightning and thunder appeared behind him. Upon sitting down, Xi Tianyi resembled a lord of lightning. Chapter 269: Tribulation Immortal Lord High above in the sky, Tianyi calmly watched as Xia Yushan, Hu Landie, and Ba Shifang resisted the White Wind Sect''s assault force. He didn''t make a move even as his clone was battered by the White Wind Sect''s war formation. Finally, his clone couldn''t last any longer and could not maintain his primal elemental giant. The Palewind Immortal War Formation struck the final blow, seemingly killing his clone as it tunneled into the ground from the force. That was when he chose to strike. After making his amazing entrance, Tianyi propped his elbow on Thunder Throne Mark IV, the newest iteration of the artifact, and rested his chin atop his palm while coldly looking down at the Palewind Immortal War Formation. It had been less than a week since he entered the Immortal Realm, but before he could even analyze his abnormal state, he was forced to move out to save his clone, Ba Shifang. Still, that presented an opportunity for the matter Sect Master Xia had suggested. He glanced at the hole where his immortal rank sword was. He cracked a smile and raised his hand. A light shot out of the hole, but before it could reach Tianyi, the Palewind Immortal War Formation rushed forward and grabbed it. Tianyi frowned and snorted. He tapped the Thunder Throne Mark IV, and lightning immediately exploded towards the war formation. The Palewind Immortal War Formation released the immortal rank sword and blocked Tianyi''s lightning attack. However, the lightning never seemed to end and continued to blast the war formation. Deciding that they could no longer stay in such a passive state, the saint-level experts controlled the Palewind Immortal War Formation to charge forward, ignoring the lightning as it continued to damage the war formation. The Palewind Immortal War Formation rushed in front of Tianyi. It raised both arms high above its head and clasped its hands together. With a mighty roar that sounded like a hurricane, the war formation brought down its clasped fists like a hammer. However, before the war formation could land a strike against Tianyi, a giant hand formed of lightning stopped the Palewind Immortal War Formation''s attack. Not just a hand but a full arm had sprouted from the Thunder Throne Mark IV. Soon after, more lightning surged out and transformed into a giant of lightning. The giant had no distinct form and appeared closer to energy in a humanoid form. The most infuriating aspect was that people could still see Tianyi''s figure sitting on the throne in a relaxed manner in the giant''s torso. The Palewind Immortal War Formation roared once more and charged, but it was for naught. Tianyi''s lightning giant towered over the Palewind Immortal War Formation. The lightning giant raised its hand and brought it down, smashing the White Wind Sect''s war formation into the ground. The Palewind Immortal War Formation struggled, but it was like a child in front of an adult. It could only struggle futilely even as lightning continued to blast it from the point of connection. "We can''t manage for long. We have to do something, or else we''ll die!" One of the saint-level experts cried out with a chilled heart. "Then what do you suggest? If we release the war formation, the lightning will kill us instantly!" another one roared, frustration tainting his voice. "Dammit, we were so close! As long as he appeared a little slower, we could have grabbed the immortal rank sword and escaped!" Tianyi only coldly watched as the saint-level experts quibbled among each other. He turned his head, glanced at a seemingly nondescript point in the sky, and said. "Are you just going to watch as I kill them?" There was a moment of silence, but the space where Tianyi stared twisted. Like a piece of fabric, the space was ripped open, and an old man wearing green robes with wind patterns sewn into them walked out. "Fellow Daoist, how about giving me some face and letting them go?" The old man asked. Tianyi snorted. The lightning giant suddenly increased its strength and output, destroying the Palewind Immortal War Formation instantly and killing all the saint-level experts in it. "Do you think your face will work after betraying the Buzhou Immortal Sect? Wishful thinking." An ugly expression appeared on the old man''s face. "How could you? It was simply a miscommunication! The fault lies in your sect''s disciples. We were forced to!" Tianyi gave a dark laugh. "Give it up. Had it been anyone else, I might have given you the benefit of the doubt. Do you know who your subordinates killed?" The old man paused. He had an ominous feeling, which proved correct as Tianyi spoke his next sentence. "The disciple you killed was my clone. Tell me, do you have any other lies you want to tell, Riftwind?" Tianyi asked. Immortal Riftwind, that was the old immortal''s name. He was the former sect master of the White Wind Sect, but after he reached the Immortal Realm, he passed the position of sect master and took the idle position of the White Wind Sect''s sole grand elder to focus on his cultivation. The White Wind Sect had been an ordinary unranked sect over fifty thousand years ago, but with Immortal Riftwind''s ascension and numerous tactics, they eventually managed to become a third-ranked sect, but only that. They were still at the tail end of all third-rank forces since they only had one true immortal holding fort. However, that did not mean True Immortal Riftwind was not amazing. When he was young, he had specialized in the Laws of Wind, but after reaching the Immortal Realm, he mastered the Concept of Spatial Wind and embarked on the path of the Law of Space.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Even in front of immortal monarchs, Immortal Riftwind had confidence in escaping with his life. Of course, he met Tianyi, who had mastered the Spacetime Law the moment he transcended his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation, not that anyone knew that. So, when Tianyi hid in the sky, he had already noticed Immortal Riftwind, but Immortal Riftwind did not notice him. Even when Tianyi appeared, he made it seem like he had flown from far away. "Since it has already reached the point of no return, then I''ll show you my strength!" Immortal Riftwind shouted and displayed his signature move, Riftwind Blade Technique. His original title had been something else, but after he created this move, he changed his daoist title. Crescent blades formed of wind immortal qi flew towards the lightning giant. Wherever the crescent blades passed, space distorted slightly. The lightning giant raised its hand to block the crescent blades, but after a moment of resistance, the wind blade sliced through the lightning giant''s arm but lost all momentum and energy after reaching the base. Immortal Riftwind frowned when he saw the injuries on the lightning giant''s arm mend in less than five seconds. He couldn''t believe that his attacks barely did anything. He snorted. "I don''t believe you can continuously repair such a cumbersome technique!" Saying so, he unleashed several more riftwind blades toward Tianyi, but Tianyi ignored them. He cast his gaze on the venerables who had distanced themselves after his arrival, and the corner of his lips quirked upward. The lacerated chunks of flesh of the lightning giant didn''t dissipate; instead, they split into twenty bolts and shot towards the White Wind Sect''s venerables. Upon seeing this, Immortal Riftwind angrily shouted, "Despicable. Is this the way of the Heaven Continent''s hegemon?" as he tried to stop them to no avail. Surprisingly, the venerables who had been struck only suffered minor injuries. Even Immortal Riftwind became flummoxed by the zero casualty rate, but he soon couldn''t keep his calm anymore as black clouds appeared in the sky. "What, why is my Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation arriving?! I haven''t even advanced to the Transcending Mortality Realm!" One of the venerables shouted in fear. "Me too! I''m not in the Mortality Shedding Realm, yet my Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation has also arrived!" another one, this time a martial cultivator, shouted. It wasn''t just these two, but every single venerable from the White Wind Sect was undergoing heavenly tribulation. "What did you do!" Immortal Riftwind shouted as he glared at Tianyi. These were all the elites of the White Wind Sect. Though not even one out of them might reach the Immortal Realm, the chance still existed. Tianyi said nothing as he continued to watch the heavenly tribulation descend on the pitiful venerables. He only defended himself from Immortal Riftwind as he waited for the venerables to fail their heavenly tribulation. When the venerables all died under the heavenly tribulation, the tribulation clouds didn''t dissipate. Instead, the lightning giant roared and raised its arm high above its head. As if acting in response, the tribulation lightning all redirected their fury at the lightning giant. However, the tribulation lightning didn''t destroy or even damage Tianyi''s lightning giant. Instead, it seemed to have merged with Tianyi''s lightning giant. Not long after, the lightning giant reached a greater level in size and gained three heads and six arms. The tribulation lightning continued to blast him. When the heavenly tribulation used up all its power, the lightning asura wore full armor and held six weapons formed of lightning in its hand. Immortal Riftwind unleashed consecutive riftwind blades at the lightning asura, but they all bounced harmlessly off its armor, causing his pupils to shrink. "You! You aren''t a normal true immortal, are you! Who are you!" Tianyi, who was still resting his chin on his hand, smiled even more. "Remember this well. Surname Xi, Given name Tianyi, I am Xi Tianyi, son of the Sword Sovereign." "It''s you?!" Immortal Riftwind asked. He began to mutter to himself. "How could it be him? Last I heard, he was just a venerable. How could he become so powerful even if he reached the Immortal Realm, he shouldn''t be this powerful!" Tianyi didn''t care for Immortal Riftwind''s words and commanded the lightning asura to attack. Despite its immense size, its speed was not one whit inferior to Immortal Riftwind, who cultivated the Law of Wind. Immortal Riftwind spat out a mouthful of blood as he blocked the lightning giant''s vajra. In that single clash, he knew he wasn''t Tianyi''s opponent. According to his experience and knowledge, Tianyi could definitely be counted as an immortal lord, a true immortal that could fight against immortal monarchs! Without an ounce of hesitation, Immortal Riftwind tore the space, intent on escaping, but how could Tianyi allow him to go so easily? The lightning asura released the net in its hand, covering the area Immortal Riftwind was in. "Spatial interference?!" Immortal Riftwind cried out in shock. However, he gritted his teeth and still flew through the unstable portal. Moments later, a bloodied arm fell onto the floor. Tianyi unleashed a lightning bolt and disintegrated the cut limb into ashes. Then, the lightning asura became smaller and smaller until it was fully contained in his Thunder Throne Mark IV. "Senior Brother Xia, Miss Hu, are you alright?" Tianyi asked Xia Yushan nodded. "Thank you, Elder Xi." Tianyi blinked in surprise, feeling a bit strange at Xia Yushan''s address, but he quickly waved it off. He looked at Hu Landie and said, "Thank you for saving my clone earlier, had it not been for you, I would not have made it in time to save Senior Brother Xia." "It didn''t matter. Ba Shifang still died in the end," Hu Landie said. Tianyi didn''t say anything and raised his hand. A flash of light later, the immortal rank sword finally returned to its original owner. He waved his hand, and his qi enveloped Xia Yushan and Hu Landie. Without even looking at the pit his clone had fallen, Tianyi left. Months later, news of Tianyi''s strength and accomplishment spread throughout the Heaven Continent. For his mastery and usage of the tribulation lightning, he gained the title of Tribulation Immortal Lord.
"Yushan, tell me the truth, did the White Wind Sect really massacre the Xia Clan?" Sect Master Xia asked. After Tianyi had reported everything, he dismissed Hu Landie and him so he could privately talk with Xia Yushan. Despite being scrutinized by an immortal monarch, Xia Yushan''s expression showed no change, and he calmly replied. "Master, you suspect me?" Sect Master Xia said nothing as he continued to stare at Xia Yushan as if wanting to see through everything. "Master, I did not massacre my clan. It''s true that I wanted to kill my father, but it has nothing to do with the rest of the Xia Clan. Even if I wanted to, I would not. It would be foolish of me to earn Master''s ire and doubt when it would bring no benefits to me," Xia Yushan said. Throughout his explanation, his tone did not change at all. "Then what about your junior brother? Is he not motive enough?" Sect Master Xia asked. "Master, having a junior brother or not does not matter to me. Ever since I chose this path, I knew I could not become the next sect master, so why would I want to kill my junior brother?" Xia Yushan asked. Sect Master Xia stared at Xia Yushan for a few moments longer. After a while, he sighed. "Forgive me. Those that cultivate the Emotion Severance Sutra will always be under suspicion when someone near them dies." "You do not have to apologize, I can understand." Xia Yushan said. "If there is nothing else, I''ll retreat. I plan to reach the Immortal Realm in ten years." Sect Master nodded. "Alright, go."
Back at Jade Peak, Tianyi sat in the Jade Lotus Clear Pond. He had closed his eyes and focused on the Nine Heavens Universe as he dubbed it. On the third planet from the sun, the one with the closest similarities to Earth, a pale-faced Ba Shifang sat in a lotus position. Chapter 270: The Nine Heavens Universe Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Chapter 271: Monarch Nine Heavens
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Chapter 272: New Peak Lord Author Note: I''m going to adjust the name of the planets and sun in Tianyi''s universe. The sun will now by Ninth Heaven, and the eighth planet will be First Heaven. -------- Directly outside the Huang Realm, two figures stood opposite of each other in the Vast Void. One was Tianyi, still in his Monarch Nine Heavens guise, while the other was War Hall Head Elder Huang Feihong. "Let''s begin," Head Elder Huang Feihong said as a spear appeared in his hand. As his body flew through space, the red tassel on the spearhead seemed to have transformed into a trailing red light. Tianyi raised both hands and space around his body to distort. Without doing anything else, he clashed head-on with the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s strongest martial expert. After ten or so clashes, Tianyi''s body was blasted back. He stopped in the void and stared at Head Elder Huang Feihong with furrowed brows. During the earlier clash, no matter what he did, the War Hall Head Elder seemed to be able to predict all his moves. "Is that all?" Tianyi gritted his teeth upon seeing the lack of wariness in Head Elder Huang Feihong''s eyes. He held out a hand, and a thousand kilometers of space surrounding Head Elder Huang Feihong started to compress. Nine Heavens Art - Planetary Purgatory The head elder had already started to fly out of the area of effect upon the first sign of Tianyi''s technique. However, Tianyi simply invested more energy into his attack so that when Head Elder Huang Feihong almost escaped the area of influence, he froze in space, stuck between the gravitational force and his own speed. Tianyi frowned upon discovering that he had entered a stalemate. So, he raised his other hand, and a miniature sun began to form. Nine Heavens Art - Stellar Silence He unleashed the miniature sun, and it exploded extremely close to Head Elder Huang Feihong. Even Tianyi''s Planetary Purgagotry collapsed due to the power of Stellar Silence. The technique also lost effectiveness much faster than inside the Huang Realm due to the harshness of the Vast Void. ''I couldn''t have accidentally killed him, right?'' Just as Tianyi thought this, a sense of danger erupted inside him. War Hall Head Elder Huang Feihong abruptly appeared behind Tianyi, spear poised to strike. Unlike when he had been caught in Tianyi''s technique, his whole body was currently covered in fiery-red energy, and he seemed to have transformed into a war god. Just as the head elder''s spear was about to touch Tianyi''s back, he disappeared. Far away, Tianyi reappeared. ''That was close. If I had actually been hit by that, I would be ashamed to tell anyone that I mastered the Law of Spacetime. Not that I''ll be using the time portion anytime soon.'' Head Elder Huang Feihong swung his spear a few times before brandishing the tip toward Tianyi. His intent was clear. Tianyi didn''t do anything, but soon, eight clusters of starlight emerged around him. Each one eventually formed an exact replica of him, except they were all white. With a snap of his fingers, all eight incarnations disappeared. When they reappeared, they had surrounded Head Elder Huang Feihong. But Tianyi wasn''t finished. While his incarnations were entangling the martial monarch, he raised his hands, and nine miniature suns appeared. They were half the size of the previous Stellar Silence, but there were far more than before. With a wave of his hand, he launched all of them. Nine Heavens Art - Stellar Silence Times Nine Nine more stars exploded in the Vast Void. With the amount of power Tianyi was throwing around, it was a good thing that they weren''t exactly next to the Huang Realm. Both for the secret of the Buzhou Immortal Sect and to protect the lives of the denizens. After a few more exchanges, a voice shouted, "Alright, that''s enough." Both Tianyi and Head Elder Huang Feihong stopped their spar and flew towards Sect Master Xia. Behind him was Mengfei. "What are your evaluations?" Sect Master Xia asked. "Elder Nine Heavens has immense reservoirs of qi. Not once in my battle did I feel like he would run out. Coupled with his mastery of the Law of Space, I don''t think I can defeat him even with two more immortal monarchs." Tianyi had to consciously stop himself from preening from War Hall Head Elder Huang Feihong''s evaluation. Known as the Martial Monarch, he was publicly acknowledged as the most powerful head elder. He was even said to be able to be content with immortal emperors. Didn''t this mean that Tianyi also possessed this ability immediately after stepping into the Immortal Realm? However, his happiness was short live. "Aside from that, I cannot see any other advantage. Elder Nine Heavens may have mastered the Law of Space and maybe the Law of Mass, but his techniques rely on his enormous amounts of qi and are crude in nature. Should you seal his spatial abilities, the chances of defeat increase dramatically," Head Elder Huang Feihong said. "I can''t defeat him, but he can''t defeat me either."This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Tianyi resisted the urge to smack his lips. ''Well, I can''t deny that.'' Sect Master Xia nodded and turned towards Tianyi. "Elder Nine Heavens, do you have anything to say?" Tianyi shook his head. "Head Elder Huang''s words are true. I''ll fix my deficiency as soon as possible." "Very well," Sect Master Xia said. "Now, let us return. If you would, Grand Elder Xi." Mengfei waved her arm, and a sphere of light appeared around them. The light turned into a beam, and a second later, the four reappeared in Sect Master Xia''s grand hall. Head Elder Huang Feihong cupped his fist and left. He had more important matters to attend to than assessing a new immortal monarch''s combat capabilities. Once he left, Sect Master evoked the formations and sealed the space to prevent information leakage. "Little Xi, do you think you can win against Head Elder Huang?" Sect Master Xia asked. Tianyi thought about it and then said, "If I can get him into my inner universe, I should be able to. But with my current strength, I don''t think I can." Sect Master Xia nodded. "Your cultivation method is very unique. If the Buzhou Immortal Sect were to relocate or set up a branch in your universe, what would your thoughts be?" "Huh?" Tianyi very smartly replied. There were so many ways it could be said, and Sect Master Xia chose the best words, but Tianyi still felt a bit weird. After a moment, he nodded. He wasn''t against it. "Ninth Heaven and Sixth Heaven are mine. You can choose any of the other heavens." "Thank you," Sect Master Xia said. "We are still considering the option." "We?" Tianyi asked. Aside from Sect Master Xia and his mother, perhaps the only other person who might know was Grand Elder Zhang, Empress Voidink. Sect Master Xia directed his gaze towards the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s forbidden ground, Broken Heaven Valley. "You don''t have to think about it too much. We won''t set up a new branch or relocate until after the war." Sect Master Xia said. "Until then, you should quickly consolidate your gains. The amount of skill you have does not befit your current power." Tianyi nodded. "I will aim to increase my skills as fast as possible." Sect Master Xia smiled. "You don''t have to be uptight. Unless we are forced to, we really don''t want to send you out. But you should still be prepared." "Right, I almost forgot. Every immortal monarch can become a peak lord. Now that you already have the strength of an immortal monarch, do you want to establish your own peak?'' "Yi''er is still young. There''s no need for him to move out yet," Mengfei said before Tianyi could answer. Tianyi felt his lips twitch. ''I''m almost a centenarian, but I''m still young?'' "Mother, I think it''s a good idea. The more distance this identity can establish from Jade Peak, the better. Besides, now that I''ve reached this stage, there is no need to worry about any accidental explosions since I entered a new realm," Tianyi said. Mengfei stayed silent for a while before she closed her eyes. "If that is your decision. You can come to visit Jade Peak whenever you want." "Of course I will. My clone is still there," Tianyi said. Mengfei then glanced at Sect Master Xia. Sect Master Xia saw no ill will from Mengfei, just an emotionless glance, but he felt the shadow of death looming over him. He quickly said to Tianyi, "You don''t need to be too far. It''s just establishing a peak. There is plenty of free space next to Jade Peak." Only after he said this did Sect Master Xia feel the danger disappear, and he secretly released a sigh of relief. In the next few days, news of the new peak lord soon spread throughout the sect, and everyone celebrated. They didn''t just celebrate because of the increase in morale, but because there were tangible benefits to the inauguration of a peak lord. The day Nine Heavens Peak was established, the whole Buzhou Immortal Sect shook. Nine mountains were uprooted from the ground and formed a giant formation. Then a voice could be heard throughout the whole sect. "In a month''s time, I will deliver a sermon to all those capable of climbing my Nine Heavens Peak."
The Dragon Emperor stared at the new peak of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. He was in the middle of secluded cultivation, aiming to enter the Immortal Realm as soon as possible, but the commotion disturbed him. He exited Immortal Redseal¡¯s mansion and flew towards the highest mountain. The new Nine Heavens Peak had nine floating mountains, and each one was on a different level. However, he discovered that no matter how hard he tried, his body was forced to fly towards the mountain closest to the ground. The Dragon Emperor snorted, feeling like the new immortal monarch wanted to establish prestige. He began to unleash the power of the worldly law he was one step away from mastering and successfully broke the suppression of the Nine Heavens Peak''s formation. But before he could be happy for long, he discovered that an even more powerful suppression was weighing down on him. He could forcibly ascend, but before he could even reach the highest mountain, he would have run out of qi. Unwillingly, the Dragon Emperor could only obediently land on the first mountain. There, he saw a gate with the words "First Mountain" written on it. The Dragon Emperor snorted again and observed the cultivators on First Mountain. They were predominantly qi gathering pupils. On Second Mountain, the majority were foundation establishment disciples; on Third Mountain, the primary people left were core formation masters, and so on. He rose from mountain to mountain until he stepped onto Sixth Mountain. Most of the people here were transcending mortality saints or earth immortals, so the Dragon Emperor stood out with his World Merging Realm cultivation base. The Dragon Emperor glanced at them and then back to Fifth Mountain, where most venerables were stuck. He turned around and flew along the path towards Seventh Mountain. Along the passage, the Dragon Emperor discovered that his flight was no longer smooth. He narrowed his eyes and displayed the worldly law he had almost mastered and successfully stepped onto Seventh Mountain. There, he saw other immortals and some powerful earth immortals. The Dragon Emperor paid them no heed and continued towards Eighth Mountain. Or, at least he attempted to. For he discovered that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t step onto Eight Mountain no matter what, and he had to give up before his true qi ran out. The Dragon Emperor stared unwillingly at the Ninth Mountain, but he could only give up and obediently stay on Seventh Mountain.
On Ninth Mountain, aside from Tianyi, there were only eight presences, unlike the fourteen on Eighth Mountain. Two of them were Mengfei and Grand Elder Zhang. The other six were immortal monarch elders such as Sect Master Xia, head elders, and those that specifically made the trip back to listen to Tianyi''s sermon. The Law of Space was regarded as one of the most powerful worldly laws an immortal could master. They didn''t train in it but comprehending the Law of Space had no disadvantages, so they appeared. Tianyi opened his eyes and stared in Lovespot''s direction with some surprise. He had never expected that Lovespot would be so close to mastering a worldly law. If Lovespot had been immortal and possessed immortal qi, he would have been able to step onto Eighth Mountain along with the other immortal lords. ''Should I find some reason to kick him out?'' Tianyi thought before ultimately shaking his head. He didn''t want to abuse his power as Immortal Redseal had. Since Lovespot could reach Seventh Mountain, he would allow him to listen. Tianyi closed and returned to meditating until time ran out for people to come. Chapter 273: Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation Sale This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
Chapter 274: Three Heavenly Tribulations Inside his cultivation chamber, the Dragon Emperor opened his eyes. He didn''t emit any qi, but his aura alone seemed to force the air around him to kneel in his presence. "It''s about time." He had already mastered a complete law, one of the greatest offensive laws, the Law of Destruction. ''I guess I have to thank that bastard. Otherwise, I wouldn''t have been able to master a peak law, but that won''t stop me from getting my revenge.'' In his previous life, the Dragon Emperor had used the Law of Blood to step onto the immortal path, but compared to the Law of Destruction, it was lacking. Still, this raised his wariness towards the new elder, the Monarch Nine Heavens. He crossed out the possibility that Xi Tianyi was the new immortal monarch due to the vast amounts of concepts the Monarch Nine Heavens had mastered. Tianyi was only one hundred years old, and there was no way he could have mastered the Law of Space and so many other concepts. If he did, the Dragon Emperor would kill him at all costs using any means, even if he had to shed his current identity. He had gained the last bit of inspiration through the Monarch Nine Heavens'' explanation of the relationship between space and entropy and how it affected everything within. While comprehending the Law of Destruction, the Dragon Emperor had been perfecting his martial body and spiritual core so that he reached the peak as a Transcending Mortality and Mortality Shedding Saint. Now, after ten years, he only needed to cross his tribulation. The Dragon Emperor walked out of his chambers and saw an earth mortal waiting outside. "Young Master," the earth immortal deferentially said. The Dragon Emperor nodded. "Has anything happened while I was in retreat?" "Elder Nine Heavens recently finished another sermon, and I heard that he accepted a disciple." The Dragon Emperor snorted, but he still asked. "What is the identity of that disciple?" The earth immortal shook his head. "Forgive me, I do not know. I couldn''t discover any traces of him in the Huang realm, so I think he may have been taken from a different realm." Hearing this, the Dragon Emperor narrowed his eyes. One of the reasons he was so wary of the Buzhou Immortal Sect was that only they could travel to different realms. Sure, an immortal monarch or emperor could forcibly leave the Huang Realm, but without fail, they would never return. The Dragon Emperor waved his hand. "Enough, I will cross my Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation in nine days. Inform the guard my grandfather prepared for me to be on standby." "Young Master, isn''t this a bit risky?" the earth immortal asked. "How about waiting for a few more years? With the current situation, the sect will undoubtedly release Elder Redseal from his imprisonment." "Are you questioning me?" The earth immortal quickly lowered his head under the Dragon Emperor''s scathing glare. "Forgive me. I will carry out your orders immediately." Nine days later, on a mountain near Justice Peak, the Dragon Emperor sat on a scarlet lotus with his eyes closed. Over a kilometer away, a few people stood. Among them were two true immortals Redseal had sent to protect Lovespot. The rest were Redseal''s subordinates that had taken an interest, so a mere grandmaster stood out immensely. The Dragon Emperor opened his eyes and glanced at Zi Zun. He inwardly nodded. ''Not bad, he should be able to reach the peak of Soul Nourishing Realm in less than a decade. At least he didn''t waste all those materials I gave him and let me down.'' He had taken a particular interest in the grandmaster after learning of his hatred towards Xi Tianyi. Even if he couldn''t grasp Zi Zun''s loyalty or turn him against the Buzhou Immortal Sect, he was still a good knife against Xi Tianyi. Though that might not be possible anymore since Xi Tianyi has already reached the Immortal Realm, wasn''t there still a mortal junior sister? "Begin." With the Dragon Emperor''s words, black tribulation clouds began to gather in the sky above him. As if in response, the scarlet lotus below him emitted a brilliant red light. Since he had lost the Red Dragon Lotus artifact, he had refined another one. He named it the Scarletwyrm Lotus, and its potential exceeded the Red Dragon Lotus thanks to using materials from Redseal''s personal treasury. Just before the first bolt of tribulation lightning fell, the Dragon Emperor gazed off into the distance. A hint of competitiveness appeared in his eyes.
In the central peak of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, Xia Yushan stood alone. Off in the distance, his master and the Xia Clan disciples all watched. His brows furrowed as he gazed towards the distance. Massive amounts of black clouds had gathered above, and there was no mistaking the coercion emanating from them. ''''Someone else is crossing the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation too?'' Xia Yushan thought. ''Should I wait another day?'' As soon as the thought appeared in his mind, Xia Yushan immediately rejected it. What did another person''s heavenly tribulation have to do with him? Xia Yushan looked away from the distant Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation and looked directly above him. Black clouds started to appear above his head. As the lightning snaked within the tribulation clouds and gathered power, Xia Yushan gripped the handle of his sword. Instantly, the calm and peaceful aura around him disappeared and was replaced by a terrifyingly sharp aura. Xia Yushan mastered the Law of Metal, which only increased the power of his sword.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Thanks to using the five elements as his foundation and increasing it even more with yin yang essence, Xia Yushan possessed greater and more potent true qi than his peers. With it, he had the confidence to overcome the heavenly tribulation. After Xia Yushan blocked the first bolt of tribulation lightning, he couldn''t help but turn his head towards Jade Peak. Another Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation had started to form. ''Should I have waited?''
Unlike the Dragon Emperor or Xia Yushan, thanks to Tianyi sealing the space around Ba Shifang, no one was there to watch his heavenly tribulation. That, coupled with Mengfei''s support, meant that no one would know who was transcending the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. On Jade Peak, Ba Shifang stared at increasing tribulation clouds with some sweat. "Goddamit. What is Main Body thinking? Two Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation occurring in such proximity is already dangerous, yet you added a third?! Knowing him, he''d probably wanted to see what happened.'' Ba Shifang hadn''t worried too much. Tianyi had simulated the heavenly tribulation inside the Nine Heavens Universe, but it was only that, a simulation, so Ba Shifang hadn''t become an immortal. But now? He started to worry. Thanks to the appearance of three Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulations, the tribulations clouds engulfed all of the Buzhou Immortal Sect and much more, but it hadn''t reached the same extent as Tianyi''s own Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. As the first bolt of lightning descended, Ba Shifang did nothing. Although his physical body wasn''t as perverse as Tianyi, he still cultivated the Nine-Five Scripture and possessed an immensely powerful body. It wasn''t until halfway through that he finally raised his defense. His body seemed to have merged with the ground beneath, becoming part of the mountain. When the lightning made contact, it split like splashed water and was absorbed into the ground. No matter how hard the tribulation lightning struck Ba Shifang, he remained unmoved. Three days later, Ba Shifang finally passed his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. After he passed, he resisted the Inner Devil Tribulation and formed several hand seals. The tribulation lightning that had been absorbed rose out of the ground and gathered around Ba Shifang''s body and started to temper him. Once Ba Shifang was done tempering his body, he closed his eyes and began his Inner Devil Tribulation. In front of him, Tianyi appeared in the guise of Monarch Nine Heavens. Even though Ba Shifang was his clone, he couldn''t interfere with the Inner Devil Tribulation because all his connections with his Ba Shifang had been cut off. Tianyi turned towards the distance to where Lovespot and Xia Yushan were crossing their Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. ''I wonder how their Inner Devil Tribulations are going.''
"Long Aotian, no matter how many times you try, you will never be able to defeat me," Xi Tianyi said as he placed his foot on the Dragon Emperor''s face and smeared it on the ground. The Dragon Emperor glared hatefully at Tianyi. ''I didn''t expect you to appear in my Inner Devil Heavenly Tribulation!'' Having transcended the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation once more before, the Dragon Emperor was extremely confident in passing even if the strength of the tribulation had increased. As he expected, he crossed the lightning tribulation with some injuries but no fatal damage. However, he had underestimated the Inner Devil Tribulation. The Dragon Emperor had wanted to swiftly crush the false reality created by the Inner Devil Tribulation, but he had failed. Instead, he had met setback after setback each time¡ªall of them under Xi Tianyi''s hands. He gathered his saliva and spat it at the fake Tianyi. The wad of spit landed on the fake''s robes, and he smiled coldly. A second later, there was the sound of bone cracking, and the Dragon Emperor lost consciousness. When he regained consciousness, he discovered that he was currently undertaking the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s disciple acceptance trials. He didn''t panic as this wasn''t the first time he had died under the fake Tianyi''s hands. ''Counting that death, I''ve already died sixty-nine times under his hands. It seems that I have to kill him unless I want to develop an inner devil.'' The Dragon Emperor thought as he started to act out the play the Inner Devil Tribulation had prepared for him Since he couldn''t directly break the fake world, then he had to persevere for a certain amount of time. He estimated that the number of deaths would not exceed ninety-nine.
"Die!" Xia Yushan shouted as his sword pierced his father''s heart for a second time. As his father died drowning in his own blood, Xia Yushan threw his body away and quickly ran to his mother and held her close. "Mother! Mother, stay with me! I''ll definitely save you!'' His mother''s pale lips formed a smile with great difficulty as she gazed at Xia Yushan with motherly love. Her hands trembled as they stroked his cheeks. "Yu''er..." She never had a chance to finish as her hand fell limp to the side and light left her eyes. "Mother! Mother!" Xia Yushan cried out as tears streamed down his face. "Yes! Master can definitely save you, he must! If not, I''ll find your reincarnation! Mother, mother! Please don''t leave me! I don''t want to be alone in the world!" Xia Yushan opened his eyes, gasping for breath. He glanced around him to see that he was inside his cultivation room. ''It''s that dream again. How did I fall asleep in the first place?'' He shook his head and stood up, no longer in the mood to cultivate. When he left, he searched around but couldn''t find her. "Where''s my wife?" Xia Yushan asked a passing servant. Sweat covered the servant''s back, and he looked down, not daring to meet Xia Yushan''s eyes at all. Xia Yushan frowned and asked again. "Where is she?" "T-th-the lady is at Jade Peak." Hearing this, Xia Yushan''s expression turned severe, and a heavy pressure crushed down on the servant. "What you mean to say is that Daoyi is with Junior Brother Xi, am I right?" The servant''s whole body started to tremble as he fell to his knees. He said nothing as he desperately wished a hole would appear and swallow him whole. Xia Yushan snorted and walked past the servant. He didn''t stop until he reached Jade Peak Palace. There, in the garden, he saw his wife being hugged by another man from behind. "Jiang Daoyi. Xi Tianyi!" Xia Yushan roared and walked forward to separate the two. If looks could kill, both of them would have keeled over instantly. "Do you two have anything to say for yourself?" Daoyi showed a scared look and hid behind a pillar. Tianyi snorted and stared straight at Xia Yushan. "Senior Brother, don''t you have eyes?" Xia Yushan felt like he could spew fire at any minute as he pointed a shaking finger at Tianyi. "You! You!" "You, you. Is that all you have to say?" Tianyi rolled his eyes. "I advise you to divorce Daoyi as soon as possible. If it weren''t for your little tricks, my junior sister would have never married you. She simply saw the reality that I''m the better choice." "Good, good!" Xia Yushan shouted. "Just because you''re Grand Elder Xi''s son, don''t think you can do anything you want!" Xia Yushan then turned his gaze towards Daoyi. Seeing her avoid his gaze with fear, he softened his gaze. "Daoyi, don''t be afraid. Just tell the truth. No matter who he is, he can''t force you." Xia Yushan said. Daoyi didn''t say anything, but she left the pillar and hid behind Tianyi. Xia Yushan closed his eyes as he felt despair creep into his heart. "So, you are leaving me too?" Tianyi smirked. "Yes, she''s leaving you. What can you do about it?" Before Tianyi could say anymore, Xia Yushan drew his sword and cut him down with maddened eyes. Daoyi screamed in fright as she fell on her butt. Tears started to stream down as she retreated as far as possible. But Xia Yushan acted as if he didn''t see anything. He continued to hack Tianyi until he was dismembered into over a thousand pieces. Only then did the madness in his eyes retreat. "How dare you!" A thunderous voice shouted. Xia Yushan looked up to see crystalline sword energy shooting toward him. Xia Yushan roared and attacked even as his body instantly broke under the immortal''s attack.
On the central peak, Xia Yushan opened his eyes with not a hint of emotion in his eyes. Suddenly, he clutched his heart as his veins bulged on his forehead. "Yushan, are you alright?" Sect Master Xia called out from beside his disciple. He had just released a sigh of relief from Xia Yushan overcoming his Inner Devil Tribulation. He didn''t know why, but Xia Yushan suddenly clutched his chest. Xia Yushan ignored him as infinite emotions swirled in his eyes. ''Mother, I didn''t expect you to become my inner devil.'' Chapter 275: Old Habits Die Hard
If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Chapter 276: Probing Compared to his appearance during the Heavenly Connection Gathering all those years ago, Dong Chifan appeared slightly older, a man in his prime. Gone was his teenage youthfulness and, in its place, a mature and serious temperament. Ba Shifang recalled from Tianyi''s memories that Dong Chifan and the rest of the Leakless Sect''s scions had disappeared right after the gathering, but now, it was obvious that they had returned. In addition, Dong Chifan sported the Leakless Sect''s elder uniform, but the most striking feature was his aura of immortality. Despite the Tripartite Alliance squad containing ten immortals, neither Xia Yushan, Lovespot, nor Ba Shifang retreated. Instead, they waited until they were face to face. "Long time no see, I see you''ve ascended to immortality. Congratulations," Ba Shifang said when the opposing squad stopped. They seemed caught off guard by his friendliness, and some even stared at him, trying to see if it was some sort of ploy to lower their guard. Finally, Dong Chifan stepped forward and spoke. "Thank you, Senior. I didn''t expect that our second meeting would be like this. Congratulation for entering the Immortal Realm as well." ''Technically, this is our first meeting.'' Ba Shifang thought. "Senior, I advised you to give up without a fight. This way, you won''t have to get hurt." Ba Shifang just stared at him for a moment, processing those words. Then, he chuckled. Not just him, but even Lovespot laughed. "Junior, do you think that you have an advantage just because you have more people? Only the weak group together in large numbers," Lovespot asked. "How about this. I advise you to give up. Otherwise, you might get hurt." ''Hey, hey, technically, aren''t all forces just people grouped together? Are you slapping your own face?!'' Ba Shifang thought but didn''t say anything. "Senior, I respect you, so I wholeheartedly advise you to leave while you can. The Buzhou Immortal Sect is corrupt. Had it not been for them, I wouldn''t have almost died and fallen to a lower realm. If you leave, I can ask for leniency for you." Dong Chifan said. Ba Shifang shook his head. Ignoring the fact that he wasn''t Tianyi, his identity''s mother was the Sword Sovereign and grand elder of the sect. If he really left, he''d be hunted down like a traitor, and he didn''t want to cause trouble for Mengfei. "Where''d you get the slightest notion that I''d leave? My mother is the Sword Sovereign. Ignoring her identity, you rebels don''t even have an immortal sovereign. Why would you think I would leave the obvious winning side?" Ba Shifang asked. "The new generation will always surpass the older generation. Someone will surpass Sword Sovereign Xi''s strength. Just like how the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s hegemony has come to an end." It wasn''t Ba Shifang who answered but Lovespot. "You''re right, but that person isn''t you!" Without waiting, Lovespot started attacking after throwing the female immortal to Zi Zun. Since Lovespot attacked, Xia Yushan followed suit. Ba Shifang formed a barrier formation around Su Bojing and the other mortal cultivators before joining the fight. Surprisingly, Dong Chifan was barely able to hold off Lovespot, but the other immortals were being suppressed by Xia Yushan. It was only a matter of time before they fell, and with the addition of Ba Shifang, their fate was sealed. He snapped his hand, and the Thunder Throne Mk 4 shot a pillar of lightning into the sky. The lightning split into eight rays and curved back, locking the battlefield. With another snap, Ba Shifang formed another formation, the Eight Extremes Lightning Cage Formation. Inside the Eight Extremes Lightning Cage Formation, the immortals from the Tripartite Alliance felt as if they were constantly being electrocuted. Furthermore, they could feel the lightning continuously burn and evaporate their qi. And, their connection to heaven and earth was cut off, so they could not absorb spiritual qi to replenish what was lost. And that was only three of the eight effects. In less than half the time it took to take down the Silent Sound Sect, three immortals had already fallen. Dong Chifan grunted as he resisted another attack from Lovespot. His eyes frantically searched for an opening in the Eight Extremes Lightning Cage Formation, but the space was securely locked, preventing him from using the World Piercing Mammoth Boar''s ability. Finally, he gritted his teeth and allowed Lovespot''s attack to strike true. It injured him but also gave him a chance to charge toward Ba Shifang, who was aiding Xia Yushan using ranged attacks. Lovespot moved to block him but stopped upon seeing his target. Instead, he turned his gaze towards the immortals resisting Xia Yushan. A claw art later, the fourth immortal of the Tripartite Alliance fell. "Senior Xi, release the formation. Otherwise, I won''t be able to guarantee your life." Dong Chifan said. Ba Shifang snorted. "Open your eyes, Dong Chifan. Do you think you have any chance of winning? I''ll tell you right now, I''m the strongest out of the three of us." He ignored Lovespot''s snort. "Then take my move!" Dong Chifan shouted as he pulled out an awl from his spatial ring. The awl was half a meter long and appeared ordinary, but soon, runic markings covered the whole thing.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Behind Dong Chifan, a martial manifestation, the reflection of a martial cultivator''s strength, appeared behind him. Two drill-like tusks appeared first. They bore a great resemblance to the singular tusk he showed during Heavenly Connection Gathering, only more realistic and exuding a horrifying pressure. Next, the head of the World Piercing Mammoth Boar appeared. Its eyes shone like suns and had stiff, black fur that perfectly matched the night sky. Like a stone thrown into a still pond, spatial distortion rippled with the martial manifestation in the center. But, once it touched the edge of Ba Shifang''s Eight Extremities Lighting Cage Formation, it stopped. To the casual observer, it might appear as if Dong Chifang''s spatial distortions were very powerful, but to Ba Shifang, it couldn''t be farther from the truth. He hadn''t mastered the Law of Spacetime, but his incomplete mastery was more than enough to discern that it was all flair with no substance. The space in front of Dong Chifan''s awl started to twist and distort like a drill as it pierced towards Ba Shifang. Lightning crackled, and thunder roared in Ba Shifang''s hand as he raised it, ready to face the attack head-on. To an ordinary true immortal or maybe an immortal lord, the technique might be fatal, but not to him. As Dong Chifan neared him, Ba Shifang''s eyes suddenly became unfocused. Dong Chifan''s eyes lit up. He didn''t know why Ba Shifang suddenly entered a daze, but he wasn''t willing to give up this chance. Unfortunately for him, just as the tip of the technique almost reached Ba Shifang''s chest, Ba Shifang''s eyes regained clarity. His body flashed with brilliance, almost blinding Dong Chifan. The next thing everyone knew, Ba Shifang reappeared ten meters behind Dong Chifan. It seemed like teleportation, but Dong Chifan, who cultivated the World Piercing Mammoth Boar''s ability, sensed no spatial fluctuation. And, he was clear that with the distortion from his technique, no one would be able to teleport unless their mastery of space surpassed his. Suppressing his questions, Dong Chifan did a one-eighty and charged toward Ba Shifang again. The most important thing was to destroy the Eight Extremities Lightning Cage Formation as soon as possible and escape. Unlike the previous time, Ba Shifang didn''t enter a daze. He raised his hand, but it didn''t contain any lightning or thunder at all. Instead, his sleeve suddenly enlarged. Dong Chifan, who was charging straight at him, felt alarm bells ringing in his head. From his perspective, he could see the sleeve containing a portal leading to a black space filled with a sun, eight planetary objects, and numerous dazzling stars. He tried to adjust his trajectory, but a colossal suction forced dragged him into Ba Shifang''s sleeve. Once he entered, the spatial distortions caused by his technique disappeared, and Ba Shifang''s sleeve returned to normal size. After eliminating the remaining immortals, Ba Shifang rescinded the Eight Extremities Lightning Cage Formation. Xia Yushan couldn''t help but fly forward and ask. "Immortal Xi, was that the legendary World Within a Sleeve Technique?" Ba Shifang could see everyone peaking at him, even Lovespot. He smiled and said, "It''s not. It only appears similar. Just parlor trick I created based on the records." Xia Yushan didn''t say anything. Some of them showed disbelief while others nodded, but Ba Shifang didn''t care. He took out his immortal boat and after Xia Yushan stepped in, controlled it to return. He didn''t bother asking Lovespot.
"Who are you? Where are we?" Dong Chifan asked as he stared at the white-haired, black-robed man that suddenly appeared. After being sucked in, he was brought into a picturesque location with mountains and rivers but discovered that he couldn''t move his limbs as if invisible shackles restrained him. He squinted, trying to see through the man''s mask, but it was no use. Tianyi stared at Dong Chifan. He pondered whether or not to reveal his identity. In the end, he waved his hands and removed the invisible shackles placed on Dong Chifan. "Don''t worry. We''re on the same side." Dong Chifan clearly didn''t believe him as he inched farther away. But he didn''t turn tail and fled. Instincts told him that the man in front of him was far more powerful. He couldn''t sense any cultivation from the man, but that only highlighted the difference in strength even more. Tianyi sighed. "Did you live the apocalypse like the other earthlings?" Dong Chifan furrowed his brows and stared suspiciously at Tianyi. "Senior, what are you talking about it?" Tianyi smiled. "Don''t bother hiding. You already exposed your roots when you started selling coke. Or is just you being cautious after living through the apocalypse and the present war?" With Tianyi''s current sensory ability, it was impossible to hide any change in expression from him in the Nine Heavens Universe, but to his surprise, Dong Chifan really didn''t show any reaction to any of the words he said. "Kamehadoken?" Tianyi tested, trying to get a reaction. But Dong Chifan only showed a confused expression. ''Is he really not a reincarnator?'' "Senior, I really don''t know what you are talking about. I think you might have mistaken me for someone else," Dong Chifan said. "That''s impossible. Where did you learn the taste of coke and the carbonation process needed to make it?" Tianyi asked. Dong Chifan hesitated for a moment. ''I haven''t learned of where I am, but judging from Senior''s actions, he shouldn''t have any ill will towards me. But he must be related to the Buzhou Immortal Sect in some way, but he seems to have some relationship to the immortal who I''ve learned the inheritance from. Should I gamble on this connection?'' After a moment of hesitation, he decided to take a gamble. Hadn''t he turned enemies, San Jiuling of the Leakless Sect, into allies before? "Senior, did ascend from a lower realm like my master?" "Your master?" Tianyi asked. "Yes. When my master took me as a disciple, he had already fallen, so I happened to chance upon his inheritance site. He left behind an artificial spirit that he called an A.I. that chose me as his disciple. The coke that Senior spoke about was from Master''s inheritance," Dong Chifan said. Behind his mask, Tianyi''s eyes widened. ''Is his master the reincarnator? Is that possible? Xi Ri, Jiang Chun Feng, Daoyi, and I are of similar ages. Did Dong Chifan''s master arrive earlier than us?'' "Do you know when your master fell?" Tianyi asked. "Replying to Senior, over three thousand years ago." Hearing this, Tianyi fell silent. Then he stared at Dong Chifan, trying to see any hint of deception. "Does the word Earth mean anything to you?" "Earth?" Dong Chifan repeated. He shook his head and said, "I don''t know of such a world." "Forget it, forget it," Tianyi said as he disappeared. "Senior? Senior?!" Dong Chifan shouted at Tianyi''s sudden disappearance. He looked around to see if he could discover where Tianyi had disappeared to. "He just left me here. Isn''t he afraid of me running away?" Tianyi really wasn''t afraid. He had brought Dong Chifan onto Sixth Heaven, the Nine Heavens Universe''s equivalent of Earth. Unless he was an immortal sovereign or a divinity, Dong Chifan could never escape. He still wasn''t sure Dong Chifan was telling the truth, so he waited to see if Dong Chifan would reveal any holes if he lied with time. Right now, Tianyi reappeared at another location. There, it was a near-exact replica of his Jade Lotus Clear Pond, and Daoyi sat at the center. He really was curious as to what kind of avatar Daoyi would create. Chapter 277: Jinshu The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Chapter 278: Five-Colored Divine Egg "A divinity?" Daoyi said. "Is that even possible?" "Why not?" Tianyi asked. "Since your avatar isn''t going to leave the Nine Heavens Universe, why not attempt it?" "How much do you know about divinities?" Tianyi asked. "Not much except that it''s the realm after the Immortal Realm," Daoyi said. "You should know that the Cloud Goddess is a divinity, right?" Daoyi nodded. "She''s what is known as a false divinity," Tianyi said. "There are two methods to become a divinity, the orthodox and unorthodox. Cultivating and ascending to the Divinity Realm is the orthodox method." "When one reaches the Divinity Realm, they are able to harness the faith energy of mortals or immortals who believe in them. Alternatively, if someone absorbed enough faith energy before they reached the Divinity Realm, they could also become a god. But they are a false god like the Cloud Goddess became. If the Cloud Goddess had reached the Divinity Realm through the orthodox method, she wouldn''t just be the uncontested hegemon of the Huang Realm but the whole Three Thousand Immortal Realms System." "Enlightening," Daoyi said. "But what does that have to do with creating a divine avatar? I don''t have the necessary mastery of the law. If I did, do you think I would create an avatar to increase my comprehension?" "I was getting to there. Speaking of which, what branch of law are you comprehending?" Tianyi asked. "It''s fine if you don''t want to tell me, but I need to know if you have any insights into the Law of Death." Daoyi nodded. "I have mastered some concepts of death." "Good," Tianyi said. "What about the Spectral Rising Jewel? Would it cause any loss if you can no longer use it?" "Aside from using it to comprehend the Law of Death, I never brought it out of the sect since attaining it. Why?" "So it won''t affect your combat prowess at all. Good," Tianyi said with a smile. "I said there were two methods to reach the Divinity Realm, but there is actually a third." "Really?" "Yeah, but it''s practically impossible," Tianyi said. "That method is to be born as a Divinity." "Is that possible?" Tianyi nodded. "It''s not a big secret, but the Three Pure Ones were born at the Divinity Realm. Not just them, but I suspect a lot of divinities were born in the primordial universe but most likely perished in one way or another. The three thousand Chaosgods Pangu slew to create the Primordial World were likely divinities born out of chaos." "What does this have to do with creating a divine avatar?" Daoyi asked. Tianyi revealed a toothy grin. "I''m the master of the Nine Heavens Universe, so shouldn''t creating a god be simple? Well, not really. My mastery of the worldly law isn''t enough, so I have to use some loopholes." Daoyi glanced at the Spectral Rising Jewel in her hand that Tianyi stared at. "You want to use this?" "Indeed," Tianyi said with a nod. "Since it had been shattered, the Spectral Rising Jewel no longer had an artifact spirit, if it even had one in the first place. Using your split soul and the divine artifact at the core, I will create a new god in the Nine Heavens Universe. After all, the Law of Death inside the artifact should be enough for one to become a god. That''s why it''s a divine artifact." After an artifact reached the Immortal Realm, its masters would carve their comprehension of the worldly laws into the artifact, greatly increasing its power. Of course, only those at the Seamless Immortal Realm could accomplish this feat. If immortals could do it, so could divinities. "Why are you suddenly giving off mad scientist vibes?" Daoyi asked. "Well, maybe because I don''t know if it would work. I mean, it should work... in theory," Tianyi said. Daoyi sighed. "Well, it doesn''t seem like there are any downsides for me, aside from the possible destruction of my split soul, but I have the feeling that you aren''t telling me everything. So, what are you hiding?" "...haha," Tianyi nervously laughed. "It''s not really something harmful. You should know that my Nine Heavens Universe is incomplete. The more laws I master, the more perfect it would become. So far, I have only mastered the Law of Spacetime, the Law of Mass, the Law of Lightning, and a few more. But it''s far from enough." Daoyi felt her lips twitch. ''If it were others, they''d be so happy that they would be jumping in joy for mastering so many, but Tianyi here is disdaining how little he knows. Forget it, he''s always been like this.'' "If you create a divine avatar here, then the Spectral Rising Jewel would be incorporated into the Nine Heavens Universe, creating the Law of Death into it and allowing me to gain insight into it. I''d practically have no bottleneck when comprehending it," Tianyi explained. "That''s it?" Daoyi asked. "No method of controlling my divine avatar or anything like that?" "I can''t even control the mortals from the Demon Cage Realm. What makes you think I can control a divinity?" Tianyi asked.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. "Then, you are allowing the creation of a powerful force inside your universe that could potentially threaten you. Do you have no wariness?" Daoyi asked. "I know, but it''s you. If I can''t trust you, there are not many I could trust," Tianyi said with a shrug. Seeing his lackadaisical attitude, Daoyi couldn''t help but give a helpless laugh. "You really should be warier to others, even those closest to you. The Nine Heavens Universe is practically an untapped resource that many would kill for." "In the future, you should be more careful," Daoyi advised. "Don''t worry. Besides, even if you do create a divine avatar, it doesn''t mean that you will have full mastery of the Law of Death. Like me, you probably won''t have any hindrance in mastering the Law of Death, but it remains to be seen if you can overcome me, the universe creator," Tianyi said. "Careful, I might just become the universe destroyer if you get careless," Daoyi joked. Tianyi laughed. "Well, you''re certainly beautiful to be one." Stillness followed as if someone had pressed the pause button as Tianyi realized what he had just said. "I mean! Well... I ...ummm, let''s just focus on creating the avatar method, okay?" Daoyi watched as Tianyi suddenly disappeared before she could even process what had happened. Afterward, she covered the lower half of her face with her sleeve and laughed. She was sure Tianyi could hear it too. A few years passed inside the Nine Heavens Universe for Tianyi and Daoyi. As the master of the universe, time slowing down or speeding up had no effect on the speed of his cultivation since it was linked to the universe, but Daoyi was different. However, as she was mortal, the strain was minimal for Tianyi. The majority of the time was spent deducting the divine avatar creation method. However, another portion was preparing the necessary amount of essence. Even with Tianyi''s massive generation of energy, it still took some time. On the day everything was ready, Tianyi moved Daoyi towards Ninth Heaven, where the essence was most concentrated. The surface of Ninth Heaven was constantly changing, like molten gold, befitting the surface of a star. It was so bright that Daoyi had to use her spiritual sense to see, but her spiritual sense would burn up not long after due to the intensity of the heat. Not just her spiritual sense but the sheer inhospitable environment of Ninth Heaven would have incinerated Daoyi as well had it not been for Tianyi''s protection. After adjusting the area around Daoyi so that she wouldn''t be harmed, Tianyi asked. "Are you ready?" Daoyi nodded. "Then let''s begin." The Spectral Rising Jewel drifted from Daoyi''s hand onto an alter Tianyi had specially created for the avatar creation. Next, Daoyi sent her split soul towards the altar as well. The silver soul merged with the divine artifact and covered it in silver light. Daoyi sensed that her sense of time had begun to drift from her split soul on the altar. She knew that Tianyi had sped up time to quicken the merging process. After all, even if the divine artifact had no consciousness, her split soul was still that of a mortal''s. As time passed, the silver light started to dim until it completely disappeared. Then, rays of light shot out from the magatama. Tianyi clenched his hand, and the rays of light bent and returned to the jewel. Tianyi waved his hand, and an orb of nine-colored water emerged. It shot forward and covered the Spectral Rising Jewel. Since the Spectral Rising Jewel contained the Laws of Death, Tianyi used the Nine Springs water from the Nether Realm to aid in the avatar creation. "Daoyi, how is it?" Tianyi asked. Although Tianyi took control of most of the process, the most crucial aspect was still Daoyi''s split soul. "I can still hold on," Daoyi said with sweat gliding down her brows. Her hands had formed a seal in order to strengthen the connection between her soul and split soul. If she lost the connection or suffered a lapse of concentration, then it would be all over. Even while she was maintaining and strengthening her split soul, numerous insights into the Law of Death poured into her. However, Daoyi ignored them since she didn''t want to pick up the sesame seed but lose sight of the watermelon. Once her divine avatar formed, wouldn''t she still gain insights into the Laws of Death? With Daoyi''s persistence, Tianyi nodded and continued adding materials onto the altar. Now, the Spectral Rising Jewel could no longer be seen. In its place was a gray, amorphous blob of ever-changing shape. At one moment, the gray blob resembled a gray stone, and Tianyi couldn''t help but think, ''Daoyi''s avatar wouldn''t become a monkey that popped out of stone like Su Wukong, right?'' Just imaging Daoyi as a monkey almost made Tianyi screw up and botch the process. Luckily, he steeled himself and prevented the worse outcome, but his mind couldn''t help but continue the thought process. According to legend, Sun Wukong was born out of stone, but how could the stone be ordinary? The stone the Monkey King had been born out of was part of the Five-Colored Stone Empress Nuwa used to repair the heavens. ''Five-Colored Stone, five elements. To create the perfect body, all five elements must be present and perfectly merged.'' Acting on instinct, Tianyi made a grabbing motion, and five rays of lights shot out from First Heaven, Second Heaven, Third Heaven, Fourth Heaven, and Fifth Heaven. Each color represented one of the five elements. When they appeared in Tianyi''s hand, they turned into spheres of immortal qi. ''Immortal qi? Not enough. It has to be essence.'' Tianyi flipped his hands over, and the five elemental orbs of immortal qi dropped towards the surface of Ninth Heaven. The fiery surface didn''t burn the immortal; instead, they sunk deep into the center where the core of the universe was located at. The third eye on Tianyi''s forehead opened as he furrowed his brows. He paused Daoyi''s avatar creation method as he focused on converting the immortal qi of five elements into essence of five elements. "Daoyi, get ready!" Tianyi shouted as he clapped his hand together. Five rays of light, each with a different color, shot up from the surface of Ninth Heaven and into the amorphous blob. The moment they entered, the blob shifted into an egg shape. It no longer had its previous gray color but exuded a five-colored light. Daoyi''s gaze sharpened as her hands formed several more seals. The moment she completed her final one, her face dramatically pale. Her once alabaster skin took on a sickly sheen. As time passed, the seriousness of her expression increased. Finally, she uncorked the Liquiorlight Gourd on her waist and sent her second split soul into the five-colored egg. Only then could Daoyi attain a brief reprieve, but she still couldn''t loosen her guard. Tianyi nodded from the side and continued to add more materials into the five-colored egg. ''Ah, I''m really going all out from this. When I created my clones, I didn''t spend even half the effort I''m doing now.'' As the divine clone neared its completion, the five-colored shone even brighter. When it finally reached the point that the rays of Ninth Heaven could no longer hide it, Tianyi stopped. "The most difficult part is over," Daoyi said as she sighed in relief and released her hand seals. "Now, we just have to wait for it to continue to absorb essence and hatch," Tianyi said. "How is it? Are you continuously receiving insights into the Laws of Death?'''' Daoyi nodded. "Since I am, you must be too, right?" Tianyi smiled but didn''t say anything. Without saying anything, both of them returned to Sixth Heaven and started to comprehend the Laws of Death. Five years later, Daoyi sought out Tianyi. "There''s a problem with the Laws of Death in the Spectral Rising Jewel." Chapter 279: Seeking the Other Halves of the Divine Jewel "Problem?" Tianyi furrowed his brows. "What kind. How come I can''t sense it?" Daoyi shook her head. "Strictly speaking, it should be incomplete. The Spectral Rising Jewel in my hand has the complete Law of Death, but it doesn''t contain the complete Divine Law of Death." "No wonder," Tianyi said. "I''ve only been focusing on the Law of Death, not the divine level of the law. If it''s only the Law of Death, can your avatar still turn into a divinity?" "I don''t know. There''s a chance it could turn into a different kind of false divinity, one that wields essence but lacks the corresponding law." "That could be worse than a false divinity like the Cloud Goddess. Your avatar''s body and soul might just collapse in on itself," Tianyi said. "Do you have a method to fix it?" Tianyi doubted Daoyi did. Not even his mother had reached the Divinity Realm, and he hadn''t really upgraded his own laws either. However, there was always the chance of a miracle. Daoyi nodded. "I need to integrate the other halves of the Spectral Rising Jewel." Tianyi frowned. "The Xu Clan only attained it by luck. I doubt it is even complete, and we might have to search the lower realms. Since it is currently tied to your avatar, and your avatar can''t leave my universe, how are we supposed to search it?" Daoyi raised an eyebrow. "Did you not expect me to think of this when you thought to create a divine clone?" "Right, my bad." "Before integrating, I already sensed the general location. And, since my unborn avatar is currently linked to the Spectral Rising Jewel, I can probably use my soul to detect the other portions as long as I can access the Nine Heavens Universe," Daoyi said. "When do you want to search for it?" Tianyi asked. "I''m in no hurry. I want to comprehend as much of the Laws of Deaths as I can before seeking out the others. I''m just telling you so that you can slow down or even pause the time around my unborn avatar," Daoyi said. "I can slow down the time, but I can''t completely pause it without paying the price. It''s still the birth of a possible god, after all." "Okay, just slow downtime as much as possible," Daoyi said. "I''m going to return and comprehend as much as possible." "Sounds good," Tianyi said. Once Daoyi left, Tianyi muttered to himself. "Will Sect Master Xia allow me to leave? I still have to perfect my incarnation technique, and I recall my second clone and transform him into a demon sage for the sect''s future plans." -line break- "Didn''t you say that you were working on creating your incarnation technique? Did you not complete it?" Daoyi asked. She and Tianyi had exited out of Tianyi''s Nine Heaven''s universe and into Jade Peak Palace. They were in a restricted area to prevent people from noticing Tianyi''s presence. Tianyi coughed into his fist with some embarrassment. "How could it be so easy to create an incarnation technique on part with the Three Pure Qi Incarnation, or even my mother''s Heaven, Earth, Man Incarnation Technique? It''s still a work in progress." "Really? I thought everything was easy for you," Daoyi said. "I would have expected you to create one incarnation." Tianyi averted his eyes. "Anyways, the end result is that it isn''t complete. End of story." Daoyi stared suspiciously at Tiany. "Alright. But this way, will Sect Master Xia allow you to accompany me? The mastermind behind the Xu Clan''s destruction is the Great Detacher of Emotions. The sect doesn''t have a record of such a person, but he should be someone in the Pathfinding Immortal Realm or even the Seamless Immortal Realm." Tianyi waved his hand airily. "No worries, I''ve already convinced Sect Master Xia. Besides, who in the Huang Realm can compete with me in space? Even if they could, I mastered the Law of Spacetime." "You''re just asking to be proven wrong, but it''s not like you''re wrong. In the history of the Huang Realm, a few immortals have mastered the Law of Space, but no one has mastered the Law of Spacetime like you." Tianyi grinned proudly. "I''ll take that as a compliment." "Still," Tianyi continued. "I''m a bit worried about Xi Ri. He''s still gloomy since the inner devil infection and hasn''t returned to his previous personality at all. He''s been cultivating like a madman. I''m worried about him going crazy." Daoyi sighed. "Give him time. His spiritual core was shattered due to the machinations of Hun Jusang and Chunye. Even though you gave him an artificial spiritual root, how can it compare to a heavenly fire spiritual root?" "If I see those two again, I''ll kill them at all cost," Tianyi vowed through gritted teeth. "Don''t let anger dictate your actions. If you expose yourself, you may get revenge for Xi Ri, but you might lose more in the process. Have more faith in Xi Ri. People like us are harder than you think. Once he regains what he lost, he''ll return to normal." "Alright, but I''ll still attack them if I have the chance, even if it''s a cheap shot," Tianyi said. "I expect nothing less," Daoyi said.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "Alright, let''s go," Tianyi said as he waved his hand. Immortal spacetime qi shrouded the two, and the two disappeared. "You know, thinking about it, it''s still pretty amazing that all three of us had heavenly spiritual roots. I mean, what are the odds?" -line break- In the Eastern Region of the Heaven Continent, there existed a city known as Nucleopolis. Nucleopolis was the capital state of a second-rate force known as the Thousand City Alliance and vassal force of the Anti-Heaven Alliance under the management of the Five Element Sect. Inside one of the most luxurious teahouses of Nucleopolis sat two people wearing silk hats. On the table in front of them were numerous dishes, each with its unique and delectable aroma, and a jar of wine. Behind the woman, several large but empty jugs of wine could be seen. "You know, the founder of the Five Element Sect actually cultivated our sect''s Five Element Method? It''s not even the perfect version, yet the Five Element Sect dares to call it the number one method to cultivate the five elements, isn''t it laughable?" Tianyi asked as he tried one of the dishes and sipped the wine. Daoyi poured the last of the alcohol in the jug onto her cup and chucked it behind her. After downing it, she called the waiter for another jug. "You know, I''m wondering whether or not you are actually trying to sense the other half of the Spectral Rising Jewel and not staying here to drink all of the teahouse''s wine," Tianyi said. Daoyi glared at Tianyi. "You''re doubting me?" It should have looked threatening, but with Daoyi''s flushed cheeks and beauty, she appeared coquettish instead. Tianyi stared for a good few seconds before looking away. "Actually," Daoyi said as she gulped down another cup. "I already found the general location, but it is in the city lord''s mansion." "City lord," Tianyi repeated. "If I recall correctly, his name was Frostheart." City Lord Frostheart was the nominal leader of the Thousand City Alliance. According to rumors, he had reached the Transcending Mortality Realm and could contest with true immortals, even defeating one. Two reasons were due to his mastery of concepts that exceeded most true immortals, and the other was the fact that he was a soul cultivator. "If it''s just a saint, I could probably capture him and easily flew, but I''m worried about the true immortal behind the Thousand City Alliance.," Tianyi said. The Thousand City Alliance was one of the few second-rate forces that had an immortal monarch behind it instead of an immortal lord or half immortal monarch. Although Tianyi had confidence in fighting one, the whole purpose was to hide. Not to mention that the immortal monarch of the Thousand City Alliance mastered the Law of Space. He had no confidence in being able to hide fast enough if the Thousand City Alliance''s true immortal was in Nucleopolis if he was discovered. "Hold on. I''m still not sure if it''s on City Lord Frostheart. He''s the prime suspect, but the connection is blurry as if something is preventing me from seeking it out," Daoyi said. "How about investigating closer?" Tianyi asked. "You know I can hide in different layers of dimensions. As long as I alter time a bit, I should be able to hide from the immortal monarch''s senses if he was here." Daoyi stopped drinking. "Is it worth it? The potential losses are greater than the potential gains. If I can''t get it, at most, my avatar will perish, but if your identity gets exposed..." "The creation of your divine avatar is important for my universe too. All things have yin and yang. If death is yin, then life is yang. Who knows, maybe I can comprehend the Law of Life through death?" Tianyi said. Had it been anyone else, Daoyi would have called it a bluff, but Tianyi, well, she didn''t have any words for him. Who the hell creates a personal universe in the first place? "Alright," Daoyi said. The next moment, Tianyi and Daoyi''s figures disappeared from the table, and all that was left were the spirit stones on the table. Tianyi and Daoyi reappeared inside the city lord''s mansion. Although they appeared in a location with numerous people moving about, no one seemed to notice despite them standing in plain sight. In fact, one of the people, a servant judging by his attire, walked straight through Tianyi and Daoyi. Daoyi walked in front of some of them and waved her hand, but they acted as if they couldn''t see it. Rather, they really couldn''t see or sense the duo at all. Hearing Tianyi chuckle, Daoyi turned around and looked at him. "Don''t pretend that you didn''t do the same thing the first time you did this. Actually, did you appear in front of me without me noticing too?" Tianyi wisely shut up. The two toured the halls of City Lord Frostheart''s mansion with no one the wiser. They continued to move and eventually reached the core of the mansion, which was also the core of Nucleopolis. "This is where I''m getting the greatest fluctuation from the other Spectral Rising Jewels," Daoyi said. Hearing this, Tianyi frowned. He had no problem infiltrating most of the mansion, but the mansion core was guarded by a spatial formation. Even if he carelessly touched it, he and Daoyi would be discovered. "Hold on, let me research this formation a bit." Tianyi started to observe the inner workings of the formation while Daoyi sat down and tried to gain a clearer sense of the other half of the Spectral Rising Jewel. A month later, Tianyi said, "I''ve found a method to breakthrough." He waved his hand. The world around Tianyi and Daoyi lost all color and gained a grayscale tone. "Let''s go." Tianyi and Daoyi walked through the formation and even through the walls. In the core room, the chamber of the city lord mansion, a grand formation was etched into the ground. There, a giant silver-white sphere floated. He couldn''t feel the effects, but Daoyi could. Just standing in its presence, she felt her soul strengthen. She couldn''t help but say. "Amazing." Tianyi, however, frowned. In the center of the spear, a small fragment jewel smaller than a pinkie floated. "Is that the Spectral Rising Jewel fragment?" Daoyi nodded. "Now that I''m inside the formation, I can ascertain that it is. But it''s really small. No matter if the Spectral Rising Jewel had been shattered, it shouldn''t be so small. Furthermore, it''s the core of the formation and is refining all the soul essence." Daoyi stopped talking as the door to the core chamber opened. A middle-aged man walked in. Like the world, everything about him was in a shade of gray. He was City Lord Frostheart. City Lord Frostheart paused in his steps and observed the empty chamber. The room was obviously empty, but he couldn''t help but feel something was off. After a few moments, he shook his head. "Must be my imagination." He took out a pouch from his spatial ring and opened it. Numerous souls flew out and tried to escape, but without fail, they were inexplicably drawn to the soul essence sphere and slowly refined into soul essence. City Lord Frostheart nodded. He sat down and began to cultivate. A string of soul essence connected him to the floating sphere. As he cultivated, a joyous expression appeared. When he finished, he disconnected the string and opened his eyes again. He stared longingly at the sphere, greed evident in his eyes, but he sighed and left. After he left, Tianyi stared at the soul essence sphere. "We''re going to have to take the whole thing." Daoyi nodded. Whoever set up the formation used the fragment of the Spectral Rising Jewel to refine souls into essence. "But would that alert them?" "No worries, we''ll escape before they can notice. But just to be sure, stay in my inner universe." With Daoyi''s agreement, Tianyi pulled her into the Nine Heavens Universe. With no more scruples, Tianyi reached out. A shadowy phantom of his hand emerged and grabbed the divine jewel fragment and soul essence sphere. A second later, it disappeared, and so did Tianyi. "Who!" Not five minutes later, City Lord Frostheart ran into the chamber. His face dramatically paled. "This is bad. The immortal emperor will definitely punish me." Chapter 280: Broken Ruler Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
Chapter 281: Silent Lightning Timeline
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Chapter 282: Charming Tianyi''s eyes hovered on Lei Jingye for a moment. Through his mastery of the Law of Lightning, he could detect the lightning aura coating Lie Jingye''s body. ''He mastered at least half the concepts forming the Law of Lightning.'' He blinked when Lei Jingye suddenly looked up and looked around. ''Did he sense my stare?'' Tianyi didn''t stop looking at Lei Jingye but just put more effort into concealing it. A minute later, Lei Jingye frowned but gave up looking for the source. "What''s wrong?" Tianyi asked Daoyi, who had pulled his sleeves. She motioned with her eyes towards a spot near Lei Jingye, and Tianyi''s eyes widened. "Another Daoyi?" Standing next to Lei Jingye was an exact copy of Jiang Daoyi. Well, to be exact, an exact copy in physical features. Compared to the Daoyi he knew, the Daoyi next to Lei Jingye appeared far more soft and demure. "Seeing another you is quite interesting, but she feels a bit different. Do you think it would be another me or Xi Longyi that is in this world?" Tianyi asked. Personally, he felt that it was more likely that Xi Longyi and not another him that existed. Daoyi slapped his arm. "No, I''m not talking about that. I can feel a fragment of the Spectral Rising Jewel." "On your other self?" "No, Lei Jingye," Daoyi said. Tianyi instantly conceived a plotline. Originally, Daoyi was supposed to elope with Lei Jingye when he went to the Xi Dynasty. From there, Lei Jingye would gain the Xu Clan''s soul inheritance, making him a triple path cultivator. Lei Jingye would aid Daoyi and exterminate the Xu Clan''s enemies and gain the Spectral Rising Jewel. Coupled with the divine artifact found near the Lei Clan, he would have two divine artifacts! ''Too bad he met me.'' Tianyi thought. "What about it?" "Is there a way to take it without anyone realizing?" Daoyi asked. "You want to steal from yourself?" Tianyi asked. "Well, not that I don''t want to make Lei Jingye miserable, but he hasn''t offended me in this timeline, yet." Daoyi rolled her eyes. "She''s not me. I can sense that her soul is different. Also, I already asked around, and it doesn''t seem like Xi Ri became a disciple in this timeline. I hypothesize that this timeline doesn''t have reincarnators." "Is that so," Tianyi said. "Still, I can''t just arbitrarily take it. If my guess is right, then he should currently have two divine artifacts, but if I take them, it will make things difficult for the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Plus, on the surface, I specialize in spatial laws, and the first suspect would be me." "More importantly, I don''t want to steal without reason. If he offended me, I would have fewer scruples, but I have morals," Tianyi said. "Alright," Daoyi said. However, Tianyi wasn''t done. "Hey, since this place has the Spectral Rising Jewel, does it mean that the other materials are also around, like the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus?" Daoyi stopped. She shook her head. "I don''t know." "It''ll be good to check it out. If it hasn''t bloomed yet, we''ll take it first, hehe," Tianyi said. "Before that, I want to refine a new artifact." Tianyi didn''t speak anymore as the competition began. As expected, the Buzhou Immortal Sect dominated the early stages. That is not to say that they won with numbers, as each sect had the same number of quotas. No, they dominated with quality. Still, this contrast only made those not from the Buzhou Immortal Sect stand out. First among them was Lei Jingye, who defeated his opponents with one strike each. Then there was San Jiuling. He was among the top disciples, but Tianyi noticed that he only seemed to have one lifebound artifact instead of nine. ''Is Xi Longyi not here?'' Tianyi thought. He waited and waited, but he didn''t see Xi Longyi anywhere. ''Did he not join, or was he cut by Mother like in my vision? Unless Lei Jingye already slew him?'' Unknown to Tianyi, Lei Jingye was also searching for Xi Longyi''s figure, but upon not seeing him, snorted and focused on his next match. ''Xi Longyi, you may have dodged me this time, but you won''t always be lucky in the future!'' Tianyi just lightly glanced at most of the battles. He enjoyed the ups and downs of each match but quickly grew bored of it. Most of the disciples barely understood a fragment of a concept and couldn''t reach his eyes at all. Lei Jingye was different, but Tianyi had already mastered the Law of Lightning, so observing Lei Jingye brought no benefit to him. It only turned interesting during the semi-finals when Xia Yushan faced off against San Jiuling in the semi-finals. Tianyi frowned as he watched the battle. Compared to his timeline''s Xia Yushan, this Xia Yushan was weaker. The amount of comprehension was the same, but the quality of the qi was inferior. Although the two Xia Yushan''s comprehension was about the same, don''t forget that this Xia Yushan had around a hundred more years to cultivate. Not to mention his Xia Yushan had already become an immortal and didn''t stay at the Transcending Mortality.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Although it took some effort, Xia Yushan defeated San Jiuling. Compared to this, the next match didn''t excite people much except Tianyi. "I never expected a mere venerable from the Five Elements Sect could make it so far." "So what if he got lucky? He reached the end of his luck the moment he was matched against Senior Sister Su." "You''re still calling her Senior Sister Su? You should call her Lady Su. Not even Eldest Senior Brother can compare to her." "I agree that Senior Sister Su is good, but saying that she is stronger than Eldest Senior Brother Xia is too much." "Heh, what do you know? If Lady Su didn''t vacate the position, then how can Senior Brother Xia have the title of the eldest senior brother?" "Shh, enough, the battle is about to start." On the arena stood two figures. One was naturally Lei Jingye wearing dark blue robes. The other was a beautiful woman wearing sky-blue robes with a silk masking hiding the lower half of her face. Lei Jingye found himself entranced by Su Wanyu''s eyes as if they were black holes. She narrowed her eyes and cupped her fist. "Buzhou Immortal Sect Disciple Su Wanyu, please advise." Her words broke Lei Jingye out of his daze. He gave a light but charming smile and cupped his hands too. "Five Element Sect Disciple Lei Jingye, likewise." Su Wanyu didn''t waste any words and immediately attacked. Ever since her incident with Lovespot, she hated men looking at her like that. A ladle filled with crystal clear water appeared in her hand. With a swipe, the crystal clear water shot out towards Lei Jingye in the form of numerous droplets. Lei Jingye, naturally, wasn''t willing to stand there and take the attack. In a flash, literally, he appeared on the other end of the arena, causing the droplets to drill holes into the arena. "You can''t hurt me, and I don''t like hurting women. I advise you to give up." Su Wanyu''s eyes grew colder upon hearing Lie Jingye''s words, and the frequency of her attack increased. Lei Jingye sighed and unsheathed his sword. He slashed out and sliced her droplet bullets, but upon contact, he discovered that the force behind them actually pushed him back a few steps. Taking advantage of his surprise, Su Wanyu increased her attack, but Lei Jingye''s figure disappeared. The next moment, Su Wanyu stopped her attack, and a ball of electricity struck the right of where she once stood. "Thunderclap Cannon. If you had been struck, you would have been blasted away," Lei Jingye said calmly. Su Wanyu''s face darkened. With her free hand, she formed a hand seal. In mere moments, a mist began to cover the arena, and the sources were the water droplets she had launched earlier. "It is still too soon to see who is going to win," she said. Not long after, sounds of water and lightning clashing could be heard. Sparks of electricity appeared with increasing frequency, but aside from that, most disciples and even some true immortals could not detect what was going on. Finally, a gigantic pillar of lightning shot out of the mist to the sky. Simultaneously, the lightning scattered the mist and revealed two figures entwined together. Lei Jingye was holding Su Wanyu''s waist, who was leaning back. Su Wanyu''s silk mask had fallen, revealing a nasty scar on her otherwise perfect skin. Su Wanyu quickly used her sleeve and hid her scar, and shame filled her eyes. Her eyes started to redden as water droplets gathered at the corner. "Beautiful." Su Wanyu''s eyes widened, and she turned to stare at Lei Jingye. "What did you say?" Lei Jingye seemed to have realized what position the two were in and quickly released Su Wanyu, and the two distanced themselves. He scratched his head and averted his gaze. "I said you are beautiful." In his seat, Tianyi felt his lips twitch. ''Sure enough, he has the life of a protagonist. Lovespot harmed Su Wanyu, causing her to look at the world with jaded eyes and hate men. But one word nearly instantly dispersed all that resentment, psh.'' "Womanizer," Daoyi quietly said beside Tianyi. Su Wanyu voluntarily gave up, saying that she was inferior to Lei Jingye in skill, shocking the onlookers and raising the honor of the Five Element Sect. Most of the Buzhou Immortal Sect disciples had dark expressions on their faces. Previously, it was them who crossed realms to fight those stronger. When had it been reversed? In addition, they also knew that even if Xia Yushan won, it would not diminish Lei Jingye''s accomplishments since he had a lower realm. Tianyi watched the match with great interest. The Law of Metal and the Law of Lightning were intricately linked. The most predominant link was the Concept of Magnetism. So, both Lei Jingye and Xia Yushan did not have a clear advantage over the other, and it would come down to how quick-witted either of them was and how much more they comprehended. However, this was not the reason Tianyi paid close attention. From Xia Yushan''s techniques, he could detect concepts under the Law of Metal that he had not mastered. Even if he used the five-phase connection to convert the metal qi into another of the five elemental qi, it could not hide its foundation. Still, there was no spark of intimacy like in the previous match. If there were, Tianyi might have raised an eyebrow. In the end, after one last gamble, Lei Jingye won. He was on his last legs, but it was a win nonetheless. The Five Element Sect and other members of the Anti-Heaven Alliance all cheered. Even some of the vassal sect disciples, like the Leakless Sect and Jade Cauldron Sect, cheered. In contrast, the Buzhou Immortal Sect disciples were deathly silent, and each one had an expression like they had swallowed a fly. Tianyi turned towards the Buzhou Immortal Sect elders next to them. To his surprise, he only saw calmness in their eyes. Not even Sect Master Xia had an ugly expression. At most, he had pity, pity that his disciple lost. All of them acted as if it was nothing that a disciple of the Five Element Sect won the champion spot. He sighed. Recalling all the secrets he had been privy to, Tianyi shrugged. It was true that it didn''t matter if a disciple of the Buzhou Immortal Sect didn''t win. All of the Huang Realm would belong to them soon, anyway. Instead, Tianyi turned his head and stared at Lei Jingye, who was given his prize, an immortal artifact. Only the Buzhou Immortal Sect could be so spendthrift to give an immortal artifact to a mortal cultivator when most true immortals struggled to acquire one. His eyes sharpened, and he opened his third eye to see a golden light descend on Lei Jingye. The color didn''t match the light of karmic merit, and it was far too faint. ''That is...luck?'' Previously, Tianyi had thought the Concept of Luck was only a portion of the Law of Probability, much like the Concept of Wealth, but now, why did it seem that the Law of Luck existed? Tianyi had the confidence to say that the Law of Luck did not exist, but what was happening could not be explained by the Concept of Luck. ''Luck is just overcoming probability, but this luck is different. It''s like an invisible hand aiding the holder. Invisible hand? Heavenly Dao?'' Tianyi stared at the sky, trying to peer into the secrets. Unfortunately, he saw nothing. After the match was over, all forces left, and Tianyi returned to the Honored Lotus Palace. He still hadn''t figured out what that strange phenomenon was, but for now, he had other important things to do, like refining his new immortal artifact. Chapter 283: Law of Creation Inside the Nine Heavens Universe, above Ninth Heaven, a vortex formed. At the center of the vortex was the fragment of the Heaven Measuring Ruler. At first, the vortex only consisted of spacetime energy, but yang essence shot into it. Then, a strand of yin qi from Eighth to First Heaven appeared and merged into yin essence. It also shot into the vortex. Next, fire qi, water qi, earth qi, metal qi, and wood qi shot out from the later five heavens towards Ninth Heaven. After a period of refinement, the five elemental qi transformed into essence and merged with the vortex, but the light emitting from Ninth Heaven dimmed. In the Honored Lotus Palace''s main hall, Tianyi sat there with his hands in a seal and his eyes closed. His face had no expression, as if he was a statue sculpted out of stone, but his mouth was continuously moving. "All things are born from the universe. Heaven and Earth is the furnace. Spacetime is the flame. All things are the ingredients." Tianyi''s three eyes opened and shot out a divine light that pierced the sky, causing all the beings in the Heaven Continent''s Central Region to focus their attention. "Nine Heavens Refinement, Chaos Measuring Ruler form!" The vortex spinning above Ninth Heaven slowly stopped, and an invisible light illuminated the Nine Heavens Universe. No matter where, the Nine Heavens Universe''s Law of Spacetime became incredibly clear. Anyone who saw it would be able to comprehend ten times as much with a tenth of the effort. Unfortunately, the only inhabitants of the Sixth Heaven were weak to realize anything except Daoyi. She opened her eyes and tried to imprint as much of the law as possible. An hour later, she spat out a mouthful of blood, but her eyes were unprecedently bright. The light illuminated the Nine Heavens Universe for a total of nine hours before it disappeared, revealing a black ruler with countless motes of light glittering, measuring about a meter long. A hand emerged out of nowhere and grabbed the gray handle. Tianyi used his other hand to caress the dull blade of the ruler. "I may have gone a bit overboard." Tianyi waved it a bit, and the spacetime of the Nine Heavens Universe also shifted. When he refined this immortal artifact, Tianyi merged his mastery of the Law of Spacetime, so anyone who could resonate with the Law of Spacetime within could dramatically increase their powers. The other reason was that he included part of the Nine Heavens Universe''s spacetime quintessence within. So, whoever controlled this had the divine right to control the spacetime laws of the Nine Heavens Universe. "I''m never giving this to anyone else," Tianyi swore to himself. He allowed Daoyi''s avatar to control the Law of Death in his universe, but that was it. He wouldn''t even give the ruler to Mengfei. It was not a question of trust, but the sheer risk was too much. As one of the core foundations of his Nine Heavens Universe, giving the Chaos Measuring Ruler to someone else was like entrusting his lung to another person. Tianyi stored the Chaos Measuring Ruler within the layers of space in the Nine Heavens Universe and dissipated into nothingness. Outside, Tianyi closed all three eyes and began to comprehend what he had learned. Alchemy, refining, and formation. The three paths did not relate to combat, but they were indispensable. Of the three, Tianyi had the greatest mastery in formations, followed by refining. However, he only dabbled once in alchemy, but at this moment, his mastery of alchemy and refinement were reaching the same height as his formation. His understanding of formation did not sit still either and also rose. If before, Tianyi needed to use treasures and qi to set up formations; now, everything could be used for formation, even the very environment, the trees, the tiniest sand, and even the rays of light. Tianyi''s cultivation lasted ten years. When he opened his eyes, his formation technique, refinement, and alchemy all reached the same height and merged. To him, all three methods had no distinction and were the same. "Alchemy, refinement, and formations, all three involve transformation and creation. They are not exclusive and can merge all things, all laws. That is because they are part of the Law of Creation," Once Tianyi finished speaking, nothing seemed to have changed, but everything also seemed to have changed too. Inside the Nine Heavens Universe, Tianyi''s mastery dramatically increased by ten times. The fog hiding his universe from his eyes lifted slightly, and he detected numerous stars, planets, and rogue planets. Simultaneously, Eighth Heaven no longer produced qi but essence. Tianyi moved his neck and stood up to stretch. At this current level, his body no longer became stiff or sore, but since he felt like it, he stretched. Afterward, he waved his hand, and the Chaos Measure Ruler appeared in his hand. However, before he had time to appreciate it, he glanced upward. His eyes pierced through the Honored Lotus Palace''s roof and into the sky where tribulation clouds gathered.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Tianyi clicked his tongue and disappeared. When he reappeared, he was standing in the sky outside. He tossed the Chaos Measuring Ruler over a hundred meters away, where it floated. After three hours, the tribulation cloud finished condensing and unleashed the first strike. Golden lightning coated the Chaos Measuring Ruler, but it only gave the artifact a shiny new sheen. Soon, the lightning disappeared, not because it used up all its energy but because the Chaos Measuring Ruler absorbed it. This act totally infuriated the Heavenly Dao, and the tribulation clouds increased. Tianyi felt his lips twitch upon seeing this. ''I didn''t expect the Chaos Measuring Ruler to absorb the tribulation lightning without me doing anything. As expected of my artifact. I wonder if I can make it absorb the Three Thousand Immortal Realms'' spacetime essence?'' As soon as the thought occurred to him, Tianyi closed his eyes and focused on his link with the Chaos Measuring Ruler. Moments later, the heavenly tribulation''s power increased again. If it had been a raging fire previously, now, it was an erupting volcano. Another bolt of tribulation lightning descended, but it wasn''t aimed at the Chaos Measuring Ruler but Tianyi. He didn''t move and allowed the tribulation lightning to strike him. Unlike the Chaos Measuring Ruler, the tribulation lightning directly disappeared after entering Tianyi. Hey, the Heavenly Dao was giving him free energy, so why not? The heavenly tribulation released a thunderous roar as it sent more lightning towards Tianyi. Instead of his artifact transcending the tribulation, it turned to the heavenly tribulation punishing Tianyi, ineffectively. Finally, after the heavenly tribulation lost steam, it gave one last thunderous crack before receding. Tianyi rolled his eye upon seeing how slowly the tribulation clouds dissipated. ''Lingering any longer won''t do you any good. Unless you throw realms at me, I doubt you can harm me.'' Tianyi waved his hand, and the Chaos Measuring Ruler returned to his hand. A moment later, he returned to the main hall of the Honored Lotus Palace. There, he brushed his fingers across the rectangular ''blade.'' Using his fingers, Tianyi began to write numerous characters from one end to the other. Then, he formed a one-handed seal and numerous glowing runes corresponding to characters Tianyi wrote. "Seal!" With one last flash, the runes disappeared. Tianyi observed the ruler again. Unlike its previous appearance, it was pitch-black, like a gaping hole in reality. ''With this, no one should be able to sense that this is an artifact of spacetime, only space.'' Even now, Tianyi didn''t want to reveal his mastery of the Law of Spacetime. Otherwise, he would have named it the Spacetime Measuring Ruler and not Chaos Measuring Ruler. In all situations, never reveal all your trump cards. Besides, suddenly revealing that he wasn''t using all his strength and shocking his opponent sounded quite fun. He waved a few times and nodded with satisfaction. ''Although I couldn''t absorb any spacetime essence, the heavenly tribulation still strengthened the artifact, not bad.'' Then he stored it away. The Chaos Measuring Ruler floated above Ninth Heaven and slowly absorbed the residual essence from the star. Although Tianyi had just refined it, it was still classified as an immortal artifact and not a divine artifact, so it still benefited from essence. In the next few days, numerous elders from the Buzhou Immortal Sect visited him. They were curious as to why a heavenly tribulation had appeared above Rites Peak. They sighed in jealousy after Tianyi showed them the Chaos Measuring Ruler, but they showed more envy towards Tianyi''s strength. The Chaos Measuring Ruler exuded the aura of a peak seamless immortal artifact, just one step away from the extremity immortal artifact rank. Since Tianyi could refine such an artifact, it displayed his immense prowess in refining and mastery of space. After taking in those jealous, envious, and hate-filled gazes, Tianyi store the Chaos Measuring Ruler again in a good mood, ''That''s right, be jealous. Hahaha.'' Tianyi took this chance to discuss the worldly laws with the immortal monarchs that came to visit him. He discovered that although many of them had comprehended complete laws, in terms of width, none could compare. Although he didn''t master any new law, it was still beneficial for him. If they had any skills in alchemy, refinement, or formation, Tianyi also discussed with them in order to increase his foundation and knowledge. Once they left, Tianyi sealed the gates and prevented anyone from bothering him. "I have already mastered the Law of Spacetime, the foundation of the universe. In order to advance, I''ll need to master the Law of Creation, but unlike most other laws, I have to master numerous other laws and not concepts," Tianyi solemnly said. He furrowed his brows. "But, the Law of Creation is too vast. I don''t know when I''ll be able to master it. Ten thousand years? A hundred thousand years? One million years? Or perhaps more?" Tianyi shook his head. "Forget it. I need to take one step at a time. Besides, I have eternal life now. As long as the Nine Heavens Universe isn''t destroyed, I am immortal." "I wonder if I''ll step into the Divinity Realm if I master the Law of Creation?" Tianyi asked with a hint of anticipation. He shook his head and cultivated for another ten years. When he opened his eyes, he made a wry smile. "Geez, I''m beginning to spend more and more time cultivating. Even though ten years passed, it only felt like an instant to me." Shaking his head once more, Tianyi waved his hand, and three objects appeared before him. The first was a pill exuding a heavy pill fragrance and immortal qi. It was a pill refined using the Nine Heavens Universe and injected with Tianyi''s will. Anyone who took it would directly be promoted to the true immortal realm. Of course, if they did it in the Nine Heavens Universe, no heavenly tribulation would appear since it was created by the master of the Nine Heavens Universe. But if they took in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System... The next was an orb the size of a fist, the Solesky Grotto. It was a spacetime artifact that contained a world within, but it was not a realm. It would unconsciously absorb the spiritual qi in the air to operate. With it, the user would have practically endless qi and could draw in their foe and suppress them like a realmlord. The most terrifying part was that anyone could refine it, even a mortal. Of course, mortals couldn''t control it, so it was practically useless for them. As for the third, it was a speck the size of a mustard seed. Despite its seemingly tiny size, the speck held a planet that was around the size of Earth, created using formations. The last two objects were a bit similar, but Tianyi still nodded his head in satisfaction. Suddenly, his eyes glazed over for a second. When they regained clarity, he waved his hand, and Daoyi appeared in front of him. "Are you sure?" Daoyi nodded. "I haven''t fully mastered the Law of Death, but it should be no problem to transcend my Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation." Chapter 284: Immortal Thrallsong If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Chapter 285: Past and Future Legends "Once, there was an ordinary boy. He possessed worse than average spiritual roots that made his immortal path rocky and full of thorns. But, the boy was tenacious if nothing else." "The heavens did not forsake the boy." "Through luck, or perhaps the grace of heaven, the boy stumbled upon a fortuitous encounter. Though the boy could not ascend to heaven in one step, the path of greatness had been opened to him." "He shed his status as a weakling and rose above those proud geniuses nurtured by the forces behind him. Enraged, those arrogant geniuses brought trouble and calamities to the boy, but he overcame them all, slaying them and taking their wealth as his own. Yet, how could those elders behind those fallen geniuses allow the boy to run rampant after his crime?" "So, those elders sought revenge upon the boy. Through skill and perhaps a bit of luck, the boy managed to evade elders'' revenge and found safety. Still, how could the boy be content to remain silent under their vengeance? They, the exalted immortals freed from finite years, descended onto the red dust to kill a junior who had not even reached the rank of venerable." "The boy hid and fled the continent to seek distant safety, but he had carved the hatred into his very soul and swore that he would wash away the disgrace. And so, the boy reached a new continent. Freed from the pursuit of those immortals, the boy developed and grew stronger." "He gained enemies and allies alike. Every enemy turned into another stepping stone for him and fueled his and his allies'' growth until he finally transcended his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation and attained the coveted status of immortality." "Still, upon the boy''s success, his old enemies discovered news of him. They chased after the boy with the intent of murder. They failed to kill the boy but brought his allies to ruin, and thus, the boy''s hatred deepened." "Years passed as the boy continued to flee from the immortals. With each instance, he grew until he finally slew all those who dared to chase him like a beaten dog, attaining vengeance for his humiliation and the destruction of his allies." "The force behind the elders grew weak under the boy''s vengeance, so they sought shelter with the overlord of the continent, the most powerful sect in the realm. The sect thought the boy nothing more than a triviality and sent a supreme immortal to exterminate the boy." "But the body survived, and the seeds of hatred were sown. The boy sought vengeance and, like with the previous sect, grew stronger with each encounter until the once trivial problem in the eyes of the most powerful sect in the realm turned into a major threat." "The boy knew that he could not defeat the continent''s overlord alone, so he sought allies. Tragically, the sect sieged him with numbers before he could accomplish his plan. The battle was calamitous, and the sect lost many immortals, but they forced the boy to self-detonate, injuring far more. It was a pyrrhic victory, but a victory nonetheless. So, once more, the sect returned to its uncontested position." "The boy, no, the Great Rebeller became a legend, a beacon of hope against all those oppressed by the sect." "Little did the realm know that the boy did not die. He had sought life in death, reborn as the prestigious son of one of the sect''s grand elders." "His name? Xi Longyi." "Xi Longyi hid himself within his enemies, slowly growing more powerful until the day he could attain vengeance for all the injustice he experienced." "So, who was Xi Longyi''s opponent? Someone with the potential to stand against him as his equal!" "He was the successor to a great clan living in the desert. His family had no immortals, but they still held a vaulted status within the city they resided in." "It would seem like life would continue on for him, and he would slowly take his father''s position as patriarch that day. That is, if Xi Longyi hadn''t appeared. Xi Longyi slew and destroyed his family, planting the seed of vengeance within him." "He sought vengeance against Xi Longyi, but he lost everything in the process. His meager wealth, his lover, and even his own life. However, against all odds, he didn''t die and awakened back in his clans years before their destruction." "He thought it was an illusion, a trick Xi Longyi had conjured just for him to experience the deepest pits of despair, but he was wrong. He, Lei Jingye, had truly come back from the dark future he had experienced." "From there, Lei Jingye sought and strengthened his family using any method he could. Thanks to his effort, the Lei Clan rose and became the overlord of the city they resided in and grew far stronger than they could have had in a thousand years." "Lei Jingye himself did not lag behind. He rose to the rank of venerable but held strength that equaled those long-lived earth immortals. He even managed to attain a broken divine artifact and another fragment of a divine artifact." "His future was boundless and his potential limitless. Though he may experience great danger that would have felled lesser men, he rose above, growing with each crisis. Truly, Lei Jingye had the chance to reach the peak of the realm." "And now, these two legends, one past and one future, faced off against each. Not just for the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus, but to sever the cause that had been sown in another future," Tianyi solemnly narrated before turning to Daoyi. "Well, how about it? Doesn''t it sound epic?" Daoyi sighed and covered her face with her palm. "Tianyi, do you really have the leisure to spectate? You even brought me out to watch. Just slap them both dead and be done with it."Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. "I can probably do that for Lei Jingye, but what about Xi Longyi? The Buzhou Immortal Sect still treats him as their own, and I don''t fancy bearing the brunt of all the Buzhou Immortal Sect," Tianyi said with a shrug. Still, I don''t want Xi Longyi to have good days, so Lei Jingye has to live." "You really hate him that much?" Tianyi said nothing as he reached forward and grasped the empty air with his hand.
"Xi.Long.Yi!" Lei Jingye said each syllable through gritted teeth. "Are you worthy of calling my name?" Xi Longyi asked. The disdain in his eyes couldn''t be more obvious. "Had it been someone beautiful like your companion, I might have given some leeway, but you?"
Tianyi hummed and glanced at Daoyi. "I know I probably should''ve asked much earlier, but whatever happened to your heavenly water spiritual root? I know it disappeared into your spiritual core when you ascended the Core Formation Realm, but didn''t you have to abandon your body?" "Gone with my old body. When Master recreated my body, it was blank, but I transformed it into a martial body. It couldn''t gain a spiritual core, but that was fine. The most important thing was my soul. Besides, that doesn''t matter anymore now that I''ve reached the Immortal Realm." "Point," Tianyi said. "Are you going to get revenge on Jiang Chunye?" "Of course," Daoyi said as a dark light flashed through her eyes. "She made me abandon my body. How could I not get revenge? It''s just a matter of the most opportune time to take revenge without risking too much." Tianyi stayed silent and directed his attention back to the fateful enemies.
"What was her name? Daoyi, I believe? Yes, truly a beautiful name for a beautiful girl. One too good for you," Xi Longyi said. Who was good enough was left unsaid. "Shut up! Don''t you dare sully her name with that mouth of yours!" Lei Jingye shouted. His eyes burned red from rage, but he took a deep breath to calm himself down. He knew that blind rage would do him no good. Xi Longyi smirked and materialized a horse chopping saber from his spatial ring. The blade was over two meters long and the handle large enough for two hands to hold comfortably, but he held it with one. Lei Jingye snorted and unsheathed his own sword. It was a standard sword, except it had a black hilt with a crimson blade. The blade shimmered red as Lei Jingye brandished the tip at Xi Longyi. "You won''t be speaking anything else from that dirty mouth of yours after today." "Many people wanted to kill me. They all died under my saber in the end," Xi Longyi said as a golden sheen shrouded his saber, saber intent. Lei Jingye growled as a red sheen appeared on his sword, shrouding it in a blood-red aura.
"Sword intent?!" Tianyi said. "Are you kidding me, how can he get sword intent?" "He had two hundred years. If Master wanted to, she could probably also cultivate sword intent, but she seems to be cultivating another intent," Daoyi said. "I know it''s two hundred, but why of all people is it him?" Tianyi asked, petulantly pointing at Lei Jingye. "Why do you sound so offended? Even if he has sword intent, you are over a hundred times stronger than him, are you not?" Daoyi asked. "That''s not the point, he has sword intent!" Tianyi said. He could still recall it. He had gained sword light in his Inner Devil Tribulation. Although he had some suspicion about how he gained the sword light and his inability to control it, Tianyi loved it. Swords were cool, and sword immortals even more so, so gaining sword intent was one of Tianyi''s goals. Logically speaking, Xi Longyi''s true identity, the Dragon Emperor, was his greatest foe and the one he hated the most, but it wasn''t. Tianyi hated Lovespot the most, just because of his repulsive... personality. Had it not been for Lovespot being part of the same sect, Tianyi would have already found a chance to kill him. Still, the Dragon Emperor was his second most-hated enemy, with Lei Jingye following closely behind. The third most-hated was not far from the top, so seeing Lei Jingye possessing the sword intent he had always wanted made Tianyi incredibly jealous. "Should I just slap him dead and just take the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus?"
Red and gold clashed over and over again. With each clash, the tune of steel against steel echoed in the Lightning. Lei Jingye was forced back a step with each strike, but he remained unharmed in the clash of two. With each confrontation, Xi Longyi''s face turned increasingly dark. Simultaneously, Lei Jingye''s face turned more wrathful as if to compete with him. "Enough!" Lei Jingye shouted as a red lotus appeared above his head. The petals unfurled and clad Lei Jingye in a red aura that exponentially increased his aura. He slashed out, and Xi Longyi actually backpedaled from the clash. His face was full of disbelief, as if he couldn''t believe what had happened as he stared at the Red Dragon Lotus above Lei Jingye''s head. "I got pushed back by an insect like you?" Xi Longyi roared, and the apparition of a dragon appeared coiling around his body. Golden scales wrapped around his body as two horns grew out of his head, turning him into a human-shaped dragon. "Congratulations, brat. You¡¯ve successfully enraged me. Consider yourself dead.¡± He raised the large saber above his head with both hands grasped around the hilt. A towering pillar of gold shot into the sky and pierced the thunder clouds. No, it wasn''t a pillar but a golden saber formed of qi and intent. "Die!" Lei Jingye wanted to dodge, but he felt as if invisible and unbreakable walls had miraculously appeared on both sides, trapping him. No matter what he did, he could not evade the oncoming blow. Left with no choice, he formed a one-handed seal. The Red Dragon Lotus enlarged itself and covered his whole body like a shell. A faint dragon''s roar could be heard as an illusionary red dragon coiling around the layers of petals. Once more, it roared as Xi Longyi''s strike reached Lei Jingye''s defense. Red and gold clashed, sometimes mixing and other times devouring the other. It took a full ten seconds for the clash to subside, and by then, the Lightning Sea had been dispersed, allowing the sunlight to shine upon the two fated foes. Lei Jingye huffed inside the Red Dragon Lotus. The illusionary dragon had been crushed, and the Red Dragon Lotus had lost some of its petals and dimmed in radiance. But aside from that, Lei Jingye was unharmed. Xi Longyi glared at his still-living enemy. He brandished his blade and prepared to strike at Lei Jingye. The Red Dragon Lotus shrunk and floated above Lei Jingye as he also entered a stance. Suddenly, Xi Longyi twisted his head and looked up. Then, he snapped towards the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus, or at least where it used to be. Lei Jingye followed his gaze and his expression darkened. The Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus was vital to him. He lacked the talent in soul cultivation, so he wanted to use the lotus to raise his soul cultivation to perfect and merge it with his spiritual and martial cultivation. When he ascended the Immortal Realm, he would have the perfect foundation to go farther than anyone before him. Lei Jingye didn''t bother fighting with Xi Longyi anymore. The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind them. Neither wanted a third party to take advantage of their fight to get all the benefits and maybe kill them. Xi Longyi used a secret technique and scanned the area around him. His eyes narrowed and suddenly unleashed a crescent-shaped saber formed of energy at a certain spot, but it just passed through the spot harmlessly. "Whoever you are, get out before I make you." Seeing no response, Xi Longyi unleashed several more saber strikes at the empty space but no reaction. He hesitated a bit and glanced at Lei Jingye, but after a moment, the horse chopping saber in his hand disappeared, and in its place, a smaller saber appeared. The pommel was shaped in the form of a dragon''s head, and the blade curved wickedly. Xi Longyi took a deep breath and leaped forward with his saber slashing out. A crack appeared in space, one smaller than a quarter of a meter. The crack shattered as a milky white hand appeared and, with a finger, halted the saber in its track. Chapter 286: Bullying Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Chapter 287: Past Incarnation Xi Longyi clenched his fist as power coursed through his body. This was his imagination of course, but after mastering the Law of Destruction, his whole sense of existence had been elevated. Naturally, He had already experienced the sensation once, but he had been a true immortal at the time. Xi Longyi quickly calmed down since he knew that mastering a law only allowed him to harm a seamless immortal and not guarantee victory. He glanced to Lei Jingye, who had somehow mastered a worldly law at the same time as him. A hint of killing intent appeared in his eyes, but he quickly suppressed it since he would need Lei Jingye''s aid to defeat or repel the immortal monarch. Lei Jingye was currently immersed in the feeling of comprehending a complete law. Even if he lost his sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch, he felt that his view of the world had undergone a dramatic transformation. Once he opened his eyes again, lightning swirled behind his pupils. The wary gaze he held towards Tianyi disappeared, and in their place, confidence. Seeing Lei Jingye brandish his sword, Xi Longyi said, "Don''t get cocky. Even if you master a law, we''re still at a disadvantage. He wields immortal qi, while we have true qi." "What are you, afraid?" Lei Jingye replied. Without waiting for Xi Longyi to respond, Lei Jingye charged forward and timed his attack with the newest bolt of tribulation punishment lightning. Tianyi couldn''t resist a sneer forming on his face. ''Do you really think you can defeat me just because you mastered a law!?" Lei Jingye''s sword flew through the air like lightning. Thunder roared as the red blade inched closer. Tianyi reached his hand out and ignored the descending bolt of lightning punishment. To Lei Jingye''s shock, Tianyi firmly grasped the crimson blade in his hand. Lei Jingye knew how sharp his sword was, he had even used it to injure a true immortal before, yet blood did not leak, and there wasn''t even a sign of the skin cracking! Lei Jingye grunted and retracted his sword. Or, at least, he attempted to. No matter what he did, it felt like his sword had been shackled to its current position and would not budge an inch no matter what he did. "You should let go," Tianyi suddenly said. "Never!" Lei Jingye shouted. The moment he did so, the lightning struck Tianyi, shrouding him in a cloak of electricity. "GRAAHH!!" The scream of pain did not escape from Tianyi''s lip. No, it came from Lei Jingye. The lightning punishment that shrouded Tianyi also traveled to Lei Jingye through their mutual link, the crimson sword. Even though he had comprehended the Law of Lightning, and it was true his combat prowess had dramatically increased, it was far from the point of threatening because he had not learned to utilize his new mastery. It was like a martial artist who had only practiced spears arts receiving a legendary sword. Sure, it would increase his battle prowess, but he could not bring out the full power of the legendary sword. In addition, what struck Tianyi was heavenly punishment. Its whole goal was to eradicate Tianyi, so it had the power to fatally injure an immortal monarch in one strike. And it would have spelled trouble for anyone but Tianyi. Lei Jingye, who got caught in it, felt his blood start to boil in less than a second. ''I''ll die if I keep holding on!'' In an instant, he made a decision that saved his life. He released his crimson sword and retreated. The Red Dragon Lotus above his head wrapped him in its healing light. Xi Longyi sneered. "What did I tell you? Idiot." Lei Jingye glared back. "I wouldn''t have offended him had it not been for you!" "You two, do you really have the time to argue right now?" In front of them, Tianyi asked. "You worry about the heavenly punishment more, Senior," Xi Longyi mocked. Tianyi smiled as another lightning punishment struck him. He had already dissipated the two characters on his palm and detected that the will of eradication targeting him lessened. "What heavenly punishment?" Tianyi asked. The lightning shrouding him instantly disappeared the moment he said those words as if he had never spoken them before. Xi Longyi''s expression darkened. "Hey, I hope you aren''t having thoughts of escaping right now." "I was just about to ask the same thing, bastard. Running from someone who controls the Law of Space is the height of stupidity," Lei Jingye shot back. "Then we only have one choice," Xi Longyi said as he readied his saber. A dark light emerged and intermixed with the golden light shrouding his saber. Lei Jingye snorted, and a new sword appeared in his hand. ''Tsk, tsk. Even after losing one sword, he still has another immortal rank artifact.'' Tianyi thought as the crimson sword in his hand disappeared. Just as the two began to attack, Tianyi disappeared from their eyes, and before they even knew it, a chilling voice entered their ears from behind. "I''m not one of those foolish people who like to play around with protagonists." Lei Jingye attempted to turn around, but he felt something against his face. The next thing he knew, he was over a thousand meters away as his body blasted the ground apart.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "Pak!" Lei Jingye spat out a mouthful of blood. Once done, a trail of blood continuously leaked from his lips. The right side of his face was bruised, and his hair and clothes appeared as if he had been dragged through the mud. He tried to get up, but every moment sent over ten thousand needles through his nerves. He could tell that almost every bone in his body had been broken. Feeling a shadow cast over him, Lei Jingye looked up and glared hatefully. "Bastard."
After backhanding Lei Jingye away, Tianyi focused his attention on Xi Longyi. "Long Aotian, this time I will make sure you won''t be able to escape." "This time?" Xi Longyi repeated. He tried to search his memory for any instance of Tianyi but came up blank. Tianyi didn''t care about his slip of tongue. He could still remember how the Dragon Emperor escaped from Lei Jingye''s body all those years ago. He clapped his hand together, and two hands seemingly formed from the night sky appeared around them. Xi Longyi activated the power of his Law of Destruction, but he only felt as if he had shattered only a few shackles out of a hundred. As the two palms neared, he knew he couldn''t escape the range, so he attacked with all his might, but no matter what he did, his attacks just passed into the hands like it really was just a part of the night sky. When the two hands connected, Xi Longyi expected pain, but he felt nothing. He felt a shortness of breath and an extreme chill assault his body, so he swiftly protected himself. "This is the Vast Void?" Xi Longyi thought. Then he sneered. "Do you really think I''ll die just because I''m in the Vast Void?" "Don''t worry. This is just to prevent you from escaping," a voice said. "Where?!" Xi Longyi searched around him, but he couldn''t detect the origin of the voice. Rather, he felt as if the voice was omnipresent. "Here." Xi Longyi snapped his head to discover a figure. However, it wasn''t a figure he was familiar with. Floating across from him was a child of around ten with features seemingly carved out of jade, but the most eye-catching part of him was those pair of bedeviling eyes. There was no way he could mistake those eyes. "How are you related to mother?" The child in purple robes smiled as if mocking him and spoke out in his soprano voice. "You should give it up, Long Aotian. Did you really think you were Mother''s child?" "And you are?" Xi Longyi shouted. The child smiled. "Of course. And, I''m not a disgusting parasite like you." Normally, Xi Longyi would have long attacked, but he felt an incredible sense of danger from this seemingly harmless child. For one, he couldn''t sense any aura from him, as if the child was nothing more than an illusion, but his instincts told him that the child was really present. "Who are you?" Xi Longyi finally asked after a terse silence. The boy smiled. "Well, I guess I won''t mind telling you. You''ll be a dead man after all. Listen well, I am the Past Incarnation of the Nine Heavens Monarch Xi Tianyi." "Nine Heavens Monarch? The guy who attacked me?" Xi Longyi asked. Mini-Tianyi laughed. "Attacked? It would be more appropriate to say retaliated, right?" Xi Longyi''s only answer was a saber chop. However, when his saber was only half a meter away from Tianyi, he felt a familiar sensation. He had been shackled in space, but no matter how hard he struggled, he couldn''t even budge a smidge. It was like when Tianyi attacked him outside before the heavenly punishment, only over a hundred times worse. "Tsk, tsk. You even added a soul attack to your strike. Your tricks don''t change much, do they?" "Who are you?!" Xi Longyi shouted using his spiritual sense. He had noticed a grave danger. The icy sensation of his nemesis appeared again with greater intensity. He could feel little microns of himself slowly break off and disappear. Those microns soon enlarged into sands, and eventually, bits and pieces of his fingertips slowly vanished. "Are you wondering why I seem to know you so well, or are you asking about my power?" Past Incarnation Tianyi asked with a dark smile that should have never appeared on a child''s face. "We fought before. I won, of course, but you won''t know since I come from another timeline," Tianyi boasted. "Oh, and don''t bother struggling. Your fate was sealed the moment you came here, so even if you knew I was an outsider, it wouldn''t help." "Anything else to say?" Tianyi asked with a smirk. Xi Longyi stayed silent for a second. His body and facial expression stayed the same under the suppression, but he still radiated confidence that borderlined smugness. "When we fought in the other timeline, you must not have been able to kill me. I still remember the first words you spoke. That you brought me here to prevent me from escaping. Do you think I won''t have my ways even if you brought me to the Vast Void? Fool!" Tianyi said nothing as his smile disappeared. ''Tch, I thought beating him down was supposed to be cathartic. Now I have a bad taste in my mouth. Just wait, let''s see who gets the last laugh.'' The rate of Xi Longyi''s disintegration increased, and soon, only his torso was left, but Tianyi couldn''t feel any fluctuation from him at all. Finally, only a single eye was left, yet it still emitted absolute confidence. When all of Xi Longyi disappeared, Past Incarnation Tianyi frowned. Then, he slowly smiled.
''Dammit, where is the Huang Realm? Even a lower realm is fine, but I can''t find any. I''ve successfully hidden my soul, but the Vast Void is still hurting me. I won''t be able to last long at this rate!'' A fragment of the Dragon Emperor''s soul flew off. It didn''t carry much, only the Dragon Emperor''s memories and his comprehension of the Law of Destruction, but without a physical body, it wouldn''t last long. Then, the soul fragment heard a voice that plunged him into the deepest abyss of despair. "Found you."
Past Incarnation Tianyi held a little orb in his hand. Inside, there was a silver wisp swirling around. "I told you, your fate was sealed the moment you came here. But what should I do? Crush and kill you right now?" He felt a bit reluctant. The Dragon Emperor was practically a treasure trove, but the problem was that he wasn''t skilled in soul techniques like soul search. "Maybe I should hand it to Daoyi." Tianyi instantly vetoed his idea. He could already imagine her reaction upon discovering the state of his Past Incarnation. "Oh my, you''ve gotten really cute." He had developed the skeleton for an incarnation technique that created a Past Incarnation, Present Incarnation, and Future Incarnation, but the problem was that he only comprehended the Past Incarnation. Although he understood the Law of Spacetime, it did not mean he could actually see into the future either. He wouldn''t allow it. He definitely wouldn''t allow anyone to see his childlike Past Incarnation! Tianyi sighed. He also wanted to keep the Dragon Emperor''s soul close to him. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, after all. "I guess I can only wait for myself to finish Lei Jingye."
In the Huang Realm of the Silent Lightning Timeline, he allowed the heavenly punishment to strike him continuously until it ran out of steam. Each bolt of lightning punishment would be absorbed and converted into energy by him. When it finished, Tianyi reappeared in front of Lei Jingye, casting a shadow over him. "Bastard." Tianyi ignored him, and a miniature sun appeared in his palm as he aimed it at Lei Jingye. He didn''t want to take this chance, so he used a powerful technique from the start. Suddenly, he stopped and shot his technique, Stellar Silence, in a direction. There, five energies corresponding to the five elements collided with his technique, and a gigantic explosion engulfed the surrounding. Once the explosion dissipated, Tianyi saw an elderly man exuding the aura of an immortal monarch bearing the insignia of the Five Element Sect. "Release my disciple at once." Tianyi only had one thought. ''Not again.'' Chapter 288: Monarch Fiveseal Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
Chapter 289: True Dragon When Tianyi entered the Immortal Realm, if it could even be called that, he had recalled his third clone, Donghai Longzi. To Tianyi, Donghai Longzi''s current level of strength was completely useless, and the battle experience accumulated no longer had much effect on Tianyi. So Tianyi planned on turning him into an immortal level expert too, but unlike Ba Shifang, Tianyi didn''t plan on turning him into an immortal but a true demon. Since he couldn''t get a dragon mount and Dandan was too much of a disappointment, why not turn his clone into a true dragon? Not that Tianyi planned to use Donghai Longzi as a mount. Using your own clone as a mount was too weird. Still, his resolve had only increased when he heard of the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s future plans and secret information from Sect Master Xia. The one in his timeline and not the Silent Lightning Timeline. ''Perhaps I should change it to Undying Lightning Timeline since he seems to have the tenacity of a damn cockroach!'' Still, it looked like his plans could move ahead of schedule thanks to Xi Longyi. He couldn''t infiltrate the Divine Beast Pseudo System, well, not without leaving Donghai Longzi stuck in this timeline at least. The golden saber resting on Donghai Longzi''s lap started to tremble as if shivering in fear, but it was for naught as its golden light began to flicker. Slowly, its light lost its luster as ten golden drops of blood floated away from the blade. The immortal rank saber artifact''s golden light had vanished completely. It still held the rank of an immortal rank artifact, but its rank had dropped from a top-tier immortal monarch rank to a low-tier true immortal rank. The saber still had the potential to evolve and even reach the immortal emperor rank, but Tianyi had no interest, so he stored it for now. Next, Tianyi directed his attention to the sea of stars. His body wasn''t present personally, but his intent filled the Nine Heavens Universe. There, Dandan was cozily swimming through the stars, but he suddenly stopped as if sensing danger. ''This is for all the times you beat me up and drained my blood.'' Dandan''s body froze as if shackled by an invisible prison. It cried out in defiance, but that was all it could do. A slit appeared on its scaled hide as blood leaked from that wound. Finally, when it seemed as if Dandan had shrunk by thirty percent, Tianyi stopped. He whimpered pitifully as if in grievance, but Tianyi was unmoved. The clouds of immortal qi of primordial chaos gathered around him like little puppies for him to absorb. Dandan flailed a few more times before recognizing the fact that he could not get back the blood drained from him and settled down to absorb the immortal qi. Albeit in a downtrodden mood. Dandan''s blood flew to Eight Heaven and merged with the gold blood drops hovering above Donghai Longzi, staining them black with a gold sheen. Donghai Longzi closed his eyes as the blood encased him in a sphere three meters in diameter. Soon, numerous other materials such as bone, scales, herbs, and essence flowed into the black sphere with a golden hue. As time passed, the sphere started to condense until it was in an egg shape. Unlike Daoyi''s divine avatar, the gestation period didn''t take long as the egg quickly grew scales and, under the time acceleration, started to hatch soon after. Crack Crack Crack Hot-white eyes that resembled white dwarfs peered out of the crack. Soon, it disappeared as the crack enlarged, and a small serpentine body flew out. The newborn creature had a reptilian visage, two long whiskers, a pair of antlers, four limbs, and black scales that glittered like the sea of stars. Compared to the size of the egg it came out of, the newborn dragon was pitifully small, not even reaching the length of half a meter. It looked so weak, so defenseless, that it would surely fall from the heavenly tribulation gathering above it. However, everything in the Nine Heavens Universe was under Tianyi''s influence. That meant the heavenly tribulation heralding the birth of a true demon would not kill or harm Donghai Longzi unless it were his intent. As the first bolt of tribulation lightning descended, Donghai Longzi didn''t dodge and allowed the bolt to strike him. The lightning arced and shrouded his entire body, but aside from the numbing sensation, no pain could be seen on the black dragon''s face. It took a fair amount of time for the lightning shroud to disappear, and stranger still, the second bolt of tribulation lightning did not descend until the first completely disappeared. Rather than testing the subject, the heavenly tribulation appeared to be giving a free pass to the tester. "Take all the time you need, I have time." It seemed to say. And take his time, he did. Donghai Longzi used each and every bolt of tribulation lightning to temper his demonic flesh, raising it to its absolute limit. When the nine hundredth and ninety-ninth bolt of tribulation lightning disappeared, his body had grown to ninety-nine meters long. A black flash of light later, the immense dragon disappeared, and in his place, a man in his early twenties appeared. He had long black hair darker than night, a black robe with embroidering of stars, and a glowing white coronet tying up his hair. Donghai Longzi''s new appearance bore half a resemblance to the Dragon Emperor while the other half resembled Ba Shifang, a perfect mixture of the two features. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. He didn''t do anything and returned to the position where his egg had been. He waved his hand and collected the egg to refine into a companion artifact later. He couldn''t turn it into a lifebound artifact or a dragon pearl, but since it would be created from his egg, it would be close enough. For now, Donghai Longzi sat in a lotus position and waited. Not much longer, Tianyi''s Past Incarnation appeared and threw a small orb to him. It was the Dragon Emperor Pearl and then disappeared. Donghai Longzi held the Dragon Emperor Pearl to his eye. Despite its name, it was not actually the dragon pearl of a dragon emperor, a dragon at the level of an immortal sovereign. Instead, it housed the soul of Xi Longyi, the Dragon Emperor''s backhand. The name was entirely Tianyi''s malicious intent. Unlike Tianyi or Ba Shifang, Donghai Longzi had yet to master a worldly law, hence was only a true dragon at the moment. Unlike other races or immortals, the dragon equivalent of the Pathfinding Immortal Realm was a true dragon, Seamless Immortal Realm was a dragon lord, Extremity Immortal Realm was a dragon king, and Origin Immortal Realm was a dragon emperor. He planned to comprehend the Law of Destruction Xi Longyi had just comprehended to become a dragon lord. As for how much torture Xi Longyi''s soul would undergo, that was not his concern. Who knows, maybe he could extract some useful information during the process.
Tianyi sat on his immortal boat with Daoyi as it cruised through the air above the Endless Seas. After Sect Master Xia ''saved'' him, he decided to leave Heaven Continent. He sighed. "Are you still upset at Sect Master Xia''s actions?" Daoyi asked. Tianyi nodded. "Every one of his actions is not out of character for him. He probably either already learned that Xi Longyi was the Dragon Emperor or such a trouble-attracting disciple lost his allure when Mother disappeared, but being on the end of his schemes does not feel good at all." He took a sip of tea and continued. "Logically, I know this is what our Sect Master Xia would do, but my heart can''t accept it." "I think you should have at least pretended to accept his help. Our biggest hope to return to our timeline lies in the Buzhou Immortal Sect after all," Daoyi said. Tianyi waved his hand. "I know. I just don''t want to see him right now." "Is that why we''re leaving the Heaven Continent? Where are we going anyway?" "I wanted to check out the Mortal Continent. Unlike our timeline, there''s no Saintly Scholar School that suddenly appeared and overtook the Cultivator Alliance. Is it another variable or the influence of reincarnator like us? Dong Chifan''s master is a suspected reincarnator, so it''s possible for reincarnators like us to arrive far earlier than we did," Tianyi said. "You suspect the founder of the Saintly Scholar School to be a reincarnator?" Daoyi asked. "I don''t know," Tianyi said. "If Lao Tzu really was a reincarnator, then why didn''t he search for other reincarnators? Or show any other signs. Just him using the name Lao Tzu is really suspicious, so I don''t know." "You''re going to search for him?" "Pfff, hell no," Tianyi immediately said. "That''s suicide. Okay, well not really for me. I''m going against a man who defeated the Cultivator Alliance by his lonesome. Sect Master Xia also thinks that he''s not really an immortal emperor but stronger. He''s the biggest enemy of the sect, not the Eight Pillar Sect." "I just want to search for some clues. Although it''s not exactly the same, timelines are mirrors of each other, so I should be able to search for some clues," Tianyi said. "If I can''t find any, I''ll probably try Earth Continent in preparation for the future war. After that, I''ll start badgering Sect Master Xia for a method." "Unless you do something outlandish again," Daoyi added. "Hey, this wasn''t my fault. How the hell would I know that that damn Emperor Soulfish would have something that could send me to another timeline. Or, that he would use it? I couldn''t even threaten his life, that bastard really overreacted," Tianyi complained. "What about Lei Jingye? I''m surprised you didn''t chase after him," Daoyi said. "A bit too late now," Tianyi said "Then why are you grinning like that? Honestly, it''s very creepy." Tianyi''s smile left his face. "That''s a bit too much, don''t you think? But to answer your question, I simply gave him some trouble, say, like spreading the word that he has a divine artifact. Hmpf, I want to see how much the Five Element Sect will be able to protect him, especially after I severed a portion of Monarch Fiveseal''s comprehension." "You''re terrible." "Thank you." Tianyi and Daoyi reached Mortal Continent after some time. They began to visit all the thirteen major cities of the Cultivator Alliance, named after the zodiac. Of note was the fact that the capital and central city of the Cultivator was Ouroborous City. "Why Ouroborous City? If there is a thirteenth zodiac, shouldn''t it have been a cat? Ouroborous isn''t even Chinese!" Tianyi had complained. Still, after two years and touring seven cities, they still haven''t discovered anything out of the ordinary. "Isn''t this just a vacation at this rate?" Daoyi had said, to which Tianyi had no response. Although Tianyi enjoyed it, he was beginning to feel a sense of anxiety. He constantly thought about what was happening during the main timeline. Thanks to his connection with Ba Shifang, he could still get bits of information, but those updates were few and far between. At the very least, the vacation wasn''t meaningless. He was comprehending the Law of Death, Law of Destruction, and five element concepts from Monarch Fiveseal. However, on their way to the eighth city, Tianyi''s senses captured a familiar figure, causing him to abandon his plans. He immediately hid the immortal boat behind folded space and followed behind.
Qiu, otherwise known as Monarch Soulfish, cursed as he quickly fled. Behind him, two immortal monarchs of the Cultivator Alliance chased after him. "Stop, you damn thief!" "It was our mistake not to wipe all the descendants of Begonia tower. We''ll rectify that today!" Monarch Soulfish gritted his teeth as he cast a glance back. Monarch Flamedog was originally an ordinary immortal that did not stand out. Well, except for one thing, and that he was deathly loyal to the Cultivator Alliance. Many dark and dirty deeds carried out by the hegemonic force were done with his hand. The second was Monarch Yearox. Just from his name alone, one could discover his aspirations to master the Law of Time, but unfortunately, he couldn''t and used another worldly law to enter the Seamless Immortal Realm, becoming an eternal regret for the immortal. Both of them were monarchs with far more experience than him, but Monarch Soulfish didn''t give up. He unleashed a technique that caused a torrent of red fishes to swarm them, almost like a tidal wave. Monarch Flamedog and Yearox easily destroyed them, but the duo paused when they realized that they would enter an illusion whenever they destroyed, slowing down their process. Using this slight lapse, Monarch Soulfish increased his fleeing speed, unaware of a greater predator eyeing him. Chapter 290: Chun and Qiu "What''s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that, Qiu?" a teenage girl with shoulder-length, chestnut-colored hair asked. The boy across from her appeared her polar opposite. Where brown eyes sparkled with life and aspiration, his reflected the years and a calmness brought upon by their passage. Her hair was dark, while his were white as if all life had been sucked from them. Both of them wore the red robes of Begonia Tower, the most powerful force of the Endless Seas in the Huang Realm. The boy, Qiu, glanced at the fish bowl in Chun''s hand. The fish bowl contained a white dolphin-like fish with a horn atop its head, and it was held by strings to a stick. Rather than a fish bowl, it appeared closer to a lantern. Glowed like one too. "Is something wrong?" Chun asked again. "Chun, did something happen to you while you were soul collecting?" Qiu asked. Unlike most forces, such as the three hegemonic sects of the Huang Realm, first-rate, second-rate, or even third-rate forces, Begonia Tower had no permanent location. Instead, everyone lived in Soul Pagoda, an immortal rank artifact. The lifebound artifact of their founder and Tower Lord, Emperor Begonia, to be exact. Since they did not reside in a permanent location, they could not take advantage of any spiritual veins to increase the density of qi. Without that, no matter how powerful Emperor Begonia was, Begonia Tower would not have become the first-rate force it was today. The Soul Pagoda had the ability to gather the spiritual qi from the environment to increase the spiritual qi density inside, but it was not enough. To make up for this, Begonia Tower needed souls. Soul collecting was a task and mission all the disciples, and even elders of Begonia Tower had to do. Although they were the premiere force of the Endless Seas, the Endless Seas'' population could not compare to the three great continents. So to collect souls, they would stop by the mainland. Their main targets were souls like ghosts who refused to reincarnate and stayed in the mortal world or the fragmented souls of cultivators. As such, the disciples of Begonia Tower were like reapers of death, visiting battlefields after battlefields, harvesting souls. When they returned, they would offer the souls to the whirlpool at the center of the Soul Pagoda called the Soul Pool. The Soul Pool would then convert the souls into soul essence, which was further diluted into soul qi. They were able to rise to the rank of a first-rate force because of this despite their minimal numbers compared to other forces. It was also one of the greatest secrets of the Soul Pagoda. All members swore an oath not to leak the news, or else the Tower Lord would shatter their souls. "I almost got injured and captured, but I managed to escape," Chun said. Qiu frowned. "Honestly, you should be more careful. Why are you doing soul collecting? You''re still just a foundation establishment disciple. Wait till you reach the Core Formation Realm." "Hmpf, you only managed to reach the Core Formation Realm five years ago. And you were also out collecting souls when you were a foundation establishment disciple too. Why can''t I?" Chun returned. Qiu rubbed his forehead helplessly. "Alright, alright, already. I can''t beat your clever mouth. So, hurry up and offer the souls to the Soul Pool." "No," Chun said, stunning Qiu. Her gaze fell on the white fish in the bowl with a hint of sadness and fondness. "I''m going to turn him into a soulbeast and resurrect him." Qiu''s heart skipped a beat when he heard her words. When he looked at the fish bowl again, his eyes turned cold. Chun quickly hid the fish bowl behind her. "No, you can''t kill him. He became like this to save me." "Chun, you know that you can''t turn a random soul from the outside into a soulbeast. You can only use the souls that have been processed. Don''t break the rules," Qiu said. "I can''t. I owe him, I can''t let others process him," Chun said. "Qiu, you''ve always doted on me since I was young. Just this once, just turn a blind eye this one time. I promise that I won''t break any more rules." "It''s not that I don''t want to help you, but you know the punishment for turning a foreign soul into a soulbeast without processing it. It''s even harsher than embezzling souls. You''ll be executed," Qiu said, trying to convince Chun out of her foolishness. As Qiu expected, a hint of fear entered Chun''s eyes. However, it quickly disappeared as she said, "It''s okay. I would have died if it were not for him." Qiu''s eyes stared at Chun for a few moments. At that moment, he felt as if he had lost something but didn''t know what. He relented. "Alright." "Yay!" Chun said as she ran over and hugged Qiu. "I knew it. You''re the best." "Still, you shouldn''t have no harvest returning. It looks like you fed all the souls to it?" Qiu said as he looked at the dolphin-like fish. He reached into his robe and pulled out a small sphere. Inside, silver wisps swirled. "Hehe," Chun smiled and appeared very proud. "You also smuggled some souls. Hmpf, what were you doing, being all high and mighty." "I didn''t smuggle them. These are processed soul fragments I managed to get. I was originally going to use them for cultivating, but you should hurry up and turn this in to avoid suspicion." Chun''s face heated, and she avoided Qiu''s gaze. "Sorry, and thank you. I''ll definitely pay you back." "What are you talking about? It should be me that is paying you back," Qiu said. "If it weren''t for your grandfather, I would have already been a name on a spirit tablet."This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Qiu and Chun were childhood friends. Unlike Chun, who had a nascent soul grandmaster as a grandfather, Qiu was an orphan. Because Qiu was an orphan, he had started soul collector as soon as he became a foundation establishment disciple. Unfortunately, Qiu had been bitten by a poisonous snake monster. Although he managed to return to the Soul Pagoda, his death was all but written in stone. Chun had begged her grandfather to save Qiu, and he agreed. Qiu had a perfect spiritual root, but the best Chun had was a flawless spiritual root. Chun''s grandfather knew that Chun would suffer once he reached the limit of his lifespan, so he made Qiu promise to look after Chun. Even without Chun''s grandfather, Qiu had already decided to take care of Chun. The poison infecting Qiu was almost impossible to cure. They had already ingrained themselves into his spiritual root, and even if the poison were expelled, Qiu would have been as good as crippled. So, Chun''s grandfather shattered his owl spiritual core and used it to save Qiu, promoting his spiritual root to a half-step heavenly spiritual root. The act had cut his lifespan in half. However, Chun''s grandfather only had twenty years at most, so dying ten years earlier was insignificant. What was important was that he found a protector for his granddaughter, Chun. Because of this, Qiu had always relented to Chun''s whims. Just like how Chun felt like she owed the soul her life, Qiu owed Chun his life. To transform a soul into a soulbeast was a long process that required time and resources. The first step was to change the shape of the soul and feed it souls. Chun had already accomplished this step. Qiu aided Chun with the next few steps. Like this, years passed. Qiu reached the peak of the Core Formation Realm and was just one step away from reaching the Nascent Soul Realm, becoming a true soul cultivator. Chun only reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm. Instead of cultivating, she spent most of her time with Kun. Kun was the name of Chun''s soulbeast and the name of the boy who saved her. He had successfully turned into a Redstar Spectral Fish. His body stayed much the same, predominately white, only now, there was a red mark originating from the base of its horn. It was in the shape of a star, hence the species'' name. The reborn Kun stayed in the shape of a fish and could not transform into a humanoid form. He would have to reach the True Demon Realm to gain that ability naturally or practice a secret art. However, Kun didn''t mind. He could only recall bits and pieces of his life before his rebirth and currently held the mindset of a child. Still, his power was solidly in the Core Formation Realm, outstripping Chun''s. Due to Chun, Qiu also created a soulbeast. It was the same species as Kun, but unlike Kun, Qiu created his soulbeast out of a fragment of his soul. It could be considered his clone, and because of its source, Qiu was able to turn it into his lifebound spiritual beast. Qiu thought that these halcyon days would last forever, but he was wrong. He should have secretly killed Kun when he had the chance. He had finally transcended his Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation, but upon completion, he had been attacked. To prevent the Soul Pagoda from being affected by the heavenly tribulation, all members of Begonia Tower had to undergo their heavenly tribulation outside. His attackers had wanted to capture him, but Qiu managed to escape. Had he not been a disciple of Begonia Tower, it would have been near impossible since two venerables made up the ranks of his attackers. Begonia Tower''s disciples were the best of the best. They had to be barring unexpected situations since their numbers were so small. After escaping, Qiu returned to Begonia. Each disciple had a badge that was linked to their life that allowed them to find the Soul Pagoda. If the disciple died, the badge would break, preventing outsiders from using it to track down the Soul Pagoda. Qiu didn''t think much of it. He had just chalked it up to being unlucky, but a few months later, he realized he had been wrong. It had been the little things at first. Just a few foundation establishment and core formation disciples that did not make it back. The casualties were higher than average, but it was also understandable. They had wanted to take advantage of the turmoil happening in the Mortal Continent to harvest souls. The greater the danger, the greater the rewards. It was only when the casualties kept increasing that the higher echelons discovered something wrong. Someone was targeting them. Begonia Tower did not immediately retreat. They had survived for over a hundred thousand years, so naturally, they had the means to conceal themselves from prying eyes. They wanted to wait and retrieve as many disciples as possible before leaving. That is until they were discovered. The prided concealment technique of Begonia Tower had been cracked. Under Tower Lord''s orders, Begonia Tower cut its losses and fled, leaving the disciples still outside to die. Qiu lamented the loss of his fellow disciple brothers, but he sighed in relief at the knowledge that at least Chun would not meet the same fate. He was right in the worst way possible. After Begonia Tower fled the Mortal Continent, they were pursued by the Cultivator Alliance. The turmoil in the Mortal Continent had been a trap to lure them out and exterminate them. As the days passed, it became clear that the Cultivator Alliance had a method to locate them. They were routed at each and every turn. Finally, Begonia Tower decided to wage war with the Cultivator Alliance. Begonia Tower had an immortal emperor, but so did the Cultivator Alliance. And they had far more immortals and monarchs too. The chance at victory was slim, and even if they won, the price would be far too large. But what choice did they have? Qiu constantly tried to discover the reason why the Cultivator Alliance could find them. He did not think himself special. What could he, a mere nascent soul grandmaster, discover that Emperor Begonia could not? Then, a thought struck him on the eve before the war. He hoped he was wrong. What if there was a foreign element introduced to Begonia Tower, a Trojan horse? He immediately went to find Chun, who was happily playing with Kun. The scene brought a rending pain to his heart. He wasn''t a hundred percent sure, so he planned to separate Chun and Kun first, but he never expected that was all it took. Before Qiu could even react, a horn pierced Chun''s heart. Her eyes widened with shock rather than pain. She didn''t even have time to cry as she stared at Kun. "...why?" Those were her last words as the light in her eyes dulled. "CHUUUUUN!!!"
Monarch Soulfish abruptly awoke from his slumber. Sweat coated his forehead as he observed his surroundings. His memories returned, and he calmed down. Yes, he had managed to escape from the Cultivator Alliance''s pursuit. He closed his eyes as he recalled what happened afterward. Kun had been a sleeper agent. Chun''s almost near death had been planned, all to bring in the instrument of Begonia Tower''s downfall. Kun hadn''t been the only agent, and Chun hadn''t been the only victim. The reason why Kun succeeded was because of him, Qiu. Regret flooded his heart every time he remembered. Monarch Soulfish had outed Kun, but it was too late. In order to grasp the last remnant of Chun''s soul, Qiu fell. His original body perished, and he was forced to hide in his soulbeast, the Redstar Spectral Fish. From then on, there was no longer anyone named Qiu, only Soulfish. Monarch Soulfish waited for his injuries to heal a bit more before returning to the Endless Seas. When he set off, he looked around him and couldn''t help but feel that something was staring at him. Did he imagine it? Chapter 291: Monarch not Emperor Monarch Soulfish still felt uneasy. Ever since Begonia Tower fell, his life had been full of hardship, but because of this, he developed an acute sense for danger. He had no proof that someone was eyeing him, just a sixth sense. The sense of danger continued to follow him while he was on the Mortal Continent. ''Could it be the Cultivator Alliance''s immortal sovereign?'' The only person Monarch Soulfish could think of who had the ability to tail him without him sensing anything was Emperor Ouroborus. However, why was he only tailing and not directly attacking? Monarch Soulfish had broken into one of the thirteen zodiac cities and stolen precious materials. Spirit Nourishing Root, Soul Returning Leaf, Heartlift Pearl, Silver Crescent Nut, and many more. Each one was related to the soul, specifically healing or making up the deficiency of the soul. For hundreds of years, Monarch Soulfish had not once forgotten his goal of reviving Chun. Even when he managed to grab the Soul Pagoda, he only saw it as an extension of means to resurrect his childhood friend. With his mindset, it was a wonder that his obsession didn''t turn into an inner devil. But it was also perhaps of his single-minded pursuit that he was able to cultivate to his current level of strength. Even after leaving the Mortal Continent, the sense of danger did not decrease; it only increased. Monarch Soulfish suddenly stopped in his tracks above the water. He turned around and saw the empty expanse as if he was truly alone. Suddenly, Monarch Soulfish''s body began to bloat like a balloon. Just like a balloon, his body soon reached a point where it could no longer be contained and burst. However, there was no explosion of blood and innards. Instead, tens of dolphin-like, red-colored fish burst forth. To be precise, they were the mature Redstar Spectral Fishes. Some swam through the clouds, and others dived into the water, but each one moved in a different direction. Monarch Soulfish didn''t know if his tactics worked, but the sense of danger in his heart decreased. But that didn''t mean he could release his breath yet. Before returning to the Soul Pagoda, he used several techniques to hide his tracks and even made false ones like before, just in case. He continuously delayed his return for over two months. Only after the mysterious sensation disappeared did Monarch Soulfish return to the last place he hid, the Soul Pagoda. Monarch Soulfish hid the Soul Pagoda underwater and linked the spiritual veins to the immortal artifact. This increased the risk of discovery, but he only needed a little bit of the spiritual qi, so unless he were really unlucky, no one would notice the change in spiritual veins. In addition, the water of the Endless Seas was the domain of monsters and demons. He had set up a formation to deceive the senses of monsters who didn''t even have the intelligence of a three-year-old. As for demons, they all kept their heads low after the Human-Divine Beast War. If any of them discovered the Soul Pagoda, they would choose to avoid it, lest they suffer the siege of unending cultivators. Of course, Monarch Soulfish didn''t have any subordinates or a force behind him, but the demons didn''t necessarily know that. Monarch Soulfish entered the Soul Pagoda and released the breath he had been holding. Without waiting, he immediately moved to the Soul Pool. Above the Soul Pool, a fish bowl-like artifact floated, and inside was the fuzzy soul of a girl, Chun. He had been using the spiritual qi of the spiritual vein to nourish Chun''s fragmented soul. Normally, soul essence would be the best, but after being discovered and chased the first time he attempted to harvest souls, Monarch Soulfish had sought other methods. It was not that he didn''t dare to, but it was too inefficient. Before, Begonia Tower had many disciples carrying out this task. If Monarch Soulfish wanted to gather souls, it would be too noticeable, and if he took care not to be discovered, then it would be too slow. In this way, he could only wait for wars to break out before harvesting, and even then, there was still a risk of discovery. Without delay, Monarch Soulfish took out a cauldron and lit an eerie blue-colored flame underneath. Slowly, he dropped the materials he had stolen from the Cultivator Alliance. He didn''t have talent in alchemy, but at his current level of strength, he still mastered the basics. Slowly, the essence of each material was extracted. With a wave of his hand, the essence flew into Chun''s soul, and the fuzziness diminished slightly. Monarch Soulfish sighed. "It''s a pity. If only I had something to stabilize and nourish the soul. The best would be the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus, but even a Three Essence Yin Lotus would be good." Unfortunately, those two treasures were rarer than qilin horns or phoenix feathers. The situation that resulted in their birth was very demanding, and not even the Buzhou Immortal Sect dared to claim the ability to cultivate these two wondrous treasures. Without warning, the ground and walls began to shake. Monarch Soulfish immediately formed a hand seal to stabilize the Soul Pagoda. "Who is it, who attacked the Soul Pagoda?" Monarch Soulfish immediately thought of the dangerous feeling he felt when returning. ''Could it be him?'' The Soul Pagoda shook a few more times. He judged that the attacker''s strength barely reached the Seamless Immortal Realm. After a few seconds of deliberation, Monarch Soulfish left to see who had attacked him. He didn''t want to leave and abandon the spiritual vein unless he had to. Outside, Monarch Soulfish saw the scene of a ninety-nine-meter-long dragon tackling the Soul Pagoda. The dragon had pitch-black scales darker than the deep sea, but it glowed with tiny lights like the night sky. He hadn''t expected there to still be a dragon in the Huang Realm. The ones that lived in the Huang Realm had almost all left, killed, or subdued by the hegemonic sects. "Stop, foolish demon!" Monarch Soulfish shouted using his immortal sense. He reached out, and a silver wave rushed towards the unknown black dragon.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! The silver wave drowned the black dragon, and Monarch Soulfish squeezed his fist. A moment later, his expression changed as a dark light exploded, dispersing his soul attack. In the middle, the black dragon appeared once more. He could see that the black dragon had gained a bit of wariness towards him. "Leave now, and I won''t pursue this matter. If you don''t, I''m afraid you won''t have a chance to once the others come." To Monarch Soulfish''s surprise, the black dragon started to chuckle. "Don''t try to trick me. Do you think I''m someone who knows nothing? What others, what comrades, you''re alone. Compared to me, if another cultivator comes, they''ll be more interested in that pagoda of yours, right?" Hearing this, a dark look flashed across Monarch Soulfish''s face. He did not expect the true dragon to have such a grasp on him. Monarch Soulfish didn''t waste any more time and unleashed his domain technique. The black dragon found himself trapped in a sea within a sea. The only difference was that when he looked around, he felt his senses lying to him like everything was an illusion. Without warning, he flinched as he felt something impact him. He roared, causing the surrounding waters to vibrate. However, that roar was cut short as something slammed into his bottom jaw, shutting him up. He didn''t have time to get angry as his body constantly twisted under the barrage of invisible attacks. The invisible attacks were annoying, but the drowsiness constantly attacking him was even more so. From Monarch Soulfish''s view, he could see his phantom fished-shaped soulbeasts barraging the dragon. Not only that, he was constantly influencing the dragon using soul attacks to draw him into an illusion, but with little success. According to his analysis, the dragon possessed a tyrannical flesh that exceeded most cultivators, but his soul should not be so strong. The dragon''s comprehension should be around the level of an immortal lord that had yet to master a worldly law. However, the worldly law that the dragon practiced was extremely dangerous and destructive, and Monarch Soulfish had no wish to test his body against it. But what made him puzzled was how the dragon prevented itself from falling into his technique. Every time it seemed that the black dragon was about to fall into his illusion, the dragon always seemed to wake before he completely fell. Feeling the queerness of the dragon, Monarch Soulfish wanted to solve him and leave quickly. Dragons were creatures of yang, but their dragon core was primary yin, which was good nourishment for souls. At least, it would be far better than Chun''s current container. As Monarch Soulfish prepared a killer move, his eyes widened, and he felt like he had been dumped into an ice bath. "Chun!" He ignored everything and left his soul sea domain. He could no longer detect the Soul Pagoda, and it was only then he realized that someone had erected a spatial barrier separating his domain from the outside. Ignoring the cost, Monarch Soulfish directly used the fastest and crudest method to shatter the spatial domain. Once outside, he saw the Soul Pagoda, but he still couldn''t sense it, akin to reaching for the moon in a lake''s reflection. Monarch Soulfish zeroed in on the outsider, a man wearing black armored robes with white hair and a mask covering his face. "Who are you?!"
"Did he sense me?" Tianyi asked no one in particular. Monarch Soulfish suddenly used a technique and split into numerous horned red fishes. Even with Tianyi''s senses, it was challenging to catch Monarch Soulfish''s traces. He didn''t want to make Monarch Soulfish even more suspicious, so Tianyi could only do his best to follow the real one. Actually, he failed, and he sent out his stellar incarnations. They didn''t have the same power as Tianyi, but their numbers were high. Thanks to his carpet search, he actually discovered a trace of Monarch Soulfish. What Tianyi didn''t expect was for Monarch Soulfish to repeat his tricks again. If he hadn''t been lucky and prepared himself, Tianyi felt that he really would have lost Monarch Soulfish''s trace. He waited until Monarch Soulfish entered the Soul Pagoda before taking action. He really wanted to kill Monarch Soulfish, but even if he did, so what? It was not like killing the Silent Lightning Timeline''s Monarch Soulfish would help him against his own timeline''s Emperor Soulfish. Although Tianyi had to admit it would feel very satisfying. His true goal was the Soul Pagoda. Even for the Buzhou Immortal Sect, the Soul Pagoda should be something coveted. He didn''t know how it compared to the three immortal palaces in the Vast Void outside of the Huang Realm, but it should at least have half the value. Who knows, maybe it will have the chance to become the fourth palace. However, there was something puzzling Tianyi. Thanks to Emperor Soulfish''s action against Mengfei in his timeline, she lost an arm, so Tianyi memorized as much information about him as possible. Logically, Monarch Soulfish should have reached the Extremity Immortal Realm now, but according to his analysis, this wasn''t the case. Unless he was pretending? Tianyi didn''t have confidence, so he sent out Longhai Dongzi, who had yet to master the Law of Destruction, to attack the Soul Pagoda and force out Monarch Soulfish. Of course, he wasn''t going to sacrifice Donghai Longzi. He had his Past Incarnation hide inside Donghai Longzi in case anything happened. Thanks to this, his Past Incarnation was able to prevent Donghai Longzi from falling into the illusion. During this time, Tianyi went to work. He didn''t dare to make too big of a move unless he made Monarch Souflish realize something was wrong. Thankfully, Tianyi always had excess energy and qi. Things that took a lot of time that could be solved with brute strength were not a problem with Tianyi. After making sure everything was ready, he directly sealed the space containing the Soul Pagoda into another layer of space, cutting off Monarch Soulfish''s connection. Monarch Soulfish directly exited his soul sea domain, and Tianyi took this chance to transfer his clone back into the Nine Heavens Universe. Monarch Soulfish directly used his most powerful move and attacked Tianyi. A giant whale-like fish over a thousand meters wide appeared. It opened its maw and swallowed Tianyi. Tianyi could sense something was trying to drag him into an illusion. If it were anyone else, they would have to fight the suppression of Monarch Soulfish''s attack and resist the illusion, but Tianyi''s flesh was too powerful. And his connection with his inner universe directly prevented most illusions. His will was powerful to control a whole universe. Unless Monarch Soulfish reached the realm of divinity, Tianyi didn''t think he would fall into an illusion. Tianyi used Stellar Silence and directly exploded the phantom whale. As a result, Monarch Soulfish spat out a mouthful of blood. This puzzled Tianyi. ''Is he really only in the Seamless Immortal Realm? just what is different in this timeline and mine that resulted in him reaching the Extremity Immortal Realm?'' He decided to use his stellar incarnations to suicide bomb Monarch Soulfish to buy time in case Monarch Soulfish was pretending. Tianyi shifted his position to the same space as the Soul Pagoda and used his powerful immortal sense to refine the immortal artifact. Even if Monarch Soulfish really reached the Extremity Immortal Realm, Tianyi had the confidence to escape. Even if he couldn''t, couldn''t he hide in his inner universe and wait out? While continuously sending stellar incarnations, Tianyi started to refine the Soul Pagoda. However, when he erased Monarch Soulfish''s immortal sense, a powerful willpower rejected Tianyi. Not only that, the Soul Pagoda exuded a powerful aura that shattered Tianyi''s spatial technique and brought it back into the Huang Realm. "Fuck," Tianyi cursed. ''Does Monarch Souflish also have an elder behind him like Lei Jingye?! Damn it.'' The space above the vortex twisted, and an elder with begonia patterns on his red robes appeared. "Tower Lord?!" Monarch Soulfish cried out in surprise. Chapter 292: Emperor Begonia Tianyi''s ears perked up when he heard Monarch Soulfish''s words. ''Tower Lord? As in Emperor Begonia, the founder, and leader of the fallen Begonia Tower?'' The records clearly stated that the Buzhou Immortal Sect killed Emperor Begonia, so why was he still alive? He didn''t doubt the veracity of Monarch Soulfish''s words because he could feel the pressure from the difference in strength. Oh, wait, in the Silent Lightning Timeline, the Cultivator Alliance destroyed Begonia Tower. By the time Begonia Tower was destroyed in his timeline, the Saintly Scholar School had already conquered the Mortal Continent. Was that the reason? "Not good." Tianyi didn''t even have time to finish his talk before he felt himself slow down, and something hit him. He turned around to see hundreds of begonia flowers flying toward him. He could see them, but everything felt like it was on fast forward, and his body was moving through a quagmire like he had laggy internet. Additionally, he could feel his emotions going out of control. He could feel fear rising, anger clouding his judgment, greed for the Soul Pagoda pushing him, and many many more. Tianyi forcibly suppressed these rampant emotions and desires. It was not that his willpower was absolute or superior to immortal emperors, but his consciousness was too strong. Most of it was in the Nine Heavens Universe, and only a percentage was in his current body. Tianyi felt a bit embarrassed. It was not too long ago that he said only someone at the Divinity Realm''s soul technique could affect him. Yet, wasn''t he being affected by a soul technique now? ''Does this count as a face slap?'' Tianyi couldn''t help but think. The only difference was that instead of getting his face slapped by a protagonist in the same or weaker realm, it was getting slapped by someone stronger. Tianyi expelled the unnecessary thoughts. He doubted he could defeat Emperor Begonia if he used the full power of the Law of Spacetime. Since he couldn''t defeat his foe, then it was time to leave. Emperor Begonia''s eyes flashed with shock. He had confidence that anyone weaker than an Immortal Emperor would fall under his soul attacks. Soul techniques were different from qi and martial techniques. Once the soul was affected, it was possible for them to be defeated or directly possibly die. Of course, this depended on the individual cultivator. Even if they couldn''t reach such a point, weakening hundreds or even thousands of opponents was no problem. That''s why, for an army, the most terrible opponent were soul cultivators. Therefore, upon meeting a soul cultivator, immediately run if your realm was lower or your willpower was lacking. Of course, all things had exceptions, like Tianyi or Elder Meng. "Want to run? Naive!" Emperor Begonia said. His hands reached out, and thirteen streaks of light flew out. The thirteen lights covered the surrounding thousand kilometers and merged into the air, stabilizing the space and preventing Tianyi from teleporting. He couldn''t even hide in the layers of space either. ''Is it the Law of Space?'' Tianyi immediately rejected the thought. Compared to the Law of Space, the lockdown that Emperor Begonia created was just that, a lockdown. It was closer to freezing everything and not the esoteric profundities of space. He continued to withstand the barrage of attacks from Emperor Begonia while trying to think of a solution. His clothes had already become tatters and his mask broken, but it didn''t matter to Tianyi. His flesh was the strongest defensive artifact he had. Unless he could attain an immortal artifact of the Extremity Immortal Realm, it was useless to him. Spending all that effort was not worth it since he could reconstruct his body as long as the Nine Heavens Universe existed. So, his mask and clothes were only at the rank of true immortal artifacts. What Tianyi worried about was his connection to the Nine Heavens Universe. However, that was still stable too. His connection point was inside his own body, so Emperor Begonia''s spatial lockdown was useless. Even if it was another immortal monarch that mastered the Law of Space, they could still use spatial techniques within their body. The only difference was that for them, it would be pointless. After making sure that he still had an escape route, Tianyi breathed a sigh of relief. Since he still had a retreat, he needed to gather more information on this mysterious Emperor Begonia. If Emperor Begonia hadn''t died here, there was a possibility that he would be alive in his own timeline too. Even if he wasn''t, it was a good chance to sharpen himself. The Chaos Measuring Ruler appeared in Tianyi''s hand, and he charged toward Emperor Begonia. He abandoned his defense and allowed Emperor Begonia''s attacks to hit him, but at most, they would damage his clothes. Black immortal qi with tiny dots of light appeared atop the ruler, and so did a robe of similar nature, the cosmic mantle. With the addition of the cosmic mantle, the effectiveness of Emperor Begonia''s ranged attack was greatly reduced. When they touched the cosmic mantle, they couldn''t move any further and could only wait until the energy powering them dried up. Although Tianyi was only covered in a thin layer, with the cosmic mantle on, the attacks had to travel hundreds of thousands of kilometers to reach him. Even the effectiveness of Emperor Begonia''s soul attack was reduced. Tianyi slashed out with his Chaos Measuring Ruler. It was as if a thin black line had been drawn onto everything. The next thing Emperor Begonia knew, a thin mark appeared on his robes. Tianyi''s attack had cut through space using a massive amount of immortal qi. If Emperor Begonia had taken it on with his flesh, he would have been injured, but his defensive artifact blocked Tianyi''s attack, and the spatial disturbance was immediately eliminated by his six emotions and seven desires domain. He took this chance to counterattack. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. To unleash such an attack, a massive amount of qi must have been expended. Emperor Begonia calculated it should be around half to ninety percent of an average immortal monarch''s qi reserves. Emperor Begonia formed several hand seals, and Tianyi was encased in a massive begonia flower bud. From Tianyi''s body, tiny motes of immortal qi of primordial chaos started to be drawn out. The immortal emperor frowned. Tianyi''s immortal qi was too destructive, and he had to double down on his effort in his attack to prevent the flower from dissolving after absorbing Tianyi''s qi. At first, it was illusionary, but the more qi the bud absorbed, the more real it became. The moment the flower bloomed, that would be the time of death for anyone caught inside. Emperor Begonia frowned. He expected Tianyi to struggle. Anyone caught inside would be assaulted by his soul methods, but he didn''t believe Tianyi didn''t even have the ability to resist. His eyes narrowed when the rate of absorption increased. Nevertheless, he still continued the technique while raising his guard. When the begonia bud transformed from illusionary to real, it started to bloom. As the petals started to unfurl, Emperor Begonia noticed a black color corrupting the base and edge of the flower. He tried to stop it and discover what was wrong, but he discovered that if he did anything else, the flower would immediately explode. He had thought Tianyi wouldn''t have much qi left, but he was wrong. He didn''t think much of it before since Tianyi was caught in his technique. But now, Emperor Begonia realized he had underestimated Tianyi. The amount of energy in the begonia flower had equal to that of an average immortal emperor. If the begonia exploded, Emperor Begonia could not guarantee to escape unharmed. Emperor Begonia didn''t know what Tianyi was thinking. His act was practically self-detonation using another means. They hadn''t fought for long, was he already pushed to this point of being ready to perish together? How could Emperor Begonia know that Tianyi was unafraid of such an explosion? While delaying the burst of the begonia flower, Emperor Begonia started to retreat. He glanced at the last remaining member of Begonia Tower and the Soul Pagoda. He gritted his teeth and flew towards them. He grabbed Monarch Soulfish and entered the Soul Pagoda before controlling it to flee as far as possible. Monarch Soulfish watched the battle with wide eyes. As a soul cultivator who mastered the Law of Illusion, he could clearly feel the offensive soul domain. Even a soul monarch like himself had no confidence in dealing with it, but the greater shock was how strong Tianyi''s body was. In his eyes, Tianyi was far too slow under the assault of Emperor Begonia. However, that was meaningless in front of Tianyi''s fleshly prowess. Monarch Soulfish doubted his physical attacks could exceed Emperor Begonia, so wouldn''t that mean that no matter what, he couldn''t harm Tianyi at all? The shock turned to horror when Tianyi finally attacked. That simple slash was too terrifying. Ignoring the fact that it only damaged Emperor Begonia''s defensive artifact, the range was far too wide. At least in terms of armies, Tianyi''s danger wasn''t any lower than a soul cultivator''s. He sighed in relief when he saw Emperor Begonia seal Tianyi in an illusionary flower bud. He had already guessed that Emperor Begonia had always known about the Soul Pagoda and lent it to him for some unknown purpose, perhaps to draw away the eyes of the Cultivator Alliance? But whatever reason, it was still much better than Tianyi grabbing the Soul Pagoda. He had already prepared himself to return the Soul Pagoda, no matter how reluctant he was. He could already foresee the increased difficulty of reviving Chun, but so what? This was his purpose in life, and he would accomplish it no matter what. Monarch Soulfish felt a hint of danger. He could see the begonia flower blooming, and everything seemed to be according to the Tower Lord''s plan, but his heart could not settle down. He decided to trust his senses, so he flew towards the Soul Pagoda. Even if he couldn''t take it, he needed to retrieve Chun''s incomplete soul. Suddenly, for whatever reason, Emperor Begonia grabbed him and brought him inside the Soul Pagoda. Just as Monarch Soulfish reoriented himself, a cataclysmic explosion occurred outside the Soul Pagoda, blasting the immortal artifact with waves upon waves of explosions. The treasured light emitting from the pagoda started to dim as Emperor Begonia controlled it to block the attack. Monarch Soulfish couldn''t focus and didn''t care about the explosion or the Soul Pagoda right now. All he could think about was Chun. He flew towards Chun''s soul container and quickly wrapped it in a layer of protective qi. Emperor Begonia only glanced at him and didn''t say another word. He flew outside after the explosion subsided. After a moment of hesitation, Monarch Soulfish followed behind. Once outside, his jaws dropped. As far as his eye could see, the seawater had disappeared, and in its place, a gigantic crater over a thousand kilometers wide. He could feel the dense spiritual qi resulting from the destruction of the spiritual vein. The increased density was only a side effect of the destruction, the spiritual vein would dry up soon, and the spiritual qi density would be even lower than before. "Just what happened?" Monarch Soulfish couldn''t help but mutter. "Careful," Emperor Begonia said. Monarch Soulfish frowned. He knew that Tianyi mastered the Law of Space, but he could also tell that Emperor Begonia sealed the space and prevented him from escaping. He didn''t think that Tianyi could have escaped, but he still obeyed and searched warily. Just as the seawater came rushing back in and covered the seafloor, Monarch Soulfish snapped his head in a certain direction. There, a portal opened, and Tianyi stepped out. Unlike the last time Monarch Soulfish saw him, Tianyi''s robes were like new, and even his mask returned to its former state. Monarch Soulfish''s brows furrowed. "Tower Lord, should we attack together?" "No, it''s no longer possible." Monarch Soulfish didn''t understand, but he soon did. In the distance, a painting of the Buzhou Immortal Sect appeared. Then a figure with snow-white hair and white robes stepped out of the painting, Elder Zhang Cuiying, Empress Voidink! "Emperor Begonia, I didn''t expect you to still be alive." Emperor Begonia''s expression didn''t change. Instead, he said, "Let''s go." He waved his hand and brought Monarch Soulfish into the Soul Pagoda and left. After several tense moments, Monarch Soulfish released a sigh of relief. He didn''t know if Empress Voidink and Tianyi had any relationship, but if the two teamed up, he didn''t have the confidence to defeat or escape from Tianyi. "Qiu, I didn''t expect you to reach this step after the fall of Begonia Tower. Had I known, I would have groomed you when Begonia Tower still existed," Emperor Begonia said. Monarch Soulfish didn''t change his expression. He wasn''t a kid anymore, and what''s the point of what-ifs? Emperor Begonia didn''t continue speaking regrets anymore. "Right now, the Huang Realm will pay attention to our existence, and frankly speaking, you are a bit too weak right now. If your opponents were weaker than you, it would be fine. As it is now, you will have problems." "What does Tower Lord suggest?" Qiu asked. He could already detect Tower Lord''s meaning. "I have a technique that can train your body. It won''t raise your attack, but it will add another life-saving method for you." Emperor Begonia said. Monarch Soulfish furrowed his brows. "What price do I need to pay?" "I want you to promise me that when the time comes, you will help me attack the Buzhou Immortal Sect," Emperor Begonia said. "Buzhou Immortal Sect?" Monarch Soulfish repeated. If Emperor Begonia said Cultivator Alliance, he could still understand, but Buzhou Immortal Sect? "Do you think it''s strange?" Emperor Begonia asked. "What if I told you that the Cultivator Alliance is nothing more than a hidden force of the Buzhou Immortal Sect?" Chapter 293: Timeline Divergence "How can that be? There are only three hegemonic sects in the entire Huang Realm. If what you said is true, wouldn''t that mean that the Buzhou Immortal Sect controls two-thirds of the entire realm?" Monarch Soulfish said. A chill crawled up his spine as he thought of the implications. Emperor Begonia shook his head. "I was shocked too when I learned of this matter, but you can rest assured that my information is accurate." "Why would the Buzhou Immortal Sect do this? If they had such strength, why not eliminate the Eight Pillar Sect and conquer the whole Huang Realm?" Monarch Soulfish asked. Then a horrifying thought occurred to him. "Unless the Eight Pillar Sect is also controlled by the Buzhou Immortal Sect?" "Fortunately, no," Emperor Soulfish said. "If all three great continents were under their control, why would they continue this farce?" "Then why? Since they already control two hegemonic forces, why don''t they conquer the third?" Emperor Soulfish stayed silent for a moment. "Because they are wary of outside forces. You should know that aside from the Huang Realm, there is a second immortal-rank realm in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms Universe." Monarch Soulfish nodded. "The Numinous Realm." "Unlike us, the Numinous Realm is completely controlled by a single force, the Numinous Sword Sect," Emperor Soulfish said. "The Buzhou Immortal Sect is wary of the Numinous Sword Sect and doesn''t want to become mantis stalking cicada. Only when they have complete confidence to swiftly destroy the Eight Pillar Sect and conquer the Earth Continent will they take action." "Since you want to attack the Buzhou Immortal Sect, are you an agent of the Numinous Sword Sect?" Monarch Soulifsh asked. "No, had I been, Begonia Tower would not have been so utterly destroyed," Emperor Begonia said. Monarch Soulfish narrowed his eyes as he heard those words. It wasn''t the word themselves that made him feel strange but the complete lack of emotion. Begonia Tower had been founded and grown to its status as a first-rate force through Emperor Begonia''s sweat and tears, yet when he spoke of the event, it was as if he was just commenting on the other. "So you want revenge on the Buzhou Immortal Sect to quell your hatred?" Monarch Soulfish probed. "hatred? What use do I have for such a useless emotion?" Emperor Begonioa asked. He stared at Monarch Soulfish. "You are talented. You should abandon that useless burden and focus wholeheartedly on cultivating." Anger rose in Monarch Soulfish''s heart. "Shut up! Even if you are the Tower Lord, I won''t allow anyone to call Chun a burden!" Emperor Begonia didn''t have any fluctuations in his eyes, there was not even a trace of pity. "Very well, do as you wish. I just want to know if you will agree to our transaction or not." "Before I answer, I want to know why you want to attack the Buzhou Immortal Sect," Monarch Soulfish said. "Since you said that you harbor no hatred toward the Buzhou Immortal Sect, and it didn''t seem like they knew of your survival, why would you want to take action against them?" Emperor Begonia didn''t say anything and just stared at Monarch Soulfish. Even though he didn''t detect any killing intent from his former superior, Monarch Soulfish still felt all the hairs on his body rise. "Alright, it''s no use hiding it from you anyway. You''ll find out about it after learning the technique," Emperor Soulfish said. "I am simply carrying out another force''s will." Monarch Soulfish inwardly released a sigh of relief once Emperor Begonia spoke, but he still asked. "Whose?" "Buddhism." Hearing Emperor Begonia answer, Monarch Soulfish furrowed his brows. If he recalled correctly, Buddhism had fallen at the end of the Primordial Era along with many other forces. "Buddhism still exists, and why would they want to attack the Buzhou Immortal Court? I thought the only other immortal-rank realm was the Numinous Realm." "Buddhism is far more powerful than you think. They, too, want to grasp supremacy. As for the other details, you don''t need to know," Emperor Begonia said. "Now, you had your questions answered. Tell me your answer." Monarch Soulfish only deliberated for a few moments before he agreed. "You''ve made a wise choice. The technique I''m going to impart to you is the Golden Body of Naraka," Emperor Begonia said. "Using karmic sin as energy, refine the body through suffering, and achieve a body equal to immortal artifacts. There is no greater technique for soul cultivators like us who can torture souls."
After Emperor Begonia left, Tianyi stared at Grand Elder Zhang. Although he was part of the Buzhou Immortal Sect in his timeline, his relationship with the Silent Lightning Timeline''s Buzhou Immortal Sect hadn''t been set in stone¡ªespecially after he left at the end of the Sovereign Nine Yin incident. Still, Tianyi cupped his fist and saluted Grand Elder Zhang. "Thank you for your aid." "No need. Monarch Nine Heaves is a guest of our Buzhou Immortal Sect after all," Grand Elder Zhang said, causing Tianyi to feel goosebumps from her politeness. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ''I wonder if she''ll directly try to kill me if I reveal my face,'' Tianyi idly thought. "Do you want to return to the sect or wander the realm some more?" Grand Elder Zhang asked, unaware of Tianyi''s thoughts. "I still haven''t accomplished my goal, so I''ll be wandering the realm for a bit longer," Tianyi said. Grand Elder Zhang nodded and threw something toward Tianyi. He caught it in his hand and looked at it. It was a black jade pendant with the word ink engraved on it. " "If you meet any trouble, immediately activate the pendant, and I''ll come as soon as possible," Grand Elder Zhang said. Tianyi thanked the white-haired woman, and then she left. After she left, Tianyi stared at his surroundings. The seawater had already hidden the giant crater on the seafloor, and everything returned to normal as if a cataclysmic battle had not occurred. ''I''ll go to the Earth Continent for now. Who knows, maybe I''ll discover some shocking secret. Not likely, though.'' Tianyi thought. He already knew that Sect Master Xia and the other upper echelons had watched his confrontation with Monarch Soulfish and Emperor Begonia. The Buzhou Immortal Sect had three ways to observe the Huang Realm using the three floating palaces in the Vast Void. The closest Tianyi could describe it was likening the three immortal palaces to satellites. Of course, it didn''t mean they could observe everything. Tianyi''s battle with Emperor Begonia must have caused too much of a stir, eliciting them to observe the area he had been in and allowing them to realize his uniqueness. There was no way a normal immortal monarch could resist Emperor Begonia''s soul methods and cause such destruction after all. Hence why they sent Grand Elder Zhang to save him. They saw value in him and wanted to draw him even more to their camp and timeline. Not that Tianyi planned to stay. Even if they sent a thousand beautiful women to him as a honey trap, he would still choose to leave. Part of it was because he didn''t want to abandon his mother, Mengfei. The other was because of the lack of appearance of reincarnators. This meant that his mom from Earth could never be found. He had tried to search for his mother, but that would require him to access the Threelives Stone in the Nether Realm, which was impossible for anyone below the Divinity Realm. The third reason was because of the faster time flow. Generally, the less stable a realm was, the faster the time passed. As such, weaker realms like lower-ranked realms experienced time much faster than higher-ranked realms like the Huang Realm. Although time flowed much faster, the qi density and other elements were much inferior. This included talents. If a heavenly spiritual root appeared in one person out of a million, a person with a heavenly spiritual root might not even appear in a trillion in a lower-ranked realm. Everything in the universe had a finite life, even the universe itself. Realms were born from the realm essence produced by destroyed planets. They, too, would eventually age and die. Perhaps their remains would form a new realm, but it would always be weaker if born naturally. Since that was the case, this meant this timeline was inferior to his timeline. If it had been superior, Tianyi might have thought of a way to transport the people he cared about here, but it wasn''t. Eventually, it would age and die, becoming nutrients for other, stronger timelines. Of course, that is if none of the denizens of the timeline could figure out a way to strengthen it and reverse the process. Tianyi paused mid-flight. Perhaps the reason why Monarch Soulfish remained in the Seamless Realm was because of this reason. If you placed two people with the exact same talent and experience in a higher and lower realm, the higher realm would always progress faster and have higher potential. He shook his head. That still didn''t make a hundred percent sense, either. Sect Master Xia and Grand Elder Zhang were both in the same realm as in his timeline. Or not, he couldn''t tell. Tianyi sat in a lotus position above the water and began to meditate. He felt as if he had grasped some important point. Six months later, Tianyi opened his eyes and released a breath. "Although timelines have the same starting point, the longer, the farther they are from the divergent point, the fewer resources they have. So, although a few key people seem to have the same cultivation, there should be fewer experts overall." The longer time passed, the faster the time flow should be for the weaker timelines, expediting their decline. Not that the occupants could tell unless they reached a certain level or had a unique artifact. Judging from that, only an additional hundred years had passed, the point of divergence shouldn''t have happened over three hundred years ago. The only thing Tianyi could think of was reincarnators like him. Since reincarnators didn''t appear in this timeline, it split off, right? "If I can regress time to before the divergent point, could I then travel to my own timeline?" Tianyi asked aloud. He immediately shook his head. Ignoring whether it was possible, the amount of energy needed was too insane. He would be damaging the foundation of his Nine Heavens Universe just for a chance. Instead of focusing on unfeasible thoughts, Tianyi decided to be more productive. He had originally planned on allowing his inner universe to evolve naturally since it seemed to be the best option in light of his inability to control more than a portion of the inner universe. But now, he didn''t think so. If he allowed his inner universe to operate on its own, an unnecessary amount of essence and qi would be wasted.
"He didn''t forget about me, did he?" Daoyi asked no one in particular. She took a sip from the Liquorlight Gourd on her waist and then frowned. She looked up and noticed that day had suddenly turned into night. Furthermore, the stars shone brighter. If before, there was a thin gauze separating the stars, now, the obstacle had been completely removed, allowing the starlight to cascade down on her. Then, the stars'' position shifted. It was gradual, and only some of them moved, but as time passed, Daoyi could see the formation of new constellations. She saw a giant kun fish that exuded the Law of Space. Another constellation that took the form of a roc exuded the Law of Time. Together, they formed a constellation of a kunpeng, representing the Law of Spacetime. At another corner, she saw a sword constellation exuding the Law of Lightning and reminding her of the Sword of Damocles. Although they were incomplete, she also saw constellations representing fire, water, earth, wood, and metal as the Vermillion Bird, Black Tortoise, Yellow Dragon, Azure Dragon, and White Tiger. Daoyi felt something resonate with her. Specifically, the Law of Death that she practiced. She turned her head towards the sources to see an embryonic constellation. The constellation had the upper body of a woman but the lower half of a snake. At first, Daoyi thought it was a constellation of Nuwa, the creator of mankind¡ªat least in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System¡ªbut the closer she looked, and the more complete the constellation became, she felt as if her guess was wrong. "That''s me?" Chapter 294: Law of Devouring A woman who appeared in her mid-thirties stared out her window and at the night sky. It still seemed like a dream to her, all that had happened in the last ten years. She could still recall her father hosting the Vast Heaven God at Azure Leaf City all those years ago. Since when had they stopped addressing him Senior Vast Heaven or Grandmaster Vast Heaven and reverentially addressing him as Vast Heaven God? Ziye couldn''t remember. She could still remember the shock when they saw Vast Heaven God shift Fan City into a world with denser spiritual qi than the Demon Cage Realm. Maybe it was from that point that the seeds had been planted. Before the Vast Heaven God left, he had brought them to a newly created realm known as the Starry Sky Immortal Grotto. He had said it wasn''t a realm and would only last a thousand years or so, but to her and the rest of the denizens of the Demon Cage Realm, it was no different than an act of god. Because only divinities could hold such miraculous powers. Although the Starry Sky Immortal Grotto was eternally night, it was safe. It wasn''t like it was dark or hard to see. The amount of light was akin to a constant full moon despite only stars covering the night sky. Still, the citizens of Fan City hung lanterns to increase the brightness. Humans were creatures that always sought greater light. She knew the world was dangerous, but it hadn''t hit her how dangerous the world was until Azure Leaf City had been destroyed. Perhaps that''s why her attraction to Lushu had deepened. He wasn''t the most handsome or gentlest man she had met, but he gave her a sense of safety. Ziye had thought peaceful days had finally arrived when they settled down in the Starry Sky Immortal Grotto. She knew of Lushu''s ambition to grow stronger, perhaps even surpass the Vast Heaven God. She hadn''t gone against his goals. If anything, she only encouraged it more. However, all her dreams of a peaceful yet happy life came crashing down when she heard of Lushu''s death. Had she not discovered her pregnancy at the time, her mind might have shattered. Ziye gave birth to the last remaining connection to Lushu, Jinshu. She watched him grow up from a helpless child to a man worthy of his father, but some part of her couldn''t help but worry that he would leave her too. The worry only increased when Jinshu''s strength started to near his father''s. Then, the Vast Heaven God appeared again. Ziye had already forgotten his facial features except for those pair of bedeviling eyes. But compared to last time, she couldn''t see any of his features at all, as if they were covered in an illusionary veil, not that she would dare to gaze at his face anymore. The Vast Heaven God exuded an invisible pressure that made her and everyone in Fan City bow their heads. Had the pressure been any greater, she and the rest of the residents would have literally prostrated themselves to him. She later learned that he appeared to take Jinshu as his disciple. Apparently, he heard Jinshu''s prayers in the temple they had erected in his honor. Ziye was both relieved and worried. Relieved, because with someone as powerful as the Vast Heaven God guiding him, Jinshu''s would become smoother. Worried because of the secret she carried about her husband''s death. No one else knew because he had told Ziye to keep it a secret, but before he left, Lushu told her that someone known as Grandmaster Xia wanted to speak privately to him outside of the immortal grotto. She didn''t know who this Grandmaster Xia was, but she could guess. Someone as powerful as Lushu described had to be people from the same origin as the Vast Heaven God. To this day, Jinshu still thinks that monsters had killed his father, and Ziye didn''t want to shatter this lie. She feared that if Jinshu sought revenge against the Vast Heaven God''s companion, he would be exterminated. She didn''t know why the Vast Heaven God accepted Jinshu as a disciple, but she had a feeling that he didn''t know or care about the fact that Lushu died under Grandmaster Xia''s hands. Even if Jinshu grew more powerful than the Vast Heaven God and Grandmaster Xia, she didn''t want him to take revenge because it would bring him into conflict with the rest of the immortals. She would rather take the secret to her grave. Her fear grew even more when the Vast Heaven God took relocated Fan City again. This time, according to him, it was a complete world and not a realm, though she didn''t understand the difference. The qi density surpassed that of the Starry Sky Immortal Grotto. Though, she was quite reluctant to part with that place since it contained her memories of Jinshu. And now, the qi density was growing even more. She gazed at the starry sky. Even though the stars were just tiny dots of light to her, she could see vague apparitions from the formation of constellations. She could see a majestic fish that seemed to be able to swallow the whole world, a great bird with unparalleled speed, an azure dragon full of vitality, a white tiger exuding sharpness, a vermillion bird radiating intense heat, a black tortoise discharging frost, and a yellow dragon that seemed to be the center of it all. Each one of them exuded a charm that she couldn''t put into words. But the one that drew her attention the most was the constellation with the lower half of a snake but the upper half of a woman. The half-woman half-snake was death itself. Ziye knelt on the ground and prayed. She prayed that the goddess of death would spare her son. It didn''t matter if the goddess of death took her life, it didn''t matter to Ziye, as long as Jinshu lived.
"What is this?!" Dong Chifan asked in shock. He had been trapped in this world for over a decade. After Tianyi left him to his own devices, he wondered what Tianyi was thinking, letting him go. It was only later that he realized he wasn''t released. Somehow, Tianyi had transported him to a barren land. Well, not barren, but devoid of any other humans. He had tried to search for an exit out, thinking it was an immortal grotto, but he discovered that this prison was even larger than the Huang Realm. Stranger still was the fact that it was round! This shocked him since all realms were flat, and he didn''t know what kind of abnormal prison he was located in. Thankfully, he discovered more people later on, but they were pitifully weak and did not seem to be people of the Huang Realm. Dong Chifan blended in with them and extracted information from them to learn that this world was a planet known as Sixth Heaven. Planets were realms that were round like a sphere and not flat, with spatial boundaries separating them from the Vast Void. Aside from that, he learned that Tianyi relocated them from a hostile realm known as the Demon Cage Realm.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Using this information, Dong Chifan tried to find some secret exit. So far, the only location he hadn''t explored aside from the sea was the tallest mountain on Sixth Heaven. Even with his Immortal Realm cultivation base, he couldn''t scale the mountain due to the immense pressure. While Dong Chifan was still trying to find a way to escape and return to the Huang Realm¡ªhe was still a member of the Leakless Sect after all¡ªnight suddenly descended. He hadn''t noticed anything different at first except the darkened sky, but to his shock, he felt the worldly laws laid bare to him. Of course, it was only a certain amount of worldly law, but it was still enough to dazzle him. It had taken him over a thousand years to reach the Immortal Realm and ascend back to the Huang Realm, but he still hadn''t mastered a worldly law. When the constellations appeared, his eyes were immediately stuck to the kunpeng constellation, specifically the kun fish. He could discern the Law of Space contained with the kun constellation, but what attracted him more was the parts of the Law of Devouring that he practiced. Dong Chifan sat in a lotus position and began to observe the kun constellation with all his heart and mind. As he tried to comprehend the Law of Devouring contained within the constellation, his body lit up with mysterious runes, and the World Piercing Mammoth Boar emerged behind him as an apparition. Slowly, the body of the gigantic boar elongated as its tail thickened and tapered off. Its fur thickened and hardened into countless scales. Its limbs shrunk and gained fins, but it was still halfway transformed from a boar to a fish. Dong Chifan frowned as he discovered his progress had slowed down. After deliberating for a bit, he stood up and flew upward. He was afraid of accidentally nearing too close to the spatial boundaries and being exiled from Sixth Heaven, but his desire for the worldly law overrode his fear. As he climbed higher and higher to the sky, Dong Chifan discovered that he didn''t see any spatial tears or boundaries that usually existed in realms. Furthermore, he felt the increasingly harsh conditions as he flew higher and higher. "This is a planet?" Dong Chifan asked breathlessly as he took in the round world below him. He looked up to see the Vast Void. There was no spatial boundary separating the world below and the Vast Void as he had thought. He stilled his bewildered thoughts and focused on the kun constellation. Whatever the reason, he had to reap the benefits first. For whatever reason, the esoteric laws that normally couldn''t easily be sensed were laid bare to him, but he knew such a condition wouldn''t last long, so he had to take advantage of it. Forty-nine days later, the worldly laws concealed themselves once more, and Dong Chifan opened his eyes. His martial manifestation of the World Piercing Mammoth Boar had successfully transformed into a kun fish. To be precise, it should be World Piercing Kun Fish. Dong Chifan exhaled, and his breath condensed into frost in the upper atmosphere of Sixth Heaven. Although he hadn''t fully mastered the Law of Devouring, he was close. With time on his hand, he looked again at the Vast Void. After deliberating for a moment, he sighed and descended again. Most of his hope of escaping had vanished upon realizing the strange world he was trapped in. He still harbored hope that the sealed mountain had a portal or exit, but it was slim.
"I didn''t expect him to comprehend parts of the Law of Devouring by studying the Law of Space contained in my Spacetime Constellation," Tianyi said as he watched Dong Chifan try to climb the tallest mountain on Sixth Heaven. "Well, it''s not like it''s going to help him much in this case." "You sound way too smug while saying that," Daoyi said next to him. "The one who should have gained the most is you, right? After organizing all the energy and laws you comprehended, you should have gained quite a bit. Not to mention you probably stole his comprehension of the Law of Devouring." Tianyi covered the grin that was threatening to split his space. "I plead the fifth." "So, did you really forget me in here for nearly a year?" Daoyi asked. "Urk!" Tianyi straightened his back as he felt the aura of death radiate off of his girlfriend. It was not a metaphor. Daoyi''s aura of death was literally condensed from the Law of Death. "Haha, I kinda got too excited from having an epiphany and explored all of Earth Continent already," Tianyi said while trying to maintain his smile. Daoyi sighed. "Well, did you find anything?" "Nope, the Eight Pillar Sect was quite wary of me. I guess they paid quite a bit of attention to the news about me. I guess we should''ve explored the Earth Continent before making contact with the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Too late now." "What about the Qiankun Ruler Fragment that you refined into an artifact? Can''t you use that to get us back with your increased mastery?" Daoyi asked. Tianyi shrugged. "No can do. The thing that broke through the dimensional boundaries was the qiankun energy within the divine fragment, not the law contained within. I could probably emulate something similar, but there''s no guarantee that we''ll make it back to our timeline. We might just land in an even worse situation where we increase the distance between us and our timeline." Daoyi held her forehead. "Then what can we do. I don''t mind staying. Of course, it would be best if we could get back, but you''re the one that has fetters." "Aw, but what if I was still trapped in the timeline while you''re trapped here? Does that mean you wouldn''t want to go back?" Tianyi teased. Daoyi turned towards him and caressed Tianyi''s cheeks. With a devastating smile, she said, "Of course not. I''d cross mountains and rivers for you. After all, you''re my precious boyfriend." Tianyi''s face turned redder than a tomato. He quickly turned around and covered his face. "Goddamit. You can''t say that. I''m the man here and the one supposed to make you blush. Not the other way around." Daoyi hid her giggle behind her sleeve. "Sorry, but you''re too easy to tease, you know that?" "A-anyways, we should probably head back to the Buzhou Immortal Sect. I''m going to sneak into the forbidden grounds to see if there''s a method to return," Tianyi said, diverting the topic. Luckily for him, Daoyi accepted the change in topic and agreed. Both of them returned to the Buzhou Immortal Sect and lived in the Honored Lotus Palace on Rites Peak once more. Although Tianyi said he was going to sneak into the forbidden ground, he still needed an opportunity. Even with his current mastery of spacetime, the Buzhou Immortal Sect had formations that prevented him from using those techniques he was so proud of. Hell, he''d believe that ten immortal sovereigns wouldn''t be able to break into the Buzhou Immortal Sect once it activated all its barriers. Sect Master Xia had given him almost all the information on the Buzhou Immortal Sect, but that didn''t mean much in the Silent Lightning Timeline. He still had to slowly gain control of some formations without anyone knowing. He doubted that this timeline''s Sect Master Xia or the other elders would be happy to allow him, an anomaly, into the forbidden ground or gain control of any of the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s formations. So, Tianyi slowly made progress, careful not to rustle the grass and scare the snakes. Six months later, Sect Master Xia visited him. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" Tianyi asked as Daoyi poured tea for the both of them. Sect Master Xia drank the tea and said, "Good tea. It combines the characteristics of wine and tea and clears my spirit!" ''No, Daoyi just wanted to be able to drink alcohol even when she is drinking tea.'' Tianyi thought. After one sip, Sect Master Xia looked at Tianyi with a serious expression. "Fellow daoist, actually, I''ve come here for a favor." "Favor, what sort of favor does the famous Sect Master Xia need of me?" "You should know of the Three Heavens Connection Meeting, right?" Tianyi nodded as he gained a nostalgic look in his eyes. Then, he recalled a terrible memory and his expression darkened. "Actually, we discovered a fragment of the immortal court, and we wanted to send an immortal monarch as the supervisor for our disciples, but unfortunately, none of the immortal monarch elders will have time. I was wondering if you could take on this task," Sect Master Xia asked with a sincere expression. Tianyi felt the corner of his eyes twitch uncontrollably. ''I never knew Sect Master Xia could be this annoying.'' Chapter 295: A Familiar Face It was a familiar scene. Three enormous immortal ships began to appear from three different directions. One ship seemed to be the color of white one moment but suddenly became black the next moment. Not only that, but the boat''s existence seemed to drift between a state of falsehood and truth, illusionary one moment but real the next. The second boat had twelve engravings on its hall: a rat, an ox, a tiger, a rabbit, a dragon, a snake, a horse, a goat, a monkey, a rooster, a dog, and a boar. Each engraving shone and exuded a different kind of worldly law. The third could only be described in one word; grand. The boat was made of the finest spiritual wood with a jade dragon carved at the front, and rather than the boat flying through the air, it seemed that the world was moving instead of it. Upon arrival on Heaven Shroud Island, the strongest immortal present disembarked first. Daoyi followed close behind him. Then it was the other immortals followed by the nascent soul and core formation disciples. Across from Tianyi, he could see that only two-thirds of the entourage from the Earth Continent were from the Eight Pillar Sect. The last third consisted of disciples from the Anti-Earth Alliance. Unlike his own timeline, the Anti-Earth Alliance did not have an immortal emperor, so the Eight Pillar Sect''s situation was better. Tianyi thought he saw a glimmer of the tail end of a red robe, but he decisively ignored it. Instead, he observed the Earth Continent''s two immortal monarchs: Monarch Dong of the Eight Pillar Sect and Monarch Evernight of the Eternal Night Sect. He did not have the ability to discern the twos'' cultivation during the Three Heavens Connection Meeting of his timeline, but this time was different. Monarch Evernight''s immortal qi held traces of lightning and fire, showing that he had merged two elemental qis into his Daotree. On the other hand, Monarch Dong seemed to have merged four qis into his Daotree: fire, water, earth, and wood. Tianyi turned his attention to the Cultivator Alliance''s entourage. Compared to the Heaven Continent, where everyone wore the same uniform, or the Earth Continent, where there was some semblance of a uniform, divided as it was, the Mortal Continent entourage all had different styles. They were led by a single immortal monarch. The immortal monarch seemed to be at the fourth step like Monarch Dong. He had a barrel-like build and wore brown robes. He was Monarch Oxsplit. The four immortal monarchs observed each other for a moment. Tianyi took the first step and walked towards the center of Heaven Shroud Island. The three others weren''t willing to show any weakness, so they also walked forward and met Tianyi. Although Tianyi only appeared in the Silent Lightning Timeline for less than ten years, none of the other Immortal Monarchs would underestimate him. Despite Tianyi''s battle occurring in the middle of the Endless Seas, the Eight Pillar Sect, Anti-Earth Alliance, and Cultivator Alliance somehow managed to gain the intelligence on the clash. "I have long heard of Monarch Nine Heaven''s famed name. The rumors don''t do you justice, as expected of the number one expert under the Extremity Immortal Realm," Monarch Evernight said, enjoying the grimace that flashed across Monarch Dong''s face. As the weakest seamless immortal present, his face was all smiles. The corner of Tianyi''s lips twitched. ''Long heard of? You mean just recently?'' Still, Tianyi did not pierce Monarch Evernight''s lie. "You overpraise. Compared to me, Monarch Evernight''s fame has spread far and wide." "I never expected the Buzhou Immortal Sect to fall so low that they needed an outsider to lead their disciple," Monarch Dong said, causing the atmosphere to turn silent. Luckily, Monarch Oxsplit took control of the conversation. Only, it turned the atmosphere for the worse. "If I were you, I would worry about myself before others." "You!" Compared to the relationship between the Buzhou Immortal Sect, the Eight Pillar Sect and Cultivator Alliance had a more significant rivalry in the Silent Lightning Timeline. The Eight Pillar Sect had two immortal emperors, and the Cultivator Alliance only had one, but the Cultivator Alliance had far more members and twice as many immortal monarchs. They may not be as united, but at a certain point, quantity transformed into quality. Tianyi waved his hand. "Let''s stop it here. We''re here for the juniors to compete, not ourselves. What do you say to begin the competition?" As he said that, Tianyi felt slightly giddy. He had already reached this point. The other three immortal monarchs agreed, and they separated into their own camps. With a simple activation, ninety-nine pillars shot out from the ground. The rules were the same, the disciples had to duel atop the arenas, and only the winner would stay. Tianyi didn''t recognize any of the core formation disciples, and he discovered that his task was somewhat troublesome. Not because it required much effort, but because it was too boring. He wanted nothing more than focus on comprehending the laws again, but he was afraid that he would lose focus and embarrass himself. So, he turned towards Daoyi and asked. "What do you think?" "It''s kinda exciting. I didn''t get the chance to come here last time because I was too weak," Daoyi said. "What about you, what rank did you get?" "I got ninth place." "So low?" Daoyi said in shock. "Did you forget I was constantly puking blood? If I had exerted too much effort, I would have puked a ton of blood. Though, I almost did puke a ton of blood, but not because of exertion," Tianyi muttered near the end, his voice too low for Daoyi to make out his words. "That''s right, I almost forgot. That seemed like a lifetime ago," Daoyi said as she gained a nostalgic look in her eyes. "You also had the problem of exploding for no reason. You destroyed two mansions because of that."The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. "Ugh," Tianyi groaned. "Don''t remind me." Tianyi passed the time by speaking with Daoyi and, occasionally, the other immortal elders that were brought along. After nearly a week, the core formation disciple competition had ended. He recognized none of the top spots. The nascent soul disciples competition began in less than a day. Again, he didn''t see any familiar faces. "I didn''t expect Wei Daying to still be stuck in the Nascent Soul Realm. Lin Mu, I''m not so surprised," Daoyi said. ''Who?'' Tianyi thought. He stared at the people mentioned and Daoyi. ''Yep, I still can''t recognize them.'' "You forgot about them, didn''t you?" Daoyi accused. Tianyi wisely stayed silent. He saw a red figure jump onto the first arena. Tianyi rubbed his eyes and looked again. Yep, he was definitely hallucinating. Something must be wrong with him because first place was a name he swore he had never seen before but was extremely familiar with and gave him chills. Yeah, he should get a good rest after this. The battle with Emperor Begonia must have tuckered him out more than he had thought. The Three Heavens Connection Meeting took a little bit over a month. Next was the important part. Everyone embarked onto their ships again, with the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s ship in the lead. They traveled to the edge of the Huang Realm, where the spatial rifts were a regular occurrence. "We''ll leave it to Monarch Nine Heavens." As the force to claim the orthodox lineage of the Immortal Court, the Buzhou Immortal Court naturally had the responsibility to open the path to the ruin of the Immortal Court. Tianyi couldn''t discount the chance that this was another probe from Sect Master Xia since he did not give Tianyi the directions to open the Immortal Court ruin. If Tianyi knew how to access the Immortal Court ruin, this meant he was a core member of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. He flew out of the immortal boat and stabilized the spatial rifts first, causing a rare moment of peace at the Huang Realm''s boundary. Then, he formed several hand seals, and an illusionary gate appeared in front of him. Moments later, the illusionary gate shifted from false to reality. And with a final seal, Tianyi locked the entrance to the Immortal Court ruin to the physical plane. Tianyi turned around and said, "Everything is ready. All the mortal disciples are to disembark and enter the Immortal Court ruin in an orderly manner. You have one year. If you do not leave in one year, you will be forever trapped inside." After Tianyi spoke, the disciple disembarked the immortal boat and entered the gate one by one. The first to enter was the nascent soul disciples, and the second to enter were the core formation disciples. Unlike the one in Tianyi''s memories, no Unity Realm elders were present. Instead, the immortals of the various sect would enter after the disciples left. ''I wonder if someone will destroy the ruin like I did. Probably not.'' Tianyi thought. After speaking with Daoyi for a bit, Tianyi sat in a lotus position mid-air. He closed his eyes and began to comprehend the worldly laws. Daoyi followed Tianyi''s example and comprehended the laws. She exuded a deathly aura that shocked observers. She could feel that she was a hair''s breadth away from completely comprehending the Law of Death, but it felt as if she couldn''t pierce the bubble. It was a stifling feeling that could not be placed into words. The other immortal monarchs and true immortals also followed Tianyi''s example. Or rather, it was their standard M.O. when they had time to spare. One year flew by very quickly, and then fate to the Immortal Court opened. Compared to the number of people who entered, only about seventy percent exited. The Buzhou Immortal Sect and Cultivator Alliance each lost about five percent of their disciples, but the Earth Continent lost about twenty percent of their disciples, causing Monarch Dong''s and Monarch Evernight''s expressions to turn dark. They glanced at Tianyi but didn''t say anything in the end. "Alright, it''s time for us immortals to enter the ruin. All disciples return to the immortal boat. Everyone else aside from the immortal station at the immortal boat, enter." Tianyi said. Unlike when the disciples entered, the weakest immortals entered first, followed by the immortal monarchs. Monarch Oxsplit entered first, followed by Monarch Evernight. Before Monarch Dong entered, he stopped and took a deep look at Tianyi. ''I''m bearing someone else''s pot.'' Tianyi thought. It was true that Buzhou Immortal Sect had methods to control the ruins, but the person who did it absolutely wasn''t him. Well, guilt by association? "Let''s go," Tianyi said to Daoyi. She didn''t enter with the others, and no one was blind enough to comment on it, lest they earn Tianyi''s ire. Tianyi and Daoyi walked through the gates, side by side. Unlike the first time, Tianyi could clearly sense the two of them being teleported into another location, separate from the rest. "Is this supposed to happen?" Daoyi asked. She couldn''t sense anyone else despite over fifty immortals entering before them. Tianyi nodded. "They should be transported to a different region. We''re probably the only two here." "You don''t seem surprised." "It happened to me last time," Tianyi said. "Come on, let''s go. Someone should want to meet us." Tianyi flew into the air, followed by Daoyi. The restriction preventing flight no longer applied to him since his strength had outgrown it. He paused mid-air and looked towards the east. Daoyi also stopped and asked, "What''s wrong." "Nothing, just an old friend. Let''s visit him," Tianyi said. Daoyi was confused but still followed Tianyi. The two landed outside the Heaven and Man Connection Pagoda. After entering, she realized what Tianyi meant by an old friend. "Why are you here?!" Lei Jingye shouted. Tianyi smirked. ''This time, you sent yourself to me. You can''t blame anyone else.'' His hand slowly reached for his mask. He paused for a moment for dramatic effect before taking it off. "Xi.Long.Yi!" Lei Jingye shouted in anger. Tianyi sighed. "Xi Longyi that, Xi Longyi this. Don''t you have anything else to contribute? Well, considering that you are going to die, I''ll let it slide." "I would say it''s been nice knowing you, but that would be a lie," Tianyi said. He pointed his finger at Lei Jingye. "Goodbye." But before Tianyi could kill Lei Jingye, a hand pierced his back and popped out of his chest. The hand grasped a tomoe-shaped jewel. "Daoyi?" Lei Jingye said in surprise as he turned around. Because of Daoyi''s speed, the silk mask covering the lower half of her face fluttered, allowing Lei Jingye to see her face. This was the last scene he saw before he died. Even in death, he did not know why his precious dao companion would kill him. "Well, way to take my thunder," Tianyi griped. "You would have taken too long," Daoyi said. "Plus, I wanted this." Tianyi shrugged. He waved his arm, and Lei Jingye''s corpse disappeared. Lei Jingye had the Longevity Oracle Mirror, so it wasn''t a total loss. Tianyi thought about taking the Heaven and Man Connection Pagoda but thought better of it. It would be even worse than when he took the spiritual mountain that supported the Immortal Court ruin. ''Maybe I should see if Dandan is here,'' Tianyi thought as a sinister smile appeared on his face. Tianyi and Daoyi walked out of the Pagoda but paused upon seeing the person waiting outside. He wore a jade-green robe and wore a dao crown on his head. He appeared to be in his mid-thirties and had two streaks of gray hair on his otherwise jet-black hair. "Concealed Emperor?" Chapter 296: The Concealed Emperors Purpose Tianyi raised his guard as he observed the unknown cultivator in front of him. For some reason, he felt that the supposed Concealed Emperor felt familiar to him. Suddenly, it struck him. "Senior Immortal Court Spirit?" The man in jade-green robes raised an eyebrow. "You can tell? No wonder His Majesty told me to meet you." "His Majesty?" Tianyi asked. "You mean the Concealed Emperor?" Immortal Court Spirit nodded. "You could say that." "What do you mean by that?" "To be more precise, the Concealed Emperor of another timeline ordered me to meet you here," Immortal Court Spirit replied. "From another timeline? Does that mean the Concealed Emperor is actually the Concealed Sovereign?" Tianyi asked with shock. Actually, now that he thought about it. With how deep the foundation the Buzhuo Immortal Sect had, it should have been more obvious. "I don''t know," Immortal Court Spirit replied. "All timelines may not have a Concealed Emperor, but everyone will have me, the Immortal Court Spirit." "Then is the timeline I came from the main timeline?" "I don''t know. No one can know which timeline is the main one until the branch one dies. But I can tell you now that the timeline you came from is superior to this one. Do you have any other questions?" Immortal Court Spirit patiently asked. "This ruin is something you threw out as bait, right?" Immortal Court Spirit stared at Tianyi. "Don''t you already know?" ''As I thought,'' Tianyi opened his mouth once more. "Then since when have you been paying attention to me, and how much do you know?" "I don''t know how long the other me or the Concealed Emperor has been paying attention to you. After all, you don''t exist in this timeline. As for your other question, I don''t know. I only know what you did since you''ve come here," Immortal Court Spirit answered frankly. Tianyi scratched his head. ''That doesn''t tell me jack.'' "Now, are you done with your questions?" Immortal Court Spirit asked. Tianyi opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He turned towards Daoyi. She opened her mouth and asked, "Why did you set this up to meet us here?" "To hide from Xia Meng''s eyes," Immortal Court Spirit replied. It took a moment for Tianyi to recall that Sect Master Xia''s given name was Meng. "You and he aren''t on the same side?" Immortal Court Spirit shook his head. "This isn''t quite accurate. I''m loyal to the Concealed Emperor. I help Xia Meng because he is the current Sect Master. But my master''s orders this time will be detrimental to Xia Meng." Tianyi instantly raised his guard. "You don''t have to be so cautious, it''s a good thing for you," Immortal Court Spirit said. "I''m here to help you return." "How do I know you aren''t lying to me? I''m an outsider after all," Tianyi said as he stood protectively in front of Daoyi. "I was told to deliver a message for you." "A message?" Tianyi asked but still kept his guard up. This time, Immortal Court Spirit''s expression turned strange. "The message is, "Yi''er, I''ve already arranged everything. When you return, I''ll hold the marriage ceremony." Tianyi opened his mouth and then snapped it shut. ''Maybe I should delay returning.'' He looked towards Daoyi as if to ask her opinion. "Well, we have been dating for years. It''s more than enough to get married by mortals standards. Plus, we have lived in the same house, er-palace for years." Tianyi looked up. ''Maybe I should just leave Daoyi here and leave for a bit.'' In the end, Tianyi didn''t do that and looked at Immortal Court Spirit. "Alright, how do we go back?" "In the whole entire Three Thousand Realms System, there is only one place that can reliably shuttle passengers through timelines, the River of Time. But it''s normally impossible to access it," Immortal Court Spirit said. "Then how do we access it?" "The River of Time is connected to the Six Paths of Samsara, and to access the Six Paths of Samsara, you need to enter the Nether Realm," Immortal Court Spirit said. "But the Nether Realm is sealed off. It''s impossible to access it," Tianyi said. "In your timeline, maybe. But as long as I pay a sufficient price, I can force open an entrance into the Nether Realm," Immortal Court Spirit said. Tianyi held his chin. "I believe you, but I don''t think that is all you require. Otherwise, you wouldn''t have secretly met me without Sect Master Xia''s knowledge. What do you need me to do?" "There''s something you need to take back to your timeline, the Three Lives Stone," Immortal Court Spirit. "It''s a divine artifact that records the past, present, and future lives of all beings in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Normally, you could never grab hold of it due to Empress Ping guarding it. But she doesn''t exist in this timeline." Empress Ping, the ruler of the Nether Realm. She held absolute control over the Six Paths of Samsara.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. "Isn''t the Three Lives Stone integral to the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System? What would happen to this timeline if I took it?" Immortal Court Spirit only smiled. "It would damage the foundation and speed up the destruction, huh? No wonder you used such a roundabout way to contact me. What about you? Aren''t you afraid of being destroyed?" Immortal Court Spirit shrugged. "I''m just one of many. Each one of me is connected. I wouldn''t be destroyed, I''ll merge with another me. Since this timeline will be destroyed anyway, why not make use of it and redistribute the resources to benefit the superior timeline?" "Couldn''t you have sent someone else to grab the Three Lives Stone, like Grand Elder Zhang?" Tianyi asked. "That''s impossible. I actually don''t know why His Majesty chose you, but he told me you could safely deliver the Three Lives Stone back to your timeline," Immortal Court Spirit said. Despite not knowing, his eyes carried no curiosity. An ability Tianyi had that an immortal emperor like Grand Elder Zhang didn''t. It could only be his Nine Heavens Universe. Tianyi shared a look with Daoyi before looking back at Immortal Court Spirit. "Alright," Immortal Court Spirit smiled. "I''ll give you the location of the Nether Realm. You normally can''t access it without using the Law of Space." Tianyi nodded. If everyone could access it, wouldn''t it be noisy every day from people coming to seek their departed? Especially immortals. Immortal Court Spirit threw something Tianyi, which he caught. When he looked at what was in his hand, he saw a black jade badge with the words "Heaven Bearing" sculpted on it. Furthermore, he sensed the Law of Death contained within it. Tianyi looked at Immortal Court Spirit in confusion. He said, "It''s the Heaven Bearing Great Emperor''s seal, the Heaven Bearing Seal. Although it was only an empty title with Empress Ping''s presence, having it will allow you to navigate the Nether Realm with minimal obstruction. In the Primordial Era, the Immortal Court had six Great Emperors. The greatest of them all was the Jade Emperor, who controlled the three realms. The other six emperors were the East Great Emperor of Greenflower, who controlled all species and assisted the Jade Emperor in controlling the growth of lifeforms in the three realms; the Antarctic Great Emperor of Longevity ruled all spirits and assisted the Jade Emperor in ruling over the blessings and misfortunes of the three realms; the West Great Emperor of Curved Array, who controls all lightning and assists the Jade Emperor in managing the three talents of heaven, earth, and man, and military affairs; North Great Emperor of Polaris who rules the myriad stars and assists the Jade Emperor in managing the sun, moon, and stars, and regulate the four seasons; and the Great Emperor of Heaven Bearing, who controls the Nether Realm and Six Paths of Samsara, and controls the birthrate. "You actually had this?" Tianyi asked in shock. "You wouldn''t happen to have the other emperor''s seal, would you?" "Stop being so greedy. It can be considered your payment if you bring back the Three Lives Stone. The Heaven Bearing Seal contains the Law of Death and Law of Life." Tianyi felt his lips twitch. When his mother first got the Longevity Oracle Mirror, it was broken, and when he got the Kunlun Mirror, it was also not in its best state. And it took a lucky chance and strength to get them, so when did divine artifacts become so commonplace? Actually, it was closer to robbing the protagonist, but the point still stands. "How many artifacts does the Buzhou Immortal Sect have?" "You don''t need to know," Immortal Court Spirit said. "So, when are you prepared to go to the Nether Realm?" "Right now," Tianyi said. "So soon?" Immortal Court Spirit asked. Tianyi nodded. "It should be a great place for cultivation. Since it''s been sealed, there should be a lot of good things inside that no one has picked up." Immortal Court Spirit felt the corner of his lips, which had never moved in over a hundred thousand years, twitch. "As long as you complete His Majesty''s mission, you can do whatever you want. But, I should warn you that although there aren''t any immortals inside, there might be powerful corpses or ghosts more powerful than immortal emperors." Tianyi nodded. After this, Tianyi waited for the end of the agreed time and left the Immortal Court''s ruin. Tianyi had no time to care about the others, and all his thoughts were on the Nether Realm. Since the Immortal Court Spirit could communicate with other timelines, it meant all the information gathered in this timeline would disseminate. He kind of felt ridiculous thinking of helping by gathering information. On the way back, Tianyi stored Daoyi in his inner universe and disappeared from the immortal boat. He didn''t appear anywhere else in the Huang Realm but directly above the Huang Realm in the Vast Void. He looked at the Concealed Immortal Palace with some curiosity. He had entered Heaven, Earth, Man Trinity Immortal Palace and Inkpoem Immortal Palace, but he had never entered Concealed Immortal Palace. Tianyi entered the Concealed Immortal Palace, its doors opening and allowing him entrance. He only stopped when he entered the core space. He sat down and began to refine the immortal palace into his own artifact. It didn''t take long, not because of Tianyi''s skill, but because the previous owner voluntarily shifted the control to him. ''This means I get to keep this when I return, right? I mean, I''m going to use this to enter the Nether Realm, and I can''t return it once the entrance closes, right? Mhm, I''ll take it as a yes.'' Having gained complete control of the Concealed Immortal Palace, Tianyi pondered whether he should rename it the Nine Heavens Palace but decided it was a question best left for when he returned. He controlled the Concealed Immortal Palace to leave its original position and fly downward. Tianyi slowly passed through the myriad realms of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Along the way, he peered into several high-grade, middle-grade, and low-grade realms. However, he also saw realms formed from pure energy, such a realm only with fire or lightning. Such realms possessed no life at all. Finally, Tianyi arrived at the center of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, but strangely, there was nothing at the center, just empty space. But Tianyi knew that the Nether Realm existed here, so he sent word to Immortal Court Spirit that he had arrived, and it was time to open the backdoor for him.
Sect Master furrowed his brows when he learned that Tianyi had not returned with the others and, instead, mysteriously disappeared. He tried to search for Tianyi but could not discover any trace of him. ''Did he leave the Huang Realm?" Sect Master Xia wondered. But to leave the Huang Realm, he would know since the Buzhou Immortal Sect could monitor who enters and leaves¡ªunless Tianyi had inside aid, but that would be impossible. Just as that thought occurred to him, a messenger quickly entered. "Sect Master, the Concealed Palace was stolen!" "What?!" Sect Master Xia shouted as he stood up. "That''s impossible. Even if someone snuck in, the alarms would have sounded!" However, worse news came afterward as the ground started to tremble. It was impossible for the headquarters of the Buzhou Immortal Sect to experience an earthquake. With a mind full of questions, Sect Master left his mansion and flew into the sky. There, he saw other immortals staring at the Buzhou Mountain Range in horror and confusion, like headless chickens. More and more messengers arrived for Sect Master Xia. He slowly learned that it wasn''t only the BUzhou Immortal Sect that experienced such a phenomenon, but the whole Heaven Continent. No, the entire Huang Realm. The members of the Eight Pillar Sect were already flying towards the Heaven Continent to find the source of the calamity, but Sect Master Xia couldn''t care at this point. He flew into Broken Heaven Valley with the other head elders. Once inside, he saw the Immortal Court filled with dense energy. He quickly flew towards Spirit Heaven Palace, where he saw the Concealed Emperor sitting on the throne. "Your Majesty, what are you doing?!" Immortal Court Spirit opened his eyes and spared Sect Master Xia a glance. He opened his mouth and said one word. "Sorry." With the Broken Heaven Valley as the origin, the entire Huang Realm shattered. From now on, in the Silent Lightning Timeline''s Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, there was only one immortal-grade realm, the Numinous Realm. Chapter 297: Three Lives Stone Tianyi''s eyes widened as he looked up. Although he was a vast distance away from the Huang Realm, he could still sense its destruction. "Is this what Senior Immortal Court Spirit meant by price? Isn''t it too big?" No wonder Immortal Court Spirit had to contact him secretly. If Sect Master Xia knew of the price, he would definitely disagree. Hell, Tianyi would disagree too. The price of a realm and all the lives within would weigh too much on his mind. He stood there uncomprehendingly as he felt the released realm essence resulting from the Huang Realm''s destruction. Tianyi''s body twitched as he rushed towards the broken realm, wanting to save whatever life he could, but before he did, a voice entered his ears. "What are you doing?! Hurry up and enter the Nether Realm. The entrance won''t last long!" A chill crawled up Tianyi''s spine. What would happen if he was a member of a branching timeline? No, even now, he could not guarantee that he lived in a timeline with lower priority than all the ones the Buzhou Immortal Sect existed in. He gritted his teeth and averted his eyes. The Cosmic Cloak shrouded Tianyi''s body as he entered the closing portal to the Nether Realm. On the other side, the Nether Realm trembled as it received an influx of souls, creating spacetime distortion. One of them suddenly widened, but just as soon, it began to close. As it almost disappeared, a humanoid figure popped through. Tianyi scrunched his face and looked down at his body. His black robes were in tatters; even his cosmic cloak couldn''t protect him. Worse, he was even missing one of his hands, and there were several gashes on his body leading to the Nine Heaven Universe. "Ugh, this is the worst injury I have received since I''ve became an immortal. And I need to upgrade the cosmic cloak. It can no longer keep up with me," Tianyi said He looked around him to see a depressing world. There was no grass or vegetation at all, and what trees that existed were leafless and seemed dead. Drab colors filled the realm, not helped by the perpetual twilight and the blood-red moonlight. ''This isn''t helping my mood at all.'' Tianyi thought. He sighed, closed his eyes, and spread his arms. Soon, the air, the spiritual qi, and even parts of the landscape swirled toward Tianyi. As Tianyi converted matter into energy and absorbed them, his wounds started to heal. Even his missing hand regrew. Now that his hand had healed, Tianyi took out the Heaven Bearing Seal. He did a preliminary refinement and mastered the basics. Now, he could sense where the major destinations were. There were the ten Yama Palaces where the souls of the departed were judged, the Nether Capital where most of the ghostly residents lived. Oh, and there was the Bridge of Forgetfulness, where Old Lady Meng makes the souls preparing to undergo reincarnation drink the soup of forgetfulness. Well, the proper name was the Five-Flavored Tea of Forgetfulness. More importantly, the Three Lives Stone was said to be placed in front of the Bridge of Forgetfulness. Tianyi decided to fly there first. After he retrieved the Three Lives Stone, he could take his time. He turned into a black stream of light filled with tiny motes of light. Even without the Heaven Bearing Seal, Tianyi was pretty sure he would recognize the Bridge of Forgetfulness. The bridge was thin, supremely so. It seemed like it would collapse any moment and fall into the River of Lost Memories. There was a crazy amount of departed spirits on one side. Rather than spirit, they seemed closer to the walking dead, zombies. All of them were trying to rush through the bridge and overcrowding it. Some were pushed into the River of Lost Memories. There, skeletons would pop out and drag those departed souls into the river with them. Once the souls reached the other side, they seemed to have lost all motivation and just started to wander around. ''Is this fine? There''s no one guiding them and taking care of them. If they don''t reincarnate, new lives won''t be born. No wonder this timeline is doomed. Although... I feel that there are too many souls right now. Have they recently become deceased? I can''t see an end to them. Just what kind of event would...'' Tianyi''s thoughts stopped as pity, and a bit of guilt entered his eyes. He gazed at the endless horde of souls. He tried to count how many there were, but even with his immortal sense, it was impossible to calculate the exact number. Billions, trillions, or perhaps even more? Tianyi shook his head as a gloomy aura surrounded him. ''I better just get the Three Lives Stone and leave. Staying here will just make me depressed.'' His eyes zeroed in on the stele-like stone in front of Bridge of Forgetfulness. When he flew over, he was surprised by how reflective the surface was. Although, he could still see the character Three Lives written on it. Since a throng of souls surrounded it, Tianyi flew next to it and grabbed the top. He pulled, and pulled, and pulled...and puuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuullllllllllld... "Move, dammit!" No matter how much strength Tianyi used, the Three Lives Stone wouldn''t budge even a single inch. It was as if it was part of the land, and even when the land started to shake, the stone didn''t. Although a few souls fell into the River of Lost Memories because of the quakes. Tianyi had to make a quick apology to those souls.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. He roared and then grabbed the Three Lives Stones with both of his hands, but even with the full power of both his hands, he still couldn''t make the divine artifact budge even a single bit. "Just what do I have to do to move this damn thing?" Tianyi asked in frustration. It was the first time he met something that he couldn''t budge with his brute strength. ''Oh, maybe I should see if the Heaven Bearing Seal can help.'' Tianyi took out and tried to control the Three Lives Stone through the intermediary. A while later, he realized that the Heaven Bearing Seal couldn''t control the Three Lives Stone, but he discovered some information about it. The Three Lives Stone was intricately linked to the Nether Realm. It wasn''t as if the Nether Realm would be destroyed if he removed it. Though, the operations of the Nether Realm would definitely change if he did so. If taking the Three Lives Stone destroyed the Nether Realm, Tianyi would have to consider giving up the Concealed Sovereign''s mission. Tianyi grabbed his head, "Grr, then I just have to separate the connection between the Three Lives Stone and the Nether Realm!" With him at the center, a domain that cut off the external world appeared. Tianyi grabbed the Three Lives Stone again and pulled. The stele-like stone shook as it was slightly shifted from the ground, but the moment it did so, the spiritual qi in the area turned turbulent. That turbulence interfered with Tianyi''s domain and caused the Three Lives Stone to revert to its original position. Afterward, the turbulence died down as if it had never appeared. ''There''s actually a spiritual vein under the Three Lives Stone. So this is what it meant by intricately connected. Just budging it a bit will cause untold turmoil and might even shatter those souls. If I want to remove the Three Lives Stone, I can''t do it with my domain alone. I''m going to need to transform this plate into a territory of the Nine Heavens Universe and then take the spiritual vein along with the Three Lives Stone.'' Tianyi immediately got to work. First, he expanded the domain and penetrated through the ground. Slowly, he released the essence produced from Ninth Heaven and had them integrate with the environment. It took over five years for his essence to seep into everything. During this time, Tianyi lent the Heaven Bearing Seal to Daoyi for her to comprehend. "Universe Assimilation!" Tianyi opened up a portal to the Nine Heavens Universe and connected the land to it, but the moment he did so, tribulation clouds gathered above him. At an unprecedented speed, far faster than any previous heavenly tribulation or heavenly punishment Tianyi experienced, the tribulation punishment lightning condensed and struck towards him. Tianyi snorted, and his own tribulation shot through the portal and countered the Heavenly Dao''s heavenly punishment. The punishment lightning shattered Tianyi''s lightning and struck the ground. In that instant, Tianyi felt as if part of the region he planned to absorb had been taken over. It was like a go board that had all one single color, but suddenly a few of the pieces reversed. ''The Heavenly Dao is trying to prevent me from absorbing this land?'' Ever since the heavenly punishment arrived when he dealt with Lei Jingye and Xi Longyi, he had been careful not to draw another round. Now, it seemed that if he used too much of his Nine Heavens Universe, it would draw the ire of the Heavenly Dao. Tianyi increased the amount of essence and reconquered the portion taken back by the Heavenly Dao. As the Heavenly Dao continued to send forth lightning, so did Tianyi. Since one of his bolts couldn''t match a single bolt from the Heavenly Dao''s, then he simply had to increase the numbers. Defeat quality with quantity! This war between Tianyi of the Nine Heavens Universe and the Heavenly Dao of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System lasted over ten years. When the Three Lives Stone and the spiritual vein connected with it disappeared, the heavenly punishment increased by a hundredfold. Tianyi just allowed the punishment of lightning to strike him. After a prolonged war with the Heavenly Dao, even he was beginning to feel fatigued. And it would waste more energy combatting the punishment lightning than just healing the damage done to his body. So, he just lay on the ground and let the punishment lightning strike him until it was tired. He apologized to the innocent souls killed by the punishment lightning, though. ''What is with the Heavenly Dao? During the ten years, I seemed to have felt anger from it, but isn''t the Heavenly Dao supposed to be emotionless?'' ''What''s more,'' Tianyi''s eyes pierced to the center of the tribulation clouds as they continued to gather more energy for the next bolt. ''Isn''t it using too much energy? I thought my Nine Heavens Universe had limitless energy, but those ten years actually made me feel a drain.'' ''Well, is my Nine Heavens Universe bigger or the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System bigger? Honestly, I don''t know.'' Tianyi continued to stare at the twilight sky as the lightning continued to descend. ''The Heavenly Dao must manage the distribution of energy in the whole system, taking the surplus and adding to the deficient areas. Isn''t using all this energy counterproductive?'' ''Unless it''s better off to kill me no matter the price? I wonder if the Heavenly Daos of different timelines are connected. Can it sacrifice a whole timeline to kill me? That''s scary, but it kinda reminds me of Immortal Court Spirit and the Concealed Emperor.'' "Ain''t that a terrifying thought?" Another ten years later, the heavenly punishment finally dissipated. The whole area around Tianyi had been turned barren. No souls dared to go near it because of the immense yang qi derived from the continuous punishment lightning that lingered. "Well, time to leave," Tianyi said. He could already sense some gazes locking onto him. Recalling Immortal Court Spirit''s warning, he quickly opened a portal and stepped through it.
"You seem down," Daoyi said as she and Tianyi flew through the twilight sky of the Nether Realm. "Maybe," Tianyi said. "I¨C" He wanted to tell her about the destruction of the Huang Realm, but he decided that he didn''t want it to weigh on her mind, so he changed the topic. "How''s the comprehension going? Have you mastered the Law of Death?" Daoyi nodded. "I did a few years ago." "So fast?" "Considering all my advantages, I wouldn''t call it slow, but I wouldn''t call myself fast either," Daoyi said. "Yeah, aren''t you suppose to break through during a life and death battle?" Daoyi glared at him. "Do you think this is some hot-blooded novel or manga?" "Why are you staying as a true immortal then? Why not enter the Seamless Immortal Realm?" Tianyi asked. "Because I embarked on the Law of Life. I want to Master the Law of Life and Death to build a firmer foundation. I don''t know if I can succeed, but it won''t hurt to try," Daoyi said. "If I still can''t master the Law of Life and Death in a thousand years, I can still use the Law of Death. "All things considered, a thousand years is like a blink of an eye for us immortals," Tianyi said. He looked forward. "Oh, we''ve arrived." In front of them was a high city wall, and above the gate into the city was a plaque with the word "Youdu" written on it. Just from glancing at it, Tianyi could sense the Law of Death within. They had arrived at the Nether Capital of the Underworld. Chapter 298: Youdu Spirit "Ugh, it''s like a scene out of a zombie apocalypse," Daoyi said as she entered Youdu with Tianyi. She took a few sniffs. "Smells like one too." "Haha," Tianyi laughed. "I thought the same thing." The city resembled the Xi Dynasty''s capital in layout and design but on a much grander scale. However, all that was ruined by the disorder and the dead walking about. "I heard that the dead are attracted to the living, but they are just ignoring us," Tianyi said. "I understand why I''m ignored since I don''t know if they even consider me a living being anymore, but what about?" "Are you blind?" Daoyi asked. "Did you forget the Law of Death I just mastered? They probably consider me more dead than them because of how much death qi I''m leaking." "I don''t think of death in the traditional sense anymore," Tianyi admitted. The two sank into silence, but soon, Tianyi spoke again. "Really, how do the souls get reincarnated with the Nether Realm in such a state?" "Without Empress Ping to support it or any ghost officials, the Nether Realm cannot fulfill its purpose. The Three Thousand Immortal Realms System will not last. At least, in this timeline," An unfamiliar voice said. "I see. Makes sense." Tianyi suddenly paused in his footsteps and whipped around. He and Daoyi turned around to see a man who appeared in his thirties behind them. The man had a sickly pallor and wore a black jade coronet with even blacker robes. Yet, he exuded a noble air. "Who are you?" Tianyi asked. "It''s impossible for me not to sense you." The man tilted his head. "No, you sensed me." "Impossible," Tianyi said as he prepared to attack and hid Daoyi behind him. If he couldn''t sense the man, it meant that Daoyi could definitely not deal with him. The man waved his hand. "Don''t be so defensive. I haven''t spoken to another sentient being since Empress Ping disappeared. As to answer your question, my aura is everywhere here, so you sensed me." Tianyi furrowed his brow and observed the man. He felt that the man was similar to one existence he had met before. "You are Youdu''s artifact spirit?" "Correct." "And what do you mean by Empress Ping disappeared? I thought she never existed in this timeline," Tianyi said. "When timelines split, every being is recreated equally, but there cannot be a divinity in two timelines, so the divinity will disappear from the weaker timeline," Youdu Spirit said. "How long ago was this?" Tianyi asked. ''This must mean that this was one of the timelines split from my timeline, and Empress Ping should exist there like Immortal Court Spirit said.'' "Not too long ago, less than ten thousand years ago," Youdu Spirit said. ''Your definition of not too long ago is too detached for us,'' Tianyi thought. "So, what are you here for? To stop us?" Youdu Spirit shook his head. "Nothing of that sort. I said the Nether Realm was already doomed the moment Empress Ping left. I guess I wanted to speak to someone since you''re likely to be the last people to enter here." "That is true, the price to enter is too high," Tianyi said. "Before, the hardest place to trespass was the Immortal Court, but after their destruction, it became the Nether Realm," Youdu Spirit said. ''Really? I thought everyone and their mom could trespass into heaven as they liked, considering how many times it happened before in legend like in Journey to the West.'' Tianyi thought. "What are you going to do? I don''t think you can travel to other timelines like divinities." "Nothing," Youdu Spirit said. "I can do nothing but wait for the Nether Realm and this timeline''s destruction. I just want to talk a bit." Tianyi stared warily at Youdu Spirit. He exchanged gazes with Daoyi and said, "Okay." "Follow me," Youdu Spirit said as he led the two through the streets of Youdu. The souls parted like the red sea for Youdu Spirit, and the three entered Youdu Palace in the center of the city. There, Youdu Spirit entertained Tianyi and Daoyi with tables upon tables of food, but Daoyi loved the wine the most. "This is Nine Nether Wine," Youdu Spirit said. "Anyone who drinks it will feel the chill of death but not actually die. Many cultivators like to drink it to experience the pressure of death and breakthrough." Daoyi chugged the whole cup and slammed it on the table. "Another!" Youdu spirit paused for a second but obliged Daoyi''s request. "This is the best wine I can offer at the moment. When Empress Ping left, she took all the valuables." Daoyi downed another cup as her cheeks started to flush. "That damn empress! Greedy bitch!" Youdu Spirit showed no sign of discontent even though Daoyi just insulted his master. Tianyi covered his face with his palm. "You''re going to give us what''s left of the valuables for just accompanying you like this. Are you sure?" Youdu Spirit shrugged. "I''m just an artifact spirit. What''s the use for me in holding on to these things that will get destroyed? But I have to tell you that any divine artifacts that you bring into another timeline will disappear and integrate with the original artifact in that timeline." Tianyi frowned. No wonder Immortal Court Spirit only gave him the Heaven Bearing Seal. His eyes flashed. "Is there a method to prevent this?" Youdu Spirit nodded. "You just have to find a concealed space that can avoid the presence of the Heavenly Dao." "What happens to the original artifact after it is integrated with another timeline''s artifacts?" "Nothing, the divine artifact doesn''t get stronger. If it''s damaged, it will heal, but that''s it," Youdu Spirit said, disappointing Tianyi. "Is that why you don''t want to leave this timeline?" Tianyi suddenly asked. Youdu Spirit paused. He took a swig of the Nine Nether Wine. "What''s the use, I will just be integrated into the other Youdu. I don''t want to bring Empress Ping trouble."Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ''Trouble?'' "Do you resent Empress Ping for abandoning you?" Tianyi asked. Youdu Spirit stayed silent. "I''m just an artifact spirit. My only mission is to fulfill my master''s orders." "Youdu Spirit, do you want to become my artifact?" Youdu Spirit paused and stared at Tianyi. "I can see that you are extraordinary, but it''s impossible. My whole body is the city. You can''t take me away." "But what if I can?" Tianyi asked. "What if I can bring you to a space isolated from the Heavenly Dao that''s no worse than the Nether Realm?" "It''s impossible for such a place to exist. Even the Immortal Court cannot accomplish this," Youdu Spirit said. "But I can." Youdu Spirit closed his eyes. When he opened them, there was a tiny glint in his abyss-like eyes. "Alright, I''ll gamble on you. However, If I sense the Heavenly Dao at all, I''ll self-detonate." A smile formed on Tianyi''s face. However, it disappeared when Daoyi slapped his back, her face completely red. "Stop yapping so seriously. Can''t you see the good wine? We should enjoy ourselves whenever we can! No one knows if this will disappear one day!" "Haha," Youdu Spirit laughed as he clinked his glass against Daoyi''s. "Fairy Thrallsong is right; we should enjoy the present."
Youdu was connected to the Ten Yama Palaces, and unless the connection were severed, Tianyi would not be able to take away Youdu. Tianyi could try repeating his earlier action when he took away the Three Lives Stone, but he didn''t fancy testing how big the Heavenly Dao''s reaction would be. Unlike the Three Lives Stone, Youdu had greater significance to the Nether Realm and the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System as a whole, even if it was crippled at this moment. Even with the Nine Heavens Universe, Tianyi didn''t want to gamble whether he could take the blow from a dying timeline. So, this only left the option of manually cutting the connection. He considered taking away the ten Yama Palaces but decided that the cost would not be worth it. After Empress Ping left over a thousand years ago, the cycle of samsara slowed down, and the number of ghosts in the Nether Realm increased. Some were ghosts full of malice, but others were former ghost officials who proclaimed sovereignty. None of these ghosts were easy to deal with, and they occupied the Yama Palaces due to the high concentration of yin qi. None of them dared to take Youdu with Youdu Spirit present, although many have tried to subdue him. According to Youdu Spirit''s information, of the ghost occupying the Yama Palaces, the one holding fort down in Clearlight Yama Palace was the weakest. The ghost there took a pill to become a ghost monarch. Tianyi and Daoyi traveled to Clearlight Yama Palace in a month. When they arrived, they saw the horde of ghost soldiers waiting outside Clearlight Yama Palace. He raised his hand, and a miniature sun appeared in his palm. For beings of yin, yang was the best nemesis for them. Though, the opposite was also true. He dropped the miniature sun and activated Stellar Silence. He didn''t have much feeling towards annihilating over ten thousand ghosts at once. Youdu Spirit had said that the rogue ghost rulers were disrupting the reincarnation cycle, so wasn''t he helping prolong the Silent Lightning Timeline''s lifespan? "Who dares to attack my territory?!" A furious roar erupted from within the palace. Although Tianyi''s attack destroyed much of the land, only a few burn marks appeared on the palace. From within the palace, a ghastly figure flew out. Even from this distance, Tianyi could hear the wales of torture emanating from the ghost monarch. He didn''t even need to look hard to see the dense karmic sin emanating from him. "Maybe I should take care of him," Tianyi said as he moved forward, but Daoyi stopped him. "I just entered the Immortal Realm, and I need someone to practice with," Daoyi said. "Still, he''s an immortal monarch, not a true immortal." "I''ve already mastered the Law of Death, so that should equalize it," Daoyi said. "If you say so," Tianyi said as he allowed Daoyi to fly forward. Daoyi took out her guqin and thrummed the strings, causing the surrounding ghost soldiers to wail in pain. "Hmpf, you look down on me too much," The ghost monarch said. "Once I eat this girl, you''re next!" The ghost monarch turned into a spherical gas with a giant face on it. He opened his jaws and flew towards Daoyi. Daoyi didn''t panic and started to pluck the strings of her guqin. A dreadful song started to play. "Eighteen Songs of Hell - Eighth Song Glacier Seal" A white mist started to form in the air as the temperature dropped and water vapors condensed. A chilling blue shell encased the charging ghost monarch as even the qi around him started to freeze. But, cracking sounds appeared as the ice cracked. Daoyi frowned and changed the tune. "Eighteen Songs of Hell - Sixteenth Song Volcanic Bedevilment" A red glow emerged from the ghost monarch''s mouth as smoke billowed out. The ice blue shell coating him melted as his body took on a fiery tone, but that did nothing to deter the ghost monarch as he crunched down on Daoyi. Daoyi''s figure turned translucent and shifted to another location on the battlefield. She released a high-intensity note and inside the ghost monarch''s mouth, where she had once been, exploded in ice. Heat and cold clashed within the ghost monarch''s mouth. Moments later, he reverted back to his previous form with a crack on his face. "Who are you? You aren''t a soul!" Daoyi said nothing and continued her attack. Although she seemed to have easily held the upper position, she expended too much qi. "Eighteen Songs of Hell - Seventh Song Shredding Sabers" Ghostly warriors formed from song emerged from Daoyi''s guqin and flew towards the ghost monarch. Her eyes widened when he saw his next action. He actually turned tail and ran! ''Don''t you have any dignity?!'' Tianyi thought as he appeared in front of the ghost monarch and unleashed a palm strike. "Haha, fool. Ghosts are least afraid of physical attacks!" The ghost monarch said as he rushed towards Tianyi''s palm. He expected to fly through it, but reality wasn''t so kind. He flew back hundreds of meters from Tianyi''s shove and screamed as Daoyi''s ghost warriors lacerated his back. The ghost monarch could already tell that Tianyi was far beyond him in power and possessed superior speed, so he couldn''t escape. Decisiveness flashed through his eyes as he charged toward Daoyi, ignoring the injuries aching on his back. His body enlarged and turned into a vaporous and misty figure several hundred meters large. [I was tempted to write: "Tianyi gets bigger," Daoyi said. But I like it so much that I''m going to leave this comment, even if its not canon.] Daoyi continued to play her Eighteen Songs of Hell and puncture holes in the transformed ghost monarch without moving from her spot. Just as he was about to reach and envelope Daoyi in his body, he suddenly froze. Upon closer inspection, you could see tiny strings forming a spiderweb in front of Daoyi. Shuijing stood proudly on Daoyi''s shoulder. It had spun a web of dreamsilk that trapped the ghost monarch. With the ghost monarch trapped, Daoyi unleashed her strongest song. "Eighteen Songs of Hell - Ninesong Unity" Under the barrage of Daoyi''s attack, the ghost monarch wailed as his soul started to become transparent. Just before vanishing, the web wrapped around him and turned him into a small spherical pill. Daoyi opened her Liquorlight Gourd and sucked the ghost monarch''s soul into it. "Good job," Tianyi said. "Hey, you okay?" Daoyi didn''t reply as she started to gasp for air. The nether qi entered her body in the process. "No, I''m spent. I didn''t get injured, but I almost used up all my qi. "After resting, do you want to fight the next one?" "Not right now. Save him for me later, I want to review my battles and make up for my deficiencies," Daoyi said. Tianyi nodded. He stored Daoyi into the Nine Heavens Universe and disconnected Youdu from Clearlight Yama Palace before searching for the next one. Considering that Daoyi might want to fight the ninth and eighth strongest ghost rulers, Tianyi targeted the seventh ghost ruler first. After disconnecting Youdu from the fifth Yama Palace, he had already disconnected four connections by this point. Tianyi stopped as he received a message from Youdu Spirit. "Did you defeat the ghost emperor of Balanced Scale Yama Palace?" "No, why?" "I lost the connection to Balanced Scale Yama Palace," Youdu Spirit said. "But I didn''t do it," Tianyi said as his expression turned grave. "Do you know who did?" "I can sense that the ghost rulers of the Yama Palace are still there, aside from the one you defeated. It could be some rogue ghosts who made a breakthrough or..." "...someone entered near the same time as I did." Chapter 299: Ksitigarbha Yama Palace Tianyi held his chin with his fingers. Just who had the power to enter the Nether Realm using the opportunity Immortal Court Spirit made? Well, he could definitely cross the Buzhou Immortal Sect from the list of suspects. Aside from them, the most obvious suspect would be the Numinous Sword Sect, but that seemed too obvious, and Immortal Court Spirit would be wary of them. ''It couldn''t somehow be the Dragon Emperor, right?'' An absurd thought entered Tianyi''s brain. He quickly shook his head. ''Maybe the demons who were forced out of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System?'' That didn''t seem likely either. If True Demon Realm dragons were to appear, then the Buzhou Immortal Sect and the Numinous Sword Sect would dispatch a squad to slay them. At least on this front, they were united. He felt like he was forgetting an important third party, but for the life of him, Tianyi couldn''t remember. Since he couldn''t figure out who the intruder was, Tianyi focused on speeding up his progress. He doubled back on the ninth and eighth weakest ghost rulers and captured them into his inner universe. His Past Incarnation had the same amount of strength as him inside the Nine Heavens Universe, so there was no worry about two weaker ghost monarchs causing trouble. But just to be safe, he sealed them on Ninth Heaven, where the yang energy was most powerful since it suppressed the yin nature of ghosts. From there, Tianyi made his way toward the fourth-strongest ghost ruler. From fourth and up, all the ghost rulers were at least ghost emperors. He flew towards Harmony River Yama Palace while hiding himself between folded space. Since the Nether Realm was more stable than the Huang Realm, space was harder to manipulate, but Tianyi just needed to compensate with more energy. Although it increased the risk of discovery, it was still much better than flying without concealing himself. Upon arriving at Harmony River Yama Palace, Tianyi had a strange expression. Compared to the Yama Palace, ruled by the strongest ghost monarch he had just paid a rather rude visit to, there was a visible decrease in soldiers and followers. Soon, Tianyi realized why. The ghost emperor had taken a pill to forcibly raise his realm to that of an emperor. Compared to this ghost emperor, many more ghosts placed greater importance on the ghost monarch''s potential. ''Geez, if the sect had pills that could increase someone''s cultivation to an immortal emperor, or even immortal monarchs, we would have long dominated the whole Huang Realm. Or maybe we aren''t using them for some reason?'' Tianyi thought. He didn''t have time to test his mettle against a ghost monarch, so Tianyi took out his Chaos Measuring Ruler. He formed numerous hand seals with a single hand and then slammed them on the base of the blade before swiping towards the tip. Nine Heavens Style - Planetary Purgatory Ruler Integration The Chaos Measuring Ruler glowed black with countless tiny motes of white, but within that black light, it cycled through several colors: red, pure black, green, white, and yellow. Tianyi slashed downward. An invisible ripple descended onto the land. Without warning or sound, a canyon over a thousand kilometers long and a hundred meters deep appeared across the land. Tianyi successfully disconnected the Harmony River Yama Palace from Youdu. He could already see chaos descend on Harmony River Yama Palace. The spiritual qi became chaotic and turbulent. At some points, it was incredibly dense, but at other points, it was as it was almost nonexistent. It even reached the point that just the qi alone destroyed the land and a few ghost soldiers. "Who dares to attack my Harmony River Yama Palace!" An angry roar echoed throughout the surrounding, but Tianyi was in no mood. Tianyi turned around to leave, but the ghost emperor had appeared above the Yama Palace. Upon seeing no perpetrator in sight, he roared again. "You dare to attack, but you don''t dare to reveal yourself, coward!" The ghost emperor roared and unleashed a wide-range sound attack. Normally, Tianyi wouldn''t have been affected by such a weak attack, but with the constraints placed by the Nether Realm, he was forcibly pushed out of the folds of space. Tianyi sighed and turned around, blocking the ghost emperor''s claw strike with the Chaos Measuring Ruler. Tianyi increased the grip on the ruler when he felt the ghost emperor''s claws vibrating at high speed, increasing their strength and cutting ability. "You!" The ghost emperor shouted but then froze momentarily. "You''re not a soul or a ghost! You''re alive!" "Yes, and you''re about to be deader than dead," Tianyi said as the cosmic cloak wrapped around his body. He wasn''t done yet as the night sky that formed his cosmic cloak turned into day. The yang qi radiating off of Tianyi''s cosmic cloak caused the ghost emperor to flinch, allowing Tianyi to fling him back by swinging his ruler. Ghosts, as lifeforms formed from souls, could not cultivate the martial way and their physical strength was subpar unless under special circumstances. Tianyi wasn''t done yet. He formed several hand seals one-handed and then slammed his hand on the base of the Chaos Measuring Ruler. Nine Heavens Style - Stellar Silence Ruler Integration From the center of the Chaos Measuring Ruler, a gold line appeared and slowly widened to color the Chaos Measuring Ruler the color of the sun. Not only did it resemble the sun, it felt like it too, as waves of immense heat rolled off. The space in front of Tianyi parted, creating a vacuum that drew him forward and increased his speed. When he appeared in front of the ghost emperor, he swung the Chaos Measuring Ruler down. The ghost emperor raised his claw to block Tianyi''s attack, but upon the golden ruler coming into contact with his claws, he screamed in pain. His claws emitted black smoke as Tianyi''s Chaos Measuring Ruler sheared through his claws and struck his chest. "Grahhhh!" The ghost emperor screamed in pain as his ghostly visage took on a blue tone. Tianyi hadn''t sliced through his claws, so much as seared through them with the sheer heat and cauterized the wound at the same time. His clawless fingers and his chest hissed as black smoke continued to emit from them. Fear entered the ghost emperor''s eyes as he looked at Tianyi, who was already charging over. Without delay, he opened his mouth and released a piercing shriek. The ghosts on the ground screamed in pain as they clutched their ears. They fell onto the ground if they were flying and fell onto their knees if they had been standing. Tianyi narrowed his eyes as the grating sounds entered his ears. Unfortunately for the ghost emperor, unless his sound could shatter space, it did nothing to him as he closed in on the fleeing ghost emperor''s back.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. With another downward slash and gave another wound to the ghost emperor. He reached out and grabbed the ghost emperor''s shoulder. His cosmic cloak shifted into liquid and attached itself to the ghost emperor''s body before reforming back into a cloak. The ghost emperor screamed as the yang qi radiating cosmic cloak burned him. He tried to get it off, but it clung to him like some sort of prisoner garment. Tianyi didn''t let go either, as he continued to slash at the ghost emperor. Madness entered the ghost emperor''s eyes as he abandoned all defense and attacked Tianyi with reckless abandon. Unfortunately for the ghost emperor, the most damage he could accomplish was giving Tianyi a slash wound that quickly healed. Tianyi''s attacks, on the other hand, constantly wore down the ghost emperor and damaged his soul. "Noooo.....!" Tianyi watched emotionlessly as the last wisps of the ghost emperor''s soul evaporated under his yang qi. When it finally vanished, the cosmic cloak and the golden glow on his Chaos Measuring Ruler receded and disappeared. Casting one final glance at the ghosts below, Tianyi turned around and vanished within the folds of space. Tianyi made haste to the next destination, Piercing Wheel Yama Palace. According to Youdu Spirit''s information, it contained a ghost emperor and the third strongest ghost ruler of the ten. When Tianyi arrived, he discovered that Piercing Wheel Yama Palace was covered with layers upon layers of formations. He sucked in a deep breath and got to work, finding the loopholes and moving through them. ''Cautious bastard,'' Tianyi thought as he sifted through the twenty-fourth formation. He was taking weeks to get through these formations. The formations were unique and found their construction innovative, but this almost made it trouble to find the loopholes. If Tianyi had time, he wouldn''t mind taking longer to study them, but he didn''t. A month later, he finally reached the forty-ninth formation and entered the core area, but the moment he did so, a black awl pierced towards him and forced him out of folded space. ''Does everyone here know how to break my spatial concealment technique?!'' Tianyi thought as anger stewed in his chest. Tianyi slapped the awl away, but not before a hole was pierced in his hand. The hole leading to the Nine Heavens Universe swiftly healed as he observed the ghost monarch receiving his weapon. The ghost emperor of Grand Mountain Yama Palace also observed Tianyi. Although he had a paper-white visage, he looked perfectly human otherwise. "You must be the intruder that is going around and attacking the Yama Palaces," the ghost emperor said. Tianyi was surprised by the courtesy. Most of the ghost monarchs and emperor he met were savage and seemed to be ruled by malice, not logic like this ghost emperor. "I don''t really feel like fighting you. How about you leave, and let''s forget about this? You aren''t my opponent," the ghost emperor said. There was no pride in his voice as if only stating a fact. Tianyi suppressed the twitch in his eye as he heard the ghost emperor''s words. It wasn''t like he couldn''t leave, but he had to disconnect Grand Mountain Yama Palace''s connection to Youdu first, but doing so harmed the long-term prosperity of the land around the Yama Palaces. With how confident the ghost emperor was, how could he allow Tianyi to disconnect it? Plus, that was on the basis that he was sincere. Tianyi frowned as a white awl phased through his body and flew into the ghost emperor''s hands. The ghost emperor sighed. "I was hoping you''d die to that attack. I guess there''s not much to be said. I''ll add your head to my collection." Ghost Emperor Corspehead his only interest seemed to be collecting the head of corpses, a rarity in the Nether Realm where most beings were souls. Tianyi summoned his cosmic cloak and Chaos Measuring Ruler again. The cosmic cloak took on a golden hue once more as it radiated off yang qi. During this process, Tianyi formed several hand seals and integrated Stellar Silence into the ruler again. Emperor Corpsehead frowned as he felt the yang qi, but he still sent his black awl piercing at Tianyi, but he was too late. Tianyi had already finished his technique and slammed the Chaos Measuring Ruler into the awl and forced it back. The ghost emperor snatched the awl before it was sent flying into the distance from the force. When his hand started hissing with smoke emitting from it, he frowned as he erased the yang qi stuck to the awl. Emperor Corpsehead looked at Tianyi. "I admit you do have the capabilities to battle me, but you''re woefully wrong if you think that is enough to defeat me." Dense black qi smoked out of the ghost emperor''s body like a cloud. Several corpse heads also appeared behind him and absorbed the black qi, growing hundred of times larger with an unholy glow emitting out of their empty eye sockets. He opened his arms out wide, and the two largest heads groaned and clutched the black and white awls in their mouths. After he formed several hand seals, one corpse became black while the other became white. The two awl-clutching heads soared towards Tianyi in concert, to which he dodged. However, they circled around and continued to attack him like heat-seeking missiles. Tianyi frowned and continued dodging them, all the while allowing Emperor Corpsehead''s other heads to try to bite him. Their physical ability wasn''t much and should have a higher focus on soul attacks. Finally, when the black and white heads flew side by side at him, Tianyi held out his free hand. He released massive amounts of immortal qi of primordial chaos, causing the heads to scream as the corrosive energy touched them. More importantly, the space in front of Tianyi''s hand twisted, and upon contact with the black and white awl tips, a massive explosion engulfed Tianyi. Emperor Corpsehead frowned as he waited for the smoke to clear. Tianyi appeared relatively unharmed with some tears in his cosmic cloaks, but several of his fingers were missing with immortal qi of primordial chaos leaking from them. "What did you do with my Bliss and Misery Awls?" Emperor Corpsehead demanded. "Guess," Tianyi simply said. And after a moment, he added. "You can''t defeat me. How about let''s forget about this after I accomplish my goal?" Weren''t those his words? Emperor Corpsehead''s expression turned ugly as his skin took on a poisonous purple color. "You little shit, I''ll rip you to shreds!" Tianyi''s smirk froze as he heard a transmission from Youdu Spirit. "Someone broke the ninth Yama Palace''s connection, and he''s heading over. You better come quickly if you don''t want me to be taken by someone else." Tianyi focused his eyes on the ground. Without bothering to pay attention to Emperor Corpsehead, he slashed the Chaos Measuring Ruler at it. A golden crescent emerged as the golden light left the ruler. When the golden crescent neared the ground, numerous ghostly qi rose and dissipated most of the force. Tianyi turned towards Emperor Corpsehead and glared. His free hand, now healed, held a black sphere, the nuclear detonation sphere. He reversed his palm and allowed the nuclear detonation sphere to fall down. Not just one, but eight more. Emperor Corpsehead didn''t know what Tianyi was planning, but he had a bad feeling and commanded the formations to stop the black spheres. Ghostly visages of decapitated heads emerged from the ground and rose up to block the black spheres. When one of the ghost heads opened its maw and swallowed the black sphere, a blinding light immediately appeared. Sound and light had lost meaning, but with the coming of that light, eight more followed. It wasn''t full of yang qi, just pure destruction. Emperor Corpsehead covered himself and blocked it as much as possible. "Are you mad? You''re going to kill yourself to kill me!?" When the light disappeared, Emperor Corpsehead had an ugly expression. Ninety percent of the formations he spent over a thousand years constructing had shattered. Before he could even count his losses, a second golden crescent slammed into the ground and created a new canyon. "You''re not dead?" Emperor Corpsehead said with an ugly expression. Tianyi smiled, but he was not uninjured. Half of his clothes had been burnt to a crisp, and numerous patches of voids appeared on his skin, but they were quickly healing. He turned tail and fled. Without the formations stopping him, Emperor Corpsehead could never catch him. The ghost emperor knew this, so he could only watch Tianyi leave with hatred. Not only had Tianyi destroyed almost all his formations, but he had lost the Bliss and Misery Awls. Tianyi didn''t care; he had accomplished his goal. He urged vacuums to form faster in front of him as he rushed towards Youdu. "Come on, come on," Tianyi said. "Faster, faster," He even began to use the temporal aspects he had sealed away, doubling his speed, but it was still not fast enough. It was at this moment that something clicked in Tianyi''s head. He didn''t know whether to laugh or cry. "I mastered the Concept of Lightspeed." Tianyi''s body turned into a stream of black light filled with countless stars. His speed doubled more than ten times, and he arrived at Youdu in a week. When he arrived, he saw a Yama Palace shrouded in a Buddhist light. The plaque containing the Yama Palace''s former name had been erased and now read Ksitigarbha Yama Palace. Chapter 300: An Explosive Strategy The newly renamed Ksitigarbha Yama Palace had tens upon tens of chains descending down from the flying palace and embedding themselves onto Youdu. The chains exuded a black and gold light, and they were taut with tension. Tianyi could see that the walls of Youdu were slightly higher than before. He could even see a line of dirt where the ground had once reached. ''Someone had the same idea as me!'' Tianyi thought. He waved his arm, and a miniature sun appeared in his hand with eight more suns trailing behind it. Tianyi launched all nine of them. The suns began to revolve and expand like exploding balloons over a hundred meters long each. As they neared Ksitigarbha Yama Palace, more specifically the lower half where the chains originated from, nine monks wearing kasayas appeared in front of each Stellar Silence Tianyi unleashed. Their hairless heads gleamed as they clapped their hands together. They gleamed even more when a golden hue covered the Buddhist monk''s entire body, turning their skin bronze. Some of the monks placed their palms in front of them as if to block the exploding suns, others chopped down, and more punched at Tianyi''s attack. Tianyi sneered. He could tell that all nine monks were all in the Mahayana Realm, the Buddhist equivalent of the Immortal Realm. Like the Immortal Realm''s four sub realms: Pathfinding Immortal Realm, Seamless Immortal Realm, Extremity Immortal Realm, and Origin Immortal Realm; the Mahayana Realm was also split into four sub-realms: Sotapanna Realm, Sakadagami Realm, Anagami Realm, and Arahant Realm. Those in the Mahayana Realm were christened bodhisattvas, and bodhisattvas in the Sakadagami Realm were known as returner bodhisattvas. The nine returner bodhisattvas were all blown back by Tianyi''s nine Stellar Silences. Even though the Sakagagami Realm was equivalent to the Seamless Immortal Realm, Tianyi wasn''t a normal immortal monarch. He could even be said to be the most abnormal lifeform in all of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. If he could even be classified as a lifeform. Over half the chains pulling Youdu had been destroyed, but Tianyi''s attack didn''t finish off the nine returner bodhisattvas. Cracks appeared on their bronze bodies, and some even seemed to melt as if they really were made of metal. As if on prior agreement, the nine Buddhist cultivators all charged at Tianyi, wanting to prevent him from unleashing the same technique. Unfortunately for them, Tianyi didn''t even need time to form his attack or worry about consumption. Before the nine returner bodhisattvas could even reach the halfway point, Tianyi unleashed his technique again. Nine suns flew towards the nine Buddhist cultivators. For the first time, they showed panic on their faces. Tianyi didn''t rest on his laurels and unleashed eighteen more Stellar Silences. If nine returner bodhisattvas were just the first ones dispatched, Tianyi didn''t want to know who else they would dispatch. Best to cut the chains and take Youdu away as fast as possible. Unfortunately, reality did not go as he wanted. Before the first set of Stellar Silences landed on the nine returner bodhisattvas, nine giant chains erupted from Ksitigarbha Yama Palace and around them. When the Stellar Silences landed, the chains burned red from the heat and cracked, but they didn''t shatter. Almost immediately afterward, the cracks healed, and the red color receded as the chains cooled. Without missing a beat, the chains flailed and appeared in front of the eighteen other Stellar Silences Tianyi unleashed. Of the eighteen exploding suns, only three managed to break through the giant chains and land on the chains connecting to Youdu. At this, Ksitigarbha Yama Palace sent out a hundred more chains that embedded themselves into the walls of Youdu. It also retracted the giant chains containing the nine returner bodhisattvas into itself. After that, it released a brilliant golden radiance. Anyone basking under the light would hear thousands of Buddhist monks chanting sutras in their ears. They would involuntarily feel a soothing sensation as if they had found their final destinate and converted to Buddhism. ''Want me to shave my head and become bald? Dream on!'' Tianyi thought as he ignored the alluring sutras ringing in his ears. The golden radiance just made him squint in annoyance. He spread both arms wide. In his right hand, a miniature sun appeared. Unlike the previous Stellar Silence, numerous rings like those of Saturn spun around it. In his right hand, a black ball appeared. So black was the color that it seemed to rip a hole in reality. Tianyi hadn''t named the technique yet, but it was a void ball that transformed into a black hole. Tianyi threw the Stellar Silence first, and the ringed sun spiraled towards Ksitigarbha Yama Palace. The giant chains returned and tried to block his attack. The ringed sun expanded into a disk of destruction, slicing apart the chains like a hot knife through butter. He threw the void ball in his left hand next. Unlike the ringed sun, the void ball didn''t expand. Instead, it sucked in all the shattered chains and surrounding debris, even the chunks of Youdu, into itself. Despite this, it didn''t expand at all. The void ball continued toward Ksitigarbha Yama Palace, which sent out numerous chains at it. The chains disappeared into the void ball as if sent into another dimension. Then, it started to expand.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. It had transformed from an empty void into an insatious black hole. The more chains it absorbed, the bigger it became until it was equal to the Ksitigarbha Yama Palace in size. Now, it wasn''t the Yama Palace that was pulling Youdu but the black hole sucking the Yama Palace. Ksitigarbha Yama Palace trembled as several of its chains snapped. Then, the palace doors opened, and a golden wheel shot out. It pierced the black sphere and flew out through the other end. Cracks appeared, and the pieces fell down, creating craters where they landed. ''Couldn''t be that easy, huh.'' Tianyi thought as he spread out his hands again. Once more, a ringed sun appeared in his right hand and a void ball in his left. Tianyi launched them. Only this time, he launched nine of each at once. While his Stellar Silences and embryonic black holes attacked Ksitigarbha Yama Palace, a voice entered Tianyi''s ears. "What are you doing?" Youdu Spirit said. "Can''t you see? I''m fending off the thieves," Tianyi said. "And what took you so long to contact me?" "The Buddhists took Broadclear Yama Palace and transformed it into their own. When they tried to take me, they also released Buddhist radiance to beguile me," Youdu Spirit. "Your attack broke their spell on me." "And can you be gentler? Your attacks are affecting me, Youdu, as well," Youdu Spirit said. Tianyi glanced at Youdu. His nine void balls had emerged together to form one super black hole. The sheer attraction force was turning parts of Youdu into rubble and absorbing them. "Would you rather follow them?" Tianyi asked. Youdu Spirit had no words to say. He could follow the Buddhists and just wait for the Silent Timeline to end or gamble and follow Tianyi. Even a fool would know which option to choose. "At least try to be careful," Youdu Spirit said. "The more complete I am, the better it is for you, wouldn''t it?" "I know, but I have a bad feeling," Tianyi said. Just as he finished speaking, golden begonia flowers appeared and floated down. Wherever they passed, Tianyi''s Stellar Silences started to stagnate, and the super black hole''s attraction force halted. Without replenishing its mass, the super black hole lost its power and fell down. A monk walked out of Ksitigarbha Yama Palace. From his pressure alone, Tianyi could tell that he was in the Anagami Realm, the Buddhist equivalent of the Extremity Immortal. The departer bodhisattva turned to look at Tianyi. Tianyi felt that the bodhisattva was extremely familiar, but he couldn''t recall where. A domain erupted from the departer bodhisattva, trapping Tianyi within. He felt his thoughts slow down to the extreme. He had only felt this sensation once. "Emperor Begonia?!" Tianyi looked closer at the bodhisattva and discovered that he bore some resemblance to Emperor Begonia. ''No way, Emperor Begonia was actually a Buddhist this whole time?'' Although he knew that the Buddhists and the Buzhou Immortal Sect had some cooperation, they were definitely not allies. They simply took what they needed from the others. Hundreds of golden begonia flowers smashed into Tianyi, fracturing his skin. Tianyi roared, and immortal qi of primordial erupted from his body. He turned into a cosmic giant over a hundred meters tall. The golden begonias crashed into him, but they were absorbed inside and broken down. The consumption was egregiously high, but nothing he couldn''t afford. With this, Tianyi finally had time to think. He was in a bit of trouble; he wasn''t sure he could defeat Emperor Begonia. No, it should be the Begonia Bodhisattva. Before he could think of a solution, chains erupted from the Ksitigarbha Yama Palace and wrapped around the cosmic giant''s four limbs. It spread them apart, trapping the giant in midair. Tianyi wanted to break the cosmic giant''s limbs to break free of the chains, but before he could, the Begonia Bodhisattva took out a tomoe-shaped jewel. He flicked the jewel toward the cosmic giant, and the jewel turned into a silver comet. The silver comet shattered through the cosmic giant''s stomach and smashed into Tianyi''s chest, puncturing and entering.
Tianyi''s Past Incarnation looked up from Ninth Heaven. His body disappeared, and when it reappeared, it was at the edge of the Nine Heavens System. He waved his hand, and the silver comet that suddenly appeared lost all power and flew into the Past Incarnation''s hand. Now, upon closer examination, the Past Incarnation nodded. "It''s another half of the Spectral Rising Jewel, but why does the Begonia Bodhisattva have it?"
Outside, the cosmic giant broke free of the chains by discarding its limbs, but it soon regenerated them without any loss. From afar, the Begonia Bodhisattva frowned when he realized that he had lost the connection with the Spectral Rising Jewel in his position. However, Tianyi wasn''t feeling well either. He had a gaping hole in his chest that led to his inner universe that won''t heal. More chains appeared from the Ksitigarbha Yama Palace that captured the cosmic giant. He looked down at Youdu. If he tried the same tactic he tried last¡ªignoring whether the Begonia Bodhisattva would let him repeat the same trick¡ªYoudu would be heavily damaged. "Youdu Spirit, which part is your core, and what is the minimum requirement to transfer you?" "What are you planning?" Youdu Spirit asked. Even someone as long-lived and experienced as he did not like the direction this was heading. "Just tell me," Tianyi said. "The core palace and the thousand kilometers around it," Youdu Spirit said. "Alright, brace yourself and prepare to discard everything else," Tianyi said. "Wait, what are you¨C" Youdu Spirit never finished as Tianyi already started taking action. "I hate myself," Tianyi muttered. "And I need better techniques." Rays of radiance burst out from Tianyi''s body and exited through the cosmic giant. The Begonia Bodhisattva frowned as he felt an ominous premonition. Without hesitation, he entered Ksitigarbha Yama Palace. The moment he did so, Tianyi exploded. An enormous amount of true qi of primordial chaos erupted and expanded over a hundred thousand kilometers with Youdu at the center. When the Begonia Bodhisattva could see again, he discovered that the Vast Void seemed to have been transported into the sky of the Nether Realm. Furthermore, he could see nine celestial objects, one sun orbited by eight planets. He didn''t have time to sightsee as numerous tribulation lightning shot towards him. The Begonia Bodhisattva controlled the Ksitigarbha Yama Palace to flee, but he discovered that it seemed to have been shackled in place by space itself. Stranger still, he could feel the energy fueling the Yama Palace continuously leaking out. It was as if heaven and earth could not stand Ksitigarbha Yama Palace and wanted to destroy it at all cost. The Begonia Bodhisattva frowned and made a snap-second decision. The Ksitigarbha Yama Palace entered its highest performance state. He could already feel his qi draining at an extreme rate. The Ksitigarbha Yama Palace broke free of its shackles and shot straight up. The space in front of it twisted and shattered, revealing the twilight sky of the Nether Realm. The Begonia Bodhisattva thought he could sigh in relief, but before he could, a bolt of punishment lightning struck the Ksitigarbha Yama Palace, damaging it and attracting more. He was baffled. He looked down to see where once Youdu had stood, a giant sphere over a hundred thousand kilometers wide had engulfed the whole area. Nine Heavens Refining Formation. Chapter 301: The Almighty Youdu Spirit stared at the abnormal sky. For him, who had always existed in the Nether Realm, it was the first time he had seen such a wondrous view. Furthermore, he could tell that Youdu was no longer in the Nether Realm as if it was half in the Nether Realm and half in a strange realm. "Tianyi, what did you do? You didn''t really self-detonate, did you?" Youdu Spirit shouted. The spirit didn''t have time to ask anymore as he stared up. The nine celestial objects started to grow larger. It was moving towards the Nether Realm. Youdu Spirit frowned. Without the interference of Ksitigarbha Yama Palace, he was free to utilize the full features of Youdu. The nether capital started to shine with black brilliance. Slowly, black specters floated from the ground. Over five hundred thousand specters sprouted up, each one with the power of at least an earth immortal and over ten thousand with the strength of a true immortal. Armor and spears appeared in the specters'' bodies, transforming them into soldiers. The Nether Army had appeared. Youdu spirit frowned. "If I was still connected to the ten Yama Palaces, I could have raised an army with over a hundred million and ten ghost sovereigns." "Then, why didn''t you do this when the Buddhists were trying to take you?" "Who?" Youdu Spirit turned around to see Tianyi standing behind him. "Where were you? Before that, what did you do to summon that?" Seeing Youdu Spirit point at the Nine Heavens System, Tianyi shrugged. "It''s not an enemy. You can put away your army, and you haven''t answered my question." Youdu Spirit furrowed his brows, but he didn''t put away the Nether Army. "I couldn''t. The Ksitigarbha Yama Palace suppressed me and prevented me from doing anything." "I''m guessing that you''re also restricted from disconnecting the Yama Palaces yourself, right?" Tianyi asked. "Because you''re fully capable of doing it by yourself if you had this many. I don''t think the Huang Realm and the Numinous Realm combined have this many true immortals." "I wouldn''t be so sure," Youdu Spirit said. "And how did you appear here without my notice?" A smug smile appeared on Tianyi''s face. "My state is kinda like yours right now. Anything within my control, I can appear." "Youdu is my domain, not yours," Youdu Spirit said. "Youdu is inside my territory, so it''s part of my domain, allowing me to appear anywhere. Anyways, can we hurry it up?" Tianyi asked. "The Heavenly Punishment really has it out for me this time. If we don''t finish the relocation, I don''t know when the next chance will come." "Relocate where?" Youdu Spirit asked. Tianyi pointed towards the Nine Heavens System. "That''s yours?" Youdu Spirit asks, still not believing it. "Yes, everything above is me in a way. As long as it exists, I am eternal. Now hurry up and release all resistance," Tianyi said. "Are you a spirit like that embarked on the path of cultivation?" Youdu Spirit asked. "No, I''ll explain later, just play along for now, okay?" Tianyi asked. Youdu Spirit''s brows furrowed even more, but he nodded. The armor and spears disappeared from the specters'' bodies, and they sunk into the ground once more. Tianyi smiled and nodded. "Okay, I can''t keep this incarnation active while I do this since I need all my focus," Tianyi said as his body dissipated. "Remember, don''t fight back, resist all urges!" Youdu Spirit sighed as he controlled Youdu to cease all resistance, no matter what his natural reaction was. Like before, Youdu began to rise from the ground, only this time, there was no third party obstructing the process. More and more buried parts of Youdu revealed themselves. The outer wall stood over a hundred meters tall, but the wall actually reached over nine thousand meters deep. When it was fully pulled out of the ground, a vein-like structure followed along. It was the core spiritual vein of the Nether Realm, which Youdu used to connect to the ten Yama Palaces. Youdu''s rise halted as the veins became taut. The tension increased as the Nine Heavens System came closer, increasing the attraction force. Finally, it snapped as Youdu broke free of the spiritual veins. The spiritual veins fell back and connected with each other, creating a new core but with a weaker foundation and strength. Youdu continued to rise and rise until it broke free of the Nether Realm''s influence and drifted to the eight planets. Once close enough, the nether capital drifted to the fourth planet from the edge, Fourth Heaven. Youdu flipped around so the bottom faced the planet, and it floated it down. As it pierced through the atmosphere, Youdu Spirit could see the land split apart. Inside the newly created hole was the center of a spiritual vein. Youdu slowly descended into the hole. The spiritual vein beneath it merged perfectly with the spiritual vein already present in Fourth Heaven.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. With a heavy thud, Youdu perfectly merged with the continent on Fourth Heaven. Staring from Youdu''s walls, a gray color spread, coloring the land with death. On the other side, a sapling brimming with vitality was planted. Flora and vegetation started to flourish around the little sapling, and it kept growing. The more death spread from Youdu, the taller the sapling grew, and the more life spread. Youdu represented death and the sapling represented life. Youdu Spirit could feel endless energy pouring into Youdu, making up for all the energy loss that came from severing the ten Yama Palaces. The spirit looked to see the Nether Realm slowly disappearing as if something was closing up. "Finally, now I just have to overcome the heavenly punishment." Youdu Spirit flinched and turned towards the suddenly materialized Tianyi. "Now, can you explain what is happening? Is this the realm you were talking about?" "To be more precise, it''s not a realm but a whole universe," Tianyi said. "When I was still a mortal cultivator, I condensed a primordial egg, and when I entered the Immortal Realm, I split open the egg and created this universe." "Universe, this is a whole universe?" Youdu Spirit repeated as if in disbelief. "That''s not something an immortal could do. Not even a divinity can accomplish such a feat." "Well, my strength is between an immortal monarch and emperor, so I classify myself as an immortal monarch," Tianyi said with a shrug. "I don''t think I can even classify myself as a divinity either. At least, not yet." Youdu Spirit just stared at Tianyi as if he still had yet to process what Tianyi had just revealed. Finally, he sighed. "This isn''t your real body, is it?" "Nope, just an incarnation, as I said before," Tianyi said. "How is it? You won''t ever meet Empress Ping or merge with your other half as long as you are in my Nine Heavens Universe, right?" Tianyi wasn''t afraid of revealing his secret because Youdu Spirit was never going to leave the Nine Heavens Universe. "You are correct. I never personally experienced another universe, but I do know about one divinity that had one," Youdu Spirit said. "You do? Who is it?" Tianyi asked. ''Pangu?'' ¡°I never met him myself, but he''s known as the Almighty." "The Almighty? How powerful is he that other divinities call him that?" Tianyi asked. "Could I reach the same level?" "I don''t know," Youdu Spirit said. "However, I know that he was powerful enough that the Immortal Court had to unite with other pantheons to compete against him." Seeing Tianyi''s shocked expression, Youdu Spirit elaborated. "Pantheons are organizations like the Immortal Court composed of divinities from other Systems. The Three Thousand Immortal Realms System isn''t the only one in the greater universe, beyond the Vast Void." "No, I know," Tianyi said. "I''m just surprised that you would reveal such facts to me." "Is there a point in keeping it? You are my future Master, after all," Youdu Spirit said. "Tell me more about the Almighty," Tianyi said. "I didn''t know much, but I heard that he created a unique race called angels. Angels are born with immortal level strength and can even have the power of divinities, depending on how many wings they are born with." ''Angels? Is it the Christian God?'' "Luckily for the rest of the pantheons, including us, the Almighty was not interested in fighting us. The Almighty spent all his time warring against the devils," Youdu Spirit said. "But I''m not sure anymore. After the fall of the Immortal Court, we no longer have contact with other pantheons. If the Almighty were to invade us, we''d stand no chance." "Okay, that''s a lot to take in," Tianyi said. "Give me a moment to digest all this information.¡± "Okay, let''s continue," Tianyi said less than a second later. "I''m going to refine you now." Youdu Spirit nodded. He had already expected this. This time, Tianyi''s incarnation didn''t disappear, but Youdu Spirit still felt an immortal sense enter every corner of Youdu. It took less than a week with Youdu Spirit''s cooperation for Tianyi to refine him. "Since I''m your master now, I''m going to give you a new name since Youdu is no longer suitable," Tianyi said. "Since you''re on Fourth Heaven and I plan to make you the planet spirit, your new name will now be Sitian." "Thank you, Master," Youdu Spirit, no, Sitian said. "Master, I noticed that the universe is incomplete. There is no Six Paths of Samsara present. Dead souls cannot reincarnate." "That''s hardly the only problem," Tianyi said. "I can''t create new souls at all either. I''ll try to make one, but for now, I''m going to focus on the Law of Death and Law of Life to merge them into the Law of Life and Death," Tianyi said. Sitian nodded. "Master, why don''t you absorb a part of the Six Paths of Samara while traveling through?" "I''m going to stop you right there," Tianyi said. "I already blew up my body to integrate you into my inner universe. It''s going to take at least a hundred years before I can recreate my body and travel back to my timeline." He pointed up. "More importantly, whatever is left of my body is currently undergoing heavenly punishment. I don''t know what will happen if all my body is destroyed in a timeline. Maybe nothing will happen, or I can never go back to that timeline again, I don''t want to find out." "All I want to do is overcome and recreate my body. And then finally go back to my timeline, goddammit, why is everything going wrong?!" Tianyi growled out. "What should I do?" Sitian asked. "I created a new tree using parts of my flesh. It has the potential to become a world tree, and it will represent my understanding of life. You just need to terraform half the planet, so Fourth Heaven will be a planet of life and death." Sitian nodded and disappeared. With his manual control, the spread of death on Fourth Heaven advanced. During this time, Tianyi focused on keeping what little flesh he had in the Nether Realm alive. The Nine Heavens Refining Formation had shrunk until it was no more than palm-sized. Inside, the last bits of Tianyi''s flesh struggled to survive as continuous punishment lightning descended. The punishment lasted more than ten years before it finally disappeared with an unwilling thunderous roar. Tianyi finally sighed. He did not want to experience it a third time. Two times was enough, thank you very much. With his mind free, he shifted the Five-Colored Egg from Ninth Heaven to Fourth Heaven, above Sitian City. Daoyi had already migrated from Sixth Heaven to Fourth Heaven. She didn''t move into Sitian City but comprehended the Law of Life under the world tree Tianyi planted. The two formed a resonance and increased Daoyi''s comprehension, indirectly benefiting Tianyi. He noticed that whenever Daoyi grasped something, he grasped it a little bit as well. "If only I had a whole bunch of people here comprehending. It''ll be like having an infinite number of experience shares," he had said. Still, the world tree couldn''t be without a name, and Tianyi named it after the legendary Fusang Tree. He started to rebuild his body destroyed from self-detonation. During this time, he appeared in the core palace of Sitian Heaven. Daoyi was there too, drinking alcohol as she did every once in a while. "Want a cup?" she asked. Tianyi sighed and pointed up. "Can''t you sense it?" Daoyi looked up. "Oh, my divine avatar is about to be born." Chapter 302: Goddess of Death Nuyi Above Youdu, Daoyi''s gestating divine avatar floated quietly. After Tianyi had integrated the Spectral Rising Jewel fragment taken from the Begonia Boddhisattva, the gestation speed increased dramatically. The five-colored glow illuminating it had receded, making it appear like a regular gray stone. It didn''t even emit an aura of death anymore, and aside from Tianyi, the master of the Nine Heavens Universe, and Daoyi, the main body of the divine avatar, no one, not even Sitian, could detect it was anything but a regular stone¡ªif you ignored it floating above Youdu. In the next moment, clouds began to gather above Youdu as if in preparation for a heavy storm or hurricane. At the eye of the storm was the stone, still seemingly ordinary, but the next moment, an oppressive aura descended. If any mortal were present, they would have died directly. Even those with strong will would fall under the illusion that they died, and the illusion would become a reality from pure belief. Essence qi of death exuded from the gray stone, coloring it pitch black with a hint of white. Under this essence qi that only immortal sovereigns should possess, even immortals would be affected. The essence qi of death would snuff out any vitality contained within their body; their body might begin to rot directly. The essence qi of death transformed into black beams that radiated off of the gestating avatar. When it struck the land around Youdu, the aura of death increased, and it even shot out into the Vast Void. A few beams even struck the other heavens. Under Tianyi''s control, the clouds above those heavens condensed and formed a barrier against the beams of death. Inside Fan City, numerous residents fell onto their knees as they prayed upon feeling the aura of death. Did they anger the Goddess of Death somehow? Despite it being day, the constellation of a woman with the lower half of a snake appeared in the sky. With each passing second, the stars making it up shone brighter, and the image of the goddess of death became more corporeal. While the residents of Fan City prostrated themselves, Ziye especially since she saw it as an omen, Dong Chifang frowned as he stared at the constellation of death. He wasn''t as ignorant as the former denizens of the Demon Cage Realm. As a denizen of the Huang Realm and sworn brother of San Jiuling, he was privy to numerous pieces of information and secrets unknown to loose cultivators and weaker sects. During the Primordial Era, stars represented powerful positions and experts, especially in the Immortal Court. All of them were under the jurisdiction of the North Great Emperor of Polaris, who ruled all the heavenly stars. However, that was during the era of the Primordial Era when the Immortal Court still existed. Did he somehow travel back to the Primordial Era, or did someone establish the Immortal Court again? The giant gray stone ignored the reaction of all life inside the Nine Heavens Universe¡ªnot that there was much in the first place¡ªand continued to cause the environment on Fourth Heaven to change. When the aura of death reached the other half of Fourth Heaven, it miraculously transformed into an aura of life. This abundant aura fed the Fusang Tree, causing it to grow at an increased rate. After four days and four nights, a crack appeared on the gray stone. Two silver rays pierced out of the crack and into the infinite void before stopping on two celestial objects. Tianyi saw that they''d been infected with the Law of Death and now emanated a deathly aura. He waved his hands, and the two celestial objects disappeared. When they reappeared, they were orbiting Fourth Heaven as its new moons. The aura of death started to subtly increase, faintly showing signs of overpowering the aura of vitality and breaking the delicate balance that had been maintained. Tianyi allowed it to happen since it would benefit Daoyi''s divine avatar, and he could always adjust it later. After Fourth Heaven gained two moons and the two silver rays disappeared, the hatching of the divine avatar stopped for a moment as it shed its gray color and turned pure white, like condensed moonlight. Once the moment passed, the hatching resumed. Once the crack became large enough, a jade white hand emerged. It appeared more tender than a baby''s skin and more dazzling than the most beautiful pearls. An arm emerged after the white hand, then a head full of ink-black hair, then the torso. The ink-black hair sprawled over the naked body, preventing anyone from catching a glimpse of the important bits. Then, the thin waist came out, and Tianyi felt that he might develop a fetish for belly buttons if he continued to stare. His throat became dry as she saw the perfect mermaid lines slowly shift out of the crack. ''Hey, hey, is this really all right?! You''re going to expose yourself to everyone!'' To Tianyi''s relief and slight disappointment, dark blue scales emerged, and a long snake-like tail emerged. When the last bit of tail slid out, the newly emerged nascent goddess opened her eyes. Her eyes were pitch-black, like the abyss, and any mortal who stared would instantly die. Even weaker immortals might not be immune. She turned towards the egg she hatched out of and waved her hand. The empty shell glowed for a moment before it transformed into a divine garment and accessories for the goddess. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. She wore a dress of death and gray but frustratingly left her stomach uncovered, tantalizing Tianyi. Adorning her head was a crown of death and a red spider lily in her hand. "I am an avatar, but I am also the goddess who controls the Law of Death in the Nine Heavens Universe," The newborn goddess said. "From now on, I will be called Nuyi. Nu is taken from Nuwa, and Yi is taken from my original source, Daoyi!" After she finished speaking, her words echoed throughout the Nine Heavens Universe, even the unexplored unknown. On Sixth Heaven, Dong Chifan''s expression changed. Daoyi? Wasn''t this the Sword Sovereign''s disciple? How could she form a divine avatar? The residents of Fan City didn''t have complicated thoughts like Dong Chifan, and all kneeled, chanting Nuyi''s name. From then on, next to the Vast Heaven God, they enshrined Nuyi as the Death Goddess. With the passage of time, they gradually forgot the name Nuyi and only addressed her as Death Goddess. Back on Fourth Heaven, Tianyi, Daoyi, and Sitian had long flown out of Youdu''s gate and waited for Nuyi to descend. When she did, Tianyi just stared up, and up, and up. Nuyi stood over thirty-five meters tall, and Tianyi could only measure to one of her fingers, and that was not including her tail length. With her tail, she would be over a hundred meters long! "Tianyi, you look so cute from up here," Nuyi suddenly smiled and said. She reached down and plucked Tianyi by the back of his collar and placed him on her palm. Tianyi felt like Sun Wukong in Buddha''s palm. He dissipated his incarnation and reappeared next to Daoyi with a pout. "Was that really necessary?" Daoyi and Nuyi both opened their mouths and giggled at the same time with the exact same expression. "No, but was it enjoyable? Yes." Tianyi sighed and tsked. "She can shrink, right? I plan to have her govern Fourth Heaven and make Fourth Heaven control the cycle of reincarnation whenever I can form the Six Paths of Samsara." "There is no need to worry, Master," Sitian spoke up at this moment. The ground rumbled, and Tianyi and the rest stared into the core of Youdu to see that the streets had widened and the central palace had increased in size, large enough to fit Nuyi. Tianyi pursed his lips. ''Pig teammate.'' Nuyi slid through the empty streets of Youdu with Tianyi, Daoyi, and Sitian following behind. While following behind the goddess, Tianyi could help but stare at Nuyi''s swaying hips. "Pervert." Tianyi snapped his head towards Daoyi. He opened his mouth to deny it, but he couldn''t really defend himself. He had been staring at Nuyi''s captivating movements. ''What is wrong with me. Was Nuyi formed from the Law of Beauty or something and not the Law of Death... or am I awakening to a weird fetish?'' Tianyi halted his thoughts there. Better not think about it any deeper. When Nuyi stepped into Youdu Palace, she slid to the throne hall and sat upon the elevated throne, which had also increased in size. Normally, Empress Ping or Emperor Fengdu sat on that throne, but that was in the Three Thousand Immortals Realm System. Now, this throne belonged to Nuyi, the goddess of death christened by the master of the Nine Heavens Universe, Xi Tianyi. "From now on, I will be Empress Nuyi," Nuyi said from her throne, and her voice echoed throughout Fourth Heaven, even though every living being was already in the throne room. "You''re enjoying this, aren''t you?" Tianyi said, turning to Daoyi. "Wouldn''t you?" She returned. Tianyi sighed. He could never win a verbal argument with her. He waved his hand, and the Heaven Bearing Seal floated to Empress Nuyi. The Heaven Bearing Seal contained the Law of Life and Law of Death, but it didn''t contain the Law of Samsara. Only Empress Ping controlled the Law of Samsara, which was one reason why the Heaven Bearing Emperor was an empty title. Still, the Law of Life contained within was useful to Daoyi. Since Nuyi was Daoyi''s avatar, everything Nuyi learned would be reflected in Daoyi. Nuyi''s strength and soul also surpassed Daoyi''s now, so it was better for Nuyi to hold the Heaven Bearing Seal, not to mention that the Heaven Bearing Seal could not leave the Nine Heavens Universe once they returned to their original timeline. As for the Three Lives Stone, Tianyi kept it on Ninth Heaven and studied it too. It didn''t contain the Law of Life or the Law of Death, but it contained the Law of Samsara. Surprisingly, parts of the Law of Spacetime made up the Law of Samsara, giving Tianyi an entry point. Tianyi and Daoyi left Youdu and even Fourth Heaven. They returned to Ninth Heaven. With Empress Nuyi there, Daoyi didn''t need to stay on Fourth Heaven. "I''ve been meaning to ask, where did you get that half of the Spectral Rising Jewel from?" Daoyi asked. Tianyi summarized how he got it and asked a question himself. "Aside from the Great Detacher of Emotions, do you know anyone else who could have held a fragment of the Spectral Rising Jewel?" Daoyi shook her head. "Aside from him, no one. But, it''s not impossible for them to hide it from me if their strength is far above mine. With my current strength, I might be able to sense them." Tianyi nodded. "Great Detacher of Emotions and the Begonia Boddhisattva, do they have some sort of relationship?" When he returned to the Buzhou Immortal Sect of his timeline, it would be best to report this as soon as possible. Daoyi sat down and started comprehending the Law of Life. Although her divine avatar made faster progress, her participation should still increase speed. She was beginning to feel insecure. This had nothing to do with love, but if there was too much difference of strength between two parties, then the weaker side had no right, especially in the Huang Realm where might was justice. Tianyi, for his part, tested Empress Nuyi''''s effect on the Nine Heavens Universe. With his blessing, she could command the power of the Nine Heavens Universe, significantly increasing her strength. She could be considered a partial master of the Nine Heavens Universe, but Tianyi could retract that authorization easily. Furthermore, Tianyi discovered that he might be able to control Empress Nuyi. As long as he wills it, Empress Nuyi will become his avatar. Everything in the Nine Heavens Universe is him, including any life. With a thought, they can become another copy of him. Even if they don''t, he could decide their life and death on a whim. Such an ability sent shivers down Tianyi''s spine, even though he was the master of this ability. Having discovered another facet of his control of the Nine Heavens Universe, he began to focus on rebuilding his body. In the Nether Realm of the Silent Lightning Timeline, the tiny bits and pieces of Tianyi''s flesh regrouped to form a small sphere. The heavenly punishment had ended, so Tianyi didn''t need to focus on defending against that. The small sphere had tiny stars glittering within and pulsing like a heart. Slowly, ever so slowly, the sphere began to grow larger and attained mass. Chapter 303: Six Paths of Samsara Tianyi''s current conduit, his body, only had around fifty percent of the former body''s strength. He would regain his full strength with time, but for now, it was sufficient as long as he did not face off against an immortal emperor or their equivalents. He waved his hands, and the ground around him shattered and disintegrated into dust. "My Law of Destruction has improved." He lost and had to cultivate another body, but he mastered the Law of Destruction. It was hard to say if it was a gain or loss for Tianyi. With enough time, he could master the Law of Destruction but not this fast. Since Tianyi mastered the Law of Destruction, Xi Longyi''s soul orb no longer had any use, but he didn''t want to destroy it. It was like a collector''s mindset. Even if the object lost its use, he didn''t want to throw it away. He sighed and willed it. The orb containing Xi Longyi''s soul shattered in Donghai Longzi''s hand; he didn''t have a chance to beg or scream. The soul fragments transformed into soul essence and were absorbed by Tianyi''s true dragon clone. Tianyi didn''t immediately move and sat down instead. When his eyes closed, the scene of heavenly punishment appeared in his mind. Compared to heavenly tribulation, heavenly punishment had far more power. Heavenly tribulation tested a cultivator to judge whether they were worthy, while heavenly punishment aimed to destroy its target. As such, it contained the law of destruction. Unlike tribulation lightning, he couldn''t absorb punishment lightning because whatever it touched would disintegrate and become ruined, even qi and essence. Furthermore, he had already tried to absorb the heavenly punishment but discovered that he couldn''t absorb anything from it. If anything, the more heavenly punishment he devoured into the Nine Heavens Universe, the less energy his inner universe had. The difference was extremely minute, but after years of withstanding the heavenly punishment, he discovered it. The heavenly punishment definitely didn''t only contain the Law of Destruction. Even if it was at the divine level, the Law of Destruction should not be able to steal his universe''s energy. The heavenly punishment contained a more powerful law that he couldn''t sense. After a while, Tianyi made a wry smile. Previously, it was him stealing energy from the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, but now it was his turn to taste his own medicine. He opened his eyes and stood up. It was no use, he couldn''t sense the mystery behind the heavenly punishment. At his current level, there was no law he couldn''t sense, at least normal laws. He couldn''t sense the law at the divine level. Tianyi only knew of one law at the divine level, the Law of Creation. Once he mastered it, he was sure that he would achieve divinity level in power, but before then, he had to master as many laws as powerful and merge them. According to his estimate, he needed to at least master three hundred laws. Tianyi made a wry smile, he hadn''t even achieved ten percent of that, but he was less than two hundred years old. He had time. ''If only I had a method,'' Tianyi thought. ''Should I have more people in my inner universe like Daoyi? Whatever she comprehends will be fed back to me, but I still have to conceal my inner universe. At least until the Numinous Realm is defeated.'' No longer thinking about it anymore, Tianyi stood up and flew into the distance. He paused for a moment and observed his surrounding. ''Strange, I feel like someone is staring at me. Was it my imagination?'' After seeing no response, he folded space and traveled within the layers of space. Although his strength decreased, it only meant base stats and not his skills, so even immortal emperors would be hard-pressed to discover him within the layers of space. While flying towards the Six Paths of Samsara, Tianyi noticed more and more wandering souls. He sighed. When he had taken away Youdu and severed the connection between the ten Yama Palaces and it, the Nether Realm had further distorted, and the efficiency had long plummeted. "I shortened the destruction of the Silent Lightning Timeline again," Tianyi softly muttered in a complicated mood. Although he didn''t personally do it, he had implicated all the living beings in it for his own selfish reasons. Sure, they were doomed to die anyway, but that didn''t make his actions any better. If the powerhouses of the Silent Lightning Timeline knew of his actions, they''d likely band together and torment him for all eternity. Tianyi stopped. He could save some, couldn''t he? If possible, he wanted to save the people of the Huang Realm more since he had grown up there, but that was no longer possible. Why not save these souls? He even had the perfect place to keep them until he could create the Six Paths of Samsara. So along the way, whenever Tianyi saw the lost souls, he would collect them and place them in Fourth Heaven. He didn''t need to worry about overcrowding at all. Compared to the Nether Realm, Fourth Heaven was only larger, not smaller. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Of course, Tianyi didn''t choose any soldiers willy-nilly. He opened his Truth-Seeking Eye and chose to remove the souls with too much karmic sin. He thought about choosing only souls with karmic merit but decided against it. What, he already doomed their timeline faster, and he was going to be picky? Tianyi didn''t choose the souls that had already embarked on the path of cultivation like the ghost soldiers of the ghost rulers. They had already become ghost cultivators and understood some matters, and he didn''t want to risk anything. Better to choose ignorant souls. His act was self-serving and could even be called hypocritical. No, Tianyi acknowledged his action as hypocritical. He was doing this to smooth his conscience and lessen his guilt, but so what? As long as he felt satisfied, that was what mattered. If given the same choice, Tianyi would still choose the same course of action. Tianyi continued to fly, saving all the souls he saw along the way until he finally reached the core of the Nether Realm. Youdu was the capital but not the actual center where the Six Paths of Samsara resided. From the sky, it appeared as a giant abyss, not much different than the Paradise Agony Abyss. In fact, the Paradise Agony Abyss was modeled after the entrance to the Six Paths of Samsara. The entrance had no name, but each soul was required to go through it to reincarnate. The deeper they went, the more illusions they would experience until all their emotions and memories were purified. Only then would they enter the Six Paths of Samsara. Granny Meng''s Soup of Forgetfulness only streamlined the process. Once there, Tianyi descended onto the ground and waited in line. Whether by luck or chance, numerous souls had stumbled upon the entrance to reincarnation. A formation connecting the entrance prevented Tianyi from taking or damaging any of the souls, so he waited in line. Halfway through, he blinked and turned around. High above the sky was the Begonia Boddhisattva staring at him. ''So my senses weren''t lying to me.'' Tianyi ignored him. This was the most dangerous and the safest place in the entire Nether Realm. Not even divinities could attack here, much less a bodhisattva or an immortal. The Begonia Boddhisattva could stare all he wanted, but that meant nothing to Tianyi. For the Begonia Boddhisattva, he stared at Tianyi in confusion. As he suspected, Tianyi didn''t die when he self-detonated and had a method of resurrection. He wanted to secretly follow Tianyi and strike to capture him to interrogate where he had taken Youdu. In his eyes, another powerful force was behind Tianyi. Perhaps the Numinous Sword Sect, just like the Buddhist Pure Lands standing behind him. Tianyi should have reached a location near the edge of the Nether Realm and waited for reinforcements to open the entrance to the Nether Realm, not travel deeper into it. And certainly not go to the Six Paths of Samsara. Even divinities could not withstand the process of reincarnation without harm. Just why was Tianyi here? He didn''t believe Tianyi really was going to reincarnate himself. Everything taken into the Six Paths of Samsara would be lost. There''s no way he would give up Youdu after obtaining it, yet to his surprise, Tianyi started descending down the entrance. At the first step, Tianyi frowned. He saw a barren land without end. Only after walking for an unknown amount of years was he able to walk out of it and step onto the second step down. He had thought that the illusions would no longer work on him, but he had been wrong. The power acting on him must be at the divine level. For a brief moment, he considered letting Daoyi come out and temper her willpower but thought better of it. What if something happened, it would be too inconvenient to rescue her here. He continued his way down. The second step, the third step, the fourth step, the fifth step, the sixth step, the eighth step, the eleventh step, and so on. On the fifty-sixth step, Tianyi saw himself sitting on a throne of bones. All around him were corpses: most from unrelated people, some from his enemies, and even a few close friends. He looked down and saw three heads. The one farthest to him was of his mom from Earth, the second was Daoyi''s, and the first was his mother, Mengfei''s. He instinctually wanted to kick them away, but his body refused to follow his words. He could feel a perverse smile blooming on his lips as he collected the three heads and walked towards an altar. He placed all three heads on the altar and said, "Now, in the whole universe, only I exist. Only I am supreme, I and the beginning and the end. Pangu, Nuwa, Heavenly Lord of Primordial Beginning, Heavenly Lord of Numinous Treasures, Heavenly Lord of Dao and Virtue? All are beneath me." Tianyi didn''t know how long he had lived in that world. If anything life came into existence, he would slaughter them and then drain them of everything they had. His strength kept increasing, and he broke the limit of the Divinity Realm, but he was alone. He broke out in cold sweat as he broke out of that illusion. Compared to the Inner Devil Tribulation, it was only a few points weaker, and he could feel his emotions manipulated by it. Worse still was the fact that Tianyi didn''t know how much longer it would be until he reached the bottom. No wonder Immortal Court Spirit said he would be the only one able to do it. If he hadn''t had his Nine Heavens Universe as his true body, the illusion would have erased his will and memories. Even then, he had to constantly restore anything lost with a backup he made on Ninth Heaven and his Past Incarnation. Tianyi didn''t know how long he had experienced the illusions, but after the one hundred and eight steps, he finally reached the Six Paths of Samsara. He felt nonexistent sweat coating his back. The illusion of the one hundred and eighth step had almost done him in. In that illusion, he successfully passed and returned to his own timeline. From there, he helped the Buzhou Immortal Sect defeat the Tripartite Alliance and Anti-Heaven Alliance. From there, he waged war against the Numinous Sword Sect, eventually reaching the immortal sovereign level in strength. After that, he collected all Four Immoral Extermination Swords and formed the Immortal Extermination Formation, and defeated the Numinous Sword Sect, achieving supremacy. After the war, he mastered the Law of Creation and reached the divine level. He re-established the Immortal Court and became the new Jade Emperor. Daoyi became the Jade Empress, and he rescued his mom''s soul. Everything was perfect, and he became a winner in life. Tianyi observed the Six Paths of Samsara. The Six Paths of Samsara resembled a giant silver river with numerous branches splitting off. He didn''t have long to observe or to catch his breath as an invisible force pushed him into the Six Paths of Samsara. Chapter 304: Empress Ping The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Chapter 305: Ongoing War Stolen story; please report.
Chapter 306: White Lotus Demoness
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Chapter 307: Monarch vs Lord
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Chapter 308: Just Die Now, Ba Shifang never experienced heavenly tribulation like Tianyi, his main body, did. Still, he inherited Tianyi''s memories from when he was at the Nascent Soul Realm, aside from the ones Tianyi personally deleted. Hence, he knew how annoying it was to be targeted by the Heavenly Dao. For once, he got to see what it was like to be on the other side. If Tianyi were to know, Ba Shifang had no doubt that he would teleport over, bring out a second chair, and pop some popcorn. Ba Shifang watched with an enraptured expression as tribulation lightning bolts fell one after the other onto Bai Weiwei. When Tianyi upgraded the Thunder Throne Mk IV, he also added tribulation essence to it. For Ba Shifang, it was no issue since he could control lightning and the tribulation essence within without alerting the Heavenly Dao, but Bai Weiwei couldn''t, hence her current predicament. Ba Shifang continued to watch Bai Weiwei endure the heavenly tribulation. Compared to the ones Ba Shifang would have endured, hers were a level higher due to being in the Seamless Immortal Realm. Bai Weiwei shrunk the white lotus around her until it was only three meters tall and ten meters wide. The white lotus immortal artifact purified the lightning energy and tribulation essence into pure qi for Bai Weiwei to absorb. This action only seemed to enrage the heavenly tribulation even more as its power infinitely neared the immortal emperor level. Part of Ba Shifang''s mind told him to take advantage of Bai Weiwei''s plight and attack her, but the rational part of his mind told him not to. It was not that he was being chivalrous; he just didn''t want to join the heavenly tribulation. Just attacking someone undergoing their heavenly tribulation would drag him into it. Still, it didn''t mean that he was idle. While Ba Weiwei was busy with the heavenly tribulation, Ba Shifang began to set up the Eight Symbol Astral Formation. He placed a pearl condensed from fire qi, lightning qi, sky qi, water qi, mountain qi, wind qi, earth qi, and lake qi. After setting it up, Ba Shifang contacted the Buzhou Immortal Sect about the nature of the mysterious assassin using the Xiyi Talisman. While he did so, he suddenly jolted, and the corner of his lips twitched upward. "Figures." From there, Ba Shifang completely relaxed and waited. It took three more hours before the heavenly tribulation disappeared, but as usual, it released one last unwilling roaring thunder. "The Heavenly Dao is quite the sore loser, isn''t it?" Ba Shifang jokingly asked as he walked closer. Bai Weiwei groaned as she stumbled onto her feet. Her white lotus artifact had numerous cracks on it, and her hair was a mess, with soot covering her face and clothes. "You tricked me." "Now, that''s just slander," Ba Shifang continued to joke. "Did I force you to steal my artifact? That''s called karma." "If you hadn''t forced me to this end, I wouldn¡¯t have stolen it!" Bai Weiwei continued, unwilling to admit any mistake. Ba Shifang stared for a moment, and then he unleashed a peal of roaring laughter. "This is the first time I have seen a thief blaming the person they stole from. Forget it, I already knew you had a hole in your brain, so I won''t argue with you. I just want you to die." He formed a hand seal, and the eight pearls of condensed qi floated into the air. The surrounding ten kilometers were instantly engulfed in a black fog. From the outside, any observer could see countless motes of light shining within. From within, Bai Weiwei discovered she had been transported into what she could only describe as the night sky. If the night sky had eight different colored suns in the sky. "Where is this? Where did you take me!" "Welcome to my Eight Trigram Astral Formation. Although it isn''t as good as the Chaos Refining Formation, you''ll find it quite difficult to survive here," Ba Shifang said as his body merged into the night sky and disappeared. "Show yourself, coward!" Bai Weiwei said. She discovered to her horror that the white lotus couldn''t purify the energy here. Rather, it was she that was losing energy within the Eight Trigram Astral Formation. Silence answered her. Even with the protection of the white lotus, Bai Weiwei felt the chill of the strange environment. Even while freezing, she felt her blood boil within her body and threatened to escape. Just as she thought it couldn''t become any worse, the eight stars started slamming into her. Unlike the desolate environment she found herself in, the white lotus could absorb the qi from the eight stars, but the qi it purified did not make up for the damage she received. She discovered that she didn''t have any method to counter Ba Shifang''s tactics. "System, help me!" Bai Weiwei shouted. [Ding! Would you like to master the Law of Probability? 32,000,000 points are required.] "No, just give me the rudimentary master of all five of the elements! Enough to become a peak seamless immortal!" Bai Weiwei said. [Host, becoming a peak seamless immortal will not extract you from your current predicament.] "Shut up and just do as I say," Bai Weiwei said. [Host currently does not have enough points to reach the peak of the Seamless Immortal Realm. With Host''s current points, you can only add two of the five elemental qis.]Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Bai Weiwei grunted as she was blasted back, and her white lotus cracked even more. "System, what can I do to raise myself to the peak Seamless Immortal Realm?] The system didn''t answer, and Bai Weiwei suffered another round of injuries. "System!" [The Wealth System can lend Host 70,000,000 points. However, Host must allow the system to bind Host''s soul further.] Without even thinking, Bai Weiwei said, "Yes, just hurry!" [Ding! The system will now install Host with twenty percent mastery of the Law of Fire, Water, Earth, Wood, and Metal into Host''s soul and mind.] Bai Weiwei released a scream as a massive amount of information was directly inputted into her brain. Her brain seemed to have swollen to ten times its original size and constantly pulsed as if it would spill out of her orifices at any moment. However, when the pain ended, Bai Weiwei''s eyes became fierce. When the next round of assault from the eight stars came, she didn''t purify the elemental qi into pure qi but kept its elemental nature. Bai Weiwei absorbed the elemental qi and felt her Daotree start growing again. With each tackle from the star, her Daotree grew even further. This led to her feeding her improved immortal qi of pureness back into the white lotus, strengthening it and preventing any further degradation.
Ba Shifang discovered that his attacks no longer affected Bai Weiwei as much. He wasn''t Tianyi, so he had expended a massive amount of qi to set up this formation, and he sustained it by draining Bai Weiwei''s qi. The subtle immortal qi of chaos guaranteed that. Not even Bai Weiwei could purify it. At least, that used to be the case. He discovered that Bai Weiwei had actually started to absorb his qi and grew stronger at a frightening rate. Since he wanted to step into the Seamless Immortal Realm with the Law of Five Elements as his base, he had studiously mastered four of the five elemental laws, only lacking the final one. With his current mastery, Ba Shifang could see the fluctuations of the five elements increasing through Bai Weiwei''s seamless immortal artifact. His first thoughts immediately turned to the system since he didn''t believe that Bai Weiwei could have such a heaven-defying epiphany at such a moment. It wasn''t that he looked down on Bai Weiwei... Okay, he looked down on Bai Weiwei, but he didn''t look down on women. Before Bai Weiwei attained the system, she was just a talentless hack that only knew how to rely on others. If she didn''t bind herself to the system, Ba Shifang doubted that she could even reach the Unity Realm by herself. He could already imagine Main Body laughing at him for failing to kill Bai Weiwei, Seamless Immortal Realm or not. He sighed and stopped attacking Bai Weiwei with the Eight Trigram Stars. She couldn''t absorb the sparse chaos qi in the formation, but he would run out of qi before he could outlast Bai Weiwei, which left him with one choice. Bai Shifang formed several hand seals, and the eight stars formed an octagram with Bai Weiwei at the center. "Eight Trigram Chaos Refinement!" Within the octagram, the immortal qi of chaos gathered until it was almost to the density of a solid, creating a sea of chaos that buried Bai Weiwei within. Under Ba Shifang''s control, more and more cracks appeared on the white lotus, and its invulnerable defense could no longer be maintained. The liquid-like immortal qi of chaos leaked in and started to corrode and disintegrate Bai Weiwei''s body. Bai Shifang clasped his hands together and shrunk the octagram, increasing the density of the immortal qi of chaos¡ªreaching a state just before the qi would become solid Yu. However, while everything seemed to have gone smoothly, his expression suddenly darkened. Somewhere in the Eight Trigrams Astral Formation, an invader had entered. Because Ba Shifang concentrated almost all the chaos qi into the Eight Trigrams Chaos Refinement, the periphery had drastically weakened. When Ba Shifang checked who had run in, he almost wanted to spit out a mouthful of blood. ''Should I just get rid of her here too? These two sisters should be happy together in death!'' He did just that. Although Bai Ningwei had somehow reached the Immortal Realm, she was too weak, and the chaos qi easily permeated through her body. Before Ba Shifang could be happy for too long though, a second intruder entered. This one was harder to deal with. In fact, Ba Shifang would place his danger ranking at the same level as Bai Weiwei. Although he was not an immortal monarch, Ba Shifang sensed that he had also mastered the Law of Fire. "These damn three are always causing trouble!" Ba Shifang said through gritted teeth. Through his senses, he glared at the nosy Bing Huoyuan, who rescued Bai Ningwei. Worse, Bing Huoyuan was heading towards himself. Ba Shifang decided to finish this as soon as possible, regardless of the price. Without care for his expenditure, he raised the efficiency of the Eight Trigrams Chaos Refinement to the maximum. The seamless immortal rank white lotus shattered under Ba Shifang''s concentrated efforts, and the dense immortal qi of chaos swallowed her whole. But before he could celebrate, fishes formed of fire and ice energy assaulted him. "Bing Huoyuan! Are you rebelling!" Ba Shifang roared. His lapse of concentration had allowed Bai Weiwei to find a ray of life and survive. "Young Master Xi, please hold your hand and let me handle it!" Bing Huoyuan through gritted teeth. Ba Shifang took out the Xiyi Talisman and held it in hand, but he did not stop attacking Bai Weiwei. "Hold my hand. Why would I do it against the enemy!?" Seeing Ba Shifang disregard his pleas, Bing Huoyuan glanced at Bai Ningwei. After a moment of hesitation, he gritted his teeth and attacked Ba Shifang again. "Twice! You have prevented me from executing the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s criminal. After this is over, Boundless Mountain must give an explanation!" Ba Shifang roared, truly infuriated this time. "I''m sorry. I will make it up to you, but for now, please forgive my offense," Bing Huoyuan said as he redoubled his attack on Ba Shifang. After fending off Bing Huoyuan for a few moves, Ba Shifang suddenly froze and snapped his head where Bai Weiwei was. He ignored Bing Huoyuan''s attack and allowed it to land on his body as he formed several one-handed seals. "Nuclear Detonation!" Before Bing Huoyuan and Bai Ningwei could even realize what had happened, white colored their vision. They could see nothing but that pure color, nor could they register any noise. When Bing Huoyuan came to, he discovered himself lying on a barren wasteland full of rocks and a giant crater in the middle with the ground made of glass. Hearing a coughing sound, Bing Huoyuan quickly rushed and dug out Bai Ningwei. "Young Master, where is Weiwei?" Hearing Bai Ningwei''s labored words, Bing Huoyuan''s expression darkened. He searched around and finally saw Ba Shifang also rise out of the rubble but no Bai Weiwei. A flash of hatred entered his eyes, but Ba Shifang could care less. With an ugly expression, his eyes zeroed in on the epicenter of his Nuclear Detonation Technique. Bing Huoyuan wanted to rush to him and grab his collar, but before he could, something attracted his and Bai Ningwei''s eyes. At the center of the crater, motes of light the color of gold appeared. They gathered together and formed one large blob of light. The blob shifted and eventually shrunk until it resembled a humanoid. As the lights died down, it revealed a familiar face. Bai Weiwei stood at the center wearing gold robes with a coronet in the shape of a sycee. Despite possessing the same face, the aura she exuded did not resemble her former self at all, and her eyes possessed an agelessness that even immortal emperors did not possess. Ba Shifang was the first to speak. "Who are you?" Chapter 309: No Medicine for Regret Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Chapter 310: I Give Up Tianyi let his mother pull him all the way to Jade Peak Palace. Honestly, in terms of pure body strength, he probably outstripped Mengfei by a large margin. Even so, he couldn''t resist, so he let himself be dragged by her. Of course, he had hidden them between the layers of space to keep anyone from learning of the connection between him and his alter ego, Monarch Nine Heavens. When Tianyi arrived at the main hall of Jade Peak Palace, he saw a very familiar scene. The formerly sparse but elegant walls were decorated in massive amounts of red, like the day Tianyi went on his first date with Daoyi. "Mother?" "Where is Daoyi?" Mengfei asked. "She''s still in my Nine Heavens Universe," Tianyi said. "Bring her out, I''ve already prepared everything," Mengfei said. Tianyi showed a helpless expression. "Mother, we just got back. Aren''t you in too much of a rush?" Mengfei shook her head. "You''ve been gone a hundred years, I thought I would lose you forever. I don''t want to miss this chance." Tianyi stayed silent as Mengfei stroked his cheek. ''Looking at me like that is cheating. How can I say no?'' Still, with immense effort, he managed to not directly agree. Instead, he said. "I have to ask Daoyi first." Without waiting for Mengfei to agree, he started teleporting into his Nine Heavens Universe. Unfortunately, he never expected Mengfei to latch onto him with an iron-like grip mid-process.
"Where is this?" Caishen asked. Her pretty face was full of horror as she observed her surrounding. A golden aura coated her body, protecting her from the harsh environment of the Vast Void. In the distance, she could see a giant sun radiating yang essence and eight planets orbiting it. "Is this the Primordial World? Did I return to the Primordial Era? No, this is wrong, it''s different!" "I can''t feel any faith flowing into me," Caishen shouted. Although she hated becoming a divinity of faith, which limited her potential, she survived because of faith. Even after the Primordial Era ended, she survived because the mortals remembered his legend and continued to pray to him. However, at this moment, Caishen couldn''t feel any faith or prayers from his believers at all. It was as if he had been disconnected from the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Suddenly, a thought occurred to Caishen. "The only way for faith to be cut was if a realmlord sealed off the realm, preventing the faith from reaching me. But that''s impossible. Realms aren''t something that can be placed within another realm, or else they would reject each other." So, that left the other option. "That monarch actually had a realm artifact? But why do I feel something is off?" Aside from realmlords, only being trapped within a realm artifact that had a world within could seal her access to faith. "That guy''s status isn''t simple. I really underestimated the Buzhou Immortal Sect." Caishen''s eyes flashed as she detected someone approaching her. The unknown party had the upper body of a woman and the lower half of a snake. "Nuwa?" Caishen involuntarily said, but she soon regained her composure. "Impossible, Nuwa was a heavenly lord, not someone this weak." "Who are you?" Caishen asked as the unknown woman stopped a fair distance away. Upon closer inspection, she was shocked to discover that the woman in front of her was twenty times her size and a divinity as well." "You can call me, Nuyi," Nuyi, Daoyi''s divine avatar, said. "Nuyi?" Caishen repeated. "What an arrogant name." Nuyi only smiled. "Let''s see how you measure up!" Caishen said as he attacked. Nuyi didn''t say anything as a red spider lily appeared in her hand. This was the Flower of Death, a divine artifact born as her lifebound artifact. Black pollen flew out from its center, causing anything that touched them to rot and die. Caishen immediately moved back and dodged the black pollen. A simple bronze coin appeared in her hand, and after a tap, it released a golden glow that spread and shrouded the surrounding area. Time seemed to reverse as the black pollen flew toward Nuyi instead of Caishen. Nuyi didn''t bat an eye as she flew through the pollen unharmed. She was death incarnate. How could death, especially in the Nine Heavens Universe, harm her? She raised the Flower of Death, and the petals grew extremely large and started to enclose Caishen, who fled. Just as it seemed that she would succeed, Caishen happened to escape through a gap through seemingly pure luck. Nuyi frowned. Her attacks should have no gaps, yet Caishen found one. "It''s my turn!" Caishen shouted. She flicked the bronze coin in her hand toward Nuyi. Nuyi couldn¡¯t even react, the coin crashed into the Flower of Death, and her face paled. She could feel her connection with the Flower of Death flicker. However, she controlled the surrounding death qi to flow to her, healing her instantly and allowing her to remaster the Flower of Death instantly.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Caishen''s face paled as she felt the backlash from her failed attempt to steal Nuyi''s treasure. ''My Thieving Treasure Coin failed?!'' The bronze coin flew back into her hand as Nuyi''s tail elongated and smashed toward her. Although Caishen dodged the tail, her face gained a sickly pallor. ''She already figured out a method to deal with this fast?'' Caishen majored in the Law of Probability, which was why he needed Bai Weiwei to master it to become a suitable vessel. Through the Law of Probability, Caishen could alter the odds to favor him. Hence, the more precise and technical a technique was, the easier Caishen found it. However, Nuyi had shrouded her tail in an aura of death that destroyed vitality within its surroundings. The golden glow around Caishen increased, and the sickly pallor left her. She glanced warily at Nuyi, waiting for her next move. In this situation, she was at a disadvantage. Without faith, she couldn''t replenish her essence, and she couldn¡¯t absorb anything in the Vast Void to restore her immortal qi. "Wait!'' Caishen realized the abnormality of the situation. No matter how powerful a realmlord was or how heaven-defying a realm artifact was, how could the Vast Void appear within? She had been so focused on the loss of faith that she forgot this point. She didn''t have time to ponder anymore as Nuyi started her next attack. The Crown of Death atop Nuyi''s head glowed a ghostly white. A white skeleton wearing white funeral clothing appeared behind her. The skeleton released a domain of death that encapsulated the surrounding ten thousand kilometers and attracted all objects within. Caishen found the weakest point of attraction and tried to fly out of the domain. ''Damn brat. If I hadn''t used so many resources to forcibly raise to an immortal monarch, I wouldn¡¯t be so treasureless right now!'' Caishen found herself weakening under the domain of death. Even if she escaped the domain, she would lose all her qi and become helpless. Left with no other choice, she activated her final trump card. Her body started to glow gold as a massive amount of gold coins. The gold coins gathered together around Caishen and formed a massive giant of gold. The giant of gold dwarfed Nuyi and the giant white skeleton. Nuyi''s eyes sharpened as she felt the massive amounts of essence radiating off of the gold giant. Using her authority as the primordial divinity of death, essence from Ninth Heaven gathered around her with the qi of death, turning the white skeleton black and increasing its size. Soon, it reached the same size as the giant of gold. A black spider appeared in the skeleton''s palm and pushed it toward the gold giant. Caishen''s eyes twitched. Although she had sensed that Nuyi was indeed a divinity, the worldly law she mastered only showed hints of the divine level. She should not be able to manipulate the essence of the world as she did. She hadn''t even figured out where she was and why it could cut off her faith, and she was only troubled by more mystery. Caishen steeled her heart. She would use all her strength to defeat this divinity and figure out her exact situation. The gold giant knocked away the palm nearing her and retaliated with her own punch. Suddenly, the gold giant froze as the coins forming it started to spill out. "No!" Caishen screamed as the gold giant collapsed. "What is going on? Why is the Heavenly Dao dealing with me?!" She could feel the force of the world resisting her, causing her to lose her strength. "I''m not the Heavenly Dao, but I am dealing with you." Spooked by the sudden words, Caishen turned around to see Tianyi and another woman. "Monarch Nine Heaven and Sword Sovereign?!" Of all the immortals in the Huang Realm, the only one she feared was Xi Mengfei. Just as Caishen thought she was doomed, she noticed that Monarch Nine Heavens was unmasked. Staring closer, she said, "Xi Tianyi, you''re Monarch Nine Heavens?" "Yes," Tianyi said. "I wanted Nuyi to sharpen herself against you some more, but I''m short on time." Tianyi raised his open hand and grasped the air in front of him. Caishen felt chaos qi emerge around her, encapsulating her inside a sphere. She roared and tried to use the Law of Purification to transform the chaos qi into her energy. Bai Weiwei couldn''t do it, but that didn''t mean she couldn''t. As it turned out, she couldn''t either. "Why is the chaos qi filled with the intent of the Heavenly Dao?!" Tianyi''s eyes flickered as he heard Caishen''s words, but his actions didn''t stop. Not long after, a small pearl appeared in his hands. "Huh, I''d expected Caishen, the God of Wealth, to be more difficult, even with all the advantages against him." "Caishen was just a divinity of faith conferred by the Conferred God Scroll. His actual strength wasn''t that strong to begin with," Mengfei said. "That makes sense. How did Mother know?" Tianyi asked as he turned toward her. Only to see her staring at the massive Nuyi. "This is Daoyi?" Mengfei said with some confusion. Tianyi quickly explained what Nuyi was and brought Mengfei to Ninth Heaven, where Daoyi was waiting. On Ninth Heaven, Mengfei closed her eyes to sense the surrounding. When she opened, she reached out to stroke Tianyi''s head, which he avoided, much to her disappointment. "You''ve grown stronger in these hundred years, it must have been hard on you," Mengfei said. For someone to grow strong, they must have gone through numerous hardships. "It was okay," Tianyi said as he avoided her eyes. "Well, time in the other timeline was shorter for me, although time may have distorted while I was flowing through the River of Time. " "Anyways," Tianyi said as he directed her attention to Concealed Immortal Palace. "Daoyi''s in there, let''s go meet her." Mengfei only blinked when she saw the Concealed Immortal Palace, but she simply accepted it and followed Tianyi inside. He led her to the main, where Daoyi was waiting. "Daoyi." "Master." "Are you ready to marry Yi''er?" "Yes." "Hold up a minute!" Tianyi interrupted. "What is wrong with this conversation?!" "I see nothing wrong," Mengfei said, wondering what Tianyi was agitated about. "Yeah, Tianyi. This is just a normal conversation," Daoyi said with a teasing smile. "You know what I meant," Tianyi transmitted using his immortal sense. "I thought we agreed that you would try to delay Mother''s intentions." Because they were in his Nine Heavens Universe, Tianyi was able to hide his secret communication with Daoyi from Mengfei. "You just told me to reject her but left without waiting for my reply," Daoyi said. "I don''t think there''s anything wrong with marrying now. We''ve known each other far longer than any couples on Earth have any right to. And I''m immortal now. Even If I can''t live as long as you, we should still have at least tens of thousands of years together." Tianyi opened his mouth but could not find a reason for rejection except for, "I don''t think I feel ready." "What, do you not want to marry me?" Daoyi hid her face behind her sleeves, and her shoulders started to tremble. Tianyi could even see tears splattering onto the floor. "Wait, no. That''s not what I meant. Of course, I want to marry you!" Tianyi practically shouted. "Good, I''ll prepare for the ceremony tomorrow," Mengfei said, catching Tianyi off guard as he snapped his head toward his mother. "Master, having it too soon is not good. We should delay it by a year or a few months at least so that the invitations can be sent out. Our statuses make it that we cannot make this a private affair," Daoyi said. Tianyi snapped his gaze back to Daoyi to see her sleeve down and not a hint of tears on her face. He opened his mouth, then closed it, before finally saying, "I give up." Chapter 311: Book of Life and Death Tianyi''s wedding with Daoyi was scheduled for five years later. Mengfei wanted a year at max, but Sect Master Xia wanted it to be a sect-wide event to boost morale upon hearing of the news. We''re in a war? What war? It''s so easy that we can hold a grand celebration in the midst of it. Sect Master Xia almost failed, but only after promising Mengfei it would be the grandest event in the recent history of the Buzhou Immortal Sect did she agree. While Sect Master Xia had been begging, Tianyi just sat at the side with a surrendering expression. After that debacle was over, Tianyi spoke separately to Sect Master Xia about his experiences in the different timeline. More specifically, he spoke about the continued survival of Emperor Begonia and how he turned into Boddhisattva Begonia. He would let Sect Master Xia worry about all this mess, he didn''t want to hold over a position of power for this reason, after all. Having successfully passed the hot potato to Sect Master Xia, Tianyi made his way to Broken Heaven Valley. Behind him, Mengfei followed. When the two reached the entrance, they felt an invisible force blocking them. Tianyi and Mengfei waited for the force to disappear. When it did, they entered, and Tianyi saw the vestiges of the once-grand Immortal Court. The two walked through the solemn yet silent grounds before finally reaching the central palace. There, outside of the palace, stood Immortal Court Spirit. "Grand Elder Xi, Elder Xi," Immortal Court Spirit greeted, giving a slight bow to Mengfei in the process. Staring at Immortal Court Spirit, Tianyi felt a chill crawl up his spine. Noticing Tianyi staring at him, Immortal Court Spirit looked over. "I trust my other self passed the message on to you?" ''Did the other Immortal Court Spirit not come to this timeline and die there? Either way, the base is still the same, and I have to be careful if, for some reason, he decides to blow up this Huang Realm.'' Tianyi managed to force a smile. "Yes, he did. I''m here to deliver the Three Lives Stone." "Excellent, I didn''t expect you to actually succeed," Immortal Court said. He turned around and said, "Please follow me." Tianyi and Mengfei followed behind the artifact spirit. They didn''t fly through Immortal Court, so the trek took several hours. During this time, no one spoke a single word. However, Tianyi did notice Mengfei''s constant stare. He had thought it was his imagination, but now, he was quite sure that his mother''s eyes had never left him for the past few hours. Tianyi tried to ignore Mengfei''s gaze to the best of his ability. He looked for anything that would distract him. He saw a magnificent palace with a plaque above the entrance. ''Oh, Heaven Bearing Palace.'' "We''ve arrived," Immortal Court Spirit said as he stopped to enter Heaving Bearing Palace. "Come inside." Tianyi and Mengfei followed. When they entered the gates, they didn''t see any rooms but rather a bleak landscape under perpetual twilight. "This is the Nether Realm?" Tianyi asked. Having visited the Nether Realm before, he couldn''t be more familiar with the landscape. "To be more precise, it''s nothing more than a miniaturized replication," Immortal Court Spirit said. He waved his hands, and Tianyi and Mengfei instantly arrived at Youdu Palace within Heaven Bearing Palace. Tianyi couldn¡¯t feel that space had shifted. Even if it was the Law of Space at the divine level, he should have been able to sense it. Since he couldn''t, it meant that they were transported through other means. "I''ve sealed this place from the Heavenly Dao and any external perception," Immortal Court Spirit said and opened his hand. "You can hand over the Three Lives Stone now." Tianyi nodded and walked over. He held his hand in front of Immortal Court Spirit''s. A portal appeared, and a giant stone appeared. To his shock, when the stone touched Immortal Court Spirit''s hand, it turned into a book. On the front, Tianyi could read "Life and Death." "Are you surprised?" Immortal Court Spirit asked. Tianyi nodded. "I thought the Three Lives Stone and the Book of Life and Death were two separate artifacts." Immortal Court Spirit shook his head. "No, they are one of the same. However, the Book of Life and Death could only reveal its true power when it is connected to the Heavenly Dao. In this sealed space, it has limited uses." "Then why have me bring it?" "Of course, it still has its uses," Immortal Court Spirit said. "It is left unsaid that you need to keep this a secret." Tianyi nodded. "I won''t tell anyone in the Huang Realm.¡¯¡¯ ''But that doesn''t apply if they are outside of it.'' Not long later, Tianyi and Mengfei left Broken Heaven Valley. As he was still in his Monarch Nine Heavens guise, he flew toward Nine Heavens Peak. "Mother, you can''t follow me like this," Tianyi helplessly stayed as he watched Mengfei practically glue herself to him. "I''m not letting you leave me sight again," Mengfei simply said. ''I have a feeling that she''s being literal.'' Tianyi thought with a grimace. He decided to endure it for now. After all, he had disappeared for over a hundred years. To him, it might have been a few decades in a timeline with a faster time flow, but crossing the River of Time distorted the point of time he returned.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Tianyi directly teleported himself and Mengfei into Nine Heaven Palace. From there, he split off an incarnation to enquire what Jinshu was up to. After synchronizing with Ba Shifang, Tianyi felt that he had a good understanding of the current situation in the Huang Realm. Thanks to Ba Shifang, Tianyi also knew that Xi Ri was doing better. His personality had become all gloomy, but he no longer locked himself in his room anymore. On the other hand, his Emperor-Uncle seemed to be in quite a frail state, but his mother was on top of that. Daoyi was still in the Nine Heavens Universe. Compared to the Huang Realm, maintaining a solid connection to her divine avatar allowed for faster progress. Once everything came together, Tianyi bunkered down and cultivated. He needed more strength and fast. He got trapped inside an alternate timeline because he was too weak and almost failed to return because of Bodhisatva Begonia. He wouldn''t allow himself to lose the initiative again. Inside the Nine Heavens Universe, his Past Incarnation studied Caishen''s soul that he crammed into an orb. For a divinity, he was disappointingly weak, almost too weak. Past Incarnation Tianyi could already imagine his original outcome had he not appeared. Caishen would try to take over Peng Yun, only for Peng Yun to consume him and use what he gained to rise to the peak of the Huang Realm. The child-like Tianyi shook his head and began to dissemble Caishen''s soul. Normally it would be impossible, even if he was just one step away from mastering the Law of Death, one of the top laws regarding souls, but who told Caishen to be inside his Nine Heavens Universe? Tianyi sped up the time around his Past Incarnation so his comprehension of Caishen''s soul would go smoother. From Caishen''s soul, he discovered the Law of Probability, the Law of Purification, the Law of Accumulation, and numerous other concepts related to the five elements. "Trash," Tianyi finally said. "For a divinity who lived so long, he only mastered these laws? I mastered more than him!" He sighed and began to comprehend the laws. The Law of Purification and Accumulation were easy, but the Law of Probability gave Tianyi some trouble. Aside from comprehending all laws in Caishen''s soul, Tianyi began to scour through his memories. Tianyi had to say that Caishen really was a tiny fish. Before becoming a divinity of faith conferred by the Immortal Court, Caishen hadn''t even become an immortal monarch. Utter trash! The information while he was the God of Wealth was useless as well! And finally, he also dissected his rudimentary system. Tianyi had to say he was very disappointed. It was like looking at a stone statue only to discover that the inside was hollow. Good to look at, but nothing substantial. "Forget it. What use do I have for a system? It''s not like I''ve become powerful enough to create a system to give to a newborn or cultivator for fun. If I had time for that, I better think of a way to leech other cultivators¡¯ experiences. Ahem, I mean, have them share their experiences with me. But to do that, I would need to introduce them to my Nine Heavens Universe. But there''s no way I can reveal my secret like that." Tianyi suddenly stopped. His child-like form stared at Caishen''s soul and then at Sixth Heaven. Several flashes of light appeared in his eyes before the corner of his lips curled upward. He wholeheartedly began to focus on creating a system. It was not a system attached to a single person but applied to anyone who entered the world. Tianyi almost couldn''t wait. A hundred years of sped-up time later, Tianyi finished the better version, but he needed beta testers to test it out first. And he had the perfect candidate. -line break- Jinshu walked toward Nine Heavens Palace with some confusion. After his master had returned, he appraised Jinshu''s progress with satisfaction and allowed him to visit his mother. He had thought his mother would be a hundred years closer to death, but he discovered that while a hundred years had passed for himself, only ten had passed for his mother. That was nearly a year ago. Jinshu had thought the next time his master would summon him would be at least a few more years, not now. Still, he obediently greeted his master, Monarch Nine Heavens. Monarch Nine Heaven''s expression didn''t change. He waved his hand, and a rectangular jade slip appeared in Jinshu. Jinshu took it and saw it was a Xiyi Talisman. During the hundred years, Xiyi Talisman exploded in popularity. The thing the disciple most liked to do was watch fights between immortals, and such fights weren''t rare nowadays. Those scions with immortal elders begged them to record their fights with the Xiyi Talisman, and then the scions would upload them. Naturally, Jinshu also had one, and the top-of-the-line one too. So, why would his master give him another one? "I recently had an inspiration and constructed a false world. There, you can become another person and experience another life. From the Qi Gathering Realm, you can reach the Mortality Shedding Realm even if your true self is not in that realm. But the most important feature is that you can experience death without truly dying," Monarch Nine Heavens explained to Jinshu. Seeing him still confused, he said, "Go experience it. You will understand." Jinshu nodded and returned to his abode. Inside his cultivation chamber, he took out the new Xiyi Talisman. He inputted his spiritual sense into the talisman and activated it. Instantly, he felt this consciousness darken. When Jinshu regained awareness, he discovered that he was in a simple hall with windows but no doors. At the front, he saw a beautiful lady dressed in an attendant''s uniform. The strangest thing was that he couldn''t release his spiritual sense or feel his qi. It was as if he had returned to being a mere mortal. However, Jinshu didn''t panic. He had confidence that his master wouldn''t hurt him. Jinshu first walked to the window and looked outside. There, he discovered that the building he was in was actually floating high in the sky, and he could see a vast expanse of land filled with different biomes, including the sea. He walked over and greeted the girl that had not moved. Had it not been for her lifelike features, Jinshu would have thought that she was a statue. In fact, he couldn''t get rid of the suspicion that she was an artifact, like a puppet. [Welcome to Cultivation Online. You can call me Youxi. Are you ready to register?] Jinshu furrowed his brows but still said yes. [Okay, begin registration. Pulling up information. You are Disciple Jinshu, a World Mergining Venerable of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Gender, male...] As the attendant continued on, Jinshu had to hit back the creeping feeling crawling up his back at how much the unknown girl knew. [Begin registration. First of all, what username would you like to use?] "Lushu," Jinshu said after a moment of thought. [What gender would you like to play as?] Jinshu''s eyebrows nearly reached his hairline. What kind of question was this? "Male!" Youxi asked several more questions, and after the twenty-fifth question, an illusion of the new body Jinshu customized appeared. [Here is your avatar, would you like to make any changes?] Jinshu shook his head. [Okay, would you like to enter the new and exciting world?] Jinshu hesitated for a moment but finally nodded. [Okay, preparing to transfer consciousness. Transfer complete. Player Lushu, please enjoy Cultivation Online.] Chapter 312: Beta Testing [Welcome to Cultivation Online.] When Jinshu opened his eyes, he saw a vast expanse of plains as far as his eyes could see. In the distance, he saw the outlines of mountains and forests, but more predominant was the palace kilometers away. With nowhere else to go, Jinshu flew toward the mountain. Or, at least he tried to. To Jinshu''s shock, he discovered that he had somehow lost the ability. Not only that, he couldn''t even externalize his qi. In fact, he couldn''t even detect qi. Meaning that he had transformed into an ordinary mortal Just as he was beginning to panic, a warm voice entered his ears. [Main Mission 1: Open your status.] ''Status? What does it mean by status? Does it mean my current state?'' [Helpful Hint: To open status, simply say, "status."] "Status." Jinshu backstepped when a screen appeared in front of him out of nowhere. [Ding! Main Mission 1 completed. You received 10 experience points.] After ensuring nothing was wrong, Jinshu walked to the screen and read it. His brows furrowed even more when he saw what was written. Name: Jinshu Title: Beta Tester Cultivation Level: None Faction: None Physique: None Stats Strength: 5 Dexterity: 5 Constitution: 5 Agility: 5 Qi: 0 Unused Status Points: 0 Skills: None Experience: 10/100 [Main Mission 2: Reach Beginner Palace.] As soon as he heard those words, a sphere with a map of the surrounding appeared in the corner of his vision. After adjusting himself, Jinshu started to run toward the palace in his sight since the map told him to go that way. While running, Jinshu analyzed the difference between the world of Cultivation Online and the Huang Realm. He discovered that despite losing all his cultivation base, his body didn''t tire no matter how long he ran, and his thinking capability remained in the World Merging Realm. Two hours later, he finally entered the Beginner Palace. Before he had time to inspect the insides, another announcement popped up in front of him. [Ding! Main Mission 2 completed. You received 90 experience points.] [You have leveled up.] Jinshu opened his status, wondering what level up meant. Name: Jinshu Title: Beta Tester Cultivation Level: None Faction: None Physique: None Stats Strength: 5 Dexterity: 5 Constitution: 5 Agility: 5 Qi: 0 Unused Status Points: 0 Skills: None Experience: 100/100 He frowned when he saw that nothing had changed except the full experience bar he saw at the bottom of his status. [Main Mission 3: Embark on the path of cultivation.] [Choose your cultivation path: Spiritual, Martial, or Soul. Would you like an in-depth explanation?] "Yes," Jinshu said. He knew what the three main cultivation branches were, but he had a feeling that it was different in Cultivation Online. [Spiritual Cultivation focuses on qi and soul, and inside Cultivation Online, it boosts the growth of your dexterity and qi. Martial Cultivation focuses on bodily strength and boosts the growth of your strength and constitution. Soul Cultivation is currently locked and cannot be chosen.] Seeing that the unknown voice and window could answer his question, Jinshu tried asking a few more and, to his pleasant surprise, discovered that he could have his questions answered. After a few questions, he finally discovered what Cultivation Online was. In essence, Cultivation Online was a simulation. The people inside, or Players as the system called them, would live a different life. They didn''t need to absorb and refine qi to raise their realm, they only needed to get experience. In other aspects, you still had to practice techniques and spells, and you cannot rely on the system to comprehend the worldly laws and concepts. However, Jinshu could see an advantage in this system. It allowed those in a weaker realm to experience the process of entering the next realm and aid them in reality. But the most important aspect of Cultivation Online was how life was treated for the Player. No matter what happened, death wasn''t permanent. All a Player would lose upon dying was some experience and maybe a decrease in their realm or minor stage. "Can I experience Immortal Ascension?" Jinshu asked. [Currently, it is not within Cultivation Online''s capabilities, but it is planned for a future update.] Jinshu nodded. "I want to embark on dual cultivation of both the spiritual and martial paths." [Cultivation of both the spiritual and martial paths would double the experience required to rise in stages and realms. Do you still want to dual cultivate?] Jinshu nodded. [Ding! Main Mission 3 completed. You have received 200 experience points] [Congratulations on embarking on dual cultivation.] Name: Jinshu Title: Beta Tester Cultivation Level: Qi Gathering Realm Stage 1 (Dual) Faction: None Physique: None Stats Strength: 10 Dexterity: 10 Constitution: 10 Agility: 10 Qi: 10 Unused Status Points: 0 Skills: None Experience: 200/2000 [Main Mission 4: Accept and complete a mission from the Mission Stele.] Jinshu followed the cursor marked on his minimap to the Mission Stele in the palace. A stone obelisk with glowing words on it. When he came, he read the words. [Qi Gathering Mission: Slay 1 Slime.] [Qi Gathering Mission: Slay 10 Slimes.]This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. [Qi Gathering Mission: Slay 5 Wolves.] [Qi Gathering Mission: Slay 10 Tigers.] [...] [...] [Qi Gathering Mission: Slay the Tiger King.] Jinshu could only see qi gathering ranked missions. The colors of each mission were divided by colors: green, yellow, red, and black. After asking the system, he knew green meant easy, yellow meant normal, red meant challenging, and black meant impossible. He chose a yellow-colored mission [Slay 10 Slimes.] As soon as Jinshu selected the mission, he saw several red dots appear on his minimap. It was simple to conclude that those dots represented the monsters he had to slay after his previous experience. Without hesitation, Jinshu left Beginner Palace and toward the slimes. Upon meeting one, he used the martial arts learned to fight it. Even though he couldn''t unleash any of the techniques with his weak cultivation base, that didn''t take away the forms and judgment he possessed. After ten punches, the slime disappeared in a poof, and in its place was clear marble. [Congratulations for slaying your first monster. You have received 100 experience points.] [You have slain a Slime. You have received 10 experience points.] Jinshu picked up the marble left behind by the slime. Although he didn''t know what it did, he stored it in his clothes. Next, he started to search for more slimes and killed nine more. [You have slain 10 slimes. Please return to the mission stele.] He didn''t go back, though. Instead, he looked at his status. Name: Jinshu Title: Beta Tester Cultivation Level: Qi Gathering Realm Stage 1 (Dual) Faction: None Physique: None Stats Strength: 10 Dexterity: 10 Constitution: 10 Agility: 10 Qi: 10 Unused Status Points: 0 Skills: None Experience: 400/2000 One slime gave him ten experience points, and he needed to get sixteen hundred more experience points. While he still had the marker for the slimes, he should kill one hundred and sixty of them instead of returning. Jinshu proceeded to do just that. Although it was tedious, compared to life and death battles, this was practically paradise. His body was at the Qi Gathering Realm, but his mind was at the World Merging Realm. He easily stayed up several days and nights to accomplish his task and to kill one hundred and sixty slimes. Name: Jinshu Title: Beta Tester Cultivation Level: Qi Gathering Realm Stage 2 (Dual) Faction: None Physique: None Stats Strength: 20 Dexterity: 20 Constitution: 20 Agility: 20 Qi: 20 Unused Status Points: 0 Skills: None Experience: 0/4000 Satisfied, Jinshu ran back toward Beginner Palace and checked in on his completed mission. [Mission Slay 10 Slimes has been completed. You have received 50 experience points.] Upon reading the extra bonus from turning in the mission, Jinshu almost stumbled. He had thought he was saving time, but nope, he was just making things needlessly complicated for himself. To add insult to injury, the system announcement also appeared. [Ding! Main Mission 4 Completed.] [You have unlocked your Spatial Inventory.] After fiddling with it, Jinshu discovered that the spatial inventory worked like a spatial ring, and all the slime pearls he had obtained could have been stored inside it. After killing his thirtieth slime, he could no longer store them in his clothes, so he abandoned them. Jinshu forced himself to calm down. "Next time, just follow the system prompts and don''t think myself smart." [Main Mission 5: Obtain an artifact.] [Go to the Artifact Stele and craft a weapon.] Following the red dot, Jinshu arrived at the Artifact Stele in another room, which smelled of iron and oil. There he saw a list of craftable artifacts. [Slime Gauntlets] Rank: 1 Effect: Defense +1 Material Required: 50 Slime Pearls [Slime Staff] Rank: 1 Effect: Defense +1 Material Required: 50 Slime Pearls [Slime Sword] Rank: 1 Effect: Defense +1 Material Required: 50 Slime Pearls [Slime Spear] Rank: 1 Effect: Defense +1 Material Required: 50 Slime Pearls [...] Jinshu had to suppress the twitching of his eyebrows. He continued to read the other possible artifacts. [Wolf Gauntlets] Rank: 1 Effect: Defense +1, Attack +1 Material Required: 20 Wolf Fangs, 30 Wolf Pelts [Tiger Gauntlets] Rank: 1 Effect: Defense +1, Attack +3 Material Required: 15 Tiger Teeth, 30 Tiger Furs [Tigerking Gauntlets] Rank: 1 Effect: Defense +2, Attack +5 Material Required: 1 Tiger King Claw, 15 Tiger Teeth, 20 Tiger Furs Jinshu considered aiming for the best weapon possible but thought against it. Instead, he accepted more slime-killing missions and finally gathered fifty Slime Pearls. He then returned to the Artifact Stele and chose to craft the Slime Gauntlet. The stele asked if he wanted to do manual or automatic, and Jinshu chose manual. He was teleported into a separate refining room. There, the instructions on how to refine the Slime Gauntlets were taught to him, and Jinshu completed it perfectly. Jinshu only specialized in battle, and he had not picked up any refining, alchemy, or formation skills. It was only through his World Merging Realm mind that he could complete it perfectly. [Slime Gauntlet crafted successfully! Slime Gauntlet will be directly sent to your Spatial Inventory.] [Ding! Main Mission 5 completed. You have received 500 experience points.] Name: Jinshu Title: Beta Tester Cultivation Level: Qi Gathering Realm Stage 2 (Dual) Faction: None Physique: None Stats Strength: 20 Dexterity: 20 Constitution: 20 Agility: 20 Qi: 20 Unused Status Points: 0 Skills: None Experience: 700/4000 [As your first crafted weapon, the effect of your Slime Gauntlet will be doubled.] [Slime Gauntlets] Rank: 1 Effect: Defense +2 Jinshu wanted to shout at the sky. If he knew the effect would be doubled, he would have crafted a better weapon. Something like the Wolf Gauntlets. At least that would have increased his attack power. Filled with unwillingness, Jinshu went and killed over fifty tigers to get enough materials to craft the Tiger Gauntlet, but the system did not double the effect of the artifact. His intestines turned green with regret. Name: Jinshu Title: Beta Tester Cultivation Level: Qi Gathering Realm Stage 2 (Dual) Faction: None Physique: None Stats Strength: 30 Dexterity: 30 Constitution: 30 Agility: 30 Qi: 30 Unused Status Points: 0 Skills: None Experience: 950/6000 [Ding! Main Mission 6: Concoct a pill] [Go to the Alchemy Stele and concoct a pill.] Jinshu followed the mission and went to the Alchemy Stele inside another room. Unlike the Artifact Room, which smelled of molten metal and oil, the Pill Room gave off a medicinal fragrance. He read the list of pills. [Qi Gathering Exp Pill] Rank: 1 Effect: Increase experience points by 100 Materials: 30 Qi Funneling Weeds [Qi Gathering Doubling Pill] Rank: 1 Effect: Increase experience points gained by Qi Gathering Players by two for a short period of time Materials: 1 Cloudqi Flower Seed, 100 Qi Funneling Weeds [...] [Foundation Establishment Exp Pill] Rank: 1 Effect: Increase experience points by 5000 Materials: 1 Spiritual Web Fern, 3 Mountain Heart Herbs, 40 Spiralbeak Weeds Jinshu gathered the necessary materials for the Qi Gathering Doubling Pill. Unlike monsters, they appeared as blue dots on the minimap. Unlike when he crafted the Slime Gauntlets, he chose automatic when prompted if he wanted manual or automatic. [Qi Gathering Doubling Pill concocted successfully! Qi Gathering Doubling Pill will be sent to your Spatial Inventory directly.] [Ding! Main Mission 6 completed. You have received 1000 experience points.] [As the first pill you concocted, the Qi Gathering Doubling Pill will be upgraded.] [Qi Gathering Upgrade Pill] Rank: 1 Effect: Instantly increases your cultivation stage by one. Jinshu''s eyes lit up. This one was worth it. Once he reached the eleventh stage of the Qi Gathering Realm, he could ingest it to reach rank twelve, the final stage before the Foundation Establishment Realm. In Cultivation Online, the Qi Gathering Realm only consisted of twelve stages, and it was impossible to open the Eight Extraordinary Meridians. From there, Mission 7 was to master a formation, which Jinshu also completed. [Ding! Mission 7 completed. You have gained 2000 experience points.] [You have completed all the tutorial missions, please work hard and improve your cultivation realm. Updates will come in the future.] Chapter 313: Jade Diffraction Swordplay Manual Jinshu opened his eyes and looked at his surroundings. He touched himself to make sure that it was not an illusion. Finally, he stared in front of him and tentatively said, "Status." When he saw nothing appear, he sighed. Whether it was in disappointment or relief was unknown. In the illusionary world of Cultivation Online, Jinshu had reached the Core Formation Realm. The moment he reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm, Jinshu underwent the Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation. Compared to the ones he experienced, it was only a little weaker, and even though his Player¡¯s body could not compare to the one he cultivated with the Nine-Five Scripture, Jinshu still easily transcended it. After that, his body naturally formed a violet-gold grade spiritual core. After entering the Core Formation Realm, he contemplated the process and discovered that it was extremely perfect. Although the true qi produced was attributeless, it was several times more powerful than the true qi of yang when he still possessed the Pure Yang Feather Martial Body. If any Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator were to experience the process, Jinshu had the confidence to believe that their chances of forming a gold-grade spiritual core would increase by fifty percent, and the chance of forming a violet-gold grade spiritual core would increase by ten percent. The effect was already huge, but if every disciple of the Buzhou Immortal Sect could experience it, the average quality would outstrip the first-rate forces. Well, more than it already has. And that was only the spiritual cultivation half. The martial body he formed in Cultivation Online was also perfect, having reached the limit of the number of acupoints a human body could possess. If he had experienced it before he entered the Core Formation Realm, Jinshu had the confidence to believe that he would not have only cultivated the Fourth Grade of the Nine-Five Scripture. If he could attain the Fifth Grade, he would have formed the Five Emperor Cores and Three Sovereign Souls. Jinshu had wanted to experience the effect of reaching the Nascent Soul Realm, but the system told him that he had played for too long and needed to log out. Although a venerable could subsist off spiritual qi alone, it was still a bad idea to completely ignore the body. After he checked that nothing was wrong and adjusted his body to its peak condition, Jinshu left his chambers. He went to the main hall where Monarch Nine Heavens was waiting. "Master." Monarch Nine Heavens slowly opened his eyes and gazed at Jinshu. "How is it?" "It''s amazing," Jinshu began as he unabashedly praised the illusionary world. "It''s too bad I''m already at the Unity Realm, and I cannot experience the full benefits. Master, is there a way to experience the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation?" "It is not impossible, but not right now," Monarch Nine Heavens said. "Oh," Jinshu said with some disappointment. "You don''t have to be too down, it should take less than a hundred years. In the meanwhile, polish your cultivation base in preparation," Monarch Nine Heavens said. "I understand," Jinshu said. "Also, you should explore a bit more. Now that you have reached the Core Formation Realm in Cultivation Online, you should seek out Cultivation City, where the Intermediate Palace resides. You might have some unexpected gains." "Thank you, Master," Jinshu said. Not long later, he retreated back to his room. After cultivating for a few weeks, he took out the special Xiyi Talisman and logged into Cultivation Online. "Huh?" When Jinshu regained his sight, he saw the familiar scene of the inner halls of Beginner Palace, but it was the occupants that surprised him. To be precise, there were three new occupants. ''Master must have found more beta testers.'' "Hello, are you new?" A pretty lady walked up and asked. Jinshu looked above her head and saw her username, [Fairy Firefly.] He shook his head and said, "No, I had something to do, so I couldn''t log on." "Ah, so it''s a senior," Fairy Firefly said. "Please take care of me in the future." "Don''t believe Fairy Firefly''s lies. Although she took the spiritual path in Cultivation Online, she''s actually a brute in reality," a Player by the name of Southfist said. "Smelly Southfist, do you really want me to visit you again?" Fairy Firefly yelled as she raised a clenched fist. "Hah! Bring it!" Southfist said. "After testing out martial cultivation, I already figured out your weaknesses." "Heh, just because you chose the martial path here, do you really believe you can beat me?" Fairy Firefly asked. "Who''s afraid of who?" Southfist said as he went head to head with Fairy Firefly, literally. His forehead was literally against hers, and both were glaring daggers at the other. "Alright, you two," the third and final Player in Beginner Palace said, separating the two. "We have to figure out a way to get to Cultivation City, not stay in Beginner Palace." Jinshu saw the username above the third Player read [Jadewill.] "I also plan to depart for Cultivation City. If you don''t mind, how about I join you?" "I couldn''t ask for better," Jadewill said. "It''s a pleasure to meet you, Lushu." Jinshu blinked before recalling that [Lushu] was the user name he chose for himself. As the four left Beginner Palace, Jinshu learned about how Jadewill, Fairy Firefly, and Southfist became beta testers. It turned out that they were one of the first batches of users for the Xiyi Talisman. Based on this relationship, Xi Tianyi asked them to test this illusionary world. "Still, I can''t believe this world is an illusion. Aside from the strange existence of a system, it''s too real," Jadewill said, to which Jinshu had to agree. Fairy Firefly cultivated the martial path in the Huang Realm, so she wanted to try the spiritual path. After reaching the Core Formation Realm, she began to regret not choosing the martial path. Currently, she was at the final juncture before undergoing the World Merging Heavenly Tribulation. If she could experience it here, wouldn''t her chances increase? Southfist was much the same. He had chosen the martial path, but he was also at the final step before undergoing the Unity Heavenly Tribulation. Among the three, Jadewill chose dual cultivation and was the happiest. He primarily focused on spiritual cultivation, but he felt that he could go further on the martial path after experiencing it in Cultivation Online.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. All three knew that the spiritual and martial paths could be simulated all the way to the Transcending Mortality and Mortality Shedding Realms. They would be a fool not to use it. Currently, none of the monsters near Beginner Palace could give any of them much experience, so they wanted to relocate to Cultivation City, where the Intermediate Palace was located. However, their route was blocked by monsters. The mountain path was blocked by a terrifying monster at the peak of the Core Formation Realm. Even with the three combined, they could not defeat, so they thought of using another way. They tried the sky, but it was also blocked. So was the water and even an alternate path. The three had no choice but to defeat one of the monsters guarding the route. They had tried and already failed several times, but with Jingshu''s addition, they hoped to succeed. Along the way, Jinshu glanced at his status. Name: Lushu Title: Beta Tester Cultivation Level: Core Formation Spiritual Core, Acupoint Opening (Dual) Faction: None Physique: None Stats Strength: 2040 Dexterity: 1870 Constitution: 2080 Agility: 1920 Qi: 2190 Unused Status Points: 0 Skills: Redfire Swordplay, Volcano Fist, Flame Sparrow Spell, Flashfire Step, Suncrow Fist Experience: 950/100,000 "We''re here," Jadewill said. Jinshu looked up to see a path leading into a canyon. Fairy Firefly and Southfist no longer clowned around, and a serious aura surrounded them. "We already attempted to defeat the monster thrice. We all died the first and second times, so we had to raise our realm again before attempting it. The third time, we failed again but succeeded in retreating. This time, with Lushu''s help, we''ll definitely succeed!" Lushu nodded at Jadewill. "What can you tell me about the monster?" "The monster is known as the Gecko Monkey," Jadewill explained. ¡°It''s a monster that isn''t recorded in the sect''s records, so it''s most likely a unique creation of the illusion. The monster possesses the form of a primate, but it has scales instead of fur, fleshy fingers that stick to anything it grabs, and a prehensile tail that can shoot qi attacks." "I''m assuming you don''t go over the canyon by flying because the sky monsters are harder?" Lushu said. Jadewill nodded. "I think we could have passed, but my companions aren''t as accustomed to their current fighting styles." Fairy Firefly and Southfist made a point to ignore Jadewill''s pointed look. Southfist said, "Don''t give me that look. Failing isn''t even a problem since we don''t really die, okay?" Jadewill sighed. "Let''s just go." The party of four entered the canyon. Jinshu made note that the rock walls had a distance of around twenty-five meters between them. Aside from that, it was completely barren, almost like a specialized arena instead of a canyon. After walking a hundred or so meters, the four stopped and stared at their foe. "Each time we come, the monster always waits at the exact same spot. Brace yourself. It''s going to roar to stun us and attack us." Jinshu carefully observed the monster. It was exactly as Jadewill described, but he forgot to mention its sickly green pallor and blood-filled eyes. Above its head, he read [Gecko Monkey.] The Gecko Monkey unleashed a mighty roar. Although he had been warned, Jinshu still found himself stunned by the deafening volume of the roar. Luckily for him, when the Gecko Monkey charged at him with its claws outstretched, Southfist appeared in front of him with a giant shield that he pulled out of his spatial inventory. Fairy Firefly jumped out from behind Southfist and pulled out several talismans. The talisman turned into red birds that crashed into the Gecko Monkey, but it only left its scales slightly charred. Jadewill ran towards the Gecko Monkey''s feet with a sword. A green glow shrouded the sword as he tried to lacerate the tendons of the Gecko Monkey''s ankles. In response, the Gecko Monkey leaped into the air. A fire circle appeared on the ground around Jinshu''s feet. His figure disappeared, and he appeared above the Gecko Monkey. Red fire in the shape of a crow''s fist shrouded his fist as he smashed down on the monster''s head. The Gecko Monkey didn''t have a chance to roar as Jinshu''s fist forced its mouth shut and sent him crashing down. Jadewill''s, Southfist''s, and Fairy Firefly''s eyes all lit up as they bombarded the downed primate. However, that lasted for a short time before the Gecko Monkey regained its bearings and scrambled to the walls at a safe distance. Once safe, the Gecko Monkey glared at the four and roared again, but the distance diluted the power of the sonic attack. "Careful," Jadewill said. "After we injure it a certain amount, its whole body will turn red, and its speed and power will increase by three." Jinshu nodded. "Sorry about earlier." "No worries," Jadewill said. "We were all heavily injured the first time too." The four continued to fight against the Gecko Monkey, and when injured until it only had ten percent of its health left, it turned red, incapacitating Fairy Firefly and Southfist but not yet killing them. Thankfully, with Jinshu''s and Jadewill''s teamwork, they managed to defeat it. "What''s this?" Fairy Firefly asked as she ran up to the disappeared corpse after healing. "Look, it dropped something beside materials." Jinshu and the rest also came closer to observe. They were used to monsters dropping loot, but not items. In total, there was a fang, scaled hides, a bamboo scroll, an herb in a glass bottle, and a bottle of pills. [Gecko Monkey''s Fang] Rank: 3 Description: A rare material of the area boss, Gecko Monkey [Gecko Monkey''s Red Hide] Rank: 4 Description: A rare drop of the area boss, Gecko Monkey. Armors crafted from this can increase the wearer''s strength or speed. [Jade Diffraction Swordplay Manual] Rank: ??? Description: A sword art created by Xi Tianyi, the son of Buzhou Immortal Sect''s Grand Elder Xi Mengfei. Users who learn this technique can form six sword-shaped energies that can be used in conjunction. The opponents will feel as if they are facing seven swordsmen. Can only be used once. [Revival Herb] Rank: 3 Effect: Can revive anyone at the Master Level and below from death. Prevents loss of experience but does not fully heal them. Can only be used once. [Core Formation Pills] Rank 3: Amount: 4 Effect: Increases experience by 10,000 points. "How should we split this?" Jadewill asked. "I and the brute over here will take the pills," Southfist said while pointing a thumb at Fairy Firefly, earning him a kick in the shin that he ignored. "We contributed the least, and we''re planning on switching our methods to being with." Jadewill nodded. He turned to Jinshu. "How about this, I''ll take the Jade Diffraction Sword Manual, and you can take everything else. I specialize in the sword. I know the manual is probably worth more than the rest combined, but I''ll make it up to you in the future." There was also one thing that could be brought out of Cultivation Online except for the experience of raising their realm, and that was all the skills learned. Techniques and arts learned in Cultivation Online were perfectly usable in the Huang Realm, they had already tested them. Jinshu, Jadewill, Southfist, and Fairy Firefly were all perfectly willing to continue playing and testing Cultivation Online just for the chance to learn more techniques. So far, the strongest technique they learned was only at the Foundation Establishment Realm, but they knew they could raise their realm all the way to just before the Immortal Realm. Didn''t this mean they could Saint Level techniques just by continuing? "Okay," Jinshu nodded. He didn''t lack techniques, and he wanted to establish a good relationship. Perhaps they would journey more in the future. With the loot split, the party of four continued on their way to Cultivation City. Chapter 314: Concept Enlightenment Jinshu, Jadewill, Fairy Firefly, and Southfist entered Cultivation City. It had walls over fifty meters tall and spanned ten kilometers in diameter. "I''m not going to lie, the silence is strangely off-putting," Fairy Firefly said as the group walked through the empty streets. Buildings of repeated design never ended. All the shops, houses, taverns, and even inns, had almost the exact same design. "We''re testing out most of the features. I wouldn''t be surprised if it were meant for more disciples than just us," Jadewill said. "What you said makes sense," Southfist said. "Should we search around or directly go to Intermediate Palace?" "We can explore later. The Intermediate Palace should have new features," Jinshu said. The four nodded and made their way to the center of the city, where the Intermediate Palace was located. Compared to Beginner Palace, Intermediate Palace was grander and at least ten times larger than Beginner Palace. [Ding! Main Mission 10 completed!] [You have received Concept Enlightenment Hall Ticket x1] [Concept Enlightenment Hall Ticket] Rank: Unranked Effect: Allows the user to enter the Concept Enlightenment Hall for free one time. Jinshu felt his breath hitch as he realized what he had just received. He shared a glance with the other three, and all of them had the same look in their eyes. Most cultivators could only start comprehending the many parts of the worldly laws, concepts, when they reached the Unity Realm, but most never actually comprehended them until they reached the Immortal Realm. In the Buzhou Immortal Sect, many disciples took the Spirit Opening Pill to start grasping concepts. Jinshu was lucky due to the Golden Crow bloodline in his body, which allowed him to master the Concept of Sunlight and the Concept of Ember. The more concepts he mastered, the closer he would come to mastering a worldly law, allowing him to become an immortal monarch sooner. Before even that, it would significantly increase his chance of transcending his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. Jinshu shared a glance with the three others. Without a word, all four moved towards Concept Enlightenment Hall. [To enter Concept Enlightenment Hall, you must pay 100,000 Xiyi Coins.] Jinshu felt his breath hitch, and his heart skipped a beat upon reading the window. Having lived in the Buzhou Immortal Sect for one hundred years, he was no stranger to the Xiyinet or the Xiyi Coins. However, even in his hundred years of usage, he never accrued over ten thousand Xiyi Coins. Jadewill, Fairy Firefly, and Southfist had built up quite a following on the Xiyinet, but even they barely had over a hundred thousand Xiyi Coins. Just the thought of using up their hard-earned Xiyi Coins caused their stomach to ache. Luckily, they were all gifted Concept Enlightenment Hall Tickets. They immediately used them and entered the Concept Enlightenment Hall. Inside, the four saw a massive purple-gold colored stele. Jinshu walked forward and saw the numerous concepts listed there. Concept of Warmth Concept of Ember Concept of Heat Concept of Explosion Concept of Melting Concept of Fire Mirage Concept of Dampness Concept of Fluidity Concept of Extinguishing Concept of Fog Concept of Waterdrop Concept of Slickness Concept of Vitality Concept of Growth Concept of Absorption Concept of Temperance Concept of Quake Concept of Sharpness Concept of Brittleness Concept of Reflection Concept of Edge Concept of Density Concept of Encompassment Concept of Landvein Concept of Terrain Jinshu felt his eyes go blind from the sheer number of concepts. He had only mastered two concepts, and suddenly he was blinded by over twenty. There were more listed, but they were blacked out. Concept of Lightspeed Concept of Sunlight Concept of Shade Concept of Soundwaves Concept of Vibration Concept of Tempest Concept of Shock Concept of Thunderclap Concept of Speed Concept of Slowness Concept of Gravity Concept of Shifting Concept of Disintegration Concept of CorrosionStolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Concept of Decay The former group with the glowing words was related to the five elements, while the latter was everything else. Although the latter group appeared attractive, Jinshu didn''t lose his head over his goals. With his Golden Crow bloodline, Jinshu was predisposed toward concepts relating to the Law of Fire and the Law of Yang. With that knowledge in mind, he chose the Concept of Heat. After choosing the concept he wanted to comprehend, Jinshu was teleported away. He felt himself appear in an unknown space without up, down, left, or right. Before he had time to become disoriented by the unknown space, Jinshu was drawn to the warm ball of light. His mind glazed over as he tried to comprehend the crystallized concept. -line break- Inside the main hall of Nine Heavens Palace, Tianyi opened his eyes and said. "I didn''t expect him to glean the Concept of Positivity from the Concept of Heat. But that''s good, the Concept of Positivity is a major connection point to the concepts under the Law of Yang." "What are you saying, Yi''er?" Tianyi blinked and turned toward his mother. While he had been focusing on setting up Cultivation Online, he had forgotten that she was here. Now, it was just awkward. "N-Nothing," Tiany quickly said. "I just had a breakthrough in my comprehension of the Law of Yang." "As expected of Yi''er," Mengfei said with a smile, causing Tianyi to feel slightly guilty. "Mother, why don''t you return to Jade Peak Palace?" Tianyi asked. "It must be boring just staring at me and delaying your cultivation." Mengfei shook her head. "I like watching you grow. I''ve already used up all my previous accumulation, and it will take many more years to progress, so it doesn''t matter." The two entered a silence before something occurred to Mengfei. "Yi''er, should you not spend more time with Daoyi? I read that you should spend more time with your other half to develop feelings." ''Since when could you give relationship advice?'' Of course, Tianyi didn''t say that out loud. "Daoyi is currently at a crucial point in comprehending the Law of Life, and I don''t want to disturb her." "Will your relationship be okay?" Mengfei asked. "Will you two slowly drift apart because you two don''t talk? Maybe this is the start of your separation, and Daoyi really wants to talk. As a man, you should take the initiative." "No, I''m pretty sure she is at a crucial point, really. I literally can appear in front of her, and she won''t notice," Tianyi said. ''Although it''s true that I''m lacking the initiative. After asking her out, it seems Daoyi''s been taking the reigns. I have to fix this." "Are you sure? What if someone takes this chance to get close to Daoyi and causes her heart to wander?" Mengfei asked. Tianyi pursed his lips. "What book did you read?" Mengfei waved her hand, and an ordinary book titled the "Plum Blossom Romance" appeared. Tianyi flicked through it, and his eyebrows nearly reached his headlines. "Where did you get this?" "I asked my Imperial Brother for books on relationships, and he gave this," Mengfei said. ''Emperor-Uncle, just why?'' The book in his hands disappeared in a flash of flames. "Mother, you should specify to Emperor-Uncle why you want these books. I think he mistook your intentions as something else." "What could he ever mistake my request for?" ''Oh, I don''t know. Maybe thinking you finally discovered love. Not that the bastard will ever get a chance with me around. I''ll directly obliterate his soul, and I''ll do it in my Nine Heavens Universe just to make sure.'' Tianyi thought. Leaving a confused Mengfei, Tianyi successfully changed the topic. He still had a lot of free time, at least until his wedding. Sect Master Xia let it leak that the sect was planning something big for after his wedding, which included plans with him in mind. With that conversation out of the way, Tianyi focused back on his pet project. Unlike what Jinshu thought, Cultivation Online was set on one of the continents on Sixth Heaven, with his Past Incarnation as the Game Master controlling the overall direction. The specialized Xiyi Talisman had brought their spiritual sense into the Nine Heavens Universe. It did this by lulling the user into a hypnotic state and drawing their soul into the Nine Heavens Universe using a specialized portal in the Xiyi Talisman. It was a big risk, but Tianyi minimized it by calibrating it so that only within the Buzhou Immortal Sect could one log into Cultivation Online. Jinshu, Jadewill, Fairy Firefly, and Southfist were the first to enter Cultivation City. Although only four of them had tested the Concept Enlightenment Hall, Tianyi still had some feedback. He experienced the process of their comprehension. Though their talent was far below his, their unique thought process still had merit and invoked new points from which Tianyi comprehended the various concepts and worldly laws. As for why it required a hundred thousand Xiyi Coins, Tianyi didn''t want to hand it over to them for free. They needed to earn it. What better way to drag them into the debauchery of the Xiyinet than by dangling the juicy carrot that is a chance at comprehending a concept? Cultivation Online offered a service that no one else could¡ªdirectly showing the concepts Tianyi had mastered to anyone he wanted. Sure, the immortals of the sect could give a sermon, but it would be far inferior to his method, and why would the immortals give free sermons to anyone unrelated to them? Tianyi could already see it now. Cultivation Online will become a holy ground that all disciples seek. As he grows stronger, even immortals will seek it out. However, he was not stupid. Such a heaven-defying method couldn''t be hidden, and it would affect the Buzhou Immortal Sect as a whole. Maybe even the whole Huang Realm and all potential cultivators will wish to join the Buzhou Immortal Sect even more. Tianyi formed an incarnation and sent it toward Sect Master Xia. Once the beta testing was over, he planned to open it to the public, so he needed to discuss it with the sect master. A month later, the rest of the beta testers had already reached Cultivation City and experienced the cheat-like effect of the Concept Enlightenment Hall. Now, they were trying all methods to gather Xiyi Coins. Within the game, they could gather Xiyi Coins by selling the monster drops to the NPC-manned stories within Cultivation City. Of course, Tianyi planned to implement a spirit stone to Xiyi Coin in the future but not now. For now, he had a meeting to attend. Tianyi glanced at Mengfei and gave a helpless smile. He waved his hand and then closed his eyes. He didn''t want to dispatch an incarnation since it would be rude, but he didn''t want to bring Mengfei over there either, so he could only dispatch his Past Incarnation. With his Past Incarnation busy, he had to administer Cultivation Online. -line break- In the main hall, Sect Master Xia felt the spatial boundaries shift, but since he knew who was coming, he didn''t mobilize the formation to block it. Although he had to wonder why Tianyi would directly teleport over. "Little Xi?" Sect Master Xia called it out in surprise upon seeing a sight he had not seen in nearly two hundred years. "What happened to you?" "This is my Past Incarnation. You can think of it as an advanced avatar for the Immortal Realm," Tianyi said, his voice light and crisp, unlike the deeper tone his main body sported now. "I didn''t want to use my main body since Mother has been staring at me all day without fail." Sect Master Xia gave a nervous chuckle. "I would imagine her presence might be detrimental to our meeting." "Is it real?" the sect master asked. Tianyi knew what he was referring to, so he nodded. "I''ll show you." Sect Master Xia nodded and offered no resistance as Tianyi teleported him into the Nine Heavens Universe. There, they appeared inside the Intermediate Palace of Cultivation City. There were a few players milling about, but they acted as if they could not see the child-like Tianyi or Sect Master Xia. "They believe this world is an illusion and not real. I didn''t want to reveal the truth just yet," Tianyi said. Sect Master Xia agreed. "You should keep this under wraps, at least until after the war." Tianyi led Sect Master Xia to the enclosed space where he revealed the concepts to the people inside the Concept Enlightenment Hall. "Little Xi, can I try?" Sect Master Xia asked. Tianyi thought about it for a moment and nodded. "Go ahead. You can choose any concept to your fancy." Sect Master Xia nodded and directly chose all the concepts related to the five elemental laws, causing the edge of Tianyi''s lips to twitch. He shrugged. It was actually possible to show the complete worldly laws that he had fully mastered, but it was useless to mortal cultivators, so he never brought it. If Sect Master Xia had asked, Tianyi would have allowed him to experience the complete five elemental laws he had mastered, but since he didn''t... As Sect Master Xia continued to comprehend the concepts Tiany revealed to him, days started to pass. He even began to wonder if Sect Master Xia would take years since he seemed to have entered a state of enlightenment. ''No way, right?'' Tianyi thought. Although it was a good thing for Sect Master Xia, it wasn''t good for the Buzhou Immortal Sect as a whole since it was during wartime, and Sect Master Xia''s leadership was indispensable. However, Tianyi didn''t want to awaken Sect Master Xia either. To disturb one''s enlightenment was a greater crime than killing one''s parents or lover in the cultivation world. Left with no choice, Tianyi sped up the time flow around Sect Master Xia. It wasn''t a bad thing for Tianyi either since the comprehension from Sect Master Xia gave him more inspiration than mere mortal cultivators ever could. One day, Tianyi felt his lips twitch as he glanced at the space Sect Master Xia was in. "No way, he really did it?" Inside the unique space, Sect Master Xia opened his eyes, full of joy. "Finally, I mastered the Law of Fire, Law of Water, Law of Earth, Law of Wood, and Law of Metal. I can enter the Extremity Immortal Realm!" Chapter 315: Attendance In the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, ten peerless cultivation methods existed, known as the Ten Heavenly Scriptures. The Five Element Method practiced by the majority of the Buzhou Immortal Sect was derived from the Five Phases Heavenly Scripture. Xia Meng, or rather Sect Master Xia as he was most commonly known now, started out cultivating the Metal Book of the Five Element Method when he still had been a disciple. When he reached the True Immortal Realm, he focused on mastering the Law of Metal. The moment he did so, he stepped into the Seamless Immortal Realm. For the next tens of thousands of years, he focused on cultivating the rest of the books: Fire Book, Water Book, Wood Book, and Earth Book. Each book increased the cultivator''s sensitivity toward the corresponding elemental law, and he had mastered four of the five. He was just missing mastery of the Law of Earth. The final inspiration Sect Master Xia needed came from the most unexpected place, Xi Tianyi, a junior who was not even a hundredth of his age. The moment he mastered all five books of the Five Element Method, the Daotree within Sect Master Xia began to tremble. At the top of the tree, a small flower bud began to emerge. It was a tiny thing, almost inconspicuous. As time passed, it began to grow larger but never blooming. Sect Master Xia''s body began to devour the surrounding spiritual qi like crazy, as if his body was a black hole. When Sect Master Xia opened his eyes, calm confidence exuded from his gaze. He no longer emanated the aura of an immortal monarch but an immortal emperor. "Congratulations on your advancement," Tianyi said as he appeared in the unique space. Sect Master Xia laughed happily. The more he looked at Tianyi, the more pleased he felt. "Thank you, Little Xi. If you hadn''t shown me this, who knows how long it would have taken me to reach the Extremity Immortal Realm." "Next, you have to absorb the other versions of yourself in other timelines, right?" Tianyi asked. Sect Master Xia nodded. "Among other aspects." "So, I assume that Sect Master is going to retreat and consolidate your gains?" Tianyi asked. Sect Master Xia made an apologetic expression. "We''ll have to discuss this matter another day." Tianyi nodded in understanding. The moment one broke through was when they gained the most insights. Missing this opportune moment for any reason was practically a crime. Tianyi''s Past Incarnation teleported Sect Master Xia back to his abode and resumed control of Cultivation Online while his main body opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was his mother staring unblinkingly at him. Ignoring his spiking heartbeat, Tianyi closed his eyes once more. It was not just Sect Master Xia who gained something, Tianyi also had his gains. When Sect Master Xia realized his epiphany, his understanding was also relayed to Tianyi, thanks to being in the Nine Heavens Universe. Sect Master Xia''s understanding was not something Jinshu, Jadewill, Fairy Firefly, Southfist, or any of the other beta testers could compare to, even if they had cultivated for a hundred years inside Cultivation Online. During the hundred years that Ba Shifang played the role of the Sword Sovereign¡¯s son, he had mastered four of the five elemental laws, which Tianyi had mastered as well after synchronizing with his clone. And thanks to Sect Master Xia, Tianyi also mastered the last of the five elemental laws. The moment he did so, he could feel the Nine Heavens Universe changing, evolving. The changes disrupted the system of Cultivation Online he had put in place, so Tianyi expelled all the beta testers. In the universe, a new constellation emerged. After the Vermillion Bird, Azure Dragon, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise Constellation, the Yellow Constellation emerged in the spot between all four of them. The heavenly body closest to the solar star in the center of the universe after Eight Heaven was naturally Seventh Heaven, and it stopped producing immortal qi, releasing essence instead. Along with the increase of essence, Tianyi felt his control of the universe increase. He immediately began to manage it to become orderly. Compared to the numerous stars, Tianyi discovered that stars were actually in the minority. Around eighty percent of them were debris, and nineteen percent were rogue planets. The last percentage was actual solar systems of planets orbiting stars. They were so far away that it would be practically impossible for anyone but Tianyi to travel to them from another solar system. Even divinities would need countless years to travel between solar systems. Under Tianyi''s control, he moved the rogue planets to orbit pre-existing stars, artificially creating solar systems. While he was doing this, he teleported Ba Shifang into Ninth Heaven, where he displayed the last elemental law Ba Shifang needed to master. Tianyi had a sudden thought. ''Huh, my clone is going to have the same amount of laws mastered as an immortal emperor like Sect Master Xia. Too bad we can''t convert our mastery directly into combat prowess.'' He began to focus on comprehending other laws, such as the Law of Death and the Law of Life. His mastery of the five elemental laws boosted his sensitivity toward other laws with a multiplicative effect. The more laws he mastered, the faster he would master newer laws. While Tianyi was comprehending the worldly laws, the outside world shook. Buzhou Immortal Sect once more had three immortal emperors. In addition, they now had an immortal sovereign, cementing their hegemonic power in the entire Huang Realm.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
When Immortal Pathway, the sect master of the Eight Pillar Sect, sought an audience with the grand elders, he was directly summoned by Emperor Infinity. Upon entering, he saw Emperor Infinity and Soulseek waiting for him. "Grand Elders, the Buzhou Immortal Sect has a new emperor!" Emperor Infinity sighed. He could not blame Monarch Pathway for losing control of his emotions. "Did the Buzhou Immortal Sect reply to our request for aid?" Monarch Pathway shook his head. "They claim they don''t have time with the unrest rising in the Heaven Continent." The three people stayed silent. They knew that once the Buzhou Immortal Sect destroyed the Tripartite Alliance and the Anti-Heaven Alliance, they would have no more enemies. Although they may lose a portion of their strength and members in the war, they would no longer have any force opposing them. Their development would progress at an unprecedented rate, and perhaps, no other force than the Buzhou Immortal Sect would exist. What would happen if everything was united under them? Would they be content to stay in Heaven Continent? The answer was no, and they would set their sights on the other two continents. "Perhaps they would set their sights on the Saintly Scholar School?" Monarch Pathway hopefully asked. Emperor Soulseak shook his head. "Although the Saintly Scholar School is new, its founder Lao Tzu, cannot be underestimated. Compared to the calm Mortal Continent, if I were Buzhou Immortal Sect, I would set my sights on Earth Continent. The turbulent period is better for them. They might even ally with the Anti-Earth Alliance and have both sides injure the other before swooping in to take over." Sweat coated Monarch Pathway''s back as he visualized the scenario. "Please guide me, what should we do?" Emperor Infinity and Emperor Soulseek turned silent. What could they use to force the Buzhou Immortal Sect to move? What was more enticing to them than becoming the hegemon of the whole Huang Realm? "In addition to the realm artifact, offer the Extreme Yin Mantra or the Extreme Yang Tempering Method if they come to our aid," Emperor Infinity said. "Grand Elder!?" Monarch Pathway cried out. "We musn''t! The Extreme Yin Mantra and the Extreme Yang Tempering Method are derived from the Yin-Yang Heavenly Scripture and are the core of our sect''s inheritance. The consequences will be unimaginable if we hand it over!" "Shortsighted," Emperor Infinity said. "What use are these two methods if the Eight Pillar Sect is destroyed? Besides, it would take a long time for the Buzhou Immortal Sect to digest the method, the time that we need. Either choice is a gamble." "We can continue as we are now, defeat the Anti-Earth Alliance while sustaining major losses. One of us might even die," Emperor Infinity said, motioning toward himself and Soulseek. "If, by some chance, the Buzhou Immortal Sect sustains heavy losses like us, the board would be reset. But do you think the Buzhou Immortal Sect will sustain more losses than us?" Monarch Pathway stayed silent. "Even if their Sword Sovereign somehow dies against the Cloud Goddess, that would still leave them with three immortal emperors, or two at the most optimal. However, such chances are too low. The Tripartite Alliance and Anti-Heaven Alliance do not have a single Immortal Emperor," Emperor Infinity continued. "That''s why we must take a gamble. Gamble that we can use them to eliminate the Anti-Earth Alliance and cause them heavy losses even if they become the sole hegemon of the Heaven Continent." "After that, the Heaven and Earth Continents will have no opposing force. From there, it will be a gamble to see which side can accumulate enough forces to launch a war against the other side," Emperor Infinity said. "Send your disciple, Duan Muli, as a hostage if you have time. It''s clear that Yang Linyin possesses the greater talent, and he reached the True Immortal Realm much earlier than your disciple." Monarch Pathway sank into deep thought. Finally, he sighed. "As Grand Elder Infinity wishes." After Monarch Pathway left, Emperor Infinity sighed. "Do you think I''m being foolish?" "No," Emperor Soulseek said. "Compared to you, I understand your urgency more. In my time, the Eight Pillar Sect and Buzhou Immortal Sect were actually more equal in strength, but when it came to your era, the difference in strength also increased. Now, it''s even further apart. The more time passes, the difference in our strength will increase even more until we are nothing but bugs to the Buzhou Immortal Sect." "Ha, that''s going a bit too far, don''t you think?" Emperor Infinity said. "Although I see your concern. Let''s gamble it all."
Inside the Cloud Goddess Cult, which had become the headquarter of the Anti-Earth Alliance, the top leaders of the Cloud Goddess Cult, Five Element Sect, and Drifting Feather Sect were all gathered. "The Buzhou Immortal Sect has another emperor," Monarch Fiveseal, one of the Five Element Sect''s grand elders, said. "They already have higher quality immortals and more to boot, and now, their higher-end combat power has increased by one." "Our Anti-Heaven Alliance has the Cloud Goddess, who can compete with the Sword Sovereign, but what does the Tripartite Alliance have? Only two half-step immortal emperors!" The sect master of the Drifting Feather Sect said with displeasure. "Complaining isn''t going to help us much," said the sect master of the Five Element Sect. "What we should focus on is how to combat the Buzhou Immortal Sect. With the increase in strength, I doubt our previous efforts to draw in one of the first-rate sects will bear fruit now." "A pity. I heard that Boundless Mountain showed displeasure after their sect master candidate was executed by the Buzhou Immortal Sect," Monarch Fiveseal said. "Still, they didn''t show much enthusiasm. Perhaps the fault lay with them, hence why they endured this humiliation. Even if we draw them in, we can''t give them too much trust." "Grand Elder Fiveseal is right," The sect master of the Five Element Sect said. "Rather than trying to turn one of the forces into a traitor, it would be better to ally with the Tripartite Alliance." "It''s not that simple," the sect master of the Drifting Feather Sect. "Our forces are unequal. The only reason they survived is because of our existence. Without us, they would have long been cleaned by the Buzhou Immortal Sect. However, despite this, they will not take kindly to becoming beneath us and will want an equal standing in cooperation." "Heh, they sure like to dream. They should be happy that we deign to ally with them," The sect master of the Five Element Sect said. "The problem lies in the fact that we cannot do anything to them unless we want to worsen our situation," Monarch Fiveseal said, causing the people in the room to grimace. He turned toward the Cloud Goddess, who had stayed silent all this time. "What do you think?" The Cloud Goddess leaned on her cloud throne. "We should not take action for now." An invitation appeared in her hand. "I believe we should attend the marriage ceremony of the Sword Sovereign''s son. Gather information and plan our next step from there. However, we should still reach out to the Tripartite Alliance just in case." The people in the room nodded. They had originally not planned to attend, thinking it was a trap, but they heard the news from their informants in the Earth Continent that the Eight Pillar Sect would also send people to attend, greatly boosting their confidence. With the decision already engraved in stone, Tianyi''s wedding just became a bit more exciting. Chapter 316: Heaven Intent Ba Shifang exhaled, and a clear mist spewed out from his open lips. "I failed again." Thanks to his main body, he had finally mastered all five elemental laws. That meant he was only one step away from the next step, merging five laws to form the Law of Five Phases. Although it sounded simple, the final step stymied many cultivators. In fact, it was practically impossible. However, if he did, he would immediately reach the peak of the Seamless Immortal Realm, and it would only take some time to enter the Extremity Immortal Realm. Ba Shifang sighed and waved his hand. Immediately, he was transported out of the unique space and back into Nine Heavens Palace on Ninth Heaven. ''This is just unfair. Main Body has already started to comprehend the Law of Five Phases, yet I can''t even begin to fathom the first step of merging them.'' "How''s it going, Immortal Lord Ba?" Ba Shifang scrunched his brow, turned around, and saw a black-robed figure walking in. The most eye-catching thing about him was the two dragon horns sprouting out of his head and his slitted pupils. "What do you want, ''Monarch'' Donghai?" "Nooooothing," Donghai Longzi said. "I just wanted to see what my junior is doing. After all, you''re the third clone." "Yes, yes," Ba Shifang raised his head. "I congratulate the second clone for surpassing me and reaching the Seamless Immortal Realm before me." "Tch, you''re no fun," Donghai Longzi said. Ba Shifang said nothing as he poured a cup of tea for himself and his fellow clone. After handing the teacup, he asked. "So, what''re you here for?" "Nothing much," Donghai Longzi said, taking the cup from Ba Shifang. "Thought I''d say goodbye before I leave." "You''re leaving for the Divine Beast Pseudo-System already?" Ba Shifang said in surprise, placing the teacup back on the table. "Yeah, I comprehended all that I could, and my bloodline was strengthened to its current limit," Donghai Longzi said. "Even against the dragon king, I should be able to escape. I''d be in trouble if there were any demons equal to an immortal sovereign, but there shouldn''t be any. Otherwise, we wouldn''t have won the Human-Divine Beast War." "I see," Ba Shifang said. "When will you be coming back?" "Who knows?" Donghai Longzi said. "It could be a thousand or even ten thousand years. Maybe even a hundred thousand, but the Buzhou Immortal Sect wants to conquer the demon clan before fighting the Numinous Sword Sect." "I guess, I''ll be the only clone here," Ba Shifang said. "Unless Main Body forms another clone, or maybe when Juedai Fenghua comes back. I was created too late, and I still haven''t seen her. What''s wrong?" Donghai Longzi was making a shushing motion with his finger. "Did you forget where we are? What if the Main Body hears? I don''t care if you''re punished, but I''ll be punished by association too!" ''Gee, I can feel the camaraderie,'' Ba Shifang thought. Suddenly, he snapped his head and looked at the sky. He could feel an immense pressure crushing him down, as if an emperor had arrived and he was just a lowly subject. ''Main Body really isn''t going to punish me, is he? No, this feels different.''
''You''re lucky you gave me a great idea. I''ll let you off this time,'' Tianyi thought. His will spread throughout the known boundaries of the Nine Heavens Universe. It was annoying. Although his Past Incarnation was an exact replica of him in skill and comprehension, it lacked one ability, mastery of the Nine Heavens Universe. Like when he mastered the five elemental laws, he needed to spend time reorganizing his inner universe. However, it wasn''t perfect. He would need to calibrate many things to perfect the elements. Half of the artificial solar systems he created had strayed and needed to be salvaged. Even the Divine Beast Constellations showed problems. As he stepped closer to mastering the Law of Five Phases, the current Divine Beast Constellation needed to be reworked, causing him to stop his comprehension and fix the issue. So what if he had a manager or agent to accomplish this task for him? A clone, yet not a clone, but not quite an avatar; something akin to a second brain, one dedicated to managing the Nine Heavens Universe. Just like how his Past Incarnation was managing Cultivation Online, only on a much grander scale. "Come forth, forth clone," Tianyi softly said, yet his voice reverberated throughout the Nine Heavens Universe. A silver wisp appeared in the center of Ninth Heaven. It slowly took the shape of an infant under the nourishment of the essence from Ninth and Eighth Heaven, growing larger and larger. Tianyi, who was observing all this, stilled and waved his hand. The time inside the core of Ninth Heaven froze. He closed his eyes and began to meditate. A month later, he opened his eyes. "So that''s the case. My current self is the Nine Heavens Universe. In that case, let my fourth split soul become my Present Incarnation."The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Time resumed inside Ninth Heaven. The silvery infant-shaped soul began to enlarge until it grew bigger than Ninth Heaven. It kept growing until it shrouded Nine Heavens System. At that point, it split into nine sections and merged with all the heavens. Although nothing seemingly changed, Tianyi could feel that it was easier to control the Nine Heavens Universe. No, rather than easier, it was more accurate to call it efficient. It felt as if he had grown closer to the Nine Heavens Universe, if that was even possible. He and the Nine Heavens Universe was one. As long as the Nine Heavens Universe continues to exist, he will not perish. "Let''s try doing some redecorating," Tianyi said to himself. His eyes widened when numerous lines of light appeared in his eyes. They connected everything in the Nine Heavens Universe to the Nine Heavens System. With a tap, he could easily change many things. Tianyi observed these lines of light since they felt familiar to him, as if he had seen them from somewhere. His eyes widened when he recalled where. The lines of light resembled the light when he attained that fake sword light in his Inner Devil Tribulation. ''This is my intent?'' Tianyi thought. In the past, he had tried to develop hand intent or sword intent, but he couldn''t do it. He thought it was because he didn''t have the talent, but it seemed he was wrong. He possessed intent, but Tianyi never realized it. Just what type of intent did he possess? Tianyi tried testing. His eyes widened. Before, if he wanted to summon heavenly tribulation, he would need to manually call it forth, but now, it would automatically come forth. After a few more tests, he was even more sure. He could now add rules and restrictions to the Nine Heavens Universe. For example, he could even apply the whole system of the Cultivation World to the whole Nine Heavens Universe and make it a law. ''This is my intent? More than an intent, it''s like I''m the Heavenly Dao!'' Tianyi''s mind spun. He had always thought his control of the Nine Heavens Universe hadn''t reached its full potential. And it was true, he never realized the nature of his intent until now. Tianyi recalled the words spoken to him by Caishen and smiled. "Let''s call this heaven intent. My intent is the will of the universe. It is the Heavenly Dao." Tianyi held his chin. No wonder the Heavenly Dao of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System sent down heavenly punishment. When he was fighting Lei Jingye and Xi Longyi in the other timeline or when he tried to absorb parts of the Nether Realm, he brought out his Nine Heavens Universe. His will and intent entrenched the whole universe, and once recognized, the Heavenly Dao would try to erase it. Two tigers cannot live on one mountain. The appearance of his Nine Heavens Universe might be akin to a usurper. In the history of China, such occurrences weren''t rare. When Qin Shi Huang died, the Qin Dynasty declined and fell, and then the Han Dynasty emerged. "No, no, that''s still too soon. Become the master of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System? What am I even thinking?" Tianyi asked aloud. "Heaven intent? Master of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System? Yi''er, do you want to become the Jade Emperor?" ''Crap!'' Tianyi turned to see Mengfei staring at him. She had been so silent that as long as he didn''t see her, he would forget about her presence. "No, no, I was just thinking out loud." "If you want to be Jade Emperor, I can give you the position," Mengfei suddenly said. Instantly, the image of Mengfei going on a warpath killing everything in her way, and becoming the number one expert, came to Tianyi''s mind. Then, after she subdued everyone, she summoned him and commanded everyone to salute him as the new Jade Emperor. "No, no!" Tianyi immediately said. Even though he was just imagining it, he couldn''t take the risk of the one percent chance that Mengfei would do such a thing. "I really don''t want to become the Jade Emperor. Ignoring the fact that I''m still an immortal, being Jade Emperor and managing the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System sounds way too exhausting." "Are you sure?" Mengfei asked, staring closely at Tianyi. "Y-yes, absolutely!" "If you change your mind, just tell me. Mother will fulfill all your wishes," Mengfei said. ''I''m kinda scared at how far you''ll go.'' Tianyi thought, but a warm feeling still emerged from his chest. He continued conversing with Mengfei until he paused for a moment. Tianyi and Mengfei paused for a moment and glanced at the foot of Nine Heavens Peak. A moment later, an incarnation of Tianyi''s formed and descended. Upon reaching the foot, he saw an elder saluting him. "Junior Xia Yushan greets Nine Heavens Peak Lord." ''He''s changed.'' Tianyi thought. If he hadn''t known Xia Yushan possessed the heavenly metal spiritual root, he would have thought Xia Yushan possessed the heavenly ice spiritual root instead. "Does the Sect Master need something?" "Yes, Master ordered me to pass a message. He said thank you for your patience, I am ready to continue the discussion," Xia Yushan said. "Alright, you can leave," Tianyi said. Xia Yushan saluted again and left. Despite treating him as a senior brother for so many years, Tianyi felt no discomfort. It wasn''t because his thoughts changed, but Xia Yushan no longer resembled the Xia Yushan he once knew. It was like a completely different person. During the hundred years he had been gone, Xia Yushan had made a name for himself, and it wasn''t a particularly good one. No-Heart Sword Immortal. Not only did Xia Yushan kill the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s enemies, but he would not hesitate to sacrifice his own teammates to attain the greatest results. He was like a machine, only caring about the end and not the process. As a result, both his allies and enemies feared him. Due to his unique position and status, Sect Master Xia told him the reason. Xia Yushan practiced the Emotional Severance Sutra. Although he could no longer inherit the sect master''s position, Sect Master Xia planned to transfer him to Justice Peak after the end of the war. Only an emotionless person like him could be perfectly impartial, Sect Master Xia had said. Tianyi shook his head. He lamented that Xia Yushan had degraded to this point. He couldn''t even be called an animal anymore, much less a human. He was just a machine.
"Oh, Little Xi, you''ve arrived!" Sect Master Xia smiled and greeted him with a laugh. "I''ll congratulate Emperor Xia, too," Tianyi''s Past Incarnation said. "Your fame resounds across the land of Heaven Continent. No one does not know your fame." "Hahaha, Little Xi, you became quite the flatterer," Sect Master Xia said. "Let''s move on to the main topic." Sect Master Xia said that he would help Tianyi spread the Xiyi Talisman. The Works Hall would now be in charge of producing the Xiyi Talisman, and it would become a standard artifact for everyone under the Immortal Realm. To Tianyi''s surprise, Sect Master Xia wanted to add a Xiyi Coin exchange system, not with spirit stones but with contribution points. In addition, Tianyi needed to give admin privileges to the sect, and his identity as Xi Tianyi will be granted the position of Vice-Head Elder of the Works Hall. Tianyi agreed. The Xiyinet was a massive net of information. If used properly, the Buzhou Immortal Sect would have valuable information sources. The sect probably had set its sights on it long ago, but because of his absence and Mengfei''s status, it didn''t bring it up. Just as Tianyi was about to leave, Sect Master Xia said, "Oh right, Little Xi, do you know about reincarnators?" Chapter 317: Fallen "Reincarnator?" Tianyi asked. He could feel his inner universe tremble from the shock of hearing the term from Sect Master Xia, but outwardly, he showed no signs of knowing anything. "You mean souls who have gone through the Six Paths of Samara and gained new life?" "You''re only partly right," Sect Master Xia said as he waved his hand. Tianyi''s eyes narrowed. Sect Master Xia didn''t just activate the barrier of his abode, but it also severed the Heavenly Dao''s omnipresence in the room. He had never noticed that the sect master''s mansion had such a feature. "Reincarnators are souls that have gained new life in the myriad realms, but they have never gone through the Six Paths of Samsara," Sect Master Xia stood up and held his arms behind his back. "They didn''t originate from the Three Thousand Realms System, but outside." Tianyi didn''t show much surprise since it was something he had already suspected. "I know that there should be other systems besides our Three Thousand Realms System. Are you saying that these reincarnators came from these?" "No," Sect Master Xia said. "These reincarnators are special, and they didn''t come from another system but a different universe." Tianyi furrowed his brows. "Another universe?" The Three Thousand Realms System wasn''t considered a universe but a location within the universe. He hadn''t seen it himself, but according to the records he was privy to, outside the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, outside the Vast Void, was the endless darkness. The endless darkness was a gigantic universe where everything existed. The only other example of a universe Tianyi could think of was himself. "Sect Master Xia means something like my Nine Heavens Universe?" Sect Master Xia nodded. "Do you know the Almighty?" "I heard about it in the other timeline," Tianyi said as he recalled Sitian''s, the former Youdu Spirit of the Silent Lightning Timeline, words. "I heard he was the most powerful divinity that required several pantheons to ally themselves to fight." "Little Xi''s information is quite good," Sect Master Xia said with some surprise. "These reincarnators are souls from the Almighty''s universe. They didn''t just enter the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System but the other systems ruled by other pantheons." Tianyi connected the dots. "You mean the Almighty is like me and formed a universe?!" ''Doesn''t this mean I also have the potential to become as powerful as the Almighty?'' Tianyi thought with some excitement. ''Wait, why would souls leak from the Almighty''s universe? Although I haven''t created any life or souls, I instinctively know that they carry part of my universe''s essence, and letting them leave my universe is not good.'' ''Before that, doesn''t this also mean my origin is from the Almighty¡¯s Universe?'' A shocking thought occurred to Tianyi. What if the apocalypse wasn''t just happening on Earth but the whole universe? "The Almighty is dead?" Sect Master Xia nodded. "Yes, the Almighty died. That''s why all these reincarnators suddenly started to appear. Although they may possess good spiritual roots or physiques for cultivation, they all have one common feature, and that''s a powerful comprehension ability of the laws. That''s why we called them the Almighty''s Children." "Wait," Tianyi stopped Sect Master Xia from talking. "Before that, how did the Almighty die? I thought he was powerful to the point that he required the alliance of numerous pantheons. Unless the alliance successfully killed him, and that''s why the primordial era ended?" Although Sitian had told him about the Almighty, it seemed that he didn''t know everything. Upon deeper thought, Tianyi understood. Sitian wasn''t the original Youdu Spirit from the Primordial Era, but a new one birthed after, so it wasn''t strange that he didn''t know everything. "No, the Almighty survived the Primordial Era but was injured like our pantheon," Sect Master Xia said. ''Tsk, tsk. I thought Caishen knew a lot, but apparently, he''s still so useless.'' Tianyi thought. "Was he injured by the devils?" "Not just the Almighty, but all the pantheon had allied together to repel the devils. While we warred with the Almighty, the devils had silently gained power," Sect Master Xia shook his head. "Many divinities perished during the war, resulting in the current weakened Three Thousand Immortal Realms System." Sect Master Xia smiled. "Originally, I wasn''t supposed to tell you, but with your current strength, it shouldn''t be a problem. But back to the main point, reincarnators." Tianyi also nodded. "For what reason did Sect Master Xia bring them up?" "It''s thanks to the Three Lives Stone," Sect Master Xia. "It''s a divine artifact that records all life in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. With it, we have already discovered how many experts the Tripartite and Anti-Heaven Alliance has. Not just the forces in the Huang Realm, but even the Numinous Sword Sect." "What does that have to do with reincarnators, though?" Tianyi asked. "Naturally, it does," Sect Master Xia said. "We searched the Three Lives Stone for the Numinous Sword Sect''s Bao Ling, but we cannot discover any traces. This means only two possibilities. Either he''s a divinity, or he''s an outsider." Tianyi''s eyes twitched. ''Bao Ling is also a reincarnator? Hehe, that won''t stop me from getting revenge, though. However..."This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. "What does this have to do with anything?" Tianyi asked. ''If he could see that Bao Ling''s name isn''t on the Three Lives Stone, what about mine, Daoyi''s, or even Xi Ri''s?'' "I just want you to be careful," Sect Master Xia said. "I don''t want you to show mercy even if both of you are the Almighty''s children." Tianyi''s body tensed, but he soon relaxed. Although he was wary of the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s power, what did he have to worry about? He had the Nine Heavens Universe. Even if he couldn''t beat them, couldn''t he run? Plus, he didn''t do anything that could warrant them killing or capturing him. In addition, he was too important. "Who else knows?" Tianyi finally asked after a tense silence. "Aside from His Majesty, the Concealed Sovereign and Immortal Court Spirit, only me," Sect Master Xia said. He poured a cup of tea and placed it in front of Tianyi with an amiable smile. Tianyi rolled his eyes, "Are you going to tell my mother?" "If Little Xi doesn''t want to, I won''t," Sect Master Xia said. "But, she''ll eventually learn in the future." "Alight," Tianyi said. His brows furrowed, and he sighed a moment later. Taking the teacup, he downed the contents in one go. "Why''re you telling me this? What do you plan to do after learning this?" "It''s nothing much," Sect Master Xia said. "I feel that we should have a deeper level of trust. We have already checked the whole sect, and only you, Elder Jiang, and Disciple Xi Ri are reincarnators." "Only us?" Tianyi asked. He had already suspected this when no one came forward after throwing Xi Ri out as bait, but it still surprised him. "We have more than a hundred thousand members, yet only three reincarnators, and we are so closely linked?" "I was surprised too," Sect Master said as he sat down and poured himself a cup of tea. "Little Xi, are you interested in gathering reincarnators and turning them into members of the sect?" "How can it be so easy?" Tianyi asked. "What, should I go around shouting to the whole Huang Realm and ask all reincarnators to come?" "That is an option," Sect Master Xia said. Tianyi glared. "Absolutely not. Besides, just because we are grouped together as the Almighty''s children doesn''t mean every one of us can be allies. It''s like saying everyone in the Huang Realm is on the same side." "They aren''t now but will be in the future," Sect Master Xia said. Tianyi couldn''t deny that. He sighed. "Besides, reincarnators are likely to appear in other realms too. Why are you so fixated on them?" "It''s nothing much," Sect Master Xia said. "We are interested in everything related to the Almighty." Suddenly, Tianyi had a thought. "How long did you know I was a reincarnator or suspected me?" "I learned recently, but according to Immortal Court Spirit, the Concealed Emperor already knew of it the moment your soul appeared in Grand Elder Xi''s belly," Sect Master Xia said. "If he could detect it, why couldn''t my mother?" Tianyi asked, feeling insecure. "We don''t have proof she doesn''t know, but her actions don''t hint at it," Sect Master Xia said. "It isn''t like it was easy to discover. Only the Concealed Emperor discovered it." Tianyi stayed silent. "Was it why you allowed me to cultivate the Primordial Heavenly Scripture?" Tianyi suddenly asked. ''What he wanted to ask was if the Three Pure True Self Visualization Technique had anything to do with them.'' "I was given instructions to allow you to cultivate a heavenly scripture," Sect Master Xia admitted. Tianyi frowned and tapped his finger on the table. "Is there anything else?" "No," Sect Master Xia said, shaking his head. "Then, I''ll return." Without waiting for Sect Master Xia to react, Tianyi''s Past Incarnation disappeared. Sect Master Xia shook his head and sipped his tea. -line break- "Is something wrong?" In Nine Heavens Palace, Tianyi looked at Mengfei. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. "It''s nothing," Tianyi finally said. Mengfei walked closer until her face was centimeters away and stared at Tianyi''s face. He almost backed away from the short distance. "I-Is there something wrong?" "No, I just wanted to take a closer look," Mengfei said. Tianyi only nervously laughed. After managing to convince Mengfei to back off, he focused on his Nine Heavens Universe. In Ninth Heaven, an incarnation of Tianyi appeared in front of Daoyi. Daoyi opened her eyes, "Is something wrong?" Tianyi ran his fingers through his hair. "Sect Master Xia and the Concealed Emperor know about our status as reincarnators." He explained how and why, causing Daoyi to say, "Wow, you really shot yourself in the foot." "How was I supposed to know the Three Lives Stone would cause this?" "Well, it''s not a bad thing," Daoyi said. "With the Almighty dead, the sect shouldn''t be too wary of us, and having our identities revealed isn''t necessarily a bad thing. At least we don''t have to be so careful anymore." "We don''t have to be so careful, but we still have to be wary of the sect," Tianyi said. He closed his eyes and recalled how Immortal Court Spirit destroyed the Huang Realm in the Silent Lightning Timeline. "From now on, you shouldn''t leave too far from me." Daoyi didn''t tease Tianyi but asked why. Tianyi sighed. "It''s not something I can explain. I''m going to create another conduit. It won''t be as strong as my current body, but it will have the ability to transport you into my inner universe in case anything happens." "I understand, but you should also explain to me why you''re so wary of the Buzhou Immortal Sect," Daoyi said. Tianyi stared Daoyi in the eyes. "And if I don''t?" Daoyi raised an eyebrow. "Do you think you have a choice?" After a tense minute, Tianyi sighed and plopped down next to Daoyi. "Alright, alright, you win." After hearing what happened in the Silent Lightning Timeline before entering the Nether Realm, even Daoyi was stunned. Finally, she also sighed. "No wonder. If you are making a conduit, what about Master and Xi Ri?" "I''m also in the process of making a conduit for them to carry on themselves," Tianyi said. "They''re actually already created, but I want to increase their strength a bit. With three conduits present, all three''s strength will be reduced, but luckily, I made a breakthrough recently, so it shouldn''t be a problem." "The stronger we grow, the more trouble we seem to have," Daoyi said. "According to your hypothesis, Earth should have undergone an apocalypse because the Almighty died. I had originally wanted to return." Tianyi allowed himself to fall onto his back and stared at the ceiling of Concealed Palace. "On Earth, we would get into more trouble once we become adults. But in the Huang Realm, the stronger we grow, the more troublesome things are." Chapter 318: Heavenly Lotus Seed Pill Near the Buzhou Mountain Range, a boat that seemed to be the color of white at one moment but suddenly became black the next moment slowly sailed through the clouds. Not only that, but the boat''s existence seemed to drift between a state of falsehood and truth, illusionary one moment but real the next. Duan Muli stood on the deck with his arms behind his back. Behind him, several disciples and elders scurried around him, but he ignored them. He continued to stare at the mountain range as he recalled his master''s words. "Sorry, but this is for the good of the sect." Duan Muli clenched his fist to the point that his knuckles whitened and veins appeared. "Senior Brother," the speaker flinched when he saw the glare leveled at him. "S-Sory, I meant Elder Duan." Duan Muli sighed. "What is it?" "We''re about to arrive, and the elders are calling for a meeting," His junior brother, who was still in the Nascent Soul Realm, said. "Alright, let''s go," Duan Muli said as he turned around and entered the ship. Inside, eleven immortal elders waited for him. In addition to himself, a total of twelve true immortals were dispatched as emissaries. Two of them were even immortal lords. For the current Eight Pillar Sect, this was already a sizeable force since the war between them and the Anti-Earth Alliance had only intensified. "Elder Duan," All the others greeted. Although Duan Muli wasn''t the strongest among them, he had the highest status since he was the sect master''s disciple. "Un," Duan Muli greeted. It wasn''t terribly polite, but thinking of his possible future, he didn''t care much. The elders showed various reactions, but only the two immortal lords showed no change in expression. Like Duan Muli, they already knew of the sect''s decision. "To make sure of our success, we have to shorten the relationship between us," The leading immortal lord, Immortal Lord Swordwind, said. "Elder Duan is in the same generation as the son of the Sword Sovereign, he''ll be left to you." "Prince Xi, huh?" Duan Muli said with some contempt. Within his words, there was a trace of jealousy he couldn''t even detect. During the hundred years Tianyi was gone, more and more people called him a prince. Because the sect refused to let him participate in dangerous missions, people gradually forgot about his strength, and soon, all they remembered was his status as the Sword Sovereign''s son. Hence, they called him Prince Xi. It started as a derogatory name from the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s enemies, implicitly saying that he was useless without his mother, but Tianyi rather liked being called Prince Xi. So, the person himself didn''t care much. "As for us," Immortal Lord Swordwind glanced at his fellow immortal lord and said, "We''ll visit Monarch Nine Heavens. Although it isn''t clear, but rumors say that he and the Sword Sovereign had an indistinct relationship. Some say he might even be Xi Tianyi''s father." Duan Muli nodded. If he could convince Tianyi to go, then Monarch Nine Heavens would have a higher chance of accepting their request. It worked in the other direction too. The Eight Pillar Sect''s elders continued to discuss which personage each one should visit to maximize their success. After their discussion ended, the immortal boat reached the Buzhou Immortal Sect. The immortal boat stopped outside the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s Mortal Severance Gate. After a moment, an immortal lord from Rites Peak led the boat directly into the sect. The Eight Pillar Sect weren''t the only sect to arrive, but they were the only ones allowed to fly the immortal boat into the sect without disembarking first. The entourage from Eight Pillar Sect was given Yin-Yang Palace on Rites Peak as their temporary abode. Upon learning of the name, Duan Muli and the other elder''s brows twitched but said nothing. They rested a day before sending out invitations to meet various elders. Duan Muli naturally sent an invitation to Jade Peak''s Xi Tianyi. A week later, Duan Muli stepped out of Rites Peak and onto Jade Peak under the guidance of a servant-disciple. Along the way, he could feel the festive air. Although the wedding between Xi Tianyi and Jiang Daoyi was more than a month away, some places were already filled with red decorations. Upon entering Jade Peak, Duan Muli felt the dense spiritual qi of the mountain. Duan Muli''s brows furrowed. Jade Peak''s spiritual qi density was far denser than the density of all the peaks in the Eight Pillar Sect. If only Jade Peak had this spiritual qi density, that was nothing, but if all the peaks were like this, then the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s strength was on a higher level than expected. It wasn''t the surface wealth that revealed a force''s wealth and power but the inconspicuous things that no one noticed. When they reached Jade Peak Palace, the servant disciple led Duan Muli inside through the side door and not the main entrance. Inside, Duan Muli saw numerous disciples running about, getting things ready for the wedding. The servant-disciple led him toward the garden, where he saw a man in purple robes sitting inside a pavilion in the middle of a pond. "Daoist Xi," Duan Muli called out. Xi Tianyi turned around and smiled before motioning toward the seat in front of him. "Daoist Duan, please have a seat."If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Duan Muli picked up the tea Tianyi poured in front of him. He took a sip and felt the peach flavor. It was sweet and not to his taste, but more than that, he could feel the immortal qi within, increasing the vitality of his body. If he had to compare, the qi within was full of qi of the five elements. Were a mortal to drink it, their lifespan would increase by a few years. "Good tea," Duan Muli said. "It can''t be considered good tea. I just processed some leaves from Gra-" Xi Tianyi paused for a split second before continuing. "From Mother''s peach garden." "I have long heard of the Sword Sovereign''s Longevity Peach Trees. Their fame is not without reason," Duan Muli said. Xi Tianyi smiled. The two continued to talk about irrelevant topics before Duan Muli suddenly sighed. "It''s hard to believe that the Heaven Continent is currently also embroiled in a war. It''s so peaceful at Daoist Xi''s sect." "Is it not the case for Daoist Duan?" Xi Tianyi asked. Duan Muli shook his head. "I don''t know what method the Anti-Earth Alliance used, but they managed to convince over half the first-rate sects to join them. Of course, the Eight Pillar Sect still holds the upper hand. We have two immortal emperors, and they only have one, but they have more immortal monarchs and true immortals than us." "Can the Eight Pillar Sect''s immortal emperors not kill the immortal monarchs?" Xi Tianyi asked. Duan Muli shook his head. "You''d think so, but the Anti-Earth Alliance has a miraculous war formation that allows them to display the power of an immortal emperor. Our grand elders even assaulted the Extremity Night Sect, but we never expected the Extremity Night Sect to possess a guardian formation that could repel them. Perhaps, only an immortal sovereign could break their guardian formation." "Oh?" Xi Tianyi raised an eyebrow. "Is Daoist Duan seeking my mother''s aid?" "How can that be?" Duan Muli said, shaking his head. "I was just venting, you don''t have to put my words to heart." "Mmm," Xi Tianyi uttered. "It''s not like it''s impossible. After Sect Master Xia''s ascension, our sect firmly holds the advantage." "Buzhou Immortal Sect''s rising strength is worthy of envy," Duan Muli said as he sipped his tea. "We aren''t troubled by the immortal emperors, we just lack immortal monarchs or immortal lords like Daoist Xi." Xi Tianyi laughed. "Daoist Duan overpraises." "That''s right," Duan Muli said. "I almost forgot. I originally was going to hand my gift at the wedding, but I might as well give it to Daoist Xi now." He took out three objects from his spatial ring and placed them on the table. Duan Muli held the first object, a small box carved of jade and opened it. Instantly, a dense medicinal fragrance filled the air. "This here, is a Root Cleansing Pill. Anyone who ingests it can upgrade their spiritual root. A person with a flawless spiritual root will have a perfect spiritual root. A perfect spiritual root will transform into a heavenly spiritual root." Xi Tianyi raised an eyebrow. To concoct a Root Cleansing Pill, one needed a Spiritual Root Herb. However, such a herb was incredibly rare, even in the Primordial Era. After all, it could change a person''s destiny. Duan Muli closed the box and then handed a sword to Xi Tianyi. It had a silver handle and scabbard that looked to be coated in scales. Upon unsheathing it, the sword released an audible sharpness, and its bone-white blade released a terrifyingly cutting aura. "Good sword," Xi Tianyi couldn''t help but say as he sheathed it. "I''m glad Daoist Xi likes it," Duan Muli said. "I heard that Daoist Xi is skilled in the Heartless Sword Art. This sword is called the Silverwyrm Sword, and it is refined from the scales and bones of a silver dragon king. Unfortunately, it''s a little bit short of a monarch-ranked artifact." Xi Tianyi felt the incomplete Law of Metal contained within the sword. As long he spent some time, he could upgrade it to a true monarch-rank artifact. Finally, Duan Muli held the final object, another box. When he opened it, a dense medicinal fragrance released again, but Xi Tianyi stared unblinkingly at the pill contained. It was a milky white pill about the size of his thumb, and just by inhaling the fragrance, he felt his comprehension suddenly increase. Duan Muli also stared at the pill with some reluctance. He also wanted to ingest it, but he recalled his master''s words. "Daoist Xi, This is a Heavenly Lotus Seed Pill. Ingesting it can allow you to comprehend the laws easier and even help you fully master a complete law. I know you are an immortal lord and are just one step away from the Seamless Immortal Realm. I hope this can help you." The Heavenly Lotus Seed Pill was concocted using a Heavenly Lotus Seed. It only had one effect, but numerous cultivators and immortals sought it. If this was a high or top-grade Heavenly Lotus Seed Pill, it could even help immortal monarchs and above, but it was only a lowest-grade pill, helpful only to true immortals. Otherwise, the Eight Pillar Sect wouldn''t have taken it out. Still, it represented a chance for a true immortal to become an immortal monarch. In their eyes, it was only a matter of time before Xi Tianyi became an immortal monarch. What difference would it be if it was later or not? If Xi Tianyi could successfully enter the Seamless Immortal Realm, it would raise the chance of him going to the Earth Continent anyways. "Daoist Duan, this final gift is a bit too much for me to accept," Xi Tianyi said as he closed the box and pushed it back into Duan Muli''s hand. "Take it," Duan Muli said with a forced smile. "If you don''t, you are looking down on me." After a bit of back and forth, Xi Tianyi eventually accepted the Heavenly Lotus Seed Pill. Not long later, Duan Muli excused himself, leaving Xi Tianyi to his own devices.
Ba Shifang fiddled with the box containing the Heavenly Lotus Seed Pill. A moment later, a black-robed man with white hair and a mask appeared. "Main Body, what''s gotten you riled up?" Tianyi laughed, but it was a forced laugh through gritted teeth. "Those two immortal lords from the Eight Pillar Sect don''t want to live. If it weren''t for disrupting the overall plan, I really wanted to kill them then and there." Ba Shifang wanted to ask, but upon seeing Tianyi''s glare, he stopped. He handed the box over to Tianyi. "Is there anything wrong with it?" The box disappeared in Tianyi''s hand, and he closed his eyes. A moment later, sinister light reflected in his eyes when he opened them. "I know we''re scheming against them, but this just erased all my guilt toward them. If you ingest this, you will momentarily gain an epiphany and might even master a law, but it will hurt the foundation of your soul. It''ll be difficult for you to improve and comprehend more laws in the future." Ba Shifang sighed. "Too bad, I guess I''ll have to grind it out like everyone else." Tianyi rolled his eyes. "Have you forgotten how cheat-like I am? Let me research this, and it won''t be impossible for me to reproduce a degraded but safe version of this." "Really?" Ba Shifang asked. "That''s great. My chances of mastering the Law of Five Phases will increase, and I can become an immortal monarch soon." "Wait for my good news," Tianyi said as he disappeared. Chapter 319: Three Moves In the secret chamber of Jade Peak Palace, forbidden to outsiders, sat Ba Shifang. Although he was still in the guise of Xi Tianyi, there was no way Tianyi would allow anyone to replace him on his wedding day. Luckily, he wouldn''t be bored. A pill the size of a fingernail jade-white in color appeared in his hand. It exuded a lustrous glow composed of red, black, white, green, and yellow colors. This was the Heavenly Lotus Seed Pill - Five Phases Edition concocted by Tianyi. It only had a fraction of the Heavenly Lotus Seed Pill''s effect, but for Ba Shifang, it was enough. Contained within was Tianyi''s understanding of the Law of Five Phases. If someone who had not mastered the five elemental laws ingested this, it would have no effect. But if someone like Ba Shifang, who mastered the five elemental laws, ingested it, it would improve their chance of comprehending the Law of Five Phases. Ba Shifang glanced at the chamber doors. Although he could neither see nor hear what was happening outside, he could still feel the festive air leaking in. He shook his head and swallowed the Heavenly Lotus Seed Pill - Five Phases Edition. The pill passed through his throat and entered his dantian. The moment it did so, the jade-white pill dissolved five differently colored strands. The strands came together and formed a five-pointed star, shifting through five different colors. Insights into the five phases flowed into Ba Shifang''s mind. The interaction between the five elements was split into five kinds of cycles: inter-promoting, weakening, inter-regulating, overacting, and counteracting. Inter-promoting meant creation, promotion, and growth: wood feeds fire, fire produces earth, earth bears metal, metal collects water, and water nourishes wood. As for weakening, it is the reverse of inter-promoting: wood depletes water, water rust metal, metal impoverishes earth, earth smothers fire, and fire burns wood. For inter-regulating: wood stabilizes earth, earth contains water, water dampens fire, fire melts metal, and metal carves wood. Overacting is a result of one element possessing excessive strength, causing the element to overwhelm the other: wood depletes earth, earth obstructs water, water extinguishes fire, fire vaporizes metal, and metal overharvests wood. Finally, counteracting is the reverse of the relationship of overacting: wood dulls metal, metal drains energy from fire, fire evaporates water, water destabilizes earth, and earth rots wood. Slowly, a smile appeared on Ba Shifang''s face. He could feel it, he was beginning to comprehend the Law of Five Phases, and it was only a matter of time before he entered the Seamless Immortal Realm. -line break- Dressed in festive attire, Duan Muli stepped out of Yin-Yang Palace with the rest of the Eight Pillar Sect emissaries. They, along with the other emissaries from the other forces, gathered on Jade Peak. Compared to the usually solemn and quiet atmosphere of Jade Peak, the numerous guests caused it to become unusually merry. Only immortals and those with high status were allowed on Jade Peak, but despite this, numerous curious onlookers gathered at the foot of the mountain, drowning the surrounding in a sea of people. "Who are you looking for?" Duan Muli asked upon seeing Immortal Lord Swordwind looking around. "I''m looking for Monarch Nine Heavens," Immortal Lord Swordwind said. "Strange, according to the rumors, he should be Xi Tianyi''s father. Why is he not present?" "Maybe he''s not Xi Tianyi''s father?" Duan Muli suggested. "I heard from Prince Xi that the rumor only popped up recently due to the Sword Sovereign''s actions." Immortal Lord Swordwind sighed. "Perhaps. I was so sure as well. When I tested it, Monarch Nine Heavens showed a big reaction, so I thought the rumor was true. Who could Prince Xi''s father be then?" "Does it really matter?" Duan Muli asked. After a while, Duan Muli and the rest of the immortals from the Eight Pillar Sect greeted the other guests, including those from the Anti-Heaven Alliance. Duan Muli and the others had seen neither hide nor hair of Tianyi or the Sword Sovereign, but that was only natural. The wedding had been arranged to the Sword Sovereign''s wishes, so it followed the tradition of the Xi Dynasty''s marriage customs. The guests would not see Xi Tianyi nor the Sword Sovereign until the time came for Tianyi to pick up the bride. In the Xi Dynasty, the groom would travel to the bride''s home and take her to his home, signifying that the bride left her maternal family and joined the groom''s family. The bride, Jiang Daoyi, was the Sword Sovereign''s disciple, and her home country had already been destroyed due to the war between the Buzhou Immortal Sect and the two alliances. However, the Flower Peak Lord allowed Jiang Daoyi to stay on Flower Peak until Xi Tianyi picked her as a favor toward the Sword Sovereign. Once the sun reached the highest point, the groom, Xi Tianyi, finally appeared. He wore an outfit of red, embroidered with soaring dragons and dancing lotuses. Duan Muli could not sense his aura at all, and he just seemed like an ordinary mortal groom. "What''s wrong?" Immortal Lord Swordwind asked upon seeing Duan Muli staring. "Nothing. I just feel that Prince Xi is a bit different today," Duan Muli said. He had visited Xi Tianyi a few more times since their first meeting; the current Tianyi felt off to him.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Immortal Lord Swordwind smiled. "What''s so strange? He''s getting married. It''s only natural he would be different on this day." Duan Muli nodded, feeling that he had been overthinking. He plastered on a smile and went forward to greet Xi Tianyi. He, along with a few other people, would follow the groom to the bride''s home to pick her up. Xi Tianyi rode on one of the spiritual beasts from Tamer Hall to Flower Peak. The spiritual beast possessed the form of a horse with antlers and reddish-brown fur. Behind him, several more horse-shaped beasts pulled an extravagant and beautiful carriage. Duan Muli and the other people following just flew behind him. They were immortals and didn''t need to ride beasts to Flower Peak. Upon arrival, numerous female immortals stood waiting. Most stilled their expression into emotionless masks as they welcomed Xi Tianyi. Although a few cast hateful glares toward Tianyi as if he had wronged them somehow. Xi Tianyi and his entourage slowly climbed Flower Peak until they reached Flower Peak Palace. Waiting in front of Flower Peak Palace was an immortal monarch. "Jiang Ziya." Duan Muli frowned as he heard the shock in Xi Tianyi''s words. He had investigated the bride and her family. She was from a minor family in the now-fallen Xi Dynasty with no notable cultivators. At least, that was what Duan Muli had thought. If he recalled correctly, Jiang Ziya was the name of Daoyi''s grandfather. ''Did the Buzhou Immortal Sect get another immortal monarch, but my information didn''t say anything about a Dao Manifestation after Monarch Nine Heaven''s Dao Manifestation.'' "If you want to marry my Jiang Family''s daughter, you must block three moves from me," Jiang Ziya said. Duan Muli saw Xi Tianyi''s brows twitch upon hearing those words. ''Is this planned? Does the Buzhou Immortal Sect want to boost their fame?'' "Alright," Xi Tianyi said after a moment of silence. Duan Muli and the rest of the people who followed Xi Tianyi distanced themselves. Although it might be just an act, but no one wanted to risk injury in the process. Jiang Ziya pointed his forefinger at Xi Tianyi and pointed forward. Instantly, everyone felt massive pressure as a giant finger materialized in front of him and pressed toward Xi Tianyi. Comparing the size, Xi Tianyi was about the size of the finger''s nail. Duan Muli''s eyes stared at Tianyi, wanting to see what he would do. To his surprise, Xi Tianyi only reared his fist back and punched forward when the giant finger neared him. A cataclysmic boom shook the surrounding. Duan Muli had to raise his arms in front of his face as his robes flapped from the wind generated by the force. When it calmed down, he saw Xi Tianyi''s untouched appearance. Duan Muli clenched his fist. ''Impossible, this must be an act. It must be!'' He, himself, could block Jiang Ziya''s finger too, but not in the same way as Xi Tianyi. The way he did it appeared so effortless that it shook Duan Muli''s confidence. According to his information, Xi Tianyi majored in the Law of Lightning, and he even killed an immortal lord shortly after reaching the Pathfinding Immortal Realm. If Xi Tianyi had used lightning to block the technique instead of just a punch, Duan Muli wouldn''t have been so surprised. Regardless of his shock, Jiang Ziya and Xi Tianyi continued. "The second move." Jiang Ziya opened his palm toward Xi Tianyi, and a hundred meters surrounding him became encased in a shimmering bubble. The bubble''s film turned cloudy and obscured Xi Tianyi''s figure. Suddenly, it pulsed. With every pulse, a wave of spatial ripples spread through the air. Duan Muli felt his body distort under the ripple, and he couldn''t help but think, ''Does the Buzhou Immortal Sect want to kill Xi Tianyi!?'' He didn''t have long to think as the bubble popped and lightning discharged into the surroundings. Duan Muli had to activate his defense artifact to resist the onslaught of lightning, but he didn''t have to resist for long as Flower Peak Palace released a spiritual light that contained the lightning. Despite the short interaction, Duan Muli clearly felt the oppressive power of the lightning himself even more. His nails dug into his palm, drawing blood. ''That power, he definitely mastered the Law of Lightning!'' Duan Muli could only think of a single reason why a true immortal who mastered a complete law would not immediately enter the Seamless Immortal Realm and become an immortal monarch. That is, if the true immortal wanted to use a different, stronger law as the foundation to enter the Seamless Immortal Realm. He struggled to master one worldly law, and he thought Xi Tianyi was also working on comprehending a complete law, but he was wrong. It turned out that Xi Tianyi could step into the Seamless Immortal Realm at any moment, and just wanted a stronger foundation, so he suppressed his cultivation. Jealousy, envy, and hate filled Duan Muli''s heart, but he couldn''t show it at all. Before, if he had any reservations or displeasure at his master''s, Monarch Pathway''s, decision, it disappeared completely. Without fail, Xi Tianyi must fall, or another immortal emperor may rise from the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Xi Tianyi did not notice this, he still had to face Jiang Ziya''s final move after all. "Careful," Jiang Ziya said as a rod about a meter long appeared in his hand. Space coiled around his rod, and he casually waved it. The rod lengthened and transformed into a whip that shredded the surrounding space. In response, Xi Tianyi summoned a sword. Duan Muli recognized it as the Silver Dragon Sword he had gifted to him a month ago, but he couldn''t believe his eyes. If before, the Silver Dragon Sword was just one step away from a monarch artifact, now, it had wholly reached that level. A white glow surrounded the blade of the sword, and Xi Tianyi pierced it forward. ''Not just the Law of Lightning, but he also mastered the Law of Metal!?" Duan Muli''s thoughts were thrown into disarray. However, Jiang Ziya''s whip held the upper hand as it slammed into the tip of the Silver Dragon Sword and pushed Xi Tianyi back. Just as everyone thought Xi Tianyi would lose the clash, the white light turned into a black light. That black light turned green, green turned to red, red turned to yellow, and yellow turned to white again. The sword continued to cycle through the five colors, and its power dramatically increased, allowing Xi Tianyi to hold his ground. The sword and whip continued to clash for dominance for a seemingly infinite amount of time, but in reality, it was extremely short. The whip lost its energy and dissipated while Xi Tianyi stood his ground. He had officially withstood three moves from an immortal monarch. All the onlookers had shocked expressions, not just from Xi Tianyi''s accomplishment but because of what they gleaned from those three clashes. Jiang Ziya ignored their turmoil and stepped away from the door. "You have taken my three moves, the Jiang Family''s daughter is your bride." Chapter 320: Wedding Night Tianyi glanced at the immortal from the Anti-Heaven Alliance who had accompanied him to Flower Peak Palace. Although he was shocked by the sudden appearance of Jiang Ziya''s cultivation base, it wasn''t to the point of trembling like that immortal. ''Still, that''s a hell of a demonstration, Sect Master Xia.¡¯ Tianyi complained. ''I''m getting married today, I''ll think about all the problematic things later.'' He watched as Jiang Ziya stepped aside, and the door to Flower Peak Palace opened. Two female elders came out, holding a pan of burning fire. The fire burned pink and released a faint floral scent. The two placed the pan of fire in front of the entrance. In the Xi Dynasty, the bride would be carried by her brother or similarly-aged male relative over the fire, but since Daoyi didn''t actually like her family, she walked out alone. Tianyi felt his breath hitch and butterflies flutter in his stomach as he saw her graceful figure. Daoyi wore a vibrant red dress, which greatly contrasted against her usual color of choice. A red veil covered her head, but ink-black hair still flowed out from her back. The wedding gown had numerous layers as if someone had transformed numerous paintings of phoenixes into a dress. Even with those layers, her slim and delicate figure could not be hidden. Tianyi gulped as Daoyi floated over the pink floral fire. He reached out and held Daoyi''s hand. Even if her face and eyes were covered, she still had immortal senses, so it didn''t hinder her senses at all. The crowd watched as the groom led the bride toward the carriage. After entering, the groom got back onto his horse and raised his hand. "Move." Tianyi steered the horse and turned around. With him in the lead, the procession started its journey back to Jade Peak. The members of the entourage, such as Duan Muli, couldn''t help but glance at Tianyi and reevaluate their opinions of him. The subject of their observation noticed none of this. He couldn''t help it. The reality that he was getting married finally dawned on him. Tianyi looked up at the sky. ''I wish you could see this, Mom.'' "Geez, you''re already twenty-four, when are you going to get a girlfriend?" "I know making money is important, but I want to hold grandchildren." "Come on, if you don''t get married, you''re going to grow old alone." Tianyi laughed. ''I used to hate her nagging, but remembering them now, it feels so nostalgic." When Tianyi returned to Jade Peak Palace, the sun had already started to dip. He dismounted his steed and held his hand out in front of the carriage. From behind the curtains, a milky-white hand reached out. With Tianyi''s guidance, Daoyi stepped down from the carriage. Tianyi led Daoyi toward the main hall of Jade Peak Palace. All the important guests had already arrived. Including the ones from the Anti-Heaven Alliance and the Earth Continent, over fifteen immortal monarchs were present. At the front of the hall, sitting in the master¡¯s seat, was a woman in purple. Even with the attendance of two immortal emperors, Grand Elder Zhang and Sect Master Xia, they could only play second fiddle to the Huang Realm''s sole immortal sovereign. Tianyi walked through the center of the hall and stopped in front of Mengfei. Immortals on both sides observed the two protagonists of the day''s events, their gaze digging deep as if to dissect every secret the two had. However, Tianyi and Daoyi ignored the inspection like it was air. They were different from when they had first started cultivation. When Daoyi had undergone the Disciple Acceptance Ceremony when she came to the Buzhou Immortal Sect at fifteen, their gaze had been enough to crush her. But now, she had reached the same level as them. As for Tianyi, he had reached an even higher level. Sect Master Xia became an immortal emperor by mastering the Law of Fire, Law of Water, Law of Earth, Law of Wood, and Law of Metal, but Tianyi also mastered them, yet he didn''t feel particularly different. He even embarked on the path of comprehending the Law of Five Phases. Only after starting to comprehend that law did Tianyi realize it was a divine level law. Just mastering a percentage would be enough for Ba Shifang to enter the Seamless Immortal Realm. Mastering it completely would guarantee him becoming an immortal sovereign. Tianyi realized he was different. Pathfinding Immortal Realm, Seamless Immortal Realm, Extremity Immortal Realm, Origin Immortal Realm, he didn''t exist in those categorizations. In other words, he wouldn''t have bottlenecks either. For him, his goal was the Divinity Realm. He was broken out of his thoughts as Sect Master Xia stepped forward. He flashed Tianyi a kind smile before taking on a stern appearance. "The first bow, bowing to heaven and earth!" Sect Master Xia''s clear voice spread throughout the hall. Tianyi and Daoyi got onto their knees. They bent down, placed their hands on the floor, and bowed until their head touched the floor. He could hear the accessories adoring Daoyi''s veil clinking as they touched the ground. The two stood up, and Sect Master Xia spoke again. "The second bow, bowing to one''s parents." Tianyi and Daoyi got onto their knees again, bowing to Mengfei. This time, Tianyi''s actions were more solemn and watching from above, Mengfei''s gaze unconsciously softened. She placed a hand above her heart and felt a sweet yet sour emotion sprouting from her heart. For the third time, Sect Master Xia spoke. "The third bow, bowing to one''s spouse." Tianyi and Daoyi faced each other. They got onto their knees and bowed until their foreheads touched the ground. So close were their heads that they were only a hair''s breadth away from touching each other. "After the three bows, you two are now husband and wife," Sect Master Xia said. With a dramatic flourish of his sleeve, he said. "Send the bride to the bridal chamber!"This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Numerous maids surrounded Daoyi as they escorted her to the bridal chamber. On the other hand, Tianyi was ushered to the banquet hall, where numerous guests toasted him. "Congratulations, Daoist Xi, on your marriage," Duan Muli said as he raised a cup. "You got to bring the beauty home." Tianyi laughed and thanked Duan Muli. Both downed their cups of wine. His body stiffened slightly as he saw the next person, a representative from the Anti-Heaven Alliance, Monarch Fiveseal. "It''s hard to believe a junior like you is only two hundred years old. I hadn''t thought much of you, but it seems that you are hiding quite a lot of secrets, Prince Xi," Monarch Fiveseal said. "A toast and congratulations to you for your current happiness." ''Are you trying to say my happiness is only momentary, bastard?'' Tianyi didn''t show his thoughts and laughed, accepting the toast. "I have wanted to meet the famed Monarch Fiveseal. I was afraid I would never get the chance to after the war ended, haha." Monarch Fiveseal stroked his beard. "Yes, it''s a pity. After all, destruction always comes before rebirth. The old must disappear for the new." Tianyi narrowed his eyes and smiled. The true immortals shivered as the tension between Tianyi and Monarch Fiveseal rose. Luckily, a conflict did not erupt as Sect Master Xia chose this opportune time to appear. "Long time no see, Monarch Fiveseal," Sect Master Xia said once he arrived. He did not hide his aura at all, causing the nearby true immortals to have trouble breathing. "Yes, it''s been quite a long time since our last meeting, Monarch Xia," Monarch Fiveseal said as sparks appeared between him and Sect Master Xia. "My old friend, have you gone blind with age? Can''t you feel my aura? It''s Emperor Xia now," Sect Master Xia said, his smile increasing. "I say, you should just leave the Five Element Sect and its inferior inheritance. As long as you join us, I can promise to give the complete Five Element Method. I''m sure you will gain an instant increase in cultivation." Monarch Fiveseal laughed. "Don''t you know, haste makes waste. What complete Five Element Method, the Five Element Mantra of the Five Element Sect is the most perfect method in the Huang Realm." ''I''m just going to leave,'' Tianyi thought. He acted as he thought, leaving these two old enemies to reminiscence. As soon as Tianyi left, more disciples came to toast him. Most of them were disciples related to immortal elders, hence they could enter the banquet hall despite not being in the Immortal Realm. While accepting their toasts, Tianyi searched around. He tried searching for traces of Xia Yushan or Xi Ri, but neither was present. Just as he turned around to accept another toast, he paused. In front of him was a woman in a blue dress. She had jet-black hair that seemed to absorb all colors, cold but immaculate features, and, most exotic of all, a blue lily growing out of her right eye, Hu Landie. ''Well, this is awkward.'' Tianyi thought as he recalled the rumors. Even the disciples and immortals surrounding him became silent as they looked back and forth between him and Hu Landie. Tianyi looked at Hu Landie. Her face was expressionless like Mengfei''s, but whereas Mengfei''s expression came from her ignorance, Hu Landie''s expression stemmed from her indifference. She understood joy, sadness, hate, and love, but she simply didn''t care, like a real immortal unaffected by human emotions. While Tianyi was staring at Hu Landie, she was also staring at him. Then, she revealed a courteous smile, one practiced a million times, and said. "Congratulations on your marriage, Senior Brother." "Y-Yes, thank you, Junior Sister," Tianyi said as he accepted the toast. Luckily for Tianyi''s nerves, Hu Landie left after toasting him. ''Stupid clone, I''m going to punch you after all this is over. It''s all your fault!'' Toast after toast, cup after cup, Tianyi downed them all. By the time a few hours passed, and the sun had dipped into the horizon, the scent of wine filled the banquet hall. Only Tianyi was unmarred by the scent of alcohol. Even if he drank all the wine in the Huang Realm at once, he would not get drunk. Tianyi blinked, turned around, and saw Mengfei. The people around dispersed as if two to give this mother-son pair their personal space. "Mother," Tianyi said, but after speaking that word, he didn''t know what else to say. Mengfei didn''t say anything either and just looked at Tianyi. She raised her hand and moved to stroke Tianyi''s head. For once, he did not dodge and allowed her to caress his hair. "You''ve grown taller than me," Mengfei''s words seemed to be filled with happiness yet lament. "I read that when a boy marries his wife, he becomes a man. Yi''er, you''ve grown up." "What are you saying? It''s like you''re saying I''m going to leave after today," Tianyi said with a wry smile. "I''m not going anywhere. I still have a lot of things I don''t want to lose here." The edges of Mengfei''s lips curled up slightly, so faint that only Tianyi noticed. His eyes widened as he took in the sight. ''Even though she''s my mother. I have to admit. She''s the most beautiful woman I''ve ever met, especially when she smiles.'' It wasn''t just a physical attraction but the motherly emotion transmitted to Tianyi. Unconsciously, Tianyi returned a smile. It was slight, only bigger than Mengfei''s, but it conveyed a sense of satisfaction and contentment. "Mother, why are you crying?" Tianyi said as he took out a handkerchief¡ªa habit he had kept ever since he entered the Core Formation Realm¡ªand wiped the tears from the corner of his mother''s eyes. "I''m crying?" Mengfei asked, even more surprised than Tianyi. She wiped the corner of her eyes and stared at her fingertips to see a drop of tears. "Is this what they mean by ¡®Tears of Happiness¡¯?" "I don''t think that''s quite right," Tianyi said helplessly. Although he wanted to comfort his mother more, night had arrived, and it was time for him to go to the bridal chamber. Thankfully, Mengfei''s tears had stopped, so Tianyi could leave without worry. All the guests escorted him to the bridal chambers. After a few teases, they left him to do his duties. Tianyi sighed in relief upon seeing them leave. Steeling his heart, he opened the door and was instantly struck by the heavy smell of alcohol. Peering into the room heavily decorated in red, Tianyi saw numerous empty jugs of wine. "Weren''t you supposed to wait for me to lift the veil?" Daoyi turned toward Tianyi as he closed the doors. Like he had said, she had taken off her veil, and a heavy flush that was not makeup covered her face. "It''s not fair," Daoyi said. "Why do you get to drink while I have to stay in the bridal chamber? I want to drink too!'' Tianyi covered his face and waved his hand. The jugs of wine disappeared as well as the aroma of alcohol. He walked towards the table, where two small cups of wine waited. He picked them both up and handed one to Daoyi. Despite drinking amounts that would kill most men, Daoyi''s hand did not shake at all as she received her cup. ''That''s some amazing alcohol tolerance.'' Tianyi and Daoyi entwined their arms and downed the wine in their cups. Tianyi coughed in his fist and sat on the bed. Daoyi followed suit, and an awkward silence settled down. He looked at the door, the walls, even the mirrors, everywhere, just not at Daoyi. He could already feel his face flushing, and not from the alcohol. "Oh, let''s just get it over with." Tianyi blinked, and the next thing he knew, he was lying on his back and staring at the ceiling. That didn''t last long as Daoyi''s face appeared above him with her hands on either side of his head. "Tonight, I''m going to make you a man." Chapter 321: Sincerity Inside Later Heaven Palace, Monarch Fiveseal sat in chambers with a dark expression. He had thought that Xi Tianyi was nothing more than a propaganda piece. True, he had reached the Immortal Realm a hundred years ago in an extremely short amount of time, just like his mother, and the Anti-Heaven Alliance had prepared a high price to kill him, but he never appeared on the battlefield. As the war raged on, Xi Tianyi''s glory gradually became forgotten with the rise of new heroes for each side, such as No-Heart Sword Immortal Xia Yushan, Jademoon Su Wanyu, Soundless Strike Jiang Chunye, Limitless Specter Hun Jusang, Ninespirit San Jiuling, and many many more. However, what Monarch Fiveseal saw and heard today defied his expectations. Xi Tianyi could enter the Seamless Immortal Realm at any time. Once he did so, it would shift the war even more in the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s favor, and it would require more effort to kill an immortal monarch over an immortal lord. "Voidplumes." Three figures in black robes appeared on the ground in front of Monarch Fiveseal. Each one wore a mask, an immortal artifact that concealed their aura and presence. Voidplume didn''t refer to a single cultivator but a whole group of them. Like the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s Brocade Immortals, the Voidplumes were the Drifting Feather Sect''s secret force. They were meticulously chosen and taught the Law of Space. Although they did not fully master the Law of Space, it was enough for them to reign unrivaled as a secret force against anyone who was not prepared. "Can you sneak into Xi Tianyi''s room and kill him without alerting anyone?" Although the Drifting Feather Sect had ordered the three Voldplumes to listen to Monarch Fiveseal, they did not obey him unconditionally. "Unclear," The leading Voidplume said. After a moment, he elaborated. "We cannot estimate the depth of the Sword Sovereign''s power, so we cannot guarantee success. The chances of failure are higher." Monarch Fiveseal nodded. He didn''t want to reach this step either. Even if they succeeded, the Anti-Heaven Alliance would lose him, three immortal lords, and several true immortals. But was it worth it to curb the possibility of a second Sword Sovereign from arising? Worse, would it even matter? An unknown immortal monarch had appeared out of nowhere. The Anti-Heaven Alliance also had their secret forces, but they were old monsters in hibernation. The unknown immortal monarch was the bride''s grandfather, and he appeared in the Seamless Immortal Realm without alerting anyone. It was impossible because a Dao Manifestation could not be hidden. Unless the Buzhou Immortal Sect could hide a Dao Manifestation from appearing. If that were the case, how many immortal monarchs did the hegemon of the Heaven Continent secretly possess? Monarch Fiveseal didn''t know. He, along with the others, had thought that the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s hidden forces had been used up in the war against the demons and killing the Dragon Emperor, but it seemed that the Buzhou Immortal Sect still had many hidden cards. Just as he was stuck in his thoughts, his head snapped up. Not just him, but the Voidplumes and everyone in the sect did the same. Above the Buzhou Immortal Sect, a world appeared. It was a world of fire, water, earth, wood, and metal. Each of the five elements was linked at the center of the world, and it exuded an aura of completeness and perfection. Someone had entered the Seamless Immortal Realm, but who? Monarch Fiveseal looked toward Jade Peak and his expression sunk.
''Yes, finally!'' Ba Shifang thought. Inspiration had struck him and allowed him to comprehend the early portion of the Law of Five Phases. As the Law of Five Phases was a divine-level law, he only needed to master a portion to become an immortal monarch. Once he fully mastered it, he would become a divinity! The Daoseed inside his dantian cracked open, and a sapling quickly sprouted out. His Dao Manifestation reflected this event as a sapling also appeared in the center of the world. The five elements all rushed towards the sapling, turning into its nutrients. The sapling quickly grew from a tiny thing into a robust tree. With time, the trunk also increased in size, forming a gigantic radius. Ba Shifang''s Daotree grew only five main branches. From the five main branches, numerous small branches grew out full of lush leaves, but they weren''t regular leaves. These leaves were formed from immortal qi from each of the five elements: immortal qi of fire, immortal qi of water, immortal qi of earth, immortal qi of wood, and immortal qi of metal. It continued to grow and propped up the world visualized by the Dao Manifestation. It was like the legendary Fusang Tree or Yggdrasil of the Norse Pantheon, supporting the whole world on its branches. The stronger the Daotree became, the stronger the aura Ba Shifang exuded. Due to mastering the Law of Fire, the Law of Water, the Law of Earth, the Law of Wood, and the Law of Metal, Ba Shifang¡¯s cultivation kept rising. His body couldn''t generate enough immortal qi, so he had to ingest immortal pills to replenish his qi to fuel his increasing cultivation base. Early Seamless Immortal Realm, intermediate Seamless Immortal Realm, advanced Seamless Immortal Realm, and finally, peak Seamless Immortal Realm.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Ba Shifang continued to consolidate his cultivation and comprehension, and during this time, his Dao Manifestation stayed for three days and three nights. During this time, Tianyi could only stay inside his room, pretending to enter the Seamless Immortal Realm. He could already imagine the jokes. "Oh, were you so happy about losing your virginity that you had an epiphany and entered the Seamless Immortal Realm?" "Wow, Senior Brother Xi is so awesome. Why don''t you share your secret to comprehending the laws?" "Tell me, what did your bride think when you broke through on the night of the wedding?" Tianyi gritted his teeth. He was definitely going to punish Ba Shifang after this. When the Dao Manifestation disappeared, Tianyi teleported in front of Ba Shifang, grabbed him, and stuffed him into the Nine Heavens Universe. He didn''t place Ba Shifang on Ninth Heaven. No, that would be too good for that bastard. Instead, Tianyi left him at the fringe of the observable universe. Assaulted by the inhospitable void, Ba Shifang could only do his best to protect himself. After finally venting his frustrations, Tianyi teleported back into the bedroom, where Daoyi''s smiling face greeted him. Even after spending three days and nights in the same room as her, ahem, as his wife, Tianyi''s face still flushed as he averted his gaze. ''It''s like I''ve gotten even shyer!'' Tianyi screamed in his mind. ''Well, at least I won''t die a virgin again.'' "Shall we go greet Mother?" Tianyi asked, still not looking Daoyi in the face. "I''m sure she''s more impatient than us." Daoyi giggled and held Tianyi''s fingers in her hand, causing him to flush even more. The two had long discarded their red wedding clothing and wore their usual attire, purple robes for Tianyi and a blue dress for Daoyi. The newlywed husband and wife walked into the main hall of Jade Peak Palace, where Mengfei sat waiting at the head seat. "Mother," Tianyi said as he nodded in acknowledgment. Mengfei nodded, but for once, her attention wasn''t on him but on Daoyi. Daoyi smiled and walked over to the side where a teapot and cup had been prepared beforehand. After pouring the tea into the cup, she offered it to Mengfei with both hands. "Mother." Mengfei nodded and accepted the tea. First, she inhaled and savored the aroma before taking a sip. "After this, you are still my disciple. But before that, you are my daughter-in-law. Take a seat." "Thank you, Mother," Daoyi said with a smile. Tianyi and Daoyi sat down on the chair to Mengfei''s right. Tianyi didn''t know if he was imagining it or not, but he felt as if his mother was acting shy even though she still kept the same expression. After an awkwardly long silence, Daoyi asked, "Is there anything daughter-in-law should know or change?" Tianyi inwardly applauded Daoyi for keeping a straight face despite the awkward atmosphere. God knew that he would have stuttered if he had spoken out at this moment. "Let me think," Mengfei said as she held her chin with her fingers. "You don''t have to change much and treat everything as usual. As long as you and Yi''er love each other, I will be satisfied." Tianyi felt heat rushing to his face again as he secretly glanced at Daoyi. ''To say it is love is a bit much. I think it''s closer to Daoyi and me appreciating each other and being compatible. Argh, just saying love is so embarrassing though!'' Mengfei straightened as if she recalled something. "When you and Yi''er have a child, don''t neglect them. No matter how much you love each other, do not forget their existence." Mengfei''s eyes gained a faraway look as if she recalled a distant memory. "Do not leave your child in the care of servants to raise." ''Excuse me, but isn''t that what you technically did? Although I saw you every day, Elder Shan was the one who practically took care of me. I remembered coming close to death almost every day until he came.'' Tianyi thought. Of course, he only thought this and never expressed his thoughts out loud. "No matter how busy you are, you must take time to take care of him yourself. When the child grows up, you won''t have a chance to regret it," Mengfei said as a smile grew on her lips. Her smile disappeared as she continued. "There are many things you can do. It is a parent''s duty to teach their children. Even if a child has parents, but if they aren''t loved, they live worse than those without parents." "Most importantly, you must treat that child sincerely. If you do, they will know, and if you do not, you will regret it for a lifetime," Mengfei said. "Just like my Consort-Mother did." A flash of sorrow appeared in her eyes as she recalled meeting her Consort-Mother after becoming a Buzhou Immortal Sect''s disciple. For the first time since she could remember, her Consort-Mother had smiled at her. Even her Emperor-Father did, too, and treated her with enthusiasm. It would not be an exaggeration to say that they treated her as the pearl in their palms or the apple in their eyes. Mengfei believed that they would empty the treasury to please her whims. Even so, Mengfei could not feel any warmth from them. Later, her Consort-Mother had taken her aside and asked Mengfei to request her to appeal to her Emperor-Father to name her brother the Crown Prince. She hadn''t understood at the time then, but now she did. All the goodwill directed at her from her Consort-Mother was for her brother, not because of love for her. Mengfei left and returned to the Buzhou Immortal Sect that night. She met her Emperor-Father, but not to request him to change her brother to the crown prince. She emphasized how her half-brother was the only choice to become the next emperor. As she wished, her half-brother became her Emperor-Brother after her Emperor-Father died. She returned to the Xi Dynasty upon hearing the death of her Emperor-Father. Her Consort-Mother tried to convince her to put her brother on the throne once more, but she ignored her. In fact, Mengfei ignored her Consort-Mother''s words and reinforced her Emperor-Brother''s position, causing her Consort-Mother to glare at her with hatred. Mengfei felt nothing. Her heart had long been shattered by her coldhearted Consort-Mother and Emperor-Father. She didn''t even have tears to shed. It was only after her brother''s death that her Consort-Mother tried to repair the relationship, but by then, it had been far too late. She blinked as she was drawn out of her reverie. She looked at her son and her disciple. Seeing their interlaced fingers, a smile blossomed on her face. Tianyi and Daoyi could only stare, dazzled by the enchanting visage. "The time is late, let''s have lunch together. I personally cooked it." The blood drained from Tianyi¡¯s face. Update + Announcement The coughs are getting better, and I don''t constantly have a headache anymore, so chapters should resume on Wednesday. Again, sorry for the abrupt break. As for the announcement, I actually started posting a second story over a month ago. You''ve might have chanced upon it, it''s called Mythic Cultivation: My Tongtian can''t be this Cute. Give it a try. The Grand Myth Retold.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Pangu split the chaos to create the world but sacrificed himself in the process. His corpses incarnated into all things. His eyes became the sun and moon, his breath formed wind and clouds, his voice transformed into thunder and lightning, his bones turned into metal, and so much more. How could a world be bereft of life? Numerous lifeforms came into being, including dragons, phoenixes, qilin, and, of course, gods. The mighty heavenly emperor, Di Jun. The kind creator of the Underworld, Empress Pingxin. The beautiful lunar goddess, Changxi. The heroic sun slayer, Houyi. And most famous of all, the inheritors of Pangu, the Three Purities. Laozi, the Heavenly Venerable of Virtuous Way; Yuanshi, the Heavenly Venerable of Primordial Beginning; Tongtian, the Heavenly Venerable of Numinous Treasures. There was one teeny problem. "Why the hell am I a girl?" Tongtian shouted at the heavens. Chapter 322: Saint Redflower Xia Yushan sat in a lotus position inside the dedicated cultivation chamber of his abode. Aside from the prayer mat he sat on, the chamber was devoid of any furniture or decoration, exuding a cold and lifeless aura. He opened his eyes and looked at an empty wall in his chambers. More specifically, he looked in a certain direction outside his abode. He placed his palm over his heart and felt it beat against his hand. "Be still, my heart." However, the heart only pulsed even harder as if to go against Xia Yushan''s words. Although his expression remained neutral, an invisible layer of frost covered his eyes. Xia Yushan had made an abundant amount of progress thanks to the numerous life-and-death experiences he encountered during the war with the Anti-Heaven Alliance and Tripartite Alliance. Coupled with his increasing mastery of the Emotion Severence Scripture, he was well on his way to reaching the Seamless Immortal Realm within a hundred years. But that wasn''t enough for Xia Yushan. ''I can feel an inner devil forming. If I don''t get rid of it soon, it''ll become a hindrance sooner or later,'' Xia Yushan thought as his gaze became piercing. He had a certain amount of confidence in eliminating the source of his growing inner devil, but his chances would only decrease with the passage of time. The problem was that if he really went through with his plan, the whole Buzhou Immortal Sect would come down upon him. It was not that Xia Yushan had any lingering attachment to the Buzhou Immortal Sect, but that didn''t mean he didn¡¯t understand the benefits of staying. Not to mention the disadvantages of getting onto their blacklist. It might be fine during war times, but once it was over, the Buzhou Immortal Sect would hunt him down with all their power. Like with all organizations, traitors had appeared in their history, but they never survived for long. All forces hated traitors, but the Buzhou Immortal Sect had a special loathing for them. It would not be an understatement to say that the Buzhou Immortal Sect was willing to start wars to punish any traitors. History proved their determination. Hell, more than one first-rate force had been destroyed for harboring a traitor. As a result, no force in the Huang Realm was willing to harbor a traitor of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Xia Yushan contemplated fleeing to the lower realms, but he knew that it would only delay the inevitable. Just as Xia Yushan was still thinking, something appeared above Jade Peak, a Dao Manifestation. From within, Xia Yushan detected the complete Law of Metal. His eyes glazed over as he engrossed himself in comprehending the Law of Metal and expelled all other inconsequential thoughts. Half a year later, Xia Yushan regained the clarity in his eyes. After some investigation, he learned that Xi Tianyi had officially entered the Seamless Immortal Realm, becoming the second immortal monarch after Monarch Nine Heavens. Xia Yushan no longer hesitated. He would no longer have a chance if he didn''t take action now. And it just so happened that his target would be dispatched to the Earth Continent.
Ba Shifang squirmed in his seat and looked everywhere but at Tianyi in the main seat. "You know," Tianyi began. "Marriages and dao companion ceremonies are at an all-time high now." Ba Shifang wished a hole would open beneath him and swallow him. It would be a less painful death, at the very least. "That''s not the worst part," Tianyi continued with an all too wide smile plastered upon his face. One that didn''t quite reach his eyes. "Did you know that some people actually made a breakthrough thanks to their union? I even got many thanks and congratulations as a result." Ba Shifang released a nervous chuckle. "It''s probably the placebo effect?" "Does it matter?" Tianyi asked. "Point is, I will forever be known as the man who became an immortal monarch thanks to sex. There''s even an upsurge in disciples using dual cultivation methods." "At least the sect is growing stronger?" Ba Shifang queried. The smile disappeared from Tianyi''s face as he leveled a lethal glare at Ba Shifang. "I can''t even look at other people in the eyes anymore, thanks to you." "I mean, you weren''t going to look them in the eye anyways because you cooped yourself in Jade Peak?" Ba Shifang asked. Tianyi sent him a look. "Shutting up now." "Honestly, I would love nothing more than to shut you inside my inner universe and beat the ever-living crap out of you," Tianyi said as he closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. "But you can''t," Ba Shifang said. "You need me to act out the role of Monarch Nine Heavens. Or your true identity, but I doubt that since you''re still in your honeymoon phase." "You know, you seemed to have contracted a fatal dose of insert-mouth syndrome ever since you became an immortal monarch," Tianyi said as a terrifying aura emanated from him. "Did you think that you could free yourself from me just because our connection weakened after you entered the Seamless Immortal Realm or that your strength has grown?" Tianyi sighed. "Forget it. Once the gig is up and the Buzhou Immortal Sect conquers the Huang Realm, I''ll disconnect you as my clone." Ba Shifang''s head snapped up, disbelief in his eyes. "However, you will still be my subordinate," Tianyi said. A devious smile appeared on his lips. "And don''t think I''ll forget your punishment for that wedding night escapade you foisted onto me." "Mercy?"Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! "Sorry, outta it," Tianyi said, his smile widening into a grin. After their little talk, Tianyi and Ba Shifang walked out of the side hall of Jade Peak Palace. Tianyi wore his classic purple robes embroidered with golden dragons, while Ba Shifang donned his Monarch Nine Heavens'' attire. A few members of the servant-disciples and Xi Imperial Family that resided on Jade Peak watched as the two left. Tianyi stopped walking while Ba Shifang flew off into the distance, toward Nine Heavens Peak. Tianyi waited until Ba Shifang''s figure disappeared into the distance before returning to Jade Peak Palace. His feet naturally led him back to the gardens, where he saw Daoyi with another person. "Daoyi, Xi Ri," Tianyi called out with a smile. Xi Ri looked up from his discussion with Daoyi and replied, "Tianyi." His voice was aloof, but at least he wasn''t ignoring Tianyi like before. "How have you been?" Tianyi asked. "I''m fine," Xi Ri said as he stood up. "I should be leaving now. So, I won''t be bothering you two lovebirds." "Hey, wait a sec," Tianyi never finished as Xi Ri had already walked away. He flopped onto a stone stool with a sigh. "I thought he was getting better. What''d he talk with you about?" "Nothing much," Daoyi said. "He wanted to increase his knowledge on soul techniques so he could defend against them better or improve his willpower." "That''s good," Tianyi said. If Xi Ri''s soul technique or willpower had been stronger, the inner devil would not have affected him so much. Still, Tianyi furrowed his brows, feeling like that wasn''t Xi Ri''s objective. He turned Daoyi. "We''re going to the Earth Continent soon. Are you ready?" "Of course," Daoyi said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Why wouldn¡¯t I be ready for a sect-paid honeymoon vacation on the Earth Continent, whose beautiful lands are currently embroiled in war?" "Okay, I was not expecting such an intense resentment," Tianyi said. Daoyi snorted. "Aren''t you? They''re literally sending us to war for our honeymoon." "I thought you didn''t care about the honeymoon since it doesn''t bring anything beneficial," Tianyi said. "Tianyi, just because a honeymoon is a waste of time and money doesn''t mean I wasn''t looking forward to it," Daoyi said. "I''m still a girl, after all. There are some things I will not compromise on." "Do you want to tour the lower realms after the war is over for our honeymoon?" Daoyi smiled.
In an unspecified location on the Earth Continent, over ten venerables surrounded a lone man in red. The red-robed man''s features were only inferior to Ji Wutong of the Bright Ascension Sect. "Stop, Devil Venerable Redflower!" The venerables from the Eight Pillar Sect yelled. The devilishly handsome man smiled and, in a deep yet pleasant voice, said, "I wished you wouldn''t push such a misleading title onto me. When did I ever practice devilish arts?" The Eight Pillar Sect venerables said nothing as they unleashed their attacks. Fire, ice, lightning, and other attacks flew toward the man in red. "Remember my name well, for it is I, Saint Redflower, who defeated you," Saint Redflower said. "Well, you probably won''t remember since this will be the final name you learn." The venerables'' attacks all froze and swerved, knocking into each other. Fire melted ice; lightning struck a world merging venerable and much, much more. "Impossible," a unity venerable gasped. "Die!" One world merging venerable said as she powered through the spell redirected at her with a fist reared back. The world merging venerable felt her body freeze in place. Then, she saw all the red threads around Saint Redflower, like a spiderweb. Saint Redflower glanced at her and twitched his finger. "Taikun!" A unity venerable shouted as the world merged venerable''s head separated from the rest of her body. Her head plummeted to the ground, but her body remained motionless in the air. Saint Redflower flicked his finger, shooting the headless corpse toward three venerables. One moved to catch, while the other two fled as far as possible but not fast enough. "Bloom," Saint Redflower said with an enraptured smile. The headless corpse exploded into a beautiful blood-formed flower. The venerable who moved to catch the corpse shrieked in pain as his body started to melt. Not even his bones were spared. The two venerables met the same fate despite their quick response. Saint Redflower turned toward the remaining venerables. "Now, it''s your turn." Sweat dripped down the foreheads of the Eight Pillar Sect''s venerables. Their previous bravado had all but vanished as they stared down their foe with deadly tension. Saint Redflower did not give them respite, and in less than an hour, all the surrounding venerables had perished. "Weaklings," Saint Redflower said as he collected his fallen foes'' belongings before flying off into the distance. Not long later, he arrived at the Anti-Earth Alliance''s headquarters. The Extremity Night Sect had become the leader of the Anti-Earth Alliance due to them possessing the sole immortal emperor and through democratic votes of the other sects making up the alliance. Saint Redflower''s sect, the Myriad Sun Sect, was only a third-rate force. Still, due to his outstanding achievements and potential, Saint Redflower had become one of the most promising immortal seeds groomed by the Anti-Earth Alliance. "Did you hear?" Saint Redflower turned his head to see one of his allies, a member of the Skyvade Sect, a second-rate force. Despite being part of the Anti-Earth Alliances, a divide still existed between the numerous factions that made it up. "Hear what?" Saint Redflower asked. "I heard that the Eight Pillar Sect finally showed weakness and invited help from the Buzhou Immortal Sect. If I heard correctly, they''re going to send two immortal monarchs over," he said. Saint Redflower frowned. Although the Anti-Earth Alliance held the upper hand, they couldn''t make up for the fact that they only had one immortal emperor, and the Eight Pillar Sect had two. They had the advantage in number, but if the Buzhou Immortal Sect dispatched immortal monarchs to help, their casualties would rise. "Did you hear who they sent?" Saint Redflower asked. "I think it''s Monarch Nine Heavens and the Sword Sovereign''s son," The Skyvader Sect member said. "Honestly, I still don''t quite believe that he managed to become an immortal monarch in under two hundred years. I mean, he''s younger than us, isn''t he?" Despite himself, Saint Redflower smiled. "Change of plans. I''m going to undergo my Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation." "What, why?" The Skyvader Sect member asked. "I thought you said you weren''t ready?" "If I wanted to meet my sweetheart, I would have to be at least an immortal, don''t I?" Saint Redflower asked as he disappeared to prepare for his upcoming heavenly tribulation. The Skyvader Sect member just stood there in confusion, wondering what Saint Redflower meant by sweetheart. Chapter 323: Blockade In the secret meeting inside the Extremity Night Sect, the Eternal Night Emperor sat at the main seat, surrounded by his allies. No, not the upper echelons of the Anti-Heaven Alliance, but his true comrades. Those who knew the true plan and origin of the Extremity Night Sect and many other first-rate sects. The Eternal Night Emperor scanned the room. He saw Monarch Evernight, who Tianyi had once seen during the most recent Three Heavens Connection Gathering. Aside from the immortal monarchs of the Extremity Night Sect, the leaders of the Northbound Longevity Sect, Skymist Gorge, Goldlight Sect, and Yangsource Sect were also present. In addition to them, there was a final figure shrouded in a hooded cloak. A shadowy mist leaked out from under his hood. "Have you caught wind of what the Saintly Scholar School has been up to, Spymaster?" Eternal Night Emperor said. Spymaster shook his head, causing the hood to shake. "Whatever they are planning, only the upper echelon knows. All those people dispatched to every corner of the Mortal Continent are only tasked with delivering materials." Eternal Night Emperor and the rest of the immortals present frowned. "Can you not discover more?" "No," Spymaster said. "They aren''t hiding their movements, but they are very secretive about the final goal. Even with my position, I cannot learn anything. If I push too far, I might expose my identity. My conjecture is that they are planning something big, something that won''t matter once they complete whatever they want." "Damn Saintly Scholar School," the Skymist Gorgemaster said. "They are taking advantage of the chaos, knowing that we and those on the Heaven Continent won''t be able to interfere at this critical juncture." "Should we dispatch a squad to delay them as much as possible?" The Northbound Longevity Sect Master asked. "That sounds like a good idea," the Goldlight Sect Master said. "We can give the pilfered materials to the Yangsource Sect to refine into artifacts in our war with the Eight Pillar Sect. The Yangsource Sect wasn''t a first-rate sect, but it had influence equal to one. The reason was that they specialized in refining artifacts. Their members might not have the best combat prowess, but everyone asked them to refine artifacts. Eternal Night Emperor spoke out at this time, "No. We haven''t reached the point of needing to steal materials. The risk of losing our operatives is too high. We cannot forget our main objective, to conquer the Earth Continent. Everything else, including revenge, does not take precedence, and if we really need materials, we can supply them through another channel." Although the other people present had questions, such as who would supply the materials, they didn''t ask. Or maybe, they would just allow the Eight Pillar Sect to eliminate a sect of an opposite faction, giving them more resources and control of the Anti-Earth Alliance. Whatever the reason, they all defaulted to Eternal Night Emperor''s decision. "Speaking of which," The Goldlight Sectmaster said. "I heard from my spies that the Eight Pillar Sect requested aid from the Buzhou Immortal Sect, and they agreed." "They sure have a lot of free time considering their domain is embroiled in war," The Northbound Longevity Sect Master said. "Who did they send?" "According to my intelligence, it''s the two newly ascended immortal monarchs, Monarch Nine Heaven and the Sword Sovereign''s son," The Goldlight Sect Master Said. "I can believe an old monster like Monarch Nine Heavens reaching the Seamless Immortal Realm, but a brat that''s only two hundred years old? I''m still doubting if he really became an immortal after only a hundred years. Who is the Buzhou Immortal Sect trying to fool?" The Skymist Gorgemaster said. "I wouldn''t discount him so soon," The Yangsource Sect Master said. "With how ancient the Buzhou Immortal Sect is, it isn''t inconceivable that they would have a method to raise an immortal to the Seamless Immortal Realm. Sword Sovereign Xi also reached the Immortal Realm in only a hundred years, didn''t she?" "That''s more logical," The Goldlight Sect Master said. "Still, how should we deal with them?" "We have more immortal monarchs than the Eight Pillar Sect. Two additional ones won''t change the situation, especially if the Sword Sovereign''s son used a shortcut," The Northbound Longevity Sect Master said. "The one I''m worried about is Monarch Nine Heavens. It''s public knowledge he mastered the Law of Space, meaning his strategic value is too big to ignore. But if we kill him, we''ll earn the ire of the Buzhou Immortal Sect." "You don''t have to worry about Monarch Nine Heavens," Eternal Night Emperor said. "The Buzhou Immortal Sect doesn''t want the Eight Pillar Sect to gain such a large advantage. The current question is how we should deal with Xi Tianyi." "If only we had a youngster who could compete with him. Shortcut or not, the difference between a true immortal and immortal monarch is far too large," The Yangsource Sect Master said. "We actually do have someone," The Goldlight Sect Master said. "If we give him a half-monarch artifact, it isn''t outside the realm of possibility." "Who?" the other people present in the room asked. "Monarch Pillrabbit''s disciple, Divine Flame Immortal," The Goldlight Sect Master said. "He passed his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation over twenty years ago. If Monarch Pillrabbit wasn''t lying, Divine Flame Immortal should have nearly mastered the Law of Flame."The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "Should we address him as Divine Flame Immortal Lord, then?" The Skymist Gorgemaster asked. "I find it more interesting that he has some relationship with the saintess of the Cloud Goddess Cult," The Goldlight Sect Master said. "Aside from him, are there any other outstanding disciples?" "Why? The Skymist Gorgemaster asked. "It''s not just the Sword Sovereign''s son that''s coming. I also got the news that her disciple, who also became an immortal under two hundred years, will also be arriving. Not just them, but the Buzhou Immortal Sect Master''s disciple, No-Heart Sword Immortal, will also be arriving," The Goldlight Sect Master said. The Skymist Gorgemaster sighed. "The amount of talent in the Buzhou Immortal Sect sure is enviable." Eternal Night Emperor sighed. "It really seems that the quality of disciples has dropped ever since the fall of the Cultivator Alliance. Our most outstanding disciple is from someone who we thought died over ten thousand years ago. Need I mention the fact that his previous disciple nearly killed him? Good thing Pillrabbit never mentioned us, or the whole realm might know us being the Cultivator Alliance''s remnants." "Enough of that," Eternal Night Emperor said. "Let''s plan on destroying the opposing faction and the Eight Pillar Sect. Once everything is over, we''ll be able to return to the light." All the other occupants of the room nodded in agreement. Those close to the Extremity Immortal Realm all increased their diligence. This was their dream, passed down by their predecessor. Once they defeated the Eight Pillar Sect and claimed the Earth Continent, they would be able to return to their true identity.
When Tianyi and Daoyi boarded the Eight Pillar Sect''s immortal boat, he noticed that Duan Muli stayed without boarding. Hostage and all that jazz. He had donned his regular attire while his clone had taken his role as Monarch Nine Heavens. Soon enough, His identity as Xi Tianyi and Monarch Nine Heavens would merge, but not now. Ba Shifang had holed himself in his room, ignoring all but the bare minimum of interaction. As part of the aid sent to the Earth Continent, a hundred true immortals and a few immortal lords boarded the boat. What Tianyi didn''t expect was Xia Yushan also joining the mission. More alarming was the fact he noticed Xia Yushan staring at him and Daoyi whenever they were on deck. Like now. Tianyi couldn''t help but wonder what he wanted. Did jealousy get to his head? Xia Yushan did confess to Daoyi directly before accepting his confession. He thought Xia Yushan had given up after years of no activity, but that might be because he and Daoyi had disappeared for a hundred years. "What''s wrong?" Daoyi asked while turning her gaze away from the endless seas and to him after Tianyi hugged her against his chest. "Do you not feel it?" "Feel what?" Daoyi asked. "Xia Yushan''s stare," Tianyi said. "Wow, if you didn''t detect it, he must be hiding his gaze really well. If it weren''t for my mastery over spacetime, I wouldn''t have noticed either. I thought he had given up." "Really?" Daoyi asked. "Even if he is secretly staring at us, I should have detected it. As long as the gaze is laced with emotion, killing intent, and love, it doesn''t matter. I should have sensed it. I didn''t feel anything at all." Tianyi furrowed his brows. "What does that mean? Maybe he was staring at me? Murder the hypotenuse?" "Maybe," Daoyi said. "If he was directing it at you, you should be more careful. You aren''t as sensitive as I am." "Relax," Tianyi said. "Xia Yushan won''t be able to kill me. Most immortal emperors won''t be able to either." "That is true," Daoyi said. "You should still be careful. Won''t it take a long time to restore your body?" Tianyi nodded. "Noted." After the talk, the journey to the Earth Continent resumed. There were no accidents, and all was peaceful, almost too peaceful. Considering that they had come to aid the Eight Pillar Sect¡ªat least on the surface¡ªit was strange that no one had come to stop them. So, of course, something had to happen when they reached the shores. Over a hundred true immortals led by an immortal monarch blocked their path. "I suggest you return to the Heaven Continent and mind your own business, or don''t blame me for being impolite!" The unnamed immortal monarch said. His voice reverberated through the surrounding. A few immortals on board couldn''t stand it and spat out a mouthful of blood. Tianyi frowned and waved his sleeve, dissipating the force attacking Daoyi. "Are you alright?" Daoyi''s face, which had gone slightly pale, returned to normal, and she shook her head. "I''m fine." After making sure she was fine, Tianyi flew out of the immortal boat. He observed the immortal monarch. The unnamed immortal monarch possessed a burly physique, mane-like hair, and lion-like eyes. "Who are you?" The immortal monarch ignored Tianyi''s question. "You must be the Sword Sovereign''s son. I don''t know what method you used to reach the Seamless Immortal Realm, but you aren''t my opponent. Scram and never return if you don''t want to get hurt." ''Alright, I''m kicking your ass,'' Tianyi thought. He didn''t say another word and pointed at the sky. Thunderclouds instantly appeared above him, roaring with lightning. The immortal monarch crossed his arm and smirked. "I hope you''re only thunder and no lightning." Tianyi pointed down, and to everyone''s shock, the lightning struck him. The lightning shroud coating him quickly turned into a mixture of five different colors: red, green, black, white, and yellow. Before anyone could react, it shot toward the unnamed immortal monarch. The immortal monarch screamed in pain as the lightning coated him, crisping his skin and melting his hair. The scream turned into a roar as his features began to change, looking like a half-human, half-lion humanoid. "You brat, how did you control Five Element Lightning?" "Oh, I don''t know, maybe because I mastered all five elemental laws?" Tianyi said as he looked at his nails as if taking the immortal monarch''s anger lightly. In truth, the immortal monarch was under his spatial senses. Even if people detected it, they would only think it was the work of Monarch Nine Heavens. "Hmpf, I don''t believe you can do it for long," the unnamed immortal monarch said. After he said those words, white qi began to leak from his body and formed a white lion over a hundred meters large, emanating the Law of Metal, a martial manifestation. Tianyi only had two words. "That''s cute." Chapter 324: Tai Wuling Tianyi clapped his hands, and lightning descended from the thunderclouds. Unlike the first time, hundreds of bolts converged around him. With each strike, the humanoid shroud surrounding Tianyi grew larger and larger until it reached over a thousand meters, dwarfing the unnamed immortal monarch''s martial manifestation. He wasn''t done yet. The lightning giant''s pure yellow color gained four more additional hues, transforming from ordinary lightning to Five Element Lightning. The vague humanoid form condensed until it resembled Tianyi wearing armor. The Five Element Lightning Giant clenched its fist and punched toward the unnamed immortal monarch. As the fist neared, the lion-shaped martial manifestation roared, unleashing a sonic blast that halted the fist''s momentum. The immortal monarch charged toward the lightning giant''s chest, where Tianyi''s actual body resided. The lion-shaped martial manifestation followed closely behind and headbutted the lightning giant''s chest. The scene of the lightning giant staggering back or dissipating did not occur as per the immortal monarch''s expectations. Instead, lightning erupted from the point of contact, shrouding him and his martial manifestation. Another roar later, the lightning around disappeared, and the unnamed martial monarch retreated into the distance. He continued to dodge the lightning giant''s punches. The unnamed immortal monarch growled, and the lion-shaped martial manifestation bellowed. A giant steel ball shot out from its maws and crashed into the lightning giant''s armor, but aside from a slight ripple, the metal ball bounced off. The immortal monarch frowned. According to the short exchange of blows, he already summarized a list of weaknesses. Xi Tianyi possessed an abundant amount of immortal qi that translated to immense strength and defense but lacked the necessary speed. It was a crucial weakness brought about by inexperience in his eyes. Although the unnamed immortal monarch knew his foe''s weakness, that didn''t mean he had an easier time dealing with Xi Tianyi. As a martial monarch, he had always excelled at close-quarter combat, not long-ranged attack. He wasn''t afraid to get in close and dirty, exchanging injury for injury, but he also had to weigh the pros and cons. It was a question of whether he could destroy Xi Tianyi''s lightning giant and defeat him before he got too injured. The immortal monarch also hadn''t forgotten that there was supposedly another immortal monarch from the Buzhou Immortal Sect who had yet to take action. The unnamed immortal monarch retreated to a safe distance to safely activate his next technique. The lightning giant didn''t follow and only stayed protectively in front of the immortal boat. The lion-shaped manifestation started to shrink until it reached a similar size to the immortal monarch. A flash of white later, it transformed into a lion-shaped armor of white covering him. With a roar, the immortal monarch stomped on the air and leaped towards the lightning giant, leaving behind a sonic boom in the process. With a ferocious punch to the chest, the lightning giant staggered backward. Behind his lion-themed helmet, the immortal monarch released a proud smirk as he continued to attack. He moved so fast it almost seemed like teleportation. With each movement, a sonic boom would occur. Following that, the lightning giant started to stagger continuously as if an invisible giant was punching it from all sides. The unnamed immortal monarch grinned viciously as he saw cracks appearing on the lightning giant. Thinking he had Xi Tianyi on the ropes, it was time to drive away the unnecessary interlopers and teach them never to return.
Tianyi suppressed the yawn. He was surprised by how impressive the immortal monarch had become after merging with his martial manifestation, but it still wasn''t enough to destroy his lightning giant. He had to consciously stop himself from healing the damage on the lightning giant. By his estimations, the unknown immortal monarch only integrated three out of the five elemental qis. Aside from that, he hadn''t exhibited any full or even partial comprehension of other laws aside from the five elements. Among immortal monarchs, he should be on the average to lower-end spectrum in terms of strength. Tianyi really wanted to just kill him and be done with it, but he didn''t want to show his strength too much. If he showed too much strength, the Eight Pillar Sect might think he was an imposter or something. They probably already thought it was strange that he was an immortal monarch at only around two hundred years of age. He paused when he received a transmission from Daoyi. She recognized the immortal monarch''s identity, something Tianyi failed to do. His title was Monarch Whitelion of the Allbeast Sect, and he was not one of the forces he had to show mercy toward. Tianyi smiled when he saw the true immortals behind Monarch Whitelion move forward. Obviously, they thought that he was too occupied to deal with them. He allowed them to fly forward and even near the immortal boat. During this time, Tianyi even accelerated the injuries of the lightning giants. And just as the hundred true immortals were a few seconds away from reaching the immortal boat, he exploded the lightning giant. The explosion released thousands of bolts, some colored red, black, white, yellow, green, and everything in between. Numerous screams of horror and pain erupted as the bolts struck the Allbeast Sect''s true immortals. In a flash, over thirty percent of the Allbeast Sect''s true immortals perished, and another thirty percent suffered major injuries, while the last forty percent suffered minor injuries. The thousands of bolts of lightning did not dissipate immediately. Instead, they lingered like a thunderstorm, clouding the sky in darkness. Although it didn''t possess the same destructive force as before, the true immortal did not dare to enter easily, and some immortals who failed to escape it in time died under the onslaught of lightning.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. "You bastard!" Monarch Whitelion roared and rushed toward Tianyi with fury in his eyes. A phantom lion over a thousand meters large engulfed him as he rushed forward. Tianyi clenched his hand and the thunderstorm condensed around him, forming another lightning giant, only half its former size. It crossed his arms in a defensive manner, and when Monarch Whitelion''s attack reached him, cracks appeared on the giant''s arm. The lightning giant''s arms shattered into countless motes of light and skidded back hundreds of meters, causing surging waves in the process. Soon, the lightning giant regrew its arm and punched toward Monarch Whitelion. The phantom lion around Monarch Whitelion had dissipated, but he still fearlessly charged forward with a punch. The two clashes caused tiny tornadoes to form. Tianyi''s lightning giant and Monarch Whitelion continued to attack and defend, altering the landscape. At this time, the surviving true immortals did not dare to near the immortal boat. Who knew when Tianyi would explode the lightning giant again? The longer the two fought, the more frustrated Monarch Whitelion became. He knew he held the upper hand, but he couldn''t land a decisive blow against Tianyi. If he sent the true immortals to the immortal boat, Tianyi would explode the lightning giant and cause more casualties. He didn''t want to recklessly charge either because he still had reservations about the hidden immortal monarch. After deep consideration, Monarch Whitelion ordered a retreat. From this brief clash, he could tell the Buzhuo Immortal Sect wasn''t wholeheartedly aiding the Eight Pillar Sect. If both immortal monarchs had attacked him, they would have had a high chance of killing him were it not for the Void Transversing Talisman he kept on hand. So, Monarch Whitelion retreated but not before promising vengeance toward Tianyi for killing so many true immortals of the Allbeast Sect. Tianyi rolled his eyes in response. ''Did you expect me to show you mercy after you guys attacked?'' When he returned to the boat, he saw many gazes of reverence and admiration from the occupants. Not just from the Eight Pillar Sect but also the Buzhou Immortal Sect. In this world, strength was the most important measurement of respect. "Many thanks to Monarch Xi for repelling those blasphemous rebellers," the leader of the Eight Pillar Sect member said with a cupped fist. Tianyi waved his hand. "Think nothing of it. I''m simply carrying out the agreement." The Eight Pillar Sect leader nodded and didn''t speak anymore with Tianyi, who obviously didn''t want to increase their interaction. "Something wrong?" Daoyi asked Tianyi, who had returned next to her. "No, I''m just thinking," Tianyi said. "About what?" Tianyi sealed off the space around them before he answered. "In a story, wouldn''t the Buzhou Immortal Sect be classified as the final boss? The Eight Pillar Sect is on the losing end, besieged by the traitorous Buzhou Immortal Sect, but in their darkest hour, a disciple breaks through and solves their crisis." "The disciple was originally an ordinary disciple with a flawed spiritual root, but through a miracle, managed to embark on the road to cultivation," Tianyi continued. "Although he suffered under the corrupt elders, he still loved the sect and rose up to the occasion. He would later lead his sect to defeat the Buzhou Immortal Sect and the Saintly Scholar School, making the Eight Pillar Sect the sole hegemon of the Huang Realm." Daoyi just stared at him. She placed her palm against Tianyi''s forehead. "No sign of fever. Maybe brain damage." "That''s mean." "Then you shouldn''t say weird stuff," Daoyi said. "That only happens in stories." "Not really," Tianyi said. "Well, the conclusion may be, but these protagonist-like backgrounds feel really common. There''s Lei Jingye, who I killed. The Dragon Emperor, who I solved with the previous one. Yan Nie, who got his marriage broken. Uhh, your sister, who I want to kill. Lovespot might fit the mold, too." Daoyi threw an amused smile. "What about you? Wouldn''t you be considered one? You reincarnated from an ordinary earthling to a powerful cultivator." "Nope," Tianyi said. "Not enough setbacks. My birth is too good. I''m closer to an antagonist. Now that I think about it, almost everyone I mentioned had beef with me. Ugh." "You must have an abhorrent personality then," Daoyi said with a giggle. Tianyi gave her an unamused stare. "And finally, Daoyi. After suffering through years of abuse under Tianyi''s hand, she dies. But when she opened her eyes again, she discovered she time traveled into the past. In her new life, she swore to get revenge on everyone who wronged her and find true love, or maybe several." "I''d read it," Daoyi said before breaking out in laughter. Tianyi sighed. It took a few more months for the immortal boat to arrive at the Eight Pillar Sect. Along the way, Monarch Whitelion never appeared again. Not because they feared Tianyi but because the Eight Pillar Sect had taken advantage of his and the true immortals¡¯ absence to launch a counterattack. Upon arriving, Monarch Pathway personally came forward to greet the reinforcement from the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Since Tianyi didn''t want to deal with it, he happily threw Ba Shifang under the bus and made him deal with the diplomacy. Tianyi noticed two cultivators following behind Monarch Pathway, both young men. One of them appeared quite androgynous, but the other appeared plain. Upon closer inspection, he couldn''t find any fault in their features. He could tell that both of them were young. The androgynous man appeared closer to his age if a bit older but the other was actually younger than him. Monarch Pathway noticed Tianyi''s stares and said, "Linyin, Wulin. Come forward and offer your greetings." The androgynous man walked up and cupped his fist. "Yang Linyin greets Monarch Xi." Tianyi''s brows furrowed as he tried to remember where he had heard that name. "He''s one of the Eight Pillar Sect Master candidates aside from Duan Muli. You should know him since I heard he also attended the Three Heavens Connection Gathering." Tianyi sent a glance at Daoyi. "No wonder I found him so familiar, but how did you know." "I read the report on notable figures in the Earth Continent, including notable up-and-coming figures. Didn''t you?" Tianyi looked away. He wasn''t going to tell her that he already forgot them. Instead, he focused on the second person. The plain-looking man cupped his fist and said. "Tai Wuling greets Monarch Xi." Tianyi stared at him. Tai Wuling was only a true immortal, but Tianyi felt a sense of connection with him. Specifically, his Law of Five Phases reacted to the true immortal. ''There''s something dangerous about him. I''ll have to keep an eye on him." Chapter 325: Earth Pillar Sects Heavenblessed Tai Wuling, aged one hundred and twenty-two years old, was born to a pair of ordinary mortals. Sadly, his parents perished due to a wandering immortal''s carelessness, and he became the sole survivor of his village. He journeyed far and wide in order to join the Ashwisp Sect, but sadly, reality proved crushing. Although he passed the disciple acceptance ceremony''s perseverance and wisdom trials, Tai Wuling failed the spiritual root trials. Tai Wuling possessed a pentad spiritual root, meaning he had shattered spiritual roots. In other words, he had no hope of embarking on the immortal path, much less getting revenge on that immortal who killed his parents and the whole village. With a heavy heart, Tai Wuling left the Ashwisp Sect. All the elders who had taken an interest in him ignored him as if he was inconsequential. And they were right, ordinary mortals like him lived in different worlds than cultivators like them. Left with no hope, Tai Wuling journeyed back to his hometown. The best he could manage was to live out the rest of his ordinary life with no hope of achieving vengeance and fearing the same calamity befalling him. However, the heavens always leave a ray of hope. One night, a falling star struck him and knocked him out on his way back. When he awoke, Tai Wuling discovered a strange sphere inside his mind. The sphere was pitch-black, like a black hole amidst the silver sea of consciousness. When he tried to interact with the sphere, he fainted again. Awakening again, Tai Wuling discovered that the first part of the Unbound World Scripture had imprinted itself into his mind. Overcome with joy, Tai Wuling attempted to cultivate the immortal method. To his dismay, he discovered that even if he could sense spiritual qi, he couldn''t cultivate. The spiritual qi would disappear into his body with no trace. He couldn''t even sense it anymore, much less use it to open his first meridian. At this time, he discovered the second use of the mysterious sphere. The black sphere would automatically absorb the spiritual qi of heaven and earth and refine it. The refined spiritual qi would then be left for Tai Wuling to absorb. Even with the mysterious artifact''s aid, Tai Wuling took over a month to open his first meridian, becoming a first-stage Qi Gathering Pupil and officially embarking on the path of immortality. It took him ten years to reach the peak of the Qi Gathering Realm, and when he did, Tai Wuling discovered another feature of the mysterious sphere. Periodically, the cube would release a small silvery wisp that cleared his mind and made him more intelligent, for lack of a better description. After opening up all possible twenty meridians, Tai Wuling transcended his Foundation Establishment Heavenly Tribulation and officially became a foundation establishment disciple. By then, his appearance was that of a man in his late twenties. Considering nearly thirty years had passed since he was born, Tai Wuling only had a hundred and forty years left with the additional lifespan he gained. Tai Wuling wondered if the hundred and forty years would be enough for him to reach the Core Formation Realm, and even if he did, would he be able to reach the Immortal Realm? He threw away the useless thoughts and continued to persevere and cultivate. After twenty years, Tai Wuling reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm. During this time, he experienced many struggles, but without fail, he exceeded his limits and became stronger for it. Just as he was preparing to undergo his Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation, he met her, or him. It really depended on which body he interacted with. Her name was Yang Linyin, and she was a nascent soul grandmaster at the time. She was one of the top disciples of the Eight Pillar Sect, while he was a mere loose cultivator. Their paths should have never intersected, yet they did. Tai Wuling had managed to save Yang Linyin after she had been near-fatally injured by a sneak attack from a member of the Earth Alliance. He hid her, and the two journeyed together for some time, experiencing numerous dangers¡ªespecially the last one. Three nascent soul grandmasters had managed to find their hiding spot, and just as Tai Wuling was prepared to die, Yang Linyin killed all three nascent soul grandmasters despite her injuries. From there, although the two experienced many more dangers, they never reached the same extremes. After Yang Linyin''s injuries healed, she shifted into her male form because that was their original gender. However, Tai Wuling could not convince himself that Yang Linyin was not female. Anyways, after they returned to the Eight Pillar Sect, they helped him become an outer disciple of the Eight Pillar Sect. Normally, someone with all Eight Extraordinary Meridians opened would immediately become an inner disciple, if not a core disciple, but Tai Wuling didn''t expose his talent. After years of being a loose cultivator, he had developed the habit of playing the pig to eat the tiger. Even for the scions of the Eight Pilar Sect, few could open all Eight Extraordinary Meridians. If Tai Wuling revealed that he had opened them as a loose cultivator, he feared that his biggest secret would be revealed, inviting those with insidious intentions. So, to others, he looked like an untalented cultivator that took over thirty-five years to reach the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Tai Wuling didn''t care. After settling down for a month inside the sect, he underwent his Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation and successfully passed, forming a Phantom World Core. According to the Unbound World Scripture, he would form an inner realm inside his body once he reached the Seamless Immortal Realm. His ascension to the Core Formation Realm didn''t cause any ripples. For any ranked force, core formation masters were as common as clouds. Put in an unpleasant term, they were cannon fodders. Tai Wuling didn''t care. As long as he had time, he would reach the peak. Tai Wuling discovered that after entering the Core Formation Realm, he could sense the five elemental laws and the branching concepts under them. In the first stage of the Core Formation Realm, the Polished Core Stage, he had mastered a concept, the Concept of Earthbearing. With it at the core, he mastered two more concepts before reaching the peak of the Core Formation Realm. After reaching the Nascent Soul realm, Tai Wuling discovered that his perception had changed, and the black sphere had changed again. Numerous glowing runes resembling the language of the primordial era covered it, and he could glean powerful but incomplete techniques from it. He was prepared to become an outer elder of the Eight Pillar Sect, but then war erupted in the Earth Continent. As a nascent soul grandmaster without any background, Tai Wuling had been dispatched a foot soldier. That was when he truly began to shine. Tai Wuling defeated his foes and completed all his missions. Even one against ten, he would win. Despite not cultivating the martial path, his body was not one bit inferior to those who focused on martial cultivation. Not only that, his true qi was denser and more abundant than his peers. It was also during the war that Tai Wuling discovered another feature of the mysterious sphere. It could purify and refine raw materials into a nourishing substance that boosted his body and soul. Practically all the loot he obtained from his slain foes went to this. After numerous successes, Tai Wuling was eventually recalled back to the Eight Pillar Sect. After a round of inspection, it was revealed that he didn''t possess a fractured spiritual root but the legendary dao spiritual root. Specifically, the dao chaos spiritual root. The dao chaos spiritual root was composed of five heavenly spiritual roots of each element. Because of the balance of five elements in the spiritual root and the innate law contained within, every holder was a monstrous genius. Conversely, the holder of the dao chaos spiritual root would require at least five times more effort and resources to cultivate, but it would result in a robust foundation that no cultivator could compete with. Because of the rarity of dao spiritual roots, the Ashwisp Sect had mistakenly identified Tai Wuling''s spiritual root as a pentad shattered spiritual root. After this, Tai Wuling was immediately accepted as the personal disciple of one of the Eight Pillar Sect''s grand elders, Emperor Infinity. The sect no longer ordered Tai Wuling to undergo missions. Risking him at this stage was not worth it. Although Tai Wuling found it a pity that he couldn''t collect any more resources to feed the black sphere, he also welcomed it. After reaching the Nascent Soul Realm, his cultivation speed drastically increased, especially after he mastered two more concepts. Now, he mastered a concept from each of the five elements. Mastering the five concepts boosted Tai Wuling''s cultivation speed. The more concepts from the five elements he mastered, the faster he cultivated. When he entered the Unity Realm, the speed only increased. His master could only sigh in amazement, "What a legendary dao spiritual root. It even makes an old man like me jealous." As the war heated up, Tai Wuling peacefully cultivated. During this time, he rekindled his friendship with Yang Linyin. They even joked that had Tai Wuling not been interested, they would have had another rival for the position of sect master aside from Duan Muli. Both of them reached the Immortal Realm before he did. Tai Wuling knew that the situation for the Eight Pillar Sect wasn''t exactly ideal, which was why he had been dispatched to destroy a third-rate force not even a year after he had reached the Pathfinding Immortal Realm. Coincidently, Tai Wuling also willingly chose to go. After all, it was a chance to end his hundred-year-long hatred with the immortal who killed his parents and destroyed his hometown. This one battle instantly rocketed him to fame. He displayed great mastery of the concepts from all five elements and was just shy of reaching the level of an immortal lord. Tai Wuling thought he would continue to undergo battles and contribute to the Eight Pillar Sect''s eventual victory, but he had immediately been summoned back by Sect Master Pathway. The reason? Because delegates from the Buzhou Immortal Sect had arrived to aid them. He knew that the Eight Pillar Sect had dispatched an entourage to seek help, but that didn''t mean he had to like it. Furthermore, the head of the delegation, Duan Muli, never returned. The Buzhou Immortal Sect must have requested him as a hostage in order to dispatch aid. Tai Wuling already didn''t like the Buzhou Immortal Sect. He wondered what the sect master was thinking, putting themselves in such a low position. He understood that the Buzhou Immortal Sect possessed an immortal sovereign, but wasn''t this debasing themselves too much? Furthermore, Tai Wuling had heard the word of Xi Tianyi, the Sword Sovereign''s sole child. Without even meeting Xi Tianyi, he already had a negative impression of the immortal monarch. It only further deteriorated when Tai Wuling actually met the man. Rather than a cultivator or immortal, Xi Tianyi appeared like one of those wastrels that only knew how to play. He suddenly pitied the woman next to Xi Tianyi. Tai Wuling had heard the news of how Xi Tianyi had recently married. He had just married, but instead of spending time with his wife, he dragged her to war. Absolutely despicable. Still, he obediently greeted the immortal monarch. Thankfully, Yang Linyin had the foresight to come in their male form. Tai Wuling hadn''t heard if Xi Tianyi liked to play with women, but he wouldn''t be surprised. Scions like him probably did. Tai Wuling frowned. He quickly schooled his expression. No matter how much he despised the man, the two hegemonic sects were in an alliance. After an introspection, Tai Wuling discovered that he had an unnatural amount of negative thoughts toward Xi Tianyi. He had seen people worse than the foreign monarch, but his impression had never been so disastrous. It was as if he and Xi Tianyi were destined to be nemeses. Chapter 326: The Eight Pillar Sects Objective After the Sect Master Pathway exchanged greetings with Xi Tianyi and Monarch Nine Heavens, he escorted them all the way back to the Eight Pillar Sect. During this time, the juniors from the two hegemonic sects interacted to deepen their feelings. Tai Wuling followed behind Yang Linyin toward a man dressed in white. Although he didn''t exude any physical frostiness, just being in his presence chilled the heart. "Long time no see, Immortal Xia," Yang Linyin said. "It''s a pity that I was in the Core Formation Realm and you in the Nascent Soul Realm during our last meeting. How about a spar when we reach the sect?" Strictly speaking, Duan Muli was the official eldest senior disciple of their generation, and he should have greeted Xia Yushan. Were he present, that is. Unfortunately, he was still in the Buzhou Immortal Sect as a hostage, so the duty fell to Yang Linyin. They weren''t inferior to Duan Muli in any way. All they lacked was a title. Titles were external things, and strength mattered most in this world. As a true immortal near his age, Yang Linyin had the right to speak to Xia Yushan as an equal. Xia Yushan didn''t speak. He turned toward Yang Linyin, openly sizing them and Tai Wuling. Finally, he spoke. "There''s no point." "What do you mean by that?" Tai Wuling said before he could stop himself. Yang Linyin frowned, but they didn''t rebuke Tai Wuling. "I think you will find that I am more than a match for you. I''m stronger than Duan Muli." They turned around and left. Tai Wuling gave one final glare before following behind. "Senior Sister..." Yang Linyin turned and glared at him. "How many times do I have to tell you to call me Senior Brother?" "Sorry, sorry," Tai Wuling said. "But I can''t forget our first meeting." Yang Linyin''s face flushed. Despite his current male form, it still made him look like a bashful maiden. "S-Shut up!" With a huff, Yang Linyin turned away and schooled their expression. His eyes turned serious as he spotted Xi Tianyi and Jiang Daoyi sitting in a corner on the deck with no one daring to come close. Never in all their years had Yang Linyin imagined that the boy they saw at the Three Heavens Connection Meeting would grow up to become a revered immortal monarch while they were still a true immortal. Although only a single realm existed between a true immortal and immortal monarch, the gulf that existed between them was wider than between a mortal and a true immortal. Some true immortals never even neared the next realm, not even reaching the level of an immortal lord. Yang Linyin didn''t have the same confidence their master had in them. Even now, they struggled to master half the Law of Yin and the Law of Yang, much less the Law of Yin Yang. Their master said they shouldn¡¯t rush, but how could they not? They glanced at Tai Wuling. The junior they once saved now stood shoulder to shoulder with them and even showed signs of surpassing them. Yang Linyin''s eyes hardened as they walked toward Xi Tianyi and Jiang Daoyi. They would not fall behind. "After the Three Heavens Connection Meeting, I have heard of your accomplishment, but seeing the real thing is very different from hearing." Xi Tianyi looked toward Yang Linyin and smiled. "I hope they didn''t exaggerate my accomplishments. Otherwise, I''d be afraid of not living up to them." Tai Wuling internally snorted. Xi Tianyi''s eyes revealed an intent completely different from the words he spoke. It seemed that he wasn''t the only one who noticed as Jiang Daoyi rolled her eyes. Tellingly, she did it in a manner in which Xi Tianyi wouldn''t have noticed. A thought occurred to Tai Wuling, and he turned his gaze back on Xi Tianyi. He forced himself to stay silent as he watched Yang Linyin engage Xi Tianyi in a heated conversation. He had endured the scorn of disdain from pampered wastrels before. This time, it wouldn''t be any different. Yang Linyin must have noticed it because they bid farewell to Xi Tianyi and Jiang Daoyi. After the two returned to the immortal boat they followed Sect Master Pathway on, they turned toward him and asked, "What''s wrong?" "Did you notice?" "Notice what?" Yang Linyin asked. "Jiang Daoyi," Tai Wuling said. "She isn''t respectful of Xi Tianyi at all." "So?" "She hid her reaction from him. I don''t think their marriage was as consensual as rumored," Tai Wuling said. "And you just so happened to catch wind of it?" Yang Linyin asked. "You''re overthinking." "No, I''m not. Jiang Daoyi must have been forced," Tai Wuling said. Yang Linyin pursed their lips together. "And if she is, what are you going to do about it? We''re from two different sects. We don''t have the right to interfere with their sect affairs, and even if you want to, we can''t afford to offend them at this time."The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. "I just can''t stand those uppity scions abusing their powers and forcing those they think lesser than them to bend to their wills," Tai Wuling said, staring at the ground with clenched fists. Yang Linyin sighed and patted his shoulder in comfort. "The problem with you is that you care too much about outsiders. When you first entered the sect, you offended many people seeking justice. If Grand Elder Infinity hadn''t taken you as his disciple and the ongoing war, you would be mired in trouble now." Tai Wuling snorted. "Just a bunch of people with their noses pointed at the sky. Just because their parents or grandparents are immortals, they think they can do anything they like with no consequences." "You know not everyone is like that," Yang Linyin said. "Am I like that?" "No, but you are different. You are better than them," Tai Wuling immediately said, causing Yang Linyin to smile. "But Xi Tianyi definitely is." Yang Linyin sighed. "Just don''t aggravate him. He''s not that crucial to our war efforts, but Monarch Nine Heavens is. His mastery of the Law of Space will be important for our future plans. I heard rumors that Monarch Nine Heavens might be Xi Tianyi''s actual father." "Do we really need the Buzhou Immortal Sect to interfere with our war? Can''t we conquer the Earth Continent without their aid?" Tai Wuling asked as he rubbed his hair, frustration evident in his voice. Yang Linyin frowned. He looked around before pulling Tai Wuling into his room and activating a defensive formation to prevent a possible intelligence leak. "What I say here, you must not mention it to anyone. I wasn''t supposed to tell you, but I trust you." Tai Wuling felt his heart warm up at Yang Linyin''s words, but he still seriously listened. "The Eight Pillar Sect is completely capable of conquering the Earth Continent, but what about after?" Tai Wuling furrowed his brows. "What do you mean?" "The price to win would force us to recuperate for at least several generations," Yang Linyin said. "The Buzhou Immortal Sect would also win, and with the emergence of two new immortal monarchs and Sword Sovereign Xi, their losses would be far less than ours. Meaning they would be able to direct their sights on the Saintly Scholar School or us. Compared to the Saintly Scholar School, which hadn''t experienced war, we are obviously the easier targets. That''s why we must eliminate their strategic pieces." Tai Wuling opened his mouth. He never thought the most powerful force on the Earth Continent would resort to such tactics, but the rational part of his mind told him that it was logical. "Won''t eliminating Xi Tianyi bring down the Sword Sovereign''s wrath on us and push her to team up with the Anti-Earth Alliance?" "Who said our target was Xi Tianyi?" Yang Linyin asked. "Compared to Monarch Nine Heavens, he''s a small fry." "Small Fry? Why would Xi Tianyi be small fry compared to Monarch Nine Heavens? Isn''t his potential more terrifying than Monarch Nine Heavens?" Tai Wuling asked. "You remember how I said Monarch Nine Heaven''s mastery over the Law of space will be important to the sect''s future plans?" Tai Wuling nodded. "Anyone who mastered the Law of Space can teleport themselves and others almost instantaneously all over the Huang Realm except certain guarded locations. With his addition, we can deploy our forces much more efficiently. It would be akin to multiplying the number of our monarchs and true immortals." "Once we have attained an irreversible advantage, we''ll have the Anti-Earth Alliance eliminate him for us and Xi Tianyi if possible," Yang Linyin said. "I heard the Anti-Heaven Alliance once had a monarch that mastered the Law of Space, but unfortunately, he died during the struggle for the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus. Otherwise, the Anti-Heaven Alliance would have held a greater advantage and restricted the Buzhou Immortal Sect more." Tai Wuling nodded, enlightened by the sect''s decision. However, he still felt that the Eight Pillar Sect should focus on killing Xi Tianyi as the priority and Monarch Nine Heavens as the second priority. He had no evidence to back up these thoughts aside from his gut instinct. But ever since Tai Wuling embarked on the path to immortality, he had always trusted his gut instinct. It had saved his life several times. Still, he knew that it would be foolhardy to try to change the sect''s decision without any evidence to the contrary. Tai Wuling didn''t mention the matter or any thoughts of saving Jiang Daoyi from Xi Tianyi. Instead, he quietly followed behind Yang Linyin for the rest of the trip. Aside from greetings, Tai Wuling minimized any contact with Xi Tianyi and Jiang Daoyi as much as possible. That didn''t mean he avoided Xi Tianyi. On the contrary, Tai Wuling observed Xi Tianyi as much as possible. He did his best to learn his habits, likes, dislikes, and much much more. According to the information given by envoys, the law Xi Tianyi mastered to enter the Seamless Immortal Realm was related to the five elements, just like Tai Wuling. Tai Wuling planned to start comprehending the Law of Five Phases in order to enter the Seamless Immortal Realm. So far, he hadn''t mastered any of the individual laws that composed the Law of Five Phases. The closest one to mastery was the Law of Earth. Logically, he should have asked Xi Tianyi for pointers, but Tai Wuling refused. His body rejected the very notion, and the law Xi Tianyi used to enter the Seamless Immortal Realm made him detest the scion even more. Tai Wuling had thought that he would get a break once they reached the sect, but Sect Master Pathway had arranged a banquet for their guests on the second day after returning. Monarch Nine Heavens sat on Sect Master Pathway''s right, and the other true immortals scattered throughout the banquet. The sect master had placed Xi Tianyi, Jiang Daoyi, and Xia Yushan with the elite disciples who reached the immortal realm, like Yang Linyin and himself. Since only Duan Muli, Yang Linyin, and himself had reached the Immortal Realm in this generation, they added former elite disciples of the previous generations. Embarrassingly, only a single disciple from the third generation above them had reached the Immortal Realm, so they added even more disciples from earlier generations to make up for the number. Even worse was the fact that none of them had reached the Seamless Immortal Realm. For the first time since he joined, Tai Wuling felt that the disciples of the Eight Pillar Sect weren''t talented enough. If he cultivated for the same amount of time, he had the confidence to master a complete law. "I have long heard of Monarch Xi''s accomplishments. I don''t know if you would agree to a spar?" Tai Wuling saw Immortal Owlsnow stand up and ask with cupped fists. Owlsnow was a talented disciple from five generations ago, and he managed to almost completely master the Law of Snow, reaching the level of an immortal lord. Xi Tianyi slowly sipped the remaining wine in his cup before placing it down. "Since fellow Daoist had already asked, I have no other choice but to oblige." As Xi Tianyi and Immortal Owlsnow flew onto the makeshift platform, Tai Wuling focused all his attention on the battle. Since Xi Tianyi used one of the five elemental laws to reach the Seamless Immortal Realm, he should be able to glean some insights. In addition, he was quite interested in the Law of Lightning used to repel Monarch Whitelion spoken about by the envoys. Chapter 327: Yin-Yang Reversal Ba Shifang watched from his seat as his main body and the true immortal from the Eight Pillar Sect stared at each other, waiting for the signal. He glanced at Monarch Pathway. "Who do you think will win?" "That''s hard to say," Sect Master Pathway said as he stroked his beard. "I don''t know much about Monarch Xi, but an immortal monarch should never be underestimated. On the other hand, Young Owlsnow has improved his Concept of Snow to the point that he''s just a hair''s breadth away from mastering the Law of Ice. Monarch Xi undoubtedly has the advantage in terms of qi and power, but Young Owlsnow shouldn''t be underestimated. Either outcome is possible." ''So fifty-fifty, huh?'' Ba Shifang thought. ''However, saying an immortal lord has a fifty percent chance of defeating an immortal monarch is already a huge disgrace. An immortal monarch''s body is formed from the very law of the world, and one who hasn''t mastered it should never be able to even graze them.'' Ba Shifang took a closer look at Immortal Owlsnow. ''Unless he has some secrets? Could he be a protagonist candidate? No, the protagonist of the Eight Pillar Sect should be someone in the current generation or very close to it. Or maybe I''m being brainwashed by Main Body and putting too much thought into this.'' As the referee announced the start of the match, Ba Shifang expelled all extraneous thoughts from his mind. Since he was a clone created from Tianyi, watching him battle would greatly aid him in his own comprehension of the laws and execution of techniques.
Owlsnow tensed and waited for his foe, Monarch Xi, to move. After a full minute passed, he realized that his foe had no intention of attacking first. He took a deep breath. ''It''s only natural. I''m the challenger, and he''s in a higher realm than me." Still, Owlsnow couldn''t help but feel frustration welling up within himself. He recalled the blood, sweat, and tears from the years of hard work, yet a brat less than a tenth his age managed to accomplish what he had continuously pursued. That tender face seemed to mock him. The smile certainly only increased the feeling of mockery. Owlsnow took a deep breath. Whatever Monarch Xi thought, it didn''t matter. He had to remember that his only enemy was himself. Feeling the frosting chill covering him and cooling his mind, he observed Monarch Xi. Monarch Xi had an average height. He might have been on the taller side for mortals, but among immortals, he was actually below average. Coupled with his milky skin, he seemed like the child of some tycoon who never needed to work for anything in his life. Owlsnow stopped himself before he fell into the negative thought cycle again. He focused and released his immortal senses, but frustratingly, he couldn¡¯t detect Monarch Xi''s presence at all. It was as if he didn''t exist, but Owlsnow knew that was impossible. His eyes could clearly see him. Unless Monarch Xi had used some sort of concealment technique immediately? Owlsnow needed to confirm. He formed several hand seals, and snow began to drift down. It was a heavy snowstorm, and within a minute, a thin layer of snow had already covered the ground. Even as the terrain increased in his favor, Monarch Xi just continued to watch with his hands behind his back. The snow had increased Owlsnow''s sensory abilities, yet he still couldn''t detect Monarch Xi. It was as if there was a gap that his snow couldn''t fill for some reason, but that was more than enough to confirm that something was there. Owlsnow clenched his hand, and the snow began to cling to Monarch Xi. Like little insects, they slowly covered him from bottom to top until nothing could be seen. The snow-made tomb continued to grow larger until it was no longer snow but ice. "Ice Coffin successful," Owlsnow said. Just because he couldn''t directly injure an immortal monarch didn''t necessarily mean an immortal monarch had stronger attacks than him. As long as he could capture him, he won. "That''s what you get for underestimating me." Owlsnow turned toward the referee, a monarch-level elder. ''I won." But to his surprise, the immortal monarch elder only shook his head. Owlsnow''s eyes widened as he snapped toward the ice coffin. From within the ice, a red humanoid figure could be seen. Not long later, the ice dissolved, blasting Owlsnow with the intense heat and turning all the snow in the arena into water. Even as far away as he was, Owlsnow felt his throat start to parch, and his lips cracked. Owlsnow stared, wide-eyed, at the sheer heat emanating from his foe. Even in the midst of the heat apocalypse, Monarch Xi showed no change in his expression that would indicate the temperature around him was anything but warm spring. Instead of retreating, Owlsnow shortened the distance between them. A white-blue aura surrounded him and covered him in a layer of ice armor. The hotter the temperature became, the stronger his armor became. As a member of the Eight Pillar Sect, Owlsnow displayed one of the hallmark techniques of the Law of Yin-Yang, Yin-Yang Reversal. It wasn''t the true technique described in the Yin-Yang Heavenly Scripture, but it was more than enough to reverse the heat to cold. Owlsnow gritted his teeth as he saw Monarch Xi still doing nothing and just waiting. He punched forward. The chances of him injuring Monarch Xi were slim, but that didn''t mean that all the force would simply disappear.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. His eyes widened when he saw that Monarch Xi didn''t even budge from his spot as if he had been nailed to the ground. At the very least, he forced the immortal monarch to raise his hand unless he wanted to eat a knuckle sandwich. Monarch Xi just stared at him as if anticipating his next move, like an adult watching a child. Owlsnow gritted his teeth, but it soon transformed into a smirk. Ice started to appear on Monarch Xi''s hand, the one he used to block his punch. The problem with Owlsnow''s Yin-Yang Reversal technique was that it only worked on heat and cold, and its range was limited to what he touched. Since Monarch Xi had oh so graciously allowed him to come near without any defense, Owlsnow would show him the hubris of actions. The ice expanded from Monarch Xi''s fist and started to cover his entire body. The greater the heat, the stronger the ice coffin. And as long as Owlsnow kept in contact, Monarch Xi should give up on escaping! Just as a smile started to appear on Owlsnow''s mouth, it quickly disappeared. The ice started to melt, not from heat but from external influence, as if it hadn''t possessed the ability to turn into ice in the first place. Owlsnow recognized how Monarch Xi did it. Instead of focusing on the Law of Fire, Monarch Xi utilized the Law of Water. As an expert in the Law of Ice, Owlsnow had also peered into the mysteries of water. That''s why he knew how vast the difference between him and Monarch Xi was, akin to comparing a puddle to the ocean. Even the ice armor around Owlsnow melted and soaked into his robes. The heat had disappeared along with the chill, but he stumbled back and stared at Monarch Xi, trying to suppress his trembling. "What other techniques do you have? I''m quite interested in your Law of Ice. Show me your best technique." What other techniques? Owlsnow had already demonstrated his best techniques. Did Monarch Xi think it was some sort of spar? No, it was a demonstration of strength between the two forces, and he had lost terribly. True, he had always been at a disadvantage, but Owlsnow himself never thought it that way. The worst part was that Monarch Xi seemed completely sincere in his words. Owlsnow felt something sweet rise up in his throat. He clamped down on it and prevented the blood from spurting out of his mouth. If he spat blood now, it would forever shame him and degrade his sect. Even if he lost, he should never drag the sect down. "Monarch Xi''s abilities are worthy of respect despite your age. I willingly admit my inferiority," Owlsnow said while cupping his hand towards his opponent and in a bow. "So quick? You don''t have to worry about hurting me, I can still take a few more moves." Owlsnow almost couldn''t prevent himself from spurting out blood. ''This bastard! He''s doing this on purpose. How much more do you want to humiliate me!?" "Monarch Xi is joking," Owlsnow said through gritted teeth. "How can junior have the ability to hurt you?" Without waiting for Monarch Xi to respond, Owlsnow left the stage and returned to his seat.
Tai Wuling clenched his hand as he felt the atmosphere turn sullen. He could hear his teeth grinding against each other. It took all his self-control not to challenge Xi Tianyi. From the battle, he knew that Xi Tianyi had mastered at least the Law of Fire and was very close to mastering the Law of Water, if not already. It was true he was close to mastering the five elemental laws, but five incomplete laws could not compete with two complete laws. Tai Wuling could sense Xi Tianyi sitting back down in his seat. He thought the tense atmosphere would return to normal after a few cheers, but then Xi Tianyi opened his mouth. "Immortal Owlsnow''s Law of Ice was quite interesting, I wonder which laws Immortal Owlsnow''s peers specialize in." This was an open challenge! Did Xi Tianyi really think they won''t teach him a lesson just because he was invited as a guest? He wasn''t even as crucial as Monarch Nine Heavens. Tai Wuling looked at his seniors, hoping for someone to step up and take Xi Tianyi down a peg, but what he saw disappointed him. None of the former elite disciples stood up to the challenge. Even the immortal lords said something along the lines of, "we couldn''t compete against an immortal monarch." Just as he prepared to stand up, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking toward the source, Tai Wuling saw Yang Linyin shaking their head in a negative manner. Tai Wuling swallowed the humiliation. After everyone rejected his advances, it seemed Xi Tianyi finally took a hint and didn''t say anymore. Most of the time, he saw Xi Tianyi leaning into Jiang Daoyi and whispering something. Jiang Daoyi didn''t show much change in emotion and lightly replied toward Xi Tianyi, showing a distant attitude. It was then that Tai Wuling realized his understanding of the relationship between the two immortals was incomplete. Clearly, Tianyi was deeply in love with Daoyi to the point that he forced her to marry him. With an immortal sovereign supporting him, how could a weak woman like Jiang Daoyi resist? The most resistance she could offer was her cold attitude! Tai Wuling frowned when he felt Yang Linyin pinch him. He looked at them. "Stop staring so much. You''re going to attract his attention." Although he felt Yang Linyin''s words were a bit off, Tai Wuling obeyed. The banquet finished with no problem, and everyone returned to their residence. Tai Wuling followed Yang Linyin back to their mansion. "What do you think of Xi Tianyi''s strength?" Yang Linyin asked after sitting down in the main hall. "Powerful, he must have mastered the Law of Fire and possibly the Law of Water. Although I couldn''t detect his qi, he should have fused two out of the five elements into his qi. Meaning, he''s a second step monarch," Tai Wuling said. "I saw that too," Yang Linyin said. "I''m talking about Xi Tianyi''s technique." "His technique?" Tai Wuling asked. He recalled the scene, and his eyes widened. "He seemed unused to it, as if he had no practice using it." Yang Linyin nodded gravely. "Do you think the Buzhou Immortal Sect really has a method to produce immortal monarchs? There''s no other explanation for why Xi Tianyi is so terrible at applying the law he used to enter the Seamless Immortal Realm." Is that really the case, Tai Wuling wondered. Was that why he felt danger from Xi Tianyi? No, his gut instinct told him that Xi Tianyi was hiding a much more terrifying power than the tip of the iceberg revealed today. Chapter 328: World Incinerating Mandala: After the banquet, Monarch Nine Heavens and Xi Tianyi didn''t take any action and stayed within the Eight Pillar Sect. Even when the Anti-Earth Alliance doubled their offensive, the Eight Pillar Sect didn''t mobilize the two monarchs from the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Instead of reassuring the Anti-Earth Alliance, this only made them worry more. And they were right to worry. On the surface, the two foreign monarchs and the other true immortals stayed in Reversed Heaven Abode residence of the Eight Pillar Sect, never leaving and only allowing a few certified cultivators to enter. In truth, Monarch Nine Heavens and Xi Tianyi weren''t residing in the Eight Pillar Sect at all. Tai Wuling would know. He was one of the two dispatched to guide them through the Earth Continent along with Yang Linyin. They were to show Monarch Nine Heavens the strategic points to mark for future spatial relays. Naturally, this was done in secret, so all members changed into disguises. Surprisingly, Xi Tianyi had actually gone along and dressed in some black Daoist robes. Since Monarch Nine Heavens had been reclusive and few knew his appearance, he didn''t change his appearance much. Tai Wuling did his best to ignore Xi Tianyi. Honestly, why was he following along with Monarch Nine Heavens? Not like he could help, or maybe the two stayed together for safety. Whatever it was, Xi Tianyi was content not to interact with Tai Wuling, something he was grateful for, but not to Xi Tianyi. He glanced forward at the leading figure dressed in dark blue. At least there was one perk to this mission. Yang Linyin preferred to stay in their male form and rarely showed their female form. In fact, Tai Wuling hadn''t seen their female form ever since they returned to the Eight Pillar Sect. "What is it?" Yang Linyin asked as they turned around. Currently, the group was flying close to the ground to avoid unnecessary attention. "What? Is something wrong?" Tai Wuling asked. "Yes, you''ve been staring," Yang Linyin said. "Oh, I''m trying to soak up the image before you go back. It''s rare that I get to see you like this after all." That earned him a punch from Yang Linyin. As it was their female form that focused on spiritual cultivation, it didn''t actually hurt that much. In hindsight, he should have kept his true feelings on the matter. Tai Wuling opened his mouth to apologize but froze. Was that a blush rising up on their face? Before he could ask, he heard a chuckle behind him. Turning around, he saw Xi Tianyi hiding his mouth behind his fingers. "True love is wonderful." Shame flushed through Tai Wuling. He couldn''t believe he allowed Xi Tianyi to see that. Xi Tianyi only knew Yang Linyin as a male and probably saw their disguise as something fully external and not internal. Was he making fun of him? Did Xi Tianyi think he was homosexual? Because he wasn''t! Xi Tianyi didn''t know when to stop and looked like he wanted to say more. ''I''ll kill him.'' Luckily, before wrath could overtake Tai Wuling''s mind, Jiang Daoyi pulled on Xi Tianyi''s sleeve and shook her head. Magically, Xi Tianyi raised an eyebrow, but no words left his mouth. Tai Wuling also calmed down during this time. He couldn''t help but take a few more glances at Jiang Daoyi. She was too good of a woman for Xi Tianyi, like laying pearls before swine. He huffed and focused back on the mission. The group consisted of himself, Yang Linyin, Monarch Nine Heavens, Xi Tianyi, Jiang Daoyi, and Wang Feili, an ancient true immortal from the Eight Pillar Sect. The group was kept small to prevent the Anti-Earth Alliance from discovering them. In terms of strength, unless an immortal emperor showed up, they should have no problem since they had two immortal monarchs, one who specialized in the Law of Space, so escape was no problem. Still, Tai Wuling didn''t trust Monarch Nine Heavens. Leading the foreign immortal to help up setting spatial relays almost meant exposing the strategic locations to an outsider. The sect naturally also knew of this downside, but that was probably why they planned to eliminate Monarch Nine Heavens in the first place. The Eight Pillar Sect locked down any sort of communication with the world outside the Earth Continent. Their position as the hegemonic sect wasn''t for show. So, even if Monarch Nine Heavens mastered the Law of Space, he wouldn''t be able to pass off the information to the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Speaking of which, Tai Wuling turned around to stare at Xi Tianyi, who was habitually staring into the distance. Yang Linyin also noticed. "What''s wrong, Monarch Xi?" "You don''t sense it?" Xi Tianyi asked. Tai Wuling frowned and then looked at Monarch Nine Heavens. If anyone in the group should have sensed something, shouldn''t it be the master of space? He turned to look toward Yang Linyin. Yang Linyin took out the Eight Way Mirror, a monarch-level immortal artifact used to sense the surrounding. The sect had lent it to them specifically for this mission, and it could detect almost any concealment technique at the immortal monarch level and below. When Yang Linyin shook their head, Tai Wuling snorted. Figured that the wastrel would want to look more impressive than he was, sensing a threat when no one else could. He looked at Xi Tianyi, who shrugged, infuriating Tai Wuling even more. ''You got exposed, and you don''t even care?!'' Tai Wuling suppressed the brimming rage in his body and forcibly turned his head away. He had more important business than arguing with a manchild. The group followed Yang Linyin toward their next point. The locations they were sneaking to mostly concerned critical points to assault the Anti-Earth Alliance, and they hardly visited any of the Eight Pillar Sect''s strategic locations.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Once they reached it, Monarch Nine Heavens knelt at the location. He reached into his robes and pulled out what seemed to be a seed. The seed was blacker than black, almost like a hole in reality, but if one peered into it, they would see a whole galaxy. Monarch Nine Heavens dropped the seed into the ground. It melded with the ground, disappearing into nothing. Once Monarch Nine Heavens finished, the group turned to leave for the next point of interest. Of course, since this was so close to the enemy stronghold, they had to be sneaky about it. Just as the group of six prepared to leave, Xi Tianyi suddenly grabbed Jiang Daoyi and hid behind Monarch Nine Heavens. Tai Wuling''s instincts went crazy. He moved in front of Yang Linyin and activated his Five Element Barrier technique. The next thing the group knew, a four-layer mandala formed of four different flames crashed into them. Tai Wuling couldn''t believe it. His Five Element Barrier was formed from qi of the five elements, like a pseudo fifth-step immortal monarch''s qi. He layered concepts of the five elements into his technique with a concept of earth as the core, making it indestructible to all things. Yet, under his disbelieving eyes, he saw that his Five Element Barrier was burning under the five-colored flame. "Hraaahhh!" Tai Wuling roared and raised the power of the Five Element Barrier to the maximum. When the four-colored fire finally disappeared, Tai Wuling released the Five Element Barrier. Sweat coated his entire body, and he panted like crazy. He turned around. "You alright?" Yang Linyin stared at him. "You saved me again." Tai Wuling shook his head. "But I couldn''t save Wang Feili." The two turned toward the ashes of their companion. Unlike Tai Wuling, who reacted after seeing Xi Tianyi take action, Wang Feili was already incinerated before he realized what had happened. Tai Wuling glared at Xi Tianyi. "Why didn''t you warn us?!" "Didn''t you ignore my warning?" Xi Tianyi asked. Yang Linyin and Tai Wuling recalled the time Tianyi kept looking in a certain direction and how Yang Linyin used the Eight Way Mirror to survey their surroundings but came with nothing. Their faces turned ugly. "You still could have said something!" "I could, but you looked like you wouldn''t listen. Why should I waste my words for a futile effort?" Xi Tianyi asked with a shrug, causing Tai Wuling''s rage to increase. "Still, shouldn''t you be focused on the attackers instead of me?" Xi Tianyi''s words reminded Tai Wuling, and he turned toward the source of the attack. Since the fire possessed the ability to overcome his barrier, then the attacker should be an immortal monarch. He raised his guard and focused on the attackers. A group of immortals came into his view. The one that caught his attention was the man in the lead. He had a handsome face and exuded a valiant temperament. In his hands was a black and silver spear. Tai Wuling could only sense true immortals and no immortal monarchs. He couldn''t believe it. Could a true immortal, even an immortal lord, display such a powerful technique? "It''s impressive you were able to deflect my World Incinerating Mandala," the man at the front said as he scanned Tai Wuling''s group. He blinked when he saw a certain scion. "Xi Tianyi?!" Xi Tianyi waved. "Yo! Didn''t you hear? Due to an agreement between our sects, we''re here to aid the Eight Pillar Sect. Speaking of which, I didn''t expect you to be here, Yan Nie." "Yan Nie?" Yang Linyin repeated. "Divine Flame Immortal Lord?" Tai Wuling''s expression turned even graver. Of course he had heard of the Divine Flame Immortal Lord, shortened to Divine Flame Lord. The Divine Flame Lord was someone of their generation and suddenly appeared on the Anti-Earth Alliance side one day. Despite his unknown origins, he showed extremely high combat capabilities and even managed to fatally injure an immortal as a transcending mortality saint. He gained his title due to the powerful flames he wielded, which were unique to him. Now, it seemed that the Divine Flame Lord had origins in the Heaven Continent. Or, at least visited there before coming to the Earth Continent. "We should probably leave," Monarch Nine Heavens said. "If we delay any longer, their reinforcement might arrive, and it''ll become troublesome by then." "No, I can''t leave before I make that bastard pay!" Tai Wuling shouted as he charged at the Divine Flame Lord. Five differently colored lights, each representing one of the five elements, appeared on the tip of Tai Wuling''s figure. He clenched his hand and punched forward, meeting the Divine Flame Lord''s spearhead. Flames burst, and Tai Wuling flew back several meters. He looked at his hand to see it smoking and with some burn lines but otherwise fine. "Tch!" The five different-colored lights on his fingers changed to black, representing water. Tai Wuling attacked again. Only this time, the water burst out from his palm, coating his arm and body like armor. The Divine Flame Lord brandished his spear, and a fiery glow encased his spear before striking forward. Unlike the previous clash, Tai Wuling hadn''t been knocked back by the confrontation. What the Divine Flame Lord faced wasn''t just a regular water-based attack but one fueled by all the other elements. To Tai Wuling''s shock, despite the apparent stalemate, he was actually at a disadvantage. ''Just what is that flame?'' Tai Wuling wondered. His master, Emperor Infinity, had informed him that he had the ability to compete against immortal monarchs, yet, here he was, being pushed back by another true immortal. Tai Wuling possessed the dao chaos spiritual root, the only one to possess a dao root. His opponents should be those in a higher realm than him, not those in the same realm. He roared. "I''ll defeat you!" The water shroud covering turned red and converted to flames. Yet, that only made it worse. Tai Wuling sensed the fire fueled by the five elements prostrate itself in the face of the Divine Flame Lord''s fire. The fire around him dispersed, leaving him defenseless. As one who experienced countless battles, the Divine Flame Lord would not miss this chance. Three more fires emerged atop his spear tip as it pierced forward to deliver the finishing blow. Just as it seemed that the spear would pierce his heart, Yang Linyin appeared in front of Tai Wuling. They held the Eight Way Mirror in front of them, and the space between them and the Divine Flame Lord cracked like glass. "Linyin?" Tai Wuling shouted. "Shut up!" Yang Linyin said. They turned toward Monarch Nine Heavens. "What are you doing? Hurry up, take us and leave!" "No, you don''t!" the Divine Flame Lord said. A fifth fire appeared at the tip of his spear. Now, there were five differently-colored flames: red, black, white, yellow, and green. Tai Wuling realized why his five elements fueled water and fire loss to the Divine Flame Lord. His foe also merged the other elements into the fire, and he was further ahead. "World Incinerating Mandala!" Chapter 329: Mastering the Law of Fire Yan Nie''s eyes widened when he saw Xi Tianyi appear behind Tai Wuling and Yang Linyin. The immortal monarch reached forward and touched his World Incinerating Mandala. ''Is he an idiot? Not even immortal monarchs would be immune to my five-colored flame. It''s the embryonic form of a divine flame!'' Yet, under Yan Nie''s disbelieving eyes, his five-layered World Incinerating Mandala disappeared, sucked into Xi Tianyi''s hand. Sure, he hadn''t fully merged the Immortal Flame of Fire, Immortal Flame of Water, Immortal Flame of Earth, Immortal Flame of Metal, and Immortal Flame of Wood, but it still wasn''t something so easily solved, especially by a newly ascended immortal monarch. If he had perfectly merged them, then even an immortal emperor would have to be careful. The shock froze Yan Nie. He could accept his most powerful move being resisted or even defeated, but not this easily. While dazed, Monarch Nine Heavens teleported Xi Tianyi, Jiang Daoyi, Yang Linyin, and Tai Wuling away. "Damn, those rats are quick to flee! If we had more time, we could have taken them." His second-in-command''s words awakened him from his daze. "No, we''re lucky they escaped." "What, that''s impossible. How could they match you, the Divine Flame Lord?" Yan Nie shrugged helplessly. His second-in-command had been one of his most vocal detractors after he became a member of the Anti-Earth Alliance thanks to his master, Monarch Pillrabbit''s connections. But after a life-and-death situation and a battle, his most vocal detractor became one of his biggest supporters. "Did you not see how Monarch Xi easily absorbed my attack?" Yan Nie asked. "Plus, there was another monarch present. Even if I could stall one, the rest of you would be killed by the second." Yan Nie''s second-in-command stilled. It was not like he was stupid, just hot-blooded. Still, seeing Xi Tianyi reminded him of his allies back in the Heaven Continent. How was Pan Lanyue, or his childhood friend? Last he heard, his childhood friend had magically changed genders to become the saintess of the Cloud Goddess Cult. He wondered if she had reached the Immortal Realm yet. Yan Nie shook his head. He had more important matters to care about. "Search the area, investigate why two foreign monarchs were snooping around!" "YES!" Unfortunately, they didn''t find anything wrong even when the reinforcement arrived. For now, they could only seal off the space using a formation and hope their measures would prevent any unwanted consequences.
"Linyin!" Tai Wuling shouted as he cradled Yang Linyin in his arms. After Monarch Nine Heavens teleported them to safety, Yang Linyin immediately fainted and would have fallen onto the floor had it not been for his quick reflexes. The Eight Way Mirror clattered as it dropped from their grasp and fell onto the ground; a split appeared on its reflective surface. However, despite the fracture on the monarch-level artifact, Tai Wuling didn''t care as he continued to shout Yang Linyin''s name but to no avail. Yang Linyin remained unconscious in his arms with no signs of waking. A footstep thundered inside Tai Wuling''s ears. He snapped his head up and focused on the three from the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Then he saw red. "You!" He could see Xi Tianyi blink at him in confusion, which only enraged him further. "Why did you wait until Linyin couldn''t hold on anymore before helping!? You caused this, you caused them to almost die. If you can''t even take action to protect your allies, we, the Eight Pillar Sect, have doubts about your sincerity on the alliance!" Xi Tianyi blinked some more before shaking his head and then directing his disdainful gazes at him, further infuriating Tai Wuling. "Did you forget who attacked with reckless abandon?" "The smarter move would be to retreat to safety, but someone rushed forward like an idiot without regard for the situation. Because that idiot couldn''t even accomplish his goal and got himself in a predicament, forcing Yang Linyin to save his sorry ass." Tai Wuling didn''t know what sorry ass meant, but it wasn''t hard to figure out. He gritted his teeth and refused to back down. "You still should have done more." "That is also true, but you forgot we were so shocked by a certain someone''s idiotic move we froze. I mean, who rushes head-first against a group of enemies without waiting for their allies'' consent?" Xi Tianyi said, his mockery couldn''t be more evident. When Tai Wuling only growled, Xi Tianyi only shrugged, seemingly losing all interest. He waved his hand, and a decadent immortal boat appeared. "Are you crazy? You want the Anti-Earth Alliance to discover our location?!" Tai Wuling yelled. Xi Tianyi turned back and looked at him top-to-bottom. Finally, he said, "Take a look around you." Tai Wuling blinked. He wanted to ignore Xi Tianyi''s words, but he still followed them. That''s when he realized that Monarch Nine Heavens had teleported them to the vicinity of the Eight Pillar Sect. No matter how daring the Anti-Earth Alliance was, the chances of them attacking here were practically zero unless their immortal emperor personally took action. "Geez, I only thought you were hotheaded, but I didn''t realize you had tunnel vision too," Xi Tianyi said. "I had higher expectations for a disciple of Emperor Infinity."Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Tai Wuling clenched his teeth as his veins started to become more pronounced from his coursing anger. Xi Tianyi threw one last glance at him before flying to the immortal boat. Jiang Daoyi sent him a look. It wasn''t mockery or disdain like Xi Tianyi''s gaze but a look of disappointment. Tai Wuling felt lost in his heart for some reason, like he had lost something that was originally his. Tai Wuling said nothing as he boarded the immortal boat after Jiang Daoyi and Monarch Nine Heavens. For the short trip back to the Eight Pillar Sect, he said nothing and refused to allow Monarch Nine Heavens to approach the unconscious woman in his arms. When the group of five returned to the sect ahead, numerous immortals grouped around them. Tai Wuling had already reported what happened using an impartial standpoint. He knew that he had screwed up, and excuses would not fly since he had been in the wrong. Sure, the Eight Pillar Sect might have been displeased by Monarch Nine Heavens or Xi Tianyi''s inaction, but he held the greater blame for his reckless action. After the healers took Yang Linyin away for recovery, Sect Master Pathway apologized to Xi Tianyi and Monarch Nine Heavens after recovering the Eight Way Mirror, causing Tai Wuling to clench his fist until his nails dug into his palms under his sleeve. Not long after, he was summoned by the grand elder. Inside Emperor Infinity''s secluded cultivation chamber, Tai Wuling kneeled with his head low. "Master." Emperor Infinity stayed silent for a few minutes before opening his eyes and finally acknowledging Tai Wuling. "Wuling, you were too brash this time." Tai Wuling stayed silent and continued to look down at the ground. Emperor Infinity sighed. "I understand that you dislike the Buzhou Immortal Sect, but you must not let your personal thoughts cloud your judgment. I and your uncle-masters invited aid from the Buzhou Immortal Sect for a reason. All will become clear in the future." Tai Wuling recalled the words Yang Linyin said to him. Emperor Infinity was right, he would let Xi Tianyi be proud for now. The higher you are, the harder you fall. "Yes, Master. Disciple understands." Emperor Infinity didn''t relax and sighed instead. He had felt Tai Wuling''s killing intent spike for a brief moment before disappearing. The immortal emperor didn''t know that Tai Wuling already knew the plan, so he took the spike as something else. "Wuling, sometimes in life, you have to endure." Tai Wuling raised his head with confusion plastered on his face. "I know of your experiences. You started out as a loose cultivator and needed to fight inch and nail for every opportunity. You shouldered everything alone, but now, that is no longer the case." "The sect is your greatest backing, but sometimes, even the sect is powerless. I am powerless," Emperor Infinity said. "The sad truth is that we needed Monarch Nine Heavens'' aid. Even if Disciple Yang''s injuries were their fault, we can do nothing but hold it in and endure this humiliation." Emperor Infinity''s eyes turned sharp, like a drawn sword. "But I can promise you this. We only need to endure for now. The Eight Pillar Sect will rise to its rightful place as the hegemon of the Huang Realm." "So endure, and carve this humiliation into your bones and use it to fuel your progress," Emperor Infinity said. "Thank you, Master," Tai Wuling said, cupping his fist. His determination burned brighter than ever. However, he still had one concern. "Master, about Linyin." Emperor Infinity sighed. "Their condition is stable, but it is unknown when they will wake. The junior, the Divine Flame Lord, unleashed an attack heavy in yang nature, but Disciple Yang was in their yin form at the time. Their soul was more vulnerable, and the junior''s World Incinerating Mandala burned a portion of their soul." Tai Wuling turned crestfallen. "Is there no way? Surely, with the Eight Pillar Sect''s resources, we can save them?" "Injuries to the soul are hard to heal. You''ll have to wait until the sect''s other grand elder, Grand Elder Soulsilk, returns. He might have a solution," Emperor Infinity said. Still, seeing Tai Wuling''s heartbroken expression, he added, "Do not worry too much. Did you forget their condition was stable? Once Grand Elder Soulsilk returns, they should be able to wake up." "I understand," Tai Wuling said. He returned not long later, his mood low but more determined than ever. Emperor Infinity didn''t immediately close his eyes but sat in silence, waiting. Soon after, another figure exuding an ancient air and aura not one whit weaker than him appeared. "How are they?" "Their condition is stable, but parts of their soul are missing," Emperor Soulseek said. "Luckily, they had already begun to merge their two cultivation methods, so their soul is repairing itself. Once they wake up, they won''t be far from reaching the Seamless Immortal Realm." "That''s good news, so why is your expression so heavy?" Emperor Infinity asked. "Parts of their soul disappeared. Even if their soul is repaired, it won''t be the same," Emperor Soulseek said. "They might be missing memories, and that is the best outcome. More than likely, their personality will become different. Those who recovered from soul injuries are more likely to form inner devils." Emperor Infinity frowned. "They''re such a good seed. If worst comes to worst, they can only be sacrificed for the greater good of the sect." "If they manage to overcome this misfortune, they will have the highest chance of reaching the Extremity Immortal Realm," Emperor Soulseek said.
Tai Wuling returned to his abode and shut himself in his cultivation chambers. Yang Linyin''s pale face flashed before his eyes whenever he closed them. He took a few moments to compose himself. He closed his eyes and expunged all unnecessary thoughts. Needlessly worrying about Yang Linyin would bring no benefits. It was better to increase his strength so that he could get revenge against Yan Nie and those bastards from the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Tai Wuling began to recall the Divine Flame Lord''s World Incinerating Mandala. Earth bears metal, metal collects water, water nourishes wood, and wood feeds fire. That was the secret behind the technique, but he could tell it was not complete. If it were complete, the World Incinerating Mandala would have instantly destroyed him. He could feel it. With his understanding of all five elements as the foundation, his mastery of the Law of Fire quickly advanced. Tai Wuling had always expected to master the Law of Earth since he had mastered a concept of earth first, but his encounter with the Divine Flame Lord changed that. When Tai Wuling opened his eyes, a world of flames could be seen reflected from his eyes. Now, he had the means and method to injure and defeat immortal monarchs. Tai Wuling also understood the Divine Flame Lord''s trump card more now. The Divine Flame Lord was likely a hair''s breadth away from mastering the Law of Fire, but the reason he was so powerful wasn''t because of his comprehension of the laws but his secret technique. "Divine Flame Lord, Xi Tianyi, I will defeat both of you," Tai Wuling promised out loud. He closed his eyes and returned to cultivate. Due to the relationship between the five elements and his dao chaos spiritual root, Tai Wuling gained numerous inspirations and insight into the other four elemental laws. He wanted to seize this chance and master a second law if possible. Chapter 330: The Yellow Mausoleum Among the five elements, wood represented the east, fire represented the south, metal represented the west, water represented the north, and earth represented the center. As such, earth tied everything together and was the basis of the fusion of the five elements. Tai Wuling originally planned on mastering the Law of Earth before mastering any of the other elemental laws. However, his plans could not keep up with the changes. He would have been a fool to repress his sudden insight into the Law of Fire. After mastering the Law of Fire, he didn''t immediately use it to enter the Seamless Immortal Realm. While it would instantly boost his strength by several folds, it would hinder his future progress. Tai Wuling didn''t want to pick up a sesame seed only to lose a watermelon. Once he entered the Seamless Immortal Realm with the Law of Fire, his new immortal body would form with that as the foundation. However, if he wanted to change the foundation of his immortal body later, the price and time he would pay was too immense compared to directly forming his immortal body out of the five elemental laws at once. If Tai Wuling proceeded as planned, he would instantly have the power to compete with a half immortal emperor once he entered the Seamless Immortal Realm, or at least a peak immortal monarch. Tai Wuling doubted anyone would see it coming or anyone else had tried. It was a crazy plan that required absolute talent. Not even the Sword Sovereign had the genius to pull it off. Mastering a single law was already hard enough, and most true immortals spent their whole lives mastering one, much less five. If he had not possessed the dao chaos spiritual root, Tai Wuling wouldn''t have attempted to do it either. He could already imagine the stunned faces of his opponents and that damn Xi Tianyi. Tai Wuling didn''t consider himself a vain man. If he were, he would have instantly shouted to the world that he mastered the Law of Fire, but he had to admit the image of a shocked and fearful Xi Tianyi did bring a smile to his face. Tai Wuling shook his head. If he had time to think of what-ifs, he had time to cultivate. For cultivators in his realm, mindlessly accumulating qi had little effect. Just by existing, he would accumulate immortal qi, but comprehension was a different matter. How did fire relate to earth? It burns things, turning them into ashes that make up the earth. Conversely, earth could also extinguish fire, the ever-changing element. Tai Wuling immersed himself in comprehension. When his insights into the Law of Earth stopped, he focused on the next elements: water, metal, or wood. When those ran out, he used his new understanding and fed it back into the Law of Earth, forming a positive cycle. Only when he reached his bottleneck and could comprehend no more did Tai Wuling stop his secluded cultivation. After calculating, he discovered that he had been immersed in comprehension for two years. He hadn''t planned to cultivate that long, it just happened. After asking around, Tai Wuling learned that the war between the Eight Pillar Sect and the Anti-Earth Alliance had reached a temporary truce. While he was in secluded cultivation, a pocket dimension appeared between the two forces'' territory. Now, if it had been an ordinary immortal grotto or entrance to another realm, it would not have brought many waves during these turbulent times, but it was the content of the pocket dimension that caused all forces, even the ones from the Heaven Continent and Mortal Continent, to take notice. Inside the pocket dimension was the Yellow God''s grave. During the primordial era, there existed a group formed of five gods. They were the Yellow God, Red God, Black God, White God, and Green God. Each one represented one of the five elements. They later perished, but their position was later taken over by the five emperors of the Three Sovereigns, Five Emperors. For the grave of a divinity of the primordial era, Grand Elder Infinity and Eternal Night Emperor of the Anti-Earth Alliance both arrived to investigate. From there, both sides released news that the pocket dimension was a fragment of the Broken Primordial World and that it would merge with the Huang Realm. Along with the news, the pocket dimension became known as the Yellow Mausoleum. Once the Huang Realm merged with the fragment of the Broken Primordial World, it would experience a period of growth. Although it wouldn''t likely reach the level of the Primordial World at its peak, the overall strength would increase. This meant more abundant spiritual qi, larger landmasses, and an increasing population with the talent to cultivate. But for cultivators like Tai Wuling, the meaning was completely different. The effects of the Huang Realm merging with the fragment of the Primordial World would only show in a thousand years or later. What he and other true immortals focused on was the benefits available from the Yellow Mausoleum. Due to the unique nature of the pocket dimension, only those below the Seamless Immortal Realm could enter. Otherwise, the immortal body formed of worldly laws would interfere with the pocket dimension and cause it to shatter at worst. Tai Wuling''s eyes practically glowed when he heard this news. Without an immortal monarch, he had the confidence to sweep his competition, even those from an earlier generation. It was as if the heavens were helping him. As he expected, his master soon summoned him. "Wuling, you must have already heard the news," Emperor Infinity said. Tai Wuling nodded. "Yes, I have." "I won''t lie to you," Emperor Infinity said. "The forces from the other continents also dispatched their true immortals to the Yellow Mausoleum, and we are powerless to stop them. I originally worried that our sect wouldn''t have much of an advantage over the other forces, but my worries have decreased after seeing you. You''ve made great strides in your comprehension, have you not?"The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Tai Wuling revealed a confident smile. "Answering Master, Disciple has mastered the Law of Fire." "Good, good, good, "Emperor Infinity said. "Right now, all the other forces are still rushing over. We already dispatched some of our true immortals to enter, and you have to catch up." "Master, what about Linyin?" Tai Wuling asked. He hadn''t heard much about them since he exited his secluded cultivation. "Their soul is healing, and they should awake before the Yellow Mausoleum disappears," Emperor Infinity said, causing Tai Wuling to sigh in relief. "You should note that there are others who have already entered that you should be wary of." "Yan Nie, the Divine Flame Lord," Tai Wuling said as if spitting out garbage. Emperor Infinity nodded. "However, he isn''t the only one. The Cloud Goddess Cult sent their saintess. The saintess has the ability to summon an aspect of the Cloud Goddess using faith, drastically increasing her strength." Tai Wuling nodded. He had been wondering how strong the sect of the Huang Realm''s sole divinity was. They had to be strong since their leader could reach a stalemate with an immortal sovereign, right? "The ones you should be most wary of are the two from the Buzhou Immortal Sect," Emperor Infinity said. "But Master, Monarch Nine Heavens and Xi Tianyi can''t enter the Yellow Mausoleum. Why should I be wary of them? Unless they are going to attack me when I come out?" Tai Wuling asked. Emperor Infinity shook his head. "As long as our alliance still stands, they, too, won''t break it just to attack you." Tai Wuling had to will himself not to bristle at the implication that he wasn''t worth it. Either he succeeded, or his master pretended not to notice. "You should be wary of the people next to Xi Tianyi, Jiang Daoyi, and Xia Yushan, the Buzhou Immortal Sect Master''s sole disciple," Emperor Infinity said. When Tai Wuling showed a confused expression, the immortal emperor continued. "I suspect Xia Yushan cultivates the Emotion Severance Sutra. It gives the cultivator supreme talent, but it also wipes them of any morals. Among the people entering, you should be most wary of sneak attacks from him." Tai Wuling recalled his interaction with Xia Yushan, or rather lack thereof. Xia Yushan exuded an aura that made people distance themselves and only spoke if he had to. Even among the entourage from the Buzhou Immortal Sect, few integrated themselves with him. "I understand, but why is Jiang Daoyi so dangerous?" "I can''t fully see through her," Emperor Infinity said, surprising Tai Wuling. "I can''t see through Xi Tianyi either, the Sword Sovereign likely bestowed him a treasure that prevents people from investigating him too much. Sometimes, he feels like a complete mortal to me." Tai Wuling frowned and stored the information for later. "Jiang Daoyi is a true immortal, of that I have no doubt. But I feel the presence of death around her, and she likely cultivates the Law of Death," Emperor Infinity said. Tai Wuling''s eyes widened. Among the myriad laws, the Law of Death was one of the most feared, alongside the Law of Destruction. Compared to the Law of Destruction, most people''s feeling towards the Law of Death was horror. Those who practiced the Law of Death excelled at concealing themselves and attacking the soul using esoteric methods beyond other soul cultivators. To think that Jiang Daoyi actually comprehended a portion of the Law of Death. If that was the case, Tai Wuling wanted to know why he hadn''t heard of her. Maybe she was more famous in the Heaven Continent? "Don''t worry, Master, I will defend against soul attacks from her and other soul cultivators," Tai Wuling said. Although part of him dismissed it, Jiang Daoyi seemed more like the type to react than actively scheming and attacking others. "No, I''m not reminding you to defend against soul cultivators but be wary of her specifically," Emperor Infinity said. He sighed, his disciple didn''t see the girl as a threat. "If my suspicions are correct, Jiang Daoyi likely possesses the strength of an immortal lord. I doubt it''s because of her mastery in the Law of Death, but you should be wary nonetheless." "An immortal lord?" Tai Wuling repeated in shock. He never expected the beautiful yet unassuming girl to possess such strength. Perhaps there had been a reason for her following Xi Tianyi and Monarch Nine Heavens aside from being the former''s wife. "So you shouldn''t underestimate her," Emperor Infinity said. After warning him, he instructed Tai Wuling on several scenarios and prepared him for exploring the Yellow Mausoleum. Tai Wuling left not long later. Unknown to him, Emperor Infinity stared at the abode Monarch Nine Heavens resided in. Unlike Xi Tianyi, who escorted his wife and the other true immortals to the Yellow Mausoleum, Monarch Nine Heavens had chosen to stay. Despite the Eight Pillar Sect possessing formations preventing any monarch who mastered the Law of Space from snooping around, Emperor Infinity had the distinct feeling that it wouldn''t work on Monarch Nine Heavens. It was as if he had already reached the immortal emperor level in law. After seeing no reaction from Monarch Nine Heaven''s abode, Emperor Infinity sighed to himself and resumed cultivating. If he could reach the Origin Immortal Realm, the pressure on the Eight Pillar Sect would drastically reduce.
Tai Wuling left the Eight Pillar Sect a few days later with the next batch of true immortals. He saw many members of the former elite disciples that sat around him during the banquet. "So, you are also in this ground," Immortal Owlsnow said. "Make sure to stay behind us to keep out of danger." Tai Wuling plastered a smile onto his face. "Thanks for your concern, but it''ll be best for me to go alone." Owlsnow''s expression noticeably cooled, but he said nothing and walked away. Tai Wuling noticed that the other true immortals from the same group also interacted less than him, but it didn''t matter. His strength had already exceeded the norm of the true immortal level, reaching the half-monarch level. When the immortal boat neared a hundred thousand kilometers of the entrance to the Yellow Mausoleum, Tai Wuling felt the influence of the Law of Earth increase. This included his insight into the Law of Earth. Tai Wuling immediately sat in a lotus position and sensed the fluctuating Law of Earth. He wasn''t the only one. Even someone not talented in the Law of Earth would be able to sense it due to the Yellow Mausoleum. It only increased once he saw the golden portal leading to the Yellow Mausoleum. Tai Wuling stood up, along with the others. If they could get so many benefits just from being near it, then the benefits inside would be even greater. Chapter 331: Law Fragment At the portal to the Yellow Mausoleum, numerous forces set up camp. Tai Wuling and the newly arrived true immortals immediately flew toward the camp formed by Monarch Dong. "Elder," Tai Wuling and the others greeted. Monarch Dong waved his hands. "No need for courtesy. All of you have to be careful when you enter the pocket dimension. Although all forces present have a truce outside, don''t expect them to keep it inside." The Eight Pillar Sect''s true immortals, including Tai Wuling, thanked the immortal monarch for his advice. He noticed that Monarch Dong wasn''t really paying attention to them. Instead, his gaze would periodically drift to another camp. Tai Wuling followed his gaze and saw a lavish palace. Even from the current distance, he could feel the spiritual qi gathering toward the palace. Rather than a temporary camp, someone had formed a formation to increase the density of spiritual qi. Just as he wondered who would do such a wasteful act, Tai Wuling read the plaque above the entrance, Xi Palace. ''Figures that the wastrel would be the one to set up such a lavish camp. Just how many cultivators would wish to have access to the same resources, yet he''s using it for such a meaningless activity.'' Tai Wuling ignored Xi Tianyi''s camp. Thinking about it logically, it would be weirder if the foreign monarch joined the Eight Pillar Sect''s camp. Aside from Jiang Daoyi, they must have dispatched their other true immortals into the Yellow Mausoleum. His eyes chilled as he debated how he should act if he met one of them. Killing them might strain the alliance, but that was only if the Buzhou Immortal Sect found out. The two hegemonic sects would come to blows eventually. What''s the harm in culling the opponent''s immortals ahead of time, especially with such a convenient excuse? Tai Wuling waited outside for a few days, adjusting his condition. While he waited, he saw a group from the Heaven Continent arrive. They weren''t from the Buzhou Immortal Sects or their vassal sects but the Anti-Heaven Alliance. Leading the group of true immortals was the saintess of the Cloud Goddess Cult. Unlike the rest of the forces, the Cloud Goddess Cult sent an abnormally large number of true immortals. In the Heaven Continent, the Cloud Goddess Cult had always been mocked for being weak. The believers of the Cloud Goddess didn''t need suitable spiritual roots or talent, they just needed to fervently offer everything to the Cloud Goddess. In return, the Cloud Goddess would raise their cultivation. As such, most of the immortals in the Cloud Goddess Cult were below average in strength, but because of the ease of cultivation, their numbers practically dwarfed other forces except the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Once quantity reached a certain point, it became its own kind of quality. Because the Cloud Goddess only needed to use faith to raise their cultivation, the Cloud Goddess Cult would only focus most of their resources on the true geniuses. As such, the disparity in strength between the average members and the elites was as wide as heaven and earth. The members of the Cloud Goddess Cult directly led their members into the Yellow Mausoleum without waiting. Although the saintess of the Cloud Goddess Cult exuded a holy aura, Tai Wuling didn''t think he would lose. After adjusting his state, Tai Wuling entered the Yellow Mausoleum with the rest of his Eight Pillar Sect immortals. Upon entering, he saw a world of yellow. Literally. The sky was covered in a light golden hue, one that turned the already yellow world even more yellow. The dirt resembled a yellow-brown, but most of it was covered by grass with the color of wheat. But all that seemed to pale in comparison to the law that governed the pocket dimension. In the Huang Realm, all the myriad laws formed an ironclad balance. This did not mean all laws were equal, just that they were perfect for the world to evolve, but that Yellow Mausoleum was different. Tai Wuling could still feel the Law of Fire, Law of Water, Law of Wood, and Law of Metal, but they all became extremely weak like someone had wrapped hundreds of layers of blankets over them to muffle their effect on the pocket dimension. Conversely, the intensity of the Law of Earth and related laws increased by a hundred times. In short, those who comprehended the Law of Earth would have their power increased while those who practiced any other law would weaken. The Law of Space was not an exception due to the Law of Earth that formed the foundational law reaching the divine level, meaning that it could replace and replicate the Law of Space to a certain extent. Upon learning this, Tai Wuling almost wished the Yellow Mausoleum didn''t prevent immortal monarchs from entering. Although he couldn''t use the Law of Fire, Xi Tianyi couldn''t use his primary law either. Tai Wuling frowned. Speaking of which, what was Xi Tianyi''s law? From the information he collected and his instincts, Xi Tianyi should have used one of the five elemental laws as his foundation. ''Maybe he had the same idea as me?''This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. As soon as the thought occurred to him, Tai Wuling couldn''t get the idea out of his head. The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became. He had no proof but more of an instinct. Soon, he smiled. ''He was too impatient for power. He should have mastered all five elemental laws before entering the Seamless Immortal Realm. Soon, I''ll show you the difference between us.'' Tai Wuling didn''t stay at the entrance for long and was separated from the rest of the immortals from the Eight Pillar Sect. They didn''t try to convince him to stay. Strictly speaking, he joined the Eight Pillar Sect for less than a hundred years and hadn''t had much time to build camaraderie with his fellow immortals. He tried to fly but discovered that he couldn''t. It seemed that the Yellow Mausoleum placed a restriction on flight. He couldn¡¯t even use a flying sword to travel, so he could only travel the old fashion way, walking. Tai Wuling could feel the ground pulse with each step he took. With each footstep, the ripples spread through the land. Like roots, he could feel his sensory range increase as if he had become one with the land. His pace didn''t slow down, and he continued his steady gait. Tai Wuling lost his sense of self as he immersed himself in the sensation. There was no longer Tai Wuling or the Yellow Mausoleum, only the vast earth. If anyone were to see Tai Wuling, they would see his figure suddenly disappear, only to reappear meters away as if he had just teleported. The time of his disappearance increased. Correlatingly, the distance he would appear became farther and farther apart. It took over a month for Tai Wuling to break out of his epiphany. Once he did so, he stared at the earthen yellow sun in the sky and laughed. With a smile, Tai Wuling looked at a location over a thousand meters ahead. He disappeared and reappeared at that location instantly. He looked at the location where he once stood. Then he laughed. It was a joyful laugh, free of any worries. "I mastered the Concept of Earthwalk. I''m one step closer to mastering the Law of Earth.¡± If he had been at ninety percent, this boosted him to ninety-two or ninety-three percent. However, that was not the sole reason for his celebration. Thanks to mastering the Concept of Earthwalk, Tai Wuling also gained insight into the Concept of Distance. The Concept of Distance only had partial relation to the Law of Earth. It was the other law that it related to that Tai Wuling cared about, the Law of Space. The hardest part of comprehending a law was grasping the initial enlightenment and fully comprehending the whole law. Tai Wuling didn''t attempt to deepen his understanding of space since he knew he would receive half the results with twice the effort inside the Yellow Mausoleum. Instead, he started to explore the yellow dimension. One thing Tai Wuling noticed right away was that no life existed in the Yellow Mausoleum. Sure, there were grass and trees, but they weren''t really alive. Any vegetation he came across were replicas formed from the Law of Earth that governed the pocket dimension. Tai Wuling followed his senses deeper into the core of the Yellow Mausoleum. How did he know it was the core? Because the closer he got, the clearer the Law of Earth became to him. In addition, he could feel the black sphere in his sea of consciousness buzz as if attracted to something. It had been quite some time since the black sphere showed a reaction to anything. He would have continued toward the core area if the sound of fighting had not attracted his attention. He used his newly mastered concept and technique to disappear from his spot and reappear near the conflict. He saw a group of over ten immortals from different forces fighting a four-armed beast that resembled a bear. The monster wasn''t alive, kept functioning only by the Law of Earth that held it together. Furthermore, the monster exuded the brute strength of an immortal monarch. Logically speaking, the true immortals should have run away, yet they persevered and continued to duke it out with the earth beast. Tai Wuling hid his presence by synchronizing his aura with the pocket dimension''s and observed the battle. It took a week, but the group of immortals finally defeated the monster, but at a high cost, one life and almost half of them heavily injured. Still, none of them seemed to care as they stared at the monster, which started to crumble as if its body had turned into sand. Once the torso scattered, an orb of yellow gas floated out. All the true immortals immediately flew towards it. Their previous camaraderie was all but forgotten. At least those from the same forces grouped together. Tai Wuling knew why. When the orb of yellow gas appeared, he knew exactly what it was. The yellow orb was a law fragment. Anyone who absorbed it would have their comprehension directly increased. He had to force himself not to leap out and join the fray. Tai Wuling had the confidence to slaughter all the true immortals currently fighting, but that didn''t mean he needed to waste his energy. Let the cicadas and mantis fight amongst themselves, unaware of him, the oriole. The battle between the immortals was much quicker than when they fought the earth beast. A few third parties intervened, but Tai Wuling still didn''t take action. He was grateful that none of his fellow sect members showed up. Otherwise, he might have had to fight them for the final prize. The final winner was an immortal from the Sea Pearl Sect, a member of the Anti-Earth Alliance. The moment the Sea Pearl Sect immortal grasped the law fragment in his hand and delight started to appear on his face, Tai Wuling struck. He appeared behind the unsuspecting immortal and placed his hand on the immortal''s shoulder. The immortal only had time to turn around with dawning horror on his face as his body started to petrify into stone. Tai Wuling smiled as the immortal-turned-statue fell onto the ground and collapsed into fragments. He reached forward to grasp the law fragment. Suddenly, his ears twitched as he heard something flying toward him. Acting on nothing but survival instincts, Tai Wuling used Earthwalk to disappear from his previous location and reappear ten meters away. Where he had once stood, a sword with a cloud-shaped hilt had embedded itself into the ground, but he wasn''t looking there. Instead, Tai Wuling looked up. Standing above the white cloud was a young woman of peerless beauty, if a bit androgynous. She wore white cloud robes with cloud-shaped jade pins inserted into her hair. Her eyes lacked any emotion as she looked down at Tai Wuling, akin to a goddess from the heavens looking at an ant. Tai Wuling recognized her. "Holy Cloud Saintess Yun Xialan." Chapter 332: The Holy Cloud Saintess Strictly speaking, although the Eight Pillar Sect and the Buzhou Immortal Sect were currently in an alliance, that didn''t mean the Eight Pillar Sect were enemies with the Cloud Goddess Cult or the Anti-Heaven Alliance. If anything, the two becoming allies was even better than allying with the Buzhou Immortal Sect. However, alliances were matters between the Eight Pillar Sect and the Cloud Goddess Cult, not between individual members like Tai Wuling and Yun Xialan¡ªespecially if it concerned a law fragment. On an off note, Monarch Dong might have secretly contacted the leader figure of the Cloud Goddess Cult outside the entrance to the Yellow Mausoleum. Now, Tai Wuling wouldn''t call himself a master at reading people, especially those purposely masking their emotions, but he was quite confident he saw murder in Yun Xialan''s eyes. He knew that the law fragment would make any cultivator go crazy, but Yun Xialan''s killing intent only seemed to be partially motivated by the law fragment in his hand. Tai Wuling didn''t have time to ponder anymore as he jumped out of range of Yun Xialan''s sword. The cloud-patterned blade swerved midair toward his new position, causing Tai Wuling to stomp on the ground. A dense stone slab sprouted from the ground, and the sword pierced it halfway. Yun Xialan flicked her fingers and frowned. Her sword refused to pull itself out of the stone, or rather, something held it inside the stone. At this time, Tai Wuling leaped into the air after her, causing the saintess to control the cloud to fly higher and out of his reach. How she flew, he didn¡¯t know. Tai Wuling formed several hand seals, and sand materialized around him, forming a giant tornado of sand that dealt small but innumerable cuts from sheer speed. Yun Xialan formed several hand seals in response, causing the cloud beneath her feet to shoot out raindrops. Despite the seemingly small size, large enough to fit only her, the raindrops never ended. Each raindrop captured several specks of sand, dampening them and causing them to fall back to the ground. With the sandstorm dealt with, Yun Xialan pointed her fingers at Tai Wuling. The raindrops shot toward him like bullets from a gatling gun. A thin red film of light covered Tai Wuling''s body before swiftly being covered by an earthen yellow aura. The raindrops crashed into Tai Wuling, splattering into mist during the process. Each raindrop did not contain much force, but an unending stream of shots launched him even faster toward the ground. The raindrops splattered once they did their duty, but they did not disappear, turning into fog instead. The more raindrops connected, the larger the fog that surrounded Tai Wuling. In correlation to the increasing size of the fog, his protective earthen light became dimmer. Tai Wuling ignored the pelting raindrops and flipped until he landed on his two feet. He didn''t delay and dashed away from the raindrops pelting him. Simultaneously, the earthen light protecting him disappeared, leaving only the fiery light behind. The remaining light grew in intensity until the air around Tai Wuling started to blur, and the fog started to thin. When the fog had all but disappeared, the fiery red light around Tai Wuling also disappeared, and he hadn''t only been neutralizing Yun Xialan''s attack. With each step he took, sharp rocks would shoot toward her, forcing her to dodge and lessening the number of raindrops shot toward Tai Wuling. "Hold on a second," Tai Wuling shouted. Surprisingly, Yan Xialan actually stopped. "Let''s have a talk!" Yun Xialan lowered her hand, but her eyes bore into him. Seeing that she had no intention to speak, Tai Wuling opened his mouth. "Both of us are wasting too much time. The longer we fight, the more likely someone will stumble onto us. How about we make a deal?" Tai Wuling held out his hand, and the fragment of the Law of Earth shimmered from within his grasp. "Both our goal is this, how about we team up?" Still no word from Yun Xialan. "Splitting the law fragment in my hand might destroy it, so how about we combine our powers and hunt for more earth monsters?" Tai Wuling suggested. "Both of us possess the strength of immortal lords. Together, we''ll be able to monopolize the law fragments." Tai Wuling frowned when he saw Yun Xialin still not answering. Just as he was about to speak, he quickly disappeared from his spot and reappeared a distance away. Where he once stood, a human-sized cloud floated. Liquid dripped from the cloud, and it melted a hole into the ground. Tai Wuling glared. "Why? Is it because the Eight Pillar Sect is allied with the Buzhou Immortal Sect? Alliances aren''t permanent. Think about it. If the Eight Pillar Sect and Anti-Heaven Alliance ally, then we can suppress the Buzhou Immortal Sect!" "You make several valid points," Yun Xialan finally said. "However, I only need one reason to kill you." With that, Yun Xialan raised both arms. White-blue clouds appeared above the ground, and Tai Wuling could feel his robes, ankles, and feet constantly being dissolved by the acidic cloud. He did not let a groan of pain leave his lips, he only stared at the Holy Cloud Saintess and asked. "What reason?" Perhaps she felt humored or confident in her decision, but Yun Xialan answered his question. "Who told you to oppose Brother Nie?"This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Tai Wuling frowned, not recognizing that name. Was it someone from the Cloud Goddess Cult? But Yun Xialan was the first member of the Cloud Goddess Cult he fought. None of the true immortals from earlier were from the Cloud Goddess Cult, although a few were part of the Anti-Heaven Alliance. He shook his head, it didn''t matter. He could feel that whatever comprised the clouds were special, like the Divine Flame Lord''s five-colored flames. He had the confidence to win, but duking it out with Yun Xialan would take too much effort. Plus, he didn''t want to beat a woman. Tai Wuling became encased in a fiery light once more and started to sink into the ground. Yun Xialan saw this and sent her cloud-patterned sword upon him, but it was too late as his neck had already sunk into the ground. All was as Tai Wuling planned, except for when his forehead neared the ground. All the clouds condensed around his forehead, turning into a blob of violet-blue liquid. It felt as if the liquid had drilled a hole into his forehead and seeped into his brain. Tai Wuling screamed. In his increasingly fuzzy vision, he could see Yan Xialan frantically weaving several hand seals. The black sphere in his consciousness hummed to life, but he didn''t have time to care. He knew that he would faint, so before then, he had to find a safe location. Using Earthwalk, Tai Wuling fled over a hundred kilometers before losing consciousness. While he lost consciousness, the violet-blue liquid swirled inside his sea of consciousness. It circled around the black sphere as it was slowly absorbed. As the black sphere did so, numerous runes written in the ancient language of the primordial era glowed a bright violet-blue. At the same time, the law fragment in Tai Wuling''s hand also disappeared, absorbed by the black sphere. After absorbing the violet-blue liquid and the law fragment of earth, the black sphere had runes glowing a soft violet-blue permanently. Unlike its previous silent state, it now seemed to be perpetually on. A blue shard fell out of the black sphere and merged with Tai Wuling''s consciousness. Outside, hidden in a hole in the ground, Tai Wuling started to frown. His eyelids flickered as his eyes constantly moved.
Tai Wuling stared into vast chaos. The chaos did not resemble the Vast Void he knew. Countless stars filled the distance, and no realms existed. Instead of realms, he saw numerous round spheres circling stars. He didn''t know how long he drifted through the chaos. He would pass countless stars, with a minority orbited by those rocky spheres, but sometimes they seemed to be covered in large gases. Sometimes, he would see random spheres formed of rocks or ice drifting like himself. Tai Wuling had already figured out everything he saw wasn''t in his control. It was like he was watching events through another''s eyes. He guessed it must have been the memories of the black sphere''s original owner. As he drifted through the chaos, he would sometimes meet other living beings, but they weren''t like any lifeform Tai Wuling knew. He could see hints of features belonging to lifeforms he knew, like demons, monsters, and regular animals. Strangely, he saw no beings resemble humans. Sometimes, Tai Wuling would fight them. Each clash was disastrous, stars collapsed, and countless numbers of those giant spheres would shatter. The sheer power from a simple punch from the black sphere''s original owner and his foe could easily destroy any realm of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Other times, he would sit down and discuss the worldly laws with the mysterious beings. Without exception, Tai Wuling could not comprehend the esoteric knowledge spoken by the two. It almost made him go crazy because he knew the original owner of the black sphere specialized in the five elements. But most of the time, when he passed another being, they would stare warily at one another and continue on their way. Sometimes, it was the other being staring at Tai Wuling in fear and distancing themselves as far as possible. Not once did he see another being more powerful than the black sphere''s original owner. Time passed slowly, almost agonizingly so. Tai Wuling tried to comprehend the laws, but he couldn''t even sense them. He didn''t know if it was because he was reliving the original owner of the black sphere''s life or because he was in this vast chaos. Without the ability to comprehend the laws or cultivate, Tai Wuling could only wait for the memory to end. The only enjoyment he could squeeze out of this monotony was when the original owner of the black sphere interacted with another mysterious lifeform. Such occurrences were few and far between. Tai Wuling didn''t know how long this continued. He had counted the black sphere''s original owner interacting with exactly forty-four other beings since the memory had started. Although he didn''t know the exact timeframe, he was pretty sure the time between each interaction was slowly decreasing. Then, he felt countless ripples emanating from the distance. He sensed the original owner of the black sphere''s confusion and instincts warning him of the danger. The original owner of the black sphere flew toward the source of the disturbance. Tai Wuling soon discovered it hadn''t just been the original owner of the black sphere but numerous other beings journeying toward the ripple''s source. The closer he got to the source, the more beings he saw. He counted over a hundred of the beings, twice as many as he had seen before. Most of the mysterious beings seemed content to keep their distance while striving toward the source, but fights occasionally broke out. There was also one being that caught his eye. It was a being bearing the form of a monkey or an ape. The being swung a cudgel, battling against all the other beings. It didn''t matter if the being didn''t have the upper hand. He would grow stronger the longer the battle lasted and achieve victory. Eventually, the monkey-like being challenged Tai Wuling. It was the most difficult battle experience in the body of the original owner of the black sphere. Still, the original owner of the black sphere achieved the sole victory against the monkey-shaped being. The battle was but a footnote for the journey toward the source of the ripples. After an unknown period of time, Tai Wuling arrived and discovered a giant egg more gigantic than any being he had seen. He counted over a thousand of those mysterious beings. It sent a shiver down his spine to see so many beings capable of destroying realms with but a swing of their fist. All the beings said nothing as they observed the egg. It released a tremendous pressure that made every mysterious being nervous. A change occurred. The colossal egg cracked, shattering into nothingness to reveal a humanoid one-one hundredth of the egg''s size. The loincloth-wearing being held an ax in hand, wore a butterfly-shaped hairpin that did nothing for his wild mane, and stood atop a thirty-six-petaled lotus. No matter how dull Tai Wuling was, he recognized Pangu, the creator of the universe. Chapter 333: Like Husband, Like Wife Tai Wuling awoke from his vision with a gasp. Sweat coated his entire body as he recalled what he had just seen. That massive and overwhelming figure, that raw, unbridled power. There was no doubt the human from his vision was Pangu, the almighty divinity that created the primordial world. He checked the black sphere inside his sea of consciousness. It no longer bore its previous appearance of an unassuming black ball but now sported glowing violet-blue runes. Occasionally, it would release bursts of light. Every time it did so, Tai Wuling felt like something was brushing against his thoughts. It was like the sensation of recalling something on the tip of the tongue. He closed his eyes and felt his sense toward the Law of Water become invigorated, even in the Yellow Mausoleum. Tai Wuling recalled what Yun Xialan, the Holy Cloud Saintess, used against him that triggered the change. That dark cloud was terrifying, even with his martial body. It must be some sort of miraculous truewater, water with special properties, to have that effect. Polar Profound Umbralwater Just as the words popped into his head, Tai Wuling immediately knew what it was. Polar Profound Umbralwater was one of the most powerful liquids in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. When the Primordial World had still been whole, it could only be found in the deepest abyss in the Darknorth Sea. The umbralwater could break down the structure of any object that touched it and dissolve it into more Polar Profound Umbralwater. After the Primordial World shattered, Polar Profound Umbralwater should have all but disappeared. It seemed that the Cloud Goddess Cult should not be underestimated, as expected of the sect led by the sole divinity of the Huang Realm. Yun Xialan must have used a diluted version of the umbralwater. He would have immediately died if she possessed the pure Polar Profound Umbralwater. Perhaps her method of turning it into a cloud also played a hand in the weakened effect. Tai Wuling frowned. How did he know of Polar Profound Umbralwater? Few people should have heard of it, even among immortals of the hegemonic sects. The only reason he could think of would be the black sphere inside his sea of consciousness. It seemed that the origin of the black sphere was much more prominent than he had thought. At the very least, it should belong to a being that had been born before the primordial era. Tai Wuling closed his eyes and recalled the legend. Before the world was born, the five elements existed, yin and yang existed, there was only chaos. From the chaos, three thousand godfiends were born. These godfiends were law incarnate, far more powerful than any immortals. The last of these godfiends to be born was Pangu. Pangu slew the rest of the godfiends and created heaven and earth, the Primordial World, but the foundation was insufficient. So, Pangu sacrificed his body to complete the new world. His breath turned into the wind and clouds, his voice turned into lightning and thunder, his left eye transformed into the sun, his right eye transformed into the moon, his limbs and torso turned into the five regions, his blood turned into rivers, his meridians transformed into roads, his muscles formed fertile lands, his hair shifted into stars in the night sky, his fur became the vegetation, his bones turned into minerals, his marrow turned into precious jewels, and his sweat turned to rain. Tai Wuling had always thought of it as a legend, just a fancy fairytale parents told their kids. After all, if Pangu really slew all other life in the chaos and sacrificed himself, who could pass down the feat? It seemed that he had been too naive. Although Pangu slew the godfiends, their artifacts might have survived. Perhaps a shred of their soul escaped into these artifacts, or maybe a few godfiends survived. Tai Wuling only saw the portion of the memory until the godfiend he possessed met Pangu after all. He felt as if he had peered into some great secret of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Perhaps, it might also contain the reason why the Primordial World was shattered. Was it all planned from the beginning? Tai Wuling cleared his thoughts. No matter the origins of the owner of the black sphere, the current him was too weak to explore. If he guessed correctly, to unlock more memories, he would need something on the same level as the Polar Profound Umbralwater. He didn''t want to collect any more special water but other types of material from the five elements. If just absorbing the Polar Profound Umbralwater increased his talent in the Law of Water, then it should be the same if he offered the same level of fire, wood, earth, or metal element materials. Although he didn''t have any information, that didn''t mean the Eight Pillar Sect wouldn¡¯t have some. If a first-rate sect had the Polar Profound Umbralwater, surely a hegemonic sect would have something of similar value. The problem would be the price. Tai Wuling''s eyes sharpened. It seemed that he needed to pour efforts into exploring the Yellow Mausoleum. Who knows, maybe he could kill two birds with one stone and discover some earth-related material on the same level in this pocket dimension. It was a fragment of the Primordial World after all. First, Tai Wuling restored himself to his peak strength. He didn''t bother comprehending the Law of Water now. If he cultivated inside, he would gain half the results with twice the effort, better to comprehend the Law of Water once he left the Yellow Mausoleum.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Next, he left his hiding spot, a cave whose opening was only large enough for a rabbit to pass through. Tai Wuling didn''t use Earthwalk and directly smashed through the opening and inhaled the fresh air. Compared to the damp and musty air of the cave, it was absolutely lovely. Tai Wuling started to travel again. The fragment of the Law of Earth in his possession had disappeared. Either he had lost it in his escape, or the black sphere had absorbed it. He leaned toward the latter. Six months later, Tai Wuling sat under an osmanthus tree. Its yellow petals and leaves seemed to shimmer as golden dust floated down it and merged into Tai Wuling''s body. His eyes were closed and in between his hands was a gaseous yellow orb. With each passing moment, it grew dimmer and fainter until it was finally all gone. He exhaled a yellow mist. When he opened his eyes, rumbling continents and surging oceans reflected from his pupils. "My comprehension of the Law of Earth has reached a bottleneck. No matter how many law fragments I absorb, it wouldn''t help anymore." Tai Wuling''s accumulation in the Law of Earth was extremely vast. What he lacked was an epiphany, which was solved thanks to the fragments of the Law of Earth. He turned his gaze toward the core of the Yellow Mausoleum. The closer he got to the core, the denser the earth qi and essence he sensed. In correlation, the environment became filled with more earth monsters and true immortals fighting those monsters. Tai Wuling had also been ambushed and fought with the true immortals of the Anti-Earth Alliance and members of forces from outside the Earth Continent. Most of the time, he won, but a few rare times, he had to flee. Strangely, he never encountered the Holy Cloud Saintess Yun Xialan again. The one good point for Tai Wuling was the number of kills he racked up on the immortals from the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Although there were a few young true immortals, Tai Wuling noticed that most of the true immortals present from the Buzhou Immortal Sect were old and likely to self-terminate in a century or two. Infuriatingly, the young immortals full of potential always traveled in groups, preventing him from finding a chance to eliminate them. Tai Wuling crushed the neck of a true immortal from the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Just his luck, he found a group of true immortals fighting an earth beast. Although only two of them were from the Buzhou Immortal Sect, the rest were from the Anti-Earth Alliance. He turned toward his prize, the law fragment. When he grabbed it, Tai Wuling didn''t absorb it. Instead, he communicated and began resonating with it. The gaseous substance dispersed and covered him in a yellow haze. Now, the earth monsters would recognize him as one of them. Well, the mindless ones at least. He still couldn''t be sure if there were any intelligent monsters. Tai Wuling''s figure disappeared as he slipped into the ground. As he traveled, he suddenly felt the law governing the Yellow Mausoleum change. It was as if something had torn off the curtains hiding them. Not long later, his face paled, and he immediately jumped out of the ground. He could sense the existence of the earth veins when he couldn''t before, but that wasn''t good news at all. Normally, he shouldn''t have been able to detect them at all unless he was at the center of the vein. Something had forced the earth veins to reveal themselves. And judging by the tumultuous reaction and energy running rampant, something had damaged the earth veins, causing a chain reaction. Not just the earth veins but the sky started to shake and fracture too. Next, the trembling ground transformed into earthquakes. Tai Wuling couldn''t even use Earthwalk anymore. Since he had to merge with the land, if the ground split, his body would split too. "Just what is going on?" Tai Wuling asked aloud. Just who in the world has the ability to destabilize the Yellow Mausoleum? Tai Wuling immediately discounted the possibility of an immortal monarch entering. If an immortal monarch really entered, although their presence would bring harm to the pocket dimension, the rejection would kill them too. In his eyes, only someone on the level of an immortal emperor had the ability to cause such a drastic change.
A month before the occurrence, Jiang Daoyi roamed the Yellow Mausoleum. A black film formed of immortal qi cloaked her entire body. Even if she walked up to another person, they would subconsciously ignore her, as if she was a dead thing. The only surefire way to sense her was to use immortal sense, which the earth monsters lacked. Daoyi glanced ahead and saw a group of immortals fighting an earth beast. She turned to a different direction and continued on her way. Two days later, she saw another earth beast, but this time, no one had discovered it yet. She walked up to the earth beast. Daoyi''s steps were neither rushed nor slow, like taking a walk in a garden, but the monster didn''t react at all and continued to wander around. Her slender hand reached out and easily pierced the earth beast''s chest like dipping hands in water. Before the monster could even react, she had already pulled her hand out, and in her grasp was a yellow sphere. Daoyi found a secluded location and began to absorb the fragment of law. Although she didn''t have much talent in the Law of Earth, learning one more law wouldn''t hurt. Even if she couldn''t, mastering a few more concepts was at least possible. As she absorbed the law fragment, the ground Daoyi sat upon began to turn black with her at the center of it all. The farther away from Daoyi, the less dark it looked until the dirt only appeared slightly darker than normal six hundred meters away from her. Daoyi opened her eyes with satisfaction. She had mastered the Concept of Burial and the Concept of Blacksoil. However, she quickly saw the changes in her surroundings and decided to leave. Less than an hour after Daoyi left, a woman dressed in cloud-patterned robes appeared. Yun Xialan frowned as she inspected the area. "This is the aura of death?" Yun Xialan''s brows creased even more. According to the information from the Eight Pillar Sect, the only one confirmed to have comprehended portions of the Law of Death was Jiang Daoyi. Fighting spirit erupted in the Holy Cloud Saintess''s eyes. If she could cull Jiang Daoyi before she entered the Seamless Immortal Realm, it would be of great benefit to the Cloud Goddess Cult. She could feel the death aura evaporating, and judging by the rate, Yun Xialan judged that Jiang Daoyi couldn''t have left more than a few hours ago. The cloud she used for transportation soared through the skies, intent on finding the Sword Sovereign''s disciple. Unaware of Yun Xialan''s thoughts, Daoyi stood at the base of a mountain. She could sense the dense earthly aura emanating from the mountain. Compared to the mountains she passed, this one was obviously superior. Mimicking Tianyi, Daoyi held her chin by her fingers and began to weigh the pros and cons. After a few minutes of deliberation, her hands reached for the Mountains and Seas Pendant on her waist. Chapter 334: The Law of Darkness Nine mountains, each surrounded by a sea, appeared in the Yellow Mausoleum. Unlike the yellow tone of the pocket dimension, the nine mountains and seas retained their original color, unaffected by the Law of Earth that governed the dimension. Compared to when the Mountains and Seas Formation was in Tianyi''s hand, the aura had changed completely. The Mountain and Seas Formation had always had the potential to become a pinnacle artifact; all it lacked was substance. The first mountain that Tianyi had used, a mountain from the Immortal Court ruins to form, no longer exuded an attributeless aura but one of spacetime. He had merged the second mountain, formed from a spiritual vein, into the first mountain, strengthening the first mountain even more. As for the first sea, it had also merged with the second sea form from a spirit spring. It exuded an aura of time, while the mountain exuded an aura of space. Together they exuded an aura of spacetime. Tianyi had spent a large amount of effort to change the first mountain. He even refined a rogue planet in his inner universe and imbued it with a trace of his Law of Spacetime. Although the first and second mountains had merged, not only did the power not decrease, but it more than doubled. That didn''t mean the second mountain and sea were just an illusion now. To replace the spirit mountain and sea, Tianyi took a mountain from the Fourth Heaven of his inner universe. He also originally planned to use a sea of death for the second sea too, but he had a stroke of inspiration. Perhaps it may not be true for divinities, but the term "life originates from water" did have merits. Through this, Tianyi''s increased his comprehension of the Law of Life. Together they are the Death Mountain and Life Sea. Even so, the predominant aura released from it was still death, and the aura of life was hidden within death. If Tianyi really wanted to, he could complete the Mountains and Seas Formation, but it would be useless to him. He had his inner universe, so why would he want an inferior artificial realm? Although it was useless to him, the Mountains and Seas Formation was still useful to Daoyi, so he handed it to her. Daoyi originally didn''t have the idea to complete the Mountains and Seas Formation either, but she changed her mind after seeing the earth mountain. Strictly speaking, she didn''t need to complete the Mountains and Seas Formation and transform it into the Mountains and Seas Realm, but she didn''t want to rely on Tianyi''s conduit. It was not that she was against the idea, but Daoyi wanted to firmly hold the initiative in her own hands. She had confidence that Tianyi wouldn''t do anything against her, but she would always be wary of the one-in-a-million chance. Her experience during the apocalypse taught that the only person she could fully depend on was herself and only herself. Daoyi sighed and focused on uprooting the earth mountain. "Once this is over, I should find mountains of fire, water, wood, and metal," Daoyi muttered to herself. As the fundamental laws of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, she had a feeling that once she gained five elemental mountains, the Mountains and Seas Formation would transform into a realm even if it lacked the eighth and ninth mountains. That did not mean she wouldn''t want to complete the eighth and ninth mountains. The more complete the mountains were, the more powerful the future Mountains and Seas Realm would become. Inversely, if the mountains were too weak, then the Mountains and Seas Formation wouldn''t even become a pseudo-realm. Time passed, and the fusion between the illusionary third mountain and the earth mountain increased. Cracks started to appear around the base of the mountain, where it started to separate from the land. Earthen light erupted from the cracks and coalesced around the base. The more complete the fusion became, the more intense the light became. Soon, it no longer only erupted from the cracks but through the very lands. The earthen light resembled tree roots connected to the mountain. As the mountain ascended, the earthen light was uprooted, further cracking the land and creating web-like canyons. Daoyi could sense the whole land shaking from her actions, but she didn''t have time to worry about that. The farther the fusion progressed, the greater the resistance. She had to focus all her attention on the fusion. At the rate of expenditure of her immortal qi, Daoyi felt that her reserves would not last. Worst still was that the only qi she could absorb in the Yellow Mausoleum was earth spiritual qi. She had to convert it to her immortal qi of death, and some of the qi would be lost in the conversion process, not to mention the time it took. "I need help, Tianyi," Daoyi said with a sigh. She still needed help from her husband in the end. After hearing of how Tianyi took the first and second mountains, she began to truly realize how much qi Tianyi had. Part of her wondered how Tianyi took away the immortal mountain from the Immortal Court ruin, but then she recalled the purpose of the ruin. Daoyi shook her head, realizing that Tianyi had gotten really lucky when he decided to take the immortal mountain.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "No problem!" a chibi Tianyi said as he flew out of the pouch around Daoyi''s waist. The chibi Tianyi could fit in Daoyi''s palm and, coupled with his large head, made him extremely cute. Daoyi had the urge to lock him up in a cage and keep him as a pet. The chibi Tianyi flew behind Daoyi and placed his tiny hands at the base of her neck. Instantly, Daoyi could feel a rush of qi flowing into her body. Furthermore, the qi was the immortal qi of death, perfectly compatible with her. With Tianyi''s aid, Daoyi increased the speed of the fusion between the third mountain and the earth mountain. A month later, the fusion between the third mountain and the earth mountain finished. Daoyi sensed that the Mountains and Seas Formation increased, but only incrementally. This was only natural. The Law of Earth alone could not match up to the Law of Spacetime, Law of Death, or Law of Life after all. She still needed to wait to complete the four other mountains and seas before a qualitative change would occur. Daoyi waved her hand, and the Mountains and Seas Formation returned to the Mountains and Seas Pendant. With the Mountains and Seas Formation suppressing the gaping hole in the ground gone, earth qi erupted out like a volcano. When she had taken the earth mountain, she had also taken away a node of the earth vein. With the node gone, all the earth qi from the other nodes gathered here, trying to balance the loss. Daoyi didn''t know how long the eruption would last, but she knew that she had to leave now. She cloaked herself in death qi and erased her presence before silently leaving. During her month-long refinement, numerous true immortals had gathered around to comprehend the Law of Earth. The changes in the earth vein revealed the Law of Earth even more, and it would not be out of the question for wondrous treasures to be born as a result of her actions. None of this matter to Daoyi as she would likely become a target of everyone if she stayed. ''Someone still found me?'' Daoyi thought as she turned around. The Law of Death was among the most powerful laws an immortal could master, so she had the confidence that weaker immortal monarchs would not sense her even as a true immortal. Still, she did not slow down. Daoyi didn''t know if the other party knew that she had detected them, but she was happy to keep the act up. If the other party didn''t know and tried to attack her, she could use this chance to counterattack and get rid of them. Right now, her main goal was to complete the third sea. She knew of Tianyi''s Qi, Ye, and Yu forms of qi, but condensing earth qi into earth ye would take too long. She would rather locate some type of water rich in earth essence. Although Daoyi didn''t know where she would find the earth-type water, she had a plan. The earth veins became easier to sense after she took the earth mountain away, and Daoyi followed the earth veins to find a source of earth water. Her luck turned out pretty good as she found a lake filled with golden water. Daoyi kneeled by the lakeside and dipped her hand into the water. She could see her hand perfectly under the clear water but tinted yellow. Daoyi clenched her fist and felt a huge resistance. It didn''t feel like water, but liquid stone. She lifted a palmful of water out, and the water slipped through her fingers like normal water. ''How strange. The water feels a hundred times thicker than syrup, yet the viscosity is like regular water.'' She didn''t know, but the water was a special liquid known as the Earthcore Heavywater. Even a single drop had more weight than a tiny mountain. A lake full of Earthcore Heavywater weighed more than a continent. Even if Daoyi didn''t know, she could sense the rich aura of earth emanating from the lake. She tapped the Mountains and Seas Pendant, and in the split second it took for the formation to appear, she sensed a spiking killing intent. ''Finally couldn''t wait any longer, huh?" Daoyi thought. Her figure blurred as she dodged out of the way of the invisible attack, but she didn''t expect that the attack still hit her. She felt something small pierce her back and through her heart. Although she couldn''t see the object that pierced her, judging by how her flesh parted, Daoyi knew it was a bullet. Instantly, she had an inkling as to who attacked her. Daoyi tumbled into the water and spurted out a mouthful of blood. Strangely, her blood condensed and turned into a solid state due to the pressure from the Earthcore Heavywater. Immortal qi burst out from Daoyi as she pushed herself out of the lake while clutching her chest. "W-who?!" Daoyi shouted as she formed a platform under her feet and stood atop the lake. The air trembled and split apart to reveal a sliver of darkness. From within the darkness, a figure walked out. She bore a partial resemblance to Daoyi, and anyone could tell the two were related. "It''s been a while, Third Sister," Jiang Chunye leisurely said as she looked down at Daoyi from the lakeside. Daoyi gritted her teeth and glared. "Jiang.Chun.Ye!" "Not addressing me by my name? Did your mother not teach you any manners?" Jiang Chunye asked, her smile widening. "Well, it''s no biggie. Last time, I let you escape, but this time I will send you to reunite with her." Jiang Chunye waved her hand and a bullet condensed in front of her. The bullet was pure black and seemed to contain all the darkness in the world. "I''m not that skilled in soul attacks, but this time, you won''t escape with just physical injuries." Daoyi''s eyes widened. "Y-You mastered a complete law? Which law? Darkness?!" Seeing Daoyi''s shocked expression, Jiang Chunye happily laughed. "Hahaha. What surprised? You lived a dog''s life. So what if you possess the heavenly water spiritual root? So what if you entered the Buzhou Immortal Sect? So what if you became the Sword Sovereign''s disciple? I still mastered a complete law before you." "Stop trying to sound so high and mighty," Daoyi said as more blood spilled from her lips. "Aren''t you just jealous? Don''t tell me you used envy as motivation to cultivate?" Jiang Chunye''s original proud expression turned sullen. "What does a woman who only knows how to rely on men know? It''s because of people like you that the status of women is so low in the world. Just die, you bumpkin." She waved her hand, and the black bullet shot toward Daoyi. Chapter 335: Devil Dagger As the bullet formed of darkness shot toward Daoyi''s head, Jiang Chunye recalled all that had happened since their last battle. After their last encounter, Jiang Chunye waited for Daoyi''s revenge, but to her surprise, it never came. Jiang Chunye sighed in relief. She didn''t know what she would do if Daoyi asked the Sword Sovereign to take revenge for her. She didn''t want to stay holed up in the Nihility Sect forever. At the same time, Jiang Chunye experienced discomfort. Why didn''t Daoyi look for her? She had almost killed Daoyi and forced her to seal herself. Had the same been done to her, Jiang Chunye would have sought revenge at the earliest time, yet Daoyi seemed to have forgotten all about her. It made Jiang Chunye feel as if Daoyi didn''t take her seriously, despite Daoyi losing. The more Daoyi ignored her, the more unbalanced Jiang Chunye felt. What right do you have to look down upon me? You''re just an unenlightened girl, stuck in a backwater mindset and relying on a man for everything you have. That''s why Jiang Chunye released news of Daoyi''s heavenly water spiritual root. Even if Daoyi was the disciple of the Sword Sovereign, there should still be some unscrupulous devilish cultivators who wouldn''t care and try to turn her into a Living Pill. Yet, soon after, Daoyi seemed to have disappeared from the Huang Realm. Jiang Chunye knew that the Buzhou Immortal Sect had the ability to traverse the myriad realms, and she couldn''t help but think that Daoyi ran away after hearing this. Of course, she knew that it was unlikely that the sole hegemonic sect of the Huang Realm would use their realm traversing artifact for a mortal disciple. Still, it made Jiang Chunye feel better. With Daoyi seemingly vanishing from the Huang Realm, Jiang Chunye focused on the war and made a name for herself. When she was in the Mortality Shedding Realm, she was known as the Shadowless Saint. A hundred years later, Jiang Chunye suddenly heard the news that Daoyi and Xi Tianyi was going to be married. Of course, as a member of the Tripartite Alliance, she wasn''t invited. She sneered when she heard how Xi Tianyi blocked three moves from Buzhou Immortal Sect''s newest immortal monarch, her grandfather, Jiang Ziya. It became even worse when she heard Xi Tianyi enter the Seamless Immortal Realm on the night of their wedding. "In the end, did you become a Living Pill?" Jiang Chunye had muttered. In her eyes, the only reason Xi Tianyi could enter the Seamless Realm was because of Daoyi''s heavenly water spiritual root. Still, that didn''t discount the fact that Daoyi now had three backers: her master, the Sword Sovereign, her husband, Xi Tianyi, and their grandfather, Monarch Jiang. Chunye had no doubt that their coldhearted grandfather would stand on Daoyi''s side and kill her. Although Daoyi didn''t come looking for her, Jiang Chunye couldn''t help but worry about Daoyi. It was like something stuck between her teeth or throat. It wouldn''t kill her, but it made her extremely uncomfortable. So, Jiang Chunye constantly waited for a chance. Her instincts told her that once she killed Daoyi, she would gain a massive benefit. She couldn''t kill Daoyi in the Heaven Continent and had to avoid her in case Daoyi summoned one of her three backers. Her chance came with the appearance of the Yellow Mausoleum. Not only did the pocket dimension restrict entrance to those in the Seamless Immortal Realm and above, but Daoyi also entered, giving her a perfect opportunity. After entering, the Yellow Mausoleum, Jiang Chunye deliberately looked for Daoyi, but it was as if she had never entered. No matter how she looked, Jiang Chunye couldn''t discover any traces of Daoyi. In her anger, she slaughtered the immortals from the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Soon, Jiang Chunye didn''t have time to worry about Daoyi. After discovering the benefits of absorbing the law fragments, she began to focus on killing earth beasts and comprehending the Law of Earth. Jiang Chunye never expected that while comprehending the Law of Earth, she would gain an epiphany into the Law of Darkness and fully master it. After completely mastering the Law of Darkness, Jiang Chunye didn''t need to fear anyone in the Yellow Mausoleum. She even had the spare effort to gather a few law fragments for Yi Dongli. Although Yi Dongli had just entered the Unity Realm and could not compare to her current suitors, he was still the first man Jiang Chunye''s heart moved for. While she was hunting for the earth beasts, the ground of the Yellow Mausoleum began to shake. She, like most immortals present, assembled to the source of the change, hoping to find a miraculous treasure. Upon reaching the source, Jiang Chunye saw nine mountains. Of the nine, only two were corporeal, while the rest were illusionary. She had done her research, and so she recognized the nine mountains as the formation Tianyi could unleash using an artifact. Since Tianyi couldn''t enter, it meant that someone close to him had it. Who else could it be but Daoyi? To Jiang Chunye''s surprise, Daoyi''s concealment technique was extremely good. Had she not mastered the Law of Darkness, Daoyi would have slipped from her senses. She followed Daoyi away from the erupting earth qi. After following her for some time, Daoyi stopped by a lake of yellowish water. The moment Daoyi tried to unleash the Mountains and Seas Formation, Jiang Chunye struck. She condensed a bullet and shot toward Daoyi. Daoyi''s quick reflex surprised Jiang Chunye. Still, how could her attack so easily be dodged? As she expected and willed, the bullet of darkness pierced Daoyi''s heart. It didn''t simply pierce Daoyi''s heart, but it also infected Daoyi with the Eterndark Poison refined by yours truly. The Eterndark Poison would cause the victim''s veins to become black as it corrupted their blood. Not only that, but it also drowned them under an illusion. Honestly, it impressed her that Daoyi could resist the illusions enough to converse. She guessed soul cultivators were feared for a reason. After a few words with Daoyi, Jiang Chunye prepared to deliver the killing blow. It was amazing that Daoyi could survive her attack once it pierced her heart. "Goodbye, Daoyi," Jiang Chunye said.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. The bullet of darkness shot toward Daoyi, but the moment the bullet reached Daoyi''s forehead, Jiang Chunye felt the shadow of death loom over her. Without a second thought, Jiang Chunye dived into her shadow and disappeared. Inside her shadow, she felt the Eterndark Poison fulfill its job. Perhaps Daoyi had unleashed her final struggle before her death. Jiang Chunye still cautiously rose out of her shadow, and what she witnessed shocked her. Everything around her and Daoyi had turned into a lifeless zone. The grass and land had transformed into dark sand, and the lake''s water level had dipped several degrees. Daoyi stood floating in the air. An ethereal garment seemingly formed of silvery blue light adorned her body, causing her to emit a deathly light. Her eyes glowed a bright white, yet they exuded a black light that seemed to decree death on anyone they gazed upon. Jiang Chunye''s eyes widened as she popped back into her shadow. Strings shot out from Daoyi''s sleeve and pierced the shadow. Moments later, the strings vibrated at an insane speed, destroying the shadow. A thousand meters away, a black spot appeared, and Jiang Chunye floated out of it with an ugly expression. She glared at Daoyi, and the shadow under her expanded until it covered the surrounding ten kilometers in darkness. Everything in her domain of darkness would sink into a world of black, but the hundred meters around Daoyi remained unaffected. Jiang Chunye narrowed her eyes. Under her control, spikes shot forth from the shadows, but they seemed to have entered a quagmire upon nearing Daoyi. No matter how Jiang Chunye commanded them, the spikes slowed to a crawl. Seeing that she couldn¡¯t pierce Daoyi, Jiang Chunye changed her method. Spikes transformed into tendrils that snaked toward Daoyi from all sides. Although Daoyi flew away, her speed had been impacted by the rules governing the Yellow Mausoleum. Seeing as the black tendrils would trap her soon, Daoyi summoned a pipa to her hand. Jiang Chunye''s eyes sharpened, and she strengthened her tendrils, causing them to speed up without warning. Soon, Daoyi found herself bound by the shadow tendrils. Jiang Chunye clenched her hand, and the tendrils tightened around Daoyi. Daoyi''s greatest weakness as a soul cultivator was her comparatively weaker body, something Jiang Chunye was all too familiar with. As an assassin, Jiang Chunye had invested much effort into gathering information about her target''s weaknesses. Although Daoyi didn''t have an expansive battle record, Jiang Chunye had killed enough soul cultivators to know their usual weaknesses. Daoyi could feel her bones creak under the tightening grip. She didn''t panic, and the ethereal glow around her increased in intensity. The tendrils weakened and slid off her body. Despite not being alive, they seemed to have entered a feeble state. Without waiting, Daoyi held the pipa on her body and plucked the strings. Instantly, an ominous melody rippled through the air. The shadow tendrils around Daoyi stopped moving and decayed into dust. Jiang Chunye gritted her teeth and covered her ears. She could feel the musical notes boom in her mind each time a ripple passed her. She felt her control over the darkness weaken as they started withdrawing back to their origin. Just like how soul cultivators had their strengths and weaknesses, so did martial cultivators like Jiang Chunye. She pursued the martial path since her spiritual roots were lacking, and that remained true even in the Pathfinding Immortal Realm. Although her body was strong, her soul was lacking, making her more susceptible to Daoyi''s musical assault. Jiang Chunye swore she would make up for her weakness in the future. Jiang Chunye sunk into her shadow once more. Although Daoyi''s soul attack still affected her, the effect had decreased to a substantial degree. She didn''t take this chance to catch her breath. Instead, Jiang Chunye began to plan her next attack. Daoyi increased the intensity of her music, hoping to force Jiang Chunye out of the shadows. She didn''t expect the shadow to rise out of the ground and form a sphere around her like a cage of darkness. Jiang Chunye shot out of the surface of the darkness from Daoyi''s blind spot. In her hand was a black dagger that absorbed all light and resembled a dagger-shaped hole in reality. Despite minimizing her presence to the max, Daoyi still sensed her and shifted out of the way. Jiang Chunye''s efforts did not go down the drain, as she managed to slice through Daoyi''s sleeve and leave a gash on her arm. The blood leaking out from Daoyi''s arm turned black from the poison, but Daoyi remained unconcerned. Moments later, the blackness disappeared, and the blood returned to its red color as the wound healed and her dress fixed itself. Jiang Chunye''s movement didn''t stop as she merged into the other end of the darkness. From there, she began to shoot out at random intervals and locations, attacking Daoyi with her dagger. With each passing second, her speed increased, and it appeared like there were two Jiang Chunye attacking Daoyi despite her not using an incarnation or avatar technique. Facing the increasingly perilous situation, Daoyi did not lose her calm and continued dodging. Her fingers increased their pace, and the pipa started to turn translucent, shrouding Daoyi in a ball of light. Jiang Chunye felt some of her vitality weaken each time she phased through the ball of light. It reached the point where she damaged herself more than she injured Daoyi. To counteract this situation, Jiang Chunye attacked Daoyi by assaulting her with bullets of darkness from all directions, but as soon as the bullets entered the ball of light, they would decay. If she continued, she knew that she would only be wasting her immortal qi of darkness. Jiang Chunye stopped her assault and analyzed the situation. Despite the fragile balance between the two, Daoyi did not seem like she would run out of qi anytime soon. Conversely, Jiang Chunye''s reserve had already reached sixty percent. Because of her inferior spiritual roots and inadequate cultivation method, Jiang Chunye''s qi reserves were average at best. Even if she joined the Jade Cauldron Sect and the Nihility Sect after, it could not change her lacking foundation. If this continued, she would have no choice but to run away. However, victory and defeat were not solely determined by the power of the law mastered, or how much immortal qi a cultivator had. All Jiang Chunye needed was one good strike, and it would be all over. Jiang Chunye gritted her teeth and stored her dagger immortal artifact, and took out another dagger. The dagger had a shiny black blade with blood-red veins running through it, and it emitted a devilish aura. Just by holding it, Jiang Chunye felt her mind assaulted, and her willpower consumed. Decisiveness flashed through her eyes as she increased her grip around the devil dagger. Jiang Chunye didn''t charge out with the dagger in hand and instead imbued the dagger with ten percent of her qi. This resulted in the dagger running rampant, and she almost lost control of it. Before she could lose control, Jiang Chunye threw the dagger at Daoyi with all her strength. Daoyi didn''t need to raise her senses as she immediately sensed the malice overflowing from the dagger. She could even see a faint phantom of a devil behind the dagger. Daoyi turned around and used her pipa to block the dagger''s tip. Her face paled as the dagger started to corrupt the ball of light that protected her. Even her ethereal garment started to flicker as it lost its luster. At this time, Jiang Chunye suddenly shot out from behind Daoyi with a dagger in hand. Daoyi had to defend against the dagger. If she slipped up, she might become corrupted, leaving her defenseless to Jiang Chunye''s attack. As Jiang Chunye wished, her dagger pierced Daoyi''s heart from the back, but she wasn''t done. "Die!" She twisted her dagger, causing Daoyi to spit out a mouthful of blood. Less than a second later, Daoyi screamed as darkness exploded out of all her orifices, and the devil dagger shattered her pipa and pierced her chest. Chapter 336: Devils Descent The darkness exploding out of Daoyi''s orifices returned and wrapped her up like a mummy. A smirk emerged on Jiang Chunye''s lips as Daoyi''s screams got snuffed out. That smile didn''t last long as she detected something wrong. Silver light burst out of Jiang Chunye''s darkness bandages. As the light eroded the darkness away, Daoyi appeared once more. Her appearance no longer resembled a human but a construct of silver light. Suddenly, cracks appeared on her face. Likes shards of glass or porcelain, the pieces started to fall off to reveal an empty husk. Once the shards fell off, they pittered and pattered melodiously, but Jiang Chunye didn''t have time to appreciate the sound as she distanced herself. "Where?!" Jiang Chunye shouted as she looked around. Without a second''s hesitation, she melded into the darkness once more. She replayed the battle and tried to pinpoint when Daoyi replaced herself with a fake. "Was it when she donned that ghostly garment?" Jiang Chunye asked aloud. Even if Daoyi had swapped herself at that time, where did she hide? The furrow of her brows increased. Everything within the sphere of darkness was within her domain, meaning she could sense everything within. However, she couldn''t sense Daoyi at all. Her senses told her nothing was inside the sphere, but her instincts told her something was hiding inside. Immediately, spears of darkness erupted from inside the sphere, piercing from all directions in an attempt to snuff out Daoyi. Jiang Chunye frowned when no changes occurred. ''Was my gut instincts wrong?'' Jiang Chunye thought. Immediately, she refuted the thought. Her instincts had never led her wrong before. It just meant that she lacked the method to flush Daoyi out. Inside the shadow space, Jiang Chunye''s eyes lit up. ''Material attacks can''t affect souls. Conversely, soul attacks can''t affect those without souls. The only method I have to deal soul attack is through the body. If Daoyi has a method to store her physical body and fight with her soul, it means most of my attacks are useless. And the devil dagger can only hit one point at a time.'' Jiang Chunye clicked her tongue. She never imagined that she would one day fight a pure soul as an opponent. ''Still, just learning this fact is a big help.'' A moment later, a small bag appeared in her hand. Inside the bag was Mortal Dust Powder. Jiang Chunye unloaded the powder that resembled countless motes of light. They drifted from the shadow space and into the innards of the sphere of darkness and filled it with a silver haze. Not long after, a silver specter appeared. It appeared to be formed of fog, and its state constantly changed, but Jiang Chunye could still recognize Daoyi''s eyes. The Mortal Dust Powder was made from the scales of the Illusion Weaving Moth and numerous other ingredients. Everyone who touched it would forget their current self and enter a powerful illusion to live a mortal life. Normally, it''d take longer since the powder would have to spread throughout the body, but the effects would be different if the powder touched a soul directly. Still, the powder only had an auxiliary effect and didn''t directly deal damage. And, there was a chance for people with powerful willpower to break the illusion, people like soul cultivators. That''s why she had to kill Daoyi before she broke the illusion. The devil dagger appeared in Jiang Chunye''s hand. She shot out of the shadow as if she had been shot out of a sniper rifle, dagger poised to pierce Daoyi''s head. Unlike the body, the most crucial part of a soul was the head. Jiang Chunye pierced through soul-state Daoyi''s head, and it burst like a smashed watermelon. However, instead of smiling, she frowned. She knew that Daoyi carried an artifact that could release the nine mountains formation, a spatial ring, and a defensive artifact. So, why didn''t they appear after she killed Daoyi? Jiang Chunye''s eyes widened. ''Was my gut instincts wrong? Wait, what if Daoyi used an incarnation technique to scope me out, and her true body wasn''t trapped at all?'' "Not good!" Jiang Chunye shouted.
Outside the sphere of darkness, Daoyi, in her usual blue robes, suddenly paled. ''The incarnation formed with part of my soul was killed.'' Earlier, she had used a secret technique to split off a portion of her soul and created an incarnation to scope Jiang Chunye''s ability out. She just never expected that once her incarnation entered Jiang Chunye''s domain of darkness, she would lose all connection to it. "Sure enough, I shouldn''t follow Tianyi''s example and take anyone who mastered a worldly law lightly," Daoyi uttered. Tianyi, with his monstrous strength, could afford to make mistakes. On the other hand, she had much less leeway. Daoyi swallowed a Soul Calming Pill before tapping the Mountains and Seas Pendant on her waist and releasing the Mountains and Seas Formation. Nine mountains, three real and six illusionary, descended and covered the surrounding kilometers. She could feel the Mountains and Seas Formation draw power from the Yellow Mausoleum. It couldn''t compare to the amount of immortal qi Daoyi could supply it or its own in-built energy source, but it was a nice addition. Under Daoyi''s control, the Mountains and Seas Formation trapped Jiang Chunye''s sphere of darkness in the fourth mountain and started to absorb it. In response, the sphere of darkness condensed itself until it was only a hundredth of its former size.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Despite Jiang Chunye''s best efforts, flecks of darkness split off from the condensed sphere. Still, at the rate it was going, Daoyi would still spend a considerable amount of time breaking through Jiang Chunye''s defense. ''That''s fine, my soul hasn''t completely healed yet.'' Daoyi thought as she settled down on the first mountain, Spacetime Mountain. Although she was most powerful on the second mountain, Life and Death Mountain, the first mountain provided better defenses. While she worked on breaking down Jiang Chunye''s sphere of darkness, she had the Mountains and Seas Formations absorb the Earthcore Heavywater before transforming it into the sea of the third mountain. Daoyi didn''t expect to finish forming the third sea before breaking Jiang Chunye''s defense, but that was fine. As she expected, Jiang Chunye''s sphere of darkness suddenly crumbled and was absorbed by the fourth mountain. However, Jiang Chunye''s figure didn''t appear, and the shattered fragments of the sphere of darkness started to corrupt the fourth mountain, tainting it in black. Vein-like lines of black started to spread through the fourth mountain. Daoyi frowned and summoned her guqin. After she became a true immortal, her guqin had already reached the level of an immortal artifact. Since it was one of her three lifebound artifacts, she could perfectly display its power. The problem became how to upgrade it now. Out of her three lifebound artifacts, the one that couldn''t keep up was the Cloudless Crest Link refined by Tianyi. ''I should give it to him and have him upgrade it for me.'' Daoyi''s guqin, the Nine Nether Note Guqin, floated horizontally in front of her, and she placed both hands on the strings. Then, she began her performance. "Seven Sins Song - Sixth Song Sloth Sleep" A slow, mesmerizing tune spread through the Mountains and Seas Formation. Daoyi even controlled it so that the music didn''t leave its range, increasing the song''s potency. Time seemed to slow down everywhere the song reached. Everyone who heard the would be overcome by a sense of laziness, so much so that they would want to fall asleep forever. Not even their souls would be spared as they would disintegrate. Of course, that was an extreme effect of the song. For those strong enough or with enough willpower, they would feel their mind become sluggish and find it hard to concentrate. Like now, the black lines overtaking the fourth mountain had slowed down and even begun to recede. That wasn''t important. What was important was that Daoyi had discovered Jiang Chunye''s location. Immediately, she switched songs. "Eighteen Songs of Hell - Seventh Song Shredding Sabers" A ghastly light enveloped the strings on her guqin. Each time she plucked a string, the ghastly light would explode out and form a ghostly warrior wearing armor and bearing a saber. Their gumless teeth clattered against each other like broken laughter as they charged toward with sabers poised to strike. Using the power of Spacetime Mountain, she sent the ghostly soldier directly into the illusionary fourth mountain. A thin film of black lined the edge of their saber as they reached Jiang Chunye''s location. With a slash, they sliced through a slightly bulbous patch of darkness, but it had no effect like a knife cutting through the water. Daoyi didn''t give up as more and more ghostly soldiers surrounded the bulbous patch of darkness. In less than a minute, thirteen ghost soldiers had surrounded it, each one slashing at their target. Just as Daoyi produced five more ghost soldiers to join the encirclement, a figure flashed out of the patch of darkness. Along with the disappearance of the Jiang Chunye, the bulb in the darkness had flattened out as it started to disappear rather quickly. Naturally, the ghostly soldiers chased after Jiang Chunye. Jiang Chunye, who was running away, sent a glare at Daoyi. "Dammit, you coward. Come on and face me like a woman!" Daoyi didn''t even deign to respond to Jiang Chunye''s provocation. She just continued to puppeteer the ghost soldiers and swarm Jiang Chunye. Jiang Chunye activated some sort of technique as her whole body became black. Even her form started to blur as if she had become darkness itself. With her increased speed, she outsped the chasing ghost soldiers and soon reached the edge of the fourth mountain. She sped past. "You may have won this battle, Daoyi, but I will kill you next time!" Leaving those parting words, Jiang Chunye fled out of the Mountains and Seas Formation, or, at least, that''s what she had planned. ''These words feel familiar.'' Daoyi thought, but her actions didn''t slow down. She activated the spatial abilities of the first mountain, and Jiang Chunye found herself in the center of the fourth mountain again, where a squad of ghost soldiers awaited her. Their sabers slashed through their body but didn''t catch any blood as if they had sliced through shadow. The darkness that formed Jiang Chunye''s face formed a smirk as she phased through the ghostly soldiers again and fled toward safety. Still, no matter how many times Jiang Chunye tried to leave, she would always find herself teleported back into the fourth mountain. "Dammit, stop relying on your treasures and face me head-on!" Jiang Chunye was starting to get desperate. She checked her qi reserved and discovered that she had less than ten percent left. If she ran out, wouldn''t she be like a fish on a chopping block? Then she noticed it. She had thought it was just fatigue, but upon closer inspection, she noticed that her body''s vitality had diminished by a large margin. Even if she had pushed herself to the limits for seven days, it wouldn''t have reached this point. It was as if she had used a forbidden technique to raise her strength. Only she didn''t. If it lowered anymore, her martial body would be crippled, and it would take a large amount of resources to fix. "What did you do?!" Jiang Chunye shouted, enraged. She could already imagine her dark future if her martial body was crippled. "You bitch!" Daoyi didn''t say anything. After mastering the Law of Death, she increased the offensive power of her ghost soldiers. The black film that coated their sabers would steal vitality from whatever they slashed and feed it back to her. If they slashed through a venerable, that venerable would immediately reach old age. "You forced me!" Jiang Chunye shouted as the air behind her split across to reveal a black void. Slowly, a black coffin emerged. The moment a fragment of it touched the outside world, devilish qi erupted and engulfed the fourth mountain. Daoyi sent her ghost soldiers to stop Chunye, but the devilish qi eroded their ghostly forms and weakened them to the point that when they reached her, it was too late. Red lines resembling veins covered the entire coffin and pulsed like a heart. Jiang Chunye endured the devilish qi and gently stroked the coffin''s lid. "I''m sorry, Jusang, but I need your help again." Then the coffin lid exploded, and a massive amount of devilish qi erupted and shrouded all of the fourth mountains. When the smoke-like qi cleared up, Daoyi saw a devil. Chapter 337: Devil Transformation Skin like charcoal, eyes that led to the abyss, two horns formed of pure sin, and exuding an aura of pure malice, that was a devil. The coffin sizzled as the devil leveraged himself out of it and stared at Jiang Chunye, completely ignoring Daoyi. "C-C-Chun-ye..." The devil croaked out. Daoyi''s expression tensed as she sensed the powerful miasma leaking from the black being. In terms of aura, it was somewhere between a true devil and a devil monarch. Her pupils shrunk as she made out the devil''s features. It looked like Hun Jusang? Jiang Chunye ignored Daoyi as she cupped Hun Jusang''s cheek. "I''m sorry that I need to wake you up, but I need your help." "H-help...I will...h-help y-you," Hun Jusang said. Daoyi didn''t want to wait any longer and attacked. Under her control, the fourth mountain exerted mountain-like pressure on the two, Jiang Chunye and Hun Jusang. Jiang Chunye curled into a ball, trying to withstand the pressure, but blood started spurting out from all over her body and turned her into a bloody mess. In contrast, Hun Jusang didn''t even move at all. He just stood there staring at Jiang Chunye without moving an inch. Then, he turned around and stared at Jiang Daoyi, who was all the way on the second mountain. Daoyi felt as if the grim reaper had placed the edge of its scythe against her neck. A cold sweat broke out, but her movements didn''t stop as she continued playing her song. The ghostly soldiers all rushed toward the duo. Their target? Jiang Chunye. Just as the first ghostly soldier neared her and raised its saber against her, it shattered. Where the ghostly soldier''s head had once been, Hun Jusang''s hand now rested. Hun Jusang rested in the same position for a few moments even as more ghostly soldiers arrived. "Un-Unfor-giveable!!!" A roar thundered out, causing cracks to appear on all the ghostly soldiers. Not a second longer, they all shattered into countless tiny shards, but that wasn''t the worst part. The worst part was the black miasma exploding from Hun Jusang''s body. Wherever the black miasma touched, it corrupted. Daoyi''s face paled as she felt her immortal sense deviate under the influence. To control the Mountains and Seas Formation, Daoyi''s immortal sense pervaded every inch of it. Since the fourth mountain was being corrupted, so was her immortal sense. It would be bad if the corruption reached her. Although she was confident in her willpower and resistance, she didn''t want to test it out, so she severed the immortal sense controlling the fourth mountain. Simultaneously, the fourth mountain''s corruption rate increased without her input. Daoyi lost sight of Jiang Chunye, but at this point, she didn''t have the spare effort. Almost all her attention was on Hun Jusang. The ephemeral, immortal-like aura the fourth mountain exuded was no longer present. Now, with each passing second, it exuded a malice-filled presence, a den of evil. No matter what Daoyi did, she couldn''t stop the corruption of the fourth mountain. Still, she did not stop her struggle. The more energy Hun Jusang used to take over the fourth mountain, the better it would be for her. Sweat rolled down Daoyi''s cheeks as she continued her resistance against Hun Jusang. She had long stopped playing her Nine Nether Note Guqin and focused wholeheartedly on controlling the Mountains and Seas Formations. Daoyi''s hand weaved through several seals, and the Life and Death Mountain began to quake. Of the mountains present, the first mountain, Spacetime Mountain, was undoubtedly the most powerful, but Daoyi specialized in the Law of Death. Hence she had more compatibility with the second mountain and could unleash more power. Death qi exploded from the second mountain. It floated above the peak and started to coagulate into a murky figure draped in a ragged cloak. A skeletal hand appeared from beneath its cloak and clenched. A staff slowly materialized out of its hand. Once it stopped growing, a curved blade emerged at the end, creating a sickle. The skeletal apparition of death grasped the scythe in both hands and raised it above its head. Its target was all of the fourth mountain. It swung, leaving behind an arc of black silver. Mountains and Seas Formation - Soul Silencer The grim reaper started to dissipate, and Daoyi heaved a sigh of relief as she felt the miasma run uncontrolled. It meant that she successfully silenced the source of the corruption. Now all she needed to do was eliminate the miasma and return the fourth mountain to normal. ''Somethings wrong,'' Daoyi thought. She tried to control the fourth mountain, but she discovered that she had less authority over it than before. The miasma that had become weak started to condense. Daoyi had an ominous premonition. She immediately commanded Spacetime Mountain to lock and contact the fourth mountain. As the seconds passed, she knew her premonition was true. Hun Jusang had survived and was going to detonate the fourth mountain! "Tian¡ª!" Daoyi didn''t even have a chance to finish as the fourth mountain detonated much faster than she expected. An all-devouring shroud of darkness enveloped her. When the darkness disappeared, there was only a land of black where the Earthcore Heavywater had been. The grass and soil had been upturned and cracked. The lake had taken on a dark hue and ran through the cracks like a river.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. It seemed as if everyone had died, but a moment later, a vortex appeared in the air, and Daoyi walked out. She was panting like crazy, and sweat coated her entire body. "Are you okay?" the chibi Tianyi asked. "Yeah, I''m fine," Daoyi said as her breathing returned to normal. Although her expression turned neutral, chibi Tianyi got the distinct impression that she wasn''t pleased. Daoyi tapped the Mountains and Seas Pendant, and the atmosphere around her turned gloomy. "I won''t be able to use the Mountains and Seas Formation for a while. The fourth mountain has been destroyed, and I don''t know when it can regenerate." "Oh! Give it to me," chibi Tianyi said. "Maybe I can improve my formation skills while watching it regenerate. I have confidence in my formation technique, but I still can''t recreate something like the Mountains and Seas Formation." A moment later, the Mountains and Seas Pendant disappeared from Daoyi''s waist. Daoyi didn''t fuss over it and stared into the distance without saying a word. "They survived, didn''t they?" Chibi Tianyi shrugged. "I sensed Hun Jusang fleeing, so I unleashed an attack from the Nine Heavens Universe. Logically speaking, he should have perished, but I don''t think he would die so easily." "What about Jiang Chunye?" Daoyi asked. "Her? I think she survived as well. I didn''t sense any spatial fluctuations, but I sensed a patch of darkness attached to Hun Jusang. That could be her," Tianyi said. "Next time," Daoyi said. "Next time, I''ll definitely kill her." Chibi Tianyi''s eyes widened as he stared at Daoyi. "Woah, that''s a massive amount of killing intent radiating off of you. I think this might be the first time I felt so much killing intent from you!" "Once, twice, I can ignore," Daoyi started. "I didn''t think much about her at first. Even if she wanted to kill, I still didn''t place that much importance on her. Logically speaking, we don''t have much conflict, and she instigated all of them. Still, I didn''t actively seek her out. If I could kill her, good." The killing intent around Daoyi condensed. "But she keeps annoying me like a mosquito, no, a cockroach. This time, I''ll be the hunter." ''Wow, Jiang Chunye must have really pissed her off," chibi Tianyi thought. ''She wasn''t this active in killing the Xu Clan''s enemies. I almost feel bad for Jiang Chunye. Almost.''
Over a thousand kilometers away, a black streak soared through the yellow sky. A few seconds later, the black streak started to sway back and forth until it hit the ground, revealing Hun Jusang with an unnaturally large shadow. However, he wasn''t fine at all. Hun Jusang had numerous lacerations covering his entire body, and he was missing an arm. From the stump of his arm and wounds, black blood leaked. He didn''t care at all and reached into the shadow and pulled out an unconscious Jiang Chunye. "Chunye! Chunye!" Hun Jusang shouted, but no matter how he shouted, Jiang Chunye didn''t react. Hun Jusang placed his finger underneath Jiang Chunye''s nose and felt the flow of air. Only then did he sigh in relief and relax. He couldn''t use immortal sense or spiritual sense to check her body because he was no longer a cultivator but a true devil. Devils were beings that brought calamity to all. Hun Jusang wasn''t sure what his devil sense would have done to Jiang Chunye''s body, so he could only use this rudimentary method. Hun Jusang slung Jiang Chunye over his shoulders and turned into a black streak again. He feared Daoyi and that unknown immortal chasing them. After fleeing for several thousand more kilometers, Hun Jusang stopped after finding a safe location. He leaned Jiang Chunye against the cavern walls and inspected himself. This was the first time he had seen his body since the devil monarch within his body had started possessing his body. As expected of a devil''s body, Hun Jusang''s wound had stopped bleeding and was in the slow process of healing. Devils were creatures that fed on negative emotions. Even now, Hun Jusang could perceive the negative emotions of the immortals in the Yellow Mausoleum. In his eyes, they were fed to him through faint currents, healing him. The more negative emotions he was mired in, the stronger, faster, and more terrifying he was. Conversely, if he didn''t reign in his own negative emotions, the more easily he would become affected by them. Devils didn''t need to care as they thrived on negative emotions, but Hun Jusang didn''t want to lose his reasoning, especially after he regained his body. Jiang Chunye''s eyelashes fluttered, and Hun Jusang immediately appeared in front of her. She looked at Hun Jusang in a daze. "Jusang?" Hun Jusang smiled for the first time in a long while. "I''m back, Chunye." Jiang Chunye''s eyes snapped open as she leaned forward in surprise. "Jusang, you''re back?!" She closely observed Hun Jusang for any sign of the devil that had been sealed inside of him. Hun Jusang still possessed charcoal-colored skin and two horns formed of sin, but his eyes were no longer pure black. The scleras were still black, but his irises had their former color. "How?" Jiang Chunye asked. "It must have been because of your sister''s attack," Hun Jusang said. "I could sense that her last attack would be fatal to the soul, so I completely gave up control of my body to the devil inside me. I was pretty lucky since her attack destroyed the devil''s soul, giving me complete control of my body back." "Heh, that bitch was useful for something at least," Jiang Chunye said. "Are you completely cured? An inner devil won''t try to possess your body again, right?" Hun Jusang shook his head. "I''m not sure. A situation like this has never happened before. I''m not even a cultivator anymore but a devil. If I were to form an inner devil, the same might even happen to me. Or, I might have become an existence like an inner devil. Who knows, I might become a devil in the true sense after some time." Hearing Hun Jusang''s words, Jiang Chunye frowned and pinched his cheeks. She pulled, hard. "I don''t want to hear such words from you. As long as you live, there will always be a chance." Jiang Chunye stopped pinching and pulling. Her hands slowly cupped Hun Jusang''s face in her palms. "You''re the first person to successfully become a devil without your mind corrupted. Maybe you''ll become an ancestor-like figure and devise a new cultivation path. Our story is just beginning." Hun Jusang placed his hand over hers. "You''re right." "Anyways, I want to go back and kill Daoyi, but we should leave first. I don''t want to leave all the opportunities for them, but your life is more important," Jiang Chunye said. "Your situation is very unique. We should ask your master if there are any records and help you." "Okay," Hun Jusang complied. He followed behind Jiang Chunye as she left the safety of the cave. Unknown to her, Hun Jusang revealed a regretful expression. ''I''m sorry, Chunye. The truth is that your sister''s attack didn''t just exterminate the devil but part of my soul too. I don''t know how long my soul can last before my body becomes a husk. At least in my last days, I want to spend them with you.'' Chapter 338: Pawns Outside of the entrance to the Yellow Mausoleum, Tianyi''s eyes opened from inside his palace. ''''Hun Jusang, we were originally allies, but who told you to touch someone you shouldn''t? Not even the Nihility Sect will be able to protect you.'' To an outsider, Tianyi''s body trembled imperceptibly, but only for an instant. Without close observation, no one would have been able to tell that Tianyi replaced himself with a weak conduit. It possessed the combat ability of a true immortal, but that was it. After all, the conduit''s primary purpose was to act as a portal to and from the Nine Heavens Universe. As for Tianyi''s true body, it reappeared several thousand kilometers away in the direction Jiang Chunye and Hun Jusang secretly traveled. He chased after their tracks concealed by the folds of space. However, it seemed that the heavens were protecting them. Whenever Tianyi thought he would catch up to them, their traces would disappear, and Tianyi would have to spend more effort searching for them. Months later, he finally reached the edge of the Earth Continent, but he couldn''t even find a hint or shadow of Jiang Chunye or Hun Jusang. Tianyi wanted to curse. Actually, he wasn''t even sure that the two had left the continent from this spot. "Count yourselves lucky," Tianyi muttered as he teleported back into the Concealed Palace in front of the entrance to the Yellow Mausoleum. After calming his anger, Tianyi settled down and resumed comprehending the worldly laws.
Inside the Mausoleum, Tai Wuling frowned as he crouched on the ground. His hands sifted through the black sand as he detected the deathly aura contained within them. He wasn''t the only one attracted by the unique fluctuations. Other immortals were also doing the same, investigating the truth behind the changed land. All of them tactically agreed on a truce, and no one interfered with the other. Some immortals guessed that it was the birth of a unique treasure. Others said that it was the result of a battle, but few agreed. Tai Wuling could see why most would reject the theory. It didn''t look like the end result of a battle between immortals. It appeared closer to a natural disaster than anything man-made, but Tai Wuling''s gut told him that it was the result of a battle. He closed his eyes and focused on his senses. ''This...is the Law of Death. Did Jiang Daoyi battle here? The only one I know who comprehended the Law of Death is her, so she should be one of the participants. I doubt she is capable of unleashing this much devastation, so she must have a powerful treasure.'' Tai Wuling''s brows twitched. ''This is the Law of Darkness. For two people to cause so much damage, their strength isn''t below mine. Now, there are three people at the level of peak immortal lord. Jiang Daoyi, the other unknown participant, and the Divine Flame Lord. The Holy Cloud Saintess shouldn''t be at the same level anymore since she lost most of her Polar Profound Umbralwater.'' Speak of the devil. Tai Wuling''s eyes snapped open, and he glanced at two new arrivals. At the same time, one of the two also looked over. Lightning flashed between them as the tension rose. He was none other than the Divine Flame Lord, Yan Nie. After a few seconds, the two disconnected their gazes and returned to doing their own thing. Tai Wuling glanced at the woman beside Yan Nie, the Holy Cloud Saintess, Yun Xialan. ''No wonder,'' Tai Wuling thought. He narrowed his eyes as he noticed the paper-thin distance between Yanie and Yun Xialan. No wonder Yun Xialan was so against him so it was because she was involved with Yan Nie. She wanted to kill Yan Nie''s enemy, him. Tai Wuling snorted. What was so good about Yan Nie? If the two fought now, he had the confidence to defeat Yan Nie. Maybe not kill, but he would obtain that sooner or later. However, now was not the time to fight the two. Even if Yun Xialan''s combat prowess decreased, Tai Wuling didn''t have the confidence to defeat the two of them together. More important was the implication of what the relationship between the two meant. Did the Anti-Heaven Alliance want to ally with the Anti-Earth Alliance? If so, it added an additional reason for Yun Xialan''s killing intent toward him. Or maybe it was just the Cloud Goddess Cult''s intent. Maybe they wanted to use Yun Xialan to seduce Yan Nie for information. The thought that Yun Xialan genuinely fell in love with Yan Nie never crossed Tai Wuling''s mind. He just couldn''t see it. What was so good about Yan Nie that would cause a girl to abandon everything her force stood for? He admitted that Yan Nie was good-looking enough to be called handsome, but that''s it. What good was beauty worth in this world? Only strength was most important. If in terms of beauty, then Xi Tianyi was the most attractive man Tai Wuling had ever seen, but his personality was the worse. Tai Wuling pitied Yun Xialan. She was just a little girl tricked by Yan Nie''s good lucks. Luckily, Yang Linyin wasn''t shallow like Yun Xialan.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. He turned around and left using Earthwalk. No one except Yan Nie and Yun Xialan noticed Tai Wuling''s departure. Tai Wuling continued to travel to the core of the Yellow Mausoleum. Only a small percentage had noticed the battle between Daoyi and Jiang Chunye because the rest were too far. Some of them fell to the earth beasts or the insidious schemes of their fellow immortals, but no matter what, they didn''t forget their purpose here. After entering hundreds of thousands of kilometers, Tai Wuling stopped. He saw a barrier that stretched endlessly and extended to the sky. Tai Wuling placed his hand on the barrier and felt the dense earth essence. He pushed but felt the barrier spring back into him. No matter how hard Tai Wuling tried to force himself through the barrier, he had not even an inkling of success. Since he couldn''t use strength, there had to be another way. Next, Tai Wuling attempted to absorb the earth essence into his body. The moment he did so, he could feel his body creak in protest under the mighty force of the essence. There was a reason only those in the Origin Immortal Realm could produce essence. All those not in the Origin Immortal Realm were too weak to withstand the power of essence. In the Seamless Immortal Realm, while the immortal would merge his qi with the five elements, it would also temper their body at the same time. Despite Tai Wuling possessing the qualifications to immediately become a peak immortal monarch upon entering the Seamless Immortal Realm, the current him was still a true immortal whose body hadn''t been tempered by the five elemental qi. Just as Tai Wuling was about to try another method, the black sphere in his sea of consciousness started to vibrate. The earth essence became extremely docile and entered Tai Wuling''s body. It flowed from his hand all the way to his head, where his sea of consciousness existed. The black sphere greedily absorbed the earth essence, and Tai Wuing didn''t sit around doing nothing. The whole process didn''t need his input, so he focused on the Law of Earth. He could feel the wool over his eyes clear as the black sphere absorbed more and more earth essence. Tai Wuling didn''t know how long he stood there, but by the time he awakened, he felt that he only needed a little bit more, and his understanding of the Law of Earth would become complete. He no longer had a bottleneck, and it was only a matter of time. He smiled and observed the barrier again. Compared to before, he noticed that it had become extremely thin and weak, but it was still an unsurpassable moat to most true immortals. It was even translucent, allowing Tai Wuling to see a massive city wall in the distance. Behind the walls was a giant golden mountain. Tai Wuling pushed. Unlike before, the earth essence barrier bent under his power, but it didn''t break. Considering that he also cultivated the martial way along the spiritual way, Tai Wuling had confidence in his body''s brute strength, but he still couldn''t break through after it weakened. He guessed not many possessed the ability to enter even if the barrier reached the point of near collapse. Still, he wasn''t entirely clueless about the path to take. Tai Wuling began to circulate his comprehension of the Law of Earth, and the earth essence barrier began to change. Not long later, a hole opened up, and Tai Wuling passed through. The hole closed immediately after. "I should be the first one to pass through the barrier, right?" Tai Wuling said to himself. His thoughts weren''t without reason. Of the three people who could compete with him, only he comprehended the Law of Earth to the final point. Of course, he didn''t discount the fact that someone might have a powerful artifact or talisman to aid them. Tai Wuling soon reached the city walls, but it was like a fortress. He couldn''t scale it at all. Left with no choice, he searched for the gate, and he found it a month later. The gate was over two hundred meters tall, far larger than the human body. He was like an ant in comparison. After walking in and seeing the magnificent city, Tai Wuling soon discovered why. Most of the doors were tailored for beings that had an average height of twenty meters. Tai Wuling had no doubt that this city was once a magnificent divine city inhabited by countless immortals and likely several divinities. The thought of breaking and entering the houses to see what treasure he had crossed his mind, but he quickly stamped it down. Instead, he stared at the mountain at the center of the city. Whatever goods these houses should not compare to what he could find at the center of the mountain. He ran toward the mountain at his fastest speed. He would have used Earthwalk, but he discovered that some sort of restriction or rule prevented him from doing so. Tai Wuling took over half a year to reach the foot of the mountain. In front of him was a wall-less gate engraved with words not from any language he recognized. Despite that being the case, the meaning of the world appeared out of nowhere in his mind. Allearth Path Tai Wuling immediately entered a daze upon reading the word. He could sense the infinite mysteries related to the earth. The boundless might that surpassed the complete Law of Earth struck Tai Wuling like a mountain to the face. A smile graced his lips¡ªLaw of Earth, one hundred percent comprehension. Tai Wuling knew that the Law of Earth and likely the other laws could go further, but he didn''t know how. Still, that was enough for the current him. What he needed to do now was to focus on comprehending the Law of Water, the Law of Wood, and the Law of Metal. After the feeling of happiness from fully comprehending his second worldly law faded, Tai Wuling opened his eyes, but his heart shook. No longer was he standing before the divine mountain. Instead, he now sat on a golden throne in a golden palace with numerous powerful beings kneeling to him. His gaze pierced the palace walls and settled onto the divine city at the base of the mountain. Having experienced it once, Tai Wuling knew that he was experiencing another memory. Strangely, instead of experiencing the unknown godfiend''s encounter with Pangu, Tai Wuling seemed to have become another being, this time the Yellow God. Was he wrong, was the godfiend not the original owner of the black sphere? Tai Wuling didn''t have much time to think as a sorrowful emotion filled his heart. This was the emotion the Yellow God felt as he closed his eyes. Despite the glamorous palace and city, there was no life. It was nothing but the vestige of former greatness. The Yellow God suddenly laughed. It was an uproarious laugh filled with ridicule and despair. "Pawns! It turns out everyone one of us were pawns! Oh Pangu, what good calculations you have!" Chapter 339: Divine Blood Unlike last time, the memory was very short, and Tai Wuling quickly awoke. Even after he had awoken, feelings of unwillingness, despair, and anger lingered in his chest. It took a few hours to separate his own emotions from those of the Yellow God''s. To his joy, Tai Wuling discovered that his willpower had increased. Although willpower didn''t directly increase his combat prowess, it still had many uses, such as resisting soul attacks. "What did he mean by pawn?" Tai Wuling uttered. Who could make a divinity despair and depreciate themselves as a pawn? The first thought that came up was the three most powerful divinities: the Heavenly Lord of Primordial Beginnings, the Heavenly Lord of Numinous Treasures, and the Heavenly Lord of Way and Virtue. Did one of the Three Pure Ones scheme against the Yellow God, or did all three scheme against him? Maybe it wasn''t just the Yellow God, but the other Five Element Gods: the Black God, the Red God, the Green God, and the White God. Tai Wuling shook his head. He was far too weak now, but he had a feeling that he would eventually discover the truth behind the Yellow God''s despair. He stared at the mountaintop where the divine palace was located. Step by step, Tai Wuling started climbing the mountain. The stairs seemed to have been carved out of yellow marble and were over a thousand meters wide and three meters long. It was obviously made for beings that were around twenty meters in height, but it was still very long. From the bottom, it seemed to go on endlessly. Even if Tai Wuling grew to twenty meters tall, he was still just a speck of dust in comparison. Not only that, but Tai Wuling discovered that the gravity slightly increased with each step he climbed. By the hundredth step, the gravitational force had already quadrupled, but that was nothing for most immortals, even spiritual immortals. Once he reached the ten thousandth step, the gravitational force had increased to over twenty times. Now, Tai Wuling was beginning to feel the strain. It wasn''t much, but it would increase exponentially with time. Still, this was far from enough for him to give up. It only made him more determined. Once he reached the fifty thousandth step, gravity had increased by over a hundred times, and sweat coated Tai Wuling''s body. His run had devolved into a forceful walk. Each step sent shivers up his leg, but he didn''t want to stop. In fact, his eyes shone brilliantly with the increase in gravity. Tai Wuling discovered that his fleshly body was being tempered by gravitational force, and he had not reached his body''s limit. Once he did, then it would be time to reap the benefits. He discovered his body''s limit was around the ninety thousandth steps. Tai Wuling looked at the hundred thousandth step and urged his body to go on. He was just a little bit away from a hundred thousand, and he was unwilling to rest until he reached that height. It was a test for both his willpower and body. Each step seemed to increase the gravity by another level, and his body was screaming for rest. It seemed that he would faint at any moment, but through sheer willpower, Tai Wuling reached the hundred thousandth step. Tai Wuling collapsed onto his knees and allowed all tension to leave him. In his relaxed state, he slipped into unconsciousness and fell onto his back. When he awoke, most of his fatigue disappeared. He scanned his body with his immortal sense and discovered that his body had improved again. Although the gravitational force was still harsh on his body, his limbs no longer felt like solid stones anymore. Feeling the abundant earth energy, Tai Wuling sunk deep into thought. Tai Wuling dual cultivated the spiritual and martial ways. Thanks to mastering the Law of Fire and the Law of Earth and comprehending the Law of Water, Wood, and Metal, his immortal qi of five elements had reached the limit of the Pathfinding Immortal Realm, but his martial body was another story. He needed a vast amount of elemental energy to upgrade his body. Given enough time, he could simply use his qi to temper his body, but that would take hundreds of years at best. On the earth path where earth energy was abundant, Tai Wuling planned on tempering and upgrading his martial body. Tai Wuling sat in a lotus position and began to absorb the earth energy. Yellow energy coursed through his body. Each cell in his body was filled with energy, increasing its toughness. Individually, it was minuscule, but once the trillions upon trillions of cells all filled up with energy and transformed, the change would become shocking. He could feel his body''s defense become tougher. His pure strength didn''t necessarily increase, but his body did begin to become as hard as immortal artifacts. Now, even if Tai Wuling did nothing, an immortal monarch would find it difficult to break his skin. Naturally, he wouldn''t stop and become a punching bag in a real fight. Tai Wuling stopped there. Unless he could find a location filled with dense energy of the other elements in the Yellow Mausoleum, he would no longer be able to bring about a qualitative change to his martial body. Considering that the pocket dimension was mostly filled with earth energy, he would have to exit it first. He decided he would go to Blackplume Mountain in the Southern Region of the Earth Continent after leaving. Blackplume Mountain was an active volcano filled with fire energy and qi that most true immortals would never dare enter. Naturally, he wasn''t among those true immortals.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Tai Wuling stood back up. It was time to resume his climb. Just as he was about to reach the next step, he stopped. His senses had not caught anything, and it was more instinctual than anything else, but Tai Wuling glanced back at the foot of the mountain. There, he saw his hated foe, the Divine Flame Lord Yan Nie. Yan Nie seemed to have noticed him too, despite the vast distance separating them. Next to Yan Nie was Yun Xialan. Tai Wuling narrowed his eyes and looked away. Yan Nie''s presence only made him more determined to reach the stop. He resumed his journey and walked step by step. His gait was neither rushed nor slow. Each step was steady and taken with confidence. Still, Tai Wuling spared some of his attention on Yan Nie and Yun Xialan. As expected of his fated foe, Yan Nie''s ascension speed was barely slower than his despite not majoring in the Law of Earth. Even from his height, Tai Wuling could see a fiery aura coating Yan Nie as he climbed step by step. However, Tai Wuling only smiled. Yan Nie was using some sort of physical boosting technique. While it may work out in the short run, Yan Nie would eventually lose not only his speed but his ability to resist the gravitational force. He might even die if his body reached a height it couldn''t withstand without the physical boost. The name of the game was endurance, and Yan Nie had obviously yet to realize that. Yun Xialan didn''t use any physical boosting technique. Whether she couldn''t or figured out the purpose, Tai Wuling didn''t know. Perhaps it might have been because he had taken her Polar Profound Umbralwater. Still, her speed was vastly inferior to Yan Nie''s, much less his own. Without worry, Tai Wuling continued to climb the mountain path. When he turned back on the one hundred and fifty thousandth step, Tai Wuling saw Yan Nie struggling around the fifty thousandth steps. His fiery aura constantly flickered as if it would extinguish at any moment. Yun Xialan had barely reached the ten thousandth step. Tai Wuling resumed his climb. He wanted to reach the two hundred thousandth step before resting again. His breath had become labored as the gravitational force increased, and he sweated enough to fill up a large lake. He even felt like he would collapse before reaching the One hundred sixty thousandth step. He slowed down and controlled his breathing. Tai Wuling reminded himself that he couldn''t rush or he would repeat Yan Nie''s mistake. After he slowed down, the pressure became much more manageable after giving him more time to adapt to the changes. Earth energy constantly circulated and filled his cells. Every time Tai Wuling felt like his cells couldn''t take anymore, they would constantly prove him wrong. The more he climbed, the more energy his cells could store. As a side effect, so did the total amount of immortal qi he could store. A year later, Tai Wuling reached the two hundred thousandth step. He looked back down, and his eyes widened. Yan Nie had reached the one hundred ten thousandth step, and his fiery aura had increased instead of extinguishing like a candle at the end of its lifespan. If anything, Yan Nie''s fiery aura seemed infinite and grew stronger with each step he climbed. Tai Wuling had originally planned to rest, but he changed his mind as a sense of urgency pressed down upon him. He could not allow Yan Nie to reach the top first. He had a feeling that whatever awaited them at the divine palace atop the mountain was an opportunity he could not miss. He redoubled and scaled the mountain. Tai Wuling''s pace did not increase, but he maintained a steady pace. Usually, the higher one walked, the slower their pace became, so Tai Wuling''s action was akin to speeding up. Of course, it had its drawbacks. His joints started to creak, and his bones started to bend under the increased gravitational force. The gravity he now faced was at least five thousand times what he normally faced. Still, Tai Wuling persevered, pressured by the shortening distance between himself and Yan Nie. On the three hundred thousandth step, Tai Wuling looked down, and he saw Yan Nie around the two hundred thousandth step. Yun Xialan hadn''t even reached the fifty thousandth step. In addition to the three of them, more and more people arrived and started to ascend the mountain, but one caught his eye. A woman of ephemeral beauty clad in a blue dress scaled the steps faster than even himself. Her skin seemed to glow as she left lingering afterimages of herself in her wake. She was Jiang Daoyi. Tai Wuling frowned. He was quite sure that Jiang Daoyi was a soul cultivator that didn''t cultivate the martial way. So how was it that she was able to breeze through the gravitational force without a strong body? Was it a special soul technique? Aside from Yan Nie, Tai Wuling now had to face another contender from reaching the mountaintop first. Luckily for him, he had already made it past the midpoint. In truth, Jiang Daoyi didn''t have it as easy as it appeared. She had used a soul method to shift her physical body into a spiritual form, one that did not tire nor was it burdened by material constraints. But this was the Yellow Mausoleum created from the Yellow God''s domain. Although the gravitational force shouldn''t have affected her, it still did. Like this, more and more people arrived and tried to scale the mountain. Tai Wuling maintained his lead to the very end, with Yan Nie in a close second and Jiang Daoyi in third. When Tai Wuling reached the five hundred thousandth and final step, the pressure did not disappear like he imagined it would. Luckily for him, the gravitational force did not increase after reaching the top. Still, Tai Wuling was forced to crawl on all fours like a bereaved dog just to move. Enduring the great humiliation, Tai Wuling crawled into the divine palace and made his way toward the grand hall, where he saw the Yellow God sat and overlooked everything. When he made it in, he saw a figure over twenty meters tall sitting on a golden throne. Tai Wuling''s eyes widened in shock. This was the Yellow God. Why was he still alive? His shock disappeared as he looked closer. The Yellow God''s figure was only a mirage created by the golden droplet inside. Tai Wuling''s heartbeat increased erratically as he stared at that droplet. It was a tiny thing, barely large enough to rest on his finger, but it emanated a terrifying pressure. Tai Wuling knew what it was. It was a drop of blood from the Yellow God, divine blood. His body and the black sphere inside of him urged him to consume it. As if beguiled, Tai Wuling moved toward the throne and climbed atop it. His hands reached out and grasped the divine blood between his fingers. Chapter 340: Wuxing Core The moment Tai Wuling curled his fingers around the golden drop of blood, a golden light exploded in the throne hall of the divine palace. The light soared out of the palace and illuminated all of the Yellow Mausoleum. Every immortal inside craned their head toward the core area. Anyone touched by the light would be filled with inspiration when comprehending the Law of Earth. Simultaneously, the earth essence barrier preventing over ninety-nine percent of the immortals from passing through started to weaken. Many true immortals'' eyes lit up. In their eyes, a supreme treasure must have been born for the divine light to illuminate the whole pocket dimension. Everyone increased their efforts as they tried to enter. Although they knew that their chances of obtaining the treasure were slim, that did not cool their blood. There was always the hope that the people already inside killed each other, giving them a chance to fish in muddy waters. Everyone ascending the pathway up the divine mountain felt the gravitational force begin to weaken. Instead of making them happy, this only made their face darken. Without fail, every immortal increased their pace. Even if Tai Wuling grabbed the treasure first, it still remained to be seen who would own it in the end. Tai Wuling was ignorant of what was happening outside the divine palace. He had become the source of the divine light. When he touched the divine blood, a part of his skin tore apart, and the blood drilled into his body, literally turning his skin, hair, and eyes gold. "Out! Get out of my head!" Tai Wuling shouted as he crouched from atop the giant throne. He punctuated each word by slamming his fist on the seat. Unheard by anyone else but him, a voice answered him. "This is the price you pay for intruding upon my domain." The voice sounded faint, yet each word thundered endlessly in Tai Wuling''s head. An ancient aura could be heard from the owner as if he was a being from far in the past. "Had you not been greedy for my blood essence, where would I have the chance to possess you?" the voice mocked. "Possess me?!" A hint of panic entered Tai Wuling''s voice. "Why would you possess me? Did you not set up the Yellow Mausoleum to find an inheritor?" "Yellow Mausoleum, finding an inheritor?" the voice mocked. "Do you think I''m a samaritan or something? You should have known that I wasn''t searching for an inheritor when you saw the trialless realm. I never expected a little true immortal to be able to reach the peak, but the heavens must be smiling upon me." Tai Wuling''s heart shook as he recalled what had happened in the past few years while in the Yellow Mausoleum. That''s right, aside from some naturally occurring treasure or the earth beasts, there was nothing resembling artifacts. Even the mountain path appeared too harsh for a trail. More importantly, there was no artifact spirit or message left behind! "Haha, it seems you''ve finally realized your folly," the voice said. "Now, obediently give up and become the nutrient for my revival!" Instead of panicking more, the ancient voice''s words actually calmed Tai Wuling down. He gritted his teeth and forced himself into a lotus position. "You must not have much of your strength left, do you? Otherwise, why would you waste words on me? As long as my willpower hold firm, you won''t succeed!" The ancient voice snorted. "I admit that I have less than even a thousandth of strength at my peak, but do you think that a little immortal like you can resist?" Before Tai Wuling even had time to react, the pain assaulting him multiplied by ten, almost causing all his thoughts to stop as his mind burned blank. His nails dug into his palm, causing blood to flow out, but he couldn''t feel it. He bit the inside of his mouth, causing blood to fill his mouth, but he could neither taste nor feel it. "I originally wanted to save what little energy I had, but do you really think I couldn''t solve you?" the ancient voice asked. "You look down on me too much. Even if only a drop of blood is left of me, it''s a drop of my, the Yellow God''s blood!" Veins pulsed atop Tai Wuling''s head as he scrunched his eyes shut. He could hear the Yellow God''s words, but he could not process them at all. All his focus was on defending against the drop of blood''s assimilation. Tai Wuling could feel skin, flesh, blood, and bones slowly transforming. His skin turned to soil, his flesh into rocks, his bones into metals, and his blood into mineral veins. It was like his body was transforming into a piece of land. The process started from his hands and reached his shoulders despite his best efforts. Eventually, his torso and dantian also started to transform. The more time passed, the more numb Tai Wuling felt. "Oh? You possess the dao chaos spiritual root?" the ancient voice asked in pleasant surprise. "No wonder you were able to bear the pressure. Even in my time, the dao chaos spiritual root is a perfect foundation, even for a divinity like me. Your body isn''t too bad either." Tai Wuling said nothing. He could no longer feel his arms or legs, yet the pain still seemed to pierce his soul. The ancient voice spoke again, trying to rile him up. "Any last words? Once I reach your head, your soul will become mine," the ancient voice calmly asked. Tai Wuling stayed silent as he never gave up hope, continually resisting the encroachment. The ancient voice tsked. "Stubborn bastard, making me waste my essence."This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Despite Tai Wuling''s best efforts, his neck started to transform as well. Then his lower jaws, upper jaw, cheeks, nose, lips, eyes, and ears. By this point, he had lost all senses, as if he was floating in a void with nothing but pain for company. "Any last words?" the ancient voice asked. "Once I devour your consciousness, it''s all over." Tai Wuling said nothing. "Very well, goodbye," the ancient voice said. With a last burst, the Yellow God invaded Tai Wuling''s consciousness. Tai Wuling''s mind became completely white as his sea of consciousness started to turn yellow, beginning from the edge. A figure condensed above the sea of consciousness. Everything about him was yellow, from his robes, his crown, his eyes, and his hair. He was the apparition of the Yellow God''s last strand of thought preserved within that drop of blood. The owner of the ancient voice exuded a bone-deep arrogance. "Hmpf, all you did was make me waste a bit more time." The last remnant of the Yellow God scanned Tai Wuling''s consciousness, but the moment he saw a black sphere with deep blue runes glowing on it, his face paled. "Why is the Wuxing Core in his possession!?" The Yellow God''s remnant fled into the distance as if he had met some terrible beast. The apparition dissolved into particles of light as the yellow color receded from the silver sea of consciousness, but it was already too late. The black sphere started trembling as if awakening from a long sleep. It exuded a rainbow light that illuminated Tai Wuling''s consciousness. The fleeing yellow light froze as if locked in place. "No!" The Wuxing Core started to pull the yellow particles toward itself, and the particles gradually formed the Yellow God''s face. It was filled with unwillingness and fear. "Wuxing, are you Wuxing''s reincarnation?! Dammit, are you trying to reform yourself by absorbing us?!" "Answer me!" No matter how much the Yellow God''s remnant shouted, Tai Wuling didn''t answer because he had completely fallen unconscious. The yellow particles detached and were absorbed by the Wuxing Core, bit by bit. The Yellow God''s remnant tried to struggle and scream, but it was no use. "Dammit! It was supposed to be my glorious return. With the damn Three Pure Ones gone, it was my era! Mine!!!" With that last outburst, all the golden particles disappeared, absorbed by the Wuxing Core. The Wuxing Core stopped emitting a rainbow light and dimmed, but unlike before, new runes glowing a deep yellow appeared on its surface. Outside, the brilliant divine light of yellow had disappeared. Tai Wuling lay atop the throne, knocked out. His hair, eyes, skin, and everything else returned to their former colors, except for the one fact that his body now exuded a divine yellow glimmer.
Time continued to pass. As the gravitational force suppressing the core of the Yellow Mausoleum gradually lifted, more and more immortals ascended the steps. In less than a month, the second person reached the peak. He wore a fiery robe and possessed handsome features. He was Yan Nie, known as the Divine Flame Lord to most. Compared to when he started ascending the mountain, a mark resembling fire was now imprinted between his brows. The fire mark exuded five different colors: red, black, yellow, green, and white. "Finally made it," Yan Nie said as he breathed out. So hot was the air he let out that it blurred the space in front of him. A half-meter thick aura of fire encased him, causing the surrounding meters around him to distort like a heat mirage. Yan Nie turned his attention toward the divine palace. The gravitational force wasn''t enough to force him onto his knees, but he still felt like he was walking through a quagmire. A flick of his wrist later, a black spear that seemed to absorb all light appeared in his hand. The spear continuously absorbed Yan Nie''s fiery aura without change, like a black hole. Having finished his preparations, Yan Nie walked toward the divine palace and entered. Upon entering, he saw the grand doors leading to the throne hall open. Allowing his instincts to guide him, he entered. Despite the grandeur, the throne hall was devoid of any precious treasures, almost like a robber had already visited. A prone figure caught his eyes, and Yan Nie snapped his attention to the person on the ground. As Yan Nie expected, he saw Tai Wuling atop the giant throne. He scanned the surrounding once more, trying to find the source of the divine light that erupted from the palace earlier. Seeing no hints, Yan Nie turned his attention back to Tai Wuling. His instincts told him that Tai Wuling had taken it. Whether Tai Wuling was really unconscious or pretending, Yan Nie didn''t know. Instead, he entered a stance with the spearhead pointing at the ground. A small ball of fire appeared at the speartip. Soon, it burst out into a five-colored flame that enveloped the spearhead like an outer shell. Despite the suppression of the divine palace, the air around the spearhead started to blur as the temperature drastically rose. Simultaneously, Yan Nie''s aura enlarged and took on an explosive trait. Yan Nie leaped into the air, a fiery footprint charring the tiled floor in the process. Fire exploded from the spearhead, shrouding Yan Nie in fire and turning him into a shooting star as he arrived in front of Tai Wuling. The fiery spear pierced toward Tai Wuling, and he received it without moving. The force sent Tai Wuling crashing into the throne''s back, bouncing him toward the entrance. Yan Nie spun his spear and turned around, brandishing it in preparation for his next move. Tai Wuling spat out a mouthful of blood as he opened his blurry eyes. Pain drove away any drowsiness as he spat another mouthful and checked his injuries. The top half of his robes had completely disintegrated. His robes were actually an immortal rank defensive artifact, so it could be seen how powerful Yan Nie''s strike was. At the center of his chest, smoke billowed out from the cauterized wound, and cracks covered his body like a broken mirror. Although the wound seemed terrifying, his wounds weren''t as serious as they appeared. Tai Wuling could feel a vast amount of vitality surging forth, repairing his body. Although he didn''t know what had happened to his body, he couldn''t care. Compared to his current wound, Tai Wuling struggled to stay awake more. His eyes widened as Yan Nie charged at him again. Even if his body were healing him, taking another two or three strikes from Yan Nie would spell his death. Yan Nie didn''t waste any words and continued to attack Tai Wuling, intent on taking his life. Tai Wuling, for his part, was slowly inching toward the entrance with each dodge. He knew that if he didn''t escape, certain death awaited him. "Don''t even think about escaping!" Yan Nie shouted as he pierced his spear forward. Tai Wuling gritted his teeth and dodged to the side. The speartip sliced through the skin of his arm as it passed him. But as Yan Nie¡¯s attack sailed past Tai Wuling, its movement stopped as if caught onto something. Both Yan Nie and Tai Wuling looked over to see a figure materializing out of the air. She had ink-black hair and wore a slightly singed blue dress. In her hand was a gourd with a blade coming out, blocking Yan Nie''s spear. Jiang Daoyi glared at Yan Nie and Tai Wuling. Chapter 341: Tricked Jiang Daoyi huffed as she finally reached the top of the mountain. She stopped and sensed the qi fluctuations emanating from within the divine palace. Her form shimmered, and the silver aura left her, causing her back to bend under the pressure. To ascend up the mountain in record time, she had shifted her body''s nature to a spectral form because souls didn''t have weight. However, that only partially offset the gravitational force. The laws governing the Yellow Dimension had forced the rules of weight onto souls. Still, Daoyi didn''t shift back into her spectral form. The weakening gravitational force meant she could withstand it, even as a soul cultivator. ''I focused too much on soul cultivation and neglected my martial cultivation. I''m already an immortal, so now it''s too late to form a martial body. When I get back, I''m going to need to temper my body with treasure.'' An aura of death surrounded Daoyi, and her presence disappeared. Even if another immortal were to stare straight at her, they would subconsciously overlook her. With her preparations complete, Daoyi slowly made her way toward the origin of the qi fluctuations. There, she saw Yan Nie pressing Tai Wuling in a corner. Through her expertise in the soul, she could sense that Tai Wuling''s soul had changed. If she had to put a word to it, his soul had been elevated, like how a cultivator''s soul would transform when they reach the Core Formation Realm from the Foundation Establishment Realm or from the Nascent Soul Realm to the Unity Realm. Before, Tai Wuling''s soul had been stronger than the average true immortal, almost at the seamless immortal level. But now, it reminded Daoyi of her master, Xi Mengfei. It was only a hint, but she could tell that his soul was still in the process of upgrading. Daoyi narrowed her eyes and weighed her options. The sense of threat from Tai Wuling was greater than that of Jiang Chunye. She had a feeling, if Tai Wuling realized his potential, he would become one of the greatest threats to the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s plans. Her fingers drummed on the wine gourd tied to her waist. Should she strike now or wait for Yan Nie and Tai Wuling to tire each other out? Despite Yan Nie''s dominance, he couldn''t land a decisive strike or pierce Tai Wuling''s defense. At this rate, Yan Nie would tire before Tai Wuling. Daoyi''s thoughts wandered back to the mountain path. Aside from her, members of other forces were also present, including those from the Eight Pillar Sect. If she waited too long, there would be too many witnesses. The Buzhou Immortal Sect and the Eight Pillar Sect were still in a cooperative alliance, and if her actions were to be discovered, the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s plans might fall through. How fast could she kill Tai Wuling and Yan Nie? "Can you kill or trap them?" Daoyi asked the chibi Tianyi using immortal sense. "No," the chibi Tianyi answered back. "My spatial abilities were already suppressed, but nowI can barely open up a portal in the palace. The suppression of the law is too strong." Daoyi frowned. Just as she was contemplating the pros and cons of her choices, Tai Wuling neared the entrance where Daoyi was. She wanted to move out of the way of Yan Nie''s attack, but his spear collapsed the air around him, creating a suction force. It might not affect Tai Wuling with his powerful flesh, but Daoyi''s flesh was only average at best. Not hesitating, Daoyi gripped the Liquorlight Gourd. The cork popped off by itself, and a heavy alcoholic scent assaulted her nose as a glowing blade extended from the gourd''s mouth. Once the speartip struck the liquorlight sword, a fiery explosion blasted forward, aka at her. The explosion blasted the death qi cloaking her away and would have severely burned her had it not been for her lifebound defensive artifact. Daoyi could already feel her hair fraying from the sheer heat. She glared at Yan Nie. Both Tai Wuling and Yan Nie stared at her in surprise at her sudden appearance. Yan Nie quickly retreated as he held his spear defensively in front of him. Tai Wuling stared at Yan Nie before realizing what he was thinking. Tai Wuling turned to Daoyi and said, "Thank you for blocking the strike for me!" Then, Tai Wuling suddenly ran past Daoyi, all while shouting, "Miss Jiang, we should hurry and flee. The Divine Flame Lord''s strength is already firmly at the monarch level!" Daoyi watched in silent surprise before realizing what Tai Wuling had done. Yan Nie likely hadn''t realized the closeness between her and Tai Wuling, thinking she had come to save the latter. It would make sense. The Buzhou Immortal Sect and the Eight Pillar Sect were currently in an alliance, so it would only be natural for them to team up. Seeing Yan Nie''s increased wariness toward her, Daoyi felt annoyance rise within her before she quickly suppressed it. She scanned the throne hall and saw no treasure of note. Since there was no treasure to speak of, Daoyi activated her concealment technique. Since she couldn''t kill Tai Wuling, there was no point in remaining. Yan Nie, however, seemed to disagree as he struck with his spear, dispersing her congregating death qi. Forcing Daoyi to dodge out of the way. Compared to his previous strike, this was multitudes weaker.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Divine Flame Lord, you and I shouldn''t have any grievances. Why do you insist on fighting me?" Daoyi asked. "Sorry," Yan Nie apologized, but he still pointed his spear at Daoyi. "It''s true that you and I don''t have any grievances, and I really don''t like fighting women, but you and I are on opposite sides. Don''t worry, as long as you surrender, I can promise you that no harm will come to you." Daoyi''s brows twitched slightly. "I think capturing me as a hostage is far worse than fighting women, don''t you agree? You should have another motive." She continued speaking. "Rather than capturing me, capturing Tai Wuling would have a bigger deterrence since it''s the Eight Pillar Sect that is mainly warring against you. The Buzhou Immortal Sect hasn''t even officially joined the war yet. Even our last encounter was just you fighting Tai Wuling and Yang Linyin. So, you must be using it as an excuse." Yan Nie stayed, but the grip around his spear tightened until his knuckles turned white. Daoyi saw this but ignored it. "You wouldn''t care too much about the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s actions, then what about the person close to you? Say, the Holy Cloud Saintess." Veins bulged on his hands, but he gritted his teeth and stayed silent. "As the saintess of the Cloud Goddess Cult, she must know how dire the situation for the Anti-Heaven Alliance is," Daoyi said. "Last I heard, they reached the point that they had to team up with the Tripartite Alliance. But I don''t blame you. You said it yourself, this is war, and we are on opposite sides." Yan Nie''s grip slackened in surprise, but his expression darkened to a terrifying degree when he heard Daoyi''s following sentence. "That''s why you won''t blame me if I kidnap the Holy Cloud Saintess, right? After all, this is war, and all is fair," Daoyi finished. The air started to tense, and the temperature dropped to a terrifying chill despite the fiery aura that blasted Yan Nie''s body. "You''re right. This is war, but you have to have the strength to back up your words." Without waiting for Daoyi to reply or react, Yan Nie arrived in front of her. He swung his spear in a large arc, and it struck Daoyi in the stomach. Before Yan Nie could celebrate, Daoyi''s body transformed into a silver haze that quickly evaporated. "Where!" Yan Nie held his spear close and waited for Daoyi to strike. After ten minutes of no reaction, his eyes widened. "Not good!" Yan Nie ran out of the divine palace and turned into a fiery streak down the path he came up. Even if the gravitational force had weakened, it still took a lot of qi for him to move at such speeds, but he didn''t care. He couldn''t let Daoyi capture Yun Xialan. "Brother Yan?" Yun Xialan called out in confusion as Yan Nie appeared in front of her. "What''s wrong, did something happen?" "Keep your guard up, we might get attacked soon," Yan Nie said as he turned his back to Yun Xialan. He brandished his spear and waited for Jiang Daoyi''s strike. Yun Xialan also raised her guard. Although she didn''t know who would attack them, she trusted Yan Nie with her life. Yan Nie couldn''t help but recall their past together. Although Yun Xialan wasn''t a part of the Yan Family, she grew up with him. Thinking about it now, Yan Nie only realized the abnormality of it. Since Yun Xialan had always dressed like a boy since she was young, Yan Nie had always treated her like a brother, if a bit too pretty. His face flushed as he recalled what he did in front of her when they were young. He peed in front of her! Recalling that event, Yan Nie had the urge to bury himself in a hole. Anyways, Yun Xialan disappeared shortly after his duel with Pan Lanyue when conflict around the Heaven Continent started to rise, but they promised to reunite one day. And reunite, they did, just not in the way he expected. When he saw Yun Xialan again, she was wearing a dress. He had walked up to her and asked why she was crossdressing even if it did look good on her. Yeah, he had gotten a slap in the face for that. Her identity as the Holy Cloud Saintess of the Cloud Goddess Cult had shocked him, to say the least. When he asked why someone with an identity as noble as hers would come to a backwater place like the Pan Kingdom, Yun Xialan only shook her head and told him that it would be revealed in time. Yan Nie nodded and didn''t ask anymore. They split once more and promised to meet when one of them entered the Seamless Immortal Realm. He just never expected them to meet again so soon due to the Yellow Mansion. Although she didn''t say anything, his master, Monarch Pillrabbit, had revealed the dire situation of the Anti-Heaven Alliance to him. "Are you sure someone is targeting me?" Yun Xialan asked as over half an hour passed without incident. Numerous immortals had sped past them as they kept their guard up. Yan Nie''s brows furrowed. He didn''t want to admit it, but he had no choice. "I may have been tricked." "Tricked? What do you mean?" Yun Xialan asked. After Yan Nie explained what had happened, her heart warmed, but she still raised a stern front. "Stupid. Do you think I can''t protect myself?" "She was able to block my strongest move," Yan Nie explained. "You should know that my strongest attack has solidly passed the threshold of the monarch level. I don''t mean to demean you, but didn''t you lose most of your Polar Profound Umbralwater to Tai Wuling?" Yun Xialan pursed her lips and pouted. She slapped Yan Nie''s shoulder and said, "Let''s hurry up. While we wasted time, many people have already passed us. We should hurry up and catch up, so we don''t miss out on any treasures." Yan Nie shook his head. "There''s probably not much, if any. I didn''t check everything, but the only thing of value was likely taken by Tai Wuling." Yun Xialan frowned. "You said he ran out before you, right? I didn''t see him. Thinking about it, I didn''t see the Sword Sovereign''s disciple either." "I don''t know what Tai Wuling did, but I know Jiang Daoyi has a terrifying concealment technique. She was only revealed when she blocked my attack," Yan Nie said. "We should hurry about and leave. Unlike Tai Wuling or Jiang Daoyi, many people saw me leave. They might think I have some treasures on me." Yun Xialan scanned the surroundings and caught sight of a few immortals who were secretly observing them. She nodded, "Let''s go." Chapter 342: Golden Immortal War Formation Tai Wuling finally heaved a sigh of relief as he reached the base of the mountain. He blended in with the other true immortal rushing toward the mountain. Looking up, he saw a massive explosion of fire. Instead of flying, he frowned. Recalling the dishonorable action he used to escape, he couldn''t help but sigh. Silently apologizing to Jiang Daoyi, Tai Wuling left. He made sure to do it silently so as not to catch anyone else''s attention. He didn''t immediately leave the Yellow Mausoleum but found a safe location. He settled on a hole he excavated that was near an earth vein''s node. Perhaps because he absorbed the Yellow God''s blood or his action broke down some fundamental aspect, but the Yellow Mausoleum''s protection had weakened, allowing him to easily reach the node. Once there, Tai Wuling investigated the changes in his body. He couldn''t discover any trace of the Yellow God''s remnant at all, but he didn''t let down his guard. He tried to recall the Yellow God''s last words, but it was as if a faint haze covered it and prevented him from recalling. What he did discover was that the Wuxing Core¡ªTai Wuling paused. How did he know the black sphere''s name? This only ascertained his conjecture that the Wuxing Core had somehow saved his life. ''Did it absorb the remnant like it did with the Polar Profound Umbralwater?'' Tai Wuling shook his head. Right now, the more pressing matter was to analyze his changes. As he scanned his body, a smile broke out on his face. His body had reached the level of an immortal monarch. The boundless power of his flesh seemed to ripple with each movement. Although he couldn''t display a monarch''s full power, he could contend with a monarch and even hurt them with a simple punch without utilizing his mastery of the laws. The most important thing was that the changes were still occurring. Tai Wuling''s martial body naturally absorbed the earth qi from the vein without any conscious input from himself. He could feel it upgrading, but that wasn''t the only benefit. He could feel his soul becoming stronger. It was minute, but the changes were occurring. After a moment of thought, he wasn''t surprised. The spiritual method used the internal to refine the external, while the martial method used the external to refine the internal. In other words, spiritual cultivators raised their qi to temper their bodies, while martial cultivators upgraded their bodies to refine their qi and soul. Soul cultivators were just more extreme than spiritual cultivators, so their fleshly bodies weren''t as powerful. A month later, Tai Wuling opened his eyes. His body had finished upgrading. He clenched his hand and felt his newfound power. Joy danced across his eyes, but he quickly suppressed it. In the month of cultivation, Tai Wuling had ascertained that the Yellow God''s remnant had fully disappeared. During this time, he noticed the degrading state of the Yellow Mausoleum. Thanks to his new body, he could sense the thinning qi of the pocket dimension. Even without it, he could sense the earth veins weakening thanks to his close proximity. Tai Wuling stood up. The battle at the core should have ended, and it was time for him to leave. As his figure disappeared into the ground, he muttered, "I should clean up those hyenas."
"Did you find him?" an immortal of the Northbound Longevity Sect from the Anti-Earth Alliance asked. "No," his compatriot, an immortal of the Yangsource Sect, asked. Sixty immortals from the Northbound Longevity Sect, Yangsource Sect, Goldlight Sect, Skymist Gorge, and Extremity Night Sect had gathered. They were all old monsters who lived for hundreds of thousands of years, and it would not be long before they disappeared. "Where''s Immortal Skyaxe?" the leader of this squad, an immortal from the Extremity Night Sect, asked. All the immortals tried to find the Immortal Skyaxe, but they couldn''t find him at all, as if he had vanished. Although the pocket dimension had greatly restricted the range of their immortal sense, they were only hundreds of meters apart, more than close enough to sense each other. "Get ready, the prey may have become the predator," the squad leader said. All the immortals raised their guard as they tried to probe the area with all sorts of spells, but they couldn''t find a trace of their attacker. "Ahhh!" All the immortals turned their attention to the source of the shout to see an immortal of the Goldlight Sect disappear into the ground. With perfect coordination, the immortals skilled in earth techniques unleashed their own method in an attempt to save the squadmate. They blasted the ground apart but couldn''t find any trace of him. "It''s no use," the squad leader said. "Shinedust''s life talisman in my possession has shattered, Skyaxe''s, too. It seems that they no longer want to hide it anymore." "Form the Golden Immortal War Formation!" Under the squad leader''s control, the group of immortals split into two groups. Golden qi burst out of their body and intertwined with their fellow immortals until they formed two giant humanoids. The two golden giants stood over five hundred meters tall and were covered in a layer of golden light. They wore Daoist robes with a dao crown atop their head. The first golden giant resembled the squad leader, and the second resembled its commander. One of the Golden Immortal War Formations raised its leg and stamped the ground. The second immediately jumped hundreds of meters away and pierced the ground with a punch. Moments later, a man emerged from the ground.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. "Tai Wuling," the war formation controlled by the squad leader boomed. "If you ran toward the entrance with all your might, you might have had a chance to survive. Instead, you ran straight into the jaws of death. You have no one else to blame for your death but yourself."
"That remains to be seen!" Tai Wuling shouted. The Golden Immortal War Formation that had forced him out of the ground released a kick, but Tai Wuling easily jumped over it and into the air with his first reared back. He could hear a snort from the war formation as it punched at him. A boom echoed as their fists clashed. Tai Wuling crashed into the ground like a cannonball and cracked the land. To the immortals controlling the Golden Immortal War Formation''s shock, the collision actually forced it a step back. "No wonder we were told to eliminate you at all costs. Blame yourself for being too outstanding!" the Golden Immortal War Formation shouted as it raised its leg and stamped down. Silence descended, and the golden giant removed its foot to see nothing but crushed dirt and rocks. Hundreds of meters away, Tai Wuling emerged from the ground with a pale face. He gritted his teeth and suppressed the blood rising to his mouth. Aside from the commander''s strength, a war formation''s strength was determined by the power of the war formation. An immortal monarch''s base strength was determined by the number of elemental qi they fused, with zero being the weakest and five being the highest. Likewise, a monarch-level formation emulated that trait. As someone who mastered the Law of Fire, the Law of Earth, and near mastery of the Law of Water, the Law of Wood, and the Law of Metal, Tai Wuling could determine that Golden Immortal War Formation he clashed with was one that possessed immortal qi merged with five elements! Tai Wuling couldn''t understand. To form a single monarch-level formation possessing immortal qi merged with five elements required at least one hundred true immortals; the Eight Pillar Sect was the same. How could they accomplish it with thirty? Were their formations so refined that they only needed thirty? Furthermore, its qi was perfectly withdrawn, and only upon the moment of impact did he discover this fact! He needed to relay this information to the elders of the Eight Pillar Sect as soon as possible. If the Eight Pillar Sect''s formations needed three times more immortals to form a monarch-level formation, that meant the Anti-Earth Alliance could field thrice as much top-tier combat strength as them! Tai Wuling used Earthwalk, intent on escaping. The Golden Immortal War Formation closest to him tried to stop him, but it would be too late. At least, he had thought so until a domain emerged from the second Golden Immortal War Formation. The law contained with the domain wasn''t complete, and Tai Wuling easily ignored its effect on his body, but it didn''t affect just him but the land too, preventing him from using Earthwalk. During this time, the first Golden Immortal War Formation was already upon him, forcing him to jump out of the way. His skin exuded golden light as he ran away on foot. The second war formation didn''t let him as it pelted him with spell after spell. Tai Wuling gritted his teeth as he jumped out of the way of another spell. Although getting hit wouldn''t kill him, its danger toward him was far more than the Divine Flame Lord''s strongest strike. The Divine Flame Lord''s spear strike was powerful, but it only just crossed the threshold of the monarch level despite its profundity. The Golden Immortal War Formation was backed by immortal qi merged with the five elements, easily reaching a peak monarch''s power. In short, taking one hit would spell disaster. He narrowed his eyes and suddenly ran toward the closest Golden Immortal Formation. Despite its immense size, its movement wasn''t awkward at all. It easily shifted its feet so that it stood in front of him like an impassable wall. Tai Wuling gritted his teeth as a fiery aura glowed beneath the golden light. His skin turned red as he unleashed his most powerful instantaneous attack. The Golden Immortal War Formation took three steps back. ''Only three!'' Tai Wuling thought with languish. He gritted his teeth and summoned a talisman into his hand. Mysterious runes shone brightly as he activated and directed the attack at the Golden Immortal War Formation. A surging wave of light spilled forth and crashed into the Golden Immortal War Formation. It took over ten steps back, but the talisman wasn''t done yet. More waves surged and overlapped. Each overlap doubled the power, forcing the golden giant to its knees. Tai Wuling thought this would be the chance he needed. Who knew that the second Golden Immortal War Formation would ignore its companion''s plight and focus on attacking him. Steeling himself, Tai Wuling crashed into one of the attacks and used the knockback to carry him to his destination, a seemingly ordinary piece of land. He spat out a mouthful of blood as he tried to stand up. Tai Wuling could feel his body start to heal his injuries, but it was not fast enough. Numerous wounds littered his body, and blood freely flowed out. "It''s over," the Golden Immortal War Formation said. The talisman containing his master''s Eightfold Light attack had used up all its energy. The Golden Immortal War Formation that received the attack head-on continuously leaked qi, showing damage but would not collapse anytime soon. The Golden Immortal War Formation that received his master''s Eightfold Light charged at him while the second one kept its distance. Tai Wuling shook his head. "What a pity." Seconds before the Golden Immortal War Formation reached him, cracks appeared on the ground for thousands of kilometers, and earthen light erupted. The land quaked, mountains exploded, and endless pits opened. It was as if the apocalypse had come. "That bastard, he must have caused the earth vein to erupt!" the Golden Immortal War Formation controlled by the squad leader shouted. The war formation immediately formed a protective barrier to shield itself, but it was too late for the other one. The earth vein node continued to erupt until it lost all power, furthering the Yellow Mausoleum''s decay. Tai Wuling coughed as he climbed out of the rubble. Whatever was left of his clothes had turned to rags, and dust coated him, making him appear like a mud man. "Dammit," Tai Wuling said as he stared at the sole Golden Immortal War Formation. It continuously leaked qi and looked like it would disintegrate at any moment, but it was still more than enough time to kill him. "I didn''t want to use the last one." Tai Wuling pulled out a second Eightfold Light Talisman refined by his master, Emperor Infinity. Without a second thought, he activated it, but he never thought the Golden Immortal War Formation would be even more decisive. Cracks appeared all over its surface as power thrummed. Tai Wuling recognized what it was doing. It was going to self-detonate. Even if not aided by a complete law, the explosion produced by a peak monarch was not something he could withstand even at his peak state. "Dammit!" Tai Wuling shouted as he urged the Eightfold Light Talisman to halt the Golden Immortal War Formation, but it was too late as a bright light filled his vision. The last thing he saw was a circular disk flying in front of him. Chapter 343: The Strange Yang Linyin Tai Wuling waited for his inevitable death, but it never seemed to come. He could feel the energy of the self-detonation heating the air around him, but against his expectations, it didn''t seem to harm him directly. Confused, he opened his eyes. Blinding light entered his vision, but in front of him, he saw a circular mirror blocking most of the effects of the Golden Immortal War Formation''s self-detonation. "The Eight Way Mirror?" Unlike when facing Yan Nie, the Divine Flame Lord, the mirror held up impeccably. In fact, its power had reached even greater heights. A sense of security rose up in Tai Wuling''s chest, causing him to form a bitter smile. "Isn''t it supposed to be the other way?" Still, Tai Wuling didn''t complain otherwise. He knew that had it not been for the Eight Way Mirror''s appearance, he would have likely died or reduced to a wandering soul at best. Not even his monarch-level body could withstand the Golden Immortal War Formation''s self-detonation directly. The explosion disappeared soon after, not even lasting a minute. Usually, self-detonation techniques were instantaneous and unloaded a large amount of power in a short timeframe. Even a war formation''s self-detonation was no different. When the light from the explosion finally disappeared, Tai Wuling finally saw the Eight Way Mirror in its entirety and not just its shadowed form. As he expected, the crack on the mirror had disappeared, meaning that it had been fixed. "You just can''t do anything without me, can you?" Tai Wuling looked up and smiled. "You''re awake." Yang Linyin snorted and floated down from the sky. They weren''t in their male form but female form and wore a dress. Upon closer inspection, Tai Wuling felt a vague sense of pressure from them. He couldn''t help but shout in surprise. "You mastered a complete law?" Their pretty face sneered. Had it been on a man or a plain-faced woman, it would have looked irritating, but the sneer was mesmerizing on Yang Linyin''s face. "Didn''t you also master a complete law too?" Tai Wuling laughed. "It seemed that the Divine Flame Lord''s attack was a blessing in disguise. Next time we see him, we will have to repay him back for his help." Yang Linyin became slightly absentminded as they stared at Tai Wuling. "Yeah, a blessing in disguise." "Is something wrong?" Tai Wuling asked upon sensing their abnormal emotions. He moved toward them, but he stumbled as his legs gave out. Before his knees could hit the ground, Yang Linyin appeared in front of him and held him up. "Look at your sorry state. Before worrying about others, you should worry about yourself." "S-sorry," Tai Wuling stammered. Was that perfume he smelled? In all his years of knowing Yang Linyin, they never wore perfume or anything girlish. Now, their hair was decked out in hairpins, and they even wore a dress, making him feel overly self-conscious¡ªespecially with how physically close the two were. "What''s wrong?" Yang Linyin asked. Their face inched closer to Tai Wuling, causing him to become as still as a statue. "The explosion didn''t injure you, right?" Tai Wuling didn''t answer and repeatedly told himself that the reason Yang Linyin was acting so forward was that they thought of him as a brother and themself as a man. There was no deeper meaning to their actions, none at all. He had always thought it was a pity that they thought of themself as a man, but Yang Linyin didn''t see it that way at all. To them, their female form was just another method they took to go further on their path. "Seriously, did the explosion make you stupid?" Yang Linyin asked. Then, they did something that shocked Tai Wuling. They picked him up bridal style and started carrying him. "Wait, let me down! I can walk by myself!" he said as he struggled. That only made Yang Linyin strengthen their grip, hugging him closer. Feeling the soft sensation, Tai Wuling turned into a statue. "You almost fell. I don''t believe you can walk by yourself. Now, shut up and let me carry you, Junior Brother," they said, adding the last bit for emphasis. Tai Wuling opened his mouth, but no words came out. Ultimately, he could only allow them to continue carrying him. The two made their way toward the exit while everyone else continued to compete for the phantom treasures. Along the way, Tai Wuling sensed the rapid changes occurring in the Yellow Mausoleum. The dense earthen energy still pervaded the pocket dimension, but it was weakening at a noticeable rate, and not due to the changes in the earth vein. It was something more foundational, as the anchor had been lost. Tai Wuling''s eyes flashed with understanding. It must have been because the Yellow God''s blood had disappeared. Without an owner, the Yellow Mausoleum lost its purpose and thus started to collapse in on itself. Thus, allowing the Huang Realm to absorb the pocket dimension even faster. Mercifully, Yang Linyin let him down near the portal. By then, his powerful physique allowed him to recover enough to walk and move by himself. Before leaving, he stopped them. "What is it?" Yang Linyin asked. Tai Wuling threw a spatial ring to them. "You probably only awakened recently, so you don''t know, but inside the Yellow Mausoleum, there are earth beasts that carry law fragments. I already mastered the Law of Earth, so these Law of Earth fragments belong to you."Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Yang Linyin''s eyes widened in wonderment before a dazzling smile slowly spread across their face. "Thank you." Tai Wuling''s face involuntarily heated up. He didn''t know what was wrong with him. His lips tightened, and he nodded. The two walked out of the portal. Upon looking at the entrance to the Yellow Mausoleum, they saw that yellow particles were constantly breaking off and drifting into the air. And the number of particles was increasing with each second, signaling the demise of the pocket dimension. Tai Wuling followed Yang Linyin toward the Eight Pillar Sect''s camp. He glanced toward the Anti-Earth Alliance''s camp, and his eyes darkened. The image of the Golden Immortal War Formation''s final words and self-detonation had been carved into his mind. He will repay this debt in the near future. Then, his gaze glanced toward the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s camp. His eyes widened when he saw Xi Tianyi and Jiang Daoyi strolling outside the palace. Tai Wuling''s eyes widened. He didn''t expect Jiang Daoyi to be able to leave so fast and so decisively. Tai Wuling felt rage rising from his chest when he saw Xi Tianyi glance over. The naked disdain in Xi Tianyi''s eyes almost made him charge over and start a fight with the young monarch, but reason held him back. He narrowed his eyes. ''Just wait till I reach the Seamless Immortal Realm. Then I''ll show you the difference between us." He and Yang Linyin didn''t linger any longer and entered their camp. There, they reported to the leader of the camp, Monarch Dong. "I see," Monarch Dong said. "What a pity. Everyone thought there was treasure inside the pocket dimension, but it turned out to be nothing." The immortal monarch''s eyes appraised Tai Wuling. "However, the trip should have been worth it for you, right?" Tai Wuling tensed, wondering if Monarch Dong knew something, but he relaxed after hearing Monarch Dong''s following sentence. "It seems that the Eight Pillar Sect will have another monarch soon. I look forward to defeating the wretched Anti-Earth Alliance alongside you." "I can only do my best," Tai Wuling said with cupped fists. Monarch Dong waved his hands. "Alright, go rest. I have to report the matter of the Golden Immortal War Formation back to the sect. I never expected the Anti-Earth Alliance to hold such a card. Luckily, they miscalculated and allowed you to escape with the information." Tai Wuling and Yang Linyin bid Monarch Dong goodbye and entered a temporary abode. There, he attempted to heal himself as fast as possible, but it would still take at least a year for a full recovery. During this time, he acquainted himself with the awakened Yang Linyin. Although some of their mannerisms had changed, they were still themself at their core. Also, more and more immortals left the Yellow Mausoleum. Of the immortals that entered, only around sixty percent had returned. The remaining forty percent had been permanently buried inside the pocket dimension. Tai Wuling had to smile when he saw Yan Nie''s sorry state. In return, Yan Nie glared at him. However, neither fought. There were too many external factors to incite a battle here. In addition, Tai Wuling noticed Yan Nie staring deeply at the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s palace before leaving. Even after every immortal left the Yellow Mausoleum, the various forces did not leave. It was quite the opposite. More and more immortals came, but they didn''t enter. Even Monarch Nine Heavens also arrived and waited. The reason soon revealed itself as the entrance to the Yellow Mausoleum slowly shrunk. The more it shrunk, the more particles it released. The cultivators would gather in front of the portal and absorb the particles. Hegemonic forces and potential hegemonic forces like the Anti-Earth Alliance occupied the first row. Naturally, their harvest was the biggest. The second row was left to the first-rate forces and the third row to the second-rate forces. Their harvest couldn''t even amount to thirty percent of those sitting in the front row combined. As for third-rate forces, they weren''t even qualified to pick up the scraps. Even though Tai Wuling absorbed many earth energy inside the Mausoleum, it didn''t stop him from absorbing the particles. The particles weren''t just composed of earth essence and qi but also realm essence. Absorbing it would drastically improve his body and his soul. He thought no one would be able to absorb more than him, but to his surprise, Monarch Nine Heavens absorbed the most, at five times his amount. Tai Wuling reevaluated his understanding of Monarch Nine Heavens. Although his wariness toward the white-haired monarch rose, his wariness for Xi Tianyi dropped. Xi Tianyi didn''t even appear to absorb the particles. He didn''t even know how to treasure such a good chance. When the portal completely disappeared, it meant that the Huang Realm had completely absorbed the pocket dimension, and they could no longer grab any benefits. As such, all the forces returned to their own territories. On the surface, the Buzhou Immortal Sect returned to the Heaven Continent, but many forces guessed that they secretly left some immortals in the Earth Continent. And they were right. The Law of Space was really one of the most practical laws that could be mastered. Monarch Nine Heaven had simply teleported the immortals on the boat back to the Heaven Continent into the prearranged location by the Eight Pillar Sect. When Tai Wuling returned, he didn''t immediately start cultivating again because Yang Linyin was preparing to enter the Seamless Immortal Realm. Not only was he present, but Emperor Infinity, Monarch Pathway, Yang Linyin''s master, and numerous immortal elders were present. The birth of a new immortal monarch represented another core member of a sect, so their ascension was seen with the utmost importance. Tai Wuling''s hands clenched in anxiety as immortal qi of yin shrouded Yang Linyin. Along with the increasing density of qi, so did the pressure Yang Linyin exude. Unlike when cultivators advanced in the mortal realms, ascension in the Immortal Realm did not summon a heavenly tribulation. It was rumored that a heavenly tribulation would descend when an immortal prepared to enter the Divine Realm, but no one knew if it was true. No one had entered that mythical realm since the end of the Primordial Era. Tai Wuling''s eyes lit up with delight as he looked up at the sky. A hole leading to another realm filled with yin seemed to have opened up in the sky. This was Yang Linyin''s Dao Manifestation, and it guaranteed their successful ascension into the Seamless Immortal Realm. The happiness didn''t last long as his expression darkened, and he turned his head toward the Anti-Earth Alliance''s direction. Not just him. All the other immortal elders did the same with equally dark expressions. Above the Anti-Earth Alliance''s headquarters, another Dao Manifestation occurred. This one didn''t lead to a realm of yin. Instead, it was filled with all sorts of differently-colored flames. Each colored flame exuded the aura of different concepts. Yan Nie had successfully promoted to the Seamless Immortal Realm. His title of the Divine Flame Lord was no longer appropriate. Now, he should be addressed as the Divine Flame Monarch. Chapter 344: Allegations Tianyi frowned when he saw the Dao Manifestation relating to the Law of Fire. He could sense that it contained the charm of the Law of Five Phases, but this was nothing beneficial to him. Instead, he turned toward Daoyi, who was still staring at Yang Linyin''s Dao Manifestation in a daze. He waved his hand and prevented the new Dao Manifestation from interrupting Daoyi. Then, Tianyi focused on the Law of Yin contained in the Dao Manifestation. He had started comprehending the Law of Five Phases, and it would take too long to increase his comprehension. It was better to focus on other laws. Laws like the Law of Yin and the Law of Yang. Like the Law of Five Phases, the Law of Yin-Yang was also a divine-level law. Yang Linyin''s Dao Manifestation lasted a little over a day and a half. A far cry from Tianyi''s nine days and nights. Most Dao Manifestations only lasted only for a few short hours, so Yang Linyin''s Dao Manifestation was far above the norm. However, Yan Nie''s Dao Manifestation lasted a little under two days. Yang Linyin''s promotion to an immortal monarch should have been a moral boost, but not only did it not boost the Eight Pillar Sect''s morale, but it lowered it instead since they were compared to Yan Nie''s accomplishment. Had Yan Nie delayed his promotion for even a few months, this situation wouldn''t have happened, but there are no ifs. Not that Tianyi knew this at the time. Even after Yang Linyin''s Dao Manifestation disappeared, he and Daoyi secluded themselves in Reversed Heaven Abode to digest their gains. Six months later, Tianyi opened his eyes. He exhaled, and a murky mist exited his mouth. The black mist contained a terrifying aura that killed the very air it touched. It didn''t last long as, seconds later, the murky mist dispersed. ''I didn''t think comprehending parts of the Law of Yin would allow me to take the final step and master the Law of Death,'' Tianyi thought. He turned and glanced at Daoyi, who was still immersed in comprehension. His gaze left her, and he closed his eyes to continue digesting the gains in the Law of Yin. Almost another year later, Daoyi finally opened her eyes. Something silver swam within her pupils, but it quickly vanished, and her eyes returned to normal. "Looks like you made quite a bit of progress," Tianyi said. "Aren''t you bored? You must have already finished, why bother accompanying me?" Daoyi asked as she looked over. "Eh, I got used to it," Tianyi said. "Besides, aren''t we husband and wife? I''ll brave the boredom just for you." Daoyi hid her mouth behind her sleeve and tried to stifle her giggle. She failed, and Tianyi also chuckled. "Alright, we''ve been cooped up here for over a year. Let''s leave." She nodded, and the husband and wife duo met up with Ba Shifang to get updated on the situation. Because both of them had been cultivating for the past year, Ba Shifang rejected the Eight Pillar Sect''s request to continue setting up the teleportation formations. He used Tianyi''s sudden secluded cultivation as an excuse, to which the Eight Pillar Sect agreed. It helped that both Yang Linyin and Tai Wuling also started secluded cultivation, and they needed Yang Linyin and the Eight Way Mirror for the operation. "So, should we agree to their request if they ask again?" Ba Shifang asked. "Wait, let me communicate with the sect first," Tianyi said. He had also left a conduit in Jade Peak. He could easily ask Sect Master Xia at any time since his mission was on the high-priority list for the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Moments later, Tianyi smiled. "Sect Master Xia said to delay as much as possible, using any excuse. Let''s use the fact that Tai Wuling used Daoyi as a distraction as a reason to demand compensation first." Daoyi looked over. "You''re still angry about that? I was trying to kill him first, but Yan Nie screwed up my plans." "They can''t prove that. Honestly, I kinda want to kill Tai Wuling. For some reason, he just gets on my nerves. Does he think I can''t sense when he is looking at me? And he stares at Daoyi, she''s my wife, dammit." Tianyi paused. "Does this make me overprotective?" "Perhaps," Daoyi said, but with a smile. "Why don''t you stick a conduit onto him so you can trap him in your inner universe at any time?" "I thought about it," Tianyi admitted. "However, after experiencing the Yellow Mausoleum, I vetoed the idea. Theoretically, I should have the power of an immortal emperor, but I have not fought one, nor do I have a wealth of experience. I don''t want to reveal my skills at critical moments." Daoyi nodded. Some might call it cowardly, but in her opinion, this was focusing on the bigger picture and not petty squabbles. "Ah, but I''m so regretful," Tianyi suddenly said. "If I absorbed the Yellow Mausoleum, my inner universe''s foundation would have increased. Instead, I only got a small portion of the realm essence!" "Why didn''t you?" Daoyi asked. Tianyi looked at her. "Same reason as why I didn''t attach a probe on Tai Wuling. Actually, I had the thought of just secretly trying to absorb the pocket dimension but thought better of it. If I wasn''t going to risk exposure for a pocket dimension formed by a divinity, I''m certainly not risking exposure for a mere Tai Wuling."A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "Don''t look down on him too much. I sensed that his soul had upgraded. Everyone else got nothing from the Yellow Mausoleum aside from law fragments except for him," Daoyi reminded. "You''re right," Tianyi said. "It''s a bit strange. Before, true immortals and immortal monarchs were rare, but hundreds of new true immortals appeared in the last hundred years, and almost ten immortal monarchs. The only continent that hasn''t made a sound is the Mortal Continent." "You know what they say. War is the best nourishment for progress," Daoyi said. "When people are forced, they can explode with unimaginable potential." Tianyi stared at Daoyi. He felt that she wasn''t merely talking about war but something else. Still, he didn''t pry since it seemed that she didn''t want to talk about it.
Tai Wuling''s eyelashes twitched as he digested the insights gained from Yang Linyin''s Dao Manifestation. He had ignored Yan Nie''s Dao Manifestation because it was useless for him since he had already mastered the Law of Fire. Of the two laws Tai Wuling mastered, the Law of Earth and the Law of Fire, he focused on their hard, or yang, aspect, but the Law of Water was different. If applied with yang traits, the Law of Water would display aspects of the Law of Ice. What he lacked was the softness, or yin, of water, and after five years of secluded cultivation, he mastered the Law of Water. Now, out of the five laws that formed the Law of Five Phases, he mastered three. Honestly, Tai Wuling had expected it to take thousands of years to master a single law. He clenched his hands, feeling the power welling within. Not only that, but his gains from the Yellow Mausoleum far exceeded his expectations. In fact, it would not be wrong to say the evolution of his body was more important than understanding the Law of Water because his comprehension of the Law of Water had increased thanks to it. He hadn''t noticed at first, but he gradually noticed during his secluded cultivation. Instead of his comprehension speed decreasing, it increased. Tai Wuling punched forward. Space twisted wherever his fist passed. He even had a feeling he could shatter space if he punched hard enough. His body had far surpassed an average immortal monarch''s. It might have even reached the emperor or half-emperor level. His thoughts drifted toward Xi Tianyi. He was confident that if the two fought, he would not be one whit weaker than the other. Victory might be difficult, but it wouldn''t be hard not to lose. Furthermore, he had a feeling that he had yet to reach his body''s upper limit. He calmed down. It wouldn''t do good to underestimate his foes just because he was drunk off his newfound strength. There was a reason why numbers were meaningless against immortal monarchs. Conventionally, at least. Tai Wuling stood up from his lotus position. It was time to leave. "Brother Yang," Tai Wuling called out as he saw Yang Linyin in the garden of the residence. Yang Linyin frowned when they saw him. "You can call me Sister Yang in this form from now on." "What? I thought you hated when I called you sister," Tai Wuling said in shock. They glared. "Things are a bit different now." "Oh, okay. I''ll call you Sister Yang in this form now," Tai Wuling said. Although he didn''t know the reason, he still felt happy at the change in address. However," What''s wrong? You seemed troubled. You didn''t even notice my presence." Yang Linyin sighed. "It''s Monarch Nine Heavens." Upon hearing this, Tai Wuling immediately frowned. "What''d they do this time? Do they want to go back on the deal after receiving a realm artifact?" "They''re no longer carrying their part of a deal. But it''s because they feel that we betrayed them and can trust us no longer." They gave him a strange look. "They say that you used Jiang Daoyi as a decoy and set her up for death after confronting the Divine Flame Lord." "What?!" Tai Wuling said. "That''s just preposterous. I even suspect that Jiang Daoyi wanted to ambush me and only failed by accident. I didn''t raise the issue, yet they dare to?!" Yang Linyin sighed. "They have irrefutable evidence. Of course, the evidence depends on the interpretation, but it definitely doesn''t look good for you." "Show me," Tai Wuling said through gritted teeth. They agreed and took out a talisman that they handed to Tai Wuling. After taking it, he inputted his immortal sense into the talisman, and he was shown a vision. It showed the vision of someone ascending the central mountain in the Yellow Mausoleum. Not long later, the person ascending reached the peak and entered the divine palace and then into the throne hall. It wasn''t difficult for Tai Wuling to guess that this was what Daoyi saw. Inside the hall, he saw the battle between himself and Yan Nie. A sense of shame assaulted him as he realized how inept he had seemed in this situation. Worse, it had been recorded down. Tai Wuling didn''t even want to think about how many people saw this. Still, he forced himself to continue watching. Then, he saw Daoyi sneak in. He watched as his double stopped in front of Daoyi, making her pause. Moments later, he moved out of the way as Yan Nie''s spear pierced toward her. That was when the vision stopped. Tai Wuling had an ugly expression as he stared at the talisman in his hand. From her point of view, it did seem that he had all planned this. Because he had, just not in the way the vision pointed toward. He had been leading Yan Nie because he wanted to escape through the entrance, not because he knew of Daoyi''s presence! Worse, the vision had emulated his and Yan Nie''s auras. The profundities of Yan Nie''s spear strikes were exactly the same. It even recorded how his body seemed to be changing. Normally, scrying techniques couldn''t replicate the aura of the people inside, but this was clearly not true. Did the Buzhou Immortal Sect have such advanced methods? Tai Wuling snapped his head up. "It isn''t like this! They must have falsified this. There''s no way she could have recorded that scene." Yang Linyin sighed. "We also tried to argue on this, but Monarch Nine Heavens refused to budge. Unless we admit the mistake and hand you over, they won''t continue to cooperate with us." Tai Wuling clenched his hand. "Those shameless bastards!" He gazed into Yang Linyin''s eyes. "You believe me, right? I had no intentions for Jiang Daoyi to die." "Do you think I don''t know you? Of course I believe you," Yang Linyin said. "Don''t worry, the sect won''t hand you over. You''re too important. Right now, it''s a matter of compensation. Until then, we can sharpen our claws and wait for our chance for revenge." Chapter 345: Five Element Penal Mountain Inside the sect master''s hall, Tai Wuling and Yang Linyin stood before Monarch Pathway. "After negotiation, we decided to imprison you for at least ten thousand years or until the final battle between the Anti-Earth Alliance and us breaks out," Monarch Pathway slowly said. Tai Wuling''s face instantly became ugly as he clenched his fist. "Are we really going to let them do as they wish? They''re clearly trying to find fault with us." Monarch Pathway sighed. "We are helpless too. Unfortunately, Eternal Night Emperor assassinated our monarch, who mastered the Law of Space, forcing us to rely on outsiders to set up the spatial formations." "Who knows, maybe the Anti-Earth Alliance and the Buzhou Immortal Sect are in cahoots," Tai Wuling said with a snort. "While I wouldn''t discount that possibility, the chances are minimal. We heavily monitor the edge and see if they are relaying messages outside of the Earth Continent. They haven''t. Aiming for monarchs that mastered the Law of Space is an age-old tactic. I recall that the Anti-Heaven Alliance''s monarch, who specialized in the Law of Space, coincidently died too," Monarch Pathway said. He walked up to Tai Wuling and patted him on the shoulder. "Don''t worry. The imprisonment is only on the surface. In truth, we''ll hide you away so that you can raise your strength in preparation for the final battle." Tai Wuling understood the concept, but he couldn''t stomach the shame on his principles. If he knew that Monarch Pathway had also been forced to relinquish three monarch-level artifacts, his anger would burst through the roof. "Alright," Tai Wuling finally said as he unclenched his fingers. "I know you cultivate the martial path, and I noticed your martial body had strengthened. Do you have any locations in mind?" the sect master of the Eight Pillar Sect asked. "I do," Tai Wuling said. "Five Element Penal Mountain." Monarch Pathway''s expression changed. Not just him, but Yang Linyin looked at him in worry. "Are you sure? Not even an emperor would lightly enter there. It''s not a prison but a location the sect uses to trap enemies that are too hard to kill. The constant bombardment of the five elements will wear away at their qi and mind, eventually grinding them into dust," Monarch Pathway warned. "I''m sure. What I lack is the energy of five elements. Sect Master should know of my spiritual root and why Five Element Penal Mountain is so attractive to me," Tai Wuling said. "Alright," Monarch Pathway conceded. "But I''ll give you a talisman that will teleport you out. Make sure to use it if you suspect death is nearby, understood." After Tai Wuling nodded, he sighed again. "At least this way, we can fake some sincerity toward Monarch Nine Heavens." Tai Wuling''s expression twisted for a second but returned to normal swiftly. "Before then, I want to meet Master." The Eight Pillar Sect Master nodded. "Go, Grand Elder Infinity is already waiting for you." Tai Wuling bid Monarch Pathway and Yang Linyin farewell as he made his way to Emperor Infinity''s abode. "Speak, why have you sought me out?" Emperor Infinity asked once Tai Wuling appeared. "Master, I want to ask you if you heard of the Wuxing Core." Tai Wuling had always meant to investigate the black sphere''s origins, but between the allegations and digesting the gains from Yang Linyin''s Dao Manifestation. He never had time until now. Emperor Infinity scrunched his brows as he tried to recall where he had heard of it. Then, he opened his eyes, and they exuded myriad brilliance. "I don''t know about the core part, but I have heard about Wuxing." Tai Wuling''s ears perked up as Emperor Infinity continued. "Before the Primordial World had fractured into the current Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, before even the known world had been created, there existed only chaos." "In the chaos, the first divinities were born, and they were called godfiends." Tai Wuling nodded. He knew this story. However, he didn''t interrupt his master. "In total, three thousand godfiends were born, and each one was born with mastery of a divine level law. The last godfiend to be born was Pangu, who slew all the other godfiend and created the Primordial World using the godfiends'' corpses. Pangu couldn''t withstand the consumption and later died, becoming part of the Primordial World." "Although all the godfiends died under Pangu''s ax, some traces of their remnant souls survived and reincarnated in the Primordial World. Hence, the legend became known to the world," Emperor Infinity said. "Among the slain godfiends, there was a particularly powerful godfiend born with mastery of the Law of Five Phases. Like many other of his compatriots, not all of his soul was exterminated by Pangu. Some say his remnant souls reincarnated to five individuals or the Redcloud Ancestor of legend." "Could he have reincarnated into the Yellow God and the other element gods?" Tai Wuling asked. Emperor Infinity blinked. He nodded after a moment. "It''s possible. The Law of Fire, the Law of Water, the Law of Earth, the Law of Wood, and the Law of Metal make up the Law of Five Phases. The Yellow God controls the Law of Earth. The Red God controls the Law of Fire, the Black God controls the Law of Water, the Green God controls the Law of Wood, and the White God controls the Law of Metal. If Godfiend Wuxing really reincarnated into five individuals, they are likely candidates."You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. "In fact," Emperor Infinity sunk into thought for ten whole minutes. "Yes, I remember now. I remember reading through the broken records of the Primordial Era that the Five Elemental Gods received the world''s scorn and were eliminated by the Immortal Court for some reason." "Thank you for enlightening me, Master," Tai Wuling said. His thoughts drifted. It seemed that he could only clarify the matter after the Eight Pillar Sect united the Huang Realm or if he discovered another secret realm left by one of the Five Elemental Gods. Emperor Infinity waved his hand. "It''s no matter. Since you asked after leaving the Yellow Mausoleum, the Yellow God must have some relationship with Godfiend Wuxing even if he isn''t a reincarnation. However, such matters are beyond your strength now. Even an immortal emperor like me cannot delve into the matters of the Primordial Era. You should calm your heart and focus on increasing your strength." "Disciple understands," Tai Wuling said. He bid farewell and spent the next few days before entering Five Element Penal Mountain with Yang Linyin. Since he planned on staying until succeeding, he didn''t know when he would see them again. Finally, the day of his imprisonment arrived. The Five Elemental Penal Mountain was one of the Eight Pillar Sect''s forbidden grounds. Not just because it kept dangerous prisoners inside but because of the occasional bursts of energy that would fatally injure true immortals. Binding chains with glowing sigils surrounded the mountain and kept the energy from breaking out. Tai Wuling stood at the entrance and looked back. He saw Monarch Pathway, Yang Linyin, and many other close associates he made during his time in the Eight Pillar Sect. Most of them didn''t know the truth of the matter and looked aggrieved for him. Most of them glared at a certain spot. Xi Tianyi, one of the causes of this matter, stood there alone. He wasn''t even paying attention to Tai Wuling as he observed the Five Element Penal Mountain with interest. Tai Wuling gritted his teeth and turned around. A few steps toward the entrance of no return, a voice called, "Wait." He turned around to see Yang Linyin walking toward him. "Senior Sister, is something wrong?" Tai Wuling didn''t know what they wanted. They spent the last few days together. They didn''t cultivate and only enjoyed their time together, growing closer. Yang Lingyin shouldn''t have forgotten anything, right? Yang Linyin ignored Tai Wuling''s confusion. They stopped centimeters away from him and said nothing. They said nothing to clear his questions; they only inched closer and closer. Tai Wuling only felt a floral perfume enter his nose, causing him to go lightheaded, and then something soft brushed against his lips. The world turned silent for Tai Wuling. He stared speechlessly at Yang Linyin. Their face had a faint blush that disappeared so quickly he thought he had hallucinated it. They didn''t say anything and turned away and left. Tai Wuling looked at the crowd. They didn''t seem to have detected anything except Monarch Pathway and, infuriatingly, Xi Tianyi, who only raised an eyebrow with an amused smile. Worse, Xi Tianyi looked like he was about to break out in laughter. With a huff, Tai Wuling glared at Xi Tianyi, uncaring of the consequences. He sharply turned around and walked into the Five Element Penal Mountain. The entrance disappeared right after he entered. Along the way, he brushed his hand across his lips, and a slight smile graced his face. Even the burst of fiery energy that greeted him didn''t erase his good mood. The destructive energy burned away his robes, but Tai Wuling didn''t care. He had already stored his spatial ring with all his belongings inside his body, and the clothes he wore were regular items. He didn''t want to waste precious defensive artifacts in the prison when he wanted to use the experience to temper his body. Tai Wuling didn''t stop as he became naked as the day he was born. The outermost edge of the Five Elemental Penal Mountain contained the weakest energies. What he wanted was more pressure, so he made his way up the mountain, searching for a cave that would lead him to the core of the mountain. He had underestimated the dangerous nature of the forbidden ground. Tai Wuling had expected difficulty only when entering the cave near the core, but he already had to stop in order to adjust and temper his body. His flesh could withstand the energy easily, but it needed his qi to sustain the powerful defense. Although he had strength comparable to an immortal monarch through his body alone, using it at the maximum output would drain his qi significantly. Tai Wuling had already expected this after surviving the self-detonation of the Golden Immortal War Formation, but he had forgotten to take into account that his body had improved after leaving the Yellow Mausoleum. Tai Wuling allowed the watery energy to batter his body and felt the softness and flexibility of water. Wooden stakes struck his body, and roots whipped his body, allowing him to feel the vitality of wood. He stepped on steel spikes, and the sharp edge of metals carved his flesh. He gained an understanding of the rigidity and toughness of metal. Even the fiery energy allowed him to understand the explosive and ethereal power of fire. Instead of fire energy, Tai Wuling focused on absorbing the water energy. Sure, upgrading his martial body with fire would increase his offense, but he didn''t need that right now. Tai Wuling needed to incorporate the diffusion and flexible properties into his body more so that he could withstand the harsher environment. As time passed, Tai Wuling''s body exuded an earthen light, but black lines soon appeared from the light. At first, it was so slight that they seemed invisible, but they slowly thickened. The black color of water aura began to overlay with the yellow aura of earth. After a year, the earthen light around Tai Wuling''s body gained a thin dark film over it. However, he wasn''t done yet, as thin wisps of red appeared over his body. Another year later, a thin film of red covered the earthen light in addition to the black film. Tai Wuling finally stopped and resumed his journey. He had already raised his flesh to the maximum limit he could at the moment. Even if he absorbed metal and wood energy, he wouldn''t be able to incorporate their characteristics and transform his body. At most, it would have been an incremental change. He would need to master the Law of Wood or the Law of Metal first. He trudged on and found a cave leading into the mountain. Tai Wuling''s eyes hardened. From now on, he would spend the next few years, possibly decades, here. However, he stepped in without hesitation, fueled by confidence and duty.
While the Eight Pillar Sect waged war against the Anti-Earth Alliance on the Earth Continent, the Buzhou Immortal Sect waged war on the Anti-Heaven Alliance and Tripartite Alliance. The Buzhou Immortal Sect''s most powerful expert, Xi Mengfei, opened her eyes. She sat in the main hall of Heaven-Earth-Man Trinity Palace, and standing before her were ten immortal monarchs and hundreds of true immortals. Among the immortal monarchs present, nearly half originated from Jade Peak. Just a quick scan allowed Mengfei to recognize Monarch Jadeflame and Monarch Violetsnow. Mengfei stood up and walked out. "Let''s go." Chapter 346: Eight Trigrams Tri-Unity World Mengfei stepped off the Heaven-Earth-Man Trinity Palace. She didn''t summon the pillar of light to descend back into the Huang Realm. Rather, she drifted down toward the realm boundary. Behind her, ten mighty immortal warships flew. Before touching the boundary, she stopped and summoned a silver mirror to her hand. This was the Kunlun Mirror Tianyi had found in the Broken Primordial World. After years of effort from her and the Buzhou Immortal Sect, they managed to mend it enough for use, but a phantom crack still lingered on the mirror. Under Mengfei''s exquisite control, a divine light surged out of the mirror and touched the realm boundary. A hole appeared on the realm boundary and widened until it could fit her and the ten warships. Despite the large hole, no immortal in the Huang Realm sensed the changes. No one except the founder of the Saintly Scholar School on the Mortal Continent, but he simply closed his eyes after learning of the source of the disturbance. As Mengfei and the warships entered, they entered a fold of spacetime on an even higher level than Tianyi''s method. The hole in the realm boundary also closed soon after. From her view, the Heaven Continent appeared to be the size of her palm. In the distance, the Earth Continent and the Mortal Continent were like specks of dust, and the countless islands that dotted the endless seas weren''t even visible. Mengfei and the warships slowly descended toward the juncture between the Central Heaven Region and Eastern Region of the Heaven Continent, the headquarter of the Leakless Sect. Even as they appeared just right outside the Leakless Sect''s guardian formation, no one detected them. "Get into place," Mengfei ordered. Two warships stayed behind Mengfei while eight circled the Leakless Sect, each an equal distance from the others. The eight warships'' hulls split open, and colossal pillars dropped down from the opening and onto the ground with nary a sound. Each pillar had a different word and scene carved into them. The east pillar was named Zhen, which represented thunder. The southeast pillar was named Xun and represented wind. The south pillar was called Li and represented fire. Kun was the word on the southwest pillar, and it represented earth. For the west pillar, its word was Dui and represented lakes. The northwest pillar''s word was Qian and represented the sky. The north pillar was named Kan and represented water. The northeast pillar''s word was Gen and represented mountains. Shockingly, all eight artifacts exuded the aura of sovereign artifacts. Not even the divine artifact, the Kunlun Mirror, in its weakened state, could hide their aura for long. The immortal warships'' primary purpose wasn''t for offense but simply to deliver the eight pillars without attention. The Eight Trigrams Pillars released the essence of the five elements, linking each other. Mengfei flew above the Leakless Sect at the core of this giant circle. Violet, gold, and silver essence floated off her body like dust. The three colors of heaven, earth, and man, intermingled with the color of the five elements: red, black, yellow, green, and white. "Eight Trigrams Tri-Unity World rise!" Mengfei softly said. Mengfei''s whispered words transformed into a physical ripple that spread through space as if the world was but a reflection atop a lake. Slowly, that ripple reached past the eight pillars and stopped. A bubble formed. From the outside, nothing seemed out of place, and the Leakless Sect seemed the same as usual. Inside, everything had changed. No longer was the Leakless Sect situated upon a rich spiritual vein, but a barren land that emitted immortal qi of chaos. All those too weak would instantly dissolve and perish, body and soul. The guardian formation immediately appeared. The numerous layers turned as they came to life. Just as they were beginning to redirect and extinguish the external threat, they suddenly stopped, as if someone had jammed a steel pipe into a crucial cog in a machine. The grating screech of metal grinding metal thundered in the surroundings, but it lasted only a moment. In the next second, countless cracks appeared all over the guardian formation. Before anyone had a chance to react, it shattered into a billion shards. Mengfei raised her hand, and hundreds of thousands of black crystalline swords materialized from the sky, each ranging from ten meters to a hundred meters long, and rained down upon the Leakless Sect. Except for the core locations, all of the Leakless Sect turned into a cratered land. Roars of fury reached Mengfei''s eyes, but they did not fluctuate at all. She raised her hand and brought it down, "Attack." The immortal monarchs and true immortals descended onto the Leakless Sect like divine punishers.
Less than an hour ago, in the guest residence of the Leakless Sect, Hun Jusang suddenly stood up from his seat as his master, Monarch Fiendclaw, entered. "Master!" Monarch Fiendclaw was a man with sickly skin and sunken eyes, and an aura of gloom constantly surrounded him. He shook his head, "I''m sorry." What little light left in his eyes disappeared. "Is that so? Please excuse me, then. I want to spend what''s left of my life with Chunye." Monarch Fiendclaw frowned as Hun Jusang walked around him. "Stop!" He turned around to see Hun Jusang''s foot already out the doorway. "Turn around and look at me." Hun Jusang obeyed, and Monarch Fiendclaw stared into Hun Jusang''s pitch-black eyes. "You''ve already given up." "What can I do?" Hun Jusang countered. "Not even the Grand Elder of the Leakless Sect has any methods." "You can complete the devil transformation," Monarch Fiendclaw said. "No!" Hun Jusang vehemently denied it. "Devils are the source of all miseries. I''d sooner die than become one of them!" "Jusang, you''re blessed with an opportunity countless cultivators wish they had. If you only viewed it as a blessing instead of a curse, your situation would have changed," Monarch Fiendclaw said. Hun Jusang released a bitter laugh. "A blessing? How could my Devilure Physique ever be considered a blessing? If I could, I would gift those fools with this curse and have them experience the abyss of agony I lived in every day!" Monarch Fiendclaw sighed. He stared at the disciple he had lovingly raised for hundreds of years. "What if I told you can shed your body and become a true immortal?" Hun Jusang stilled, and then he stared at his master in disbelief. "Master, are you speaking the truth? Can I really live without this curse?"The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. The immortal monarch nodded heavily. "But there is a price." "What is it? As long as I don''t have to live every day in torment, I''m willing to do anything." Monarch Fiendclaw didn''t say anything. He only stared at Hun Jusang as if judging his commitment. Finally, he opened his mouth. "That lass, Jiang Chunye, must die." Time stood still for Hun Jusang. "What? Master, you''re joking, right? Why does Chunye have to die? She doesn''t even have a special physique or soul. Why?" Hearing the outburst, Monarch Fiendclaw already knew that it was unlikely. However, Hun Jusang didn''t continue to ramble. "Could it be that someone in the Nihility Sect wants her death at a price? Who would be so foolish? She has already entered the Seamless Immortal Realm and is part of the sect''s core strength." "Did everyone forget how much Chunye contributed to the war effort? The only one in the same generation with the same contribution is San Jiuling. Unless the Leakless Sect wants her to die," Hun Jusang suddenly stopped, and he stared at Monarch Fiendclaw. "Unless some people in the sect regret betraying the Buzhou Immortal Sect and want to offer a peace offering?" "Preposterous," Monarch Fiendclaw roared. "None of us have strayed from our determination ever since the creation of the Tripartite Alliance. No matter what, we will never regret our decision. What I''m worried about is that lass''s control over you." "Control?" Hun Jusang asked. "Chunye wouldn''t control me, she loves me." "Love, ah," Monarch Fiendclaw sighed. "Did you hear the story about Bing Huoyuan from Boundless Mountain?" "The one the Buzhou Immortal Sect executed for betraying them?" Hun Jusang asked. "Yes," his master affirmed. "But did you know the cause of his actions? He attacked Xi Tianyi to protect a single woman, the White Lotus Demoness." Hun Jusang''s eyes widened. He had interacted with Bing Huoyuan before and didn''t seem like such a person. He knew who the White Lotuses Demoness was. Those titled devil or demon were enemies of the whole cultivation world. Why would Bing Huoyuan do such a thing? "He did it for the same reason you refuse to, love," Monarch Fiendclaw said. Hun Jusang shook his head. "No, I''m different. Chunye is a loyal member of our sect. She killed more Buzhou Immortal Sect members than anyone else. She wouldn''t betray us and go down the path of evil." "You''re right," Monarch Fiendclaw said. "Jiang Chunye is staunch in her opposition to Heaven Continent''s hegemon. So long as we''re enemies, we shouldn''t need to fear her." "Master," Hun Jusang said. "I have a request." "What is it?" "After I leave, can you take care of Chunye?" Monarch Fiendclaw''s frown deepened. "Do you hear yourself? You''ve sunk deeper and deeper into this pit. Before asking me to take care of her, what about your clan? Did you think about them?" Seeing Hun Jusang''s shock and surprise, Monarch Fiendclaw knew that his disciple hadn''t. "Your world no longer revolves around yourself but her. If you hadn''t fallen in love with that lass, you wouldn''t reach the point of no return." "Perhaps you''re right, Master," Hun Jusang said. "I wouldn''t have reached this point, I would have perished sooner. Had Chunye not supported me, I''m afraid I would have died sooner." "You!" Monarch Fiendclaw angrily pointed his finger at Hun Jusang, hating iron for not becoming steel. "Leave!" Hun Jusang bowed to Monarch Fiendclaw before bidding farewell. Watching Hun Jusang''s departing back, Monarch Fiendclaw sighed and shook his head in disappointment. He watched as Hun Jusang made his way toward Jiang Chunye''s yard in the Leakless Sect''s guest residence. Monarch Fiendclaw stared at the sky and closed his eyes, his face appearing even more skull-like. "Jusang, ah Jusang. I gave you your chance." Instead of waiting for Hun Jusang and Jiang Chunye to finish, Monarch Fiendclaw left the guest residence and visited one of the Leakless Sect''s monarch elders, Monarch San. As his name suggested, Monarch San was San Jiuling''s grandfather. He was relatively young for a seamless immortal, just shy of a hundred thousand years old. Correspondingly, Monarch San was only a first-step immortal monarch, meaning he only merged one of the five elemental qis into his immortal qi. "Daoist Fiendclaw, to what do I owe the pleasure to?" Monarch San asked. Monarch San was a rather portly man with glossy skin and a lighthearted smile that made everyone feel at ease. Monarch Fiendclaw couldn''t really see any resemblance this grandfather-grandson pair had. "It''s for a small favor," Monarch Fiendclaw said. "My disciple, Hun Jusang, constantly embroils himself in childish emotions. I was hoping a spar with your grandson would awaken him from his foolishness." Monarch San laughed. "A minor matter. Unfortunately, my grandson is not in the sect as of this moment. He¡¯s currently adventuring with a few members of the sect. I''d be happy to schedule a time when he returns." Unlike Monarch San, Monarch Fiendclaw was a third-step immortal monarch, so he was happy to trade favors. The most correct decision he made this entire life was to adopt San Jiuling as his grandson. Although San Jiuling was still in the Pathfinding Immortal Realm, he was already an immortal lord. Coupled with his nine lifebound artifacts, Monarch San couldn''t guarantee victory over his grandson. "He''s out? That''s unfortunate," Monarch San said. Just as those words left his lips, the entirety of the Leakless Sect began to shake. Monarch San shouted, "What''s happening?" His eyes widened when he felt the Leakless Sect''s Seamless Truelord Barrier appear above the whole sect. That shock turned to horror as countless cracks covered it, shattering seconds later. Then, he saw the enemies descending like a pack of wolves. He could feel the space oppress him like he was some foreigner. Of his full strength, he could likely only unleash fifty percent. It might be better for monarchs on higher stages, but he didn''t know. Monarch San turned to Monarch Fiendclaw. "I beseech you for your aid." Monarch Fiendclaw nodded. "We''re allies. It''s only natural to help my allies."
"Despicable Buzhou Immortal Sect!" Jiang Chunye screamed as she pierced another true immortal''s heart. She, Hun Jusang, Monarch Fiendclaw, and a small entourage of true immortals arrived at the Leakless Sect for two reasons. One, to discuss the Tripartite Alliance''s merger with the Anti-Heaven Alliance. Naturally, the Jade Cauldron Sect also dispatched envoys. The second was more personal, to seek a method to cure Hun Jusang. Had the Leakless Sect possessed the same strength as the Nihility Sect, Jiang Chunye wouldn''t have believed they possessed the means. But the Leakless Sect possessed a trump card that gave them the confidence to defy the Buzhou Immortal Sect. During the siege against the Dragon Emperor, two of the four grand elders of the Leakless Sect died. But one of the remaining two living grand elders secretly broke through to the Extremity Immortal Realm, becoming a bonafide immortal emperor! Still, Jiang Chunye never expected that the Buzhou Immortal Sect would be so daring to attack the Leakless Sect''s headquarters. Even if they dispatched Mengfei, an immortal sovereign, it wasn''t a task that could be accomplished in a short time. Thanks to whatever dirty methods the Buzhou Immortal Sect used, she couldn''t even unleash most of her strength. What would have taken her one percent of her immortal qi now took five to ten percent! Luckily, it seemed devil qi wasn''t affected, so Hun Jusang could unleash his full strength. They had just had to be careful that he didn''t extend himself and enter a mad state. "Daoyi, it must have been that bitch!" Jiang Chunye said through gritted teeth. "I swear I''ll kill you and that Xi Tianyi as well. You swore an eternity for your marriage, then you two should stay together in death." Jiang Chunye froze. Not just her but Hun Jusang and all the immortals near her. A figure in silver robes appeared. She possessed a vivacious beauty that was only enhanced by her frosty aura, but the most attractive feature on her face was those pair of deviling eyes. Having seen portraits, Jiang Chunye recognized the beautiful woman instantly, Xi Mengfei. She wanted to scream, to struggle, but she was akin to a bug stuck in amber. She could only watch as Mengfei grew closer, and a black crystalline sword appeared in her hand. The immortal sovereign stopped when she was only a meter away from Jiang Chunye. Then, she slashed. Chapter 347: I am Chunsang Jiang Chunye felt herself regain control of her facial expressions, and a smile crept onto her face. The moment the Sword Sovereign attacked, she must have released her technique, allowing Chunye to transform her body into a shadow-like state. ''I have no chance of defeating her. I have no choice but to escape!'' Jiang Chunye thought. She transformed into a streak of shadow and flew off into the horizon. Or, at least, she attempted to. ''Why can''t I control my body?'' Jiang Chunye asked herself. Except for everything above her neck, she couldn''t feel anything else! Just as panic settled in, she noticed her field of view fall, literally. Something slick and sticky coated her cheek, and Jiang Chunye knew what it was, the blood of the Buzhou Immortal Sect disciples she killed. ''No! Impossible!'' Jiang Chunye wanted to scream, but because her head had been severed from her neck, she couldn''t push any air through her vocal cords. With a thud, Jiang Chunye watched in horror as her headless body collapsed in front of her. ''No, no, nooo!'' ''That''s it, I can just separate my soul from my body and flee!'' Jiang Chunye thought, but she thought too optimistically. She should have noticed something was wrong when she couldn''t even sense her head being sliced off her neck. Her horror grew as she discovered that she was trapped in her flesh like a caged animal. No matter what she did or how much she struggled, she couldn''t change her fate. As the light of vision faded from her eyes, the last thing Jiang Chunye saw was Hun Jusang''s blackening eyes as he kneeled down to cradle her head.
Mengfei looked down at the kneeling Hun Jusang. Her slash had already slain all the Leakless Sect disciples nearby. Only Jiang Chunye and Hun Jusang were the disciples of the Nihility Sect present in the Leakless Sect. And although Hun Jusang survived, black blood continuously leaked from the wound across his chest. However, Hun Jusang acted as if it didn''t exist, even as it stained Jiang Chunye''s head. He continued to cradle it, mumbling, "Chunye, Chunye. There''s no way you died like this, right? You were always so amazing, no one could keep you down for long. That''s why, hurry up and open your eyes and call me stupid for thinking you died." Mengfei raised her sword above her head. Everyone was to be killed with one exception. She brought her sword down. The scene of Hun Jusang suddenly displaying power far greater than his realm suggested didn''t occur. Mengfei''s sword sliced cleanly through him, head to toe¡ªnot even Jiang Chunye''s head was spared. The two halves of Hun Jusang split apart and fell onto their sides, dyeing the ground black with their blood. Mengfei gazed at this with rippleless eyes before turning around and preparing to leave. Mengfei''s foot paused as she slowly turned around. The black devil''s blood started to spread and submerged everything as if it had turned into a black lake. The corpses, artifacts, vegetation, and very land itself disappeared. Once it neared Mengfei''s foot, she blasted a qi pulse, preventing the black blood from tainting her feet. Oh, it tried. The black tried to climb up her barrier like tiny little mites scaling a foot, but flashes of qi later, the blood disintegrated around her. However, it wasn''t done. As if on rewind, the black blood started to gather again. After the blood retreated, it only left behind barren land polluted with devil qi. Hun Jusang''s and Jiang Chunye''s corpses had already merged into the black blood, and what was left was a floating sphere. Mengfei''s hand moved, and so did her sword. The black blood sphere split in half, but Mengfei''s attack didn''t have her desired result as a figure cloaked in black dropped down. The split shell the figure fell out of transformed into robes that released mists of devil qi. The figure stood up, revealing a complexion far too white, especially against her long hair that was blacker than ink. Aside from that, the girl looked exactly like Jiang Chunye, except that she had a devilish allure the original didn''t have. "Who are you?" Mengfei asked. She couldn''t detect any signs of life from the girl, as if she wasn''t alive. By conventional means, anyway. The unnamed girl blinked. The whites of her eyes were pitch-black, and her irises were the color of envy. She smiled. "I am Chunsang." The girl who identified herself as Chunsang opened her mouth to say more, but Mengfei unleashed a second slash. A sword-shaped qi flew out and pierced Chunsang''s forehead, causing her neck to snap at a ninety-degree angle. "I hate you," Chunsang''s voice sounded as her neck returned to normal, as if someone had physically snapped it back into place. The hole in Chunsang''s head allowed Mengfei to see the other side, but no blood or brain matter leaked out despite the injury. In fact, Mengfei couldn''t even see any organs, bones, or flesh. It was as if Chunsang was just a blob plastered with human skin. Mengfei didn''t waste any words as a violet, gold, and silver glow encased her crystalline sword. Chunsang must have sensed the danger because she turned tail and fled, but Mengfei didn''t give chase. She continued accumulating the power in her sword, and once it reached the optimal output, she slashed. Seemingly for no reason, Chunsang collapsed onto the ground, and a mass of black tumor-like flesh peeled off her. She lay motionless, devoid of all life. Mengfei narrowed her eyes. Her left hand''s forefinger twitched, and a gigantic crystalline sword over a hundred meters long pierced downward at Chunsang from the sky. "Bitch!" Chunsang screamed as her figure jumped out of the black tumorous mass. Her form had shrunken until she appeared to be twenty years old, but the malice in her eyes only intensified. Mengfei frowned. She continued to unleash sword qi after sword qi. Each time her sword qi cleaved Chunsang, a hunk of black blobs would fall off her, and she would shrink in form and age.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. With a wave of her sword, thousands of crystalline swords appeared around Chunsang. So numerous were the swords that it appeared as if a crystalline sphere had surrounded Chunsang. Mengfei flicked her wrist, and the swords impaled Chunsang, leaving nothing behind but a black gurgling mess. However, Mengfei still wasn¡¯t assured. She brought her left palm to her lips and gently blew. A black bubble formed above her palm and floated toward the bubbling pool of liquid. The closer it got, the larger it became until it was over ten meters wide and encased the space around the bubbling liquid. The black bubbling liquid squirmed as if something was trying to jump out and outside the bubble, but it was too late as Mengfei whispered, "Collapse." The bubble burst, revealing a pure white space where nothing existed. Dirt, oxygen, karma, and even the very space ceased to exist. The world closed in and mended the hole Mengfei''s technique caused. Mengfei nodded in satisfaction. She still had an immortal emperor to deal with. Her foot paused, and she turned around again. Her gaze lingered on the tumorous blobs that had fallen off Chunsang. She raised her sword. "You goddamn bitch!" The black tumorous masses gurgled as they rapidly expanded and conglomerated together, forming a gigantic black figure. It was a muscled humanoid that resembled a cross between a man and a woman, with a long pointed tail, two bat-like ears, two curved horns, and two pairs of envious eyes of ruin. Black tendrils sprouted from its back and speared towards Mengfei, whose figure disappeared. When she reappeared, she was in the air above the thousand-meter-tall devil. Mengfei raised her sword again. She could sense that the devil was more of a spiritual body than a physical body, significantly lessening the oppression of her Eight Trigrams Tri-Unity World. A phantom sword longer than the devil''s height appeared behind her. She slashed down, and the phantom sword followed suit. The devil shouted some unintelligible string of words that she didn''t recognize. It charged straight at the slashing sword with reckless abandon. Its tendrils shot forward but were all sliced. However, when the sword reached the devil''s body, it only phased through, and the devil continued to run unimpeded. Mengfei raised her left hand in front of her. Just as the devil would crash into it, it disappeared. When the devil reappeared, it was shackled by spatial chains above the Leakless Sect. The black crystalline sword in her hand disappeared into tiny motes of light, and Mengfei formed several hand seals in quick succession. As she completed each one, a terrifying gravitational force shrouded the entire Tri-Unity World with the devil as the epicenter. The devil roared as it curled up into a fetal position from the gravitational force. However, the roar slowly grew weaker, not because its volume had decreased but because the gravitational force pulled it back. Not just the devil but the land and buildings of the Leakless Sect were pulled toward the epicenter, chunk by chunk. Even the cultivators were not spared, especially mortal cultivators. Almost every single one of them was pulled into the growing orb, their flesh crushed, and not even their souls could escape. Even true immortals too close to the epicenter could not escape the same fate. When the orb stopped pulling mass to itself, it had already reached the size of Earth''s moon, perhaps even larger. Mengfei clasped her hands together. Just as she was about to fully press her palms together, she caught something shooting toward her from the corner of her eye. She dodged, but the object still struck her arm, wounding her arm and disrupting her seal. The floating orb thrummed for a second and fell back to the land. Although it wasn''t exactly what she had planned, it still resulted in the moon-sized orb flattening the Leakless Sect''s headquarters. The orb crumbled into giant rocks, dirt, and everything that made it up, only malformed. However, Mengfei ignored her handiwork as she observed her assailant. He flew toward her in a sword-shaped streak. She raised her uninjured right arm, and a black crystalline sword materialized in her hand. Clang! An elderly Daoist wearing silver robes clashed against Mengfei, sword against sword. "You madwoman! Aren''t you afraid of being punished by the Heavenly Dao for all the Karmic Sin you''ve accumulated?" Although killing cultivators, who had not reached the Immortal Realm, would grant the same amount of karma as a regular mortal was not much, Mengfei killed millions. Even though she was an origin immortal, Karmic Sin would descend upon her. "Have you gone blind, Emperor Solesword?" a voice shouted. Chasing after Emperor Solesword were three emperor-level war formations led by three immortal monarchs. They had been tasked with killing Emperor Solesword, but they failed to blockade him, much less kill him. The war formations'' auras flickered, having been injured by said emperor. "Open your blind eyes and take a good look. What Karmic Sin are you talking about?" the war formation mocked. "Now, obediently accept your death! Your Leakless Sect is over!" Emperor Solesword took a closer look and recoiled. He could not see a hint of Karmic Sin lingering around Mengfei. In fact, he even saw a faint film of Karmic Merit. How was this possible? He growled and glanced at the coming war formations. "The Leakless Sect may fall today, but the disciples who have escaped won''t let it end like this! They will avenge us!" Emperor Solesword whirled toward Mengfei as he blocked her incoming slash. "As for you, I''ll take you down with me! I''ll show you what it truly means to be called a sword immortal, you fake!" Mengfei remained expressionless as she sent strike after strike against Emperor Solesword. Despite his superior swordsmanship, he could not overcome Mengfei''s brute speed and strength, falling into a disadvantage. However, it was still abnormal. A whole realm separated the two, yet he was able to deflect most of her blows while oppressed by her Eight Trigrams Tri-Unity World. It wasn''t like Emperor Solesword was at the peak of the Extremity Immortal Realm. Had he been, it would have been much more reasonable to go toe to toe with Mengfei, who was the Early Origin Immortal Realm. Upon closer inspection, Mengfei noticed a faint red wisp radiating off Emperor Solesword''s body. Not just that, she can even sense soul particles rippling off him. He had used a forbidden technique to ignite both his blood essence and soul in order to gain a temporary surge of strength. His current strength had even surpassed the half-sovereign from the Numinous Sword Sect Mengfei had clashed with in the Vast Void, Emperor Yanxu. But there was a price. At the rate Emperor Solesword consumed his blood essence and soul, he would not even last five minutes more. "Coward, fight me!" Emperor Solesword shouted as he saw Mengfei retreating, and a hint of urgency appeared in his heart. He waved his arm, and ten thousand sword artifacts appeared. They formed a giant rotating circle around him and Mengfei. "Life and Death Duel Sword Formation, rise!" Mengfei felt the space around her solidify and twist. She opened her mouth and softly said, "Shatter." In a split second, the rhythm of the ten thousand swords became disoriented, and no matter what they did, they couldn''t reorient themselves in a pattern again. But this was enough. Emperor Solesword only needed to distract Mengfei that single moment. Emperor Solesword''s entered a stance with his beloved sword. His strength, speed, endurance, blood, soul, and even very emotions entered his sword. The sword was not him, but he was the sword. "Cut." The word spoken was from Emperor Solesword''s mouth, but it contained nothing. No emotion, no thoughts, like a preprogrammed puppet speaking as it was instructed. Then, he slashed. Mengfei felt as if everything in her world was dyed silver. Her Eight Trigram Tri-Unity broke away from her control and transformed into a sword world. No matter what she did, that slash would strike her. "Pffft!" Mengfei spat out a mouthful of blood as a bloody hole appeared in her chest, and blood leaked from her lips. Chapter 348: Leakless Sect No More Blood dripped down Mengfei''s lips and chin, staining her silver robes red. Across from her, emotion returned to Emperor Solesword''s impassive face. The sword in his hand, his lifebound artifact, emitted cracking sounds as it started to fissure from the tip. Slowly, piece by piece, metal shards fell from the sword. The fissures didn''t even stop once they covered the entire hilt. Instead, they started crawling up his arms. Despite the cracks on his face, despite knowing of his impending doom, Emperor Solesword''s smile remained. "Sword Sovereign Xi, no Xi Mengfei. Did you ever imagine that you would actually fall under an immortal emperor''s hand?" "You were too confident, attaching a false title onto yourself. How could you call yourself a sword sovereign without even developing Sword Intent? Look where that got you now," Emperor Solesword gloated. As his body followed his sword''s fate, starting from his hands and feet, he started to laugh. It was a mad laugh filled with mirth and insanity. He succeeded, but at what cost? His actions only benefited the remaining members of the Tripartite Alliance and the Anti-Heaven Alliance. The Leakless Sect had become all but history. Suddenly, his laughter stopped as if someone had choked him. Mengfei started to disintegrate too. Only her body turned into silver wisps that evaporated into the air. Despite her body disappearing, she showed no fear. The crystalline sword in her hand disappeared, and even her skin turned the same color as the wisps. "No," Emperor Solesword gasped. Not long later, Mengfei''s entire body dissolved into silver mist and evaporated. A mocking laughter entered Emperor Solesword''s ears. "Haha, what right does an immortal emperor have to look down on Grand Elder Xi?" Emperor Solesword turned to see a single emperor-level war formation flying toward him. The rest of the war formations sent to deal with him had focused on other targets since he was not long for this world. "You mocked Grand Elder Xi for her lack of Sword Intent, but you didn''t know that you were the lacking one. The difference between an early immortal monarch and a peak immortal monarch is more than thirty times. Why would you think that the difference in strength would be closer between an immortal emperor and an immortal sovereign? Don''t you find your thoughts ridiculous?" the war formation asked and laughed. "Y¡ªY¡ªYou!" Emperor Solesword angrily said. He would have pointed at the war formation, but only his head and the upper part of his chest remained. "Then what did I kill!?" "Kill? You think too highly of yourself," the war formation said. "That was only one of Grand Elder Xi''s incarnations. You used all your trump cards and even forwent the chance of reincarnation just to kill one of her incarnations, aren''t you laughable?" Emperor Solesword roared at the sky. Only his head and neck were left now. He laughed, a bitter laugh filled with reluctance and regret. "I''m unwilling. UNWILLING!" As if he hadn''t already pushed the knife deep enough, the monarch controlling the war formation continued speaking. "As an immortal emperor, I don''t want to look down on your memory, but do you think the rumors of Grand Elder Xi''s ability to strike anywhere in the Huang Realm are just that, a rumor? I''ll tell you that not only is that rumor true, but she can lock onto anyone based on certain criteria. Say, being a member of the Leakless Sect." Emperor Solesword wanted to scream in fury, to use his teeth and rip out the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s immortal monarch¡¯s throat, but he could only glare. And even then, it didn''t last long as his eyes, too, fractured off in shards. Soon, all evidence of the Leakless Sect''s immortal emperor ceased to exist in the world. A snort thundered from the war formation. Soon, it turned its attention to the rest of the Leakless Sect¡¯s members. Grand Elder Xi had already eliminated all the mortal cultivators. Now, it was their turn to clean up the stragglers. The Leakless Sect''s most powerful war formations were the Leakless Emperor War Formation, an upgrade of their Leakless Monarch War Formation that Tianyi faced in his Inner Devil Tribulation. Still, the Leakless Sect could not field as many emperor-level war formations because they needed three monarchs manning each war formation. In total, they deployed five Leakless Emperor War Formations, eight Leakless Monarch War Formations, and tens of weaker monarch-level war formations. In contrast, the Buzhou Immortal Sect directly deployed ten emperor-level war formations, such as the Jadelight Emperor War Formation, Heavenly Maiden Empress War Formation, and Great Unity Emperor War Formation. Coupled with the oppression brought about by Mengfei''s Eight Trigrams Tri-Unity World, it was a one-sided slaughter¡ªespecially after Emperor Solesword''s death. High above in the sky, the violet-robed Mengfei watched the massacre with no change in emotion. Nine days later, ten immortal monarchs and hundreds of true immortals stood before Mengfei. A few true immortals perished, but that was an acceptable loss. "Grand Elder, we''ve eliminated all life from the Leakless Sect," an immortal monarch reported. Mengfei nodded. "The ships?" Monarch Violetsnow gestured toward the wreckage of the moon Mengfei created. Floating above it were seven of the ten warships they brought, emptied of all occupants. A black crystalline sword appeared in Mengfei''s hand, and she slashed out. Several sword-shaped qis flew out with each swing, but they didn''t resemble Mengfei''s attack, but rather the deceased Emperor Solesword. The sword-shaped qi that resembled Emperor Solesword so much struck the seven warships, sinking them and causing them to crash onto the ruins. Mengfei wasn''t done yet, as she clenched her fingers. Half the warships and the rubble formed another sphere, only ten times smaller. Then, a molten glow appeared from the center, succeeded by a volcanic explosion that further muddied the evidence of battle.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Satisfied by her handiwork, Mengfei nodded. She turned toward the immortals and raised her arm. A portal leading to what appeared to be the Vast Void materialized. "Go." Seven immortal monarchs nodded and entered the portal. Following behind them were seventy percent of the true immortals, leaving three immortal monarchs and thirty percent of the true immortals. "Move on to phase 2 of the plan," Mengfei ordered. She gazed at the sky of the Eight Trigrams Tri-Unity World and said one word, "Shatter." The fabric of reality twisted and shattered, revealing the Leakless Sect''s original surroundings, with the one exception of the now-destroyed Leakless Sect. The Eight Trigrams Pillars also sunk and buried themselves into the ground. Cracks littered its surface, and its previous spiritual light had vanished, like broken tools. Mengfei wasn''t done yet as she raised the black crystalline sword above her head like she had done all those years ago when she left Paradise Sand City. When she brought her sword down, thousands of swords, exactly like the one in her hand, descended all over the Heaven Continent, except hundreds of times larger. The only difference between now and then was that her targets were members of the Leakless Sect. As long as they were part of the River of Reincarnation in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, Mengfei could locate them and cut the grass by the roots. "Let''s go," Mengfei said. She led the remaining immortals back to the Immortal Sect. She didn''t summon the pillar of light from Heaven-Earth-Man Trinity Palace and traveled using a detour, as if to avoid detection.
"Cloud Goddess, Cloud Goddess!" Inside the Sacred Hall of the Cloud Goddess Cult, the Cloud Goddess opened her eyes from her couch. She saw an elder from the Drifting Feather Sect barge in with horror flashing across his eyes. She frowned, "Trespassing without permission is punishable even if you aren''t a member of the Cloud Goddess Cult." "You can punish me however you want later. There''s big news!" the elder practically screeched. "I just received news that the Leakless Sect had been wiped off the face of the Huang Realm!" Instead of shock or horror as he expected, the Cloud Goddess only lowered her eyes and muttered, "Has it already begun?" "What?" "I said, have you confirmed that the news is true?" the Cloud Goddess asked. "Yes, yes!" the elder said. "We don''t have the exact details, but all of our spies reported that they saw swords descending from the sky and killing Leakless Sect members. Furthermore, we lost communication with the Leakless Sect, and the Nihility Sect and Jade Cauldron Sect have descended into a panic!" The elder sighed. "If only Monarch Yonderheart hadn''t died competing for the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus. We would have been able to gather more accurate information." "No need," the Cloud Goddess said, much to the elder''s shock. She stood up and said, "Summon all the upper echelon of the Anti-Heaven Alliance. It''s time to fully absorb the Tripartite Alliance into our fold." Less than an hour later, all the grand elders, sect masters, and immortal monarchs of the three forces gathered inside the Cloud Goddess Cult''s Sacred Hall. "Without a doubt, the Buzhou Immortal Sect has finally made their move and destroyed the Leakless Sect," the Drifting Feather Sect Master said. "How is that possible?" a grand elder from the Five Element Sect asked. "Even if they have an immortal sovereign, they attacked the Leakless Sect''s headquarters." "I think we should ask the Cloud Goddess." At Monarch Fiveseal''s words, all eyes turned toward the leader and founder of the Cloud Goddess Cult. "Is it possible for an immortal sovereign to destroy a first-rate force like the Leakless Sect in such a short time?" "Yes," the Cloud Goddess said. Although a few of them suspected it, they couldn''t help but gasp. Additionally, they also gazed at the Cloud Goddess in more fear. "However, the price Sword Sovereign Xi paid definitely isn''t small," the Cloud Goddess continued. "The best evidence is that we didn''t see any pillar of light. Although it has a cooldown of ten years after each use, it is the fastest method to travel, possessed only by the Buzhou Immortal Sect." "According to my guess, they must possess a method on an even higher level than that pillar of light that would allow them to teleport anywhere without any notice, allowing them to attack the Leakless Sect unaware," the Cloud Goddess said. "T-then w-what should we do?" an elder from the Drifting Feather Sect asked, fear evident in his voice. "Why are you cowering now?" the Five Element Sect Master rebuked. "We already estimated the Buzhou Immortal Sect has far more means than they showed. If you''re too scared of fighting, just kill yourself now!" The Drifting Feather Sect Master scowled but didn''t refute his fellow sect master. Morale was more critical than ever. If he allowed the fear to spread, then they would run around like headless chickens, benefiting their enemies. "Still, his words hold merit. What should we do?" a grand elder from the Five Element Sect asked, his voice far calmer. Again, all gazes landed on the Cloud Goddess. "Give chase. As I said before, Sword Sovereign Xi must have paid a high price to exterminate the Leakless Sect silently and in a short amount of time. There is no better time to kill her than now!" "But what if this is all a trap to lure your holiness out?" the head priest of the Cloud Goddess Cult asked in worry. "There is nothing to worry about. I can always flee," the Cloud Goddess calmly said. "While I give chase, we mustn''t stand around doing nothing." "Since the leader of the Tripartite Alliance has fallen, there is no better time to absorb the remnants than now. The Nihility Sect is powerful, but they are only one first-rate force. As for the Jade Cauldron Sect, they are only a second-rate force," the Cloud Goddess said. She gazed at the two sect masters. "As to how to bring them under us and incorporate them, I''ll leave it to you two." The Drifting Feather Sect and Five Element Sect Masters finally showed a smile. The two had entered a tentative alliance because neither wanted to submit to the other, resulting in less than ideal battles against Buzhou Immortal Sect. But with the Leakless Sect gone, the Anti-Heaven Alliance''s power will soar and with greater unity than before. "Leave it to us," both of them said. The Cloud Goddess then turned toward her head priest. "You lead a batch of missionaries and convert the mortals to the cult. No matter how powerful the Buzhou Immortal Sect is, even they wouldn''t dare to massacre mortals en masse and incur Karmic Sin." "Yes, your holiness!" the head priest said. Once the Cloud Goddess had more believers, not even Sword Sovereign Xi would be her opponent. Alas, all things must balance out. The members of the Drifting Feather Sect and Five Element Sect all grimaced. Since they allowed the Cloud Goddess to convert the mortals in their territories to her cult, her power had soared. What had once been an equal alliance was no longer. The two sect masters gazed at each other and glared. Since the number one spot became uncontestable, they would have figured out who became the number two most powerful force among each other.
San Jiuling collapsed onto his knees and stared at the ruin of the Leakless Sect in grief. As tears streamed down his cheeks, he roared at the sky. "Buzhou Immortal Sect, not only have you killed my blood brother, Dong Chifan! But you also massacred my sect and killed all my loved ones! This debt, I''ll pay it back a hundredfold!" Chapter 349: Death Out of Nowhere A year ago, San Jiuling sat in front of an empty grave, and engraved upon the tombstone was Dong Chifan''s name. He leaned his elbow on his knee with an empty red can in his hand. "What am I going to do? I already drank all the cola you made for me last time. I only have one can left. Why did you die so easily? Did you forget all the hardships we endured to get to this point?" San Jiuling stood up. He placed the empty can in front of the tombstone and picked up the last unopened can. He popped open the tab and poured the contents over the grave. "See you later for now. Don''t worry, I''ll get revenge for you." He turned around and walked a few steps before stopping. He sighed and muttered, "I really wanted to tell you." San Jiuling''s figure disappeared as he flew off into the air, leaving only his shadow. That, too, disappeared with time. Hours later, he flew past the shores of the Heaven Continent. He, along with a few close-knit friends and comrades, found the location of an immortal monarch''s grave. Dong Chifan had found the location and shared it with the rest, but obviously, he could no longer make it. "Lord San," one of the four true immortals present greeted, followed by the rest. San Jiuling nodded. Of the five present, none of them were over ten thousand years of age. Despite San Jiuling being the youngest, he was the strongest, possessing the strength of an immortal lord. His comprehension of the worldly laws was equal to the other four immortals, perhaps a little lower, but he had nine lifebound artifacts. And he had upgraded each one to the immortal rank, placing him in the top ten percentile among true immortals regarding wealth. Although many people scoffed at his status as an immortal lord, the reality was just like this. Those with wealth often came ahead of others, and it wasn''t like this was the first time San Jiuling heard such rumors. People once said he relied on his grandfather''s wealth to cultivate so fast. Those rumors stopped once he returned as a true immortal, and these new rumors would stop once he entered the Seamless Immortal Realm. "Is everyone ready?" San Jiuling asked. The four true immortals nodded. "Then let''s go." An immortal boat appeared with a flip of his hand. Compared to a normal boat''s shape, it looked slightly strange, as if someone had glued two hulls on top of each other. San Jiuling called it the Nautilus. None of the four true immortals commented and entered through the doorway, which sealed itself. Then, the Nautilus plunged into the seawater, drilling almost straight down. Along the way, they encountered several sea monsters. The boat had concealment effects, so they avoided most lower-intelligence monsters. For those that spotted them, the Nautilus fled. The further the immortal boat traveled, the darker the water became. Comparatively, so did the crushing pressure, but the Nautilus still continued unimpeded, unaffected. As the immortal boat nearly reached a hundred thousand kilometers, the pressure suddenly disappeared. At the center of this pressure-less zone floated a glowing blue portal. Without waiting, the Nautilus sailed into the portal and found itself on the seafloor. However, there was still a trace of sunlight shining from above. Once the boat floated to the top, the occupants realized that the seafloor was actually a lake floor. San Jiuling and the other immortals disembarked and observed the immortal grotto. The sky resembled a glass dome full of cracks. The color wasn''t cerulean but a deep blue. Furthermore, the grass on the land resembled shrunken seaweed, and they could see the land falling apart at the end of the immortal grotto. Most importantly, the spiritual qi of heaven and earth was in chaos. It was mostly made of spiritual water qi, but they formed qi currents due to the chaotic nature of the immortal grotto. This environment made life unsuitable in the immortal grotto except for creatures above the Immortal Realms. "We''re lucky we found it now. A few decades more and it would have collapsed," San Jiuling said as he stored the Nautilus. "For now, we should travel together in case of any accidents." San Jiuling glanced at the stele erected by the lakeshore next to the path leading to the center of the immortal grotto. It read Stillsea Immortal Grotto. A few days later, San Jiuling and the other true immortals judged that no life, immortal or mortal, resided in the perimeter of the Stillsea Immortal Grotto. Similarly, any treasure found, such as herbs, metals, or artifacts, was below the immortal rank. Since that was the case, the five members of the Leakless Sect decided to enter the core area of the immortal grotto. The core was a giant globe-shaped aquarium. From the outside, they could see the sea monsters that swam within. Even separated by the globe, they could still sense the threat of the three monarch-level sea monsters. Still, none of them reached this level by shirking from necessary danger. All five wanted to grab the remnant properties of the deceased Stillsea Monarch and strengthen themselves so as to survive the war with the Buzhou Immortal Sect. The five nodded and entered the globe. Instantly, the pressure started crushing them. San Jiuling didn''t take out the Nautilus as it was more of a means to travel and possessed few, if any, sufficient armaments. Still, the pressure made their swimming speed a hundredth of their flying speed. Many of them already used their artifacts to resist the pressure. San Jiuling activated his Gauntlet of Strength, Chestplate of Deflection, Sash of Strength, Grieves of Speed, and Cape of Vitality. The pressure he faced reduced, and he returned to his peak combat prowess.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Just in time, too, as a sea monster that looked like a combination of a whale and anglerfish charged towards them with its maws wide open. A white spear seemingly carved out of a branch appeared in San Jiuling''s hands. Nine green rings appeared around the spear''s shaft, and he swung it. The water parted, and the released attack slammed into the sea monster, causing it to swim to the side, narrowly avoiding the five true immortals. Although San Jiuling saved their group from the first attack, his actions drew the attention of the nearby sea monsters. "Use all your means, swim to the palace in the middle as fast as possible!" Under San Jiuling''s instructions, the five true immortals burst out with their full strength and traversed toward the palace. Two of the five could only unleash the strength of an earth immortal, forcing the other three to defend them. By the time they reached the palace gates, one had fallen to the sea monsters. The only evidence of their existence was the bloody cloud. Luckily, something in the palace seemed to stop the sea monster from approaching. "Although the loss of Tuhou is regrettable, we must persevere," San Jiuling said. The three remaining immortals agreed, but now, they faced the problem of entering. The Stillsea Immortal Grotto was not an inheritance site prepared by a deceased senior. Thus San Jiuling and the others were outsiders. It was the reason they had to swim to the gates and suffer the attacks of the sea monsters. As the one with the strongest strength, San Jiuling was tasked with opening the sealed gates. He struck the gates with his spear. Each move was simple and straightforward, repeating the same actions over and over again. Each strike was near the maximum of San Jiuling''s limit. However, instead of tiring, each swing became stronger, and each clash shook the gates harder. It was as if San Jiuling had unlimited stamina and qi as a thin green film surrounded his body. San Jiuling didn''t possess a heavenly spiritual vein or even a perfect spiritual vein. He only had a flawless wood spiritual vein, hardly the talent one would expect from the adopted grandson of an immortal monarch. But he possessed a special physique, the Unbound Forest Physique. The Unbound Forest Physique granted a powerful life force to its possessor. Even as a mortal, San Jiuling would have been able to live past two hundred years. However, the longevity limit still applies to those with this physique. Its true strength lay in the accumulation of power. San Jiuling had always possessed an immense amount of vitality and qi. Coupled with his violet-gold grade spiritual core, he had the confidence that no cultivator could generate more true qi than him. Even as a true immortal, Monarch San had said that his qi was as potent as a first-step immortal monarch''s. Under San Jiuling''s continuous attacks, the gates soon broke and fell off their hinges. San Jiuling and the other true immortal rushed in. As they expected, the golem and puppet sentries attacked them. If the Stillsea Immortal Grotto were not in a state of decay, they would have had to worry about a formation-created domain suppressing their strength. As it was, the golems and puppets only had the power of true immortals. The few that possessed the strength of an immortal lord were solved by San Jiuling. The four immortals swept through the palace and stored all the treasure they could find. Since San Jiuling had the most credit and strength, he received seventy percent of the loot, while the other three got ten percent each. They scoured every inch of the palace except its innermost area. They left that place for last because they sensed the aura of a monarch-level monster guarding it. "We should make full use of the treasure before confronting the monster," San Jiuling said, and no one objected. They entrenched themselves in what they assumed was the former master''s cultivation chamber. None of them gained any inspiration during the battles, so they settled on using the treasures they gained to strengthen their artifacts or flesh. A few months later, the white spear on San Jiuling''s lap exuded a brilliant radiance. It had been successfully promoted to a monarch-level artifact. Of course, this didn''t mean that San Jiuling had mastered a law and infused it into the artifact. The spear had always had a law inscribed into it, owing to its materials. As its appearance suggested, it hadn''t been forged out of metal but carved out of wood. The wood was a broken branch of the divine Jianmu Steeltree. It was a world tree comparable to Yggdrasil. "Congratulations, Lord San," one of the true immortals said. "It looks like we''re going to have to rely on Senior Brother San to defeat Xi Tianyi in the future," another one said. "You''re becoming an even more viable spouse option for me now," the sole female immortal joked. San Jiuling smiled and accepted their compliments. His eyes hardened, as did his grip around the spear. ''Buzhou Immortal Sect, Xi Tianyi, just you wait.'' The group left the chamber soon after. San Jiuling was their biggest support, and the other three only served as auxiliaries and backups. Success or failure all depended on him. Upon arriving at the entrance to the innermost area, San Jiuling asked again. "Are you all ready?" All three nodded in compliance. San Jiuling prepared himself and then smashed open the entrance. Instantly, a bloody smell assaulted their nose. All four retreated hundreds of meters as they sensed something snaking toward them. The sound of snapping jaws entered their ears. The sight of a serpent''s giant snout greeted them. Its cold-blooded pupils stared them down, and they felt chills crawling up their spines. To their confusion and relief, the snake didn''t attack them and receded back into the room. They soon discovered why as they saw spikes impaled into the snake''s flesh, chaining it to the room. "I thought all the demons left the Huang Realm after the Divine-Beast War. Why is a Ba Serpent still here?" the sole female immortal asked. "Look closely," another immortal said. "Although it is a demon sage, it''s nothing more than a mindless beast in its current state." "Regardless," San Jiuling said, "It is an obstacle we must overcome, and its flesh and blood are treasures themselves." The four charged. Unlike the mindless sea monster patrolling outside the palace, the Ba Serpent possessed an innate ability. They had dodged any direct bite attacks, as that would bring them into its stomach, a unique state that they would not be able to escape out of. As the battle heated up, an immense pressure descended and froze all of them, the Ba Serpent included. San Jiuling could only watch with horror as three giant swords formed out of crystals pierced the roof. Two swords killed two of the Leakless Sect''s true immortals, but the third decapitated the Ba Serpent before killing the final true immortal under the Ba Serpent. Once that was done, the crystalline swords shattered into millions of brilliant radiance and disappeared, leaving a stunned San Jiuling. Chapter 350: Divine Beast It took San Jiuling a full ten minutes before he awoke from the shock of what happened. In hindsight, it had been incredibly stupid of him to do nothing but stare slack-jawed. Luckily for him, whatever squished his comrades and the Ba Serpent to death like bugs hadn''t attacked again. San Jiuling gathered the corpses of his companions. Whoever or whatever killed them had spared him for some reason, something he couldn''t understand. ''Was it the defensive formation activating? No, if it did, why would it attack the guardian and us?'' He stored his companions'' corpses so that they could be buried once he brought them back to the Leakless Sect. As for the Ba Serpent corpse, San Jiuling stored that. No point in wasting a monarch-level demon''s corpse. Drip Drip Drip San Jiuling looked up at the ceiling, where water had started leaking in. This only reaffirmed his conjecture that the palace''s formation did not unleash that attack. Although it was not impossible for an immortal monarch to kill a demon sage, especially one as mindless as the Ba Serpent, the chances were incredibly small if it was a formation that decayed for an unknown amount of years. Knowing that he didn''t have much time, San Jiuling rushed forth. He stepped past the blood from the deceased Ba Serpent and into the circular room at the center. It didn''t have any barrier preventing access, but he did notice the density of qi spiking. Within the circular room, the spiritual qi transformed into a mix of immortal and true qi. In the center of the room and formation lay a single black egg. It reached San Jiuling''s chest and had patterned hexagons and snake scales all over it. San Jiuling''s eyes lit up. Even though the beast had yet to hatch, he felt a sense of oppression. He couldn''t think of any other reason why he would feel this way as a true immortal unless the egg hatched a beast at the True Demon Realm. Whatever species the egg belonged to, it would make a top-tier spiritual beast. Walking closer, he felt the qi disappear. The egg sucked in everything within a few meters, but even so, San Jiuling could still feel the egg''s weakening and flickering life aura. San Jiuling speculated that the creator of the immortal grotto, Monarch Stillsea, created it in order to nourish the egg. However, something happened to Monarch Stillsea, leaving his plans unfinished. If he had come any later, whatever life gestating within would have starved to death. After entering a few meters of the egg, San Jiuling felt the suction force increase, as if it found a target, him. He didn''t resist and allowed the immortal qi to flow out of his body. The verdant green energy flowed out of his pores and traveled to the egg. Like a man dying of thirst that found an oasis, the suction force dramatically increased. San Jiuling continued to supply his immortal qi, his whole body glowed green from the amount of qi pouring out. He always had confidence in the size of his qi reservoir. Even the short interlude with the Ba Serpent did not diminish it much, but it seemed that he finally met his match. When his qi reservoir dropped to fifty percent, San Jiuling began to worry. The last time his qi dropped this low was when he was still a mortal cultivator. Just in case, he prepared the Qi Restoration Pills he stockpiled beforehand. As it dropped to thirty percent, he swallowed a Qi Restoration Pill. San Jiuling''s body began to generate immortal qi at an increased rate. Still, the generation rate was barely higher than the amount the egg drained. After ingesting four, San Jiuling only had two pills left. Only then did he begin to worry. His qi reserves had only returned to about forty percent, and it did not seem like the egg would stop anytime soon. Furthermore... San Jiuling glanced at the walls. Cracks had started to appear, and he could hear the sound of rushing water outside. Even the floor started to get flooded. The crystal swords must have damaged the palace formations much more than he had anticipated. "Alright, that''s enough for you now," San Jiuling said, suppressing his qi from leaving. The suction force paused for a moment, as if it had not expected the lapse of nourishment. Then, like a petulant child, the suction force returned at full force, perhaps even greater. Not even San Jiuling could completely lock his qi in his body. "Enough already!" San Jiuling admonished as he appeared next to the egg and slapped it, hard. The suction force stopped, and the egg vibrated like it was whining. However, San Jiuling had no mercy. "The situation is dangerous. I''ll get you more and better nourishment than my qi once we leave, okay?" The egg buzzed once as if to say yes and then turned silent. The suction force that had been constant turned passive, allowing San Jiuling to sigh in relief. Since he didn''t have a tamer bag specifically created to store live beasts, San Jiuling had no choice but to physically carry it, lest he wanted to store it in his spatial ring and risk killing it and making all his effort go down the drain. Carrying it on his shoulders, San Jiuling swallowed the fifth Qi Restoration Pill. Without the black egg constantly draining him, his qi returned to a more respectable level.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. After walking out the innermost level, a torrent of water flooded towards them. San Jiuling grimaced, but he rushed forward and into the water. He activated his Gauntlet of Strength, Chestplate of Deflection, Sash of Strength, Greaves of Speed, and Cape of Vitality. Instead of his speed decreasing, it increased. An aura of green covered him, turning him into a green bullet charging through the water. Upon exiting the palace, San Jiuling paused. The giant swords hadn''t just damaged the palace but destroyed the barrier of the immortal grotto. Water leaked from the external depths, crashing into the palace and forming a watery pillar connecting the ground and artificial sky. The globe covering the palace had shattered, and the sea monsters freely swam in the sky. Some rushed through the crack in the top that leaked torrents of water, rushing and drowning the immortal grotto. After hesitating for a moment, San Jiuling flew up and toward the cracks in the immortal grotto. Rather than delaying and leaving the way he entered, it would be better to rush out through the crack and leave using his immortal boat, the Nautilus. However, against his expectations, the difficulty drastically increased when San Jiuling sensed one of the sea monsters rushing toward him. Then the second, third, fourth, and soon, all of them within a certain range charged at him, maws opened. A white spear appeared in his free hand. With a swing, the incoming sea monster flew out of the water spire. However, San Jiuling soon sensed more sea monsters rushing toward him, even the ones that had originally been rushing toward the crack. Unlike the first time traversing through the globe where the monsters only attacked San Jiuling and his deceased companions when they noticed them, the sea monsters all charged toward him as if attracted toward something. He glanced at the black egg. Did the sea monsters want to devour the egg to evolve? No matter what, San Jiuling would not let mere beasts take away his prize, especially after all the sacrifices. A helmet appeared above San Jiuling''s head, covering his entire face behind a mask. The new armor''s name was the Helmet of Gigantification. A verdant aura covered the helmet and began to spread through the other armor pieces, eventually causing his entire body to radiate an intense light. San Jiuling''s figure started to shift. His height of two meters began to increase and stretch at an astonishing rate. Ten meters, twenty meters, fifty meters, a hundred meters, two hundred meters, five hundred meters, and finally, a thousand meters. He swung his white lance, which had grown to a thousand and two hundred meters long. That one swing stopped the water from flowing for a brief second, creating a lull with numerous true immortal-level sea monsters crashing out. However, there were still the two monarch-level sea monsters rushing toward him. San Jiuling roared and charged upward with his spear upright. A vortex formed at the tip, shrouding his gigantic body in a massive reversed whirlpool. The two monarch-level sea monsters and numerous others crashed into him but were repelled off. Still, San Jiuling felt his body shake from the force and suffered internal trauma, but he held strong. He didn''t need to defeat them, only to make it out of the crack before they did. San Jiuling roared as he poured more energy into his charge, creating a whirlpool of the same verdant glow and transforming it into a drill that pierced the water. Finally, he made it through the crack and entered the depths. Unlike before, the immortal grotto no longer eliminated the pressure. So, the water pressure came crashing onto him, destroying the whirlpool cloaking him. He could bear the immense pressure for a period of time, but not for long. And certainly not fighting the sea monsters who were born to live in the depths. San Jiuling could already see them swimming toward him from inside the Stillsea Immortal Grotto. Not wasting any time, he summoned the Nautilus and entered after reverting to his normal size. Immediately after, the Nautilus blended in with the environment and swam away. He didn''t know if the egg would attract other sea monsters or even demons lurking in the depths, but San Jiuling had no intent on testing it, so he activated the cloaking feature of the Nautilus to the maximum. With safety assured, at least for a time, San Jiuling began to heal himself. When he reverted to his true size, the pressure still damaged his internal organs. He popped in the last Qi Restoration Pill since his last charge had drained him of nearly all his immortal qi. Next, he began to circulate his qi throughout his body and heal his internal organs. For other immortals, it might have taken them some time, but for San Jiuling, it only took a fraction of the time. After all, he was comprehending the Law of Life. Seven days later, San Jiuling opened his eyes, all healed. His immortal qi had returned to seventy percent of their maximum capacity too. ''I didn''t expect this one trip to deprive me of all my Qi Restoration Pills. Although ingesting too much in a short time would cause sequelae, that''s not as big a problem for me as others. Still, it''s going to be troublesome to concoct more. I need to return to the sect as soon as possible to gather materials and deliver my companion''s corpses.'' San Jiuling sighed. The loss of four true immortals could not be said to be a big loss to the overall situation, but each one had a ten percent chance to become an immortal monarch if given enough time. Still, that was precious time they couldn''t afford in the war. Hopefully, the materials they looted would be able to make up for the loss of four true immortals. "Hmm?" San Jiuling glanced toward the egg next to him. During his week-long recovery, he allowed the egg to siphon some immortal qi of life from him. The amount he released would not impair his recovery. The black egg started to vibrate at an intense rate, causing the small snake-like scales to fall off, revealing the hexagonal, tortoise-like patterns even more. "Is it about to hatch?" San Jiuling muttered. He immediately started to inscribe a Spiritual Beast Contract Formation around it. Monarch Stillsea must have had the same idea since San Jiuling easily found the materials from among the looted treasures. He acted fast and quickly constructed the formation, pouring liters upon liters of his blood into the formation, turning it blood-red. Time passed as the space between the hexagons widened, allowing egg fluid to slosh out. Then, the egg suddenly exploded, launching the hexagon egg pieces like projectiles. While this happened, a black blur shot out, intent on leaving the formation. "Oh no, you don''t!" Chains of qi erupted from the Spiritual Beast Contract Formation and shackled the newly born beast. San Jiuling didn''t consider himself a beast expert, but even he could recognize its species. Excitement flooded his veins. Trapped and struggling was a meter-long tortoise with what appeared to be a bonsai tree growing atop its shell. It had two heads, one was that of a turtle, but the other came from its back end, a snake''s body with a head attached where its tail should have been. The beast that just hatched was the Black Tortoise Divine Beast! Chapter 351: Traitor When Pangu first formed the Primordial World, three species came to power. They were the Phoenix Clan, Dragon Clan, and Qilin Clan, led by their respective ancestors. The three clans waged war for hegemony, eventually damaging each other to the point they declined. With their decline, they retreated to recuperate and restore their strength in their next bid for hegemony. Only, they never had their chance as numerous others came to power, such as the Demon Clan, Nuwa, the Three Purities, and more. Instead, it was the three clan''s impure descendants that rose to fame: the Vermillion Bird from the Phoenix Clan, the White Tiger from the Qilin Clan, and the Azure Dragon and the Black Tortoise of the Dragon Clan. Together, they were known as the Four Divine Beasts. Their chance only came after the Primordial World shattered into the modern Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Although the four original divine beasts have already fallen, their descendants lead the current three great clans. They conquered the surviving members of the demon clan and launched numerous attempts to rule the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. The most recent of which was over a thousand years ago. If San Jiuling could conquer and force the Black Tortoise to become his spiritual beast, his future was all but assured. Even if his cultivation stagnated, he would come to possess a sovereign-level combat potential as long as the Black Tortoise could reach maturity. He would just have to make sure that no one knew of this secret. The Buzhou Immortal Sect definitely wouldn''t allow another expert to rival their sole immortal sovereign. San Jiuling roared as he cut open his palm, spilling his blood on the Spiritual Beast Contract Formation. The chain and light it released turned a blood red. Moments later, a drop of blood covered in a violet glow appeared out of the formation and flew onto the tortoise''s head. The Black Tortoise struggled even more violently as a mark slowly appeared atop its forehead. The mark formed an intricate pattern and sunk into the tortoise''s flesh, causing him to screech. ''What a powerful soul defense!'' San Jiuling thought, alarmed. Although the Black Tortoise had just been born, the quality of its soul already matched an immortal monarch''s. Still, San Jiuling pushed forward. Although the Black Tortoise''s soul was powerful, it was newly born, thus weak and small. And his soul wasn''t that much weaker than an immortal monarch''s. Plus, his soul was bigger and stronger. It was a long and arduous process. San Jiuling let out more blood and spent more willpower to tame the Black Tortoise. By the time he succeeded, San Jiuling was a sweaty and gasping mess. He swallowed several blood-regeneration pills to restore the bloodletting he had done. However, the spent willpower and soul fatigue could only be recovered with rest and time. Still, San Jiuling allowed himself to smile. He had finally succeeded in contracting the Black Tortoise as his spiritual beast. The Black Tortoise had shrunk to a tenth of its original size, small enough to carry with one arm, after spending all its energy and failing to resist. He hugged the Black Tortoise to his chest and felt the powerful rhythmic heartbeat transmitted. San Jiuling''s smile grew, and he felt like he had won a billion-dollar lottery. San Jiuling controlled the Nautilus to traverse toward the shore of the Heaven Continent. He had stopped the immortal boat and focused all his attention on contracting the Black Tortoise. Luckily, no sea monster or demon took this chance to attack it, or else he might have failed. Upon nearing the shore, San Jiuling stored the Nautilus in his spatial ring and activated a concealment spell. He refused to leak the information to the allied sects and even his own sect members, except for his grandfather. The fewer people who knew, the greater effect this trump card would have and the safer he would be. He could already imagine it. When Sword Sovereign Xi and the Cloud Goddess battled, they reached a stalemate. Suddenly, the Black Tortoise would join and pincer Sword Sovereign Xi. After being teamed up by two sovereign-level experts, she would either perish or be severely injured and no longer be able to participate. Without Sword Sovereign Xi''s participation, the Tripartite Alliance and the Anti-Heaven Alliance would obtain an overwhelming advantage. Although it was likely that they wouldn''t be able to destroy the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s headquarters in one go, it was more than enough to isolate them and weaken them with time. On the journey back to the Leakless Sect, San Jiuling used the paths within the Tripartite Alliance''s jurisdiction as much as possible. Strangely, he sensed an air of panic coming from the locations defended by the Nihility Sect and Jade Cauldron Sect despite never entering. Even stranger was that the locations defended by the Leakless Sect had become empty. Most of the Leakless Sect''s forts were either abandoned, managed by the other sects of the Tripartite Alliance, or taken over by the Buzhou Immortal Sect. ''Did something happen while I was away?'' Suppressing the dread in his heart, San Jiuling became even more careful. As he neared the Leakless Sect''s headquarters, he noticed numerous immortals flying to and from without concern. San Jiuling''s heart became even heavier as he pushed himself more. ''What, why is the detection formation down?'' Normally, all sects deployed a detection formation to separate friend and foe. The detection formation did not require as much power as a defensive formation, so they were also much larger. Core members like San Jiuling were privy to the inner workings and could sense it, but worryingly, he couldn''t at all. ''Is the sect under attack?'' he thought. No, it didn''t feel like an attack, and he could not sense any signs either. More importantly, the immortals flying to and from it were from different forces except for the Buzhou Immoral Sect. He even saw an immortal of the Cultivator Alliance. Now knowing that something was wrong, San Jiuling treaded even more carefully. Infuriatingly, he saw more and more stragglers and loose cultivators the closer he got. San Jiuling couldn''t resist it anymore and disguised himself before appearing. He grabbed a loose cultivator who was flying away by the robes and coldly asked, "What happened?" The loose cultivator stared strangely at San Jiuling, but upon sensing his disguised earth immortal aura, the loose cultivator quickly answered. "Haven''t you heard? The Buzhou Immortal Sect wiped out the Leakless Sect down to the last disciple. I heard they secretly had an immortal emperor, but they still perished." "What?" San Jiuling''s shock even affected his disguise as he leaked his true aura, that of an immortal''s. "Impossible. You must be lying!" Feeling the increasing pressure that threatened to crush him alive, the loose immortal quickly added, "It''s true. I didn¡¯t believe it at first, but everyone is coming here to pilfer as much treasure as they can! I don''t know where you secluded yourself to avoid the war, but you should quickly ransack as much treasure while you still can. Why bother with a mere master like me? The treasures I grabbed are but a pittance to what a powerful expert like you can." That was the wrong thing to say, as San Jiuling released his grip on the robe and smashed his fist into the loose cultivator''s chest. The loose cultivator didn''t even have a chance to utter any words as he turned into a bloody mist.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. "Is the Leakless Sect''s things something a bug like you can take?!" San Jiuling growled out. His eyes flashed with understanding as he recalled his three comrade''s death under the crystalline sword. All the exhilaration and joy from escaping death turned to horror and fury. He didn''t waste any more time and turned into a greenish-white streak. Once San Jiuling saw the state of the sect, he collapsed onto the ground and clutched his heart in pain. He even dropped the Black Tortoise he had been carefully carrying. His roar echoed in the sky, "Buzhou Immortal Sect, not only have you killed my blood brother, Dong Chifan! But you also massacred my sect and killed all my loved ones! This debt, I''ll pay it back a hundredfold! Either I live, or you die!!!" The cry of vengeance attracted all the looters and scouts sent to gather attention. They saw a man kneeling on the ground in pain and anguish, but they didn''t think much of it. Everyone knew that Sword Sovereign Xi had killed all the disciples and members of the Leakless Sect. Her crystalline sword had sent shockwaves throughout the Heaven Continent and even shocked the Eight Pillar Sect and Anti-Earth Alliance once they heard of the news. However, just because they ignored San Jiuling didn''t mean he would ignore them. His white spear appeared in his hand, and he disappeared from his spot. The next moment, an agonized scream pierced the air, drawing everyone''s attention. "Why?" the true immortal questioned as the light dimmed from his eyes. He pulled his spear out of the immortal''s corpse, causing blood to gush out, but San Jiuling''s bloodlust had yet to settle. He turned his attention to the other looters. With a bestial roar, he charged at them. The only looters were loose and devilish cultivators. They had to fight for every resource and material, but even if they were bathed by constant battle, it could not shorten the disparity between their methods and the ones possessed by a first-rate sect. Soon, the ruins of the Leakless Sect were dyed red by the blood of the countless cultivators slain under San Jiuling''s spear. It even gained a slight red tint and baleful air from all the killing. Whether it was just a lowly foundation establishment disciple or an exalted true immortal, San Jiuling did not let them go. Not even the scouts sent from allied forces and the Anti-Heaven Alliance were spared. Ironically, San Jiuling killed no scouts dispatched by the Buzhou Immortal Sect. As the instigator of this extermination, they didn''t need to gather intelligence from the ruins. Even as the looters fled, San Jiuling chased after them. Their status as loose or devilish cultivators didn''t matter. Whoever was in his line of sight became his target. Because of his indiscriminate killing, a thin film of Karmic Sin surrounded him. As a true immortal, he would gain more sin from killing mortals, even mortal cultivators. However, San Jiuling did not care as he continued. "Stop!" A shadowy figure appeared in front of San Jiuling and knocked him out of the air and into the ground. The pain broke him out of his frenzy. "Who?" San Jiuling groaned out. He looked up to see a ragged Monarch Fiendclaw, the master of Hun Jusang. "Senior?" Monarch Fiendclaw said nothing as he landed next to San Jiuling, who got back up, holding his aching chest. Finally, he opened his mouth, "What happened? How''d you survive when all others died?" San Jiuling''s expression twisted in sorrow. "I... I... I don''t know. Maybe because I was in a sealed immortal grotto, I managed to escape the persecution." "You lie," Monarch Fiendclaw said. "Monarch San said you were adventuring with fellow sect members. If you survived, where are they?" San Jiuling froze. He had a guess as to why he survived when everyone else died, but it involved his greatest secret. One that he would not reveal to anyone, not even his grandfather. If it were exposed, he might become a target of the entire world. He looked down with false sorrow. "They all died while adventuring." Monarch Fiendclaw''s expression softened. "I see. It''s been tough on you. Return with me back to the Nihility Sect." San Jiuling opened his mouth to agree, but his instincts blared. Suddenly, he looked suspiciously at Monarch Fiendclaw. "Wait, you said my grandfather told you. Does that mean you were with him when all this happened?" "Indeed, but I was lucky enough to survive," Monarch Fiendclaw admitted. "Impossible. How can a monarch like you survive when our grand elder died? He was an immortal emperor!" San Jiuling questioned. Monarch Fiendclaw softly shook his head. "I was lucky. Since I was not part of the Leakless Sect, they didn''t realize I was here, so I was able to hide until it was over." "I see. Senior Fiendclaw was very lucky," San Jiuling said. "Forgive me for failing your good intentions, but I plan to roam the Heaven Continent and see if I can find other survivors like me." Monarch Fiendclaw''s expression didn''t change, and he nodded in understanding. "If that is your intention, I won''t force you." Before San Jiuling could answer or react, something struck him in his chest, leaving five long gashes dripping purplish blood. "You!" "Since you don''t want to, then rest here for eternity," Monarch Fiendclaw said. His hand had transformed into a monstrous form of black with five insidious claws dripping poison. "I knew it, you''re a traitor!" San Jiuling yelled. Monarch Fiendclaw shook his head. "No, you''re the traitor." Before San Jiuling could understand what he meant, Monarch Fiendclaw attacked him. He wanted to resist, but he discovered that he had been paralyzed and not even his vaunted Unbound Forest Physique could counteract the poison in his body. Not to mention that he had overexerted himself in his maddened rage. Just as it seemed that he would die, an object blocked Monarch Fiendclaw''s attack. San Jiuling saw the underside of a tortoise and understood it was the Black Tortoise that saved him. A voice rang out in his mind. "Stupid human. If you''re going to forcibly contract me, don''t die before I can cancel it, you damn idiot! I''m not going to die with you!" A sphere composed of hexagons shrouded San Jiuling and carried him off into the distance. Monarch Fiendclaw gave chase, but the sphere''s speed far outstripped him. It flew far faster than San Jiuling''s ability to process what flew underneath. It stopped a few seconds short of ten minutes, dropping San Jiuling at an unknown clearing. San Jiuling poked the Black Tortoise that shrunk to its smaller form. "You''re pretty strong, Turt Little." "My exalted name is Xuanwu, you damn...hu...man..." the Black Tortoise''s voice faded as he sank into slumber. "Turt Little?" San Jiuling asked, poking at the shell. He began to worry about the Black Tortoise''s condition. However, no matter what he did, the Black Tortoise did not respond. Thankfully, he could still sense a strong, if slightly weaker, vitality emanating from him. San Jiuling sighed and focused on himself. Because of his confidence in his strong physique, he didn''t carry many healing or detoxification pills. He had to use all the detoxification pills he had and exhaust himself before Monarch Fiendclaw''s poison disappeared. He took another two months to fully recuperate. During this time, aside from checking on Turt Little and injecting some immortal qi, San Jiuling also planned his next move. Going and reporting Monarch Fiendclaw''s status as a traitor to the Nihility Sect would be an unwise choice. Maybe he acted under the Nihility Sect''s order. And going to the Jade Cauldron Sect would just be as unwise. Even if they wanted to do something about it, what could they accomplish as a second-rate sect? No, the better option would be going to the Anti-Heaven Alliance, especially the Cloud Goddess Cult. After fully healing, San Jiuling slowly made his way toward the headquarters of the Anti-Heaven Alliance. In order to confuse anyone on his possible trail, he traveled toward the edge of the continent and made a long detour. While resting at a teahouse in disguise, his ears perked up as he heard his name. "Did you hear?" one guest quietly said. "Hear what?" his table mate asked. "The pride of the Leakless Sect, San Jiuling, is actually a traitor!" "What? No way!" the tablemate said. Although his voice displayed disbelief, he could not hide his curiosity. The guest laughed with confidence. "You don''t know, but it was actually he who leaked the information to the Buzhou Immortal Sect about their hidden immortal elder, prompting them to exterminate the Leakless Sect regardless of cost. And, you know the best part?" "What? Stop baiting me and tell me." "The Buzhou Immortal Sect threw him away after using him. Although they didn''t kill him, that''s a cruel mercy. Now, he''s being chased by both the remaining members of the Tripartite Alliance and the Anti-Heaven Alliance," the guest gleefully said. San Jiuling''s nearly shattered under his grip as he greeted his teeth and resisted the urge to shout the truth to the world. "Fiendclaw! You deserve to fall into the eighteen pits of hell!" Chapter 352: Dao Manifestation of Life In the Sacred Hall of the Cloud Goddess Cult, the upper echelons of the Anti-Heaven Alliance stood at the sides, observing, judging, and condemning the delegates from the remnants of the Tripartite Alliance. The delegates, led by the sect master of the Nihility Sect, stood with their backs straight, weathering the pressure. It was the second meeting between the two sides, discussing the merger between the two alliances. Currently, Monarch Fiendclaw has taken the stage and explained his encounter with San Jiuling. "We currently suspect that San Jiuling has always been a spy from the Buzhou Immortal Sect planted years ago. It was how they learned of the existence of the Leakless Sect''s immortal emperor, something we, the allied forces, didn''t even know." "For them to discard a disciple with so much potential, the Buzhou Immortal Sect sure is willing," the Drifting Feather Sect Master commented. "Assuming that your allegations are true." "Although the Leakless Sect was the most powerful amongst us, don''t underestimate the Nihility Sect''s information net. All members of the Leakless Sect have died with no trace of them. All except San Jiuling. This fact alone is suspicious enough," Monarch Fiendclaw replied. "We aren''t questioning the credibility of San Jiuling''s involvement but yours," Monarch Fiveseal said, stepping up and staring straight at his target. "You doubt my loyalty?" Monarch Fiendclaw asked. A baleful aura arose from his body, and tension rose in the hall. However, Monarch Fiveseal continued speaking as if all was well. "You have to admit, your survival among the wreckage of the Leakless Sect is anomalous, too, considering the zero survivors. Well, aside from you and San Jiuling." "Don''t look down on the Nihility Sect''s concealment capabilities," the Nihility Sect Master said, expressing his disapproval with a frown. "It''s not that I''m looking down on your concealment capabilities. Your assassination records are proof of them. But, no matter how great your concealment techniques are, how could an immortal monarch survive while an immortal emperor and more immortal monarchs perish?" Monarch Fiveseal questioned. "You can''t compare our abilities based on realms alone," Monarch Fiendclaw said. "In a straight fight, I might not be able to defeat you, but against my all-out assassinations. You''d find it hard to survive." The tension in the room rose once more. At this moment, the Jade Cauldron Sect Master stepped out. He was only a true immortal, unlike the rest of the Seamless Immortal Realm sect masters present. His predecessor had been a seamless immortal but was ousted after the separatist faction took control of the Jade Cauldron Sect. "Everyone has different specialties. Look at me, I certainly can''t defeat any of you in a fight. But I have the ability to gather helpers thanks to the pills I concoct. I daresay they can even threaten many of you should I try," the Jade Cauldron Sect Master said as he scanned the room. "Likewise, from Monarch Fiendclaw''s words, it''s apparent why the Leakless Sect''s immortal emperor, Emperor Solesword, would fall. As a sword immortal, his offense is high, but he shares numerous weaknesses like sub-par defenses and below average life-saving abilities. No immortal is without a weakness. Of course, I don''t know about divinities like your holiness." All the immortals turned toward the Cloud Goddess. If they had to pin a weakness on her, it was her reliance on faith for optimal combat prowess. However, quashing so many mortals held dire consequences. Even if they used a non-destructive method, it would take an enormous amount of effort that wouldn''t be possible during wartime. "I hope your holiness can clear my name," Monarch Fiendclaw said as he saluted the woman sitting on her couch and looking down on the entire hall from her lofty and detached position. "In terms of law, Buzhou Immortal Sect''s Xi Mengfei is above me." Hearing the Cloud Goddess''s frank admission, everyone''s heart sank in the sacred hall. Her next words didn''t help either. "In addition, the advantage of her laws allows her to deliver attacks almost everywhere in the realm." "However," the Cloud Goddess''s eyes shimmered with untold might. "Our comprehension is not that far apart. Although she is strong in terms of wide-range attacks, her power is lacking in close range. Her essence is inferior to mine, and so is her body. My life-saving methods are above her too. In all other aspects, I surpass her." The Cloud Goddess scanned the room, brimming with power and cowing all those present. They had an illusion that they would lose should they ever face her. "The gap between a divinity and an immortal is far greater than the gap between an immortal and mortal." "In addition, her experience is too little, and her heart is not firm enough. But she is still an origin immortal; soul monarchs stand no chance of infiltrating her soul defense," the Cloud Goddess said. "Should we be able to assassinate her son, Xi Tianyi, it might leave a crack in her soul defenses. Unfortunately, he is accompanied by Monarch Nine Heavens, his suspected father." "It''s not feasible to dispatch a squad of immortal monarchs just to assassinate him or Monarch Nine Heavens. Monarchs who mastered the Law of Space are too hard to kill, and we only have one soul monarch," the high priest of the Cloud Goddess Cult said. "Monarch Cloudsoul is too crucial to our operations of curbing the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s advantages to dispatch. I don''t want to pour cold water on her holiness''s words, but what if they fail or are assaulted by the local forces of the Earth Continent?" The sacred hall buzzed in discussion after the high priest''s words. Each one had their own opinion. As the sole sovereign-level experts of the Huang Realm, both Sword Sovereign Xi and the Cloud Goddess countered the other. However, should any one of them perish, the war would be half won by the other. The problem was that the Buzhou Immortal Sect had thick roots and could likely repel the Cloud Goddess if push came to shove. The Anti-Heaven Alliance didn''t have such means. Should the Cloud Goddess Cult perish, they might have to emigrate away like the Cultivator Alliance after the Saintly Scholar School took control of the Mortal Continent. But none of them wanted to turn into refugees hunted down by the Buzhou Immortal Sect. The Earth Continent won''t welcome them, and they didn''t want to live under the thumb of the Saintly Scholar School. And, how could the resources of the islands compare to a continent? At this time, a voice said. "Has everyone forgotten about the loose immortal, Emperor Soulfish?" Everyone turned toward the Nihility Sect Master. His calm countenance painted a stark contrast to the disorder of the hall. "Although he is a loose immortal, he is still a soul emperor. In addition, there''s news that he and Sword Sovereign Xi have enmity. Isn''t there a saying that the enemy of my enemy is my friend?"Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. At his words, the sacred hall buzzed to life again. They had tried to recruit loose cultivators before, but only a very small minority who were blinded by greed agreed to join. Most loose cultivators had developed a deep fear and reverence for the Heaven Continent''s unchanging hegemon and, thus, were unwilling to join what they deemed the losing side. However, that was not the same for loose immortals. At the height of their vision, they could see more clearly and weigh the pros and cons of joining. The proof was that many immortals had yet to join a side. Wasn''t this evidence that they were unsure that either side had a concrete chance of victory? "Haha, as expected of the Nihility Sect''s sect master. With your addition, our chances of overturning the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s tyranny will increase," the Five Element Sect Master praised. "However, Monarch Fiendclaw''s loyalty is still a matter of scrutiny." "Then what would you have us do?" the Nihility Sect Master asked, already dreading the answer. "It''s simple, allow our soul monarch to search his soul," the Five Element Sect Master said. "Impossible!" the Nihility Sect Master said immediately. Ignoring the fact of whether Monarch Fiendclaw was a traitor or not, he was still a core member of the Nihility Sect. As such, he was privy to numerous secrets crucial for the secrecy and defense of the Nihility Sect. To expose them would allow the other force to gain leverage against the Nihility Sect. "You don''t have a choice." No one expected the Cloud Goddess to take action at this moment. Before anyone could react, a silver cloud shot from her sleeves and enveloped Monarch Fiendclaw. The Nihility Sect Master and Jade Cauldron Sect Master opened their mouths to protest, but an immense pressure filled the room. It didn''t just silence the members of the Tripartite Alliance but the Anti-Heaven Alliance too. They were, once again, reminded of the difference between their realms. For people of their stature, it was a sensation they hadn''t felt for ages. Seconds turned to minutes, and minutes turned to an hour. After that, the silver cloud enveloping Monarch Fiendclaw receded. When he reappeared in the eyes of everyone, Monarch Fiendclaw''s pallor had gone incredibly sickly, and he swayed, almost ready to keel over at any moment. "He''s no traitor," the Cloud Goddess only offered those words. "Thank your holiness for taking action," the Nihility Sect Master said with an incredibly hideous expression. Even the upper echelons of the Five Element Sect and Drifting Feather Sect didn''t smile despite the Cloud Goddess clearing Monarch Fiendclaw''s status. They didn''t care if Monarch Fiendclaw had been a traitor or not, they just wanted to take advantage of the situation and rip into the Nihility Sect for benefits. But now, all of it was taken by the Cloud Goddess Cult, further empowering them. Still, none dared to admonish her. Just like how Sword Sovereign Xi threatened them, so, too, did the Cloud Goddess''s power hang over their head like the Sword of Damocles. After all, the essence of the Anti-Heaven Alliance was just that, an alliance. No matter what, each force wanted to be the head of the alliance. The only reason they had not backstabbed each other yet was because of the existence of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. If the Anti-Heaven Alliance won, the situation might repeat itself in the future, with the Cloud Goddess Cult taking the place of the Buzhou Immortal Sect and the Five Element Sect, Drifting Feather Sect, and Nihility Sect forming another Anti-Heaven Alliance. "Since the matter of Monarch Fiendclaw''s loyalty has been resolved, let us move on to the next official matter, the approval of the Nihility Sect and Jade Cauldron Sect''s admission into the Anti-Heaven Alliance," the high priest said. "What about the Leakless Sect''s sole survivor, San Jiuling?" Monarch Fiendclaw questioned. The head priest smiled. "What does a little true immortal matter? Even if he wasn''t a spy, he must have some secret that protected him. Issue a bounty for him, alive or dead." "Now, on to more important matters," the head priest said. "Since we are already discussing new members joining, we should also discuss the matter of enticing Emperor Soulfish and other possible loose immortal emperors..."
"Dammit!" San Jiuling shouted as he dodged another assailant. His robes had been turned into rags, and numerous holes littered his body. The blood spewing out quickly stopped as the wounds healed at a visible rate. Behind him, over twenty true immortals chased him. "San Jiuling, obediently give up and let us capture you. This way, you still might live!" "Live? He killed so many of us, we have to exact vengeance on him before handing his corpse over to the Anti-Heaven Alliance!" another true immortal refuted. "You call yourself cultivators? You''re nothing but dogs begging for scraps of those in power!" San Jiuling scolded, his voice traveling hundreds of meters. "You only know how to bunch up and bully one with many. Where did your courage go when both sides recruited you?!" San Jiuling had planned to travel to the Endless Seas in order to lay low. Unfortunately, the Anti-Heaven Alliance''s bounty and its plentiful rewards had aroused great interest and caused the loose cultivators to seek him out fervently. Just as he was about to make it to the Endless Seas, his luck ran out as a true immortal spotted him. San Jiuling killed the true immortal in the shortest amount of time, but it was too late. The true immortal had released a beacon as a last spiteful act before dying, resulting in the current chase over the waters. Even with his Unbound Forest Physique, his vitality had been continuously drained from the near-constant assault. He didn''t even have time to find a safe place to hide to concoct more pills. Hell, he didn''t even have the time to rest. As his qi reservoir reached less than ten percent, San Jiuling gritted his teeth. "You forced me!" The true immortals paused as the sky above them split apart, revealing a spatial crack to another world. It was a world filled with a forest as far as the eye could see. All types of numerous vegetation filled it with numerous animals roaming, akin to a paradise. Every one of them could feel the dense life energy radiating from the crack. On the Heaven Continent, a few immortal lords and the immortal monarchs and above glanced toward the Dao Manifestation. From the Earth Continent, Emperor Soulsilk and Emperor Infinity turned their heads over. In the guest residence of the Eight Pillar Sect, Tianyi smiled at Daoyi and waved his hand, revealing the scene of the Dao Manifestation. Someone who majored in the Law of Life had broken through to the Seamless Immortal Realm! Contrary to the curiosity of those that noticed, the true immortals chasing after San Jiuling all started to fret. "Kill him! Kill him before he fully enters the Seamless Immortal Realm and kills us!" Faced with no other alternative than death, those true immortals all focused their spells and attacks on San Jiuling. However, San Jiuling held firm. Although he was trapped and unable to retaliate, an enormous amount of spiritual qi gathered toward him, far above his regular absorption rate. His qi reservoir stayed the same, but he was actually remodeling his body using the Law of Life. Once he finished the process, the true immortals would no longer be able to hurt him. "You bastards, I bet you never thought your chase would actually help me master a worldly law, did you?!" "Shut up!" a true immortal shouted. "So what if you broke through now? You''ve been forced to. As long as we can kill you, it won''t matter!" At this time, one of the true immortals who had embarked on comprehending the Law of Space took action. He flew behind San Jiuling and unleashed his spell, opening a crack into the Vast Void. The true immortals who saw his actions immediately knew what to do. In conjunction, they bombarded him with attacks that pushed toward the Vast Void. "NO!" San Jiuling shouted as his body inched through the spatial rift. Chapter 353: Demon Emperor With one last unwilling roar, San Jiuling was sucked into the Vast Void. He did everything to return. Immortal Qi of life rolled off his figure, transforming into a green shroud. However, that only decreased the damage from the true immortals. "Do you think I''ll die so ignobly?!" San Jiuling shouted. He did his best to charge back into the Huang Realm, but the attacks didn''t just stall him, they pushed him further back. San Jiuling''s dread grew with each moment as he saw the spatial crack slowly shrink. He abandoned all defense, allowing the spells to land and injure him. He knew that if he could not reenter the Huang Realm, he was all but doomed. Alas, he failed. The spatial crack healed, trapping San Jiuling in the Vast Void. San Jiuling didn''t give up, even as the spatial boundary pushed him farther away. The immortal qi of life covering him thinned until it was like a second layer of skin. The green layer rippled from the harsh environment of the Vast Void. True immortals would die in the Vast Void, but immortal monarchs and emperors could survive as long as their qi did not run out. However, San Jiuling was an incomplete immortal monarch. He hadn''t completed his transformation into a seamless immortal. And in the Vast Void, he couldn¡¯t find any spiritual qi to sustain the process. Even if he wanted to halt the advancement, he couldn''t. He had already started. If he forcibly halted the process, he would suffer a backlash and die without a doubt. Still, his prospects did not look good. While attempting to reenter, he spent a large amount of his already low qi reserves. Now, his qi reserve continued to dwindle as his body absorbed it to transform. San Jiuling brandished his spear. Knowing that each second wasted allowed death to creep closer, he struck. His spearhead transformed into white streaks resembling shooting stars. Although he could only be considered a half-seamless immortal, his attack had already solidly reached an immortal monarch''s level. However, only an attack at the immortal emperor level could leave a mark on the spatial boundary protecting the Huang Realm. Unless San Jiuling miraculously became a fifth-step immortal monarch or understood the Law of Space, he had no hope of piercing the barrier and reentering. Seeing that his attacks had no effect, San Jiuling did not give up and persevered. However, despair slowly took over as his qi dwindled to less than five percent. He stopped attacking to conserve his qi. Mind spinning, he tried to figure out a way out of his predicament, like he always had. No matter the danger, he would always find some way to reverse his fate. However, no matter how San Jiuling racked his mind, he couldn''t find a method to solve his dilemma. "Am I really going to die here?" San Jiuling muttered to himself. He had released the thin layer of qi, allowing the hostile environment to injure him just to conserve his qi. "Think, what can I do? I''ve always survived. I''ve been given another chance at life, I don''t want to die ignobly like this! Think!" "Fool, you can''t even keep yourself alive, can you?" "Turt Little?" San Jiuling called out. His eyes widened in excitement, like a man dying of thirst in the desert discovering an oasis. But no matter how much he called out, Turt Little didn''t respond. Just as he started to despair again, the scenery around him changed. San Jiuling found himself floating inside a white sphere. No longer did he feel the harsh environment of the Vast Void, but it was filled with abundant qi that he could absorb. Through the sphere''s thin membrane, he could see the Vast Void outside, but what caught all of his attention was the beast in the center. It was a giant tiger, but instead of its usual orange pelt, the tiger before him had a black pelt with white stripes all over his body. Another eye-catching feature was the long scar running down one side of his face. The lone eye covering the scar was milky white, blind. He could feel the demonic qi emanating from the black tiger, but San Jiuling still saluted. No matter what, the demon had saved his life, and he could sense that the demon had strength far above him. "Thank you, Senior, for saving junior''s life." The black tiger snorted. "If you hadn''t formed a contract with my old friend, I wouldn''t have saved a human like you." San Jiuling''s confusion cleared up soon enough as a small black tortoise floated out of his tamer pouch and stopped next to the black tiger. "Turt Little!" The moment he said that, he collapsed into a fetal position. "You dare call the mighty Xuanwu that disgusting nickname again, I''ll make sure you wish you were dead!" Without waiting for San Jiuling to react, he turned his body around and lay down. San Jiuling''s spiritual beast was placed in some sort of bowl-shaped treasure. Through their link, he could sense that Turt Little was recovering at a fast rate. Since the black tiger demon no longer paid attention to him, San Jiuling sighed in relief. For now, his life had been saved. He turned around and saw that the white sphere was traveling away from the Huang Realm. Seeing this scene, San Jiuling clenched his hand. ''I''ll return in the future and wash away this shame once and for all.'' San Jiuling moved into a lotus position and focused on remodeling his body and fully entering the Seamless Immortal Realm. As time passed, the aura of life emanating from his body increased, giving him a sense of otherworldliness. Since he majored in the Law of Life, he had some attainments in the Law of Wood and its underlying concepts. After fully stepping into the Seamless Immortal Realm, he fused the qi of wood into his immortal qi of life, becoming a first-step immortal monarch. When he opened his eyes, San Jiuling felt as if the world had changed. He could sense the worldly law in the Vast Void, but the only danger the Vast Void posed to him now was death from after qi deprivation. ''Why did the sect records all tell of how horrifying the Vast Void was? Although I can''t shatter the barrier, the many monarchs who mastered the Law of Space should be able to return, but why didn''t they?" "Done recovering?" Hearing the unfamiliar voice, San Jiuling snapped his gaze toward the origin and raised his guard. He saw a young man wearing black robes with silver dragons and covered baleful aura. He, too, wasn''t human, as identified by the two horns sprouting from his head.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. The man smiled, not at all concerned with San Jiuling''s wariness. "I''m Donghai Longzi. I don''t know whether to call you unlucky or lucky." "What do you mean?" San Jiuling asked. Donghai Longzi pointed near the center. Under his guidance, San Jiuling finally noticed the floating landmass filled with demons. Unlike Donghai Longzi, they did not take on a humanoid form. "We''re demons that were trapped or stranded in the Huang Realm after the Human-Divine Beast War. Demon Emperor Blacktiger would covertly come to the Huang Realm and ferry promising demons." San Jiuling listened carefully. The demon equivalent of a true immortal was a true demon; the equivalent of an immortal lord was a demon lord; the equivalent of an immortal monarch was a demon king; the equivalent of an immortal emperor was a demon emperor; the equivalent of a sovereign was a great sage. The black tiger''s status as a demon emperor did not surprise San Jiuling much. It was his name that surprised him. ''Isn''t calling himself Blacktiger hitting the nail too much on the head?'' "What''s the identity of that turtle?" Donghai Longzi asked. San Jiuling still didn''t trust Donghai Longzi. He was a human, and Donghai Longzi was a demon. So, he spoke half-truths. "I don''t know. I found him in an immortal grotto and hatched him before contracting him." "Your spiritual beast may have a special identity for Emperor Blacktiger to address him as an old friend," Donghai Longzi said. Just as San Jiuling thought he would probe more, he changed the subject. "Aren''t you San Jiuling, the young master of the Leakless Sect? How''d you find yourself trapped outside the Huang Realm?" San Jiuling suppressed the shame rising from within. "I didn''t expect a demon like you to know of me." Donghai Longzi laughed, not at all offended by San Jiuling''s words. In fact, he took it in stride. "I have to. As a lone demon among humans in the Huang Realm, I have to keep my ears out for potential dangers." "Though that is no longer the case," Donghai Longzi said, openly looking San Jiuling up and down. "How''s the three-way stand-off in the Heaven Continent now?" San Jiuling couldn''t contain the shame anymore. Since the fall of the Leakless Sect, not one thing had gone well for him, and now, he was openly looked down upon and mocked. "If you''re looking for a fight, just say it. No need to beat around the bush." Donghai Longzi blinked a few times in response to his words. "I don''t know why your temper suddenly appeared, but I don''t mind testing your skills. I haven''t had a chance to fight the young masters of first-rate forces before." "But I have to warn you, I''m far beyond a first-step monarch," Donghai Longzi said. San Jiuling stared him in the eyes. "Bring it." The two retreated until there was a distance of around a hundred meters, practically nonexistent for experts at their level. Their incoming confrontation caught the attention of the demons inhabiting the landmass. Even Emperor Blacktiger paid attention, although he didn''t deign to turn around and look with his own eyes. Everything within the white sphere could not escape his detection. A white spear appeared in San Jiuling''s hand. While he didn''t think his chances of victory were assured, neither did he think Donghai Longzi would be able to defeat him. However, he wouldn''t look down on his opponent either. Demons typically had more powerful flesh than even martial immortals. Donghai Longzi didn''t reveal a weapon and just flung his wrist a bit. San Jiuling could see something dark shroud his hands. San Jiuling exhaled, expelling a misty green vapor. Soon, a green glow covered the spearhead, making it resemble a leaf¡ªif a leaf was sharper than steel. He didn''t hesitate and, in a burst of green, charged at Donghai Longzi. CLANG! Spear met fist, and to San Jiuling''s surprise, he was flung back. It wasn''t that he was defeated in a contest of brute strength that surprised him, but the sheer difference between them. He had been forced back over a thousand meters from that single clash. San Jiuling brandished his spear and didn''t give up. He charged again. This time, he didn''t aim for a head-on clash but to pinpoint strikes. Like before, Donghai Longzi used his hands to deflect every strike. Each deflection made his hands and arms numb, but San Jiuling persevered. Now that he was blasted back, he could take a closer look at the black film covering Donghai Longzi''s hands. It wasn''t energy but scales. Donghai Longzi had partially manifested his true form. Furthermore, his spear strikes couldn''t leave a mark on them. The scales must possess the defensive attributes of a monarch artifact. "Against people at a similar level, your strikes will certainly suppress them and even give you an advantage," Donghai Longzi lightly said. "However, against people like me who can easily block your attacks, you''re only wasting your energy. I heard that you possessed nine lifebound artifacts. Why aren''t you using them? If you don''t, it''ll be a bit boring." San Jiuling disengaged. It wasn''t that he didn''t want to use them. He would have used them to protect himself in the Vast Void, but they had been damaged when he escaped from the collapsing immortal grotto and when he was chased. Taking them out and getting them destroyed would only hinder him more than it would help him. "I don''t need it," San Jiuling said. A green aura covered his body, and soon, it expanded until it formed a ten-thousand-meter-wide domain. Inside the domain, Donghai Longzi gazed at his hand as he flexed it. Little green motes of light appeared from his body and floated away. Those motes were his vitality and life force. He could feel them integrate with the domain, strengthening it. "Impressive, you managed to turn the Law of Life into an offensive technique. Although weaker than the Law of Death, it still has its merits. But." Donghai Longzi stared San Jiuling in the eye, and the latter had an illusion as if the former had suddenly grown into a giant. "It only works if you can fend off my attacks." Donghai Longzi started emitting black wisps. With a roar, those wisps exploded with thunderous force, spreading and corroding San Jiuling''s domain in black. San Jiuling felt his heart go into overdrive as he sensed the destructive aura destroying his domain. If he allowed the aura to reach him, his body would suffer unimaginable damage. Cutting losses ahead of time, San Jiuling severed his connection with the immortal qi used to construct the domain. Then, he fled out of the domain, all while keeping his eye on Donghai Longzi. Suddenly, Donghai Longzi disappeared. Moments later, he sensed a condensed aura of destruction behind him. "Behind you." San Jiuling only had enough time to turn around and hold his spear in a defensive position as Donghai Longzi''s fist smashed into it. A wave of destructive qi traveled through the spear and into San Jiuling''s body. He was blasted away, all while he left a trail of blood from his mouth. "I have to admit I''m disappointed. As the Ninelife Young Master, who is in the same generation as Xi Tianyi, you''re quite weak," Donghai Longzi said. "Perhaps I''m being too harsh. After all, I''m a fifth-step monarch while you just entered the Seamless Immortal Realm." San Jiuling gritted his teeth as hatred filled him, "It''s not over yet!" He glared at Donghai Longzi, but to his increasing anger, Donghai Longzi wasn''t even looking at him. San Jiuling tightened his grip around his spear, but he didn''t recklessly charge. Seconds later, he noticed something wrong. Not only did Donghai Longzi stare out the white sphere with a grave expression, but Emperor Blacktiger also stood up and stared in the same direction. San Jiuling focused on healing himself, all the while keeping his guard up. The tension increased to the point that a knife could cut through it. Suddenly, the white sphere split in half, causing the harshness of the Vast Void to assault him. But San Jiuling didn''t care as he stared at the culprit. Without a doubt, the violet-robed woman was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on, but she was also the murderer who took everything he cared about from him, Xi Mengfei! Chapter 354: White Tiger Roar Mengfei placed her teacup back onto the saucer with a crisp clink. Across from her sat a woman who appeared to be in her early thirties and had long, frost-white locks. Coupled with her robe seemingly woven out of strands of snowflakes, she appeared to have been a perfect sculpture carved from ice. "Grand Elder Xi, it seems that the tea is finished. I''ll make sure to restock when you visit next time," Zhang Cuiying, one of the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s three grand elders, said. "It''s fine. Tea is supplementary at best," Mengfei said. "How are your wounds? I can no longer detect any fluctuations in your aura." "My wounds have long healed," Zhang Cuiying said. "They weren''t serious in the first place. If you are worried about the sect''s plans, no need. However, I''m worried about the Cloud Goddess. What has Elder Twinwisp said?" "She assured me that the plan has not changed," Mengfei replied. Next, a silence descended between the two. Mengfei sat there and stared directly at Zhang Cuiying. On the other hand, Zhang Cuiying began to grow uncomfortable. Although Mengfei had suppressed her aura of an immortal sovereign, being gazed at so unblinkingly was not a pleasant experience. Finally, she sighed. "Grand Elder Xi, how have you been? You returned from exterminating the Leakless Sect not long ago, but I hear word that there is a survivor. You don''t have to feel too bad." Mengfei shook her head. "Sect Master Xia already warned me that a fish might escape the net." Zhang Cuiying raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Is there something special about him, or did he get some miraculous treasure?" "No, it''s nothing like that. Although I can''t discount the possibility of him possessing a treasure or secret technique," Mengfei said. "He is simply a reincarnator, a foreign soul outside the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Against them, I can''t cross the distance and detect them accurately enough." "A child of the Almighty?" Zhang Cuiying muttered. "Sect Master Xia must have learned of the matter thanks to Disciple Xi''s efforts." As soon as she said this, Zhang Cuiying knew she had made a mistake. Mengfei lit up with delight. "Of course. Everything Yi''er did is impeccable. I''m sure he will perfectly complete his mission, even more than I did." Zhang Cuiying tried not to show the dread on her face as Mengfei started to speak faster and faster. "It was only thanks to Yi''er that we learned of Leakless Sect''s secret immortal emperor. They hid this fact extremely well, they didn''t tell most of their own monarchs either. Had it not been for Yi''er¡¯s contribution, the sudden appearance of Emperor Solesword would have forced us to change our plans at a crucial time." "Yes, yes, Disciple Xi is the lucky star of our sect," Zhang Cuiying said, playing along. "With his growing strength, it''s only natural that the sect would assign him on this crucial mission." Mengfei''s face didn''t change, but a sudden aura of gloom descended around her. "I hope Yi''er is okay. With Daoyi next to him, he should be fine, but I can''t help but worry. He liked to sleep like mortals, but will he be able to sleep in enemy territory? Is the lack of sleep going to disturb his heart and cause an inner devil to form? Maybe I should take a look." Zhang Cuiying almost sprang out of her seat and grabbed Mengfei. "That''s an overreaction. With your abilities, can you not sense him?" Mengfei shook her head. "Unless they deliberately say my name, I won''t know their location." "I see. Disciple Xi''s unique cultivation method extricates him from the reincarnation of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. I guess it makes him resemble reincarnators in a way," Zhang Cuiying said. "Hm? What''s wrong?" "Nothing, there''s just a pest I have to exterminate. I''ll be back soon," Mengfei said, staring into the distance. More specifically, her gaze pierced through the spatial boundary and into the Vast Void. Without another word, Mengfei waved her hand, and a spatial rift appeared. After Mengfei exited the Huang Realm, Zhang Cuiying waved her arm, cleaning the teapot and teacups before sighing. "Finally."
In the Vast Void, Mengfei raised her hand in front of her chest, and a palm-sized Tianyi climbed out of her sleeve and onto her palm. "Mother, why did you say so much to Grand Elder Zhang? Don''t I report everything that happened on the Earth Continent? Why are you so worried?" "Knowing and seeing for myself is different. I can''t help but feel worried no matter what," Mengfei said. "Yi''er, which direction is your clone?" "There," the palm-sized Tianyi said, pointing in the direction. Mengfei nodded. She slipped the palm-sized into her robes, despite his protest of wanting to stay in her sleeves instead, red-faced and sputtering all the while. Unfortunately, this conduit of Tianyi didn''t have much strength and could not resist at all. She flew through the Vast Void, not bothering to form a shroud of protective essence. Relying on the palm-sized Tianyi''s connection with Donghai Longzi, Mengfei followed after the demon emperor and the refugees, all the while keeping her distance, intent on discovering the location of the Divine Beast Pseudo System. As time passed, Mengfei noticed an invisible wave emitting from the white sphere. It was undetectable to those below the Origin Immortal Realm. No wonder the Buzhou Immortal Sect couldn''t tail them no matter how many times they tried. It turned out that Demon Emperor Blacktiger had long discovered them.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. While tailing the white sphere, the white sphere suddenly disappeared after merging with the Vast Void. Mengfei had lost track of the demons. Luckily, she didn''t need to rely on her own senses. The demons changed direction, going right. After a while, they stopped and changed direction again. Gradually, Mengfei realized that she was being led in circles, trying to shake her off. Despite her best efforts, she still had been discovered. With no more need to hide, Mengfei turned into a violet stream of light, streaking toward the demon''s location. If she didn''t attempt to kill them, it would appear too strange. The Kunlun Mirror appeared above her head. It shone with brilliant light, giving color to the desolate void and revealing the white space controlled by Demon Emperor Blacktiger. Next, a black crystalline sword appeared in her hand. With a slash, crescent-shaped qi blasted out toward the white sphere. The crescent sliced through the white sphere, causing it to split apart and reveal its contents. "Monarch Xi," Demon Emperor Blacktiger snarled. He could feel the scar on the left side of his face throbbing in pain. "That''s my son''s title now. It''s Sovereign Xi, now," Mengfei said while brandishing her sword. Demon Emperor Blacktiger snorted. "Who cares. I''ll make sure he never becomes an emperor." "Wait, Mother! He''s trying to rile you up. Calm down!" the palm-sized Tianyi shouted, but it was as if his words had entered through one ear and exited out the other. Mengfei''s expression didn''t change, but her killing intent erupted. The next thing Demon Emperor Blacktiger knew, she was in front of him with a sword raised above. She slashed down. "AH! My eye!" Demon Emperor Blacktiger shouted as he backpedaled. Mengfei glanced toward San Juling, who was staring at her in hatred. She waved her sword, and another crescent-shaped qi flew at him. San Jiuling tried to escape, but it was obvious that he was too slow. At the last moment, a hand reached out and grabbed him by the back of his collar and pulled him out of the way. San Jiuling stared at Donghai Longzi gratefully, to which the latter snorted. "Don''t thank me. Emperor Blacktiger wants to keep that turtle alive. If you die, then so will the turtle." Although Donghai Longzi''s words were brash and unlikeable, San Jiuling felt that it was only right. If Donghai Longzi didn''t have a motive, he would have become suspicious. "Let''s go before you get killed again." San Jiuling nodded and followed Donghai Longzi to the floating landmass that was unperturbed by the harsh environment of the Vast Void. Once there, San Jiuling noticed a small black tortoise floating at the center. "Turt Little!" None of the demons dared to stop him, despite their more impressive size. Few were in the True Demon Realm, and they had seen his spar with Donghai Longzi. Although Donghai Longzi made San Jiuling seem weak, that was only in comparison. San Jiuling stopped a distance away, not because he wanted to but because an invisible barrier stopped him in his tracks. He sighed and then turned toward the ongoing battle between the Xi Mengfei and Demon Emperor Blacktiger. Once again, hatred appeared in his eyes. Next to him, the nails on Donghai Longzi''s sharpened into claws. After a moment, they returned to normal, and he also observed the battle between a demon and a human.
Mengfei didn''t pursue San Jiuling for two reasons. One, because Donghai Longzi saved him, and two, Demon Emperor Blacktiger was charging at her. Demon Emperor Blacktiger increased in size until he was over ten thousand meters long. Compared to him, Mengfei was but a speck of dust. The demon emperor raised his paw, his claw lengthened until they were thrice as long and coated in an aura of metal. Mengfei didn''t retreat in the face of the incoming slash. Instead, she charged forward and slashed out her own attack. Despite sound being untransmittable in the Vast Void, a sonic explosion still occurred. Demon Emperor Blacktiger was forced back, while Mengfei''s momentum only slowed momentarily. Numerous crystalline swords materialized around Demon Emperor Blacktiger. Before he had a chance to react, they all impaled him, causing him to roar in pain. Not only that, the crystalline swords absorbed his blood, turning red the more blood they absorbed and causing his flesh to shrivel. Demon Emperor Blacktiger unleashed a bestial roar that shattered the space of the Vast Void. Then, a giant apparition of a white tiger manifested above him. Its size reached over a hundred thousand meters and caused all life who saw it to kneel subconsciously. On the floating landmass, both Donghai Longzi and San Jiuling forced themselves to stay on their feet even as they felt their body creak from the exertion. The demons behind them had long kneeled. The only one unaffected was Mengfei. Her eyes narrowed as the crystalline sword in her hand disappeared. The Kunlun Mirror floated between her hands, reflecting the image of Mengfei''s Tri-Unity World. Green and white energy coalesced between the apparition''s jaws. Although it was being condensed, Mengfei could feel the metal and wind essence that formed it and the profound divine-level law the innate ability drew upon. More importantly, she could recall the numerous monarchs that were felled by Demon Emperor Blacktiger''s innate ability, White Tiger Roar, from the Divine Beast-Human War. Mengfei''s eyes shone with determination as the metal and wind orb shot toward her from the White Tiger''s jaw. The reflection of the Tri-Unity World materialized behind Mengfei, and the White Tiger Roar harmlessly phased through her and into the Tri-Unity Realm. "Impossible!" Demon Emperor Blacktiger shouted. This was his most powerful ability, his trump card. The one reason he had the confidence to face immortal sovereigns, yet it was so easily invalidated by Mengfei? Demon Emperor Blacktiger noticed upon closer inspection that Mengfei''s face had paled, showing that it was not as easy as it appeared but still far from his expectations. Before he could do anything else, the Kunlun Mirror unleashed a radiant light. The White Tiger Roar that was absorbed into the Tri-Unity World was shot back at Demon Emperor Blacktiger. It crashed into the White Tiger manifestation, causing it to crumble into millions of pieces. Demon Emperor Blacktiger roared in pain and felt as if his mind had also been split into a million pieces. Mengfei raised her finger, causing the red crystalline swords to pull themselves from the demon emperor''s body, causing him even more pain. After storing those swords, she charged toward the defenseless Blacktiger, a crystalline sword in hand. However, before she could near, red lightning flashed between her and the demon emperor. Mengfei turned toward the source to see two more figures she hadn''t seen since the Divine Beast-Human War: a red dragon and a cyan bird. Chapter 355: Four Element Annihilation The red dragon was already a demon emperor in the Divine Beast-Human War. He was Demon Emperor Redraco, and the scars from his encounter with the Dragon Emperor still lingered on his body. The cyan bird was also one of the leaders during the Divine Beast-Human War, a descendant of the Phoenix Clan known as Qingluan. Her name was Demon Empress Bluefeather. A brilliant light shot out of the Kunlun Mirror, illuminating the space around the Demon Emperor Redraco and Demon Empress Bluefeather. Time slowed a hundred times for Demon Emperor Redraco while slowing seventy times for Demon Empress Bluefeather. Mengfei''s figure vanished from Demon Emperor Blacktiger''s sight and reappeared next to Demon Emperor Redraco. Accompanying her were hundreds of clear crystalline swords. Demon Emperor Redraco roared in pain as the hundreds of swords embedded themselves nearly hilt-deep into him. Similarly, Demon Empress Bluefeather also shrieked in pain from the hundreds of swords sticking in her. Mengfei slashed with the black crystalline sword in her hand. Blood spurted from Demon Emperor Redraco''s body, but to her surprise, her blade only managed to cut halfway into his arm. She had wanted to slice through it entirely. Time had slowed down to the point that Demon Emperor Redraco only saw a hazy blur, but he knew that the three of them together were not Mengfei''s opponent. Earlier, she was just wary of Demon Emperor Blacktiger''s innate ability. Red draconic qi exploded from his body and formed a domain that shielded him slightly from the Kunlun Mirror''s effect. By then, it was too late as Mengfei disappeared from his sight, leaving her crystalline sword still stuck in his arm, and reappeared behind Demon Empress Bluefeather. "Watch out!" He had tried to warn his compatriot, but it was too late. Mengfei slashed down with a newly-formed crystalline sword, bifurcating Demon Empress Bluefeather''s wing from her body, causing her to shriek even more miserably. At this time, Demon Emperor Redraco knew he could no longer hold back, and his whiskers turned a golden color. They weren''t his natural whiskers or a secret technique but the divine artifact, Yellow Dragon Whiskers. They elongated until they were over a million meters long, shattering the crystalline swords embedded into his and Demon Empress Bluefeather''s bodies. More importantly, they disrupted the time dilation effect of the Kunlun Mirror. The Yellow Dragon Whiskers stretched and grabbed Demon Emperor Blacktiger and the floating landmass holding the demons and whipped at Mengfei. She quickly stored Demon Empress Bluefeather''s severed wing and raised her sword. When the Yellow Dragon Whiskers struck her, the Kunlun Mirror encased her in a protective silver light, preventing her from shooting across the Vast Void, but the attack shattered her crystalline sword and struck her on the torso. Mengfei grunted as black crystalline dust burst out from the attacked area. At the last moment, she had formed countless black crystals to shield her. Although the gold whisker didn''t directly land on her, it still caused a massive amount of internal damage. Under the Kunlun Mirror''s silver light, time began to reverse, healing her injuries. Mengfei waved her hands, and exactly ninety-nine crystalline swords appeared, each inscribed with runes. With a single hand seal, they formed a unique pattern containing the Law of Heaven-Earth-Man. "Don''t hold back anymore!" Demon Emperor Redraco shouted. "Although we are one short, we must combine our innate abilities!" Demon Emperor Blacktiger gritted his teeth and activated White Tiger Roar. Some innate abilities did not have a price, while others did. His innate ability, like the others, required him to burn their blood essence and tax his willpower. He had already exhausted himself once, but at this rate, holding back was not an option. Despite losing her wing, Demon Empress Bluefeather activated her innate ability, Vermillion Bird''s Sacred Fire. A gigantic bird of crimson appeared behind Demon Empress Bluefeather; each of its feathers resembled burning flames of the highest quality. As the least injured of the three, Demon Emperor Redraco''s manifestation of the azure dragon displayed the most significant pressure. The apparition of the Azure Dragon roared and struck out with its gleaming claw, Azure Dragon''s Claw. The Azure Dragon''s claw, White Tiger''s roar, and Vermillion Bird''s sacred fire all merged, forming a pitch-black wave that shot toward Mengfei. Mengfei immediately summoned her Tri-Unity World. This was not the first time she or the Buzhou Immortal Sect saw this combination attack. During the Divine Beast-Human War, the four demon emperors descending from the Four Divine Beasts unleashed this attack, known as the Four Element Annihilation. The Azure Dragon represented the Law of Wood, the White Tiger represented the Law of Metal, the Vermillion Bird represented the Law of Fire, and the Black Tortoise represented the Law of Water. According to theory, it had an even superior level, the Five Element Annihilation, but it required the addition of the Yellow Dragon''s innate ability. All things were formed from the five elements. Thus, the Five Element Annihilation could destroy everything. Through research into this, the Buzhou Immortal Sect created the Five Element Destruction Formation and improved the Chaos Refining Formation. Against the Five Element Annihilation, an attack that likely reached the divine level, Mengfei would have needed to fear for her life. Even the Four Element Annihilation, it would have likely reached the half divine-level, but the Three Element Annihilation?The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. The Tri-Unity World behind Mengfei exploded with the essence of the five elements. They clashed against the Three Element Annihilation, with neither side giving an inch. The two sides had reached a stalemate. However, Demon Emperor Redraco knew they were at a disadvantage. Compared to Mengfei, Demon Emperor Blacktiger and Demon Empress Bluefeather were too injured and wouldn''t last long. Left with no choice, the Yellow Dragon Whiskers released a golden light emitting an earthly aura. That aura shot into the Three Element Annihilation, significantly strengthening it. Consequently, the Yellow Dragon Whiskers lost their luster. Mengfei grunted as she was forced back. In her perception, the Three Element Annihilation suddenly transformed into the Four Element Annihilation. Furthermore, it was not a regular Four Element Annihilation but one that had the Law of Earth. "Mother, spacetime is locked, I can''t form a passage into the Nine Heavens Universe with this conduit''s power!" the palm-sized Tianyi shouted. Wood represented east, fire represented south, metal represented west, water represented north, and earth represented the center. As the central element, the Law of Earth acted as the merging point of the five elements. As such, the Four Element Annihilation greatly exceeded her expectations. She began to focus everything on defense. Next, Mengfei controlled the ninety-nine crystalline swords to form a defensive formation, one with ninety-nine layers. One by one, the Four Element Annihilation broke through each layer swiftly but lost nearly ten percent of its overall energy. Three figures emerged from her body and stood protectively in front of her. They were her three incarnations of heaven, earth, and man. The aura of time around her increased. At the same time, the Kunlun Mirror shot a ray of light on the Four Element Annihilation, causing the four elements that composed it to destabilize. Mengfei''s Man Incarnation charged straight at the incoming Four Element Annihilation and attacked. The incarnation shattered beyond repair, but it accomplished its goal as the Four Element Annihilation''s energy dropped. Next, her Earth Incarnation charged, followed by her Heaven Incarnation. After her incarnations of heaven, earth, and man sacrificed themselves again, the Four Element Annihilation''s energy had plummeted to thirty to forty percent. Mengfei''s body turned ephemeral as she merged with her Tri-Unity World. The Four Element Annihilation entered her world, and the long grind between it and the world began. It seemed like an eternity, yet it also occurred in an instant. The Four Element Annihilation disappeared, and the Tri-Unity World disappeared, revealing Mengfei. Outwardly, she appeared uninjured, but her face was pale. Her soul had been damaged. She gazed toward where the demons had once been. As she expected, they had disappeared. Her injuries would take a few decades to heal, but the three demon emperors would need hundreds, possibly thousands, for Demon Empress Bluefeather. Mengfei reached into her robes and pulled out the palm-sized Tianyi. She sighed in relief, "You''re fine." "What the hell?" the palm-sized Tianyi shouted. "You didn''t need to protect me. I''m just a conduit, I can just condense another one!" "Even if you are one of many, you are irreplaceable to me," Mengfei said. "I can''t stand to even see a strand of your hair gone." The palm-sized Tianyi clutched his chest, not knowing what to say. He didn''t have a chance to say anything as Mengfei stuffed him back into her robes and flew back to the Huang Realm. She still had to report the matter back to Sect Master Xia. In the Divine Beast-Human War, they never showed the ability to add the Law of Earth to the Four Element Annihilation. If they formed a Five Element Annihilation, they would have to make more contingencies for the next war. After reporting to Sect Master Xia, Mengfei returned to Jade Peak Palace. However, she wouldn''t stay there for long. Ignoring her soul injuries, she would also need time to form her incarnations of heaven, earth, and man again. And the best place to recuperate would be in Tianyi''s Nine Heavens Universe. The palm-sized Tianyi floated out of her robes and formed a portal leading to the Ninth Heaven of his inner universe. Although reluctant to part with the conduit, Mengfei entered. There, she saw the Concealed Palace of the alternate timeline. It was no longer named the Concealed Palace but Nine Heavens Palace after Tianyi refined and redesigned it. Mengfei spread her senses, but she couldn''t find any trace of Tianyi. Or, more accurately, she could sense Tianyi''s presence everywhere. Although not fully satisfied, Mengfei made her way to her allotted room. Just as she entered, the dense lotus fragrance entered her nose. Her eyes slightly widened as she saw a Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus floating in the middle of her room. Unconsciously, the corner of her lips curled upward.
On the floating landmass, Donghai Longzi paced back and forth while wringing his hands behind his back. Although he didn''t inherit everything from Tianyi, he still had Tianyi''s love for family, so seeing Mengfei at a disadvantage really worried him. To prevent the demons from discovering anything wrong, the conduit assigned to him was sealed, so he couldn''t get any updates either. "Don''t worry, young wyrmling. The humans will fall, and the demons will rise once more, like during his majesty Emperor Di Jun''s era," Demon Emperor Redraco comforted, not knowing Donghai Longzi''s true thoughts. As a member of the Dragon Clan, Demon Emperor Redraco was especially partial to Donghai Longzi. He had never seen the exact dragon bloodline species that Donghai Longzi could transform into, but it didn''t prevent him from speculating. Perhaps Donghai Longzi''s bloodline had mutated, like him. Demon Emperor Redraco wasn''t originally a true dragon but a mixed-blood. When he advanced to Demon King Realm, his bloodline evolved and mutated, transforming him into a Scarletblood Dragon. Seeing that Donghai Longzi still paced back and forth, Demon Emperor Redraco no longer said anything. Once Donghai Longzi truly entered the Divine Beast Pseudo System, he would learn of their confidence to compete with the Huang and Numinous Realms. Instead, he focused on steering the floating landmass. The Vast Void was devoid of qi or essence, so both Demon Empress Bluefeather and Demon Emperor Blacktiger entered a hibernation state to halt their injuries until they could treat them in the Divine Beast Realm. When they neared the Divine Beast Pseudo System, Demon Emperor Redraco placed a seal on the senses of every demon they brought. This was a precaution against all possible spies from the two immortal-ranked realms. Upon entering, Demon Emperor Redraco''s spirit lifted as he felt the welcoming thrum of the Divine Beast Pseudo System. He lifted the seal and allowed the newcomer demons to sense the welcoming atmosphere. Unconsciously, each one of them instinctively showed an elated expression. Chapter 356: Perfected Huanglong Demon Emperor Redraco summoned one of his underlings, and soon, a blue dragon exited one of the numerous realms. The demon noticed Donghai Longzi staring and smiled. "Surprised? Canglong used to be in the Demon King Realm but fell due to the underhanded assaults from the humans in the Broken Primordial World." Donghai Longzi broke out of his stupor and nodded. "In the Huang Realm, I hardly saw any true demons, much less any that hold the dragon bloodline. We only just entered, but I saw another true dragon so soon." Demon Emperor Redraco laughed. "Don''t worry, you''ll find yourself surrounded by them. If they try to fight you, don''t mind them. It''s just how we dragons are." ''Overly prideful and incapable of seeing your own faults?'' Donghai Longzi internally mocked. The only reason he was shocked was because he had seen Tianyi''s memories of his trip to the Broken Primordial World. He had thought Bao Ling had killed Canglong, but that was obviously untrue. Not that Canglong didn''t pay the price. Under Demon Emperor Redraco''s orders, Canglong ferried the demons atop the landmass to one of the mid-rank realms. As for Donghai Longzi and San Jiuling, they followed Demon Emperor Redraco to the True Dragon Realm. Demon Emperor Blacktiger returned to the Qilin Realm to rest, and Demon Empress Bluefeather returned to the Phoenix Realm. Along the way, Demon Emperor Redraco explained the common knowledge of the Divine Beast Psuedo System. The system consisted of hundreds and hundreds of realms, most of which were low-rank realms. Only beasts and demons lived in the myriad realms. Any and all humans that lived in the Divine Beast Pseudo System had long died. The top three realms were the True Dragon Realm, Phoenix Realm, and Qilin Realm. Each realm was ruled by the clans for which they were named. When scaled beasts became true demons, they would go to the True Dragon Realm. Feathered true demons went to the Phoenix Realm, and furred true demons went to the Qilin Realm. Among the three demon-rank realms, it was the True Dragon Realm that led the two other clans. The Dragon Clan possessed the largest number of demons and the strongest expert. Under Demon Emperor Redraco''s guidance, Donghai Longzi and San Jiuling entered the True Dragon Realm. The True Dragon Realm was composed of ninety-five percent water, with a few islands and even fewer mountains rising out. The realm was divided into five territories: the East Sea Region, South Sea Region, West Sea Region, North Sea Region, and Central Sea Region. The Scarletblood Dragon brought both of his passengers into the center of the realm. On the surface, it just seemed like an empty space with nothing but the occasional wave. That remained the same even when they plunged into the icy depths. As they traveled farther down, the sun''s light disappeared, casting them in murky darkness. However, after a certain point, that all changed. The seafloor, which the light should have never reached, glowed an otherworldly blue, lighting the sea from the bottom. Should anyone stand on it, it would be akin to standing on solid light, but that wasn''t all. An underwater city lay on the glowing ground as far as the eye could see. It stretched for kilometers, and on each path, numerous sea demons roamed. Had they been humanoid, Donghai Longzi would have thought this to be a human city on land. Still, that wasn''t the end of it. At the center of it all was a massive palace sitting atop a rainbow reef, illuminated by myriad lights. In all honesty, it made Leviathan Ancestor''s underwater palace in the Demon Cage Realm seem like a shoddy shack in comparison. All this opulence made the Dragon Clan seem even more prosperous than the Buzhou Immortal Sect. If it already shocked Donghai Longzi to this extent, then San Jiuling''s shock didn''t need to be mentioned. If it only seemed to be richer than the Buzhou Immortal Sect, then the Dragon Clan was definitely richer than the destroyed Leakless Sect. Demon Emperor Redraco chuckled at Donghai Longzi''s reactions. "No time to be surprised. You''ll live in Crystal Palace for now until we can find a territory to give you." "Give me?" Donghai Longzi asked. "Of course," Demon Emperor Redraco said. "You''re a peak Demon King Realm expert, and you have a high chance of entering the Demon Emperor Realm, considering your age. It''s only natural that the Dragon Clan would entrust you with a territory of your own." "But aren''t you afraid of me being a spy or something? I''m from the Huang Realm, and I wasn''t born in the Dragon Clan," Donghai Longzi said. Demon Emperor Redraco laughed. "Of course, we can''t completely trust you. We''re going to monitor you until then, but everything a Demon King should have will still be given to you. Besides, most of the true dragons in the Dragon Clan aren''t born true dragons but rather ascended. Naturally born true dragons are incredibly rare in these times." "However, there is another matter," Demon Emperor Redraco stared at San Jiuling. Before San Jiuling could react, he reached out and trapped San Jiuling with his claws. Numerous runes appeared and formed a sealing formation that trapped San Jiuling. "What are you going to do with him?" Donghai Longzi asked.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. "Have you made friends?" Demon Emperor Redraco asked. Donghai Longzi shook his head. "We''ve only met today, but I have heard of his fame far and wide while I was still roaming the Huang Realm. I can''t help but be curious about him." "Don''t worry, he won''t die yet. If possible, I want nothing more than to kill him, but he''s linked to the next Black Tortoise," Demon Emperor Redraco said. "The next Black Tortoise?" Donghai Longzi asked. Demon Emperor Redraco said. "I forgot to tell you, but currently, the Divine Beast Psuedo System is ruled by the four Divine Beasts." "I know," Donghai Longzi said. "The Divine Beast are the Azure Dragon, Vermillion Bird, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise." "Correct, but what you didn''t know is that those have become titles now. As the strongest dragon, I''m currently the Azure Dragon," Demon Emperor Redraco said. Donghai Longzi stared at Demon Emperor''s Redraco''s shining scarlet scales, causing him to release an uproarious laugh. "Blacktiger is this generation''s White Tiger, Bluefeather is his generation''s Vermillion Bird. It''s just a title, don''t think too deeply about it." "But the Black Tortoise is different. In the primordial era, Senior Xuanwu''s physical defense was unmatched. When the primordial era ended, he survived thanks to his reincarnation spell. Now, he would reincarnate once every few generations, and he would always be born as a pure Black Tortoise. If he had enough time, he could regain the power he had at his peak. Unfortunately, Senior Xuanwu always died before he could reach his prime. During the Divine Beast-Human War, that despicable human who dared take the name of the Dragon Emperor murdered Senior Xuanwu." ''Huh, you actually did something useful for once, Dragon Emperor,'' Donghai Longzi thought. "Is it alright to tell me this?" "It''s no big secret. With your current standing, you''ll learn it sooner or later," Demon Emperor Redraco said. Donghai Longzi crossed his arms. "Then Senior Xuanwu is really unlucky. The moment he was born, he was forced into a contract, and now, his life is tied to a human. Since he can reincarnate, why doesn''t he just suicide and wait for his next life?" Demon Emperor Redraco shook his head. "His next life might be even worse." What he didn''t tell Donghai Longzi was that Xuanwu''s reincarnation spell was not without a drawback. Each time he reincarnated, his memories would disappear, and so would his comprehension of the worldly law. The more times he reincarnated, the less chance he would have of restoring his peak strength. After that, Demon Emperor Redraco summoned a maid. It was essentially a fish with an appealing streamlined form and argent scales. The only difference between it and a normal carp was the antlers poking out of its head. "Dragon Lord, please follow me." Donghai Longzi had to stop himself from shivering. The carp''s voice was mesmerizing and pleasant to the ears. If it was on Earth, she could have made a living, or even a business empire, from her voice alone. Still, Donghai Longzi followed the carp. Although demons were colloquially addressed by their realms, true demon for those in the True Demon Realm, demon king for those in the Demon King Realm, demon emperor for those in the Demon Emperor Realm, and demon sage for those in the Demon Sage Realm, but it was different for dragons. Dragons in the True Demon Realm would be known as true dragons. Those in the Demon King Realm would be titled dragon lords, and dragon king was reserved for Dragons in the Demon Emperor Realm. And only a dragon in the Demon Sage Realm could be titled dragon emperor. It was part of the reason why the Dragon Clan despised the Dragon Emperor so much. To them, his very existence was a blight against their clan. What made it harder for the Dragon Clan to accept wasn''t that the Dragon Emperor died but that he died not by their hands. While the silver carp maid led Donghai Longzi away, Demon Emperor Redraco entered deep into the Crystal Palace. He crossed numerous levels, going lower and lower until he was before giant gates guarded by two black dragons. Shockingly, the two dragons were actually in the Demon Emperor Realm. Their auras were weaker than Demon Emperor Redraco but only slightly. If he were to fight the two dragons, he would undoubtedly lose. Demon Emperor Redraco ignored the two dragons and lowered his head. "Redraco seeks an audience." Ten minutes passed with no reply and no movement from all parties, making the scene appear as if it had been frozen in time. Finally, an ancient voice replied. "Enter." Accompanying the voice, the two gates rumbled and opened, revealing a grand throne hall. Sitting at the elevated dais was not a dragon or a demon but a human¡ªat least at first glance. The human was over twenty meters tall, a far cry from a typical human. He wore yellow brocade robes with a crown of stars atop his head. "Ancestor, I''ve come to report that Senior Xuanwu has returned to the Divine Beast System," Demon Emperor Redraco said after he entered, and the two gates closed behind him. The giant sitting on the throne was Perfected Huanglong, one of the Heavenly Lord of Primordial Beginnings'' twelve inner disciples. He was fifth of the Twelve Golden Immortals and the Three Thousand Immortal Realm''s first Yellow Dragon. "En, I know." Perfect Huanglong''s voice was low and full of vicissitude, as if he had experienced everything in life. Demon Emperor Redraco hesitated for a moment before gritting his teeth. "Ancestor, the Huang Realm is currently under turmoil. Why don''t we use this chance to attack them and take it over as a foothold to wage war with the Numinous Realm? As long as you reveal a hint of your divine might, those humans will kneel in defeat." "You think too simply," Perfected Huanglong said. "I''ve only recovered a fraction of my power. True, I can squish an immortal sovereign to death, but I would fall into slumber soon after. You shouldn''t underestimate Senior Brother, either. Perhaps all this is just his scheme to conquer the realm." Demon Emperor Redraco frowned. "Senior Brother, Ancestor?" Perfected Huanglong stilled. "Look at me, rambling at my age. Heed my orders, don''t attack the Huang Realm for now and stay as far away as possible, lest you fall prey to the human''s tricks. The True Dragon Clan can ill afford to lose our ranks now. Let the humans squander their resources and experts while we take this chance to recover." Although unwilling, Demon Emperor Redraco obeyed. "As you command." Silence descended. Just as Demon Emperor Redraco thought he would be dismissed, Perfected Huanglong asked a question outside his expectations. "That dragonling you brought back from the Huang Realm, tell me about him." Chapter 357: Dragon Bloodlines Demon Emperor Redraco pursed his brows, or rather, the dragon''s equivalent to a human''s brow. Donghai Longzi wasn''t the only true dragon brought back to the True Dragon Realm, but he was the first that Perfected Huanglong asked about. Demon Emperor Redraco couldn''t help but wonder if Perfected Huanglong detected anything abnormal about Donghai Longzi. Still, he revealed everything he knew about the newest dragon lord amongst their ranks. "En, I see," Perfected Huanglong said as he closed his eyes, not intent on asking anything else. "Ancestor, is there something wrong with Donghai Longzi?" Demon Emperor Redraco asked. He couldn''t contain his curiosity. It was as if Perfected Huanglong dangled a priceless treasure in front of him but out of his reach. Perfected Huanglong opened his eyes. His gaze didn''t focus on Demon Emperor Redraco but pierced through the walls of Crystal Palace and landed on Donghai Longzi. "Wrong? Not necessarily. I can sense the pure bloodline contained in his body, but it faintly reminds me of all the dragons the heretical Dragon Emperor slew." A never before seen seriousness appeared on Demon Emperor Redraco''s face. "I heard that before he died, he used a technique to create numerous clones that would be born after his death. But I heard that they were all born human. Are you saying that Donghai Longzi is a Dragon Emperor clone?" Demon Emperor Redraco immediately refuted his own words. "No, that doesn''t feel right. He doesn''t have that heretic''s aura, and I know he knows the Dragon Emperor''s saber arts, but that isn''t exactly a rare technique in the Huang Realm. Unless he''s hiding something?!" "I haven''t seen the Dragon Emperor myself, but I find that unlikely. However, there is always the possibility," Perfected Huanglong said. "No, he caught my attention because of the bloodline I sense in him. That dragonling''s existence may not be natural." Fury colored Demon Emperor Redraco''s face. "Ancestor means that the heretic experimented on the Dragon Clan''s bloodline?" "Perhaps," Perfected Huanglong said, not denying Demon Emperor Redraco''s conjecture. "Be that as it may, it is undeniable that you must monitor him. However, dispatch some dragons or half-dragons to serve him and sire his kin." "Can I implore the reason?" Demon Emperor Redraco asked. Even if there was something special about Donghai Longzi''s genes, it didn''t necessitate them to send true dragons as sacrifices, did it? In addition, the true dragons may not agree. Most of the true dragons had become true dragons through ascension and years of effort, sweat, and blood. Few, if any, would be willing, especially considering a dragon''s pride. As for naturally born true dragons that have not reached the True Demon Realm? They were seen as treasures by the whole Dragon Clan. Even if Perfected Huanglong ordered the act, the elders would revolt against the order. "I won''t force anyone. That dragonling is still not trustworthy and may never be trustworthy until the Huang Realm and Numinous Realm fall, but his children won''t," Perfected Huanglong said. "In his blood, I can sense an innate charm that I haven''t detected in eons. Although it isn''t exactly the same, it resembles the pure bloodline of the Nine-Clawed Golden Dragon of antiquity." At this, Demon Emperor Redraco felt his breath hitch. Dragon bloodlines were divided into different ranks, and the noblest, aside from the Yellow Dragon mutation, was the Golden Dragon bloodline. They were considered true dragons among true dragons. Golden Dragon bloodlines were separated into the superior and inferior ranks. The inferior Golden Dragon bloodline was the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon bloodline, and the superior was naturally the Nine-Clawed Golden Dragon bloodline mentioned by Perfected Huanglong. Demon Emperor Redraco''s thoughts immediately turned toward sending his own descendants to Donghai Longzi''s side. It just so happened that he had a descendant who inherited his mutated Scarletblood Dragon bloodline, a dragonling he considered akin to a granddaughter. Originally, Demon Emperor Redraco thought it was too much of a pity to send his most prized descendant to Donghai Longzi, but after learning that Donghai Longzi''s bloodline might reach the same level as a Nine-Clawed Golden Dragon, hesitation disappeared. The Scarletblood Dragon bloodline might be rare, but it can only be considered average amongst the many different types of dragon bloodlines. If his descendant sires a child that perfectly merges the Scarletblood Dragon''s bloodline and Donghai Longzi''s bloodline, he might gain the inspiration to improve his own bloodline! Just as the thought occurred to him, Demon Emperor Redraco''s expression turned wrathful and sullen. "Don''t tell me that the Dragon Emperor was attempting to create a bloodline to rival the Nine-Clawed Golden Dragons? Then it''s a good thing those humans betrayed him and killed him. Although it''s a pity we didn''t kill him ourselves, at least it''s better than letting him succeed." "Who knows," Perfected Huanglong said. "Now leave, I must focus on recuperating from my injuries." Demon Emperor Redraco saluted the world''s sole Yellow Dragon and left the chambers. ''My granddaughter is naturally beautiful. And since I am the current Azure Dragon, she has many suitors. I have to find a method to integrate Donghai Longzi into the circle. Until then, I can send other descendants.'' ''Yinyu, the maid, can be considered one of my descendants but a branch descendant at best. Aside from Honglin, I should prepare a few more of my descendants to sire Donghai Longzi''s children. Most of them only partially inherited my blood, but that''s good enough.'' Demon Emperor Redraco paused. ''Now that I think about it, Donghai Longzi showed an averse reaction to Yinyu.''Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Demon Emperor Redraco twirled his long whiskers. ''I should send some other types of demons. Maybe he doesn''t like fish-type demons because they don''t have much limbs. What kind of aesthetic should I send?'' ''Maybe he likes shells, so should I send a dragon turtle to seduce him? Although the shells aren¡¯t as beautiful as our scales, they equal ours in hardness. Maybe a lobster would be better. Their whiskers are almost as long and elegant as ours. Or perhaps a shrimp? The sheen of their carapaces are quite beautiful. Dragon crabs are also an option. Their claws might not be as beautiful as our own, but their sharpness and powers resemble ours.'' Demon Emperor Redraco continued to ponder as he made his way back to his nest. ''Dragon eels are an option. Their scales are tiny and are constantly covered in disgusting mucus, but their long slithering bodies resemble ours. Getting it on with a dragon eel is also a kind of wonderful experience, I would know. Why, I had over ten children due to that one night, haha.'' Demon Emperor Redraco''s eyes lit up. If he could snap his fingers like a human, he would. ''How could I forget snakes? Snakes are one of the closest existence to us dragons. I''m going to have to select snakes with the purest bloodline. Not just them, but crocodiles too. Their jaws resemble ours the most.'' ''Once I succeed, I want to see Old Bastard Windscale''s face. Hah, always bragging about how you managed to have descendants that merge the Kunpeng''s bloodline with a dragon''s bloodline. I''ll show you what a true dragon''s bloodline should be like, and they will be nothing like your mongrel descendants!'' After envisioning that scene, Demon Emperor Redraco''s movements gained a spring-like element to them.
"Lord Donghai, do you need anything?" a sultry voice asked. Donghai Longzi''s body did not tremble. What he saw was just a hallucination. He glanced toward the spiked crab that owned said sultry voice. He averted his eyes and focused on another one of the maids Demon Emperor Redraco had sent him. Eels, crocodiles, lobsters, shrimps, turtles, snakes, lizards, and many more. The section of the Crystal Palace occupied by him resembled an aquarium more than a home. Donghai Longzi understood that demons weren''t humans, and he was probably the strange one for keeping a human form, but that didn''t change his aesthetics. As a former human-turned-dragon, he had a normal person''s aesthetics, okay? The worst part was that each of those demons had an alluring voice. To address them as sirens from just their voice alone would not be undue praise. Every time their voices entered his ears, Donghai Longzi would conjure the perfect image of the owner of that voice in his head, but when he turned to the actual owner, reality would slap him in the face, stamp on his feet, punch in his guts, and knee his balls. Donghai Longzi even began to suspect that it was Demon Emperor Redraco''s attempt to psychologically torture him. He even began to regret accepting this mission from the Buzhou Immortal Sect, all the excitement to explore a system ruled by demons all but gone. He even thought of asking his main body to just teleport him away and into the Nine Heavens Universe. Unfortunately, the conduit he carried with him lost all contact with the Nine Heavens Universe ever since entering the Divine Beast Pseudo System. Although disappointed, Donghai Longzi wasn''t too surprised. The Divine Beast Pseudo System had to have its strengths to hide from the Buzhou Immortal Sect and Numinous Sword Sect for all these years. At the very least, the conduit managed to send their last coordinates before they entered the pseudo system. ''I just have to endure two more weeks of this,'' Donghai Longzi thought. In two weeks, Demon Emperor Redraco would hold a banquet to celebrate his arrival. Like the Buzhou Immortal Sect and Numinous Sword Sect, the Divine Beast Pseudo System lost many of its experts during the last Divine Beast-Human War. So, it was not strange for Demon Emperor Redraco to place such importance on him, a dragon with high hopes of ascending to the Demon Emperor Realm. Donghai Longzi''s hands itched toward the saber stored in his spatial ring, but he forced himself to stop. Ever since he had entered the Demon King Realm, he had not had a proper fight yet, and all the stress made him want to release it. He was originally created by Tianyi with an intense disposition for battle. The more battles he went through, the more experience he would have. Thanks to his connection to Tianyi, Tianyi would be able to reap his bountiful battle experience, improving his own battle prowess. Left with no other choice, Donghai Longzi closed his eyes and started comprehending worldly laws to advance his Law of Destruction. Although he wasn''t in a hurry to break through to the Demon Emperor Realm, having that option as a trump card would significantly elevate the chances of his success. An aura of destruction coated Donghai Longzi, causing none of the sea demons to dare say anything. They didn''t even dare send transmissions using their spiritual senses under the heart-palpitating pressure. And two weeks quickly passed in this peace and quiet. The banquet occurred in the Crystal Palace on one of the higher floors. The banquet hall had no walls, allowing the guests to gaze out at the abundant sea life illuminated by the luminescent reefs and corals. Sitting, or rather, coiled in front of tables, were dragons of all sorts and sizes. Some were rather stumpy and resembled lizards. Another, while extremely thin, was at least thrice the size of the average dragon. Some had extra features like more limbs or extra horns. The color of their scales could fill a rainbow and then some. Donghai Longzi sat on Demon Emperor Redraco''s right, and to the demon emperor''s left was a slender dragon whose scales reflected a scarlet hue. Even Donghai Longzi thought that the red dragon was beautiful no matter the angle he looked. However, it was only an appreciation akin to an art connoisseur toward a painting. As if sensing Donghai Longzi''s gaze, the red dragon snorted and averted her head. Demon Emperor Redraco laughed. "Don''t mind Honglin. Since she inherited my bloodline the most, I spoiled and pampered her since she was young, so she''s developed a temper." Donghai Longzi chuckled. "How can that be? I was too rude for staring too long." "Rude? You aren''t just rude for staring?" A voice of self-confidence said. Donghai Longzi turned toward the source to see a dragon with dull red scales in the True Demon Realm. Most, if not all, the true dragons present were at the True Demon Realm, with hardly any dragon lords present. Furthermore, the true dragons present were considered talented juniors with limitless potential by Demon Emperor Redraco. "Oh? How else am I rude?" Donghai Longzi asked. He could tell that the dull red dragon was just looking for trouble, but he didn''t know for what reason. Not just that dragon, but every dragon present stared at him with probing gazes. "Hmpf, do you think you are human or in the human realm? This is the True Dragon Realm, are you looking down at us by showing such a fake form?" Donghai Longzi blinked. A smile spread across his face, and he said, "You''re right. I spent too long in the Huang Realm and forgot my true form. Let me rectify that." As he transformed, gasps echoed in the banquet hall, awed by Donghai Longzi''s dragon form. Chapter 358: Honglin Donghai Longzi''s skin turned darker until it was pitch black. His robes merged with his skin, transforming to ebon-colored scales. His humanoid form elongated until it turned serpentine. His horns grew, and two more prongs grew out of the base on each horn, making it a three-pronged horn. His hot-white eyes resembled stars. Finally, tiny motes of light glittered endlessly across his scales, making them resemble the starry sky. A silence descended onto the banquet hall as they took in Donghai Longzi''s true form. Even next to Demon Emperor Redraco, his presence did not diminish. In fact, he exuded a majestic pressure that threatened to eclipse the leader of the True Dragon Realm. Demon Emperor Redraco''s slit-like pupils turned paper thin. He had never seen Donghai Longzi''s true form either, and upon witnessing the powerful bloodline emanating from the True Dragon Realm''s newest dragon lord, he doubled down on his decision. Despite not entering the Demon Emperor Realm, Donghai Longzi already had the bearing of a dragon king. He spared a glance at Honglin. Seeing the barely concealed awe, Demon Emperor Redraco felt his spirit lift. He coughed, breaking the silence that had overtaken the banquet. Liveliness colored the banquet again. "I heard that one of our kin was born and stranded amongst the despicable humans. I wondered what kind of character could survive among them and return a dragon lord, but upon seeing Lord Donghai, it''s all clear to me now," a dragon with shell-like plating covering his body flattered. "Panwei is right. I heard rumors that the True Dragon Realm might have another Dragon King soon. At first, I thought it was nothing but gibberish, but upon seeing Lord Donghai, it''s clear that the rumor is not just mere rumor," Shiagui, a dragon with lobster-like claws and a turtle shell, praised. Donghai Longzi only smiled, not replying. However, the two dragons didn''t show any displeasure and only laughed. He glanced toward the dull red dragon that targeted him earlier, only to see said dragon trying to make his existence as small as possible. He knew that the dull red dragon was only used as a knife, and the true mastermind did not show himself. So, with great mercy, Donghai Longzi did not bring up the matter. Demon Emperor Redraco smiled at Donghai Longzi''s actions. Although he disdained the praise by Panwei and Shiagui, he didn''t make an example of the dull red dragon either. At this time, an elegant dragon with marine scales and long trailing fins spoke out. "Lord Donghai is a true dragon amongst dragons. With your aid, the humans will learn their place in the next war." "In my opinion, Lord Donghai can already handle ten human monarchs," a beautiful white-scaled dragon with coral-like horns praised. Her voice was as beguiling as a siren''s. Before the praise could last for long, a cold snort echoed through the hall. "You''re just a bunch of dragonlings who haven''t experienced the cruelty of war. In that bloody battle, even a dragon king will fall if he isn''t careful, much less a dragon lord." The speaker was a scar-ridden dragon with earthen scales. Powerful muscles bulged below his scales, making him appear twice as thick as other dragons. Noticeably, his tail was missing. He was a true dragon that survived the Divine Beast-Human War. After the war, he broke through to the Demon King Realm. His words caused silence to descend and dampen the liveliness. The other true dragon survivors of the war propagated this atmosphere. Although this was a banquet to allow Donghai Longzi to acquaint himself with the younger generations, dragons lived far longer than humans of the same realm. For a true dragon, ten thousand years was still considered their teenage years, so many of the dragons present had experienced that devastating war. The war left permanent marks on every one of the survivor''s bodies, physical and immaterial. Demon Emperor Redraco said nothing and just waited for Donghai Longzi''s reply. As a participant, he also experienced the cruelty of the war. The previous Azure Dragon had died, allowing him to ascend to his current position. "Your words are correct," Donghai Longzi said. "I don''t know what to call you?" "Tulong," the earthen-scaled dragon said. "Well, Tulong," Donghai Longzi continued. "I was born after the war, so you are right that I''m inexperienced. I don''t know if you are willing to impart your experience to me." The atmosphere turned tense, yet a hint of electricity sparked through the air. The dragons'' eyes drifted between Donghai Longzi and Tulong. Although Donghai Longzi emitted a majestic presence coated in destruction, only baptism by battle would fully convince all dragons. "My pleasure!" Tulong growled as he flew into the center of the banquet hall. Donghai Longzi responded in kind. Demon Emperor Redraco expanded the center so that it was over ten kilometers large. Hardly enough for two dragon lords to duke it out, but sufficient for each to test the other. Donghai Longzi''s tail waved leisurely, waiting for Tulong to make the first move. Fury entered his eyes at his foe''s lighthearted approach. It was true that he was only a second-step dragon lord, but dragons always placed more importance on their fleshly prowess. Still, Tulong did not let rage cloud his thoughts. Had he kept this habit, he would have long fallen in the Divine Beast-Human War. Yellow aura covered his body, strengthening it. He opened his maw and released a thunderous roar. Rocks condensed in front of his jaws, and their density reached the point of exceeding steel. The air popped and shattered as the rocks launched at Donghai Longzi. Even as they neared him, Donghai Longzi still idly swished his tail, like he couldn''t see the rocks shooting toward him. Tulong snorted with disdain in his eyes.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Right before the rocks made contact, they exploded and engulfed Donghai Longzi entirely. The blast radiuses overlapped, multiplying the power each time they did. Gasps echoed in the banquet hall. Honglin frowned, but she glanced at her grandfather. Demon Emperor Redraco showed no change in expression. Seeing this, she turned back and waited for the dust to clear. Tulong''s eyes widened when he saw Donghai Longzi unscathed, as if an explosion had never occurred. Although Donghai Longzi was a fifth-step dragon lord, he should not have been able to remain whole unhurt. "Hmpf, your defense is good, but if that''s all you''re good at, you will never be able to defeat me." Donghai Longzi towered over Tulong. Tulong only reached a third of his length, but his bulging muscles made him seem equal in every way. Tulong¡¯s muscle density increased, doubling his mass. His dull brown scales took on a yellow luster as he charged at Donghai Longzi. The dragons present wondered how Donghai Longzi would fend off this assault. When Tulong saw that Donghai Longzi was still not reacting, he growled. ''You''ll pay for your arrogance.'' Right before Tulong reached him, Donghai Longzi finally reacted. A single hand reached out to meet the full force of Tulong''s assault. The survivors and dragon lords all shared the same thought. Donghai Longzi would reap the consequences of his arrogance. Not just them, but even Demon Emperor Redraco sighed. ''Still too young.'' When Donghai Longzi''s long hand clashed with Tulong, the scene everyone expected did not occur. Instead, Tulong crashed brutally onto the floor, forming a crater. A giant phantom of Donghai Longzi''s hand materialized and shackled Tulong. No matter how Tulong struggled, the hand shackling him did not budge even a millimeter. Not even his dragon qi could leave more than a few centimeters from his body. All his spells were absorbed by the phantom hand without causing it to change. Finally, Tulong stopped struggling, and his muscles returned to their normal size. Donghai Longzi didn''t continue to torment him and took his hand off. The phantom hand dematerialized in conjunction. Tulong took a deep look at Donghai Longzi as if to ingrain his image forever. "I admit, you do have the foundation to be arrogant. However, you still have to be careful in the war." When Tulong left, Donghai Longzi moved his hands behind his back before remembering that he was in his true form. With a cough, he shifted back to his human form, hands behind his back. He scanned the dragon lords present. "Does anyone else have any experience to impart to me?" None of the dragon lords stepped up. Although many of them could defeat Tulong, none could do so as decisively as Donghai Longzi. Rather than a dragon lord, his strength had already reached the dragon king level. Who would step forward to seek abuse? Not to mention it would be far more humiliating if they were defeated by his human form. "I don''t have any experience to impart, but I would like to seek pointers." Donghai turned to see Honglin fly into the center of the hall. Contrary to moments ago, her eyes were heated, but not like that of a maiden in love. No, this was a warrior who found a worthy rival. An amused smile appeared on Donghai Longzi''s face. He made a ''please'' gesture with his hand. Honglin immediately charged without another word, shocking Donghai Longzi. She raised her claw and slashed down. The very tip of her claws concealed blood-red lights. Donghai Longzi materialized his true form''s hand as a qi construct that blocked Honglin''s attack. His eyes widened when he felt ripples appear on the qi hand. Tulong had greater power as a dragon lord, but Honglin, with her True Demon Realm cultivation base, possessed far greater penetrative power. Thus, she actually posed a greater threat than Tulong. Furthermore, Donghai Longzi actually felt that his blood was out of his control. It was as if it wanted to break out of his body and stream toward Honglin. ''The Law of Blood? Is this her innate ability or her own comprehension? No, this technique is too perfect. This Scarletblood Dragon has mastered the Law of Blood!'' Now comes the question. Why would Honglin not break through to the Demon King Realm after mastering a worldly law? There could only be one answer. Honglin wanted to master a stronger law to enter the Demon King Realm. Donghai Longzi waved his arm, knocking back Honglin. She didn''t give up, charging again and again, refining her technique. He could feel her increasing strength. His thoughts drifted to San Jiuling. Thanks to the Divine Beast Pseudo System''s spies in the Huang Realm, he learned that the Leakless Sect had perished. Now, how would San Jiuling''s road to revenge develop? Naturally, he''ll become an essential member of the Divine Beast Pseudo System''s hierarchy. He would get revenge for his sect and destroy the Buzhou Immortal Sect. However, along the way, how could he remain single? Only a peerless genius would fit him. Was Honglin this genius, fated to be with San Jiuling and aid him in his revenge? "You''re amazing. Take my most powerful attack!" Honglin said, breaking Donghai Longzi out of his thoughts. Blood leaked out from below her scales. They converged and covered her, not only increasing her size but also her aura. Rather than a true dragon, she gave off the aura of an intermediate dragon lord. A violet-gold light exuded from her blood dragon form. Donghai Longzi''s expression turned serious. He could feel his blood reacting to her, treating her as someone equal. Did her bloodline reach the same level as his? "Should I kill her and eliminate this danger before she realizes her potential?" Honglin didn''t know of his thoughts and charged. Her hand, which possessed seven claws, struck forward. Donghai Longzi immediately shifted into his true form and retaliated. The clash was short and overwhelming. Honglin crashed into a pillar, scales broken and puking blood. Inwardly, some bones shattered and organs ruptured. In the end, Donghai Longzi stayed his hand. He still had to live in the True Dragon Realm, and killing Demon Emperor Redraco''s granddaughter was foolish. "My apologies," Donghai Longzi said. "Your granddaughter''s transformation made me instinctually fear her. I have to congratulate you. Once your granddaughter enters the Demon King Realm, she''ll have a high chance of reaching the Demon Emperor Realm." "No, it''s I who should apologize for my granddaughter not knowing the severity of the situation," Demon Emperor Redraco said. If Donghai Longzi killed her, it was unknown how he would react. But the reality was that she didn''t die. He healed Honglin, and the banquet resumed. Not only did Donghai Longzi''s prestige rise, but so did Honglin''s. However, throughout the banquet, he felt Honglin staring at him without uttering a word. ''Is she holding a grudge?'' Thankfully, he only had to endure her stare for a single day as the banquet ended. Donghai Longzi was granted a territory that was not that large, but it was close to the core of the True Dragon Realm, so it was full of spiritual qi, spiritual veins, and natural treasures. There was just one problem. "Dragon Lord, let''s fight!" Donghai Longzi stared at Honglin, who also came to his territory after the banquet. ''What is her scheme? Does she want to find out my weakness and kill me in revenge? Or did she get into contact with San Jiuling and hear of how I bullied him and want to get justice for him? Whatever your plot is, it won''t work on me!" Chapter 359: Rematch Inside Reversed Heaven Abode, Tianyi sat in a lotus position, levitating above the ground. His hand was cradling the space in front of him, of which five objects floated between. The objects were five belts, each with a clear crystal attached to the buckle. Strands of fifth-step immortal qi of red, black, yellow, green, and white flowed out from his fingertips. Each color streamed into one of the five crystals, increasing the purity of the jewels. As the crystals changed, so did the belts themselves. When Tianyi finished, the five belts radiated an aura of fire, water, earth, wood, and metals. Upon closer inspection, one could see an intricately engraved design on the belt itself, formations that Tianyi had installed into the artifact. "Finally, this took me much longer than it should have." Tianyi placed it on the ground, next to other artifacts or talismans he had refined during the decades he spent on the Earth Continent. Among the artifacts he refined, there was a perfect sphere, but the bottom was white, and the top was red. Between the two halves, there was a button to activate the artifact. Tianyi called this one the Dimension Trapping Ball. Another was a spherical turtle shell with a black top and tan underside with wings attached. He called it the Black Shell Talisman. There were more than ten similarly-shaped talismans sans the wings but colored white instead of black, known as White Shell Talismans. There was a cartoon mushroom with a pale stem and a black cap with yellow spots. All in all, it looked hazardous to eat. Anyone who ate it would grow a hundred times in pure strength, size, and qi¡ªanyone below the Seamless Immortal Realm, that is. Tianyi called it the Ultimate Mushroom Pill. And finally, it was the five belts. Collectively, they were known as the Five Element Morphers. Looking at all the artifacts and talismans he refined, Tianyi couldn''t help but snicker in amusement. "What''re you laughing at?" Tianyi turned his head to see Daoyi walking in. "I''m not laughing." Daoyi turned to look at the assortment of treasures on the ground. Upon recognizing their inspirations, she raised an eyebrow that clearly said, "I don''t believe you." "These? They''re arms that I prepared for our fellow sect members in the upcoming battle," Tianyi said. After the Eight Pillar Sect agreed to Tianyi''s demand, Ba Shifang, as Monarch Nine Heavens, helped them establish teleportation portals all over the Earth Continent. A few were discovered and destroyed, but most remained unnoticed. With their part done, Tianyi, Daoyi, Ba Shifang, and the rest of the Buzhou Immortal Sect waited for the Eight Pillar Sect to take action. If he had known that the Eight Pillar Sect would be so patient and would wait for so many decades, Tianyi wouldn''t have used the allegations to delay time. Okay, maybe he would. He was petty like that, and who told Tai Wuling to put Daoyi in danger? "And the fact that their usage in our fellow sect members'' hands would be an inside joke, funny only to a few of us, was not part of your calculations?" Daoyi asked. "Hey, these are bonafide top-tier treasures. If the user or recipient makes me laugh, that is entirely coincidental," Tianyi said with a shrug. "Hey, don''t you judge me. I know you found it funny when Xi Ri and Xia Yushan used the Formation Cards." "I never said I didn''t," Daoyi said. "Still, this is your first mission as an immortal elder. You don''t want to expose too much or allow too many of them to die just because of humor." All humor left Tianyi''s expression, and it was replaced by a serious gaze. "I know. I destroyed the White Wind Sect, mortals and all. This battle will likely be worse." Daoyi sighed and walked toward Tianyi, who had planted his feet on the ground once more. She intertwined her fingers with his. "I won''t tell you that they deserve to die, but this is simply the state of the world. We are enemies, and to prevent your enemy from killing us, we must kill them and eliminate all possible chances of them posing a danger to us." "Don''t worry, I''m not so great to the point that I would have nightmares over the people I kill. I think I''ve already blazed past that point by now," Tianyi said. "I think you''re the type to thrive in the apocalypse," Daoyi said. Tianyi twisted his brows. "I don''t know how to take that." "It''s a compliment," Daoyi said, smiling, but Tianyi doubted that. "Alright, we should go before we''re late. That''s why you entered, isn''t it?" Tianyi asked. The two exited his cultivation chambers and made their way into the main hall of Reversed Heaven Abode. There, Ba Shifang was already present, sitting atop the main seat. Over fifty true immortals were present, five of which Tianyi recognized. How could he not? They were among the first users of the Xiyi Talisman chat features and one of the first guinea pigs, ahem, first players of Cultivation Online. Perhaps due to taking advantage of Tianyi''s creation, they all entered the Immortal Realm recently. Typically, each true immortal''s birth would be accompanied by a sect-wide celebration, but such trivialities were abandoned during times of war. They were Immortal Southfist, Fairy Firefly, Immortal Shadowbark, and Ru Ye, also known as Immortal Jadewill. The fifth was Jinshu. He had a natural inclination to the Law of Fire thanks to the Golden Crow bloodline, but he also possessed talent in the Law of Metal. Due to the abundant resources, he was the first among the five to reach the Pathfinding Immortal Realm. Suddenly a thought occurred to Tianyi. He waved them over. "Is there any task you need us to accomplish?" Jadewill asked.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Jinshu also waited. He was extremely respectful to Tianyi, who everyone said was his master, Monarch Nine Heaven''s secret child. Even if he was ordered to do something unsavory, he resolved to endure it. However, he would not break his bottom line. Tianyi waved his hand at Jadewill''s words. "No need for such formal terms. You can address me as senior brother like you guys used to. Honestly, I''m still not used to being addressed like this by you guys." ''You''re not used to it, but you enjoy it very much,'' Daoyi thought, but she didn''t expose his true feelings. Jadewill and the others quickly showed elated expressions. Even Jinshi secretly sighed in relief. "Then, I wonder why Senior Brother has come looking for us." "It''s nothing much," Tianyi said. He waved his hands, and the five belts he had just finished refining appeared. The Fire Element Morpher appeared in front of Jinshu, the Water Element Morpher appeared in front of Jadewill, the Earth Element Morpher appeared in front of Southfist, the Wood Element Morpher appeared in front of Shadowbark, and the Metal Element Morpher appeared in front of Fairy Firefly. "I just finished refining these, but they are useless to me, so I''m going to give them to you guys." Jinshu, Jadewill, and the others gulped as they felt the aura emanating from the immortal artifacts. Aside from Jinshu, none of them had an immortal artifact, and Jinshu only had one. "No, these are too precious, we can''t take these without reason," Jadewill said. Despite his obvious yearning, his morality and pride still won out. Tianyi patted Jadewill''s shoulders. "Your life is precious enough. With them, your chances of survival will increase. Besides, instead of them gathering dust, isn''t it better to give it to you, who will use it in the war?" Seeing the righteous Tianyi, Jadewill and the others felt themselves moved to near tears. He saluted Tianyi and severely said, "Senior Brother, this grace, I, Jadewill, will definitely repay in the future!" Not just him, but Southfist, Shadowbark, and Firefly all nodded or said something similar. Tianyi then gazed at Jinshu, who was still conflicted. "Just keep it. The artifact you have on you isn''t suited for offense." Jinshu''s eyes widened as he stared at Tianyi. He never told anyone that he received an immortal artifact from Monarch Nine Heavens, so how did Tianyi know? This only cemented the rumored relationship between the two in Jinshu''s mind. Ignorant of Jinshu''s thoughts, Tianyi and Daoyi spoke a few more words with them before walking to Ba Shifang. Once he arrived, Ba Shifang nodded and led everyone out of Reversed Heaven abode. From there, they traveled to a sealed location inside the Eight Pillar Sect. It was the core of the new teleportation formations. The Eight Pillar Sect specially built it atop a spiritual vein to facilitate energy usage. It was one of the stipulations presented by the Buzhou Immortal Sect since they didn''t want to exhaust their immortals and allow them to be taken advantage of by the Eight Pillar Sect, no matter how much the latter assured them they wouldn''t. Once there, Tianyi felt a sharp gaze. If that gaze had been translated into swords, he would have been impaled over a thousand times. Tianyi raised an eyebrow. ''Was Tai Wuling supposed to come out now? Well, it matters not.'' He observed the true immortal while Ba Shifang took care of business with Monarch Pathway. There was a more subdued aura around Tai Wuling, as if he was unconsciously concealing him. Still, Tianyi could detect that he was at the peak of the Pathfinding Immortal Realm. ''Judging by story standards, the punishment should have increased his strength instead of weakening. So, maybe he already mastered a law and is just waiting for the opportune time to ascend to the next realm.'' Tianyi thought. Although it sounds insane to judge reality by story plots, Tianyi found that his conjectures were proven with frightening accuracy. Had he truly been in some novel or story, he would have died ten times over by now. Tianyi didn''t walk over, and Tai Wuling soon stopped glaring. He didn''t have any intention of bringing up Tai Wuling''s addition, much to Monarch Pathway''s relief. Monarch Pathway stepped up to brief the immortals present. The current Earth Continent was nearly perfectly divided in two. Although it appeared like a stalemate, it was the Eight Pillar Sect that continuously lost territory to the Anti-Earth Alliance. So, the advantage was actually held by the Anti-Earth Alliance. At least on the surface. In truth, the Eight Pillar Sect deliberately retreated and allowed the Anti-Earth Alliance to take the territories. They hide numerous teleportation formations in them, waiting for the chance to strike at their enemies'' exposed backsides at the last moment. And now was the perfect time. Most of the Anti-Earth Alliance''s forces were gathering near the northwest, leaving their headquarters lightly defended. Of course, they couldn''t invest all their manpower into this one attack, but if they succeeded, the chance of the Eight Pillar Sect''s victory would dramatically increase, if not all but assured. For this one operation, they had invested over three thousand true immortals and thirty monarchs. Tianyi had to whistle when he saw the thirty-plus monarchs. Even inside the Buzhou Immortal Sect, he never saw so many monarchs gathered at one location. Granted, he didn''t believe the Buzhou Immortal Sect had less. In addition, he could feel the aura of death radiating from over half of them. They were clearly immortal monarchs that had neared the end of their lifespan, only staving it off in stasis for the greater good of the sect. Tianyi watched as the monarchs and true immortals were divided into numerous squads. They would be sent off to the Goldlight Sect, Yangsource Sect, Six Finger Sect, and Allbeast Sect, nearly half of the first-rate forces that composed the Anti-Earth Alliance. As part of the collaboration, Tianyi joined one of the squads, while Ba Shifang stayed behind to control the teleportation formations. He didn''t know if it was someone''s bad taste or not, but he was placed in the same squad as Tai Wuling and Yang Linyin. The two groups ignored each other. Following Tianyi into the Allbeast Sect would be Jinshu, Jadewill, Southfist, Shadowbark, and Firefly. Xia Yushan also joined, but he only stared at Tianyi and Daoyi from afar with no intention of interacting with the two. Tianyi sighed. It reminded him of growing up back when he was on Earth. The world seemed so beautiful when you were young, but as you grew older, you realized that it had been an illusion all along. Still, he did not dwell on the changes and teleported to the Allbeast Sect with the other immortals from the Eight Pillar Sect. Once there, the immortals from the Eight Pillar Sect didn''t bother to hide their actions. With so many true immortals present, they couldn''t conceal it even if they wanted to. They immediately formed seven emperor-level war formations and started assaulting the headquarters of the Allbeast Sect. Tianyi and the others from the Buzhou Immortal Sect didn''t form a war formation and allowed the Eight Pillar Sect to do the heavy work for now. It was only after the first barrier protecting the Allbeast Sect was destroyed that the Allbeast Sect''s war formations appeared and fought back. His eyes narrowed as he spotted a familiar yet surprising figure, Yan Nie, the Divine Flame Lord. Yan Nie wasn''t officially part of the Anti-Earth Alliance but a mercenary hired from the Cultivator Alliance by the Anti-Earth Alliance. In a short few decades, he had already reached the Second-Step Seamless Immortal Realm. Yan Nie spotted him too, but his gaze immediately left and clashed with another''s, Tai Wuling. It was as if the battlefield had disappeared, and only the two of them were left in the world. To be continued on... Fated Clash! Chapter 360: TRANSFORM Tai Wuling stared at Yan Nie, his mortal enemy. He may hate Tianyi on a personal level, but it was Yan Nie who dealt him the most harm, from attacking him in the throne hall inside the Yellow Mausoleum to causing Yang Linyin to fall into a coma. In comparison, Tianyi''s actions were like a tantrum; they only angered him and were ultimately inconsequential. He was but a child that Tai Wuling would force to recognize reality. It just wasn''t the time yet. Although Yan Nie was an immortal monarch, the Divine Flame Monarch, Tai Wuling did not think he would lose. Like their first encounter, he was still a true immortal, but the difference between the current him and him of the past was like day and night. Yan Nie possessed the superior cultivation base and mastery of the complete Law of Fire, but Tai Wuling now mastered four of the five elemental laws. All he lacked was mastery of the Law of Metal before he could complete his ascension to the Seamless Immortal Realm. Coupled with his monarch-level body, Tai Wuling had complete confidence in defeating Yan Nie. Sparks flashed as their gazes lingered on the other. A war formation at the monarch level led by an immortal lord roared and charged past Tai Wuling toward Yan Nie. "No! Stop, you aren''t his oppon¡ª!" Tai Wuling never had a chance to finish as a four-colored flame erupted from Yan Nie''s palms. Once the flame made contact with the war formation, it erupted into a dazzling explosion, fueled by the energy maintaining the war formation. The immortal lord and the true immortals that composed it screamed in anguish as the four-colored flame incinerated them into ash. "Divine Flame Monarch!" Tai Wuling screamed as he charged. Four auras of red, black, yellow, and green shrouded his body. A metal staff emanating an aura of the Law of Metal appeared in his hand. The staff was known as the White Iron Cudgel, an immortal-ranked artifact that focused on durability above all else. His master, Emperor Infinity, fashioned it using the Law of Metal to aid his comprehension. A pitch-black spear appeared in Yan Nie''s hand. The spearhead took on a fiery red color as he thrust it toward Tai Wuling. The air exploded with thunderous roars when spear met cudgel. Yan Nie''s eyes widened, and his eyebrows rose when he saw Tai Wuling matching his power. He narrowed his eyes and twisted his spear. Tai Wuling felt the rising heat against his hands. He looked down to see the White Iron Cudgel turning red at the point the spearhead touched. He shrouded the staff in his qi, which exuded four colors. The staff took on a black sheen, and the rising temperature slowed. Still, that was only a stalling tactic. Tai Wuling frowned. Even with his qi boosted by four worldly laws, Yan Nie''s four-colored flame was actually burning it and using it as fuel. Tai Wuling flew back and disengaged, but the annoying thing was that the four-colored flame still burned his White Iron Cudgel. Yan Nie snorted, and mirage-like armor of flames appeared all over his body. "HAH!" Flames exploded forth and formed a ten thousand-meter-wide domain. The heat intensified, and average true immortals would shrivel into mummies in less than an hour. Even the very qi in the air evaporated and disappeared like water vapor. Tai Wuling stopped his breathing because every time he did, he could feel a scorching pain in his nose and throat. The black color of the four colors of aura coating took predominance. Simultaneously, the aura of the water surrounding him grew stronger. He could have unleashed his own domain based on his superior understanding of the worldly laws, but a large part of a domain''s strength was the qi fueling it. In all circumstances, his immortal qi would run out first even if his domain evenly matched Yan Nie''s. Tai Wuling frowned, wondering why Yan Nie didn''t chase after him. He quickly used this time to dispel the flame plaguing his White Iron Cudgel. Only then did he investigate the reason. Yan Nie wasn''t paying attention to him at all. Rather, he was staring off into the distance. Tai Wuling looked over, and what he saw made him release a guttural growl. When Yan Nie released his domain, Xi Tianyi and the people around him didn''t retreat. They just stayed next to him, and miraculously, the four-colored flame domain disappeared. No, it was more accurate to say it was negated in the area around the scion from the Buzhou Immortal Sect. "Do you need help?" Yang Linyin asked. "No," Tai Wuling said. "You mastered the Law of Yin, and there is no one more suited to control an emperor-level formation. Don''t worry, and leave the Divine Flame Monarch to me." Yang Linyin nodded. They led over eighty true immortals away and formed the Eight Trigrams War Formation. It was the Eight Pillar Sect''s most powerful war formation and took on the form of a divination board. At its peak, it was to be able to contend with an immortal sovereign, but it would require two immortal emperors, eight immortal monarchs, and sixteen hundred true immortals. Once Yang Linyin left, Tai Wuling charged at Yan Nie. "Where are you looking?! Your opponent is me!" Yan Nie cast an annoyed gaze at Tai Wuling and swung his spear. Flame exploded forth and shot toward Tai Wuling. Tai Wuling formed a hand seal with one hand. Yellow qi exploded forth and formed a shield of stone. When Yan Nie''s flames made contact with the stone shield, it immediately started melting it, turning the stone into magma. But it lasted long enough. Once it neared Yan Nie, the stone shield, or whatever remained of it, exploded, scattering the flames and magma. Yan Nie swung his spear in a circular fashion, blocking the fragments of stone and magma. "Take this!" Tai Wuling shouted. Divine runes glowed all over his body, dramatically increasing his strength and defense. Yan Nie grunted as he fended off Tai Wuling''s flurry of blows. However, he possessed superior spearmanship than Tai Wuling''s staffmanship. While he seemed on the defensive, he counterattacked for every ten blows he defended against.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Tai Wuling frowned. Each of Yan Nie''s spear strikes pierced through his skin, revealing his glowing blood beneath. However, if he could not deal a decisive blow to Yan Nie, his wounds would accumulate to an irrevocable degree. He stored the White Iron Cudgel and started attacking with his bare fist. Qi of fire, water, earth, and wood covered his arms, forming a four-element gauntlet. After he stopped using his staff, not only did his offense not decrease, but it increased threefold. "Gah!" Yan Nie spat out a mouthful of saliva as Tai Wuling broke through his flame armor and embedded a fist into his stomach. Before Tai Wuling could take advantage of it and unleash an explosion inside Yan Nie''s body, the flame armor exploded, burning parts of Tai Wuling''s skin and hair. Tai Wuling retreated and tried to disperse the qi-consuming flames. An aura that shimmered between black and white appeared around Tai Wuling. This was the Eight Pillar Sect''s Yin-Yang Reversal Technique. The four-colored flames no longer devoured his qi, but neither did it disappear either. He had wanted to reverse the process, so the four-colored flame became his fuel instead of the other way around. Suddenly, warning bells exploded in Tai Wuling''s head. He turned toward the sword to see Yan Nie controlling five differently-colored fires. All five were truefires. One, as expected of fire, released a fiery aura, but the others were uncommon. A second exuded an aura of water despite the contrary nature, the third an aura of earth, the fourth an aura of wood, and the fifth an aura of metal. Streams from all five coalesced in front of Yan Nie into one flame of five colors. Just looking at the merger, Tai Wuling felt like something brushed against his heart, eluding him. However, what attracted his attention the most was the palpitations he felt. Tai Wuling was sure that if he took the attack head-on, he would likely die without even a complete corpse. He abandoned the Yin-Yang Reversal Technique and charged toward Yan Nie with reckless abandon. Yan Nie flew backward, away from Tai Wuling, but his speed was a snail''s pace compared to his previous speed. He flicked his fingers, and the blackened spear pierced through the unfinished five-colored flame, coating the spearhead and shooting toward Tai Wuling. Rings of smoke blasted from the spear as it shattered the sound barrier. Tai Wuling gritted his teeth. He knew that he would not be able to dodge, so he prepared for the worse. He reared his fist back and gathered all his qi into his fist. Red, black, yellow, and green merged into one color. Behind him, a floating arm and fist manifested. Its skin was the color of fire, its blood the color of water, its muscles the color of wood, and its nails the color of earth. Despite its appearance, the arm was not a martial manifestation but something akin to summoning from another dimension. "Hrah!" Tai Wuling yelled as he punched forward. Behind him, the floating arm followed suit. For a brief moment, the manifested fist and spear entered a stalemate. In the next second, cracks appeared all over the fist and spread to the arms, but the spear flew into the distance as if it was shot from a bow. Still, the fist continued on its trajectory toward Yan Nie, who resumed fusing the five truefires. As the fist continued onto its trajectory, a shoulder slowly materialized from the arm, albeit far more illusionary. Then, a torso and head appeared. The torso had four more stumps with missing arms, and its head was a perfect sphere that resembled the Wuxing Core in Tai Wuling''s sea of consciousness. But it had five eyes, each of a different color. The first fist gained an earthy yellow color. The second fist gained a fiery red color, the third gained a black watery color, and the fourth a woody green color. Anyone who gazed upon it would feel their heart palpitate and feel as if they were gazing at a supreme divinity. Yan Nie was no exception, but through sheer willpower, he shouldered on and completely fused the five truefires. "Go, Five Element World Incinerating Flame Mandala!" The five-colored flame formed a huge circular pattern, which shot forth toward Tai Wuling. Three more arms appeared from the stumps and punched toward the Five Element World Incinerating Mandala. Unlike with the spear, when the first fist punched the mandala, it caused the latter to shudder and stall, but the former directly shattered. The three other fists punched toward the Five Element World Incinerating Mandala too. The fire-coated fist crashed head-on and exploded, leaving a stump and weakening Yan Nie''s attack. The wood fist shriveled, transferring its power to the water fist instead of hitting the attack and fueling the mandala. When the third and final fist struck, boiling steam exploded, shrouding thousands of kilometers around it. Soon, Yan Nie''s domain evaporated the mist to reveal the divinity with five arms and a floating sphere for a head disappearing into the air, returning from wherever it was summoned. Yan Nie''s domain soon evaporated the steam, revealing the Five Element World Incinerating Mandala continuing on its trajectory toward Tai Wuling. Tai Wuling gritted his teeth as he fought the fatigue. The divine runes on his body no longer shone as brilliantly as before. Despite his best effort, he only managed to weaken Yan Nie''s Five Element World Incinerating Mandala by around fifty percent. In addition, he still had not expelled the four-colored flames burning his flesh. Tai Wuling fled as fast as he could, but the Five Element World Incinerating Mandala chased after him under Yan Nie''s control. Tai Wuling searched the domain for an escape route. His eyes shone when he spotted Xi Tianyi, and he charged over without a second thought. Xi Tianyi, who guessed his intentions, blinked. Then, the sphere of safety around him and the Buzhou Immortal Sect members slowly moved away. Tai Wuling cursed Xi Tianyi''s shamelessness and shouted. "Help! As allies, we should team up and get rid of this threat!" Tai Wuling shouted especially loudly, drawing the attention of those currently fighting. He just needed to use the alliance to pressure Xi Tianyi to help him. As he suspected, Xi Tianyi no longer retreated. Although he didn''t fly over, it was more than enough for him to reach Xi Tianyi before the Five Element World Incinerating Mandala reached him. Sparks erupted from the two''s gazes as they intersected. Tai Wuling only stopped and turned around after he was behind the Buzhou Immortal Sect members. He ignored their distrustful gaze and watched as to how Xi Tianyi would deal with it. Although he hated to admit it, Yan Nie''s Five Element World Incinerating Madala easily reached the threshold of a peak immortal monarch. Faced with such an attack, he wanted to see what trump cards Xi Tianyi had. However, he would be disappointed. Xi Tianyi raised his arms, and a black liquid flowed out from his sleeves. The liquid wasn''t pure black but contained infinite motes of light, as if it was torn from the night sky. The black liquid clashed against the Five Element World Incinerating Mandala. To Tai Wuling''s shock, the Five Element World Incinerating Mandala slowly shrunk as its energy was used up. It couldn''t display its signature effect of burning all things in the world to fuel itself in front of the strange water Xi Tianyi used. Yan Nie frowned as he stared at Xi Tianyi. He never expected his prized move would be dispelled so easily. If Xi Tianyi had used some sort of treasure, he would not have thought it strange. After all, he was the son of a Sword Sovereign, so it would not be strange for him to carry some wondrous artifact or talisman. "Divine Flame Monarch, let us assist you!" Yan Nie turned to see several immortal-level formations led by true immortals and composed of numerous earth immortals and transcending mortality saints from the Allbeast Sect backing him up. Xi Tianyi opened his mouth, but before words could come out, Jinshu, Jadewill, Southfist, Firefly, and Shadowbark stepped forward. They placed their hands on the jewel of the belt-shaped artifact Tianyi gifted them. Then, they crossed their arms into an X-shape before slashing outward to form a T-shape. """TRANSFORM!!""" all five shouted. Chapter 361: Five Phase Rangers When Tianyi saw Tai Wuling flying toward him, followed by the Five Element World Incinerating Mandala, he suppressed an audible groan. ''Come on, Yan Nie, where''s your power as the protagonist? You''re going to let Tai Wuling get away.'' Tai Wuling further aggravated Tianyi when he shouted, "Help! As allies, we should team up and get rid of this threat!" Tianyi almost attacked Tai Wuling then and there. And some parts of him regretted not acting on said impulse. As the Five Element World Incinerating Mandala flew toward him, he released the Cosmos Chaoswater bred inside his inner cosmos. The Cosmos Chaoswater was just an arbitrary name he came up with in the spur of the moment for the liquid he developed using his immortal essence, the Law of Water, the Law of Five Phases, and the materials of the Nine Heavens Universe. The Five Element World Incinerating Mandala clashed head-on against the Cosmos Chaoswater. Unlike when Tai Wuling attacked with whatever thing he summoned, steam was not released. Instead, the Cosmos Chaoswater acted almost like flames and consumed the Five Element World Incinerating Mandala. The amount of time it took for the Five Element World Incinerating Mandala to disappear exceeded Tianyi''s expectations but didn''t surprise him. If Yan Nie couldn''t accomplish this much against him, whose attack had firmly reached the immortal emperor threshold, he would have been sorely disappointed. Still, the situation devolved into a stand-off between the two sides. Tianyi planned to retreat. He was just here as insurance against possible betrayal the Eight Pillar Sect imposed. Strictly speaking, he only had to be present and didn''t need to do anything. Tianyi and the other Buzhou Immortal Sect members didn''t even need to throw a single punch or spell. However, it seemed Jadewill, Jinshu, and their lot had different ideas, ruining his plans. The five people, who Tianyi gifted the Five Element Morphers, stepped forward and activated them. In order to activate them, the user had to perform a specific sequence of pose and password while resonating their qi with the morphers. Radiant immortal qi of fire burst out of the Fire Element Morpher on Jinshu''s waist. The qi formed a fiery shroud that encapsulated his form and made him appear like a featureless doll. Jinshu started spinning, forming a fire tornado that shielded him from prying eyes. The same thing happened to the rest of the immortals with the Five Element Morphers but using their respective element instead of fire. Jadewill formed a whirlpool, Southfist created a sandstorm, Shadowbark unleashed a petal storm, and Fairy Firefly danced within a swirl of steel shards. The whirlpool of fire, water, sand, petal, and steel shards burst apart, transforming back to qi that dissolved in the air. All the onlookers finally had a good look at the five. Jinshu was clad in red armor with white accents. However, he now had a helmet in the shape of a crow''s head. Jadewill was much the same, except he had black instead of red and wore a helmet modeled after a turtle''s head. Southfist had a qilin-shaped helmet and wore yellow, while Shadowbark had green robes with a dragon-shaped helmet. Fairy Firefly''s robes were noticeably a female''s dress with pink highlights, and her head was covered in a tiger-shaped helmet that still allowed her hair to flow out. "Red Crow Ranger!" shouted Jinshu. "Black Turtle Ranger!" followed by Jadewill. "Yellow Qilin Ranger!" blasted Southfist. "Green Dragon Ranger!" softly said Shadowbark. "White Tiger Ranger!" Fairy Firefly coquettishly said. All the onlookers'' gazes condensed, especially Tai Wuling. Before, he could sense the five were true immortals. In the blink of an eye, they now exuded the aura of immortal monarchs. As their color and previous show expressed, each one exuded monarch-level qi of the respective element. Originally, he only thought Tianyi had the power of an immortal monarch, but out of nowhere, five more popped out. Was this one of the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s trump cards? An artifact that allowed true immortals to have the power of an immortal monarch? Could the same be accomplished for them to produce combatants with an immortal emperor''s power out of immortal monarchs? ''No, if they had such means, they would not have struggled so much with the Tripartite Alliance and Anti-Heaven Alliance. There must be some drawback!'' Tai Wuling concluded. He recalled the ritual the five performed and the artifacts worn around their waist. ''Since they relied on external means, one of the weaknesses must be energy. As long as the energy runs out, they won''t be able to display the power of a monarch anymore!'' Even the five who transformed using the Five Elemental Morphers gifted by Tianyi couldn''t help but marvel at their hands in awe of the welling power in their body. It was intoxicating. Of the five, Jadewill was the first to break out of the state. Power, not one''s own, wasn''t power at all. Yan Nie was the only one who had an abnormal reaction. He looked like he wanted to laugh, but the intense aura of the Five Phase Rangers prevented him from laughing. While everyone marveled at the situation, Tianyi distinctly felt a stare boring into him as if to ask, "really?" He tried really hard not to pay attention to Daoyi''s gaze. "I''m surprised you only made them shout their titles instead of adding some weird sentai poses," Daoyi said. Tiayi coughed into his fist and made a point not to look at her. "I hadn''t managed to program them into the morphers yet." "Wait, are you telling me that the reason they shouted those titles is because you programmed it into the artifacts and not because you instructed them to?" Daoyi stared at Tianyi for a good minute before finding her voice. "Don''t tell me you managed to build a combining mecha for them too." "I didn''t have enough resources or time," Tianyi belatedly said. "The belts are easy. Most of the energy is fueled by my Nine Heavens Universe, but I don''t have the resources to build a combining mecha."A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "So you did plan to," Daoyi said, almost like an accusation. "You know what I said about you surviving the apocalypse? I¡¯ll take that back." Tianyi had no words of refutation. While Tianyi and Daoyi conversed, the battle resumed. The tentatively named Five Phase Rangers charged and clashed with the Allbeast Sect''s War Formations. Jinshu was the first to attack. He pointed at one incoming immortal-level war formation and unleashed a colossal flamethrower. The Fire Element Morpher possessed the greatest firepower among the five, so when the fire touched the war formation, it halted the latter in its steps. The war formation gained a fiery red color and collapsed, the flame incinerating the sole true immortal and other participants. Next, Jadewill flashed forward in front of the attacks of three war formations. He raised both arms forward and produced a giant hexagonal barrier of water. Of the Five Phase Rangers, the Black Turtle Ranger possessed the strongest shield. The three attacks slammed into the water barrier, but although the barrier deformed, it held firm. Not only did it hold, but it returned to its normal shape and negated the three attacks. "My turn!" Southfist shouted. The Yellow Qilin Ranger possessed the sturdiest physical capabilities of the five. Southfist reared his fist back and charged at the closest war formation. His very movement caused a sonic boom from breaking the sound barrier. Southfist punched through the center of one War Formation, leaving a gaping hole that soon led to its collapse. "Hah!" However, he had forgotten about the other two war formations. They closed in on him, vengeance in their gaze. Southfist crossed his arms in front of his torso in preparation to defend. "Crap." The two war formations suddenly halted in their movements. Moments later, tree branches and roots burst out of them, with the bark coated in the blood of the cultivators that formed the war formations. A shadow-clad figure appeared next to Southfist out of nowhere. "You shouldn''t lose your head and let yourself be controlled by this power. Master it, and make it your own." When Tianyi created the Wood Element Morpher, he not only infused it with the Law of Wood, but also his insights into the Law of Life and the Law of Death. As such, it suited Shadowbark well, who gained insights into the concepts under the Law of Darkness, such as the Concept of Shadow, allowing him to conceal his presence. "Sorry, I just never expected to be able to wield a monarch''s power so quickly," Southfist said. "What about Firefly, she''s probably worse than me, right? Right?" Shadowbark didn''t say anything and stared into the distance. Southfist followed his gaze. "Oh, come on!" The White Tiger Ranger didn''t possess the firepower of the Red Crow Ranger, the defense of the Black Turtle Ranger, the powerful physique of the Yellow Qilin Ranger, or the regenerative abilities of the Green Dragon Ranger. Instead, she possessed the greatest cutting ability. Three long, sharp claws formed of immortal qi of metal grew out of her knuckles. With each wave, she slashed through every war formation she came across, laughing in delight all while doing so. However, before Fairy Firefly''s rampage could continue for long, a black spear slammed into her and knocked her hundreds of meters away and into the ground. She floated back into the air while cradling her solar plexus. Yan Nie''s spear bruised her abdomen, but it didn''t pierce her ranger robes. In less than a second, the other Five Phase Rangers appeared next to her as they stared at Yan Nie, the Divine Flame Monarch. Yan Nie frowned and readied his spear again. He had already dissipated his flame domain. Although it was useful, it took too much willpower to differentiate between friend and foe. He wasn''t only staring at the Five Phase Ranger but Tianyi too, in case the latter attacked. Among all the immortals present, he was the wariest of Tianyi for how easily he dealt with his prized Five Element World Incinerating Mandala. Tianyi, for his part, frowned. He raised an arm at Yan Nie, intending to join the fray, but Jadewill shouted, "Senior Brother, leave him to us!" He watched as the Five Phase Rangers clashed with Yan Nie. Tianyi pursed his lips. ''I should have waited to give you those morphers, even if it gave me a good show. Yan Nie isn''t the enemy you should be focusing on.'' Regardless of his intent, the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s true immortals started fighting against the Allbeast Sect''s war formations and true immortals. Daoyi took a look and said, "I''m going to join. War is the best time for me to reap souls without consequences." Even to Tianyi, Daoyi''s presence turned faint. To others, her presence must become completely undetectable. Daoyi took out her Nine Nether Note Guqin and began to play the Eighteen Songs of Hell - Sixteenth Song Volcanic Bedevilment. She used a low note so that only the true immortals could barely detect her song, but even if the unity venerables, saints, or earth immortals couldn''t hear it, it didn''t stop Volcanic Bedevilment''s effect. Without warning, most of the immortal-level war formations collapsed as the cultivators who formed them went berserk. Friend or foe, it didn''t matter. The berserk cultivators attacked everyone in their sights like rabid beasts, relying solely on their bodies. As time passed, some of the weaker-willed true immortals also showed signs of growing berserk. Most might not notice, but Tianyi could see the departed souls of all the dead congregating around Daoyi, who absorbed it into her gourd-shaped artifact. Tianyi had to shiver at how easily Daoyi reaped the souls of so many cultivators. Well, not that he had any right to talk, considering that his body count was likely far higher than hers. He turned toward Tai Wuling and coldly said, "What? Now that we started to help, you think you can just sit back and reap the reward?" "Don''t worry, I know how to pull my weight," Tai Wuling said with a snort. Soon, the White Iron Cudgel returned in his hands, and he returned to the battle. He avoided the battle between Yan Nie and the Five Phase Rangers. In the battle between the Five Phase Rangers and Yan Nie, the latter had already resorted to forming a second Five Element World Incinierating Mandala. Jadewill and the others had already seen how devastating Yan Nie''s attack was. Although Tianyi easily dealt with it, it didn''t mean they could replicate the same feat, even in their current state. "Everyone, let''s use the ultimate combination attack!" Jinshu, Southfist, Shadowbard, and Fairy Firefly all nodded. The five formed a circle around each other. The immortal qi of fire floated out of Jinshu''s body and flowed into Southfist. Southfist expelled immortal qi of earth that flowed into Fairy Firefly. From earth to metal, metal to water, water to wood, and wood to fire. A sable sphere appeared in the space between the five of them, created from the interaction of the five elements. This sphere was made of immortal qi of primordial chaos, Tianyi''s signature energy. It started growing, and as it did so, tiny starlight flickered from it. Once it reached its peak size, Yan Nie also finished merging the five true fires, and both sides shot their attacks simultaneously. "Five Element World Incinerating Mandala!" """Supreme Chaos Cannon!!!""" Tianyi watched, interested in what the clash would result in, and ready to step in to save their lives in case any of them entered a perilous situation. However, someone spoiled his mood. "Spawn of Xi, go to hell!" Tianyi cast an annoyed glance toward the source of the sound. ''Wait, that sounds familiar.'' Chapter 362: Absolute A lion-shaped war formation exuding a lofty aura released a bestial roar as it charged toward the Eight Pillar Sect''s war formation and tore it apart with its claws. True immortals and mortal cultivators alike died as claw light sliced them into shreds. Inside the Suanni War Formation, Monarch Whitelion bared his teeth and let out a guttural growl. His beast-like pupils zeroed in on his next target. Another Eight Pillar Sect war formation fell to his claws. Suddenly, two massive signatures of energy attracted his attention. In terms of pure energy, it nearly reached the level of the immortal emperor threshold. Focusing his gaze, he saw the Divine Flame Monarch and five helmet-wearing immortals of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Call it a beast''s instinct, but he never liked the Divine Flame Monarch. Even so, Monarch Whitelion had to admit that the Divine Flame Monarch deserved his current fame. However, another thing attracted his attention as a wave of shame washed over him. His pupils shrunk into needle points and exuded a fearsome light. Without warning, he abandoned his position and charged toward his target, all the while releasing a feral cry. "Spawn of Xi, go to hell!" Monarch Whitelion noticed Xi Tianyi noticing him, but it was far too late. The Suanni War Formation opened its mouth and swallowed the bastard. Then, the Divine Flame Monarch''s Five Element World Incinerating Mandala clashed against the Five Phase Rangers'' Supreme Chaos Cannon. The resulting explosion produced a burst of energy solidly at the immortal emperor level. Not even an emperor-level war formation like the Suanni War Formation could hold its ground at such a close distance. The blast sent it off into the distance. When the resulting clash ended, a vast crater of absolute destruction revealed itself. All life within the crater had perished. At the very edge of the crater, the Divine Flame Monarch lay on the ground, bruised and battered, bleeding from numerous wounds. His robes, an immortal-rank defensive artifact, had been torn asunder from the clash. In contrast, all five of the Five Phase Rangers were in far betters states. Although their armor had cracks littered throughout, the blast did not tear them apart like the Divine Flame Monarch''s robes. Furthermore, they still brimmed with energy. Behind the Five Phase Rangers, the Buzhou Immortal Sect members within the blast radius were all staring around either in shock or stupor. Miraculously, none of the Buzhou Immortal Sect members died in the blast, a great contrast to the Allbeast Sect''s casualties. The Five Phase Rangers clenched their hands as they stared at the defenseless Divine Flame Monarch. Jadewill pointed at the downed monarch, "Everyone, this is our chance. Kill the Divine Flame Monarch now!" As the Five Phase Rangers charged forward, a roar drew their attention. The Suanni War Formation started running amok as a black blotch appeared on its abdomen. Seconds later, a black sphere broke through the golden skin and flew toward the Five Phase Rangers. The Five Phase Rangers raised their guard but soon lowered it when the black sphere dispersed to reveal Xi Tianyi. "Senior Brother!" Jadewill and his fellow disciples called out in joy. They had thought something had happened to him in the clash, and they were blaming themselves.
''Thank god I made it,'' Tianyi thought. "You guys should retreat." "What, why? We feel fine. Even if the armor is damaged, we can continue and kill the Divine Flame Monarch," Jadewill questioned, expressing the rangers'' doubts. "This is the best chance." Tianyi suppressed a vein from bulging. As the creator and energy source of the Five Element Morphers, he was clearer than anyone about the damages. Like they said, they could kill Yan Nie if they really rushed forward, but he didn''t want that. "No, it''s not. Your morphers are running low on energy, and your transformation will soon dissolve. Unless you want to break them, it''s better to stop now." As if to prove his words, the Five Phase Rangers felt the energy flow within the morphers slow and start to dwindle. "But this is the best chance to kill him now." Tianyi thought fast. Suddenly, he pointed at Yan Nie. "Do you really think he''s injured? It''s nothing but a ploy to lower your guard and retaliate." "What?!" Jadewill and the others cried out. Tianyi nodded. He stared at Yan Nie and shouted, "Why don''t you stop pretending?" Yan Nie lay prone on the ground, but after a few seconds, he stood up again. Flames engulfed but disappeared seconds later to reveal a perfectly healed man sans the robes. ''For reals? I was just making stuff up on the fly,'' Tianyi thought. Upon closer inspection, he sensed that Yan Nie was actually running low on energy and had yet to return to his peak like he had shown. Not that he would tell Jinshu, Jadewill, and the others. As Yan Nie stood there, staring at Tianyi and the Five Phase Rangers, he furrowed his brows. He glanced next to him as the Suanni War Formation stood by his side. "Retreat," Monarch Whitelion said. "You should retreat and focus on recovering your qi. In your current state, you''re useless." Although Monarch Whitelion''s words sounded harsh, it was the truth. Yan Nie clenched his hand and flew away toward the core of the Allbeast Sect. He recalled the first time he had seen Tianyi. Back then, he was just a little kid whose feet couldn''t even reach the ground when sitting on a chair. Laughably, he had accused Pan Lanyue of cozying up to Tianyi. Yan Nie thought that with all his adventures, blood, sweat, and tears, he would have finally caught up. Even if Tianyi reached the Seamless Immortal Realm before him, he soon caught up. With the advantages of the Divine Flame Mantra, he feared no one in the Seamless Immortal Realm. Yet, why did he feel such a sense of loss right now? It''s not like he and Tianyi ever fought, so where did it come from?Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Tanyi watched as Yan Nie left with an internal sigh of relief. He turned toward Jadewill and the others. "Leave. This battlefield is no longer something you can participate in." "We can''t, Senior Brother!" Jadewill said. "That war formation is at the emperor level. We can''t let you fight it alone. Even if we die, we''ll fight together." Tianyi was speechless. Why did Jadewill and the others not listen to him? He decisively cut off the qi supporting the Five Element Morphers, causing the five to revert to their normal states. "See? In this state, you can''t help." Jadewill bit his lips until they drew blood. He understood that he was only a burden to Tianyi in his current state. He vowed that it would never happen again, but for now, he could only acquiesce to reality. "Let''s go." Although the other four were unwilling, they followed Jadewill into a safe distance, but their eyes never left Tianyi. ''Finally. I don''t have to focus on protecting them,'' Tianyi thought. He turned and focused on Monarch Whitelion and the Suanni War Formation he controlled. "Hmpf," Monarch Whitelion sneered. "Suiciding, eh? Taking the coward''s way out, I see." Tianyi frowned. "What are you talking about?" His reply only seemed to spur Monarch Whitelion on. ¡°You can stop pretending now. It''s obvious. All the immortals from the Buzhou Immortal Sect lived, all except your wife." "What? What are you talking about, she''s right¡ª" Tianyi snapped his mouth shut. Right, Daoyi concealed her presence with the Law of Death. Good to know that not even an immortal emperor-level war formation could detect her. Seeing Tianyi fall silent, Monarch Whitelion pounced. The Suanni War Formation bellowed, unleashing a sonic blast as it swiped its paw toward him. Lightning burst from Tianyi''s body. Like their previous bout, Tianyi formed a lightning giant out of Five Element Lightning. It and the Suanni War Formation clashed, but it was pushed back, an obvious disadvantage. The Suanni War Formation opened its maw and bit the lightning giant, taking a chunk of its shoulder. It swallowed, and lightning arced across its body. Tianyi raised an eyebrow. It seemed the Suanni War Formation possessed the ability to devour the energy of whatever it bit. The lightning giant and war formation continued to duke it out, but it was obvious the emperor-level war formation held the upper hand. Although the lightning giant held up admirably against the Allbeast Sect''s war formation, composed of a single monarch and ninety true immortals, it eventually fell onto its back. The Suanni War Formation held the lightning giant down by placing a paw on its chest. Its head neared the giant''s face and gave an ugly smile. "Hear that? Those are the cries of your sect members. They will forever ingrain your death into their minds. That''s the price of overstepping your bounds and interfering with the Earth Continent''s war!" Tianyi snorted. The Suanni War Formation opened its jaws, and light appeared in the back of its throat. An enormous amount of energy was condensing, ready to be unleashed at any moment. But just as it prepared to deal the finishing blow, the lightning giant turned entirely black and exploded. The next thing Monarch Whitelion knew, he was floating in a boundless space of darkness, with countless glittering stars in the distance. "Where is this? The Vast Void?" "No." The Suanni War Formation snapped his head to see Tianyi standing indifferently in the distance. "It''s just inside the Chaos Refining Formation. Although it''s been a while since I last used this," Tianyi smiled. "I didn''t want to reveal my strength for all outsiders to see." Monarch Whitelion had an ominous premonition. Tianyi appeared the same as before, unable to be detected, but the air current changed. Danger lurked in the air. Tianyi suddenly disappeared, causing Monarch Whitelion to look all over for him. "Over here." Monarch Whitelion turned to see Tianyi standing right next to the war formation''s head. Tianyi released a punch, a single punch that seemed so inconsequential because of the size difference between the two entities. But when the punch landed, the Suanni War Formation was launched thousands of meters away. The immortals occupying the space in the head, including Monarch Whitelion, all spat a mouthful of blood. They stared at Tianyi in horror. "You! You''re not a monarch but a martial emperor, aren''t you!?" Tianyi shrugged, something like that. He opened his arms. "Now, show me an emperor war formation''s power. It''s been a good while since I could fight like this without exposing my strength." Monarch Whitelion didn''t know why a two-hundred-year-old brat could reach the Extremity Immortal Realm¡ªhell, not even the Huang Realm''s sole immortal sovereign had reached this height at his age¡ªbut he didn''t have time to think. He would have to utilize everything just to survive and bring the news back to the Anti-Earth Alliance. The Suanni War Formation''s aura drastically rose, followed by its bulk. It gave a ferocious roar as a long blade composed of immortal qi of metal condensed from its claws. This was Monarch Whitelion''s strongest technique, the Sole Claw Slash. The war formation slashed forward, sending the blade flying toward his foe. Tianyi didn''t dodge and raised a hand, forming a black barrier in front of him. "Impudent fool. Not even an immortal emperor would take this attack lightly. Well, even if you dodge, it would still follow¡ª." Monarch Whitelion''s words were caught in his throat as he saw his Sole Claw Slash halt in its advancement, unable to make any progress. Although it whirled and screeched, it was unable to break through Tianyi''s barrier. Moments later, it expended all its energy and disappeared. No, it was dissolved into pure qi. When the black barrier disappeared, Tianyi raised his hand and made a clawing motion. Five blades, each one over a thousand meters long, the color of red, black, yellow, green, and white, appeared over his hand. "I can do it too." Tianyi slashed forward, sending the five elemental blades at the Suanni War Formation. The Suanni War Formation tried to dodge, but the blades homed in on him. Finally, it formed a metallic barrier. Monarch Whitelion''s eyes widened as he felt the crushing strength of the five blades. Each one was as profound or exquisite as his own, but they contained overwhelming energy and power. The barrier couldn¡¯t last, and all five blades struck the war formation. Over ten true immortals instantly died, and over half became gravely injured. Monarch Whitelion gritted his teeth. The Suanni War Formation turned tail and fled, but Tianyi suddenly appeared in front and punched. The Suanni War Formation careened thousands of meters. "Don''t tell me that''s all you have? I''ll tell you right now, don''t think about escaping. It''s impossible without defeating me first. Well, technically, you could at first, but it''s too late now. Not even a bona fide immortal emperor can escape me now." Monarch Whitelion stared at Tianyi. Although he didn''t want to believe it, his instincts told him Tianyi did not lie. "I have no choice." He took out a spiritual beast storage treasure, and out came eight half-monarch lion-shaped spiritual beasts. His eight contracted spiritual beasts merged with the Suanni War Formation, making it grow eight more heads. Simultaneously, the war formation''s energy intensity drastically rose. "Xi Tianyi, I admit I should not have underestimated you, don''t think you won''t pay a price to kill me!" Monarch Whitelion yelled as he prepared to face death. Five long blades formed of immortal qi of metal grew from each limb, giving a total of twenty. From the distance, Tianyi showed a disappointed expression. Although the power of the qi rose, it did not mean Monarch Whitelion''s comprehension had risen too. For him who had access to essence, the Suanni War Formation might as well have done nothing. Tianyi closed his palm around each other as if to compress something. Simultaneously, the Suanni War Formation felt it had been shackled in place, and the world itself was crushing it. "Planetary Purgatory." Chapter 363: Allbeast Sects Fall The nine-headed war formation struggled against the crushing pressure from all sides. Qi at the immortal emperor level rolled off the Suanni Formation, but it was useless as space compressed around it. Monarch Whitelion roared as he tried to break out of the shackles. He used every trick he could, even ordering his spiritual beasts to burn their souls and blood essence for a massive power boost, but it did nothing. His eyes glared at Tianyi, and he blinked. Tianyi''s figure was growing larger and larger. It wasn''t that he conjured a giant of lightning or any other element, but his body was actually enlarging. At least to Monarch Whitelion''s eyes. He didn''t have time to ponder as each second wasted brought him closer to the cessation of his existence. From Tianyi''s perspective, he watched as the Suanni War Formation and the space surrounding it shrank until it comfortably fit in his palm. Once in his grasp, Tianyi squeezed, and the nine-headed lion started to deform. When he squeezed, it didn''t just represent his own arm strength but the crushing pressure from the whole Nine Heavens Universe. Tianyi had silently transferred the Allbeast Sect''s members while they were occupied. Once inside his inner universe, their fates had been sealed. In fact, Tianyi wanted to temper himself against Monarch Whitelion and the Suanni War Formation. However, his body and qi far outstripped them, so the only thing they could compete in was comprehension. He just never expected that his own comprehension exceeded Monarch Whitelion, a monarch with over a hundred thousand years of experience. Was Monarch Whitelion just too useless and untalented, or was he too talented? Tianyi didn''t know, and he didn''t care at this moment. He increased the crushing force, and in a crisp crackle, the Suanni War Formation and all those within shattered into countless shards. They disappeared as the Nine Heavens Universe absorbed them. ''Is this considered cannibalism? I mean, my body is quite literally absorbing them,'' Tianyi idly thought. Ultimately, he decided that as long as he didn''t devour them through his mouth, it would not count. Tianyi waved his hand, and space contorted. A moment later, the contorted space formed an exact copy of him, only it visibly exuded a weak aura. Anyone who saw this version of Tianyi would think he was gravely injured. He held his chin and looked at his weak self, "I''m forgetting something. He snapped his fingers. He looked at his copy and the pristine robes. The aura was right, but the clothing was wrong. ''Luckily I kept my battered robes from when I traveled to the Broken Primordial World.'' After his ''injured'' copy wore the broken immortal artifacts, he disappeared from the Nine Heavens Universe.
Tai Wuling''s face twisted into an angry snarl. When the Suanni War Formation was about to defeat Xi Tianyi, the latter''s lightning giant suddenly exploded into a mass of black qi. The black qi formed a giant sphere that caught the attention of all. He thought this was Xi Tianyi''s last-ditch attempt at survival, but reality proved him wrong. It wasn¡¯t like the black sphere collapsed or anything. The Allbeast Sect members attempted to penetrate it. An immortal-level war formation attempted to punch and break it, but all it got was death for its trouble. Whatever touched the black sphere would become corroded by the black qi. The war formation had broken, and the cultivators unlucky to be touched by black qi were dissolved into nothingness. Next, a monarch-level war formation cast several spells, but without fail, the spell sunk into the black sphere without even making it ripple. Even under a constant barrage of spells from immortal and monarch-level formations, nothing fazed it. Perhaps an emperor-level war formation would have been able to break the black sphere, but all of them were engaged in battle against the Eight Pillar Sect''s war formations. And, they were losing. Since the Allbeast Sect''s war formations couldn''t break Xi Tianyi''s formation, they focused on the Buzhou Immortal Sect members. They descended down on them like a pack of wolves. Realizing that he could no longer use the Buzhou Immortal Sect as a shield, Tai Wuling made plans to hide and recover his strength to win the war. At the very least, the Buzhou Immortal Sect would be useful to shave the Allbeast Sect''s power down in place of the Eight Pillar Sect. If they died, they could only blame their own weakness, which would also be a good result for the Eight Pillar Sect. After all, Tai Wuling still hadn''t forgotten the sect''s objective. Just as he was about to sink into the ground, Tai Wuling noticed Jadewill, Jinshu, Southfist, Shadowbark, and Fairy Fireflow flying to meet the sole monarch war formation. He sneered. ''Do they think they could actually match monarchs? Now that their artifacts have lost their effectiveness, they''re just bugs anyone can step on and kill at any time.'' Against Tai Wuling''s expectation, Jadewill, Jinshu, Southfist, Shadowbark, and Fairy Firefly transformed into the Five Phase Rangers once more. Although their armor still had cracks, their aura was solidly at the monarch level. The situation developed differently than Tai Wuling expected. Instead of the Buzhou Immortal Sect getting suppressed and slaughtered, it was the other way around, especially when the Allbeast Sect''s war formations started going berserk again for no reason. Tai Wuling gnashed his teeth together. He had an inkling as to what caused the war formations to go berserk, that damn tune! He hadn''t noticed it at first, but after honing his senses, he heard that song. Spreading his immortal sense, Tai Wuling attempted to discover the source of the sound, but he couldn''t. Neither did he have the time, as the black sphere Xi Tianyi produced suddenly popped, splashing the corrosive black qi everywhere. The black qi contaminated both the Allbeast Sect and Buzhou Immortal Sect members. However, only the Allbeast Sect suffered for it, while the black qi just dripped off the Buzhou Immortal Sect members.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. None of that mattered to Tai Wuling. What mattered was the result of the battle between Xi Tianyi and the Suanni War Formation. To his gloom, only Xi Tianyi appeared while the emperor-level war formation disappeared. ''He must have used a treasure bequeathed by the Sword Sovereign. Otherwise, there''s no way he could have defeated an emperor war formation!'' Tai Wuling maliciously thought. Upon closer observation, Tai Wuling noticed that Xi Tianyi was not unharmed. Although he had no visible injuries, his robes were in tatters, and his aura flickered weakly. Tai Wuling did not doubt that even a venerable had the power to kill Tianyi in his current state. The impulse to kill Xi Tianyi suddenly filled his head and heart, causing Tai Wuling to almost act on it. Before he could, a blue-robed figure appeared next to Tianyi. Jiang Daoyi held Tianyi protectively in her embrace while a guqin floated next to her. Tai Wuling narrowed his eyes. He had thought Jiang Daoyi died after she did not reappear from the clash of the Five Phase Rangers'' Supreme Chaos Cannon and the Divine Flame Monarch''s Five Element World Incinerating Mandala. Still, that did not mean he was happy to see her. He had lost all pity and empathy for her the moment she colluded with Xi Tianyi for the events inside the Yellow Mausoleum. Furthermore, the moment she appeared, the concealed tune disappeared. Tai Wuling knew no one from the Eight Pillar Sect was the cause of the war formations going berserk, and it was only more impossible for Allbeast Sect to sabotage themselves. Adding the fact that he had secretly made a note on all the Buzhou immortal Sect immortals present, only Jiang Daoyi could be the culprit behind the ghastly tune. Her ability to disrupt war formations made her incredibly problematic, perhaps even more so than Tianyi. Although he was against killing women, Tai Wuling had to admit he was tempted. Before he could act on the thought, Jiang Daoyi suddenly shouted, "Elder Nine Heavens, hurry and teleport us back. Tianyi''s injured and needs immediate medical attention!" Tai Wuling felt the space around the battlefield twist and distort. Before he knew it, Xi Tianyi, Jiang Daoyi, and the rest of the Buzhou Immortal Sect members disappeared. He clenched his hands, regretting not acting on his first impulse. "Next time, you won''t be so lucky because we''ll be meeting soon on the battlefield as opponents."
Monarch Pathway frowned when he sensed spatial fluctuance from the teleportation formations. He turned and saw Monarch Nine Heavens walking forward, spatial fluctuation also emanating from him. He wondered what had happened. According to the plan, the immortals should return much later. Monarch Pathway''s thoughts couldn''t help but drift toward the worst possibility, betrayal. His body tensed as his gaze on Monarch Nine Heavens intensified, ready to take action at a moment''s notice. When a group of immortals appeared inside the teleportation formation, Monarch Pathway relaxed slightly. It was Xi Tianyi, and the other immortals dispatched to the Allbeast Sect. Although Xi Tianyi returning early was against the plan, it did not mean anything too horrible. If something had happened, he would have received a transmission from immortals attacking the Allbeast Sect. Monarch Pathway''s gaze focused on Xi Tianyi. Upon sensing the foreign monarch''s weakened state, crooked thoughts appeared in his mind. If he could hold Xi Tiany hostage, that''d be a major leverage over the Buzhou Immortal Sect and, more importantly, Sword Sovereign Xi Mengfei. As soon as he had that thought, Monarch Pathway felt the specter of death looming over him. Glancing toward the source, he saw Monarch Nine Heavens staring straight at him. One wrong move, and he would be sent to the Nether Realm. Monarch Pathway smiled. "It seems Monarch Xi is in dire need of aid. Do you need the Eight Pillar Sect''s alchemist?" Monarch Nine Heavens snorted. "No need." He took Xi Tianyi and left with the other Buzhou Immortal Sect members. This act only cemented the intimate relationship between the two monarchs in Monarch Pathway''s mind. He glanced toward one of his assistants. "Send someone to look after them and make sure they don''t do anything out of the norm." Precautions still had to be taken. Monarch Pathway folded his hands behind his back and waited to hear of the operation''s success. The first to come back was the group dispatched to the Allbeast Sect. Monarch Nine Heavens had returned by this point to oversee the teleportation formation. The second group to return was from the Six Finger Sect. Their casualty was slightly higher than the group from the Allbeast Sect, but the plundered resources more than made up for it. However, Monarch Pathway''s good mood did not last long. The anticipation of hearing from the groups dispatched to the Goldlight Sect and Yangsource turned to dread as the teleportation formation remained inactive. The final nail in the coffin came from Monarch Nine Heavens. "The teleportation formation around the Goldlight Sect and Yangsource Sect have been destroyed." All blood disappeared from Monarch Pathway''s face. Their strategy had failed. If just one more group had returned, then it would have been much more acceptable. He could already see the future battles becoming much harder. Forget about laying traps for the Buzhou Immortal Sect, the existence of the Eight Pillar Sect was at risk!
Yan Nie sat silently in the grand hall of the Extremity Night Sect. The old friend his master, Monarch Pillrabbit, had spoken about turned out to be the grand elder of the Extremity Night Sect, Eternal Night Emperor! It was through the Eternal Night Emperor''s aid that his master was able to regain his physical form and become an immortal monarch. This was also why Yan Nie became a champion of the Anti-Earth Alliance''s crusade against the Eight Pillar Sect. Since his participation, Yan Nie has successfully completed mission after mission. The Allbeast Sect''s defense was the first time he had lost so catastrophically. It wasn''t just the Allbeast Sect that had been attacked but the Six Finger Sect, Goldlight Sect, and Yangsource Sect. Like the Allbeast Sect, the Six Finger Sect had been destroyed, but the Goldlight Sect and Yangsource Sect had managed to turn the situation against the Eight Pillar Sect and kill them without losing much manpower. The meeting Yan Nie attended discussed the course of action the Anti-Earth Alliance should take next. The end result was that they would continue with the battle northwest, regardless of what happened. He couldn''t help but notice that the voice was much more united than before. ''What if the Eternal Night Emperor planned on destroying the Six Finger Sect and Allbeast Sect?'' Yan Nie thought darkly. "Yan Nie, is something wrong?" Yan Nie looked up at his master. While he was stuck in his thoughts, the meeting had already finished. "No, it''s nothing," Yan Nie said. How could he tell his master that he suspected the Eternal Night Emperor secretly backstabbed his allies? "I was just thinking about Xi Tianyi?" Monarch Pillrabbit''s expression turned strange. "What''s wrong with Xi Tianyi? Don''t tell me you to want to kill him?" Now it was Yan Nie''s turn to look at Monarch Pillrabbit strangely. "Why would I do that? I mean, of course, we are enemies, but it''s not like I have a personal grievance against him. I just find it strange." Yan Nie frowned, not noticing Monarch Pillrabbit''s sigh of relief. "Actually, the way Xi Tianyi left the battle was kind of strange. The spatial fluctuation I felt seemed to have come from Xi Tianyi himself. Master, might Xi Tianyi be at the cusp of mastering the Law of Space or already mastered it?" Monarch Pillrabbit stayed silent. Finally, he opened his mouth, "You should keep this thought to yourself and never speak of it to anyone. Not even Pan Lanyue or Yun Xialan." Chapter 364: Aftermath A gloomy air pervaded the main hall, where all the critical decisions of the Eight Pillar Sect were made, and all the upper echelons were present. There were two abnormal circumstances inside. One was the presence of Monarch Nine Heavens of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, and the second was Emperor Infinity''s attendance. "What do you have to say for yourself!?" an immortal monarch questioned Ba Shifang, who was acting as Tianyi''s alternate identity. Ba Shifang internally grumbled, but he still calmly asked, "What do I have to say? What should I say?" This answer caused the immortal monarch''s nostril to flair. He looked to be able to spew fire from them at any moment. "Our casualties at the Goldlight Sect and Yangsource Sect. You were in charge of the teleportation formations. Why didn''t you notice the danger and teleport them back." Ba Shifang sneered. "If I recall correctly, wasn''t it you guys who requested that I make keys for the teleportation formation, one for the sender and the other for the sent? Since I can only control the sender key, the sent key must be activated." "Don''t act coy, who knows what underhanded tricks you added," the immortal monarch pushed. "Hmpf, your sect has produced monarchs that specialized in the Law of Space. Even if none of you are capable of utilizing it now, I don''t believe you don''t have extensive records and double, or even triple-checked the formations. How could I tamper with them? Unless you are saying that you are so woefully incompetent?" An aura of fiery yang erupted from the immortal monarch, and he seemed a moment''s notice away from launching himself at Ba Shifang. Ba Shifang didn''t show any weakness and exuded a dense spatial aura, one that reached the peak of the Seamless Immortal Realm, a fifth-step immortal monarch''s aura. The sect master of the Eight Pillar Sect, Monarch Pathway, secretly raised his guard. For Monarch Nine Heavens to display the cultivation base of a fifth-step immortal monarch only confirmed the rumors that he was an ancient true immortal with deep accumulations before becoming an immortal monarch. "Besides, I only set up the teleportation formation. It was your forces that died to those two first-rate sects," Ba Shifang continued. "Shouldn''t you seek the problem from your end instead of blaming an outsider?" "Hmpf, an outsider who has every reason and means to rat us out," the immortal monarch said. Ba Shifang snorted. "Don''t think I¡¯m stupid. You monitor me every moment within the sect. Even outside, you use that annoying Eight War Mirror to peek at me." The Eight Pillar Sect''s immortal monarch gritted his teeth, "Don''t think I''ve forgotten about Xi Tianyi returning early." "Repeating old tricks, I see," Ba Shifang said. "In the Yellow Mausoleum, your sect''s Tai Wuling used Immortal Jiang as a decoy to escape from the Divine Flame Monarch. In the Allbeast Sect, he repeated the same trick, leading Monarch Xi to engage an immortal emperor-level war formation as an end result. It''s blatantly obvious that Tai Wuling wants to harm us, yet we stayed silent on his lenient punishment." In the crowd, Tai Wuling bristled. He wanted to shout that Monarch Nine Heavens was just spewing nonsense, but one look from Monarch Pathway silenced him. "Fine, since you''re insincere in your cooperation, then I''ll leave!" Ba Shifang turned, waving his sleeve in the process. "Please hold on, fellow Daoist," Emperor Infinity spoke at this moment. "Elder Yanglight was overcome by the grief from the loss of his descendant and the loss to the Eight Pillar Sect. That''s why he couldn''t help but vent." Ba Shifang turned his head and snorted. "And he used me as a convenient target? Doesn''t he know that if he doesn''t have anything useful to say, he should shut up? In either case, I can''t see any sincerity from the Eight Pillar Sect. Since I''ve already accomplished what I was asked, it''s time for the other immortals and me to return to the Heaven Continent." Emperor Infinity glanced at Monarch Pathway, and he nodded. Monarch Pathway quickly rushed up and half-blocked Ba Shifang. With an almost fawning smile, he said, "Fellow Daoist, we''ll admit it''s our fault this time. We''ll definitely show our sincerity." "What? By pairing us with Tai Wuling again so that he has another chance to harm us?" Ba Shifang mocked. Monarch Pathway''s expression stiffened for a moment, and he couldn''t help but glance at Tai Wuling, who had an ugly expression. "No, definitely not. I can swear to the Heavenly Dao that this incident won''t repeat itself." Finally, Ba Shifang appeared mollified and turned around as if to return to his spot. However, he glanced toward Monarch Yanglight. "But it seems that some of your people disagree. If I continue working with the Eight Pillar Sect, a few others can''t help but backstab the Buzhou Immortal Sect." This time, Monarch Pathway''s expression remained that same fawning expression. "How can that be?" He turned toward Monarch Yanglight with a warning in his eyes. Monarch Yanglight gritted his teeth, but he forced himself to cup his hands and kneel to Ba Shifang. His veins throbbed all over his body as his body was physically rejecting that act. "My apologies to Monarch Nine Heavens. Grief had clouded my mind, please don''t quibble with someone like me."This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Ba Shifang hummed, "That remains to be seen. Once my usefulness is over, who knows what you plan to do? But enough of small matters, I know it''s impossible for two hegemonic sects to cooperate honestly. If you plan to use my service, there must be a price to pay." When Ba Shifang said those words, he stared straight at Emperor Infinity. Emperor Infinity''s expression didn''t change, as if Ba Shifang''s impudence hadn''t bothered him. With a wave of his hand, a violet lotus crackled with electricity in his palm. "Although Monarch Xi majors in the laws of the five elements, I see that he has some accomplishment in the Law of Lightning. I have in my possession a Violetroar Thunder Lotus. Although it cannot compare to the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus that recently appeared, it should be sufficiently suited for Monarch Xi." Emperor Infinity waved his hand, and the lotus flew to Ba Shifang. "I believe this is enough to show our sincerity." "I''m sure the sting of betrayal from Tai Wuling will sting less with this," Ba Shifang said as he stored it. "However, this is far from enough for my services." Tai Wuling clenched his fingers as he watched Monarch Nine Heavens fleece more treasures and resources from the Eight Pillar Sect. He felt his face flush with humiliation as the stares of his fellow sect members pierced his back, placing the fault of the deteriorating situation on him. He endured, endured it until Monarch Nine Heavens was satisfied with the price and even vowed to summon more monarchs from the Buzhou Immortal Sect as aid. Finally, when the meeting was over, he quickly left, with Yang Linyin following after him. Back in the main hall, Emperor Infinity sighed when he saw Tai Wuling''s unbalanced state. He feared Tai Wuling would develop an inner devil, but if he pointed it out, it might worsen the situation considering his pride. In the end, he only sent a transmission to Yang Linyin, hoping they could calm Tai Wuling''s aggravated state of mind.
"That bastard!" When Tai Wuling returned to his and Yang Linyin''s abode, he smashed his fist through the closest desk, shattering it into tens of pieces. From the doorway, Yang Linyin sighed. "Calm yourself." Tai Wuling snapped his head toward Yang Linyin with venom in his eyes, but when he caught sight of them, his gaze softened, and half his anger disappeared. He clenched his fist, causing the air within his hand to pop as it escaped his grip, almost like a sonic bomb, "You were there, you heard what he said. How can I calm myself after hearing that? It''s already good that I didn''t rush out and punch that bastard!" Yang Linyin sighed. They regretted not staying by Tai Wuling''s side and fighting the Divine Flame Monarch with him. If they had, Tai Wuling would not have been cornered like this. Or perhaps it was good that they did since even though Tai Wuling suffered, they managed to preserve more of the Eight Pillar Sect''s force. Something sorely needed for the lost immortals at the Goldlight Sect and Yangsource Sect. "It''s not something that can be helped. In the end, it''s because we''re too weak. If we had the strength, would we need the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s aid?" Yang Linyin rhetorically said. Tai Wuling''s eyes lit up as he heard Yang Linyin''s words. "That''s right. It''s because we aren''t strong enough. If we had enough strength, why would I need to put up with those bastards?" Yang Linyin sensed something wrong and immediately asked, "Wuling, what are you planning? Don''t do anything rash!" He turned toward them, no anger present on his face. Instead, it was full of confidence. "Don''t worry, I''m not doing anything rash. I can sense that I will master the Law of Metal soon. And once I do, I''ll break through to the Seamless Immortal Realm. Not only that, but it will only take a short time for me to reach the fifth step." "Cultivation shouldn''t be rushed. Even if the decisive battle is almost upon us, you shouldn''t make haste. Think about it carefully," Yang Linyin advised. "Don''t worry, Linyin. I know myself the best," Tai Wuling said. He walked toward Yang Linyin and stroked their cheek. "I thought we''d have more time to spend together, but unfortunately, it seems I have to enter secluded cultivation." Yang Linyin placed their hand over Tai Wuling''s. "I understand. After this war, we''ll have all the time we need." Tai Wuling released a gentle smile that seemed to brighten the world, causing Yang Linyin to reciprocate. Immediately after, he locked himself in a cultivation chamber. Outside, Yang Linyin pursed their brows as they stared at the locked entrance. ¡®Finally.¡¯ They sighed. Yang Linyin looked at their own hands. ''I haven''t even become a first-step monarch yet, I have to continue to advance. Originally, I was more talented in the Law of Fire, but now, I''m more talented in the Law of Water and reached an impasse in the Law of Fire. I better focus on the Law of Water and comprehend enough to become a first-step monarch.'' Like Tai Wuling, Yang Linyin also entered secluding cultivation, hoping to break through and integrate an elemental qi into their immortal qi and become a first-step immortal monarch. The Eight Pillar Sect entered an abnormal peacefulness, the calm before the storm. The silence was the result of preparation. Everywhere, immortals ran to and fro, arranging supplies, distributing weapons, and concocting pills, all for the upcoming battle. Even a few monarchs, who many thought had died tens of thousands of years ago, showed themselves. Suddenly, the space above the Eight Pillar Sect shattered. From the lowest mortal cultivators running errands to the noble true immortals and even exalted immortal monarchs, all stopped what they were doing and stared at the Dao Manifestation. It was the birth of a new immortal monarch. In Reversed Heaven Abode, Tianyi leaned his chin on his knuckles as he watched the Dao Manifestation. Next to him, Daoyi stared intently at it, as did Ba Shifang in another room. At the center of the Dao Manifestation was a black sphere lit with runes of red, black, yellow, green, and white. It floated among the Vast Void, and streams of energy of fire, water, earth, wood, and metal streamed around it, creating a realm of pure energy. Daoyi began to ruminate on what she saw. Although it might not help her comprehend the Law of Life, it still saved her time in comprehending other portions of the five elements, making it easier for her to ascend once she became an immortal monarch. "If you wanted to comprehend the laws of the five elements, you could have asked me," Tianyi griped, but he understood that a Dao Manifestation was different. Unfortunately, he still hadn''t managed to replicate it in the Nine Heavens Universe. Ba Shifang also stared at the Dao Manifestation, constantly comparing Tai Wuling''s comprehension of the laws of the five elements to his own. Strangely, while it didn''t seem that Tai Wuling had started merging the five laws into the Law of Five Phases, there was an undeniable link between the five and a charm that he couldn¡¯t quite put his finger on. Chapter 365: The Perfect Timing Inside his cultivation chamber, Tai Wuling''s eyes flickered behind his eyelids. He remained ignorant of the outside world, even as his Dao Manifestation continued. His body started trembling as five-colored light radiated off of him, and immense pressure filled the chamber. Inside Tai Wuling''s consciousness, the Wuxing Core rapidly spun, discharging light that filled his sea of consciousness. It even affected his physical body. However, he noticed none of this as he witnessed a cataclysmic event.
When Tai Wuling realized where he was, the scene of the chaos fiendgods confronting Pangu, he saw an ax descending down onto him. He moved his body, or rather, the owner of the body, Wuxing, moved. Wuxing had the lower half of a humanoid, but his upper half had five equally distanced shoulders, of which five arms sprouted. The five arms were formed of fire, water, earth, wood, and metal. Wuxing had no neck and a sphere that resembled the Wuxing Core for a head. Five hands shot forth to block or deflect Pangu''s ax, but they only barely managed to halt its movement. The ax cleaved through the five elemental arms, his head, his torso, and everything. Tai Wuling felt his head become woozy at this point, but he still managed to determine what happened afterward, as if he had literally lost his head. After Wuxing fell, most of his body was used by Pangu as nourishment for the creation of the world, leaving only a fragment of Wuxing''s head and arms. More and more chaos fiendgods charged at Pangu like rabid dogs. Although Pangu became visibly tired, he still killed them one by one. Finally, all the chaos fiendgods died, leaving only Pangu and the embryonic world. Pangu''s ax and other artifacts shattered, also turning into nutrients for the embryonic world. Then, the embryonic world started to expand until it was larger than Pangu himself, but midway, a fault appeared, causing it to shrink. Unwilling to watch his hard work go to waste, Pangu entered the embryonic world, preventing it from imploding onto itself with his own body. Gradually, the growing world no longer showed any signs of self-destruction, but Pangu sacrificed his life for the world. The Primordial World, or as it was known at the time, the Great Desolation, had been born. Gradually, life started to appear in the Primordial World. Among them were the famous Three Purities: the Heavenly Lord of Primordial Beginning, the Heavenly Lord of Numinous Treasures, and the Heavenly Lord of Dao and Virtue, Di Jun, Eastern Emperor Taiyi, Haotian, Yaochi, and many more, most of who would disappear in the modern era. During this time, the fragments of Wuxing were drawn by the Primordial World''s gravity and crashed into the land. They remained inactive for an untold number of years until new life formed from the remains. Wuxing''s fragments of his fire arm became the Red God, the leftovers of his water arm became the Black God, the remnants of his earth arm became the Yellow God, his wood arm became the Green God, and the White God formed from his metal arm. Together, they were known as the Five Element Gods. However, despite being part of one group, their relationship was far from amiable¡ªhostile even. Since they were once one being, they instinctually sought to return to one despite their vague memories. The Five Element Gods warred with one another, seeming unable to stop until the others perished. Once one defeated another, they would absorb the remnant of the other. Unknown to the Five Element Gods, a fragment of Wuxing''s head fell and remained dormant for far longer. Through the passage of time, its shape dwindled and reformed into a perfect sphere. Time passed, and the world shattered, ending the primordial era. The fragments of the Primordial World transformed into realms, forming the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. In this new era, few, if any, of the old divinity survived; thus, a dark age of cultivation arrived¡ªthe Dark Era. The Wuxing Core landed in the Huang Realm, which formerly consisted of one large continent. In its early years, the Buzhou Immortal Sect formed and started a war of domination against the rest of the forces that appeared in the Dark Era. The war shattered the great continent into three large pieces and several smaller fragments. Time passed, and the Dark Era transitioned into the modern era. Over a million years passed when a young man got injured, causing his blood to drip onto the Wuxing Core. After a bright flash, the Wuxing Core resided in the man''s sea of consciousness.
"Pangu, I, Wuxing, will destroy all you have worked for!" Tai Wuling yelled as he awoke from his vision. He stumbled onto his elbows and knees as he clutched his head. Memories, not of his own, filled his mind, making it feel as if his brain was splitting in two. "I''m Tai Wuling, Tai Wuling!" His fist slammed into the ground, walls, and furniture inside the chamber, leaving cracks, if not outright destroying them. His veins bulged as red, black, yellow, green, and white streamed through them, making him appear as if he was poisoned. The chamber doors slammed open, and Yang Linyin rushed in. "Wuling!" "Wuling, what''s wrong? Speak to me!" They ran toward Tai Wuling and hugged him tightly, preventing him from lashing out and hurting himself. Or at least, Yang Linyin attempted to. Tai Wuling''s strength far exceeded Yang Linyin''s, and in his struggle, caused numerous bruises to appear on their body. A sickening crunch reverberated in the chambers, causing Yang Linyin to scream out in pain despite their willpower. Their scream brought a strand of clarity to Tai Wuling''s eyes. Upon identifying the source and reason, his eyes widened in panic as he stopped struggling in Yang Linyin''s arm in fear of hurting her. "Linyin, what''s wrong, what''d I do? Are you okay, tell me you''re okay! Please!"Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. "I''m fine. I just need to swallow some medicinal pills, and I will recover in time," Yang Linyin forced out. "Don''t mind me. What about you, what caused you to go berserk?" Tai Wuling stilled. He gently removed Yang Linyin''s arm from around him and picked them up, bridal style. As he carried Yang Linyin, he thought about how to explain himself. He trusted Yang Linyin, and the two had agreed to become Dao Companions after the war ended. However, after learning of the origins of the Wuxing Core in his sea of consciousness, he became incredibly alert. When Tai Wuling had still been a loose cultivator, he once had a friend he thought he could trust with his life. So, he revealed to that friend that he had obtained a fragment of an immortal artifact. His friend lived up to his trust, but he told his master. And his friend''s master disregarded all relationships and generational differences to snatch his immortal artifact fragment. In the end, Tai Wuling won and killed his friend''s master, but the two''s relationship had become irreconcilable. Still, the aftermath resulted in Tai Wuling being on the run for many years as word of his treasure leaked out. It was also around this time that he met the injured Yang Linyin. He trusted Yang Linyin, yes, but what about Emperor Infinity, Monarch Pathway? He couldn¡¯t be sure that the two''s greed wouldn''t overcome their senses and steal his Wuxing Core at all costs. It wasn''t the fragment of an immortal artifact but something far more precious, its value inestimable. Emperor Infinity''s chances of reaching the Origin Immortal Realm would drastically rise with it in hand, and maybe even have a chance of entering that illusionary realm, the realm of divinity. Even if Tai Wuling wanted to take out the Wuxing Core and offer it, it was impossible as it had become one with him. "If it''s difficult for you, you don''t have to tell me," Yang Linyin suddenly said. "But you have to promise me that this won''t happen again." Tai Wuling smiled. "I promise." He carried Yang Linyin to their room and only left after making sure they started recovering from the injury he had dealt. After that, he exited and stared at the ceiling. His gaze pierced the roof and into the sky, where his Dao Manifestation was still ongoing. His Dao Manifestation was covered in a layer of haze for him. He understood each individual law of the five elements, but he could sense them being merged within the vision, albeit hidden. It felt like he was at the cusp of grasping something, yet it remained forever out of his reach. Placing a hand over his chest, Tai Wuling felt the changes happening in his body. Perhaps because of the compatibility between the Yellow God''s blood and the Wuxing Core, miraculous changes were occurring. Even just standing there, his body naturally absorbed a massive amount of spiritual qi to fuel his transformation. It felt like cultivating on auto-pilot without any effort from him. His martial body became more and more perfect. If his body was tilted toward the earth, now the other four elements appeared and integrated with one another, becoming more balanced. As the changes continued, Tai Wuling felt himself gain an innate ability: Five Element Fusion. Without understanding the Law of Five Phases, he could merge all five elements to produce a multiplicative effect for his techniques. The more he understood the laws of the five elements and the Law of Five Phases, the stronger this innate ability would become. "Just you wait, Yan Nie. Our next battle will produce very different results," Tai Wuling vowed. He turned around and returned to his half-broken cultivation chamber. Now was the best time to consolidate his cultivation base and integrate all five laws he had mastered. Simultaneously, he worked on integrating the qi of the five elements into his immortal qi as fast as possible to become a fifth-step immortal monarch. While cultivating, Tai Wuling couldn''t help but recall his strange state. His eyes narrowed. He had a feeling that he would enter the strange state in the future, but now was not the time to worry about that. He could worry about it after the Eight Pillar Sect won the war against the Anti-Earth Alliance.
Months later, Tai Wuling stood in front of the thousands of true immortals of the Eight Pillar Sect among the other immortal monarchs. Even among immortal monarchs, he stood at a central position due to him being a fifth-step immortal monarch. Originally, the Eight Pillar Sect wanted to delay the battle in the northwest for as long as possible to prepare and awaken their sleeping immortal monarchs, but they couldn''t ignore the morale boost Tai Wuling''s ascension to the Seamless Immortal Realm brought. Standing at the peak wasn''t Monarch Pathway but Emperor Infinity. Standing beside Emperor Infinity was an unknown immortal emperor. The unknown leaked an aura of death, like that of a flame on its last embers. He was Emperor Blesswood, an ancient immortal emperor of the Eight Pillar Sect, who everyone had forgotten. Standing near them were Monarch Nine Heavens and thirty-four other immortal monarchs sent by the Buzhou Immortal Sect for a price. Noticeably, Xi Tianyi was not present, although Jiang Daoyi was standing among the other true immortals of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. The Eight Pillar Sect had wanted to use Monarch Nine Heaven''s spatial abilities to their advantage, but after being caught off guard once, the Anti-Earth Alliance fortified their territories against spatial techniques with almost no loopholes. ''So much for the vaunted Law of Space. And that Xi Tianyi, he must have stayed behind because he doesn''t dare to step on the battlefield after almost dying once. What a pampered waste,'' Tai Wuling thought with a snort. Of course, he was wise enough not to voice his thoughts. Publically, it was his fault that Xi Tianyi became injured, and inciting anything that would result in the Buzhou Immortal Sect dissent was forbidden, especially at this critical juncture. Emperor Infinity would be personally leading the battle and, after a grand and inspirational speech, raise the morale of all the Eight Pillar Sect. He turned to Monarch Nine Heavens, who nodded and opened a portal to the northwest battlefield. To Tai Wuling''s and the other Eight Pillar Sect immortal''s shock, the Anti-Earth Alliance immediately attacked without warning despite not having all their forces present. Normally, both sides follow the unwritten agreement and gather all their forces before starting the battle. Still, Emperor Infinity did not freeze because of the unexpected situation. He ordered the immortals to gather into their squads and form war formations to contest against the Anti-Earth Alliance. The battle immediately started at a heated tempo. Although they were caught off guard, both sides were still almost even. But just as sixty to seventy percent of the Eight Pillar Sect''s forces crossed the portal, it suddenly disappeared, leaving the remaining forces of the Eight Pillar Sect stranded at headquarters. Emperor Infinity turned toward Monarch Nine Heavens. He didn''t even hesitate and unleashed an attack on the monarch, but before he could, a white blur passed him toward Emperor Blesswood. "Watch out!" Emperor Infinity cried out. However, it was too late. The white blur revealed herself to be a woman of early thirties in appearance, wearing snow-white robes and possessing even white hair. In her hand was a silver brush that pierced Emperor Blesswood''s chest. Blood didn''t flow out. Instead, pitch-black ink spurted out and wrapped the ancient immortal emperor. Chapter 366: Truth Revealed Emperor Blesswood''s body plummeted to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. However, the white-robed immortal empress''s actions didn''t stop as she swung her brush in a wide arc. White ink splashed out, painting the sky and land. "Stop, Voidink!" Emperor Infinity shouted as twin lights, one of dark and one of light, shot toward the empress of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Zhang Cuiying, one of the three grand elders of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, flicked her brush, and two blots of ink shot forth. They clashed against the twin lights but only caused them to dim. After flicking two more times, she finally dissolved the twin lights. However, at this point, Emperor Infinity had already neared her. He slapped toward her with his left hand, his palm shrouded in dark light. Zhang Cuiying retreated and took out a scroll. She unfurled it to reveal a painting of heavenly soldiers. Just as she formed a hand seal, Emperor Infinity''s figure blurred and suddenly appeared in front of her, slamming his palm forward. She didn''t have time to dodge, so she used the unfurled scroll to block. Once the dark palm slammed into the scroll, it didn''t tear and held strong, but Zhang Cuiying was sent flying back, forced by the attack and using the force to distance herself. She resumed forming her hand seals. After finishing the final hand seal, the scroll in her hand released an intense silver light. The painted heavenly soldiers started leaping out of the paper, each one wearing silver armor and exuding the aura of a true immortal. Voidink Scroll - Immortal Soldiers Descent Halfway through, Zhang Cuiying discovered something wrong. For every four immortal soldiers, a fifth should have come out of the scroll, yet she could still sense a qi drop as if they had come out. At this time, Emperor Infinity raised his right palm, which shone a bright white. An alternately colored version of the Voidink Scroll appeared in front of him, and from it flew black-armored soldiers. They numbered only a quarter of Zhang Cuiying''s, but she finally knew where the excess energy went. Her eyes narrowed, but she didn''t stop the technique. Of the original one thousand soldiers, only eight hundred came out. But, the eight hundredth soldier still exuded the aura of an immortal monarch, the commanding general of the Voidink Scroll soldiers. In contrast, Emperor Infinity''s two hundredth soldier still only exuded the aura of a true immortal. The army of eight hundred strong immediately formed a gigantic war formation without notice or any need of preparation. It formed a ten thousand meters tall emperor war formation, the Voidink Emperor War Formation. The land trembled as its foot sunk into the ground. The Voidink Emperor War Formation took a step forward and stopped, not because it wanted to, but because something snagged its leg. Out of nowhere, a tree branch had enraptured the Voidink Emperor War Formation. The tree branch grew into a gigantic tree with golden bark and silver leaves of three thousand meters in a few breaths. Zhang Cuiying moved to cut down the tree, but Emperor Infinity stopped her. While he entangled her, the golden tree continued to grow until it surpassed the Voidink War Formation and completely encapsulated it within its branches. A moment later, there was a giant explosion of qi that blew harmlessly in the wind. Emperor Infinity no longer entangled her and allowed her to retreat into the distance. Zhang Cuiying furrowed her brows but otherwise showed no reaction. She raised the Voidink Scroll and collected the remnant qi from the destroyed Voidink Emperor War Formation. It wouldn''t restore all the qi lost, but it would salvage some, not that she could reuse it immediately. She stared as the golden tree started to shrink until it formed a man in the prime of his life wearing black and white robes. Although he appeared young and full of vitality, he exuded a greater aura of death. He was Emperor Blesswood. Zhang Cuiying had thought she sealed him, but Emperor Blesswood broke out using a forbidden technique that boosted his strength and restored his youth, but as a price, he would undoubtedly die. Zhang Cuiying raised her brush and started writing numerous words in the air in quick succession. Both Emperor Infinity and Emperor Blesswood started taking action. Emperor Blesswood pointed his finger at Zhang Cuiying, launching several seeds at her, while Emperor Infinity unleashed nine rays of light. When the spells reached her, Zhang Cuiying had finished writing. Her words spurted ink and transformed into eight Ink Incarnations. Three of them were struck by the seeds, causing trees to sprout and crush them in their roots during their growth. The rays of light destroyed two Ink Incarnations and injured a third. However, that still left three. Under her command, the three Ink Incarnations charged at Emperor Infinity and Emperor Blesswood. Both of them unleashed spells upon one of the Ink Incarnations, but not the third one. When the last Ink Incarnation reached a hundred meters of them, it exploded into a massive tidal wave of ink that covered the sky. "Careful, if even a little bit of the ink touches you, a sealing script will cover your body for a brief moment," Emperor Blesswood said, having already experienced this. "Let me take care of this," Emperor Infinity said. His left palm turned black, while his right hand turned white. Simultaneously, his left eye exuded a black light, and his right eye exuded a white light. He waved his hands together, causing the lights of black and white to trail behind his movements. The light expanded and covered both Emperor Infinity and Emperor Blesswood in a sphere resembling the taiji symbol. And not a moment too soon as the ink tsunami washed over them.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Upon contact, the ink transformed into runic symbols that covered the taiji sphere. However, the black part of the sphere absorbed the ink before it could spread far, while the white portion spat out white runic symbols that countered the ink. Zhang Cuiying''s attack couldn''t deal any damage to them, but Emperor Infinity frowned. "Not good. She''s trying to stall. As long as you fall, the situation would fall to her advantage." Emperor Blesswood agreed. "Let me charge out. I''ve broken out of her sealing before, I can do it again." "Alright, but be careful," Emperor Infinity said. The ink tsunami had blocked their immortal senses. If Emperor Blesswood charged out, he would likely be met with an attack or trap. Still, Emperor Blesswood decided that waiting for the ink tsunami would result in a worse situation for the two. Golden bark appeared from Emperor Blesswood''s skin, eventually covering his whole body, robe and all, in an armor of wood. Encased in a powerful gold-green glow that exuded yang qi, Emperor Blesswood charged out of the taiji sphere. A portion of the white light attached itself to him, protecting him against the sealing effects of the ink tsunami. However, that protection did not last long as the ink tsunami shifted its attention from Emperor Infinity to him. Even when the white light collapsed, Emperor Blesswood still tore through the ink tsunami. Sap poured out of his bark armor, encasing all the runic script before shedding them. Like this, he broke out of the inky waters and into the air, only to be met with a draconic roar of thunder. Emperor Blesswood only had a split second to turn toward the source to see the Eternal Night Emperor aiming an arrow at him. Day had turned to night, and the only illumination came from the crackling arrow of lightning. Eternal Night Emperor released the arrow, and it soared through the air. Twin dragons manifested and swirled around the arrow, but all everyone else saw was a streak of golden light. When the arrow pierced into the distance, Emperor Blesswood still stood in the air. Moments later, blood started to leak down his chin as his hand trembled toward his chest, where a gaping hole now existed. Wrinkles started appearing all over his skin, along with spots. Simultaneously, the color faded from his formerly dark hair. "Premeditated," Emperor Blesswood said, coughing as more blood spurted from his mouth. "You and the Buzhou Immortal Sect had long allied. The devastation at the Yangsource Sect and Goldlight Sect was also part of the agreement." The Eternal Night Emperor smiled. "You''re wrong. It''s impossible for the Buzhou Immortal Sect and the Anti-Earth Alliance to ally together." Emperor Blesswood never said another word as his body plummeted once more. Only this time, he was truly dead. His body started to degrade and disintegrate into particles of light that were absorbed by the Huang Realm. Eternal Night Emperor nodded at Zhang Cuiying and notched another arrow, this time aimed at Emperor Infinity within the ink tsunami. However, the ink tsunami burst apart, and out flew Emperor Infinity. Eternal Night Emperor released his arrow but lacking time to accumulate qi, its power was woefully weak. Seeing Emperor Infinity block his arrow, Eternal Night Emperor waved his arm, causing the stars in the artificial sky above to rain down starlight. Zhang Cuiying also joined in the assault on Emperor Infinity while the latter continued to dodge. The two gave chase, removing any of the war formations that blocked them on Emperor Infinity''s orders. Whatever Emperor Infinity planned, the two would stop him.
"Die!" Tai Wuling shouted. After he regained his bearings, he attacked Monarch Nine Heavens after the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s immortal empress drew Emperor Infinity and Emperor Blesswood''s attention. Fire, water, earth, wood, and metal qi merged in Tai Wuling''s fist as he charged at the masked monarch. His eyes widened when he saw Monarch Nine Heavens open his palm, and each finger burst out with immortal qi of the five elements. Monarch Nine Heavens clasped his fingers into a fist, merging the five different qi harmoniously, and punched forward. When the two fists clashed, it created a zone of destruction around the two, injuring any true immortals unlucky enough to be near them. The two seemed evenly matched for the moment, but a few seconds later, it was Tai Wuling that was sent flying back. He stared at his foe in disbelief. "How can you merge the five elements?!" Monarch Nine Heaven placed a hand over his mask, unintentionally causing the onlookers'' breath to hitch. When he removed the mask, his hair turned black, and the Buzhou Immortal Sect immortals all gasped in surprise. "Why? It''s because I used the Law of Five Phases to step into the Seamless Immortal Realm," the unmasked monarch said. Tai Wuling stared. Monarch Nine Heaven''s features were exceptionally charming, like something out of a painting, and even more handsome than Xi Tianyi''s. Had Xi Tianyi not possessed those pair of bedeviling eyes, Monarch Nine Heaven''s features would have won hands down. "Hmpf," Tai Wuling increased the intensity of his glare. "It doesn''t matter. After today, the name of Monarch Nine Heavens will no longer exist." The unmasked immortal smiled, almost mockingly. "You''re wrong about that. Even if by some miraculous chance you kill me, the name of Monarch Nine Heavens won''t disappear. Because I''m not Monarch Nine Heavens, I''m Ba Shifang." Tai Wuling heard the shock reverberate across the Buzhou Immortal Sect immortals, but he didn''t understand the big deal. "What''s that supposed to mean?" Tai Wuling asked as he felt Yang Linyin fly next to him. Ba Shifang smiled, enjoying Tai Wuling''s confusion, irritating the latter even further. "I''m a clone, and my main body is Xi Tianyi." "Impossible!" A tremor appeared in Tai Wuling''s heart. Clones were known to be weaker than the original. In his clash against Ba Shifang, he was clearly slightly inferior, and according to Ba Shifang''s words, didn''t that mean Xi Tianyi was at least a whole level stronger than him? He glared. "So what? The name of Nine Heavens will still die with you!" Ba Shifang''s expression of anticipation and enjoyment faltered. He sighed in disappointment. "I thought with your character setting, you''d connect the dots by now. I''m not Monarch Nine Heavens, he should be razing the Eight Pillar Sect to the ground right now." He saw anger in Tai Wuling''s eyes, but the confusion remained. Ba Shifang sighed even more. "Have you not connected the dots? My main body is still present in the Eight Pillar Sect, and so is Monarch Nine Heavens." A possibility that Tai Wuling didn''t want to be true appeared in his mind. Ba Shifang clapped his hands. "Finally, you get it." "You''re lying!" "Fine, let me spell it out for you. Monarch Nine Heavens never existed," Ba Shifang proclaimed with arms out extended as if he were presenting before a crowd.. "No, to be more accurate, Monarch Nine Heavens has always been my main body, Xi Tianyi''s true title." Chapter 367: Constellation Cessation Tai Wuling only heard silence. Although he didn''t like Monarch Nine Heavens, he had never denied the latter''s power. Now, you tell him that Monarch Nine Heavens was actually that detestable Xi Tianyi, and this was nothing more than a play between Xi Tianyi and his clone?! "Wuling, calm down, he''s trying to rile you up!" Yang Linyin attempted to calm him down, but white-hot fury had clouded his mind. As if he hadn''t added enough fuel to the fire, Ba Shifang continued. "Well, I guess I shouldn''t expect much from a coward that forces others to fight his battles when he loses." "YOU BASTARD!!!" Tai Wuling said, any shred of sanity gone. Lights correlating to the five elements exploded off of him as his qi''s power drastically rose to the Half-Emperor level. Ba Shifang grinned. He quickly formed several hand seals, and the moment Tai Wuling entered a hundred meters of him, a circle with a five-pointed star appeared below him. At the point of each star, five incarnations of Ba Shifang dressed in red, black, yellow, green, and white robes respectively appeared. The five incarnations pointed their fingers at Tai Wuling, and chains formed of fire, water, earth, wood, and metal shot out and grabbed his arms, legs, and neck. With a tug, Tai Wuling was shackled in place. Yang Linyin moved to help, but the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s war formations stopped her. A few of the nearby Eight Pillar Sect''s war formations also came to her aid, but most were occupied by the Anti-Earth Alliance''s war formations. Outnumbered and outgunned, Yang Linyin still tried her best. "Dissolve and form the Eight Trigrams War Formation!" The Eight Pillar Sect needed not quantity but quality at this time. Their strategic goal should be to retreat and regroup at the Eight Pillar Sect and plan their next step from there. The Buzhou Immortal Sect''s betrayal came at the worst time possible for them. Emperor Infinity had made backup plans in case the Buzhou Immortal Sect did betray them, but they were based on the premise of all the Eight Pillar Sect''s forces gathered and when they engaged in battle with the Anti-Earth Alliance. He thought the Buzhou Immortal Sect wanted to play the oriole eyeing the mantis and cicada, but he never expected the Buzhou Immortal Sect to spring a betrayal before the battle even began. Still, that relied on the fact that the Anti-Earth Alliance and Buzhou Immortal Sect would not stop them. The moment the attack began, the Anti-Earth Alliance had already set up a massive containment formation stalling their escape. It was a weak formation, but that couldn''t be helped since laying the groundwork would alert the Eight Pillar Sect ahead of time. Ten percent of the true immortals instantly died the moment they dissolved the formation, and another five percent perished before Yang Linyin managed to form the Eight Trigrams Emperor War Formation. Thus, although it was an emperor war formation, it was closer to the half-emperor level. The Eight Trigrams War Formation relied on yang, yin, fire, water, earth, wood, and metal qi. If any one of them were missing, the war formation would not form. Currently, they only have true immortals supplying the wood qi, and without a monarch to control it, the war formation''s power has diminished. "Wuling, hurry up and enter the formation!" Yang Linyin shouted. "As long as you enter, the war formation''s power will rise to another level!" Yang Linyin charged forward, intent on freeing Tai Wuling, but the Eight Trigrams Emperor War Formation faltered. The control was thrown into disarray, and there was a dissonance in intent and realized movements. "What''s going on?!" "What? Many of our true immortals are suffering soul attacks?!" Yang Linyin shouted. She immediately recalled what happened during the attack on the Allbeast Sect. "Jiang Daoyi!" "Attack, flush her out! She can''t be too far!" The Eight Trigrams Emperor War Formation started unleashing attacks of yin, yang, fire, water, earth, wood, and metal indiscriminately. It didn''t care for the state of the land, not that the region they came to fight on had much in the first place. The barren state was the reason why both parties chose it, after all. While Yang Linyin dealt with the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s war formations and Jiang Daoyi''s musical attacks, Tai Wuling regained clarity. "You''re draining me of my qi!? Do you think it will be that easy!" Ba Shifang said nothing as the elemental chains continued to absorb Tai Wuling''s qi. At the same time, spells of fire, water, earth, wood, metal, and lightning bombarded Tai Wuling. To add insult to injury, they were fueled by his own qi. "Bastard!" Tai Wuling. "You can''t even leave a mark on my body. You should just give up. Even if Xi Tianyi were to come, the results would be the same!" Ba Shifang finally broke his silence with a sigh, "Oh, I doubt that. I admit, your flesh is incredibly difficult to deal with, but as long as I exhaust you of your qi, wouldn''t you be a fish on the chopping block?" Tai Wuling opened his mouth again, but Ba Shifang didn''t let him speak as the chain around his neck crept up and gagged him. "And don''t say that I can only use this cheap trick. This is just the easiest method I chose. The price to pierce your flesh is not worth risking my life for." Qi spiked from Tai Wuling, as his vision nearly turned red, as white-hot fury clouded his judgment. He bit his lips until they bled, the pain returning clarity to him. He didn''t know why he couldn''t control his anger well anymore, but losing his cool would likely cause him to fall into an even worse predicament.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. He closed his eyes and entered his sea of consciousness. He originally didn''t want to use this early and save it as a trump card, but he had no choice now. The Wuxing Core in his mind began to thrum and spin. Outside, Ba Shifang frowned. His Five Element Refining Formation had stopped working. Not only was it no longer absorbing qi from Tai Wuling, but the process had become reversed. It only took a split second to dissolve the formation. Since it no longer worked, why bother leaving any benefits for the opponent? An illusionary giant over ten thousand meters manifested and covered Tai Wuling. The giant had the lower half of a man, two arms¡ªeach of the arms was formed by one of the five elements and constantly cycled between them. Still, the strangest part was its head, which was a sphere floating above its stump of a neck. Ba Shifang felt a strange oppression from the sphere-headed giant. "Just what is that thing? It''s giving off a pressure like Nuyi." The sphere had no eyes, but he instinctively knew that it was staring at him. "Die, you insect!" Before he could dodge, fire erupted from one arm and had already reached and grabbed him within its palm. Explosions erupted from within the hand as Tai Wuling''s grip tightened. Just as everyone thought he had perished, a five-colored light erupted from the fire fist. The five-colored light coalesced into a giant humanoid nearly equal to the sphere-headed giant in height. It had the regular shape of a human, but it was covered in rocks, and between the cracks, lights of five colors radiated. On its head, it had five eyes correlating to the five elements. "Don''t think you are comparable to me just because you can make a giant now!" Tai Wuling shouted as his two arms cycled through the five elements and clashed against Ba Shifang¡¯s five-element giant. "Just shut up already!" Ba Shifang said. The five eyes on the five-element giant lit up and shot five beams that merged into one. Supreme Chaos Cannon - Solo Version. Tai Wuling released the five-element giant and stumbled a few steps back. After stopping, he charged again. "You bastard!" It was a literal clash of titans. Just the aftereffects of their battle caused unlucky true immortals to perish in battle. The two''s power had reached the half-emperor threshold, and some of their attacks even surpassed it and reached the emperor level. Yang Linyin gripped their hands until their knuckles turned white and nails pierced their palm. They blinked and calmed themself. They could still remember when Tai Wuling had not become a true immortal, yet less than a thousand years later, he had already reached this level. If he continued, he might even break Xi Mengfei''s record of the youngest to become an immortal emperor. "Stop gawking, let''s clean up the Buzhou Immortal Sect traitors while Wuling distracts them!" Yang Linyin commanded. She directed the Eight Trigrams Emperor War Formation forward, battling against the Buzhou Immortal Sect War Formations and the Five Phase Rangers. The two sides exchanged hundreds of blows. Just as it seemed that it would escalate, it suddenly stopped as all of them ¡ªTai Wuling and Ba Shifang included¡ªdirected their attention to another location. A massive Eight Trigrams War Formation that dwarfed the sphere-headed and five-element giants appeared. "Fools," Emperor Infinity''s voice boomed from the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation. "Did you forget that our Eight Pillar Sect has another emperor? Attacking it will only cause you to lose all the immortals you sent unless you dispatch Sword Sovereign Xi to lead it. But you won''t, because the Anti-Heaven is watching you closely. Honestly, it''s amazing that you dare to attack us while still embroiled in your own war." Standing in front of the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation were the Eternal Night Emperor and Zhang Cuiying inside her Voidink Emperor War Formation. She was still a distance away from the peak of the Extremity Immortal Realm; thus, she used her Voidink Scroll to form a war formation that brought her to the peak of the Extremity Immortal Realm in terms of qi. "You don''t have to worry about that," Zhang Cuiying answered. "We only sent one person. He might not be able to defeat Emperor Soulsilk, but it''s more than enough to destroy the Eight Pillar Sect." After this, the two sides resumed fighting. Although it seemed that the Eight Pillar Sect held the upper hand, to form the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation, they had to use nearly half their forces, causing the number of forces to plummet. If the Anti-Earth Alliance and Buzhou Immortal Sect had outnumbered them two-to-one, they now outnumbered them four-to-one. "Hear that?" Tai Wuling taunted. "You said that Xi Tianyi was the only one at the Eight Pillar Sect. What a joke, our grand elder is going to kill him. Even if you are a clone, I want to see how unaffected you''d be once he dies!" Ba Shifang sighed. "So noisy, stop talking and just fight!"
Tianyi stood high above the Eight Pillar Sect. In fact, he was so high that he nearly touched the dimension boundary of the Huang Realm, and the Eight Pillar Sect was smaller than a speck of dust from his view. He held his chin. "Am I being too careful? Whatever." He raised his hands above his head, and a massive amount of immortal qi of primordial chaos rose from his palm. The qi turned silver and gold, forming a miniature sun that shifted between the two colors, but the qi didn''t stop. It radiated the aura of spacetime. The immortal qi of primordial chaos split into two strands: one became the immortal qi of yang and the other immortal qi of yin. The two radiated the aura of the incomplete Law of Yin and the Law of Yang and formed a miniature planet that orbited around the silver and gold sun. A second planet formed, but this time radiated an aura of chaos. The immortal qi of five-elements formed the third planet and resembled earth, while the fourth planet radiated the aura of death and incomplete life. Following that, the immortal qi of tribulation lightning formed the fifth miniature planet, while the sixth to eighth spheres resembled the second planet in that they exuded the aura of chaos. "It''s a bit incomplete, but it should be enough to wipe the Eight Pillar Sect off the face of the Huang Realm," Tianyi said. A few breaths passed, and Tianyi didn''t take any action, only continuing to stare at it. "Just to be safe." Tianyi infused more qi into it, causing the miniature solar system to grow tenfold. Then, he grasped his fingers together, causing them to shrink and fit into his palm like some trinket made of valuable jewels. With a flip of his hand, the spell plummeted toward the Eight Pillar Sect. "Let''s call it Constellation Cessation." The moment the spell hit the Eight Pillar Sect''s barrier, it exploded. Qi of spacetime, yin, yang, fire, water, earth, wood, metal, lightning, life, death, and much more mixed and clashed, creating chaos. From Tianyi''s point of view, it was like a supernova had gone off, covering nearly five percent of the Earth Continent. Had he not condensed it, the attack would have covered over thirty percent of the continent. Chapter 368: Emperor Soulsilk While the Constellation Cessation did its work, miniature suns exuding a terrifying heat appeared in both of Tianyi''s hands. As if he was playing baseball, Tianyi threw them one after the other into the ongoing explosion, only stopping after the ninth Stellar Silence he unleashed. Tianyi continued to stare and watch the devastation his technique wrought. Constellation Cessation wasn''t an attack that would end fast like Stellar Silence, but a prolonged technique designed to destroy even the ashes in its wake. Even immortal monarchs would find it nigh impossible to survive once inside the blast radius, much less true immortals. Mortals didn''t need to be mentioned; they couldn''t even be compared to bugs in the front of Constellation Cessation. He glanced at his hands. He likely killed millions of people in an instant, if not hundreds of millions of people. Honestly, the scale of the devastation exceeded his expectations. The range far exceeded the boundaries of the Eight Pillar Sect. Perhaps he should not have pumped so much qi into the technique. Luckily, no mortal nations or mortal settlements were located near the Eight Pillar Sect, although he was quite sure he decimated some unique species of animals and monsters that lived in the area and a few demons. However, Tianyi''s worry should be that he didn''t put enough qi into Constellation Cessation. The Eight Pillar Sect and the surrounding area had turned into a massive crater. Tianyi could even detect the lower boundaries of the Huang Realm. Earth and metal spiritual qi from the spiritual veins began to flood the lower boundary, transforming into sediment, dirt, rocks, metals, and minerals in an attempt to repair the damage. Above Tianyi, dark clouds gathered, and lightning roared, as if in warning. Tianyi didn''t pay attention to the stormy clouds¡ªcausing them to thunder even more. No, he was staring at the floating temple surrounded by a crumbling mountain; it floated where the core area of the Eight Pillar Sect would have been situated. The temple charged toward Tianyi, and once it got closer, he could see the finer details. The temple had eight pillars supporting it, half black and half white. In addition to the five elements, it also exuded the complete Law of Yin-Yang. Tianyi''s eyes glimmered, "It''s not considered stealing if it''s a spoil of war, right?" Tianyi reached out and clenched his fist, attempting to teleport the yin-yang temple into his Nine Heavens Universe. However, space was too stable around the temple, preventing him from accomplishing his goal. It seemed that he could only force it to run out of energy or kill its controller before claiming it. Instantly, a miniature silver and gold sun appeared above his palm again. Faint apparitions of eight planets manifested and orbited the miniature sun. Before Tianyi could complete his technique, twin dragons of black and white shot out toward him. Although incomplete, Tianyi sent the technique toward the incoming yin and yang dragons. Upon clashing, the incomplete Constellation Cessation exploded. The yin dragon started to shrink and grow smaller, while the yang dragon grew larger and more powerful. Still, it was obviously at a disadvantage in the face of Tianyi''s technique. With each passing moment, the Constellation Cessation''s range grew larger. Just as it seemed that it could no longer hold back, three more white dragons shot out and slammed into the Constellation Cessation. With four white dragons, the incomplete Constellation Cessation started to be suppressed and even pushed back toward Tianyi. Two black dragons exuding immortal qi of yin manifested and charged toward Tianyi, releasing roars that would have knocked out the average immortal monarch. Tianyi flattened his hand and slashed the air in front of him, causing it to split and reveal the void of the Nine Heavens Universe. Thousands of Tianyis formed of starlight floated aimlessly. With a snap of his fingers, the copies formed from his Stellar Incarnation Technique shot out like sniper rounds toward the three black dragons and the temple. Once the stellar incarnations neared the black dragons, white dragons, or the yin-yang temple, they exploded using the Nuclear Self-Detonation Technique Tianyi devised. During the years at the Eight Pillar Sect, Tianyi had further refined the technique so that its destructive properties further increased without increasing the qi requirements. If the Constellation Cessation Technique already made the sun in the sky seem dim; the Nuclear Self-Detonation Technique cranked it up to eleven. The detonating stellar incarnations added tens to hundreds of smaller suns in the sky. Even if it was at night, the people at the edge of the Heaven and Mortal Continent would be able to see day shining on the Earth Continent. The stellar incarnations streaming from the Nine Heavens Universe seemed endless, and under their relentless assault, the black and white dragons'' forms faltered, turning from real to illusionary. The Constellation Cessation''s range widened again and started to reach the temple, incinerating whatever was left of the crumbling mountain that sheltered it. At this time, an invisible wave rippled from the yin-yang temple. Whenever it crossed a stellar incarnation, it either prematurely detonated or dissipated into harmless qi. Tianyi frowned as he received the feedback from his incarnations. The incarnations relied on strands of immortal sense to operate, almost like the CPU in a computer. The wave was a soul attack that disrupted the process, hence the results. The stellar incarnations stop charging out of Tianyi''s inner universe. However, if the surviving Eight Pillar Sect members thought he had no more tricks up his sleeve, they were dead wrong. Before long, celestial bodies ranging from asteroids to smaller-sized planets shot out of the entrance to the Nine Heavens Universe. One asteroid left a flaming trail in its wake, while another was entirely made of ice. A third was extremely small, but its mass was greater than a large planet. Wherever the ashen planet passed, everything died, even the air itself. In short, all sorts of strange and terrifying celestial bodies appeared. Tianyi had no doubt in his mind that the mortals of the Earth Continent were in a state of panic after witnessing the abnormal changes. Even the immortals would feel the need to bury themselves and hide in the face of this cataclysmic event. ''Now, what are you going to do now that your soul attacks are no longer effective?'' For all their power, soul cultivators did not have any advantage against soulless objects.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Eight lights of black and white streamed out of the yin-yang temple. They folded over and formed a spherical yin-yang symbol over ten thousand meters large, but instead of the two black and white seeds inside, a white carp swam in the yin area while a black carp swam in the yang area. When the celestial bodies slammed into the yin-yang sphere, they were redirected away. Even the Constellation Cessation''s explosion disappeared upon hitting the yin-yang sphere. Tianyi narrowed his eyes. After the soul ripples, his immortal sense could no longer accurately detect the situation, but his eyes could still see the yin-yang sphere downsizing, no matter how minute the change was. He snapped his fingers, and portals appeared in the trajectory of the celestial bodies. Once they entered, they were once again shooting toward the yin-yang sphere. Next, five constellations, representing the Law of Five Phases, shot out of the Nine Heavens Universe. With the Yellow Dragon Constellation at the center, the Azure Dragon Constellation to the east, the Vermillion Bird Constellation to the south, the White Tiger Constellation at the West, and the Black Tortoise Constellation at the north to round it up, Tianyi formed the Five Phase Stellar Formation. A hundred thousand meters of space was surrounded by a mixture of fifth-step immortal qi of fire, water, earth, wood, and metal. Everything started to break down to spiritual qi, even the very air molecules, fueling the formation¡ªeverything except the yin-yang temple surrounded by the yin-yang sphere at the center of the formation. It was as if Tianyi''s Five Phase Stellar Formation did not affect the yin-yang sphere, but upon closer inspection, that was not the case. The formation stalled the rotation of the yin-yang sphere, draining its energy. Simultaneously, the energy consumption for the yin-yang sphere drastically increased each time a celestial body struck it. Tianyi continued to bombard the yin-yang sphere from all aspects. If the surviving true immortals thought he would run out of qi soon, they were in for a rude awakening. In fact, Tianyi wanted them to compete in endurance. In his entire life, Tianyi could only recall one time he had run low on qi after entering the Core Formation Realm. Time passed, and the Constellation Cessation eventually disappeared, running out of energy. However, the Five Phase Stellar Formation had not disappeared after disintegrating everything within it except the celestial bodies and the yin-yang temple. While he was battling the last remnants of the Eight Pillar Sect, his conduits on Daoyi, Ba Shifang, and his mother updated him on the war situation. He frowned when he received news that Tai Wuling was actually more powerful than his clone. He used a lot of resources and effort to cultivate Ba Shifang. Of the people who cultivated the Nine-Five Scripture, only Tianyi managed to form the seventh-grade Nine Mandate Cores, Five Heaven Souls, and only Ba Shifang had cultivated the sixth-grade Eight Symbolic Cores, Four Direction Souls. Granted, the number of people who cultivated his Nine-Five Scripture could be counted on one hand, but he had confidence that the fifth and sixth grades could compare to the Ten Heavenly Scriptures, so it surprised him that Tai Wuling could suppress Ba Shifang. Even if he cultivated one of the Ten Heavenly Scriptures, it wouldn''t be enough to suppress Ba Shifang. There had to be something more. The only reason Ba Shifang hadn''t lost yet was because of the continuous qi supply his conduit provided. Tianyi began to grow interested in what Tai Wuling''s secret was. As his thoughts drifted, he suddenly noticed that the resistance from the yin-yang temple drastically decreased. The yin-yang sphere shrunk by nearly thirty percent, and the black and white carps curled into dots. Just as Tianyi moved in for the kill, he sensed an abnormal spatial disturbance next to him. He turned to look and nearly got the fright of his life. A blue phantom attacked him. The blue phantom possessed the general form of a human, but it had eight bug-like eyes full of hatred, mandibles jutting out from its lips, and three pairs of arms, each wielding a curved dagger. Tianyi bit a scream as he recoiled, but his reaction was too slow, and the monstrous humanoid managed to slash him with one of its weapons. The dagger managed to split his skin, dripping a six-colored liquid into his body. "Xi Tianyi! I just poisoned you with Six Desire Venom. Suffer for all the death you caused to my Eight Pillar Sect!" the monstrous humanoid hissed. Tianyi glanced at the healed wound on his arm. Inside his Nine Heavens Universe, he collected the drop of Six Desire Venom for future use. Unless it was a poison that destroyed spacetime or realms, they couldn''t affect him at all. Instead, he observed that creature straight from his nightmare. Recalling the information the Buzhou Immortal Sect supplied him and the white and black robes the monster wore, Tianyi guessed his identity. "Emperor Soulsilk, so you didn''t die." Although Tianyi couldn''t see any changes on Emperor Soulsilk''s insectoid face, he could sense the frustrations rolling off. The Eight Pillar Sect''s grand elder blurred as he neared Tianyi. Tianyi glanced at the yin-yang temple and continued to pressure it. Simultaneously, numerous portals opened around Emperor Soulsilk, from where numerous stellar incarnations popped out and activated the Nuclear Self-Detonation Technique. Before the explosions even died off, Emperor Soulsilk phased through the nuclear blasts, untouched. The six daggers in his hand stabbed toward Tianyi with a vengeance, and in response, Tianyi solidified the spacetime around him. The daggers couldn''t pierce Tianyi''s spacetime aura, but the Six Desire Poison rolled off of the blade and into Tianyi''s inner universe. Tianyi stretched his hand out as a portal to the Nine Heavens Universe opened within his sleeve. It began to suck in the surrounding space in front of him, but to Tianyi''s surprise, Emperor Soulsilk stayed in place. More than that, he actually started retreating. Tianyi increased the intensity of his immortal sense and saw Immortal Soulsilk was actually in his soul state. He was not unfamiliar with this technique as Daoyi was also well-versed. A soul cultivator could draw out their soul and fight beyond their flesh''s limits. In addition, material attacks would no longer affect them. Tianyi''s Nuclear Self-Detonation actually had a soul-attacking effect, but it seemed the effect was too low for Emperor Soulsilk. The mark on Tianyi''s forehead disappeared, and a vertical line took its place. Then, it opened to reveal Tianyi''s Truth-Seeking Eye. A beam of light shot forth and into Emperor Soulsilk''s forehead. He knew that his soul techniques were inferior to a soul emperor. Since that was the case, he would crush the other party''s mind and immortal sense through sheer quantity. The beam contained the immensity of Tianyi''s willpower from the Nine Heavens Universe. As Tianyi expected, Emperor Soulsilk halted his movements. He took this chance to fly forward and made a grab for the soul emperor. Unfortunately, Emperor Soulsilk broke out of Tianyi''s spell and reeled back out of his reach. ''Damn, my soul techniques need more work,'' Tianyi thought. Had it been a normal monarch, they might have become dazed for five to ten minutes, not the scant seconds Emperor Soulsilk received. Tianyi blinked and turned toward the yin-yang temple. Emperor Soulsilk could stop his spacetime teleportations, but what if the yin-yang temple could not, and it was only through Emperor Soulsilk that it could? Without another thought, Tianyi shot toward the yin-yang temple. "Come back here!" Emperor Soulsilk shouted as he chased after Tianyi. Tianyi reached forward and opened a portal to the Nine Heavens Universe within his sleeve upon nearing. His eyes blinked when he saw a black-and-white-robed man step out and charge at him. The man''s skin was pitch-black. He had no eyes, only pits of evil, and radiated an aura of absolute death. The man''s sheer speed broke the sound barrier as he dug his fist into Tianyi''s body. However, Tianyi showed no pain and just stared at the man. "Plague-Grade Jiangshi!" Chapter 369: Crazy Jiangshi were corpses that underwent a special process to turn them into flesh golems for combat. Martial cultivators, demons, or any other lifeforms with particularly strong flesh were prime materials to create jiangshi, but due to its nature, it was often seen as an unorthodox method that veered toward the devilish path. They were divided into seven grades: white-haired, black-haired, jumping, flying, plague, and devil. No matter the realm a jiangshi was created in, they all started as white-haired jiangshi. White-haired jiangshi had no hope of upgrading beyond their realm, and black-haired jiangshi only had a modicum of hope. The highest grade of jiangshi, devil jiangshi, could ascend like regular cultivators as long as they absorbed enough blood, but that was because they developed their own will and could no longer be controlled. As such, the most powerful jiangshi were plague-grade jiangshi, as devil jiangshi were exterminated at birth, regardless of their power. After Daoyi returned from the Fu Dynasty, Tianyi researched a bit on jiangshi. So, after smelling the fresh blood wafting from the plague-grade jiangshi, he knew it was a freshly made one, likely not even a decade old. Tianyi gripped the wrist of the fist embedded in his stomach and smashed down with his free hand. The screech of tearing metal reverberated in the surroundings, much to Tianyi''s shock. His strength had only warped the arm. He reared his fist back, intent on tearing off the jiangshi''s arm. The plague-grade jiangshi resisted, punching and kicking with his free limbs and even biting Tianyi. The jiangshi''s teeth tore through the latter''s robes but only left white marks on his skin. In the end, Tianyi only managed to land two more attacks on the jiangshi, causing the jiangshi''s arm to be bent to nearly ninety degrees before Emperor Soulsilk knocked him away from behind, freeing the jiangshi. Emperor Soulsilk took this chance and launched hundreds of phantom, web-like strings that bound every part of Tianyi. The images of spiders sucking out the juices of their cocooned victims entered Tianyi''s mind. Suppressing a shiver, black flames fueled by immortal qi of primordial chaos burst from his body, burning the phantom web binding him. He moved to attack the two emperor-level experts but stopped. Tianyi''s brows pursed when he saw the similarities between Emperor Soulsilk and the jiangshi, well the portrait of Emperor Soulsilk, not his current abomination of a form. "You''re crazy," Tianyi finally said after a period of silence. "You actually turned your body into a jiangshi." Ignoring the morality of the act, among the three orthodox paths, a soul cultivator''s body was the worst material to transform into a jiangshi. Even if a soul emperor no longer needed to be bound by flesh, the creation of a jiangshi still required a portion of the original soul, meaning Emperor Soulsilk had split a part of his soul in the Immortal Realm. Splitting a soul in the Immortal Realm was not like in the Mortal Realm, especially for those in the Seamless Realm and above. Each part of the soul carries the immortal''s insight and comprehension of the worldly laws. No matter how minute, the lost comprehension would become incredibly hard to recover, and the soul would likely never heal from the act. Emperor Soulsilk said nothing, he just stared at Tianyi with his vengeance-filled eyes. Tianyi recoiled slightly and averted his gaze directly from the former''s eyes. He destroyed the Eight Pillar Sect, so the hate was justified. However, he didn''t think that Emperor Soulsilk''s jiangshi was a burst of impulse but a deliberate act¡ªone that was in the making for over a decade. The air exploded as the emperor jiangshi charged at Tianyi and Emperor Soulsilk pincered Tianyi from behind. Tianyi focused more on the jiangshi than Emperor Soulsilk. His form of existence was the natural enemy of soul cultivators. Although he seemed directly in front of Emperor Soulsilk, his true body was a universe, and his soul was at the center of that universe, an infinity away. Soul attacks simply couldn''t reach him. Even if they did, their effects were minimal. In contrast, the emperor jiangshi composed a more significant threat. If Tianyi''s current conduit were destroyed, it would take hundreds of years to create another one of equal strength and power. However, Tianyi''s worries were for naught. In his wisdom, Emperor Soulsilk had focused on the jiangshi''s defense first and foremost, explaining why Tianyi''s all-out strike didn''t break the arm off. Jiangshi were corpses and displayed characteristics of corpses, including brittleness and difficult healing. Although it could withstand Tianyi''s powerful flesh, the jiangshi''s strength was far from comparable to its defenses. Tianyi would have to lower all his defenses and allow the jiangshi to punch him tens of times before his skin would break. In concept, the jiangshi would act as a sturdy vanguard to the Eight Pillar Sect against its opponent. Unfortunately for Emperor Soulsilk and the jiangshi, he perfectly curbed both. Tianyi would have had more trouble dealing with Emperor Infinity. Tianyi glanced toward the yin-yang temple. After the jiangshi attacked him, the momentary weakness it displayed disappeared, revealing that it was nothing more than bait. The temple''s defense had returned to normal and sent bursts of yin-yang attacks at him, which he diffused through the Law of Spacetime. Although Tianyi could deal with all the attacks, he couldn''t actually hold down Emperor Soulsilk or the emperor jiangshi. If the two decided to leave, then the Buzhou Immortal Sect would gain an enemy in the dark, like the Begonia Bodhisattva, or was he still Emperor Begonia at this moment? ''Guess I''ll have to strengthen myself a bit,'' Tianyi thought. His skin and robes turned translucent, revealing the Nine Heavens Universe to the world. In the sea of stars, the nine heavens centered in Tianyi''s dantian. It was as if he had transformed into a miniature cosmos giant. Although it appeared akin to the cosmos giant, the difference was like heaven and earth. Outside of the Five Phase Stellar Formation, the black storm clouds crackled dangerously. A hint of aura of punishment emerged as if waiting to strike. Tianyi sensed this, but as long as heavenly punishment didn''t fall, he would be fine. His hand clamped onto the emperor jiangshi, and the jiangshi punched Tianyi, but at the moment of contact, the jiangshi''s fist began to sink into his body. Not just the jiangshi''s fist but Emperor Soulsilk''s curved daggers also became lodged in his skin.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Like something out of a horror movie, the emperor jiangshi began to sink into Tianyi. More specifically, he started to sink into the Nine Heavens Universe. Since he couldn''t warp Emperor Soulsilk or the jiangshi into his inner universe, then he would force them in. Emperor Soulsilk decisively abandoned his knives upon seeing what happened to his jiangshi. There was a sickening crack as the jiangshi disconnected both its arms at the base of the shoulder, but Tianyi wouldn''t allow it to escape so easily. Tianyi''s figure swiftly grew larger from his near two meters to ten, twenty, fifty, and eventually a hundred meters tall almost instantaneously. The jiangshi was below average for an emperor-level expert, allowing Tianyi to shackle the spacetime around him and buying himself enough time to grab the jiangshi in his palm. Then, he turned toward Emperor Soulsilk, who had retreated into the distance, but he still remained on the battlefield with no intention of fleeing. His hatred had seen to that. Tianyi''s giant form disappeared and reappeared behind Emperor Soulsilk. He slapped him with his hand, and the instant he made contact, he attempted to absorb Emperor Soulsilk. However, Emperor Soulsilk had used one of his arms as a shield, pushing the rest of his body away and disconnecting it. Upon absorbing the disconnected arm, Tianyi had an impulse to spit it out immediately but held himself back. Once again, he started attacking Emperor Soulsilk, but the latter had deployed a hundred-meter barrier around him that stabilized space. Even with Tianyi''s mastery of spacetime, he could only teleport around fifty meters inside the barrier. At this time, Emperor Soulsilk shot out the phantom web to try to immobilize Tianyi, but like physical attacks, they sunk into Tianyi''s form and dissipated once inside the Nine Heavens Universe. As for the emperor jiangshi, it had gone dormant since Tianyi disconnected it from Emperor Soulsilk. And no, Tianyi was not going to say that the only way it could move was to upgrade to a devil-grade jiangshi. Nope, he was not going to tempt fate like that. In fact, he specifically ordered the Nine Heavens Heavenly Dao to keep watch in case that happened. However, Emperor Soulsilk''s attempt gave Tianyi an idea. Although he stored it as deep as he could, he still had some of the Dreamsilk Weaver Beast''s silk that Daoyi had given him. He didn''t know if it would be effective or not, but it was worth a try. Tianyi manipulated the Dreamsilk Weaver Beast''s silk into a net inside his inner universe and then launched out. Simultaneously, he froze the spacetime around Emperor Soulsilk as much as possible. To his surprise, the dreamsilk net didn''t enter the barrier formed by Emperor Soulsilk but bound it. Tianyi pulled, drawing the barrier and Emperor Soulsilk to him. Although it was outside of his expectations, it was not something he couldn¡¯t work with. He plunged himself into the barrier bound by the dreamsilk net and started absorbing the energy that made up the barrier. As the barrier diminished in size, so too did the amount of space Emperor Soulsilk could flee to. Once the barrier shrunk to less than fifty meters in diameter, Tianyi didn''t bother absorbing anymore and reached out to grab Emperor Soulsilk directly. It took a few tries, but Tianyi finally clasped both his hands around Emperor Soulsilk. Just as Tianyi was about to absorb him, Emperor Soulsilk lost its integrity, turning into an amorphous blob of soul qi. Simultaneously, the barrier trapped within the dreamsilk net lost its integrity, becoming slime-like. He easily absorbed it and then turned toward the yin-yang temple. When he had absorbed the blob Emperor Soulsilk''s form had transformed into, he couldn''t detect a soul at all¡ªmeaning Emperor Soulsilk had likely escaped. Tianyi didn''t doubt his abilities to flee, but with that hatred-filled gaze, he believed that Emperor Soulsilk would not flee. At least, not yet. As Tianyi expected, the taiji sphere began to change. Eight legs¡ªfour white ones on the left and four black ones on the right¡ªsprouted from the sphere. Additionally, another sphere, this one depicting the eight trigrams, materialized from the back. In essence, it was a ten thousand meter large spider, a hundred times Tianyi''s current size. Tianyi couldn''t stop himself from shivering once the eight spider-like gazes zeroed in on him. When the yin-yang spider appeared, its aura skyrocketed to the peak of the Extremity Immortal Realm. With a shriek, it caused Tianyi''s Five Phase Stellar Formation to halt in its tracks as cracks appeared in it. He frowned and dispelled the formation, recalling the five constellations he used to form the formation. Next, immortal qi of primordial chaos erupted from him in large quantities impossible for even ten immortal emperors. But before Tianyi could form the Chaos Refining Formation, the yin-yang spider slammed Tianyi into the ground, splitting the land and pinning him to the ground with its legs. Tianyi tried to absorb the yin-yang spider, but it actually stabilized the dimensional boundaries of his inner universe. When it pierced his body, it deformed his arms and legs. In essence, Tianyi couldn''t absorb the yin-yang spider at all. Beams of white and black shot out of the yin-yang spider''s eight eyes at Tianyi. The beams pierced into Tianyi''s inner universe, where they continued on endlessly, leaving him unharmed. Despite the difference in size between the two, Tianyi started to push the yin-yang spider back. After getting back on his feet, he aimed a palm at the spider, shooting out numerous Stellar Silences. The spell bombarded the yin-yang spider, causing it to shriek and take a few steps back. Taking this chance, Tianyi charged at the spider, but the eight legs prevented him from nearing the main body. At this time, the optimal choice would be to increase his size, but if he grew any larger, the heavenly punishment would descend. And, forming the cosmos giant would be a waste of qi since it couldn''t compare to the yin-yang spider. Tianyi''s best choice would be to grind it out. There must be a reason that Emperor Soulsilk didn''t summon the yin-yang spider. As with all things, the likeliest possibility would be energy consumption. As long as he stalled long enough, the yin-yang spider would dissipate, and he could kill Emperor Soulsilk and attain the yin-yang temple. Hours passed as Tianyi, and the yin-yang spider exchanged thousands of blows, neither able to clearly defeat the other. Suddenly, Tianyi''s movements halted, and the yin-yang spider took this chance to attack the immobile Tianyi. Once pinned, the yin-yang spider continually stabbed Tianyi with its legs. Emperor Soulsilk and the other immortals inside the yin-yang temple had learned neither spells nor soul attacks could restrain Tianyi. The best option was to use physical attacks. The ground quaked as the continuous spear-like thrust forced Tianyi deeper into the ground. It was as if the yin-yang spider wanted to push Tianyi out of the Huang Realm through the lower boundary. Emperor Soulsilk and the other immortals grew excited upon seeing no defense or reaction from Tianyi. Confident that they had him on the ropes, they increased the intensity of the attacks. "XIA YUSHAN!!!" a monstrous bellow shook the surrounding area. So loud was it that even mortals near the edge of the Earth Continent heard the faint words. Before Emperor Soulsilk and the others could sense what happened, the ground beneath them turned into something akin to the Vast Void, only filled with numerous stars and planets. They were instantaneously swallowed, and the portal to the Nine Heavens Universe shrunk and disappeared. And not a moment too soon as heavenly punishment descended, destroying the land even further. In the foreseeable future, a storm would rage on for thousands, if not tens of thousands of years. Chapter 370: Betrayal The five-element giant crashed into the ground, causing the land to change. Rivers sprouted, vegetation grew, rocks turned to magma, and iron sand materialized. From above, Tai Wuling reared his fists back and unleashed a barrage of punches upon the five-element giant. The very air shattered, as did the land beneath the five-element giant. Cracks appeared on the shell encasing the five-element giant; it appeared as if the giant would become a pulverized pulp soon after. However, the moment one of Tai Wuling''s fists punctured the five-element giant, the five elements exploded forth like a tidal wave, blasting Tai Wuling back. When Tai Wuling regained his bearing, he stared at the mess of elements that had once been the five-element giant. Outwardly, Tai Wuling''s sphere-headed form only appeared slightly injured. Sparks of ember lingered on his torso, vines grew from his earth first, sand diluted the water fist, shards of metal dotted his body, and slick slime covered his legs. "Finally died," Tai Wuling said with a sneer. Just as he turned around to help his fellow sect members, he paused. "Stubborn bastard." The sludge of elements bubbled, and a humanoid figure arose out of it. He donned black robes and possessed elegant features that none could denounce. Most striking was the lack of scratches or even a ruffled fold on his robe. "Impossible, how are you unharmed?" Disbelief tainted Tai Wuling''s voice. "I have my ways," Ba Shifang said. "Not for long. I don''t believe you have enough qi to form another giant!" Tai Wuling shouted as he rushed at Ba Shifang. Ba Shifang retreated, fleeing in essence. His actions only confirmed Tai Wuling''s conjecture that he didn''t have much qi left. Ba Shifang did his best to resist, but the spells he cast only bounced off of Tai Wuling''s body, and it didn''t take long for him to catch Ba Shifang in his grip. "Any last words?" The captured Ba Shifang gazed at Tai Wuling with an eerily calm expression. "Idiot." The moment he spoke those words, Ba Shifang''s skin turned clay-like, and his hair turned into vines. Tai Wuling''s eyes widened as the puppet fell limp, not that anyone could tell with his current spherical head. He scanned the surroundings, searching for Ba Shifang''s true whereabouts. "Where are you? Come out, you coward!" Tai Wuling''s question was answered by a loud bang. Ten thousand meters away from him, another five-element giant had formed. However, instead of reengaging with Tai Wuling in battle, the five-element formation charged after the Eight Trigrams Emperor War Formation commanded by Yang Linyin. "You bastard!" Tai Wuling shouted as he rushed toward the Eight Trigrams Emperor War Formation. Ba Shifang snorted inside the five-element giant. Only an insane person would repeat the same act over and over again. He had the confidence to outlast Tai Wuling, but it would be far more productive to take down other threats first. Then, they could all focus on dealing with Tai Wuling. The five-element giant tackled the Eight Trigrams Emperor War Formation from behind, knocking the war formation off balance and interrupting its attack. Then, the five-element giant clasped his arms around the war formation and started deforming. First, a layer of rocks and soil shrouded the Eight Trigrams Emperor War Formation. Beneath the layer of rocks and soil, the war formation''s surface started turning to stone. Still, it continued to struggle, but Ba Shifang wasn''t done. The layer of rocks and soil started turning red as intense heat radiated into and off of the war formation. Then, a film of water covered it next and immediately turned to steam, but before it could be evaporated, tree roots bounded and covered the war formation, leaving no gaps. Finally, a metal shell in the exact shape of the Eight Trigrams Emperor War Formation trapped it. The metal shell creaked and screeched as the Eight Trigrams Emperor Formation resisted. Nothing the war formation did could escape the five-element shell. In turn, nothing Ba Shifang did in the short term would bring it down, but at that moment, an eerie and haunting tune filled the battlefield. A shining orb of silver appeared a thousand meters away. Inside, Jiang Daoyi sat in a lotus position with a zither on her lap. Her hands plucked the strings in a mesmerizing motion. It was as if one could hear the song just from the movement of her hands alone. The air in the battlefield trembled as the musical tones echoed. They penetrated the five-element shell encasing the Eight Trigrams Emperor War Formation, and the sound of screeching metal stopped. "Use this chance well! Take down the rest of the Eight Pillar Sect members now!" Ba Shifang ordered. The Buzhou Immortal Sect members complied. Without the Eight Trigrams Emperor War Formation''s aid, the current members of the Eight Pillar Sect fell to an extreme disadvantage¡ªone that snowballed as their numbers fell at increasingly higher rates with each passing second. As for Ba Shifang, he summoned another five-element giant onto himself. And not a moment too soon as Tai Wuling slammed into him. "Out of the way." Naturally, Ba Shifang wouldn''t allow Tai Wuling to succeed. The five-element giant grappled Tai Wuling and attempted to hold him down. Keyword, attempted to. Tai Wuling swiped his arm and launched the five-element giant off its feet. He ignored the downed elemental giant and rushed toward the trapped Eight Trigrams Emperor War Formation, but he halted to a stop as vines exploded forth from the elemental giant and wrapped around his ankles. "Annoying!" Tai Wuling shouted as his flaming arm slashed the vines wrapped around him. The vines became brittle and black, but not long after, the burnt parts fell off to reveal healthy vines.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Ba Shifang successfully prevented Tai Wuling from aiding Yang Linyin and the Eight Trigrams Emperor War Formation. The latter released an enraged roar and attacked the former with all his might. And contrary to their previous clash, Ba Shifang was severely suppressed. The five-element giant''s movement had become stiff. Not only that, where it would have taken ten punches to damage it, now, Tai Wuling only needed one. Still, whatever damage dealt to the five-element giant was immediately regenerated. Tai Wuling tried numerous times to disengage from the battle and save Yang Linyin, but Ba Shifang always pulled him back. As the two giants battled, the magnitude of Jiang Daoyi''s music increased, further weakening the war formations deployed by Eight Pillar Sect. More and more war formations collapsed due to the immortals forming it receiving soul damage. Reaching dire straits, Tai Wuling ignored the five-element giant''s attacks as he raised both arms above his spherical head. The moment the two hands clasped together, the five elements merged, and Ba Shifang felt the charm of the Law of Five Phases rolling off. It was a crude fusion with numerous flaws, but it had unimaginable power. Ba Shifang launched numerous attacks, including the Supreme Chaos Cannon, that landed on Tai Wuling''s body, dealing him numerous injuries, but he powered through them all as power continued to accumulate in his fists. "Die!" Tai Wuling shouted, bringing the merged fist down like a divine hammer. The air boomed, and space distorted. The five-element fist shredded the upper torso far faster than it could heal. Stripped away of the elements protecting it, the black core where Ba Shifang resided revealed itself. Without any hesitation, Tai Wuling split apart the merged fist and unleashed a torrent of punches. His punches hammered the dantian region, where the black core resided. The five-element giant couldn''t regenerate fast enough to protect its core. Thus, a crack appeared after tens of punches. With a roar and one more punch, Tai Wuling punctured the core. He felt something crack and turn to mush under his fist, and the black core disintegrated like a shattered mirror. Along with it, the elements forming the giant also fell apart, either dissipating or becoming a useless pile of mud or the like. Tai Wuling didn''t confirm the kill. He needed to save Yang Linyin, now! The sphere-headed giant rushed toward the trapped Eight Trigrams Emperor War Formation. Tai Wuling stopped upon reaching it, unsure of how to crack the shell. If he were to tear into it recklessly, he might cause more harm than good. Finally, the water arm transformed into a torrent that covered the entire metallic outer shell. Soon, rust started to appear, causing the metal to become brittle that easily broke with a few taps. Steam blasted out without the metal shell trapping it, and the metal arm formed a sharp-clawed appendage that sliced through the wood. For the layer of magma, Tai Wuling doused it with water, causing it to cool and harden. Although the cooled rock still emitted a fiery heat, it was nothing to the current Tai Wuling. He tore through the rock and saw nothing but empty space. There wasn''t even a shadow of the immortals that formed the Eight Trigrams Emperor War Formation, much less the formation itself. His heart sank. "Linyin! Where are you?!" Just as anger was about to cloud his mind, the air rippled and split apart, revealing Yang Linyin holding the Eight Way Mirror. Behind her were the hundreds of immortals that formed the Eight Trigrams Emperor War Formation. "You''re okay!" Tai Wuling said in relief. His smile did not last long as he saw the pale faces of Yang Linyin and the rest of the immortals. Compared to before, their numbers had dropped, and they no longer had enough people to form the war formation again. "The situation is disadvantageous to us, we should flee," Tai Wuling said. Yang Linyin shook their head. They directed their gaze to the distance where the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation battled with the Voidink Empress War Formation and Eternal Night Emperor. "We can''t leave without Grand Elder Infinity. If he falls, it''ll be practically over for the Eight Pillar Sect." "Alright," Tai Wuling said. "You flee first, and I''ll try to think of a way to distract the enemy and give Master a chance to flee." Tai Wuling''s body tensed as he saw a gigantic shadow overhead. He looked up to see a flaming meteor over a thousand meters long crashing toward him. Red, black, yellow, green, and white vapors leaked off it as it continued downward. "Get beneath me!" Tai Wuling shouted as he stood tall and raised both hands. His figure stood valiantly against the incoming catastrophe. Then the meteorite landed. Tai Wuling''s leg sunk into the ground as his back hunched from the force of the descending meteor. Moments later, he was brought to his knees, and just as it seemed that he would be flattened, adrenaline filled his body. Tai Wuling groaned as he strained his body. Still, slowly, he was pushing the meteor back up. Before the triumph and relief could set in, the meteor started exuding an all-encompassing golden light. "Ah, no!" one of the Eight Pillar Sect immortals shouted in fear as his body started to petrify into stone. He wasn''t the only one, as numerous others also experienced the same effect. The Eight Way Mirror in Yang Linyin''s hand exuded a bright white light that cascaded over the Eight Pillar Sect members. The petrification slowed, but her face paled as her qi reservoir plummeted. "Hrah!" Urged by a sense of crisis, Tai Wuling pushed the meteor back into the air and unleashed a flurry of punches that shattered the meteor into smaller rocks that fell harmless onto the destroyed land. "Honestly, I''d hoped you ran out of qi by now." Tai Wuling snapped his gaze toward the voice. There, he saw Ba Shifang floating in the air. He was clutching his right shoulder, and his right sleeve fluttered in the air, devoid of anything. Blood dripped from the sleeves, but Ba Shifang showed a calm expression as if he hadn''t lost an arm. "You!" Tai Wuling shouted. "I should have made sure you were dead!" "Don''t mistake my continued life as your carelessness. Even if you tried, you couldn''t kill me, at least not without my main body''s consent," Ba Shifang said to Tai Wuling''s confusion. "Enough. I grow tired of this, I shall end you now." "Just as I wanted," Tai Wuling said as energy started to roll off his body. Although he didn''t show it, his qi was running near empty, and the only reason he could continue to fight was the energy released from the Wuxing Core supporting him. A talisman in the shape of turtle shells with wings attached to both sides appeared in Ba Shifang''s hands. He raised it and stopped, snapping his gaze toward the distance. Tai Wuling raised his guard, fearing a trick from his foe. However, he soon noticed something amiss. A second later, he realized the haunting melody had disappeared. He turned his head, and confusion appeared. A sword was sticking out of Jiang Daoyi''s chest, but that wasn''t what made him confused. Tai Wuling would have congratulated his sect member for stopping one of the greatest dangers from the Buzhou Immortal Sect, but the problem was that it wasn''t anyone from the Eight Pillar Sect. The person behind Jiang Daoyi who had impaled her was none other than her fellow sect member, Xia Yushan! Chapter 371: Divine Punishment Xia Yushan''s brow imperceptibly twitched. He deflected a strike from a true immortal war formation and slashed back with his blade. He hadn''t formed a war formation with anyone and fought solo. He spent years on the Earth Continent alone with nary a friend. The only times he showed himself was when his presence was required for an operation. As a result, Xia Yushan had become a loner, but perhaps that was perfect for his current character. Even Wei Daying and Heng Huosheng, Xia Yushan''s former subordinates and friends, no longer maintained their communication with the former eldest senior brother of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. The only one among their cliche that still tried to maintain a relationship was Ji Shuye. Ji Shuye sent many letters and messages to Xia Yushan, but he disposed of them all. So, even those have started to dwindle as time went on. So, even in the grand battle between the alliance of the Buzhou Immortal Sect and the Anti-Earth Alliance against the Eight Pillar Sect, no one joined him. But that was fine. Xia Yushan preferred it that way. How else would he find a chance to kill Jiang Daoyi and eliminate his inner devil? He no longer felt any jealousy toward Xi Tianyi, nor did he have any love for Jiang Daoyi. Rather, whenever he looked at Daoyi, his mother''s image was superimposed on her. Every time he glanced at her, his heart would pulse with pain. Even if he deliberately avoided her, her face would appear in his mind. For him, Jiang Daoyi was a wall that blocked his immortal path, and walls should be destroyed. Xia Yushan knew what he must do. Xia Yushan bided his time. He accompanied as many missions that included Jiang Daoyi as possible, but either Xi Tianyi or Monarch Nine Heavens were by her side. His cold rationale prevented him from acting with them present, but even one with dulled desires and emotions as his began to grow impatient as the years passed. Finally, a chance came. The Buzhou Immortal Sect would ally with the Eight Pillar Sect against the Anti-Earth Alliance on the northwest battlefield. He would use the chance in the chaos and strike Jiang Daoyi down. What he didn''t expect was the Buzhou Immortal Sect''s sudden betrayal against the Eight Pillar Sect. He and the rest of the Buzhou Immortal Sect received orders to defeat and kill the Eight Pillar Sect. In the battle, the Buzhou Immortal Sect and the Anti-Earth Alliance held the upper hand. The truth that Monarch Nine Heavens was another persona of Xi Tianyi only brought surprise but no jealousy or envy. He only cared about Jiang Daoyi. Unfortunately, his target had somehow concealed her presence from all. Not even the ice-cold mind of Xia Yushan could stand the repeated failures. Xia Yushan could feel his inner devil growing, gnawing at his mind. As his despair rose, hope appeared before him in the form of a silver orb. While Ba Shifang and Tai Wuling clashed, he struck. He appeared behind Jiang Daoyi, his beloved sword in hand and thrust. A wave of relief washed over him as he saw his sword pierce through Daoyi''s chest. However, this was far from enough to kill an immortal, especially one who started comprehending the Law of Death. With a flick of his wrist, Xia Yushan twisted his sword, and sword light exploded forth from his blade. Even if Daoyi could survive her body''s destruction, she would not be able to escape his sword light. Sword light contained a trace of his willpower, meaning that it could interact with other willpower, in other words, a being''s mind. And the mind was the direct link to the soul. With it, Xia Yushan gained the ability to harm even soul immortals. Of course, sword intent was even more incredible than sword light. Those who mastered intent gain abilities resembling soul cultivators. Although intent could not replicate all the abilities of a soul immortal, just the ability to directly harm the soul was enough. And now, Xia Yushan displayed his sword light. He had attempted to gain sword intent, but it was as if an invisible wall blocked his path, just like his comprehension. Jiang Daoyi''s death will mean his ascension! Contrary to his expectations and puzzlement, Jiang Daoyi glanced at him calmly, devoid of panic or shock. The next thing Xia Yushan felt was an indescribable pain running amok inside his body. With a cough, blood spurted outward. However, his physical injuries were paltry in comparison to the damage his soul received. Xia Yushan didn''t panic even as he experienced the pain. He feared neither loss nor death, but he was confused. "What did you do?" "It''s not what I did, but what you did to yourself." Jiang Daoyi calmly replied. Despite her calm demeanor, Xia Yushan detected a simmering wrath in her tone. "You''re not like her, she wouldn''t get angry," Xia Yushan said. He felt his inner devil weakening, and he pulled out his sword. Instantly, he felt a sense of relief as the aching in his chest lessened. Jiang Daoyi turned around with not a scratch nor sword wound on her, as if he hadn''t impaled her. On the contrary, it was he, Xia Yushan, who had a sword-shaped hole through his robes and torso. "I don''t know who you are comparing me to, but of course, I''m different. There is only one me in this world," Jiang Daoyi said. Her eyes narrowed. "Now, are you prepared for my counterattack?"This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Even with his muted emotions, Xia Yushan felt a chill crawl up his spine. He felt the shackles constraining him loosen, and soon, he would master a complete law and ascend to the Seamless Immortal Realm. But that didn''t change the fact that he had tried to kill Jiang Daoyi. The Buzhou Immortal Sect would still hunt him down had he been an immortal monarch. Perhaps, not even an immortal emperor would be exempt from this punishment had they committed the same crime. So, without an ounce of hesitation, Xia Yushan turned tail and fled. Neither the Heaven Continent nor the Earth Continent would be safe anymore, so he planned to flee to the Endless Seas. Until he gained enough power for the Buzhou Immortal Sect to think twice about hunting him, he would continue to hide. Xia Yushan''s thoughts were beautiful, but reality was harsh.
Daoyi raised her hand, raising her sleeve and the chibi Tianyi hiding in it. However, she stopped halfway. As if speaking aloud to herself, she said, "Don''t kill him." The world darkened, and the sky above the Earth Continent appeared as if it was torn. In the tear, they saw a sea of stars, but the most prominent of them was the sun orbited by eight planets. "XIA YUSHAN!!!" Tianyi''s voice reverberated throughout the continent. Even regular mortals could hear his anger. Ironically, Xia Yushan would become a much-discussed name¡ªmostly concerning who he was, who shouted the name, and why. Beams of starlight shot down from the sea of stars. The sheer number practically blinded all the onlookers, but Daoyi frowned. "I said don''t kill him!" When the beams of starlight disappeared, all that was left was a ravaged wasteland devoid of anything, even spiritual qi. Immortals from the Buzhou Immortal Sect, Eight Pillar Sect, and Anti-Earth Alliance stared at the devastation in shock. While everyone stared, the chibi Tianyi climbed out of Daoyi''s robes. "Why shouldn''t I kill him? "He''s still Sect Master Xia''s disciple. We still have to show basic courtesy and let him deal with Xia Yushan," Daoyi said. "Besides, if he''s dead, I can''t punish him for his actions. Whatever I do before handing him over is justified." "I feel like the second part is the reason," the chibi Tianyi said. Although Daoyi was fine, the fire in his heart had not been doused. He turned his attention toward Tai Wuling and the rest of the Eight Pillar Sect. Starlight shone down once more. The Eight Pillar Sect members could only stare in horror as they did their best to defend against the light, but in the end, the starlight vaporized them. Not even ashes remained. Well, that wasn''t completely true. Amidst the desolation, a black sphere floated and spun. Spiritual qi gathered from far and wide, and a humanoid body regrew. And a familiar entered Tianyi¡¯s ears. "Noo!!! Linyin! Linyin!" At this time, the tear in the sky started to shrink until they became almost like a dot in the sky. That dot shifted until Tianyi''s body took form. His expression was placid, but his eyes still burned with anger. He turned to the sphere-headed giant. Simultaneously, Tai Wuling also stared up. Although the sphere didn''t have eyes, no one doubted the burning anger radiating from them. In fact, based on sheer emotions alone, it eclipsed Tianyi''s. ''Xi.Tian.Yi! It''s always you, you bastard!" Tai Wuling shot toward Tianyi like a rocket, but Tianyi didn''t pay him much heed. Instead, he turned toward the southeast, toward the Central Region where the Eight Pillar Sect used to exist, to see black clouds storming toward him. Each second, the tribulation clouds continued to increase and enlarge. "Go to the Nether Realm and atone for your sins!" Tianyi''s blatant disregard further enraged him, and he tightly grasped his two hands together to form a makeshift hammer. Fire, water, earth, wood, and metal qi began to merge together between his grasp. Finally, when Tai Wuling was only ten meters away from him, Tianyi turned his gaze over. "I''ll make this quick." Contrary to what the audience from the Buzhou Immortal Sect or the Anti-Earth Alliance thought Tianyi would do, he simply swiped his hand. Everyone thought Tianyi would suffer for his arrogance when the back of his hand collided with Tai Wuling''s merged fists. Against their expectations, it was Tai Wuling who was knocked back, and not lightly either. His body crashed into the land, fracturing it even further. Then, Tianyi pointed his finger at the downed giant. Numerous distortions appeared in space, and all of them shot toward Tai Wuling. Tai Wuling got back up with an earth-shattering roar, but before he could even move, Tianyi''s spacetime blades sliced through his body. The disconnected body part fell to the ground and transformed into either; a raging inferno, a pool of water, hills and mountains, veins of metal or giant trees. The only thing that remained was the sphere-shaped head. It piqued Tianyi''s interest, and he teleported in front of the sphere. With a wave of his hand, he shackled the sphere in place. "Xi Tianyi, don''t think I''ll die so easily. Even if I die, I''ll take you with me!" Tai Wuling shouted. "Noisy," Tianyi said. He snapped his fingers and hammered the sphere using spacetime distortions. Tai Wuling''s screams of pain entered Tianyi''s ears, but he continued. It wasn''t the best method, but Tai Wuling bore part of the blame for Xia Yushan attacking Daoyi, right? Okay, he knew that was a terrible reason, but he could not quell the simmering flames in his heart. Tianyi just wanted to hurt someone. However, the more Tianyi attacked, the more intrigued he became. Under the concussive might of his spacetime attacks, even a martial emperor should have fallen, yet the sphere held strong. For now, Tianyi decided to spare Tai Wuling''s life and capture him for future study. With a wave of his arm, a portal to the Nine Heavens Universe opened underneath the black sphere. However, the moment Tianyi tried to force it through, the atmosphere changed. Tai Wuling''s screams disappeared, and an oppressive immortal sense blanketed the area. No, it wasn¡¯t immortal sense. Tianyi had experienced his mother''s immortal sense, and this sensation outclassed hers. He could only conclude that this was divine sense! "Impudent bug!" a voice boomed, quieter than Tianyi shouting Xia Yushan but far more intense¡ªseamless and true immortals who heard it clutched their heads in pain, including Daoyi. Tianyi narrowed his eyes, and a miniature sun formed in the palm of his hand. Soon after, he shot it toward the black sphere, causing a blinding explosion. To his shock, not only did the black sphere not suffer any damage, it absorbed the Stellar Silence spell to form a five-armed body. The arms no longer cycled through the five elements. Instead, an element formed each arm and stayed. Before Tianyi or the five-armed giant could unleash their next move, coercion froze them in place. The black clouds, which should have taken a few more minutes, instantly arrived. More than that, its power had dramatically increased. Its power was no longer confined to the Immortal Realm but reached the Divine Realm! A Divine Punishment! Chapter 372: Erupting Strength Tianyi could count the number of times he faced death on one hand. Emperor Soulfish¡¯s assault, the Dragon Emperor-possessed Lei Jingye, and third, the Inner Devil Tribulation. And now, he suspected he was going to face the fourth life-threatening situation in his life. ¡°Pangu!!!¡± the five-armed giant bellowed. His shout created a tornado with him at the center from sheer volume alone. Tianyi stared at the five-armed, sphere-headed giant with slight confusion. The hatred in his voice reminded him of his first encounter with Lei Jingye. Only, the visceral emotion contained within the five-armed giant¡¯s words exceeded whatever Lei Jingye himself said. It made his anger at Xia Yushan¡¯s betrayal seem like a child¡¯s tantrum in comparison. However, Tianyi didn¡¯t have time to ponder anymore as the heavenly punishment descended without giving him time to think. The bolt had no color. Rather, it appeared closer to a hole in reality covered in a golden hue. The worst part was the coercion. Normally, it was him freezing spacetime and shackling his opponent in place. Now, it was his turn to experience the unpleasant sensation. While Tianyi struggled to escape the shackles, the five-armed giant already broke out of his restraints. ¡°Pangu, as long as the five elements persist, I, Wuxing, shall never fall!¡± Tianyi watched as a ring formed of five elements appeared on Wuxing¡¯s back. The ring spun as the five elements blurred into one solid black color. Simultaneously, Wuxing¡¯s five arms took on the same tone as the five elements perfectly merged into one greater supreme element. Fist clashed against lightning. However, heavenly punishment wasn¡¯t so easily dealt with. Wuxing¡¯s fist only momentarily stalled the bolt of lightning. Just as it seemed the lightning would resume its strike, a second fist struck the bolt, then a third, a fourth, a fifth, and many, many more. Wuxing sent a barrage of fists that halted the bolt¡¯s movement, and even started pushing it back. Furthermore, cracks appeared on the bolt of heavenly punishment. The longer the barrage of fists continued, the more cracks appeared until, finally, Wuxing shattered the bolt of heavenly punishment with one last punch. But heavenly punishment was not so easily destroyed. Whereas heavenly tribulation tested a cultivator¡¯s mettle, the heavenly punishment¡¯s aim was to utterly destroy the target. Unless the target¡¯s strength outstripped his current realm or had a unique existence like Tianyi, it was almost impossible to overcome. Considering the Divine Realm was the limit, that was quite literally impossible for Wuxing to survive. The shattered bolt of heavenly punishment slipped through Wuxing¡¯s fists and stabbed toward the sphere-shaped head. Contrary to Tianyi¡¯s spacetime attacks, the shards pierced the sphere and then dissolved into a shroud of void lightning. Wuxing roared in pain, but he still stood strong. The five phases ring whirling on his back separated and shifted until the sphere was in the center of the rings. This placement made the sphere and ring resemble a planet and its planetary rings. The five phases aura spilled from ring and covered the sphere, disintegrating the lightning within its new shroud. Wuxing didn¡¯t have any time to breathe as a second bolt of heavenly punishment descended. Then a third, a fourth, and so on. From the side, Tianyi watched with rapt attention. For once, he wasn¡¯t the automatic target of the Heavenly Dao¡¯s punishment or tribulation. ¡®Is this what it feels like as a member of the audience?¡¯ Tianyi shook his head. Now was not the time to dawdle like some dazed idiot. The clash between Wuxing and the heavenly punishment had loosened the shackles placed upon him, allowing him to break loose and retreat. First, he lowered his sense of presence as much as possible. Although the heavenly punishment was currently preoccupied with Wuxing, it didn¡¯t mean that it wouldn¡¯t choose to strike at him. Second, the aftereffects of the clash between Wuxing and the heavenly punishment destroyed the surrounding area, and even true immortals stood no chance of surviving if struck by a stray aftershock. So, Tianyi teleported them into his inner universe. He prioritized Daoyi¡¯s safety and everyone else¡¯s second. Of course, he didn¡¯t have the strength nor reason to interfere with the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation battle against Grand Elder Zhang and Eternal Night Emperor. Even with the ongoing heavenly punishment, the three continued to duke it out while avoiding any stray shots. After some hesitation, Tianyi decided to join the fray. After all, if Wuxing perished and the heavenly punishment targeted him, he could store the Grand Elder Zhang, the Eternal Night Emperor, and the members of the Anti-Earth Alliance in his inner universe. Tianyi didn¡¯t immediately attack. Instead, he began to gather energy for Constellation Cessation. First, a miniature sun radiating gold and silver materialized in his palm, followed by orbiting planets of the same scale. Most exuded the aura of chaos, but some exuded the aura of life, death, fire, water, earth, wood, metal, yin, yang, and more. It was the proof of Tianyi¡¯s comprehensions of the worldly laws he embarked upon. He didn¡¯t expect the technique to unleash the same amount of power as when he destroyed the Eight Pillar Sect¡¯s headquarter, just enough to heavily damage the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation. If he did unleash it on the same scale, forget the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation, he just might kill Grand Elder Zhang, the Eternal Night Emperor, and the Anti-Earth Alliance and Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s forces sieging the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation. Still, Tianyi forgot that his action was akin to telegraphing to the whole battlefield that he was preparing a powerful technique. He wasn¡¯t high in the sky out of most immortals¡¯ sensing range, and they weren¡¯t unaware either. So, it was no one¡¯s surprise when the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation dropped its battle with Grand Elder Zhang in her Voidink Emperor War Formation and the Eternal Night Emperor to target him. The Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation appeared in front of Tianyi. The giant humanoid formed of black and white energy clapped his its hand together with Tianyi between its palms. A moment passed, and the war formation intertwined the fingers of both hands as it increased the pressure between its hands. Although squashed, Tianyi remained largely uninjured, although his form had distorted from the pressure. The problem was the yin-yang domain created between the palms. It would take tens of thousands of years for it to kill him, but the half-formed Constellation Cessation was a different story.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. The yin-yang domain constantly drained the Constellation Cessation¡¯s energy, weakening it and powering the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation. Tianyi wanted to end the technique, but that would only make it easier for the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation to absorb the energy. Not even the corrosive nature of the immortal qi of primordial chaos could hurt the war formation, so he did the next best thing. ¡°Flee as far as possible from the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation!¡± Tianyi transmitted using his immortal sense. The Eternal Night Emperor hesitated and glanced toward the Voidink Emperor War Formation. Within the war formation, Grand Elder Zhang hesitated for a moment before ordering all the available Buzhou Immortal Sect war formations to retreat as far and as fast as possible. The Eternal Night Emperor followed suit, relaying the same orders to the Anti-Earth Alliance war formations. While the Buzhou Immortal Sect and Anti-Earth Alliance fled as far as possible, Tianyi did everything in his power to prevent his spell from losing qi. However, it was a losing battle. The breadth of wordly laws Tianyi mastered exceeded many immortal emperors. But if there was one thing Tianyi could not exceed, it was the height that the long-time immortal emperors reached with their laws. As the controller of the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation, Emperor Infinity¡¯s mastery dictated the height of power the sovereign-level war formation could unleash. Although he had not fused the Law of Yin and the Law of Yang into the Law of Yin-Yang, he reached an extremely high level in both. The level resulted in a gap that Tianyi couldn¡¯t make up no matter how many other laws he¡¯s mastered. The Law of Spacetime, the Law of Five Phases, the Law of Space, the Law of Time, the Law of Fire, the Law of Water, the Law of Earth, the Law of Wood, the Law of Metal, the Law of Yin, the Law of Life, and many other laws close to mastery; none of them could fully resist Emperor Infinity¡¯s might. At least for now. Once enough time had passed, Tianyi detonated the incomplete Constellation Cessation. Although the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation would likely disperse most of the force, it was better than stalling and letting it absorb the spell. Oh, and ignoring the fact that Tianyi was at ground zero. A bright light engulfed Tianyi and the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation. The blast radius of the Constellation Cessation grew and grew, destroying the land even further, possibly to an irrecoverable degree. The Buzhou Immortal Sect and Anti-Earth Alliance members who had stopped once they thought they reached a safe distance immediately resumed their escape. Even from thousands of meters away, they could feel the extreme heat and danger. Forget the explosion engulfing them. Just being within a certain distance of its radius might kill them. The mighty war formations that allowed them to contend with immortal monarchs and emperors seemed flimsy in comparison as of this moment. Not even Grand Elder Zhang and the Eternal Night Emperor could remain calm after seeing the might of the Constellation Cessation. In their eyes, it appeared crude and closer to an innate ability than a spell that perfectly utilized the wordly laws, but its sheer devastation exceeded anything an immortal emperor could accomplish¡ªperhaps even exceeding that too. When the nova disappeared, they all saw the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation. Although the sharp definition of its form had turned hazy, its stalwart figure weighed down on the observers¡¯ mind like a mountainous pressure. Even in the face of that devastating explosion, it still stood. Was there nothing that could take it down? Grand Elder Zhang and the Eternal Night Emperor frowned as they sensed the lowering morale. They doubted that the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation was unharmed as it appeared, but knowing logically and emotionally were two different matters. If they could not raise the morale, the casualties might exceed their expectations. They didn¡¯t think they would lose, it was more a matter of how many losses they would sustain. Moreover¡­ ¡°Do you sense Monarch Xi?¡± Grand Elder Zhang asked. She couldn¡¯t sense Tianyi normally, but it wouldn¡¯t hurt to ask. ¡°No, I can¡¯t sense him with my immortal sense or my eyes,¡± the Eternal Night Emperor said. ¡°Did he sacrifice himself once he saw that he couldn¡¯t escape?¡¯ Grand Elder Zhang hesitated. She didn¡¯t like Tianyi because of the single fact that he was a potential Dragon Emperor clone, but she knew how important he was to the sect. Sect Master Xia has shared some information regarding Tianyi¡¯s abilities, so she didn¡¯t think the chances of his death were high, but she couldn¡¯t help but worry. Her worries were for naught as the Eight Trigrams Sovereign Formation was launched into the air, as if something had struck its abdomen with a monstrous force. Or rather, someone. Grand Elder Zhang¡¯s eyes narrowed as she caught sight of Tianyi¡¯s positively miniscule figure next to the giant war formation. He appeared largely unharmed, but the same couldn¡¯t be said for his robes. ¡°Charge!¡± she commanded, leading the forces of the Buzhou Immortal Sect and the Anti-Earth Alliance with herself in the lead, with the Eternal Night Emperor following close by. Once Grand Elder Zhang engaged in battle with the last of the Eight Pillar Sect, she noticed that Tianyi¡¯s skin took on a tone that resembled the night sky. She didn¡¯t have time for questions as she had to focus on her attention on Emperor Infinity and the war formation he commanded. The Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation had weakened down partially because of Tianyi¡¯s Constellation Cessation, but more significantly due to the prolonged battle against Grand Elder Zhang¡¯s Voidink Emperor War Formation, the Eternal Night Emperor, and the siege against it. The situation didn¡¯t turn for the better as Tianyi released the Buzhou Immortal Sect members that formerly held down the Eight Pillar Sect members he killed. ¡°Elder Xi, if Emperor Infinity suddenly attempts to self-detonate, we¡¯ll be relying on you to save us,¡± Grand Elder Zhang said. Without waiting for Tianyi to reply, she charged again. Tianyi paused. He nodded even if Grand Elder Zhang couldn¡¯t see it. Since he had to watch out for the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation¡¯s self-detonation, he disengaged from close-range and started using spells. With a swipe of his hands, he opened a portal to the Nine Heavens Universe. From within, hundreds of stellar incarnations charged out and self-detonated once the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation entered range. While the Buzhou Immortal Sect and the Anti-Earth Alliance waged war against the last of the Eight Pillar Sect, Wuxing continued to defy the Heavenly Dao and the heavenly punishment. However, the heavenly punishment continued endlessly, and Wuxing tired. He was just one being facing the might of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. ¡°I¡¯m unwilling, unwilling to die like this after I finally revived after all these years!¡± Wuxing said. Madness entered his nonexistent eyes. Shockingly, he didn¡¯t resist the next bolt of heavenly punishment. The bolt struck him and an explosion formed of five elements spread. So great was its might that the battle between the sects temporarily halted as they did their best to protect themselves. But this did not concern Wuxing at all as a ringed sphere shot out of the explosion. It accelerated, rocketing past the black clouds and to the boundary of the Huang Realm. In less than ten seconds, Wuxing had torn a hole in the boundary and escaped into the Vast Void. Seeing his chance, Emperor Infinity followed Wuxing¡¯s trail. ¡°Not on my watch,¡± Tianyi said as he appeared in front of the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation, blocking its path. ¡°Since you want to die so badly, I¡¯ll grant you your wish!¡± Emperor Infinity said from within the war formation. Black and white light shrouded the war formation¡¯s palm as it reached for Tianyi. Not to back down, nine Stellar Silences appeared in Tianyi¡¯s palm as he met the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation head on. Before the two blows could connect, a bolt of heavenly punishment shot toward them¡ªor more specifically, Tianyi. ¡°Dammit!¡± Tianyi said. In the rush of battle, he had forgotten that heavenly punishment only existed within the realm. Once Wuxing escaped to the Vast Void, he would become its only target. Chapter 373: Sudden End Tianyi defended himself without a second thought. All those years of withstanding sudden bolts out of the blue had to account for something, right? The same couldn¡¯t be said for the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation. The bolt of heavenly punishment pierced through the gigantic war formation and struck Tianyi. Lightning arced and battered the formation from that single instance, causing it to convulse. The Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation turned hazy as it destabilized for a moment. A film of black and white shrouded the formation and prevented it from breaking. As for Tianyi, lightning shrouded his figure. His skin melted despite his anomalous physique. Chunks of charred flesh fell off and dissolved within the lightning, but the newly grown skin met the same fate. ¡®This is bad.¡¯ Even if someone decapitated him, Tianyi could shrug it off and reattach the head or regrow it, depending on his mood. His true body was the Nine Heavens Universe and his body was just one of the many conduits he piloted. However, the heavenly punishment didn¡¯t just target his body but his core, the inner universe. The chunks of charred flesh that fell off and dissolved didn¡¯t just represent Tianyi¡¯s physical body, but also a percentage of the energy of the Nine Heavens Universe. Before, it had always been Tianyi one-sidedly consuming the resources of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Now, he finally experienced how the Heavenly Dao felt whenever he absorbed the energy or land of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. That wasn¡¯t the worst part. The worst part was that the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System invaded the Nine Heavens Universe through the heavenly punishment. Naturally, the Heavenly Dao didn¡¯t intrude into Tianyi¡¯s inner universe for sightseeing but to consume the nascent universe. Just like how the Nine Heavens Universe grew stronger when it absorbed a portion of the Nether Realm in the Silent Lightning Timeline, so too would the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System advance if it could consume the Nine Heavens Universe, and by extension, Tianyi. Tianyi¡¯s mind spun furiously. He didn¡¯t know how or why the heavenly punishment could absorb him now, especially when it failed before. Perhaps it had to do with the weaker Heavenly Dao in the Silent Lightning, or the current heavenly punishment reached the Divine Realm threshold. Whatever the reason, Tianyi knew he couldn¡¯t allow it to continue. The first impulse Tianyi had was to self-detonate his primary conduit. Once the heavenly punishment lost its target, it would disappear, but he couldn¡¯t guarantee that the Heavenly Dao wouldn¡¯t send heavenly punishment after his other conduits. If all his conduits disappeared, he didn¡¯t know how he would return to the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Unless he had no choice, Tianyi didn¡¯t want to resort to this. He used all his computing power at his disposal to figure out a solution. A week passed in the Nine Heavens Universe, while only a few seconds passed in the Huang Realm. The best and safest solution Tianyi could generate was to hide his existence and, ironically, copy Wuxing¡¯s action. Heavenly punishment would continue unless its target disappeared or died, but if the price to exterminate Tianyi became too high, the heavenly punishment would end. It had already happened once before in the Nether Realm of the Silent Lightning Timeline. Still, that Heavenly Punishment had only been in the Origin Immortal Realm in power. So, Tianyi had a second hope. While enduring the heavenly punishment, he would minimize his presence as much as possible and hope that the heavenly punishment would lose sight of him. For the first part of Tianyi¡¯s plan, Tianyi charged toward the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation. Why waste his own energy first when he could use his enemy as a meat shield? Seemingly sensing Tianyi¡¯s plan, the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation retreated at breakneck speeds. It was for naught as Tianyi¡¯s figure disappeared from the war formation¡¯s front and reappeared behind it. Tianyi hadn¡¯t mastered the Law of Spacetime for nothing, even if the heavenly punishment attached to him followed along. Tianyi clutched onto the colossal war formation and the shroud of heavenly punishment covered the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation, too. He gained a brief respite since the power of the heavenly punishment split between him and the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation. A thin film resembling a patch of the night sky shrouded Tianyi¡¯s body like a second skin. He could feel the consumption of his energy and the Nine Heavens Universe from the heavenly punishment slow down. Now, he had to endure as long as possible. ¡°Insidious cretin!¡± Emperor Infinity bellowed from the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation. The Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation¡¯s fist landed on Tianyi¡¯s body, deforming it but not causing any noticeable harm. Since physical attacks had no effect, a taiji symbol appeared in its palm and covered Tianyi¡¯s body. Tianyi could feel the taiji symbol attempting to absorb his energy and even flesh, but compared to the heavenly punishment, it was akin to comparing the light of a firefly to the full moon¡ªpractically nonexistent. And Emperor Infinity soon stopped, not because it didn¡¯t work, but for two reasons. Both of the reasons originated from the heavenly punishment. First, when it absorbed Tianyi¡¯s energy, the heavenly punishment also flowed into the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation. It resulted in a portion of the immortals forming the war formation receiving injuries ranging from light to heavy. Not even Tianyi, an energy juggernaut, could absorb the heavenly punishment, much less the Eight Pillar Sect¡¯s war formation. Second, the black clouds roared as if in anger at the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation¡¯s blasphemous actions. Bolt after bolt of heavenly punishment descended onto Tianyi and the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation. The coat of punishment lightning increased in density and thickness. Emperor Infinity could no longer spare any attention to remove Tianyi as he focused wholeheartedly on defending against the heavenly punishment. Emperor Infinity knew that the chances of them escaping with even a single survivor were slim, but he must try. The humanoid form of the Eight Trigrams Sovereign Formation shifted into a giant taiji sphere, like the one he created within Zhang Cuiying¡¯s ink tsunami¡ªonly far larger and more powerful than ever. Different from the balanced characteristic of the humanoid form, the sphere form strengthened its defensive aspects while giving up the offensive and movement capabilities. The punishment lightning curved around the taiji sphere, and a vacant space separated the lightning and the sphere itself. During the transformation, Tianyi snuck into the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation and freed himself from the punishment lightning.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Emperor Infinity noticed Tianyi¡¯s action. He had half a mind to perish with Tianyi and cause an inner devil to form for Xi Mengfei, but he halted his impulse. Knowing that the situation could not continue lest they perish, Emperor Infinity controlled the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation to transform. Although the transformed Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation fended off most of the heavenly punishment¡¯s assault, the punishment lightning didn¡¯t disappear. The Yin-Yang Reversal displayed by the war formation could not dissipate the heavenly punishment¡¯s energy. Before long, a bolt of punishment lightning pierced the invisible barrier and struck the war formation. As time passed, more and more pierced the barrier defending the formation. The immortals contributing to the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation received heavier and heavier injuries, and nothing the war formation did could defend against the sheer might of the heavenly punishment. Certain death awaited if they could not escape the dire situation. Like Wuxing and Tianyi, Emperor Infinity chose the last path of survival¡ªescaping the boundaries of the Huang Realm. Heavenly tribulation and punishment would not occur in the Vast Void, but if they entered any of the realms, not just the Huang Realm, the heavenly tribulation or punishment would form once more. Unless he had no other choice, Emperor Infinity didn¡¯t want to choose this path, either. All immortals who ventured into the Vast Void would never return unless they immediately retreated into the safety of the Huang Realm. Only the Buzhou Immortal Sect possessed the knowledge concerning the Vast Void and the other realms, leaving all the other forces in the dark. Rather than their being a danger, Emperor Infinity believed that the Buzhou Immortal Sect eliminated all immortals who dared to enter the Vast Void. He didn¡¯t think the Buzhou Immortal Sect possessed the capabilities to chase him down at this juncture, since they had split their forces on the Heaven and Earth Continents. If he was to ever escape and flee from the Buzhou Immortal Sect and Anti-Earth Alliance, there was no better chance than now. He just had to make sure not to leak his intentions, else they would charge into the Vast Void to duke it out. The only reason they stood aside and watched was that neither forces wanted to be embroiled in the heavenly punishment. There was only one problem. Emperor Infinity turned his attention toward Tianyi, and a decisive light entered the immortal emperor¡¯s eyes. The sphere-shaped Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation split into two, one black fish and one white fish. Between the fishes was Tianyi¡¯s lone figure. When the two fishes swam to opposite direction, Tianyi chased after them. Although the heavenly punishment still attacked the two fish, the majority of its attention focused on Tianyi. The two sides played a game of cat and mouse¡ªor rather, cat and fish. Tianyi would cling onto one of the fish and disperse the pressure from the heavenly punishment. Once this happened, the two fishes would merge into a taiji sphere before splitting apart once more. Then, Tianyi would chase after one of the two fishes, and the process would repeat. Unknowingly, the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation had inched toward the dimensional boundaries of the Huang Realm. Before Emperor Infinity could successfully execute his plans, Tianyi¡¯s action changed. He vanished without notice, but the heavenly punishment still locked onto them.
Daoyi frowned and lifted her sleeve. She felt like a miniscule weight within had disappeared. ¡°Tianyi?¡± she asked. As she expected, the chibi Tianyi in her sleeve had disappeared.
Tianyi had swapped places with the chibi version of himself. The strength of each conduit did not depend solely on their connection to the Nine Heavens Universe, but there was a slight correlation. His strongest conduit had escaped to the safety of the inner universe, while his weaker conduit took its place. Judging by the actions of the heavenly punishment, Tianyi¡¯s attempt at concealing his presence failed. Emperor Infinity knew none of this. He only saw that the heavenly punishment had focused its attention on him once Tianyi disappeared. Without Tianyi to act as a decoy, he couldn¡¯t hide his intentions any further. The Eight Trigrams Sovereign Formation changed its shape once more. The sphere became a white torso with two black-tipped wings sprouting out. An avian head with a beak and a long slender neck grew out of the top. From its bottom, a feathered tail sprouted along with two scaled legs longer than said neck. The Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation took on the form of a predominately white crane. This new form focused on speed and maneuverability. It could not outspeed the bolt of heavenly punishment, but it was still fast enough to escape the Huang Realm in a matter of seconds. Zhang Cuiying and the Eternal Night Emperor had noticed Emperor Infinity¡¯s intent, but they were too slow and too late to stop him. Emperor Infinity and the rest of the true immortals who formed the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation felt hope rise in their chest as they neared the dimensional boundary. Suddenly, an explosion occurred within the war formation and killed tens of immortals. The explosion didn¡¯t just end at one; more and more explosions blossomed. When Emperor Infinity turned back, he saw tens of humanoid figures formed of starlight and crafted in Tianyi¡¯s image. He knew who caused this. ¡°Stop!¡± If Tianyi stopped now, he would be an idiot. Despite Emperor Infinity¡¯s best efforts, the damage had already been done. Too many true immortals had died, causing the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation to fall apart. Once it fell apart, the heavenly punishment struck those closest to Tianyi, killing them instantly. ¡°I¡¯ll kill you!¡± Fury filled each of Emperor Infinity¡¯s words as he charged toward the source of the stellar incarnations. Upon reaching his target, all he saw was a miniature Tianyi. The sight caused him to pause for a brief second, but he soon regained his bearings. He reached out and grasped the tiny Tianyi in both his hands. White light emitted from his left hand while black light emitted from his right. ¡°Xi Tianyi, even if I die today, I will kill you!¡± The chibi Tianyi opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, a bolt of heavenly punishment struck both of them. It severely injured Emperor Infinity and disintegrated the tiny Tianyi. Emperor Infinity spat out a mouthful of blood filled with charred chunks. Just as he prepared himself to suffer another bout of punishment lightning, the heavenly punishment unleashed a bolt of punishment lightning not at him or anywhere in the Earth Continent, but towards the Heaven Continent. Although bewildered, Emperor Infinity did not let this chance go. ¡°Go! The heavenly punishment won¡¯t target us. Flee and survive, so that the Eight Pillar Sect may rise again and strike down the treacherous Buzhou Immortal Sect!¡± The injured but surviving members of the Eight Pillar Sect immediately executed their grand elder¡¯s command. They were too injured to continue battling, and their only hope was to flee. While they fled, Emperor Infinity glared at the Voidink Emperor Formation and the Eternal Night Emperor, who were chasing down the remnants of the Eight Pillar Sect. He charged, but before he could fly even a hundred meters, a portal opened up near him. Tianyi charged out with his fist reared back. With a sickening crunch, Tianyi¡¯s punch landed on Emperor Infinity¡¯s cheeks. Then, Tianyi wrapped his arms around him, tying them together. ¡°I knew it, you were the target of the heavenly punishment,¡± Emperor Infinity said. Tianyi sneered. ¡°If you want to blame someone, blame your precious disciple, Tai Wuling¡ªor whatever Wuxing was. Had it not been for him, the heavenly punishment would have never become this powerful.¡± ¡°Hah, even if I die, I¡¯m taking you down with me!¡± ¡°That remains to be seen. Unlike you, I can withstand a bunch more rounds from the heavenly punishment!¡± As if to mock Tianyi, the black clouds containing the punishment lightning dispersed without warning. Tianyi snapped his head up with wide eyes. ¡®Oh, come on! It must have been running on fumes and chose this time to end, just to mock me!¡¯ Chapter 374: Confucius Strikes A middle-aged man waited in the Vast Void beyond the boundary of the Huang Realm. His skin was tender and white, like a newborn, but streaks of white hair on his temple marred his otherwise perfectly black hair. Cloaked in black robes and a white overcoat, he was Confucius, the grand founder and leader of the Saintly Scholar School. When a tear appeared in the dimensional boundary, he smiled. A giant with five arms, each wreathed in one of the five elements, and a sphere-like head shot through the exit. Punishment lightning exploded from the giant¡¯s form and dispersed into the void, but traces of punishment lightning crackled on the giant¡¯s charred body. ¡°You¡¯ve finally arrived, Wuxing,¡± Confucius said, drawing the reborn chaos fiendgod¡¯s attention to him. Once the energy sustaining the punishment lightning vanished, Wuxing¡¯s body began to heal at a slow but noticeable pace. However, he paid no heed as he directed his attention to Confucius. The reborn divinity had never seen the immortal before, nor had he heard of him before, but a familiar and distasteful aura emanated from Confucius. Hate rose from the deepest pit of his heart. ¡°PANGU!!!¡± Confucius didn¡¯t lose his smile. ¡°Although I am born of Pangu¡¯s spirit, please don¡¯t link me to him. Like you, I am one that seeks to break out of his bondage.¡± Wuxing, however, ignored Confucius¡¯s words. Like a bull that saw red, he charged straight at the immortal. The latter showed neither shock nor caution. He formed a single hand seal and pointed two fingers at Wuxing. A tiny sphere split between black and white formed on his fingertips. It resembled the yin-yang sphere created by Emperor Infinity, but anyone, even a mere mortal, could sense the superior charm of it. The taiji sphere shot toward Wuxing. The further it flew from Confucius, the larger it grew; until its size exceeded Wuxing¡¯s. In his blind rage, the reborn chaos fiendgod reared his fist back and punched the taiji sphere¡ªonly for his fist to phase through the sphere¡¯s boundary. His arm, shoulder, torso, and whole body entered next. But when Wuxing tried to exit through the other side, the sphere¡¯s boundary repulsed him, causing him to bounce back and forth. Wuxing roared as he launched a barrage of punches against the barrier that sealed him. Wherever a punch landed, the surface of the taiji sphere rippled, but only that. No matter the number of punches, the former chaos fiendgod failed to break out. Metal curved, fire dissipated, water dispersed, wood lost its vitality, and earth crumbled. Nothing Wuxing did could free himself from his predicament. Confucius made another hand seal before clenching his fingers into a fist. The taiji sphere mirrored his actions and started shrinking. The reborn chaos fiendgod roared, but no sound escaped the sphere¡ªnot that sound would travel very far in the Vast Void in the first place. Wuxing was forced into a fetal position once the sphere shrunk by half. The elements burst from Wuxing¡¯s body, but all attacks were reflected back to himself. The pain, however, awakened Wuxing from his rage-induced state. ¡°Pangu¡¯s spawn.¡± Wuxing¡¯s voice dripped with poison so toxic it could melt steel. He couldn¡¯t sit idly as the sphere continued to shrink. Wuxing had a feeling that if he couldn¡¯t escape, he would be forced to revert to his dormant state, waiting for a chance to revive, or worse. If the danger emanating from Xi Tianyi and the heavenly punishment resembled a firefly¡¯s light, then the danger emanating from Confucius were exploding stars, ready to incinerate him at a moment¡¯s notice. His body reverted to the pure essences of the five elements, which his core and head absorbed. Once that happened, a ring formed of the five elements circled around it, like a ringed planet. The five-colored ring started spinning until it was one whole color and enlarged itself. The five-element ring clashed against the taiji sphere. The ring and sphere reached an equilibrium with neither side able to overpower the other. Confucius¡¯s smile deepened. ¡°Had you regained your full strength, I would have needed to spend more effort. But you aren¡¯t.¡± ¡°You are a mere bug. Unless you reach the same height as us chaos fiendgods, you will forever be a bug!¡± ¡°You aren¡¯t wrong. All those drastically weaker are akin to bugs, and I admit that I haven¡¯t fully recovered my strength in this life, but it is more than enough for you,¡± Confucius said. Without warning, an oppressive aura emanated from Confucius¡¯s form. It resembled the pressure Tianyi felt from Wuxing, only far more complete. ¡°Impossible!?¡± Despite the lack of a face, there was no hiding Wuxing¡¯s sheer disbelief. ¡°There is only one confirmed immortal sovereign, and not even a single rumor of a divinity?! How could you reach the Divine Realm?¡± ¡°I can assure you that I am not the only divinity of the Huang Realm, although that will change soon.¡± After speaking those words, Confucius said no more. Instead, he increased the power of the taiji sphere. Despite Wuxing¡¯s resistance, it was all for naught as the sphere continued to shrink. First, it shattered the five-element ring, then it destroyed any and all attempts of resistance from Wuxing. It happened so fast, the former chaos fiendgod didn¡¯t have time to scream as he was reduced to a black sphere.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. The taiji sphere disappeared and the Wuxing Core¡ªdeprived of Wuxing¡¯s soul or thought¡ªfloated toward Confucius. The moment it touched his fingers, runes of red, black, yellow, green, and white flitted across the surface. The grand founder of the Saintly Scholar School nodded in satisfaction and brought the Wuxing Core to his lips. He pushed it into his mouth and, with an audible gulp, swallowed the core of the chaos fiendgod. Once the core reached his dantian, Confucius closed his eyes and felt the flow of five elements released from it. Light of red, black, yellow, green, and white radiated off of Confucius. His aura strengthened and reached the point of distorting the surrounding space with no conscious effort from the divinity. When the light faded, Confucius opened his eyes once more and his aura disappeared, as if he was just an ordinary middle-aged man. He turned toward the Huang Realm. Twin carps of black and white swam in his pupils as his gaze pierced through the protective barriers of the Broken Heaven Valley, the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s forbidden ground. There, a man with the bearing of a celestial emperor looked up. The two¡¯s gazes connected. The celestial emperor pursed his brows, while Confucius smiled and nodded. He pulled back his gaze and directed his attention onto the Earth Continent. There, he observed Xi Tianyi and the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation clashing. The greatest danger to the two wasn¡¯t each other, but the remaining heavenly punishment. ¡°This won¡¯t do¡± Confucius said. His hands flashed through several seals. After he finished, he pointed his fingers at the Huang Realm. Undetected by anyone within the Huang Realm except that individual watching in Broken Heaven Valley, the dimensional boundaries took on a half-black, half-white color. The taiji-symbol began revolving under Confucius control. Within the realm itself, the heavenly punishment disappeared. ¡°Pchuu!¡± Confucius spat out a mouthful of blood as the surrounding space constricted around him. He ignored the constraints and wiped the blood with his sleeve, staining it red. Despite his injuries, he smiled. ¡°I can¡¯t have you dying yet. I still need you to attract his attention for much longer.¡± With a wave of his sleeve, Confucius¡¯s figure disappeared from the Vast Void. On the Mortal Continent, black clouds gathered above the headquarters of the Saintly Scholar School.
Tianyi quickly regained his bearings after Emperor Infinity released a pulse of black-white energy, forcing the former away. He didn¡¯t have time to think about why the heavenly punishment ended until he slew his current foe. Swiping his arms, he opened up a portal to the Nine Heavens Universe, where numerous stellar incarnations streamed out. In response, Emperor Infinity conjured a yin-yang domain that spanned ten thousand kilometers. His skin paled as a bloody aura cloaked him. The usage of the forbidden technique showed the immortal emperor¡¯s intention. He abandoned all hopes of escape, just to leave a sliver of hope for the Eight Pillar Sect. Tianyi frowned and waved his hand. The yin-yang domain restricted Tianyi¡¯s portals, but it also weakened the Buzhou Immortal Sect and Anti-Earth Alliance¡¯s members. Contrarily, the surviving immortals of the Eight Pillar Sect increased the speed of their escape. Since Emperor Infinity released a yin-yang domain, Tianyi released a space domain. The silver domain clashed against the yin-yang domain. While it couldn¡¯t completely absolve all the effects of the yin-yang domain, it reduced its influence until it was negligible. The clash of domains accelerated the depletion of Emperor Infinity¡¯s qi reserves. Then the straw that broke the camel¡¯s back came. While Tianyi and Emperor Infinity fought, the Buzhou Immortal Sect and Anti-Earth Alliance did not just chase down the fleeing remnants, but also set up a massive slaughtering formation. A massive formation spanning over a hundred thousand kilometers appeared. The law of the five elements, yin, yang, lightning, space, clouds, death, stars, and other laws, manifested within. The Myriad Rule World Formation emerged and started eliminating the remnants of the Eight Pillar Sect. It was as if the world had attacked them. Surging tides drowned a hundred immortals, and raging flames incinerated another. Steel spikes pierced the fleeing immortals, soul and all. Trees sprouted from the land and drained the vitality of those trapped by its roots and branches. The land overturned and buried those unlucky enough, turning them into nutrients. Lightning descended and splintered the immortals, and starlight vaporized those struck. A black aura filled the domain, consuming the life force of all those touched. ¡°NOOO!!!¡± Emperor Infinity screamed. He increased the strength of his yin-yang domain, but it was useless. He was but one immortal emperor, while the Myriad Rule World Domain rivaled an immortal sovereign¡¯s domain. Not to mention Tianyi¡¯s disruption. He flew towards the fleeing immortals of the Eight Pillar Sect, hoping to send at least one out, but Tianyi constantly teleported and blocked him. ¡°Out of the way!¡± How could Tianyi do as Emperor Infinity ordered? Emperor Infinity¡¯s urgency rose to the peak as the number of immortals dwindled to ten percent. And it seemed even that little percentage would soon disappear. What awaited the Eight Pillar Sect was only an entry in history books as losers. Hatred filled the immortal emperor¡¯s eyes. He didn¡¯t move as Tianyi appeared next to him and allowed the latter to pierce his flesh with his fist. ¡°At least you!¡± Emperor Infinity¡¯s hands grabbed Tianyi like shackles. No matter how hard Tianyi injured him, he refused to let go, even when he turned into more corpse than human. A black and white tree over eighty thousand meters tall manifested behind Emperor Infinity. At the very top, a single flower and two flower buds appeared. The Daotree released an ominous light as its aura strengthened. Conversely, Emperor Infinity¡¯s skin sagged as his flesh, blood, and soul turned into the tree¡¯s nutrients. The two flower buds wilted and dropped off, while the lone flowered wilted and produced a tiny fruit of black and white. That fruit was no larger than an infant¡¯s fist, but it contained power that would cause even an immortal sovereign to hesitate. Emperor Infinity¡¯s ghoulish gaze bore into Tianyi¡¯s soul. ¡°Accompany me and the rest of the Eight Pillar Sect for your sins!¡± A bright light of black and white erupted from the black and white fruit. Its range grew as it first consumed Tianyi and Emperor Infinity, but it didn¡¯t stop there. The range grew as it swallowed the land, trees, even the very sky. Tianyi¡¯s spatial domain collapsed, and even the Myriad Rule World Formation started crumbling. ¡°¡°Flee!¡±¡± Zhang Cuiying and the Eternal Night Emperor ordered. Emperor Infinity¡¯s self-detonation had reached the threshold of an immortal sovereign, and not even Xi Mengfei would dare to take it head-on. Chapter 375: The Anti-Earth Alliances Origins When the explosion died down, the members of the Buzhou Immortal Sect and Anti-Earth Alliance felt the chill of death leave their body while sighing in relief. Still, they gawked at the devastation. It didn¡¯t appear as if an explosion had ravaged the land, but something more terrifying. All life had vanished. What greenery that had survived the clash between the two forces had disappeared. Emperor Infinity¡¯s self-detonation had created a barren wasteland that would not look out of place in the Broken Primordial World. Not only that, but spatial rifts floated above the land. The rifts would suck any unlucky fool who neared it into the Vast Void. Slowly, the rifts in the dimensional boundary closed. With their safety assured, the Buzhou Immortal Sect and Anti-Earth Alliance began to search for survivors. Emperor Infinity¡¯s last attack had exceeded their wildest imagination. Not even the Myriad Rule World Formation, a formation composed of over three hundred immortal monarchs, could defend against it. Emperor Infinity must have used several forbidden techniques, not only sacrificing his blood essence but likely his very soul. Those who entered the Immortal Realm could no longer undergo reincarnation after death under normal circumstances, but that didn¡¯t mean they had no hope of revival. Just look at the Dragon Emperor. The Eternal Night Emperor and Grand Elder Zhang ordered a headcount and search for any survivors, as well as for any remnants of the Eight Pillar Sect that might have survived. Although the majority of the immortals survived, at least ten percent did not escape the blast radius. Less needed to be said for Tianyi, since he was practically at ground zero. Grand Elder Zhang furrowed her brows as the search continued. The self-detonation left bodies behind, but the search wasn¡¯t for them but Tianyi. Tianyi had become an integral part of the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s future plans, and his death would severely hinder them. Not to mention she didn¡¯t want to explain to Mengfei why her son had died. She might get stabbed a hundred times¡ªif she was lucky. If not, Mengfei might just very well shatter her soul and go crazy. An inner devil overtaking an immortal sovereign was no joke. Inner devils were born of a person¡¯s heart, thus they could be seen as a reflection of that person. Usually, cultivators who were overtaken by inner devils would not just become crazy but hyper fixated on something. An inner devil born of hatred might hunt down any and all people related to said hatred. Inner devils born of love would usually lead to tragic consequences for the loved subject. If Mengfei really did become bedeviled, their best hope was to kill her before she can cause any major damage. If they were lucky, she might attempt to revive Tianyi at any cost. If they were unlucky, she might hunt all those related to his death, be they enemies or allies. Grand Elder Zhang¡¯s gaze settled on a blue-robed figure. Her eyes gained a hint of hope as she flew toward said figure. Daoyi¡¯s calm state brought some relief to the white-haired elder. ¡°Elder Jiang, have you any clue perhaps of Elder Xi¡¯s state?¡± Daoyi frowned. ¡°He should be alive. I just don¡¯t know if his body survived.¡± ¡°Body, has his soul left his body?¡± Grand Elder Zhang didn¡¯t know all the details about Tianyi at the latter¡¯s request. Thus, she only knew about some of Tianyi¡¯s abilities. ¡°That¡¯s¡ª¡± Daoyi opened her mouth to explain but halted upon sensing a change in the atmosphere. Grand Elder Zhang scanned the surroundings upon sensing the same change. Not just her, but the Eternal Night Emperor also raised their guard. They prepared to form the war formation in case Emperor Infinity had any backup plans or anyone who wanted to fish in muddied waters appeared. The sky and land darkened as tiny motes of dark light appeared where Emperor Infinity had self-detonated. The numbers of motes reached an uncountable degree. From within each mote, a brilliant light resembling stars shone. The starlight exuded auras of time, space, fire, water, earth, wood, metal, lightning, yang, yin, death, life, and many more. Despite herself, Grand Elder Zhang found herself enthralled by the motes of light. She could sense the myriad laws laid bare before her. She wasn¡¯t the only one as many immortals found enraptured by the sight. It was much like how a painter would stare at the most beautiful scenery or image to paint. Even if the world¡¯s most beautiful human appeared before them, they would not care. Such was the beauty of the scene. The only one not enthralled was Daoyi, because she experienced this sensation many times before. As she expected, the tiny motes of starlight congregated at the center of the devastation. They clumped together and merged into a black, misty blob no larger than two meters. The mist condensed and formed two arms, two legs, and a head. The mist on the head faded away to reveal Tianyi¡¯s features. Still, the black mist partially covered his body and made it seem illusionary and not solid. Anyone who gazed into the mist would peer into another universe. When Tianyi opened his eyes, the aura of the worldly laws vanished, much to the immortals¡¯ disappointment. ¡°Goddammit!¡± Tianyi said. ¡°I really thought I was going to lose this body for a moment!¡± He stopped complaining and turned his gaze toward Daoyi, who was the first to fly over. ¡°I knew you wouldn¡¯t die so easily.¡± Tianyi scratched his cheek. ¡°Weren¡¯t you worried at all?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Daoyi said. ¡°Losing a body is minor, but if you were to die or disappear from the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, Master might go crazy and kill everyone.¡±You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°Mother wouldn¡¯t do that. Right?¡± ¡°Master has had an emotional past.¡± Daoyi said. ¡°For some people, as long as they have an emotional pillar of support, they can brave anything. You are master¡¯s pillar of support. If anything were to happen to you, she might form an inner devil, or worse.¡± Tianyi opened his mouth to deny Daoyi¡¯s claim, but recalling his mother¡¯s past, he didn¡¯t have the confidence. Thankfully, this was only one of his conduits. Although the heavenly punishment sent one bolt of punishment lightning to the conduit on his mother, nothing happened. Still, he would like to keep the exact details of what happened from her. He and Daoyi didn¡¯t talk for long as Grand Elder Zhang, the Eternal Night Emperor, and the various leaders of the Anti-Earth Alliance flew toward him. ¡°Elder Xi, are you alright? Your state doesn¡¯t seem good,¡± Grand Elder Zhang said. Tianyi blinked. Then he looked at the sky. Strange, the sky wasn¡¯t collapsing and the cold elder in front of him was actually asking if he was okay. He could still vividly recall the distaste in her eyes when he first met her. Realizing that his actions were a bit too obvious, he quickly said, ¡°I¡¯ll live.¡± Grand Elder Zhang¡¯s eyes showed disbelief. Tianyi sighed, and he also glanced at the various sect masters and the Eternal Night Emperor. ¡°My current state is a bit special. My actual combat abilities haven¡¯t diminished much, but I¡¯d rather not expend any unnecessary energy.¡± ¡®Who knows if I might accidentally expose the Nine Heavens Universe and bring forth another heavenly punishment? It would be safer to just destroy this body, but I¡¯m unwilling to give it up so easily. I¡¯ll just hide it in the Nine Heavens Universe for now,¡¯ Tianyi thought. Tianyi¡¯s haze-covered figure disappeared and in his place was a miniature Tianyi less than a quarter of a meter. The miniature Tianyi quickly grew into his regular size, but even though none of the immortals could sense his aura or presence, they still felt a weakness emanating from Tianyi. ¡°We finally meet,¡± the Eternal Night Emperor said. He motioned toward his compatriots. ¡°These are the sect masters of the Northbound Longevity Sect, Skymist Gorge, Goldlight Sect, and the Yangsource Sect. But you may better know us by our other titles, the Zodiac Immortals.¡± Tianyi smiled and cupped his hands. ¡°I¡¯ve long heard of Grand Elder Ouroboros and the other Zodiac¡¯s contributions. It¡¯s been my honor to fight alongside you all today.¡± That¡¯s right, the Eternal Night Sect, Northbound Longevity Sect, Skymist Gorge, Goldlight Sect, and the Yangsource Sect originated from the former Mortal Continent¡¯s hegemonic force, the Cultivators Alliance. But in reality, they had another identity, the external branch of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. In their original plans, the Buzhou Immortal Sect planned to pincer the Eight Pillar Sect with the Cultivator Alliance and unify the Huang Realm like the Numinous Sword Sect had done with the Numinous Realm. They even picked out a new name for the Huang Realm after they succeeded¡ªthe Jade Realm. But none of them foresaw Confucius and the rise of the Saintly Scholar School. The fall of the Cultivators Alliance drastically altered the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s plan, forcing them to postpone the Eight Pillar Sect¡¯s destruction for hundreds of thousands of years. The fallen Cultivator Alliance split into two groups, one that continued the legacy of its original nature. Only now, they based their headquarters in the endless seas. The other half infiltrated the Earth Continent and slowly rose to their current status as first-rate sects and formed the Anti-Earth Alliance. Naturally, some members of the Anti-Earth Alliance weren¡¯t secret members of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Thus, they used the Eight Pillar Sect¡¯s plan to cull them, like the Allbeast Sect. For years, the Buzhou Immortal Sect waited for an opportunity. The Dragon Emperor¡¯s existence halted their plan once again. Tianyi¡¯s progression and unique abilities gave them a unique confidence. They feared neither the Eight Pillar nor the Anti-Heaven Alliance. The latter was even less of a threat than the former. Their only cause of concern within the Huang Realm was the Saintly Scholar School, but the Concealed Emperor ordered them to begin the war of unification. The Buzhou Immortal Sect always possessed the strength to destroy the Eight Pillar Sect. The question was how high of a price they had to pay. If the war weakened them too much, then the Numinous Sword Sect might take this chance to invade. Thus, they had to eliminate the Eight Pillar Sect and Anti-Heaven Alliance in the shortest time possible, with the least amount of losses. Their plan succeeded in the Earth Continent, now it was time to clean up the rest on the Heaven Continent. At least, that was the plan. ¡°I had my doubts about the word of Monarch Nine Heaven¡¯s abilities, but actions speak louder than words. All my doubts have been cleared,¡± the Yangsource Sect Master said. ¡°¡ªno, I¡¯ve been rude. I should address you as Emperor Nine Heavens.¡± Tianyi blinked. His current cultivation method didn¡¯t have any minor realms like the Immortal Realm¡¯s Pathfinding Immortal Realm, Seamless Immortal Realm, Extremity Immortal Realm, and Origin Immortal Realm, so he had forgotten about how the revelation of his true strength would change the address. Still, he narrowed his eyes in enjoyment. Daoyi inwardly rolled her eyes upon sensing Tianyi¡¯s barely concealed excitement. ¡°Not just you, we old fossils all had our doubts.¡± The Skymist Gorge Sect Master said with a laugh as he stroked his beard. ¡°Can you blame us? A three hundred-year-old immortal emperor!? A tiger mother has birthed a dragon son!¡± Tianyi practically preened under the praise. It felt like he could float off at any moment as the praises piled on. Thankfully, someone had the tact to redirect the topic away from flattery. ¡°Although I am thankful for Elder Xi¡¯s joining us so quickly, what about the Eight Pillar Sect headquarters?¡± the Eternal Night Emperor asked. Grand Elder Zhang also turned toward Tianyi. In their estimations, they should have finished the battle and joined up with Tianyi to eliminate the rest of the Eight Pillar Sect. ¡°Destroyed, I killed them all,¡± Tianyi said. All the immortals present stared at him with wide eyes of disbelief. Although the Eight Pillar Sect dispatched their main army to the northwest battlefield, the early termination of the teleportation portal should still have left them with a sizable force at their headquarters. How could Tianyi defeat them so quickly before they even finished? And by his lonesome? ¡°Oh wait, Soulsilk is still alive. I trapped him, but it shouldn¡¯t be long before he runs out of qi and dies,¡± Tianyi added. Grand Elder Zhang, Eternal Night Emperor, and the other members of the zodiacs shared a look. Finally, Grand Elder Zhang coughed into her hands. ¡°Still, it¡¯s a large duty for one immortal to fulfill. How about we go and take a look to search for any loose ends?¡± Tianyi showed an awkward expression. He scratched his cheeks. ¡°I don¡¯t think there is any need for that.¡± His words only deepened their doubts. Grand Elder Zhang said, ¡°We must not let any loose ends lie. No matter how small the chances are.¡± Tianyi was about to reject it again, but Daoyi pulled on his sleeve and transmitted a message to him. Realization dawned on his face, and he sighed. ¡°Alright.¡± Chapter 376: On the Heaven Continent Grand Elder Zhang, the Eternal Night Emperor, the immortals of the Buzhou Immortal Sect and Anti-Earth Alliance didn¡¯t resist as Tianyi waved his hand, teleporting everyone toward the Eight Pillar Sect¡ªor rather, what was left of it. ¡°Elder Xi, where did you teleport us to?¡± Grand Elder Zhang asked. Her immortal senses expanded thousands of kilometers but all she could sense was a ruined land. The qi was sparse, and nothing was stable. No life or resources could appear here. Occasionally, spatial rifts would appear. Rather than even the lowest ranked realms, this scenery appeared closer to a broken realm. As the name suggested, broken realms were incomplete realms that could not sustain life. An example of a broken realm would be a world of unending thunderstorms with no land or sea. Under the constant bombardment of lightning and thunder, what mortal life could survive? Not even true immortals could survive. Only immortal monarchs had a chance to survive in such worlds. And, if the immortal monarch comprehended the Law of Lightning, it might even be beneficial. When the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System first formed, over half of the realms were composed of broken realms, but because of their incompleteness, these broken realms aged faster than normal realms. After the passage of over three millions years, these broken realms died and disintegrated into realm essence. Now, the number of broken realms had shrunk dramatically. Of course, this knowledge was only known to the Buzhou Immortal Sect in the Huang Realm, and most of their world essence comes from such realms. Had Tianyi teleported them into a broken realm, Grand Elder Zhang wondered. It was easy to teleport inside a realm, but it was far more difficult to teleport between two realms. But aside from this conclusion, she couldn¡¯t think of any reason for the current scenery. Not just her, but the Eternal Night Emperor also thought the same. The immortal monarchs looked over in confusion since they weren¡¯t privy to as much information as immortal emperors. Tianyi could only shake his head helplessly. ¡°This is where the headquarters of the Eight Pillar Sect used to exist.¡± Shock flashes across everyone¡¯s faces, including Daoyi¡¯s. Everyone did a double take. This desolate and ruined land used to house the once-prosperous Eight Pillar Sect? A hegemonic sect on equal footing to the Buzhou Immortal Sect? ¡°You¡¯re not lying, are you?¡± Grand Elder Zhang asked. ¡°You can check for yourself whether I¡¯m lying or not. As long as you fly out of the range of devastation, you should probably recognize the landmarks of the Earth Continent.¡± Grand Elder Zhang and the Eternal immediately turned into streams of light. Not long later, the immortal monarchs and true immortals followed suit. A few days later, the Eternal Night Emperor returned first with a dazed expression. Since he comprehended the Law of Lightning and the Law of Stars, if he claimed second in terms of speed, few would dare to claim first. A few days later, Grand Elder Zhang also returned. Like the Eternal Night Emperor, she also sported a dazed expression. She blinked, once, twice, and finally a third time. Her gazes gravitated toward Tianyi and contained within that gaze were a myriad of emotions. But the greatest emotion conveyed within her eyes was fear. Not just Grand Elder Zhang, but the Eternal Night Emperor and the rest of the immortals that returned also stared at Tianyi with fear. Some of them couldn¡¯t help but speculate if Tianyi wasn¡¯t an immortal emperor but immortal sovereign like his mother. Or maybe he used a realm artifact, but if he did, he should be contaminated by a huge amount of karmic sin, yet they could sense no such thing, not even a hint of karmic merit or sin. Either way, however Tianyi achieved this result, they no longer doubted his words. ¡°E-Emperor Xi,¡± the Yangsource Sect Master asked, ¡°How did you accomplish this?¡± The other sect masters of the Anti-Heaven Alliance glared at the Yangsource Sect Master in anger. Asking someone¡¯s method was akin to asking for potential weakness. In their eyes, Tianyi¡¯s position was probably only inferior to his mother, and if he decided to kill them out of anger, they wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything or resist. ¡°I used a technique,¡± Tianyi said. A technique, not a realm artifact? Although a few might suspect that Tianyi was lying, more were inclined to believe, especially Grand Elder Zhang. Although she didn¡¯t like Tianyi, she knew a bit about him, even if she didn¡¯t want to, thanks to Mengfei. ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about it,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°Although the Eight Pillar Sect is gone, there should still be some vassal sects that did not take part. We should take care of them.¡± The immortals¡¯ faces changed. Did Tianyi want to wipe out the rest like he did with the Eight Pillar Sect? ¡°E-Emperor Xi, there¡¯s no need to destroy them! Even if they were vassals of the Eight Pillars, they¡¯ll easily capitulate once they learned of what happened,¡± The Goldlight Sect Master said. Tianyi looked at him with a strange expression. ¡°Who said anything about destroying them?¡± An awkward expression appeared on the Goldlight Sect Master¡¯s face. ¡°O-f course. I knew that, haha.¡± Tianyi¡¯s lips twitched. ¡®I¡¯m being treated like a weapon of mass destruction.¡¯ Daoyi couldn¡¯t help but cover her mouth with her sleeves as she giggled. When Tianyi shot a glare at her, the immortal monarchs and the Eternal Night Emperor couldn¡¯t help but feel their hearts jump. ¡°Emperor Xi.¡± Even the Eternal Night Emperor¡¯s addressment toward Tianyi changed. Although he saw Tianyi¡¯s battle with Emperor Infinity, he only thought Tianyi¡¯s qi, body, and survival abilities were extremely powerful. In his eyes, Tianyi was still too young and his techniques too crude, and it would not be hard to survive against him. But now, his thoughts had completely changed. Although he addressed Tianyi as emperor, he treated Tianyi like an immortal sovereign.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°The forces loyal to the Eight Pillar Sect can be cleaned up later. We should reinforce Grand Elder Xi,¡± Eternal Night Emperor said . ¡°Although Grand Elder Xi is an origin immortal, the Cloud Goddess is equal to her.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± Hearing Tianyi¡¯s questions and the weird look on his face, the Eternal Night Emperor couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Don¡¯t know what?¡± Tianyi turned towards Grand Elder Zhang. ¡°Should I tell him or you?¡± ¡°Tell him what?¡± Grand Elder Zhang asked with furrowed brows. Realization dawned on Tianyi. ¡°I might as well tell everyone now. Actually, the situation on the Heaven Continent should be even simpler than the Earth Continent.¡± The Eternal Night Emperor and Grand Elder Zhang glanced at each other. What did Tianyi mean by this? Not just them, but the other immortal monarchs couldn¡¯t help but reveal puzzled expressions. Currently, their curiosity overrode their fear of Tianyi. Daoyi could see that Tianyi was enjoying whetting everyone¡¯s appetite. Finally, she couldn¡¯t handle it anymore. ¡°Stop dilly-dallying and just tell them.¡± ¡°Ruin my fun, why don¡¯t you?¡± Tianyi griped, but he didn¡¯t prolong everyone¡¯s torture. ¡°Actually, the Cloud Goddess is¡­¡±
Monarch Fiveseal frowned. Behind him were numerous immortals traveling to the Cloud Goddess Cult. It wasn¡¯t just the Five Element Sect doing this, but the Drifting Feather Sect, Nihility Sect, and Jade Cauldron Sect. All members of the Anti-Heaven Alliance were ordered to dispatch their army to the Cloud Goddess Sect because word leaked that a massive amount of monarchs and true immortals from the Buzhou Immortal Sect appeared on the Earth Continent. Still, Monarch Fiveseal couldn¡¯t help but sense the abnormality of the situation. The Anti-Heaven Alliance had contested with the Buzhou Immortal Sect for hundreds of thousands of years now, so they had a certain understanding of their mortal enemy. The Buzhou Immortal Sect was like a stable mountain, never fumbling and always taking the safest actions and taking no risks. So why did they divert a large amount of their forces to the Earth Continent at this crucial time? What did the Eight Pillar Sect offer that was so attractive for them to take this high risk? Was the Buzhou Immortal Sect not afraid of the Anti-Heaven Alliance taking advantage of the situation? Or was it a scheme to lure them into a false sense of security? Monarch Fiveseal shook his head. Even if it was a trap, they still might have to attack. This chance was just that precious. Once the troops of the Five Element Sect arrived at the Cloud Goddess Sect, they were immediately escorted to the residence prepared for them. While most of the immortals were led away, the top echelon entered the sacred hall of the Cloud Goddess Cult. To their surprise, the members of the Nihility Sect and Jade Cauldron Sect had already arrived. After thinking it through, it didn¡¯t surprise Monarch Fiveseal much. The Nihility Sect and Jade Cauldron Sect joined later, so they had more to prove than the other members of the alliance. Monarch Fiveseal, the Five Element Sect Master, and the other immortal monarchs of the Five Element sect greeted the Cloud Goddess, who sat indolently in the highest seat. Her eyes scanned them, and Monarch Fiveseal felt a chill crawl up his spine. Ever since the Cloud Goddess displayed her true strength and equaled an immortal sovereign, the immortal monarchs always felt a pressure when facing it. It was no longer just the separation of a single level, but two. Whatever relationship they had would be eroded by the difference in existence. It was an unconscious recognition that no one could ignore. The stronger you were, the clearer you felt this. However, the feeling Monarch Fiveseal got from the Cloud Goddess¡¯s gaze was different. It felt sharper, almost slaughterous. It was like he could already see the rivers of blood that would flow from the battle between the Anti-Heaven Alliance and the Buzhou Immortal Sect. ¡°We¡¯re just waiting for Drifting Feather Sect now,¡± the Cloud Goddess said, causing Monarch Fiveseal to break out of his trance. ¡°It¡¯s as your holiness says,¡± the Five Element Sect Master said. A few days later, the Drifting Feather Sect also arrived. Once they arrived, the discussion began. Even if the Cloud Goddess had already decided, appearance still had to be kept. ¡°Are we sure this isn¡¯t a scheme to lure us to attack?¡± The Drifting Feather Sect Master asked. ¡°Jade Cauldron Sect Master, you were closest. What do you think?¡± Everyone turned toward the Jade Cauldron Sect Master with slight mockery in their eyes. The subject of everyone¡¯s looks glared back, releasing a hint of his aura. Before, he was a first-step immortal monarch, but he had just recently became a second-step immortal monarch, giving him the confidence to retort. ¡°How would I know? The outside world says the Jade Cauldron Sect has a close relationship, but our status was closer to a lackey.¡± ¡°So you gleamed nothing in your years of servitude?¡± The Jade Cauldron Sect Master glared at the immortal monarch from the Five Element Sect. Just as he was about to scold him, a heavy pressure descended. Sweat formed on his brows and he quickly turned toward the highest seat. Not just him, but the other immortals also turned their attention toward the Cloud Goddess. ¡°Focus on the main matter.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± the Jade Cauldron Sect Master said, his waist bending even more. He shot one last glare at the immortal monarch before saying, ¡°According to our years of investigation, the number of immortals that went to the Earth Continent is almost eighty percent of all the immortals the Buzhou Immortal Sect has. Or that¡¯s what they want us to think. According to our long years of investigation, they should still have around fifty percent of their immortals on the Heaven Continent.¡± ¡°It seems that all the years of loyalty was nothing more than an act. To fool the Buzhou Immortal Sect for years, you have my admiration,¡± the Drifting Feather Sect Master said as he cupped his fist. The Jade Cauldron Sect Master snorted. ¡°Sovereign Xi won¡¯t leave the Heaven Continent with your holiness present. The problem is whether any of the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s two immortal emperors have gone to the Earth Continent. The Concealed Emperor never leaves the Buzhou Immortal Sect, so he is surely in the sect. So it¡¯s a question of whether Empress Voidink is still on the Heaven Continent? Although she was injured by your holiness and hasn¡¯t appeared for years, she could have already healed and is biding her time.¡± The Five Element Sect Master stroked his beard. ¡°There¡¯s no point in a surprise attack since the Buzhou Immortal Sect is likely on guard against us. The best-case scenario would be for all the immortals sent to the Earth Continent to perish. However, that¡¯s unlikely, but the war on the Earth Continent is not so simple. I say we wait for the fighting to begin and see the composition of the forces sent.¡± ¡°What about the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s guardian formation?¡± an immortal monarch asked. The Jade Cauldron Sect Master looked at the immortal like he was an idiot. ¡°In the entire history of the Heaven Continent, no one has breached the headquarters of the Buzhou Immortal Sect.¡± The immortal monarch¡¯s face flushed as he felt the disdainful gaze of the others. How did a person without knowing basic history stand in the same room as them? The Five Element Sect Master shook his head and redirected the conversation. ¡°For now, we should have our spies observe the situation on the Earth Continent and devise a plan.¡± All the immortals agreed with his suggestion. Chapter 377: Emperor Begonia Appears All the higher echelons of the Anti-Heaven Alliance waited in the sacred hall of the Cloud Goddess Cult. In terms of the spies, the Nihility Sect had the most, while the Cloud Goddess Cult¡¯s spies were the most hidden. Still, the Nihility Sect Master only confirmed the information reported by the spies from the Five Element Sect and Drifting Feather Sect. Even if the Nihility Sect Master offered information, he would only be met with scrutiny. Better take the low-key route and reinforce the supplied information. Only when the two missed a crucial detail would he speak up. The Drifting Feather Sect Master hissed as he narrated the new information he received. ¡°It turns out that the Buzhou Immortal Sect and The Anti-Earth Alliance have already formed an alliance and are jointly attacking the Eight Pillar Sect. No wonder they were so lukewarm toward our offers.¡± More and more information flowed in, causing gasps and shocks. ¡°Hahaha, as we thought! Empress Voidink really went to the Earth Continent. The Buzhou Immortal Sect is currently missing one immortal empress!¡± one immortal monarch said. Another displayed sudden shock. ¡°What? The Buzhou Immortal Sect only needs ten immortal monarchs to form an emperor-level war formation? How are we going to compete against that? The least amount of monarchs we need to form an emperor war formation is thirty. Won¡¯t this mean that they will outnumber us by at least threefold?¡± ¡°Hmpf, if you¡¯re so scared, go beg them for forgiveness. How can a ten monarch emperor war formation be easily learned? In my opinion, most of the war formations still need at least thirty monarchs and a hundred true immortals. Our spies are few in number, so it¡¯s not strange they only passed back the most eye-catching information.¡± ¡°What? The Eight Pillar Sect is being suppressed too badly. At this rate, they¡¯ll be eliminated in a month or two. Can¡¯t they even force the Buzhou Immortal Sect to send reinforcements? And they dare call themself a hegemonic force, useless!¡± ¡°They are at a disadvantage thanks to the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s sudden betrayal, but what are their main forces doing? Why aren¡¯t they sending reinforcements from their headquarters? Do they think that the Buzhou Immortal Sect is going to invade their headquarters?¡± The Five Element Sect Master turned toward the Jade Cauldron Sect Master. ¡°All the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s forces are already on the northwest battlefield. They don¡¯t have anymore unseen forces, right?¡± The Jade Cauldron Sect Master frowned. ¡°According to our sources, they shouldn¡¯t have any. Unless they have a method to teleport directly from the Heaven Continent to the Earth Continent, the Eight Pillar Sect should have no worries.¡± ¡°Perhaps they think that the Buzhou Immortal Sect sent more troops to siege their headquarters?¡± an immortal asked. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, how about we deliver them intel? It¡¯ll mean exposing one of our spies, but that¡¯s a small price to pay.¡± another immortal monarch said. ¡°What?¡± All the immortal monarchs turned toward the Nihility Sect Master. His face was pale and his hands trembled as if he had been dumped into the arctic sea. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± the Jade Cauldron Sect Master asked. As a second-rate sect, the Jade Cauldron Sect had no spies on other continents like the first-rate forces. ¡°I lost all contact with my spies near the Eight Pillar Sect¡¯s headquarters. Even those a farther distance away have lost contact,¡± the Nihility Sect Master said. Soon after, the other sect masters reported the exact same situation. One immortal monarch couldn¡¯t help but mutter, ¡°Were we wrong? Did the Buzhou Immortal Sect dispatch more immortals, and the primary goal of their attack was not Emperor Infinity but their headquarters?¡± Although it was a mutter, his words entered everyone¡¯s ears. Another immortal monarch piped, ¡°The only way we would lose contact is if the Buzhou Immortal Sect used a large-scale formation to seal the Eight Pillar Sect¡¯s headquarters and the surrounding land. But to do that, they would have needed to have at least twenty percent more immortals than we have estimated and dispatched them all to the Earth Continent, leaving their sect practically undefended.¡± ¡°Do they really think their guardian formation could block us if we started an all-out assault on them?¡± None of the immortals presented believed their arch nemesis could be so foolish. ¡°What do you two think?¡± The Jade Cauldron Sect Master turned toward the Nihility Sect Master. Even Monarch Fiendclaw turned towards the leader of the Nihility Sect. ¡°Unknown. The Buzhou Immortal Sect has never been breached, so it¡¯s hard to say. Still, if they dispatched enough force to lock down the Eight Pillar Sect, I doubt they have many immortal monarchs in their sect at the moment. I even have half a heart to think that the Concealed Emperor has taken action.¡± None of the immortals present countered the Nihility Sect Master¡¯s analysis. The things he could think of, they could too. Even so, they still found it unbelievable.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°You don¡¯t think the Buzhou Immortal Sect plans to abandon their headquarters to bury us, do you?¡± the Drifting Feather Sect Master asked. The top echelons of the Anti-Heaven Alliance stilled. Over a hundred thousand years ago, there was another first-rate force, the Dark Heaven Sect. The Dark Heaven Sect was located near the Leakless Sect, which was still a second-rate force at the time. In their arrogance, they had refused to bow to the Buzhou Immortal Sect and joined the Anti-Heaven Alliance. Even after that, they did not relocate to the Western Region, where the Anti-Heaven Alliance was concentrated, and remained entrenched in hostile territories. The results were obvious. Even if the Anti-Heaven Alliance had the heart to help, the Dark Heaven Sect was too isolated. The Buzhou Immortal Sect and the vassal sects under them formed a perimeter around them and limited their growth. Without the resources to strengthen fresh blood, the Dark Heaven Sect stagnated as their immortals started to die with no one to replace them. At the time, many people thought that the Dark Heaven Sect would put down their pride and relocate to the Western Region. The Dark Heaven Sect subverted everyone¡¯s expectations and directly started a war against the Bright Ascension Sect. With such an open provocation, the first-rate vassals and even the Buzhou Immortal Sect attacked the Dark Heaven Sect. Even if the Dark Heaven Sect had been a peak first-rate force, the years of suppression caused their strength to deteriorate. Thus, the Dark Heaven Sect was forced to the brink by the Buzhou Immortal Sect and its vassal forces. During the war, an up-and-coming star of the Dark Heaven Sect ascended from the mortal realm to the Pathfinding Immortal Realm, but he didn¡¯t stop there. In less than a hundred years, he broke through to the Seamless Immortal. And during the final battle, he broke through to the Extremity Immortal Realm, but so what? The Buzhou Immortal Sect and its vassals shattered the guardian of the Dark Heaven Sect, and one extra immortal emperor could not overturn the situation. It was there that the Dark Heaven Sect did something unthinkable. The high echelon of the Dark Heaven Sect used the spiritual vein under them as a power source to unleash a devastating explosion. The Monolith Sword Sect, Bright Ascension Sect, Nihility Sect, Dust Veil Sect, and Boundless Mountains all lost hundreds of true immortals and a few monarchs. The Buzhou Immortal Sect hadn¡¯t dispatched any true immortals, but they lost one of their grand elders and ten immortal monarchs. In this war, the Leakless Sect became the biggest winner. They had secretly taken the inheritance of the Dark Heaven Sect, and while all the first-rate forces under the Buzhou Immortal Sect recovered, they entered a phase of high growth. They replaced the Dark Heaven Sect but also inherited their ambitions. Unfortunately, they repeated the Dark Heaven Sect¡¯s mistake and were even destroyed more thoroughly. Still, the only thing everyone remembered about the Dark Heaven Sect was their final act. None of the forces present would follow the Dark Heaven Sect¡¯s example. Even if they were about to be destroyed, their lineage still had a chance to escape and thrive like the Cultivator Alliance. The Dark Heaven Sect had snuffed any chance of that happening by themselves. But what if someone repeated the Dark Heaven Sect¡¯s last act but without the sacrifice part? What if the Buzhou Immortal Sect had moved away all the resources and members inside their headquarters and turned it into a death trap? The chances were low, but none of the leaders present wanted to risk it on the off chance, but neither did they want to let this chance go? What if the Buzhou Immortal Sect was only bluffing? Once the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s troops returned, they would never have such an opportune chance again. ¡°Please guide us, your holiness,¡± the Five Element Sect Master said as he cupped his fist toward the Cloud Goddess. At his words, the other immortals present also copied his reaction. During the discussion, the Cloud Goddess hadn¡¯t uttered a word and allowed them to talk freely. Seeing all the attention on her, the Cloud Goddess¡¯s eyelashes trembled. She parted her mouth, but just as she was about to speak, her eyes narrowed. Seeing this, the other immortals turned their gazes toward the entrance of the sacred hall. There, they saw a man in red robes embroidered with begonia patterns. ¡°Emperor Begonia, you didn¡¯t die?¡± the Nihility Sect Master asked. ¡°Since you dogs of the Buzhou Immortal Sect haven¡¯t died, how could I?¡± The Nihility Sect Master, Monarch Fiendclaw, and the rest of the immortals from the Nihility Sect bristled at Emperor Begonia¡¯s words. Still, they said nothing. The exchange between the two sides caused the immortals to have two primary thoughts. Wariness if Emperor Begonia had ulterior motives, and joy for those who thought they could have another emperor-level combatant against the Buzhou Immortal Sect. ¡°Speak, why have you intruded into my domain?¡± the Cloud Goddess said. At her words, the air became heavier and the immortals in the room felt as if a mountain were pressing down on them. For the primary target, Emperor Begonia was directly nailed in place. Emperor Begonia frowned, and a moment later, a red pagoda with four levels appeared behind him. The Soul Pagoda released silver light and broke Emperor Begonia out of the Cloud Goddess¡¯s seal. ¡°There¡¯s no need for hostility. I came here with good intentions. You must be wondering why you lost all contact with spies on the Earth Continent?¡± After hearing his words, the immortals and even the Cloud Goddess couldn¡¯t help but become curious. The goddess rested her chin on her knuckles and motioned Emperor Begonia to continue. Emperor Begonia didn¡¯t show any displeasure. The Cloud Goddess was a sovereign-level expert and possessed the right to look down on soul emperors like him. ¡°Instead of telling, it¡¯d be better to show you.¡± Emperor Begonia waved his sleeve and an orb depicting the scenery of the Earth Continent revealed itself. In the scenery, the Eight Pillar Sect resembled a tiny dot, but everyone in the sacred hall was a Seamless Immortal or above, so they could easily discern it. At first, they wondered what they were supposed to watch, but later, they saw it. It turned out to be something akin to a miniature sun orbited by eight spheres. Wherever it passed, everything dimmed as if bathed in darkness. Then the miniature sun struck the barrier of the Eight Pillar Sect. Before the guardian formation could even start, a bright light filled the orb and caused it to shatter. Emperor Begonia waved his hand again, but this time, it showed a desolate land that life could never exist on. He didn¡¯t whet their curiosity and directly said, ¡°This is the aftermath of what happened.¡± Chapter 378: Cahoots ¡°Impossible!¡± the Drifting Feather Master said. If what Emperor Begonia said was true, didn¡¯t that mean the Buzhou Immortal Sect could replicate the same act on the Anti-Heaven Alliance? The Drifting Feather Sect Master and the other top echelons turned toward the Cloud Goddess. Although they felt uncomfortable at the Cloud Goddess Cult¡¯s increasing influence, the Cloud Goddess was the supporting pillar in their hearts. Without the Cloud Goddess, they didn¡¯t have the confidence to fight Sovereign Xi. To their disappointment, the Cloud Goddess also showed shock. And it wasn¡¯t just a little bit of a shock. Her expression could even be described as slack-jawed. If those pious believers of hers were to see her current expression, it was estimated a large portion of faith flowing to her would plummet. Finally, the Cloud Goddess¡¯s expression returned to normal, albeit with some unnaturalness. None of the immortal monarchs blamed her. Instead, they turned their attention to Emperor Begonia with suspicion. ¡°You¡¯re not making this up, are you?¡± Emperor Begonia already expected this. ¡°You can send your agents to check. The thousands of kilometers around the Eight Pillar Sect has turned into an inhospitable zone.¡± His confidence caused the immortal monarchs to doubt themselves. What would they do if the information was true? After this, all the first-rate forces mobilized all their connections. They had spies, true, but they also had some relationship with the third-rate forces on the Earth Continent. Asking them to send a few immortals to check on the vicinity of the Eight Pillar Sect was not a big deal. However, when each and everyone of them reported the same thing, they could no longer delude themselves. ¡°How?¡± one immortal asked, voicing the question in everyone¡¯s mind. They turned toward the Cloud Goddess for answers. Instead, it was Emperor Begonia who proposed a conjecture. ¡°The attack came from above. According to my intel, the Buzhou Immortal Sect has stationed three palace-shaped artifacts in the Vast Void above the Huang Realm. Each of the artifacts is at least an emperor artifact. So I think the Buzhou Immortal Sect used those three artifacts to unleash the technique that wiped out the headquarters of the Eight Pillar Sect.¡± ¡°What, doesn¡¯t that mean the Buzhou Immortal Sect can attack our headquarters at any time?!¡± The Drifting Feather Sect Master said, face paling. ¡°Calm down,¡± the Nihility Sect Master rebuked. ¡°If the Buzhou Immortal Sect could use such a technique easily, do you think they would wait until now?¡± ¡°You!¡± The Drifting Feather Sect Master snapped his gaze toward the Nihility Sect Master in fury. ¡°Both of you, calm down. In light of this, we can¡¯t allow discord among us.¡± The Five Element Sect Master crossed his arm. ¡°My question is why the Buzhou Immortal Sect chose to aim their spears at the Eight Pillar Sect instead of us.¡± None of the immortals had an answer to that question. Monarch Fiendclaw turned his attention to Emperor Begonia. ¡°Emperor, do you have an answer to our query?¡± Emperor Begonia smiled. Instead of answering, he replied with another question. ¡°Do you know the relationship between the Cultivator Alliance and the Anti-Earth Alliance?¡± At this, the Cloud Goddess frowned, but she did not speak. Instead, it was the Jade Cauldron Sect Master that asked, ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Do you really think that an alliance of first-rate sects that popped up over three hundred years ago could equal a hegemonic sect that existed for over a million years? I have proof that the Eternal Night Sect, Yangsource Sect, Goldlight Sect, and Skymist Gorge were formed from the remnants of the Cultivator Alliance.¡± ¡°So what?¡± the Five Element Sect Master asked. Emperor Begonia¡¯s smile turned mysterious. ¡°Then, do you know the relationship between the Buzhou Immortal Sect and the Cultivator Alliance?¡± No matter how much the immortal monarchs revered an immortal emperor¡¯s strength, they tired of Emperor Begonia¡¯s dawdling. ¡°Enough, just tell us what you know!¡± Emperor Begonia¡¯s gaze pierced the Jade Cauldron Sect Master, nailing him to the ground. But just as he did that, another gaze nailed him to the ground. Emperor Begonia looked up to see the Cloud Goddess staring at him with unkind eyes. He averted his gaze and coughed into his fist. ¡°The Cultivator Alliance is an offshoot organization of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Originally, they were supposed to help the Buzhou Immortal Sect eliminate the Eight Pillar Sect and dominate the entire Huang Realm. Unfortunately for them, Confucius appeared and took over the Mortal Continent, forming the Saintly Scholar School.¡± All the higher echelons stared at Emperor Begonia. It was as if a bomb had gone off in their minds. They thought the Buzhou Immortal Sect wiping the Eight Pillar Sect¡¯s headquarters off the face of the Earth Continent was shocking enough, but this information was even more explosive. Even the Cloud Goddess and the Nihility Sect Master¡¯s expressions had condensed. ¡°What proof do you have?¡± the Cloud Goddess asked. ¡°I don¡¯t have proof about my last accusation, but don¡¯t you find it strange how the Buzhou Immortal Sect suddenly allied themselves with the Anti-Earth Alliance?¡± Emperor Begonia asked. ¡°Besides, even if my words are false, do you want to risk it? You know that once the Buzhou Immortal Sect annihilate the Eight Pillar Sect, they will destroy the Anti-Heaven Alliance, you, next.¡± A heavy silence pervaded the sacred hall. Although they didn¡¯t want to admit it, they couldn¡¯t refute Emperor Begonia¡¯s words. ¡°You didn¡¯t come here just to tell us this, did you?¡± the Nihility Sect Master asked.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. The founder of the destroyed Begonia Tower smiled. ¡°How about letting me join the Anti-Heaven Alliance?¡± ¡°Although you are a soul emperor, we¡¯re going to be attacking the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s headquarters. Soul techniques won¡¯t do much against a formation,¡± the Nihility Sect Master said. ¡°Who said I¡¯m alone?¡± The Soul Pagoda behind Emperor Begonia opened. Ten immortal monarchs stepped out, one of which was a youth in red with white hair and a horn growing out of his forehead. ¡°Aside from them, I also have over a thousand true immortals waiting. Do I have the requirement to join?¡± ¡°You do,¡± the Cloud Goddess said, attracting everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°There¡¯s no point in dragging it out. In three days, gather all the immortals and march to the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Emperor Begonia¡¯s words are correct. If we lose this chance now, we may never have another opportunity.¡± ¡°Your holiness is wise,¡± Emperor Begonia said. ¡°But does your holiness have a method to deal with the barrier?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll know soon enough.¡± The Cloud Goddess only cast a side glance at Emperor Begonia. ¡°For now, we shall organize our troops and form legions to best maximize their effect. Since everyone has their own war formations, we¡¯ll focus on the extraneous immortals. After that, we¡¯ll formulate a plan of attack.¡± None of the immortals disagreed, not even Emperor Begonia. Three days later, a sea of cultivators gathered in front of the sacred hall of the Cloud Goddess Sect. Of the millions of cultivators, less than ten percent were immortals. The rest were venerables summoned to help form the war formations. They planned to use a higher ratio of venerables to immortals to increase the number of war formations. In the sky, the Cloud Goddess looked at the millions of cultivators with cold eyes. Next to her, slightly lower than her position, floated the sect masters of the Nihility Sect, Jade Cauldron Sect, Drifting Feather Sect, Five Element Sect, and Emperor Begonia. ¡°Are you going to let your men out of the Soul Pagoda?¡± the Nihility Sect Master asked. Emperor Begonia smiled. ¡°It¡¯s better to keep them in reserve. My existence is more meaningful if it¡¯s concealed. What about your men? They¡¯re hidden rather well.¡± The Nihility Sect Master snorted but still answered. ¡°You should know our trade.¡± ¡°Enough,¡± the Cloud Goddess said, sparring them a glance and causing the conversation to end. She turned back to the army of cultivators and sighed. Closing her eyes, she sensed the massive amount of Karmic Merit condensed around her. To those that specifically sensed it, she would resemble a bright sun. However, she would lose most of it after today. ¡°Let¡¯s begin.¡± Without warning, the Cloud Goddess and the Nihility Sect Master disappeared. Not just them, but all the cultivators of the Cloud Goddess Cult disappeared, leaving only the Jade Cauldron Sect, Drifting Feather Sect, Five Element Sect, and Emperor Begonia. Emperor Begonia was the first to react. Sensing an ominous premonition, he summoned the Soul Pagoda and entered it. Hundreds of layers of light appeared around it and wrapped it up in a protective cocoon. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± the Jade Cauldron Sect Master asked. ¡°Shut up!¡± the Drifting Feather Sect Master said. Like Emperor Begonia, he sensed something amiss. ¡°Form the war formations, now!¡± The cultivators of the Drifting Feather Sect were slow to react, mostly because of the sheer numbers and time it needed. Upon seeing this, the Drifting Sect Master directly told the true immortals and immortal monarchs to form the war formations by themselves without the venerables. The Five Element Sect Master also did the same. However, they were a step too late as the ground started to shake. Fractures split the land, and spiritual qi burst from the crevices. That was just the beginning, as even a core formation master could sense the impending eruption of energy. The Drifting Feather Sect Master and Five Element Sect Master couldn¡¯t help but recall the incident of the Dark Heaven Sect¡¯s last act. If the Cloud Goddess really replicated their act, why would she do such a self-harming action at this moment? The Buzhou Immortal Sect was still holed up in their headquarters. They couldn¡¯t understand, but their actions only sped up. No matter how slow the Jade Cauldron Sect Master was, he already had an inkling as to what would happen. ¡°Hurry up and form the Jade Cauldron Emperor War Formation! I still haven¡¯t reached the height of power. How can I perish like this!?¡± No matter what they did, the inevitable would come. A bright light erupted from the fractured land and engulfed everyone in the Cloud Goddess Cult¡¯s headquarters.
At a space not far from the Cloud Goddess Cult¡¯s headquarters, Xi Mengfei and Sect Master Xia stood in the air. Behind them stood over a hundred immortal monarchs. In Sect Master Xia¡¯s hand was an orb. Within that orb was a continent full of rivers and mountains. Upon closer inspection, one could see the numerous people waiting inside. This was one of the many realm artifacts Tianyi refined. A moment later, clouds began to congregate next to them. The clouds swirled and formed a vortex denser than rock. Suddenly, the clouds dispersed to reveal the Cloud Goddess in all her glory. The immortal monarchs showed surprise, but they didn¡¯t take action, and Sect Master Xia came forward and cupped his fists. ¡°Welcome back, Grand Elder.¡± The Cloud Goddess nodded with little emotion. Following Sect Master Xia¡¯s action, the rest of the immortal monarch also welcomed the Cloud Goddess. All except one. She was an immortal monarch clad in an indolent air and held a smoking pipe in hand. She was Monarch Twinwisp. Monarch Twinwisp flew forward, only stopping in front of the Cloud Goddess. ¡°Long time no see, Main Body.¡± The Cloud Goddess only nodded. With her clone stationed at the Buzhou Immortal Sect, she had never lost contact with them. Everything the Anti-Heaven Alliance had ever done was all calculated by the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Next, the space around the Cloud Goddess blackened like a floating shadow. From within that floating shadow, the Nihility Sect Master walked out. He cupped his fist. ¡°Greetings, Sovereign Xi, Sect Master Xia.¡± Sect Master Xia smiled kindly. ¡°It¡¯s been hard on you.¡± The Nihility Sect Master shook his head. ¡°No, it¡¯s what I should do.¡± The conversation didn¡¯t continue for long as a pillar of energy erupted from the Cloud Goddess Sect, engulfing everything. Upon seeing this, the Cloud Goddess couldn¡¯t help but become melancholic. No matter what, it had been her home for hundreds of thousands of years. The pillar of energy exuded a bright and terrifying light. It was akin to the sun and the region surrounding the former Cloud Goddess Sect headquarters resembled the sun while the location further away dimmed. It resembled Tianyi¡¯s Constellation Cessation in a way, albeit far weaker. When the pillar of destruction disappeared, all that was left was a wreckage. Nothing of the former Cloud Goddess Cult could be recognized. However, a few war formations and a cracked, four-storey pagoda could be seen. ¡°It seemed that a few of our enemies managed to survive,¡± Sect Master Xia said with a smile. ¡°Come, let¡¯s clean them up. After this, the Buzhou Immortal Sect will rise to another level.¡± Mengfei, Sect Master Xia, and the Cloud Goddess all descended simultaneously. The hundred immortal monarchs and the Nihility Sect Master followed behind. ¡°W-Why?¡± the Five Element Sect Master croaked out upon seeing the Cloud Goddess. He¡¯d have to be an idiot to not know the truth. ¡°Why did you betray us?¡± Not just him; the surviving Drifting Feather Sect Master and grand elders of their sect also turned their hatred-filled gaze at her. The Cloud Goddess didn¡¯t speak, not even sparing them a glance. At this moment, the doors to the Soul Pagoda opened and out walked Emperor Begonia. His expression had a never before seen seriousness. ¡°Since when have you been in cahoots?¡± Chapter 379: An End ¡°Cahoots?¡± the Cloud Goddess asked. She gazed down upon Emperor Begonia, like a human looking at an ignorant bug. ¡°That would be inaccurate. For me to be in cahoots with the Buzhou Immortal Sect would have to mean that I was never on their side.¡± As the realization set in, horror dawned on the members of the surviving Five Element Sect and Drifting Feather Sect. They stood there in the air as reality hammered their minds like the cruel mistress she was. Of the numerous immortals that had gathered at the former headquarters of the Cloud Goddess Cult, only a percentage remained. Of the original sects that made up the Anti-Heaven Alliance, the Jade Cauldron Sect had completely fallen. The Nihility Sect and Cloud Goddess Cult had retreated to safety, leaving behind only five war formations. Of the five forces that made up the Anti-Heaven Alliance, two were already against them. It would have been a hilarious joke to anyone who heard it, but the survivors weren¡¯t laughing. Of the millions upon millions of cultivators, less than one percent remained. One of the monarchs controlling a war formation couldn¡¯t withstand the impact of the revelation and felt his willpower shatter. His eyes dulled as he lost all control of his functionalities. His body began to decompose at an accelerated rate while immortal qi evaporated from his flesh. He had lost his will to live and died. The controller of the remaining war formations, Monarch Fiveseal, the Five Element Sect Master, the Drifting Feather Sect Master, and the grand elder of the Drifting Feather Sect, didn¡¯t blame the fallen monarch. They, too, felt a numbing sensation in their mind. Were their willpower a micron weaker, they might have followed his fate. From his position, Emperor Begonia didn¡¯t show too much change in expression. He only frowned. ¡°Why did you join?¡± Sect Master Xia raised his arm before the Cloud Goddess could answer. ¡°You¡¯ve already asked your question. Allow me to ask ours.¡± ¡°What did Buddhism offer you to join them?¡± Sect Master Xia¡¯s words caused even the true members of the Anti-Heaven Alliance to stare at Emperor Begonia. The interactions between forces of the Huang Realm and the Buddhists have always been very minimal. Any and all attempts by Buddhism to entrench themselves in the Huang Realm had always been met with vehement retaliation by the Buzhou Immortal Court. If the Buzhou Immortal Sect discovered a bodhisattva, the Buddhist equivalent of an immortal, they would use all their resources to hunt them down. Even if the Buddhist was part of a first-rate or even hegemonic sect, the Buzhou Immortal Sect would attack, regardless of the consequences. Their actions would be even more crazy if it was an immortal monarch or emperor that joined Buddhism. Not even mortal organizations with relations to Buddhism would be spared. The Buzhou Immortal Sect would exterminate every mortal related to the act, even if they were mortals that never cultivated. In fact, it wasn¡¯t just the Buzhou Immortal Sect, but the Cultivator Alliance also partook when they still had ruled the Mortal Continent. Recalling this information, perhaps this was the first clue to the true ties between the Buzhou Immortal Sect and the Cultivator Alliance. ¡°Don¡¯t make baseless accusations,¡± Emperor Begonia vehemently denied. ¡°You probably aren¡¯t too sure. Otherwise, you wouldn¡¯t be asking.¡± Sect Master Xia shook his head. ¡°No, the reason I¡¯m asking is because I¡¯m sure you have a clone or avatar currently in the Pure Lands Pseudo System. Even if you¡¯re captured, you¡¯ll probably choose to suicide.¡± A few seconds of silence passed. Finally, Emperor Begonia chuckled. That chuckle transformed into an uproarious laughter that reverberated for hundreds of meters. When the mirthless ended, Emperor Begonia glared at Sect Master Xia and the others from the Buzhou Immortal Sect. The whites of his eyes had turned blood-red. Had it not been for the immortal aura cladding him, outsiders would have thought his inner devil consumed him. ¡°Don¡¯t act innocent now,¡± Emperor Begonia said, his voice echoing. ¡°The hatred of massacring my Begonia Tower must be returned tenfold!¡± Sect Master Xia¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change. ¡°Since you don¡¯t want to say, then you don¡¯t need to continue living.¡± With those words, the air changed But suddenly, a streak of lightning appeared from afar and struck Sovereign Xi, encasing her in electricity. Those nearby could feel the power of punishment emanating from the lightning. The immortals near her distanced themselves. A second passed, and Sovereign Xi disappeared from everyone¡¯s view. Emperor Begonia didn¡¯t miss this chance. If they waited for Sovereign Xi to recover, their chances of survival would become far lower. ¡°Attack!¡± Emperor Begonia shouted. With a wave of his hand, twelve immortal monarchs, one immortal emperor, and over a thousand true immortals flew out of the Soul Pagoda. They quickly gathered together and formed the Golden Light Begonia Emperor War Formations. Sect Master Xia raised the realm artifact in his hand into the air, and thousands of true immortals appeared. They grouped with pre-assigned immortal monarchs and started forming the war formations. Monarch Fiveseal didn¡¯t want to obey Emperor Begonia¡¯s orders, but he had no choice. The Anti-Heaven Alliance¡¯s best chance at survival lay with Emperor Begonia and his forces. Still, it was a shock that Emperor Begonia could command thirteen immortal monarchs after the fall of the Begonia Tower. He controlled the Five Element Emperor War Formation forward towards the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s forces. Most of the Buzhou Immortal Sect monarchs were almost finished forming their war formation. Monarch Fiveseal didn¡¯t think he had the ability to halt the progress, but he definitely wouldn¡¯t let Sect Master Xia stop the formation of the Golden Light Begonia Emperor War Formations. Although he questioned why Sovereign Xi disappeared instead of attacking like Sect Master Xia, Monarch Fiveseal didn¡¯t have time to ponder as he and Sect Master Xia clashed. His eyes widened at the resounding force hitting him. No wonder Sect Master Xia had decided to obstruct the war formation instead of forming one himself. He was already an immortal emperor! The Five Element Emperor War Formation Monarch Fiveseal commanded slammed into the ground, but that one instance was already enough. The Buzhou Immortal Sect formed ten emperor war formations, while the Begonia Tower formed thirteen emperor war formations.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. The Nihility Sect Master and Monarch Fiendclaw didn¡¯t form a war formation. Instead, they merged with the space, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. As monarchs specializing in assassination, war formations undermined their assassination techniques. Only in very rare cases could a war formation prevent any aura from leaking out, but by that point, the controller of the war formation would likely not need the formation¡¯s aid in the first place. Still, that wasn¡¯t the worst part for Monarch Five Seal. The Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s war formations had exceeded the threshold of an immortal emperor. They crossed into the level of an immortal sovereign in terms of pure power. And what did the Anti-Heaven Alliance have? Four emperor war formations close to destruction, thirteen Golden Light Begonia Emperor War Formations, and one immortal emperor. Monarch Fiveseal frowned. He knew the Buzhou Immortal Sect had more forces than this, but where did they go? Did they have so much confidence in the Cloud Goddess that they only brought this many war formations? Sure, it was likely to guarantee victory, but what if they focused on escape? The immortal monarch¡¯s eyes widened. He wanted to contact the Five Element Sect, but Sect Master Xia¡¯s interference prevented his action. ¡°Hurry, contact the sect and see if they are under attack!¡± The Five Element Sect Master, Drifting Feather Sect Master, and grand elder of the Drifting Feather Sect Master felt their hearts plummet into their stomach after hearing his shout. However, they didn¡¯t have time to communicate, as the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s war formation and the Cloud Goddess attacked. Likewise, Emperor Begonia and his thirteen Golden Light Begonia Emperor War Formation met them head-on. After a brief clash, Emperor Begonia sneered. ¡°Who are you trying to fool with that blustering aura? Those war formations are only at the half-sovereign level!¡± Emperor Begonia''s words brought a brief comfort, but not much. Although a half-sovereign sounded impressive, they didn¡¯t possess half the strength of a true immortal sovereign. It was actually closer to twenty to thirty percent, but that didn¡¯t matter to Monarch Fiveseal. He doubted his damaged war formation could even resist even a single direct attack. Just as Monarch Fiveseal prepared to support the Golden Light Begonia Emperor War Formation from afar, the world changed. Brilliant beams of violet, gold and silver rained down, and before he knew it, the world changed¡ªnot figuratively, but literally. The destroyed land of the Cloud Goddess Cult vanished, and they found themselves on verdant plains. From afar, Monarch Fiveseal even caught sight of forest and a city farther down. His first thought was that someone had used the Law of Space to teleport them, but unless the caster¡¯s strength exceeded his targets by a huge margin, it was impossible to teleport them without warning. And if the caster had such strength, they wouldn¡¯t need to teleport them somewhere far away. They likely possessed the strength to destroy the Anti-Heaven Alliance alone. Perhaps the caster was someone friendly to them? Monarch Fiveseal cast that thought aside soon after because he saw the war formations of the Buzhou Immortal Sect attacking them as if nothing had happened. After the first clash, Monarch Fiveseal felt a deepening pit in his stomach. The world was hostile to them, literally. War formations weren¡¯t only powered by the cultivators that made it up, but also by absorbing the ambient spiritual qi around it. The more exquisite and profound a war formation was, the less cultivators needed to form it. This was because the war formation would draw the lacking energy from external sources. However, the spiritual qi of this world rejected them and even harmed them upon absorption. Did they shift from the Huang Realm to another realm? Monarch Fiveseal¡¯s willpower faltered at the bleak situation. Only pure stubbornness kept him going and resisting. However, the foreign realm restricted the strength of the Anti-Heaven Alliance¡¯s war formations while boosting the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s war formations. Unknown to Monarch Fiveseal, he wasn¡¯t the only one shocked by the change in scenery. The Cloud Goddess stared at her palms. She could see and feel the flow of faith within her body, but her connection to her believers and the flow of faith turned dim. If she fought against an immortal sovereign, no, even an immortal emperor would have a chance to destroy her current form. As a divinity, her means of resurrection were unmatched by immortals, but they were complicated, to say the least. The Cloud Goddess stared at Xi Mengfei, who was standing above the battlefield. She looked down upon everything, seeming more divine than the actual divinity present.
Mengfei¡¯s eyes narrowed as she saw a humanoid golden war formation with a single horn growing out of its forehead. Her figure disappeared from the air and reappeared in front of the formation. She swung her arm, a black crystalline sword materializing in her hand during the process. A slash formed and bisected the Golden Light Begonia War Formation, separating its chest from its abdomen instantaneously. Compared to her strength when she fought against Emperor Yanxu of the Numinous Sword Sect, it was like night and day. When Mengfei fought against him, she was still in the process of rapid growth after entering a new realm, but now, over a hundred years had passed. Her strength had naturally progressed beyond imagination. The Golden Light Begonia Emperor War Formation disintegrated, revealing the true immortals and one immortal emperor, Emperor Soulfish. Mengfei ignored the fleeing true immortals and focused on Emperor Soulfish. ¡°Last time you managed to escape, but you won¡¯t be so lucky this time.¡± Emperor Soulfish didn¡¯t waste any words, and he turned around, attempting to escape. Before he could move far, his body froze in space. Crack! CRACK!! CRACK!!! The space around Emperor Soulfish fractured like a mirror, distorting his figure. The cracking sounds intensified, and so did the number of fractures and bits. It was evident that Mengfei could kill Emperor Soulfish as easily as killing a chicken. Still, he didn¡¯t want to die meaningless like this. He still had someone he needed to protect. Emperor Soulfish¡¯s body split into tens of red fishes, each one bearing a horn on its head. They attempted to swim away from the spatial fractures¡ªkeyword, attempted. Though they attempted to swim away, they moved at a snail¡¯s pace and could not escape the spatial fractures. Mengfei narrowed her eyes, and the cracks multiplied, causing the space to look like a strange kaleidoscope of twisting and merging fish parts. The color dulled and directions reversed. She raised her hand and clenched her fist. The distortion shrunk until it was but a dot. Then, it disappeared altogether.
On a sparsely populated island on the endless seas, a brown-haired girl, who appeared in her teens, smelled a flower. She wasn¡¯t the most beautiful woman, but she possessed a purity that few could match. Despite never having cultivated, her level of existence was comparable to a true immortal¡ªsharing longevity with heaven and earth. Without warning, a giant crystalline sword over a hundred meters long materialized in the sky and stabbed down. The brown-haired girl dropped the flower and fell onto her butt. She stared, wide-eyed, as the sword descended. When the crystalline sword disappeared, the girl stumbled back onto her feet and ran toward where the sword had stabbed. ¡°Qiu!¡± Chun shouted as she arrived at the mansion her friend had built. Chun didn¡¯t have much memories before meeting Qiu, but according to him, they had known each other for decades. However, she died and Qiu spent a long time reviving her. Since then, they had been living an idyllic life on the island. No matter how much she called, Qiu never answered her. Chun spent days searching for the red-robed boy, but the result was the same. She collapsed and leaned against the walls of the mansion. The moonlight cascaded through the torn roof and illuminated her sullen form. Chun perked up as she heard footsteps echoing in the hall. Her eyes lit up as she turned to face the source with excitement, but bewilderment appeared on her face as a white-robed figure emerged from the shadows. ¡°Who are you?¡± Chapter 380: Return A silence fell over the battlefield as all signs of Emperor Soulfish vanished. No one could even sense his lingering aura anymore; it was as if all proof of his existence had disappeared except for the memories of those present. That silence did not last long as Mengfei turned her attention to Emperor Begonia. Without an ounce of hesitation, Emperor Begonia bolted, and the battle resumed. The Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s war formations dominated the fourteen emperor war formations of the Anti-Heaven Alliance and remnants of the Begonia Tower. However, Mengfei did not need to concern herself with this scuffle. Her Tri-Unity World suppressed the opposing force and bolstered her allies¡¯ strength. It also interfered with the construction of her opponent¡¯s spells and techniques, either dramatically weakening their power or outright invalidating them. In essence, Mengfei was the realmlord of her Tri-Unity World, and her control of reality within was unmatched. She didn¡¯t move, nor did she take any overt action. Yet, the space in front of her blurred for a split second and Emperor Begonia appeared, flying straight at her. The soul emperor¡¯s eyes widened in disbelief. He had clearly been flying away. Why was he suddenly flying at the worst possible opponent? Mengfei didn¡¯t care for her foe¡¯s astonishment and swung her crystalline sword. Emperor Begonia tried to dodge, but all he succeeded in doing was slightly shifting his body. A spurt of blood later, one of Emperor Begonia¡¯s arms flew into the air. He didn¡¯t even have a chance to reclaim it as it vanished from his sights. Knowing that it was a futile endeavor, Emperor Begonia abandoned all thoughts of retrieving his arm and attempted to flee once more. He hadn¡¯t just lost an arm, but her slash had also left a mark on his body. No matter what he attempted, the wound would not close, and his qi constantly leaked out. The sole immortal sovereign stared at Emperor Begonia¡¯s retreating back. After that brief clash, Mengfei knew that Emperor Begonia did not cultivate any Buddhist techniques. Buddhism resembled a mixture of spiritual, martial, and soul paths. The souls of Buddhists weren¡¯t as strong as soul cultivators in the same realm, but they possessed greater willpower and purity. In addition, they possessed strong bodies. Compared to the martial path, it¡¯s even easier to embark on the Buddhist path. Had Emperor Begonia cultivated, his body wouldn¡¯t have been so weak¡ªnot that his arm could evade the fate of dismemberment. At least, this explained why Emperor Begonia remained under the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s radar. Had he cultivated Buddhist techniques, the chances of his exposure would have soared. Mengfei didn¡¯t move, but Emperor Begonia appeared in front of her again. She raised her sword and slashed out. This time, Emperor Begonia had prepared himself. He raised his remaining arm in front of him in a defensive position. A dense aura of Karmic Merit shrouded his body. And in rapid succession, they compressed into an increasingly thin and sturdy layer. Mengfei frowned, and the condensing Karmic Merit lost its integrity. The Karmic Merit didn¡¯t return to its previous state, but even started to disperse from Emperor Begonia¡¯s body. Undisguised shock and horror appeared on Emperor Begonia¡¯s face. Karmic Merit wasn¡¯t like qi. It was a rule that the Heavenly Dao had laid down for the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Even divinities would find it challenging to remove Karmic Merit, much less an immortal. Unaware of Emperor Begonia¡¯s thoughts, Mengfei dismembered his remaining arm and one leg. With the second clash, she confirmed his connection to Buddhism. Emperor Begonia had used a very common Buddhist technique. Karmic Merit was almost as useful to Buddhism as qi was. They could use Karmic Merit to temper their body, form shields, conceal their presence, and much, much more. Obviously, Emperor Begonia hadn¡¯t really practiced it. As a soul emperor, his body was his weakness. And even if he was a martial immortal emperor, Mengfei had the confidence to dismember him. He likely knew this, and thus, it was probably a last-ditch attempt at protection at best. The space around Emperor Begonia froze as a white circle appeared around him. It wasn¡¯t like the fractures that killed Emperor Soulfish, but it was still equally terrifying. Emperor Begonia could sense a disconnect from the surrounding space, as if he was being split from it. He knew that if the technique succeeded, he would be akin to a lamb for slaughter, so he did everything in his power to resist. His body had become incredibly weak and he couldn¡¯t use the Karmic Merit he accumulated. Emperor Begonia gritted his teeth and a ghastly silver light shrouded his figure. For a split second, Emperor Begonia¡¯s body took on an ethereal tone, but before it could continue, his body returned to normal. A faint shock appeared in his eyes. Emperor Begonia stared at Mengfei. Her position was slightly distorted, like the refraction on a water¡¯s surface. Still, his gaze bore into her figure. From his brief interaction with Mengfei, it was as if she had no weaknesses. He had attempted to enthrall her with his soul techniques, but his spells failed. Soul techniques were not hindered by spiritual or martial methods, and it took another technique of similar attribute to counter. This meant that the information he received from Emperor Soulfish was wrong or outdated.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. In addition, he knew that Mengfei¡¯s sword strike was incredibly simple. It did not rely on qi techniques, so her physical strength was off the charts. He even suspected that the public information that Mengfei only cultivated the spiritual path was false. Spiritual, martial, and soul, she had no weaknesses. Shock was shock. Emperor Begonia swiftly composed himself and enacted his failsafe plan. An ethereal figure exited out of his body. The figure had the same exact features as Emperor Begonia, this was his soul! When a soul immortal¡¯s soul exited their body, it was simultaneously their strongest and weakest state. Changing their physical body into a soul state produced similar results, but the effects are only at most around eighty to ninety percent of when their actual soul left their body. This was because the body was still ultimately made of solid matter and not soul essence. However, there¡¯s a reason a soul must exist in a body. The body protects the soul and souls are extremely difficult to heal. When a soul cultivator¡¯s soul leaves their body, the danger increased drastically and they might suffer irreparable injuries. But before his soul detached from his physical form, an unknown force sucked him back into his physical body. His body, which was originally a shield for him, had become his prison. While this happened, the space around Emperor Begonia continued to split. His senses started to dull and his mind slowed. ¡°You want to capture me alive?¡± Mengfei did not reply. She could, but that would require her to split her attention. Although she could easily kill immortal emperors, capturing them alive was a different story. She pursed her brows. ¡°Not good.¡± She had planned to split off a portion of her Tri-Unity World as a dedicated prison realm for Emperor Begonia. Once the world finished forming, Emperor Begonia would lose all his abilities to resist. He couldn¡¯t even commit suicide. Once the world was completed, that is. Inside the nascent world, the light of life dimmed. While his flesh became a prison, it still protected Emperor Begonia from Mengfei¡¯s control. Committing suicide was one of the few acts of defiance he could accomplish. Since his soul had disappeared, his body had become a dead thing. The process of splitting increased and a new world formed. The world that encased Emperor Begonia¡¯s corpse shrunk and flew into Mengfei¡¯s hand. Even if Emperor Begonia committed suicide, perhaps they could gleam some secrets from his corpse. Or maybe he only pretended. Stories of soul cultivators dying only to mysteriously revive appeared for a reason, after all. With her goal partially achieved, Mengfei raised her sword. Gigantic versions of her crystalline sword materialized in the sky and rained down upon the war formations of the Begonia Tower and Anti-Heaven Alliance¡¯s remnants. The Buzhou Immortal Sect had no intention of keeping any prisoners. Mengfei¡¯s crystalline swords tore through half the war formations while the other half managed to survive, but it was obvious they would not last long. The war formations crumpled like paper, revealing the fragile, true immortals. Their combined might was not Mengfei¡¯s match, much less the fragile components. It took less than thirty minutes for the remnants to perish, yet the land of the Tri-Unity World appeared unmarred by war. It still looked as pristine as when the occupants first appeared inside. Mengfei dispersed the Tri-Unity World and everyone returned to the Huang Realm. ¡°I¡¯ve troubled Grand Elder Xi,¡± Sect Master Xia said. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I¡¯ve only done my part,¡± Mengfei said without much emotion. Sect Master Xia said nothing. Ever since the war, Mengfei had only appeared to fight the Cloud Goddess. Of course, this was all an act played by the two. Still, they couldn¡¯t hold back their hands too much. Otherwise, people might have been suspicious. Despite the destructive techniques unleashed by both parties during their act, Mengfei never showed this level of strength. Even alone, Sect Master Xia suspected that Mengfei could kill ten sovereign war formations with no danger to her life. With the revelation of the upper limits of her strength, Mengfei couldn¡¯t be treated the same anymore. Even if Mengfei acted the same and didn¡¯t treat anyone differently, the other party would subconsciously act differently. Sect Master Xia already saw the other head elders and immortal monarchs present subconsciously lowering their heads. The only reason he didn¡¯t act too differently was because of his rising strength. Since he cultivated the Five Element Method, his strength had risen from the Early Extremity Immortal Realm to the Intermediate Extremity Realm. Within ten thousand years, he might even reach the peak of the Extremity Immortal Realm, but breaking into the Origin Immortal Realm was another story entirely. He still had to eliminate his alternate selves. ¡°Since the matter is done here, let¡¯s return to the sect and wait for the reports from the other squads,¡± Sect Master Xia said. ¡°Who knows, maybe Little Xi might already be back waiting for us.¡± Mengfei nodded. ¡°Alright.¡± Five immortal monarchs and two thousand true immortals stayed to survey the situation in case of any accidents. Everyone else flew back to the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Once she caught sight of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, Mengfei, who had flown at the same speed as the rest, suddenly sped up. Sect Master Xia smiled, seemingly already knowing the reason. As he suspected, Sect Master Xia saw Mengfei hugging an awkward Tianyi. He glanced away and looked at Grand Elder Zhang and the Eternal Night Emperor, along with the rest of the immortals dispatched to the Earth Continent and the remnants of the Cultivator Alliance. He walked forward and cupped his fist. ¡°Welcome back, Grand Elder Zhang, Grand Elder Eternal Night.¡± ¡°It¡¯s good to finally be back,¡± the Eternal Night Emperor said with a laugh. Sect Master Xia¡¯s smile deepened. He was worried that a divide would occur because the Cultivator Alliance had been split too long from the Buzhou Immortal Sect, but it seemed that it was a needless worry. However, he noticed a frown on Grand Elder Zhang¡¯s face. His heart skipped a beat but his expression didn¡¯t change. ¡°Is something wrong?¡± Grand Elder Zhang glanced at Mengfei before glancing back at Sect Master Xia. ¡°It¡¯s not convenient to say here.¡± Sect Master Xia¡¯s heart palpitated. Did an accident happen to Tianyi on the Earth Continent? Despite his realm, sweat coated his palms as he imagined all the things Mengfei would do to him. Now, he experienced all the emotions the immortal monarchs had, only worse. Still, he didn¡¯t allow the panic to seize control. He prepared everything for the Cultivator Alliance, the after battle logistics. Only then did he find a private time to meet up with Grand Elder Zhang. Inside the hall of his mansion, with all the protective formations active, Sect Master Xia asked what happened. Grand Elder Zhang sighed. ¡°Your disciple, Xia Yushan, attempted to kill Jiang Daoyi.¡± Chapter 381: Xia Yushans Fate Sect Master Xia just stood there in silence. He almost wished that something had happened to Tianyi instead of hearing this news. He¡¯d rather face Mengfei¡¯s wrath than this shame. What came next wasn¡¯t denial. ¡°Who knows?¡± ¡°I was battling Emperor Infinity, but according to reports, a few immortals caught sight of the act. For now, word won¡¯t spread,¡± Grand Elder Zhang said. She paused. ¡°You aren¡¯t thinking of concealing the incident, are you?¡± Sect Master Xia showed a hopeless smile. ¡°How could I? Even if no one saw, Yushan won¡¯t be able to protect his life. It¡¯ll probably won¡¯t be long before Grand Elder Xi takes action. I should just end Yushan¡¯s misery before she takes action.¡± Grand Elder Zhang revealed a pitying expression. ¡°You still care for him.¡± ¡°He¡¯s my most-prized disciple,¡± Sect Master Xia said with no shame. ¡°And, he¡¯s one of the few Xia Clan members left. After the destruction of the Xia Clan, there aren¡¯t many members left. At the very least, I wanted Yushan to keep his honor, even if he can¡¯t keep his life.¡± The female grand elder nodded in understanding. She frowned when she saw Sect Master Xia frown. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°The Xia Clan was destroyed during the war,¡± Sect Master Xia said. Grand Elder Zhang nodded. Associated clans often became the targets during war. Although she thought it was cruel, it didn¡¯t change reality. That is, until she heard Sect Master Xia¡¯s next words. ¡°It was Yushan who reported the destruction of the clan.¡± She wasn¡¯t stupid. Practitioners of the Emotion Severance Sutra became coldhearted and would do anything to further their path. Xia Yushan must have attempted to kill Daoyi because it benefitted his cultivation. The only reason Grand Elder Zhang could think of was to sever an inner devil. Since Xia Yushan already attempted to kill Daoyi, who¡¯s to say he hadn¡¯t done something similar before this attempt? ¡°Where¡¯s Yushan now?¡± Sect Master Xia asked. His expression hadn¡¯t changed, and there was no fluctuation in his voice, but Grand Elder Zhang heard a distinct edge. ¡°He¡¯s with Elder Xi,¡± Grand Elder Zhang said. After a moment, she added, ¡°The younger one. I didn¡¯t see Xia Yushan, so I suspected that he isolated Xia Yushan in a private space.¡± Sect Master Xia nodded. Knowing more information than Grand Elder Zhang, he concluded that Tianyi trapped Xia Yushan inside his inner cosmos. For now, Grand Elder Xi was likely clinging onto Tianyi. He would have to find some time to talk privately with Tianyi and have Xia Yushan transferred over. ¡°Is there something else?¡± Sect Master Xia asked upon seeing Grand Elder Zhang still standing there with some hesitation. ¡°Do you know Elder Xi¡¯s true strength?¡± ¡°True strength?¡± Sect Master Xia asked. ¡°I have an inkling.¡± Upon seeing his composure, Grand Elder Zhang knew that Sect Master Xia hadn¡¯t read her and the Eternal Night Emperor¡¯s reports on the battle. More specifically, the aftereffects of Tianyi wiping out the headquarters Eight Pillar Sect. ¡°You should read up on my and the Eternal Night Emperor¡¯s analysis on Elder Xi¡¯s strength. Don¡¯t make a fatal mistake.¡± With those last words, Grand Elder Zhang left a confused Sect Master Xia. After she left, Sect Master Xia found the reports. Before reading, he wondered why Grand Elder Zhang left him with those words. He recalled the information concerning Tianyi. The last time he recalled Tianyi¡¯s combat abilities was when he battled against the War Hall¡¯s Head Elder Huang Feihong. He knew Tianyi had a practically limitless source of qi and nigh impossible to kill thanks to his mastery of the Law of Spacetime. However, he was still too immature. Despite possessing all that power, he couldn¡¯t utilize it efficiently. Had Tianyi learned to utilize it? If he could, Sect Master Xia did not doubt that he may even rival his mother, Xi Mengfei¡ªat least in terms of danger. Sect Master Xia began to read the report. When he learned Tianyi could contend against the Eight Trigrams Sovereign War Formation, after a period of shock, he quickly accepted the information. Tianyi always had the potential, he just realized a bit earlier. Still, he questioned why Grand Elder Zhang told him to read it. Was it because of the heavenly punishment? Was that the sudden bolt of lightning that struck Grand Elder Xi? Sect Master Xia shook his head and continued to read. Then he came to the part concerning the current state of the region that the Eight Pillar Sect made their headquarters. Upon reading it, he doubted his eyes. This wasn¡¯t just a hundred thousand kilometers, but over a million kilometers! He began to doubt Grand Elder Zhang¡¯s report. Seeking confirmation, he pulled up the Eternal Night Emperor¡¯s report. Unlike Grand Elder Zhang, it contained much more information¡ªspecifically concerning everything that happened after their last contact with the fateful battle against the Eight Pillar Sect. The Eternal Night Emperor accounts differed slightly from Grand Elder Zhang¡¯s, mostly due to his unfamiliarity with Tianyi. However, his description of the aftereffect perfectly aligned with Grand Elder Zhang¡¯s recounts. There was a certain tone of uncertainty, a vague question of whether the sect had bestowed Tianyi a realm artifact. Sect Master Xia certainly thought of bestowing Tianyi a realm artifact, but it would be useless for him. The primary advantage of a realm artifact was the sheer power it granted to an immortal. Say a true immortal had the same mastery of a law as an immortal sovereign. If that true immortal had a realm artifact, he would almost possess equal strength to an immortal sovereign.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Tianyi himself already possessed more power than a realm artifact. So the augmentation was practically useless. Practically a useless accessory. Still, the report shocked Sect Master Xia. In the original strategy, Tianyi only had to grab the Eight Pillar Sect¡¯s attention and stall for Grand Elder Zhang and the Eternal Night Emperor to defeat Emperor Infinity and bring their army to raze the Eight Pillar Sect¡¯s headquarters to the ground. Instead, the direction of the strategy had been reversed. Tianyi had annihilated the Eight Pillar and reinforced Grand Elder Zhang and the Eternal Night Emperor instead. While digesting the information he just gained, Sect Master Xia tried to come to terms with Tianyi¡¯s revealed strength. He had always expected Tianyi to surpass him, but he expected at least a thousand years¡ªjust like his mother. However, Tianyi only needed three hundred years. If Xia Yushan wanted to kill Tianyi because of the inadequacies he developed after comparing himself, Sect Master Xia would understand. In fact, he also felt that emotion now. ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s a good thing that Tianyi is so reclusive. Otherwise, if he interacted too much with his generation, who knows how many potential disciples would develop inner demons?¡± Sect Master Xia muttered. ¡°Wait!¡± Sect Master Xia¡¯s eyes shone. Grand Elder Zhang and the Eternal Night Emperor had to submit reports, but so did Tianyi. After a quick scan, he pulled out Tianyi¡¯s report and read it. After finishing digesting the information, Sect Master Xia muttered, ¡°Constellation Cessation. What a terrifying attack.¡± Tianyi¡¯s report only gave a rudimentary explanation of his technique, but it sent shockwaves through Sect Master Xia¡¯s heart. According to Tianyi, he needed hours to gather the energy for the technique to reach its peak power. But once he unleashed, he would utterly destroy the land. And the most frightening part was the fact the Constellation was an incomplete technique. How powerful would it be once it became complete? Would it possess the power to fracture a continent, or maybe destroy it entirely? Sect Master Xia finally understood Grand Elder Zhang¡¯s and the Eternal Night Emperor¡¯s feelings. He only digested the information reported, and he was this shocked. What were the two¡¯s feelings upon witnessing the desolate land that once housed a thriving hegemonic force? At this point, Sect Master Xia no longer treated Tianyi as a powerful immortal emperor-level expert, but a strategic weapon at the same level as Mengfei¡ªpossibly even higher than Mengfei. He had supreme confidence in the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s guardian formation, but in front of Tianyi¡¯s brute power, he began to doubt its capabilities. He even considered using Tianyi to destroy the headquarters of the Saintly Scholar School. Even if a few critical immortals survived, the hegemonic force would be crippled. Under the onslaught of the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s full might, not even Confucius will be able to change his fate. Sect Master Xia only considered the idea for a brief moment. After all, the Concealed Emperor specifically ordered him not to touch the Mortal Continent or the Saintly Scholar School. He would never go against the Concealed Emperor¡¯s orders, even if ten immortal sovereigns ordered him to do so. Sect Master Xia stood up. He originally planned to visit Tianyi at a suitable time, but now, he only hated that he didn¡¯t visit Tianyi sooner. His figure disappeared from his mansion and flew toward Jade Peak. Elder Jadeflame and Elder Violetsnow weren¡¯t present because they were dispatched out of the sect to deal with matters as powerful experts of the Seamless Immortal Realm. Elder Twinwisp no longer resided on Jade Peak and reunited with her main body on the newly announced Cloud Goddess Peak. The Cloud Goddess Cult and the Cultivator Alliance were still considered guests and hadn¡¯t been officially integrated into the Buzhou Immortal Sect. That would happen after the war ended, but that didn¡¯t prevent the sect from treating them practically the same in all but name. Despite the seeming tranquility of Jade Peak, it was one of the most inhabited mountains. That was not the case at this point. All the hidden elders had been dispatched, leaving Jade Peak at its most empty state in recent history. Upon reaching Jade Peak Palace, it was Daoyi who greeted him. ¡°Elder Jiang,¡± Sect Master Xia started. ¡°I heard what my disciple did. I know this is far from enough to make up for what happened, but please accept my apology.¡± Daoyi only smiled. ¡°There¡¯s no need. In fact, it is I who should be apologizing.¡± Despite the seemingly gentle words, Sect Master Xia felt the air mysteriously chill. However, Daoyi didn¡¯t let him ponder as to why for too long. ¡°You must be here to see Tianyi. He¡¯s a bit preoccupied. I bet his anger will be mollified a bit if you see him.¡± Without waiting for Sect Master Xia to reply, Daoyi turned around and walked into Jade Peak Palace. Sect Master Xia smiled bitterly. Sure enough, she was angry at him, but he didn¡¯t blame her. ¡°We¡¯re here,¡± Daoyi said as she opened the door into the main hall. Upon entering, Sect Master Xia wanted to avert his gaze immediately. Inside, Mengfei sat in the main seat, but her arms were around Tianyi¡¯s arm. She had an iron-like grip that prevented Tianyi from escaping. The only way for him to free himself would require him to harm her, something he never wanted to do. Tianyi¡¯s eyes looked toward Sect Master Xia for help, but it immediately cooled as his expression turned stony. Sect Master Xia coughed into his fists. ¡°Greetings Grand Elder Xi, Tianyi.¡± Mengfei glanced over. ¡°Is there something you need?¡± There was no fluctuation in her voice, but Sect Master Xia could hear the unsaid, ¡°Scram!¡± He coughed into his fists. After some deliberation, he said, ¡°I need to speak with Tianyi, no Grand Elder Tianyi concerning sect matters.¡± At first, Mengfei was displeased, but it was swiftly reversed upon hearing Tianyi¡¯s new status. However, she still denied Sect Master Xia. ¡°Right now, Yi¡¯er is busy. If there¡¯s nothing urgent. Come back another time.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s concerning Grand Elder Tianyi¡¯s achievements on the Earth Continent. It¡¯s significant for the whole Buzhou Immortal Sect. I even want to publically award him and elevate his status. It will be a sect-wide celebration. As the only one with equal achievements as you, it is imperative for me to speak with him.¡± Mengfei practically glowed in pride, as if the one receiving all the praise was not Tianyi but her. She turned to Tianyi. ¡°What do you think, Yi¡¯er? If you don¡¯t want to, you can delay.¡± Tianyi placed his free hand over Mengfei¡¯s arm. ¡°No, Mother. I feel it is important for my future to discuss with Sect Master Xia.¡± Mengfei slowly released her arms from Tianyi. Although reluctant, she felt a sour yet sweet emotion stirring in her heart. She watched as Tianyi walked out with Sect Master Xia. Once Tianyi¡¯s back left her sight, she set her gaze on Daoyi. ¡°Come here.¡± Daoyi obeyed and sat next to her master. ¡°You were on the same battlefield as Yi¡¯er,¡± Mengfei said. ¡°Tell me, how was he? Did he look valiant while striking down his foes?¡± As Mengfei babbled on, Daoyi smiled helplessly. Currently, her master did not appear like an exalted immortal sovereign, but a highschool girl eager for gossip. Still, she satisfied Mengfei¡¯s itch.
Once they walked into Tianyi¡¯s residence in Jade Peak Palace, Tianyi sealed the spacetime to prevent anyone, including his mother, from spying. ¡°I hope you¡¯re not going to ask me to forgive Xia Yushan after what he has done.¡± Hearing the glacial tone, Sect Master Xia already knew it was impossible for Xia Yushan to be saved. In fact, even saving his reputation likely had no hope. ¡°No, Yushan¡¯s fate is already sealed. His crimes will be announced to everyone and be executed as per the sect¡¯s laws. And after that, I will step down as sect master.¡± Chapter 382: Disappearance Tianyi stilled. He never expected Sect Master Xia to say he would step down, but after thinking about it, he realized the reason. Sect Master Xia had already entered the Extremity Immortal Realm, and the position of sect master no longer mattered. Why not use Xia Yushan¡¯s matter to stand down? Still, it would leave an irrevocable mark on his record. Tianyi couldn¡¯t help but stare suspiciously at Sect Master Xia. ¡°You aren¡¯t just paying lip service, are you?¡± Sect Master Xia shook his head. ¡°With Grand Elder Xi¡¯s strength and your strength, would I be able to do such a thing? Even if you and Grand Elder Xi let my disciple live, he won¡¯t.¡± ¡°He?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, the Concealed Emperor,¡± Sect Master Xia said. Tianyi turned silent. After a while, he asked. ¡°Who is the Concealed Emperor?¡± When his mother entered the Origin Immortal Realm, he had thought her status would exceed the eternal grand elder of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, but after visiting the forbidden grounds, Tianyi realized his folly. The Concealed Emperor likely wasn¡¯t an immortal emperor, but an immortal sovereign or possibly a divinity of the Immortal Court from the primordial era. Since Caishen could grasp a chance at life and survive to modern times, what about the other divinities? Sect Master Xia shook his head. ¡°I can¡¯t tell you, but you should know soon.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°All grand elders will meet His Majesty.¡± Tianyi ignored the terms of address as his mouth hung open. ¡°You were being serious? You really are going to make me a grand elder?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Sect Master Xia said with certainty. ¡°There is no requirement for becoming a grand elder except for strength. If you don¡¯t qualify for the position of grand elder after obliterating a part of the Earth Continent along with the Eight Pillar Sect, I think only Grand Elder Xi will be eligible.¡± ¡°That was an accident. I didn¡¯t expect my technique to be that devastating,¡± Tianyi said, looking away. ¡°Even if it was an accident, your strength has already reached the requirement. Although it isn¡¯t official yet, let me address you again. Greetings, Grand Elder Xi,¡± Sect Master Xia said with a salute. Tianyi could feel the corner of his lips quirk upward, but he forced it down. ¡°Don¡¯t think I¡¯ve forgiven you for Xia Yushan¡¯s action just because of your words.¡± Sect Master Xia only slightly smiled. He could see that Tianyi¡¯s anger had mostly dissipated. ¡°It¡¯s my fault. I should have never given him the Emotion Severance Sutra.¡± ¡°Emotion Severance Sutra?¡± Tianyi repeated. He had heard of it before, but didn¡¯t think much of it. Now, his views had changed. ¡°Such a problematic cultivation method should be made taboo.¡± ¡°I was afraid that Yushan would develop an inner devil, and the Emotion Severance Sutra is the best method to overcome inner devils.¡± Sect Master Xia sighed. ¡°Unfortunately, he was still unable to overcome the shadow of his heart.¡± Tianyi recalled Xia Yushan¡¯s confession to Daoyi. ¡°Love? Did he love Daoyi that much?¡± Still, he didn¡¯t feel sorry. If you truly loved someone, you shouldn¡¯t be willing to kill them. In Tianyi¡¯s eyes, this wasn¡¯t love at all, but selfishness. ¡°Rather Emotional Severance Sutra, it should be called the Art of Selfishness.¡± Sect Master Xia didn¡¯t deny Tianyi¡¯s words. In the long history of the Huang Realm, all those who cultivated the Emotion Severance Sutra either committed a taboo in their pursuit of the path or fell before they could do so. He had hoped Xia Yushan would have been different, but he was wrong beyond his wildest imagination. ¡°Grand Elder Xi¡ª¡± ¡°Don¡¯t call me that. Grand Elder Xi is my mother,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°My Daoist title is Nine Heavens.¡± ¡°Grand Elder Nine Heavens,¡± Sect Master Xia said. He had thought Tianyi might have been too arrogant, but recalling his unique cultivation method, he had said nothing. Now, it seemed Tianyi had the capital to be arrogant. ¡°I still require Yushan in order to sentence him. I heard he¡¯s still imprisoned by you. Can you hand him over to me?¡± Tianyi waved his hand, and over ten figures appeared. Sect Master Xia instantly recognized Xia Yushan, only he had none of his previous dignity. His robes were in tatters and there was not a single unmarked spot on his body. Worst was Xia Yushan¡¯s eyes. Xia Yushan¡¯s eyes had no clarity, and it appeared as if he had lost his mind. Suddenly, Xia Yushan¡¯s eyes focused and stared at Sect Master Xia. Without warning, he giggled like a little kid without a care in the world. Sect Master Xia couldn¡¯t help but stare at Tianyi. Tianyi opened his mouth and wanted to say that he didn¡¯t do anything. It was all Daoyi. However, he shut it after a moment and refused to answer. Seeing Tianyi¡¯s refusal to answer, Sect Master Xia coughed and observed the unmoving figures. It didn¡¯t take long for him to recognize the immortal monarchs of the Eight Pillar Sect, but what caught his eye was the last figure, or rather, a corpse. ¡°This is a jiangshi?¡± Tianyi nodded. ¡°Emperor Soulsilk transformed his body into an emperor-level jiangshi. I had also wanted to capture him alive, but he didn¡¯t give in. When he died, his soul dissipated, and I couldn¡¯t save him even with all my authority in the Nine Heavens Universe.¡±Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°No worries. I hadn¡¯t expected to capture any of them alive, much less an immortal emperor,¡± Sect Master Xia said. ¡°Although it¡¯s a pity that Eight Pillar Sect¡¯s technique repository had been destroyed.¡± ¡°Hey, I couldn¡¯t help it,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°You sent me alone against the entire Eight Pillar Sect. I thought they were going to be much stronger. Who knew they would be so weak?¡± Sect Master Xia¡¯s lips twitched. ¡°Only you are able to say this.¡± Tianyi snorted, but pride flashed across his face. He waved his hand and a few jade slips appeared. ¡°Although most of the techniques and manuals were destroyed, I still managed to retrieve a few of their higher techniques, like the Yin-Yang Reversal and the Dual Yin-Yang Transformation Technique.¡± ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, I¡¯ll take them,¡± Sect Master Xia said. He used his qi to move Xia Yushan, the immortal monarchs, and Emperor Soulsilk¡¯s corpse away. He looked away from Xia Yushan, unable to bear looking at him. After all, Xia Yushan had once been his proud disciple, a genius of a generation. ¡°I¡¯ll lock them up in the Seven Emotions and Six Desires Abyss for now.¡± ¡°Seven Emotions and Six Desires Abyss,¡± Tianyi muttered. ¡°Wait.¡± Sect Master Xia stopped and turned around. ¡°Is there anything else?¡± ¡°What happened to Lei Jingye?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°Lei Jingye?¡± Sect Master Xia asked. It took a moment, but he finally recalled the person Tianyi asked about. ¡°He died decades ago because of old age.¡± ¡°I-I see,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°If there¡¯s nothing else, I¡¯ll excuse myself. The war might be over, but there¡¯s still a lot of matters I need to take care of,¡± Sect Master Xia said. Tianyi only nodded without paying attention. Of all his enemies, Lei Jingye had left the deepest impression on him. And now, his first rival and nemesis had died. Tianyi didn¡¯t know what he expected. Maybe Lei Jingye would break out and cultivate in the Immortal Realm for one last battle with him. During the battle, he would personally kill Lei Jingye and end this karma. But for Lei Jingye to die of old age seemed so¡­ anticlimactic. ¡°Forget it,¡± Tianyi said. He had other more matters to consider, like breaking out the news that he was a reincarnator to his mother.
Sect Master Xia was still in the process of dealing with the aftermath of the war. As Monarch Fiveseal expected, the reason there were so few immortals at the Cloud Goddess Cult was because the others were dispatched to destroy the Anti-Heaven Alliance¡¯s headquarters. Although not all the immortals of the Anti-Heaven Alliance had gone to the Cloud Goddess Cult, the majority of them did under the Cloud Goddess¡¯s orders. So, even if it was troublesome to deal with the guardian formation, the difficulty had decreased significantly. During this process, they reaped many benefits. The Buzhou Immortal Sect had much greater resources, but mosquito meat was still meat. No matter how small it was, there was no need to waste them. To decrease the resistance of all parties, antagonistic and neutral, the truth of what happened gradually disseminated throughout the Huang Realm. At this point, Sect Master Xia had transitioned to planning the ceremony announcing the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s hegemony over the Huang Realm. He didn¡¯t know why the Concealed Emperor ordered him to plan the ceremony when the Saintly Scholar School still remained. Sect Master Xia knew that the Saintly Scholar School wasn¡¯t their secret ally like the Cultivator Alliance. Otherwise, they would have unified the Huang Realm over a hundred thousand years ago. Still, that didn¡¯t prevent him from obeying the Concealed Emperor¡¯s decree. During the labor, his attendant reported something out of the blue. ¡°Redseal wants to see me?¡± Originally, Redseal should have been sealed for at least a few hundred more years, but because of the arrival of war, he was released. If he performed well, his sentence would be reduced and he may even be rewarded if he contributed enough. Because of their friendship, Sect Master Xia had dispatched him to destroy the headquarters of the Drifting Feather Sect. As Sect Master Xia willed, Redseal had performed admirably. Although it wasn¡¯t likely for him to return to his previous position as the Head Elder of Justice Hall, he could still take other important positions. ¡°Let him in,¡± Sect Master Xia after a moment of consideration. Redseal¡¯s appearance became even more fragile instead of recovering. Now, instead of a middle-aged man, he appeared closer to an elderly man now. His back had a noticeable slouch and his hair seemed thin, capable of falling out at any moment. He didn¡¯t even greet Sect Master Xia and practically shouted, ¡°Do you know where Ban¡¯er is?! I tried looking for him, but it¡¯s as if he disappeared.¡± Sect Master Xia frowned. He couldn¡¯t help but stare at Redseal. Did he develop an inner devil? ¡°Have you checked his soul lamp?¡± Redseal¡¯s eyes light up. ¡°Yes, Ban¡¯er¡¯s soul lamp!¡± Without bidding goodbye, he flew out of the room. Sect Master Xia returned to planning the ceremony, but he couldn¡¯t help but feel something was off. He ordered his attendant to send someone to check on Lovespot¡¯s soul lamp. His feeling turned true as he the attendant reported that Lovespot¡¯s soul lamp had extinguished. Still, that ominous premonition didn¡¯t disappear and only increased. Not knowing what crazy actions Redseal would commit in his grief, he ordered the Brocade Immortals to monitor Redseal while he pulled up a report on Lovespot¡¯s actions. Sect Master Xia noticed something was off after reading the report. Lovespot had been dispatched to the Drifting Feather Sect with another squad. Redseal should have paid more attention to Lovespot, yet, how did Lovespot¡¯s entire squad disappear without a trace? He also noticed that Zi Zun was also part of the squad. As a potential Heavenblessed, Sect Master Xia kept tabs on him too. Coupled with Lovespot¡¯s mysterious ¡°death¡±, Sect master Xia felt something off. This feeling was cemented when he noticed that someone actually dispatched Brocade Immortal Thirty-Seven to monitor Lovespot and that the Brocade Immortal had mysteriously vanished, too. Aside from himself, the only one able to order the Brocade Immortal was the Concealed Emperor. Sect Master Xia had originally only thought it was strange, and planned to investigate after everything settled down, but the Concealed Emperor¡¯s involvement changed things. Sect Master Xia immediately left Central Peak and made his way toward Broken Heaven Valley.
While the situation on the Heaven Continent and Earth Continent calmed down as the truth disseminated. Confucius entertained a guest. ¡°Oh, you want to follow me? Are you sure you don¡¯t want to stay in the Huang Realm?¡± Across from the grand founder of the Saintly Scholar School was a slovenly Daoist with a sword strapped across his back, Daoist Lu. ¡°Hehe, that Xi kid might be interesting, but there¡¯s really not much that makes me want to stay here. I plan to watch the creation of a new realm and maybe I can go further on my path. If not, I¡¯ll go travel to the Broken Primordial World again.¡± Daoist Lu took a swig from his wine jug and then glanced at Confucius. He sighed. ¡°Besides, there¡¯s not many of us from our era that survived.¡± ¡°Isn''t there one in the Buzhou Immortal Sect?¡± ¡°Haha, compared to us, he can only be considered a junior,¡± Daoist Lu said. ¡°Besides, I don¡¯t like the Jade Pure Lineage much.¡± Confucius smiled and said nothing as he brought a teacup to his lips. After taking a sip, ¡°It seems the Buddhists might be taking action soon.¡± ¡°Hehe, the Huang Realm just experienced a great war, but the Buzhou Immortal Sect has already set their sights on the demon clan. The next Divine Beast-Human War might erupt much sooner than any of us think. And now, those Buddhists want to interfere. Did they think their chance has come?¡± Daoist Lu asked. ¡°Who knows,¡± Confucius said. Daoist Lu took another swig from his jug before snickering. ¡°Since time immemorial, it looks like you never do anything, but don¡¯t you always benefit the most?¡± Chapter 383: Three Immortal-Ranked Realms Confucius smiled, neither denying nor confirming Daoist Lu¡¯s words. ¡°How much longer until you plan to form your realm?¡± Daoist Lu asked. ¡°In a few months.¡± ¡°So fast?¡± Daoist Lu asked. Although a few months sounded long, but this was creating a realm. Even if it took hundreds of thousands of years, it would be considered short. In other words, Confucius had been planning this for a long time. ¡°You never planned to compete with the Buzhou Immortal Sect, did you?¡± Confucius just stroked his long beard. ¡°I still want my face when the truth comes out.¡± Daoist Lu said nothing as he took another swig from his wine jug. The two fell into silence, but the atmosphere didn¡¯t turn awkward. At their realm, they could start meditating and comprehending the worldly laws at a moment¡¯s notice. Even if they continued to talk, it would only affect the efficiency of their comprehension speed. Like this, four months passed. During this time, the Saintly Scholar Sect had dispatched numerous immortals everywhere on the Mortal Continent and the millions of kilometers surrounding it. The immortal scholars weren¡¯t visiting these places to write poems or for painting but to set up protective formations. Although it was called a protective formation, it had a strong stabilization effect. The immortal scholars didn¡¯t know why they were setting up the formations, but they had also heard what happened on the Heaven Continent and Earth Continent. It would be a lie to say that the shocking revelations did not worry them. They had confidence in their founder, Confucius, but that didn¡¯t prevent them from fearing the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s momentum. With the Heaven and Earth Continent under their control, the only one outside of the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s control was the Saintly Scholar School on the Mortal Continent. After the Saintly Scholar School finished setting up all the formation, Confucius appeared in the sky above the Mortal Continent, much like Tianyi before he destroyed the Eight Pillar Sect. However, unlike Tianyi, he wasn¡¯t attempting to destroy anything. Confucius spread out his arms and a taiji-sphere appeared from his chest. The taiji sphere continued to grow and grow. Seconds turned to minutes, minutes turned to hours, and hours turned to days. At first, it only covered the Saintly Scholar School, but it soon encapsulated much of the Mortal Continent, and then even beyond that. Wherever it passed, the formations established by the immortal scholars began to resonate with the taiji sphere. The expansion of the taiji sphere didn¡¯t stop until it covered around a fifth of the Huang Realm. The commotion attracted all powerful experts in the Huang Realm. Even the mortal cultivators could sense an abnormal air in the world. Strangely, the Buzhou Immortal Sect didn¡¯t take action. They didn¡¯t even dispatch anyone to investigate. It was as if they were oblivious to the dramatic changes occurring in the Huang Realm. However, that was not the case as numerous immortal monarchs and all the immortal emperors observed the situation from the edge of the Heaven Continent. Sect Master Xia, the Eternal Night Emperor, the Cloud Goddess, Grand Elder Zhang, and Xi Mengfei all stared. Among them was naturally Xi Tianyi. Unlike the wariness of the others, his eyes were glued to the changes. That taiji sphere didn¡¯t just contain the Law of Yin and the Law of Yang, but many other laws such as the five elements. More importantly, he could sense a greater law, one at the divine level. Now, some people might not dare to attempt to comprehend the profundities displayed by Confucius, fearing they might bite off more than they could chew. If they rashly attempted to comprehend a law beyond their capabilities, it might damage their souls, or worse. People had different talents and attributes, making them suited for different laws. If they tried to comprehend an unsuitable law, it might harm them instead. But would Tianyi even consider this possibility? Obviously not, and he had complete confidence in his abilities. He widened his eyes and experienced the wonders of the taiji sphere surrounding the Mortal Continent and its surrounding waters. High in the sky, Confucius sensed Tianyi¡¯s intent, and a slight smile appeared on his face. ¡°Interesting.¡± However, the smile soon disappeared. One eye became completely black with a small white dot, while the other eye turned white with a small black dot. The air around Confucius changed, and black thunderclouds gathered above him. The clouds roared as if it would start attacking him if he did not stop his actions. The immortals of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, especially Xi Tianyi, recognized the black clouds. It did not signal the appearance of heavenly tribulation, but heavenly punishment! Confucius didn¡¯t acknowledge the heavenly punishment and continued operating the taiji sphere. Suddenly, a crevice appeared in the water outside the sphere. The water split akin to Moses parting the Red Sea, but anyone who looked down wouldn¡¯t see the sea floor but further than that. The sky of the Huang Realm darkened and transformed into night. The black clouds expanded and covered the shining stars. Now, the only light left was from the punishment lightning that descended upon Confucius. The founder of the Saintly Scholar School didn¡¯t even bother to pay attention to punishment lightning. The moment the lightning almost touched him, the taiji sphere blocked it. Not only that, but it started to spin and absorb the punishment lightning. Not only did the heavenly punishment not damage Confucius or disrupt his plan, but it actually helped him. More punishment lightning descended, angered by Confucius¡¯s actions. If any of the Eight Pillar Sect immortals survived, they would have been shocked upon seeing what happened. The principles behind Confucius¡¯s technique were exactly the same as their Yin-Yang Reversal, only on a higher level. Reversing black and white, turning misfortune into fortune, and even transforming bad luck into good luck.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Had it been the heavenly punishment of the Primordial World, Confucius would have had some worries, but this was just a mere realm. Let alone him, most divinities wouldn¡¯t fear heavenly punishment, even if they couldn¡¯t deal with it as easily as him. As the punishment lightning continued to bombard Confucius, the gap between the colossal taiji sphere and the rest of the Huang Realm continued to widen. In an hour, the gap was no longer a gap, but a spatial rift. Although thin in comparison to the whole Huang Realm, the desolate environment of the Vast Void penetrated into the Huang Realm. To the casual onlooker, it appeared as if the Huang Realm would be split in half. Despite this, none of the immortals from the Buzhou Immortal Sect observing this took action. Although fear appeared on most of their faces, they still had confidence in Sect Master Xia. In addition, they saw Sovereign Xi¡¯s unfazed eyes. However, this was not the same for the loose cultivators present. One of them, a relatively powerful immortal monarch, who temporarily joined the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s side during the great war, cupped his hand together and said, ¡°I beseech the Buzhou Immortal Sect to strike down the devilish Saintly Scholar School and preserve the integrity of the Huang Realm!¡± Mengfei didn¡¯t even glance at the immortal monarch, but Sect Master Xia did. As the current leader and face of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, he had to deal with public relations. ¡°There¡¯s no need to condemn the Sainty Scholar School. They did this to preserve the peace of the Huang Realm. If they stayed, war would erupt between us and them.¡± The immortal monarch opened his mouth, but he didn¡¯t know what to say. However, one of the immortal monarchs didn¡¯t have the same scruples. ¡°So? Just because you¡¯re scared, you¡¯re going to let the Saintly Scholar School damage the Huang Realm?¡± Although the immortal monarch¡¯s words were rude, they echoed most of the immortal¡¯s thoughts, even those of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Still, that didn¡¯t prevent many of the Buzhou Immortal Sect immortals from staring at him with unkind gazes. Even the amiability displayed by Sect Master Xia lowered by a few degrees. ¡°Look closely. Although the realm is splitting, the spiritual qi density has not decreased and there is practically no damage,¡± Sect Master Xia said, staring at the outspoken immortal monarch. Many of the immortals, even the ones from the Buzhou Immortal Sects, expanded their senses. Even if their immortal sense could not reach the spatial rift, they could still see that the water of the Huang Realm did not leak out into the Vast Void, as if an invisible barrier had stopped it. ¡°So?¡± the outspoken immortal monarch said. ¡°You didn¡¯t deny that you were scared. Hmpf, the Buzhou Immortal Sect is only so-so.¡± Many of the immortals who heard the outspoken immortal monarch¡¯s words couldn¡¯t help but change their expression. Was he crazy, openly disrespecting the Buzhou Immortal Sect? Had he forgotten the absolute victory they held over the Anti-Heaven Alliance and the Eight Pillar Sect? As expected, the air tensed. The outspoken immortal monarch opened his mouth and wanted to speak, but no words came out. His throat became incredibly dry, as if he hadn¡¯t drunk for months. Not only that, he couldn¡¯t move his body at all except for his eyes. To his further terror, his skin paled as the blood left the surface. Under the horrified eyes, the immortal monarch¡¯s aura disappeared. With just a thought, Sect Master Xia had killed an immortal monarch. After the display, none of the immortals present dared to question the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Still, they couldn¡¯t help but question how Sect Master Xia had killed the immortal monarch. Sure, they felt the fluctuations of immortal qi, but they didn¡¯t sense any overt techniques. Only those who had embarked on the path of comprehending the Law of Water realized a bit of the truth. Water existed everywhere, even in the air as tiny molecules. In addition, the Law of Blood was intricately linked to the Law of Water because blood was a liquid. Sect Master Xia first controlled the water molecules into the air and then shackled the immortal monarch with them. Next, he controlled the blood in the body to extinguish the immortal monarch¡¯s life. Sect Master Xia looked away. Although it was important to establish a righteous and magnanimous image, it was equally important to maintain the image of absolute power. Plus, although he had a good talk with Tianyi, the Xia Yushan incident still left a mark on his heart. Who told the outspoken immortal monarch to paint a target on himself? With the distraction over, all the immortals paid attention to the separation of the Mortal Continent. As the taiji sphere continued to pull away from the Huang Realm, the point of contact shrunk. It was much like when you split a water droplet in two, the point of contact between the two droplets would narrow until total separation. A few lucky immortals who comprehended a portion of the Law of Water gained some insights and would achieve greater success in the future. Although seemingly terrifying and undoubtedly world-changing, the Mortal Continent successfully separated from the Huang Realm with no accidents. Once the spatial rift healed, the denizens of the Huang Realm could no longer see the Mortal Continent. However, that was not the end. Although the Mortal Continent was extracted successfully, Confucius had not finished. With Confucius no longer present, the black clouds of heavenly punishment began to disappear. But before completely disappearing, it shot out one last bolt of punishment lightning. Daoyi had already distanced herself from Tianyi, knowing his innate lightning rod attribute. And, as she expected, the punishment lightning struck Tianyi. However, it was only one bolt made up of the residual heavenly punishment, so it did not injure Tianyi at all. That didn¡¯t mean Tianyi was happy, though. Tianyi flipped the bird at the sky, and the heavenly punishment thundered one last time before evaporating completely. He snorted and waved his hand, slicing a spatial rift and flying out. Daoyi also flew out, but she didn¡¯t need to worry about the harsh environment of the Vast Void with Tianyi¡¯s protection. Upon seeing this, the immortal emperor-level experts and above also flew out. Only a few peak immortal monarchs who had confidence in their strength followed. As for true immortals, they didn¡¯t even dare. In the Vast Void, their strength would dramatically decrease. A few immortal monarchs couldn¡¯t stand it, but the grand elders of the Buzhou Immortal Sect protected them. As for the loose immortal monarchs, who would care for them? Confucius sensed their arrival, but didn¡¯t care. Under his control, over ten high-ranking realms floated toward the taiji sphere and merged with it. The process took over a hundred years, but none of the spectating immortals left. When all the high-ranking realms merged, the taiji sphere disappeared, but the Vast Void did not destroy it¡ªbecause the Mortal Continent had become a new immortal-ranking realm. As if to announce its birth, a profound wave emanated from it, buffeting the shrunken Huang Realm and Numinous Realm. Accompanying it were Confucius¡¯s words. ¡°From henceforth, I announce the birth of the Virtuous Realm!¡± From now on, the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System would now have three immortal-ranking realms. Sect Master Xia flew to Tianyi. ¡°How about we also begin the transformation of the Huang Realm?¡± Tianyi nodded. ¡°Alright.¡± Under everyone¡¯s eyes, Tianyi flew above the Huang Realm, and a silver-gold light erupted from him. Chapter 384: Gan Xuehua The silver-gold light emanating from Tianyi shrouded the downsized Huang Realm, but it didn¡¯t stop there and continued to extend. The curtain of silver-gold reached past the Huang Realm and toward the high-ranking realms. Additionally, six realms underneath the Huang Realm floated up. They were the realms controlled by the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s monarchs, such as the Demon Cage Realm. Unlike the newly formed Virtuous Realm, Tianyi didn¡¯t absorb the six realms into the Huang Realm. Instead, he placed them at a certain distance away from the Huang Realm. Next, he waved his hands and three high-ranking realms under the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s influence floated up, but like before, he didn¡¯t merge them into the Huang Realm. With another wave of his hand, eighteen intermediate-ranked realms floated and stopped on a layer beneath the Huang and high-ranking realms. After that, twenty-seven low-ranking realms gathered underneath the second layer. Next, forty-four immortal monarchs holding pseudo realm artifacts flew between the fifty-five realms. Strings formed of realm essence materialized from the realm artifacts and linked all fifty-five realms, creating an intricate web. The silver-gold light Tianyi created folded and formed a bubble covering everything. Slowly, the realm essence webs turned faint, almost disappearing. They hadn¡¯t actually disappeared, but merged with the silver-gold space. Although it only took a few words to describe, this process took over two hundred years. During this time, the process didn¡¯t stop immortal monarchs and above from entering and leaving the Huang Realm. Sect Master Xia also occasionally left to check on the process of Tianyi¡¯s work. He had thought it would take much longer and much more effort from Tianyi. The original plan was to mobilize all the immortal monarchs and true immortals to help Tianyi transform the Huang Realm, but it turned out to be needless. Everything planned before was based on Tianyi¡¯s strength the moment he became an immortal monarch. In just a short hundred years¡ªoh wait, it should be closer to one hundred and fifty now¡ªTianyi had already grown so strong. Sect Master Xia sat in a lotus position and started comprehending the numerous laws utilized by Tianyi. It would probably take at least several thousands of years to merge or eliminate all his alternate selves, so it was better to spend time comprehending the myriad laws displayed by Tianyi. The stronger his comprehension, the easier it would be to enter the Origin Immortal Realm. A hint of light and hope entered Sect Master Xia¡¯s eyes. Perhaps he could even merge the five elemental laws. He glanced at Tianyi, and couldn¡¯t help but wonder what kind of monstrous talent he possessed. Ridding himself of unnecessary thought, Sect Master Xia focused on comprehending the myriad laws. Another decade passed, and Sect Master Xia opened his eyes. Although he didn¡¯t make any major breakthroughs, his accumulation had increased. And the reason he stopped was because the Buzhou Immortal Sect was finally ready to declare their hegemony. Although the transformation of the Huang Realm was not yet complete, many entrances between the fifty-five realms appeared. However, there was a hierarchy. Low-ranks realms only had entrances to middle-rank realms, and middle-rank realms only had entrances to high-rank realms. Only the immortal-rank realm had entrances to all the realms. Descending down was easy, but returning to the immortal-rank realm was hard. Sect Master Xia entered the silver-gold bubble and entered the original Huang Realm. Compared to fifty years ago, the geography had changed. The endless seas still existed, but Tianyi had shifted the continents until the Heaven Continent and the Earth Continent became one. Not only that, all the miscellaneous islands and landmasses also merged and became one with the newly named Trinity Continent. After returning to the Buzhou Immortal Sect, Sect Master Xia sent out invitations to all third-rate forces and above.
Sailing across the clouds of the Trinity Continent was a colossal immortal boat large enough to house an entire city. Built in the middle of the boat was a magnificent palace, and standing on the balcony of the palace was a seemingly young girl in her late teens. She wore vibrant red robes embroidered with a hundred flowers and a three-tailed phoenix. Not many accessories adorned her hair, but the few that did were absolutely exquisite, and one even exuded an immortal aura. She was the thirteenth princess of the Gan Dynasty of the former Earth Continent, Gan Xuehua. Gan Xuehua stared at the floating continent in the middle of the Huang Realm. The Trinity Continent was divided into nine regions: Northern Region, Northeastern Region, Eastern Region, Southeastern Region, Southern Region, Southwestern Region, Western Region, Northwestern Region, and Central Region. However, although the Central Region was the largest, it was primarily a lake. The true Central Region was the floating continent above the lake. This was the land of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. From a young age, Gan Xuehua had heard the legend of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, especially the tales of the Huang Realm¡¯s sole immortal sovereign and her son, the legendary Nine Heavens Emperor. Compared to Xi Mengfei, she was more interested in Xi Tianyi. Not because of anything like idolization, but proof of his power. Her eyes flickered from the floating continent and toward the sky. The sky took on an argent tone, and since the first day she came to this world, she only knew this silver sky. That¡¯s right, came to this world. Gan Xuehua was not an indigenous soul of the Huang Realm or the Three Thousands Immortal Realms System, but a reincarnator from Earth.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Her name on Earth was also Xuehua, and she reincarnated into a girl name Xuehua, but that girl wasn¡¯t the thirteenth princess of the Gan Dynasty, but her maid Mu Xuehua. Mu Xuehua¡¯s body was a cultivation waste and the lowest-ranked maid. She had thought about displaying her amazing medical skills and becoming an imperial doctor, but in the world where western medicine hadn¡¯t developed and cultivation existed, it was practically useless. Mu Xuehua thought that she would live out her life as a maid and die, but a month ago, she woke up as the thirteenth princess of the Gan Dynasty, Gan Xuehua. The first thing Gan Xuehua did was not to discover why they switched bodies, but to order Mu Xuehua¡¯s death. However, to her annoyance, Mu Xuehua had disappeared, and no one knew where she had disappeared. Gan Xuehua was clear that the greatest danger to her current identity was Mu Xuehua¡¯s existence. If they ever switched back their body, she would die without recourse. The second thing Gan Xuehua had to find out was how they switched bodies. She reached into her robes and pulled out a tomoe-shaped jewel, the Spectral Rising Jewel. She wasn¡¯t unfamiliar with this hauntingly beautiful jewel. Those too weak of will that stared at it would fall unconscious, or worse, have their soul damaged. Her resistance was one of the reasons the original Gan Xuehua chose her as a maid. The thirteenth princess was the youngest child of the emperor but the second most-talented. She had entered the Core Formation Realm at the age of twenty. The first was the crown prince who was only one step away from his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. As for the Spectral Rising Jewel, she won it during one of the internal competitions between her siblings. However, the thirteenth princess couldn¡¯t make use of it with her current strength, so she had Mu Xuehua store it away. But while carrying it for storage, she accidentally tripped and a drop of her blood fell on top of it. Or so she thought. Because when Mu Xuehua picked it up again, the blood had disappeared. She chalked it up to her imagination and stored it. The next day, she woke up and became Gan Xuehua, and discovered the jewel laying next to her pillow even though she clearly remembered storing it away. A figure in black suddenly appeared behind her. Each child of the Gan Emperor would receive a squad of death guards, trained cultivators that wouldn¡¯t even hesitate to sacrifice their life under their master¡¯s order. Gan Xuehua didn¡¯t turn her head. ¡°Did you find her?¡± ¡°My apologies, your highness. But that Mu girl is very slippery. We lost all traces of her,¡± the death guard said. Gan Xuehua waved her hand. ¡°Continue looking. I want her brought before me if she is alive. If she¡¯s dead, I want to see her corpse.¡± ¡°Yes, your highness!¡± Once the death guard disappeared, Gan Xuehua stored the Spectral Rising Jewel. With one last look at the argent sky, she walked back into her room and sat on her bed in a lotus position. Although she currently possessed the body of Gan Xuehua, and the cultivation base of a core formation master, she didn¡¯t know how to use it at all. It was like putting someone who never learned how to fly a plane into the cockpit. In fact, it took her a week to learn how to restrain her qi. Even so, Gan Xuehua felt a large amount of mental fatigue from restraining the qi every day. Although it became slightly easier by the day, she knew it wasn¡¯t an optimal solution. Especially since she would have to compete with her siblings for resources and potentially flee if the truth of her and Mu Xuehua was revealed. The best way to learn how to cultivate was to start over. That was not to say Gan Xuehua would shatter her spiritual core and start over, that would be too foolish. No, she wanted to embark on the martial path. She thanked the gods that she was a doctor. Although the humans of this world differed from those of Earth, her medical knowledge made good reference and increased the speed of her martial cultivation. And thanks to her pre-existing spiritual cultivation base, she had already reached the Tendon Reinforcement Stage of the Body Transformation Realm in less than a month. As the immortal boat sailed through the clouds, cracking sounds emanated from Gan Xuehua¡¯s body. The tendons inside her body had already completely transformed, and now she stepped into the Bone Refinement Stage. Her white bones took on a pure white sheen, almost crystalline in nature. Once she reached the peak of the Bone Refinement Stage, they would appear no different from diamonds. Gan Xuehua wanted to continue to cultivate, but a knock on the doors broke her concentration. Displeasure flashed across her face, but it swiftly disappeared. ¡°Who is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s me, your highness?¡± ¡°Donghua? What is it?¡± Gan Xuehua asked. ¡°We¡¯ll arrive at the Buzhou Immortal Sect in a few days,¡± Donghua, her maid, replied. ¡°So fast?¡± ¡°Over a month has already passed,¡± Donghua said. Gan Xuehua sighed. Time was really meaningless for cultivation. Since possessing this body, she had already spent half her time cultivating without noticing. ¡°Alright, I understand.¡± She stood up and brushed away the creases in her dress. Upon exiting her room, she saw her maid waiting for her. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Gan Xuehua followed behind Donghua as she led them to the core of the ship. It took over an hour of walking, and once she entered, she saw her twelve siblings and this body¡¯s father waiting for her. ¡°Thirteenth Sister, can you not make us wait?¡± the crown prince asked. ¡°You¡¯ll make me, the Esteemed Sage Ascendant Soul Venerable sent by the Wise Nascent Trigram Immortal of the Nine Great Heavens, look bad.¡± Gan Xuehua sneered. ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid of offending the Nine Heavens Emperor by using Nine Great Heavens in your self-proclaimed title?¡± Gan Linyou flicked his hair with a flourish. ¡°It¡¯s no matter. The title of Nine Heavens belongs to me. I¡¯m only lending it to that Xi Tianyi for a bit. Once I ascend to the Immortal Realm, he will have no choice but to relinquish his title. He doesn¡¯t understand the vulgarity of his title at all. How can you only use two words? You must have at least ten words to show your prestige.¡± The rest of the emperor¡¯s children and even the emperor himself showed helpless smiles. Although his cultivation talent was strong, there was a problem with his brain. Had the rest of his children showed even a modicum of half his talent, the position of crown prince wouldn¡¯t be his. The Gan Emperor looked at Gan Xuehua with hope. As long as she reached the Nascent Soul Realm, he would title her the crown princess. ¡°I want to see if you can say that after seeing the Nine Heavens Emperor,¡± Gan Xuehua said with a snort. She walked and stood with the rest of the emperor¡¯s children before taking out a Xiyi Talisman. There was another reason she wanted to see Xi Tianyi. She had many reasons to believe that he was a reincarnator like her. Chapter 385: The Current Buzhou Immortal Sect Gan Xuehua took out the Xiyi Talisman and fiddled with it. After the War of Heaven and Earth, as it was now deemed, the Buzhou Immortal Sect propagated the use of Xiyi Talismans, which also increased the Nine Heaven Emperor¡¯s fame. The Buzhou Immortal Sect distributed five types of Xiyi Talisman according to one¡¯s status. Only members of the Buzhou Immortal Sect could hold Violet-Gold, Black-Gold, and Gold Xiyi Talismans. Members of vassal sects and the Cultivator Alliance, which had transformed into a mercenary organization for the Buzhou Immortal Sect, could receive Silver Xiyi Talisman. As for everyone else, they would have to purchase Bronze Xiyi Talisman for a much higher price. The different colors on the Xiyi Talisman weren¡¯t just for aesthetics, but denoted the amount of authority the user could access. Gan Xuehua fingers tapped the screen twice on her silver-rimmed Xiyi Talisman, bringing it to life. With her deft fingers, she found a livestream from a disciple of the Buzhou Immortal Sect livestreaming the many forces arriving for the grand ceremony. She took a glance at her fellow siblings, and saw that they had also opened up their Xiyi Talisman¡ªwith the exception of Gan Linyou, who was taking selfies and posting them on his blog. The only one to show worry was the Gan Emperor, and rightfully so. Gan Xuehua had no doubt that the Buzhou Immortal Sect could easily monitor all the information and even spread misinformation. In this world where might makes right, controlling information did not automatically equate to control, but it still influenced many things. Without even issuing a decree, the Buzhou Immortal Sect could turn one force or one person into the enemy of the world. As long as enough people believe it, even if the matter was false, lies would turn to truth. It was an invisible sword that hung over everyone¡¯s head. The worst part was the ease of use of the Xiyi Talisman. It may not be the best at everything, but it could almost do everything. More important, was the Xiyinet that linked everything. Anyone who experienced the world of interconnected information would find it hard to extradite themselves from it. Gan Xuehua couldn¡¯t do it either, despite knowing the danger. In fact, she knew that the Gan Emperor had attempted to create his own version of the Xiyi Talisman named the Gan Talisman. Gan Xuehua rolled her eyes upon hearing the name, but that wasn¡¯t the critical issue. The user interface of the Gan Talisman was clunky and couldn¡¯t compare to the Xiyi Talisman. The biggest issue was the connection and storage. The Gan Emperor couldn¡¯t replicate the Xiyinet, nor could the Gan Talisman leave the capital without losing function. The Xiyi Talisman could be used anywhere except for a few secret realms or immortal grottos, while the Gan Talisman could not. Rather than using something that only worked in one place, more people would rather use something that worked everywhere. He didn¡¯t dare to ask the Buzhou Immortal Sect for advice. Strictly speaking, attempting to replicate the Xiyinet was going against the sole hegemonic sect¡¯s interest. However, as long as he didn¡¯t bring it up, they would ignore his small movements. More importantly, the Gan Dynasty was just a small third-rate force. The Buzhou Immortal Sect could wipe them out with a wave of their hands. The Gan Emperor could still recall the day the sun descended. According to legend, the Nine Heavens Emperor had unleashed a forbidden technique that annihilated the headquarters of the former hegemon of the Earth Continent. Unknowing of the Gan Emperor¡¯s thoughts, Gan Xuehua continued to fiddle with the Xiyi Talisman, but her gaze was unfocused. According to rumors, three people produced the Xiyi Talisman: Xi Tianyi, Jiang Daoyi, and Xi Ri. Again, according to rumors, the one to come up with the initial idea was Xi Ri. Xi Tianyi perfected, while Jiang Daoyi only played a minor role in its creation. However, no matter how she searched, she could only find basic information on Xi Ri, unlike the many rumors concerning the former two. In Gan Xuehua¡¯s view, Xi Ri deliberately erased traces of himself. Many of the legends and tales of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System were familiar to her, but she also had knowledge not in line with the system. In that case, it would not be wrong to judge that the denizens of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms would be xenophobic to an outsider like her. What Xi Tianyi, what Jiang Daoyi? Xi Ri must have used both of them as shields. If it was her, she would have done the same thing. Still, her view of Xi Tianyi plummeted. Although Xi Ri used Xi Tianyi as a front, Xi Tianyi still took Xi Ri¡¯s credit. Hmpf, she had already seen many people like him in the Gan Dynasty. In fact, she experienced it herself with the original thirteenth princess. These people take other people¡¯s credit as theirs, bolstering their fame while burying the real contributors. Gan Xuehua formulated a plan to meet Xi Ri. As fellow reincarnators, Xi Ri should not reject her. If anything, there should be some intimacy because of their past. As a survivor of the apocalypse, Xi Ri should know the value of connections. Even if she was weak now, she did not believe she would be weak forever. Plus, wasn¡¯t Xi Ri also still mortal? ¡®Unless he secretly transcended his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation to keep a low profile,¡¯ Gan Xuehua thought.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°We¡¯ve arrived, let¡¯s go,¡± the Gan Emperor said. Gan Xuehua broke out of her thoughts and blinked. She glanced at her Silver Xiyi Talisman and turned it off before storing it in her spatial ring. She trailed after Gan Linyou, who followed behind the Gan Emperor. The rest of her siblings followed behind her. There was nothing out of the norm until they prepared to disembark. Instead of walking down, the Gan Emperor flew, or rather, tried to fly down. But to his shock, he couldn¡¯t fly at all despite his Pathfinding Immortal Realm cultivation base. Gan Linyou also attempted to fly, but he, and the rest of the siblings, discovered that they were grounded. ¡°Strange, why can¡¯t I fly?¡± one of the emperor¡¯s children asked. ¡°Perhaps someone made it so that only those with a certain amount of strength can fly?¡± Gan Xuehua suggested. ¡°No, no, Thirteenth Sister, you are wrong,¡± Gan Linyou said. ¡°It¡¯s obvious that if that was the case, I, the Esteemed Sage Ascendant Soul Venerable sent by the Wise Nascent Trigram Immortal of the Nine Great Heavens, would obviously be able to fly!¡± No one answered Gan Linyou¡¯s words. In the end, the Gan Emperor sighed and walked down the bridge. There, an immortal elder greeted him. ¡°Welcome to the Buzhou Immortal Sect, fellow Daoist Gan,¡± the immortal elder said. ¡°The pleasure is all mine,¡± the Gan Emperor cupped his hand in response. ¡°I have a question. I found that my ability to fly has disappeared. Is there a reason?¡± The immortal elder smiled. ¡°It¡¯s a rule established by Grand Elder Nine Heavens. As long as you have not mastered a worldly law, you will be forever grounded.¡± The Gan Emperor sighed at the Nine Heavens Emperor¡¯s supreme might. What mastery did he have to reach to lay down such a rule? Just as he was about to ask how they would travel¡ªthe Buzhou Immortal Sect didn¡¯t expect them to walk all the way, did they?¡ªGan Linyou said, ¡°Hmpf, on the basis that we¡¯re of the same generation, I¡¯ll let that Xi Tianyi off the hook this time.¡± ¡°Quiet, Linyou!¡± The Gan Emperor¡¯s face paled, and he quickly gave an apologetic smile. ¡°Please forgive my son. Since young, he¡¯s always been like this, not knowing what to say or not to say.¡± The immortal elder¡¯s originally smiling face turned cold. ¡°I just hope he won¡¯t run his mouth in front of an important personage. If he offends them, then don¡¯t blame the Buzhou Immortal Sect for teaching him a lesson.¡± Without waiting for the Gan Emperor¡¯s reply, he turned around with a flick of his sleeve. The Gan Emperor¡¯s expression turned ugly as he glared at his son. He pointed at him and cast a silence seal on him, preventing him from speaking. Then, he and the Gan Dynasty entourage quickly followed the immortal elder. The immortal elder led them toward a small, but still roomy, immortal boat. Once everyone had boarded, the immortal boat floated to the air and flew off toward Rites Peak. The immortal elder turned toward the Gan Emperor. ¡°There¡¯s still some time before the ceremony begins. Until then, obediently stay in the mansion allotted to you.¡± Gan Xuehua imperceptibly frowned as the Gan Emperor did his best to appear friendly despite the immortal elder¡¯s haughty demeanor. ¡®The Buzhou Immortal Sect is pretty petty. Maybe Xi Ri was forced by Xi Tianyi to cede his contributions.¡¯ She shook her head. ¡®Maybe it¡¯s just this elder.¡¯ Different from her thoughts on the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s conduct, she couldn¡¯t help but look down on the Gan Emperor. Back in the Gan Dynasty, he always seemed so lofty, but when push came to shove, he bent his back faster than anyone else. In this aspect, he was far from Gan Linyou. That said, Gan Linyou was still an idiot. ¡®At this rate, he really might offend someone he can¡¯t afford to offend. Honestly, how did he live for three hundred years? Should I escape before he brings a calamity that kills me, too?¡¯
¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Daoyi asked upon seeing Tianyi facepalm. The two were currently drinking tea in the garden of Jade Peak Palace. Although he officially assumed the identity as Peak Master of Nine Heavens Peak, he still resided mostly on Jade Peak. Well, that wasn¡¯t entirely true. The body having tea time with Daoyi was his alternate conduit. His main and strongest body was still above the Huang Realm. ¡°It¡¯s another old acquaintance that arrived at the sect that I don¡¯t want to see,¡± Tianyi grumbled. With his powerful immortal sense, few things could be hidden from him in the Buzhou Immortal Sect, much less the arriving guests. ¡°Nanfang Wubai?¡± Daoyi asked. ¡°Well, it¡¯s not as bad as him,¡± Tianyi said. He couldn¡¯t help but shiver upon remembering their ¡°reunion.¡± That guy was even worse than he remembered. ¡°I said another old acquaintance.¡± ¡°Who?¡± Tianyi opened his mouth, but no words came out. Finally, he managed to croak out, ¡°I don¡¯t know. He has a self-inflated sense of self-esteem and likes overly long titles. I can¡¯t remember that long string of words. I pretty much just refer to him as the crown prince of the Gan Dynasty.¡± ¡°First time I¡¯ve heard of this,¡± Daoyi said. ¡°Really, didn¡¯t I tell you about all the weirdos I met at the Three Heavens Connection Gathering?¡± Daoyi shook her head. ¡°If you did, I forgot.¡± ¡°Forget about this. Didn¡¯t you say you were going to tell Mother about your origin after the war?¡± Daoyi asked. Tianyi averted his eyes. ¡°Well, technically, the war hasn¡¯t ended yet. It will end after the ceremony and after I upgrade the Huang Realm.¡± Daoyi said nothing and continued to stare at Tianyi. Although he wasn¡¯t looking at her, he felt her gaze penetrating his soul. ¡°Alright already!¡± Tianyi finally said, staring straight into Daoyi¡¯s eyes. ¡°I¡¯ll tell her after the ceremony. After that, I¡¯ll accompany you through the other sub realms for our honeymoon.¡± Daoyi raised an eyebrow. ¡°You sure you aren¡¯t using our honeymoon as an excuse to avoid Mother?¡± Tianyi averted his eyes once again and mumbled something. Daoyi sighed. ¡°Just tell her. With how much she cares for you, nothing will happen.¡± ¡°That¡¯s easy to say, but every time I try, I just clam up!¡± ¡°If you can¡¯t, how about I tell her for you?¡± ¡°Really?¡± Tianyi asked. Millions of stars shimmered in his eyes as he looked at Daoyi. ¡°No,¡± Daoyi coldly rejected. ¡°Mother would prefer it if you tell her yourself.¡± Tianyi sighed. ¡°I know.¡± Chapter 386: Dissolution Tianyi and Daoyi fell silent. The former picked up his cup and took a sip. As if remembering something, a portal opened next to him, but before he could reach in and pull out what he wanted, Daoyi let out a soft cry. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°The Spectral Rising Jewel is reacting. There¡¯s someone with another fragment nearby.¡± Tianyi closed his eyes, and his immortal sense expanded toward Rites Peak. He and Daoyi had stopped searching for the other fragments of the Spectral Rising Jewel after their encounter with Emperor Soulfish and their return from the Silent Lightning Timeline. They could no longer get a reaction out of the divine fragment, making them suspect that the rest of the Spectral Rising Jewel had fallen from Emperor Soulfish¡¯s hands into Emperor Begonia¡¯s possession. He and Daoyi still harbored some hope of retrieving the rest of the fragment, but that disappeared after Mengfei killed Emperor Begonia. Although they salvaged the immortal emperor artifact, the Soul Pagoda, there was nothing left inside it or the late emperor¡¯s body. He likely already sent away all his valuables before confronting the Buzhou Immortal Sect. To reassemble the Spectral Rising Jewel, they would have to visit the Pure Lands Pseudo System and retrieve it, practically impossible. However, it seemed their thoughts were wrong. It wasn¡¯t that there were no more fragments of the Spectral Rising Jewel. They just weren¡¯t on the former Heaven Continent. The two never considered the possibility that the participants of the Xu Clan¡¯s destruction would be composed of forces from the Earth Continent. ¡°Found it,¡± Tianyi said. The strongest of the Gan Dynasty wasn¡¯t even an immortal lord, so how could he sense Tianyi¡¯s probe? On the contrary, it was the holder of the divine fragment that looked around in suspicion. ¡®Is it because of the Spectral Rising Jewel¡¯s influence or her own intuition?¡¯ ¡°Who?¡± ¡°It¡¯s,¡± Tianyi blinked. He didn¡¯t know who was coming for the ceremony. ¡°Give me a moment.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the Gan Dynasty, a third-rate force,¡± Tianyi said after contacting one of the elders responsible for receiving guests. ¡°She should be the thirteenth princess.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Daoyi said as she crossed her arms. ¡°Snatching it by force would reflect badly on the Buzhou Immortal Sect. It¡¯s better for her to hand it over herself.¡± A sly smile appeared on Tianyi¡¯s face. ¡°So we just need to propagate the story of the Xu Clan¡¯s destruction. As long as words spread, the Gan Dynasty will know what¡¯s good for them. Even if they don¡¯t hand it over, there should be plenty of people willing to do the dirty work.¡± Daoyi stared at Tianyi. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Nothing. I just feel that you¡¯ve become really black-hearted,¡± Daoyi said. ¡°Hah? Since when have I not?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°Wait, that came out wrong.¡± He wanted to explain, but Daoyi had already hidden her giggles behind her sleeve. Tianyi shook his head and pulled out a Violet-Gold Xiyi Talisman. ¡°Should I spread the information now or after the ceremony?¡± ¡°After,¡± Daoyi said. After a second, she added, ¡°Near the end of the ceremony after everything is done. There¡¯s no need to delay the ceremony for this. After the dissemination of the information, we can observe the other forces and see their reaction if they had anything to do with the Xu Clan¡¯s massacre.¡± Tianyi nodded. He held his chin. ¡°I¡¯m going to borrow the Three Lives Stone. That Gan Xuehua gives me a strange feeling. Her father couldn¡¯t sense my immortal sense, she actually reacted. Maybe she didn¡¯t detect anything, but her sixth sense is definitely strong.¡± ¡°Alright,¡± Daoyi said with a nod. Tianyi disappeared from his seat. In truth, he had attempted to leave one of his conduits near the Three Lives Stone, but the seal prevented a link between it and the Nine Heavens Universe. Thus, it was useless and Tianyi still had to personally visit. Since the war ended, Tianyi had a lot of free time on his hands. He attempted to find more reincarnators, an act Sect Master Xia supported. However, using the Three Lives Stone was like finding a needle in a haystack. The Three Lives Stone couldn¡¯t detect foreign souls, so he would have to have information on the suspected reincarnator before verifying with the Three Lives Stone. Tianyi wasn¡¯t afraid of his mother finding out. In fact, he wanted her to ask him. This way, he didn¡¯t have to initiate the confrontation, but alas, his mother didn¡¯t ask about his actions at all. On a whim, Tianyi also checked up on the status of the various protagonist-like people he met before. To his surprise, Yan Nie was a fellow reincarnator, and so was Jiang Chunye. The original Jiang Chunye had already died hundreds of years ago from drowning. Still, this didn¡¯t lessen Tianyi¡¯s killing intent. The only problem was that he didn¡¯t know where she went. As for Lei Jingye, he had died and successfully reincarnated. Another one Tianyi checked up on was Lovespot, but to his surprise, the latter had already died. That wasn¡¯t what shocked Tianyi, who already suspected something was off with the son of the former head elder. What shocked him was who possessed his body. Long Aotian, the Dragon Emperor.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. After consulting the Three Lives Stone, Tianyi discovered that Gan Xuehua was a foreign soul like him and Daoyi. He returned to Jade Peak Palace and informed Daoyi. ¡°In that case, the price we pay might have to be a bit higher.¡± Upon seeing Tianyi¡¯s querying gaze, she explained. ¡°If she¡¯s from Earth like us, she must have survived the apocalypse. As survivors of such a cruel environment, each one of us has distorted views. Taking away her divine fragment without any reparation will cause her to form a grudge. Don¡¯t forget, even if we¡¯re from the same place, we aren¡¯t necessarily allies.¡± ¡°Of course I remember,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°I have your sister as a reminder.¡± Daoyi nodded. ¡°Should we contact her?¡± Tianyi shook his head. ¡°Prudence is the better part of valor. Let¡¯s have Xi Ri interact with her. Although he¡¯s still a bit cold, he should be happy that we might have another ally.¡± ¡°Unfortunately, he¡¯s secluded himself. He¡¯s already at the peak of the Transcending Mortality Realm, and he¡¯ll undergo his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation soon,¡± Daoyi said. ¡°So soon? Why didn¡¯t he tell me?¡± Tianyi asked. Daoyi shrugged. ¡°Then let¡¯s have Yan Nie contact her,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°Sounds like a plan,¡± Daoyi said.
¡°Was it just my imagination?¡± Gan Xuehua muttered. Earlier, she felt someone peeping on her, but she couldn¡¯t discover it at all. She shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s not that strange. Although rude, it wouldn¡¯t be out of the realm of possibility if the Buzhou Immortal Sect wanted to monitor us . Since there¡¯s no word from the Gan Emperor, then it''s most likely an unspoken rule.¡± Without realizing her misunderstanding, Gan Xuehua settled down and started cultivating again. She was unlikely to enter the Acupoint Opening Realm before the ceremony began, but that didn¡¯t mean she could just lounge around. The threat of Mu Xuehua still existed. When she grew tired of cultivating, she would pick up the Xiyi Talisman. Browsing the Xiyinet made her recall the peaceful days before the apocalypse started. Sometimes, she even had the illusion she had gone back, but after seeing her clothes, she returned to reality. She wasn¡¯t wasting her time. While browsing, she would compile the information she got while thinking of a method to contact Xi Ri without arousing Xi Tianyi¡¯s attention. In the end, she could pin her hopes on the Young Heavens Tournament. As the name suggested, it was a tournament for talented geniuses of the Huang Realm to make their name, and it would occur after all the rites had ended. If she won, she would naturally attract a lot of attention. If she won, she could post something on her blog or even say something only a fellow earthling would know. However, that all hinged on the fact that Xi Ri would pay attention to her. There was also the risk of someone with malicious intentions noticing her. Gan Xuehua hesitated. After a while, she sighed. In the end, it was because her strength was too low. If she possessed strength, would she need to ally with other reincarnators or fear others discovering her origin? Conversely, her fellow reincarnators would need to suck up to her. It was a lesson she had long learned in the apocalypse. In this world, only might mattered. The days passed as Gan Xuehua doubled her efforts. Compared to the apocalypse on Earth, she was still quite lucky. Although the early years of her life were mundane, she now had a chance to reach the zenith. Finally, the day came for the Buzhou Immortal Sect ceremony. She followed behind the Gan Emperor and Gan Linyou as the immortal elders of the Buzhou Immortal Sect led them to the center of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, where a mountain thrice as large as the other peaks existed. There were many altars, instruments, and offerings arranged in place. According to legend, this Primordial Mountain was created when the Nine Heavens Emperor created the Trinity Continent. Along the way, Gan Xuehua couldn¡¯t help but look around in amazement. She knew how rare and amazing immortals were, but upon stepping onto Primordial Mountain, eight out of ten people she saw were immortals. The Primordial Mountain was large, but she still saw over ten thousand immortals present. Among the crowd, her father, a lofty true immortal, could only be regarded as average. She even felt auras far more terrifying than the Gan Emperor. In her heart, Gan Xuehua knew they were the immortal elders of the second and first-rate forces. These old fossils that rarely appear in front of people, but on this momentous occasion, they could also only be regulated as spectators. Gan Xuehua stood in line with the members of the Gan Dynasty in a predetermined spot. Although the mountain was large, they were also packed next to members of other third-rate forces, but none of them dared to complain. Although tight, she didn¡¯t mind and stared at the peak, where she sensed hundreds of auras far more terrifying than the Gan Emperor¡¯s. She even suspected that the number of immortal monarchs from the Buzhou Immortal Sect eclipsed all the other forces combined. As the sun reached its peak, a middle-aged man appeared in front of the altar at the peak. Accompanying him was a beautiful woman with bedeviling eyes in a violet robe, another woman of equal beauty of another type with snow-white hair, an elderly man with lightning crackling around him, a goddess wearing white, and finally, a handsome man in purple. They were Sect Master Xia, Xi Mengfei, Zhang Cuiying, the Cloud Goddess, Grand Elder Eternal Night, and Xi Tianyi. Despite being only a group of six, their combined aura suppressed all the immortal monarchs and true immortals, especially the Xi mother-son pair. Even a mortal like Gan Xuehua could discern they stood above the rest. She could understand why Sovereign Xi had such a powerful aura, but what about Xi Tianyi? According to the information, he wasn¡¯t even four hundred years old yet. Gan Xuehua didn¡¯t have time to think as Sect Master Xia¡¯s words echoed throughout the mountain. ¡°I thank everyone for coming to the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s ceremony celebrating the unification of the Huang Realm.¡± An applause erupted after Sect Master Xia¡¯s words, but he raised his hand and quickly silenced the applause. He continued. ¡°This will be my last act as the Sect Master of the Buzhou Immortal Sect.¡± This didn¡¯t surprise many people. Sect Master Xia had already exposed the fact that he reached the Extremity Immortal Realm. According to tradition, the sect master of the Buzhou Immortal Sect had always been an immortal monarch, but to everyone¡¯s confusion, Sect Master Xia didn¡¯t continue speaking. Instead, the next piece of news shocked everyone. ¡°From today onwards, the Buzhou Immortal Sect will cease to exist!¡± Chapter 387: Immortal Official Conferment Sect Master Xia¡¯s words¡ªno, Xia Meng¡¯s words silenced the crowd. What did the leader of the Buzhou Immortal Sect mean by this? Rather, why would the Buzhou Immortal Sect disband after conquering the entire Huang Realm? Almost everyone entered a stupor, unable to process what they just heard. However, a few sharp individuals linked the legends circulating in the Huang Realm and formed a hypothesis. Xia Meng ignored the bewildered and probing gaze of the spectators. He turned his back on them and held three sticks of lit incense in his hands. ¡°Heaven and Earth, from henceforth, I announce the reestablishment of the Immortal Court!¡± As if responding to Xia Meng¡¯s words, the sky darkened as black clouds gathered above Primordial Mountain. The audience felt a sense of danger. This was especially so for those under the Immortal Realm. Punishment lightning crackled, as if waiting for the chance to descend and punish the former Buzhou Immortal Sect. However, Xia Meng ignored the heavenly punishment like he ignored the crowds below. No matter who it was, today, they could only act as backdrops for the revival of the Immortal Court. A decrepit old scroll appeared in Xia Meng¡¯s hand. Despite its sad state, it still exuded a pressure on all those who laid eyes on it. Even Sect Master Xia felt beads of sweat forming on his forehead. Still, he pressured on. ¡°Come forth, Primewood.¡± ¡°I am present.¡± An elderly immortal appeared under everyone¡¯s gaze. Had he not moved, few, if any, would have noticed his presence. He had a head full of white hair, and his skin was dry like bark. He exuded an aura of an immortal emperor, but it was very weak. Stronger than his aura was the death qi surrounding him. With no accident, the ancient immortal likely only had a few years left. ¡°Are you willing to become the Immortal Minister of Works and wholeheartedly serve the Immortal Court?¡± Primewood clasped his hand. ¡°I am willing!¡± The moment he confirmed, two events happened simultaneously. First, the scroll in Xia Meng¡¯s hand emitted a brilliant light that entered Primewood¡¯s body. Second, a bolt of heavenly punishment descended, but before it could land, a barrier appeared and blocked it. However, the punishment lightning dispersed and attempted to find a weak point in the barrier. Xia Meng ignored the heavenly punishment and looked at all the immortals present. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to congratulate Minister Primewood on his appointment?¡± The immortals woke up from their stupor. They could sense the power of the heavenly punishment, and even a stray shot could kill the average immortal monarch. Fear and anger coursed through their veins at how the former Buzhou Immortal Sect brought such danger to them. Still, despite questioning Xia Meng¡¯s strange actions, they still obeyed. ¡°¡°¡°Congratulations to Minister Primewood for becoming the Immortal Minister of Works!¡±¡±¡± The ordinary immortal monarchs and true immortals watched in shock as the roots of Minister Primewood¡¯s hair turned black. Like a waterfall, the black color spread, causing all the hair on his body to take on a healthy black sheen. Not only that, his skin turned ruddy and his form fleshed out, returning him to his prime. At the end, a powerful vitality emanated from his body. An immortal emperor at the cusp of his lifespan had regained his youth and extended his vitality. Such a scene shocked all those watching. As for those immortal monarchs close to reaching the Extremity Immortal Realm and scant few immortal emperors, they turned their head toward the sky. They almost couldn¡¯t sense it, but they were sure that the heavenly punishment had weakened. An idea entered their mind, but they didn¡¯t dare to finish the thought. Xia Meng ignored the thoughts of those below. After Minister Primewood retreated and stood at one of the six pre-arrange locations, he called out the next name. ¡°Come forth, Vastlight.¡± Another immortal emperor nearing the end of his lifespan came forward. ¡°Are you willing to become the Immortal Minister of Revenue and wholeheartedly serve the Immortal Court?¡± ¡°I am willing!¡± As with Minister Primewood, a white light shot out of the glowing scroll and entered his body, while another bolt of heavenly punishment descended. However, the barrier held strong, and under Xia Meng¡¯s gaze, the immortals congratulated the new Immortal Minister of Revenue. The newly appointed Immortal Minister of Revenue regained his youth and stood in one of the five positions near Minister Primewood. ¡°Come forth, Huang Feihong.¡± Unlike the previous two immortal emperors, Huang Feihong was a Seamless Immortal and the head elder of the War Hall. Still, he stepped forward and saluted Xia Meng. Obviously, everything had already been pre-arranged. ¡°Are you willing to become the Immortal Minister of War and wholeheartedly serve the Immortal Court?¡± Xia Meng asked. ¡°I am willing,¡± Huang Feihong said. Once he finished speaking, the scroll in Xia Meng¡¯s hand released a brilliant light, but it didn¡¯t shoot out a light and merge with the new minister. However, all the experts could sense an air of change surrounding the new Immortal Minister of War. Without a doubt, it wouldn¡¯t take long for him to enter the Extremity Immortal Realm¡ªat most a thousand years.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Although they didn¡¯t know why the scroll in Xia Meng¡¯s hand didn¡¯t treat Huang Feihong the same, they didn¡¯t ask, nor did they have the qualifications to know. After Huang Feihong¡¯s appointment, Xia Meng appointed the Appointment Hall¡¯s Head Elder Brightwing as the Immortal Minister of Rites. Like the new Minister of War, Brightwing was also a peak immortal monarch with plenty of longevity left. And like him, he would also reach the Extremity Immortal Realm within a thousand years. ¡°Come forth, Eternal Night.¡± At Xia Meng¡¯s words, Grand Elder Eternal Night appeared. His appearance made the eyes of the immortals that had originally been part of the Anti-Earth Alliance and Cultivator Alliance shine with brilliance. As they hoped, Xia Meng conferred him the position of Immortal Minister of Justice. In the newly established Immortal Court, there would be six first-ranked ministers. Five had been filled, and only the most crucial and important Minister of Appointment was left. All the audience craned their necks and focused their eyes, waiting to see who would fill this important position. Alas, it was a name none of them recognized. ¡°Come forth, Everpast.¡± Once Everpast appeared, none of the immortals present took him lightly. Like the first two immortal emperors, he exuded death qi, and was obviously reaching the end of his lifespan. But unlike them, this was an immortal sovereign. The Buzhou Immortal Sect always had immortal emperors, but they never always had immortal sovereigns, so they were able to recognize them more easily. After Everpast accepted the position of Immortal Minister of Appointments, his white hair turned grey. Although wrinkles covered his face, his skin had become tender, like a newborn infant. After thanking Xia Meng, he took his place among his fellow first-rate ministers. After appointing all six ministers for the six ministries, sweat soaked Xia Meng¡¯s robes, but he soldiered on. The decrepit scroll in his hand had taken a whiter tone, and no longer looked as ancient as before. He gritted his teeth and said, ¡°Come forth, Fiendclaw.¡± An immortal monarch stepped forward, and Sect Master Xia appointed him as one of the two Vice Ministers of War. Next, he appointed the rest of the twelve second-ranked vice ministers. After that came the appointments of the third-ranked junior ministers. From there, Sect Master Xia conferred the positions of fourth-ranked officials to ninth-ranked officials. All of them were members of the Buzhou Immortal Sect or related to the Buzhou Immortal Sect, such as the Nihility Sect that had disbanded and formally merged with the Buzhou Immortal Sect. ¡°The Immortal Official Conferment Ceremony is now over!¡± Xia Meng said, his voice reverberated throughout Primordial Mountain. Not just the tallest peak, but it spread through the rest of the Immortal Court and to the rest of the continent. When he appointed each immortal, their image would resonate with all the lifeforms of the Huang Realm, be it human or beast. However, Xia Meng¡¯s action didn¡¯t stop. He threw the ragged but pristine and holy scroll into the air. The scroll emitted a brilliant radiance and merged with the floating landmass. Simultaneously, the newly conferred first to ninth-ranked officials floated into the sky. They pierced the boundary of the realm and disappeared. The moment they did so, the heavenly punishment weakened and dispersed. Even a child could feel that the heavens of the Huang Realm had changed. ¡°I thank everyone today for attending the first conferment ceremony,¡± Xia Meng said, arousing the curiosity and interest of those present. ¡°Now, aside from a few crucial positions, there are still some vacancies, such as the twenty-eight mansion star lords and the four weather lords. However, the Immortal Court is currently lacking in talent. I¡¯m hoping that a few Daoists will volunteer and assume those positions.¡± His words immediately sent a frenzy through the guest immortal monarchs and true immortals. Once those that neared their lifespan heard of this, they would immediately pay almost any cost to attain a position. Facts had already proven that assuming an immortal position would extend if not grant eternal life. For true immortals and immortal monarchs, they aimed at upgrading capabilities an official position would grant them. They had already seen how Minister Huang Feihong and Brightwing showed signs of stepping into the next realm. Disregarding them, there were many immortal monarchs who showed signs of advancing, even if it wasn¡¯t to the Extremity Immortal Realm. Although Xia Meng¡¯s words seemed pleading, there was no doubt a price had to be paid. However, so what? If there were enough benefits, many were willing to pay the price. Without a doubt, the immortals present and those in seclusion would come into conflict to secure a position. Xia Meng smiled. ¡°The next Immortal Official Conferment Ceremony is still a few hundreds years away. No rush.¡± The mouths of the immortals who heard Xia Meng¡¯s words couldn¡¯t help but twitch. To a mortal, a few hundred years were incredibly long, but to them, it was too short! Regardless of their thoughts, Xia Meng had no thoughts about changing the deadline. He didn¡¯t have a choice, and it depended on Tianyi¡¯s speed. Just as he was about to speak his next words, he looked up. Not just him, but everyone stared at the sky. The original argent sky transformed into two swirls, one black and one white. In the thickest part of the white swirl was a black dot and vice versa on the black swirl. Xia Meng glanced toward Tianyi, who averted his gaze and coughed into his fist. Xia Meng¡¯s lips twitched. ¡°It¡¯s already late. Once everyone has rested tonight, we can start the celebrations tomorrow. For now, I hope everyone has a good night¡¯s rest.¡±
¡°What happened?¡± Xia Meng asked once everyone dispersed. ¡°It¡¯s not a big problem,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°I kinda started gaining insight into the Law of Yin and the Law of Yang. I''m currently attempting to merge my insights into the Huang Realm.¡± ¡°There won¡¯t be any accidents, will there?¡± Xia Meng asked. ¡°Of course not,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°If there was going to be anything wrong, I wouldn¡¯t have done so.¡± Xia Meng sighed in relief. Although he felt a bit annoyed, he was helpless. The upgrade of the Huang Realm hinged on Tianyi. They could also do another way, but they would require far more resources and time. It was just better to have Tianyi accomplish the task. ¡°What will be the changes?¡± ¡°Maybe a few hundred or a thousand years, but the new realm should be far more powerful. Only a divine-ranked realm would be more powerful,¡± Tianyi said with confidence. Xia Meng nodded. ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± ¡°Sect Master Xia¡ª¡± ¡°I¡¯ve already relinquished the position. I¡¯m no longer the sect master. Senior Everpast will manage the Immortal Court for now,¡± Xia Meng said. ¡°Senior Xia, then,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°The Young Heavens Tournament will still happen, right?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Xia Meng stared at Tianyi. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Did someone catch your interest?¡± ¡°You can say that,¡± Tianyi said as a mischievous smile appeared on his face. ¡°Can you give me the right to control the rounds? Chapter 388: Young Heavens Tournament Gan Xuehua sat in her room and stared at the closed doors in a daze. She thought nothing would surprise her anymore after being reborn in the Gan Dynasty and possessing the thirteenth princess¡¯s body, but reality had proven her wrong. She closed her eyes and the events of the Immortal Official Conferment Ceremony vividly repeated themselves in her mind. The awe-inspiring aura, the absolute dominion, the mighty pressure, all of it repeated in her mind. The thing that shocked Gan Xuehua the most was the changing sky. No, not the ephemeral feeling they felt but the appearance of the taiji symbol in the sky. Gan Xuehua even doubted if this was something a human could do, cultivator or not. No wonder the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡ªno, the Immortal Court dared to declare hegemony over the Huang Realm and no force dared to contradict them. It was because the top echelon understood the absolute and mind-bending might of the Immortal Court. It was only at this moment that Gan Xuehua understood why those cultivators like to appraise those strong immortals with descriptions like divine might. In those weak cultivators¡¯ eyes, the actions of the strong are akin to a god¡¯s. She gave a deprecative smile. Was she also one of those weak cultivators? No, compared to them, she was even weaker. Gan Xuehua¡¯s gaze firmed. She desired strength, the same kind that could change the sky. Without waiting, she closed her eyes and began to cultivate. With luck, she might reach the peak of the Body Transformation Realm before the Young Heavens Tournament. This wasn¡¯t only because of her talent, but the density of spiritual qi in the residence allotted to them. If this was the amount of spiritual qi given to outsiders, she wondered how much denser the spiritual qi was for the disciples. No wonder they could raise so many experts. The spiritual qi density on the Immortal Court¡¯s headquarters was indeed one of the reasons why they could produce so many experts and immortals, but the current level of spiritual qi density only appeared after they united the Huang Realm and Tianyi formed the floating island of the Central Region. The rise of the Buzhou Immortal Sect relied more on their deep heritage and foundation. A knock caused Gan Xuehua to halt her cultivation and open her eyes. ¡°Your highness, it¡¯s almost time for the Young Heavens Tournament.¡± ¡°I understand,¡± Gan Xuehua said. She looked down at her hand and clenched her fist. If she made any more progress, she would incur the Acupoint Opening Heavenly Tribulation, something she had no intent of. Even if she cultivated the martial path to help her acclimate, it did not mean she did not place importance on it. She wanted to succeed on both the spiritual and martial path. As for whether she could embark on the soul path, it could only depend on luck. After all, a third-rate force like the Gan Dynasty did not have any soul path cultivation methods. Gan Xuehua didn¡¯t stand up yet and expanded her spiritual sense. Yes, her spiritual sense. After reaching the peak of the Body Transformation Realm, she finally gained control over it, and it no longer pressured her. The maid outside furrowed her brows, wondering why her highness utilized her spiritual sense, and why it felt so raw and uncontained. Although she was a maid, she was a first-ranked maid of the Gan Dynasty, a grandmaster. However, she didn¡¯t have more time to ponder as the spiritual sense retracted, and Gan Xuehua walked out seconds later. ¡°Your highness.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Gan Xuehua said without looking at the maid. Naturally, the maid obediently followed with nary a word. Even her expression remained placid. Not long after, Gan Xuehua met up with her ¡®family''. The thirteen siblings, emperor, and three old immortals of the Gan Imperial Family made their way to Ascension Peak, the venue of the Young Heavens Tournament. Along the way, Gan Xuehua habitually stared at her second brother. ¡®Why is he so silent? With his personality, he should have said something by now.¡¯ Gan Linyou sensed Gan Xuehua¡¯s gaze and turned toward her with a proud look. He puffed his chest and opened his mouth, but no words came out. Seconds later, he became crestfallen, as if remembering something. Upon seeing this, Gan Xuehua already understood everything. Her gaze turned from her brother to her father. If it didn¡¯t break her image, she would have given the man a thumbs up. With a tranquil serenity, Gan Xuehua and the Gan Dynasty entourage arrived at the venue. However, her good mood did not last long as she felt the piercing gaze of her competitors sizing her up. Through her years of experience in the apocalypse, she did not show any change in expression, but inwardly, she couldn¡¯t help but sweat. The Young Heavens Tournament was nothing more than entertainment for the experts of the Immortal Court. But for the members of first-rate, second-rate, and third-rate forces, this was undoubtedly a rare chance to ascend to the skies in one step. According to rumor, the top ten disciples would receive an immortal-rank pill. Of course, this was only for the disciples in the Nascent Soul Realm or the Soul Nourishing Realm.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Even though the prizes for the core formation and acupoint opening disciples weren¡¯t as good, that was only comparatively. Many of the disciples would still kill for such opportunities. Now came the problem. Although Gan Xuehua had acclimated to her body, she did not have any fighting experience with it. It was a small matter to lose and be shamed, but what if it made her family question her? Gan Xuehua had already thought about it. She would judge the situation first and then decide to fight or directly give up. As for attracting Xi Ri¡¯s attention using the tournament, she no longer had such an extravagant hope. In the end, she could only attempt by using the Xiyinet. Even if her name would be dragged through the mud, that was fine. Safety first. Gan Xuehua scanned her competitors. The first one to stand out was the newest genius of the Dustveil Sect, Slothless. He was a rather tall man with an ever-present drowsy look. According to the Gan Dynasty¡¯s intelligence¡ªor rather, rumors¡ªthe grand elder of the Dustveil Sect had returned one day with a child in his hand, and this child was Slothless. Slothless showed incredible talent for cultivation and reached the peak of the Core Formation Realm at age twenty. That was ten years ago, and Slothless was still at the Core Formation Realm, but no one doubted his strength. Compared to Xi Tianyi, he was on a level lower, but all geniuses were. Xi Tianyi was a monster that became an immortal emperor in two hundred years! Gan Xuehua didn¡¯t understand how monstrous that was, but she suspected that she would soon. She turned her attention from Slothless to a girl in a fiery red dress with a phoenix embroidered on it. To the shock of many forces, this generation¡¯s Bright Ascension Saintess wasn¡¯t a nascent soul grandmaster but a core formation master. Her name was Ji Fengyin, and the air around her constantly distorted like a heat mirage. Next on the to-watch-for list was actually an elderly man with gray hair and a slumped back. His age was actually older than his appearance. His name was Luo Peishan. Despite his current age, he had only started cultivation ten years ago, and he only needed five years to reach the peak of the Core Formation Realm. Normally, cultivation had to start at a young age. No matter how good the talent is, if the person started cultivation as an old man, it would be wasted. However, Luo Peishan broke that common sense. There could only be two reasons: one, Luo Peishan was just that talented; two, Luo Peishan used rare treasures. It wasn¡¯t unheard of for forces to help a cultivator raise his realm with resources after he passed the prime time to start cultivating if he showed enough talent. As a participant of the Young Heavens Tournament, Gan Xuehua did not underestimate him. There was another reason she paid attention to Luo Peishan, and that was because he came from the Xi Dynasty. The Xi Dynasty wasn¡¯t even a ranked force, yet they had the prestige to come here for two reasons: Xi Mengfei and Xi Tianyi. Xi Mengfei¡¯s brother, the former Xi Emperor, had already passed away, and the current emperor was Xi Ri¡¯s brother, Xi Chen. Gan Xuehua couldn¡¯t help but think if she could use Luo Peishan to get into contact with Xi Chen, and contact Xi Ri through him. She shook her head. She didn¡¯t want to make it too obvious, and the best way would be to contact Luo Peishan if they were matched against each other. At the same time, she really didn¡¯t want to face Luo Peishan. Fourth on her list was a man wearing slovenly clothes. His loose robes allowed many people to see his chiseled chest. Gan Xuehua also noticed a few girls peeking at him secretly with red faces. She sneered, but she still had to admit that Gui Qianglin was a threat. According to rumors, he was a martial prodigy and possessed a unique physique, the rising star of Boundless Mountain. Gan Xuehua continued to glance at the top-tier geniuses. Overall, there were fifteen or so, but who knew how many hidden ones would reveal themselves? She planned to directly forfeit if she met any of them. No one would blame her. Not just those geniuses, but she planned to surrender to the ten disciples of the Immortal Court that would participate. Among the participants, first-rate sects had ten slots, second-rate sects had five, and third-rate forces like the Gan Dynasty only had two. The Immortal Court also limited themselves to ten to keep it fair, but no one would doubt their supremacy. She continued to observe her foes, hoping to pick up any hints or traits that could be useful. Unfortunately, there were simply too many she had to watch out for, and before she could even commit all of them to memory, a pressure descended. Gan Xuehua snapped her neck at the peak of the mountain to see three figures. First was the Huang Realm¡¯s strongest immortal, Sword Sovereign Xi Mengfei, next was the peerless genius, the Nine Heavens Emperor, Xi Tianyi. Although not as radiant as the other two, Immortal Emperor Xia Meng was not someone the people present can take lightly. Even if hundreds of immortal monarchs and the other four immortal emperors disappeared from the Immortal Court, none of the forces present dared to go against them because of the three of them. All three descended and sat the highest seats of honor, with Xi Mengfei sitting half a level higher. With the last people finally present, the Young Heavens Tournament officially began. The tournament was divided into two levels: the master and grandmaster levels. Naturally, the master-level tournament began first. Each disciple would draw a stick with a number on it. Contestant one would face contestant two, and contestant three would face contestant four, and so on. In other words, it was a bracket style tournament. Gan Xuehua followed the other disciples and lined up to draw her stick. When she finally drew it, she stared long and hard at it. She had originally hoped to get one of the later numbers so she could scout her competition, but fate mocked and ridiculed her. She sighed and regrouped with the Gan Dynasty. After everyone drew their number, the tournament began. A true immortal stepped up to referee the match and loudly said, ¡°Would number one and number two come forward?¡± Gan Xuehua had thought she was already unlucky, but reality let her know there was no worst, only worse. ¡°Dustveil Sect¡¯s Slothless, please advise,¡± her opponent said with half-lidded eyes, seeming able to fall asleep at any moment. She copied his movements and cupped her fist. ¡°Gan Dynasty¡¯s Gan Xuehua, likewise.¡± Gan Xuehua already planned to forfeit. She didn¡¯t want to expose herself for a fight she couldn¡¯t win. So when the referee announced the start, she prepared to shout her intentions, but she never expected Slothless would suddenly become so excited. Without waiting for her to even say a word, he shot towards her. Chapter 389: Recognition In the face of Slothless¡¯s speed, Gan Xuehua didn¡¯t even have time to process what happened. By the time she realized what happened, her hand was already outstretched, and she felt a slight stinging sensation on her palm. She glanced toward the right just in time to see Slothless flying off the stage. When the referee announced the start of the match, Slothless had charged straight at her. Gan Xuehua¡¯s body reacted based on instinct and slapped Slothless on his cheek, sending him flying. But the biggest question was that Gan Xuehua didn¡¯t do anything special. It was just an average slap. Even if she was a peak body transformation acolyte, it should have been far from enough to injure him, much less send him flying out of the arena. Gan Xuehua turned her puzzled gaze toward Slothless, who picked himself off the ground and saluted. Aside from the dust, there was nary a scratch on him. ¡°I thought I was a top contender, but I didn¡¯t expect to encounter a crouching tiger, hidden dragon like you in the first round. I am convinced of my defeat.¡± Still expressing the same drowsiness, Slothless returned to the Dustveil Sect. Gan Xuehua stayed in the arena with question marks above her head. What the hell happened? ¡°Disciple Gan, are you okay?¡± Facing the true immortal¡¯s question, Gan Xuehua shook her head. ¡°No, I¡¯m fine.¡± Afterward, she returned to the Gan Dynasty, still puzzled by her unexpected victory. Upon her return, she was bombarded by her siblings. ¡°Thirteenth Sister, I really couldn¡¯t tell you were this strong. Not even one of the top geniuses could withstand one slap from you, you hid so deep,¡± the seventh princess of the Gan Dynasty said. Gan Xuehua didn¡¯t answer her, and the seventh princess didn¡¯t mind. She was already used to Gan Xuehua¡¯s proud attitude¡ªor rather, the original Gan Xuehua. ¡°As expected of my daughter. The Gan Dynasty is going to become famous because of you,¡± the Gan Emperor said. Gan Xuehua nodded. She glanced at Gan Linyou and saw him with the same proud face. He puffed his chest and opened his mouth. It seemed that he had forgotten the Gan Emperor sealed his ability to speak. She looked away and toward the Dustveil Sect. There, she saw many of the disciples sporting dark expressions. Slothless¡¯s master was currently sporting a furious glare and scolding his disciple. Strangely, the disciples around the master-disciple pair sported the same wry expression. They didn¡¯t seem to blame Slothless, or rather, they looked resigned.
¡°Stupid disciple, why did you throw the match?!¡± the Dustveil Sect grand elder asked. ¡°Huh, what are you talking about?¡± Slothless asked in confusion. ¡°My opponent was much stronger than I thought and defeated me.¡± ¡°Who are you trying to trick?! You aren¡¯t even hiding it. Look at your cheek, there isn¡¯t even a red mark!¡± ¡°This only shows my opponent¡¯s skill. Despite throwing me off the arena, I was hardly damaged. She¡¯s really powerful,¡± Slothless said without batting an eye. Seeing his master about to explode in anger, he quickly pushed in some earplugs into his ears and lay on the ground.
¡®Did he purposely throw the match?¡¯ Gan Xuehua thought. Aside from that, she couldn¡¯t think of any reason for winning. She didn¡¯t have time to think as the next round started. She watched carefully as her next opponent would be one of the two contestants. There was no need to think who would win because one of the two contestants was Ji Fengyin, the Bright Ascension Saintess. Once the referee announced the start of the match, both sides launched their attacks. However, it was undoubtedly the Bright Ascension Saintess who held the upper hand. With one hand seal, a bright orange flame appeared behind her. It transformed into a phoenix and charged at her foe. Her opponent only had time to unleash one spell before the phoenix engulfed him and sent him off the arena. What attracted Gan Xuehua¡¯s attention the most was that her opponent had no outward injuries. The only thing that could be considered an injury was the singed clothes and hair. From this, it can be seen that Ji Fengyin possessed a powerful control over her techniques. Gan Xuehua had a headache now. If Slothless had allowed her a chance to admit defeat, then she wouldn¡¯t have had to face this problem. But because she ¡®demonstrated¡¯ her absolute superiority against Slothless, she couldn¡¯t forfeit against Ji Fengyin without attracting questions. Soon after, the next round began. This round was between two ordinary disciples. Of course ordinary was still subjective. Throw out any of the disciples competing in the tournament into the Trinity Continent, and they would undoubtedly summon forth wind and rain. The fourth round was one to watch, since it had a genius at the same level as Ji Fengyin, Gui Qianglin. Shockingly, his opponent was actually a real crouching tiger, hidden dragon, unlike Gan Xuehua. Although Gui Qianglin won, he suffered quite a bit of injuries. It took the whole day to get through the rounds, so everyone retreated to their residence, and the Young Heavens Tournament would resume the next day. During this time, Gan Xuehua recounted all the matches she had seen, especially the ones involving the top geniuses. Even if she forfeited, Gan Xuehua planned to broaden her horizons, so she knew what to aim for. After seeing all those heated battles, one-sided beatdowns, or tragic double knockouts, Gan Xuehua realized her own deficiencies. Still, she didn¡¯t plan to give up. Just because she couldn¡¯t compare to them now, didn¡¯t mean she wouldn¡¯t in the future.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. The next day, Gan Xuehua stepped into the arena. Across from her stood Ji Fengyin. Although the Bright Ascension Saintess didn¡¯t do anything threatening, Gan Xuehua couldn¡¯t help but feel pressure. She didn¡¯t know if it was because of her own cognition of the difference between the two or the actual strength difference, but it didn¡¯t stop the pressure she felt. ¡°Begin!¡± At the referee¡¯s signal, Gan Xuehua didn¡¯t do anything, at least on the surface. Under her sleeve, several needles had already appeared between her fingers. Back on Earth before the apocalypse, Gan Xuehua studied to become a doctor. Before she went to medical school, she also learned traditional Chinese medicine. At the time, she only thought about learning them to pass the time, but when the apocalypse came, and orthodox medical procedures could no longer be done, her knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine became the most useful thing. It was what kept her alive for years, although she still died in the end. Even after rebirth, Gan Xuehua did not stop her study of medicine. She accumulated a good deal of knowledge as Mu Xuehua and planned to use them in her current identity. In fact, she planned to dabble in alchemy once she had the chance. Gan Xuehua stopped her train of thought and focused back on the battle. She wanted to make some flashy moves and gracefully lose. She didn¡¯t know how many she could deceive with her parlor tricks, but this was the best method she could think of at the moment. Ji Fengyin had already summoned the fire phoenix, and it was currently charging at her. Gan Xuehua imbued as much qi into the needles as possible and launched them. In her estimation, the sheer impact velocity could compare to missiles of Earth. After launching the needles, Gan Xuehua planned to dodge, but an extreme heat shrouded her. She felt that if she moved, she would instantly be incinerated. Thus, she could only watch as her needles failed to destroy the fire phoenix and lose the battle. Only that didn¡¯t happen. To Gan Xuehua¡¯s bewilderment, her needles punctured the fire phoenix and caused it to collapse and evaporate. Then, the needles continued their way toward Ji Fengyin. Ji Fengyin stayed in the same spot, visibly struggling. It was only when the needles were mere meters away from her that she managed to form a shield of flames to block them. But the flames exploded and the forces launched her off the arena. Her state was far worse than Slothless. Her hair was unkempt, cuts littered her robes, and blood leaked from her mouth. ¡°I thought Slothless was too useless, but I was wrong. He wasn¡¯t weak, you¡¯re just too strong! The moment you attacked, you also sealed my movements. If I hadn¡¯t broken out, I would have been knocked out. I wholeheartedly admit my defeat!¡± Gan Xuehua¡¯s mouth twitched as she watched Ji Fengyin go back. If she wasn¡¯t one of the two people involved, she would have thought the battle went clearly as Ji Fengyin described. It was clearly her who was sealed in place, okay?! At this point, she basically confirmed two possibilities. One, someone was secretly helping her. Her father was too weak to do it under everyone¡¯s eyes, so it had to be a person with power to cover the heavens. But why would such a person help her? Thus, Gan Xuehua was inclined to believe the second possibility. Both Ji Fengyin and Slothless purposely lost to her for some bizarre reason she couldn¡¯t understand.
¡°Master, I¡¯m not cut out to be the saintess. I lost to Gan Xuehua so miserably. Please select someone else to take my place,¡± Ji Fengyin said. The grand elder of the Bright Ascension Sect glared at Ji Fengyin. ¡°You think you¡¯d still be the saintess if I could find someone better to replace you? Listen to me and stop your foolish action. Your talent for the spiritual path is unmatched. Stop wasting time on the martial path.¡± Ji Fengyin ignored the latter half of her master¡¯s words. ¡°What about Ji Muyang? I heard she was deprived of her status for a small mistake. I think she will be very willing to assume the position.¡± ¡°What do you know? There have been no cases of a former saint or saintess regaining their status. The Bright Ascension Saintess plays a crucial role in every generation. They must not have any blights on their record,¡± the Bright Ascension Sect grand elder said. Actually, it wasn¡¯t impossible for Ji Muyang to regain her status as the Bright Ascension Saintess, but the problem was why she had been deprived of her status in the first place. Hundreds of years ago, Ji Muyang attended the Heavenly Connection Gathering with other scions from the Buzhou Immortal Sect and various other scions, including Xi Tianyi. Originally, it should have been a good chance to form a connection with Xi Tianyi. However, the loose cultivator, Longwei, that Ji Muyang brought attacked and attempted to kill Xi Tianyi. Of course, there was more to it than that, but the sect deprived Ji Muyang of saintess status to show their stance to the Buzhou Immortal Sect . Ji Wutong succeeded Ji Muyang as the Bright Ascension Saint, a member of the same clan as her. Unfortunately, during the Demon Extermination Expedition, he died, causing the Bright Ascension Sect to have no saint or saintess for a period of time. Many people suggested restoring Muyang¡¯s status, however the time period was a sensitive time. The Bright Ascension Sect didn¡¯t dare appoint Ji Muyang as saintess again for fear of sending the wrong signals to the Buzhou Immortal Sect. When the war ended, it was even more impossible. Xi Tianyi had become an immortal emperor, and it was not worth drawing his ire. He may not pursue the matter, but the Bright Ascension Sect didn¡¯t want to take any chances. Ji Fengyin pursed her lips and muttered. ¡°Everyone is so useless. Why am I the only one with enough concentration of the phoenix bloodline in this generation?¡±
Gan Xuehua didn¡¯t know of Ji Fengyin¡¯s motive, but she had a headache. Thanks to the fewer number of contestants left, she had her second battle of the day. Her opponent was Gui Qianglin, but he had much worse luck than her. His second opponent of the tournament was also a hidden genius. Although he won, he didn¡¯t have enough strength to compete against Gan Xuehua, resulting in her automatic victory. ¡°Ah, that Gan Xuehua sure has good luck.¡± Gan Xuehua heard someone say. His words oozed jealousy. ¡°You can only envy her good luck. Although I don¡¯t think it would matter much. You know that Gui Qianglin is at the same level as her two opponents, Daoist Slothless and the Bright Ascension Saintess. If she could easily solve those two, she can probably easily solve Gui Qianglin as well. Gui Qianglin must have known this, otherwise, do you think he¡¯ll voluntarily forfeit?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. I never expected a dark horse like her to appear. Tsk, tsk. Do you think it¡¯s possible that the Gan Dynasty will rise now?¡± ¡°Who knows? The ascension of a force never depends on one person, but it¡¯ll definitely help. That Gan Xuehua is from a third-rate force, but all the geniuses she defeated are from first-rate forces. Her rise is inevitable.¡± ¡°Hehe, that remains to be seen. There is no lack of people with bad intentions.¡± At this, the speaker¡¯s companion fell silent. On the surface, no one dared to assassinate the upcoming disciples of other forces, but who¡¯s to say that it hasn¡¯t happened? There was a reason why the Nihility Sect became one of the most hated forces before it disbanded. Suddenly, he pitied Gan Xuehua. She was a rare genius who dazzled much brighter than her peers. Unfortunately, she was born in a third-rate force and was destined to face life-threatening hardships. Chapter 390: Foul Gan Xuehua could feel the many stares boring into her back. Curiosity, intrigue, malice, competitiveness, she felt them all. Had it been the former Gan Xuehua, she would have undoubtedly buckled under all these gazes, but the current Gan Xuehua held firm and returned to the spot occupied by the Gan Dynasty. Upon her return, the Gan Emperor immediately took her aside. ¡°Xuehua, I know this competition is very important to you. However, it¡¯d be best to surrender in the next match.¡± Gan Xuehua glanced at the Gan Emperor. She thought he would push her to get number one after seeing her strength. The Gan Emperor misunderstood her look, thinking it was unwillingness. ¡°Don¡¯t think of short-term interests. Even if you win, you might not be able to keep your earnings, and you might even invite disaster. I can promise you that as long as you forfeit your next match, I will give you all the benefits equal to one who entered the top ten of the tournament.¡± ¡°I understand, Emperor-Father,¡± Gan Xuehua said. The Gan Emperor looked at his daughter. Although she agreed, how many young people were willing to give up fame and glory? If it was him, he would resolutely reject the order, but since Gan Xuehua verbally agreed, he could only drop it. The father-daughter returned to the ground. They watched as the rest of the match commenced and ended. Once the last match of the day finished, everyone returned to their residence for the night.
¡°I really didn¡¯t expect her to hide so deeply,¡± Tianyi said with a sigh. He just changed into his nightwear while Daoyi was brushing her hair in front of a mirror. ¡°I don¡¯t think I would have been able to win so easily as a core formation master. That or I knocked myself out first because of blood loss.¡± ¡°You mean Gan Xuehua?¡± Daoyi asked. ¡°Who else?¡± ¡°I mean, she won her matches, but all the matches seemed strange,¡± Daoyi said. ¡°You think she cheated or reached an agreement with her tournaments?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°Impossible. There was no way she could know which people I arranged for her to fight.¡± In fact, Tianyi also rigged the fight in the Immortal Court¡¯s favor. He made it so that the disciples of the Immortal Court wouldn¡¯t meet each other too early. He also matched the weak against the strong so that the strong would knock each other out early in the tournament. This care also extended to Luo Peishan. As for how he categorized the weak and the strong? It was based solely on the vigor of the qi and power of their martial body. Even if they hid it well, they couldn¡¯t escape Tianyi¡¯s sight. According to these criteria, Gan Xuehua was only middling at best. However, he didn¡¯t underestimate a fellow reincarnator. Although Tianyi could detect the quality of qi and power of their martial body, he couldn¡¯t detect their comprehension until they displayed them. Perhaps his mother could, but he wasn¡¯t Mengfei. ¡°I think Gan Xuehua might have mastered a concept.¡± Daoyi turned around. ¡°Really, in the Core Formation Realm? Didn¡¯t you only start comprehending concepts in the Nascent Soul Realm?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t remember. I think I started in the Nascent Soul Realm, but there¡¯s also a chance I started in the Core Formation Realm. It¡¯s been too long, so I forgot,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°Mastering a concept is really OP. Gan Xuehua is clearly weaker than the top geniuses, but she can overcome them so easily because of the concept,¡± Tianyi said with a sigh. ¡°Do you know what concept she mastered?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Daoyi turned from the mirror and looked at Tianyi in surprise. ¡°You don¡¯t even know what law it relates to with your broad knowledge?¡± Tianyi shook his head. ¡°I dabbled in a lot of concepts and laws, but I don¡¯t dare say I can recognize every single concept I come across. If I had to guess, it would have to be something related to concealment.¡± ¡°Concealment? I thought that would be something more suited for Chunye.¡± ¡°Speaking of her, what happened to her?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°I tried searching for her, but it was as if she disappeared from the Huang Realm entirely.¡± ¡°I heard Master encountered someone named Chunsang while attacking the Leakless Sect. Do. Do you think it¡¯s her?¡± ¡°Chunsang? The names sound similar, but I can¡¯t think of a reason why Chunye would use a different name. If it was for an assassination or something related to that, yes, but in the middle of a battle, it¡¯s practically useless. It¡¯s probably not her. Who knows, she might have stumbled onto some inheritance that brought her out of the Huang Realm.¡± Tianyi suddenly turned to her with a playful smirk. ¡°If this was a novel, she¡¯d be the protagonist while you¡¯d be her arch nemesis, destined to die under her hands. Aren¡¯t you scared?¡± ¡°You¡¯re still on about that?¡± Daoyi rolled her eyes. ¡°If I can¡¯t beat her, I¡¯ll let you deal with her. Besides, who¡¯s to say I¡¯m not the protagonist of the novel?¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°Well, for one, you¡¯re attached to me. Aside from your early years in the Jiang Ducal Estate, I can¡¯t think of you having suffered any setbacks,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°But say that you are, then what would Gan Xuehua be?¡± ¡°A minor character or a hidden boss?¡± Daoyi replied. ¡°However, are you sure that there wasn¡¯t anything fishy about Gan Xuehua¡¯s match?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°I thought her opponents might have thrown the match, but I saw that their masters were scolding them harshly for their failure. Disciples don¡¯t just represent themselves, but also the sect behind them. How could they just throw the match just because they want to?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Daoyi said. She stood up from her seat and slid into the bed. ¡°Well, whatever the reason, we should be able to discover the peculiarity of Gan Xuehua by the end of the tournament.¡± Tianyi followed Daoyi under the blankets. "Speaking of which, Yan Nie should come tomorrow.¡± Most of the immortals of the Cultivator Alliance joined the Buzhou Immortal Sect after the war. However, Yan Nie was one of the few that didn¡¯t. According to Daoyi, he likely resented the method the Buzhou Immortal Sect used to conquer the Huang Realm¡ªusing several hidden chess pieces to make everyone think they possessed less strength than they actually did. Tianyi didn¡¯t think it was particularly wrong, but that might be because he stood on the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s side. If one day someone told him the Buzhou Immortal Sect was actually the secret chess piece of another force, and that they would integrate back, he didn¡¯t know if he could accept it. Still, that didn¡¯t mean Yan Nie rebelled against the Buzhou Immortal Sect. It would be a horribly foolish move. His master, Monarch Pillrabbit, joined the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s Alchemy Subhall, now the Immortal Court¡¯s Bureau of Alchemy. Tianyi and Daoyi had revealed their identity as reincarnators to Yan Nie after his master and the Cloud Goddess Cult fully integrated into the Buzhou Immortal Sect. He had hoped that Yan Nie¡¯s status would arouse Xi Ri¡¯s interest, but alas, the latter only reacted coldly. Still, it was nice to have another reincarnator to talk to. They even got an invitation to Yan Nie¡¯s wedding.
When Gan Xuehua stepped into the venue, she noticed a powerful gaze on her. It was unlike the hidden probes she felt yesterday. This one was open and upfront. She turned her attention to a relatively handsome male sitting in the area designated to immortal monarchs. His handsomeness wasn¡¯t the noble elegance of Xi Tianyi, but a rugged manly handsomeness. More importantly, she recognized him. He was the Divine Flame Monarch, Yan Nie. She had never interacted with the man, but she had seen his image in the Xiyinet¡ªspecifically listed on the Top Ten Immortal Monarchs Most Likely to Become Immortal Sovereigns. Aside from that list, there were even lists dedicated to ranking the most beautiful woman, man, and other useless lists. Gan Xuehua didn¡¯t know the accuracy of the lists. It could be a decoy thrown out by the Immortal Court for all she knew, but the Divine Flame Monarch¡¯s life was undoubtedly a legend. Although the Divine Flame Monarch was born to a cultivation family, the advantage given to him was only moderately better than a pure mortal family. Even if you compare it to the Gan Dynasty, one was in the heavens, while the other was stuck in the mud. Yet, he managed to grow and become acknowledged as one of the strongest immortal monarchs. Perhaps noticing her stare, the Divine Flame Monarch smiled at Gan Xuehua, puzzling her. However, she didn¡¯t have time to figure out why he smiled at her, as it was time for her to step into the arena. Her fifth opponent was a disciple of a third-rate force like the Gan Dynasty. On Earth, his appearance would have been outstanding, but it could only be described as average here. Before the referee could even announce the start of the match, her opponent forfeited. Gan Xuehua¡¯s mouth twitched. She wanted to forfeit, but her opponent desired it even more. Since her foe had already forfeited, there was no point in her forfeiting, lest she raise suspicion. She returned to her seat without much incident. Time passed, and match after match ended. Finally, it was her turn again. Gan Xuehua stepped up to the arena, and this time her opponent was a disciple wrapped in many layers of clothing. He was Dufeng of the Black Halo Sect, a third-rate force like the Gan Dynasty. ¡°Are both of you ready?¡± the referee asked. ¡°Yes,¡± her foe said. Only now did she know Dufeng¡¯s gender from his low, raspy voice. Gan Xuehua opened her mouth, ready to forfeit, but halted as her gaze became cold. She moved her hand and body for a bit before turning to the referee. ¡°Using poison before the match is considered a foul, correct?¡± The referee paused and then turned toward Dufeng before turning back to Gan Xuehua. ¡°Disciple Gan, if your accusations are false, you will be disqualified, understood?¡± Gan Xuehua frowned and turned toward the referee. Did this true immortal not smell something off in the air? Gan Xuehua only thought the air smelled off at first, but when she opened her mouth, she felt a slight dissociation between her intent and her movement. ¡°I¡¯m sure,¡± Gan Xuehua said with absolute confidence. The referee frowned. He was about to disqualify Gan Xuehua because he didn¡¯t sense anything wrong, but her confidence made him hesitate. Not to mention that he didn¡¯t think a proud genius like Gan Xuehua would lie without reason. Furthermore, he sensed Dufeng¡¯s heartbeat increasing the moment she finished speaking. It would be fine if Gan Xuehua really was lying to disqualify her opponent, but what if she wasn¡¯t? If his actions caused a blight to appear on the Immortal Court¡¯s reputation, he would face punishment. Rather than taking the chance, the true immortal decided to ask an expert¡¯s advice. At the very most, it would waste some time. With his choice made, the true immortal transmitted a message asking Grand Elder Xia Meng for an official of the Bureau of Alchemy to verify Gan Xuehua¡¯s accusation. When an immortal monarch alchemist appeared in the arena, the true immortal was ninety percent sure of Gan Xuehua¡¯s words since he sensed panic from Dufeng. ¡°Official Pillrabbit, please,¡± the referee said as he saluted. Gan Xuehua observed the gentle-looking old man wearing a green coat over white robes. She recognized him for the sole fact that he was the Divine Flame Monarch¡¯s master. For some reason she didn¡¯t understand, he gave her a smile. Monarch Pillrabbit looked away from Gan Xuehua and glanced at Dufeng, causing the latter¡¯s heart to almost stop beating. He held out his hand and held out an object. However, to the confusion of many, they saw nothing in his hand. ¡°This is the Poison Enticement Pill. It¡¯s almost completely invisible, but it has a special feature. All poison near it will be attracted and absorbed by it, causing it to be stained.¡± Under everyone¡¯s eyes, the clear pill in Monarch Pillrabbit¡¯s hand gained a smoky color. ¡°So it¡¯s the Silent Madness Poison.¡± Chapter 391: Number One Monarch Pillrabbit turned toward Gan Xuehua with a smile. ¡°Silent Madness Poison isn¡¯t particularly strong, and it takes a long time to take effect. However, once enough poison accumulates in a mortal cultivator¡¯s body, the ability to absorb and use qi will be impaired. With enough time, it can turn a genius into a cripple, causing them to go mad. Even an immortal will find it hard to cure this poison, but it¡¯s nearly impossible for a mortal cultivator.¡± ¡°Moreover, it has another characteristic. It is nearly untraceable, and even a monarch would find it hard to detect the poison. Although it¡¯s undetectable, the amount of poison needed to affect a true immortal is astronomical. So, it¡¯s mainly aimed at crippling up-and-coming cultivators.¡± Monarch Pillrabbit¡¯s smile deepened. ¡°Lass, how did you discover it?¡± Gan Xuehua ignored the frightened Dufeng and saluted Monarch Pillrabbit. ¡°Answering Monarch, I didn¡¯t detect anything, but I know my body. Upon sensing an incompatibility between my thoughts and movements, I thought of the only logical solutions after eliminating all the impossibilities. If there was nothing wrong with me, it can only be done by someone else. And that someone is most likely my opponent, Dufeng.¡± At this time, Dufeng could no longer keep silent. ¡°You lie! You just wanted to eliminate me without fighting. That¡¯s why you purposely poisoned yourself and blamed me! There¡¯s no way you can detect a poison even an immortal monarch cannot!¡± Monarch Pillrabbit chuckled. He glanced at Gan Xuehua with some expectations and asked, ¡°Lass, although he isn¡¯t very smart, his words do have some logic. How exactly did you detect it?¡± ¡°I know this body,¡± Gan Xuehua said. In order to master her new body, she constantly explored during cultivation to reduce the incompatibility as soon as possible. She raised her arm, allowing the sleeve to slide down and reveal her milky white skin. ¡°Although I cannot say that I can sense the change of every cell in my body, but I can definitely detect any abnormal changes, even if it is less than one percent. I could feel the circulation of my qi stagnate slightly, hence my judgment.¡± ¡°You¡¯re quite confident,¡± Monarch Pillrabbit said. ¡°When I said an immortal monarch cannot sense the Silent Madness Poison, that wasn¡¯t completely true. They can¡¯t detect it outside their body, but once they detect any abnormal changes inside their body, poisoning them becomes impossible.¡± A few spectator¡¯s eyes widened at Monarch Pillrabbit¡¯s words. Didn¡¯t this mean that Gan Xuehua possessed an immortal monarch¡¯s ability? However, they soon calmed down. He only compared Gan Xuehua¡¯s method to an immortal monarch¡¯s ability. Still, that comparison caused her potential to rise in the eyes of many. ¡°Great Immortal, please investigate clearly!¡± Dufeng practically shouted. If this continued, his name would be synonymous with insidious, and his future would become bleak. However, the other people in the arena ignored him. Monarch Pillrabbit and the true immortal referee saluted to the grand elders sitting at the seats of honor. ¡°How should we deal with this rule breaker?¡± Dufeng wanted to say more, but no words escaped his lips. More harrowing, he discovered he was frozen in place like a sculpture. His five senses still worked, but he could only wait for his judgement. Grand Elder Xi and Grand Elder Zhang didn¡¯t pay attention to the battle, preferring to stay silent. On the other hand, amusement twinkled in Grand Elder Nine Heaven¡¯s eyes, but he also said nothing. Instead, it was Grand Elder Xia who seemed to contemplate the problem seriously. ¡°The disciple of the Black Halo Sect does not respect the spirit of the competition. I decree that he and the Black Halo Sect shall be expelled from the Immortal Court,¡± Grand Elder Xia said with majesty. His words permeated every corner of Primordial Mountain, as if he was speaking in front of each person. ¡°Please wait, Emperor Xia!¡± the leader of the Black Halo Sect said, standing up. ¡°This is an independent decision of Dufeng, not the Black Halo Sect¡¯s intention. Expelling all of us for a mere core formation master¡¯s mistake, aren¡¯t you going too far?¡± Grand Elder Xia sneered. After learning about how powerful the Silent Madness Poison was, who would believe that a core formation master had the ability to get it? Nine out of ten, Dufeng was nothing more than the Black Halo Sect¡¯s scapegoat. ¡°A sect that can¡¯t even teach their disciple well has no place here.¡± The Black Halo Sect Master still wanted to argue, but a massive pressure emanated from Grand Elder Nine Heavens, drawing everyone¡¯s attention. Grand Elder Nine Heavens waved his hand, and the next thing everyone knew, everyone from the Black Halo Sect disappeared. The remaining people couldn¡¯t help but stare at Xi Tianyi in awe. Teleporting wasn¡¯t hard for someone who mastered the Law of Space, but teleporting unwilling people was. And the difficulty increased exponentially the more people teleported.
Elsewhere in the Southwestern Region of the Trinity Continent, the leader of the Black Halo Sect and the rest of the members looked around them in confusion and fear. They weren¡¯t teleported to an unknown region, but into their own headquarters. This only made their fear increase. ¡°Grand Elder¡­¡± a true immortal timidly called out. ¡°Shut up!¡± the Black Halo Sect grand elder said. His irritation was obvious to all. ¡°Dammit, dammit, dammit!¡± he muttered as he bit his thumb. ¡°I should have never accepted those bastards¡¯ request, no matter how high of a price they paid.¡± That¡¯s right, the Black Halo Sect grand elder never expected Dufeng¡¯s little actions to escape the Immortal Court¡¯s eyes. The only thing out of expectations was that his opponent sensed the Silent Madness Poison, but he had achieved his initial goal.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. The Black Halo Sect didn¡¯t originate from the former Heaven Continent or Earth Continent, but one of the many islands that dotted the endless seas. If Tianyi hadn¡¯t shifted their island to merge with the current Trinity Continent, they would have likely never discovered the wider world. They thought their territory was a continent, but in front of the Trinity Continent, it could only be considered a bigger island. Not only that, but they transformed from the overlord to an ordinary third-rate force. No longer could they summon wind and rain with a flip of their palm. Instead, they had to act carefully and not offend any force stronger or equal to them. Unfortunately, while they didn¡¯t trouble anyone, someone found trouble with them. Although the Black Halo Sect was classified as a third-rate force, their foundation couldn¡¯t compare to the forces that have existed on the continents for hundreds of thousands of years. As a result, a single, unknown immortal monarch subdued them. After that event, the Black Halo Sect acted as an untethered force. As the years passed, many people even began to think that was the truth. However, that time only lasted a few hundred years. When the Immortal Court summoned them, the unknown monarch summoned them and ordered them to probe the Immortal Court¡¯s power. The Black Halo Sect never thought that the Immortal Court would be so direct and expel them. The grand elder¡¯s eyes revealed a trace of fear. Although the mysterious immortal monarch had forced them to submit, he also allowed them to taste sweetness. Thanks to the benefit, the grand elder had actually become a half-monarch. Yet, he sensed nothing when the grand elder of the immortal court took action. He was standing on Primordial Mountain one moment and appeared here the next. And this was just a casual move from that grand elder. If he wanted to Black Halo Sect to perish, the effort needed wouldn¡¯t be much more than that. It was only at this moment the grand elder discovered the disparity between a third-rate force and the hegemon of the Huang Realm. If he had such knowledge, he would have never probed the Immortal Court, no matter the benefits or threats. Finally, the Black Halo Sect grand elder sighed, and a sense of weakness flowed off of him. ¡°Hurry and gather the most precious treasures we have and send them to the Immortal Court as an apology.¡±
After the Black Halo Sect¡¯s expulsion, the tournament resumed as normal as if the incident had never occurred. However, many forces that originated from the endless seas couldn¡¯t help but secretly glance at the high echelon of the Immortal Court. As for Gan Xuehua, she returned to the Gan Dynasty. At this, the Gan Emperor had a furious expression on his face. ¡°Who is it? Who wants to cripple the future pillar of my dynasty?!¡± In his eyes, the Black Halo Sect wasn¡¯t probing the Immortal Court, but wanted to cripple the Gan Dynasty¡¯s genius. Although the Black Halo Sect publicly proclaimed no loyalty to any stronger force, who would believe it? Although a third-rate force was among the top one percent of all forces in the Trinity Continent, they were still weak in comparison to the first-rate forces. The only way for a third-rate force was to attach themselves to a stronger power. Even the Gan Dynasty had become a vassal force. The Gan Emperor scanned the second-rate and first-rate forces, wondering who propagated such an insidious plot. However, even if he knew, he didn¡¯t have the power to carry out revenge. He sighed and turned to Gan Xuehua. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Xuehua.¡± ¡°There¡¯s nothing to be sorry about,¡± Gan Xuehua said. Before she came down, Monarch Pillrabbit had already given her the antidote. Luckily, she had discovered it early, so detoxification was still possible. ¡°You don¡¯t have to surrender anymore. Fight to your heart¡¯s content and aim for number one,¡± the Gan Emperor continued. ¡°Huh?¡± Gan Xuehua uttered. Shouldn¡¯t he convince her to surrender and not continue to fight? ¡°Didn¡¯t Emperor-Father say I should surrender?¡± The Gan Emperor sighed. ¡°It¡¯s too late. Since someone already wants to kill you, there¡¯s no point in staying low key anymore. Fight! Win! And show your power to all today! If you¡¯re lucky, someone might take you as a disciple. I saw that Monarch Pillrabbit looks at you favorably. Maybe you have a chance at becoming his disciple.¡± ¡®No, I really want to surrender,¡¯ Gan Xuehua thought. Although getting sturdy backing was a good idea, the problem was that her current strength didn¡¯t even enter the top one hundred. ¡®Forget it. I¡¯ll just surrender the next chance I get.¡¯ Alas, Gan Xuehua couldn¡¯t fulfill her wish. The next moment she stepped into the arena, her opponent surrendered before she could even open her mouth. ¡®What¡¯s wrong with you people? Aren¡¯t you all proud geniuses? Why are so many of you eager to surrender?!¡± Gan Xuehua did not know the reason, but that didn¡¯t stop her mood from souring. Although she tried to rein it in, it eventually leaked out. Her aura resembled that of a snake, waiting for a chance to strike and kill its foe. Many of her opponents guessed that she must be very unhappy right now. The Young Heavens Tournament is a place to show your strength, and although Gan Xuehua showed her strength, no one was her opponent. No one had forced her to make more than one move, and more than that, someone tried to poison her. If they were her, they would vent their frustrations on their next opponent. Thus, the weaker and smart people who didn¡¯t have the confidence to fight Gan Xuehua decided to give up. Unfortunately, these people haven¡¯t heard of the idiom, ¡®too clever by half.¡¯ As a result, Gan Xuehua would receive an automatic victory whenever she met these people, but she knew her winning streak wouldn¡¯t last long. She would eventually meet the talented disciples not afraid of her, however, her luck turned out to be abnormally good. Before these people met her, they would have fought a long and hard battle that depleted their strength. Gan Xuehua would just need one or two strikes to defeat her weakened opponent. At the end of the tournament, Gan Xuehua could only watch in a daze as she was crowned the winner of the Young Heavens tournament - Master division. Even after she returned to their guest residence for the night, Gan Xuehua still didn¡¯t know how she won. The Gan Emperor had thrown a banquet in celebration, and Gan Xuehua could only mutely accept everyone¡¯s congratulations. Without realizing, she drank too much and became drunk. Upon seeing this, the Gan Emperor, who had flush cheeks, ordered a maid to help the thirteenth princess back into her room. He knew that he would eventually face troubles in the future, but for now, he allowed himself to bask in the glory. His mood was so good, he even unsealed Gan Linyou¡¯s ability to speak. After the maid laid Gan Xuehua on her bed, she quietly left. A few minutes later, Gan Xuehua opened her eyes with no signs of drunkenness. She stood up and opened the door before walking to an uninhabited courtyard. Before long, a man in black and red robes appeared. Gan Xuehua saluted the man. ¡°Divine Flame Monarch.¡± Chapter 392: Samsara Travelers Chat Group Yan Nie observed Gan Xuehua throughout the tournament. He really didn¡¯t know what to say about Gan Xuehua¡¯s luck. Aside from the first few matches, it appeared as if the world had bent over for her. She got extremely lucky with her opponents. If he didn¡¯t know it was impossible, he would have thought Tianyi arranged all this preferential treatment. Oh, he could see that Tianyi gave her preferential treatment. Only of the worse kind. If people didn¡¯t know the inside story, they would have thought Tianyi deliberately sabotaged her. After the tournament ended, he sent a private message to Gan Xuehua¡¯s Xiyinet account. For people like them, this should be the most convenient method. And after the Gan Dynasty¡¯s banquet, Yan Nie appeared in front of Gan Xuehua. He didn¡¯t say anything and took a closer look at her. ¡°I wonder what Senior summoned me here for?¡± Gan Xuehua asked after she couldn¡¯t hold it anymore. ¡®It couldn¡¯t be because he saw my beauty and wanted a taste?¡¯ If Yan Nie knew of Gan Xuehua¡¯s thoughts, he would have slapped her. Maybe not to death, but she¡¯d definitely be puking blood. Luckily, he didn¡¯t, so she dodged a bullet. Instead, he held up the Xiyi talisman in his hand. ¡°For people like us, the inspiration for these Xiyi Talismans should be more than familiar, right?¡± Gan Xuehua¡¯s heart skipped a beat. Was Yan Nie also like her and Xi Ri? Still, Gan Xuehua did not rashly admit it. ¡°I wonder if Senior can clarify what you mean.¡± ¡°You¡¯re careful enough. As expected of someone who survived the apocalypse,¡± Yan Nie said, not angry at Gan Xuehua¡¯s response. His words pretty much confirmed Gan Xuehua¡¯s confirmation, but it also made her feel a bit helpless. She was someone who liked to hold the initiative. She¡¯d rather not be able to contact Xi Ri and fail than be in the current situation. Still, nothing could be done about it now. ¡°How many are there?¡± Gan Xuehua asked. ¡°There should be six, including you, but one of them is an enemy.¡± ¡°Is Xi Ri one of them?¡± Although it was a question, there was a definite certainty in Gan Xuehua¡¯s tone. As for one being an enemy, that didn¡¯t surprise her. It wasn¡¯t camaraderie that tied people together in the apocalypse, but interests. For interests, a person could even betray the ones closest to them. Such was the harshness of the apocalypse. ¡°Well, it is a bit obvious,¡± Yan Nie said. ¡°But why didn¡¯t you think Xi Tianyi was one of us?¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t feel like one of us,¡± Gan Xuehua said. ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s quite the lucky son of a bitch.¡± Gan Xuehua raised a questioning look, but Yan Nie didn¡¯t mean to clarify. He was also surprised when he learned of it. He senses the same air of a survivor on Daoyi, but Tianyi didn¡¯t have such an aura. Later, he learned that Tianyi didn¡¯t experience the apocalypse because he died early on. And he even reincarnated into an exalted status. How could he not be envious? "Anyway, do you know the reason I contacted you?¡± Gan Xuehua shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s because you are a reincarnated person like us, and all reincarnated people possess a high chance of becoming an immortal. Our bodies may not be suitable, but our souls are far stronger and purer than the people of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. The stronger the soul, the more suitable we are to comprehending the worldly laws,¡± Yan Nie said. ¡°Three Thousand Immortal Realms System?¡± ¡°You can think of it as the galaxy the Huang Realm exists in,¡± Yan Nie said. ¡°Long story short, you can consider it an alliance of people with similar origins. You can only truly join when you transcend the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation.¡± ¡°Then is Xi Ri not a full member?¡± ¡°His situation is a bit special. If he didn¡¯t have an accident, he would have likely already become a true immortal.¡± Gan Xuehua frowned. ¡°Then what¡¯s the point of contacting me now?¡± Yan Nie smiled. ¡°Even if you can¡¯t become a full member now, it does not prevent some aid. We won¡¯t give you too many resources, but some cultivation methods and techniques that exceed what a third-rate force could provide are still possible.¡± ¡°Is there a catch?¡± Gan Xuehua asked. ¡°Of course,¡± Yan Nie said. ¡°This is an investment, and you will have to contribute back to the organization in the future.¡± Seeing that Yan Nie didn¡¯t elaborate, Gan Xuehua didn¡¯t press it. In reality, Yan Nie didn¡¯t know what their organization did. There really wasn¡¯t anything that could threaten them and no urgent goals that needed to be accomplished, but he couldn¡¯t reveal the truth. ¡°Since I¡¯ve confirmed your status, then your beginner package will be delivered soon.¡± Yan Nie chuckled upon seeing Gan Xuehua¡¯s strange face. ¡°Actually, there is a method to get a better cultivation method and more resources.¡± Gan Xuehua¡¯s heart tensed, but she still asked. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°One of our members wants the fragment of the Spectral Rising Jewel in your hand. They are willing to satisfy any of your needs as long as it¡¯s not too much.¡±Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. She resisted the urge to reach for the Spectral Rising Jewel fragment. The Spectral Rising Jewel was likely the reason why she swapped bodies with the thirteenth princess, and she didn¡¯t know what would happen if she returned it. ¡°Can I ask why? I know this fragment is special, but why would a true immortal want it?¡± ¡°Aside from the fact that it¡¯s a fragment of a divine artifact? The person¡¯s parent was originally part of the Xu Clan, the original owner of the Spectral Rising Jewel.¡± Gan Xuehua¡¯s heart tensed even more. ¡°Is that really the reason? We aren¡¯t true denizens of this place, but outsiders.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. That person only told me to ask, but I suggest you agree. It seemed that person cares quite a lot about it.¡± Gan Xuehua didn¡¯t believe that the person wanting the Spectral Rising Jewel fragment really cared about the familial ties. How could a person still care after experiencing those hellish days? Still, it was a fact that a fellow reincarnator coveted the fragment in her hands. ¡°Do I have to hand it over now? It¡¯s important to me.¡± Yan Nie frowned. ¡°How long do you expect to keep it?¡± ¡°If possible, until I become a true immortal,¡± Gan Xuehua said. ¡°You aren¡¯t thinking about going back on your word once you become a true immortal, are you?¡± Yan Nie asked. He wasn¡¯t suspicious for no reason. People breaking their promises happened all the time during the apocalypse. ¡°I¡¯ll warn you right now that any of us can kill you, even after you become a true immortal. And don¡¯t think about hiding. You cannot escape our reach in the Huang Realm.¡± ¡°Except Xi Ri,¡± Yan Nie added as an afterthought. Gan Xuehua wasn¡¯t surprised by Yan Nie¡¯s question. She, too, would be suspicious if someone answered like that. ¡°For reasons I cannot explain, I don¡¯t want to part with it until then.¡± Yan Nie didn¡¯t answer for the time being. ¡°I¡¯ll add you to the private chat group, and you can discuss it with them.¡± A minute later, Gan Xuehua opened her Xiyi Talisman to see a notification telling her that she had joined the Samsara Travelers Chat Group. There were only four members, not including her. Her lips twitched upon reading three of the nicknames: Flame-On, Ultimate Young Master, and Spider Idol. Only Xi Ri¡¯s username appeared normal, since it was only Saint Xi, denoting his current cultivation base. However, it was darkened, meaning that his online status was set as busy. Ultimate Young Master: Welcome. Spider Idol: Welcome. Gan Xuehua hesitated for a moment, but she still sent a message. Rookie #69: Hello, thank you for inviting me. Her brows furrowed when she read her name. She immediately tried to change it, but discovered that she couldn¡¯t. Only when she became a full-time member could she change it. Gan Xuehua looked at Yan Nie to express her dissatisfaction, but Yan Nie shrugged. Yan Nie looked at his Xiyi Talisman and wrote a series of message with his immortal sense before sending. Gan Xuehua felt a notification popped up, and her lips couldn¡¯t help but twitch again. ¡®Why are sending me a message through the Xiyi Talisman while I¡¯m right in front of you?¡¯ Flame-On: I¡¯m only an ordinary admin on this chat. If you want to change your nickname before becoming an official member, you have to ask the admin, Ultimate Young Master. Ultimate Young Master: No, every newbie must get that nickname. Of course, if you find another potential reincarnator and add them to this chat, you can transfer the nickname. ¡®Where would I find another reincarnator?¡¯ Gan Xuehua thought. It was already surprising that aside from Xi Ri, there were three more people like her. Furthermore, since Ultimate Young Master was the admin, she had a feeling that he was also an immortal monarch, and one likely stronger than Yan Nie. If two immortal monarchs could, they would have likely gathered more. Where would she, a mere core formation master, go find another reincarnator? Gan Xuehua couldn¡¯t help but guess Ultimate Young Master¡¯s true identity. In her eyes, it must be someone with a deep connection with Yan Nie and be part of the Immortal Court. However, she was just a mortal cultivator of a third-rate force, so she didn¡¯t have enough information. Rookie #69: The naming isn¡¯t that important. I can still accept it for now. I heard that you want to get the Spectral Rising Jewel fragment in my hand. Ultimate Young Master: That¡¯s right. Gan Xuehua¡¯s eyes flickered. It seemed like Ultimate Young Master was the one who wanted the divine fragment. He was likely born of a member of the Xu Clan and an elder of the Immortal Court from hundreds of years ago. The Xu Clan perished hundreds of years ago, so he should be someone born around that time. The only people she could think of that fit the bill were Yan Nie and Xi Tianyi. It couldn¡¯t be Xi Tianyi, right? She immediately dismissed it. Although Xi Tianyi¡¯s father was unknown, he was the son of the Sword Sovereign. How could a member of the Xu Clan get together with Xi Mengfei? And even if they did, would Xi Mengfei watch the Xu Clan perish without doing anything? The most likely candidate was an immortal monarch pretending to be a true immortal. Gan Xuehua approved of this tactic of pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger. Only by hiding your strength can you survive longer. However, she also hated to deal with this type of person, because they always think too much. Ultimate Young Master: What do you want for it? If you hand it over, I can give you an immortal artifact right now. Gan Xuehua¡¯s heartbeat quickened, but she quickly suppressed it. Rookie #69: I¡¯m afraid of attracting danger if people discovered I have it. Ultimate Young Master: I can conceal the aura so that no true immortal or immortal monarch will easily be able to discover it, but there is still a chance. If artifacts don¡¯t work, what about immortal pills? Gan Xuehua tried to recall any rising stars in the field of alchemy. Aside from Yan Nie, she really couldn¡¯t think of anyone else. Rookie #69: I really can¡¯t trade it right now. Are you able to wait until I cross my Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation? There was no reply for a few minutes, making Gan Xuehua wait with bated breath. Ultimate Young Master: That¡¯s too long. And holding the Spectral Rising Jewel fragment increases the danger of your heavenly tribulation. What about when you become a saint? Gan Xuehua eyes flickered as she considered the proposal. It would be best to exchange it after becoming a true immortal, but after she became a saint is fine, too. She wasn¡¯t greedy for it. Although it attracted her, she also knew that fragments of divine artifacts also attracted the attention of powerful experts more than immortal artifacts. Rookie #69: Okay Ultimate Young Master: Okay, I¡¯ll send you the beginner package. I¡¯ve also unlocked the spatial storage function on your Xiyi Talisman. You can retrieve anything you store in the Xiyi Talisman even if you lose it after getting another one. I also sent a list of techniques and resources you can redeem for using points. After you use them up, you can only offer treasure or techniques to earn more points. Gan Xuehua saw a notification appear that a gift had been sent to her inbox. She was about to open it, but stopped and looked at Yan Nie, who was looking curiously at her. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Open it.¡± Chapter 393: Beginner Package ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Open it,¡± Yan Nie said. Gan Xuehua stared at him strangely. ¡°Why are you so curious? Didn¡¯t you get one?¡± Yan Nie rolled his eyes. ¡°By the time I got a Xiyi Talisman, I was already a seamless immortal. Why would I need a beginner package? Actually, you¡¯re pretty lucky. If I had a beginner package, I wouldn¡¯t have had to suffer so much in the beginning.¡± Gan Xuehua blinked. Right, she had forgotten that Yan Nie was an old monster over four hundred years old. However, compared to those old timers, Yan Nie was practically a baby. For Gan Xuehua, four hundred years was already very old. After all, she had only lived a little more than fifty years, adding together both her lifetimes. She didn¡¯t think about it anymore and opened the beginner package. [You have opened the Beginner Package. You have received:] [3x Concealed Vitality Pills: A pill able to restore almost all injuries below the Immortal Realm as long as the user is not instantly killed. You can swallow the pill ahead of time and it will activate when the user receives serious injuries. PS The pill can only delay the effect of poisons, not detoxify the user.] [1x Soul Restoration Pill: Is able to heal the user¡¯s soul as long as seventy percent or more of it remains.] [1x Instant Use Immortal Blocking Barrier: Can block a full-powered attack at the true immortal level once. The user will also be teleported to a random location on the Trinity Continent not controlled by a third-rate force or higher.] [1x Invisibility Hairpin: Can be used three times. Will make the user invisible for one day and shield them from immortal sense. PS Not guaranteed to evade detection from a true immortal.] [1x Acupoint Magnification Pill: One time use. Has a chance of increasing the number of acupoints of the martial body. Take it immediately before the Acupoint Opening Heavenly Tribulation. PS Will increase the difficulty of the Heavenly Tribulation.] [1x Spiritual Core Upgrade Pill: One time use. Guarantees the chances of upgrading a mixed color, red, orange, or yellow spiritual cores. If used on a core formation master with a gold or violet-gold grade spiritual core, the chance dramatically decreases. PS The pill will still increase the power of the spiritual core even if it fails.] [1x Void Shuttle: A saint-rank artifact. It can traverse through space and teleport the user almost anywhere within ten thousand kilometers. However, its true power is currently sealed. PS After binding it, a core formation master can use it to flee once. A nascent soul grandmaster can use it five times. A unity venerable will unseal the restrictions.] [1x Soul Preservation Talisman: Immediate use. If the user dies, their soul will be teleported to the creator of the talisman. However, success depends on the strength of who killed the user. PS Must be attached to the user¡¯s body to be able to activate.] [2x Cultivation Method Vouchers: Do you really need to be told what this is? PS If you do, you are a dumbass and return everything.] [1x Master-Rank Artifact Voucher: Read above.] Gan Xuehua¡¯s eyes twitched when she read the last two notifications. She had an urge to throw the Xiyi Talisman on the ground, but prudence prevented her from doing so. By the side, Yan Nie couldn¡¯t help but click his tongue in envy. ¡°Even a disciple from a first-rate force might not receive such favorable treatment. Hell, maybe only the scions of the Immortal Court might receive comparable resources.¡± Gan Xuehua nodded. Although the first half of her life in the Huang Realm was a regular mortal, she had served as the thirteenth princess¡¯s maid, so she still knew the preciousness of all these materials. However, she couldn¡¯t help but question something. ¡°Can I really retrieve anything I store in here?¡± ¡°Probably,¡± Yan Nie said. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that. This is mostly for your protection. Even if you store your items in your spatial ring, people can still steal it, unlike the Xiyi Talisman, which is linked to your soul aura. At my strength, I don¡¯t need to store it inside the Xiyi Talisman, so I never used it.¡± Yan Nie crossed his arms. ¡°Although this feature might make spatial rings obsolete for a lot of people. Most people, especially loose cultivators, can¡¯t get access to spatial rings.¡± Gan Xuehua frowned. Although it sounded safer than storing stuff into her spatial ring, it was only if she trusted Ultimate Young Master. After all, it¡¯s a feature created and controlled by someone else. She felt it was more reassuring to store items in her spatial ring. What if she stored the Spectral Rising Jewel fragment in the spatial storage, and Ultimate Young Master decided to take it then and there? ¡°I¡¯ve already done my part, so I should leave,¡± Yan Nie said. He waved goodbye. ¡°If you need some help, just dm me.¡± Gan Xuehua watched as Yan Nie vanished before her eyes. She couldn¡¯t even see how he left. She couldn¡¯t help but become a bit sad that Yan Nie didn¡¯t stay longer and reminisced about Earth with her. Yan Nie had completely integrated into this new life, unlike her. She sighed and returned to her room. Right now, she needed to scroll through the cultivation methods and redeem one. Gan Xuehua scrolled through spiritual cultivation methods first.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. The previous Gan Xuehua cultivated the method of the Gan Imperial Family, which utilized the Dragon Qi of the Gan Dynasty to form a gold grade Dragon Qi Core in the Core Formation realm. Gan Xuehua didn¡¯t think it was a terrible choice, but she didn¡¯t want to become reliant on Dragon Qi, since that would tie her down to the Gan Dynasty. However, her path was almost set, since her spiritual core had formed inside her dantian. Unless Gan Xuehua shattered her spiritual core and used a miraculous treasure to restore her spiritual roots, her path was set in stone. Still, she didn¡¯t give up on a cultivation method that could alter her path. Surely, the Immortal Court possessed such a method? Upon reading through the cultivation methods, only two stood out: the Five Element Method and the Nine-Five Scripture. The Five Element Method was the most popular cultivation method of the Huang Realm. It was easy to start on but hard to master. If she began cultivating the Five Element Method, she could convert her Dragon Qi Core into a different type of spiritual core, but it was risky. There was a significant chance of shattering her spiritual core and an even greater chance of degrading her spiritual core during the conversion process. One thing of note was that the Five Element Method mentioned the use of Spiritual Core Upgrade Pill to lower the chance of core shattering and degradation. Gan Xuehua couldn¡¯t help but contemplate how her thoughts were grasped by Ultimate Young Master and shivered. The Nine-Five Scripture caught her attention for a different reason. This cultivation method possessed seven grades that a cultivator could achieve, depending on their talent. The lowest grade was the first grade, where the cultivator would form one spiritual core and one nascent soul. The second grade had the cultivator form two spiritual cores and one nascent soul. Each subsequent grade either increased the number of spiritual core or nascent souls. At the highest and seventh grade, the cultivator would form nine spiritual cores and five nascent souls. Using this method drastically reduced the risk of damaging her spiritual core, but it had its own problems. Namely, the fact that resources needed were astronomical. Cultivating it normally would already require a lot of resources, but cultivating it if you already had a spiritual core dramatically increased the resources required. She suspected that even a true immortal wouldn¡¯t have enough wealth to cultivate this method. Not to mention that Gan Xuehua had to use two vouchers to exchange for the method, and she could only exchange up to the fourth grade. For now, Gan Xuehua planned to delay altering her spiritual core. The Nine-Five Scripture was rejected by her, and cultivating the Five Element Method would yield more results after she learned which of the five elements she had talent in. Gan Xuehua started looking at the martial cultivation methods. Compared to the spiritual methods, she placed much more emphasis on martial methods. She hadn¡¯t formed her martial body yet, so she had more options and many of the martial cultivation methods rivaled or exceeded the Gan Imperial Family¡¯s cultivation method. After scrolling through all of them, only three caught her eye: the Hundred Medicine Collection, Nine Serenity Venom Tome, and the Medicine-Poison Classic. All three didn¡¯t directly increase the cultivator¡¯s power, but each one had auxiliary effects that no one would take lightly. The Hundred Medicine Collection required the user to form the Medicine Martial Body. At its base, it was a weak martial body, but ingesting all types of herbs, the Medicine Martial Body would become the Hundred Medicine Martial Body. The cultivator¡¯s body becomes a medicine that could cure hundreds of diseases, poisons, and ailments. However, its combat power was pitiful. In the apocalypse, Gan Xuehua¡¯s medicinal skills made many people seek her out. However, she couldn¡¯t protect herself and had to rely on others. In this life, Gan Xuehua wanted the power to determine her own fate, and not a tool used by others. The Nine Serenity Venom Tome was more to her taste. It was almost the complete opposite of the Hundred Medicine Collection. The cultivator would form the Serenity Venom Martial Body. They would ingest as many poisonous substances as possible, upgrading their body to become the Nine Serenity Venom Martial Body. At the highest level, even the breath becomes a dangerous poison. However, it was a perilous process. If Gan Xuehua was not careful, the poison would kill her instead, and she needed to maintain a fine line between what she can withstand and the intensity of the poison. The martial body would increase the difficulty of healing any injuries because the medicine needed to heal the body had to fight against the poison in her body. Of the three, the Medicine-Poison Classic was like a mixture of the previous two methods. Once cultivated, the martial body can become either a medicine or a poison, depending on the user¡¯s will. It was risky to cultivate since the user had to ingest poisonous substances, but not as much as the Nine Serenity Venom Tome. However, the resources needed to cultivate exceeded both methods. Gan Xuehua didn¡¯t need much time to consider and chose the Medicine-Poison Classic. She used a voucher, and waited, not knowing how the method would be delivered to her. She expected the method to be given to her as text on screen, but that was not the case. Instead, a white light shot out of the Xiyi Talisman and entered her forehead. Her eyes glazed over for three hours before she regained clarity. The light only gave her the method relating to the Body Transformation Realm to Acupoint Opening Realm. As a core formation master, Gan Xuehua took hours to digest the information because it contained information on a large amount of herbs, medicine, and poison. If she wanted the Soul Nourishing Realm and World Merging Realm portions, she needed to enter the late Acupoint Opening Realm first. Still, Gan Xuehua couldn¡¯t help but stare at the Xiyi Talisman with suspicion. Forget cellphones. This thing was far more horrifying. Anyone controlling them likely could attack the Xiyi Talisman users as they liked. The horror of the Immortal Court increased several folds in her mind, and she swore not to stand on the other side of the Immortal Court. Gan Xuehua shook her head. She wanted to start cultivating the Medicine-Poison Classic, but she wanted to extract the items from the beginner package first. She opened the spatial storage app of the Xiyi Talisman and selected the Concealed Vitality Pill. She almost threw away the Xiyi Talisman when the space in front of the screen rippled. Luckily, she clamped down on her gut reaction. A bottle emerged out of the ripple and into her hand. Gan Xuehua put away the Xiyi Talisman and opened the bottle, allowing the Concealed Vitality Pill to roll into her palm. Just smelling the dense medicinal fragrance soothed her fatigue. She played around it and wondered if she should swallow it. Although it didn¡¯t seem like her fellow reincarnator meant any harm to her, she couldn¡¯t ignore the possibility of them tampering with the pill. After some hesitation, she decided to swallow it. Even if they tampered with it, she was helpless to resist. Not to mention that they wouldn¡¯t need to spend so much effort on someone as weak as herself. It was better to swallow it now in case of any accidents. The Concealed Vitality Pill traveled down her throat and into her stomach. Once there, it released a burst of qi and dissolved, merging into every cell on her body. Before Gan Xuehua could enjoy the sensation for long, the lock that she kept on her martial cultivation loosened. Her eyes widened as she snapped her head up. She had never undergone a heavenly tribulation, but she knew that tribulation clouds were gathered above her right now! Chapter 394: Acupoint Opening Heavenly Tribulation Gan Xuehua immediately ran out of the mansion on Rites Peak and into a clearing. If she undertook the heavenly tribulation here, the Heavenly Dao would account for the formations around the mansion as aid, strengthening it to a terrifying degree. Once she found a clearing, she sat down in a lotus position and took out all her artifacts. ¡°I¡¯ve miscalculated,¡± Gan Xuehua said with a bitter smile. She never expected that just ingesting the Concealed Vitality Pill would induce her to advance her martial cultivation. However, thinking it over, it was also reasonable. The Concealed Vitality was a venerable-rank pill. Although its primary effect was to heal, it also had other marvelous effects, especially for those at a lower realm. And that was exactly what happened. Gan Xuehua had no choice but to face the Acupoint Heavenly Tribulation unprepared. Thankfully, she was already a core formation master, so she didn¡¯t have to worry too much. Unlike the Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation, the Acupoint Opening Tribulation had three phases: the wind tribulation, fire tribulation, and lightning tribulation. Green strands manifested around Gan Xuehua¡¯s body. The wind tribulation had started. The strands clumped together and formed countless tiny blades that lashed her body. It didn¡¯t matter what kind of defensive artifact Gan Xuehua wore because the blades bypassed her defenses and attacked her body. The Acupoint Opening Heavenly Tribulation was a test against the cultivator¡¯s body. Any artifact in the Core Formation Realm was of no use, and cultivators shouldn¡¯t avoid it either. Although the Acupoint Opening Tribulation was dangerous, it also represented a crucial step to strengthen and create the martial body. Gan Xuehua bit her lips as she endured the countless lacerations on her body. Blood flowed onto the ground from the gaps in her dress. Her skin disappeared on some parts of body, revealing the flesh and bones underneath, but it quickly healed thanks to her true qi. The most excruciating part was the pain. However, she didn¡¯t resist and allowed it to continue. The more she withstood, the more benefits she would receive. Finally, the wind tribulation ended and her muscles and skin grew back. Had it not been for the blood puddle underneath her, no one would have thought the bloody scene before had occurred. She only had a brief second of respite as the next phase of the Acupoint Opening Heavenly Tribulation, the fire tribulation, began. Red flames condensed inside Gan Xuehua¡¯s body. If the wind tribulation was testing her skin, muscle and tendons, then the fire tribulation tested her bones, marrows, and organs. Very soon, her skin turned red as a lobster from the intense heat, and sweat poured out of her pores. Her body shrank at a visible pace as body mass disappeared. A day later, Gan Xuehua had become a shriveled husk. Her skin had turned dark, almost like a husk. Bones could be seen protruding from her skin. Compared to a mummy, there was not much difference. Just as it seemed that Gan Xuehua had transformed into a corpse. green true qi shrouded her. Her dry skin cracked and flaked off, revealing tender white skin, and her body fleshed out. Gan Xuehua opened her eyes and a green light exuded from her pupils. ¡°Now, it¡¯s only the final lightning tribulation.¡± The lightning tribulation determined the potential of her martial body. Like the wind and fire tribulations, the longer she persisted, the more benefits she would receive. The first bolt of tribulation lightning struck Gan Xuehua, but she didn¡¯t resist. Electricity coated her body, and her face twisted in pain. The sheer power of the lightning melted her skin and large portions of her hair burned away, but Gan Xuehua could feel a large amount of vitality entering each individual cell in her body. Gan Xuehua barely recovered from her injuries, but before she had time to breathe, the second bolt of lightning came down. She gritted her teeth and used her body to endure it, using her true qi to recover. She could already guarantee that most body transformation acolytes would not be able to receive the full benefits of the Acupoint Heavenly Tribulation unless they became a Core Formation Master first. After the second bolt finished, the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth bolt descended. ¡®I can¡¯t resist anymore,¡¯ Gan Xuehua thought. She would have to use her techniques to divert the seventh bolt of tribulation lightning, but she felt unwilling. If her body couldn¡¯t withstand all nine strikes of tribulation lightning, she would not be able to form the perfect martial body, limiting her future potential. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. Didn¡¯t she swallow a Concealed Vitality Pill? Since it caused her current problem, it should fix it as well. Gan Xuehua didn¡¯t use any techniques to weaken the seventh bolt of tribulation lightning. Like the previous six times, she resisted with just her body. Her face paled and blood spurted from her mouth. Even her heart seemed to stop beating for a second, but just as she thought she overestimated herself, a warm sensation flowed from her dantian. The effects of the Concealed Vitality Pill revealed itself at this moment, but before Gan Xuehua could be happy, the heavenly tribulation roared, as if in anger. Before the seventh bolt of tribulation lightning disappeared, the eighth bolt descended! ¡°AAAAAAHHHHH!¡± Gan Xuehua couldn¡¯t contain the pain and yelled. However, she quickly bit the inside of her gum. No matter what, she had to endure the pain and focus on surviving. As she endeavored to do so, she didn¡¯t even know that the ninth bolt had descended. After what seemed like an eternity, the pain faded. Gan Xuehua felt lightheaded, almost floaty, like she had just awoken from a deep sleep. However, if she could not maintain her clarity, she would not be able to form a perfect martial body despite withstanding the wind, fire, and lightning tribulations.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. At this time, she felt something sharp stab her mind, forcing her awake. ¡®Not good!¡¯ Gan Xuehua didn¡¯t know where the pain came from, but she quickly focused on forming her martial body. After withstanding the heavenly tribulation, a gentle energy appeared in her body, healing her. However, the energy wasn¡¯t just for healing, but it also facilitated the creation of her martial body. The skin turned transparent like glass, while her muscles and organs transformed into crystals, and her bones transformed into diamonds. Gan Xuehua resembled the most beautiful sculpture, pure and unsullied. This was the Life-Death Martial Body. Although it was only at its initial stage, as long as Gan Xuehua absorbed all sorts of medicine and poison, her acupoints would unlock. Slowly, her body returned to normal. No, not normal. Gan Xuehua had become even more enchanting than before, despite the rags on her body. Still, she frowned. ¡®Who took action and woke me up at the critical moment? Was it Ultimate Young Master, Spider Idol, or Yan Nie?¡¯
Tianyi clicked his tongue. ¡¯I didn¡¯t expect Gan Xuehua to immediately start her Acupoint Opening Heavenly Tribulation. According to my understanding of her, she shouldn¡¯t be someone so impulsive. Did something happen that I was unaware of?¡¯ ¡°Is something wrong?¡± Xia Meng asked. Tianyi turned toward Xia Meng and his mother, who also looked over. ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing.¡± He turned back to the stage. It had been a few days since Gan Xuehua began her Acupoint Opening Heavenly Tribulation, and the Young Heavens Tournament wouldn¡¯t stop just for her. However, without her, Tianyi lost all interest in the grandmaster division of the tournament. Although there was an incident on the first day of the grandmaster division that piqued his interest. It didn¡¯t have anything to do with the actual tournament, but a participant¡ªspecifically someone from the Gan Dynasty. Even if Tianyi had only met him once when he was still a core formation master at the Three Heavens Connection Meeting, he left an everlasting impression. Tianyi was, of course, talking about the Esteemed Sage Ascendant Soul Venerable sent by the Wise Nascent Trigram Immortal of the Nine Great Heavens, Gan Linyou. Even if he didn¡¯t remember anything else, the unnecessarily long Daoist title was more than enough. When Gan Linyou stepped onto the stage, he didn¡¯t even look at his opponent. Instead, he stared straight at Tianyi and threw down the gauntlet, shocking everyone. Silence had descended on the venue, not because the audience was stunned by Gan Linyou¡¯s bravery, but his stupidity. You¡¯re just a little grandmaster. Who gave you the courage to challenge an immortal emperor? Hell, even challenging a true immortal would be impossible. Naturally, Gan Linyou didn¡¯t stay in the arena for long. Not because Tianyi took action, but the Gan Emperor forcibly dragged him back and sealed him. After that, he apologized profusely to Tianyi. To which Tianyi just waved his hand and said it was nothing. He always knew that Gan Linyou had brain problems. Aside from that, Tianyi didn¡¯t pay attention. Instead, he surfed the Xiyinet with his immortal sense. Other people might need to use the Xiyi Talisman, Tianyi could directly interact with it using his immortal sense. After all, he could be considered the Xiyinet in a way. ¡®Oh? When did Daoyi post a new video?¡¯ Tianyi thought. He clicked it open and saw Daoyi sitting at the center playing a zither and singing. Around her, the cultivators of Flower Peak danced around her like backup dancers and singers. There was even a true immortal acting as the lead singer. Once in a while, the tone would change and so would the setting. At one point, it was a pasture full of floating cherry blossoms. At other times, it was a field of snow and ice, chilling to the heart. Tianyi checked the likes and viewers, and his lips couldn¡¯t help but twitch. He heard that the fairies of Flower Peak produced these videos to attract more awareness for female cultivators, but over seventy percent of the viewers were males, and those that gave Xiyi coins were ninety percent males. Did they stray from their purpose, or did they just want to farm Xiyi coins? After all, you had to pay Xiyi coins in order to use the Concept Enlightenment Hall in Cultivation Online. Of course, it could also just be Daoyi playing a prank, but Tianyi didn¡¯t think Daoyi would do that. Tianyi inwardly sighed. Xia Meng and the other decision makers made a rule that only members of the Immortal Court could enter Cultivation Online. Not even members of the Cultivator Alliance could join. In fact, the Cultivator Alliance had just become an external branch of the Immortal Court. Every once in a while, excellent members of the Cultivator Alliance would join the Immortal Court. No longer could anyone directly join the Immortal Court. Even the scions of true immortal elders had to join the Cultivator Alliance first. In a way, those that managed to join the Immortal Court before the rule was made were quite lucky. Tianyi couldn¡¯t help but think about his two disciples, Ming Xingyun and Jinshu. Ming Xingyun had become a world merging venerable. Her sister, Ming Yayun, had barely become a grandmaster thanks to many pills and resources. Had Ming Xingyun used those resources on herself, she might have already become a saint, but he didn¡¯t begrudge his disciple¡¯s actions. As for Jinshu, he was still in the Pathfinding Immortal Realm. Tianyi didn¡¯t take back the Fire Element Morpher, so he was still comprehending the Law of Fire within it. In a few hundred years, Tianyi might have an immortal monarch disciple. Most masters would be lucky to teach another true immortal, but he actually taught an immortal monarch. Tianyi felt very good about himself. He even had the thought of accepting more disciples, but none of the cultivators in his inner universe attracted his interest. Instead, he preferred people with main character templates, but alas, how could someone like that appear in the Immortal Court? They¡¯d had to be from a backwater region at the edge of the continent. Tianyi regretted the rule that non-members of the Immortal Court couldn¡¯t use Cultivation Online. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. What if he set up some inheritance sites in the lower world and placed the Xiyi talismans as prizes? He could accept them as nominal disciples, and they would be able to enter Cultivation Online without being a member of the Immortal Court. With his influence, it would be no problem for them to become members of the Cultivator Alliance before officially becoming members of the Immortal Court. Before Tianyi knew it, the Young Heavens Tournament had ended. He only stayed for the closing ceremony and immediately left. Not long after, the entourage from all forces left the Immortal Court. After they left, the floating island at the center of Trinity Continent vanished from their senses. Without permission, no one could find the Immortal Court.
¡°Hmm?¡± Tianyi looked up from the Xiyi Talisman in his hand. Surfing the Xiyinet with his immortal sense was undoubtedly more convenient, but holding something in the hand was more comfortable for him. Daoyi glanced at him from across the table. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°The first person that succeeded in crossing the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation since I¡¯ve started upgrading the Huang Realm has appeared. I¡¯m going to take a look,¡± Tianyi said as his figure vanished. Chapter 395: The First Disciple In a remote region of the Trinity Continent, adjacent to the endless seas, a tumultuous stream of spiritual qi erupted. If any cultivators below the grandmaster level were to appear inside, the hurricane of qi would rip them to shreds. Still, that did not prevent many venerables and saints from gathering outside of it. In their eyes, a wondrous treasure of heaven and earth was about to be conceived. These venerables and saints eyed one another, sizing each other up. Suddenly, one of them glanced at a certain place before looking away. His gaze immediately snapped back. ¡°True immortal!¡± His words drew the attention of the other mortal cultivators. Many of them became disheartened. With an immortal present, how could they snatch the treasure? However, the surprise didn¡¯t end there, as many other immortals appeared one after the other. For these mortal cultivators, many of them might not even see one true immortal in their entire life. Only disciples of powerful third-rate sects and above had a chance of seeing an immortal. Still, even they never saw so many gathered at once. One of the spiritual saints frowned. All the true immortals diverted their attention away from the qi hurricane and bowed toward a certain location. The saint turned his head and focused on who the true immortals were saluting. He wasn¡¯t the only one who noticed. Everyone wanted to know who could make over a hundred immortals salute. Receiving the salutes of over a hundred true immortals was a purple-robed man. Embroideries of nine-clawed golden dragons lined his robes, and atop his head was a golden coronet. He had a handsome face with an eye-catching mark between his eyes, but the most attractive features on his face were those pair of bedeviling eyes. The mortal cultivators instantly recognized him. Anyone who owned a Xiyi Talisman would have to be blind not to. He was the Nine Heavens Emperor, Xi Tianyi. They, like the true immortals earlier, saluted to this living legend, only with far more reverence. The Nine Heavens Emperor didn¡¯t glance at the true immortal saluting him, much less the mortal cultivators. However, no one thought it was wrong. As an immortal emperor, it would be stranger if he acknowledged ¡®ants.¡¯ Perhaps he might pay attention to them if the fancy struck him, but only if. Unknown to them, Tianyi was actually secretly observing them with his abilities over spacetime. It would not be an overstatement to say he was giddy beyond all belief. He received the worship of the members of the Immortal Court, but never experienced it close up. Even when he showed his face during the Immortal Official Conferment Ceremony, he was just one of many. Here, he was the center of all attention. The reverence these cultivators showed exceeded those at the Immortal Official Conferment Ceremony. Everyone who attended there had some status, unlike the average true immortals and mortal cultivators here. Although he enjoyed the sensation, Tianyi focused back on the qi hurricane. Unlike what the mortal cultivators thought, this wasn¡¯t a sign of a birth of treasure of heaven and earth. It was the sign of an ascending immortal. Immortals that ascended from a lower realm were different from those that transcended the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation in the Huang Realm or other immortal-rank realms. The requirements to become a true immortal were the same, but the environment between the two realms were different. Those that could ascend had a greater chance of becoming an immortal monarch in power immediately upon reaching the Pathfinding Immortal Realm. Of course, Tianyi would only invite the new true immortal to join the Cultivator Alliance, at most. To the current Immortal Court, a true immortal that ascended from a lower realm wasn¡¯t worth much. He might not even talk to the true immortal if he didn¡¯t find the latter pleasing to the eye. Of course, Tianyi had some interest. The more powerful the qi hurricane was, the more powerful the true immortal would be. Not only was the qi hurricane not weakening, it was continually growing in strength. This process lasted for five days, and by then, fifty more true immortals appeared. No doubt they wanted to woo the new immortal for the force behind them. Many mortal cultivators also appeared, but in contrast to the true immortals, they were here just to watch the fun. Of course, only those with sufficient confidence in their strength or those with powerful backgrounds dared to do so. Still, some mortal cultivators with no hope of advancing came here, hoping for a miracle. Finally, a hole appeared in the center of the qi hurricane, and a vague figure flew out. The hole immediately closed after. Normally, the portal between the two realms would last longer, allowing qi from the upper realm to diffuse to the lower realm, but Tianyi forced it to close. It would not be wrong to say that Tianyi controlled the entrance and exit of the Huang Realm. Without his permission, no one could enter or exit unless their strength equaled his. Tianyi¡¯s face twitched as he recognized the new immortal. In a sense, this new immortal can be considered his first disciple. Just that, he had never actually met this disciple because the one who taught him was his first clone, Juedai Fenghua. The new true immortal was Leng Junfeng, a student his clone taught in the Allfist Realm, a low-rank realm. His clone also promised Leng Junfeng that if he could find her main body, he would become her disciple. Because of various reasons, his clone had been forced to leave the Allfist Realm before seeing Leng Junfeng reach the peak of the Allfist Realm.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Leng Junfeng finally saw the immortal-rank realm that he always dreamed of after the qi hurricane dispersed. The first thing he sensed was the dense spiritual qi. ¡®As expected, of an immortal-rank realm. The density of qi is over a thousand times that of a high-rank realm.¡¯ What he didn¡¯t know was that the density of qi in the surrounding had increased because of him ascending. Before Tianyi started upgrading the Huang Realm, the density of spiritual qi was only around a hundred times greater than a high-rank realm. But after, the density had increased to three hundred, and it was still increasing. The second thing Leng Junfeng noticed was all the true immortals around him. The scene caused him to directly take a step back and raise his guard. Although he heard that immortals were as common as clouds in the immortal-rank realm, knowing wasn¡¯t the same as experiencing. Luckily, they didn¡¯t seem to have any ill intent toward him. A few seconds passed, and Leng Junfeng realized that all these true immortals were waiting for a person. When he stared into the purple-robed man¡¯s eyes, he felt the universe staring at him. He could see the Law of Space, the Law of Light, the Law of Fire, the Law of Wood, and many more worldly laws laid bare to him. More importantly, he sensed the Law of Wind! Leng Junfeng entered a state of enlightenment. Many of the true immortals saw him enter a daze and wondered what happened. When they realized his special state, they couldn¡¯t help but become jealous. Why didn¡¯t they enter a state of epiphany when looking at the Nine Heavens Emperor? Although they possessed a lofty status in the eyes of mortal cultivators, the true immortals knew that only a few of them were truly exceptional. Perhaps before the great war of unification, their status might have been lofty, but after the war, true immortals became far more common. If they didn¡¯t want to sink into mediocrity and wait for death, they can only master a law and enter the Seamless Immortal Realm. But mastering a law was too hard. Of all the true immortals, only one percent can become an immortal lord. Of those immortal lords, less than one in a hundred can become an immortal monarch. This statistic also took into consideration the rate of the Immortal Court¡¯s true immortals and other first-rate sects. Without them, the percentage would be less than point one percent. None of the true immortals left, and they all waited for Leng Junfeng to awaken from his state of enlightenment. They wanted to see how much he could comprehend. A month later, Leng Junfeng woke up from his state of enlightenment. He cupped his hand and thanked this mysterious and powerful senior. Furthermore, he felt like he saw this senior before and even felt a sense of closeness. ¡°En, there¡¯s no need to thank me. Many people stared into my eyes, but only you gained epiphany from it. However, I am curious about how much you have mastered.¡± Without waiting for Leng Junfeng to react, the senior pointed a finger at him. A gentle and faint breeze flowed toward Leng Junfeng, but he dared not underestimate it. All the hairs on his body stiffened and goosebumps appeared all over his body. If he didn¡¯t block it well, he might be severely injured. A green light covered Leng Junfeng¡¯s body and he transformed into a tornado, but no matter where he ran to, the light breeze continued to close the distance between the two. Since he couldn¡¯t dodge it, he could only face it head on. Leng Junfeng returned to his original form and condensed wind around his fist. The wind intensified until it was like a miniature hurricane, but it still continued to condense. It reached the point that the hurricane transformed into a solid object denser than steel. ¡°Hraah!¡± with a roar, Leng Junfeng attacked the slight breeze. His body froze, and he felt like a drowning man resisting the turbulent waves of the sea. His eyelids felt heavy, and he couldn¡¯t feel his body. Leng Junfeng¡¯s eyes sharpened and increased his efforts. He felt sweat drip down his brows. The light breeze contained a soul attack, and if he hadn¡¯t battled a soul cultivator before, he might have fallen. Thankfully, he couldn¡¯t sense anymore of the soul attack. Now, all he felt was the increasingly dwindling immortal qi. He had just become a true immortal, and most of his time was spent comprehending the law of wind. So, he hadn¡¯t converted all his true qi into immortal qi yet. Just as he thought he couldn¡¯t last any longer, the breeze disappeared. "Not bad. You¡¯ve barely reached the level of an immortal lord.¡± Leng Junfeng stared at the mysterious senior. Anger couldn¡¯t help but rise from his chest. Anyone attacked for no reason would feel it. ¡°Senior, why did you attack me?¡± ¡°Of course, it¡¯s to test your qualifications to become my disciple.¡± Leng Junfeng frowned. ¡°I already have a master.¡± The mysterious senior¡¯s lips twitched. Leng Junfeng thought the senior would attempt to lure him, and he ignored all the looks of shock and ridicule from the immortals. He didn¡¯t care. In his heart and mind, only one person can be his master. However, the senior¡¯s next words caused an explosion to go off in his mind. ¡°Juedai Fenghua is my clone.¡± What? What did the mysterious senior say? Did he hear right? He could understand each individual word, including the two most important ones, but why did they become gibberish when strung together? Leng Junfeng entered a state of denial.
Tianyi looked at the dazed expression with a sneer. ¡®Want to seduce my clone and make her a member of your harem? Dream on!¡¯ Still, he had to clean up after his clone¡¯s mess. Though, it couldn¡¯t really be considered one. Anyone would be happy to have a disciple like Leng Junfeng. The problem was the latter¡¯s thought. If this situation happened to anyone else, Tianyi would have laughed his ass off. Perhaps that¡¯s what Juedai Fenghua planned from the very beginning. With a snort, Tianyi waved his hand, and he and Leng Junfeng disappeared under the envious gaze of the true immortals. The mortal cultivators also watched them leave. Normally, none of them would survive without the protection from a true immortal in the earlier clash, but Tianyi deliberately controlled the aftereffects. When Tianyi and Leng Junfeng reappeared, they were at the Ninth Mountain of Nine Heavens Peak. He sent a message to both his disciples. ¡°Xingyun, Jinshu, come here quickly. You have a new disciple brother now.¡± Chapter 396: Leng Junfeng Inside a mansion on one of the floating mountains of Nine Heavens Peak, a young lass, who appeared to be around fourteen to fifteen, opened her eyes from her meditation. She looked incredibly delicate and cute, almost like a porcelain doll. ¡°Why is Master summoning me and Senior Brother?¡± She stood up and walked out of her mansion and saw a woman with similar features as her. Only, the woman appeared to be in her late twenties. ¡°Xingyun, didn¡¯t you say that you wouldn¡¯t exit until you reached the Mortality Shedding Realm?¡± Ming Xingyun shook her head. ¡°Big Sister, Master summoned me and Senior Brother Jinshu.¡± ¡°If Grand Elder Nine Heavens summoned you, you should quickly go. Don¡¯t keep him waiting,¡± Ming Yayun said. Ming Xingyun nodded. With a slender sword strapped onto her back, she flew towards Ninth Peak.
On another floating mountain, there was a mansion surrounded by orange-barked, red-leaf trees. Even the ground was a dull red. It didn¡¯t just look hot, but was actually blistering. Qi of the fire element gathered around the mansion and made it appear hazy, like a mirage. The heat was even more intense at the core of the mansion, where a man in white robes with a red overcoat sat in a lotus position. His hair reflected red and his figure appeared illusionary. However, when he opened his eyes, the heat dissipated instantly. Jinshu¡¯s pupils flashed red for a moment before it returned to black. ¡°Master is summoning us? I wonder what it is about.¡± Unless he or Ming Xingyun sought their master¡¯s advice, he generally didn¡¯t summon them, preferring to let them do their own things. Still, he stood up and made his way toward Ninth Mountain, like Ming Xingyun. ¡°Junior Sister,¡± Jinshu said, upon seeing Ming Xingyun land after him. ¡°Senior Brother,¡± Ming Xingyun said. The two nodded to each other before ascending up the steps to the Nine Heavens Palace at the peak of the mountain. Neither of them could fly aside from stepping onto the entrance point of the Ninth Mountain. Forget them. Not even immortal monarchs could fly on Ninth Mountain. The only ones capable of flying on the Ninth Mountain were immortal emperors. Just as the Nine Heavens Palace entered their view, the gates opened to let them in. It wasn¡¯t the first time the two entered, so they did not show any unfamiliarity. From what their master said, it used to be an immortal emperor-ranked artifact known as the Concealed Palace before conversion into the Nine Heavens Palace. They entered the main hall and saluted the man sitting in the principal seat, Xi Tianyi. ¡°Disciple Xingyun greets you, Master.¡± ¡°Disciple Jinshu greets you, Master.¡± Tianyi waved his hands. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so formal. Tell me, how is your cultivation coming along?¡± As the senior brother, Jinshu spoke first. ¡°Answering Master, I¡¯ve currently reached an impasse in my comprehension of the Law of Fire. I¡¯m planning to temper myself by hiding my identity and wandering the Huang Realm.¡± ¡°Normally, I¡¯d agree, but if possible, you should wait until the Huang Realm finished upgrading. There are still some unstable locations, and if you¡¯re not careful, you might be expelled into the Vast Void.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve made up my mind,¡± Jinshu said. ¡°I accepted you as my disciple after you¡¯ve already experienced many situations. If you judge that you can leave the sect to temper yourself, then go,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°Thank you, Master.¡± Next, Ming Xingyun reported her progress. ¡°Master, I¡¯m still focusing on advancing to the Mortality Shedding Realm. Once I¡¯ve done so, I¡¯ll attempt to master more concepts related to the Laws of Earth. I¡¯ll master as many as I can before starting my Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation.¡± Tianyi nodded. ¡°The worldly laws of the five elements are the most common laws cultivators gain insight into. However, although many cultivators gain insight into them, it does not mean they are weak. Don¡¯t be distracted and focus on other concepts unless you have the talent.¡± He was more assured with Jinshu. However, for Ming Xingyun, Tianyi had to spare more effort. Although she had the Condensed Mountain Physique, she hadn¡¯t experienced enough. He had to guide her progress and make sure she didn¡¯t encounter any accidents she couldn¡¯t handle. Tianyi already hid one of his conduits on her body. Although the maximum power it could burst out was that of a true immortal, it was more than enough to teleport her into the Nine Heavens Universe. ¡°Yes, Master,¡± Ming Xingyun said. Then, she snuck a peek at the unknown man garbed in green. Was he Master¡¯s new disciple, but aren¡¯t disciples usually accepted before they become immortals? ¡°This guy here can also be considered my disciple. He was originally a cultivator from a low-rank world. Don¡¯t ask, I won¡¯t tell you how I met him,¡± Tianyi said upon seeing Ming Xingyun¡¯s curiosity. ¡°He just crossed his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation and entered the Huang Realm. Since he¡¯s here, the rankings between the three of you will have to change.¡±If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Tianyi mostly said this for Jinshu¡¯s benefit. There are some heaven-defying saints that could defeat true immortals, but Ming Xingyun wasn¡¯t one of them. ¡°¡°Greetings, Apprentice-Brother,¡±¡± Jinshu and Ming Xingyun said. That broke Leng Junfeng out of his daze. He wasn¡¯t completely unknowing of what occurred while in a daze, which only made him look at Tianyi with complicated emotions. ¡°If you continue to look at me like that, I¡¯ll gouge out your eyes.¡± Leng Junfeng averted his gaze. He had a feeling that Tianyi was lying, but it still didn¡¯t stop the sense of danger he felt. Still, he was unwilling to accept Tianyi¡¯s words. ¡°Is Master really your clone?¡± ¡°Do I need to yank her from the lower realms to show you?¡± Tianyi asked with exasperation. ¡°Then, can you tell me how she is right now?¡± ¡°She¡¯s currently a mortal.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Tianyi glanced at Leng Junfeng. ¡°Don¡¯t get too excited. Fenghua is wandering the lower realms to comprehend the worldly laws. She already reached the Nascent Soul Realm, but her body is mortal. If she is already a true immortal, you might not be her opponent now.¡± Leng Junfeng found it a bit difficult to accept. After his many adventures, he learned of Juedai Fenghua¡¯s actual strength in the Allfist Realm. Although she could contend with a soul nourishing grandmaster as a core formation master, he also accomplished the same feat. ¡°You probably don¡¯t know, but she¡¯s already a soul cultivator. With her current comprehension, you aren¡¯t her opponent,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°Enough, I didn¡¯t bring you here just to talk about my clone. These two are your apprentice-brother and sister. You will have a match with them to determine seniority. Win against Jinshu, you will be the eldest senior brother under me. Lose, and you¡¯ll be the second brother.¡± Leng Junfeng glanced at Jinshu and Ming Xingyun. The latter could not arouse any sense of threat from him, not to mention she hadn¡¯t become a true immortal yet, so his only opponent was Jinshu. ¡°Are we going to fight now?¡± Tianyi rolled his eyes. ¡°Hold your horses. I¡¯m only introducing you three today. You¡¯ll fight in a week. Before then, don¡¯t you want to bring your family and friends here?¡± ¡°Huh? But I heard that only the most powerful immortals could do so,¡± Leng Junfeng said. Naturally, he wanted to bring his friends and family with him. He originally planned to find his master and slowly increased his strength until he could do so. ¡°I just so happen to be an immortal emperor,¡± Tianyi said. He grabbed a teacup that happened to appear without anyone realizing and took a long, slow sip. Leng Junfeng stared at Tianyi. His master¡¯s main body was a legendary immortal emperor? His master had said that her main body was still a mortal cultivator before they parted. He understood that the cultivation environment was a million times better than lower realms, but it shouldn¡¯t be enough for his master¡¯s main body to become an immortal emperor, right? Not to mention that time flowed faster in the lower realms. Didn¡¯t this mean that he was several times older than Tianyi? He thought that Tianyi would have been an immortal monarch at most. Tianyi ignored Leng Junfeng¡¯s suspicious gaze and waved his hand. A portal depicting a bustling city appeared in front of everyone. Leng Junfeng recognized this scene. Wasn¡¯t this the most prosperous city of the high-rank realm he had ascended from? ¡°Go on, tell me which of them are your family and friends.¡± Although Leng Junfeng still doubted Tianyi¡¯s words, he believed them a little now. In his opinion, Tianyi had to ask the Buzhou Immortal Sect to bring his relatives and friends up. Still, he obediently pointed to the people he wanted to bring to the Huang Realm. ¡°Over twenty people?¡± ¡°Is it too many?¡± ¡°No, I just need to expand the hall a bit.¡± The ground rumbled, and the hall expanded. Originally, it could only fit around twenty to thirty people, but now, it could hold over a hundred. Under his astonished gaze, Tianyi reached into the portal. To the people of the city, a giant hand hundreds of meters large just appeared above the sky. They wanted to scream and flee, but they discovered that it was as if amber had encased them. It was the same for the hundreds of saints in the city. They could do nothing but watch as the giant hand reached out and grabbed something before returning to the heavens. Despite the large commotion, they discovered that nothing had been damaged, even the formations. However, they discovered a few missing people, but that wasn¡¯t Tianyi¡¯s problem. Before Leng Junfeng noticed, twenty more people had appeared in the hall. ¡°Junfeng!¡± ¡°Brother Leng!¡± ¡°Brother Feng!¡± All sorts of calls rang as the twenty plus people saw Leng Junfeng. Among them, three beauties stood out. One was Li Qiu¡¯ai, a princess from the Allfist Realm that had ascended to follow Leng Junfeng. The two others were other women Leng Junfeng met. One was from a middle-ranked realm while the other was from the high-ranked realm he ascended from. Leng Junfeng stopped explaining to his friends and relatives and shivered as he sensed a malice-filled gaze. He turned around to see Tianyi looking down at him. He wanted to speak, but Tianyi had already started talking. ¡°You have unclear relationships with three women and you still want to pursue Fenghua? Your guts are quite big.¡± ¡°No, it isn¡¯t what it looks like!¡± Leng Junfeng shouted. Only, Tianyi didn¡¯t know if he had spoken for him or the people behind him. ¡°Enough.¡± Tianyi waved his hand. ¡°Come in, Bojing.¡± A man wearing white clothes entered. He was Su Bojing, Tianyi¡¯s first subordinate. After hundreds of years, he had already become a transcending mortality saint for decades, but because of his lack of confidence, he hadn¡¯t started his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. He saluted Tianyi. ¡°Grand Elder.¡± ¡°Take these people and find them a place to stay in one of the cities controlled by the Cultivator Alliance. And bring Leng Junfeng¡ª¡± Tianyi pointed at said person. ¡°To the Ministry of Rites. He¡¯s my disciple. Oh, and prepare a Xiyi Talisman for everyone here.¡± Su Bojing blinked and stared at Leng Junfeng. He originally thought Leng Junfeng was an immortal elder seeking Tianyi¡¯s aid. But now, it turned out he was the grand elder¡¯s disciple. Su Bojing sighed. The grand elder¡¯s ability to teach is unrivaled. Of his three disciples, two are already immortals. He smiled toward Leng Junfeng and the people behind. ¡°Please follow me.¡± After everyone except Ming Xingyun and Jinshu left, Ming Xingyun turned toward Tianyi. ¡°Master, who is Fenghua?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t talk about her,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°You two should prepare for your spar against Junfeng. Don¡¯t look down on him just because he became an immortal recently, he already has the power of an immortal lord.¡± At his words, Ming Xingyun became excited and grasped the handle of her sword. Jinshu gave a more serious gaze, thinking that maybe the battle might help him break the bottleneck stumping him. Chapter 397: A Whole New World The days passed in a blur to Leng Junfeng. He thought he would struggle in the immortal-rank realms for a few years before finding a foothold, just like his process in the mid and high-rank realms. However, the moment he appeared, the man claiming to be his master¡¯s main body appeared and whisked him away to join the most powerful force in the Huang Realm. Not only that, his master¡¯s main body turned out to be extremely powerful. With a wave of his hand, he could grab all his friends and family from the lower realms. The most terrifying thing was that Leng Junfeng couldn¡¯t discern the inner workings of how his master¡¯s main body accomplished it. It could only mean one thing. His master¡¯s main body was so powerful he could barely comprehend a fraction of his strength. Right after reuniting with his family and friends, Leng Junfeng followed behind a man called Su Bojing, the head steward of Nine Heavens Peak. Leng Junfeng didn¡¯t look down on him either. Although Su Bojing hadn¡¯t become an immortal yet, he could sense the dense qi hiding within his body. Among all the geniuses and experts he met in the lower realms, none could match Su Bojing. Leng Junfeng even doubted if his qi reservoir could exceed Su Bojing in the same realm had he not dual cultivated the spiritual and martial path. He sighed. All those peak cultivators weren¡¯t even comparable to a steward in the immortal-rank realm. In reality, Leng Junfeng had forgotten where he was. Although Su Bojing was not considered outstanding, Tianyi had helped him solidify his cultivation. If Su Bojing¡¯s cultivation made Leng Junfeng sigh, then walking through the Immortal Court silenced Leng Junfeng. He had passed by many more immortals than he thought existed. They far exceeded the immortals gathered upon his ascension to the Huang Realm. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s Elder Su,¡± an immortal elder said upon seeing Su Bojing. He flew toward the group and observed Leng Junfeng and the twenty mortals. ¡°Although I don¡¯t want to say anything, you must know that allowing outsiders in the Immortal Court will incur punishment.¡± Leng Junfeng tightened his fist. He saw a familiar emotion hidden behind the immortal elder¡¯s eyes. It was pride and arrogance. Leng Junfeng had met many people who thought they could decide the fate of others with a single finger, but they all fell under him in the end. If that immortal elder dared to harm his loved ones, then no one could blame him for being rude. Su Bojing didn¡¯t panic and saluted the true immortal. ¡°Elder Kan, this man here is Leng Junfeng, Young Master¡¯s disciple.¡± The expression on the true immortal surnamed Kan immediately changed. Su Bojing continued speaking, as if not seeing the change in Elder Kan¡¯s face. ¡°These twenty mortals were fished by my young master from the lower realms. He ordered me to settle them in a city under the Cultivator Alliance¡¯s control after registering Leng Junfeng as his disciple. However, it¡¯s true that Young Master has broken the rules. He and I will accept any punishment from the court.¡± ¡°No, no!¡± Elder Kan said, his tone nearly breaking. ¡°Since it¡¯s Grand Elder Nine Heaven¡¯s orders, I¡¯m sure he must have his reasons. Besides, what rules have you and he broken? This Leng Junfeng fellow is Grand Elder Nine Heaven¡¯s disciple. How can he be considered an outsider?¡± The true immortal¡¯s eyes glanced towards Leng Junfeng¡¯s friends and families. ¡°As for these mortals, they are only temporarily inside the Immortal Court. How can that be considered breaking the rules?¡± Elder Kan left in haste soon after. Su Bojing glanced at Leng Junfeng and the others in an apologetic manner. ¡°I¡¯m sorry you had to see that. There¡¯s not many people allowed to live on Nine Heavens Peak. The young master is quite kind to those that do. When he feels like it, he will give a sermon to the residents on Nine Heavens Peak. Even servant-disciples may listen.¡± ¡°Many servant-disciples wracked their brains for a chance to live on Nine Heavens Peak. Even inner disciples would gladly switch places with them,¡± Su Bojing said as he controlled the immortal boat to continue onward towards Rites Peak. ¡°Even true immortals are envious. That¡¯s why many of them have tried to find fault with me, to replace me as the head steward of Nine Heavens Peak.¡± Leng Junfeng stayed silent. It seemed that his master¡¯s main body had quite the high status in the Immortal Court. He had learned from Su Bojing about the common sense and knowledge of the Huang Realm. For example, the Immortal Court only recently changed their name from the Buzhou Immortal Sect, and they ruled over the entire realm. Along the way, many immortal elders came to greet Su Bojing, even though he was only a transcending mortality saint. Many expressed goodwill, and only a few acted like Elder Kan. Upon entering Rites Peak, the immortal elder staff there gave Leng Junfeng a one-over. After Leng Junfeng lit up his soul lamp, they left. Su Bojing brought them toward the Mortal Severance Gate, A giant edifice large enough to make anyone feel inconsequential in comparison. The land ended after exiting the gate, and it was only then that Leng Junfeng discovered that the Immortal Court was atop a floating island. He turned back after exiting, but he discovered that he could no longer see the Immortal Court. Forget getting a glimpse of the Mortal Severance Gate, he couldn¡¯t even see the floating island anymore. All he could see were clear skies and the gigantic, ocean-like lake below. ¡°Where¡¯s the Immortal Court?¡± Leng Junfeng asked. ¡°It¡¯s hidden. You¡¯ll never find it,¡± Su Bojing said. ¡°Unless you are granted access, it¡¯s impossible for even immortal monarchs to discover the Immortal Court after passing through the Mortal Severance Gate.¡± Leng Junfeng kept searching and expanded his immortal sense. Su Bojing didn¡¯t stop him, and after a few minutes, asked, ¡°Still not convinced?¡±This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Leng Junfeng didn¡¯t answer, but the retraction of his immortal sense already spoke volumes. Su Bojing continued on his way toward the inner edge of the Trinity Continent. The immortal boat he controlled was a special artifact granted to a few elders. Beneath the Immortal Realm, perhaps only Su Bojing possessed one. It allowed him to travel the skies of the Immortal Court, since a special rule made it so that those not strong enough couldn¡¯t fly. In addition, it allowed the controller to fly at half the speed of light, thus garnering the name, the Elderlight Boat. During this time, Su Bojing gave Leng Junfeng a gold Xiyi Talisman, while handing out bronze Xiyi Talismans to the rest of them. After teaching them how to use them, he left them to their own devices. ¡°Junfeng, is this Five Element Method trustworthy?¡± Li Qiu¡¯ai asked. Upon registering an account on the Xiyinet, she and the others were given access to the most common and widely available cultivation method of the Huang Realm, the Five Element Method. ¡°It should be,¡± Leng Junfeng said. When he had first embarked on the path of cultivation, Juedai Fenghua had taught the Wood Book of the Five Element Method. She also informed him it was the most common method in the Huang Realm. Yet, despite being widespread, it was still a top-tier method. After reading through the Wood Book of the Five Element method on the Xiyi Talisman, he confirmed its authenticity. Li Qiu¡¯ai shared a look with the others. All their expressions contained excitement, yet with a hint of complication. In the low-rank realm, or even the high-rank realm, such a method would have undoubtedly been the most guarded method of powerful sects, taught only to the most-valued disciples. Su Bojing had already told them that Xiyi Talismans were practically the most common tool in the Huang Realm, meaning practically everyone had access to it. Regardless of their thoughts, everyone of them planned to switch to the Five Element Method once they had time. Leng Junfeng was the same. Not only did he receive the Five Element Method, he also received a message containing the full, unaltered Five Element Method. He immediately wanted to open it, but the Xiyi Talisman informed him that he would be forbidden from spreading it to others. If he spread it to others, he would be hunted down to the ends of the world by the Immortal Court, regardless of his status. Leng Junfeng didn¡¯t hesitate and agreed. A white light enveloped the Xiyi Talisman and shot into his forehead. With his powerful willpower and soul, it only took a few seconds for him to digest everything. Still, he couldn¡¯t help but look at the Xiyi Talisman with wariness. He felt a stare and turned to see Su Bojing¡¯s eyes twinkling with amusement. The latter quickly looked away, and Leng Junfeng forced himself not to chuck the Xiyi Talisman as far as the eye could see. He shook his head and started browsing the Xiyinet after a few minutes of fiddling. Leng Junfeng needed information, the more the better. Although Su Bojing told him many things, he still wanted to confirm. He didn¡¯t fully trust the Xiyinet either, going into forums and testing to see if the other users were fakes or the results of some underhanded tricks. The more Leng Junfeng learned, the more amazed he became. Considering size, the Huang Realm was more than a hundred times larger than the high-rank realm he had lived in for hundreds of years. Not only that, even a third-rate sect could contend with an entire high-rank realm. Everything he accomplished was nothing compared to the grandeur of the Huang Realm. Instead of feeling fear, this information aroused Leng Junfeng¡¯s competitive spirit. He didn¡¯t want to become just an immortal monarch like the Divine Flame Monarch, not even an immortal emperor like the Nine Heavens Emperor, but surpass an immortal sovereign, like Sword Sovereign Xi, and achieve apotheosis. On another note, he finally learned why his master¡¯s main body, Xi Tianyi, was so venerated and feared. Ignoring the fact that he was the son of the Huang Realm¡¯s only known immortal sovereign, he himself also possessed immense power. While he didn¡¯t believe every rumor, like how they said the reason the sky was so abnormal was because of him or how he merged two continents and the surrounding islands into one. Rumors didn¡¯t exist without reason, so he must have done something, if on a smaller scale, to produce such whispered tales. ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± Su Bojing¡¯s words broke Leng Junfeng and the others out of their trance. They looked below to see a gigantic city, large enough to fit ten of the most prosperous cities from the high-rank realm. Hundreds of immortal boats flew above the city, with even more cultivators flying through the air, but none of them dared to block the Elderlight Boat¡¯s path. They weren¡¯t blind. They could see the symbol of the Immortal Court on the hull. A few even slowed down to see what they were here for. At this time, a joyful laughter erupted from the center of the city. A streak of light flew out from the mansion at the city¡¯s center and stopped in front of the boat. When the light disappeared, it revealed a gray-robed immortal with ash-colored hair. ¡°To whom do I owe the pleasure?¡± Su Bojing walked forward. ¡°It¡¯s nothing much. I was just escorting them to one of the Immortal Court¡¯s mansions in Glazedleaf City. Hardly anything worthy of City Lord Hui¡¯s attention.¡± ¡°What is Saint Su saying?¡± the true immortal asked. He was hardly an idiot. If it was any other saint from the Immortal Court, he would immediately leave after saying a few polite words, but this was Su Bojing, the Nine Heavens Emperor¡¯s only steward. ¡°The Cultivator Alliance and the Immortal Court are intricately related. It would be my pleasure to help.¡± City Lord Hui glanced at Leng Junfeng and the other mortal cultivators. ¡°Although the mansion allotted to the Immortal Court is magnificent, they are a bit far from the festivity of the city. How about I find a mansion closer to the excitement?¡± Su Bojing didn¡¯t say anything and looked at Leng Junfeng. Leng Junfeng shook his head. Forget the fact that he didn¡¯t know City Lord Hui well enough, he still hadn¡¯t adapted to the Huang Realm yet. He didn¡¯t even fully trust Xi Tianyi yet. The only reason he didn¡¯t accept Xi Tianyi¡¯s offer of seeing his master again was afraid that she might be harmed. He needed to find Juedai Fenghua and confirm everything. Although Su Bojing rejected his goodwill, City Lord Hui kept his smile. After escorting the group to one of the mansions allotted to them, he left. ¡°Glazedleaf City is hardly the most prosperous city in the Trinity Continent, but it isn¡¯t the worst either. It has good security and activity and can be considered an above average city. More importantly, it¡¯s a city guarded by a true immortal and under the jurisdiction of the Cultivator Alliance, a vassal force of the Immortal Court,¡± Su Bojing explained. ¡°If you need anything, I¡¯ll be in the next mansion. If there¡¯s nothing else, we¡¯ll meet again six days later.¡± Leng Junfeng nodded. After Su Bojing left, he and his friends and family entered the mansion, where a group of servants awaited them. It took the rest of the day to familiarize themselves with the mansion, and Leng Junfeng constantly released his immortal sense in case of any accidents. After confirming there was nothing wrong, Leng Junfeng focused on gathering more information. Tomorrow, he would verify as much information as possible from the residents of the city. While browsing the forums, he suddenly received a new message. The notification didn¡¯t excite him, but the sender did. His heartbeat quickened as he opened it. Chapter 398: Dont Underestimate Me A holographic screen appeared above the Xiyi Talisman, and a familiar yet unfamiliar face. Tears pooled at the corner of Leng Junfeng¡¯s eyes as he recognized her fiery hair and scarlet eyes. She had blossomed to a beautiful young lady from the adolescent form he had last seen her in. ¡°M-Master?¡± Juedai Fenghua¡¯s next words completely shattered Leng Junfeng¡¯s expectations of a touching reunion. ¡°Huh? You still haven¡¯t given up on that. I thought seeing my main body would have smashed your fantasies. Just so you know, although I¡¯m a girl, I share the same sexual orientation as my main body.¡± Leng Junfeng¡¯s expression cramped up and his tear ducts dried up instantly. ¡°Master, you haven¡¯t changed at all.¡± ¡°How many times do I have to tell you¡ª¡± Leng Junfeng steeled himself and waited for Juedai Fenghua¡¯s reprimanding slap. Only, nothing hit him. It was now that he remembered that he was speaking to his master through the Xiyi Talisman and not face-to-face. Speaking of which, ¡°Oh right, you¡¯ve made it to the Huang Realm. I did say you can call me master instead of teacher once you¡¯ve become an immortal.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, Master,¡± Leng Junfeng said. Despite his thousand years of experience, he seemed to have transformed into that na?ve teenager once more. ¡°Master, master, master!¡± Juedai Fenghua frowned. ¡°Why are you repeating that word? Do you have brain damage or something? Or did you want to get slapped by me that much?¡± ¡°Master, I was wrong,¡± Leng Junfeng said, raising his free hand defensively. There was a snort. ¡°So tell me, what happened after you arrived?¡± ¡°Master!¡± Hearing this, Leng Junfeng couldn¡¯t hold it back any longer. He told Juedai Fenghua what happened after she left the Allfist Realm. Of how he defeated the cancer known as the Teng Family and restored the rightful rulers, the Li Imperial Family. He told her of how he single-handedly defeated the Du Dynasty and united the Allfist Realm under his power before ascending. He told Juedai Fenghua of when he first arrived in a mid-rank realm and struggled before gaining a foothold. ¡°Master, I also found that bastard, Teng Shifang. I couldn¡¯t kill him in the Allfist Realm because he ascended after becoming a soul nourishing grandmaster. However, he wasn¡¯t so lucky in the mid-rank realm. I hunted him down and killed him. Unfortunately, I angered the force behind him, forcing me to go on the run for years before I grew strong enough to repel them.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good and all, but why are you telling me all this?!¡± Juedai Fenghua asked. ¡°I only asked about what happened after you entered the Huang Realm.¡± ¡°But Master, you don¡¯t want to know what happened to me in all these years?¡± ¡°What¡¯s there to know? Isn¡¯t it just you reaching the peak of whatever place you went to? Although you would be chased down by some forces due to their aggressiveness and looking down on you, you eventually gained enough strength to repel them and even make them kneel. It happened to you in the Allfist Realm, it happened in the mid-rank realm, and it also happened in the high-rank realm. Am I correct?¡± Leng Junfeng pouted. ¡°That¡¯s only part of the story.¡± ¡°Let me guess, because of your shockingly young age, you joined up some large sects as a new disciple. However, you were still a distance apart from those first-tier geniuses, but after a few years, you caught up and became the number one genius. Your growth didn¡¯t stop and surpassed those geniuses, rivaling that of old masters. You also had many lucky encounters and received many treasures and inheritances from dead cultivators. You even managed to find the complete version of the Dragon Mammoth Transformation martial method from the Allfist realm.¡± ¡°How did Master know?¡± Juedai Fenghua rolled her eyes. ¡°I guessed.¡± ¡°Really?¡± She nodded. ¡°Don¡¯t you feel that your life story is a bit like a novel?¡± ¡°Is it?¡± Juedai Fenghua shook her shoulders. ¡°Go read some more novels on the Xiyi Talisman if you have some time, especially those by the author, Ultimate Young Master.¡± ¡°Okay?¡± Leng Junfeng didn¡¯t know why he should waste time on such a futile activity when he should cultivate, but since his master said it, he¡¯ll do it. ¡°Anyways, hurry up and tell me what happened after you entered the Huang Realm.¡± After listening to Leng Junfeng recount what happened to him since he appeared in the Huang Realm, Juedai Fenghua smirked, ¡°So, how does it feel to ascend to the skies in one step and not need to start from the bottom again?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Soon, Leng Junfeng realized what Juedai Fenghua meant. ¡°To be honest, I¡¯m still not used to it.¡± Juedai Fenghua laughed. ¡°Do you think someone will try to target you because of your connection to my main body? I mean, you should have experienced many troubles with fellow disciples troubling you after joining them in the mid and high-rank realms.¡± ¡°Will they not?¡± Leng Junfeng asked. ¡°Your main body just became a grand elder. Surely, many aren¡¯t happy with him gaining so much power at such a you¡ªso fast.¡±If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°You were about to say ¡®at such a young age, weren¡¯t you?¡± Hearing no answer, Juedai Fenghua knew she had guessed right. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that. Xi Tianyi¡¯s importance to the Immortal Court is beyond your imagination. You don¡¯t need to fear people finding trouble with you. Instead they will fear you finding trouble with them.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Leng Junfeng asked. Experience had taught him many things, so he couldn¡¯t fully believe Juedai Fenghua. ¡°Time will prove my words,¡± Juedai Fenghua said. ¡°You should prepare for your competition with your fellow disciples first. Afterward, you can cultivate with a peace of mind.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t lose,¡± Leng Junfeng said. Even if Jinshu had been raised in the Huang Realm all his life and guided by Xi Tianyi, he didn¡¯t think he would lose. Juedai Fenghua didn¡¯t dissuade Leng Junfeng from his expectations. Instead, she held her chin. ¡°I wonder, how fast do you think it will take you to reach the peak of the Huang Realm? Your environment is safe and there are no true enemies for you under my main body¡¯s protection. Although¡­ I wonder if the speed of your cultivation will rise without danger accompanying you.¡± Leng Junfeng didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or cry. ¡°Master, it¡¯s not like I see disaster wherever I go. If I can cultivate in peace and quiet, I¡¯d be happy too.¡± ¡°Peace and quiet is good,¡± Juedai Fenghua said. ¡°But don¡¯t you know that excitement is the spice of life?¡± He laughed. ¡°Master, I heard that you haven¡¯t crossed your Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. Do you need my help?¡± Juedai Fenghua rolled her eyes. ¡°If I needed help, I¡¯d ask my main body, not you. He can help me far more than you. Besides, I¡¯m currently comprehending the Law of Six Desires. I¡¯ll undergo my Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation once I fully master it. If you aren¡¯t careful, I might directly become an immortal monarch while you¡¯re still a true immortal.¡± The two shared a laugh. Leng Junfeng silently swore to become an immortal monarch as fast as possible. ¡°Well, it¡¯s been nice catching up. I need to go now, busy comprehending a worldly law and all.¡± ¡°Wait!¡± Juedai Fenghua¡¯s movements stopped. ¡°Is there something else?¡± ¡°When are you going to return to the Huang Realm?¡± Leng Junfeng asked. ¡°Hmm, probably not until I become a true immortal,¡± Juedai Fenghua said. ¡°If there¡¯s nothing else, bye.¡± ¡°Goodbye, Master,¡± Leng Junfeng said, hiding his disappointment. Once the call ended, the pressure on his shoulders lightened. Now that he knew Xi Tianyi truly was his master¡¯s main body. He didn¡¯t think the master he spoke to was a fake. Even if her aura was replicated, Leng Junfeng believed that he could distinguish between real and fake. With a peace of mind, Leng Junfeng gathered all his friends and family to discuss their future plans. It wasn¡¯t difficult. For now, they would attempt to integrate into the Huang Realm as much as possible. Perhaps even joining the Cultivator Alliance before becoming official members of the Immortal Court. Those that could cultivate converted to the Five Element Method. Unlike Gao Xuehua who formed the Dragon Qi Core, their cultivation method was based on the five elements, so switching to the Five Element Method didn¡¯t require them to reform their spiritual core. Although their foundation couldn¡¯t compare to someone who cultivated the Five Element Method from the beginning, it would be superior to their previous methods. As for Leng Junfeng, he entered secluded cultivation for the next six days. He didn¡¯t immediately cultivate the original version of the Five Element Method given to him, but integrated his breakthrough in the Law of Wind. A week later, he exited the mansion and saw Su Bojing awaiting him. "Let¡¯s go, Young Master is waiting,¡± Su Bojing said as the Elderlight Boat flew from his palm and increased in size. After the two stepped onto it, it streaked across the sky toward the Immortal Court. The boat flew into the lake at the center of the Trinity Continent after a few hours. After another hour of flying, a thick mist surrounded them. Leng Junfeng felt the abnormality of the mist and wanted to dispel it, but Su Bojing stopped him. ¡°Don¡¯t take action. To enter the Immortal Court, you have to navigate through the Lunar Reflection Mist.¡± Leng Junfeng stopped and released his spiritual sense. To his surprise, he lost all sense of direction, and he could no longer differentiate left from right, or top from bottom. If someone wanted to attack him, he would be at a major disadvantage. More than that, he didn¡¯t know how long it would take him to escape. ¡°We¡¯re here,¡± Su Bojing said after another hour. Leng Junfeng looked up to see the Mortal Severance Gate. From his viewpoint, it appeared to be stationed on a floating piece of land barely large enough to fit it. He couldn¡¯t see anything from the right to the left of it. Under Su Bojing¡¯s control, the Elderlight Boat flew into the Mortal Severance Gate, and after passing, the mystical land of the Immortal Court revealed itself once more. When Leng Junfeng looked back, he could see the edge extending past the Mortal Severance Gate. It really was a mystical experience. The most terrifying part was that he couldn¡¯t detect the changes. It was as if he was a mortal that didn¡¯t understand cultivation again. Regardless of his thoughts, the Elderlight Boat flew towards Nine Heavens Peak. It didn¡¯t fly to the Ninth Mountain, but to the Fifth Mountain. Unlike the other mountains, the Fifth Mountain had no structures and was the designated location for fighting or to undergo a heavenly tribulation. When the Elderlight Boat landed Leng Junfeng could see Xi Tianyi, Ming Xingyun, and Jinshu appear out of nowhere. Leng Junfeng jumped off the boat and saluted Xi Tianyi. ¡°Master.¡± ¡°En,¡± Tianyi grunted. ¡°Since you¡¯re here, let¡¯s start the sparring sessions now. Xingyun, you will fight Junfeng first.¡± ¡°Understood, Master,¡± Ming Xingyun said. Leng Junfeng nodded, too. Not long later, both of them stood across from each other in a clearing. ¡°Immortal Court member, Ming Xingyun, please advise,¡± Ming Xingyun said with a cupped fist. Leng Junfeng returned her gesture. ¡°Leng Junfeng¡­Immortal Court member, please advise.¡± Ming Xingyun didn¡¯t waste any words and drew the sword from her back. She charged at Leng Junfeng with the sword raised high above her head. Once Leng Junfeng entered her range, she slashed the sword down. Leng Junfeng didn¡¯t change his stance and raised his hand, intending on grabbing her sword. He was a true immortal in both the spiritual and martial path. With his advantages, he didn¡¯t think a world merging venerable would pose much threat to him. Unfortunately, he miscalculated. The ground beneath Leng Junfeng shattered as he fell to his knees. He could hear several cracks originating from his hand and arms. Ming Xingyun didn¡¯t press her assault and took a few steps back. ¡°Senior Brother, don¡¯t underestimate me just because I¡¯m only a venerable. According to Master, my physical strength surpasses most true immortals.¡± Leng Junfeng''s right arm hung limply against his side but he stood back up. The cracks beneath him disappeared in the process. ¡°It was my fault. I underestimated Junior Sister. It won¡¯t happen again.¡± Chapter 399: Seniority A cyan light wrapped around Leng Junfeng¡¯s body. Across from him, Ming Xingyun brandished her sword, and encased it in an earthen yellow glow. She charged toward Leng Junfeng without another word, and the latter aimed a palm at her. Condensed air shot from his palm toward the world merging venerable. The turbulent winds within the sphere exceeded the force of a hurricane, causing it to become green-gray in color. Instead of dodging, Ming Xingyu slashed down at the air cannon. Leng Junfeng scrunched his brows. His attack should exceed the limit of ordinary true immortals, and he worried that Ming Xingyun¡¯s action would lead her to receive a grievous wound. However, he was surprised yet again. Ming Xingyun¡¯s sword sliced through the hurricane sphere, but it didn¡¯t cause it to explode. Instead, the hurricane-force winds swirled around her sword and enhanced its offense. Once again, she reached Leng Junfeng and slashed forward. The green glow around Leng Junfeng¡¯s uninjured hand intensified. He reached out toward Ming Xingyun¡¯s sword and smacked it. The hurricane winds dispersed at the moment of contact, but he also found out that the sword was extremely stable and he couldn¡¯t change its trajectory much. Furthermore, he also discovered that something was pulling his palm toward the blade and keeping it there as if glue coated the blade. Still, Leng Junfeng just needed to increase the force behind his strike. When the clash ended, Leng Junfeng and Ming Xingyun¡¯s backs faced each other. Leng Junfeng sported a cut on his torso, while Ming Xingyun¡¯s hair accessories had fallen off and her clothes became disheveled. Ming Xingyun turned around. ¡°Senior Brother is still underestimating me. You should have discovered the sword in my hand is an artifact forged for me by Master. It¡¯s not an immortal-rank artifact but a monarch-rank artifact.¡± Tianyi named the sword the Condensed World Sword. Despite its seemingly thin and fragile appearance, the sword was incredibly heavy. He had used several asteroids from the Nine Heavens Universe as base materials and forged it into the shape of a sword using the Law of Mass as the core. The Condensed World Sword had reasonable sharpness, but its greatest advantage was its mass. Had Ming Xingyun not partially refined it, she wouldn¡¯t have been able to carry it, much less wield it. Still, just swinging it expended much of her effort. Tianyi wanted Ming Xingyun to comprehend the worldly law contained within it as part of her cultivation. And so far, she comprehended the Concept of Attraction and Concept of Denseness, accelerating the rate at which she gathered spiritual qi and made it her own. ¡°Sorry,¡± Leng Junfeng said as a dark green gauntlet appeared around his arm. Golden talons covered his figures and gleamed viciously. He wasn¡¯t apologizing for underestimating her, but what he was about to do. Ming Xingyun didn¡¯t stay idle. Her body began to shrink until she appeared like a child again. The Condensed World Sword, which originally fitted her stature, appeared like a giant two-handed sword in her current form. She held the handle with both hands and charged. Leng Junfeng didn¡¯t stand still either and charged forward, wrapped in gale winds. His golden talons reached out and struck forward. Ming Xingyun swung down with both hands. Earlier, she only used one hand to injure Leng Junfeng, and now she used both hands, doubling the power behind her strikes. Furthermore, her physical strength had actually multiplied with her diminished size. Even so, Ming Xingyun found herself blasted backward. When her foot touched the ground, a deep gouge formed before she came to a stop. Even when she came to a stop, she didn¡¯t hesitate and charged toward Leng Junfeng. Leng Junfeng didn¡¯t halt and stepped forward to engage with Ming Xingyun. Two minutes later, Ming Xingyun lay on her back, panting and with countless scratches covering her body. ¡°Y-Y-You w-win, S-Senior Brother.¡± Aside from the wounds he received from the first two contacts, Leng Junfeng had no new wounds. ¡°It doesn¡¯t really feel like I won, though.¡± ¡°A win is a win,¡± Ming Xingyun said. Then, she turned her head toward Tianyi. ¡°Master, heal me! It hurts!¡± Less than a second later, a silver-gold light engulfed Ming Xingyun and Leng Junfeng. To Leng Junfeng¡¯s shock, he discovered that his injuries disappeared and the damage to his robe, a saint-rank artifact, also repaired itself. Not just that, all the immortal qi he spent had returned. This wasn¡¯t something that could be accomplished by mere healing. ¡°Although those gauntlets of yours are damaged, they should be known as the Thunderoc Claws, right?¡± Tianyi asked as Ming Xingyun jumped to her feet. Upon hearing this, she looked at Leng Junfeng¡¯s gauntlets with some curiosity. ¡°Master knows about Monarch Thunderoc?¡± Leng Junfeng asked. Tianyi nodded. ¡°He was a genius that became an immortal monarch in less than a thousand years, and he was skilled in the Law of Lightning and Thunder. More importantly, he was one of the few immortal monarchs that dared to openly rebel against the Immortal Court when it was still known as the Buzhou Immortal Sect.¡± An awkward expression appeared on Leng Junfeng¡¯s face. ¡°In the end, an immortal monarch from the Buzhou Immortal Sect killed him, but that elder also died from the injuries he sustained. To have inherited his legacy, it¡¯s really a coincidence.¡± Leng Junfeng looked away from Tianyi¡¯s eyes. His master¡¯s main body appeared to know more than that, but just didn¡¯t say it. Inwardly, he said, ¡®Sorry Senior Thunderoc. It seems the immortal that killed you also died. And the Buzhou Immortal Court is technically no more, so your grudge should have ended, right?¡¯Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Tianyi clapped his hand, breaking Leng Junfeng out of his thoughts. ¡°Xingyun, you¡¯ll be the third-ranked disciple, everyone¡¯s junior sister.¡± Ming Xingyun nodded. If it was an ordinary true immortal, she might have had a chance at victory, but Leng Junfeng was someone that ascended from a lower realm and was accepted by Tianyi. She didn¡¯t think she could win, and it was only a matter of how long she could last. ¡°Since you are Xingyun¡¯s senior brother and you just met her not long ago, shouldn¡¯t you give her a greeting gift?¡± Leng Junfeng gave a helpless smile when he saw Ming Xingyun¡¯s glittering eyes. He coughed into his fist and a necklace with an exquisitely crafted jewel appeared in his hand. ¡°Right now, I¡¯m poor, so I can only give Junior Sister Xingyun this Soulgem Amulet. It¡¯s a saint-rank artifact that can block the attack of a saint three times.¡± Ming Xingyun showed a happy smile. ¡°Thank you, Senior Brother. I¡¯m sure my sister will like it very much.¡± Leng Junfeng¡¯s expression cramped up. This time, it was Tianyi¡¯s turn to cough. ¡°It¡¯s my fault. I already gave Xingyun everything she needs, but I forbid her from gifting the treasures I bestowed for personal use to anyone else. So, she¡¯s been fretting about how to protect her big sister all this time. Junfeng¡¯s gift can be said to have helped Xingyun very much.¡± ¡°Anyways,¡± Tianyi said, changing the topic. ¡°Do you want to rest for a bit or a day before fighting Jinshu?¡± Leng Junfeng shook his head. ¡°No need, I¡¯m ready anytime.¡± Tianyi nodded, and a few minutes later, Leng Junfeng and Jinshu stood across from each other. Jinshi wore the customary white robes of a member of the Immortal Court with a red overcoat, while Leng Junfeng clad himself in cyan robes and the Thunderoc Claws. Tianyi stood in front of Ming Xingyun in order to shield her from the aftereffect of the two¡¯s clash. Unlike his battle with Ming Xingyun, Leng Junfeng didn¡¯t dare to underestimate Jinshu. If anything, he wanted to overestimate Jinshu. Similarly, Jinshu didn¡¯t underestimate Leng Junfeng. A layer of golden flames directly surrounded him like a suit of armor. Jinshu wore the Fire Element Morpher on his waist, but he didn¡¯t use it. If he used it to defeat Leng Junfeng, it would be nothing more than using an external force. Instead, a sword with a red blade appeared in his hand as he charged at Leng Junfeng. During his time in the Demon Cage Realm, many members of the human race used weapons because their body couldn¡¯t compare to those of demons, but Jinshu was different. Thanks to his father, Lushu, Jinshu inherited the bloodline of the golden crow, making his body extremely powerful, nearly on par with the most powerful of demons in the same realm. However, that all changed upon becoming Tianyi¡¯s disciple. He met other martial cultivators with bodies not one whit weaker than his, or perhaps even stronger, despite the golden crow''s bloodline flowing through his veins. As a result he took up the sword, like Ming Xingyun and followed Tianyi¡¯s path. Leng Junfeng calmly parried the red sword from Jinshu. As a hand-to-hand fighter, he had plenty of experience dealing with weapon users. Still, every time he deflected the sword¡¯s strikes, he had to deflect the accompanying bursts of fire. With each action, the heat drastically rose and the air turned blurry from the heat haze. Jinshu attempted to land a slash on Leng Junfeng, but was deflected every single time. On the other hand, Leng Junfeng could feel the heat accumulate in his arms each time he deflected. He suppressed the rising temperature for the moment and gathered hurricane winds around his arms and fist in an attempt to punch Jinshu, but the latter¡¯s flame armor dispelled most of the force. As the stalemate continued, both combatants slowly accumulated minor injuries. Several cuts littered Jinshu¡¯s body while burns started to appear on Leng Junfeng¡¯s hands. Suddenly, Leng Junfeng dispersed into strands of wind. Jinshu¡¯s sword sliced through empty air, and the sudden disappearance made him confused for a single moment, but that moment was enough. Leng Junfeng materialized behind him and unleashed a powerful punch, sending Jinshu crashing into the ground. When Jinshu crashed into the ground, a deep crater formed. Leng Junfeng wanted to capitalise on his assault, but flame erupted from Jinshu¡¯s body, forming a grand pillar and forcing him to retreat. After getting up, a trail of blood leaked from his lips down to his chin. His eyes narrowed when Leng Junfeng merged with the wind again. No matter what Jinshu did, he couldn¡¯t find his opponent¡¯s traces, only the currents of air. Since that was the case, Jinshu knew he didn¡¯t have any advantage against Leng Junfeng anymore. The fire erupting from Jinshu¡¯s body didn¡¯t reduce, but intensified. The fire slowly changed shape until it formed an avian shape. Golden flames turned scarlet as a red-feathered crow with redder eyes and crimson beak formed. It was a martial avatar that those walking the martial path could condense. Only, the golden crow avatar felt a bit too unstable and illusionary. The golden crow avatar unfurled its wings and unleashed a cry. Flames rained from its spread wings and a domain of pure fire formed. Under this domain, a torrent of gale force winds gathered and formed into Leng Junfeng. Jinshu didn¡¯t hesitate and charged at him with his sword raised high above his head. The golden crow martial avatar trailed behind his sword and followed its movement. Leng Junfeng didn¡¯t continue to dodge, either. He opened his mouth and exhaled. He expelled a never ending cyan haze from his mouth. That haze drifted behind him and conglomerated into a giant clad in green and blue armor. The pauldron on its left shoulder was shaped like a roc¡¯s head, while the pauldron on the right was shaped like a leviathan. Once Jinshu neared, he slashed down. Following his actions, the golden crow dived forward like a falcon from high in the sky. Leng Junfeng stood firmly on the ground and raised both hands. The moment the red sword neared, he clasped both hands together and caught the sword between his palm. Simultaneously, the armored giant avatar grabbed the golden crow¡¯s beak with both hands. Upon contact, fire erupted from the beak of the golden crow avatar and coated the armored giant¡¯s hands and arms in red. To onlookers, it transformed into a clash between cyan and red. The two energies clashed back and forth, neither side willing to lose an inch. After a few minutes of tug-o-war, the cyan torrent almost completely engulfed the red. At this moment, Tianyi waved his hand. The cyan and red qi disappeared as if it never existed, revealing the internal situation to Ming Xingyun. ¡°Senior Brother!¡± Jinshu was kneeling in front of a panting Leng Junfeng. Ming Xingyun knew she would lose, but she didn¡¯t think Leng Junfeng would defeat Jinshu. After a few minutes and Tianyi healing them, all three stood in front of Tianyi. ¡°From this day onward, Junfeng will be the eldest senior brother under my lineage. Jinshu will be the second-ranked and Xingyun will be the third-ranked. If any of you feel like you can defeat the other, you can apply for a battle to change your rankings. Understood?¡± ¡°¡°¡°Yes!¡±¡±¡± all three said. Tianyi nodded. He looked at Junfeng. ¡°Your Thunderoc Claws haven¡¯t fully recovered. Hand it over to me and I¡¯ll fix it for you.¡± Leng Junfeng hesitated for a moment, but he still unbound the Thunderoc Claws and handed it over. Others might be covetous of his monarch-rank artifact, but he didn¡¯t think Tianyi would be such a person. Otherwise, he would have never given Ming Xingyun the Condensed World Sword. ¡°Oh,¡± Tianyi said, as if remembering something. ¡°Yan Nie, the Divine Flame Monarch, is getting married soon. All of you will follow me to congratulate him.¡± Chapter 400: Flamecloud Peak From his cultivation chamber, Xi Ri opened his eyes. His elegant features and smile resembled a spring breeze, but anyone who looked into his eyes would feel the chill of a desolate winter. ¡°I¡¯ve reached the limit.¡± As expected of someone valued by Xi Mengfei¡¯s brother. Although his personal power or the force he controlled wasn¡¯t very strong, the former Xi Emperor¡¯s vision was still very high. Xi Ri did not disappoint him and reached the limit a mortal could reach, the Transcending Mortality Realm. Now, he could only become a true immortal to advance. However, Xi Ri didn¡¯t have the confidence to transcend the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. It wasn¡¯t the first half he was worried about, but the latter half, the Inner Devil Tribulation. As a reincarnator that survived the apocalypse for years, a shadow remained in his heart. Originally, that shadow had slowly diminished after his rebirth. If nothing noteworthy happened, he would have disconnected his current life from his past, but something did happen. He met two fellow reincarnators. Tianyi and Daoyi¡¯s existences were like a thorn in his heart, reminding him that the apocalypse did happen and would always remain with him. Again, the shadow in his heart would disappear with time. He even felt that reminiscing with his fellow reincarnators wasn¡¯t so bad, even if he was jealous of Tianyi. However, then that incident happened. To sell their acts of betraying the then Buzhou Immortal Sect even more, the top echelon allowed the immortal elders not in the know to harm the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s interests. Thus, Immortal Starsoul, accompanied by Hun Jusang and Jiang Chunye, attacked the Xi Dynasty. In the end, Tianyi discovered the abnormality, rescued the Xi Imperial Family and the Jiang Family, then escaped. During the escape, Hun Jusang unleashed a technique on Xi Ri that amplified the shadow in his heart. As a result, his inner devil manifested and almost possessed him. Had it not been for Tianyi or Xi Mengfei¡¯s efforts, he would have likely died. But even if they managed to suppress his inner devil temporarily, it didn¡¯t mean that it disappeared. Xi Ri¡¯s inner devil caused his personality to revert to that cold-blooded survivor of the apocalypse. It wasn¡¯t a temporary change of personality, but something rooted more deeply. Although Xi Ri¡¯s personality appeared to have reverted from before the incident, only he knew that it was mostly an act. And perhaps Daoyi sensed it. Still, what could she do to help? With Tianyi¡¯s current influence, he already sent a lot of treasures that helped him suppress the inner devil to the maximum. Tianyi¡¯s action eased much of Xi Ri¡¯s dissatisfaction. Although he knew it was illogical, he couldn¡¯t help but blame Xi Mengfei for causing the Nihility Sect to attack the Xi Dynasty. However, suppression was not elimination. To overcome his inner devil, Xi Ri had to rely on himself. Otherwise, inner devils would not be so feared. Xi Ri could stall and halt his cultivation, slowly adjusting his state of mind until his inner devil disappeared, but he didn¡¯t think that would happen. He envied Daoyi. She was lucky and didn¡¯t encounter any event that caused her to form an inner devil. Or maybe it was her own state of mind and personal ability? Xi Ri didn¡¯t know. What Xi Ri did know was that he could only count on himself. Of all the cultivators that transcended their Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation, few had undergone it near the end of their lifespan. Most cultivators chose to do it at their peak and not delay it. If you didn¡¯t even have the confidence to undergo the heavenly tribulation, what chances would you have to succeed? Thus, Xi Ri didn¡¯t want to wait any longer. He knew that his inner devil would explode the moment he started his inner devil tribulation, but he also prepared for it. Xi Ri tempered himself using the Immortal Court¡¯s training ground, such as the Paradise Agony Abyss, that tested a cultivator¡¯s willpower. He had the confidence to say that his willpower even exceeded Tianyi¡¯s. Since he reached his peak state, Xi Ri didn¡¯t delay any longer. He disappeared from his mansion on Appointment Peak and appeared outside the general area of the Immortal Court. It was a vast mountain range as far as the eye could see. Although the entire floating island was considered the Immortal Court, and thus, didn¡¯t have an official name, many called it Buzhou Immortal Island. Even if the Immortal Court controlled the entire island, there were still many areas left untouched by them. Xi Ri chose a vacant spot he scouted long ago. Soon, black clouds gathered in the sky above him. He didn¡¯t have to worry about any sneak attack because no demons or cultivators not part of the Immortal Court were allowed on Buzhou Immortal Island.
Tianyi cast his gaze into the distance. There, he saw a long mountain range. At the bottom, greenery still covered it, but as his eyes went up, the barren rocks replaced the greenery. At the very top of each mountain was a snow-covered peak that touched the clouds. Although Daoyi or Xi Ri didn¡¯t tell him, he could still feel that Xi Ri had changed from his core. Tianyi didn¡¯t have an intuitive insight into the human heart like Daoyi, but he spent many years with Xi Ri and Daoyi. Even if their outward actions didn¡¯t change, he would still subconsciously sense some things. The greatest proof was that Xi Ri didn¡¯t tell him when and where he was going to undergo the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. With a wave of his hand, Tianyi disappeared from Nine Heavens Peak and appeared near Xi Ri¡¯s location. Of course, his appearance was only for himself. If anyone else came, even an immortal emperor, they might not be able to sense Tianyi at all since he hid himself between the layers of spacetime. Xi Ri obviously didn¡¯t want him to interfere, so why should Tianyi ruin the latter¡¯s mood? Although he had to be thankful to Xi Ri for choosing now instead of after he left for Yan Nie¡¯s wedding. Well, even if Tianyi had already left, he wouldn¡¯t necessarily be worried. After all, he still had many conduits left in the Immortal Court. Tianyi watched the lightning fall from his location within spacetime. To increase his chances of overcoming the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation, Xi Ri had also cultivated the martial path. He didn¡¯t intend to become a dual path cultivator, he simply used the martial path to strengthen himself and increase his chances of overcoming the heavenly tribulation. Lightning after lightning fell, but Xi Ri persevered. Even if lightning burned all his skin, charred his bones, incinerated his organs, Xi Ri accepted the pain without even a grunt. He dealt with the lightning and healed himself. Finally, the bolts of tribulation lightning stopped after the five hundred and seventy-ninth bolt. A stillness permeated the area around Xi Ri. His body began to change and heal as it continuously recovered and evolved. However, the most crucial aspect hadn¡¯t been concluded. Xi Ri had started his Inner Devil Tribulation. After transcending the first half of the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation, Xi Ri¡¯s body began to transform into that of a true immortal, but if he failed his Inner Devil Tribulation, his tribulation would become nothing but a guillotine. Tianyi sighed and continued to watch Xi Ri. In Jade Peak Palace, a ripple appeared in the air and a second Tianyi stepped out. While one body guarded Xi Ri, another one would bring his disciples to attend Yan Nie¡¯s wedding. This conduit of his only had the power of an immortal monarch, but it could still open a portal to the Nine Heavens Universe. Once the portal opened, his Heavenly Dao clone could directly send an attack through the portal. He paused as he stopped in his path toward Nine Heavens Peak. He made a wry smile. ¡®Since when did I start to look down on an immortal monarch¡¯s strength so much? Only an immortal monarch¡¯s strength. Ha!¡¯ Tianyi shook his head and arrived at the Nine Heavens Palace atop the Ninth Mountain. Daoyi had arrived with his new conduit, so he only needed to wait for Leng Junfeng, Jinshu, and Ming Xingyun to arrive. When they arrived, Tianyi waved his hand and an immortal boat appeared. The immortal boat appeared like a futuristic sailboat spaceship. The design looked completely out of place in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, and Tianyi had designed it based on what he thought looked cool. After the war ended, he created this boat since the one he had wasn¡¯t up to his needs. He called it the Voidverse Shuttle. As the name suggested, Tianyi used his insight into the Law of Spacetime to refine this monarch artifact. Had he used better materials, it would have definitely been an emperor artifact, but Tianyi didn¡¯t want to spend too much resources on an artifact whose ability he already possessed. At most, he would give it to a disciple or something once they needed to venture out. Unlike when Su Bojing escorted Leng Junfeng with the Elderlight Boat, the Voidverse Shuttle appeared outside of the Immortal Court without passing through the Mortal Severance Gate. Of the immortals of the Immortal Court, only Tianyi and Mengfei could accomplish this act without using the guardian formation. After all, the formation was jointly set up by Mengfei, with Tianyi as an aid. Mengfei¡¯s accomplishments in formations exceeded Tianyi, but Tianyi mastered the Law of Spacetime and he controlled the Huang Realm to an extent. If anyone dared to attack the Immortal Court, it would not be an overstatement to say it would be akin to attacking all the Huang Realm. Leng Junfeng observed the ground beneath the immortal boat. He had already experienced Tianyi¡¯s mastery over spacetime, but it still surprised him. He couldn¡¯t feel any fluctuation each time Tianyi teleported him or others. Rather than an artificial technique, it was closer to a natural phenomenon. In contrast, Jinshu and Ming Xingyun showed no surprise. After all, they were used to it. The Voidverse Shuttle sailed through the sky and the ground below soon turned into a blur of colors. ¡°If you¡¯re going to fly so fast, why didn¡¯t you just teleport directly near Flamecloud Peak?¡± Daoyi asked. Leng Junfeng turned toward his master¡¯s wife. Strictly speaking, this was his first time seeing her. Although she was a true immortal like him and Jinshu, his intuition told Leng Junfeng that her strength exceeded theirs. Although he wondered why his master¡¯s wife didn¡¯t become an immortal monarch if she had such strength, he didn¡¯t ask. He was still unfamiliar with the surrounding people, something that would disappear with time. The Voidverse Shuttle lurched to a stop without warning, but no one felt any discomfort. From the moment they teleported out of the Immortal Court, none of the passengers felt the ground beneath them move. It was as if they were standing on the ground, and not on an incredibly fast ship. None of that mattered to Leng Junfeng because a structure outside the immortal boat caught his eye. It was a monolithic tower that reached the clouds. Furthermore, it was built atop a massive volcano covered in verdant vegetation. The mountain was known as Flamecloud Peak, and the tower was called the Flame Pill Tower. It was an organization that came into existence after the war of unification, and its creator was none other than Yan Nie, the Divine Flame Monarch. The Voidverse Shuttle didn¡¯t land near the entrance to the Flame Pill Tower, but floated higher and higher until it was almost at the peak. There, the passengers could see a gigantic flame continuously burning on the highest floor. The flame was composed of five colors, but each color faintly had two tints, and was immensely beautiful. ¡®That guy, is he also trying to comprehend the Law of Yin and Yang?¡¯ Tianyi thought. He didn¡¯t dwell on the matter, and the boat drifted toward one of the landing pads sticking out from the third highest floor. Before the Voidverse Shuttle landed, Yan Nie appeared in front of the boat. ¡°Can¡¯t you just obediently enter at the entrance and not use the member-only entrance?¡± Chapter 401: Yan Nies Wedding Yan Nie stared at the pill cauldron roasted by the five-colored flame in the center of the alchemy chamber in a daze. The Five Element Truefire was created by him after he separated from Monarch Pillrabbit and founded the Flame Pill Tower. Even for the current Yan Nie, creating the Five Element Truefire took a lot out of him, much less letting it stabilize and burn for eternity That¡¯s why he built Flame Pill Tower atop Flamecloud Peak. Flamecloud Peak wasn¡¯t just an active volcano, but it was a node full of fire attribute spiritual qi, a fire spiritual vein. Not only did the spiritual vein stabilize the Five Element Truefire and keep it from extinguishing, it was much easier to use for concocting pills. True, it was easier to control the Five Element Truefire created by himself at the moment, but it also took up more concentration¡ªconcentration that he needed to concoct pills. He wasn¡¯t the only beneficiary of the Five Element Truefire. All the alchemists of Flame Pill Tower could use an offshoot of the Five Element Truefire, belonging to any of the five elements or a combination of the five elemental fires, to concoct. They just had to spend contribution points they earned in the service of Pill Flame Tower. Yan Nie¡¯s hand never stopped moving as he controlled the Five Element Truefire. The herbs melted and transformed into the purest essence of the plants inside the cauldron. Under his control, they slowly came together to form a spherical shape. It was the most crucial step, integrating all components into a pill. However, what was reflected in Yan Nie¡¯s eyes during the process wasn¡¯t the embryonic pill, but the memories of Yun Xialan from their childhood to now. To be honest, until her gender was revealed, he never thought of her as anything but his sworn brother. Funny how things turned out. After reconnecting with Yun Xialan and understanding the situation on the Heaven Continent, Yan Nie planned to aid her after the Anti-Earth Alliance conquered the Eight Pillar Sect. He never expected that the Cloud Goddess Cult would suddenly switch sides to the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Or rather, the Cloud Goddess Cult had always been the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s agent¡ªgathering all the dissidents of the Heaven Continent into one group to lower the guard of the other two hegemonic forces and ease of elimination when the time turned ripe. Suddenly, black smoke wafted from the pill cauldron. Yan Nie waved his hand, dispersing the smoke and minimizing the flame. A charred pill floated out of the cauldron. Yan Nie sighed. Really, what was he thinking? Obviously, his mind wasn¡¯t focused, yet he still tried to concoct a pill. What¡¯s more, he wasted enough materials that would make true immortals cry with hurt if they wasted the same amount of resources as he did. Yan Nie sighed and stored the failed pill into his spatial ring. He could always recycle the materials in some way. With another sigh, he walked out of his alchemy chamber. There, he saw an elder in a snow-white robe. ¡°Master.¡± ¡°Yan Nie, Yan Nie, why are you attempting alchemy at such a time? Nervous?¡± Monarch Pillrabbit asked. Yan Nie paused. Was he nervous? After experiencing the apocalypse, he thought he wouldn¡¯t become nervous just because of a wedding, but reality made him realize his fallacy. ¡°Perhaps.¡± Monarch Pillrabbit shook his head. ¡°Well, enough teasing. Since you¡¯re out, don¡¯t continue to concoct pills. Your friends and family are here.¡± ¡°Friends and family?¡± Yan Nie asked. Then he smiled. ¡°Why did no one inform me?¡± ¡°Who would dare to disturb you while you¡¯re concocting pills?¡± Monarch Pillrabbit asked with a laugh. Aside from Yan Nie, the Yan Clan didn¡¯t have any talents. The grandmasters and venerables that appeared were born because of Yan Nie¡¯s pills. Yan Nie didn¡¯t stall and walked toward where his friends and family waited. As long as he thought about it, he could sense almost everything in the Flame Pill Tower. In a few minutes, he walked into a room with people full of smiles. ¡°Haha, Nie¡¯er!¡± Yan Nie¡¯s father, the Yan Patriarch, said as he gave his son a bear hug. ¡°It still seems like yesterday that you were just born. But, in a blink of an eye and you¡¯re already getting married. And to Little Yun, too.¡± Yan Nie gave a wry smile, but his smile turned strange as he looked at his father closely. ¡°Father, did you already know that Xialan was a girl?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± the Yan Patriarch said. Then, it was his turn to look at his son strangely. ¡°You didn¡¯t know?¡± ¡°What are you talking about? Of course I knew,¡± Yan Nie said, but he avoided his father¡¯s gaze. The Yan Patriarch just laughed and let go of his son. He wasn¡¯t the only one who wanted to congratulate Yan Nie. Soon, the latter found himself surrounded. As he received the well wishes of his friends and family, one voice stood out. ¡°Congratulations.¡±This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Yan Nie turned his head to see a young woman with noble features exuding an elegant aura. Although she sent her salutations, he could not see any happiness on her face. ¡°Lanyue.¡± Pan Lanyue smiled, but anyone could tell it did not reach her eyes. ¡°Congratulations.¡± ¡°You already said that.¡± Yan Nie immediately wanted to slap himself after speaking. He wasn¡¯t a dull idiot, and he could detect some of Pan Lanyue¡¯s feelings. This girl even followed him to the Earth Continent. It was just that as the two¡¯s strength began to widen, Pan Lanyue started to have her own adventures to catch up. Had the engagement break-up never happened, Yan Nie thought he would probably marry this girl, but it did. Although Yan Nie understood Pan Lanyue¡¯s actions from a logical point of view, he couldn¡¯t accept it on an emotional level. All chances of them being together vanished the moment Yun Xialan appeared again. Compared to Pan Lanyue, who had called off the engagement, he was much more willing to accept Yun Xialan. An awkward silence settled between the two. Even the other people in the room could detect it, and the jovial atmosphere became tense. Yan Nie wanted to find something to change the topic, but his usual limber mind became as slow as a turtle at this moment. His eyes lit up. ¡°Someone intruded in the airspace reserved for members of Flame Pill Tower. I have to check it out.¡± Without waiting for anyone to react, Yan Nie left without turning back. He flew outside of the tower and saw a weird spaceship-like thing. He didn¡¯t even need to guess who created it. Very few people in the Huang Realm would create such a strange immortal boat. ¡°Can¡¯t you just obediently enter at the entrance and not use the member-only entrance?¡± ¡°With our relationship, can we be considered ordinary guests?¡± Upon hearing Tianyi¡¯s rebuttal, Yan Nie rolled his eyes, but he still invited Tianyi in. Tianyi, Daoyi, and his disciples entered the Flame Pill Tower, and with a wave of his hand, Tianyi stored the Voidverse Shuttle. Even if he didn¡¯t want to, Tianyi still became the center of attention. Although many still paid attention to Yan Nie, neither his strength nor status could compare with Tianyi. Tianyi¡¯s presence gave rise to a different sort of tension, one different between Yan Nie and Pan Lanyue. To Yan Nie¡¯s friends and family, Tianyi was someone on another level compared to them. More importantly, they weren¡¯t as familiar with Tianyi as they were with Yan Nie. The situation only lasted a day since Yan Nie left the next day to bring back Yun Xialan from the Cloud Goddess Cult. Most of the Cloud Goddess Cult became members of the Immortal Court or Cultivator Alliance. A few members remained to propagate the Cloud Goddess religion. Yun Xialan was one of the members that decided not to join the Immortal Court or Cultivator Alliance. Yan Nie rode on a red-haired horse with flames burning on its hooves. Each step the horse took left a hoof mark in the sky. Behind him was a gorgeous red sedan pulled by two avian beasts that inherited the bloodline of the Phoenix Clan. Accompanying them were Yan Nie¡¯s male friends. Although he was an immortal monarch, only a few of his friends had become immortals. And this included Pan Lanyue, so most of them were venerables or saints. Flamecloud Peak wasn¡¯t too far away from the new location of the diminished Cloud Goddess Cult. The wedding procession stopped outside of the Cloud Goddess Cult¡¯s entrance, and Yan Nie got off his horse. His friends, including Tianyi, accompanied him to the gate. ¡°Xialan! I¡¯m here to take you back to become my wife!¡± At this time, a few robed priests with cloud embroideries stopped Yan Nie. They weren¡¯t really preventing him from marrying Yun Xialan, but it was just part of tradition. ¡°Divine Flame Monarch, not anyone can marry our Holy Cloud Saintess. To bring her away, you must pass our tests.¡± Yan Nie nodded. He recognized the speaker. He was Yun Xialan¡¯s master, the previous Holy Cloud Saint. The test was simple. Yan Nie only had to endure a single strike from all generations of holy cloud saints and saintesses. As the previous generation, Yun Xialan¡¯s master was the first to strike. He only had the power of a true immortal, so Yan Nie easily deflected his strike. Then the generation before that attacked, and the generation before that. Finally, an immortal monarch-level cloud saint appeared and attacked Yan Nie, which he also deflected. Of the twenty-five cloud saints and saintesses, only three were immortal monarchs. Because they used faith, an external force, to cultivate and become true immortals and monarchs, they were weaker than most immortals in the same realm. Yan Nie wouldn¡¯t discount any outliers either, plus, they could burst with extremely strong combat power for a short time by using faith energy. Still, this wasn¡¯t a battle, but a ceremony, so most of them only went through the movements with no real intent on hindering Yan Nie. Without any accident, Yan Nie passed all the trials. According to tradition, the closest male relative of the same generation would transfer the bride to the sedan, so Yun Xialan¡¯s cousin carried the bride out on his back. Yan Nie couldn¡¯t see Yun Xialan¡¯s face through her red veil and red wedding dress, but he knew that she was undoubtedly the most beautiful woman in the entire universe at this moment. Yun Xialan¡¯s cousin transferred Yun Xialan into the marriage sedan, and the wedding procession made its way back to Flamecloud Peak, accompanied by members of the Cloud Goddess Cult. By this time, the sun had already dipped into the horizon. Yan Nie and Yun Xialan entered the main hall, where the Yan Patriarch sat on the highest seat. In the seat next to him was a plaque with Yan Nie¡¯s mother¡¯s name on it. The bride and groom stood in front of the Yan Patriarch. Standing in front of the two was Monarch Pillrabbit, who was officiating the ceremony. ¡°The first bow, bowing to heaven and earth!¡± Yan Nie and Yun Xialan got onto their knees, bowing to the heavens and the earth. ¡°The second bow, bowing to one¡¯s parents,¡± Monarch Pillrabbit said after the two got up. Once again, the two got onto their knees. Only this time, they bowed to the Yan Patriarch and the plaque of the Yan Matriarch. Without missing a beat, Monarch Pillrabbit declared the third bow. ¡°The third bow, bowing to one¡¯s spouse.¡± This time, Yan Nie and Yun Xialan turned toward each other before getting on their knees and bowing to each other. ¡°After the three bows, you two are now husband and wife,¡± Monarch Pillrabbit said with fatherly affection, not one whit dimmer than the Yan Patriarch. With a dramatic flourish of his sleeve, he said. ¡°Send the bride to the bridal chamber!¡± Chapter 402: Failed Immortal After the three ceremonial bows, the women escorted the bride to the bridal room, while the men stayed to toast Yan Nie on his marriage in the reception hall. By the end of the hour, Yan Nie felt like he had downed over a hundred shots, but it wasn¡¯t the alcohol that made him drunk but the atmosphere. ¡°Congratulations on your marriage.¡± Yan Nie turned to see Tianyi raising a cup. His smile didn¡¯t lessen as he knocked his refilled cup against Tianyi¡¯s cup, causing a crisp clink to sound. ¡°Thank you.¡± As if on cue, the torrent of people wishing him well slowed down. Yan clicked his tongue after downing another cup. ¡°Your status is really handy. Once you come, they don¡¯t dare to toast to me anymore.¡± Tianyi rolled his eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t act like you aren¡¯t happy. I was afraid that you¡¯d be mad because my presence stopped the people from toasting you. Anyway, do you have any plans for your honeymoon?¡± ¡°I do have some ideas.¡± ¡°Such as?¡± Tianyi probed. Yan Nie didn¡¯t answer. Instead, he changed the topic. ¡°I heard that after you got married to Daoyi, you two didn¡¯t have a honeymoon period because of the war. Don¡¯t tell me you are fishing for ideas. Haven¡¯t you thought of any ideas since then?¡± Tianyi did have this idea, but he would never admit it. ¡°What are you talking about? I plan to take Daoyi to tour the lower realms once everything has settled. Hmpf." A smirk appeared on Tianyi¡¯s face as he looked at Yan Nie. ¡°How about it? Can your honeymoon compare to mine? At most, you can take Yun Xialan to the realms connected to the Huang Realm, not outside of it like me.¡± The corner of Yan Nie¡¯s eye twitched. ¡°What¡¯s so good about the lower realms? The Huang Realm still has many wondrous locations I can visit.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true, but they aren¡¯t really that wondrous to me. I pretty much know about all of them since, you know.¡± Yan Nie¡¯s eye twitched even more. The twitch even spread to his cheek. ¡°Why do I feel like you are bragging?¡± ¡°You¡¯re imagining things,¡± Tianyi said, but he couldn¡¯t hide the upward curl at the edge of his lips. However, that curl soon reversed. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Tianyi shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± He excused himself soon after. Yan Nie didn¡¯t think it was nothing. He could guess something happened from Tianyi¡¯s expression, but he didn¡¯t have time to pursue it as people crowded around him, congratulating him. He didn¡¯t pursue the matter. If the situation became dire, wouldn¡¯t Tianyi tell him? For now, it was better to focus on his wedding. Yan Nie accepted every person who came to toast him. When midnight¡¯s bell rang, his face had already flushed red. He had to lean on his cousins to make it to the bridal chambers. Otherwise, he might trip and fall. Luckily, Yan Nie quickly sobered up on the way there, although his face was still slightly flushed and the smell of alcohol lingered around him. The female guests were already waiting outside the chambers. Under everyone¡¯s gaze, Yan Nie opened the doors to reveal Yun Xialan sitting on the bed with the veil covering her face. ¡°Hurry and lift the veils so you can show everyone how beautiful your wife is.¡± ¡°Yeah, hurry up, Brother Yan!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t tell us you want to hide your wife forever?!¡± Spurred by the guests¡¯ words and impatience, Yan Nie walked over and lifted Yun Xialan¡¯s veil. The moment of revelation caused a silence to befall the guests. It only lasted a moment as they congratulated Yan Nie on marrying a beautiful wife. There were even a few people who couldn¡¯t hide the envy in their voices. Yan Nie couldn¡¯t even find a hint of Yun Xialan¡¯s boyish charm from their childhood. He even questioned how he could ever think that Yun Xialan was a boy. ¡°Makeup sure changes a person,¡± Daoyi said as she walked up and stood next to Tianyi. ¡°En,¡± Tianyi said. He was staring at Yun Xialan, but anyone could see that his mind was elsewhere. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Tianyi shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you later. It¡¯s best not to ruin Yan Nie¡¯s mood.¡± Daoyi¡¯s brows furrowed. She couldn¡¯t think of anything that would ruin Yan Nie¡¯s mood. Most of his friends and families had already arrived, and nothing happened to them. The only thing that she could think of that would ruin Yan Nie¡¯s mood would be Xi Ri undergoing the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation now instead of attending the wedding. ¡®Wait, Xi Ri,¡¯ Daoyi thought. She looked at Tianyi, who entered a daze again. If she guessed correctly, something must have happened to Xi Ri.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. After Yan Nie unveiled Yun Xialan¡¯s enthralling face, he closed the doors. None of the people waited outside. Even if they didn¡¯t spread their immortal sense, the two newlyweds wouldn¡¯t feel comfortable ¡®doing¡¯ it with people nearby, right? The only thing of note was that Tianyi¡¯s group didn¡¯t stay for the night and left. Had he not left a few gifts, people might have speculated that the Nine Heavens Emperor and Divine Flame Monarch had a falling out. There was always the rumor that the Nine Heavens Emperor and Divine Flame Monarch had some sort of friendship. Some said that the friendship started when the two fought during the war on the Earth Continent. Of course, others said that Yan Nie had already known the true nature of the Anti-Earth Alliance by then, and that the two¡¯s fight was nothing more than an act. A few even speculated that the two became friends when they were still weak and hadn¡¯t even reached the Core Formation Realm. Although more rumors said it was a rivalry at first because of a woman. That rivalry turned into friendship. Although Tianyi was an immortal emperor now, he still kept his friendship with Yan Nie because he appreciated the latter¡¯s potential. Otherwise, the two wouldn¡¯t be able to continue being friends. Once a gap in strength happened, the two parties would start to distance themselves. Anyway, rumors shrouded the two¡¯s past. Now that Tianyi had appeared at Yan Nie¡¯s wedding, it was no longer a rumor.
Tianyi watched Xi Ri¡¯s expression darken as black miasma wafted from his body. He immediately extradited himself from the spacetime folds and appeared a few meters away from his cousin. He didn¡¯t touch Xi Ri¡¯s body for fear of triggering a backlash. Even a mere touch from an outsider might increase the difficulty of the tribulation. ¡°It hasn¡¯t even been a week. Why is Xi Ri struggling so much?¡± Tianyi asked, but no one could answer him. Only the Heavenly Dao could answer Tianyi, but that was impossible. After the Immortal Court conquered the entire Huang Realm and started upgrading it, they gained the ability to influence and guide the actions of the Heavenly Dao. However, guiding and influencing were different from controlling. For example, the Immortal Court couldn¡¯t stop the Huang Realm from dispatching heavenly punishment against Tianyi if he did something that warranted it. No matter Tianyi¡¯s thoughts, he could do nothing but watch Xi Ri¡¯s Inner Devil Tribulation. Seconds later, the space behind him rippled as Daoyi stepped out. Tianyi¡¯s conduit didn¡¯t let his disciples here and just sent them back to Nine Heavens Peak. ¡°Can you do anything?¡± Tianyi asked. Of the two, Daoyi possessed superior soul methods. If she wanted to, she could become an immortal monarch at any moment, but she wanted to comprehend the Law of Life and Death and use that as a foundation to become an immortal monarch. Daoyi had already almost completely mastered the Law of Life, and was just one breath away. However, that last step was an insurmountable moat that blocked many immortals, much less Daoyi. However, she wasn¡¯t in a rush. She was still young and had much more time. She had already decided to give up if she could not master the Law of Life in a few thousand years. If she couldn¡¯t master the Law of Life and Death in ten or so thousand years after mastering the Law of Life, she would also give up. Not everyone was as monstrous or perverted as Tianyi. Sometimes, Daoyi wondered how Tianyi¡¯s mind worked. Even now, his comprehension of the myriad laws hadn¡¯t stopped. He must be the immortal that mastered the most laws, right? Daoyi shook her head. ¡°Unknown. If I probe his soul, it might only worsen his problem. The only thing we can do is wait.¡± Tianyi sighed. He already knew that, but he still clung onto a tiny bit of hope. Knowing that there was nothing to do but wait, Tianyi and Daoyi did just that. When Daoyi returned, it was already the second day of Xi Ri¡¯s Inner Devil Tribulation. Two days turned to three, and three days eventually turned to seven. During this time, Xi Ri¡¯s eyebrows constantly twitched and his expression changed nonstop. Sometimes it appeared as if he was laughing, other times, he showed wrath more explosive than an eruption. Sadness colder than the arctic, despair deeper than the abyss, a smile more beautiful than a million stars, Xi Ri showed every emotion possible. Tianyi clenched his hands. The longer Xi Ri could last, the higher chance of succeeding in his Inner Devil Tribulation. He also experienced an abnormally long Inner Devil Tribulation, but Tianyi¡¯s experience was abnormal. Most true immortals only needed to withstand seven days of the Inner Devil Tribulation to pass if they couldn¡¯t break out of it in time. ¡°Xi Ri!¡± Tianyi said with happiness when he saw Xi Ri open his eyes. However, that happiness didn¡¯t last long when he sensed Xi Ri¡¯s soul dissipating from his body. Alas, Xi Ri had become an earth immortal, a failed immortal. There were two types of earth immortals, those that failed the lightning tribulation and those that failed the Inner Devil Tribulation. Earth immortals that failed their lightning tribulations are actually souls without bodies. As bodiless souls, they used different methods to reconstruct their body, whether by creating a new one or possessing one. However, that was only delaying the inevitable, and they would still die. Cultivators that passed the lightning tribulation but failed the Inner Devil Tribulation are different. Because they passed the lightning tribulation, their body transformed into that of a true immortal. However, since they failed the Inner Devil Tribulation, their souls are still mortal. How could a mortal¡¯s soul sustain an immortal¡¯s body? The immortal body constantly puts pressure on the soul, causing it to dissipate. The process was similar to how a true immortal whose willpower could sustain their will to live, causing them to dissipate into nourishment for heaven and earth. Likewise, earth immortals that failed their Inner Devil Tribulation will become nourishment for the world. ¡°Xi Ri¡­¡± Tianyi said again, but Xi Ri ignored him. His cold eyes made Tianyi pause as he flew back toward Appointment Peak. Tianyi looked at Daoyi, who was also helpless. ¡°Is there no way to stop the dissipation of his soul?¡± ¡°Because the body is too strong, it actually traps the soul inside it. Once his soul leaves his body, it would instantly dissipate, not even giving him a chance to reincarnate,¡± Tianyi said with a sigh. ¡°If he had failed the lightning tribulation, he would at least have a chance at reincarnation. Unlike now.¡± Daoyi also sighed. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t give up hope,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°After becoming the sole hegemon of the Huang Realm, the Immortal Court has released a lot of its hidden knowledge. Perhaps there¡¯s a way to save Xi Ri. We just have to look.¡± Tianyi waved his hand, and a necklace appeared in his palm. ¡°I originally prepared this for Xingyun if she failed her Inner Devil Tribulation. It can slow down the dissipation of the soul. I¡¯ll give this one to Xi Ri and just find another one for Xingyun later.¡± As for Xingyun failing her lightning tribulation, Tianyi didn¡¯t think it was possible with her Condensed Mountain Physique. Chapter 403: The Merit Path Tianyi tried every way to prevent Xi Ri¡¯s soul dissipation. He even consulted Xia Meng and the other immortal officials. Most of the immortal officials were supreme experts of their time, but could not stand the passage of time. To extend their life, they entered a hibernation state to wait for the moment the Buzhou Immortal Sect returned to become the Immortal Court. Who knows, maybe they knew a method that had long been lost in modern times. Alas, Tianyi returned disappointed as none of the ancient existences of the Immortal Court had a method to stop an earth immortal¡¯s dissipating soul. Tianyi even attempted to stop Xi Ri¡¯s dissipating soul by sending him into his inner universe. Even inside the Nine Heavens Universe, where he was almost omnipotent, Tianyi could not prevent Xi Ri¡¯s soul dissipation. Neither could he forcibly transform Xi Ri into a seamless immortal. At best, Tianyi could slow down the dissipation of his soul. Currently, there were two methods for Xi Ri to prevent his soul from dissipating. The first method was to comprehend a complete law and become a seamless immortal. However, the chances of Xi Ri comprehending a worldly law were smaller than an earth immortal that failed their lightning tribulation. The soul was the foundation of all life. The weaker the soul, the harder it was to comprehend the worldly laws. In essence, it was impossible for Xi Ri to take this path. The second method was to inscribe Xi Ri¡¯s name onto the scroll that Xia Meng took out during the Immortal Official Conferment Ceremony. However, that scroll, along with the other conferred immortal officials, were helping Tianyi ascend the Huang Realm. He had to wait until the Huang Realm finished upgrading, and by then, it might be too late. Furthermore, Tianyi couldn¡¯t add Xi Ri¡¯s name to the scroll, as he liked. The scroll already reached the limit of names it could hold. The immortal officials weren¡¯t just upgrading the Huang Realm, but they were restoring the scroll¡¯s power in the process. And even if the scroll regained its former power and could hold more names, plenty of old timers from the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s history were waiting to join the scroll. If Tianyi forced Xi Ri¡¯s name onto it, he would receive the Immortal Court¡¯s criticism. It was not that Tianyi couldn¡¯t withstand the criticism. It would not be a lie to say his current position was no less crucial than the scroll itself. His importance might change in the future, but now was the present. No, what Tianyi feared was dragging down his mother, Mengfei. She would receive criticism by association. Mengfei wouldn¡¯t care for these criticisms either, but this was a crucial point. There was currently an unprecedented chance for Mengfei. As long as she grasped it, she would likely immediately break through to become a divinity, but there were also hibernating immortal sovereigns vying for the chance. Tianyi would never be able to forgive himself if he caused Mengfei to lose this precious chance. Currently, Tianyi, Daoyi, and Xi Ri sat inside the main hall of the Nine Heavens Palace with a gloomy air hanging over them. Tianyi sighed. ¡°Although it¡¯s not ideal, how about spending your time inside the Nine Heavens Universe until a solution can be found? I¡¯ll suppress the dissipation of your soul and slow the time around you.¡± Xi Ri shook his head. ¡°How is that any different from living in a cage?¡± ¡°What are you talking about? It¡¯s just a temporary arrangement until a solution can be found!¡± ¡°What solution is there? There isn¡¯t a method even in the inheritance of the Immortal Court. How could a solution be found?¡± Xi Ri asked. ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m the protagonist of some novel, and a miracle will happen.¡± ¡°Besides, it¡¯s not all bad,¡± Xi Ri said. He leaned back against his chair. ¡°Since I¡¯m going to die, there¡¯s no need to worry about whether or not I form an inner devil or not. In fact, I think the embryonic inner devil has disappeared. All I need to do now is enjoy the rest of my life. So, don¡¯t mind me leeching off of you, okay?¡± Tianyi tried to smile. It felt like Xi Ri had returned to before the incident in the Xi Dynasty. However, no matter how much his lips curled, they would inevitably return to their flat position. ¡°Hmpf, dream on. I¡¯m not going to give you freebies. If you want to live well, you better think of a way to comprehend a complete law and become a seamless immortal,¡± he said. Xi Ri laughed, but he was the only one that did so. Tianyi suddenly looked toward the entrance. His eyes pierced through the walls of the Nine Heaven Palace and focused on the figure standing outside the palace gates. ¡°Grand Elder Nine Heavens, I hope you don¡¯t mind an old man like me visiting,¡± Xia Meng said. Tianyi¡¯s eyes lit up. The only reason Xia Meng would look for him was either for the ascension of the Huang Realm or for Xi Ri¡¯s problem. Nothing wrong happened with the Huang Realm¡¯s ascension, so it must be for the latter. The palace gates swung open, and Xia Meng entered. It didn¡¯t take for him to enter the main hall. ¡°Oh, Xi Ri is also here. Good.¡±The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Grand Elder Xia, did you find a method to solve Xi Ri¡¯s problem?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°So impatient,¡± Xia Meng said with a laugh. ¡°But I did indeed discover a solution while looking through the records. However, it¡¯s not perfect.¡± Tianyi¡¯s smile dimmed a bit. ¡°What are the drawbacks?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing extreme, just that his path will be different from other immortals,¡± Xia Meng said. ¡°Have you heard of the merit path?¡± ¡°Merit path?¡± Not just Tianyi, but Daoyi and Xi Ri also repeated Xia Meng¡¯s words. ¡°Is it a branch of three cultivation paths?¡± Tianyi asked. Immortal cultivation had three orthodox paths: spirit, martial, and soul. No matter which one or how many a cultivator took, they would all end at the same point. Strictly speaking, Tianyi¡¯s cultivation path could no longer be considered part of the orthodox method. All seven grades of the Nine-Five Scripture were a combination of the three cultivation paths, the problem was Tianyi. Because he absorbed the tribulation essence in the Foundation Establishment Realm and made it his own, it paved the way for his future. He made the tribulation essence and, by extension, the source within his own and merged it with his foundation. All of this resulted in a new path unique to him. Tianyi called it the universe path. ¡°The merit path is not considered part of the orthodox paths. Although it is an unorthodox path, it does not conflict with the orthodox paths.¡± Most unorthodox paths relied on external influences to cultivate. For example, the blood path. A user of the blood path must absorb a large amount of blood to cultivate, the higher the quality, the better. However, high-quality blood is hard to find. As a result, blood cultivators usually massacre many lives, focusing on quantity instead of quality. Most unorthodox paths had similar characteristics. As a result, they were all grouped as devilish cultivators. Of course, devilish cultivators have never gained the upper hand against orthodox cultivators. Those that cultivate the unorthodox paths can dramatically increase their strength in a short amount of time. At least, until before the Immortal Realm. So the orthodox cultivators always had more experts than those of the devilish cultivators. Even at the same level, orthodox cultivators usually exceeded unorthodox cultivators in power. Orthodox cultivators relied on a strong foundation and understanding the worldly laws to cultivate. Everything was internal and their own. Unorthodox had to rely on external powers to cultivate. As a result, they could not display the same amount of strength as orthodox cultivators in the same realm. ¡°The merit path also relies on external resources to ascend, but as you can guess, it¡¯s nothing like blood or sin,¡± Xia Meng said. ¡°The cultivator has to merge merit into their body, and they don¡¯t need to undergo Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. They will become a merit immortal as soon as they reach the qualifications. Because they cultivate using merit, the possibility of people attacking them is not high, much less killing them. Anyone who attacks such a meritorious individual would be stained with karmic sin.¡± ¡°What about the downsides?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°The only downsides are that the cultivator¡¯s strength will be below average for his realm. And he will never be able to become a divinity.¡± ¡°What about becoming a seamless or extremity immortal?¡± Xia Meng smiled. ¡°They can. In fact, it¡¯s easier for them to reach that level than other cultivators, and they will still have the longevity of a true immortal. Like becoming an immortal, they just need to accumulate energy. Their merit qi will reach the level of a five-step seamless immortal or extremity immortal. However, without mastery of the law, even an ordinary immortal monarch can defeat a merit emperor.¡± Tianyi held his chin. Although it was a pity that merit cultivators couldn¡¯t become divinities, but this was already a good result. Furthermore, he believed that Xi Ri will at least be able to master a complete law. He turned toward his cousin. ¡°What do you think?¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s good,¡± Xi Ri said. He had a hint of excitement in his eyes. Even though he had resigned himself for death, that didn¡¯t mean he didn¡¯t wish to live. ¡°Are you sure?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°There¡¯s possibly a better alternative. Once you step on this path, there is no going back.¡± ¡°What¡¯s there to hesitate? If I¡¯m not wrong, it is not easy to become a merit immortal. The amount of merit that must be accumulated must not be small. Am I right, Grand Elder Xia?¡± Xia Meng nodded. ¡°Even with the method, it is a race against time. Of course, the higher you go on the merit path, the slower your soul will dissipate.¡± ¡°Then what are we waiting for?¡± Xia Meng didn¡¯t answer Xi Ri. He looked at Tianyi instead. At his gaze, Daoyi and Xi Ri directed their gaze towards Tianyi. ¡°Why are you looking at me? It¡¯s Xi Ri¡¯s decision. Since he has chosen this path, what¡¯s there to hesitate about?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°In that case.¡± Sect Master reached into his sleeves and pulled out a jade slip. Unlike ordinary jade slips, this one exuded a golden glow. Xi Ri took the jade slip and inserted his spiritual sense into it. His eyes glazed over as he accepted the merit path method. ¡°Since the method has been given, I¡¯ll take my leave now. If you need anything, just contact me,¡± Xia Meng said as he turned around to leave. ¡°Oh, and I don¡¯t think you need me to say this, but don¡¯t spread it.¡± ¡°Thank you very much!¡± Tianyi called out as he escorted Xia Meng out. When he returned, Xi Ri was still accepting the merit path method. Tianyi glanced at Daoyi and let out a sigh of relief. Daoyi also smiled back. The weight on their hearts was finally lifted. After a week, Xi Ri finally awoke from his trance, and the jade slip shattered into dust. ¡°Whew, it contained a lot more information than I expected. Not just the portion pertaining to becoming a merit immortal, but the jade slip also included everything up to the merit sovereign level.¡± ¡°Have you thought of a plan to earn merit?¡± Tianyi asked. To gain karmic merit, you must make the Heavenly Dao acknowledge your actions are for the good of the world. Also, deliberately creating problems, only to solve them later, will only earn karmic sin. If it was after the Huang Realm ascended, Tianyi had confidence to skew the amount of merits Xi Ri earned for each contribution to its highest limit. Alas, that was impossible now. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m going to create a nation in a barren land and increase the population,¡± Xi Ri said. There are a few methods to gain merit, such as sacrificing resources to strengthen the realm or increasing its population. He turned to Tianyi. ¡°Do you know any place like this?¡± The barren in Xi Ri¡¯s mouth didn¡¯t mean a land with no vegetation, like a desert or a wasteland, but a place with little spiritual qi. ¡°I do,¡± Tianyi said. He waved his hand, and all three of them disappeared from the Nine Heavens Palace. Chapter 404: Do You Want Revenge? Darkness enveloped Daoyi¡¯s and Xi Ri¡¯s sight for a split second. When the darkness disappeared, they were already standing above a large island. They were no longer in the Huang Realm but in one of the lower-ranked realms Tianyi pulled from the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Because the Huang Realm was merging and absorbing the lower-ranked realms, among the other ninety-plus other realms, it made the dimensional boundaries unstable. The spiritual qi became unstable, too, but it wasn¡¯t a bad thing. After the many realms started to merge, the overall spiritual qi density increased, strengthening the realms. It was a good thing for the realms as a whole, but a disaster for many of the living beings in those realms. Realm evolution often took tens of thousands of years, if not hundreds of thousands of years. The gradually increasing density of spiritual qi allowed the lifeforms of the realm to adapt. But because of Tianyi, the process was dramatically shortened. The Huang Realm might not feel anything much, but that wasn¡¯t the same for the lower realms. All living beings will unconsciously absorb spiritual qi through a process similar to osmosis, the process of which molecules diffuse through permeable membranes and equalize itself. As more qi accumulates inside the body, it will transform and adapt, but not all life can withstand the transformation. More often than not, the life will fail to mutate and die during the process. Those with powerful bodies capable of bearing the increased spiritual qi will survive. Only those with the innate prerequisite qualifications to cultivate would thrive. Because of this, the humans of different ranked realms could not be considered one singular species. Tianyi only learned about this process after he started upgrading the Huang Realm. By then, trillions of humans had already died, and it was too late to stop. Had he been able to accumulate karmic sin, he would instantly be ranked among the top hundred sinners in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System¡¯s history. Xia Meng and the other immortals didn¡¯t think much of the issue. It was a sacrifice well made in their mouths. They thought Tianyi was mad because of the risk of incurring heavy karmic sin. Originally, the Immortal Court planned to carry out the process through a long period of time, but with Tianyi¡¯s aid, they could complete the foundational ascension in less than a thousand years without incurring heavy karmic sin, so they took it. Although the Immortal Court gained complete hegemony over the Huang Realm, it did not mean they were without enemies. The demons were a long-standing enemy of cultivators, and even amongst themselves, they were not united. The Numinous Realm would be happy to disrupt the Immortal Court¡¯s plan. In fact, they were likely already planning it. The only reason the Numinous Realm hadn¡¯t attacked yet was because they estimated that the Immortal Court would at least need ten thousand years, not a thousand. ¡°Can you not just teleport us at your whim?¡± Daoyi asked, glaring at Tianyi. ¡°I wanted to save Xi Ri time?¡± Tianyi said. Xi Ri shook his head. Instead of griping, he observed the island below. He only used his eyes as any use of his powers, including releasing his spiritual sense, would increase the speed of dissipation for his soul. It was the largest landmass in the lower-ranked realms, so it was more accurate to call it a continent. However, they were used to categorizing using the standards of the Huang Realm. He could still see the ruins of civilization, meaning that the change hadn¡¯t occurred for more than a decade. Normally, time passed faster in lower realms, but this was obviously not the case here. In fact, time was even slower in this lower-ranked realm than the Huang Realm, where hundreds of years had already passed. Xi Ri was confused, so he voiced his question. ¡°Why has so little time passed here?¡± ¡°I purposely slowed down the time in the outer realms to hide the speed of ascension,¡± Tianyi said. Although the Numinous Realm or the demons have not figured out how fast everything was going, it was better to play it safe. Xi Ri nodded. If hundreds of years passed, this world-changing event would probably only be regarded as myth. Society would have sprung back up, and cultivation would become more common, if crude. Tianyi probably chose this realm because of the high number of people. Without Xi Ri¡¯s interference, over ninety-nine percent of them would die. ¡°This looks like something out of the apocalypse movie you wrote out in the Xiyinet,¡± Daoyi said. ¡°You read that?!¡± ¡°You can watch my videos, but I can¡¯t read your novels?¡± Daoyi asked back. Tianyi coughed. ¡°No, no, you can. It just feels embarrassing for people I know in real life to read what I write.¡± Daoyi rolled her eyes. ¡°If you wanted to hide that you wrote it, maybe you shouldn¡¯t have used the most obvious nickname. Plus, you didn¡¯t even bother to hide it. Isn¡¯t that right, Mr. Ultimate Young Master?¡± ¡°Anyways,¡± Tianyi said, looking at Xi Ri. ¡°What do you plan to do? Should I teleport a few helpers?¡± ¡°Please,¡± Xi Ri said. ¡°I have a few people in mind.¡± After Xi Ri gave Tianyi the list of people, Tianyi couldn¡¯t help but blink. He always knew that Xi Ri was better at leading an organization than him, but when did he have so many venerables and even a few earth immortals at his beck and call?Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Tianyi shook his head. What did it matter? The more help Xi Ri had, the faster he would become a merit immortal and escape from a fate beyond death. An hour later, over a hundred figures stood behind Xi Ri. Under the care of one of the earth immortals, Xi Ri floated toward the largest settlement of humans. Tianyi and Daoyi turned to leave. He didn¡¯t ask Xi Ri if he wanted any help. As one of the three masterminds behind the Xiyi Talismans, Xi Ri¡¯s wealth was much higher than most immortal monarchs. If given more time, his wealth would even rival immortal emperors. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Daoyi asked as she looked over at Tianyi, who suddenly froze. Tianyi shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I just found someone interesting.¡± Daoyi looked toward the ground and released her spiritual sense. She couldn¡¯t find anyone that could fit the criteria of interesting. Originally, she thought Tianyi had found someone with a heavenly spiritual root, but it must be another type of interesting. She didn¡¯t ask, and the two left soon after.
A young man that appeared to be in his late teens or early twenties lay on the ground, staring at the sky. A spear jutted out of his abdomen, and five ferocious beasts, monsters, surrounded him. His name was Jun Qiangwu, and unless someone saved him, not even his bones would remain. Jun Qiangwu glared at the heavens, eyes full of reluctances and hatred. As the beasts closed in around him, scenes of his past flashed before his eyes. Before the world changed, people started dying out of the blue, and monsters appeared, he was the heir apparent to the Jun Family of the Qian Dynasty. The Jun Family was a military family that had existed since the founding of the nation, and each successor would become a powerful general. It would not be a lie to say that the Jun Family was the number one family after the Imperial Family. All that changed when the sky cracked. Jun Qiangwu discovered that many of his family members fell ill and died. Not just them, but many of the common folk also died. He was no exception, except that he woke up. When he awoke, he discovered that his body had strengthened dramatically. Compared to his body before the change to the one after, it was like comparing a child to an adult. Jun Qiangwu didn¡¯t have a chance to acclimate himself to his body¡¯s changes or grieve over his dead family members because the Qian Dynasty¡¯s capital had been breeched. It wasn¡¯t their rival countries that invaded them during this crisis, but mutated beasts. Like humans, many animals fell asleep. Most died, but those that survived mutated. A large percentage only grew a bit larger, but many increased ten times in size. Even cute pets would become terrifying beasts. Furthermore, these beasts were incredibly bloodthirsty and attacked anything in sight. Even the pampered pets of those imperial concubines were not exempt. During this time of chaos, people like Jun Qiangwu became beacons of hope. With their foundation of martial arts and strengthened body, they drove the monsters out of the capital. With them guarding the city, society didn¡¯t immediately collapse, but it wasn¡¯t that far off. As time passed, more and more mutant beasts appeared. Their size even reached tens of meters, and it became common to see small animals grow to a hundred times their original size. It wasn¡¯t just the animals that evolved, but humans too. Some humans gained super speed, strength, or power over the elements. Because of all this, the common sense of the world changed. No longer was the emperor the most honored person under the sky. It was these new superhumans. Had it not been for Jun Qiangwu, the Imperial Family would have lost their status. He served the Imperial Family, like all his ancestors had done. With him at the helm, the Imperial Family maintained their rule. When a person gained the power of a hundred or a thousand men, how would they be willing to serve an ordinary human, even if that man was the emperor? In their eyes, what emperor? He was just an ordinary man they could kill at any time. So what if he had an army? Even if these superhumans couldn¡¯t defeat the army, they could easily escape. Furthermore, the superhumans realized that their growth had yet to end. They might even become existences comparable to gods and immortals of legend. Only Jun Qiangwu didn¡¯t let the power go to his head. Although he was powerful, Jun Qiangwu knew that he didn¡¯t have the ability to govern. If he forcibly took power, it would only harm the common people. Although they didn¡¯t die, they didn¡¯t become superhumans either. The Jun Family had two creeds. To serve the emperor faithfully and to guard the common people. If he caused disaster to the common people, he would never be able to forgive himself. Not to mention that he had an engagement with a princess of the Qian Imperial Family. Princess Qian Jiafeng wasn¡¯t his original fiancee¡ªhis first fiancee had died like many people¡ªbut a replacement. Qian Jiafeng had fallen asleep, but like Jun Qiangwu, she awakened a supernatural ability. Although many people felt Jun Qiangwu was stupid, they had to admit his match with Qian Jiafeng was a match made in heaven. Jun Qiangwu was a winner in life. He had the talent, looks, and even a woman that many could never hope to attain in a hundred lifetimes. He would have undoubtedly become a legend if he had not been betrayed. There is no one more paranoid than the emperor. Even if Jun Qiangwu wholeheartedly served him, it couldn¡¯t prevent the seeds of suspicion. Before the world changed, the emperor was only a little paranoid. Even if the Jun Family was the most powerful force after the Imperial Family, there was still an enormous gap between the two. And there were many families to counterbalance the Jun family¡¯s influence. But now, most people only listened to the Imperial Family because of Jun Qiangwu. Although he served them, the power balance had been completely reversed. So the emperor schemed. The emperor used Jun Qiangwu¡¯s trust in him and Qian Jiafeng to dispatch him on a mission to retrieve a fruit that could transform a regular mortal into a superhuman. While on the mission, Qian Jiafeng attacked Jun Qiangwu from behind, crippling him. Perhaps out of guilt and what little feelings she had, Qian Jiafeng didn¡¯t kill Jun Qiangwu and left him for the monsters. Jun Qiangwu would have rather she cut off his head in one strike than experience this betrayal. ¡°I¡¯m unreconciled!¡± Jun Qiangwu roared, blood spurting from his mouth as the monsters closed in. ¡°I served the Imperial Family loyally all my life. The Jun Family served you faithfully for generations, and this is how you repay us! I want you to feel despair! I want you to die a dog¡¯s death, you scum of an emperor!¡± No matter how he shouted, Jun Qiangwu knew that his words were just that of a bereaved loser. He would die with the world none the wiser to the truth. Neither would he have a chance to seek revenge. Just as Jun Qiangwu was prepared for death, he noticed an abnormality. The five monsters surrounding him stopped moving. No, it was more like they froze, and even their drool stopped midair. Not just them, but the clouds stopped moving, and the winds stopped. ¡°What happened?¡± [Ding! Detecting compatible host. Jun Qiangwu, Do you want revenge?] Jun Qiangwu didn¡¯t know where the voice came from. The words were cold and clinical, but he didn¡¯t care. Jun Qiangwu saw hope once more. ¡°Yes! As long as I can get revenge, I¡¯m willing to do anything!¡± [Congratulations, you are now bound to the Nine Heavens Vengeance System.] Chapter 405: The First Step Time resumed, and the five monsters charged in, intent on devouring the fragrant human. But what they got was only a mouthful of rocks and dirt. A few meters away, Jun Qiangwu held the spear that once pierced his body. Blood flowed from the shaft and into his hands. On his abdomen, blood leaked from a hole. However, the hole quickly healed in less than ten seconds. Despite the blood and his ragged appearance, Jun Qiangwu felt great. Not only that, but he felt better than great. He could feel a warm energy in his abdomen that reached every part of his body. Jun Qiangwu brandished the spear. Water coated the spear tip and condensed into ice. He charged and pierced a monster in the head. Before the four other monsters could react, he impaled another one. When the three remaining monsters finally reacted, Jun Qiangwu had already jumped back. He pointed his spear at the monsters and waited for the monsters¡¯ retaliation. Ten minutes later, Jun Qiangwu exhaled a misty breath of air as five monster corpses surrounded him. He rammed the spear¡¯s heel into the ground, cracking it, and let go. Once he did so, the ice shell coating the tip dissolved into water and slid down, washing the blood off. Jun Qiangwu looked at his palm and marveled. Not all superhumans were equal. Superhumans were divided into seven classes: soldier, captain, major, colonel, general, king, and emperor. Originally, there were only three classifications, but as superhumans discovered the power within, more and more classes appeared. A soldier-class superhuman was only a little bit more powerful than an ordinary untrained man. Captain-class superhumans can defeat ten men, while major-class superhumans could defeat twenty. Colonel-class superhumans could defeat fifty. General-class superhumans could defeat one hundred men. From there, superhumans only became more powerful. Except for a few rare cases, most superhumans were soldier-class upon awakening their powers. A small percentage awakened as captain-class superhumans, while the number of people who awakened as major-class superhumans could be counted on one hand. Jun Qiangwu was one of those that awakened as a major-class superhuman with the ability to conjure and control water. Through his hard work, Jun Qiangwu upgraded into a colonel-class and eventually general-class superhuman. When he became a king-class superhuman, Jun Qiangwu¡¯s ability evolved, allowing him to transform water into ice. Because of this, he gained power to fight above his class. Even against an emperor-class superhuman, he could hold his own. And now, Jun Qiangwu felt his ability improve. It hadn¡¯t reached the level of breaking into the emperor-class, but it drastically shortened the time he needed to become an emperor-class superhuman. Still, now was not the time to test the changes in his ability. Soon, more monsters would arrive. Jun Qiangwu turned around and ran away. His body became a blur as he reached speed ordinary people could never achieve, no matter how much they trained. Minutes later, monsters appeared at the scene, drawn by the scent of blood. The newly arrived monsters showed no compassion for their downed compatriots. Quite the opposite, in fact. The monsters began to devour their downed fellows. A fight even broke out over the corpses. By the time they left, not even bones remained. The monsters that devoured the ones slain by Jun Qiangwu searched for a place to sleep. As they slept, the energy in their body increased as they digested their meals, growing stronger and stronger.
Jun Qiangwu leaned against the wall of the cave he hid himself in. ¡°Are you there?¡± [Yes.] Finally no longer in danger, Jun Qiangwu unleashed all the pent up questions. ¡°Who are you?¡± [I am not a person, but a system. The Nine Heavens Revenge System.] ¡°What is a system?¡± [Systems are programs that bind to hosts and help them succeed in life.] Jun Qiangwu narrowed his eyes. ¡°I understand the latter half, but what are programs?¡± [Programs are a set of rules or instructions.] ¡°Who makes these rules?¡± [The most powerful immortal emperor, the Nine Heavens Emperor.] ¡°Nine Heavens Emperor? Gods and immortals really exist?" Jun Qiangwu asked. [Yes.] Jun Qiangwu didn¡¯t quite believe the Nine Heavens Revenge System¡¯s words, however¡­ ¡±I don¡¯t care if you¡¯re lying or not. Tell me, how can you help me?¡± [The Nine Heavens Revenge System will bestow upon you a peerless cultivation method. You will obtain strength beyond your wildest imagination. See gods, kill gods; see buddhas, slay buddhas. No one will be able to stop you.] Jun Qiangwu¡¯s breath hitched; his body trembled. ¡°System, are you serious?¡± [The Nine Heavens Revenge System never lies.] ¡°Then can I become as powerful as the Nine Heavens Emperor?¡±This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. [There is always a chance. However, the chances are infinitely small, almost impossible.] ¡°What is the probability?¡± Jun Qiangwu asked. [Not even one thousandth of a quadrillion.] Jun Qiangwu had no words. Luckily for him, the system continued. [However, even cultivating the lowest level of the method will allow you to become almost invincible in the same realm.] ¡°Okay, give it to me. I don¡¯t care if there¡¯s a plot to this or not, but as long as I can get revenge, I don¡¯t care!¡± Jun Qiangwu vowed with a determined gaze. [You are not qualified to receive the method yet.] It was as if a bucket of cold water had poured over him. ¡°Then how do I qualify?¡± [By completing system assigned missions. Not only will you be rewarded with a peak cultivation method, you will receive priceless treasures of heaven and earth.] ¡°What are you waiting for? What¡¯s the mission? Tell me already,¡± Jun Qiangwu said. The fire of vengeance burned in his eyes. [Ding! Main mission is issued.] [Main Mission 1: Sense the spiritual qi of heaven and earth and absorb it into your body.] ¡°Spiritual qi of heaven and earth? What¡¯s that?¡± Jun Qiangwu asked. He wanted to gain power as soon as possible and get revenge. His relatives who had survived during the beginning of the apocalypse had all died during the following ten years. The worst part was that they sacrificed their lives for that unworthy emperor, guarding his vestigial empire. He, Jun Qiangwu, will prove to them that without the Jun Family, the Qian Dynasty would have never existed to this day. [Spiritual qi is the energy produced by the world. The mutations are the results of monsters and humans¡¯ adaptation to the influx of spiritual qi.] Sorrow appeared in Jun Qiangwu¡¯s voice. ¡°Do you know why spiritual qi appeared? [The increasing density of spiritual qi is the result of the world ascending to a higher level. All life will also ascend to a higher state.] Jun Qiangwu laughed, but there was no mirth of his laughter. ¡°But only a few people can ascend, right? Those unable to ascend will die. Even if the world is growing stronger, what¡¯s the point if everything I care about is destroyed?¡± [This is the law of the world. Your ability to control water and ice is a gift from the world. You have obtained the elementary Frost Flow Physique. People who have not experienced the ascension of the world will never have the chance.] ¡°So? I don¡¯t care about this shitty body? I just want to go back to those happy times,¡± Jun Qiangwu said. [That is not impossible. As long as you become an immortal monarch and master the Law of Time, you can reverse time. But only a divinity can rewind and regress the ascension of a world.] ¡°So it¡¯s not impossible,¡± Jun Qiangwu said. He who had lost the pillar sustaining his will to live found the courage to live and survive. But first, he will have to make all those bastards pay! ¡°How do I sense and absorb spiritual qi?¡± [Spiritual qi is what powers your ability. You have been unconsciously using it. Sensing and absorbing it depends on your talent. If you are talented, within a week. If you are slow, maybe you won¡¯t be able to do it for years.] Did he have talent? Jun Qiangwu certainly thought so. Although he didn¡¯t know what the Frost Flow Physique was, it must be good if the system said it was a chance countless people never had. Jun Qiangwu closed his eyes. Soon after, droplets of water appeared around him. Sometimes, they turned ice or vice versa. They clumped together and formed orbs of water or a hazy mist, but no matter what Jun Qiangwu did, he couldn¡¯t sense the so-called spiritual qi. A few hours later, Jun Qiangwu ran out of energy and slumped onto the ground. He knew it was going to be hard, but he had gotten nothing. ¡°System, you¡¯re not lying to me, are you?¡± [Do not doubt the Nine Heavens Revenge System¡¯s words. Everything the system says is the truth.] ¡°Then why can¡¯t I sense spiritual qi? You said that my ability uses qi, right? Shouldn¡¯t I be able to control it?¡± [Your ability to control water and ice is an innate ability of your body. Just because you know how to use a spear, do you know how to make it? Once you learn how to sense and absorb qi, you will enter a new world.] Jun Qiangwu frowned, but he didn¡¯t pester the Nine Heavens Revenge System. When he felt his energy return, he conjured water again and tried to sense spiritual qi. He only stopped when the day ended and he had exhausted all his effort, falling asleep. The next day, Jun Qiangwu continued the routine, but he still didn¡¯t succeed by the end of the day. The results were still the same by the end of the week. ¡°System, is there really someone who can sense and absorb qi within a week?¡± Jun Qiangwu asked, doubting the system¡¯s words. [Yes. The great creator of this system, the Nine Heavens Emperor, sensed qi within a minute and absorbed qi in an hour. Plenty of other people from the immortal realm also sensed qi within a week, however their talent pales in comparison to the great creator.] Jun Qiangwu pursed his lips. ¡®Fine, I admit that this Nine Heavens Emperor is very awesome, okay?¡¯ He huffed and hunkered down, attempting to sense spiritual qi once more. The fire of vengeance still burned brightly within, but with a week to calm down, it had condensed into a slumbering volcano, ready to erupt at a moment¡¯s notice. There was no point in rushing toward Qian Jiafeng or the Qian Emperor right now. No doubt they had already fortified themselves and prepared for the off chance he survived. Furthermore, he never doubted the Imperial Family¡¯s means. As long as they played some tricks, they could drag the Jun Family¡¯s or his name through mud. Even if he came back, all he would receive was scorn. Not that Jun Qiangwu cared. What he wanted was absolute power, enough to make the Qian Imperial Family despair and regret their betrayal. Only then could his vengeance be quenched. Two months later, Jun Qiangwu¡¯s eyes snapped open. A week ago, while he was waiting for the energy in his body to replenish itself, he sensed something new. Originally, he could only wait as the energy slowly grew again, but this time, he could sense his body naturally absorbing the energy from the air around him. This was spiritual qi. After a week of concentration, he finally sensed more than just the qi near his skin. It was as if he had opened his eyes for the first time and saw the world. Under his control, he actively absorbed the spiritual qi from the air. He could feel his empty body quickly regaining its power, unlike the slow, passive absorption. In two hours, Jun Qiangwu could feel his body brimming with energy, but he didn¡¯t stop. He continued to absorb, and even when his body could absorb no more, he continued. He forced the energy to condense as more and more energy entered his body. Sweat dripped down Jun Qiangwu¡¯s forehead. He reached the point where he could absorb no more qi, but he still persisted. Finally, a popping sound erupted in his abdomen. Blood spurted from his lips, but he smiled. Jun Qiangwu could feel a warm flow in his abdomen where his kidney was. Not only did the amount of energy, or more accurately, the spiritual qi in his body increase, but he could control it with greater precision. ¡°This is amazing. I should have entered the emperor-class now, right?¡± [Congratulations to the host for opening your Lesser Yin Kidney Meridian stepping into the First Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm.] Chapter 406: Main Mission 2 Jun Qiangwu frowned. Confused by the system¡¯s announcement, he directly voiced his question. ¡°What do you mean by the First Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm?¡± [The Qi Gathering Realm is the first step to cultivating immortality. It is divided into thirteen stages. Stages one to twelve correlate to the number of meridians you open, while stage thirteen is reached upon linking all the meridians.] ¡°Twelve meridians?¡± [Yes. The twelve meridians in the human body are the: Greater Yin Lung Meridian, Lesser Yin Heart Meridian, Yin Shield Heart Meridian, Lesser Yang Cavity Meridian, Lesser Yang Small Intestine Meridian, Greater Yang Large Intestine Meridian, Greater Yin Spleen Meridian, Lesser Yin Kidney Meridian, Yin Liver Meridian, Lesser Yang Gallbladder Meridian, Greater Yang Bladder Meridian, and the Yang Stomach Meridian.] ¡°Are you saying the emperor-class is only equal to the First Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm?¡± Jun Qiangwu asked. [No, the classification you think of only has a minor correlation to the stages of the Qi Gathering Realm. If you want, you can correlate the soldier, captain, major, colonel, general, king, and emperor-classes to the first seven stages of the Qi Gathering Realm.] ¡°So we were this weak. The mighty emperor-class we venerated wasn¡¯t even at the peak of the Qi Gathering Realm,¡± Jun Qiangwu said. Suddenly he laughed. It was an uproarious laughter that lasted for a good minute. Just as suddenly as it arrived, it stopped. ¡°Good!¡± ¡°Because I was a king-class superhuman, once I reached the first-stage, I automatically entered the emperor-class. Can I think of it that way, System?¡± [You can think of it that way, but I must warn the host that continuing to upgrade your ability using your previous method is a road with no future. You are using brute force to upgrade your power and body. Even if you reach the equivalent of the Thirteenth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm, it will probably result in a shortened lifespan because you forcibly increased the ability by overdrawing vitality.] ¡°Good! Good!¡± Jun Qiangwu said. ¡°The more wrong this road is, the better it is for me. While my enemies follow the wrong path, I¡¯ll quietly strengthen myself.¡± ¡°System, I¡¯ve completed the mission. Can I finally get the cultivation method?¡± [Ding! Main Mission 1 Completed.] [Reward: Qi Gathering Realm Cultivation Manual.] [Choose one of the following cultivation methods.] [Fire Book Qi Gathering Chapter] [Water Book Qi Gathering Chapter] [Metal Book Qi Gathering Chapter] [Wood Book Qi Gathering Chapter] [Earth Book Qi Gathering Chapter] [Nine-Five Scripture Qi Gathering Chapter] [Frozen Heaven Mantra Qi Gathering Chapter] [Blackwater Meditation Qi Gathering Chapter] [True Water Canon Qi Gathering Chapter] [Eastflow Water Scripture Qi Gathering Chapter] Jun Qiangwu scrunched his brow at the ten options given to him. Aside from the first five options, the latter five all sounded very powerful. ¡°If I choose one now, what happens if I want to choose a different one for the next chapter?¡± [Except for the first five options, it is not recommended that you choose a different cultivation method for the Foundation Establishment Realm.] ¡°Foundation Establishment Realm? Is that the next level after the Qi Gathering Realm?¡± [Yes.] ¡°Are the first five options part of a set?¡± Jun Qiangwu asked. [Yes. They are the five components that make up the Five Element Method. Cultivating the Five Element Method to the highest point will allow you to become a divinity.] ¡°What about the other five options?¡± [Except for the Nine-Five Scriptures, the rest are all cultivation methods created by divinities from the primordial era. The Nine-Five Scripture was created by the Great Creator, the Nine Heavens Emperor.] Originally, Jun Qiangwu thought the first five options were the worst, but reality turned out differently than what he imagined. He wasn¡¯t stupid. Judging from the five options that were related to water, he was suited for cultivation methods related to water. Not a surprise considering his Frost Flow Physique. If his guess wasn¡¯t wrong, the Five Element Book was all-encompassing. He had heard of the five phases concept, so that wasn¡¯t a surprise. But counting those out, the one that stuck out like a sore thumb was the Nine-Five Scripture. Did the system include just because the Nine Heavens Emperor created it? ¡°Is the Nine-Five Scripture suitable for me, too?¡± Jun Qiangwu asked again.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. [Yes. The Nine-Five Scripture is suitable for all cultivators. However, it is the hardest to cultivate out of the ten methods. Even the Fire Book is easier for you to cultivate despite your contrary element.] Suitable only for geniuses? Incredibly hard? Jun Qiangwu¡¯s eyes gleamed. ¡°I choose the Nine-Five Scripture!¡± [Are you sure? Once you choose this, you won¡¯t be able to change the method until you receive the foundation establishment chapters.] ¡°Yes,¡± Jun Qiangwu said without an ounce of hesitation. [Ding! Transmitting the Nine-Five Scripture Qi Gathering Chapter.] ¡°Grk!¡± Jun Qiangwu clenched his teeth as his mind exploded in pain. It was as if some had fashioned an ax out of thousands of books, and then took that ax and smashed it into his head. It took all his willpower not to faint. When Jun Qiangwu regained his ability to think, he discovered that sweat had drenched his entire body. His head still buzzed from the massive amount of information. Regardless of his current state, he closed his eyes and fell asleep. He was too mentally fatigued to review the newly obtained information right now. After waking up the next day, Jun Qiangwu left the cave he lived in for two months. He found a river and cleaned his body and clothes before returning. Only then did he sort out the information he got. He sighed. ¡°The Nine-Five Scripture is amazing. Of the seven grades, the highest I can hope to reach is the second grade.¡± Unlike regular cultivation methods, the Nine-Five Scripture cultivated all three paths at the same time. The Qi Gathering Realm and Foundation Establishment Realm were the preparatory realms. Only after entering the Nascent Soul Realm would the cultivator cross the watershed. Ninety-nine point nine percent of ordinary geniuses can only reach the first grade, in which they would form one spiritual core and one nascent soul. For geniuses like Jun Qiangwu, who was blessed with a physique, he could reach the second grade, forming two spiritual cores and one nascent soul. ¡°I can¡¯t even imagine how powerful the third-grade would be, much less the fourth grades and higher. The Nine Heavens Emperor must have reached the seventh grade, right?¡± Jun Qiangwu asked. [Correct. However, even if another cultivator reaches the seventh grade, they would not be able to reach the same height as the Nine Heavens Emperor.] Jun Qiangwu didn¡¯t understand, and he didn¡¯t bother to find out. He knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able to fathom it anyway, so why bother? For now, he wanted to get rid of his own weakness. Just learning the qi gathering chapter of the Nine-Five Scripture revealed how low the well he was in truly was. Not just him, but everyone in this world was just a mere frog in a well. Jun Qiangwu was unwilling to be a frog, so he must cultivate and transform. From that day onward, Jun Qiangwu focused wholeheartedly on cultivation. Those that cultivated the Nine-Five Scripture had to cultivate the martial path simultaneously. So while he was opening his meridians, Jun Qiangwu also transformed his body. The first realm of the martial path was the Body Transformation Realm. It encompassed the Qi Gathering and Foundation Establishment Realm of the spiritual path. Six stages made up the Body Transformation Realm. They were the Skin Toughening Stage, Muscle Strengthening Stage, Tendon Reinforcement Stage, Bone Refinement Stage, Marrow Enhancement Stage, and the Organ Fortification Stage. Jun Qiangwu cultivated in the cave for five years. Five whole years. He reached the Fourth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm during the fourth year. Unlike the first time he opened a meridian, Jun Qiangwu no longer injured himself during the process. Opening a meridian should be a controlled and careful process. The only reason he spat out blood before was because he used brute force to open it. As for his martial cultivation. He just entered the Muscle Strengthening Stage. ¡°I¡¯ve reached my limit,¡± Jun Qiangwu said. He stood up and revealed his full height of one point nine meters. His armor and clothes had almost turned to rags and even his spear was riddled with nicks and dents. It simply couldn¡¯t withstand the strain of his power. ¡°Dog emperor, wait for me!¡± Jun Qiangwu stepped out of the cave and froze. [Ding! Main Mission Issued.] [Main Mission 2: Kill the Qian Emperor.] The edge of Jun Qiangwu¡¯s lips curled upward. ¡°It seems that even the heavens want you dead, Your Majesty.¡± In the five years since the system bound itself to him, Jun Qiangwu hadn¡¯t left a kilometer away from the cave. He lived like a hermit, feasting and living in the wild. However, he would never forget the capital of the Qian Dynasty. With confident steps, Jun Qiangwu stepped on the path of vengeance.
In a teahouse near a busy street in the capital, a man sat on the second floor. He wore a bamboo hat that obscured his eyes, which observed the bustling street below. ¡°Hey, have you heard? Princess Jiafeng is engaged to the crown prince of the Mu Dynasty,¡± a hawker said, making small talk with one of the customers. ¡°How could I not?¡± the customer asked. ¡°Before, I used to worry that with the fall of General Jun, the Qian Dynasty would be destroyed. I never expected that the princess would overcome her grief and rise to become the dynasty¡¯s new protector. Her brilliance has even surpassed General Jun.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. That princess is a good woman. Unfortunately, General Jun didn¡¯t have the fate to marry her,¡± the hawker said. A third person interjected into the two¡¯s conversation. ¡°Actually, it might not be a bad thing. I heard that the crown prince of the Mu Dynasty has surpassed the emperor-class and reached the saint-class. If General Jun had survived, he would at most be equal to Princess Jiafeng. But now, the Qian Dynasty has extra insurance.¡± The hawker and his customer deliberated over the person¡¯s words. They found themselves agreeing to his logic. After a few more words, the person slipped away into an alley. However, he suddenly slumped over with a stick poking out of his forehead. Back in the teahouse, Jun Qianfeng unclenched his fist, revealing the blood-tipped nails. He picked up a rag and wiped the blood from his palm. On his table, only a stick of chopstick lay. ¡°Damn imperial family. Even after five years, you¡¯re still tarnishing my name.¡± Jun Qiangwu slapped some coins on the table and left. Before, he had servants carry his money for him, but all that had changed. As for where his current money and clothes came from? No matter the era, there are no lack of criminals. After he left, he found an inn and locked himself in his room. Although he reached the Fourth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm and the Muscle Strengthening Stage, he still hadn¡¯t broken the shackles of mortality. Charging into the imperial palace would only result in his death. Since that¡¯s the case, he could only sneak in. Besides, aside from the imperial family, he was the person most familiar with the layout. When night descended, Jun Qiangwu snuck out of the inn using the windows. His figure crossed the rooftops like a phantom, unnoticed by all. When he snuck into the imperial palace, the first person he searched wasn¡¯t the emperor, but Qian Jiafeng. In Jun Qiangwu¡¯s eyes, the biggest threat wasn¡¯t the emperor. The emperor¡¯s authority stemmed from his connection to Qian Jiafeng. Without her, he was just a rootless duckweed. Once Qian Jiafeng died, he would have no protection. By then, how many people would really obey him? To Jun Qiangwu¡¯s disappointment, Qian Jiafeng¡¯s room was empty. ¡°Not here? Did she leave, or¡­¡± He recalled the conversation earlier in the day. ¡°It seems that I¡¯ll have to kill that dog emperor first.¡± Chapter 407: Frostflower Eye In an enormous bed large enough to fit ten people slept an aging man under yellow covers. The wooden frame was adorned with nine-clawed dragons, and the blanket was embroidered with golden dragons. The man was only in his forties, but his hair had already turned white and age spots already littered his face. He was the Qian Emperor. Suddenly, the aging emperor awoke with a gasp. His mouth opened and closed a few times, and he looked toward the side. ¡°Servants, bring me a cup of water.¡± The emperor waited and waited, but there was no movement. ¡°Servants!¡± Still no answer. The Qian Emperor huffed. ¡°Useless things. What do I keep you around for? I¡¯ll have your heads cut off for slacking on your duties!¡± Finally, the emperor noticed the abnormality of the situation. As the emperor, he would always be accompanied by servants, be it in his sleep or going to the bathroom. Even if the eunuchs and maids were slacking, it was impossible not to notice the sound for so long. ¡°Guards!¡± the emperor hollered at the top of his lungs. However, only silence greeted him. ¡°It¡¯s no use.¡± ¡°Who!?¡± The emperor scrambled off his bed. Or, at least, he attempted to before a hand pushed him back onto the bed. The emperor wanted to curse. He was the emperor, who had ever dared to treat him like this? However, when he saw the person¡¯s face, he paled. It was as if he had seen a ghost. No, for the Qian Emperor, this face was scarier than a ghost, comparable to a devil! ¡°J-J-Jun Q-Qiangwu!¡± ¡°We meet again, Your Majesty,¡± Jun Qiangwu said. Although he addressed the emperor with Your Majesty, there was no mistaking the contempt behind his tone. ¡°Y-You dare! Treating your liege like this, aren¡¯t you afraid of your ancestors rolling in their graves?¡± the emperor asked as he pointed at Jun Qiangwu. He wanted to sound domineering, to appear in control, but his trembling voice and shaking finger left no room for doubt. ¡°Rolling in their graves?¡± Jun Qiangwu asked. ¡°Heh, they¡¯ve already been rolling in their graves from the moment they served the Qian Imperial Family. You¡¯re nothing but white-eyed wolves. The Jun Family has served you faithfully for generations and all we got was betrayal.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you just subordinates? So what if I want you to die!? You are subordinates and I¡¯m the ruler!¡± ¡°Haha,¡± Jun Qiangwu laughed, but sounded closer to something that crawled out from the depths of hell. It plunged the Qian Emperor¡¯s soul into the icy depths. Before he could do anything, a shard of ice pierced his legs. ¡°Ahhhh!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll let you know today that no ruler is permanent, and subordinates aren¡¯t people you can use and discard as you like!¡± The Qian Emperor didn¡¯t have time to pay attention to Jun Qiangwu¡¯s words. Pain overwhelmed his senses. Tears streamed down his face, snot dripped down his nose, and drool gushed from his mouth. Even after the world changed and monsters appeared, he had never been physically harmed. How could someone who never experienced pain resist it? Jun Qiangwu curled his lips in disgust. This was the emperor he served faithfully for so many years? He must have been blind. Growing weary of the Qian Emperor¡¯s pained howls, a layer of ice formed over his mouth, silencing him. Perhaps the ice cooled his mind, so the emperor glanced toward the entrance to his room. ¡°Are you hoping for someone to come save you? Don¡¯t bother,¡± Jun Qiangwu said. ¡°I already killed everyone inside and near your palace. Tonight, no one will be able to save you.¡± Fear colored the Qian Emperor¡¯s eyes even more. A cruel smile appeared on Jun Qiangwu¡¯s face. Yes, this is what he wanted. He had dreamt of his moment every night when he stayed in that cave. Perhaps seeing the wicked gleam in Jun Qiangwu¡¯s eyes, the Qian Emperor stopped struggling. The tears and snot stopped, and he even regained a bit of his dignity as the emperor. ¡°Oh?¡± Jun Qiangwu let out. He waved his hand and the ice covering the Qian Emperor¡¯s mouth melted. ¡°Don¡¯t be too proud, Jun Qiangwu,¡± the Qian Emperor said, glaring at the latter. ¡°Do you think you¡¯re strong? I¡¯ll tell you right now that Jiafeng has already joined a powerful sect created by a major power from the immortal realm.¡± ¡°So what if you¡¯re strong now? You¡¯ll join me in the Nether Realm soon enough,¡± the Qian Emperor said. His eyes exuded a sense of superiority that grated on Jun Qiangwu¡¯s nerve. ¡°A major power from the immortal realm?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± the Qian Emperor said. ¡°You don¡¯t know, but the changes in the world are because of a special energy¡ª¡± ¡°Spiritual qi.¡± ¡°Wha?!¡± the emperor let, disbelief clear.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°You really think I don¡¯t know?¡± Jun Qiangwu asked with a mocking smile. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you right now that I¡¯ve survived because of an opportunity. You probably haven¡¯t heard of him, but my benefactor is the Nine Heavens Emperor. If I perform well enough, I¡¯ll have a chance to become his disciple.¡± Jun Qiangwu had pondered the question many times. Why did the Nine Heavens Emperor bestow him with a system? And this was the answer he came up with. Otherwise, why else would he allow Jun Qiangwu to cultivate the Nine-Five Scripture? He glanced at the emperor. ¡°Besides, since Jiafeng joined that power, wasn¡¯t your betrayal a moot point? In the end, don¡¯t you have to survive under another power? To me, it also seems you already became a vassal to the Mu Dynasty.¡± The Qian Emperor snorted. ¡°Who knows if you¡¯re lying or not? Maybe the so-called Nine Heavens Emperor is just a paper tiger. He only sounds impressive. He probably isn¡¯t even worth fart in front of the Xi Immortal Dynasty!¡± Jun Qiangwu opened his mouth to rebuff the Qian Emperor, but froze. [Ding! Main Mission Update.] [Double the rewards for completing Main Mission 2.] A queer expression appeared on Jun Qiangwu¡¯s face as he gazed at the Qian Emperor. It caused the hair on the latter¡¯s body to stiffen. ¡°W-w-what? What are you looking at me like that for?¡± Jun Qiangwu shook his head. Less than a second later, ice shards materialized and pierced the Qian Emperor¡¯s arms. He was done with words. Now was the time for vengeance. Hours later, Jun Qiangwu looked at his handiwork with satisfaction. A spear nailed the Qian Emperor onto the dragon sculpture above his bed. The emperor was naked, which made for a horrifying scene, but not for the expected reason. He had taken his sweet time torturing the Qian Emperor and extracting all usable information. Now, hundreds of holes littered the emperor¡¯s body, and a trail of blood even leaked from his lost manhood. Jun Qiangwu frowned, still not satisfied. He waved his hand and controlled the emperor''s blood to float up and paint the walls. Dog Emperor, this is your retribution for betraying the Jun Family. Only then did Jun Qiangwu nod in satisfaction. He walked out of the emperor¡¯s palace and left the capital. The emperor¡¯s corpse would be discovered an hour later, and so would the message, sending shockwaves in the vestigial empire. However, that had nothing to do with Jun Qiangwu anymore. He was the only member of the Jun Family left. A family of one person could no longer be considered a family. Whether it was words of praise or rebuke, Jun Qiangwu didn¡¯t care. He no longer cared about the Qian Dynasty or its citizens. Instead, Jun Qiangwu found a safe location kilometers away from the capital and digested the information he gained from the Qian Emperor. Most important was the information concerning the Xi Immortal Dynasty. According to the Qian Emperor, it was a powerful force that descended from a higher realm around five years ago. The newly established Xi Immortal Dynasty sent delegates to all major settlements. The delegates were akin to gods. They could stand in the air and with a wave of their hand, destroy hundreds of monsters. To them, the monsters were probably no different from ants. The delegates revealed the truth behind the world¡¯s changes. Not only that, but they also announced the existence of the Xi Immortal Dynasty. Any person had the right to become a member and attain a cultivation method. The trade-off was that they had to obey the Xi Immortal Dynasty. Otherwise, death. Superhumans had a higher chance of joining the Xi Immortal Dynasty than regular humans, but that wasn¡¯t absolute. After years of research and propagation by the Xi Immortal Dynasty, many people know that some superhumans were no different from regular mortals to the Xi Immortal Dynasty. Qian Jiafeng happened to be one of those people. However, she was lucky and got engaged to the crown prince of the Mu Dynasty. According to the deceased Qian Emperor, Crown Prince Mu Long was a core disciple of the Xi Immortal Dynasty. And the reason he was so talented was because of his physique, the Hundred Roots Physique. Possessors of the Hundred Roots Physique could control up a hundred different plants. However, that was only its auxiliary effect. The user could absorb the vitality of the controlled plants for many uses, such as healing or as a cultivation booster. Thanks to this outstanding ability, Mu Long had already reached the Sixth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm. Jun Qiangwu frowned. He never expected so many people other than him would receive cultivation inheritances. It seemed that he needed to scout out the Xi Immortal Dynasty and compare the methods. But in his heart, Jun Qiangwu believed the system¡¯s cultivation method was superior. Speaking of the system. ¡°System, I¡¯ve completed the mission. I can get the reward now, right?¡± [Ding! Main Mission 2 completed.] [Reward: 2 Gacha Tokens.] Question marks appeared above Jun Qiangwu¡¯s head. ¡°What is a gacha?¡± [Gacha is a chance system that grants rewards based on luck.] Immediately, Jun Qiangwu¡¯s enthusiasm waned. If he was lucky, would he be betrayed? Well, he can¡¯t be considered unlucky, either. After all, he caught the attention of a supreme existence. ¡°How do I use it?¡± After the Nine Heavens Revenge System explained the process, Jun Qiangwu opened the gacha system. A window with a slot wheel with many pictures appeared. With but a thought, he used a gacha token, and the slot started to spin. Despite himself, Jun Qiangwu couldn¡¯t help but become nervous. Finally, the slot stopped on the picture of a white shell with tan underbelly. [Ding! Congratulation for receiving the Lesser White Shell Talisman.] ¡°White Shell Talisman, what¡¯s that?¡± Jun Qiangwu asked. [The Lesser White Shell Talisman is a one-time use item that shoots a white shell in a straight line. Once struck, a foundation establishment disciple would immediately lose his life. Even a core formation master would be injured.] Jun Qiangwu¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡®Good thing!¡¯ He took out the talisman and it fit comfortably into his palm. It was amazing that such a small thing could kill a foundation establishment disciple. The best part was that he didn¡¯t need to input any qi into it, not that a qi gathering pupil like he could. After playing with it a bit, he stored it back into the gacha space. It was a special pocket of space given to him by the system to store all his winnings from the gacha. Jun Qiangwu immediately used the next gacha token. He waited with bated breath for the next item. He wasn¡¯t a gambler, but this gacha thing might just make him fall down the rabbit hole. Thoughts on how to earn more gacha tokens already appeared in his mind. [Ding! Congratulation for receiving the Frostflower Eye.] ¡°Frostflower Eye, what¡¯s that?¡± Jun Qiangwu murmured. However, immediately after learning of its ability, he couldn¡¯t help but shout in excitement. It was like the ability was tailor made for him. Jun Qiangwu left his original spot for a more secure location. After settling in, he began to practice the technique. Chapter 408: Side Mission Three months later, Jun Qiangwu left the wilderness. His blue eyes had changed. Ice-blue markings circled around his pupil, forming a flower-like symbol. Jun Qiangwu placed a hand over one of his eyes as he felt them pulse with qi. He had just finished successfully cultivating the Frostflower Eye Technique, and it would still take some time for the pain to disappear. It would take even more time for him to be able to display the power of the Frostflower Eyes. The successful cultivation of the Frostflower Eyes wasn¡¯t Jun Qiangwu¡¯s only gain. He had also discovered the location of his fifth meridian. With enough time, he would easily step into the Fifth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm. ¡°System, what is my current mission?¡± [Ding! Main Mission Issued.] [Main Mission 3: Join the Xi Immortal Dynasty.] Jun Qiangwu furrowed his brows. ¡°System, do I have to join that organization?¡± [The host does not have to complete the mission, but subsequent missions will not be issued.] ¡°Isn¡¯t that just forcing me?¡± Jun Qiangwu asked, with simmering anger. Needless to say, his experience with the Qian Dynasty had soured his views on authorities who claim themselves as emperors. ¡°What about the Mu Dynasty or Qian Jiafeng? Aren¡¯t you the Nine Heavens Revenge System? Shouldn¡¯t the next mission be to kill Qian Jiafeng?¡± Jun Qiangwu asked. [The Nine Heavens Revenge System has judged the host to be too weak. Joining the Xi Immortal Dynasty will expedite the host¡¯s growth. Also, the Mu Dynasty has nothing to do with your revenge. Mu Long did not take part in the Qian Dynasty¡¯s Betrayal.] ¡°Weak?¡± Jun Qiangwu trembled. After everything, he was still considered weak? ¡°I don¡¯t believe it.¡± The former general walked out of the cave. Instead of traveling toward the Xi Immortal Dynasty, he returned to the Qian Dynasty¡¯s capital. After three months, Qian Jiafeng should have returned by now, right? Jun Qiangwu slipped in just as easily as he had slipped out the night he killed the emperor. He sneered when he saw the white banners still hung on many buildings. According to tradition, all citizens had to hang white banners or clothes to display their sadness at the emperor¡¯s passing. Of course, outside of the capital, the mourning period lasted as long as the local governor chose to. Jun Qiangwu sneered. In his eyes, the Qian Emperor wasn¡¯t worth a single day of mourning, much less the standard three months or longer. Still, he wasn¡¯t here to ruin the traitor¡¯s funeral, but to focus on the future. Specifically, retribution on the one who had actually back-stabbed him. Pretending to browse some hawker¡¯s wares, Jun Qiangwu perked his ears. ¡°Hey, did you get a glimpse of Her Highness?¡± a passerby asked. ¡°I wish. What about you? Weren¡¯t you related to a servant of a ducal family?¡± ¡°Ah? You mean my uncle? He¡¯s just a laborer, not even someone who serves the noble. How could he let me get a glimpse of her?¡± the first person said. The second person sighed. ¡°I heard that Her Highness is the reincarnation of a fairy from the immortal realm. Her beauty is beyond mortal coils. If I could just catch a glimpse of Princess Jiafeng, I would die a happy man.¡± Suddenly, a third person interjected into the two person conversation. He had a smug smirk as he said, ¡°I caught a glimpse of her and I didn¡¯t have to die.¡± Instead of being mad, the two started questioning the interloper with relish. ¡°Really? What did she look like?¡± ¡°Yeah, tell us. Quickly!¡± The interloper puffed his chest up. ¡°Actually, I only caught a glimpse of Princess Jiafeng by complete accident. I¡¯m a woodcutter by trade, and when I was peddling firewood to the capital, I saw a magnificent carriage. There was a scary old man driving it.¡± ¡°Pfff, how scary can an old man be?¡± ¡°No, no, no,¡± the woodcutter said. He shivered, as if recalling the experience. ¡°I¡¯ve actually survived many monster encounters, thanks to my intuition. And none of the monsters I¡¯ve ever encountered gave me the chills I had when seeing him.¡± ¡°What does the old man have to do with seeing the princess?¡± the first person asked. The woodcutter glared. ¡°I was getting to that.¡± ¡°Anyway,¡± the woodcutter said, resuming his story. ¡°There I was, frozen from fear. My whole body was stiff, and only my eyes could move. I watched the carriage pass by with my eyes, afraid that something would happen. What I didn¡¯t expect was for a strong wind to blow, making the curtains flutter. In that single instance, I caught a glimpse of the princess.¡± ¡°What, the princess left?¡± ¡°Yeah, isn¡¯t she still mourning His Majesty¡¯s death? Her brother has just ascended the throne, and she already left? Who are you trying to trick?¡± the second person said. The woodcutter snorted. ¡°How should I know? All I know is that I saw Princess Jiafeng.¡± The two people shared a look and then laughed. ¡°If you really did see her, describe her.¡±The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Instead of getting angry, the woodcutter closed his eyes, as if recalling the memory. ¡°Even if I used all the words I¡¯ve learned, I can never describe her heavenly appearance. Imagine the most beautiful woman you¡¯ve ever seen. Princess Jiafeng is a hundred times more beautiful. That¡¯s how beautiful she is.¡± The two people shared another glance. They wanted to mock the woodcutter, but judging from his reaction, he might have really seen the princess. But before they could continue down their train a thought, a fourth interloper appeared. ¡°What was she wearing?¡± Jun Qiangwu asked, staring at the woodcutter. ¡°Huh?¡± the woodcutter stared in surprised at the former general, who had appeared out of nowhere. Still, he answered without hesitation. ¡°Green.¡± Jun Qiangwu¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°Was she wearing a silver hairpin with a blue gem encrusted in it?¡± ¡°How¡¯d you know?¡± the woodcutter asked. He looked Jun Qiangwu up and down. The latter wore common clothing, and didn¡¯t look like he was part of the nobility. ¡°Which way did she go?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± The woodcutter took a step back, fearing the ferocious light in Jun Qiangwu¡¯s eyes. ¡°W-why¡¯d you w-wanna know?¡± Jun Qiangwu growled and took a step forward. ¡°Just answer the damn question.¡± ¡°N-n-no!¡± the woodcutter said, trying to put a brave front. He shivered as he stepped back. Still, it was too late as Jun Qiangwu flashed in front of him. A hand reached out and grabbed his neck. ¡°Y-you, what are you doing?!¡± one of the two passersby shouted while pointing at Jun Qiangwu with a trembling finger. His companion also added, ¡°Yeah, this is the capital of the Qian Dynasty. No matter who you are, you¡¯ll be thrown into jail and have your head cut off.¡± The commotion had already caused the residents of the capital to take notice, but Jun Qiangwu didn¡¯t care. He raised the woodcutter until his feet lifted off the ground. ¡°Tell me.¡± ¡°Grak!!¡± The woodcutter opened his mouth, only for air to escape his lips from the force of Jun Qiangwu¡¯s grip. With no choice, he could only point a shaky finger in the direction the carriage had traveled toward. ¡°T-t-th-at w-way!¡­¡± The woodcutter collapsed onto his back. He clutched his throat as he breathed in the sweet air. When he looked up, Jun Qiangwu had already disappeared. ¡°He ran that way!¡± a pedestrian said as the city guards appeared. The city guards ran towards the direction the pedestrian pointed at. However, it was already too late, as Jun Qiangwu had already left the city walls. Even if they had caught sight of him, they were only stronger than the average human. If it was against a soldier or captain-class superhuman, they might have a chance at winning. But against Jun Qiangwu? They weren¡¯t even worthy of touching the dust he left behind.
Jun Qiangwu ran in the direction the woodcutter pointed at. It seemed that the woodcutter didn¡¯t lie. He could see the tracks the carriage had left behind. Sure, there were other carriages, but Jun Qiangwu already had a guess where Qian Jiafeng would leave for. Qian Jiafeng either left for the Xi Immortal Dynasty, or the Mu Dynasty. Coupled with Jun Qiangwu¡¯s tracking skills, a skill he learned because of his hunting hobby, he already zeroed in on his next target of revenge. Hours passed, and he ran like a man possessed. Jun Qiangwu ignored the hunger gnawing at his stomach, and even the protesting muscles. All he knew was that revenge was at hand. When the number of tracks disappeared, leaving only a single carriage track, he knew he had followed the correct direction. The location had changed to a dirt road surrounded by trees. Only those accompanied by a platoon of soldiers would dare to tread here. That, or an extremely powerful superhuman. And what are the chances of that powerful superhuman not being Qian Jiafeng? Jun Qiangwu¡¯s footsteps slowed down when he saw a carriage on the horizon. It had stopped, as if waiting for him. He snorted and brandished his spear as he walked slowly toward the stopped vehicle. Once he walked closer, he noticed the captain-class monster attached to the carriage. However, it was the old man that attracted Jun Qiangwu¡¯s attention. Even ten meters apart, Jun Qiangwu felt a sense of danger from the man. Still, he did not back down. No matter how powerful the old man was, his power shouldn¡¯t exceed Jun Qiangwu¡¯s too much. Even a genius like Mu Long had only entered the Sixth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm. ¡°Little Rascal, why have you been following us?¡± the old man asked. His voice was dry and raspy, akin to grating sandpaper. It only enforced the dangerous aura he exuded. Jun Qiangwu ignored him. Instead, he observed the carriage. ¡°Jiafeng, why aren¡¯t you coming out? Hmpf, or are you too ashamed to face me?¡± The old man paused, not expecting the seemingly skinny man bearing a spear to have a relationship with the lady. Silence passed, and just as it seemed that Qian Jiafeng would ignore him, the carriage door opened. Out stepped the Qian Dynasty¡¯s princess in all her glory. Qian Jiafeng had shed most of the extravagant accessories and dress for a plain, green dress with a few simple hair accessories. Jun Qiangwu¡¯s eyes drifted toward the sapphire encrusted hairpin, and his bottled anger boiled. She looked more beautiful than before, but that only added fuel to the fire. Just as Jun Qiangwu stared at Qian Jiafeng, so, too, did she stare back. Qian Jiafeng possessed complicated emotions towards Jun Qiangwu. Before the world changed, she had been an average princess. One, who envied her older sister for being able to have an engagement with the famous successor of the Jun Family. It would be a lie to say that she wasn¡¯t happy when the engagement fell onto her. But exceeding her admiration and feelings for Jun Qiangwu was the reality of power. She understood that love was nothing, and only power mattered. Had she not possessed power, would the Qian Emperor respect her? Had she not possessed talent, would the engagement fall on her head? The Qian Emperor wanted her to give the fruit she and Jun Qiangwu collected to her half-brother, the current emperor, but she ate it instead. So what if the Qian Emperor was angry? What could he do to her? The Qian Emperor needed her more than she needed him. ¡°If I knew this would have happened, I should have finished you myself,¡± Qian Jiafeng said. Jun Qiangwu sneered. ¡°Even if I died, I would have crawled out of the pits of hell to drag you and your scum of a father down with me.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know where your confidence comes from, but all those who have not joined the Xi Immortal Dynasty and obtained the cultivation methods are just ants. You may be able to kill a mortal like my Emperor-Father, but you¡¯re wrong if you think you can defeat me by just playing with some water and ice,¡± Qian Jiafeng said. Jun Qiangwu whipped his spear forward in response. ¡°We shall see.¡± Qian Jiafeng stared at Jun Qiangwu. She had secretly admired him for years, and partnered with him even longer. Even with anger raging in his mind, she knew that he would not attempt something he was not confident about. So, she turned toward the old man. ¡°Mister Bing, I¡¯ll have to trouble you to take action.¡± ¡°It¡¯s no problem at all, Miss Qian,¡± Bing said. ¡°It¡¯s this guard¡¯s duty to keep you worry free. Even if it means squishing an ant to death.¡± Jun Qiangwu sneered. He dug his feet into the ground and prepared to charge. However, something stopped him. [Ding! Side Mission Issued.] [Side Mission: Escape Qian Jiafeng¡¯s guard, Bing.] ¡°Wha¡ª¡± Jun Qiangwu didn¡¯t have a chance to process the Nine Heavens Revenge System¡¯s announcement as Bing had already leaped toward him. Bing¡¯s body blurred as he arrived in front of Jun Qiangwu with his fist reared back. From that fist, Jun Qiangwu sensed the shadow of death. If he did not dodge or block it, he would be severely injured or possibly die! Chapter 409: Xanadu Jun Qiangwu quickly held his spear in front of him. Bing¡¯s eyes only showed disdain, and he didn¡¯t even bother altering the trajectory of his punch. A thunderous clang erupted the moment Bing¡¯s fist touched the metal spear. The first thing that touched Jun Qiangwu¡¯s body wasn¡¯t Bing¡¯s fist, but the shaft of his spear. The former general spat out a mouthful of blood as Bing¡¯s punch launched him ten meters away. More blood leaked out of his lips as he landed on his back. If he hadn¡¯t reached the Tendon Reinforcement Stage, Bing¡¯s attack would have killed him. But even if Jun Qiangwu survived, Bing¡¯s punch had damaged his internal organs extensively and cracked his ribs. Not only that, but Jun Qiangwu¡¯s spear had warped under Bing¡¯s punch. Spear shafts were designed to be flexible, so they would return to their original shape whenever a force acted on them. This resulted in them being mostly made of wood. Jun Qiangwu¡¯s spear was forged out of iron, and Bing¡¯s punch had permanently bent it. Had it been wood, the punch would have likely shattered it. Bing looked at the coughing Jun Qiangwu in surprise. ¡°You survived my punch?¡± He looked at his fist to see a layer of frost covering it. With a shake of his hand, the frost scattered. ¡°Ice?¡± Bing looked at Jun Qiangwu with realization. ¡°You must be Jun Qiangwu. Your name resounded throughout the land years ago. It was said that you died, but it seems that the truth of the matter is different from the rumors. No matter, you¡¯ll die under my fist soon enough.¡± Bing walked toward the downed Jun Qiangwu. His footsteps were slow and almost leisurely. Blood spattered onto the ground as Jun Qiangwu stood up. A layer of cracked ice covered his chest, but it soon shattered and fell off. He clutched his chest as his legs trembled to support him. His spear lay on the ground, abandoned. In spite of his injuries, Jun Qiangwu glared at Bing. His gaze flickered toward Qian Jiafeng and exuded endless hatred. ¡°System, how strong is that Bing?¡± [Scanning.] [Ding!] [Scan Complete.] [Subject Bing is at the Twelfth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm/] ¡°What!?¡± Jun Qiangwu shouted. ¡°How could he reach the Twelfth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm?¡± Jun Qiangwu stared at Bing¡¯s white hair and beard. Obviously, he was not young. In the early realms of cultivation, age was important. The younger you were, the more vitality one had, the faster they would cultivate. So, how could Bing¡¯s cultivation base exceed his and even Mu Long? [Subject Bing¡¯s meridians have been forcibly opened using external aid. His meridians can no longer be linked, and his immortal journey has ended. He will be forever unable to reach the Thirteenth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm.] ¡®Knowing that doesn¡¯t help me at all!¡¯ Jun Qiangwu screamed in his head. ¡®So what if Bing was stuck in the Twelfth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm? He was strong enough to kill me now!¡¯ As Bing walked closer, Jun Qiangwu stepped back one step. He gnashed his teeth so hard, blood flowed from his gum. The only method he could think of was to run away. Ignoring the fact that Bing¡¯s speed exceeded his, Jun Qiangwu abhorred that very thought. He would not run away, especially when the target of his revenge was right in front of him! ¡°I won¡¯t allow it,¡± Jun Qiangwu said. Bing paused, frozen momentarily by the pure emotions overflowing from Jun Qiangwu. However, he soon regained his composure and sneered. He was stunned by someone so much weaker than him? Bing had to admit that Jun Qiangwu was special. After all, he survived his direct punch, something that even Qian Jiafeng couldn¡¯t do. Among the people Bing knew, perhaps only Mu Long could accomplish this. ¡°Cease your futile struggles. Accept your fate. It¡¯ll be less painful for you,¡± Bing said. Jun Qiangwu glared harder. He raised his hand, and a white rock appeared. Bing frowned, wondering where the rock came from. It hadn¡¯t been in his hand when Jun Qiangwu stood up. And upon closer inspection, he realized it was a turtle shell with a white back and tan underbelly. ¡°Hmpf, what are you going to do with a turtle shell? Do you think it¡¯ll save your life?¡± Jun Qiangwu said nothing. He reared his hand back and threw the turtle shell. The moment the Lesser White Shell Talisman left his hand, it grew until it reached the size of a watermelon. It blurred as air exploded behind it, causing his hair to whip behind him. Seconds later, an earth shattering bang rang hundreds of meters away. However, Jun Qiangwu paid no heed. Instead, he stared at Bing. Or, more specifically, the gaping hole in his chest. He could see everything behind Bing. Bing himself looked down. His eyes were wide, as if he couldn¡¯t comprehend what had just happened. Blood dripped from his mouth. It was as if a dam had broken. More blood gushed out of his mouth. Blood dripped from the top of the hole in his chest to the bottom. He raised his hands towards his chest; they trembled uncontrollably as he did so. Then, he pressed in. He felt nothing.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°My chest, where is it? Where is it!¡± The more aggravated Bing became, the more blood that flowed from his mouth and chest, staining his robes red. Bing looked up and glared at Jun Qiangwu, who was just as stunned. ¡°Y-you! What did you do!? Give me back my chest!¡± He took one step forward, but that single step exhausted all of Bing¡¯s energy as he collapsed face first. His body continued to twitch, and blood seeped out from below and tainted the ground. Jun Qiangwu stared at the fallen Bing, dazed. At most, he thought the Lesser White Shell Talisman would heavily injure Bing. After all, Bing was at the Twelfth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm, and he was only one stage away from being able to reach the Foundation Establishment Realm. The system said it could easily kill a foundation establishment disciple. It wasn¡¯t until now that he truly comprehended what that entailed. [Side Mission completed.] [Mission Completion Grade: EX] [Reward: 3 Gacha Token.] Jun Qiangwu didn¡¯t have the time to marvel at the rewards or the introduction of a mission completion grading system. No, he turned toward Qian Jiafeng. Without Bing¡¯s presence, he wanted to see if Qian Jiafeng could continue to delay the inevitable. But when he turned, he saw the subject of his revenge galloping off on the back of the horse-shaped monster. It seemed that Qian Jiafeng had already awoken from the shock ahead of Jun Qiangwu. In terms of ability to accept unexpected situations, she was far above him. ¡°You¡¯re not getting away!¡± Jun Qiangwu shouted. He conjured a spear of ice into his hand and reared his arm back. He launched it forward, and it shot through the air like a miniature comet. There was the sound of a horse¡¯s cry, but otherwise, nothing else occurred. Jun Qiangwu fell to his knees and coughed out another mouthful of blood. ¡°Damn it!¡± He punched his fist into the ground, aggravating his injuries further, but Jun Qiangwu didn¡¯t care. It was only after venting his frustrations that Jun Qiangwu calmed down. With his cooled head, he realized that if Qian Jiafeng stayed, he would have likely died under her hands thanks to his injured state. The only reason Qian Jiafeng left was because of the unknown. She didn¡¯t know that he only had one Lesser White Shell Talisman. This realization only frustrated him even more. Wasn¡¯t he supposed to dominate all the other superhumans with absolute strength? He was the one chosen by the Nine Heavens Revenge System. Why was it that an old man could push him to near death? He would have died if he didn¡¯t have the Lesser White Shell Talisman. Jun Qiangwu roared into the sky. It contained all his unwillingness. He wiped the blood dripping down his chin and stood up. Limping, Jun Qiangwu walked away seeking shelter. Instead of walking the path he came from, or the direction Qian Jiafeng fled toward, he walked straight into the forest. He was careful to hide his tracks as much as possible in case Qian Jiafeng led people back to kill him. Once Jun Qiangwu found a safe location, he tended to his wounds to the best of his abilities. Only after tending his wounds did he open the gacha and start using the gacha tokens. [Ding! Congratulation for receiving the Inferior White Shell Talisman.] [Ding! Congratulation for receiving the Hundred Faces Silk Mask.] [Ding! Congratulation for receiving the Low-Grade Revitalization Pill.] The Inferior White Shell Talisman was just like the Lesser White Shell Talisman, only that it could only guarantee killing qi gather pupils. It could injure foundation establishment disciples, but not kill them unless it struck a vital point, like the head or heart. The Hundred Faces Silk Mask, as the name suggested, was a mask which changed the appearance of the wearer. And finally, the Low-Grade Revitalization Pill. Jun Qiangwu didn¡¯t need the Nine Heavens Revenge System to tell him its purpose. Without a second thought, he swallowed it. The pill dissolved into liquid once it entered his stomach, and a warm sensation filled his body. An hour later, Jun Qiangwu clenched and unclenched his fist. He ripped off his robes to reveal a scar that covered his entire chest. The newly grown skin felt tight, but it would become flexible with time. His ribs still pulsed every time he moved, but at least it didn¡¯t hurt anymore. Jun Qiangwu looked up. ¡°System, you said that my third mission was to join the Xi Immortal Dynasty, right?¡± [Yes.] ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll join. Even if I¡¯m only a pawn, I don¡¯t care. I just want to kill Qian Jiafeng,¡± Jun Qiangwu said. He immediately set off for the Xi Immortal Dynasty. Along the way, he donned the Hundred Faces Silk Mask, hiding his handsome features with a plain one. He also rid the world of a bandit camp and replaced the rags that were once his clothes. It took a month for Jun Qiangwu to arrive at the Xi Immortal Dynasty. Although it was called a dynasty, it only constituted one city, but Jun Qiangwu didn¡¯t dare to underestimate it. He could already see it from afar because of an impossibly tall structure. It was the Xi Immortal Palace that stood a thousand meters tall. Not only that, but the Xi Dynasty Capital, Xanadu, was ninety-nine square kilometers large. Just the walls surrounding the city reached a hundred meters. To Jun Qiangwu¡¯s surprise, the guards stationed at the gates didn¡¯t question him at all when he tried to enter. They just let him pass. Upon entering, Jun Qiangwu was even more surprised. Inside he could see thousands of people going about their business. It was like a mortal town and not the holy ground of immortal cultivation he imagined. And that surprise only grew after investigating a bit. The people going about their business and living their lives were regular mortals, refugees that came here to escape the monsters. They were the citizens of the city, not disciples of the Xi Immortal Dynasty. The actual place of cultivation was the center of the city. It was nine square kilometers large. ¡°Hey, are you new?¡± a passerby asked upon seeing Jun Qiangwu walking toward the center. Jun Qiangwu glanced at the passerby. ¡°How did you know?¡± ¡°Of course I know,¡± the passerby said. ¡°All newcomers go toward the center, hoping to become a disciple of the Xi Immortal Dynasty.¡± The passerby pointed at the trees in the distance. ¡°See those trees? That¡¯s actually a forest. Most of us regular folks just live on the perimeter. Only those that want to become a disciple go there.¡± ¡°I see.¡± The passerby smiled, not minding Jun Qiangwu¡¯s quietness. He had seen plenty of his type. There were worse ones who entered the city. Yesterday, a man who lost all his relatives to monsters arrived. He swore to the heavens that he would cultivate and slay all the monsters. Unfortunately, he had no talent, and could only be regulated to a worker. ¡°If you can¡¯t pass, how about joining me? I¡¯m planning on expanding my farm. I can¡¯t pay much, but I can at least guarantee a few coins and a meal,¡± the passerby said as he patted Jun Qiangwu¡¯s shoulder. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about monsters inside the city because there are none, even in the uninhabited land.¡± Jun Qiangwu stared at the passerby. He opened his mouth and said, ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°If we have the chance, let¡¯s meet again.¡± After saying those parting words, Jun Qiangwu walked toward the center of Xanadu. Chapter 410: Inner Disciple A row of people lined up in front of a gargantuan gate over a thousand meters tall. There were sculptures of a coiling dragon on one side and a soaring phoenix on the other. Engraved in the center of the gate was the Xi character. Of the crowd of people, only one person¡¯s back faced the gate. He was an aged man with graying hair and hunched back. That person cleared his throat, so that his voice would become sonorous. ¡°Let me be clear. Most, if not all, of you will fail the assessment. Yes, even you superhumans. Your chances are only a little higher than regular people, so don¡¯t get your hopes up. If you fail and make a scene, don¡¯t blame me for being impolite.¡± The hunched man could see that only a few of the superhumans took his words seriously. He sneered. They weren¡¯t the first batch he tested, and they certainly won¡¯t be the last. But like all that came before and those that have yet to come, they would learn. It¡¯ll just be the last lesson they learn. He clapped his hand, and on his signal, the gate swung open. The ordinary people¡¯s faces paled. The gate had swung open by itself, and they couldn¡¯t help but wonder if ghosts had opened it. The hunched man ignored their fear or amazement and walked inside. ¡°Follow me. If you¡¯re already scared, leave now and never come back.¡± Of the hundred plus people, three or four chickened out and left. No one paid attention to them. They followed the hunched man inside. They expected to see a grand palace, or something magnificent. But to their disappointment, they found themselves at the foot of a mountain. ¡°What, disappointed?¡± the hunched man asked. ¡°Hmpf, if any of you succeed, you will know how miraculous this place is. And if you become an inner disciple, you will go to an even better location.¡± The hunched man looked up toward the peak of the mountain, where a palace lay. His eyes scanned past the base of the mountain to the middle, which was covered in fog, and all the way up to the tallest point of the palace. The palace¡¯s tallest tower reached over a thousand meters tall. He turned back, but froze. ¡°Not bad,¡± the hunched man said as he pointed at a plain-faced man. Although his appearance was nothing extraordinary, he exuded a calm and alluring temperament. Currently, the young man was looking at his hand in amazement. ¡°It seems that at least one of you is destined to join the Xi Immortal Dynasty.¡± Many of the people who came to join stared at the plain-faced man. They scrutinized him, wanting to explore his secrets and figured out why he was guaranteed to join. A few superhumans who exuded powerful auras snorted. They didn¡¯t think the plain-faced man was more talented or powerful than them. ¡°Stop wasting time and follow me,¡± the hunched man said, not caring about the test takers¡¯ internal struggles. He led them to a large building. It was grand, standing over a hundred meters tall, but it was plain. After entering, the test takers saw an orb the size of a head placed atop a pedestal. ¡°All of you line up. One by one, place your hand on the Talent Appraisal Orb.¡± The test takers did as they were told. Most of the superhumans forced themselves to the front. The ordinary people were mad, but they didn¡¯t start a fight over it, as it was pointless. They simply needed to wait a bit longer, that¡¯s all. The first person, a man that stood over two meters tall, swaggered forward. His muscles rippled through his robes and he stopped confidently in front of the Talent Appraisal Orb. He placed his hand atop the orb and waited. And waited. And waited. His originally proud expression turned ugly. Just as he was about to shout, a small dim yellow light shone. He turned toward the hunched man, waiting to hear news of his success. ¡°Failed,¡± the hunched man said without a hint of surprise. The tall man¡¯s expression was still frozen in ecstasy, as if he hadn¡¯t processed what entered his ears. After a few seconds, his expression morphed into rage. ¡°What, why? Didn¡¯t I pass the test?¡± The hunched man sneered. ¡°That little glow? You¡¯re not qualified. Leave.¡± The man didn¡¯t. He stomped toward the old man. His height towered over the hunched man, and his eyes dug holes into the latter. ¡°Listen here. If you don¡¯t pass me, you don¡¯t want to know what I¡¯m going to do to you.¡± The hunched man smiled, almost derisively. ¡°What if I don¡¯t?¡± The man didn¡¯t answer directly. Instead, he raised his fist up, eliciting gasps from the test takers. However, the hunched man didn¡¯t react, as if he didn¡¯t see it. Then, the fist came down, but just before it landed, the hunched man raised a finger. The fist stopped. That seemingly frail and skeletal finger had halted the towering man¡¯s fist in its track. His eyes widened in shock. He gritted his teeth and tried to force the finger to bend, but all he got were bulging veins popping out on his forehead and labored breaths. ¡°You done?¡± the hunched man asked. ¡°Now, it¡¯s my turn.¡± Before anyone could react, or even see what had happened, the tall man¡¯s head vanished from his body. The headless body stood still for a second before madly twitching. Blood spurted from its exposed neck and into the hunched man¡¯s linen robes. The corpse soon collapsed backward onto the floor with a thud. The hunch man turned his gaze from the corpse to the test takers. ¡°The next person who isn¡¯t satisfied with the results can follow his fate.¡±The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Now, none of the superhumans dared to look the hunched man in the eyes. Like little children, they walked toward the orb and placed their hands atop. Most of them could only make it exude a dim light, while a few couldn¡¯t even make it light up at all. Although they were angry and disappointed, none dared to lash out. So, most of the superhumans walked away in shame. They stood at the side and watched the ordinary people place their hands on the Talent Appraisal Orb one by one. They all cursed the remaining test takers to fail like them. Suddenly, the Talent Appraisal Orb exuded an intense red light, dyeing the person touching it in red. The hunched man¡¯s eyes lit up in surprise. ¡°Not bad, not bad. Second-class talent. What¡¯s your name?¡± The test taker, a young girl with pigtails, smiled. Her lips pulled back, revealing pearly white teeth. ¡°Xingyi, sir.¡± ¡°Good, good,¡± the hunched man said. ¡°Stand behind. I¡¯ll bring you inside after everyone is done.¡± With the appearance of the first person to succeed, the rest of the test takers couldn¡¯t help but become excited. Alas, a string of failures followed. Just as they thought no one else would pass, the Talent Appraisal Orb exuded a white light, one even more powerful than the red light. The person who had her hand on the orb was a woman in her late teens. Her garb was that of a bridal gown, but it had frayed edges and was full of dirt. The woman¡¯s eyes didn¡¯t show much excitement, only determination. ¡°Hahaha, I¡¯m truly lucky. First-class talent, first-class talent! And there¡¯s at least another possible disciple. There¡¯s going to be three new disciples under my supervision!¡± After the hunched man calmed down, he asked the woman¡¯s name. She said, ¡°Hou Yawen.¡± The hunched man smiled even more and told the woman to stand beside Xingyi. Xingyi smiled at Hou Yawen, but the latter ignored her, causing the former to become downcast. Few noticed, as they were even more determined to pass. However, their hearts were willing, but their bodies were not. After many ups and downs, it finally came for the plain-faced man¡¯s turn. The hunched man smiled as he waited expectantly. The plain man placed his palm atop the Talent Appraising Orb, and for a second, nothing happened. Then, a blinding, icy blue light engulfed the room. ¡°P-Peerless talent! Another peerless talent!¡± the hunched man shouted. His breathing became short as he stared at the plain-faced man as if he wasn¡¯t a person but the most delectable piece of meat or a priceless treasure. ¡°You, what¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Wuqiang.¡± ¡°Quick, stand behind me,¡± the hunched man said. When Wuqiang stood beside the other two, they glanced at him in interest, even Hou Yawen. Wuqiang glanced at Xingyi and gave her a kind smile, which the young girl reciprocated. From there, the hunched man urged the rest of the test takers to finish. Unfortunately for the test takers, no one else passed. When the hunched man ushered them out, over ten superhumans collaborated and resisted, hoping to force the hunched man to change his decision. The hunched man let them join the first superhuman that defied him. With the gates to the Xi Immortal Dynasty closed, the hunched man escorted them up the mountain. When they crossed halfway up the mountain, a dense fog surrounded them. ¡°Keep close. Otherwise, don¡¯t blame me for getting lost. Only people part of the Xi Immortal Dynasty, or one leading the way, can pass this. If you are an outsider, you will get lost forever until death.¡± Xingyi inched closer to the hunched man. Wuqiang and Hou Yawen also paid more attention, keeping their eyes on the hunched man at all times. An hour later, the fog parted, revealing a grand palace. The quartet walked to the palace gate, where the hunched man bowed with his hand cupped in his other hand. ¡°Protector Hanwei has brought the new disciples to the dynasty. Please open the door and allow me to bring them inside.¡± Like at the base of the mountain, the palace doors opened without any apparent external force. Unlike the bottom of the mountain, the entrance hall was guarded by a row of soldiers. All of them sported graying or white hair, and appeared the same as the hunched man, Hanwei. ¡°Follow me,¡± Hanwei said. Along the way, Wuqiang, Hou Yawen, and Xingyi couldn¡¯t help but glance around. Xingyi¡¯s eyes especially couldn¡¯t help repeatedly returning to the elderly guards. ¡°You¡¯re probably wondering why the guards are so old, right?¡± Hanwei asked. Xingyi flushed and looked down. Hanwei laughed. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so reserved. In the future, your status will only exceed mine. All these guards have no future. Everyone of us took a pill that forcibly raised our strength. I reached the Twelfth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm, while these guards could only reach the Fifth or Sixth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm. Although we are stronger now, we cannot become stronger, unlike you guys.¡± Upon hearing this, all three couldn¡¯t help but look at the guards again. All these guard¡¯s aged appearance belied their power that exceeded regular mortals. especially Wuqiang. Unnoticed by anyone, he clenched his fist until his nails pierced his palms. ¡°Okay, stop here,¡± Hanwei said, as the quartet stopped in front of a circular room with a towering stele made of unknown materials. On the stele were over a hundred names. He took out a thin needle and said, ¡°Pierce your finger and write your name on it. Afterward, your names will be engraved into the Monument of Records.¡± ¡°I''-I¡¯ll go first,¡± Xingyi said. She took the needle and pierced her finger without changing her expression. Once the blood started to flow, she wrote her name atop the stele. A bright light flashed as her name appeared in the middle of the list. Xingyi - Second-Class Outer Disciple Hou Yawen walked up to the stele next. She followed Xingyi¡¯s action and her name also appeared on the stele. Hou Yawen - First-Class Outer Disciple Then, it was Wuqiang¡¯s turn. When he wrote his name on the stele, nothing happened. The blood didn¡¯t disappear or glow. His face became ugly. At this time, an uneasy feeling overtook him. He looked around, but couldn¡¯t find the source.
At the highest location of the Xi Immortal Palace, a man in white robes and refined features looked at a slim, metal rectangle in his hand. Most of his hair was black, but the tips had started to turn white. He frowned as he looked at the video playing on the tablet. ¡°What are you trying to do, Tianyi?¡± Xi Ri asked, to which no one responded. The Xiyi Talisman in his hand displayed all the plain-faced man¡¯s history and current status, including his true name, Jun Qiangwu. Xi Ri shook his head. ¡°Forget it, let¡¯s just give a little boost to the little guy.¡±
Suddenly, the blood-written name finally flashed. The quartet searched for Wuqiang¡¯s name, but couldn¡¯t find it. ¡°Ah! It¡¯s up there!¡± Xingyi shouted as she pointed near the very top. The other three also looked up. Wuqiang - Inner Disciple Chapter 411: Mu Long A man sat cross-legged inside an unfurnished chamber. The chamber was one of the many cultivation rooms within the Xi Immortal Palace, and it only had one purpose. To increase the density of spiritual qi to aid cultivation. However, not everyone could use it. First, a disciple of the Xi Immortal Dynasty had to have the required authority to enter the chamber, and only for a limited amount of time. Second, even if the disciple could enter the cultivation chamber, they would waste their opportunity if they couldn¡¯t withstand the spiritual qi density. Many disciples overestimated their tolerance and wasted their chance, allowing those behind to catch and surpass them. The man currently in the cultivation chamber had also experienced this. Instead of letting it drag him down, he turned the shame into motivation to improve himself. That¡¯s why he became the first disciple to enter the Sixth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm. His act drew the attention of one of the elders, allowing him to become an inner disciple from an outer disciple. His name was Mu Long, the crown prince of the Mu Dynasty. Contrary to the drab chamber, Mu Long wore brocade green robes depicting a coiling golden dragon. His hair was tied in a topknot and kept in place with a jade coronet. Beep! Beep! Beep! Mu Long opened his eyes and exhaled slowly. He opened his eyes and smiled. ¡°I¡¯m just one step away from reaching the Seventh Stage.¡± The prince stood up and walked out. He took out a rectangular piece of metal from his sleeves and placed it on the square next to the door. The square beeped, and the door slid open. After he walked out, the door closed. The rectangular card was known as the Xiyi Identification Card, or XiyiD for short. All members of the Xi Immortal Dynasty would be assigned one. The ID contained all the user¡¯s data and also contained everything the user needed to live in the Xi Immortal Palace. Just like how Mu Long used it to enter the cultivation chamber, if a disciple did not have the access rights, the card would not grant them access. ¡°It¡¯s Senior Brother Mu.¡± ¡°Senior Brother has just come out, his cultivation base must have increased.¡± ¡°His strength should have reached the same level as the guards, right?¡± ¡°Sigh. When can I have the same strength as Senior Brother Mu?¡± Mu Long¡¯s expression didn¡¯t even change the tiniest bit at the reactions. As the most outstanding disciple of the Xi Immortal Dynasty, it was only natural. He greeted a few fellow disciples and ignored the others. Because of the small number of disciples, Mu Long didn¡¯t see many of them. Most were arduously cultivating or gone out to fulfill their duties. He returned to his room, where his bodyguard awaited him. Each disciple was assigned a bodyguard. The bodyguards were people who failed the assessment but were still accepted as outer members. In exchange, they ingested a pill that raised their strength in return for destroying their potential. The ones that only reached the Tenth Stage or below were given bodyguard duties, but those who were at the Eleventh and Twelfth stage were assigned tasks with the corresponding privileges and rewards. Each outer disciple had a bodyguard at the Eleventh or Twelfth Stage. As the only inner disciple, Mu Long had three bodyguards. ¡°Young Master,¡± Zhuangbo, the head of his bodyguards, said. Mu Long nodded as he sat down and had a cup of tea poured for him. If there was one thing that dissatisfied him, it was that there was no maid, only smelly old men. After taking a sip, he asked, ¡°Did anything happen while I was cultivating?¡± ¡°Yes, there¡¯s a new inner disciple.¡± ¡°Another one appeared? Who is it?¡± Mu Long asked. ¡°Zhou Xia? Gang Wen?¡± Zhuangbo shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s none of them. It¡¯s a newly accepted disciple who just joined. He was directly promoted to an inner disciple without becoming an outer disciple. His name is Wuqiang.¡± Mu Long pursed his eyebrows. ¡°What¡¯s so special about this Wuqiang? Even I was an outer disciple first. ¡°Forget it. I¡¯ll eventually see during the disciple tournament. What about Jiafeng? Has she joined yet?¡± Mu Long asked. ¡°This¡­¡± Zhuangbo hesitated. ¡°The bodyguard assigned to her died.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Mu Long only had three bodyguards. If a bodyguard died, he would not receive another one. ¡°What happened? Tell me in detail.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure either, but on her way back, Miss Jiafeng was stopped by her enemy. She didn¡¯t know what method he used, but he killed her bodyguard in a single attack despite being helpless moments prior. She¡¯s currently hiding, so as to not attract attention.¡± Mu Long slammed his palm onto the table, causing the tea to spill. ¡°I want to see who dares to attack my bodyguard. Zhuangbo, you personally go and bring Jiafeng back. If you meet her enemy, don¡¯t engage and return.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Zhuangbo said with a salute. He turned and immediately left, leaving Mu Long alone.
It took Jun Qiangwu a month to get used to living in the Xi Immortal Palace. Three months after that, he still encountered many things that left him flabbergasted. ¡°Senior Brother Wuqiang.¡± Jun Qiangwu stopped in his footsteps and glanced back to see Xingyi running toward him. A smile appeared on his face. When she stopped in front of him, his hands stretched out but stopped halfway. It remained there, awkwardly for a few seconds before Jun Qiangwu pulled it back. ¡°Is there something wrong?¡± Xingyi asked with a tilt of her head. Jun Qiangwu shook his head. ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing.¡±Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°But it doesn¡¯t seem like nothing,¡± Xingyi said. ¡°Where¡¯s Junior Sister Hou? Is she not with you today?¡± Jun Qiangwu asked. Xingyi pursed her lips and pouted. ¡°Senior Sister Hou is still in the cultivation chamber. What about you? Why aren¡¯t you still in the cultivation chamber?¡± Jun Qiangwu smiled. It was a proud smile that made his false face handsome. ¡°I just made a breakthrough. I won¡¯t be able to improve much for the time being.¡± ¡°You¡¯re amazing. No wonder why Senior Brother Wuqiang became an inner disciple directly,¡± Xingyi said. ¡°What stage have you reached? Third, fourth?¡± I¡¯ve only reached the Second Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm.¡± Jun Qiangwu raised a finger in front of his lips. ¡°That¡¯s a secret.¡± Xingyi pouted once more. ¡°You¡¯re sly, Senior Brother.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to visit Master. How about joining me?¡± Jun Qiangwu asked. ¡°Alright!¡± The two walked down the corridors of the Xi Immortal Palace. Along the way, they met many disciples, but those disciples didn¡¯t greet the two. Or, more specifically, avoided greeting Jun Qiangwu. Since the creation of the Xi Immortal Dynasty, he was the only one to directly become an inner disciple without becoming an outer disciple first. The other disciples didn¡¯t understand why. So, they avoided him. And even those who wanted to talk to him were peer pressured to distance themselves. In the end, what greeted Jun Qiangwu was the suspicion and envy of the other disciples. Xingyi didn¡¯t like those gazes and unconsciously inched closer to Jun Qiangwu. Jun Qiangwu glared at those disciples. The years on the battlefield and killing beasts cloaked him in a slaughterous aura that made the disciples flinch and avert their gazes. He sneered. It was not the first time he had received such treatment. In the Qian Dynasty, he had been treated the same in many gatherings because the other families feared the Jun Family¡¯s influence. Even in the army, a few people still treated him like an outsider regardless of the circumstance. They couldn¡¯t stand that someone they looked down upon or far younger could achieve what he did. Jun Qiangwu led Xingyi to one of the forty-nine towers. The Xi Immortal Palace had one spire, forty-nine towers, and seventy-nine terraces. An elder lived in each terrace or tower. According to the Nine Heavens System, the tower lords were nascent soul grandmasters, while terrace lords were core formation masters. The only one he didn¡¯t know about was the spire lord, the founder of the Xi Immortal Dynasty, Saint Xi. Speaking of the Nine Heavens Revenge System, Jun Qiangwu had gained a greater understanding of it. Although he still couldn¡¯t fully comprehend the awe-inspiring mights of masters or grandmasters, it didn¡¯t stop from knowing that the Nine Heavens Revenge System was more powerful than them. After all, the Nine Heavens Revenge System could scan the tower lords and terrace lords with them none the wiser. Upon entering one of the towers, they were met with an empty room. However, neither showed surprise. Instead, they cupped their hands and bowed. ¡°Disciple greets master.¡± A second later, a figure dressed in white appeared in front of the two. He appeared so suddenly and without any warning, it seemed as if he had teleported. Furthermore, he appeared much different from the aged guards the two were used to seeing. For one, he still had a head full of black hair. Not only that, he had a rotund figure. Coupled with his plump cheeks that squeezed his eyes into a thin line, it made him seem harmless. But if anyone were to really think him harmless, they would be in for a world of hurt. ¡°Not bad, not bad,¡± the tower lord said as he looked Jun Qiangwu up and down. ¡®When you entered, you were still in the Fourth Stage of the Qi Gathering. And now, you¡¯ve already reached the Fifth Stage.¡± Jun Qiangwu reflexively stiffened, but he relaxed just as quickly. He had been shocked when his master, Elder Hui, saw through his cultivation base. Jun Qiangwu feared his secrets would be exposed, but to his surprise, his master didn¡¯t dig any deeper. He was calm, but Xingyi wasn¡¯t. She stared at Jun Qiangwu with an expression of betrayal. ¡°Whaaat?! You¡¯re already at the Fifth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm?!¡± Elder Hui turned his eyes on Xingyi. ¡°Your Senior Brother has a head start, but he couldn¡¯t have started cultivating more than ten years. The only one with an absolute advantage over him is Mu Long, but if the two started cultivating around the same time and had received the same resources, it¡¯s unknown who would be better.¡± ¡°You, on the other hand, still need to work hard. Although you¡¯re talented compared to most others, it¡¯s still far from enough. In the immortal realm, you¡¯d only be considered in the lowest tier, and Wuqiang can barely be considered average.¡± ¡°But I¡¯ve already tried my best. I can¡¯t stand sitting still for hours on end,¡± Xingyi said. Elder Hui sighed. ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s time for you to go out and exterminate some monsters.¡± Although the disciples joined the Xi Immortal Dynasty, it didn¡¯t mean safety or protection. Quite the opposite, in fact. Disciples of the Xi Immortal Dynasty were required to leave their protection and hunt monsters, both to hone themselves and protect the people of the world. At this, Xingyi lost her immaturity, and a hungry light appeared in her gaze. ¡°You mean I can finally kill those bastards?¡± Although Xingyi seemed childish, how could she not have experienced any loss during the turmoil? ¡°Yes,¡± Elder Hui said. ¡°However, Wuqiang must accompany you at all times. If you dare to leave him behind, then I¡¯ll expel you from my lineage.¡± Xingyi didn¡¯t show any panic and only said, ¡°Yes, Master.¡± Elder Hui nodded. He took out a metal rectangle like the XiyiD, but according to him, it was something far more magical, called a Xiyi Talisman. He swiped and tapped the screen a few times before putting it away. ¡°I¡¯ve granted you two access to the Technique and Arms Repositories. Wuqiang, since you¡¯ve reached the Fifth Stage, I allowed you to learn two techniques. Both of you can only grab one weapon from the Arms repository.¡± ¡°You have six months to complete your quota of monsters hunted. Even if you do not complete, return when the time is up. The first inter-disciple competition will be held then.¡± Elder Hui smiled. ¡°I really want to see who is more talented, you or Mu Long. Don¡¯t disappoint me.¡± ¡°¡°Yes, Master¡±¡± Not long after, the two left to prepare. They visited the Technique and Arms Repository the next day. Then another two months to gain a minor mastery of the technique they chose. Only then did the two leave. ¡°Protector Hanwei.¡± the two greeted, when they descended the mountain. Accompanying them were two bodyguards. Jun Qiangwu had three, but he only chose to bring two. The bodyguards only served to guarantee the disciple¡¯s life, so they would not interfere between a disciple¡¯s fight with monsters. The hunched man, Hanwei, smiled. ¡°You two are already leaving. Does that mean you two already reached the Second Stage? You two are geniuses. The majority of disciples need at least a year or two before they enter the First Stage of the Qi Gathering.¡± ¡°Protector Hanwei overpraises,¡± Jun Qiangwu said modestly. ¡°I¡¯m not,¡± Hanwei said with a shake of his head. ¡°It¡¯s about time for the new disciple assessment. Are you two interested in watching?¡± ¡°Is another assessment so soon?¡± ¡°There¡¯s someone interesting among the potential batch of recruits,¡± Hanwei said. ¡°Do you want to watch?¡± Jun Qiangwu shook his head. ¡°Sorry, but we have a mission to accomplish.¡± ¡°Is that so? That¡¯s a pity,¡± Hanwei said. ¡°Since you two are leaving now, let¡¯s start the assessment early this time.¡± The two followed Hanwei as he tapped his XiyiD on the gate. Now that they knew the mechanism behind it, the opening gates were far less mysterious, but no less impressive. Jun Qiangwu and Xingyi prepared to leave, but Jun Qiangwu suddenly stopped. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Xingyi asked Jun Qiangwu, who was looking into the crowd of potential recruits. A slaughterous aura pervaded the air around Jun Qiangwu as his gaze burned a hole into a woman in the crowd. ¡°Qian. Jia. Feng!¡± Chapter 412: Main Mission 4 Qian Jiafeng felt the hairs on the back of her neck prick up. She looked up, searching for the source of danger. Or at least she attempted to do so. The moment she did so, the dangerous feeling disappeared. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Miss?¡± She looked up to see Zhuangbo¡¯s wizened face. ¡°Did you sense anything dangerous?¡± ¡°Dangerous?¡± Zhuangbo repeated. He shook his head. ¡°How can there be any danger? I think there¡¯s something more interesting right now.¡± ¡°Interesting?¡± Zhuangbo gestured toward the hunched assessor, Hanwei, but his attention wasn¡¯t focused on them, but the two next to him. A plain-faced man and lively young girl. ¡°They are?¡± ¡°I mentioned them before,¡± Zhuangbo said. ¡°They are Wuqiang and Xingyi.¡± ¡°Wuqiang? Him?¡± Qian Jiafeng said and stared at Wuqiang, who was talking to the assessor. For some reason, she felt an air of familiarity from Wuqiang. That is not to say his features felt familiar, even if she felt she had seen it over a thousand times. His features were just that forgettable and average. ¡°What? Does Miss recognize him?¡± Zhuangbo asked. ¡°No, but his name is very familiar to the one who killed your fellow guard, Jun Qiangwu,¡± Qian Jiafeng said. ¡°Jun Qiangwu, Wuqiang,¡± Zhuangbo tested the two names. ¡°You should be thinking too much. The meaning behind the two¡¯s names is different. One means Spear Military, and the other means Without Attachment.¡± ¡°I hope so,¡± Qian Jiafeng said. But she didn¡¯t think so. ¡°Still, the quality of this year¡¯s disciples is very high. You probably have second-rate talent, possibly first-rate. And just before you, there was first, second, and even peerless-rank talent,¡± Zhuangbo said. The lowest requirements to be accepted as an outer disciple were talent of the fifth-class, and talent at the second-class or above was incredibly rare. Disciples with fifth and fourth-class talents composed nearly seventy percent of the disciples. In truth, most of the hundred disciples that joined the Xi Immortal Dynasty were brought back by elders to make up for numbers. The ones that joined through the assessment made up for less than twenty percent. It was unavoidable. The Xi Immortal Dynasty had only formed for less than ten years, and it would still take more time for it to become the holy land of cultivation for the world, sought after by all living beings in the world. That¡¯s why the Xi Immortal Dynasty dispatched its disciples to slay monsters. Not only is this a way to protect the humans, but it¡¯s also to spread their fame and raise their reputation. It was by chance that she and the crown prince of the Mu Dynasty had met. It was the classic story of a hero saving a beauty. Though she did not fall in love, it would be a lie to say her heart was not moved. Mu Long himself was interested, so Qian Jiafeng reciprocated his feelings. Qian Jiafeng had already heard rumors of the Xi Immortal Dynasty, but she had only thought it was some mystical tales made up by desperate people. But after learning the truth from Mu Long, she wanted to join. To secure her spot, she deepened her ties with Mu Long. Through this connection, although Qian Jiafeng wasn¡¯t an official member of the Xi Immortal Dynasty, she wasn¡¯t that far off. In fact, she had planned to join the Xi Immortal Dynasty months earlier, but she happened to receive news of her father¡¯s death. This forced her to delay her plans for over three months. Qian Jiafeng was supposed to arrive at the previous disciple assessment, but thanks to Jun Qiangwu, she missed it. This resulted in Mu Long using his influence to start the next assessment ahead of time. As a result, there were far less test takers than the previous assessment. Like Wuqiang, Hou Yawen, and Xingyi, Qian Jiafeng followed Hanwei into the structure behind the gigantic gate. Due to the smaller number of participants, the assessment concluded much faster. The only thing of highlight was that there were two new disciples with fifth-class talent. As for Qian Jiafeng, her talent exceeded everyone¡¯s expectations, including her own. She had first-class talent. Hanwei, who only had a dull reaction at this point, finally showed an excited expression. ¡°Haha, my luck recently has been too good. A second-class talent, two first-class talents, and a peerless talent have appeared during my tenure! I wonder what the dynasty will give me as a reward.¡± For cultivators like Hanwei, who ingested pills to reach their current strength, they had no hope of growth. So, the Xi Immortal Dynasty awarded them with longevity pills instead. As they were still qi gathering pupils, they only had a maximum lifespan of a hundred years, and most would die earlier because of forcibly overdrawing their potential. ¡°Maybe I can receive a Six Month Longevity Pill. No, maybe it¡¯s a Year Longevity Pill?¡± Hanwei muttered to himself. Normally, the longevity pills given were only Day or Week Longevity Pills. Very rarely would a Month Longevity Pill be given. Hanwei forced the ones who failed the assessment to leave. Like before, those who wanted to play tricks were directly killed by him. However, he wasn¡¯t the one that led Qian Jiafeng into the Xi Immortal Palace, but Zhuangbo.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. As she left, Qian Jiafeng couldn¡¯t help but look at Wuqiang¡¯s back. She wanted to say something and test her hypothesis, but her intuition told her that it wouldn¡¯t end well for her. In the end, she turned her head away and left with Zhuangbo. After writing her name in blood on the Monument of Records, Zhuangbo brought Qian Jiafeng to Mu Long¡¯s suite. ¡°Jia¡¯er,¡± Mu Long said upon seeing Qian Jiafeng. ¡°Brother Long,¡± Qian Jiafeng said. The two only spoke to one another and did not initiate any intimate contact, like a hug or holding hands. To do so would be scandalous. Even if they were married, they could only do it when no outsider was present. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you for a few months, but you are becoming more and more beautiful,¡± Mu Long said. Qian Jiafeng smiled and hid it behind her sleeve, but Mu Long could still see a hint of redness on her cheeks. Mu Long laughed. ¡°Brother Long, if you keep teasing me, I¡¯m going to leave,¡± Qian Jiafeng said. ¡°My bad, my bad. It¡¯s my fault, don¡¯t be angry anymore,¡± Mu Long said, placating Qian Jiafeng. His expression turned serious, losing all sense of joviality. ¡°Can you tell me about this Jun Qiangwu and your grievance with him?¡± Qian Jiafeng¡¯s blush also disappeared. She told him about her and her former fiance¡¯s past. Of course, she edited some of the parts, like how Jun Qiangwu wanted to kill her and take the precious herb for himself. She didn¡¯t hide the fact that she once admired and loved him. In fact, Mu Long might even love her more after learning this. After all, being betrayed by the one you loved and trusted the most would leave untenable scars in the heart. She had never planned on this aspect of her past. Doing so would only elicit Mu Long¡¯s disgust. And with her current cover story, Mu Long would naturally think of excuses for her. Such as why she was so distant, yet she still yearned for him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Jia¡¯er,¡± Mu Long said. He walked closer and reached out for her hand, but she reflexively stepped back. His eyes darkened, but not out of anger at her. ¡°That Jun Qiangwu will pay for betraying you.¡± Qian Jiafeng made a small but bitter smile. ¡°Thank you.¡±
¡°Senior Brother, is there something?¡± Xingyi asked. She and Jun Qiangwu had left Xanadu right after the disciple assessment. Currently, both of them sat in a carriage driven by their bodyguards. It was supposed to be a pleasant day, but Xingyi couldn¡¯t help but feel chilly. Xingyi felt that her senior brother had changed. Although Jun Qiangwu acted dull toward everything, he still treated her well. But for some reason, his whole body exuded an icy aura. ¡°Huh?¡± Jun Qiangwu looked up, as if awoken from his brooding thoughts. He forced a smile onto his face. ¡°It¡¯s nothing, I just had some thoughts.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Xingyi said. Then, she snuck a glance at him. ¡°Senior Brother, do you know that pretty lady?¡± ¡°¡­no,¡± Jun Qiangwu finally said. Xingyi didn¡¯t believe him, but she didn¡¯t continue to ask. From then, the two began their monster-slaying journey. At first, Xingyi showed vigor that only young people had. After a few battles, she lost some of her immaturity, becoming a capable monster slayer. Whenever she entered battle, she would switch into combat mode. However, her enthusiasm for the monster slaying waned after the first month. She couldn¡¯t help it. Jun Qiangwu had gone on a monster slaying spree. As a result, Xingyi had already met her quota in the first two weeks. From there, Jun Qiangwu didn¡¯t plan to return, and Xingyi hadn¡¯t minded, but then it just became too much. Xingyi had already slain thirty monsters of the second rank. Monsters were categorized by ranks, and the ranks went all the way up to thirteen, which correlated to the thirteen stages of the Qi Gathering Realm. She also faced death many times, not because she hunted monsters above her rank¡ªalthough she had slain a few third-rank monsters¡ªbut because Jun Qiangwu kept challenging monsters of the sixth and seventh-rank like mad. Were it not for the two¡¯s bodyguards, they might have already been buried six feet under after encountering ninth and tenth-rank monsters. Still, it wasn¡¯t like the hunting was pointless. The more monsters they hunted, and the stronger monsters they hunted, the more points they would receive from the Xi Immortal Dynasty. The Xi Immortal Dynasty didn¡¯t use gold or banknotes as currency, but points. They were automatically stored into their XiyiDs. Even if they lost their XiyiDs, it could easily be replaced as the XiyiDs were only used to access their account inside the Monument of Records. ¡°Let¡¯s go back,¡± Jun Qiangwu said one day out of the blue. ¡°Really!?¡± Xingyi asked. It was already the fifth month. She thought that her senior brother would only return until the last moment. ¡°Yeah,¡± Jun Qiangwu said. ¡°The inter-disciple tournament will start in a month. During this time, it¡¯s better to use the points we earn and convert it into strength. I heard that many elders are interested in this tournament, and a few might accept a few outer disciples.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Xingyi said. She didn¡¯t have much interest in finding a master because Elder Hui was her, Jun Qiangwu, and Hou Yawen¡¯s master. Xingyi didn¡¯t think her talent had caught Elder Hui¡¯s eyes. Perhaps he accepted Jun Qiangwu, her and Hou Yawen on a whim. ¡°You don¡¯t seem to want to go back? Do you want to hunt a few mo¡ª¡± ¡°Nope! Senior Brother, let¡¯s go back now!¡± Jun Qiangwu made a helpless smile as he allowed Xingyi to drag himself away. Rather than senior brother and junior sister, the two seemed like blood-related brother and sister. The journey back didn¡¯t take long, and upon his return, Jun Qiangwu didn¡¯t leave his room or the cultivation chamber after reporting to Elder Hui. He was afraid, afraid that he would not be able to stop himself from killing Qian Jiafeng if he saw her in the Xi Immortal Palace. Both of them had joined the Xi Immortal Palace, so it was against the rules for two members to kill each other. Still, that didn¡¯t mean Jun Qiangwu would give up on his revenge. Accidents happen all the time, especially in the heat of the moment. Even if he was unlucky and failed to meet Qian Jiafeng in the tournament, what about when she went on her mission? She couldn¡¯t stay in the Xi Immortal Dynasty forever. As for her protector? Jun Qiangwu had a plan. He didn¡¯t kill all those monsters just for points, but also to complete side missions. After receiving those three gacha coins, he had restocked his weapons. Not to mention that his Frostflower Eyes had fully matured. He couldn¡¯t display their full strength, but in the Qi Gathering Realm, it was practically unfair. The days passed, and the time for the inter-disciple tournament finally arrived. [Ding! Main Mission 4 issued.] [Main Mission 4: Become the champion.] Chapter 413: Inter-Disciple Tournament Jun Qiangwu walked toward the tournament venue. It was located halfway up the Xi Immortal Palace, but that didn¡¯t mean it was inside the building. No, it was on a balcony on the side. However, the balcony was only a relative term, as it was closer to an external garden. One that floated and was linked to Xi Immortal Palace through a bridge with no other attachment holding it up in the air. Thankfully, unless you deliberately looked down from the side, no one would feel the gravity of the situation or even realize they were in the air instead of on the ground. He looked around and saw that around half of the disciples had arrived. So, Jun Qiangwu had arrived neither early nor late, just perfectly in the middle. The only thing of note was that he couldn¡¯t see the legendary Mu Long or Qian Jiafeng, but perhaps that was for the best. ¡°Senior Brother.¡± Jun Qiangwu turned around to see Hou Yawen. She exuded a cold aura that separated her from others, but that only made her appear more like what he imagined those fairy-like existences appeared as. Detached, lofty, and untouchable. ¡°Junior Sister Hou has come out?¡± ¡°Yes, I was lucky to finally enter the Third Stage,¡± Hou Yawen said. For most disciples, entering the Third Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm would have been an amazing feat. But with Jun Qiangwu¡¯s example, she didn¡¯t think it was anything amazing. ¡°Compared to you, I¡¯m still very lacking.¡± ¡°No,¡± Jun Qiangwu said. ¡°You should know that I already received a cultivation method before I joined the Xi Immortal Dynasty. Back then, the time it took me to reach the Third Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm was far more than a year.¡± Even if Jun Qiangwu said this, he didn¡¯t think he was any bit inferior. He had already asked the Nine Heavens Revenge System. The reason Hou Yawen could cultivate so fast was because of her ability as a superhuman. Hou Yawen¡¯s ability was to increase the strength of her body. Because of this, the speed of opening her meridians is faster than other people. If she cultivated the martial path, this advantage will continue, although it will decrease with each realm. For the spiritual path, this advantage would disappear in the Foundation Establishment Realm. Hou Yawen didn¡¯t answer. Instead, she just stared at her potential opponents. Originally, the rankings on the Monument of Records were decided by the disciples¡¯ status as an outer or inner disciple and their cultivation base. After today, it would be decided by their status and battle records instead of cultivation base. The higher the ranking, the better the monthly resources the disciple would receive. Although Hou Yawen and Xingyi were both disciples under Elder Hui, they weren¡¯t considered inner disciples just yet. So, they still received the monthly resources equivalent to that of a new disciple. ¡°How well do you think you¡¯ll do?¡± ¡°Maybe in the low sixties or high fifties?¡± Hou Yawen replied. ¡°That¡¯s pretty good for a year, considering most of the disciples had several years of time,¡± Jun Qiangwu said. Hou Yawen turned to stare at Jun Qiangwu. ¡°What about you?¡± ¡°Me? I hope to battle Mu Long,¡± Jun Qiangwu said. ¡°Not hope, but will, right?¡± Jun Qiangwu didn¡¯t answer. Thankfully, the awkward atmosphere was dispersed by Xingyi¡¯s arrival. She forced herself between her senior brother and sister and locked her arms with both. ¡°Guess what?¡± Xingyi asked. She didn¡¯t wait for the two to answer and said, ¡°I entered the Third Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm!¡± ¡°So fast?¡± Hou Yawen asked. She stared at Xingyi with amazement and slight jealousy. ¡°If I had known you could cultivate so fast by hunting monsters, I should have joined you two.¡± As the trio talked more and more people arrived. The trio found a seat reserved for disciples while waiting. The size of the venue could easily seat a thousand disciples, so there was no such thing as overcrowding or no space. ¡°What are you looking at?¡± Xingyi asked. Jun Qiangwu, who had been sneaking glances toward the bridge, said, ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing.¡± Xingyi wanted to ask, but before she could, the rest of the disciples made an uproar. Turning around to look, she saw her fellow disciples looking toward the bridge entrance, where two people¡ªone man, one woman¡ªjust arrived. The man had a tall stature, with thick brows, noble features, and an elegant temperament. He was Mu Long; the disciple regarded by everyone as the strongest. Walking beside him was a woman. Her lips were cast in a perpetual slight smile. With her almond eyes and willow brows, she was as beautiful as Mu Long was handsome. Side by side, the two looked like a fairy tale couple. Xingyi looked back and forth between them and Jun Qiangwu then, she smirked. ¡°Senior Brother Wuqiang, you like her, don¡¯t you? That¡¯s why you stayed to watch her assessment, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°What?¡± Jun Qiangwu looked away from the famous couple and toward Xingyi. Xingyi flinched when she saw the burning rage simmering in Jun Qiangwu¡¯s eyes. ¡°S-Sorry!¡±The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Jun Qiangwu closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. ¡°Never ever say that to me again.¡± ¡°S-sorry,¡± Xingyi apologized again. ¡°Do you have a relationship with her?¡± Hou Yawen asked. Ever since the three knew each other, Jun Qiangwu had kept his past a mystery. Jun Qiangwu closed his eyes and leaned back. ¡°No.¡± No matter how Xingyi pestered Jun Qiangwu, he remained silent. Because of this, he missed Mu Long and Qian Jiafeng looking at him, both for different reasons. It was only for a few seconds at most and no one but Hou Yawen caught their gazes. Hou Yawen glanced at Jun Qiangwu. Since the latter didn¡¯t want to say, she would not pursue it. Mu Long and Qian Jiafeng were the last two disciples to arrive. A few minutes later, the elders arrived. Unlike the disciples who walked over the bridge, all the elders arrived by flight. The terrace lords flew by stepping atop their artifacts while the tower lords walked through the air. After the elders arrived and were seated, everyone noticed that the palace lord, the founder of the Xi Immortal Dynasty, was absent. Still, none of the disciples questioned it, as they did not possess the right or power. Still, this only raised the curiosity of the disciples, wondering what the palace lord looked like. Aside from his name, Xi Ri, they knew nothing about him. They weren¡¯t even sure if the palace lord was male or female. Under the elders¡¯ order, every disciple sat down and waited for their names to be called. It was a knockout-style tournament, where the winner would advance and the loser would be eliminated. The rules for the matches themselves weren¡¯t complicated. Just knock the opponent out of the ring, making them admit defeat, or make them unable to move anymore and the match was over. The contestants could even maim their opponents. As long as you didn¡¯t kill your opponent, everything would be fine. A dark glimmer appeared in Jun Qiangwu¡¯s eyes as he heard this rule. He muttered under his breath. ¡°System, are you able to rig the matches so I meet that woman?¡± [Ding! It¡¯s possible. The price is that you must complete a mandatory mission or you will die.] ¡°Do it,¡± Jun Qiangwu said without an ounce of hesitation. [Done.] With the Nine Heavens Revenge System¡¯s guarantee, Jun Qiangwu smiled. It wasn¡¯t a pleasant smile. Soon, the matches started. Names were called one by one. Disciples stepped into the arena by the twos and fought against another. Of the trio, Xingyi was called up first. ¡°It¡¯s you?¡± her opponent asked. Then, he smiled in relief. ¡°I¡¯m so lucky. Although I wasn¡¯t given a free victory, there¡¯s not much difference.¡± He was a disciple also with second-class talent like Xingyi, but he became a disciple a year earlier. Because there weren¡¯t exactly one hundred and twenty-eight disciples, a few disciples like Mu Long and Jun Qiangwu would only take the stage in the second round. Xingyi pouted. ¡°Don¡¯t think you can beat me just because I joined later than you.¡± Her opponent only smiled confidently. That confidence disappeared when the match began. Although her opponent joined one year earlier than her, Xingyi had caught up to him in terms of cultivation. That wasn¡¯t the most crucial difference between the two. No, it was the difference in combat prowess between the two. For the past five months, Xingyi had experienced constant battle. So much so that she had likely killed more monsters than ninety percent of the disciples. Xingyi¡¯s strikes were accurate, deadly, and flawless. At least in her opponent¡¯s view. He quite simply couldn¡¯t match Xingyi. Ten minutes later, he was forced out of the stage, much to his disbelief. ¡°Is that really Junior Sister Xingyi?¡± Hou Yawen asked. ¡°She¡¯s changed so much. Now, I¡¯m beginning to think more and more that I should have joined you two instead of cultivating behind closed doors.¡± Jun Qiangwu said nothing. Not even when Xingyi came back did he open his eyes. He was waiting, waiting for his name to be called. But before he was called to the arena, Hou Yawen entered the arena. Although she didn¡¯t dominate her opponent like Xingyi, she still delivered a flawless victory. It took longer, but her opponent did not land a blow on her. Of course, she was lucky and only met a disciple with fourth-class talent. Despite becoming a disciple much earlier, he was only at the peak of the Second Stage. Like this, the first round ended, and the second round began. Like the first round, Xingyi and Hou Yawen defeated their opponents, albeit with much difficulty. Xingyi fought someone who just entered the Fourth Stage, while Hou Yawen fought a disciple in the Third Stage. Their victory secured them a spot in the top thirty-two of all disciples. As impressive as their accomplishment was, they would stop here, as it was all but impossible for them to enter the top sixteen. Jun Qiangwu, on the other hand, showed much promise. ¡°You look so ordinary. I don¡¯t see what¡¯s so special about you that an elder accepted you as a disciple the moment you joined,¡± his foe said. Many of the disciples in the audience sighed. No matter what they personally thought about Jun Qiangwu, they all sentenced him to defeat. His opponent was someone who had joined the Xi Immortal Dynasty since its inception. Not only that, he had first-class talent, and he entered the Fifth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm months earlier. Jun Qiangwu said nothing as he stood there with his arms crossed and eyes closed. His foe sneered. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Cat got your tongue, or are you scared? Too scared to even open your eyes? I¡¯ll advise you to give up now or enter a world of pain.¡± Jun Qiangwu still said nothing. His foe laughed. ¡°A useless waste who doesn¡¯t know the height of heavens.¡± His foe sneered and stopped talking, growing bored with Jun Qiangwu¡¯s non-reaction. Thankfully for him, the referee started the match. Unfortunately for him, Jun Qiangwu moved. ¡°Wah¡ª?¡± the disciple let out. Before he realized it, Jun Qiangwu had disappeared from his sight. Then came the pain. ¡°Argggh!!!¡± He fell to his knees as he clutched his mangled left arm. Then he heard footsteps behind him. Sweat dripping down, he turned around to see Jun Qiangwu walking toward him. He wanted to yell, wanted to scold Jun Qiangwu, but those pitch-black eyes strangled his throat. He could feel the wrath, the anger simmering within. For the first time in his life, the disciple hated his mouth. With his talent and as one of the first disciples, he had always been a step ahead of other disciples. At least, until Mu Long came along. He pushed himself hard, wanting to catch up, but before that happened, another disciple became an inner disciple before him. He thought that Lady Luck had favored him when she matched him up against Jun Qiangwu. Now he knew it wasn¡¯t luck but misfortune. The disciple opened his mouth, wanting to forfeit, but before he could, Jun Qiangwu disappeared, and he felt a hand over his mouth. The next thing he knew, he felt the searing pain on the back of his head. Then, he knew no more. Jun Qiangwu stared at his unconscious opponent. He showed no emotion as he watched the blood seep out from below his foe¡¯s head. He even ignored the terrace lord that appeared next to his downed opponent and began healing the latter. All Jun Qiangwu could feel was the gaze of Qian Jiafeng. He couldn¡¯t see her, but he knew that she was staring at him. Chapter 414: Killing Intent Silence filled the venue. Everyone watched as Jun Qiangwu walked off the stage and back to his seats. Along the way, the other disciples unconsciously parted as he made his way through. Unknown to them, their eyes displayed their newly developed fear. The ones that mocked and ridiculed the new disciple in his face couldn¡¯t help but regret their actions. Those that didn¡¯t care or kept their thoughts in their hearts thanked their lucky stars. Once Jun Qiangwu sat down, the disciples looked back at the arena where an elder carried the defeated disciple away. Even if that disciple deserved it, to injure him to that extent¡­ Regardless of the disciples¡¯ thoughts, the tournament continued. Soon, the next match began, but the atmosphere was more subdued than before. ¡°Senior Brother,¡± Xingyi said as she reached a hand out toward Jun Qiangwu, but Hou Yawen stopped her. Xingyi looked at Hou Yawen, who only shook her head. Jun Qiangwu had returned to his previous position, leaning back with his eyes closed as if ignorant of the world around him. ¡°What happened? I don¡¯t think Senior Brother is someone so cruel,¡± Xingyi said. She had seen Jun Qiangwu¡¯s ruthlessness. It was impossible not to. After all, the two had hunted monsters together for five months. During the time, Jun Qiangwu had always used precise strikes to dispatch the monsters. He never needlessly prolonged the battle or tortured the monsters. ¡°Who knows,¡± Hou Yawen said. Although she said that, her gaze shifted toward Mu Long and Qian Jiafeng. Jun Qiangwu only closed his eyes and ignored the world after the two appeared. Was there a correlation? The tournament continued as scheduled. Soon, the second round ended and the third round began. Neither Xingyi nor Hou Yawen could defeat their opponents. Xingyi met another opponent in the Fourth Stage, but he was just a step away from the Fifth Stage. Her defeat hadn¡¯t been easy, but she still lost. Hou Yawen met another disciple at the third stage, but this time, her talent couldn¡¯t overcome the experience and power difference between her and her foe. Thus, the two¡¯s journey came to an end. Jun Qiangwu paid no heed. All he wanted to hear were two names. More and more matches passed and finally, his desire came true. ¡°Next! Wuqiang and Qian Jiafeng, come to the stage!¡± His eyes snapped open. He could feel Qian Jiafeng glance at him, but he did not return the action. If he did, he would charge at her regardless of the consequences to quench the flames of vengeance that burned within. However, he couldn¡¯t act on his emotions. If he killed a fellow disciple without rhyme or reason, then the Xi Immortal Dynasty would lock him up. If he was unlucky, then he would lose his life. More importantly, it would prevent him from completing the Nine Heaven Revenge System¡¯s main mission. The Xi Immortal Dynasty was a holy ground for cultivation, but for Jun Qiangwu, it only provided a haven for him to grow. The Xi Immortal Dynasty taught the Five Element Method, but compared to the Nine-Five Scripture, it was far inferior. It had numerous techniques and pills, but it couldn¡¯t compare to the prizes won from the gacha wheel. In all honesty, if it weren¡¯t for the system, he wouldn¡¯t have joined the Xi Immortal Dynasty. That¡¯s not to say he didn¡¯t enjoy his time. He did. Xingyi reminded him of his sister, who died in her sleep when the world changed. And he found a kindred spirit in Hou Yawen. She, too, understood loss and vengeance. If things continue as they had, Jun Qiangwu felt that the flames burning inside him would be extinguished, but seeing Qian Jiafeng again reminded him of his purpose. He was an avenger, someone with no family or friends left. His sole purpose was to kill the ones who betrayed him. Only then will he put down the sword of vengeance and settle down. Even then, he must make the Jun Family invincible and beyond betrayal. No one will be able to destroy them again, not the Qian Dynasty, the Mu Dynasty, not even the Xi Immortal Dynasty. Even those almighty sects from the immortal realm aren¡¯t allowed to. His road was destined to be lonely. So it was better to distance himself from Hou Yawen and Xingyi, lest they hinder his resolve. Once he stood upon the stage, Jun Qiangwu closed his eyes. This was the critical moment. He couldn¡¯t mess it up. Standing across from him, Qian Jiafeng stared at her opponent. He exuded a calm aura, as if he hadn¡¯t brutally maimed his opponent. She couldn¡¯t connect the plain face to such a brutal act. Even so, Qian Jiafeng felt something dangerous from him. In all honesty, Qian Jiafeng felt the best course of action would be to forfeit, but she couldn¡¯t do that. The image she forged in front of Mu Long was an externally strong woman who had been hurt by betrayal, causing her heart to become fragile. Even so, she was someone who could bravely face death itself. She could admit defeat, but she couldn¡¯t do it before even fighting. Her image would collapse, and she would become imperfect and different from the woman Mu Long expected, and not in a good way. ¡°Start!¡± The referee said. Qian Jiafeng immediately raised her spear defensively in front of herself. To her surprise, her opponent stood there without taking action. Perhaps he only acted so brutally because his opponent pissed him off? Although it was heavy-headed, such an explanation was acceptable.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°Are you not coming?¡± Qian Jiafeng asked. Jun Qiangwu still said nothing. Qian Jiafeng¡¯s grip tightened. ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll attack first.¡± She charged forward with her spear aimed at his chest. To her surprise, her opponent actually dodged. Not because she didn¡¯t think he could, but because he had kept his eyes closed. Although it wasn¡¯t a perfect dodge, since her spear had sliced through his robes and cut open his skin, causing a small amount of blood to flow down. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Qian Jiafeng brandished her spear again. ¡°Do you think you can defeat me with your eyes closed? Stop looking down at me!¡± Jun Qiangwu didn¡¯t answer. He just crossed his arms. Unseen by Qian Jiafeng, his knuckles whitened from the amount of strength he used to grip his arms. ¡®Endure, endure a little longer. Receive a few more injuries to make it more believable.¡¯ Qian Jiafeng continued to attack, and Jun Qiangwu continued to close his eyes, stymying the audience. He dodged most of Qian Jiafeng¡¯s strikes, but they weren¡¯t perfect. His clothes became tattered and whatever attack he unleashed, Qian Jiafeng would block it with her spear or dodge it. The princess of the Qian Dynasty couldn¡¯t understand. Just what was Jun Qiangwu playing at? If she hadn¡¯t seen his matches, she would have thought that Jun Qiangwu really couldn¡¯t gain an upper hand against her. Now, it just seemed like he was playing around. A sense of unease filled her heart. Qian Jiafeng¡¯s eyes sharpened. She suddenly swung the spear at a low angle. Jun Qiangwu couldn¡¯t react in time and he fell onto his back. This was her chance! Qian Jiafeng raised her spear up and swung down with all her strength. Jun Qiangwu opened his eyes. Hate spewed from those pupils, and she could see bottomless hatred behind those eyes. Qian Jiafeng¡¯s body shivered. The strength she used to swing increased. If before, her attack would have incapacitated Jun Qiangwu, breaking a bone or two. Now it would take his life or maim him permanently. ¡°Grahhh!¡± Qian Jiafeng screamed. Why? Why is it me that¡¯s screaming in pain? Her mind blurred. On instinct, she looked down to see Jun Qiangwu lunging at her. The shadow of death slowly surrounded the princess. Qian Jiafeng knew this was the juncture of life and death for her. Adrenaline flowed through her veins, and a burst of energy whose source was unknown to her filled her body. With a roar, she stomped the ground and flew backward. Jun Qiangwu¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change, only the intensity of his eyes did. He closed the gap that had appeared between them in an instant. Fear overwhelmed Qian Jiafeng as she saw Jun Qiangwu¡¯s fist inching toward her. The moment the fist landed, she knew she was dead. Time slowed. She saw each individual strand on Jun Qiangwu¡¯s head flowing slowly, the wrinkles on robes changing, and the stray clothes still attached ruffling. Just as Jun Qiangwu¡¯s fist touched the first layer of her dress, a silver arc flashed in front of her. The next thing she knew, something had burst inside her chest and she spat out a mouthful of blood. Then, she felt something gentle catching her. Qian Jiafeng looked up to see Mu Long staring at her with worry. She opened her mouth, but the only thing that came out of your mouth was blood. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Jia¡¯er,¡± Mu Long said. His left hand held Qian Jiafeng while his right held a sword. ¡°You¡¯ll definitely be saved.¡± Mu Long didn¡¯t know if Qian Jiafeng understood him or not, but she closed her eyes and fell unconscious. He stood up and rushed off the stage, seeking medical aid. At least, until someone stopped him. ¡°Stop, what are you doing interrupting the match?¡± Jun Qiangwu asked, his voice full of seething wrath. His eyes never left Qian Jiafeng. He even ignored the bleeding stump that once linked his hand to his arm. ¡°What did you say?¡± Mu Long asked, his voice deathly low. He turned around and stared into Jun Qiangwu¡¯s eyes. Spewing hatred met tranquil fury. ¡°Instead of asking this, should you not be punished for attempting to kill your opponent?¡± ¡°Kill? She attempted to kill me first. Unless you¡¯re so blind as to whether her last blow was fatal or not? If you are, your title as number one disciple is a joke,¡± Jun Qiangwu snapped back. He clenched his remaining fist as his muscles became taut. Mu Long looked away. ¡°I¡¯ll settle the score with you later.¡± He ignored Jun Qiangwu and rushed off the stage. However, he heard a bang, and a sense of danger erupted behind him. Tranquil fury turned to boiling wrath. ¡°Since you insist, don¡¯t blame me for taking your worthless life!¡± Mu Long turned around, sword flashing. The tip pierced toward Jun Qiangwu¡¯s head, while a flower-like pattern appeared in Jun Qiangwu¡¯s icy blue eyes. Just before the two collided, a shadow appeared between them. When the two recognized the shadow, it had already halted their attacks. ¡°¡°Elder?!¡±¡± ¡°Enough,¡± the elder said. ¡°Mu Long, lay Disciple Qian on the ground. I¡¯ll heal her.¡± He turned toward Jun Qiangwu. ¡°You, too. Stop your actions, or do you think I can¡¯t sense your killing intent? If you continue your actions, don¡¯t blame me for sending you to the Punishment Department.¡± Jun Qiangwu snorted and lowered his fist, and the flower-like pattern in his eyes disappeared as well. He walked toward where his dismembered hand was and picked up. Turning his back, he walked away. ¡°Wait, where are you going?¡± the elder asked. ¡°You need to have your hand healed.¡± ¡°No need,¡± Jun Qiangwu said, walking off. A layer of ice had coated his stump, preventing it from bleeding. The elder shrugged. Since Jun Qiangwu didn¡¯t want his help, it saved him the trouble. He focused on Qian Jiafeng and placed his palms on her chest. A light shrouded his hands and flowed into her body. He couldn¡¯t help but shake his head. Her lungs had ruptured, ribs had fractures, and parts of her heart had torn. Had he not been a core formation master specialized in healing, then she would have died within ten minutes. Only after entering the Core Formation Realm would a cultivator have the ability to survive such injuries. Though, it would be serious all the same. ¡°Thank you so much, elder,¡± Mu Long said after the elder stood. He scooped Qian Jiafeng in his arms, bridal style. The elder snorted. ¡°Interfere with one more match, not only will you be disqualified, but you¡¯re going to rank last among all the disciples, too.¡± He turned toward Jun Qiangwu, who had reattached his hand and swallowed a pill. His hand already returned to peak condition. ¡°That goes to you, too. One more time showing killing intent, and I¡¯ll lock you in the prison, regardless of Elder Hui!¡± Neither Jun Qiangwu nor Mu Long took it to heart. Instead, the two stared at each other. Each had the same thought, ¡®KILL!¡¯ Chapter 415: Champion Mu Long was born talented. Even before the great calamity that befell the world, he already stood out among his peers and siblings. The introduction of spiritual qi only heightened his extraordinariness. While his siblings fell asleep and perished, he awoke and became a superhuman. Under his leadership, the Mu Imperial Family consolidated power like never before, rivaling or even surpassing the time of the Mu Dynasty¡¯s founding. Naturally, Mu Long had his own enemies. However, he prevailed and attained victory. And now, his instincts told him that the newest inner disciple was such an enemy. Even if he were to be sentenced by the Punishment Department, he had to eliminate Wuqiang.
Jun Qiangwu glared at no one in particular. A heavy air surrounded him, causing even more disciples to distance themselves from him. He knew that he had lost the best chance to kill Qian Jiafeng. He knew that as long as Mu Long lived, he would hinder him. That¡¯s why Mu Long must die. Even if he would be expelled by the Xi Immortal Dynasty, Jun Qiangwu already swore to eliminate Mu Long. Only then could he complete his revenge. The brooding avenger sat down on the nearest seat, not bothering to sit back with Hou Yawen or Xingyi. The people who originally sat around him also distanced themselves from him. Although he had just reason to use lethal force, Jun Qiangwu had done it twice. They couldn¡¯t settle down with a dangerous person like him around, although the stronger ones remained still. Though they raised their guard in case Jun Qiangwu went crazy and attacked them. While he wanted to be alone, two people didn¡¯t want to leave him alone. ¡°Senior Brother, what¡¯s wrong? You weren¡¯t like this,¡± Xingyi said as she stood in front of Jun Qiangwu. ¡°You¡¯re gentle, not cruel or bloodthirsty.¡± Beside her stood Hou Yawen. She said nothing. Although she knew Jun Qiangwu as long as Xingyi, the time spent together could not be compared. In addition, although she felt that Jun Qiangwu was as Xingyi described, that didn¡¯t mean she knew him. For all she knew, it could just be an act perpetuated by him. Jun Qiangwu stared at Xingyi. The image of his litter sister overlapped with the young lass. However, his gaze hardened as the phantom of his little sister vanished. His tone turned cold. ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong. And don¡¯t bother me. I don¡¯t feel like entertaining you any longer.¡± ¡°What?¡± Xingyi flinched back, as if she had been physically struck. ¡°Leave, before I make you,¡± Jun Qiangwu finally turned his eyes to her. All Xingyi could see was darkness. No, it wasn¡¯t darkness, but flames darker than the abyss. It was as if the senior brother she knew had changed into a completely different person. Xingyi wanted to argue, to bring Jun Qiangwu back to his old self, but Hou Yawen grabbed her shoulder. When she turned, she saw her senior sister shaking her head. Unwillingly, she allowed Hou Yawen to pull her away. Still, her eyes did not leave Jun Qiangwu¡¯s figure. Finally alone, Jun Qiangwu looked down. His hair covered his eyes, preventing anyone from seeing his emotions. The inter-disciple tournament continued. The third round ended, and the fourth round began. When Jun Qiangwu stepped onto the stage, his opponent, a disciple at the Fourth Stage of the Qi Gathering, immediately forfeited. Thus, Jun Qiangwu won his third match without lifting a finger. On the other hand, Mu Long¡¯s opponent didn¡¯t forfeit. It was his bad luck to become the former¡¯s punching bag. Mu Long didn¡¯t maim his foe, but he would definitely be feeling it in the next few weeks. The rest of the fourth round¡¯s matches didn¡¯t stand out, and the fifth round began. Now, there were only eight disciples left, but everyone already knew who the two finalists were. Perhaps due to luck, Jun Qiangwu and Mu Long would not meet until the finals. For Jun Qiangwu¡¯s fifth match, he duked it out with a disciple in the Fifth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm before knocking him out of the ring. This was the first time Jun Qiangwu¡¯s opponent wasn¡¯t maimed or lethally injured. His opponent in the semi-final met the same fate. And finally, the finals came up, Mu Long vs Wuqiang. Unlike his previous matches, Wuqiang actually walked onto the stage with a spear in hand. This was the first time Jun Qiangwu had brought out his preferred weapon. He hadn¡¯t even revealed his expertise to Xingyi during their five months of hunting together. He originally thought that Qian Jiafeng already a member of the Xi Immortal Dynasty, so he hid it in order to conceal his identity. Because of this, he never show his ice abilities. Jun Qiangwu never thought that Qian Jiafeng would actually be his junior in terms of seniority. However, even after discovering this fact, he didn¡¯t reveal his abilities either. Because Mu Long was here. As long as Mu Long connected the dots, his plan would become ten times harder. Still, since he already formed a grudge, there was no longer any point in concealing his abilities. Mu Long stared at Jun Qiangwu as he walked onto the stage. Specifically, his eyes couldn¡¯t help but narrow on the spear. ¡°Your true name isn¡¯t Wuqiang, but Jun Qiangwu, isn¡¯t it?¡± Mu Long asked. Jun Qiangwu¡¯s footsteps paused. He used similar sounding characters for his alternate identity and the meaning behind them was different from his actual name. He expected Qian Jiafeng to recognize him soon, but not Mu Long. His answer to Mu Long¡¯s statement was to brandish his spear at the latter. ¡°I¡¯m right, aren¡¯t I?¡± Mu Long said. In order to help him recognize Jun Qiangwu, Qian Jiafeng had described Jun Qiangwu in detail and everything she could think of. ¡°Hmpf, not only did you betray Jia¡¯er, but you want to take her life too? Are you a man or not?¡± Jun Qiangwu paused, his eyes sharpened. The icy blue color became whiter as a flower-like pattern appeared. ¡°Betray? Her?¡± He raised his head and laughed as if it was the funniest joke in the world. ¡°She¡¯s got you wrapped around her fingers, too, huh? I wonder what your face will look like when she betrays you.¡±Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. A sinister idea appeared in Jun Qiangwu¡¯s mind. He knew he should ignore it but it was like a devil¡¯s whisper. Once it took root, it wouldn¡¯t disappear, no matter what. Mu Long¡¯s response was to unsheathe his sword. Obviously, he didn¡¯t believe the implication of Jun Qiangwu¡¯s words. Whether it was from his own judgement or Qian Jiafeng¡¯s influence, Jun Qiangwu didn¡¯t know. But it didn¡¯t stop Jun Qiangwu from preparing to take him down. In the audience, the disciples couldn¡¯t help but discuss the finals, each giving their own thoughts. ¡°Who do you think will win?¡± a disciple asked. He was one of the lucky ones to join with Qian Jiafeng. ¡°Hmm, although that Wuqiang is showing amazing progress, I still think Senior Brother Mu will win,¡± a longtime disciple said. ¡°However, it¡¯s not like that Wuqiang has no chance. As long as he is ruthless enough, he has a chance of winning.¡± ¡°Hmpf, I don¡¯t want him to win. He gives us cultivators a bad name. Immortal cultivators should be transcendent and not act so ugly,¡± the new disciple said. He was already inclined toward Mu Long since he joined at the same time as Qian Jiafeng, Mu Long¡¯s fiancee. ¡°His chances are actually lower than you think,¡± someone interjected. The two disciples looked up. The newcomer didn¡¯t recognize him, but the longtime disciple did. ¡°Senior Brother Xiong!¡± The third disciple, Xiong, shrugged and squeezed himself between the two. He was Mu Long¡¯s opponent in the semifinals, and the match took over ten minutes before Mu Long squeezed out a victory. Furthermore, he was also in the Sixth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm. ¡°Do you know some inside information?¡± the longtime disciple asked. Before Jun Qiangwu came along, Xiong was recognized as Mu Long¡¯s only rival and the disciple with the greatest chance of becoming an inner disciple. Xiong shook his head. ¡°Not exactly, but when we fought, I felt like Mu Long was hiding strength. Although it seemed like we were evenly matched, I can¡¯t help but feel that Mu Long could have won much sooner.¡± ¡°Really?¡± the newcomer disciple asked. ¡°Just watch. Mu Long should reveal it in the last match,¡± Xiong said as he stared at the arena. The moment the referee declared the start of the match, Jun Qiangwu and Mu Long charged at each other without another word. Spear and sword clashed. Mu Long frowned as he stepped back. ¡°Your strength? It¡¯s beyond the Fifth Stage. You¡¯ve entered the Sixth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm?¡± Before the crowd had time for that information to sink in, Mu Long dropped another bomb. ¡°No, this strength isn¡¯t something that can be reached by someone who just reached the Sixth Stage. Have you entered the late Sixth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm?¡± Jun Qiangwu didn¡¯t answer and simply twirled his spear. In truth, he only just entered the Sixth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm. The reason Mu Long mistaken him for someone in the late stage of the Sixth Stage was because of the Nine-Five Scripture. The power and energy of those that practiced the Nine-Five Scripture will only become more ridiculous as they reach higher realms. Ice coated the spearhead, causing the blade to resemble a two-sided halberd. He charged. Mu Long snorted. He waved his sword, and a green glow encased it. As it sliced through the air, wooden spikes shot out. Jun Qiangwu struck them in their trajectory. However, when the wooden spikes touched the halberd, they expanded like puffer fish, resembling spiked balls. Then, they exploded, sending more wooden spikes. Jun Qiangwu frowned and the air around him chilled. Ice appeared on Jun Qiangwu¡¯s body and encased him in armor. The wooden spikes splattered harmlessly off of the ice armor and fell to the ground. Jun Qiangwu continued his charge, and Mu Long did not shrink back. He stepped forward and locked his sword against his foe¡¯s spear. The blade of the sword took on a blue sheen as a layer of frost covered it. Mu Long tightened the grip on his sword. Tree branches grew out of his sword¡¯s hilt and wrapped around the spear. The speed of the encroachment slowed down as the barked turned white from the frost. Still, that only served to slow down its movements, not stop it. ¡°Hmpf, my ability is stronger than yours.¡± Jun Qiangwu said nothing. Instead, he stared Mu Long in the eye. The moment their gazes connected, Mu Long couldn¡¯t help but notice the flower-like design on the iris. He felt something was wrong, but it was too late now. ¡°Ah!¡± Mu Long screamed as cracks appeared in his eyes. He closed his eyes, but blood flowed from beneath his eyelids. He stumbled, losing his stability. Jun Qiangwu winced as he felt the strain in his eyes, but he wouldn¡¯t give up this hard-earned chance. He increased the intensity of his ability, causing the branches to freeze faster, and pushed forward. The frozen branches shattered and he swung his spear. Just as the ice-covered spear neared Mu Long¡¯s body, the latter stamped his foot down. With his center of gravity stabilized, Mu Long¡¯s hand shot out and grabbed the spear¡¯s shaft. Ice immediately covered his hand, but Mu Long didn¡¯t care as he slashed his sword toward Jun Qiangwu. Jun Qiangwu tried to raise the spear, but Mu Long¡¯s grip was too strong. Now, he was at an impasse. Either he continued to grab and take the sword strike, or let go. He chose the former. Mu Long¡¯s sword struck his shoulder, cracking the ice armor and drawing blood. Jun Qiangwu gritted his teeth and yanked the spear free of Mu Long''s grasp and stepped back. Luckily, the ice armor had softened the blow, so it did not cause lethal harm. Still, he no longer had much strength in his left arm. Ice covered the wound, stopping the bleeding. It was a worthy tradeoff. If he let go, Mu Long would have thrown his spear out of the arena, making his chances of winning diminish. Although he lost some strength in his left arm, Mu Long had become blind, dropping his combat prowess significantly. Maybe even ninety percent. ¡°I admit,¡± Jun Qiangwu said. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to enter the Seventh Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm. But you are doomed to lose to me.¡± ¡°And I didn¡¯t expect your ability to work inside my body,¡± Mu Long said. Somehow, Jun Qiangwu had managed to freeze the outer surface of his eyes, causing them to become useless. Abilities only affected the immediate surrounding of the user, but they couldn¡¯t directly affect another superhuman. Jun Qiangwu had broken that rule, which was what caught him off guard. This concept was also why Mu Long couldn¡¯t use his ability to heal his eyes, as Jun Qiangwu¡¯s lingering spiritual qi in his eyes interfered. ¡°But victory will still be mine.¡± Jun Qiangwu sneered. He tapped his spear on the ground and five ice puppets wielding ice spears appeared. It was a tasteless technique that used too much concentration, and each puppet barely had ten percent of his combat prowess. However, it was perfect for this situation. The five ice puppets and Jun Qiangwu circled Mu Long. In unison, they tapped their spears on the ground to create a beat, while simultaneously stepping forward. Now, Mu Long couldn¡¯t use his hearing to determine Jun Qiangwu¡¯s location. Mu Long kept turning, trying to pinpoint Jun Qiangwu¡¯s location. He raised his sword and shot numerous spikes at the sounds. The ice puppets and Jun Qiangwu ignored the spikes and allowed them to dent the ice armor or bodies. As the encirclement closed in, it seemed more and more impossible for Mu Long to win. ¡®Victory is mine!¡¯ Jun Qiangwu thought when he reached a meter of Mu Long. He raised his spear and prepared to bring it down. Mu Long moved. He charged toward Jun Qiangwu without an ounce of hesitation, and before the latter could react, he stabbed his sword. The sword pierced Jun Qiangwu¡¯s ice armor and into his chest, but it stopped before entering too deeply. That didn¡¯t matter, as the force behind Mu Long¡¯s strike shot Jun Qiangwu off the arena. Upon landing, Jun Qiangwu forced himself to stand up and stared at Mu Long. ¡°How?¡± Mu Long smiled, even as blood continued to leak from his eyes. ¡°My ability doesn¡¯t just allow me to control plants, but I can sense vitality. Even without sight, you can¡¯t hide from my senses.¡± The crowd roared in excitement as Mu Long became the champion. Chapter 416: Life-and-Death Duel When Jun Qiangwu awoke, he saw an unfamiliar ceiling. His eyes blinked in confusion for a few seconds before the memories of the inter-disciple tournament flooded his mind. After hearing Mu Long¡¯s words, he had fainted. A scowl appeared on his face and he sat up, only to wince as his body screamed in pain. ¡°Senior Brother!¡± Jun Qiangwu looked left to see Xingyi staring at him with worry. For a moment, his expression softened, but just as quickly, it hardened. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Xingyi flinched at Jun Qiangwu¡¯s indifferent tone. ¡°I was just worried.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t need your worry. If you don¡¯t have anything important, leave.¡± Xingyi just stared at Jun Qiangwu. The face was still the same, but he felt like a completely different person. ¡°Senior Brother, what happened to you? You¡¯ve changed.¡± ¡°No,¡± Jun Qiangwu said. He reached for his face and pulled. The skin started to distort and stretch, and moments later, he pulled off the Hundred Faces Silk Mask he wore and revealed his original face. ¡°I¡¯ve never changed. This is what I¡¯ve always been like.¡± Xingyi stared at Jun Qiangwu¡¯s real face. It was much more handsome than his former plain appearance, but it only brought a sense of chill to Xingyi. She would have much rather preferred Jun Qiangwu¡¯s disguise. ¡°I¡ª¡± ¡°Leave,¡± Jun Qiangwu said before the younger girl could get another word in. Xingyi made a face that was uglier than crying, but Jun Qiangwu remained unmoved. ¡°Don¡¯t make me repeat myself.¡± ¡°¡­goodbye, Senior Brother,¡± Xingyi said. Her shoulders trembled as she turned around, making her seem small and pitiful. Still, Jun Qiangwu said nothing as he watched her leave the room. Now alone, Jun Qiangwu clenched his fists. ¡®How could I lose?!¡¯ He didn¡¯t understand. Had he become overconfident, so he fell into Mu Long¡¯s plot? Even so, he still couldn¡¯t forgive himself for what happened. ¡°System, how could Mu Long beat me?¡± [Mu Long kept calm and utilized a superior strategy in the face of adversity. Even with his eyes gone, he still saw the path to victory and used your confidence against you.] Jun Qiangwu knew that, too. He just couldn¡¯t accept it. ¡°Tell me, how talented is Mu Long. Is he more talented than me?¡± [Mu Long¡¯s talent is below average.] ¡°Then how could he match me? Our cultivation bases are similar. Didn¡¯t you say the Nine-Five Scripture is supreme?¡± Jun Qiangwu questioned. [Mu Long¡¯s talent is below average, but the host¡¯s talent is not much better.] Jun Qiangwu¡¯s expression turned ugly. [Compared to the geniuses of the immortal realms, you are not much. Had you not caught the attention of the Great Creator, you might not even reach Mu Long¡¯s level. In addition, the advantages of the Nine-Five Scripture only show its greatest advantages in the Core Formation Realm and above. And although the Five Element Book that the members of the Xi Immortal Dynasty cultivate is an inferior version, it is still a top-tier cultivation method even in the immortal realm.] ¡°In the end, you¡¯re still saying that my loss is because of my own inferiorities?¡± [Yes.] The Nine Heavens Revenge System answered bluntly, without a hint of mercy. Jun Qiangwu¡¯s nails pierced his palms, causing his blood to flow out. ¡°Mu. Long. Qian. Jia. Feng!¡± He took out a pill from the system space and swallowed it. Soon, all the injuries on his body healed. Jun Qiangwu stood up and changed his clothes. When he walked out, he saw his master, Elder Hui, arriving. Elder Hui stared at Jun Qiangwu¡¯s face, not recognizing it. However, he still recognized his disciple¡¯s aura. ¡°Wuqiang?¡± Jun Qiangwu shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s a false name. My real name is Jun Qiangwu.¡± ¡°So that¡¯s the case,¡± Elder Hui asked. He looked at his disciple. ¡°Can you tell me why you tried to kill that lass, Qian Jiafeng?¡± Since he was no longer hiding his identity, Jun Qiangwu saw no reason to hide his motives. However, he still added some points as to prevent punishment. ¡°When I was fighting Jiafeng, I closed my eyes because I was afraid that I wouldn¡¯t be able to hold myself back. However, she forced me to open my eyes, and the moment I saw her, I lost all reason.¡± Elder Hui raised an eyebrow. ¡°Sure, sure. What do you plan to do now?¡± ¡°I want to apply for a mission. I want to temper myself and hone my skills,¡± Jun Qiangwu said. ¡°Don¡¯t be in such a rush,¡± Elder Hui said. ¡°You still haven¡¯t received your rewards for the tournament. You¡¯re allowed to choose two techniques from the Technique Repository and a new weapon from the Arms Repository.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Jun Qiangwu didn¡¯t really care. As long as he continued to complete the side mission for the Nine Heavens Revenge System, he would still be able to get everything he wanted. Speaking of missions, even though he failed the main mission, it didn¡¯t disappear. Did he have to wait for the next inter-disciple mission to complete it? ¡°Don¡¯t be in a rush to leave,¡± Elder Hui said upon seeing Jun Qiangwu¡¯s expression. ¡°You have a life-and-death enmity with that Qian Jiafeng, but the Xi Immortal Dynasty doesn¡¯t allow its members to kill each other.¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Jun Qiangwu looked away. It seemed this fate with the Xi Immortal Dynasty would come to an end in the future. He didn¡¯t really care, but a flash of sadness appeared in his heart as Xingyi and Hou Yawen¡¯s images appeared in his mind. Elder Hui could see Jun Qiangwu¡¯s thoughts, but he didn¡¯t care very much. He never placed the disciples in his eyes much. Were it not for Xi Ri¡¯s orders, he wouldn¡¯t even have taken Jun Qiangwu as a disciple. ¡°Do you know that you can apply for a life-and-death duel to other disciples if you have enough motive?¡± Jun Qiangwu¡¯s body stilled, and he stared at Elder Hui. Seeing that he had caught his disciple¡¯s full attention, Elder Hui continued. ¡°It was originally a clause created in case two disciples formed an irreconcilable grievance. I just never expected to see it used so soon. The process is simple. You have to submit an application to the Department of Punishment, stating who your target is. From there, the department will mediate a time for you two to conduct your life-and-death duel if they feel your motive is reasonable. Of course, the other party can refuse. If they refuse, they must put forward a representative to duel in their stead. Naturally, the representative must agree.¡± ¡°If they have a representative, can I kill them?¡± Jun Qiangwu asked. ¡°Of course,¡± Elder Hui said. ¡°The representative will take on all the responsibilities. If the representative loses, the person they are representing will die, too.¡± Jun Qiangwu smiled for the first time since the inter-disciple tournament. ¡°Excuse me, I have to go to the Department of Punishment.¡±
Inside Mu Long¡¯s room, Qian Jiafeng held a notice in her hand with pursed brows. Beside her stood Mu Long with a displeased expression. ¡°Life-and-death duel? I never expected there to be such a rule,¡± Qian Jiafeng said with a sigh. Mu Long turned toward his head bodyguard. ¡°Did you know?¡± ¡°I never heard of it, but since it was sent by the Department of Punishment, it should not be false,¡± Zhuangbo said. ¡°That bastard. Not only does he dare reverse black and white, he still wants your life?¡± Mu Long said. ¡°Jia¡¯er, let me represent you. I¡¯ll make sure he never bothers you again.¡± Qian Jiafeng shook her head. ¡°No need. I¡¯ll accept the challenge.¡± ¡°What?¡± Mu Long stared at Qian Jiafeng. ¡°Jia¡¯er, you think I will lose to him?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a realistic person,¡± Qian Jiafeng said. ¡°He only joined for a year, yet he reached the Sixth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm. And even if you are in the Seventh Stage, your victory was too close. Even if you fight him again right now, victory or defeat is unknown. What will happen in a year or two?¡± Mu Long gritted his teeth. He never thought someone would place him in second in his entire life. And the person who did this was the woman he decided to marry. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Qian Jiafeng said. ¡°You should distance yourself from me. This way, when I die, Qiangwu won¡¯t find trouble with you. This entanglement, let it end with me.¡± The anger in Mu Long¡¯s eyes vanished. Pity and empathy appeared in his eyes instead. ¡°Jia¡¯er¡± ¡°What are you doing?¡± Qian Jiafeng asked when the notice slipped from her grip. ¡°Jia¡¯er, you are the woman I recognize. In front of me, you don¡¯t have to act strong. Since I am your man, I will bear your burden and shield you from all harm,¡± Mu Long said. ¡°Besides, it remains unknown who is more talented.¡± ¡°Ever since I was young, I¡¯ve never met anyone as talented as me. I never felt that pressure, even in the Xi Immortal Dynasty. Although I have cultivated wholeheartedly, it cannot be said that it is my fastest. Now that I feel pressure, I will only grow faster,¡± Mu Long said. He gazed gently at Qian Jiafeng. ¡°That¡¯s why, Jia¡¯er, leave everything to me and rest easy.¡± The corners of Qian Jiafeng¡¯s eyes filled with unshed tears. Inwardly, Qian Jiafeng sighed. She had to admit, in terms of personality, it was Mu Long who knew how to speak to comfort women, unlike Jun Qiangwu.
Jun Qiangwu soon received the reply to his application. As he expected. Mu Long volunteered himself to take Qian Jiafeng¡¯s place in the duel. Since he was the challenger, Mu Long decided when the duel would take place. As long as it is within ten years, he could choose any time. To his surprise, Mu Long chose three years. Jun Qiangwu didn¡¯t understand why Mu Long would set the time of the life-and-death duel at three years. Didn¡¯t Mu Long understand that the more time given to him, the less likely his chances of victory? He smiled. It was a belligerent smile full of darkness. ¡®Qian Jiafeng, I want to see how you despair after your last pillar of support dies. Without me, without Mu Long, you are nothing.¡¯ Jun Qiangwu left the Xi Immortal Palace, and left Xanadu. He had already chosen two techniques from the Technique Repository and a set of armor from the Arms Repository. He hadn¡¯t even brought his bodyguards with him. For the next two years, he embroiled himself in endless killing. Perhaps, the number of monster corpses he made exceeded all the monsters killed by the disciples of the Xi Immortal Dynasty. Unknown to him, his body started to change. It wasn¡¯t noticeable at first, but Jun Qiangwu¡¯s hair took on a blood-red shade. And when the sunlight struck it at the perfect angle, his hair shone crimson. Not just his hair, but his eyes took on a red hue, too. His visage turned ferocious. Even with his handsome face, just one glance at him would instill fear in anyone who looked at him. If those core formation masters scanned Jun Qiangwu with their spiritual sense, they would be able to sense the bloody aura following behind him. It was like a devil cloaked in the shroud of thousands of corpses. If any of his old acquaintances who knew him saw him now, they would not be able to recognize him. Jun Qiangwu¡¯s cultivation hadn¡¯t stagnated either. He rose from the Sixth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm to the Eleventh Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm. If he relied on his talent alone, he would have only entered the Eighth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm at the end of the three-year period. The reason for his increase in talent was because he learned a technique in his dream. It was known as the Blood Swallowing Art. By absorbing the blood of monsters, cultivators, or demons, he could increase his cultivation at a speedy pace. The only downside was that he became more bloodthirsty and irrational. Not that he noticed. Then, an accident occurred during his third year of tempering. While he searched for his next target, he saw a familiar figure. It was Qian Jiafeng. She was not alone, and she had journeyed with several other disciples in order to temper themselves. Although she manipulated Mu Long to accept the life-and-death duel in her place, it didn¡¯t mean she didn¡¯t want to grow stronger herself. In fact, the life-and-death duel only accelerated her desire for power. If she had the strength, she would have killed Jun Qiangwu herself. Madness took over Jun Qiangwu¡¯s mind. He released a bestial growl and charged at Qian Jiafeng and the other disciples from the Xi Immortal Dynasty. By the time the blood haze receded, a pile of dismembered limbs and corpses surrounded him. Jun Qiangwu looked around. He could recognize some of the scattered clothing and even the body parts. ¡°Qian Jiafeng, she¡¯s dead? Just like that?¡± He didn¡¯t feel any pleasure. It felt as if someone had controlled his body and killed her without him being able to experience it. ¡°Dammit, dammit! I wanted to make her experience hell before dying in despair!¡± Jun Qiangwu didn¡¯t have much time to wallow in his misery, as he felt a searing heat in his robes. He reached in and threw out the blistering source. Upon throwing it out, he recognized it. It was the XiyiD. The thrown XiyiD froze in midair before shooting toward Jun Qiangwu. He didn¡¯t even have time to react before the XiyiD slammed into his chest. A blazing pain filled his mind, and when he regained his ability to think, the XiyiD had disappeared, but it didn¡¯t leave without leaving its mark. Literally. Branded on his chest was the word ¡°Sinner.¡± Chapter 417: He Appears Elder Hui rushed to the room at the highest tower of the Xi Immortal Dynasty. Once outside, he paused and took a few deep breaths. As a nascent soul grandmaster, Elder Hui had no need to breathe, but he still reflexively did so to compose himself. ¡°Hui Tushan requests an audience,¡± he said with cupped fists. A moment of silence passed before the door opened by itself. Inside the room sat a man in his mid-twenties. Although he was described as sitting, he was actually floating in the air in a lotus position. The man had a thin film of golden light around him. Anyone radiated by the light would feel goodwill toward the man, as if they were bosom friends. ¡°Palace Lord,¡± Elder Hui greeted. Xi Ri opened his eyes. Strands of golden light flowed and twisted in his pupils before disappearing. ¡°There¡¯s no need to address me as palace lord without outsiders. We¡¯re both elders of the Buzhou Immortal Court, after all. Speak, why have you come?¡± ¡°It concerns Jun Qiangwu.¡± Xi Ri pursed his brows, causing Elder Hui¡¯s heart to skip a beat. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°He killed a disciple.¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Qian Jiafeng.¡± Xi Ri stood up, his feet touching the ground. He took out his Xiyi Talisman and seconds later, he already learned everything. Upon seeing Xi Ri¡¯s silence, Elder Hui tentatively asked, ¡°Should we hide it?¡± Elder Hui didn¡¯t know why Xi Ri asked him to take Jun Qiangwu as a disciple. He couldn¡¯t see anything special about him, but at the very least, Jun Qiangwu was head and shoulders over his peers, except Mu Long. He just never expected him to be so rash and kill Qian Jiafeng before the life-and-death duel. Why couldn¡¯t he hold back his temper? As a cultivator, one needed to be patient and endure. His qualifications were good, but his personality didn¡¯t fit a cultivator. Now, an enormous problem cropped up. He was in charge of Jun Qiangwu and any trouble the latter caused would reflect back on him. Xi Ri shook his head. ¡°No need. Hand the trackers to the punishment deacons and have them bring Jun Qiangwu back.¡± ¡°Understood,¡± Elder Hui said. He internally sighed in relief when Xi Ri didn¡¯t seem to blame him. ¡°Then, please excuse me.¡± After Elder Hui left, Xi Ri messaged Tianyi. When he noticed Jun Qiangwu, he hadn¡¯t thought much of it. With Tianyi, it was likely just a flight of fancy. But since something happened, he wanted to ask Tianyi¡¯s opinion. Even if he didn¡¯t punish Jun Qiangwu according to the Xi Immortal Dynasty¡¯s rules, Jun Qiangwu would have to leave the lower realm and never return. After a few minutes with no reply, Xi Ri stored the Xiyi Talisman. He was in no rush. He could imprison Jun Qiangwu and wait for Tianyi¡¯s reply before sentencing him. Xi Ri expected Jun Qiangwu to be captured and brought back without much trouble. After all, when Jun Qiangwu left, he was only in the Sixth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm. And punishment deacons were all in the Twelfth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm. Surely, nothing would go wrong.
Jun Qiangwu panted as he stood over the sacks of flesh that used to be the punishment deacons. Instead of fear over his actions, an exhilarated smile appeared on his face. ¡°Hahaha, these are Twelfth Stage deacons? So weak, so weak!¡± He released a maniacal laughter. He stared at the corpses and walked to the nearest one. His hands pierced the corpses. After searching for a few seconds, he pulled his hand out. In his grasp was the punishment deacon¡¯s heart. Jun Qiangwu brought the heart to his lips and bit a chunk out of it. The blood coated his mouth and dripped down his neck, but he didn¡¯t care as he swallowed. The qi in his body increased tremendously when he finished the heart. He laughed again. ¡°I¡¯m not far from opening the next meridian. Soon, I¡¯ll be able to reach the Thirteenth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm.¡± He walked to the other corpses and dug out their hearts. After finishing them all, Jun Qiangwu immediately left. The brand on his chest burned. Jun Qiangwu had thought that it did nothing but humiliate him. Now, it seemed that the brand wasn¡¯t just for appearance. It must have had tracking features. Otherwise, how could the punishment deacons zero in on him so fast after he took many steps to hide his tracks? Jun Qiangwu had immediately decided to flee once the brand appeared on his chest. With the brand, he couldn¡¯t return without facing punishment. Since that was the case, it was better to flee as far as possible before the Xi Immortal Dynasty discovered anything wrong. Once he obtains enough power, he¡¯ll return and kill Mu Long for his actions. However, it seemed that the Xi Immortal Dynasty already discovered his actions immediately after he killed Qian Jiafeng and her associates. ¡°System, can you erase the brand on me?¡±This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. [No.] Jun Qiangwu wasn¡¯t surprised by the Nine Heavens Revenge System¡¯s cold reply. He had already used all the gacha tickets, but none of the prizes could deal with the brand on his chest. Since he couldn¡¯t hide from them or run away, he¡¯ll kill them as they come. Be it Mu Long, Protector Hanwei, or even his master, Elder Hui. If they dare cross him, he¡¯ll kill them. Even the palace lord is no exception! But first, he had to absorb all the blood and qi he received. After washing the blood off his body, Jun Qiangwu searched for a safe location. Just because the Xi Immortal Dynasty could track him whatever he did, didn¡¯t mean he shouldn¡¯t take precautions. Once he found a new safe spot, Jun Qiangwu focused on digesting everything he¡¯d absorbed. A week later, he entered the Thirteenth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm. From there, he took out the Foundation Establishment Pill. Jun Qiangwu swallowed it, and once the pill entered his stomach, it dissolved into pure qi. He felt an overwhelming amount of energy threatening to burst from his body. He walked outside the cave he had hidden himself in, only to see black clouds gathering above him. This was the Foundation Establishment Heavenly Tribulation. An instinctive fear emerged from every single one of his cells. ¡°Hmpf, if heaven blocks my way, I¡¯ll rip the heavens apart!¡± The black clouds thundered, as if angered by Jun Qiangwu¡¯s words. The black clouds increased in density, almost becoming solid. Lightning arced its edges, threatening to drop at a moment¡¯s notice. Jun Qiangwu took out a set of armor and his spear from the system space. Now protected and in his peak state, he readied himself for the first bolt of tribulation. The tribulation clouds attacked not a moment too soon. ¡°Geh!¡± Jun Qiangwu bit back a howl of pain. He had attempted to pierce the lightning bolt with his spear, but the lightning shrouded his spear and snaked to his body covering him. It felt as if he had met his nemesis. Each cell of his body protested as the lightning attacked them. It would not be inaccurate to say that his body started dissolving. Had it not been for the restorative effect of the Foundation Establishment Pill, his injuries would have been worse. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why is the lightning so much more powerful than described in the records?¡± Jun Qiangwu asked. [The power of the heavenly tribulation will increase under certain conditions, like receiving external aid or practicing devilish arts.] ¡°What? My heavenly tribulation is stronger because of you?¡± Jun Qiangwu asked. Or rather, blamed. [The Nine Heavens Revenge System has been bound to your soul. In the eyes of the Heavenly Dao, your and my existence are the same. It is because you practiced a devilish art that your heavenly tribulation became more powerful.] ¡°What? So it¡¯s my fault, but I never learned any devilish art¡ª¡± Jun Qiangwu stopped talking. He recalled the technique that appeared to him in his dreams. Originally, he had thought it was something the system gave him, but it turned out that it was a devilish art? ¡°System, what can I do?¡± [Do your best.] Do his best? Wasn¡¯t that the same as saying nothing? Despite his thoughts, Jun Qiangwu had no choice but to resist the heavenly tribulation to the best of abilities. Each bolt of tribulation lightning brought him endless pain. It was as if he was a dragon facing hundreds of warriors, each equipped with a dragon slaying sword. Not only did the dragon slaying swords hinder his strength, but it brought him endless pain each time the blade cut into his flesh. Jun Qiangwu didn¡¯t know how he endured the Foundation Establishment Heavenly Tribulation. By the time he realized the tribulation had finished, he was barely hanging on by a thread of consciousness. Using his remaining willpower, Jun Qiangwu took out a pill from the system space and ingested it. Almost like a miracle out of a fairy tale, Jun Qiangwu¡¯s injuries healed. His body, which had only been composed of charred flesh attached to a skeleton, regrew muscle and skin at an incredible pace. The flickering life force burned with vengeance. In less than ten minutes, Jun Qiangwu had returned to his former appearance. Before Jun Qiangwu could breathe a sigh of relief, two figures appeared in his vision. Each one rode atop an object, the most common being a sword. They were the terrace lords of the Xi Immortal Palace. In his estimation, he would only clash with them once he reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm. Furthermore, although his body had returned to peak condition, his mind was still fatigued. In such a situation escape was difficult. So he didn¡¯t even hesitate. Two Inferior White Shell Talismans appeared in his hand and he chucked both of them at the two core formation masters. The two core formation masters snorted. They didn¡¯t bother using their artifacts and parried the white shells with their hands. To their shock, the moment they touched the talisman, they were knocked back ten meters. Inferior White Shell Talisman could only guarantee killing qi gathering pupils and injuring foundation establishment disciples. They couldn¡¯t even injure core formation masters, but they had a cheat-like knockback effect that could even stun a nascent soul grandmaster for a split second. Jun Qiangwu didn¡¯t miss his chance, and he took out another talisman. This one resembled a slip of paper, but printed on it was the night sky. This was the Thousand Li Voidverse Talisman. Upon activation, the Thousand Li Voidverse Talisman shrouded him in a film of energy and carried him away. The sheer speed of his departure made it seemed as if he had teleported to the two core formation masters. Over five hundred kilometers away, Jun Qiangwu reappeared. He didn¡¯t dare to linger and immediately fled as fast as he could. He still had a few more Thousand Li Voidverse Talismans, but they should be used at the critical time, not wasted when not needed. Now it was a game of cat and mouse. The question became whether or not he could cultivate fast enough before the Xi Immortal Dynasty killed him. Although he couldn¡¯t complete the main mission, side missions were still available. As long as he used the gacha rewards well, he had the hope of surviving. ¡°Xi Immortal Dynasty. Once I attain the strength, I won¡¯t let any of you go for this humiliation!¡± Two weeks later, six core formation masters sped toward him. Jun Qiangwu didn¡¯t even attempt to confront them. Before waiting for them to even speak, the Thousand Li Voidverse Talisman appeared in his hand. Just as he was about to activate, he discovered that his body froze. He couldn¡¯t even circulate the spiritual qi in his body. ¡°Jun Qiangwu, you¡¯ve really disappointed me.¡± If his body could tremble, Jun Qiangwu would have done so. He recognized the voice. It belonged to his master, Elder Hui. His reaction wasn¡¯t out of guilt, but despair. Why did a nascent soul grandmaster appear? Shouldn¡¯t they have kept sending core formation masters? He had the confidence to escape core formation masters but not nascent soul grandmasters. Just as Jun Qiangwu lost all hope, the world changed colors. Day had turned to night. He didn¡¯t even think about running away and looked up instead. He wasn¡¯t the only one as the core formation masters, and Elder Hui copied his actions. No, it wasn¡¯t the night sky, but an incomprehensibly large colossal being formed from the cosmos. In its abdomen, a single star stone and eight planets orbited it. Jun Qiangwu had never seen the being before, but his heart recognized him. It was the Nine Heavens Emperor! He was saved! Chapter 418: I am also Surnamed Xi High above the Huang Realm and the other realms that orbited it, Tianyi sat in a lotus position. One level below him were the immortal officials. Essence of fire, water, earth, metal, and wood circled around him and the immortal officials. Not just the essence of the five elements, but yin, yang, light, darkness, space and time essences also revolved around them. They circled Tianyi the most, followed by the immortal officials, then the second-ranked officials and so on. They would brush against their bodies. Most of the essence would slide off, but a little bit would enter their bodies. Below, the realms Tianyi plucked slowly rotated with the Huang Realm at its center. Of the ninety-eight realms plucked, only fifty-seven remained. The other forty-one realms had merged with the Huang Realm, strengthening the latter. At this moment, a middle-ranked realm merged into the borders of the Huang Realm. The two realms'' dimensional boundaries clashed, and as they merged, it caused damage to both, more so for the middle-ranked realm than the Huang Realm. The destroyed portion of the two realms floated to the top. During the process, they disintegrated into a cloudy gray energy and elemental essences. Tianyi stored the cloudy gray energy, which was realm essence, and allowed the elemental essence to circle around him and everyone else. When all the realms merged into one, the process of upgrading the Huang Realm would become complete, and by then, the Huang Realm would gain a new name. In Tianyi¡¯s estimation, the Huang Realm would evolve into a peak immortal-rank realm, comparable to a divine-rank realm. If he could, Tianyi would have wanted to upgrade the Huang Realm into a divine-rank realm, but to do so, he would need to be a divinity or have the power of one. ¡°Huh?¡± Tianyi opened his eyes and glanced toward the outer fringes of the zone where the realms orbited. ¡®Did something go wrong with Jun Qiangwu?¡¯ All the conduits of Tianyi shared one mind. Although they appeared to act independently, they were all controlled by Tianyi¡¯s consciousness inside the Nine Heaven Universe. If the conduits lost complete connection to the inner universe, they would cease functioning and fall inactive like puppets. So, the most powerful conduit of Tianyi, the one above the Huang Realm, also knew what happened in the low-ranked realm. He was about to have one of his other conduits teleport to the low-rank realm, but he stopped. Perhaps he should experiment. Tianyi focused his thoughts and the space above the low-rank realm trembled. It contracted and expanded repeatedly until it transformed into a humanoid. Endless stars lit up within the humanoid, including the Nine Heavens System. The cosmic giant he created wasn¡¯t from using the power of his inner cosmos, but his control over the spacetime around the Huang Realm and other realms. If his previous cosmic giant was the internal cosmic giant, this was the external cosmic giant. Calling it a giant was a disservice. Its height easily dwarfed all the cosmic giants he formed before, at nearly a hundred thousand kilometers. It rivaled the entire low-rank realm. However, such size was useless. Despite its seemingly impressive power, it was spread apart. If the external cosmic giant punched the low-rank realm, it would only feel like a particularly strong breeze had passed. Tianyi clenched his fist. ¡®Condense!¡¯ The external cosmic giant started to shrink. From nearly a hundred thousand kilometers to ten thousand kilometers, a thousand kilometers, a hundred kilometers. It kept shrinking until it was only a thousand meters tall, at which point it entered the low-rank realm. Since it would cause irreparable damage on landing, the cosmic giant didn¡¯t directly touch the ground. Instead, it just hovered barely above. Tianyi¡¯s sight, hearing, and his other senses were linked to the cosmic giant¡¯s, so he could see everything. Not that he needed, since he could sense everything that was happening within the zone of merging realms from his original position. The cosmic giant¡¯s head turned down, causing everyone to appear like deer frozen in headlights. Only Jun Qiangwu showed anything resembling excitement, although apprehension still filled the majority of his face. The other cultivators, outer elders that Xi Ri had brought with him to the lower-rank realm, trembled, fearing the worst. He ignored them and focused on Jun Qiangwu. The cosmic giant reached down and picked Jun Qiangwu up in his hand. Compared to the cosmic giant, the foundation establishment disciple literally appeared like an ant. Jun Qiangwu got on his knees and said, ¡°Great Creator, they discovered the system and they grew greedy! They wanted to strip me of the system for their own use!¡± Elder Hui and the other members of the Xi Immortal Dynasty grew worried. They didn¡¯t know how a yokel like Jun Qiangwu got in touch with such a powerful existence, but they had their own confidence. As the strongest among them, Elder Hui cupped his hand and said, ¡°Senior, we are members of the Immortal Court. Jun Qiangwu was a member of a peripheral branch, and we hunted him down because he killed his fellow disciples.¡± ¡°So what?! They provoked me first, I killed them with just reason!¡± Jun Qiangwu shouted back. ¡°You!¡± Elder Hui shouted. He wanted to elaborate on the situation, so the cosmic giant didn¡¯t get the wrong idea. He was fearful of his life, but not for the Xi Immortal Dynasty. No matter how powerful the unknown senior was, could he be more powerful than the entire Immortal Court? ¡°Enough.¡± The cosmic giant had no mouth to speak, but everyone present still heard its words in their ears and minds. Elder Hui and the other elders of the Xi Immortal Dynasty had an ugly expression. A few even glared at Jun Qiangwu, who happened to see when he looked back. Although his expression didn¡¯t change, his eyes did not lie. After hunting him down for so long, they finally received retribution. But that superior attitude did not remain for long.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°I already know everything, including the cause and effect.¡± Jun Qiangwu turned his head up and looked the cosmic giant in the eyes. Even with the semblance of human form, the two eyes still resembled the solar and lunar stars to an insignificant mortal like Jun Qiangwu. He felt like he would spontaneously combust if the cosmic giant stared harder. ¡°Do you know that the leader of the Xi Immortal Palace is surnamed Xi?¡± Baffled by the seemingly random question, Jun Qiangwu reflexively shook his head. Although he didn¡¯t know, it didn¡¯t surprise him. ¡°Then, do you know that I am also surnamed Xi?¡± Dread rose from the pits of Jun Qiangwu¡¯s body. It was still at the peak of summer, but it felt colder than a snowstorm. In contrast, the elders of the Xi Immortal Dynasty became excited. They knew the palace lord¡¯s true identity, and they only knew two other people who achieved supreme strength with the surname Xi: The Sword Sovereign, and the Nine Heavens Emperor. The voice earlier was male, so the identity was obvious. In unison, the elders of the Xi Immortal Dynasty all bowed. ¡°¡°¡°We greet the Nine Heavens Emperor!!!¡±¡±¡± Jun Qiangwu felt a bomb go off in his head upon hearing the elders¡¯ response and greeting. He stared closely at the cosmic giant. No wonder the Nine Heavens Revenge System told him to join the Xi Immortal Dynasty. At this moment, a hint of anger erupted. Why didn¡¯t the system tell him? If he knew, he would have been more careful. Now, Jun Qiangwu knew that escape was all but impossible. But since the Nine Heavens Emperor appeared, it meant that he should be valued, right? So, even if he was punished, it wouldn¡¯t be the capital punishment. ¡°I can understand your hatred toward Qian Jiafeng. Although I do not like it, I can even understand your craziness toward the innocent disciples. If it was only that, I can still let you live.¡± Jun Qiangwu¡¯s heart dropped into his stomach. His throat became parched, and he wanted to open his mouth and vindicate himself, but he discovered that he was frozen, like an insect encased in amber. ¡°But you shouldn¡¯t have practiced the devilish art. No one in this world is allowed to practice them and live.¡± Jun Qiangwu wanted to shout and say that he didn¡¯t know, and that he would stop. Alas, he was sealed, but the cosmic giant seemed to know what he was thinking. ¡°Ignorance is not innocence.¡± The cosmic giant clenched its hand and Jun Qiangwu was no more. Not even a cell of his was left. And not just his physical body, but the soul was destroyed as well. Devils were tenacious creatures and even if you killed those that practiced devilish art, the devilish qi would remain. If left unattended, it would wreak havoc, so to prevent this, it must be exterminated. Since the devilish qi was entrenched into the soul, the simplest method was to destroy the soul, too. When the cosmic giant unclenched his hand, a wisp of devilish qi remained. ¡°How persistent.¡± The cosmic giant raised its palm up and, like moths attracted to the fire, streaks of light shot up from everywhere in the low-rank realm and congregated into its palm. Those at the source of light would discover that the person originally standing there disappeared for unknown reason. It happened everywhere, from villages to imperial capitals and even Xanadu. When the cosmic giant lowered its hand, over a hundred wisps of black qi were present in its palm. It clenched its palm and explosions rang within. When the cosmic giant opened it again, the devilish qi had vanished. The cosmic giant turned toward the Xi Immortal Dynasty elders. ¡°Tell Xi Ri not to worry. I¡¯ve already taken care of the matter.¡± Without waiting for them to respond, the cosmic giant expanded into a giant starry sky before disappearing, returning the low-rank realm to daytime again.
Tianyi stood up from within the Nine Heavens Palace. He disappeared from his spot and when he reappeared; he was right in front of Xia Meng¡¯s residence. Ever since he resigned from his position as sect master, he moved from the central peak to another mountain and named it Xia Peak, becoming a peak lord. ¡°Oh? What a rare visitor,¡± Xia Meng said as he walked out and greeted Tianyi. ¡°Are there any problems?¡± Tianyi didn¡¯t smile and showed a serious expression. ¡°There really is a problem.¡± ¡°Oh? Just what is it that can stump the famous Nine Heavens Emperor?¡± Xia Meng asked. The corner of Tianyi¡¯s lips twitched. ¡°I can accept the praises of monarchs and below, but hearing it from your mouth makes it feel like sarcasm.¡± Xia Meng laughed. ¡°Come in. It¡¯s not suitable to talk outside.¡± Tianyi followed the middle-aged immortal in. Once both emperors were sitting in front of a table with two cups of steaming two in front of each, Tianyi spoke. ¡°I recently visited several low-rank realms, and I discovered the intrusions of the devils. Although they didn¡¯t appear with their actual bodies, they scattered a lot of devilish art and disrupted the peace of the realms.¡± ¡°Oh, that?¡± Xia Meng asked. At Tianyi¡¯s shocked expression, he calmly picked up his teacup and took a sip first. ¡°The Immortal Court has always known this would happen. How can there be no side effects from the collision of realm boundaries?¡± ¡°You mean this is a result of the fusion of realms?¡± Xia Meng nodded. ¡°That¡¯s correct. We already knew that this would happen, but you don¡¯t have to worry. It¡¯s nothing more than miscellaneous fishes that slipped through the barrier of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Cleaning them all individually would take too much manpower and time, so I already dispatched immortals to cleanse the realms that just merged with the Huang Realm.¡± Tianyi sighed. He thought he discovered a huge crisis, but it turned out he was making a mountain out of a molehill. Still, he had to ask. ¡°Are you sure there won¡¯t be problems? I can help.¡± ¡°Hahaha, even if you don¡¯t trust me, you should trust your mother, right?¡± Xia Meng asked. ¡°Mother?¡± Xia Meng nodded. ¡°Right. She is the head of this cleansing operation. Compared to her, no one else can sense the devilish energy better.¡± Tianyi sat there and his eyes clouded over. ¡°Grand Elder Nine Heavens?¡± Xia Meng asked. Tianyi blinked and gave an apologetic smile. ¡°Sorry, I just recalled something.¡± Xia Meng nodded. ¡°Is there anything else I can help you with?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s it,¡± Tianyi said. He stood up. ¡°I must leave right now. I just remembered that I have something to do.¡± ¡°Then I will bid you farewell.¡± After Tianyi left, he didn¡¯t return to Nine Heavens Peak, but teleported outside Jade Peak Palace. He just stood there, hesitating and wondering if he should just leave. He wanted to leave, but Daoyi¡¯s words rang in his head, chaining his feet to the ground. Before he could make his decision, the palace gates opened by themselves. His mother, Xi Mengfei, stood there looking at him fondly in her violet robes. ¡°Yi¡¯er, why are you standing there? You should have just teleported inside.¡± ¡°How could I simply come in without telling you? I already moved out long ago.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s still your home,¡± Mengfei said. ¡°There¡¯s no need for this distance. You are my son, and you can leave and come whenever you want. Since you are here, how about staying for a thousand years?¡± Tianyi¡¯s lips twitched. Most people would say a few days or week, but his mother directly asked him to stay for a thousand years. He wasn¡¯t even that old yet, okay? His lips stopped twitching, and he stared at his mother. When he walked up, he realized that she was over half a head shorter than him. ¡®When did I grow taller than her?¡¯ ¡°Yi¡¯er, is there something wrong?¡± Mengfei asked. She reached up and placed her palm on his cheek. ¡°Mother, there¡¯s something I have to tell you.¡± Chapter 419: Confession A young man who appeared to be in his early twenties sat across from a woman who also appeared to be in her early twenties. Both wore purple brocade robes, but the man had golden embroidery of dragons on his, while the woman had silver embroidery of phoenixes. A golden coronet held up the man¡¯s hair while silver hair pins decorated the woman¡¯s hair. The man and woman only had one similar feature, one so distinct that anyone would know at a glance the two were related. No one could ignore those two pairs of bedeviling eyes. Just one look could make anyone mesmerized. Most people would think that the two were siblings based on appearance alone. However, the true nature of the two¡¯s relationship was that of a mother and her son. They were the Huang Realm¡¯s sole immortal sovereign, Xi Mengfei, the Sword Sovereign, and one of the few immortal emperors, Xi Tianyi, the Nine Heavens Emperor. Tianyi poured some more tea into his cup and refilled his mother¡¯s cup. With slow movement, he took the cup and took a measured sip. His mother did the same, only her eyes never left his body. For others, it might be weird for another person to stare unblinkingly at them for hours, but Tianyi was used to it. Especially from his mother. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Finally, he took another sip. He had repeated this action for the last few hours. During this time, aside from the initial conversation, the two had fallen silent. Mengfei was fine, but Tianyi was growing uncomfortable. He wanted to leave, but he had already sworn to confess everything before leaving. Sure, he could leave now, but Tianyi wasn¡¯t sure when he could work up the courage again. Honestly, he wanted to just focus on his conduit¡¯s action in his inner universe and just let this one stall, but that felt disrespectful to his mother. In the end, it wasn¡¯t Tianyi who spoke out first, but Mengfei. ¡°Yi¡¯er, if you do not want to spend time with me, you can tell me. I won¡¯t hold you here. You can leave whenever you want. I¡ª¡± ¡°No! I want to spend time with you!¡± Tianyi stood and stared down at Mengfei, his eyes stared straight into hers. ¡°I just, I just have something I have to come clean about.¡± ¡°¡ªknow how married couples can¡¯t stand spending a day without each other.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Tianyi let out. Mengfei blinked a few times. ¡°Is that not the case? I heard once a son is married, they will feel that their mother is naggy and not want to spend time with their mothers anymore, preferring to stay with their wife.¡± ¡°Who the hell told you that? That is not true,¡± Tianyi said. He slowly sat back down and scooted his chair in, pretending he didn¡¯t just have an outburst. ¡°That¡¯s probably true,¡± Mengfei said with a nod. ¡°You already wanted to move out before you were married, so it can¡¯t be the daughter-in-law that is the problem.¡± Tianyi just nodded. He didn¡¯t know where Mengfei got all this strange information from. This wouldn¡¯t be the first time. He reached for another sip of tea. ¡°Earlier, what did you mean when you said you wanted to come clean?¡± And promptly spat it back out. ¡°You actually heard that?¡± ¡°How could I not? You shouted it in front of me,¡± Mengfei said. ¡°What did you want to come clean about? You¡¯re not planning anything dangerous, are you?¡± ¡®I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anything that is more dangerous than war,¡¯ Tianyi thought. ¡®Or inner devils, those are a pain.¡¯ ¡°Why aren¡¯t you saying that?¡± Mengfei narrowed her eyes. ¡°Did Grand Elder Xia ask you to do something unreasonable again? He promised me he wouldn¡¯t ask you to do anything dangerous ever again after the war.¡± ¡°Wait, that¡¯s why you agreed?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°I thought it was strange that you allowed me to attack the Eight Pillar Sect alone.¡± ¡°No, I had complete confidence in you,¡± Mengfei said without batting an eye. ¡°But knowing your excellence and not wanting you to be in danger are two different matters. If you weren¡¯t talented, you would have never left my side. I would not let you go to the Northern Region with Elder Shan, or the Three Heavens Connection Gathering when you were in the Core Formation Realm.¡± ¡®I was this close to being locked up for life,¡¯ Tianyi thought. ¡°But we are getting off topic. What are you hiding?¡± ¡®Damn, I thought she forgot about that.¡¯ Tianyi glanced to the side. ¡°Does it really matter?¡± Mengfei gave a blunt yes. ¡°Normally no, but since you feel it is information I should know, then I think I should know.¡± Tianyi covered the lower half of his face. ¡°Well, you see.¡± Mengfei just stared at him, waiting expectantly. Sure, her expression remained impassive, but there was no disguising those inquiring eyes. He rubbed his hair, messing up the perfectly combed strands of hair. Though, those strands automatically restored themselves to their previous state. Tianyi looked up and crossed his arms. He wanted to count each and every grain on the ceiling, but he couldn¡¯t ignore Mengfei¡¯s probing gaze. Tianyi closed his eyes. ¡°Mother, what do you think about reincarnated people?¡±The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Reincarnated people? No thought,¡± Mengfei said. ¡°They are just people whose souls have undergone samsara and are reborn.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m talking about reincarnated people who kept their memories,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°Reincarnated people that kept their memories?¡± Mengfei repeated. Her eyes fluttered. ¡°They are lucky. With another life and memories, they might gain things that they thought they couldn¡¯t have in their previous life.¡± Tianyi looked back down. It didn¡¯t take a psychic to see into his mother¡¯s thoughts. She likely wanted to be reincarnated into a new life and experience the love and care of a mother and father. ¡°Say a mother gives birth to a reincarnated child. What do you think will happen? The child is not pure and is already stained. No matter how hard they try, they will never truly be that mother¡¯s child.¡± ¡°That¡¯s wrong,¡± Mengfei said, stopping Tianyi¡¯s words. ¡°Even if that child is a reincarnated person, that person will still be their child.¡± ¡°Do you really believe that?¡± Tianyi stared into Mengfei¡¯s eyes. Mengfei didn¡¯t look away. ¡°What if I told you I¡¯m someone that was reincarnated with memories?¡± Mengfei didn¡¯t answer for a second, and Tianyi¡¯s heart tightened. His expression shifted, and pain spilled onto his face. ¡°So this is what it¡¯s about,¡± Mengfei said. ¡°You are someone with memories of the past. Then, do you not consider me your mother?¡± ¡°What?! No! I mean, yes!¡± Tianyi said. ¡°I consider you my mother.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see the problem. As long as you came from my belly and you consider me your mother, why aren¡¯t you my son?¡± Mengfei asked. ¡°Because, because,¡± Tianyi started. ¡°Isn¡¯t it unnatural? I still have another mom.¡± ¡°But you consider me your mother.¡± ¡°¡­yes,¡± Tianyi said. He slumped in his chair and showed a sullen expression. Perhaps this was the best outcome? But he didn¡¯t feel satisfied. It felt like Mengfei didn¡¯t comprehend the true gravity of what his reincarnation meant. Mengfei stood up and walked toward the forlorn Tianyi. She placed her hand on Tianyi¡¯s shoulder and lowered her posture until she could hug him. Her head lay gently on his. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are worried about, but I have always considered you my son. Your memories won¡¯t change that. The bond we forged isn¡¯t so flimsy that you having memories will change that. Will it?¡± Tianyi started to shake his head, but because Mengfei¡¯s head was against his, he stopped. ¡°¡­no.¡± The two spent a moment of silence together. Tianyi should have been satisfied, but he wasn¡¯t. ¡°What if it was another reincarnated person? Would he be your son?¡± ¡°You are not the first son I had,¡± Mengfei said. ¡°What?¡± Tianyi snapped his head toward Mengfei, regardless of their position. He had another sibling, an older brother? Why didn¡¯t he know? Mengfei gazed up at the garden out the window. Her eyes weren¡¯t focused, as if seeing another world. ¡°It doesn¡¯t apply to you, but for an extremity immortal to ascend to an origin immortal, we must dream. Dream about our counterparts in other timelines.¡± ¡°In some timelines, my Emperor-Father and Consort-Mother were never together, so I was never born. In others, they lost the battle for the throne and my Emperor-Father remained a Prince of the First Rank. Consort-mother became a side consort, not a noble consort. Still, I wasn¡¯t loved.¡± Mengfei paused. ¡°I¡¯m saying nonsense. This doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Tianyi placed his palms over Mengfei¡¯s hand, causing her to still. Her brows trembled, but she still continued looking out the window. ¡°Most timelines, history played exactly the same. I was found by my Master and brought to the Buzhou Immortal Sect,¡± Mengfei said. ¡°I grew, I cultivated, and became Xi Mengfei, the Sword Empress. And just like I experienced many times, I wandered into a lower-ranked realm and met that man. Because of that brief interaction, I became pregnant.¡± Tianyi perked up his ears. Despite himself, he still grew curious about his sperm donor¡¯s identity. Still, he was destined to not succeed. ¡°My belly grew bigger until he was born. Because of the dragon¡¯s cry I heard during his birth, I called him Xi Longyi,¡± Mengfei said. Tianyi stilled. He recalled his experience in the ruin of the Immortal Court after the Three Heavens Connection Gathering. There, he had met his alternate timeline counterpart and learned about his action, and how they tied to Daoyi and Lei Jingye. ¡°I didn¡¯t know his true identity at the time. I just knew that he was different. Despite trying my best to raise him, I made a lot of mistakes. Luckily, a few elders came to help, but they all gave up soon after, citing Xi Longyi¡¯s character,¡± Mengfei said. ¡°Longyi didn¡¯t need care or help after a few years. I tried my best to treat him as my son, but he always felt annoyed with my presence, so I did my best to disappear from his sight.¡± ¡°Although I disappeared, I still did my best to care for him. I gave him everything he ever wanted, and I cleaned up any trouble he caused,¡± Mengfei said. ¡°However, I always felt a disconnect. I wanted him as my son, but Longyi didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°I watched everything he did, all his atrocities. I eventually learned that he was a Dragon Emperor clone, but I did not report it.¡± Mengfei paused. ¡°I think the Buzhou Immortal Sect knew, but stayed silent in respect for me. Eventually, he started to undergo his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. I had a feeling that if he succeeded, everything would go wrong, so I intervened. I slew the boy who came out of my belly with my own hands.¡± Tianyi turned silent as he recalled the scene. Although he had seen it all, heard it from Mengfei¡¯s mouth with any fluctuation in her tone, he had a feeling that she wasn¡¯t as calm as she appeared. ¡°Surprisingly, I didn¡¯t feel as much pain in my heart as I thought I would. Instead, I only felt a void in my chest.¡± Mengfei hugged Tianyi closer. ¡°I began to wonder if I was like my Emperor-Father and Consort-Mother. Is that why they didn¡¯t love me?¡± Mengfei shook her head. ¡°I didn¡¯t have time to think because I saw another figure after I killed Longyi.¡± Tianyi sensed. ¡°He looked remarkably like you,¡± Mengfei said. ¡°I thought it was my imagination at the time, so I forgot about it. After killing him with my own two hands, my counterpart disappeared from that timeline. I continued to experience the lives of my other counterparts. I gave birth many times, yet they all ended the same, no matter what I did.¡± ¡°I expected the same to happen to you,¡± Mengfei said, finally looking at Tianyi. ¡°When you were born, I hoped you would turn out differently, but I didn¡¯t get my hopes up. I was wrong.¡± ¡°You are my son, nothing you say or anyone says can change that,¡± Mengfei said. ¡°Your past life¡¯s memories won¡¯t change that, and even if your mom comes for you, I will still be your mother. No matter what.¡± Tianyi¡¯s head became white. He didn¡¯t know how to respond, he could only stare at Mengfei. ¡°Yi¡¯er, are you okay?¡± Mengfei suddenly asked as she brought out a handkerchief and wiped his face. It was only at this time that Tianyi realized that he was crying. ¡°Crying and smiling at the same time, is something wrong?¡± He laughed. Tianyi laughed at the worry in Mengfei¡¯s voice. ¡°No, it¡¯s a good thing. Nothing¡¯s wrong.¡± Without waiting for Mengfei to respond, he engulfed her in a bear hug. ¡°Me too. Even if I have two memories, you will always be my mother. No matter what.¡± Chapter 420: A New Goal Tianyi and Mengfei just stayed in their position, enjoying each other''s presence. However, after an hour, Tianyi felt his body cramping up even though he knew that such a thing was impossible. ¡°Uh, Mother, we¡¯re hugging a bit too long.¡± ¡°Nonsense,¡± Mengfei said. ¡°The last time we hugged like this, it was for much longer.¡± He remembered that hug. It was when he was still in the Core Formation Realm, and after he returned from almost getting stranded in the Vast Void after the Three Heavens Connection Meeting. When he left, Mengfei had also left for the Broken Primordial World to retrieve the Primordial Chaos Fruit for the complication caused by his imperfect cultivation method. After another hour full of shame¡ªfor Tianyi, that is¡ªthe two separated. He didn¡¯t know if it was his imagination or something, but Tianyi felt as if a mysterious light radiating off of her. Before he could question it, Mengfei led him out of the room. ¡°Where are we going?¡± Tianyi asked. Mengfei didn¡¯t turn around, but she tightened her grip on Tianyi¡¯s hand. ¡°To find Grand Elder Xia.¡± ¡°What are you looking for him for?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°You aren¡¯t going to kill him, are you?¡± Mengfei slowed down. ¡°Did he do something to you that I should know about?¡± Feeling the intensifying aura of menace rolling off of Mengfei, Tianyi quickly shook his free hand. ¡°No! I just didn¡¯t know why else you would visit Grand Elder Xia.¡± ¡°Unless he gives due reason, I will not harm him,¡± Mengfei simply said. ¡®Due reason being me, and I get the feeling that the bar for that is very low,¡¯ Tianyi thought. Still, she didn¡¯t voice it. He already knew she would see it that way. ¡®Although, if someone were to harm Mother, death would be but a reprieve for them.¡¯ Ignorant of Tianyi¡¯s thought, Mengfei led him toward the central peak where Xia Meng lived. ¡°What a rare visitor,¡± Xia Meng said. His eyes landed on Tianyi. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to see Grand Elder Nine Heavens back so soon. Is there a problem with the extermination of devils?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t come for that,¡± Mengfei said. ¡°Is that so?¡± Xia Meng asked. He led the duo into the guestroom of his lounge. After pouring tea for them, he asked, ¡°So, what is the problem?¡± ¡°You should know about Yi¡¯er status as a reincarnation with your control of the Book of Life and Death,¡± Mengfei said. Xia Meng paused. His eyes glanced up from his tea and at Tianyi. Outside of that, he didn¡¯t show a change in composure. ¡°I do. Is Grand Elder Xi here to ask for guilt?¡± ¡°Guilt?¡± Mengfei asked. She shook her head. ¡°No, I¡¯m here to ask you to locate Yi¡¯er¡¯s parents from his previous life.¡± Tianyi¡¯s eyes widened at Mengfei¡¯s request. There was a small ember in his heart that continually warmed his chest. He opened his mouth, but he didn¡¯t know what to say. Mengfei continued to stare at Xia Meng, unaware of Tianyi¡¯s emotions. Xia Meng folded his hands and leaned back against his chair. ¡°I can¡¯t do that.¡± Mengfei simultaneously felt a burst of relief and irritation, but mostly irritation. She tried her best to restrain herself, but her annoyance caused the room to lower several degrees. ¡°Give me the reason.¡± ¡°Wait, I¡¯m sure Grand Elder Xia has a good reason,¡± Tianyi said. He also looked at Xia Meng. ¡°You should know that the Book of Life and Death only records the souls that underwent the River of Samsara in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms. It cannot chronicle foreign souls like Grand Elder Nine Heavens, who entered from outside,¡± Xia Meng said. ¡°That is true, but even foreign souls who die in the Three Thousand Immortal Realm will undergo samsara of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms unless they managed to become immortal before their first death,¡± Mengfei said. ¡°Yi¡¯er is half a century old. His parents from his previous life should have already reincarnated by now.¡± ¡°Is this true?¡± Tianyi asked, looking at Xia Meng. ¡°That is certainly true, but the current Book of Life and Death cannot accomplish such a feat,¡± Xia Meng said. ¡°Our copy comes from an alternate timeline, so any usage of it might make it become detected by the Heavenly Dao and cause it to merge with the one in our Nether Realm. Besides, it will only record the souls of those that appear in that timeline. Souls, like Grand Elder Nine Heavens, who only appeared in this timeline won¡¯t be recorded.¡± Mengfei furrowed her brows. ¡°So we need Empress Ping¡¯s aid.¡± Xia Meng made a helpless gesture. ¡°Although the ancient Immortal Court ruled the Primordial Era, we hardly have the power to order Empress Ping. We would have to have a divinity or rule the entire Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. It would require us to defeat the Numinous Sword Sect first or make them surrender. Even if we become the orthodox ruler of the immortals, Empress Ping still might not recognize our status as the ruler of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. We would have to contend with the demons and the Buddhists and have a divinity to guarantee success.¡± Tianyi frowned. Although he had the power of an immortal emperor, he was still trying to attain the power of an immortal sovereign. He didn¡¯t know when he would be able to have the power to rival a divinity. Not to mention that Empress Ping should be a divinity that survived from the Primordial Era. If Xia Meng told him that she had the power to wipe out the current Immortal Court, Tianyi would believe it.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Mengfei also furrowed her brows. As an origin immortal, the one closest to divinity, she did not know how to reach the Divine Realm. ¡°Unfortunately, I don¡¯t know how to fulfill this request,¡± Xia Meng said with a helpless smile. ¡°No, it¡¯s fine,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°Grand Elder Xia¡¯s information is already very helpful. I don¡¯t need to search for my dad, just my mom is enough.¡± Xia Meng wanted to say that one more or less would make no difference, but he kept it to himself. ¡°So, what are you planning to do now?¡± ¡°What else? Finish the ascension of the Huang Realm and quickly increase my power. The Numinous Sword Sect won¡¯t wait for us to grow stronger,¡± Tianyi said. ¡®Grand Elder Xia¡¯s words at least give me hope, but I don¡¯t know if Mom is even in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. She could be in another pantheon for all I know. Still, that doesn¡¯t change the fact that I need to grow stronger.¡¯ Tianyi and Mengfei bid farewell to Xia Meng. Once out, the two flew back toward Jade Peak. On the way, Mengfei said, ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°What are you saying sorry for?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°I thought I could help you find your parents, but it turned out that I was useless,¡± Mengfei said. Tianyi reached out and grabbed Mengfei¡¯s hand. ¡°You aren¡¯t useless. Don¡¯t say that again. It¡¯s because of Mother that I was able to reach my current height. I only want to find my mom, not my dad. Even then, you shouldn¡¯t need to find them for me. It¡¯s my responsibility.¡± Mengfei reached out and took Tianyi¡¯s hand into hers. She shook her head. ¡°You¡¯re my child. Your wish is my wish.¡± Tianyi scratched his head. ¡°You don¡¯t have to. It must be uncomfortable helping me find my other mom.¡± A smile appeared on Mengfei¡¯s face, causing Tianyi to still. He showed no resistance as she pulled him back onto Jade Peak.
¡°What made you so happy that you can¡¯t wipe that smile off your face?¡± Daoyi asked. In the garden of Nine Heavens Peak, Daoyi was sitting on a stone chair playing her guqin. It was the same one Tianyi bought her all those years ago in the Xi Dynasty. She had upgraded it to a nascent soul level artifact, but that was its limit because of the inferior materials used to craft it. On the other side, Tianyi was lying on a couch with the Xiyi Talisman floating in front of him. It had projected a screen and keyboard in front of him. When using the Xiyi Talisman, most cultivators preferred to write the word out with their fingers or use their spiritual sense, but Tianyi preferred typing on a keyboard when writing. But for the past few hours, his fingers hadn¡¯t tapped the keyboard once. ¡°I¡¯m smiling,¡± Tianyi asked, ignorant of the ear-to-ear grin on his face. ¡°Like a loon.¡± ¡°That¡¯s mean,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°So, what happened?¡± Daoyi asked. ¡°Did you finally tell Mother-in-Law?¡± Tianyi¡¯s smile receded as surprise appeared. ¡°How¡¯d you know?¡± ¡°Because I know you,¡± was all Daoyi said. ¡°See? Didn¡¯t it turn out as I said it would?¡± Tianyi had no words. Was he really that transparent? ¡°Since I told Mother, should we start preparing for our honeymoon?¡± Now, it was Daoyi¡¯s turn to still. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you spend more time with her? Especially after coming clean?¡± Tianyi waved his hand. ¡°It¡¯s not like you don¡¯t know how many conduits I have. The one in front of you possesses the power of an immortal monarch. With the endless energy, I have confidence to stall against an immortal emperor for a stronger conduit to come or teleport you away.¡± ¡°In that case, where should we go?¡± Daoyi asked. ¡°How about going to the middle-rank realm?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°Most of the high-rank realms have already merged with the Huang Realm, and the middle-rank already has the attributes of a high-rank realm.¡± ¡°Alright,¡± Daoyi said. ¡°I¡¯ll tell Bojing to prepare everything for us.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°We can just go by ourselves.¡± Daoyi shook her head. ¡°Have you never gone on vacation before?¡± ¡°Do school trips count?¡± Tianyi asked. He was treated with a look of pity that hit worse than scorn. ¡°Do you want to arrange everything yourself?¡± ¡°Well, I was just thinking we could just visit places that seem interesting and wander,¡± Tianyi weakly said. ¡°What would be the point? It¡¯s better to have guides who understand the region and show us the famous cities instead of wandering around. I don¡¯t want to use my immortal sense and discover everything. That would be boring,¡± Daoyi said. ¡°I want to experience life.¡± ¡°Are you trying to comprehend the Law of Life on our honeymoon?¡± Tianyi asked. He knew that Daoyi still hadn¡¯t fully comprehended the Dao of Life and that she had reached a bottleneck. She had stopped all attempts at forcibly comprehending the Law of Life to stop herself from stressing out, which would make it harder for her. ¡°Huh? Is that even an option? I don¡¯t think enjoying life is the same as understanding life,¡± Daoyi said. ¡°Have you written too many novels and confused reality and fiction?¡± Tianyi coughed into his fist. ¡°Forget what I said.¡± Daoyi shook her head. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m going to prepare. When do you plan to leave?¡± ¡°Whenever you want to.¡± ¡°How about a week?¡± Daoyi asked. ¡°Unlike you, I only have one clone, and she can¡¯t leave the Nine Heavens Universe. I have to tell everyone that I¡¯ll be gone in the foreseeable future. Well, they can still contact me through the Xiyinet. Speaking of clones, I heard that Ba Shifang is getting quite close to that Hu Landie. There¡¯s even rumors that you are going to take a concubine.¡± ¡°That¡¯s his choice. I promised him that I would grant him freedom. He really can¡¯t be considered a clone of mine anymore. All his choices are solely his own!¡± Tianyi practically shouted. ¡°Wait, did you really detach him entirely from your control?¡± Daoyi asked. ¡°I promised him, and I just followed through,¡± Tianyi said. His nervousness disappeared after seeing Daoyi believe him. ¡°Alot of people, including me, would call you foolish,¡± she said. ¡°But I guess a single clone doesn¡¯t really matter to you, since you can create conduits at will.¡± Daoyi didn¡¯t inquire anymore and soon began to prepare for their official honeymoon. By the end, Tianyi stood at the foot of Nine Heavens Peak with Daoyi. In front of them, Su Bojing stood in front of more than a hundred servant-disciples. ¡°A little much, don¡¯t you think?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°Not at all. I don¡¯t want to visit only one realm, but a lot of them before they merge. Most of the servant-disciples will prepare the itinerary and wait for us,¡± Daoyi said. ¡°Huh,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°This is probably the first time I mobilized so many servants for personal reasons. I didn¡¯t think Nine Heavens Peak had this many.¡± ¡°We were a little short on hand, so I took the liberty of hiring some extra hands,¡± Su Bojing said. ¡°Is that so?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°Forget it. Anyways, let¡¯s get this show on the road.¡± With a wave of his hand, a portal appeared in front of him. Tianyi and Daoyi walked through first, followed by the servant-disciples. Su Bojing had to remain to take care of Nine Heavens Peak. Chapter 421: Thats not a Pixiu In a magnificent temple built out of black and white jade, a one-horned beast gently snored. A snot bubble grew out of its nostril, enlarging and shrinking with its breathing. Two crane wings, far too small for its size, wrapped around its torso and arms, covering basically nothing. Despite towering over three meters high while laying on its side, no one would feel threatened by its size or presence. ¡°That¡¯s just a panda with a horn and wings,¡± Tianyi said. Daoyi stood by his side, and they were accompanied by three servants. The group of five stood in the most sacred hall of the Empyrean Wealth Temple. It was the most guarded location of the most powerful force in the middle-rank Cai Realm, the forbidden area of the Bountiful Coin Consortium. In a world where swords and fists ruled, the Bountiful Coin Consortium could become the strongest force in the Cai Realm because of its ingenuity and wealth. The consortium had three major branches: the Pill Enterprise, Artifact Enterprise, and Formation Enterprise. These three branches controlled all the resources of the Cai Realm. Even if a supreme expert appeared, they would bury him under a mountain of pills, artifacts, and formations. The source of all this was the sleeping beast. ¡°Grand Elder,¡± one of the servants, the guide to the Cai Realm, hesitated, but still decided to speak out. ¡°This beast is not a panda, but the auspicious beast, pixiu.¡± Tianyi nodded. He knew what a pixiu was. According to legend, pixius were felicitous beasts that protected the souls of the departed, and natural nodes of geomancy. Were it not for their gentle nature, they would have been classified as demons instead of spiritual beasts, even without monsters. The males had one horn and were called tianlu, while the females had two and were called bixie. Obviously, the pixiu sleeping in front of the group was a male, but that wasn¡¯t Tianyi¡¯s problem with it. His problem was that it looked like a panda and not like a lion, like the legends said. Daoyi walked towards and started to rub its cheeks. ¡°It¡¯s really soft.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ll just treat it like visiting a zoo,¡± Tianyi muttered. He walked toward the mutated panda. He refused to call it a pixiu. The panda grunted as Tianyi practically slapped it. ¡°Be gentler,¡± Daoyi said. Tianyi shrugged. ¡°Alright.¡± However, the panda growled and opened its eyes. When he saw the unfamiliar figure in its hall, it let out a warning growl. When Tianyi and Daoyi only continued to stroke its fur, it started exerting pressure, and a stifling air pervaded the sacred hall. The panda¡¯s mere existence brought fortune to the Bountiful Coin Consortium. Not only did it transform the land beneath it into a top-tier spiritual vein, but all kinds of miraculous materials and herbs grew near it. The Bountiful Coin Consortium just needed to feed it and keep the panda happy for continuous prosperity. Because of enriched spiritual qi, the number of experts in the Bountiful Coin Consortium increased at an astonishing rate. The tolerance of the Cai Realm also increased from the Nascent Soul Realm to the Unity Realm. As a result, Bountiful Coin Consortium¡¯s strength increased, separating itself from the other forces even more. With their current strength, they had absolute confidence to protect the panda. Still, incursions from external enemies had penetrated into the Empyrean Wealth Temple before, attempting to kill or take away the Bountiful Coin Consortium¡¯s source of prosperity, but they all failed. Not because they couldn¡¯t defeat the consortium¡¯s experts, but because of the panda itself. As a spiritual beast, it held an innate advantage over human cultivators in both qi reservoir and pure physical might. In the Nascent Soul Realm equivalent, the panda could rival unity venerables. And in this enriched environment comparable to a high-rank realm, the panda would rival saints or even true immortals. Still, the disciple-servants only grunted as they withstood the panda¡¯s pressure, while Daoyi and Tianyi completely ignored it. Tianyi¡¯s current conduit rivaled that of an immortal monarch, and Daoyi was an immortal lord, so the panda¡¯s show of force was like a weak breeze to the two. ¡°Stop acting up and lay back down,¡± Tianyi said. He grabbed a handful of fur from the cheek and pulled down, causing the panda to slam onto the ground with a heavy thud. The panda released a whine that reverberated in the halls. Tianyi frowned, and just as he was about to discipline the panda, the doors to the hall opened and two nascent soul grandmasters rushed in. ¡°Oh, Sacred Beast, has anything displeased you?¡± The panda growled and whined, gesturing toward Tianyi. His eyes held a hint of triumph, as if saying, ¡°you¡¯re in for it now.¡± However, Tianyi only looked at it like an idiot. Contrary to the panda¡¯s expectations, the two grandmasters only looked around in confusion. In his eyes, he couldn¡¯t see Tianyi, Daoyi, or the three servant-disciples. After a moment, he gingerly asked, ¡°Sacred Beast, are you hungry?¡± The panda just blinked. It whined and gestured toward Tianyi again, but the two grandmasters still couldn¡¯t see Tianyi. In the end, they saluted the panda and said, ¡°Oh, Sacred Beast, we will immediately return with your meal.¡± The two grandmasters retreated, not forgetting to close the gates. The panda became slacked-jawed at what happened. It stared at Tianyi, then Daoyi and the servant-disciples. It rubbed its eyes to make sure it wasn¡¯t hallucinating. When it still saw Tianyi, it raised its paw and slapped at him.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Tianyi just backhanded the panda, causing a clear smack to resound. The panda started rolling on the ground while cradling the paw Tianyi slapped, with tears pooling in its eyes. It annoyed Tianyi. ¡°What¡¯s with that look? Didn¡¯t you attack me first, why are you crying wolf?¡± Tianyi asked as he walked closer. The panda shrunk away. All the hairs on its body had stiffened, and it looked like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. Despite instinctively knowing it was futile, the panda still made itself appear bigger to scare Tianyi. Tianyi ignored it and walked closer. He was really looking forward to seeing what a legendary pixiu looked like, but all he got was disappointment. He wanted to vent a little, but before he could, Daoyi stopped him. She held her hand in front of Tianyi, and then walked toward the panda, regardless of its growls. She placed her hand on the injured palm, and a green light covered it. Soon, the panda was looking at its healed paw. Then, it brought its face closer to Daoyi. Daoyi reached out and started to stroke it. ¡°There, there, did the big, scary guy hurt you? Don¡¯t worry, with me here, he won¡¯t be able to hurt you.¡± The panda blinked and then looked at Tianyi. Its eyes flashed with provocation and it released a few growls. Tianyi¡¯s lips twitched. ¡®Did I just become the bad cop? Daoyi must have waited for the perfect moment.¡¯ He shrugged. ¡®Forget it. I prefer smaller and cuter animals.¡¯ Upon thinking that, Tianyi couldn¡¯t help but remember Dandan, the pill that transformed into a pill qilin after absorbing his qi and blood. ¡®Nah, forget it. It¡¯s kinda cute, but not huggable at all. Not to mention it¡¯s accompanying Donghai Longzi.¡¯ Recalling Donghai Longzi, Tianyi couldn¡¯t help but recall the Immortal Court¡¯s plan to conquer the Divine Beast Pseudo System. Of course, it could only carry out the plans after the Huang Realm fully upgraded. While Daoyi played with the stupid panda, Tianyi focused on the Huang Realm¡¯s ascension. Although his comprehension of the myriad worldly laws have progressed, he hadn¡¯t actually developed a technique to best utilize his comprehension. While Daoyi played with the panda, Tianyi started to develop techniques. After a while, the gate opened, and the two grandmasters carried in a large chest. They were confused by the panda¡¯s strange pose, since they couldn¡¯t see Daoyi, but they didn¡¯t dig into it. They opened the chest in front of the panda and poured out its content. A waterfall of gold and silver coins, trinkets, and treasures hit the floor until it formed a small pile. Tianyi opened one eye and scanned the pile of treasures. The panda growled defensively and hid the treasure with its body, causing Tianyi to snort. ¡®Stupid thing. Everything there is just common gold and silver. Maybe there is a sprinkle of spirit gold or serene silver in there, but that¡¯s all. You¡¯re being raised like a pet and used for all your worth, but you don¡¯t even know it.¡¯ He closed his eyes and returned to cultivating, while Daoyi played with the panda. An hour later, Tianyi and Daoyi walked out of the sacred hall. None of the guards or members of the Bountiful Coin Consortium noticed them, even as they spoke. ¡°If you liked the stupid panda so much, why don¡¯t you bring it back?¡± ¡°It¡¯s only good for now. If I bring it back, I¡¯ll get bored really quickly. And,¡± a spider-like animal with an abdomen that resembled a crystal crawled out of Daoyi¡¯s robes and onto her shoulder. ¡°Shuijing is just so much more cuter.¡± Daoyi as she used a finger to scrub the bottom of Shuijing¡¯s jaws, causing Tianyi to inch away. ¡°And I don¡¯t want to cause havoc in the Cai Realm if their guardian beast suddenly disappears.¡± ¡°Eh,¡± Tianyi shrugged. ¡°The Bountiful Coin Consortium isn¡¯t really a benevolent organization. If it is destroyed, it might be better. Well, not that it would matter after it merged into the Huang Realm. Soon, they¡¯ll discover that they aren¡¯t the top dogs anymore.¡± ¡°How¡¯d you know? Did you scan the Cai Realm with your immortal sense?¡± Daoyi asked. ¡°Didn¡¯t you?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°No. I don¡¯t want to ruin my vacation. I want to enjoy it, remember?¡± ¡°Yeah, maybe I should try that,¡± Tianyi said. The two walked out of the forbidden area of the Bountiful Harvest Consortium and into the inner city. The headquarters of the Bountiful Coin Consortium was the Affluence City, and it was divided into three areas: the core city, inner city, and outer city. Only members of the consortium were allowed to enter the inner city, only the high echelon could touch the core city. Outsiders were only allowed in the outer city, which was the largest district of Affluence City. Contrary to most forces, the Bountiful Coin Consortium allowed other forces to enter their headquarters and set up shop. This only went to display their confidence and dominance of their power. Tianyi and Daoyi entered the outer city and made a beeline for the marketplace. ¡°Look, isn¡¯t this so cute?¡± Daoyi asked, holding a charm of the panda in a regal pose. ¡°Nah,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°It should be cuddling a ball, then it would be much cuter.¡± Daoyi thought about it and nodded in agreement. She placed the charm back onto the stand and walked away with Tianyi, much to the hawker¡¯s disappointment. Still, the hawker¡¯s eyes followed Tianyi and Daoyi¡¯s back as they left. Were it not for the three servants behind them exuding an oppressive aura, the hawker would have pitched a sale. Not just him, Tianyi and Daoyi¡¯s appearance attracted everyone¡¯s gaze. The two were already very good looking, and their clothing spoke volumes of their status. However, the most obvious indicator were the three powerful servants following behind them. Because this was the outer city and only in a common marketplace, most people could only sense that the three servants possessed the power of a core formation master. Tianyi paused. He looked in a certain direction and blinked, eliciting Daoyi to ask, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°It probably isn¡¯t important.¡± He looked away and continued to tour the marketplace with Daoyi. He purchased a few swords that caught his eyes, while Daoyi bought any jewelry or musical instrument that she fancied. When the duo stored their purchases in their spatial rings, it only confirmed the bystander¡¯s conjecture that the two weren¡¯t ordinary, perhaps children of high-level members of the consortium. Along the way, Tianyi heard of an auction that started up. His eyes lit up with interest and brought Daoyi to the auction house. There, he used spirit stones to purchase a private box. The highest level could only be obtained with connections, but he didn¡¯t worry about it. ¡°Oh, this feels familiar,¡± Tianyi said as he saw one of the items being auctioned, a Foundation Establishment Pill. Chapter 422: Doppelgangers Li Gen sneered as he watched the auction continue. He was a tall man with valiant features: dragon brows, sharp eyes, and a chiseled chin. Even sitting at the lowest level of the seats, he exuded a confident air that made him stand out. His Acupoint Opening Realm cultivation base only enhanced his aura among the body transformation acolytes, qi gathering pupils, and foundation establishment disciples around him. The reason he sneered was because someone had purchased the Foundation Establishment Pill at a high price. People who relied on pills to ascend to the next realm are second-rate, or even third-rate cultivators, in his opinion. He was a loose cultivator, someone who had not joined any forces like the Bountiful Coin Consortium. Despite this, Li Gen had made a name for himself. He was a step above even compared to the rising stars of the Bountiful Coin Consortium. Throughout his growth, Li Gen had made enemies out of many forces. The only one he hadn¡¯t offended was the Bountiful Coin Consortium, and even then, he earned the ire of many of their geniuses. As a loose cultivator, he had many miraculous encounters, and of course, he wasn¡¯t the only one to find them. To secure them, Li Gen had defeated and even killed his competition. This was why the Sky Coral Sect had started to hunt him down. Although he had already killed the sect master of the Sky Coral Sect years ago after entering the Acupoint Opening Realm. Many cultivators and forces hypothesized which cultivation method Li Gen used because he always showed power beyond what his realm suggested. They came to the conclusion that he received a powerful inheritance from an immortal from higher realms. As a result, many forces, openly and secretly, wanted to capture him and force him to give up his cultivation method. In truth, Li Gen hadn¡¯t stumbled upon an immortal¡¯s inheritance. No, the cultivation method he practiced, the Dragon Emperor Fist, had appeared in his mind when he turned ten out of nowhere. At first, Li Gen thought a powerful cultivator wanted to take him as a disciple and gave it to him as a test, but as time passed, he discovered that it wasn¡¯t the case. Especially when he saw a look-alike of himself. The look-alike was just an ordinary mortal, yet killing intent overflowed from Li Gen¡¯s heart. He couldn¡¯t resist and killed the look-alike. Once he did so, he discovered that his soul had become stronger, and a new technique appeared in his mind, the One Clawed Dragon Sword Art. A few years later, he met another look-alike. Only this time, the look-alike possessed a cultivation base, and by the resonance, the look-alike could sense him as well. Li Gen killed his look-alike, and although he never got confirmation, he suspected his look-alike practiced the Dragon Emperor Fist. Not only that, his soul became stronger, and another technique appeared in his mind. The Dragon Emperor Fist that appeared in his mind became more perfect. Dragon Emperor Fist. One Clawed Dragon Sword Art. Li Gen could no longer deny it. There was a huge secret behind his existence, and he aimed to uncover it. Since then, Li Gen only met two more look-alikes. Each time, massive killing intent would fill his mind, and the same went for his look-alike. The look-alike would never survive past a week. With each look-alike killed, Li Gen¡¯s foundation and talent would increase. Geniuses that he could only look up to now had to chase his back. Just earlier in the day, Li Gen thought he discovered another look-alike, but he wasn¡¯t quite sure. The possible look-alike had all the traits except his eyes. And killing intent didn¡¯t fill his entire body. Still, Li Gen felt an annoyance he never felt with any of his previous look-alikes. It was more personal despite never having met the possible look-alike before. Was it possible that the look-alike knew the secret to his existence? ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Li Gen looked to his right and saw a beautiful woman clad in a pastel yellow dress. Her name was Kuihua, and her former identity was the saintess of the Sun Blossom Sect. As for why former, it was because the Sun Blossom Sect exiled her for falling in love with him. He encountered many women. Kuihua was not the first, nor would she be the last, but Li Gen felt guilty toward her. Among all the women he had, she was the one who lost the most. Not only was her saintess title stripped from her, but she lost everything. Her parents no longer communicated with her. She turned from a pampered princess to a penniless pauper. Li Gen swore to prove to them that Kuihua did not make the wrong choice by following him. He would show all those who looked down on him that he would not stumble or fail his path. He would reach the peak of the Cai Realm and stomp all those who offended him under his heels. The auction continued on. Along with the Foundation Establishment Pill, a Core Formation Pill also appeared. After a few more miscellaneous items, mostly materials and artifacts, were auctioned off, Li Gen¡¯s target appeared. The attractive assistant brought out a small wooden box. Upon opening it, there was a red fern that exuded a red haze. Li Gen could feel his blood boil and his body call out for the fern. The auctioneer pounded his gavel down. ¡°Some of you may not recognize this plant, because even we took a long time to identify it. This here, is none other than the Dragon Blood Herb. The Dragon Blood Herb doesn¡¯t necessarily have to be a fern like this one. For an herb to become a Dragon Blood Herb, it must be bathed in dragon blood. And I¡¯m sure you know that dragons have never appeared again since time immemorial. It would not be an exaggeration to say that this Dragon Blood Herb is the only of its kind in the entire world, making it priceless!¡± The bidders became heated at the auctioneer¡¯s words. Only then did the auctioneer announce the starting price. ¡°The starting price of this herb is one thousand mid-quality spirit stones!¡±If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. At the price, many of the bidders sitting on the same level as Li Gen turned quiet. Their wild fantasy of getting lucky and purchasing the Dragon Blood Herb disappeared. Li Gen sneered, but he didn¡¯t rush to bid. ¡°One thousand mid-quality spirit stones,¡± an aged voice called out from the top-most private box. All the bidders glanced up at that box. They wondered which force the person inside was part of. Only Li Gen¡¯s face darkened. Before his killing intent could leak out, he suppressed it in his body. He knew exactly who was in that private box. Soon, another bid came out from a private box on the same level as the first bidder. ¡°One thousand two hundred mid-quality spirit stones.¡± That was just the start. ¡°One thousand four hundred mid-quality spirit stones!¡± ¡°One thousand five hundred mid-quality spirit stones!¡± ¡°One thousand seven hundred mid-quality spirit stones!¡± ¡°Two thousand mid-quality spirit stones!¡± ¡°Two thousand five hundred mid-quality spirit stones!¡± When no one continued, the auctioneer pounded the gavel. ¡°Two thousand five hundred mid-quality spirit stones going once! Two thousand five hundred mid-quality spirit stones going twice! Two thousand five hundred mid-quality spirit stones going¡ª!¡± ¡°Five thousand mid-quality spirit stones!¡± Li Gen called out before the auctioneer could seal it. All the bidders looked at Li Gen in surprise. They weren¡¯t shocked that the bidders in the private boxes could afford such a vast amount of wealth, but when it came to their level? Five thousand mid-quality spirit stones accounted for half of the wealth accumulated by everyone on the third and lowest level. ¡°Five thousand mid-quality spirit stones going once¡ª!¡± ¡°Ten thousand mid-quality spirit stones,¡± a calm voice from a private box on the second level called out. Li Gen stiffened. Not because of the price, but also because of the voice. ¡°Brother Li, that voice sounds like yours,¡± Kuihua said. Li Gen didn¡¯t answer. He had ascertained the man he met was a look-alike and not a possible one. Although his eyes were different, the voice was too similar. Not to mention that both of them wanted to buy the Dragon Blood Herb. Before the look-alike could kill him, he had to strike first. He wasn¡¯t blind. The look-alike was trailed behind by three core formation masters. Obviously, he was born with the highest status among all the look-alikes. While Li Gen was embroiled in his own thoughts, the auctioneer had already started the countdown. He gritted his teeth. Six thousand mid-quality spirit stones were the most he expected to spend on the Dragon Blood Herb. He wanted to give up, but it was too important for his cultivation. Finally, he gritted his teeth and shouted, ¡°Ten thousand one hundred mid-quality spirit stones!¡± Ecstasy spilled forth from the auctioneer¡¯s face. He started the countdown. Li Gen half expected his look-alike to raise the price, but thankfully, no more bids appeared. Although he won, Li Gen felt both joy and anger at the victory. After winning the Dragon Blood Herb, the Nascent Soul Pill appeared. In the entire Cai Realm, only the Pill Enterprise of the Bountiful Coin Consortium could successfully concoct the pill. While the bidders went crazy, Li Gen sneered. The only reason the Nascent Soul Pill was so rare was because the Bountiful Coin Consortium restricted its supply to the outside world. Yet, the other forces lowered their heads and bent their backs for the pittance the consortium allowed to slip through the fingers. Spineless sheep, the lot of them. After the pill was auctioned off at fifteen thousand and six hundred mid-quality spirit stones, the auction ended. Li Gen left the auction hall, but not the auction house. ¡°Big Brother Li,¡± a sweet voice called out. Li Gen smiled at the newcomer, while Kuihua cooled her expression. The newcomer was Liang Biya, the daughter of one of the auction house¡¯s elders. ¡°Miss Liang, can you do me a favor?¡± Li Gen asked. ¡°I need a private room to absorb the Dragon Blood Herb.¡± After Li Gen revealed his wealth, he raised his guard. He knew that people had already eyed him. If he left, he was likely to be targeted by his look-alike. So, he wanted to hide in the auction house. Even if his look-alike had three core formation masters guarding him, they couldn¡¯t barge into the auction house at will. The auction house was guarded by a nascent soul grandmaster, after all. ¡°Of course,¡± Liang Biya said as she smiled, dimples showing. ¡°Actually,¡± Li Gen hesitated before asking his request. ¡°Can you find the identities of a guest on the second level?¡± Liang Biya visibly hesitated. ¡°It¡¯s against the auction house¡¯s rules to expose our guest¡¯s identities. But, I can do it for you just this once. However, I don¡¯t want to hear the news spreading.¡± ¡°Thank you, Miss Liang, you¡¯re the best,¡± Li Gen said, showing a roguish smile. A blush appeared on Liang Biya¡¯s face. ¡°How many times do I have to tell you to call me Biya?¡± ¡°Miss Biya then.¡± After that brief interaction, Li Gen started his secluded cultivation. He absorbed the dragon blood in the Dragon Blood Fern, advancing from the late Acupoint Opening Realm to the peak Acupoint Opening Realm. With but a thought, he could commence his Soul Nourishing Heavenly Tribulation at any time. When Li Gen exited his secluded cultivation, Liang Biya personally delivered the information on his look-alike. It didn¡¯t include just his look-alike¡¯s information, but his companion¡¯s as well. To his surprise, it was as if his look-alike appeared out of thin air with no concrete information on what force was behind him. Li Gen paid extra attention to his look-alike¡¯s companion. No one knew her given name, and they all knew her as Madam Xi. She was the most beautiful woman Li Gen had ever encountered, be it looks or temperament. Even Kuihua, one of the publicly acclaimed four beauties of the world, was like a dim firefly in the face of the radiant moon. What surprised him the most was that his look-alike didn¡¯t attempt to inquire about him? Was he wrong? Li Gen shook his head. No look-alike could resist the killing intent. As long as he acted as a bait, his look-alike would bite, hook, line and sinker. He had Kuihua stay at the auction house while he walked toward the last seen location of his look-alike. Once he caught sight of his look-alike, he made sure to walk past arbitrarily. From there, he walked out of the city. Once out of the gate, he started to dash at his fastest speed. After around ten kilometers, he stopped and turned around. He looked up and asked, ¡°Why are you following me?¡± His look-alike was standing ten meters away from him, without a hair out of place. Not just him, but Madam Xi and the three core formation masters were standing there, unperturbed. Li Gen frowned. From his senses, he only detected his look-alike. Why were there four more people? The look-alike smiled. ¡°I just wanted to see what you planned. After all, did you think you could hide your killing intent from me?¡± Chapter 423: Mêlée à Trois Li Gen pursed his brows. Judging from his lookalike¡¯s words, he had already sensed the killing intent? ¡°Aren¡¯t you the same?¡± Li Gen asked as he unsheathed a sword. ¡°If you have the guts, face me man-to-man.¡± Although he seemed to be focusing all his attention on the lookalike, Li Gen still focused on the woman and three servants. The moment they showed any signs of attacking, he will immediately use his Thousand Li Talisman and flee. Even if they didn¡¯t attack, he would still have to use it after he killed his lookalike. His lookalike kept his smile and walked forward. The woman and three servants didn¡¯t move at all, not even warning the former. Li Gen clenched his fist. ¡®Are they looking down on me?¡¯ Still, he didn¡¯t let it show on his face. Soon enough, these people would regret their arrogance. Instead, Li Gen brandished his sword and said, ¡°Li Gen.¡± His words caused his lookalike to pause for a moment. Then, his lookalike shook his head in amusement before announcing his name. ¡°Xi Tianyi.¡± Li Gen narrowed his eyes as he heard the name. His gaze flickered toward the beautiful woman in blue. He only knew her as Madam Xi. Too bad such an alluring woman was about to become a widow. His attention returned soon enough because Xi Tianyi took out a sword with a blade nearly a meter long. The sword was beautifully crafted, seeming more like a work of art than a weapon, but it was the way that Xi Tianyi brought it out that caught Li Gen¡¯s attention. His eyes focused on the ornate, three-jeweled ring on his lookalike¡¯s finger. Originally, he thought it was nothing more than Xi Tianyi¡¯s inclination. But now he knew it was a spatial ring. In the Cai Realm, a spatial ring was not just a convenient tool but a sign of status. After all, many nascent soul grandmasters didn¡¯t have one. Was his lookalike the son or grandson of those rumored unity venerables? If that was the case, no wonder Xi Tianyi had three servants in the Core Formation Realm and such a beautiful companion. It would also explain why he couldn¡¯t sense any cultivation base from Xi Tianyi. His elder must have procured an artifact to hide his true cultivation. Even hypothesizing Xi Tianyi¡¯s identity, Li Gen had no thought of backing down. Even if his lookalike had a unity venerable as an elder, he didn¡¯t think he would lose. Not to mention that this was the fate of everyone who had his same features. Either he lived, or Xi Tianyi died. There was no third option. Nothing signaled the start of the death duel. It simply just happened. When Li Gen charged toward Xi Tianyi, the latter still hadn¡¯t moved. Li Gen¡¯s eyes narrowed. He didn¡¯t think Xi Tianyi couldn¡¯t react, rather the opposite. Xi Tianyi probably thought he didn¡¯t need to move just yet. ¡®I¡¯ll show you the error of your ways!¡¯ One Clawed Dragon Sword Art - Rising Dragon Slash Li Gen¡¯s figure blurred. Before striking, he appeared directly in front of Xi Tianyi with his posture incredibly close to the ground. Then, he slashed up. The Rising Dragon Slash was a technique to decrease the distance between oneself and the opponent and then cleave upward from a hard to guard angle. He never expected the Rising Dragon Slash to kill his lookalike. The technique was hardly his strongest attack. His aim was to test his opponent¡¯s skill, and form a plan of action from there. If his opponent couldn¡¯t even block this attack, Li Gen could lure his opponent into a sense of security before exploding and killing them in one blow. What Li Gen didn¡¯t expect was to see himself shooting toward a tree headfirst. In a physic-defying display of acrobatics, Li Gen flipped so that his feet would face the tree. Upon contact, he collapsed like a spring before rocketing off. He didn¡¯t charge at Xi Tianyi but found stable ground and observed his foe. Li Gen couldn¡¯t understand what happened. One moment, he was about to cleave flesh, but the next, his head was rocketing toward a tree trunk. He raised his sword in a defensive position and observed Xi Tianyi. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Xi Tianyi asked. ¡°Where did all your bravado go?¡± Li Gen didn¡¯t answer. ¡°If you aren¡¯t going to come to me, let me come to you,¡± Xi Tianyi said. Xi Tianyi walked toward him. Despite feeling no cultivation or aura from the former, Li Gen still felt an invisible pressure pressing down on him. Every instinct in his body told him to flee now, to crush the Thousand Li Talisman, but he refused. He stamped down his body¡¯s fight or flight instincts and charged. Their swords clashed, but to Li Gen¡¯s surprise, he actually held the absolute advantage in pure strength. It felt like a mortal attempting to block his attack. Although he didn¡¯t know what was going on, he wasn¡¯t about to let go of his advantage, so he unleashed a flurry of attacks. Each slash would force Xi Tianyi back, but frustratingly, Xi Tianyi would always manage to deflect his blows. So, Li Gen hadn¡¯t struck his lookalike once yet. After five minutes, Li Gen paused momentarily. Was it his imagination, or did his attacks seem weaker? He gritted his teeth and increased his offensive, but after a minute of observation, his eyes couldn¡¯t help but widened. His opponent, Xi Tianyi, was using fewer movements to deflect his sword strikes. Not only that, but even though he couldn¡¯t feel much strength from Xi Tianyi¡¯s sword, Xi Tianyi no longer took any steps back now.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! It was as if Xi Tianyi¡¯s skill had increased dramatically. Li Gen¡¯s eyes widened, and his pupils shrunk into needlepoints. ¡°You¡¯re using me to train?¡± ¡°Bingo,¡± Xi Tianyi said. ¡°It¡¯s amazing the amount of flaws I can find once I face someone much weaker than me. However, if I use my true strength, you¡¯ll disappear in one hit, so I purposely limited my strength to the Qi Gathering Realm.¡± Shame flooded Li Gen¡¯s mind, almost causing him to go crazy. ¡°Are you a soul nourishing grandmaster?¡± Xi Tianyi only smiled. However, that was more than enough answer for Li Gen. Against normal nascent soul grandmasters. He had the confidence to face them, but against a lookalike who practiced the Dragon Emperor Fist, he didn¡¯t have much confidence. Li Gen immediately crushed the Thousand Li Talisman, and a white light encased him. He smiled in relief when he saw that Xi Tianyi hadn¡¯t had time to react as he started to fly off into the distance. But before he could reach the peak of his flight, something crashed into him, shattering the white light and causing him to plummet to the ground. He spat out a mouthful of blood and glared at the source of the attack that caused his escape to fail. Flying in the air was a lavish carriage pulled by two monsters. Two cultivators stood in the air in front of it. Li Gen immediately saw that the two cultivators were standing on air, meaning that they were nascent soul or soul nourishing grandmasters! ¡°So boring. Couldn¡¯t you have put up more of a fight? It really shames me to have the same face as you,¡± a familiar voice drawled out from within the carriage. The curtains opened to reveal a second lookalike. The second lookalike didn¡¯t even deign to look at Li Gen. Instead, his perverse gaze settled on Madam Xi. ¡°Little Beauty, how about leaving that soon to be dead man and serving me instead? I can give you far more than he can.¡± Madam Xi smiled. It was a charming smile that even caused Li Gen¡¯s mind to blank, even forgetting about his injuries. ¡°Anything? What about your death?¡± She gestured toward the carriage, and like something out of a nightmare, the two nascent soul grandmasters clutched their chest and fell to the ground. The second lookalike¡¯s face paled. ¡°What are you playing around for?! Chuyi, Chusan, get up!¡± However, the two nascent soul grandmasters didn¡¯t answer because they had already become corpses. Xi Tianyi didn¡¯t even look at the corpses. He turned toward Madam Xi and said, ¡°Geez, Daoyi. You didn¡¯t even give me a chance to defend you.¡± ¡°You were taking too long,¡± Daoyi said. Her gaze flickered toward the second lookalike. Immediately, the monster¡¯s pulling the carriages roared and attempted to flee. However, it didn¡¯t get very far before it plummeted to the ground. ¡°What are you doing?! Hurry up and flee! Flee, dammit! Why are you still on the ground?! Do you want to kill me?¡± Xi Tianyi¡¯s voice sounded. ¡°It¡¯s no use. I already sealed the surrounding kilometer. No one below the Immortal Realm can fly.¡± ¡°What are you trying to do?! I¡¯m warning you, my grandfather is a venerable of the Bountiful Coin Consortium. If you dare to harm me, you won¡¯t survive!¡± the second lookalike shouted, voice quivering from within the carriage. Xi Tianyi shook his head in disappointment. Not just him, even Li Gen couldn¡¯t hold back a sneer of disgust, despite his injured state. ¡°Even if the entire Cai Realm goes against me, it¡¯s nothing more than just snapping my fingers to annihilate them.¡± ¡°Still, aren¡¯t you quite loved?¡± Xi Tianyi asked. He didn¡¯t pay any more attention to the frightened lookalike. Instead, he stared into the distance. Li Gen did the same. He had quietly grabbed another Thousand Li Talisman, his last one. A streak of light appeared in the distance, but before it could reach farther, its flight plummeted into the ground. A minute later, an aged man in green and gold robes appeared in the distance. ¡°Peng¡¯er!¡± ¡°Grandfather!¡± the second lookalike called out as he rushed out of the carriage. He pointed at Xi Tianyi and Madam Xi. ¡°They killed my guards and embarrassed me. Kill them for me!¡± The aged elder of the Bountiful Coin Consortium focused his attention on Xi Tianyi. ¡°I don¡¯t know who fellow Daoists are? How about giving me and the Bountiful Coin Consortium face and forgetting whatever my foolish grandson did? He¡¯s only a child.¡± Xi Tianyi didn¡¯t answer. Instead, he showed disgust. ¡°I originally wanted to see what kind of person can raise someone like him, and I finally found out. Too bad you remind me too much of Redseal. I can¡¯t kill him, but you are different.¡± Before the aged elder could take action, he just slumped over. ¡°Grandfather?¡± the second lookalike asked. He walked over and shook his grandfather¡¯s body, but like his two guards, his grandfather had died. Instead of anger, fear appeared in the second lookalike¡¯s face and he turned to flee. Xi Tianyi shook his head, and with but a gaze, the second lookalike popped out of existence. Not figuratively, but literally. He disappeared as if he had never existed. At this time, Li Gen activated the second Thousand Li Talisman. He knew that if he didn¡¯t flee now, he might never be able to. However, to his despair, although a light encased, he didn¡¯t fly off into the air. Upon recalling Xi Tianyi¡¯s words, he couldn¡¯t help but stand up and stare at his lookalike. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°Someone from the immortal realm.¡± ¡°Immortal realm,¡± Li Gen repeated. ¡°No wonder. I was delusional to think I could kill an immortal. However, I¡¯m not going down without a fight!¡± Li Gen suppressed his injuries and charged at Xi Tianyi. When he reached a meter, the light in his eyes dimmed, and he collapsed onto the ground, dead.
Xi Tianyi observed the cluster of souls in his palm. Unlike most of the Dragon Emperor clones he met, Li Gen didn¡¯t disgust him so much. Of course, that could just be perspective. With a wave of his hand, Li Gen¡¯s soul disappeared. ¡°What did you do with his soul?¡± Daoyi asked. ¡°Just a test,¡± Tianyi said. He looked around and waved his hand. A hundred-meter tall black stele appeared. On it the words Nine Heavens were engraved. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ve gotten bored with the Cai Realm. Want to go to the next realm?¡± Daoyi glanced at the stele and shrugged. ¡°Sure, why not?¡± Days after Tianyi and Daoyi left, the Bountiful Coin Consortium discovered the stele. It would later become known as the Nine Heavens Stele. In the surrounding kilometer, all forms of flight were restricted, making people suspect that an immortal had appeared. Simultaneously, rumors that the Nine Heavens Stele contained the inheritance of an immortal spread. The Bountiful Coin Consortium attempted to keep the Nine Heavens Stele for themselves, but after the Cai Realm merged with the Huang Realm, they were destroyed by an opposing force. Still, even after ten thousand years, no one managed to gain the complete inheritance. Chapter 424: The Shi Realm The new realm that Tianyi and Daoyi traveled to was known as the Shi Realm. It was a former low-rank realm. Overall, it had a similar spiritual qi density to other low-rank realms, but the concentration was different. Most of the spiritual qi gathered underground. Plants would absorb the spiritual qi in the ground and grow, while animals ate these plants. The animals would mutate because of the excess spiritual qi, turning them into monsters. Unless a human wanted to risk their life, they could only process the plants and monsters for consumption. Because of this, immortal chefs reigned supreme in the Shi Realm. An immortal chef did not necessarily need to make delicious food. All they needed to do was to process materials into an edible substance for easy qi absorption. However, all the top immortal chefs were skilled cooks, able to make the material taste delicious regardless of its source. In the Shi Realm, immortal chefs were king. Without them, it was practically impossible to cultivate solely by absorbing the spiritual qi from the atmosphere. Directly consuming mutated monster meat also had its dangers. Normally, alchemists would reign supreme in such a realm, but the Shi Realm didn¡¯t have an alchemical inheritance, only an immortal¡¯s cooking inheritance. However, the situation was slowly changing because of the enriched spiritual qi density. Although most of the spiritual qi still resided underground, it was not impossible to achieve success solely by absorbing the spiritual qi in the air. This change directly lessened the necessity of the immortal chefs. As a result, the eon-long dominance of the immortal chefs weakened. Undercurrents between the immortal chefs and the new generation of cultivators appeared. It was still just a sign, but war might engulf the entire Shi Realm soon. Still, that day had not come, and a rare festivity filled the entire Shi Realm. Since ancient times, the top immortal chefs of the Shi Realm would congregate every century and compete against each other. During this once in a century event, rare ingredients thought long lost would appear, and techniques beyond mortal comprehension would be displayed. There was just one change. Normally, only famed immortal chefs would be able to attend and taste the once in a lifetime delicacy. However, due to the rising experts who did not rely on immortal chefs, they also secured a spot as members of the audience. ¡°Just a bunch of muscled-brained barbarians,¡± a silver-haired cultivator said. Despite his near-white hair, he only had a few wrinkles on him. Despite his aged appearance, many young maidens would still fall in love at first sight. Unlike the other immortal chefs arriving at the mountaintop above clouds standing atop artifacts, the silver-haired man was walking on the air. Among the immortal chefs, he was one of the few rare nascent soul grandmasters. His name was Mei Shiwu. Once he arrived, all the immortal chefs came forward to greet him. ¡°So it¡¯s chef Mei. I was wondering who could enter the Nascent Soul Realm so fast. If it¡¯s you, I¡¯m not surprised,¡± a portly man named Chef Zhou said. Mei Shiwu smiled and laughed. ¡°I believe you will step to this level sooner or later. I was just a step faster.¡± He and Chef Zhou were from the same generation and known as the Twin Star Chefs. Before, they were at the same level, but now Mei Shiwu had reached a higher level first. Even if his skills remained the same, the increased strength brought by his higher realm directly left Chef Zhou in the dust. After a while, the crowd of chefs parted ways as an aged man in his twilight years walked forward. Although Mei Shiwu was a nascent grandmaster now, he still showed immense respect to this chef. ¡°Good, good, good! I was worried about those uncultured swine making trouble, but with Chef Mei here, it seems that all worries are for naught.¡± ¡°My current accomplishments are because of Senior Kuai¡¯s guidance. Without you, I would not have reached such heights. So please, don¡¯t bow to me,¡± Mei Shiwu said as he rushed forward and prevented the aged cultivator from bowing. While the immortal chefs became more enthusiastic, the air exploded, drawing their attention. A procession of a hundred cultivators flew towards them. The two people in the front walked on air, just like Mei Shiwu. Of the two grandmasters, one was old, while the other appeared young. None of these hundred people were immortal chefs. Chef Kuai¡¯s eyes locked onto the aged grandmaster. ¡°Zou Chang, what is the meaning of this? We only allowed ten non-immortal chefs to take part.¡± Zou Chang brushed his linen robes. He gave a careless smile. ¡°It¡¯s only a few more people. You¡¯re all esteemed immortal chefs, don¡¯t be so stingy.¡± ¡°Stingy?¡± Chef Kuai almost laughed. ¡°You didn¡¯t even provide an ounce of ingredients and you still think we¡¯re stingy. Fine, as long as you can provide decent enough ingredients, I¡¯ll allow all of you to attend.¡± ¡°Since it¡¯s Chef Kuai¡¯s wishes, then I will oblige.¡± Zou Chang clapped his hands and twenty chests flew forward. Upon opening, all of them revealed the meat of master-level monsters. However, Chef Kuai only showed anger. ¡°A bunch of rubbish. Do you think you can buy a seat with such common materials? In your dreams.¡±This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°Don¡¯t be so quick to judge,¡± Zou Chang said. ¡°We are only laymen. As long as you search through them, I¡¯m sure you can find something valuable.¡± Chef Kaui laughed, but it wasn¡¯t a happy laugh, but one filled with anger. The other immortal chefs also stared unkindly at the hundred cultivators. ¡°Zou Chang, do you think you¡¯re amazing now that you¡¯ve become a grandmaster? Who was it that begged me twenty years ago to prepare that dish for you? Without it, you¡¯d already be bones and dust now. Now that you¡¯re a grandmaster, you think you can do as you like?¡± Zou Cang finally lost his smile. His aura erupted. However, the immortal chefs were not intimidated, and two more nascent soul grandmasters appeared beside Mei Shiwu. This only elicited Zou Chang¡¯s disdain. ¡°You have one more grandmaster than us, but do you think that will change anything? Our combat power is as different as heaven and earth.¡± ¡°Hmpf, combat power isn¡¯t everything. If you want to try it, then we will oblige,¡± Mei Shiwu said, also releasing his aura. The tension rose, and both parties stared at each other with their swords drawn and bows taut. Just as it seemed a battle would erupt, both sides discovered that none of them could move. They couldn¡¯t even circulate the qi in their bodies. At this time, a massive pressure descended and weighed down on both parties. Despite the pressure, all the cultivators discovered that they had regained some semblance of movement. With this limited freedom, they turned toward the sky where the source of the pressure originated from. They saw an immense palace far grander than any structure they had seen in their entire lives or the Shi Realm. Engraved above the gate of the palace were the words, Nine Heavens. As the palace flew nearer, everyone couldn¡¯t help but feel the increasing density of spiritual qi in the air. The thought that the palace was the reason for the changes in the Shi Realm popped into their mind. Still, none of them dared to covet the palace-shaped artifact. Its flight path was too purposeful, meaning that it was controlled by someone. Just as they thought the palace would crash into the mountaintop, it stopped midair. Then, the gates opened. Two women walked out. None of the chefs or cultivators had seen any woman more beautiful than the two. Sure, they may have seen those with equal or near beauty, but none of them could compete in terms of temperament. It was like comparing a phoenix to a chicken painted to appear like a phoenix. ¡°Our master is very interested in this cooking competition. It seems that the entry fee is just some ingredients? How about this?¡± Before the chefs or cultivators could register that these two heavenly maidens were just servants, a giant avian corpse appeared. Discounting the size, the avian resembled a mandarin duck, but with two heads, one dark and one light. Its name was the Fire-Water Duality Duck. Not only that, but it was a grandmaster-level monster. Many people have attempted to slay it only to return to failure. Judging by the intact corpse, it must have been killed with no way to defend itself. ¡°Since Honored Guests have granted us with such a prized ingredient, entry is but a small matter. With such good material, it¡¯s enough for a hundred seats,¡± Chef Kuai said. Although he wasn¡¯t the strongest, he was the most respected. Chef Kuai hesitated. ¡°Would Honored Guests like to wait in the palace or in our guest house while waiting for the competition to start? Because of the new ingredient, we will need a month to devise new recipes.¡± To the chefs¡¯ surprise, a male voice said, ¡°We¡¯ll take the accommodations. I¡¯ve already gotten bored with living in the palace. It¡¯s nice to see a change of scenery.¡± A handsome man and beautiful woman walked out. The two appeared like an immortal couple spoken of in poems. Following behind them were two more beautiful maids. The aboriginals thought the maids were beautiful, but they paled in comparison to the couple¡¯s looks and features. With a wave of the man¡¯s hand, the palace disappeared, shocking everyone. ¡°So, where are the accommodations?¡± Chef Kuai broke out of his stupor and personally led the six unknown guests onto the mountaintop. Originally, servants should deal with such matters, but to show his respect, Chef Kuai personally guided them. Even if the six weren¡¯t immortal chefs, they were definitely not simple. As for the Fire-Water Duality Duck, the immortal chefs escorted it into the storage. Servants would normally take care of such minor matters too, but none of the chefs wanted to hand over this opportunity. The way they looked at the Fire-Water Duality Duck was not like an ingredient at all, but like the world¡¯s most valuable treasure or most alluring woman. For such an amazing ingredient, they would be willing to kill their spouses. Mei Shiwu glanced at Zou Chang and the young nascent soul grandmaster. ¡°Your offerings are not enough. Change it, or leave most of your people outside.¡± Zou Chang frowned. He glanced at his companion and sent a transmission. ¡°Yaoting, what should we do?¡± The nascent soul grandmaster didn¡¯t just look young, but was young, too. At least, in comparison to the other people here. At the young age of a hundred, he became a grandmaster, becoming a representative of the non-immortal chefs. Yaoting didn¡¯t immediately answer. Instead, he recalled the mysterious couple. Different from the four maids, he couldn¡¯t sense any cultivation base from them. However, he did not think the two were mortals. Simply that the two had far more power than him, so he couldn¡¯t detect their strength. ¡°Give appropriate ingredients. In such cases, it¡¯s better to err on the side of caution,¡± Yaoting replied. They had originally planned to have all hundred members feast and increase the speed of their cultivation. The plan hadn¡¯t changed, they just needed to pay a higher price now. Still, the results would be worth it. Zou Chang nodded and clapped his hands. This time, only five chests were brought out, but the materials inside all ranked at the grandmaster level. Mei Shiwu¡¯s eyes widened. He secretly discussed it with the other grandmaster-level immortal chefs. In the end, they agreed. The price barely reached the minimum requirements. Furthermore, they didn¡¯t want to annoy the mysterious expert, and Zou Chang and Yaoting offering these five chests was also a display of force. Since they could hunt plants and monsters at the grandmaster level, it showed that their strength was far higher than imagined. ¡°Follow him,¡± Mei Shiwu said, pointing at a servant. Unlike the mysterious couple, Zou Chang, Yaoting, and their group only received the bare minimum of accommodations. While the mysterious couple received daily meals, they could only absorb the spiritual qi in the air to sustain themselves. A month passed in this tense peace, and the cooking competition began. Chapter 425: Thousand Year Longevity Noodle The once in a century culinary competition had yet to begin, but delectable aromas already pervaded the entire venue. At the center of the venue was a stage, but unlike normal arenas, it wasn¡¯t empty. Instead, it had all sorts of tables, containers filled with ingredients, and stoves. Surrounding the cooking arena were three layers of seating. The first layer was the closest to the stage and the lowest. Each seat was like a private box, decadent to the extreme. The second layer was a bit higher than the first to allow the people to gaze into the competition. It didn¡¯t have the same luxury as the first layer, but each seat had a table and a comfortable amount of room. The third layer of seating was the highest, but it was undoubtedly the poorest. There were no individual seats, and there was no barrier to guard against the chill of the mountaintop. The uninvited guests, Zou Chang, Yaoting, and the cultivators they brought were seated here. Qi pulsed from Yaoting¡¯s body, blasting away the thin layer of snow forming on his body. His eyes scanned the other cultivators that sat in the third layer. Unlike his group, most of them were only in the Foundation Establishment Realm, so they had to wear thick robes to combat the chill. However, none of them paid attention and stared at the arena with unblinking gazes. For immortal chefs like them, this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to witness the peak immortal chefs. Zao Chang snorted. He whispered in a low voice, ¡°What¡¯s the use of a woman¡¯s trade? Once we rise up, these stupid chefs will know how powerless their so-called skills are in front of true might.¡± ¡°Quiet,¡± Yaoting said. ¡°If you want to mock them, do it with your spiritual sense. We still don¡¯t know the origins of that lord. If you displease him, we definitely won¡¯t be able to get away scot-free.¡± During their month-long stay, rumors already spread that the mysterious couple were surnamed Xi. Aside from that, no one knew their true names. Zao Chang frowned. In truth, he held a bit of resentment toward that mysterious couple. If they hadn¡¯t shown up, they wouldn¡¯t have needed to pay such a high price to attend. Still, he perfectly concealed those thoughts. He just hoped that the mysterious visitors would leave as soon as possible. He had a feeling that even if the entire world went against the visitors, they would still fail. The hushed conversation suddenly stopped. Yaoting glanced toward the arena just in time to see Chef Kuai leading the unknown couple to one of the best seats. For a brief moment, his gazes connected with the princely man in purple. Upon staring into those bedeviling eyes, he lost all sense of space and time. It was as if he had been transported into the Vast Void. All he saw was the unimaginably large and empty void with tiny glittering light in the distance. It made him realize how insignificant and powerless he was. ¡°¡ªting? Yaoting!?¡± Yaoting broke out of his trance and turned toward Zao Chang. He shook his head at the latter¡¯s inquiring gaze. ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± He resumed his observation of the event, but he dared not gaze into the unknown expert¡¯s eyes again. Regardless of Yaoting¡¯s thoughts, the air heated up as the immortal chefs gazed at Chef Kuai with heated gazes. He had already seated Lord and Lady Xi at the seats of honor. Only then did he walk onto the stage. He began his speech, but in the middle, he changed the narrative. ¡°As some of you may have already heard, the competition was delayed because we received a rare and precious material. It would not be an exaggeration to say it will be rare to see once in a thousand years.¡± ¡°Of course, I¡¯m talking about the Fire-Water Duality Duck!¡± At Chef Kuai¡¯s words, the immortal chefs roared in excitement. ¡°An esteemed guest offered it as ingredients, so to express our thanks, we have refined the feathers into this feathered-cape artifact!¡± Chef Kuai took out a mantle made of feathers. It perfectly displayed the beautiful design of the Fire-Water Duality Duck. Not only that, it exuded the aura of a nascent soul-ranked artifact. However, he did not see any joy on Lord Xi¡¯s face, only stiffness. Lord Xi stayed silent, and just as Chef Kuai thought he had done something to offend him, the mysterious lord spoke. ¡°I appreciate your thoughts. However, in light of the competition, I think you should offer the artifact to the winner.¡± Upon hearing Lord Xi¡¯s words, the participating chefs couldn¡¯t help but become excited. In terms of artifacts, culinary types attracted them the most, but that didn¡¯t mean the feathered cape didn¡¯t attract them. Chef Kuai only hesitated for a moment. It seemed the mysterious Lord Xi wasn¡¯t interested, so he could only obey. If he knew such a thing would have happened, Chef Kuai wouldn¡¯t have expended so much effort and resources to refine this cape. Although immortal chefs were the most prestigious occupation in the Shi Realm, the Immortal Chef Association still employed many artificers. Someone had to make their cooking tools for them, after all. ¡°Without further ado, let the Century Cooking Competition begin!¡± Chef Kuai said after placing the feathered cape with the other prizes. ¡°First up, the elimination round!¡± Over a thousand chefs had come to participate. Most of them were in the core formation realm, and a small minority were in the Foundation Establishment Realm. Because of the vast number, a hundred would go onto the stage at a time to compete. Each chef had to make enough food for a hundred people within six hours. Only the top five would move onto the next round. Only when the number was reduced to a certain amount would the competition change to an elimination style tournament.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Soon, the delectable aroma already filling the venue increased and intensified. It was like a hundred different fragrances were competing for dominance. In this battle, one smell rose atop. White hazes drifted from the wok Mei Shiwu was controlling. The blue fire underneath burned brightly, causing crackling sounds to pop within the wok itself. An hour later, a hundred bowls of ordinary rice were plated. Aside from the grains looking fifty percent larger than ordinary rice, it didn¡¯t look all that special. However, even just a whiff of the aroma caused the judges to salivate. Ten bowls were presented to the ten judges, while an additional two were present to the mysterious couple. Mei Shiwu cupped his hands as he presented his dish. ¡°Mutton Jade Rice, please have a taste.¡± Chef Kuai picked up his chopsticks first. He grabbed a small mouthful of the rice that glistened like mutton fat jade and stuffed it into his mouth. He chewed a few times and then said. ¡°Each grain has a crispy exterior, but the inside is still soft and has just the right amount of chew. There¡¯s not much flavor, but each bite makes you want to have more. It is the perfect accompaniment for any dish. Not only that, each grain releases a gentle flow of qi. Even a mortal can safely eat a few bites.¡± The nine other judges also picked up their chopsticks at this time and savored the rice dish. Unlike Chef Kuai who only took a few bites, they finished their small bowl. They sang all sorts of praises, but Mei Shiwu only accepted them without much change in expression. Instead, he glanced toward the mysterious couple, but to his disappointment, they didn¡¯t even lift their chopsticks. The rest of the eighty-eight bowls were distributed to the audience sitting close to the center in the second layer. Mei Shiwu finished his dish so fast because of his skill and cultivation base. For the other chefs, it took them at least three days to present their dish. Some dishes, Chef Kuai didn¡¯t even touch and directly disqualified the chef who cooked it. The time allotted to the chef was only six days. If they couldn¡¯t finish their dish within the time limit, they would be disqualified, no matter how delicious their dish was. The times Chef Kuai moved his chopsticks were less than the number of contestants on the stage. As expected, Mei Shiwu was admitted to the next round, along with four other chefs. After the first elimination, the second elimination began. When that ended, the third elimination started and so on, until the contestants numbered less than ten percent of the original numbers. Most of the food went to feed the audience. The first layer got the best dishes. The audience who sat in the second later received what the judges rated as top-rate dishes, just slightly below the peak dishes. While the third layer received everything else. Of course, Yaoting and his group received the worst. It wasn¡¯t even hidden. Even so, the cultivators he brought wolfed down the food as if they had been starved for months. Which was technically true. Even if they only ate the worst dishes, the taste was still beyond most immortal chefs they could come into contact with, and the gentle spiritual qi within was also extremely beneficial to them. During this time, the mysterious couple watched the cooking technique with great relish. If the two did not pick up their chopsticks even once, the chefs would have thought they were technique thieves. The elimination-style tournament began. As the first one to pass the first elimination round, Mei Shiwu entered the stage first. Unlike before, the number of ingredients had increased, while the table and stoves decreased so that it could only accommodate two cooks. Once the match began, Mei Shiwu walked towards the container full of ingredients. The meat and organs harvested from the Fire-Water Duality Duck were not present, as it would only be used at the semi-final and finals. Mei Shiwu waved his hand and turned some unknown grains he picked into dust. With another wave, he dried them out and made flour. Along with water, he added many other ingredients that numbered over a hundred into the dough mixture. Once it was done, he covered it and allowed it to rise. Next, he took out large red meat. His butcher knife flashed and the beef turned into a collection of cubes. Each one was exactly the same size, as if all of them had been machine cut. He waved his sleeves again, and they all flew into a giant stock pot. The stock pot had already been prepared ahead of time by Mei Shiwu. The fire under it roared and boiled the large bones that the chef had dunked inside. Every minute or so, a thin layer of scum would accumulate, but Mei Shiwu would wave his sleeve and blow the brown scum away. While the stock boiled, Mei Shiwu wasn¡¯t done. He placed a white radish-like vegetable on the chopping board. His butcher knife spun again, and the vegetable turned into circular disks. With another flash, they turned into long strips of equal size. Like the meat before them, they also flew into the stockpot. Mei Shiwu continued his performance. Each swipe of his sleeve, each knife cut, was like a performance. The sounds from his movements also resembled an orchestra, and even made a few chefs close their eyes and listen. With just the sound alone, they could hear the confidence in Mei Shiwu¡¯s movements, as well his precision. A week later, Mei Shiwu presented a simple bowl of noodles. Despite using over a hundred ingredients for the stock, what remained was a clear broth. The only embellishment was the small layer of fat atop the soup. The noodles were also formed from the dough by pulling. He only sliced them at the end, right before cooking. ¡°Thousand Year Longevity Noodle, please have a taste,¡± Mei Shiwu said. Like before, Chef Kuai ate first. He first sipped the soup. ¡°It has an incredible depth of flavor despite its lightness. I can taste over a hundred ingredients. The oil doesn¡¯t feel greasy at all, and just one sip fills my body with energy.¡± After sampling the soup, he took a bite out of the noodle. ¡°Incredibly soft, and it has perfectly absorbed the flavor of the broth. Yet, the flavor isn¡¯t a pure repetition of the broth. I can feel my vitality¡ª?!¡± For the first time, Chef Kuai finally looked shocked. ¡°What is this? I can feel my vitality overflowing and even feel a sense of vigor that I haven¡¯t felt in years. What did you do?¡± Mei Shiwu smiled. ¡°There¡¯s a reason I called it the Thousand Year Longevity Noodle. A single bowl can extend the lifespan of the person who ate it by a hundred years.¡± Chef Kuai couldn¡¯t help but stare at Mei Shiwu. Not just him, but everyone, including Yaoting, stared at the immortal chef. No matter the cultivator, things that could extend lifespans were extremely alluring to them. There have been many immortal chefs who could create such dishes, but Mei Shiwu was only hundred of years old. And it would take the immortal chefs countless times more ingredients and time to prepare a dish that could even extend one year. Undoubtedly, most people thought Mei Shiwu was a shoo-in for the champion. Mei Shiwu basked in the cultivators¡¯ gazes. He turned his head toward Lord and Lady Xi, but to his disappointment, they still didn¡¯t move their chopsticks. Fire erupted in his eyes as he vowed to make the duo understand the greatness of his cooking. Chapter 426: Darkhorse Mei Shiwu won the first round of the tournament without any accidents. Even if his opponent cooked a dish more delicious than his, it won¡¯t surpass his by much and it couldn¡¯t defeat the effect of affecting longevity. His opponent didn¡¯t show much surprise at the judgment. From the moment he heard that Mei Shiwu¡¯s Thousand Year Longevity Noodle could extend the lifespan, he knew he had lost. For immortal chefs, the effects of the dish cooked were the most important. Taste was secondary. Mei Shiwu¡¯s Thousand Year Longevity Noodles didn¡¯t need to taste good, but he would win because of its effect. Of course, his pride as an immortal chef would not allow him to cook a subpar dish in terms of taste. Good immortal chefs made dishes with powerful effects. Great immortal chef cooked dishes that had powerful effects and tasted good. And so, the second match of the first round of the tournament began. The two contestants also filled the venue with fragrant dishes. But compared to the first match, it was obviously a little inferior. Even the guests sitting in the first layer of seating did not eat the finished products with much gusto. The winner of the second match didn¡¯t show much pleasure at winning. Instead, he stared at Mei Shiwu with a competitive spirit. Mei Shiwu glanced at him and then looked away without much interest. He was still thinking about how to make the mysterious couple pick up their chopsticks. After the second match, the third match started and ended. It was only in the fourth match that the excitement returned. The impression of Mei Shiwu¡¯s Thousand Year Longevity Noodles gradually faded from their minds, but it never fully left. Somewhere, in the back of their minds, it would always remain, waiting for the right moment to appear. The first round of the tournament ended without much surprise. Unlike Mei Shiwu¡¯s match, most of them only won because of minute differences in their dishes. Sometimes, the ten judges would start arguing over the final decision. The judged contestants could only wait with bated breaths for the final conclusion. Those who won sighed in relief while those who lost could only slump in defeat and hone their skills for the next century culinary competition. By the time the quarter-finals arrived, four chefs seemed to be a shoo-in for the semi-finals. They were Mei Shiwu, the other two nascent soul grandmasters, and a core formation master. Once the quarter-final matches began, everyone couldn¡¯t help but swallow their saliva. Because starting in this round, the dishes must include the meat of the Fire-Water Duality Duck. Most of the audience knew that they could only watch and not eat it, but that didn¡¯t stop their mouths from watering. Mei Shiwu and his opponent stepped into the arena, and the first of the quarter-final¡¯s four matches began. Unlike the previous rounds, the chefs had ten days to cook their dishes, and most of them chose to cook more than one dish, a bowl of rice, a main dish, and some side dishes. Mei Shiwu cooked a bowl of rice and fried it in duck fat. Despite being fried, each grain still looked milky white, and exuded a mouth-watering aroma. For side dishes, he wrapped some duck skin around some leeks and grilled them low and slow. The heat caused the skin to become a crispy brown, occasionally popping with fat. As for the main dish, it was cubed duck breast. Mei Shiwu had rendered the duck fat into tallow. Using a shallow pan, he fried the cubed duck breast until the exterior was a crispy brown, and the interior was medium rare. He wasn¡¯t done yet. Mei Shiwu dumped a large spoonful of tallow into a wok. Once it melted, he threw a large amount of cubed vegetables into the wok and started stir-frying them. Once they were almost fully cooked and the sides had started to caramelize, he threw in the cubed duck breasts. Under his control, the fire under the wok burned blue, drastically increasing the heat. The cubed meat and vegetables started sizzling even more, but before they could be burnt, Mei Shiwu poured in a large amount of red-colored sauce. It was a sweet and savory sauce full of umami that Mei Shiwu had concocted for years. The immortal chefs did not only have to use the ingredients provided, they could also bring their own creations. In fact, most immortal chefs had a variety of sauces they prepared ahead of time. Each sauce took a long time to ferment and used hundreds, if not thousands, of ingredients to prepare. The red sauce Mei Shiwu used was one he prepared for red meat. Mei Shiwu tossed the ingredients in the wok a few more times, allowing the sauce to coat every inch of them. Then, he poured them onto the prepared plates. Doused in the red sauce, each cube looked no different from each other and glistened red under the light. ¡°I¡¯m done,¡± Mei Shiwu said. Like always, he finished his dishes first and presented them to the judge. The judges, including Chef Kuai, picked up their chopsticks. Since the first match, Mei Shiwu had always amazed the judges. Each dish he presented was the focus point of the round. It always made the judges disappointed with the next dish. He was already the clear favorite to win the century culinary competition.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Chef Kuai picked up a piece of the duck skin-wrapped leeks. ¡°The skin gives it a crispy texture, and the leek is perfectly cooked. It¡¯s soft without being mushy, and it has a slight medicinal flavor that is very enjoyable. I can feel the wood qi flowing through my body.¡± Then, he picked up a cube doused in red sauce. He raised it to eye level, and after some inspection, he put it into his mouth. ¡°Delicious. It¡¯s not just the duck breast, but the vegetables have a nice crispy exterior that wasn¡¯t softened by the sauce. The mellow flavor of the inside is enhanced by the savory and sweet sauce.¡± He ate a mouthful of white rice. After finishing it, he said, ¡°The white rice is rich, yet not heavy. Combined with the main dish, it perfectly balances the heavy flavor out.¡± ¡°The duck meat is succulent, and not dry and perfectly tender. Furthermore, each bite releases a burst of vitality and qi. Were it not for my age, I might want to attempt the Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation,¡± Chef Kuai joked after biting into a duck breast cube. The other judges glanced at one another. Even after eating the Thousand Year Longevity Noodle, Chef Kuai didn¡¯t make a joke. It can be seen that Mei Shiwu¡¯s dish really satisfied him. After eating, the other judges also gave praise after praise. While most immortal chefs would have fainted from the praise, Mei Shiwu only focused his attention on Lord and Lady Xi. When he saw that neither touched their chopsticks, he clenched his fist and vowed to make the two beg to eat his cooking, forever unable to forget his dish. Mei Shiwu won without any suspense, and the second match of the quarter-finals started. Although the dishes cooked weren¡¯t as impressive as Mei Shiwu¡¯s, the competing immortal chefs still impressed the audience with their skills and dishes. The second match had two core formation masters competing against each other, so the winner wasn¡¯t as clear cut. One of the two immortal chefs won by a narrow margin. However, this was likely as far as he would go. As for the third match, it was a nascent soul grandmaster against a core formation master. Like the first match, the nascent soul grandmaster won. The fourth match had a nascent soul grandmaster going against a core formation master. Without any accident, the nascent soul grandmaster would win. The nascent soul grandmaster only used seven days and finished his dish, and handed it to the judge. Although his dish didn¡¯t reach the same height as Mei Shiwu, it still got rave reviews, like the winner of the third match. No one expected the core formation master to win. Compared to the nascent soul grandmaster, he took the full ten days. And when he was done, he presented his dish in a large clay pot. ¡°This is my, Gao Chushi¡¯s, dish, duck rice bowl. Please have a taste,¡± the core formation master said. Like before, Chef Kuai moved first. He grabbed the lid of the clay pot and took it off. A burst of white steam buffeted his face. Had it been a mortal, the heat would have melted his skin off, but as a cultivator, he only felt a bit of heat. Then came the condensed aroma. Because the fragrance had been sealed inside, he got a full blast of it when he opened. Even if the fragrance weakened, it would still be imprinted into his mind. He peeked into a bowl and ingredients garnishing the rice. In the center was a soft-boiled egg yolk. On the side, there were some red fermented cabbage-like vegetables, salted cucumber-like vegetables and pickled bean sprouts covering half of it. Their other half had layers of fatty duck meat sliced extremely thin. Chef Kuai picked up the side dishes and ate them one by one. He also ate a mouthful of rice. ¡°It¡¯s a good dish. However, it is slightly inferior to Chef Huai¡¯s dish. The components work well, all except the egg yolk, which brings disharmony.¡± Gao Chushi¡¯s brows twitched, but he didn¡¯t say anything. Then the other judges started eating. Chef Kaui expected them to agree, but to his surprise, eight of them disagreed. He saw them devour the dish like ravenous wolves without a hint of elegance. Not only that, but they mixed up all the ingredients and rice together. ¡°I have to disagree. The egg yolks make for the perfect sauce, be it for the rice or the meat.,¡± one judge said. Chef Kuai frowned and joined the argument, something he had never done before. Before, he always judged from high above, with the other judges echoing his thoughts and only arguing over the minor details. But this time, a clash of conflict occurred. In the end, the points from the eight judges gave Gao Chushi the win over the nascent soul grandmaster. With such a turnaround, the crowd stared at the winner. From his age, he wasn¡¯t even a hundred, meaning that this was his first century culinary competition. Not only did he become one of the top four chefs of the Shi Realm, but he also defeated a nascent soul grandmaster for it. Although there was some contention, especially from the conservative chefs, it also displayed his potential. The one most affected wasn¡¯t anyone else but Mei Shiwu. He didn¡¯t care about Gao Chushi¡¯s duck rice bowl. In his eyes, even if Chef Kuai approved of it more, it still couldn¡¯t beat him. But the thing that shocked him most was that the mysterious couple actually picked up their chopsticks and ate the dish! Sure, they only ate a few mouthfuls, but this was the first time they partook of any food. Mei Shiwu stared at Gao Chushi, wanting to dissect him and pick apart his brains. Just how did he do it? Was it just because of the novelty? Gao Chushi sensed Mei Shiwu¡¯s gaze. Although he was confused as to why Mei Shiwu stared at him so seriously, he gazed back with a fighting spirit. With the quarter-finals over, the semi-finals began. This time, Mei Shiwu created an even better dish than the quarter-finals, yet the mysterious couple didn¡¯t even taste it. The only solace Mei Shiwu found was that they didn¡¯t try Gao Chushi¡¯s dish again. However, the core formation master actually defeated another nascent soul grandmaster and moved to the finals. Even Chef Kuai judged Gao Chushi¡¯s dish as equal to the nascent soul grandmaster, despite not conforming to traditional values. Unlike the quarter or semi-finals, each immortal chef had a whole month to cook their dish. Mei Shiwu and Gao Chushi stared at one another. Fire burned in each of their eyes. Chapter 427: Foie Gras A tense atmosphere hung over the venue as the finals started. Despite the competition not being a battle, the sparks between Gao Chushi and Mei Shiwu made it even more electrifying than a life-and-death duel. The audience found themselves holding their breaths unconsciously. Both Mei Shiwu and Gao Chushi immediately chose their ingredients, as if they had already known they would reach the finals. As such, they already planned the ultimate dish for the century culinary competition. Mei Shiwu picked many more ingredients from the available selection, while Gao Chushi took out ingredients he had prepared ahead of time. This time, Mei Shiwu didn¡¯t finish ahead of time like his other matches, but took all the time allotted to the contestants. Still, he finished ahead of Gao Shiwu, and brought his dishes forward. In total, there was a bowl of rice, one main dish, a bowl of soup, and two side dishes. ¡°Here are my dishes. Duck egg yolk golden fried rice, ginger duck soup, golden ratio duck shumai, spicy duck tongue, and roast duck.¡± Despite all their experience and all the delicacies they have already tasted, the judges except Chef Kuai couldn¡¯t help but swallow their saliva upon smelling the aroma wafting from each dish. As usual, Chef Kuai dug in first. He ate a mouthful of the duck egg yolk golden fried rice. ¡°I can only taste the rich and umami flavor of the duck yolk, but it¡¯s obvious you used over a hundred ingredients. You fried them with the perfect technique, coating each grain of rice in an even layer of yolk. Although it is rich, it isn¡¯t dense to the point that I can only eat a few mouthfuls. In fact, this thing whets my appetite even more. I can feel my body becoming excited to eat and ready to accept the spiritual qi of the other dishes.¡± Chef Kuai took out a spoon and scooped the soup. ¡°Despite it being a cold soup, the spice levels make it seem hot. The duality of cold and heat reminds me of the Fire-Water Duality Duck used to make this soup. I can feel an icy sensation entering every part of my body. The moment I think I¡¯m going to freeze over, a fiery sensation overtakes the chill. Through this process, I can feel the impurities in my body cleansed.¡± ¡°Despite not removing the bones around the duck tongue, you¡¯ve cooked so that it falls apart like chips, adding a new texture to the traditional snack. Although you used ducks at the level of foundation establishment disciples, you¡¯ve elevated it to the level that it is on par with and tastes like the Fire-Water Duality Duck,¡± Chef Kuai said. Then, he reached for the shumai. Unlike a traditional shumai, all the ingredients were split between four different pockets instead of mixed together, forming a four-pointed star. The pocket containing the minced duck meat had more than the other three ingredients, making it seem uneven. The other three pockets contained assorted vegetables, minced shrimp, and egg yolk. ¡°Hmmm, the ratio seems uneven, so I don¡¯t know why you call it the golden ratio shumai.¡± Still, Chef Kuai put it into his mouth and gasped. ¡°Oh! The advantages of each ingredient are so clear. The soft and sweet yolk, the fresh and crisp vegetables, the elasticity and subtle sweetness of the shrimp, and the smooth texture of the Fire-Water Duality Duck meat that is rich and oily, yet not greasy at all. But the most important feature is not these individual components but how they come together. Not one part of them overpowers the other, and I can taste all of them at the same time. No wonder you call it the golden ratio shumai. Its taste alone is worth its weight in spirit stones.¡± Chef Kuai immediately reached for a piece of the roast duck. He raised it to his eye. The skin had perfectly turned a dark brown. When he picked it up with his chopstick, it had already cracked despite him not using much pressure. The crack also caused the layer of fat under the skin to drip down the meat, causing it to glisten invitingly. He didn¡¯t wait any longer and bit into it. ¡°Ooooh! This taste, this texture, I can¡¯t find any words to describe it. I can feel energy welling up in my body, increasing its power. I can feel several acupoints loosening and I can open them up in the near future!¡± The rest of the judges didn¡¯t wait any longer and dug in. Whatever praise Chef Kuai sang, they echoed with even greater accolades. At this point, none of the audience could see Gao Chushi winning the century culinary competition. Mei Shiwu only nodded. Instead, he turned his attention to Lord and Lady Xi. He smiled. Finally, the two had picked up their chopsticks and ate his food. However, he soon frowned because they didn¡¯t show any of the reactions the judges showed. It was as if they were eating regular food and not the most exquisite cuisine of the Shi Realm. He tightened his fist. Despite getting his wish, Mei Shiwu couldn¡¯t be happy at all. They treated his food like some dispensable roadside slop. Mei Shiwu swore that the two would fall under the heavenly taste of his dishes in the future. Gao Chushi came forward next. After the exemplary dishes from Mei Shiwu, the judges didn¡¯t show much excitement about his dishes. Especially since his dishes were covered by steel cloches. The core formation chef paid no heed. ¡°This is a dining style I¡¯ve conceptualized. Instead of having a bowl of rice with many dishes, you eat each dish in sequential order and they are named courses.¡± The judges raised an eyebrow, suspicious yet intrigued. ¡°First up is the appetizer, caviar with blini and duck fat whipped cream,¡± Gao Chushi said as he opened the cloche to reveal the plate underneath. It was a large plate with three tiny pancakes topped with a layer of whipped cream and a dollop of fish eggs.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! The judges sniffed and observed the so-called appetizer with suspicion. Still, they took their chopsticks and picked it up, eating them in a mouthful. ¡°There¡¯s many layers to this dish. The blini, or whatever you call it, does not have much taste, but it does have a subtle sweetness. The whipped cream itself is fatty and flavorful. Had it not been for the oceanic brininess of the caviar, it would have been overpowering.¡± ¡°The popping sensation of the eggs is a unique sensation I have not tried before, but with each pop, I can feel a slight burst of spiritual qi entering my body,¡± Chef Kaui said. ¡°It is quite an amusing dish, but I don¡¯t know if this forced order is worth the freedom of choice of having all the dishes in front of you.¡± ¡°Thank you for your input,¡± Gao Chushi said. Although he said thanks, he did not show any signs of backing down on the method he served his dishes. Instead, he brought up the second course, the soup. Mei Shiwu frowned, not because of his unique method, but because the mysterious couple ate all the appetizers. Even though they didn¡¯t show any amazement, they still took more bites from Gao Chushi¡¯s dish than his. As a competitor, he was allocated the same courses fed to the judges, so he tasted the caviar, too. Mei Shiwu had to admit that it had some uniqueness, but it still couldn¡¯t compare to his dishes. ¡°After cooking the soup, it was chilled, causing it to settle and turn into jelly because of the collagen extracted from the bones and skin. It¡¯s a duck broth that is light and will have you craving for more,¡± Gao Chushi said. The judges dug in. Immediately, one of them yelped from the spice levels of the soup. He immediately took another bite, seeking the coolness of the jelly to quench the spiciness in his mouth. Yet, after the cooling sensation vanished, the spiciness hit again. It wasn¡¯t until he finished all the jelly soup did the spice level mellow. At the end, all of them had finished the soup. Even if it seemed forced, the judges except Chef Kuai couldn¡¯t help but smack their lips as they recalled the taste. Although they ate all of it, they only felt even hungrier. One judge couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°Hurry up and bring the next dish.¡± Gao Chushi grinned. ¡°As you wish.¡± ¡°This is the main course, the pan-seared medium rare duck breast with foie gras pate sauce paired with hundred herb squash puree and sauteed mushroom.¡± Upon the removal of the cloche, it revealed sliced duck breast with crispy skin plated atop an orange-colored puree next to the mushrooms. The judges picked up the duck breast and held it up. The meat was still plenty red, and he couldn¡¯t help but think it was undercooked. Still, he had confidence in Gao Chushi¡¯s performance, so he took a bite. ¡°Wooh! What is this? It¡¯s perfectly juicy, and the skin has a nice crunch, but what is with this depth of flavor? I can taste even more duck flavor than any other pieces of duck I¡¯ve eaten before.¡± He wasn¡¯t alone in his sentiment. The other judges were also amazed by the duck flavor of the duck breasts. It was only enhanced by the foie gras pate sauce. Foie gras was fattened duck liver, and pate was a sauce made from turning liver into paste. In terms of taste alone, most of the judges agreed that the taste of Gao Chushi¡¯s duck breast exceeded the flavor of Mei Shiwu¡¯s dish. With the main course done, it was time for the last course, the dessert. ¡°This is sweet bread that I have baked. I used duck yolk and the Fire-Water Duality Duck¡¯s fat as enriching and binding agents,¡± Gao Chushi said. What appeared before the judges when the cloches disappeared was a two-layered, triangular shaped baked good known as a cake. Between the two layers was a whipped cream filled with fresh fruits. When the judges took a bite, they were surprised by the sheer sweetness of the dessert, but the fruit''s acidity cut through the sweetness, forming a delicate balance. Most of the judges only ate half the cake slices, a stark contrast to the previous three courses. After eating both contestants¡¯ dishes, the judges immediately started debating. Most of them, including Chef Kuai, supported Mei Shiwu. Although Gao Chushi¡¯s courses and dishes were innovative, they couldn¡¯t compare to the traditional and perfected style of Mei Shiwu. The minority argued that Gao Chushi¡¯s creativity more than made up for any blemishes and faults in his dishes and style. As long as given enough time to perfect it, it could open up a whole new branch in the culinary world. Still, the end result ultimately came up to the effects of the food. In this aspect, Gao Chushi handily lost. Although he showed admirable abilities, he was just slightly weaker in extracting the spiritual qi from the ingredients. And the effect of his food couldn¡¯t compare to the effect of Mei Shiwu¡¯s food. But before making a judgement, Chef Kuai asked for Lord and Lady¡¯s Xi¡¯s opinions. Mei Shiwu couldn¡¯t help but clench his fist. The championship was just a hair¡¯s breadth away, but the mysterious couple ate all of Gao Chushi¡¯s dishes. Lady Xi finished hers and Lord Xi¡¯s slice of cake. He didn¡¯t think Chef Kuai was really asking for their opinion, but if they really support Gao Chushi, he couldn¡¯t guarantee that Chef Kuai¡¯s decision wouldn¡¯t be changed. ¡°Although I consider myself a gourmand, I know my limits. Please disregard my opinions and select the winner based solely on your expert opinions.¡± Mei Shiwu breathed a sigh of relief, but he couldn¡¯t help but be disappointed. He wanted to hear it from the mysterious couple¡¯s mouths whose dishes they preferred. Even if they chose Gao Shiwu¡¯s dishes, he still wanted to hear it. Chef Kuai announced Mei Shiwu as the winner and Gao Chushi as the runner-up. When Mei Shiwu glanced toward the mysterious couple again, he noticed that they had vanished. Their disappearance was soon discovered by the others. Despite their best efforts, they couldn¡¯t find any traces of them. It was almost as if the mysterious couple had never existed, but the leftover plates testified against that. The people could only chalk up the mysterious couple¡¯s appearance as them just having an interest in the century culinary competition. A sense of loss enveloped Mei Shiwu. He had a feeling that he would never meet them again. He would never have a chance to make them fall in love with his cooking. Mei Shiwu shook his head, catching sight of Gao Chushi. He narrowed his eyes. Although he felt down at the lost prospect, he had a new rival now. Between perfecting traditional dishes or blazing a new style, he knew which one required more creativity and talent. Still, he would make sure that Gao Chushi would always look at his back and never have the chance to catch up or exceed him. Gao Chushi didn¡¯t know of his new rival. Instead, he clutched a rectangular steel plate in his robes. When everyone left, he took it out and read the notification that appeared on it. [Welcome to the Samsara Travelers Chat Group.] Chapter 428: Xunshou Realm Gao Chushi placed down the Xiyi Talisman and looked into the sky. He had thought that he was the only one reincarnated into this fantastical new world, but now he knew there were others, like the mysterious couple that spectated the century culinary competition. He couldn¡¯t help but wonder if they came to him because they already knew of his status, or he exposed himself by cooking French style food. He rid himself of the thought. Unless Gao Chushi asked, he would never know. Gao Chushi recalled the introductory message he received upon entering the Samsara Travelers Chat Group. In it, he learned that there were at least five other people who were reincarnated. Of the five¡ªaside from himself¡ªthere were four full-time members: Flame-On, Ultimate Young Master, Spider Idol, and Saint Xi and one part-time member like himself, Rookie #69. His username was automatically distributed, Rookie #420. He didn¡¯t need to ask to know that Rookie #69 was like himself and didn¡¯t have a choice in their username. The immortal chef didn¡¯t know which username belonged to which of the immortal couple. It was also possible that only one of the couple was a reincarnator like him. It was hard to tell with online usernames since they could differ wildly from the real-life person behind it. And it was not like he could ask. Well, he could, but none of the members were currently online. Still, even if he couldn¡¯t talk to anyone, the introductory message explained more than enough. Like the fact that the Shi Realm was one of the many realms existing in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Legends said that a higher realm had always existed beyond the Shi Realm, where top immortal chefs gathered, but Gao Chushi had never believed it. Now he knew it was partly true, and he knew even more than them. Higher realms did exist, but the current Shi Realm was just one of many ingredients used to evolve a higher realm. Hence the higher concentration of spiritual qi. However, if the immortal chefs thought their status would remain the same after ascending, they would be sorely disappointed. The immortal chefs of the Shi Realm only had an exalted status in the Shi Realm. Their status in other realms was quite low. Gao Chushi wasn¡¯t that disappointed. To him, being an immortal chef was only a means to an end. He glanced at the ring on his finger. It was a recent addition to his wardrobe, something he gained after opening the Beginner Package given to him by the Samsara Travelers Chat Group. Among the many resources, like pills and talismans, given to him, a spatial ring was included. In the Shi Realm, spatial rings were rare commodities. A cultivator not only needed wealth to purchase one, but status as well. In Gao Chushi¡¯s memory, it was likely that there existed less than fifty spatial rings in the Shi Realm, and they were all in the hands of the immortal chefs. It was just one of many gripes the non-immortal chef cultivators had. Gao Chushi¡¯s eyes flickered. Should he ask the chat group to bring him to the Huang Realm? He quickly rid himself of the thought. Although the information was comprehensive and did not seem like a lie, he still wanted to err on the side of caution. Rather than relying on others, it was better to rely on himself. He would give the pills to a few friends he made and see if there were any side effects. If they weren¡¯t, he would take them himself and quickly enter the Nascent Soul Realm as fast as possible. He had a hunch that the peace in the Shi Realm would not last long. On a final note, if Gao Chushi identified another reincarnator and roped them into the Samsara Travelers Chat Group, he would receive a referral bonus.
¡°I didn¡¯t expect to see a reincarnator as a chef,¡± Tianyi said as he and Daoyi appeared in another realm. The number of servant-disciples had stayed the same despite two joining them. When the two joined, two also left for another realm to prepare for when Tianyi and Daoyi would arrive. ¡°I think he also survived the apocalypse. The most respected profession in the Shi Realm is an immortal chef, so is it any wonder he chose to become an immortal chef? He¡¯ll probably stop once he ascends or the Shi Realm merges with the Huang Realm,¡± Daoyi said. ¡°Really? That¡¯s a pity.¡± ¡°Did you really enjoy his food that much?¡± Tianyi shook his head. ¡°Compared to Mei Shiwu¡¯s dishes, it¡¯s a level lower, much less the ones back in the Immortal Court. But it has a different flavor profile and style. It¡¯s like a burst of fresh air cutting through the same old dishes over and over again. If he could persevere, the culinary culture will become even more diverse.¡± ¡°You think he will pursue the culinary path if I offer incentives?¡± ¡°He might,¡± Daoyi said. ¡°But I think he will be more interested in having personal power and growing stronger. Only when he can no longer advance will he accumulate resources. You might not understand, but for those like us who experience the apocalypse, there is nothing more alluring than the ability to secure your own safety. In this world, as long as you work hard, you will have a chance to obtain that power. Of course, there are probably many others in this world that feel the same way.¡± Tianyi shrugged. ¡°What a pity.¡±If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Still, he didn¡¯t show too much sorrow. Honestly, even if he told the immortal chefs of the Immortal Court to cook three meals a day with no repetition, he could enjoy a different dish every day for thousands, if not tens of thousands of years. Compared to the millions of years of history of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, Earth¡¯s history of less than half a millennium was akin to a single drop in the lake. Oh, except for a bowl of rice. Rice was a must have in every dish. You couldn¡¯t call yourself Asian if you didn¡¯t have rice ten times a week. Tianyi and Daoyi ended their conversation about Gao Chushi and started learning about the realm they had entered. The new realm they arrived in was called the Xunshou Realm. Tianyi nicknamed it the Beast Tamer Realm because the most popular profession in this realm was beast taming. Beast tamers held the same lofty status as the immortal chefs in the Shi Realm. The only difference was the combat potential of the two professions. So, even though the spiritual qi density also changed, beast tamers still had a firm rule over the entire realm. Although Tianyi had a spiritual beast, Dandan, he wasn¡¯t considered a true beast tamer. The same went for Daoyi. True beast tamers may be strong, but most of their effort is on their spiritual beasts. Compared to those who fight without spiritual beasts like Tianyi or even long-range fighters like Daoyi, they are weak. Naturally, this excludes unique situations. Aside from the time needed to train themselves, there was another reason beast tamers usually did not have the same combat prowess as other cultivators. Not all spiritual beasts were easy to control. One might be simple, but after a certain number, they would have to expend their spiritual sense to control them. There¡¯s a reason why it¡¯s said that the strongest beast tamers are the cultivators with the strongest spiritual sense. Although the same could be applied to most professions, like alchemists, artificers, and formation masters. But back to beast tamers. The stronger the spiritual beast a beast tamer possesses, the stronger they will be. It¡¯s not just commanding the beasts to attack their foe, but beast tamers often use spells to take on characteristics of their spiritual beasts. There was even a forbidden spell that allowed beast tamers to fuse with their spiritual beasts and dramatically increase their combat power. The reason the man-beast unity spell was called forbidden was due to the side effects. Not only did the body fuse, but so do the minds. If the beast tamer wasn¡¯t careful, his mind might be swallowed by his spiritual beast. By then, the spiritual beast will become free and the former master will become nutrients. This risk can be minimized with a close bond with the spiritual beast, but no beast tamer can guarantee that their spiritual beast will not desire freedom. The worst-case scenario would be the spiritual beast absorbing the beast tamer and pretending to be the latter. It actually happened once, and the spiritual beast took on a high position in a famous beast taming sect. From there, the spiritual beast helped the other spiritual beasts take over their tamer¡¯s body. It became an event known as the Great Taming Reversal, and the end result was the famous Beast Taming Sect became nothing more than a footnote in history. Most beast tamers refused to use the man-beast unity spell, and would rather tame stronger beasts or strengthen their current spiritual beasts. And there was a prized divine beast inside the Xunshou Realm. Unlike the Shi Realm or the Cai Realm, there was no dominating force lording over the land. Instead, it was four forces, each competing for supremacy. Each of the four overlord forces focused on cultivating a specific type of spiritual beast, and collectively, they were known as the Four Beast Sects. The Azure Beast Sect focused on reptilian beasts. They were the most balanced of the four overlords. The Vermilion Beast Sect focused on cultivating avian beasts. They boasted the fastest speed and brutal flames that incinerated all. The Black Beast Sect focused on cultivating shelled creatures like tortoises. Although they were slow, the beasts they commanded possessed the strongest defenses. And finally, the White Beast Sect. The White Beast Sect focused on furred creatures like lions or tigers. Of the four, they boasted the highest attacking power. None of them were satisfied with sharing dominion over the Xunshou Realm. Each one inherited a beast taming technique from a higher realm eons ago, so they all wanted to destroy the other and become the sole hegemon. None of them stayed still, and each one ventured into the Untamed Lands. The Untamed Lands was a dangerous area located in the very heart of the Xunshou Realm. Not only did dangerous demons and monsters inhabit the Untamed Lands, but it also carried many inheritances from eras long past. Had it not been for the fact that the monsters and demons couldn¡¯t leave the Untamed Lands without being tamed, the Xunshou Realm would not be ruled by humans. Thousands of years ago, the founders of the Azure Beast Sect, Vermillion Beast Sect, Black Beast Sect, and White Beast Sect ventured unto the Untamed Lands and obtained the inheritance still passed down through the Four Beasts Sect to this day. Together, they could have formed the strongest force in the world, but the four companions split up over an unknown reason and caused the current impasse of the modern Xunshou Realm. Legend had it that there was a slumbering divine beast at the very center of the Untamed Lands. Each of the four overlords sent elders and disciples into the Untamed Land every time it opened for a chance to tame the divine beast and sweep away the rest of its competitors. And now, nearly ten years had passed since the last opening of the Untamed Lands, meaning that it was once more time to enter and search for the elusive divine beast. At one of the many openings to the Untamed Lands, a bunch of beasts of all types had already arrived. Despite the varied species and number, they all stayed still, with nary a sign of acting out. Well, most of them, as tamers with enmity stared dangerously at another. The members of the Four Beast Sects only made up about thirty percent of the people gathered. Even if they were collectively known as the overlords, their infighting gave breathing space to many other forces. And these forces didn¡¯t want one of the Four Beasts Sects to become the sole hegemon. No, they wanted to take this coveted position for themselves. They just needed to tame the slumbering divine beast. Suddenly, a terrifying pressure descended. They all looked up to see a veritable army of beasts. Hundreds of insect beasts gathered from the sky. Because insects are easier to control, people have the misconception that they are easy to use, but that was far from the truth. Because insects don¡¯t have as strong a thought as most beasts, it required the tamer to use more spiritual sense to control each one. When the army of insect beasts landed, the other tamers finally saw who commanded this terrifying army. In the center of the swarm was a carriage pulled by two gigantic spiders. Sitting in the carriage was a beautiful woman in blue, and by her side was a purple-robed man with a sickly pallor. Chapter 429: The So-Called Divine Beast If Tianyi could, he would have merged with the carriage seat. Actually, that wasn¡¯t out of the realm of possibility for his current abilities. Changing his form only took a single thought, but he didn¡¯t want to show any weakness in front of Daoyi. ¡®¡®Damn stupid masculinity rearing its ugly head.¡¯ As a child, he thought all insects were cool. Spiders didn¡¯t count because they weren¡¯t insects. And they were extremely creepy. But back to the main point. He used to think insects were cool, but not now. Once they were gigantified to over two meters large, they transformed from cool to creepy. Tianyi didn¡¯t notice at first, but many insects actually had tiny imperceptible hair on their body. Once enlarged, they immediately became evident and super disgusting. Tianyi only noticed now because he hadn¡¯t ever attempted to catch insects ever since he reincarnated. He was too mentally mature for that. The worst one was undoubtedly the hairy tarantula-like bug that carried the carriage he and Daoyi sat on. Four servant-disciples stood behind the carriage as attendants. They had already come into the Xunshou Realm for over a month. Upon hearing about the legend, Daoyi¡¯s interest surged, and she collected an army of insects. Even if her skills couldn¡¯t compare to these dedicated beast tamers, she was still an immortal. In addition, she specialized in the soul path, making her immortal sense much stronger than these aboriginals of the Xunshou Realm. In fact, Daoyi¡¯s strongest spiritual beasts weren¡¯t the ones escorting the carriage. In fact, the majority of them were inside the clay jar in Daoyi¡¯s grasp. The clay jar itself looked like an ordinary clay pot less than thirty centimeters tall and fifteen centimeters at its widest, but the inside was deceptively large. In fact, the inside contained a miniature world over a kilometer large at its peak. Now, it had shrunk to less than five hundred meters. Inside the jar were most of the spiritual beasts Daoyi had captured. She had stuffed over nine hundred bug-type spiritual beasts inside the jar. The inner space of the jar did not have any food or much spiritual qi, and the only method to survive was to cannibalize the other bug-type spiritual beasts. In the end, only one would remain alive. It wasn¡¯t because it was strong that it survived, but because it survived that it was considered strong. Each of the nine hundred spiritual beasts were poisonous. Once they devoured another bug, their poison would evolve, becoming more complex until the final one had the ultimate poison. This was one of the most ancient and orthodox methods of creating Gu. Daoyi hadn¡¯t done this before, but the Immortal Court had several methods relating to creating Gu. Daoyi had attempted it on a whim. ¡®If only her whims weren¡¯t so terrifying,¡¯ Tianyi thought. Soon, the carriage arrived on the ground. All the other tamers that arrived took second glances at the couple. Most of them were at the core formation level or its equivalent, with a few grandmasters. Fewer still were the foundation establishment disciples. Although the Untamed Lands were dangerous, it was still a land of many opportunities, so many forces would send their disciples to venture inside to seek their own fortunes. Still, compared to Daoyi¡¯s clamorous entrance, even the members of the Four Beasts Sects appeared dull. When the carriage landed, a giant worm over five meters tall crawled over. Its head resembled that of a termite with two giant mandibles. It had a flat body with forty segments, each one sprouting silver hair-like spikes, but that wasn¡¯t the most eye-catching fact about it. No, it was the pearl-colored scales that reflected every color under the sunlight. Fittingly, it was called the Prismatic Scale Worm, and it exuded the power of a grandmaster. The worm raised its head above the open carriage and Daoyi scratched its chin like it was some sort of dog. Its mandible chattered like it was a cat purring. Tianyi couldn¡¯t help but scoot to the other end of the seat so he could be as far as possible from the worm. Naturally, everyone could see his movements. Most people couldn¡¯t help but disdain him. A few even openly snorted. In their eyes, it was evident that Daoyi was the true master of the bug-type spiritual beasts. As for Tianyi, he was likely someone lucky who happened to catch Daoyi¡¯s eyes. Maybe he was a gigolo that she fancied. Their hypothesis only solidified because they couldn¡¯t sense any cultivation base from Tianyi, marking him as a regular mortal.
¡°Tsk, tsk,¡± one disciple from the White Beast Sect grunted. ¡°That mortal just reached the peak of his life. Still, what a lowly trash, a phoenix man.¡± Phoenix man was a term used to denote males who climbed up the social ladder by relying on a woman. Most of the time, it related to marriage, but it could also refer to becoming a woman¡¯s gigolo. Most of the other tamers didn¡¯t dare to comment, fearing the reprisal of the woman in blue. They couldn¡¯t sense her cultivation base clearly, but it was definitely near or at the grandmaster level. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t have been able to control over a hundred spiritual beasts at the master level. However, he was from one of the four overlord sects, so he didn¡¯t think a grandmaster tamer would find fault with him over a mortal. The disciple blinked when he saw Tianyi glance at him. Although he wasn¡¯t afraid of Daoyi¡¯s reprisal, it didn¡¯t mean he would antagonize her for a mere mortal. He just said those words for his fellow disciples and elders to hear. They also chuckled, but it seemed that the mortal actually heard him from so far away?This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. He didn¡¯t know how a regular mortal could hear him, but it didn¡¯t prevent disdain from appearing on the disciple¡¯s face. To test if the man could hear him, the disciple continued, ¡°What? Angry? As a man, don¡¯t you feel ashamed relying on a woman?¡± Tianyi¡¯s eyes narrowed, and the disciple blinked. He could see that Tianyi had heard him, but that was impossible for a mortal. Still, he didn¡¯t care too much. Just like with Daoyi, the disciple didn¡¯t believe Tianyi had the guts to find trouble with the White Beast Sect. However, he miscalculated. Suddenly, a crushing pressure descended onto him. It didn¡¯t cause him to fall onto his knees, but shackled him in place. It felt as if space was constricting all around him, restricting his blood circulation and squeezing his heart. The worst part was that none of his fellow sect members detected anything out of the ordinary. ¡°Is something wrong?¡± a junior brother asked. The disciple felt the pressure disappear. ¡°Did you sense anything weird?¡± ¡°Weird, like how?¡± the junior brother asked. ¡°Is the entrance going to be opened?¡± The disciple looked away and looked at the sect elder. The sect elder wasn¡¯t paying attention to him and was looking at the entrance. It was obvious from the elder¡¯s lack of reaction that he had sensed nothing. Otherwise, he would have taken action. He looked at Tianyi, who curled his lips upward. The disciple never felt the chill of death so close. Even though he was a beast tamer, it didn¡¯t mean he hadn¡¯t experienced any close brushes with death, but none of them could compare to now. The disciple instinctively knew that the seemingly phoenix man could crush him like a bug with but a thought. Even if he died, it was unlikely that anyone would relate his sudden death to the man. They would never be able to imagine that the seemingly mortal man¡¯s power would be so esoteric. They would only pin the blame on the Untamed Lands. Perhaps, only the legendary grand elder of the White Beast Sect could accomplish this, the disciple thought. After that, he didn¡¯t dare to laugh at Tianyi and became rather subdued.
¡°I thought you would kill him,¡± Daoyi said, after petting the Prismatic Scale Worm and letting it retreat. Tianyi rolled his eyes. ¡°What kind of butcher do you think I am? He only said a few words. Although it¡¯s annoying, it¡¯s not punishable by death. Besides, doesn¡¯t he look much cuter like this? So fearful yet not daring to say anything.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ve seen people killed for lesser reasons,¡± Daoyi said, ignoring the latter half of his words. ¡°Please, this isn¡¯t the apocalypse,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°If he attacked me, I wouldn¡¯t kill him, but I will make his life hell.¡± ¡°And sometimes, you¡¯re worse than the assholes I met there.¡± Tianyi sat up. ¡°What, why?!¡± The Prismatic Scale Worm raised its head. He immediately retreated. It brought a second round of disdain and punishment. Some of those that felt Tianyi¡¯s terrifying strength attempted to tattle tale, but it was for naught. Everyone believed in their own abilities and didn¡¯t believe that someone could pressure someone so close without them noticing. Not to mention the people Tianyi targeted this time were core formation masters. Still, this didn¡¯t stop people from making note of the incident. They didn¡¯t pay attention to Tianyi but to Daoyi. In their eyes, it was she who acted out in anger. Some people thought she was too tyrannical for punishing people for saying a few words, but no direct confrontation occurred. More importantly, it raised their wariness. They didn¡¯t recognize Daoyi or her spiritual beasts. In the end, they thought she was a reclusive expert that finally appeared for the opportunities in the Untamed Lands. The situation didn¡¯t last long as the entrance to the Untamed Lands opened. The so-called entrance was an opening in the barrier around the forbidden area. As the group closest to the entrance, the White Beast Sect members entered first. None of the other groups said anything. They were long used to the situation. The only thing of note was a single disciple staring at Tianyi before entering. Once the members of the White Beast Sect entered, a few established groups entered next. They all stared at Daoyi, making sure that she didn¡¯t want to enter first. Although the order entering the Untamed Lands didn¡¯t matter much, it also represented a force¡¯s influence. For example, the members of the Four Beasts Sects waiting at the other entrance would also enter first. Only once all the nascent soul beast tamers entered did Daoyi¡¯s army of insects move. The only groups remaining were formed from core formation beast tamers, and they also followed the unwritten rules, letting Daoyi enter. When Daoyi and Tianyi entered, they didn¡¯t wait long and directly flew into the air. Although other people couldn¡¯t see through the barrier, it couldn¡¯t stop Daoyi or Tianyi¡¯s perception. So they already had a destination in mind. The people who already entered also started to explore. However, none of them acted as high profile as Tianyi and Daoyi. They could already predict what happened next, and the event in their minds occurred like they expected. A core formation monster arose out of the thicket of trees and charged at the insect procession. One insect separated and dealt with the lone core formation monster. However, that was the only beginning as more and more monsters arose out of the thickets. None of the core formation monsters could block Daoyi¡¯s path. However, a kilometer in, a nascent soul monster flew out and rushed toward the group. Like before, an insect from the procession separated and dealt with the pack. Soon, more and more nascent soul monsters flew out. They weren¡¯t alone and accompanied by many master or disciple-level monsters. All the beast tamers shook their heads when the procession disappeared from sight. Even if they could charge through bravely now, it would be buried under the endless tide of monsters. They weren¡¯t the scariest part, rather the monsters that could think and strategize, demons. These demons were the masters of this land, not them. Unknown to the native denizens of the Xunshou Realm, Daoyi and Tianyi continued deeper in without trouble. Sure, the number of bug-type spiritual beasts lessened, but it didn¡¯t matter to Daoyi. At the end, only the Prismatic Scale Worm and the hairy tarantula monster survived, and they emanated an aura of a peak nascent soul grandmaster-level monster. Still, none of the monsters or demons inhabiting the Untamed Land could sense it or the carriage. Daoyi had cloaked them in a sphere of death. Living creatures would be able to instinctively sense other living creatures. Daoyi¡¯s sphere had cut this off. So, they were practically invisible to the other monsters or demons. Even if they saw them, the monsters would only think it was a small bug or insect due to their weak presence. Their goal was the center of the Untamed Lands, and they arrived before the end of the day. It was only then that they caught sight of the slumbering divine beast. Tianyi pursed his lips. ¡°This is the so-called divine beast? I mean, I knew it was impossible to be an actual divine beast, but this is just disappointing.¡± Chapter 430: The Divine Beasts True Form In the center of the untamed land was a pit. At first glance, it appeared to be a bottomless abyss due to the color of the rocks and soil that made up it. However, once a day, when the light hit it at the perfect angle, the pit exuded a maroon sheen. Slumbering at the center of the black pit was a beast with a deer-like body and antlers, cloven hoofs, and a horse-like tail. But the most eye-catching feature of the beast was the blood-red scales covering its body. Not just the carp-like scales, but even the beard flowing down from his chin, wild mane, and antlers were of a similar color. To the clueless observer, the beast resembled the legendary qilin. At least at first. As an auspicious beast associated with good fortune, there was no way a qilin would be surrounded by such a bloody aura. Only qilins who went against their nature or fallen to darker influences would produce such a contrary aura, but the beast at the center wasn¡¯t a true qilin. It only had the form of a qilin. Suddenly, the blood-red qilin beast snapped its eyes open and stood up. It bared its teeth and growled. Its eyes only revealed its bestial instincts. A true qilin would have sentience upon birth, possessing wisdom beyond an adult man. Still, this did not mean that the qilin-like beast wasn¡¯t related to a qilin. The qilin beast¡¯s eyes scanned its surroundings. Aside from the rustling of the wind and a few clumps of soil rolling down the pit, nothing was amiss. At least, it seemed so at first glance. However, the qilin beast was not fooled. The unnatural beast reared back onto its hind legs and stomped the ground. The ground quaked, and a crack appeared in front of the qilin beast¡¯s front hooves. It didn¡¯t stop there as it stretched outward, causing black soil to fall into it and emitting a red light in the process. Once the fissure reached midway from the center to the perimeter, it intensified, forming a hole. From within the hole, several figures jumped out. Most of them were inhumane beasts like tigers, foxes, and bears, except for two humanoids. The two humans wore white robes with black accents, identifying them as elders of the White Beast Sect. ¡°Sure enough, we were discovered,¡± a grandmaster of the White Beast Sect, Elder Ringbear, said. The other grandmaster elder didn¡¯t say anything and looked at the hole with an ugly expression. Inside the hole was a beast''s corpse. The beast had the front half of a mole and the back of a bear. It was his spiritual beast. ¡°Dammit,¡± Elder Foxclaw said. To increase the success in subduing the divine beast, both of them had brought their strongest tamed beast. Each one was at the grandmaster level, and losing one was a catastrophic loss. ¡°Don¡¯t dwell on it. We should focus on the divine beast. The sect will reimburse you once you get back,¡± Elder Ringbear said. ¡°Careful, it¡¯s coming.¡± The two elders of the White Beast Sect separated as the blood-red beast charged at the duo. Ringbear stood atop a fifteen-meter tall bear with gold-fur, while Foxclaw stood atop a twenty-meter long two-tailed fox with razor-sharp claws. Those two spiritual beasts managed to dodge, but three of them didn¡¯t. Although those three beasts didn¡¯t immediately die like the mole-like beast, their combat potential had dramatically dropped from the injuries inflicted by the qilin beast¡¯s ram. The qilin beast should have continued and eliminated the three beasts as soon as possible, but instead, it charged toward the brown-gold bear that roared at it. The qilin beast charged at the fifteen-meter bear and punctured its thick hide with its antlers. The bear roared in pain, but it still held onto the qilin beast¡¯s neck. ¡°Now!¡± Foxclaw didn¡¯t need Ringbear¡¯s cue, as he had already ordered his lifebound spiritual beast to attack the qilin beast. The two-tailed fox released a high-pitched yelp and jumped into the air. It spun its body and slammed its tails onto the qilin beast like a whip. The qilin beast only grunted as a metallic clang echoed in the air. Two white marks remained on the blood-red scales. The qilin beast roared and lifted the gold-brown bear off its feet before launching it into the distance. Even then, it didn¡¯t let up as it charged at the down beast. Foxclaw attempted to stop it by having the two-tailed fox ram it, but it did nothing to dampen the qilin beast¡¯s momentum. In their haste, the two could only command the other spiritual beasts to delay or block him. Their power paled in comparison to the qilin beast. ¡°How is this possible?¡± Ringbear asked. Although he managed to save his lifebound spiritual beast, two of his spiritual beasts and one of Foxclaw¡¯s spiritual beasts died to defend him. The price was heavy, but it was better than having his gold-brown bear severely injured or killed, as that would have left him a sitting duck. Both Ringbear and Foxclaw could discern that the divine beast didn¡¯t surpass the grandmaster-level, yet why was it so powerful? ¡°Should we retreat and regroup?¡± Foxclaw suggested. Ringbear shook his head. ¡°No! We¡¯ve made it so far. How can we go back without the divine beast? It was only through luck that we made it all the way here. Who knows when we can find the divine beast again after this? We cannot give up.¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Foxclaw wanted to say something, but he didn¡¯t have time as the qilin beast attacked them once more. He could only counterattack and do his best to subdue the qilin beast with Ringbear¡¯s aid. Alas, the two underestimated the power of the qilin beast. It was as if the qilin beast had an endless supply of energy. The battle dragged on for over an hour. By then, both Ringbear and Foxclaw were left with only their lifebound spiritual beasts. Cracked scales covered the qilin beast¡¯s body, and blood dripped from its wound. Though it was hard to tell on its scales. ¡°Dammit, after all that, we¡¯ve only managed to crack the scales on its body,¡± Foxclaw said from atop his spiritual beast. The two-tailed fox¡¯s shiny fur was covered in dust and blood, and one of its legs was bent in an unnatural direction. ¡°I hate to say this, but we have no choice but to retreat. If we continue to stay here, then we will die without any meaning,¡± Ringbear said. Foxclaw and Ringbear both nodded. They ordered their lifebound spiritual beasts to flee, but how could the qilin beast allow the two intruders to do as they wish? The qilin beast roared and chased after them. At this time, the two grandmasters formed several hand seals. The corpses of the beasts the qilin beast killed started to thrum. Then they emanated waves of spiritual qi, and the next second, they exploded. The ground quaked as craters filled the ground. What was left was a bleeding qilin beast. Despite its injuries, it still roared and charged after the two elders of the White Beast Sect, obviously far from its limit. ¡°Dammit, I thought those beast explosions would have injured it more,¡± Ringbear said. Foxclaw said nothing and focused on fleeing. Perhaps if it had been their grand elder, he might have stood a chance at subduing the divine beast. Just as the two reached the perimeter of the bit, a tortoise shell filled their vision. They slammed into an invisible wall before bouncing back toward the charging qilin beast. ¡°Black Beast Sect!¡± The two only had time to howl those last words as the qilin beast was upon them. He tore through their spiritual beasts, damaging their spiritual cores in the process. They didn¡¯t even have time to compose themselves as the qilin beast was upon them. The sounds of cracking bone and squashing flesh filled the air as the qilin beast chewed. While it did so, the beast glared at the thirty-meter long tortoise with hostility. Standing atop the tortoise was a man wearing black robes, the signature color of the Black Beast Sect. He was the grand elder of the Black Beast Sect. ¡°Tsk, so useless. Even at the moment of their deaths, they only injured the divine beast so little? I guess I¡¯m going to have to work harder,¡± the grand elder of the Black Beast Sect said. Under his control, the black tortoise under him lumbered forward. The qilin beast roared and charged at the colossal tortoise. The tortoise did nothing as the qilin beast rammed it. It shrieked as part of its shell dented, but simultaneously, an explosive crack rang from the qilin body, in the exact same position as the tortoise. The grand elder cast a spell to heal the tortoise. ¡°I can heal, but can you?¡± Just as the grand elder was about to laugh at his imminent victory, it was caught in his throat. The red light that was spilling from the fissure gathered upon the qilin beast. And its injuries healed at a pace faster than even the tortoise spiritual beast. His expression darkened. ¡°Even if I can outlast you, the others from the Azure and Vermillion Beast Sects will arrive. In that case, it¡¯s better to drag them here and use them as cannon fodder. All I need to do is to outlast them.¡± The grand elder¡¯s spiritual beast hidden in the distance began to move. Under their deliberate control, they led the elders of the Azure and Vermillion Beasts Sect to the crater. ¡°Hahaha, aren¡¯t you sneaky, Grandmaster Guidun?¡± an elder from the Vermillion Beast Sect, standing atop a fiery sparrow with over fifteen meters in wingspan, asked. At this time, a blue-scaled serpent slid past the tortoise and charged at the qilin beast. Standing atop the serpent was an elder of the Azure Beast Sect. His actions caused the Vermillion Beast Sect elder to click his tongue and join. With all the actors on stage, the fight continued. The elders of the Azure and Vermillion Beasts Sect used everything in their arsenal to attack the qilin beast. Due to the low offensive power of the tortoise, the grand elder of the Black Beast Sect could only allow his rivals to use him as a distraction whenever they weren¡¯t attacking. The battle raged on. Had it not been for the fact that all three forces were present, they might have retreated. However, they couldn¡¯t risk a rival sect subduing the divine beast, which forced them to stay until the bitter end. Finally, after many sacrifices, the qilin beast fell to its knees. The Azure and Vermillion Beasts Sects elders only had their lifebound spiritual beasts left, but they were in terrible shape. Even Guidun, the grand elder of the Black Beast Sect, had nearly run out of true qi, which made it all but impossible to heal his tortoise. Said beast had a large crack spreading from end to end on its shell. With the qilin beast down for the count, the three opposing grandmasters focused on each other. The elders of the Azure and Vermillion Beasts Sect shared a look, and as if they had premeditated, attacked the grand elder of the Black Beast Sect. ¡°Hmpf, don¡¯t think you two can defeat me. Just look at yourselves. You can barely stand,¡± Guidun mocked. The two opposing elders didn¡¯t say anything. They didn¡¯t have the spare energy. Unfortunately for the three, they made a grave miscalculation. The qilin beast, which seemed to be on its last legs, started to change. Its steel-like scales started to warp and merge together, forming a singular surface. Its legs and head shrunk into its body. After a few seconds, it had transformed into a floating sphere of blood. This was the divine beast¡¯s true form, a drop of blood spilled by a qilin thousands of years ago. The drop of qilin blood exuded a blood-colored ray. The radiance penetrated the three spiritual beasts and grandmasters, finally catching their attention. However, it was too late for them to do anything. Everything under the spiritual light withered at a visible pace. Oh, the three grandmasters struggled, even attempting to detonate their spiritual beasts, but they found themselves shackled. And so, the three grandmasters and the spiritual beasts were reduced into husks. Their corpses shattered as they fell to the ground. Still, the drop of qilin blood didn¡¯t stop as its radiance filled the entire Untamed Lands. Just as it wanted to absorb the blood of all life within and evolve, a sphere formed of a thin, black membrane encased it. Daoyi and Tianyi looked down at the drop of blood from the sky. The space around them was the only place where the blood-red radiance failed to reach. Chapter 431: The Primordial Realm Tianyi and Daoyi looked down from above. It was not without reason that the members of the Four Beasts Sects could discover the so-called divine beast during the current opening of the Untamed Lands and not the previous times. When they entered the Untamed Lands, they had dismantled the natural formations that governed it and prevented outsiders from entering the core. The pit where the drop of qilin blood resided was naturally the core of the entire Untamed Lands. It would not be without reason to say that the entire Untamed Lands were born because of it, either. Because of the strong aura exuded by the blood, the land had been transformed. If no accident happened, the drop of qilin blood would have merged with the entire land. But an accident did happen. The drop of qilin blood had become a living being. It had a deep connection with the Untamed Lands and instinctively sought out to regain its strength. The qilin beast¡¯s strength would continue to grow with the passage of time. All blood shed would flow to the black pit because of the natural formations and become a part of the qilin beast¡¯s power. As long as enough time passed, it would not be out of the realm of possibility for it to evolve into a mutant qilin. When that happened, it would be a disaster for the entire Xunshou Realm. All it needed to do was wait. Unfortunately for the qilin beast, another accident happened¡ªthis time to its detriment. Daoyi and Tianyi had decided to pay a visit to the Xunshou Realm and discovered it. Although most of its strength was still drained, it was still a drop of qilin blood at its core. It wasn¡¯t as rare as phoenix feathers or qilin horns, but it was still a valuable commodity. There was no reason not to grab it. ¡°That was kinda mean,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°Luring those cultivators to the blood drop beast. It was impossible for them to win as long as it was within the formation core. And they didn¡¯t even know it.¡± ¡°I gave them a choice. They had many chances to retreat, but they were too greedy,¡± Daoyi said without a shred of pity. ¡°In the end, they couldn¡¯t grasp the chance at life and chose death.¡± Tianyi said nothing. It was true that they made foolish choices, but that was because of their incomplete knowledge and many other factors. Each one had needed to consider the force behind them. If they allowed another force to claim the blood drop beast, impossible as it was, then it would only spell eventual doom for the other three forces. ¡°So, do you want it?¡± Tianyi asked. The thought of failing never crossed his mind. The blood drop qilin only had power comparable to a unity venerable, far from an immortal lord¡¯s opponent, much less an immortal monarch. ¡°I want to take it back and research it,¡± Daoyi said. ¡°It still amazes me how a drop of blood could birth life. Although it hasn¡¯t opened its spirituality, it would only be a matter of time.¡± ¡°It is pretty amazing,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°The blood drop qilin¡¯s background must not be simple. Even if the qilin that shed its blood was a demon sovereign, the chances of it spawning life are infinitely small. Do you think that its origin is from a qilin at the Divine Realm?¡± ¡°Then the drop of blood would have had to exist from the primordial era,¡± Daoyi said. She didn¡¯t waste anymore words and waved her hand. The black sphere hiding their presence disappeared. The spherical blood drop qilin finally noticed them. It felt an instinctive fear and wariness toward the two immortals and focused the rays of light into them. However, it did nothing and Daoyi reached out. Tiny, invisible strands of silk shot out from her sleeve and wrapped around the blood drop qilin. The blood drop qilin wanted to escape. It attempted to use its fluid state to slip through the silk bindings, but it discovered that the silk bindings emitted a particular energy that forced it to keep its form. Oh, it resisted, but it was for naught. Nothing it did could even make the silk bindings tremble. Blood-red rays disappeared as the blood drop qilin¡¯s connection to the Untamed Land disappeared. Once the rays of light disappeared, all the cultivators in the Untamed Lands breathed a sigh of relief. The nascent soul grandmasters could resist for a chance of life, but the same couldn¡¯t be said for the core formation masters and foundation establishment disciples. Half the core formation masters died and none of the foundation establishment disciples survived. The blood drop qilin¡¯s size shrunk and floated up until it hovered above Daoyi¡¯s palm, no larger than said palm. At its compress size, it resembled a jewel more than the liquid of life. Daoyi felt something prick against her skin as her spiritual beast, the Dreamsilk Weaver Beast, crawled down her shoulder and up her arms. She could feel Shuijing¡¯s intense desire for the orb of blood through their connection. ¡°No, you can¡¯t,¡± Daoyi said, as she used her free hand to block the spider-like beast. Alas, she could not allow her spiritual beast to devour it, at least not now. She stared at, marveled at its beauty. Still, she sighed and handed it over to Tianyi. ¡°Put it on Fourth Heaven inside your inner universe. We¡¯re still on our honeymoon. I¡¯ll study it some more after it¡¯s over.¡± ¡°Alright,¡± Tianyi said. He grabbed the blood drop beast with his bare hands. Daoyi had rescinded her silk threads, but it was still powerless in Tianyi''s grasp as it discovered a spacetime formation had appeared around it, trapping it even worse than the silk had. A portal to the Nine Heavens Universe opened inside Tianyi¡¯s palm, transporting the blood drop beast inside. It lay atop a mountain in the hemisphere that the giant tree had sprouted from, still trapped. Tianyi wasn¡¯t done as he stared at the Untamed Lands.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. He could attempt to transplant the entire Untamed Lands, but that would incur heavenly punishment. Instead, Tianyi just observed the natural formation and copied it. Inside the Nine Heavens Universe, the land around the blood drop qilin changed. Gone were its verdant green trees and pastures, and in its place were blood-red ferns, blood-soaked planes, and more. Upon feeling the changes in its environment, the blood drop qilin also appeared mollified. It was acclimating itself to its new home, or rather, prison. Tianyi would not release the seal on the blood drop qilin even as it grew in power. Perhaps he would let up once it became a mutant qilin and his or Daoyi¡¯s spiritual beast, but definitely not now. With everything done, Tianyi turned toward Daoyi. ¡°What now? Do you want to sightsee a bit more, or do you want to go to the next one?¡± ¡°There¡¯s nothing worth visiting anymore in the Xunshou Realm. Let¡¯s go to the next destination,¡± Daoyi said. ¡°Okay.¡± Daoyi raised her hand, and the Prismatic Scale Worm and the hairy tarantula beast shrunk and flew into the pot in her arms. Next, the group vanished from the sky of the Xunshou Realm. When the cultivators escaped the Untamed Lands, word of what happened soon spread. The Four Beasts Sects eyed each other with suspicion. Each one suspected foul play, but they also suspected that the divine beast had awakened. Otherwise, there was no way all the grandmaster beast tamers they dispatched into the Untamed Land would perish inside. Although it brought tragedy, it also gave them hope. As long as the Untamed Land opened again in a hundred years, they would have another chance to tame it. The only one most affected was the Black Beast Sect. It would be hard for them to produce another grand elder. But before any of them could wait for the Untamed Land to open again, the barrier around it vanished. The monsters and demons inside rushed out in a horde. Dominance over the Xunshou Realm no longer belonged solely to the humans, as they and the beasts waged war against each other. It was only when the Xunshou Realm merged with the Huang Realm would humanity defeat the beasts. However, by then, the Four Beasts Sects were no longer the overlords. They were just one of many inconsequential forces that littered the Huang Realm. Tianyi and Daoyi visited many other realms. Each realm had its own characteristics, although most resembled the Huang Realm on a smaller scale. Some realms were made entirely of seas and forces had to occupy the various archipelagos. The cultivators in that realm mostly consisted of those with water spiritual roots. Before leaving, Daoyi left behind information on Living Pills and methods to prevent exploitation when they merged with the Huang Realm. Would some evil cultivators use the information to attempt to create living pills? Yes, but it was still better than finding out without any way to defend. Another realm Tianyi and Daoyi visited didn¡¯t have any ground, just floating landmasses. There, artificers ruled. They created massive flying warships and mobile fortresses. In that realm, the individual didn¡¯t matter; it was how they operated the weapons that mattered. Sects existed, but most forces were composed of city-states. And the strongest force was an alliance of city-states. Out of all the realms they visited, this was the closest to Earth¡¯s society before the apocalypse. It was a fun trip. Tianyi even grabbed a few broken ships and fortresses to study. Aside from the middle-rank and lower-rank realms, Tianyi and Daoyi also visited the desolate realm. Contrary to regular realms, desolate realms lacked something crucial. They weren¡¯t so unstable as to implode in on themselves, but they were inhospitable. For example, Tianyi visited a desolate realm where the majority of the world was composed of thunder and lightning, with very little else available. It was all but impossible for life to breed here. The couple visited more desolate realms. Ones of fire, water, earth, wood, and metal. Although desolate realms were lacking, they were not without merits. Because of their unique nature, certain laws were stronger in the desolate realm, and more easily sensed. By now, the honeymoon had ended, and Tianyi and Daoyi focused on comprehending the laws from the desolate realms. Daoyi still wanted to master the law of life, but if anything, it was more likely for desolate realms to contain the law of death, something she had already mastered. Tianyi focused on the Law of Light, Law of Darkness, Law of Yang, and Law of Yin. Everything had yin and yang. Lightning was yang, while thunder was yin. Fire was the bringer of civilization, but it was also its destroyer. Wood represented endless vitality, but if it absorbed too much, it would bring death. In fire-attribute desolate realms, light existed everywhere, but the same couldn¡¯t be said for those of earth and water. It was a complete darkness, and with darkness brought cold. By the time Tianyi and Daoyi returned to the Huang Realm, they had spent a total of fifty years on their honeymoon. ¡°Welcome back,¡± Mengfei said. Tianyi pursed his lips. ¡°What are you talking about? Wasn¡¯t I spending a lot of time with you? It¡¯s not like I wasn¡¯t present.¡± Mengfei shook her head. ¡°No, this is different.¡± The immortal sovereign didn¡¯t elaborate. Instead, she stared at Daoyi, specifically at her belly. Tianyi didn¡¯t need to be a mind reader to know what his mother was thinking. Which is why he made sure to divert the topic as soon as possible. With his current status as a literal universe, it was impossible to conceive a child naturally with Daoyi. He didn¡¯t mind having a child¡ªalthough he would have to create his own sperm¡ªbut not now. He still felt it was too early, despite the centuries under his belt. Life returned to normal. Daoyi continued to dwell on the Law of Life while he focused on completing the Huang Realm¡¯s ascension. The peace lasted for a few hundred years. One day, out of nowhere, the black and white tinted skies disappeared. Raindrops formed of spiritual qi fell from the sky and onto the land, nourishing all it touched. Not just the sky, but the ground also celebrated. It thrummed, and a warmth emanated and congealed onto all those who stood on it, be it an elderly man, a young woman, an unknowing infant, even a clueless beast. This was the Huang Realm¡¯s song of happiness. It had evolved to the peak of an immortal-rank realm. Any higher and it would become a divine-rank realm. Simultaneously, every single person with conscious thought stared at the sky. They could see a massive mountain range floating in the air, no matter where they stood. It was infinitely far, yet it was as though they could still see it as if they stood in front of it. The word Immortal Court appeared in their mind. A powerful consciousness emanated from the immortal court and covered every inch of the Huang Realm. And a voice echoed. The voice did not resemble the authoritarian baritone of Xia Meng, nor the ephemeral chime of Xi Mengfei. All the same, it carried an inviolable majesty, like an imperial decree. ¡°Henceforth, the Huang Realm will be known as the Primordial Realm.¡± Chapter 432: Meng Tingfeng In the Virtuous Realm, the founder of the Saintly Scholar School, Confucius, stared out of the hall. His gaze pierced the dimensional boundary of the Virtuous Realm and into the Primordial Realm. After creating the Virtuous Realm, Confucius had allowed the Saintly Scholar School to enter the background. As a result, new forces arose, though they called themselves schools because of the Saintly Scholar School¡¯s influence. Although their numbers exceeded a hundred, they came to be known as the Hundred School of Thoughts. Exceptional cultivators from them would be granted an invitation to join the Saintly Scholar School, bolstering the hegemon while maintaining an invisible influence. ¡°They finished far faster than I calculated,¡± Confucius said, to no one in particular. Seconds later, footsteps echoed in the empty hall as a slovenly dressed daoist with a sword slung over his back walked in. In his hand, he carried a wine jug that he periodically drank from. ¡°Ha, I knew that the Xi kid was special the moment I met him, but I didn¡¯t expect him to grow up to have such ability or so fast.¡± Confucius smiled. Instead, he picked up the teakettle next to him. ¡°Tea?¡± ¡°Just fill it halfway,¡± Daoist Lu said. He took the half-filled cup and poured a dollop of wine into it from his jug. After a few swirls, he downed the entire cup and released a satisfied sigh. ¡°Just the best.¡± ¡°Want some?¡± Daoist Lu, raising his wine jug. Confucius only quirked an eyebrow. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want to become one return to your prime?¡± Confucius asked. ¡°Once you do, you might even return to your peak and gain the backing to control the entire realm system as you once wished.¡± Daoist Lu shook his head, and he took another swig. ¡°I¡¯ve already learned my lesson. The King Duke of the East died because of his ambition to control all divinities under his rule. Why waste effort on external means? Personal strength is most important.¡± ¡°Did you forget about Haotian? He succeeded.¡± ¡°A lot of good that did him,¡± Daoist Lu said. ¡°For all his schemes and wisdom, he couldn¡¯t maintain anything beyond appearances. Try as he might, he could not elude you three¡¯s interference. I¡¯m quite thankful I failed and reincarnated, otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t have had the chance like Haotian. It was only after the Heavenly Lord of Primordial Beginning seized control of the Immortal Court that it could rule the Three Realms System. Still, I learned one thing from this. Authority doesn¡¯t matter if you don¡¯t possess the power.¡± ¡°If it¡¯s power you seek, why not merge into one again?¡± Confucius asked once more. ¡°You have the chance to reach the same height as my past self.¡± ¡°It¡¯s far too late,¡± Daoist Lu said with a shake of his head. ¡°Most of my power and essence gave birth to sentience and was taken by the Heavenly Lord of Primordial Beginning, remember? While my current self is but an amalgamation of a broken soul with fractured memories, at best. If I were to merge back, I do not know who we would be in the end. Would we return to our original selves or something new entirely? That is, if my other half is inclined to do so. He seems quite enamored with his current role.¡± Confucius made a noncommittal grunt. ¡°So?¡± Daoist Lu asked. ¡°Do you plan to intervene with the Jade and Numinous Conference?¡± ¡°Hardly,¡± Confucius said. ¡°I¡¯ll let the two lineages of the heavenly lords play management. As you said, nothing is more important than personal power. By the time they unify the entire Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, my strength will be beyond theirs.¡± ¡°As will mine,¡± Daoist Lu said, taking another swig from his wine jug.
Atop the Immortal Confining Sword Peak of the Numinous Sword Sect sat Emperor Yanxu. No, it should be Sovereign Yanxu now. Despite losing the Immortal Confining Sword to Mengfei, he did not abdicate his position as the Immortal Confining Peak Master. It was a mark of shame he would forever carry until he could absolve himself of the humiliation. Like Confucius, Sovereign Yanxu stared into the sky, but his gazes penetrated the dimensional boundaries of the Numinous Realm and focused upon the Primordial Realm. Plans to disrupt the ascension of the former Huang Realm were already in the talks, but they raised the foundation of the immortal-rank realm far faster than anyone in the Numinous Sword Sect had ever expected. He, along with his compatriots, could not discover how their rivaling force accomplished such a feat. Even if they maximized the speed, it would still take over tens of thousands of years, and the price was too high to bear. Sovereign Yanxu had to admit that their rivals had inherited more from the primordial era than the Numinous Sword Sect. The only reason the Numinous Sword Sect had unified the Numinous Realm before the Buzhou Immortal Sect was primarily due to luck, plain and simple. Sure, the fact that sword immortals possessed higher than average combat power played a huge role, but it would have taken far more effort and time had they not possessed two of the four Immortal Extermination Swords at the time. The divine artifacts allowed them to sweep the realm once they had finished all preparations.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. In addition, the Numinous Realm only had two continents, one twice as large as the other. So, it made it easier to unite than having three main continents like the former Huang Realm. Another fact that helped was that the Numinous Sword Sect had received a relatively more complete heritage than the other budding forces, allowing them greater advantages with the passage of time. Still, those advantages had demerits. As a whole, they were more specialized than the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Sure, their combatants might be equal, but the Buzhou Immortal Sects could produce more and higher quality artifacts, formations, and pills. Now, the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡­ No, the Buzhou Immortal Court¡ªSovereign Yanxu refused to call them the Immortal Court¡ªhad conquered the entirety of the Huang Realm and even upgraded it, their advantages would only shine more. The Numinous Sword Sect had sent many expeditions into the Primordial Broken World in order to salvage more inheritances and bolster their weaknesses. Still, that was something to consider for another time in light of the Buzhou Immortal Court¡¯s most recent action. They had sent invitations to what they called the Jade and Numinous Conference. The conference¡¯s main focus was to form an alliance against the Buddhists and the Demon Clans hiding in the Pure Lands Pseudo-System and Divine Beast Pseudo-System, respectively. Sovereign Yanxu briefly considered attacking the Buzhou Immortal Court and nipping them at the bud. The Buzhou Immortal Court was the greatest threat to the Numinous Sword Sect, over the Demon Clan and Buddhists. ¡°Master.¡± Sovereign Yanxu broke out of his thoughts to see his disciple, Bao Ling. ¡®Have I gotten old? I know I was deep in my thoughts, but to think I couldn¡¯t detect my disciple arriving. Truly, he is the hope of the Numinous Sword Sect.¡¯ ¡°What do you think of the Jade and Numinous Conference proposed by the Buzhou Immortal Sect?¡± Contrary to Sovereign Yanxu¡¯s hopes, but more in line with Bao Ling¡¯s character, he had secluded himself from sect matters upon reaching the Immortal Realm. Even after achieving the rank of grand elder, Bao Ling was content to only bear the name of the position and none of the authority or burdens. He was wholeheartedly devoted to the sword. Well, at the very least, the other elders were quite happy that no new players joined them. Sovereign Yanxu shook his head. Many of the immortal elders lost their confidence in cultivation. Now, they played the game of politics. He supposed this was a downside of becoming the absolute hegemon of the Numinous Realm. With no immediate danger motivating them, they could not muster enough motivation to improve themselves. Oh, he and the other grand elders knew of this problem, but fixing it was another matter. Only when conflicts arose would a burst of new blood flood the Numinous Sword Sect. Conflicts like the eventual war against the Buzhou Immortal Court, or the Divine Beast Pseudo System and Pure Lands Pseudo System. ¡°There¡¯s no reason not to join,¡± Bao Ling said as he crossed his arm. ¡°Whether the Numinous Sword Sect or the Buzhou Immortal Court rules the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, we are both orthodox members of Daoism. It¡¯s better to eliminate the Buddhists and Demon Clans.¡± Sovereign Yanxu nodded. ¡°You should focus on your cultivation. The Numinous Sword Sect will need your strength once we cross blades with the Buzhou Immortal Court. Although you took several hundred years longer to reach the Extremity Immortal Realm than Xi Tianyi, I believe you will reach the Origin Immortal Realm faster than him and his mother, Xi Mengfei.¡± Then his eyes drifted to the sword Bao Ling hugged against his chest. The sword in his possession wasn¡¯t the Immortal Ending Sword he carried before his immortal ascension, but a cyan colored sword, both in hilt, scabbard, and blade. ¡°Where¡¯s the Immortal Ending Sword?¡± ¡°In my spatial ring,¡± Bao Ling said. ¡°I¡¯m nurturing my lifebound sword. One day in the future, it will exceed the four Immortal Extermination Swords.¡± Sovereign Yanxu smiled. How hard was that? There was a reason why the former owner of the Immortal Extermination Swords was known as a heavenly lord. Even among divinities, only his fellow heavenly lords were his equals. All other divinities were inferior. Still, it was a wonderful goal to have. At least Bao Ling wouldn¡¯t lose motivation for a long time, Sovereign Yanxu mused. ¡°If that¡¯s your chosen path, I will not interfere,¡± Sovereign Yanxu said. He placed the Immortal Ending Sword on his lap and gently caressed the scabbard, as if lost in memories. ¡°If you decide on a certain path, commit to it. Never lose confidence and cut everything that stands in your way. Only then can you call yourself a sword immortal.¡± ¡°You have to prepare yourself,¡± Sovereign Yanxu continued. ¡°Although a battle might not break out between our two sects, there will definitely be a competition. It will be a proxy war to determine the hierarchy of our relationship. Although it shouldn¡¯t amount to too much influence, I still don¡¯t want to lose. As the most outstanding member of recent years, you must reign uncontested.¡± Bao Ling nodded. Sovereign Yanxu didn¡¯t know if his disciple digested his words or not, but the sword-like gaze was a good indicator. ¡°Okay, you can return. I know you¡¯re focused on your cultivation now.¡± He didn¡¯t leave immediately. ¡°Master.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Sovereign Yanxu asked. His disciple wasn¡¯t one for many questions, if any, outside of cultivation. ¡°Will Xi Tianyi be there?¡± Sovereign Yanxu paused. This was the first time he saw Bao Ling concerned about someone else. And did he smell a hint of rivalry? ¡°Most likely, yes. He is the only immortal emperor to appear in recent times. His age is similar to yours too, so it will be inevitable that a battle will occur between the two of you. I have confidence in your victory.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Bao Ling said with his usual disinterest. ¡°Aside from you, the most outstanding junior is Meng Tingfeng.¡± ¡°What of it?¡± Bao Ling asked. ¡°If possible, I want him to defeat Xi Tianyi. Imagine it, an immortal monarch defeating an immortal emperor,¡± Sovereign Yanxu said. ¡°It¡¯ll give us the advantage in the negotiations.¡± The grand elder of the Numinous Sword Sect noticed Bao Ling narrowing his eyes. ¡°Do you think Meng Tingfeng can¡¯t do it?¡± ¡°No,¡± Bao Ling said. ¡°Have more confidence. Although he ascended from a lower realm and doesn¡¯t practice the orthodox cultivation method of the Numinous Sword Sect, he¡¯s more outstanding than all the current juniors. It¡¯s quite a happenstance that he inherited the legacy of one of our fallen elders,¡± Sovereign Yanxu said. ¡°Among the immortal monarchs, he is extremely outstanding, and it wouldn¡¯t be a problem for him to fight a newly ascended immortal emperor for long periods of time. And that was hundreds of years ago.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not saying Meng Tingfeng can¡¯t defeat an immortal emperor. I¡¯m saying he can¡¯t defeat Xi Tianyi.¡± Chapter 433: Seven Star Sword Monarch Meng Tingfeng did not stand out amongst his fellow cultivators. He was handsome enough, but that went for all immortals. Even if they were born ugly, their features would become perfected as they ascended to higher realms of cultivation, making them visually flawless at the very least. He stood at one point eight meters tall, but that was also par for the course. Meng Tingfeng had a sleek physique like that of an Olympic swimmer, but he was one of many. Only the sword slung over his back appeared of note. The hilt was a pure white, and so was the scabbard. It didn¡¯t have many embellishments, but it still exuded an aura of extraordinariness. Rhythmically, it would brighten and dim like the stars in the sky. Still, that did not mean Meng Tingfeng did not stand out. Although plain, he exuded an aura of confidence that made it hard not to attract gazes. Of course, the gazers would not be able to differentiate what made him different. At least, until he drew his sword. His simple white robes fluttered in the wind as his gaze surveyed the Numinous Sword Sect from his peak. The Numinous Sword Sect didn¡¯t only have the five peaks representing the four Immortal Extermination Swords and Qingping Sword. Anyone who became an immortal emperor would have a peak of their own. The five main peaks were known as the major sword peaks and the lineages created by the immortal emperors would be known as minor sword peaks. Thus, Meng Tingfeng stood atop the Seven Star Sword Peak. Creating a new peak required one to be an immortal emperor, but inheriting one only required you to be of their lineage and reach the Seamless Immortal Realm. In total, there were over three hundred minor sword peaks. Less than a third of them were occupied by immortal monarch peak lords, while the rest remained vacant after the passing of their creators. So many minor sword peaks existed because most immortal emperors would choose to create their own peak if they could not gain the recognition of one of the four Immortal Extermination Swords. The Numinous Sword Sect wasn¡¯t satisfied with just three hundred sword peaks. They wanted at least ten thousand sword peaks in total. It was an age-old goal set by the founder of the Numinous Sword Sect. The Numinous Sword Sect inherited the legacy of the Heavenly Lord of Numinous Treasures, and he led the Interception Sect. In its prime, the Interception Sect had over ten thousand immortals, leading it to become known as the Sect of Ten Thousand Immortals. The founder of the Numinous Sword Sect wasn¡¯t clear if the so-called ten thousand immortals of the primordial era were divinities or actual immortals, but he wanted to replicate the Interception Sect¡¯s glory. Thus, he set down a goal for his descendants. It took millions of years just for three hundred peaks, so Meng Tingfeng didn¡¯t think it would be accomplished anytime soon. According to what his new sect mates told him, it was because of the inferior environment of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System compared to the Three Realms System. Sect mates, that was a word Meng Tingfeng thought he would never use. As Sovereign Yanxu had informed Bao Ling, Meng Tingfeng wasn¡¯t a native of the Numinous Realm. No, he ascended to the immortal-rank realm from a lower-rank realm. His tale was a common enough tale. It was an accident, really. He had been a simple farm boy who knew not the first thing about cultivation. Cultivators and immortals had just been fairy tales his mother regaled him with before bed. Then, war broke out, and the farmland he once inhabited became a casualty. His parents had taken him and fled. Sadly, they were killed by pursuing soldiers. Bastards, the lot of them. Meng Tingfeng had only survived because he stumbled upon the Seven Star Sword Emperor¡¯s inheritance. Like he said, it was a common enough tale, cliche as it was. The realm Meng Tingfeng lived in was a low-rank realm where the highest a person could cultivate was the Foundation Establishment Realm. Once they reached the Core Formation Realm, they would have to ascend within a month or face punishment from the heavens. Thus, he embarked on his path of cultivation. Meng Tingfeng cultivated the most prized method of the Seven Star Sword Emperor, the Seven Star Scripture. The Seven Star Sword Emperor had created a cultivation technique based on the Thirty-Six Heavenly Constellation Art and a broken divine artifact he discovered, the Seven Star Sword. The Seven Star Sword Emperor named himself after the divine artifact, but he never cultivated the Seven Star Scripture. Not for lack of trying. By the time the Seven Star Sword Emperor had begun creating the technique, he was already an immortal monarch, and by then, it was too late to change his foundation. For an immortal to change their foundation, they would risk falling from the heavens, transforming from immortal to mortal. And that¡¯s what the Seven Star Sword Emperor did. The Seven Star Sword Emperor found himself stuck in place, with no progress for over a hundred thousand years. In an attempt to advance, he wanted to change the foundation of his cultivation base. But he failed.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Once the Seven Star Sword Emperor failed, he weakened incredibly fast as the passage of time once again enacted its influence upon him. His soul had also started to dissipate, and he would not have a chance to enter reincarnation similar to those earth immortals who failed their Inner Devil Tribulation. At that time, Meng Tingfeng hadn¡¯t known of the Seven Star Sword Emperor¡¯s divine might. He only thought his late master was amazing. Only after reaching his current level did he know how amazing the late immortal emperor was. Although he hadn¡¯t reached the same height, Meng Tingfeng had the confidence to reach and surpass the Seven Star Sword Emperor. But back to his story. After accepting the inheritance, Meng Tingfeng did everything he could to increase his strength. He didn¡¯t have the raw talent for cultivation, possessing only a fractured spiritual root. Ordinarily, he would have never been able to make something of himself in a lower-rank realm, but he had the broken divine fragment. Every night, the Seven Star Sword would absorb the starlight and transform it into stellar true qi for him to absorb. It was thanks to this stellar true qi and all the resources he acquired that Meng Tingfeng reached the Core Formation Realm. During his journey, he had defeated the empire that caused his parents¡¯ death. Like his own tale, it was a common enough story. The empire wanted to expand and control more resources, so began the war. Although Meng Tingfeng could understand logically, his heart couldn¡¯t. So, he killed the imperial family and caused the empire to disappear like loose sand. With his immediate goals satisfied and nothing else left for him in the lower-rank realm, Meng Tingfeng ascended. Along the way, he had come to enjoy the feeling of cultivating, and so he embarked on a new journey. A journey to reach the peak. It wasn¡¯t always easy. For someone as talentless as him, he had to rely on external methods like the Seven Star Sword. Not only that, he faced many enemies. As a loose cultivator, most people saw him as easy prey. They would hunt him down but fail, forming a bond of enmity. Once Meng Tingfeng defeated or killed his enemies, the force behind them would attempt to destroy him. It happened in the middle-rank realm, the high-rank realm, and even the immortal-rank Numinous Realm. Although he was thankful that his enemy wasn¡¯t the Numinous Sword Sect. Far from it, they backed him up. Meng Tingfeng wasn¡¯t afraid of making an enemy out of the Numinous Sword Sect. He had already prepared to do so when he fought against their vassal sect. Luckily, they recognized the Seven Star Sword and his talent. Otherwise, they might have attacked him and claimed him as a thief for stealing the Seven Star Sword Emperor¡¯s artifact from them. At this, Meng Tingfeng smiled. No, not at the Numinous Sword Sect, but because of his talent. His talent had not stayed stagnant. The farther he progressed on the path of cultivation, the stronger his talent became, especially in the Law of Stars. In the high-rank realm before his Unity Heavenly Tribulation, an accident had occurred. He was preparing for a ritual formation to transform his ordinary physique into the Seven Vermillion Mansion Physique, but an accident occurred. The excess yang energy had filled his body, and if he didn¡¯t release it, Meng Tingfeng would have quite literally exploded. Then came the second factor. Before starting the ritual formation, Meng Tingfeng had met an injured woman. He thought she was a weakened unity venerable, but now he knew the woman was likely an immortal. They had only met by chance. In his abnormal state, Meng Tingfeng had laid his hands on her. When his strange state ended, he wanted to apologize, but the woman had disappeared before he had awakened. To Meng Tingfeng¡¯s surprise, he hadn¡¯t achieved the Seven Vermillion Mansion Physique, but the Vermillion-Azure Mansion Physique. It had puzzled him how this had happened. After some investigation, he discovered that the woman likely possessed a heavenly water spiritual root or a yin-related physique or spiritual root. Because of the ritual formation and her participation, he had accidentally made her into a Living Pill. Meng Tingfeng felt guilty. He truly did and wanted to make it up to the woman. As a man, he had to take responsibility. He searched the entire higher-rank realm, but he couldn¡¯t find her presence at all. After delaying his immortal ascension heavenly tribulation for a hundred years, he gave up. Meng Tingfeng harbored a small amount of hope that the nameless woman had ascended to a higher realm, but it wasn¡¯t likely. From the time of the incident and until now, there was no record of anyone but him attempting the immortal ascension heavenly tribulation. After becoming the Seven Star Peak Lord, Meng Tingfeng immediately put up a reward for any information on the woman. He may not know her name, but he still recalled her appearance. It would be hard not to, given how beautiful she was. Meng Tingfeng had seen many women. Some were just regular mortals bestowed with heaven-sent beauty, others were the daughters of powerful cultivators. A few even pursued him for a relationship, but he rejected them all. Compared to them, that woman¡¯s beauty was more ephemeral, grand, and unforgettable. As for the reason why he hadn¡¯t ordered his subordinate to do anything? He was a peak lord, after all. That was because he had none. Most of the Numinous Sword Sect disciples only respected his title, and he was only recently appointed as a peak lord, to the objection of many. He had battled a sword emperor before, but most of the Numinous Sword Sect didn¡¯t know. However, that would change. According to Grand Elder Yanxu, there would be a conference with the Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s sole rival in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, the Buzhou Immortal Court. Part of the reason why the Numinous Sword Sect appointed him as a peak lord was to gain prestige through him. Although Meng Tingfeng had never met the Buzhou Immortal Court, he was confident that they didn¡¯t possess an immortal monarch as strong as he was. After all, he was the only immortal monarch to battle an immortal emperor on equal grounds in the entire Numinous Sword Sect. Even then, he had kept his trump card hidden, mostly because he didn¡¯t know if he could successfully kill off the immortal emperor. It was fine if he could, but only endless trouble would await him if he couldn¡¯t. ¡°Peak Lord.¡± Meng Tingfeng broke out of his thoughts and stared at the true immortal elder. ¡°Is it time already?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s time to leave for the Jade and Numinous Conference.¡± Chapter 434: Blood Resonance Meng Tingfeng stared at the vessel that would transport them to the Jade and Numinous Conference. It was a massive warship that appeared to have tree bark hammered onto its hull, giving it a gnarly appearance. The planks and bark used to create the exterior of the warship came from the Allheaven Jianmu Tree. In the primordial era, there existed top ten spiritual roots, unique plants with miraculous effects that could not be replicated. According to legend, the Hollow Willow of the top ten spiritual roots gained spirituality and mysteriously disappeared. Another one was the Longevity Peach Tree. The offshoot in Xi Mengfei¡¯s possession couldn¡¯t even compare to a fraction of the original. The fruits of the original Longevity Peach Tree could extend the lifespan beyond three thousand and six hundred years. Another was the Illumination Apricot Tree. The Illumination Apricot Tree would bloom once every one hundred twenty-nine thousand six hundred years. It would take another one hundred twenty-nine thousand six hundred years to bear fruit and a final one hundred and twenty-nine thousand six hundred years for the fruit to mature. All in all, it took three eons for the Illumination Apricot Tree to produce nine fruits. The fruits were known as Golden Enlightenment Apricots because those who ingested them would feel their spirits cleansed and their thoughts clear. It was one of the greatest treasures for cultivators to comprehend the myriad worldly laws. Legend has it that a mortal would become an immortal monarch after ingesting one. Among these ten miraculous spiritual roots, the Allheaven Jianmu Tree could not aid comprehension of the law, or extend the lifespan. Nor had it gained sentience. But it was incredibly hard and sturdy to the point that even divinity needed a massive amount of effort to shatter its bark. For those that could refine it, the parts of the Allheaven Jianmu Tree were perfect materials for divine artifacts. Divinities found it difficult to damage the tree and found it even more difficult to refine it into artifacts. The Numinous Sword Sect founder had discovered the damaged Allheaven Jianmu Tree and the many barks and branches in the current location of the Numinous Sword Sect. Or rather, the Numinous Sword Sect was built around the Allheaven Jianmu Tree. Everyone in the Numinous Realm, and even the Buzhou Immortal Court, knew the Numinous Sword Sect possessed the Allheaven Jianmu Tree, but no one knew its exact location within the sect. Of course, the Numinous Sword Sect couldn¡¯t refine the broken branches or barks into artifacts, much less create an immortal boat out of it. Still, it would be a pity to not use the barks and branches of the Allheaven Jianmu Tree. So, the artificers of the Numinous Sword Sect used the branches to form the ship¡¯s skeleton and nailed the barks to the ship¡¯s hull. And that was about the only thing the artificers could do with the Allheaven Jianmu Tree. Since they couldn¡¯t refine the materials, the barks were nothing more than extremely sturdy shields while the branches were unbreaking swords at best. They could not increase the effect of techniques. Still, the Allheaven Jianmu Tree was a priceless opportunity. Just the spiritual roots¡¯ mere presence increased the density of spiritual qi in the Numinous Sword Sect. Children born within its range of influence would have a higher chance of having the heavenly metal spiritual root. All those paled in comparison to the true benefits once a member of the Numinous Sword Sect ascended to divinity. Although a new divinity would need time to accumulate power in order to use said spiritual root. The first person to step onto the warship was Sovereign Yanxu. He didn¡¯t know if the Buzhou Immortal Court¡¯s immortal sovereign would be present, but if she was, then he would be the only one capable of stopping her should they use the Jade and Numinous Conference as a trap. He was followed by the other grand elders, and then by the peak lords, including Meng Tingfeng. He eyed his fellow peak lords and noticed that not all of them had a defensive monarch-level artifact. Meng Tingfeng had one, but it wasn¡¯t obtained through his own hands but gifted to him by the Numinous Sword Sect. Of course, the monarch artifact wasn¡¯t given with no reason. It was all to insure his continued victory in the Jade and Numinous Conference. Meng Tingfeng looked around, but couldn¡¯t find the one person he was looking for. ¡°Elder Meng, are you searching for anyone in particular?¡± a fellow peak lord asked. ¡°Ah, Elder Shu,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. Elder Shu was a woman with a gentle temperament, who appeared more at home as a mother than a sword immortal. ¡°I thought Grand Elder Bao would be present. I¡¯ve been here for decades, but I haven¡¯t seen him even once.¡± Elder Shu chuckled. ¡°Curious about the genius who became an immortal emperor within a thousand years, I see. Well, I¡¯m not surprised.¡± Meng Tingfeng nodded. ¡°I hoped to see the difference between Grand Elder Bao and I.¡± ¡°There will be a chance in the future.¡± ¡°Yes, there will,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. He raised his arm and grasped the Seven Star Sword¡¯s hilt without drawing it. Now, the qi converted by the Seven Star Sword had transformed from the stellar true qi to stellar immortal qi. The stellar immortal qi flowed from the hilt and into his body through the connection point. All things considered, Meng Tingfeng was over twice Bao Ling¡¯s age. The difference of a thousand or so years was miniscule to those ancient existences, but not to people like Meng Tingfeng. He wanted to see what the difference was between someone who rose from the bottom compared to a natural born genius like Bao Ling. Sword Dao Bone, Sword Dao Soul Physique, and Sword Dao Heart. Any one of them appearing in a single person would make them a genius that appeared only once a hundred thousand years, but all three appeared in a single person. It was as if the heavens had no limits in its love toward Bao Ling. Everything Meng Tingfeng fought for, Bao Ling received simply for existing. He wasn¡¯t envious of Bao Ling¡¯s opportunity. He just wanted to show that Bao Ling wasn¡¯t insurmountable because of all his advantages. No matter one¡¯s birth, everyone is equal on the path of cultivation.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Meng Tingfeng continued to mingle with Elder Shu and the other peak lords. Well, the ones that would give him the time of day. A few of the other elders were lukewarm with him, but most generally accepted his appointment as a peak lord, despite contributing nothing to the sect. They seemed content to trust Sovereign Yanxu¡¯s discretion. For now, at least. After all the participating members boarded the Jianmu warship, it set sail for the venue of the Jade and Numinous Conference. The gnarly vehicle became a dot in the sky of the Numinous realm as it reached the dimensional boundary. The boundary twisted and distorted before a portal opened up, revealing the empty Vast Void. Darkness shrouded everything, all except for the light granted by the solar and lunar stars. Except for the twin stars, the only lights were the twinkling flashes in the distance far beyond the boundary of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Meng Tingfeng turned silent as he stared at this. He could feel his sense of the five elements diminish after exiting. The only law that didn¡¯t become dull to his senses was the Law of Stars. He possessed the greatest aptitude with the Law of Stars, but his aptitude toward the five elements was much less astute, to say the least. Despite his rank as only a first-step monarch, his mastery of the Law of Stars allowed him to compete with immortal emperors. But he shouldn¡¯t rest on his laurels. No matter how advanced his comprehension of the Law of Stars was, it would mean nothing if he stayed an immortal monarch forever. Since he couldn¡¯t sense any of the five elements, Meng Tingfeng decided that he might as well merge the second elemental qi into his immortal qi. Thanks to taking up the sword, the element he was most proficient in was the Law of Metal. Owing to the relationship between the stars, he had made sufficient progress on the Law of Fire to merge fire qi into his immortal qi. There was only a little distance before he became a second step monarch. If he could reach the second step before the Jade and Numinous Conference, all the better. The time swiftly passed as Meng Tingfeng continued his cultivation. For those who reached the Immortal Realm, although they still had a finite lifespan that relied on their willpower, it was far greater than mere mortals. So time no longer mattered, and it wouldn¡¯t be strange for an immortal to cultivate for decades at a time. Soon, they arrived at the venue. From afar, the venue appeared akin to a long stretch of land floating in the midst of nowhere. There was no sky, only the Vast Void. Yet, verdant plains were illuminated like sunlight still shone on them. Of course, it wasn¡¯t only just grassy plains, but mountains and lakes dotted the stretch of land. It resembled a paradise lost to time. Once the Jianmu warship entered the boundaries of the landmass, Meng Tingfeng could feel the abundant spiritual qi that filled every patch of air. Even compared to the Numinous Sword Sect, it was half a level above. It shouldn¡¯t have been possible in a desolate location like the Vast Void. If the Buzhou Immortal Court didn¡¯t have a large reservoir prepared, the spiritual qi density would quickly plummet as time passed. Meng Tingfeng didn¡¯t think the Buzhou Immortal Court would allow such a faux pas to happen. This was nothing more than a show of force and wealth. The war of words and swords had already begun before the two sides even met. The Jianmu warship continued deeper into the core of the landmass. The deeper they went, the clearer the laws of the five elements appeared to Meng Tingfeng. He wasn¡¯t the only one that noticed. ¡°What kind of land is this?¡± Sovereign Yanxu questioned. ¡°As long as they cultivate here, the immortals of the Buzhou Immortal Court would be able to increase their comprehension in the law of the five elements.¡± Although it might increase the comprehension speed it wasn¡¯t by much, but every little bit counted. The more accumulation that stacked, the greater the advantage. Now the question was how this treasured land functioned. Was it something they could sustain infinitely, or just a treasure brought out as part of their negotiations? They will find out soon enough. The Jianmu warship slowed down as it reached the core, where a magnificent palace awaited. The palace sat atop a lake filled with blooming lotuses. Pavilions and bridges surrounded the palace, and upon landing, a large group of cultivators appeared to greet the Numinous Sword Sect. Sovereign Yanxu¡¯s eyes immediately focused on the leading immortal, Xi Mengfei. He could still recall their last bout. Not only had he been forced to flee, but he lost the Immortal Confining Sword. Although he gained another one of the Immortal Extermination Swords, the net zero loss did not excuse anything. ¡°If possible, we should settle our score,¡± Sovereign Yanxu said as he stepped forward and looked down at Xi Mengfei. His grip tightened around his sword. ¡°Calm yourself,¡± a gray-haired immortal emperor said, walking forward and blocking Sovereign Yanxu¡¯s gaze. ¡°This Jade and Numinous Conference is to deal with the Demon Clan and Buddhists before determining the true ruler of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System.¡± Sovereign Yanxu stared at the gray-haired immortal. ¡°You? Vastlight? I thought you died after disappearing for a hundred thousand years.¡± ¡°Well, I cannot deny that,¡± Vastlight said. ¡°I remained stagnant, while you advanced. Still, you shouldn¡¯t rest on your laurels. I, too, will reach the level of an immortal sovereign and even beyond that.¡± ¡°I will eagerly await you,¡± Sovereign Yanxu said, focusing all his attention on Minister Vastlight. While Sovereign Yanxu and Minister Vastlight traded words, Elder Shu walked next to Meng Tingfeng, who was staring unblinkingly at the two. ¡°It might surprise you, but Grand Elder Yanxu and Emperor Vastlight were from the same generation. Over the years, they formed a legendary rivalry. We thought he died, but I guess we were wrong. Unfortunately, our spies couldn¡¯t obtain any more information, especially during the time they sealed off the Huang Realm for a thousand years.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m not wondering about that,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. ¡°Who¡¯s she?¡± ¡°Her?¡± Elder Shu asked, gesturing toward the Buzhou Immortal Court¡¯s immortal sovereign. ¡°She¡¯s Xi Mengfei. Why? Love at first sight?¡± Meng Tingfeng ignored his fellow elder¡¯s teasing. ¡°She¡¯s the woman I¡¯ve been searching for all this time.¡± ¡°Wha?¡± He ignored Elder Shu¡¯s surprise and stared at the man standing close. He could see traces of Xi Mengfei¡¯s features on the man and the heavy pressure exuding from him. ¡°Is he Xi Tianyi?¡± ¡°Him? He¡¯s Ba Shifang. According to our information, he¡¯s related to Xi Tianyi, but we don¡¯t know how,¡± Elder Shu asked. ¡°Are you sure she¡¯s the woman you are looking for?¡± Meng Tingfeng nodded. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s unmistakable.¡± He turned his attention to Tianyi. Unlike Ba Shifang, his blood didn¡¯t resonate with him. Still, he could see his resemblance to Xi Mengfei. Those eyes were too beautiful, too bewitching. But aside from his eyes, Xi Tianyi didn¡¯t resemble Xi Mengfei or himself at all. Meng Tingfeng clenched his hand as an unpleasant circumstance appeared in his mind. He turned to Elder Shu. ¡°Tell me everything about Xi Mengfei and Xi Tianyi.¡± Chapter 435: Jade and Supreme Conference Ba Shifang pursed his brows as he felt a piercing gaze. He apologized to Hu Landie and turned toward the offending gaze. Just who was so rude? The man staring intently at him wore white linen robes, and even his features were just as forgettable. The only thing of note was the sword slung over his shoulders. It was a thing of beauty, and Ba Shifang immediately wanted to collect it. Who knows, perhaps Tianyi was already eyeing the man¡¯s sword? More than the initial impressions, Ba Shifang also found a familiar sensation coming from the plain man. He didn¡¯t know how to describe it. It was a distinct feeling different from the one he felt from his former Main Body or Donghai Longzi. Ba Shifang frowned. He was unable to put a word to the feeling, and it vexed him to no end. Strangely, the man smiled at him, puzzling Ba Shifang to no end. Although the Jade and Numinous Conference wasn¡¯t meant to be hostile, the relationship between the Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect shouldn¡¯t be harmonious to the point that smiles would be thrown around, especially to strangers. Then, the plain man shifted his gaze onto Hu Landie. Ba Shifang couldn¡¯t tell what emotions the man had when he stared at Hu Landie, but they were definitely positive. He didn¡¯t like it. Ba Shifang stood in front of Hu Landie and blocked the man¡¯s gaze. The plain man blinked and then he threw an apologetic smile to Ba Shifang. The more the man acted so amiably, the more Ba Shifang felt that the man was up to no good. Thankfully for Ba Shifang¡¯s nerves, Minister Vastlight invited the Numinous Sword Sect into the palace. Mengfei only stood to the side and watched Minister Vastlight work. Her presence was to act as an anchoring point for the Immortal Court, thanks to her cultivation as an immortal sovereign. In regards to the negotiation and alliance clauses, that was up to Minister Vast Light. Upon entering into the grand hall of the palace, the members of the two forces split in half. Since this was a negotiation and not a banquet, there was only the bare minimum of refreshment provided. Not that any attendee needed them, since everyone was a true immortal at the very least. ¡°While we agree that the Buddhists and Demon Clan are a threat to our hegemony over the myriad realms, the problem is that we do not have a method to locate either one,¡± Sovereign Yanxu said. Minister Vastlight smiled. ¡°While I have no clue regarding the Pure Lands Pseudo System, we, the Immortal Court, have some information regarding the location of the Divine Beast Pseudo System and the composition of their forces.¡± ¡°Oh? You¡¯ve managed to locate them?¡± Sovereign Yanxu asked. ¡°As expected of the Jade Pure Lineage. You¡¯ve even managed to sniff them out while conquering the Primordial Realm. However, I wonder how you expect to wage war against the Demon Clan. Surely, your forces must have suffered for the war and a thousand years is hardly enough to recover. I will say it now, the Numinous Sword Sect will deploy as many forces as you do. Don¡¯t try to take advantage of us.¡± ¡°Still as frank as ever,¡± Minister Vastlight said. The ¡®as expected of a sword immortal¡¯ went unsaid. ¡°However, you don¡¯t have to worry. Although the Immortal Court suffered some losses, we still kept the majority of our forces untouched just for this moment.¡± Minister Vastlight continued. ¡°Now is the best time to attack them. After the recent upheavals, The Demon Clan will never expect us to attack them.¡± Sovereign Yanxu nodded. Indeed, even he was surprised by the Immortal Court¡¯s boldness. They just unified the Huang Realm and upgraded it to the Primordial Realm. Logically, they should be nursing their wounds and using this time to expand their power. Instead, they wanted to leap into another war after one had just ended. Still, Sovereign Yanxu wouldn¡¯t agree so easily. ¡°Starting a war isn¡¯t something that can be decided at a moment¡¯s notice. I hope you don¡¯t think it will be the child¡¯s play that you call the Human-Divine Beast War that occurred in the Huang Realm three thousand years ago.¡± The event Sovereign Yanxu spoke about was the invasion of the Demon Clan into the Huang Realm thousands of years ago. It was also one of the events that became a part of Xi Mengfei¡¯s legend. To the denizens of the Huang Realm, it was a titanic battle between humans and demons, but both the Immortal Court and the Numinous Sword Sect knew that the Demon Clan had far more forces than the ones they deployed at that time. The origin of the war started because the Demon Clan had started to infiltrate the lower realms in an attempt to occupy more resources. The then-Buzhou Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect detected this and dispatched agents to destroy the Demon Clan¡¯s plans. In retaliation, the Demon Clan invaded the Huang Realm. In the eyes of the Demon Clan, the Buzhou Immortal Court was a much easier target than the Numinous Sword Sect that had become the sole hegemon of an immortal-rank realm. Naturally, the Numinous Sword Sect was happy to watch the Demon Clan weaken the Buzhou Immortal Court. ¡°Had it not been for the need to lower the Eight Pillar Sect and Saintly Scholar School¡¯s guard, how could a mere demon emperor cause so much trouble?¡± Minister Vastlight asked. The disdain was obvious, but what wasn¡¯t obvious was the target of the disdain. Was it for the Demon Clan or the Eight Pillar Sect? ¡°Before hashing out the details of a possible cooperation, I need to verify the truth of your words,¡± Sovereign Yanxu said.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°And how do you propose to do that?¡± ¡°A competition between our immortal monarchs and emperors,¡± Sovereign Yanxu said. ¡°I want to see if the Buzhou Immortal Court possesses the power you said, or if it¡¯s just a paper tiger.¡± Despite Sovereign Yanxu¡¯s provocation, Minister Vastlight smiled. ¡°What a coincidence. I also want to see if the years of peace have made the Numinous Sword Sect weak and soft-hearted.¡± Sparks flashed between Sovereign Yanxu and Minister Vastlight¡¯s gazes, ready to ignite an explosion at any minute. And like this, the competition between the two hegemon forces began. ¡°Since the Vast Void is inhospitable to true immortals, you will battle within the confines of Shangri-La. You can think of it as a pseudo-realm, and within it, you will not have to worry about running out of qi to absorb. Immortal monarchs will fight in the Vast Void.¡± Sovereign Yanxu stared at the paradisal land. ¡°This landmass isn¡¯t as simple as a pseudo-realm, is it? Are you going to use it as a fortress against the Demon Clan?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Minister Vastlight admitted. ¡°Unless you¡¯ve become a divinity, it¡¯s impossible to fight constantly in the Vast Void, as there is hardly any spiritual qi to absorb. The Immortal Court prepared this fortress specifically for this war.¡± ¡°It seems that you have already planned for this war eons ago,¡± Sovereign Yanxu said. ¡°This fortress isn¡¯t something that can be created without a massive amount of preparation.¡± Minister Vastlight only smiled. He clapped his hand, and the grand hall expanded over ten times in size. A barrier with a diameter a thousand meters large appeared at the center. A thousand meters for mortals might be a vast distance, but for immortals, a thousand meters was an incredibly short distance. This was an informal competition. The only rule was no killing. Two true immortals stepped into the barrier. Upon entering, they felt the gravity intensify by over a thousand times. Even their qi was affected. Although the sudden shift in pressure didn¡¯t bring them to their knees, the two immortals felt as if their cultivation base had regressed back to the Unity or Nascent Soul Realm. Still, it only took a few seconds for the two true immortals to adjust their state and walk normally to the center. ¡°Immortal Court¡¯s Riptide, please advise,¡± a true immortal with wavy blue hair said. ¡°Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s Rainsword.¡± Unlike Riptide, Rainsword¡¯s eyes were filled with fighting intent. He didn¡¯t bother with any pleasantries and silently shouted to start the fight already. ¡°Since you are so eager, let¡¯s begin.¡± Rainsword made the first move. He stabbed forward with a sword covered in a watery sheen. The tip of his sword seemed to multiply and transform into a hundred stabs that resembled falling raindrops. In response, Riptide jumped back. He could fly, but the unique environment made his flight speed far slower than his jump speed. Still, a few stabs hit the edge of his silhouette. Even if his robe artifact protected him, he still felt the chilling cold penetrate into his body and stab him like icicles. Riptide didn¡¯t panic. He formed a single hand seal and pointed at Rainsword. The chill in his body returned to clumps of energy and traveled to his finger. From his finger, crescent-shaped blades of water flew towards Rainsword. They weren¡¯t haphazard shots, but followed a certain pattern. When Rainsword destroyed one crescent blade, he would discover another blade right behind. They were waves, continuously buffeting him without end. Still, Rainsword wasn¡¯t chosen as the first representative of the Numinous Sword Sect without reason. Rainsword changed his attack pattern. If his original attack resembled a net that didn¡¯t allow any escape, now it resembled a thin needle that pierced everything in its way. It didn¡¯t matter if the crescent blades continued to buffet him without end, a single thrust was all that was needed to break every one of them. The audience watched with relish. Perhaps it was a coincidence, but both Riptide and Rainsword majored in the Law of Water, but focused on different aspects of it. Riptide focused on the Concept of Waves, while Rainsword specialized in the Concept of Raindrop. Both of them were just one step away from mastering the complete Law of Water, making them immortal lords. Onlookers watched the performance with relish, while experts analyzed the technical details. Ba Shifang was no different. Although he had embarked on comprehending the Law of Five Phases, progress was slow. He knew that Tianyi was also at the same step, but Tianyi¡¯s attention had been occupied by ascending the Huang Realm and the Law of Yin-Yang. Both Riptide and Rainsword¡¯s usage inspired him. Ideas flowed into Ba Shifang¡¯s mind. It might not improve his comprehension immediately, but it would allow him to use his current mastery of the laws more efficiently and with greater output than before. Hu Landie glanced at Ba Shifang. She turned to the battle again before closing her eyes. Unlike Ba Shifang, she didn¡¯t glean much from the battle between the two immortal lords. She could settle down and focus on laying the foundation to comprehend the Law of Water, but she focused on the power that regulated the time flow of Shangri-La. Those whose cultivation bases were too low or didn¡¯t embark on the paths of space or time wouldn¡¯t be able to sense it, but Hu Landie could sense the abundant power of spacetime circulating the landmass. To cultivators that focused on the Law of Time like her, it was a precious opportunity. Although Hu Landie was considered an immortal lord, that was only in terms of pure offense. Her understanding of the Law of Time was not as complete as other immortal lords¡¯ comprehension of the basic laws. It was thanks to the esoteric means from the Law of Time that allowed her to become an immortal lord. Just as she was immersing herself in comprehending the Law of Time, Hu Landie noticed someone walking toward her. She hid her displeasure and stared at the man who walked toward her. ¡°Greetings, I am Peak Lord Meng Tingfeng. You can also call me the Seven Star Sword King,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. ¡°What do you want?¡± Ba Shifang asked. He stepped forward, so he blocked half of Hu Landie. Meng Tingfeng blinked and then chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I just wanted to say hello. I get the feeling that we should know each other, don¡¯t you have the same feeling?¡± ¡®He¡¯s another one of Tianyi¡¯s clones, is he? I know Tianyi has many split souls. Perhaps one infiltrated the Numinous Sword Sect like the Divine Beast Pseudo-System?¡¯ Ba Shifang wondered. However, he immediately dispelled the notion. No way Tianyi¡¯s clone would risk exposing his identity by interacting like this. ¡°Oh, where are my manners? Since this is our first meeting, I have a greeting gift,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. Ba Shifang stared at the two spatial rings in Meng Tingfeng¡¯s palm. No matter how you spliced it, it was suspicious. What Ba Shifang didn¡¯t expect was for a white hand to reach out and take both the rings. He turned and just stared at Hu Landie. Hu Landie didn¡¯t even look at him and said, ¡°Thank you.¡± Chapter 436: Betrothal Gift Ba Shifang just stared at Hu Landie. ¡°What the hell? Why did you accept it? He¡¯s from the Numinous Sword Sect, someone we have to fight in the future.¡± Hu Landie didn¡¯t even bat an eye when receiving Ba Shifang¡¯s spiritual transmission. ¡°Since he wants to offer free stuff, I see no harm. Even if we go to war, I will not be merciful when I strike him down.¡± ¡®But I will,¡¯ Ba Shifang wanted to say. Still, he didn¡¯t. Instead, he observed Meng Tingfeng, trying to find the reason behind the gift. Aside from being a scheme, Ba Shifang couldn¡¯t think of anything else. Why else would a random stranger offer gifts to two people he just met? ¡°Shifang, Shifang, guess what I discovered inside the spatial rings?¡± Upon hearing Hu Landie¡¯s excited words, he couldn¡¯t help pause. Hu Landie always gave off the impression that nothing could affect her icy demeanor. Even if she was chased down by an immortal emperor, she wouldn¡¯t even bat an eye. Although it wasn¡¯t to the point of jumping in shock, the surprise in her tone was akin to another immortal hollering at the world. Ba Shifang didn¡¯t reach for the spatial ring. After rejecting them, Ba Shifang didn¡¯t want to grab one, especially in front of Meng Tingfeng. ¡°Tell me. What is it that¡¯s gotten you so shocked?¡± ¡°I found a whole set of monarch-level artifacts in both rings.¡± ¡°What?¡± Although the Immortal Court has become more prosperous and unlocked some of the accumulation, it was only enough to arm each true immortal with a single immortal artifact. Immortal monarchs and emperors were the same. They could only receive a single artifact of their level. For it to be considered a whole set, it would have to be an attacking artifact, a defensive artifact, and a soul artifact. Since it was two rings, that meant a total of six monarch-level artifacts! Not even Tianyi would easily gift six whole monarch-level artifacts. If Tianyi knew, he might feel what it meant to be poor for the first time since his reincarnation. ¡°Wait, I discovered something more.¡± Hu Landie¡¯s words made Ba Shifang¡¯s eyes twitch. ¡°What else can surprise you? Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s an emperor-level artifact.¡± His main body, Xi Tianyi, also had three emperor-artifacts bestowed by the Immortal Court¡ªnot that he needed them since his body itself was the strongest artifact. However, they were the only emperor-level artifacts he had. Granted, Ba Shifang didn¡¯t doubt that Tianyi could refine more if he wanted to. He would just need to spend a long time, but the point still stands. So, he didn¡¯t think a mere immortal monarch of the Numinous Sword Sect would have enough wealth to give an immortal artifact. Hu Landie answered contrary to his logic. ¡°You guessed correctly.¡± Ba Shifang stilled. The message between him and Hu Landie happened in an instant. However, the shock from Hu Landie¡¯s last transmission was too shocking, so it caused him to freeze. Now, Meng Tingfeng didn¡¯t even need to guess to know that he discovered the preciousness of the gift. ¡°It¡¯s a defensive emperor-level artifact,¡± Hu Landie said. ¡®Is the Numinous Sword Sect so rich that it can allow its monarchs to gift emperor-level artifacts?¡¯ Ba Shifang immediately refuted his thoughts. Even if they were, there was no way the Numinous Sword Sect would allow one of their monarchs to gift an enemy force with an emperor-level artifact for free. The scheme was too obvious. Too obvious to the point that it likely wasn¡¯t a scheme. So, why did Meng Tingfeng give an emperor-level artifact on their first meeting? Ba Shifang recalled the familiar sensation he found on Meng Tingfeng. Just what was his connection to himself, or rather, Xi Tianyi? Disregarding Ba Shifang¡¯s current shock, Hu Landie dealt him another blow, but it was a happy one. ¡°If you give me the emperor-level artifact, I can agree to marrying you.¡± Ba Shifang snapped his head. He disregarded the commotion he caused and asked, ¡°You serious?¡± Hu Landie gently slapped Ba Shifang¡¯s forehead. ¡°Stop making a scene. And yes, consider it a betrothal gift.¡± ¡°Okay, okay! I agree!¡± An emperor-level artifact was useful to Ba Shifang, but he didn¡¯t place much importance on it. After all, he had a backer like Xi Tianyi, so he actually had a trump card he had never revealed. Because Tianyi warned that he would take it back if he revealed for no reason, Ba Shifang had never told anyone, even Hu Landie.
Meng Tingfeng watched Ba Shifang¡¯s interaction with Hu Landie with confusion. He could attain the gist of the unspoken conversation from the clues, but that made him even more confused. Was his son a love struck idiot? Giving an emperor-level artifact just to marry a girl and not even a Dao Companion Ceremony, was he crazy?Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. He sighed. Meng Tingfeng¡¯s impression of Hu Landie lowered, but he couldn¡¯t show it. Since it seemed that his future daughter-in-law was a gold seeker, he could use this relationship to shorten the distance between himself and Ba Shifang. ¡®Oh well, I can only secretly help him. Who told him to be my son?¡¯ Meng Tingfeng thought. ¡°What a happy event,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, please accept this congratulatory gift.¡± Ba Shifang didn¡¯t immediately take it. Instead, he stared at the spatial ring. As Ba Shifang thought, Meng Tingfeng had placed another immortal-level artifact inside, and it was another defensive artifact. The reason he hadn¡¯t gifted a different type of artifact was so that Ba Shifang had more methods of saving his life instead. The stare off continued until Hu Landie nudged Ba Shifang. After glancing into each other eyes, Ba Shifang finally reached out and took the spatial ring in Meng Tingfeng¡¯s hands. He nodded in satisfaction. At the very least, Hu Landie knew not to push her luck and ask for the second emperor-level artifact. Using this chance, Meng Tingfeng sat together with the future married couple, ignoring the division between the two forces. He asked a few questions in order to understand Ba Shifang¡¯s situation. Of course, the question did not probe into the Buzhou Immortal Court¡¯s secrets, or else all the goodwill he built up using two emperor-level artifacts would immediately vanish. ¡°Oh, it seems you have quite the exalted status in the Buzhou Immortal Court,¡± Meng Tingfeng said an hour into the conversation. ¡°However, what is your relationship to Sovereign Xi and the Nine Heavens Emperor?¡± Ba Shifang made a noticeable pause, as if deliberating something. Finally, he said two words. ¡°It¡¯s complicated.¡± ¡®Sure enough,¡¯ Meng Tingfeng thought. ¡®Ba Shifang must be my and Xi Mengfei¡¯s son. However, because he was born out of an accident, she didn¡¯t like him and he has to live under Xi Tianyi, the legitimate son.¡¯ Meng Tingfeng wanted nothing more than to recognize the blood relationship between the two, but he knew it would only cause Ba Shifang trouble. According to his conjectures, Ba Shifang should not be liked by many of the Buzhou Immortal Court and it was only after he showed enough talent that he was above to carve out a legend for himself. He made a decision to lure Ba Shifang to his side. It would have to be a delicate process. Meng Tingfeng didn¡¯t want his son to bear the name of a traitor, so he could only offer him asylum after the victory of the Numinous Sword Sect and destruction of the Buzhou Immortal Court. This led him to another problem. How to interact with Xi Mengfei. Even if his current self possessed the power of an immortal emperor as an immortal monarch, his status was still far too weak in front of Xi Mengfei¡¯s current cultivation base. Recalling their experience together, Meng Tingfeng still found it shocking that he had somehow managed to bed Xi Mengfei. Granted, she was an immortal emperor at the time, but what kind of situation had to happen to lead her to become injured to that point? Meng Tingfeng had complicated emotions toward Sovereign Xi. On one hand, he disliked how she treated their son and refused to give him legitimate status. On the other hand, he wasn¡¯t the type of person to not understand her point of view. He had seen it many times before in his long life. When a woman loved a man, she would involuntarily hate any child they had with another woman. Incidents like premature or unfortunate death happened many times in the inner courtyard of powerful families when a man had a wife and several concubines. Granted, this situation was different. Meng Tingfeng rationalized that since Ba Shifang was an unplanned child born from intercourse with a complete stranger, Xi Mengfei held no love toward him. It wouldn¡¯t be the point of hate, but neglect was unavoidable. Just look at the names. Tianyi was named as Heaven¡¯s Will while Shifang was just Four Directions. Talk about a terrible naming sense. At the very least, she didn¡¯t bury Ba Shifang¡¯s talent. In Meng Tingfeng¡¯s opinion, his son¡¯s talent was no worse than Xi Tianyi¡¯s talent. If they had the same resources and attention, Ba Shifang would equal Xi Tianyi¡¯s achievement if not surpassed them. Speaking of Xi Tianyi, Meng Tingfeng couldn¡¯t help but question who his father was. Unlike Ba Shifang, Xi Tianyi only inherited Xi Mengfei¡¯s eyes. Every other feature must have been inherited from the mysterious father. ¡°Shifang, I have long heard of the Nine Heavens Emperor¡¯s fame, but I have a question. Do you know who his mysterious father is?¡± Ba Shifang grunted and just glanced at him. ¡°How many times do I have to tell you not to address me by my given name? Forget it. Even though you look young, it seems like your memory is going like an old man¡¯s.¡± Meng Tingfeng only smiled. He knew that Ba Shifang didn¡¯t like him calling him by his name, but Meng Tingfeng wanted to acclimate Ba Shifang. After all, what kind of father would he be if he couldn¡¯t even call his son by his name? ¡°Sorry, but calling you anything else but your name is unnatural to me.¡± Ba Shifang snorted. ¡°You want to know about Main Bo¡ªTianyi¡¯s father? Sorry, you¡¯re going to have no luck. Even he doesn¡¯t know who his sperm donor is.¡± Meng Tingfeng blinked. He expected his son not to know, but not even Xi Tianyi knows? And judging by the tone, he could tell that Ba Shifang must harbor resentment against the legitimate son. Why else would he call Xi Tianyi¡¯s father a sperm donor? ¡°What about you? Do you know who your father is?¡± Meng Tingfeng asked. Ba Shifang made a strange face, causing Meng Tingfeng to backtrack. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it must be very hard.¡± ¡°Anyway, the two are seriously using everything against each other, aren¡¯t they?¡± Meng Tingfeng asked, directing the conversation toward the duel within the barrier. The first duel had already ended, and the result was Rainsword prevailing over Riptide by the slimmest of margins. The second duel ended in the victory of the Buzhou Immortal Court. And this was the third duel. Although Meng Tingfeng seemed to be focusing on the duel and conversing with his son and his future daughter-in-law, he focused most of his attention on Xi Mengfei. Aside from Ba Shifang, she was the person he wanted to talk to the most. He wanted to ask her if that night meant anything to her. Why did she not look for him after giving birth to Ba Shifang? Meng Tingfeng wanted to ask all those questions and so much more. But not now. He didn¡¯t have the right or status to appear before her as he liked. Once he became an immortal sovereign, he would confront her. Meng Tingfeng stilled when he noticed Xi Mengfei looking at him. His heart rate sped up and just as he was preparing himself for the many questions she would ask, she looked away. He stared at her in a daze, ignoring Ba Shifang¡¯s question. ¡®Did she not recognize me?¡¯ Chapter 437: Shangri-La Sovereign Yanxu saw where Xi Mengfei gazed at and smiled. ¡°Are you interested in our newest peak lord?¡± Mengfei looked away and shook her head. ¡°No. I felt an uncomfortable stare.¡± The source of the discomfort did not need to be said. ¡°Haha, Grand Elder Xi, it seems that even Peak Lords of the Numinous Sword Sect can¡¯t resist your charm,¡± Minister Vastlight said. Sovereign Yanxu pursed his lips. The words he originally wanted to say were blocked by Minister Vastlight¡¯s words. He had wanted to brag about Meng Tingfeng and stoke the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s pride so that they would target him. Once he showed overwhelming strength, Meng Tingfeng would challenge an immortal emperor. Even if he couldn¡¯t win, he would still prove his excellence, and Sovereign Yanxu doubted the Buzhou Immortal Sect had anyone capable of rivaling the new peak lord. Saying all that now would be too deliberate. Sovereign Yanxu needed to wait for another chance. And so, the two sovereigns and one immortal minister continued to watch the duel between the true immortals. Contrary to the heated atmosphere after the end of each duel, none of the three show any emotional changes. Whether it was their true feelings or masked emotions, only they knew. Well, except Xi Mengfei. She really didn¡¯t care who won or lost. Unlike Sovereign Yanxu, many of the peak lords that arrived with him released a satisfied smile as the duels continued. Although faint, more members of the Numinous Sword Sect triumphed over members of the Buzhou Immortal Court. The ratio was about six to four. While talking to Minister Vastlight, Sovereign Yanxu involuntarily caught sight of Xi Mengfei¡¯s son. Unlike his mother, Xi Tianyi was staring at the duel with some interest. It wasn¡¯t a serious interest, but something more akin to an adult watching two children playing around. Sovereign Yanxu¡¯s eyes shone. ¡°What does the Nine Heavens Emperor think? Compared to Little Friend¡¯s genius, it must be boring, right?¡± Xi Tianyi started, as if not expecting Sovereign Yanxu to single him out. He gave a courteous smile and said, ¡°How can it be? I am still young and the true immortals are all older than me. Their experiences far surpass mine. Just by observing them, I can learn many things.¡± ¡°Little friend is wise,¡± Sovereign Yanxu said. Of course, he knew that Tianyi was only being polite. No matter how inexperienced, an immortal emperor was an immortal emperor. How much can he learn from a mere true immortal, even if it was one close to mastering a complete law? Sovereign Yanxu sighed. ¡°Little Friend¡¯s talent is astounding, able to step into the Extremity Immortal Realm at such a young age. I don¡¯t believe there are many cases of such genius even during the primordial era.¡± ¡°How can that be? Isn¡¯t there someone else who stepped into the Extremity Immortal Realm?¡± At this, Xi Tianyi stared at Bao Ling. Bao Ling, who had his eyes closed deep in meditation ever since, opened them and stared into Xi Tianyi¡¯s eyes. At once, the atmosphere turned tense. The smell of gunpowder intensified once Bao Ling opened his mouth. ¡°Have you improved since our last encounter?¡± At this, Xi Tianyi lost his courteous smile. ¡°Why don¡¯t we also spar, won¡¯t you know then?¡± ¡°We will have a chance, too,¡± Bao Ling said. Sovereign Yanxu never thought that his taciturn disciple would actually agree. It must be known that Bao Ling had no opponents in the Numinous Sword Sect. If possible, he wouldn¡¯t agree to a fight unless forced to. This led to the rumor that Bao Ling¡¯s was all fake and he didn¡¯t have the heart of a sword immortal. Without a strong willpower, how could one advance far on the immortal path? It was like a precious imperial jade. Although it seemed precious, the inside was actually just common stone. Such rumors began to circulate. It wasn¡¯t like Sovereign Yanxu didn¡¯t know that the root cause was the dissatisfaction of the other disciples. In their eyes, Bao Ling enjoyed all the treatment without anything to show except his rising cultivation base. As his master, Sovereign Yanxu naturally knew the rumors were baseless, but only those who interacted with Bao Ling knew. Even some of the peak lords silently accepted the rumors. Sovereign Yanxu knew the situation could not continue. Even if Bao Ling didn¡¯t care, it must be curbed. So, under his direct order, Bao Ling challenged Kang Qiang, the second-most talented disciple after Bao Ling to a duel. It would not be a hyperbole to say that almost all the disciples arrived to watch the duel. Kang Qiang didn¡¯t possess the Sword Dao Bone, Sword Dao Soul Physique, or Sword Dao Heart. All he had was a pure pursuit of the sword. Sometimes, mentality and outlook were the most important thing for cultivation. Because of this, many sword immortals actually preferred Kang Qiang over Bao Ling and thought he would achieve more than the latter. On the day of the spar, Bao Ling won. It was a victory no one could contest. It was an overwhelming victory that left everyone speechless. Bao Ling had defeated Kang Qiang with a single strike. Unlike Bao Ling, Kang Qiang¡¯s status was won through many trials. Everyone knew of his battles and his struggles. That was why they were convinced Kang Qiang was the true strongest disciple of the Numinous Sword Sect. However, Bao Ling and reality proved them wrong. After establishing his talent and power, Bao Ling didn¡¯t duel any disciple within the sect, and no one was foolish enough to challenge him. So, Sovereign Yanxu was very surprised at Bao Ling¡¯s attitude. He could already see Xi Mengfei¡¯s eyes showing hostility. ¡°Sovereign Xi, this is a matter between juniors. As seniors, we shouldn¡¯t interfere.¡± It took a full minute for Xi Mengfei to restrain her hostility. Even so, her gaze pierced Bao Ling, who acted as if he couldn¡¯t sense it. ¡°The spar between Little Friend and my disciple must be the final event. For now, let¡¯s just wait until the true immortals and monarchs finish their bouts,¡± Sovereign Yanxu said. ¡°By the way, our new peak lord, Meng Tingfeng, is quite talented. He even fought an emperor to a stand still.¡±If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Sovereign Yanxu shook his head. ¡°The younger generation is always surpassing the old, wouldn¡¯t you say?¡± Minister Vastlight smiled. ¡°Indeed. In fact, we also have a talented genius who can fight an immortal emperor as an immortal monarch.¡± ¡°Oh? Who is this outstanding junior?¡± Sovereign Yanxu asked. Below the Immortal Realm, leaping over realms wasn¡¯t uncommon, especially for disciples of hegemonic forces fighting against loose cultivators. However, such an act became almost impossible in the Immortal Realms, which was why he had so much confidence in Meng Tingfeng. ¡°Him,¡± Minister Vastlight said, pointing at Ba Shifang. Sovereign Yanxu observed Ba Shifang. He had already noticed him, but he only paid attention to him because Meng Tingfeng started engaging him. He was beautiful, but not to the point of femininity. His features had a sense of perfection, and Sovereign Yanxu was sure he had never met Ba Shifang until today, yet he couldn¡¯t help but feel that his features felt familiar. Still, this did not stop his praise. ¡°In that case, it seems that both Peak Lord Meng and Junior Ba are going to have a battle. Since both monarchs can fight emperors, why not let the winner between them challenge an emperor and show their valor?¡± Minister Vastlight didn¡¯t immediately reply. Instead, he observed the Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s only immortal emperor present, Bao Ling. He didn¡¯t know much about Ba Shifang, so he had only heard about the latter¡¯s ability. And sword immortals always had higher combat power than other cultivators. Since Sovereign Yanxu proposed such an idea, he must have some guarantee in his heart. He peered back and caught sight of Tianyi. Instantly, he felt confident again. ¡°Since Sovereign is so confident in your Numinous Sect¡¯s monarch, how can we, the Immortal Court, shy away from this challenge?¡± After the agreement, both sides calmed down again and watched the duels. ¡°Master.¡± Sovereign Yanxu perked his ears, but otherwise showed no movement. He could help but become surprised again. Why was his disciple sending him a transmission using immortal sense? ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Have you noticed that the spiritual qi density in the air remained despite so many duels?¡± Bao Ling asked. Sovereign Yanxu sensed the spiritual qi and discovered that his disciple was right. ¡°Perhaps the true immortals are too weak to affect the qi reservoir of Shangri-La. The Buzhou Immortal Sect has said it was a fortress used to wage war in the Vast Void. If the spiritual qi density dips so soon, I would be disappointed.¡± Bao Ling shook his head. ¡°No, it feels different. The spiritual qi density has remained the same and has never dipped. It doesn¡¯t feel like there is a reservoir from which the spiritual qi is extracted from. I have a hunch that the spiritual qi is infinite or near limitless.¡± His disciple¡¯s words made Sovereign Yanxu think more. Although Bao Ling was young, he had never underestimated this disciple of his. At first, he thought that Shangri-La was simply a realm artifact the Buzhou Immortal Court revealed. The Numinous Sword Sect also possessed several realm artifacts, but it couldn¡¯t compare to the Buzhou Immortal Court. Not even a realm artifact could possess so much qi. Although realm artifacts are said to possess the power of realms, it still didn¡¯t pardon them from the requirement of needing qi to operate. Ultimately, realm artifacts weren¡¯t realms, and they couldn¡¯t possess the near limitless amount of qi a true realm had. Sovereign Yanxu secretly ordered the next few contestants from the Numinous Sword Sect to use as much qi as possible. They didn¡¯t have to win, just expend as much qi as possible in the air. Because of his actions, the win to lose ratio evened out back to five to five. During this time, Hu Landie also entered the ring. To Sovereign Yanxu¡¯s surprise, he could see that she had embarked on the path of comprehending the Law of Time. She won three duels before voluntarily giving up and returning to her seat. ¡°It seems the Buzhou Immortal Court has another good immortal,¡± Sovereign Yanxu said. ¡°Once she becomes an immortal monarch, she will immediately possess the strength of an intermediate monarch.¡± ¡°Haha, you overpraise,¡± Minister Vastlight said. ¡°How can she compare to Peak Lord Meng, who possesses the power to fight an immortal emperor?¡± However, that was only a minor episode. As Bao Ling said, the spiritual qi density never dropped. Although the spiritual qi inside the palace lowered because the true immortal absorbed them to restore their qi, more spiritual qi would enter from the outside, making the spiritual qi density return to normal immediately after. This dip can¡¯t be considered a dip at all since it was immediately restored. And the qi density outside never changed. The most damning thing was that Sovereign Yanxu couldn¡¯t sense where the qi reservoir was. There were only two options. Either the qi reservoir of Shangri-La was beyond his imagination and the amount of qi expended couldn¡¯t make a dent, or there was some other secret. To find out, Sovereign Yanxu proposed that the immortal monarchs fight inside Shangri-La instead of in the Vast Void. He didn¡¯t think Minister Vastlight would disagree. If it couldn¡¯t even withstand a battle between monarchs, how can it be considered a fortress to use against the Demon Clan and Buddhists? As he thought, Minister Vastlight agreed, but not before discussing it with his compatriots using his immortal sense. The barrier that formed the dueling arena disappeared, but the pressure and gravity increased. Even compared to the Demon Cage Realm, it was ten times more stable. It wasn¡¯t just the palace, but the entire landmass of Shangri-La transformed. At this, Sovereign Yanxu narrowed his eyes. To be so easily able to adjust the stability and atmosphere, he determined Shangri-La must be a high-rank realm artifact. Soon, two monarchs from both hegemonic forces stepped outside. Compared to the duels between the true immortals, almost everyone paid serious attention to the two¡¯s duel. Even though true immortals and immortal monarchs were both in the Immortal Realm, the difference between them was as vast as night and day. Unless a true immortal mastered a complete law, they would never be able to defeat an immortal monarch, no matter how large their number. The Numinous Sword Sect won the first duel, but the winner was quickly defeated by the second monarch from the Buzhou Immortal due to fatigue. After the monarch from the Buzhou Immortal Sect won, the next monarch from the Numinous Sword Sect won. The wins and losses stayed the same, but the Numinous Sword Sect had the slight advantage due to winning the first round. All sorts of spells and techniques were unleashed. Torrential water, hulking trees, and volcanic blazes were launched against gigantic swords of steel and earth. Were it not for the increased stability of Shangri-La, the beautiful landscape would have been irrevocably destroyed. But throughout it all, the spiritual qi density always returned to its previous density. Sovereign Yanxu had to think farther. Even if it was a good fortress against the Demon Clan and Buddhists, it still ultimately belonged to the Buzhou Immortal Court, meaning that it was also a potential weapon that could be used against them. Don¡¯t underestimate the importance of a fortress that can provide limitless qi to immortals. With it, immortals could be stationed permanently in the Vast Void. The force that had such a power would have an immense advantage. And the Numinous Sword Sect possessed no such advantage. ¡®It would be best if Shangri-La is destroyed in the war against the Demon Clan and Buddhists.¡¯ Sovereign Yanxu thought as a calculating gaze appeared in his eyes. While he schemed, Ba Shifang stepped forward. He was the last immortal monarch from the Buzhou Immortal Court. Against his foe, he didn¡¯t do much. He simply pointed a finger and a five-colored lightning sprung forth and struck the Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s monarch, defeating him instantly. Ba Shifang¡¯s display of might stunned the Numinous Sword Sect. ¡°Who¡¯s next?¡± Ba Shifang asked as he looked into the palace with a calm gaze. Meng Tingfeng stood up and flew out. ¡°You¡¯re really amazing, but it¡¯s too bad you met me.¡± Ba Shifang narrowed his eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t think I will lessen my strength because of your gifts.¡± Chapter 438: Five Phases Formation Meng Tingfeng stared at his son with some surprise. The fact that Ba Shifang was already an immortal monarch made him proud. What he didn¡¯t expect was for his son to be so strong, and not only that, it seemed that he was extremely strong among peak monarchs. He was not blind. Even a layman can discern the ease with which Ba Shifang dispatched his previous opponent. Not only that, but Meng Tingfeng could see elements of all five elements in his attack. He had a strange feeling. ¡®Doesn¡¯t it mean my own son is farther ahead of me in terms of pure realm?¡¯ Ba Shifang had restrained all his qi within his body, and Meng Tingfeng couldn¡¯t discern the state of Ba Shifang¡¯s qi without scanning him with his immortal sense. Such an act was a naked provocation, so Meng Tingfeng didn¡¯t do it. ¡®This is really embarrassing. I just became a second-step monarch while my son is already a fifth-step monarch.¡¯ Meng Tingfeng decided he would not reveal his true identity to Ba Shifang without surpassing the latter in cultivation base. He had no doubts about his ability to supersede his son. Although he cultivated longer than Ba Shifang, he spent most of his time in lower realms, where the spiritual qi wasn¡¯t as abundant and time was faster. With a goal in mind, Meng Tingfeng could feel the motivation to progress. After becoming a peak lord, Meng Tingfeng felt like he had lost a goal. Previously, he advanced fast because of his many enemies, but in the Numinous Sword Sect, he didn¡¯t feel like his life was endangered at all. Even Bao Ling didn¡¯t bring him as much pressure since he had never seen the latter take action, only tales and rumors. The two monarchs stood in the air, facing each other. Neither moved, and the tension continued to build and build. Finally, after the ten minute mark, Ba Shifang couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to attack?¡± Meng Tingfeng shook his head. ¡°No need, why don¡¯t you go first?¡± ¡°Are you serious? My cultivation base is higher than yours. Wouldn¡¯t it look like I was bullying you if I initiated the offensive?¡± ¡°Cultivation base isn¡¯t everything,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. ¡°The most important aspect is mastery of the worldly law.¡± ¡°I agree,¡± Ba Shifang said. ¡°I think my mastery is a bit higher than yours, so why don¡¯t you attack?¡± ¡°No need,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. There was no way he would attack his son first. The standoff between the two continued as neither side moved to take the initiative. As an hour passed, the once tense atmosphere turned awkward. Now, even the spectators just wanted one of them to do something instead of staring at each other the whole day. ¡°Oh alright, this is just getting ridiculous,¡± Ba Shifang finally said. He pointed a finger at Meng Tingfeng, and five orbs of light circled around his fingertip. ¡°You better dodge.¡± Meng Tingfeng tensed up and shifted his body away. Not a moment later, a bolt of five-colored lightning grazed past him toward the palace. Before reaching the palace, the five-colored lightning struck an invisible barrier and dispersed into nothingness. Before he had time to observe anything, more bolts of lightning streaked toward him. Meng Tingfeng reached for his back and grasped the Seven Star Sword. He unsheathed his sword and slashed four times. Each of his slash struck one of the bolts and completely absorbed it. ¡°You¡¯ve mastered the Law of Lightning?¡± Meng Tingfeng asked. Then, he frowned. ¡°No, it¡¯s more than that. I can feel all five different types of elemental qi inside, and they aren¡¯t just powering it. It seems whole, complete. Did you master all five elemental laws?¡± For most cultivators and immortals, the Law of Fire, Water, Earth, Wood, and Metal were the easiest to comprehend. Part of this had to do with their spiritual roots. Most cultivators were biased to what type of spiritual root they had. Cultivators with special spiritual roots like lightning or yin would have an easier time comprehending the Law of Lightning or the Law of Yin. Although rare, people who comprehended other laws, like the Law of Stars, like Meng Tingfeng also existed. Still, it didn¡¯t necessarily mean the cultivator who comprehended the more esoteric worldly law was stronger. Everything depended on the cultivator himself. Meng Tingfeng glanced at his Seven Star Sword. He blinked in surprise when he saw what had happened. The blade itself was gray, and countless tiny white dots littered the body. Each dot was a different size and represented the myriad stars in the night sky. Still, the most eye-catching thing was the many fractures littered everywhere. He noticed that the edge of the fractures had healed the tiniest bit, practically a hundredth of a nanometer. The Seven Star Sword was a divine artifact, true, but it did not mean it could not be damaged. Meng Tingfeng didn¡¯t know if his predecessor obtained it damaged or if it was damaged in his possession, but he did everything he could to repair the divine artifact. The Seven Star Sword required many materials that could only be found in the Vast Void. It was not the materials themself that mattered but the stellar essence they absorbed for eons as a result of the exposure to the starlight. Of course, Meng Tingfeng didn¡¯t have the capabilities to find a large amount of meteorite or the like, but essence of the five elements also helped the recovery, just not as much. Meng Tingfeng glanced at Ba Shifang. He was sure that his son¡¯s attack didn¡¯t have any essence, but that meant the amount of qi he used would be astronomical. It seemed that his son was even more amazing than he thought. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Are you just going to stay there and let me attack?¡± Ba Shifang asked. He smiled. ¡°It¡¯s not my style to receive attacks. Since I¡¯ve tried your attacks, then taste my sword.¡± Meng Tingfeng shot toward Ba Shifang. Starlight encased him, transforming into a shooting star. It wasn¡¯t the end as the single shooting star split into seven shooting stars, all shooting toward Ba Shifang.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Ba Shifang clapped his hands together and erected thirteen colossal pillars of lightning in front of him. For each second, a thunderclap would explode in the air. The spectators in the palace would only think it was loud, but Meng Tingfeng could feel the sonic vibrations brushing against the starlight around him. Were it not for this barrier, the sound waves would penetrate his body and injure him. The six of the seven shooting stars all showed signs of deviance. Meng Tingfeng flicked his wrist, and those six shooting stars transformed into sword-shaped qi. On the blade of the six sword qis, seven stars glowed with extreme brilliance. The light made it seemed as if day had turned into night. The six sword qis slammed into the lightning pillars. After a few seconds of back and forth between the starlight and lightning, six lightning pillars collapsed. They condensed into themselves and exploded. When the light died down, the six sword qis had dimmed, but they still shot forward, only to be blocked by another round of lightning pillars. Unlike the first confrontation, the current lightning pillars directly imploded, destroying the sword qis. As for the last pillar, Meng Tingfeng directly slashed it with his sword. White starlight directly dyed the golden pillar white before evaporating into tiny motes of light. His speed did not slow down as he adjusted his wrist so that the flat of his sword would strike Ba Shifang. Despite having his defenses destroyed, Ba Shifang showed no shock. Instead, four differently colored shadows erupted from him. They were aimed at Meng Tingfeng but flew east, south, west, north. With a quick glance, Meng Tingfeng could see an azure dragon formed of wood immortal qi flying five kilometers to the east, a vermillion bird formed of fire immortal qi toward the south, a white tiger formed of metal immortal qi toward the west, and a black turtle formed of water immortal qi in the north. ¡°Four Symbols Formation, arise!¡± The four divine beasts formed of four types of elemental qis exploded. Green, red, white, and black formed a large domain ten kilometers in diameter. Soon, the four layers of color disappeared and everything in the domain returned to its previous clarity, but Meng Tingfeng could feel an oppressive force acting on him. It wasn¡¯t anything direct, but more like he was being rejected and suppressed, as if the world itself hated him. ¡®In this domain, the strength I can exert has dropped by thirty percent,¡¯ Meng Tingfeng thought. During the Unity Realm, many venerables used their connection to heaven and earth to form domains. It was akin to a buff on yourself and a debuff on your opponent. True immortals also liked to use domains and often added their insights into them, but in the Seamless Immortal Realm, most cultivators moved away from domains. Unless a domain was powerful, its effect was extremely miniscule on the body formed from the worldly laws. A sense of pride erupted from Meng Tingfeng¡¯s chest. Even so, he didn¡¯t plan on losing. Ba Shifang charged at Meng Tingfeng with his fist reared back. Meng Tingfeng almost didn¡¯t react, not expecting such a coarse action from him. However, he did react. He raised his sword into the sky and shouted, ¡°Shine! Northern Dipper!¡± The seven brightest stars on the blade shimmered and formed a ladle pattern. Starlight pierced through the Four Symbols Formation and congregated onto him. Instantly, Meng Tingfeng felt a little relief, but the Four Symbols Formation still suppressed twenty percent of his overall output. ¡°First Star, Tianshu!¡± The tip of the Seven Star Sword shone brilliantly, like a miniature star. It left a trail of light in the air as it pierced toward Ba Shifang. Fist met sword. Or rather, fist met miniaturized star. Meng Tingfeng didn¡¯t continue to pierce after the initial contact. He knew the power of his move and he didn¡¯t want to maim his son. What he didn¡¯t expect was the enormous force the collision brought. Because of his unpreparedness, he was launched backward hundreds of meters. When Meng Tingfeng stabilized himself, he saw that Ba Shifang had only been forced back a hundred meters. Not only that, but his fist only had third-degree burns. With Meng Tingfeng¡¯s eyesight, he could see that a healing force was already acting on it. It might not take minutes, but it wouldn¡¯t take longer than an hour or two. ¡°I never expected you to be a martial cultivator, too. And such an outstanding one.¡± ¡°Are you not?¡± Ba Shifang asked. ¡°Aren¡¯t all cultivators who ascended from the lower realms amazing geniuses who cultivate two or three paths simultaneously?¡± Meng Tingfeng blinked. ¡°How can it be that simple? Most are only a little above average in terms of cultivation base. It¡¯s their experience that makes them stronger than regular immortals.¡± Ba Shifang nodded. ¡°Shall we continue?¡± ¡°Okay,¡± Meng Tingfeng said, no longer taking it easy. Three of the seven stars on the Seven Star Sword lit up. In its heyday, all seven stars could light up simultaneously, but three was the maximum the broken divine artifact could exert. The two immortal monarchs continued their battle. Unlike before, Ba Shifang no longer chose to engage in physical combat, but unleashed spell after spell. He abandoned his lightning tactics and used elements of fire, water, wood, and metal. Spectators could see a bird, tiger, dragon, and turtle battling a swordsman. Meng Tingfeng became a dazzling star. His flight left trails like a shooting star. Each swing of his sword would slice through the elemental animals, but their body would soon condense again and attack him. Rather than a clash between monarchs, the duel between Ba Shifang and Meng Tingfeng resembled a clash of emperors. ¡°I got you!¡± Meng Tingfeng said as he appeared in front of Ba Shifang. Behind him were the elemental incarnations of the four divine beasts, but they would not make it in time to stop Meng Tingfeng¡¯s blow. He twisted his wrist so that only the flat of the blade would strike Ba Shifang. Just as it seemed that Meng Tingfeng would attain victory, Ba Shifang suddenly disappeared. ¡°Law of Space?¡± Meng Tingfeng couldn¡¯t help but shout out loud. He turned around and saw Ba Shifang outside the Four Symbols Formation. A yellow shadow flew out of Ba Shifang¡¯s figure. The yellow dragon formed of earth immortal qi merged into the Four Symbols Formation, transforming it to the Five Phases Formation. Inside, Meng Tingfeng¡¯s expression changed. He could feel that the amount of power he could exert dropped to sixty percent, even with the blessing of the stars. ¡°Law of Five Phases?!¡± During the battle, the sheer number of laws Ba Shifang mastered surprised him. He could see the Law of Lightning, the Law of Fire, the Law of Water, the Law of Wood, and the Law of Metal. In fact, he had already suspected that Ba Shifang also mastered the Law of Earth, but kept it as a trump card. Ba Shifang kept a trump card, but it wasn¡¯t the Law of Earth. The stars in the skies shimmered and shrouded Meng Tingfeng, making him appear like a human-shaped nova. He had an ominous premonition, and he wanted to break out of the domain before it was too late. ¡°Too late! Five Phases Formation condensed!¡± Ba Shifang shouted as he clasped his hands together. The ten kilometer domain began to shrink at a rapid rate. Soon it was a kilometer, then half a kilometer. Although the pace slowed down, it continued to shrink. During that time, Meng Tingfeng was like an insect encased in amber, unable to move. The smaller the domain became, the dimmer the starlight shimmer until the domain was only three meters large. Not only could starlight not pierce it, but the three-meter large domain had become completely black, like a prison of darkness. Chapter 439: One Slash The members of the Numinous Sword Sect clench their fists so hard their knuckles turned white. Their hearts had jumped up and down from the furious emotion that filled up their chest the moment Ba Shifang easily defeated his previous foe, to the current nervousness. They watched the black sphere with bated breath, hoping to see a sword piercing the prison. Seconds turned to minutes, and minutes transformed to an hour, but there was no response. Finally, Sovereign Yanxu sighed and said aloud, ¡°Monarch Ba, you¡¯ve won.¡± He had originally wanted to stun the Buzhou Immortal Court and have Meng Tingfeng challenge Tianyi. If he won, great, and even if he lost, it wouldn¡¯t affect much, either. However, it seemed that he was too clever by a half and had his own plans used against him without the Buzhou Immortal Court even trying. Ba Shifang nodded and unclasped his hands. He wasn¡¯t having as easy of a time as it looked. Although sweat didn¡¯t coat his back, the extensive use of the Five Phases Formation caused his qi reservoir to plummet to seventy percent. ¡®I have to find a way to use more qi efficient attacks. It¡¯s fine when I hold the absolute upper hand, but against more powerful opponents, it¡¯s not as effective. After all, not everyone can be like Tianyi.¡¯ When the black sphere dissipated, Ba Shifang stood there stunned. Not just him, but the other onlookers were surprised. Meng Tingfeng was floating in the air with his eyes closed. Had it not been for the strong life force he exuded, Ba Shifang would have thought he died. ¡®What is he doing?¡¯ As Ba Shifang wondered, there was a moment of silence. He even felt the hostile gaze of the members of the Numinous Sword Sect. Just as Ba Shifang wanted to fly closer to take a look, Sovereign Yanxu appeared in front of Meng Tingfeng. His originally stern expression loosened slightly. He turned toward Ba Shifang and the other Buzhou Immortal Court members. ¡°Please give Peak Lord Meng some time. If I am right, it is a happy thing, and I have to thank Monarch Ba.¡± Ba Shifang¡¯s expression couldn¡¯t help but twitch. If he wasn¡¯t wrong, Meng Tingfeng should have had an epiphany. ¡®Why does it feel like I lost even though I won?¡¯ He flew back into the palace and sat down. The more Ba Shifang thought about it, the more uncomfortable he became. Due to his relationship to Tianyi, he knew it was only a matter of time before the Buzhou Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect came to blows. Wasn¡¯t his action helping the enemy? Furthermore, he had a gut instinct that Meng Tingfeng would become a formidable foe. Even if he felt grateful toward Meng Tingfeng for the gift and for helping him marry Hu Landie, it didn¡¯t change the fact that the two were on opposite sides. But even if he wanted to get rid of Meng Tingfeng, he couldn¡¯t do it now, or even during the war against the Demon Clan. At least before the war reaches its climax, he could not take action against Meng Tingfeng. Just because he couldn¡¯t didn¡¯t mean Donghai Longzi couldn¡¯t. Ba Shifang began to formulate a plan. However, all this hinged on the pivot that Tianyi would help him. Only Tianyi could contact and order Donghai Longzi in the future, and anyone else doing it would be too risky. He wouldn¡¯t tell Tianyi now, only after the Jade and Numinous Conference ended. Immortal sense transmission was considered extremely safe, but there are always exceptions. While Ba Shifang schemed, Meng Tingfeng continued his epiphany. It didn¡¯t last long by most immortals¡¯ standards, even Tianyi¡¯s, just a few hours. But when Meng Tingfeng opened his eyes, his stellar immortal qi rolled off his body in waves, allowing everyone to sense that he had fused two out of the five elemental qis. The surrounding spiritual qi began to fly to him. In addition to the aura of metal and earth, an additional fluctuation of fire appeared in Meng Tingfeng¡¯s stellar immortal qi. The bright white qi full of twinkling motes of lights that resembled the stellar river in the night sky gained a red sheen. The red sheen turned from pink to a burning red, its fiery aura almost eclipsing the stellar aura the qi possessed. Just as it seemed that the fiery aura would devour the stellar aura of Meng Tingfeng¡¯s stellar immortal true qi, it halted. The burning red color receded at a rapid rate until it returned to its milky white color. The only difference in the stellar true qi was that it would occasionally twinkle in silver, yellow, or red. Meng Tingfeng opened his eyes. Although he didn¡¯t yell in celebration, he couldn¡¯t help but have a slight smile on his face. It was as if he hadn¡¯t lost the duel. In fact, even if he won, he wouldn¡¯t be happier. If he won, it would only be some useless honor, but he gained much more than that. At the crucial moment, right before he was completely sealed, Meng Tingfeng had a stroke of fortune. The Five Phases Formation used by Ba Shifang allowed him to shorten the time he needed to understand the laws of the five elements. It wouldn¡¯t be enough to master all five elemental laws, but it would be enough to reach the fifth step of the Seamless Immortal Realm within a hundred years. Not only was Meng Tingfeng happy, but so was Sovereign Yanxu.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Although he didn¡¯t accomplish his initial goals, Meng Tingfeng¡¯s ascension from second-step monarch to third-step monarch managed to minimize the losses. This showed that Meng Tingfeng¡¯s strength had doubled, at least in terms of the energy within his qi. If he was to battle Ba Shifang again, the winner would be unknown. At least for the layman. Sovereign Yanxu knew what determined victory wasn¡¯t how powerful Meng Tingfeng¡¯s qi was, but the difference in depth of comprehension of the worldly laws. Unless Ba Shifang became a fourth or fifth-step monarch, his chances of victory were unlikely to change if all conditions were constant. Meng Tingfeng flew toward Ba Shifang with a smile. ¡°Haha, you really are my lucky star. Thanks to you, bottlenecks won¡¯t exist for me in the Seamless Immortal Realm.¡± Ba Shifang gave a stiff smile. ¡°It¡¯s my pleasure.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s have a competition to see who will enter the Extremity Immortal Realm first,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. ¡°I believe you can do it within ten thousand years, but don¡¯t think that you will have the advantage even if you are closer.¡± ¡°A competition?¡± Ba Shifang repeated and narrowed his eyes. ¡°Okay. I believe I will enter that realm in much less time than a thousand years.¡± Upon seeing the fighting spirit in Ba Shifang, Meng Tingfeng internally sighed in relief. How could he not feel the dissatisfaction from his son? Young people never liked it when other people showed them up. He had been targeted by many young masters because of his brilliance in lower realms, and he didn¡¯t want Ba Shifang to develop a similar enmity for him, so he proposed a competition. Anyway, he believed that he would be able to enter the Extremity Immortal Realm in less than five thousand years. By making Ba Shifang grow accustomed to his talent, Meng Tingfeng will subtly influence the latter and make him think it was only natural. Like boiling a frog in warm water, you had to take it slowly. Meng Tingfeng excused him and followed Sovereign Yanxu into the palace. But before leaving, he left a few words for Ba Shifang. ¡°When you challenge Bao Ling, be careful. He was able to defeat Kang Qiang, the second greatest genius of the Numinous Sword Sect, before I appeared with a single slash in the same realm.¡± He didn¡¯t try to dissuade his son. Although he believed that he would have a hard time defeating Bao Ling, it wasn¡¯t impossible in his eyes. The problem was just whether he was willing to pay the price. Similarly, the same went for Xi Tianyi. And he believed that Ba Shifang had the same confidence in himself as he did. As expected, the moment they sat down, Ba Shifang stared directly at Bao Ling. ¡°I challenge you to a duel.¡± Bao Ling showed no interest and continued to sit there with his sword in his arms. It was until Sovereign Yanxu said a few words that Bao Ling stood up. He disappeared in a silver flash and appeared across Ba Shifang. He no longer crossed his arms and held his sword¡¯s scabbard in his left hand, but showed no intent on drawing the blade. Ba Shifang frowned, not because of the naked contempt from Bao Ling but the invisible pressure. He could not feel even a single iota of qi from Bao Ling, as if he was a mortal. Obviously, that was impossible. In fact, it felt like Tianyi was standing in front of him. This only filled him with more unease. Still, he cupped his fist and said, ¡°Ba Shifang of the Immortal Court.¡± The man¡¯s sword-like gaze seems to penetrate Ba Shifang¡¯s soul. Then, he quirked his lip upward. It was like an eternal glacier had defrosted, bringing the perfect spring. Should any maiden see this slight smile, they would have gifted their hearts. ¡°Interesting. I¡¯m afraid that fellow will be bewildered and disheartened once he learns of the truth.¡± Ba Shifang¡¯s brows pursed even more. He didn¡¯t know what Bao Ling was referring to. Who is that fellow? Bao Ling continued, uncaring of Ba Shifang¡¯s confusion. ¡°Come, I¡¯ll allow you a few moves. I only need one slash to defeat you.¡± Instead of anger at the naked contempt, Ba Shifang became more wary. He raised his hand and gathered qi. No matter what, he cultivated the Sixth Grade of the Nine-Five Scripture, the Eight Symbolic Cores, Four Direction Souls. In terms of qi intensity, he equaled and surpassed many immortal emperors. If he wanted to, he could destroy half of Shangri-La in one move. Ba Shifang sighed. In the end, prudence won over. He didn¡¯t have the same lifesaving capabilities as Tianyi, so it was best not to reveal too many trump cards. Even towards Tianyi, he didn¡¯t reveal anything. After Tianyi severed his control over him, Ba Shifang became an independent life, but he also lost the ability to revive should he die. Under Ba Shifang¡¯s control, the shadows of the four divine beasts and a yellow dragon appeared. They directly surrounded Bao Ling and formed a spherical domain one hundred meters large. Like when dealing with Meng Tingfeng, the domain shrunk at a rapid pace. The color also darkened in accordance to the smaller size. Even as the surrounding blackened until it was pure darkness, Bao Ling did nothing. He didn¡¯t even reach for his sword. It was as if he was trapped in amber, just like Meng Tingfeng, but an air of unease filled Ba Shifang. He gritted his teeth and formed several hand seals. Incarnations of the four divine beasts and the yellow dragon formed of wood, fire, metal, water, and earth qi appeared. They coiled around the black sphere and transformed into divine chains, tightening the imprisonment of the Five Phases Formation. For a few seconds, all was silent. It was as if Bao Ling really couldn¡¯t escape from his prison. Then, a flash of light appeared. It was fast, too fast for Ba Shifang to react. It exited out of the black sphere and disappeared into his body. Just like before, nothing happened. Then the five chains surrounding the black sphere disintegrated. Following that, the sphere itself split into two, revealing Bao Ling, who still had his hand on his blade, before also disintegrating into pure qi. ¡°Like I said, one slash.¡± Ba Shifang didn¡¯t reply as his body floated down, as if he could no longer fly. And indeed, Ba Shifang couldn¡¯t maintain his flight capabilities anymore. Not just that, but he felt extremely weak, weaker than he ever felt before. Even during his time in the Mortal Realm. He knew that as long as Bao Ling used a bit more force, his immortal body formed from the Law of Five Phases would collapse. Ba Shifang never thought he would meet someone as powerful as Tianyi in the same realm. And he was right. Bao Ling didn¡¯t feel as powerful as Tianyi. Rather, he felt more powerful. Chapter 440: Rematch Ba Shifang entered the palace again. After informing Tianyi of his experience during the brief battle, he sat in a lotus position and closed his eyes to recuperate. He needed to stabilize his body before it collapsed. What was terrifying about Bao Ling¡¯s slash was that he perfectly controlled the power so that it was only on the brink of collapse. Just a tiny bit more and it would have been disastrous. Even if his body collapsed, it wouldn¡¯t reach the point where Ba Shifang would enter a soul state, with all his powers substantially reduced until he could form his body once more out of the Law of Five Phases, but he wouldn¡¯t be able to participate in battle for at least a decade. Ba Shifang had no doubt that Bao Ling had purposely done this. It only meant that his insight and control were terrifying. Tianyi was equally terrifying, but he didn¡¯t possess the same control as Bao Ling. If Tianyi was force, then Bao Ling was finesse. To stabilize his Five Phases Law Body, Ba Shifang needed to absorb a vast amount of spiritual qi and convert them into Five Phases Immortal Qi or immortal qi of the five elements. Ba Shifang usually converted spiritual qi into immortal qi of the five elements before converting it to Five Phases Immortal Qi within his body. Transforming it directly had a much lower success rate. This was the issue of building a body out of a divine-level law, even if only partially mastered. Although it is powerful, if you haven¡¯t completely mastered the divine law it takes a long time to repair any damage. Hu Landie focused her attention on Ba Shifang. She knew him. Since he only sat down, it meant his situation wasn¡¯t serious. So, Hu Landie focused on the conversion process. Spiritual qi would linger outside his process before transforming and being absorbed by Ba Shifang. This process stimulated her comprehension of the five elemental laws. The other immortals wanted to watch the process, too, but they needed to observe at a close distance. Coming up to Ba Shifang in his current state was undoubtedly a provocation, so they didn¡¯t. Well, except one, but his aim wasn¡¯t to increase his comprehension of the law of the five elements.
¡°Are you alright?¡± Ba Shifang opened his eyes and glanced at Meng Tingfeng. ¡°It¡¯s nothing that can¡¯t be fixed with time.¡± Meng Tingfeng stared, hoping to differentiate whether his son was telling the truth or not. Soon, he looked away. He didn¡¯t want Ba Shifang to think he was probing for weaknesses and erase any goodwill he accumulated. Not to mention he didn¡¯t know whether Ba Shifang would blame him for what Bao Ling had done by default thanks to his relationship with the Numinous Sword Sect. Judging by Ba Shifang¡¯s absorption of spiritual qi, Meng Tingfeng concluded that something had occurred to his body. And it wasn¡¯t the type to be easily healed, either. Immortal monarchs were infinitely harder to injure than true immortals. Conversely, the effort needed to heal was far greater as well. Meng Tingfeng took out a gourd and held it out to Ba Shifang. ¡°I apologize for Bao Ling¡¯s action. He went too far. It can¡¯t make up for it, but every little bit helps.¡± Ba Shifang stared at the gourd. Within it were ten Immortal Qi Condensation Pills. However, he didn¡¯t take it. ¡°No need. It¡¯s a spar, and injuries like this are only expected. I¡¯m not the type of person to hold a grudge just because I lost.¡± ¡°Shifang has the temperament of a hero. I admire it,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. He could see that his son wouldn¡¯t take it, no matter what, so he took it back. With his power, it probably wouldn¡¯t be hard to get some Immortal Qi Condensation Pills if he didn¡¯t already have them. Still, the sheer amount of spiritual qi Ba Shifang was absorbing surprised Meng Tingfeng. After walking away, Ba Shifang resumed absorption of the qi, and it was as if he was a bottomless hole. He kept absorbing and absorbing with no intent on stopping. Just dual cultivating the spiritual and martial path would not produce a law body able to contain so much qi, so Meng Tingfeng wondered what cultivation method his son used. Could it be one of the Ten Heavenly Scriptures? Meng Tingfeng also wanted to switch from his current method to the Stellar Heavenly Scripture. No matter how amazing the method created by the Seven Star Sword Emperor was, could it compare to the Ten Heavenly Scriptures? Alas, the Numinous Sword Sect didn¡¯t have the Stellar Heavenly Scripture. According to his only lead, the Buzhou Immortal Court might have it. He could only wait until the Numinous Sword Sect defeated the Buzhou Immortal Court and proclaimed hegemony over the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System before searching their archives. Meng Tingfeng glanced toward Xi Tianyi, who had stood up and was flying toward Bao Ling outside. Truthfully speaking, he was surprised by how easily Bao Ling defeated Ba Shifang. Logically speaking, he knew that he was weaker than Bao Ling. After all, Bao Ling was an immortal emperor, while he had been a second-step monarch. In his original calculation, he should have been able to fight Bao Ling to a standstill for a few moments, at the very least. It was only now that he realized how vast the gulf between himself and Bao Ling was. Having personally fought Ba Shifang, he knew the latter wasn¡¯t weak. Then how strong must Bao Ling be to easily defeat him?This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The previous duel only revealed that Bao Ling was powerful, nothing else. Even if Meng Tingfeng fought Bao Ling, he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to reveal anything. Now, Meng Tingfeng just hoped that Xi Tianyi could make Bao Ling reveal his true strength. As for thoughts about Xi Tianyi winning, Meng Tingfeng never had the thought. One, because Xi Tianyi would become an enemy, and two, because of Xi Tianyi, his son¡¯s true identity couldn¡¯t be known to the world. With a sharp gaze, Meng Tingfeng¡¯s eyes settled on Bao Ling and Xi Tianyi, not willing to miss a second.
Tianyi stared at Bao Ling. Aside from becoming an immortal emperor, his features remained unchanged, just like in Tianyi¡¯s memories. Although this was only their second time meeting, Tianyi had already seared the latter appearance and name into his mind. Unlike Ba Shifang, Tianyi could still sense an aura from Bao Ling. It was incredibly sharp, so sharp that even Tianyi was wary. More than that, Bao Ling also exuded an aura that confused him. Tianyi didn¡¯t know how to describe the aura other than as incomplete. It resembled an earth immortal¡¯s aura, but Bao Ling was obviously not a failed immortal. ¡®Don¡¯t tell me, there really is a genius in this world that would have the strength of an immortal emperor as an earth immortal,¡¯ Tianyi thought. But he quickly adjusted his thought process. He didn¡¯t have time to be distracted. Just like Ba Shifang and Meng Tingfeng before them, neither one attacked. Only, the reason was different. Ba Shifang was confident in his strength and didn¡¯t want to bully Meng Tingfeng. Meng Tingfeng, on the other hand, didn¡¯t want to attack his supposed son, leading to the stalemate. Tianyi and Bao Ling¡¯s standoff was because they felt the danger on each other¡¯s body. It was Tianyi who finally couldn¡¯t stand it. Spacetime distorted around him and he appeared in front of Bao Ling as if he had teleported. At least, to most spectators. In reality, Tianyi had just slowed down time and made space easier to travel for himself. He wanted to teleport in front of Bao Ling, but he discovered that the space around Bao Ling was just as sharp as his aura. Tianyi had attempted to teleport, but all he got was a white mark on his body, so he flew instead. Once he appeared in front of Bao Ling, he reared his fist back and punched. Mirages of thousands of fists appeared, and Tianyi resembled a thousand hand bodhisattva. The fists flying toward Bao Ling weren¡¯t mirages, but Tianyi¡¯s actual fists. It appeared like mirages due to his astounding speed and control over spacetime. Nine Heavens Art - Meteor Mash Infinity Combo Bao Ling¡¯s reaction wasn¡¯t slow, either. His hand instantly grasped the hilt and unsheathed the sword in a single motion. Anyone who saw it would sear that silver arc into their brains. It wasn¡¯t because the sword swing was slow, just the opposite. The sword swing was incredibly fast, so fast that their eyes almost couldn¡¯t process. No, the reason why their eyes could see it was simply because the sword swing was too beautiful. Not just the spectators, even Tianyi couldn¡¯t help but be dazzled by that sword swing. Still, his actions only halted for a nanosecond. His fist rained down upon Bao Ling, but to his surprise, that sword swing blocked all of his punches. He wanted to continue. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have named it an infinity combo, but the stinging pain in his fingers stopped him. Tianyi retreated. At a distance, he looked at his hands to see deep gashes in his fingers where he punched the cyan sword¡¯s edge. Black mist continuously leaked out from the wounds. If he had continued to attack, disregarding the damage, his hand might have disappeared. ¡®It was a simple sword slash, yet he¡¯s able to pierce the dimensional boundaries of my conduit,¡¯ Tianyi thought. Bao Ling¡¯s power had exceeded his imagination. Tianyi¡¯s body started to float up. Bao Ling followed. The two didn¡¯t stop even when their body exited Shangri-La¡¯s influence and only stopped when they were far away from it in the Vast Void. It was an implicit agreement. Their following clash would be catastrophic and would cause irreparable damage to the fortress. Once they stopped, Tianyi attacked. Black qi with countless twinkling motes of light exploded from his body and covered over a hundred kilometers. ¡°Chaos Refining Formation, form!¡± Bao Ling once again unleashed his sword. There was no sword qi or any other type of ranged attack exploding from his blade, yet Tianyi still felt his Chaos Refining Formation fail. Not a second later, it split in half. After stalling for a minute, the formation dissolved into immortal qi of primordial chaos. The sword emperor wasn¡¯t content to allow Tianyi to continue to attack him either. He flew toward Tianyi like a sword. Tianyi retreated. He waved his hand and unleashed a spacetime domain. Within the domain, time slowed down and space solidified. Yet, Bao Ling only slowed down a bit. It was as if he was a hot knife slicing through butter. Upon seeing his tactic fail, Tianyi altered the spacetime domain. Sometimes time would speed up or slow down, it might even freeze. Up, down, left, and right altered. Sometimes, it was just a bit of direction adjustment, like flying up would cause you to fly forward. Other times, the directions would reverse. In essence, spacetime became chaotic and the regular rules no longer applied. In this situation, most immortal emperors would become flustered and unable to exert even seventy percent of their strength. But Bao Ling¡¯s speed only dropped by ten percent. Still, that was enough for Tianyi. A miniature sun appeared inside Tianyi¡¯s palm. Without a second thought, he launched it toward Bao Ling. Nine Heavens Style - Stellar Silence. Bao Ling slashed his sword. Tianyi narrowed his eyes. He expected the miniature sun he condensed to explode upon contact, but to his shock, Bao Ling actually sliced his attack in two without exploding. The two halves continued to fly forward, extremely stable, as if they hadn¡¯t been hacked in half. It was only after a few seconds that the two halves exploded, but by then, Bao Ling had already exited the blast radius. The next several stellar silences launched by Tianyi also met the same fate. Just as he was only a kilometer away from Tianyi, Bao Ling¡¯s speed dramatically increased. The nine sphere attack in Tianyi¡¯s palm didn¡¯t even have time to finish forming before Bao Ling appeared in front of him. With sword raised high, Bao Ling slashed down. Tianyi felt a gouging pain as the sword sliced through his chest. His eyes hardened as his immortal qi of primordial chaos exploded forth and engulfed Bao Ling. Not even a second later, the immortal qi of primordial chaos burned brightly. An astronomical explosion engulfed the two immortal emperors. Chapter 441: Nebulous Negation The grand hall inside the palace of Shangri-La was dead silent. Most of the true immortals couldn¡¯t keep up with the battle in the Vast Void between the two immortal emperors, and even monarchs could only barely discern what happened. Still, it was not what happened in the battle that caused nearly all the immortals in the hall to become still. No, the reason was the suffocating killing intent that emerged from Sovereign Xi, the mother of Xi Tianyi. Sovereign Yanxu¡¯s grip on the Immortal Slaughtering Sword¡¯s scabbard tightened as he glanced at his fellow immortal sovereign. He never felt such killing intent from Xi Mengfei before, not even when they clashed outside the Broken Primordial World. ¡°Sovereign Xi, it¡¯s just a spar, no need to get so riled over it,¡± Sovereign Yanxu said. ¡°Look, your son¡¯s actions also embroiled my disciple, but I haven¡¯t acted so irrational as you. I believe in my disciple and your son. At most, both sides will be slightly injured. This is hardly enough to keep them down.¡± Xi Mengfei¡¯s killing intent did not go down at all. If anything, it only rose. ¡°I hate to agree with Sovereign Yanxu, but he is right,¡± Minister Vastlight said. ¡°This is something each cultivator must go through. If you intervene now, you are only harming Grand Elder Nine Heavens.¡± Xi Mengfei paid no need to Minister Vastlight¡¯s words. He recalled the words of Grand Elder Xia before leaving, but he¡¯d brushed them off. Now, he finally knew how Grand Elder Xia felt all those times Xi Mengfei acted out because of Xi Tianyi. Thankfully, for all those involved, Xi Mengfei¡¯s killing intent died down. It didn¡¯t completely disappear. It just hid itself, simmering below the surface, ready to erupt at a moment¡¯s notice. While Minister Vastlight internally sighed in relief at avoiding a diplomatic incident, Xi Mengfei brushed her fingers against her inner sleeves. After performing the action, the killing intent calmed down, and no longer simmered. While this happened, Sovereign Yanxu¡¯s eyes flashed with hidden thoughts. ¡®It seems her son¡¯s position in her heart is not light. It¡¯s no wonder. Sovereign Xi isn¡¯t even five thousand years old, so it¡¯s only natural to place more importance on her family, especially her son.¡¯ The mind of the Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s grand elder spun. ¡®We can use this. Compared to Sovereign Xi herself, Xi Tianyi is much easier to subdue and capture. If we have him in our hands, then Xi Mengfei¡¯s action will be greatly restricted. If we¡¯re luckier, she might become our greatest mole. But if he decides to self-detonate instead of being captured alive¡­¡¯ Images of the beautiful immortal sovereign going crazy and causing untold havoc, her bewitching eyes filled with madness, appeared in Sovereign Yanxu¡¯s mind. ¡®It¡¯s unlikely for an inner devil to kill Sovereign Xi. Most likely, she will throw all her anger at us. Still, it¡¯s not impossible to use this to our advantage. It might cause us untold casualties, but a mad sovereign is easier to deal with than a clear-headed sovereign. Once she and Xi Tianyi fall, the Buzhou Immortal Court¡¯s morale will be severely affected.¡¯ Sovereign Yanxu glanced up and resumed watching the battle. Honestly, Bao Ling¡¯s power gave him a pleasant surprise. No matter how talented Bao Ling was, he should be stuck in the Early Extremity Immortal Realm for a few thousand years. His finesse rivaled many seasoned immortal emperors. If Sovereign Yanxu was completely honest with himself, he would say that Bao Ling accomplished many things he himself couldn¡¯t in the same realm. Equally as surprising was Xi Tianyi¡¯s sheer power and the many laws he mastered. He saw signs of the five elemental laws, the Law of Space, the Law of Time, the Law of Light, the Law of Darkness, the Law of Death and many more. The most shocking law he saw was the Law of Spacetime. Ba Shifang had already been added to the Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s kill list because of his mastery of the Law of Five Phases. The Law of Spacetime was equally as amazing and made the user even harder to kill. Although Sovereign Yanxu was surprised by the sheer number of laws mastered by Xi Tianyi, each individual law wasn¡¯t that amazing. Comparatively, the Law of Spacetime was Xi Tianyi¡¯s true card, and he didn¡¯t know what made the new immortal emperor go out of his way to master so many laws and delay his cultivation. What made him a major threat aside from his Law of Spacetime was the unending immortal qi. The power pumped into each technique made it a major threat, even if the principle behind them was juvenile. If Sovereign Yanxu hadn¡¯t detected that the qi used by Xi Tianyi was the immortal qi of chaos and not essence qi, he would have thought Xi Tianyi was an immortal sovereign from the sheer amount of qi he possessed. In fact, Sovereign Yanxu dare not say he could expend as much qi as Xi Tianyi, even if his qi was of higher quality. Sovereign Yanxu¡¯s brows twitched when he saw Tianyi burst out of the explosion and throw an attack comprised of eight orbs orbiting one larger one. ¡®A technique that fuses nine different laws, impossible! No, the fusion is just barely tenable. It¡¯s only being held in place. I take back what I said. Xi Tianyi, what a terrifying talent.¡¯
In the Vast Void, Tianyi flew out of the explosion. Not a hair on his body was harmed by the detonation of his immortal qi of primordial chaos. The only injury on his body was from Bao Ling¡¯s slash, which was still recovering. Tianyi aimed his hand forward, and his palm turned black. No, it wasn¡¯t black, but a reflection of the night sky filled with countless stars and planets. A miniature sun orbited by eight miniature planets flew out of his palm and into the still detonating explosion. Nine Heavens Art - Constellation Cessation Normally, it would take Tianyi at least a few minutes to form the most basic level of this technique before launching, but he had just accomplished it in an instant. It wasn¡¯t that his mastery of the technique or speed of forming increased, but because he used a loophole.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. It was true that it took a long time for Tianyi to form the Constellation Cessation, but that was only on the outside. Inside his Nine Heavens Universe, he could form it much more easily. Although it was faster, it wouldn¡¯t be instantaneous, but he just needed to speed up the time within his inner universe, making the final completion time a matter of semantics. His Heavenly Dao Clone just needed to form it, and Tianyi just needed to open a portal to launch the technique. Tianyi watched as his second strongest technique entered the explosion. With his conscious control, the explosions died down, just in time for his technique to enter. His Constellation Cessation was a volatile art. Once an attack above a certain threshold hit it, it would explode before hitting the target. Soon, the Constellation Cessation reached Bao Ling. When the explosion cleared, Bao Ling had his sword ready to face Tianyi¡¯s powerful technique, as if expecting it. It wasn¡¯t a surprise, since the Constellation Cessation practically announced its presence with how much qi rolled off of it. Even if his senses were disturbed by the explosions and the immortal qi of primordial chaos, it was practically impossible not to sense it. Anyone who became an immortal emperor can be considered a genius of several eras, but even they would be severely injured if they took the Constellation Cessation head on. The offensive power was terrifying, and even more horrifying was its range. Bao Ling slashed out with his cyan-colored sword. Like with the Stellar Silence, he sliced through the ninth sphere without detonating. The ninth sphere may not have exploded, but its change caused the other eight spheres to become unstable and exploded. A great giant sphere of destruction descended. Compared to the destruction of the Eight Pillar Sect, the current Constellation Cessation was fifty percent stronger. The light radiating off of it illuminated hundreds of thousands of kilometers in the Vast Void. Even Shangri-La was dyed white with light to the point that no shadow existed anywhere on it. Tianyi watched at the perimeter of the sphere of destruction. When the light disappeared, he frowned. Bao Ling was standing in the center of the explosion, unharmed except for some singed ends on his robes and the tip of his hair. ¡°It¡¯s amazing,¡± Bao Ling said. ¡°The sheer number of laws you mastered reminds me of him. However, your depth is a bit lacking.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t need you to tell me,¡± Tianyi said. He waved his hand and an oblong portal appeared. From within the portal, three Constellation Cessations shot out. Facing the barrage of Constellation Cessations, Bao Ling¡¯s expression didn¡¯t even twitch. He waved his arm and steel-colored qi shot out. Tianyi recognized his qi as an ordinary immortal metal qi, but for some reason, he felt it was not simple. It almost reminded him of his immortal qi of primordial chaos. The difference was that if his qi reverted to the past, Bao Ling¡¯s qi was the future. It contained something extremely advanced and esoteric that Tianyi couldn¡¯t comprehend. Regardless of Tianyi¡¯s thoughts, Bao Ling formed a single hand seal. His steel-colored qi condensed into ten thousand sword-shaped qis. ¡°Arise, Ten Thousand Immortal Sword Formation.¡± Ten sword qis rotated clockwise around Bao Ling. In the second layer, ninety sword qis rotated counterclockwise. Third layer had nine hundred sword qis rotating clockwise, and the fourth layer had nine thousand sword qis rotating counterclockwise. Once they started turning, it created a terrifying sword domain. Once the Constellation Cessations touched the perimeter of the Ten Thousand Immortal Sword Formation, they detonated. However, even though they expanded and turned into spheres of destruction, the parts that touched the Ten Thousand Immortal Sword Formation would disappear. No, Tianyi looked closer. He saw that the Ten Thousand Immortal Sword Formation was actually grinding the energy of his Constellation Cessation and transforming it into pure qi for it to absorb. He was very interested in its mechanics, but the formation was too perfect and did not allow him to glean anything. ¡®As expected of a formation created by the Heavenly Lord of Numinous Treasures from the primordial era. Its power would have been even stronger if Bao Ling used immortal artifacts.¡¯ Tianyi didn¡¯t think it was amazing that Bao Ling could use such a formation, but the members of the Numinous Sword Sect were shocked. The Ten Thousand Immortal Sword Formation wasn¡¯t something one person should have been able to unleash. It required at least ten immortals to activate, but Bao Ling activated the highest level alone. Even if he didn¡¯t use immortal artifacts, this was already a miracle. The three Constellation Cessations weren¡¯t enough to destroy the Ten Thousand Immortal Sword Formation and only strengthened it. Tianyi narrowed his eyes. ¡®All things have a limit. I want to see if your formation breaks down from all the energy or I run out first.¡¯ Naturally, it was practically impossible for Tianyi to run out, so it was a heads I win, tails you lose situation. Tianyi opened more portals into his inner universe and launched Constellation Cessation, one after the other. Even Bao Ling, who had kept his composed expression throughout the battle, couldn¡¯t help but twitch at the sheer firepower Tianyi was throwing at him. However, he did not waver and dealt with the endless barrage. While he did so, he continued to move forward. Had it not been for the time needed to deal with the Constellation Cessation, he would have already reached Tianyi. His goal was to get Tianyi into his Ten Thousand Immortal Sword Formation. Using it to defeat Tianyi was impossible. He just wanted to disrupt Tianyi¡¯s attack and get up and close to display his swordplay. But how could Tianyi let him accomplish his goal so easily? While continuing to launch a barrage of Constellation Cessation, Tianyi prepared his strongest technique within his inner universe. Inside a remote location of the Nine Heavens Universe, one hundred and twenty-nine thousand six hundred stars came into existence. Each of the stars exuded the same silver-gold light, but they were not all the same. Although they all had the silver-gold light, they also contained an additional essence. One star flickered with a red fiery light, and another flickered with an earthy yellow radiance. Not all of the stars flickered with different variations, but most of them could be categorized into groups. They were all related to the laws Tianyi fully and partially mastered. Back in the Vast Void, Tianyi stopped firing the Constellation Cessation and charged at the Ten Thousand Immortal Sword Formation. Bao Ling was surprised, but he didn¡¯t hesitate. He also increased his speed after dealing with the last Constellation Barrage. The Ten Thousand Immortal Sword Formation had cracks littering every corner of it. It wasn¡¯t because Tianyi¡¯s technique had damaged it. Just the opposite. The cracks had appeared because of overflowing energy. If Tianyi continued, he could have caused the formation to collapse, but he didn¡¯t want to win like that, nor did he think Bao Ling would be defeated because of that. Just before Tianyi touched the Ten Thousand Immortal Sword Formation, his skin turned black like the abyss. Then, one hundred and twenty-nine thousand six hundred stars appeared on the surface. The myriad stars flew away from his body and into the distance. Even touching the Ten Thousand Immortal Sword Formation only affected it. ¡°Nebulous Negation!¡± To the shock of all the observers and Bao Ling, the Ten Thousand Immortal Sword Formation started to break down. It wasn¡¯t because of any external attacks, but the qi used to fuel it evaporated, causing it to become like a rootless duckweed. Not just the qi used for the Ten Thousand Immortal Sword Formation, but the immortal qi in Bao Ling¡¯s body also started to disappear. ¡°It¡¯s my win!¡± Tianyi said as he appeared in front of Bao Ling with his fist reared back. Bao Ling said nothing and swung his sword. Chapter 442: The Fourth Drawback Unlike most of Tianyi¡¯s self-created techniques, like Stellar Silence or Constellation Cessation, Nebulous Negation was a supportive and defensive technique. Within it, Tianyi could be called absolutely invincible. No matter how powerful an immortal was, they had to rely on qi in order to power their attacks. The technique targeted all qi, be it spiritual, true, or immortal, within its range. Martial immortals fared better, but only a little. They still needed energy to perform their attacks, after all. It seemed invincible, but it had three major drawbacks. The first two drawbacks made it all but impractical for anyone but Tianyi to cast this technique. Drawback number one was that it could only negate certain types of qi. For example, if a user mastered the Law of Fire, they could negate spiritual, true, and immortal qi of fire. Normally, negating only one type or aspect of qi was useless, but Tianyi had mastered numerous worldly laws, so he could negate almost all types of qi. Since he mastered all five elemental laws, any immortal monarch within his domain would almost instantly become weaker than a first-step monarch. Normally, the Nebulous Negation would take much longer to strip the five elemental aspects of an immortal emperor¡¯s qi, but since Tianyi had initial success in comprehending the Law of Five Phases, even an immortal emperor¡¯s energy would become weaker than a first-step monarch. The second flaw was the massive amount of energy needed to support the technique. Tianyi¡¯s technique wasn¡¯t like Bao Ling¡¯s Ten Thousand Immortal Sword Formation, which could refine and extract external energy and supplant them for its own usage. The Nebulous Negation produced a special form of qi that Tianyi dubbed antithesis qi. Of course, the antithesis qi wasn¡¯t universal. There were many types, such as antithesis immortal qi of fire, antithesis true qi of fire, antithesis spiritual qi of fire, etc. To create antithesis qi, the user naturally needed to master the corresponding law. The role of the antithesis qi was to nullify a certain type of qi. This meant that for every drop of qi nullified, the caster would also lose the corresponding amount. In other words, the energy requirements were terrifying. Thus, only someone like Tianyi, who had access to an endless amount of qi, could effectively use this technique. The third drawback was that it affected everyone with range, including the caster. This meant that it would be useless in group battles, and even the caster of the technique would have to rely on his physical body to deal damage to the opponent. There was another drawback, but that was more of a result of the technique being unfinished. In Tianyi¡¯s estimation, it won¡¯t negate all qi instantly. So although the immortals within its range would feel their qi leak out and disappear, it wouldn¡¯t be instant. As long as they kept the qi within their body, they could struggle for a long time. ¡®So why can he still display such a terrifying amount of strength?!¡¯ Tianyi screamed in his mind. Tianyi had an expression of disbelief as he held his chest. His wound had just healed, and now another wound sliced open his chest, allowing observers to peek into his Nine Heavens Universe. His body blurred as he retreated, but Bao Ling did not intend to let him go. White wisps wafted off of Bao Ling¡¯s body, meaning that he was losing his immortal qi. However, it still exuded the aura of an immortal emperor¡¯s qi. ¡®As someone who used the Law of Metal to form his immortal body, Bao Ling should be especially restrained by my technique, but this isn¡¯t the case at all.¡¯ ¡®Should I use essence qi and completely suppress him?¡¯ Because of his unique cultivation method, the abilities unique to those in the Origin Immortal Realms were not unavailable to him. ¡®No, it¡¯s a secret trump card I can use against immortal sovereigns. Until then, I can¡¯t reveal it. Although my Nebulous Negation should already be shocking as it is.¡¯ ¡®Not that it seems effective against Bao Ling,¡¯ Tianyi sulkily thought. ¡®In that case.¡¯ Just as Bao Ling caught up and unleashed another sword strike, a seemingly ordinary steel sword appeared in Tianyi¡¯s hand. Surprise flashed across Bao Ling¡¯s eyes, but his hand didn¡¯t stop. Cyan blade met metal. Tianyi smiled. ¡®No matter how strong your attacks are, can they damage a divine artifact? Can they damage my Immortal Confining Sword?¡¯ Tianyi increased his strength. Although Bao Ling¡¯s sword technique was immaculate, it didn¡¯t mean his pure muscle strength was greater than Tianyi¡¯s. Tianyi had confidence that even martial sovereigns could only claim second in pure strength. He even wanted to say that his strength rivaled divinities. Of course, he kept such blasphemous thoughts to himself. He didn¡¯t want to be face-slapped immediately after. Bao Ling retracted his sword upon realizing that Tianyi¡¯s pure strength exceeded his. From then, his sword style changed. One slash became three. Tianyi could still barely keep up with the speed, but what troubled him was Bao Ling¡¯s style. It wasn¡¯t any style Tianyi recognized, and was only composed of the basic thirteen sword moves: chop, pierce, scrape, sweep, break, tap, cleave, support, intercept, twist, lift, draw, and sheathe. Yet, each move from Bao Ling seemed to be directed at his weakness. Not for the first time in his life, Tianyi cursed his low talent for swordsmanship. He never thought he would meet someone that could easily break through the dimensional boundaries of his conduit. Now, he could only rely on the divine artifact to shield him.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. No matter how much Tianyi blocked, nicks and cuts would appear on his body. Soon, he appeared to be a man-shaped black mist dispenser. Had he not blocked the fatal blows, more immortal qi of primordial chaos would become expunged from his wounds. The clash of swords wasn¡¯t without benefits. Tianyi could feel his swordsmanship improve at a noticeable rate from just blocking Bao Ling¡¯s sword. Still, it only made him aware of the gap between himself and Bao Ling all the more. No matter how much his swordsmanship improved, Bao Ling¡¯s suppression of him never changed. It was as if Tianyi had remained stagnant with no improvements. Obviously, this was impossible. It only showed how unfathomable Bao Ling¡¯s sword skill was. As they clashed more and more, Tianyi couldn¡¯t help but wonder what materials Bao Ling used for his cyan sword. Even if Tianyi couldn¡¯t use the full power of the Immortal Confining Sword because he didn¡¯t have pure essence or essence qi, it shouldn¡¯t be something that can withstand a divine artifact for long. Forget nicks or dents, the cyan sword didn¡¯t even have a scratch on it. Maybe it was also a divine artifact? The sword duel between the two immortal emperors continued for an hour. At this rate, victory would be decided only after Bao Ling used up all his immortal qi or Tianyi¡¯s conduit body broke down. The conclusion would take days, if not weeks, and Tianyi didn¡¯t want to decide victory in such a boorish way. During one of Bao Ling¡¯s slashes, he reached out to grab the sword. Sure, he knew that it would cut into his fingers, but he had specifically strengthened the dimensional boundaries. It would only give him a few more seconds, but it should be enough to accomplish his goals. Against Tianyi¡¯s expectations, Bao Ling¡¯s cyan sword slipped past his fingers and sliced into his elbow. However, he curled his arm, trapping Bao Ling¡¯s sword between his biceps and forearm. ¡®Now!¡¯ Tianyi swung the Immortal Confining Sword with all his strength. His immortal qi of primordial chaos covered the blade like a shroud. Although it was evaporating, it didn¡¯t disappear because of Tianyi continuously supplying. Powered by the immortal qi of primordial chaos, the Immortal Confining Sword released a heart-palpitating aura. Not only that, spacetime around Tianyi and Bao Ling solidified. A smile started to appear on Tianyi¡¯s lips as his sword neared Bao Ling, but at the critical moment, Bao Ling twisted his wrist. Originally, it should have been nothing, but that simple movement magnified the cyan sword¡¯s power by a hundred times. Before Tianyi could react, the sword sliced through his arm and torso. Tianyi¡¯s remaining hand clenched onto the Immortal Confining Sword as he drifted back. His lower half and dismembered arm dissolved into immortal qi of primordial chaos under the effects of Nebulous Negation. But he didn¡¯t care about that at all. Instead, he stared at Bao Ling. ¡°That, was that a completely new law that I sensed?¡± Contrary to Tianyi¡¯s expectation, Bao Ling only shook his head ruefully. ¡°Juniors these days sure are amazing. I never thought I would have to reveal my prototype Law of the Sword.¡± ¡°You¡¯re mad,¡± Tianyi said. He had supreme confidence in himself, but he didn¡¯t dare to claim that he could create a whole new law in the Immortal Realm. ¡°Even divinities would find it near impossible to create a whole new law.¡± Bao Ling smiled, losing his aloof demeanor. He had a playful smile on his lips as he glanced at Tianyi. ¡°Did you know that in the primordial era, many divinities created their own laws? The more laws that are created, the stronger the Primordial World became. The stronger that one became.¡± ¡°Who?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°Someone with a similar situation as you,¡± Bao Ling said. ¡®Is he talking about the Almighty?¡¯ Tianyi thought. However, why did Bao Ling compare him to the Almighty? The more Tianyi talked to Bao Ling, the more confused he became. It was as if Bao Ling lived through the primordial era. ¡®Is he a survivor of the primordial era?¡¯ ¡°Alright, let¡¯s end this spar,¡± Bao Ling said as he sheathed his sword. ¡°I¡¯m afraid if I don¡¯t stop here, that woman will come charging at with reckless abandon.¡± ¡°Ah,¡± Tianyi turned toward Shangri-La and saw Minister Vastlight hugging Mengfei and begging her not to do something she will regret. ¡°Okay.¡± After seeing Bao Ling¡¯s sword attack, he knew that he was inferior. Even if he used essence qi to power the Nebulous Negation, he would still lose. The qi in Bao Ling¡¯s body wasn¡¯t pure immortal qi of metal, but the prototype immortal qi of the sword. Not to mention the prototype Law of the Sword. Tianyi would have fared better against an actual immortal sovereign. Bao Ling was practically the fourth drawback of the Nebulous Negation. Tianyi released his control of the Nebulous Negation and allowed it to dissipate. Then, he stored the Immortal Confining Sword back into his inner universe and reconstructed his arm and lower half. Although he appeared healed, only he knew that his current conduit¡¯s strength had dropped by around thirty to forty percent. The two of them flew back to Shangri-La. Bao Ling returned to his previous aloof expression, while Tianyi had a bitter smile. He thought he would be able to avenge his previous loss, but it turned out the gap had only become bigger. ¡®No, it¡¯s a momentary setback. Bao Ling is probably the reincarnation of a divinity in the primordial era. It¡¯s only natural to lose now. But it won¡¯t be so in the future. I will defeat him.¡¯ He was broken out of his thoughts when he entered Shangri-La¡¯s range. Upon sensing the turbulent qi, his expression changed. Shangri-La wasn¡¯t a realm artifact, but a medium powered by his conduit. In other words, Shangri-La was a facade. When Shangri-La¡¯s turbulent qi returned to its peaceful state, Bao Ling only glanced at him, but said nothing. When the two entered the palace, Sovereign Yanxu smiled at his disciple. In contrast, Mengfei directly appeared in front of Tianyi and started touching him all over. ¡°Yi¡¯er, are you okay? Does it hurt?¡± Tianyi¡¯s face flushed. ¡°Mother, I¡¯m fine. Can¡¯t you see?¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± Only after a hundred reassurances did Mengfei let up. When the two returned to their seats, Mengfei was visibly glaring at Bao Ling despite her emotionless expression. ¡°Grand Elder Nine Heavens, you did well. Even compared to immortal sovereigns, you can exchange several moves,¡± Minister Vastlight said. Sovereign Yanxu also piped in. ¡°Yes. Aside from Bao Ling, there has never been a genius greater than you.¡± Tianyi¡¯s lips twitched. ¡®Are you praising me or Bao Ling?¡¯ After Tianyi¡¯s duel with Bao Ling, the Jade and Numinous Conference came to an end. The conference was only to establish an initial agreement. The finer details on the alliance will be hammered out by envoys from both sides. Chapter 443: Junior Sovereign On the way back to the Numinous Realm, Meng Tingfeng stayed aboard the deck, staring off into the distance. There was nothing in his sights except the twinkling light of the stars in the Vast Void. However, in the distance, unseen by the naked eye, was the Primordial Realm. It was also the direction Shangri-La flew toward after the end of the Jade and Numinous Conference. ¡°A spirit stone for your thoughts?¡± Meng Tingfeng looked toward his right to see Elder Shu sliding next to him on the rails. ¡°Just recollecting the battle between Grand Elder Bao and Xi Mengfei¡¯s son.¡± Elder Shu smiled with understanding. ¡°Yeah, it was an amazing battle. I don¡¯t think any of us were expecting such a climactic battle between the two immortal emperors. I know it was a few days ago, but I still can¡¯t help but tremble recalling the Nine Heaven Emperor¡¯s second attack. It was like a miniature sun exploding. Against any monarchs like us, it would be a fatal blow.¡± Meng Tingfeng stayed silent. He didn¡¯t want to admit it, but Xi Tianyi¡¯s power far outstripped his own. Even his late master, the Seven Star Sword Emperor, should not have reached such a level of power, right? Worse was how young Xi Tianyi was. It took the Seven Star Sword Emperor over a hundred thousand years to reach his height of power, yet Xi Tianyi exceeded it in a few millennia. It was also the first time Meng Tingfeng had doubted his own perseverance. With his talent and efforts, could he really catch up to monsters like Xi Tianyi? ¡°I thought Grand Elder Bao would have a hard time, but it only proved I was a frog at the bottom of the well,¡± Elder Shu said. ¡°He needed no extravagant technique, only simple sword strikes to deflect the Nine Heaven Emperor¡¯s attacks. We had already seen his power when he defeated Kang Qiang, but now, we know that he only showed the tip of an iceberg.¡± ¡°When I tried to analyze those seemingly simple sword slashes, I discovered that they contained many things I can¡¯t understand.¡± Elder Shu sighed. ¡°I thought I achieved what the ancients called transforming simplicity to complexity and returning complexity to simplicity. Only now did I discover that I partially accomplished the former and failed the latter.¡± Meng Tingfeng nodded his head in agreement. Bao Ling¡¯s power also made him despair. He had more confidence in catching up to Sovereign Yanxu than the young immortal emperor, but perhaps that was because he hadn¡¯t seen the immortal sovereign take action yet. ¡°Neither of the two are people we can touch right now.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Elder Shu said. ¡°Although Grand Elder Bao is heads and shoulders stronger than the Nine Heavens Emperor, it does not change the fact that the disparity between us and them is enough to make us despair. I don¡¯t think anyone can refute that the two are future sovereigns.¡± Was Bao Ling stronger than Xi Tianyi? Meng Tingfeng could not deny that. However, Meng Tingfeng is of the opinion that Xi Tianyi was the greater threat. His unfathomable qi reserves and the devastating range of his technique made him similar to a strategic deterrent. Were the Numinous Sword Sect and the Buzhou Immortal Court go to war, Xi Tianyi would deal countless casualties to the Numinous Sword Sect. At least on a level greater than Bao Ling. Of course, Meng Tingfeng could tell that Bao Ling did not reveal everything. Even so, he didn¡¯t think Bao Ling could exceed Xi Tianyi in terms of pure destruction. ¡°Future sovereigns,¡± Meng Tingfeng tested the words on his tongue. Elder Shu nodded. ¡°Yes, Junior Sovereign Bao and Junior Sovereign Nine Heavens. Compared to calling them immortal emperors, I feel this title is more apt.¡± Although both immortal emperors and immortal sovereigns were exalted figures in the Numinous and Primordial Realms, it was obvious immortal sovereigns held a higher status. Calling them junior sovereigns was not demeaning the two, but raising their status. Meng Tingfeng stayed silent. Can he really reach the same height as the two? Can he become an immortal sovereign? His eyes hardened. No, he will. He didn¡¯t plan on stopping at the Origin Immortal Realm; he wanted to exceed. ¡°One day, people will also address me as a junior sovereign,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. ¡°No, they won¡¯t stop there. They will address me as a junior divinity!¡± Elder Shu stared at Meng Tingfeng, gobsmacked. Then, she covered the lower half of her face with her sleeve and let out a charming giggle. ¡°Your words are very boastful, but I don¡¯t dislike them. I don¡¯t have the same aspiration or confidence as you, but allow me to make my proclamation. People will address me as junior emperor in the future.¡± She was a third-step immortal monarch, but the amount of power she could unleash could not compare to Meng Tingfeng. Her words were clearly in jest, but it still didn¡¯t stop Elder Shu¡¯s mindset to change. Since she spoke those words, she must be prepared to fulfill them. Unknowingly, her willpower had increased. Meng Tingfeng and Elder Shu shared a smile. Not long later, both of them returned to their cabins and focused on cultivating.
While the Numinous Sword Sect was still making its way back to the Numinous Realm, the Immortal Court had already returned to the Primordial Realm. In fact, Shangri-La could have immediately returned to the Primordial Realm through teleportation if the Immortal Court hadn¡¯t wanted to hide this ability from the Numinous Sword Sect. In the Vast Void, teleportation became infinitely harder, even for a monarch that mastered the Law of Space. Even immortal emperors could only teleport themselves a short distance. And the only reason Tianyi could teleport such long distances was because of his inner universe providing coordinates and a vast amount of energy.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Still, Tianyi did not think it was an amazing ability. Especially after his disastrous defeat at Bao Ling¡¯s hands. On the frost-covered mountain top outside of Jade Peak Palace, Tianyi¡¯s figure stood there on his lonesome. His hand clutched the Immortal Confining Sword, and he went through the motions of several arts. The initial movement of each sword swing was the same, but there were ten thousand different types of follow-up movements. Ever since he returned, Tianyi had stayed atop the mountaintop to practice his sword skills. Although he gained a lot of insights into sword arts during his battle with Bao Ling, he hadn¡¯t digested all of it. And now, his sword skills were continuously improving at a rapid rate. Tianyi had no illusion that his sword skills would surpass his hand techniques. True, he was more talented in hand techniques, but this only made it more obvious how profound Bao Ling¡¯s sword skills were. During this time, Tianyi tried to comprehend the prototype Law of the Sword displayed by Bao Ling, but he had no luck. He sighed and stopped after the ten thousandth swing. ¡°As expected, I can¡¯t get any insights. The only way to comprehend it would be to fight Bao Ling or wait until he completes the Law of the Sword and have it merge with the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System.¡± The Immortal Confining Sword in Tianyi¡¯s hand vanished, returning to its scabbard on Ninth Heaven in his inner universe. Although Tianyi was raising his sword skills, he had no illusions about what his greatest advantage was. It was not his talent in his hand techniques or his talent in comprehending the myriad laws that most immortals took eons to, but the Nine Heavens Universe. If he were to train normally, it would take thousands if not tens of thousands of years to become an immortal sovereign, even with unique status as a reincarnator allowing him to bypass the need to merge his other selves in different timelines. To this day, Tianyi still couldn¡¯t figure out how Mengfei reached the Origin Immortal Realm so quickly. If other immortals knew of Tianyi¡¯s lament, they might not resist the urge to charge forward and beat him up. Need ten thousand years at most to become an immortal sovereign? That was already a supreme genius, okay? A cultivator that could become an immortal sovereign was extremely rare, even in the primordial era. Nevertheless, instead of going the normal path, Tianyi decided to stick to his unique path. As long as he mastered more laws, the more powerful his control of the Nine Heavens Universe would become, and correlating, he would become just as powerful. He had a gut feeling that it wouldn¡¯t be impossible to become a peak-level divinity just relying on the Nine Heavens Universe. He couldn¡¯t help it. He had a feeling that Bao Ling¡¯s power would outstrip him if he took the orthodox path. Tianyi¡¯s figure vanished from the mountaintop. It was nothing more than a conduit he had quickly made to practice his sword skill. He planned to practice his sword skills until he digested all his gains from his battle with Bao Ling. Within Tianyi¡¯s chamber in Jade Peak Palace, his primary conduit sat in a lotus position with his eyes closed. Although he hadn¡¯t fully restored the power of his conduit¡ªthat would take decades, if not a century¡ªit didn¡¯t stop him from comprehending the worldly laws. Right now, Tianyi planned on fully comprehending three laws: the Law of Life, the Law of Yin, and the Law of Yang. While comprehending the Law of Yin and the Law of Yang during the Primordial Realm¡¯s ascension, he had mastered the Law of Light and the Law of Darkness, aiding him in comprehending the former two laws. Tianyi knew the Law of Yin and the Law of Yang were on the same level as the Law of Time and the Law of Space. Unfortunately, his talents in the Law of Yin and the Law of Yang were not as high as his talents in the Law of Spacetime. He hadn¡¯t even reached the final bottleneck before fully comprehending either of the two laws yet, and he estimated he needed another hundred years or so. After that, he just needed inspiration to fully comprehend either the Law of Yin or the Law of Yang. However, Tianyi didn¡¯t know how long it would take him to gain that inspiration. He hoped it wouldn¡¯t take more than a thousand years. If it did, he might as well cultivate the orthodox way. Again, if other immortals were to know his thoughts, they would not be able to resist the urge to charge at him and vent their frustrations. If Tianyi thought he was slow, then how would he categorize those immortal¡¯s efforts that took tens if not hundreds of thousands of years? Thankfully, for both himself and the innocent immortals, Tianyi did not say his true feelings to anyone. Tianyi suddenly opened his eyes. ¡°It¡¯s too slow.¡± He stood up and paced around his chambers. He knew that haste made waste, but he couldn¡¯t help but think that there should be something he could to do speed up his cultivation. Suddenly, he looked up. It wasn¡¯t because he thought of a method, but his disciple, Jinshu, had contacted him through the Xiyinet. Jinshu requested to enter Cultivation Online and experience the complete Law of Fire. Tianyi directly gave him permission. Normally, you had to have enough points or contribution points, but Jinshu was his disciple, so it didn¡¯t matter. Jinshu was stuck at the last step of mastering the Law of Fire, so it was about time for him to master it and step into the Seamless Immortal Realm. Five years later, Tianyi felt the fluctuation of Jinshu mastering the complete Law of Fire. Just as Tianyi smiled, his eyes lit up as he felt Jinshu¡¯s insight into the Law of Yang appear in his mind. That¡¯s right, he had an experience sharing method known as Cultivation Online. As long as he made an event and deduced the requirements for experiencing the Concepts related to the Law of Yang or the Law of Yin, his speed would increase. Of course, Tianyi didn¡¯t implement it immediately. Sad as it may be, he had to discuss it with Xia Meng first. Tianyi already thought of a proposal. In order to prepare for the war against the Demon Clan, he will host a special event in Cultivation Online. He wouldn¡¯t discount all the prices in the Concept Enlightenment Hall, just certain ones. For example, Tianyi planned on hosting a special event relating to the Law of Fire, reducing the prices for all turns in the Concept Enlightenment Hall for a period of time, followed by the Law of Water, and so on. Tianyi wanted to directly do laws related to Yin, Yang, and Life, but unfortunately, most cultivators did not have much insight into them, so he could only use laws related to them. As Tianyi expected, it didn¡¯t take much convincing on Xia Meng¡¯s part for him to agree. While the Immortal Court entered a time of festivity due to the limited time events in Cultivation Online, one which even true immortals participated in, the negotiations with the Numinous Sword Sect ended, and a date to invade the Divine Beast Pseudo-System was finalized. Chapter 444: The Calm On Fourth Heaven inside the Nine Heavens Universe, the gigantic world tree started to vibrate. Its leaves shimmered with green radiance, its trunk took on a golden sheen, and its roots dug deeper into the planet, nearly reaching the core of the planet. Sitting at the base of the tree was a blue-robed woman. In comparison to the gigantic tree, she was miniscule, practically an ant. Yet she exuded a powerful aura that resonated with the colossal tree, as if she and the tree were one. Simultaneously, the stars in the sky outside the Nine Heavens System rearranged themselves. A constellation resembling a gigantic tree started to form. Anyone who saw it would gain insights into the Law of Life and the Concepts related to it. This sensation only grew stronger the more complete the constellation became. The people on Sixth Heaven, including the people Tianyi brought from the Demon Cage Realm and Cultivation Online, all sensed this. The players of Cultivation Online only thought it was a surprise event and did their best to comprehend it. Their insights fed back to Tianyi, causing the tree constellation to become more perfect, which fed back to the players. It formed a positive loop that benefitted both sides. Because of the myriad number of laws Tianyi mastered, even immortal monarchs would enter his Nine Heavens Universe and comprehend the laws Tianyi mastered. Of course, they also paid an entrance fee. Because of this, Tianyi¡¯s prestige even surpassed his mother¡¯s to these immortal monarchs and true immortals. Although Mengfei was powerful, she couldn¡¯t help them comprehend the laws like Tianyi could. A few immortal emperors also had the idea of cultivating in Tianyi¡¯s Nine Heaven Universe, but half of them couldn¡¯t lower their head and seek his help because of their pride. If they asked Tianyi, wouldn¡¯t it mean they admit inferiority to another immortal emperor, much less a junior that only lived a fraction of their lifetime? As for the other half, Tianyi rejected them. It wasn¡¯t that Tianyi didn¡¯t like the price they offered; it was done so to keep his true power a secret. Immortal monarchs might not be able to tell, but immortal emperors had higher insight and might be able to deduce the extent of how many laws he mastered. The number of laws also represented Tianyi¡¯s strength, and he didn¡¯t want anyone to know his true power. Of course, if his mother asked, he would give her a general idea. But Mengfei never asked and was just content to spend time with Tianyi. In fact, she hadn¡¯t let Tianyi out of her sight after returning. Tianyi attributed this to the aftereffect of his duel with Bao Ling. Mengfei didn¡¯t cling to Tianyi twenty-four-seven, though. No matter how much she didn¡¯t want Tianyi to leave her sight, she also needed to cultivate. The war with the Demon Clan was going to commence within a thousand years, and she wanted to increase her strength as much as possible. For immortal emperors, a thousand years wouldn¡¯t be enough to increase their strength, but like Tianyi, Mengfei wasn¡¯t even ten thousand years old. Even a few hundred years would allow her power to increase by a few percentages. In comparison, Sovereign Yanxu¡¯s improvement would be far less. The Immortal Court didn¡¯t set the time just to give Mengfei more time to increase her power, but also for Tianyi¡¯s clone, Donghai Longzi, to gain more influence in the Divine Beast Pseudo-System. The higher his influence and status, the more intel he would be able to provide once the war started. After a week, the tree constellation finished forming. Although it still exuded the aura of the Law of Life, it was no longer as clear as before. It became one of the many other constellations in the sky. The cultivators on Sixth Heaven were disappointed, especially those who couldn¡¯t gain anything. No matter the opportunity, one had to be suitable in order to grab the chance. Still, it was an overall benefit, and many of the cultivators gained a lot. There was even one true immortal who mastered the Law of Life and left to enter the Seamless Immortal Realm. When his Dao Manifestation ended, the Immortal Court bestowed upon him a monarch artifact. After the Immortal Court unified the entire Huang Realm and ascended it to the Primordial Realm, the success of sages crossing the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation increased dramatically. Not only did the number of powerful cultivators increase, but the immortal artifacts that were once scarce became much more abundant. The Immortal Court actually possessed many immortal artifacts, enough to arm all the immortals several times over and even a few divine artifacts. The problem was that they didn¡¯t want the Eight Pillar Sect or the Saintly Scholar School to know the true extent of their wealth, so they hid it. Now that they became the sole hegemon, they no longer had the same scruples. On Fourth Heaven, Tianyi¡¯s incarnation materialized in front of Daoyi. ¡°How is it? Do you have any inspiration to merge the Law of Life and the Law of Death into the Law of Life-and-Death?¡± Daoyi stood up and looked at him. ¡°Do you think everyone is like you, able to comprehend the Law of Spacetime? I just mastered the Law of Life. I don¡¯t have any clues on how to merge them.¡± Tianyi frowned. He was actually quite anxious. Technically speaking, a true immortal possessed a longer lifespan than immortal monarchs, emperors, and sovereigns. But if a cultivator wanted to go further on their path, then the faster they ascended to a higher realm, the more potential they would have. Daoyi had mastered two laws not related to the five elements, showing her talent, and she only spent less than five thousand years. However, Tianyi couldn¡¯t help but worry. ¡°Should I focus on comprehending the Law of Life-and-Death and impart my experiences to you?¡± ¡°If you want,¡± Daoyi said. She wouldn¡¯t prevent her pride from receiving Tianyi¡¯s help. So what if she had external aid and didn¡¯t rely only on herself? Tianyi could be said to be the biggest reason why she could comprehend the Law of Death in the first place. In fact, it was also thanks to Tianyi that she comprehended the Law of Life as fast as she did.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Even though Tianyi used her breakthrough to comprehend the full Law of Life, it didn¡¯t change that fact. ¡°You should still focus on your own things first. If you can comprehend the Law of Yin or the Law of Yang first, your power should reach an immortal sovereign, right? I can wait,¡± Daoyi said. ¡°Can you?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to participate, too? Even if you mastered two laws, you¡¯re still only a true immortal. There¡¯s a huge discrepancy when facing peak monarchs.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t I have you? If I encounter danger, can¡¯t I just hide in your inner universe?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not a foolproof plan. What if they have a method to stall or even stop it? Won¡¯t you be a sitting duck then?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°I¡¯m fine. Even if my conduit is destroyed, as long as the Nine Heavens Universe exists, so will I.¡± ¡°Suit yourself,¡± Daoyi said. Even if Tianyi wanted to focus on comprehending the Law of Yin or the Law of Yang, his speed will definitely slow down because of his worry for Daoyi. For now, both of them resumed comprehending the laws. Both of them just mastered the Law of Life, and they needed to digest it.
On Seven Star Sword Peak in the Numinous Realm, Meng Tingfeng swung his sword. At times, his sword swings would display the ferocity of fire, the gravity of earth, the sharpness of metal, the fluidity of water, and even the tenacity of wood. He was using sword arts to aid his comprehension of the five elemental laws. Ever since he returned, Meng Tingfeng had focused on strengthening himself. Although he displayed astonishing power in the Jade and Numinous Conference, it was overshadowed by Tianyi and Bao Ling. He didn¡¯t have any resentment regarding this. In fact, he welcomed the peace and used it to cultivate. If there was one difference after the Jade and Numinous Conference, it would be that Shu Qingya visited him every so often. Qingya was the given name of Elder Shu, the Peak Lord of Clear Elegance Sword Peak. If Meng Tingfeng had to say that Shu Qingya didn¡¯t have any deeper intentions, he would be lying to himself. Still, he did not reveal her thoughts. He also had good feelings toward her, but he also had prior entanglements with Xi Mengfei. He didn¡¯t need to get together with her, but he needed a conclusion to the karma between the two. Not to mention that there was a war with the Demon Clan coming up, and likely the Immortal Court right after. Meng Tingfeng wasn¡¯t so conceited to believe that he had a hundred percent chance of surviving. Though he believed he had a higher chance of surviving than many actual immortal emperors, it still didn¡¯t change the fact that he was just an immortal monarch. If he met someone like Xi Tianyi, Bao Ling, or an immortal sovereign, he would have a high chance of death. So, like this, Meng Tingfeng focused on strengthening himself. And like he promised, he became a fifth-step immortal monarch within a hundred years. During this time, his relationship with Shu Qingya also progressed. There was just a paper-thin line before they took the next step, but neither of them broke it, content to let their idyllic days continue.
Within the True Dragon Realm of the Divine Pseudo-System was a magnificent black palace at the bottom of the sea. The black palace exuded a heart palpitating aura that caused no life to dare to venture within a thousand kilometers of it. Inside the palace, a man in black robes with a pair of dragon horns extending out of his head sat on a throne that released a concentrated version of the aura of the black palace. In front of him were more than a hundred demons below the demon lord realm, all laying down in their true forms. Most of them had their eyes closed, but anyone could tell that their eyes were flitting about behind their eyelids. It was as if they were experiencing a nightmare. ¡°Longzi, I didn¡¯t expect you to be an accomplished illusionist as well,¡± a red-robed demon with a pair of red dragon horns said as she walked up. ¡°It¡¯s quite rare. Most demons like to fight with their physical bodies rather than study illusions.¡± Donghai Longzi shook his hands. ¡°Don¡¯t make fun of me, Honglin. I was forced to learn illusions in order to save my life when I was weak. After reaching my current level, I just couldn¡¯t give it up after it accompanied me for so long. Who knows, maybe it can help out at a critical moment? Although, right now, it can only help temper these geniuses¡¯ willpower.¡± Of course, the early half of Donghai Longzi¡¯s statement was a complete lie, but Honglin also nodded. His attainments in illusions were incredible, so Honglin didn¡¯t doubt his words. The truth of the matter is that Donghai Longzi revealed this talent in order to train a new generation of demon geniuses. No matter how much potential Donghai Longzi had or how strong he was, he was still an outsider. In order to integrate himself more with the Dragon Clan, he didn¡¯t turn down any requests or tasks given to him, such as training the geniuses. Given that they weren¡¯t overboard, of course. Donghai Longzi wouldn¡¯t deliberately ask for tasks, giving the impression that he didn¡¯t care very much. If he showed too much of his true intentions, it might cause the high echelon to suspect him. They might not suspect him immediately, but it would definitely raise the chance. So far, his efforts had yielded some results, but nothing too crucial. He didn¡¯t even know the true location of the Divine Beast Pseudo-System. But that was normal. Even Honglin, the granddaughter of Emperor Redraco, didn¡¯t know. Speaking of Honglin, she was actually one of his largest sources of information. As Emperor Redraco¡¯s granddaughter, she was privy to many secrets normal demon kings had no access to. Still, this was a double-edged sword. Donghai Longzi¡¯s heart wasn¡¯t made of stone. After so many years of cohabitation, he still developed affection for the people around him. It couldn¡¯t exactly be called a deep friendship, but invisibly, his heart had been affected. Even those geniuses sent to him sincerely respected him, causing turmoil in his heart. Because of this, he might even start an impromptu sermon on the laws of the five elements when he saw a suitable genius. Many of the demon geniuses requested to become his disciple, but Donghai Longzi never accepted them, not even as a student. A side effect of his action was the ease of integration, and he was no longer as much as an outsider. Still, Donghai Longzi never forgot that he was never truly on their side to begin with. One day, he would have to pierce the demons he knew with his own claws or words. He could already imagine the pained faces of betrayal and the hate-filled words. ¡®No wonder spies are so universally reviled.¡¯ Donghai Longzi glanced at Honglin. ¡°So, why did you come here? Is there another task Emperor Redraco wants me to accomplish?¡± ¡°You can say that, but this task is different,¡± Honglin said. ¡°Oh? How different?¡± Honglin stared out of his black palace and into the sky, as if her gaze would pierce the dimensional boundaries of the True Dragon Realm. ¡°We¡¯re going to leave the boundaries of the Divine Beast Pseudo-System.¡± Chapter 445: Ao Yujiao Donghai Longzi and Honglin traveled to the deepest depths of the sea in the True Dragon Realm. The seafloor glowed with an otherworldly hue from the radiance emitted by the seafloor. The light grew in intensity the closer one was to the True Dragon Realm¡¯s largest city that stretched for kilometers on end. Although it was a city, it was entirely different from human cities. Most of the buildings didn¡¯t have roofs, and most of the denizens were not in humanoid forms. Most had serpentine bodies, and all had scales. Some resemble shrimp monsters, turtles, and all kinds of scaled beasts. The only common feature they all had was that they all possessed draconic features of some sort. At the very center of the city was a colossal reef that exuded a rainbow radiance. Situated atop the rainbow reef was a crystal palace. The palace itself did not emit light, but it reflected the light exuded by the rainbow, causing it to appear as if it was coated in a layer of prisms that emitted myriad rays of light. Not only did it appear grand, but it also exuded a divine aura. Thanks to Honglin, Donghai Longzi learned that it was suspected to be a divine artifact. Although no one had seen it exert any power since its first appearance, most of the Dragon Clan believed the crystal palace was the same Crystal Palace as the one in the East Sea before the Primordial World shattered. Donghai Longzi and Honglin entered through the entrance. Even demons in the Demon Emperor Realm could not fly directly to the Crystal Palace, much less demon kings like Donghai Longzi and Honglin. Although it wouldn¡¯t result in them getting attacked, it would severely displease all members of the Dragon Clan. The underwater city, and especially the Crystal Palace, was a sacred ground for the Dragon Clan. The two demon kings did not wander the streets and walked toward the center. There, they saw a first-step demon king guarding one of the four entrances to the Crystal Palace. Demon lords guarded the city entrance and demon kings guarded the palace entrance. The demon king guard allowed the two to pass after verifying their identities. Not long after entering, Donghai Longzi saw a giant serpentine creature with crimson scales and horns seemingly formed of condensed blood. He nodded. ¡°Emperor Redraco.¡± ¡°Grandfather,¡± Honglin said as she flew forward. Like her grandfather, she also possessed a long serpentine body, but only a fraction of his size, and her scales were much more vibrant. More scarlet than crimson. ¡°Not bad,¡± Demon Emperor Redraco said after inspecting Honglin. ¡°You already stabilized your cultivation base shortly after entering the First-Step Demon King Realm.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be able to enter the second step soon enough.¡± ¡°From entering the Demon King Realm to the first step and from the first step to the second step is the fastest, but you shouldn¡¯t underestimate the process. If you fail your fusion of the elemental qis, your body will be injured for decades if not hundreds of years,¡± Emperor Redraco said. ¡°I understand, Grandfather. Don¡¯t you know me by now? How could I make such a low-level mistake?¡± Honglin said. ¡°Just think of it as an old dragon¡¯s concern.¡± Emperor Redraco then turned toward Donghai Longzi. His eyes lit up. ¡°Not bad, not bad. It seems that the True Dragon Realm will have another dragon king in the near future.¡± The official names of the cultivation levels for the immortal equivalent demons were the Demon Lord Realm, Demon King Realm, Demon Emperor Realm, and Demon Sovereign Realm, but dragons had a slightly different title for their members. Dragons in the Demon Lord Realm were known as true dragons; in the Demon King Realm, they were known as dragon lords; in the Demon Emperor Realm, they were known as dragon kings, and in the Demon Sovereign Realm, they were known as dragon emperors. Only in the Divine Realm would dragons be titled dragon sovereigns, and only peak divinities could call themselves dragon gods. This was a manifestation of the Dragon Clan¡¯s innate arrogance. ¡°It¡¯s only a little bit of progress. The Demon Emperor Realm is still far away,¡± Donghai Longzi said. ¡°Don¡¯t be modest,¡± Demon Emperor Redraco said. ¡°Among all the dragon lords, many agree that you are one of the top three to become a dragon king.¡± ¡°What about me?¡± Honglin asked. ¡°You?¡± Demon Emperor Redraco asked. ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it. You just entered the Demon King Realm, and you think you would even be considered?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate me,¡± Honglin said. ¡°I¡¯m the one that¡¯s going to become the Dragon Clan¡¯s next dragon sovereign. I might be weaker now, but I¡¯ll surpass Longzi, Grandfather, and even Ao Yujiao.¡± Ao Yujiao was currently the one most of the Dragon Clan expected to become a dragon emperor. He wasn¡¯t a Nine-Clawed Golden Dragon, but his heritage was still noble. He was descended from Ao Lie, the dragon that became Bai Longma, Tang Sanzang¡¯s white horse from the Journey to the West. He was a Nine-Clawed Jade-Horned Dragon. Although not a golden dragon, most of the Dragon Clan¡¯s elders estimated that Ao Yujiao¡¯s blood purity rivaled a Five-Clawed Golden Dragon at the very lowest. Before Donghai Longzi appeared, he was the undisputed number one of the Dragon Clan¡¯s younger generation. Even Demon Emperor Redraco thought so. Still, he didn¡¯t rebuke his granddaughter. In his eyes, a dragon should have this aspiration, even if the bloodline was weaker. ¡°Then I¡¯ll eagerly await that day.¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, let¡¯s get to business,¡± Demon Emperor Redraco said. Instantly, the atmosphere tensed, and Donghai Longzi and Honglin couldn¡¯t help but tense slightly despite themselves. ¡°As you know, although the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System is not united under one power, it is still predominantly ruled by humans. We tried several times to turn it into ours, but we always failed, forcing us to live in the Divine Beast Pseudo System.¡± Donghai Longzi and Honglin nodded. Although the weaker demons may not know the true situation and think the Demon Clan is the strongest in the entire universe, those in the Demon Lord Realm and above know the truth. ¡°There¡¯s been a reshuffling of power in the human world. Originally, there¡¯s only two major forces that our Demon Clan needed to pay attention to, the Buzhou Immortal Sect and Numinous Sword Sect. After the Buzhou Immortal Sect conquered the Huang Realm, they used a mysterious method to upgrade it and named it the Primordial Realm before renaming themselves the Immortal Court.¡± Demon Emperor Redraco snorted. ¡°I can roughly guess their thoughts. The Immortal Court wants to reestablish the order from the Primordial World with them as top. We, the Demon Clan, will never allow this to happen. Had it not been for the titans, the Demon Clan would have ruled the Primordial World instead of the Heavenly Court. Even the Three Pure Ones had to consider whether or not they could afford to offend the Demon Clan.¡± ¡°The Immortal Court has the ambition, but not the power. Naming themself this not only earned the ire of the Numinous Sword Sect, but likely Buddhism, too.¡± A sneer appeared on the crimson dragon¡¯s face. ¡°That¡¯s not all. Although it¡¯s new, there is a new force that is likely to contend with the Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect, the Saintly Scholar School. Although it¡¯s troublesome that so many powerful experts are appearing in humanity, the new force will add to the chaos, making it easier for us to attack them at the right time. If possible, I really want all three to destroy each other, but that¡¯s impossible. Although the three are likely wary of each other and want nothing more to destroy the other, they are more wary of us, the Demon Clan.¡± ¡°The three forces¡¯ competition for hegemon is an inner dispute among the human race. It¡¯s fine for them to attack each other, but they will never let non-humans rule the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System,¡± Demon Emperor Redraco said. ¡°Grandfather, you¡¯re getting really long-winded,¡± Honglin interjected. ¡°Can¡¯t you get to the point already?¡± Demon Emperor Redraco glared at her. He looked at Donghai Longzi and felt that he was becoming more pleasing to the eye by the second. Still, he acquiesced to his granddaughter¡¯s demand. ¡°I¡¯m just explaining the layout of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. You¡¯re venturing into enemy territory. If you¡¯re not careful, you¡¯ll bring a lot of trouble.¡± ¡°Since the end of the Primordial Era and the creation of the Divine Beast Pseudo System, it¡¯s always been us with the initiative. Part of the reason is that the humans can¡¯t find our true location, but another part is because of their fragmented power. If they are fully united, it would only be a matter of time before we are discovered. Even so, it doesn¡¯t mean that there is no risk of discovery.¡± Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s expression turned serious. ¡°The truth is that the Divine Beast Pseudo System is not static. Every once in a while, we would switch our location. If we stay, the risk of humans finding us increases. Most demons stay in the Divine Beast Pseudo System, but we do occasionally go out. However, that also means it increases the risk of exposure.¡± ¡°Originally, it should be another fifty thousand years before we relocate, but the Immortal Court has fully united the Primordial Realm. Before, the Immortal Court didn¡¯t have the spare energy to search for us, meaning that we only needed to hide from the Numinous Sword Sect and the Buddhists. But the future will be different. Although the three forces might restrain each other, it¡¯s equally likely they will focus their attention on us. So, we have decided to relocate ahead of schedule.¡± Demon Emperor Redraco turned toward Donghai Longzi and Honglin. ¡°Your task is both simple but dangerous. You will be a distraction.¡± Demon Emperor Redraco didn¡¯t let them think for too long. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we aren¡¯t going to sacrifice you guys. It¡¯s also to help you two. Because you two are so young, you haven¡¯t experienced war, and this distraction will allow you to experience it. And one of the Four Divine Beasts will also take part.¡± ¡°Grandfather, it¡¯s not going to be you?¡± Honglin asked. Demon Emperor Redraco shook his head. ¡°No. Emperor Blacktiger is still recovering, and I have other matters to attend. Xuanwu has already entered the Demon Emperor Realm. Between Xuanwu and Bluefeather, the former has a higher defense and strength, but he is too slow. Not to mention too important.¡± He had to sigh at the sheer speed that this generation¡¯s Black Tortoise cultivated. But recalling his unique situation, this was normal. ¡°Bluefeather is weaker, but her life-saving means are numerous, so she will take charge of this operation. Make sure to listen to her.¡± ¡°If the situation is too dangerous, you can escape and hide yourself ahead of schedule. Once it calms down, we¡¯ll find you and take you back. Of course, this is just the worst-case scenario. Ideally, you should make your way to the pre-appointed location after hiding and lose the human tails,¡± Demon Emperor Redraco finished. ¡°Understood,¡± Donghai Longzi and Honglin said. ¡°Dragon King, I have a question.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Will San Jiuling be also part of the group?¡± Donghai Longzi asked. ¡°That human?¡± Demon Emperor Redraco snorted, his whiskers coiling from his simmering anger. ¡°I don¡¯t know how he does it, but that damn human managed to seduce one of our dragon lords. She¡¯s head over heels with infatuation for him. That disgrace even chose to willingly stay in a human form!¡± Donghai Longzi rubbed his nose. He also liked to stay in human form. As if recalling that fact, Demon Emperor Redraco said, ¡°Of course you¡¯re different. It¡¯s understandable that you chose a human form in order to blend in and hide. It can¡¯t be helped that you formed a habit, but remember, only your true form can display your strongest power.¡± ¡°Thank you, Dragon King,¡± Donghai Longzi said, with a stiff smile. Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s summoning was only to brief the two. The time before the operation officially began was still a few decades away. When that time came, Donghai Longzi and Honglin appeared in the Vast Void of the Divine Beast Pseudo System. There they landed in Demon Empress Bluefeather¡¯s realm artifact. Inside, they saw many demons, including Tulong, the dragon that lost to Donghai Longzi at the banquet to welcome him. All in all, there was only a single demon emperor, eleven demon kings, and sixty demon lords. But it was one demon king that caught Donghai Longzi¡¯s eye in particular. Said demon king was a jade-scaled dragon with horns seemingly carved out of white jade and a body that nearly rivaled Demon Emperor Redraco. He was Ao Yujiao, the Nine-Clawed Jade-Horned Dragon. The moment Donghai Longzi looked at him, Ao Yujiao¡¯s gaze connected with his. Chapter 446: Iron Robe Monastery Most demons exuded a ferocious aura, be it subtle or overt. Even if they transformed into a humanoid, the fact would never change. Their deep-seated and instinctual nature would never fade away. The same applied to Demon Emperor Redraco. When he entered battle or received a certain stimulus, his ferocious nature would surface. However, Ao Yujiao felt different. He exuded a calm and peaceful aura, almost like still water. There were no undercurrents or volcanoes simmering underneath, ready to explode. Their gazes lingered for a second longer. Ao Yujiao gave a smile like warm jade before looking away. Donghai Longzi couldn¡¯t help but hold his chin with his fingers. ¡®Something about him rubs me the wrong way.¡¯ Honglin slid up next to him and stared at Ao Yujiao¡¯s back. ¡°So, what do you think?¡± ¡°About Ao Yujiao? He reminds me more of a human.¡± ¡°Just because he seems weak doesn¡¯t mean he is,¡± Honglin said. ¡°What?¡± Donghai Longzi asked. ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant. He feels too peaceful and not confrontational like the other dragons.¡± ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s what you meant.¡± Honglin nodded. ¡°I can see what you mean. He¡¯s like those weak humans, always cowering at the sight of us. But don¡¯t mistake his cowardice for weakness. The last time I forced him to fight me, he won.¡± ¡®I feel like you really don¡¯t understand humans. And if you think humans are weaker than dragons, why is it that you guys are hiding in the Divine Beast Pseudo System and not them?¡¯ Donghai Longzi thought. Of course, he didn¡¯t speak those thoughts out. And he definitely should have chosen his next words more wisely. ¡°I heard that you challenged him over a hundred times but never won, even once.¡± ¡°What?! Who spouted those lies?! I only lost seventy-nine times!¡± ¡®That¡¯s not much of a difference between that and one hundred.¡¯ Donghai Longzi thought. ¡°Isn¡¯t it a hundred if you include your losses to me?¡± ¡°That¡¯s only ninety-seven!¡± ¡°Close enough.¡± Donghai Longzi¡¯s comment caused Honglin to start a rant that lasted far too long. She didn¡¯t even stop as Demon Empress Bluefeather controlled the Sacred Fire Grotto, a realm artifact in the form of a miniature realm primarily composed of fire energy, to leave the Divine Beast Pseudo System. Unfortunately, the conduit on his body couldn¡¯t sense much of the Nine Heavens Universe. The connection was murky at best, but Donghai Longzi did learn about the general area they appeared in. He didn¡¯t show any of this, of course. While the conduit attempted to contact his main body, he resumed his conversation with Honglin after she finally finished venting. ¡°Like you, Ao Yujiao was discovered outside of the Divine Beast Pseudo System shortly after the end of the last Divine Beast-Human War,¡± Honglin said, explaining what she knew of Ao Yujiao. ¡°He wasn¡¯t even a true demon when he arrived in the True Dragon Realm. Were it not for the powerful dragon aura hidden in his bloodline, a dragon lord wouldn¡¯t have discovered him and brought him back.¡± ¡°The dragon lords and kings were worried at first. Ao Yujiao didn¡¯t show any of the characteristics of a normal dragon. Were it not for their protection, he might have been bullied to death by the other dragons,¡± Honglin said. ¡°He was passive, and would accept the bullying. The dragon lords and kings, even my grandfather, thought about giving up on him. Rather than let him drag down the name of the Dragon Clan, it would be better if he remained unknown forever.¡± ¡°But then he awakened the power in his blood. He grew four more claws on each paw, and his scales changed from white to a jade green. The only thing that remained white was his horns, and even they became crystal-like, almost translucent.¡± Honglin shook her head. ¡°Because of his transformation, his talent increased and Yujiao became known as the most beautiful dragon.¡± ¡°The most important thing was his talent,¡± Honglin said, a hint of envy in her voice. ¡°Not only did the power of his flesh increase to an absurd degree, the speed of his comprehension of the worldly laws increased. He entered the Demon Lord Realm within a hundred years, and the Demon King Realm within a thousand years. Those dragons that once targeted him were no longer his match.¡± ¡°The dragon king and even my grandfather all saw his potential. Ao Yujiao is the most likely candidate to become the next Azure Dragon,¡± Honglin said. ¡°Were it not for his passive personality, he might have already been announced as the official candidate.¡± ¡°Interesting,¡± Donghai Longzi said. ¡°I wonder how he compares to me.¡± ¡°Who knows? Even if you fight him, Yujiao will most likely attempt to deflect and neutralize your attacks, staying on the defensive. He always won his spars and duels by outlasting or immobilizing his opponents. Unless you become a dragon king, it¡¯s unlikely for you to break his defenses,¡± Honglin said.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°We¡¯ll only know if we fought. However, it doesn¡¯t seem likely. I don¡¯t think Empress Bluefeather will allow us to fight each other during this mission,¡± Donghai Longzi said. In his heart, he didn¡¯t see Ao Yujiao as his rival, or even an opponent. He could enter the Demon Emperor Realm at any time. The question was whether he wanted to or not. Although displaying peerless talent would make the higher echelons of the Dragon Clan place more attention on him, it would put him under more scrutiny. Sure, he might know more, but the chances of exposure were also higher. It would be better to become a dragon king after gaining more trust. The first place the Sacred Fire Grotto arrived at was a middle-rank realm known as the Tieniu Realm. Originally, they wanted to travel to the Xunshou Realm, but it had been absorbed by the Primordial Realm. The Demon Clan just didn¡¯t know whether it was on purpose or not. Many years ago, a drop of blood from the demon sovereign of the Qilin Clan had dropped into the middle-rank realm. Years later, when the Demon Clan¡¯s spies discovered this, they planned to nurture the Xunshou Realm into a suitable chess piece. Only, before it could be used, all the preparation was for naught. The Demon Clan didn¡¯t know if the Immortal Court had chosen the Xunshou Realm because they knew of the Demon Clan¡¯s plan or by pure luck, but it contributed to part of the reason why they wanted to relocate the Divine Beast Pseudo System ahead of schedule. When entering the Tieniu Realm, Demon Empress Bluefeather didn¡¯t allow the other demons to exit before entering. Instead, she drove the Sacred Fire Grotto directly into the Tieniu Realm. Strangely, the dimensional boundary showed no fluctuation at all. Even if a true immortal or immortal monarch were in the Tieniu Realm, they would not discover the intrusion by the demons. Like the Xunshou Realm, the Tieniu Realm was also one of the Demon Clan¡¯s outposts in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. The Tieniu Realm was in a constant state of war between two forces: the bull demons and the Iron Robe Alliance. Although the humans were the absolute rulers of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, it didn¡¯t mean that some loose demons, affiliated with the Divine Beast Pseudo System, didn¡¯t exist. At least on the surface. Although the Demon Clan had the power to help the bull demons claim hegemony of the Tieniu Realm, they didn¡¯t do so. It was fine if demons existed, but it was absolutely impossible for the humans to allow any demon to rule a realm, be it a low-rank realm or even an unranked-realm. Only after entering the core territory of the bull demons did Demon Empress Bluefeather allow the demons she carried to exit her realm artifact. As part of the preparation, the Demon Clan had established a concealment formation in the core of the bull demons¡¯ territory. It didn¡¯t have any amazing offense or defensive function, but it would help hide the aura of demons above a certain realm. As seventy-seven demons exited the Sacred Fire Grotto, over a thousand bull demons greeted them. The bull demons had the general form of a humanoid, but fur still sprouted from their skin. Although they had hands, their feet were hooves. And most strikingly were their heads. It was completely that of a bull or cow. ¡°The Bull Clan greets the exalted true demons!¡± all of the bull demons bowed, their bodies shivered with excitement and fear. The first one to catch their eyes was naturally the colossal avian, Demon Empress Bluefeather. Then the dragons with majestic auras cowed them. Forget Demon Empress Bluefeather or the dragons, any one of the true demons was enough to wipe out the bull demons. They might not possess the most pure bloodlines of the Dragon, Phoenix, or Qilin Clan, but they still reached the Demon Lord Realm. Donghai Longzi spared the kneeling bull demons a glance. As expected of a middle-rank realm, the strongest bull demon was only at the grandmaster level. He lost interest. He planned on spending the remaining time cultivating until the mission started, but Honglin dragged him to visit the Iron Robe Alliance. Demon Empress Bluefeather didn¡¯t have any special instructions for the two. They just needed to pay special attention to be low key. Aside from them, Ao Yujiao also left. Some demon lords also left, but they left to perform their duties, and the majority remained in the bull demons¡¯ territory.
The Iron Robe Alliance, as the name suggested, was an alliance composed of different forces. The top force that dominated this alliance was the Iron Robe Monastery, of which the alliance was named after. And the most prosperous human city in the Tieniu Realm is undoubtedly Karmlight City. It wasn¡¯t because the Iron Monastery was based in Karmlight City, but because it was next to Mount Ironwill, where the monastery was located at. ¡°Longzi, why do people like to call monks bald donkeys?¡± Honglin asked. Gone was her scaled body, and in its place was a woman wearing red armor. She wasn¡¯t the most beautiful, but coupled with her valiant aura, she exuded a unique charm. Donghai Longzi scanned the streets of Karmlight City. His appearance had also undergone some changes, but minor. The two horns growing out of his head had disappeared. ¡°How should I know?¡± The streets of Karmlight City were filled to the brim. In addition to ordinary mortals, there were also many cultivators mingling with the mortals. Of course, most of them were only at the pupil or disciple level. What attracted him was that almost ten percent of the people that filled Karmlight City were Buddhist monks. ¡®Perhaps this is one of the reasons why the bull demons were able to last so long. The Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect probably don¡¯t value the Tieniu Realm much, but part of the reason they haven¡¯t interfered was because of the Buddhist influence entrenched here.¡¯ Donghai Longzi thought. ¡°I¡¯m more curious about how Buddhists fight compared to daoists.¡± Strictly speaking, the current overlords of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System descended from the lineage of the Three Pure Ones. The Three Pure Ones created Daoism, so those who practice the spiritual, martial, and soul path are all considered daoists. It¡¯s the reason why many cultivators address each other as fellow daoists. While Donghai Longzi and Honglin strolled through the streets, a few people blocked their way. The person in front appeared to be the scion of some noble family. He had a decently handsome face and waved a paper fan in front of himself. He was only a mortal, but the men behind him were cultivators. They were four disciple-level cultivators and one master-level cultivator. As soon as he appeared, the pedestrians backed away, fear apparent on their faces. The young master continued to wave his hand, as if unaware of the reaction he had brought. Instead, he leveled a lecherous gaze on Honglin. ¡°Hey, pretty lady. How about you ditch that loser and let me show you a good time?¡± Chapter 447: The Envoy Donghai Longzi paused. He looked at the young man, who had half his face pointing at the sky and the other half staring at Honglin. ¡®Is this really happening to me?¡¯ His ears perked up as he heard the pedestrians whisper among themselves. ¡°Oh, that poor girl,¡± one woman said. ¡°She shouldn¡¯t have any trouble, right? From her clothing, she should be a cultivator,¡± a man said in hushed tones. ¡°So what if she¡¯s a cultivator? That lass isn¡¯t even a monk. Young Master Ding is a relative of one of the Iron Robe Monastery¡¯s three abbots,¡± another pedestrian quipped. ¡°You¡¯re right. No one can defeat those monks. It seems that a young girl is about to be ruined again,¡± one member of the crowd said with a sigh. ¡°Really, how can such an esteemed monk be related to such a scoundrel?¡± As soon as that person finished, another, older pedestrian quickly covered his mouth. ¡°Shhh! Do you not want your life? If Young Master Ding were to hear you, you would lose your little life. I know you¡¯re the only child of your family. What if you die? Who would take care of your parents?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. I just can¡¯t stand that guy¡¯s actions.¡± The same pedestrian who covered his mouth sighed. ¡°You can¡¯t stand it. Why do you think I can? But unlike you young people, reality taught us that there¡¯s nothing we can do. We are just regular mortals, while he is like a star shining brightly above.¡± While the pedestrians talked, Young Master Ding had already stepped forward. Donghai Longzi stood still, and the only action he took was to shake his head. It was an act that Young Master Ding and his guards took as cowardice. Young Master Ding stretched his hand out to stroke Honglin¡¯s face, but before he could, a hand grabbed his. He didn¡¯t become angry, only more interested. ¡°Ohoho. You got a bit of spunk. I like that in a woman.¡± His confident and captivated expression didn¡¯t last long, as a sickening snap exploded in his wrist. For a second, no one moved as Young Master Ding¡¯s hand fell limp at an impossible angle, veins bulging and twitching madly. ¡°Ahhhhhhh!¡± Young Master Ding screamed in pain as he tried to yank his hand away to cradle it. However, Honglin clutched his wrist in an iron-like grip. His piercing shriek of pain awoke the shocked spectators. Donghai Longzi only shook his head as the guards ran forward, intent on freeing their young master from Honglin¡¯s clutches. Honglin didn¡¯t even spare them a glance as air exploded off of her and knocked down the guards. It also caused Young Master Ding to lose his footing, causing him to fall and cause more bruising and damage to his broken wrist. ¡°Benefactor, please be merciful and let Young Master Ding go.¡± Just as Honglin prepared to gouge out Young Master Ding¡¯s heart, a pleasant voice called out. ¡°It¡¯s Seeker Ding!¡± a pedestrian called out in happiness. ¡°Thank Buddha. With Seeker Ding present, Young Master Ding won¡¯t trouble us common folk for this!¡± another pedestrian who was too slow to flee called out. In the Buddhist path, their Mortal Realm was known as the Theravada Realm and was split into five minor realms: the Dalit Realm, the Shudra Realm, the Vaishya Realm, the Kshatriya Realm, and the Brahma Realm. Once at the peak of the Brahma Realm, a Buddhist cultivator would enter the Mahayana Realm and become a bodhisattva. Dalit Realm cultivators were known as Dalit apprentices. Above Dalit apprentices were the Shudra monks. Then the Vaishya seekers, followed by the Kshatriya ascetics, and ending with the Brahma arhats. Since the pedestrian called him Seeker Ding, then he was obviously in the Vaishya Realm. Not that Donghai Longzi or Honglin needed mortals to approximate his realm. Seeker Ding wore a vibrant red kasaya over a light gray robe. On his bald head were six jieba marks, burn dots that came as a result of a Buddhist ritual. The number of jieba marks usually ranged from three to twelve, although they went up to as high as eighteen. According to Donghai Longzi¡¯s knowledge, the more jieba marks a monk had, the more potential they were perceived to possess. For some in a middle-rank realm, six jieba marks was already enough to mark him as a genius among geniuses. Honglin snorted and threw Young Master Ding onto the ground like a used rag. ¡°What, you¡¯re finally willing to come out of hiding?¡± ¡°Cousin, kill this bitch for me! She broke my wrist! Break her limbs!¡± Young Master Ding yelled, his anger overriding his lust. Seeker Ding¡¯s expression twisted for a slight second before a calm smile returned. He clapped his hands. ¡°Can you please let Young Master Ding go for my face? I will owe you a favor.¡± ¡°Hmpf, what use is your face to me? If you wanted me to let him go, then you should have stopped him before he caused trouble. You bald donkey!¡± A silence came over the street. It was so silent, a pin drop would sound like a thunderclap to everyone¡¯s ears. Even Seeker Ding froze, not expecting Honglin to insult not just him, but also the Iron Robe Monastery. ¡°Benefactor, please walk away and hide unless you want the entire monastery to descend upon you.¡±If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°A mere monastery is not enough to scare me,¡± Honglin said as she walked forward with a threatening aura. Seeker Ding felt his heart palpitate and sweat ooze out of his pores. He couldn¡¯t help but tense his muscles and prepare for any attack from Honglin. As his heart rate increased to a dangerous rate, a hand grabbed Honglin¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t forget that we are supposed to keep a low profile,¡± Donghai Longzi said. Honglin stopped for a moment. She sneered. ¡°Just killing a fool without eyes is hardly anything high profile. I thought Buddhists were supposed to be kind, but I can only see a hypocrite in front of me. That useless bag of flesh just called him his cousin. Because of this relationship, how many times can this bald donkey have stopped him but chose not to?¡± ¡°I was really excited to finally see a Buddhist monk, but all I got was disappointment,¡± Honglin said, staring at Seeker Ding as if he was a toy that dared to defy her expectations. Useless toys should be broken. Seeker Ding¡¯s face turned red from Honglin¡¯s words. It was unknown whether it was embarrassment or anger, but that didn¡¯t matter, as Honglin¡¯s words echoed into the ears of the pedestrian. Only a few stared at Seeker Ding. It was clear that most of them had already thought of this matter, but they were powerless to do anything about it, and even more fearful to say it. ¡°You might not think he¡¯s much, but he¡¯s still in the Vaishya Realm. Among the denizens of this realm, he¡¯s important. If he dies, it will cause far more trouble than it¡¯s worth,¡± Donghai Longzi whispered, careful not to let his words reach outsiders. Honglin stopped struggling against Donghai Longzi¡¯s hand. She snorted and leveled one last glare at Seeker Ding before leaving. Not just her, but Donghai Longzi also disappeared from the streets of Karmlight City. With their disappearance, the stifling atmosphere also vanished. Not just Seeker Ding, but the pedestrian felt as if they had gained a second chance at life. In reality, Honglin would have likely caused tens if not hundreds of casualties when she made a move on Seeker Ding, so they really had dodged a bullet.
After making sure that his cousin was fine, Seeker Ding immediately traveled back to the Iron Robe Monastery. On the way back, the armored woman¡¯s words never left his mind. Seeker Ding had long forgotten his name. Because one of the three abbots was an ancestor of the Ding Family, it was one of the most powerful forces in the city. In such a large family, Seeker Ding had been an unlucky child who lost both his parents, and was taken care of by his uncle and aunt. He had never forgotten this grace. Originally, he planned to become his cousin¡¯s right-hand man, but reality was different. When they were four and five respectively, the Ding Family sent them to the Iron Robe Monastery to test their aptitude. To his surprise, he discovered that he was innately suited for the Buddhist path while his cousin did not have any cultivation talent at all. No matter what, Seeker Ding didn¡¯t plan to treat his cousin or his uncle and aunt any differently, but they changed. They blamed him and said that he had stolen his cousin¡¯s talent. Because he couldn¡¯t stand the condemnation of the people closest to him and his own guilt, he hardly returned to Karmlight City. From that moment, he had shed his mortal name and was given the Buddhist name of Zhending. Zhending was only allowed to descend the mountain after he entered the Shudra Realm. Upon his return, he discovered that his cousin wallowed in desire, like a wastrel. Instead of blaming his cousin, the guilt festered in his heart. He blamed himself for his cousin¡¯s state. He knew of his cousin¡¯s immoral character and actions. The few times he was present, he stopped his cousin and pleaded with his uncle and aunt. They always agreed in front of him, but they and his cousin went back to their usual ways when he left. And because of the relationship between the two, no one dared to do anything to the family of three. Earlier, he had arrived just in time to see his cousin¡¯s action against that armored woman. Zhending didn¡¯t come out because he sensed an uneasy feeling when he saw that woman, so he wanted to borrow his cousin¡¯s hands to test that woman. No matter what his cousin did, that woman wouldn¡¯t dare to go too far because of his status, right? However, Zhending was dead wrong. He didn¡¯t know why the woman suddenly left, but he had to report it to his master. ¡°Uncle-Master,¡± the two guarding monks said when they saw him. Zhending didn¡¯t even spare a nod, like he usually did, because of his anxiety. His actions caused the two monks to become puzzled, but they didn¡¯t question it. Their sole duty was to guard the mountain gate and prevent any intruders from breaking in. He rushed into his master¡¯s abode. His master was an elderly monk in his twilight years, sitting in a lotus position atop a prayer mat in front of a golden Buddha statue. Wrinkles covered his brows and long white brows trailed past his smooth chin. Like Zhending, he wore a red kasaya over gray robes, but with golden threads interwoven into the red kasaya. ¡°Zhending, your heart is unsettled. No matter the situation, you must always keep a peaceful heart,¡± Abbot Ding said, without opening his eyes. ¡°Tell me, what did your cousin do this time?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that,¡± Zhending said. His breath calmed down and the unrecognizable fear disappeared as if he saw his master, the immovable pillar in his heart. ¡°Well, yes, he did, but it¡¯s not what he did, but who he did it to that is the problem.¡± ¡°Oh? Did he molest a lady from one of the first-rate forces?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± At his master¡¯s questioning gaze, Zhending explained the incident without leaving anything out. After hearing Zhengding recount the incident, Abbot Ding furrowed his brow. ¡°Could they be demons?¡± ¡°Demons? They did have a sinister air to them, especially that armored girl, but they looked exactly like humans,¡± Zhending said. ¡°It¡¯s impossible for them to be demons.¡± Abbot Ding shook his head. ¡°You are still too inexperienced. Never underestimate the craftiness of demons. Even if those two aren¡¯t demons, they have taken refuge in them. The only thing I¡¯m worried about is their strength. If even you feel threatened, those two aren¡¯t simple, and it makes me worried how they snuck into Karmlight City.¡± He stood. ¡°Follow me.¡± ¡°Are we going to report it to the other abbots?¡± Zhending asked. ¡°Not exactly,¡± Abbot Ding answered. ¡°The two¡¯s appearance coincides with that person¡¯s arrival.¡± ¡°That person?¡± Abbot Ding¡¯s expression twisted, but he quickly smoothed it out. ¡°Yes, an envoy from the Buddhist Pure Lands.¡± Upon hearing this, an intense yearning appeared on Zhending¡¯s face. Every Buddhist dreamed of going to the Buddhist Pure Lands. The two arrived at the grandest temple in the Iron Robe Monastery. Upon entering, Zhending saw two abbots kneeling in front of a golden robed man who appeared to be in his mid twenties. He was the most beautiful man Zhending have ever seen, but his handsome leaned slightly toward the feminine side. Most pronounced was a love spot under the corner of his eye. The man¡¯s gaze landed on Zhending, causing him to freeze in his tracks. ¡°Oh? It seems your monastery isn¡¯t total trash. You have a decent disciple, at the very least.¡± Chapter 448: The Dragon Bodhisattva Everything about the man elicited Zhending¡¯s subconscious loathing. Despite wearing what appeared to be Buddhist-style clothing, the unknown man did not shave his hair. He even carried a saber on his waist. All in all, he looked like the exact opposite of a Buddhist monk. ¡°Master, is he the envoy? He doesn¡¯t seem to be a Buddhist.¡± Zhending said, doubt coloring his words. Abbot Ding¡¯s face paled. ¡°Please for¡ª¡± He never had the chance to finish. The handsome man smiled, but a tremendous pressure forced the three abbots and Zhending onto their knees. Although their heads were facing down, they could see the man. A golden aura radiated from him. It was as if the temple had disappeared and the man stood alone in a vast land. A giant golden humanoid manifested behind him. The humanoid had a dragon¡¯s head with skin of gold and sat atop a dazzling lotus. Two five-clawed golden dragons coiled around each arm, which were in a prayer position. There was no doubt of the light of Buddhism the golden avatar manifested, but it was different from the ethereal sensation Zhending and the abbots thought a Buddha should emit. It felt more tyrannical, dominant, like all things were ants in front of supremacy. Just as fast as the dragon-headed giant appeared, it vanished. Sweat coated the three abbots and Zhending¡¯s back, soaking their robes. Still, when they looked around, all they saw were the temple walls and the smiling man. It was as if everything that had occurred was but an illusion. ¡°Just because I followed the Buddhist Way doesn¡¯t mean I have to be a monk, or even look like one. Much less shave my head,¡± the man said. He clasped his arms behind his back and glanced at Zhending. That gaze wasn¡¯t as terrifying as the illusion of the dragon-headed giant, but it still weighed Zhending down. ¡°You can address me as the Dragon Bodhisattva.¡± ¡°Dragon Bodhisattva?¡± Zhending muttered to himself. His eyes widened in shock when he looked up again. Although the highest realm a monk could cultivate in the Tieniu Realm was the Kshatriya Realm of the Theravada Realm, the Iron Robe Temple still knew that those who transcend the Theravada Realm would enter the Mahayana Realm. And those that enter the Mahayana Realm were known as bodhisattvas. Was that man, who appeared the polar opposite of a Buddhist, such a great existence? Not just Zhending, but also the three abbots couldn¡¯t help but shake at the revelation. In truth, they only knew that the man was an envoy from the Buddhist Pure Lands. In fact, they also questioned the veracity of that. If it weren¡¯t for the man¡¯s superior strength and the oracle from the Iron Bell, the three abbots really wanted to fight him. The Iron Bell was the name given to the Iron Robe Monastery¡¯s sacred treasure. It was a relic discovered by the founder of the Iron Robe Monastery, the Iron Arhat. Although arhat was a title given to those in the Brahma Realm, the Iron Arhat had already ascended to a higher realm. Surely, he must have already reached that realm, maybe an even higher realm, the Mahayana Realm, and returned to the Pure Lands. The Iron Bell wasn¡¯t just a mere artifact. The whole reason why the Iron Arhat could rise and become the number one human force against the demon was because of it. Because the Iron Body Sutra, the Iron Arhat and all monks of the Iron Robe Monastery cultivated, came from the Iron Bell. For some reason, the Iron Arhat did not bring the Iron Bell with him when he ascended to a higher realm and left it at the monastery as its guardian artifact. But because of his selfless action, the Iron Robe Monastery was able to reign over the Tieniu Realm¡¯s humans. Even if a Kshatriya ascetic didn¡¯t appear for a generation in the Iron Robe Monastery, they could use the guardian artifact to repel any invaders. Not just that, but the Iron Bell would ring once a month. Any monk who heard the bell would be able to achieve twice the effect with half the effort for half a day. As a result, all monks anticipated the bell ring once a month. The Iron Bell was the envy of all forces in the Tieniu Realm. Even the bull demons were no exceptions. After all, they had attempted to invade and destroy the Iron Robe Monastery many times in the past, only to fail because of the guardian artifact. However, only the abbots of the Iron Robe Monastery knew the Iron Bell¡¯s true purpose. The Iron Bell was actually an inheritance treasure. Its true purpose was to create new lineages of Buddhism throughout the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Furthermore, once a truly excellent seed appeared, it would bind itself to that monk and impart a divine sutra. However, to this day, no one could cause the Iron Bell to take a fancy. Even this generation¡¯s genius, Zhending, could not receive the divine sutra. Still, for the Iron Robe Monastery¡¯s abbots, they used its second hidden features more. Not only was it an inheritance treasure, but it also acted as a communication device. So far, the abbots only delivered news to the Iron Bell. They didn¡¯t know if it had any effects, but they did out of tradition since the Iron Arhat created the monastery.Stolen story; please report. The only time they received a message from it was from a year ago, announcing the descent of a Buddhist envoy. This was also the reason why the three abbots didn¡¯t attack the mysterious man despite their own dislike. It was as if he went against everything Buddhism had ingrained into them. ¡°Dragon Boddhisattva!¡± one abbot exclaimed, his eyes full of fiery heat. Even someone over twelve hundred years old like him couldn¡¯t contain his excitement upon hearing this. It was as if he had forgotten every tenant he learned and taught. ¡°Are you here to lead us back to the Pure Lands?¡± the second abbot asked, tears nearly falling out of his eyes. Just as hope rose in the abbots¡¯ mind, the Dragon Boddhisattva sneered. ¡°If it¡¯s that guy.¡± He pointed at Zhending. ¡°I can bring him along with his talent when I go back, but you three have no hope. At the very least, you have to show talent to break through to the Brahma Realm for me to take you back.¡± His words were like a bucket of cold water dousing a blazing fire cold. It was Abbot Ding who broke the silence before it could deteriorate. He was already reaching the limit of his life. Theoretically, a Kshatriya ascetic could live for thirty-six hundred years, and Abbot Ding was only twenty-one hundred years old. However, his foundation was not the best, and he received a serious injury in his younger years that left a sequela that shortened his lifespan. At best, he only had a few decades left. It was also because of his diminishing lifespan that Abbot Ding selected Zhending as his disciple. With death so near, he allowed one last selfishness. Even after he falls, the Ding family will still continue strong with Zhending alive. It was only his luck that Zhending was so talented in the Buddhist path. With his last worries gone, Abbot Ding¡¯s desire to enter the Buddhist Pure Lands was not so strong. He knew that even if he entered, his hope of entering the Brahma Realm was slim. He clapped his hands and bowed. ¡°Forgive us. We simply sought to reach a new level of understanding. Dragon Boddhisattva, please enlighten us on your purpose here.¡± The Dragon Boddhisattva waved his hand. ¡°No matters. I won¡¯t care what a few mortals in the Theravada Realm do. Unless you dare to attack me, that is.¡± Although the Dragon Boddhisattva didn¡¯t do anything, all four monks felt an invisible hand shackled around their neck. ¡°We don¡¯t dare,¡± Abbot Ding quickly said. The Dragon Boddhisattva looked away, interest fading. ¡°As for why I¡¯m here, you don¡¯t need to know, either. You just need to report to me everything important that happens in this world.¡± ¡°An incident just happened recently, so I came to report to you,¡± Abbot Ding said. ¡°Oh? What is it?¡± the Dragon Bodhisattva asked, turning to face him. Abbot Ding explained what happened to Zhending in Karmlight City, causing the Dragon Bodhisattva¡¯s eyes to light up. ¡°Interesting.¡± Without waiting for the three abbots and Zhending to react, he disappeared from the temple halls. He disappeared so fast, it appeared akin to teleportation to the four monks. After he left, the four monks stared at each other, not knowing what to do.
The Dragon Boddhisattva, no, the Dragon Emperor shook his head as he appeared in the streets of Karmlight City. That¡¯s right, he was Long Aotian, who had stolen Lovespot¡¯s body after Tianyi forced him from Lei Jingye¡¯s body. The reason he appeared in the Tieniu Realm after disappearing from the Huang Realm after the war of unification was because Emperor Begonia solicited. To reiterate, Emperor Begonia had joined the Buddhists after the fall of Begonia Tower, becoming the Begonia Bodhisattva. The Emperor Begonia that died under Sovereign Xi¡¯s hand was his clone. Of course, the Dragon Emperor didn¡¯t decide to join the Buddhists just because of the Begonia Boddhisattva¡¯s words. He originally planned to lurk in the Buzhou Immortal Sect until he had a chance to take revenge on that damn Xi Tianyi, but the war opened his eyes. Even in his heyday, the Dragon Emperor didn¡¯t dare to say that he could kill Tianyi. In addition, the trump card the Buzhou Immortal Sect took out really shocked him. Compared to when the Buzhou Immortal Sect allied with all the forces in the world to kill him, it was several fold more powerful. A part of him was unwilling to admit that the Buzhou Immortal Sect didn¡¯t take him seriously, but his cold, logical mind forced him to admit it. If he stayed, who knows how long it would take for him to reach the Origin Immortal Realm? Even then, he had to contend with Xi Mengfei. Not even if his body¡¯s grandfather came would the situation become better. Staying in the Buzhou Immortal Sect also constrained him. He couldn¡¯t show any signs of his true identity, meaning he had to hide most of his trump cards and strength. Rather than being limited by a worthless mask, why not be free and return to his true self in the Buddhist Pure Lands System? The straw that broke the camel¡¯s back was that the Begonia Boddhisatva knew of his identity. Although he didn¡¯t think that the Begonia Boddhisattva would expose him, it also meant that his current identity wasn¡¯t as seamless as he thought. If the Begonia Boddhisattva could see his true self, then did it mean the Buzhou Immortal Sect also had a chance to see through his disguise? With all those considerations, the Dragon Emperor decided to accept the Begonia Bodhisattva¡¯s offer and join the Buddhist Pure Lands System. He didn¡¯t leave alone, but also cajoled Zi Zun to leave with him. He couldn¡¯t help but smile when he recalled that he made the Buzhou Immortal Court lose one disciple capable of becoming an immortal monarch. Of course, the Dragon Emperor¡¯s motive wasn¡¯t solely out of pettiness. After dying the first time and suffering under Tianyi¡¯s hands, he realized that he wasn¡¯t invincible. He needed allies, people who would stand on his side during crises. Zi Zun was one such candidate. As long as he became an immortal monarch, the Dragon Emperor would think of a method to promote him to an immortal emperor. Still, all his calculations paled in comparison to when he actually arrived in the Buddhist Pure Lands System. Unlike the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, the Buddhist Pure Lands was composed of one giant realm orbited by several smaller realms that formed planets. Its size exceeded even the Primordial Realm. Still, the most shocking thing was when he ascended Mount Meru. Chapter 449: SÅ«rya? Buddha The number of Arhats didn¡¯t surprise the Dragon Emperor at all. However, the number of bodhisattvas did. Those in the Mahayana Realm were known as bodhisattvas, and like the Immortal Realm, the Mahayana Realm was also split into four minor realms: the Sotapanna Realm, the Sakadagami Realm, the Anagami Realm, and the Arahant Realm. After entering the Mahayana Realm, a bodhisattva will focus on unshackling the ten fetters. Of the ten fetters, the Fetter of Self, the Fetter of Doubt, the Fetter of Shortcut, the Fetter of Fleshly Lust and the Fetter of Animosity compose the lesser fetters. The Fetter of Material Desire, the Fetter of Immaterial Desire, the Fetter of Vanity, the Fetter of Discomposure, and the Fetter of Ignorance form the greater fetters. A bodhisattva who just entered the Mahayana Realm has not severed a single fetter, while those at the peak of the Mahayana Realm will have unshackled all ten fetters. Those in the Sotapanna Realm do not open the fetters, but they must discover the ten fetters inside themselves. Because this is the first step of the Mahayana Realm, those in the Sotapanna Realm are known as opener bodhisattvas. One key difference between opener bodhisattvas and true immortals was that the former¡¯s longevity relied solely on willpower. Once their willpower could no longer be maintained, they would perish. To enter the Sakagami Realm, a bodhisattva must open one of the first three fetters: the Fetter of Self, the Fetter of Doubt or the Fetter of Shortcut. After severing one of the first three fetters, the Buddhist would enter the early Sakagami Realm. Severing two fetters allows the Buddhist to enter the mid Sakagami Realm and severing three allows them to enter the peak Sakagami Realm. Those in the Sakagami Realm are known as returner bodhisattva. Returner bodhisattvas aspire to sever the remaining two lesser fetters: the Fetter of Fleshly Lust and the Fetter of Animosity. Those that accomplish this feat enter the Anagami Realm and are known as departer bodhisattva. The final realm of the Mahayana Realm is known as the Arahant Realm. To enter, a departer bodhisattva must sever one of the five greater fetters. Those in the Arahant Realm are known as worthy bodhisattvas. Compared to lesser fetters, the greater fetters are tens or hundreds of times harder to sever. It isn¡¯t solely because of the esoteric nature of the fetters, but because the difficulty increases with each fetter severed. The more fetters that are severed, the more tethered the remaining fetters are. The Pure Lands System didn¡¯t have a single worthy bodhisattva, but there were many departer bodhisattvas. They numbered over a hundred. Even counting the number of immortal emperors among the Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect, the Pure Lands System far outnumbered the former. Later, the Dragon Emperor would learn that despite technically being emperor-level cultivators, departer bodhisattva were generally weaker than immortal emperors. Still, quantity itself was a sort of quality. Even an immortal sovereign would die if he faced a hundred departer bodhisattvas. The hundreds of departer bodhisattvas was already shocking enough, but what was more shocking was at the top of Mount Meru. The Dragon Emperor originally thought a sun rested at the peak of the mountain, but he was wrong. Sitting in a lotus position in the center of the sun was a humanoid. The human had fiery strands for hair that flickered and burned, even in the middle of the sun. His skin exuded a golden light and the Dragon Emperor felt as if the figure was the center of all things. Just catching a glimpse of him made the Dragon Emperor want to worship him and convert to Buddhism. Luckily, the Dragon Emperor possessed a firm willpower, so he wasn¡¯t beguiled. However, when the human opened his eyes, the Dragon Emperor kneeled under the pressure from the gaze. Those two eyes resembled twin suns and they appear to illuminate all things and reveal the truth. The Dragon Emperor realized that even if he had entered the Origin Immortal Realm, he would be powerless before this figure. That figure was not a bodhisattva, but a buddha. In other words, he was a divinity. Unlike Daoist, those that entered the Divine Realm are not known as divinities but buddhas. The buddha introduced himself as the S¨±ryah Buddha, meaning Buddha of the Sun. He did not interrogate the Dragon Emperor and only asked a single question. ¡°Are you willing to join Buddhism?¡± When the Dragon Emperor said yes, he felt as if something had inexplicably changed, but he couldn¡¯t discover what. That unknown feeling made him feel uneasy, but there was nothing he could do. Simultaneously, a Buddhist cultivation method appeared in his mind. The Dragon Emperor buried his unease because of the excitement. Since his first life, he had always been searching for a way to enter the Origin Immortal Realm. The reason why he was only a half-sovereign because of his fall wasn¡¯t because he didn¡¯t fulfill the requirement, but because of his self-created Dragon Emperor Fist. To make up for this defect, the Dragon Emperor had searched far and wide for cultivation methods to inspire him. This resulted in him robbing many powerful forces of their cultivation methods. Alas, he couldn¡¯t find any inspiration from them, and he wanted to blackmail the then Buzhou Immortal Sect. But before he could, his actions and character caused all the forces in the Huang Realm to ally against him, forcing him to self-detonate. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Part of the reason he settled down in the Buzhou Immortal Sect as Lovespot was a chance to learn the Ten Heavenly Scriptures they kept. Alas, he never had a chance to. And now, the thing he had sought for so many years was in front of him. Instantly, the Dragon Emperor felt much better about joining Buddhism. After speaking those words, the S¨±ryah Buddha closed his eyes and turned still, as if he was a statue. The Dragon Emperor didn¡¯t disturb him, either. Although he had enough willpower to converse with a buddha, he hated the feeling of his own life and death not being in his own control. The Begonia Bodhisattva showed him to his abode on Mount Meru. It wasn¡¯t too isolated, but it wasn¡¯t exactly too far apart from the other residents on Mount Meru. The Dragon Emperor didn¡¯t particularly care. He just wanted to enter secluded cultivation and create a method to enter the Origin Immortal Realm. He didn¡¯t plan on cultivating the Buddhist cultivation method imparted to him, no matter how profound it was. The Dragon Emperor wanted to strip it of its useful part and add it to the Dragon Emperor Fist. Unlike the Dragon Emperor, Zi Zun fully converted to the Buddhist path. The cultivation method of the Thunder Duke Inheritance he received was not as profound as the Buddhist cultivation method. And soon, he transformed from an immortal to a bodhisattva. Because the Buddhist path didn¡¯t have as strict a requirement as the daoist path, Zi Zun became a returner bodhisattva. The Dragon Emperor wasn¡¯t idle either. With no need to hide his strength or identity, he quickly ascended up the ranks. He became an immortal monarch and summoned his Dao Manifestation. Then, he became an immortal emperor. Even among the departer bodhisattvas in the Pure Lands, few could match him. Although his newly improved Dragon Emperor Fist had aspects of Buddhism, it still leaned closer to the daoist path. Still, as someone who joined Buddhism, the Dragon Emperor¡¯s title naturally changed from immortal emperor to departer bodhisattva, specifically, the Departer Dragon Bodhisattva. Although in the privacy of his own mind, he still called himself the Dragon Emperor. After becoming an immortal emperor, the Dragon Emperor focused wholeheartedly on creating the next realm for his cultivation method. He estimated it would take a few thousand years to tens of thousands of years to enter the Origin Immortal Realm. How could the Dragon Emperor wait so long? Whenever he thought of that bastard, Xi Tianyi, or Xi Mengfei, he felt an enormous pressure. Honestly, it was a feeling he had forgotten in his heyday when he thought himself invincible. Perhaps the lacking sense of danger caused him to rest on his laurels and slack off. Feeling the pressure once more, the Dragon Emperor took the initiative. The Dragon Emperor Fist¡¯s foundation relied on transforming the body to become more like a dragon. As long as he hunted down some dragons and absorbed their blood, he would progress forward. It might not help him enter the Origin Immortal Realm, but it laid a solid foundation so that when he did break through, his strength would sky rocket. He might even enter the mid Origin Immortal Realm instead of the early Origin Immortal Realm. So, the Dragon Emperor applied to leave the Buddhist Pure Lands System. He expected scrutiny and a watcher, but surprisingly, the Buddhists agreed. They didn¡¯t even attach a watcher to him. Although confused, the Dragon Emperor didn¡¯t reject this. Although he joined Buddhism, at heart, he was still accustomed to acting alone due to his origins as a loose cultivator. So, he started searching the Three Thousand Immortal Realms for dragons. It was not the first time the Dragon Emperor traveled to the Three Thousand Realms System. Thanks to an opportunity, the Dragon Emperor escaped the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s surveillance and learned the truth. It was not that immortals would perish because of the harsh environment of the Vast Void, but the Buzhou Immortal Sect killed any immortals that left. The Dragon Emperor chose to return after leaving the Huang Realm. This both represented his self confidence and his goal. He wanted to defeat the dishonest Buzhou Immortal Sect and replace it as the strongest force in not just the entire Huang Realm, but the entire Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. There was one small benefit to returning, though. The Dragon Emperor smiled as he recalled the memories. The Dragon Clan initially provoked the humans because they were hunting him. He had killed many true dragons and even a dragon lord, forming an enmity with the Dragon Clan. This enmity was one of the casus belli that initiated the Divine Beast-Human War. The Dragon Emperor shook his head as he broke out of his thoughts. Anyways, he originally entered the Tieniu Realm because of the aura left by the dragons. As a dragon hunter, the Dragon Emperor naturally had methods to search out dragons. He originally only planned to search for traces of the dragons here, but he never expected that the dragon aura would suddenly increase. He shook his head and disappeared from the streets of Karmlight City. Since the dragons appeared in the Tieniu, it was time to reap the benefits. The dragons can only consider themselves unlucky for encountering him. In addition, the Dragon Emperor didn¡¯t need to care about dragging down Buddhism, either. It was not because he had much consideration, but that the Pure Lands System¡¯s location was concealed like the Divine Beast Pseudo System. Even when exiting without anything inhibiting his immortal sense, the Dragon Emperor couldn¡¯t sense the Pure Lands System after leaving. It was as if he had teleported into the Vast Void out of nowhere. To return, he had to request access. Plus, the Divine Beast-Human War only occurred recently, and it was far from the time to start a war again. If the Demon Clan attacked the Immortal Court or the Numinous Sword Path, the Dragon Emperor would be quite happy. So, the Dragon Emperor didn¡¯t hide his aura at all as he charged toward the core area of the Bull Clan. As he flew closer, the stench of the true dragon became more obvious to him. His flight stilled for a second as he sensed a familiar presence. ¡°Why is she here?¡± the Dragon Emperor asked himself. Upon sensing her, he knew that the demon¡¯s presence in the Tieniu Realm couldn¡¯t be simple. Was there a secret in this realm he didn¡¯t know about? The Dragon Emperor had no plan to stop. Since he sensed her, she must have already sensed him. Sure enough, a blue flame erupted from the core of the Bull Clan and replaced the sky over the bull demon¡¯s territory with a fiery heaven. A blue light shot from the ground and toward the Dragon Emperor. ¡°You¡¯re still alive, you bastard!¡± The Dragon Emperor allowed a wanton grin to grace his face. ¡°Haha, it¡¯ll take much more than a mere Buzhou Immortal Sect to kill me.¡± A saber with dragon-shaped pommel appeared in his hand and he slashed out. Just in time to meet a torrent of azure fire shooting toward him. Chapter 450: Evacuation Donghai Longzi and Honglin left Karmlight City, but they didn¡¯t return to the Bull Clan¡¯s territory. Instead, they wandered the other cities of the Tieniu Realm. He didn¡¯t mean to blame Honglin for the ruckus. Demons have always valued strength above all else. Had it been in the Divine Beast Pseudo System, no one would have batted an eye if Honglin decided to erase a clan of demons for no reason at all, much less if they offended her. Only at the highest echelons of the Demon Clan was there peace. In short, the weak had no rights. Had it not been for the need for secrecy, Donghai Longzi wouldn¡¯t have bothered to stop Honglin. Sure, he wouldn''t unnecessarily go out of his way to harm the weak, but regular mortals were akin to ants to him. In fact, they were ants compared to him. If a mortal died as an unintended consequence of his actions, Donghai Longzi wouldn¡¯t be losing any sleep over it. Although he was created from Tianyi¡¯s split soul from before his immortal ascension, he had been modified. After his own journey, only the faintest amount of his main body could be seen in him. While the third clone, Ba Shifang, sought freedom, he sought the adrenaline of battle. The reaction of all the demons he befriended would have when they eventually learned of his betrayal twisted his stomach, but his blood boiled at the thought of battle. Ever since he entered the True Dragon Realm, he had not had a hearty battle for centuries, millennia. Donghai Longzi craved to balance himself atop a knife¡¯s edge. To experience the sensation of blood pumping through his veins, and the moments where he stood between life and death. Still, he would have to rein it in for now. The two dragons, one created and one born naturally, walked through the streets of the third most prosperous city. The second most prosperous city was related to Buddhism, too, so Honglin had no interest in visiting. She was disappointed, but it was nothing major. It was akin to someone reading a book describing a dog, and upon seeing said dog, they discovered the book was actually describing a cat. Sure, there was disappointment, but they would ultimately brush it off and throw it out of their mind. Donghai Longzi expected nothing of that little incident. Sure, the Iron Robe Monastery might be whipped into a frenzy searching for the two, but it was impossible. Even if they stood in front of the three abbots of the monastery, as long as Donghai Longzi or Honglin willed it, the three would never be able to perceive them. So, it was to some surprise when he sensed a familiar aura. It was not like he had personally faced off against Tianyi¡¯s greatest foe, but he was not ignorant of a part of his main body¡¯s origins. In fact, he himself had slain more than a few Dragon Emperor clones. Well, it was not like he had seen anymore after all those crystalline swords descended from the sky and wiped out a majority of them. Furthermore, the aura of this Dragon Emperor clone was clearly much stronger than any one clone he slew before. That was to be expected, since the only times he fought them was before he entered the Demon Lord Realm. Even if Donghai Longzi ignored all that, there was no mistaking that bursting aura that filled the sky. A Dragon Emperor clone wouldn¡¯t know the meaning of subtlety even if it slapped them in the face. He shared a look with Honglin, and the two chased after it. The Dragon Emperor clone¡¯s aura clearly belonged to an immortal emperor. Luckily, Demon Empress Bluefeather was present, and the immortal emperor was shooting toward the Bull Clan¡¯s territory. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t know what to do with an immortal emperor. As Donghai Longzi expected, Demon Empress Bluefeather took action. An eruption of blue flames met a golden saber. After a brief clash, the flames dissipated, and the Dragon Emperor clone stood there with nary a hair out of place. Only, his face didn¡¯t bear any resemblance to a Dragon Emperor clone. In fact, it resembled an equally infuriating man, just for different reasons. That was Lovespot¡¯s face. The scion who thought himself as high as the heavens. The bastard who could only rely on his grandfather, the now demoted Immortal Redseal. Why was he here and bearing such a similar aura? Demon Empress Bluefeather reverted to her original form. Her gaze frostier than absolute zero as she stared at Lovespot. Or was it the Dragon Emperor Clone? Whatever the reason, it did not erase the hatred of this current generation¡¯s Vermillion Bird. ¡°I thought you would forever be buried by the passage of time. Last I heard, that woman killed every one of your clones,¡± Demon Empress Bluefeather said, more comment than any actual attempt at communication. ¡°Those things? Nothing more than distractions fools fell for,¡± the Dragon Emperor clone said. ¡°Hmpf, so you¡¯re back, Dragon Emperor,¡± Demon Empress Bluefeather said. Donghai Longzi couldn¡¯t help but frown. So did Tianyi¡¯s conduit on his body. What did Demon Empress Bluefeather and the Dragon Emperor clone mean by this? Was all those clones of the Dragon Emperor more than distraction, and did the actual Dragon Emperor reincarnate? It was still possible when the Immortal Court reigned during the Primordial Era, but not now. Still, has Lovespot always been like this? If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. No, the conduit thought to himself. He recalled how strange it was when Lovespot actually started cultivating all over again and with such a difference in attitude and talent. Most importantly was the fact that he claimed to have lost his memories. At the time, Tianyi had chalked it to nothing more than some fanciful reversal of fate or just Lovespot aiming for his so-called revenge. With the current information, it seemed that Lovespot¡¯s change was brought about by the Dragon Emperor. It also helped explain why Lovespot suddenly disappeared. There were still some inconsistencies, like the fact that Lovespot¡¯s Soul Lamp was still lit, but both Tianyi and Donghai Longzi knew that there were methods to fuel Soul Lamps. The conduit and clone both believed that the current Lovespot was the reborn Dragon Emperor. If Immortal Redseal were to hear that his beloved grandson had died thanks to the Dragon Emperor, he might go crazy. But Tianyi didn¡¯t feel any pity upon recalling that bastard¡¯s action. Had it not been for him, could Lovespot have gotten away with all his atrocities? Still, even after Immortal Redseal was released from his imprisonment, Tianyi had not found trouble with the latter. Their positions had long reversed. And Redseal did not show himself in front of Tianyi and seek death, so Tianyi was content to ignore his existence. However, this information changed everything. Even as Donghai Longzi watched Demon Empress Bluefeather and the Dragon Emperor resume their fight, Tianyi, who had already received this information, informed Xia Meng. The heat in the Tieniu Realm rose the longer Demon Empress Bluefeather fought. In addition, crevices and fissures formed throughout the land from the Dragon Emperor¡¯s saber intent. Their attacks, even unintentional, created devastating disasters for the denizens of the realm. Logically, both of them should have left the Tieniu Realm and fought in the Vast Void or an immortal-rank realm, but neither side showed any such intentions. There¡¯s a reason why realms forced those who break through the limits to ascend aside from devouring the energy that poured in because of the ascension. Once a cultivator or demon¡¯s power broke the limit, they could easily damage the land and life inside. They were forced to leave to prevent this. And another defense mechanism was Karmic Sin. No one, not even demons, wanted to become contaminated with too much Karmic Sin. Donghai Longzi could already detect lingering Karmic Sins appearing on both Demon Empress Bluefeather and the Dragon Emperor. It wasn¡¯t enough to stain them yet, but the signs were there. He could understand both their reasons for not fighting in the Vast Void. In essence, both of them were trespassers, and once they left the boundary of the Tieniu Realm, the chances of the Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect detecting them rose, drastically so. True, the demons wanted to create a distraction, but it had to be controlled. Otherwise, the price would be too high. The plan was to have every demon safely retreat. Their current clash would expose them too fast, with no chance to set up any back up plans. Similarly, it didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out why the Dragon Emperor didn¡¯t want to expose himself either. However, their power dictated that neither would be able to continue fighting in the Tieniu Realm for long. Unless both sides decided to have a truce. However, that was all but impossible. The Dragon Emperor didn¡¯t seem intent on stopping, and neither did Demon Empress Bluefeather. During the war and the events leading up to it, the Dragon Emperor hadn¡¯t only slain dragons but also those of the Phoenix Clan. Donghai Longzi and Honglin entered the core area of the Bull Clan¡¯s territory. Most of the demons dispatched had already returned, ready to retreat to another outpost. Those within the realm could not have missed the commotion, and those outside had already been contacted. After this battle, the Tieniu Realm would have to be abandoned. Of course, the bull demons came forward, seeking comfort and reassurances. However, what greeted them was the demons¡¯ indifference. The only reason they supported the Bull Clan was to make them pawns, and now that this pawn was no longer useful, they were abandoned. Oh sure, some bull demons loudly cursed them, but all that awaited these brash bull demons was death. Donghai Longzi and Honglin watched the battle between Demon Empress Bluefeather and the Dragon Emperor. The heat had already become unbearable for most mortal creatures. Those nearest to the two¡¯s battle and without any cultivation had already died of dehydration, if the Dragon Emperor¡¯s slashes hadn¡¯t got to them first. Although most that died were low-level demons, the world didn¡¯t differentiate from demons and humans. To it, a life was a life, and killing too many would incur Karmic Sin. Donghai Longzi clenched and unclenched his fingers. He wanted to join. Sure, he was only in the Demon King Realm, but demons held an innate advantage over humans. That was even more so for true dragons like himself. If his main body could fight immortal emperors as an immortal monarch¡­okay. Tianyi¡¯s circumstances were very different, but Donghai Longzi believed that he could cross realms and fight immortal emperors, too. Alas, it seemed that he wouldn¡¯t have the chance to do so with Demon Empress Bluefeather fighting. He turned around. Most of the demons had already finished their preparations, and they planned to leave the Tieniu Realm. After they left, Demon Empress Bluefeather would retreat and meet up with them after shaking off the Dragon Emperor. It was clear that neither side held any great advantages, and the only reason the demon empress still fought was to hold the Dragon Emperor down. Just as Donghai Longzi turned around to leave, Demon Empress Bluefeather slapped the Dragon Emperor with her wing, sending him flying. The demon empress stilled, not having expected her attack to work, but a second later, fury filled her words. ¡°Long Aotian!¡± The Dragon Emperor had used the momentum to shoot toward the evacuating demons. His eyes were focused on Donghai Longzi and Honglin. With his senses, he knew that both of them held the purest bloodline of all the dragons present. He was an immortal emperor, and the brief chance he grasped should be more than enough to kill one of them and store their corpse into his spatial ring. Neither Honglin nor Donghai Longzi fled. Donghai Longzi had long wanted to clash, while Honglin had heard stories of the Dragon Emperor and wanted to test her mettle against him. Donghai Longzi¡¯s hands reverted into talons and he struck forward, while Honglin transformed back into her true form and attacked with her claws. Disdain flashed across the Dragon Emperor¡¯s eyes as he reared his saber back. Chapter 451: Clash of Dragons Honglin felt the flow of blood in her body stall before suddenly reversing. The Dragon Emperor¡¯s saber strike cracked her claws and flung her back from the force of the clash. Blood dripped out of her mouth as her body halted its unwanted momentum. She cared not for her injuries and stared at Donghai Longzi, whose claw was still locked against the golden saber. Black qi exploded off of Donghai Longzi while golden qi exploded off of the Dragon Emperor, creating a scene of contesting gold and black. The Scarletblood Dragon grew envious. She knew that she was only a first-step demon king that tempered her flesh and blood with one of the five elemental qis, but she didn¡¯t think that even a fifth-step dragon king could stop an immortal emperor¡¯s slash like Donghai Longzi did. From the moment the Dragon Emperor¡¯s attack blew her away while Donghai Longzi held strong, she knew he had the combat prowess of an immortal emperor. As for said Dragon Emperor, his eyes widened in slight surprise at Donghai Longzi halting his attack. He glanced at the dragon claws and saw only a white mark on those sharpened ends. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to see a dragon lord with the power of a dragon king here, of all places. But if you think you can hold me back, you are sorely mistaken!¡± With that, the Dragon Emperor increased the strength in his slash and flung Donghai Longzi away. He didn¡¯t chase after the transformed dragon. Instead, he set his eyes on the Scarletblood Dragon, Honglin. Demon Empress Bluefeather was already charging at him, and he couldn¡¯t slay Donghai Longzi in such a short amount of time. Honglin, on the other hand¡­ The Dragon Emperor shot towards the dragon with scales like ruby. For her part, Honglin didn¡¯t shy away even in the face of the enormous murderous intent coming her way. Even if she wanted to run away, she knew her speed was lacking, so she could only face the danger head on and wait for Donghai Longzi or Demon Empress Bluefeather to arrive. Much as she was loathed to admit. The muscles underneath the ruby red scales undulated. The strands of muscle doubled before tripling in volume, bulking up the slender and serpentine dragon into a much more intimidating mass. Even the radiant scales took on a dull tone as they thickened and sharpened. With a roar, Honglin charged straight at the Dragon Emperor. The Dragon Emperor only snorted. His hand flashed, and Honglin could only capture the trail ends of his saber slashes. The next thing she knew, lacerations appeared all over her scales. Her enhanced scales did little to weaken his saber strikes. However, Honglin persevered through the pain. The blood that bled from her wounds transformed into mist and created a domain of blood mist. All that was for naught as the mist dispersed with another swing of the Dragon Emperor¡¯s saber. Honglin¡¯s action did not halt as the energy condensing in her stomach had already reached her throat . She opened her jaws and a blood red beam escaped her jaws and shot toward the Dragon Emperor. Still, it was for naught as the Dragon Emperor unleashed another swing. A crescent blade of energy shot out from the Dragon Emperor¡¯s blade and struck Honglin¡¯s head, causing her head to snap backwards. The disparity between the two¡¯s strengths could not be made up through courage and will alone. The Dragon Emperor swung again. His blade cleaved through the thick scales and flesh of Honglin¡¯s underside. The first cut sliced through the scales, the second cut revealed muscles, and the third cut exposed bone. He reached out, grabbed the Scarletblood Dragon¡¯s flesh and pulled. Honglin released a roar of pain as the Dragon Emperor quite literally stripped her flesh from her bones. ¡°Tch,¡± the Dragon Emperor didn¡¯t have time to pull out much as he slashed again, separating the chunk of flesh from Honglin and storing it in his spatial ring. Immediately after, he turned around and swung his blade, just in time to block Donghai Longzi¡¯s claws. Donghai Longzi swung his other hand, transformed as well, at the Dragon Emperor. Two claws and steel flashed tens of times in a few breaths. Finally, it was Donghai Longzi that was forced back. His two arms showed no outward harm, but they trembled without stopping. The Dragon Emperor snorted. ¡°Tch.¡± He turned and shot toward the sky. Not a second later, a blue flash followed behind. Donghai Longzi stilled for a second and glanced at Honglin. After that, he chased after the immortal emperor and demon empress. No matter what, since his blood had started to boil, it would not quell until he had his fight¡¯s worth. Honglin only stared at the three departing figures, envy in her eyes. She shrunk herself while clutching her wound. She lost about four to five percent of her flesh in that brief clash. Blood had already congregated and formed a pseudo flesh and skin. Of course, this was just emergency treatment, and it would take much longer to fully recover. Something she could only do once they relocated to the new outpost. With a shake of her head, she returned to the rest of the demons, who were already evacuating. Once there, she looked around and asked. ¡°Where¡¯s Yujiao?¡±
In the Vast Void, the Dragon Emperor turned around and sent several crescent-shaped energies full of saber intent toward the incoming avian demon. Just before the crescent-shaped energies struck Demon Empress Bluefeather, her body expanded until she appeared to be a burning phoenix. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. The crescent-shaped energies struck her flaming body, but never passed over the surface. They shrunk as if burned by the blue flames. When they collapsed, they stuck to the burning blue bird¡¯s body like splotches of gold, continuously releasing miniature explosions. Still, Demon Empress Bluefeather paid no heed and continued to charge forward, her talons glinting harsher than steel. Just as the Dragon Emperor readied his blade, intent on facing the demon, a thunderous roar caught both their attention. When the Dragon Emperor looked over, desire and greed filled his eyes. He saw an enormous dragon of black, with tiny motes of lights glittering on his scales flying over. Even Demon Empress Bluefeather paled in comparison in terms of pure size. ¡°Longzi? Why did you come out?¡± Demon Empress Bluefeather asked. ¡°I¡¯m not one to take an attack without retaliating,¡± Donghai Longzi simply said before charging at the Dragon Emperor. The Dragon Emperor only grinned and readied his blade. ¡°Haha, I thought I would have to leave empty-handed. But it seems that I will be able to bring a prize back after all this!¡± Demon Empress Bluefeather snorted, hatred intensifying. She had promised Demon Emperor Redraco to protect his granddaughter, but what happened? Not even a year out and the Dragon Emperor had literally carved a piece of flesh from Honglin. This slight must be avenged! She charged behind Donghai Longzi. Unlike Honglin, it seemed that Donghai Longzi could fight the Dragon Emperor for a short while. Originally, she only planned to chase away the Dragon Emperor, knowing that victory and defeat would not be decided in a short time, but Donghai Longzi¡¯s presence changed the Dragon Emperor¡¯s plans. The countless motes of lights shimmered brightly on Donghai Longzi¡¯s black scales, intensifying as the second passed. Then, they flew out of his scales and formed a domain hundreds of thousands of meters large. Each time a star blinked, something inside the domain would vibrate and shatter. Still, it didn¡¯t seem to hurt the Dragon Emperor at all, as a thin film of golden qi covered him. He unleashed a saber strike against the incoming behemoth. ¡°I never expected you to practice the Law of Destruction and use it so skillfully with the Law of Stars, but you¡¯re still too tender!¡± Most cultivators, demon or humans, did not use domains in the Vast Void. Domains were energy intensive techniques, and it was especially foolish to keep it for a long time in the Vast Void, where qi could not be replenished. Once again, saber and claw clashed. However, even without Honglin¡¯s participation, the Dragon Emperor and Donghai Longzi could not force the other back. The Dragon Emperor frowned and increased his strength, but he discovered that Donghai Longzi¡¯s strength had increased, and more than him at that. Before the Dragon Emperor could settle whether he or his foe had more strength, he retreated as a burst of blue flames incinerated the space he was in last. He flew away as a flaming blue comet chased after him, followed by Donghai Longzi. He glanced behind him and released a roar that resembled more beast than human. Scales materialized over his body and encapsulated him. Two draconic horns grew out of his head as tufts of golden fur materialized around his joints. The Dragon Emperor turned around and charged straight at Demon Empress Bluefeather. He took on her flame breath head on and shot through it and passed her straight at Donghai Longzi. The flames left behind a scorch mark and left his scales sizzling, but he paid no heed as he reared his saber back. The black dragon roared and unleashed a black beam of destruction. To which the Dragon Emperor slashed his saber, bisecting the beam, just like he had done with Honglin¡¯s breath attack. He charged forward, saber still in mid swing. Donghai Longzi struck forward with his claws, which were trailed by long blades formed of destruction energy. The blades of destruction and golden saber clashed, causing sparks of black and gold to explode. Had it been in the Tieniu Realm, vast amounts of land would have collapsed, and even the sky would have ripped. Then, Demon Empress Bluefeather arrived, forcing the Dragon Emperor away and giving Donghai Longzi time to breathe. His hands trembled even harder, unable to stop. Still, he did not shy away even as nicks and gashes appeared on his claws. Not even if blood dripped from beneath the scales on his hand. He released a powerful roar and chased after the Dragon Emperor. The Dragon Emperor did not shy away, avoiding Demon Empress Bluefeather¡¯s flames and striking the black dragon. As time passed, cracks and dents appeared all over Donghai Longzi¡¯s scales. Wounds that exposed flesh appeared all over his serpentine body. Still, his eyes were bright as he chased after the much smaller foe. Sure, his strength was weaker, but with each clash, he became more accustomed to fighting with his draconic form. Donghai Longzi started to use the claws on his hind limbs as well as his entire body. He would rush the Dragon Emperor and graze the latter with his scales, intent on causing bludgeon damage or slicing the latter with the sharp edges of his scales. If that didn¡¯t work, he slammed his tail like a whip. The Dragon Emperor frowned as time passed. Although he firmly held the upper hand and got nothing more than a few scorch marks or scratches, he discovered that it became harder and harder to suppress the black dragon, much less deal a devastating blow. Although his mastery of the Law of Destruction was superior, Donghai Longzi coated his entire body in a shield of destruction that continuously broke down his attack when it made contact. Not only that, but the domain of destruction was still present, forcing the Dragon Emperor to wonder how much qi the dragon had. He knew he couldn¡¯t delay it for much longer. The Dragon Emperor retreated far away as Demon Empress Bluefeather and Donghai Longzi regrouped, both staring at him. He returned his saber into its scabbard and entered an unsheathing stance. His momentum surged and both demon empress and demon king felt an overwhelmingly threatening aura from him. Demon Empress Bluefeather unleashed a fiery torrent of blue and white, while Donghai Longzi charged forward. His form blurred as his speed dramatically increased, far faster than before. But it was all too late as the Dragon Emperor unsheathed his blade. For a brief moment, the world knew silence as if time had stilled. Then, the pained roar of a dragon and cry of a qingluan reverberated in the Vast Void. The flesh on both their bodies had parted, revealing organs and bones. Not even the domain of destruction remained intact as it split in half before disintegrating. ¡°Now!¡± The Dragon Emperor said as he charged forward. His eyes locked onto his prey. A flash of gold later, another pained roar sounded as he parted the black dragon¡¯s arm from its body. Chapter 452: Once Again The Dragon Emperor charged forward, like a golden comet. He flew faster than ever with the suppression of Donghai Longzi¡¯s domain of destruction. His hands reached out and grabbed the severed limb. ¡®I got what I wanted. Time to leave,¡¯ the Dragon Emperor thought. He spared a glance, just in time to see a colossal tail whipping toward him. The layer of golden qi protecting him expanded as he raised his saber into a defensive position. The tail struck him with a mighty thump and sent him flying. By allowing the attack to connect, the Dragon Emperor converted the momentum for his own use. With his prize in hand, the Dragon Emperor shot off into the distance. ¡°Bastard!¡± Demon Empress Bluefeather shouted. She wanted nothing more than to fly after him and make him pay, but she didn¡¯t. The Dragon Emperor¡¯s last attack had caused her to feel fear. She had a feeling that if she continued to entangle with the Dragon Emperor, she would fall. The Vermillion Bird glanced at Donghai Longzi, who was clutching his missing limb. She sighed in relief, thanking the latter for not flying into a rage, as most demons might. Although he didn¡¯t fly into a rage, Donghai Longzi was gazing at where the Dragon Emperor was last seen, eyes narrowed. ¡°It won¡¯t be too late for revenge once you enter the Demon Emperor Realm,¡± Demon Empress Bluefeather comforted. Donghai Longzi still gazed at the same spot, but he replied, ¡°Yeah.¡± His form started to shrink and shrink until it was humanoid standing a little less than two meters and with two horns protruding from his forehead. Black robes adorned him, but his left sleeve flapped in the Vast Void, clearly empty. Finally, he looked at Demon Empress Bluefeather. ¡°Where do we go from here?¡± ¡°Follow me.¡± With that, Demon Empress Bluefeather transformed into a blue streak and flew into the distance, followed by a black stream of light. The two didn¡¯t re-enter the Tieniu Realm and flew away. They didn¡¯t know when, but their battle might have caught unsavory attention outside of the Demon Clan¡¯s plan, so the two needed to hide their tracks. If they regrouped with the other demons inside the Tieniu Realm, it would only cause their tracks to become more obvious. Better to split up. This way, the humans would prioritize searching for her, instead of some miscellaneous demons, even if they are true demons that have entered the True Demon Realm and above. Of course, Demon Empress Bluefeather was unaware that the commotion they caused had long been noticed by the Immortal Court. She probably never imagined that as she was in the heat of the battle with the Dragon Emperor, everything that happened was being relayed to a certain individual in the Primordial Realm.
¡°Well, at least they aren¡¯t foolish,¡± the Dragon Emperor muttered to himself. Gone was his dragon transformation, and in its place was his original appearance. The golden light around him had dimmed, as he had attempted to cloak it to mask his presence and actions as much as possible. If Demon Empress Bluefeather and that black dragon chased him, he didn¡¯t mind gathering more trophies from the two. Although a qingluan¡¯s flesh and blood wouldn¡¯t be as useful to him, it was still a rare material in the modern era. ¡°Now, where should I go?¡± the Dragon Emperor asked aloud, to no one in particular. After some thought, he decided to find some random realm to extract the blood essence from the dismembered dragon limb and absorb it. The Dragon Emperor glanced at the black claws still in his grasp. Like with the red dragon, he had tried to store it in his spatial ring, but it was constantly leaking black qi that caused his attempts to fail. He attempted to place a seal on it, but it would break after the leaking qi built up enough pressure. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t have much talent in seals, so he had to extract the blood essence as much as possible before the limb became useless. ¡°Who¡¯s there?!¡± the Dragon Emperor suddenly shouted. In one swift motion, he unsheathed his saber and swung behind him. The golden saber seemed to slice through empty air, but at the final moment, it struck something. A split second later, a delicate hand with milky white skin appeared. It was pinching the edge of his saber with two fingers and a thumb. Try as he might, the Dragon Emperor discovered that he couldn¡¯t dislodge his weapon from the seemingly weak grasp. Even exerting all his strength, he couldn¡¯t free his saber. But his struggle didn¡¯t last long as the hand¡¯s owner revealed himself. Like shattering glass, pieces fell off his invisible foe. At first, it was a purple sleeve, then the robe. Finally, it revealed a young man wearing a gold coronet. His and his assailant¡¯s faces were identical, except for those pair of bedeviling eyes. ¡°Xi Tianyi!¡± Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°Dragon Emperor,¡± his arch nemesis simply said. It was as if an explosion had gone off in the Dragon Emperor¡¯s mind. He always imagined the day he would clash with Tianyi in a life and death fight in the future. Only, he never expected it so soon. Still, he quickly calmed himself and released his saber. Most saber wielders and even swordsmen might roar at him for releasing his precious weapon, but the Dragon Emperor didn¡¯t care. He had many more, and he knew that he would not be able to out power the foe who stood across him. In the past, it was always he who overpowered his foe with brute strength. Now, it was the Dragon Emperor¡¯s turn to feel what it was like to be physically weaker than his opponent. ¡°You¡¯re alone. Aren¡¯t you afraid I will kill you?¡± the Dragon Emperor asked as he kept widening the distance between the two. Although Xi Tianyi¡¯s appearance was unexpected, he had no intent on retreating. At least before he exchanged a few blows with his hated foe. Xi Tianyi lowered his arm and stared at the Dragon Emperor. ¡°Kill? I¡¯m afraid even a divinity would find it troublesome to kill me, much less you.¡± ¡°Big words, Junior,¡± the Dragon Emperor shot back. Divinity? Even if he was an immortal sovereign, the Dragon Emperor didn¡¯t dare to say that he could escape from a divinity. ¡°I¡¯ll show you the heights of heaven and earth.¡± ¡°Is that all you know how to say?¡± Xi Tianyi asked, his voice light and his eyes half-lidded, as if he was bored by all this. ¡°You already said all this when you were possessing Lei Jingye¡¯s body. Do you think it will be any different if you possess a wastrel like Lovespot?¡± ¡°¡ªyou,¡± the Dragon Emperor said. He couldn¡¯t help but wonder how Xi Tianyi found out he hopped from Lei Jingye¡¯s body to Lovespot. He was sure he left no clues. ¡°It¡¯s really simple. I didn¡¯t think it was possible back when I was still mortal, but after entering the Immortal Realm, I learned of all the impossible techniques,¡± Xi Tianyi said. ¡°And thank you for confirming my suspicions.¡± The Dragon Emperor snorted. ¡°So what? Are you going to ask me to give this body back and for this body¡¯s grandfather? Well, it¡¯s too late. When I left the Buzhou Immortal Sect, I¡¯ve already destroyed any hope for Lovespot¡¯s revival.¡± Xi Tianyi shrugged. ¡°No, I don¡¯t really care. In fact, I might even tell Redseal myself. I kind of want to see his reaction.¡± The Dragon Emperor stared, not sure if Xi Tianyi was lying or not. Still, what did it matter? Whose body he took no longer mattered. The karma between him and Xi Tianyi would only end when one side died. Golden scales appeared all over the Dragon Emperor¡¯s body as he transformed into a humanoid dragon. He relaxed his grip and allowed the black dragon¡¯s limb to hang untethered in the Vast Void. His eyes turned to the color of molten gold as he stared at his arch nemesis. A golden saber, one bearing many similarities to the one still pinched between Xi Tianyi¡¯s finger appeared in his hand. ¡°Come!¡± Xi Tianyi didn¡¯t move and simply stared at the Dragon Emperor, totally different from the heated battle the latter had envisioned. Just as it seemed that silence would turn awkward, Xi Tianyi let go of the saber and pointed at the Dragon Emperor. No, he wasn¡¯t pointing at the Dragon Emperor, but the discarded dragon limb. Then, the Dragon Emperor sensed it. The simmering qi within the black dragon limb started to boil. Acting on instinct, the Dragon Emperor formed a shield of golden qi and shot away from his trophy, but it was too late. With a catastrophic boom, the scaled limb exploded, catching him within its blast radius. Less than a second later, he escaped out of the cloud of black smoke, but black flames lingered on his body, eating away at his golden shield. The Dragon Emperor frowned. ¡®The power of destruction is even stronger than when that black dragon used it.¡¯ He didn¡¯t have time to ponder why as a figure approached him from the side. Without even turning his head, the Dragon Emperor unleashed his saber, the saber intent within roared madly with tyrannical might. This seemingly simple slash would cow even veteran immortal emperors, yet all it amounted to was stopping at Xi Tianyi¡¯s delicate-looking palms. Before Xi Tianyi could close his fingers around the blade, the Dragon Emperor retreated. He glanced at his foe¡¯s palm, only to see a thin mark just slightly whiter than the skin. ¡®Even that couldn¡¯t make him bleed? Just how hard is his skin?¡¯ A sense of discontent arose within the Dragon Emperor¡¯s chest, one that he used to fuel his fighting intent. He really wanted to force Xi Tianyi to use his technique before he brought out his own stronger techniques. If he didn¡¯t, it meant that he was already at a disadvantage. No, not just a mere disadvantage. All of Xi Tianyi¡¯s actions told him that the former didn¡¯t consider him a threat anymore. His mind and gut were telling him to use every possible means to flee, but his heart was raging. The Dragon Emperor intensified his glare. If looks could kill, Tianyi would be nothing more than a pile of unrecognizable meat chunks. The Dragon Emperor stared. He kept his attention on Tianyi, but he carefully observed his surroundings. Nothing changed. The stars still shone brightly, but the Dragon Emperor¡¯s instincts told him something was wrong. It told him to flee yet again. However, he did not have time to think as Tianyi moved. No, Xi Tianyi didn¡¯t attack after somehow exploding his trophy. Instead, a sword appeared in Xi Tianyi¡¯s hand. The latter grasped the handle with his right hand and pulled it out of its scabbard. The Dragon Emperor recognized the sword. How could he not? He has seen Xi Tianyi wear it when he was only in the Nascent Soul Realm. It was a plain sword with a simple yet elegant hilt. Xi Tianyi unsheathed and released the scabbard, which disappeared into nowhere. Next, he brandished the sword at the Dragon Emperor. A sense of humiliation arose in the Dragon Emperor¡¯s chest. What did Xi Tianyi mean by this? He would admit that compared to ordinary cultivators, Xi Tianyi was talented in the way of the sword, but it wasn¡¯t even a tenth of his own talent in the saber technique. Did he think he could win with his stupidly strong body? No, the Dragon Emperor refused to allow Xi Tianyi to stomp on his pride. The Dragon Emperor raised his saber and brandished toward Xi Tianyi. As his saber¡¯s tip pointed at his arch nemesis, so, too, did his eyes. Two gazes interlocked and sparks clashed. This would be a duel of sword and saber. Chapter 453: Each Owns Intent Sparks flew as steel clashed against steel. Gold scraped against silver, their smooth surfaces reflecting their wielder¡¯s eyes. The golden saber reflected a domineering gaze with pupils full of destruction. The silver sword reflected void-like eyes, whose pupils contained the infinite night sky. As sword and saber locked one another, their wielders locked gazes. ¡®How is this possible?¡¯ the Dragon Emperor thought as he pulled out. He didn¡¯t continue to fall back as he shot forward, saber flashing. His saber turned into streaks and flashes of gold. Grating screeches echoed as they locked and clashed with the silver sword. Neither the golden saber nor silver sword held a definite advantage. Herein lay the problem. Who was the Dragon Emperor? He was a loose cultivator who rose to the peak without the support of any powerful forces. Quite the opposite, many forces wanted to kill him when he had not risen to his height of power. Obviously, they failed and became nourishment for the Dragon Emperor¡¯s growth and prestige. And how did the Dragon Emperor accomplish this near miraculous feat? Through his talent and inviolable willpower. Willpower, because even when a third-rate force targeted him, the Dragon Emperor did not despair. He hid himself under many aliases until he was either discovered or grew strong enough to retaliate. The fact that the third-rate force was history in the Primordial Realm already revealed what happened. Talent because the more the Dragon Emperor fought, the stronger he became. In fact, the period of time the Dragon Emperor grew the fastest was during battle. During times of peace, the Dragon Emperor¡¯s progress in comprehending the worldly laws had slowed down. It was through battle that the Dragon Emperor comprehended the Concept of Shattering, which led him to mastering the Law of Destruction. It was through battling other immortals who comprehended the five elemental laws that allowed him to gain inspiration to reach the peak of the Seamless Immortal Realm. The stronger he grew, the more talented he became. Before his fall and birth of the Dragon Emperor clones, he, the Dragon Emperor, had reached the peak of the Huang Realm. He was one of the few immortal emperors and mastered the saber to an incredible degree. Few swordsmen or other weapon wielders could contend with him. Compared to his mastery of the Law of Destruction, or even his cultivation method that he created using dragon blood, the Dragon Emperor was most proud of his saber technique. He had met many opponents who exceeded his comprehension of the law, opponents who could curb his draconic advantages. Through it all, it was the saber in his hand that brought victory and survival. Yet, this boy, this junior, Xi Tianyi, was clashing against his saber again and again based on pure swordsmanship. The Dragon Emperor could still recall the first two times he clashed against Xi Tianyi. At that time, the boy was immature. His swordplay was rigid and a mess, a hodgepodge of techniques that did not flow well together. The only reason the boy could continue to win was because of his powerful martial body and seemingly endless qi. But now, it¡¯s different. Wholly different, like heaven and earth. This junior, Xi Tianyi, was battling him on equal grounds that used swordplay that rivaled his saberplay. It was not like the Dragon Emperor¡¯s skills in the saber had stagnated after his death. Although it took time to regain his comprehension of the laws, the one thing that never stopped was his saberplay. He dared say that if all else stayed the same, his current skill in the saber far surpassed his previous life¡¯s peak. Which made the Dragon Emperor even more befuddled as to why Xi Tianyi¡¯s swordplay matched his skill in the saber. As someone he planned to kill one day, the Dragon Emperor had collected as much information on him as possible. In his investigation, the most noteworthy mentions of Xi Tianyi were always about his unnaturally tough body, an immense amount of qi that seemed endless, and devastating attack. Nowhere did anyone mention his swordsmanship. Had he been hiding his swordsmanship all this time or had he killed all the witnesses by the time he used it? The Dragon Emperor strengthened his grip on his saber. Both he and Xi Tianyi were only using one weapon right now, and he didn¡¯t want to be the first one to use more than one weapon. Call it pride, arrogance, or folly, but the Dragon Emperor wanted to prove that Xi Tianyi¡¯s sword was inferior to his saber. Xi Tianyi can be superior in cultivation, qi, martial body but never superior to his saber. ¡°Die!¡± the Dragon Emperor shouted as he raised his saber above his head. Faint dragon roars could be heard as the saber vibrated. It exuded a golden light as it slashed down, as if wanting to cut everything in half. Qi, Xi Tianyi, his sword, even the entire void. It was an attack that even an immortal sovereign dared not take lightly. ¡°Weak.¡± Xi Tianyi raised his sword. Where the Dragon Emperor slashed down, he sliced up. The Dragon Emperor¡¯s slash carried an unstoppable momentum as if nothing could block it, but Xi Tianyi¡¯s sword appeared incredibly ordinary, like a regular slash, far from the saber strike. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. When the two touched, they sliced past another, their flats screeching against the other as sparks flew. The Dragon Emperor¡¯s saber, which could have slashed down in a straight line and bisected Xi Tianyi vertically, deviated. It was by the smallest of angles. Instead of slicing Xi Tianyi in half, it slid down his arm, cutting through his robe. ¡°Impossible,¡± the Dragon Emperor said. Xi Tianyi¡¯s robes were monarch-level artifacts. Most immortal emperors would need a few attacks to destroy, and the Dragon Emperor only needed one. Yet, when his saber slashed the exposed arm, it only left a thin mark. The thin line turned dark and black gaseous qi leaked out, but the injuries quickly healed. ¡°Are you an immortal sovereign?¡± the Dragon Emperor asked as he retreated. Aside from that, there was no other possible reason he could think of to explain why his slash did so little. ¡°No.¡± Xi Tianyi¡¯s word was like a mockery that thundered in his ears. However, it was not the end. ¡°Compared to Bao Ling, your saber slashes are too weak.¡± The Dragon Emperor narrowed his eyes. Of course, he knew who Bao Ling was. Even if he hadn¡¯t known as Lovespot of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, the Buddhist Pure Lands kept information on rising stars of both the Numinous Sword Sect and the Immortal Court. But that only made him question life even more. Bao Ling was around Xi Tianyi¡¯s age, only a little older. That difference was like a second for immortals like them. Just how strong would Bao Ling¡¯s sword strike be if Xi Tianyi called his weak in comparison. He wanted to call it a bluff, nothing more than a psychological tactic to disturb his confidence, but Xi Tianyi¡¯s tone was too plain, as if stating a fact. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to be still in contact with the Numinous Sword Sect. Was this before the Huang Realm became the Primordial Realm? No, if it was, the Numinous Sword Sect would never allow it, so it must have been after, recent.¡± The Dragon Emperor counter attacked. He wanted to expose the information he gleaned from Tianyi¡¯s words. He knew that the Numinous Sword Sect had also appeared in the Broken Primordial World, and it was entirely possible for Tianyi to have fought Bao Ling there. However, how could Bao Ling use an attack that exceeded his current strength at that time? Not to mention that Tianyi was also still a mere mortal, hardly powerful enough to judge it. ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Xi Tianyi admitted without evading. ¡°When I saw his swordplay, I realized it was an uncrossable gulf. It felt like that no matter how hard I tried, I would never be able to defeat him. Unless I reached the Divine Realm.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t joke around,¡± the Dragon Emperor said. ¡°Divine Realm? You haven¡¯t even reached the Origin Immortal Realm. What makes you think you will succeed where so many others failed?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll find out soon enough,¡± Xi Tianyi said. He held his sword in front of himself. There, he saw his reflection. ¡°Speaking of which, I have to thank Bao Ling. Otherwise, my swordsmanship would not have progressed so much and exceeded your saberplay.¡± ¡°Exceeded my saberplay?¡± the Dragon Emperor roared. ¡°Don¡¯t get ahead of yourself, Junior! I¡¯ll show you the height of true saber skills. You frog at the bottom of a well!¡± The Dragon Emperor charged. The saber intent on his golden saber condensed at the edge. It was an edge only as thick as a nanometer and made the golden saber appear devoid of any saber intent. However, anyone who underestimated it would pay. Xi Tianyi did not back down. He met the Dragon Emperor¡¯s saber head on with a slash of his own. It did not exude any kind of sword intent, nor any kind of elemental energy, just a simple sword swing. When the golden metal clashed against the silver steel, there were no sparks, no screech of metal. The golden blade cut into the silver edge. It was not quite at the level of a hot knife through butter, but if Xi Tianyi didn¡¯t retreat, his sword would be sheared in half. A second later, the Dragon Emperor felt the loss of resistance. Against his expectations, Xi Tianyi had retreated. He had expected the latter to persevere, use some sort of technique to even the playing but not retreat. ¡°Engaging against someone with saber intent without my own was a bit foolish on my part,¡± Xi Tianyi said. He gazed at the Dragon Emperor without any fear or unease. ¡°What, don¡¯t tell you¡¯re going to use sword intent? Or maybe sword light? Against my saber intent, anything below sword intent is worthless,¡± the Dragon Emperor said. His words weren¡¯t just meant to demoralize his opponent, but also raise his own momentum and confidence. ¡°I don¡¯t have sword intent,¡± Xi Tianyi said. ¡°Although I really wish I did, I¡¯m suited for something else.¡± With those words, he brandished his sword. A dark sheen covered the sword until it was dyed completely black. The color was so dark that it resembled a hole in reality. Then, an explosion occurred in that rift in reality, and the stars and planets were born. This time, Xi Tianyi took the initiative. He shot toward the Dragon Emperor at a speed so fast that he only had enough time to raise his own saber in defense. The situation reminded him of when he fought Xi Tianyi as Longwei in the Nascent Soul Realm. A thunderous crack echoed in the empty void as Xi Tianyi slashed his sword against the flat of his saber. The saber cried as the enormous force behind Xi Tianyi¡¯s blade bent it beyond its limit. The Dragon Emperor could feel the very atoms split apart as Xi Tianyi used more and more force. ¡®It¡¯s over,¡¯ the Dragon Emperor thought. He moved to retreat, and just in time, as his saber snapped in half and his opponent¡¯s sword tip grazed against his golden scales, leaving sparks in their wake and an ugly scar on his body. Another saber appeared in the Dragon Emperor¡¯s hand. The saber intent condensed on the edge once more and he attacked Xi Tianyi. Condensing saber intent at the blade¡¯s edge did dramatically increase its attack power, but it did nothing for its durability. Like the Dragon Emperor, Xi Tianyi raised his sword as a shield. The Dragon Emperor¡¯s eyes shone with a malicious glint. ¡°Die!¡± He slashed his saber at the black sword. The moment his saber made contact, the saber intent condensed on the edge exploded. It released a slash that continued forth and cut into Xi Tianyi, leaving a deep wound on his body, causing blood to explode forth without end. Or, at least, that was what the Dragon Emperor expected. The moment the saber intent exploded forth from the blade, Xi Tianyi¡¯s black blade released an unstoppable suction force that devoured the saber intent. Not just that, but spacetime around the blade bent, even his saber deformed and wrapped around the black sword like a vine before being sucked in. Like before, the Dragon Emperor intended to abandon his weapon and retreat, but this time, Xi Tianyi didn¡¯t want to let him go. His free hand reached out and grabbed the Dragon Emperor¡¯s arm. He flicked the wrist of the hand holding his sword and the sword tip pierced toward the Dragon Emperor¡¯s glabella. Never before had the Dragon Emperor felt the brush of death as close as he had now. Acting on instinct, a golden glow encased him and a fishlike scale appeared on his forehead, where Xi Tianyi¡¯s sword aimed at. Then, the sword tip struck the golden scale. Chapter 454: Divine Dragon Scale The moment the black sword¡¯s tip struck the golden scale, everything froze. It was as if space and time jammed to a stop. Xi Tianyi, who had always been calm and composed, finally showed a shocked expression. In the next moment, the purple-robed cultivator was flung back by a rebound. His attack, which would have been fatal had he succeeded, had been reflected back onto him several folds. Xi Tianyi flew back several hundreds of meters. His robes became shredded patches and lacerations appeared all over his body. The lacerations manifested as black lines and the Dragon Emperor did not let go of this chance. Although he reversed the situation in one moment, the Dragon Emperor was not happy at all. He roared and charged forward. There was an unmistakable anger in his roar. After exposing the scale, he no longer had any choice but to silence Xi Tianyi. Two faces grew on the side of his head and two more pairs of arms grew out of his shoulders. His hands grasped a total of six sabers that appeared. He descended upon Xi Tianyi, all six of his sabers¡¯ edges coated in condensed saber intent. ¡°Die!¡± The edge of the Dragon Emperor¡¯s blade sliced the black lines and cut through with no resistance. Xi Tianyi¡¯s body turned into chunks of meat, but no blood or organs fell out. Instead, they turned into black mist and merged with the surrounding space. The Dragon Emperor frowned. All traces of Xi Tianyi disappeared. His sword had disappeared and not even a patch of his violet robe remains. ¡®Did he escape?¡¯ Had it been before the Dragon Emperor revealed the golden scale, he would have accepted driving Xi Tianyi to flee. But now, if Xi Tianyi revealed his possession of the dragon scale, greed would force him to become a bereaved dog, forever hiding in the dark. Even if he became an immortal sovereign, people would still hunt him down. And he couldn¡¯t be sure if the Buddhists would allow him to keep it. No, they definitely wouldn¡¯t. The S¨±rya? Buddha would force him to hand it over. If he refused, that buddha would just steal it from him. Such was the attractiveness of the golden scale. The Dragon Emperor looked around, searching for any signs of Xi Tianyi. He let out a snort when he saw none. His only choice was to hide away like a rat now. ¡°Just wait. The day I become a divinity, I¡¯ll make you pay for your actions.¡± ¡°If I bled, that would¡¯ve looked like something out of a horror film,¡± a voice suddenly said behind the Dragon Emperor. The Dragon Emperor¡¯s eyes widened and turned around. There, he saw an unharmed Xi Tianyi. Not even a single strand of his hair was out of place. Furthermore, the Dragon Emperor couldn¡¯t sense Xi Tianyi¡¯s presence at all. Most immortals used their eyes or immortal sense to keep track of their opponents, but the Dragon Emperor discovered that Xi Tianyi seemed to use a concealment technique that prevented immortal sense from locking on. However, the Dragon Emperor could also sense his opponent¡¯s willpower. All intelligent life will have willpower, so even if Xi Tianyi hid from immortal senses, he couldn¡¯t conceal his willpower. But the Dragon Emperor couldn¡¯t sense Tianyi at all, aside from his sight and hearing. ¡°Still, I never expected you to carry a divine artifact with you. That was my oversight,¡± Xi Tianyi said, looking at the scale on the Dragon Emperor¡¯s forehead. ¡°No, it can¡¯t exactly be called a divine artifact, but part of a divinity¡¯s corpse.¡± The Dragon Emperor¡¯s expression showed no changes. He had already expected his arch nemesis to discover the nature of scale from the moment he exposed it. The scale came from a deceased divine dragon he discovered in the Broken Primordial World. After the many landmasses of the Broken Primordial World crashed and rained down like meteors, he had been injured and forced into a dangerous area. His newly created dragon clone had been too weak, and couldn¡¯t help out, while he himself was injured during the process. Although the situation was perilous, the Dragon Emperor survived. Because he survived, he encountered his greatest chance, turning misfortune into fortune. It was the scale of a fallen divine dragon. It took a lot of effort for him to grab it. Ignoring the environment warping effect of the scale, those too weak of will would be driven insane by it. Had the Dragon Emperor not have had his previous experience as a half-immortal sovereign, it would have been impossible to secure this heavenly opportunity. After obtaining it, the Dragon Emperor had done everything in his power to prevent anyone from discovering the dragon scale, and he became even more low key in the Buzhou Immortal Sect because of it. For some, a divinity¡¯s body part was much more useful than a divine artifact. Because, like immortal monarchs and above, a divinity¡¯s body is formed from their mastered law. As long as an immortal could absorb the body part, their cultivation would improve by leaps and bounds. Of course, there were drawbacks to this method. Those who directly absorb would become reliant on it. They would become shackled, and improvement would become difficult. Their only choice would be to search out for more of the divinity¡¯s body part and absorb it. The Dragon Emperor wasn¡¯t the type to become shackled to anything or anyone, even a deceased divinity. In order to safely absorb the divine essence within the body part without becoming reliant on it, the Dragon Emperor would have to be in the Origin Immortal Realm at the very least. Only essence qi could withstand the divine essence of a divinity. Still, that wasn¡¯t its only use. After being nourished for eons after the end of the primordial era, the dragon scale became a sort of pseudo artifact. Thanks to his Dragon Emperor Immortal Body, he could resonate with the scale. And because of that, his strength would dramatically increase for a limited amount of time. ¡°Hmpf, so what if I do?¡± the Dragon Emperor asked. A sneer appeared on his face. ¡°Don¡¯t think I don¡¯t know you are a mere illusion.¡± You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Xi Tianyi blinked, seemingly stunned by the Dragon Emperor¡¯s deduction. ¡°Did you really think you could hide the lack of willpower in this facade? If you¡¯re only here to talk, I¡¯ll be leaving.¡± The Dragon Emperor turned around to leave, but just as he started to move, Xi Tianyi appeared in front of him with a fist reared back. The Dragon Emperor sneered, not even bothering to slow down. He could not sense any willpower from the Tianyi in front of him. ¡°Parlor tri¡ªGUH?!¡± Against his expectations, Xi Tianyi¡¯s fist embedded itself into stomach. Of course, he was still empowered by the divine dragon scale, so he suffered minimal damage from the punch. It was more shocking than anything. ¡°You¡¯re not an illusion?¡± the Dragon Emperor asked, eyes boring into Xi Tianyi¡¯s own. Xi Tianyi waved his hand. ¡°Can¡¯t you tell?¡± The Dragon Emperor snorted. ¡°So what if you found a way to hide yourself even more? That just proves how much of a coward you are. Did you really think you had a chance to win once I exposed my trump card? You should have run away when you had the chance.¡± The surrounding spacetime converged in Xi Tianyi¡¯s hand, forming a black sword. That was his answer. ¡°Since you chose death, don¡¯t blame me.¡± ¡°Stop pretending that you don¡¯t want to kill me,¡± Xi Tianyi shot back. The Dragon Emperor smiled. ¡°Yeah, if I kill you, no one will know. You served yourself on a silver platter. The only trouble I¡¯ll have is if that bitch finds out and chases after me. But, I¡¯m a nice guy. You won¡¯t be lonely in death. I¡¯ll send your mother to accompany you.¡± Xi Tianyi said nothing. His soaring killing intent was more than enough for a statement. Without warning, he shot toward the Dragon Emperor, spacetime bent around him, and his figure blurred. With that, the Dragon Emperor shot forward. Energy rolled off his body, forming a pressure an immortal could never replicate. His speed reached the limit of what an immortal could accomplish, yet he and Xi Tianyi met in the middle. He swung all six of his sabers at Xi Tianyi. They deflected Xi Tianyi¡¯s sword and struck his body, but he felt no resistance. They sliced through Xi Tianyi¡¯s body as if it was a mirage. ¡°What?¡± At this time, Xi Tianyi flicked his wrist. The black sword swung toward him, causing the Dragon Emperor to snort. He sent out a slash, but to his shock once more, the black blade phased through his golden saber and continued slicing toward him. The Dragon Emperor retreated, allowing the blade to harmlessly slash past him without even grazing his scale armor. Yet, his body flinched back as if something had actually struck him. There was a faint white line on his body, yet he was sure that Xi Tianyi hadn¡¯t actually touched him. He roared and a sonic explosion sprung forth. The space around him trembled, but Xi Tianyi remained untouched. The Dragon Emperor attacked with all six sabers, not letting Xi Tianyi get another chance as he charged over. The six sabers and sword did not clash as the previous phenomenon repeated itself. ¡°Xi Tianyi, you coward! Outside, they all praise you for your limitless qi and your devastating technique. Only now did I know that your true speciality lies in concealment. Are you that afraid?!¡± Xi Tianyi stopped and allowed the six golden sabers to phase through him. He didn¡¯t say anything, and his gaze was glacial. The next thing the Dragon Emperor knew, Xi Tianyi had disappeared. The Dragon Emperor inserted his immortal sense into the dragon scale on his forehead, but all he sensed was danger everywhere around him. He could not pinpoint Xi Tianyi¡¯s exact location. With no means of detecting his foe, he would become a sitting duck. His body twitched as it shot down by itself. Just a moment before, the Dragon Emperor felt something slash his back. ¡®Behind?¡¯ He unleashed a crescent-shaped slash of saber intent at where he once floated. However, the golden crescent just passed through the space as if nothing was there. He tried again, but in mid attack, something struck him again. And again, and again, and again. An endless amount of sword slashes struck his body from everywhere. Unless Xi Tianyi had a thousand arms, it should have been impossible. Everywhere, white marks covered his scales, changing the golden hue to a lighter shade. ¡°Damn it all!¡± the Dragon Emperor roared. Golden essence qi surrounded him like a sphere, he shot away. Although he was unwilling, he could only escape and wait to get revenge the next time he faced Xi Tianyi. Although he didn¡¯t know how Xi Tianyi was able to attack him from all angles, he had confidence that Xi Tianyi could not catch up with him in terms of speed. However, the Dragon Emperor had no feeling but shame. With the boost of the divine dragon scale, he should have possessed the raw power of a pseudo-divinity, but for all his power, he couldn¡¯t do a thing to Xi Tianyi. It was a feeling worse than punching cotton. The Dragon Emperor frowned as he felt the surrounding space condensed. It became harder to fly, and he felt the energy of the five elements appear out of nowhere and gather with him at the center. He roared, and the golden aura covering him flickered. With a burst of pure speed, he flew tens of kilometers away. And not a moment too soon as a planet materialized out of nowhere in the space he occupied. ¡°What?¡± the Dragon Emperor couldn¡¯t comprehend what happened. He couldn¡¯t see the mystery behind the appearance of the planet. Teleportation could not explain it. It was as if it had been spontaneously created. His figure flickered once more as he felt the surrounding space condensed again. Another planet appeared in the space he once occupied. The Dragon Emperor felt like he was going crazy. ¡®Just what is going on? Those planets don¡¯t seem fake, and I can even feel their gravitational pull. How can all this be real? Unless Xi Tianyi is actually a master illusionist? It would explain how I couldn¡¯t sense him. If I was in an illusion, everything would be easily explained, but that¡¯s impossible. Not even the divine dragon scale could affect me thanks to my willpower. It¡¯s impossible for Xi Tianyi to be an illusionist at the divine level.¡¯ As his mind spun madly to figure out the reason behind all the strange phenomenons, his body continued to dodge. It only stopped when the ninth and largest planet formed. However, the Dragon Emperor only felt a greater sense of danger. ¡°Huh? It¡¯s getting hotter,¡± the Dragon Emperor muttered. In the Vast Void, there was nothing to retain the solar star¡¯s heat, so everything was chilling. Yet, he could feel the temperature rising. The heat soared past the peak of spring and even summer, reaching an unbearable temperature that would even drain immortals dry of their will. The Dragon Emperor saw the source of the heat. The nine planets that had formed were turning red from their core. ¡®They¡¯re going to explode!¡¯ Without a second thought, the Dragon Emperor turned and fled. Alas, another change occurred. The eight smaller planets started orbiting the largest planet, and a grand formation that reached millions of kilometers appeared. Even with the Dragon Emperor¡¯s pseudo-divinity power, his speed was lowered. ¡°Just what is happening? It¡¯s like the heavens are trying to kill me? Is it a divinity? Don¡¯t tell me the Immortal Court also has a divinity!¡± Those were the last words he uttered before the nine planets turned stars exploded, engulfing the surrounding millions of kilometers in a supernova. Chapter 455: Legends End In the highest room of the palace in the center of Beginner City, a woman lay on a luxurious sofa. Her name was Ziye. Her features had returned to the prime of her life. The women of her generation hated her, and the women of her junior generation envied her. The source of all this was her cultivation base. As a nascent soul grandmaster, Ziye possessed a maximum lifespan of three thousand and six hundred years. Never had the widow mother thought she would reach such heights. In the Demon Cage Realm, she was once the daughter of one of humanity¡¯s strongest cultivators, Azure Leaf City Lord. However, Azure Leaf City fell along with her father, and she fell from one of the proud daughters of heavens to an ordinary cultivator without backing. In humanity¡¯s new stronghold, Fan City, Ziye fell in love with Lushu, a loose cultivator. He was a rising star, said to exceed her father in cultivation base and strength, but he died out of nowhere one day. All he left behind was a child for her, Jinshu. Jinshu was an exceptional child. He was upstanding since young and never complained, understanding her plight. To her relief and worry, Jinshu inherited his father¡¯s cultivation talent. Ziye worried that he would one day die without warning, just like her departed husband. Thankfully, her worry did not come true. When Jinshu grew up, a major change occurred in the Demon Cage Realm. The Vast Heaven God reappeared in the Demon Cage Realm and whisked the humans away to a paradisiacal land with no monsters or demons. Not only that, but the Vast Heaven God also accepted her son as a disciple. Thanks to his status as the Vast Heaven God¡¯s disciple and own growing strength, Jinshu was able to forcibly boost her cultivation to the Nascent Sou Realm through sheer resources. Ziye didn¡¯t harbor any hopes of entering the Immortal Realm. She knew her own talent, and surpassing her father¡¯s strength was only a possibility. Jinshu had wanted to raise her cultivation to the Unity Realm, but Ziye rejected it. Entering the Unity Realm would not increase her lifespan, so she saw no point. She was already satisfied with her current lifespan. Many of her old acquaintances had also increased their longevity thanks to the superior cultivation environment on Sixth Heaven, where they lived. And it wasn¡¯t like they only relied on absorbing the abundant spiritual qi to cultivate. Many of those who wanted to seek the immortal path also had jobs. Years after the great migration, the Vast Heaven God created a game known as [Cultivation Online]. The [Players] were cultivators outside the Nine Heavens, the world the Sixth Heaven resided in. The people hired by the Vast Heaven God were divided into three groups: [NPCs], [Moderators], and [Admins]. NPCs, or Non-Playable Characters, had the lowest wage. They had to act out certain roles in Cultivation Online, such as a shopkeeper or blacksmith. Moderators and admins were vastly different. They were to solve any issue that cropped up in Cultivation Online, such as a player abusing some feature or loophole. They also maintained the fairness of the hunting grounds and bosses, preventing any one [Guild] from monopolizing it for too long. Well, at least to a certain point. The players were all geniuses far beyond the natives of the Demon Cage Realm, and any action taken by the former would be easily rebuffed. In order to carry out their duties, the admins and moderators were given special privileges. It was intoxicating. Moderators possessed the power of a peak Transcending Mortality Saint, while admins had the power of immortals. Thanks to her connection with Jinshu, Ziye was chosen as an admin. Upon first using her privileges, Ziye entered an illusion that she was all powerful. She used her newfound powers to kill the players that caused trouble and refused to comply with the rules. With her might established, none of the players dare to offend her on the surface. Ziye enjoyed the feeling. Had it not been for Jinshu, who visited her using his status as a player, she might not have sobered up from her illusion. If she allowed the power to hinder her judgment and corrupt her, she would lose her position as an admin. Though the players would not be able to kill her, there are other methods of gaining revenge. Power that ultimately belonged to external sources could not be relied upon. And even if she truly had the power of an immortal, Ziye didn¡¯t think she would be able to contend with the Vast Heaven God. So, after killing the players to establish her might, she rarely killed again. After that, her life settled down. Aside from dealing from some player-caused trouble, she lived an idyllic life. The players and even most descendants of those that migrated from the Demon Cage Realm no longer knew her as Ziye, but the Beginner City Lord. Life became dull, and the only spice in life would be when Jinshu would visit her. He had been doing that a lot lately. Although Jinshu didn¡¯t say why, Ziye guessed the reason. She didn¡¯t know her exact lifespan, but she estimated it would not be longer than a hundred years. Suddenly, Ziye opened her eyes. She stood up and looked outside the windows. The white clouds resembled feathers as they drifted in the blue sky. It was a fair weather day, but strangely, she saw two suns. One was the normal sun she saw every day on Sixth Heaven, but the other was smaller, yet its light seemed even more intense. ¡°What is going on?¡± Ziye muttered.
Tianyi observed as the Stellar Silence reached its peak and transformed into a nova. Inside the Nine Heaven Universe, the amount of power he could call upon was hundreds of times more than in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. The best display was when he used Planetary Purgatory. When the spell finished, it directly created a planet, and when he cast Stellar Silence, it created a nova that exceeded the power of Constellation Cessation outside the Nine Heavens Universe. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. When the Dragon Emperor called Tianyi an illusion after he brought out the divine dragon scale, it wasn¡¯t the truth, but it couldn¡¯t be said to be a lie, either. The first Tianyi that fought the Dragon Emperor was one of his conduits. If Tianyi¡¯s conduits were divided into three tiers: first, second, and third, with first being the strongest and third being the weakest, then the conduit that fought the Dragon Emperor would be considered a second-tier conduit. After the Dragon Emperor brought out the divine dragon scale, Tianyi no longer planned to use a conduit. He took direct action as the universe itself. The second self that appeareed was nothing more than a fabrication he created in order to continue the sword and saber duel with the Dragon Emperor, but since the latter used the brute strength of a pseudo divinity to suppress him, Tianyi gave up. Speaking of swordsmanship, he originally wanted to test how much he gained from that short duel with Bao Ling. The results terrified him and made him more aware of Bao Ling¡¯s abnormality. He actually tied with the Dragon Emperor, who was famed for three attributes. Number one, his self-created cultivation method, the Dragon Emperor Fist. With it, he gained a body of a dragon and even peak martial immortals would be wary of clashing head on against him. Second, his saber skills. In fact, when the Dragon Emperor had not yet achieved the body of a true dragon, it was his saber skills that made him enough. Even before becoming a true immortal, he achieved saber intent as a Transcending Mortality Saint. Third, his domineering character, which eventually led to his death. Honestly, it surprised Tianyi. In the first clash, Tianyi considered the two of them equal. He wasn¡¯t like Bao Ling, who could create a new swordplay on the spot to deal with a specific foe, but that didn¡¯t mean his swordsmanship couldn¡¯t improve mid battle. After returning from the Jade and Numinous Conference, Tianyi did digest the gains from battling Bao Ling, but without actual combat, there were still some unforeseen flaws in his swordsmanship. The fight with the Dragon Emperor just so happened to iron out these flaws. If he was honest, Tianyi would have liked to fight longer, but who told the Dragon Emperor to bring out a cheat item? He just wanted to scare the Dragon Emperor a bit. He wasn¡¯t going to really pierce his brain with that thrust. A sparring opponent like him was hard to come by, especially since he was trapped in the Nine Heavens Universe. The nova that appeared would still take a few days before burning out. That is, if Tianyi stopped supplying energy to it. Not a second later, a burning figure flew out of the lava. The figure shone like radiant gold, but his body was a mess. The handsome gold scales that covered his entire body had melted and melded together. Hot steam wafted from his body, even in the glacial void. Even the eyes had gone white from blindness. The only part intact was the golden scale in the middle of the Dragon Emperor¡¯s forehead. The Dragon Emperor shot into the distance as fast as possible. Tianyi could let the Dragon Emperor flee if he wanted to, and the Dragon Emperor would be like Sun Wukong, trapped within the Tathagata Buddha¡¯s palm. But he wouldn¡¯t. After all, he and the Dragon Emperor shared quite the history together. It wouldn¡¯t be wrong to say that half of Tianyi¡¯s enemies were caused by the Dragon Emperor. In addition, Tianyi wanted the divine dragon scale on the Dragon Emperor¡¯s head. Normally, Tianyi disdained to steal treasure from other people, even if he wanted them. However, he was going to kill the Dragon Emperor, so this can be considered his reward, right? He took action. He didn¡¯t plan to use Constellation Cessation. Using Stellar Silence already resulted in a phenomenon that could be seen from the Nine Heavens System, and using an even stronger technique would cause it to remain for years. Of course, he could forcibly end it, but that would just be wasting energy. Better to just let it dissipate naturally. The Dragon Emperor pushed his speed to the maximum, so much so that it left a long trail of golden light. Still, he could not avoid the Planetary Purgatory Tianyi unleashed. Only this time, Tianyi didn¡¯t use them as fuel for Stellar Silence and detonate them. However, the visual impact was arguably worse, as the Dragon Emperor had to dodge planets literally shooting at him. ¡°Who are you!? You, an exalted god, don¡¯t even dare to show yourself in front of me? Can you only hide and only use sneak attacks? Coward! No wonder it took the Buzhuo Immortal Court so long to unify the Huang Realm. It¡¯s because of your cowardice! Even with absolute superiority, you hide behind a bastard¡¯s facade!¡± In the Vast Void of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, Tianyi blinked as he heard the Dragon Emperor¡¯s rant. ¡®This guy, just what scenario did he imagine?¡¯ Still, Tianyi didn¡¯t plan on showing himself. It was more fun to see the enraged expression on that uppity emperor¡¯s face. Still, he upped his attacks. He started detonating the planets, but not to the same extent as the first one. They still shone brightly in the sky, but only for a brief moment. The Dragon Emperor escaped from the blast radius of another Stellar Silence. His life force flickered weakly, and it was clear that if this continued, he would fall. He roared in anger and unwillingness. ¡°Immortal Court, this is not over between you and I!¡± Tianyi wondered what the Dragon Emperor planned to do, self-detonate and create more Dragon Emperor clones? Unfortunately, that was impossible in the Nine Heavens Universe. He soon realized what the Dragon Emperor planned moments later. His aura and the aura of the divine dragon scale began to synchronize. The Dragon Emperor planned to merge with the divine dragon¡¯s scale and raise his strength to the Origin Immortal Realm, or possibly to the level of a pseudo divinity. Although Tianyi had the confidence to kill a pseudo divinity in the Nine Heavens Realm, he wanted the divine dragon scale, so he would never allow the Dragon Emperor to succeed. Tianyi used his ultimate technique, Nebulous Negation. At once, immortal qi of destruction leaked from the Dragon Emperor¡¯s body. The divine dragon scale didn¡¯t lose any essence because Tianyi hadn¡¯t understood it yet. He could force it, but that would destroy the point. Anyway, without the Dragon Emperor¡¯s immortal qi of destruction, the merging process slowed, but he didn¡¯t stop there. Blood red mist also leaked from the Dragon Emperor¡¯s body. Compared to the immortal qi, the dragon bloodline was the true bridge that linked the divine dragon scale. The Dragon Emperor struggled, of course, but under the absolute control Tianyi had over the Nine Heavens Universe, he was like an ant attempting to stop a raging river. ¡°No, no,¡± the Dragon Emperor whispered weakly. His body lay prone in the void. The golden scales had receded, leaving behind a mangled body that would soon become a corpse. Not only had the skin melted, but the muscles also turned to liquid, revealing golden bones. Slowly, no sound left the Dragon Emperor¡¯s lips. He had turned into a corpse with the only life force emanating from him was because of the divine dragon scale. A sickening plop and stretched skin later, the divine dragon scale flew off of the corpse¡¯s forehead and disappeared into space. Tianyi sighed. He didn¡¯t feel pity about the Dragon Emperor¡¯s death at his hand, but there would always be a complicated feeling whenever he witnessed the passing of a legend. The same feeling occurred when he wiped the Eight Pillar Sect off the face of the Earth Continent. ¡°Huh?¡± Chapter 456: Doubts Tianyi focused his attention on the corpse. Although it still radiated the aura of divine essence, there were no life or soul fluctuations emanating from it. By all accounts, it was ruined. Even if Tianyi broke it down into atoms, there would be no point. That was how destroyed and lifeless it was. Even in the void, with no external interference, it would shatter and dissolve into sand soon enough. Logically, Tianyi should have no worries, but his intuition told him that he missed something. But no matter how Tianyi scanned the corpse, he couldn¡¯t detect anything out of the norm. Even if there was something wrong, shouldn¡¯t it have appeared by now? The entire Nine Heavens Universe was his body, and no one should be able to sense him. They would not be able to tell whether or not he was paying attention to them. Just to be safe, the spacetime around the corpse began to fluctuate. An aura of destruction descended and started to decompose the corpse into pure energy. Tianyi focused all his attention on said corpse, intent on not letting any details escape his eyes. Although the corpse seemed incredibly brittle, the divine dragon scale had come into contact with it, after all. It became stronger, yet simultaneously brittle, akin to a diamond. Diamonds were the hardest object on the Mohs Hardness Scale on Earth. It didn¡¯t mean diamonds were indestructible. As long as sufficient pressure was applied at the appropriate location, even a diamond would split in half. With Tianyi¡¯s observation abilities in the Nine Heavens Universe, it was easy to find many points on the corpse. As for the energy needed? That was even more simple. The only troublesome thing was the time needed. The Dragon Emperor¡¯s corpse split into six parts: the head, torso, two arms, and two legs. From there, Tianyi simply needed more time to grind the parts into energy. The arms were the first to disintegrate completely, followed by the legs and then the torso. It was the head that took the longest, despite being the smallest part. It was both unexpected and expected. Since the divine dragon scale had been integrated on the forehead, it wouldn¡¯t be much of a surprise if it received the most alterations. Still, it gave birth to suspicion in Tianyi. He quickened the decomposition of the corpse''s head. When the corpse¡¯s head dwindled till only half of it was left, it started to twitch. Two glowing orbs appeared in the empty sockets, and a golden light encased it and it shot away like a comet. From out of nowhere, a voice echoed. ¡°I knew it.¡± The voice contained no hint of emotion, but the disembodied head¡¯s two eyes flickered upon hearing it. He had already flown over a hundred thousand kilometers, yet the voice seemed to whisper into his ears. ¡°Damn it, how could he know?¡± The Dragon Emperor had hidden a fragment of his soul in the head, where the divine dragon scale had affected the most. The reason Tianyi couldn¡¯t sense anything aside from the Dragon Emperor¡¯s concealment technique was because of how fragile and weak the fragment of his soul had become. If it was any stronger, the remaining divine essence in the corpse could not hide the tell tale signs. It was nothing more than a last ditch attempt at survival. Although the divine essence hid him, it also injured the soul fragment. Even if he successfully escaped Tianyi¡¯s pursuit¡ªminuscule as that chance was¡ªthe fragment of his soul would not remain for long. His only hope of survival was to parasitize a fetus, one that had not yet formed a soul. Yes, he had become so weak that even an unborn infant could destroy it. Only through the nurturing process of birth would his soul have a chance to grow and become complete once more. Even if that did happen, the Dragon Emperor would no longer be the Dragon Emperor, but a completely new individual. His memories would become fragmented. At most, the new existence would inherit his emotions and enmity. The Dragon Emperor would become even less like a Dragon Emperor than his so-called clones. Still, the Dragon Emperor did not give up. Even if his existence changed, he swore to return everything he experienced back to Tianyi or whoever plotted against him tenfold. No, tenfold wasn¡¯t enough. He would pay them back a thousandfold. During the Dragon Emperor¡¯s rise and fall and rise again, he experienced many setbacks and even life-threatening situations. Each time, he would survive by the skin of his teeth. In his early years, it was by luck, but as he grew stronger, he survived thanks to his own ingenuity and power. Alas, his ingenuity and power were helpless in front of Tianyi. The moment he entered the Nine Heavens Universe, all his luck disappeared, so how could he survive? Spacetime froze around the fleeing head. Even the golden light trailing behind like a comet froze. The remnant Dragon Emperor became like an insect trapped in amber. Only, it was worse. The insect already died, while he could still think. His fragmented soul could feel his container slowly disintegrate. Even the divine essence could not resist the erosion. The Dragon Emperor wanted to scream, to shout, and scold Tianyi. He had no thoughts of pleading, because he knew that Tianyi would never let him go. Not to mention that even on the brink of death, he had his pride as a peerless expert. Even if Tianyi surpassed him, he would not bend his knee. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. And so, under the infinite might of the universe, the Dragon Emperor¡¯s head disintegrated into pure energy. The divine dissipated and his remnant soul collapsed into nothingness, never to be reborn. In the Vast Void, Tianyi¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change. He scanned and double scanned the area where the Dragon Emperor once appeared in his inner universe, making sure there were no backups he planted ahead of time. The Dragon Emperor¡¯s seemingly infinite ability to survive had deeply engraved itself into Tianyi¡¯s mind. Rather than a dragon, he was closer to a cockroach. Even now, he couldn¡¯t be sure if the Dragon Emperor left a backup plan in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. It would be better if he had none or left some backups in the Nine Heavens Universe. Still, the second possibility was only marginally better. Although Tianyi could know everything inside the Nine Heavens Universe, he had to focus on it. If the Dragon Emperor revived, as long as he didn¡¯t attract Tianyi¡¯s attention, he could continue to hide forever. Not that Tianyi would be worried. It was destined that he wouldn¡¯t be able to make any waves once trapped in the Nine Heavens Universe. The only difference was that Tianyi would feel uncomfortable. It would be akin to a parasite living inside his body. Tianyi sighed when he could find nothing. He ordered his Heavenly Dao clone to pay attention and gazed at the Tieniu Realm. Just in case, he would scan the entire realm for any possible backup plans left by the Dragon Emperor. Because of his actions, he discovered that the Dragon Emperor had a connection with the Buddhist Pure Lands. Of course, it could be just that the Dragon Emperor was borrowing the banner of Buddhism and deceiving the yokels of the Tieniu Realm. However, Tianyi didn¡¯t believe the Dragon Emperor would act this way, especially with his pride. Had Tianyi not had Donghai Longzi infiltrate the Divine Beast Pseudo System, he would have thought the Demon Clan and the Buddhists would have teamed up. Still, Tianyi immediately reported the news to the Immortal Court after making sure the Dragon Emperor hadn¡¯t left anything. Upon returning to the Primordial Realm, Tianyi appeared in the Jade Heaven Palace. Tianyi had actually visited Jade Heaven Palace before he became an immortal. It was the divine palace inside Broken Heaven Valley, the forbidden grounds of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Currently, a whole range of immortals were inside. His mother was present, so were Xia Meng and Grand Elder Zhang. Not only them, but the immortal ministers were also present, and Minister Everpast, an immortal sovereign, headed the meeting. ¡°What? Several months ago, all the Dragon Emperor clones suddenly died?¡± Tianyi asked with wide eyes. If he compared the time all the Dragon Emperor clones died, it would match perfectly with the time he killed the Dragon Emperor. Still, a part of him couldn¡¯t help but think that it was part of the Dragon Emperor¡¯s scheme to get him to lower his guard and no longer pay attention to the matter. Once bitten, twice shy. For fear of overlooking something, Tianyi voiced his concerns. ¡°Grand Elder Nine Heavens, aren¡¯t you worried too much?¡± Xia Meng asked. Tianyi had already explained how the Dragon Emperor used Lovespot¡¯s body to sneak into the Immortal Court. Upon learning this, Xia Meng could only lament, already expecting the dejection on Redseal¡¯s face. ¡°No matter how many techniques or secrets the Dragon Emperor has, he should definitely be dead this time,¡± Grand Elder Zhang added. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Mengfei said. She stared straight at Tianyi. ¡°If he comes, I¡¯ll just kill him.¡± ¡°Grand Elder Nine Heavens, you shouldn¡¯t worry about him too much. The reason why the Dragon Emperor was such a threat back then was not only because of his personality and ability to cause trouble, but because we couldn¡¯t reveal too much of our strength. At this current time, even ten Dragon Emperors can¡¯t change anything,¡± Minister Everpast said. ¡°I¡¯m more worried about his connection to the Buddhists.¡± At this, none of the immortals present showed an easy expression. Finally, Minister Primewood opened his mouth. ¡°Should we contact them and test them?¡± Minster Vastlight shook his head. ¡°No. Doing so now might arouse their suspicion. If what Grand Elder Nine Heavens said was correct, that Dragon Emperor should have joined Buddhism. He might have contacted them already and learned that the Demon Clan are planning something. With those guys¡¯ personalities, who knows they might help? Don¡¯t forget, Buddhism doesn¡¯t distinguish between humans or demons.¡± ¡°But we can¡¯t stand by and do nothing?¡± another minister said. While these ministers talked, Tianyi, Mengfei, Zhang Cuiying, and Xia Meng stayed silent. Compared to these ministers, all of them were juniors. Even if Mengfei¡¯s strength exceeded all of them but Minister Everpast, she had neither the experience nor the will to manage a force. Finally, it was Minister Everpast who ended the discussion. ¡°With Grand Elder Nine Heaven¡¯s unique characteristic, it¡¯s safe to say that neither the Buddhists nor the Demon Clan knows of what he did. In that case, we do nothing and act as if we don¡¯t know about the Demon Clan¡¯s actions. Only when we reveal nothing can we catch the Demon Clan and Buddhists off guard.¡± Tianyi felt his lips twitch. According to what Minister Everpast said, if the Buddhists detected anything, would the fault fall on top of his head? That was a lot of pressure, okay? Still, he said nothing, and the meeting ended.
On one of the many abodes on Mount Meru in the Pure Lands Pseudo System, a boddhisatva in the Sotapanna Realm stood with his eyes wide and mouth agape. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, can you repeat that?¡± The boddhisatva across from him clapped his hands together and recited some sutras. ¡°Brother Zi, the Dragon Boddhisattva has fallen.¡± ¡°Impossible,¡± the Opener Boddhisattva said. Like the Dragon Emperor, he had come to the Pure Lands Pseudo System from the Primordial Realm. He was Zi Zun, one of the geniuses of the Immortal Court. However, over the years, his relationship with the Dragon Emperor had exceeded all ties he had with the Immortal Court, even his master was not an exception. Through the subtle manipulation of the Dragon Emperor, Zi Zun actually felt very negative about the Immortal Court. Even after the Dragon Emperor came clean about his true identity, Zi Zun only felt that it was the Immortal Court¡¯s fault, and not the Dragon Emperor. ¡°Do you know who did it?¡± Zi Zun asked. The boddhisattva shook his head. ¡°There are no clues.¡± ¡°It must be the Immortal Court!¡± Zi Zun said, his eyes exuding a terrifying and dangerous light. ¡°They must have discovered Brother Long¡¯s traces and killed him. Immortal Court, I will make you pay!¡± Although Zi Zun¡¯s logic had some problems, he came to the correct conclusion. Chapter 457: Reunion In one of the many lower-ranked realms, a man garbed in black robes with two horns growing out of his forehead smiled. He was Donghai Longzi, who had fled the scene with Demon Empress Bluefeather. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Did something happen?¡± Demon Empress Bluefeather asked. The realm the two stayed in was nothing more than a desolate, unranked realm. It didn¡¯t have an outpost or anything like that. She stopped here in order to test if someone had followed them. ¡°It can be considered a good thing,¡± Donghai Longzi said. ¡°I made a slight breakthrough in my comprehension.¡± Demon Empress Bluefeather blinked. After processing what he said, she sighed. Donghai Longzi was already at the peak of the Demon King Realm. If he made a breakthrough in his comprehension, wouldn¡¯t it mean that he was extremely close to the Demon Emperor Realm? Donghai Longzi¡¯s comprehension might not be as good as her since she was a veteran demon empress, but she would not think he would be much weaker than her. Demonic cultivation had emphasis on the power of the body, more so than martial cultivators. With Donghai Longzi¡¯s tyrannical fleshly body, he would be capable of equaling her. ¡°It seems that the Dragon Clan will add another demon emperor to their ranks. How envious,¡± Demon Empress Bluefeather said. In the entire Divine Beast Pseudo System, the Dragon Clan made up fifty percent of all the experts, double the amount of experts in the Qilin and Phoenix Clan individually. ¡°It¡¯s just a slight breakthrough,¡± Donghai Longzi said. ¡°I only have a slightly bigger chance. This last step is like an infinite gulf with no end in sight. I only happened to see the other side when fighting the Dragon Emperor. Unfortunately, I lost sight of it soon after. Who knows how long it will take me to regain that feeling?¡± Demon Empress Bluefeather chuckled. ¡°No worries. You are still young. Speaking of which, you don¡¯t have a mate yet, do you? I happen to know a few juniors that are outstanding in quality and appearance. Many dragon lords have pursued them, but they agreed to none of them. But I think they will agree if you court them.¡± The corner of Donghai Longzi¡¯s lips twitched. Although he was a dragon by species, he still had the aesthetics of a human. Even after gaining the ability to transform into a humanoid, many demons still preferred their origin form and many more have not even taken on a human form before. It was only those demons who needed to conceal themselves among humans that would deliberately take on a different form. ¡°I still think it¡¯s too soon,¡± Donghai Longzi said, turning his gaze away. ¡°I want to focus wholeheartedly on getting stronger first.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ll respect your wishes.¡± Although she said that, Demon Empress Bluefeather had already decided to send some of the promising and beautiful juniors to Donghai Longzi. She didn¡¯t believe that with a dragon¡¯s innate lustful nature, he wouldn¡¯t be moved. Donghai Longzi didn¡¯t know this, nor would he care if he knew the truth. It was true that he became more lustful after becoming a true dragon, but that was only comparatively. His true nature was that of a cultivation freak. His greatest wish was to surpass his main body in strength and realm. And it just so happened that his main body got something incredibly helpful to him. From Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s mouth, he knew that his current bloodline was already at the peak among true dragons, but what if he absorbed the divine dragon scale and used it to transform his body? Tianyi had no use for the divine dragon scale. He might study the divine law on the scale, but that¡¯s it. In the end, the scale will still fall into his possession. While waiting, a glimmer of light appeared in Donghai Longzi¡¯s eyes, full of anticipation for the future. The two of them stayed in the unranked realm for a few months. Only after making sure no one followed did the two of them leave. However, they didn¡¯t immediately arrive at the outpost, but moved to another unrelated lower-rank realm. The two repeated this action ten or more times to guarantee safety. Ten years later, the Demon Clan began their operation. By chance, news that Jiaohu, a promising junior of the Dragon Clan, appearing in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms Systems reached the ears of the Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect.
A white-robed immortal monarch and tens of true immortals appeared in the Vast Void above the middle-rank realm where Jiaohu had been reported to be last seen. The immortal was Ba Shifang. According to the report, Jiaohu was only in the True Demon Realm, but to guarantee his death, the Immortal Court dispatched him and ten true immortals. The true immortals weren¡¯t the main combatants, but Ba Shifang. The true immortals were there to sniff out Jiaohu and specialized in investigation. To make the act appear more convincing, the Immortal Court didn¡¯t inform Ba Shifang or the ten true immortals about the Demon Clan¡¯s true plans. Ba Shifang had an unhappy expression. He hadn¡¯t volunteered, but the Immortal Court decided it would be safer if he went due to his connection with Tianyi. That wasn''t the root cause of his unhappiness. No, it was the fact that he had to delay his wedding to Hu Landie. Hu Landie hadn¡¯t chosen to accompany him and stayed behind to refine the monarch artifact gifted by Meng Tingfeng. ¡°Go and find traces of that Jiaohu,¡± Ba Shifang said. Under his command, the ten true immortals obeyed and entered the middle-rank realm while he waited outside. Ba Shifang moved into a lotus position, but he didn¡¯t start cultivating. No, he took out a Xiyi Talisman and messaged Hu Landie. When she didn¡¯t reply, he started browsing the forums. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. [Top Ten Genius of the Modern Era] Ba Shifang rolled his eyes. After knowing Tianyi, he couldn¡¯t see anyone else as a genius anymore. Still, he opened the forum and read through it. He even watched videos of the so-called geniuses. Not all the recordings were done by bystanders. Some of the geniuses even recorded themselves and uploaded it onto the Xiyinet. Some of the geniuses who did this wanted to gain fame. As hot-blooded youngsters, they naturally wanted to become famous and compare themselves to their peers. Even the disciples of the Immortal Court did this. The only difference was that their information could only be accessed by fellow members of the Immortal Court. Because of this, they had their own rankings, separate from the public. As members of the Immortal Court, they each had their sense of superiority and disdained competing with the common cultivators. After the Buzhou Immortal Sect became the Immortal Court, they no longer held a disciple acceptance ceremony every decade. Instead, they focused more on quality. Every once in a while, idle immortals would venture the land. If they saw a talented youngster, they would accept them as a disciple. As such, all modern disciples of the Immortal Court were disciples of immortals. Because of this, rumors of immortals accepting disciples appeared all over the Trinity Continent and even the outer islands of the endless sea. The Xiyi Talisman only increased the effect of the rumor. As a result, more geniuses recorded themselves and uploaded onto the Xiyinet, hoping to catch an immortal¡¯s attention. Most of these geniuses had inferior backgrounds and wanted to catch the attention of an expert to change their fate. Some, who had good backgrounds but their circumstances weren¡¯t good, also did this. Of course, if they were stupid and exposed themselves to their enemy, which resulted in their death, they could only blame themselves. No amount of talent could cure stupidity. Ba Shifang clicked out of the forum post and continued to scroll. Then, his eyes caught sight of another ranking. [Top Ten Beauties of the Primordial Realm] He felt his interest be tickled, and he clicked on it. ¡°Huh?¡± Grand Elder Zhang and Sovereign Xi appearing there didn¡¯t surprise him much. Daoyi appearing didn¡¯t surprise him much since she often posted music videos of herself. But the addition of Hu Landie surprised him. Not only that, she was ranked ninth. Furthermore, there were pictures of each of them. Generally, many immortals used some techniques to conceal their appearance, especially women. But the forum post had their pictures. It might not be the original pictures and even recreated, but the accuracy meant that the poster had to have seen them before. ¡®Just which true immortal or monarch is so bored to make this post?¡¯ Ba Shifang thought. Only a member of the Immortal Court could have written this. ¡®It wouldn¡¯t be Tianyi, right?¡¯ He looked at the poster and saw an unfamiliar username. However, that didn¡¯t mean anything. With Tianyi¡¯s control of the Xiyinet, it was a piece of cake for him to create a false identity. As Ba Shifang went through the lists of possible people who could have written this, he noticed a large movement. Looking toward the source, he saw a group of immortals flying toward him. He instantly recognized them as members of the Numinous Sword Sect, especially their leader, Meng Tingfeng. Ba Shifang stored the Xiyi Talisman and greeted them. ¡°Daoist Meng.¡± ¡°Shifang,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. Once again igniting Ba Shifang¡¯s annoyance. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect the Immortal Court to send you. Have you gained anything yet?¡± ¡°I just got here not long ago. I already sent people to investigate, but I haven¡¯t gotten the results yet,¡± Ba Shifang said. Meng Tingfeng nodded. He turned toward the true immortals he led and ordered them to also investigate. Then he focused his attention on Ba Shifang once more. ¡°Is this part of the Immortal Court¡¯s plan? Is there anything I need to do in order to act according to the plan?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Ba Shifang replied, also using his immortal sense. ¡°You just have to pretend there is nothing wrong and play along with the Demon Clan¡¯s arrangements. If anything dangerous happens, help will arrive.¡± ¡°With you and my strength, we can even fight an immortal emperor. I doubt it will reach that point,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. ¡°We haven¡¯t met since last time. How is it, have you made any improvement?¡± Meng Tingfeng asked. Their earlier conversation had only taken a few seconds, so outsiders shouldn¡¯t have known what they discussed. ¡°How can that be? Only a short amount of time has passed,¡± Ba Shifang said. ¡°Is that right? Then you better be careful. I made quite a bit of improvement,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. His words contained a hint of pride and even boasting. ¡®I didn¡¯t know that you were this type of person,¡¯ Ba Shifang thought. In his view, Meng Tingfeng should be one of those low-key kind of guys, a dog with no bark but a hefty bite. How could he know that Meng Tingfeng was acting like a bragging father? The two continued to discuss. Ba Shifang wanted to go back to browsing the Xiyinet, but Meng Tingfeng seemed to have endless amounts of topics he wanted to talk about. ¡°Have you been eating well?¡± ¡°How is your treatment in the Immortal Court?¡± ¡°Are your peers respecting you?¡± ¡°Have you married yet?¡± ¡°How do you feel about Shu Qingya? I forgot you don¡¯t know her name. You should know her as Sword Monarch Shu, the lord of Clear Elegance Sword Peak.¡± Thankfully for Ba Shifang¡¯s sanity, the true immortals returned. They successfully captured Jiaohu¡¯s trail. And thus, silence appeared as the two groups chased after the promising junior of the Dragon Clan. They discovered him in an unranked realm. Jiaohu was a toad-like dragon with flowing whiskers ten times his own body length. Currently, he had his eyes closed and seemed to be comprehending the worldly laws. ¡°Do you want to take action, or should I do it?¡± Meng Tingfeng asked. ¡°How are your capturing skills?¡± Meng Tingfeng shook his head. ¡°Average.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll do it.¡± Without wasting another moment, Ba Shifang reached out. A large hand formed of the five elements formed and reached toward the toad dragon. Before Jiaohu could even react, he was already captured in Ba Shifang¡¯s palm. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s¡ª¡± Ba Shifang was about to say interrogate, but he stopped as he sensed a familiar presence. Meng Tingfeng also looked over because there was a large commotion. A patch of space the Vast Void ripped, and a majestic aura rolled out. And then, a man garbed in black robes with two horns growing out of his head appeared. Although he had a humanoid shape, his aura was that of a true dragon. He was Donghai Longzi. Ba Shifang stayed silent. He hadn¡¯t seen Donghai Longzi for over a thousand years, and he never expected their reunion would be like this. Unlike Ba Shifang¡¯s shock, Meng Tingfeng grabbed the sword slung over his shoulder. He could feel the danger emanating from Donghai Longzi¡¯s body. ¡°Who are you?¡± Chapter 458: Clash of Clones Donghai Longzi¡¯s and Ba Shifang¡¯s gaze only lasted for a split second and no one noticed. He turned his head toward the unknown monarch. ¡°Hmpf, you attacked one of the promising juniors of my clan and you still have the gall to ask?¡± The original plan of the Demon Clan was to release news of Jiaohu and attract a team of true immortals to investigate. From there, Jiaohu would escape, prompting more teams. Then, it would slowly increase until an immortal monarch would appear. At that time, Honglin would come forward and barely fend them off. Rinse and repeat until an immortal emperor arrives. Only at that point would Demon Empress Bluefeather appear. From the start of the plan, the Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect, who hadn¡¯t placed too much attention, should erupt and think there is a conspiracy, dispatching a large amount of immortals to capture or investigate. The Demon Clan would also leave some clues of a big plan as a distraction. With the Numinous Sword Sect and Immortal Court occupied, the Divine Beast Pseudo System would relocate into its new hiding spot. However, that plan was broken immediately by the appearance of two immortal monarchs. It should have been a gradual escalation. This way, the Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect would unconsciously use a larger amount of manpower, like boiling a frog in warm water. However, Ba Shifang and Meng Tingfeng¡¯s appearance broke that plan. Donghai Longzi searched through his memories and failed to recognize the unknown immortal monarch. Like Ba Shifang, he hadn¡¯t been told much of the Immortal Court¡¯s plan in order to make it more realistic. Currently, he was as blind as his former compatriot. Meng Tingfeng chuckled in response to Donghai Longzi¡¯s words. ¡°Attack? Blame himself. Who told him to venture into land that he does not belong in? Speaking of which, you are also trespassing. And trespassers deserve death!¡± Without another word, he charged forward at Donghai Longzi. His back seemed to tell the others and Ba Shifang not to interfere and that he could take care of this by himself. He pulled out his sword in one beautiful arc. It was the most beautiful sword swing Donghai Longzi had ever seen. Of course, this was only because Tianyi hadn¡¯t shared the memories of his battle with Bao Ling with him. Even if it was only a memory with no replication of the worldly laws imbued in Bao Ling¡¯s sword, Donghai Longzi would still sense the innate charm within the sword strikes. Donghai Longzi buried the immediate impulse to retaliate. In order to lower the humans¡¯ guard, he couldn¡¯t show too strong of an understanding of the worldly laws. So, he pretended to act surprised and brought his arms up in defense. Meng Tingfeng snorted. Demons could take on humanoid forms, but the transformation usually caused their physical abilities to weaken. In his eyes, this was Donghai Longzi taking him lightly. Still, he wouldn¡¯t look a gift horse in the mouth. So, he used one of his stronger quick draw techniques, hoping to heavily injure the true dragon in the first clash. However, when his sword connected with Donghai Longzi¡¯s arms, Meng Tingfeng¡¯s expression changed. It felt like he had slashed a hunk of steel and not a creature of flesh and blood. The rebound even caused a slight numbness in his hand. Donghai Longzi flew back and looked at his torn sleeves. On his exposed arms, there were two long cuts leaking blood. He glanced toward Jiaohu. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to escape?¡± ¡°Y¡ªyes! Thank you, Dragon Lord!¡± the toad-like dragon said after being awakened by Donghai Longzi¡¯s words. The space around him twisted and turned as he fled into the Vast Void. When Meng Tingfeng and Ba Shifang saw this, they couldn¡¯t help but narrow their eyes. Some demons receive innate abilities, but like individuals, there were differences in power among them. The strongest examples would be the Four Divine Beasts of the Demon Clan. Each true dragon also had a unique innate ability, but many of them were useless in fights or after a certain realm, but the innate ability of Jiaohu was not one such case. The two could discern that Jiaohu¡¯s abilities were related to space. Normally, they wouldn¡¯t care, but upon seeing that Jiaohu could affect the space of the Vast Void, their hearts couldn¡¯t help but move. Jiaohu was only a true demon, and his innate ability could affect space. What about when he reached the Demon Monarch Realm, or even the Demon Emperor Realm? Would his ability evolve into spatial teleportation? At that point, Jiaohu would become an incredibly annoying and undying existence. Without sufficient defense, he could even teleport inside realms. For example, he could teleport directly inside a realm occupied by humans and launch a surprise attack. Unless another immortal emperor was stationed there, Jiaohu would leave unscathed by the time reinforcement arrived. When such a being appeared, the humans would use almost all their power to kill such a being. It wasn¡¯t just directed at the Demon Clan but other forces, too. If the Numinous Sword Sect knew that Tianyi had the ability to teleport across the Vast Void, they would attack him with all their strength, hoping to kill him. They might even harbor more killing intent than the power they used against the Demon Clan. A demon able to teleport within the Vast Void only revealed their powerful innate ability, but if a human cultivator possessed such an ability, it likely meant that they were an immortal sovereign close to reaching the Divine Realm. How could the Numinous Sword Sect allow such a character to appear? By then, the hegemon of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System would be set in stone. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Ba Shifang stilled for a moment, thinking of whether or not to take action. Ultimately, he decided to move. If he didn¡¯t take action, it would seem too weird. So, his body moved, aiming to cut off Jiaohu¡¯s path. Jiaohu was fast, faster than the average immortal monarch, but neither he nor Meng Tingfeng were ordinary monarchs. The moment he took action, Ba Shifang saw a shadow appear in his vision. It wasn¡¯t a shadow, but the tail of Donghai Longzi¡¯s true form whipping toward him. He waved his hand, and the five elements formed a shield in front of him. The tail slammed into his shield, cracking it and sending Ba Shifang flying back tens of thousands of meters. Not only that, but he felt his arms become numb from the force. Ba Shifang¡¯s eyes widened in shock. He cultivated the Sixth Grade Nine-Five Scripture, meaning that he was also a martial immortal. However, his body was weaker than Donghai Longzi¡¯s. Ba Shifang frowned. Although he wasn¡¯t a cultivation maniac like Donghai Longzi, it didn¡¯t mean he was any less competitive. Both of them started out as clones, and Ba Shifang didn¡¯t think he had any less potential than Donghai Longzi who was formed out of a drop of true dragon blood. Once he returned, Ba Shifang vowed to cultivate his martial body to the peak. His martial body had stagnated, not for lack of effort, but for the sheer amount of energy required to nourish it. In order to raise it to the peak of the Seamless Immortal Realm, it required a vast amount of five elemental energies. Meng Tingfeng had been shocked when Donghai Longzi returned to his true form, but that didn¡¯t stop him from taking action. He attacked again upon seeing Ba Shifang knocked back. Killing intent rose in his eyes as one of the seven stars on his sword blazed with light. The sword released a starry light as it unleashed several sword lights toward the black dragon. They struck Donghai Longzi¡¯s scales, but aside from leaving faint gray marks, they didn¡¯t even shatter a single scale. His expression hardened upon seeing this. He raised his sword and focused on it. A starry light condensed onto the sword. His actions drew both Donghai Longzi and Ba Shifang¡¯s attention. Sword Intent! Donghai Longzi focused all his attention on Meng Tingfeng. Although Meng Tingfeng had used sword intent when attacking earlier, it wasn¡¯t as powerful as now. His claws struck toward Meng Tingfeng, harboring destruction behind the gleaming points. But before his claws could land, Meng Tingfeng struck down. Claw and sword collided, and the screech of rent metal echoed even in the Vast Void. The collision forced Donghai Longzi¡¯s arm back while sending Meng Tingfeng tens of meters away. Donghai Longzi looked down at his claws to see a faint line ruining its immaculate ivory color. With Meng Tingfeng¡¯s current power, he had the ability to crack his scales. He snorted and charged at Meng Tingfeng. Meng Tingfeng didn¡¯t show any weakness and charged forward. From that single clash, he judged that the black dragon in front of him possessed superior defense but mediocre attack. While charging, he shouted, ¡°I¡¯ll take care of this! Go and kill that dragon!¡± Ba Shifang spared the two a glance before doing just so. He didn¡¯t like Meng Tingfeng¡¯s commanding tone, but he still had to keep the act up. He wanted to fly past Donghai Longzi, but the latter would just whip his tail at him again. Although it would help Donghai Longzi, it would undoubtedly seem suspicious. So, he specifically flew outside the range of Donghai Longzi¡¯s body before chasing Jiaohu. The moment he did so, Donghai Longzi¡¯s size increased by ten times, directly blocking Ba Shifang¡¯s path. His claw reached out toward Ba Shifang, causing the latter to retreat. ¡°Do you think you can ignore me?¡± Meng Tingfeng roared as he increased the frequency of his attack. Like a slippery snake, Donghai Longzi moved back the lower half of his body, but not for long. He whipped it forward, using momentum to increase the damage. Unlike the first collision, Meng Tingfeng felt his entire arm turn numb, and it knocked him back thousands of meters. Ba Shifang saw the fighting intent in Donghai Longzi¡¯s eyes, and he couldn¡¯t help but guess that his former compatriot wanted to have an all-out duel with him. His lips twitched, but his hand movements did not. Five-colored lightning formed behind Ba Shifang and shot toward the gigantic body. Donghai Longzi twisted and turned, but because of his huge size, he couldn¡¯t evade all the lightning strikes. So, they struck true on those glittering black scales. The scales cracked and lost the tiny motes of light that made them glitter, but in comparison to Donghai Longzi¡¯s entire body, the damage was negligible. Ba Shifang couldn¡¯t help but let out a bitter smile as he did his best to dodge. He had an abundant amount of qi and had the most powerful martial body among his peers outside of Tianyi, so he didn¡¯t focus much on movement techniques. Who knew that he would suffer at the hands of Donghai Longzi? Even if he used all his strength to travel a hundred meters, Donghai Longzi simply needed to wriggle a bit. Although large bodies had many disadvantages, it also had many advantages. ¡°Take this!¡± Meng Tingfeng shouted. He slashed out at Donghai Longzi¡¯s scales, but it only left a slight gash and caused it to dim a little bit. He gritted his teeth. It would not be wrong to say that Donghai Longzi had ignored him, but he had no doubt that if he chased after the fleeing toad dragon, the former would immediately focus his attention on him. ¡°Since you look down on me, don¡¯t regret it,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. He stopped attacking and tightened the grip on the sword. In his pupils, countless starlights shone. A second star shimmered brilliantly on the Seven Star Sword in conjunction with the first one. Half a minute later, the third star lit up. It was obvious that Meng Tingfeng was building up energy to unleash a powerful move, but neither Donghai Longzi nor Ba Shifang noticed. It was akin to a sword sheathed in its scabbard, its sharp edge hidden from the world. But a sword was meant to cut, and it would always leave its scabbard and reveal its edge eventually. At the critical moment, Meng Tingfeng sheathed the sword, hiding the three shining stars. He flew toward Donghai Longzi until he was in the path of a claw striking toward Ba Shifang. Donghai Longzi noticed him, but he didn¡¯t take the latter seriously at all. His claw continued forward. Meng Tingfeng unsheathed his sword and slashed. ¡°Seven Star Sword - Three Star Slash.¡± Contrary to Donghai Longzi¡¯s expectation, Meng Tingfeng¡¯s sword cleaved through his scales and sliced to his skin. Under the spectator¡¯s eyes, blood spurted forth from Donghai Longzi¡¯s arm. Although the blood was red, it contained numerous tiny motes of lights, making it resemble a red night sky. The blood drowned Meng Tingfeng, and the moment it did so, his eyes widened in shock. Chapter 459: Cat and Mouse Meng Tingfeng bit back the scream threatening to escape his lips as soon as the shimmering red blood touched him. It hadn¡¯t been the first time he had caused his opponent¡¯s blood to gush out, but it was the first time that his opponent¡¯s blood caused so much damage. As soon as the red blood touched his skin, it began to corrode it. Not even an immortal¡¯s body could last long against it. Meng Tingfeng immediately formed a barrier of immortal qi by reflex, but it only stalled the corrosion for a split second. In fact, the more Meng Tingfeng tried to defend, the faster the red blood corroded his qi, dwindling his reservoir. And so Meng Tingfeng retreated before he could finish his slash. Once he reappeared, Meng Tingfeng expelled the red blood off his body with a burst of qi. However, it was already too late. Blotches of his skin had been eaten away, and his robes, artifacts at the immortal monarch level, had dimmed considerably. If that wasn¡¯t enough, Meng Tingfeng discovered that nearly two percent of his total qi reservoir had disappeared. Two percent might not sound like a lot, but it meant that if the red dragon blood covered him for fifty seconds, less than a minute, he would become powerless, like a fish on the chopping block. He stared at the gash trailing down the black dragon¡¯s arm. The blood had long stopped flowing, and it was even forming a scab at an accelerated rate. Among the many martial monarchs or demons Meng Tingfeng had seen, the black dragon definitely reached the forefront in terms of healing ability. What displeased Meng Tingfeng was the depth of the wound. Sure, the gash was long considering Meng Tingfeng¡¯s and the black dragon¡¯s size, but the depth didn¡¯t even reach the bone. When he slashed, it felt like cutting through quicksand. The deeper he cut, the slower and duller his blade became. Meng Tingfeng looked up from the wound on the arm and stared into the black dragon¡¯s eyes, which resembled twin suns. From those pair of fiery eyes, he no longer saw the same burning intent to fight. It cooled to a temperature similar to a brown dwarf star. His instincts, which honed in his long years of cultivation and life-and-death battle, told him that the black dragon hadn¡¯t fully gone all out. Meng Tingfeng had no proof, but he subconsciously believed this gut feeling. More often than not, a cultivator¡¯s feelings would not lead them astray, especially those who have traversed far on the immortal path. The black dragon¡¯s gaze flickered to Ba Shifang for a split moment and opened its gigantic maws. Instead of flames or some other powerful breath attack that Meng Tingfeng expected, the dragon expelled black gas. However, he dared not underestimate the black gas because it shimmered exactly like the red blood that caused him so much trouble. The black gas rapidly expanded as soon as it left the dragon¡¯s mouth and covered the surrounding area in a mist. Meng Tingfeng didn¡¯t stay idle and allow whatever the black dragon wanted to do. He unleashed several strikes of sword-shaped qi fused with sword intent. But when his attacks entered the black mist, they did not cause any fluctuations. It was as if they had disappeared into nothingness. However, Meng Tingfeng could still detect them because the sword-shaped qi carried his willpower. Inside the black mist, his attack did not collide or hit anything. Instead, they were rapidly deteriorating under the effect of the black mist. The deterioration soon reached a point that the technique could no longer sustain itself and collapsed into immortal qi, which was rapidly eaten away by the black mist. Meng Tingfeng wanted to attack again, but Ba Shifang stepped forward. ¡°Allow me.¡± Ba Shifang formed several hand seals and then pointed at the mist with his forefinger and middle finger. Wind condensed of five colors blew against the black mist. Ba Shifang didn¡¯t intend to attack whatever was inside the black mist but blow it away. The black mist refused to move. It was as if the black mist was some sludge that stubbornly anchored to the space. Ba Shifang outwardly frowned and increased the power of the five element wind he conjured. It was until the space in the Vast Void started to distort that the black mist moved. At that point, the black mist just disappeared, as if its previous resistance was an illusion. And when the black mist disappeared fully, there was no dragon in sight. Not even a scale or fragment was left behind. ¡°He ran away,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. Ba Shifang nodded, also silent. In fact, he also expected this. It¡¯s why he deliberately increased the time to move the black mist. ¡°Our enemy is more powerful than expected. According to the Demon Clan¡¯s usual modus operandi, they should avoid returning to their territory until they are sure they shook off our trail. Do you want to request reinforcements?¡± Meng Tingfeng didn¡¯t say anything. Finally, he sheathed the Seven Star Sword. ¡°Just for more searchers. I have a feeling that the guy will appear in front of us soon. When that happens, I¡¯ll be the one to behead him.¡± ¡°As long as you take all responsibility,¡± Ba Shifang said. He didn¡¯t care either way. If Meng Tingfeng wanted to shoulder all the responsibility, he¡¯d be more than happy to oblige. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Both Ba Shifang and Meng Tingfeng entered the unnamed realm. Although it was an unranked realm, qi still existed. It was just more biased and took extra time to convert. Well, for Meng Tingfeng. Ba Shifang could convert almost all types of qi. Meng Tingfeng found a quiet location to recuperate. He already contacted the Numinous Sword Sect and had the investigators search for any traces. At once, he began to absorb the surrounding spiritual qi. Ba Shifang looked over from his own spot. He was quite surprised when he saw Meng Tingfeng absorbing five types of qi. Most immortal monarchs could only absorb five different types of qi when they became a fifth-step immortal monarch, however immortal monarchs who cultivated a law outside of the five elements were different. He knew Meng Tingfeng comprehended the Law of the Stars, so it didn¡¯t surprise him that he absorbed stellar qi. However, he never expected Meng Tingfeng to become a fourth-step monarch so quickly. Once Ba Shifang recalled Meng Tingfeng¡¯s strength from their previous bout, a hint of urgency appeared in his heart. Aside from Tianyi and his clones, Ba Shifang never felt that other cultivators could have the same power as him in the same realm. Logically, he knew this was false, an illusion brought about by Tianyi¡¯s monstrous power and talent. The world was full of the unknown. Nothing was absolute. There might be monsters even greater than Tianyi. Ba Shifang hadn¡¯t forgotten about Bao Ling. He knew Tianyi. While others might disdain winning through attrition, he knew Tianyi had no problem winning with such a tactic if he was not in a rush or because of rules. However, he still gave up and conceded victory to Bao Ling. That already explained a lot. Still, knowing was knowing. Only after experiencing it did Ba Shifang feel a sense of threat. So, while he also reported to the Immortal Court and requested for more true immortal investigators, he also asked Tianyi to supply him with more energy of the five elements. Not long later, a beautiful white pillar pierced the dimensional boundary of the unranked realm and landed in front of Ba Shifang. The pillar dwarfed any conventional structure made by human hands. The exterior of its multi-level structure was filled with relief sculptures depicting the accomplishments of the Immortal Court. The appearance of the Descending Immortal Embassy surprised Ba Shifang. Strictly speaking, the Descending Immortal Embassy could be classified under a subcategory of an immortal boat. As an immortal artifact, its defensive ability was not top-notch. It could still defend against everything under the Immortal Realm, but its true purpose was to transport cultivators through the Vast Void. Tianyi and many other disciples once used it to enter the Demon Cage Realm. At its core, there was an abundant supply of qi to make up for the fact that only those in the Origin Immortal Realm could replenish their qi in the Vast Void. Once the immortals exited, Ba Shifang learned that the Immortal Court directly dispatched a hundred true immortals. As for materials he requested from Tianyi, they were also delivered. When he inspected the spatial ring, even Ba Shifang was shocked by the amount of materials containing the energy of the five elements. It didn¡¯t contain ten times the amount he needed to upgrade his martial body to the peak, but it was still around seven to eight times the amount he requested. His former main body, Tianyi, was probably the only one in the entire Three Thousand Immortal Realms System who could hand out so many resources with a flip of his hand. It wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to call Tianyi an endless resource point. The only problem was collecting them, but it seems that Tianyi had been doing a fine job at that, with no prompting. Ba Shifang shook his head. He wasn¡¯t Tianyi¡¯s minder, and he was sure Tianyi didn¡¯t want a mere former clone to tell him what to do. So, he hunkered down and started to absorb the energy with the materials provided by Tianyi. In this way, years passed. It wasn¡¯t until the true immortal investigator finally discovered Jiaohu and Donghai Longzi¡¯s traces did they report to Ba Shifang. Actually, they discovered faint traces of the demons long ago, but they couldn¡¯t be sure. It was messy, like someone had deliberately obscured the tracks and left false clues, so it took a long while. After Ba Shifang and Meng Tingfeng chased after the trail, they arrived at a lower-rank realm. However, the Demon Clans had long evacuated, leaving only the native demons of the lower-rank realm. Although they missed their target, neither Ba Shifang nor Meng Tingfeng gave up. After all, there was a reason the Demon Clan could evade the investigation of the Numinous Sword Sect and Immortal Court for so long. So, the two found a secluded place and resumed cultivating. Every once in a while, the true immortals would report that they caught the trail of the Demon Clan. Sometimes it would only take a few months at the shortest, but other times it would take more than a decade to find their trail again. Most of the time, they would only find an abandoned outpost or just evidence of the Demon Clan once staying in a certain realm. A few times, the duo would encounter Jiaohu or Donghai Longzi, where the former would escape while the latter acted as a distraction and shield. Meng Tingfeng took this time to evaluate his growth. Ba Shifang discovered that after repeated clashes, Meng Tingfeng¡¯s swordplay would become faster, sharper, and more accurate. The wounds he caused in Donghai Longzi couldn¡¯t cause any fatal injuries, but the number increased dramatically. Of course, Ba Shifang knew that Donghai Longzi hadn¡¯t used all his strength. Otherwise, Meng Tingfeng might have already died. Still, neither Ba Shifang nor Donghai Longzi wanted to see Meng Tingfeng grow so fast. It was both based on personal feelings and a strategic outlook. The stronger Meng Tingfeng became, the more troublesome he would become when the Immortal Court and the Numinous Sword Sect vied for hegemony over the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. So, after many considerations, Donghai Longzi resigned himself as a punching bag. Sword immortals were known for their explosive growth under pressure in battle. As long as Donghai Longzi didn¡¯t actively fight and reduced the pressure as much as possible, Meng Tingfeng should not receive much benefits. Plus, Meng Tingfeng hadn¡¯t displayed any powerful attack that could threaten his life yet. Meng Tingfeng also discovered this. Even if he worked with Ba Shifang, they couldn¡¯t take down Donghai Longzi by themselves. Left with no choice and seeing no more hope of tempering himself, Meng Tingfeng finally asked for reinforcements. Ba Shifang followed suit. Soon, the Immortal Court and the Numinous Sword Sect each dispatched two more immortal monarchs. And this game of cat and mouse continued for a hundred and forty-seven more years until they discovered the Demon Clan¡¯s true plot. Chapter 460: Human Refinement Plan The clue that led them to discovering the Demon Clan¡¯s plot came not from chasing Jiaohu or Donghai Longzi, but from the unranked realm the two sides first discovered Jiaohu¡¯s traces. As time passed, both the Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect felt as if the black dragon was purposely leading them on, hiding a dark secret. So, they retraced their steps and focused on unearthing any clues they overlooked. Sure enough, they discovered something. The unranked realm was a world filled with an excess of metal qi, causing the Law of Metal to be especially prominent. The excess metal qi naturally caused many mineral veins to form underground. Although most of the metal was common, like iron or aluminum, a rare metal had been formed deep inside the earth. Its name was Bloodguide Bronze. The reason why it had taken so long to discover this was because the demons did not directly dig into the Bloodguide Bronze vein, but used the toad dragon¡¯s innate ability to mine the metal. They also almost mined all of the Bloodguide Bronze vein, leaving only a little bit, which made it even harder to detect. In heaven and earth, there are certain elements that have special effects. Most people know of truewater and truefire, but there are also others, like truesoil, truewood, truethunder, truewind. Naturally, there are truemetals. Artifacts or tools forged from Bloodguide Bronze had the ability to absorb and collect blood essence. If it was forged into a sword, it would be extremely effective in draining the blood of anything it cut. If forged into a cauldron, it would excel at controlling the blood used as materials by the alchemists or artificers. Demons did not usually master professions like alchemist, artificer, or formation master. For them to collect it means it was incredibly important to their plans. So, the true immortal investigators started to search. They searched for over a decade, and it was only by luck that they discovered the Hundred Pill Realm. The Hundred Pill Realm was a world dominated by humans. In it, alchemists reigned supreme. Because of the overwhelming popularity of alchemy, most other professions and even combat declined. The Hundred Pill Realm didn¡¯t have many combat techniques, and only rudimentary artificers and formation masters. In fact, most combat relied on pills. For example, an alchemist will swallow an antidote pill before immediately using a poison pill. Some even directly turned the elements into a pill before using them, like pill bombs. Still, combat wasn¡¯t the primary method used to solve conflicts. No, most people solved it through pill debates. In other words, they compared their alchemy skills. Whoever won was the winner. Although death was present, it mainly happened from natural causes like the end of lifespan or disease. Few people died due to conflicts. At least, compared to most other realms. Because of this, the population of the Hundred Pill Realm was astonishing, over several times that of a higher realm. It had even reached the point that many forces inside started to consider sustainability. At least, that was how the former Hundred Pill Realm was. The Demon Clan took fancy to the Hundred Pill Realm several hundred years ago. However, they didn¡¯t fancy it for its myriad alchemy inheritance, but the large number of humans. In ancient times, humans were the favorite food of demons. This wasn¡¯t just because humans tasted good, but it boosted the demon¡¯s cultivation. Back when demons still roamed the Primordial World, the Heavenly Emperor Di Jun, a golden crow, had ordered the demons to massacre the humans in order to strengthen the demons to prepare for the war against the Titans. This was the root cause of the enmity between humanity and demons. Of course, the higher the cultivation of the human eaten by the demon, the better the effect. However, most of the denizens of the Hundred Pill Realm were ordinary mortals, and it would take too long for a true demon to eat them in batches. It would be akin to humans eating mosquito meat, just not as revolting. The Demon Clan first captured the strongest cultivators of the Hundred Pill Realm, mere core formation masters. Acupoint opening masters were a rarity in the Hundred Pill Realm because martial cultivators could not control fire and cauldron, as well as spiritual cultivators. And because of the lack of high combat manuals, martial cultivation was seen as an inferior path. The demons did not kill those masters. Instead, they recycled them, turning them into Human Pills. As the name suggested, Human Pills were related to Living Pills. In essence, Human Pills were similar in concept to Living Pills, making them the prototype of the latter. One took female humans with heavenly water spiritual roots and turned them into nourishment for cultivators. The other took human flesh and soul and transformed them into nourishment for demons. Humans could also try to increase their own cultivation with Human Pills, but the effects weren¡¯t as efficient compared to demons. Hence, the need to find females with heavenly water spiritual roots as materials. There was no doubt where the inspiration for Living Pills was taken from. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The demons had used the massive population as raw materials and refined them all into Human Pills. They would throw batches of humans into giant cauldrons and allow them to boil in their fellow humans¡¯ blood until they were reduced to nothing but sludge. Not only was their flesh and blood used, but the cauldron also had the effect of destroying their soul and breaking them down into soul essence, preventing them from entering the Six Paths of Samsara and entering reincarnation. In an ironic twist, the demons didn¡¯t refine all the humans into Human Pills at once, but in batches so the population could be sustainable. At the center of the Hundred Pill Realm was a giant cauldron of bronze and silver. It was forged from Bloodguide Bronze and Soulfall Silver and called the Blood and Soul Cauldron. Unlike the many other cauldrons used to refine Human Pills, only cultivators were thrown into this cauldron and refined into high-quality Human Pills. While raising humanity like livestock, the demons would also screen them for talented human children. These human children would be raised and taught how to cultivate. Most could only reach the Foundation Establishment Realm, and few reached the Core Formation Realm. But all of them met the same fate, as raw materials for Human Pills. The demons weren¡¯t afraid of the human becoming stronger. After all, this wasn¡¯t an immortal-rank realm. No matter how strong the humans became, could they become stronger than true demons? The only thing the demons had to worry about was the cultivators ascending and spreading the information. When Ba Shifang and Meng Tingfeng entered the Hundred Pill Realm with four other monarchs, they immediately spread their immortal senses and scanned the entire realm. Their expression darkened immediately. They had already been informed by the true immortal scouts of all the important details, but they didn¡¯t prevent the anger burning them when they actually saw it firsthand. Meng Tingfeng took action first. He unsheathed his sword and waved it several times. Hundreds of sword lights erupted and struck all the demons. Only a few demons were spared, but that was only because he had not lost all his rationality and left them alive for interrogation. Still, they were disabled and all demons below the True Demon Realm perished. Ba Shifang took action next. He plummeted to the ground, but just before crashing, he slowed down until he landed as light as a feather. He kneeled and placed his palm on the ground. The land in the central region of the Hundred Pill Realm started to quake. The tremors crawled up from the ground and attached to the cauldrons. Seconds later, they cracked and shattered. Not even the Blood and Soul Cauldron at the true immortal level could withstand Ba Shifang¡¯s technique. From the destroyed cauldrons, blood spilled forth and dyed the land red. Accompanying the leaking blood were the wails of the ghosts and phantoms created from the broken souls of the sacrificed humans. If they were not exorcised, they would become specters, unleashing decay and death. The four other monarchs also took action almost at the same time. Each one displayed their specialties, subduing the demons. The one that stood out the most aside from Meng Tingfeng and Ba Shifang was an immortal monarch from the Immortal Court. Because he was a soul cultivator. It was thanks to the soul monarch that the ghostly miasma evaporated. Ba Shifang also knew some techniques to cleanse the land, but he was not as well versed as a true soul cultivator. Besides, it would take him far more qi and effort. Ba Shifang gazed at the human settlement, ignorant of their own ignorance. The demons would only capture a few settlements once in a while. It would spark terror, but that had become the norm for hundreds of years. The humans would only lament the terror of demons before moving on. Years later, they would forget and move into the formerly populated land, starting the process all over again. He sighed. With a wave of his hand, hundreds of steles formed of earth and metal rose all around him. Engraved on those dark monuments were the cultivation methods of the Five Element Method. Naturally, they were the inferior method and not the original version owned by the Immortal Court. Not only that, but they only detailed up to the Nascent Soul Realm. The steles shot into the air after Ba Shifang flung his arm. Those steles would appear all over the Hundred Pill Realm, waiting for people to stumble upon them. Hundreds of years later, the Hundred Pill Realm might change its name to the Five Element Realm. None of the other immortal monarchs stopped Ba Shifang. After all, they were also human and could understand his feelings. Then the interrogation began. As a soul cultivator, the soul monarch was the most ideal interrogator. Even if there was a true immortal skilled in interrogation, if he was not also a soul cultivator, his ability to extract information would pale in comparison. Because the soul monarch was not skilled in interrogation, it took over a year to learn everything. The Demon Clan planned to wage war and needed to increase the strength of the average demon, so they came up with a method to strengthen the demons using Human Pills. This was the Demon Clan¡¯s Human Refinement Plan. The event in the Hundred Pill Realm was only a testing phase. If the results were good enough, they would find more realms and refine more Human Pills. Once Ba Shifang learned of this, he couldn¡¯t help but clenched his fist. ¡®Does Longzi know?¡¯ Although Donghai Longzi was categorically a demon, Ba Shifang still treated him as a human. After all, his root was a human clone of Tianyi. Even if his flesh was that of a true dragon, his heart should still be that of a human. Unless it was the cliche plot of a spy becoming a reverse spy? Ba Shifang shook his head. That wasn¡¯t likely. Unlike himself, Donghai Longzi never severed the connection between himself and Tianyi, meaning that his life was still in the latter¡¯s hand. Unless Donghai Longzi really didn¡¯t care about his life and death, he wouldn''t betray Tianyi no matter how he empathized with the demons. Still, empathy could only go so far. Logically, Ba Shifang knew that the humans did not have a right to point their hands and hold the moral high ground. How many times have humans used a demon''s body as materials to refine pills or artifacts? Still, as a human, he could not allow this. More than that, he had to know. Luckily for them, the soul monarch managed to extract that the next time a demon would arrive to pick up the Human Pills would come in four years. According to the information, two demon monarchs should arrive to pick up the pills. Upon learning this, the Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect dispatched four more monarchs, making for a total of ten monarchs waiting for ambush. With this scale, two mere demon monarchs would be captured. Now, all they needed to do was wait for the promised time. Chapter 461: Ambushing the Demons It wasn¡¯t a long wait. Only four years. Before the ascension of the Huang Realm to the Primordial Realm, Ba Shifang would have never thought that four years was a short time. After all, at that point, he hadn¡¯t even lived for five hundred years. Even if he did, four years was still nearly one percent of the time he spent alive. Although he wouldn¡¯t consider four years a blink of an eye or even a brief nap, he still thought it was a short time. Ba Shifang considered four years a short time, much less than other true immortals. Even Meng Tingfeng was the same. If he went by the time flow of the immortal-rank realms, he would only be a few years younger than Ba Shifang, but he spent his early years in lower realms, where time flowed faster. His true age was several times that of Ba Shifang. To prevent the demons from noticing anything different, most of the cultivators hid themselves. As investigators and scouts, they were skilled in formations. Those that didn¡¯t have great concealment skills, including a few monarchs, erected a concealment formation. Ba Shifang used his martial body and merged with the surrounding environment. Only those monarchs with incredible willpower and specializing in detection would be able to discover him. The true immortals and monarchs sighed and marveled at his ability. The one who surprised everyone the most was Meng Tingfeng. His body morphed until it took on the form of a wolf with silver fur and a glowing star between its eyes. Not only did his body change, but even his aura changed to that of a demon. As a sword immortal, Meng Tingfeng actually learning a skill not related to combat was surprising. Upon deeper thought, it was not that strange. Meng Tingfeng rose from the lower realm, and he had no backing. Thus, he must be skilled in survival techniques to reach his current height. In contrast, most of the sword monarchs from the Numinous Sword Sect had no competition aside from their own allies. So, they did not need to think about survival as much. No force in the Numinous Realm would openly dare to kill them. As for the soul cultivator dispatched by the Immortal Court? He changed his form to that of a serpentine beast with two front legs and nine human heads, appearing akin to the mythological xiangliu demon. This was only a physical change, but soon, even his aura changed. Unless he attacked, no one could discern that he was a human. The soul monarch and Meng Tingfeng flew into the air. To hide their tracks, Ba Shifang had repaired the hundreds of cauldrons. Of course, only the appearance was repaired, and they were no better than lumps of metal. They filled the cauldrons with fake blood and created some false miasma of resentment. Not long later, the dimensional boundaries of the Hundred Pill Realm trembled for a brief moment. So slight was the disturbance that only the immortal monarchs detected the change. Immediately after, a demon with long, tucked legs, short stubby front arms, flat and wart-covered body, and two long whiskers appeared. It was Jiaohu, the dragon that looked like a toad. Because they discovered the demon¡¯s plan in the Hundred Pill Realm, both forces gave up chasing Jiaohu and Donghai Longzi. Since they were stringing them along, it meant the demons could escape anytime they wanted to. Rather than chasing a decoy, it would be more logical to focus the manpower more efficiently. Only, they never expected the target they chased would show himself in front of them. Jiaohu looked around. Finally, his eyes settled on the two disguised demons. An arrogant aura pressed down on the two of them. Meng Tingfeng and the soul monarch had disguised themselves as ordinary true demons. How could their blood be as noble as that of a true dragon like Jiaohu? ¡°What? Aren¡¯t you two going to kneel down? Even if it¡¯s my first time collecting the Human Pills, don¡¯t you two think you should show the proper respect?¡± Meng Tingfeng and the soul monarch quickly shared a glance. They lowered their heads and flew toward Jiaohu. Jiaohu smiled in satisfaction as he saw the two of them start to kneel, but half a second later, his expression stiffened. Before Meng Tingfeng and the soul monarch fully lowered their heads, they took action. Sword light full of sword intent shot forth from Meng Tingfeng¡¯s eyes. He was a sword immortal, and only when wielding a suitable sword could he unleash his full combat potential, but that didn¡¯t mean he was weak without unsheathing his sword. Against ordinary monarchs, he didn¡¯t even need his sword. The soul monarch also unleashed an attack. Although his attack wasn¡¯t filled with intent like Meng Tingfeng, its speed rivaled the sword light because it was a soul attack. By nature, soul attacks were faster than physical attacks. In fact, it struck Jiaohu a second faster than the sword light. Jiaohu reared his head back and screamed in pain. The pain did not last long as he turned to glare at the two demons. By now, he already sensed something wrong, but before he could question the disguised demons, the sword light arrived. Thankfully, he reared his head back and avoided having his head impaled, but it was not much better. The sword light pierced his chest and exploded in his body, wrecking his insides and leaving a gaping hole. Blood poured out of the wound and filled the air with a metallic scent. The soul monarch and Meng Tingfeng frowned. Demons had strong souls, but it was still only around the level of martial cultivators. So, the soul monarch expected Jiaohu to die in one attack, but it actually only caused him to scream in pain for less than a second. It could only mean that the demon carried a soul defensive artifact. And one at the monarch level. Otherwise, Jiaohu would have received a critical soul injury. Just as the two forces expected, the Demon Clan placed a huge importance on Jiaohu. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Meng Tingfeng also expected a mere demon to die, even if his attack didn¡¯t pierce the head. It seemed that he underestimated the vitality of demons, or maybe it was the tyrannical body of a dragon that saved Jiaohu. Still, if one attack didn¡¯t work, then just use two. He removed his disguise and reached for his sword. Just as his hand grabbed the hilt, he looked up to see a colossal clawed hand reaching for him. He instantly recognized it as belonging to Donghai Longzi. Fighting intent erupted from his eyes as he unsheathed his sword and a powerful crescent-shaped energy flew toward the claws. Donghai Longzi ignored Meng Tingfeng¡¯s attack and enclosed his hand around Jiaohu, protecting him from all attacks. When Meng Tingfeng¡¯s attack reached Donghai Longzi, a thin film of black energy burst and counteracted it. However, it only lasted for a second and the crescent struck true. Meng Tingfeng¡¯s eyelids twitched when he saw only a white line. His attack only left a few cracked scales at best. Donghai Longzi had never used the black film to defend before and only used his tyrannical body. He learned that the black dragon actually hadn¡¯t gone all out. Also shocked was the soul monarch. As soon as he appeared, he unleashed an even more terrifying attack than the one he used on Jiaohu, but Donghai Longzi didn¡¯t even react. It was as if the soul attack was a pebble that fell into a lake. Except for the nonconsequential ripples, it was ultimately meaningless. The soul monarch couldn¡¯t help but question when soul defensive artifacts became so common. In reality, Donghai Longzi simply had a powerful soul. Although the soul monarch¡¯s attack did affect him, he didn¡¯t show it and quickly healed what damage had been done. Donghai Longzi pulled his hand back, intent on retreating into the Vast Void with Jiaohu, but the elemental qi around him solidified. The earth qi turned into rocks, the metal qi turned into steel, the fire qi burned, the water qi condensed as dew on his scales, and the wood qi gave birth to trees. The myriad phenomenon didn¡¯t last long as they came together and formed a giant. Steel formed a skeleton, earth was its muscles, water flowed as blood, barks acted as skin, and fire burned as its soul. The titan of five elements materialized and towered over Donghai Longzi. It reared its fist back and punched toward the black dragon. Donghai Longzi quickly enlarged itself until his mass matched the five element titan. He used his free hand to grab the titan¡¯s incoming fist, all the while puzzled. Normally, it was him seeking a fight. When did Ba Shifang become so belligerent? ¡°Did you know?¡± Transparent eyelids slid horizontally across his vertical pupils. ¡°Huh? What are you talking about? If you¡¯re asking about Main Body¡¯s plan, shouldn¡¯t you know more? Besides, why are you contacting me through your immortal sense? Aren¡¯t you afraid of exposing a loophole?¡± ¡°You really don¡¯t know?¡± ¡°Know what? Stop speaking in riddles and actually ask me! Then I might know,¡± Donghai Longzi said. He sucked in a large breath and then exhaled. Black mist burst forth and struck the five element titan¡¯s chest. Due to the corrosive nature of the breath, it constantly eroded away at the titan¡¯s exterior, exposing the innards. Ba Shifang finally confirmed that Donghai Longzi was just as in the dark as he was, so he exhaled in relief. He quickly explained what he had discovered, and upon learning it, Donghai Longzi stilled for a moment. He wanted to reply, but Meng Tingfeng and the other hidden monarchs took action at this time. All their attacks struck Donghai Longzi despite his best attempt to dodge. Not to mention the burden on one of his hands. Still, most of the attacks only caused his scales to crack, and even Meng Tingfeng only managed to leave a shallow cut on his body. ¡°Dammit, this bastard hid his strength before! Everyone, we have to kill this calamity here. I originally thought he only possessed a powerful defensive ability, but his attacks are actually just as strong. No, even stronger!¡± Meng Tingfeng shouted. ¡°I feel he is not weaker than an immortal emperor. If he really breaks into the Demon Emperor Realm, he will become a huge obstacle for us!¡± At Meng Tingfeng¡¯s shout, all the other monarchs said nothing, but the intensity of their attacks increased. Donghai Longzi glared at Meng Tingfeng. Even for him, guarding against ten immortal monarchs was tiring, even if one of them was secretly on his side and another one¡¯s soul attack was not effective against him. He quickly curled himself into a sphere when he saw the five element titan charging at him with a punch. When the titan punched him, the damage was actually negligible, but the momentum was not. He knew that Ba Shifang was actually helping him, so he used the momentum to flee into the Vast Void. ¡°After him!¡± The ten immortal monarchs gave chase, but what awaited them was the red breath of a Scarletblood Dragon. All true dragons possessed special breath weapons. They could be considered techniques and innate abilities, and they all possessed unique powers. The breath of a Scarletblood Dragon had the ability to ignite the blood and cause it to run out of control. If not careful, even an immortal monarch could become powerless to defend themselves. In the worst case scenarios, they might even have to abandon their flesh and escape with their soul. Still, none of the monarchs were easy. Each one took out a defensive artifact or technique to deflect or neutralize the breath. The red breath had a powerful suppressive effect on flesh and blood, but its attack was lackluster on nonliving matter, like artifacts. Ba Shifang charged forward bravely. Since he hid himself inside the five element titan, he was the one most unafraid of Honglin¡¯s breath. At this time, a powerful black beam erupted and pierced the five element titan. The beam continued and struck the numerous immortals behind the titan. The beam only lasted a moment as it ended, and so did Honglin¡¯s breath. Both dragons, one red and one black, stared hatefully at the ten immortal monarchs. No, it should be nine now. ¡°No!¡± Meng Tingfeng shouted when he saw the five element titan revert to its primal elements. When all the matter made by its body returned to particles, Ba Shifang was nowhere to be seen. ¡°I¡¯ll kill you!¡± Meng Tingfeng shouted, eyes red. The seven star sword in his hand lit up as he charged forward. A silver light encased, making him seem like a shooting star. UPDATE So, I got some questions regarding when I will be resuming updates in my discord. I''m currently on the cruise and frantically trying to finish Book 4 of my Adelheid Series. So, barring any unforeseen circumstances, It will resume some time in the first week of June. Also, I promised a shout-out to my friend''s story. It''s also a cultivation story and newly released. Check it out if you are interested. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. This is filler to make the 500 character limit This is filler to make the 500 character limit This is filler to make the 500 character limit This is filler to make the 500 character limit This is filler to make the 500 character limit This is filler to make the 500 character limit This is filler to make the 500 character limit This is filler to make the 500 character limit This is filler to make the 500 character limit This is filler to make the 500 character limit This is filler to make the 500 character limit This is filler to make the 500 character limit This is filler to make the 500 character limit This is filler to make the 500 character limit This is filler to make the 500 character limit Chapter 462: Escalation Meng Tingfeng struck the large, plate-like scales on Donghai Longzi¡¯s stomach. A thunderous crack echoed even in the emptiness of the Vast Void. Starlight exploded off the point of contact like endless rays. Though weakened and dispersed, they still carried tremendous might, forcing the immortals to move out of the way, lest they receive friendly fire. Most of the starlight rays struck the dimension barrier of the Hundred Pill Realm. However, a few stronger rays pierced the dimensional barrier and struck the land and sea of the realm, bringing unneeded disaster to the denizens. Donghai Longzi roared, more in surprise than pain, but he wasn¡¯t the only one surprised. Even Meng Tingfeng¡¯s fellow sword monarchs were confused by his abrupt explosions, much less the immortal monarchs from the Immortal Court. Meng Tingfeng flew away in a burst of light. The fiery rage had left his face, replaced by an icy fury, one that would bring those with weak hearts chills. He didn¡¯t retreat for long as he made an abrupt turn and charged toward Donghai Longzi again. His sword flashed, unleashing countless sword lights upon the black dragon. At first, Donghai Longzi didn¡¯t take them seriously. He allowed them to strike wantonly, but soon, he couldn¡¯t do so anymore. The airy light belied the sword light¡¯s terrifying power. They pierced through his scales and entered his flesh. They didn¡¯t get very far, but the moment they entered, they exploded, almost like miniature novas, wreaking havoc in his body. Although his flesh and muscles gave him tremendous strength, they didn¡¯t have the same defensive power as his scales. So, the sword light dealt substantial damage despite using up the majority of their energy penetrating his scales and the destruction demon qi in his body destroying it as fast as possible. The interaction between dragon and immortal occurred in a short amount of time, and by now, the eight immortal monarchs took action. They didn¡¯t attack Donghai Longzi, but Honglin, who was shielding Jiaohu with her body. In their eyes, Meng Tingfeng seemed to be handling Donghai Longzi fine enough. Even an immortal emperor would need to use a lot of effort to kill Donghai Longzi, even if there was no danger. Since they couldn¡¯t kill him, they had to trap him, and that would take far more effort. So, it was better to kill the new demon monarch before focusing on Donghai Longzi. Compared to the black dragon that radiated an aura equal to a fifth-step monarch, the red dragon only had the aura equivalent to a first-step monarch. Naturally, Donghai Longzi noticed the situation and rushed to aid her. But first, he had to get rid of an annoying gnat. Black demonic qi encased the claws on all four of his limbs. Not just his claws, but all the spikes on his body and especially his twin horns. Donghai Longzi unleashed several claw strikes toward Meng Tingfeng. Those claws pierced toward the swordsman, as if a human finger squishing a mere ant. Meng Tingfeng could sense the destructive power behind that seemingly simple attack. Still, he did not back down. The fourth star on the Seven Star Sword started to flash with light. However, unlike the previous three stars, it dimmed and lit up in a pattern, never quite lighting up all the way. He slashed toward Donghai Longzi. Once again, claw and sword collided. The moment the two clashed, an invisible ripple exploded from the contact point. It launched Meng Tingfeng thousands of meters back. Not just that, he felt his internal organs shift from the ripples and a sweet yet metallic taste rising up his throat. It was only through sheer force of will that he forced it down. ¡°An immortal emperor¡¯s attack!¡± Meng Tingfeng shouted. ¡°This bastard was hiding his true strength! Not only does he have the defensive capabilities of an immortal emperor, but his attack is on par, too! Once he enters the next realm, he will become a major threat. We must kill him at all costs!¡± Reasoning and sound logic filled every single of the sword monarch¡¯s words, but simultaneously, so was the overflowing hatred within them. The seven monarchs¡¯ actions didn¡¯t stop or slow down at Meng Tingfeng¡¯s warning. So what if Donghai Longzi had the attack and defense of an immortal emperor? That didn¡¯t change their plan. They still needed to get rid of the red dragon first before focusing on the black one. The two groups attacked in sequence. The three immortal monarchs of the Immortal Court attacked first. Two of them united their techniques and unleashed a spell of fire and water, while the soul monarch unleashed a soul attack. When he sensed the barrier protecting Honglin¡¯s soul, he couldn¡¯t help but want to curse. When did soul defense artifacts become so common? Honglin used a true dragon¡¯s innate control over water to deflect most of the water portion of the fire and water attack while attempting to dodge the rest. However, the soul monarch¡¯s attack still caused her to pause for a split second, even if it didn¡¯t cause any harm. This allowed a portion of the fire to blast a part of her serpentine body, leaving it black from the heat. She didn¡¯t have time to catch her breath as the four sword monarchs from the Numinous Sword Sect arrived. Their swords shone with brilliant glimmers as sword light flashed. It didn¡¯t take long for the beautiful scarlet scales to be sullied with gashes, cuts, and blood. The red dragon felt her heart clench. Truth be told, she had expected to dominate her opponents even if she was outnumbered. Although her grandfather told her to be wary of humans, she never fully digested his advice. Her brain knew, but her heart refused to accept. And now, she finally knew not to underestimate humans. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Still, being passively beaten was not in her nature. Honglin roared. Her heartbeat increased, pumping the blood through her veins even faster. Her originally white sclera took on a red tone, becoming indistinguishable from her red iris. As a practitioner of the Law of Blood, not only could she manipulate her foes¡¯ blood, but also her own. Her scales thicken and her muscle mass increased. With her newfound strength, she duked it out with the four sword monarchs. Honglin¡¯s actions were crude and unsightly, the epitome of beastly violence in comparison to the refined techniques of humans. However, she only needed a few strikes to injure or kill them while they needed to attack tens, if not hundreds of times. Their situation became worse as Donghai Longzi arrived. He instantly separated Honglin from the sword monarchs and used his body to shield Honglin from the spells of the Immortal Court¡¯s monarchs. ¡°They discovered this location. We have to retreat.¡± Honglin nodded. But before they could even start retreating, Meng Tingfeng had already arrived. His face seemed a bit pale, but the killing intent in his eyes only increased. Donghai Longzi released a displeased glare and sent out another claw. If it was a secluded location with no interference, he didn¡¯t mind killing Meng Tingfeng, but the situation wouldn¡¯t allow it. So he wanted to push Meng Tingfeng away again. Unlike the previous clash, Meng Tingfeng¡¯s body transformed into an energy body. When the claws arrived, it split into ten streaks that dodged the claws and streamed toward Donghai Longzi¡¯s head. Before reaching, the starlights converged and turned back into Meng Tingfeng. Donghai Longzi snorted. He rammed his horn at Meng Tingfeng. The black light encasing the horn revealed a terrifying sharpness and destructive might. When horn and sword clashed, a standstill occurred, surprising the dragon. His horn was more powerful than his claws, yet Meng Tingfeng, who had been blown away before, could stand his ground. The four sword monarchs didn¡¯t just stand still, either. Since they failed their initial plan, they would do their best to kill Donghai Longzi. Unfortunately for them, none of them even reached the strength of a half-emperor. With one swipe of Donghai Longzi¡¯s claws, he sent them thousands of meters away, with many injuries. The unluckiest sword monarch also spat out a mouthful of blood as his face paled dramatically. He also ignored the spells from the three monarchs from the Immortal Court. Instead, he focused all his attention on Meng Tingfeng. In just a few seconds, the two exchanged hundreds of blows. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you? You acted like I killed your father or something.¡± Hearing Donghai Longzi¡¯s words, Meng Tingfeng finally couldn¡¯t suppress his anger anymore. ¡°You¡¯ve committed a far worse sin! You killed my son.¡± ¡°Your son?¡± Donghai Longzi repeated. He tried to recall when Meng Tingfeng went berserk and, upon linking the cause, he couldn¡¯t help but show an abnormal expression. It was obvious to the humans, even on a dragon¡¯s face. ¡°That guy, Ba Shifang? How could he be your son?¡± Not just Donghai Longzi, but the other immortal monarchs also sent questioning glances at Meng Tingfeng. However, the subject of everyone¡¯s glares didn¡¯t want to answer their silent queries. ¡°They are already intent on escaping. We have to trap them and kill this scourge before he becomes a greater threat. We have to deploy the trapping formation!¡± Although still curious, none of the immortal monarchs thought he said anything wrong. Under their commands, the true immortals hiding in the Hundred Pill Realm flew out one after the other. Of course, Donghai Longzi wouldn¡¯t allow them to do as they wished. Meng Tingfeng and the other monarchs were doing their best to delay him and Honglin as much as possible. At the very least, Jiaohu had already fled very far into the distance. A thin black bubble grew from Donghai Longzi¡¯s body and continued to grow. Within his domain of destruction, everything started to tremble, as if threatening to break. Immortal monarchs had enough strength to resist it, but the same couldn¡¯t be said for the true immortals. If they couldn¡¯t even defend themselves, they could not start the formation. To combat the domain of destruction, several immortal monarchs also unleashed their own domains. It took several domains to combat Donghai Longzi¡¯s domain. This was because his domain focused on one aspect: destruction. It interfered with the capabilities of all domains within its range, but ultimately, it was only a single domain. The Immortal Court¡¯s three monarchs formed the Fire-Water-Wind-Earth Containment Formation, while the Numinous Sword Sect formed a degraded version of their Ten Thousand Sword Formation. They had just formed, so it would take time for them to reach their height. The Ten Thousand Sword Formation already started attacking the dragons of black and red, while the Fire-Water-Wind-Earth Containment Formation expanded its range. Its goal wasn¡¯t just to trap the two demon monarchs, but also eliminate Jiaohu, this future scourge. Jiaohu did his best to flee the formation¡¯s range, but he was ultimately too slow. ¡°No!¡± Jiaohu shouted. The space distortion around increased again, but it was for naught. Desperation filled him. He had always prided himself on his innate abilities. Even if he couldn¡¯t defeat his opponents, he could always flee. Sure, the other demons called him a coward, but what did they know? Staying alive was the most important. Suddenly, the space distortion vanished. No, it didn¡¯t disappear, but became sublimated, improved. Under the pressure, Jiaohu¡¯s mastery over the Law of Space had improved to a new level. His speed increased threefold, and he slipped out of the Fire-Water-Wind-Earth Containment Formation¡¯s range. His speed increased until he was fast enough to escape the formation¡¯s encompassment. ¡°Haha, I knew there was no way I, Lord Jiaohu, would fall here!¡± Alas, he was too happy, too fast. The space around him distorted, and he discovered that his ability to control space greatly diminished. A young man wearing white with a peerlessly handsome face appeared in front of him. It was Ba Shifang, who had ¡®died.¡¯ He pointed at Jiaohu and a beam of five-colored light shot toward the toad dragon. Jiaohu resisted, but he discovered that he only moved a few centimeters at most with the space confinement, far from enough to dodge the light. Just as he despaired again, a man with two jade-like horns growing out of his forehead appeared in front of him and blocked the beam. ¡°Dragon Lord Yujiao!¡± Jiaohu shouted with happiness. Yujiao ignored him and stared at Ba Shifang. ¡°With me here, you won¡¯t be able to kill him.¡± Ba Shifang simply smiled. Yujiao didn¡¯t understand the meaning behind that smile, but he soon realized it. Jiaohu suddenly screamed in pain and his vitality disappeared. He died mysteriously before Yujiao could react. Chapter 463: Casualty Yujiao turned around to see the toad dragon¡¯s body floating limply in the Vast Void. Jiaohu¡¯s mouth was still open, as if someone had grabbed his throat, preventing him from screaming, and fear had permanently etched itself into his eyes. However, his eyes had already lost their shine, He waved his arm, and the soulless corpse disappeared. Ba Shifang¡¯s sudden revival and Yujiao¡¯s appearance attracted the demon kings and immortal monarch¡¯s attention. Their attacks and maneuvers didn¡¯t stop, but the tempo had obviously dropped¡ªespecially Meng Tingfeng. His previous ferocious killing intent directly halved. Joy that could not be concealed shone from his eyes. Still, he did not let happiness cloud his judgment. The sword monarch continued to pressure Donghai Longzi. Instead of attacking the black dragon, he focused on the red dragon. This forced Donghai Longzi to shield Honglin with his body. Although most of the power disappeared under the black dragon¡¯s defenses, it reduced the frequency of his attacks and prevented him from dodging. Donghai Longzi roared and coiled around Honglin, forming a spherical barrier with his own body. Although the immortal monarchs didn¡¯t know why he would turn himself into an easier target, it didn¡¯t prevent them from bombarding him with all their attacks. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to help him?¡± Ba Shifang asked, staring at Yujiao. ¡°He doesn¡¯t need my help,¡± the humanoid dragon said with a shake of his head. Then, he stared at Ba Shifang with narrowed eyes. ¡°Besides, I feel that blocking you would help him more.¡± ¡®Well, you¡¯re not exactly wrong. If he and I weren¡¯t on the same side, I do have the power to make his situation precarious,¡¯ Ba Shifang thought. However, he didn¡¯t know how Yujiao came to such a conclusion. Was it perhaps a dragon¡¯s intuition? Even if that was true, then the latter had the confidence to block him for a time. Ba Shifang didn¡¯t waste any more words and attacked. Five different types of qi flowed from his body and formed the five elements: fire, water, earth, wood, and metal. They formed into projectiles and shot toward the humanoid dragon. Yujiao didn¡¯t attempt to block them head-on. Instead, he evaded as many as possible, but he couldn¡¯t evade all the attacks. For those, Yujiao clenched his hands into a fist and punched them. His punches destabilized the elemental projectiles, scattering them into fragments that only dirtied his robes. His powerful defense and offense surprised Ba Shifang. It reminded him of Donghai Longzi. ¡°Your actions don¡¯t match your words.¡± The projectiles that Yujiao evaded flew past him and struck the coiled black dragon. Still, Yujiao didn¡¯t show any change of expression. He kept his smile and said, ¡°I have confidence in my comrade.¡± Ba Shifang¡¯s lips twitched. The gentle smile on Yujiao¡¯s face seemed very punchable in his eyes. Still, his actions didn¡¯t stop. He continued to unleash spell after spell upon the jade dragon. No matter how strong Yujiao¡¯s scales were, he didn¡¯t think the latter could last forever against his bombardment. Before the scene envisioned by the former clone could appear, the situation on the other side changed. Donghai Longzi¡¯s body started to rotate. Even in the empty void, turbulent winds composed of gaseous, black qi formed. The spells of the monarchs from the Immortal Court disintegrated upon contact, and the swords used by the monarchs of the Numinous Court could not cut through this black wind. Forget cutting through it, they felt the artifacts deteriorating upon contact with it. A crack even appeared on one of their swords. Sweat formed on that sword monarch¡¯s brows. The artifact in his hand was at the immortal monarch level. If he had physical contact with the black qi, he could already imagine losing a limb. He wanted to retreat, as did his fellow monarchs, but the black spiraling sphere that was Donghai Longzi exploded, engulfing all of them. Screams of pain belonging to those sword monarchs rang from within. The monarchs of the Immortal Court were much luckier. They had always kept their distance, so they only got caught on the edge of the explosion. The monarchs from the Immortal Court glanced at one another. Should they or should they not help the Numinous Sword Sect monarchs? At the end of the day, it was only a tentative alliance to deal with the Demon Clan. The two sides would engage in a war to determine the hegemony of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System in the future. The weaker the Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s overall power became, the better. So what was the answer? Naturally to help! Although the alliance would remain even if those sword monarchs perished, it would cause fractures in the delicate alliance. It was better to wholeheartedly treat the others as allies until the correct time. So, the monarchs all pointed at the large explosion and unleashed spell after spell to clear the explosion and rescue their comrades. The explosion didn¡¯t last long and soon dissipated to reveal the sad state of those sword monarchs. Nearly all of their defensive artifacts had cracks covering them, and the sword artifact with the crack on it directly broke in half. Blood leaked from all their orifices and wounds littered their body. The best state among them was Meng Tingfeng. He had donned an armor hidden in his spatial ring the moment the explosion happened, which shielded him from most of the explosion. He had no serious wounds. Still, a few faint cracks appeared on his armor and his hair was in disarray. He should have retreated in order to heal himself, but he, along with the others, all charged at the black dragon, who had uncoiled himself. Because in his claws were their fellow sword monarch. Donghai Longzi snorted disdainfully at the charging immortal monarchs. He turned tail and flew into the distance, followed by Honglin. The pressure from his grip never lightened. In fact, quite the opposite. He increased the pressure, intent on killing the sword monarch. Ba Shifang, who saw this, couldn¡¯t stand by and watch either. He ended his spells and chased after Donghai Longzi. Or, at least, he intended to; had it not been for Yujiao. He narrowed his eyes and unleashed his spell. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Unlike the last time, Yujiao had no intent on avoiding them. A phantom of a silver-white dragon with jade-like horns only a little smaller than Donghai Longzi manifested. Its body was slightly ethereal, but it did not mean the pressure it exuded was false. The phantom dragon roared, and Ba Shifang¡¯s spells halted in their tracks. A split second later, they started to shake and dissolved back into the immortal qi used to form them. ¡°I said it before,¡± Yujiao began. ¡°With me here, you won¡¯t be able to help them.¡± Ba Shifang narrowed his eyes. The amount of elemental qi in the surrounding area did not dissipate because of his deliberate actions. He still had over ninety percent of his qi reservoir left, and if he wanted to, he could instantly use a large portion to form the Five Phases Formation, but he felt it was too risky. He originally wanted to slowly release a large amount of immortal qi so that his expenditure did not overwhelm his qi regeneration. It was true in the Vast Void that an immortal monarch could not regain their qi, but he carried a conduit of Tianyi with him. Through their interaction, Ba Shifang could restore his qi. Although he was Tianyi¡¯s former clone, he still needed to convert the energy transferred to him into his own immortal qi for use. Of course, he didn¡¯t want to be too obvious about it, hence his previous actions. But now, it seemed that he needed to take drastic action. Ba Shifang raised his hand, and a black pill exuded a five-colored light appeared between his fingers. Yujiao instantly became wary. He didn¡¯t even attempt to hide his fearful body language. Ba Shifang didn¡¯t have time to entertain him and injected a strand of his qi into the pill before flicking it toward the humanoid dragon. The moment it left his fingertips, it exploded in size and quickly expanded until it resembled a fully black planet. The pill planet¡¯s mass and gravity caused it to attract all things near it, including Yujiao. Yujiao wanted to escape, but Ba Shifang formed several hand seals. The moment he finished, it exploded in size again, emitting a dense aura of the five elements. Yujiao could not exceed its expansion speed and soon found himself within the black sphere. Within, the gravity increased. Not only that, but gravity multiplied by ten. Had it only been that, Yujiao could have burst out with greater power and escaped from the sphere, but within the domain, spells of the five elements continued to bombard him, forcing him to defend without giving him time to do anything else. It forced him closer to the core, where the gravity increased and restricted his actions even more. He roared. It was a bestial roar, one unlike what his gentle demeanor implied. Yujiao¡¯s body shifted. His robes turned silver and merged with his skin. His body lengthened, increased in size until a silver dragon with jade-like horns appeared. Unlike the phantom manifestation, the pressure exuded was ten times greater. His movement toward the core of the sphere stopped, and he even showed signs of escaping the gravity. However, although Yujiao¡¯s power increased, so did the attraction. Yujiao, who showed signs of escaping the black sphere, started to be pulled toward the center once more. A golden light appeared in Yujiao¡¯s eyes and the gravitational force around him disappeared, but only for a brief moment. The golden light disappeared and Yujiao came crashing toward the center of the black sphere. Nine Heavens Art - Planetary Purgatory From outside, Ba Shifang formed a final hand seal and stayed. His brows twitched, even as he tried to show an indifferent expression. The pill was the Planetary Purgatory Pill concocted by Tianyi himself. Although it was an alchemical pill, it resembled a talisman even more. It allowed the user to perform the Planetary Purgatory once. However, the user must have at least mastered half of the Law of Fire, Law of Water, Law of Earth, Law of Wood, and Law of Metal. The more they mastered, the more powerful the Planetary Purgatory Pill would become. Strictly speaking, Ba Shifang could perform it on his own, but the qi requirement was far too high for him to use as he wished. Even if he cultivated the Nine-Five Scripture, this fact did not change. The Five Phases Formation was actually a result of Ba Shifang attempting to perform the Planetary Purgatory using his own method. He originally thought he could just trap Yujiao with this technique and then chase after Donghai Longzi and rescue the sword monarch, but Yujiao proved more difficult than he expected. He had to maintain a certain amount of focus and distance, otherwise, Yujiao might escape. Ba Shifang didn¡¯t plan on not chasing Donghai Longzi. Motes of light gathered around him. They clustered into groups colored red, black, yellow, green, and white. Nine Heavens Art - Stellar Incarnation Tianyi could easily form thousands, but Ba Shifang only formed a hundred. The hundred incarnations exuded auras of fire, water, earth, wood, and metal. Under his mental command, the hundred incarnations chased after Donghai Longzi. They didn¡¯t use any technique or spells, but directly kamikaze into the black dragon, exploding upon impact. Soon, spheres of light appeared in the Vast Void, illuminating the empty darkness. Luckily, Ba Shifang held his hand and did not aim for the claws, or else the sword monarch might have perished first. His actions gave his fellow immortal monarch a chance, but only that. Donghai Longzi persisted, refusing to give up the sword monarch in his clutches. If anything, he increased his efforts to kill the latter. There wasn¡¯t any grand movement or sign. So before anyone realized, the sword monarch died and Donghai Longzi chucked the corpse like some trash. His fellow sword monarchs grabbed the body, thinking they had forced Donghai Longzi to give up, but that thought only lasted a second upon sensing the missing soul within the immortal body. The sword monarchs roared and gave chase. Ba Shifang sighed. He hadn¡¯t tried his best, but trying his best would reveal too much about Tianyi, so he didn¡¯t. Instead, he contacted the other immortal monarch. ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like we can stop those two dragons. Rather than focus on stopping them, we should kill the dragon trapped by me. Even for the Demon Clan, losing that space dragon and a dragon demon king will make them feel an immense loss.¡± Although they were seething from their companion¡¯s death, the sword monarchs could still think rationally. They stared hatefully at the fleeing Donghai Longzi and flew toward Ba Shifang. When they observed the Planetary Purgatory, their expression couldn¡¯t help but become wary. ¡°With this technique, do you really need our help? I can feel that it is not a bit weaker than a peak emperor¡¯s technique,¡± one sword monarch said. ¡°The dragon trapped inside should have no hope of living, much less escape.¡± Ba Shifang shook his head. ¡°I didn¡¯t create this. It¡¯s something I used by borrowing the Nine Heavens Emperor¡¯s power.¡± ¡°I see,¡± the sword monarch said. ¡°So, what should we do?¡± ¡°I think I can kill the dragon, but my intuition is telling me that it¡¯s not that simple. I want to prevent any accidents and stop that black dragon from destroying it.¡± The sword and immortal monarchs nodded in agreement. Meng Tingfeng seemed like he wanted to say something, but held his tongue. Now wasn¡¯t the time. As Ba Shifang predicted, Donghai Longzi returned, but without Honglin to accompany him. The sword and immortal monarchs fought head-on, especially Meng Tingfeng, to stop him from interrupting Ba Shifang. Within the Planetary Purgatory, Yujiao¡¯s once immense body had shrunk by nearly half. It wasn¡¯t by choice, but because of the immense gravity compressing him. His body trembled as it attempted to resist the pressure. Each shiver caused his bones to grate against each other and the muscle. Were it not for his strong willpower, he might have already screamed out in pain. He didn¡¯t scream out in pain, but he did shout something that caused Ba Shifang to feel a chill crawl up his spine. ¡°Help me, Empress Bluefeather!¡± Chapter 464: Epiphany ¡°Fly into the sphere before it¡¯s too late!¡± Ba Shifang shouted. Without waiting for anyone else to react, he flew into the Planetary Purgatory. There was a moment of silence, but the other immortal monarchs followed him, even the sword monarchs. If the monarchs of the Immortal Court trusted him because they were allies, the sword monarchs charged into the sphere because Meng Tingfeng took action and followed Ba Shifang¡¯s words. They didn¡¯t trust Ba Shifang, but they had more trust in Meng Tingfeng. Even if Ba Shifang was his son, Meng Tingfeng wouldn¡¯t offer them as sacrifices to the Immortal Court. Not to mention that Yujiao said empress, meaning an expert in the Demon Emperor Realm, was present. A sense of dread filled them soon after they acted, causing them to move even faster. Strangely, Donghai Longzi didn¡¯t pursue. If anything, he retreated. Before they could ponder on the abnormality of the situation, the monarchs already entered the Planetary Purgatory, and not a moment too soon. A small blue spark appeared right where they all once stood. The spark burst into a blazing blue flame with a white center. The blue blaze incinerated the true immortals unlucky enough not to make it inside the Planetary Purgatory. That one attack killed over twenty of them, even if they had been part of a formation. Those true immortals who made it to safety all ventured deeper. The sword monarchs, who stayed at the edge of the sphere, ready to escape at a moment¡¯s notice in case this was a plot by Ba Shifang to trap them, also flew deeper into the sphere. Even inside, they couldn¡¯t help but sweat from the fiery heat of the flame. The flame engulfed the Planetary Purgatory, intent on incinerating it to ashes. However, the planet-like sphere held strong against the flames, unyielding and refusing to melt. The blue flames roared as if in anger as it grew and multiplied until it engulfed everything, turning the planet into a blue star. A lot of things happened. In reality, all of this occurred within a minute. The heat eroding the Planetary Purgatory increased, causing the monarchs to venture deeper inside. Unlike Yujiao, still trapped in the center of technique, none of the monarchs felt the binding gravitational force. With a moment of peace, they gathered together to discuss their next plans. ¡°I never expected that Demon Empress Bluefeather would be present and lurking about,¡± a monarch from the Immortal Court said. ¡°The question is whether she¡¯s been lurking in the shadows all this time or not. Personally, I feel that it is the former since she only appeared when that silver dragon called out,¡± a sword monarch said. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, why take action now?¡± Meng Tingfeng asked. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect a demon emperor to personally oversee the Human Refinement Plan. If she really is, why didn¡¯t she stop us, or at least take away everything before we destroyed it?¡± ¡°Perhaps she arrived later, after we already discovered and destroyed it,¡± an immortal monarch suggested. ¡°Then the problem is why?¡± Meng Tingfeng asked. ¡°Perhaps this isn¡¯t the only realm they¡¯ve captured. Maybe the Demon Clan had already secretly started their plan and took over more realms.¡± At this, everyone¡¯s expression sank. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that,¡± Ba Shifang said, choosing this moment to speak. ¡°The issue we should be discussing is how to flee unscathed. Don¡¯t forget, there are still many true immortals inside the Hundred Pill Realm. If Demon Empress Bluefeather focuses on them, we won¡¯t be able to protect them.¡± Although the rate at which cultivators successfully overcame their Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation has increased, it didn¡¯t mean that the loss of a true immortal was nothing to the Immortal Court. A single true immortal still represented countless resources and power. Meng Tingfeng crossed his arms, hands still gripped around his sword. ¡°I just tried to contact the Numinous Sword Sect, but my message has been blocked. Originally, I wanted to stall for reinforcement, but it seems like that is impossible. And if we wait for them to notice the abnormality, our bones might already turn cold by then.¡± ¡°Actually, that¡¯s not impossible,¡± Ba Shifang said. He raised his arm and showed the violet-gold Xiyi Talisman in his hand. ¡°I already contacted the Immortal Court and explained the matter. They¡¯ve dispatched an immortal emperor to assist.¡± Meng Tingfeng and the other sword monarchs stared at the Xiyi Talisman. Of course, they knew about the Xiyi Talisman. Although information had been blocked while the Huang Realm upgraded to the Primordial Realm, that blockage disappeared and the Numinous Sword Sect redoubled their efforts to secure information, especially after the Jade and Numinous Conference. They just never expected what they thought to be a little trinket used to control the information of the Primordial Realm to actually have substance. If it could contact the Primordial Realm through Demon Empress Bluefeather¡¯s jamming, the Numinous Sword Sect would have to reassess its threat level. But for now, the Xiyi Talisman¡¯s reliability gave them greater confidence. ¡°That¡¯s great,¡± a sword monarch said. However, the monarchs of the Immortal Court didn¡¯t look as happy. ¡°The situation isn¡¯t as hopeful as it seems,¡± an immortal monarch said. ¡°Although Grand Elder Zhang will be dispatched, it will still take some time to arrive. The demon empress will have more than enough time to do many things before reinforcement arrives.¡± Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. The overall mood lowered, but Ba Shifang wasn¡¯t done with the bad news. ¡°You forget, it¡¯s not just the time needed for Grand Elder Zhang to arrive, but whether or not our shield can withstand the demon empress¡¯s flames. This technique takes a significant amount of qi, and few besides Grand Elder Nine Heavens can use it at will. Even I have to use a pill prepared by him. Once the qi runs out, the technique will collapse. By then, we might be as helpless as the true immortals.¡± Of course, that wasn¡¯t entirely true. As long as the conduit Ba Shifang carried with him to help supply the energy, the Planetary Purgatory could last until an overwhelming force shattered it, but neither Ba Shifang nor Tianyi¡¯s conduit would take such an action. If anything went wrong, it would leak too much information to the Numinous Sword Sect. ¡°Then what should we do?¡± a sword monarch asked. As a sword immortal, he didn¡¯t fear death, but that didn¡¯t mean he wanted to die. ¡°What about your Descending Immortal Embassy? I heard that it was able to block an immortal emperor¡¯s blow years ago.¡± Said immortal was a sword emperor from the Numinous Sword Sect, but every one of them selectively decided to forget that little fact. An immortal monarch shook his head. ¡°At its core, it¡¯s an immortal boat. Its defensive ability is not that strong. At most, it can withstand three blows. It¡¯s fast, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s faster than a qingluan.¡± Although not a phoenix or a Vermillion Bird, qingluan was still one of the most powerful species among the Demon Clan. As an avian demon, she boasted exceptional speed, even if it wasn¡¯t her strongest attribute. At the very least, an immortal emperor would have to comprehend a law suitable for movement or possess an immortal body comparable to her to be able to contend with a qingluan¡¯s speed. Silence filled the air as they reached another dead end. None of them suggested using the Descending Immortal Embassy as bait while they escaped. Ignoring the fact that whether or not all of them would agree or if Demon Empress Bluefeather would fall for such a low-level trick, the force behind them would severely punish them. They might even be executed to calm the hearts of the other true immortals. ¡°Shifang, how long can your technique last?¡± Meng Tingfeng asked. Ba Shifang threw an annoyed glance. Still, he answered. ¡°For a few hours.¡± ¡°And how long will it be for your grand elder to arrive?¡± ¡°At least a day.¡± Meng Tingfeng sunk into silence. Even a blind man could see he was contemplating on something important. ¡°I¡¯ll delay her. You and the others escape while I attract Demon Empress Bluefeather¡¯s attention.¡± Upon hearing this, Ba Shifang couldn¡¯t help but be moved. It seemed as if Meng Tingfeng was sacrificing himself from the group, but coupled with his earlier actions and words, Ba Shifang almost believed that he was really Meng Tingfeng¡¯s son. As a clone, he had no father or mother, but his main body was different. It was likely that Meng Tingfeng wasn¡¯t his father, but Xi Tianyi¡¯s father. Involuntarily, Ba Shifang felt some fondness for Meng Tingfeng. However, he also felt a sense of sadness because he knew this affection was not truly meant for him. Simultaneously, he envied Tianyi for having a father willing to sacrifice himself for him. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. He gave a calm smile. ¡°I have a trump card that will help me escape. With you guys here, I can¡¯t use it at all.¡± Ba Shifang snorted. ¡°Who needs you to be a hero? Are you trying to brag or something about how powerful you are? Don¡¯t get ahead of yourself.¡± He stared at the trapped Yujiao. Even now, the blue flames still continued to burn the Planetary Purgatory. ¡°Before talking about escaping, how about getting rid of this scourge that caused all this?¡± At Ba Shifang¡¯s words, all of them stared at the jade-horned dragon with unkind eyes. Logically speaking, it was impossible to blame Yujiao for Demon Empress Bluefeather¡¯s appearance. She should have always been watching, but in this tense situation, finding an outlet to vent on was better than nothing. Yujiao, who had been struggling to escape all this time, naturally noticed the hostile gazes. He moved his lips, but there was no noticeable movement because of the gravity binding him. Originally, it was Ba Shifang in charge of attacking him since none of the other monarchs¡¯ attacks would pierce the Planetary Purgatory, but now that all of them were inside it, that no longer applied. Filled with frustration, reason, duty, and many other motivations, all of them attacked Yujiao. Coupled with Ba Shifang¡¯s own involvement, the magnitude that the dragon had to endure increased. The only one who didn¡¯t take action was Meng Tingfeng. It was not out of pity or empathy, but because he was saving his strength. No matter what Ba Shifang said, he had already made up his mind to delay Demon Empress Bluefeather so that Ba Shifang and the other immortals could escape. Under all the pressure, Yujiao¡¯s previously serene eyes rippled. He never expected that Ba Shifang¡¯s technique could withstand Demon Empress Bluefeather¡¯s assault, and by the clues, he discovered it could last for a long time. Long enough for the immortals to slay him, as they were attempting to do now. The silver dragon continued to struggle for hours. He never stopped even as more and more scales on his body cracked. Blood continuously poured out from his cracked scales, and finally, he stilled. The eyes filled with emotion fell silent, like a pool of stagnant water. Yujiao sighed. ¡°I had wanted to keep this a secret longer.¡± None of the immortals attacking him heard his whisper except Ba Shifang. Before he could react, Yujiao already took action. A golden light full of compassion and mercy erupted from Yujiao¡¯s body. It illuminated the entire Planetary Purgatory. Were it not for the blue fire wrapped around it, the golden light would have shone through it too, but even so, Demon Empress Bluefeather and Donghai Longzi noticed the change. The golden light dyed the silver scales gold. Not only that, but the cracked scales returned to their previous pristine sheen, cracks vanishing. Aside from his jade-like horns, no trace of his previous appearance could be seen. It was as if Yujiao had always possessed golden scales and not silver scales. Yujiao¡¯s body coiled in the center of its prison, the gravitational force seemingly losing its effect. He opened his jaws and spat out a round object. At first glance, it appeared akin to a dragon pearl, but closer inspection revealed its gnarly features. It was not a pearl but a seed. ¡°Bodhi seed!¡± Ba Shifang said upon recognizing it, and he wasn¡¯t the only one. Coupled with the golden light, he and the others naturally discovered Yujiao¡¯s connection to Buddhism. Now, it was a question of whether the Demon Clan had allied themselves with the Buddhists. If that was the case, their previously discussed plans could no longer be carried out. However, that was a thought for after as Yujiao took action. The bodhi seed shimmered with a resplendent light, one that eclipsed the light Yujiao exuded. Soon, it filled the entire Planetary Purgatory and even showed signs of piercing the blue flame engulfing it. Then the Planetary Purgatory shattered, like a planet collapsing. Chapter 465: Stellar Silence Pill For a moment, a thunderous roar echoed in the Vast Void, but no one had time to marvel at the abnormality of the noise. The Planetary Purgatory fragments did not collapse and instead morphed into smaller spheres. Demon Empress Bluefeather¡¯s blue flames still coated them, but the fragments expelled a gaseous cloud to keep them at bay before zooming away from the flames. The blue flame did not continue to entangle them. Instead, they shot toward where the core of the Planetary Purgatory once occupied, which was now replaced by a golden sphere that blinded all those within a million kilometers with golden light. Demon Empress Bluefeather stared at the golden sphere, fury burning in her eyes. How could she not know what the golden light meant? The Demon Clan had always been wary of spies because the Divine Beast Pseudo System¡¯s strongest defense was the anonymity of its location. Because of this, the leaders of the Demon Clan, the Four Divine Beasts, had always maintained a state of wariness. Once a spy leaked the information, then the danger to the Divine Beast Pseudo System would skyrocket. Thankfully, the Four Divine Beasts had always hidden the location of the Divine Beast Pseudo System from most of the other demon emperors, much less demon kings like Yujiao. Even the granddaughter of Demon Emperor Redraco, Honglin, did not know. The lengths at which the Demon Clan went to hide the location went beyond the restriction of information. Surrounding the Divine Beast Pseudo System was a grand formation that blurred all investigative abilities or techniques. Someone just exiting would not be able to ascertain their location. Not even a demon emperor was exempt from this effect. To enter, you needed a pair of parent-child artifacts. The parent artifact would be held by one of the Four Divine Beasts inside the pseudo system, while the other would be held by a demon emperor wanting to enter. The holder of the parent artifact would be able to sense the holder of the child artifact and determine the risk and danger. Only after deeming them safe would the holder of the child artifact enter the Divine Beast Pseudo System. Furthermore, only the demons escorted by one of the Four Divine Beasts or a trusted demon monarch could enter or leave the Divine Beast Pseudo System. And during the process, the passengers must enter a realm artifact and have their sense of the outside obscured. All of this seemed extreme, but because of these extreme measures, the location of the pseudo system never leaked. But now, that might change. Because of the secretive nature of the operation, only those trusted by the high echelon were chosen to perform this mission. In terms of trust, Yujiao ranked even higher than Donghai Longzi and lived in the True Dragon Realm longer than the latter, too. For him to expose that Buddhist light now meant he was undoubtedly a spy. Even if he tried to exonerate himself by explaining that it was a technique he picked up would not convince Demon Empress Bluefeather. True, he might have not gleaned much because he was inside the realm artifact, but that didn¡¯t make the qingluan feel better. As one participant of this mission, he knew that the Divine Beast Pseudo System was preparing to relocate. Once news of that disseminated, then it would jeopardize their goal. How would they dare to move their home base with so many eyes seeking to expose them? So many years of planning, all wasted because of a single spy and under her watch, too! ¡®I should have known something was fishy,¡¯ Demon Empress Bluefeather thought. Even if he reached the end of his ropes, he should have used the treasure the Demon Clan bequeathed onto him to escape, not shout out her name and expose her. However, the demon empress did not know that Yujiao had attempted to use the treasure, but was still suppressed nonetheless. Yujiao had hoped that Demon Empress Bluefeather would have been able to extradite him from his predicament, but the Planetary Purgatory was far stronger than either of them thought. Knowing that it would be the end of him if he waited for the demon empress to shatter the Planetary Purgatory, Yujiao took measures into his own hands. Although his life was saved, it also exposed his identity. Demon Empress Bluefeather wanted to capture that damn traitor and bind him forever. Then, she would scale him piece by piece. Cut open his belly and devour his innards little by little. She would heal him so he could suffer torment for eternity. For the rest of his life, he could only watch his organs eaten little by little, but he would never be able to die because he would be healed. Yujiao would not be able to escape or even kill himself. He could only suffer, unable to change anything. As if sensing her thoughts, the golden sphere shot away into the distance. ¡°Get back here, traitor!¡± Demon Empress Bluefeather shouted. She could let the immortal monarchs live, but she couldn¡¯t let Yujiao leave. Even if he had already transmitted the information despite her jamming, she still wanted to stop him on the off chance that he failed. Of course, why would Yujiao do as she wished? Although the now-golden dragon didn¡¯t know what would happen to him if he fell into Demon Empress Bluefeather¡¯s talons, it would undoubtedly be something he would not be looking forward to. So, he fled with all his might. The bodhi seed was a talisman refined by the S¨±rya? Buddha as a final trump card to save his life. How could a demon empress¡¯s means exceed that of a Buddha? Demon Empress Bluefeather didn¡¯t know the exact power and the maker of the talisman, but she could tell that if nothing changed, Yujiao would escape from her. So, she summoned her realm artifact, the Sacred Fire Grotto. Instantly, a world of flames materialized in the Vast Void. Its boundaries grew, like claws reaching out to trap Yujiao. The Vast Void disappeared, and in its place was a burning sky. The torrent of fire clumped together to form colossal cables, all coiling toward the golden sphere like vipers intent on piercing its surface with their poisonous fangs. They struck the barrier, but only succeeded in unraveling themselves, akin to eggs smashing into a rock. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. The unraveled flames grabbed the golden sphere and coated it, forming a layer of pure fire. The temperature rose to an unbearable degree. Even a demon king would find it hard to last long at such extreme temperatures, but the golden sphere ignored everything and continued on its trajectory. Demon Empress Bluefeather frowned. She thought the binding power of the Sacred Fire Grotto would at least slow down Yujiao, but it was as if the golden sphere had jumped out of the five elements, no longer able to be contaminated by the mortal world. She snorted. The flames streamed toward her, fueling her. Her avian body grew thrice its original size, but it wasn¡¯t just her size that had changed. Her speed also skyrocketed. Before Yujiao could react, a shadow fell over him. Demon Empress Bluefeather¡¯s avian form was already above the golden sphere, talons stretched out. The talons closed in around the flame-covered sphere. Within her talons, the red flames covering the sphere heated up and turned blue. Even with her avian head and beak, anyone could see the vindictive grin forming upon the demon empress¡¯s face. But before that smile could last long, a brilliant golden light dispersed the beautiful but deadly blue flames, and they disappeared like smoke. The light intensified, piercing through the boundaries of the Sacred Fire Grotto and blinding Demon Empress Bluefeather. When she recovered her vision, Yujiao had disappeared. Demon Empress Bluefeather roared at the burning sky. The land and the very air reverberated with her anger. Fire burst in and out of existence as the temperature increased. Demon Empress Bluefeather couldn¡¯t sense Yujiao anymore and knew she had failed. Not only had she exposed her presence for nothing, the Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sects would definitely dispatch immortal emperors to hunt her down, and the entire operation needed to be canceled, all because of her. She had become a sinner of the Demon Clan. She turned her head and directed her wrath-filled gazes at the immortal monarchs. While attempting to trap Yujiao, the Sacred Fire Grotto also absorbed the immortals in the Vast Void. Since it was destined that she would be hunted, she didn¡¯t mind going all out and killing all the immortals present. Ba Shifang and the others sensed Demon Empress Bluefeather¡¯s naked killing intent. They all raised their guards, but they were like butterflies trapped in a spider¡¯s web. Ba Shifang controlled the fragmented Planetary Purgatory to flee, intent on escaping outside the boundary of the Sacred Fire Grotto. Demon Empress Bluefeather unleashed a cry and soared toward the closest fragmented Planetary Purgatory. Simultaneously, the boundary of the Sacred Fire Grotto shrunk. Although it became smaller, space became more stable, and it became even more difficult to pierce the dimensional boundary. She arrived at the first one, the one that contained Ba Shifang. It was not a coincidence since the demon empress kept track of him because she saw him as the greatest threat. She rammed straight into the fragmented Planetary Purgatory. The fragmented Planetary Purgatory only possessed a fraction of the original technique¡¯s might. How could it withstand the full might of a demon empress empowered by a realm artifact? The planet-like sphere shattered upon contact, exposing Ba Shifang and two other immortal monarchs hiding inside. ¡°Shifang!¡± Meng Tingfeng shouted. He burst out of the Planetary Purgatory fragment with a sword in hand. Four of the seven stars on the Seven Star Sword shone brightly, just like the night sky. Ba Shifang did not answer. Instead, he and the other two monarchs all fled in different directions. Demon Empress Bluefeather ignored Meng Tingfeng. Even in the Vast Void, she would not fear him, much less inside her realm artifact. Under her control, the air around the three immortal monarchs burst into flames. It wasn¡¯t a fatal attack, but it would hinder and wound them all the same. The more time passed, the greater the danger of perishing. Of course, she wouldn¡¯t just rely on her realm artifact. Demon Empress Bluefeather chased Ba Shifang. Ba Shifang gazed back to see the rapidly approaching demon empress. Compared to the other two, who received burns, he only got a few soot marks on his clothes, but that made Demon Empress Bluefeather want to kill him even more. A golden pill appeared in his hand, and the demon empress instantly felt a sense of unease. Acting on instinct, she opened her beak. Seven rings of fire materialized in front of her. Demon Empress Bluefeather breathed a burst of flame. As it traveled its way through the rings, the fire became hotter and more intense, changing color along the way. After passing the seventh ring, the flame had a white-hot center edged in violet. As for Ba Shifang, he simply ignited the golden pill in his grasp with his qi and threw it at the demon empress. Unlike the Planetary Purgatory Pill Ba Shifang used before, the golden pill didn¡¯t immediately show its effect when thrown. In fact, it just seemed like a simple ball as the violet flame neared it, ready to incinerate it to dust. Demon Empress Bluefeather did not look down on it. She could still feel the unease, and the lack of reaction only made her warier. Then, the golden pill made contact with her white-violet flame, and a pure white light filled her vision. Even as a qingluan that followed the path of fire, Demon Empress Bluefeather felt an unbearable heat. Acting on instinct, she retreated and cut off her attack. The light didn¡¯t blind her as long as Yujiao¡¯s golden light had, but it still served its purpose. When she regained her vision, the demon empress glared hatefully at Ba Shifang, who was still fleeing. Demon Empress Bluefeather felt the vitality of her realm artifact weaken. It was only a slight amount, nothing over five percent, but that shouldn¡¯t have happened. Any spells within a realm artifact like the Sacred Fire Grotto should be suppressed. The realm artifact should have been able to siphon the qi used to fuel them and increase its own energy. But the Sacred Fire Grotto could not absorb the energy of the golden pill. It was the same with the fragmented Planetary Purgatory. Both used a black qi filled with countless motes of light. That qi corrupted and corroded the air of the realm artifact. She had to spend more of the Sacred Fire Grotto¡¯s energy to suppress it, further weakening it. Although it had not reached the point of having a noticeable effect on the Sacred Fire Grotto¡¯s output power. One or two wouldn¡¯t be a problem, but what about ten, or even five? Demon Empress Bluefeather didn¡¯t believe that Ba Shifang could carry so much, nor did she believe that the other immortals had the same objects. If the Numinous Sword Sect or the Immortal Court could arm every monarch with a golden pill, then the Demon Clan should surrender directly. Her current dilemma was whether to continue her chase of Ba Shifang or kill the other immortal monarchs first. Her choice was made for her as Meng Tingfeng rushed toward her. The demon empress snorted. Even though she was wary of Ba Shifang, it did not mean she was afraid to fight, much less a mere sword monarch. Flame exploded from her feathers and she attacked Meng Tingfeng. Since he sought death, she will send him on the way. Before she could kill the sword monarch, Demon Empress Bluefeather received an urgent transmission from Donghai Longzi. ¡°Empress Bluefeather, there¡¯s something flying this way incredibly fast, likely the humans¡¯ reinforcement. It won¡¯t take long to reach¡ª¡± Donghai Longzi never finished as the Sacred Fire Grotto trembled. A crack appeared in the sky, revealing the Vast Void. From that crack appeared a young man dressed in purple with a golden coronet atop his head. Chapter 466: Realm Breaker Donghai Longzi shut his eyes against his will as the golden light erupted from the Sacred Fire Grotto and filled his vision. He could feel something deep inside of him, yearning for the golden light and sutras in his ears. The battle lust, which he had hidden during his time in the Divine Beast Pseudo System, burst out and almost overtook all reasoning. He stamped down on the impulse urging him to become a berserker and opened his eyes once more. With his vision restored, Donghai Longzi caught a glimpse of a golden streak far away before it simply vanished in the Vast Void. Knowing that it would be futile to chase the fleeing Yujiao, he focused his attention on the Sacred Fire Grotto. From the outside, it looked nothing more than a sphere a hundred thousand kilometers wide. That did not mean the space inside was only a hundred thousand kilometers, though. In reality, it was far larger. His gaze couldn¡¯t pierce through the dimensional boundary of the realm artifact, but that didn¡¯t stop him from sending a message, asking Demon Empress Bluefeather if she needed any aid. Honglin had already retreated because of her weaker strength. They would meet up again after he and Demon Empress Bluefeather threw off any possible pursuer. When Demon Empress Bluefeather replied, Donghai Longzi could only shake his head. She only said two words, ¡°Don¡¯t interfere!¡± The sheer amount of anger behind her demon sense was enough to scald, if not burn. Not that he couldn¡¯t understand. In normal circumstances, Donghia Longzi would not care for the targets the demon empress vented her frustration on, even if they were from the Immortal Court, but Ba Shifang was different. As fellow clones, even if one was no longer under Tianyi¡¯s absolute control, they could be said to be closer than brothers. Needless to say, Donghai Longzi was not willing to see Ba Shifang die. Just like in the Vast Void, an immortal could not regain their qi inside a realm artifact, or a realm controlled by a realmlord. A realmlord controlled almost every aspect of the realm under his control, while a realm artifact did not have the same amount of power as a realm, but the artifact¡¯s owner had absolute control over it. If she did not want her prey to restore his qi, then she would just prevent him from absorbing the qi of the realm artifact. Not only that, but anyone trapped in a realm artifact would face a perfect domain that constantly suppressed them. Any technique they used or unleashed would become severely inhibited, unable to achieve a hundred percent efficiency. Ba Shifang¡¯s greatest hope was to escape the Sacred Fire Grotto¡¯s dimensional boundary and flee before Demon Empress Bluefeather could trap him within. Of course, that was easier said than done. Someone like Tianyi definitely could, but Donghai Longzi didn¡¯t believe Ba Shifang could escape a realm artifact even if he could contend against an immortal emperor. Being able to contend with an immortal emperor ultimately did not mean you were an immortal emperor, after all. ¡°You already know the situation, right? What are you going to do about it?¡± Donghai Longzi asked in a low whisper, seemingly talking to no one. But he was clear that someone was always watching and paying attention to the situation. Upon hearing no response, Donghai Longzi didn¡¯t ask again. Instead, he stared at the Sacred Fire Grotto. Those star-like eyes gazed into the fiery boundary, as if wanting to pierce them. The colossal serpentine body floated in the void, not moving even a millimeter, but the power building beneath those scales could destroy continents. If Tianyi did not take action and would let Ba Shifang die, then he would save him. In the worst-case scenario, he would destroy his cover as a spy. The more time passed, the more power Donghai Longzi accumulated, ready to burst. Then, he caught a glimmer out of the corner of his eyes. ¡®Did Yujiao come back?¡¯ However, a familiarity and connection¡ªone that Donghai Longzi hadn¡¯t felt for thousands of years¡ªappeared once more. He looked up to see a shooting star, one far more radiant and dazzling that Meng Tingfeng could ever form, coming toward him. No, it wasn¡¯t a shooting star, but a soaring nova. One that made his eyes, which resemble twin suns, pale in comparison. ¡°I¡¯m going to attack you and then break into the Sacred Fire Grotto.¡± The sudden transmission didn¡¯t surprise him, but the content did. However, Donghai Longzi soon realized the intention behind his main body¡¯s message. The two were on opposite sides, and he couldn¡¯t watch as Tianyi entered the Sacred Fire Grotto without doing anything. According to logic, he should attempt to block Tianyi¡¯s path. After all, like Ba Shifang, he was also able to contend against experts in a realm higher than his own. Donghai Longzi didn¡¯t immediately take action. Tianyi was too far right now, and the only reason he sensed the latter was because of the connection between clone and main body. The later he ¡°sensed¡± Tianyi and reported, the less time Demon Empress Bluefeather would have to react after he reported. So, he looked down. Currently, the glimmering star was still far away. Even with his bestial perception, Donghai Longzi could not make out any details except for the star being bright. Although unordinary, stars going supernova was not a rare occurrence in the Vast Void. He continued to gaze at the Sacred Fire Grotto, pretending to not have noticed Tianyi. Only a few minutes passed until Donghai Longzi noticed the icy void becoming a bit warmer. ¡®Is it another intruder? There¡¯s no way Main Body could affect the temperature from so far away, right?¡¯ Donghai Longzi turned around and his pupils shrunk into needlepoints. Before he knew it, Tianyi had already appeared within a million kilometers of him, and the star-like shroud covering Tianyi formed a dwarf star with a diameter of a hundred thousand kilometers. ¡®How did I miss it? Was it because I purposely avoided it?¡¯ Donghai Longzi thought, before immediately revoking his thought. ¡®Impossible. Even if I was trying to avoid noticing it, there was no way I would not sense such a presence.¡¯ This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. He stared at the star soaring closer to him. Then he noticed the spatial fluctuations around the star, distorting and hiding its very presence. Unless you stared directly at it, it would be practically invisible. Tianyi had used the Law of Spacetime to hide his track, but Donghai Longzi didn¡¯t have time to appreciate Tianyi¡¯s skill. ¡®Fast!¡¯ Before Donghai Longzi knew it, Tianyi had already shortened the distance between them in half. He hurriedly contacted Demon Empress Bluefeather. The panic in his voice was not false. He was afraid that the demon empress would suspect him as a spy because of how late he noticed Tianyi. And that was the only thing he could do before Tianyi arrived. First came the blinding light. Donghai Longzi felt as if he had unknowingly entered a realm of pure white. Then came the unbearable heat. Even with a body more powerful than dragons of the same realm, he could feel his scales sizzle and scorch the flesh underneath. Maybe it was his imagination, but Donghai Longzi had the illusion that his scales were melting and melding together. He couldn¡¯t care for anything else at this moment. He knew that he had to escape before it was too late. So, regardless of anything, Donghai Longzi flew away. Although the heat continued to injure him, it did not restrict him much. After a few seconds that seemed like an eternity, Donghai Longzi finally escaped the fiery hell. Steam wafted off his scales. It was not his illusion. The heat had really melted his scales. Donghai Longzi felt uncomfortable even as the excess heat dissipated. It was as if he had worn a new set of clothes one size too small. However, Donghai Longzi did not have time to care as he turned around and finally saw what exactly Tianyi had done. He had rammed straight into the Sacred Fire Grotto. From the outside, it appeared as if two suns had collided into one another: a white nova crashing into a red sun. At this point, it was no longer his battlefield. Even if Donghai Longzi wanted to help, he wouldn¡¯t be able to contribute much. A sense of frustration arose within him. Not because of his injury and Tianyi¡¯s might. No, it was at the ease at which Tianyi injured him. Tianyi¡¯s target hadn¡¯t even been him, at least not directly. The result of him crashing into the realm artifact had the potential to seriously injure him had he stayed in the range. Didn¡¯t that mean that Tianyi wouldn¡¯t need to spare much effort to defeat or kill him? Donghai Longzi felt as if Tianyi had widened the distance again. He had always known that Tianyi held an unreasonable advantage because of his inner universe, but knowing it and experiencing it were two different things. His eyes became firm as he made a choice. He would break through to the Demon Emperor Realm at the earliest convenience. He contacted Demon Empress Bluefeather, explaining what had happened. Donghai Longzi originally wanted to enter and help, but to his surprise, she told him to flee like Honglin. With Tianyi¡¯s appearance, it was no longer possible to kill the immortals present before fleeing, but now, it was unlikely to succeed. Rather than kill the immortals and let Tianyi chase after him, it was better to flee now. Donghai Longzi didn¡¯t argue against the order either. True, he wanted to fight Tianyi, but he knew it was meaningless at this time. The difference in power was just too vast. So, he turned around and fled the scene, just like Honglin. He never expected that he would repeat her actions so soon.
Tianyi sensed Donghai Longzi¡¯s departure, and he didn¡¯t plan on hiding that he knew. ¡°It¡¯s a pity. I thought the aftermath of the collision would kill that dragon, but it seems I should have killed him before breaking into this realm artifact.¡± Instantly, the surrounding space tightened, and the temperature surged, but he acted as if he couldn¡¯t feel it. And that might as well be the truth. With the endless amount of energy from the Nine Heavens Universe and his unique constitution, the Sacred Fire Grotto couldn¡¯t hamper his physical ability at all. Demon Empress Bluefeather snorted. ¡°Rather than thinking about killing Donghai Longzi, you should worry about how to save your companions!¡± Without another word, the demon empress unfurled her wings and charged toward one of the immortal monarchs closest to her. In her eyes, so what if Tianyi broke into the Sacred Fire Grotto? She could at least kill a third of the immortals present before he reached them. Maybe half if she was lucky. Against her expectations, Tianyi didn¡¯t chase after her. Instead, light radiated off of his body and formed hundreds of incarnations. Those stellar incarnations charged in all directions. A few of them shot toward Demon Empress Bluefeather, which she dodged easily. However, those few stellar incarnations weren¡¯t aiming at her, but the realm itself. Once they made contact or neared the ground, they exploded. At first, Demon Empress Bluefeather didn¡¯t care much, but soon, her expression changed. She realized that the qi they emitted was incredibly similar to the golden pill Ba Shifang used. Still, she still pursued the immortal monarchs of the Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect. She didn¡¯t believe Tianyi had enough qi to pollute the entire Sacred Fire Grotto. Comparing the qi reservoir of an immortal emperor to a realm was like comparing a lake to the ocean. It was simply an impossibility. However, she did not know that Tianyi was not a lake, but the entire starry sky. Comparing the ocean to the universe was even more daunting than comparing a lake to the ocean. Tianyi¡¯s actions didn¡¯t end. The stellar incarnations never stopped, and simultaneously, he stretched his hand. With the palm facing downward, an enormous amount of qi condensed below his palm until it formed a miniature star. Upon sensing the sheer amount and density of the energy, Demon Empress Bluefeather discovered the origin of the golden pill Ba Shifang used. She hesitated whether or not to stop Tianyi, but he didn¡¯t wait for her to decide as the miniature star fell. Like the golden pill before, the miniature star expanded once it left the hand. An overwhelming dread filled Demon Empress Bluefeather. She acted immediately to suppress the miniature star, but she witnessed something that made her want to shout, ¡°cheater!¡± As soon as the first one left, another miniature star started to materialize in Tianyi¡¯s palm. Now, she was in a dilemma. Either she could focus on stopping Tianyi or continue to hunt down the immortal monarchs. If she didn¡¯t stop Tianyi, then it would harm her realm artifact to the point that it would need a large amount of time and resources to recover. Honestly, killing a few immortal monarchs was not worth the damage to the realm artifact. Furthermore, the realm artifact was something she inherited from the previous Vermillion Bird. Once she found a successor and passed the mantle, she would bestow the Sacred Fire Grotto to the new generation, too. On the other hand, the humans could not discover the Divine Beast Pseudo System¡¯s location after eons. She would have more than enough time to heal the Sacred Fire Grotto. At least, that was before Yujiao turned out to be a traitor. Now, there was a very high risk of a battle between the Demon Clan and the humans. Weakening the Sacred Fire Grotto would not be conducive to that. Still, Demon Empress Bluefeather was unwilling to flee without having killed one immortal monarch. At the very least, the humans must pay that price. Tianyi¡¯s eyes grew cold when he saw the demon empress ignore him. After the second Stellar Silence fell, nine miniature stars started to form in his palm. Once that happened, not even Demon Empress Bluefeather could ignore it. She stared at Tianyi, or rather, the terrifying technique he was powering up to unleash. A split second later, an unwilling shriek penetrated the entire Sacred Fire Grotto. Then, the burning sky vanished, and Demon Empress Bluefeather transformed into a fiery meteor that shot away. Tianyi didn¡¯t give chase. Instead, he gazed at an immortal monarch. More specifically, one sword monarch: Meng Tingfeng. He turned toward Ba Shifang, ¡°Explain.¡± Chapter 467: You are the Father Meng Tingfeng and his fellow sword monarchs congregated together. They should have focused on healing their injuries after entering the Hundred Pill Realm, where it would be easier to restore their qi, but they didn¡¯t. Instead, they waited in front of Xi Tianyi. Logically speaking, they should thank Xi Tianyi for saving them, but he ignored them and started talking to Ba Shifang in hushed tones. Even the monarchs of the Immortal Court didn¡¯t go forward because of the strange atmosphere around the two. Instead, they started to tally the casualties. Although no immortal monarchs died, many true immortals still perished from the clash against the demon empress. The losses couldn¡¯t be said to be catastrophic. It might even be called good, considering that they killed Jiaohu before he could become a major threat. Each side used their own means to contact the forces behind them. Even though Xi Tianyi was present, almost every monarch in the Immortal Court knew that he didn¡¯t have any responsibilities, so they still reported it. After this, the two sides would likely communicate again. The Numinous Sword Sect would likely fault the Immortal Court and sue them for benefits. They would likely say that they dispatched their immortals on goodwill to cooperate with the Immortal Court, but the result caused their deaths. Was the Immortal Court sincere in their alliance, or was this all a scheme to drag down the Numinous Sword Sect? Of course, that would be the explanation the Numinous Sword Sect maintained. The deaths of the true immortals weren¡¯t that important in the grand scheme of things, but that didn¡¯t mean it couldn¡¯t be used. What followed would undoubtedly be a series of negotiations. The series of negotiations wouldn¡¯t matter to the immortal monarchs present. For now, at least. ¡°No, that''s not true. That''s impossible!¡± Xi Tianyi¡¯s shout attracted all the immortal monarchs¡¯ attention, and even a few true immortals. He turned around from Ba Shifang and stared at Meng Tingfeng. A trace of killing intent filled his eyes, causing Meng Tingfeng and the other sword monarchs to raise their guards. Thankfully, Ba Shifang stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. ¡°No matter how much you don¡¯t want to accept it, what I told you is likely the truth,¡± Ba Shifang said. ¡°Ever since meeting him, I could always feel a familiar sensation from him, and that¡¯s likely why. The only reason you can¡¯t is because of your unique immortal body.¡± Meng Tingfeng furrowed his brows. He smelled something more from Ba Shifang¡¯s words. Was there more truth to the matter other than Ba Shifang being a neglected illegitimate son? ¡°Impossible, there¡¯s no way he¡¯s my father.¡± Xi Tianyi¡¯s words caused all the immortals within hearing range to freeze. Most of the true immortals and immortal monarchs present were far older than Xi Tianyi, even older than Xia Meng¡¯s generation. The amount of information they knew about him was even less than those of his generation. Because Tianyi¡¯s rise was too short. He only had a few records from his days in the Mortal Realm. Compared to other geniuses, his fights were really far too few, so no one could accurately piece together his exact strength during this period. After he entered the Immortal Realm, it was even stranger. He skipped the Pathfinding Immortal Realm and directly entered the Seamless Immortal Realm, causing a sensation. Then the next time he showed his strength was during the Huang Realm Unification War, where his impressive feat was destroying the Eight Pillar Sect¡¯s headquarters by himself. By that time, he had already gained the power of an immortal emperor. The only reason his mother was not overshadowed by his brilliance was because she reached the Origin Immortal Realm. In respect of his power, those that knew of his information did not disclose it lightly. As a result, Xi Tianyi became shrouded in myths and legends. Especially these true immortals who had awakened from stasis. They were all true immortals nearing the end of their lifespan thanks to their insufficient willpower, becoming unable to withstand the passage of time. Although they became indifferent, they did not want to die. So they entered a state similar to suspended animation and waited until the Buzhou Immortal Sect became the Immortal Court. When the Immortal Court then conferred an official position to them, they gained longevity beyond their willpower. However, it was also a shackle. Mystery shrouded Xi Tianyi, so much so that even these indifferent true immortals were curious. One of the accepted ten great mysteries in the Xiyinet was the identity of Xi Tianyi¡¯s father. Some said Xi Mengfei did not consummate with any man and that Xi Tianyi was born with no father. Others said that his father had long died, causing Xi Mengfei endless heartache and freezing her heart cold. There were many conjectures and rumors, so much so that it could create a whole series of novels. In fact, many people did use Xi Tianyi¡¯s legend as the basis for writing many popular novels. Some were even more daring and wrote fictional biographies of his life. After all, many people wanted to read about this mysterious yet powerful figure, sometimes inserting themselves into Xi Tianyi¡¯s shoes. ¡°Shifang, Emperor Nine Heavens is right. You¡¯re my son, not him,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. Afraid that Ba Shifang wouldn¡¯t believe him, he explained the entire process, including the exact realm he had the encounter with Xi Mengfei, using his immortal sense. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Ba Shifang naturally relayed what Meng Tingfeng told him to Tianyi. ¡°Impossible,¡± Xi Tianyi said again. ¡°If such an encounter really did happen, why did Mother not recognize him at the Jade and Numinous Conference?¡± ¡°I mean, with Grand Elder Xi¡¯s personality, maybe she already forgot Meng Tingfeng¡¯s appearance?¡± Ba Shifang¡¯s causal words dealt a critical blow to Meng Tingfeng. He was very weak compared to her at the time, but he shouldn¡¯t be so forgettable, right? Especially after the intimate encounter the two had. Xi Tianyi echoed his thoughts. ¡°What kind of person do you think Mother is? No matter how uncaring she is, she shouldn¡¯t forget the person who¡­well¡­ did that, right?¡± ¡°I mean, it¡¯s not entirely impossible,¡± Ba Shifang said. ¡°Don¡¯t forget about how she was raised. Maybe no one gave her the talk? And she didn¡¯t realize what had happened after you were conceived? Or maybe she only learned how it worked after?¡± Xi Tianyi opened his mouth, as if he wanted to refute Ba Shifang¡¯s words. However, he shut it. With his mother¡¯s personality and history, it was very likely! ¡°Hold on,¡± Meng Tingfeng said out loud. He could already see the sinking realization in Xi Tianyi¡¯s eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t have any blood connection with you. The one that shares my blood is Shifang. Why are both of you so sure that you are my son and not Shifang? Isn¡¯t Shifang an illegitimate child while you are the legitimate child?¡± At his words, the other immortals perked their ears. Was one of the Primordial Realm¡¯s top ten mysteries finally going to unravel before them? ¡°It¡¯s impossible for Shifang to be your son,¡± Xi Tianyi said. ¡°Strictly speaking, he¡¯s not Mother¡¯s son either. He has no father or mother, not even siblings.¡± Meng Tingfeng and the other immortals paused. What did Xi Tianyi mean by this? It was not that he was unwilling to believe Ba Shifang, but the evidence all pointed elsewhere. Xi Mengfei¡¯s beauty was forever carved in his memories. Aside from those pairs of eyes, Xi Tianyi looked nothing like her. And Xi Tianyi didn¡¯t look like himself, either. So Xi Tianyi had to be fathered by someone else. Thankfully, Meng Tingfeng didn¡¯t have to wait long for answers as Xi Tianyi opened his mouth once more. ¡°Shifang was my clone, born of my split soul and blood before I formed my Nine Heavens Immortal Body.¡± It was as if an explosion had gone off in their heads. Ba Shifang¡¯s identity was originally hidden for convenience. Even though a few people knew of his status, no one deliberately spread it, so these immortals from the previous generation only knew Ba Shifang as a talented junior who was close to the Xi mother-son pair. However, when they recalled Ba Shifang¡¯s talent and power, it was not unacceptable. In fact, Ba Shifang seemed ordinary compared to Xi Tianyi. He wasn¡¯t even an immortal emperor yet after thousands of years. For most cultivators, cultivating to the Extremity Immortal Realm was practically a miracle, but in their eyes, Xi Tianyi had accomplished this in less than a thousand years. So, Ba Shifang¡¯s talent seemed dim in comparison. Meng Tingfeng just stared, as if his worldview had undergone a fundamental transformation. The person who he thought of as a son was actually his actual son¡¯s clone. And he had always regarded his actual son as an enemy. Not only that, he had mis-blamed Xi Mengfei and thought her as a biased mother. He felt like a clown. He stared at Xi Tianyi, not knowing what to say. Give him gifts like he did to Ba Shifang? But what in his hand could catch Xi Tianyi¡¯s eyes? Not only was he an immortal emperor strong enough to be called a junior sovereign, he also had an actual immortal sovereign for a mother. What treasures did he not have? Give him the Seven Star Sword? That was impossible. Finally, Meng Tingfeng forced out, ¡°¡­Tianyi¡ª¡± Xi Tianyi¡¯s expression darkened to a terrifying degree. Without another word, he pointed a finger at him. Before Meng Tingfeng knew it, the surrounding space solidified, and he felt like an insect encased in amber. That sensation didn¡¯t last long as he felt his internal organs shift as he was shot over a hundred thousand meters away. He had to suppress his injuries, otherwise, he would have puked out a mouthful of blood. ¡°First of all, I still haven¡¯t verified if this matter is true. Second, all my life, I only have my mother, no father. Third, even if you are my sperm donor, don¡¯t think I will acknowledge you.¡± Tianyi¡¯s voice echoed in the Vast Void. When Meng Tingfeng regained his bearings, Xi Tianyi had already disappeared. Disappearing with him was Ba Shifang, the other immortal monarchs, and the true immortals. He shared a look with his fellow sword monarchs. Finally, he sighed. ¡°Let¡¯s go back.¡± Meng Tingfeng didn¡¯t even want to settle down and heal himself before leaving. None of them disagreed. The news they learned was quite explosive, to say the least.
Upon returning to the Immortal Court, Tianyi made a beeline for Mengfei. ¡°Mother, do you recognize him?¡± Mengfei looked at the image Tianyi conjured. She squinted her eyes and stared at the man pictured. ¡°I don¡¯t know him, but he feels familiar.¡± The corner of Tianyi¡¯s lips twitched. He stared into Mengfei¡¯s eyes, trying to see if she concealed anything. ¡°You should recognize him. He¡¯s the sword monarch that fought my clone during the Jade and Numinous Conference.¡± ¡°Oh, no wonder he looks familiar.¡± Tianyi nodded. ¡°Mother, how about we kill this guy first when we fight the Numinous Sword Sect?¡± Now, it was Mengfei¡¯s turn to stare at Tianyi. She may be taciturn and lack common sense that even mortals knew, but she could still tell something was off with Tianyi. ¡°Why are you so intent on singling him out? It¡¯s not just because of Shifang, is it? Who is he?¡± Tianyi looked away. For a moment, the thought of hiding Meng Tingfeng¡¯s identity seemed mighty appealing. As long as no one said anything, Mengfei would not recognize him. If she did not recognize him, there wouldn''t be any outsider interfering in their relationship. However, Tianyi couldn¡¯t do that. He knew his mother grew up indoctrinated by the tradition similar to ancient China. If she learned that he killed his own father, she might grow to resent him, and he never wanted that. Still, he didn¡¯t want Mengfei to recognize Meng Tingfeng, either. Finally, he sighed and explained what had happened. When Mengfei digested everything, she said, ¡°You aren¡¯t allowed to kill him.¡± ¡°Why?!¡± Chapter 468: He is Your Father ¡°He is your father,¡± Mengfei simply said. ¡°Is there any other reason?¡± Tianyi asked. Internally, he sighed in relief. With Mengfei¡¯s personality, he didn¡¯t believe she would use himself as an excuse not to kill Meng Tingfeng. Since the reason originated from himself, Tianyi believed she didn¡¯t have any lingering feelings for him after learning of the truth. Mengfei furrowed her brows, a rarity in contrast to her perpetually expressionless face. ¡°Isn¡¯t that reason enough?¡± She tilted her head, as if not understanding why Tianyi didn¡¯t think it was a good enough reason. ¡°I read that children need fathers to grow up. If you don¡¯t have a father, you can¡¯t be called a real grown up.¡± Tianyi¡¯s lips twitched. ¡®What strange books did Mother read again? Or had she read it, but never got the time to bring it out because she couldn¡¯t remember who my sperm donor was?¡¯ ¡°Mother, did you forget it? I¡¯m a reincarnator, I¡¯ve already experienced what it¡¯s like to have a dad? I don¡¯t need it for a second time. After all, I¡¯ll only have disappointment,¡± Tianyi said. Mengfei frowned. ¡°I forgot. So you were already a grownup. I heard that it¡¯s a mother¡¯s greatest joy to see her child grow, but unfortunately, I won¡¯t be able to experience it.¡± Tianyi¡¯s lips twitched again. He didn¡¯t know how to reply to that, so he changed the subject. ¡°So, can we agree that I don¡¯t need a father?¡± ¡°It seems like that is the case,¡± Mengfei said, but even though she agreed, she felt something was off. ¡°Right, then let¡¯s kill him!¡± Tianyi said, one big sunny smile on his face. ¡°Again, killing him,¡± Mengfei said. ¡°Why do you want to kill him so much?¡± Tianyi stared at Mengfei. ¡°You¡¯ve changed. Before, you would have just said yes.¡± For some reason, Tianyi got the feeling of pride oozing from Mengfei, even though she didn¡¯t adjust her position or even change her expression. ¡°Of course, I¡¯ve changed. It¡¯s called maturing.¡± Feeling a bit funny, Tianyi played along. ¡°Ah mother, that¡¯s called growing up. You¡¯ve grown up.¡± Mengfei tilted her head and looked at Tianyi. ¡°Only children grow up, adults mature.¡± Tianyi sucked in a deep breath. He felt like he was on two completely different wavelengths with Mengfei today. ¡®Forget it.¡¯ ¡°I just don¡¯t want to recognize him as my father. Since I was young, I did not need a father. In my heart, I only recognize one parent, you, Mother.¡± Mengfei stared at Tianyi. Unconsciously, a smile appeared on her face, one that she did not detect. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to recognize him as your father, don¡¯t force yourself.¡± Tianyi nodded. ¡°I feel like he wants to recognize me very much, though.¡± He crossed his arms. Now that the stone in his heart had settled, it was time to think about the consequences of the information. Since Meng Tingfeng told so many people, it was a fool¡¯s errand to conceal it. He had to think about how this information would affect the overall situation. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, as long as you don¡¯t kill him,¡± Mengfei said. Tianyi frowned. ¡°Why can¡¯t I?¡± ¡°You¡¯re his son. No matter what, you shouldn¡¯t kill your father,¡± Mengfei said. ¡°But he will eventually become our enemy. You don¡¯t want me to convince him to join our side, do you? That¡¯s impossible for me.¡± Mengfei shook her head. ¡°No, I don¡¯t mean that. Just as a son, you shouldn¡¯t kill him. If he is killed by someone else, it doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Tianyi smiled. He stayed a bit longer in Jade Peak Palace. After satisfying Mengfei¡¯s request, he left to see Xia Meng, the former sect master of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Strictly speaking, he should have spoken to the current leader of the Immortal Court, the Immortal Minister of Appointments, Sovereign Everpast, but he was more familiar with Xia Meng. Xia Meng warmly received Tianyi. He led the younger immortal to a table and poured tea for the two. The two engaged in conversation. ¡°After learning the information, Redseal lost his heart. He¡¯s still alive, but his willpower lowered too much. He might not live for long.¡± Originally, an immortal monarch like Redseal should be able to live for at least a hundred thousand more years, but his heart became attached to his grandson. Originally, he still held hope that Lovespot still lived even if his Soul Lamp extinguished. After all, if there was no information, there was always a chance. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. But after learning about the Dragon Emperor¡¯s actions, Redseal directly lost all hope. His willpower weakened to the point that he would be lucky to live for another hundred years. His heart had shattered to such an extent that he wouldn¡¯t even develop an inner devil. At least in his previous state, he could still develop an inner devil. Such was the nadir he plummeted to. Tianyi only let out a single ¡°oh.¡± Among the most dangerous points of his life, Redseal contributed to one of the most harrowing events. Granted, Tianyi didn¡¯t think he would dare, but the experience imprinted itself into his mind. So, he had no pity for this overly indulgent grandfather. ¡®Good riddance.¡¯ Still, he didn¡¯t speak his thoughts. ¡°Oh, right. I forgot you don¡¯t have the best impression of Redseal, silly me. With my retirement, I must have gone senile with old age,¡± Xia Meng said, chuckling. Although he appeared middle-aged, he still had a head full of black hair, and didn¡¯t look senile at all. ¡°Speaking of which, why did you come to me?¡± ¡°Can I not just visit you?¡± ¡°You can, but every time you visit me, it seems that it was for something.¡± ¡°I never noticed.¡± Tianyi nodded. ¡°But yes, I did come here for matters. I think I may have discovered my sperm donor.¡± It took a moment for Xia Meng to process what Tianyi said. He smiled. ¡°I guess congratulations are in order.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t celebrate too soon. Neither me nor Mother care about him,¡± Tianyi said with a roll of his eyes. ¡°What is so special about his identity? He wouldn¡¯t happen to be related to the Saintly Scholar School or the destroyed Eight Pillar Sect, would he?¡± ¡°Worse.¡± ¡°How worse can it be?¡± ¡°He¡¯s a peak lord of the Numinous Sword Sect.¡± Xia Meng¡¯s hand, which was bringing a cup of tea toward his lips, paused. ¡°That is alarming.¡± He placed the teacup back on the table and began to think of the ramifications. Strictly speaking, he didn¡¯t think that Tianyi exposing his relationship to Meng Tingfeng would change anything much for the Immortal. First of all, he had known Tianyi since he was a child. In addition, Tianyi was a reincarnator. The longing for a father must not be much, if it existed at all. Compared to Tianyi, he worried about Xi Mengfei more. ¡°What does Grand Elder Xi think?¡± ¡°She doesn¡¯t care, but just said I can¡¯t kill him,¡± Tianyi shrugged. ¡°Personally, I don¡¯t see the big deal. He¡¯s just my sperm donor, after all.¡± ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s a difference in thoughts. I don¡¯t know what kind of world you lived in before your reincarnation, but here, it is imperative to respect your parents. To kill them is a grave sin,¡± Xia Meng said. ¡°No matter what?¡± ¡°No matter what.¡± ¡°Even if the parent wants to kill the children?¡± Xia Meng paused. ¡°Although there are such cases, a child still shouldn¡¯t kill their parents.¡± ¡°That¡¯s stupid and outdated,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°It¡¯s true that a child is born because of their parents, and this is a great grace, but the parents have a responsibility too. Some people don¡¯t deserve to be parents, and towards such parents, the child should not need to respect them.¡± Xia Meng sighed. ¡°I see I can¡¯t change your mind, but think of it this way. If you kill your father, many people will question you. You may not care, but they will think that Grand Elder Xi didn¡¯t teach you well, or worse.¡± ¡°They dare?¡± Tianyi glared and crossed his arms. He snorted. ¡°You don¡¯t have to tell me. It¡¯s not like I was planning on disobeying mother. Just because I won¡¯t kill him myself doesn¡¯t mean I have to save him. He¡¯s a sword monarch of the Numinous Sword Sect, and war will come soon enough. By then, there will be many people wanting to kill him.¡± Xia Meng didn¡¯t say anything more. He could see that Tianyi didn¡¯t really have a huge desire to kill Meng Tingfeng, but what he valued more was Tianyi¡¯s attitude. He had become too important to the Immortal Court. If Tianyi wanted to, the Immortal Court would likely do their best to spare Meng Tingfeng, no matter how dangerous he was. Now that Tianyi didn¡¯t care, it meant that the Immortal Court didn¡¯t have to spare so much effort to save Meng Tingfeng. Of course, they couldn¡¯t completely disregard Meng Tingfeng. If given the chance, they would still choose to spare his life, just not as much if Tianyi cared. What Xia Meng considered was how to use this information. The matter could be said to be huge, but it wasn¡¯t that huge. It could also be said to be small, but not that small either. More importantly, how could the Immortal Court use this information? Perhaps convince Meng Tingfeng to betray the Numinous Sword Sect? According to their spies, Meng Tingfeng ascended from a lower realm. Not to mention that he seemed to really want to reunite with Tianyi. No, but that wasn¡¯t reliable. Maybe drive a wedge between him and the Numinous Sword Sect. Even if nothing came out of it, inciting some friction would work. Or perhaps use this connection to deepen the relationship between the Immortal Court and the Numinous Sword Sect? And once the time to war came, use everything they gain to attack the Numinous Sword Sect? Xia Meng shook his head. He looked at Tianyi. Judging by Tianyi¡¯s reaction, he definitely wouldn¡¯t cooperate, but using this relationship to shorten the distance between the two sides should be useful. What was the concept called again? Ah, yes, cultural exchange. If Tianyi knew what Xia Meng thought, he would definitely punch the latter. Tianyi left not long later, and Xia Meng left to discuss the matter with Minister Everpast.
While Tianyi¡¯s matter started, the Immortal Court moved onto the next step of their plan against the Demon Clan. Thanks to insider information, they already knew what the Demon Clan planned and what their next step was, especially after Yujiao revealed himself as a Buddhist spy. Currently, they dispatched Grand Elder Zhang to chase after Empress Bluefeather, and the Numinous Sword Sect also dispatched a sword emperor. Of course, Grand Elder Zhang was equipped with a realm artifact to combat Empress Bluefeathers¡¯ Sacred Fire Grotto. They didn¡¯t know whether the Numinous Sword Sect did or not, but it didn¡¯t matter. The high echelons never expected or wanted Grand Elder Zhang to kill or capture the demon empress. They wanted to drag out the time and wait to see if the Buddhists, the biggest variable in their grand plan, would take action. If not, then slowly let Demon Empress Bluefeather escape and lead them back to their den. The only reason they hadn¡¯t attacked yet was because they hadn¡¯t a hundred percent captured the Divine Beast Pseudo System¡¯s location, and the big surprise they gave Donghai Longzi to deliver. The years passed. One year, two years, five years, ten years, and finally, twenty-two years. The time for the cultural exchange between the Primordial Realm and the Numinous Sword Sect to commence. Chapter 469: Cultural Exchange Meng Tingfeng stepped off the immortal boat and breathed in the air of the Buzhou Immortal Court. Compared to the Numinous Sword sect dominated by mountain peaks, it was certainly more lively, full of green pastures and exotic plants, almost like an immortal paradise imagined by mortals. It was certainly more homely, at least. However, he cared more about the qi density. This was just the normal part of the Buzhou Immortal Court, right by the Mortal Severance Gate, but the qi density was comparable and even eclipsed that of the Numinous Sword Sect. Of course, most of the qi were attracted by formations and concentrated in cultivation chambers, but would the Buzhou Immortal Court not possess such areas? Obviously, yes. ¡°It¡¯s completely different from the Numinous Sword Sect. It feels peaceful,¡± Shu Qingya said as she stood next to him. After the encounter with Demon Empress Bluefeather, Meng Tingfeng told Shu Qingya everything. Since he already said it in front of everyone else, he didn¡¯t think he could hide it, even if he wanted to. If that¡¯s the case, why not just confess everything? Shu Qingya thanked him for his frankness, and she didn¡¯t treat him any differently. However, the same could not be said for the entire Numinous Sword Sect. Meng Tingfeng could already feel a certain estrangement. He was someone who ascended from the lower realms. Even if he inherited the Seven Star Sword Monarch¡¯s legacy, the Numinous Sword Sect would always question his loyalty more than the members that grew up as part of the sect. Not to mention that Meng Tingfeng hadn¡¯t stayed long in the Numinous Sword Sect. He had only ascended for only a little over a thousand years, but to most immortals, that was far too short. True immortals could live for at least a hundred thousand years, and immortal monarchs lived longer on average. He would need to stay at least ten thousand years for most of the Numinous Sword Sect to trust him as much as members that grew up in the Numinous Sword Sect. Meng Tingfeng already expected this, so he didn¡¯t become distraught. Instead, he focused on cultivating and ascending to the Extremity Immortal Realm. The last encounter with Ba Shifang and Xi Tianyi already made him doubt his previous conjectures. He didn¡¯t think Xi Tianyi or Ba Shifang would lie to him on such matters, and it didn¡¯t seem that the other Buzhou Immortal Court¡¯s monarch conspired together to trick him. And what would be the point? Aside from himself, no one knew. How could they conspire without insider information that they didn¡¯t have? Well, maybe except Xi Mengfei, but Meng Tingfeng didn¡¯t know what she thought. She ignored him, after all. According to his guess, she must want to hide the information. Since that¡¯s the case, Meng Tingfeng realized that Xi Tianyi being his actual son, and Ba Shifang being a clone, had grounds to stand on. So, he began to consider everything if Xi Tianyi really was his son. Then Meng Tingfeng had a headache. Originally, he was very surprised that Ba Shifang had enough power to defeat him, but he still had the confidence to grow stronger than him. However, Xi Tianyi made him feel a slight sense of despair. He didn¡¯t want his son to die when the Numinous Sword Sect and Buzhou Immortal Court came to blows. As long as he had enough strength, he could suppress Ba Shifang and capture him. He didn¡¯t think Ba Shifang would despair too much if Xi Mengfei died, considering how she treated him. But now that the truth was revealed, Meng Tingfeng¡¯s original plan could no longer commence. Meng Tingfeng didn¡¯t think the Numinous Sword Sect would be willing to let an immortal emperor live just because of him. The Numinous Sword Sect would definitely do all it could to kill Xi Mengfei unless she joined them. And Xi Tianyi definitely would resent him if he let Xi Mengfei die. He could see how close his son was to his mother, just from how he refused to acknowledge their relationship. If he wanted to save both Xi Tianyi and Xi Mengfei, then he would have to be strong enough. His strength would have to exceed the Immortal Realm and reach the Divine Realm. As long as he had the power of a divinity, it would be simple to defeat the Buzhou Immortal Court, which didn¡¯t have a divinity, and the Numinous Sword Sect would take his words into consideration once he had such strength. The only problem was that it was easier said than done. Forget the Divine Realm. His strength was weaker than his son and Sovereign Xi. So, Meng Tingfeng decided that he had to increase his strength as fast as possible in order to save the mother-son duo. Not to mention that it was kinda embarrassing for a father to be weaker than his own son. Thankfully, the time for the war between the Numinous Sword Sect and Buzhou Immortal Court should be still far into the future, and the war against the Demon Clan gave him a perfect whetstone to sharpen himself. However, his plan to spend decades or even centuries before the war against the Demon Clan in secluded cultivation was broken by the joint plan of the two hegemonic forces. It was called the cultural exchange, a program promoted by the Buzhou Immortal Court to deepen the relationship between the two forces. The two hegemonic forces would send diplomatic envoys consisting of immortal monarchs, true immortals, and mortal cultivators to learn and understand each other¡¯s culture. Meng Tingfeng had to snort. It was a super idealistic idea, but the more likely case would be that the force would dispatch spies hidden among those immortals. Still, the Numinous Sword Sect did not reject the program and accepted it. What surprised Meng Tingfeng was that he was specifically named as a required participant in the cultural exchange. The only reason he could think of that he was specifically named was because of his connection to Xi Tianyi and Xi Mengfei. Did the Buzhou Immortal Court want to win him over? A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Regardless of the reason, Meng Tingfeng could not reject it. What surprised him was that Shu Qingya volunteered as one of the ten monarchs sent to the Primordial Realm. Aside from the two, most of the immortal monarchs were those that reached the limit of their talent or those whose willpower had started to decline. ¡°Welcome, welcome,¡± a middle-aged man with a head full of black hair said as he smiled at them with a cupped fist. The leader of the diplomatic envoy was an elderly man with salt and pepper hair. Unlike the other immortal monarchs, he was the sole pill monarch. Most of the cultivators in the Numinous Sword Sect chose to become sword cultivators, but not every member pursued the sword path. A few, like this monarch, chose other paths. On the surface, their status could not be said to equal sword monarchs, but in other ways, their status also exceeded the vast majority of sword cultivators in the same realm. Especially alchemists. For sword monarchs who constantly bordered on life and death, alchemists were saviors that could treat their injuries. ¡°To be welcomed personally by Emperor Xia is a great honor,¡± the pill monarch said as he returned Grand Elder Xia¡¯s gesture. ¡°Nonsense, everyone of you is an honored guest. You are the hope and lynchpin of our future cooperation,¡± Grand Elder Xia said. His words were full of sincerity, and many of the mortal cultivators, and even some true immortals, became entranced by his charisma. ¡°Come, come. You all must be tired. I¡¯ll lead you to your abode for now. We have prepared a sumptuous banquet for you all tomorrow.¡± ¡°In that case, I will humbly thank you,¡± the pill monarch said as he got onto the smaller immortal boat Grand Elder Xia took out. All the envoys followed him and were led towards Rites Peak. There, they were led toward the guest palace, the Myriad Sword Palace. Unlike the other palaces, which exuded peaceful or gentle auras, the Myriad Sword Palace exuded a slightly sharp aura, but for the envoys, it felt more familiar. Almost homey. The palace was large enough that each person received their own rooms and then some. The numbers of servant-disciples also eclipsed the envoys, ready to service them at their beck and call. Room size depended on the occupants¡¯ realm and status. For immortals like Meng Tingfeng, he naturally received one of the largest. Currently, he stood on the balcony, staring at the distant stars. The placements were different, but he could still recognize many stars in the sky. Perhaps the reason he embarked on the Law of Stars was because only they accompanied him each time he reached a new realm. ¡°What are you thinking about?¡± On the balcony next to his, a woman walked out dressed in a loose blue dress. Meng Tingfeng turned to look at Shu Qingya. ¡°Nothing much. I¡¯m just thinking about how to face my son and the truth. Why didn¡¯t she recognize me?¡± ¡°Where¡¯s the confidence that you had when you said you would make people call you a junior divinity?¡± Shu Qingya asked, her teasing clear. ¡°Yes, what must be faced will eventually come. There¡¯s no point in delaying,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. The feeble aura around him condensed until it was as hard as iron once more. ¡°Tomorrow, I will try to find a time to speak to her publicly. Since it¡¯s a banquet to welcome us, she must appear.¡± Shu Qingya also nodded. Her eyes lit up with a certain type of fire. ¡°I only saw Sovereign Xi from afar in the Jade-and Numinous Conference. I wonder what she¡¯s like as a person.¡± Meng Tingfeng couldn¡¯t help but glance at his chosen partner. He could feel a strange fighting intent emanating from her for an unknown reason. Still, he did not think much of it as he returned to his room. He did not sleep, but adjusted himself to his most perfect condition, both in mind and body, for tomorrow¡¯s banquet. However, the night passed much faster than Meng Tingfeng anticipated. When he flew up toward Rites Palace at the mountaintop, butterflies appeared in his stomach. He took a few deep breaths to calm down and finally sat down in his arranged seat in the banquet hall of the palace. He looked around, scanning the immortals and mortals present. There was no clear division between the people of the Numinous Sword Sect and the Buzhou Immortal Court to facilitate easier integration, but most of them were still stuck to their own group. Meng Tingfeng¡¯s eyes paused when he saw Xi Mengfei sitting a bit away from himself. Aside from her, Minister Everpast was also present and the host of the banquet. In his presence, even Grand Elder Xia, the former sect master, could only play second fiddle. One person that wasn¡¯t present that made him dejected was Xi Tianyi. Minister Everpast stood up and gave a grand speech about the peace between the Buzhou Immortal Court and the Numinous Sword Sect, as well as alluding to the future cooperation. Of course, to the outside, this was just a probe by the Buzhou Immortal Court after it gained hegemony over the Primordial Realm. However, Meng Tingfeng heard none of it. He had eyes only for Xi Mengfei at this time. He didn¡¯t know for what reason, but she appeared even more beautiful than before. Was it because of the closer distance, or maybe because he realized his previous evaluation of her was wrong? She quickly noticed his gaze and turned to look at him. Just as Meng Tingfeng thought she would turn away without acknowledging him, she actually nodded. Only then did Xi Mengfei turn away. Despite himself, Meng Tingfeng couldn¡¯t help but become slightly excited. Soon, the banquet began. There was no such thing as friendly sparring or the like. This was a banquet to establish a cooperative relationship. Something like a friendly competition will only incite resistance or ill will on both sides. Once there was a chance, Meng Tingfeng took a chance to walk up to Xi Mengfei. ¡°Hello.¡± Xi Mengfei glanced at him and only gave a brief, ¡°Hello.¡± The two sunk into silence again. Finally, Meng Tingfeng asked again. ¡°Is Tianyi not here?¡± Xi Mengfei stared at him. Her brows subconsciously twitched for a single moment before smoothing over. Neither she nor anyone else detected it. ¡°Yi¡¯er said he wasn¡¯t interested.¡± And just like that, silence filled the air between the two. Although the two were inconspicuous, they noticed many eyes drawn toward their location. After all, rumors had spread like wildfire, and these people wanted to know the truth. When Meng Tingfeng was thinking of how to break the ice, Shu Qingya walked forward and stood next to Meng Tingfeng, her shoulder practically glued to his. ¡°Sovereign Xi, I want to ask, do you remember Tingfeng?¡± Meng Tingfeng stared at Xi Mengfei. Unknowing to him, a hint of anticipation appeared in his eyes. Xi Mengfei looked at the duo, expressionless. ¡°No.¡± Chapter 470: Raised Wrong Meng Tingfeng¡¯s expression froze. Not just him, but so did Shu Qingya¡¯s expression. Even those who were eavesdropping had the exact same expression. Only the high echelon from the Immortal Court had bitter and defeated expressions. They were long used to their grand elder¡¯s quirks, but still, they couldn¡¯t act as if nothing had happened. At this time, Xia Meng released a deliberate laugh and walked up. ¡°Forgive her, forgive her. Grand Elder Xi is wholeheartedly devoted to cultivation. It¡¯s the reason why she reached her current height. Before her son was born, I remember her forgetting me quite a few times. I remember at least a hundred occasions.¡± An ugly expression appeared on Meng Tingfeng¡¯s face. Can the two situations compare? After all, one was an intimate moment¡ªone which led to the birth of a new life¡ªwhile the other was just an acquaintance. No matter how face blind Xi Mengfei was, she shouldn¡¯t forget her first time with a man, right? Or was Xi Mengfei telling him that he was so worthless and unimportant that he was unworthy of being remembered, despite him being her first and the father of her child? As a man, how could Meng Tingfeng tolerate such a slight? If he could, he would never harm a woman, but for the first time in his life, Meng Tingfeng wanted to slap a woman. Had it not been for Shu Qingya squeezing his hand, Meng Tingfeng might have done something he could never take back. A look of realization dawned upon Meng Tingfeng. So this was the source of it all. No wonder his son didn¡¯t want to recognize him. With such a mother, how could his son recognize him? Xi Mengfei didn¡¯t see Meng Tingfeng¡¯s twisted expression. Or rather, she didn¡¯t care, nor could she discern his inner thoughts. She turned toward Xia Meng. ¡°A hundred times? Wasn¡¯t it only once?¡± ¡°See?¡± Xia Meng said with a helpless expression. He looked at Meng Tingfeng and inwardly sighed. He thought that Xi Mengfei had been getting better at socializing, but he was wrong. Or maybe she had some subconscious repulsion to Meng Tingfeng? It wouldn¡¯t be out of the realm of possibility. After all, having a father meant dividing her son¡¯s attention. Meng Tingfeng forced down his discontent until nothing could be seen on his face. He showed a disappointed and sad smile. ¡°To be honest, it¡¯s a huge blow to me. After all, when I met Sovereign Xi all those years ago, it left a lasting impression on me.¡± Xia Meng blinked. To be honest, he really wanted to know what happened that year, but considering the location, it was better not to air out the details. So he could only smile apologetically. ¡°Please don¡¯t mind her, that¡¯s just her personality.¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­understandable,¡± Meng Tingfeng finally said after a moment of deliberation. ¡°Sovereign Xi is dedicated towards the immortal path. It¡¯s no wonder she reached such heights. Even though we¡¯re the same age, I¡¯m still only a little seamless immortal.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± Mengfei simply said. Since someone praised her, she would accept it. ¡°I wonder where Tianyi is. Can you tell me?¡± Meng Tingfeng asked. Looking around. He had to educate his son well and not let him be led astray by that woman any longer. ¡°I¡¯m afraid Grand Elder Nine Heavens isn¡¯t on the island at the moment,¡± Xia Meng said. ¡°He sensed someone ascending from the lower realm and left to see who it is.¡± ¡°Is that so interesting?¡± Meng Tingfeng asked. He was someone born in a lower-rank realm, so he ascended several times. Although each ascension brought him to a stronger realm, after experiencing it so many times, he had long tired of it. Because of his rising strength, his former companions could only stay in the lower realm. Meng Tingfeng had already switched his companions and friends many times. Even when he descended to the lower realms and visited them again, the difference in realm made it so that whatever friendship they once had would deteriorate. Rather than allow that to happen, why not just keep the memory of those friendships in his heart as beautiful mementos? ¡°Do you know when he will come back?¡± Meng Tingfeng. ¡°This¡­¡± Xia Meng furrowed his brows. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t know. His strength has surpassed mine, and he has a transcendent status in the Immortal Court. There is only one person that can order him. At most, I can just send a message.¡± ¡°Speaking of which,¡± Xia Meng took out a Xiyi Talisman. ¡°Do you know about this? It¡¯s Grand Elder Nine Heavens¡¯ creation. He¡¯s quite the genius, that boy. This talisman has completely revolutionized the entire Primordial Realm.¡± Meng Tingfeng nodded, and a proud smile appeared on his face. Of course he heard about it. However, his eyes caught sight of Xi Mengfei nodding in agreement. She didn¡¯t feel like a mother to him at this time, but an arrogant woman proud of her spawn. After a few more words, Meng Tingfeng excused himself. He needed to speak to his son as soon as possible, but tragically, Xi Tianyi never returned to the Immortal Court, drifting in the Primordial Realm. How could Meng Tingfeng not guess Tianyi was avoiding him? Helpless, he resumed his cultivation, ignoring all other matters. Even if he could convince his son, he needed to have the power to take him away.
In a desolate area of the Trinity Continent, a dimensional tear appeared. Soon, many figures appeared in the air, observing the tear. On the other side of the dimensional tear was a vast land, but it was far from comparable to the Primordial Realm. The spiritual qi density of the local area decreased as the dimensional tear swallowed it, blessing the high-rank realm. However, none of those figures paid attention to the scenery on the other side. No, they wanted to see who had overcome their Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. Soon, a figure appeared out of the dimensional tear. Although it still existed, it was closing at a slow rate, and it would disappear by the end of the day. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. The newly ascended immortal wore pure-white robes. There was not a single stain or speck of lint on it, as if untouched by mortal dust. Similarly, his hair was devoid of any color, shining like fresh snow under the harsh sunlight. Even his eyes were white. If one looked closer, they would discover that his eyes actually contained a mixture of all colors. Anyone who gazed too long into his eyes would feel sleepy. Already, a few cultivators who hadn¡¯t transcended the Mortal Realm fell onto the ground after gazing into his eyes. Even the true immortals present couldn¡¯t help but suck in a cold breath. All of them detected the powerful illusion behind the man¡¯s eyes. If they weren¡¯t careful, they might fall under it too. The most important part was that the illusion activated passively. With how powerful his illusions were, the man was likely a soul cultivator. Not all soul cultivators were illusionists, but the most powerful illusionists were undoubtedly soul cultivators. ¡°Welcome, friend,¡± a true immortal said, stepping forward. ¡°I¡¯m from the Wither Flower Sect. I¡¯m wondering if you are interested in joining? We have over ten immortals.¡± Another immortal snorted. ¡°You still have the gall to boast about ten true immortals? Fellow Daoists, join my Thousand Spirit Sect. Our grand elder is an immortal lord comparable to an immortal monarch.¡± ¡°You guys are so impatient,¡± a female immortal said. She glanced at the newly ascended immortal and couldn¡¯t help but click her tongue. Even as a woman, she had to admit that man¡¯s charms went beyond genders. ¡°I am known as Fairy Moonwisp. I don¡¯t know how to address fellow Daoist.¡± The white-haired man stayed silent for a few seconds before answering. ¡°I am known as Dreamwalker.¡± Immediately, Fairy Moonwisp felt her knees go weak. Not just her, but the others who heard his voice also had the same reaction. The voice was extremely pleasant and made them want to sink into unconsciousness so that they could hear it forever in their dreams. ¡°What an amazing ability.¡± While the true immortals became enamored by Dreamwalker, a raspy voice called out. A black-robed man with a hunched back walked out. Upon his entrance, all the other true immortals paled. ¡°Fiend Monarch Voidheart!¡± Fairy Moonwisp shouted with a hint of despair. One true immortal directly turned around and fled, but the hunched immortal sneered. His body merged into the void and blocked the fleeing true immortal. Before the true immortal could do anything, Voidheart¡¯s bony fingers pierced his chest. The true immortal spat out a mouthful of blood. He didn¡¯t even have time to form any coherent words before the hunched immortal pulled his heart. Simultaneously, the immortal¡¯s eyes lost its light. Just like that, Voidheart killed a true immortal. He stored the true immortal¡¯s corpse and heart into his spatial ring with a wave of his hand. ¡°I never expected to see a soul cultivator ascend from a lower realm. It¡¯s a good thing I decided to check it out on a whim,¡± Fiend Monarch Voidheart said. His hand was covered in blood, reminding everyone of what he had just done. ¡°Now, are you going to resist like the last one or give up? Personally, I don¡¯t care. It¡¯s more fun with the thrill of the hunt, but I¡¯m also old. Sometimes, I don¡¯t want to put in too much effort. And if I put too much effort, I get mad. When I get mad, I want to torture people.¡± Fairy Moonwisp gritted her teeth. ¡°You still dare to show up, Voidheart? I already contacted the Crescent Sky Sect. Soon, immortal monarchs will arrive to hunt you down!¡± Fiend Monarch Voidheart laughed as if he had heard the funniest thing in the world. ¡°Girl, the number of monarchs that want to kill me is in the hundreds. But do you know why I can escape every time? It¡¯s because I mastered the Laws of Space. Not even an immortal emperor can capture me easily as long as I leave before they arrive.¡± ¡°Besides, how can I let a fairy like you go?¡± Voidheart said as a lecherous smile appeared on his bony face. ¡°I still remember the sweet screams of the last woman from the Crescent Sky Sect. Unfortunately, she didn¡¯t last long, but her heart was also very delicious.¡± He shifted his eyes from Fairy Moonwisp to Dreamwalker. He smacked his lips. ¡°I usually don¡¯t go for men, but I¡¯ll make an exception for you. Are you ready? Ready to experience the highest height of heaven and the deepest pit of hell?¡± Dreamwalker didn¡¯t hide his sneer of disgust, but Fiend Monarch Voidheart didn¡¯t mind. He had seen his fair share of disgusted expressions. They were like a spring breeze on his wrinkly face. If anything, it made the delight that would come all the more enjoyable. Fiend Monarch Voidheart didn¡¯t waste anymore words. He disappeared and reappeared behind Dreamwalker. His body hands reached out and grasped the newly ascended immortal¡¯s shoulder in an iron-like grip. Just as a triumphant smile appeared on his cracked lips, his eyes widened. Starting from his shoulder, Dreamwalker dissolved into countless white flower petals. ¡°When?¡± Fiend Monarch Voidheart shouted. He looked around, but he couldn¡¯t sense Dreamwalker at all. Not just the white-robed immortal, but Fairy Moonwisp and the other immortals disappeared. ¡°Did they escape?¡± The fiend monarch immediately refuted that notion. Maybe one could escape without his notice, but all of them, impossible. Then it dawned on him. ¡°Did a mere true immortal actually make me fall into an illusion?¡± Voidheart growled in shame and anger. ¡°Break! Break! Break for me! However, no matter what he didn¡¯t, Fiend Monarch Voidheart couldn¡¯t shatter the illusion trapping him.
¡°Daoist Dreamwalker¡¯s skills really opened my eyes,¡± Fairy Moonwisp said. She sighed when she saw the wretched Fiend Monarch Voidheart just floating in the air with an empty look in his eyes. ¡°How can you keep him like that?¡± ¡°As long as I¡¯m present? Forever. But if I leave, only a few minutes at most,¡± Dreamwalker said. ¡°That¡¯s amazing. If you keep him here until the immortal monarchs of my sect arrive, we will definitely reward you for your efforts,¡± Fairy Moonwisp said. Her eyes bore into the fiend monarch with hatred. She wanted to attack and kill him, but it was impossible for an average true immortal like her. It would also break Dreamwalker¡¯s illusion on the fiend monarch. ¡°Voidheart, I bet you never expected to fall into such a situation. Just wait until the monarchs arrive to reap your life!¡± Fairy Moonwisp said, the hatred in her voice not hidden at all. ¡°Since you have the matter covered, we¡¯ll leave first.¡± Dreamwalker glanced at the other immortals present. They obviously wanted to leave first. They didn¡¯t believe that a newly ascended true immortal like him could keep a monarch trap for long. So, before Voidheart broke out, they wanted to escape. He paid them no heed. ¡°Before that, I wonder which senior is watching?¡± Dreamwalker asked aloud, seemingly to no one. ¡°Oh, you can actually detect me?¡± Upon hearing the unfamiliar voice, all the immortals couldn¡¯t help but have their hearts skip a beat. They sincerely hope that the newcomer wasn¡¯t another devilish cultivator. They turned their gaze toward the voice to see a young man wearing purple brocade robes walking out of the void. He had handsome features, but the most eye-catching thing about him was those pair of bedeviling eyes. Chapter 471: Dreamwalker ¡°Before that, I wonder which senior is watching?¡± Tianyi blinked in surprise upon hearing those words. He didn¡¯t think the newly ascended immortal, Dreamwalker, was just testing because he was staring directly at where Tianyi stood. With a chuckle, Tianyi walked out of the void. ¡°Oh, you can actually detect me?¡± Tianyi stood a level higher than the true immortals and the non responsive fiend monarch. Since he no longer decided to hide himself, he released a hint of his aura. It wouldn¡¯t cause much pressure, but it would still cause those who felt it to understand the difference between them. Because of his aura, Fiend Monarch Voidheart gasped and broke out of the illusion. He glared at Dreamwalker, but he also sensed Tianyi¡¯s aura at the same time. When he looked up, he released a horrified shout. ¡°Nine Heavens Emperor!¡± Without waiting for a response, Fiend Monarch turned tail and fled. He couldn¡¯t help inwardly curse. As a devilish cultivator, he had always been cautious to avoid those who could kill him. He especially avoided those from the Immortal Court. Even if he could kill a true immortal from the Immortal Court, he wouldn¡¯t dare to do so because all those who committed such an act died. Not a single one succeeded in escaping. He wanted to use the phenomenon of a new immortal ascending to get a few immortal hearts to increase his cultivation, but he never expected what happened next. He knew that ascending immortals usually had more strength than newly ascended native true immortals, but how could a mere true immortal put him under an illusion? The fiend monarch had wanted nothing more to break out and kill that unruly true immortal, but when he did, his heart fell to his stomach. If a true immortal that could put him under an illusion could threaten him, then meeting a member of the Immortal Court was a death sentence, especially the Nine Heavens Emperor. ¡°Dammit, why did he appear? Although forces would compete for a newly ascended immortal, it shouldn¡¯t attract the Immortal Court¡¯s attention, right? Especially him.¡± Tianyi didn¡¯t immediately take action. He stared at the devilish cultivator¡¯s fleeing back for a moment, then he curled the corner of his lips upward. His eyes revealed a black light that pierced toward the fiend monarch. He didn¡¯t even have time to dodge before the light struck him. However, when the light dissipated, there was no sign of injury on the body. Not even a mark on his armor. Just as the true immortals present wondered if the legendary Nine Heavens Emperor made a mistake, the fiend monarch¡¯s angle shifted down. It didn¡¯t take long for the fiend monarch to crash into the ground. One true immortal, who was nearby, gulped and landed next to the fiend monarch. Aside from the dirt on his body, the fiend monarch didn¡¯t have any hint of injury. His body still exuded a large amount of vitality. ¡°His soul is gone!¡± Upon hearing the words of the true immortal who checked the body, all the other immortals turned toward Tianyi in awe and horror. Tianyi¡¯s lips curled up even more. While he wasn¡¯t proficient in soul attacks¡ªDaoyi had him beat in the department by a large margin¡ªhe still ranked highly at the forefront of soul attacks thanks to his immensely powerful soul. It was akin to an elephant using all four legs to stamp an ant to death. Sure, it was crude and unrefined, but no one would doubt the soul¡¯s imminent death. He turned toward the newly ascended immortal, expecting to see shock at his powerful soul attack, but all he saw was Dreamwalker¡¯s calm gaze. ¡®Eh, why are you so calm?¡¯ Through his powerful immortal sense, Tianyi could tell that Dreamwalker wasn¡¯t forcing himself to appear calm. Was his willpower so powerful that he didn¡¯t even feel any fluctuation upon meeting someone far stronger than himself? Or did he have some powerful trump card? Did he even know the extent of an immortal emperor¡¯s power? ¡°Thank you, Nine Heavens Emperor, for your saving grace,¡± Fairy Moonwisp said, bowing with cupped hands. Her shoulder trembled with excitement. She was rather young for an immortal. Her strength was average at best, but her short time as an immortal meant she was one of the few able to witness Tianyi¡¯s rise, even if it was by hearsay. Tianyi waved his hand. ¡°I only added flowers to gold. Even without me, this little friend would have been able to help you all escape. I¡¯m curious.¡± His gaze focused on Dreamwalker, yet just like before, he was able to remain calm without a hint of fear. Seeing no signs, Tianyi continued. ¡°How were you able to sense me? I¡¯m confident that even emperors aren¡¯t able to detect my presence.¡± Actually, Tianyi was confident that immortal sovereigns could not detect his presence, but he didn¡¯t want to seem too arrogant. ¡°I was able to sense your thought fluctuations. No matter what, all life will have consciousness and must think. So, my technique is almost impossible to fail,¡± Immortal Dreamwalker said. Tianyi held his chin. ¡°Really? What an interesting technique. I never even heard of such a technique. Are you interested in joining the Immortal Court?¡± Once he asked, the other immortals couldn¡¯t help but glance at Dreamwalker in envy. After transforming from the Buzhou Immortal Sect to the Immortal Court, it started to allow outstanding immortals from other forces to join. Of course, this didn¡¯t mean betraying the original force, simply that the immortal would have two duties now. Alas, only a few immortals with powerful talent and strength were invited. Their forces also received many benefits. Contrary to the joy everyone expected him to have, Dreamwalker cupped his fist and rejected Tianyi¡¯s invitation. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I have no plans to join any force. I¡¯m used to being free and unrestrained.¡± The other true immortals looked as if he was an idiot. Fairy Moonwisp even secretly sent an immortal sense transmission. ¡°You¡¯ve just ascended from the lower realm, so you don¡¯t know, but the Immortal Court is a powerful force that is the overlord of the entire Primordial Realm. Their influence even extends to lower realms!¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°I have my own plans,¡± Dreamwalker simply said. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s a pity. Since that¡¯s the case, I will leave now,¡± Tianyi said. Once again, his body disappeared. His current conduit returned to the Nine Heavens Universe, but that didn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t still observing. He simply formed a portal and hid it. ¡®I don¡¯t believe you can detect the thoughts of an entire universe.¡¯ Tianyi¡¯s eyes flashed. ¡®Was it my imagination, or did a strange expression flash across his face when I mentioned the Immortal Court? Could he be another protagonist?¡¯ His eyes shone with interest. It felt like he hadn¡¯t seen a protagonist in a while, at least a thousand years. Tianyi contemplated what to do. Maybe he should investigate this guy. Normally, he would order Su Bojing to send someone into the lower realms and search, but since his sperm donor was present, why not personally descend? It would give him a reason to leave, willful as it was. He nodded. Since that was the case, he would descend. Tianyi glanced at the ever closing dimensional tear to the high-rank realm. He only memorized the coordinate without taking action, since entering that way might alert Dreamwalker of his intention. Tianyi deployed one of the many conduits he prepared. Once again, that conduit only had the power of an immortal monarch, but it should be more than enough in the lower realms.
Dreamwalker glanced at the spot the Nine Heavens Emperor disappeared from. He couldn¡¯t feel any thought fluctuations anymore, but he got the distinct feeling that someone was watching him. ¡®Hmpf, Immortal Court. When I was at my peak, you were nothing more than a gathering of ants I could stomp to death. Even your ancestor, the Heavenly Lord of Primordial Beginning, is nothing more than a junior in front of me.¡¯ ¡°Do you know what you just did?!¡± Fairy Moonwisp asked, almost shouting at Dreamwalker. ¡°Although the Nine Heavens Emperor won¡¯t care about your rejection, what about the other forces? Once they hear of your rejection, they might even hunt you down to please the Immortal Court!¡± She sighed and glanced at the other immortals present. ¡°It¡¯s too late now. Word of this will spread. You¡¯re better off traveling into the endless sea and changing your title.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t make me repeat myself. I have my own plans, you don¡¯t have to care about this,¡± Dreamwalker said, with no fear. He held his hand behind his back and flew away. Fairy Moonwisp gnashed her teeth. ¡°Fine then, be that way! I originally advised because you saved me from Voidheart, but since you don¡¯t want to listen, then I won¡¯t say anymore. You better not regret this!¡± Her words had no effect, as Dreamwalker had already disappeared into the distance. A week later Dreamwalker held a piece of square jade in his hand. It was a Bronze Xiyi Talisman, the highest rank talisman he could purchase as a loose cultivator. Dreamwalker had quickly chanced upon this item upon visiting the first city. He simply took it from the corpse of a cultivator that tried to kill him. To his surprise, it actually self-destructed once he injected his immortal sense into it. Not willing to give up, Dreamwalker tried several more times, but each Xiyi Talisman exploded once he injected his immortal sense. Although it hurt his pride that he couldn¡¯t use a mere talisman, Dreamwalker purchased a new one. The reason why the other ones failed was because he wasn¡¯t the original owner and he tried to brute force his way into one. ¡®This time, it should work.¡¯ He injected his immortal sense into the Xiyi Talisman. [Ding!] [Detecting new user. Starting new user registration.] [Ding!] [New user immortal sense matches a hacker in records.] [New user registration failed. Please visit the local Xiyi Talisman Center and pay a fine before attempting to register again.] [Commencing self destruction sequence in 3¡­ 2¡­ 1] Boom! The Xiyi Talisman exploded in Dreamwalker¡¯s hand, leaving behind only fragments. He took in a few deep breaths to calm himself down. Dreamwalker closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes, his entire aura changed. Even if Fairy Moonwisp saw him again, she wouldn¡¯t even recognize him. Although the appearance remained the same, his entire aura changed. Even a soul cultivator would not have the ability to see through his aura camouflage ability. Once again, Dreamwalker visited the Xiyi Talisman Center and purchased another one. This time, he successfully registered. To be on the safe side, he just went with a randomly assigned username by the Xiyinet. With access to the greatest information network in the realm, Dreamwalker¡¯s understanding of the Primordial Realm grew by leaps and bounds. While surfing the Xiyinet, Dreamwalker came upon the information regarding Cultivation Online. According to the rumors, it was an illusionary world that allowed those who entered to experience another life. More importantly, it aided in comprehending the worldly laws. Any who heard about it yearned to experience it for themselves. Unfortunately, only those in the Immortal Court were allowed permission to enter. Dreamwalker¡¯s eyes lit up with interest. ¡®Interesting. Let me see if it is really as extraordinary as the rumors say.¡¯ He split off a portion of his soul and probed the Xiyinet. Although he couldn¡¯t get entrance the legitimate way, his methods far exceeded the firewalls of the Xiyinet. It didn¡¯t take him long to find the entrance to Cultivation Online. Dreamwalker didn¡¯t immediately enter. After all, he had no identity to use, so he waited. When Dreamwalker sensed someone logging in, he latched onto that person and hid in his aura. ¡®Now, let¡¯s see if this illusion is as wonderful as you say.¡¯ ¡®No, something¡¯s wrong.¡¯ Contrary to Dreamwalker¡¯s expectations, an illusion didn¡¯t befall them. Instead, he felt the soul of the person leave and teleport to a different place. He didn¡¯t dare to probe too much, lest he attract unwanted attention, but he could still tell the air had changed. The worldly laws became more crude and imperfect, but because of that imperfection, it became easier to sense everything. Dreamwalker wanted to explore more, but before he could, he felt his soul fragment detach from the soul he latched onto and fly into the air. When he looked up, he saw the sun and moon forming a person¡¯s eyes, the night sky transformed into his robes, and the stars were his hair. ¡°Destruction!¡± The cosmic entity only said one word, but it instantly destroyed Dreamwalker¡¯s soul fragment. In the Trinity Continent, Dreamwalker¡¯s face paled. ¡®That¡¯s no illusion. The only method someone could have sensed me was if it was a realmlord. Only a realmlord that could sense all things within their domain could have detected me. The Immortal Court must have discovered a special realm that made the worldly laws easier to sense!¡¯ Dreamwalker didn¡¯t stay for long. He was unsure if the Immortal Court had a method to detect his location, so he abandoned his Xiyi Talisman and fled. Only after moving to a safe distance would he settle down and heal his soul.
A ripple appeared above an ordinary town. The town was located in an unnamed and unranked realm. All of the denizens were mortal creatures, and immortals and gods have become the stuff of legends. The spiritual qi was too thin and waning, so no one could cultivate. The ripple expanded and out walked a man in violet. ¡°Godammit it. It took so much effort to find Dreamwalker¡¯s original realm.¡± Chapter 472: Dream World Tianyi entered the high-rank realm that Dreamwalker ascended from and expanded his immortal sense to cover the entire realm. Since Dreamwalker just ascended, he should have left many footprints in the world, but to Tianyi¡¯s surprise, he discovered that none of the denizens actually knew who ascended. In fact, they were all hypothesizing which reclusive senior overcame their Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. However, Tianyi did discover one peculiarity. Many of the denizens liked to sleep in this world, to the point that some would even sleep for sixteen hours a day. According to the mortals, they could experience a new life in their dreams, even if they couldn¡¯t remember one. There were a few rumors that some mortals even embarked on the immortal path after receiving an immortal¡¯s inheritance in their dreams. The problem was that not only did mortals like to sleep, but also cultivators. Compared to mortals, who could only sleep less than a day at most, cultivators might sleep for years. The most preposterous thing about it is that their cultivation base actually increased instead of weakening or stagnating. Normally, Tianyi wouldn¡¯t have thought much of it, attributing it to this high-rank realm¡¯s uniqueness. But he couldn¡¯t help but be suspicious. After all, Dreamwalker¡¯s daoist title had the word dream in its name. He couldn¡¯t help but think Dreamwalker had something to do with this phenomenon. So, he investigated a bit more. After a few days of investigation, Tianyi couldn¡¯t help but have a strange expression on his face. According to his investigation, when people, mortals and cultivators alike, fell asleep, they would have a chance to enter a dream world. Once a person entered a dream world, they would have a higher chance of entering again. Some grandmasters could immediately enter the dream world after closing their eyes. That wasn¡¯t the most important part. The most important part was that the dream world could aid in cultivation. It could simulate breakthroughs: for example, a qi gathering pupil could experience the Foundation Establishment Heavenly Tribulation and the power of a foundation establishment disciple. However, that was small stuff compared to the true effect of the dream world. In the dream world, it was much easier to sense the worldly laws than in the real world. Because of this, most venerables and sages stayed asleep and only woke up if something important needed their attention. Because of the lower realm¡¯s inferior cultivation method and environment, cultivators needed a strong comprehension if they wanted to succeed in their Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. Tianyi¡¯s first thought was that, ¡®Why does it seem so similar to Cultivation Online in my Nine Heavens Universe?¡¯ His second thought was that someone copied him, but he immediately refuted that thought. Tianyi didn¡¯t believe that Dreamwalker could ascend to the Primordial Realm and descend again to undergo the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. Even immortal monarchs would find it difficult to descend to lower realms, much less true immortals. Meaning that Dreamwalker had developed this dream world before going to the Primordial Realm. So, Tianyi grew curious. Just what kind of inheritance did Dreamwalker get for him to create such a dream world? He didn¡¯t think it was something unique to the high-rank realm because the phenomenon only appeared in the last few hundred years. So it couldn¡¯t have popped up naturally. Even Tianyi only created Cultivation Online thanks to the special nature of his inner universe and his absolute control over it. Dreamwalker¡¯s strength definitely wasn¡¯t as simple as a true immortal. Tianyi didn¡¯t believe that Dreamwalker would have an inner universe like himself, but controlling a false realm might be possible. As his investigation continued, Tianyi learned that Dreamwalker hadn¡¯t ascended to the high-rank. Rather, he traveled to an adjacent high-rank realm. No wonder he couldn¡¯t find any traces of Dreamwalker ascending. Compared to the changes in heaven and earth from a cultivator ascending from a lower realm, traveling to parallel realms did not cause much commotion. Tianyi might have continued to reverse the spacetime of locations where ascension occurred for several more months had he not gotten lucky and discovered Dreamwalker¡¯s acts. So, he traveled to the adjacent realm. Just like in the previous realm, the world was embroiled in the joy of dreaming, unable to extradite themselves. Thanks to knowing what to look for, Tianyi only spent several weeks before discovering Dreamwalker¡¯s traces. At this point, he had to salute those investigators that accompanied Ba Shifang. He was skilled in the Law of Spacetime, so he had an easier time. Tianyi didn¡¯t want to imagine how he would find Dreamwalker¡¯s traces without it. If he only had one conduit, Tianyi felt like he would have definitely given up. It was only in the ninth high-rank realm did Tianyi see a scene of Dreamwalker ascending from a middle-rank realm. As he expected, the middle-rank realm also loved to sleep, too. Tianyi continued to follow Dreamwalker¡¯s trail. In the eleventh middle-rank realm, Tianyi actually discovered no traces of the dream world. He couldn¡¯t help but think that he might have made a mistake. It was only later that he learned that Dreamwalker likely didn¡¯t propagate his dream world. Maybe he didn¡¯t have the strength, or maybe he wanted to hide his traces. All in all, Tianyi discovered forty-nine middle-rank realms with dream worlds and four middle-rank realms Dreamwalker passed through before discovering the low-rank realm he ascended from. Tianyi discovered a hundred and twenty-nine low-rank realms with dream worlds and thirty-seven low-rank realms Dreamwalker just passed through. ¡®Did Dreamwalker decrease the amount of realms he traveled in the higher realms because it became more difficult, or did he become more confident in his strength?¡¯ This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. He didn¡¯t know, but after years of investigation, Tianyi finally discovered Dreamwalker¡¯s source realm. It was not even a low-rank realm, but an unranked realm. The spiritual qi density was so sparse that it was impossible to cultivate. The only way to ascend would be to possess a tyrannical body that could tear space. However, such a thing was almost impossible and it would take a miracle. That miracle somehow happened to Dreamwalker. When Tianyi entered, he tried to reverse spacetime to see how Dreamwalker ascended, but to his surprise, he couldn¡¯t reverse it very far. When he investigated the realm, he also discovered strange points. Ever since he entered the unranked realm, Tianyi always felt like someone, or something, was staring at him. Even if he covered the entire realm in his immortal sense, he couldn¡¯t find anything out of place. And that made the realm even stranger. Tianyi recalled the experience he went through to reach his current height. Undoubtedly, the cultivation method and the early realms were the most crucial. Had he not created the nine cores or the cosmic martial body, he would not have reached his current height. He would still be outstanding, but his radiance would be far less. Similarly, Tianyi also believed that Dreamwalker must have experienced something similar. He had already checked the other realms Dreamwalker passed. None of them held any extraordinary inheritances or chance encounters that would allow Dreamwalker to create the dream world. Since that was the case, Tianyi believed that this seemingly unranked realm became the most suspicious. Without a heaven defying encounter, how could Dreamwalker ascend? He spent the next few months exploring the entire unranked realm. The realm was a seemingly ordinary world occupied by mortals and animals. Humans had already dominated most of the world, aside from some rural and difficult locations such as the arctic north, the vast ocean, or the towering peaks. Not all of humanity was united, as several empires and kingdoms existed. A state that once united all humans existed several times in history, but without fail, they would fracture because of infighting and conflicts of interest, returning to a warring states period until someone unified all the nations once more. It was all so normal. Tianyi searched around and still found no clues except one. He spent a few days wandering the human settlement and noticed that something was off about them. They lived like regular humans, but they felt soulless to Tianyi. ¡®Should I ask Daoyi to check it out? No, that¡¯s too dangerous.¡¯ Earlier, he had attempted to ward off the spying by entering his inner universe for a while, but when he returned, he immediately felt the probing gaze again. It was as if the gaze was constantly staring at the last location he was in. Or maybe it could sense everything in the unranked realm? ¡®Does this realm have a realmlord? That¡¯s not impossible, but the chances of a refineable realm are incredibly low. Not to mention the benefits of becoming the realmlord of an unranked realm is negligible.¡¯ An all-out attack from an unranked realm¡¯s realmlord might not even threaten a newly ascended true immortal, much less an immortal lord. But aside from that, Tianyi couldn¡¯t think of any reason for why he could be detected so easily and that peeping gaze. To be on the safe side, Tianyi didn¡¯t plan to bring Daoyi. In essence, his conduits were just replaceable avatars or incarnations. Daoyi didn¡¯t have such luck. She only had one clone. If Daoyi died, she would really be dead, clone or not. As one of those closest to him, and one who had lived on Earth, he didn¡¯t want to lose her, no matter what. A year later, Tianyi stood high in the sky of the unranked realm with his arms crossed and one hand holding his chin. ¡°Do I really have to give up? Maybe Dreamwalker just happened to refine this unranked realm, and that¡¯s why he could ascend? I mean, I¡¯m not one of those greedy assholes that wants to steal other people¡¯s opportunity¡­¡± Tianyi thought about just giving up and returning, but he always felt something off in his heart. Like a warning that Dreamwalker was dangerous, not just in general, but to him or something related to him. That feeling only increased the more he followed Dreamwalker¡¯s trail. ¡®Forget it, it¡¯s better to report this to the Immortal Court,¡¯ Tianyi thought. With a wave of his hand, a dimensional tear appeared in the unranked realm, and he disappeared through it. After ten days, the entire realm froze, as if someone had pressed the pause button. Then, a face formed out of light appeared. The gigantic face didn¡¯t say anything and after a while, it disappeared, but the realm remained frozen. This situation remained the same until a year later. A familiar tear opened in the sky and out stepped four figures. Tianyi was naturally one of them, but the other three were rarities. The Minister of Appointments Everpast came in person. In addition to him were two other immortal officials: Primewood and Vastlight. In total, there was one immortal sovereign and three immortal emperors. Such a force was enough to sweep the entire Primordial Realm, excluding the Immortal Court. ¡°Is it really true?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°Most likely,¡± Minister Everpast said. His brows furrowed as he stared at the entire realm. Minister Primewood and Vastlight also showed suspicious expressions. ¡°I thought all of them died after Pangu split the chaos. I didn¡¯t expect one to still survive,¡± Tianyi said with a sigh. ¡°Strictly speaking, it isn¡¯t a real one. Nothing more than a remnant, but it¡¯s still powerful enough to form a false realm,¡± Minister Everpast said. ¡°Of course, this is my conjecture. It might be a false alarm, but if it¡¯s real, then¡­¡± Tianyi¡¯s lips twitched. Wouldn¡¯t that mean he can also be considered one? Still, some part of him wished it was true. If it was, it might really be helpful to him. ¡°You can begin,¡± Minister Everpast said. Tianyi nodded and raised his hand out. His immortal qi of primordial chaos condensed into his palm and formed nine spheres. The first sphere radiated the aura of spacetime, the second sphere radiated the aura of yin-yang, the third sphere radiated the aura of chaos, the fourth sphere radiated the aura of the five elements, the fifth sphere radiated the aura of life and death. Each sphere radiated a different aura, and encasing the miniature solar system was the aura of stars. Then, he dropped the Constellation Cessation. The moment he did so, the unranked realm froze again. Like peeling a paint off, the scenery of the realm disappeared, revealing a desolate white land. Below the four immortals, the ground morphed into a face. It glared at the four immortals with hatred. ¡°Bugs of the Immortal Court, accept death!¡± Tianyi¡¯s eyes shrunk into needlepoints. ¡°It¡¯s really a chaos fiendgod?¡± Chapter 473: Chaos Fiendgod Dreamwalker sat in a lotus position in a cave he dug out in a remote mountain. Although the mountain was large, the area didn¡¯t have much spiritual qi density, so many forces ignored it. He had an ugly expression on his face. After making sure the Immortal Court hadn¡¯t captured his traces from the infiltration of Cultivation Online, he once again spread his dream world. Once it succeeded, not even the Immortal Court could deal with it. Easily, at least. They would have to pay a price they couldn¡¯t afford. He induced mortals into his dream world first. They were the easiest to conquer. Although Dreamwalker had the confidence that no one could see through his dream world, it didn¡¯t mean he could be reckless. Immortals and talented mortal cultivators might discern something. Even if they didn¡¯t, they could inform others. Dreamwalker didn¡¯t want to rattle the grass and cause everyone to hunt down the snake. If the Immortal Court were to learn of this matter, it would be troublesome. Only after the people who experienced the dream world thought it was unique to them would they treat it as a divine opportunity for themselves. This way, they would do everything to keep it a secret. Unlike the lower realms, Dreamwalker planned to form his own force. They would be composed of individuals who have never embarked on the path of cultivation. Although the major force of the Primordial Realm could capture nearly all the talents, many fish would inevitably slip through. Sometimes, they didn¡¯t have the luck or their circumstances were too special and no one could see their true talent. He had slowly encroached over a hundred mortal cities and bestowed a few talented little fellows with suitable inheritances. Those fellows left their mortal lives behind and embarked on the path of cultivation. Just as everything seemed to be going on track, the area around the mortal cities changed. It was as if they were trapped in a barrier that prevented them from leaving, an immortal grotto. Dreamwalker knew who had taken action. He had seen immortals from the Immortal Court appearing around the area. Aside from a few who left its ranges beforehand, all the people within were trapped. The spiritual qi density had decreased, too. It was an obvious countermeasure against him. Dreamwalker wanted to know how the Immortal Court discovered his actions, but it didn¡¯t take long. Someone had entered his territory, Xi Tianyi, the Nine Heavens Emperor of the Immortal Court. He considered just ending Xi Tianyi¡¯s life then and there. He could detect him only because Xi Tianyi entered his territory, but were it not for that special circumstance, he would not have been able to detect the latter¡¯s presence. After some induction, he discovered that Xi Tianyi had also entered all the realms he had passed. He didn¡¯t know about the realms where the dream worlds didn¡¯t exist, but the latter had likely also passed through them. Dreamwalker even thought of leaving the Primordial Realm and entering the Numinous Realm. The only reason he ascended to the Primordial Realm and not the Numinous Realm was because the former was a newly ascended realm and the Immortal Court only recently gained full hegemony over it. It should have been easier to spread his influence in the Primordial Realm than the Numinous Realm, where the Numinous Sword Sect had entrenched itself for hundreds of thousands of years. He shook his head. ¡®No, it¡¯s too fast to give up. I¡¯ll attempt to draw in more denizens from my world, but first, I should move my body to prevent that damnable Xi Tianyi from coming back.¡¯ Under his control, the unranked realm Xi Tianyi had visited started to shift. It broke its connection to the low-rank realm originally above it. Now, even if you had the original coordinates, you would not be able to find it. Even if an immortal wanted to descend from a low-rank realm, no one would be able to discover it, because the unranked realm had become an isolated territory. Unless an immortal monarch or stronger level expert entered from the Vast Void, the unranked realm was destined to be impossible to reach. Suddenly, Dreamwalker¡¯s expression changed. It turned from ugly to nasty.
The gigantic face on the ground opened its mouth and blew a breath of air on the descending Constellation Cessation. Contrary to Tianyi¡¯s expectations, the Constellation Cessation didn¡¯t explode early due to the interference. Rather, it started to turn blurry. Soon, it became translucent, and by the time it was within a hundred meters of the ground, it turned invisible. No, rather than invisible, it should have disappeared. Tianyi couldn¡¯t sense it anymore. It was as if the constellation cessation had never existed. Tianyi frowned. However, he didn¡¯t have time to ponder on how the gigantic face accomplished the feat as his body started to turn transparent, just like his spell. The more transparent he turned, the slower his thoughts turned. When he turned toward Minister Everpast and the others¡¯ worry, his lips couldn¡¯t help but twitch when he saw all of them were fine. The reason his lips twitched wasn¡¯t because they weren¡¯t affected, but what they held. Each one held a pseudo-realm artifact, processed from the pseudo realms he created out of realm essence. In other words, the method they resisted from vanishing like himself was due to the pseudo-realm artifacts, something they didn¡¯t equip him with. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Not long later, Tianyi¡¯s form completely disappeared. His conduit had vanished. The gigantic face frowned. He also noticed the realm artifacts in Minister Everpast, Primewood, and Vastlight¡¯s possession. He could discern that they were weaker than average, but it was more than enough to resist his ability. ¡°Bug, don¡¯t think that you won just because you could resist my ability.¡± Three gigantic arms stretched out from the ground and reached for the three immortal ministers. The three didn¡¯t panic and grouped together. They threw the three pseudo-realm artifacts into three evenly distant locations. Minister Everpast took out a small sphere that resembled a mustard seed and started chanting. The gigantic face frowned. He could sense that seemingly useless mustard seed was a powerful realm artifact, far above the three they threw. He wanted to interfere, but it was already too late. A bubble appeared with the mustard seed-shaped realm artifact at its core. Its borders reached where the three pseudo-realm artifacts were located. As soon as the three hands reached the boundary of the bubble, they halted in their place. No, that wasn¡¯t right. They were still moving forward, but it was as if the three hands separated from the three immortal ministers by an infinite gulf. No matter how far the hands traveled, they could not shorten the distance. Although it looked like a domain, its true nature was that of a realm. Although it did not have the sky, land, or sea, it was undoubtedly a realm. The gigantic face recognized the formation, True Realm Descent Formation. Most realm artifacts had a realm within and could trap targets within. However, if the trapped target was too powerful, it would invariably damage the realm artifact and it would take a lot of resources to heal, like what Tianyi had done to Demon Empress Bluefeather¡¯s Sacred Fire Grotto. The True Realm Descent Formation eliminated that weakness. Instead of trapping a target within its realm, it projected a false realm outward. The power consumption increased, and it required multiple realm artifacts, but it was much safer than trapping a dangerous foe within, especially a chaos fiendgod. Chaos fiendgods were the god of gods, the divine deities born from the primordial chaos. Although Pangu defeated them all and used their corpses to create the Primordial World, their strength could not be denied. Anyone of them could easily crush most divinities of the primordial era outside of some exceptions. The gigantic face was one such chaos fiend. He did not rank amongst the forefront of power, but the divine law he mastered was extremely esoteric. Even in his current state, a remnant, he could match most divinities. The hands disappeared. The ground of the unranked realm rumbled as the shape distorted, and the dimensional boundary lowered. It pressed down on the True Realm Descent Formation and pushed it toward the ground. Unlike the last time, the formation could not defeat this move. Minister Everpast formed several hand seals, and under his control, the True Realm Descent Formation shrunk. It flew up directly against the dimensional boundary that was pushing down. The two sides collided and fought. It didn¡¯t take long for the victor to emerge as the True Realm Descent Formation shattered a small portion of the dimensional boundary and escaped the unranked realm. ¡°Do you think you¡¯ve escaped just like this?¡± the giant face asked. The gigantic face receded into the ground. For a moment, it seemed as if the unranked realm had returned to its previous state, but the dimensional boundary continued to lower and lower until it was just above the ground. Then, the realm itself shifted. It contorted until it resembled a vast sphere of ever changing mist. The mist changed until a giant inhumane face appeared, like a disembodied head. This was the remnant of the Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams. Because Pangu didn¡¯t kill him fully, the Law of Dreams did not exist in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, only the Concept of Dreams. The giant head opened its mouth and charged forward to swallow the immortal ministers of their True Realm Descent Formation whole. Naturally, Minister Everpast and the others would not let the remnant of the Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams to succeed. The True Realm Descent Formation expanded until it was millions of kilometers large. Once it reached that point, the bubble denoting its boundaries disappeared, along with everything else, including the immortals within. It was almost as if the remnant chaos fiendgod had banished them like he did with Tianyi. ¡°Law of Spacetime? Unfortunately, it¡¯s lacking!¡± White mist dispersed from the giant head and pervaded the area. Once it reached a certain distance, it stopped, revealing the size of the True Realm Descent Formation. However, that wasn¡¯t its goal. Soon, an object resembling a crystal ball filled with mist appeared in the Vast Void¡ªif said crystal ball was millions of kilometers long. Within the mist, the three immortal ministers appeared. Their faces had paled dramatically and their chest heaved, as if suppressing something. Still, the lights in their eyes did not diminish. Rather, it intensified. The dimensional boundary of the True Realm Descent Formation started to shrink. They ignored all the harmful effects the white mist had on them, even as the lower half of their body cracked like fractured glass. Piece by piece, their bodies fell off, but still, they didn¡¯t care. The remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams had already sensed an ominous premonition. Originally, he only thought it was some bugs he could deal with, but now he knew it was wrong. Their presence was definitely a trap. He didn¡¯t believe that the True Realm Descent Formation could seal him, so there must be something else waiting. As one of the few chaos fiendgods to survive Pangu¡¯s purge, he had always focused on survival first. So, he immediately attempted to escape. He would have his revenge for this humiliation later. The boundary of the True Realm Descent Formation continued to shrink. Simultaneously, the mist thickened. The formation shrunk until it was less than a hundred thousand kilometers large, and the inside was so full of mist, it appeared like a gigantic pearl instead of a crystal ball. Suddenly, a crack appeared on the pearl, and mist leaked out immediately. The more time passed, the more mist that leaked out, and so did the size of the crack. Finally, it completely shattered and the sound of shattered glass echoed in the Vast Void. Without wasting a moment, the remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams shot away, but before it could go far, a figure teleported in front of him. ¡°Why do you still exist!?¡± Chapter 474: Another Chaos Fiendgod? Tianyi didn¡¯t answer. Instead, he had a hard look in his eyes as he gazed upon the realm-sized lifeform. ¡°Sorry, we failed,¡± Minister Everpast said, using his immortal sense. ¡°We couldn¡¯t trap him in the formation long enough to send into the Nine Heavens Universe. We¡¯ll do our best to support you, but you¡¯re going to have to do most of the legwork.¡± He wanted to curse. Tianyi originally thought that he only needed to show up at the end to finish everything up, but his expectations fell through. Now, not only did he have to worry about dragging the chaos fiendgod into his inner universe, he had to consider what would happen if the chaos fiendgod escaped and the troubles that would come afterward. ¡®Is this what it feels like to be the protagonist? Having to do everything yourself? It¡¯s a terrible feeling.¡¯ It was just a random thought that popped up in Tianyi¡¯s mind. He threw it out because he wouldn¡¯t have time to have stray thoughts anymore. ¡°Let¡¯s change the size difference first,¡± Tianyi lightly said. The remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams only had a fraction of his former size and powers. He had disguised himself as an unranked realm, which was only a hundredth of the Primordial Realm¡¯s size, but in comparison, Tianyi and the other immortals were just mere microbes. No, not even microbes, at most electrons or protons. That changed as Tianyi¡¯s size increased swiftly. Two meters. Five meters. Ten meters. A hundred meters. A thousand meters. Ten thousand meters. A hundred thousand meters. One million meters. As he grew, his skin and robes turned pitch black. Then, tiny motes of lights appeared inside his body, forming countless star fields and galaxies. Inside his abdomen, a solar system formed of one sun and nine planets appeared. Tianyi¡¯s body size kept multiplying, and before anyone knew it, his height had already reached a quarter the size of the remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams. He wanted to continue to grow, but the moment he did so, a thunderous roar echoed throughout the Vast Void. It penetrated through many realms, causing the mortals to kneel and pray while the cultivators attempted to discover the source of the thunder. On the other hand, Tianyi immediately halted his actions and even shrunk a bit. He recognized that sound. How could he not? It would not be an exaggeration that he had experienced it over a thousand times. Although it became less frequent once he reached the Immortal Realms, they still appeared when he did something preposterous. ¡°Dammit, did I show too much power and force the punishment tribulation to appear?¡± Tianyi asked. Luckily for him, he did not see tribulation clouds appearing. It seemed that as long as his size did not exceed the current limits, the punishment tribulation would not appear. But that brought up another problem. ¡°Minister, I¡¯m not sure I can drag the chaos fiendgod into my inner universe without incurring a punishment tribulation,¡± Tianyi said. Minister Everpast¡¯s expression twisted. ¡°Just do your best to hold him for now. I¡¯ll summon reinforcements. Since we have already formed this enmity with the chaos fiendgod, we have to solve him now, lest he bring trouble in the future.¡± Tianyi nodded. He had the same thoughts. He raised his hand, and a sword appeared in his grasp. The sword had no embellishment, just a simple blade with a wooden handle and bronze hilt and pommel, but anyone with a discerning eye can see its hidden might. This was the divine artifact, the Immortal Confining Sword of the Four Immortal Extermination Swords. The remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams didn¡¯t recognize the sword, but it knew that the sword had the ability to threaten him. Still, instead of retreating, he advanced. His jaws opened even wider and spewed out a white mist that spread everywhere without dissipating. Tianyi frowned. He really didn¡¯t want to touch something that came out of another¡¯s mouth, but that was just gripes. He slashed forward, splitting the mist in two, and flew forward. The mist that touched his body lingered, attempting to enter his body and bewilder him. He snorted and lessened the dimensional boundary around his body. The mist flew in, but instead of bewildering him, it just lingered, unable to do anything. The remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams showed some surprise, but not too much. It already sensed something off when Tianyi appeared in front of him again. Unlike the previous time, Tianyi gave him a huge sense of crisis. When the two collided, Tianyi cut downward. The Immortal Confining Sword sliced through the chaos fiendgod¡¯s body like nothing. Rather than like, it really did cut through nothing. His body was formed of illusion, so physical attacks could not harm him. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Tianyi found himself wrapped in mist. He expanded his immortal sense but discovered that no matter how far his immortal sense traveled, he could only sense mist. It was as if the Vast Void had transformed entirely into a world of mist. Were it not for the conduits that still existed in the Three Thousand Immortal realms, he might¡¯ve thought the remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams had teleported him to another universe or something. Still, Tianyi could feel that the mist around him attempted to induce him into an illusion. Simultaneously, he even felt a slight sense of sleepiness. Ever since he became an immortal, he had never needed to sleep. And whenever he did, it was not like mortal sleep. In essence, it was closer to a hibernation period with no dreams or the like. Once something unusual happened, Tianyi would immediately return to his most alert state without any drowsiness. He forced down the drowsy sensation and injected his immortal qi of primordial chaos into the Immortal Confining Sword. The blade of the Immortal Confining Sword lit up and characters constantly flitted across the surface. Anyone too weak of mind who saw this would get a headache or fall into a coma. With a swing of his sword, the mist split. Although Tianyi was still surrounded by mist, a space free of it appeared. No matter how hard the mist tried, it could not penetrate this inviolable area. Tianyi¡¯s hand stopped. Although he could prevent the mist from entering, he didn¡¯t find a method to destroy the mist. At this time, Tianyi received a message from Minister Everpast, Primewood, and Vastlight. The mist was attempting to erode them just like it did to him. Although they could resist for a while thanks to their realm artifacts, it would be catastrophic if the mist entered their body, so they requested Tianyi to teleport them. Before coming, Tianyi had already placed a conduit on each of them. With a thought, the conduit opened a portal into his Nine Heavens Universe, allowing them to fly to safety. Tianyi himself disappeared. When he reappeared, he saw a ball of mist only a few hundred kilometers large, far smaller than the remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams. Was this a remnant of a remnant? Off into the distance, Tianyi saw the remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams¡¯ original body fleeing. What was in front of him was nothing more than a split body used to trap him. From the beginning, the chaos fiendgod had planned to leave because of the ominous premonition. Tianyi found himself a bit speechless when he realized this. ¡®You are an exalted chaos fiendgod. Why is the first thing you attempt to do is flee?¡¯ He moved to block the fleeing chaos fiendgod, but the moment he did so, the ball of mist rumbled. A giant face appeared in the mist and charged at Tianyi. Tianyi released a slash that bifurcated the giant ball of mist into two. However, the mist didn¡¯t give up. The two split halves coiled together and formed two giant heads, charging toward Tianyi. He didn¡¯t know what these two giant heads were, but Tianyi felt the exact same aura on them as the fleeing one. Perhaps, they were clones or avatars? It didn¡¯t matter. He didn¡¯t want to become entangled with these two giant heads, so with a wave of his hand, two more conduits appeared. The two only had the power of an immortal monarch, but they should be able to stop the two heads for a bit. Tianyi¡¯s form disappeared, and when he reappeared, he was already blocking the remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams¡¯ way. ¡°Divine level Law of Space?! No, it hasn¡¯t reached the divine level yet. This is the Law of Spacetime!¡± Although the remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams discovered the truth, it wasn¡¯t happy at all. Since Tianyi could teleport, it meant he couldn¡¯t escape. ¡°Kill!¡± Since he couldn¡¯t escape, the remnant chaos fiendgod no longer attempted to do so. He engulfed Tianyi in his mist again and used all his power to attack. Of course, Tianyi wouldn¡¯t allow the remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams to succeed. What if he repeated his old tricks again? He teleported, and when Tianyi reappeared, he was already behind the chaos fiendgod. He slashed out. The remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams roared as a cut appeared on his back, forming a gap. He attempted to close the gap, but he discovered a corrosive energy that prevented him from doing so. He turned around and stared at Tianyi once more. Tens of clones flew out of the chaos fiendgod. Each one was the same size and emitting the same aura as the original. The most shocking thing was that Tianyi felt each one had the same heaven-defying power. All of them roared and charged at it. Tianyi tightened the grip on his sword and teleported away, but the moment he reappeared, he discovered that it was as if he had never teleported. All the giant heads formed of mist were still charging at him. He teleported several more times, but the results were the same. Since he couldn¡¯t avoid them, Tianyi decided to attack them head on. The first head appeared in front of him, and he slashed out. The Immortal Confining Sword sliced through, but nothing happened to the mist. That wasn¡¯t the most shocking part. The most shocking part was that Tianyi felt nothing changing except for his view being obscured. ¡®Did I fall under an illusion?¡¯ Tianyi thought. He knew that Dreamwalker was skilled in illusions, so it was no surprise that the remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams had even greater abilities. Only, he never expected to fall prey to such a technique. He teleported again, but the mist still clouded his vision. Tianyi expanded his immortal sense, but like before, he still couldn¡¯t see through its power. ¡®Should I use essence? Would it even pierce through the mist?¡¯ Tianyi frowned. ¡®This operation is an absolute secret. It must not be leaked. Once the chaos fiendgod fled, it would no longer matter. Since that¡¯s the case, don¡¯t hide anything anymore!¡¯ With his mind made up, Tianyi no longer used immortal qi. Instead, he used the energy of Ninth, Eighth, Seventh, and Sixth Heaven. Aside from the evolution of the soul, the reason spiritual sense transformed into immortal sense in the Immortal Realm was because the energy carrying it evolved from true qi to immortal qi. That¡¯s also why, even if you unlocked the spiritual sense in the Foundation Establishment Realm, it was inferior to a core formation master¡¯s spiritual sense. If immortal qi allowed a cultivator to use immortal sense, then once a cultivator used essence, they would possess divine sense. Tianyi¡¯s soul hadn¡¯t quite evolved into the Divine Realm, but it didn¡¯t matter. It was already comparable to a divinity. The immortal qi in Tianyi¡¯s body disappeared, replaced by the essence of spacetime, essence of five phases, essence of yin, essence of yang, essence of life, and essence of death. Then, he released his divine sense. Although still clouded, Tianyi could accurately grasp the surroundings far better than before. He teleported again, and then this time, he sensed that he had indeed teleported to a different location, just that it was in a space within the remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dream¡¯s location. Still, with his current senses, Tianyi grasped the remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams. The moment he charged at the latter, he said something that caused Tianyi to still. ¡°Divine sense? Were you actually a divinity all this time?¡± the remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams shook his head. ¡°No, it¡¯s not just a divinity. Are you a chaos fiendgod, too?!¡± Chapter 475: More Chaos Fiendgod than a Chaos Fiendgod Tianyi stilled for a brief moment. He couldn¡¯t help but wonder what the remnant chaos fiendgod meant by that comment. Still, his actions did not stop. He could ponder the meaning behind the words afterward. In contrast, the remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams couldn¡¯t help but murmur. ¡°Fiendgod of Spacetime? No, there wasn¡¯t such a fiendgod. Are you a new fiendgod that inherited Shichen and Yangmei¡¯s power?¡± ¡°Stop! We should be on the same side!¡± the remnant chaos fiendgod said as he avoided the Immortal Confining Sword. ¡°As long as we destroy this damn world that Pangu created and absorb everything, we can regain our might. No one will be our opponents anymore!¡± Tianyi furrowed his brows. He halted his actions and asked. ¡°Explain everything.¡± The remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams retreated, but Tianyi would fly forward so that the latter wouldn¡¯t exceed a certain distance from him. The chaos fiendgod stopped. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll explain, but can you tell me how you were born? After Pangu killed all of us, I didn¡¯t think it was possible for another fiendgod to be born.¡± ¡°Fiendgod, do you mean divinities?¡± Tianyi asked. If the Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams mistook him for a divinity, he would not be too surprised. After all, he showed certain characteristics of a divinity, especially essence. The Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams sneered. ¡°Divinities? Those fake fiendgods? True chaos fiendgods are a world unto themselves and can exist in the primordial chaos. These divinities can only survive in Pangu¡¯s world. They are but a poor imitation at best.¡± Tianyi¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°So, all fiendgods are both realms and lifeforms.¡± ¡°You can think of it that way.¡± ¡®Did he sense my inner universe and mistake it as a realm? From a certain point of view, my inner universe can be likened to a realm, so it¡¯s not out of the norm of possibility to mistake me as a fiendgod because of that. Still, I only showed the essence and nothing else. How did he identify me as a fiendgod?¡¯ Tianyi was puzzled, so he asked. ¡°Then why did you identify me as a fiendgod?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°You really don¡¯t know?¡± the remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams asked. ¡°Unless a fiendgod deliberately hides it, a fiendgod will always recognize another fiendgod.¡± Tianyi furrowed his brows. ¡®Then why can¡¯t I sense anything different about you? Is it because I haven¡¯t mastered a divine level law?¡¯ He sighed. ¡°Alright, that¡¯s enough. I wanted to speak some more, but who told you to secretly make some moves?¡± The white mist that seemed to have calmed down rumbled once more. The remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams sneered. ¡°Aren¡¯t you the same? An exalted fiendgod reduced to doing the bidding of bugs. Oh, how low you have fallen. Don¡¯t think I don¡¯t know about the bugs coming here.¡± Tianyi frowned. Even he couldn¡¯t sense the immortal emperors quickly making their way here. He wanted to teleport them, but he didn¡¯t have enough conduits, and he didn¡¯t know their current location either. He didn¡¯t say another word and slashed his sword out. However, the remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams seemed to have expected this and expanded, like exploding steam. When the steam disappeared, his body had split into thousands of copies, fleeing in all directions. Tianyi wasn¡¯t slow either. He released his Nebulous Negation, but as he expected, it barely slowed down the remnant chaos fiendgod. He couldn¡¯t negate the unique energy of a fiendgod. At most, he slowed down by five percent. Hardly worth the cost of activating and maintaining the technique, but if nothing, Tianyi boasted endless energy. After a moment of hesitation, Tianyi also split himself into thousands of bodies, eliciting the fleeing fiendgod to sneer. ¡°Save your effort. Your weak avatars can¡¯t capture me. Once I regain my power, I¡¯ll avenge this humiliation!¡± ¡®Are you aware that your words only want me to capture you even more?¡¯ Tianyi thought. If the situation hadn¡¯t been so serious, he would have wanted to roll his eyes. The remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams¡¯ words weren¡¯t wrong. He had split his strongest conduits into thousands, drastically reducing their power. They barely had the power of a true immortal, but even so, Tianyi didn¡¯t need them to be too strong. Each conduit teleported and blocked the wave of the fleeing Chaos Fiendgod. They waved their hands and opened thousands of portals to the Nine Heavens Universe. From within those portals, thousands of Stellar Silences shot out. Those burning stars exploded once they neared the chaos fiendgod¡¯s split bodies, but just like when Tianyi first used Constellation Cessation, they could not harm the chaos fiendgod. Only the process was a bit different. Instead of erasing the attack from reality, those Stellar Silences phased through the chaos fiendgod¡¯s many bodies as if they existed on different planes of existences. There was only one Immortal Confining Sword, but thousands of Tianyi and the chaos fiendgod. In this state, Tianyi couldn¡¯t do anything to the latter. He tried all his techniques, even attempting to freeze spacetime and trapped them, but with no results. ¡®Do I really have to bring out my Nine Heavens Universe? I¡¯m definitely going to be struck by tribulation lightning after that!¡¯ Tianyi furrowed his brows. An idea popped into his mind. He didn¡¯t think it would work, but he had to try. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. One of his conduits teleported directly into one of the many chaos fiendgod split bodies. The conduit emitted a vast suction force, absorbing the mist through his skin into the Nine Heavens Universe. Tianyi knew it was a longshot, but the earlier bout proved that he could absorb the Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams¡¯ mist. If that was the case, why not just attempt to absorb the chaos fiendgod? The size difference would inevitably make it a long-term project. Still, Tianyi had no other ideas at the moment except summoning his Nine Heavens Universe and absorbing the surrounding space. But that would incur punishment tribulation. ¡®If only Everpast had succeeded, I wouldn¡¯t be in this situation! Now, even if reinforcement arrives, I¡¯d still have to chase after all these split bodies.¡¯ ¡®Wait,¡¯ Tianyi thought. With but a thought, Minister Everpast, Primewood, and Vastlight reappeared in the Vast Void. After Tianyi explained the situation to them, they nodded after a moment of hesitation. One of Tianyi¡¯s conduits accompanied them. Tianyi¡¯s conduit teleported them each to different areas with high concentrations of the chaos fiendgod¡¯s body. The three immortal ministers used their realm artifacts to expand to trap as many of the chaos fiendgod¡¯s bodies as possible before condensing. The remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams sneered once. ¡°Wishful thinking. Do you think that you can stop me just by absorbing my body?!¡± Tianyi ignored the chaos fiendgod¡¯s words as his numerous conduits continued to absorb the chaos fiendgod¡¯s body. The remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams even helped. The white mist willingly flowed into Tianyi¡¯s body. The remnant chaos fiendgod couldn¡¯t help but question Tianyi¡¯s intelligence. Did he think he could wantonly absorb another chaos fiendgod? As a fiendgod, Tianyi was a very nutritional supplement for him. He might have worried if Tianyi displayed a divine level law, but Tianyi¡¯s Law of Spacetime did not reach that point. He had confidence that his Law of Dreams could suppress Tianyi¡¯s Law of Spacetime, allowing him to absorb the latter. His plans and arrogance did not last long. ¡°What?! What did you do to my bodies? Why can¡¯t I sense them?¡± He didn¡¯t panic when a few of his bodies became trapped in those artifacts. Although he couldn¡¯t escape them, he didn¡¯t think these insignificant bugs could harm him. His existence was akin to an immortal monarch competing against true immortals and those below. Unless they reached a certain requirement, they could not harm him. However, Tianyi could. The remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams couldn¡¯t think of a reason for how Tianyi did it. It was unlike his original plan of absorbing Tianyi. He couldn¡¯t feel himself in Tianyi¡¯s body. It was more like Tianyi had teleported his split bodies into another area that he couldn¡¯t sense. He attempted to erase Tianyi¡¯s bodies like he had done before, but this time, he encountered a staunch resistance. His rate of erasing Tianyi did not exceed Tianyi¡¯s rate of absorbing his bodies. During this time, Tianyi had the three immortal ministers absorb the chaos fiendgod¡¯s many bodies. Compared to him directly absorbing the chaos fiendgod, it was much faster to trap them inside the realm artifacts and then deliver them into his Nine Heavens Universe. The remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams no longer attempted to stop Tianyi and focused solely on fleeing. He ran through his mind on how to escape this disaster, but no method worked. He couldn¡¯t outrun Tianyi because the latter could teleport. And, his many bodies also decreased faster because of those three insignificant bugs. He wanted to kill those three bugs and draw out the time. However, Tianyi would always protect them, and he could defend against those realm artifacts in his split state. This naturally resulted in more and more split bodies disappearing into Tianyi¡¯s inner universe. Later, six more immortal officials appeared, each carrying realm artifacts. Under their aid, Tianyi absorbed the remnant chaos fiendgod even faster. Still, because of the chaos fiendgods many bodies, it still took months to finish. ¡°Dammit, dammit!¡± the remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams cursed as he fled. Right now, he only had a single body left, and surrounding him were Tianyi and those nine bugs. ¡°Why! Why are you on their side?¡± ¡°Maybe, because I¡¯m not a chaos fiendgod like you think?¡± Tianyi asked. His method of cultivation might really turn himself into a fiendgod, but it definitely isn¡¯t like those natural fiendgods. ¡°Impossible, you are even more like a chaos fiendgod than me!¡± the remnant chaos fiendgod shouted. But he didn¡¯t have any time to spout any words because Minister Everpast used his realm artifact to trap him. Minister Everpast handed the realm artifact to Tianyi, who absorbed it into his Nine Heavens Universe. A second later, the realm artifact reappeared in his hands, and he handed it back to Minister Everpast. He lazily stretched his waist. ¡°Finally over. This took way too long. Let¡¯s go back now.¡± Minister Everpast and the other immortal officials nodded, exhausted. Still, smiles appeared on their faces. Although dangerous and tiring, the gains outweighed the losses. A chaos fiendgod was practically a wealth of resources. In the Immortal Court¡¯s records, the amount of times successfully capturing a chaos fiendgod did not exceed the number of fingers in one hand. And all of them happened in the primordial era. Still, none of them worried that they could use the chaos fiendgod. It would just take more time. ¡°Hm?¡± Tianyi felt something sharp brush against his consciousness, and he headed toward the source. He released his immortal sense and attempted to capture the source, but found nothing. ¡°Is something wrong?¡± Minister Everpast asked. Tianyi shook his head. ¡°No, it might just be my imagination.¡±
On the other side of the Vast Void stood a man with sword-like brows and a sharp gaze. He wore a simple garb robe with a sword sheathed on his waist. ¡°Quite sharp, that one,¡± Bao Ling said. He shook his head and waited for Tianyi and the nine immortals to leave. Once they returned to the Primordial Realm, he turned his attention to the desolate realm in front of him. He unsheathed the sword at his waist and raised it above his head. Then, he brought it down. That simple movement only sliced through empty space in the Vast Void, but in the next moment, the desolate realm split in half. With its dimensional boundaries broken, it became exposed to the Vast Void. The ground crumbled, and the sky shattered. Luckily, no life existed in this broken realm, otherwise the amount of Karmic Sin would have skyrocketed. However, that didn¡¯t mean Bao Ling¡¯s action didn¡¯t incur Karmic Sin. Vast amounts of Karmic Sin gathered on Bao Ling¡¯s body, but the moment they came into contact, the Karmic Sin vanished under his skin. This continued until all the Karmic Sin disappeared, and Bao Ling continued to stare at the crumbling realm, as if the Karmic Sin didn¡¯t exist. A smile appeared on his face when a gray mist with countless tiny motes of lights appeared when the desolate realm completely broke down. This was realm essence. Bao Ling reached out his hand and made a grabbing motion, causing the realm essence to fly toward him. Like the Karmic Sin, the realm essence flowed into Bao Ling¡¯s body. ¡°Onto the next one.¡± Chapter 476: Law of Dreams Dreamwalker¡¯s eyes snapped open. Disbelief covered his entire face. ¡°Impossible. Simply impossible!¡± He continued to question the reality that he lived. Even as he did so, Dreamwalker¡¯s body became transparent. His muttering slowed down, elongating to the point that it no longer resembled words, but something inhumane. Dreamwalker was nothing more than an incarnation the remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams created. Once the main body disappeared, so, too, did the connection. Without that link supporting him, he was nothing more than an illusion. Not long later, he completely disappeared. The only trace of his existence being the cave he lived in. The dreamer awakened, and thus, the fantasy vanished.
¡°Where is this?¡± the remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams asked aloud. The last thing he remembered was those bugs trapping him inside the realm artifact. Of course, the remnant chaos fiendgod did everything in his power to escape, but before he could succeed, he had already been ejected out of the realm artifact. And thus, he found himself in an unfamiliar void. He knew it wasn¡¯t the Vast Void. Those under the Divine Realm could not sense the worldly laws of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System except for a select few, but as a chaos fiendgod¡¯s remnant, he could naturally accomplish this. Compared to the Vast Void, this space had far fewer laws and was much less perfect. None of the laws that made this space reached the divine level, and the foundation of this world seemed to be the Law of Spacetime. Yet, against all odds, this universe existed. Not only that, but the vastness far exceeded the size of his own inner world when he was at his peak, before Pangu slew him. The remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams didn¡¯t dwell on this matter for much longer. He had something more urgent he needed to accomplish. Ever since he appeared in this unfamiliar space, he could sense the split bodies that vanished. He now knew how Tianyi blocked his connection with his bodies. He was puzzled, but more importantly, he needed to regroup and regain his true strength. The remnant chaos fiendgod didn¡¯t believe Tianyi or those dogs of the Immortal Court lost sight of him. Since they could transport him to this void, they must be familiar with it. In that case, it was more wise to regain his strength instead of weakening himself to flee. The remnant chaos fiendgod attempted to teleport. This teleportation didn¡¯t use the Law of Space or the Law of Spacetime, but a special method he developed with the Law of Dreams. He would make his current existence disappear and reappear at another location, but it failed. The moment the remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams attempted his technique, the void surrounding him froze, and a powerful willpower that pervaded every space rejected his technique. He didn¡¯t show any disappointment. If he could use this technique in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System born of Pangu¡¯s Primordial World, he would have long used it. Alas, the restriction of the Heavenly Dao made it impossible. The remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams just wanted to test if it was possible in this unknown void, since the foundation was that much weaker. Since that was impossible, the remnant chaos fiendgod¡¯s misty body turned into a silver streak as he made his way towards the nearest split body. That split body, which had also sensed him, also made its way toward him. Originally, the remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams thought it would only take a few minutes to an hour to regroup, but no matter how far he traveled, he still felt like his split body remained the same distance away. No matter how he looked at it, he could see something wrong with the situation. The remnant chaos fiendgod stopped and tried many methods to merge into one once more. He even destroyed some of his bodies. Once that happened, the essence that made that body should return to all the other bodies equally, but that didn¡¯t happen. Instead, his ¡®corpse¡¯ remained there, unmoved. Clearly, something was hindering him. Hours turned into days, and days turned to weeks. In this timeless void, the remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams couldn¡¯t accurately grasp the passage of time, but that did not stop the urgency in the back of his mind. Would the Immortal Court just leave him alone after transporting to this strange void? Obviously not. The longer he remained stagnant, the less his chances of escaping and getting vengeance. However, no matter how much he wanted to do something, his fantasy could not overcome reality. It was as if something had anchored him down, interfering with his ability. After an unknown amount of time, the remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams sensed a change. A temple constructed out of black and white appeared in front of him. It opened its gates and sucked that body in. Although the body didn¡¯t lose its connection with the other bodies inside, it became immobile and unable to do anything. The remnant chaos fiendgod started to fret and wanted to flee, but he couldn¡¯t change his destiny. One by one, the black and white temple appeared in front of his body and sucked them in. Finally, the black and white temple appeared in front of the remnant Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams¡¯ last free body.
Tianyi breathed a sigh of relief after the Yin-Yang Temple he took from the Eight Pillar Sect captured the Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams¡¯ last body. Although he had trapped the chaos fiendgod¡¯s body inside his inner universe, it was just that, trapped. He didn¡¯t have a method to seal him until now. Once the chaos fiendgod was inside his Nine Heavens Universe, Tianyi used it to analyze the law the chaos fiendgod mastered. Only then did he know that the chaos fiendgod mastered the Law of Dreams. The Concept of Dreams that existed in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System was extremely esoteric, so few mastered it. And even those who comprehended it did not have much use for it. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. But after Tianyi saw the Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams¡¯ masterful usage of the Law of Dreams, he had other thoughts. Turning fantasy into reality and vice versa. If used well, Tianyi believed he could use it to defeat Bao Ling. After all, the Law of Dreams did not exist in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, meaning few knew of it. The fewer people knew about it, the more difficult it would be to deal with. Of course, Tianyi only comprehended it to the concept level and hadn¡¯t mastered the Law of Dreams. Still, with his mastery of the Concept of Dreams and his absolute control of the Yin-Yang Temple, the Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams was helpless before him. He kept the remnant chaos fiendgod split because he feared what destruction the latter might cause if he had his full strength. Thanks to the hiccup in Minister Everpast¡¯s plans, it actually worked out in Tianyi¡¯s favor. At the very least, Tianyi only needed a few decades to devise a way to seal the current Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams instead of the hundreds or maybe thousands it might have taken before. Tianyi waved his hand, and a portal opened. In stepped Minister Everpast and Minister Vastlight. Minister Everpast sighed. ¡°No matter how many times I see it, I still find myself questioning how Grand Elder Nine Heavens accomplished such a heaven-defying act as creating a universe as big as the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System.¡± Tianyi only smiled. In reality, his inner universe¡¯s size exceeded the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Only because he didn¡¯t have a definite number and no one believed him when he said infinite, Tianyi simply said its size rivaled the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. ¡°Grand Elder, where is the Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams?¡± Minister Everpast asked. ¡°Over there,¡± Tianyi said, pointing at a fifth planet away from the sun, Fourth Heaven. One half of the planet exuded an aura of death. Specters, wraiths, and jiangshi populated it. On the other half, a colossal tree that pierced the atmosphere covered it in an aura of life. Unseen by all, the aura of life and death intermingled in the center of the planet. Sometimes the aura of death would overwhelm the aura of life, or vice versa, but both auras intermingled. While comprehending the Law of Dreams, Tianyi gained inspiration and finally merged the Law of Life and the Law of Death, crossing the first threshold of the Law of Life-and-Death. Thanks to his breakthrough, Daoyi pretty much stayed in the core of Fourth Heaven, desperately comprehending the Law of Life-and-Death. However, Tianyi had no need to inform Minister Everpast of his accomplishments. All that would accomplish would be more worthless praises and eyes that looked at him as if he was some monster. He led them into the border, where the auras of life and death clashed and mingled. There lay the Yin-Yang Temple. Of all the nine heavens, Tianyi discovered that Fourth Heaven had the biggest suppression on the Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams. Eight Heaven, where Tianyi planned to integrate the Law of Yin-Yang, might have had a better effect, but he hadn¡¯t even crossed the threshold of that law yet. Tianyi led the two ministers into the temple. In the main hall of the temple, rows and columns of gigantic test tubes filled the room. The room was dimly lit, and the only light source came from the test tubes, allowing them to see the many bodies of the Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams. ¡°Wonderful!¡± Minister Everpast said. His fervent gaze scanned the many capsules, akin to a mortal staring at an infinite number of gold mines. He turned to Tianyi, eyes still shining. ¡°Can we inscribe the extraction formation on the floor?¡± ¡°Hah?¡± Was Tianyi¡¯s reply. ¡°Of course not. This temple is a sovereign artifact. You¡¯re going to damage it. I¡¯ll prepare another location.¡± Tianyi pointed out the temple and into the sky. Minister Everpast pursed his brows, seeing nothing but the night sky where Tianyi pointed. Then, his eyes widened. Asteroids and comets appeared at light speed. They grouped together and formed Fourth Heaven¡¯s new moon. ¡°Let¡¯s call it Mengyue.¡± Minister Everpast stared at it for a good minute before sighing. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that your powers rival divinities in your inner universe.¡± Tianyi said nothing. With the extraction point formed, he brought a capsule and placed it in the center of the Mengyue. Minister Everpast and Minister Vastlight constructed a formation on the moon¡¯s surface and started to extract the chaos fiendgod¡¯s essence. They planned to extract only one of the Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams¡¯ split bodies at a time. If they merged the bodies or extracted multiple at once, it would give him a much higher chance of escaping. Had Minister Everpast not known this was Tianyi¡¯s territory, the Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams would have been sealed a hundred times over, not this lax security trapping him. Although sealed, the prisoner was a chaos fiendgod, a being that once fought against Pangu and a progenitor-like existence. No amount of preventative measures was too much. Even now, all of them were searching for Dreamwalker¡¯s trail, fearing that he was an escape avatar. Unfortunately, they could only locate the cave he was last seen at. The Immortal Court guessed that Dreamwalker had already fled the Primordial Realm. Tianyi left Minister Everpast and Minister Vastlight to their devices. Even though he left, the two only needed to say his title or name to contact him. He stepped through the portal out of his inner universe and onto Nine Heavens Peak. After spending decades comprehending the Law of Dreams and developing the method to seal the chaos fiendgod, Tianyi didn¡¯t want to be cooped up, so he left Nine Heavens Peak. His foot brought him to the disciple¡¯s sparring arena. He stood in the sky and watched as two foundation establishment disciples traded blows. His mind couldn¡¯t help but remember the conflict he had in front of the Immortal Scripture Repository when he was still in the Foundation Establishment Realm. ¡®What was that guy who fought me called again? Sima¡­Sima Qing? Sima¡­Zhou? Sima Pang? Sima Ping?¡¯ ¡°Grand Elder Nine Heavens.¡± Tianyi glanced up to see a female sword monarch from the Numinous Sword Sect flying toward him. He tried to recall the female envoy¡¯s name, but he couldn¡¯t remember. Still, he gave a polite smile. ¡°Greetings. Are you here to watch the sparring between disciples?¡± The female elder chuckled and glanced at the disciples below. Since the envoys arrived, many of the Foundation Establishment Realm and Core Formation Realm disciples had already integrated into the Primordial Realm. Many even underwent their heavenly tribulations here. ¡°How can that be? It¡¯s just child¡¯s play to you and I,¡± the female elder said. She continued to talk with Tianyi about random topics, confusing him about her purpose for speaking with him. Because he didn¡¯t want to appear rude, Tianyi played along, but soon, he regretted it. ¡°Tianyi!¡± Upon hearing the voice, Tianyi¡¯s face darkened terribly. Chapter 477: Merit Ascension Heavenly Tribulation Tianyi finally remembered where he had seen that female immortal monarch. She was Shu Qingya, a sword monarch that walked close to his sperm donor, Meng Tingfeng. Not only that, he suspected that the relationship between Meng Tingfeng and Shu Qingya wasn¡¯t a simple friendship, but something closer. Logically speaking, Tianyi couldn¡¯t blame his sperm donor for seeking companionship in another woman. After all, his mother barely even remembered that he existed, and Tianyi had no plans of them getting back together. Well, that wasn¡¯t quite accurate, since the two were never a pair. Emotionally, Tianyi couldn¡¯t accept it. ¡®Scumbag. You still want me to recognize you as my father when you¡¯re in a relationship with someone else? Dream on!¡¯ Shu Qingya must have noticed him and struck up a conversation to delay time for Meng Tingfeng to arrive. Tianyi didn¡¯t want to bother with Meng Tingfeng, so he turned around to leave. Meng Tingfeng saw this and sped up. ¡°Wait, Tianyi! Listen to what I have to say!¡± Naturally, Tianyi wouldn¡¯t obey just because of a few words, but someone had to grab his sleeve. He turned around and glared at Shu Qingya. Upon receiving the glare, Shu Qingya felt all the blood in her body freeze. Even the air around her seemed to have transformed into chains, shackling her in place. She did not doubt that if Tianyi wanted to, he could kill her simply by waving his hand. Thankfully for Shu Qingya, Meng Tingfeng quickly arrived and stood protectively in front of her. With Tianyi¡¯s gaze blocked, Shu Qingya felt like she could breathe again and quickly released Tianyi¡¯s sleeve. However, that meant that Meng Tingfeng faced Tianyi¡¯s ire. ¡°Son¡ª¡± Meng Tingfeng¡¯s breath hitched when the intensity of Tianyi¡¯s glare increased. Although Tianyi¡¯s previous gaze made him feel threatened, it wasn¡¯t to the same extent as Shu Qingya experienced. He still felt confident in escaping with his life, but now¡­ Meng Tingfeng quickly changed his address. ¡°Tianyi.¡± Tianyi¡¯s glare only sharpened. ¡°I thought I told you not to call me by my given name.¡± A bitter smile appeared on Meng Tingfeng¡¯s face. He wanted to complain. What¡¯s wrong with a father calling his son by his name? ¡®It¡¯s all Sovereign Xi¡¯s fault. I don¡¯t know what lies she fed him, but I must make him see the truth.¡¯ ¡°Nine Heavens Emperor,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. ¡°I think there¡¯s a misunderstanding between us, can we talk?¡± He glanced at the people gathering and looking at them. ¡°Alone.¡± Tianyi looked at him, as if questioning whether or not he should comply. Then a smile appeared on his face. One which Meng Tingfeng slowly reflected. ¡°No.¡± Meng Tingfeng¡¯s smile froze. He blinked, as if he didn¡¯t process what Tianyi had just said. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what¡ª¡± Before he could finish, Tianyi¡¯s figure vanished in front of him. There was no spatial fluctuation, at least, none that he could sense. It was as if Tianyi had simply disappeared, nothing more than an illusion. ¡°I heard that when he entered the Seamless Immortal Realm, his Dao Manifestation showed many laws. But from the information gathered, it¡¯s suspected that his primary law is the Law of Space,¡± Shu Qingya said, seeing Meng Tingfeng unresponsive for so long. The smile disappeared from Meng Tingfeng¡¯s face, and his expression darkened. ¡°I know. Thank you.¡±
Tianyi appeared at the top of Jade Peak with a sneer. ¡®Who do you think you are? Just because you want to talk alone, I should comply?¡¯ He shook his head and did his best to forget about that man. It was not worth getting angry about. After destroying the Numinous Sword Sect, he can forget about that man forever. If Meng Tingfeng didn¡¯t die, he¡¯ll just chuck him onto a desolate planet in the Nine Heavens Universe. Tianyi visited his mother and only left a few hours later. He still had many insights he hadn¡¯t digested yet. And since Daoyi was still busy with comprehending the Law of Life-and-Death, Tianyi had nothing better to do. He also kept up to date with the movements of the Demon Clan through his clone, Donghai Longzi. There was no need to visit Xia Meng because he left a conduit with the latter. Like this, the years flowed, and soon, four decades passed in a blink of the eye. The diplomatic envoy remained in the Immortal Court as part of the cultural exchange program. Many sages underwent their Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. Most failed, but the names of those that succeeded resounded across Trinity Continent. After their moment of fame, the newly ascended true immortals soon faded from most cultivator¡¯s minds. With the advent of the Xiyinet, information was much more accessible and harder to forget. Although the cultivators that successfully became immortals were amazing, they were overshadowed by the seniors who advanced to the Seamless Immortal Realm, such as Yan Nie. And soon a new immortal would join them. It was not a true immortal but a merit immortal. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Golden rays illuminated a quarter of the Primordial Realm, akin to a rising sun. All those basking under the light felt a gentle warmth spread through their body. Then, a figure appeared in their minds. He was of average height and build, nearing the end of his prime, but he had exquisite features and gentle eyes. Everyone who saw him would feel a spring breeze blowing against him and have an extremely favorable impression. Simultaneously, clouds appeared above an archipelago on the periphery of the Primordial Realm. The residents of the series of islands all kneeled and prayed. ¡°Heaven is blessing Xi Immortal Dynasty.¡± ¡°I pray that my child will pass the disciple acceptance ceremony.¡± ¡°It¡¯s our luck to be under the Xi Immortal Dynasty!¡± ¡°Please, great immortals, allow my child to be born with outstanding cultivation talent so that he can cultivate.¡± ¡°Glory to the Xi Immortal Dynasty!¡± The golden clouds continued to grow and grow until it shrouded the entire archipelago. Yet, it cast no shadow over the lands. An immortal song echoed in the ears of all under the golden cloud. The song was a triumph, a praise to the being who had accumulated enough merits that the Heavenly Dao would confer them immortality. The center of the golden clouds streamed down, as if funneled, toward the Xi Immortal Palace in the center of Xanadu, the capital of the Xi Immortal Dynasty. The clouds entered the highest tower of the palace and streamed into the man sitting in a lotus position. Upon contact, the golden clouds transformed into Karmic Merit, which the man absorbed. With each passing second, the golden aura on the man increased. Once half the clouds had been funneled down, the golden radiance on the man was visible even to those who have not opened their spiritual sense. When the man absorbed eighty percent of the Karmic Merit, his robes automatically changed into a golden color, and his face became shrouded behind a veil of light. The intensity of the radiance increased so much so that no mortal would dare to gaze directly upon him, lest they lose their vision. With less than ten percent of the golden clouds left, the man appeared to be molded from light itself. There was no face, no crease in his robes, it was as if he was just a glowing outline. Then, the light started to dull, not because the amount of Karmic Merit suddenly vanished, but because it condensed into a ring floating behind his back. As the last wisps of golden clouds vanished, the man¡¯s face could be barely discerned, and the ring of golden light solidified into a material form. The golden aura covering the man continued to recede. Conversely, the golden ring of merit grew, and intricate details appeared. When the golden rays vanished, the man stood up. A faint golden outline covered his body, one that even mortals could discern, but what would catch anyone who gazed upon him was undoubtedly the exquisite golden ring of merit floating behind him. Inscribed onto it were the many people of the Xi Immortal Dynasty, Xanadu, and the Xi Immortal Palace. ¡°So much for the Merit Ascension Heavenly Tribulation,¡± a sour voice said out of nowhere. ¡°This isn¡¯t a heavenly tribulation at all. It¡¯s just the Heavenly Dao bestowing you immortality.¡± The man looked at the owner of the sour voice. A smile appeared on his face, but it was a bit unnatural because of how long he hadn¡¯t smiled. ¡°Cousin Tianyi.¡± Tianyi paused. He stared suspiciously at Xi Ri. ¡°Did you lose your memory or something? Why are you still calling me cousin?¡± ¡°Sorry, I just blurted that out because of how long I haven¡¯t seen you. It¡¯s been thousands of years,¡± Xi Ri said. ¡°As for my change in character¡­ I¡¯m surprised myself. After I became a merit immortal, it was as if all my previous negative emotions vanished. I¡¯m conflicted about this. I¡¯m glad that I no longer have to deal with the trauma, but the sudden shift in personality feels wrong.¡± Tianyi held his chin with his fingers. ¡°You aren¡¯t going to say you¡¯ve become a brainless altruist, right?¡± ¡°Of course not,¡± Xi Ri said. ¡°Although being a merit immortal comes with limitations, it doesn¡¯t mean that I have to do good, and that I can¡¯t kill.¡± ¡°What kind of limitations? The records mentioned them, but they were not clear.¡± ¡°For one, everything I have is based on Karmic Merit. Merit immortals do not have sub realms like the four sub realms of the Immortal Realm. But it doesn¡¯t mean the energy I use can not become stronger. It¡¯s just that I have to earn more Karmic Merit,¡± Xi Ri said. ¡°That¡¯s the second limitation,¡± Xi Ri continued. ¡°I can¡¯t restore my qi by absorbing spiritual qi anymore. I have to earn more Karmic Merit and transform it into immortal qi of merit. If I¡¯m not careful and use too much, my realm will regress. Since I¡¯m only at the initial stage of the Merit Immortal Realm, I¡¯ll become mortal again and die.¡± The more Tianyi heard, the more he felt sorry for his cousin. ¡°Third, the punishment if I commit any sins is greater. I will lose vast amounts of merit if I kill mortals, even accidentally. This makes it difficult for me to battle anyone, even if I want to,¡± Xi Ri said. He listed a few more, but the biggest limitations were those three points. ¡°Sorry, maybe I should have found another method.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no need. I think it¡¯s pretty good like this,¡± Xi Ri said. ¡°This may have been the best method. There¡¯s no need to feel guilty. I¡¯m alive, after all.¡± Tianyi averted his eyes. He gazed out of the window. ¡°What do you plan to do with the Xi Immortal Dynasty?¡± ¡°I originally planned to leave since there¡¯s no more use for it, but I will have to continue it. I don¡¯t think I would need to battle, but there¡¯s no harm in growing stronger. I never want to experience a situation where I find myself unable to control my own life and death again.¡± ¡°You already controlled ninety percent of the archipelago. It¡¯s a good steady stream of Karmic Merit, but how about expanding to other islands? You can set up more Xi Immortal Dynasties and become a vassal force. It might not be the strongest, but it will definitely be the biggest.¡± Xi Ri stared suspiciously at Tianyi. ¡°What are you planning?¡± ¡°Nothing, honest,¡± Tianyi said with an innocent look in his eyes. ¡°You¡¯re not thinking about giving more systems, are you?¡± ¡°Geh!?¡± Tianyi coughed into his fist. ¡°Do you think I can give those out at random? It¡¯s a bit troublesome to make. I just wanted to see if I can find any suitable disciples?¡± ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s why you gave Jun Qiangwu that system. I admit his background does fit that of a protagonist, but do you really think that you can strike the jackpot and find such a disciple in the periphery of the Primordial Realm? Most of the talents are born on the Trinity Continent. This is real life, not a novel.¡± ¡°Come on, there¡¯s no harm, is there?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°Fine,¡± Xi Ri said. ¡°It¡¯s not like it will harm me. But first, I want to return to the Xi Dynasty and see how it¡¯s developing. By the way, where¡¯s Daoyi?¡± A warm yet excited smile appeared on Tianyi¡¯s face. ¡°She¡¯s reached a critical point in her enlightenment. If she succeeds, she can enter the Seamless Immortal Realm.¡± Chapter 478: Monarch At Last A woman robed in blue sat under the shade of the colossal tree. The tree pierced the planet¡¯s atmosphere and towered over the land. The roots resembled a vast mountain from the woman¡¯s viewpoint, and the trunk made it seem like the pillar that held heaven and earth apart. The woman sat in a lotus position. Her features were elegant and noble, her aura ethereal. Should any mortal near her, they would hear the cries of their dearly departed or the jubilant cries of their unborn children. However, that abnormal phenomenon slowly disappeared, and the woman seemed to have merged with nature itself. Unless someone searched closely and purposefully, not even a true immortal could detect her presence. At this time, a man condensed out of the essence in the air. One side of the man¡¯s face was brimming with life, bright eyes, and a head full of lush black hair, but the other side seemed to be on the brink of death. A wrinkled face, gaunt contortions, and thin, white hair. Like the man¡¯s appearance, he wore a robe of black and white. He was Sitian, the planet spirit of Fourth Heaven. Once Tianyi successfully merged the Law of Life and the Law of Death, Sitian found that he had become stronger. No longer was he just an artifact spirit of death, but one of life-and-death. In all honesty, his strength had dropped after Tianyi transplanted him from the Silent Lightning Timeline to his timeline, but Sitian was fine with that. After all, he would eventually disappear in that timeline. At least now he has a chance to continue living. But after Tianyi upgraded Fourth Heaven, Sitian found that his own strength also increased. The Nine Heavens Universe also had its own cycle of reincarnation, but it was not as complete as the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. So far, it was because of Sitian¡¯s efforts that new life could be born and that the dead could be reborn in this vast universe. After his upgrade, the cycle of reincarnation became smoother. It still had its kinks and the occasional ghosts that would appear, but they would all be teleported onto Fourth Heaven. Sitian had a feeling that life might explode in the Nine Heavens Universe, instead of only existing on two of eight heavens Tianyi selected in the center of the universe. Upon thinking of this, the planet spirit couldn¡¯t help but sigh. He was born after the primordial era, but that still meant he lived for millions of years. Tianyi¡¯s cultivation speed during his mortal years was extremely fast, but Sitian knew of those who cultivated even faster. He had to admit, though, that Tianyi¡¯s cultivation speed in the Immortal Realm exceeded all those he had seen. It might have been because of his unique state of existence, but that didn¡¯t detract from Tianyi¡¯s excellence. And now, his wife, Daoyi, was about to also successfully merge the Law of Life and the Law of Death into the Law of Life-and-Death. Because this wasn¡¯t the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, Daoyi didn¡¯t ascend to the Seamless Immortal Realm, meaning that a Dao Manifestation wouldn¡¯t appear. Actually, even if she ascended, a Dao Manifestation wouldn¡¯t appear. The Nine Heavens Universe didn¡¯t have such a phenomenon. ¡°Congratulations, Madam, on your successful comprehension of the Law of Life-and-Death,¡± Sitian said. Daoyi smiled and stood up. Just standing there, she appeared akin to an ordinary mortal woman, albeit far more beautiful, but how could she really be a mere mortal? ¡°Thank you for your compliment. I would have been more happy if I comprehended before him, though,¡± Daoyi said. ¡°In all honesty, I don¡¯t think the chances of that happening were high,¡± Sitian said. ¡°Can¡¯t you at least pretend that I had a chance?¡± Daoyi griped. ¡°Sorry, Madam, he is my master,¡± Sitian said. Daoyi sighed, and then she saw something out of the corner of her eye. ¡°Since you already know what happened, why are you hiding?¡± Tianyi came forward and coughed into his hand. ¡°Do you plan to ascend to the Seamless Immortal Realm after getting out, or do you want to continue and merge more laws into the Law of Life-and-Death?¡± Both of them knew that the Law of Life-and-Death had a higher version, the Law of Samsara. Unfortunately, it was too complicated and even Tianyi didn¡¯t have the confidence to succeed. The Law of Samsara was unique to the Chaos Fiendgod of Samsara, just like how the Law of Dreams was unique to the Chaos Fiendgod of Dreams. Because of the unique way the Law of Samsara was introduced to the Primordial World, it was practically impossible to comprehend it. In the records, only one divinity managed to comprehend it, Empress Ping. ¡°Forget it, I know my own talent,¡± Daoyi said. ¡°If you hadn¡¯t comprehended the Law of Life-and-Death, I would have likely spent thousands of years before seeing success, if at all.¡± ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, when do you plan to enter the Seamless Immortal Realm?¡± Daoyi thought a bit before answering. ¡°Not long. Around one to six months later. I have to consolidate my understanding of the Law of Life-and-Death in order to maximize the effect of the Dao Manifestation.¡± This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Tianyi nodded. For immortals like themselves, one to six months wasn¡¯t that long. If compared to a mortal¡¯s view, it would only be a few hours at most. Four months later, the sky above Buzhou Island in the center of Trinity Continent tore open, revealing not the Vast Void, but a different world. In it, countless trees and animals thrived. Simultaneously, death filled every meter of the world. The trees withered and animals decayed. Their corpses broken down into nutrients that fed the next generation of life. Those who comprehend concepts under the Law of Life or the Law of Death would find themselves immersed in this scene. ¡°Heavens, just which true immortal comprehended the Law of Life-and-Death?¡± a true immortal of the Immortal Court asked. He lived for a long time, so even though he didn¡¯t understand the profundities of the Dao Manifestation, he still recognized it. ¡°It must be an ancient immortal lord. They should have long comprehended the Law of Life and the Law of Death, but never stepped into the Seamless Immortal Realm because of their ambition,¡± another true immortal said. The Dao Manifestation covered all of Buzhou Island and even extended past the lake it floated onto and parts of Trinity Continent. However, only a small percentage of cultivators truly gained much from the Dao Manifestation. Compared to that, although the percentage of people who gained anything from the Dao Manifestation was small, the number of people was far larger than the Immortal Court because of the larger number of people. Of course, most of them only gained a little compared to the elites of the Immortal Court. It was like a game character with a low level who used a potion to increase their experience. The potion only increased a fixed percentage, hence the higher leveled characters would obviously gain more experience. One of the cultivators who became immersed under Daoyi¡¯s Dao Manifestation was a girl by the name of Gan Xuehua. She, like Tianyi and Daoyi, was a reincarnator from Earth. When the Dao Manifestation ended on the fourth day, Gan Xuehua¡¯s eyes revealed a brilliant light. ¡°I¡¯ve mastered the Concept of Toxin. Coupled with the Concept of Vitality, the Concept of Bloodline, and the Concept of Genes, I have full confidence to overcome my Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation.¡± Her eyes narrowed, and a killing intent emerged from her body. ¡°Then I¡¯ll take your life, Mu Xuehua.¡± When Gan Xuehua reincarnated into the Primordial Realm, she was originally just an ordinary maid by the name of Mu Xuehua. But thanks to the fragment of the Spectral Rising Jewel in her possession, she switched bodies with the thirteenth princess of the Gao Dynasty, Gan Xuehua. After visiting Buzhou Island for the Immortal Official Conferment Ceremony, Gan Xuehua discovered that there were other reincarnators. She soon joined the Samsara Travelers Chat Group, but she only knew one of the member¡¯s true identity, the legendary Divine Flame Monarch Yan Nie. She only knew the others by their usernames: Ultimate Young Master, and Spider Idol. Yan Nie¡¯s username was Flame-On. Oh, there was another newbie that joined after her. Thanks to him, Gan Xuehua finally shed her newbie status. However, that wasn¡¯t important. What was important was all the help the chat group provided her. As long as she could provide new and unique things, she could earn points and use them to exchange with other members. None of the members were skilled in medicine or poison, so she found her own niche. It wasn¡¯t much, but it allowed her to dabble in alchemy. More importantly, she learned techniques far superior to the Gan Dynasty¡¯s collection. With the chat group, Gan Xuehua strengthened herself as much as possible, so that she could kill Mu Xuehua and keep her current identity. She felt a bit sorry, but that would not stop her. Pity or mercy didn¡¯t matter, only strength did.
Back in the Immortal Court, many people gathered on Nine Heavens Mountain. Because of Daoyi¡¯s ascension to an immortal monarch, she gave a sermon to everyone who could ascend Nine Heavens Mountain. The requirements were the same as when Tianyi gave his sermon. Although Daoyi¡¯s depth of comprehension was not as high as the senior monarchs and emperors, her unique understanding of the Law of Life-and-Death still brought inspiration to many of them. When Daoyi¡¯s sermon ended, all the people who listened thanked her before leaving. Only a few who had other business remained. ¡°Congratulations. It¡¯s really a case of double blessings. First, Elder Ri successfully became a merit immortal and now Elder Jiang is also an immortal monarch,¡± Xia Meng said. He glanced toward Mengfei, who was sitting in the primary seat of the Nine Heavens Palace¡¯s main hall. ¡°Grand Elder Xi is really blessed.¡± Mengfei simply glanced at him and nodded, as if it was the truest thing in the world and not a mere compliment. Xia Meng didn¡¯t quibble and turned toward Tianyi. ¡°Grand Elder Nine Heavens, Is Minister Everpast done with that matter?¡± Tianyi closed his eyes and then opened them again. ¡°He¡¯s still busy. What¡¯s wrong? Is there something urgent that needs his attention?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Xia Meng said. ¡°Our people noticed that Demon Empress Bluefeather and the other demons are appearing less and less. They might be preparing to return to the Divine Beast Pseudo System.¡± Tianyi blinked. ¡°Really, I haven¡¯t heard Donghai Longzi mention it. Let me ask.¡± After a few minutes, he said, ¡°He hasn¡¯t received any information about them retreating. Demon Empress Bluefeather has kept a tight lip on many matters ever since Yujiao¡¯s betrayal. Even Honglin, Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s granddaughter, isn¡¯t informed.¡± ¡°It¡¯s better to ask Minister Everpast to take charge. We could attack the Demon Clan anywhere from ten years to a hundred years,¡± Xia Meng said. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll tell him,¡± Tianyi said. Then he cast a sly glance toward Xia Meng. ¡°Since we¡¯re about to attack, shouldn¡¯t we end the so-called cultural exchange program and have those people deliver a message to the Numinous Sword Sect for them to prepare?¡± Xia Meng couldn¡¯t laugh or cry. ¡°Okay, okay. Let¡¯s do it your way. The show¡¯s been going on long enough.¡±
Donghai Longzi didn¡¯t know what was going on in the Primordial Realm. He didn¡¯t even care much about Demon Empress Bluefeather¡¯s suspicion of him. All his attention was on the divine scale attached to his dragon pearl. It was becoming harder and harder to suppress his cultivation. Even if he had plans to continue pretending to be a demon king, he couldn¡¯t anymore. Once he re-entered the Divine Beast Pseudo System, he would ascend to the Demon Emperor Realm. At this time, he was broken out of his thoughts by Honglin. ¡°Let¡¯s go. Empress Bluefeather has summoned us.¡± Honglin¡¯s mood was low, not just because of her uselessness, but because of the failed mission. With the Buddhists and the daoists alerted, it could be said that it would be extremely dangerous for the Demon Clan to relocate. Although she was competitive, she had been taught to care about the future of the Demon Clan as Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s granddaughter, so it weighed on her consciousness. Donghai Longzi didn¡¯t offer any words of compassion, he simply nodded. When the two arrived, they saw many other demons. Most of them the two had seen at certain instances, but never all of them at once. Demon Empress Bluefeather didn¡¯t waste any words and brought out her realm artifact, the Sacred Fire Grotto. ¡°Get in.¡± Chapter 479: Arrival Donghai Longzi once again entered the Sacred Fire Grotto. Everything appeared exactly the same as when all the demons entered and left the Divine Beast Pseudo System. At least on the surface. He had already noticed a lightness in his sleeve. Although not significant or noticeable, it was still a familiar weight, which accompanied him for thousands of years, that disappeared. His main body¡¯s conduit had taken action. A pair of pitch-black eyes gazed up. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Honglin asked, noticing his abnormal movements. Donghai Longzi didn¡¯t say anything for a moment. Finally, he shook his head and said, ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± Honglin didn¡¯t believe him, and also looked up, but she couldn¡¯t capture what drew his attention. ¡®Silly girl, I couldn¡¯t detect anything. The reason I looked up was because my intuition told me that something changed in the Sacred Fire Grotto,¡¯ Donghai Longzi thought. Although he didn¡¯t know what or how, Tianyi¡¯s conduit definitely took action. Just look at Demon Empress Bluefeather. Demon Empress Bluefeather appeared unfazed, with nary a change in her expression. Well, for the amount of expression a bird could have. Still, Donghai Longzi detected the wariness in her eyes, as well as the change in the flow of qi in the realm artifact. That change soon settled down and the spiritual qi calmed down. It seemed that Demon Empress Bluefeather couldn¡¯t discover anything, but that didn¡¯t mean she wasn¡¯t wary. Although Donghai Longzi couldn¡¯t sense anything outside of the Sacred Fire Grotto, he got a vague sensation of extreme vigilance during their return. Still, that had nothing to do with Donghai Longzi. Sooner or later, they would return to the Divine Beast Pseudo System. He wasn¡¯t worried about the ambush that might occur when the Sacred Fire Grotto arrived outside the pseudo system. The time would be far too soon. This was a war between the daoist path and the Demon Clan. Catching Demon Empress Bluefeather might sound good and all, but how could war preparation be done so fast? Even if they had already allied ahead of time, they couldn¡¯t show too much because of the need for secrecy. Donghai Longzi didn¡¯t think the Demon Clan would be alerted, either. Because of their recent actions, both the Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect used this chance to clean up as many spies as possible. To prevent these two hegemonic forces from catching their tails, the Demon Clan would hide as much as possible to prevent any accidents. Unfortunately, they didn¡¯t account for one Xi Tianyi. Donghai Longzi threw the information into the back of his mind and resumed his role as a rising star of the Demon Clan. Demon Empress Bluefeather delayed their return by a decade, but eventually, she returned to the Divine Beast Pseudo System. ¡°I have failed everyone¡¯s expectations,¡± Demon Empress Bluefeather said when she saw the fellow members of the Four Divine Beast, Demon Emperor Redraco and Demon Emperor Blacktiger, with no intent on shirking her responsibility. Demon Emperor Redraco didn¡¯t admonish Demon Empress Bluefeather, but he didn¡¯t comfort her either. He only sighed. ¡°It¡¯s not your fault,¡± Demon Emperor Blacktiger said. ¡°Who would have known that stinky dragon had long sold us out?¡± ¡°What do you mean by stinky dragon?¡± Demon Emperor Redraco asked. He felt like Demon Emperor Blacktiger was pointing at the mulberry tree, but cursing the locust. ¡°Exactly what I mean. Now that I know he¡¯s a lackey of the baldies, no wonder he always reeked. I was just too polite to say anything.¡± Demon Emperor Redraco made an expression saying, ¡®you, polite?¡¯ However, Demon Emperor Blacktiger acted as if he didn¡¯t see it and continued. ¡°I always said that you should have observed him more, but you always protected him. If you had listened to me, this wouldn¡¯t have happened.¡± ¡°Nonsense,¡± Demon Emperor Redraco snapped back. ¡°Yujiao was approved by all of us back then. Why didn¡¯t I see you bring up these oppositions back then? Right, Demon Empress Bluefeather?¡± Demon Empress Bluefeather didn¡¯t immediately respond. No matter what, the Phoenix Clan would suffer setbacks because of her. The Demon Clan was united against the humans, but that didn¡¯t mean there wasn¡¯t any internal fighting. She originally thought the Dragon Clan and Qilin Clan would use this chance to fleece some benefits from the Phoenix Clan, but judging by Demon Emperor Blacktiger, did the Qilin Clan want to unite with the Phoenix Clan to suppress the Dragon Clan? As for staying neutral and becoming the oriole watching the mantis stalk the cicada? She had no thoughts. It was too obvious. If she did that, the Qilin Clan would immediately turn on the Phoenix Clan and join the Dragon Clan to fleece them. ¡°I also had some reservations back then, but because of your shining endorsement, I held them back,¡± Demon Empress Bluefeather said. Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s eyes chilled. He focused on Demon Emperor Blacktiger, then back at Demon Empress Bluefeather. How could he not see the calculations? The fault that should have been held by Demon Empress Bluefeather transferred to him instead. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. However, how could it be so easy? For this operation, the Dragon Clan even dispatched Jiaohu, someone everyone was optimistic about. But what happened in this war, Jiaohu died! Now, the only demon with comparable spatial talent belonged to the Qilin Clan. ¡°What about Donghai Longzi, do you think he is a spy?¡± Demon Emperor Redraco asked. Demon Emperor Blacktiger snorted. ¡°Who knows? We only knew that kid for a few thousand years. It¡¯s not outside of the realm of possibility that he¡¯s some contracted spirit beast. How could the humans allow a true dragon to roam free and flee back to us? No matter how you look at it, he¡¯s suspicious.¡± ¡°Not necessarily,¡± Demon Empress said. Although she wanted to counterattack the Dragon Clan, it didn¡¯t mean burning the bridge with Donghai Longzi. He didn¡¯t grow up in the Divine Beast Pseudo System, meaning that his sense of belonging wasn¡¯t actually that deep. On average, demons lived far longer than their human counterparts, a short thousand years wasn¡¯t enough to develop a sense of belonging, especially as a non-native. If she played her cards right, she could make the Phoenix Clan gain another Demon Emperor Realm expert. ¡°Donghai Longzi is someone with extremely noble blood. It wouldn¡¯t be strange for him to have an inheritance that allowed him to hide while he was weak,¡± Demon Empress Bluefeather said. ¡°We cannot give him the same level of trust we gave Yujiao, but we don¡¯t have to be needlessly suspicious of him either. It would be a grave crime for us to push him onto the other side.¡± ¡°Alright, enough,¡± Demon Emperor Redraco said. ¡°We can discuss this after we leave the void. For now, we should bring the demons out of the Sacred Fire Grotto. Although the operation failed, their efforts are undeniable. They should take a good rest. As for Donghai Longzi, I¡¯ll send someone to monitor him and make sure he isn¡¯t a spy.¡± ¡®By monitor, you mean your granddaughter, right?¡¯ Both Demon Emperor Blacktiger and Demon Empress Bluefeather thought. They both knew that Red Emperor Redraco was very optimistic about Donghai Longzi and wanted to have his granddaughter become his wife. Demon Empress Bluefeather didn¡¯t quibble and opened a portal. Donghai Longzi, Honglin, and the other demons walked out. A few, like Honglin, felt emotional, as if they had finally returned home. Donghai Longzi didn¡¯t appear like them, but the demon emperors noticed that he seemed to have loosened his nerves. Donghai Longzi returned to his residence in the True Dragon Realm and entered secluded cultivation. No one was allowed to disturb, unless it was a crisis of life-or-death, not even Honglin. It was as if the turbulent waves in the Divine Beast Pseudo System had nothing to do with him. It was partly true. Although he was strong, he was not part of the decision makers, making him free and unrestrained. Although he returned, the black palace Donghai Longzi lived in remained empty except for a few servants. It was not that the demons who received his guidance didn¡¯t want to visit, but that the pressure emanating was too terrifying. The pressure intensified with each passing year, and even Honglin could barely resist the pressure after the tenth year. She couldn¡¯t stand in front of the entrance to Donghai Longzi¡¯s cultivation chamber. Demon Emperor Redraco also came once. Once he felt the pressure, he could only sigh. ¡°As expected of the bloodline that can rival the Nine-Clawed Golden Dragon. Soon, the Dragon Clan will have another dragon king.¡± The negotiations between the three clans had finished. The Dragon Clan ceded some resource points because of Yujiao, but its strength was not affected much. Although the Phoenix Clan also gained a portion, the Qilin Clan swallowed most of the resource points. Still, at least they didn¡¯t pay any price for Yujiao¡¯s betrayal under Demon Empress Bluefeather¡¯s watch. Now, all the Demon Clan wanted to do was bide its time and regain their strength, watching for the next opportune time to relocate the Divine Beast Pseudo System.
¡°It took over ten years.¡± ¡°What did you say?¡± Daoyi asked, looking at Tianyi. Tianyi shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± He, along with Daoyi, stood in the main hall of the control palace of Shangri-La. Although Shangri-La wasn¡¯t sparse by any means during the Jade-and-Numinous Conference, the amount of resources in it at this time made Tianyi feel what it meant to be poor for the first time in his life. There was even an inner voice telling him to snatch the resources and store it into his Nine Heavens Universe. Of course, he would not let this little greed control him. The Nine Heavens Universe had far more resources, but they haven¡¯t been discovered or processed yet. The Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect really went all out this time. If the Immortal Court had pulled out these cards during the Huang Realm unification war, Tianyi estimated that they would have steamrolled all opposition. Well, except the founder of the Saintly Scholar School. Yet, they only brought them out now. They really were careful. Even without expanding his spiritual sense, Tianyi could sense over ten immortal emperors, two hundred immortal monarchs, and countless true immortals on Shangri-La. And that was just the advance force. He was sure that both sects kept reserves. Granted, most of the immortal emperors were in stasis and emitted an aura of decay, meaning that their willpower was reaching its end. Still, over ten immortal emperors! That was a force that could easily conquer an immortal-rank realm back in the day. His mother and Sovereign Yanxu stayed in their respective realms to hold the fort in case the Demon Clan attacked the Primordial or Numinous Realm with most of their fighting force gone. It would not be a wrong tactic, divide and conquer. At this time, Minister Primewood stepped next to Tianyi. ¡°How is it?¡± ¡°We¡¯re almost there,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect it. The reason the Demon Clan was able to hide for so long was because they hid their location partly in another timeline. No wonder it¡¯s so hard to find.¡± ¡°Well, it is the Demon Clan, mankind¡¯s oldest nemesis,¡± Minister Primewood said. ¡°But that¡¯s even better. They¡¯ll suffer a backlash once they¡¯re dug out.¡± Tianyi said nothing. He could feel Meng Tingfeng¡¯s gaze on him, so he purposely kept conversing with Minister Primewood. Finally, Shangri-La stopped. ¡°Be careful. Although there¡¯s a concealment formation on Shangri-La, and I haven¡¯t sensed anything, the Demon Clan may have already noticed our presence,¡± Tianyi said. At this point, the sleeping immortal emperors have awakened from their stasis. Each one stared at the empty void in front of them with frightening gazes. ¡°Like we planned before, the Immortal Court will shatter the Demon Clan¡¯s barrier and expose them to the world,¡± Minister Primewood said. He, along with the eight other immortal emperors¡ªTianyi included¡ªforty-nine immortal monarchs, and eighty-one true immortals flew out of Shangri-La¡¯s protection and formed a formation with it at the core. The war against the Demon Clan had officially commenced. Chapter 480: Wedge The millions of kilometers around Shangri-La froze, as if someone had encased the entire area in amber. The only movement within this field of frozen time was on Shangri-La. The immortals who witnessed this couldn¡¯t help but feel wary. They couldn¡¯t sense anything outside of the range of the mobile fortress. It was as if they had been cut off from the world. What if this was a trap by the Immortal Court to reduce the Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s combat potential? How could the high echelon of the Numinous Sword Sect not think of such a plot? So, they armed the leader of this expedition with a few trump cards. The leader of the sword immortals was an immortal emperor by the title of Northsword. He was older than Sovereign Yanxu, and although he hadn¡¯t reached the end of his willpower yet, the hope of him reaching the Origin Immortal Realm was infinitely low. The grand formation continued to operate, expanding the frozen field around. Although it appeared like the group of immortals was cooperating to form the formation, it was actually only Tianyi. The other immortals present were just to mask this fact. The formation used required an extremely large amount of energy to activate. If they used immortal stones, an artificial version of spirit stones with higher energy density, to activate it, it would cause the Immortal Court to bleed. It might not cost a hundredth of the Immortal Court¡¯s wealth, but it would definitely cost a thousandth or two thousandth. More importantly, it required the use of essence stones. For the current cultivation world, essence stone was a nonrenewable resource that could not be used lightly. Most of them had already been used in the first million years after the primordial era. It would not be a lie to say that the Buzhou Immortal Sect destroyed many forces just to take their essence stones. In that case, why not let Tianyi activate it by himself? He had no shortage of qi, after all. The frozen field kept expanding and expanding until an obstacle stopped it. Although most of the field expanded, there was a certain part that remained the same, almost as if someone had taken a bite out of it. It was the first barrier protecting the Divine Beast Pseudo System. Naturally, this alerted the Demon Clan hidden within. Although Tianyi did his best to hide Shangri-La, it couldn¡¯t stop them from noticing the grand formation he operated. The Demon Clan immediately realized that someone found their location and wanted to root out the spies or the source of the information, but now was obviously not the time. The Demon Clan immediately dispatched three of this generation¡¯s Four Divine Beasts and a whole slew of demons to prevent the humans from breaking their barrier. Once the horde of demons emerged, the immortals immediately mounted a defense. The demons would also waste energy and slow down within the frozen field, but after all, the formation was still in its preparation stages. Once someone reached the formation masters operating the formation, all their efforts would be for naught, and the difficulty of the battle would increase. The first demons to attack were the insect demons. Contrary to the mortal world, insects were the rarest demons to reach the Demon Lord Realm. Insects were inherently weaker than larger demons and had much less intelligence, so the chances of a demon rising from them were pitiful. However, they also had their own advantages. Most insect demons were average and not outstanding, but those of certain types, such as colony insects, were one of the more threatening demons. The individual combat power of these colony insects wasn¡¯t high, but they had a certain characteristic. They were queen insects, and as queens, they could give birth to a plethora of offspring specialized for any task. It wasn¡¯t like ordinary insects, where they were only soldiers and workers. In addition to workers and fighters, Demon queen insects could give birth to formation insects, too. As long as the queen was a formation master, they could directly give birth to insects and have them act as the nodes and resources. The level of these offspring depended on the queen insect. For example, a demon king insect queen could produce offspring at the demon king level. However, if the queen insect was a third-step demon king, she could not produce an offspring in the fourth-step. In fact, only the most outstanding of insect queens could produce offspring at the same level of cultivation as themselves. The most important aspect was their domination ability. All offspring born of the insect queen would be completely under her control. This was also a reason for why their offspring could not exceed the queen insect¡¯s cultivation base. Once exceeded, they bore the risk of betraying the queen insect. Another downside was the amount of resources needed to produce the offspring. The stronger the offspring, the greater the resources. In general, the amount of resources was lower than what it required a regular beast to become a demon lord, but once born, their potential was set. Unless the insect queen was willing to consume a vast amount of resources to create an offspring with high potential, they were destined to be used as cannon fodder. The price didn¡¯t seem much, since many demon lords were born, but once one individual needed to provide all the resources, it became a different matter altogether. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Although the ability was powerful, there were not actually that many insect queens with a high cultivation base. As insects, they weren¡¯t part of the three major demon lineages, and they could only be considered second-rate. Still, that didn¡¯t mean they weren¡¯t to be feared. The three demon clans ruled the Divine Beast Pseudo System, but there was a fourth faction. It was weaker than any of the three clans, but it was still a sizable force. In this faction, the insect queens had a large influence. Though that didn¡¯t prevent the three major clans from using her as a spearhead against the humans at this moment. The immortals suffered a small loss when they fought against the insect demons. Because of their rarity, the humans didn¡¯t have much experience with them and never expected them to focus entirely on offense and leave themselves open to attack. Although the immortals had to leave the mobile fortress, they weren¡¯t at a disadvantage. With immortal monarchs at the head, they quickly formed many war formations to counter the demons rushing them. Because they were in the Vast Void, they didn¡¯t have an environmental advantage, but as the defending side, they automatically possessed the upper hand. The demons erupted like crazy. As long as they destroyed the formation, the humans would not have an easy time breaking their barrier. With them already knowing the human¡¯s intent, how could they not be wary? As for whether they would continue to war or flee, that was a story for another time. They had to overcome this trial first. Soon, the other demons rushed in after the first wave of insect demons. The insect queens were valuable combatant producers, so they did not appear on the battlefield. Not only that, but the Demon Clan will give them resources to produce more cannon fodders. Of course, this will only last a limited time. Demon Emperor Redraco, Demon Emperor Blacktiger, and Demon Empress Bluefeather also took action. Aside from them, there were also other demon emperors joining the charge, just not as plentiful. The Demon Clan also had a method of extending lives, just not as perfect as the human¡¯s method. It took time to awaken those sleeping demons. Not only that, but the population of demons was far smaller than humans, so although they generally possessed greater longevity, they were also less numerous. The demons with powerful innate abilities used them one by one, not conserving their power at all. Because of the unique and myriad methods, many war formations broke apart, but the majority still resisted. Chief among these war formations was Meng Tingfeng commanding the Myriad Star War Formation. Coupled with his combat prowess and the divine artifact, Seven Star Sword, he was like a shining star on the battlefield. How could he not place his best efforts? Disregarding the fact that he wanted to use the war against the Demon Clan to temper himself, this was also a battle of protection. Protection for his one and only son. So, if the other immortals were using a hundred percent of their effort, he put one hundred and ten percent. Tianyi saw Meng Tingfeng¡¯s effort, but his heart was as calm as a lake, with no ripples. Meng Tingfeng¡¯s rising strength only made him want the latter to disappear even more. If Meng Tingfeng grew to a certain point, he couldn¡¯t suppress the latter, much less ignore him. He just didn¡¯t want this damn outsider to interfere with his life. Was that too much to ask? Still, Tianyi knew the importance of the war. It wasn¡¯t time to split with the Numinous Sword Sect yet. He focused wholeheartedly on the grand formation. Although he had a lot of qi and essence, it still took time to summon them from the Nine Heavens Universe. While he was charging up, a few demons broke through the barricade of immortals. They didn¡¯t target Tianyi, or the immortal monarchs, but the true immortals. Most formations need to have all their components in place to work, and especially during the setup process. Most of the demons who broke through failed in their assault and either died or were fatally injured. Two succeeded, but to their dismay, the grand formation adjusted itself and didn¡¯t seem to be affected by the two true immortals¡¯ departure. Instead, the two true immortals counterattacked and killed them, making their death worthless. After a few more tries, the demons only successfully knocked out three more true immortals and one immortal monarch. However, when they saw the ever expanding frozen field, they couldn¡¯t help but fret. They didn¡¯t recognize the formation, and they didn¡¯t know when it would become completed. They didn¡¯t know its purpose, only that it would be detrimental. The unknown is one of life¡¯s greatest fears. True to their fear, while they were still doing everything in their ability to disrupt the formation, Tianyi finished gathering all the energy required and activated it. It was as if a vacuum had sucked away all the air. The sudden change in pressure caused everyone¡¯s ears to boom. It was simultaneously the quietest moment yet the loudest during the battle. Although the Vast Void was just that, a void, it didn¡¯t mean nothing existed. The frozen field split in half, turning into two hemispheres. Along with its split, it pulled apart the barrier protecting the Divine Beast Pseudo Realm. The grand formation had attached itself to the barrier, and at the last moment, it sliced through the barrier and used itself as a leverage to split it apart. ¡°No!¡± Demon Emperor Redraco shouted. After a certain point, the crack did not widen and even showed signs of healing. How could the barrier protecting the Divine Beast Pseudo System not have a self repair feature? So, Tianyi controlled Shangri-La to fly forward and wedge itself in place to prevent the opening from closing. Naturally, the demons wouldn¡¯t let Tianyi succeed. And another all-out battle occurred. However, Shangri-La lived up to its name as a mobile fortress. Most of the attacks that neared it would seemingly pause right outside of it. It was as if there was an infinite gulf that could not be crossed, no matter what. The same went for the demons trying to fly in. Those that succeeded ran rampant and attacked everything. However, stepping into Shangri-La was akin to stepping into a realmlord¡¯s domain. Those demons were severely suppressed and the immortals within quickly executed them. Any and all damage done to Shangri-La was quickly healed, as if time had reversed. ¡°Retreat!¡± Demon Emperor Redraco said, unwillingly. He could see that it was impossible to drive out the human after they wedged themselves at the opening. More importantly, they were caught off guard. They had to return and discuss what to do. Of course, that didn¡¯t mean that all of them would retreat. A certain amount had to be stationed to watch the humans. The humans didn¡¯t chase either. They had suffered casualties, and they needed to recuperate. Not to mention that this was inside the Demon Clan¡¯s territory. Who knew what defenses would be present? Chapter 481: Realmwar Waves upon waves buffeted the shoreline. This was a rare sight in the True Dragon Realm, which was primarily composed of water. Most dragons and life in this realm lived in the water, and only a few species of demon lived on land. On the pristine white beach, a towering shell caught the attention of several demons. Curious, those demons ran toward the colossal shell and tapped it before immediately retreating. When they saw no reaction, they became braver and used all their strength to attack the shell. In their mind, the shell might have been the leftover of a dead demon. Although the chances of finding a demonic core were low, if they succeeded, they would have won the jackpot. Some even tried to dig under to find the shell¡¯s entrance. However, those that dug realized that the shell was buried deep into the sand. However, that only ignited their previous beliefs even more, inciting more effort from them. Suddenly, the sky split, revealing the void outside the True Dragon Realm. These demons, who haven¡¯t even reached the Demon Lord Realm, panicked. Their legs trembled as they watched the sky collapse. Their panic further intensified when the shell they brazenly attacked started to shift, displacing the surrounding sand. The ground became like quicksand and a few demons succumbed to death, unable to extricate themselves from the perilous trap. The demons that escaped didn¡¯t have time to worry about their companions as they stared in wonder. The owner of the shell, who they thought dead, revealed itself. The shell that towered over the beach was only the tip of the iceberg. Or rather, mountain. The demon resembled a hermit crab, with carp-like scales and tufts of fur covering their joints. Its size was that of a small mountain, and because of its movements, the ground collapsed, causing seawater to pour in and flood over the land-based demons. The demon hermit crab¡¯s two stalk-like eyes stared at the sky. ¡°How could the dimensional boundary be breached to this extent? I have to find out what happened.¡± It wasn¡¯t only him, but all the other demons at the Demon Lord Realm that wanted to find the source of the calamity. Because of the breach, the spiritual qi density above the water in the True Dragon Realm temporarily decreased, and it would take a few centuries to reach its former density. The members of the Dragon Clan immediately learned that someone had invaded the Divine Beast Pseudo System, causing panic to fill their body. Although the Demon Clan conducted many wars with the humans¡ªmany of the echelon experienced at least one war¡ªit was always in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Not once had the humans invaded their lair. Even Demon Emperor Redraco felt unease after returning to the True Dragon Realm. When he saw all the demons congregating at Crystal Palace, he felt a bit more stable. However, not for long. Years of experience already let him conclude the end possibility of this war. If the Demon Clan won, it would be a pyrrhic victory, at best. The humans would retreat, but he doubted that they would give up. Because the Divine Beast Pseudo System was exposed, the humans would never let them relocate and hide away like years past. And if the Demon Clan wanted to return to the former status quo, they would have to pay a high price. Of course, the Demon Clan could always lose the war. The results of such a loss did not need to be emphasized. Demons would become a second-class race under humanity, forever with their tails between their legs. However, Demon Emperor Redraco didn¡¯t think the Demon Clan would lose. This was their home turf, and it was much easier to defend than to lay a siege. ¡°Patriarch,¡± Demon Emperor Draco said. The Dragon Clan¡¯s patriarch, a dragon as large as Demon Emperor Redraco, but with dull golden scales, nodded in acceptance. Outsiders knew that the leaders of the Demon Clan were the Four Divine Beasts, but what they didn¡¯t know was that the Four Divine Beasts were responsible for everything outside of the Divine Beast Pseudo System. For the inner matters, most of it was taken care of by the three clan leaders of the three major clans, the Dragon Patriarch, Phoenix Patriarch, and Qilin Patriarch. ¡°Has everything been prepared?¡± the Dragon Patriarch asked. Since the humans have invaded the Divine Beast Pseudo System, it was naturally no longer just the Four Divine Beast¡¯s duty to repel them. The three patriarchs, who were usually focused on promoting the power of demons within the pseudo system, also had a say. ¡°Yes,¡± Demon Emperor Redraco said. Now, all they had to do was wait for the other members of the Four Divine Beast, clan patriarchs, and faction leaders to arrive. Crystal Palace had already been set up to receive these leaders and discuss the countermeasure. Because the humans suddenly invaded, they could only take emergency countermeasures. Since they lost the first battle, the Demon Clan had to decide how to proceed. They must carefully deliberate the goal and select a strategy. ¡°Grandfather.¡± Demon Emperor Redraco turned and saw his granddaughter. He looked next to her and saw a suspiciously absent presence. ¡°Did he not come?¡± Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°Longzi says he¡¯s at a critical moment in his cultivation,¡± Honglin answered. ¡°He said the next time you see him, he will be a dragon king. Hmph. I thought I caught up with him, but he just left me in the dust again.¡± ¡°It¡¯s only natural,¡± Demon Emperor Redraco said. ¡°His bloodline is higher than yours, so he will have a smoother time cultivating. Not to mention his experiences during his younger years forged an iron-like will in him. Look at you. Because you failed the mission, you¡¯ve become decadent and your cultivation slowed.¡± ¡°How can I not be depressed? This mission caused the Divine Beast Pseudo System to become exposed,¡± Honglin said. ¡°No, it¡¯s not your fault, but Yujiao¡¯s. He must have acquired many secrets during his time here. The Buddhists must have leaked the information to the Daoists. They always liked to proclaim themselves as pacifists, but who doesn¡¯t know they are the ones that liked to watch two sides fight and harm each other, waiting until both sides were injured before picking up the spoils?¡± Because of their origins, the Daoist lineage did not like them, and neither did the Demon Clan. Honglin stayed silent. ¡°Grandfather, do you think it¡¯s possible that Longzi was the one that exposed us?¡± Demon Emperor Redraco frowned. ¡°Impossible, where did you hear that from?¡± ¡°I heard a few demons muttering about it under their breath,¡± Honglin said, looking away. ¡°After all, aside from Yujiao, Longzi is the only dragon taken from outside that has risen up the ranks so fast.¡± Not only did Demon Emperor Redraco frown, but so did the Dragon Patriarch. Both of them were very optimistic about Donghai Longzi. They didn¡¯t believe that the people behind the rumors really believed the nonsense they spouted. At least most of them didn¡¯t. Rather, the two believed this was a scheme to divide Donghai Longzi¡¯s heart from the Dragon Clan. Once he no longer felt welcome in the Dragon Clan, the two other clans could poach him much more easily. Luckily, Donghai Longzi was in secluded cultivation and could not hear these rumors. ¡°Ignore them, Young Dragon,¡± the Dragon Patriarch said. ¡°How can I not have considered the possibility that Donghai Longzi is a traitor? While he was inside the True Dragon Realm, I kept watch on him and saw no signs of him attempting to contact the outside world.¡± ¡°What about when he left?¡± Honglin asked. ¡°Patriarch shouldn¡¯t have been able to keep watch of him there, right? I spent the most time with him, but it¡¯s not like there weren¡¯t periods where he was alone.¡± The Dragon Patriarch shared a smile with Demon Emperor Redraco. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that. We naturally have our means to keep them in check even when they¡¯re alone.¡± Honglin felt a chill down her back when she heard this. She didn¡¯t know where it came from, but it was ominous nonetheless. ¡°Wait, if that¡¯s the case, then why didn¡¯t it work on Yujiao?¡± The Dragon Patriarch sighed. ¡°He was an accident. Although we have our methods, it doesn''t mean it¡¯s foolproof. Until the last moment, Yujiao never showed any signs, even alone. Had it not been for the humans who forced him to a dead end, he would have likely continued his facade. And we would have been none the wiser. The human¡¯s attack would have caught him even more off guard.¡± Actually, Yujiao¡¯s betrayal, which led to the Demon Clan mounting some precautionary measures, was a complete accident. So, the Demon Clan should thank Yujiao, not that any of them would. They would rather rip him to shreds with their fangs and claws. ¡°Alright, go back,¡± Demon Emperor Redraco said. ¡°The other patriarchs and Four Divine Beasts have entered the True Dragon Realm.¡± Honglin retreated. She didn¡¯t mingle with the other demons and stared at the wall in a certain direction. Logically, she knew that Donghai Longzi didn¡¯t show any signs of being a spy. However, she was the demon who spent the most time with him, and she could feel that Donghai Longzi built a wall to keep others from growing too close to him. At first, she thought it was his wary mindset that he cultivated because of his experiences outside the Divine Beast Pseudo System, but after the disastrous mission and Yujiao¡¯s betrayal, she couldn¡¯t help but have suspicions.
Tianyi sighed as he stared into the Divine Beast Pseudo System from Shangri-La¡¯s palace. The war wasn¡¯t as exciting as he expected it to be. Well, at least for him. He had to hold the fort and stabilize Shangri-La and prevent the Demon Clan from dislodging it from the dimensional boundary of the pseudo system. Of which, the Demon Clan had attempted many times in the decades of war. Simultaneously, he was also widening the opening in the Divine Beast Pseudo System as much as possible. His goal wasn¡¯t to completely destroy it. Heavens knew that it would take forever. No, he discovered that the energy from the Divine Beast Pseudo System was flowing out and into the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. The greater the opening, the faster the flow of energy. The Three Thousand Immortal Realms System was absorbing the Divine Beast Pseudo System. So far, the Demon Clan have not discovered this yet, otherwise, they would have made a much greater attempt at removing the wedge. As long as ten demon emperors didn¡¯t unite to unleash a combination attack, Tianyi had the confidence to block it. Even if his mastery of the Law of Spacetime was not enough, who told him to have a near endless amount of energy that allowed him to brute force block it? Not to mention that the war hadn¡¯t reached the point of immortal emperors fighting against demon emperors. The current state of the war was at the realmwar stage. Although the immortals could recover their qi in Shangri-La, it was not conducive to taking over the Divine Beast Pseudo System by staying in the mobile fortress. And they couldn¡¯t simply designate the True Dragon Realm, Phoenix Realm, or Qilin Realm as the first target. No, they would target the lower realms first. Once they conquered more realms, they would set up military bases, and they would no longer have to return to Shangri-La to restore their qi. However, this also meant a certain amount of risk. This was the demon¡¯s home turf, and the immortals needed to station a certain number of guards at each conquered realm to maintain a stable supply chain. The thinner the immortals became, the easier it was for the demon to attack them. Although the demons did their best to prevent the immortals from conquering the lower realms, they still lost over ten lower realms in the last few decades. During this time, many immortals became famous. Especially with the usage of the Xiyinet, like the dazzling second Seven Star Sword Monarch, the overwhelming World Link Monarch, or the haunting Monarch Thrallsong. Chapter 482: Realm Link King Feeling bored, Tianyi took out a Xiyi Talisman and started to fiddle with it. He entered the Xiyinet manually with his fingers and not his immortal sense, like most cultivators liked to do. As someone who grew up in modern society, he preferred the feeling of swiping the screen. Even to this day, most of the denizens of the Primordial Realm and Numinous Realm did not know of the war in the Divine Beast Pseudo System. The cultivators did not want an outsider like the Buddhists to intervene. To keep this secrecy, Tianyi created a subnetwork of the Xiyinet for the people partaking in the war to communicate in. Still, the sub-Xiyinet only worked in the areas near Shangri-La and the conquered realms. When invading unclaimed territory, the Xiyinet would become hindered. It wasn¡¯t impossible to use, just extremely inconvenient. Tianyi hypothesized that the anti-teleportation measures the Demon Clan adopted interfered with the Xiyinet, since the core of it was built using the Law of Spacetime. ¡°Hm?¡± Tianyi saw a new video upload titled [Monarch Thrallsong is so terrifying, but my heart can¡¯t help but beat for her!] Tianyi¡¯s expression immediately darkened. He knew Daoyi was popular. She had many fans among the mortals too, since even mortals could use the Xiyinet as long as they had enough gold. Many mortals dreamed of marrying a beautiful immortal like her, and Tianyi just pretended to not see it. It wasn¡¯t like he didn¡¯t have his fair share of fans that wanted to marry him. However, they were mostly in the background, and Tianyi selectively ignored those comments and forum posts. This video, however, was too blatant. More importantly, it got a lot of likes and views, which made the algorithm suggest the video to even more people, forming a vicious cycle. At least, in Tianyi¡¯s eyes. Before deciding to lower the exposure of the video, Tianyi clicked on the video. He had upgraded the Xiyinet, so that it could record everything the user could sense within their spiritual or immortal sense, making it a 3D video. So, to Tianyi¡¯s surprise, the recorder was actually Daoyi¡¯s fangirl. Tianyi¡¯s jealousy instantly halved, and he focused on watching Daoyi¡¯s latest achievement. Daoyi carried his conduit, but watching it from another angle was always refreshing. Daoyi sat in the void of the Divine Beast Pseudo System. On her lap was her lifebound artifact, the Nine Nether Note Zither. Her fingers danced madly across the guqin. Despite the speed at which she plucked the strings, he could see each slender finger without any blurriness. Even her painted nails would become embedded in those that saw it. ¡®She¡¯s improved,¡¯ Tianyi thought. Before, Daoyi only used sound to transmit her illusion. Now, she could cast an illusion on anyone who so much as glanced at her. Of course, the power of these illusions paled in comparison to her sound illusion, but it was still a nice passive technique. Her music echoed in the void, ripple after ripple. Behind her were hundreds of true immortals, and charging at her was an even greater number of demons, including three demon kings. At first, everything seemed normal. It wasn¡¯t until they neared the immortals that the demons showed signs of abnormality. Instead of fighting the immortals, they started to fight amongst themselves. The demons kept scolding the shamelessness of the humans while fighting other demons. Even two of the demon kings had lost their senses! They had fallen under Daoyi¡¯s illusions. Without her having to lift a finger, the demons would eliminate themselves for her. It almost made the true immortals that followed behind Daoyi appear useless. Almost. One of the demon kings, an avian demon descended from the Phoenix Clan, stayed awake. He couldn¡¯t be called a soul cultivator, but he had an innate technique that invalidated all soul methods below a certain level. Within the range of this technique, the demons stayed sober. Daoyi could forcibly overpower the innate ability, but that would force her to shrink the range of her technique, which wasn¡¯t worth the cost. Instead, the true immortals behind her formed several war formations and met that demon king and his subordinates head on. While the sober demons and the true immortals waged war, Daoyi stayed there, playing her guqin. It was like a concert. Unfortunately, neither side was in the mood to enjoy her music. Well, the demons under her illusion certainly enjoyed it in a twisted way. Because the sober demon king¡¯s innate ability could only affect a certain range and the war formations held him back, the number of demons dwindled and dwindled. The demon king knew that if this continued, the demons present would die and the battle would be lost. He wanted to reverse the situation, but he couldn¡¯t find a way. Finally, the demon king gave up. He abandoned the demon lords around him and shot toward the two demon kings. Originally, he was always inching closer to his fellow demon kings, but Daoyi would always control them to leave. Coupled with the war formation, the demon king couldn¡¯t rescue his compatriots. Now that he finally decided to retreat, he wanted to save the two demon kings first, before the other demon lords. He succeeded, and then he focused on flying around the battlefield to absorb as many demons into his innate ability¡¯s range as much as possible. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. How could Daoyi allow him to succeed? She increased the intensity of the bloodshed between the demons under her illusion. Although this would increase the chances of them breaking out of her illusion, it was still much better than allowing the demon kings to rescue as many demons as possible. Alas, under Daoyi¡¯s hellish song, nearly half of the demons the demon kings tried to save died under her illusion. The demon kings glared hatefully at Daoyi, but now they were the outnumbered ones. If they continued, their disadvantage would only grow, so they continued to retreat. Daoyi didn¡¯t order to give chase. Instead, she entered the realm for which she fought those demon kings for. The true immortals settled down. Some secluded themselves to heal, others rested, and a select team terraformed the realm to suit their needs. Tianyi clicked out of the video and searched for more. After a few minutes, he clicked on the video titled [Strongest Immortal Couple!] For some reason, Tianyi felt as if the temperament of these lofty immortals was becoming more and more childish. It wasn¡¯t just his suspicions. He already knew that the people who liked to frequent forums were immortals. And the one who caused the most drama were also immortals. He never expected this. In his view, it should be the mortals that became addicted to the Xiyinet. No, there were mortals addicted, but compared to immortals, mortals had a far shorter lifespan. This meant that they would consciously look away from the Xiyi Talisman in order to pursue their careers or dreams. Immortals had far more free time on their hands. When they couldn¡¯t stand the loneliness of cultivation, they would frequent the Xiyinet. Tianyi shook his head and focused on the video. The main character of the video was his former clone, Ba Shifang, and his wife, Hu Landie. That¡¯s right, Ba Shifang successfully married Hu Landie. It was during the cultural exchange ceremony and, because of the marriage ceremony, he got accosted by Meng Tingfeng. Because of that, Tianyi left early. He discovered that since Meng Tingfeng couldn¡¯t find time to talk to him, he would find Ba Shifang instead, leaving Tianyi speechless. ¡®Do you think that because Ba Shifang is my clone, he¡¯s half a son? Or do you want to use him to get close to me?¡¯ He didn¡¯t think anymore as he entered the video. In contrast to Daoyi¡¯s battle, Ba Shifang stood next to Hu Landie in the void. Behind them stood five hundred true immortals, which formed thirty war formations. Facing them were over a thousand demon lords and five demon kings. Ba Shifang struck first. He formed several hand seals and colossal orbs formed of fire, water, earth, wood, and metal spanning several kilometers formed around him. He pointed his fingers at the demons and those colossal elemental spheres shot forward. The demons quickly moved out of the way, and a big melee started. Ba Shifang stayed in the back to concentrate on casting spells. Hu Landie released hundreds of her bug beasts to tangle with the demons, attempting to rip her husband to shreds. Not just her, but a large percentage of the war formation stayed behind to protect Ba Shifang. Ba Shifang was practically a humanoid artillery. No one else on the battlefield possessed the sheer destructive capabilities he wielded. Only immortal emperors had the same destructive might. As a result, whichever battlefield Ba Shifang appeared on, the best strategy was just to protect him as he unleashed spell after spell. ¡°Dammit! Does he have no limit to his qi or what?¡± a demon king that just dodged a flaming sphere shouted. He wasn¡¯t the only one who had this question. Ba Shifang¡¯s fellow immortals also had the same question. He possessed a qi reservoir larger than those in the same realm because he cultivated Tianyi¡¯s Nine-Five Scripture, but even he would run out of qi if he cast spells nonstop. And he wasn¡¯t replenishing his qi using Tianyi¡¯s conduit. The reason for his seemingly endless amount of qi was because of Tianyi¡¯s technique that transformed the state of qi into gas, liquid, and solid. Gas was the natural form of qi. When qi condensed into a liquid, Tianyi called it ye. As a solid, Tianyi named it yu. Ba Shifang recognized his own weakness. Although he was powerful, he was still limited by his qi reservoir. While most would perfect their technique so that it used the least amount of energy for the maximum effect, Ba Shifang did the opposite. He condensed his qi into yu, multiplying his qi reservoir. Although it would take much longer to regenerate, it was the best choice in times of war. If he had more time, he would have chosen the orthodox method as a priority. Tianyi¡¯s Three States of Qi were like a shortcut. Although the benefits were obvious, the fundamentals should not be ignored. At this time, three of the five demon kings broke through the barricade of a war formation. Hu Landie stepped forward and sent out several bug beasts that exuded auras equal to true immortals. The demon kings didn¡¯t even hide their disdain and mercilessly slaughtered the bug beasts. The moment their claws shredded Hu Landie¡¯s bug beasts, their expression shifted. Their eyes widened in shock, but their expression remained the same, as if frozen in time. No, it wasn¡¯t frozen, but the time around them had slowed down to an extreme degree. Ba Shifang didn¡¯t let go of this chance and formed several hand seals. Immortal qi of fire, water, earth, wood, and metal shot out of his body and condensed around them. They solidified and merged to form a false planet. Nine Heavens Style ¡ª Planetary Purgatory Unless a demon emperor used all their strength to save them, the three demon kings were doomed. Under Ba Shifang¡¯s control, the three demon kings died, but no one figured it out yet. He controlled it to shoot toward the demons. Any demons too slow to dodge would enter the Planetary Purgatory and die, just like the three demon kings. The morale on Ba Shifang¡¯s side increased, while the demon lost morale. Especially the remaining two demon kings. The fur on their body couldn¡¯t help but stiffen when they felt the dangerous glint in Ba Shifang¡¯s eyes. After holding the line for a few minutes, they also decided to retreat, allowing Ba Shifang to claim another realm in the name of the Jade and Numinous Alliance. Tianyi found it ironic that Ba Shifang gained the title of World Link Monarch because of his usage of Planetary Purgatory. After finishing the video, Tianyi watched a few more videos. Many heroes stood out, especially with the proliferation of the Xiyinet. Most of the videos were about victory because people liked to watch them, not because they didn¡¯t happen. Those who had time to take a video, expecting a victory only to suffer a loss, didn¡¯t upload them. One, because it wouldn¡¯t do well in views, and two, it would lower morale. Tianyi looked up. His eyes penetrated through the void of the Divine Beast Pseudo System and saw thousands of demon lords flying toward Shangri-La. Among the mass of demons were several demon emperors and tens of demon monarchs. Chapter 483: Tower Defense A warning signal blared across Shangri-La. The immortals stationed permanently all entered an alert state and moved to their assigned defensive positions. Despite seeing the demons glaring wickedly at them and flying toward with an oppressive momentum, none of the immortals showed any fear. A few even showed a relaxed expression. Instead, they only raised their favored weapon, waiting to use it. Even when it seemed that the demons were only a few hundred kilometers away, they still did not attack. They waited and waited. Sure enough, the demons paused a few kilometers outside of Shangri-La. They didn¡¯t stop, but were blocked by Tianyi¡¯s barrier. The demons spread out, attempting to find a hole in Shangri-La¡¯s defense. Thanks to the invisible barrier, it appeared as if the demons were building a barrier to prevent the immortals from escaping the mobile fortress with their bodies. Should the barrier fail, the demons would assault the humans from all sides, leaving no escape route. Again, the immortals within showed no panic. ¡°I found it!¡± a demon shouted with excitement. He had coincidently found a spot in the barrier that did not hinder any movement forward. The demon didn¡¯t take any action to move forward. Rather, he wanted to take a step back, but it was too late. A mountain shot into the air from Shangri-La. It positioned itself between the floating landmass and the ¡®entrance¡¯ of the barrier. Immediately, the floating mountain unleashed a bolt of lightning. The demon didn¡¯t have time to utter another word as a flash engulfed him. When the light died down, all that was left was the ash floating in the void. The demons around him unconsciously took a step back. To their relief, the floating mountain did not release another bolt of lightning. Finally, the demon emperor leading the crusade arrived near the opening. He possessed the form and fur of a wolf, but the horns of a dragon, the claws of a tiger, and the tail of a snake. As soon as he stepped through, the floating mountain released another bolt. The lupine demon raised its front paw and struck the bolt of lightning. After destroying it, he looked at his front leg and saw a slight scorch mark where he made contact. The attack easily reached the peak of a demon king. Normally, he would have dodged it, but the passage that the opening led to was too narrow, limiting his movement. He retreated out of the opening. This was not the first time the Demon Clan attacked Shangri-La, so he was used to it. The first time they laid siege to Shangri-La, the barrier had no openings, and they could not break it no matter what. At least, with their current composition. If they united all the Demon Clan¡¯s top forces, it would likely be possible, but then the humans would also do the same and then the final battle would start. Neither side wanted the final battle to start too soon. Each side wanted to accumulate advantages before starting the final battle. So, the first siege ended with the Demon Clan not attaining any results. When the demons discovered an opening in the barrier in the second siege, they all rushed in, thinking it was a crack in the mobile fortress¡¯s defenses. They soon learned the error of their judgment without the chance to regret it. The opening was a trap. Any demons that entered would have to follow a specific path with no deviation, severely limiting their mobility. The worst part was that the mountains on Shangri-La would position themselves at certain points next to the passage, never directly in the way, but that made it worse. The mountains were turrets that unleashed spell after spell, and the demons couldn¡¯t deviate from the passage and destroy these mountain turrets. After learning the first time, the Demon Clan no longer hoped to attack Shangri-La through the opening. They wanted to break down the barrier, unfortunately; it was a nigh impossible task. They would have continued attacking the barrier had one event not occurred. Although the Demon Clan did not focus on the opening, they did not completely ignore it. While laying siege, a demon with a powerful concealment innate ability slipped through the passage. The Demon Clan and humans only realized it only after the demon entered Shangri-La. He exposed himself when he attacked one of the mobile turrets, but it also resulted in his death. Since then, the Demon Clan knew that the passage was a viable way to enter Shangri-La and placed more emphasis on it. Like right now. The lupine demon emperor had moved out of the way and motioned a turtle-shaped demon king to step forward. Under his orders, the turtle-like demon king led a squad of demons into the passage. Following alongside him were several other demons, like a rhinoceros demon with a steel-like hide, a porcupine-like demon with molten quills, and a tree demon with bronze bark. Sandwiched between these demons were other demons that had much weaker defenses. As soon as the demons entered the passage, the mountain released another bolt of lightning. At this time, the turtle-like demon king blocked the bolt with its hard shell. With the attack blocked, the demons continued to move forward, but five seconds later, the mountain turret released another bolt. The turtle-like demon king blocked it again. When the group of demons reached a hundred meters into the passage, the mountain turret stopped attacking the turtle-like demon king and attacked the one after it. The demon king knew that it was an automatic response that would attack enemies within a certain range, and since he left its range, it would attack the closest one. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Although the demons in his group had powerful defenses, the turtle-like demon king still activated his innate ability. Any ally within the range would receive the same defensive ability as himself, so the bolt of lightning did not cause much damage to this group of demons. Two hundred and fifty meters in, a second mountain shot out of Shangri-La and positioned itself near the passage. It also shot lightning, doubling the number of attacks the squad of demons suffered. The turtle-like demon grunted and pushed forward. A thousand meters in, four mountain turrets surrounded the passage, constantly barraging the demons. A thousand and two hundred fifty meters in, no new mountain shot out to barrage them, but the demons didn¡¯t let down their guard. Their predecessors had already experienced this, using their lives to reveal the methods of the humans. A thousand and five hundred meters in, a new mountain shot forth from the mobile fortress. It didn¡¯t shoot any lightning, but something worse. It sent a torrent of water drops akin to a Gatling gun shooting bullets. Individually, the water drops did not deal much damage to the demons. Even demons that had not become demon lords could withstand a few before succumbing. The problem was that it shot too many, and the normally inconsequential damage built up incredibly quickly. The turtle-like demon king felt its effect even more. The water drops covered an incredibly extensive area, making his innate ability a burden. However, he persisted. When he felt himself weakening, he would devour one of the healing materials stored in his stomach, recovering him to his peak state. Five hundred meters later, another mountain turret appeared. Just like the first four, it unleashed a lightning spell. However, unlike the first four, it was a wide net-like attack. The power dispersed, but the turtle-like demon king did not lower his guard. He gazed at the rhinoceros demon. The rhinoceros demon roared and activated his innate ability. Any lightning attribute spell or attack affected by it would dramatically weaken. The reason the demons waited until now to use it was because the lightning net would cause exponential damage because they were still affected by the previous water drop torrent. When the lightning made contact, the water still clinging onto them would multiply the effect several folds. This knowledge was attained at the cost of an earlier squad¡¯s death. In fact, the demons going through the passage also had a heavy heart. They have only made it halfway through the passage before, and they knew it was likely they would die before reaching the exit. Still, this was a war and none of the demons thought of shirking their responsibility. The deeper they traversed, the more complex the attacks became. Sometimes, the mountain turret would unleash a fireball that didn¡¯t directly harm the demons, but lit the passage ablaze. It was even more torturous than directly withstanding the attack, especially for the turtle-like demon king. Another turret didn¡¯t attack them, but conjured a stone slab that impeded the passage. Infuriatingly, it stopped the group at the location with the highest concentration of attacks. Until the demons broke the slab, they would have to withstand the concentrated firepower. If they weren¡¯t careful, the stone slab would split the group in two. The most troublesome mountain turret was the one that appeared to have malfunctioned. Even the turret with the most powerful physical attack, one that literally shot steel spikes at them, could not compare. At first glance, it appeared broken, remaining still even as the group passed by, but it was the most insidious of all the obstacles the demons faced. While none of the demons paid attention, the mountain actually released tiny seeds. Even with a demon lord¡¯s eyesight, they would not appear much different from dust. However, once inhaled, they would attach themselves to the inner body and sprout. To grow, plants needed nutrition, and naturally, they would feed on the demons¡¯ innards. This secret trick killed countless demon squads before the Demon Clan figured out what happened. Many demon kings suffered from this concealed attack. Many even fell before escaping from whence they came. Once exposed, the lethality dropped. As long as the demons formed a protective barrier near their orifices, the seeds became useless. Larger barriers did not work because the other turrets would pierce through them, making them vulnerable. ¡°Emperor Jiaolang, why don¡¯t we send more demons instead of squad after squad? The more demons there are, the more they can support each other,¡± a demon king suggested. Emperor Jiaolang, the lupine demon emperor, just glared at the demon king. ¡°Idiot,¡± he ridiculed. ¡°Are you so sure that this passage isn¡¯t a trap by the humans? What if this is all one big scheme? Have you ever heard of a barrier that specifically has a hole in its defenses to let enemies in? Don¡¯t underestimate the insidiousness of humans.¡± ¡°But didn¡¯t we succeed once?¡± the demon king mumbled. ¡°Fool,¡± the lupine demon emperor turned, not even wanting to bother with the stupid boarish demon king. His pupils shrunk into needlepoints when he saw a change at the other end of the passage. ¡°What happened to that immortal? Why is he suddenly attacking?¡± the boar demon king asked. His eyes widened when he saw a demon appear out of nowhere. ¡°When did King Feilian sneak into the passage?¡±
Meng Tingfeng gazed at the demon king before him like it was a dead demon. The demon king had the form of a deer, two wings, and a snake for a tail. ¡°You should know the fate that befell the previous demon that dared to sneak in. Now that I¡¯m here, just give up and surrender your life.¡± King Feilin roared. His body turned transparent, and he dissolved into countless bursts of wind. Meng Tingfeng didn¡¯t change his expression and swung his sword. Two stars blazed to life on the Seven Star Sword. Seconds later, King Feilian changed back into his original form with a shocked expression. His aura had dropped considerably, and even a fool could tell he had suffered serious injuries. The demon king turned tail. He wanted to escape. Although it would harm him, he still activated his innate ability and transformed into countless strands of wind. How could Meng Tingfeng let him escape? He thrust his sword several times and the radiance on his blade shot out like shooting stars. King Feilian only had a chance to release a roar full of an unwillingness before his body reappeared, but his eyes had long gone dim. Meng Tingfeng waved his hand and accepted the demon king¡¯s corpse. He sheathed the Seven Star Sword and stood still.
¡°Why did you come back here? You¡¯re a sword immortal. You should be a sharp spear attacking the Demon Clan, not just a sort of shield,¡± Tianyi griped, full of disdain. Chapter 484: Space Whale Would the demons give up on entering Shangri-La just because Meng Tingfeng stood at the exit? The answer was no. If anything, it made them even more determined to break through. In the demon¡¯s eyes, Meng Tingfeng''s presence meant that the credibility of the passage increased. Why else would they station a powerful combatant there when his presence would have been more useful elsewhere? Under Demon Emperor Jiaolang¡¯s orders, a second and third squad of demons entered the invisible passage. Their configuration resembled that of the first squad that entered. Most of the demons had unique defensive innate abilities, or ones capable of restoring demon qi at low cost. Meng Tingfeng, who saw this, narrowed his eyes. He looked at the incoming demons and back at Shangri-La. After a moment of hesitation, he flew forward until he was only a few hundred meters away from the first squad of demons. ¡°Tianyi, stop attacking the first group of demons and let me deal with them. Focus on attacking the new squads!¡± ¡®Who the hell do you think you are, ordering me like this?¡¯ Tianyi thought. He could see Meng Tingfeng''s thoughts at a glance. The sword immortal wanted to hone himself, and the narrow space of the passage made it a perfect battleground. ¡®Maybe I should just use this chance and kill him with the turrets. After all, only I know their functions. I can just say that Meng Tingfeng stepped into their range.¡¯ Ultimately, and luckily for Meng Tingfeng, Tianyi did not choose to commit patricide. Instead, he halted the turrets¡¯ attacks. Their aim never left the demon¡ªor Meng Tingfeng¡ªand were ready to start attacking at a moment¡¯s notice. The first squad of demons, who felt much more at ease once Tianyi halted the turrets¡¯ assault, glared at Meng Tingfeng, eyes ravenous. They knew that Meng Tingfeng didn¡¯t stop the attack for their own good, so why would they be thankful? If anything, they wanted to tear his flesh and drink his blood upon seeing his murderous eyes. The demons pounced on the lone human, their bodies stretched for hundreds of meters, dwarfing Meng Tingfeng¡¯s two meter-tall body. Yet, Meng Tingfeng¡¯s momentum made him equal to this group of demons. If anything, his momentum continued to increase and showed faint signs of suppressing the demons¡¯ momentum. Meng Tingfeng gripped the Seven Star Sword and drew it out. A beautiful light trailed behind the arc of the blade, almost resembling a shooting star. The sword smashed into the turtle-like demon king¡¯s shell and knocked him backward. When the turtle-like demon stopped, a deep gash appeared on his shell. The turtle-like demon king¡¯s eyes revealed shock. Against immortal emperors, the most they could do was leave a white mark, but Meng Tingfeng, an immortal monarch, actually left a gash on his shell. Although the gash didn¡¯t reach his flesh, it was still shocking. ¡°This isn¡¯t good. My defense isn¡¯t enough to stop him for long. We must kill him before my defenses fail.¡± The demons turned berserk. They attacked Meng Tingfeng with reckless abandon, as if they didn¡¯t care for their lives. Of course, that was impossible. The only reason they would dare to attack so recklessly was thanks to the turtle-like demon king¡¯s innate ability. Meng Tingfeng¡¯s attack frequency diminished. Most of his attention was on dodging, but he still released several sword lights every second. Whenever his sword light landed on the demons, the damage would be redirected onto the turtle-like demon king, resulting in the attack frequency not dropping. In this high-stakes situation, Meng Tingfeng¡¯s determination did not decrease. It only increased. His attacks became fiercer and fiercer. Since it didn¡¯t matter where his sword hit, then just focus on increasing the attack power and the frequency! The turtle-like demon king gritted his teeth. He could feel that the frequency of attacks landing on his body increased. More importantly, the power behind them increased, too, leaving behind deeper gashes. The worst part was the Sword Intent lingering on the wounds. Until he eliminated them, his wounds wouldn¡¯t heal. They might even worsen if he ignored them because of Meng Tingfeng¡¯s willpower. ¡°No, that human¡¯s power is increasing too fast. If we don¡¯t get rid of him soon, only death will await us!¡± the turtle-like demon said. Originally, he only sat in the back and focused on withstanding Meng Tingfeng¡¯s attacks, but now the situation changed. At this rate, Meng Tingfeng would severely injure him, and even kill him. By then, the demons who lost the protection of his innate ability would die, too. The turtle-like demon roared, and a domain erupted from his body. Anyone caught within would feel pressured, as if they were moving through molasses and a biting chill. If they couldn¡¯t escape it, their body would freeze and shatter. Meng Tingfeng¡¯s movements slowed, and the demons took this chance to attack even more fiercely. Skilled as he was, Meng Tingfeng felt the touch of death nearing him. Still, his expression never changed as he retaliated. Injuries appeared on his body, coating his armor as he hovered on the edge between life and death. Even so, his eyes brightened. ¡®Ba Shifang, it seems that I have taken that step first.¡¯ Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Suddenly, the Seven Star Sword flashed. The speed neared the limit of light, and the demon king¡¯s domain shattered. The turtle-like demon king¡¯s eyes widened in shock. A bloody hole that pierced through his shell and reached the other end of his body appeared. Blood flowed continuously from that wound and out of its mouth. ¡°You¡¯ve taken that step?¡± In a good mood, Meng Tingfeng replied. ¡°Not yet, but from now on, I don¡¯t have any barriers stopping me from reaching that level.¡± The turtle-like demon king¡¯s eyes dulled. Meng Tingfeng¡¯s previous attack had destroyed most of his soul and his demon core. He had only persisted just to get an answer. With his doubts answered, the demon king died. Meng Tingfeng¡¯s eyes focused on the remaining demons. Since he achieved his goal, there was no need to keep these demons anymore. Under his gaze, fear penetrated their hearts, and few couldn¡¯t help but take a step back. Immediately after, anger burst from their eyes and they renewed their attacks on the human. The Seven Star Sword flashed again. Unlike that brilliant moment, Meng Tingfeng¡¯s sword was not as bright or as fast. Still, it was more than enough to kill the remaining demons. After they died, he collected their corpses and prepared to enter Shangri-La. Although Meng Tingfeng won in the end, he also sustained injuries. He planned on recuperating before joining again. In fact, the only reason he appeared was because he had just gotten back from the front lines. At this time, Demon Emperor Jiaolang¡¯s face darkened. With his vision, how could he not see Meng Tingfeng¡¯s improvement? Although only his attack power reached the immortal emperor level, it also signified that he had a high chance of becoming an immortal emperor. ¡°No. That sword immortal must not be allowed to live!¡± After a moment of hesitation, Demon Emperor Jiaolang dispatched four more squads. Each squad contained two demon kings and even more demon lords. Even if they all didn¡¯t die, he expected more than half of them to perish in the passage, but if the sword immortal died, it would be worth it. Statistically speaking, an immortal emperor might rise out of ten to thirty monarchs. Of course, the rate fluctuated wildly depending on many factors. Still, most of those immortal emperors only gained the power of an immortal emperor after ascending to the Extremity Immortal Realm. Immortal monarchs, like Meng Tingfeng, who possessed the power of an immortal emperor, would become elite immortal emperors immediately after ascending. Such a terrifying threat should be nipped in the bud. Meng Tingfeng, who saw this, sneered. He stopped retreating and stood in place. He hadn¡¯t gotten injured to the point where he was in dire need of healing. Since the demons want to send themselves to their deaths, he will help them. The demons did their best to push forward, no longer seeking stability. They just wanted to kill Meng Tingfeng. In their eyes, if he had chosen to retreat, he might have survived. Staying only had one result, death! The six squads of demons used all their strength to reach the middle of the passage. Soon, the second squad of demons arrived, and Meng Tingfeng unsheathed his sword and engaged in combat.
¡°This guy,¡± Tianyi started, but his words stopped. He didn¡¯t know what to say as he watched Meng Tingfeng fighting with gusto. As someone who mastered swordplay to an incredibly high degree, he could tell that his sperm donor was improving at a tremendous rate. ¡°Goddamn useless Demon Clan. What are you doing helping him? Use more strength and smack him away. At this rate, you¡¯re going to train an immortal emperor for the Numinous Sword Sect.¡± ¡°No, I can¡¯t sit by and watch.¡± Under Tianyi¡¯s control, the turrets increased their power. More mountains shot up from Shangri-La, doubling the density of the mountain turrets in the first half of the passage. ¡°Tianyi, stop attacking! I¡¯m tempering myself! The more pressure, the better!¡± Meng Tingfeng, who had mistaken Tianyi¡¯s intent, shouted. Simultaneously, he also felt a hint of warmth. Sure enough, his son cared about him. He only pretended not to care. If Tianyi knew of Meng Tingfeng¡¯s thoughts, he would have wanted to return to his Core Formation Realm days and vomit blood. Luckily, he didn¡¯t. So, he ignored Meng Tingfeng''s words and helped him, greatly lessening the pressure. The only other person, or rather, demon displeased with Tianyi¡¯s actions, was Demon Emperor Jiaolang. ¡°Sure enough, the passage is more dangerous than it appears. Damn humans.¡± ¡°No, it can¡¯t go on like this,¡± Demon Emperor Jiaolang said. He looked behind him. ¡°King Cetitus, it¡¯s your turn. Take action and eliminate the scourge.¡± Behind Demon Emperor Jiaolang, a cetacean demon with carp-like scales the size of a shield nodded. He flew forward, away from the pack. Then, his size dramatically increased until he was nine kilometers in length. Demon King Cetitus released a baritone bellow that seemed to reverberate through the void itself and swam forward. His size was far too large for the passage. Yet, the moment he came into contact with the barrier, he actually slipped through. It was akin to a whale entering water. The only strange thing was that the moment Demon King Cetitus entered the barrier, the parts inside shrunk until he was only a little more than ninety meters long. ¡°Interesting,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to see a space whale in reality.¡± Demon King Cetitus was a demon known as the Void Whale. As the name implied, it was extremely talented in the Law of Space and the Law of Time. Its innate ability allowed it to swim between space and time. However, the barrier protecting Shangri-La was made using the Law of Spacetime. The space inside the barrier was actually thousands of times bigger than it appeared. Thus, it only appeared that Demon King Cetitus had shrunk. His actual size had not changed at all. Tianyi stood up and disappeared. When he reappeared, he was already next to Demon King Cetitus. Even if his height remained unchanged in the barrier, he still appeared miniscule next to the Void Whale. But that didn¡¯t matter. The moment Tianyi touched Demon King Cetitus, he vanished from the Divine Beast Pseudo System. He would never appear again in the Three Thousand Realms System because Tianyi had transported him inside the Nine Heavens Universe. ¡°Human, what did you do!?¡± Demon Emperor Jiaolang shouted. Chapter 485: Sun Eater The Void Whale Monarch, like Jiaohu, was a strategic force of the Demon Clan. However, unlike Jiaohu, the Void Whale actually specialized in another worldly law beside the Law of Space. Its talent in the Law of Space was average despite its innate abilities. Had it not chosen a different law, it might have remained a demon lord until its dying breath. Still, that didn¡¯t detract from the Void Whale¡¯s strategic importance. Originally, the Void Whale was the trump card prepared by Demon Emperor Jiaolang to break through the mobile fortress¡¯s barrier. ¡°What did I do?¡± Tianyi repeated. ¡°I thought it was a pity that such an interesting creature would fall, so I simply transferred it elsewhere.¡± ¡°Bastard,¡± Demon Emperor Jiaolang said. This was completely treating them like mere animals. However, Tianyi¡¯s next words made the simmering anger in his eyes explode. ¡°Good thing I did. Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t even have known that the whale was carrying so many demons inside of itself.¡± Demon Emperor Jiaolang growled. His anger wasn¡¯t only because of the Void Whale¡¯s disappearance, but also the troops hidden inside the Void Whale. Demons had a unique stomach in their bodies that could store items, and the Void Whale wasn¡¯t any different except for the fact that it was much larger and could store living beings. Once the Void Whale broke through Shangri-La¡¯s barrier, it would release its contents and surprise the humans, who only thought they needed to deal with one lone straggler. It was not that Demon Emperor Jiaolang never considered the fact that the Void Whale would be stopped or interfered with by Tianyi, who had mastered the Law of Space, but the Void Whale¡¯s innate ability prevented even peak immortal emperors from manipulating the space around itself. This miscalculation resulted in one of the largest losses since the reignition of the Divine Beast-Human War. The lupine form of the demon emperor crashed into the barrier. He didn¡¯t enter the passage, but in a restricted section. Once inside, Demon Emperor Jiaolang felt the shackles of space suppressing him. In response, a black energy covered his body and repelled the suppression. The rate at which his qi dissipated astounded the demon emperor, but the thought of giving up did not cross his mind. The thought of death only made him even more ferocious. With a howl, he charged straight at Tianyi. Upon seeing the crazed demon emperor charging at him, Tianyi raised a palm. A miniature sun formed above his palm and with a flick of his wrist, the miniature sun shot toward the lupine demon. Nine Heavens Style - Stellar Silence When Demon Emperor Jiaolang saw the miniature sun expanding as it shot toward him, his eyes revealed no horror, only a trace of superiority and fanaticism. Contrary to Tianyi¡¯s expectations, he opened his jaws, and a flow of energy from the stellar silence flowed into the demon emperor¡¯s mouth. Soon after, the stellar silence vanished, all traces of its fuel devoured, and the demon emperor¡¯s aura skyrocketed. In the the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, there are legends of a dog that swallows the moon. Because it swallows the moon, lunar eclipses happen. Some say the dog is the heavenly dog at Erlang Sheng¡¯s side, while others say it¡¯s a different demon, but Demon Emperor Jiaolang was a mutated descendant of that legendary demon. His innate ability was known as Sun Eater. Should Demon Emperor Jiaolang reach the peak of the Divine Realm, his innate ability would possess the power to devour the solar star that lit up the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Even as a demon emperor, his innate ability was more than enough to suck and digest Tianyi¡¯s stellar silence. ¡°I knew it,¡± Demon Emperor Jiaolang said, his eyes mocking. ¡°We demons have long investigated a potential threat like you. Although you are talented and have entered the Extremity Immortal Realm at a young age, most of your power comes from your large qi reservoir. But I am your nemesis. Your large qi reserve will become your downfall in front of me!¡± Tianyi didn¡¯t answer and just shot nine more stellar silences at the lupine demon. ¡°I told you it¡¯s useless!¡± Demon Emperor Jiaolang shouted. He opened his jaws and devoured the yang qi that fueled the nine miniature suns. His body bulked from the excess energy, and the black aura coating him increased by ten times. ¡°Hahaha, I have never felt so powerful!¡± Demon Emperor Jiaolang said. He released an uproarious laughter. ¡°Not even Blacktiger is my opponent in this state.¡± The demon emperor opened his jaws and released a howl. Black ripples traveled across the air, weakening the spatial suppression and allowing his speed to quicken. His attack didn¡¯t stop as a white light erupted from the back of his throat. A beam shot out of his mouth, shooting toward Tianyi. ¡®The Law of Light?¡¯ Tianyi thought, losing most of his interest in fighting the lupine demon. He raised his hand and blocked the beam with it. Upon contact, the beam dispersed into several rays. A few hundred meters later, these split rays disappeared under the suppression of the barrier. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°I got you!¡± Demon Emperor Jiaolang towered over Tianyi. Although his size had shortened after entering the barrier, the decrease wasn¡¯t as exaggerated as the Void Whale because of his superior cultivation base and power, but he still stood several times taller than Tianyi. Tianyi reared his fist back as the demon emperor slashed down with his razor sharp claws. Fist met claw. Demon Emperor Jiaolang¡¯s eyes bulged when he felt a tremendous force travel through his claws and up his leg. With a loud bang, the force rebounded his claws backward and his arm became numb. Before the demon emperor could take action again, Tianyi had already leaped in front of him and unleashed another punch. He felt his ribs tremble under the punch. Maybe one or two cracked under the powerful punch. Demon Emperor Jiaolang felt Tianyi uprooting his worldview. Even among demon emperors, he had a powerful body. Yet, why was he losing to a mere human? He knew that Tianyi had a powerful body, but that should only be compared to other humans, not noble demons like himself. The demon emperor expected Tianyi to chase after him. Spells obviously would not work on him. Even if Sun Eater primarily suppressed yang-attribute spells, it still had some effect on other spells. So, he never expected Tianyi to be so foolish as to release more stellar silences. ¡°Fool!¡± Demon Emperor Jiaolang said. He opened his mouth and devoured the miniature sun shooting toward him. Once he absorbed the latest stellar silence, another one appeared behind the old one. Demon Emperor Jiaolang, who planned to counterattack, stopped and absorbed the new one. Soon, he entered a passive state. Not because Tianyi discovered a method to break his Sun Eater, just the opposite. Tianyi kept releasing stellar silence after stellar silence, necessitating him to keep his form in order to use his innate ability. The more stellar silences Demon Emperor Jiaolang devoured, the stronger his aura became. His body bulked up even more, and the entire space around him turned black from the qi shield around him. However, he wasn¡¯t happy at all. ¡°How can you have so much qi?!¡± He could already feel his body straining under the pressure. It felt like his body would explode at any moment from the excess qi. The black qi aura around him was the result of him attempting to use up his qi as much as possible. Unfortunately, Demon Emperor Jiaolang could not use up his qi as fast as he received it. The most optimal solution would be to stop Sun Eater and dodge, but Tianyi had released his spell so that should he turn it off, the stellar silence would immediately hit him. As one who devoured several of them, Demon Emperor Jiaolang knew the terrifying amount of qi each one contained. Once it struck him, even if he didn¡¯t die, he would become fatally injured. Demon Emperor Jiaolang was at an impasse. If he continued to eat, the energy would cause him to explode, but if he didn¡¯t, it would end up with the same result. He glared at Tianyi, only to pause when he caught sight of the patronizing gaze. Anger flooded his mind, but the demon emperor only became more calm because of it. Since both methods would result in a dead end, then choose the one that would injure his foe the most! The demon emperor halted his ability after devouring the latest stellar silence. He shot out a beam from his mouth immediately after. It didn¡¯t do much to the incoming stellar silence, but it used up some of his excess qi and slowed down the stellar silence. He didn¡¯t plan on avoiding it, not that it would help. Demon Emperor Jiaolang charged forward, straight into the stellar silence. Upon the moment of contact, an explosion erupted, shrouding the lupine demon and the surrounding area, leaving Tianyi just out of the blast radius. Just as it seemed that the nova had swallowed the demon emperor, the surface of the explosion deformed. A lupine head burst out of the explosion. Most of its fur had been burnt black and disintegrated. Whatever fur that remained was just vestiges, ready to crumble into dust. Even its fangs had been discolored, and its flesh melted, revealing many bones. The only thing intact was its gaze, seemingly containing endless ferocity. ¡°Die!¡± Tianyi maintained his calm expression, but Demon Emperor Jiaolang could sense the hidden fear. Just as Tianyi¡¯s hand moved out to block or deflect the demon emperor¡¯s attack, the demon emperor self-detonated. Compared to stellar silence, it was more intense, aided by the accumulated qi from Tianyi. It was comparable to several of Tianyi¡¯s stellar silences erupting at once. ¡°Tianyi!¡± Meng Tingfeng shouted, his concentration broken. ¡°Shut up, how many times do I have to tell you that you aren¡¯t allowed to call me that? If this wasn¡¯t a war, I would have struck you down!¡± Tianyi''s voice erupted from the explosion. Minutes later, when the explosion dissipated, Tianyi stood in the air with nary a hair out of place. He couldn¡¯t help but gripe. ¡°You¡¯re obviously a demon emperor, but why do you look so much like a zombie?¡± Tianyi glanced at the mob of demons. His gaze pierced through the layers and saw a skeletal wolf demon. Its aura was that of a demon lord, but its gaze was unmistakable. As he expected, the wolf demon¡¯s aura quickly soared until it reached the Demon King Realm before stopping in the early Demon Emperor Realm. ¡°Retreat,¡± the revived Demon Emperor Jiaolang said, his gaze never leaving Tianyi. Tianyi didn¡¯t stop him and returned to Shangri-La. He glanced at Meng Tingfeng, who continued battling with the remaining three squads of demons. Before, the demons still harbored some semblance of hope about leaving alive, but now that their hopes were dashed, they attacked with the resolution of death, putting more pressure on Meng Tingfeng. Naturally, Tianyi ¡°helped¡± out. With his addition, the demons were swiftly captured alive. A few of them committed suicide before Tianyi could seal them, but Tianyi still captured two demon kings, more than enough for the Immortal Court to scour their souls for information. ¡°Tianyi, you really didn¡¯t need to help me,¡± Meng Tingfeng said, a helpless smile on his face. Tianyi didn¡¯t deign to respond. Instead, he made a flicking motion toward his sperm donor, and Meng Tingfeng bowled over, clutching his stomach. He felt like someone had just punched him or a cannonball had hit. Still, it only made him bleed a little more from his wounds. After handing the prisoners over, Tianyi returned to the palace. With the Demon Clan¡¯s defeat, they shouldn¡¯t attack again for another few months. In the next assault, it might not even be Demon Emperor Jiaolang leading the charge. Although he had revived himself, Tianyi could still tell that he hadn¡¯t fully recovered. How could there be no price for revival? Until then, Tianyi focused on expanding the wedge into the Divine Beast Pseudo System. During this time, the war between the humans and the demons entered a heated stage. Chapter 486: Dragon King In the depths of the sea of the True Dragon Realm, a black palace trembled, releasing heart palpitating ripples at every second. The ripples resembled a black bubble, one that kept releasing into the sea, forming a region of black water that devoured all light. Any demon that entered the black water region would instantly be overcome by fear. Their instincts will tell them to leave immediately, lest they perish forever in the dark depths. However, if any demon overcame the instinctual fear, they would realize that this was a treasure land for comprehending the Law of Destruction and the concepts related to it. In fact, several demons of all shapes and sizes had already stationed themselves in the black water region. The only reason they weren¡¯t more was because most of them had been summoned to fight in the war. ¡°Just staying here for a few decades allowed me to comprehend more concepts than the previous thousands of years outside,¡± a giant blue-scaled dragon said with a sigh. He was Canglong, the blue dragon whose avatar died under Bao Ling¡¯s sword in the Broken Primordial World. Originally, his strength had decreased because he created an avatar, but as long as the avatar merged back with him, he would immediately return to his peak strength. Because of that fall, it had taken thousands of years to return to the Demon King Realm from the Demon Lord Realm. ¡°Thankfully, I made a breakthrough and mastered the Law of Destruction. Even if I don¡¯t specialize in it, it will be useful for me in the future,¡± Canglong said. ¡°Now that I mastered the Law of Destruction, my comprehension has eclipsed my previous peak. As long as I fully recover, my power will exceed my past self.¡± The blue dragon¡¯s gaze turned toward the black palace in the center of the black water region. ¡°I gained so much from staying a hundred kilometers away from Donghai Longzi¡¯s palace. I wonder what would happen if I went closer?¡± Not one to procrastinate, Canglong swam closer. Before mastering the Law of Destruction, he was stuck at a hundred kilometers, but now, his understanding of the worldly law allowed him to offset the negative effects of the ripples. When he was only fifty kilometers away from the black palace, he could no longer swim closer. ¡°If I go any closer, the ripples will destroy my scales and injure my organs. This is only the side effect of his cultivation,¡± Canglong said, a little fear lingering in his voice. ¡°No wonder he claimed that he will enter the Demon Emperor Realm soon. It seems that the Dragon Clan will truly have another dragon king soon.¡± Although Canglong couldn¡¯t swim any deeper, he was satisfied. Just staying fifty kilometers away brought him significant benefits. Not only could he sense the Law of Destruction, but he could also sense the laws of the five elements, and light and darkness intermingling with the Law of Destruction. Canglong focused on the mixture of the Law of Destruction and the five elements. He was only a second-step Demon King. His fundamental law wasn¡¯t the Law of Destruction, but he could comprehend the law of the five elements through the Law of Destruction. Once he understood fifty percent of each of the five elemental laws, he could fuse it with his primary law and take another step. However, Canglong could not enjoy the rare chance for long as a few days later, the ripples suddenly stopped and the water slowly lost its black color. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why did it stop? Did he succeed? Strange. If he succeeded, why is there no sign¡ª¡± Before he could finish, a black ripple exploded from the palace. The power of this ripple eclipsed the sum of a hundred ripples from before. Canglong didn¡¯t even have a chance to react before facing the explosion face first. The explosion muffled his scream as it blasted him tens of kilometers away. When the blue dragon stopped and oriented himself, not a single scale on his body remained untouched. A few scales directly fell off and seeped blood into the icy depths. Half of Canglong¡¯s effort to recover directly disappeared as his old injuries surfaced once more thanks to that blast, but he didn¡¯t care. An oppressive aura emanated from the black palace. All who felt it would have an unconscious urge to prostrate themselves before it. It was only with Canglong¡¯s accumulated willpower that he prevented himself from doing the same. The same could not be said for the average demon lords, much less the demons that haven¡¯t even reached the Demon Lord Realm. Canglong¡¯s eyes revealed endless excitement and a deep sense of veneration, but more than that, it was yearning. ¡°I, Canglong, am able to witness the rise of another Dragon King for the Dragon Clan!¡± An ebon-scaled dragon emerged from the palace. Its length dwarfed Canglong and made him seem like a child in comparison. Countless tiny motes of lights glittered on its scales, making it resemble the night sky. Two pairs of three-pronged horns grew out of its head, and its two eyes resembled novas. Anyone too weak of will that gazed into those hot-white eyes would feel as if they had taken a swim in the depths of a star. ¡°Congratulations to the new Dragon King!¡± Canglong shouted. His voice echoed through the water, causing all the other demons dazed by his powerful aura to regain clarity of mind. They all followed Canglong¡¯s actions and congratulated Donghai Longzi. Donghai Longzi¡¯s body immediately started to shrink until he became a man garbed in black armor with two pairs of horns growing out of his forehead. ¡°Thank you. Since I have made a breakthrough, I invite you all into my Destruction Palace. I will prepare a sermon for everyone who can make it.¡± Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Canglong and the other demons couldn¡¯t help but become excited. They all rushed into the black palace while being careful to not act as a nuisance and be kicked out by the new dragon king. Canglong even suppressed his injuries in order to attend the sermon. Even though he should focus on healing himself, he could not miss this chance. All the demons entered and occupied a spot in the main hall. Naturally, they shrunk their bodies. Otherwise, even if the demons filled up all the space up to the ceiling, there would not be enough room. Donghai Longzi sat at the front and looked down at all the demons. He focused on the blue dragon. ¡°Did I accidentally injure you while I was breaking through?¡± ¡°It was my fault,¡± Canglong said. ¡°I knew the East Sea Dragon King was preparing for a breakthrough, yet I still chose to swim closer.¡± ¡°East Sea Dragon King?¡± Donghai Longzi repeated. Now that he thought about it, he had never given himself a title, nor had he become famous enough for his enemies to title him. It seemed that Canglong directly used his surname as his title. ¡®Still, East Sea Dragon King? I wonder if the rest of the Dragon Clan will become dissatisfied. After all, Ao Guang from the primordial era was known as the Dragon King of the East Sea.¡¯ ¡°Still, I injured you,¡± Donghai Longzi said. He waved his arm, and a pill floated toward Canglong. ¡°Take this. While I was still in the human world, I obtained the treasures of a fallen immortal. You should be able to heal some of your injuries with this.¡± ¡°Thank you, East Sea Dragon King,¡± Canglong said. He opened his jaws and swallowed the pill. When the pill entered his throat, it dissolved into pure energy. The energy spread throughout his body and filled it with a powerful vitality. Soon, new scales replaced the missing and damaged scales. Canglong¡¯s eyes narrowed in happiness. He was even closer to a full recovery before being injured by Donghai Longzi. As for the other demons, because they could only stay at the periphery of the black water region, they did not suffer much damage, if any. Donghai Longzi began his sermon. It lasted for over seven months. He began by explaining the most fundamental aspects of destruction before leading toward the five elemental laws. He only revealed around half of his understanding of the five elemental laws and nothing more, intending on keeping his true mastery of the worldly laws a secret. When the sermon ended, the oppressive aura emanating from Donghai Longzi seemed to have vanished. Only when the demons gazed into his eyes or appeared near him would they feel that aura. ¡°Alright, the sermon is over, you can leave now.¡± ¡°¡°¡°Thank you, East Sea Dragon King!!!¡±¡±¡± the demons bowed to Donghai Longzi before leaving the black palace. All alone now, Donghai Longzi stood up. During the seven months, he also consolidated his cultivation base and could perfectly control the powerful qi circulating in his body. ¡®It¡¯s time to meet Demon Emperor Redraco.¡¯ Donghai Longzi vanished from the black palace and exited the True Dragon Realm. Once in the void of the Divine Beast Pseudo System, he made his way toward a continent floating above the three core realms. It was a mobile fortress realm artifact called the Void Continent. ¡°You¡¯re here,¡± Demon Emperor Redraco said. Donghai Longzi nodded. ¡°Now that I¡¯ve reached the Demon Emperor Realm, there is nothing stopping me from fighting the humans. As long as you give me the order, I¡¯ll massacre them.¡± Demon Emperor Redraco smiled. ¡°There¡¯s no need to rush, East Sea Dragon King.¡± ¡°That¡¯s just a name given by others. I haven¡¯t accepted it yet,¡± Donghai Longzi said, coughing into his fist. ¡°No need to deny it. I think it fits quite well,¡± Demon Emperor Redraco said. ¡°For now, the humans don¡¯t know about you. We need to wait until the right time to send you out for maximum effect. For now, you should familiarize yourself with the situation and the enemies you will be facing.¡± Donghai Longzi nodded and retreated to his assigned area. There, he brushed up his knowledge. He actually knew more than the Demon Clan did, thanks to Tianyi, but knowing how the Demon Clan viewed the humans would undoubtedly give the Immortal Court an edge. He didn¡¯t stay idle for long as Demon Emperor Redraco dispatched him for an emergency rescue. The humans had launched an invasion on one of the middle-rank realms. More importantly, Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s granddaughter, Honglin, guarded that realm. The humans must have known because an immortal emperor appeared and attacked her. All things considered, Donghai Longzi¡¯s presence would have contributed more if he exposed himself at a more critical moment, but he didn¡¯t care. He didn¡¯t mind rescuing Honglin. Well, as much as a double agent could rescue. Donghai Longzi immediately departed the Void Continent. The space around him shattered, causing him to speed up even more. Although he mastered the Law of Space, he would not expose it to rescue Honglin. Even if the immortal emperor successfully captured Honglin, he could still ask Tianyi to keep her life. In fact, Donghai Longzi didn¡¯t mind if Tianyi trapped Honglin in his Nine Heavens Universe forever. With his speed, it didn¡¯t take long for him to arrive at the middle-rank realm. As Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s granddaughter, Honglin was stationed in a realm quite close to the Void Continent. Normally, such a location would not be attacked, or was very low on the priority. Honglin¡¯s presence made it a target. Donghai Longzi¡¯s nova-like gaze immediately spotted the immortal emperor. To his slight relief, he noticed that most of the attackers were from the Numinous Sword Sect, which meant he didn¡¯t have to hold back. Fighting intent burned in his heart, and he struck out with a claw. His hand had five claws, each claw exuded an aura of one of the five elements. More frightening was the black qi coating his claw. Should an immortal monarch receive this blow unguarded, they would instantly become fatally injured. The sword emperor sensed the incoming attack and swung his sword. Claw and sword collided. Time seemed to pause for a brief moment before it resumed. Donghai Longzi¡¯s attack blasted the sword emperor away, giving Honglin time to breathe. ¡°Get behind me, their target is you,¡± Donghai Longzi said. His eyes never left the sword emperor. Although he blasted the sword emperor away, the latter did not receive much damage. Honglin obeyed, but before she could, a true immortal charged at her. She didn¡¯t pay attention at first, but when he slashed his sword, a terrifying aura that rivaled a peak monarch erupted. When his slash finished, Honglin clutched her armless shoulder. Chapter 487: Ye Chen Ye Chen¡¯s eyes burst with infinite delight as he saw the dismembered arm of the Crimsonblood Dragon. His hand reached out to grab the still-warm limb, but before he could reach it, a blood mist shot toward him. ¡°A futile effort,¡± Ye Chen said with a snort. His sword flashed and an invisible wave counterattacked the red dragon¡¯s blood breath. Almost as if someone had pressed the pause button in reality, the blood breath halted midair. No, it didn¡¯t halt, but its movement slowed to a crawl. Even a snail could move faster than it. Ye Chen¡¯s movement never stopped. Just as his fingers grazed the blood red scales, alarm bells rang in his head. Ye Chen¡¯s instincts told him that if he did not move this instant, he would perish. Never one not to trust his instincts, he obeyed, but it still wasn¡¯t fast enough. An external force shattered his time deceleration on the Crimsonblood Dragon¡¯s breath, causing it to engulf him and the dismembered limb. Ye Chen gritted his teeth in anger. So close, he was so close to accomplishing his goal. However, he did not have time to get angry, as his sense of crisis only increased. He broke out of the blood breath, his skin red like a cooked lobster. His vitality wavered, obviously damaged, but the worst was yet to come. A black ray shot toward Ye Chen far faster than he could dodge. He only had enough time to swing his sword in defense, but his power completely paled in comparison to the black ray. A sonorous snap echoed in the void. Ye Chen¡¯s eyes widened to the point they almost bugged out. When the black ray struck, it snapped his sword in half. Then it traveled down the broken blade and attacked him. A powerful force disintegrated his fingers, but it wasn¡¯t done. It started to disintegrate his hand, then his wrist, and traveled up his arm. Ye Chen didn¡¯t hesitate for long. He grabbed his right elbow with his free hand and tightened his grip. Another snap later, he had ripped his own arm off, stopping the spread of the disintegration. ¡°Damn, it¡¯s you dragons again. First it was Canglong, now it¡¯s you!¡± Ye Chen shouted, his eyes practically spouting fire. When Ye Chen was still a transcending mortality saint, he had entered the Broken Primordial World. Back then, he had wanted to grab the Sovereign Nine Yang Flower, but Canglong happened to notice it, too. So the two fought. Although Canglong was suppressed by the Broken Primordial World, he was still a demon king, so Ye Chen had no choice but to take out the divine mirror artifact that accompanied him after a turning point in his teenage years. As a result, it drew the attention of another cultivator. Not only did Ye Chen not grab the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus, but he also lost his divine artifact. After returning, Ye Chen¡¯s progress almost halted to a stop, and he lost the genius title he possessed thanks to the divine artifact¡¯s aid. Ye Chen became despondent. His original bright future became bleak. Without the divine artifact, he had lost the confidence to undergo his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation, and he lingered in the Transcending Mortality Realms for hundreds of years. The Numinous Sword Sect, which once placed great importance on Ye Chen, gave up on him. Although the sect no longer considered him an immortal seed, it didn¡¯t mean that Ye Chen lost everything. Before he joined the Numinous Sword Sect and discovered the divine mirror, his original fiance left him for greener pastures. After joining the Numinous Sword Sect, Ye Chen found another woman he wanted to become his dao companion. Unfortunately for him, history repeated. He, who lost his genius title, became ordinary and no longer worthy of the woman. Humiliated once more, Ye Chen rediscovered his unyielding will and descended the mountain to search for opportunities before attempting his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. Ye Chen discovered another opportunity. It wasn¡¯t as good as a divine artifact, but it was a powerful martial cultivation method. As long as he absorbed the blood of a dragon, he could create a powerful martial body. Ye Chen, who followed the spiritual path, switched to the martial path. That didn¡¯t mean he abandoned the spiritual path. No, he became a dual path cultivator. He even met a hidden cultivation clan. The Longren Clan was also known as the Dragon-Blooded Clan, and they practiced an inferior version of the technique Ye Chen discovered. The Longren Clan wasn¡¯t even a ranked force in the Numinous Realm, so when they learned of Ye Chen¡¯s identity, they decided to take a gamble. And so, Ye Chen performed the dao companion ceremony with the proud daughter of the Longren Clan. Later, he transcended his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation and returned to the Numinous Sword Sect. Once he showed his combat prowess, the Numinous Sword Sect also focused their resources on him again. Ye Chen didn¡¯t disappoint. Although it was slower without the divine mirror, he mastered the Law of Time, becoming a revered immortal lord. However, Ye Chen wasn¡¯t satisfied. With his ambition reignited, he wanted to master the Law of Space and merged it with the Law of Time to master the Law of Spacetime and use that to become an immortal monarch. Until then, he would let that woman and her family who betrayed him enjoy the glory a little longer. Although he became an immortal lord, that woman had an immortal monarch ancestor. That didn¡¯t mean his strength stagnated. Ye Chen continued to hunt demons and beasts with dragon blood, hoping to improve his martial body, but most members of the Dragon Clan had secluded themselves in the Divine Beast Pseudo System. The chance of encountering a true dragon was incredibly low, but luck shone on Ye Chen as the Numinous Sword Sect and Immortal Court launched a war against the Demon Clan. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Ye Chen naturally signed up. As he expected, the Divine-Beast Human War was a paradise for him. He would kill true dragons when possible. If he could not, he would dismember their limbs and take it back to absorb. Although he hadn¡¯t become an immortal monarch, the Demon Clan labeled him as a monarch-level threat. When he heard Emperor Stonesword¡¯s proposal to kidnap Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s granddaughter, Ye Chen supported the plan one hundred percent. He had researched dragons deeply because of the technique. Dragon bloodlines were divided into different grades, and the Crimsonblood Dragon¡¯s bloodline was definitely among the peak bloodline. He had a feeling that if he absorbed Honglin¡¯s blood, his body would reach the monarch-level. Even if he was only a true immortal, he could be considered an elite monarch-level combatant. Alas, his dreams were beautiful, but reality was cruel. The black dragon king used his actions to show how na?ve Ye Chen¡¯s thoughts were. So what if he could rival monarchs? In a duel between emperors, he was just a bigger ant. Ye Chen retreated as a gray light zoomed past him. It was Emperor Stonesword. His eyes were determined. Just like Ye Chen, Emperor Stonesword did not want to give up. As long as he had a chance, he could capture the Crimsonblood Dragon and use her to reverse the situation. Emperor Stonesword¡¯s had become an emperor less than three thousand years ago. He was only twenty thousand years old. For an emperor, that was incredibly young. Had it not been for Xi Mengfei and her son, he would have been the youngest cultivator to reach the Extremity Immortal Realm. Had Xi Mengfei or Xi Tianyi been a few thousand years older, people would have compared the three on equal grounds. However, both Xi Mengfei and Xi Tianyi only lived a fraction of his age, and no one believed that Emperor Stonesword was more talented than them. As a sword immortal, you must never falter. Emperor Stonesword wanted to prove with his actions that he was not inferior to Xi Mengfei or Xi Tianyi. It will be he who would become the newest divinity since the primordial era. Not Xi Mengfei, not Xi Tianyi, not even Bao Ling! Still, he underestimated the new dragon king¡¯s power. It was a one-sided beat down. Emperor Stonesword¡¯s attacks could only leave white marks on the dragon king. Even his most powerful attacks could only destroy a few scales and draw a little bit of blood. He recognized the dragon from its unique appearance and heard that his defenses were particularly tough while in the Demon King Realm, but this was ridiculous. More than that, the dragon king deployed a field that would disintegrate and destroy their flesh. It also had a disruptive effect, so even immortal monarchs found it difficult to cast spells and could only rely on physical techniques. Luckily, all the monarchs and true immortals learned swordplay. Emperor Stonesword cast one last unwilling glance at the Crimsonblood Dragon before ordering a retreat. However, how could the new dragon king let them go like this? He chased them and attacked them until the reinforcements arrived. ¡°Dragon, tell me your name!¡± Emperor Stonesword shouted as he clutched his wounded body. ¡°You can call me the East Sea Dragon King!¡± the new dragon king said as he retreated. Although he was powerful, he was near the human¡¯s territory and he sensed two immortal emperors. Although it was a pity he couldn¡¯t kill Emperor Stonesword, he at least killed six sword monarchs. With the retreat of the East Sea Dragon King, Emperor Stonesword and the other immortals released a sigh of relief. The operation was a failure, and many immortals would need to recuperate before they can step on the battlefield again. Ye Chen, along with many other true immortals, retreated to Shangri-La. The qi density was much higher than the middle-rank and low-rank realms they had conquered before. Plus, most of the supplies were located in the mobile fortress. When Ye Chen entered his assigned cultivation chamber, he sat down immediately. A gloomy expression appeared on his face. If possible, he really didn¡¯t want to return to Shangri-La. After Ye Chen regained his glory, he started to search for the identity of the cultivator and dragon that attacked him and forced him to lose his divine artifact. He couldn¡¯t find much about the dragon, but he learned about the cultivator a few hundred years later. It was Xi Tianyi! The only son of Sovereign Xi and the youngest immortal emperor. More than that, he was the controller of the mobile fortress. Ye Chen hated Xi Tianyi¡¯s guts. He also wanted to avoid him, because he knew he would be in trouble if Xi Tianyi recognized him. Ye Chen never disclosed the fact that he had a divine artifact. If he jumped out and wanted justice from Xi Tianyi, neither the Numinous Sword Sect nor Immortal Court would do anything. The two were still allies facing the Demon Clan at this time, so any disunity must be suppressed. And even if the Numinous Sword Sect wanted to retrieve the divine artifact, the Immortal Court would never comply. At most, some words would be exchanged. Worse, even if they got the divine artifact, the Numinous Sword Sect would never return it to Ye Chen. The more likely result would be that they blamed him for losing the divine artifact to the Immortal Court. As such, Ye Chen evaded Xi Tianyi as much as possible, but how could he hide forever? However, when Ye Chen did inevitably meet Xi Tianyi, the latter acted as if he had never seen him. He didn¡¯t know whether to be relieved or infuriated. Had it not been for Xi Tianyi, how could he have reached the second lowest point of his life? Everything stemmed from that damn thief¡¯s actions. Should he spread rumors that Xi Tianyi was actually colluding with the demons? Ye Chen shook his head. This enmity can be repaid later. The most important thing is to raise his strength. Once he grows strong enough, he will take revenge with his own hands. Especially once he starts mastering the Law of Spacetime, he will have an overwhelming advantage compared to immortals in the same realm. Although he lost his primary arm, he still had his left arm. Ye Chen could still wield the sword, but it would just be slightly weaker. Still, he couldn¡¯t accept his disfigurement, so Ye Chen took out a vial. Seal inside was the flesh and blood of dragons he collected throughout the war. He pointed his fingers at it and the stopper popped off. Under Ye Chen¡¯s control, a steady stream of blood flowed out and gathered around his stump. Bones grew out, then the flesh and finally scales. Yes, scales, not skin. When the forearm regenerated up to his wrist, Ye Chen¡¯s eyes snapped open. Ye Chen stared at the stump. He scrunched his brows and the qi exploded off of him, but no more flesh grew out. ¡°Why can¡¯t I regenerate the rest of my arm?!¡± Chapter 488: Desperate No matter how much blood essence Ye Chen used, he couldn¡¯t regrow his hand. His right arm remained a stump. His thoughts flashed toward the moment he was injured. Before he cut off his arm, the black ray had already disintegrated his entire hand, and it was crawling up his wrist before he cut it off. Was it related to the black ray? Ye Chen halted his recovering actions and sealed the vial. He diagnosed his body, but he couldn¡¯t find any traces of the black ray that struck him, no matter how hard he tried. By all accounts, he should have nothing stopping him from regrowing his hand. ¡®Unless my soul was injured?¡¯ Ye Chen forced his expression to remain neutral, even if no one was looking at him, but he still couldn¡¯t stop his face from paling. If it really was a soul injury, then it would become a problem. Unless Ye Chen solved the soul injury, he would not be able to heal himself. He diagnosed his soul, and afterward, sweat coated his back. Ye Chen hadn¡¯t noticed until now, but his soul was also missing its right hand. The dragon king¡¯s attack was a material and a soul attack. The more terrifying nature was that the soul aspect was incredibly secretive. Unless one actively searched, they wouldn¡¯t notice the soul injury. Of course, it could because the soul injury wasn¡¯t that major, but it didn¡¯t make it any less terrifying. Ye Chen exited his chamber and arrived at the Merit Exchange Hall. Here, he could exchange his military merits for items, resources, and artifacts. He had his eyes on an emperor-level artifact, but that could wait. He used most of his military merits to exchange for true dragon blood essence, so Ye Chen could only exchange for a monarch-rank soul recovery pill. After returning to his assigned chambers, Ye Chen immediately ingested the soul recovery pill. A cool sensation filled his soul, and he let out a sigh of relief he didn¡¯t know he was holding. He could feel a phantom pain, one that resembled a freeze burn in his right stump. He closed his eyes and focused all the pill¡¯s effect into the right arm of his soul. The burning sensation intensified. It ended forty days later, but Ye Chen¡¯s expression was dark. His soul only had a tenth of its hand regrown. Ye Chen sighed. He didn¡¯t have enough military merit to exchange for an emperor-rank soul recovery pill. Nor could he afford nine more monarch-rank soul recovery pills. He had to accumulate more military merit, which meant returning to battle. There was some regret in Ye Chen¡¯s eyes. If he was in the Seamless Immortal Realm, how could a demon emperor harm his soul so easily? Even if he was an immortal lord, he was ultimately not an immortal monarch, and did not have the pure power or defenses of one. He couldn¡¯t even become an immortal monarch now. If he really became an immortal monarch, his soul would never recover and he would remain disfigured forever. No, Ye Chen discarded his regret. He remembered his original purpose. He would master the Law of Spacetime and embarked on a perilous but invincible path. His name would forever be engraved into everyone¡¯s mind. Ye Chen signed up for another battle. His right arm could no longer hold a sword, but he still had the combat power of an immortal monarch with his left hand. The war between the Demon Clans and the humans was heating up, so it didn¡¯t take long for him to join the next battle. Ye Chen stood among the center with eight immortal monarchs, surrounded by over four hundred true immortals. He wasn¡¯t the only other true immortal in the center. There stood another. Her name was Hu Landie. Ye Chen noticed her at first glance. He could feel the temporal fluctuations around her, but he was sure that she had not mastered the Law of Time like himself. Still, she exuded a unique temperament, one that seemed detached from all things. He couldn¡¯t help but wonder how such a person would get married. Ye Chen glanced toward Hu Landie¡¯s husband, Ba Shifang. He sneered inwardly. Word of Ba Shifang¡¯s status as Xi Tianyi¡¯s clone had already spread to the Numinous Sword Sect. What did Xi Tianyi mean by letting his clone marry Hu Landie? And people called him loyal for only having Jiang Daoyi as his wife. What a farce. What difference did it make if Hu Landie was Ba Shifang¡¯s wife or Xi Tianyi¡¯s wife? How hypocritical. In Ye Chen¡¯s eyes, Xi Tianyi must have used force. Otherwise, why would someone as detached as Hu Landie marry a mere clone? Hu Landie seemed to have sensed his gaze and looked toward him. The two shared a glance, and Ye Chen nodded. Hu Landie reciprocated. Soon, Ye Chen felt another gaze. He looked slightly left to see Ba Shifang looking at him with wariness. He could feel the powerful qi submerged below Ba Shifang¡¯s skin. No wonder others praised him so much as a junior emperor. Still, Ye Chen had the confidence to surpass Ba Shifang once he stepped into the Seamless Immortal Realm. According to Ye Chen¡¯s information, Ba Shifang was the most skilled in the Law of Fire, the Law of Water, the Law of Earth, the Law of Wood, the Law of Metal, and the Law of Lightning. He must have mastered one of those six laws and stepped into the Seamless Immortal Realm. Because he dabbled in the other elemental laws, he immediately became a fifth-step monarch in a short time. However, how could those six wordly laws compare to the Law of Spacetime? Ye Chen had the confidence to become comparable to an immortal emperor immediately after stepping into the Seamless Immortal Realm. Their gaze did not intersect for long, and Ba Shifang clapped his hands, drawing everyone¡¯s attention. A force of over ten monarch-level combatants was nothing to scoff at. Except for the first battle and the siege on Shangri-La, this was the most powerful squad ever gathered. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°All of you should know the purpose of this operation,¡± Ba Shifang said. Although he was one of the youngest, if not the youngest, one present, none of them dared to take him lightly. ¡°Our goal is to capture a high-rank realm, and not just any high rank realm, but one of the more powerful ones.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t lie to you. There will be at least three demon kings guarding the realm, and reinforcement will arrive fast. A demon emperor might arrive, but you don¡¯t have to worry,¡± Ba Shifang said, his eyes exuding confidence. ¡°I will block the demon emperor if one arrives. Our goal is to capture the high-rank realm as soon as possible and seal it off, so that the Demon Clan cannot enter.¡± ¡°Once we have successfully sealed it off, we will eliminate all the demons there, and then,¡± Ba Shifang smiled. ¡°Well, it¡¯s a surprise. Because of confidentiality, I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t tell you.¡± Ye Chen pursed his brows. He wasn¡¯t the only one, as monarchs from both the Immortal Court and the Numinous Sword Sect sent questioning gazes. Ye Chen wanted to ask, but figured it was better to let others be the spearhead. ¡°If you cannot accept this, you can forfeit this mission with no repercussions. I¡¯ll just find new teammates, but until then, you can¡¯t leave Shangri-La,¡± Ba Shifang said. ¡°You can¡¯t do this,¡± a monarch from the Numinous Sword Sect said. Although the monarchs from the Immortal Court didn¡¯t say anything, they obviously agreed with the speaker¡¯s words. Ba Shifang shrugged. ¡°If you don¡¯t agree, ask your superiors. See what the emperors say. After all, they are in on it, too.¡± The monarchs didn¡¯t take any visible actions, but each of them secretly contacted the emperor behind them. Ye Chen was no different. When he regained his talent, an emperor took a fancy to him. Although the emperor didn¡¯t accept him as a disciple, he became part of the emperor¡¯s faction. All the replies they received amounted to ¡°cooperate with the Realm Link Monarch.¡± Even if they were unwilling, what could they do? The top brass obviously knew the goal of the operation. What other opinions could they have? They could only obey Ba Shifang¡¯s orders. Ba Shifang took out a pearl that exuded five colors. ¡°Everyone, I¡¯m going to have to ask you to enter my Five Planet Pearl until we arrive at the high-rank realm.¡± Ye Chen¡¯s eyes zeroed in on the seemingly harmless pearl. His gaze became hot as he guessed what the pearl was. Not just him, but even the other monarchs showed envy. ¡°Is that a realm artifact?¡± a monarch asked. Ba Shifang didn¡¯t hide anything and nodded. ¡°I was allowed to borrow it for the duration of this mission.¡± All the monarchs and even knowledgeable true immortals felt envy. A realm artifact was available for exchange, but the amount of military merit was impossible to accumulate. The only way they could gather the necessary amount was to kill this generation¡¯s Four Divine Beasts. Even then, the realm artifact bestowed would only be a pseudo realm artifact. The sword monarchs weren¡¯t really willing to enter. After all, entering meant putting themselves at Ba Shifang¡¯s mercy, but they had orders from above. So they could only pinch their noses and obey. At the very least, they had confidence that the Immortal Court wouldn¡¯t backstab them with so many people present. If they did, they had no way of covering it up. Ba Shifang didn¡¯t care about their thoughts and left Shangri-La. Once he neared the front lines, he took out a translucent scarf. He wrapped the surrounding scarf, and the scarf took on the texture of the void, making him disappear. Of course, even with the scarf, Ba Shifang had to travel through the weak points of the barriers to make sure his concealment wasn¡¯t noticed or destroyed. Thankfully, they had an insider providing information regarding most of the barrier¡¯s weak points. Ba Shifang arrived in less than a week. He had no choice. There are no eternal secrets in the world. Although the Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect did its best to prevent any leaks, it didn¡¯t mean that the Demon Clan wouldn¡¯t sense anything. Once he arrived, Ba Shifang told the immortals inside the Five Planet Pearl to prepare themselves. He raised his palm and a massive amount of qi condensed in it. Because he condensed qi into Yu, all the qi he used contained the energy of five elements, shortening the time he needed to prepare some techniques. A miniature black hole appeared in his palm. Five miniature planets revolved around it. It appeared similar to Tianyi¡¯s Constellation Cessation, but it was created using different principles, ones that suited himself more. He flicked one of the miniature planets toward the high-rank plane. The miniature planet enlarged itself and reflected the light of the solar star, making it resemble a moon. Not long later, several demon lords and a demon king flew out of the high-rank realm. ¡°Human, how dare you trespass here!¡± the demon king shouted. Ba Shifang didn¡¯t care. He flicked the other four miniature planets toward the high-rank realm. Their momentum resembled the meteorite that ended the era of dinosaurs. The demons trembled when they saw the colossal size of five miniature planets, but they did not yield. The demons used all sorts of spells to attack the five planets. Their intuition told them that if they got close to it, it would spell their dooms. The demons¡¯ spells all landed on the planets. Even if the spell¡¯s trajectory would graze the planets, the gravity would suck it toward the planet. Suddenly, the planets expanded ten times, and their gravity increased a hundredfold. The demon lords wanted to fly away, but the gravity latched onto them and wouldn¡¯t release them. They could only watch in fear as their body inched closer to the planet, little by little. The only one unaffected was the demon king, but before he could do anything, Ba Shifang threw the miniature black hole in his palm. The five planets¡¯ gravity increased further, and even the demon king could not move freely. As the first one to check out the situation, the demon king¡¯s strongest ability was in defense, not speed. So, no matter what he did, the gravity pulled him further away from the high-rank realm. He felt his body twist and distort as he neared the black hole. The black hole remained the same size, but the demon king felt his body become a noodle as the world around him slowed down. The five planets that seemed intent on crashing into the realm halted and drew closer to the black hole. As they neared, they broke down, along with the demons trapped in them, and contributed to the black hole¡¯s growing mass. When the black hole reached its peak size and the planets disappeared, tranquility returned to the void. Seconds later, the back hole disintegrated into dust. The eight monarchs and over four hundred true immortals, who had been released by Ba Shifang, charged into the high-rank realm. However, the one that broke in first wasn¡¯t an immortal monarch, but Ye Chen. With eyes tinted in madness and his face pale, Ye Chen acted as if he did not have long to live. When he broke through the realm, his eyes zeroed in on two demon kings in the sky. He roared and charged at them with his sword unsheathed. But before he could reach them, the space around him froze, as if the world was targeting him. ¡°Realmlord?!¡± Chapter 489: Refining the Realm Heart The two demon kings¡¯ apathetic gaze left Ye Chen and stared outside of the realm¡¯s boundary. In their eyes, Ye Chen¡¯s fate had no recourse. Since he dared to trespass into a realmlord¡¯s territory, he should just die obediently. Their concern was Ba Shifang floating outside the realm''s boundary. They had detected Ba Shifang as soon as he appeared. For a human to appear so deep behind the front lines of the Demon Clan, naturally meant something had gone wrong. Their companion had led a squad of demon lords to intercept, but none of them thought it would lead to his death. Before they had a chance to act, Ba Shifang had already killed their fellow demon king and the many demon lords. More frightening was the attack Ba Shifang unleashed. The demon realmlord didn¡¯t know how many times the immortal monarch could use the spell¡ªless than three, in his opinion¡ªbut if Ba Shifang launched it on the realm, the foundation would become shaky. Once the foundation became shaky, then the realmlord¡¯s control of the realm would falter. It might even cause a backlash and injure the realmlord. What¡¯s more, as the realmlord, he had a duty to the life inside the realm. If the life in the realm died, he would suffer a portion of the Karmic Sin. The demon realmlord mobilized the power of the realm to stabilize the realm boundary to its limit and limit the amount of outsiders from entering. He had already sent a message to the Demon Clan. As long as he held on for a short time, the reinforcements will arrive and encircle the attackers. Ba Shifang will be buried here forever.
Ba Shifang frowned. The fact that this high-rank realm had a realmlord was not in the information transmitted by Donghai Longzi. He didn¡¯t doubt Donghai Longzi¡¯s allegiance and came up with various reasons why he didn¡¯t know this realm had an owner. He frowned. The appearance of a realmlord severely decreased the chances of the mission¡¯s success. ¡°No other choice,¡± Ba Shifang said. He raised his hand and the Five Planet Pearl. With a flip of his palm, the Five Planet Pearl fell toward the high-rank realm. Just like Ba Shifang¡¯s previous spell, the Five Planet Pearl grew. However, unlike the previous spell, it became more translucent as it grew. When it reached its max size, it enveloped the entire high-rank realm and appeared like a transparent gauze. ¡°I¡¯ve interfered with the realmlord¡¯s connection with the realm. Go and attack now. He can still suppress your power, but not as much as before. Form the war formations outside before entering to make sure he doesn¡¯t disrupt the formation once inside,¡± Ba Shifang said. ¡°Use your numbers and deal with them quickly.¡± The immortal monarchs and true immortals obeyed. The monarchs from the Immortal Court used half as many true immortals to form their war formations, but the war formations created by the Numinous Sword Sect had a stronger aura. In the end, ten emperor-level formations entered the high-rank realm. Ten monarch-level formations, all formed by the cultivators from the Immortal Court, also entered the high-rank realm.
Ye Chen felt the suppression of the realm weaken. He immediately dodged, narrowly avoiding the demon lords¡¯ attacks. Although he had mastered the Law of Time, he hadn¡¯t used it to form a new body. Meaning that true immortals could still injure him, even if they hadn¡¯t mastered a worldly law. In addition, he could only affect the surrounding space with his Law of Time because of the suppression of the realm. The time around him accelerated, allowing him to dodge the attacks by the slimmest of margins. He persisted for a few seconds, and the pressure immediately lessened. He, along with the demons, looked up to see the many war formations enter. The most common of the bunch were humanoids holding treasure swords. It was the Ten Thousand Sword War Formation of the Numinous Sword Sect. They waved their swords and sword lights flashed. The demons released tragic cries and suffered under the indiscriminate attacks. The demon realmlord wanted to mobilize the realm¡¯s power to strengthen his allies and weaken his enemies, but he discovered an external force interfering. In the end, he could only increase the demon lords¡¯ power to the point that they reached the half-monarch level, while his demon king companion gained the power of a half-emperor. Only the realmlord could reach the emperor-level. However, it couldn¡¯t fully balance the discrepancy between the two sides. The human¡¯s war formations could still exert eighty to ninety percent of their full power. Ye Chen didn¡¯t let up. He immediately unleashed several sword lights. His power had reached the bottom of the monarch level, but it was still more than enough to slay half-kings. His sword light struck faster than the war formations and each strike pierced a fatal weak point. ¡°Not enough,¡± Ye Chen muttered. His left hand tightened the grip on his sword, and the urgency almost spilled out of his eyes. His right sleeve fluttered in the wind, denoting the missing hand. Originally, he wasn¡¯t in such a rush, but Ye Chen discovered something horrifying on the way to the high-rank realm. His right arm had shortened. The stump used to reach the wrist, but the length had decreased, and the wrist disappeared. In other words, the disintegration effect had not disappeared, and it remained. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. The problem was that he couldn¡¯t sense the foreign attack at all. Wasn¡¯t it said that demons focused on brute strength and material attacks? Why did this demon have such an insidious soul attack? Ye Chen wanted to kill the three demon marks and gain enough points for an emperor-rank soul recovery pill and hopefully cure the problem once and for all. However, now that the realmlord revealed himself, it was impossible. Since that was the case, he can only accumulate as many merits as possible and quickly apply for the next mission. The battle ended in less than thirty minutes. The demons did their best to resist, but it was hopeless. The humans simply overwhelmed the demons too much. Their greatest advantage was practically nullified. Among the two demon kings, the realmlord fell first. Once he died, it was simply a massacre. ¡°Good job, everyone,¡± Ba Shifang announced with a clap of his hand. ¡°Although there were some unexpected accidents, we successfully completed the first half of the mission. Now that we know this realm has a realm heart, as long as someone refines it and becomes the realmlord, coupled with the Five Planet Pearl, we can seal it off against the demons. Who is willing to become the realmlord?¡± Ye Chen fell into deep thought. A baleful aura coated him. Out of all the participants, he had killed the most, even if he hadn¡¯t engaged with the two demon kings. He glanced at his stub. Becoming a realmlord allowed the cultivator to have countless benefits. The realm would feed energy back to the realmlord and strengthen him. It also allowed the realmlord to have a near endless amount of power within, but for most cultivators, the greatest benefits were the clearer perception of the worldly laws. Becoming a realmlord would most likely allow Ye Chen to expel the foreign power damaging his soul, and it would aid him in the comprehension of the Law of Space. Why not? Of course, the process of refining the realm heart is not without its dangers. One must have sufficient willpower to not be assimilated by the realm heart. Once assimilated, the cultivator will dissolve into essence and become nutrients for the realm. Not even the soul would be spared. Compared to refining a realm artifact, the danger was a hundred times greater. However, Ye Chen had the confidence. ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡± All the monarchs and true immortals looked at Ye Chen, who spoke up first. ¡°Are you sure?¡± Ba Shifang asked. Compared to the other monarchs, he hoped for Ye Chen to refine the realm heart, not because he admired the latter¡¯s talent, but because he wanted him to die. Ye Chen had already mastered the Law of Time, but he hadn¡¯t become a monarch yet because of his ambitions. And since he was young, it was better for him to die in the cradle before he became a bigger threat. ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s not appropriate,¡± a monarch from the Immortal Court said. ¡°What¡¯s not appropriate?¡± a sword monarch countered. Although he was mad that Ye Chen spoke before him, he didn¡¯t want the Immortal Court to pick up on this benefit. ¡°Immortal Lord Ye has already mastered a complete law. His performance is also high, rivaling ours.¡± The monarchs from the two forces prepared to argue, but Ba Shifang stopped them. ¡°Enough, we are tight on time. Let Immortal Lord Ye refine the realm heart first. If he fails, you can argue again. It¡¯s best to do it before the reinforcements arrive.¡± The monarchs weren¡¯t willing, but they still obeyed Ba Shifang¡¯s arrangement. A few of them released a sigh of relief. Becoming a realm lord in the middle of the Demon Clan¡¯s territory was a high-risk position, hence their hesitation moments ago. Ye Chen paid no heed. The location of the realm heart was quickly discovered, and he entered the core of the realm. Not every realm could condense a realm heart. No one knows the condition to condense a realm heart, but the general consensus was that neither the Primordial Realm nor the Numinous Realm had a realm heart. He stared at the realm heart, which appeared like a glowing blue sphere. Upon closer inspection, Ye Chen could see the tiny strands of light that formed the sphere. He didn¡¯t take long to ready his heart and plunged his left hand into the glowing sphere. Pain burst in his head. It was as if an explosion had gone off. The pain wasn¡¯t a deliberate attack from the realm heart, but a side effect of Ye Chen receiving much more information than he could process. He could feel the steps of all life in the realm. The gentle wind caressing the feathers of birds. The sturdiness of stones that aged for thousands of years. The heartlessness of the sea, drowning all those unworthy. The unending wrath of volcanoes, bursting and raging at uneven intervals. Ye Chen felt himself merge with the realm. His mind became preoccupied by the vastness of the realm, and his sense of self slowly grew dim. It was as if Ye Chen had become the realm. Compared to the endless history of a realm, what was one Ye Chen? His lifespan couldn¡¯t even compare to a grain of sand in the realm''s history. Ye Chen resisted the assimilation. However, the realm¡¯s information continued to flow through his brain without end, eroding his willpower. His eyes grew dull, and his aura changed, becoming more and more similar to the realm heart.
Ba Shifang observed the process with a hint of satisfaction in his eyes. ¡°You seem very pleased?¡± He turned and smiled at Hu Landie. ¡°Of course. A potential threat is going to be eliminated because of his own actions without me needing to do anything. How can I not be happy? I like watching fools biting off more than they can chew.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you help with your realm artifact?¡± Hu Landie asked back, using her immortal sense. ¡°It¡¯s much safer this way, much less of a chance for him to make a comeback.¡± ¡°If I take action and the monarchs from the Numinous Sword Sect detect it, it will jeopardize the alliance. It¡¯s not worth it,¡± Ba Shifang said. ¡°Do you have any ideas?¡± ¡°I did, but you didn¡¯t ask me beforehand, so it¡¯s too late,¡± Hu Landie said. Ba Shifang shook his head in disappointment. ¡°Oh well. It doesn¡¯t matter. It looks like he will fail soon and die.¡± Just as he said that, Ba Shifang noticed that something in Ye Chen¡¯s right arm burst out. It was a black light containing a powerful destructive aura. It caused Ye Chen¡¯s eyes, who were slowly losing his sense of self, to regain part of their clarity. ¡°If I find out who helped Ye Chen¡­¡± Ba Shifang said through gritted teeth. Chapter 490: Inter-Realm Teleportation Formation The pain in his right hand broke Ye Chen out of his daze. He separated part of his focus and saw a dark light attached to his stump. This was the thing he had been searching for, the thing that was destroying his soul. Ye Chen¡¯s first impulse was to destroy it, but he recalled that it was thanks to this pain that he didn¡¯t become assimilated with the realm. Ye Chen endured the pain, allowing its sting to keep him awake. Even with the external stimulation, he could feel his consciousness drifting. Just because he was awake once more didn¡¯t mean he had succeeded. The refining process was only half done. The pain might keep him awake now, but he ultimately still had to rely on himself. He gritted his teeth and felt his thoughts drift once more. However, no matter how shallow his thoughts became, no matter how dull the pain in his right arm became, he persisted with his firm willpower. This was his second chance, and he would not let it slip through his fingers. Just as it seemed his thoughts would slip from his consciousness again, Ye Chen¡¯s thoughts sharpened. He saw a trace of the Law of Time. It wasn¡¯t just the Law of Time, but also the Law of Space, the Law of Fire, and many other concepts he had not understood. Ye Chen gritted his teeth and focused on the myriad laws. He no longer saw the world, but the essence. His head no longer pounded from the excess information inserted into his mind. Or rather, he didn¡¯t feel like it pounded anymore as he wanted to absorb everything in an instant. While Ye Chen wanted to continue this sensation, it suddenly stopped. He opened his eyes with a hint of confusion. He wanted to understand the essence of the laws, but the special state disappeared without warning. In fact, the special state lasted for quite a while, but he couldn¡¯t sense the passage of time in the heat of the moment. The sensation of the worldly laws laid bare was incredibly intoxicating, but when Ye Chen tried to recall them, he couldn¡¯t at all, as if everything had been an illusion. He frowned, and he wanted to analyze the reason, but time waited for no one. Ye Chen immediately received a message from Ba Shifang. ¡°Hurry up and seal the realm if you¡¯ve become the realmlord. I¡¯ve been blocking the Demon Clan¡¯s reinforcements for over a week now!¡± He wanted to ignore Ba Shifang and make him suffer more. More importantly, the time right after refining the realm heart was the best time to comprehend the worldly laws, and he didn¡¯t want to miss this chance. However, he also knew that if Ba Shifang failed to stop the Demon Clan or simply gave up because of his inaction, he wouldn¡¯t be able to gain much. So, Ye Chen mobilized the power of the entire realm and sealed it off. Immediately, he could feel the pressure Ba Shifang felt moments ago. With his extra senses, he detected a demon emperor and seven demon kings attacking, attempting to enter the high-rank realm. Then, he felt a foreign power pervading the entire realm. Thinking that it was an attack, Ye Chen resisted. As soon as he started resisting, Ba Shifang¡¯s helpless voice entered his ears. ¡°Don¡¯t resist. This is the Five Planet Pearl¡¯s power. Rather than facing all of them alone, it¡¯s better to combine our powers, right?¡± Ye Chen hesitated for a moment, but then he let Ba Shifang do as he liked. Allowing a realm artifact to expand like this could result in hidden dangers in the realm, but he didn¡¯t care. After all, he never planned to be a realmlord for too long. Once he entered the Seamless Immortal Realm, he planned to release his control of the realm heart. A realmlord¡¯s status was exalted, but they were also tied to one place, and Ye Chen didn¡¯t want that. Soon after, Ye Chen felt the pressure lessen. With their team up, the demons outside found themselves unable to break into their former territory. That realization made them crazier, but it was all for naught. Unless they became determined to destroy the high-rank realm, it was likely impossible to reclaim the lost realm. Of course, they could also dispatch more demon emperors and use their own realm artifacts, but the humans suddenly launched an attack, forcing them to disperse their forces. This was an open scheme, one that the Demon Clan had no choice but to cooperate with. Although the pressure lessened, Ye Chen and Ba Shifang didn¡¯t lower their guard and continued to maintain the sealed state. While they protected the high-rank realm, the immortals began to carve formations into the realm. Though Realmlords were practically omnipotent within their realms, they could not do everything. The range and abilities they could use were based on what they knew. If it was a formation master, they would be able to construct a formation anywhere in the realm instantaneously, with no need to have others set up the formation, like now. As a sword immortal, Ye Chen specialized in offense. Inside the realm, he could display the raw power of a peak monarch, but he could not use the realm to set up formations, refine artifacts, or concoct pills. It took over a month, but eventually all the defensive formations were finally erected. Ye Chen and Ba Shifang no longer had to guard twenty-four-seven. Even if the Demon Clan attacked, the formations would guard the realm, and Ye Chen only needed to exert a fraction of his previous efforts to halt the Demon Clan¡¯s offense. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Finally with some free time, Ye Chen immediately entered secluded cultivation. Although the best period to comprehend the worldly laws had passed, he still harbored some hope. He ignored what happened in the realm and focused wholeheartedly on perceiving the Law of Space. During the process, he also expelled the foreign substance in his soul. Although it helped him refine the realm heart, it was ultimately meant to kill him. Ye Chen vowed to repay this enmity in the future. Days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months. Months led to years. When Ye Chen opened his eyes once more, over a decade had already passed. ¡°Unfortunately, I reached the last step. Just one more step and I will be able to master the Law of Space.¡± It sounded simple, but how many people were stopped at this step? If Ye Chen was lucky, he could comprehend the entire Law of Space tomorrow. If he was unlucky, he would not comprehend it until his dying breath. By then, he would be an emotionless tool, surviving solely because of his connection with heaven and earth. ¡°Damn Ba Shifang, damn Demon Clan. If I hadn¡¯t missed the best time, I would have mastered the Law of Space now,¡± Ye Chen growled. After the rush of anger, he quickly calmed himself down. Logically, he knew he couldn¡¯t blame anyone, but he was just unwilling and wanted to vent his anger on someone. Ye Chen walked out of the core of the realm. His senses spread throughout the high-rank realm, and his senses stalled. Although the group that came to conquer this realm had the largest number of people and combat potential, there were only a little more than four hundred immortals. Why were there over a thousand immortals present? Even if the Numinous Sword Sect and the Immortal Court wanted to send reinforcements, how could the Demon Clan not intercept it? The only reason the Demon Clan hadn¡¯t barged in yet was because they feared the front lines collapsing and bearing Karmic Sin. But if the Numinous Sword Sect and Immortal Court sent reinforcements into the heart of the Demon Clan, they would never let this chance go. He grabbed the closest true immortal from the Numinous Sword Sect and asked for an explanation. The true immortal didn¡¯t find it strange that Ye Chen didn¡¯t know. As one of those that attacked the high-rank realm, he knew that Ye Chen had just refined the realm heart and entered secluded cultivation. So he didn¡¯t know what happened in the past few years. ¡°You don¡¯t know, but the Buzhou Immortal Court actually brought out an inter-realm teleportation formation. It can only link to Shangri-La, but that¡¯s already amazing enough. Right now, more and more personnel are being transferred here in order to deal a critical blow and catch the Demon Clan off guard,¡± the true immortal said. He leaned over and whispered, ¡°I heard that four immortal emperors have already teleported here and are lying in wait.¡± ¡°Inter-realm teleportation formation?¡± Ye Chen didn¡¯t admire that like the true immortal before him nor pay attention to the possibility of immortal emperors joining. Instead, he saw farther. Since the Immortal Court could bring out an inter-realm teleportation formation to deal with the Demon Clan, would they also establish one to deal with the Numinous Sword Sect? After all, both sides controlled many lower realms. Who¡¯s to say that the Immortal Court hasn¡¯t already set up a few inter-realm teleportation formations in the realms under their control and was just waiting for the right moment? Ye Chen let the true immortal go and sought someone higher in the pecking order. He wanted to know what preparation the Numinous Sword Sect made in light of this information. He grabbed the first sword monarch he saw, but when he saw who it was, Ye Chen paused. ¡°Seven Star Sword Monarch?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the rising star, Immortal Lord Ye,¡± Meng Tingfeng said and nodded back. ¡°Many of us are wondering when you will enter the Seamless Immortal Realm. It should be soon, right? After becoming a realmlord, there should be nothing holding you back.¡± Ye Chen¡¯s brows twitched, but he ultimately revealed nothing on his face. He wanted revenge on Xi Tianyi, obviously Meng Tingfeng was a potential obstacle. Plus, with his connection to Xi Tianyi, the upper echelon should also be wary of Meng Tingfeng. ¡°It¡¯s not the right time,¡± Ye Chen replied. ¡°There¡¯s still something I have to do.¡± ¡°It seems that Immortal Lord Ye has big ambitions.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Ye Chen said. ¡°Since I¡¯ve embarked on this path, I¡¯ve never been willing to wallow in mediocrity.¡± Ye Chen and Meng Tingfeng separated after this short intersection. Meng Tingfeng volunteered in order to hone himself while Ye Chen wanted to seek more information.
Tianyi stood in the void and sighed. He had left Shangri-La and officially joined the front lines of the war. In front of him flew countless demon lords, tens of demon monarchs, and four demon emperors, including three of the Four Divine Beasts. Behind him were several immortals, including their own monarchs and emperors. Naturally, they all formed war formations. Of the immortal emperors, only Tianyi was not in a war formation. He raised his palm, and several miniature suns appeared above his palm. Without another word, he shot them flying forward. When the miniature suns exploded into novas, the countless demon lords dodged with all their might. Several demon kings and the demon emperors wanted to deal with Tianyi, but the war formations blocked them. Tianyi didn¡¯t stop attacking and formed several more Stellar Silences and launched them. Despite the high intensity of the war, Tianyi¡¯s eyes were dull and lacked spirit. He had been launching Stellar Silences and Planetary Purgatories nonstop for the past few years? Even if he hadn¡¯t used his technique a million times by now, it should be over a hundred thousand times. The ease and speed at which he attacked now had shortened to become almost instantaneous. However, Tianyi wasn¡¯t happy at all. Who would be happy continuously attacking for over ten years? It was thanks to his endless amount of qi that he could pressure the Demon Clan¡¯s forces. No demon wanted to be hit at ground zero by any of his Stellar Silences or Planetary Purgatories. When Tianyi first appeared, the Demon Clan had been unprepared, causing high casualties. And after years of continuous bombardment, Tianyi had reached the number one on the Demon Clan¡¯s must-kill list. Tianyi himself just wanted to rest. At this point, he was practically on autopilot. Even if a demon hit him, he didn¡¯t care. It was not like they could kill him or injure him much. Unfortunately for him, he would have to persist for a few more years. Chapter 491: True Nothingness Tianyi stared dully with his palm aimed in front. Without stopping, batches after batches of Stellar Silences would launch from it. Although they shot forward, they didn¡¯t always stay in a straight line. Only a small percentage did. The rest curved and swerved, covering almost ninety percent of Tianyi¡¯s field of vision. Not that he noticed. Years of repeating the same action caused Tianyi to put everything on autopilot. This was his strongest conduit, yes, but most of his attention was elsewhere. The fact that he had many avatars was still unknown to the public. It was in his best interest to keep it that way. Since Tianyi couldn¡¯t show up elsewhere in another of his conduits, he simply appeared in his Nine Heavens Universe. Anyway, it wasn¡¯t like anyone could detect him in his inner universe if he so wished. Inside the Nine Heavens Universe, Tianyi had sectioned off a distant solar system and threw the Void Whale in there. There was no life in the solar system, but the Void Whale could survive through the energy of the sun. Thanks to this, he could survive in the void, unlike most other demons. Because of this, although the Void Whale panicked at first, it didn¡¯t worry too much. He could survive, but the demons inside of him couldn¡¯t. The Void Whale couldn¡¯t let the demons remain inside of it forever. So after several years inside its belly and making sure there was no danger, it found the planet with the highest qi density and let them out. The spiritual qi density only equaled the weakest low-rank realm, but the demon lords and demon kings couldn¡¯t object because the other planets within the solar system only had a fraction, equaling unranked realms. Although the conversion rate from spiritual qi to demon qi took a long time, they didn¡¯t have to worry about dying because of the lack of qi. However, that didn¡¯t mean they were willing to stay put. Once they secured their safety, many of them tried to discover how and where they were teleported. Many of the demons explored the void, but had to return because they couldn¡¯t find any suitable planets with spiritual qi. If they continued, they would become stranded without enough qi to return. Then they would die, becoming a cold corpse in the void. Even the Void Whale was not an exception. Although it could travel farther, once it went too far, the sun¡¯s ray could not reach it. The longer the demons stayed, the more worried yet calm they became. It was as if they teleported to a new world free of the war, or even other life. Still, the demons knew in their hearts that it was an illusion. If they did nothing, they could only become fish on the chopping block when the humans finally decided to deal with them. Unfortunately, they were trapped with no way to communicate with the Demon Clan. The only method they could use to break out of their predicament was to grow stronger. This meant comprehending the worldly laws, but it was as if this world didn¡¯t have any laws, and the demons couldn¡¯t sense it no matter how hard they tried. Were it not for the laws they already mastered, they might have begun to suspect that the myriad laws were a lie. ¡°Dammit, where is this? Even in the Vast Void, I can at least sense a hint of the laws and the Law of Space, but I can¡¯t sense anything here,¡± a demon lord said. His voice was full of despair, having almost lost all hope. ¡°The solar star is in a strange shape, and the realm is shaped like a sphere. It reminds me of the description of the Primordial World, but on a far smaller scale,¡± one demon king commented. He was laying down with his chin on the ground. He opened one eye and glanced at the giant whale in the sky. ¡°Do you think the humans have a method to teleport us outside the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System?¡± The Void Whale, Demon King Cetitus, frowned. The Void Whale had lived over two hundred thousand years, so it had far more experience than most demon kings or even demon emperors. In fact, his willpower was starting to decline. Otherwise, Demon Emperor Jiaolang would not have sent him out so easily. ¡°I¡¯ve been to the space outside the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System before,¡± Demon King Cetitus began. His old eyes grew cloudy as he sank into his memories. ¡°I had just entered the Demon King Realm and was full of confidence. When I first heard of the space outside the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, I was not scared, but curious. As a Void Whale, why would I fear the void?¡± ¡°On one of the patrols in the Three Thousand Immortal Realm System, I left the boundary without telling anyone.¡± A moment later, an indescribable emotion filled the Void Whale¡¯s eyes. Fear made up a small portion, loneliness another, and much, much more. ¡°I have never felt so insignificant,¡± said Demon King Cetitus. ¡°As a Void Whale, my innate ability allows me to teleport even in the Vast Void, but I couldn¡¯t do so in the nothingness outside the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. I couldn¡¯t feel the connection to the Law of Space at all. Many demons say that the Vast Void is barren, but they have never known true desolation. It was complete darkness..¡± ¡°I only caught a glimpse because the next moment, I re-entered the Three Thousand Immortal Realm System. I only stayed for a second, but the moment I exited, I felt a devouring force sucking away all my qi, blood, and flesh. When I entered the safety of the Vast Void, I discovered I lost over thirty percent of my qi.¡± Fear transformed into the dominant emotion. ¡°Nothing exists in the darkness. Not even the Law of Space.¡± Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°So I call the darkness outside the True Nothingness.¡± An oppressive silence filled the atmosphere. It only disappeared when Demon King Cetitus broke out of his memory. His gaze lingered on the rest of the demons. ¡°Although you can¡¯t sense the laws, it just means that it¡¯s hidden. Compared to the True Nothingness, it¡¯s like heaven and earth. In my opinion, this is a special prison realm controlled by the humans to trap demons like us.¡± ¡°Then what can we do?¡± a demon king asked. ¡°Just do your best,¡± the Void Whale said. Unknown to the group of demons, Tianyi held his chin as he digested the words of Demon King Cetitus. ¡®True Nothingness. Speaking of which, I haven¡¯t visited myself either. Are the other pantheons living in different systems in the True Nothingness?¡¯ Tianyi shook his head. Once the Immortal Court united the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, he might send a conduit into the True Nothingness and explore, but definitely not now. Instead, he worked on expanding the population of Void Whales. He could already imagine his legion of mobile fortress. Equip each Void Whale with a palace artifact and set them ablaze. It would be the cultivation world¡¯s version of advanced warships. Of course, Tianyi didn¡¯t do something as vulgar as forcing the demons to procreate to achieve his goals. It would hurt his dignity. Besides, he only wanted Void Whales, and there was only one Void Whale present. So, he had to find another method. Tianyi pointed a finger at the Void Whale. Before any of the demons could react, a light pierced the Void Whale. It didn¡¯t kill him, but plenty of blood essence flowed out of the wound. He collected the blood essence and left. Although the Void Whale wasn¡¯t critically injured, the extraction of blood essence dramatically weakened his aura. The other demons entered a high alert state, thinking that the humans were finally going to deal with them after years of inaction. While the demons entered a frizzled state, Tianyi entered Fourth Heaven. He found a few monsters with similar bloodlines to the Void Whale and injected a drop of the Void Whale¡¯s blood essence into many monsters. If they bore live children, he would teleport the blood essence into the still-developing embryo. If it was an egg, he would teleport it into the egg right after it was expelled. To increase the success rate of mutation, Tianyi also injected soul essence into the embryos and eggs. Because the war took place in the Divine Beast Pseudo-System, the Heavenly Dao was not strong. As a result, the world did not immediately absorb the souls of the dead immortals and demons. Thanks to this fact, the Immortal Court, Numinous Sword Sect, and Demon Clan used this chance to collect soul essence without incurring Karmic Sin. Perhaps out of all the participants, none collected more than Tianyi thanks to his Nine Heaven Style spells and his control over spacetime. Even with the injection of the soul essence, most of the embryo or eggs died. The backlash caused some of the mothers to perish as well. Less than one percent survived. For the one percent that did, it didn¡¯t mean everything was well, as the mutation could go out of control. Had it not been for the colossal tree showering them with vitality, all of them would have long died. While Tianyi paid attention to the growing eggs and fetuses, his thoughts drifted toward a dream he once had. He had always wanted to have a dragon as a mount, but because of scarcity, he had never succeeded. Even if he transformed his clone into a true dragon, it would be too wasteful to use his clone as a mount. Not to mention the dissatisfaction of his clone. As a being born from his split soul, his clone would invariably inherit some of his traits. Tianyi rubbed his chin. ¡®Should I tell Longzi to grab some dragon eggs when he has a chance? After all, my conduit is on him.¡¯ Unlike Tianyi¡¯s method of mutating monsters with Void Whale blood, true dragons would be installed with knowledge immediately after hatching. This included their race¡¯s history, which meant that they would become hostile to Tianyi. Of course, Tianyi could subvert this hostility with time and effort, but he didn¡¯t know how successful he would be. The best-case scenarios would be if the true dragons continued to procreate in the Nine Heavens Universe for a long time. Eventually, they would forget their hatred of humanity and not include this enmity in the inherited knowledge. The greatest downside would be that it would take a long time, and by then, he would likely lose interest. Tianyi rubbed his chin. ¡°Maybe I should just catch a monster with dragon blood and purify its bloodline. Even if it becomes a true dragon, it won¡¯t harbor much hostility toward me. In fact, it might even be grateful. Plus, I have my clone¡¯s blood, which can also alter its bloodline. Right, let¡¯s just do that.¡± Although Tianyi decided to implement Plan B, he didn¡¯t give up on Plan A. Raising a brood of true dragons in his Nine Heavens Universe would only have benefits, no demerits. Probably. He told Donghai Longzi to keep an eye out for monsters with high concentrations of dragon blood in their body. After that, Tianyi continued to wait for the monster eggs or fetus to be born. However, he didn¡¯t have time to watch them hatch or be born¡ªnot that most of them weren¡¯t stillborn¡ªbecause the Divine Beast-Human War entered a new state of intensity.
Ye Chen saw that more than two thousand true immortals appeared in the high-rank realm, and couldn¡¯t help but be amazed. Even in the Numinous Sword Sect, most true immortals were in secluded cultivation and hardly showed themselves. So, it was incredibly rare for so many immortals to gather in one place. His eyes drifted toward the newly constructed palace. Not to mention the large number of emperors present. Originally, he worried that the Immortal Court or Numinous Sword Sect would overstretch themselves, allowing the Demon Clan to retaliate fiercely and deal a heavy blow. But he heard the situation on the front lines and gained more confidence in this aggressive assault. Ye Chen¡¯s eyes radiated a bloody light. This time, he must succeed and grab the blood essence of a dragon with a powerful bloodline! Chapter 492: Demon Sovereign As the realmlord of the high-rank realm, Ye Chen should have stayed behind in order to stabilize the rear, but he insisted on joining the assault. The only reason he succeeded was because of two factors: his persistence and the lack of need for a realmlord. Even without Ye Chen, the immortals could defend the high-rank realm thanks to the formations already implemented. Ye Chen¡¯s addition didn¡¯t add much to the defenses. Plus, Ba Shifang would not take part in the assault in order to stay behind and guard the rear. All in all, Ye Chen¡¯s presence mattered little. The leader of this assault operation was Minister Vastlight of the Immortal Court. Some of the immortals of the Numinous Sword Sect expressed displeasure at the Immortal Court taking the lead twice in this series of operations, but the Immortal Court said that they would allow the Numinous Sword Sect to lead if they had the right artifact to hide these large number of immortals. Although the humans had a good springboard to attack the Demon Clan, the demons constantly monitored the high-rank realm. In order to sneak into the heart of the Demon Clan, the humans needed to use a powerful artifact or spell to hide themselves during the transition. The Immortal Court had the Spacetime Chessboard, which could shuttle through the folds of spacetime. Unlike Ba Shifang¡¯s Five Planet Pearl, which was composed of five pseudo realm artifacts, it was a true realm artifact from the treasury of the Immortal Court. At this, the immortals from the Numinous Sword Sect became silent. They had a stock of realm artifacts, but their numbers paled in comparison to the Immortal Court. Not only that, they didn¡¯t have a realm artifact that specialized in the Law of Space, much less the Law of Spacetime. One immortal suggested the Immortal Court lent the Spacetime Chessboard to an emperor of the Numinous Sword Sect, but the Immortal Court rejected it. How precious was a realm artifact, especially one at the level of the Spacetime Chessboard? Once the Numinous Sword Sect got it, would they easily return it? Don¡¯t talk about the alliance of the two hegemonic forces. If there were enough benefits and little demerits, both sides would have no problem turning on the other. ¡°Alright, please enter the Spacetime Chessboard, everyone,¡± Minister Vastlight said. The seemingly plain wooden board emitted a faint light and shot out several rays. Whoever the rays touched, they would enter the chessboard. Ye Chen felt a bright light fill his vision as the ray struck him. When the light died down, he found himself in a space similar to the Vast Void. The only difference was that he stood on a miniature planet less than ten kilometers in diameters. He looked up and saw many other similarly sized planets floating at the same level. Including the one Ye Chen stood on, they numbered three hundred and sixty-one. Several other immortals stood on the same planet Ye Chen stood on, but he didn¡¯t notice them. No, Ye Chen was staring at the orderly manner of the planets in a trance. Although all the planets were the same, when lined in the orderly rows and columns, he felt a unique charm. Ye Chen recognized that charm as the Law of Space and the Law of Time. He didn¡¯t even need to guess that the true charm was the Law of Spacetime. Because he had not mastered the Law of Space, he could not sense it. Although regretful, Ye Chen seized the chance. He sat down in a lotus position and immediately stared unblinking at all the planets to comprehend the Law of Space. A few other immortals also became entranced by the inner realm of the Spacetime Chessboard and sat down to comprehend. Minister Vastlight said nothing about these true immortals. He only smiled in his heart. Do they really think it was so easy to comprehend the laws simply by staring at the formation of three hundred and sixty-one planets? Even if they could glean anything, he would suppress it to the maximum. Minister Vastlight didn¡¯t mind his own people comprehending it, but it was a sin to allow the members of the Numinous Sword Sect to strengthen themselves. So, he could only treat everyone equally to avoid suspicion. When he teleported everyone, all the immortal emperors appeared on the planet in the center with him. There, they could discuss the finer details of the operation. While the talks began, the Spacetime Chessboard left the confines of the high-rank realm. Although a chessboard randomly appearing out in the void of the Divine Beast Pseudo Realm should have attracted the demons keeping watch, they ignored it, as if it didn¡¯t exist. The Spacetime Chessboard soared through the void without emitting any fluctuations. Not even the demon kings noticed anything amiss when the Spacetime Chessboard passed them by. The Spacetime Chessboard continued to slip through spacetime, avoiding the detection of all the demon patrols in its way until it reached the Void Continent, the headquarters of the Demon Clan. Once it reached its target, it waited hundreds of thousands of kilometers away. Just because the Spacetime Chessboard could conceal itself with the Law of Spacetime did not mean it was infallible. Inside the Spacetime Chessboard, a three-dimensional replica of the Void Continent appeared. Of course, it was only a superficial copy made with information delivered by Donghai Longzi and what the eyes could see. There were many secrets under its barrier and layers. ¡°Everyone, construct the war formations!¡± Minister Vastlight commanded. Unlike when Ba Shifang commanded a squad of immortals, the number of immortals used to form every war formation doubled. The aura of each war formation reached the peak of its level. If it was a monarch-level war formation, it would have the raw power of a peak fifth-step monarch. If it was an emperor-level war formation, it would possess the power of a peak emperor. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. The goal of this assault operation wasn¡¯t to conquer territory, but to deal a heavy blow to the Demon Clan. As such, the Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect focused on quality, not quantity. In total, the two thousand and two hundred immortals formed only a hundred and eighty-nine war formations. Despite the drastic reduction in numbers, the overall combat potential had increased exponentially. If the one hundred and eighty-nine war formations faced the previous two thousand and two hundred immortals head-on, the current war formations would obtain victory ten out of ten times. Most of the true immortals became part of the sovereign-level war formation led by the five immortal emperors, three from the Immortal Court and two from the Numinous Sword Sect. Two sword emperors did not form a war formation. They would act as mobile units to fill in any gaps needed. Minister Vastlight also did not become part of the war formation. It didn¡¯t matter to him since he had control over the Spacetime Chessboard. ¡°Prepare yourselves. I will teleport you out and immediately counter the Void Continent¡¯s defense,¡± Minister Vastlight said. ¡°Remember, the objective of this operation is to deal as much damage as possible. If you feel like you can¡¯t defeat someone, just ignore them and focus on the weaker demons. Time will be short. Although the Spacetime Chessboard is powerful, the Demon Clan¡¯s Void Continent is not any bit weaker. It might even be stronger. After the time limit, no matter what, I will teleport you all back into the Spacetime Chessboard and flee.¡± The human faces on the war formation showed solemn expressions. Although it sounded easy, they were attacking the heart of the Demon Clan. How could it not be without substantial risks? ¡°Since everyone is ready, let¡¯s begin.¡±
The Dragon Patriarch¡¯s massive body formed a coil. With his eyes closed, he appeared asleep, but he was actually communicating with countless demons, including Demon Emperor Redraco. Because of the pressure from Tianyi, three of the Four Divine Beasts were dispatched to stabilize the front lines, but even so, it couldn¡¯t stop them from pulling back countless times in the past few decades. Were it not for the immortal emperors staring at the three of the Four Divine Beasts, the three of them would have joined forces to kill Tianyi. The only reason they maintained the current position was because the losses were still acceptable. Currently, because of the depletion of demons on the front lines, he was urging the insect queens to produce more soldiers to be used as cannon fodders. Before, these insect queens would have jumped in joy at the chance to produce so many soldiers or offspring, but currently, they couldn¡¯t help but feel like they entered hell. If there was a ranking list for how much a certain demon hated Xi Tianyi, these insect queens would definitely rank in the top three. Day in, day out, the only thing they did was to produce cannon fodder. The worst part was that their output couldn¡¯t keep up with the consumption! ¡°Who dares!?¡± the Dragon Patriarch shouted. He was just communicating with the insect queens regarding the next batch of cannon fodders, but a massive pressure suddenly enveloped the entire Void Continent. It wasn¡¯t just him who shouted, but the Phoenix Patriarch and the Qilin Patriarch. Their bodies appeared above the Void Continent. The Dragon Patriarch¡¯s yellow-scaled body stretched thousands of kilometers. Although not as large, the Phoenix Patriarch¡¯s wingspan also stretched hundreds of kilometers. The Qilin Patriarch possessed the smallest body, but he actually had the strongest aura of the three. Normally, when the three appeared, they would receive countless gazes of veneration, but right now, the demons on the Void Continent only showed shock, fear, and rage. Above the Void Continent, three hundred and sixty-one planets rained down. They didn¡¯t directly smash into the Void Continent, but linger above. Each one was linked invisibly, and once they set into place, the space around the Demon Clan¡¯s headquarters distorted. ¡°The humans actually dare to attack us here?!¡± Phoenix Patriarch asked, voice filled with disbelief. They never expected the humans to have such gall. ¡°No wonder the assault on the front lines intensified,¡± the Dragon Patriarch said. ¡°They wanted to lure away as many demons as possible to make it easier for them to attack.¡± ¡°Hmpf, since they dare to come, we must not let them leave!¡± Qilin Patriarch said as he charged forward to meet the descending war formations. Upon seeing the five leading war formations exuding the aura of a sovereign, the Qilin Patriarch¡¯s gaze shifted to one of the peak emperor-level war formations. His body shifted, and he charged at the Golden Spirit War Formation of the Numinous Sword Sect. Naturally, the five sovereign-level war formations moved to stop him. Unfortunately, the Qilin Patriarch¡¯s body split into several afterimages, each one moving separately. Once they missed their first step, the five sovereign-level war formations did not take anymore actions and clashed with the Dragon Patriarch and Phoenix Patriarch. In their eyes, a single Qilin Patriarch would not be able to defeat an emperor-level war formation in a short amount of time. By then, the other emperor war formations will surround him and beat him back. However, their expectations were destined to fall through. The Qilin Patriarch appeared in front of the Golden Spirit War Formation and rammed his horn forward. At the moment before contact, his aura erupted, rising above the Demon Emperor Realm. ¡°Demon Sovereign?!¡± ¡°What? When did the Qilin Patriarch break through the Demon Sovereign Realm?¡± Regardless of their shock and questions, the Qilin Patriarch¡¯s horn connected with the Golden Spirit War Formation, launching it backward. The radiance of the war formation plummeted and its movement stalled. The Qilin Patriarch wanted to seize the moment and destroy the Golden Spirit War Formation, but the other emperor-level war formation charged forward and attacked him. ¡°Tch!¡± From above, Minister Vastlight pursed his brows. However, they soon smoothed out. Their Immortal Court has immortal sovereigns, so it¡¯s not strange for the Demon Clan to possess some. He glanced at the Dragon and Phoenix Patriarchs, wondering if they were hiding their true strength to unleash it at an optimal time. His eyes scanned the Void Continent. He searched for the Black Tortoise. Their main objective was to slay this generation¡¯s Black Tortoise. The Immortal Court knew that the Four Divine Beasts could unleash a special combination of innate ability, thanks to Xi Mengfei. The combination of three innate abilities was already terrifying. If the Black Tortoise used his, it would only become more powerful. The Immortal Court planned to snuff this threat before it could harm them. Unfortunately, Minister Vastlight couldn¡¯t locate the Black Tortoise. Chapter 493: Beneath the Void Continent The battle on the Void Continent raged on. The intensity increased exponentially by the second. Demon lords fell by the second, but the Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect weren¡¯t unaffected, either. Although the Qilin Patriarch failed to destroy an emperor-level war formation, many monarch-level war formations collapsed from the assault of the demons. Minister Vastlight watched all of this with cold eyes. The more time passed, the more disadvantageous it would become for the humans. He could already feel the Spacetime Chessboard losing its hold on the Void Continent. The Void Continent was countering the Spacetime Chessboard and boosting the strength of the demons. However, Minister Vastlight was sure that there was another demon sovereign hidden on the Void Continent. The three patriarchs of the three clans were in battle and had no time to control the realm artifact, so that could only mean that there was another hidden power. ¡®Who could it be?¡¯ Minister Vastlight wondered. His first thought was that Xuanwu, the Black Tortoise, had broken through to the Demon Sovereign Realm, but he immediately discarded that notion. The time was too short. Unless Xuanwu could awaken all his memories at once, he would not be able to accomplish this. Even if Xuanwu awakened his memories, he wouldn¡¯t forcibly ascend to a higher realm, as that would lead to shaky foundations and stunt his divine path. Minister Vastlight sighed. Even among the upper echelons of the Demon Clan, such an existence should be a secret few of them knew. He couldn¡¯t help but recall the information about the Concealed Emperor. Although he is the Immortal Court¡¯s longest standing emperor, he is just that, an emperor. However, Minister Vastlight discovered that Minister Everpast still obeyed the Concealed Emperor¡¯s commands. He couldn¡¯t help but wonder if the Concealed Emperor was an ancient sovereign of the Immortal Court, or someone who reached the half-divine level. Did the Demon Clan have such an existence, too? The immortal minister clenched his fist. If his suspicions were correct, then it was impossible to accomplish the operation¡¯s aim. He might as well destroy as many demons as possible and break the Void Continent as much as possible. The three hundred and sixty-one planets which had stayed in place for the majority of the battle trembled. They spun on their axis and formed a vortex of spacetime qi. The suppression of the demons and the Void Continent increased, but it also turned turbulent. The war formations immediately started to disengage, so that they would not be affected by the Spacetime Chessboard. The demons sensed something amiss, but only the most powerful among them had the chance to react. The three hundred and sixty-one planets descended, resembling the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs. Their surface turned red from the friction of the Void Continent¡¯s resistance. The vortex surrounding them disappeared little by little. Those that lost the protection of the vortex shattered and plummeted to the ground. Those that reached the Void Continent without shattering embedded themselves in the giant landmass. They resembled warts or lumps on the ground, ugly to look at, but ultimately harmless. That notion didn¡¯t last long. The embedded planets emitted an unbearable heat, one that scorched all the demons nearby. Those demons didn¡¯t have much time to think as the countless planets exploded in one go. Even the shards of the shattered planets also heated up, but only a few of them exploded and with only a fraction of the power of a full planet¡¯s explosion. The explosion cracked the surface of the Void Continent. It engulfed the unlucky demons and sent them to their deaths. Around ten percent of the demons present perished, including one insect queen. ¡°Bastard!¡± the Dragon Patriarch shouted. He and the other patriarchs chased after the immortals, intending to use their life to pay respects to the deceased demons. Their attacks fell short. The explosion disrupted the Void Continent¡¯s power, making the demons lose their strength boost and allowing the war formations to retreat with minimal losses. Minister Vastlight stopped entangling with the Void Continent as well. After exploding the three hundred and sixty-one planets, the power of the Spacetime Chessboard plummeted. Offensively, at least. Now, he just wanted for the war formations to retreat far enough from the Void Continent and teleport them inside the realm artifact once more before escaping. ¡°Hm?¡± Minister Vastlight¡¯s eyes focused on the tallest peak on the Void Continent. Many demons were flying away from the land to avoid the collapsing ground. Those demon lords could survive, but those under the Demon Lord Realm weren¡¯t so lucky. In fact, Minister Vastlight never expected his move would cause so much damage to the Void Continent. What caught his eyes was a human flying out of the cave. Normally, that wouldn¡¯t be much of a shock, but this was the headquarters of the Demon Clan. A lone human obviously stood out. Minister Vastlight also happened to recognize him. That lone human was San Jiuling, a remnant of the destroyed Leakless Sect. Once, he was considered a genius on the same level as Xi Tianyi, possessing nine lifebound artifacts. More importantly to Minister Vastlight, San Jiuling had forced a spiritual beast contract on the Black Tortoise. As long as he died, the Black Tortoise would perish as well, if not receive a fatal injury. Killing intent condensed in Minister Vastlight¡¯s eyes. With a twitch of his finger, the Spacetime Chessboard released an aurora that engulfed the sky above the Void Continent. That aurora condensed into a single ray of light that shot toward the immortal monarch. Unfortunately, Minister Vastlight underestimated San Jiuling. Just as it seemed the aurora ray would pierce the immortal monarch¡¯s head, he dodged, and the aurora pierced his chest instead. Blood flowed from the cavity in his chest and mouth, but he survived. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. San Jiuling¡¯s aura weakened dramatically, and he plummeted. Minister Vastlight wanted to deal the finishing blow, but a demon king shot out and carried San Jiuling away. ¡°Forget it.¡± Minister Vastlight shook his head. Although San Jiuling survived, it didn¡¯t mean he could recover. How could an injury dealt by the Spacetime Chessboard be so easy to heal from? More than likely, San Jiuling will perish from his wounds, dying in agony. He controlled the Spacetime Chessboard to emit hundreds of rays, intending to absorb the war formations into the Spacetime Chessboard, but just as the rays were about to touch the war formations, they suddenly curved and flew toward the Void Continent. Minister Vastlight¡¯s eyes widened in shock. Not just him, but the other immortals did the same as they stared at the Void Continent. Piece by piece, the shattered ground drifted away from the Void Continent, revealing an inky texture beneath. Before the immortals could wait to see the true nature of the Void Continent, an explosive roar shook the void. Minister Vastlight felt his bones grate against each other from the sheer volume. Even the weaker war formations showed signs of destabilizing. The shattered landmass exploded into dust in one instance and dispersed, revealing the existence beneath. It resembled a lizard-like beast, with four thick legs, a tail twice as long as its body, a serpentine head, and rows of spikes on its back. Aside from that, Minister Vastlight couldn¡¯t determine what other features this unknown creature possessed. He didn¡¯t know if it had fur, scales, or a hide. Its body was an abyss that swallowed everything, even light. The landmass that had crumbled into dust sunk into the creature¡¯s body without even a ripple. Wanton laughter burst from the Dragon Patriarch. ¡°You didn¡¯t expect it, did you, humans? The Void Continent isn¡¯t a mere realm artifact, but a realm beast!¡± Formerly known as world beast, realm beasts were creatures born from the realm essence. Every part of a realm beast was a treasure. It would not be wrong to call them a living treasure trove. Every time a realm beast appeared in the primordial era, it would set off gigantic waves as many forces, even the Immortal Court, would scramble to slay and harvest it. Countless immortals would die each time, and not even divinities could guarantee their own life against a realm beast. As life born from realm essence, realm beasts possessed the power of divinities at birth. But because of their innate strength, realm beasts did not have sentience and were little better than animals acting on instinct. Though rare, realm beasts at least appeared in the primordial era. In the contemporary era, realm beasts only appeared in records. At least until now. Minister Vastlight and the rest of the immortals¡¯ faces paled as they felt the suffocating pressure emanating from the realm beast. ¡°Flee with all your might!¡± The immortals didn¡¯t need to be told by Minister Vastlight. They had already used all their might to flee once they sensed the realm beast¡¯s terrifying aura. However, the gravity around the realm beast increased dramatically and instead of advancing, the war formations fell backwards. Minister Vastlight regretted detonating the three hundred and sixty-one planets now. The planets could regenerate inside the Spacetime Chessboard, but it would take time. Without them, the realm artifact¡¯s domain was too weak to combat the realm beast. He didn¡¯t have time to regret for long as the realm beast opened its maw and a suction force a hundred times stronger than the gravity pulled in over ten war formations. When the beast closed its mouth, Minister Vastlight knew the immortals in the war formation had perished. Even though Minister Vastlight couldn¡¯t see the realm beast¡¯s eyes, he could feel its hungry gaze. ¡°Haha, do you regret coming here?¡± the Qilin Patriarch ridiculed. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you right now, it¡¯s the worst mistake in your life. Had you not attacked, you would have only lost one immortal emperor. Now, you¡¯re going to lose six more!¡± ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± Minister Vastlight demanded. The Qilin Patriarch sneered and said nothing. ¡°You should worry about yourself first!¡± Minister Vastlight said no more. He entered the Spacetime Chessboard and controlled it to collect as many of the war formations as possible. Under the realm beast¡¯s pressure, the Spacetime Chessboard couldn¡¯t absorb the war formation from afar. The first to enter were the sovereign-level war formations, followed by the emperor-level war formations controlled by immortal monarchs with the potential to become immortal emperors. Of course, Minister Vastlight prioritized saving the members of the Immortal Court, but not too much, about a ratio of six to four. In this short amount of time, the realm beast moved. Despite its colossal mass, it was more agile than even Minister Vastlight in the Spacetime Chessboard. The war formations attacked when it neared, but the realm beast ignored it all. It opened its mouth and bit the void, crunching on several war formations with each bite. The only blessing the immortals could count on was the fact that the demons had retreated as far away as possible, even the three patriarchs. From this, Minister Vastlight gleaned that although the Demon Clan could subdue the realm beast, they couldn¡¯t control it perfectly. Still, that didn¡¯t make their situation any better. ¡°Hurry and send me into the Spacetime Chessboard.¡± Minister Vastlight blinked in surprise when a monarch-level war formation appeared in front of him. Even emperor-level war formations had trouble countering the gravity, yet a monarch-level war formation controlled by a true immortal actually escaped. Soon, he learned the identity of the controller of the war formation, Ye Chen. He didn¡¯t want to rescue one of the potential dangers of the Numinous Sword Sects, but he still absorbed Ye Chen into the Spacetime Chessboard. After that, he continued absorbing as many war formations as possible. Perhaps because the realm beast had just awakened from its slumber, its movement was cumbersome and it didn¡¯t eat many of the immortals. After watching the last two war formations disappear into the beast¡¯s mouth, Minister Vastlight controlled the Spacetime Chessboard to flee. Its presence dulled and disappeared from the demons¡¯ senses, but not the realm beast¡¯s. The realm beast roared in displeasure. It could tell a large amount of food was escaping, so it chased after the realm artifact. Sweat slid down Minister Vastlight¡¯s forehead as he felt the realm beast¡¯s ravenous gaze. He gritted his teeth. Originally, he wanted to save this trump card, but the realm beast was approaching much faster than the Spacetime Chessboard could fly. A thin sheet of jade appeared in his hand. Engraved on it were several profound characters. Even if you didn¡¯t know the language, you could discern the meaning behind them. Minister Vastlight crushed the jade sheet in his hand. At first, nothing happened, but then a radiant sphere of light appeared above the void. Anyone who saw it would feel like it was the source of all light. Upon seeing it, the realm beast stopped and growled at the sphere of light. The realm beast reared back and prepared to jump at the sphere, but before it could, a ray of light struck it down. Minister Vastlight only felt the suppression disappear. He didn¡¯t dare to wait and see what happened. He controlled the Spacetime Chessboard to flee with all its might while it still could. Before he left, he heard the panic cries of the three demon patriarchs. ¡°Hurry! Quell it and seal it again! Don¡¯t let it run rampant and escape!¡± Chapter 494: Five Element Annihilation Tianyi¡¯s eyes, which had remained dull for years, finally brightened. He scanned the hordes of demons staring warily and hatefully at him. ¡®They¡¯re about to attack the headquarters of the Demon Clan. It¡¯s time for me to increase the pressure.¡¯ He first sent a message to the field commander of the front lines to prepare themselves. Since the Immortal Court took command of the assault on the Demon Clan¡¯s Void Continent, they ceded leadership of this battlefront to the Numinous Sword Sect. The field commander¡¯s title was Snowsword. Ironically as a sword immortal, her greatest strength wasn¡¯t offense, but defense and long-ranged attacks. Not just singular targeting, but anything within her range. ¡°Let me adjust the positions before you start your offense,¡± Sword Empress Snowsword said, using her immortal sense. Tianyi¡¯s lips twitched when he sensed the immortals distancing themselves from him. The ones closest to him were from Immortal Court, while the ones farthest were those from the Numinous Sword Sect. Although both sides were human, Tianyi still felt the meaning behind the proverb, ¡°not of my race, not one of heart.¡± Granted, he understood the reasoning. Once he started attacking with all his might, the demons would definitely hard focus on him. Anyone around him would be dragged down and affected because of him. Still, Tianyi felt dejected that no one stayed behind to protect him. Even if it was only for show. Sword Empress Snowsword obviously wanted the Immortal Court to block the majority of the demon¡¯s wrath. Even if this was a racial war between humans and demons, they were not wholly united. Tianyi still understood. Unless the Demon Clan pulled some bullcrap out of their ass and pressured the Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect, these small calculations would continue. Well, not that he stood on the moral high ground compared to the Numinous Sword Sect after what Ba Shifang and Donghai Longzi did. ¡°Everything¡¯s ready.¡± Tianyi wanted to snap back, but he held it back. A wry smile appeared on his face. He could already imagine the intensity of what would happen once he started his true offensive. He shook his head, and his gaze sharpened. In the distance, Demon Emperor Redraco, Demon Emperor Blacktiger, and Demon Empress Bluefeather felt the changes in Tianyi¡¯s aura. They raised their guard, but they could never have expected Tianyi¡¯s subsequent actions. The barrage of Stellar Silences slowed down. Although each attack was still terrifying, at least the demons had a chance to breathe in relief. However, they didn¡¯t know that something more terrifying awaited them. Eight miniature planets orbiting an equally small sun appeared in Tianyi¡¯s free hand. Compared to the barrage of Planetary Purgatory and Stellar Silences, the energy needed was far more terrifying. Once he unleashed it, the casualties would skyrocket, the demons just didn¡¯t know it yet. Although Tianyi hadn¡¯t unleashed Constellation Cessation a hundred thousand times like he had with the other two techniques, the speed of its creation was much faster compared to a hundred years ago. The time he spent reducing the time needed to form Planetary Purgatory and Stellar Silence still increased his mastery over Constellation Cessation. Tianyi raised his left hand, and the miniature solar system vanished from his palm. The demons, who were keeping a close eye on Tianyi, all tensed. They saw that he was preparing to use a new move. Naturally, they wanted to intercept, but the countless Stellar Silences kept them at bay. ¡°Dammit! Move!¡± Demon Emperor Redraco shouted. He turned his attention from Tianyi toward a large concentration of demons near him. Those demons were reserves. When the attacking demons grew fatigued, they would replace them, but now, Tianyi directly teleported his Constellation Cessation in the middle of them. Those demons wanted to run, but they only had a second to think before Tianyi¡¯s technique engulfed them whole. Demon Emperor Redraco and the other Divine Beasts present all soared away, escaping the range of Tianyi¡¯s technique. Tianyi clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction. His move had killed over a hundred demon lords and three demon kings, but all the demon emperors survived. Of course, if he had teleported his attack near Demon Emperor Redraco and the others, it might have been a different story. It was also possible that the fluctuations of space would have alerted them immediately and his spell would hit even fewer demons. ¡°Dammit, that human can actually teleport in the void!¡± Demon Empress Bluefeather shouted. ¡°I heard you encountered him before. Why didn¡¯t you know he had such capabilities?!¡± Demon Emperor Blacktiger questioned. ¡°He never showed anything like this,¡± Demon Empress Bluefeather snapped back. ¡°Had he always had this ability and concealed it, or did he only recently learn it?¡± Both possibilities were equally bad. If Xi Tianyi always had this ability, it meant that he hid it just for this moment. If not, then his rate of growth was too monstrous. Even if he concealed this, the second still applied. Xi Tianyi was less than ten thousand years old. For the first time, the contemporary Divine Beasts understood the terror of Tianyi¡¯s genius, and the murderous intent in their hearts erupted. ¡°Don¡¯t forget that he also has a mother!¡± Demon Emperor Redraco said. ¡°She¡¯s even more monstrous and is already an immortal sovereign. She has a high chance of entering the Divine Realm!¡± Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°Although we shouldn¡¯t underestimate her, we shouldn¡¯t overestimate her either,¡± Demon Emperor Blacktiger said. ¡°How can the Divine Realm be so easily reached?¡± ¡°Ignore her for now,¡± Demon Empress Bluefeather said. ¡°The current danger is the Nine Heavens Emperor. I don¡¯t know about Sovereign Xi, but the Nine Heavens Emperor is the greatest danger to the Demon Clan now. He¡¯s been using qi intensive techniques for decades. Not even an immortal sovereign can persist for so long in the same situation.¡± Upon being reminded by Demon Empress Bluefeather, the two demon emperor¡¯s murderous intent increased. If he¡¯s already so difficult to deal with in the Extremity Immortal Realm, they couldn¡¯t imagine how terrible it would be once he reached the Origin Immortal Realm. ¡°No, isn¡¯t he already in the Origin Immortal Realm? Otherwise, how else would he be able to use teleportation in the void?¡± Demon Emperor Redraco said. ¡°Not necessarily,¡± Demon Emperor Blacktiger said. ¡°When the spell teleported over, I didn¡¯t only feel spatial fluctuations, but also temporal fluctuations.¡± ¡°You mean the Law of Spacetime?¡± It took a moment for Demon Emperor Redraco and Demon Empress Bluefeather to understand the implications of Demon Emperor Blacktiger¡¯s words. If his conjectures were true and Tianyi really hadn¡¯t stepped into the Origin Immortal Realm, then he was even more dangerous. ¡°He must not be kept,¡± Demon Emperor Redraco said, with no dissent from his fellow Divine Beasts. Although they had their contradictions, the three members of the Four Divine Beasts trusted their lives to each other countless times. With a single glance, they already devised a plan. The three pincered Tianyi from three different directions. Aside from them, a few demon kings also charged at Tianyi. With Tianyi¡¯s new offensive output, the demon lords have long lost the qualification and courage to attack him. The moment Tianyi launched the Constellation Cessation, the true immortals and immortal monarchs that were just holding the line charged forward aggressively. Their sudden assault made the demon horde unable to concentrate all their focus on Tianyi. Off in the distance, Sword Empress Snowsword slew demons by the dozens. Snowflakes fluttered in her surrounding area, making it appear that snow was falling in the void. Whenever the snowflake touched a demon, a deep gash would appear in the direction it flowed. The snowflakes were both blades and ice crystals that the sword empress controlled freely. Comparatively, her absolute offense was weak, but each snowflake could strike with the power comparable to an immortal lord. And Sword Empress Snowsword controlled hundreds of thousands of snowflakes. At a certain point, quantity transformed into quality. Even a peak demon emperor would fear suffering a barrage of attacks from hundreds of thousands of immortal lords. However, despite the fall of over a hundred demon lords, none of the three demon emperors paid attention. Instead, they dodged Tianyi¡¯s Stellar Silences and flew as close to him as possible. When they saw him forming another Constellation Cessation, it only drove their determination. Once they reached the minimum range, the three of them immediately activated their innate abilities. Demon Emperor Redraco used the Azure Dragon Claw, Demon Emperor Blacktiger unleashed White Tiger Roar, and Demon Empress Bluefeather used the Vermillion Bird¡¯s Sacred Fire. Unlike the time they used their innate ability against Mengfei, they were in peak condition. Giant apparitions of the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, and Vermillion Bird appeared above the three demon emperors. Each apparition dwarfed their caster, and the manifestation plunged the surrounding area under an immense pressure. This included Tianyi. When he heard about the Four Element Annihilation from his mother, he was very interested in trying. Of course, he also wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk with these people who dared to use such a dangerous technique on his beloved mother. Tianyi pursed his brows when he felt the Law of Wood, Law of Metal, and Law of Fire once the three apparitions appeared. The pressure exceeded his estimations, and he sensed something more than just the three laws. ¡®It feels like the Law of Spacetime?¡¯ He didn¡¯t have time to ponder for long as a fourth apparition appeared. ¡®Wait, this feeling isn¡¯t the Law of Earth, but the Law of Water!¡¯ Tianyi¡¯s eyes widened when he saw an apparition of a colossal black tortoise. The pressure it emitted exceeded that of the previous three. Under it, a shadow revealed itself. When Tianyi¡¯s eyes captured the form, his pupils shrunk into needlepoints. ¡®Xuanwu!¡¯ ¡®Why is he here? Shouldn¡¯t he still be in the process of regaining his strength?¡¯ Tianyi questioned. He could feel the aura of a demon emperor emanating off of the black tortoise. ¡®It seems that the primary aim of the operation failed. I wonder if I can kill him in front of the other Four Divine Beasts.¡¯ He didn¡¯t have time to consider his chances of killing the Black Tortoise as the pressure intensified by a hundred times. ¡®Is this the power of an attack at the threshold of the Divine Realm?!¡¯ Even someone as confident as Tianyi in his physical durability couldn¡¯t help but feel palpitations. He wanted to teleport, but a mysterious force canceled all his attempts at teleportation. For a moment, Tianyi considered whether or not to reveal that he possessed essence or essence qi in order to save his most powerful conduit. Soon, he didn¡¯t need to because he lost the chance. The fifth apparition appeared. A yellow dragon with a trailing beard and two whiskers almost as long as its body appeared in the middle of the Four Divine Beast phantoms, right above Tianyi. Just like how the four apparitions dwarfed their casters, the fifth apparition dwarfed the first four apparitions. Once the yellow dragon appeared, the Law of Earth also appeared in the combined innate ability. With all five elemental laws present, the five laws merged into the Law of Five Phases. It was at this point that Tianyi sensed that the combined innate ability didn¡¯t have a hint of the Law of Spacetime, but the complete Law of Space and the Law of Time. Tianyi didn¡¯t have time to marvel at the Law of Five Phases or the Law of Spacetime because the power of the combined innate ability increased by a hundredfold again. If the Four Element Annihilation just crossed the threshold of the Divine Realm, then this Five Element Annihilation stood solidly in the divine level. He couldn¡¯t struggle, no matter his efforts. Even the Constellation Cessation in his palm froze and could not unleash its might. Tianyi finally experienced what his enemies felt when he shackled spacetime around them. As the pressure increased, Tianyi¡¯s robes shattered and transformed into a black fog filled with countless motes of light. They had just returned to their origin form, immortal qi of primordial chaos. The most horrifying thing was the cracks that appeared on his skin, the most noticeable on his exposed face. Like flakes, the cracked skin fell off Tianyi¡¯s body, exposing an inky darkness from which black mist leaked out, only to be immediately vaporized. Tianyi could only stand there, waiting powerlessly as his conduit broke down. Just as half his face turned into a black mist, a ripple echoed from the Black Tortoise apparition, breaking the cohesion of the Five Element Annihilation. He seized the chance. He still couldn¡¯t teleport, but he could still move a little. Less than a millisecond later, the Constellation Cessation in his palm exploded, engulfing him inside. Chapter 495: A Good Day Contrary to the regular range of a Constellation Cessation, the current one was less than a hundred meters. Despite the comparatively miniscule size, the power of Tianyi¡¯s Constellation Cessation had exceeded the previous limit of peak power. All this was thanks to the suppression of the Four Divine Beast¡¯s combined innate ability, Five Element Annihilation. ¡°He committed suicide?¡± Demon Emperor Redraco asked aloud. ¡°Don¡¯t look down on the Immortal Court,¡± Xuanwu said. ¡°Our Five Element Annihilation isn¡¯t only a material attack, but also a soul attack. The Nine Heavens Emperor must have killed himself to save his soul from our combined innate ability. Just because he perished doesn¡¯t mean he won¡¯t have a chance to revive himself. Although the cost is high, the Immortal Court is likely willing to pay such a price to revive such a genius.¡± ¡°No wonder,¡± Demon Emperor Blacktiger. ¡°He must have erupted his technique to throw off the influence of our ability and then used some sort of special method on his soul. What I¡¯m more curious about is why your innate ability faltered earlier, giving that human a chance to save himself.¡± As someone who had undergone reincarnation countless times, Xuanwu had lived far longer than the three demon emperors combined. Naturally, he was a senior, but this didn¡¯t stop Demon Emperor Blacktiger from passive-aggressively blaming Xuanwu. Neither Demon Emperor Redraco nor Demon Empress Bluefeather stopped him. Part of the reason was because Demon Emperor Blacktiger had a confrontational personality, and the other aspect was Xuanwu himself. ¡°It¡¯s my fault,¡± Xuanwu said, not shirking the blame. ¡°While I was casting my innate ability, my soul link fluctuated, distracting me.¡± ¡°Did something happen to that human?¡± Demon Emperor Redraco asked. Although Xuanwu said distracted, the effects should be far more serious than what he said. ¡°Let me contact the Patriarch and see if any accidents happened. I can¡¯t contact him?!¡± Upon hearing this, both Demon Emperor Blacktiger and Demon Empress Bluefeather became solemn. They also attempted to contact the Void Continent, but they failed. ¡°Something happened,¡± Demon Empress Bluefeather said. No one who reached her level would be dumb, so she quickly deduced the cause and effect. ¡°The humans must have attacked the Void Continent. Their current offensive is nothing more than a distraction. Divide and conquer, a classic tactic.¡± ¡°Damn humans, insidious and cunning,¡± Demon Emperor Blacktiger spat. ¡°And that San Something. If he hadn¡¯t forced you into a contract, would you have such a weakness and make such a mistake? If the humans attacked a hundred years later, we could have terminated that soul link and kill that damn sinner.¡± ¡°Now¡¯s not that time to argue about trivial matters. Until the soul contract is destroyed, that San Jiuling must be protected,¡± Demon Emperor Redraco said. ¡°End the innate ability. Since the Nine Heavens Emperor already committed suicide, there¡¯s no point in wasting our energy. Since the humans dare to attack our headquarters, we must make them pay the price. Slaughter their monarchs!¡± ¡°Slaughter!¡± ¡°Slaughter!!¡± ¡°Slaughter!!!¡± The four of them canceled their innate abilities at once and stared at the humans with malice. Even the seemingly gentle Xuanwu was no different. After all, the reason for his reincarnation was because the humans caused his fall. The snowflakes controlled by Sword Empress Snowsword trembled. She turned toward the four demon emperors, and a drop of sweat slid down her pale skin. Aside from Xi Tianyi, only a few true immortals perished under the Five Element Annihilation. This was because of her foresight, but she would rather one hundred monarchs perish than Xi Tianyi falling¡ªat least until Xi Tianyi severely injured the Four Divine Beasts. In terms of value, ten immortal emperors might not amount to one Xi Tianyi. He had fully demonstrated his value in the few decades on the front line. The Numinous Sword Sect had always known that Xi Tianyi possessed an extravagant amount of qi reserves, but only in the past decade did they fully comprehend how monstrous it was. Xi Tianyi¡¯s potential and power made the Numinous Sword Sect wary of him. If the Demon Clan claimed they wanted to kill Xi Tianyi the most, the Numinous Sword Sect would definitely fight them for that claim. Sword Empress Snowsword¡¯s plan didn¡¯t really throw Xi Tianyi under the bus, so to speak. Her plan was reasonable without any faults, but in her heart, she wanted him and the three demon emperors to perish together. If she could borrow the Demon Clan to get rid of this scourge for the Numinous Sword Sect, she was very willing, even if they had to pay a high price in the present. It was better than paying a higher price in the future. Although Sword Empress Snowsword knew that the outcome would remain the same even if she changed the arrangements, she couldn¡¯t help but regret it. After all, once Xi Tianyi perished, she was their next target. Still, that didn¡¯t mean she would wait for death. Instantly, the once gentle falling snow whirled and turned into a ferocious blizzard. The lethality of those small snowflakes directly rose to the monarch-level. Sword Empress Snowsword had the confidence that even an immortal sovereign couldn¡¯t withstand the barrage of hundreds of thousands of snowflakes. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Unfortunately, she underestimated the fleshly power of demons. Xuanwu paid no heed to the blizzard and broke through the domain. The snowflakes only left light marks, if any, on his body. Among the four, the first to reach Sword Empress Snowsword was actually a turtle. Speed was not Xuanwu¡¯s strong point, but through his many reincarnations and thick foundation, his weakest aspect surpassed many cultivators¡¯ strongest aspect, like Demon Empress Bluefeather. Unlike the Black Tortoise, Demon Empress Bluefeather ignited the feathers on her body and unleashed a domain of flames. The sweltering heat dissolved the sword empress¡¯s snow domain and diminished its size. The demon empress would have used her realm artifact, but it was still recovering and using it would lengthen the time. Demon Emperor Blacktiger directly slashed out with his claws upon reaching Sword Empress Snowsword. The claws on his right paw weren¡¯t black like on his other limbs. Instead, it resembled a painting of a vast world filled with metal veins shaped into the form of a claw. This was his realm artifact, the Metal Source Talons. How could Sword Empress Snowsword withstand such an assault? Demon Empress Bluefeather¡¯s flames countered her snowflake domain. In the contest of ice and fire, fire won, causing her strength to plummet. Xuanwu didn¡¯t do anything extra. He just used his gigantic body to ram into her. Even so, it already caused massive damage to the sword empress. Sword Empress Snowsword felt as if she just vomited half of her internal organs. Had she not condense an armor of ice, Xuanwu¡¯s attack would have broken every bone in her body, but she wasn¡¯t out of the danger yet. She suppressed her instinct to curl up and did her best to dodge. ¡°AHHH!¡± Sword Empress Snowsword screamed. She clutched what remained of her left arm. Of course, someone at her level wouldn¡¯t scream in pain just from having her arm cut off. The reason for her scream was because of the part where the Metal Source Talons touched. No blood leaked from her stump. Instead, tiny silver flakes fell off and metal spikes grew out. Sword Empress Snowsword could feel her left arm transforming from flesh into metal. She wanted to rip her arm out and prevent the spread, but Demon Emperor Redraco wouldn¡¯t allow her the chance. Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s two whiskers transformed into whips. Their tips pierced toward Sword Empress Snowsword, gleaming viciously. Sword Empress Snowsword felt a hint of despair. Even if she dodged this attack, Demon Emperor Blacktiger¡¯s claws awaited her. If she couldn¡¯t dodge it, she would suffer lethal damage, and the end result would not change. A savage light entered her eyes. Since she was already doomed, then she must drag one of them down with her. The sword empress¡¯s aura erupted. Her ink black hair turned white, starting from the roots. It was a light and airy white that made each strand appear as if it was woven from fresh snow. Even her eyelashes turned white. Her skin turned crystalline and her eyes exuded infinite frost. Her bare hands reached out and grabbed one of the whiskers. The other whisker struck true, but the sound of the impact resembled that of screeching metal. Aside from a light gash, Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s whisker did not injure her. More than that, the other whisker started to freeze over from where Sword Empress Snowsword grabbed. Even on the other end, Demon Emperor Redraco could feel the chill creeping up his jaw. He grunted and pulled back, but Sword Empress Snowsword used that momentum to charge at him. Although he brought his realm artifact with him, Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s instincts told him that it would be terrible if he allowed her to come close. Naturally, the other members of the Four Divine Beast also sensed this. Xuanwu rushed toward Sword Empress Snowsword. Demon Emperor Redraco may be afraid, but he had the strongest body out of all of them. Only a realm beast would have a stronger body, and only when he had not become a divinity. Demon Empress Bluefeather unleashed her flames, but when they neared the sword empress, they froze directly. Not just her flames, but a frosty aura erupted from the white-haired immortal that caused time itself to slow down. Even Xuanwu resembled his namesake, as his speed slowed to a crawl. Sword Empress Snowsword¡¯s Law of Ice reached the level of a peak immortal sovereign. She could use her Law of Ice to replicate certain other laws, like the Law of Time. Unfortunately, it was only the last blazes of brilliance before going out. Demon Emperor Blacktiger used all his might in an attempt to slash the sword empress with his Metal Source Talons, but it felt as if he was moving through a quagmire. Suddenly, alarm bells exploded in his mind. He used all his efforts to dodge. Unfortunately, Sword Empress Snowsword¡¯s freezing caused him his movements to lag. A humanoid figure formed out of black mist filled with countless motes of light appeared above Demon Emperor Blacktiger out of thin air. The humanoid figure raised a fist and smashed it into the demon tiger¡¯s waist. ¡°AHHHH!¡± Demon Emperor Blacktiger released a pain cry, just like Sword Empress Snowsword had done before. A black sphere erupted from the point of contact, one that expanded and swallowed Demon Emperor Blacktiger whole. ¡°You¡¯re alive?!¡± Demon Emperor Redraco shouted in shock as the misty humanoid flew away. The black mist around the figure dissipated slightly, revealing half a face and some purple robes. Tianyi didn¡¯t say anything and raised his arm. Several Stellar Silences appeared, and he launched it at Demon Empress Bluefeather. After his Constellation Cessation engulfed him, the effects of the Five Element Annihilation reached its lowest point, allowing him to teleport to the safety of his inner universe. Although it still caused great damage to him, at least his strongest conduit wasn¡¯t completely annihilated . Then, Tianyi waited patiently for a chance to strike back and get revenge. He knew that Demon Empress Bluefeather had strong recovery and survival abilities, so he didn¡¯t target her. Demon Emperor Redraco had an armor realm artifact, so his chances of killing him were smaller than the demon empress. As for Xuanwu, Tianyi didn¡¯t think an old monster like that didn¡¯t have any trump cards. That only left Demon Emperor Blacktiger. Although the demon tiger possessed a realm artifact, it was for offense, making him the easiest target. What surprised him the most was Sword Empress Snowsword¡¯s state. As someone who had fused the Law of Life and the Law of Death, he could feel the sword empress¡¯s vitality disappearing at a rapid rate. Most likely, it was a forbidden technique that would increase her state at the cost of her life. Not only would he kill one of the Four Divine Beasts, but an immortal emperor of the Numinous Sword Sect would also fall today. What a good day! Chapter 496: Emperors Fall Tianyi paused. ¡®I feel like I¡¯m becoming more insidious, like a villain. Bah, what villain? This is just a matter of perspective and interests!¡¯ He quickly adjusted his mental state. Tianyi didn¡¯t answer Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s question and vanished into the void. His strength had actually plummeted. The boundary connecting him to the Nine Heavens Universe had weakened to the point that he dare not take the attacks of demon emperors like Redraco. If he received too much damage, the boundary would collapse and his conduit would start dissipating. At that point, it would be more conservative to abandon the conduit and create a new one. ¡°Coward!¡± Demon Emperor Redraco shouted. However, he didn¡¯t have time to seek out Tianyi as Sword Empress Snowsword reached him and slashed down. If Sword Empress Snowsword¡¯s previous technique relied on death by ten thousand cuts, then her current technique condensed them all into one. In other words, ten thousand cuts in one slash. Unfortunately for the sword empress, her attack only left a faint mark on Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s scales. From the faint mark, ice condensed onto the blood red scales. With each passing moment, the ice grew and enveloped more of Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s body. Soon, it wouldn¡¯t be long before it covered his entire figure. To expedite the process Sword Empress Snowsword unleashed several slashes. Just as it seemed Demon Emperor Redraco would become encased in ice, his blood red scales took on an azure hue, making his body appear violet. His realm artifact, the Realm Dragon Scales, had fully manifested on his body. A short vibration later, the ice shattered, and the demon emperor counterattacked. Like before, when his two whiskers struck Sword Empress Snowsword, they only left faint marks on her body. Instead of striking cloth and flesh, Demon Emperor Redraco felt like he was attacking an incredibly hard piece of metal. Not even his innate ability could affect the sword empress. In his senses, she had transformed from flesh and blood to a lifeform entirely composed of ice. Both Demon Emperor Redraco and Sword Empress Snowsword saw that neither could do anything to the other. Sword Empress Snowsword wanted to change her target. Although Xuanwu didn¡¯t possess an armor realm artifact, he was likely almost as hard to kill. That only left this generation¡¯s White Tiger and Vermillion Bird. ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it!¡± Although Demon Emperor Redraco didn¡¯t know how perilous Sword Empress Snowsword¡¯s state was, he knew that it was impossible for her to gain such power without a price. As long as he stopped her, she would be akin to a fish on a chopping block once her forbidden technique ended. However, before he could chase, several ¡°stars¡± struck his body. Once they made contact, they immediately exploded and caused catastrophic changes. The impact sent Demon Emperor Redraco vaulting back. When he finally stopped, he couldn¡¯t help but fearfully look at the void where the attack had come from. ¡®Damn. The Nine Heavens Emperor is hiding in the void and I can¡¯t sense him at all. If I can¡¯t sense him, we can¡¯t lock onto him with our innate abilities. We shouldn¡¯t have canceled the Five Element Annihilation so soon! I¡¯m going to ask Senior Xuanwu if he can sense that human.¡¯ Unfortunately, Xuanwu could not sense Tianyi¡¯s location at all. If he was in the Divine Realm, he could brute force it to sense Tianyi, but even if he reached the Demon Sovereign Realm, it would be difficult. He had all but confirmed that Tianyi had started mastering the Law of Spacetime. Once he fully mastered it, he had a high chance of entering the Divine Realm. Endless killing intent emerged from Xuanwu¡¯s eyes. Unfortunately, he was bombarded by Stellar Silences like Demon Emperor Redraco. Although Demon Emperor Redraco could withstand the Stellar Silence without any problem thanks to his Realm Dragon Scales, he couldn¡¯t hold his ground and was constantly sent flying. Xuanwu could withstand Tianyi¡¯s spell without moving, but only that. In essence, he was trapped in place. Taking this chance, Sword Empress Snowsword already charged toward Demon Empress Bluefeather. In the deep recesses of her eyes, a fragile unwillingness flickered behind the seemingly endless ruthlessness. Even someone with as strong of a willpower as she could not help but harbor regret at her own death. Still, that did not deter her from her final act of sacrifice. The sword empress left a mesmerizing trail of snow behind her as she shot toward Demon Empress Bluefeather. The trail resembled a comet and enticed everyone. Instinctively, the humans know that this was likely going to be the most brilliant moment of Sword Empress Snowsword¡¯s life. They couldn¡¯t help but lament. Contrary to the humans, a deep fear penetrated Demon Empress Bluefeather¡¯s heart. She could sense the chilling killing intent in the sword empress¡¯s eyes. Acting on instinct, the demon empress activated her realm artifact, the Sacred Fire Grotto. A fiery bubble started expanding from her body, but before it reached far, a snow white sword had already pierced Demon Empress Bluefeather¡¯s chest. Compared to her body, the blade that pierced her chest was miniscule, but Demon Empress Bluefeather felt an unprecedented crisis. A chill emanated from the blade, one that quickly filled her entire body. The chill was so cold that she even felt her soul freezing under its influence. Accompanying that chill was the growing stagnation of her thoughts. The demon empress used all her willpower to mobilize her demon qi in order to control the Sacred Fire Grotto and expel the snow-white sword from her chest. However, her stagnating thoughts made her qi flow like mud, incredibly slow. ¡®No, the slow mobilization of my qi isn¡¯t the result of my slowing thoughts, but because my qi is actually freezing!¡¯ Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. No matter how hopeless the situation turned, Demon Empress Bluefeather struggled with all her strength. After what seemed like a full minute, she expanded the Sacred Fire Grotto to attack the white-haired sword immortal. In reality, it had taken the demon empress a full five minutes. Five minutes may seem short for mortals, much less immortals and demons, but the amount of things an immortal or demon could accomplish was astronomical in this seemingly short amount of time. Luckily for Demon Empress Bluefeather, the sword empress did not defend at all. Once the realm artifact acted, the sword empress didn¡¯t resist at all. Rather, thousands of tiny fractures appeared on her skin. With pitter patter, a shard of skin fell off. Underneath Sword Empress Snowsword¡¯s skin was not flesh, but ice. The cracks from the surface of her body spread into the ice. Soon, the ice broke apart into little snowflakes. In less than a minute, Sword Empress Snowsword¡¯s entire body dissolved into snow, leaving behind a single snow-white sword embedded into Demon Empress Bluefeather. Less than a second later, the hilt snapped off the blade, and the blade also turned to snow. Although Sword Empress Snowsword perished, Demon Empress Bluefeather didn¡¯t show any signs of joy. Rather, a depressive aura emanated from her. ¡®No, not good. I can feel my consciousness growing blurrier. I won¡¯t be able to hold on for much longer. Once I faint, even an immortal monarch can kill or seal me!¡¯ No matter how much she struggled, the demon empress could not stop the inevitable. Simultaneously, the number of Stellar Silences shooting toward Demon Emperor Redraco decreased and diverted toward the demon empress. The Crimsonblood Dragon wanted to stop it, but he was powerless in the face of Tianyi¡¯s offense. Unconscious and unable to defend, Demon Empress Bluefeather would only meet one result if she suffered a barrage of Stellar Silences. Just as miniature suns were about to strike the qingluan, space shifted, causing them to change trajectory and miss. ¡°This is too exaggerated,¡± Tianyi couldn¡¯t help but mutter. As the original Black Tortoise, Xuanwu was already huge. His sheer length did not exceed Demon Emperor Redraco, but his pure mass was over a hundred times greater. Not anymore. He had suddenly grown to a mind-boggling size, one that even dwarfed Donghai Longzi¡¯s true size. Tianyi estimated that it reached or surpassed a million kilometers. Xuanwu¡¯s sheer mass affected spacetime and formed a powerful gravity without him even consciously controlling it. Not only did it save Empress Bluefeather, but it also diverted many Stellar Silences away from Demon Emperor Redraco, giving him a chance to breathe. As for the Stellar Silences that changed trajectory and struck Xuanwu, they popped like bubbles once they made contact. Tianyi frowned. He thought that he could at least kill Demon Empress Bluefeather and Demon Emperor Blacktiger, but his hopes were too high. He glanced toward Demon Emperor Blacktiger, who was still struggling to resist his attack and the unconscious demon empress. His eyes turned firm. Without any warning, he charged toward the two demon emperors. Xuanwu opened his mouth and emitted a powerful suction force. Even with Tianyi¡¯s mastery over spacetime, his route became affected. Tianyi sighed. He could only get this close. Without warning, he exploded. A massive amount of black mist filled with countless tiny motes of light poured out from Tianyi¡¯s body. It engulfed the unconscious demon empress and struggling demon emperor. However, it only covered up thirty percent of the massive Black Tortoise. ¡°Stop!¡± Xuanwu commanded, but how could Tianyi listen to him? The immortal qi of primordial chaos gurgled as it exuded a heart palpitating rhythm. Then, they detonated. The color reversed, becoming a pure white that expanded like a supernova, engulfing the entire body of Xuanwu. The power of the supernova lasted for three minutes. When it dissipated, it revealed the singed body of Xuanwu. Demon Emperor Redraco appeared uninjured, but his aura had plummeted. It was obvious that he had suffered even with the protection of the Dragon Scale realm artifact. Demon Empress Bluefeather had become unrecognizable. Were it not for the faint trace of vitality, Xuanwu would have thought she was just a giant lump of coal. But the worst was definitely Demon Emperor Blacktiger. He kept his form, but his entire body resembled charcoal. The most damning thing was that he had lost all signs of life. ¡°Damn humans!¡± Demon Emperor Redraco roared in grief and anger. Xuanwu said nothing, but his body trembled, affecting space itself. He reached out to grab the corpse of his fallen comrade. ¡°What?¡± Just as he reached out, a man wearing a gold coronet and purple robes appeared and grabbed it before him. ¡°Nine Heavens Emperor, how are you still alive and unharmed?!¡± Demon Emperor Redraco couldn¡¯t believe it. They paid such a high price, yet Tianyi appeared once more in front of them in peak condition. ¡°Haha, that¡¯s for me to know and you to never find out!¡± Tianyi said as he opened a portal to his inner universe. He wanted to suck in Demon Emperor Blacktiger¡¯s corpse and take the realm artifact. However, he met a terrible resistance. ¡®Isn¡¯t Blacktiger dead?¡¯ While Tianyi struggled, Xuanwu had already taken the unconscious demon empress under his shell. He and Demon Emperor Redraco actually started to retreat. Not just them, but the entire demon army retreated. The immortals did not give chase. Despite the high-intensity battle between the two sides¡¯ emperors, the combatants at the monarch and true immortal level remained balanced with no heavy losses aside from the start. Originally, Xuanwu and Demon Emperor Redraco wanted to unleash their fury on the humans despite their conditions, but Tianyi¡¯s appearance changed that. They didn¡¯t even collect Demon Emperor Blacktiger¡¯s corpse. Tianyi frowned. His body froze, as if shackled in place. A powerful pressure exploded from the fallen demon emperor¡¯s body. Under his gaze, white blood flowed out of the charcoal-like body and formed into a single drop of blood. He wanted to move and grab it, but before he could, it escaped and flew toward Xuanwu and Demon Emperor Redraco. He did not give chase. With the departure of the white blood, Tianyi no longer encountered any resistance and successfully stored the corpse and realm artifact in his inner universe. While he watched the demons retreat, he couldn¡¯t help but furrow his brow. ¡®Was that the White Tiger¡¯s blood essence?¡¯ Chapter 497: Undercurrent Upon seeing the drop of white blood, Tianyi understood why the contemporary Four Divine Beasts could inherit the positions of their progenitors. The Azure Dragon, Vermillion Bird, and White Tiger weren¡¯t simply a title passed down from one demon to another, but a legacy. When the contemporary divine beast passed down the title, the original divine beasts¡¯ blood would exit their body and enter the new one. Although it was only a hypothesis, he felt it was likely very close to reality. Tianyi sighed in amazement. The fact that even eons after their death, the Four Divine Beasts¡¯ blood could still have a spiritual will was amazing. More than that, the blood essence likely contained laws at the divine level. Realizing his thoughts were straying, Tianyi quickly focused again. Demon Emperor Blacktiger¡¯s corpse had been easily transferred into his Nine Heavens Universe without the White Tiger Blood Essence¡¯s interference. Not even the realm artifact, the Metal Source Talons, could resist him. With his prize in grasp, he watched over the disengagement between the demons and immortals. Demon Emperor Blacktiger¡¯s death and Demon Empress Bluefeather¡¯s state sharply lowered the morale of the demon clan, while Sword Empress Snowsword¡¯s death also lowered the immortals¡¯ morale. Even if the high echelons on both sides wanted to battle again, it was unlikely that the foot soldiers shared the same feelings. Still, this was a world where strength spoke the greatest. If the Demon Clan had a divinity present, no amount of immortals would be able to contend with the Demon Clan. The Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect would have no choice but to flee and hide in the dark. Even if there weren¡¯t any divinities, Tianyi still had to guard against any possible sneak attacks from the demon emperors. His current conduit could only explode with the strength of a half-emperor, or an emperor for a short time at the cost of the conduit itself. He also didn¡¯t want to continue the battle for now. When the immortals retreated back to Shangri-La, Tianyi teleported into the core palace. Already present were the immortal emperors of the Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect. He didn¡¯t wait for them to speak before waving his hand. Not a second later, a chessboard flew out of the ripples in the air. The Spacetime Chessboard was not his artifact, and it could resist his spacetime shifting, but why would it? Tianyi wanted to bring his allies back to headquarters, and Minister Vastlight would not resist. After all, the cooperation had already been discussed. Minister Vastlight appeared in the main hall, as did the other passengers inside the Spacetime Chessboard. ¡°Did you succeed?¡± the field commander of the Numinous Sword Sect, Emperor Northsword, asked. He already knew what happened on the front lines. Losing Empress Snowsword wasn¡¯t just a large dip in a powerful combatant against the Demon Clan, but also against the Immortal Court. Even if the blitzkrieg on the Void Continent failed, he hoped that the Immortal Court losses could make up for the fall of the sword empress. Though, considering who was leading the assault, that was unlikely. Still, what if? Minister Vastlight¡¯s expression turned ugly. ¡°The Void Continent was destroyed.¡± Before Emperor Northsword could be happy, Minister Vastlight¡¯s next words made his budding smile come to a halt. ¡°But not because of us.¡± Fear appeared in his eyes, as if recalling his experience. ¡°The Void Continent isn¡¯t a continent at all, but a shell covering a realm beast.¡± ¡°What? Realm beast?¡± Emperor Northsword shouted. The other immortals also showed fearful expressions. Only those who didn¡¯t know what a realm beast was had the leisure to show confusion. ¡°That¡¯s not the worst part,¡± Minister Vastlight said. ¡°The demons have a method to control it, or at least, a method to ensure the realm beast does not attack them. It could be worse. We escaped before I saw more.¡± Emperor Northsword couldn¡¯t help but show frustration. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you stay longer and gather more information?¡± ¡°If I stayed longer, all of us would have perished. Had I been less lucky, the realm beast would have captured the Spacetime Chessboard,¡± Minister Vastlight said. ¡°It would have only been a matter of time before the realm beast destroys the Spacetime Chessboard, and us along with it. If that happened, you wouldn¡¯t even have known about the realm beast.¡± Emperor Northsword glanced at his subordinates. ¡°Is there any information about a realm beast coming toward us?¡± The immortals quickly contacted the scouts and other personnel in charge of information and the like. The result was nothing. Most of the information concerned the Demon Clan army¡¯s retreat. ¡°If there are no signs about the realm beast, it means the Demon Clan does not have a perfect method to control it,¡± Emperor Northsword said. ¡°It makes sense. If the Demon Clan could control the realm beast, why wait until we attacked them to unleash it? One good surprise attack is not as good as its continuous participation in the war. Even now, they should be doing damage control and trying to seal it.¡± If the Numinous Sword Sect controlled a realm beast, they would have already initiated war against the Immortal Court. ¡°Then, should we attack them while they are preoccupied?¡± Minister Vastlight suggested. Although he feared the Realm Beast, it was undeniable that this was a prime opportunity. ¡°No.¡± Emperor Northsword rejected Minister Vastlight¡¯s proposal. ¡°We are at a critical juncture. It would be best to establish a new war plan in light of recent information.¡± His eyes flickered toward Tianyi. ¡°Not to mention that we are not without losses.¡± Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Minister Vastlight nodded. ¡°The Demon Clan also has another sovereign, the Qilin Patriarch. He only exposed it during our attack.¡± ¡°Troublesome,¡± Emperor Northsword said. He glanced toward Tianyi openly this time. ¡°Emperor Nine Heavens, how are you? You were attacked by Five Element Annihilation, and also self-detonated. Your current state should not be perfect, right?¡± Perhaps he was attempting to gather more information for the inevitable confrontation, or he really wanted to know if Tianyi was injured or not, but Tianyi didn¡¯t hide it. ¡°I can¡¯t bring out my full strength in my current state. I can probably only exhibit the power of a half-emperor now. To return to my full power, it would take a long time.¡± Of course, Tianyi¡¯s definition for a long time was different from those old monsters who took tens of thousands of years to reach their current height, like Emperor Northsword. In addition, Tianyi wanted to hide his true capabilities as much as possible. Emperor Northsword nodded. Not only him, but Minister Vastlight felt like Tianyi would take hundreds, if not thousands, of years to recover to his peak. When a pathfinding immortal became a seamless immortal, they would use the law they mastered to create a new body, an immortal body. It was because of this immortal body that they became almost invulnerable to attacks not from other immortal monarchs. But this feature also made it more difficult to heal once they became injured. They had to use pills or materials compatible with their immortal body, or it would have a detrimental effect. For the Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect, healing the immortal bodies of seamless immortals was troublesome, but not impossible. Emperors were difficult and sovereigns almost could only rely on accumulation over time to heal. Although Tianyi wasn¡¯t an immortal sovereign in their eyes, they deduced that he used the Law of Spacetime to form his immortal body, which made it more difficult than the average immortal emperor. Minister Vastlight frowned. Although he hadn¡¯t seen the confrontation between Tianyi and the Four Divine Beasts, he had seen the effectiveness of his continuous attacks. If Tianyi couldn¡¯t unleash the same combat effectiveness, then the alliance would lose out on a powerful asset. ¡°Nine Heavens Elder, are you still able to launch spells continuously?¡± he asked. ¡°I can,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°But I won¡¯t be able to use my best techniques anymore.¡± Minister Vastlight frowned. He thought Tianyi couldn¡¯t use Stellar Silence, not Constellation Cessation. Even if Tianyi was unable to contribute, what must be done still must be done. Soon, Emperor Northsword and Minister Vastlight, among the other leaders, stood in a circle facing each other. The visage of other leaders of the two hegemonic forces also appeared remotely and sat down to discuss the future trend of the war. Tianyi was also present, being one of the immortal emperors of the Immortal Court, one still young and with plenty of potential. However, he did not take part and only listened. Unless directly asked or if it related to him, he did not speak up. He only divided a portion of his attention to the meeting. Most of his focus was on realm beasts. Because of his young age, Tianyi didn¡¯t know there was such a lifeform as the realm beast. His inadequate knowledge on the realm beasts did not last long as he quickly retrieved and digested the information stored in the Immortal Court. Realm beasts had a massive amount of power, but because of their bestial minds, they could not properly utilize it. They were brutes that only knew how to rely on sheer force. If a true immortal had access to the same amount of power, they would be able to contend against divinities despite their weaker mastery of the laws. In a way, the realm beasts reminded Tianyi of himself. Not in the way of intelligence, mind you, but in terms of being unable to utilize all the power available to them. Although he could utilize the energy of his inner universe much better than when he first transcended the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation, it was not even a fraction of the entire Nine Heavens Universe. Tianyi wondered if he could absorb the realm beast into his inner universe. Logically, a divinity could resist being pulled into the Nine Heavens Universe, but the realm beast was just that, a beast. Even if its instincts warned him against entering the inner universe, there were a myriad of ways to lure him inside. Once inside, the realm beast would be like a fish on the chopping block. Even if Tianyi couldn¡¯t injure it, he had enough energy for the long grind. No matter what lifeform, it needed energy to survive. And the realm beast was no different. While Tianyi fantasized about capturing the realm beast, the meeting came to an end. The alliance set the objective to pressure the Demon Clan. Not to the point that they were backed into a corner, but just at the precipice. They would forcefully conquer as many territories as possible and advance the front lines, while avoiding pressuring them so much that they disregarded everything and released the realm beast to wreak havoc. Of course, that did not mean the alliance was going to back down because of the realm beast. Both the Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect were searching for methods to seal or take down the realm beast. Both sides each had their own methods, but neither side agreed with the plan of the other. In their eyes, it was too risky and would only result in heavy losses. It didn¡¯t matter if the heavy losses happened to the other half of the alliance, it just couldn¡¯t happen to their own side. Naturally, neither side wanted to become cannon fodder in the operation against the realm beast. However, this had nothing to do with Tianyi. He was granted a reprieve from the front lines until he was needed. During this time, he would stay on Shangri-La to recover and return to his peak strength as fast as possible. While on Shangri-La, Tianyi noticed undercurrents surging. The alliance had pressured the Demon Clan and moved the front lines forward. The Demon Clan did not show much resistance, as if their focus was elsewhere. Assured that the Demon Clan would not release the realm beast, the Numinous Sword Sect started to cause trouble. It couldn¡¯t really be called trouble. Just that the Numinous Sword Sect lost a sword empress, so they wanted the Immortal Court to contribute more and lose power to bring balance back between the two hegemonic forces. Of course, they would not directly state their intent. Instead, they used Empress Snowsword¡¯s death as a reason to contribute less on the basis of recovering their strength. Once they contributed less, the Immortal Court would naturally have to contribute more. Simultaneously, they would also lose more. The most annoying part was that the Numinous Sword Sect requested an equal split of the spoils, despite contributing less. The Immortal Court originally accepted the Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s action, but they pushed too far. Even if they lost Empress Snowsword, the Immortal Court was not without losses. Tianyi, who could have contributed majorly, was weakened and out of commission. He hadn¡¯t fallen, but it was still a huge loss. Because of these primary reasons, the friction between the Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect surged. The honeymoon period between the hegemonic forces had come to a silent halt. Unless the Demon Clan exploded with an unexpected trump card and pressured them, the two hegemonic forces would continue to duke it out behind the scenes. Chapter 498: Another Timeline Tianyi sat in his allotted chamber. As an ¡°injured¡± patient, he should spend all his time in his room healing. However, he didn¡¯t look like he was focused on healing at all. Rather, he was resting his cheeks between his palms with a bored expression. Strictly speaking, he wasn¡¯t exactly injured. He just needed to strengthen the conduit. A conduit was a vessel. The larger the vessel, the more power of the Nine Heavens Universe it could accommodate. Although Tianyi appeared to be doing nothing, he was actually expanding the vessel. Spacetime fluctuations flitted across his skin and clothes. If an unlucky person touched him, they might be sucked into his skin. They would shrink until they were smaller than microscopic, and all they would see was not skin, but a vast continent with no end. If they survived the process. Even if they did, the danger was not over yet. Time flowed differently near Tianyi. Sometimes it quickened to an absurd degree. Other times, it would flow in reverse. Age, memories, injuries, all would disappear as if they hadn¡¯t existed. Part of the reason he sealed himself in his room was to prevent prying eyes and affecting others during his upgrade process. He could go out with another conduit, but it would only attract disapproving eyes. His current mission was to heal himself for the next inevitable confrontation with the Demon Clan, and he didn¡¯t want to reveal news about his conduit. After a while, Tianyi sat atop a jade seat in a lotus position. He had finished scrolling through his Xiyi talisman. Logically speaking, he should have an endless amount of entertainment from the Xiyinet. However, his interests changed often. When the mood struck him, he would consume one form or genre of entertainment voraciously, but he would also grow tired of it after a while. All forms of entertainment in a genre had many similarities. Once you consumed a certain amount, it would feel the same. Instead of forcing himself to consume it, it would be better to stop. Still, Tianyi couldn¡¯t find a new interest for a short while. He scrolled through many new shows on the Xiyinet or forums, but they couldn¡¯t arouse his interest at all. Since that was the case, he started comprehending the laws again. Ever since he entered the Immortal Realm by using the Law of Spacetime, he had not put much focus on it. Instead, he focused on comprehending the other myriad laws in order to strengthen his control over his inner universe. He thought his current mastery over spacetime would be enough until he attempted to reach the Divine Realm, but the appearance of the realm beast changed that. Tianyi didn¡¯t think his control over spacetime exceeded the Spacetime Chessboard by that much. Meaning that he would not be able to use his second-best ability in front of the realm beast. In case he could not lure the realm beast into his inner universe, he needed to increase his mastery over spacetime. In addition, deepening his comprehension of the Law of Spacetime would also raise the limit of his conduit and the amount of power he could exhibit from his inner universe. The fluctuations of spacetime cloaking Tianyi¡¯s body expanded. It soon filled the center of the cultivation chamber. The furniture within the sphere of influence became dilapidated instantly. Some parts even directly turned to dust. The next moment, the furniture returned to its original appearance, but it did not last long. Not a moment later, the furniture became a towering tree if it was made of wood or a slab of stone. This wasn¡¯t the strangest part. The strangest part was when the furniture existed in its normal state, its original material, and dust at the same time. If a mortal saw this scene, they would go mad instantly. Even cultivators had to be careful or they might form alternate personalities. Time became meaningless within the cultivation chamber. A second could have passed, or it might have been a decade. Finally, Tianyi opened his eyes again. His eyes seemed to contain the past, present, and future simultaneously. The primal chaos, the universe, and the final entropy of all. Behind each era of the universe, black mist filled with countless motes of lights could be seen. Tianyi blinked and his eyes returned to normal, but if people stared too long, they would find their sense of time distorted. ¡°Not enough,¡± Tianyi said. Although he made some progress since the time he entered the Immortal Realm, he had reached a bottleneck. In fact, it was a miracle that he had only entered a bottleneck now. His initial comprehension of the Law of Five Phases and Law of Life and Death helped him progress farther through parallel comparison. Although these three laws did not seem to contain the same concepts, they all originated from chaos. Tianyi rested his cheek on one palm as he tried to figure out a method to increase his comprehension speed. When cultivators wanted to feel the worldly laws, they would often visit locations with a large amount of aura of the law. For example, a cultivator that wanted to comprehend the Law of Fire might enter a volcano or a realm where the Law of Fire dominated. However, Tianyi did not know of any location where he could sense the Law of Spacetime. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. His eyes flickered. ¡®No, there is a place.¡¯ Tianyi looked up. His gaze pierced through the roof and sky of Shangri-La. It did not end when he saw the void of the Divine Beast Pseudo System. His gaze traveled past the border of the pseudo system and into the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. It was as if he was staring into space, but Tianyi saw a silver river intertwined with the whole Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. The river had many forks and branches, all originating from one singular source. However, tracing the source, it actually branched away from the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. From a distance, those branches mirrored the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Now that Tianyi could see the Six Paths of Samsara, he knew that the timeline he lived in was the prime timeline. It was for no other reason that his timeline had the largest ¡°branch.¡± He recalled the first time he entered the vast silver river. He was too weak to notice, but he had to swim up the current so he could go to an earlier part of the river before swimming down the prime branch and leaving. As one of the foundations of the world, the Six Paths of Samsara was extremely beneficial to his understanding of spacetime, but unfortunately, even his current strength did not allow him to enter the silver river for long. Still, entering would bring a certain amount of benefits, even if it was only for a short time. Tianyi did not plan to just enter and return to the prime timeline. That was a bit wasteful in his opinion. Since he was already going to enter the Six Paths of Samsara, why not enter another timeline?
A ripple appeared in the Vast Void of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. A hand sleeved in purple came out of the ripple. Slowly, a human figure appeared. It was Xi Tianyi. He was one of the many conduits. According to power, Tianyi had three levels of conduits. The first level was at the immortal lord level, and Tianyi could have eighty-one conduits of the first level. The second level allowed him to display the power of a half-emperor, but he could only have nine of them at any time. The third level allowed Tianyi the power of an emperor and sometimes beyond, but he only had one such conduit. There was another level, level zero. It encompassed all of Tianyi¡¯s conduits below the true immortal in power, and he could have a nearly infinite amount of them as long as his consciousness and willpower could support them. The conduit that appeared was one of Tianyi''s second level conduits. The conduit at war with the Demon Clan was also a second level conduit. Even if it was in the midst of promoting to the third level, the number of second-level conduits could not increase. Tianyi looked up and slowly rose. The higher he rose, the more ethereal his figure became. Eventually, his figure started to become faint. It didn¡¯t start at the foot, but the head. After a while, Tianyi¡¯s body seemed to have disappeared into the thin air. At this time, Mengfei opened her eyes inside Jade Peak Palace. She looked up and stared into the sky. Or rather, the Six Paths of Samsara. Not just her, but the founder of the Saintly Scholar School, Confucius, Daoist Lu, and even Bao Ling did the same. Although they did not major in the Law of Spacetime, Law of Samsara, or other related laws, it did not prevent them from detecting the abnormality. However, none of them stepped out to stop it. They didn¡¯t know who was attempting to swim up the Six Paths of Samsara, but brashly entering will only cause them to injure themselves. Besides, it was not that easy to swim up the Six Paths of Samsara. Even if the culprit survived, they would be severely injured, if not dead. Tianyi, who had hidden his identity, had no time to comprehend the Law of Spacetime in the Six Paths of Samsara. Because of the turbulent and corrosive nature of the silver river, he had to direct all his focus on swimming through it. His skin, the boundary separating the outer world from his inner universe, started to collapse. To preserve the integrity of this boundary and prevent himself from popping like a bubble, Tianyi had no choice but to shrink. While combating the effects of the Six Paths of Samsara, he did not stop swimming. He used the Heaven-Bearing Seal inside the Nine Heavens Universe to detect the existence of the other Heaven-Bearing Seals in the other timelines. Tianyi did not have many demands. He just wanted to find the nearest timeline. Once he spotted the aura of the Heaven-Bearing Seal, he immediately moved towards it. He had the power to change the perception of time of others, but now it was his turn to feel the experience. It was not as torturous as his first dip into the Six Paths of Samsara, but he still felt like a long time had passed. In the Vast Void, a silver ripple appeared. Less than a second later, something shot out of the ripple. The ripple disappeared, but the object that was shot out did not slow down and continued on its trajectory. Finally, it flew into an unranked realm. Still, the object¡¯s velocity did not stop and impacted against the ground. The continent fractured into tens of smaller pieces. The water surged and covered the ground. Some land resurfaced, others were buried permanently. Luckily, this was a realm inhospitable to life or else ninety-nine percent of the lives would have perished. This included birds, as they could not fly forever and needed to roost. Before the unranked realm could recover from the catastrophe it experienced, a vortex appeared at the impact point. A humanoid figure flew out of the vortex. Who else could it be but Tianyi? However, compared to his usual look, he had obviously shrunk. If he appeared like a man in his early to mid twenties before entering the Six Paths of Samsara, now he appeared to be in his preteens. It wasn¡¯t just his physical features that changed. Tianyi clenched and unclenched his hands, feeling the power in his arm. Of course, this was just a symbolic gesture. He didn¡¯t need to do such a meaningless action to ascertain his current combat potential. ¡°In this state, I don¡¯t think I can defeat a monarch. Of course, outlasting a monarch and even an emperor is no problem,¡± Tianyi said. He did not pay too much on recovering to his peak state, at least not now. With his mastery over spacetime, even emperors could not harm him. He had a more important thing to do now. Tianyi looked up. ¡°Now, I wonder how this timeline developed.¡±
Hey, which timeline do you guys want this to be? As in, which of the protagonists do you want to be the MC of the timeline? Chapter 499: A Different History Normally, a true immortal should never travel in the Vast Void, as they were likely to run out of qi before reaching another realm, much less an injured immortal. Only immortal monarchs had the prerequisite power to traverse the void, though it was still dangerous. However, Tianyi did not have that problem. His connection to the Nine Heavens Universe supplied him with an infinite amount of qi, and his mastery over spacetime increased his travel speed dramatically. Tianyi¡¯s body flew toward the boundary of the unranked realm and slipped through without causing a ripple. Upon entering the Vast Void, he stilled. He originally thought it was a misconception and because he was in an unranked realm. Now that he entered the Vast Void, he was sure that his senses did not deceive him. The restriction on his Nine Heavens Universe had weakened and the Vast Void was not as stable as the prime timeline. Although the Vast Void is said to contain nothing, it is still much more habitable than the True Nothingness beyond the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Naturally, something must keep the system stable for it to be habitable. And that something was the Heavenly Dao. For the Vast Void to be less stable compared to the prime timeline, then it meant that the Heavenly Dao had weakened. This was a manifestation of the weakening timeline. Once too many timelines split off, the Heavenly Dao would have to spread itself out thin. The more timelines, the faster the weakening. When the Heavenly Dao lost its power in the split timeline, then the timeline would disappear, pruned. The energy used to maintain and support it would be fed back into the prime and other timelines. Tianyi knew that timelines would eventually be pruned, but not the process. Now he knew. He didn¡¯t expect that he would be able to exert more power in the split timelines than in the prime timeline. Now, he needed to find out whether the worldly laws would be easier to comprehend in the split timeline. The waning Heavenly Dao didn¡¯t just mean that the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System would be weakening, but also that the worldly laws would become incomplete. After all, the Heavenly Dao was, in essence, the source of all worldly laws. He shook his head. Right now, it wasn¡¯t the time to ponder, but to investigate. Tianyi¡¯s target was naturally the Primordial Realm. Only by entering the realm he was most familiar with could he learn how advanced the timeline was. Tianyi didn¡¯t find the Primordial Realm. Or rather, he found its predecessor. It was only natural. After all, he was the one who transformed the Huang Realm into the Primordial Realm, and reincarnators like himself did not appear in split timelines. When he entered the Huang Realm, no one noticed. After visiting various locations in the Heaven Continent, Tianyi couldn¡¯t help but sigh. The world with Xiyi talismans and one without was as different as heaven and earth. Thanks to the ease of dissemination of information, a good deal of knowledge that was hard to learn became common. Of course, cultivation methods and secret techniques were strictly kept confidential, but non-unique knowledge was no longer restricted by the upper class. Without restricting the spread of knowledge, society advanced by leaps and bounds. It hadn¡¯t advanced to the extent of the modern era, and it may never reach that point. Part of the reason people on Earth advanced to such a state was because of their powerful souls. Anyone born on Earth that reincarnated into the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System would be a genius at comprehending the myriad laws. Society changed, and the only thing the upper class could use to restrict the common people was resources. The friction between the common people and the rulers was a conflict that would never cease. When the common people overthrew the rulers, they would become the new rulers and a new common people would be born. This only applied to mortal countries. For the greater cultivation world, strength still reigned supreme. Reason and logic meant little if one had absolute power. Tianyi only spent a few days in the mortal world. After the novelty wore off, he moved toward the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Once he reached the Mortal Severance Gate, he immediately noticed something amiss. Although the Buzhou Immortal Sect seemed full of holes and immortals could sneak in everywhere, there was actually an undetectable guardian formation protecting it. The only entrance was the Mortal Severance Gate. If invaders tried to sneak in, they would find themselves lost and eventually moving away from the sect. If they instead tried to brute force their way in, the guardian formation will change from passive to active and attack. But now, Tianyi could sense that something crucial was missing. That was not to say the formation didn¡¯t work. It absolutely did and could repel immortal emperors, but sovereigns? At most lasting tens of attacks. Tens of attacks sounded a lot, but it was not long in a battle between immortals. He could already guess what was missing. The Immortal Court and the Immortal Court Spirit should have already disappeared from this world. Upon thinking about the Immortal Court, Tianyi couldn¡¯t help but recall the destruction of the Huang Realm in the Silent Lightning Timeline he visited. It was ultimately for his sake and the future of the Huang Realm was destined to be a tragedy, but he was still the reason why the Immortal Court Spirit destroyed the Huang Realm. Suppressing his sullenness, Tianyi slipped in. If the Immortal Court Spirit was present, he would have to be more careful slipping in. Even if he was at his peak, he couldn¡¯t guarantee to be able to get in without arousing the Immortal Court Spirit¡¯s attention. That said, it wasn¡¯t only his mastery over spacetime that gave him this confidence. His familiarity with the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s guardian formation also boosted his chances. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it When Tianyi sensed no change in the formation, he knew that he had succeeded. Of course, there was always a chance that someone noticed him, but he didn¡¯t think the chances were high. Elder Xia Meng should still be a sect master at this point and an immortal monarch. As for the Concealed Emperor, Tianyi didn¡¯t think he would be in this timeline. As someone who constantly stayed in the dilapidated Immortal Court, his identity should not be simple. His mother, Mengfei, had become an immortal sovereign, meaning that she had merged with all her alternate selves. That only left Grand Elder Voidink. She did not major in the Law of Space or the Law of Time, and Tianyi had the confidence to evade her detection. After entering, the first place Tianyi searched was naturally Jade Peak. But when he entered, he discovered that it was completely empty. Even if Jade Peak Palace was left unattended for decades or even centuries, not a hint of dust would mar it. However, it could not hide the fact that no one lived in it for millennia. From this fact alone, Tianyi knew that his mother had likely disappeared for a long time¡ªwell, a long time for him. He just needed an exact time. When Tianyi walked out, he stilled. ¡°I wonder what the Dragon Emperor is named in this timeline. I haven¡¯t heard anything about him in the prime timeline, but I suspect he is recuperating somewhere, maybe in the Buddhist Pure Lands? Should I try to infiltrate them? The problem is that I know nothing about their location.¡± Tianyi shook his head. Rather than a futile attempt at investigating the Buddhists, he should sneak into the Numinous Sword Sect. Although the Immortal Court Spirit could communicate across timelines, he was limited by his location. And few people could travel to different timelines. According to the records, only the most powerful sovereigns and divinities could accomplish this feat. ¡°That¡¯s actually not a bad idea,¡± Tianyi muttered. He still remembered where he got the Kunlun Mirror from. It was a disciple from the Numinous Sword Sect. As long as he grabbed it again, he could strengthen the one in his mother¡¯s possession. ¡°Wait, Is the Broken Primordial World still there?¡± Tianyi thought to himself. He shook his head. Now that he had a lot more assurance and was not in danger of being trapped forever, he could do a lot of things in this timeline. Just as Tianyi wanted to leave, he spotted a team of cultivators going up the mountain. Curious, he teleported next to them and eavesdropped. ¡°Is the Buzhou Immortal Sect going to lose a mountain peak just like this?¡± a nascent soul grandmaster asked with a sigh. ¡°The Jade Peak has existed with the sect since its founding. Now, it¡¯s going to be abolished?¡± ¡°When Grand Elder Xi was here, how glorious it was,¡± a soul nourishing grandmaster said. ¡°However, Grand Elder Xi mysteriously disappeared thousands of years ago and her prodigal son ruined everything.¡± Upon the soul nourishing grandmaster¡¯s words, the team all sported dark and indignant faces. Tianyi naturally guessed who they were talking about. He scratched his head. Although he knew that the Dragon Emperor was a different person, they still possessed the same identity on the surface. ¡°That damn Xi Longtian. If he wasn¡¯t Grand Elder Xi¡¯s son, how could the sect tolerate him for so long? Great, just because of him, he tarnished the sect¡¯s reputation and now all the sects are unfriendly toward us. More first-rate sects have joined the Anti-Heaven Alliance. Even the Eight Pillar Sect dares to openly bare its fangs against us now.¡± The soul nourishing grandmaster nodded in agreement. ¡°Thankfully, the Mortal Continent disappeared. Otherwise, the Cultivator Alliance would only add fuel to the fire.¡± Tianyi paused at this. Shouldn¡¯t the Saintly Scholar School have replaced the Cultivator Alliance on the Mortal Continent by now? And what did they mean disappear¡±? How could an entire continent just disappear? He paused as a name flashed in his mind. Confucius, the founder of the Saintly Scholar School. Tianyi spread his senses and sucked in a cold breath. He had thought the Huang Realm was smaller than he remembered, but he chalked it up to himself remembering wrong. Now that he specifically sensed it, a third of the Huang Realm had disappeared, along with the Mortal Continent! The most terrifying part was that there was no damage to the Huang Realm at all. Everything still functioned perfectly, as if a third of the Huang Realm had always never existed. Splitting a realm, even if done with care, would result in aftereffects. Even Tianyi could not claim to have a such an ability, even if he had ten thousand years to devote solely to it When Confucius split the Mortal Continent and formed the Virtuous Realm in the prime timeline, did he actually also absorb chunks of the Huang Realm from other timelines? This feat far exceeded Tianyi¡¯s ability to travel to other timelines. It even exceeded a divinity¡¯s ability. Of course, this was just a hypothesis at this time. He would have to visit other timelines to see if the Huang Realm had also shrunk. Just who was Confucius? Was he a divinity that mastered the Law of Time or the Law of Spacetime? A survivor of the primordial era? Tianyi originally thought that the Primordial Realm was the strongest of the three immortal-rank realms, but it seemed he severely miscalculated. No, he had to tell the Immortal Court Spirit. His conduit in the prime timeline¡¯s Primordial Realm entered the Broken Heaven Valley. Moments later, Tianyi had a strange expression on his face. The Immortal Court Spirit only told him that he didn¡¯t need to worry about it. It seemed that the court spirit already knew. Tianyi wanted to ask more questions, but since the Immortal Court Spirit didn¡¯t want to tell him, he could only stop. It made him wonder just what trump cards the Immortal Court had to be so unfazed. More importantly, just how deep the waters went. Before he could think for too long, the team¡¯s conversation broke him out of his thoughts. ¡°Alright, enough!¡± the leader, a unity venerable, admonished. ¡°We¡¯re here to seal Jade Peak off and take away Jade Peak Palace. Don¡¯t slack off or you¡¯ll make Elder Nine Thunders displeased.¡± Upon mentioning Elder Nine Thunders, all the cultivators showed excited expressions. It was full of respect and yearning. ¡°Elder Nine Thunders is amazing, a role model for us all. Although both he and that Xi Longtian are known as the twin stars of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, that Xi Longtian is too despicable!¡± a soul nourishing grandmaster said with gritted teeth. Another cultivator agreed. ¡°Yeah! Both of them became true immortals after a few hundred years of cultivation. I don¡¯t know about that Xi Longtian, but I heard Elder Nine Thunders has already reached the peak of the Seamless Immortal Realm!¡± ¡®Nine Thunders? It sounds close to my title of Nine Heavens.¡¯ Tianyi thought. He didn¡¯t have any dissatisfaction toward this Elder Nine Thunders. After all, he knew how powerful the Dragon Emperor¡¯s aggro skill was. ¡®I wonder who he is.¡¯ Chapter 500: Nine Thunders Monarch Tianyi, who originally planned to enter the Numinous Realm, decided to take his time. At least, he wanted to see who exactly this Elder Nine Thunders was. Unlike when he visited Jade Peak, Tianyi didn¡¯t know where to go to find Elder Nine Thunders. He didn¡¯t know who the person was, so he couldn¡¯t spread his immortal sense to detect. Not to mention that he had sneaked into the sect grounds. Although his body may be hidden in the layers of spacetime, using his immortal sense would likely expose him. As a member of the Buzhou Immortal Sect himself, Tianyi shouldn¡¯t need to fear revealing himself. The problem was his identity. Even if he explained that he was someone from another timeline and he wasn¡¯t Xi Longtian, many sect members would likely be hostile to him. They might even lock him up until they can verify his words. His best chance at verification, the Immortal Court Spirit, was likely gone or in hibernation. And he didn¡¯t want to be locked up. He had better things to spend his time on. Hiding his identity would be counterproductive. If he exposed himself, they would just think he was an invader and be even more hostile. Tianyi sighed. Aside from his eyes, his face really brought him a lot of trouble. At first glance, it appeared different from the other Dragon Emperor clones, but upon closer inspection, anyone who knew would be able to see the signs. However, that didn¡¯t mean he had no direction. From the team of cultivators¡¯ conversation, Elder Nine Thunders should be a newly risen monarch with considerable influence. So visiting Sect Master Xia might lead to more clues. On the way up the mountain, Tianyi¡¯s step paused. He stared at a person he hadn¡¯t seen in over two thousand years. Unlike the emotionless state he had seen him before, the handsome man radiated an aura of gentleness. He had a jade coronet holding up his hair and a plain sword on his waist. Tianyi didn¡¯t say anything and followed the man up Central Peak. When the man entered the palace, he saw Sect Master Xia waiting for him in the main hall. He cupped his fist toward the sect master. ¡°Disciple, Xia Yushan, greets Master.¡± That¡¯s right, the man that caused Tianyi to stop was Xia Yushan, the former eldest senior brother of the Buzhou Immortal Mountain. Without his presence, Xia Yushan never questioned his talent and successfully became a true immortal without forming an inner devil. Not only that¡­ ¡°Yushan, are you purposely letting your aura as an immortal monarch leak out, or can you not control your aura well after breaking through?¡± Sect Master Xia asked with a teasing smile. Xia Yushan smiled and lowered his hands. ¡°Of course not. I just broke through and came to tell Master.¡± The master and disciple shared a few more words before Sect Master Xia shooed Xia Yushan away. ¡°Alright, no need to accompany an old man like me. Elder Nine Thunders will be happy to hear about your breakthrough.¡± ¡°I plan to visit him after seeing Master,¡± Xia Yushan said. ¡°Then go,¡± Sect Master Xia said. Tianyi planned to follow Xia Yushan to see Elder Nine Thunders, but when he heard what Sect Master Xia said after Xia Yushan left, his footsteps halted. ¡°Yushan, ah, Yushan. Had you not compared yourself with Nine Heavens, your accomplishments would not be lower than mine. Unfortunately, you competed with others and forgot the most important thing. You cultivation speed in the prime timeline was faster, but you fell in the end. On the road of cultivation, you have to break your limits and surpass yourself, not others,¡± Sect Master Xia said with pity. He turned around and walked in. Tianyi turned around and walked back inside the main hall. He scrutinized Sect Master Xia¡¯s back. There was nothing wrong, and the figure exuded the aura of a veteran immortal monarch. There was no excess qi leaking off of him or any other signs that suggested he broke through to the Extremity Immortal Realm or mastered all five elemental laws. Still, that meant nothing. Someone as experienced as Sect Master Xia would know how to hide the aura of his breakthrough, especially out of battle. And he could have chosen not to break through when mastering the five elemental laws. ¡°Grand Elder Xia?¡± Tianyi tentatively called out. Sect Master Xia¡¯s figure jolted, and he snapped around with vigilance. When he saw Tianyi¡¯s figure, his eyes widened. Obviously, he had recognized him. There was a bit of shock, but not much. ¡°I sensed something wrong and later learned that someone had entered the Six Paths of Samsara. I had a sneaking suspicion it was you, and it turns out I was right.¡± He smiled. ¡°After all, it¡¯s not your first journey to another timeline.¡± Tianyi gave a helpless smile. ¡°I found that I reached a bottleneck. To get more inspiration, I decided to enter the Six Paths of Samsara. I¡¯m not strong enough to stay for long, so I decided to visit other timelines on the way.¡± ¡°Even you get bottlenecks?¡± ¡°What kind of question is that?¡± Tianyi showed a flabbergasted expression. ¡°Of course I also have bottlenecks.¡± He shook his head. ¡°By the way, do you have any information on the Numinous Sword Sect or the Buddhist Pure Lands? I plan to infiltrate them and see if I can discover any of their trump cards and the like.¡± Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°I do know some information, but I¡¯m not sure that your endeavor will be useful,¡± Grand Elder Xia said. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°The Immortal Court is not the only ones who knows the existence of different timelines. To prevent information leakage, only senior immortal emperors will know the core information. The reason I know more than the average immortal emperor was thanks to my position. So even if someone travels to a different timeline, the amount of information they can glean is limited,¡± Grand Elder Xia said. ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t mean you shouldn¡¯t try,¡± Grand Elder Xia continued. ¡°Precautions are one thing, but there hasn¡¯t been a recorded case of this happening.¡± Tianyi nodded. Grand Elder Xia proceeded to teach him what he knew about the Numinous Sword Sect and the Buddhists. After learning everything, Tianyi asked, ¡°Can you tell me about Elder Nine Thunders?¡± Upon hearing Tianyi¡¯s request, Grand Elder Xia showed an odd expression. He didn¡¯t immediately answer and asked, ¡°Why are you curious about him?¡± ¡°While I was on Jade Peak, I heard some peop¡ªjuniors talking about him and became curious. After all, he and I both share the word nine in our titles.¡± Grand Elder Xia nodded. ¡°Speaking of Elder Nine Thunders, he is from the same generation as you. He was originally an ordinary outer disciple, but after being humiliated by the Dragon Emperor clone, he left the sect to temper himself. He was lucky and obtained the inheritance of the Thunder Duke, altering his destiny. Because he absorbed nine immortal lightnings into his body, he gave himself the title of Nine Thunders.¡± Tianyi¡¯s eyes lit up. He loved protagonist-like stories, and he had some impression of Elder Nine Thunder¡¯s experience. ¡°Are you talking about Zi Zun?¡± ¡°You know him?¡± ¡°A little bit. I saw him sparring with other disciples when he was a core formation master,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°What happened to him? Since he was able to become an immortal monarch here, why have I heard no word of him in the prime timeline?¡± Grand Elder Xia shook his head. ¡°He disappeared years ago. We searched for him, but we couldn¡¯t find any of his traces. His disappearance coincided with Lovespot¡¯s, or rather, the Dragon Emperor¡¯s disappearance. So the sect thinks he may have been abducted or left with the Dragon Emperor.¡± Tianyi nodded. ¡°I¡¯m going to take a look before leaving.¡± ¡°Wait,¡± Grand Elder Xia called out. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t show yourself in front of him. Even if I step forward¡ª¡± ¡°I know, I know,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°He¡¯ll probably mistake me for the Dragon Emperor and so will everyone else.¡± Grand Elder Xia seemed to want to say more, but Tianyi¡¯s figure had already vanished before his eyes. He sighed and muttered, ¡°Why does it seem like you think he and you have no grievances?¡±
Inside Thunderclap Palace atop Thunderclap Peak sat a plain faced man with thick brows. He wore the customary white robes of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. At first glance, he appeared like a passerby, forgettable. But once someone looked closer, they would feel an unforgettable and indomitable aura emanating from the man. The man opened his eyes, and lightning flashed endlessly in his pupils. After a second, he smiled, softening the aura around him. ¡°Brother Xia, congratulations.¡± Xia Yushan walked in and laughed. ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you I would catch up soon, Brother Zi?¡± ¡°You did, but I didn¡¯t expect it to be less than a hundred years,¡± Zi Zun said. ¡°I feel like you¡¯re mocking me,¡± Xia Yushan joked. ¡°You only spent ten years as a true immortal before becoming an immortal monarch, while I spent over a hundred years.¡± ¡°But didn¡¯t you become a true immortal faster than me?¡± Xia Yushan couldn¡¯t help but shake his head. ¡°If you hadn¡¯t been trapped in an immortal grotto, you would have likely become a true immortal faster than me. Even then, wasn¡¯t your attainments in the Law of Lightning higher than my attainments in the Law of Metal?¡± ¡°Alright, let¡¯s stop, or this conversation will never end,¡± Zi Zun said. ¡°How is your condition? When will you be ready to hunt him down?¡± Upon hearing his words, Xia Yushan¡¯s face also turned serious. ¡°Give me ten years to stabilize my cultivation and perfect my technique. After ten years, I will make that bastard pay for harming her.¡± Zi Zun nodded and killing intent appeared in his eyes, making the lightning in his pupils even more tyrannical. Unknown to the two of them, their entire conversation was heard by a third party. Tianyi didn¡¯t even need to guess to know the target the two spoke of was Xi Longtian. Since he learned of the two¡¯s plan, he wanted to see them attack Xi Longtian. If they couldn¡¯t kill him, he didn¡¯t mind lending his aid. Secretly, of course. While waiting, Tianyi observed Zi Zun. He could sense nine different auras from his body. One was pure lightning, but the others were lightning mixed with something. The strongest aura he sensed, aside from lightning, was fire, metal, and destruction. According to Tianyi¡¯s conjecture, the aura was from Zi Zun¡¯s attainment of the worldly laws creating a resonance with the nine lightnings contained in his immortal body. He heard that Zi Zun had nine immortal lightnings, so this didn¡¯t surprise him. He suspected that Zi Zun wanted to use the lightning in his body as a springboard to comprehend the worldly laws faster or increase his potential. Tianyi grew bored after a while. He wasn¡¯t in a hurry. The degradation had reached a terrifying point in this time, so speed was flowing faster in this timeline than the prime timeline. He sat down and started digesting the insights he gained when he traveled through the Six Paths of Samsara. Soon, ten years passed, and Xia Yushan entered Thunderclap Peak again. The two of them quietly left the Buzhou Immortal Sect without telling anyone. They used a side entrance instead of passing through the Mortal Severance Gate. Of course, the formation detected their departure without their notice, but if someone noticed, they didn¡¯t stop them. Because the Law of Lightning was focused on instantaneous bursts, it was the complete opposite of stealth. While the Law of Metal wasn¡¯t as flamboyant as the Law of Lightning, it didn¡¯t have much to do with stealth either. So the two relied more on the stealth techniques they mastered. Naturally, Tianyi followed behind. The Law of Spacetime made it much easier to sneak around than the Law of Lightning or the Law of Metal. After a while, Tianyi noticed where the two were heading. It was the old domain of the Xi Dynasty. Upon arriving at the capital, the two shed all stealth and broke into the imperial palace through the front gates. The two were clear that although their stealth capabilities could fool some immortal monarchs, it definitely couldn¡¯t escape the eyes of Xi Longtian. As rotten as his personality was, there was no denying his excellence. When the two broke in, a man was sitting on the dragon throne, as if waiting for them. He didn¡¯t even react to the broken gates as they entered the throne hall. When they reached a hundred meters from him, the man finally opened his eyes. ¡°You two really are idiotic. If you had hidden in the Buzhou Immortal Court, you could have lived longer.¡± Dragon Emperor Xi Longtian gazed down at his two nemeses, and a heavy pressure exploded from his body. Chapter 501: Xi Longtian Xi Longtian gazed condescendingly at the two immortal monarchs rushing toward their deaths. He had to commend their courage to face the pressure he exuded. Despite only being in the Seamless Immortal Realm, his power exceeded that of immortal monarchs. Not even peak immortal monarchs could stay calm under his pressure. Yet, the two juniors were resisting his pressure admirably. Still, his appreciation was only that. He would not be merciful to his enemies. Especially if they come from the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Even he had to admit that the Buzhou Immortal Sect was a hard nut to crack. Even when he was incognito inside, he couldn¡¯t learn anything that was too important. Originally, he could act wantonly due to his identity as the grand elder¡¯s son. But thousands of years ago, she suddenly vanished without a trace. Without Empress Xi¡¯s protection, he became more and more of an eyesore, and the people who had enmity with him couldn¡¯t sit still any longer. Since that was the case, he planned to make a splash before leaving. Especially that annoying Redseal. Xi Longtian first visited Lovespot and killed him. Although the boy wasn¡¯t exactly a clone, he could still absorb the latter as nutrients thanks to the unique nature of his conception. The latter¡¯s death naturally aroused Redseal¡¯s killing intent. When the elder rushed to him, Xi Longtian unleashed his strongest attack, nearly killing the elder instantaneously. It surprised him a bit, and made him marvel at the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s foundation, but that didn¡¯t prevent him from finishing off the injured elder. He knew that he was on a time limit the moment he killed Lovespot, so after killing Redseal, he wanted to destroy as much as possible before fleeing, but he never expected to be stopped. He had never taken the sect master of the Buzhou Immortal Sect seriously, but he never expected the latter to have mastered five worldly laws. Sect Master Xia could fight him on even ground, but neither opponent could kill the other in a short amount of time. Knowing that he was in limited time, Xi Longtian fled before long. If Sect Master Xia activated the formation and boosted his own powers, he would likely be suppressed if not killed. That¡¯s not mentioning the other immortal elders, especially Empress Voidink. After that point, the Buzhou Immortal Sect chased after him, but Xi Longtian repelled and even killed his pursuers. After a while, the Buzhou Immortal Sect gave up and posted a bounty on his head. The bounty couldn¡¯t kill him, only disgust him with all the incessant flies buzzing around him. Although it puzzled him why Empress Voidink didn¡¯t also attempt to kill him, it gave him some guesses as to what happened to the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s immortal emperors. He wasn¡¯t the only one as the Anti-Heaven Alliance started to pressure the hegemonic force. With his old enemy no longer able to do anything to him, Xi Longtian appeared in the Xi Dynasty, which he had secretly controlled years ago. The Xi Dynasty became a forbidden zone with no trace of members of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Of course, spies were inevitable. No matter how many he uprooted and killed, they would never disappear, a cancer. Originally, Xi Longtian thought that he would not see another member of the Buzhou Immortal Sect until after the Anti-Heaven Alliance started a war against the hegemonic force. Xi Longtian wasn¡¯t blind. Although he had no definite proof, the Buzhou Immortal Court had definitely weakened. The first sign was the disappearance of his body¡¯s mother, Empress Xi. The Buzhou Immortal Sect did its best to hide the news, but as the youngest and most talented immortal empress, other forces would always pay attention. They noticed something was wrong when she didn¡¯t show herself after a long time. Although immortal emperors often cultivated in seclusion for decades, if not centuries. Empress Xi was young and had not adjusted to the long life of an immortal, so she appeared more frequently than the Buzhou Immortal Sect¡¯s two other immortal emperors. Eventually, a hostile force probed the Buzhou Immortal Sect and discovered that not only was Empress Xi missing, but so was Empress Voidink. This ignited the Anti-Heaven Alliance¡¯s ambition and the Eight Pillar Sect¡¯s hostility. This was when the Buzhou Immortal Sect was at its weakest. Even if they couldn¡¯t destroy it, they could force the sect to plummet in power for the foreseeable future. It was not like the Buzhou Immortal Sect had not done the same thing to the Eight Pillar Sect before. While others salivated at what they could do because of the two sudden disappearance of the two missing empresses, Xi Longtian had a different consideration. He wasn¡¯t joyful like the other forces. As a former half-step immortal sovereign, he knew the existence of alternate selves, and by extension, timelines. Although it wasn¡¯t always the prime timeline version that always absorbed the alternate timeline versions of themselves, it was undeniable that the prime timeline version held the upper hand. Because two immortal empresses suddenly disappeared without warning, Xi Longtian couldn¡¯t help but be suspicious. Currently, he wanted to find if Empress Xi or Empress Voidink had been secretly dealt with or were hiding. If they really disappeared into thin air, then the most likely case was that they were absorbed by their alternate selves. The sudden absorption didn¡¯t mean that they were absorbed by the prime timeline version, but it was a hint that the timeline was on the weaker side. The weaker the timeline was, the more quickly it would reach destruction. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Xi Longtian knew he was on a deadline, if that was the case. He had absolute strength in himself and believed his alternate selves could reach the peak of whichever timeline they were in. However, that didn¡¯t mean he would be willingly absorbed or even wait for the universe¡¯s destruction. He had grand ambitions. So what if he was not in the prime timeline? He would reach the peak power of his timeline and enter the prime timeline. No one, not even his other selves could stop him! Certainly not these wet-behind-the-ears whelps! Xi Longtian left his throne and flew forward in an arc. His motion was smooth and clean. There were no extraneous movements, and his simple movements exuded a sense of beauty, as if it was a worldly law. Zi Zun and Xia Yushan only had time to cross their arms and raise their sword sheaths when the Dragon Emperor¡¯s palm reached them. The air exploded as palm slammed into the arms and wooden sheaths. ¡°Not a bad reaction,¡± Xi Longtian said. His gaze was still condescending, as if it didn¡¯t matter that the two blocked his attacks. ¡°You only got a jump on us because you suddenly attacked us,¡± Xia Yushan said. An audible sharpness rang from his sword as he unsheathed it. ¡°It won¡¯t happen again.¡± Xi Longtian laughed. ¡°You¡¯re still so childish. This is why I hate coddled cultivators from sects like you. You should have expected me to attack the moment you declared your hostility to me. That¡¯s ignoring the fact that I released my aura.¡± Xia Yushan snorted, not replying. In the short time the two exchanged words, Zi Zun had transformed. It wasn¡¯t that noticeable, but his hair had turned golden. It became spiky and upright with small flashes of lightning arcing around his body. ¡°Oh, is that the legendary Thunder Duke¡¯s Lightning Incarnation Technique?¡± Xi Longtian asked. Even though he felt Zi Zun¡¯s power increase, he wasn¡¯t worried at all. ¡°But is that all? From the rumors, I thought it would be more powerf¡ª¡± While still speaking, Zi Zun appeared in front of Xi Longtian in a flash, his fist mere centimeters from colliding into Xi Longtian¡¯s face. The expected sensation of hitting flesh did not travel up Zi Zun¡¯s arm, making him narrow his eyes. ¡°I see. Even if I dodge your fist by a hair¡¯s breadth, I will still be affected by the lightning field around your body,¡± said Xi Longtian, who had tilted his head. Zi Zun snorted and continued to attack. Unleashing punches so fast, he appeared to have a thousand arms punching simultaneously. Yet, Xi Longtian was weaving through his attacks with a much slower movement speed. His hands also struck out, deflecting and blocking the attacks. It looked as if Zi Zun was deliberately missing his punches. ¡°Let me help you, Brother Zi!¡± Xia Yushan said. He appeared behind Xi Longtian and unleashed his sword. Pincered by two immortal monarchs, he didn¡¯t believe that Xi Longtian could continue to dodge forever. When Xia Yushan saw Xi Longtian¡¯s hand moving to block his sword, a hint of excitement appeared in his eyes. However, the scene he expected to see did not appear. After grabbing Xia Yushan¡¯s sword, Xi Longtian¡¯s hands blurred and struck Zi Zun¡¯s chest, knocking him backward. ¡°An emperor artifact, your master sure is willing? No wonder you dare to attack me.¡± ¡°Let go!¡± Xia Yushan shouted. It felt like an iron vice had clamped around his sword, making him unable to budge. Upon seeing no resistance, he controlled the Law of Metal and caused the emperor artifact sword to resonate. Not even Xi Longtian dared to casually grab an unleashed emperor artifact, so he let go. After letting go, his hand blurred again and slapped Xia Yushan away. Xia Yushan suppressed a pained groan. More importantly, he felt as if his immortal body had destabilized for a moment. A drop of sweat slipped down his forehead. If his immortal body became permanently destabilized, it would collapse, and he would become a rootless soul. However, he did not back away. He gripped his sword harder and the fighting intent in his eyes became stronger. He knew that Xi Longtian¡¯s greatest expertise was his saber techniques. Although he hadn¡¯t brought it out yet, it didn¡¯t mean he and Zi Zun had brought out their hidden cards, either. At this moment, Zi Zun¡¯s transformation increased. Light emanated from his skin, and his eyes turned pure gold. Lightning would flash from his eyes occasionally. He stared at Xi Longtian and a lightning bolt spewed out of his eyes toward the reborn Dragon Emperor. Xi Longtian casually slapped it away. ¡°I hope you weren¡¯t banking on that paltry trick defeating me, or else¡ª¡± Once again, Zi Zun appeared in front of Xi Longtian when he had not finished speaking. Xi Longtian grunted and his hands flashed forward, blocking and deflecting Zi Zun¡¯s blows. Zi Zun¡¯s speed had increased again, making it almost impossible for him to dodge as easily as before. Furthermore, each time his hands interacted with Zi Zun, lightning would zap him and attempt to bore into his body. While he was dealing with Zi Zun, Xia Yushan attacked. Although nothing seemed to have changed, there was a metallic sheen on his exposed skin. Even Xi Longtian had to admit he couldn¡¯t deal with the two casually, but only that. He would only need to take it a bit more seriously. His hands sped up, and he unleashed a powerful straight punch. Zi Zun crossed his arms, but due to the speed, it appeared as if hundreds of arms appeared in front of him to block the punch. The other hundred continued to assault Xi Longtian. Xi Longtian paid no heed. His punch broke through the blockade of arms and struck Zi Zun¡¯s chest, forming a hole. However, he frowned. Zi Zun¡¯s chest, which had a hole in it, did not leak any blood. There were no bones, blood, or organs, only lightning. ¡°You transformed yourself into lightning?¡± Xi Longtian asked. Zi Zun said nothing. While the hole in his chest naturally closed, his punches were about to land on Xi Longtian. Behind him, Xia Yushan¡¯s sword was about to slash him. In response, Xi Longtian¡¯s eyes changed. Literally. His eyes, including his sclera, became pitch black and emanated an aura of destruction. He swirled around to face Xia Yushan, ignoring the indignant Zi Zun. His hand, which held nothing, swung toward Xia Yushan. Moments before Xia Yushan¡¯s sword connected, a blade saber appeared in his hand and clashed against the sword. Zi Zun¡¯s punches also reached Xi Longtian, but the moment they landed on his body, they disintegrated into stumps. A destructive force destroyed his punches the moment he connected. Xia Yushan felt his hands become numb from the clash of sword and saber. He tried to hold his ground, but he was launched into the wall. Zi Zun also attempted to retreat at this time, but faster than his body could move, Xi Longtian turned around and sliced his body in half. ¡°Brother Zi!¡± Chapter 502: Its to Kill You Xia Yushan didn¡¯t have time to care about Zi Zun as a foot slammed into his chest. He flew backward and flipped several times on the ground before skidding to a stop on his feet. Although he didn¡¯t leak any blood from his lips or anything similar, a dense, spiderweb-like crack filled his chest. Xi Longtian didn¡¯t continue to press him and instead unleashed several more slices. He only had time to unleash one more slash before Zi Zun¡¯s form flashed away. ¡°As expected of the Law of Lightning. Its instantaneous speed is enviable.¡± He turned around and stared at Zi Zun, who had reappeared next to Xia Yushan. The corner of his lips quirked upward. ¡°But you shouldn¡¯t be feeling good now, right?¡± Zi Zun gritted his teeth. He could feel a foreign qi inside his body, continuously attacking his electrified body. He had to use more qi to overpower the black qi in his body and destroy them before they destroyed his body. The high usage of qi almost made him want to turn the technique off and change his lightning body back to one of flesh and blood. However, Zi Zun didn¡¯t. He knew that if he allowed the black qi to touch his immortal body, it would injure him even more. At the epitome of the Thunder Duke¡¯s inheritance, he would be able to merge nine thunders into a divine thunder and use it to shape a new body. Not only would he gain a permanent elemental body that did not require constant qi consumption, unlike the forced transformation he currently had, but he would also enter the Divine Realm. ¡°Brother Xia, can you delay him for a minute?¡± Zi Zun asked. Xia Yushan wanted to answer, but Xi Longtian took action. He did not have the mercy to let his enemies strategize. Still, Xia Yushan gave an imperceptible nod as he strode forth and clashed sword against saber. Zi Zun flashed away until he was outside the palace. A hint of urgency appeared on his face. Although he trusted Xia Yushan¡¯s defensive capabilities, it did not detract from the huge threat he felt from Xi Longtian. Both he and Xia Yushan had miscalculated Xi Longtian¡¯s power. Once outside, he flew high into the sky and closed his eyes. Storm clouds gathered at a visible pace. Although the cultivators of the Xi Dynasty noticed him, not even a single one was in the Immortal Realm and could do nothing against him. Even if the Xi Dynasty received a first-rate cultivation method, the amount of talented people who could reach the Immortal Realm was still too low. When the storm clouds condensed to the peak, lightning struck. It rained down and hit Zi Zun. However, it did not cause him any injuries. Quite the opposite in fact. The lightning transformed into qi and supplemented his dipping reserves and purified his body, expelling the black qi inside. The nine different lightning inside his body resonated with Zi Zun. Originally, he only transformed his body using one of the nine lightnings, but now, he integrated two more. Two lines of colored lightning appeared all over Zi Zun¡¯s body, and he gritted his teeth as he felt the massive burden. As if in representation of the massive power in his body, a visible lightning field covered his entire body and his hair elongated until it reached his knees. If he could sustain the previous transformation for hours. Now, he could only last for ten minutes at most. With renewed confidence, Zi Zun¡¯s figure disappeared with the accompaniment of thunder. The people in the capital crouched and covered their ears as the sound exploded in their ears. Their bodies trembled with fear as they wondered if disaster had come. When Zi Zun entered the palace again, he saw Xia Yushan blocking Xi Longtian with his sword. However, for every slash he blocked, two more struck his body. Now, cracks filled his figure, turning his pristine white robes ashen gray. ¡°Brother Xia!¡± Zi Zun shouted as he attacked. He appeared next to Xi Longtian in a flash and released a punch. Xi Longtian had noticed him the moment he arrived, and was already moving his saber in a defensive position, but Zi Zun was faster. His fist flew toward Xi Longtian¡¯s chest, unobstructed. Xi Longtian¡¯s body blurred, and he crashed several meters deep into the walls. Zi Zun did not press his advantage and quickly checked Xia Yushan, who had knelt down and had to use his sword as a crutch to prevent himself from collapsing. Xia Yushan coughed and glistening silver liquid drops appeared on the ground. ¡°Brother Xia, you should retreat first.¡± ¡°What about you?¡± Xia Yushan asked. ¡°Xi Longtian¡¯s strength is beyond what we thought. I¡¯m not sure you¡¯re his opponent, even in your current state.¡± Zi Zun did not deny Xia Yushan¡¯s words. ¡°My power has increased, my offense is still only at the peak monarch level, but my speed is unmatched, even among emperors. If I cannot defeat him, I¡¯ll just flee.¡± Xia Yushan, who had experienced Zi Zun¡¯s speed before, nodded. ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°You really don¡¯t take me seriously, do you?¡± Both Zi Zun and Xia Yushan felt their hearts grow cold when they heard Xi Longtian¡¯s voice so close to them. Zi Zun turned around to defend, but halfway in his movement, a saber had already cut him in half. Xia Yushan could only react instinctively and back away, but it was still too late. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Ahhh!¡± Xia Yushan screamed in pain. Right hand still holding his sword, he covered the stump where his arm once had been. On the floor, his dismembered arm lay with silver blood leaking out. ¡°Go!¡± Zi Zun shouted. He had condensed himself again and attacked Xi Longtian. Xia Yushan gritted his teeth and, after a moment of hesitation, a talisman appeared in his hand. Not a second later, spatial energy covered him and he disappeared from the Xi Dynasty palace. He didn¡¯t even take his arm with him, fearing that Xi Longtian would take this chance to attack him. With Xia Yushan gone, Zi Zun went all out. He would burst with speed, appearing all over the battlefield. So swift was his speed, it appeared that he had clones attacking Xi Longtian from all angles. Xi Longtian had given up on most of his defense. He only used his sword to block Zi Zun when he attempted to attack his head and allowed the other punches to land on his body freely. Each punch from Zi Zun carried tremendous force, and upon contact, they would release a burst of lightning, but it was as if Xi Longtian was unaffected by the punches and lightning. ¡°Why? How can you withstand my attack so easily?¡± Zi Zun asked, bewildered beyond all measure. A slash answered Zi Zun¡¯s question. After the slash, Xi Longtian¡¯s calm voice entered his ears. ¡°You¡¯re just too weak.¡± Anger erupted in Zi Zun¡¯s mind, but when he saw the cold light on Xi Longtian¡¯s saber, his mind immediately cooled. Although his attacks landed on Xi Longtian more than the saber struck him, the saber slash always left black qi in his body. He couldn¡¯t understand. Why was he so much faster than Xi Longtian, yet he still was at a disadvantage? As if knowing his thoughts, Xi Longtian said, ¡°Don¡¯t you get it? You¡¯re too weak to handle the power in your body. You are faster than your mind can process. Every time you move, there will be a delay. For people weaker than you, it won¡¯t be a problem, but against someone like me, you¡¯re just a jumping clown.¡± Zi Zun didn¡¯t allow his anger to affect his actions again. After a few more strikes, Zi Zun flashed again, but this time, he wasn¡¯t anywhere in the palace. Xi Longtian¡¯s eyes darkened. ¡°You think you can come and leave as you please? You must pay a price for your arrogance.¡± He inserted the saber beside his waist, as if there was a sheathe. Power aggregated in his body as he prepared to unleash a killing blow. Although Zi Zun had fled far away, he could still sense the latter. Who told him to be such a beacon of energy? Even in the distance, Zi Zun felt the threat. He couldn¡¯t help but unconsciously speed up. Just as Xi Longtian prepared to attack, he felt a sense of crisis overcome him. He disrupted his technique, causing qi to explode outward and resulting in a backlash, but he didn¡¯t care as he flipped away. He didn¡¯t just stop at a flip, but literally rocketed away over a hundred meters. Where he once stood, the space in a hundred meters froze. It only lasted for a second before it collapsed in on itself, creating a void. The void emitted a powerful suction that deformed the palace. The palace wasn¡¯t even an immortal artifact, so it quickly collapsed under the power. Xi Longtian furrowed his brows as he stared at the center of the implosion. He ignored the collapsing structure. When stone and wood fell near or atop him, they disintegrated into dust, no matter the size. Even if the entire palace collapsed on top of him, he would not be injured. Although it had been only for a moment, he had seen a hand sleeved in purple disappearing out of the corner of his eye when he dodged. It wasn¡¯t that he was attacked that puzzled him, but the sense of familiarity. Only the roar of the collapsing palace answered him. Ten minutes later, Xi Longtian stood atop the palace rubble. ¡°Your Majesty, are you alright?¡± a survivor and the captain of the royal guards asked with worry. Xi Longtian didn¡¯t answer him. Instead, he gazed over, causing the captain and other people who arrived to shiver in fear. ¡°Men, imprison him on suspicion of treason. Two people broke into the palace to assassinate me, and yet, you, the captain, didn¡¯t even know.¡± The blood drained from his face. Even as the soldiers quickly grabbed both of his arms, he shouted, ¡°Your Majesty, I didn¡¯t know! I wasn¡¯t involved. Give me a chance. I¡¯ll prove my innocence!¡± His pleas fell on deaf ears. Ignoring Xi Longtian, all the people present lowered their heads, not daring to contradict or plead for the captain¡¯s release or innocence. ¡°What are you standing here for? Hurry and go build a new palace and hire new servants and guards.¡± Upon feeling the emperor¡¯s icy gaze, all of the people left except for a few guards. Xi Longtian ignored them and stared at the sky. ¡°Who are you?¡±
The space tens of thousands of kilometers away from the Xi Dynasty rippled. A bubble formed and soon popped, revealing Xia Yushan. He staggered and barely managed to stabilize himself by stabbing his sword into the ground. The sheen on his body disappeared, and he spat out a mouthful of red blood. Xia Yushan continued to cough, even falling onto his knee. With trembling hands, he took out a pill from his spatial ring and stuffed it into his mouth. Only then did a hint of rosiness return to his cheeks. However, he didn¡¯t move. Instead, he sat down and started to recover his qi. That recovery didn¡¯t last long as he snapped his eyes open. Without delay, he gripped his sword and slashed upward, unleashing a sword light. The light sliced through the air and split the cloud above him. The moment the sword light split the cloud, it seemed to have hit a barrier. No matter how much it struggled, it was at an impasse. Soon, the qi sustaining it died out and the sword light vanished, revealing a figure. Or rather, figures. Three people, each one wearing a robe adorned with clouds. The one in the lead exuded the aura of an immortal monarch. She stood taller than most women. She was beautiful, no doubt, but her beauty was better described as handsomeness. Though, no one would not mistake her as a woman. Xia Yushan recognized her. ¡°Yun Xialan!¡± ¡°We finally meet, disciple of the Buzhou Immortal Sect Master,¡± Yun Xialan said, eyes cold. Xia Yushan¡¯s eyes also became cold and a sinking feeling appeared in his stomach. ¡°Why are you here in the territory of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, Holy Cloud Saintess?¡± ¡°Of course¡­¡± Yun Xialan let her words draw out, stretching the suspense. A cold smile appeared on her face. ¡°It¡¯s to kill you!¡± Chapter 503: Dire Future Tianyi sighed when he saw that his sneak attack failed. Since he failed, it was better to retreat. He couldn¡¯t defeat Xi Longtian, but the latter couldn¡¯t sense him. Though, he didn¡¯t know if that would remain true if he stayed or during their next encounter. He always felt like Xi Longtian had known of his presence, which was why he didn¡¯t go all out against Zi Zun and Xia Yushan. With one last shake of his head, he left the Xi Dynasty. He didn¡¯t have much attachment to the Xi Dynasty. If it was the Xi Dynasty of the prime timeline, he might have done something to remove Xi Longtian, but an alternate timeline? He didn¡¯t have so much time to waste. Especially since he knew that the Xi Dynasty was flourishing under Xi Chen¡¯s reign in the prime timeline. He didn¡¯t chase after Xia Yushan or Zi Zun. Instead, he directly teleported back to the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Specifically to the central peak, where Grand Elder Xia was. ¡°Don¡¯t you know Xi Longtian¡¯s real identity? He¡¯s not a mere clone,¡± Tianyi asked after reporting everything that happened. ¡°I do, but if Yushan can¡¯t even overcome this, he won¡¯t be able to survive the destruction of this timeline and enter the prime timeline,¡± Grand Elder Xia said. Yes, he had already known about Zi Zun and Xia Yushan¡¯s plan to kill Xi Longtian. Tianyi opened his mouth, but no words came out. He could offer to take Xia Yushan into his inner universe and attempt to ferry him into the prime timeline. However, he didn¡¯t know if this method would encounter a backlash. Even if Xia Yushan couldn¡¯t live in the prime timeline, he could survive in the Nine Heavens Universe. However, Tianyi didn¡¯t forget that this Xia Yushan was of the same origin as his. True, because they didn¡¯t grow up together, Xia Yushan would likely not form an inner devil or become hostile, but Tianyi never forgot Xia Yushan¡¯s confession. Even in this alternate timeline, Xia Yushan still fell in love with Jiang Daoyi, and a large part of his hostility toward Xi Longtian was because of her. He wasn¡¯t so magnanimous as to bring a man that eyed his wife to his side. Grand Elder Xia must have known of the potential of his inner universe, but he didn¡¯t say anything. Perhaps he had already seen Xia Yushan in other timelines. If a man, cultivator or not, experienced so many timelines, it would invariably make them more detached from others and emotions. Cases of immortal emperors going mad had occurred because of their attempts to merge all their alternate selves, after all. Suddenly, Grand Elder Xia¡¯s expression changed. ¡°Yushan¡¯s soul lamp was extinguished.¡± It took a moment for Tianyi to process the meaning. ¡°You mean he died? Who could have done it? The Dragon Emperor? No, I still have a watcher on him. He hasn¡¯t left his territory.¡± ¡°I probably know,¡± Grand Elder Xia said with a sigh. ¡°Who?¡± Tianyi asked. He may have had some friendship with Xia Yushan in the beginning, but after drifting apart, those feelings dimmed with time. He even drifted apart from Xia Yushan¡¯s friend group. Not to mention that it was already good he didn¡¯t have a deep grudge now. All that was left was curiosity. Grand Elder Xia didn¡¯t whet his appetite either. ¡°The Anti-Heaven Alliance.¡± ¡°Them? What about the Cloud Goddess? She¡¯s a deity born of faith. Even if she has the power of an immortal emperor, she lost the qualification to absorb her alternate selves when she underwent apotheosis as a monarch,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°She¡¯s dead. They say she¡¯s been missing because she left the Huang Realm, but I suspect assassination,¡± Grand Elder Xia said. ¡°The one who leads them now is the Leakless Sect.¡± ¡°Leakless Sect?¡± Tianyi repeated. Old memories surfaced, and he asked with interest, ¡°How about the San Jiuling of this world?¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t exist in this world. Or rather, the version you know doesn¡¯t exist here,¡± Grand Elder Xia. Upon seeing Tianyi¡¯s surprise, he continued. ¡°We suspect he¡¯s a reincarnator like you.¡± Tianyi sighed. ¡°A pity.¡± He wouldn¡¯t dwell on it too much. Because of their respective stance, they would never become friends despite their shared origins. ¡°So, do you want my help?¡± Although he didn¡¯t care for the Xi Dynasty, it wasn¡¯t the same for the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Call him biased or selfish, but he grew up in the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Even if it was in a different timeline, he didn¡¯t mind aiding them. Grand Elder Xia shook his head. ¡°There¡¯s not much value, and the outlook isn¡¯t good. Grand Elder Voidink has also disappeared. As for the thing behind Broken Heaven Valley, it already disappeared. There isn¡¯t even a single immortal emperor in the sect right now. The Anti-Heaven Alliance has more than sixty percent of all the first-rate forces on Heaven Continent.¡± ¡°That¡¯s much more dire than I thought,¡± Tianyi said. He didn¡¯t point out that Grand Elder Xia was an emperor in terms of realm. ¡°There¡¯s not really much point in salvaging this timeline,¡± Grand Elder Xia said rather coldly. It was as if this timeline had nothing to do with him, especially after Xia Yushan¡¯s death. ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want me to help?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°Even if my strength is reduced, it¡¯s still enough to create thousands of incarnations that can detonate and kill true immortals.¡± The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Rather than waste your energy on this, you should focus your energy on infiltrating the Numinous Sword Sect,¡± Grand Elder Xia said. ¡°Since the Buzhou Immortal Sect of this world is going to disappear, I¡¯ll hand over some divine artifacts, fragments, and realm artifacts. You can keep the divine artifacts in your inner universe since they will disappear once you take them out in the prime timeline, but the realm artifacts can still be brought out.¡± ¡°Disregarding the fact that it feels morally wrong, stripping the Buzhou immortal Sect of this world of its treasures, the Immortal Court is going to be quite wealthy and shock the others,¡± Tianyi muttered. ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want me to help?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Tianyi wanted to persuade Grand Elder Xia, but no matter how he persuaded, Grand Elder Xia denied his aid. Instead, he lectured Tianyi. ¡°Grand Elder Nine Heavens, you must prevent yourself from growing attached to the timelines. You must always place the prime timeline as the priority.¡± ¡°Even in this situation?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°Yes.¡± Tianyi almost wanted to ask him if he cultivated the Emotion Severance Sutra, but he knew that it was impossible. He had seen Xia Yushan after he cultivated the Emotion Severance Sutra, and Grand Elder Xia didn¡¯t exhibit any of the signs. So, he relented. When Tianyi saw less than ten divine and realm artifacts, he couldn¡¯t help but look suspiciously at Grand Elder Xia. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that. Most of the divine and realm artifacts are stored in the forbidden zone. These are the ones that were distributed before it disappeared,¡± Grand Elder Xia said. He pointed to a small pile of broken artifacts. ¡°Divine artifact fragments, on the other hand, we have much more of them. Even if you take these fragments into the prime timeline, they won¡¯t merge with their counterparts.¡± Tianyi nodded. He waved his hand and the artifact fragments, divine artifacts, and realm artifacts vanished. ¡°I¡¯ll be thinking of a way to enter the Numinous Realm now. See you back in the prime timeline.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not going to stay and watch?¡± Grand Elder Xia asked. ¡°What¡¯s the point? The Anti-Heaven Alliance is only history in the prime timeline. There are no secrets that need to be guarded against. With you here, I¡¯m not needed. Besides, watching the Buzhou Immortal Sect getting destroyed is going to make me depressed.¡± Tianyi added an afterthought. ¡°And this will probably be the best time the Numinous Sword Sect will lower its guard. Who knows, maybe the Cloud Goddess¡¯s disappearance is their work.¡± Grand Elder Xia nodded. ¡°See you back in the prime timeline.¡± Tianyi left the Huang Realm, but he didn¡¯t directly fly toward the Numinous Realm either. A true immortal that suddenly appeared in the Numinous Realm without the appearance of an Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation will definitely arouse the Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s wariness. Instead, he planned to enter a middle-rank realm beneath the Numinous Realm. Ascending directly from a high-rank realm would leave too many holes in his story if they were to investigate him. It was easier to just ascend from a middle-rank realm. After all, the number of low-rank realms was astronomical and finding which low-rank realm someone ascended from was much more difficult. Although this method took longer, it also gave him time to recover from his injuries swimming in the Six Paths of Samsara.
The denizens of the Zhong Realm looked up in the sky. The cultivators could feel a change in the air, and although the common mortal could not do the same, they sensed something in their souls. A tear appeared in the sky, showing a world. It was akin to a reflection, but it didn¡¯t show the Zhong Realm. No, it showed the lower world connected to the Zhong Realm. Once it stabilized, spiritual qi from the Zhong Realm poured into the lower realm. The mortals who saw this couldn¡¯t help but discuss in excited voices or kneel in worship. On the other hand, the cultivators frowned. The hopes that had arisen in their heart vanished. Ascenders from a lower realm appeared around once every hundred years, but it had been ten thousand years since the last person from the Zhong Realm broke the limit and ascended to a higher realm. Many of them were beginning to think that no higher realm existed and that the records were just lies. No one alive had seen anyone break the limit of the Zhong Realm and ascend. Still, that didn¡¯t stop the cultivators of the Zhong Realm from flying toward the spatial tear. Every ascender was a genius. They might have taken more time to reach the same height as the people in the Zhong Realm, but that was because of the inferior cultivation environment. Once they stepped into the Zhong Realm, they had high hopes of reaching the peak. As such, any ascender was solicited by all forces. If the ascender rejected the forces, the forces would monitor him and see if the ascender would threaten their rule. Generally, most ascenders who did not join forces were assassinated. Even if they did not show any signs of disrupting the rule of the current powers, that might change once they reach the peak. By the time they arrived, a man had already stepped out of the hole. Once he stepped out, the hole healed. The cultivators observed the man that was standing on top of a cauldron. He wore light green robes with a jade hairpin holding his hair. They couldn¡¯t see his face because it was covered by a mask. Before any of the representatives could talk, they smelled an enticing scent. Soon, their brains felt mushy, as if clouds were inhibiting their thoughts. As their eyes grew blurry, they saw the new ascender turn around. When they awoke, they discovered that the ascender had disappeared. The cultivators were more sure than others that the ascender had a problem. Otherwise, why would he knock them out at first chance? More than that, they suspected that the ascender had received some sort of powerful inheritance. The greed of the Zhong Realm¡¯s forces made them seek out the new ascender, but no matter how they scoured the land, they could not find a trace of the ascender. Sixty-three years later, the cultivators saw a tremendous storm cloud appear in the wilderness, raining bolts of lightning down. It was far more powerful than the Core Formation or Acupoint Opening Heavenly Tribulation, and someone couldn¡¯t help but guess that someone wanted to ascend. When they arrived, they saw the green-robed man pelted by lightning bolts. Although the cultivators originally had malicious thoughts, none of them took action. They wanted to know if the legend was true. If someone could ascend, the hope of ascending would reignite in their hearts, and the stagnant pool that the Zhong Realm had become would turn lively once more. Eighty-one bolts later, the storm clouds dispersed, and the masked man rose into the air. He radiated an aura far more powerful than the peak combatants of the Zhong Realm. He looked over at them, making the cultivators present nervous. Although they hadn¡¯t done anything to the masked man, that was because the masked man had hidden himself well enough. What if he wanted revenge after gaining power? Thankfully, their worries did not come true. ¡°In one week, I will hold a sermon to enlighten all beings in the world.¡± Chapter 504: Sword Embassy A week later, cultivators from all walks of life, those from powerful forces and loose cultivators with no fetters, arrived at the location where the masked-man in green robes resisted the lightning bolts. Although many of them had enmity against the other, none of them clashed, forming a queer yet peaceful atmosphere. None of them dared. What if they angered the ascender? Would he not preach because of them? This was the first sermon from someone ascending in over ten thousand years. If they displeased him and he did not preach, they would be the sinners of the Zhong Realm. There were a few close calls, but thankfully, no fights broke out. Soon, the masked-man appeared from the sky, and a medicinal fragrance filled the air. ¡°You can address me as Ding Mian.¡± Upon hearing this, the crowd of cultivators addressed him as Grandmaster Ding. Ding Mian raised his hand, and the people hushed. ¡°I don¡¯t like to waste time, so I¡¯ll start the sermon now.¡± ¡°The path of cultivation is split into two paths, the spiritual and martial paths. Because of the incomplete heritage and barren cultivation environment, the main path of cultivation in the low-rank and middle-rank realms is the martial path.¡± Ding Mian continued his sermon. He enlightened the natives of the Zhong Realm on the common sense of the higher realms. He didn¡¯t teach a martial cultivation method because there were many, but he did make a relatively simple spiritual cultivation method, to the accolades of the people present. The crowd thought Ding Mian¡¯s sermon ended when he finished teaching the spiritual cultivation method, but it wasn¡¯t the end. Instead, he expounded on the art and method of alchemy. The Zhong Realm did not have a good inheritance and did not even know how to forge artifacts or formations. It would not be an exaggeration to say that after today, the Zhong Realm would usher in a period of prosperity with alchemy at the head. Ding Mian rose into the air after finishing his sermon on alchemy. He waved his arm, and a tear opened in the sky. When the crowd saw him ascend to a higher realm, they did not give up the opportunity. While Ding Mian ascended, a dense flow of spiritual qi flowed out of the tear. As the ones closest to the phenomenon, they absorbed it as much as possible for the greatest benefit. When the crowd awoke, they couldn¡¯t help but lament. Why couldn¡¯t Grandmaster Mian preach for seven days and seven nights? This way, they would have much more benefits. Still, that was only a thought and even if Ding Mian appeared again, none of them would really dare to force him to preach for seven days and seven nights. All the people rushed back to their homes in order to write down what they learned, lest they forget. Some even wanted to find a cauldron and attempt to refine pills on the spot. Even those who didn¡¯t have the talent would search for suitable disciples and teach them the art of alchemy. However, none of this had anything to do with Ding Mian, who had already ascended to a high-rank realm. Just like when he first entered the Zhong Realm, many cultivators arrived, wanting to solicit him to join their force, but just like before, he disappeared and hid himself. No matter how the forces searched, they could not find traces of Ding Mian. Naturally, Ding Mian didn¡¯t really find a secluded spot to cultivate until the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation arrived. He disguised himself to investigate the situation of the high-rank realm. There were four top forces in the high-rank realm, but only three actually ruled the land. The fourth top-rank force comprised only one city, but it held a transcendental status. None of the other top forces dared to belittle it. The Sword Embassy had a connection to a force in the immortal-rank realm, and this wasn¡¯t just a rumor, but a proven fact. Ages ago, the former top forces allied together and attempted to destroy the Sword Embassy. As a result, those top forces disappeared while the Sword Embassy still stood. The current top forces still remembered the event, so they treated the Sword Embassy with great respect, and the Sword Embassy did not care about the affairs of the mundane world. The Sword Embassy only had a few members and only recruited heaven-defying geniuses as disciples, an event which hadn¡¯t occurred for millennia. They don¡¯t even care about ascenders, but many cultivators still visited them. The Sword Embassy was the center of trade and prosperity. They often held auctions, which brought in all the major players of the high-rank realm. Not only that, but as long as someone could bring a treasure or information that satisfied them, they would trade them valuable immortal-level techniques. It was because of the Sword Embassy¡¯s possession of powerful technique that aroused the covetous hearts of the former top forces. Even the current top forces traded with the Sword Embassy. Ding Mian appeared in front of Sword Embassy City. Even from afar, he could see the towering pagoda of the Sword Embassy. It seemed to have the ability to pierce the heavens and open a way to the immortal realm. He paid the entrance fee of three middle-rank spirit stones and successfully entered. He walked around the city a bit and saw that the order was quite good. Even though the Sword Embassy ruled the city, they didn¡¯t stop other forces from purchasing property. Now, almost all forces with enough power would purchase a piece of land for business. Some powerful forces even purchased land for residential purposes. Of course, most of the people who lived in Sword Embassy City were loose cultivators, who made up over half the population. When Ding Mian asked about purchasing property, he learned that it was all sold out. You couldn¡¯t buy a house even if you had ten times the money. The city had a rule that people without a place to stay had to vacate the city at night, so he booked a room for a month. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. However, he didn¡¯t stay in the room and went to the Sword Embassy instead. Guarding the gate were two soul nourishing grandmasters. It spoke volumes of the Sword Embassy¡¯s power when they had two grandmasters guarding the entrance. In the high-rank realm, venerables and saints rarely appeared, meaning that the top players were grandmasters. The two martial grandmasters only eyed Ding Mian as he walked in and did nothing else. They could sense his grandmaster-level cultivation base, but didn¡¯t take it seriously. Inside, long lines filled the hall. Even though he was a grandmaster, no one came forward, so Ding Mian could only line up like the others. In the line were cultivators of all ranks and from all walks of life lined up together. It should have caused a mess, but everyone was honest. Even if a foundation establishment disciple saw a grandmaster, the weaker cultivator wouldn¡¯t be afraid. At least, inside the Sword Embassy. After a few hours, it was finally his turn. ¡°Sir, I wonder what you came to the Sword Embassy for? Is it for buying or selling? Or are you putting something up for auction?¡± Ding Mian reached into his sleeves and pulled out a jade bottle. ¡°Selling.¡± The beautiful receptionist¡¯s smile didn¡¯t change at all when she saw the bottle placed in front of her. She took it and pulled the stopper out. Immediately, a dense medicinal fragrance poured out, shocking her and those nearby. Any who smelled it would feel their spirits lifted and their bodies cleared. The other receptionists and cultivators on both sides stopped talking and stared at the jade bottle. The receptionist forced herself to keep her smile, but it was obviously strained. She took a whiff, but she couldn¡¯t identify the pill inside the bottle. She didn¡¯t think it was because the pill wasn¡¯t something well known. Something with such a dense medicinal fragrance couldn¡¯t be something unknown. It was obvious that she wasn¡¯t knowledgeable enough. She put the stopper back into the bottle. ¡°Sir, please wait a moment while I get an expert to identify this.¡± Her attitude had changed. Although she had treated Ding Mian respectfully on the surface, he could still sense her bone-deep arrogance. Now, it was a different story. The receptionist left after he nodded his head. While waiting, the conversations between the other customers and receptionists resumed, but they couldn¡¯t help but glance at Ding Mian. More than a few engraved Ding Mian¡¯s face into their memories and planned to contact him after he left. Not long later, the sound of rushed footsteps appeared in everyone¡¯s ears. ¡°Councilman Swordfive!¡± The Sword Embassy didn¡¯t have a leader, but a council that managed them. In total, there were ten council members, three upper members and seven lower members. Each council member was titled sword followed by a number suffix. Swordfive was a middle-aged man with speckled hair and beard. His eyes lit up when he saw Ding Mian. ¡°Young man, did you refine this?¡± Ding Mian nodded. He had confidence to flee if the Sword Embassy had any negative thoughts on him. Councilman Swordfive smiled. He glanced around and said, ¡°It¡¯s not convenient to talk here. How about following me to a private room?¡± Ding Mian didn¡¯t have any objections and followed the man, disappointing the crowd, who wanted to know what was going on. Even though they wouldn¡¯t know the inside story, they knew someone worth paying attention to had appeared. After all, Swordfive was quite courteous to Ding Mian. ¡°I never expected that the new ascender would have such alchemical prowess. Even in the Sword Embassy, a high-rank Concealed Vitality Pill is rare,¡± Councilman Swordfive said. Ding Mian showed a shocked expression, pretending to be surprised that the Sword Embassy knew that he was a recent ascender. Councilman Swordfive allowed a prideful smile to appear on his face. ¡°The background of the Sword Embassy is far more unfathomable than you or any forces can imagine. But, I¡¯m not here to talk about that. Since you can refine the Concealed Vitality Pill, you must be able to refine other pills of similar rank. I want you to concoct a pill for me.¡± Before Ding Mian could reply, he continued. ¡°Of course I know the customary rules of alchemists. I¡¯ll prepare the pill recipe and three batches of ingredients for you and give you the payment after the pill is successfully refined.¡± Since Councilman Swordfive already said this, Ding Mian nodded. Councilman Swordfive wanted Ding Mian to refine a Root Refinement Pill. It was a pill that could only be used by mortals, but it could improve a mortal¡¯s cultivation talent. It turned out that Councilman Swordfive¡¯s descendants weren¡¯t gifted with good spiritual roots. Because he only had a few more centuries left, he originally prepared to just leave enough to protect them after he died, but an outstanding disciple appeared among his descendants. The descendant had double spiritual roots, and one of them was perfect. Unfortunately, the other half of the spiritual root was a shattered spiritual root. Not only would it not help cultivation, but it would negate the effect of the perfect spiritual root instead. So, he wanted to get a Root Refinement Pill to turn the shattered spiritual root into a fractured spiritual root. Alas, the Sword Embassy didn¡¯t have any Root Refinement Pill in stock, and none of the alchemists had enough skill. Councilman Swordfive was resigned to boost his descendant¡¯s cultivation through resources, but Ding Mian appeared like a ray of light in darkness. The councilman invited Ding Mian to live in his abode, and Ding Mian agreed. A month later, he successfully concocted the Root Refinement Pill, much to Councilman Swordfive¡¯s joy. Not only that, it was a high-rank Root Refinement Pill, which meant that there was a chance to turn the shattered root into a flawless spiritual root, further enhancing his descendant¡¯s talent. Because of his joy, Councilman Swordfive gifted Ding Mian a mansion in the city and a silver sword token. Sword tokens were items given to outsiders to denote their status to the embassy. Few cultivators received gold sword tokens and even the leaders of the top forces only had silver sword tokens. From that day on, Ding Mian became a famous person in Sword Embassy City and the entire realm. Many people traveled from all corners of the world to request him to concoct a pill for them. Ding Mian accepted some and rejected others. During this time, many people had evil intentions about him, but Ding Mian rarely left the city, making their schemes fruitless. The number one customer of Ding Mian was the Sword Embassy, so they would naturally protect him. Over five hundred years later, Ding Mian¡¯s silver sword token had been upgraded to a gold sword token, but no one cared, because dense storm clouds had convened above him, raining down bolts of lightning. Chapter 505: The Numinous Realm Many venerables appeared in the vicinity of the storm clouds. Even a few transcending mortality and mortality shedding saints, who had not appeared for ages, also appeared. Many of them could trigger the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation, but because they were not sure, none of them dared to. Now, they wanted to see if this junior who had appeared in the last millennium could succeed. Most were skeptical. All things equal, alchemists cultivated faster than any other types of cultivators. That was not to say alchemists could cultivate faster, but that they could concoct pills that sped up their cultivation speed. Not only that, if they were talented enough, they could concoct pills that helped them reach the next realm, such as the Foundation Establishment Pill, Core Formation Pill, Nascent Soul Pill, Unity Pill, and their martial counterparts. According to legend, there should be a True Immortal Pill, Immortal Monarch Pill, Immortal Emperor Pill, and Immortal Sovereign Pill, but the recipes were lost at the end of the primordial era. Although anyone who took those pills to become immortal would forever be unable to make progress unless they took another pill that raised their strength and they would be the weakest of their types, many people still sought them. After all, individuals that had the luck, and the chance to enter the Immortal Realm appeared only once in a blue moon. The onlookers watched with bated breath. After hundreds of lightning bolts, one final bolt descended. That last bolt was like the source of all light in heaven and earth. When it struck Ding Mian, it was as if the sun had appeared on the ground, and the sky turned into night because the sun had left. When the radiance died down, the onlookers saw an upside-down cauldron where Ding Mian sat. It was caked in black soot, and the surrounding ground had turned into a crater of glass from the sheer heat of the lightning bolt. Just as they were wondering if they should go forward and check if Ding Mian had died, the cauldron shook. In front of everyone¡¯s eyes, the cauldron flew up and reversed itself, revealing Ding Mian. He didn¡¯t look good, with singed hair, dried blood covering his body, and torn robes. At first glance, it would have been the best chance for any greedy cultivators to kill and rob his possessions, but none dared no matter how great their courage was. Although he looked injured and weak, his aura had dramatically increased. Just his aura alone was enough to freeze most saints. If any of them had secret thoughts of killing Ding Mian, they all extinguished them at this moment. Ding Mian rose into the air. At a visible rate, the spiritual qi of heaven and earth gathered around him, flowing into his body. His hair returned to its jet black sheen, and his burnt skin fell off, revealing tender skin. Except for his torn robe, Ding Mian appeared even better than before he resisted the lightning bolts. ¡°Congratulations to Immortal Ding!¡± At this time, a nascent soul grandmaster cupped his hand and congratulated. He was the descendant that Councilman Swordfive had asked Ding Mian to refine the Root Refinement Pill. Although Councilman Swordfive had died over a century ago and his clan had declined in influence, there was still at least a nascent soul grandmaster who had a high chance to become a venerable. Not to mention that Ding Mian¡¯s relationship with this clan had always been close. When he sells his pills or takes orders, the clan serves as an intermediary. Just this relationship alone boosted the clan¡¯s influence. Soon, the other cultivators also sent their good wishes to Ding Mian. Ding Mian also thanked them. Soon, they all left, leaving him alone with the nascent soul grandmaster. Unlike the middle or low-rank realm, this high-rank realm was connected to the immortal-rank realm, so a sermon from him wouldn¡¯t amount to much. Since that was the case, Ding Mian didn¡¯t send out word that he would preach, much to the disappointment of all the alchemists in the high-rank realm. ¡°I¡¯ll leave in a month at the latest. During this time, I¡¯ll refine pills for you. This is the last time I¡¯ll concoct pills for you, so you must use them sparingly. There are also some rare pills, so you should give some to the Sword Embassy for protection, lest you attract greedy gazes,¡± Ding Mian said. Of course, the materials would be given by the clan, but the nascent soul grandmaster still thanked Ding Mian a lot. Now that he had become an immortal, his pills would be of an even higher rank, something that was almost impossible to appear outside an immortal-rank realm. So what if the clan¡¯s treasury became depleted? It was all worth it. A month later, a tear appeared in the sky above Sword Embassy City. Specifically, it was directly above former Councilman Swordfive¡¯s residence. The dense spiritual qi benefited the entire high-rank realm, but those closest to it naturally got the best gains. The nascent soul grandmaster led his clan and bowed to Ding Mian, who was ascending to the immortal-rank realm. Ding Mian averted his eyes and flew into the portal. After traveling through the portal, he arrived in the Numinous Realm. Unlike before, Ding Mian didn¡¯t immediately hide. It wouldn¡¯t make sense. The power disparity between an ascender in the immortal-rank realm was far greater than in the lower realms. He could hide there, but it wouldn¡¯t be easy in the Numinous Realm. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it So, rather than embarrassing himself, he should just wait and see if he could join any force. It didn¡¯t take long before several true immortals appeared and solicited him to join them. Unlike the lower realms, only a few of them asked him to become a core force. Most asked him to be a guest elder. The Numinous Realm wasn¡¯t like the lower realms. Although true immortals were still rare and powerful, it didn¡¯t mean they weren¡¯t unattainable. The chances of an ascender reaching the Seamless Immortal Realm were only a little higher than native cultivators. However, all of them became silent when a new immortal appeared in the sky. As if purposely revealing his superiority, the immortal appeared above everyone else. When Ding Mian saw the new immortal, his eyes widened. The new immortal wore plain robes and had an even plainer face. The most eye-catching feature he had was the seemingly ordinary sword hilt peaking over his shoulder. Ding Mian¡¯s eyes widened slightly behind his mask when he saw him. ¡°Seven Star Sword Monarch!¡± a true immortal uttered. Among the most promising immortal monarchs of the Numinous Sword Sect, it was the Seven Star Sword Monarch and the Kunlun Sword Monarch. ¡°Can I ask you why you appeared here?¡± a true immortal of a third-rate force asked, rather cautiously. The Numinous Sword Sect didn¡¯t usually solicit ascenders like them. First was the matter of trust. Second, they were powerful enough to not need to solicit true immortals. However, the Seven Star Sword Monarch¡¯s appearance seemed to have broken that pattern. The Seven Star Sword Monarch smiled. ¡°It¡¯s as you think. Originally, it was supposed to be someone else, but I was nearby, so I came here.¡± The true immortals hissed. Why would the Numinous Sword Sect accept that new ascender? Perhaps the ascender already had a relationship with the Numinous Sword Sect? Although not many people knew, it was not a big secret that the Numinous Sword Sect had many outposts in the lower realms. Perhaps the new ascender was a disciple from the lower realms? ¡°Then I¡¯ll trouble Senior,¡± Ding Mian said. That¡¯s right, he had already decided which force to join before ascending. The Sword Embassy had already asked him to join the Numinous Sword Sect during the month before he left. His luck was actually pretty good to ascend to a high-rank realm associated with the Numinous Sword Sect. Then, under the other true immortals¡¯ eyes, the two left. Ding Mian stood on the Seven Star Sword Monarch¡¯s gourd-shaped immortal artifact. Although he was a true immortal, his flying speed was far inferior to the Seven Star Sword Monarch. ¡°If you have any questions, feel free to ask,¡± the Seven Star Sword Monarch, who sensed Ding Mian¡¯s gaze, said. ¡°Thank you, Senior Seven Star Sword Monarch.¡± The Seven Star Sword Monarch waved his hand. ¡°No need to be so distant. Although you will be an outer guest elder, you are still part of the Numinous Sword Sect. It¡¯s not impossible for you to become an inner guest elder, it¡¯ll depend on your attainments in alchemy. My name is Meng Tingfeng, you can address me as Senior Meng.¡± ¡°Then, Senior Meng, can you tell me about the Numinous Realm?¡± Ding Mian asked. ¡°That¡¯s no problem at all,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. ¡°I¡¯m sure you already know a few things about the Numinous Sword Sect. When you were in the high-rank realm, you might think that if you didn¡¯t join, we would kill you. But that¡¯s not true. Although a true immortal is powerful, they aren¡¯t necessary for us. What we value is your attainments in alchemy.¡± Although the Numinous Sword Sect was powerful, it was relatively lacking in other parts. Unlike the Immortal Court, which dabbled in everything, the Numinous Sword Sect specialized in combat, specifically the sword. Of course, their weak points equaled the strengths of many other forces. ¡°The Numinous Realm is predominantly a world of seas. There is only one continent and seven large islands. The forces in the world have five levels; they are unranked forces, third-rate forces, second-rate forces, first-rate forces, and hegemonic forces. There is only one hegemonic force in the Numinous Realm, and that is the Numinous Sword Sect. It is us who named this immortal-rank realm.¡± ¡°We control the Sword Continent and there are many second and third-rate forces. Each first-rate force controls a large island. In total, there are seven first-rate forces: Myriad Saber Alliance, Shifting Star Sect, Wavefold Sect, Hanging Spear Sect, Twin Moon Sect, Void Ripple Sect, and the Divine Pill Sect.¡± Ding Mian sighed as he listened, playing the role of a listener. After Meng Tingfeng finished, he couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°How many of the first-rate forces have immortal emperors? How many emperors does the Numinous Sword Sect have?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. ¡°I know that there are two emperors from the first-rate forces. As for our sect, it could be as low as five emperors, or as high as ten emperors.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Ding Mian said. He didn¡¯t know if Meng Tingfeng really didn¡¯t know, or if he was guarding against him, but it didn¡¯t matter. The two continued to talk, and the more they talked, the more harmonious the relationship between them became. Several days later, they arrived at the Numinous Sword Sect. Ding Mian saw nothing but a colossal mountain surrounded by pillar-shaped mountains that pierced the clouds. Their destination wasn¡¯t even on the ground, but above the clouds. Once they flew above the clouds, he could see magnificent palaces and sword-shaped monuments built atop the mountain peaks. Countless bridges linked mountain peaks with each other. Furthermore, he could sense that the sea of clouds hid a powerful formation. Mortals couldn¡¯t even reach the Numinous Sword Sect, even if there wasn¡¯t a formation warding them away. The sea of clouds was akin to the Mortal Severance Gate of the Immortal Court. The world above the clouds was like a different world, extremely similar to the world of immortals imagined by mortals. Meng Tingfeng welcomed Ding Mian once again. ¡°Welcome to the Numinous Sword Sect.¡± Chapter 506: The Vestigial Hegemon Meng Tingfeng brought Ding Mian to a mansion allocated specifically for new guest elders. He would live there under supervision. Only after passing the Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s test would he be given the status of outer guest elder and be gifted a land of his own on one of the outer peaks. After settling Ding Mian, Meng Tingfeng flew toward one of the central peaks to report Ding Mian¡¯s presence. When he entered the hall to report, his figure instantly attracted several gazes full of admiration. Among those gazes, there was hostility. He didn¡¯t find it strange. Although he was one of the two most likely people to become an immortal emperor, it didn¡¯t mean everyone liked him. Especially since he was originally an ascender. Compared to him becoming a decision maker of the sect, they would rather a native become the decision maker. Meng Tingfeng found them boring. They spent all their efforts on political intrigue, no wonder their cultivation stalled. Or was it because their cultivation stalled that they focused on external power? Becoming an immortal monarch was far more difficult than becoming a true immortal. Geniuses who became true immortals instantly lost their brilliance in front of the insurmountable wall known as the worldly law. After reporting Ding Mian¡¯s presence, he turned to leave. On his way out the doors, he paused and saw a man leaning on it with his arms crossed. Next to him stood a beautiful woman in pink robes. The man wore white like him, but it was obvious his clothes were more luxurious at first glance. More than that, the man had a youthful vitality on his face. Unlike Meng Tingfeng. Although he appeared in his thirties, the hair on his temples had already turned gray and he exuded an air of vicissitude. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to see you here. Were you watching for me, Ye Chen?¡± The seemingly young man in his early twenties, snorted. ¡°Don¡¯t put gold on your face. What qualifications do you have to make me specially come to see you? Ever since Bao Ling disappeared, no one has been my opponent.¡± Although the man¡¯s words seemed arrogant, there was a trace of loneliness to them. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a pity that Bao Ling suddenly disappeared,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. Although the world called the Numinous Realm called them the junior emperors of the Numinous Sword Sect, there was once a genius that overshadowed their brilliance. However, that genius mysteriously disappeared one day. With time, people forgot about that dazzling star. ¡°What¡¯s to pity? It¡¯s only bad luck. That guy disappeared before I could surpass him,¡± Ye Chen said, a hint of regret and anger in his voice. Meng Tingfeng didn¡¯t agree physically nor verbally. However, he also had some regrets. Ye Chen was proud, but so was he. Compared to Bao Ling¡¯s genius was like a dazzling star in the sky, he was only a lantern on the ground. However, that only aroused his fighting spirit. Since young, he had always been the one chasing others. Time after time, he had used his own hands to pull down those lofty stars. Without Bao Ling, Meng Tingfeng felt a bit empty. There were always the immortal emperors above him and even Ye Chen, who equalled him, but he felt that compared to his previous motivation, they could not force the same pressure onto him as Bao Ling had. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s not talk about him,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. ¡°I have an important question to ask you.¡± He walked toward Ye Chen until he was only standing less than a meter apart. He used a voice that only the two of them could hear. ¡°Did you notice that it seems to be getting harder to sense the worldly laws?¡± Ye Chen didn¡¯t immediately answer. Instead, he narrowed his eyes. ¡°Your cultivation may have slowed down, but mine won¡¯t.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t say I was wrong,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. ¡°You should have sensed that something in the world has changed. War has broken out in the Huang Realm. Wars aren¡¯t new, but this time, it feels different. The number of forces attacking the Buzhou Immortal Sect isn¡¯t even the peak it endured in the past, but there are hints that the Buzhou Immortal Sect might fall. It doesn¡¯t have the foundation of yore and resembles a paper tiger. If it really was a paper tiger, it would have fallen ages ago.¡± ¡°What are you trying to say?¡± Ye Chen asked. ¡°The immortal emperors of the Numinous Sword Sect have not been showing up lately. The only one that is showing up is Emperor Wujian. He¡¯s the oldest among the sword emperors. Logically speaking, he should be hibernating to prolong his lifespan. It¡¯s as if he is deliberately showing himself and sending a message,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. Ye Chen didn¡¯t answer. He had also sensed the change in the Numinous Sword Sect. It radiated a decaying air. The weaker members might not have sensed anything, but the strong ones like Meng Tingfeng and himself felt something intuitively. Not just them, but even some of the first-rate forces can sense something off. They¡¯ve already begun testing, hence Emperor Wujian¡¯s appearance. If the Numinous Sword Sect had the spare energy, they would have wanted to join in on the fun in the Huang Realm. As old ¡°friends¡±, they didn¡¯t mind adding a kick to the Buzhou Immortal Sect. But now, they could only guard their own territory, like an old lion defending its last pride. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°Are you afraid?¡± Ye Chen asked. Meng Tingfeng smiled. ¡°No. The more pressure there is, the stronger I will become. Besides, I¡¯ve gotten quite tired of the peace.¡± Ye Chen snorted, but he did not deny Meng Tingfeng. In a sense, the Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s crisis was an opportunity for the both of them. If the crisis erupted, Meng Tingfeng¡¯s background won¡¯t matter as much. The Numinous Sword Sect will elevate him to a core member because they would have no choice. As for Ye Chen? Although he was a core member, he had a lot of enemies inside the sect because of his romantic relationships. Ye Chen was quite the womanizer, accruing a large harem of women. From his early days, he seemed to have found a new woman for each realm he reached. Not only that, but each subsequent woman he found was better than the last. Of course, not all the women he embraced were without commitments. Fiance, admirers, and other relationships. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Ye Chen was the envy of all men in the Numinous Realm. The men whose women were stolen naturally did not have good ends. Well, even without those entanglements, Ye Chen wasn¡¯t exactly well-loved by everyone in the sect. Just because they didn¡¯t want Meng Tingfeng to become a decision-maker didn¡¯t mean they wanted Ye Chen to become one. He was just the better choice for the majority of the Numinous Sword Sect. Plenty of factions supported longstanding immortal monarchs. They might not be as dazzling as the two of them now, but each one was a pillar of the generation and had a chance to become an emperor. ¡°If there¡¯s nothing else, I¡¯ll be leaving now,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. ¡°Wait,¡± Ye Chen called out. ¡°You seem very interested in that new guy?¡± Meng Tingfeng did not deny Ye Chen¡¯s words. ¡°Originally, I was just going to take a look since I sensed a new ascender, but when I saw him, I felt a sense of intimacy. It¡¯s very faint, and it doesn¡¯t come from the body. I feel like I should know him.¡± A playful smile appeared on Ye Chen¡¯s face. ¡°You aren¡¯t going to tell me that he¡¯s your son, right? After searching for so many years, the woman you are searching for probably died long ago.¡± Meng Tingfeng didn¡¯t say anything. His expression didn¡¯t even change. However, the air turned tense. He turned toward Ye Chen, his voice frighteningly calm. ¡°If you do anything to him¡­¡± He left his words hanging before turning to leave, no longer in the mood to converse. Ye Chen shrugged. ¡°Really, I thought you were calmer than that.¡± The killing intent he felt earlier wasn¡¯t faked at all. If Ye Chen said anything about harming Ding Mian, Meng Tingfeng would have really attacked him. It was not a secret that Meng Tingfeng had an experience with a woman in the lower realms. Because of that one event, he felt responsible and was determined to find her. People called it true love, and because of his unwavering search that lasted thousands of years, many people had good feelings toward him. Women, too. ¡°That guy is too rude. Doesn¡¯t he know that he is an outsider, no matter how long he stays?¡± Well, most women. Ye Chen grabbed the woman¡¯s waist and pulled her to his chest. ¡°Forget about that boring guy. Come, I heard that the Void Jade that is important to you appeared in the Northfrost Islands.¡± The woman gave a smile that could light up the night sky. ¡°Yes, Brother Chen.¡±
It didn¡¯t take long for the Numinous Sword Sect to accept Ding Mian¡¯s position as a guest elder. In fact, it took much shorter than he¡¯d thought it would take. He expected them to keep him there for at least a few years to investigate his background. Even if he had the guarantee of the Sword Embassy, the Numinous Sword Sect should have investigated his origins more deeply. Still, he wasn¡¯t complaining. What he would complain about was that they immediately put him to work. The Numinous Sword Sect wanted him to concoct as many sixth and seventh rank pills as soon as possible. If he hadn¡¯t just ascended and was too young, they would have wanted him to concoct eight rank pills, too. Ding Mian lost count of how many Concealed Vitality Pills he concocted. For him, it was easy to concoct top-rank Concealed Vitality Pills in batches without wasting any of the materials. However, he only showed that he could concoct high-rank Concealed Vitality Pills in batches. The real tasks were to concoct Heaven and Earth Restoration Pills. They were rank seven pills that could heal true immortals. He had to spend a month to concoct each one and the highest quality was only middle-rank, but the Numinous Sword Sect gave him a generous amount of contribution points for each one. Compared to the other alchemists of the sect, his speed was six times faster. It really showed that the Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s alchemists were really average. Ding Mian only set his level as a talented immortal alchemist, but he didn¡¯t expect that there would be no competition from the Numinous Sword Sect. At the rate his contribution points grew, he would be promoted as an inner guest elder within thirty years. He didn¡¯t immediately use up the contribution points. For now, he saved them. Some resources could only be exchanged after he accrued a certain amount. Once it dipped below that amount, he wouldn¡¯t be able to exchange them, even if he had enough points. Ding Mian had to acknowledge the Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s black-hearted tactic. This meant that he always had to keep a reserve, limiting the amount of contribution points. At least, the materials to refine pills were delivered to him free of charge. No contribution points would be deducted from the pills he exchanged. He didn¡¯t think the Numinous Sword Sect was so generous. It only showed how desperately they needed the pills. After completing a batch of pills, Ding Mian wiped his forehead, even though there wasn¡¯t a single drop of sweat. He waved his hand and the finished pills flew into a bottle. ¡°Damn, they¡¯re really working me to the bone, this damn sweatshop. There needs to be an alchemist union to protect our rights,¡± Ding Mian muttered. He stretched a bit before sitting down. He held a jade slip and inserted his immortal sense into it. There, he could read a list of all the materials and techniques he could exchange. ¡°There¡¯s really a lot. Oh, there¡¯s some rare pill recipes I haven¡¯t seen. I¡¯m not really interested, but to keep up my act, I should buy some and improve my alchemy.¡± ¡°Oh? Heaven Severing Sword Art? That sounds like domineering. I should buy it. Hmmm? I guess I can¡¯t find any techniques from the primordial era like the Seven Star Sword Art.¡± When Ding Mian finished speaking, his expression twisted a bit. A mask appeared over his face and his aura changed from frivolous to serious. ¡°That guy, why is he always clinging to me? Doesn¡¯t he have anything better to do?¡± Ding Mian walked out, holding the bottle containing the pills in his hand. He looked at Meng Tingfeng. ¡°Are you here to pick up the pills?¡± Chapter 507: Monarch Sublimation Pill Ding Mian walked into the center, where a giant jade cauldron stood. Around him, many members had arrived, all watching or observing with bated breath. This naturally included Meng Tingfeng. He even sensed a curious and playful gaze from a handsome man surrounded by five beauties. Nearly a century had passed by since Ding Mian arrived. During this time, he rarely left the Numinous Sword Sect. And when he left, he only visited the Sword Continent and didn¡¯t cross the seas to visit the other islands. Most of the time, he stayed at his residence to concoct pills. Aside from the ones requested by the Numinous Sword Sect, he also concocted many other pills that piqued his interest. He was very interested in pills like the Sword Will Pill. As the name suggested, anyone who ingested the pill will have a higher chance of developing sword intent. Of course, it¡¯s impossible to directly upgrade to the level of sword intent. It¡¯s more likely that they would awaken sword qi or upgrade to sword light. It was not without risk either. Those whose willpower were too weak would have their minds shattered by the powerful concept contained within the pill. Becoming braindead was the best choice. At worst, their souls might collapse because they were unable to withstand it. For those who embarked on the path of the sword, the Sword Will Pill was a good if dangerous tonic, but for those who already awakened other types of intents, it was the most deadly poison. For analogy, it was like adding water to boiling oil. How can there not be an explosion? Despite the Sword Will Pill sounding impressive, it was impossible to mass produce. The core ingredient, the Sword Will Leaf, was something grown exclusively by the Numinous Sword Sect, and it cost a sky-high price to purchase. Of course, the number of Sword Will Leaves might be much higher than outsiders think, but the sect had a monopoly, so they could set the price as they liked. Although the Sword Will Pill was a seventh-rank pill, it could be used by almost anyone, even mortals. The only requirement was a strong will to weather the negative effects. As long as the Numinous Sect wanted to, they could form a powerful force. Even if only one in ten survived, it would be a worthwhile exchange. However, except for Ding Mian, no one could concoct the Sword Will Pill in the Numinous Sword Sect in thousands of years. Just like how the Numinous Sword Sect had a monopoly on the Sword Will Leaves, Ding Mian had a monopoly on the Sword Will Pills. This allowed him to have a much deeper and more intimate relationship with many elders of the sect. After all, even if they couldn¡¯t use it, they could give it to their outstanding disciples or descendants. It was what allowed Ding Mian to become an inner guest elder much earlier than he predicted, saving decades, if not a century of time. As for the reason why so many people gathered here? It was to see if Ding Mian would succeed in concocting an eighth-rank pill. It wasn¡¯t just any eighth-rank pill, but the Monarch Sublimation Pill. Although true immortal lords are rare, they are larger in number than immortal monarchs. Logically speaking, so many immortal lords were on the cusp of fully understanding a worldly law and gaining the ability to ascend to a seamless immortal. Yet, most of them would be stuck at this juncture until their death. It didn¡¯t help that, as sword immortals, battles were the most useful for their breakthrough, but in the Numinous Realm, where they reigned for ages, was peaceful. Ironic that the very thing that would help them wasn¡¯t available because of the sect¡¯s very own presence. The Monarch Sublimation Pill could help immortal lords comprehend a complete law. While it was only a chance, it increased the likelihood by more than thirty to sixty percent depending on the quality of the pill. Of course, the immortal lord who took the pill also played a role. The more accumulation they have, the greater the chances. When Ding Mian arrived at the cauldron, he didn¡¯t do anything and sat in a lotus position. He closed his eyes and slowly breathed, adjusting his condition. None of the people watching were surprised. Even when concocting sixth-rank pills, alchemists like Ding Mian had to maintain their peak condition. One mistake was all it would take to cause the pill to fail. After a few minutes, Ding Mian opened his eyes and floated until he could see the inside of the cauldron. He waved his hand and an azure flame ignited under the cauldron, and an intense heat radiated off of it. Many of the people narrowed or widened their eyes when they saw the flame. Flames had levels like cultivation. Although they didn¡¯t know what characteristic the blue-green flame had, they categorized it as a monarch-level flame. Although it was not unheard of for cultivators to control elements beyond their realm, alchemists did not pursue power, but control. For Ding Mian to use a monarch-level flame as an immortal, it spoke volumes of his technique and confidence. Soon, the cauldron turned from black to blue-green. The air around the cauldron also twisted and deformed from the sheer heat, but Ding Mian watched, like he was oblivious to the blistering heat. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Then, an unknown and wilted herb appeared in his hand, which he threw into the cauldron. The herb was roasted by the heat, but it didn¡¯t blacken or even wilt. After hours, a greenish drop of liquid was extracted from it. Once the liquid appeared, the herb turned into ash. Ding Mian continued to drop materials into the cauldron. Sometimes it was a few stalks of grass, other times it was a branch, and sometimes even a bone. This continued for thirty days. As time passed, the number of people didn¡¯t decrease but increased instead. Finally, on the thirty-first day, a lotus seed appeared in Ding Mian¡¯s hand. The moment it appeared, a fragrant lotus scent filled the air. This lotus seed was a seed from the Heavenly Law Lotus. Created from the fragment of the Thirty-Six Petaled Azure Lotus, a mortal who ate the Heavenly Law Lotus could transform into an immortal even without cultivating. It was the core ingredient of the Monarch Sublimation Pill. Ding Mian casually threw the lotus pill into the cauldron, like it was some random object in the world, not some precious, unrenewable resource. A few members of the Numinous Sword Sect even wanted to rush up and grab his head to see if there was something wrong with Ding Mian¡¯s brain. Thankfully, they held back. The instant the Heavenly Law Lotus Seed reached the center of the cauldron, the heat intensified by over ten times. Ding Mian¡¯s hands flashed through several hand seals nonstop. His actions did not stop even as hours passed. After three continuous days, Ding Mian¡¯s eyes finally turned serious. Not just him, but the spectators could sense a change in the air. Countless strands of light exploded from the cauldron. Anyone who gazed at those strands would find their comprehension of worldly laws increase. However, many people frowned. ¡°Is it still too hard for him?¡± Meng Tingfeng muttered. The countless strands were a sign of Ding Mian¡¯s loss of control. The more strands that escaped, the less would be left for the Monarch Sublimation Pill. It might even cause the pill to fail directly, wasting his effort. If he failed, no matter how desperate the Numinous Sword Sect was, they would have to weigh the risk of losing a Heavenly Law Lotus Seed. However, Ding Mian did not show any panic. Instead, he raised his hand. ¡°Arise.¡± Under the stunned gazes of countless immortals, a formation appeared in the sky. When the strands of lights touched the formation, they could not fly farther. Not only that, the formation shrunk, pushing the strands of light back. Soon, the formation shrunk until it could easily fit inside the cauldron. After that, the spectators couldn¡¯t see what was happening. They couldn¡¯t even use their immortal sense, because using their immortal sense would interfere with the concoction process. Ding Mian lowered his raised hand and then made a fist. ¡°Condense!¡± The air rippled, but nothing escaped from the cauldron. No strands of light or even a faint whiff of medicinal scent. With a wave of his hand, a jade-colored pill the size of a fingernail flew out and into Ding Mian¡¯s palm. As the light reflected off the surface, faint lights could be seen. After a few moments of silence, an immortal lord couldn¡¯t help it and flew forward. A hint of uncertainty and excitement filled his voice. ¡°Did you succeed?¡± The immortal lord¡¯s title was Wisteria. He was over ten thousand years old, but that was still considered relatively young among true immortals. More importantly, he was the strongest immortal lord and the recipient of the Monarch Sublimation Pill if Ding Mian successfully concocted it. Ding Mian moved his palm in front of Wisteria. ¡°I had to modify the recipes, but yes, I succeeded. Although it is only an intermediate-rank pill. You don¡¯t have to worry about the pill losing its medicinal effect. The formation engraved on the pill will prevent that.¡± Wisteria stared at the pill. He reached out to pick it up, but stopped, afraid that even the tiny touch would destroy it. Ding Mian sighed. He moved his hand, causing Wisteria to look up in panic. Luckily for him, Ding Mian only placed it in a bottle before handing it over. Right after handing it over, another immortal came forward, almost pushing Wisteria out of the way. Although he wore the uniform of the Numinous Sword Sect and had a sword on his waist, he emanated a faint medicinal smell. ¡°Fellow Daoist Ding¡ªno, Lord Ding. Can you tell me what method you used at the end? Did you combine formations and alchemy to complete the Monarch Sublimation Pill? Ingenious!¡± He wasn¡¯t the only one as more and more alchemists, whether they were members of the Numinous Sword Sect or guest elders, crowded around Ding Mian. They were like swordsmen who had seen the world¡¯s strongest sword, or even a pervert that hadn¡¯t seen a woman in centuries. ¡°Alright! Enough already.¡± At this time, Meng Tingfeng arrived and stopped the flood of excited people. ¡°Alchemist Ding has just finished concocting an eighth-rank pill. He is very tired and must return to his abode to recuperate. You can visit him after he rests.¡± ¡°My apologies, I let the excitement get the better of me,¡± a Numinous Sword Sect alchemist said. ¡°Yes, yes, it was our fault. But when I send an invitation, don¡¯t ignore it, okay?¡± a guest elder alchemist said in a slightly joking tone. However, he wasn¡¯t joking at all. Compared to the alchemist of the Numinous Sword Sect, he was less likely to be able to meet or get anything from Ding Mian, so he was slightly panicked. Ding Mian nodded to Meng Tingfeng in thanks and turned around to leave. Before he left, someone, or rather, six people, entered his view. It was Ye Chen and his harem. ¡°I never expected Alchemist Ding to be so accomplished. If I have a request, I hope you don¡¯t refuse,¡± Ye Chen said with a lighthearted tone. Ding Mian¡¯s expression could not be seen, but his tone was plain, almost bored. ¡°As long as the rewards are enough, I will naturally not reject your request.¡± With the words said, Ding Mian left. However, Meng Tingfeng stared at Ye Chen. ¡°Don¡¯t use those underhanded tricks that can¡¯t be seen.¡± ¡°Underhanded?¡± Ye Chen chuckled. ¡°I never use tricks, only might.¡± Sparks flew between the two most promising sword monarchs. After a few seconds, their gazes diverted, and the two went their separate ways. Although everything ended peacefully, the matter of Ding Mian¡¯s success had a far-reaching effect, especially the Monarch Sublimation Pill he concocted. However, everyone was still waiting, waiting to see if Immortal Lord Wisteria successfully entered the Seamless Immortal Realm. Six years later, a phenomenon appeared above the Numinous Sword Sect. The Dao Manifestation represented the birth of a new monarch, and his name was Monarch Wisteria! Chapter 508: Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus Immortal Lord Wisteria¡ªno, Monarch Wisteria¡¯s Dao Manifestation only lasted a single day and night. It was not as short as the average length of Dao Manifestation from those outside the Numinous Sword Sect, nor did it break any records of the longest Dao Manifestation within the sect, either. It was just above average. After the Dao Manifestation ended, an air of festivity filled the Numinous Sword Sect. Many members came and congratulated Monarch Wisteria. Simultaneously, the number of invitations Ding Mian received increased exponentially. As part of the custom, Monarch Wisteria held a sermon to explain his comprehension of the worldly law and enlighten those who have not yet mastered a worldly law. During these times, the core members would sit closest to the center, followed by the ordinary members, and only then would the external members, like guest elders, sit. However, Ding Mian was invited to sit in the second row, demonstrating the importance the Numinous Sword Sect attached to him. Once the sermon ended, the Numinous Sword Sect invited the other sects to celebrate the birth of a new monarch. No matter what would happen in the future, the Numinous Sword Sect was still the hegemon of the Numinous Realm on the surface. So, the invited sects all sent representatives. Only the first-rate forces had been invited. The second-rate forces and below did not have the qualifications. Ding Mian also attended the celebration, expecting to see some excitement. But to his disappointment, everything ended peacefully. The first-rate force representatives didn¡¯t even try to cause trouble or make the host lose face. Although they brought some rare gifts to congratulate Monarch Wisteria, it was nothing the Numinous Sword Sect did not have ample reserves of. Rather, they also gifted Ding Mian with many rare and exotic materials. Compared to Monarch Wisteria¡¯s gifts, the value only barely exceeded his. It was obvious that the first-rate forces wanted to establish a close relationship with this new alchemy lord. They also requested of him to concoct pills for generous rewards, but Ding Mian rejected on the basis that his current capacity couldn¡¯t fulfill all the obligations he already had. His attitude satisfied the Numinous Sword Sect elders, but the first-rate forces didn¡¯t become mad. They accepted it rather kindly, even inviting him to visit them once he had time. After the celebration ended, Ding Mian discovered that his treatment also increased. It exceeded the standard of what he should have received. Although he could concoct an eighth-rank pill, he only had one success. His treatment would naturally increase, but the rewards and privileges the sect gave him were that of a seasoned eighth-rank alchemist, not a new eighth-rank alchemist. Ding Mian soon speculated on the true reason. They wanted to bind him closer to the Numinous Sword Sect and not allow the other first-rate forces to poach him. He didn¡¯t reject their advances. Even if the Numinous Sword Sect was on the decline, it was still much more attractive to him than the other first-rate forces. None of them had a better foundation or heritage. For the next few years, he did not leave the Numinous Sword Sect, nor did he contact any other forces. Even if they sent invitations or secretly met with him, he simply rejected them. His actions greatly eased the Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s worry toward him. Although it could be acting, his actions of decisively rejecting the other first-rate forces were undoubtedly a sign. In turn, they treated him even better. Although he was still an immortal lord, his treatment was no different from an immortal monarch guest elder. Of course, that could also be due to the fact that he could consistently concoct eighth-rank pills. Though he could only output one or two pills a year, the Numinous Sword Sect was already very satisfied. Thirty-seven years later, Ding Mian heard a piece of information that aroused his excitement. On a small island south of the realm, a Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus had appeared. He immediately submitted his application to join the acquisition team. Originally, the Numinous Sword Sect rejected his application, but he submitted it again and expressed that he would leave for the southern island even if they rejected him. Faced with Ding Mian¡¯s stubbornness, the Numinous Sword Sect agreed to his participation. After all, this was the first request he put forward, and they attributed it to his nature as an alchemist. He wasn¡¯t the only alchemist that wanted to participate, but the others were all rejected for their own safety. The turning vote was Meng Tingfeng¡¯s guarantee. He joined in order to protect Ding Mian, and besides, Emperor Wujian was going to lead the team. The mode of transportation wasn¡¯t an immortal boat, but a giant sword. The one standing at the front was Emperor Wujian. At first glance, he appeared like a hunchbacked man in his ailing years. Although he did not exude an aura of decay or death, he would likely only have a thousand years left at most. Suddenly, he looked back. His cloudy eyes connected with Ding Mian¡¯s clear eyes for a split second. ¡°What a sharp sense, or maybe it¡¯s intuition?¡± Ding muttered after Emperor Wujian looked away. ¡°Were you surprised, Ding Mian?¡± Meng Tingfeng asked, walking up to him. ¡°This should be your first time seeing an immortal emperor. Not as oppressive as you thought, almost like a mortal, right?¡± Ding Mian played along. He looked at the other people on the sword. There weren¡¯t many, just six more. Each one was an immortal monarch. The team to secure the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus had one immortal emperor and seven immortal monarchs. He was the only true immortal on board. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Meng Tingfeng chuckled. ¡°Actually, the more powerful one is, the more they restrain themselves. To those weaker, they appear like mortals, but if you underestimate them, you will pay a heavy price.¡± ¡°If I can¡¯t sense their cultivation base, then it only means that they are far above me. How can I possibly underestimate them?¡± Ding Mian asked. ¡°It¡¯s good you can think like that. That means you¡¯re likely to live longer,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. The two didn¡¯t talk for long, because the sword underneath them moved. It shot southward at a dizzying speed. Even a true immortal would find themselves unable to capture anything but a blur. ¡°Surprised?¡± Meng Tingfeng asked. ¡°The gulf between an immortal emperor and a true immortal is wider than a mortal and a saint.¡± Ding Mian only nodded. Meng Tingfeng didn¡¯t find it strange. Ding Mian had always been taciturn. In fact, one of the greatest sources of curiosity people had about him was his true appearance. The mask he wore could block out immortal sense, and he had never taken it off. ¡°When we arrive, just stay back and don¡¯t do anything. If you are caught in the crossfire between immortal emperors, it¡¯ll be too dangerous,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. Ding Mian nodded, and the two sank into silence. The flying sword reached the edge of the continent in an hour and soon flew above the sea. A few days later, the sea¡¯s color changed from deep blue to flowing gold. The source of the golden water was an island with a surface area of almost eight million square kilometers. The closer the sword came to the island, the stronger the lotus fragrance. Unlike the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus, which had a subtle and ephemeral beauty, the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus had a radiant and gorgeous beauty. Its mere presence changed the valley that it was born in. The Numinous Sword Sect wasn¡¯t the first force to arrive. They were the third, neither early nor late. The Myriad Saber Alliance and the Twin Moon Sect had already arrived. Like the Numinous Sword Sect, the one leading them were immortal emperors. Ding Mian observed the two emperors carefully. The one from the Twin Moon Sect wore a dazzling red robe. On his forehead was a crescent moon mark. He was known as the Redmoon Emperor. The emperor from the Myriad Saber Alliance had a sleeveless robe, which exposed his thick arms. His hair was in disarray and he had a saber slung over his back. He was the Threeslash Emperor. Unlike Emperor Wujian, the two emperors did not notice Ding Mian¡¯s gaze. Or perhaps they didn¡¯t care, so they ignored him. After all, Ding Mian was hardly the first, nor would he be the last to observe them. All of them kept a certain distance from the unripe lotus. They only waited and did not interact. The Moment the lotus bloomed, a battle would undoubtedly erupt. Three days later, the final sect arrived. They didn¡¯t fly like the other forces already present. Instead, they appeared from a ripple in the sky. They did not have a vehicle to carry them. Instead, they just calmly walked out of the ripple. Each one wore a robe so black it appeared like a hole in reality. The one leading was an elder that looked older than Emperor Wujian. He had specks on his face, but his eyes were bright. He was this generation¡¯s Ripple Emperor of the Void Ripple Sect. In terms of age, he was even older than Emperor Wujian by over ten thousand years. The two oldest emperors of the Numinous Realm shared a glance, but quickly looked away. Then, a peace filled the area, but everyone knew that it was only the calm before the storm. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Ding Mian asked when he saw Meng Tingfeng¡¯s grave expression. Meng Tingfeng showed a look of surprise when he saw Ding Mian actually strike a conversation with him. However, he quickly calmed down and explained. ¡°I remember telling you about the number of immortal emperors. It¡¯s not wrong to call this the largest gathering of immortal emperors in the Numinous Realm. But an emperor¡¯s departure means that the defense of the headquarters would be weakened. No matter how attractive the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus is, they shouldn¡¯t dispatch all the emperors.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Ding Mian understood. Although the first-rate forces treated the Numinous Sword Sect as its greatest foe, they shouldn¡¯t lower their guard against the other first-rate forces. For three emperors to arrive, did it mean that they secretly formed an alliance? Even a child would know who the alliance was formed for. However, instead of being worried, he was secretly excited. The more chaotic the Numinous Realm was in and the more danger the Numinous Sword Sect was under, the more benefits he could reap. The peace lasted for twenty-seven days. On the twenty-eighth day, countless dazzling motes of golden light filled the air, and the lotus fragrance intensified. Anyone who inhaled it, even immortal monarchs, would feel their body fill with endless energy. It could even extend a mortal¡¯s lifespan depending on the amount smelled. More than that, it could even strengthen an ordinary mortal¡¯s body to the peak of the Body Transformation Realm and even Acupoint Opening Realm. The first to react was the Ripple Emperor. He disappeared in a flash and reappeared a thousand meters away from the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus. He frowned. Although he expected the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus to influence the surrounding region, he still expected to teleport within a hundred meters. He didn¡¯t have time to ponder any longer as a sword light and saber light stabbed toward him. Both Emperor Wujian and Threeslash Emperor unsheathed their weapons and attacked at nearly the same time. Taking this chance, the Redmoon Emperor turned into a streak of moonlight and flew toward the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus. The Ripple Emperor stretched his hand out toward the Redmoon Emperor and formed a hand seal. The space in front of the Redmoon Emperor distorted, causing him to veer off course. He ignored the sword and saber lights that reached him. Instead of damaging him, they just sank into his body, leaving only ripples. The Threeslash Emperor didn¡¯t continue to attack the Ripple Emperor. Instead, he turned his attention toward Emperor Wujian. ¡°I¡¯ve always wanted a chance to fight you. Now that you are here, let¡¯s have a hearty battle and show the world which is superior, the saber or the sword!¡± Emperor Wujian did not back down and engaged with the Threeslash Emperor. While emperors fought against emperors, the monarchs and true immortals present didn¡¯t take action. In the high-intensity battle between immortal emperors, they had no place. They weren¡¯t required to participate, at least not now, but many of them still looked tense as the immortal emperors fought. There was only one that wasn¡¯t tense. Ding Mian stared at the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus with narrowed eyes behind his mask. Chapter 509: The Immortal Confining Sword Ding Mian looked at Meng Tingfeng. ¡°Are you not going to take action?¡± Meng Tingfeng gave him a strange look. ¡°I think you have some misconceptions about me. I know you¡¯ve heard of my title as junior emperor, but just because I reached the threshold of the emperor level doesn¡¯t mean I can actually contend with immortal emperors. At least not for long. Besides, I¡¯m only here to protect your safety.¡± Ding Mian glanced at one of the immortal monarchs watching the battle closely. ¡°One junior emperor might not be enough, but what about two?¡± Meng Tingfeng followed his gaze and saw Ye Chen. Although the Numinous Sword Sect was in decline, there were still two hopes. As long as he and Ye Chen could enter the Extremity Immortal Realm, then the Numinous Sword Sect could still reign as the hegemon of the realm, even if it wasn¡¯t as dominant as before. If he and Ye Chen teamed up, they could contend against an immortal emperor for a short while, but the problem was that the two didn¡¯t have much of a relationship. Rather, they were quite alienated from each other. If they did not sense the changes in the Huang Realm, they would have likely not interacted outside of forced interaction by the sect. ¡°Forget it,¡± Meng Tingfeng said with a shake of his head. ¡°He and I don¡¯t get along that well, much less teaming up. Instead, you should focus on the battle. Their techniques might be far beyond your current understanding, but if you can comprehend even a fraction of an immortal emperor¡¯s technique, you will have benefited a lot.¡± Since Meng Tingfeng already said so much, Ding Mian didn¡¯t say anymore. As Meng Tingfeng advised, he watched the battle between the immortal emperors, hoping to get a spark of inspiration from their battle. Unknown to the immortal monarch, Ding Mian could see much more than he thought.
Emperor Wujian and the Threeslash Emperor clashed again and again. They had forgone any means of long distance combat in favor of close quarter combat. Although they could release sword light, most weapon masters like themselves preferred close combat. There was no ripple, no grand torrent of energy, or miraculous phenomenon around the two immortal emperors. Aside from the fact they were standing in midair, they were just a swordsman and sabersman fighting at an extremely fast rate. Emperor Wujian¡¯s gaze flickered toward another direction, and the Threeslash Emperor narrowed his eyes. Suddenly, the Threeslash Emperor¡¯s arm blurred. Just as his saber¡¯s edge was about to touch Emperor Wujian¡¯s neck, a sword deflected it. Although no qi or light burst out from the saber, a deep ravine appeared in the direction where the saber had swung. It was not that Emperor Wujian or the Threeslash Emperor weren¡¯t using powerful techniques and having a simple contest of skill, but that the energy behind each attack was carefully measured and controlled. Each slash they swung could split the island in half easily. If the Numinous Sword Sect hadn¡¯t strengthened the Numinous Realm over millions of years, the two emperors would have never dared to fight within it because doing so would cause the dimensional boundary to destabilize. In contrast, the fight between the Ripple Emperor and the Redmoon Emperor was much more magical. The surrounding area around the two emperors had transformed into a landscape similar to the surface of the moon. Only instead of reflecting a white glow, it reflected a rusty red light, draping the atmosphere in an eerie light. On this moon, certain rules were different. Unlike the Emperor Wujian and the Threeslash Emperor, the Ripple Emperor and the Redmoon Emperor were not in the air but walking on the moon¡¯s surface. The Ripple Emperor was on the ground against his will, because the rules of the red moon dictated that no one could fly, and as the creator of this rule, the Redmoon Emperor was more bound by this rule than his foe. Two unlucky immortal monarchs had also fallen under this rule because they could not escape the range when Emperor Redmoon transformed the land. But they quickly evacuated from the area. Once they left the boundaries, they could fly again. The Redmoon Emperor held two chakrams in each hand, each whirling with the movement of his fingers. He swung his arm and two chakrams sliced toward the Ripple Emperor. The Ripple Emperor¡¯s body blurred, as if it was phasing out of reality, but soon, it returned to normal. His eyes flickered, but he did not attempt to teleport again. Instead, he held his palm out, as if to blow the two chakrams away. Even if an immortal sovereign was present, he would not dare to take the two chakrams barehanded. Still, the Ripple Emperor did not attempt to dodge. Just as it seemed a chakram would slice through his palm, they disappeared in a ripple. The second one disappeared in the same way. The Ripple Emperor lowered his palm and raised his other hand. A ripple appeared and two chakrams shot out. The Redmoon Emperor raised his hand to retrieve them, but as they neared, he frowned. His other hand threw the remaining two chakrams. Sparks flew as the four chakrams clashed. They froze for a bit before whirling back into the Redmoon Emperor¡¯s hand. The Ripple Emperor waved both his arms like whips. Two crescents shot forth from his swing, each soaring toward the Redmoon Emperor. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. The Redmoon Emperor no longer twirled the four chakrams, but grabbed them by their handles, two in each hand. When the void crescents reached him, he swung his two arms and shattered them. He didn¡¯t have time to do anything else as the Ripple Emperor had appeared a few meters away, palm flying toward him. Chakrams met palm, but just like before, ripples appeared. However, they didn¡¯t get sucked into the ripple because the Redmoon Emperor was holding onto them. The two emperors locked eyes and hands. ¡°As expected of the Redmoon Realm. It suppresses externalization of qi and spells, forcing those within to fight in close quarters. Paired with the Bluemoon Realm of the Bluemoon Emperor, you two can hold an absolute advantage against anyone. No wonder you two are called the Twin Supreme Moons,¡± the Ripple Emperor said. ¡°Senior is overpraising me,¡± the Redmoon Emperor said, his arms exerting greater strength in an attempt to overpower the Ripple Emperor¡¯s seemingly frail and skinny arms. However, the Ripple Emperor¡¯s arms did not budge, as if they were forged of steel. ¡°I only dare to fight you. Against Emperor Wujian and the Threeslash Emperor, my Redmoon Realm is not effective. Alas, even if the Redmoon Realm is most effective against you, I¡¯m still forced to a tie.¡± ¡°No need to diminish your achievements. You are still young, with much more potential to tap than an old man like me,¡± the Ripple Emperor said. Although it was a fierce battle where a slight mistake could result in heavy injuries, both of them were talking as if it was just an ordinary conversation. The two didn¡¯t have much to say about the other, and they continued their battle. Even while they battled, the two immortal emperors did not forget to keep their eye on Emperor Wujian and the Threeslash Emperor. The battle raged on. No matter how fierce the battle between emperors became, none of the participants became injured. It was as if they could continue to battle forever. While two emperors battled on the ground, the two emperors in the sky fought everywhere, changing positions nonstop. The only place they didn¡¯t step into was the Redmoon Realm. On the seventh day, when Emperor Wujian and the Threeslash Emperor clashed near the border of the Redmoon Realm, the borders suddenly expanded, engulfing them within. The sudden change made Emperor Wujian and the Threeslash Emperor temporarily halt their battle and stare at the Redmoon Emperor. In response, the Redmoon Emperor simply disappeared, leaving the Ripple Emperor standing alone in a vast expanse of red. Although only three emperors could be seen, they knew that the Redmoon Emperor hadn¡¯t fled or left. If he left, the Redmoon Realm would collapse, which meant that he had merged with the Redmoon Realm, trapping them. It only took a second for them to discover this. The three emperors didn¡¯t say a single word, but they all banded together. Ripples spread from where the Ripple Emperor stood, distorting the surrounding ground. Emperor Wujian and the Threeslash Emperor attacked the ground with their sword and saber nonstop. As long as they destabilized the Redmoon Realm, not only would it collapse, freeing them, but it would also injure the Redmoon Emperor¡¯s immortal body. Outside, the instant the Redmoon Realm¡¯s boundary shifted, chaos erupted. The monarchs of the Void Ripple Sect and Twin Mood Sect burst into action. The Void Ripple Sect flew toward the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus, while the Twin Moon Sect monarchs formed a moon-shaped war formation. The first to react to the two sects¡¯ actions was Ye Chen. Without another word, he unsheathed his swords and flew toward the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus. Awoken by his action, the other sword monarchs also attacked. Only Meng Tingfeng stayed behind, protecting Ding Mian. The monarchs from the Myriad Saber Alliance also flew into action. They raised their sabers and attacked the Lunar War Formation. Because it was formed from insufficient monarchs and no true immortals, it barely had the power of a half-emperor, hardly enough to block all the charging sword and saber monarchs. Ye Chen alone knocked it back hundreds of meters with a slash. His second swing caused the war formation to stall, long enough for him to fly by it. The Lunar War Formation wanted to chase, but stopped. It expanded until it resembled a dream catcher that blocked the other sword and saber monarchs¡¯ path. The Void Ripple Sect¡¯s monarchs also took action when they saw Ye Chen bypass the Lunar War Formation. Only one of them continued to fly toward the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus, while the rest formed another war formation, the Endless Road War Formation. Because Ye Chen was already nearby and they formed the war formation far too fast for it not to be premeditated, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t react when the war formation swallowed him. From there, the war formation just floated there like a black hole in the sky. Less than a few seconds after Ye Chen was swallowed, the Myriad Sword Alliance¡¯s monarchs suddenly attacked the monarchs from the Numinous Sword Sect. Although none died, two suffered grievous injuries. ¡°They¡¯re banding against us,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. He unsheathed the Seven Star Sword from his back. ¡°Ding Mian, go hide. I have to help.¡± Just as he finished speaking, but before he could move, the Redmoon Realm disappeared. It didn¡¯t collapse because of the damage it suffered, but because the Redmoon Emperor canceled his technique. When the surroundings returned to their original appearance, three emperors surrounded one immortal emperor. ¡°What is the meaning of this?¡± Emperor Wujian asked, his eyes scanning the Redmoon Emperor, the Threeslash Emperor, and the Ripple Emperor. ¡°It¡¯s exactly what it looks like,¡± the Redmoon Emperor said. ¡°I would rather defeat you head on, but these guys didn¡¯t agree,¡± the Threeslash Emperor said. ¡°No need to waste words,¡± the Ripple Emperor said. A killing intent condensed in his eyes. ¡°The Numinous Sword Sect has reigned for too long. It¡¯s time for the hegemon to change.¡± Emperor Wujian¡¯s shoulder shook. Then, a chuckle escaped from his lips before transforming into a full-blown laughter. ¡°Just you? You have no idea about the depth of the Numinous Sword Sect. One of you will fall today for your arrogance!¡± He no longer had any ideas about grabbing the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus. Instead, he was going to make one of the emperors fall today. ¡°Don¡¯t think we haven¡¯t noticed. You¡¯re close to death,¡± the Ripple Emperor said. ¡°Once you fall, the Numinous Sword Sect will become much weaker. How many emperors are left? One? Two?¡± Emperor Wujian said nothing. He just gripped his sword tighter. The seemingly plain sword radiated divine light, making it clear to everyone that it wasn¡¯t an emperor-level artifact. It wasn¡¯t even a sovereign-level artifact. It was a divine artifact, the Immortal Confining Sword! Chapter 510: That Hand Ye Chen raised his sword and surveyed his surroundings. After the monarchs of the Void Ripple Sect formed the Endless Road War Formation, he found himself in this barren expanse. As far as the eye could see and immortal sense could reach, all he found was endless land and sky, with nary a hint of vegetation. At first, Ye Chen thought he had been transported into a faraway island at the end of the Numinous Realm, but after flying around for a while, he realized that was not the case. Even if it was the Sword Continent, there was no such barren wasteland of such size that he could not see the end without a change in the terrain. Next, he suspected he was under an illusion. Ye Chen used every method he could to break the illusion, but soon after, he had to conclude that he was not under an illusion. He wasn¡¯t adept at illusions, but he had a high resistance to them thanks to his powerful willpower. He was confident that no immortal monarchs could make him fall under their illusion. However, that didn¡¯t mean he could block illusions that came from the combination of many monarchs or from an immortal emperor with his willpower alone. He had another trump card. Ye Chen increased the grip on his sword. In complete contrast to Emperor Wujian¡¯s sword, the sword in his grasp was anything but plain. The hilt and handle was pure silver with decorative inlays not suitable for battle. The blade was the most eye-catching feature, having a reflective surface akin to a mirror. This was the Kunlun Sword, an incomplete divine artifact forged from the broken Kunlun Mirror. It was a pity, but the Kunlun Mirror had shattered during one of Ye Chen¡¯s journeys, so he found an artificer to reforge it to its current form. Although it was reformed, it was originally a divine artifact. Just holding it granted a slew of abilities to Ye Chen, one of which was increased illusion resistance. Unless a peak immortal sovereign took action, it would be difficult for him to fall under an illusion permanently. ¡°Did they send me into an immortal grotto?¡± Ye Chen muttered to himself. Unfortunately, although he mastered the Law of Time, his talent in the Law of Space was pitiable. The Kunlun Sword vibrated, causing the air around to fracture into a kaleidoscope. With a swing, a gargantuan tear appeared between the sky and earth. Alas, on the other end of the tear was still another barren wasteland. He did not give up and swung it a hundred more times, each with the same results. Sometimes, Ye Chen would fly into the tear before attacking again. Repeat and rinse, but after an hour, he found himself stuck in the same place. It could be a different wasteland, but everything was just so similar he could not differentiate between them. His actions caused his qi reservoir to deplete by ten percent. Just like how the barren wasteland looked, it was devoid of spiritual qi, and Ye Chen could only recover his qi using pills. However, he had not fallen to that point yet. More importantly, he discovered the nature of the place that trapped him. If he was not wrong, it was the Endless Road Formation. The Numinous Sword Sect had an incomplete version of it, but it was more than enough for him to know the details. The Void Ripple Sect likely found a complete version or deduced a new iteration from the incomplete inheritance. The vast expanse that Ye Chen saw was only one part of the Endless Road War Formation. Like he suspected, it was an immortal grotto, but it was built with the Law of Space as the foundation. Even if someone tore through the boundaries, all they would see was another immortal grotto. The immortal grottos were like bubbles clustered around each other. When the prisoner left the center and entered another, it would sink into the center again. There were only three ways to break the Endless Road War Formation. One, to destroy the immortal grottos at a faster rate than it could heal itself until the war formation destabilizes and implodes. Two, to break through the immortal grottos continuously and fly out of the perimeter. Third, the prisoner¡¯s attainment in the Law of Space must surpass the creator of the Endless Road War Formation by a large margin and teleport himself out. Obviously, it was impossible for Ye Chen to destroy many of the immortal grottos at once, nor did he have a greater mastery over space than the immortal monarchs of the Void Ripple Sect, so he could only choose the second option. Just like before, the space around the Kunlun Sword turned into a kaleidoscope. With a single swing, he tore the space boundary and flew into the next immortal grotto. His actions did not stop as he slashed again, revealing another immortal grotto. One slash, one immortal grotto. Ye Chen frowned. He just crossed through several immortal grottos, but the new one he had just entered had a healing tear in space. This meant that he wasn¡¯t always advancing toward the outer perimeter. Sometimes, he would be entering another immortal grotto in the same layer, or maybe closer to the core. ¡°No wonder the Endless Road War Formation is called one of the greatest trapping formations. As expected of a formation from the primordial era,¡± Ye Chen muttered. Still, his actions did not stop. As time progressed, he could get a feel for the ¡°direction.¡± Soon, the phenomena of him entering an immortal grotto he had already entered dwindled. He could feel that he was close to escaping. Ye Chen popped a pill into his mouth. He hadn¡¯t reached half of his qi reserves, but it was better to keep it close to eighty percent, especially since he knew a battle would await him outside. Another tear appeared in the sky of the wasteland, but unlike before, it was not another wasteland. It was a lush land with bountiful clouds in the sky and lakes. ¡°Finally made it out,¡± Ye Chen said with slight relief. Even if he was making progress, only he knew how much pressure he was under. He looked around him. He was at the edge of the island, far away from the ravine where the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus bloomed. It seemed that the space monarchs from the Void Ripple Sect had sent him far away with his escape. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Ye Chen turned and charged straight toward the battlefield. Like most sword immortals, he preferred clashing head on instead of exchanging spells. The time he spent escaping also made him accumulate a lot of frustration, just waiting for him to vent. However, when he arrived on the battlefield, he was stunned. Emperor Wujian¡¯s left arm had been cut, and blood soaked his white robes. His remaining hand trembled as he clutched the Immortal Confining Sword. Across from him stood three immortal emperors. Like Emperor Wujian, they were not in good shape either. The only one with the least amount of injuries was the Ripple Emperor. Considering that the Void Ripple Sect focused on the Law of Space, it was not that shocking. Similarly, the immortal monarchs of the three first-rate forces teamed up against the monarchs of the Numinous Sword Sect. Their situation was much better. The space monarchs of the Void Ripple Sect had split the Endless Road War Formation, since everyone avoided it, and employed domains. Although the sword monarchs were suppressed, none of them had a serious injury like the sword emperor. Meng Tingfeng played a huge role, as none of the immortal monarchs could stand up against a half-emperor like himself. He alone could hold back a war formation, greatly alleviating the pressure the other sword monarchs felt. In the midst of all this, the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus was still at its original place, forgotten. No, it was not to say that everyone forgot about it, just that they were more focused on a bigger goal that was far more important than the Sovereign Ning Yang Lotus. Ye Chen narrowed his eyes, and the corner of his lips curled up. Although the situation was dire for the Numinous Sword Sect, he did not doubt his ability to escape and survive. The question was only how many of them could escape. Still, he definitely had to join the battle. A monarch or emperor saved the more cards the Numinous Sword Sect would have in the future. Before joining the battle, he should pocket the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus. He masked his presence as much as possible, while increasing his own flow of time and sped toward the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus. Emperor Wujian sensed Ye Chen¡¯s action. He noticed the sword monarch the moment he appeared. Naturally, so did the other three immortal emperors. Emperor Wujian might help him conceal his actions, but the other three certainly won¡¯t. ¡°Stop him!¡± the Ripple Emperor ordered. A few space monarchs, who had been maintaining the suppressing space domain, stopped and teleported as close as possible to the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus to grab it before Ye Chen could. Although they appeared closer, Ye Chen¡¯s speed surpassed theirs. He made a beeline for the lotus. Just as his hands were about to touch the lotus, a familiar ripple appeared in the air. It slapped his hand away; the force sending his body careening hundreds of meters away. The hand, robed in a purple sleeve, grabbed the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus and pulled it into the ripple before disappearing. Ye Chen gritted his teeth. He was so close. He didn¡¯t expect to fail at the last moment. And how could someone teleport so close to the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus? He did not have time to think as he caught sight of the space monarchs chasing him. He snorted and gripped his Kunlun Sword. Since they trapped him and dared to attack him, he must let them suffer. Elsewhere, Emperor Wujian stared at the Ripple Emperor. ¡°I never expected that you had a second emperor in your sect. What¡¯s more, his mastery over space exceeds yours, but he never showed himself until now.¡± ¡°Since you know, you should just submit. At least this way, your life and the Numinous Sword Sect will be preserved,¡± the Redmoon Emperor said. ¡°That¡¯s not good, Ripple Emperor,¡± the Threeslash Emperor said. ¡°I thought we all agreed to only send one emperor here. You better not be thinking about swallowing the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus alone.¡± The Ripple Emperor really wanted to make a bitter face. It was true that the Void Ripple Sect concealed an immortal emperor, but that emperor¡¯s attainment in the Law of Space wasn¡¯t as good as his. The one who took action earlier wasn¡¯t from the Void Ripple Sect. It seemed that the Numinous Sword Sect was the cicada, and the allied three forces were the mantis, unaware of the oriole. Still, if he exposed it now, it would only cause his allies¡¯ hearts to waver. So, the Ripple Emperor said, ¡°I¡¯ll explain after everything is over. For now, we must kill him. We have already taken action, it¡¯s too late to stop.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t need to tell me,¡± the Threeslash Emperor said. The Redmoon Emperor¡¯s momentum also rose. Emperor Wujian saw that the three of them would not stop until he died. Even with the Immortal Confining Sword, he might not be able to escape. He took a deep breath. ¡°Even if you kill me here, the Numinous Sword Sect will still reign supreme. You and the powers behind will perish, forgotten in the river of time!¡± He attacked without reserve. Since he already decided he was going to die, he had to kill at least one of them before he fell. Emperor Wujian did not forget to shout, ¡°Elder Meng, Elder Ye, retreat. Take all the monarchs and return! You must report back what happened here!¡± Meng Tingfeng and Ye Chen only hesitated for a moment before complying. Although the other sword monarchs were unwilling, they still obeyed the emperor¡¯s words. They all retreated to the sword, where Ding Mian also appeared. The monarchs from the three allied forces tried to stop them, but they were blocked by Meng Tingfeng and Ye Chen, who burst with amazing power. The immortals on the giant sword sped off into the distance, while Meng Tingfeng and Ye Chen blocked the monarchs from pursuing. After the sword flew a considerable distance, they, too, escaped. The monarchs of the three allied forces gave chase. Even if they stayed, they would not be of much help. In the end, only four people remained on the island. Five days later, only two stood. Even in death, Emperor Wujian¡¯s hands tightly grasped the Immortal Confining Sword. The other death was the Threeslash Emperor. As someone who fought in close quarters his odds of survival were the lowest and that reality only affirmed it. Although the Void Ripple Emperor and Redmoon Emperor survived, their situation wasn¡¯t good. An air of death surrounded the Void Ripple Emperor, while the Redmoon Emperor¡¯s aura was weak to the point that an average true immortal would be better than him. Although they were in terrible states, both of their eyes were shining. Their gazes were attracted to the plain sword grasped in Emperor Wujian¡¯s hand. ¡°Ripple Emperor, since your sect took the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus, it¡¯s only right for me to take the Immortal Confining Sword.¡± Without waiting for the Ripple Emperor to react, he stepped forward to grab the divine artifact. The Ripple Emperor moved to block the Redmoon Emperor and explain the truth behind the matter, but the moment he took a step, he saw a familiar hand sleeved in purple appear. Unlike the previous time, there was no ripple announcing its appearance. ¡°No!¡± Both immortal emperors moved to stop the hand. However, the hand had already touched the fallen emperor. The moment it connected, the emperor and divine sword vanished, like it never existed. Chapter 511: The Numinous Sword Sects Choice Ding Mian returned to his residence after arriving back at the Numinous Sword Sect. He wasn¡¯t worried about Meng Tingfeng or Ye Chen leaving alive because he could see the height of their powers compared to the monarchs from the three allied forces. The sword monarchs only gave him some perfunctory words before rushing to report what happened. No doubt, they were perturbed by what had just happened. A few days later, Meng Tingfeng visited him. It was a short visit, a sharp contrast to the usual length he stayed during the previous visits. It seemed that even he was feeling the pressure. Ding Mian stayed in his abode without leaving, but he could feel the tense atmosphere, like a cloud of depression hanging over the Numinous Sword Sect. The first sign was the increase in commissions from the Numinous Sword Sect. They even relaxed the purchase condition of many resources just to motivate him. Most of the pills he concocted were healing pills or pills that could increase power in a pinch. Of course, he didn¡¯t stop concocting the Monarch Sublimation Pills. He was sure that he wasn¡¯t the only one concocting pills constantly. Most of the other alchemists were likely given a carrot by the Numinous Sword Sect. Well, not that he was complaining. The show he put on when refining the Monarch Sublimation Pill was just that: a show. As long as he had enough materials, he could refine it in less than a week instead of the months people thought it took. In addition to the month-long show he put on, he also implicitly hinted that it took months to prepare the materials before the final concoction. Of course, Ding Mian didn¡¯t successfully concoct all the pills that were commissioned to him. He purposely failed some in order to pocket the materials. Heavenly Law Lotus Seeds were a nonrenewable resource, and once used was a material that would never appear again. Still, Ding Mian was in the process of attempting to grow a Heavenly Law Lotus from a seed. The climate of the Three Thousand Immortal Laws System was not suitable, but it couldn¡¯t stop him. None of the people or other alchemists felt like he had embezzled or tricked them. His success rate was at least twice that of the average alchemists. If he didn¡¯t fail once in a while, then they would feel suspicious. It would only reveal that his alchemy prowess was far greater than he showed. Unless he had something to hide, why would he hide his prowess so much? While concocting pills, Ding Mian waited. However, the expected invasion of the Numinous Sword Sect never occurred. Instead, he heard about the loss of contact of Sword Embassies in the lower realms.
Seven immortal monarchs stood in a ring, facing each other. The room was circular and dimly lit. Integrated into the walls were countless coffins with swords etched onto them. Most of the swords had turned dull and black. Only a fraction of the swords were still silver and emitting a silvery sharpness. ¡°Not only did they scheme against Grand Elder Wujian, those damn inferiors would attack our outposts in the lower realms,¡± an elderly monarch with speckled hair said. Despite his age, his back was perfectly straight, like a spear that would never bend. ¡°The Immortal Confining Sword lost! And enemies at our doorsteps. We should immediately dispatch people and teach them a lesson. No matter how they are able to send people down to the lower realms, they must have paid a high price compared to our methods.¡± ¡°What if that¡¯s their goal?¡± another immortal monarch asked. ¡°What if they want to disperse our forces and use this chance to attack us? Although the Sword Embassies allow us to keep an eye on the lower realm, they cannot recruit talented people that exceed those born in our realm.¡± ¡°Have you forgotten about Alchemist Ding?¡± the first immortal monarch asked. ¡°Forget it. The reason we maintain the Sword Embassies is for the faith of the humans in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms and to keep a watch for the Demon Clan.¡± ¡°Demon Clan? I haven¡¯t seen a hide or hint of them for thousands of years,¡± a third immortal monarch said. ¡°The Buddhists seemed to be unusually silent, too.¡± ¡°You¡¯re straying from the topic,¡± another immortal monarch said. In contrast to the six other monarchs, he had ink-black hair, and he only looked to be in his thirties. Everyone was a peak monarch, but he exuded a sense of vitality that the others did not have. He was Monarch Solesword. Before there was Meng Tingfeng and Ye Chen, he was the one most likely to become an immortal emperor. ¡°Although the Sword Embassies aren¡¯t that important and only contribute to a fraction of the sect¡¯s power, everyone in the Numinous Realms knows that we have them. And only we, the absolute hegemon of the Numinous Realm, can afford to establish them. If we watch and allow the allied forces to destroy them as they wish, where would our faces be? Our image would collapse and more sects would become swayed by the rebels.¡± ¡°That puts us in quite the dilemma, doesn¡¯t it?¡± a fourth immortal monarch said, stroking his snow-white beard. ¡°We only have two options now. Dispatch immortals to quell the unrest in the lower realms and weaken the defense of the Numinous Sword Sect, or two, do nothing and weaken our deterrents against the other forces. Personally, I support the first option. Even if they attack, I believe they will not be able to break our barrier.¡± The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. His eyes turned toward the four coffins. ¡°Besides, don¡¯t we have a trump card?¡± ¡°We mustn¡¯t awaken the emperors so impulsively. Once awaken, they will not be able to go back to sleep and will die within a decade, if we¡¯re lucky,¡± a fifth monarch said. ¡°If they cannot wipe out the immortal emperors, then we would only be able to hole up in our headquarters unless we are willing to pay a sky-high price to kill them.¡± A sixth monarch sighed. ¡°The Immortal Confining Sword was the last of the Four Immortal Extermination Swords. The others vanished out of nowhere, along with four emperors. Do you think¡­¡± As his words trailed off, the other monarchs became silent. Finally, Monarch Solesword spoke. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Even if your thoughts are true, that does not mean we should just give up.¡± His eyes scanned everyone present, full of determination. ¡°We don¡¯t only have two options, but three.¡± Everyone perked their ears up, wondering what Monarch Solesword would say. ¡°Although the Sword Embassies are important, we can rebuild them. They aren¡¯t worth lowering our sect¡¯s defenses for. However, it is true that doing nothing will cause our prestige to fall. So, to compensate, we will destroy a first-rate force and cow them!¡± Everyone turned silent, disbelief apparent on their faces at Monarch Solesword¡¯s audacious plan. Attempting to destroy a first-rate force would cause them to dispatch more people than if they stopped the attacks on the Sword Embassies. ¡°Isn¡¯t that too risky?¡± ¡°Risky?¡± Monarch Solesword stared at the monarch who asked, his gaze sharp. ¡°Have you gone timid with age? We are standing on a precipice. If we only defend, then we will be buried by the times. We must take the initiative. Remember, we are sword cultivators. To stand still is to regress. We have already regressed enough. It¡¯s time to show the world our edge.¡± After his speech, the other monarchs also gained a hint of sharpness in their eyes. Their momentum rose sharply, like drawn swords. ¡°Although your plan sounds workable. How would we do this? Emperor Wujian was our only emperor, and now he has fallen. Even if we attack a first-rate force without an emperor. It¡¯s also not something we can accomplish in a short time. If it takes too long, the other forces would take notice and even block us, making everything all for naught,¡± the bespectacled monarch asked. He liked the plan, but there was a difference between bravery and foolishness. Monarch Solesword turned to look at the coffins. ¡°We will awaken two emperors.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that too risky?¡± ¡°Once they are awakened, we will not be able to use them again.¡± ¡°Then we must simply ascend to the realm of extremity,¡± Monarch Solesword said. ¡°Has your edge grown dull, too? Meng Tingfeng and Ye Chen are both outstanding candidates, but you must have confidence in yourself. I believe that I will become an emperor. Once I become an emperor, what is the loss of two that will die soon?¡± After a few moments of silence, several of the monarchs nodded in clear agreement with Monarch Solesword¡¯s plan. Their eyes were more determined than ever, and the long-lost vigor returned to their eyes. Although the Numinous Sword Sect was facing an unprecedented crisis, the monarchs felt more alive than they had since ascending to the Pathfinding Immortal Realm. ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, which one is our target? Our only options are the first-rate forces. Choosing a second-rate force will make them think that we are actively trying to scare them instead of punishing them,¡± the seventh immortal monarch said. ¡°According to the reports, the Twin Moon Sect, Void Ripple Sect, and Myriad Saber Alliance all sent immortal emperors,¡± the second immortal monarch said. ¡°We don¡¯t know if any of them died, but Grand Elder Wujian¡¯s soul lamp has been extinguished.¡± The monarchs took a moment to mourn Emperor Wujian¡¯s death. ¡°However, as sword immortals, it¡¯s impossible for Grand Elder Wujian to die without taking at least one of them to death. However, that still leaves the question if we should attack any of the three forces or the other force. On the surface, only those three forces have immortal emperors, but attacking any of the others might cause them to join the three allied forces. If they hadn¡¯t already secretly joined them.¡± The first immortal monarch also spoke up. ¡°I think we should choose our target from the three forces that attacked us. It will deliver a greater message.¡± ¡°Of the three forces, it¡¯s known that the Twin Moon Sect has two immortal emperors. Even if the Redmoon Emperor is injured, dealing with two is quite the trouble. As for the Void Ripple Sect, they have the fewest numbers, but also the most mysterious. Even we are not absolutely sure of their trump cards. In addition, everyone of them has comprehended the Law of Space and their abilities to save lives is top-notch. The Myriad Sabers Alliance has always been at odds against us. Because of their nature, their secrets are easier to discover, but that doesn¡¯t prevent them from having a few trump cards. They are also similar to us in offense, if a bit inferior because of their incomplete inheritance.¡± Monarch Solesword crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. After a few moments, he spoke. ¡°Our target will be the Myriad Saber Alliance.¡±
Ding Mian¡¯s hands halted for a brief second, but it didn¡¯t cause the pill he was concocting to fail. As he continued to refine the pill, his eyes glanced toward the right. His eyes seemed to be looking at the wall, but his gaze pierced the wall and into the sky. ¡®That¡¯s¡­Monarch Solesword and nine other monarchs? Not only that, there are two immortal emperors emanating auras of death? They must have been awakened in order to accomplish something,¡¯ Ding Mian thought. A smile appeared on his face. ¡®Interesting. I thought the Numinous Sword Sect would focus on defense, but they actually went on the offensive. Should I say, as expected of sword immortals? Either way, it¡¯s a good chance for me.¡¯ After a while, Ding Mian no longer paid attention to them. At least on the surface. Unknown to the group of ten monarchs and two emperors, there was a follower behind them. Chapter 512: Deterrence The Myriad Saber Alliance was originally just a loose alliance composed of some saber immortals. Over time, a saber monarch joined them, but that was not enough to propel them to become the publicly acknowledged strongest first-rate force. No, their rise began with the birth of the first saber emperor, which caused countless saber cultivators to join them, greatly boosting their pool of talents and numbers. From then on, the Myriad Saber Alliance almost always had a saber emperor leading them. Even when they didn¡¯t, it would only last a generation or two. They were only inferior to the Numinous Sword Sect that always had several sword emperors. It was because the Numinous Sword Sect suddenly only had one public sword emperor that the other sects became lively. But getting back to the Myriad Saber Alliance. In contrast to the headquarters of the Numinous Sword Sect, the Myriad Saber Alliance¡¯s headquarters was a giant city called Allsaber City. It wasn¡¯t always a city. Originally, it started out as a collection of buildings built nearby to facilitate communication and community between the members of the alliance. Over time, it expanded until it transformed into a city and the core of the Myriad Saber Alliance. Despite being the publicly acknowledged number one force under the sole hegemon, the Myriad Saber Alliance was only on the same level as the other first-rate forces. The reason for this was because of their origins. What gave them their greatest strength also gave them their greatest weakness. More often than not, the decision makers of the Myriad Saber Alliance were not of one mind or heart. Even if a saber emperor was present, this situation would not change. They have the most amount of infighting among all first-rate forces. The decision to kill Emperor Wujian was a rare unanimous decision that appeared only once in a blue moon. And now, Allsaber City stood in ruins. Standing in the air above the destroyed city were twelve figures. They were Monarch Solesword and nine other monarchs of the Numinous Sword Sect and the two awakened sword emperors. All of them had some degree of injuries, but their eyes were bright, like they did not feel fatigue or pain. ¡°Should we give chase?¡± a monarch asked, standing next to Monarch Solesword. Monarch Solesword shook his head. ¡°No need. We only brought twelve people, and it¡¯s far from enough to chase after all the stragglers. Those below the Immortal Realm will not pose a threat to us for at least a thousand years. We have already killed the monarchs and most of the immortal lords, the ones that escape should either be those without much loyalty, cowardly, or ones deliberately sent out as seeds of hope for rising again. However, even if they become immortal monarchs, one or two won¡¯t affect the overall situation.¡± ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, should we return?¡± the monarch asked. ¡°Yes. It¡¯s getting late. Although we destroyed the Myriad Saber Alliance quickly, we should leave before those guys from the Void Ripple Sect come,¡± Monarch Solesword said. He didn¡¯t fear the space monarchs. Although their methods were strange and hard to defend against, most of their offensive capabilities were weak. He just didn¡¯t want the space monarchs to see the true situation of the two sword emperors. He would rather not utilize their full value and simply allow them to die than to let their true state spread to the other forces. Otherwise, the deterrence would severely weaken. Only when the other forces don¡¯t know that these two sword emperors were only hanging on by the last line to life would they feel fear. Still, that didn¡¯t mean Monarch Solesword didn¡¯t leave a surprise for the people who would investigate. Soon, the twelve immortals disappeared from the sky above Myriad Saber Alliance. Unseen by them, a figure stood among the destruction of Allsaber City. Because this was a blitzkrieg operation, the immortals of the Numinous Sword Sect didn¡¯t have time to plunder the spoils of victory. The purple-robed figure openly strode into the scripture repository and treasury of the Myriad Saber Alliance. However, whenever he stepped, he had no shadow, as if his presence was just an illusion. Because of the disharmonious nature of the Myriad Saber Alliance, the first-rate force had three different scripture repositories and treasuries, each controlled by a different faction. The purple-robed figure only had time to scavenge one of the three scripture repositories and all the treasuries before people came to check out what had occurred. As Monarch Solesword expected, the first ones to arrive were the space monarchs of the Void Ripple Sect. A total of three space monarchs appeared. They wore robes darker than the void and a mysterious mist covered their facial features, making it almost impossible for onlookers to see their true appearance. ¡°We¡¯re too late, everything already ended, and the perpetrators already left,¡± one of the space monarchs said, his voice grim. ¡°Who could¡¯ve done such a thing?¡± The speaker¡¯s voice was delicate and light, clearly young and female. A snort answered her question. ¡°Who else could it be? The other first-rate forces certainly wouldn¡¯t take action first. Even if they did, the price would be too high. The only force that can accomplish this is the hegemon. It seems rumors of their decline were over exaggerated. Now that we have already gotten onto the tiger, it¡¯s hard to get off.¡± The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Alright, stop talking. Remember, Voidmist, even if you have become a monarch, you¡¯re not even a first-step monarch. You still have a high chance of dying in this war. You must treat everything with caution,¡± the first space monarch said. Without waiting for the other to respond, he ordered, ¡°Go search the ruins. Maybe there are survivors. Check the scripture repository too. If we cannot find any survivors in an hour, expand the range of the search. Even if the culprit is already clear, we must find more details.¡± ¡°Understood,¡± the two monarchs following him said. The three dispersed. Although a purple-robed figure was standing openly among the ruins, all three space monarchs ignored him as if he didn¡¯t exist. Or rather, they couldn¡¯t perceive his existence at all. Because they arrived at such a critical time, the purple-robed figure could only watch as they looted the two remaining scripture repositories of the Myriad Saber Alliance. Even if they were allies, that was no longer the case once the Myriad Saber Alliance became history. It was already a forgone conclusion of the Myriad Saber Alliance. Perhaps, a new and more united Myriad Saber Alliance would appear in the future, but that was only it. A possibility. Since that was the case, the space monarchs had no issue benefiting. In the grand scheme of things, interest came first. The reason they united against the Numinous Sword Sect was because they saw a chance to overthrow it. If they wanted to progress as a force, the sky known as the Numinous Sword Sect must fall. Not only the Void Ripple Sect and the Twin Moon Sect. The other first-rate forces would also love to watch the Numinous Sword Sect fall; they even faintly showed signs of joining the alliance. Only after the Numinous Sword Sect falls will the first-rate forces officially start competing to become the new hegemon. However, the prerequisite was that they needed to see hope of destroying the Numinous Sword Sect without damaging themselves too much. They didn¡¯t want to make a wedding dress for others. If they were too injured from fighting the Numinous Sword Sect and allowed a second-rate force to rise instead, they would only feel immense regret and hatred. Not only that, the new hegemon would undoubtedly destroy them in order to prevent any future troubles. After plundering everything they could from the ruins of the Myriad Saber Alliance, the three space monarchs gathered again. Their fear of the Numinous Sword Sect grew again. In their opinion, since the Numinous Sword Sect had the power to wipe out a first-rate force, clean their treasuries and leave before anyone could sense anything and investigate, the power they hid was far more than estimated. The three space monarchs immediately left the ruined Allsaber City. It was much harder to find survivors outside, but they still managed to find some. Perhaps for safety or because they had no choice, the survivors followed the space monarchs. From these survivors, the three space monarchs learned of the gist of what happened. Although it was what they expected, it still dampened their morale. The Void Ripple Sect immediately convened a secret meeting with the Twin Moon Sect. After much discussion, the remaining two forces of the three force alliance convened a meeting with all the first-rate forces. Compared to letting the other forces learn of the Myriad Saber Alliance¡¯s fate through rumors, they would rather control the narrative. Even if that was the case, the seemingly unstoppable trend of forming a realm-wide alliance against the Numinous Sword Sect came to a screeching halt. Although it was undoubtedly true that the Numinous Sword Sect should have discovered their intentions, it was also undeniable that the Numinous Sword Sect would not wage war against the entire Numinous Realm at this point. The other first-rate forces were perfectly fine with sacrificing the Void Ripple Sect and Twin Moon Sect to preserve themselves. Alas, although they tried their best, the now two force alliance¡¯s plea fell on deaf ears. Each of the representatives only left perfunctory words before leaving. Obviously, they had no intention of rising up against the Numinous Sword Sect now. This thought only became more solidified when the survivors told their tales. The Twin Moon Sect and Void Ripple Sect only felt bitter. Although they destroyed many Sword Embassies in the lower realms, the effect disappeared with the Myriad Saber Alliance¡¯s destruction. They also attempted to spin the narrative in their favor more than once, but it was all for naught. In sharp contrast to the rest of the Realm, the morale of the Numinous Sword Sect was high. It was as if the gloomy air that covered the Numinous Sword Sect had disappeared, and each member was full of hope and yearning for the future. More than that, they were filled with righteous anger against those despicable sects that killed Emperor Wujian. This was certainly what Monarch Solesword and the other leaders of the sect wanted to see. Still, they knew that the Numinous Sword Sect only bought some time before the sects realized that the Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s situation was more dire than they thought. Monarch Solesword¡¯s plan was to dispatch true immortals and monarchs to fight the two force alliance. They were on a tight schedule and he wanted to use this war to sharpen the Numinous Sword Sect in order to quickly birth another immortal emperor. One of the other monarchs suggested announcing that the Numinous Sword Sect would destroy the Twin Moon and Void Ripple Sects, implying that they would forgive the other sects for the actions they took in the dark. However, Monarch Solesword vetoed it. In his eyes, it was showing weakness. When had the Numinous Sword Sect needed to bargain? Not only would it lower the Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s prestige, it might also tip them off that the sect wasn¡¯t as strong as it appeared. So, without announcing anything, Monarch Solesword led thirty percent of the immortals in the sect to attack the Twin Moon Sect. Compared to the Void Ripple Sect, which hid itself in space and was extremely hard to invade, the Twin Moon Sect was a much easier target. Ding Mian originally thought that once the Numinous Sword Sect attacked, the other forces would band together under this suppression and retaliate. But even after three years, all the other sects took a wait-and-see attitude, except for the Void Ripple Sect. In his alchemy chamber, Ding Mian shook his head. Although it appeared that he never left the Numinous Sword Sect, everything that happened within the Numinous Realm was within his senses. ¡®I didn¡¯t expect that the Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s destruction of the Myriad Saber Alliance would really cow them instead of making them berserk. Did they become accustomed to the Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s hegemony and become as timid as rabbits? But even rabbits will bite if pushed into a corner.¡¯ Ding Mian narrowed his eyes behind his mask. ¡®It just means that they haven¡¯t been pushed enough.¡¯ Chapter 513: The Numinous Realms Shock Ye Chen appeared behind another true immortal and a flash of light later, the light in the true immortal¡¯s eyes disappeared. He glanced around and retreated, just in time to dodge the punch of a giant with pale blue skin. Retreating a few steps, Ye Chen observed the Lunar Giant War Formation. Although the leader was only an immortal lord, the increased strength gave him greater overall power than a fifth-step monarch. In addition, each war formation would be paired with a true immortal that released a domain to gain a battlefield advantage. Thankfully, he had already killed said true immortal, but destroying the war formation wasn¡¯t a simple task either. However, it was not like it was his first rodeo with the Twin Moon Sect¡¯s war formation. Even if he couldn¡¯t clash head-on with the war formation, the war formation was ultimately formed of several parts. He just needed to find a weak link and focus on it until the war formation collapsed. Ye Chen glanced toward the side. In the distance, he saw a man, who appeared to be in the prime of his life, attacking a giant with pale red skin. Unless reinforcement arrived, it was only a matter of time until the red Lunar Giant War Formation crumbled under Monarch Solesword¡¯s blade. He turned back toward his own foe and attacked. Although the war formation towered over him at a hundred meters tall and could severely injure him with one strike, Ye Chen showed no fear. His pure power and speed were greater than the Monarch Solesword. The only reason he seemed weaker was because he had not accumulated as much experience. Ye Chen was confident that by the end of the war, his flaw would disappear. However, he wasn¡¯t satisfied with just becoming invincible among immortal monarchs. Like Monarch Solesword, Ye Chen wanted to use the war to temper himself and step into the Extremity Immortal Realm. Fierce flashes of light flew from Ye Chen¡¯s sword. As one of the sword monarchs with the highest chance of becoming an immortal emperor, he had naturally already reached the level of sword intent. The sword lights struck the joints of the giant war formation, but aside from slowing down its movements and causing ripples to spread across its skin, it failed to deal any substantial damage. However, as the ripples continued to spread, they overlapped. Ye Chen¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡®There!¡¯ Ye Chen¡¯s body flashed. Feeling an ominous premonition, the giant war formation¡¯s hands reached for Ye Chen. He didn¡¯t dodge either and allowed the hand to reach him, but when the hand clenched, it felt nothing. A second later, Ye Chen¡¯s body phased through the back of the hand without even slowing down. ¡°Law of Space?¡± the immortal lord controlling the Lunar Giant War Formation uttered. A second later, he immediately denied his guess. He may not have been clear on all the concepts under the Law of Space, but the increased partnership with the Void Ripple Sect allowed him to see that what Ye Chen used was definitely not the Law of Space. Regardless of his doubts, the Lunar Giant War Formation did its best to stop Ye Chen from getting closer. A bright blue light radiated off of its body, dyeing the surrounding sky in a cerulean hue. The trees and rocks bathed by the light lost their color, becoming bleached counterparts. Anything bathed by the cerulean light would become petrified. All except one. Ye Chen¡¯s body remained unchanged. If anything, his speed increased. The Lunar Giant War Formation acted again upon seeing that its technique did not hinder Ye Chen at all, but it discovered that its reaction and movements have dropped several levels. His mind was quick, but his body was slow. The Kunlun Sword sliced deep into the giant¡¯s ¡®skin,¡¯ but when Ye Chen retracted his sword, there was not a mark left. Ye Chen didn¡¯t distance himself, even as a palm reached for him. For him, it was incredibly slow. He appeared at another point on the giant¡¯s body and slashed once more. Again, leaving no visible damage. Only the immortal lord, true immortals, and mortal cultivators that formed the Lunar Giant War Formation sensed what Ye Chen had done. Each time he sliced into the war formation, he made it so that the flow of qi was disrupted and chaotic. Although the cultivators couldn¡¯t fix it in a short time, it would not cause the collapse of the war formation, but the problem was that Ye Chen never stopped. In a few seconds, he had already disrupted the flow of qi at several locations. Finally, Ye Chen appeared above the Lunar Giant War Formation¡¯s head. A silver light encased his body as his figure blurred. Before the immortal lord could react, Ye Chen had already stabbed the Kunlun Sword into the Lunar Giant War Formation¡¯s forehead. Ripples spread from the stab, but unlike the previous points, the ripples severely distorted the structure of the war formation¡¯s shape. Although Ye Chen stayed in the position, the Lunar Giant War Formation didn¡¯t even have the power to counteract. It just stood there as its body continued to distort. Ten seconds later, the war formation dissolved, revealing the true immortals and venerables. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Ye Chen¡¯s sword flashed again. The first one he wanted to kill was naturally the immortal lord. Although the thirty-three true immortals formed the Lunar Giant War Formation, only an immortal lord could properly unleash most of the war formation¡¯s potential. If any ordinary true immortal led it, Ye Chen would have been able to destroy it much more quickly. Without the war formation¡¯s protection, he easily killed the immortal lord. Then, he focused on the remaining thirty-two true immortals. Ye Chen ignored the thousands of venerables. Even if he killed all of them, there would be countless replacements. However, when almost half of the true immortals perished under his sword, a black mist filled with streams of silver engulfed him. Ye Chen recognized it as the Void Ripple Sect¡¯s Voidwalker War Formation. It didn¡¯t have the combat capabilities of the Lunar Giant War Formation, but its spatial and supportive abilities were unmatched. Ye Chen didn¡¯t have the raw power or skill to destroy it, but it didn¡¯t stop him from trying. He wasn¡¯t worried about his safety. He couldn¡¯t destroy it, but the Voidwalker War Formation couldn¡¯t teleport him or injure him much, either. When the Voidwalker War Formation disappeared, all the fleeing Twin Moon Sect immortals and venerables vanished. Ye Chen didn¡¯t dawdle. It was not the first time this happened. Instead, he flew toward the nearest war formation. Just because he could fight a war formation by himself didn¡¯t mean the other sword monarchs could. Only a few sword monarchs could hold back a war formation, and even fewer could defeat them like Monarch Solesword. As Ye Chen destroyed the third Lunar Giant War Formation, the Voidwalker War Formation shrouded him again as he attempted to kill the true immortals. When the Voidwalker War Formation released him, he saw that the battlefield had become empty except for members of the Numinous Sword Sect. Monarch Solesword announced the end of the battle. The Numinous Sword Sect didn¡¯t always win each battle, but they won more often than not. As he wanted, four new sword monarchs were born thanks to the battle, but he himself felt that he was a hair¡¯s breadth away from reaching the Extremity Immortal Realm. With the enemies gone, the sword monarchs and sword immortals also retreated to their fortress. Although they won, it didn¡¯t mean they were without any casualties. ¡°I didn¡¯t understand why the Numinous Sword Sect treated Alchemist Ding so well before, but now, I kind of understand,¡± Feng Xuhua, one of Ye Chen¡¯s women, said. Her face was pale, but after swallowing a pill, a healthy color appeared again. Ye Chen nodded. Even he had to admit that Ding Mian was a step above other alchemists. He could concoct a pill better than pill monarchs, despite only being a true immortal. ¡°How is it? Did you completely master the Law of Space?¡± Feng Xuhua shook her head. ¡°Unfortunately, I¡¯m still a hair¡¯s breadth away. It¡¯s like there¡¯s a thin film blocking my way. No matter how hard I try to pierce it, it won¡¯t break.¡± ¡°Even fighting the immortals from the Void Ripple Sect can¡¯t help?¡± Ye Chen asked. Because he himself didn¡¯t have any talent in the Law of Space, he really wanted Feng Xuhua to master the Law of Space. With Feng Xuhua¡¯s help, he would be like a tiger with wings. ¡°Maybe I should try to stop the Voidwalker War Formation,¡± Feng Xuhua said. ¡°No,¡± Ye Chen immediately denied. ¡°The Voidwalker War Formation might not be able to do anything to monarchs like myself, but it¡¯s fatal against true immortals. Even if you are an immortal lord, you will be suppressed. It¡¯s better not to risk it. Perhaps you should focus on the Sky Diffracting Sword Art instead. The Eighth Style corresponds to the complete Law of Space. Perhaps you can find inspiration there.¡± Feng Xuhua nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll listen to you.¡± Ye Chen said goodbye as Feng Xuhua returned to her room to recuperate. He walked toward the command post, where Monarch Solesword and the other sword monarchs were already waiting. ¡°You¡¯re finally here, let¡¯s begin,¡± Monarch Solesword said. Ye Chen didn¡¯t participate much. He just stood there and listened. After all, as long as he had enough strength, who would dare ignore his opinions? ¡°Finally, we will have a change of personnel. Those who are on the verge of a breakthrough and need a safe place to ascend and those too injured to continue will return to the Numinous Sword Sect. They will be replaced by fresh cultivators from the sect,¡± Monarch Solesword said. With the last announcement, the meeting ended. Ye Chen also left and returned to his residence. Although it was a war, it wasn¡¯t like a battle was fought every day. Each side would watch the other side, looking for a chip in the other¡¯s defense. So, until the reinforcements arrived, Ye Chen stayed in his room, digesting the insights he gained from the recent battle. Although he wasn¡¯t a hair¡¯s breadth away from becoming an immortal emperor, the distance was rapidly shrinking. If he was lucky and gained a burst of epiphany, he could become the Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s newest immortal emperor before Monarch Solesword or Meng Tingfeng. Speaking of Meng Tingfeng¡­ ¡°I thought you would stay hidden in the sect until I became an emperor,¡± Ye Chen said upon meeting his rival. ¡°How could I let you have all the fun?¡± Meng Tingfeng returned, not showing any weakness. ¡°That¡¯s good. Otherwise, once I become an emperor, it¡¯ll be boring without you behind me,¡± Ye Chen said. ¡°Behind you? It might not necessarily be me that¡¯s doing the chasing,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. Ye Chen snorted. Without another word, he walked away. In both their eyes, Monarch Solesword was not part of their competition. Even if he entered the Extremity Immortal Realm, he had already lived for tens of thousands of years. How can he compare to them who only lived less than ten thousand years? They would catch up and surpass him. Meng Tingfeng entered his room and adjusted his condition. He wanted to be in peak condition when he entered battle. Like Ye Chen said, he was behind him because he had stayed back in the Numinous Sword Sect. However, he didn¡¯t regret his decision. He wanted to wait until he was sure of Ding Mian¡¯s safety in case the enemy attacked the sect. However, before he could participate in the next battle, an event occurred that shocked the entire Numinous Realm. The Wavefold Sect had been annihilated. Chapter 514: Public Enemy Of the remaining six first-rate forces, three were confirmed not to have immortal emperors by the Numinous Sword Sect. Although the Wavefold Sect didn¡¯t have any immortal emperors, it was far from the weakest first-rate force. That distinguished reputation belonged to the Divine Pill Sect. Though, as alchemists, it wasn¡¯t strange that the Divine Pill Sect was the weakest of the first-rate forces, but none of them dared to underestimate it. The dense network of connections made it so that no one would likely attack. Well, except the Numinous Sword Sect. Compared to when the Numinous Sword Sect destroyed the Myriad Saber Alliance, the destruction of the Wavefold Sect sent off bigger ripples through the Numinous Realm. The operation against the Myriad Saber Alliance could be said to be a clean knife. Only hours after it was over did people notice what happened, but the destruction of the Wavefold Sect was different. Once they were destroyed, everyone sensed it. It was akin to a sun appearing on the ground. As soon as it happened, everyone in the world sensed it. Monarch Solesword wanted to discover what happened, so he sent Ye Chen to scout it out. Among the many monarchs available, Ye Chen was a peak monarch, and he was skilled in both offense and movement techniques. He could escape if he was ambushed or trapped. Ye Chen did not delay and immediately set off. The Twin Moon Sect and Void Ripple Sect were to the east of the Sword Continent, but the Wavefold Sect was to the Northwest, so he had to take nearly a week before arriving. And that was at his maximum speed without resting. When he arrived, Ye Chen¡¯s body couldn¡¯t help but freeze. It was not because someone had imprisoned him with some esoteric method, but because of what he saw. Although he had never visited the Wavefold Sect before, Ye Chen still knew what it looked like. But now, all that was left was a deep ravine, as if someone had taken a giant flaming sword and swung it, leaving behind only a slash mark. He could not feel a hint of sword intent, but anyone with a discerning eye would connect it with the Numinous Sword Sect. Ye Chen didn¡¯t stay for long and left. What was there to investigate? Everything was already destroyed. Without any remains, how could he derive any clues? The biggest clue was the remnant qi from whoever attacked, but he had already stored a portion and was prepared to leave. He thought he would be stopped by the monarchs from other sects, who also came to investigate, but to Ye Chen¡¯s surprise, they only kept a safe distance and did not initiate an attack. Still, that did not quell his turbulent thoughts. Upon his return, he immediately told Monarch Solesword. Monarch Solesword¡¯s expression immediately darkened upon hearing everything. ¡°Elder Ye, in your mind, do you think the Numinous Sword Sect is responsible?¡± Ye Chen shrugged. ¡°In my opinion, only the Numinous Sword Sect has the foundation to enact such an attack.¡± ¡°Was it really not done by an emperor from the sect?¡± Ye Chen asked. Monarch Solesword said nothing. He only told Ye Chen to retreat. When Ye Chen left, he summoned Monarch Skysheathe. Like Monarch Solesword, he was one of the seven monarchs that controlled the Numinous Sword Sect. Both of them took out a jade slip and tapped their foreheads with it. Soon, their consciousness appeared in the catacomb of the Numinous Sword Sect. Soon after, five familiar figures appeared. Monarch Solesword and Monarch Skysheathe only appeared as shadowy figures, but the others were all present in their real bodies. ¡°Did you discover the source of intense qi?¡± one of the monarchs asked. Monarch Solesword nodded and explained what Ye Chen discovered. After listening, all their expressions turned grim. ¡°Just who is framing us?¡± All the monarchs felt that someone was deliberately framing them. Although Ye Chen couldn¡¯t feel any sword intent, the ravine resembled a sword slash. And who was the most likely suspect with all the clues left behind? The Numinous Sword Sect. That was not to say the Numinous Sword Sect didn¡¯t have an ability, but the price was too high. Once used, they would definitely enter a long period of weakness. ¡°I¡¯m more concerned about the power of the perpetrator. He has such strength, yet he hides in the shadows and plots against us,¡± the most wizened monarch said. ¡°That person has such power, yet he dares not show himself. It only shows that his power is not enough to contend against the whole world. I¡¯m more inclined to think that the slash is the result of a divine artifact. And it¡¯s likely an unknown organization. It might even be supported by the two rebellious forces,¡± another monarch said. ¡°Then why would they destroy their own potential ally?¡± ¡°It¡¯s to stir up fear,¡± Monarch Skysheathe said. In terms of power, he was weaker than Monarch Solesword, but he was a strategist. In terms of vision, he was the best among the seven monarchs. ¡°Our original plan isolated the Twin Moon Sect and the Void Ripple Sect from the rest of the first-rate forces. As long as we have enough time, their demise is a sure ending, but now, it might not be so.¡± This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Monarch Skysheathe raised his hand, his eyes looking up. ¡°Now, they will feel threatened. Even if we explain to them that it wasn¡¯t us, not many would believe it. Hounded by the fear of destruction, they would make moves. They might not ally with the Twin Moon Sect and Void Ripple Sect, but they would definitely band together for warmth. That¡¯s the best-case scenario. If they ally with the two force alliance, our situation will become dire. The breathing room Solesword created for us will disappear.¡± ¡°Is there anything we can do?¡± a monarch asked. ¡°Since they already suspect us, why not awaken the other emperors and destroy as many of them as possible?¡± ¡°No,¡± Monarch Solesword said. ¡°If we win, that will be alright, but what if it¡¯s not enough and we lose? Those emperors are our greatest trump cards. If they all perish, we will only be able to shrink back to our headquarters. Besides, those forces are already on guard. Once we attack, the others will immediately know. We will lose the air of mystique. The only reason we succeeded with the Myriad Saber Alliance was because they never expected us to do such a thing.¡± ¡°Then, what can we do?¡± a monarch asked. ¡°Attack,¡± Monarch Skysheathe said. ¡°Many of the forces are confused right now. We should attack the Twin Moon Sect and Void Ripple Sect and weaken them as much as possible before retreating. Grand Elder Guifeng and Grand Elder Jiaoyan are like embers flickering in the wind. Before they return to heaven and earth, we must exploit them as much as possible. Once they disappear, we have to shrink our defenses to the Sword Continent and prepare for a long war.¡± Although it sounded cruel, this was the Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s best course of action. After some discussion, all the monarchs agreed to the plan. Luckily for them, the immortals on the front line had not yet returned, so their numbers were actually larger than normal, about fifty percent of all immortals present in the Numinous Sword Sect. ¡°This time, we must get back the Immortal Confining Sword,¡± Monarch Solesword said. ¡°That¡¯s not likely,¡± another monarch said. ¡°Since it hasn¡¯t appeared on the front lines, it means that those two rebellious forces have not found a suitable user. Unless we can penetrate into their headquarters, our chances of retrieving it are low. Not to mention we don¡¯t know which one of the two forces has obtained it.¡± Monarch Solesword sighed. ¡°If only the Immortal Ending Sword, Immortal Slaughtering Sword, and Immortal Slaying Sword did not mysteriously disappear.¡± All the seven monarchs could not help but regret it, too. Although losing all their immortal emperors weakened the Numinous Sword Sect, the real killer was the disappearance of the Four Immortal Exterminating Swords. Even without an immortal emperor, as long as four peak sword monarchs wielded the four divine swords, it would be akin to four sword emperors present. ¡°Do you think that the disappearance of the Wavefold Sect was because of the Immortal Confining Sword?¡± a monarch asked. ¡°No,¡± another immediately rejected. ¡°First of all, we don¡¯t recognize the qi Elder Ye retrieved. Second, we know the capabilities of the Immortal Confining Sword the best. A divinity might be able to accomplish the feat with it, but an immortal? Impossible.¡± ¡°Forget about it for now,¡± Monarch Solesword said. ¡°After we return, we can dispatch our spies and scouts to search for information. Our current mission is to weaken the two force alliance as much as possible.¡± The meeting ended, and Monarch Solesword didn¡¯t rest. Instead, he summoned all the immortals present and told them of his plan to attack the headquarters of the Twin Moon Sect. He did not inform them of too many details to ease any possible chance of lowering morale. When they set off for the Twin Moon Sect, they did not hide their intentions. The monarchs of the Void Ripple Sect¡¯s mastery over space exceeded theirs. Even if they had an artifact, it could only hide a few of them and not all of them. So, when they arrived, the immortals of the Twin Moon Sect and Void Ripple Sect were already ready behind the guardian formation of the Twin Moon Sect. To break through the guardian formation, the Numinous Sword Sect would have to spare a lot of effort. By the time they broke it, they would be exhausted or weakened, giving the enemies a chance to kill them in one fell swoop. However, Monarch Solesword didn¡¯t plan on making this conflict a long one. Behind Monarch Solesword were two coffins, each leaking a bone-deep aura of death. The coffin released a screeching scream as they slid off, revealing two figures. One wore the customary uniform of the Numinous Sword Sect, but it appeared baggy on his skeletal frame. His eyes had sunken in, making them resemble pits. The other had smooth, milky skin, but his hair was snow white. He gave off an impression that he would shatter at the slightest touch. ¡°Grand Elders, please take action,¡± Monarch Solesword said, cupping his fists. The coffin could only slow down the two sword emperor¡¯s death. It was a far cry compared to the catacomb they originally slept, but it still managed to extend their lives by that little bit. The two sword emperors didn¡¯t waste any words and immediately attacked. They were on borrowed time. The less time they wasted, the more they would have to fulfill their purpose. Strictly speaking, the best method of utilizing them would be to turn them into jiangshis, but the Numinous Sword Sect would not desecrate the corpses of their elders like some fiendish forces. The battle that followed changed the terrain of the great island. It was split in two and a river of blood flowed. The headquarters that housed the Twin Moon Sect for ages were destroyed. Half of their true immortals fell, and a quarter of their monarchs disappeared forever, and even the Bluemoon Emperor perished, leaving only the injured Redmoon Emperor. The Numinous Sword Sect was not much better off. Many of their immortals also perished. Alongside were the two sword emperors. After the battle, the Numinous Sword Sect immortals immediately retreated to the Sword Continent, but the trouble was not over. Although the two force alliance, tentatively named the Void Moon Alliance, was forced to recuperate, a new alliance that opposed the Numinous Sword Sect emerged. Formed by the Shifting Star Sect, Hanging Spear Sect, and Divine Pill Sect. They called themselves the Three Island Alliance. Soon, news exploded throughout the Numinous Realm. It was the truth of the destruction of the Myriad Saber Alliance. According to the truth, the Numinous Sword Sect had stored several sword emperors on the brink of death, and they awakened some to destroy the Myriad Saber Alliance. Furthermore, the Numinous Sword Sect had no contemporary sword emperor. Although the veracity of the rumor could not be verified, many forces still believed some parts of it. It wasn¡¯t unheard of for immortals on the brink of death or whose willpower had reached their end to hibernate in order to awaken at a crucial time. Furthermore, the Numinous Sword Sect shrinking back to the Sword Continent also seemed to reinforce the spreading rumors. Many second-rate forces, which had been shying away, started to get thoughts. They also wanted a piece of the pie. Although entering this conflict might destroy them, it was also an unprecedented opportunity. They just needed to choose the right force to join. The Three Island Alliance, which had originally been on the defensive, started making preparation to attack the Numinous Sword Sect. Although they have not declared war, it was inevitable.F Chapter 515: Wavefold Divine Art The calm before the storm did not last long. Soon, an unknown immortal attacked the Howling Ravine, a second-rate force on the Sword Continent. Although all the first-rate forces occupied large islands in the sea, it did not mean that there was only the Numinous Sword Sect on the Sword Continent. The only reason no first-rate forces were on the Sword Continent was because of the Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s decree. The Sword Continent was too large for the Numinous Sword Sect to manage by itself, unless it wanted to lower the standards for recruitment. Since they didn¡¯t want to lower their standards, the Numinous Sword Sects bequeathed provinces for second-rate forces to manage for them. Of course, truecontrol was still ultimately in the Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s hands, and the second-rate forces had to pay offerings every year. Although the Numinous Sword Sect bequeathed provinces for the second-rate forces, it didn¡¯t mean the Sword Continent was at peace. If anything, it had more wars than the islands controlled by the first-rate forces. If each second-rate force developed peacefully, it was not impossible for them to nurture immortal emperors and many half-emperors, but if each second-rate force developed an immortal emperor, then their numbers would directly exceed the Numinous Sword Sect. To prevent this, the Numinous Sword Sect secretly encouraged the second-rate forces to fight each other. Although the resources were abundant on the Sword Continent, it was impossible for it to fill up every forces¡¯ needs. So, wars over resources on the Sword Continent often occurred. If the Numinous Sword Sect felt a second-rate force was becoming too powerful, they would work in the dark to weaken them and maintain the balance. The Howling Ravine was an average second-rate force on the Sword Continent. Its attacker was the War Saint Clan from the sea. Normally, second-rate forces outside the Sword Continent would attack second-rate forces that ruled provinces in order to replace them. As long as they won, the Numinous Sword Sect would christen them as the new province rulers, but this attack was obviously different. If the previous attacks on the second-rate forces were an internal conflict, this was an external conflict. However, except for the two forces involved, everyone adopted a wait-and-see attitude. The Numinous Sword Sect was clear this was a provocation from the Void Moon Alliance or the Three Island Alliance, but as long as they did not explicitly reveal anything, they were content to watch everything. The Numinous Sword Sect wanted to see which of the second-rate forces had already surrendered to one of the two alliances, which force wanted to stay neutral, and which one stayed loyal. Soon, it wasn¡¯t only the Howling Ravine and War Saint Clan that warred, but several others. Like on a schedule, more and more second-rate forces attacked the province rulers of the Sword Continent. Fourteen years passed and war covered over ten percent of the Sword Continent. Still, the Numinous Sword Sect bided its time and did not casually intervene. Nor was there any visible sign of the two alliances attacking the Numinous Realm¡¯s hegemon.
Ding Mian released a misty breath as he watched the newest batch of pills fly out of his cauldron. Although war hadn¡¯t erupted since the Monarch Solesword and the others retreated, he and the other alchemists were being pushed constantly. Even Meng Tingfeng didn¡¯t bother him much, except telling him to be careful and not to leave the Numinous Sword Sect''s headquarters. Meng Tingfeng had secluded himself in his chambers. He was touched a bit during the battle against the Void Moon Alliance. Although the insights weren¡¯t enough to push him to become an immortal emperor, it was enough to further strengthen his foundation and lessen the difficulty of entering the Extremity Immortal Realm. After stretching his muscles a bit, Ding Mian sat down on a couch in an uncouth manner. A jade slip appeared in his left hand while his right hand slapped the air. Each time he slapped the air, an invisible wave would rush forward. Before the first wave could travel far, Ding Mian would slap the air again, producing another wave. The second wave traveled farther than the first and would superimpose on the first one, doubling its power. The same thing happened on the third and fourth slaps, doubling the power each time. On the ninety-seventh slap, the wave only merged with the previous waves for a split second before it collapsed. The collapse caused the other superimposed wave to collapse as well, creating a minor explosion in the alchemy chamber. ¡°Failed again, huh,¡± Ding Mian muttered. The jade slip in his hand recorded the Wavefold Divine Art. That¡¯s right, a divine art. In addition, just from the name, anyone could infer that it had an inextricable relationship with the destroyed Wavefold Sect. The reason the Wavefold Sect could rise in the first place was because their founder discovered a broken legacy from the Goddess of Sea, Mazu. The Wavefold Divine Art had a very simple effect, that was to double the power by superimposing waves. Although it was a simple effect, the Wavefold Divine Art had a wide range of application: offense, defense, and auxiliary methods. Although it was called the Wavefold Divine Art, it can even apply to other elements like fire. It was an ultimate skill that could boost the upper limit of many techniques. Even if the opponent was a realm higher, it was not impossible for the user of the Wavefold Divine Art to prevail. The only drawback was the time it needed to set up the ¡®waves.¡¯ If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. At the highest level of the Wavefold Divine Art, it was not impossible to apply it almost instantaneously. For this reason, many people covet the Wavefold Sect¡¯s Wavefold Divine Art. Naturally, this included the Numinous Sword Sect. Only, they weren¡¯t as eager as other forces because of their rich heritage. Still, this reason was why many people suspected that the Numinous Sword Sect destroyed the Wavefold Sect. The Wavefold Divine Art was divided into many levels. The strongest and purest was naturally the original Wavefold Divine Art the founder of the sect inherited. However, the prerequisite to master even a fraction was too high, so there were simplified versions: the Wavefold Immortal Art and the Wavefold Mortal Art. The Wavefold Divine Art and its branches were further split into five volumes: the Wavefold Fire Art, the Wavefold Water Art, the Wavefold Earth Art, the Wavefold Wood Art, and the Wavefold Metal Art. There were also two incomplete volumes, the Wavefold Light Art and the Wavefold Darkness Art. Unfortunately, the founder fell before he could create these two volumes. Even now, with the successors continuously perfecting them, they were not as complete and perfect as the five volumes. Although the Wavefold Sect protected the core secrets of the Wavefold Divine Art, some fragments still leaked out, especially the Wavefold Mortal Art. However, in Ding Mian¡¯s opinion, this was nothing more than a lizard shedding its tail to save its life. Still, they ultimately couldn¡¯t save their fate from destruction. Ding Mian had the Wavefold Divine Art and was learning, but no one but him knew. He continued to practice until he finally managed to merge nine-ninety waves into one. However, it only lasted a few minutes before collapsing again. If Ding Mian hadn¡¯t set up preventative measures, the alchemy chamber would have been turned into a mess. Although the explosion of ninety-nine waves superimposed was powerful, it was still a far cry from a failed seventh-rank pill exploding. So, even if the alchemy chamber was blasted, it would not even cause a scratch to it. ¡°This is a bit more difficult than I thought,¡± Ding Mian muttered. He was only practicing the Wavefold Mortal Art, and the ultimate mastery was to merge one hundred waves into one and to unleash the one hundred folded waves with one slap. If the surviving members of the Wavefold Divine Art knew what Ding Mian said, they would have cursed him. Many of them could only reach the level of superimposing one hundred waves after they became a true immortal. It would take thousands of years to reach complete mastery. More often than not, they would just practice one or two volumes from the mortal level to the immortal level. Few could practice all five volumes simultaneously. Mastering all five volumes at once meant near omni usage, unlike only mastering one volume, which severely restricted the techniques it could be applied to. Of course, applying the Wavefold Divine Art to alchemy was almost meaningless. Perhaps someone who had the talent in the divine art and alchemy could forge a new branch of alchemy, but that person was not Ding Mian. He was constantly improving his alchemical skills in the orthodox way. Why would he spare the energy to create a new method that he didn¡¯t need? Ding Mian¡¯s hand stopped slapping the air, and the jade slip in his left hand disappeared. He waved his hand, and the newly finished pills flew into a bottle that appeared in his hand. He sealed it with a cork and opened the door. Upon entering the main hall, he saw a familiar figure. ¡°So why is Senior Meng here? Don¡¯t tell me you came specifically to pick up the pills I refined,¡± Ding Mian said. ¡°Of course not. Someone else will come,¡± Meng Tingfeng said with a shake of his head. He looked at Ding Mian with some hesitation. Finally, he opened his mouth. ¡°Mian¡¯er, I¡¯m actually¡ªforget it.¡± Meng Tingfeng shook his head. He handed a golden talisman to Ding Mian. ¡°Take this. I feel like the Numinous Sword Sect isn¡¯t going to be peaceful in the future. Even if you stay, you have to be careful. This is a talisman I refined for your protection. Although I say protection, it only has offensive capabilities.¡± A self-deprecating smile appeared on his face. ¡°After all, I¡¯m a sword immortal. We don¡¯t really have good defensive talents. You have five uses, and each use will release a sword light at the level of a peak fifth-step monarch. Or, you can use all five uses at once to release an attack at the level of half-emperor.¡± After saying those words, Meng Tingfeng left. ¡°Take care of yourself.¡± Ding Mian stared at the space where Meng Tingfeng had left. After a while, he sighed. He had a pretty good idea as to what Meng Tingfeng wanted to say, but even if Meng Tingfeng didn¡¯t stop, he would have found a chance to stop Meng Tingfeng from continuing. Shaking his head, Ding Mian returned to his chambers. He didn¡¯t immediately start concocting pills, but studied the talisman given to him. ¡®The Law of Stars is quite interesting. I can improve my own understanding of the Law of Stars by studying it.¡¯ A few days later, a disciple of one of the Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s elders arrived to pick up the pills. Such menial tasks should have been left to servant-disciples, but the pills Ding Mian concocted were too precious. However, it was too much to have an immortal elder pick them up, so the person in charge became the disciples of those elders. Each one was at least a venerable or a saint. Life returned to normal after they left. No, it shouldn¡¯t be said returning to normal. News spread that the Seven Star Sword Monarch clashed against a monarch from the Hanging Spear Sect. Both sides led a team, and each team included immortals from second-rate forces. That battle seemed to announce the war between the Numinous Sword Sect and the Three Island Alliance. Although the Void Moon Alliance did not play a role on the surface, many people sighted the space monarchs of the Void Ripple Sect appearing back and forth between battlefields. Though they did not participate in the battle, they definitely helped transport the immortals of the Three Island Alliance. Not only that, but several second-rate forces suddenly attacked. Although they did not implicitly announce, it was obvious that they had joined one of the two alliances, becoming traitors at a critical time and forcing the Numinous Sword Sect to dispatch squads to quell the turmoil. And it remained unknown how many traitors were lying in the dark, waiting to erupt. Perhaps because of the pressure, many saints of the Numinous Sword Sect turned their potential into power and successfully transcended the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. Although those true immortals injected fresh blood into the sect, it was still the monarchs that determined the overall situation of the war, and many immortal monarchs were born as the war continued. The two alliances also birthed monarchs, but they only equaled the number of monarchs birthed by the Numinous Sword Sect. Finally, in the thirty-seventh year of the war, an immortal monarch entered the Extremity Realm. Chapter 516: Void Divine Lotus The birth of a new immortal emperor did not create any ripples. In fact, if Ding Mian hadn¡¯t been secretly paying attention to the battle, he would not have noticed anything amiss, just like everyone else. When an immortal monarch entered the Extremity Immortal Realm, there would be no accompanying phenomena. This was the same for immortal emperors entering the Origin Immortal Realm. Once a true immortal mastered a complete law and transformed their body, they would no longer be connected to heaven and earth. In a sense, the Dao Manifestation was the last gift of the Heavenly Dao to cultivators. That immortal monarch was Ye Chen. Although Ye Chen broke through in the midst of battle, he did not immediately reveal himself as an immortal emperor. Instead, he hid his power and pretended to struggle against his opponents, three immortal monarchs. On the surface, he only managed to escape after paying a high price. Ye Chen retreated from the battlefield and returned to the Numinous Sword Sect to recuperate. Of course, that was a lie. Ding Mian hypothesized that his real reason was to consolidate his cultivation base and firmly step into the Extremity Immortal Realm. Only then would he reveal himself and deal a crucial blow to the two alliances. Ding Mian frowned. ¡®I should have taken action against Ye Chen before he broke through. Now, it¡¯ll be more difficult to kill him and take the Kunlun Sword.¡¯ Still, he didn¡¯t regret his cautious approach. As someone who inherited the legacy of the Heavenly Lord of Numinous Treasures, he would never underestimate the Numinous Sword Sect. Who knew if the Numinous Sword Sect had a method to contact their counterparts in the prime timeline? If they did, everything he got in this timeline would be practically useless. ¡®Since I can¡¯t take action personally, I can only tip off the two alliances, but I can¡¯t make it too deliberate. I¡¯ll have to think of some method to guide one of the three monarchs that fought with Ye Chen. Tsk. This isn¡¯t my forte. I¡¯ll have to be careful not to be exposed,¡¯ Ding Mian thought.
It was a world with no day or night. A black mist permanently covered the sky, and only occasionally would light peek through. This was the Void Immortal Grotto of the Void Ripple Sect, their headquarters. Although the Void Ripple Sect controlled a large island like the other first-rate forces, they did not make the island their headquarters. Instead, it was this immortal grotto concealed in space. Although it wasn¡¯t as rich in resources as the large island, it had one immutable advantage. The Void Immortal Grotto wasn¡¯t anchored to one place and could be relocated with some preparation. In one of the temples sat an immortal monarch in a lotus position with her eyes shut. She was garbed in the customary dark robes, but there was no mist covering her face. This was normal. Most monarchs hid their faces with the Mystic Mist Art when leaving the Void Immortal Grotto to give an air of intrigue in order to protect the mystery of the Void Ripple Sect. Many people outside couldn¡¯t differentiate the space monarchs of the Void Ripple Sect thanks to this method. The female monarch was Monarch Voidmist, the newest space monarch of the Void Ripple Sect. She was also one of the three monarchs that besieged the Kunlun Sword Monarch. As a new monarch, Voidmist should not have been able to participate in a siege against a peak monarch like Ye Chen, especially since she hadn¡¯t even merged one of the five elemental qis, becoming a first-step monarch. It was something that would take her hundreds, if not thousands, of years to accomplish. However, her talent in the Law of Time was only inferior to her talent in the Law of Space. Although she hadn¡¯t mastered the Law of Time, it was only slightly away from perfection. In terms of her attainments, she would be considered an immortal lord with the Law of Time. With her mastery over the Law of Space and attainments in the Law of Time, it was more than enough to protect herself and play a supportive role in the siege against Ye Chen. Voidmist snapped her eyes and looked around, as if in a daze. Her delicate brows were pursed. Obviously, she was troubled by something. She looked at her hands. ¡®I knew I was tired from the battle, but did I really fall asleep and dream about it?¡¯ The space monarch closed her eyes and recalled the scene in her dream. It was almost exactly the same except for one moment. She and the two other immortal monarchs had forced the Kunlun Sword Monarch to a deadend. Just a little more and they could have taken his life, but they actually failed. It was exactly the same process and images, but in her dreams, she felt a strange temporal fluctuation. Although brief, the fluctuation was stronger than the spatial fluctuations she had felt before, and it reminded her of the Ripple Emperor. Voidmist wanted to chalk it up to just being a dream, but the more she thought about it, the more strange she felt. Upon recalling the entire battle, the turning point seemed to be that exact moment. Although everything seemed perfectly reasonable, the Kunlun Sword Monarch was able to escape the predicament. After that point, although he was being pressured, it felt as if something had changed. Although he suffered a grievous injury, he was able to escape. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. At this point, Voidmist even had the suspicion that the Kunlun Sword Monarch deliberately allowed himself to be injured in order to trick them. But for what reason? ¡®No, I have to tell someone of my suspicions,¡¯ Voidmist thought. She stood up and left her temple. She flew toward the center of the Void Immortal Grotto. In front of a large temple stood two guards. ¡°Please inform the Ripple Emperor that I have something to report,¡± Voidmist said. The two guards nodded and didn¡¯t delay. Although they were true immortals and guarded the core area, they knew their status was inferior to immortal monarchs like Voidmist. Soon, they made way for Voidmist. She didn¡¯t delay and directly entered. Inside the main hall, Voidmist did not see anything except a rippling space in the middle. She bowed to the ripple. ¡°Ripple Emperor, I¡¯m sorry for disturbing you while you are recovering.¡± ¡°Tell me, what¡¯s the problem? I know you aren¡¯t one to make a mountain out of a molehill,¡± the Ripple Emperor said. His voice was majestic, but there was no hiding the fatigue within them. ¡°It¡¯s like this,¡± Voidmist recounted the battle and her suspicions. She didn¡¯t mention the dream, only because it sounded preposterous. In her view, it was likely her intuition and subconscious warning her, hence the dream. The Ripple Emperor didn¡¯t denounce Voidmist¡¯s conjectures. He even sank into deep thought. ¡°If what you said is true, then the Numinous Sword Sect might have a new sword emperor.¡± ¡°Sword emperor? That¡¯s a bit too much, right?¡± Voidmist objected. If that Kunlun Sword Monarch really merged all five elemental qis into his immortal qi and perfected his Law of Time, why didn¡¯t he kill her and the other monarchs immediately? She wanted to ask if the Ripple Emperor was sure, but she didn¡¯t dare to question him. Naturally, the Ripple Emperor saw her confusion. ¡°It¡¯s not certain. There¡¯s only a fifty percent chance, but that¡¯s enough to set him as the number one assassination target.¡± He sighed. ¡°If I was in perfect condition, no¡ªIf it was after Emperor Wujian¡¯s death, I would have had the confidence to set up an ambush for that Kunlun Sword Monarch. But now, both the Redmoon Emperor and I would have to set up an ambush. But now, both he and I are too injured.¡± ¡°Then what can we do?¡± Voidmist asked, anxious. Although a new sword emperor would not guarantee the Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s victory, it would give them a significant advantage and make the chances of victory for the two alliances plummet. ¡°I¡¯ll contact the Three Island Alliance. They must not want to see a new sword emperor, too,¡± the Ripple Emperor said. Then, he dismissed Voidmist. Alone again, the ripple vanished, as if it had never existed. Elsewhere, the Ripple Emperor opened his eyes. The space he was in was located in the core of the Void Immortal Grotto, but it was also hidden within space, a space within a space. An aura of spacetime filled the air. Anyone inside would be able to comprehend the Law of Space and the Law of Time with twice the results for half the effort. The source of this aura was not the Void Immortal Grotto. Or rather, the Void Immortal Grotto did not have such capabilities. The source was the gold and silver lotus floating in the center. Its root was not anchored to the ground but spacetime itself. Just like how the founder of the Wavefold Sect discovered the legacy of the Sea Goddess Mazu, the founder of the Void Ripple Sect also had his own fortuitous encounter. However, it wasn¡¯t the legacy of a powerful divinity from the primordial era, but the lotus. The lotus was not recorded in any record the founder of the Void Ripple Sect knew, but because it contained the Law of Space and the Law of Time, he called it the Void Divine Lotus. It was thanks to this lotus that he became an immortal emperor, and the only one in the Void Ripple Sect¡¯s history to master the Law of Space and the Law of Time. The Void Divine Lotus was the Void Ripple Sect¡¯s greatest secret and trump card. With it, they built the Void Immortal Grotto, a land that even ten immortal emperors could not invade. Its effect was far more prevalent than that. Anyone born in the Void Immortal Grotto would have a high predisposition for the Law of Space or the Law of Time. Otherwise, it would be impossible for so many space monarchs to appear. To maintain secrecy, only those who have become immortal emperors could enter the core space and be bathed in the aura of the Void Divine Lotus. The Ripple Emperor was the same. Just bathing in the aura of the Void Divine Lotus could accelerate the healing of his immortal body. For the foreseeable future, he would not leave this core space of the Void Immortal Grotto. At least, that was the original plan. Before his injuries could fully heal, it seemed that he would need to leave and discuss how to deal with the Kunlun Sword Monarch with the Redmoon Emperor and the Three Island Alliance. His eyes flickered. ¡°Should I let Voidmist or Skybreach enter and comprehend the mysteries contained in the Void Divine Lotus?¡± Although Voidmist was not even a first-step monarch yet, she was the most likely to replicate the founder¡¯s feat of mastering both space and time. Skybreach was the immortal monarch with the highest chance of inheriting the title of Ripple Emperor. The Ripple Emperor knew his chances of falling were high. If he did not tell others about the Void Divine Lotus, the Void Ripple Sect might never know about it until it was rediscovered after who knows how many years¡ªif they hadn¡¯t been destroyed yet. Only by entering the core space and manipulating the formation could the Void Immortal Grotto relocate. ¡°Who?!¡± The Ripple Emperor scanned his surroundings. He frowned when he sensed no one. ¡°Strange. Was it just my imagination?¡± He clearly felt an unknown gaze a moment earlier. However, the feeling disappeared and he couldn¡¯t sense a second person inside the core space. Still, he couldn¡¯t help but have an ominous premonition. After a moment, he made a decision. He would give both Monarch Voidmist and Monarch Skybreach permission to enter the core space. If Skybreach could enter the Extremity Immortal Realm during the war, it would be for the best. As the one with the greatest potential, Voidmist could protect the Void Ripple Sect if both Skybreach and he perish in the war. The Ripple Emperor summoned both of them and introduced the Void Divine Lotus to them and taught them the method to relocate the Void Immortal Grotto. Both of them stayed in the core space while he left. He had already informed the Redmoon Emperor about the Kunlun Sword Monarch. Both of them would meet with the Three Island Alliance to discuss what to do with the Kunlun Sword Monarch, especially if he really became an immortal emperor. No Chapter Tomorrow Long story short, I bought a pre-owned monitor samsung G8 OLED, but it didn''t come with the mini display port cable. That was fine, I could just buy the mini display port and have it come in tomorrow I thought. So, I dismantled my monitor, only to discover that the vesa mount adapter the seller handed me was for the g9, and the g8''s adapter is $70 on amazon. FML. I don''t know when he can find the adapter and hand it to me. And I have to drive 30 minutes to meet him. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. I''m in way too poor of a mood to focus. I can''t even watch YT without stewing in negativity right now. Chapter 517: Starfall Ye Chen frowned. Despite reaching the Extremity Immortal Realm, there was a gnawing sensation in the back of his mind that wouldn¡¯t leave him. He did not think the sensation was something to be ignored. Although cultivators couldn¡¯t blindly trust their feelings, it still did not prevent the fact their intuition was an important factor when considering how to act. Especially for someone who mastered the Law of Time. Those that did would only have a stronger intuition. He thought he would not easily fall into danger after reaching the Extremity Immortal Realm, but his intuition told him wrong. ¡°Just what is the source of this danger?¡± Ye Chen asked himself. Logically speaking, he should not be in danger unless he directly invaded the camp of a first-rate force alone. Ye Chen did not fear emperor-level war formation because, despite their impressive power, they did not have the same speed. So, even if he was surrounded by emperor-level war formations, he could escape. Not to mention that the first-rate forces came from fragmented inheritances. Compared to the Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s war formations, they would have to send more immortals to achieve the same level of power that the Numinous Sword Sect could for less. That only left other immortal emperors. He knew that the Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s two awakened sword emperors had severely injured the Ripple Emperor and the Redmoon Emperor before they completely perished. He had to be careful of both emperors as a newly ascended sword emperor, but Ye Chen didn¡¯t think that the both of them teaming up could threaten his life. If anything, Ye Chen suspected that the true danger came from a hidden emperor, the one that destroyed the Wavefold Sect. ¡®Maybe it¡¯s not an immortal emperor, but an immortal sovereign? After all, even an immortal emperor wouldn¡¯t have the ability to destroy the Wavefold Sect.¡¯ Ye Chen shook his head. If there really was an immortal sovereign, then the Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s situation would only be more dire than it already was. Getting rid of unnecessary thoughts, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but sigh in regret. Only after entering the Extremity Immortal Realm did he learn about the true situation of the sect. Not only was he the sole sword emperor, but the sect lost their four divine swords. Three of them vanished mysteriously, and the fourth one was stolen by either the Ripple Emperor or the Redmoon Emperor. Although the Kunlun Sword was good, it was a weapon reforged from a broken divine artifact. It was better than nothing, but having one of the Four Immortal Exterminating Swords would have been far more helpful, especially since all of them were peerless divine swords. In this aspect, Meng Tingfeng was more lucky than him. ¡°That just means I have to get it back from them,¡± Ye Chen uttered. He had already decided to grab the last Immortal Confining Sword from the Void Ripple Sect or the Twin Moon Sect. Whichever one took it. However, his confidence did not prevent him from making the appropriate preparation. He discussed the gnawing sensation with Monarch Solesword and came to the conclusion that the two alliances wanted to scheme against him. Ye Chen didn¡¯t think any of the monarchs he fought noticed the abnormality when he entered the Extremity Immortal Realm. The moment he broke through, he used the Law of Time to speed the flow of time inside his body, hiding his ascension. More than likely, the two alliances felt threatened by his chances of becoming the next sword emperor. In that case, Monarch Solesword and Meng Tingfeng were both in danger. However, the Numinous Sword Sect viciously guarded the deployment plans of all three of them. More often than not, the other sword immortals would only know a few days before the assault on the enemy. It was practically impossible for the two alliances to learn of Ye Chen¡¯s or the other two¡¯s deployment ahead of time. That only left one option to ambush them. The two alliances must put out a bait alluring enough to draw out Ye Chen, and they must not leave behind any clues as to their plan. After discussing it with Monarch Solesword, they decided that if something that really drew Ye Chen¡¯s attention appeared, they would play along. They would allow Ye Chen to pretend to be alone and enter the trap. When the people appeared, they would jump out and counter ambush them. Ye Chen didn¡¯t have to wait for too long. Two years later, news of the Fleeting Time Wisteria Flower entered his ears. The Fleeting Wisteria was a tree that grew in the Numinous Realm. Its blooming season varied. Sometimes it happens once a year. Other times, it would bloom only once in a decade or even a century. The reason for this was the temporal qi flowing through the Fleeting Wisteria Tree. Because of this temporal qi, it made great material for forging time-related artifacts, pills, and other items. If the Fleeting Wisteria Tree was transplanted from its original location, it would become an ordinary wisteria tree. The only reason wisteria trees transformed into Fleeting Wisteria Trees was because they rooted themselves on temporal nodes. Temporal nodes were almost impossible to detect, and without anything anchoring them, they shifted constantly. The Fleeting Time Wisteria Flower was the blossom of a Fleeting Wisteria Tree that had not blossomed for ten thousand years or more. All the temporal qi that it stored for ten thousand years were concentrated into one flower, causing a qualitative change. Even eating a petal of the Fleeting Time Wisteria could increase a cultivator¡¯s insight into the Law of Time for a period. If concocted into a Fleeting Time Pill, it could permanently increase a cultivator¡¯s talent in the Law of Time. Even Ye Chen had to admit that the bait thrown out by the two alliances was fatally attractive to him. The only problem was that he didn¡¯t know how they forced a Fleeting Time Wisteria Flower to bloom. He didn¡¯t think about it for too long. After discussing it with Monarch Solesword, he snuck out of the Numinous Sword Sect for the Fleeting Time Wisteria Flower. Even though Ye Chen only displayed the abilities he had as a sword monarch, no one noticed he left the Sword Continent. When he flew over the blue seas, he could not sense anyone following him, so he was sure that whoever was plotting against him did not know when he would arrive. But that mattered little. He was sure that once he appeared near the Fleeting Time Wisteria, they would ambush him. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. After nearly a month of travel, Ye Chen arrived at the location of the Fleeting Time Wisteria Flower. Even before he stepped onto the island, he could feel the temporal waves rippling through the air. The island itself was not considered large, just ten thousand kilometers long, but it was quite remote. It wasn¡¯t at the edge of the Numinous Realm, but if the Numinous Sword Sect wanted to send reinforcement, it would be all but impossible in a short amount of time. The island appeared to be in spring, with verdant greenery all around, flowers blooming on the grass and trees. In Ye Chen¡¯s eyes, the island was cloaked in white snow; the snow being the invisible manifestation of the temporal laws. In actuality, it should be around fall, not spring. Ye Chen didn¡¯t immediately fly toward the source of this phenomenon. Instead, he landed on the edge of the island and slowly walked toward the Fleeting Time Wisteria Flower. Whenever he walked, the surrounding snow would turn into silver motes of light and flow into his body. The effect was minimal, but Ye Chen felt a change in his mentality, one that increased his insights into time. Although he seemed to be walking slowly, with each step Ye Chen took, he would appear at least a hundred meters apart. Three days later, Ye Chen arrived in front of a giant Fleeting Wisteria Tree. He looked around and saw a city full of mortals. The strange thing was that the mortals were all young and in the prime of their life. There was not a single mortal with a strand of white hair. Ye Chen looked away. Why would he be interested in those that were already dead? He floated up until he reached a wisteria flower of violet color and silver ripples flowing through its petals. In the entire tree, this was the only flower. Ye Chen didn¡¯t immediately pluck the Fleeting Time Wisteria Flower and gently caressed its petals. Just grazing it caused Ye Chen¡¯s figure to blur, as if there were several versions of himself superimposed on each other. After a few seconds, Ye Chen brought his hand away. A jade box appeared in his hand. It was an artifact he specially brought to store the Fleeting Time Wisteria Flower. The moment he plucked it, the Fleeting Time Wisteria Flower would start to lose its essence. So, he brought this box to seal the flower in its prime state. He reached out and plucked the flower. Immediately after, the temporal phenomenon vanished. The verdant greenery dulled, the flowers wilted, and the humans in the settlement nearby all screamed in horror. They watched as their body withered until their skin turned to dust. The reason those mortals were all young and lived idyllic lives was thanks to the aftereffects of the Fleeting Time Wisteria Flower exuded. In reality, those mortals had lived for centuries, their time temporarily stopped. Once time flowed again and the world corrected their time, they would naturally return to dust. Ye Chen¡¯s eyes glimmered with sword light the moment he closed the box. Ripples pinched him from both sides, and a terrifying amount of qi erupted from the ripples. It was a checkmate. The attack was too sudden and too close. Ye Chen didn¡¯t have time to form a defense, and even if he formed a defense, the attack was more than enough to injure him. The attacks landed and Ye Chen turned into chunks of meat. However, when the ripples appeared, Ye Chen stood in the air, nary a hair out of place. It was as if the terrifying ambush did not happen and it was just a hallucination. Ye Chen didn¡¯t show any surprise and calmly stored the jade box containing the Fleeting Time Wisteria Flower. Only then did he scan his surroundings. A sword with a mirror-like blade appeared in his hand. ¡°Since you¡¯ve already attacked, what¡¯s the point of hiding?¡± Less than a second later, a red-robed man stepped out of a ripple. He was the Redmoon Emperor. Although his aura was not weak, it could not hide the shaky foundation. More ripples appeared and several Lunar Giant War Formation appeared. Each one exuded the aura of a half-emperor or higher. ¡°Kunlun Sword Monarch, you should just accept your fate and give up all meaningless resistance,¡± the Redmoon Emperor said. Ye Chen sneered. ¡°I¡¯ll return those words to you!¡± He didn¡¯t waste anymore words and attacked. In response, the Redmoon Emperor deployed his signature Redmoon Realm. Although it had a greater suppressive effect on immortals that specialized in spells, it could still prevent Ye Chen from fleeing. After releasing the Redmoon Realm, the Redmoon Emperor hid himself. The Redmoon Emperor¡¯s primary task was to seal Ye Chen¡¯s escape route. He had no interest in losing his life to a newly ascended emperor. Originally, they were the strongest first-rate forces, but the Bluemoon Emperor perished, making them fall to the level of the Void Ripple Sect. The Twin Moon Sect could ill afford to lose him, their remaining immortal emperor. The six war formations surrounded Ye Chen and attacked him at once. Ye Chen only sneered. His figure blurred, and he appeared in front of one of the war formations and slashed. Ripples appeared on the war formation¡¯s skin. He was repeating the same tactic he used to destroy the war formation he fought before. Why fix what ain¡¯t broke? Naturally, the other war formations would not watch and allow it to happen. They rushed toward Ye Chen, preventing him from slashing the third time. But just like before, he disappeared again. This time, he reappeared behind another war formation and slashed. And so, a game of cat and mouse began. Ye Chen would focus on one war formation until the other war formations stopped him before focusing on another one. If given the chance, he would attack a formation that still had ripples across its skin. Despite the Lunar Giant War Formations¡¯ best efforts, the rate of ripples appearing was faster than they could stop Ye Chen. The Redmoon Emperor frowned and increased the intensity of the Redmoon Realm. Although it increased the consumption of qi for himself and the war formations, Ye Chen was in an even worse situation. Ye Chen fell into a disadvantage. His movements had slowed, and he couldn¡¯t reveal the war formations¡¯ weak links. ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, goodbye. I¡¯m not a fool that will fight a losing battle.¡± He disappeared from the encirclement of the Lunar Giant War Formation. When he reappeared, he was already at the edge of the Redmoon Realm. ¡°What?¡± the Redmoon Emperor shouted. ¡°How could you teleport inside my Redmoon Realm? Not even the Ripple Emperor can teleport.¡± ¡°Why do I have to tell you?¡± Ye Chen asked with a sneer. He slashed an opening out of the Redmoon Realm and slipped out, but he didn¡¯t see the calm and confident expression on the Redmoon Emperor¡¯s face. The moment Ye Chen slipped out, he found the surrounding space frozen, shackling him in place. Not only that, the sky had turned dark, revealing the limitless, glimmering stars in the sky. With each moment, the stars shone brighter. No, they weren¡¯t shining brighter, but falling. Hundreds of stars fell from the night sky, each hurtling toward him. Shackled in place, it seemed that Ye Chen had no choice but to take the falling stars. BOOOM! BOOOOM!! BOOOOOM!!! One after the other, the stars crashed into Ye Chen. They didn¡¯t stop and crashed into the ground, causing the land to fissure. With each star that fell, the island splintered until it eventually sank below the sea. Above the water¡¯s surface, the Redmoon Emperor stood beside another immortal emperor. The immortal emperor wore a purple-robe with countless stars shimmering in it. He was the Starfall Emperor. ¡°Did we get him?¡± The Starfall Emperor shook his head. ¡°Although my spell hit him, I can still feel his aura, and it hasn¡¯t changed at all.¡± The Redmoon Emperor didn¡¯t show much surprise. ¡°As expected, the Kunlun Sword Monarch has become the Kunlun Sword Emperor.¡± ¡°I¡¯m surprised, how did you guess that I became an emperor?¡± Ye Chen asked. He didn¡¯t appear from below the water but reappeared where he had exited the Redmoon Realm. He glanced at the Ripple Emperor, who appeared next to the two emperors, before looking at all three of them. ¡°I¡¯m curious, is there another emperor hidden in the Three Island Alliance?¡± Chapter 518: Another Emperor Naturally, none of the three immortal emperors would answer Ye Chen¡¯s questions. Even if they did, it would not be an honest answer. Ye Chen also knew this, so he didn¡¯t bother asking again. Instead, he waved his hand. To the surprise of the three immortal emperors and Lunar Giant War Formations, nine Ten Thousand Sword War Formations appeared. Now, it was one sword emperor and nine war formations against three immortal emperors and six war formations. ¡°You knew this was an ambush?¡± the Ripple Emperor couldn¡¯t help but question. ¡°You must have stored those people inside a realm artifact. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to escape our senses,¡± the Starfall Emperor said. There was no hiding the envy in his voice. Realm artifacts were incredibly rare in the Numinous Realm, even rarer than in the Huang Realm. Even the Numinous Sword Sect didn¡¯t have as many realm artifacts as the Buzhou Immortal Sect did. It was also one reason why they wanted to attack the other so much. ¡°Of course,¡± Ye Chen said. ¡°I have to admit that I didn¡¯t expect you guys to have realized I was an emperor. No wonder you brought out so many people to deal with me.¡± ¡°So what if you brought them all out? No amount of half-emperor level war formations can change that you¡¯re still only one emperor against three,¡± the Redmoon Emperor said. Ye Chen gave a confident smile. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be so sure about that.¡± He brandished his sword, ready to initiate the battle, but was stopped by one of the Ten Thousand Sword War Formations. ¡°Let me deal with the Starfall Emperor.¡± The Ripple Emperor and Redmoon Emperor recognized the voice. ¡°Hmpf, aside from Solesword, the top assassination targets are present. Not only will the Numinous Sword Sect lose a sword emperor today, but they will lose a junior emperor, too!¡± Meng Tingfeng ignored the words and waited for Ye Chen¡¯s answer. Ye Chen shrugged. He knew that Meng Tingfeng wanted to fight the Starfall Emperor because he saw a chance to enter the Extremity Immortal Realm. After all, both of them comprehended the Law of Stars. And Ye Chen was very happy to see it happen. After becoming an immortal emperor, he felt himself slacken a bit because of the reduction of pressure. If Meng Tingfeng could pressure him, then it would be for the best. ¡°Alright enough talking, let¡¯s end this karma here!¡± Ye Chen said as he pointed his sword at the three emperors. Next to him, the Ten Thousand Sword War Formation, controlled by Meng Tingfeng, also changed. The layers of spinning sword light congregated and formed a giant composed entirely of sword light a hundred meters tall. It flew alongside Ye Chen toward the Starfall Emperor. The Starfall Emperor snorted. ¡°You hold the Kunlun Sword Emperor back. I¡¯ll join you after I deal with this junior.¡± The Ripple Emperor and Redmoon Emperor nodded. They didn¡¯t have the confidence to defeat or kill Ye Chen, but they could hold him back and prevent him from saving Meng Tingfeng at the critical time. As for the six Lunar Giant War Formations, it was up to themselves to hold back the eight other Ten Thousand Sword War Formations. The Ten Thousand Sword War Formation controlled by Meng Tingfeng held the Seven Star Sword in its hand and slashed toward the Starfall Emperor. As if affected by the divine artifact, the war formation¡¯s body also had countless stars shimmering in its body. When it attacked, the Seven Star Sword seemed to have transformed into shooting stars. Each strike left behind a dazzling trail. The Starfall Emperor dodged his attack. His body burned like a star and several incarnations split from the body. Each one exuded an exact aura to the Starfall Emperor, making it impossible to detect which one was the true body and which ones were the incarnations. He raised his hand above his head and brought it down. Following the motion of his hand, the stars in the sky rained down again, but Meng Tingfeng was not defenseless. The Seven Star Sword dimmed slightly, but the number of attacks increased. Most of the shooting stars dealt with the falling stars, while the remaining ones attacked the Starfall Emperor. When the shooting stars clashed against the falling stars, bursts of brilliance exploded for a single moment that ended instantly yet seemed to last for eternity. Although Meng Tingfeng¡¯s attack couldn¡¯t neutralize the Starfall Emperor¡¯s attack, he successfully deflected them, causing it to appear as if the falling stars were sliding off an invisible umbrella. The Starfall Emperor frowned. He expected Meng Tingfeng to be difficult, but not this difficult. Even as a lone monarch, Meng Tingfeng could probably resist for a while, right? The title of junior emperor was not wrong. However, there was a more important reason for Meng Tingfeng being able to resist so well. Envy and greed flashed in the Starfall Emperor¡¯s eyes as he glanced at the Seven Star Sword in the war formation¡¯s hand. He sneered. As long as he killed Meng Tingfeng, he would have a divine artifact in hand. By then, who in the world could be his opponent? He would lead the Shifting Star Sect to become the new hegemon of the Numinous Realm. The Starfall Emperor increased the rate and intensity of his attack, but despite his actions, it seemed that the Ten Thousand Sword War Formation controlled by Meng Tingfeng could always withstand his assault. As time passed, the Starfall Emperor realized something was off. The number of attacks Meng Tingfeng launched against him was increasing! This meant that Meng Tingfeng was improving mid battle. He was slowly learning to deal with the Starfall Emperor¡¯s attack and counter attacking. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. The Starfall Emperor¡¯s expression sank. If this continued, could Meng Tingfeng really contend with him in a war formation? If that was the case, then the entire operation would fail. It was impossible for the injured Ripple Emperor and Redmoon Emperor to deal with the Kunlun Sword Emperor. They needed him, but that would be impossible with Meng Tingfeng blocking him. Time was not on their side either. The eight other Ten Thousand Sword War Formations were firmly suppressing the six Lunar Giant War Formations. Even with the support from the Void Ripple Sect¡¯s war formation, it was only a matter of time before they were defeated. The Starfall Emperor had a trump card, but it was reserved for the Kunlun Sword Emperor. If he used it on Meng Tingfeng, he won''t be able to use it again in a short time without substantial cost to himself. While the Starfall Emperor was debating whether to use his trump card or not, Ye Chen saw everything that happened. He had a relaxed expression, while the Ripple Emperor and the Redmoon Emperor¡¯s expressions sank. He even had the time to aggravate them. ¡°Hahaha. It seems like an emperor will fall today, but it won¡¯t be from my Numinous Sword Sect. I wonder which emperor will. Is it the Twin Moon Sect or the Void Ripple Sect? Most likely the Twin Moon Sect. After all, the Void Ripple Sect is a well-known coward with great fleeing abilities.¡± Neither the Ripple Emperor nor the Redmoon Emperor said any words to counteract him. They were secretly communicating with the Starfall Emperor to decide what to do. It was obvious their operation failed. Should they cut their losses now, or kill Meng Tingfeng? Ye Chen didn¡¯t know what the two were thinking, but he saw that they changed from offense to defense. Even as a sword emperor with superior attacking power in the same realm, he would not be able to deal any damage to them without showing his trump cards. He had planned to make a splash upon announcing himself as a sword emperor, and he didn¡¯t want his first battle to end without any accomplishment. The death of another immortal emperor was sufficient to commemorate his ascension. Ye Chen charged at the Redmoon Emperor. His earlier words weren¡¯t a lie. Compared to the slippery Ripple Emperor, the Redmoon Emperor was much easier to kill. Of course, the Redmoon Emperor would not stand still and allow Ye Chen to kill him. Just as he was about to block the frontal attack, he sensed death behind him. His eyes locked onto the charging Ye Chen and saw nothing out of the ordinary. After a moment of hesitation, he turned around and blocked his back. Just in time too, as another Ye Chen materialized out of thin air and slashed down. ¡°I knew it. Your sneak attack failed. Ever since you displayed your ability to teleport, I¡¯ve always been on guard agai¡ªGAH!!!¡± The Redmoon Emperor felt a searing pain on his back as a sword eviscerated it. Not even his defensive immortal artifact could block the Kunlun Sword in Ye Chen¡¯s hand. ¡°How?!¡± the Redmoon bit out. ¡°I can clearly sense that the divine artifact in front of me is real. How can you also have another one? Did you forge two swords from the broken Kunlun Mirror?!¡± Ye Chen didn¡¯t answer. Instead, he only attacked faster, hoping to kill the Redmoon Emperor. However, the Ripple Emperor appeared and dragged the Redmoon Emperor away, saving him from a fatal blow. ¡°Maybe,¡± Ye Chen finally answered. Both of his selves turned toward the two emperors. In reality, the Kunlun Mirror was only enough to forge the Kunlun Sword. If it was really refined into two swords, it would have lost its essence and become a sovereign artifact. Only a fool would choose two sovereign artifacts over a divine artifact. His second was not an avatar or clone. Avatars could only be created below the Immortal Realm, and when a cultivator became an immortal, they must unite all their avatars to their source before undergoing the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. It was also not a clone. Although clones originated from the same source, a clone was ultimately a distinct, albeit connected, life form. It was impossible for a clone to be perfectly similar to the original. It was impossible for it to be an incarnation, too. Even if Ye Chen could use some methods to replicate his peak streak as an incarnation, he could replicate the divine artifact. To put it simply, this was Ye Chen from the future. Relying on his mastering of time, Ye Chen summoned his future self to fight alongside him. Of course, even if it was his so-called future self, it was only at most a second into the future. And it wasn¡¯t just one future, but all the possibilities. However, this also had a downside. As long as one of his bodies was injured, it would reflect on the other body. Just as the Ripple Emperor and Redmoon Emperor were considering how to flee, a small ripple appeared next to Ye Chen. An immaculate and perfect hand reached out and grabbed the Kunlun Sword. Before Ye Chen could even sneer, a powerful force broke the bones in his arm. A pull later, Ye Chen lost his entire forearm and hand. This naturally included the Kunlun Sword. With this action, his future also lost part of his arm and the Kunlun Sword. ¡°Don¡¯t think you¡¯ve gotten away with it!¡± Ye Chen roared. Time flowed backward on him. The injuries on his arms healed, but the Kunlun Sword was still missing. ¡°Ripple Emperor, now what do you have to say for yourself?¡± The Ripple Emperor made a bitter expression. Although the methods seem to be of similar origins, the perpetrator really wasn¡¯t from the Void Ripple Sect. ¡°If we had such an emperor, do you think he would have waited until now to take action?¡± Although he was still suspicious, the Redmoon Emperor didn¡¯t say anymore. Right now, he wanted to flee. The appearance of a third party gave him an ominous premonition. ¡°You¡ª¡± Just as he wanted to say retreat to the Ripple Emperor, the Ripple Emperor suddenly disappeared. Soon, anger appeared on the Redmoon Emperor¡¯s face. ¡°You coward! You escaped by yourself!¡± After a moment of hesitation, the Redmoon Emperor flew away from Ye Chen, who was still shocked at the theft of his Kunlun Sword. The six Lunar Giant War Formations also fled. Their bodies turned into moonlight. Although they weren¡¯t powerful, their escaping ability was top-notch since they could flee at near the speed of light. The Starfall Emperor also saw this. He was shocked, but the situation didn¡¯t allow him to think too much. All of his starlight incarnations fled in different directions, leaving only the nine Ten Thousand Sword War Formations and Ye Chen alone. Ye Chen and Meng Tingfeng had grim faces. Although they succeeded in foiling the two alliance¡¯s plan, they did not kill anyone. More importantly, Ye Chen lost his divine artifact! Just as they were planning to discuss what to do next, whether to chase or return to the sect, a distortion appeared in the air. It twisted space and color, warping the sky and all those near it. Before the two could do anything about it, it erupted and shrouded everything in a ripple. ¡°Ripple Emperor!¡± Ye Chen shouted in anger as he did his best to defend himself. He knew that only someone with great mastery over space or time could prevent him from distorting time and recalling the Kunlun Sword, so the Ripple Emperor became his biggest suspect. And now, the explosion of space further cemented his suspicion. Chapter 519: Exposed The Ripple Emperor looked around with wariness. He had already ordered the immortals under him to flee and planned to teleport away with the Redmoon Emperor, but he found himself in an unknown location. It was a space devoid of land, sea, or sky. Instead, ripples and twisting colors filled the space. Mortals who saw it would have their minds shattered from the lack of ability to comprehend what they saw. It resembled the Ripple Realm he had constructed by folding layers of space and detaching it from the Numinous Realm. It wasn¡¯t quite a realm or even a quasi realm artifact, but it served its purpose, to enhance his spatial abilities. However, there was a key difference. He couldn¡¯t control this strange space. The Ripple Emperor couldn¡¯t help but recall the person who appeared earlier and took the Kunlun Sword Emperor¡¯s divine sword, and the one that stole the Immortal Confining Sword from them after they killed Emperor Wujian. He understood that the perpetrator was someone who walked farther in the way of space than him. Not only because he was pulled into this unknown space that resembled his oh so much, but also because he couldn¡¯t access his own space anymore. It was as if something had dulled the connection. If it was a monarch that did this, the Ripple Emperor would have no trouble saving his life, injured as he was. However, he didn¡¯t think someone with greater mastery over space would be inferior to him in terms of cultivation. ¡°Come out. I don¡¯t know who you are, but you must have a reason for capturing me. Speak, what are your demands?¡± the Ripple Emperor asked rather calmly, despite his circumstances. A black humanoid formed of mist appeared across from him, but he didn¡¯t speak. What answered the Ripple Emperor was the distortion of space in his body. It twisted, as if it wanted to warp and destroy his body. The Ripple Emperor sensed the power of space, but that confused him. Although the power was strong, its profoundness was inferior to his own. He mobilized his immortal qi and neutralized the twisting force. He looked at the misty figure, only to see that figure preparing to attack him. The misty figure released a series of space-related spells, all of which the Ripple Emperor neutralized or deflected. He wanted to teleport away, but it seemed teleporting was the sole technique he couldn¡¯t use. Left with no recourse, the Ripple Emperor counterattacked with his own spells. As time passed, the Ripple Emperor¡¯s expression turned ugly. He noticed that the proficiency of the hazy humanoid fighting him was improving at a noticeable rate. Not only did the person who kidnapped him not deign to talk to him, but he was also using him to train his juniors! The Ripple Emperor stopped his offense and focused fully on defense. His pride did not allow him to be used as a whetstone for others. While he was defending, he focused on fleeing this unknown space. To his horror, he discovered that his connection to his Ripple Realm was rapidly weakening. A growing horror filled the Ripple Emperor¡¯s heart. He wanted to struggle, but no matter what he did, he still felt like a trapped beast. It went on until his connection to the Ripple Realm vanished completely. The hazy figure stopped attacking and finally spoke. ¡°I would like to continue and brush up on my spatial skills, but keeping you alive is too much of a risk.¡± With those words, the hazy figure disappeared into thin air. Accompanying his disappearance was the twisting and distorting colors. What was left was a void filled with an infinite number of stars shining brightly in the distance. The Ripple Emperor stood in the void, dazzled by what he saw. It was not the Vast Void, but a location foreign to him. He did not have time to figure out where the hell he was as his intuition screamed danger. Black clouds congregated around him, emitting a heart palpitating aura. ¡°Tribulation clouds? No, those are heavenly punishment clouds. Why would they come for me and how could they appear in the void?¡± the Ripple Emperor practically shouted. He had already foreseen his doom, but he didn¡¯t want his death to remain unknown or meaningless. At the very least, he had to warn everyone of the dangerous third party. His heart was willing, but his means were useless. The Ripple Emperor flew as far away as possible from the punishment clouds. In a time that was far shorter than he¡¯d liked, the punishment clouds released a bolt of lightning straight at him. The space around the Ripple Emperor twisted and warped as his speed increased several fold, but it was far from enough. The punishment lightning traveled at the speed of light and reached him in an instant. The Ripple Emperor gritted his teeth as he continued to flee. When the bolt used up all its energy, smoke wafted from his skin despite him traveling through the void. His skin had been charred, and blood trailed down his face. His previous injuries, which had not completely healed, worsened. Before he could stabilize his new injuries, another bolt of punishment lightning shot toward him. Upon seeing it reach him in so little time, the Ripple Emperor did the only thing that he could think of: teleport. To his surprise, the shackles preventing him from teleporting had lifted, allowing him to disappear instantly. When he reappeared, he was several kilometers away. Before the Ripple Emperor could celebrate, the punishment lightning had also teleported to him. He screamed as the bolt struck him and injured him even more. The Ripple Emperor did everything in his power to survive, but nothing he could do helped him escape the heavenly punishment. He died as a charred corpse with a whimper. He had failed. The only thing he could find peace in was the fact that he had already entrusted the Void Ripple Sect¡¯s legacy to Monach Skybreach and Monarch Voidmist.
Ding Mian opened his eyes within his cultivation chamber. He opened his palm and stared at it. In the center of his palm, an illusion of a lotus with a hundred petals of gold and silver appeared. It was the Void Divine Lotus. ¡®It should take some time for news of the Ripple Emperor¡¯s death to spread. The Void Moon Alliance will probably fall apart with his and his successor¡¯s fall. If they are lucky, they¡¯ll merge with the Twin Moon Sect to become the Void Moon Sect. Unfortunately, the weakening of the Numinous Sword Sect wasn¡¯t as proportional. I¡¯ll have to think of a way to weaken them so that it¡¯ll become more even.¡¯ This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. He closed his palm and when he opened it again, the miniature Void Divine Lotus had disappeared. For now, a short peace should appear as all forces recuperate from what had just occurred. As Ding Mian expected, the raging war had simmered down. Battles still occurred, but most of them only involved true immortals. It seemed that the immortal monarchs had taken a backseat to observe for any danger. The only exception was the Void Moon Alliance. Both their direct members had retreated from the battlefield and sealed themselves from the outside world. Although he didn¡¯t investigate, Ding Mian could already guess the chaos that was happening within. Well, the Numinous Sword Sect also had its own troubles. Before they could celebrate the birth of a new sword emperor, they received news that the sword emperor was critically injured. In his current state, he couldn¡¯t even display the power of an immortal lord. This planted a seed of uncertainty among the Numinous Sword Sect. Ding Mian wanted this negativity to last so that it would affect their morale. The lower the morale, the less power the members of the Numinous Sword Sect could display as a whole. Time seemed to pass extremely quickly and three years went by. Ding Mian continued to concoct pills for the Numinous Sword Sect while exchanging his contribution for resources and secret techniques. Right now, he was particularly busy because the foundational sword arts of the Numinous Sword Sect were opened to him for redemption. Just like how the founder of the Wavefold Sect created a simpler version of the Wavefold Divine Art for his disciples to learn, the leaders of the Numinous Sword Sect also created four sword arts based on the Four Immortal Exterminating Swords: the Immortal Slaughtering Sword Art, the Immortal Ending Sword Art, the Immortal Slaying Sword Art, and the Immortal Confining Sword Art. Of course, the ones Ding Mian could redeem were the lowest of the low. They couldn¡¯t be considered the real core secrets, but only laying the foundation to learn them. ¡°Hmm?¡± Ding Mian looked up from his cauldron. After pausing for a moment, he continued concocting the pill. While he did so, someone entered the alchemy chamber. Ding Mian didn¡¯t stop. Eighteen days later, fire was extinguished and Ding Mian sealed the newest batch of pills. Only then did he look at the visitor. ¡°Is there something wrong? You usually don¡¯t barge into my chamber while I¡¯m concocting.¡± ¡°Actually, there¡¯s something I want to ask,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. Ding Mian paused. Meng Tingfeng¡¯s tone was a bit strange, so he looked into Meng Tingfeng¡¯s eyes and saw a hint of disbelief. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? What do you want to ask?¡± ¡°Are you really only a true immortal?¡± Ding Mian paused. ¡°What makes you think I¡¯m not?¡± ¡°Three reasons,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. ¡°Your mastery of alchemy is advanced, even for a pill monarch. Although it¡¯s true that a true immortal could concoct eighth-rank pills, they usually are very close to becoming a seamless immortal. You¡¯ve been able to concoct eighth-rank pills for a long time. There¡¯s no reason for you not to be able to become a seamless immortal.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a huge fallacy in your argument. If I became a seamless immortal, I would have initiated a Dao Manifesation. All the Dao Manifestations in the past few years all have owners. Besides, your argument is usually for immortal lords, not alchemists like myself. What¡¯s the second reason?¡± ¡°The world is so large, there is definitely a method to hide a Dao Manifestation. As for the second reason? Intuition.¡± Upon hearing the answer, Ding Mian didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or cry. Although he wore a mask, it must have shown because Meng Tingfeng elaborated. ¡°Actually, I¡¯ve always felt that you were stronger than you showed, and that you weren¡¯t a mere alchemist.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean, are you looking down on alchemists?¡± Meng Tingfeng didn¡¯t play along and continued to explain. ¡°And the third reason was during the ambush on Ye Chen. When that hand appeared out of the ripple, I always felt it was familiar. When I returned, I recalled where I felt that familiar feeling from. You.¡± Upon seeing Ding Mian silent, he continued. ¡°I always thought hiding your strength was not a problem, and served as a form of self protection. After all, you ascended from a lower world and it¡¯s normal to be cautious. I was the same. I thought that after spending time, you would slowly let down your guard,¡± Meng Tingfeng said. ¡°However, I was wrong. You never lowered your guard and kept your distance. Rather than a newly ascended immortal, you act more like a spy.¡± Ding Mian was speechless. ¡°Your imagination really is vivid.¡± Meng Tingfeng didn¡¯t change his expression. ¡°I don¡¯t want to believe it either. But to be on the safe side, I¡¯m going to need to lock you up and keep you under supervision.¡± ¡°Oh, and if I don¡¯t?¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll have to be a little rough. This is for your own good. You do not understand the foundation of the Numinous Sword Sect!¡± Meng Tingfeng¡¯s aura exploded. He didn¡¯t exude the aura of an immortal monarch but an immortal emperor. ¡°Did you only come and confront me after you entered the Extremity Immortal Realm? Did your intuition tell you to do that too?¡± Ding Mian didn¡¯t expect an answer. Instead, he reached out to grab Meng Tingfeng. Meng Tingfeng felt the spacetime around him distort, but when he grabbed the Seven Star Sword, that feeling disappeared. Ding Mian clicked his tongue. ¡°As always, divine artifacts are annoying. It seems that I¡¯ll have to disarm you first.¡± Meng Tingfeng slashed down at Ding Mian, who was still charging at him. What he didn¡¯t expect was for Ding Mian to continue, uncaring of his sword slash. He wanted to stop and retreat at the last minute, but Ding Mian actually pushed his body forward, allowing the divine sword to slice into his body. He noticed something wrong immediately, and moved back, but the Seven Star Sword was stuck in Ding Mian¡¯s torso. No matter how much strength Meng Tingfeng used, he couldn¡¯t dislodge it. He faced a dilemma. If he activated the Seven Star Sword, he would grievously injure Ding Mian, but if he didn¡¯t, he might suffer from whatever Ding Mian planned. After a moment of hesitation, he chose option two. Although he was a newly ascended immortal emperor, he didn¡¯t believe Ding Mian could do much to him. That belief cost him. Ding Mian grabbed his wrist. In a split moment, the hand was disconnected from his arm. Before Meng Tingfeng could overcome the shock of Ding Mian instantly severing his hand, the Seven Star Sword sunk into Ding Mian¡¯s body and disappeared. ¡°Although I can suck in divine artifacts, it still hurts a lot,¡± Ding Mian complained. A large cut still lingered on his torso, revealing a black space with an infinite number of stars glimmering in the vast space. Meng Tingfeng felt the suppressive force on his body again. Only this time, he did not have the Seven Star Sword to help him. ¡°How can you be so much stronger than me? Aren¡¯t we both emperors?¡± Ding Mian didn¡¯t answer as he grabbed Meng Tingfeng and absorbed him into his body, like the Seven Star Sword. Now alone, Ding Mian took one last glance around before vanishing. In the crack-filled chamber, a sigh could be heard. ¡°I guess I can¡¯t wait for much longer with my body exposed. Screw it, I¡¯ll use some drastic measures.¡± Chapter 520: Leaving The clash between Ding Mian and Meng Tingfeng was not silent, and many immortals came to investigate. But when they arrived, all they saw was a destroyed mansion with no one present. Although they saw no one, they still recognized Elder Seven Star¡¯s qi signature. There was also Alchemist¡¯s Ding¡¯s qi signature, but it was very faint and weak. They also detected a third qi signature, one that was so abundant that it suppressed Elder Seven Star¡¯s qi. They couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of the information available. At least until the new grand elder of the Numinous Sword Sect, Ye Chen, gave his piece. He recognized the qi signature as the same one that appeared when the Wavefold Sect was destroyed. This news sent an explosion through the Numinous Sword Sect. Although the high echelon curbed the rumors as much as possible, it still spread among the immortals. Even the mortal cultivators sensed the air of unease. There was another piece of information: Elder Seven Stars had reached the Extremity Immortal Realm, but not many were willing to believe it. It was not just because Elder Seven Stars did not leak any news of his breakthrough, but more that they weren¡¯t willing to believe it. If Elder Seven Stars could disappear because of the mysterious immortal, how powerful must that immortal be to sneak in and make a sword emperor disappear? Meng Tingfeng¡¯s disappearance also caused a headache to Monarch Solesword and the other decision makers. Before he could be happy about Ye Chen¡¯s breakthrough, he was injured. Granted, it seemed that Ye Chen was injured thanks to the sacrifice of the Ripple Emperor, but he would rather the Ripple Emperor survive and Ye Chen uninjured. And now, he just lost two crucial pieces. Although Alchemist Ding¡¯s disappearance was a blow, it hardly hurt as much as the disappearance of a new sword emperor. With Ye Chen injured, the Numinous Sword Sect desperately needed someone to raise morale. Meng Tingfeng would have been perfect. Monarch Solesword felt as if there were a pair of poisonous eyes staring at him in the dark. Whenever the Numinous Sword Sect prevailed or managed to catch a breath, that viper would strike for the shadows, invalidating all the good that had just happened. Worse, he didn¡¯t have any information about who the mysterious immortal was at all. It was as if he had appeared out of nowhere, but how could such a powerful immortal be unknown? Questions were all Monarch Solesword received. Questions and rumors. Despite his best efforts, rumors of what happened inside the Numinous Sword Sect still spread. Monarch Solesword believed it was impossible for the information to become public knowledge without someone pushing it from the dark. The worst part was not just the new sword emperor¡¯s disappearance, but an analytic report exposing the Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s guardian formation. Monarch Solesword had also obtained the report. It was frighteningly accurate. He couldn¡¯t help but suspect that there was a traitor amongst the high echelon of the Numinous Sword Sect after reading the information. However, he knew it was impossible after calming down. The analytic report did point out all the faults and possible weaknesses of the guardian formation, but it was from the viewpoint of someone that studied the formation without knowing the core information. Even then, it was frightening, but it only covered some of the invisible and visible formations that guarded the Numinous Sword Sect. It was impossible for the Numinous Sword Sect to fall with this information. At least, before the disappearance of the four Immortal Exterminating Swords and sword emperors. With this information, Monarch Solesword couldn¡¯t guarantee that the two alliances wouldn¡¯t become tempted and launch a siege. No, he was escaping from reality. The two alliances would definitely attack. If he was in the same situation, he would do the same. The only question was the time of the attack. It took much longer than Monarch Solesword expected. Seven years, to be exact. During these seven years, the Void Moon Sect did not take any action, but the Three Island Alliance made many moves. Mostly to test the veracity of the report on the Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s guardian formation. Without a doubt, it was true. It was impossible to make major changes to the formation in the current times, but small adjustments were possible, but even then, a new analytic report on the formation would come out soon. It gave Monarch Solesword an eerie feeling. It was as if there was an invisible enemy by his side, constantly monitoring him, but even if he knew about it, he was helpless to do anything about it. And now, Monarch Solesword stood atop Qingping Peak with his hands behind his back, staring at the immortal boats and fortresses floating outside the perimeter of the Numinous Sword Sect. He wasn¡¯t alone as the other five monarchs that led the Numinous Sword Sect stood behind him. Originally there were seven, but war had taken their life. ¡°How¡¯s Grand Elder Ye¡¯s injuries?¡± ¡°After using a considerable amount of resources, he said about eighty percent of his total combat potential.¡± ¡°Eighty percent? That¡¯s already very good,¡± Monarch Solesword said. As the cultivation level rises, the importance of qi becomes smaller and smaller, and the main determining factor behind power is the underlying worldly law. Of course, a divinity¡¯s essence is still powerful enough to suppress an immortal sovereign based on pure power alone. Monarch Solesword sighed. Then his eyes turned sharp, like an unsheathed blade. ¡°Prepare the defenses and get ready to awaken the sleeping emperors at a moment¡¯s notice. We are sword immortals and defending is not our strong suit. Let¡¯s show those rebels our power.¡±
Ding Mian was slightly surprised by the fact that the Numinous Sword Sect had launched the first attack, but it didn¡¯t matter. He just had to play the oriole watching the mantis fight the cicada. He continued to watch the battle escalate day by day. Although the Numinous Sword Sect had recalled most of their forces, they still had around thirty percent of their personnel scattered on the Sword Continent to guard crucial locations. If the Numinous Sword Sect falls, those scattered outside would be the seeds of their rebirth. Most might fall under the hunting of the two alliances, but if any of them survived, it would give them hope. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. The battle reached a boiling point as the Redmoon Emperor and the Starfall Emperor both appeared. Ye Chen also appeared, but like the Redmoon Emperor, both were only displaying a fraction of their ability. If the Redmoon Emperor did not have the Starfall Emperor¡¯s support, he would have fallen under Ye Chen¡¯s blade. The two alliances had more war formations, but the Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s war formation had greater power. However, the battle was still tilted toward the two alliances. The first barrier of the Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s guardian formation had fallen. Now, they were working on destroying the second barrier. Despite the heated battle, there were actually not many casualties. The two alliances were focused on stably destroying the guardian formation while retaining as much combat powers as possible. No matter what the Numinous Sword Sect did, they could not delay the inevitable. The second barrier, third barrier, fourth barrier, fell. One after the other. Like the passage of time, no human could stop it. Eventually, it reached the ninth and final barrier. Monarch Solesword was on his last legs. The Ten Thousand Sword War Formation he controlled had collapsed, and he had no choice but to retreat. It was practically the same for the other sword immortals. Even if they hadn¡¯t fallen into the same dire situation, it was not looking good for them. Finally, when the ninth barrier was on the brink of collapse, Monarch Solesword ordered a retreat. Many of the sword immortals obeyed, but a few didn¡¯t and killed many enemies at the cost of their life. When the majority of the sword immortals retreated, a second barrier materialized under the ninth barrier. The guardian formation of the Numinous Sword Sect was split into inner and outer. The nine barriers were the outer guardian formation. As for the inner barrier, no one had seen it because it had never been activated since the founding of the Numinous Sword Sect. Spurned on by adrenaline, the two alliances attacked the tenth barrier. Although they didn¡¯t know about the inner formation, the destruction of the outer barrier already hinted at the direness of the Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s situation. The one who did the honors was the Starfall Emperor. Countless stars rained down and filled the tenth barrier with cracks. A final falling star shattered it, but the moment it shattered, the Starfall Emperor felt an unprecedented crisis. The chaotic qi that filled the battlefield vibrated like a sword inside its scabbard. Countless sword lights formed and shot everywhere. There was no distinction between ally or enemy. Even the sword immortals were skewered into pin cushions, much less the numerically superior two alliances. ¡°Retreat, retreat!¡± the Starfall Emperor shouted. Most of the attacks were only at the true immortal level, and the strongest sword light was only at the peak monarch level, but there were simply too many. Even an immortal emperor like himself was in the danger of falling. The Redmoon Emperor deployed his Redmoon Realm in an attempt to suppress the sword lights, but he discovered that the domain he prided himself on was useless against the sword light. Screams of horror and pain filled the once spirited immortals of the two alliances. When ninety-nine percent of the sword lights vanished from consuming all the qi available, the battlefield had become a desert in terms of spiritual qi. Of the original forces of the two alliances, only sixty to seventy percent survived. Ninety percent of the war formation collapsed because their large size made it difficult to evade. Most of the survivors were immortal lords and above, and those who were lucky. However, the Numinous Sword Sect was watching them. The moment the battlefield was about to calm down, the sword immortals rushed out in righteous anger.
¡°The Numinous Sword Sect should have dispatched most of their forces. This is the best time when the protection is at its lowest,¡± Ding Mian muttered. Like a ghost, he appeared inside the core of the Numinous Sword Sect. Rather than saying he appeared, it would be more accurate to say he had always been waiting within. Even for him, it would be impossible to sneak into the Numinous Sword Sect once the inner guardian formation materialized. Ding Mian¡¯s figure walked past the two true immortals guarding the entrance. Although they were guarding the entrance to the forbidden zone, it was obvious that their hearts were on the battle occurring right outside. Not that they could sense Ding Mian even if they were exerting one hundred and ten percent effort. The true guardian of the forbidden zone was the formation. As he walked deeper, Ding Mian expected an alert or formation to suddenly spring on him, but no matter how he waited, it didn¡¯t happen. Confused, Ding Mian continued to tread deeper. When he saw the core area, he stopped, a befuddled expression under his mask. ¡°What is this?¡± He stood in front of the void. No, calling it void would not be correct. The darkness did not lead him to the Vast Void. At the center and core of the Numinous Sword Sect was a black hole. Chunks of ground floated near the edge. It was as if a giant tree had been plucked from the ground, leaving only a hole. Ding Mian recalled the rumor that he heard before, that the Numinous Sword Sect had an Allheaven Jianmu Tree. Now, the rumor seemed true, but just like the four Immortal Exterminating Swords, it vanished mysteriously for no reason. He didn¡¯t give up and inspected the void, but came up empty. Just like he had left no clues to the destruction of the Wavefold Sect, the missing secret of the Numinous Sword Sect gave him nothing to glean. After a while he left, helplessly. There was nothing to gain. A gleam entered his eyes. In that case, he should raid the scripture repository of the Numinous Sword Sect before leaving. As a man of action, he did just that. Unlike when he trespassed into the core area, the formation forced him out of his stealth the moment he touched the core area of the scripture repository. ¡°Alchemist Ding?!¡± an immortal guarding the scripture repository shouted. Before he could say anything, Ding Mian had already appeared in front of him. A hand pressed onto his chest, and before he could react, the light in his eyes disappeared. ¡°Sorry, I have to erase as many traces of my appearance as possible.¡± After saying those words, Ding Mian continued forcing his way in. Wherever he passed, he would wave his hand, and the techniques stored would disappear. He only stopped when he reached the final level. ¡°As expected, the true core secrets aren¡¯t here. There¡¯s no choice. I should go now.¡± It would be a lie to say that he didn¡¯t want to see the end of the battle between the Numinous Sword Sect and the two alliances, but the risk was simply too great. If the Numinous Sword Sect in the prime timeline could still receive information, it would rattle the snake and raise their guard. He raised his palm and a miniature sun orbited by eight planets appeared. ¡°Jeez, this feeling isn¡¯t good. Is this how Longzi felt?¡± Ding Mian¡¯s body vanished. The moment he disappeared, the miniature sun expanded. Each miniature planet it swallowed, the rate of expansion increased exponentially until it engulfed the entire scripture repository, and then some. This disturbance caused panic among the sword immortals. They, who had the upper hand, faltered. Monarch Solesword had no choice but to weaken the offense in order to dispatch sword immortals to quell the chaos within the sect. However, this had nothing to do with Ding Mian, who appeared in the Vast Void. His figure could not be seen as he made his way to the Huang Realm, but when he arrived, all he saw was broken landmasses. Many of them he recognized as part of the Huang Realm. Ding Mian was speechless. ¡°Did the Immortal Court Spirit take action and destroy the Huang Realm again?¡± He took off his mask, revealing a pair of bedeviling phoenix eyes. With a shake of his head, he disappeared from the timeline and traveled through the Six Paths of Samsara. Chapter 521: Emperor Hall Tianyi opened his eyes and stood up. He was inside the main hall of Nine Heavens Palace atop Nine Heavens Peak. To most of the wider world, he had been staying inside his abode, cultivating in seclusion. To the Numinous Sword Sect and others embroiled in the war, he had returned from the front lines to recuperate. As for himself, he stayed in his palace because he was focused on what was happening in the alternate timeline. Now that he had shed his alter ego, Ding Mian, it was time for some answers. Oh, and reports, too. ¡°A rare visitor,¡± Grand Elder Xia said as he saw Tianyi walking toward him. ¡°Did your infiltration succeed?¡± ¡°You can say that,¡± Tianyi said. He reported what he had seen and investigated in the alternate timeline and brought out all the jade slips containing all the techniques he could nab. ¡°I thought about taking their treasury, but I don¡¯t know if they booby trapped it or anything. Maybe they¡¯d discover it once I brought it out in the prime timeline.¡± Grand Elder Xia nodded. ¡°A good precaution. Although I cannot guarantee the accuracy since we didn¡¯t inspect the materials. All these techniques will enrich our own repository and allow us a greater insight into the Numinous Sword Sect.¡± ¡°Grand Elder, I have a question,¡± Tianyi started. Before even waiting for a response, he asked, ¡°What happened to the Huang Realm? Why was it destroyed again?¡± ¡°Again?¡± Upon seeing Grand Elder Xia¡¯s confusion, Tianyi explained. ¡°When I first traveled through the timeline and couldn¡¯t find my way back, the Immortal Court Spirit destroyed the Huang Realm as part of the process of sending me back. I just feel that it¡¯s weird that every time I visit a timeline, the Huang Realm gets destroyed.¡± ¡°That must be a coincidence. You only visited two timelines.¡± ¡°Hopefully, I¡¯m currently going to my third.¡± Grand Elder Xia¡¯s lips twitched. If Tianyi entered another timeline, and the Huang Realm explodes again, would it really be a coincidence? In that case, should he stop Tianyi from going to other timelines? Just because the alternate timelines disappear doesn¡¯t mean they aren¡¯t useful. ¡°The reason the Huang Realm disappeared is similar to what you did in the Numinous Realm.¡± ¡°Hm?¡± Tianyi perked up his ears. ¡°The war turned unfavorable for us. Although I don¡¯t want those rebels to win, it¡¯s not that I can¡¯t accept defeat, but we discovered traces of the Buddhists.¡± At this, a serious expression appeared on his face. ¡°Their sudden involvement left us at an inevitable disadvantage. Rather than letting them succeed and possibly glean any information from that timeline, I made sure to snuff out that chance. We can peer into other timelines to gain an advantage, and so can the other forces.¡± Tianyi opened his month, but no words came out. He wanted to ask, is that why you sentenced quadrillions of innocent people to death? However, he didn¡¯t think he had the right to talk. After all, he was the reason why the Huang Realm, in the first timeline he visited, was destroyed, and he had also destroyed the Eight Pillar Sect. His actions must have caused many innocent people to die. After the report, Tianyi left. Right now, he was just waiting for the war to reach a crucial moment so that he could join and deal a critical blow. While he was waiting, he heard some unexpected news. The Immortal Court wanted to connect lower realms to itself and bring them under its influence. It planned to establish a force for the lower realm. His interest peaked, Tianyi joined in. ¡°How about calling it Emperor Hall?¡± The other elders and immortal ministers couldn¡¯t help but twitch their lips at Tianyi¡¯s words. Finally, Minister Everpast answered, ¡°That name is suitable.¡± He and the other controllers of the Immortal Court continued to discuss how to set up the force, how many members should be stationed in the lower realm, in what capacity to accept members, what techniques were or weren¡¯t allowed to be spread, etc. Finally, when it came to naming the personnel involved, Tianyi spoke up again. ¡°How about calling venerables from our force sky venerable, and the recruited natives, earth venerables? As for guest venerables that aren¡¯t really linked, mortal venerables. Members at the grandmaster level should be called imperial protectors.¡± The immortals present once again shared a look. ¡°Granted.¡± From then onwards, Tianyi would infrequently interject, mostly at inconsequential matters such as naming and such. The other immortals were willing to let him do as he liked. After all, as long as he didn¡¯t give names that were taboo, they didn¡¯t care. Not to mention Tianyi¡¯s opinion wouldn¡¯t affect the overall operation. What Tianyi changed was just the outward appearance. ¡°Grand Elder Nine Heavens, do you want to lead one of the Emperor Hall Divinsion?¡± Minister Everpast suddenly asked. ¡°Can I?¡± Tianyi asked with obvious interest. Minister Everpast¡¯s eyelid, despite his advanced age and experience, couldn¡¯t help but twitch at Tianyi¡¯s expression. He had never seen a grand elder as lively as Tianyi. Well, it wasn¡¯t strange considering that Tianyi was actually young and did not have many setbacks on his cultivation path. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. If anyone asked Minister Everpast if he was envious, he would say no. But that¡¯s more because time had dulled his emotions. If it was his past self, he would have resolutely said yes. How can he not envy? Born noble, Xi Tianyi lacked nothing in his life except for his unknown father. His mother loved him dearly and would ignore all rules for him. If that was all, he would not have been so important. He was also born with an unrivaled talent since recorded history. Not only did he become a true immortal at less than a hundred years of age, he also directly stepped into the Seamless Immortal Realm. Not even a thousand years later, he became an immortal emperor. He was simply the child of the Heavenly Dao. Of course, that didn¡¯t mean Minister Everpast thought lowly of Xi Tianyi. Pure talent alone could not give birth to an immortal monarch, much less an immortal emperor. Even better, Xi Tianyi did not become like those wastrels born from other elders, like a certain sadist with a love spot on his face. A week later, Tianyi stood in front of the Immortal Embassy, a specially crafted immortal ship used to traverse different realms. He sighed and stared at it. He could remember when he rode it to enter the Demon Cage Realm. Back then, he was still only a mortal cultivator. Although that time of his life was incredibly short compared to the total time he lived, he still remembered it vividly. Perhaps it was because he had experienced it in his earlier years. Behind him stood nine venerables, nineteen grandmasters, and over a hundred masters. All of them were cultivators that had reached the limit of their cultivation path, those nearing the end of their lifespan, and servant-disciples that volunteered. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Tianyi said. Last time, he was only a participant, but now, he¡¯s the leader. Soon, the group entered the Immortal Embassy. They stayed on the lower floors while Tianyi entered the control room. There, he refined the core of the immortal ship. Upon its activation, the Immortal Embassy ¡°slipped¡± through the ground and vanished. Unseen by mortal eyes, it successfully entered the Vast Void and fell toward a certain higher-rank realm. He was assigned a special realm, the Impermanence Realm. For some reason, the route to immortal ascension in the Impermanence Realm was sealed off. Because it was sealed off, no one could undergo the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. Since immortal ascension was cut off, immortals became a myth, and no one could live past the three thousand and six hundred years lifespan limit. As a result, the cultivation system gradually changed. Instead of cultivation to be immortal, they cultivate to become warriors. They focused on making their bodies as strong as possible instead of preparing to transform it into an immortal body. No one, not even an immortal monarch, could force their way into it unless they wanted to damage the foundation of the realm. At least, until Tianyi appeared. Under his control, the Immortal Embassy slipped into the Impermanence Realm. Despite its towering figure, no one noticed it, as if it didn¡¯t exist. Despite the Immortal Court¡¯s former inability to enter, they weren¡¯t unaware of what happened in the Impermanence Realm. They knew that most of it was a large continent surrounded by a ring of water. The eastern, southern, western, and northern regions of the continent were scarce in resources, at least compared to the central region. Most of the powerful forces were concentrated there. More importantly, the Immortal Court sensed the invisible hands of Buddhism. It was not that they didn¡¯t want to interfere, but that they didn¡¯t have the manpower or time, especially when they had not united the entire Huang Realm. Now, they wanted to see what the Buddhists wanted to hide. Naturally, Tianyi controlled the Immortal Embassy to root itself in the Central Continent. It was a location known as the Dreadroot Forest, a dangerous area filled with monsters. However, just like when it appeared in the sky, the monsters did not notice the kilometer-long tower. They even subconsciously avoided the immediate area. ¡°Alright, time to get to work,¡± Tianyi muttered. ¡°Oh, right, before that.¡± He took out his Xiyi Talisman and entered the Samsara Travelers Chat Group. Ultimate Young Master: @Flame-On. Emperor Hall, nine sky venerables, imperial protectors Flame-On: What¡¯s that supposed to mean? Ultimate Young Master: Doesn¡¯t it sound familiar?
In the central region existed one palace, two mountains, three academies, four valleys, five clans, six sects, and seven unions. They were the top forces of the Impermanence Realm, and each one had a venerable holding down the fort. Despite being a higher-rank realm, the spiritual qi was extremely sparse, so it made cultivation much more difficult. Instead of steadily absorbing the spiritual qi in heaven and earth, most cultivators needed to rely on pills and natural resources. Because of this, a branch of the martial path was born, the warrior path. It relied on external resources to temper the body and elevate the realm, granting brute strength beyond the spiritual and martial equivalent. The qi gathering pupil¡¯s equivalent was a quasi warrior. The foundation establishment disciple¡¯s equivalent was a warrior. The core formation master¡¯s equivalent was a master warrior. The nascent soul grandmaster¡¯s equivalent was a grandmaster warrior. And the unity venerable¡¯s equivalent was a venerable warrior. As for the saint-level, it was still a venerable, just peak venerable. The transitional stage of saint was not a true cultivation realm, but something to describe those that were infinitely close to becoming immortals. Since immortal ascension did not exist in the Impermanence Realm, the realm of saints did not exist either. In the contemporary era, venerables rarely appeared, so the most powerful forces on the surface were the grandmaster warriors. And now, something that would cause countless grandmasters to fight to the death appeared in the central region, the Venerable Pill. According to the legends and as the name suggested, the Venerable Pill was something that could increase the chances of a grandmaster becoming a venerable. It wasn¡¯t like the Flame Venerable Pill, Water Venerable Pill, Earth Venerable Pill, Wood Venerable Pill, Metal Venerable Pills, and all the other variants developed after. They had the same effect but only worked for those of the same element. As such, a storm appeared with over a hundred grandmasters congregating at the location. If all these grandmasters banded together, they could destroy any one force in the central region if they put their mind to it. So, which one grabbed the coveted Venerable Pill? Was it the Pill Palace, the holy land of alchemists? Maybe it was the White Bone Valley, the most insidious of the forces? Or maybe it was the Mohist Academy? Or perhaps one of the clans or sects? The answer, none of them. It was a new force, the Emperor Hall. From the siege of all the grandmasters, a single one grabbed the Venerable Pill. From that point onward, the force known as the Emperor Hall appeared in the Impermanence Realm. Chapter 522: Five Star Alchemist Tianyi walked the streets of a prosperous city. Unlike normal cultivation worlds, mortals and warriors mingled together. Of course, the stronger a warrior becomes, the less unrelated ordinary mortals mingled with them. Walking behind him like an attendant was a middle-aged man with graying temples. He was Su Bojing! Because Tianyi found leading the Emperor Hall annoying and tiring, he dragged Su Bojing to help him. Anyway, Nine Heavens Peak didn¡¯t actually have much to do. It was like Jade Peak, and there wasn¡¯t anything going on there, so nothing would happen if the steward was gone for a while. ¡°Young Master, this world is really interesting,¡± Su Bojing said. ¡°You still haven¡¯t changed your address? Forget addressing me as Hall Master, you don¡¯t even call me Grand Elder,¡± Tianyi complained. Su Bojing laughed. ¡°Young Master will always be Young Master in my heart.¡± He also sighed. He sunk into his memories. Back then, his greatest ambition was to follow Su Wanyu, the hope of the Su Clan, and become a nascent soul grandmaster. He became Tianyi¡¯s attendant because of Grand Elder Xi¡¯s power. It was the moment that changed his life. Originally, Su Bojing had no hope of transcending his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. He never even thought of undergoing it and just wanted to live the maximum lifespan a mortal could. He couldn¡¯t help it that the legendary Nine Heavens Emperor valued him so much that he used all kinds of treasures to make him a true immortal. Now, the one with the largest authority in the Su Clan wasn¡¯t Su Wanyu, but him, Su Bojing. Even if Su Wanyu was stronger than him, it didn¡¯t matter. Who told Su Bojing to be the Nine Heaven Emperor¡¯s attendant? Just the little resources that slipped through Su Bojing¡¯s fingers were enough to make countless clans jealous of the Su Clan. In fact, even Su Wanyu benefitted from Su Bojing and successfully became a true immortal with the resources given by Su Bojing. Tianyi sighed. Forget it. It wasn¡¯t like there were many people he would take Su Bojing to see. He looked at the people, especially the warriors. Although he was looking with his eyes, his immortal sense was also scanning them. The information he could glean was even more accurate than a CT scan. Although they were still human, their physique had diverged from the typical human race in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Outwardly, these humans looked the same, but their bodies had been changed to fit better with the warrior cultivation method. Because of the environment, physiques suitable for the spiritual path and martial path became trash. As those people suitable for the spiritual and martial path became fewer, more and more people were born with a body suitable for the warrior path. It really was picking up the sesame seed, only to lose the watermelon. Tianyi could say with a hundred percent confidence that the warrior path was not as suitable as the spiritual path or martial path when it came to preparing the body to enter the Immortal Realm. It was too focused on battle, making it easy for hidden injuries to remain and decrease the overall lifespan limit. It was why not many warriors could live to their maximum lifespan of three thousand and six hundred years. His steps stopped as a thought occurred to him. ¡®Hm, maybe the protagonist of this world is someone not suitable to cultivate the warrior path and then stumbled onto a martial path or spiritual path inheritance? Then, he discovered the great plot of the realm and stopped it before unlocking the barrier, and becoming the first immortal in hundreds of thousands of years?¡¯ Tianyi shook his head. ¡®No way, right? What am I doing? I¡¯m already thousands of years old and I¡¯m still letting my imagination run wild.¡¯ ¡°Young Master?¡± ¡°Bojing, help me compile information on some promising juniors. He should be someone that originally didn¡¯t have talent to embark on the path of cultivation, but after experiencing a huge setback, say a broken engagement, he suddenly displayed extraordinary talent and quickly rose up the ranks. Bonus points if he came from a barren location, like the edge of the continent,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°Huh, ah. Yes, right away, Young Master,¡± Su Bojing said. He didn¡¯t understand why Tianyi wanted such information. Even if they are considered geniuses in the Impermanence Realm, it¡¯s just that¡ªa genius from a lower realm. How can they compare to true geniuses? Still, he had long since learned to comply with Tianyi¡¯s orders, no matter how absurd or illogical. Although Su Bojing continued to walk behind Tianyi, he already contacted his subordinates in the Immortal Embassy to get to work. ¡°Oh, is there an auction going on? Let¡¯s check it out to kill some time,¡± Tianyi said. Naturally, Su Bojing wouldn¡¯t disagree. Once they came close to the entrance, a hand stopped their path. ¡°Please show your invitation. Those without invitation aren¡¯t allowed to take part.¡± Tianyi didn¡¯t get angry. After all, what the man said was very reasonable if that was the rules. A few people behind Tianyi also noticed and couldn¡¯t help but want to watch the fun. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°I don¡¯t have an invitation, but is this good enough?¡± Tianyi asked, holding a badge with five stars circling a cauldron. The eyes of the guard who stopped Tianyi couldn¡¯t help but shrink into needle points. ¡°F-f-five stars!?¡± The people who wanted to watch a show couldn¡¯t help but pause. Then, some people noticed the badge and couldn¡¯t help but have the same reaction. In the Impermanence Realm, people respected strength first and respected those who could help them gain strength second. So, even if alchemists didn¡¯t have the same amount of power, they were still very respected, especially a five star alchemist, the highest grade available. The guard didn¡¯t think someone as young as Tianyi could be a revered five star alchemist, but the aura emanating from the badge was not false. In other words, Tianyi could only be a favored descendant of the five star alchemist! ¡°Please follow me!¡± the guard said, quite a bit louder than he intended because of his nervousness. As he led Tianyi and Su Bojing in, he quickly had another guard inform the leaders of the auction house. Tianyi smiled and nodded. Of course the badge he showed wasn¡¯t a real one. Although the Impermanence Realm lost the techniques of forging artifacts, they could still refine little trinkets like the alchemist badge. He didn¡¯t feel bad about fabricating the alchemist badge. Not at all. After all, if he was certified, he¡¯d be an eight star alchemist. He was led toward one of the highest class suites for auction customers. Once inside, the guard quickly left, leaving only a maid to serve him and Su Bojing. One of the managers also arrived and talked to Tianyi before leaving. They did not hope to form a connection with a five star alchemist through Tianyi. For the auction house, a five star alchemist was far too above them, like an ant against a human. They just hoped that Tianyi would leave peacefully and not cause any trouble. Tianyi elegantly sipped his tea and placed it back on the table. Behind him, the two maids looked at him with shining eyes. They had already heard that Tianyi was the descendant of a five star alchemist. As long as they could cling to his thigh, they would transform into phoenixes, right? Even if they couldn¡¯t cling onto his thigh, just one night was fine too! The object of their desires didn¡¯t know of their thoughts. He simply thought they admired his elegance and enjoyed their reverence. Su Bojing, on the other hand, swore to do everything in his power to stop these two vixens. If the young master¡¯s wife knew he allowed them to seduce her husband while he was present, he would not have a good end. Although Daoyi always had a gentle smile, Su Bojing always felt that she was more dangerous than his young master. At this time, the auctioneer had already appeared in the middle of the stage. ¡°Welcome ladies and gentlemen. Today, our Qingfeng Conglomerate has prepared many rare materials and even techniques. Our first item up for action is an intermediate mortal rank technique. It¡¯s the Iron Fist Art. Anyone who cultivates a metal warrior method can train their fist to become as hard as iron!¡± At the auctioneer¡¯s words, the customers on the bottom floor burst into chatter and marvel. The auction house was split into three levels. The bottom floor was for ordinary customers, and they had to sit next to each other in rows of seats. Those with powerful enough influence sat on the second floor, while the third floor was reserved for the most honored of customers, each with their own private box and servants. The reason for the people¡¯s surprise was because of the technique he auctioned. All techniques in the Impermanence Realm were split into four ranks: nameless, mortal, earth, and heaven. Most forces in the central region practiced earth rank techniques, and only the most talent could see the heaven rank technique. For this auction, which was on the edge of the central region to put a mortal rank technique, as the first item was already amazing. There was also another unofficial rank for technique, the immortal rank. But it was lost in the early years after immortal ascension was cut off. Tianyi just smiled and laughed at the bidding war that occurred over the ownership of the Iron Fist Art. Not only to him, but any of the disciples of the Immortal Court would disdain to practice the Iron Fist Art. Even if they wanted to, it wouldn¡¯t even be placed inside the scripture repository. He watched with interest as the bidding war occurred. At first, only the people on the ground floor competed for the items. Then, the items and finally, the people in the suites. Just as Tianyi felt like leaving from growing bored with the whole affair, the auctioneer brought out an item that sparked his interest. ¡°And finally, we have this mysterious drop of blood!¡± the auctioneer shouted as an assistant pushed a cart onto the center of the stage. On the cart was a jade bottle sitting atop a plush cushion. ¡°We don¡¯t know the origin of the blood, only that it is very powerful, and it was discovered in an ancient ruin. I can guarantee that the monster that the blood came from was at least a grandmaster, possibly a venerable monster! Unfortunately, too much time passed, and the blood has weakened.¡± ¡°We tested it and it contains the energy of all five elements. In other words, anyone who cultivates using a warrior method of the five elements can absorb this. If a master warrior absorbs it, even if he can¡¯t become a grandmaster, he will have a body comparable to a grandmaster!¡± the auctioneer said, causing the auction room to become heated. Tianyi, who planned on leaving, had a surprised expression. His immortal sense easily scanned the content of the sealed bottle. Although he had never encountered the monster, or rather, demon, he still knew what kind of demon the blood came from. ¡®I never expected to see a drop of blood from the five element peacock. The blood has not been properly preserved, and it¡¯s useless to me. Maybe I can try to see if there is the skeleton of a five element peacock in the Impermanence Realm?¡¯ While he was thinking, the bidding war reached a new high after everyone sensed the oppression of the blood, thanks to the auctioneer opening the bottle for a second. Most of the people bidding were from the second floor and third floor. At least until someone on the first floor shouted out, ¡°twenty-seven thousand thunder gold!¡± The Impermanence Realm did not use spirit stones as currency, as those have become a non-renewable resource. Even if they wanted to, the number had long dwindled. So, they used thunder gold, a special type of gold that was more precious than regular gold and harder than steel. Still, their value paled in comparison to the depleted drop of five element peacock blood. Tianyi looked down and saw a young man in his early twenties. Of course, if it was just his age and taking out money, Tianyi wouldn¡¯t care that much. More importantly, the young man was wearing a skin mask, and the woman sitting next to him actually had a physique that resembled the five element peacock. His protagonist senses were tingling. So, he looked at Su Bojing and said, ¡°Get me everything you know about that man.¡± Chapter 523: Hihihi Despite the high price offered by the VIPs on the third floor, the young man on the ground floor cinched the winning bid. Much to the ire of the other bidders. The man could feel their ire, malice even, but he paid them no heed. He radiated confidence, like he would come out on top no matter how many hurdles appeared before him. Of course, that confidence only appeared after he won the auction for the five element peacock¡¯s blood. It made him, a nameless face among the throng of people on the ground floor, stand out like a lightbulb. Tianyi leaned back in his chair and rested his chin on his knuckles, eyes narrowed in interest. He wanted to watch how everything would play out. He watched as the auction continued. More and more items were brought forth, even a fifth-rank pill, but he didn¡¯t care for them. He only studied the young man. The young man bid two more times in the auction, winning each time. Tianyi could sense unconcealed malice radiating from half the suites on the third floor. He was really looking forward to seeing what happened after the auction ended. A few hours later, the last item was successfully won by a customer on the third floor. In Tianyi¡¯s eyes, it wasn¡¯t as valuable as the depleted five element peacock¡¯s blood, but only if they knew how to use the blood. Next, it was time for the guests to leave. Although Tianyi didn¡¯t bid on anything, the manager still personally led him to the exit. Tianyi thanked the manager and walked out of the auction house. A few people who heard about his ¡°identity¡± stepped forward to start a conversation, but Tianyi and Su Bojing¡¯s figure disappeared in a flash. The people who wanted to form a relationship with a five star alchemist, even if only by indirect relation, all became puzzled. They looked around, but couldn¡¯t find a hide nor hair of him or his servant. Even if Tianyi was in the same spot, they would not be able to spot him, or even touch him. From his spot in the air, Tianyi zeroed in on the young man. He could sense the hidden maliciousness of a group of people in the dark. Tianyi¡¯s lips quirked upward. He followed the young man as he left the city gates. The young man picked up the pace and ran with his companion. Finally, he stopped once he was outside of the city¡¯s vicinity. He turned around. ¡°How long are you going to skulk? Come out, I know you¡¯re here.¡± Silence answered him. Then a sinister chuckle filled the air. Three men rose from the ground, like bamboo shoots. ¡°You got a lot of nerve leaving the city after what you did.¡± ¡°You should have stayed in the city. It would have extended your life,¡± his companion added. The young man snorted. ¡°Why do I need to be scared? I won those items fair and square.¡± ¡°Fool, don¡¯t you know the crime of possessing jade? Only strong people like us have the right to keep those items,¡± one of the three said. ¡°Strong?¡± the young man asked. He sneered. ¡°We¡¯ll see about that.¡± The man leaped forward, his figure blurred from the sheer speed. Even among the master warriors, he was at the peak. The three men didn¡¯t expect his speed to be so fast, so they were unable to stop him as he incapacitated one of them. ¡°Don¡¯t look down on us, you bastard!¡± one of the men shouted, swinging his horse-decapitating saber. The young man twisted his body, moving out of the way of the saber. However, he was not out of danger yet. The other man took out an awl-shaped bone and thrust it toward the young man¡¯s head. Another twist, and the young man distanced himself from them. The two men stepped forward, intent on not giving the young man a chance to breathe. They were so focused on him that they forgot about the woman, thinking of her as nothing but a weak warrior. They were wrong. While the three fought, the woman appeared in front of the downed man and pulled out the soft sword wrapped around her waist. She stabbed and slitted the man¡¯s throat. ¡°You bitch!¡± the two men cried upon seeing their comrade slain. One of them, the one that wielded the horse-slaying saber, charged at her, while the other entangled the young man. It seemed to be a no-brainer who the victor would be. One side was a hulk of a man wielding an abnormally large saber, the other side was a demure woman clad in green, wielding a flexible sword. Yet, reality was the opposite. The saber-wielding man was on the defensive. Hesitation filled every one of his movements. His saber was slow, far too slow compared to the woman¡¯s soft sword, which seemed to attack him from all angles, especially his most vulnerable spots. It didn¡¯t take long for cuts to fill his body, causing blood to soak his robes. On the other end, the young man was also suppressing his foe. Soon, both of them fell to the ground, their bodies no longer breathing. Stolen story; please report. Despite winning the battle, the young man didn¡¯t lower his guard. ¡°Come out. Do you think I can¡¯t sense you?¡± The woman, who had lowered her sword, raised her guard again and glanced around with trepidation. She didn¡¯t think the man was lying. Facts had proven that he had a sixth sense other warriors did not possess. ¡°Hihihi. Mo Ling, I didn¡¯t expect that you would dare to expose yourself so openly. Even if you¡¯re in the central region, do you think you can escape?¡± The voice had an unnatural and guttural pitch to it, unsettling anyone who heard it. ¡°It was my mistake to allow a yokel like you to escape from me. Don¡¯t think you can do it again.¡± Mo Ling punched forward, a burst of qi erupting from his fist. The space in front of him distorted, and a figure hidden in mist appeared. ¡°As expected, you¡¯ve gained an immortal inheritance. Hand it over and I can give you a swift death.¡± ¡°I might have considered it if it weren¡¯t for your stupid laugh.¡± Mo Ling attacked the misty figure while the woman retreated. From high in the sky, Tianyi watched with interest. He had already noticed that Mo Ling did not cultivate the warrior¡¯s path and had embarked on the martial path. The misty figure was also a rare cultivator of the spiritual path in the Impermanence Realm. Though he dabbled on the warrior path, too. The only pure warrior was the woman. None of the twenty-eight forces of the central continent had a spiritual path inheritance. Aside from the newly established Emperor Hall, only the immortal families had it. The immortal families were the descendants of the last immortals that managed to ascend to the immortal-rank realm before the Impermanence Realm was sealed off. Originally, there were eight immortal families. Now, there were only three of them left. The other immortal families had died out due to the lessening of the spiritual qi. The remaining immortal family would die out sooner or later. Once all the spiritual qi dipped to its lowest point, they would not be able to cultivate the spiritual or martial path. That¡¯s why the three remaining families started embarking on the warrior path, but because they started late, many of them did not have the talent that the wider population possessed after a hundred thousand years of evolution. It didn¡¯t surprise Tianyi that the immortal families would rob inheritances for a chance to stop their decay. A few might even hope to break the seal and achieve immortal ascension. Of course, it was hopeless. Whoever had made the Impermanence Realm this way had done it masterfully. Not even he could alter it unless he found the core. He watched as the battle raged. Mo Ling was on the defensive. Although he had reached the Acupoint Opening Realm, he was only an early acupoint opening master, while the misty figure was an intermediate core formation master. Pushed to the brink, Mo Ling actually asked his companion to fight the core formation master. To the core formation master¡¯s surprise, the woman actually transformed. Her jet black hair gained an azure tint, as did her eyelashes. Her aura rose from a five star warrior to a three star master warrior. In the Impermanence Realm, each realm was not classified by early, intermediate, advanced, and peak, but by stars. One star was the weakest, while five stars was the peak. The core formation master was surprised and puzzled at how the woman¡¯s strength could rise so much. Tianyi could already see that she activated her bloodline, which increased her strength for a short time. Had she absorbed the five element peacock blood, her strength might have risen to a five star master warrior. Still, that was far from enough to defeat the core formation master. Especially since he controlled nine spiritual artifacts that attacked the woman from all sides. Mo Ling wasn¡¯t taking it easy, either. He had retreated in order to perform a technique. Three different colors of wind gathered between his palms, forming a spherical vortex. The condensed to such a point that the wind gained physical form. Even the core formation master noticed him during his battle with the woman. Half the spiritual artifacts circling the woman shot toward Mo Ling, who was still standing in the same position. ¡°Mo Ling!¡± the woman cried out in fear and worry. Mo Ling showed no fear and launched the condensed sphere at the core formation master. ¡°Spiraling Demon Sphere!¡± The moment it left his hand, the Spiraling Demon Sphere unraveled, increasing in size and forming blades of wind as it shot toward the core formation master. Even the spiritual artifacts could not destroy the technique, only hinder it for a moment before they were deflected. A grim and fearful expression appeared on the core formation master¡¯s face as he controlled his remaining spiritual artifacts to shield him while he fled into the distance. It was all for naught. His shield of artifacts was demolished by the Spiraling Demon Sphere before it arrived before him. ¡°Damn it! Break for me!¡± The core formation master erupted with all his strength as the sphere¡¯s mass consumed him. When the technique dissipated, he lay beaten on the ground breathing his dying breath. There was not a single patch of unharmed skin on his body. His robes had been torn to shreds. He looked worse than a man who had been skinned alive. ¡°They won¡¯t let you go,¡± the man uttered. His eyes had been destroyed, but he still looked at Mo Ling. ¡°The Emperor Hall won¡¯t let you off!¡± ¡®I¡¯m sorry, say that again?¡¯ Tianyi said in his mind. He turned toward Su Bojing. ¡°Was there such a person in the Emperor Hall?¡± ¡°I think he¡¯s a servant-disciple,¡± Su Bojing said. Tianyi sighed. ¡°Welp, there goes any good relationship. He probably hates the Emperor Hall now.¡± ¡°Then should we not destroy him now?¡± Tianyi shook his head. ¡°Not yet. He might be able to solve the mystery of the Impermanence Realm. Still, it won¡¯t hurt to have some insurance.¡± He pointed his finger at Mo Ling, who was fleeing the scene with his companion. Nothing seemed to have changed, but only Tianyi knew that he had already left his mark on Mo Ling. ¡°Collect his body. Even if he seems really despicable, he¡¯s still a member of the Immortal Court. And I want a report on what he has been doing in the Impermanence Realm, too.¡± ¡°Understood,¡± Su Bojing said. A few days later, Tianyi sat in a chair reading the report Su Bojing handed to him. ¡°This is worse than I thought.¡± Chapter 524: Mo Ling Mo Ling, age thirty-seven. Even in the Primordial Realm, he would be a genius to reach the Acupoint Opening Realm at his current age. Granted, it seemed that he used a lot of pills and many resources to quicken his cultivation. Yet, Tianyi could see that he had a solid foundation despite the external aid. He was originally just an ordinary native living on an island far away from the coast of the continent. Even if he was training to be a warrior, he only had below average talent in comparison to all the geniuses of the continent. Everything changed on the fork of fate. Like the protagonist of a novel, his childhood sweetheart left him for a noble! That should have been to the end of the tale. Mo Ling should have disappeared into obscurity. Without talent, he could never hope to amount to anything, but shockingly, Mo Ling suddenly displayed talent he had never shown before. He rapidly rose up in the sect he had joined. Coincidentally, the sect also included the man who stole his childhood sweetheart. Before the two could clash, the sect took part in a multi-force competition, hosted by the regional overlord, Peacock Island. Peacock Island relied on the monster bloodline contained in their body to produce a master warrior each generation. Without fail, the master warrior would be a woman, because only the female could perfectly display the power of their bloodline. The companion accompanying Mo Ling was the next head of Peacock Island, Xuan Quegling. Tianyi didn¡¯t take her seriously. People with strong bloodlines had a leg up against other cultivators, but only in the lower stages. Instead of helping, their bloodline would become a shackle when they attempted their Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. If they ever made it that far. Of course, if Xuan Quegling could absorb a drop of a Five Element Peacock¡¯s blood in the Divine Realm, it would be another story. Back to the competition. Each force would send out their ten quasi warriors to compete. When the tournament first began, Mo Ling was only at the tail end among the participants. His love rival was one of the top contenders. When the tournament ended, he improved enough to rank third among all one hundred participants, gaining the right to train on Peacock Island. It was there that he had his first encounter with Xuan Quegling. Of course, nothing came to fruition at the time. It wasn¡¯t until the end of the training that she noticed him. Mo Ling displayed greater progress than the rest of the quasi warriors that arrived on the island. At the climax, he even fought against the man who stole his childhood friend and came out the victor despite having a weaker cultivation base. Mo Ling ended the last threads tying him to his ordinary self after that battle and successfully stepped onto a new path. Afterward, Peacock Island and the forces under it fell under a crisis. A powerful force from the coastal region of the continent invaded, intending to absorb the power of Peacock Island and its bloodline. Even the island master of Peacock Island could not repel the invasion because the invader had three master warriors. Two of them were native to the coastal region, while one was outside help. Yes, it was the imperial protector of Emperor Hall. The man was a servant-disciple of the Immortal Court that volunteered. Honestly, the investigation into the Impermanence Realm wasn¡¯t really worth it. There was a high chance that the participants would die here. Not from battle, but from old age. Hence why most of them were cultivators that no longer had any potential left. This servant-disciple was different. He had performed every trick in the book to join the Immortal Court. He probably thought that he could rise and become a proper disciple after joining, but reality hit him hard. The servant-disciple had neither the willpower nor the talent. He regretted joining the Immortal Court. If he had stayed in his hometown, he would have been a noble lord. Even if his cultivation could not reach the same height, he would be the one giving orders, not the one receiving them. So, when he heard that he had a chance to enter a lower realm, he jumped at it. He would rather be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix. Granted, the servant disciple was far from one of the decision makers of the Emperor Hall. Still, his background made him heads and shoulders above the denizens of the Impermanence Realm. Perhaps it was because of Tianyi¡¯s laissez-faire orders to gather intel, but the servant disciple used the investigation as an excuse to run amok. Naturally, Mo Ling played a crucial role in repelling the invaders. Not only did he kill a warrior master with his Spiraling Demon Sphere, he also forced the imperial protector to flee. All this without significant sacrifice on his side. This did not include the warrior that seduced his childhood friend away. Shortly after winning the war, Mo Ling became a master and stepped foot onto the greater continent. Accompanying him was Xuan Queling. The two traveled the outer regions before finally entering the central region, where Tianyi met them. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. And well, the rest was history. As for other information. Although the investigators didn¡¯t know the exact martial cultivation method Mo Ling practiced, it was undoubtedly of the wind attribute. Like Zi Zun, it had a focus on controlling extraordinary types of wind and transforming the body to emulate wind. Even after his change, Mo Ling¡¯s talent was still average. So, he was suspected to be in possession of an artifact that sped up his cultivation or temporarily increased his talent. His bone age matched his history, so the artifact did not have a temporal effect. Aside from that, there was one attribute that Mo Ling displayed extraordinary talent in mastering techniques. Although the levels of techniques were rather low compared to the Primordial Realm, it did not mean Mo Ling was not excellent. He could master techniques that took other people years or decades. His Spiraling Demon Sphere was a self-created technique born from the insights he gained from mastering different techniques. Although it was immature, even a venerable would be hard pressed to replicate his feat. It had the potential to be an immortal-rank technique. In fact, it reminded Tianyi of Yan Nie¡¯s self-created World Incinerating Mandala. Tianyi put the report down and summoned his ever-faithful servant. ¡°So, have you warned them to watch their conduct?¡± Su Bojing bowed. ¡°Yes. It was an oversight on my part. Those that acted arrogant have been punished.¡± Tianyi waved his hands. ¡°Well, as long as they aren¡¯t behaving likescum, I¡¯m fine with how they act. I subconsciously look down on the natural denizens, so I have no right to force them to do the opposite. How¡¯s the investigation for the secret?¡± ¡°We have not made much progress,¡± Su Bojing said with a shake of his head. ¡°Although there is a recurring legend that is worthy of note.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°According to legend, once every thousand years, a Bodhi Tree will emerge from the ground. During this time, anyone who drinks a drop of sap from it will be able to become a venerable. Those that swallow its seed will achieve enlightenment and become a saint. The one that becomes its master is said to be able to become an immortal,¡± Su Bojing said. ¡°Although it¡¯s called the Bodhi Tree, I do not think it¡¯s the one recorded in legends from the primordial era. Its effect does not rival that of the Heavenly Law Lotus or the Allheaven Jianmu Tree.¡± Tianyi held his chin. ¡°The Bodhi Tree has a close relationship with Buddhism. If it is really a Bodhi Tree, I¡¯m not surprised if the Buddhists sealed off the Impermanence Realm. When is the next appearance of the Bodhi Tree?¡± ¡°Estimated to appear in fifty to a hundred years, give or take a decade,¡± Su Bojing said. ¡°Fifty to a hundred years,¡± Tianyi muttered. He glanced at his subordinate. ¡°Do you think Mo Ling would have become a peak soul nourishing grandmaster or a world merging venerable?¡± ¡°Forgive me for saying this, but I don¡¯t see what¡¯s so special about him. His progress is astounding considering the lacking spiritual qi in the world, but he relied on external aid. If he wants to become a peak grandmaster or a venerable, he must swallow far more resources than before. It¡¯s almost impossible,¡± Su Bojing said. ¡°But I believe he can do it,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°I think he might be the key to the Bodhi Tree. Insert someone to his side to keep a watch on him. Make sure he doesn¡¯t suspect anything.¡± Although puzzled, Su Bojing obeyed. He already had a candidate in mind. She was a native of the Impermanence Realm the Emperor Hall recruited. Unlike Mo Ling, she had an astounding talent for the warrior path. It was a common enough tale. Her father was the lord of Northwind Mountain. Unfortunately, he was betrayed by those he trusted and ousted by his competitors. Were it not for a stroke of luck, she would have followed in his footsteps, six feet under. Now, all she wished for was to avenge her father and blast those who wronged her with rightful vengeance. She swore it upon her new name, Chou Nu. It was simple enough to orchestrate an encounter, considering that Mo Ling had formed an enmity with White Bone Valley after he killed three of their members. The coup in Northwind Mountain also had hints of White Bone Valley¡¯s interception, so Chou Nu and Mo Ling naturally formed a connection over their mutual enemy. Naturally, White Bone Valley found them and gave chase. It was a dangerous time where Mo Ling, Xuan Queling, and Chou Nu nearly died many times, but they survived. They killed many of their pursuers and escaped from the rest, coming out stronger than before. Finally, they found refuge in the clan of Mo Ling¡¯s mother. Mo Ling¡¯s father was an ordinary man. By a stroke of luck, he happened to wed the genius of the Qi Clan, who had lost her memories. Shortly after birthing Mo Ling, she regained her memory and left. Although the Qi Clan would not support Mo Ling against White Bone Valley, his mother still had some influence as the master warrior closest to becoming a grandmaster. Keeping them safe was all she could do. However, Mo Ling hated relying on his mother, who had abandoned him before. So, after their injuries healed and Xuan Queling advanced to a master warrior, the group of three left. And so, as journeys went, the trio grew stronger. They gained an ally in White Bone Valley¡¯s archrival, Frost Flame Valley as well as Thunderclap Academy, who were an extremely mysterious force, even when compared to the immortal families. Throughout the history of the Impermanence Realm, only Thunderclap Academy continued its lineage without end. Not even the strongest force on the continent, the Pill Palace, dared to take Thunderclap Academy lightly. Decades passed and Mo Ling reached the Soul Nourishing Realm, though the outside thought he became a grandmaster warrior. Of course, there was an adventure sprinkled here and there that greatly aided in his cultivation. With his addition, the Frost Flame Valley attacked White Bone Valley, forever erasing the name from history. In its place rose Peacock Valley. Their victory shocked the central region and made the forces wary of earning their ire. The weaker forces, at least. However, peace did not last long as rumors that the bones in the renamed valley belong to that of a powerful demon. According to the rumor, those who got it would have the chance to obtain immortality. The flames of war that reduced to an ember reignited once more. Three decades passed. The central region was in chaos. Not only have many forces been destroyed, but the reclusive immortal families also roamed the wider world once more. It was the twilight before the dawn of a new era. Were it not for an explosive piece of news, battles would have broken out, not just in the central region. For the sake of obtaining the Bodhi Tree Sap and the possibility of its seed, the warriors temporarily sheathed their blades and loosened their bows. Chapter 525: Worthy of Death Although the location of the Bodhi Tree would change every time it appeared in the Impermanence Realm, there were certain clues that allowed the forces to see the general area before it appeared. Decades ago, before the Bodhi Tree even leaked any signs, they had already started scouring the continent in preparation. And now, all signs pointed toward Mount Underflame of the southern region. According to legend, Mount Underflame was once an active volcano that erupted once every few years. Only after the decline of the spiritual qi did it become dormant. Even so, Underflame Mountain stood nearly a hundred kilometers in height, and emitted a heat that turned the surrounding land arid. Even warriors suffered under the heat. Quasi warriors would die of dehydration in less than an hour, if they weren¡¯t cooked by the sheer heat first. Warriors could only stay for a few hours to a day, and only master warriors could stay without harm, but they still needed to drink water. It was for this reason that despite the abundant ores near Mount Underflame that no forces laid claim to it. Quasi warriors and warriors were too weak, but it was too wasteful for master warriors to become miners. So every year, there would be many warriors venturing into Mount Underflame to mine, hoping to strike the jackpot and sell their prize. ¡°When I was a warrior, I managed to hide from my enemies thanks to the Frost Flame Art here,¡± Chou Nu said as she gazed at the familiar mountain with a sigh. Although it was called the Frost Flame Art, it was actually closer to a heat technique. By converting extreme heat to extreme cold, the user could inject cold qi into their foe with each contact. It was not the complete truth that she managed to survive thanks to the Frost Flame Art. Had she not met the recruiter from the Emperor Hall, she would have been discovered by White Bone Valley eventually. At this thought, she couldn¡¯t help but glance at Mo Ling with guilt hidden in her eyes. After destroying White Bone Valley and achieving her revenge, Chou Nu began to think about her future. Frost Flame Valley was hers all but in name. She also realized that Mo Ling contributed a lot to her revenge, so she couldn¡¯t help but feel closer to him, but she also knew of his enmity with Emperor Hall. Strictly speaking, Emperor Hall helped a lot. It was just that their contribution was in the dark and couldn¡¯t be revealed. And now, she was wavering between confessing everything to Mo Ling or leaving him. ¡°I wonder what Miss Chou is thinking about?¡± Chou Nu glanced toward the voice to see a man in yellow scholarly robes. He had a tranquil air to him. It was different from the aura that most warriors possess, or that of the medicinal scent of alchemists. Just one look was enough to calm her nerves. His name was Kai Yanwu, and he was the rising genius of the Thunderclap Academy. No, that wasn¡¯t quite right. Although he was only two decades older than Mo Ling, he had already crossed through the biggest hurdle and became a venerable. ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± Chou Nu said. ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like it¡¯s nothing,¡± Kai Yanwu said. ¡°As a member of the Thunderclap Temple, we placed emphasis on severing fetters. By the looks of it, you are chained by something. How about sharing? Maybe I can help.¡± Chou Nu frowned. She was still only a peak master warrior, but she really couldn¡¯t bring herself to like Kai Yanwu. Although he brought a lot of aid, he was also very nosy. ¡°I told you, it¡¯s nothing.¡± ¡°Okay, but just remember, we are comrades. You can share anything with us,¡± Kai Yanwu said. Chou Nu wanted to roll her eyes. Even husbands and wives had their own secrets, much less allies like themselves. She left, looking for Mo Ling. Mo Ling was standing next to Xuan Queling and observing his competitors. Practically every force had arrived in order to grab a piece of the pie, so to say. The force that received the greatest attention was naturally Pill Palace. However, his focus wasn¡¯t on them, but on four different forces. Three of the four were the immortal families. Although many of them switched to the warrior path, many still cultivated the spiritual or martial path. One advantage was the spiritual senses they gained after reaching the master level. Among warriors, only a few venerables could awaken their spiritual senses. Most of those venerables were alchemists who relied heavily on their willpower to concoct pills. Since they appeared, they¡¯ve already sent out several scans with their spiritual senses. Although they were in decline, the many members of the immortal families had a bone-deep arrogance toward the warriors. Mo Ling pretended not to notice. To the outside world, he was only a grandmaster warrior and not a soul nourishing grandmaster. He intended to keep it that way for as long as possible. The other force was Emperor Hall. Many forces on the central continent have not heard of this force, and it was extremely mysterious. No one knew of its origin. It was as if it had appeared out of nowhere. However, those in the know would not look down on it. He was not the only one that was observing them. This was perhaps the first time they appeared openly. Their entrance method was also stunning. No one had sensed them. The only reason anyone noticed was because of the ripples. It was as if someone had thrown a rock into the lake, reflecting the sky. From the ripples walked out thirty-three figures. Most of them were clad in noble and elegant robes, but no one knew how they looked because a haze shrouded their faces. Warriors could not be differentiated until they showed their strength, but through their years of experience, they could still have an intuitive sense of the strength of other warriors. They didn¡¯t know what method the Emperor Hall used to conceal their movement, but it still made them worry. The most shocked were the members of the immortal families. Even with their spiritual sense, they could not detect how the members of Emperor Hall appeared. They tried to find out information by probing with their spiritual senses, but instead of finding anything, the one that sent out their spiritual sense had their consciousness shocked, causing them to faint. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. The other forces also noticed what happened to the members of the immortal families. Although they didn¡¯t know what exactly happened, it had to have something to do with the appearance of Emperor Hall. There was no way there would be such a coincidence. Mo Ling had a feeling that his greatest rival for the Bodhi Seed would be Emperor Hall. So, he was observing them, hoping to glean something before they clashed. Were they like him, someone who had luckily obtained a lost inheritance, or a hidden branch formed by another force? Or maybe something entirely different? Luckily, the world never lacked stupid people, even among cultivators. ¡°Hey, who do you think you are? Just because you¡¯re acting mysterious doesn¡¯t mean you really have the strength to stand on the front with us,¡± a loose cultivator at the venerable level said. He wore a coarse tunic that laid his muscular arms bare. With the face of a thug, he didn¡¯t look like a noble warrior but a bandit. All eyes focused on the people of Emperor Hall. The people in the back seemed to want to take action, but a raised hand from the one in front stopped them. The one in front was obviously extraordinary. He wore a purple robe with golden dragons embroidered on it, and he exuded an otherworldly aura. Still, the way he moved made them think he was a mortal or a weak warrior, not someone close to the venerable level. They expected him to rebuke the thug-faced venerable or retort at the very least, but his next words stunned everything. And not for the right reasons, either. ¡°Bojing, I¡¯m tired.¡± ¡°At once, Young Master.¡± A man wearing blue robes with wave patterns snapped his fingers and the four people behind him immediately went to work. They took out a couch, table, and a parasol from out of nowhere and set up a rest station. That wasn¡¯t the end. They even placed four artifacts at the four corners. The artifacts exuded a chilly air that made the harsh heat resemble a spring breeze. To finish it off, they placed a cup filled with an unknown liquid and a plate of snacks. ¡°Enjoy, Young Master,¡± the man, Bojing, said. The identified young master nodded his head in appreciation before doing just that. He sat on the couch in a lazy posture and picked up a snack. At this time, the thug-faced venerable finally reacted. ¡°You bastard! Are you looking down on me?!¡± The young master stopped. Although his face was still shrouded behind a mist, he got the distinct impression that there was an expression of disdain. ¡°Isn¡¯t that obvious?¡± ¡°You!¡± the thug-faced venerable pointed his fingers at the young master, shaking from anger. In his anger, he attacked. He punched upward, a classic uppercut. When he performed his move, a wave of qi exploded from his movements and shot toward the members of Emperor Hall. Without even waiting, the four people that served the young master each performed their techniques. They also shot out qi from their hands and struck the incoming qi wave, neutralizing it. When Mo Ling saw the attack, he subconsciously frowned. He was not surprised by the fact that the four people from the Emperor Hall neutralized the venerable¡¯s attack, but the process. Each one shot out a qi attack that did not leak any excess and perfectly countered the qi wave from the venerable. Considering that the venerable¡¯s qi wave wasted a large portion of its qi as it traveled on the ground, it showed amazing control and calculation. In his estimation, only those absolute geniuses and ancient venerables could display such control. ¡°Dong Qiang, Chun Dao, Xia Gun, Qiu Jian, put down that rabid dog,¡± the young master said. ¡°At once,¡± the four replied. They didn¡¯t shirk or delay, they simply obeyed. Mo Ling narrowed his eyes when he saw the four of them shoot toward the thug-faced venerable. Although he couldn¡¯t discern their cultivation base, they should be at least at the peak grandmaster level. If this fight had occurred a hundred years ago, it would have stirred waves. None of the forces on the central continent would dare to take this lightly, but in this current situation, it could only be a sideshow. The weakest people present were at least peak masters, while the strongest were at the venerable level. Normally, it would take ten peak grandmasters to defeat a single venerable, but the four grandmasters from Emperor Hall were actually suppressing the thug-faced venerable. If anything, they could kill him as long as they had enough time. Most people only saw this truth, but a few, like Mo Ling, couldn¡¯t help but show grim expressions. It was amazing that four grandmasters could suppress a venerable, but what truly gave them the edge was the exquisiteness and profundity of the techniques the grandmasters used. Although it only revealed a hint, it also showed that the origin of Emperor Hall was not simple. If anything, it was far greater than any of them imagined. It might even be able to rival Pill Palace in the future. None felt this more than Mo Ling. He already inferred some secrets from his clash against the imperial protector. ¡®No matter your identity, I will raze your hall down once I reach the peak.¡¯ Soon, the thug-faced venerable spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed onto one knee. He glared at his four foes with hatred. If looks could kill, the four of them would have already fallen dead. The four grandmasters didn¡¯t care for the venerable¡¯s hatred and just slowly walked toward him. ¡°Pay the price for your insolence.¡± Just as they were about to kill the thug-faced venerable, a sudden gust halted them in their tracks. When the gust ended, a scholarly man in white robes appeared in front of the kneeling venerable. He was known as the Elegant Palm Venerable. ¡°Friend, how about giving me face and ending this matter here? For a venerable to perish before the Bodhi Tree is not a good sign,¡± the Elegant Palm Venerable said, not to the four grandmasters but to the young master. ¡°My friend here won¡¯t pursue the matter after this, either. Let bygones be bygones.¡± The thug-faced venerable had an ugly expression, but he knew that the Elegant Palm Venerable was saving his life. So he snorted and looked away, implicitly agreeing. The four grandmasters wanted to scold the Elegant Palm Venerable. Why did he only come out now? What face did he have? Still, they did not dare to make their own decisions and looked at the young master. The young master was still sitting indolently on his couch. Everyone could see he was barely paying attention, and a sense of shame erupted in the thug-faced venerable¡¯s heart. He swore this humiliation would not end here, he would get his revenge. ¡°Bojing,¡± came the young master¡¯s voice. The man Bojing pointed a finger at the Elegant Palm Venerable, who tensed up and prepared for a confrontation. To his surprise, nothing happened. At least, until he felt the thug-faced venerable fall onto the ground. He turned around in surprise and, after checking, he realized that the thug-faced venerable had silently perished. A bead of sweat formed on his forehead as he focused his eyes back on Emperor Hall. In truth, he was the one who instigated the thug-faced venerable, and judging from everything, Emperor Hall was even more terrifying than Pill Palace. At least, no one from Pill Palace could kill a venerable just by pointing their finger. Bojing snorted. ¡°Anyone who dares to offend the young master must die.¡± The Elegant Palm Venerable said no more. He didn¡¯t apologize and just retreated. He did not return to his original location but far away, as if he was afraid that the Emperor Hall would seek revenge. After this incident, the original tense air became even more suffocating. All forces would periodically observe Emperor Hall. Thankfully, Emperor Hall did not take any more action and seemed content to wait. Thirteen days later, the ground rumbles. Earthquakes would happen every time before the Bodhi Tree would appear because it would emerge from the ground. However, they miscalculated this time because smoke billowed from the peak of the mountain. Mount Underflame, which had lay dormant for ages, erupted. Chapter 526: Bodhi Tree Rocks exploded into the air as smoke spewed into the sky. The smoke shrouded the sky in black clouds, covering everything underneath it in darkness. The darkness didn¡¯t last long, as the rocks fell down like blazing meteors. The venerables and grandmasters had a grim expression. Although such an attack was troublesome, it wouldn¡¯t kill them as long as they were careful. The same couldn¡¯t be said for the masters and warriors. Even a graze would kill a peak warrior. Masters had a higher chance of survival, but they could still get grievously injured if they weren¡¯t careful or lucky. In the extreme cases, it would be death. Every one of them displayed their best movement skills to dodge the incoming rocks. Soon, the area around Mount Underflame was filled with shadows of warriors. The only people that didn¡¯t take action were the ones from Emperor Hall. They stood still as if they weren¡¯t facing possible extinction. A few venerables even had some expectations in their eyes, as if they couldn¡¯t wait to see the tragic end of the arrogant fools. Unfortunately for them, what they saw made them doubt their eyes. All the rocks that shot toward them always curved after reaching a certain range and fell harmlessly to the side. Even rocks with a direct trajectory would curve. The venerables and grandmasters boggled at the absurdity, while the weaker ones who witnessed this saw hope. They ran toward the Emperor Hall. As long as they could make it into the range, they would survive! So, they ran toward the Emperor Hall. Alas, they discovered that even if they were running straight at them, they would inexplicably curve once they reached a certain range. Just like the rocks, the warriors could not enter the forbidden zone, no matter what they did. Their actions only hastened their death as the chances of death dramatically increased the closer they were to Emperor Hall. In the face of certain doom, many people released their inner thoughts. ¡°You bastards, are you still human?!¡± ¡°I curse you! I curse you to be split into a thousand pieces!¡± ¡°The world doesn¡¯t need heartless bastards like you!¡± Tianyi covered his yawn with his hand. The moment the people started cursing at him, he sealed off the sound and even restricted his immortal senses so that his mood would not be ruined. As for being destroyed? Sorry, even if the entire Impermanence Realm exploded, he would still be alive. Instead, Tianyi¡¯s gaze slowly rose. From the moment Mount Underflame erupted, a tree had emerged. It continuously grew, piercing the heavens like a spear. One hundred meters, two hundred meters, five hundred meters, one kilometer, two kilometers, three kilometers, five kilometers, ten kilometers. Lava flowed down its trunk as it continued to grow. When it cooled, the lava turned into a black bark. The Bodhi Tree continued to grow until it surpassed one hundred kilometers and only stopped when the top touched the boundary of the Impermanence Realm. Then, the top of the tree split. The original spear-like head transformed into a lush crown of green. The ashen clouds were split, forming a sanctuary of light around the Bodhi Tree. Accompanying the light was the sensation of clarity. All those bathed in the light would feel their mind becoming clear, and problems that plagued them before became simple. Tianyi nodded. ¡®As expected of the Bodhi Tree. Although it can¡¯t increase my affinity for the worldly laws, I can feel my soul resonating with it. Unfortunately, my soul is too strong and I can¡¯t sharpen my willpower.¡¯ He turned around. ¡°You should find a way to see if you refine the Bodhi Tree and become its master.¡± After a pause, Tianyi added, ¡°It¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t want to. I think your chances of succeeding are infinitely small and that Mo Ling might be the biggest winner. But even if you fail, you should be able to get a large amount of benefit.¡± When the cultivators behind Tianyi heard this, they frowned. It was fine if they failed since it was the mythical Bodhi Tree, but they can¡¯t even compare to a yokel from this backwater realm? Their fighting spirit was ignited, and they rushed toward the Bodhi Tree. Their movements turned ghastly as they dodged the falling rubble like it was nothing. Tianyi glanced at Su Bojing. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to try? If you succeed, you might have a chance to become a monarch.¡± Su Bojing showed a self-deprecating smile. ¡°I know my own limits. It was only thanks to Young Master¡¯s help that I could become a true immortal. Becoming an immortal monarch? I don¡¯t have that fate. Maybe I¡¯ll even have a shorter lifespan as a monarch than a true immortal.¡± Since Su Bojing said so, Tianyi didn¡¯t force him. Instead, he observed the progress of his subordinates. Their actions attracted the attention of most of the people. Before, a few people were already on their way toward the Bodhi Tree, but because their numbers were small, few noticed. Now, an entire group of over twenty did it at the same time, naturally attracting everyone¡¯s attention. Some people tried to copy their actions, but they overestimated themselves. For a short period, the number of injuries and deaths increased. After this, they learned not to act above their capabilities. The rain of meteors did not last long, only eight minutes or so. However, it also annihilated much of the weaker participants, leaving mostly venerables, grandmasters and a handful of masters. Those that could fly flew, those that couldn¡¯t could only scale the volcano. Even for grandmasters, flowing lava was dangerous, much less master warriors. When the first person reached the top of the mountain, they couldn¡¯t help but gape at the gargantuan size of the Bodhi Tree. This also included the members of Emperor Hall. After all, even in the Primordial Realm, such a massive tree did not exist. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. When they got close to it, they discovered that they could no longer control their bodies. No matter how they struggled, they were pulled close to the trunk. Once they touched the trunk, they would sink into the tree and disappear. Even Tianyi¡¯s immortal sense couldn¡¯t penetrate through the Bodhi Tree¡¯s bark. The only reason why he was sure they were alive was because the soul lamps in the Immortal Embassy were still lit. This gave more credibility to the Bodhi Tree. Even if it wasn¡¯t the original one mentioned in the myths, it might be a first or second generation descendant of the original Bodhi Tree. For now, Tianyi didn¡¯t take action. He glanced toward the area where the Thunderclap Academy had settled in. They only sent in one venerable, Kai Yanwu, but that wasn¡¯t why Tianyi was paying attention to them. Although they cultivated the warrior path, he could sense some hints of Buddhism. Of course, many of the warrior cultivation methods had connections to Buddhism, but only the Thunderclap Academy¡¯s method made him suspicious. Recalling the information about the Impermanence Realm, Tianyi suspected that the Thunderclap Academy was the Buddhist¡¯s branch that monitored the Impermanence Realm. Even though the Thunderclap Academy was not considered an old force, it could simply be that they went by another name ages ago and only changed it to not attract attention. Tianyi blinked when one of the members of Thunderclap Academy looked toward him. He didn¡¯t know if it was his imagination or not, but he felt as if they had locked gazes, even though his face was hidden behind a mist. The man had a head full of white hair. He didn¡¯t have facial hair, but his long brows reached his waist. After a split second, he smiled and looked away. A few hours passed, and Tianyi grew bored. It was not like he could continue eating. He only ate when he felt like it, or when he wanted to try something new. Instead, he took out the Xiyi Talisman and started surfing the Xiyinet. He didn¡¯t tell anyone in the Samsara Travelers Chat Group about the Impermanence Realm or the Bodhi Tree because it was a secret. Only the high echelon like Grand Elder Xia could know. Tianyi soon forgot about the gaze of the elderly man of the Thunderclap Academy. In his opinion, he would be fine even if he faced a siege of a hundred emperors. He might not be able to defeat them, but forget about killing or defeating him, much less capturing him. He had never fought an immortal sovereign before, but he didn¡¯t think an immortal sovereign could do much to him either. Well, unless an anomaly like Bao Ling appeared again, but Tianyi pointedly ignored that possibility. After all, what were the chances of another anomaly like Bao Ling appearing? Soon, a year passed. Even Tianyi didn¡¯t expect the fight for the Bodhi Tree to last so long. During this time, the Emperor Hall used this chance to announce their presence and solidified their image of mysterious and powerful into the minds of the denizens of the Impermanence Realm. Of course, none of the forces of the central region wanted to see another powerful force emerge, so they all tactically banded together to suppress Emperor Hall. Unfortunately for them, most of their high end forces were stuck in the Bodhi Tree. As a show of deterrence, Emperor Hall destroyed four forces: one clan, one sect, one mountain, and one union. From the original twenty-eight forces, only twenty-four forces remained if you dis-included Emperor Hall. Instead of scattering, the remaining twenty-four forces entered a formal alliance. They feared and could not tolerate the existence of Emperor Hall. However, when they attempted to destroy Emperor Hall, they discovered that they could not locate it at all, no matter how they searched. In desperation, they came toward Mount Underflame in an attempt to capture Tianyi and force him to reveal everything he knew. Unfortunately, all it took was a wave of Su Bojing¡¯s hand and the entire expedition force was annihilated. After this, the allied forces collapsed. They no longer sought to destroy Emperor Hall and sought only to save themselves. Even Pill Palace could only bind a quarter of the forces. In reality, most of the twenty-four forces did not have venerables. And half the forces that once did no longer had them because they were part of the expedition. After this, it would not be wrong to say that the forces of the central region entered a period of unprecedented weakness. The forces from the northern, eastern, western, and southern regions saw this and took action to destroy and replace the forces in the central region. In such dire situations, how could the forces have time to deal with Emperor Hall? Not that Emperor Hall would fall, even if all the forces vowed to destroy them at the cost of destruction. The end would remain the same even if the immortal families joined. Tianyi, who was laying flat on the couch, opened his eyes and looked toward the Bodhi Tree. ¡°Finally out?¡± The cultivators that had entered the Bodhi Tree appeared one by one. To Tianyi¡¯s surprise, only about a third of his subordinates made it out. The casualty was even higher than the denizens of the Impermanence Realm. He waved his hand, and the survivors appeared in front of him. ¡°Explain.¡± After listening, Tianyi finally understood. The tests the people underwent in the Bodhi Tree tested their willpower. Although his subordinates had an absolute advantage in combat over the natural denizens thanks to the foundation of the Immortal Court, their willpower was actually not that strong. Willpower was actually one of the easiest attributes for people to strengthen, no matter their location. Tianyi¡¯s subordinates had always been on the lower rung of the hierarchy. Without confidence or hope, their willpower did not improve much. Instead, it was the denizens of the Impermanence Realm who held an advantage. Even if their techniques weren¡¯t as good, they were all full of confidence and hope for themselves. Tianyi glanced toward Mo Ling. His people said that they didn¡¯t know who got what, but Tianyi had the suspicion that Mo Ling got at least a Bodhi Seed. Still, he had greater things to do. He flew up into the air and flew toward the Bodhi Tree, to the confusion of everyone watching. The people who came out heard about what happened and were filled with hatred toward Emperor Hall, but they didn¡¯t dare do anything. Even if their presence increased their forces¡¯ combat potential, it only returned to the level of before they attacked Emperor Hall. Right now, they are facing a crisis from the forces of external regions. They could not afford to attract Emperor Hall¡¯s ire now. Tianyi reached out his hand and made a grabbing motion. The Bodhi Tree, which had started to sink into the ground, froze. It trembled, causing the ground to quake as it was slowly being forced up. The quake intensified until it filled the entire southern region. It didn¡¯t end there. The higher the Bodhi Tree rose, the farther the earthquake reached. Finally, it covered the entire Impermanence Realm. The boundaries of the realm shook and tears leading to the Vast Void appeared. Upon sensing this, Tianyi frowned. Was the Bodhi Tree connected to the entire Impermanence Realm? Chapter 527: Kidnapped Tianyi lowered his hand and the earthquake plaguing the entire Impermanence Realm subsided. The Bodhi Tree still attempted to burrow back into the earth, but Tianyi had shackled it in place. No matter what it did, it could not break out of its spatiotemporal prison. He was at an impasse. If Tianyi really wanted to, he could just pull the Bodhi Tree out, but that would most definitely cause the Impermanence Realm to shatter. For other cultivators, the Karmic Sin of destroying an entire realm would result in their death, but Tianyi could not be tainted by Karmic Sin, no matter how many atrocities he committed. In essence, he would receive no repercussions if he did destroy the Impermanence Realm during the process of obtaining the Bodhi Tree. However, Tianyi did not want to destroy an innocent realm and all the lives within it. His conscience wouldn¡¯t allow it. Sure, he likely caused untold amounts of deaths by accident, but he didn¡¯t want to consciously snuff out so many lives. Hypocritical as it might be. Tianyi didn¡¯t plan on consulting Grand Elder Xia or the other decision makers within the Immortal Court for help. In their eyes, they might see the destruction of a high rank realm as a cheap price to pay for the Bodhi Tree, especially if Tianyi was the one doing it, since he would receive no Karmic Sin. He flew toward the Bodhi Tree. When he was right next to it, he was practically a speck of dust. Yet, it was the Bodhi Tree that trembled in fear, like it was facing its natural predator. Tianyi enveloped the entire Bodhi Tree with his immortal sense. However, no matter how much time passed or how he attempted to invade it, his immortal sense could not penetrate the tree¡¯s bark. He frowned. If he could refine the Bodhi Tree and become its master, it would naturally not resist. Alas, his attempt failed. Perhaps only a divinity could refine the Bodhi Tree. Tianyi held his chin between his thumb and forefinger. ¡®Unless it already has a master?¡¯ It wasn¡¯t impossible, but Tianyi didn¡¯t think it was likely. ¡®Maybe I should just devour the entire Impermanence Realm into my inner universe and transform it into a planet?¡¯ As soon as the idea appeared in his mind, Tianyi shot it down. He didn¡¯t want to suffer more heavenly punishment. No, thank you. ¡®Perhaps I can only grind it out and hope my immortal sense can whittle it down,¡¯ Tianyi thought. His immortal qi of primordial chaos exploded off of his body and enveloped the entire Bodhi Tree. Not just the part above the ground, but the roots below the surface. It turned the tree into a tree-shaped cosmos with countless shimmering stars. From that day onward, all life in the Impermanence Realm would see a new scenery. It didn¡¯t matter if they were in the central region, the fringes of the continent, or the very edge of the Impermanence Realm, where the boundaries distorted, they would see a tree-shaped cosmos. It was jarring in the first few months, but people eventually grew used to it after a few years. Mount Underflame also became history. The once heated lands cooled and became habitable. Even more miraculously, the spiritual qi of heaven and earth that disappeared flourished. This was a blessed land for warriors, but an even greater blessed land for the immortal families. The battles that had settled on the continent erupted once more. The three immortal families waged war against the other forces for ownership of the blessed land. People called the land under the cosmic tree the Cosmic Shade Blessed Lands. Tianyi paid zero attention to all the commotion below. The dense spiritual qi was the aftereffect of his immortal qi clashing against the Bodhi Tree. For denizens, it was a blessed land, but for Tianyi, it was nothing he couldn¡¯t create with a wave of his hand. Emperor Hall didn¡¯t fight for the land either. The Immortal Embassy had the function of storing and releasing spiritual qi inside its halls. Although it couldn¡¯t replenish the spiritual qi in the Impermanence Realm, Tianyi could resupply it infinitely all by his lonesome. After eight years, Tianyi¡¯s immortal qi finally penetrated the bark and entered the outer layers of the trunk. Once inside, he actually sensed another person¡¯s willpower. ¡®I didn¡¯t expect that someone really refined it and became its master.¡¯ Tianyi narrowed his eyes. He summoned Su Bojing. ¡°Young Master,¡± Su Bojing said as he appeared next to Tianyi. ¡°I need you to capture everyone who entered the Bodhi Tree eight years ago and bring them to me,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°At once,¡± Su Bojing said as he left to carry out Tianyi¡¯s orders. Of course, he wouldn¡¯t do it all by himself. If he had to do that, what use was Emperor Hall? After Emperor Hall revealed their strength eight years ago, it became an untouchable force in the eyes of many. Those who knew about it and were not attached to any forces tried many methods to join. Unfortunately, few succeed. No one external knew what criteria Emperor Hall used to judge potential candidates. Anyone who joined and entered the scripture repository would become shocked and horrified. Although it was only the most external and lowest techniques, it was enough to compare to the techniques of top forces and maybe even surpass them. Naturally, once they received word of the mission to capture the people who entered the Bodhi Tree appeared, the new members frantically searched for them. Not because they were particularly loyal to Emperor Hall, but for the rewards. They could learn powerful techniques that they never dreamed of, or trade for an artifact. For the current Impermanence Realm, which lost the art of artifact forging, artifacts became a rare commodity few forces had. It was not impossible for a warrior with an artifact to fight above their level. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. While the war between the immortal families and the forces of the continent had not subsided, a new round of chaos erupted.
Mo Ling frowned. Thanks to his experience in the Bodhi Tree, he quickly broke through from the Soul Nourishing Realm to the World Merging Realm in record time, becoming a venerable. Still, this did not make him happy because trouble soon followed. Someone began targeting the people who entered the Bodhi Tree eight years ago out of the blue. It was only later that he learned through the Thunderclap Academy that the people behind the disappearances were Emperor Hall. Killing intent surged through Mo Ling¡¯s body when he learned of this news, but he quickly suppressed it. He had learned what happened to the forces that opposed Emperor Hall during his time inside the Bodhi Tree. Naturally, he wouldn¡¯t oppose them until he had enough strength. He didn¡¯t think it was impossible for him to surpass Emperor Hall. After all, he had massive gains inside the Bodhi Tree. The Bodhi Seed all the forces went crazy for was chump change compared to what he got. Yes, he refined the Bodhi Tree and became its master. Even those immortals would become envious if they were to learn of it, right? In fact, not just immortals, but even divinities would become envious. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Mo Ling erased his frown and looked toward the woman at the doorway. ¡°It¡¯s bad. The imperial protectors from Emperor Hall are outside. It¡¯s only a matter of time before they discover this place,¡± Chou Nu said. The frown that disappeared reappeared again. ¡°They haven¡¯t given up?¡± ¡°No. They are also threatening Peacock Valley. If they really attack, Sister Xuan will show herself. Although Sister Xuan has become a peak grandmaster, she can¡¯t stop them forever,¡± Chou Nu said. Her words did not fluctuate, but Mo Ling still heard a trace of worry within them. ¡°Shameless bastards,¡± Mo Ling forced through gritted teeth. Unfortunately, Mo Ling could not find a method to deal with Emperor Hall. Even though he had become a venerable, he didn¡¯t think he could pull off the feats accomplished by that mysterious expert of Emperor Hall. Even if that expert didn¡¯t take action, there were too many grandmasters and venerables within Emperor Hall. If someone said that Emperor Hall possessed half of the Impermanence Realm¡¯s venerables, Mo Ling would believe it. Still, since he was already on their radar, it wouldn¡¯t hurt to collect some interest first. He glanced toward Chou Nu. ¡°Do you know if the imperial protectors are grandmasters or venerables?¡± ¡°They shouldn¡¯t be venerables,¡± Chou Nu said. ¡°According to my knowledge, only grandmasters are called imperial protectors. Venerables are called earth or sky venerables. From rumors, it seems the power difference between sky venerables and earth venerables is a world apart.¡± ¡°In that case.¡± A harsh light flashed across Mo Ling¡¯s eyes. ¡°Prepare to run. I¡¯ll deal with those imperial protectors. You flee first, and I¡¯ll catch up.¡± Chou Nu frowned. ¡°No. There¡¯s too many. You can¡¯t deal with them alone.¡± Mo Ling smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m far stronger than them.¡± He walked forward and pushed a lock of hair behind her ears. ¡°You should also change your name back. It¡¯s much more beautiful than your current name.¡± Without waiting for her to answer, Mo Ling left, leaving behind a conflicted Chou Nu. She held her hand to her chest as two desires warred against each other in her mind. Mo Ling walked out of the cave he was hiding in and flew into the air. He did not take any action to conceal himself. Naturally, one of the imperial protectors found him. ¡°Hihihi, are you ready to give up and turn yourself in? I waste so much time searching for you. I¡¯m going to make you suffer before capturing you!¡± ¡°What an annoying laugh,¡± Mo Ling said. He didn¡¯t know why, but all the imperial protectors he met had the same irritating laughter. Still, he wouldn¡¯t spare any words for a soon-to-be-dead-man. The air behind Mo Ling exploded, causing a sonic boom, as he shot toward the imperial protector. ¡°You¡ª!¡± The imperial protector never had a chance to finish his words as Mo Ling exploded his head with a punch. The blood, chunks of flesh, and bits of bones did not stain his body thanks to the wind coating him. After killing his first imperial protector, Mo Ling set his sight on the rest of the imperial protectors. ¡°STOP!¡± Mo Ling just killed the eighth grandmaster, and he felt danger from above. He shot to the side and avoided a spearhead. When the figure slowed down, he saw a middle-aged man in armor. ¡°Venerable? Are you an earth or sky venerable?¡± The Emperor Hall venerable snorted. ¡°If I was a sky venerable, how could you have dodged my strike?¡± ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, die!¡± Mo Ling attacked the earth venerable with his fist. His movements were as esoteric as the wind, constantly appearing at improbable angles. The earth venerable frowned and found himself in trouble. ¡°Are you really Mo Ling? Even if you are a venerable, you should only be an early venerable, right?¡± Mo Ling said nothing. Using the chance that the earth venerable was talking, he discovered a hole in the latter¡¯s defense and landed a punch on his chest. Instead of flesh, Mo Ling felt his hand hitting something hard. With a catastrophic boom, the earth venerable crashed into the ground and split the lands. Moments later, the earth venerable returned to the sky. Aside from some dust, he appeared unharmed. ¡°How come you are so powerful? If it weren¡¯t for this armor artifact I exchanged, I would have been seriously injured.¡± Mo Ling frowned. He had heard about the power of artifacts, but this was the first time he experienced their usefulness firsthand. ¡°Trouble.¡± The earth venerable charged at Mo Ling again. Despite being knocked back several times by Mo Ling, he always stood up back without any injury. Mo Ling attempted to flee, but the earth venerable was faster than him. ¡®If I delay any longer, reinforcements might arrive. I have no choice but to use my new move.¡¯ He held his palms in front of his chest, as if he was cradling a ball. A vortex of wind gathered between his palms, but unlike before, there were ghastly screams. It could be because of the high wind speeds, but it could also be because of specters. The earth venerable felt a chill crawl up his spine when he heard the noise, but he still charged toward Mo Ling. In his eyes, Mo Ling couldn¡¯t hurt him with his armor artifact. ¡°Since you¡¯re seeking death, I¡¯ll grant it to you!¡± Mo Ling shouted when he saw the earth venerable¡¯s actions. He released the technique, which the earth venerable ignored. To the earth venerable¡¯s horror, the wind sphere phased through his spear and armor, directly entering his body. Strangely, he did not feel his flesh rupture. Instead, he howled as his soul suffered unimaginable punishment. The punishment didn¡¯t last long as his eyes dulled and plummeted to the ground, dead. Mo Ling landed next to him. ¡°It was much easier to kill him than expected. Is it because warriors don¡¯t strengthen their souls like the spiritual or martial path?¡± He shook his head. It didn¡¯t matter. As the winner, he claimed the armor artifact from the earth venerable. After destroying his body, he flew away. While he was fighting the earth venerable, the imperial protectors had already fled. Soon, news of his ascension to the venerable level should reach the ears of Emperor Hall. When Mo Ling arrived at the safe house he agreed to meet Chou Nu at, he discovered that she was not present. After a few days of waiting, he was sure something had happened. After contacting Thunderclap Academy and Peacock Valley, he learned that Xuan Queling had been kidnapped by Emperor Hall! Chapter 528: Trap Tianyi shook his head and said. ¡°Not him¡± In the past few years, his subordinates had brought him many people that once entered the Bodhi Tree, but Tianyi could feel that none of them had a connection to the divine tree. Eventually, the number of times his subordinates delivered the people to him diminished. Although Tianyi didn¡¯t know the exact number of people that entered the Bodhi Tree, he could still remember a few of them, especially Mo Ling. Till now, his subordinates had not caught the native. ¡°Hm?¡± Tianyi turned his head when he saw his subordinate bringing him another person. He recognized the person in the venerable¡¯s arms. She was Xuan Queling, the woman who accompanied Mo Ling. However, he was more surprised to see Mo Ling¡¯s other woman following behind the sky venerable obediently. ¡°You¡¯re one of the Emperor Hall¡¯s agents?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°Emperor Nine Heavens¡¯ eyes are keen,¡± the sky venerable praised. ¡°Chou Nu is the person we placed next to Mo Ling following your orders those years ago. It was thanks to her that we could locate Mo Ling. Unfortunately, his power exceeded our expectations. He killed an earth venerable and tens of imperial protectors.¡± Tianyi nodded. ¡°From now on, whenever you make a plan against Mo Ling, increase the amount of force by ten times whatever you estimated.¡± The sky venerable was confused. Although Mo Ling was powerful, there should be no need to be so wary against a yokel, right? Next to him, Chou Nu¡¯s expression paled. Although she was on the side of Emperor Hall, Mo Ling held a special place in her heart. The changes in her expression were caught by Tianyi and the sky venerable. The sky venerable frowned, but he didn¡¯t rebuke her. At least, not right now. He motioned toward the woman in his grasp. ¡°Emperor, is this woman the one you are searching for?¡± Tianyi took one glance and shook his head. Although she had the aura of the Bodhi Tree on her, it was only a fragment. If enough time passed, it would disappear. The sky venerable frowned. ¡°In that case, the only one left is that Mo Ling.¡± He excused himself and flew away with Chou Nu. Once they were a distance away, he glanced at Chou Nu. ¡°I suggest you forget about your childish feelings about that man. I am optimistic about you. With your potential, it¡¯s not impossible for you to go to the immortal realm.¡± ¡°Immortal realm?¡± Chou Nu repeated. ¡°Yes,¡± the sky venerable said. ¡°Although the Impermanence Realm has been sealed off, it¡¯s nothing for us. We have descended from the immortal realm to this world for a purpose.¡± Realization dawned on Chou Nu. She had always wondered about the origin of Emperor Hall. How could such a powerful force remain unknown for so many years? The truth was that they came from a higher world. However, the first feeling that Chou Nu felt when hearing this was not ecstasy at the chance of entering a higher world, but worry for Mo Ling. Chou Nu had never been someone focused on strength. Had it not been for the betrayal and her parents¡¯ death, she would have been content to remain the valley lord¡¯s daughter. Had she not been taught a superior cultivation method by Emperor Hall, her cultivation would have stagnated after attaining her revenge. Even then, her speed had dramatically slowed down compared to when she still thought about vengeance. She was simply someone who didn¡¯t place much focus on cultivation and focused more on relationships. ¡°I understand,¡± Chou Nu said. ¡°What is the plan? Mo Ling will not come quietly. And he has been hiding for a long time.¡± ¡°Originally, I planned to send some earth venerables to capture Mo Ling.¡± Chou Nu¡¯s heart skipped a beat, but she controlled her expression to not show anything. However, she couldn¡¯t remain unmoved at the sky venerable¡¯s next words. ¡°However, since Emperor Nine Heavens said to use ten times more force than expected, I decided to lure Mo Ling to one of the earth-rank bases of Emperor Hall and capture him there,¡± the sky venerable said. ¡°I¡¯ll use her to lure that boy over.¡± ¡°I-Is there anything I can do?¡± Chou Nu asked. ¡°You are a grandmaster, but you have been slack in recent times. Just leave it to the venerables.¡± The sky venerable glanced at Chou Nu with a sly gaze. ¡°Of course, you can also pretend to be one of the prisoners. We¡¯ll let Mo Ling break in and rescue you. When you find the perfect time, cripple him.¡± Chou Nu opened her mouth, but no words came out. After a while, she gave a bitter smile. ¡°Forget it. I don¡¯t think I can do that to him.¡± The sky venerable nodded without care. Upon seeing this, Chou Nu sighed in relief. She wasn¡¯t sure if he was testing her, but it was better to err on the side of caution. The two of them soon entered the earth-rank base. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Emperor Hall had many bases in the Impermanence Realm, divided into sky, earth, and mortal. Mortal-rank bases were just that, small and ordinary. Nothing more than rest points for their members. Earth-rank bases, on the other hand, were part of the core structure of Emperor Hall. They had many facilities and even contained many techniques that they used to reward members who have contributed enough merit. There was only one sky-rank base, the Immortal Embassy. Only members of the Immortal Court knew the location of it and could enter it. Thanks to the Immortal Embassy, it was practically impossible for the denizens of the Impermanence Realm to find it, much less enter it. That didn¡¯t mean the security of the earth-rank bases was weak. Only the mortal-rank bases were in danger of being destroyed at any moment. Each earth-rank base was hidden inside an immortal grotto constructed by Tianyi within the folds of space. In terms of defense, they were greater than the immortal grotto the immortal families had. Not the weakened immortal grottos of the modern day, but the immortal grottos at the height of their power, when their creator was still around. Normally, only one sky venerable would be stationed at each earth-rank base, with the majority staying in the Immortal Embassy. As people from the Primordial Realm, they didn¡¯t like the barren environment of the Impermanence Realm. Barren not in terms of life, but spiritual qi. ¡°Why have you summoned us? Is it an order from him?¡± one of the sky venerables asked once all of them arrived. His question was also the question of the other venerables. The nine of them were in a private meeting room. Chou Nu had already returned to her room and did not have the right to participate in such a meeting. Sky venerables were stronger than earth venerables. Normally, there should be more earth venerables than sky venerables, but reality was different. The sky venerables all came to the Impermanence Realm from the Primordial Realm, so they did not need to be recruited. In contrast, the earth venerables were natives to the Impermanence Realm, and due to the short amount of time, their numbers were still quite low. The sky venerables were differentiated by their title, which was based on their rank. The strongest was called the grand sky venerable, while the second strongest was simply the second sky venerable, the third strongest was the third sky venerable, and it continued all the way to the ninth sky venerable. ¡°It¡¯s about Mo Ling,¡± the venerable who reported to Tianyi, the Grand Sky Venerable, said. The Ninth Sky Venerable snorted in dissatisfaction. ¡°Is he so important that you summoned all of us? If you are lacking venerables, send those earth venerables. They received rewards but constantly want more without working hard.¡± The Grand Sky Venerable had already briefed them on Mo Ling, so they knew that he had killed an earth venerable. However, they didn¡¯t take it seriously. In their eyes, a venerable warrior was nothing and only comparable to a nascent grandmaster. If it weren¡¯t for the low spiritual qi in the realm, a grandmaster would be more than enough to equal a venerable warrior. ¡°That was the original plan, but Emperor Nine Heavens said to multiply the force used to capture Mo Ling by ten. Since the original plan was to use the earth venerables, then we can only take actions ourselves.¡± None of the sky venerables objected. Since this was Tianyi¡¯s orders, they would obey. Although they didn¡¯t understand, they knew they did not have the capital to question Tianyi¡¯s orders. Unless they had information Tianyi didn¡¯t, which they did not. So, the nine of them began to plan out the operation. It wasn¡¯t anything complicated. They would secretly release one of the prisoners and let him escape from the Immortal Grotto. That prisoner would eventually meet up with Mo Ling and reveal to him that Xuan Queling and Chou Nu were trapped in this base. With this information, Mo Ling would definitely come to rescue them. It didn¡¯t matter if he summoned reinforcements, either. The prisoners were the people Emperor Hall captured under Tianyi¡¯s order. After Tianyi inspected, he gave them back and didn¡¯t say what to do with them. Emperor Hall felt it was too cruel to kill them, but they didn¡¯t want to release them either. So, they locked them up in one of the earth-rank bases. Aside from them, Emperor Hall didn¡¯t really have any other prisoners. Traitors were directly killed, and they had not found other uses for the prison yet. Soon, the nine sky venerables put their plan into action. They waited a few months and watched Mo Ling¡¯s action. Every time they caught his tail, he would always disappear soon after, making it impossible to track him in real time. Though, that didn¡¯t matter. In his mission to save Xuan Queling and Chou Nu, Mo Ling discovered many of Emperor Hall¡¯s mortal-rank bases. Of course, some were thrown out by the sky venerables as bait to lead him closer to the earth-rank base, so that their future plans wouldn¡¯t appear suspicious. Finally, they released a prisoner. One of the grandmasters from a force friendly to Peacock Valley and Frost Flame Valley. As planned, the prisoner reunited with his force, and Mo Ling found out. After learning where Emperor Hall¡¯s base was, he gathered all the friendly forces. Naturally, it was not just to rescue Xuan Queling. The Emperor Hall¡¯s action over the years angered all the forces, not to mention what they did before they started kidnapping people. Before, they were helpless because they couldn¡¯t even find Emperor Hall¡¯s base. Now, it was different. Still, they couldn¡¯t gather too many warriors. Many of the weaker forces were still fighting the hostile forces from outside the central region. Mo Ling didn¡¯t count on them. In his eyes, those forces¡¯ strongest fighters were below Emperor Hall¡¯s weakest fighters. Their presence would only drag them down. Finally, after much discussion, the forces of the central continent formed an assault team. Mo Ling naturally joined it. While they were discussing, they sent scouts to investigate the entrance. The scouts discovered a pattern of the number of times imperial protectors would leave or return. Although it was not a hundred percent accurate, it gave them a vague idea of when Emperor Hall¡¯s base would be at its weakest. Finally, the day of the attack arrived. There was a seal protecting the entrance and Mo Ling directly used his Spiraling Demon Sphere to blast it apart. Originally, they wanted to sneak in, but the seal was too difficult to break, so they could only use brute force. This naturally attracted a lot of attention, so the assault team didn¡¯t hide their presence and charged forward. But just as they charged in, they sensed something amiss. The entrance that was broken by Mo Ling immediately healed and closed. Not only that, over ten imperial protectors surrounded them. Although the assault team included several venerables, they didn¡¯t dare to underestimate the grandmasters of Emperor Hall. However, what shocked them and made them despair were the nine venerables looking down on them. ¡°Thank you for falling into our trap so obediently. Mo Ling, as long as you surrender, we can let all the others go,¡± the Grand Sky Venerable said. His gaze harshened. ¡°If you don¡¯t come quietly, you can only blame yourselves if you die.¡± Chapter 529: My Name is Xia Zhaohe Under the attack of the nine sky venerables, the assault team from the central region fell to a great disadvantage. The imperial protectors around them did nothing, they just watched coldly. In fact, they were also shocked. Most imperial protectors were recruited from the wandering warriors of the Impermanence Realm. They¡¯ve seen the power of the earth venerables. According to the rumors, the difference between a sky venerable and an earth venerable was just as their name suggested, like heaven and earth. However, it was ultimately a rumor and none of them had seen a sky venerable take action. Until now. The power of the sky venerables shocked them. From the first clash, the venerables of the central region were immediately suppressed. Granted, they had fewer numbers, but judging from the sky venerables¡¯ expressions and bearings, they did not exert much effort. The imperial protectors originally thought the Grand Sky Venerable had made a mistake. They thought that no matter how powerful the sky venerables were, they could not defend against everything and should station more imperial protectors. As it turned out, they were in the wrong. They would win and earn a large amount of contribution points without doing anything! In complete contrast to the relaxed atmosphere of the imperial protectors, Mo Ling and his allies were facing one of the greatest crises of their lives. If the sky venerables were trying to kill them, the casualties would have risen exponentially. The only good thing was that the sky venerables looked down on them and were only trying to capture them. No matter what Mo Ling and his allies did, they could not stop their eventual fate. At this time, Mo Ling hesitated. He still had his greatest reliance, but if he exposed it, not only would Emperor Hall chase him even more fervently, but his so-called allies may turn on him. For organizations, there were no eternal friends, only benefits. ¡­or he could escape by himself. However, Mo Ling didn¡¯t want to escape before rescuing Xuan Queling and Chou Nu. They were the entire reason he broke into Emperor Hall¡¯s base in the first place. How could he leave without taking them with him? His emotions did not allow him to escape, but his cold reasoning told him it was impossible. Unless he exposed himself. Mo Ling took a deep breath. He had already made a decision. Since he was going to expose himself, he had to secure an escape route. To his surprise, escaping was much harder than he expected. The base was like another world. Unless he passed through the gate he first entered, it was impossible to teleport away. He took a deep breath. ¡®In that case, I¡¯ll have to kill them first.¡¯ ¡°I have a technique that can reverse the situation, cover me!¡± Mo Ling said, using his spiritual sense. None of his allies knew he possessed spiritual sense. It shocked them that Mo Ling possessed it as an early venerable warrior, but it gave them more confidence. So, they surrounded him and protected him as he prepared his technique. The sky venerables also sensed it, but they didn¡¯t care. They could already tell that Mo Ling followed the martial path, so it didn¡¯t surprise them. Mo Ling held his hands in front of him once more. Wind gathered and formed a luminous green sphere. He was preparing his Spiraling Demon Sphere, but none of the sky venerables took it seriously. Refining powerful elements was shocking in the Impermanence Realm, but it was normal in the Primordial Realm. Unknown to them, the Spiraling Demon Sphere was nothing more than a diversion. Mo Ling¡¯s eyes took on a silver hue as a vast amount of soul energy filled his body. With Mo Ling leaving the defensive line, the pressure instantly soured, and the suppression increased. ¡°Mo Ling, how much longer!¡± one of his allies shouted. He was gritting his teeth and defending with all his might, but it was akin to an ant trying to stop a car. No matter what he did, the web was slowly, but surely, tightening around them. Mo Ling said nothing and concentrated fully on his technique. His allies could no longer hold on. Their bodies froze in the air, akin to someone encasing them in amber. The sky venerables showed a disdainful look. They felt like they had just used a hammer to squash a mosquito, but at least they could fulfill Tianyi¡¯s orders. Even with victory at hand, they did not lower their guard. Various colors of qi leaked from their sleeves and surrounded the invaders in a mist. The mist slowly condensed, forming a sphere. ¡°I guess I was too optimistic,¡± Mo Ling muttered. His eyes turned pure silver, as did the Spiraling Demon Sphere. No longer was it green, but an ethereal hue. Anyone who gazed upon it would feel like someone was whispering into their ears. Not quite like a specter, but akin to an echo of themselves from past and future. ¡°This is the first time I used this technique outside.¡± Mo Ling released his control of the technique. The spiraling silver sphere unraveled and unleashed a hurricane of silver. The venerables and grandmasters of the central region felt their souls refresh and their minds cleansed, but the same could not be said for the members of Emperor Hall. The first to be affected were the imperial protectors. Their eyes glazed over and soon, they fell over, dead. Their souls had disappeared from their bodies. Then, it was the sky venerables. Even the strongest Grand Sky Venerable was affected. His eyes glazed over and he lost sense of the outside world. Without the sky venerable¡¯s control, the spherical cage collapsed, freeing Mo Ling and his allies. ¡°Hurry, we shouldn¡¯t have much time!¡± Mo Ling shouted. ¡°Grandmasters, release the prisoners. Venerables, attack and kill the sky venerables while they¡¯re still defenceless!¡± His allies were puzzled by Mo Ling¡¯s sudden surge in strength and esoteric methods, but they did not question it. The most important thing was to complete their mission and escape. Emperor Hall had refreshed their view on their strength once again. Just as Mo Ling and the other venerables prepared to attack the sky venerables, a cold voice interrupted them and chilled their morale. ¡°A soul method. I heard that the ones chosen by the Bodhi Tree are all soul masters. I never expected it to be true,¡± the Grand Sky Venerable said. ¡°You¡¯re the one the Nine Heavens Emperor is looking for.¡± ¡®Nine Heavens Emperor?¡¯ Mo Ling thought. He never expected someone would dare to use such an arrogant title. Still, he had no time to think as the sky venerables attacked. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Mo Ling wanted to use another soul attack. Unfortunately, the sky venerables had already learned their lesson once. And Mo Ling had only started on the soul path. The reason why his earlier attack was so effective was because the sky venerables did not expect it and gave him enough time to prepare the technique. Suddenly, the sound of explosions shook the ground. The sky venerables and Mo Ling released their spiritual senses to discover the source. Mo Ling couldn¡¯t discover anything because the earth-rank base was built to shield it from spiritual sense, but the sky venerables were different. They had the authority to scan it with their spiritual senses. Someone had released all the prisoners. ¡°Grand Sky Venerable, is this the person you recommended, that traitor?¡± the Second Sky Venerable asked, judgement coloring every word. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that she would choose childish feelings over the immortal path,¡± the Grand Sky Venerable said with a shake of his head. ¡°Even if she goes to the Primordial Realm, her path will be limited. In that case, let¡¯s end her here and let the world remember her as a genius who didn¡¯t have the chance to realize her potential.¡± ¡°The prisoners are meaningless. Let them escape. As long as we capture him, it will all be worth it, even if the base is abandoned,¡± the Grand Sky Venerable said. The other sky venerables nodded and renewed their assault, shocking Mo Ling. He thought the sky venerables would at least try to quell the turmoil, but why did it seem like they didn¡¯t care? Mo Ling gritted his teeth and decided to use his trump card. He hadn¡¯t wanted to use it because once he did, he would lose it forever. That hadn¡¯t always been the case. Before, he could replenish it as long as he touched the Bodhi Tree, but through his connection with it, he knew it was in a bad state. If he dared to show up near the Bodhi Tree, he would have long been targeted. As for why he had such a connection to the Bodhi Tree, it was naturally because he became its preliminary master. Over a decade ago, when everyone entered the Bodhi Tree, they had fallen asleep. It wasn¡¯t a true sleep. Each one was experiencing reincarnation in their dreams. They would be lucid and remember their original memories, but that was the terrifying part. They would remember each life they experienced in the dream. After many reincarnations, the memories of reality would become hazy and they would sink into the dream. The longer they persisted without failing, the greater the benefits. And Mo Ling had lasted for ninety-nine reincarnation dreams, allowing him to gain the Bodhi Tree¡¯s recognition. Not only could he grab as much Bodhi Sap as he liked and a large amount of Bodhi Seeds, the ninety-nine dreams of reincarnation greatly strengthened his soul and made his future cultivation path smoother. If Emperor Hall had not appeared, Mo Ling would have easily united the Impermanence Realm and broken the seal on it, becoming the first immortal since ages past. With Tianyi¡¯s intrusion, the Bodhi Tree only benefitted Mo Ling once. If anything, it became the cause of Mo Ling¡¯s misery. If he could overcome these trials, he would soar into the sky and become a figure exalted by the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. But if he couldn¡¯t. Well, it depended on Tianyi¡¯s mood. Mo Ling spat out a mouthful of blood as he blocked the sky venerables¡¯ attacks. They didn¡¯t come close and fight, but used artifacts to bombard them from afar. He hated their despicable methods. His allies had long since retreated when they saw the sky venerables only targeting Mo Ling. Although it was a bit of a pity, exchanging Mo Ling for all the captured people was a good deal. They and Emperor Hall would definitely clash after this incident, and the more people, the better. ¡°Mo Ling!¡± The shout attracted everyone¡¯s attention. When they saw it was Chou Nu and Xuan Queling running toward Mo Ling¡¯s direction, a few people from the forces of the central region couldn¡¯t help but sigh. Couldn¡¯t they tell that Mo Ling was doomed? Instead of foolishly charging forward, it was better to escape and rescue him later. Couldn¡¯t they tell that the sky venerables had no intent on killing him? While most ignored them, one person did not. It was the Grand Sky Venerable. He stopped attacking Mo Ling and appeared in front of Chou Nu, causing her to stagger in fear. ¡°If you¡¯d escape with everyone else, you could have lived a bit longer, but unfortunately, you chose death.¡± No matter how Chou Nu struggled, the Grand Sky Venerable easily neutralized her. Blood spurted from her mouth as the Grand Sky Venerable crippled her cultivation. Then, he picked her up by the neck while blood leaked continuously from her mouth. Judging from her increasingly pale face, it was clear what the Grand Sky Venerable intended. ¡°Chou Nu!¡± Mo Ling shouted. A terrifying aura exploded off of him, blasting the eight sky venerables surrounding him. The Grand Sky Venerable only had time to turn around and raise his arms before Mo Ling punched him away. Like Chou Nu, he spat out a mouthful of blood. That wasn¡¯t the most shocking part. He felt a dissonance between his soul and body. His combat potential plummeted by at least fifty percent! Mo Ling didn¡¯t care as he cradled Chou Nu in his arms. ¡°Chou Nu, speak to me. Are you okay?¡± Chou Nu¡¯s eyes were glossed over. When they focused, they captured Mo Ling¡¯s visage and a forced smile appeared on her face. Her hands trembled as they reached up and caressed Mo Ling¡¯s cheeks. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± To Chou Nu¡¯s surprise, Mo Ling didn¡¯t ask what she was sorry for. He only said, ¡°I know.¡± Her eyes widened, then her smile turned bitter. ¡°A-after you leave. You have to hide yourself. Emperor Hall is much more terrifying than you think. Queling is a good girl. You will be happy with her.¡± ¡°Stop talking, conserve your strength,¡± Mo Ling said as he blasted an opening out of the immortal grotto. He carried Chou Nu and fled with Xuan Queling right behind him. Chou Nu shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s over for me. The Grand Sky Venerable crippled my cultivation and destroyed my foundation. My death is inevitable.¡± ¡°No, I refuse. I¡¯ll save you!¡± Chou Nu laughed, only to agitate her injuries, causing her to cough up blood. She gazed at Mo Ling, as if to engrave his face into her mind. ¡°Thank you. Meeting you was one of the greatest things to happen in my life.¡± Dread filled Mo Ling¡¯s heart as he felt the lowering temperature of the girl in his arms. ¡°If possible, can you call me by my real name?¡± ¡°Yes, anything! As long as you promise to stay with me!¡± Mo Ling shouted. A happy yet bitter smile appeared on Chou Nu¡¯s face. ¡°Okay. Then you better say my name tenderly. My name is Xia Zhaohe.¡± ¡°Xia Zhaohe,¡± Mo Ling said. ¡°It¡¯s a beautiful name.¡± Chou Nu gave a smile that she hadn¡¯t given since her parent¡¯s death. She closed her eyes. ¡°Thank you.¡± Mo Ling stilled. ¡°Chou Nu? Chou Nu!¡± No matter how he called, the girl in his hands never answered. Xuan Queling came forward and placed her hand on his shoulders. ¡°We should find a time to bury her in Frost Flame Valley with her parents after we escape.¡± ¡°Escape?¡± Mo Ling asked, his tone chilling. ¡°What escape? I¡¯m going to make those bastards pay!¡± Xuan Queling¡¯s expression changed. Unlike Mo Ling, Chou Nu explained all she knew about Emperor Hall to her, so she was clearer about how dangerous they were. ¡°Mo Ling, you can¡¯t. I understand that you want revenge, but now is not the time!¡± Did Mo Ling not understand this? Of course he did, but he had already activated the trump card in his body. The next time he would have such power would at least be a hundred years later, if not a thousand. He didn¡¯t and couldn¡¯t wait that long. He transferred Chou Nu into Xuan Queling¡¯s arms. ¡°They¡¯re already here. You should escape first. I¡¯ll catch up later.¡± A distressed expression appeared on Xuan Queling¡¯s face. If Mo Ling stayed, what was the point of Chou Nu¡¯s death? At this time, the nine sky venerables had already caught up. They were less than ten kilometers away. Mo Ling gathered his energy in preparation for attack, but to his surprise and confusion, the nine sky venerables stopped a thousand meters away and kneeled. Mo Ling was baffled. Did they want forgiveness after seeing his power? ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t expect to come to such a tragic scene. It makes me feel like the bad guy here.¡± ¡°Who!?¡± Mo Ling snapped his head up to see a young man in purple robes above him. Chapter 530: Buddha Palm Tianyi really didn¡¯t expect that he would become the villain of a story. He just ordered his men to capture Mo Ling using ten times more power than they needed. How did it turn into a despicable trap of luring them by using hostages? A silver river appeared in Tianyi¡¯s pupils, and he soon learned the ins and outs of the matter. He became speechless. ¡®Why do I feel more and more like a villain the longer I live?¡¯ Tianyi asked himself. Thoughts of healing Chou Nu and tricking Mo Ling into the Immortal Court appeared in his brain, but he quickly erased those ideas. His goal was the Bodhi Tree, and that meant cutting off Mo Ling¡¯s greatest fortune. How could he willingly give it up? Even if Tianyi gave him something back, could it compare? Since they were destined to be enemies, cut the grass by the roots. In the time it took for Tianyi to think, Mo Ling had already locked onto him. Since those arrogant venerables actually bowed to him, that must be the emperor spoken of in their mouths. As the root cause of everything, Mo Ling wanted to kill him. His original plan was to deal with the venerables, but he knew that with the respect they showed, the true core and foundation was Tianyi. Although he wasn¡¯t a match for the venerables, he had confidence in the trump card the Bodhi Tree left in him. So, a silver aura coated his body, and he rushed toward Tianyi. When Mo Ling saw Tianyi only raising a hand in defense, he sneered. The power of a venerable pale in comparison to the Bodhi Tree. Even saints were no different from ants to it. He punched. The scene of his fist blasting away the palm and sending the receiver¡¯s soul into reincarnation did not appear. Instead, his fist sunk into the other¡¯s skin. Horror dawned on Mo Ling¡¯s face. He wanted to extract his fist and retreat, but it was as if something was shackling it in place. No, worse than that. Something was pulling him in! In his eyes, the world became bigger. No, to be more precise, he shrunk as he was sucked into Tianyi¡¯s sleeve. No matter how hard he struggled, it was useless. In a single second, but appeared to be a long time in his eyes, Mo Ling disappeared into Tianyi¡¯s palm. After a momentary blackout, Mo Ling found himself standing in the middle of a vast plain. He looked around, dazed. ¡°Am I under an illusion?¡± He immediately refuted the idea. Thanks to his inheritance, he knew the power of illusions, but he also knew that the power of the Bodhi Tree in him was the perfect defense against soul methods and illusions. It was practically impossible to put him under an illusion while his body contained the power of the Bodhi Tree. Mo Ling wanted to summon the power of the Bodhi Tree and figure out what exactly happened to him, but to his horror, the Bodhi Tree¡¯s power was leaving his body. ¡°No, come back!¡± Just like when he punched Tianyi, no matter how he struggled, he could not stop the Bodhi Tree¡¯s power from leaking from his body. He had a hunch that the moment the Bodhi Tree¡¯s power completely left him would be the moment he died. He didn¡¯t know how, but Mo Ling knew that it was the person addressed as emperor by the sky venerable who caused all this. The Bodhi Tree¡¯s power continued to dwindle. In just a few breaths, he had less than thirty percent left. After a moment of hesitation, Mo Ling activated the final trump card the Bodhi Tree left in him: reincarnation. His soul will leave his body and enter the Six Paths of Samsara and be reborn. Although it meant abandoning everything, it was his only way to survive. ¡®Nine Heavens Emperor, just you wait!¡¯ Soon, Mo Ling¡¯s soul left his body. Without it, the Bodhi Tree¡¯s power left his body even faster. With one last glance, Mo Ling flew up toward the Six Paths of Samsara. Only¡­ ¡°Where¡¯s the Six Paths of Samsara?!¡±
Tianyi had a strange expression on his face. He didn¡¯t expect Mo Ling to commit suicide. After hearing Mo Ling¡¯s last words, he understood. The unlucky bastard didn¡¯t expect that he had left the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Unlike the three thousand immortal realms, Tianyi hadn¡¯t set up the Six Paths of Samsara yet in his inner universe. Although he had some minor accomplishments in the Law of Life and Death, that wasn¡¯t the same as the Law of Samsara. Tianyi held his chin. ¡®Perhaps I should try to understand it?¡¯ He shook his head. Right now, Tianyi¡¯s primary goal was to refine the Bodhi Tree and become its master. Thanks to the Bodhi Tree¡¯s power he extracted from Mo Ling, it would be far easier to complete his goal. But before that. He glanced at the sky venerables. ¡°Cut the grass by the roots. You should know what I mean, right?¡± The Grand Sky Venerable quickly answered. ¡°Yes, Emperor.¡± Tianyi couldn¡¯t help but worry. After a moment, he summoned Su Bojing and had him take control of the situation. After issuing orders, he also took out his Xiyi Talisman and contacted the high echelon, explaining the situation. He didn¡¯t think the people who sealed the Impermanence Realm would stand quietly and watch as he refined the Bodhi Tree. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. He returned to the cosmic clad Bodhi Tree. Once there, Tianyi sat down in the air and closed his eyes. First, he refined the Bodhi Tree¡¯s power he extracted from Mo Ling. Only after completely controlling it did Tianyi take it out. Once it appeared in the Impermanence Realm, it vibrated, resonating with the Bodhi Tree¡¯s core. Although the ball of the Bodhi Tree¡¯s power didn¡¯t directly allow Tianyi to refine the Bodhi Tree, it gave him a key that accessed the outer core of it. Through this key, Tianyi invaded the Bodhi Tree. Constantly eroding its will and bringing it under control. It was only a speck at first, but as more time passed, the more the Bodhi Tree was dyed by Tianyi¡¯s qi. Naturally, the Bodhi Tree resisted, but it was only a tree that had not opened its spirituality, and the only thing it could do was act according to its instincts. While Tianyi poured his qi into its core, the Bodhi Tree also sent its energy into Tianyi. The Bodhi Tree¡¯s power had an innate ability to pull anyone stained by it into an illusion of samsara. In essence, anyone touched by it would dream of their reincarnated life. Unfortunately, Tianyi¡¯s true form was that of an universe. His soul might not have grown to the point of controlling the entire universe, but the Bodhi Tree¡¯s power was still far from enough to cause it to fall under an illusion. That didn¡¯t mean Tianyi didn¡¯t take advantage of it. Although his strength had increased since entering the Immortal Realm, he felt that his willpower had not grown much in comparison. Although it was a bit troublesome, it acted as a fine whetstone to sharpen his willpower. Tianyi summoned one of his conduits and directed most of the Bodhi Tree¡¯s power to it, so that it would fall in an illusion. If the conduit couldn¡¯t stand it anymore, he would just summon another one and repeat the process. Like this, several months passed. One day, Tianyi opened his eyes. ¡°Finally couldn¡¯t wait to take action?¡± He looked behind him to see the members of Thunderclap Academy flying toward him with great momentum. Kai Yanwu was among them, but he looked unimportant. The Pill Palace was touted as the strongest force in the Impermanence Realm for having six venerables, but shockingly, the Thunderclap Academy possessed twenty-one. And those were the ones present. It remained unknown if any of them stayed back in their headquarters. Tianyi narrowed his eyes, and his immortal sense shot forth. They condensed and formed into swords, invisible to normal eyes. The immortal sense swords penetrated into the bodies of the venerables from Thunderclap Academy. They didn¡¯t even have a chance to scream before they plummeted to the ground, creating craters upon landing. Luckily, they were sturdy, so it only roughed up their skin and clothing. He sighed and descended. Tianyi didn¡¯t kill them. He wanted to take them back and interrogate them. A force that was low-key yet had a history longer than the rest of the forces and enough experts to dominate the realm, what part wasn¡¯t suspicious? When Tianyi moved to store them in his pseudo realm artifact, a change occurred. A man in kasaya and short hair appeared. Although he dressed like a monk, he exuded a murderous aura that was incompatible. Lightning arced around him and caused his hair to spike up and turned golden. ¡°Zi Zun?¡± Tianyi muttered in surprise. Even if he hadn¡¯t traveled to another timeline and met the Nine Thunders Monarch, there was no way he would mistake that distinctive form. ¡°Die!¡± ¡°Did you start the Thunderclap Academy?¡± Tianyi asked, but Zi Zun had no intent on answering. He waved his hand and Zi Zun froze in the air. Zi Zun¡¯s cultivation method seemed to have hints of Buddhism, but his foundation was still Daoism. ¡°That¡¯s impossible. The history of Thunderclap Academy is far longer. Or maybe you¡¯re the new supervisor.¡± Zi Zun gritted his teeth and stared at Tianyi with hatred. This puzzled the latter. Why did Zi Zun hate him so much? He was confused, so he asked. It wasn¡¯t like Zi Zun was powerful enough to hurt him. Upon hearing this, the hatred seeped out of his eyes. ¡°Ignoring all that you did to me, the most unforgivable thing is what you did to Brother Lovespot. If it weren¡¯t for you, would we have joined Buddhism?¡± Tianyi blinked. His mouth twitched. ¡°Brother Lovespot?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Zi Zun roared. ¡°Brother Lovespot is an honorable man. Yet, the Buzhou Immortal Sect slandered him to the point of dragging his name through mud. None of you are good stuff!¡± His lips twitched even more. ¡°Is your brain okay? Lovespot really did all that stuff. The one you so tenderly address as Brother Lovespot is probably the Dragon Emperor. You didn¡¯t know, did you? The Dragon Emperor possessed Lovespot.¡± Despite the irony, Zi Zun felt like he had been struck by lightning. However, he quickly regained his confidence. ¡°You lie! You¡¯re trying to disturb my mind.¡± Tianyi had a helpless smile. ¡°Forget it. I¡¯ll tell you, I killed the Dragon Emperor who surrendered to Buddhism. Has he mentioned this?¡± ¡°You killed him! So you were the culprit!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t act so excited. Judging from your words, it seems he didn¡¯t return to the Pure Lands Pseudo System. I guess he must have used this chance to hide.¡± Tianyi said to Zi Zun¡¯s angry face. He spoke and stopped from him saying. ¡°Don¡¯t act surprised. I killed the Dragon Emperor many times. Yet, he always springs back like a cockroach. If I meet him again, I¡¯ll capture him and show you.¡± Tianyi shook his head and slapped Zi Zun¡¯s stomach. Zi Zun spat out a mouthful of blood and his transformed state receded, his hair turning back to black. Once again, he waved his hand in order to absorb Zi Zun and the other venerables into his pseudo-realm artifact. Once he did, Tianyi stilled. He looked up. Although the sky was still bright and blue, he saw a colossal hand as large as a continent descending. With his senses, he could tell this hand wasn¡¯t inside the Impermanence Realm, but in the Vast Void. Tianyi didn¡¯t have any chance to say anything. He teleported to his subordinates and stored them all in his inner universe. It only took less than a second, but the giant palm had already arrived. It cracked the sky, breaking the seal on the Impermanence Realm, starting its destruction, and slammed into him. Upon contact, Tianyi heard thousands of Buddhas chanting in his ears. It instantly reminded him of the popularized technique, the Buddha Palm. Still, that thought only flashed for a second, as he had more troubling matters to worry about. All his artifacts, including his defensive robes and pseudo-realm artifact, burst into flames. Even the dimensional boundaries of his body were being burned. Soon, Tianyi was engulfed in flames. The gigantic palm proceeded and grabbed the Bodhi Tree, yanking it from the Impermanence Realm. The hand was delicate and did not harm the tree, but the Impermanence Realm, which originally still had time before complete destruction, directly shattered into thousands of pieces. Copy of Chapter 531: The Golden Crow Manifests In the silence of the Vast Void sat a humanoid wearing a golden kasaya atop a flaming lotus. Feathers grew out of his head like hair, and a red aura coated his form, making him resemble a humanoid sun. Karmic Sin descended and coated his body, but they burst into flames and added to his aura. Around him, embers flickered, devouring the remnant fragments of the Impermanence Realm. In his hand was the Bodhi Tree, but because of his immense size, it resembled a twig and not the realm spanning tree it was. He flipped his hand, and the tree disappeared. In its place were Zi Zun, or the Thunderclap Bodhisattva as he was known amongst the Buddhists, and the other members of the Thunderclap Academy. The venerables looked around, wondering why they suddenly appeared on this fiery gold land. Zi Zun was the first to notice the reality of the situation. When he looked up, the humanoid¡¯s face was covered in golden light, but he could see two fiery suns gazing at him. Although Zi Zun had never met him, he instantly knew who it was. He was the S¨±rya? Buddha of the Pure Lands Pseudo System. ¡°What happened?¡± Zi Zun murmured. His memories were still stuck at the moment Tianyi had frozen him. He couldn¡¯t see what happened next and only heard an explosion. The next thing he saw was this scene. He looked around and froze. Did the S¨±rya? Buddha save him by teleporting him into the Vast Void? Zi Zun wanted to thank the divinity, but when his eyes scanned the Vast Void, his body froze. Everywhere, there were fragments of land and water, with fire still burning them. That wasn¡¯t the crucial point. Although the Vast Void was said to be empty, there were still some miraculous areas. No, the most crucial point was that he recognized some of the landmarks! As Tianyi suspected, the Thunderclap Academy had a history longer than any force in the Impermanence realm. They regularly changed their name because it meant a change of overseer. Every once in a while, Buddhism would dispatch a new overseer to oversee the growth of the Bodhi Tree and have the old one return. It just so happened that it was Zi Zun¡¯s turn. Although he was an overseer, his role was closer to a watcher. When the Bodhi Tree matured, he would report it to the Pure Lands Pseudo System, and someone would come to transplant the Bodhi Tree to their headquarters. Only, the Immortal Court noticed something amiss and ruined their hundreds of thousands of years of effort. Zi Zun knew that the Bodhi Tree was precious, but he never expected the fight for the Bodhi Tree to destroy an entire high rank realm! ¡°How did it become like this?¡± Although Zi Zun had become an immortal long ago, it did not mean he treated mortals like ants. The destruction of an entire realm still shook him to the core. Just what happened when he was trapped by Tianyi? Did he actually fall into a stupor and a great battle that destroyed the Impermanence Realm happen without him knowing? ¡°Is it that bastard, Xi Tianyi?¡± Zi Zun asked. He didn¡¯t have a good opinion about Tianyi, but that didn¡¯t mean he didn¡¯t have his own understanding. In his eyes, Tianyi couldn¡¯t be called the main perpetrator behind everything, but he was definitely an enabler. Still, Tianyi shouldn¡¯t resort to destroying the entire Impermanence Realm unless pushed to a corner. If he wanted, he could have done it when he first tried to refine the Bodhi Tree. The S¨±rya? Buddha did not answer. Instead, he looked at one of the burning embers in the void. The twin suns flickered. ¡°Not dead?¡± The embers the S¨±rya? Buddha looked at expanded. Eventually, the embers could no longer hide the figure beneath it, and a cosmic giant appeared. Like the S¨±rya? Buddha, its two eyes resembled suns. However, not only was it only a third of the S¨±rya? Buddha¡¯s size, its aura was not even a tenth of the latter. Although the cosmic giant seemed to have escaped the flames, there was still a lingering ember eating away at the corner of his body. However, Tianyi didn¡¯t pay attention to it. The flame resembled his Nebulous Negation in a way. Everything it touched would be burned, even essence or immortal sense. The only way to counteract it would be for the flame¡¯s target to be incinerated or for the target to have a higher level energy source than the latter. Tianyi had neither. He already planned to abandon his current conduit, but before then, he wanted to see the difference between a divinity and immortal. A miniature sun orbited by eight planets appeared in his palm. He threw it at the S¨±rya? Buddha. The S¨±rya? Buddha did not show any change in his expression. Zi Zun could not see the S¨±rya? Buddha¡¯s face, but Tianyi could. He did not see Tianyi¡¯s Constellation Cessation as a threat or even something worth acknowledging. The moment Tianyi¡¯s Constellation Cessation reached a certain range of the fiery buddha, flames ignited, disrupting the technique and causing it to explode. Upon seeing his favored technique become useless, Tianyi considered revealing the Immortal Confining Sword, but ultimately rejected the notion. After all, he was still only an ¡°immortal.¡± If he took it out and the S¨±rya? Buddha stole it, he would not be able to retrieve it. A giant sword appeared in Tianyi¡¯s hand. It was not an immortal-rank artifact, but its durability was unmatched. Tianyi called it the planetary sword simply because it was originally a metal planet that he reforged into a sword using the Law of Mass. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Tianyi charged at the S¨±rya? Buddha and raised his sword. The planetary sword took on a black color as it emitted a terrifying attraction, akin to a black hole. Just like when the Constellation Cessation entered a certain range, flames also burst onto Tianyi¡¯s cosmic form. Even his sword was not spared, but he did not explode like his technique. His sword also turned into a red void from the condensed flame. From a cosmic giant, Tianyi turned into a flaming giant. Finally, the S¨±rya? Buddha changed his expression. It was only a slight change, akin to a raised eyebrow. The S¨±rya? Buddha finally moved. He raised his free hand and thrust his finger at Tianyi. Tianyi struck the finger that was as thick as his arms with his sword, but like passing through butter, the blazing finger burned through his sword and pierced his abdomen. The cosmic giant stilled as it shrunk from the burning flames. Its humanoid form shifted and transformed into a flaming galaxy. The galaxy split apart like a spider web, creating a formation, and attacked the S¨±rya? Buddha once again. Finally, the S¨±rya? Buddha showed displeasure. An ant dared to attack it repeatedly and survived under his attack twice instead of dying obediently. How could he not become angry? Tianyi felt like a small spark appeared in his mind. It exploded into a raging fire that consumed his thoughts. Had it been a normal immortal emperor, their mind would have been consumed by the blaze, causing their soul to dissipate. Even with his universe-like soul, he could only suppress the raging fire from growing, not eliminate it. ¡®I feel like the difference between a divinity and me is far greater than a true immortal and a mortal,¡¯ Tianyi thought with apprehension. He didn¡¯t want the S¨±rya? Buddha to continue to attack his mind and soul, so he prepared to leave, but would the S¨±rya? Buddha allow him? ¡°Since you already attacked me, stay,¡± the S¨±rya? Buddha said. His tone left no word for rebuttal, like an imperial decree. The S¨±rya? Buddha raised a palm. Just like when he destroyed the Impermanence Realm, another blazing palm descended, and it was even more powerful than the last. Tianyi faltered. He wanted to hide between the layers of spacetime, but the heat of the blazing palm incinerated the layers and pulled him out again. After a moment of hesitation, he decided to detonate his current conduit. He didn¡¯t fear the fire burning his body, but he didn¡¯t want his mind being burned again. Thankfully, help arrived. The darkness of the Vast Void was filled with gentle light. The light not only dissipated the blazing palm, but it also vanquished the fire raging on Tianyi¡¯s cosmic body. He could even feel his thoughts being affected as positive emotions arose. However, Tianyi quickly eliminated the effects of the light on his mind. He sensed that the light could suppress or eliminate the raging fire in his mind as long as he allowed it entry, but Tianyi didn¡¯t want anything to affect his thoughts or take the chance. ¡°You stinky crow. Not only did you destroy a high rank realm, but you dare to attack a disciple of my Immortal Court?¡± a voice bellowed. Anger appeared on the S¨±rya? Buddha¡¯s face. ¡°Your Immortal Court? It should have been mine!¡± He flipped his palm, and the people on it disappeared. He could guarantee their safety when dealing with Tianyi, but he couldn¡¯t guarantee the same for the newcomer. The red aura coating his body surged. Even the lotus petals flickered like flames from the change. There was a caw, and a giant crow with flaming feathers of red and three legs manifested behind his figure. After it appeared, it was as if the solar star had appeared, becoming the master of fire and light. Anyone who had even an iota of knowledge about the legends would recognize this divine beast, the golden crow! Flying toward him was a ray of light. At the forefront was a man adorned in jade green robes with an imperial temperament. Upon seeing the golden crow, an illusionary bell appeared behind the man. The bell rang, but no sound was heard. Physically, at least. Tianyi felt something ringing in his mind. Although it didn¡¯t hurt him, it made his soul feel uncomfortable. And this was because he was not the target of the bell-shaped artifact. The golden crow manifestation behind the S¨±rya? Buddha became hazy, as if something was erasing it. ¡°Soul Sink Bell! So you survived the great catastrophe, too!¡± the S¨±rya? Buddha shouted. The man laughed. ¡°Luya, if an idiot who only relies on your bloodline can survive. Why can¡¯t I?¡± ¡°You!¡± the S¨±rya? Buddha shouted in anger and shame. ¡°Just a usurper!¡± The hazy golden crow condensed again, but its momentum was lacking, as if a crucial part was missing. The S¨±rya? Buddha and the unknown divinity clashed, producing infinite rays. No matter how hard Tianyi tried to watch, he could only catch glimpses of the fight. ¡°Hmpf, Luya, I¡¯ll stop for now, but you will pay for the sin of destroying a realm, killing an infinite number of humans, and what you did to Junior Brother Jiang all those years ago!¡± Before Tianyi knew what was going on, he saw a flash of light and the next thing he knew; he was following behind the unknown divinity, shooting away. He coughed and cupped his head. ¡°Senior.¡± The mysterious divinity turned around and Tianyi finally got a good look at his face. Unlike the prideful and domineering attitude shown by him during his clash with the S¨±rya? Buddha, he had a calm expression and aura that resembled a rippleless lake or the abyss. ¡°Concealed Emperor?!¡± Tianyi said aloud, shocked. Then, he calmed down. It wasn¡¯t unacceptable for the Concealed Emperor to be a divinity. After all, he existed since the founding of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Rather than extending his life through a secret technique, it made more sense that he was a survivor of the primordial era. The Concealed Emperor, no¡ªthe Concealed Divinity nodded. ¡°My Daoist title is Jadelight. As for my identity from before, there¡¯s no need to know. I can¡¯t really be considered a survivor, only a vestige. The Immortal Court still needs people like you to hold it up.¡± Tianyi¡¯s lips twitched. Even if he was just a vestige, he wanted to know which divinity the Concealed Divinity was in the primordial era. In addition, if the Immortal Court had a divinity all along, why did he not take action until now? It can¡¯t really be because he considers himself a vestige and does not want to interfere too much with the Immortal Court? The Concealed Divinity looked away and continued on his way toward the Primordial Realm. ¡°It¡¯s a bit of a pity to lose the Bodhi Tree. Since the S¨±rya? Buddha showed himself, it means the Pure Lands Pseudo System will appear in the near future to fight for hegemony. We must defeat the Demon Clan and the Numinous Sword Sect soon and unify the entire Three Thousand Immortal Realms System.¡± ¡°You have fought against a divinity,¡± the Concealed Divinity continued. ¡®Well, if you can extend the definition of a fight.¡¯ Tianyi thought. ¡°Have you thought of a method to increase your strength or cultivation base?¡± the Concealed Divinity asked. The Concealed Divinity nodded. ¡°Good. The final battle against the Demon Clan should arrive soon.¡± Chapter 532: Will-o-Wisp After the Concealed Divinity said those words, he didn¡¯t speak any more. He brought Tianyi to the edge of the Primordial Realm before vanishing. Even with Tianyi¡¯s vast immortal senses, he could not sense how the divinity disappeared. He didn¡¯t think too much of the matter and returned to his Nine Heavens Peak. Naturally, he reported what happened to the high echelons of the Immortal Court. They didn¡¯t show any surprise. Tianyi suspected that the Concealed Divinity already informed them. The reason why only the Concealed Emperor appeared and not any immortals was because he likely chose to take action himself to secure the Bodhi Tree. Only, no one expected the Buddhists to have their own divinity. Tianyi didn¡¯t dwell on the matter. The final battle with the Demon Clan will happen within a hundred years. He needed to increase his strength as much as possible before then. Not to mention about the hidden risk currently in his mind. The Concealed Divinity asked him if Tianyi wanted him to resolve the flames burning his thoughts, but Tianyi rejected it. Although the flames were troublesome, he was not without a way to deal with it. The simplest and most arduous method was to grind away at it until he could extinguish it. The fastest method was simply for Tianyi to cut away a portion of his consciousness, but that would indirectly hurt his soul. Tianyi hadn¡¯t had his soul damaged since he entered the Immortal Realm, and he did not want to find out how long or difficult it would be to heal a universe¡¯s soul. So, he chose the simplest method. It had the side effect of tempering his willpower, so why not? After healing his ailment, Tianyi would consider increasing his strength. Although he was strong now, it was not absolute. He had the confidence to survive against a divinity, but only that. None of his conduits could survive fighting a divinity. He wanted to find a method that allowed him to survive in a head-on confrontation, even for a few minutes would be fine. He sat in the main hall of the Nine Heavens Palace for three years. He only stopped because his youngest disciple, Ming Xingyun wanted to see him. ¡°Master, I hope to leave for a while,¡± Ming Xingyun said, kneeling on one knee. Ming Xingyun still looked delicate and petite, but hanging on her back was an absolutely gigantic sword that contrasted against her image. Although time left no marks on her face, there was a trace of age in her eyes that revealed the vicissitudes of life. Tianyi didn¡¯t immediately answer. Instead, his gaze covered the entire Nine Heavens Peak. With his current insight into the Law of Spacetime, he could see traces of those with strength below him. In his eyes, he saw Ming Xingyun¡¯s life in the past few years. He instantly figured out the reason for his disciple¡¯s visit. Ming Xingyun did nothing but accompany her sister, Ming Yayun, for the past few decades. Ming Xingyun could become immortal because she had the potential and Tianyi¡¯s support. Even if she failed her Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation, Tianyi could just pull her into his inner universe. She could never appear in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System again, but her life would be saved. The only reason Ming Yayun reached the venerable level was because of the sheer amount of resources poured into her. It might not be enough to turn a genius into a true immortal, but it was enough to turn a genius into a top saint. Still, no matter how strong a mortal was, their lifespan would end at three thousand and six hundred years unless they entered the Immortal Realm. The same could not be said for the Nine Heavens Universe. Tianyi could transport her into his inner universe, where he could take off the three thousand and six hundred years lifespan limit, but Ming Yayun rejected it. One part was because she did not want to leave a bad impression and harm her sister, but she had another reason. Ming Yayun grew weary of life. Although she was a servant, that was only in name. Her life of luxury exceeded that of mortal emperors. After experiencing everything in life, she had no more expectations. Part of the reason was due to her lacking willpower, but that was also another talent needed to become a true immortal. If a true immortal lacked willpower and died in a few thousand years, what¡¯s the point of the Immortal Court training them with vast amounts of resources? ¡°I understand,¡± Tianyi said without asking Ming Xingyun to elaborate. He raised a palm, and the spacetime above it distorted before condensing into a tiny bead. The bead drifted forward and stopped in front of Ming Xingyun. ¡°Take it. Once used, the area within a hundred meters will remain unchanged for at least a thousand years. Even if you bury her in a mountain and it collapses, the hundred meters would remain in the exact same spot. Of course, if someone deliberately destroys it, the spacetime shackle will fail.¡± Ming Xingyun¡¯s shoulders trembled. ¡°Thank you, Master.¡± After bidding goodbye, Ming Xingyun took her sister¡¯s corpse and left the Immortal Court. She wanted to bury Ming Yayun where she was born. When Tianyi upgraded the Huang Realm to the Primordial Realm, he had only merged ninety-nine realms and merged Heaven Continent and Earth Continent into one, meaning that the land remained mostly the same. So, the two sisters¡¯ birthplace still existed. A few thousand years was far from enough for it to change noticeably. Accompanying Ming Xingyun were the members of the Ming Clan. Ming Xingyun remained unmarried, but Ming Yayun did not. After a few thousand years, their numbers reached over a few thousand. Unlike Ming Yayun, they stayed outside of the Immortal Court. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Ming Yayun¡¯s husband was a servant-disciple of the Immortal Court. Thanks to his relationship with Ming Yayun, he also received a large amount of resources from his sister-in-law, allowing him to become a venerable, but he died earlier than his wife. After the two¡¯s child reached adulthood, he had to leave the headquarters of the Immortal Court. To this day, no clan member showed enough talent to join the Immortal Court. But thanks to their connection to Ming Xingyun, few forces or factions would make things difficult for them as long as they did not cross the line.
Tianyi sighed. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Daoyi asked. She was sitting across from him, testing a few notes on her guqin, the Nine Nether Notes Guqin. The two weren¡¯t in the Primordial Realm, but in Shangri-La. ¡°My disciple¡¯s sister died,¡± Tianyi said and explained. Daoyi nodded. ¡°There¡¯s no need to feel sorry for her. It¡¯s already amazing that she could live for over three thousand years. How many mortals wished to be able to live so long, yet aren¡¯t able to? She also lived a life of luxury without much worries. Her life can be said to be perfect except for her early years.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not saddened by her death. I¡¯m just lamenting the cruelty of time. Ming Yayun won¡¯t be the first person I know that will die of old age, nor will she be the last. Elder Fanli, the master of Xi Ri, has already returned to dust. Even the people of our generation, Wei Daying, Heng Huesheng, and Ji Shuye, died. Some earlier than others because they failed their Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation or perished in the war against the Eight Pillars Sect.¡± ¡°That¡¯s life,¡± Daoyi said, as she played a few notes, making the atmosphere more melancholic. ¡°By the way, did you hear a rumor about me?¡± ¡°Rumor?¡± ¡°Yeah, they say that I¡¯m keeping a lover behind the great Nine Heavens Emperor¡¯s back,¡± Daoyi said, hiding a smile behind her sleeve. ¡°Hah?¡± It took Tianyi a few seconds to process what Daoyi said. ¡°According to rumors, my secret lover stays in my room and never leaves when there are people. Some suspect it¡¯s Ba Shifang or a young hero from the Numinous Sword Sect. Your admirers are up in arms because of the rumor, either disdaining the rumor or glaring at me. Some even went to report it, hoping to alert you,¡± Daoyi continued. Tianyi¡¯s lips twitched. He knew the rumors were describing him. To hide his presence, he rarely left Daoyi¡¯s room, but for extra security, he also changed his aura and appearance. Only, he never expected that rumors of his wife¡¯s infidelity would spring up because of it. ¡°Moving on,¡± Tianyi said, desperate to change the topic. Although he knew Daoyi wasn¡¯t cheating on him, he didn¡¯t like to hear such rumors. Still, Tianyi kept a record. Once he found out who spread such a rumor, he would make sure to reward them as they deserved. ¡°I told you about my encounter with the S¨±rya? Buddha and his technique, right?¡± Daoyi nodded. ¡°You did.¡± ¡°Recently, I made some progress in controlling the flames. My Law of Fire has improved and so has my Law of Five Phases, just not as much,¡± Tianyi said. Then, he raised a finger and a small ember appeared above his fingertips. ¡°I can extract a tiny portion without letting it run out of control. How is it, do you have any insights on ¡­ it?¡± ¡°Daoyi?¡± Tianyi called out. Had he not been able to sense her unperturbed soul, he would have wondered if he accidentally infected Daoyi with the flame. Instead, she was staring at the ember at the tip of his finger in a daze. He recognized the look, it was the look of enlightenment. Several hours passed with Daoyi still in the same state. During that time, someone knocked on the door and Tianyi had to answer. He told them that she was currently in a critical period of her cultivation and could not attend to any matters. Of course, he changed his voice to emulate Daoyi in order to avoid suspicion and not feed the rumor mill. Tianyi dared to proclaim that his mimicry skills were unmatched. If his personality was suited and he had the acting abilities, he would have made for a perfect spy. Three days later, Daoyi¡¯s aura surged. Tianyi didn¡¯t do anything to block it and allowed her aura to flow past the doors. It wasn¡¯t a bad thing. Daoyi blinked and regained clarity in her eyes. A small smile graced her lips. ¡°Finally. I¡¯ve become a second-step monarch.¡± Thanks to her heavenly water spiritual root, the Law of Water was the easiest for her to comprehend. Because she had been focusing on merging the Law of Death and the Law of Life, she didn¡¯t place much focus on the Law of Water. After becoming an immortal monarch, she spent a few decades mastering fifty percent of the Law of Water and became a first-step monarch. She raised a single finger, mimicking Tianyi¡¯s actions. A second later, a ghastly blue flame appeared above her fingers. It emitted an eerie note and a frightful glow. Tianyi stared at Daoyi¡¯s flame while he released his own. He sensed some characteristics of the S¨±rya? Buddha¡¯s flame¡¯s in the ghastly flame. With a glance, he could tell that the flame was a soul method and not a normal spell. It should be able to cling onto its target and burn the target¡¯s soul using their soul essence as fuel. As for the burning effect and heat, they were merely secondary. It was like the opposite of the S¨±rya? Buddha¡¯s flame. ¡°Is that what you realized from the S¨±rya? Buddha¡¯s flame?¡± Tianyi asked. Daoyi nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s tentatively name it Will-o-Wisp for now.¡± Afterward, Daoyi explained the principles behind her technique. Although it couldn¡¯t decode the S¨±rya? Buddha¡¯s flame, it expedited Tianyi¡¯s speed in dealing with the divine fire. In the next few years, Tianyi continued to discuss with Daoyi about the divine fire once he had any insights. The S¨±rya? Buddha¡¯s flame was primarily yang, and Daoyi was more talented in yin, but yin and yang were just two sides of a whole. Tianyi also found Yan Nie to discuss the divine fire. He only did this after he was confident in his control over the flame. Daoyi was a soul immortal, so she had a high resistance to soul methods, but Yan Nie was not. So, Tianyi delayed it to be safe. Yan Nie benefited immensely from the discussion and research on the S¨±rya? Buddha¡¯s flame. Tianyi didn¡¯t benefit as much, but it still helped him. In total, he spent thirteen years removing the divine fire from his consciousness. Yes, remove. After he eliminated ninety-eight percent of it, he extracted the remaining two percent and sealed it. Although it was dangerous, fire at the divine level was too rare. After solving the trouble from S¨±rya? Buddha¡¯s flame and tempering his willpower, Tianyi focused on his main agenda. Increasing his strength as much as possible before the final battle. His comprehension of the worldly laws was almost always increasing at a steady rate, and expecting him to suddenly gain enlightenment was foolhardy. So, he could only use other avenues. Chapter 533: Final Battles Eve Tianyi estimated that his own comprehension of the worldly laws was around average for an immortal emperor, maybe even below average. If his age was taken into consideration, it was more than amazing how short of a time it took to achieve such mastery. But if you also included the wide range of worldly laws he comprehended, it was monstrous. No other immortal emperor could compare. After all, rather than disperse their focus, they would rather focus on mastering three laws and merge them with their primary law and achieve the Origin Immortal Realm. No matter how many laws an immortal emperor mastered, it would be useless if they couldn¡¯t merge them and break the limit of the Extremity Immortal Realm. Perhaps if he had only focused on the Law of Spacetime, his mastery would already be at the precipice of the Extremity Immortal Realm, but Tianyi had always been clear-headed about his greatest advantage, the Nine Heavens Universe. It was his greatest reliance. As long as the Nine Heavens Universe was not destroyed, Tianyi would be immortal, even if someone destroyed all his conduits. He would just simply be unable to return to the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System anymore. It was a form of eternity he possessed since he entered the Immortal Realm. Tianyi had the confidence to proclaim that if he had full access to his inner universe¡¯s full might, he could fight a divinity, perhaps even defeat them. After all, although divinities were powerful, they could not escape the influence of the Heavenly Dao. He could even paint the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System in his own image. Alas, the Heavenly Dao restricted him from using too much power. He couldn''t even absorb spiritual qi as easily as a mortal. The simplest method to increase his combat power was to increase the amount of power he could use from the Nine Heavens Universe in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. However, even if Tianyi¡¯s comprehension of a single law increased, the amount of power he could use barely changed. That¡¯s why Tianyi focused on comprehending numerous laws and applying them. The speed of his comprehension was not fast enough. When the final battle against the Demon Clan arrived, he was not sure he could defeat the realm beast. Before meeting the S¨±rya? Buddha, Tianyi had confidence, though now he didn¡¯t. Tianyi appeared in a remote location in the Vast Void. What he wanted to practice would make too much of a commotion, and he didn¡¯t want the Numinous Sword Sect or the Buddhists to notice. After releasing his immortal sense and detecting no one, Tianyi nodded. Next, thousands of ripples appeared and out stepped his conduits. Their strength varied. The strongest was an immortal emperor, while the weakest could only display the power of a transcending mortality saint. The only reason they could stand in the void was thanks to the aid of his first-level conduits. Countless level zero conduits, eighty-one level one conduits with the power of true immortals, nine level two conduits at the half-emperor level, and one level three conduit with the power of an emperor. A hundred and twenty-nine of the conduits entered a peculiar pattern, an invisible line of qi connecting all of them. ¡°Arise.¡±
In the abyss of the True Dragon Realm, a star appeared. No, it was an eye that resembled a star. The ocean floor quaked, and the currents intensified as the slumbering creature moved. Soon, a black dragon soared into the sky. His mere presence cowed all the life within hundreds of kilometers, for they knew they were but insignificant specks of dust before the dragon king. He was Donghai Longzi. After floating in the sky for a while, Donghai Longzi reigned in his aura, allowing all life to breathe a sigh of relief and remove themselves from the ground. The East Sea Dragon King flew toward the ancestral lands of the Dragon Clan, Crystal Palace. ¡°East Sea Dragon King, congratulations on your recovery and taking another step on your path,¡± Demon Emperor Redraco said. Donghai Longzi transformed into his humanoid form, standing out among the many dragons in Crystal Palace. After the realm beast was sealed again, the Void Continent no longer existed, and it was no longer suitable as a base of operations against the alliance of the Immortal Court and the Numinous Sword Sect. Because of the loss of the Void Continent, the Demon Clan fell to a great disadvantage. Donghai Longzi and many other demons fought against the humans, but they still lost more than they won. It was during one of these battles that Donghai Longzi was injured and forced to recuperate for a long time. It was only now that he had finished healing. ¡°It¡¯s not much. At least not enough to affect the outcome of the battle. I¡¯m just glad that I made it before the end of the war,¡± Donghai Longzi said. Although he stayed away in order to heal, he still knew the general circumstances of the war between the demons and the humans. The climax of the war was coming. The humans have forced the Demon Clan to retreat to the True Dragon Realm, Phoenix Realm, and Qilin Realm. Nearly eighty percent of the realms in the Divine Beast Pseudo System had been conquered by the humans, and it was only a matter of time before they breached the final strongholds. ¡°Your addition will be of great assistance for the final battle,¡± the Dragon Patriarch said. ¡°Final battle?¡± Donghai Longzi questioned. ¡°Has it already been determined?¡± If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. All the true dragons nodded, causing Donghai Longzi to sigh. He didn¡¯t lament the timing of the final battle, but that he only learned now. Did they suspect him? ¡°Has it already reached this point? Are we preparing to release the realm beast?¡± Donghai Longzi asked. Upon hearing of the realm beast, all the true dragons present had complicated expressions. Finally, Demon Emperor Redraco spoke up. ¡°If possible, we don¡¯t want to release it unless we have no options left. If used now, we will have to worry about it devouring our own territory.¡± He sighed. ¡°We should have used him at a critical moment to deal a devastating blow to the humans, but they attacked the Void Continent and caught us off guard. Forget it, it¡¯s too late to regret now. We just have to keep him as a last resort and deterrence for the humans.¡± ¡°The humans also know this. That¡¯s why they are unwilling to fight us in the void, where the realm beast can run amok without care,¡± the Dragon Patriarch added. Donghai Longzi nodded. However, his questions did not end. ¡°Forgive me for saying this, but I don¡¯t think the Demon Clan can win. The humans have only sent a portion of their strength. They still have more powerful reserves in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. During my time there, I have long heard of the fame of Sovereign Xi, but she has not appeared yet. The Numinous Sword Sect must also have such an expert, being the Immortal Court¡¯s equal. Does the Demon Clan have any trump card to equalize the battle?¡± Not just Donghai Longzi, but the other true dragons focused their gaze on the Dragon Patriarch and Demon Emperor Redraco. Upon seeing that they were unwilling to say more, Donghai Longzi pressed on. ¡°Even if we have trump cards, we should still make the necessary preparations, right? If we lose, we should send out some seeds in order to continue the Demon Clan, right?¡± Finally, Demon Emperor Redraco sighed. He opened his mouth, but the Dragon Patriarch stopped him. ¡°Stop, have you forgotten his order?¡± ¡°Patriarch, he didn¡¯t say we couldn¡¯t reveal some things,¡± Demon Emperor Redraco said, confusing the true dragons present. He looked at Donghai Longzi, as if judging him. Donghai Longzi didn¡¯t shrink back under scrutiny. Finally, Demon Emperor Redraco nodded. ¡°In a sense, there is a trump card,¡± Demon Emperor Redraco started. ¡°No matter the end result, victory or defeat, the Demon Clan will never be destroyed. At least, that¡¯s what he said.¡± Donghai Longzi¡¯s eyes flickered. All the true dragons present also became confused. In their cognition, the three patriarchs and the four divine beasts should be the highest authority of the Demon Clan. Why did the Dragon Patriarch and Demon Emperor Redraco refer to someone else respectfully? Unfortunately for them, neither Demon Emperor Redraco nor the Dragon Patriarch had the intention of enlightening them.
Ba Shifang clasped and unclasped his fingers. This was his very first war. It can be considered a swift war, but for Ba Shifang and other new immortals, it was the longest battle of their entire lives. They did not have battle after battle, day after day, but it would be a lie to say that they had ever truly relaxed during their breaks. Thanks to those continuous battles, he truly reached the peak of the Seamless Immortal Realm, just one step away from the Extremity Immortal Realm. But this final step was an uncrossable gulf for him. However, he wasn¡¯t too worried about the final battle against the Demon Clan. He didn¡¯t know what Tianyi experienced during his so-called rest, but Ba Shifang did hear that Tianyi was practicing. Tianyi, practicing, was a two-word combo that was very unfamiliar to Ba Shifang. Although he inherited Tianyi¡¯s original talent and his progress exceeded nearly ninety-nine point nine-nine percent of geniuses, Ba Shifang knew he didn¡¯t hold a candle to Tianyi. Seriously, who could? He didn¡¯t think those geniuses that ended up being divinities could compare to Tianyi either. The rate at which he comprehended the laws was beyond monstrous. He had to be focused wholeheart on merging the five elemental laws to comprehend the first percentage of the Law of Five Phases, but Tianyi did it even faster than him, while he was distracted by the other laws. He obtained knowledge and objects that others needed blood, sweat, and tears to get. Given enough time, Ba Shifang believed that Tianyi would become a divinity similar to Pangu. No, he was already like Pangu. After all, Tianyi had an inner universe. So for Tianyi to practice, it meant he was serious. Tianyi¡¯s strength should increase by at least fifty percent at minimum, in Ba Shifang¡¯s opinion. Double was the most likely option. Although Ba Shifang could no longer be considered Tianyi¡¯s clone, since the connection between them had been severed, Ba Shifang knew that Tianyi was his biggest backer. The stronger Tianyi was, the better for him. Still, that didn¡¯t mean Ba Shifang could rest on his laurels. Ba Shifang had mastered the Three States of Qi, and even improved them a bit. The biggest drawback of the Three States of Qi was that the body couldn¡¯t directly use Ye or Yu. It had to be decomposed into qi first. So far, there was no technique that used the Ye or Yu state of qi as fuel. He planned to create a new technique that could use Ye or Yu, so he wouldn¡¯t need to waste time and convert them back to qi before usage. Ba Shifang decided to start on the basis of the law of water. When people think about the three states of matter, most of them would think of ice, water, and mist. So, it was easiest to start on this basis. While Ba Shifang trained, his partner Hu Landie was not idle either. Aside from the necessary time spent with Ba Shifang, she spent most of her time cultivating. To obtain eternal life was her goal. It was her obsession, and the foundation of everything she did. Even her acceptance of Ba Shifang¡¯s confession was a result of weighing the benefits and detriments. She was clear that she had no feelings for Ba Shifang, but if it would allow her to gain access to more resources, she was willing to play the role of a wife or a dao companion. Although she didn¡¯t know everything about Xi Tianyi, she was still clear about his potential. A relationship with Xi Tianyi was incredibly beneficial to her. Until she found an opportunity or benefit far more than what her current status could afford her, she would remain attached to the Immortal Court and Ba Shifang. Weighing the pros and cons with impartial eyes, giving her a rationale that could be called chilling. That was the core of Hu Landie. It was why she joined the Buzhou Immortal Sect, the organization that forced her to use the Spring Autumn Butterfly to reverse time and return to the days before she embarked on the immortal path. In the midst of cultivation, Hu Landie opened her eyes. She was being summoned. Not just her, Ba Shifang, too. The two exited their rooms and, after a few words, appeared in the main hall of the palace. There, they saw everyone else had been summoned. More importantly, they saw Xi Tianyi appear in front of everyone again. The time had come. Chapter 534: Duel In the void of the Divine Beast Pseudo System, humans and demons stood across from each other. Their numbers blotted the space and brought color to the void. A battle of this magnitude would cause catastrophic damage to the adjacent realms from the sheer numbers of participants at the true immortal level and above. The demons would have preferred to engage in a much less populated area where the realm beast can run amok. Unfortunately, they were the defenders. The Demon Clan could choose and wait in the void for the humans, but the humans would just conquer their home base, and leave them like rootless duckweeds. No matter what preparation they made, demons needed to absorb the spiritual qi of heaven and earth to survive. Once they lost the three ancestral realms, the Demon Clan would eventually wither and die. Even if they descended into lower realms, the amount of spiritual qi they needed was far from what lower realms could produce. No matter what, it was a battle the Demon Clan could not afford to lose. Demon Emperor Redraco stared at Minister Everpast with guarded eyes. The elderly immortal minister was the only immortal sovereign on the human¡¯s side, but he wasn¡¯t the one that Demon Emperor Redraco placed the most importance on. No, it was the immortal emperor that resembled a sword. According to the Demon Clan¡¯s intelligence, he was Bao Ling, the rising star of the Numinous Sword Sect. No, the title rising star no longer suited Bao Ling. He was a new pillar of the Numinous Sword Sect. When he stared at Bao Ling, he saw an unsheathed blade. When their gazes connected, Demon Emperor Redraco felt his soul tingle, as if something was scratching it. Just that alone sent alarm bells off in his head. Bao Ling¡¯s gaze alone was akin to a soul attack. There was one more that he paid attention to: Nine Heavens Emperor Xi Tianyi. If Bao Ling was the new pillar of the Numinous Sword Sect, then Xi Tianyi was the new pillar of the Buzhou Immortal Court, formerly the Buzhou Immortal Sect. In sharp contrast to Bao Ling, Xi Tianyi gave off zero aura at all. It was to the point that even if he used his demon sense to see Xi Tianyi, he would get nothing. Normally, that meant the holder of the demon sense automatically ignored the target because they were too insignificant, but Demon Emperor Redraco knew better. Even if he tried to lock onto him, he would sense nothing. Not even a soul aura. As the direct perpetrator of Demon Emperor Blacktiger¡¯s death, Demon Emperor Redraco knew better than to underestimate him. Not just Bao Ling and Xi Tianyi, but Demon Emperor Redraco lamented at the human¡¯s large pool of talents. Though they couldn¡¯t threaten him, he had already made note of the outstanding performances. World Link Monarch Monarch Thrallsong Transient Wing Monarch Seven Star Sword Monarch Tyrant Sword Monarch From birth, demons had an innate advantage over humans. Not only were they born with powerful bodies, but they possessed longer lifespans than humans on the same level. The lifespan advantage disappeared when humans reached the immortal level, but outstanding demons still possessed innate abilities that gave them an edge over their human counterparts. That said, it couldn¡¯t make up for the smaller population of the Demon Clan, resulting in them having less talent. Demons with innate talents were also increasingly rare due to the insufficient environment and weakening bloodlines. All advantages disappeared at the Divine Realm. It was one of the reasons why the humans defeated the Demon Clan after the fall of the Immortal Court led by Di Jun. The Demon Clan had missed the opportunity to conquer the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, right after the destruction of the Primordial World. Demon Emperor Redraco blinked. Now was not the time to confide in his own musings. Right now, he had to tilt the scales in the Demon Clan¡¯s favor. The demons were prepared to defend the three ancestral realms to their dying breath, meaning that their morale was at an all-time high. Still, that didn¡¯t mean it would remain that way. Once the battle started, morale would fluctuate all the time, so he needed to raise it and stabilize it as much as possible before the battle started. ¡°Spineless invaders,¡± Demon Emperor Redraco shouted, his voice carried by his demon sense filled the void battleground. ¡°Do you dare to duel against us one-on-one?¡± When the grand commander of the humans, Minister Everpast, refused to answer his challenge, Demon Emperor Redraco released a ridiculing smile. ¡°Hmpf, as expected of you weak humans, only knowing how to use numbers to defeat your enemies. Fine, I can¡¯t help it if you don¡¯t have the courage to face us one-on-one. It¡¯s why you need to ally up to match up against us superior demons.¡± ¡°Shut up, you lowly demon!¡± Normally, Demon Emperor Redraco would have struck down the insolent true immortal that dared to address him as such, but the offering gave the perfect opportunity for him. Although he didn¡¯t know the true immortal, he appeared young from his aura. Since he didn¡¯t carry a sword and the trace of dissatisfaction Demon Emperor Redraco saw in Minister Everpast¡¯s eyes, he judged that the true immortal was a newly ascended immortal from the Buzhou Immortal Court. ¡°Oh? Then do you dare to duel against one of my progeny?¡± Demon Emperor Redraco asked, arrogance imbued in each word. His words agitated the true immortal even more. ¡°Hmpf! Even if a Demon King appears, I, Lord Shi, can defeat them!¡± Demon Emperor Redraco didn¡¯t answer. In his stead, a jiaolong accepted Immortal Lord Shi¡¯s challenge. Also known as a hornless dragon or flood dragon, the jiaolong dwarfed his human counterpart. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. With the participation of both of them, the Demon Clan and humans implicitly agreed to Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s challenge. Immortal Lord Shi, as his title implied, was one step away from mastering a worldly law. Unfortunately, it was just that, one step away. The difference between not mastering and mastering a worldly law was enormous. If he had mastered a complete worldly law, he would have already become a seamless immortal instead of staying as a true immortal. Especially in the face of war. Part of the reason why he accepted the Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s challenge was to temper himself. Although the duel to the death was implied, it should still be far safer than a chaotic battle, where life and death could be decided in an instant without warning. Unfortunately, he failed. The jiaolong¡¯s mastery of a worldly law was inferior to Immortal Lord Shi, but his physical flesh made up for the difference. And he cinched the victory when he activated his innate ability and killed his foe. Upon his victory, the demons cheered, while the humans became discontent. Although the morale was raised, both sides knew one battle couldn¡¯t decide everything. The Demon Clan was still outnumbered, and the humans did not think the demons were superior to them in single combat. The second representative from the humans was a member of the Numinous Sword Sect. Although the sword immortal hadn¡¯t mastered a worldly law, he was close to the late Immortal Lord Shi, so he was a sword lord. The jiaolong did not retreat and continued to battle. The sword lord offered the Demon Clan to have the jiaolong retreat and switch him out, lest they claim he only triumphed over the hornless dragon because his foe was tired from the previous bout. The jiaolong rejected, and the two duelists took action. The sword lord¡¯s attack exceeded the immortal lord from the Buzhou Immortal Court. The jiaolong¡¯s scales shattered upon the impact, but it did not change the end result. It was a closer match than before for sure, but the jiaolong still triumphed over the sword lord. It caused the Demon Clan to cheer and a grim air to wash over the humans. After this time, the jiaolong retreated when the third human stepped forward. Having used his innate ability twice already, the jiaolong could not use it again in a short period. The humans sent out another sword lord. This time, the human won, but at substantial cost. His arm lost and his body infected, the sword lord would not be able to contribute to the upcoming battle in a short time. It would take at least a month to heal his injuries unless the humans were willing to use precious resources, which could be better spent elsewhere. Thirteen duels at the true demon and true immortal level occurred between the Demon Clan and humans. Of them, the demons won the majority. If possible, Demon Emperor Redraco would be happy to continue whittling down the human¡¯s numbers, but the humans were having none of that. Both because if their losses continued, it would lower the morale, and true demons had too much of an advantage over true immortals. So, the humans sent out a monarch. At this level, the innate abilities no longer had an absolute advantage. And only a few innate abilities could be considered supreme, like the innate abilities of the Four Divine Beasts. Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s eyes glanced toward a demon king with golden fur and black stripes. His aura was far stronger than the other demon kings, almost reaching the level of a demon emperor. He glanced away and stared at the sword monarch. In order to keep morale, Demon Emperor Redraco sent out his granddaughter, Honglin. Although she wasn¡¯t the strongest demon king, she inherited his blood and her innate ability suppressed martial immortals like the sword monarch. As Demon Emperor Redraco expected, his progeny triumphed. And with far greater ease than he expected. He hadn¡¯t had the time to guide her growth because of the war, but it did not stop him from preening with pride. Despite her victory, he ordered her to retreat when he saw her next opponent. It was the Tyrant Sword Monarch. Demon Emperor Redraco knew him, all the true dragons did. After the humiliation the Dragon Emperor doused them under, they made a point to remember anyone accomplished in the Dragon Emperor Fist, so that they may extinguish the user. Many times, the dragons aimed for the Tyrant Sword Monarch, but through luck or his own abilities, he survived. Not only that, he was a key player in the human¡¯s assault on the Void Continent and the exposure of the realm beast. After many battles, the true dragons called him the Tyrant Sword Monarch Ye Chen. If he wasn¡¯t already a dragon king, Demon Emperor Redraco would have wanted Donghai Longzi to take action. Thankfully, the Dragon Clan was not absent of talent. He was known as the Waterdrop Dragon Lord, a Demon King Realm true dragon. Unlike other true dragons, countless wings sprouted down his back. Also known as winged rain dragons, the yinglong were the descendents of the dragon that allied with the Yellow Emperor to take down Chiyou. The battle started without fanfare. The Tyrant Sword Monarch sped towards the Waterdrop Dragon Lord, intent on ending it in one swing. But how could the dragon lord allow him to do as he wished? His myriad wings flapped, each deploying a water drop with each movement. Soon, the battlefield was filled with the drops of water, making it seemed as if the battle took place in the midst of rain. The sword monarch grunted as he slowed his approach. Although each drop of water seemed light and harmless, he would feel a great impact upon crashing into them. One or ten might be fine, but hundreds would harm him. Not much, mind you, but it would add up. He raised his sword and swung. Black sword light ran rampant, bursting the water drops. Still, the water drops seemed endless. For each drop he destroyed, two more would take their place. Their infinite forms distorted the sword monarch¡¯s vision until he lost sight of the true dragon. The Tyrant Sword Monarch released his immortal sense, but he discovered that the water drops interfered with it, causing it to fail. Well, not exactly. In his senses, each water drop was the Waterdrop Dragon Lord, but that was obviously impossible. After a moment of hesitation, the Tyrant Sword Emperor deployed his Destruction Sword Realm. A black bubble exploded with him at the epicenter, shrouding the surrounding hundred kilometers in a dark tint. Once encompassed by the domain of destruction, ripples appeared on each individual water drop. Not a moment later, they deformed and disappeared into mist. Still, there were some water drops that were not destroyed by the Tyrant Sword Emperor¡¯s domain. It was only about ten percent, but it was enough to mask the Waterdrop Dragon Lord¡¯s true location. In addition, the mist created from the broken water drops remained, continuing to bewilder the sword monarch¡¯s immortal sense. The water drops moved faster and faster until they turned into icy comets. They spun around the Tyrant Sword Monarch in all directions. Then, they curved, all flying toward him. The Tyrant Sword Monarch snorted. He gripped his sword and slashed at the tiny water drops. However, the impact sent a shock through his arm. Instead of slicing through water or ice, it felt as if he had slashed at an incoming meteor. Tens of water drops later, his sword was knocked back, leaving his torso defenseless. The water drops ravaged his body, like meteoric impacts on the land. The Waterdrop Dragon Lord formed from the mist surrounding the Tyrant Sword Monarch. His eyes widened when he saw the azure scales covering the sword monarch¡¯s body and the deer-like antlers growing out of his head. Rather than a human, he resembled a humanoid dragon. The dragon lord recognized this technique. It was a favorite of those that practiced the Dragon Emperor Fist. The more blood they absorbed, the stronger and more draconic the transformation. Dragon Scale Mail. The Tyrant Sword Monarch also saw the Waterdrop Dragon Lord. The sword in his hand, which had been forced away, sliced toward the blue-scaled dragon. The Waterdrop Dragon Lord knew that he had fallen for his opponent¡¯s ploy, but he did not back down. Blue energy coated his claws, and he struck the Tyrant Sword Monarch with both hands. One to deflect the sword, and the other to claim his life! Chapter 535: Sudden Assault The Waterdrop Dragon Lord¡¯s claws struck azure scales, causing sparks to fly and leaving a pale mark, but otherwise, leaving no damage. His heart fell into his stomach, but at this moment, the dragon lord knew it was too late to fall back. His other claw clashed against the Tyrant Sword Monarch¡¯s weapon. At the moment of contact, he felt a destructive energy invade through his claw and into his body. The energy appeared to be the antithesis of his dragon might. Wherever the energy encroached, he felt his strength flowing out of his body. A sickening crack echoed in the void, and the Tyrant Sword Monarch sliced through his claws and into his hand. The Waterdrop Dragon Lord roared in pain and reared back. However, how could his opponent allow him to do as he wished? The sword monarch gave chase, his weapon gleamed a vicious red tainted by dragon blood. The blue scales on the Waterdrop Dragon Lord¡¯s scales quivered momentarily before shooting off his body. The moment they left, they transformed into water drops and formed a barrier between the Tyrant Sword Monarch and himself. With each swing, the Tyrant Sword Monarch¡¯s weapon ruptured the water drops, leaving behind shattered scales. ¡°So this is the secret behind your domain. As long as I destroy all your scales, you will be nothing but a sitting duck.¡± The Waterdrop Dragon Lord roared in anger at the gall the Tyrant Sword Monarch had at comparing him to a fowl, but he knew he was at a disadvantage. It was just as the sword immortal said. A large portion of his abilities were centered on his scales. Most people couldn¡¯t destroy them, but his foe could. The moment he lost all his scales, his combat potential would drop by half. He would not admit defeat, both because his pride did not allow it and this duel was one of life and death. So, he could only become crazy. Abandon all defense and attack crazily. As a true dragon, he held an innate advantage over humans with weak flesh. But he had forgotten that the Tyrant Sword Monarch practiced the Dragon Emperor Fist. In terms of flesh, he was only weaker than dragon kings. Outgunned with no retreat, the Tyrant Sword Monarch decapitated the Waterdrop Dragon Lord¡¯s head not long after, announcing the end of the match.
After Ye Chen returned from the duel, a momentary silence hung in the air. Although the two sides almost came to blows when he collected the dragon lord¡¯s corpse. A true dragon, after all, was a valuable material in short supply in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. The Demon Clan needed to discuss who they sent out next, as did the alliance of two hegemonic forces. Since someone from the Numinous Sword Sect had just returned, someone from the Immortal Court must take the field next. Jiang Daoyi, the Nine Heavens Emperor¡¯s wife and dao companion, volunteered. A few wanted to dissuade her, but she was adamant. And upon seeing Tianyi not rejecting the matter, they allowed it. Although Daoyi was famous, it was not because of her cultivation speed or prowess. Rather, she became famous because she was Tianyi¡¯s wife and Mengfei¡¯s sole disciple. Many even thought she reached her current height thanks to external aid because of her connection with the two grand elders. Daoyi did not mind the rumors. Few would dare to say such words to her face. Even the whispered mockings on forums in the Xiyinet was easily dealt with. She simply needed not to enter such forums and ignore them. No, the reason Daoyi volunteered was because it was a perfect chance to obtain a demon king¡¯s corpse and soul. Despite battling many demons, the chaotic situation often left her unable to claim any of her kills. Now was the perfect time when the final battle had not erupted. When she entered the field, the Demon Clan also dispatched a demon king. It was a demon king belonging to the Phoenix Clan¡¯s branch. The demon king resembled a Malayan crested argus with feathers of blue, green, and black. He was a qingluan, a bird famed for their songs and dances in legends. Once the battle began, the qingluan immediately attacked with a song. Those too weak of realm and will would find themselves mesmerized by the sound. ¡®Law of Sound?¡¯ Daoyi questioned. As someone who used sound-based attacks, she had dabbled in the Law of Sound as well. She mastered the Concept of Vibration and the Concept of Music, both of which fell under that particular law. The Law of Sound could be broadly split into two parts. The first part was the emitter, or the one making the sound. The second half was the receiver. It did not include just hearing the sound, but receiving the vibration with their body, whether they were willing or not. Merging the two parts formed a resonance, a link between the emitter and the receiver. Although she could withstand it, Daoyi still chose to block the technique, even if it strained her concentration and used more qi. Sound-based attacks weren¡¯t known for their might, but their subterfuge and auxiliary capabilities. Daoyi had allowed her foes to think they withstood their effects, only to subtly influence them to their deaths more than once. Daoyi summoned her Nine Nether Guqin and plucked the strings with her long nails. Each string plucked formed a melodious note. The continuous notes streamed together to form an ethereal yet haunting song. It devoured the qingluan¡¯s song. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The qingluan frowned and increased the power of its song. In turn, Daoyi also did the same. The two entered a stalemate as their songs danced around each other. If it continued, it would turn into a match of stamina. Whoever ran out of qi first would lose. The Demon Clan had great confidence in this. Thanks to their powerful bodies, they could house more qi. Unknown to them, Daoyi¡¯s immortal body was formed on the basis of the Law of Life-and-Death, making her qi reservoir equal or even greater than most demons. Not to mention she also practiced the Three States of Qi. Still, Daoyi had no interest in fighting a protracted battle. Daoyi¡¯s song waned, allowing the qingluan¡¯s cry to overtake her notes. Her fingers, on the other hand, moved even faster. Despite her increasing the rate at which she plucked her strings, her song remained at the same tempo. She soon revealed the reason for her increased speed. Phantoms of demons formed from sound appeared in the void. They resembled the foes Daoyi had slain, and she took special care to materialize avian demons. The materialized phantoms numbered seven. The weakest of them emitted an aura of a peak demon lord, while the strongest blazed aura of an intermediate demon king. They cried out and charged at the qingluan in a flock. The qingluan frowned. Although Daoyi¡¯s song had weakened, it did not make it any less dangerous. Like his own song, Daoyi¡¯s song attacked his mind and soul, but it also had a physical effect. Meaning that her one song equaled a three-pronged approach. A second song erupted from the demon king¡¯s mouth. Despite singing two songs simultaneously, the first song did not weaken. Unlike the first song, the second song was a pure physical attack aimed at the seven demon phantoms. Four of the seven phantoms turned faint from the damage, but the three that radiated aura at the demon king level continued their charge, their body only turning slightly translucent. The qingluan increased the intensity of his second song by weakening his first, successfully destroying the four demon lord phantoms. When the three demon king phantoms reached him, the qingluan unfurled its feather, forming a glorious dress. He danced. His movements were as bewitching as his plumage. The three demon king phantoms never stood a chance. Although the qingluan was surprised by their spirituality, it could not change the fact that they were mere puppets with no mind of their own. Before the qingluan could catch his breath, Daoyi had created another set of demon phantoms. With each set destroyed, Daoyi would immediately create another set. That wasn¡¯t the most terrifying part. It was the fact that the phantoms became more and more difficult to destroy with each iteration. It was not that the phantoms were stronger or created differently. The change lay in Daoyi. She was growing adept at manipulating them. Not only that, but the phantoms¡¯ body became sturdier. Phantoms were puppets formed out of souls at the core and a body made out of qi. To destroy a phantom, their core must be damaged. Even a slight graze was enough, though that was easier said than done. Phantoms were best at unleashing mind and soul attacks. More often than not, they would trap their foes before they could even counterattack. The qingluan had also created phantoms before, but found that it was meaningless. His mind and soul attacks were more powerful, and he possessed a powerful body that did not become his weakness in close combat. The demon king narrowed his eyes. If he continued to defend, he would eventually fall at a disadvantage. Since that¡¯s the case, he¡¯ll take the battle to his foe. He didn¡¯t believe her flesh was as strong as his. Still, he felt a great shame, as if he suffered a great embarrassment. In the demon clan, it was always he who forced others to engage in close combat, not the other way around. He had always prided himself on his songs, but now, a human a fraction of his age equaled him. No, she faintly surpassed him. Killing intent rippled in his eyes as he soared toward Daoyi. Even his flight exuded a bewitchment effect. Just like how those too weak in realm or will hear his songs, those who gazed upon him would fall into a stupor if they did not have the right realm or will. Daoyi sensed his intentions. Her body blurred and merged into the void. ¡°The Law of Space?¡± the qingluan muttered. Frustratingly, he could not sense Daoyi even if her song was still present and phantoms appeared. There was a reason why those who mastered the Law of Space were notoriously hard to kill. His eyes flashed. ¡°I want to see how long you can sustain the consumption from attacking and hiding yourself.¡± The qingluan thought Daoyi mastered the Law of Space, but in truth, she was still far away. The reason why he couldn¡¯t sense her was because she erased her aura and soul fluctuations using the Law of Life and Death. By merging the effect of the law with her attainments in the concepts under the Law of Space, she produced a similar effect. It had a fatal weakness. As long as she was attacked, she would be forced to expose herself, but the qingluan did not know this. The demon king continued to persevere under Daoyi¡¯s phantoms. While defending, his body suddenly jolted, his movements became less coordinated than a newborn infant¡¯s. ¡°What did you do?¡± the qingluan shouted in fear. He could feel a second conscious in his body interfering with his movements. His first thoughts was to deal with the invader¡¯s soul, but he could not find it. It was as if half his body suddenly decided to rebel, but that was impossible. Daoyi said nothing and strengthened her assault. She had conceived this move after seeing Xi Ri¡¯s struggle with his inner devil. Using the Law of Life-and-Death, she weakened her foe¡¯s body and soul while using the damage to birth a second consciousness from their body. The second consciousness was not in her control, but it would invariably fight with the original body for control. The qingluan wanted to deal with the trouble in his body, but Daoyi would not let him. And with the interference of the second consciousness, he could not deal with Daoyi¡¯s attack. His fate was sealed. When the opportunity to deal the finishing blow arrived, Daoyi did not show mercy. Just as she unleashed her attack, alarm bells rang in her head. She knew that if she took whatever was coming for her, her body would be destroyed and her soul damaged. Even if she knew that Tianyi was always watching over her and ready to take action, she would never place her hopes in another person¡¯s hand. So, she stopped and evaded. An explosion created by the clash between immortal qi and demonic qi enveloped the battlefield. Daoyi was fine, but the qingluan turned into a rather miserable corpse. However, she did not have time to care for the sad state of her trophy as she retreated back behind the front lines, all the while staring at the Phoenix Patriarch, who had taken action. The Phoenix Patriarch did not heed Daoyi¡¯s gaze. Instead, he locked gazes with Tianyi¡¯s absolute zero eyes. ¡°Interfering in a life and death duel is against the rules. Do you want to start the final battle now?¡± Tianyi coldly asked. Chapter 536: Final Battle The Phoenix Patriarch glared back at Tianyi. His gaze seemed capable of igniting anything he looked at on fire. ¡°Then start. Who¡¯s afraid of who?¡± Although his words were harsh, his body was honest. He did not show any initiative to attack again and prepared to defend himself. In addition, the other demon emperors were messaging him with their demon senses, telling him to not aggravate the situation. In fact, the qingluan was the Phoenix Clan¡¯s most prized descendant, the one with the highest chance of reaching the Demon Emperor Realm. His death would cause the Phoenix Clan¡¯s future strength to fall to the bottom amongst the three clans once the war ended. The Qilin Clan had the Qilin Patriarch, who became a demon sovereign, and the Dragon Clan was always full of talent. And he wasn¡¯t that confident in facing Tianyi alone, either. When Tianyi locked onto him, he felt the shadow of death hanging over him. He knew Tianyi was powerful, but the ones that faced him before were the Four Divine Beasts. Just his gaze alone clued the Phoenix Patriarch of Tianyi¡¯s power. Tianyi was also receiving many messages from his allies, all persuading him to not start the final battle. He snorted and waved his hand. Daoyi and the qingluan¡¯s corpse disappeared from the battlefield. Although the Phoenix Patriach was angry, he did not dare to take action again. So, the void between the demon and the humans returned to calm, but it was a false calm. A bizarre mood filled it. Neither side took the initiative to take the stage. The humans were wary of the demons using underhanded tactics again, but the demon clans also worried that the humans would launch a surprise attack. Once someone took the initiative to break the rules, neither side would trust the other again so easily. Finally, a monarch from the Numinous Sword Sect stepped forward. Neither side wanted to stop the duels. The humans saw it as a valuable way to grind away at the Demon Clan¡¯s number and raise their morale. Although the humans lost true immortals and might even lose a monarch, they gained more than they lost. The longer it went on, the more advantageous it would be for them. In contrast, the Demon Clan wanted to restore morale and starting a battle now would put them at a greater disadvantage than when the two sides first appeared. Upon seeing the sword monarch, the Demon Clan also dispatched a demon king. If the human took the initiative to appear and they didn¡¯t accept, wouldn¡¯t it mean they were afraid? Not to mention, they were the ones to break the rules first. The humans didn¡¯t recognize the demon king that appeared. It was not strange. The Demon Clan had always been in a state of hiding, so it was much harder to investigate. Still, since they didn¡¯t recognize him, he must have been a new star of the Demon Clan that had not participated in the previous Divine Beast-Human War. To the Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect¡¯s surprise, the unknown demon king won and killed the sword monarch.
¡°How about it, do you want to take the stage next?¡± Ba Shifang asked his wife. Hu Landie¡¯s eyes flickered over the Demon Clan. After the sword monarch fell, two more battles happened. It was neither good nor bad. The human and Demon Clan each won one duel. ¡°There¡¯s no point. The final battle might break out at any moment now,¡± Hu Landie said. The stronger the cultivation base, the more accurate a cultivator¡¯s intuition became. At some point, it might even reach the level of predicting the future. Hu Landie¡¯s intuition had not reached this point, but she mastered the Law of Time, so she had a unique insight. In terms of depth, even Tianyi might not be better than her. Ba Shifang blinked. His relaxed expression turned serious. He knew that Hu Landie liked to pretend to be a pig to eat the tiger. Daoyi¡¯s participation in the duel might be for the qingluan, but it might also be because she was affected by the rumors, if even a little bit. Hu Landie was the one who truly didn¡¯t care. She just cared whether her reputation was useful or not. If possible, she would love for others to underestimate her until the right moment for her to explode and gain an absolute advantage. If possible, she would have wanted to hide her ascension to the Seamless Immortal Realm from the Immortal Court too. The two continued to observe the duels. This time, the Demon Clan was determined and sent out powerful demon kings who have shown considerable strength in the last Divine Beast-Human War. Now, the humans had three consecutive losses, so they wanted an overwhelming victory to raise morale and suppress the Demon Clan¡¯s morale. Ba Shifang naturally wouldn¡¯t object. He smiled at Hu Landie and said, ¡°Wish me luck.¡± ¡°If people relied on luck, what¡¯s the point of embarking on the immortal path?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you give me some good words before I go out?¡± Ba Shifang complained. ¡°I won¡¯t wish you luck. You won¡¯t need it to win,¡± Hu Landie said. When Ba Shifang stepped onto the battlefield, the Demon Clan had not yet sent out their representative. They knew that the humans would definitely not let them continue to win another match. So, they wanted to see who they would dispatch. ¡°Trouble,¡± Demon Emperor Redraco said. ¡°Among the immortal monarchs, he definitely ranks among the top three. Not even Monarch Thrallsong is his opponent. His title as junior emperor was not given lightly.¡± Next to him, the three patriarchs and remaining members of the Four Divine Beasts also had heavy expressions. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°Among the demon kings present, only the East Sea Dragon King before he reached the Demon Emperor Realm can match him,¡± the Dragon Patriarch said. ¡°And only match. Victory or defeat remain unknown.¡± ¡°The World Link Monarch¡¯s power is among the peak. If the duel escalates any further, then it will be emperors that take the stage. But it¡¯s impossible for emperors to step forward and duel to raise morale,¡± Xuanwu said. The Qilin Patriarch looked at the Black Tortoise. ¡°Senior means¡­¡± ¡°This is the last duel,¡± Xuanwu simply said.
¡°It¡¯s you?¡± Ba Shifang said with surprise. Flying toward him was a giant beast with four hooves, crescent eyes, deer-like antlers, scales like carps, and claws like eagles. The most striking thing was the human face instead of the typical dragon head. Ba Shifang recognized him. They had clashed many times after all. ¡°It¡¯s me,¡± the Lunar Candle Dragon Lord Yuezhu said. The Lunar Candle Dragon was a descendant of the Torch Dragon, a divine beast said to determine day and night with its eyes. Unlike Donghai Longzi, the Lunar Candle Dragon Lord was an old foe of humans that fought in two Divine Beast-Human Wars. He was a classic example of being strong because he survived, instead of surviving because he was strong. Ba Shifang nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s start.¡± The two didn¡¯t waste any words and started attacking. The Lunar Candle Dragon Lord released a powerful roar. As an experienced member of the Demon Clan, he epitomized the classic demon style combat of using his powerful body to overwhelm his opponents. He charged at Ba Shifang and slammed his powerful body toward the latter. Ba Shifang didn¡¯t sit still either. He performed many movement spells, but the Lunar Candle Dragon Lord released a field created by the Law of Yin that slowed and interfered with his spells, making them useless. Since he couldn¡¯t flee, he would counterattack. Five swords flew out from Ba Shifang¡¯s sleeve. Each one emitted a unique aura. One had a fiery edge, another blade resembled the bottomless abyss, the third was yellow and just looking at made the looker feel heavier, the fourth exuded endless vitality and did not appear to be a sword of killing, and the fifth appeared like an ordinary sword with its white blade, but just the sharp aura it exuded could slice through immortals without touching them. The five swords merged into one and transformed into a plain sword. Inscribed on the blade were depictions of the five elements. Ba Shifang reached out and grasped the sword. If his previous aura was peaceful, like nature, it had transformed into a heavy one that suppressed all things. Gravity seemed to have materialized in the weightless void. He roared and swung the sword with all his might. Keng! Dragon and sword clashed. The two stayed in place for a moment before bouncing backward. Ba Shifang was flung the farthest. Even if he exerted more strength, the Lunar Candle Dragon Lord¡¯s mass more than made up for difference. Not only that, the dragon lord had a method to increase his size, which he did not hide. ¡°Such a large body is cheating,¡± Ba Shifang griped. He didn¡¯t have long to complain, as the white dragon was near him. Instead of attacking again with his sword, a bubble grew from his body. It resembled his sword and exuded the aura of the five elements. The Lunar Candle Dragon Lord didn¡¯t stop and directly crashed into it, blasting the sphere back, but there was nary a crack on it. Upon seeing this, the white dragon lord did not relent and attacked even more furiously. Claws and bites scarred the five element sphere. Finally, the Lunar Candle Dragon Lord retreated a bit and slammed his tail at it like a whip. A crack appeared, and soon the sphere crumbled. A stony hand reached out and grabbed the white dragon¡¯s tail. Ba Shifang¡¯s mortal coil had vanished. In his place was an elemental titan. Stone was its flesh, steel its skeleton, fire its heart, water its blood, and wood its veins. Five Elements Planetary Titan. It was the new form Ba Shifang conceived based on his previous elemental giant form. Its power was even greater because he applied the Three States of Qi to it. Correspondingly, so did the cost of starting and maintaining it. The sword had also grown tremendously. The Five Elements Planetary Titan raised his arm, holding the sword high above its head, and slashed down. Not willing to back down, the Lunar Candle Dragon Lord rammed his horn at it. Sword and horn clashed. Both sides could not overpower the other and they entered a stalemate. The Five Elements Planetary Titan opened its mouth and released a silent roar. Molten red lines that resembled lava appeared all over its stone body. The pressure it emitted increased to a terrifying degree. The sudden increase in power was reflected in the clash as it knocked the Lunar Candle Dragon Lord away. The Lunar Candle Dragon Lord roared in pain and quickly reoriented itself. However, one of its horns had a large crack running down from the tip to the base. ¡°You bastard!¡± the Lunar Candle Dragon Lord roared, and he charged forward again. The Five Elements Planetary Titan shifted his body and grabbed the Lunar Candle Dragon Lord by the neck with his left hand. In response, the dragon lord constricted the elemental titan. The moment it did so, a pervading chilly aura invaded the titan. ¡°Feel my wrath. Watch as your shell crumbles, exposing your powerless self!¡± the Lunar Candle Dragon Lord said. However, he soon discovered that his technique, which drained his foes of their qi and weakened their body and soul, did not seem to affect the Five Elements Planetary Titan much. Ba Shifang said nothing. It seemed that using Yu of the Three States of Qi increased its ability to defend against interference techniques. It was a pleasant surprise, but it did not mean he would show mercy to the one that revealed this to him. The Five Elements Planetary Titan raised its sword and cut down, intent on decapitating the Lunar Candle Dragon Lord. In mid-swing, alarm bells rang in Ba Shifang¡¯s head. He abandoned his attack and focused everything on defense. The Five Elements Planetary Titan transformed. Its torso thickened and the limbs and head receded into its body until it formed a sphere, a planet. Not a moment too soon as a bolt of lightning struck it, piercing a third of the way through and shattering the surface. Ba Shifang wasn¡¯t the only one attacked as miniature suns slammed into the Lunar Candle Dragon Lord and exploded like nova. When the nova vanished, all that remained was a burnt husk. ¡°You¡¯re not honest!¡± Tianyi shouted as he transformed into a cosmic giant and punched the Qilin Patriarch head on. The Qilin Patriarch head-butted the fist, and Tianyi fell at a disadvantage, stumbling several steps back. In that short moment, the Demon Clan and humans each unleashed their attacks. The Demon Clan charged forward, while the immortal emperors and a few monarchs met them midway. The rest of the immortals quickly formed the war formations before engaging in battle. The final battle between the humans and the Demon Clan had begun. Chapter 537: Clash of Immortals and Demons Grand Elder Zhang Cuiying, also known as Empress Voidink, stared at the demons. Her eyes took on an ink-like hue while her snow-white hair fluttered from the qi radiating from her body. A scroll longer than her arm and thicker than a tree trunk appeared in her hands. This was her signature artifact, one she forged herself. She spent years and many resources to refine it, including realm essence. She also made many failures. The Mountains and Seas Pendant owned by Tianyi and gifted to Daoyi was her creation. Her Voidink Scroll contained a pseudo realm within, but that was not its main purpose. She unfurled the scroll, extending it beyond a kilometer. Painted onto the scroll were countless soldiers and generals in silver armor. The scroll rippled, and the painted soldiers moved. They flew out of the painting and appeared in the void. There were nine hundred and ninety silver soldiers at the true immortal level and one hundred generals at the immortal monarch level. Voidink Scroll - Heavenly Immortal Army The only thing shocking about them were their sheer numbers. A powerful earth immortal or saint could fight or even defeat a true immortal heavenly soldier, and an immortal lord could defeat an immortal monarch heavenly general. A few thousand years ago, the number of soldiers Grand Elder Zhang could summon was ten thousand. Despite the decrease in number, the Heavenly Immortal Army had increased in strength, not decreased. Because of the ten thousand strong army, there was only one heavenly general. The rest were true immortal soldiers. Grand Elder Zhang Cuiying didn¡¯t summon the Heavenly Immortal Army for human wave tactics. Using them that way would only make them cannon fodder and nuisances at best. No, she gathered all of them around her. Her immortal qi resonated with the qi of the Heavenly Immortal Army. With her as the core, they formed a war formation, the Immortal Arms Sovereign War Formation, the famed war formation of the Immortal Court from the primordial era. The Immortal Arms Sovereign War Formation resembled a titan nine kilometers tall. Because of Grand Elder Zhang, the giant was obviously female and had the same face as her. The Immortal Arms Sovereign War Formation raised its right arm, and a giant brush five hundred meters long appeared in its hand. The war formation held the brush in a reverse grip and slashed forward. Ink spilled from the brush and formed a blade. The Qilin Patriarch snorted and rushed forward. He reared back and raised his front hooves. He stamped down. Wherever his hooves passed, space trembled. If it was in a realm, even an immortal-rank realm, the dimension boundary would crack. Even if it was at the most stable location. The ink blade and qilin hooves crashed into each other. The stalemate only lasted a single second before the blade of ink splattered and returned to its original form. However, the scattered drops of ink connected again and formed hundreds of strings that bound the Qilin Patriarch like chains. The ink strings that touched the Qilian Patriarch¡¯s scales flattened and covered them in tiny letters. The more words they engraved, the weaker the qilin leader¡¯s scales became. In addition, they also spurred the demon qi to escape out into the void. ¡°A paltry trick!¡± the Qilin Patriarch said with a snort. A powerful film covered his body. No matter how hard the ink attempted to penetrate the film, there would always be a thin space between it and the scales. The Qilian Patriarch roared. Wherever the roar passed, all objects would gravitate toward him. Or rather, toward his hooves. The Immortal Arms Sovereign War Formation was naturally not an exception. In fact, it was the target. Two hooves stamped down. They were pitch black and absorbed all light, making them seem like holes in reality. They struck with the force of a planetary collision, instantly shattering the Immortal Arms Sovereign War Formation into thousands of pieces. The destroyed Immortal Arms Sovereign War Formation transformed into ink and dissipated in the void. Above the Qilian Patriarch, the Immortal Arms Sovereign War Formation appeared out of nowhere and slashed down with its brush. The Qilin Patriarch counterattacked with its horn.
Minister Everpast glanced toward Bao Ling. Although he was already a conferred immortal minister and could revive even if his soul was destroyed, he always felt like this young emperor could annihilate his existence. ¡°The Black Tortoise is coming at us. Do you want to fight him or me?¡± Bao Ling didn¡¯t look at Minister Everpast. ¡°Not interested.¡± Seeing Bao Ling fly away, Minister Everpast shook his head. The heavy feeling in his heart vanished, and he rushed up to meet the Black Tortoise. Although he was an immortal sovereign, his power had declined since his peak. This was the price he had to pay for eternity. The Black Tortoise was an immense beast over a million kilometers in size. His sheer size eclipsed many fiendgods. Once size reached a certain point, it became pure power. Although there was no direct correlation, a gigantic size generally meant a powerful soul. Otherwise, the soul would be annihilated by the powerful flesh. So, even soul attacks were only marginally more effective than physical attacks. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Minister Everpast blinked, and the world changed in his eyes. Everything became black and white except for the myriad of strings. The strings were wrapped around tiny spheres that represented the soul of all beings in his sight. The strings ranged from a passionate red, ethereal silver, noble gold, sullen blood, and many more. None were immune, except Tianyi and Bao Ling. Forget strings. He couldn¡¯t even see the sphere that represented Tianyi¡¯s soul. As for Bao Ling, Minister Everpast could see his soul, but all the strings were arranged around it in an orderly manner. He couldn¡¯t see who the string connected to. There was definitely a great secret behind Bao Ling. The immortal minister focused his sight on the Black Tortoise again. He could see a soul sphere about a tenth of his entire mass, which was quite large. Normally, a human¡¯s soul would only be a tenth of their body, but the size difference would increase with the body¡¯s size. A giant one hundred meters tall might only have a soul sphere a twentieth of their size. For the Black Tortoise to have such a large soul signified how powerful it was. He estimated it was because of the many reincarnations and original identity as a divinity. The number of strings attached to the Black Tortoise¡¯s soul exceeded any single being on this battlefield. Many of the strings connected to other demons on the battlefield. Two strings noticeably thicker than the rest linked to Demon Emperor Redraco and Demon Empress Bluefeather. It wasn¡¯t strange, because they were members of the Four Divine Beast. However, the thickest string was actually connected to a human hiding in the True Dragon Realm. Minister Everpast knew him. The sole survivor of the Leakless Sect and contractor of the Black Tortoise. The humans attacked the Void Continent in order to kill him, but they failed and allowed the realm beast to awaken. Many more strings, long or short, were connected to nothing. It meant that the being that once had a connection with the Black Tortoise no longer existed. Minister Everpast reached out and grabbed the empty strings with his hand and clenched his fist. Those strings were no longer empty, but connected to him instead. The Black Tortoise felt his head hum. When he looked at Minister Everpast again, images of the immortal minister flashed in his mind. Sometimes, he was just an acquaintance, or maybe a life-and-death friend who unfortunately perished, or someone who had sacrificed himself for him. Without him realizing it, Minister Everpast had become part of his past. ¡°Law of Time? No, this is the Law of Causality!¡± the Black Tortoise said. Although his mind was clear, his body and emotions were unwilling to hurt Minister Everpast. He squashed all those emotions with his willpower. Minister Everpast sighed. He had already expected to fail. Since that was the case, he clenched the causality strings in his hands even harder. From within his grasp, they started disintegrating. With his actions done, the immortal minister retreated. ¡°Everpast!¡± the Black Tortoise roared. Although he no longer felt unwilling, he could feel his memories of certain people become faint. They might not completely disappear, but they would turn dim, literally lost in his memories. It wasn¡¯t just erasing his memories, but a type of soul attack that injured the foundation of the soul. The tree on the Black Tortoise¡¯s back rustled. It had grown immense, just like his body. Each leaf was a continent and housed many nascent lives, but the battle had eliminated ninety-nine percent of them. Dew drops appeared on each leaf, and with a flick, they all shot toward the immortal minister. Minister Everpast dodged all of them. Although the drops seemed tiny in comparison to the tree on the Black Tortoise¡¯s back, they were still ginormous compared to the human body. If that wasn¡¯t enough, the dew drops deployed a life-draining field, sucking away the immortal minister¡¯s vitality. Of course, he wasn¡¯t helpless. He was an immortal sovereign, after all. Strictly speaking, the Black Tortoise was a former divinity, and his realm reached the Demon Emperor Realm. He should have an advantage, but because of his rushed breakthrough, his cultivation base wasn¡¯t as solid or as stable as it should be. An ethereal silver light covered Minister Everpast¡¯s body. The vitality that flowed out of him returned, as if someone had pressed the rewind button. As an immortal sovereign, he had merged three worldly laws into his main Law of Causality. One of them was the Law of Time, and he used it to revert the changes. However, to revert changes, he would continuously need to use his essence qi. If he ran out, he would have to flee back to the mobile fortress Shangri-La to restore his essence qi before returning to the battlefield. And the Black Tortoise had a hundred times more energy than him. The amount of energy an individual had was related to their size. Quality was important, but size was more important. Aside from Tianyi, no one had more qi than the Black Tortoise. Minister Everpast reached out again and grabbed several strands from the Black Tortoise and pulled. It was not a contest of laws, but a duel of willpower. In the end, the immortal minister only grabbed fifteen percent of the strings. Those strings bound together to form an invisible javelin, which Minister Everpast threw at the Black Tortoise. The spear struck true, but it hardly caused a dent in the Black Tortoise¡¯s body or soul. Still, Minister Everpast never thought of killing the Black Tortoise alone. As his name suggested, the Black Tortoise had the highest defense. Rather, the immortal minister wanted to occupy the Black Tortoise¡¯s attention and allow his comrades to kill more demons.
Minister Brightwing, leader of the Ministry of Rites, formed the White Crane Emperor War Formation with ten monarchs and a hundred true immortals. As the name suggested, the war formation resembled a white crane, and it was especially suited, since Minister Brightwing possessed a pair of crane wings. The White Crane Emperor Formation raised its wings and flapped them. Thousands of feathers formed from the combined qi of a thousand immortals and imbued with the Law of Light shot forward like bullets. The demons wanted to dodge, but the feathers were nearly light speed in velocity. Most of them missed, but the demon lords that were hit suffered grievous injuries. The demon kings were better, but they still found the feathers annoying. Several demon kings rushed toward the White Crane Emperor Formation, but it simply dodged them and continued to unleash the wide-scaled bombardment. Minister Brightwing¡¯s goal was harassment and killing the weaker demon lords. Still, he couldn¡¯t compare to that one. Minister Brightwing glanced toward the center of the battle where it was most chaotic. He could see novas constantly exploding and injuring demon lords and demon kings. It was hard to believe that the mortal from thousands of years ago reached such heights so quickly. Chapter 538: Two Element Annihilation As soon as he sensed the Demon Clan¡¯s action, Tianyi, along with the other immortal emperors and sovereign, counterattacked. Tianyi unleashed the attack he had long been preparing. As soon as Ba Shifang took to the field, he had already prepared a Constellation Cessation inside the Nine Heavens Universe. Although Ba Shifang was no longer his clone, it didn¡¯t mean Tianyi was willing to give up on him. A hole appeared in Tianyi¡¯s palm, and a miniature sun orbited by eight equally small planets shot out. They slammed straight into Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s blood breath. Although the blood breath did not have any extra power, it was still a dragon king¡¯s breath, so its power should not be underestimated, but the Constellation Cessation remained unperturbed and blasted through it. If it was a normal Constellation Cessation, Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s dragon breath would have long caused Tianyi¡¯s attack to explode ahead of time, but Tianyi had much more time to prepare this particular Constellation Cessation, resulting in its stability and power being greater. Demon Emperor Redraco did not force it upon seeing his breath make little impact. He retreated and ordered the other demons to evade as far as possible. Luckily, only demon emperors like himself were at the forefront. They had enough power, vision and speed to dodge, while the rest of the demons were farther away in the back, just in case this exact scenario occurred. Tianyi¡¯s reinforced Constellation Cessation exploded and expanded to over a hundred kilometers. Its range could have reached over ten times bigger, but that would implicate the humans, so Tianyi reigned in its power. That only made the power more dangerous, instantly killing the demon lords and demon kings caught within. Those at the edge made it out alive, but their injuries effectively made them noncombatants. The Scarletblood Dragon had already rushed forward toward Tianyi, ignoring the Constellation Cessation. Tianyi posed too great of a threat to be left alone. Not only was he capable of spamming devastating moves without end, he had an abnormal defense that their combined innate ability could not crush. With Demon Emperor Blacktiger¡¯s death, their trump card was no longer meaningful. Still, that did not mean Demon Emperor Redraco feared Tianyi. As long as he played his cards right, Tianyi could not kill him. Doubly so, since Demon Empress Bluefeather also charged at Tianyi. The two were tasked with holding him back and preventing him from bombarding the true demons. That¡¯s right, hold him back. If the Demon Clan concentrated their forces, Demon Emperor Redraco had the confidence to kill Tianyi, but how was that possible in an all-out war? Tianyi wasn¡¯t alone and his allies weren¡¯t there just for show either. Demon Emperor Redraco rushed forward. With his Realm Dragon Scales, he did not fear Tianyi¡¯s Stellar Silence, and he would not give the latter time to unleash a Constellation Cessation. Demon Empress Bluefeather did not engage in close combat. Instead, she brought out her Sacred Fire Grotto. A domain expanded from the Sacred Fire Grotto, reflecting the realm within. The realm projection temporarily changed the void outside and granted Demon Empress Bluefeather partial control over it. With it, she suppressed Tianyi. Any qi that flowed outside his body would be disrupted. Meaning that he could only use his art skills to combat a dragon. At least, that was the plan. Tianyi ignored the void that turned fiery red. His skin turned dark, like a hole in reality. The darkness did not last long, as tiny motes of lights glittered across his skin. The most eye-catching lights were the two eyes that resembled stars. Accompanying the change was his increasing size. Soon, he reached the same height as Demon Emperor Redraco. Countless stars glittered in his body, forming galaxies and constellations. This wasn¡¯t the first time Tianyi used this form. Normally, he preferred to keep his size the same and don his cosmos robe, but facing demons forced him to change his plan. After seeing Ba Shifang¡¯s Five Element Planetary Titan, Tianyi also upgraded his gigantization technique. It hadn¡¯t reached the same efficiency because he only had a short time to improve it, but in terms of pure power, it exceeded Ba Shifang¡¯s Five Element Planetary Titan. Tianyi called it the Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan. The Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan didn¡¯t immediately attack. Its back rippled, and a ring appeared behind it. Various weapons appeared, ranging from a sword, saber, staff, chakram, spindle, wheel, hammer, and a multitude of other arms. The titan reached back and pulled out a sword and slashed down. Although he had the Realm Dragon Scale, it didn¡¯t mean Demon Emperor Redraco would face everything head-on. As shown during their last confrontation, the realm artifact wasn¡¯t absolute. His blood-red body twisted out of the way and arrived near the cosmic titan. Blood-red energy coated his claws, and he clashed. The Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan did not defend itself, allowing the claws to hit its body. To the demon emperor¡¯s surprise, his claws only caused ripples on the cosmic titan and could not slash through it. It would have been a perfect time to counterattack, but the cosmic titan raised its palm toward Demon Empress Bluefeather. An image of a solar system with one sun with eight planets orbiting it appeared in the Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan¡¯s palm. Soon, that picture appeared out of the palm and shot toward the demon empress. The Demon Empress naturally saw the attack and dodged away. She also used her Sacred Fire Grotto and tried to eliminate it. But the sheer amount of energy and difficulty exceeded her expectations. She could only detonate but not eliminate it. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. From that point on, the Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan would fire Constellation Cessations occasionally, forcing Demon Empress Bluefeather to focus all her attention on it. Lest, she let it slip past her and caused a large amount of casualties among the Demon Clan¡¯s rank. Even a demon emperor would become seriously injured, much less demon kings. After a few clashes, Demon Emperor Redraco roared. His roar rippled in the void. Those that heard it would have their blood flow and qi disrupted and cause chaos, but the Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan remained unaffected. The demon emperor expected this. The roar was only an advent of what was to come. A blood red aura appeared and covered the Scarletblood Dragon¡¯s body. Simultaneously, the Realm Dragon Scale also appeared. The azure scales of the realm artifact and the blood red aura mixed, turning Demon Emperor Redraco violet. It wasn¡¯t just appearance either. Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s size also increased by around ten to fifteen percent. His momentum also doubled. Once again, Demon Emperor Redraco slashed the Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan. Unlike the previous time, his claws broke the galaxy sword and penetrated the cosmic boundary of the cosmic titan. Black qi filled with countless motes of light spurted out of the wounds. However, the wounds swiftly healed not long after and it didn¡¯t affect the cosmic titan¡¯s perpetual attack on Demon Empress Bluefeather. Demon Emperor Redraco frowned. Judging from how unabashedly Tianyi used Stellar Silences in the past, increasing the consumption for the cosmic titan would not force him to end his technique. Not only that, but his expenditure was probably lower than their previous confrontation because the cosmic titan was only fighting two demon emperors and not suppressing an entire army. His eyes became determined. Instead of relenting, he increased the frequency of his attacks. Techniques that created a giant shell like the Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan all had two major flaws. One, it caused a huge amount of consumption, but that weakness obviously doesn¡¯t apply to Tianyi. Two, the user of the spell would always be inside. As long as you can discover their location, you can still attack them. Generally, most immortals placed their body in the core or dantian of the giant. So, Demon Emperor Redraco targeted those locations first. When that didn¡¯t work, he attacked the head. However, that, too, failed. ¡®What¡¯s wrong?¡¯ Demon Emperor Redraco thought. It was as if Tianyi wasn¡¯t anywhere in the Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan. ¡®There¡¯s no way that he would put his body in the fists or feet, right?¡¯ After attacking those locations with no results, the demon emperor became even more confused. A few clashes later, he noticed something off. Demon Emperor Redraco used his tail and pierced the Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan. Despite piercing the arm and his tail being far longer than said arm, it did not come out of the other side. The demon emperor realized that the cosmic titan¡¯s interior was far larger than first thought. ¡®It shouldn¡¯t be a surprise. The Nine Heavens Emperor used the Law of Spacetime, so it¡¯s not strange for his giant technique to have some peculiarities. If it were other humans, the consumption would be too much. But for him? It¡¯s nothing. How damnable.¡¯ Since he couldn¡¯t injure Tianyi even with Demon Empress Bluefeather¡¯s aid, Demon Emperor Redraco switched from offense to defense. The Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan would still fire Constellation Cessation at the contemporary Vermillion Bird. The pressure, which should have been focused on Demon Emperor Redraco, was placed on the demon empress. But that was the case even before the demon emperor¡¯s assault weakened. Tianyi naturally saw Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s change of strategy. He could continue to play with the two of them, but that would reduce his usage in the war. If his attacks could escape the range of the Sacred Fire Grotto, that would have been fine, but they can¡¯t. He didn¡¯t want to use the trump card he prepared for the realm beast, either. In that case¡­ Tianyi narrowed his eyes. The Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan stopped attacking Demon Empress Bluefeather. It didn¡¯t reach behind to grab a weapon. Instead, silver talons appeared on its hand. They were the Metal Source Talons once owned by the deceased Demon Emperor Blacktiger. Upon seeing them, fury rose in Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s eyes, but he didn¡¯t allow it to cloud his judgement. Although they retrieved the White Tiger¡¯s blood essence, they failed to get the Metal Source Talon. The new White Tiger was still too weak, and he couldn¡¯t join the battle. And the Demon Clan already expected Tianyi or the other humans to use it. The Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan¡¯s hand formed a claw and struck forward. White light coated each finger, making it seem like a sword. The Scarletblood Dragon twisted its body to dodge, but the cosmic titan moved at an unexpected angle. Coupled with its ethereal movements, they struck true. Sparks flew as the Metal Source Talons slid across the Realm Dragon Scale. Demon Emperor Redraco felt a force penetrating through his realm artifact and into his body. He gritted his teeth and endured it. Although both of them were realm artifacts and his Realm Dragon Scales were a higher quality than the Metal Source Talons, the defensive artifacts had to spread its power over a larger area. In contrast to the offensive artifact, which concentrated its power at a single point. Demon Emperor Redraco instantly fell to a disadvantage. He could feel the Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan growing more accustomed to using the Metal Source Talons with each move. With each passing second, Tianyi¡¯s proficiency grew. Even Demon Empress Bluefeather¡¯s efforts amounted to little. The demon empress wanted to harm Tianyi while he wasn¡¯t paying attention. After all, the qingluan Daoyi killed was her descendant. Her wrath was not weaker than the Phoenix Patriarch. Helplessly, she could only bombard from afar, to little effect. The one time she neared, the Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan abandoned Demon Emperor Redraco and attacked her with full force. Without the Realm Dragon Scales, she was much more susceptible to Tianyi¡¯s onslaught. Left with no choice, Demon Emperor Redraco activated the Realm Dragon Scales to their maximum potential again. Yet, it changed little. Sure, the attacks did not deal damage to him, but his qi consumption increased. At this rate, he would run out of qi, forcing him to flee before then or become a sitting duck to the Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan¡¯s claws. Demon Emperor Redraco and Demon Empress Bluefeather discussed many strategies and settled on the one with the biggest possibility of gaining victory, or injuring Tianyi and forcing him from the battlefield like all those years ago. The Scarletblood Dragon, which was attacking the cosmic titan, retreated without warning. The sudden change made Tianyi pause for a moment. It was at this moment that contemporary Azure Dragon and Vermillion Bird activated their innate abilities. The manifestation of the Azure Dragon and Vermillion Bird phantoms announced the appearance of the Two Element Annihilation. The Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan attempted to dodge, but was nailed in place by the two demon emperor¡¯s offensive. Chapter 539: Another One Felled Upon closer inspection, the Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan could move. Only, it was very slowly, akin to moving through molasses. Countless green and red sparks appeared around the Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan. Those sparks shot toward the cosmic titan and pierced its skin like needles. Each needle caused ripples to spread across the cosmic titan¡¯s skin. With thousands of ripples spreading across, it severely distorted the Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan form. Although still humanoid, it was unsightly. One arm was longer than the other, the fingers had no symmetry, the front of a foot was twice as large as the heel, and the head became gourd-like. The deformities didn¡¯t remain static either, as the cosmic titan¡¯s form constantly shifted. Demon Emperor Redraco and Demon Empress Bluefeather watched intently to capture Tianyi¡¯s true body and strike. The last time Tianyi was injured was because of a combination of the Five Element Annihilation and him detonating the Constellation Cessation at close range. With only Two Element Annihilation, the two demon emperors needed to seize their chance in order to injure Tianyi to the point of forcing his retreat. Finally, the Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan could no longer maintain its boundaries, and the immortal qi of primordial chaos continually leaked from the openings. The needles of green and red that passed through the mist-like qi lost some of the stability and penetrative power, but it was not enough to halt their assault. Slowly, the limbs of the cosmic giant disappeared into mist, leaving only the head and torso. Both demon emperors focused on the head. If Tianyi wasn¡¯t in the head, how could it remain while the limbs disappeared? Eventually, the torso also dispersed into mist, leaving only the head. The two demon emperors zeroed in on the head, not willing to miss a millisecond. Once they caught sight of Tianyi, they would explode with all their might. Just as one of the star-like eyes became extinguished, the two demon emperors saw purple robes. They attacked. Their active participation caused the area of effect of the Two Element Annihilation to condense into a smaller region, dramatically increasing its lethality. Under their gaze, the purple-robed figure was crushed into a ball and disintegrated by countless needs of wood and flame. ¡®Was it really so easy?¡¯ Demon Emperor Redraco thought with much confusion. Did they really fail last time because they underestimated him? Although Tianyi seemingly perished, the two did not lift their Two Element Annihilation. They could still remember how they failed last time. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Demon Empress Bluefeather saw spacetime collapse and a violet-robed corpse floating out. It was beyond disfigured, making it unrecognizable. However, she could recognize the ten claws floating near it, the Metal Source Talons. The contemporary Vermillion Bird relaxed. In her opinion, even if Tianyi wasn¡¯t dead, his situation wasn¡¯t that much better. Why else would he abandon a realm artifact? So, although she didn¡¯t halt her innate ability, she flew toward the corpse. Demon Empress Bluefeather spewed a breath of flames that engulfed the corpse. Although it didn¡¯t incinerate the corpse to cinders, it slowly heated up as the robes vanished and skin darkened. After seeing this, she picked up the Metal Source Talons and wore it on her feet. Realm artifacts were unique in that they couldn¡¯t be stored in ordinary spatial rings. Not to mention that it was in the middle of a war. Although she had not mastered the Law of Metal, refining the realm artifact would still increase her combat potential. ¡®Eh, there¡¯s resistance?¡¯ Demon Empress Bluefeather thought as she imbued her demon sense into the Metal Source Talons. At this time, the premonition of death overcame Demon Empress Bluefeather. The chill caused her mind to slow. No, it was not because of the danger that her thoughts slowed, but the spacetime around her slowed to a crawl! Her mind was slow, and her body was even slower! Demon Empress Bluefeather spread her demon senses, but it was as slow as molasses. Still, she could see Demon Emperor Redraco rushing toward her in panic. Upon seeing the panic in his eyes, it reflected in her own eyes as she became intuitively aware of the precarious situation she had fallen into. No pain came, but Demon Empress Bluefeather became innately aware of the loss of her lower limbs and half her right wing. Demon Emperor Redraco had tried to shield her with his body, but it was not enough. The force sent the Scarletblood Dragon crashing into the Qingluan, but the spatial-temporal freezing ultimately prevented them from soaring away into safety. Her demon senses finally allowed her to see what had happened. Xi Tianyi had appeared above them cloaked in Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan and holding a plain sword above his head. When her demon senses touched the blade, a sharp pain erupted in her head, one that cut through her thoughts. Acting only on the instinct to preserve her life, Demon Empress detonated the area of the realm projection above her. An explosion engulfed her and Demon Emperor Redraco, but it also broke the frozen spacetime, sending them careening into the distance. ¡°Are you alright?¡± Demon Emperor Redraco asked. Demon Empress Bluefeather looked at him. Despite wearing the Realm Dragon Scales, he had a large wound running down his body. Blood continuously leaked from the wound, with no signs of healing. It was much the same for her. Although her regenerative abilities could not compare to pure phoenixes, she still had some of their blood flowing through her veins, but her wound also showed no signs of healing. An external force was interfering with it. Worse, it prevented her and her fellow divine beast from sealing the wound. ¡°Not good,¡± she said. Not only was nearly half her body separated from her, but she had destroyed part of the Sacred Fire Grotto¡¯s foundation in order to flee. Unless she had realm essence at hand, it would take a long time to restore the artifact to its previous peak. This was the second time the Sacred Fire Grotto had been damaged, causing its capability to drop to nearly fifty percent. ¡°I still have most of my abilities intact, but I¡¯m no longer his opponent. We would need Senior Xuanwu to join us to suppress him, and that¡¯s if we were in our peak condition,¡± Demon Emperor Redraco said. ¡°That sword is a divine artifact, and he can display at least ten percent of its power.¡± ¡°Impossible,¡± Demon Empress Bluefeather said. Although non-divinities can become a divine artifact¡¯s master, it was another story to activate them to their full ability. The minimum requirement was to possess essence qi. Because of this, most of the so-called masters could only display a divine artifact¡¯s inherent abilities and not their true abilities. ¡°Has he become a sovereign?¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Demon Emperor Redraco didn¡¯t immediately answer. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I can¡¯t sense any aura from him.¡± Not just the two demon emperors, but as soon as Tianyi revealed the Immortal Confining Sword, he drew the attention of all the powerful figures on the battlefield. Especially the Numinous Sword Sect. The Immortal Confining Sword once belonged to them after all. Emperor Southsword openly glared. The Immortal Confining Sword once belonged to the Numinous Sword Sect, but Xi Mengfei, Tianyi¡¯s mother, grabbed it from the then-Emperor Yanxu. Of course, she also left the Immortal Slaughtering Sword she obtained from the Broken Primordial World in exchange. In essence, the Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect simply exchanged divine swords. But for the Numinous Sword Sect, which claimed its lineage from the Supreme Purity Lineage, all the four Immortal Exterminating Swords belonged to them, even if other people found it. It was their right and inheritance. Emperor Southsword quickly contacted Bao Ling, the holder of the Immortal Slaying Sword, planning on retaking the Immortal Confining Sword if the opportunity arose. However, Bao Ling ignored him and continued to fight the Qilin Patriarch. The field commander wanted to rebuke Bao Ling for being disloyal, but he knew it was not the time. They could not show any disunity during the final battle. In addition, Bao Ling was far superior to him, and Emperor Southsword had no power over him. So, he could only file a complaint to Sovereign Yanxu at the first chance. Tianyi, who was at the center of the detonation, appeared without an ounce of injury on his body. There were no holes in his robe or a single singed tip at the end of his black locks. It was as if he hadn¡¯t faced the full brunt of an explosion. ¡°Impossible,¡± Demon Empress Bluefeather said. Even if her detonation was more aimed at escaping and not injuring him, her foe should not appear so pristine. ¡°He must be pretending to be uninjured.¡± Demon Emperor Redraco didn¡¯t comment. His intuition told him that Tianyi really was uninjured. Or, if he was injured, he immediately healed. The situation was truly dire for them. Tianyi stared down at them from above, figuratively of course. The void had no up or down, after all. He wouldn¡¯t allow them to think up a tactic to deal with him, much less regain their breath. So, he held the Immortal Confining Sword and disappeared. Demon Emperor Redraco and Demon Empress Bluefeather immediately became alert. The two demon emperors failed to notice him when he first appeared. His original height didn¡¯t exceed two meters, far from comparable to the Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan he used. Because of his small stature, he was able to appear between them without attracting much attention until he acted. Like before, spacetime around them froze, turning into a prison. With his enemies akin to insects trapped in sap, Tianyi swung the Immortal Confining Sword toward the Qingluan. Although it only grazed the tip of her feathers, a large wound appeared on her body. She couldn¡¯t even cry out in pain or resistance, such was the strength of the spacetime prison. Finally, she detonated another area of the Sacred Fire Grotto, breaking away from the spacetime prison with Demon Emperor Redraco. Demon Empress Bluefeather was sure that Tianyi¡¯s target was her. He didn¡¯t hide it with his gaze, and she understood. Compared to Demon Emperor Redraco protected by his Realm Dragon Scales, she was a much easier target. ¡°Redraco, stay away from me,¡± Demon Empress Bluefeather said. She had already resolved herself to death. ¡°I¡¯m not sure I can kill him, but you must use the chance I opened for you.¡± Demon Emperor Redraco wanted to stop her, but Tianyi had already teleported behind her, sword raised. Because he was still a distance away from her, the spacetime prison was not as strong, allowing him more freedom than his compatriot trapped in the epicenter. Despite her words and resolve, he still soared toward her, intent on saving her. The demon empress only saw a blur because of her slowed time. The Sacred Fire Grotto realm projection receded. It didn¡¯t disappear, but coated her body. Then, flames spurted out from between her feathers, turning her to a burning phoenix of blue. The burning phoenix of blue regenerated the missing part of her wing and lower torso, including the legs. Breaking free of the spacetime prison, she flapped her wings and engulfed Tianyi. A flash later, she flew into the distance and u-turned back at Tianyi. Tianyi, who had remained in place, turned around to meet her. He didn¡¯t have a burnt piece of skin on him, not even a singed hair, but blue embers constantly burned at his body. He ignored them and slashed the void, writing two words. Nine Strokes Sword Art - Phoenix Extermination It was the Nine Strokes Sword Art he created during his days as a core formation master. As he grew stronger, he gradually outpaced his self-created sword art. The effort he would need to put in and the complexities it required made it a long-term project. However, recently, Tianyi saw a correlation between it and his Nebulous Negation. By working on the Nine Strokes Sword Art, he could improve his Nebulous Negation. Inversely, he could improve the Nine Strokes Sword Art by improving the Nebulous Negation, forming a positive loop. In essence, the Nine Strokes Sword Art was a limited form of Nebulous Negation. After he finished writing those two words, Tianyi slashed again. Just in time to meet the incoming burning phoenix Demon Empress Bluefeather had turned herself into. The Immortal Confining Sword sheared through the burning phoenix to reveal nothing but flames. Tianyi frowned, and the two clashed again. With each clash, the amount of blue flame entangling Tianyi increased. However, this allowed him to realize what the demon empress had done. Demon Empress Bluefeather had merged with the Sacred Fire Grotto, using it as fuel to dramatically increase her power. As a price, she would perish, even if Tianyi died before she ran out of fuel. It was an irreversible change. At least, to his eyes. Who knows, maybe the Phoenix Clan had a revival method. Until the Sacred Fire Grotto was destroyed, she would become a conceptual being of fire rather than a Qingluan or another lifeform. Tianyi raised his sword again. Since he figured out the method, he could deal with it. It was actually easier for him to deal with fire than a Qingluan or phoenix with his Nine Strokes Sword Art. His mastery of the Law of Fire and the Law of Five Phases granted keen insight into the nature of fire. Nine Strokes Sword Art - Flame Nullification Although the blue flame that formed the current Demon Empress Bluefeather¡¯s body was split apart by his slash, it quickly reformed into one whole. It appeared Tianyi was attempting to do the impossible, like a mortal attempting to cut water. However, the demon empress keenly senses her body decreasing in size by about one to two percent. It might not sound like a lot, but she felt like Tianyi was capable of extinguishing her before she could kill him. Demon Empress Bluefeather narrowed her eyes. Originally, she harbored the hope of dealing with Tianyi and then killing as many humans as possible with her remaining life. Now, it seemed that she had to bet everything just to kill Tianyi. She charged toward Tianyi, her flames magnified, but her body remained the same. The power accumulating within her was just for a single brilliant moment. Tianyi, an expert at explosions, sensed this. When the burning phoenix of blue reached half a kilometer near him, he changed. His hand no longer held the Immortal Confining Sword and the blue flames no longer burned his body. He formed two Constellation Cessations, one in each hand, and charged toward Demon Empress Bluefeather. The moment the two clashed, a brilliant blue nova filled the battlefield. So great was its power that it caused the battle to fall to a momentary silence. The nova didn¡¯t last long, only a few minutes. When it died down, nothing was left. Pure emptiness. Then, the space rippled, and a charred humanoid walked out. Blue flames burned at his robes and skin. His entire face was charred to crisp, and he coughed out flames. The cough caused cracks to appear on his face. When fragments of his skin fell off, it revealed endless darkness with countless motes of light floating within. ¡°Nine Heavens Emperor!¡± Demon Emperor Redraco roared in anger. He appeared right in front of Tianyi, claws ready to end the latter¡¯s life. Chapter 540: Five Element Luminaries ¡°Nine Heavens Emperor!¡± Demon Emperor Redraco roared as he slashed down at Tianyi. Even though Demon Empress Bluefeather had sacrificed herself, the injuries on the Nine Heavens Emperor¡¯s body were not as severe as the ones he suffered when he received the Five Element Annihilation. Demon Emperor Redraco knew he couldn¡¯t give his foe a chance to breathe. Otherwise, he would escape and her sacrifice would be for naught. His claws slashed the immortal emperor¡¯s form. However, they only widened the opened wounds slightly. Simultaneously, black mist-like qi flew out and stuck onto his claws. With his Realm Dragon Scales, the corrosive qi could do nothing but adhere to his claws, but it slightly increased the consumption of his qi. If only he had been the one to scope out the situation instead of Demon Empress Bluefeather. Even if he had fallen into a trap, his realm artifact would have protected him. Even if the Nine Heavens Emperor ignored him and went after the demon empress in the distance, it would allow him to keep the Metal Source Talons instead of losing it again. However, there were no what-ifs. What¡¯s done was done. He grabbed the Nine Heavens Emperor in his grasp just as the latter was slowly merging with the void. Energy radiated from his Realm Dragon Scales, interfering with the immortal emperor¡¯s manipulation of spacetime. Then, he opened his jaws and released his dragon breath, engulfing his hands along with his enemy. The Scarletblood Dragon¡¯s blood breath blew away most of the immortal qi of primordial chaos lingering on his claws, but a tiny amount remained entrenched, like maggots gnawing on bone. Still, the demon emperor didn¡¯t care and focused on his hated foe. The Nine Heavens Emperor was still in his clutches, injured, but still struggling. Although he tried to escape, Demon Emperor Redraco kept his grip. How could a human¡¯s pure power exceed a demon¡¯s, especially a true dragon? Although Demon Emperor Redraco couldn¡¯t crush the Nine Heavens Emperor to death with his hand alone, it was enough to keep him trapped. With his free hand, the demon emperor clashed and attacked the immortal emperor, whittling away at his body. Throughout all this, Demon Emperor Redraco held the upper hand, but the more smoothly the battle went, the more cautious he became. He had not forgotten how this human made them lower their guard and killed Demon Emperor Blacktiger. No way an immortal that felled two of the Four Divine Beasts would go down so easily. He continued to attack. Like a crazed beast, Demon Emperor Redraco increased his consumption instead of decreasing it, hiding his doubts from the outside world. Finally, the immortal emperor in his hand showed signs of weakening. More than half his skin had shattered, revealing the inner space. Black mist poured out without reservation, cloaking him and making him appear akin to a humanoid conglomeration of mist rather than a human. Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s hands fully clenched, not because he crushed the Nine Heavens Emperor, but because he felt like he crushed air. The black mist that was the Nine Heavens Emperor floated, as if to escape. But how could he allow it to do as he wished? Once again, the Scarletblood Dragon inhaled deeply. When it exhaled, it released a dragon breath that engulfed the black mist. When the breath ended, only a clump of mist remained. It had been reduced to thirty percent of its former size. Not to mention that it couldn¡¯t even keep its humanoid shape. ¡°Begone!¡± Demon Emperor Redraco raised his claws. The sheer amount of power poured into it dyed the black claw crimson, and he brought it down onto the black ball of mist. The crimson claws slashed the outer membrane of the ball of mist and sheared through it. Halfway through the ball of mist, Demon Emperor Redraco showed the joy of victory. It was at that time a change occurred. The void above the Scarletblood Dragon rippled and out stepped a figure cloaked in purple. He had cracks on his skin, but it only covered ten percent of his skin, far from the disastrous state of the figure Demon Emperor Redraco attacked. He held the Immortal Confining Sword raised above his head, and brought it down upon Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s neck. However, Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s scarlet eyes showed no hint of shock or panic. Or rather, he appeared as if he had already expected it. Before the Immortal Confining Sword could slice through his neck, it separated by itself, and the sword passed harmlessly. Once the danger had passed, the neck reconnected, and Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s claws, which were still in the black ball of mist, made a sharp turn. All of this happened in an instant, and Tianyi couldn¡¯t react as the Scarletblood Dragon¡¯s crimson claws struck him in the chest. A large crack appeared in the middle of his chest, originating from where Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s claws hit him. Tianyi spat out a mouthful of mist, and he swung his sword in retaliation, striking the crimson claw. Once connected, the crimson shade coating the claw shattered, and a large crack appeared on one of the claws. Demon Emperor Redraco wanted to attack again, but Tianyi had already controlled spacetime to distance himself. ¡°Hmpf, you played dead so many times. Do you think we¡¯ll continue being idiots?¡± This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Tianyi said nothing as he clutched the large hole in his chest, which continually leaked black mist. He gripped the Immortal Confining Sword even more tightly.
Donghai Longzi slashed his two foes with both his claws. One of his opponents, a man with a plain face and ordinary aura except for his exceptionally bright eyes that resembled the stars in the night, thrust his sword forward. The sword appeared plain, just like the man, but seven points glowed on it, making it resemble a constellation. Once it shot forward, it resembled a shooting star. The second opponent exuded a terrifying aura. Every movement, each intent, contained his tyrannical will. He raised his sword above his head and slashed down with both hands. It was not beautiful like a shooting star, not elegant like the wind, just pure brute power to destroy all things. The swords of white and black clashed with Donghai Longzi¡¯s right and left claws, respectively. They entered a stalemate for only a moment, but the black dragon¡¯s demonic might prevailed, forcing the two back. Ye Chen retreated a hundred meters, while Meng Tingfeng retreated three hundred meters. ¡°So that¡¯s a demon emperor, nothing special,¡± Ye Chen muttered as he brandished his sword. Meng Tingfeng didn¡¯t say anything and entered a stance. Donghai Longzi narrowed his eyes.¡®Original Body only said to keep Meng Tingfeng alive and enact the plan. He mentioned nothing about Ye Chen. That means I can kill him.¡¯ With his goal made, Donghai Longzi¡¯s aura surged. Although his body size remained the same, more stars reflected off his scales. It made his original body, which appeared to be a desolate star field to resemble a vibrant galaxy. Meng Tingfeng and Ye Chen¡¯s expression turned grave upon sensing Donghai Longzi¡¯s rising aura. Meng Tingfeng couldn¡¯t help but cast a glance at the latter, as if to say, ¡°Congratulations. You successfully ignited their fighting spirit.¡± Ye Chen ignored it, of course. Instead, his aura also surged. His body, which reached two meters in height, increased. It grew and grew until he stood over a hundred meters tall. His skin turned coal black, hair fluttered in the wind like rope, but his eyes were golden with vertical pupils. Like those of a dragon. Two coral-like dragon horns grew out of his forehead, and azure scales covered his entire body. The black sword in his hand also gained an argent tint. Donghai Longzi soared forward. He took a deep breath and exhaled his dragon breath. Contrary to what his appearance suggested, his breath was a white-hot flame. However, the beautifully pure breath was a flame of destruction. All those touched by it would be purified into nothingness. It contained a vast amount of heat, but its underlying principle was destruction. Ye Chen didn¡¯t dare to take the dragon breath head-on and dodged, Meng Tingfeng did the same. Upon seeing this, Donghai Longzi halted his breath for a moment and resumed. He didn¡¯t shoot it out in one stream like before, but in multiple fireballs. Its power and sustainability decreased, but its range expanded. Meng Tingfeng turned into a stream of light and attempted to weave through the group of fireballs. He succeeded because Donghai Longzi¡¯s target wasn¡¯t him. Compared to hitting a regular-sized immortal, the one hundred meters tall immortal was much easier. Ye Chen snorted when he saw Donghai Longzi shoot more fireballs at him. ¡°Damn beast.¡± He did not return to his former size. Strictly speaking, his current height was his true size. Because he primarily focused on the martial path, his body size also increased. Many other martial immortals experienced the same thing, but their increased size was on a much smaller scale. He could increase his size further, but against a powerful opponent, it would only increase his weakness and waste his qi. His hand and sword blurred. They shot out several sword lights that struck the incoming fireballs. The fireballs swallowed the sword lights and, to Donghai Longzi¡¯s surprise, exploded before they reached their target. Donghai Longzi saw Ye Chen repeat the action and figured out what was going on. Ye Chen used the Law of Destruction to form his monarch immortal body, but before that, he had held the Kunlun Mirror and mastered some concepts under the Law of Time. Now, he majored in the Law of Destruction and minored in the Law of Time. Furthermore, he showed signs of fusing the Law of Destruction and the Law of Time. Fusing multiple laws into one was something immortals started on once they reached the Extremity Immortal Realm. Although it was only a trace, it allowed Ye Chen¡¯s power to exceed newly ascended immortal emperors. ¡®But do you think you¡¯re the only one that successfully started on the fusion of laws? I¡¯m a demon emperor. If I can¡¯t show more progress than a mere monarch, I won¡¯t have the face to show myself again!¡¯ Donghai Longzi thought. A black sphere erupted from Donghai Longzi¡¯s body. It was his Destruction Domain. However, there were traces of red, black, yellow, green, and white within. When Ye Chen tried to release his sword light again, they flew slowly, as if dunked in molasses. Even when they hit the fireballs, the fireballs did not explode like Ye Chen thought. Instead, white fireballs continued to shoot toward him. Ye Chen¡¯s body blurred, but before he got far, the fireballs exploded and engulfed him. He escaped out of their range with scorch marks and burns on his scale armor. However, they quickly disappeared as if he had never gotten hit. Meng Tingfeng felt the changes in Donghai Longzi¡¯s domain. He sensed the additional power attached to the power of destruction. It was a power he was familiar with. Because he thought Ba Shifang was his son, he did everything to get close and learned that Ba Shifang used the Law of Five Phases to become a seamless immortal. The Law of Time and the Law of Destruction were innately superior to any one of the five elemental laws. But compared to the Law of Five Phases? They were inferior. Although that was the case, Meng Tingfeng changed his trajectory and charged toward Donghai Longzi. Although the power of worldly laws was one aspect, the user that applied the worldly laws was even more important. Five of the seven stars on his Seven Star Sword lit up. Five differently colored lights burst out and transformed into versions of himself, each donning a different color robe: red, black, yellow, green, and white. Seven Star Sword Art - Luminaries Incarnate The red robe incarnation represented the Mars Star of Fire, the black robe incarnation represented the Mercury Star of Water, the yellow robe incarnation represented the Saturn Star of Earth, the green robe incarnation represented the Jupiter Star of Wood, and the white robe incarnation represented the Venus Star of Metal. Each one emanated the aura of stars and one of the five elements, perfectly merged. Of course, Meng Tingfeng had not embarked on the path of fusion the laws, and he was a step behind Ye Chen and Donghai Longzi. However, he wielded the divine Seven Star Sword, and one of its innate abilities was to form seven incarnations. So far, he could only use five of them. The five incarnations and Meng Tingfeng charged at Donghai Longzi. Chapter 541: Azure Dragon Donghai Longzi noticed Meng Tingfeng¡¯s actions. He shrunk his Destruction Domain so that it only covered himself and Ye Chen. Generally, domain techniques had a goldilocks size. Too large, the power within would become too dispersed. Too small, the domain would leak energy from the edges because the compression exceeded the density. And he condensed the domain far beyond its limit. The excess energy exploded from the Destruction Domain, forming a chaotic and destructive wind that buffeted those outside its immediate range. Meng Tingfeng frowned. Although the destructive wind wasn¡¯t exactly dangerous, venturing against it increased his consumption of his immortal qi of stars. In the void, where he couldn¡¯t restore his qi, that was the most dangerous situation. Even though he possessed the divine artifact Seven Star Sword, he was not exempt from this rule. Although the divine artifact was powerful, he could only activate its weakest abilities. If he could fully activate it, he could use it to restore his qi, but by then, he would not need to use it. Because only divinities could fight in the void without worrying about their energy consumption. Still, that did not mean he was helpless. His red-robed incarnation flew forward and swung his sword. Followed by the black-robe incarnation, yellow-robed incarnation, green-robed incarnation, and finally, the white-robed incarnation. The five slashes merged together to form a five-colored comet. It carried Meng Tingfeng and his five incarnations and pierced through the barrage of destructive winds. Along the way, Meng Tingfeng furrowed his brows. ¡°This¡­is the concept of wind? Did the East Sea Dragon King master the Law of Wind?¡± In fact, Donghai Longzi only mastered a part of the Law of Wind. While developing his Destruction Domain, he delved into the Concept of Erosion under the Law of Water, which was shared by the Law of Wind. It was through this connection that he comprehended part of the Law of Wind. He wasn¡¯t like Tianyi, who could comprehend myriad laws as easily as eating and drinking. Inside the Destruction Domain, Donghai Longzi attacked Ye Chen again. One was a true dragon with a body that eclipsed most dragon kings, while the other was a humanoid dragon. Both of them mastered the Law of Destruction and started fusing it with other laws. It was a crushing battle. Donghia Longzi no longer used his dragon breath and appeared in front of Ye Chen. The sword monarch could do naught but defend against Donghai Longzi¡¯s claws. Each claw shredded the azure scales protecting his body, leaving lacerations all over. ¡®I can¡¯t go on like this. Meng Tingfeng is doing his best, but even both of us are not this damn dragon¡¯s opponent. I might even fall before he can reach me!¡¯ Ye Chen thought. Despite the danger he was in, he was terrifyingly calm. The closer to death, the more calm you must be. Years of experience only reinforced this fact for him. He experienced many ups and downs, including almost losing everything in the expedition to the Broken Primordial World, but he still survived and prospered. This crisis will be no different! But the longer the battle went, the more despair Ye Chen experienced. The East Sea Dragon King was one major realm above him. The worldly law the dragon fused to his Law of Destruction was superior to the Law of Time he used. Ye Chen had a powerful body, not inferior to the top dragon bloodlines. It was thanks to the drop of azure blood that he absorbed. He guessed it must have belonged to the original Azure Dragon. He utilized it to the maximum with the Dragon Emperor Fist. Against ordinary true dragons, he believed he could crush them in bodily strength alone, but the East Sea Dragon King had a body several levels higher than his. Not only that, but his physical size made it difficult to truly leave a fatal injury. He could leave a wound a hundred meters long. For him, a wound that large might split his body in half, vertically, but for the East Sea Dragon King, it was just a slightly larger cut. How despairing was this? Ye Chen felt like even fighting the Demon Emperor Redraco would not be as despairing. ¡®No, I can¡¯t remain like this. The longer this situation lasts, the weaker my position becomes. By the time the chance comes, it¡¯ll be impossible for me to reverse it, or even survive. I¡¯ll have to reveal my secret!¡¯ Ye Chen¡¯s eyes hardened as his eyes flashed with determination. ¡°Hm?¡± Donghai Longzi noticed the air around Ye Chen changing. Although nothing changed about the situation or the latter¡¯s strength, it still raised his vigilance. He attacked even more fiercely, preparing to not give the latter a chance to counterattack and to kill him before Meng Tingfeng arrived. An unwilling expression appeared on Ye Chen¡¯s face under Donghai Longzi¡¯s assault. ¡®Finally unable to stand it?¡¯ Donghai Longzi stilled when a new figure appeared within his Destruction Domain. The figure was not humanoid but serpentine. It had the antlers of a deer, the head of a crocodile, a demon¡¯s eyes, the neck of a snake, a tortoise¡¯s viscera, an eagle¡¯s talons, the palm of a tiger, cow ears, azure carp scales. ¡°Azure Dragon?¡± Donghai Longzi muttered. He could feel a powerful bloodline in the unknown dragon, one that equaled his own. It emanated the aura of a dragon lord, but its vertical pupils were extremely hostile. ¡°You have an Azure Dragon clone?¡± Even someone like Donghai Longzi couldn¡¯t help but be surprised. The Azure Dragon was a divine beast, a lifeform that would automatically reach the Divine Realm at adulthood. How could Ye Chen have a clone of it? As for why he didn¡¯t think it was something else? He knew that it was impossible for other people to teleport in. Even Tianyi would have trouble and if he forced himself to appear, it wouldn¡¯t have been so silent. The Azure Dragon appeared as if it was taken out of a beast tamer¡¯s bag. Not to mention the azure scales on Ye Chen¡¯s body couldn¡¯t help but link them together. Donghai Longzi didn¡¯t think it was Ye Chen¡¯s spiritual beast either. If it was, he wouldn¡¯t have such eyes, not to mention that the possibility of a natural Azure Dragon appearing was infinitely small. If the new Four Divine Beasts could be born, the Demon Clan would have the highest knowledge about it. Speaking of which, Donghai Longzi stared at the Azure Dragon again. Although it emanated a powerful bloodline suppression, it felt weird. Incomplete to be more accurate. Still, Donghai Longzi¡¯s movements only paused for a moment. His claws continued to strike at Ye Chen, while he lash his tail at the Azure Dragon. His tail slammed down, like a saber¡¯s edge descending. The Azure Dragon opened its maw and roared. The moment it roared, the surrounding flow of time slowed. Donghai Longzi felt his thoughts slow down, but it was still faster than his body, forming a dissociation effect. In an ironic twist, he felt what Demon Emperor Redraco felt when fighting his main body. A powerful energy coalesced around the Azure Dragon¡¯s claw. He raised it and slashed at Donghai Longzi whose body was still slowed down by time. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Donghai Longzi only saw a blur as the Azure Dragon approached. Donghai Longzi¡¯s vertical pupils narrowed until it was only a line. For a single moment, the simmering energy in his body boiled, ready to explode at a moment¡¯s notice. Just before erupting, the energy beneath the black dragon¡¯s scales cooled, and the Azure Dragon¡¯s attacks reached him. Scales cracked, and skin split. The Azure Dragon¡¯s claws had pierced him below the neck and slashed down his body, reaching past his legs. Donghai Longzi grunted and endured the pain. He had experienced far worse when he was still human and wandering the Huang Realm. Before the Azure Dragon could reach all the way to his tail, his aura surged, and Donghai Longzi broke out of the time lock and counterattacked. The Azure Dragon used his body to withstand it. Although some scales cracked and blood flowed out, it was ultimately just a flesh wound. ¡°I never expected the Azure Dragon¡¯s innate ability to have a temporal aspect. Emperor Redraco¡¯s Azure Dragon¡¯s Claw showed no signs of it. Was it because he¡¯s not a true Azure Dragon or because he only used his innate ability when unleashing the Four Divine Beast¡¯s combination ability?¡± Donghai Longzi asked. Ye Chen didn¡¯t answer. In truth, he didn¡¯t know either. ¡°You¡¯re late.¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± Meng Tingfeng apologized upon regrouping with Ye Chen. He glanced at the Azure Dragon. ¡°Your spiritual beast?¡± He saw everything that had happened, so he naturally wouldn¡¯t associate the new dragon with the Demon Clan. ¡°My clone.¡± The Azure Dragon snorted. ¡°Don¡¯t keep calling me a clone. My name is Ye Long.¡± ¡®His temper seems worse than Ye Chen¡¯s,¡¯ Meng Tingfeng thought. ¡°Are you done talking? It¡¯s time to accept your death!¡± Donghai Longzi said and charged at the three. ¡°What¡¯s the plan? I can explode with all my might and deal a critical blow, but I¡¯m not sure I can guarantee a hit or injure him to the point of helplessness,¡± Meng Tingfeng said, communicating through his immortal sense. ¡°We only have two chances, and the margin will be slim,¡± Ye Chen replied, dodging an attack. ¡°My clone already used his innate ability once. At most, he can only do it two more times. And because he already experienced the time slowing effects, it will be harder to hit him.¡± ¡°I said my name¡¯s Ye Long, not clone!¡± Ye Chen ignored him. ¡°I also have a trump card. It should be around the same level as the power you can unleash with your Seven Star Sword. Maybe a little weaker.¡± Meng Tingfeng raised an eyebrow. Although the situation was desperate, it was much better than before. And he felt a sense of calmness while his blood raged. He hadn¡¯t experienced such a battle in a long time. A foe he was hopelessly outmatched against alone. ¡°It seems you have a lot of secrets. The more the better in this situation.¡± ¡°Shut up!¡± Ye Chen growled. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to reveal this before I became an emperor, and especially against the Dragon Clan.¡± ¡°Wait for my signal. This beast¡¯s domain can interfere with our immortal senses. To be on the safe side, don¡¯t communicate too much,¡± Ye Chen finished. Meng Tingfeng glanced at Ye Long. He could see how the Demon Clan, the true dragons especially, would react upon learning of his clone. The Four Divine Beasts were the revered guardians of demons. For a human to possess a clone of one of them would be blasphemous, and they would kill him at all costs. The two sides duked it out. Even three against one, the East Sea Dragon King suppressed the three of them firmly. ¡°Now!¡± Ye Chen shouted using his immortal sense. Ye Long activated his innate ability, Azure Dragon¡¯s Claw, once more. As the three of them suspected, the East Sea Dragon King showed much more resistance. Knowing he only had one chance, Meng Tingfeng exploded with all his power. His five Luminary Incarnations reverted to starlight and emanated the aura of the five elements. They converged onto his Seven Star Sword, lighting up five of the seven stars. He raised his sword above his head with both hands, enormous power emanating from the divine artifact. The dragon king didn¡¯t sit and wait for the sword monarch to slash. His claws shot forward, intent on stopping and injuring him, but at the critical moment, Ye Long appeared in front of him and slashed his own claws forward. The two entered a statement, but the dragon king prevailed in the end, blasting the Azure Dragon clone back. However, that brief moment was enough. ¡°Take this!¡± Meng Tingfeng roared as he brought his sword down. At that moment, a black aura surged around the East Sea Dragon King. He hadn¡¯t broken free of the Azure Dragon¡¯s Claw, but his speed dramatically sped up. He shifted, moving out of the way of Meng Tingfeng¡¯s attack. ¡®Oh no,¡¯ Meng Tingfeng thought. ¡°Not on my watch!¡± Ye Chen shouted as he appeared behind the dragon king. His black sword had disappeared, and in its place was a crude saber. The blade resembled some sort of claw fastened onto a handle. It emanated the same aura as the Azure Dragon clone, only far more powerful and with a divine presence. To Ye Chen¡¯s surprise, the East Sea Dragon King didn¡¯t retreat. He continued flying toward him with no intent on blocking or dodging. He planned to exchange injuries. Ye Chen¡¯s eyes glared. The claw saber flashed forward with the might of destruction and time. It sliced into the East Sea Dragon King¡¯s neck, but the latter still showed no signs of changing his mind. The dragon¡¯s claws flashed forward, piercing toward Ye Chen¡¯s torso. Behind him, Meng Tingfeng¡¯s attack landed. Five colors of starlight exploded, exuding an intense heat greater than a nova, one that engulfed the East Sea Dragon King. When the nova died down, the East Sea Dragon King¡¯s strength had plummeted. The claw saber was still embedded in his neck. Blood flowed endlessly like a river from the wound. Ye Chen wasn¡¯t much better. In fact, he was in an even worse state. He had lost his right hand, and his torso had three holes that reached from his chest to his back. Like the dragon king, blood flowed endlessly from his wounds. Meng Tingfeng and Ye Long were the most uninjured, but before they could do anything else, they felt the energy of the Destruction Domain rumble. The Destruction Domain detonated, with all four of them still inside. The surge of power obscured the field. When the dust died down, only the East Sea Dragon King was alive. Ye Chen had died, and his clone had died by extension. Meng Tingfeng had disappeared to who knows where.
Tianyi saw what happened with Donghai Longzi. After checking his inner universe, he gave his clone a thumbs up. ¡°Stop!¡± He ignored the contemporary Azure Dragon and teleported away, he had an authentic corpse of the Azure Dragon to collect. When he reappeared, he had appeared near his clone. With a wave of his hand, he stored the Azure Dragon clone¡¯s corpse and Ye Chen. Next, he attacked Donghai Longzi. It was a show of course, but in those brief blows, Tianyi had dislodged the claw saber and claimed it as well. Furthermore, he increased Donghai Longzi¡¯s injuries. To the onlookers, it looked like he was about to kill the East Sea Dragon King, were it not for the arrival of Demon Emperor Redraco. ¡°Hurry and retreat to Crystal Palace. Use all the treasures and heal yourself as quickly as possible,¡± Demon Emperor Redraco said. Donghai Longzi suggested the two teaming up against Tianyi, but was rejected. Finally, he was persuaded and left, leaving Demon Emperor Redraco alone against Tianyi. ¡°If you had him stay, you could have lived longer,¡± Tianyi said. Demon Emperor Redraco snorted. He didn¡¯t waste anymore words and attacked Tianyi. The two clashed again and again. Hours passed, but while Tianyi only had about five percent more cracks on his body, Demon Emperor Redraco was panting and running low on qi. Even if he could absorb the spiritual qi in the realm artifact, he could not convert the spiritual qi into demon qi fast enough. He planned to retreat, having one of the demon patriarchs hold Tianyi back while he recuperated in a safe place. All he needed was a chance. Suddenly, he saw Tianyi looking into the distance and a smirk appearing on the latter¡¯s face. Not missing this chance, Demon Emperor Redraco attacked and successfully struck his foe. While Tianyi was knocked away, he glanced in the same direction. His eyes widened in disbelief. ¡°Impossible!¡± Chapter 542: The Last One Donghai Longzi flew back toward the True Dragon Realm after pretending to be unwilling to retreat. The humans didn¡¯t know of his status as Tianyi¡¯s clone, so many of them rushed forward to slay him before he could recover. If it was from the Immortal Court, he would hold the power back behind his attack without raising any suspicions. If they were from the Numinous Sword Sect? Well, they could only count their blessings and pray that they got lucky. The closer he came to the True Dragon Realm, the more heavy his heart felt. Along the way, Donghai Longzi¡¯s gaze connected with Honglin¡¯s eyes. Maybe it was a coincidence, or perhaps it was fate. He didn¡¯t know. He couldn¡¯t remember when Honglin stopped being clingy, but it must have been gradual. Although she still pestered him, there was a sense of duty to it. Perhaps war had changed her. If there was one being in the Demon Clan that made him hesitate, it would be Honglin. No, he had not developed romantic feelings toward her but companionship. Donghai Longzi shook his head. It was finally time to play his role as an undercover agent. The Crystal Palace shone brilliantly on the seabed, untouched by the terrible war in the void. A somber air still filled the palace halls. Donghai Longzi was just one of many dragons that had to retreat from the front lines due to sustained injuries. ¡°East Sea Dragon King, how is the situation?¡± one demon king asked. ¡°We are at a disadvantage,¡± Donghai Longzi said. He did not hide it. The demons present did not have such weak hearts that they needed to be fooled. The demon king sighed. ¡°Alas, the humans are too powerful. We missed the best time at the end of the primordial era.¡± After shaking his head, the demon king laid down once more and focused on recuperating. This was only a brief respite. After he healed, he would immediately join the battle again. One of the few advantages the Demon Clan had was their home territory. Because of the short distance, they could deliver supplies and heal their combatants much more easily and faster than their enemies. Donghai Longzi found his spot in the Crystal Palace and started healing. Although his body laid prone, his mind was active. He was communicating with several demon kings and powerful demon lords. It was only less than ten thousand years since the last Divine Beast-Human War instead of the usual one hundred thousand years, so over half of the demons present had experienced war before. Of course, none of them would dare to look down on Donghai Longzi. Although he was their junior and had far less experience, he still reached the Demon Emperor Realm at a fraction of their age. Donghai Longzi wasn¡¯t chatting with them for the sake of passing time, but to ascertain a piece of information. Because of the critical war and the destruction of the Void Continent, San Jiuling, Xuanwu¡¯s contractor, was tightly protected. Rather than protection, it would be more accurate to call it sealed. San Jiuling was like a mosquito sealed in amber. Although he would have no danger to his life, he could never escape. And the day his spiritual contract with Xuanwu ended would be the day of his death. The entire Demon Clan wanted to kill him because of how he forcibly entered a spiritual contract with the Black Tortoise. To them, it was a great humiliation for one of the Four Divine Beast to form a spiritual contract with a human. Just to be safe, few people knew the location of San Jiuling, even Donghai Longzi. Donghai Longzi didn¡¯t have the ability to deduce San Jiuling¡¯s location, but he could gather clues and pass them to Tianyi. Tianyi also didn¡¯t have the ability, but Minister Everpast, who comprehended the Law of Causality, could. Not only that, Minister Everpast was directly fighting Xuanwu and could sense the lines of causality connected to him, so it was much easier. It still took a few days, but he finally deduced San Jiuling¡¯s location and relayed to Tianyi, who told Donghai Longzi. When Donghai Longzi got the information, he couldn¡¯t help but frown. San Jiuling¡¯s location was at the core of the Crystal Palace. Even though he had reached the Demon Emperor Realm, he did not have access to that location. Perhaps if more time passed, he would eventually be able to access it, but unlikely. Only the patriarchs and Four Divine Beast could go. Donghai Longzi closed his eyes. To others, it seemed that he had fallen asleep in order to heal faster. In reality, he had entered the Nine Heavens Universe, and a puppet body took his place. The puppet was made by using parts of his body that he extracted and gave to the Immortal Court to turn into a body double. The puppet only had about ten percent of his strength, and his aura did not match. But because of his injuries, no one would be able to tell as long as it did not take action. A purple-robed man appeared next to the black dragon puppet. Although he appeared in front of everyone, all the resting demons ignored him, a human. That man was Tianyi. His primary conduit was in the void, battling Demon Emperor Redraco, and this was a second level conduit. Despite only possessing the power of a monarch, Tianyi mastered the Law of Spacetime, so none of the demons could detect his presence hidden by layers of spacetime. Tianyi walked away and toward the core of the Crystal Palace. Because of the war, the numbers of guards have dwindled, but that didn¡¯t mean Crystal Palace was unprotected. Countless invisible formations covered the Crystal Palace. Demons were not skilled in alchemy, artificing, and formation, but that was only relative. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. No matter how untalented a demon was in the three subjects, a demon emperor¡¯s mastery of the three would far outpace an ordinary true immortal as long as they took the time to learn. Still, Tianyi was more than prepared. His mother was best at formations, and this skill was passed down to him. With his mastery over spacetime, he easily slipped through most of the protection. The deeper he went, the more complicated the formations became, especially ones that dealt with the Law of Space. However, Tianyi¡¯s mastery over spacetime gave him an edge. It was like a three-dimensional being solving a two-dimensional puzzle. The difference wasn¡¯t that exaggerated, but the principle applied nonetheless. Once he reached the core area, Tianyi¡¯s footsteps halted. He felt a sense of palpitation that he had not felt in a long time. It was akin to a mortal standing in the presence of an immortal. ¡®Is there a divinity here?¡¯ When that thought appeared in his mind, Tianyi couldn¡¯t help but become a hundred times more cautious. He hid himself deeper in the layers of spacetime, hoping that it would shield him from the possible divinity¡¯s senses. Still, he could not abandon his mission, even if there was a divinity. Not to mention that his life would not be in danger even if he failed. Slowly, and far more carefully than before, Tianyi continued on his way toward San Jiuling¡¯s location. It wasn¡¯t that long before he arrived in front of a gate. The gate was crafted out of materials with anti-space measures. Although Tianyi mastered spacetime, it wasn¡¯t to the point that he could ignore the anti-spatial attribute of the gate. Once he tried to pass through, he would be forced to reveal himself. Tianyi tried to slip through the walls, but he discovered the inside was made of the same material, and that they were linked by a formation. So, if he tried to pass through them, it would be akin to passing through the front gates. After several attempts, Tianyi gave up. He couldn¡¯t sneak in. Within the Nine Heavens Universe, a miniature sun, orbited by eight equally miniature planets, formed. Despite their tiny size, they harbored a vast amount of energy. Energy that continued to accumulate to a terrifying degree. He raised his palm and aimed it at the walls. Although the walls had the same anti-spatial features, it did not mean the walls had the same durability as the gates. A hole appeared in Tianyi¡¯s palm, and out shot the Constellation Cessation. It didn¡¯t travel far and struck the wall. What followed was a massive explosion and an extreme increase in heat. The technique bore a hole through the walls, which Tianyi sped into before the Constellation Cessation even ended. Inside, he saw two pillars connecting the ground and ceiling in the center. Chained between the two was San Jiuling. He seemed fine, but his dark expression spoke otherwise. And even though Tianyi used his Constellation Cessation to break into the room, San Jiuling remained unperturbed. It was as if the area around him was located in a different dimension. ¡°Xi Tianyi!¡± San Jiuling roared upon seeing Tianyi. Because he no longer needed to hide himself, Tianyi stopped concealing himself, which allowed San Jiuling to see him. San Jiuling hated the Immortal Court and Xi Mengfei. After being taken into the Divine Beast Pseudo System, he was kept like a captive with no freedom of his own. The demon didn¡¯t allow him to cultivate either, so he was stuck in the Seamless Immortal Realm. More than that, they kept him deprived of spiritual qi, purposefully making him weak. He endured, hoping to become a sovereign, or even a divinity, one day to escape. The humiliation he suffered made him hate anything related to the Immortal Court and Xi Mengfei. As her son, Xi Tianyi got transferred a large amount of hatred from his mother. Even Donghai Longzi, who had saved his life, was hated by him. After all, the life he experienced was worse than death after coming to the Divine Beast Pseudo System. Originally, he had a chance to escape when the alliance of two hegemonic forces attacked the Void Continent, but that was foiled by Minister Vastlight. His injuries forced him to seek aid from the Demon Clan, which allowed them to capture him again. Tianyi didn¡¯t care about San Jiuling¡¯s hatred and shot another Constellation Cessation at him. However, once it neared San Jiuling, an invisible force blocked the attack and absorbed the qi, breaking his technique. Tianyi didn¡¯t give up and constantly shot Constellation Cessation from within his inner universe, while his right hand sent a continuous barrage of Stellar Silences. In less than thirty seconds, cracks appeared on the two pillars. However, Tianyi frowned. He could sense a large amount of demons gathering toward him. After a moment of hesitation, the vast amount of immortal qi of primordial chaos boiled within his body. He was going to self-detonate. He could detonate when the other demons arrived, but that would increase the risk of San Jiuling not perishing. Even if it was only a small chance, Tianyi didn¡¯t want to take the gamble. As a master of explosions and experienced user of self-detonation, it took less than a second for Tianyi to erupt. But just as he was going to detonate, a powerful force descended, freezing him. Not just him, but the entire room. The air, the light, even time and space froze. Tianyi recognized the familiar sensation. ¡®A divinity! The Demon Clan has a divinity!¡¯ Thankfully, the force disappeared as soon as it came. Along with a sentence. ¡°Junior Brother, did we not agree to not interfere in this battle between immortals and demons?¡± Tianyi recognized that voice. It belonged to the Concealed Divinity. Many thoughts ran through Tianyi¡¯s mind, but it didn¡¯t stop him from accomplishing his mission. In fact, he couldn¡¯t stop it even if he wanted to. He had already started the process of self-detonating. The only reason it stalled was because of the divinity of the Demon Clan¡¯s interference. An explosion far more powerful and destructive than a Constellation Cessation engulfed the room. San Jiuling didn¡¯t even have a chance to scream as the chaotic energy crashed into him.
In the void, Tianyi¡¯s eyes twitched as what happened to his conduit registered in his mind. His heart turned solemn. He thought that the Demon Clan was nothing after learning about the Concealed Emperor¡¯s true realm, but it seemed that it would not be so easy after all. Of course, he didn¡¯t let that show. He even slowed his attack on Demon Emperor Redraco and paid attention to Minister Everpast and the Black Tortoise. As he expected, the Black Tortoise¡¯s movement stilled and his vitality swiftly dwindled until only an aura of death emanated from his body. ¡°Impossible!¡± Demon Emperor Redraco shouted. There was a sense of despair tinting his words, but Tianyi didn¡¯t care. ¡°You are the last one,¡± Tianyi said, his voice plain but chilling. ¡°You should join them.¡± And thus, Tianyi renewed his attack with greater intensity. Chapter 543: Shangri-La II Minister Everpast paused for a moment. His foe, the Black Tortoise, had stalled. It was as if his giant body had finally encumbered his soul. Of course, reality was different. The immortal minister¡¯s eyes caught sight of one particular causality string. He recognized that string. For the past few days, he had been studying that one string in an attempt to locate the exact coordinates of the person on the other end. The person on the other end of the causality string disappeared, but the string itself did not disappear or dim. Quite the opposite. The string revealed a dazzling persistence, as if unwilling to fade, but the source of that persistence was the Black Tortoise¡¯s soul. For each second the string remained, the Black Tortoise¡¯s soul would weaken, decomposing into soul essence to fuel the causality string. Because of the specific contract San Jiuling used when the Black Tortoise had first hatched, if he died, so would the Black Tortoise. The Demon Clan was helpless because the contract was deeply entrenched in the Black Tortoise¡¯s soul. None of the demons could remove the contract without killing him. Their greatest hope was for the Black Tortoise to return to his peak and sever the contract himself. Still, even a divinity would have to pay a price for severing a spiritual contract. Thanks to this, San Jiuling became the Black Tortoise¡¯s greatest weakness. Hence the reason why the Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect were so willing to attack the Void Continent, just to eliminate this great threat. They didn¡¯t think this could destroy his soul, though it could in theory. The humans have tried multiple times to destroy the divine beast¡¯s soul, but it would always return eventually. They did not harbor the hope, only seeking to eliminate a portion of the Demon Clan¡¯s high-end combat potential. Perhaps if the Demon Clan had been willing to invest in San Jiuling, allowing him to become an immortal emperor, this would not have happened. But how could the Demon Clan be willing? Once again, Minister Everpast grabbed a handful of causality strings and yanked them. The Black Tortoise released a cry of pain. He was already struggling to slow down the collapse of his soul from San Jiuling¡¯s death, but the immortal sovereign¡¯s attack was like the straw that broke the camel¡¯s back. The Black Tortoise retracted its head and limbs back into its shell, but that did little to stop Minister Everpast¡¯s attack. All signs of vitality disappeared from the turtle. The leaves on the tree growing from its back withered and turned yellow, orange, brown before falling off. The bark and branches shriveled, becoming a skeleton of a tree. Still, the immortal minister did not stop his attack. He could sense that the Black Tortoise¡¯s soul had not been extinguished. Even though his physical body showed all the signs of death, he had not truly perished yet. As long as he reintegrated his soul into his body, he would revive. Although the Black Tortoise was still struggling, that didn¡¯t mean Minster Everpast could not take advantage of the opportunity. He unleashed a powerful spell that exploded upon contact. It only left light marks on the divine beast¡¯s shell, but it was loud and attracted plenty of attention. Once the demons, who had not sensed Black Tortoise losing his vitality, saw this, their morale plummeted. Just as Minister Everpast wanted. Sure, many of them saw red in rage and attacked him, but that was a small trouble at best to affect the entire battlefield. Minister Everpast didn¡¯t counterattack, not because he couldn¡¯t, but because he was focused on eliminating the Black Tortoise¡¯s soul. It was in a strange state similar to hibernation. All the causality strings connected to him turned faint. Even the loss of soul essence from his contracted partner slowed down. He couldn¡¯t survive a century or even a decade in that state, but it should be enough to persist for a few years. Although the Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect had penetrated the core area of the Divine Beast Pseudo System and initiated the final battle, it did not mean the war would end shortly. It was entirely possible that this one battle would not last less than a month. It was entirely possible for the battle to continue for years. ¡°Human!¡± Minister Everpast frowned when he felt a powerful aura charging toward him. He looked over to see a true dragon several sizes larger than the rest, encased in violet scales, shooting straight for him. Although the violet scales appeared intact, his right arm was mangled and there were several deformities on his serpentine body. The Black Tortoise¡¯s condition shocked Demon Emperor Redraco, but it was far from enough for Tianyi to attack him unguarded. He allowed Tianyi to deal a serious blow in order to disengage from him and attack Minister Everpast. When Demon Emperor Redraco neared him, Minister Everpast¡¯s body retreated in a ghastly manner, forming several phantoms that confused the senses, including immortal and demonic senses. Although he was an immortal sovereign and the contemporary Azure Dragon was a demon emperor, he did not dare to take Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s slash with his body. As a soul and spiritual immortal, his body was weaker than demons. Even martial sovereigns would not easily take an attack from Demon Emperor Redraco in his normal state. And now, he was activating the Realm Dragon Scale to its maximum potential. ¡°Sorry, I couldn¡¯t get rid of him,¡± Tianyi said as he appeared next to Minister Everpast. ¡°No worries. He paid a high price,¡± Minister Everpast said. ¡°As long as we can keep them both here, nearly half the Demon Clan¡¯s high-end combat potential will be destroyed. I¡¯ll deal with Demon Emperor Redraco. You destroy the Black Tortoise¡¯s body.¡± The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Tianyi attacked. However, Demon Emperor Redraco rushed forward and met him head-on. ¡®Do you want to protect the Black Tortoise¡¯s body? But that¡¯s foolish. Why protect the inevitable? Unless he wants to buy time?¡¯ Tianyi thought. Miniature suns appeared in his palm and he released them. Instead of Constellation Cessation, which resembled a sniper round, the barrage of Stellar Silences from Tianyi resembled a shotgun more. No matter how Demon Emperor Redraco slashed, he could only intercept a few of them. The rest of the Stellar Silences landed on the Black Tortoise¡¯s body, creating spheres of destruction. The corpse trembled under the barrage, releasing ripples in the void. When the energy died down and the technique ended, shallow craters remained. Tianyi frowned. He didn¡¯t expect that the Black Tortoise¡¯s body was so sturdy without a soul to control it. Even if he used his Constellation Cessation, it would take a lot of effort to crack the shell. He attacked again, but even though Minister Everpast engaged Demon Emperor Redraco in battle, he still blocked Tianyi¡¯s attack. Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s realm artifact not only shielded against physical attacks, but soul attacks too. In terms of difficulty, he was only a slightly less troublesome opponent for Minister Everpast. However, Demon Emperor Redraco did not have the means of the Black Tortoise, and the constant harassment against his soul made it more difficult for him to maneuver, increasing the number of attacks on the Black Tortoise¡¯s body. Whenever Tianyi¡¯s attack landed on the divine beast¡¯s body, it would move slowly in the void. At first, no one paid attention to the movement. After all, for every reaction, there was an equal and opposite reaction, but the Black Tortoise¡¯s body defied that. It should have been moving away from Tianyi, the source of its movements, not toward him. ¡°It¡¯s moving toward Shangri-La!¡± Tianyi said, realizing what the two members of the Four Divine Beasts were attempting. While he and Minister Everpast talked, they must have already hashed out a plan. Once the demons destroyed Shangri-La, the Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect would lose their foundation. Only a select few would be able to regenerate their qi, and those few would not be able to contend against the entire Demon Clan. So, the humans must not let the demons destroy Shangri-La. The immortals congregated, but the demons stopped them. The appearance of the still body of the Black Tortoise lowered their morale, but the disclosure of the plan restored it. If anything, their morale more than doubled from its previous peak. Because they saw hope of ending the war. If they succeed, the humans would have to retreat. Although it wasn¡¯t a complete victory, it should be enough for the Demon Clan to recompose themselves and prepare a new plan before the second invasion. A grand robe sewn from the cosmos itself appeared over Tianyi¡¯s body. Just like his Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan, Tianyi upgraded his Cosmic Robe to the Nine Heavens Cosmic Robe. Compared to the titan, his cosmic robe received a greater boost from the improvements. This allowed him to ignore the interference radiating from the Realm Dragon Scales. He teleported away, onto the other side of the Black Tortoise¡¯s body, before Demon Emperor Redraco. Once there, he could feel the dense gravitational force. Ordinary mortals would be crushed into paste by it alone. Even mortal cultivators would find it difficult to move here. Tianyi landed on the ground that resembled black obsidian. He placed his hand on it. After a moment, he shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s too big. I can¡¯t manipulate the spacetime here, much less teleport it away.¡± He immediately dodged. A purple tail landed where he was just kneeling. Demon Emperor Redraco strengthened his field. Before Demon Emperor Redraco could attack again, Minister Everpast arrived and attacked him. ¡°Go. I¡¯ll hold Redraco back. You¡¯re more suited to dealing with armies,¡± Minister Everpast said. Tianyi nodded. The cosmic robe turned fluid and enveloped Tianyi¡¯s entire body. He turned into a ball and dramatically increased in size until he was a third of the Black Tortoise¡¯s body. However, he did not form a humanoid shape, but stayed as a sphere. Countless stars circled the sphere, forming a pseudo disc and making it resemble a galaxy. In essence, it was the Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan, but in a different shape. The surrounding stars whirled, forming a ring. Countless spheres of light shot out and bombarded the demons and the Black Tortoise¡¯s body. Not even Demon Emperor Redraco could block the sheer amount of attacks Tianyi unleashed. The barrage of Stellar Silences did not have their usual power, but they more than made up for it in numbers. Most demon lords would be severely injured if hit. If they were unlucky, they would die directly. Even demon kings could not withstand too many of the weakened Stellar Silences. Only the Black Tortoise¡¯s body remained unmoved by the constant barrage. The advantage did not last long. The Black Tortoise¡¯s body emitted a powerful gravitational force that bent light and even spacetime around it. Most of Tianyi¡¯s Stellar Silences were affected, causing them to miss or just hit the Black Tortoise¡¯s body, which did nothing. Although the Black Tortoise¡¯s body inched closer to Shangri-La with each passing moment, Tianyi showed no signs of panic. Neither did Minister Everpast, or the high echelon of the Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect. Only some of the immortal monarchs and most of the true immortals gave their all to defend the mobile fortress. It wasn¡¯t a deadlock because no matter how hard the humans attempted to stop it, the Black Tortoise¡¯s body continued to move closer to the mobile fortress. Tianyi was sure that he had landed tens of Constellations Cessations on the tortoise, but with little effect. The drawn out tug-o-war reached the point that Minister Everpast had to retreat to Shangri-La to restore his qi twice. It was not that the humans had not attempted to drive Shangri-La further back, but the Black Tortoise¡¯s gravitational force focused on it. Not only did they not distance themselves, but Shangri-La was slowly pulled toward the tortoise. As Shangri-La neared the Black Tortoise, the landmass split into one hundred and twenty-nine pieces. At first, the demons thought the gravitational force had destroyed the stability of the mobile fortress, causing it to fragment, but soon, they realized they were wrong. The pieces of Shangri-La encircled the Black Tortoise in an orderly manner. The demons wanted to stop them, but it was the human¡¯s turn to counter them. Soon, a giant sealing formation covered the Black Tortoise. ¡°This was originally the plan to seal the realm beast. Hmpf, consider it Xuanwu¡¯s honor for it to be used on him!¡± Emperor Southsword said. ¡°Hmpf, don¡¯t be too happy!¡± the Qilin Patriarch retorted. ¡°You can¡¯t use your mobile fortress to restore your qi now, can you? In the end, it doesn¡¯t matter!¡± The edges of Tianyi¡¯s lips curled upward. A giant ripple appeared in the void behind the humans. To the shock and despair of the demons, a giant landmass not smaller than Shangri-La appeared. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen¡­and demons, let me introduce Shangri-La II.¡± Chapter 544: Release the Realm Beast Despite the playful tone of the announcement, all the demons felt as if they had plunged into a pool of ice water. So cold was the chill that their bones froze over. It was not that the Demon Clan didn¡¯t consider the humans having another mobile fortress; just that the chance was too small. The Demon Clan thought Shangri-La was a true realm artifact. It is said that all realm artifacts granted their master the full might of a realm, but that was simply a misconception. Realm artifacts refined from realm essence and an entire realm were two different concepts. Realm artifacts refined from realm essence were known as false realm artifacts, and those refined from a realm were true realm artifacts. The late Demon Empress Bluefeather¡¯s Sacred Fire Grotto was a false realm artifact, despite harboring a realm within itself. It was considered a special realm artifact because it could house a realm within itself, but the realm had its problem. It didn¡¯t have pure spiritual qi, only fire spiritual qi. Creatures could still absorb it, but their conversion efficiency would be incredibly low except for the fire attribute. The Realm Dragon Scales and Metal Source Talons had the same defects. Although their defensive and offensive means exceeded the Sacred Fire Grotto, they did not have an inner realm within them. And, they predominantly had wood spiritual qi and metal spiritual qi. Shangri-La was different. It was all-accommodating, and only true realm artifacts could display this characteristic. And it was not forged from any ordinary realm, but a high realm infinitely close to an immortal rank realm, or an immortal rank realm. There was no way a regular high rank realm could sustain so many immortals and for so long. In the Demon Clan¡¯s estimation, it was impossible for Shangri-La to be refined from an immortal rank realm. Even when the primordial era first ended, there were only a few immortal rank realms. Because of war, a few shattered. The Buddhists took one, and the Demon Clan took one, which became the True Dragon Realm, Phoenix Realm, and Qilin Realm. In their eyes, the Immortal Court must have refined the embryonic form of Shangri-La over a million years ago. Throughout the following years, they must have siphoned the realm essence of the Huang Realm or used many lower realms as materials to increase its power. Such an act would obviously incur a large amount of Karmic Sin. In fact, the Demon Clan suspected the Immortal Court had trouble becoming the hegemon of the Huang Realm, while it was still the Buzhou Immortal Sect precisely because of their Karmic Sins. Why else would they be so unlucky and have so many opponents in the Huang Realm while the Numinous Sword Sect succeeded long ago? The Demon Clan only created their mobile fortress using the realm beast, but now, it was impossible to restore the Void Continent in the short term. Hence their retreat. So, it was very logical for the Immortal Court to possess one mobile fortress, but what the demons currently saw defied their expectations. In reality, the truth was much more simple. Tianyi simply brought out another asteroid from his inner universe. Strictly speaking, Shangri-La was not really a realm artifact. It was simply a converter linked to Tianyi¡¯s Nine Heavens Universe that broke down his true qi of immortal chaos into pure spiritual qi, but the Demon Clan didn¡¯t know that. Of course, that didn¡¯t mean Shangri-La was easy for Tianyi to recreate. It was created through a large amount of resources and spiritual artifacts taken from the Immortal Court¡¯s treasury. Otherwise, how could it seal the Black Tortoise? Shangri-La II only appeared similar to the original. In fact, everything on it was a hasty creation Tianyi made before bringing it out. After he saw it was impossible to stop the Black Tortoise, he had been working overtime to recreate Shangri-La. The plants, mountains, and even buildings were just for appearance¡¯s sake. The second mobile fortress had the same basic qi restoration effect because it was reliant on Tianyi¡¯s Nine Heavens Universe, not the materials and spiritual artifacts. But its defensive and offensive powers or means could not reach the same height as the original Shangri-La. In effect, the Demon Clan¡¯s assault was not meaningless. It made the humans lose one of their cards against the realm beast. Not that they knew that. The Demon Clan¡¯s morale, which had reached its crescendo, instantly plunged into the abyss. Everything they worked for, the hope they harbored, all of it was false. ¡°Wake up!¡± the Qilin Patriarch said. His powerful aura surged and enveloped all the demons, so that his voice boomed in their mind and hearts. Although the three patriarchs ruled the Demon Clan, the Four Divine Beasts were the most revered among the Demon Clan. But with the advent of the current war, the Qilin Patriarch¡¯s status rose until it vaguely eclipsed any one of the Four Divine Beasts, especially after Demon Emperor Blacktiger and Demon Empress Bluefeather¡¯s death. ¡°Look closely, this is nothing more than the human¡¯s bluff.¡± The Qilin Patriarch snorted, releasing steam from his nostrils. ¡°Humans have always been cunning tricksters. Do not fall for their ploy!¡± Upon hearing this, the demons regained a bit of their courage and spirit. A few had bitter expressions. Most of the demons were grasping at straws. If it wasn¡¯t a trick, how could they win? How could they repel the humans? Still, none of them thought about leaving. They knew that if they ran away, the end result would be the same. ¡°We must punish these deceivers! Release the realm beast!¡± the Qilin Patriarch roared. Silence answered the Qilian Patriarch¡¯s orders. Finally, Demon Emperor Redraco stepped forward. ¡°Is it really wise to do so? Once we unleash it, it won¡¯t be so easy to contain again. It might even escape with his help, but he already said that he can¡¯t interfere in this battle.¡± ¡°Do we have any other choice?¡± The Qilin Patriarch¡¯s question stunned Demon Emperor Redraco and the other leaders. He was right, what other choice did they have? The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. They already lost Demon Emperor Blacktiger, Demon Empress Bluefeather, and Demon Emperor Xuanwu was sealed. And his soul was in a state of decline because of San Jiuling¡¯s death. They already lost a third of their high-end combat power, while the humans have not lost any of theirs. If nothing changed, their defeat would be inevitable. Under their orders, the demons made a strategic retreat. Just because they decided to release the realm beast didn¡¯t mean they could do it immediately. They couldn¡¯t retreat too far, or the humans would invade their home realms. The humans attacked ferociously. Even if deaths occurred, more demons died than humans. The side that focused on offense generally had the upper hand because it only took one mistake for the defending side to fall into a great disadvantage. During this time, Tianyi continuously shot Stellar Silences like they were air. Without the Black Tortoise¡¯s interference, his attacks were much more accurate. As he continuously attacked, he continuously refined his technique. A thought suddenly occurred to him. Since he could apply the Three States of Qi to transform his giant form into a titan, why not apply it to his Stellar Silence or Constellation Cessation? Tianyi experimented with Stellar Silence first since it was the simpler technique. Soon, the demons discovered that the miniature suns the miniature galaxy shot out increased in power. Although their size remained the same, their radius of explosion tripled. The multiplier soon reached five, then seven, and finally ten. Now, any demon who could not escape its radius basically met certain death. Not even their souls were immune. If anything, unprotected souls were more likely to perish because of the strong yang nature of the spell. ¡°Roarlight!¡± a demon king with an ursine form and horns sprouting out of his head shouted. He rushed toward a white-furred lioness with a golden mark on her forehead. The ursine demon king flew in front of the lioness demon queen and blocked the Stellar Silence coming at them. Upon contact, the demon king felt a tremendous force acting on him. It was as if what he blocked was not concentrated energy, but dense matter. The miniature sun seared the demon king¡¯s flesh and sent him crashing into the lioness demon queen. Both of them flew off for hundreds of meters before the miniature sun exploded. The explosion¡¯s radius was a hundred times larger than the original Stellar Silence Tianyi unleashed. Not only that, but it emitted a powerful gravitation force that pulled any unlucky demon lords nearby into its fold. That wasn¡¯t the end. When the Stellar Silence ended, it didn¡¯t just fizzle out of existence. Instead, it condensed again and formed a black hole that pulled everything with greater force than when it was still exploding. Many demons were caught off guard, expecting the Stellar Silence to end only for it to enter phase two. Tianyi decided that Stellar Silence was no longer a suitable name for it when used with Yu. So he named it Nova Neutralizer. After naming it, Tianyi continued to attack. Because Nova Neutralizer appeared almost exactly like Stellar Silence, none of the demons knew which one of the attacks he unleashed would contain this hidden blade, so all the demons dodged as if their life depended on it. No, not as if¡ªtheir lives literally depended on it. Most demon kings, with their powerful flesh, would perish if the Nova Neutralizer struck them. Perhaps only those monstrous half-emperors could survive. Even if the rate of Nova Neutralizers was only one out of ten thousand Stellar Silences, the demons still dodged with all their might. They didn¡¯t dare to gamble. And even if they dodged the miniature sun, they still had to flee with all their might once the Nova Neutralizer exploded. Lest they be caught and pulled into the center, where certain death awaited. The demons almost lost all semblance of order. Emperor Southsword, who saw this, couldn¡¯t help but theorize if their war formations could withstand Tianyi¡¯s attack. After some calculation, he estimated only top emperor or sovereign war formations could withstand the Nova Neutralizer. War formations were only powerful if the formation was not disrupted. Although the Nova Neutralizer didn¡¯t reveal its effect on war formations, it already displayed its powerful gravitational force, which was a natural formation disruptor. The level of danger Tianyi represented shot much higher in Emperor Southsword¡¯s heart. He was simply an army destroyer, the bane of armies. He stared at the miniature galaxy, thinking of what methods he could use to kill the latter after the war with the demons ended. However, to his dismay, he discovered that he was as helpless as Demon Emperor Redraco. Even if he had the Immortal Slaughtering Sword, Tianyi had the Immortal Confining Sword, and could activate more of its power than himself. Tianyi simply had no weaknesses. Well, if he had one possible weakness, it was his soul. However, the Numinous Sword Sect had no sword emperors proficient in soul attacks. Unaware of Emperor Southsword¡¯s dark thoughts, Tianyi continued attacking. The more he attacked, the more proficient he became in forming Nova Neutralizers. The demons were simply at his mercy. Of course, the Demon Clan tried to stop him. The Qilin Patriarch, Dragon Patriarch, Phoenix Patriarch, Demon Emperor Redraco, and two other demon emperors all rushed forward to stop him, but Minister Everpast and the other emperors and emperor war formations blocked their way. Finally, the situation changed. Out of nowhere, a giant landmass appeared on the battlefield. ¡°It¡¯s the realm beast!¡± Minister Vastlight shouted. He could never forget that creature. Tianyi stopped bombarding the scattered demons and focused all his firepower on the sealed realm beast. The demons who were escorting the realm beast did not stop him. They just flew as far away as possible. Demon Emperor Redraco glared hatefully at Tianyi, and a dark joy blossomed in his heart. If anything, Tianyi was helping them. The realm beast shook under the barrage. The more Tianyi attacked, the greater the shaking became. Tianyi also noticed this. However, he did not stop. Even if he stopped attacking, would the demons not unseal it themselves? Still, he noticed that even his Nova Neutralizers only left a mark on the realm beast¡¯s scales. So he switched his attacks. The Stellar Silences and Nova Neutalizer changed into Constellation Cessations. Tianyi hadn¡¯t quite mastered using Yu as the energy to launch Constellation Cessation without blowing up in his face, so he settled with using Se. Even with using the liquid state of qi, his attacks only cracked the realm beast¡¯s scales. It was like hitting a sturdier Black Tortoise. Then, the void changed. An oppressive aura flowed from the realm beast as it opened its eyes, locking onto Tianyi. It opened its jaws and roared. The roar caused all the true immortals, and even true demons, to feel their body rattle. It was only a cry, but it actually dealt damage to them. After roaring, it charged straight at Tianyi. Upon seeing this, Minister Everpast ordered his subordinates to quickly form a war formation. Emperor Southsword also did the same. Both forces had long come up with countermeasures against the realm beast, and now it was time to see if their plans failed or not. However, they both stopped at Tianyi¡¯s message. ¡°Wait, let me deal with it!¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± Minister Everpast asked. Tianyi replied affirmative, so Minister Everpast ordered the immortals to avoid the realm beast and attack the demons. Emperor Southsword did the same, but not because he believed in Tianyi. Rather, he wanted to see what cards Tianyi hid. And if possible, have Tianyi fall in battle. The miniature galaxy shifted back into its titan form and charged at the realm beast. Chapter 545: Nine Heavens Nebula Formation The closer the Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan came to the realm beast, the larger the titan became. Even as large as it grew, its height was still dwarfed by the realm beast. His entire size only equaled the realm beast¡¯s head. The realm beast roared again and glared at Tianyi. Minister Vastlight sensed something amiss. Last time, the realm beast was a wild creature with no logic other than instinct. This time, he could sense a deep malice emanating from the realm beast directed at the Nine Heavens Emperor. Had the Demon Clan found a way to control the realm beast, or direct it to target someone? The immortal minister¡¯s thoughts did not matter. He had already reported the matter, and he was not the only one who detected something wrong, but in the current situation, they could only face it head on. Or the Nine Heavens Emperor had to. Like Minister Everpast, Minister Vastlight was prepared to reinforce his ally at a moment¡¯s notice. In complete contrast, the members of the Numinous Sword Sect had already left the immediate vicinity of the realm beast and engaged in battle against the demons with no intention of reinforcing the Nine Heavens Emperor should something go awry, save for one. Bao Ling stared at the realm beast and the Nine Heavens Emperor¡¯s confrontation with interest. Of course, this didn¡¯t mean that he was idle. He would swing his sword and release sword light to attack the demons. One swing could cause a demon king to perish. Even demon emperors had to be wary of his sword light. Being a sword immortal did not mean they were weak in ranged combat. They were also famous for their flying swords, swords that attacked through telepathic control. Some could even control a large amount of flying swords to form formations by themselves and attack. The most famous example was Lu Dongbin of the Eight Immortals. Although it was rare for a sword immortal to use sword light for long range attack instead of using auxiliary means, it would not be the first time. Still, the demons did not foolishly determine that Bao Ling was a long range specialist. While keeping their eyes on him, they continued to fight the other humans. Tianyi did not have enough spare attention to care about the entire battle. All his attention was concentrated on the realm beast. He raised his fist and smashed the realm beast¡¯s forehead. Although the realm beast¡¯s body shook, only a few scales had cracks appear on them. He wasn¡¯t done. The Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan¡¯s right arm wriggled, as if something was ready to burst out beneath the skin. It collapsed into a black mist that engulfed the realm beast¡¯s head before shrouding its entire body. The Nine Heaven Cosmic Titan retreated and regenerated its sacrificed arm in less than a second. The realm beast charged through the black mist, his scales unmarred. Tianyi¡¯s attack had obviously failed. With shocking speed that belied its mass, the realm beast arrived in front of the cosmic giant, jaws opened. It snapped them shut. Tianyi dodged. His speed was also shocking despite the immense size of his Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan, but its speed was still slower than the realm beast. Most of its arm and part of its shoulder had disappeared under the realm beast¡¯s bite. For other immortals, it would have been a critical blow that required them to use a vast amount of their qi to restore the elemental titan or have it collapse directly, but Tianyi was different. Just like when he restored the Nine Heaven Cosmic Titan¡¯s arm, the missing parts reappeared in less than a second. The realm beast stared at Tianyi, biting a few times before swallowing. Malice still shone from its eyes, but now it had another emotion: hunger. It wanted to devour Tianyi and the Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan. The realm beast had a feeling that devouring the target of its malice would cause its life level to increase. It was just an instinct, but that feeling almost drove it crazy. It succumbed to the feeling and dashed toward the Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan, jaws opened once more. Tianyi continued to charge. He had seen the hungry gaze and had no intent of offering himself on a platter. He didn¡¯t attack the realm beast¡¯s head, but his sides, back, or belly, where the realm beast¡¯s mouth couldn¡¯t reach him. The realm beast¡¯s claws also deserved special attention as Tianyi discovered that they could rend through the dimensional boundary of his Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan. Unlike the realm beast¡¯s charging speed, its turning capabilities were much worse. It was still plenty fast, but not fast enough for the realm beast to grab another delightful bite out of the Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan. However, he would not give up. He could feel that eating Tianyi was the most important chance it would encounter in its entire life. Tianyi took advantage of this. He could not deal effectively against the realm beast with his Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan, but he could use the realm beast¡¯s desire to devour him to lead him toward the back lines of the Demon Clan instead of letting their battle wreak havoc in the core of the humans. Strangely, despite the realm beast¡¯s apocalyptic might, it had not destroyed the three immortal rank realms of the Demon Clan despite the proximity. Perhaps it was because the realm beast was innately attuned with the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System and subconsciously avoided destroying realms. Tianyi didn¡¯t think much about it and continued to attack the realm beast while dodging its head. For Minister Everpast and the other immortals, occupying the realm beast¡¯s attention was already an impressive feat. Their original plan was to occupy the realm beast for as long as possible. They didn¡¯t think Shangri-La¡¯s seal, which was used to seal the Black Tortoise, could trap the realm beast for long. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. They were satisfied, but Tianyi wasn¡¯t. He wanted to defeat the realm beast. He knew that he couldn¡¯t kill it, but absorbing it into his Nine Heavens Universe should be possible, right? Once inside the Nine Heavens Universe, the realm beast would become a fish on a chopping block. Although it appeared that Tianyi was entangling the realm beast, a big change was happening inside the Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan. The core of the Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan was a level three conduit. Surrounding it were nine level one conduits. Followed by that, there were countless level zero conduits that numbered over ninety thousand! Originally, Tianyi only made around a hundred level zero conduits because they did not bring much benefit, and they strained his mind from the sheer number. Even if his consciousness was equal to an universe, it did not mean he could control over a hundred thousand bodies simultaneously. He only created the ninety thousand level zero conduits in the past few years. The reason he created so many conduits was for his trump card. A side benefit was that the strain tempered his will, allowing him to strengthen his willpower. Right now, the countless conduits of Tianyi circled the lone level three conduit. Their position formed a strange pattern with an intrinsic charm akin to a constellation. The more time passed, the stronger the charm became. If any immortals were to see it, they would be shocked by the myriad laws exuded by the ninety thousand conduits. Soon, the thousands of Tianyis vanished, and in their place was a black sphere circled by nine stars.
The realm beast roared. The noise coming from its mouth shook the empty void, causing the weaker combatants to feel as if something had shaken their internal organs. A few war formations collapsed directly. The demons near those collapsed war formations naturally took advantage, but this had nothing to do with the realm beast. It swiped its claws at Tianyi. It had been attempting to devour Tianyi for hours now. Each failure only increased its bestial rage, its attack became more ferocious with each passing strike. It no longer wanted to bite the Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan, but to shred him apart with its claws before eating him. The beast paused for a moment as it felt its claws connect with the cosmic titan. It roared with glee and increased the strength of his swipe. His claws sheared the Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan in half. There was a bit of resistance, akin to striking something hard, but the realm beast cared not. The two halves of the Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan disintegrated into a black mist filled with countless tiny motes of light. Without the dimensional boundary compressing it, the mist grew until it reached twice the realm beast¡¯s size. The realm beast opened its jaws and sucked. Black mist flew into the beast¡¯s mouth and into its stomach. However, it did not get as much enjoyment as it thought it would. Certainly, the amount of energy was of the highest purity it had ever absorbed since its birth and much more than the lone arm it had eaten in the first confrontation, but it felt as if something was missing. Something crucial that would allow it to evolve past its current limit. It did not stop sucking, and when most of the black mist entered the realm beast¡¯s stomach, the black sphere circled by nine stars revealed itself. Greed appeared in the realm beast¡¯s eyes. The strange sphere emitted a dangerous aura, causing the realm beast to hesitate, but greed ultimately overwhelmed what little reason the beast possessed. It charged.
Tianyi stared at the realm beast charging forward. He grunted and the black sphere changed. Endless black fluid spilled out until it formed a humanoid blob. The original sphere elongated until it resembled a head, while the ring of stars moved upward, transforming into a crown of stars. Compared to the Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan, this new titan was several times larger, only slightly smaller compared to the realm beast. There were no stars or galaxies on its skin or inside. It was pitch black. Its shade was even darker than the darkness of the void. It appeared closer to a two-dimensional figure because it resembled a humanoid hole in reality. Invisible to the naked eye, a black steam wafted off the black humanoid¡¯s body. ¡°As I expected,¡± Tianyi said with a sigh. The black humanoid was a formation shaped into his image. All the conduits were the prerequisite keys that opened the door to allow his universe to appear in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. The most difficult part was to prevent the Heavenly Dao from sending heavenly punishment for his actions. It took quite a while for him to create this Nine Heavens Nebula Formation. It was still a prototype version. The dimension boundary of the formation, as the name suggested, was the Nebulous Negation he used against Bao Ling during the competition between the Immortal Court and the Numinous Sword Sect. As long as the boundary did not break, the Heavenly Dao would not be able to sense the Nine Heavens Universe¡¯s intrusion. For now, Tianyi called the human form of the Nine Heavens Nebula Formation the Nine Heavens Nebula Titan. The Nine Heavens Nebula Titan reached out and grabbed the realm beast¡¯s forehead. To the shock of many, it actually caused the realm beast to slow down. The realm beast roared. Since its birth, no one had been able to compete with him in strength. He raised his claws and slapped the Nine Heavens Nebula Titan¡¯s arm away and slammed into him. Tianyi frowned. Controlling the Nine Heavens Nebula Titan was a bit hard for him. Not only did he need to maintain the Nebulous Negation boundary, but he also had to control all the conduits that made up the core of the formation. Compared to the Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan, the Nine Heavens Nebula Titan was a lumbering giant. What followed was a battle between beasts. The realm beast did not understand the laws and could only intuitively use its innate abilities. The Nine Heavens Nebula Titan relied on brute strength only. Tianyi did not have the spare energy to use his techniques and using them would require him to pass it through the Nebulous Negation or open an opening to the boundary. The former, he couldn¡¯t accomplish now, and the latter would result in heavenly punishment. The two, titan and beast, raged against each other, using only the most primitive methods of fighting: fists, claws, bites, and kicks. They did not have the dignity of immortals, the elegance of swordsmen, nor the pride of demons. However, their primal strength conquered all. Chapter 546: Suppression The titan reared its fist back and punched, but the beast ignored it, allowing it to land and shake his body. The beast rushed forward and slammed its shoulder into the titan, sending it flying backward. It wasn¡¯t for long as the titan regained its stability and rushed forward once more. There was a certain heaviness to the titan, as if its colossal size weighed it down. The realm beast showed no such symptoms, displaying speed belaying its massive mass. Inside the Nine Heavens Nebulous Titan, Tianyi frowned. His titan¡¯s reaction time could not compare with the realm beast¡¯s reaction time. In fact, it was several levels lower. He wasn¡¯t surprised. His current situation was akin to a child wielding a sword. No matter how skilled the child was, his body was not developed enough for him to use the sword as he liked. Just like the previous confrontation, the Nine Heavens Nebulous Titan only managed to land a minor attack, only to be countered with greater force. It wasn¡¯t bad, per se. Unless the realm beast had a trump card, it would never be able to break through the Nebulous Negation skin protecting the titan, and qi consumption was not an issue. As long as enough time passed, the realm beast would fall to Tianyi, even if it ran away. Unfortunately, Tianyi did not know how much energy the realm beast had. There had never been a record of a realm beast losing because of the overconsumption of energy. Some theorized that realm beasts received an endless amount of energy from the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. However, a beast would forever remain a beast. After several confrontations, Tianyi discovered most of the realm beast¡¯s patterns and thought process. The beast could not see into the future, but its instinct guided by the Heavenly Dao achieved an effect similar to clairvoyance. Because of this, the realm beast could always pinpoint his weaknesses and see through his feints. ¡®I should develop an ability similar to clairvoyance,¡¯ Tianyi thought. He had already tried it but failed. Attempting to see the future of the realm beast was akin to peeking at the Heavenly Dao. It wasn¡¯t as hard, but there was still a major hurdle to leap over. Especially for Tianyi, who mostly focused on the spatial aspect of spacetime. Before the realm beast even struck, Tianyi had already moved. He didn¡¯t attack, but entered into a defensive stance. When the beast¡¯s claws neared him, he reached out and locked the realm beast¡¯s front legs in a lock with its foreleg. The realm beast immediately stiffened his arm as Tianyi attempted to break his joint. At this time, a whip-like tail slammed into the nebulous titan, but there was not even a ripple on the titan¡¯s body. If anything, his grip tightened around the beast¡¯s foreleg. The Nine Heavens Nebulous Titan continued to grapple with the realm beast. Any unlucky demon or immortal who got close to them perished under the aftereffects of their clash. So great was their primal power that it exceeded the techniques of those that mastered a worldly law. Those unlucky fools could only blame their bad luck. Especially the sword immortals. Because they fled far away, when Tianyi and the realm beast relocated, they happened to be the closest. After the first few moments, the immortals and demons learned their lessons and steered clear of the two colossal beings. ¡®I didn¡¯t expect that my ultimate reliance would be the martial arts I learned before I became a foundation establishment disciple,¡¯ Tianyi thought. The realm beast had freed itself and was attacking him voraciously. The more time passed, the more ease Tianyi felt. From being on the receiving end with only a little ability to fight back, the Nine Heavens Nebulous Titan secured its advantage over the realm beast. In terms of pure power and speed, the realm beast was actually superior to the nebulous titan. It was only through his ability to think and skill that he could hold an advantage over the realm beast. But it was only that, an advantage. After a certain point, he could not increase his advantage over the realm beast. He couldn¡¯t turn it into suppression, much less victory. Tianyi could see it. The realm beast would only give up when it was defeated or had devoured him. ¡®I feel like Tang Sanzang with how much he wants to eat me.¡¯ The Nine Heavens Nebulous Titan socked the realm beast in the face, concussing it for a brief moment. During that window of opportunity, it unleashed a series of punches and elbows, knocking the realm beast back. The realm beast roared in anger after regaining its bearing and charging at Tianyi. Tianyi waited for the realm beast to come near him before counterattacking. Once again, the realm beast would be knocked back, but the injuries dealt to it were negligible, and it would quickly charge toward the Nine Heavens Nebulous Titan again. Through each interaction, Tianyi perfected his control of the Nine Heavens Nebulous Titan. Granted, he would suffer a loss if he fought a different opponent, say a divinity. A divinity would not be so stupid as a realm beast, and could unleash sublime techniques. Even if Tianyi¡¯s power outstripped a divinity¡¯s, they could still flee, with Tianyi unable to chase after them. He knew that he was still far from mastering the power of the Nine Heavens Nebulous Titan. Although it was a stopgap measure until he could reach the Divine Realm, it did not mean it was not powerful or without potential. At that time, even if he couldn¡¯t defeat divinities, they would likely be unable to hurt him. Still, that was all for the future. Right now, he had a headache dealing with the realm beast. The Nine Heavens Nebulous Titan was too weak to defeat the realm beast. And it was impossible to trap the realm beast into his inner universe. Teleporting the realm beast was not an option either because its power interfered with the process. He couldn¡¯t open a portal large enough into his inner universe without summoning heavenly punishment because the realm beast was simply too large. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Tianyi¡¯s eyes gained a cold tint. Since that was the case, he should cut the realm beast down to size. Even if there was only a head left, it should be able to survive, right? A plain sword appeared in the Nine Heavens Nebulous Titan¡¯s hand. No, that wasn¡¯t quite the right word. It was closer to appearing in its palm. Compared to the nebulous titan, the sword was not even a speck of dust. Yet, the realm beast halted its movement for a slight moment, sensing great danger. The plain sword that was not even as large as a speck of dust in the nebulous titan¡¯s hand grew at a swift rate. Only when its size matched the Nine Heavens Nebulous Titan did it stop. The titan tightened its fingers around the Immortal Confining Sword and brandished it toward the realm beast. The realm beast roared at Tianyi¡¯s provocation and pounced on him. In response, the Nine Heavens Nebulous Titan swung its sword. It was a simple slash, containing no essence of the worldly laws or extraneous effects. All in all, it was a simple swing even a mortal could imitate. Yet, it held an indescribable charm. That slash, which was full of flaws, slashed into the belly of the realm beast, causing it to bend nearly one hundred and eighty degrees and cry out in pain. Only against this realm beast and at that moment would the slash reveal such power. Because it was a single sword art created moments prior to deal with that exact situation. Even if the beast attacked again, that same slash would never exhibit the same power because the factors would change, no matter how minute. In the distance, Bao Ling¡¯s eyes flashed with sharpness. And he nodded with appreciation. ¡°He can be taught.¡± No one noticed his words. Although people paid attention to him, it was only because he was an immortal emperor. Compared to the other emperors, both immortals and demons, he was only average in terms of performance and contribution. The absolute advantage the Nine Heavens Nebulous Titan had over the realm beast transformed into suppression. Because he had to maintain the Nine Heavens Nebulous Formation, the Immortal Confining Sword was in an inactive state. Its power did not reach the same level as when Tianyi used it against the two demon emperors. But with the absolute might of the nebulous titan, the power it displayed was several times greater. With the powerful force of the titan and the innate sharpness of the Immortal Confining Sword, it cut through the realm beast¡¯s scales and hide, reaching into his muscles. Like when Tianyi¡¯s Nine Heavens Cosmic Titan was injured, it did not leak blood but mist. Though they lacked the shimmering motes of light like Tianyi¡¯s immortal qi of primordial chaos. After several rounds, countless wounds appeared on the realm beast¡¯s body. After the first clash, it learned to be more cautious. Now, most of the wounds on its body were light cuts that would heal soon, and Tianyi had not successfully wounded its head once. The clash between titan and beast raged on. The immortals who saw this felt their morale surge, while the demons¡¯ morale plummeted. It was an inevitable conclusion. The realm beast could not be said to be their ally, but it was undoubtedly their strongest trump card. In their plans, the realm beast should have occupied a large percentage of the humans¡¯ combat forces, but now it was being beaten by one person. How could their morale not plummet? Tianyi saw none of this. Although he was beating the realm beast, it was not as simple as it appeared. He was dedicating his entire mind and body to the process. Well, not entire, but it was the same in spirit. He was waiting, waiting for when the realm beast reached its weakest point. The two continued to clash. As more injuries appeared, the realm beast became more savage. It was as if a veil of madness had covered his eyes. Despite abandoning all defense, its rate of accumulating injuries had decreased. It was a classic case of using offense for defense. Not that the Nine Heavens Nebulous Titan couldn¡¯t withstand its attack, but that the attack frequency increased too much, decreasing the windows of opportunity it could attack. Over a month later, most of the realm beast¡¯s scales had fractured or disappeared from the long and drawn out battle between the two. Even the intensity of battle between the humans and demons subsided. Although it never ended, the demons focused more and more on defending than attacking. In sharp contrast, the black titan still resembled a hole in reality, the crown formed of nine stars still shone brightly without any signs of dulling. The offense of the realm beast had subsided. Although it lost all its scales, it only represented a decrease in its defense. Its body was still full of energy, seemingly endless. Still, the madness that blinded its eyes had receded. True, it was willing to fight Tianyi to the death in order to elevate its level of life. However, that was only if it could see hope. Before, no matter what Tianyi did, it posed no threat. But now? The realm beast had no sapience, but that didn¡¯t mean it couldn¡¯t differentiate what was impossible. According to its instincts, the end result of continuing to fight with Tianyi would only end in its defeat and possible death. How could the realm beast be willing to give up? It roared once more, but this time it was different. Tianyi could feel something stick to the Nebulous Negation skin of the titan, attempting to penetrate. ¡®This is a mark? Does the realm beast want to mark me and come find me after regaining its strength?¡¯ The truth was as Tianyi thought. The realm beast had many abilities, such as placing a tracker on its target. Unfortunately, it did not work. The tracker was based on the Heavenly Dao, and since the Heavenly Dao could not penetrate the Nebulous Negation, neither could the realm beast¡¯s ability, but it didn¡¯t know that. The Nine Heavens Nebulous Titan took the initiative to attack. The realm beast showed no signs of retreating yet. It was waiting for its mark to penetrate the titan¡¯s skin and merge with Tianyi¡¯s soul. Not knowing it was impossible, it raised its claws and slashed at the black titan. Unlike the previous times, the nebulous titan did not counter attack and opened its arms, as if to receive the attack. Warning bells rang in the realm beast¡¯s mind, but it couldn¡¯t figure out why. So, it increased the power of its slash. As long as he destroyed the foe before it, the danger would disappear. Contrary to the realm beast¡¯s expectations, his claws didn¡¯t bounce off or slide harmlessly off like before. Instead, they sank into the titan¡¯s body. It tried to pry its claws out, but like an insect trapped in amber, it couldn¡¯t. Its actions caused the Nine Heavens Nebulous Titan to shake in synchronicity with its movement. A hint of panic appeared in the realm beast¡¯s eyes. It tried every means to free its claws, but it was useless. In fact, the more time passed, the more of its arms sunk into the Nine Heavens Nebulous Titan. The Immortal Confining Sword had disappeared from the nebulous titan¡¯s grasp. Its humanoid form had also shifted, deforming into a slime, one that encroached upon the realm beast¡¯s body without end. The realm beast roared and continuously attacked, but its defeat was inevitable. Even when the slime-like Nine Heavens Nebulous Formation covered it entirely, it would deform under the realm beast¡¯s struggle. It only stopped when the Nine Heavens Nebulous Formation returned to its original sphere form. Silence filled the battlefield. Chapter 547: Realm Beast in Hand The realm beast felt fear for the first time in its life. It felt like the mother that had accompanied it since its birth disappear in this foreign world. Without its mother, it was just a lost duckling. So, it struggled. It disregarded its injuries and consequences and fought to escape this hellish nightmare. Its muscles, which not even divinities could match, twitched madly. Teeth that could match any divine spear pierced and sliced the darkness. Similarly, claws comparable to divine swords sliced through the darkness. A tail that could split realms whipped continuously. It was all useless. Tianyi watched as the realm beast continued to struggle. If an emperor, no, even if an ordinary saint could access that power, they would have been able to break out of his Nine Heavens Nebulous Formation. After all, no matter how powerful a realm beast, it was just a beast. A brute that didn¡¯t know how to efficiently use its own powers to their full capabilities. Although he thought that, it didn¡¯t mean he had an easy time. Ninety-nine percent of the formation was used to trap the realm beast within. The other one percent was slowly transitioning the realm beast from the gap between the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System and the Nine Heavens Universe created by the Nebulous Negation. The farther the realm beast was separated from the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System was, the greater its struggle. At the very least, Tianyi discovered the rumor was real. The realm beast had a near infinite supply of essence thanks to its connection with the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. It was slight, but Tianyi could detect that its energy reserves dwindled at a slightly faster rate the more it was pushed into the gap. Tianyi believed that as long as he fully pushed the realm beast into the gap, it would give up its needless struggle. Even if it didn¡¯t, as long as its energy reached a low enough point, he could subdue it easily. If he hadn¡¯t pushed it into his inner universe by then. At that point, he would force a spiritual contract between himself and the realm beast. At that point, he could test if the realm beast would escape his control in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. If it would escape his control, he would simply let it remain in the Nine Heavens Universe forever. Although it would be a pity, Tianyi also wanted to create his own realm beast. There was no reason that the Nine Heavens Universe could not have realm beasts when the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System could. After all, he had seen the edges of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, but he had not found the limit of his inner universe. Perhaps it was because he had not fully mastered the universe, but what he already seen allowed him to estimate that his inner universe was the same size, if not larger than the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Tianyi liked the concept of realm beasts. There was life inside his Nine Heavens Universe and a rudimentary cycle of reincarnation, but he had no outstanding subordinates. He had three disciples, Jinshu, Ming Xingyun, and Leng Junfeng, but he wouldn¡¯t treat them as his subordinates. And Su Bojing was too weak. Even the Su Clan was not suited. He never accepted their fealty, but they were practically his subordinates in all but name. Tianyi was neither deaf nor blind. He knew that Su Bojing was giving the resources he was granted to train the next generation. In his eyes, instead of using it on himself, why not support more pillars for the Su Clan? And Su Bojing was clear that his willpower was average. It wasn¡¯t the average among immortals but saints. He knew that he would likely die younger than other true immortals, so he wanted to train a new steward for Tianyi. That way, the Su Clan could continue to prosper under the Nine Heavens Emperor. As for the Su Clan exceeding Tianyi? Su Bojing didn¡¯t think it was possible. After all, he could be considered having a front-row seat to the Nine Heavens Emperor¡¯s legend. He was satisfied with Su Bojing. He didn¡¯t overstep his bounds and had a pretty good relationship with himself. If Su Bojing could order a realm beast, he would be the perfect subordinate. Not to mention that Tianyi didn¡¯t need to consider the emotions of realm beasts. They were just tools. Only, Tianyi never expected how much of a tool they would be. The realm beast underwent a dramatic change when it fully entered the gap created by the Nebulous Negation. Like a puppet with its strings cut, the realm beast went limp. The savagery in its eyes died. Its struggle ceased, and it curled up into a fetal position. Tianyi narrowed his eyes. He could sense the vast amount of energy contained within the realm beast¡¯s body disappearing at an expedited rate. The strange thing was that the energy wasn¡¯t leaving the body, but simply disappearing into nowhere. Although the world of cultivation was magical, many laws and theories stayed the same, such as the laws of conservation of energy. It was simply impossible for the energy in the realm beast¡¯s body to simply vanish. According to Tianyi¡¯s guess, the realm beast was much more closely linked to the Heavenly Dao than previously thought. If the realm beast got out of control or left its influence, the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System must have a way to retrieve the realm beast, or at least the energy in its body and destroy it, so as not to let the perpetrator profit. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Tianyi didn¡¯t have much time to think. He had to pull the realm beast into the Nine Heavens Universe before any other unexpected changes occurred. He didn¡¯t think that the Heavenly Dao could affect the realm beast once it was inside his inner universe. Chains shot out of the darkness and wrapped around the beast¡¯s neck and limbs. The other end of the chain pulled, intending to absorb the realm beast into the Nine Heavens Universe as fast as possible, but it encountered an even greater resistance. The difficulty was greater than the struggle the realm beast put up. It was quite literally a tug of war between the Nine Heavens Universe and the Heavenly Dao of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Upon seeing that his efforts bore little fruit, Tianyi changed his approach. The Immortal Confining Sword appeared and slashed the realm beast. Now that the realm beast was in the gap created by Nebulous Negation, he had a lot more leeway. However, the results were not satisfactory. Because the scales had been destroyed, the divine sword only needed to slash through the hide into the muscle, but it only left a shallow cut at best. Even though the realm beast had given up all defense, it was still not something that could be easily dealt with. Ideally, Tianyi would inject pure essence into it, but that was beyond his current limit while stabilizing the Nine Heavens Nebulous Formation. Tianyi persevered and reached the bones. He discovered that the Immortal Confining Sword could only leave a faint mark on the bone at best. Even if he slashed the same spot a thousand times, it would likely only result in a faint line, far from enough to dismember the realm beast and pull it into the Nine Heavens Universe piece by piece. He focused on the tendons, which was a much easier target. The Immortal Confining Sword switched its role from a cleaver into a surgical scalpel. After hours, the tendons connecting the femur to the shoulder were finally separated. The chains wrapped around the dismembered limb instantly strengthened and pulled. There was a counterforce, but it was much weaker than the one on the rest of the body. In fact, the force on the realm beast weakened a bit as well. ¡®I see,¡¯ Tianyi thought. No matter what, the Heavenly Dao needed to be present in order to take action. In the gap between the Three Thousand Immortal Realm System and the Nine Heavens Universe, the Heavenly Dao should not be present. Or else it would have already sent heavenly punishment. No, it simply used the realm beast¡¯s body as a medium. ¡®I should have thought of it earlier.¡¯ The realm beast¡¯s body had been split, weakening the medium, which equated to less force the Heavenly Dao could use. It was a case of one plus one giving a result greater than two. Only this time, it was the reverse. With one part missing, the loss was greater than the part. Tianyi had already given up capturing the realm beast alive. At this point, he would be happy if he could keep half the body, including the head. With one of the limbs obtained, he focused on the other parts of the body. The head had the greatest resistance, so he focused on the tail. Tianyi continued to fight the proxy war against the Heavenly Dao with no fear. It¡¯s not like it was the first time he offended the principle of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. What¡¯s one more? Eventually, the realm beast¡¯s body was separated into seven parts: the head, the torso, two arms, two legs, and a tail. Tianyi had already grabbed all the limbs and tail, leaving only the head and torso. The energy reserves inside the head and torso had dropped to less than ten percent. Tianyi estimated that he only had enough time to pull one of the two pieces before all the energy was depleted. When that happened, he didn¡¯t know what would happen to the realm beast¡¯s body part. He stuck to his original plan and focused all his attention on the head. More chains shot out of the darkness and bound the head. The chains originally binding the torso loosened and redirected toward the head as well. Tianyi encountered the greatest resistance yet, not counting when he tried to pull the entire body. During the process, the energy depletion increased at an exponential rate, causing a hint of urgency to appear in Tianyi¡¯s eyes. The energy continued to dwindle. Nine percent. Eight percent. Seven percent. Five percent. Two percent. Complete depletion. The moment the beast¡¯s head and torso¡¯s energy reserves reached zero, pieces disintegrated like chalk dust. An ugly expression appeared on Tianyi¡¯s face. He pulled the realm beast¡¯s head even harder with his chains. To his surprise, the resistance weakened, and he was able to pull the beast¡¯s head into the Nine Heavens Universe much more easily. Even though he had successfully pulled the realm beast into his inner universe, Tianyi wasn¡¯t happy. The disintegration did not stop. He injected essence into the head, but if anything, that only increased the rate of disintegration. Tianyi attempted to study the energy in the other limbs and replicate the realm beast¡¯s energy, but he was not very fruitful. By the time he figured it out, the realm beast¡¯s head would have already fully turned into dust. With no other way, Tianyi extracted the energy from the limbs and injected them into the head. Only then did the disintegration halt, but by then, half the skull already revealed itself. Tianyi would love to continue the research on the unique energy the realm beast used. Although the depletion of energy halted, it was still disappearing at a very slow rate. It gave him quite a bit of time, maybe a few months to a year, to find a substitute or discover the secrets of the realm beast, but for now, he had more important matters to attend to. Ever since he started trapping the realm beast with the Nine Heavens Nebulous Formation, he had ignored everything happening on the battlefield. Well, except for the health of his wife and Ba Shifang. They had his conduits on their body, but unless they encountered a life or death situation, he did not divide any attention. Now that he had successfully¡ªwell, some matter of success¡ªobtained the realm beast, he had to rejoin the war. ¡°I wonder if we are winning?¡± Tianyi didn¡¯t take down the Nine Heavens Nebulous Formation. It was quite troublesome to set up, so it was better to assess the situation first to see if he needed to continue using it or not. When he directed his eyes toward the war outside, Tianyi could help but pause. ¡°Eh?¡± Chapter 548: Divine Dragon ¡°Everyone, the Nine Heavens Emperor has sealed the realm beast! The demons have no more trump cards. Now is the time to play our part. Now is the time to defeat them!¡± Minister Everpast¡¯s voice echoed through the battlefield, directly appearing in the minds of the humans and demons. His words weren¡¯t just to raise the morale of the immortals, but also to demoralize the Demon Clan. With the ruckus caused by the aftereffects of the clash between the Nine Heavens Nebulous Titan and the realm beast, it was impossible for them to not notice the change, but pointing it out would only enhance the effect. Even if it was obvious. That way, some people couldn¡¯t deceive themselves. ¡°Don¡¯t listen to the humans! The realm beast is only trapped for the moment. Soon, their seal will fail and the realm beast will unleash its revenge on these cunning humans!¡± the Qilin Patriarch retorted. His voice was full of confidence, as if he truly believed his own words, but the lowered morale did not increase. The Qilin Patriarch also knew this. Thus, he discussed it with Demon Emperor Redraco and the other two patriarchs. Helpless, they could only retreat to the True Dragon Realm, Phoenix Realm, and Qilin Realm. They used the three demon realms to form a massive protective formation. Once the protective formation was formed, the humans did not attack again. Although they held the upper hand, they also suffered quite a bit of casualties. They also retreated, but to Shangri-La II. It didn¡¯t have the offensive or defensive measures of the first once, but it still held an abundant amount of spiritual qi. More than enough for every immortal to absorb and recuperate their injuries. The two sides entered a ceasefire. The demons did not let down their formation, for they knew that once they did, the humans would immediately resume their assault. Now, it was only a matter of time before the humans attacked again. Both sides were waiting for the battle between the Nine Heavens Emperor and the realm beast to come to a conclusion. The Demon Clan did not believe the Nine Heavens Emperor could hold on forever against the realm beast. As for victory, it was just as impossible. Even if the immortal emperor had a vast amount of qi, could it compare to a realm beast? The humans retreating to Shangri-La II also increased this viewpoint. In their eyes, the humans were recuperating to set up a second plan to contain the realm beast.
¡°How is it? Can you handle the realm beast?¡± Minister Everpast asked. He was standing in the core of the mobile fortress. It was the heart of where all the spiritual qi originated from. Naturally, one of Tianyi¡¯s conduits sat in the center. Immortal qi of primordial chaos constantly left his body and was processed into spiritual qi of heaven and earth by a formation, before being released into Shangri-La II. Minister Everpast had visited the room immediately after entering Shangri-La II, but at that time, Tianyi did not pay attention to him. He just sat there in a lotus position, automatically releasing his immortal qi of primordial chaos. It was only now that Tianyi opened his eyes and paid attention to the outside world. Tianyi nodded. ¡°The realm beast is no longer a problem. It entered a dormant state. It¡¯s the Heavenly Dao that¡¯s the problem now. I¡¯m trying to take it, but the Heavenly Dao won¡¯t let me. It¡¯ll take a while before the struggle will end.¡± Minister Everpast¡¯s heart stilled. He heard what Tianyi said, but why does it seem so fantastical? Before entering hibernation, his willpower had already reached the limit. Had he not been conferred the position of immortal minister, he would have died in a few thousand years at most. And now, he had much, much longer. But just because he could live for over a hundred times longer didn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t affected. Like true immortals reaching the end of their lives, his emotions were extremely dull. Yet, Tianyi¡¯s words still made him feel shocked. Struggling with the Heavenly Dao? Only the most powerful of divinities such as the Three Pure Ones dared to commit such blasphemy. However, after the initial surprise, he didn¡¯t dwell on the matter and asked Tianyi how long it would take. From Tianyi¡¯s words, he knew that the realm beast was no longer a problem. He wanted a time estimate so he could devise a plan against the Demon Clan. ¡°Oh right, can you listen to what the Numinous Sword Sect is planning? Emperor Southsword summoned Emperor Qingping and the other monarchs,¡± Minister Everpast said. Qingping was Bao Ling¡¯s daoist title. Tianyi turned his head toward the direction where the Numinous Sword Sect stayed. After a few seconds, he frowned. Finally, he shook his head. ¡°They used some method to isolate an area. I can¡¯t detect what they are doing. Do you want me to try to infiltrate them? They might not be able to sense my probing, but I can¡¯t guarantee it.¡± ¡°No need. Right now, we are at a critical juncture. If we have a fallout before the final push, it wouldn¡¯t be worth it,¡± Minister Everpast said. ¡°I¡¯ll leave now and discuss with Vastlight and the others on how to proceed.¡± ¡°Goodbye,¡± Tianyi said. Before Minister Everpast even left, he closed his eyes and became as still as a statue.
Emperor Southsword glanced at all the attendees. ¡°How is it? Have you felt if anything was different on Shangri-La II compared to Shangri-La?¡± Like the Demon Clan, Emperor Southsword was shocked that the Buzhou Immortal Court could bring out another mobile fortress. Although he was surprised by how dense the spiritual qi on Shangri-La was, he wasn¡¯t too affected. The Numinous Sword Sect also had its own mobile fortress, and except for the production and density of the spiritual qi, it exceeded Shangri-La in all aspects. However, that was because of the Allheaven Jianmu Tree. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. It was a different matter now that the Buzhou Immortal Court brought out another mobile fortress. The most shocking thing was that it was exactly the same as the first, as if built from the same template. Had the Buzhou Immortal Court mastered a method to produce mobile fortresses at a low cost? The reason he thought so was because, except for the artifacts, palace, and formations, the second mobile fortress was exactly the same as the first mobile fortress. Not just him, but the sword monarchs did not discover anything different. ¡°How terrifying. The Buzhou Immortal Court might not only have two, but maybe even more,¡± a sword monarch commented. ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous. How can their mobile fortress compare to ours?¡± ¡°But what if they have more? Each recovery ability is greater than ours. Just having two Shangri-Las is enough to give us a headache. If they have a third, or even a fourth¡­¡± Although the sword monarch didn¡¯t finish, the people present understood his implicit words. Emperor Southsword looked towards Bao Ling. ¡°Qingping, what do you think?¡± Bao Ling, who was leaning against the wall and hugging his sword to his chest, glanced over. ¡°They only have two for now. But that doesn¡¯t mean they can¡¯t have more.¡± ¡°Two, how do you know?¡± Emperor Southsword asked, puzzled. Did Bao Ling mean that the Buzhou Immortal Court only produced more and they really mastered a method to produce it at a low cost? Unfortunately, Bao Ling turned away. Emperor Southsword suppressed his rising temper. He looked away. ¡°This matter will require more discussion after the war ends. For now, we will focus on the final push against the Demon Clan. Everpast has assured me that the Nine Heavens Emperor has dealt with the realm beast, and we only need to focus on breaking through the protective formation the Demon Clan set up. But I find it highly improbable.¡± It wasn¡¯t just him, but the other immortals also held similar views. Deal with a realm beast? Only a divinity had the qualifications. Not even ten immortal sovereigns could accomplish this feat, much less a single emperor. Only Bao Ling didn¡¯t show any disbelief. Of course, he always remained neutral in expression, so the others thought he simply didn¡¯t show it. ¡°We will attack the protective formation when the black sphere disappears. In my opinion, they must have paid a price to seal the realm beast or teleport it away. I agreed to Everpast¡¯s plan. However, we must stay wary. If the realm beast appears, make sure to defend yourself,¡± Emperor Southsword said. Between the Numinous Sword Sect and Buzhou Immortal Court, the former suffered more casualties. Sword immortals were powerful in terms of offensive means, but most of them lacked defensive or life-saving means. This led to them suffering more deaths and injuries. Not to mention the unexpected disaster when the Nine Heavens Nebulous Titan and realm beast clashed. The other sword monarchs agreed. Thus, they began to discuss how to cooperate and any contingencies should any accidents occur. Soon, the appointed time arrived. Most of the immortals had enough time to heal their injuries, either using pills, other resources, or just natural regeneration. Most who hadn¡¯t fully healed still took part. Only those with grievous injuries stayed behind. That wasn¡¯t all. Both hegemonic forces added additional forces from their home base, the Primordial and Numinous Realms. Although they didn¡¯t double their numbers, their numbers increased by fifty percent. Of course, the high-end combat powers were only bolstered a little bit. Most of the additions were true immortals who had returned to rest and some new faces. Emperor Southsword sighed. Among the Numinous Sword Sect, the promising Ye Chen and Meng Tingfeng both disappeared after fighting the East Sea Dragon King. No matter how talented they were, even if they were half-emperors, they were facing a bona fide demon emperor. So it wasn¡¯t a surprise they lost. It was only a pity that the two talents with the highest chance of reaching the Extremity Immortal Realm fell. At the very least, Monarch Solesword, the previous monarch most likely to become an emperor, showed signs of reaching the Extremity Immortal Realm. With some effort and a little bit of luck, he should be able to become a sword emperor after the war ends. Now, most of the immortals were staring at the three demon realms. Only a few stared at the black sphere. Minister Everpast narrowed his eyes when he saw the sphere shrink. It was only a slight decrease in size, almost imperceptible. Had he not been paying attention, he might have thought it was an illusion. Soon, he wasn¡¯t the only one as other immortals noticed. The immortals watched with bated breath as the black sphere continued to shrink. After a certain size, they couldn¡¯t help but become excited because the realm beast¡¯s body mass was larger than the current size of the sphere. Meaning that the realm beast had been taken care of. None of them thought the Nine heavens Emperor had killed the realm beast. They all thought he used some special method to send it away. After all, they knew that he was talented in the Law of Spacetime. After reaching a thousand kilometers in size, it burst, revealing a man with a golden coronet adorning his head and purple robes clothing his body. He was Xi Tianyi, the Nine Heavens Emperor. He disappeared and reappeared next to Minister Everpast. ¡°Excellent work,¡± Minister Everpast said. ¡°How are you holding up? Can you continue fighting? If you can¡¯t, I understand.¡± Although Tianyi appeared fine, Minister Everpast would understand if he was actually injured and couldn¡¯t take part. However, Tianyi just shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m okay, just a little fatigued. As long as I don¡¯t fight an emperor or sovereign, I should be fine.¡± He glanced toward the first Shangri-La, which was still sealing the Black Tortoise. ¡°He hasn¡¯t died yet? How tenacious.¡± ¡°We¡¯re surprised. The Black Tortoise¡¯s existence is preventing us from using Shangri-La,¡± Minister Everpast said. ¡°Since you¡¯re present, we¡¯ll soon start bombarding the protective formation. I¡¯m afraid that I¡¯ll have to count on you to do the heavy lifting.¡± ¡°No problem, leave it to me,¡± Tianyi said. Minister Everpast nodded. He contacted the other leaders. Soon, all the immortals started attacking the three demon realms. They shot spells of fire, water, earth, wood, metal, wind, lightning, light, darkness, and many other properties. Most sword immortals held their swords, waiting to play their part. A few unsheathed their blades and shot endless sword lights at the protective formation. None of them could compare to Tianyi, who returned to his usual modus operandi: shooting Stellar Silences. He could also shoot Constellation Cessations, but it would put more pressure on his mind, so he didn¡¯t. Tianyi thought they would continue until the protective formation broke, but moments away from it breaking, a golden light enveloped the void, filling the lifeless area with an earthen aura. A gigantic dragon with golden yellow scales and nine claws on each hand and feet appeared. His size was immense, dwarfing even the realm beast. Two whiskers the same length as his body undulated back and forth. He radiated an aura that made even immortal emperors involuntarily bow. Only a few emperors and the sovereigns could remain standing. It was a divine dragon! Chapter 549: Jadelight Tianyi¡¯s breath hitched. ¡®I knew it.¡¯ When his conduit sneaked into the Crystal Palace to kill San Jiuling, he had noticed a certain gaze. It was from someone he had never seen before, but it felt familiar in a way. The only two other people Tianyi had felt the same sensation from were the S¨±rya? Buddha and the Concealed Emperor. From that moment, Tianyi suspected that there was a divinity backing the Demon Clan. For some reason, the oppression disappeared, and he successfully ended San Jiuling¡¯s life. However, for the life of him, he couldn¡¯t figure out why the Demon Clan¡¯s divinity did not take action. It wasn¡¯t until now that Tianyi identified the source of that oppression. ¡°Perfected Huanglong!¡± Demon Emperor Redraco called out. He, along with the other demons, bowed respectfully. Tianyi felt as if a bomb had exploded in his mind. ¡®Perfected Huanglong? Isn¡¯t that one of the Heavenly Lord of Primordial Beginning¡¯s disciple, one of the Twelve Golden Immortals? Is he someone who took up that title, an inheritor, or the original?¡¯ He didn¡¯t think the dragon was an imposter. The Immortal Court cited its inheritance from the Heavenly Lord of Primordial Beginning as justification for its rule over the Primordial Realm. Now that an actual disciple of the Jade Pure Heavenly Lord appeared, he felt a bit awkward. Of course, Tianyi could be the only one that felt that way. It would not be the first time a person or force claimed legitimacy through being a descendant. Equally likely was that the others did not have the confidence to stay alive in front of a divinity. After all, why would they think about whether or not Perfected Huanglong would find trouble with them over their proclaimed status, when all they were thinking about was how to survive? Tianyi frowned. He looked back to see the seal formed by Shangri-La break, exposing the dormant Black Tortoise. The divine beast¡¯s size had decreased, but it was still massive nonetheless. The tortoise disappeared and when it reappeared; he was already next to Perfected Huanglong. ¡®His mastery of the Law of Space has exceeded my mastery over the Law of Spacetime,¡¯ Tianyi concluded. He felt the fluctuations of space, but not time. Still, he was not that surprised. If the yellow dragon was the Perfected Huanglong from the myths, it wouldn¡¯t be strange no matter what mastery of law he showed. The Black Tortoise¡¯s dull eyes regained their clarity. He blinked a bit and finally noticed his situation. He bowed his head to the yellow dragon. ¡°Thank you, Huanglong.¡± Tianyi was even more sure that the yellow dragon was Perfected Huanglong from the myths. If he wasn¡¯t, then the Black Tortoise, the only member of the Four Divine Beast to survive from the primordial era, would not have directly called him Huanglong. Calling him Perfected Huanglong would not dispel the suspicions. Only if Xuanwu called the yellow dragon a different name would Tianyi think the yellow dragon was not the Heavenly Lord of Primordial Beginning¡¯s disciple. No one knew what method the yellow dragon divinity used to stop the decline of the Black Tortoise¡¯s soul, but they did not have the luxury of questioning either because the pressure exuding from Perfected Huanglong intensified as his eyes scanned the humans. He finally stopped on Tianyi, causing him to feel like he was sweating buckets, even though it was no longer physically possible for him. Tianyi didn¡¯t fear for his life, but he needed to assure Daoyi¡¯s life. The conduit he left on Daoyi was not strong enough to open a portal in the presence of a divinity. Only his level three conduit could. The morale of the humans plummeted to the abyss, while it was the exact opposite for the demons. Demon Emperor Redraco didn¡¯t know why Perfected Huanglong was so unwilling to take action before this, or even the previous wars with the humans, but now that he finally appeared, Demon Emperor Redraco knew that the Demon Clan¡¯s victory was all but assured. Once the divine dragon killed all the humans here, the Demon Clan would move and hide their Divine Beast Pseudo System, waiting to restore their strength so they could exact revenge on the Primordial and Numinous Realms. Emperor Southsword gritted his teeth. His body was trembling, but he glared unyieldingly at Perfected Huanglong and forced his body to stand straight. Many other sword monarchs had already buckled under the pressure, falling to their knees in the void. Those that hadn¡¯t were hunched over despite their efforts. Their heart was willing, but their body was weak. ¡®Dammit, if only the Numinous Sword Sect had a divinity!¡¯ Emperor Southsword thought in despair. He had already prepared himself for death, but even in death, he was unwilling to bow. Unnoticed by Emperor Southsword, Bao Ling stood calmly in the void. He was still hugging his sword, his eyes calm and unperturbed. It was as if the pressure emitted by Perfected Huanglong did not exist in his world. Aside from Bao Ling, there was another person who remained calm. He was Minister Everpast. When the divine yellow dragon appeared, he only showed a modicum of shock. He was more surprised by Perfected Huanglong¡¯s advent, rather than his existence. As if sensing something, Minister Everpast looked up. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. White light cascaded down onto the humans, freeing them from the divine dragon¡¯s pressure. The light continued to flow, but once it reached a certain point, an earthen yellow barrier obstructed it, preventing it from shrouding the demons. A colossal humanoid wearing imperial jade green robes arrived. All the immortals present added up could not compare to him in mass or height, but compared to the divine yellow dragon, he looked tiny. The aura he emitted, however, was not one whit inferior to the dragon. With the pressure gone, Minister Everpast took the lead in kneeling. ¡°We welcome the Concealed Emperor.¡± Although many members of the Immortal Court heard of the Concealed Emperor, few had met him. For most of them, this was the first time. Few foolish people could cultivate to reach the Immortal Realm. They all soon realized that the Concealed Emperor was not an immortal emperor, but a divinity just like Perfected Huanglong. Most of the sword immortals also knelt and thanked the Concealed Emperor. Only a few, like Bao Ling, remained still. However, they did not remain unperturbed, like Emperor Southsword. ¡®Dammit, dammit! How is this possible?!¡¯ Even someone who experienced wind and rain like him couldn¡¯t remain calm at this revelation. The appearance of the divine dragon was already shocking enough, but it was possible that Perfected Huanglong used a method akin to the Black Tortoise. Only, he was more successful than his counterpart and managed to regain his divinity. Such a divinity would take millions of years to regain their full strength, according to the knowledge the Numinous Sword Sect gained. The Numinous Sword Sect still had the confidence to withstand such a divinity¡¯s attack, especially with their trump card. If that failed, they could ally with the Immortal Court, but if the Immortal Court had their own divinity, why would they choose to cooperate with the Numinous Sword Sect over the Demon Clan? Just because they were both humans? Don¡¯t make him laugh. The goddess who created the humans was a demon. If that was taken into consideration, humans could be considered a subspecies of demons. Ones born with weaker bodies but with spirituality. Emperor Southsword had thought the Numinous Sword Sect and Immortal Court were on equal footing, but now he knew that was anything but the truth. He knew that the Concealed Emperor appeared before the founding era of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Before, he had thought the Concealed Emperor was a title, one passed down from successor to successor. It was impossible for an immortal to live millions of years in the contemporary era, even an immortal sovereign. Now it made sense. The Concealed Emperor wasn¡¯t an immortal but a divinity all along? Now comes the question, why did he hide his appearance until now? For that matter, why did Perfected Huanglong also hide his appearance until now? Even if they won the war against the Demon Clan, Emperor Southsword could foresee the difficult situation of the Numinous Sword Sect in the future. The Numinous Sword Sect had always thought they would produce a divinity before the Immortal Court, but it seemed that they needed to pour all their efforts into producing a divinity. Even a Divinity of Faith was fine, as long as they had someone capable of countering the Concealed Emperor. The Concealed Emperor paid no heed to the immortals and smiled at Perfected Huanglong like an old friend. ¡°Junior Brother, the Demon Clan lost.¡± ¡°Hmpf, don¡¯t call me Junior Brother, you mere clone,¡± Perfected Huanglong said. ¡°I am indeed a clone, but I still share the same origin as the Main Body, your senior brother,¡± the Concealed Emperor said. ¡°That doesn¡¯t make you my senior brother, Jadelight. Enough, I want Senior Brother to come out and speak to me.¡± The Concealed Emperor didn¡¯t show any emotion at Perfected Huanglong¡¯s words. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s impossible. The Main Body has fallen with the Immortal Court at the end of the primordial era.¡± A melancholic silence pervaded the two¡¯s surroundings. After their first sentence, both of them sealed the surroundings so that the immortals and demons below them could not listen in on their conversation. ¡°In the end, even he fell, leaving only behind you, the former Jade Emperor,¡± Perfected Huanglong said, his gaze boring into the Concealed Emperor. ¡°Although I survived, I¡¯m but a shade of my former self without the blessing of the Immortal Court,¡± the Concealed Emperor admitted. ¡°I have to congratulate you. Now that you¡¯ve managed to free yourself from the shackles of immortal godhood, it¡¯s only a matter of time before you regain your former power and rise even higher. Still, I should still possess enough power to equal the current you.¡± Silence remained between the two, but sparks clashed. It seemed to be able to light the tense atmosphere and cause an explosion at any moment. ¡°That remains to be seen,¡± Perfected Huanglong said, fighting intent spilling out from his dragon eyes. ¡°Even if my power is restricted, my flesh has not regressed with my essence.¡± ¡°Be that as it may, have you forgotten that when the two of us are occupied, the immortals and demons will fight it out? Even if you freed and saved Xuanwu¡¯s life, do you think it will change the end result? You are only prolonging the inevitable,¡± the Concealed Emperor said. Perfected Huanglong stayed silent. Finally, he spoke. ¡°I should have killed the Nine Heavens Emperor when I had the chance.¡± ¡°Even if you killed his incarnation, it would do nothing. He has countless incarnations, and even divinities like us can¡¯t accurately sense him if he wants to hide. He¡¯s not even entangled by causality. In fact, I doubt Master could kill him even if he erased all of that boy¡¯s incarnations,¡± the Concealed Emperor said. The silence lengthened between the two as Perfected Huanglong tried to think of a way to overturn the situation, but nothing he thought of would work. And the Concealed Emperor was happy to let Perfected Huanglong ruminate over his choices. He believed the divine dragon would concede. ¡°If the Demon Clan surrenders, what will happen?¡± The Concealed Emperor smiled. He knew that Perfected Huanglong didn¡¯t have too much feelings for the Demon Clan, or rather, the True Dragon Clan. The Dragon Clan expelled him before he became a disciple of the Heavenly Lord of Primordial Beginning. Besides, comparing the current dragons to the dragons in the beginning of the primordial era was like comparing a chicken to a tyrannosaurus. They may share a link, but they could no longer be considered the same species. Rather than a sense of belonging, Perfected Huanglong wanted to use the Demon Clan for his own ends, a force controlled by him alone. ¡°The Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect will each take forty-five percent of the Demon Clan¡¯s entire wealth. You will keep ten percent. As for the demons, as long as they surrender, they can join either force.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Perfected Huanglong uttered. ¡°What if I join the Numinous Sword Sect and oppose you?¡± Chapter 550: Demon Clans End The Concealed Emperor smiled at Perfected Huanglong¡¯s question. ¡°Junior Brother should be clear about the power of the Immortal Court. The Buzhou Immortal Sect did not rename itself because it claims to be of Master¡¯s lineage.¡± ¡°You mean that the Immortal Court wasn¡¯t destroyed in the great tribulation?¡± Perfected Huanglong asked. He didn¡¯t wait for the Concealed Emperor to answer. ¡°No wonder, no wonder. It seems that the Jade Fantasy Palace has fallen into your hands as well.¡± The Concealed Emperor stayed silent, but Perfected Huanglong didn¡¯t care. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you that even the reborn Heavenly Lord of the Virtuous Way has ceded the dominance of Three Thousand Immortal Realms to us,¡± the Concealed Emperor said. ¡°The Heavenly Lord of the Virtuous Way?!¡± Perfected Huanglong cried out, losing his composure for the first time. He went through the information given to him by the Demon Clan. ¡°Confucius? Is he the Heavenly Lord of the Virtuous Way? If he survived, what about Master?¡± The Concealed Emperor¡¯s smile disappeared. ¡°Since the end of the primordial era, Master has not contacted me. None of Master¡¯s artifacts rejected my attempts to refine them.¡± Perfected Huanglong turned silent. He knew that the hope was slim, however, he always harbored hope. Now, the Concealed Emperor all but told him that the Heavenly Lord of Primordial Beginning likely perished. ¡°Damn devils.¡± ¡°Then what about the Heavenly Lord of Numinous Treasures? The Numinous Sword Sect is of his lineage,¡± Perfected Huanglong asked. The Concealed Emperor shook his head. ¡°You should know from the years of battle that the Numinous Sword Sect only deduced the Heavenly Lord of Numinous Treasure¡¯s sword arts from the four Immortal Extermination Swords. They did not receive his orthodox legacy. The Heavenly Lord of Numinous Treasures taught without discrimination. How could his lineage only include sword immortals? You should know this better than anyone.¡± ¡°It¡¯s understandable. Even Master failed, and only the most unfathomable of the Three Pure Ones saved his life, but at a cost. How could the Heavenly Lord of Numinous Treasures survive?¡± Perfected Huanglong said. ¡°Junior Brother, have you thought it through? If you are still unwilling, I am more than happy to test your strength, but once that happens, all the demons will perish,¡± the Concealed Emperor said. ¡°Don¡¯t you threaten me,¡± Perfected Huanglong said. ¡°You and I know that once we clash, we will not be able to hide it from the Buddhists. Once they see us, their guard will be raised. And they might even take advantage of our clash to advance their goals.¡± ¡°Luya already knows.¡± ¡°Luya, Di Jun¡¯s son, the last of the Golden Crows? He¡¯s still alive?¡± Perfected Huanglong let out in shock. ¡°He¡¯s now the S¨±rya? Buddha of Buddhism,¡± the Concealed Emperor said. ¡°What exactly are you planning?¡± Perfected Huanglong asked. ¡°To escape,¡± the Concealed Emperor revealed without reserve. ¡°The Heavenly Throne allowed me to survive, but it also placed a shackle onto me.¡± Perfected Huanglong sneered. ¡°You should have known that the heavenly officials bear no good karma, even the highest seat.¡± ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. I was only a clone. How could I disobey the Main Body¡¯s command?¡± the Concealed Emperor asked. ¡°Enough stalling. Tell me your answer.¡±
Gradually the Concealed Emperor and Perfected Huanglong¡¯s figure became blurry. Even Tianyi could not sense them. It was as if they had entered a separate dimension untouched by spacetime. Tianyi didn¡¯t mind. He teleported next to Daoyi and teleported her inside into the Nine Heavens Universe. Next, he appeared next to Ba Shifang, who was standing next to Hu Landie. An awkward expression appeared on his face. His clone had long gained independence, but they were from the same origin after all. Even before that, his clone was a separate individual with different thoughts and personality, but Tianyi still found it strange that his clone married. When Ba Shifang and Hu Landie first announced their relationship, he had rushed to Daoyi saying that it was not his intention. It was Ba Shifang¡¯s own choice, and he was not cheating. Yeah, that was an awkward conversation. Because of this, he generally did not contact Ba Shifang when he was next to Hu Landie. ¡°Do you want to enter my inner universe?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°What about Landie, can she enter too?¡± Ba Shifang asked. Tianyi hesitated. The fact that he possessed an inner universe was a secret only known to the high echelon. Very few immortal monarchs knew about it, and this did not included Hu Landie. As an immortal monarch and an outsider who joined during wartime, the Immortal Court made a psychological profile on her. In the final analysis, they concluded that Hu Landie was not someone trustworthy. Logic dictated too much of her actions and they could not rely on her emotions to secure her loyalty. Thus, she was specifically listed as someone that could not know Tianyi¡¯s secret. He didn¡¯t think she would allow him to seal her and then bring her into his inner universe without all the information. Her analysis also listed her distrustful nature, and even if Ba Shifang guaranteed, Tianyi didn¡¯t think she would budge. Ba Shifang knew the answer when he saw Tianyi¡¯s silence. ¡°I¡¯ll wait. If I¡¯m really in danger, I know you¡¯ll save me.¡± Tianyi was helpless. Ba Shifang felt like a child who refused to listen to reason, though Tianyi knew where he was coming from. If Daoyi could not be taken to safety, Tianyi felt like he would remain behind too. ¡°Okay,¡± Tianyi said aloud. He left, but remained within a thousand meters of the two. This way, he could arrive in a short amount of time and save the two. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Hu Landie glanced between Tianyi and Ba Shifang. ¡°Is there anything wrong?¡± Ba Shifang asked with a gentle smile. She looked away. ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± Hu Landie wasn¡¯t stupid. She realized that Tianyi and Ba Shifang had communicated secretly because they were discussing a secret she couldn¡¯t know. Still, she didn¡¯t feel much about it. Unless the information harmed her, it wouldn¡¯t matter. After that little episode, Tianyi kept his eyes on the two blurry divinities. He wasn¡¯t the only one, as many immortals and demons kept their attention on the two divinities. Of course, they still kept the necessary precautions against their foe, in case they launched an attack. Neither side did, as the decision-makers knew that whatever action they took was incomparable to a divinity taking action. So, they waited patiently. Finally, the divinities¡¯ visage became clear again. Everyone held their breath. The two¡¯s decision would decide the outcome of the war. Even if the humans held the upper hand, they could still lose. Under everyone¡¯s bated breath, Perfected Huanglong spoke first. ¡°The Demon Clan has lost.¡± It was as if lightning had struck everyone. The demons¡¯ morale plummeted. They gazed at the humans, especially the Concealed Emperor with fear, sadness, unwillingness, and hatred. Although they might not all die thanks to Perfected Huanglong, they would undoubtedly lose something very important. Some demons glared at Perfected Huanglong with resentment. They weren¡¯t like Demon Emperor Redraco or the other demon emperors. They only learned about him at the end of the war. How great their excitement and hope were at his appearance equated to their current hatred and despair. Completely opposite of the demons, the humans were jubilant. Even the sword immortals, who knew they would eventually have to face the Concealed Emperor, could not help but show cheerful smiles. They didn¡¯t show too much, or else they might earn the ire of the divine dragon. Even if the Concealed Emperor wanted to save them, they still had a high chance of dying. Once they died, no matter what price the demon paid, they would not come back. While the weaker immortals celebrated, immortal emperors like Southsword and Vastlight were troubled. However, Minister Vastlight¡¯s expression soon relaxed. The Concealed Emperor already informed them that they would get forty-five percent of all the Demon Clan¡¯s wealth. It was the opposite of Emperor Southsword. He was happy about getting forty-five percent of the Demon Clan¡¯s wealth, but troubled by the other half of the agreement. The Demon Clan would not be wiped out, but in return, they would have to choose to join either the Immortal Court or the Numinous Sword Sect. Whichever side Perfected Huanglong joins would inevitably lead to a large number of demons joining. Emperor Southsword hoped that this didn¡¯t include the divine dragon. Either side it joined would spell catastrophe for the Numinous Sword Sect. If Perfected Huanglong joined the Numinous Sword Sect, it would undoubtedly affect the leadership. In all likelihood, they might take over the Numinous Sword Sect, and it would become the new Demon Clan in all but name. If Perfected Huanglong joined the Immortal Court, it would also create problems. The best result would be that the Immortal Court enters civil war as the Perfected Huanglong and the Concealed Emperor vie for power. However, the chances of that happening were small. It was more likely that the two sides would cooperate. For the Numinous Sword Sect that had no divinities, the information was akin to the heavens falling. ¡°I¡¯m not willing, I¡¯m not! If this is the result, what about Blacktiger¡¯s death and Bluefeather¡¯s sacrifice?! I would rather die!¡± Demon Emperor Redraco shouted. Perfected Huanglong had obviously informed him of the price for the Demon Clan¡¯s survival. Demon Emperor Redraco was the most devout believer of the Perfected Huanglong, but at this moment, he turned away. Not just him, but many of the demons couldn¡¯t accept it. The Qilin Patriarch sighed and flew next to Demon Emperor Redraco. He wasn¡¯t the only one. The Phoenix Patriarch and Dragon Patriarch did the same. Many demons followed their actions, but they were the diehards. Most demons retreated. If they had a chance to live, they would not give up their life. ¡°Those who are willing to surrender, come to me,¡± Perfected Huanglong said. Most of the demons who were willing did so, leaving behind only a minority. The demon emperors did not stop this. They just watched and when all the demons that were willing to surrender left, Demon Emperor Redraco stared at Tianyi. ¡°Human, I challenge you to a duel to the death! Do you dare to accept?¡± Only a few seconds passed, and Tianyi accepted. He flew forward and met Demon Emperor Redraco, who did the same. The two started to fight, but although the clash seemed fierce, Tianyi felt rather disinterested. Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s ferocity exceeded before, because he had really given up on life and was using everything he had to kill Tianyi. But he lacked a fire, the drive that pushed him to act before. Having lost his will to live, he was closer to a walking corpse in Tianyi¡¯s opinion. Even if Tianyi didn¡¯t kill him, his waning willpower would see to his end. Not long later, Tianyi crushed Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s scale and annihilated his soul. He took the Realm Dragon Scales, but the Azure Dragon Blood Essence flew away and into Perfected Huanglong¡¯s claws. The next one to challenge was the Qilin Patriarch, and his chosen foe was Minister Everpast, who accepted. Tianyi watched with apathy. Had he not fought Demon Emperor Redraco, he really thought the demon leaders were trying to deal the last casualty to them, but after discussing it with Minister Everpast and Vastlight, he learned the truth of the matter. The demons, or the leaders at the very least, weren¡¯t hellbent on fighting to the death, or maintaining their last bit of pride or dignity. Nor were they committing suicide using a borrowed knife. No, they were using their lives to pave a way for the Demon Clan¡¯s future. If the Demon Clan¡¯s leaders like themselves surrendered, the humans would never trust them and would use all sorts of hidden methods to weaken them. They couldn¡¯t rely on Perfected Huanglong to protect them because of the Concealed Emperor¡¯s presence. If he could have protected them, he would not have surrendered. Once they, the former leaders of the Demon Clan, died, the Demon Clan would enter a new age. The humans wouldn¡¯t be as wary and might even allow them to restore their strength in the future. They were trading their lives for the future of the Demon Clan. Just like with Tianyi, Minister Everpast won and killed the Qilin Patriarch. The demons who did not surrender and did not know the truth of the matter trembled. The Phoenix Patriarch sighed and glanced at them. ¡°It¡¯s not too late to regret. You still have a chance to surrender.¡± Some demons did, but many stayed. Whether it was out of loyalty or their last bit of pride, no one knew. The Phoenix Patriarch came forward next. His battle lasted the longest because of his abilities. He still perished in the end. Finally, it was the Dragon Patriarch¡¯s turn, and he followed Demon Emperor Redraco¡¯s footstep. Tianyi sighed as he watched all this. There was no joy in his eyes as he watched them perished one by one. He glanced at the Black Tortoise, the only one who joined Perfected Huanglong. Even if the Black Tortoise was unwilling to give up, his death probably wouldn¡¯t matter, so he simply didn¡¯t join. Still, that didn¡¯t prevent the Black Tortoise from feeling grief. Compared to Perfected Huanglong, he could have said to have fought side by side with the contemporary Demon Clan and developed much deeper feelings. Finally, the farce came to an end as all the Demon Clan¡¯s leaders perished. Only a few demon kings and the demon lords remained. Some challenged the humans, but many stayed silent. Unable to leave, but unwilling to die. The humans looked toward the Concealed Emperor for guidance. Should they step forward and slaughter these remnants or let them go? The Concealed Emperor turned around. ¡°Leave them.¡± The members of the Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect followed behind. Perfected Huanglong and the demons did the same. Most of them followed the Immortal Court, but a few split off and joined the Numinous Sword Sect. The final Divine Beast-Human War had come to an end. Chapter 551: Leave it to You The remnants watched as their former comrades flew toward the True Dragon Realm, the Phoenix Realm, and Qilin Realm. It was obvious that the humans would plunder them next. They wanted to shout and berate their former comrades, but logic made them stop. The demon remnants knew that this pardon was only temporary. If the humans saw them again after this, they would kill them without mercy. The only reason they left them alive was because their leaders had fallen and all that was left were some miscellaneous fish, and to prevent greater enmity from the surrendered demons. With one unwilling glance, the demon remnants fled. If they stayed and waited until the humans left, it would remain unknown whether they would spare them again. Most of the same lineage grouped together while a few went their separate ways. With no one to lead them, their power scattered forever. Some chose to hide among the uncaptured realms of the Divine Beast Pseudo System, while others chose to enter the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System first before hiding. Many had expended a great deal of their qi in the war. Like immortals, demons, even demon emperors, could not restore their qi in the void. Thus, many of those that chose to travel to the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System first would perish from lack of qi. Only the strongest would survive the journey. Now that they were in the three home courts of the Demon Clan, the leaders of the two hegemonic forces waged a war of words over the resources of the Demon Clan. Of course, Perfected Huanglong had already taken ten percent of the Demon Clan¡¯s wealth first. The Concealed Emperor didn¡¯t mention it, so neither did Minister Vastlight, much less Emperor Southsword. Even if he wanted to, he had no foundation to voice his objection. He and the Numinous Sword Sect simply did not have the capital to bargain. Even though he was only bargaining with Minister Vastlight, he was under great pressure. Any moment, his words could displease the Concealed Emperor or Perfected Huanglong. However, the situation he dreaded did not appear. Rather, it was too smooth! This gave Emperor Southsword a feeling that he was dreaming. The Immortal Court did not use the fact that they had a divinity to pressure him. ¡®Was there something wrong with the Immortal Court¡¯s divinity?¡¯ If that was the case, it would explain the Immortal Court¡¯s soft stance against the Numinous Sword Sect. However, it was just as likely that it was nothing more than a ploy to trick them into letting their guard down. Emperor Southsword didn¡¯t know, but it didn¡¯t prevent him from fighting for more benefits. No matter which of the two situations, or the myriad of other possibilities, the fact that the Numinous Sword Sect needed their own divinity did not change. In order to increase the chances of this happening, the Numinous Sword Sect needed a vast amount of resources, and the defeated Demon Clan just so happened to have many of them. Of course, what he knew, the Immortal Court also knew. So, Minister Vastlight and Emperor Southsword focused on haggling over the prime resources needed to forcibly ascend an immortal to the Divine Realm. For that, he was even willing to concede the True Dragon Realm, Phoenix Realm, and Qilin Realm to the Immortal Court. Wealth did not mean just the resources in the Demon Clan¡¯s treasury, it was also all the resource points in those three immortal-rank realms. Individually, those three realms could not compare to the Numinous Realm, Primordial Realm, or the newly formed Virtuous Realm, but together, they represented a massive amount of passive resources. Granted, it was probably not enough to equal even the smallest Virtuous Realm, but if the Numinous Sword Sect had taken control of it, they could have increased the amount of resources they obtained by twenty to thirty percent annually. However, it would take at least thousands of years, if not hundreds of thousands of years, before those three realms could be relocated near the core of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System after the Pseudo Divine Beast System merged with it. Until then, whichever force occupied it would have to spend massive amounts of manpower and resources to manage the True Dragon Realm, Phoenix Realm, and Qilin Realm. It was undoubtedly a wiser choice for the long term, but the Numinous Sword Sect would not have a future if they did not cultivate a divinity before the Immortal Court attacked. Although they teamed up to fight against the Demon Clan, Emperor Southsword was under no illusion that this alliance would remain after the threat of the Demon Clan vanished. However, he could not make his plan too obvious, and he only ¡°reluctantly¡± conceded the three immortal rank realms to the Immortal Court after much haggling. Emperor Southsword hoped that the Immortal Court would spend a large amount of their attention, manpower, and resources to manage the True Dragon Realm, Phoenix Realm, and Qilin Realm. After negotiations finished, Emperor Southsword led the immortals of the Numinous Sword Sect to return to the Numinous Realm inside the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Although they did not bring their mobile fortress, they brought a few realm artifacts in case of emergency. Now, they were using those realm artifacts to house their immortals while the emperors traveled through the Vast Void.
¡°Hm?¡± Tianyi paused and looked up. His gaze pierced the boundary of the True Dragon Realm and into the void. He could still see the back of Emperor Southsword and Bao Ling. ¡®Was it just my imagination?¡¯ Earlier, he felt something sharp near his back, akin to a sword pressing against his skin, but when he turned around, there was no one. The only one who could give him such a sense of threat was Bao Ling. Tianyi would never forget their fight. It was the first time he felt so outclassed. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Tianyi turned towards Daoyi. ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± He walked toward the other leaders with Daoyi. ¡°Emperor,¡± Tianyi said with a bow. ¡°We were just talking about you,¡± the Concealed Emperor said with a smile. ¡°Me?¡± Tianyi repeated. ¡®Is it about my contribution?¡¯ ¡°We all think you¡¯re the most suitable for the job, considering your track record.¡± ¡®Does he want me to kill the demon¡¯s remnants? I mean, I could with my mastery over spacetime, but I don¡¯t think my actions could escape Perfected Huanglong¡¯s eyes.¡¯ Tianyi thought. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea.¡± ¡°Nonsense,¡± the Concealed Emperor interrupted. ¡°There is no one more suitable than you.¡± With his words, the other immortal emperors and monarchs nodded in agreement. Tianyi looked at them in confusion. Did they all agree to hunt down the demon remnants? Since everyone thought it was a good idea, then he could only accept it. Although he was strong, he didn¡¯t think he was wiser than all the people present. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I will humbly accept this task.¡± ¡°Great!¡± The Concealed Emperor walked forward and patted Tianyi¡¯s shoulders. ¡°You have helped us tremendously.¡± ¡®Why does it sound like you are sending me on a suicide mission?¡¯ ¡°Moving three immortal-rank realms is a tiresome task, but if it¡¯s you, it¡¯ll take some time and save a lot of resources. Once again, thank you. I¡¯ll leave it to you.¡± It took a full five seconds for Tianyi to process what he just heard. He snapped around toward the Concealed Emperor who was leaving. ¡°Wait, wait, wait! That¡¯s too much, even for me.¡± ¡°What do you mean? Did you not merge ninety-nine realms into the Huang Realm and create the Primordial Realm?¡± ¡°I was only leading that. And I had help from the other ministers and we used a giant formation with the Huang Realm at the core!¡± Tianyi cried out. ¡°I have confidence in you. Did you not defeat the realm beast one-on-one?¡± At that question, Tianyi found himself silenced. He looked at the sky in despair and groaned. Daoyi covered her mouth with her sleeve and giggled. ¡°I¡¯ll be cheering you on.¡± Tianyi glared at her. ¡°Traitor.¡± She only smiled. To her, Tianyi¡¯s glare was like a spring breeze. Comfortable and not threatening at all. Tianyi sighed and vanished. ¡°Since you want me to move the three realms, I¡¯ll do as you wish and immediately. Even before you finish!¡± When he moved the three realms, it¡¯ll definitely cause a commotion and make it difficult for the Immortal Court to do some things. It wasn¡¯t too effective, but it could convey his irritation and annoyance. In the void between the three realms, Tianyi appeared. Strictly speaking, the True Dragon Realm, Phoenix Realm, and Qilin realm could only be considered pseudo immortal rank realms. The reason why all three were considered immortal rank realms was because of a special formation that linked the three of them together. Now, Tianyi wanted to add himself as the core of the formation and move the three realms by dragging them. It was akin to a solar system. The planets orbited the sun and where the sun went; the planets went. Of course, this was a great simplification. Tianyi needed to dissect the formation linking the three realms and created a new one with four components. He would need years at the very least. It was a good thing he had multiple bodies, or he would have gone crazy. While Tianyi worked on moving the three realms, the Concealed Emperor brought Perfected Huanglong back to the unofficially named Buzhou Immortal Island. The rest of the demons followed Minister Everpast and most of the immortals back. Minister Vastlight and a few immortals stayed behind to manage the True Dragon Realm, Phoenix Realm, and Qilin Realm. When Minister Everpast and the other immortals brought the demons back, they did not allow them to enter the Immortal Court. Instead, they allowed the demons free rein and simply left. Of course, they warned the demons that they were not allowed to massacre mortals or devour them on a large scale for pleasure and other debauched reasons, like the Human Refinement Plan they came up with a century ago. At first, the demons were timid and huddled together for warmth, but as time passed, they discovered that the humans really didn¡¯t care about them. Thus, they became bolder and explored their new home. Many demons grouped up according to their species, like wolves with wolves, bears with bears, dragons with dragons, but some solitary species drifted away. Without the pressure of the Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect and guidance of their leaders, these demons were like a batch of loose sands. Even if new leaders emerge, they could no longer unite all the demons, and this state would only increase in time. The new leaders knew that if they united again, the humans might perceive them as a threat and eliminate them. It was akin to an emperor who didn¡¯t like his officials allying with each other. The emperor would feel as if the officials had a rebellious heart. Even if they didn¡¯t, no emperor would allow a force that could threaten his life to continue. A minority of the demons flew toward the Central Region of the Trinity Continent, sincerely wishing to join the Immortal Court. Such demons were treated as outcasts and only a few were successful. Most of the demons laid claim to territory and governed it. Although thousands of years have passed since the Huang Realm transformed into the Primordial Realm, there were still many unoccupied lands. It was not that the existing forces were unwilling to increase their territory, but the land was simply too large and they did not have enough manpower to rule them. They were already stretched thin as it was. The clan that claimed the most territory was the Dragon Clan and those of their lineage. Humans didn¡¯t like living in the water, even if they had the ability to do so. Demons who didn¡¯t like water lived on the land. No matter how hard they tried, it was inevitable that they would encounter humans. Conflicts inevitably broke out, with demons enduring anything, fearing that the Immortal Court would kill them. Once the humans they encountered discovered that the demons were unwilling to attack them, they attacked with even greater enthusiasm. Once or twice, the demons could endure, but eventually, they had to counterattack. Those demons made those foolish humans realize the error of their ways. Immediately after, the demons ran away, fearing retaliation from the Immortal Court. However, they discovered that no one came to arrest or punish them, and they realized that the Immortal Court really won¡¯t care. As long as they didn¡¯t violate any taboo or massacre humans on a large scale, the Immortal Court let them do as they please. Because of this, the demons became bolder and attacked the human forces, driving them away and occupying the fertile and resource aplenty lands. How could the original forces stand this? They counterattacked and the humans and demons eventually became embroiled in a conflict. It wasn¡¯t frequent at first, but as the Primordial Realm became more and more developed, the intensity would increase. Some people realized this was the Immortal Court¡¯s scheme. The Immortal Court did not want any human force to grow powerful enough to threaten them, so they used the demons to curb them. Simultaneously, they used the human forces to keep the demons in check. It was an open scheme, but no one could do anything to break the situation. Chapter 552: A Hundred Years The demons¡¯ appearance in the Primordial Realm disrupted the original order, but for the Immortal Court, it was nothing. Of course, if the Primordial Realm became too chaotic, it would not be conducive to their rule, so they would periodically appear and quell the chaos, punishing the culprits. After a few times, all forces, human and demons, figured out the general range of conflict allowed by the Immortal Court. Tianyi had nothing to do with this. His most powerful conduit was still between the True Dragon Realm, Phoenix Realm, and Qilin Realm, but his remaining level two conduits were still free. Theoretically, he could appear in the Primordial Realm or tour the myriad lower realms as he wished, but he did not do so during this period. The Concealed Emperor¡¯s task for Tianyi was not without benefits. As long as he played his card right, he could dramatically increase his understanding of the worldly laws. The Divine Beast Pseudo System was collapsing and merging back with the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. The damage to the realms would be minimal because the two came from the same source, the Primordial World. Whenever a realm entered the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System from the Divine Beast Pseudo System, the worldly law would be exposed, making it far easier to comprehend. The stronger the realm, the more the worldly law was exposed. Naturally, the three immortal rank realms would expose the largest amount of worldly laws. For most immortal emperors, understanding more worldly laws would be icing on the cake. Their primary focus was to merge three worldly laws with their primary law. The only reason most would comprehend new laws was because they could not merge the worldly laws they already understood. All paths lead to the same end. By comprehending more laws and broadening their knowledge, they could increase their law fusion by analogy, too. Immortal monarchs would love to have such a chance too. For them, it would be a shortcut to reach the Fifth-Step Seamless Immortal Realm, saving countless years, possibly hundreds if not thousands of years. However, the biggest beneficiaries were the immortal lords. The number of immortal lords actually exceeded the number of true monarchs. They all had the potential, but were stopped at the last step. As long as they were lucky enough and were exposed to the worldly law they comprehended, they could instantly master it and become an immortal monarch. As such, many immortals from the Immortal Court would travel to realms close to entering the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System using the Immortal Embassy. Most of them were true immortals with a few immortal monarchs. They would stay in a realm that crossed into the Three Thousand Immortal Realms for a few years before shuttling to another realm that was about to cross and repeat the process. Even if the immortals did not find the law they were comprehending, it was still beneficial to dabble in others law when they had the chance. They weren¡¯t biting off more than they could chew, but taking advantage of the opportunity. Who knows, maybe comprehending a different law was the chance they needed. It wasn¡¯t only one group, but several groups. Of course, not all the immortals had such a great opportunity. Those without talent were naturally not considered. Not to mention that they needed manpower to maintain order. Even if they didn¡¯t think the Numinous Sword Sect would attack them, they still had to be cautious. And the Demon Clan had just surrendered and the Immortal Court had to keep watch over them. If the demons did suddenly rebel, unlikely as that was, the Concealed Emperor would be occupied by Perfected Huanglong, and they would have to deal with the rest. Naturally, this benefit did not exclude the Numinous Sword Sect. So the sword immortals of the Numinous Sword Realm would also appear in the realms about to enter the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Sometimes, they would encounter the Immortal Court, but on unspoken agreement, both sides did not initiate conflict and would leave after the exposed worldly laws disappeared. The only force that had the power that did not benefit were the demons that surrendered. They were trapped in the Primordial Realm and under probation. It would probably take tens of thousands of years before they could leave the Primordial Realm without permission. Of course, although rare, not all participants of this event were immortals. Some astounding saints also had a chance to comprehend the exposed worldly laws, but most of them were from the Immortal Court or affiliated forces. Tianyi blinked and took out his Xiyi Talisman. [Samsara Travelers Chat Group] Real-Fake Princess: Is it true that there is an opportunity to comprehend the worldly laws @Ultimate Young Master? The person behind the username was Gan Xuehua, a reincarnator who switched souls with the original princess of the Gan Dynasty. After Gao Chushi joined, she was no longer the newbie and changed her name from Rookie #69 to the current iteration. As a side note, Gao Chushi¡¯s nickname was Rookie #420. Ultimate Young Master: There is. Flame-On: Can confirm. Going to become a Fifth-Step Monarch within a hundred years. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Of course Tianyi knew that Yan Nie was on one of the Immortal Embassies. He wasn¡¯t quite an official member of the Immortal Court, but the distinction was only in name. His master, Monarch Pillrabbit, was one of the deputies of the Immortal Court¡¯s Alchemy Department under the Immortal Ministry of Works. Yan Nie concocted quite a bit of pills for them during the war, earning a lot of contribution points. Fifty percent of the emperor-level pills came from him alone. He had earned more than enough contribution points to ask the Immortal Court to allow him to join them in the Immortal Embassy. That included his wife, Yun Xialan. He even paid for Pan Lanyue¡¯s trip too. Although he requested that she be sent on a different Immortal Embassy than himself. Rookie #420: What? There is such a good thing? Argh, I really want to ascend as fast as possible. Is there any senior that can take me? I¡¯ll remember this favor for the rest of my life! For a while, silence seemed to have taken over the chat group. Rookie #420: Guys? Why isn¡¯t anyone answering? Ultimate Young Master: What realm are you in right now? Rookie #420: I¡¯m currently in the Wuliao Realm, a high rank realm. Ultimate Young Master: I can give you a slot, but what can you give me in return? Although everyone was a reincarnator, that didn¡¯t mean they would help each other unconditionally. Now, it was Gao Chushi¡¯s turn to become silent. Just as Tianyi was about to give him some leeway, Gao Chushi dm¡¯d him. Rookie #420: Senior, I got a fragment of inheritance from the Kitchen God. Can I offer it as payment? Tianyi thought about it. According to legend, the Kitchen God was also known as the Stove God. He was not a powerful god, but he controlled the Law of Fire. For Tianyi, the inheritance was useless, but it might be of use to the Immortal Court. He also thought that Gao Chushi was not telling the whole truth. It could be possible that he had far more of the inheritance than he let on. Ultimate Young Master: It¡¯s no use to me, but I can offer you a different option. You can offer it to the Immortal Court and join as an immortal seed. With the backing of the Immortal Court, your path to immortality will become much smoother. Rookie #420: Can you give me some time to think about it? Ultimate Young Master: Of course. You literally have thousands of years to think about it. With that, Tianyi returned to the Samsara Traveler¡¯s Chat Group. With Gao Chushi¡¯s departure, Gan Xuehua started posting again. Real-Fake Princess: The demons¡¯ attack on our nation has slowed down. We already lost about a third of our territory and Father is only managing thanks to the formation set up throughout the country, but we didn¡¯t have enough time to set up formations everywhere. Public safety is down and people rarely venture out of the cities. Death rates have dramatically risen. Real-Fake Princess: I¡¯m hoping that the demons will give up and retreat to go after another target after realizing they would break their fangs attempting to devour us. I¡¯m hoping to master a law and become an immortal monarch in one step to ease the pressure on Father. Ultimate Young Master: Wait, devour? Are they eating humans? Real-Fake Princess: No. It was an analogy with the Gan Dynasty as the bone. Ultimate Young Master: I see. Well, you should be able to apply to get a seat on the next Immortal Embassy to comprehend the myriad laws. I¡¯ll help you expedite the process. I will only make it smoother for you and not help you pay the price to get the seat. It still ultimately depends on yourself. Real-Fake Princess: I understand. Just helping to expedite the process is already enough. Thank you. Tianyi left the chat group and returned to comprehending the myriad laws. Unlike the immortals that had to use modes of transport like the Immortal Embassy, Tianyi could teleport outside any realm he liked and enter before they passed into the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Coupled with his countless conduits, he could theoretically be present every time the worldly laws were exposed. The conduit present didn¡¯t even need to be that strong. Any level zero conduit would do. Their combat prowess varied only because of the amount of power they could draw from the Nine Heavens Universe, but their perception did not differ much. It was more than enough to comprehend the worldly laws. And because of the uniqueness of his existence, none of the other immortals could perceive him unless they physically saw him. Thanks to this opportunity, the breadth of Tianyi¡¯s mastery of worldly laws increased at an absurd rate. Not even an immortal sovereign could compare. Perhaps, only divinities could rival his comprehension speed. The more worldly laws he comprehended, the faster he comprehended new laws. It was a positive feedback loop with seemingly no end. The more laws he comprehended, the greater control he had over his inner universe. He spotted more planets, created more constellations that radiated the aura of the laws he comprehended. However, Tianyi realized that it did not increase his strength much. He still needed to create methods of application of the laws. His level three conduit was still at the power of an immortal emperor, his level two conduits still only had the power of a half-emperor if pushed to the limits, and his level one conduits had the power of an immortal lord, and so on. Granted, it could be argued that his level three conduit had the power of an immortal sovereign. In fact, many immortals who witnessed Tianyi¡¯s power classified him as an immortal sovereign. It was only because Tianyi rejected the title that they still addressed him as emperor when not calling him grand elder. Upon noticing this, Tianyi devoted some of his focus on increasing his application of the worldly laws he comprehended. Unlike Ye Chen or Donghai Longzi, he had not embarked on the path of fusing worldly laws. Although arguably, the Law of Spacetime was a fused law in itself, Tianyi saw it as the original form of the Law of Space and the Law of Time. If mastered to the zenith, it wasn¡¯t impossible to reach the divine level. By then, the restraints placed on him by the Heavenly Dao would weaken, allowing him to bring more power from his inner universe and create more powerful conduits. Right now, he was devoted to creating new moves based on the Law of Spacetime. Previously, he mostly focused on the spatial aspects and neglected the temporal aspects, as they were more difficult to master. Now, he was focusing on the temporal aspects so that they caught up to his spatial application of the Law of Spacetime. Tianyi devoted himself to cultivation with such focus that over a hundred years passed. Had it not been for his mother calling him, he would not have realized how long time passed. ¡°Yi¡¯er, is there something wrong?¡± Mengfei asked. She had furrowed her brows, and it was clear to anyone that she was worried. Chapter 553: Mother and Son Tianyi furrowed his brows. Why did his mother ask such a question? He knew he wasn¡¯t the most dedicated cultivator out there, but he could cultivate in seclusion for a long time too, okay? ¡°Mother, I¡¯m completely fine,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°You don¡¯t usually seek me out like this. Is there something wrong?¡± Mengfei nodded, causing Tianyi to frown. Were the demons making trouble, or did the Numinous Sword Sect plot something sinister? ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you in a hundred years.¡± ¡°Is that so, in that case¡ª¡± Tianyi paused mid-word. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what?¡± In complete seriousness, Mengfei repeated her previous sentence. ¡°We haven¡¯t seen each other in a hundred years. It¡¯s the first time that this has happened. If we don¡¯t see each other often, it means we are drifting apart.¡± Tianyi didn¡¯t answer immediately. He glanced at Mengfei and saw her holding a Xiyi Talisman. Instead of answering, he used his immortal sense to bring up his mother¡¯s Xiyinet history. Lo-and-behold, he guessed exactly right. ¡®Ugh, she found some troublesome books again. One Hundred and One Ways to Stay Connected with Your Child, Understanding Your Child No Matter the Age, Maintaining Boundaries Between Mother and Son, How to Raise an Excellent Son? Those I can somewhat understand, but what the hell is Weaning Your Baby and Keeping Your Baby Close!?¡¯ Tianyi thought with exasperation. ¡®I better screen out what Mother can read so she won¡¯t fill her head with unneeded and weird knowledge again.¡¯ He looked at her again. As usual, she had the same expressionless face, but Tianyi could sense a forlorn aura wrapped around her. ¡®Now that I think about it, what Mother said is true. This is the first time we haven¡¯t seen each other in so long.¡¯ Tianyi looked at Mengfei again. Her figure overlapped with another figure, one sickly and wearing a hospital gown. He knew that figure. It was his mom from his first life on earth. But now, her face had become indistinct, as if hidden behind a haze. He sighed and looked up at the sky. He hadn¡¯t seen his mother for over a hundred years, but he hadn¡¯t seen his mom for thousands of years. Her face was no longer even clear to him. Of course, he had taken precautions and stored his memory of her in an artifact, but that wasn¡¯t all. His emotions toward her had dulled. That didn¡¯t mean Tianyi didn¡¯t want to find his mom. Quite the opposite. He was determined to find her, even if it was only a vestige of her soul. Logically, he knew that she had likely already died, entering the cycle of reincarnation or her soul dispersed. However, that would not stop him. No, his search for her was no longer primarily based on his emotions, but on his duty. This was the cruelty of time. No one, not even immortals, or an existence like himself, was immune. Perhaps one day, he would become an emotionless being, only seeking the end of the immortal path. That thought frightened him. Tianyi looked at Mengfei. ¡®Maybe Mother has the right idea.¡¯ His emotion toward his mom had already dulled. Tianyi didn¡¯t want his emotions toward Mengfei to dull as well. ¡°You¡¯re right, Mother. It was my fault for failing to notice,¡± Tianyi said, bowing in apology. Mengfei quickly raised her hand and stopped Tianyi. ¡°No. You did nothing wrong. It was my fault for hoping for more time together.¡± However, her words only brought Tianyi a pang of guilt. Looking back, he had actually neglected Mengfei with all that happened: the war against the Demon Clan, visiting other timelines, and entering a lower realm. Sure, he always had a conduit present, but the number of times he interacted with her had decreased compared to when the Primordial Realm was still the Huang Realm. ¡°No, it¡¯s my fault,¡± Tianyi insisted, though he no longer bowed. He looked around and said, ¡°This isn¡¯t a good place to talk, let¡¯s move to somewhere else.¡± Mengfei didn¡¯t object and the two soon found themselves in the gardens of the Nine Heavens Palace. She looked around at the unique landscape. The garden was divided into nine floating platforms above a large pond at the back of the palace. Some were filled with water and formed a miniature waterfall that flowed to another platform or into the pond below. It resembled a microcosm of Nine Heavens Peak. Each platform had a unique style. The one that Mengfei and Tianyi sat in was formed predominantly by gray sand. The amount of greenery could be counted on one hand and were placed atop of large rocks placed aesthetically throughout. Tables, chairs, and other decorations were placed atop the wooden walkway placed above the sand. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen a garden like this before. Yi¡¯er, you have the talent to become a gardener,¡± Mengfei said. Tianyi¡¯s lips twitched. Who would praise an immortal to have the talent to become a gardener? Had it been anyone else, he would have thought they were mocking him. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. It was a style I remember seeing in my previous life.¡± ¡°Previous life¡­¡± Mengfei muttered. ¡°Can you tell me about your past life?¡± Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Tianyi paused. He had never talked with anyone about his past life except for the reincarnators. Even then, it was only reminiscing about society and not about himself. The other reincarnators didn¡¯t talk much about their past either. ¡°Okay,¡± Tianyi said. He didn¡¯t immediately delve into his past, but began with the history of Earth. After all, earthlings like himself did not have the ability to cultivate and only had a scant seventy to a hundred years of life. The inability to cultivate molded society. Society in the Primordial Realm progressed thanks to the Xiyi Talisman and the information network it granted people access to. But it did not change the fundamental nature of society. Where individual power reigned supreme, those with the largest fist had the greatest rights. Compared to the history and the society, the amount of time Tianyi spent talking about his own was pitifully small, less than five percent of the entire narration. When he finished, Mengfei stayed silent, as if processing what she had just heard. Finally, she opened her mouth. ¡°I don¡¯t like it.¡± Tianyi didn¡¯t say anything. After all, it wouldn¡¯t be strange to dislike the fact that your son actually had another parent before you. ¡°I don¡¯t like a world where humans can only live one hundred years. It¡¯s too little time to spend with you,¡± Mengfei continued, stunning Tianyi. Then, a smile appeared on Tianyi¡¯s face. ¡°Although it¡¯s true that my lifespan was short, Earth was a relatively safe place. The chances of dying there are incredibly small compared to here.¡± Although true immortals would disintegrate into essence of heaven and earth after they reached the limit of their willpower, the majority still died from battles or the like before their willpower reached the limit. ¡°That¡¯s all in the past. We will have much more time to spend together in the future.¡± Immediately after saying this, a strange expression appeared on Tianyi¡¯s face. Why did the wording seem so wrong? Luckily for him, Mengfei quickly diverted the topic. After hearing it, Tianyi felt it was rather unlucky. Perhaps they should have stayed on the former topic a bit longer. ¡°Although you have hundreds of thousands of years in the future, you still need to think about descendants. You and Daoyi have been married for thousands of years, but her belly still shows no signs of pregnancy,¡± Mengfei said. She waited a bit for her words to sink in. ¡°Are you and her¡­ having a fight?¡± The corner of Tianyi¡¯s lips twitched at his mother¡¯s words. ¡°No. Me and Daoyi are living very harmoniously. There¡¯s no need to worry.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± Mengfei asked. ¡°But I heard that a couple¡¯s feelings toward each other will fade with time. Men often find new lovers once that happens. To secure it, having a child is the best insurance. You are my child, but I don¡¯t want Daoyi to not have someone to accompany her in the future.¡± Tianyi held her hand. ¡°Mother, I¡¯m going to stop you right there. Even if my feelings towards Daoyi die down, I won¡¯t cheat on her.¡± ¡°Cheat? You want to divorce her and marry a new wife?¡± ¡°No, no, no!¡± Tianyi quickly said, shaking his hand. ¡°It means having an affair out of marriage. Besides, Daoyi is currently taking this chance to comprehend the exposed worldly laws while she still can. Speaking of which, Mother, what about you? Although it isn¡¯t as helpful to an immortal sovereign like you, it¡¯s still a rare chance.¡± Mengfei shook her head. ¡°I have something better.¡± Tianyi didn¡¯t ask. ¡°Anyway, back to the main point. It¡¯s going to be hard to have a child with Daoyi. My current body is not exactly flesh and blood anymore. I could reconstruct it with Ba Shifang¡¯s blood, but that¡¯s not my original body. Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t account for this, otherwise I would have stored some of my blood before I created my martial body.¡± Tianyi sighed. Ba Shifang was his clone made from his own flesh after removing the Dragon Emperor¡¯s influence. It could be said to be the purest form of Mengfei¡¯s child, but doing that just felt weird. Would that child be his and Daoyi¡¯s or Ba Shifang and Daoyi¡¯s child? He didn¡¯t want to think about it. ¡°If you need blood, I still have the handkerchiefs you coughed blood into before you switched to that artifact.¡± Tianyi stared at Mengfei. Who would keep and preserve bloodied handkerchiefs? ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Elder Shan said that most parents collect keepsakes so that parents could reminisce about the past with their child after they grew up,¡± Mengfei said. He looked up at the sky. ¡®Mother, I think Elder Shan meant something more sentimental and not literal.¡¯ ¡°Speaking of Elder Shan, he should be over three thousand six hundred years old now. Although he¡¯s a transcending mortality saint, how has his lifespan not reached the end? Did he consume a heaven-defying treasure or longevity peach?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± ¡°Know what?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°Elder Shan isn¡¯t human. He¡¯s a pill that awakened his spirituality and transformed into human form. Although his cultivation speed isn¡¯t as fast as humans, he has a much longer lifespan,¡± Mengfei said. Tianyi blinked. ¡°No wonder he and Dandan are so close.¡± It also explained why he also smelled a medicinal fragrance around Elder Shan. He thought it was simply because Elder Shan was an alchemist. Speaking of pills, Dandan was finally willing to come out. However, after finding out it couldn¡¯t bite through his skin, he spent more time around Elder Shan nowadays. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back.¡± Tianyi blinked at Mengfei¡¯s sudden departure. When she returned, she was holding an ornate jewelry box. She didn¡¯t wet Tianyi¡¯s curiosity for long and opened it. A metallic scent wafted out. His lips twitched when he saw the piles of handkerchiefs sorted within. ¡°Some of the blood has dried, but most of them are still damp,¡± Mengfei said. ¡°Would you be able to recreate your body with this?¡± Tianyi picked up the box. ¡°Yeah, it should be enough.¡± ¡°Do you need all of them?¡± Mengfei asked. Her voice contained a hint of reluctance. Once again, Tianyi¡¯s lips twitched. He had actually wanted to take away the entire box and throw it away. After all, it was evidence of his dark history. He coughed and said, ¡°No, one is enough.¡± He picked up a bloody handkerchief and handed the box back to Mengfei. He blinked. ¡°Mother, why are you so focused on me and Daoyi having a child?¡± In one of the few times in his memory, Tianyi saw Mengfei shift her eyes. ¡°There¡¯s no reason. I just thought it was time for Yi¡¯er and Daoyi to have a child. It¡¯s not because I want to hold a cute grandchild. You are still the most important to me.¡± For the umpteenth time, Tianyi¡¯s lips twitch. Along with her search records, he also saw her record of watching baby videos on the Xiyinet. ¡®Did I turn Mother into an internet addict?¡¯ Chapter 554: Blood Cloning Tianyi continued to spend time with Mengfei, but that didn¡¯t mean he was idle. Inside his Nine Heavens Universe, a conduit appeared inside Nine Heavens Palace on Ninth Heaven. A handkerchief with a bloody splotch appeared on his palm out of nowhere. The handkerchief twisted and writhed until a glob of blood was extracted from it, returning the handkerchief to its former pristine appearance. Tianyi waved his hand and the glob of blood split in two. One was still a glob of blood, marginally smaller. The other was a drop of blood. The glob vanished, leaving behind the drop of blood. Under Tianyi¡¯s control, immortal qi of primordial chaos flowed into the drop of blood, infusing into it. The drop of blood darkened and increased in size until it was the size of an embryo. Just as the embryo grew into a fetus, cracks appeared all over it. Soon, it disintegrated, leaving behind only a blotch of black. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect it to be so difficult to recreate my body. Is it because my immortal qi is too powerful?¡± Tianyi muttered. He tried again, but the result was the same. The third time, he tried to use pure essence. This time, it actually grew beyond the stage of a fetus, but it still failed. Finally, Tianyi decomposed the energy into spiritual qi and attempted again. He successfully cultured a baby, but it had many problems. Although it appeared fine, that was only on the surface. Beneath the skin, it had many medical problems. Without Tianyi¡¯s constant monitoring, it would have turned into a corpse. ¡°Damn, spiritual qi doesn¡¯t work either,¡± Tianyi said. He thought it was going to be easy, maybe a few hiccups here and there, but not this difficult. He didn¡¯t attempt to recreate his body anymore. Instead, he experimented with other people¡¯s blood. After all, he only had a limited supply of his blood, and he didn¡¯t want to ask for more from his mother. Months later, Tianyi stood in the main hall of Nine Heavens Palace with a frown. He used many drops of blood from the people living in Sixth Heaven, but the results were not satisfying. They could be even worse than his first three attempts. On the other hand, his comprehension of the Law of Blood increased dramatically. He gained insight into the Concept of Bloodline, Concept of Genetics, and other branches. However, it would take much longer than he expected to create a flesh and blood avatar. ¡°Were my first few experiments more successful because it was my own blood?¡± Tianyi muttered. Although he hadn¡¯t studied his own flesh and blood before; it was still his own blood, so it was only logical that he had an intuitive understanding of it. For others, that wouldn¡¯t have been a problem, but Tianyi¡¯s blood was in short supply. ¡°I can only use people related to me.¡± There was no way he would ask Mengfei to bleed for him, so that only left Meng Tingfeng. ¡°Sperm Donor, it¡¯s time to pay your rent.¡±
In a clearing next to a pond, a linen-robed man swung his sword through several stances. His face was ordinary, but it was pleasing to the eye. The sword in his hand appeared as plain as him, but when the sunlight reflected off its metallic surface, a pattern that resembled seven stars could be seen. He was Meng Tingfeng. After the battle with Donghai Longzi and Ye Chen, he had disappeared. The Numinous Sword Sect and Immortal Court thought he perished in the battle, but Tianyi had secretly teleported him onto a remote planet inside the Nine Heavens Universe. After arriving, Meng Tingfeng was shocked. However, he didn¡¯t immediately explore the area and found a safe place to heal his injuries first. After he finished healing, he explored the place. Once he did, he couldn¡¯t help but be shocked. Meng Tingfeng only knew about realms and had never seen a planet before. Not only that, but he traveled through the void outside the planet. It was not as empty of spiritual qi as the Vast Void, but the spiritual qi was still very sparse. He had to return to the planet because the consumption of his qi exceeded the absorption and conversion of the spiritual qi. He tried many times to explore and discovered where he was. The planet he lived on was part of a solar system. It was not a huge solar system, consisting of only six planets and a yellow star. He could only reach the edge of the solar system before he had to turn back because the amount of spiritual qi exponentially decreased the farther away he was from the star. After attempting to leave multiple times, Meng Tingfeng returned to the planet, the second one from the star he first appeared on. He could survive on the other planets, but they were not as hospitable as the second planet. If he stayed there, it would only be to temper his immortal body and his mind would be in a constant state of pressure. The second planet was the only one with life. Unfortunately, they were all beasts and monsters with no intellect or spirituality. The strongest one was only at the level of a venerable. Meng Tingfeng set a goal for himself. Since he couldn¡¯t leave, he would cultivate until he had the power to leave. From that moment on, he constantly practiced his sword arts every day and lived a peaceful life. The peaceful life did not cause him to become weaker. If anything, the tense state of his mind from the war slowly relaxed, and he reaped many benefits. It was like the idiom: sharpening your axe will not delay your job of chopping wood. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. When he finished the day¡¯s practice, Meng Tingfeng slowly exhaled and sheathed the divine sword and looked up at stars slowly peeking out of the darkening sky. ¡°Just where am I?¡± After many years, Meng Tingfeng discovered the unique feature of the location. His sensitivity toward the worldly laws had diminished, but on certain nights when the stars shone bright, certain laws would become incredibly clear. So far, it only happened a few times, but Meng Tingfeng made sure to cherish those chances. Unfortunately, tonight was not one of those nights. Meng Tingfeng shook his head and returned to the log cabin he built. There was no bed, only a meditation seat he built. As a cultivator, he did not need to sleep and often meditated instead of sleeping. In the middle of the night, when his guard was at its lowest, Meng Tingfeng snapped his eyes open and shifted to the side. Where he once sat, space split apart. The spatial slash was not too large nor powerful and could only slice through his skin and some of his muscles. ¡°Who are you? Come out?¡± Meng Tingfeng roared. In the years that he lived here, he had always felt as if something was off, like someone or something was paying attention to him. Now, with the sudden attack, he was even more sure of his guess. However, no one answered him. Instead, the silence grew overwhelming, to the point that it had a physical presence. Meng Tingfeng¡¯s expression changed. Or at least he attempted to. It was not his imagination. The surrounding space had solidified, trapping him like an insect in amber. There was a presence in the air, one that made Meng Tingfeng feel like he was a mere ant. He had not felt such a sensation before, not even when he first encountered the Seven Star Sword. Even Sovereign Yanxu could not make him feel such pressure. Although he struggled, there was nothing Meng Tingfeng could do to break free. It reminded him of his days before he embarked on the path of cultivation, where he had not grasped destiny in his hand. Helpless, Meng Tingfeng could only watch as the skin on his arm split open and blood flowed out of his cut. The amount of blood drawn was abnormally large, and the amount seemed to be over ten times the amount his body should have been able to hold. Although Meng Tingfeng possessed the normal height of a man, his body was already far beyond that. His weight alone could crush a hundred men to death easily if he just stood on top of them. However, Meng Tingfeng¡¯s face paled. Although his immortal body had a lot of blood, losing nearly ten of his body¡¯s entire blood supply was dangerous. If any more was drawn, his immortal body would become damaged. Thankfully, the unknown force stopped. His drawn blood disappeared, along with the pressure trapping him in place. Meng Tingfeng gasped for air and gripped his divine sword as he stared warily at his surroundings, his immortal sense blazing. Logically, he knew that it was useless, but he could not help himself. An hour later, he finally calmed, and he walked out of his cabin, staring at the starry sky. ¡°Just what was that?¡±
Tianyi sat on his throne in the main hall of the Nine Heavens Palace in a good mood. After bullying his sperm donor, all the stress and fatigue he accumulated while experimenting seemed to have disappeared. ¡°Let¡¯s get started.¡± As he expected, his chances of success increased more than ten times. It was no problem to grow a body to ten years of age. The only problem was that he would have to see Meng Tingfeng¡¯s young face and be constantly reminded of the latter. The new bodies cloned all had dull eyes and were unresponsive while they were alive. They couldn¡¯t be called brain dead, but they had no thought at all. Without a soul, they were just husks. Tianyi continued to experiment. Ten years later, an adult Meng Tingfeng stood in front of him with listless eyes. Although the body was an adult, he was only an ordinary person without any cultivation base. ¡°Strange, I used the blood of a monarch to create him, but why did an ordinary mortal appear? Is it some law?¡± Tianyi asked aloud while holding his chin. ¡°Or is it because he was born and became an immortal in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System?¡± To this day, no one could become an immortal in the Nine Heavens Universe. Well, Tianyi could forcibly ascend them, but it would not be of their own power. Even if they were immortal, the chances of them progressing would diminish. He guessed it was because the Nine Heavens Universe was still too imperfect. ¡°Forget it. Let¡¯s attempt to transform it first,¡± Tianyi said. Under Tianyi¡¯s manipulation, Meng Tingfeng¡¯s clone body changed. Its vitality surged, as did its lifespan. Qi gathering pupil, foundation establishment disciple, core formation master, but when the clone body attempted to reach the Nascent Soul Realm, it collapsed. After many attempts, the results were still the same. ¡°Is it because the body doesn¡¯t have a soul? I¡¯ll try martial cultivation.¡± Tianyi created another body of Meng Tingfeng and started upgrading it. Body transforming acolyte, acupoint opening master, soul nourishing grandmaster, but on the attempt to ascend it to the World Merging Realm, the body collapsed. ¡°Another failure,¡± Tianyi muttered. He tried many times, but the results were still the same. ¡°Is my technique imperfect, or is it because of the lack of soul?¡± The soul was the foundation of all life. It could be said that it was even more important than the physical body and not just equal. After thinking about it and testing several more times, Tianyi lost his patience. ¡°Screw it, let¡¯s try to possess it.¡± He split a part of his soul off and merged it into the clone body of Meng Tingfeng that reached the Soul Nourishing Realm. The moment it entered, the body started collapsing again. ¡°Crap, even if it¡¯s not even a thousandth of my soul, it''s still too powerful and the body is collapsing.¡± Although Tianyi usually appeared in the form of a human, his true form was that of the Nine Heavens Universe. How could a mortal body withstand even a fragment of his soul? After testing many times, he finally got the process down. He would possess the body with the smallest fragment he could split off and immediately ascend the cultivation base of the possessed body. He succeeded in breaking through to the World Merging Realm and he could even do it for the Nascent Soul Realm, but when he attempted to form an immortal body, it failed. ¡°Is it because this body wasn¡¯t originally mine?¡± Tianyi asked again. ¡°Should I attempt to do it with my own body? But I¡¯m not sure of the success.¡± He scratched his head. ¡°Do I really have to ask for Mother¡¯s blood? Even if I do, it¡¯s too bad the created body will only have half of my genes. Where in the world could I find a donor with the same genes as me except my original body?¡± Tianyi paused. His eyes flashed, and he palmed his face. ¡°I forgot about Ba Shifang!¡± Chapter 555: Elevating the Nine Heavens Universe Realizing his mistake, Tianyi appeared in front of Ba Shifang and collected his blood after the latter¡¯s consent. He formed the body again and possessed it to ascend the cultivation realms once more. The difficulty of creating the body was the same, but the compatibility was much greater. There was no question about it. After all, Ba Shifang¡¯s body was originally copied from him, a perfect replica sans the Dragon Emperor¡¯s influence. His compatibility was over ninety-five percent, unlike the fifty percent of Meng Tingfeng. Or maybe it was lower. Perhaps it was his mindset. Just because he didn¡¯t kill him didn¡¯t mean he liked his sperm donor. Still, Tianyi couldn¡¯t raise the body¡¯s level to the Immortal Realm. Once it stepped onto that threshold, the body would still disintegrate. Well, not that it would halt its eventual doom. Tianyi¡¯s split soul would still cause it to disintegrate, just not as fast. ¡°It¡¯s much more difficult than I expected,¡± Tianyi muttered. He thought he would have succeeded by now. Of course, he had also tested it with his original blood and created a blood and flesh avatar, but he had not possessed it yet. He could control it and use it to copulate with Daoyi, but that just felt wrong. Besides, he wasn¡¯t in a hurry to have a child. Although Tianyi was thousands of years old, he felt that it was a bit hard to accept suddenly having a child. More than that, he was troubled. After studying the Law of Blood and attempting to recreate his body, Tianyi discovered that humans born in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System had a special connection to it. Which also meant they were much more likely to be influenced by the Heavenly Dao. If that was all, it wouldn¡¯t be too much of an issue, but Tianyi knew that the Heavenly Dao was hostile to him. Although the Heavenly Dao was bound by rules, what if something out of the ordinary or unexpected happened? Should he have his child in the Nine Heavens Universe? It seemed safer that way, but it was too desolate compared to the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Could his child who was born in the Nine Heavens Universe enter the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System? He didn¡¯t want his child to live in a cage. ¡°Maybe I should try it in the Primordial Realm?¡± Tianyi muttered. Reincarnation was incomplete in the Nine Heavens Universe and human births were much rarer. For the humans on Sixth Heaven, they have gotten used to it. The higher the spirituality, the rarer the birth. After a moment of hesitation, Tianyi recreated Ba Shifang¡¯s body again and possessed it. Just before reaching the Immortal Realm, Tianyi opened a portal to a remote location in the Primordial Realm and sent his avatar through it. The moment the avatar appeared, the sky rumbled and black thunderclouds gathered. To many people who sensed it, they might have mistaken it for heavenly tribulation, but Tianyi knew it was heavenly punishment. Tianyi frowned as he watched the punishment lightning fall down. He didn¡¯t take any action to save it. After all, even without the heavenly punishment, his avatar would disintegrate. There was no point in wasting energy against the Heavenly Dao to save what would eventually perish. ¡°Now that I think about it, there¡¯s no one in my Nine Heavens Universe that reached the Immortal Realm,¡± Tianyi said. He thought it was because not enough time had passed, but now, it seemed that it was not the cultivator¡¯s problem but his problem. ¡°My soul has changed, and the method of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System is no longer suited to me, nor is it suitable for the life born here,¡± Tianyi said in realization. If history played out without his interference, life in the Nine Heavens Universe would have spent countless generations deducing a perfect method. Countless sacrifices would be made on the way, but it wouldn¡¯t be as bad as it could have been because they had access to the Five Element Method, saving them countless detours. And now, Tianyi wanted to create a suitable cultivation method for life born in the Nine Heavens Universe. ¡°Should I create a method first or form the Sixth Paths of Samsara first?¡± Tianyi asked aloud. Although he comprehended the Law of Life-and-Death, it was still a way from the Law of Samsara. The time it took him to create the immortal method would undoubtedly be much shorter than forming the Six Paths of Samsara. It was an easy decision to make. Develop both sides simultaneously. After all, he was the ruler of the Nine Heavens Universe and his mind was far stronger than all life combined. Had he not been restricted by the perception of his conduits, his rate of comprehending the laws would be even more astonishing. He set aside part of his focus to comprehend the Law of Samsara while his conduit appeared on Sixth Heaven. Not all of Sixth Heaven was allocated to Cultivation Online. Most of it was left for humans to naturally reproduce. The new generation of humans only heard stories of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System and regarded it as nothing but a myth. Only some of those who reached the Foundation Establishment Realm and above knew that it was not a myth. Most of those foundation establishment students that knew were employed as NPCs in cultivation online. They swore to not leak the reality of the world and allow the players to think they were illusions. Few denizens of Sixth Heaven were averse to this employment. They only needed to act a bit and they could receive a large amount of resources without needing to risk their life. How easy was that? Naturally, those with higher realms benefitted more. In this way, many transcending mortality saints appeared. At the core of Sixth Heaven¡¯s civilization was the Nine Heavens Temple. Tianyi directly appeared on the throne. Although it was located at the core of the temple, it was empty except for two guards. It was a sacred place to the denizens of Sixth Heaven and only when Tianyi appeared would people enter the room. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Nine Heavens Emperor!¡± the two guards shouted in excitement and kneeled. They both feared and venerated Tianyi. Tianyi¡¯s attitude toward them was rather gentle, but it still couldn¡¯t settle the anxiety in their hearts. He was simply too powerful, and they weren¡¯t even as strong as ants to him. This was like a fear engraved into their blood and soul. Tianyi waved his hand. ¡°Summon all the saints who aren¡¯t busy.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± the two guards said and immediately left the throne hall. As for whether anyone would invade? They would clap their hands in admiration and mockery if anyone dared to sneak in while the Nine Heavens Emperor sat on his throne. Soon, over twenty-one saints filled the throne hall. Most of these saints possessed a peaceful aura with no hidden edge, as if they hardly experienced any battles. It wasn¡¯t strange. Most of them relied on resources and their talent to reach their current realm. Part of the reason was the salary given by Tianyi. They did not have any need to explore the wilderness for opportunities. Such a thing would have never happened in the Immortal Court or other forces of the Primordial Realm. However, Tianyi didn¡¯t care. The human population on Sixth Heaven was too weak, and he originally planned to lower the benefits once a few immortals appeared. Now, it seemed that he needed to change his way of raising them a bit. Tianyi didn¡¯t speak and looked at their bodies. The mortal cultivators remained ignorant with their heads bowed as Tianyi¡¯s senses revealed their every secret. Inside the Nine Heavens Universe, Tianyi didn¡¯t need to use his immortal sense. He could simply summon the information by focusing. ¡®I should have noticed sooner. The Five Element Book is a cultivation method created for all humans of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, but even then, it is not all-encompassing. So why would it be a perfect fit for the humans born in the Nine Heavens Universe?¡¯ When his senses penetrated their bodies, Tianyi realized that most of the saints no longer cultivated the orthodox Five Element Book. Each one made a slight modification. Perhaps that¡¯s why they became saints while the others remained as venerables. ¡°You have all contributed greatly to the development of Sixth Heaven. Therefore, I will reward you. I will grant you a new method to reach immortality. But be warned, ascending to the Immortal Realm is a step you cannot stop once taken. Either you become an immortal or perish,¡± Tianyi said. For the saints, they all showed signs of fanaticism. Especially the ones nearing their lifespan limit. Although Tianyi could remove the restriction on lifespan and allow them to live until their willpower reached their limit like true immortals, he felt it was unnecessary. Death provided an excellent motivation for them. He would only make an exception for a few people, like his disciple¡¯s mother, Ziye. He dismissed the saints and began to create some tailored cultivation methods for each of them. Eleven years later, he summoned them again and handed out the cultivation method to them. When the saints obtained the methods, their emotions became agitated. After Tianyi dismissed them, they couldn¡¯t wait to return to their abodes and study the methods. After reading it, they marveled at the method. They could feel the shackles on their body loosening. Before, no matter how hard they tried, they couldn¡¯t break the limit of the Transcending Mortality Realm. Now, it was different. Tianyi watched them leave. His eyes never left them and waited to see how they would enter the Immortal Realm. Although he was confident in his creation, he was not arrogant about his abilities. Another five years later, a saint attempted to enter the Immortal Realm. In a hundred kilometers, the spiritual qi gathered toward a certain point. The commotion drew the attention of all those nearby. ¡°What¡¯s happening? Is a natural treasure of heaven and earth being born?¡± The onlookers didn¡¯t question for long as black thunderclouds gathered above. ¡°It¡¯s tribulation clouds! Someone is undergoing a heavenly tribulation!¡± ¡°But who? Even a grandmaster¡¯s tribulation isn¡¯t so grand.¡± ¡°Do you think it could be the legendary Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation?¡± At this, the onlookers turned silent and stared at the gathering thunderclouds. Tianyi was also watching, but for a different reason. His Heavenly Dao self could easily judge most people¡¯s strength in his universe. It would send a heavenly tribulation that would push their limits, but not sentence them to death. As long as they did not have any accidents, they should be able to survive. Compared to the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, it was very generous. Of course, this generosity would change as more immortals appeared. One by one, the tribulation lightning fell. It seared and crashed into the saint, but he roared and resisted. Finally, after over a hundred bolts, the tribulation ended. Spiritual qi of heaven and earth automatically transformed into true qi before transforming into immortal qi and entering the saint¡¯s body. Just as it seemed that the saint would become a true immortal, his aura declined. He had an immortal body, but his soul was in the same state as an earth immortal. From Tianyi¡¯s gaze, he could see that he had entered a state similar to someone who had failed their tribulation. ¡®Strange, he passed his tribulation. Why did this happen? Was it because I deliberately weakened his tribulation? Next time, I won¡¯t do the same.¡± However, the next three saints who underwent their tribulation failed. The last one failed because his heavenly tribulation was too powerful and killed him. ¡®It¡¯s not the power of the heavenly tribulation that is wrong. Is it the cultivation method? However, there shouldn¡¯t be anything wrong.¡¯ Tianyi reversed the time and restored their soul¡¯s state, but their souls would become injured again. Tianyi could only reverse their immortal body, returning them to the Transcending Immortality Realm. As the creator and ruler of the Nine Heavens Universe, it was simple for him to do this. Although Tianyi could save them, the rest of the saints became much more cautious. Tianyi even helped them and lent them transformation belts to let them experience the wonder of the worldly law first hand. Five hundred years later, a saint successfully comprehended an entire law, and he underwent the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. However, he still failed despite his mastery of a worldly law. Tianyi had refined the cultivation method many times, but once he saw the failure, he couldn¡¯t help but doubt himself. ¡®Just what went wrong?¡¯ After some deliberation, he slowed the time on Sixth Heaven except for Cultivation Online and returned to the Primordial Realm. He was going to watch someone undergo the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. With the boost in strength of the Immortal Court, it became more and more common for true immortals to appear, and Tianyi successfully observed one. The new immortal wasn¡¯t from the Immortal Court but a loose cultivator. However, the answer he found chilled him. Chapter 556: Truth of Immortality His Daoist title was Duckweed. He chose this title to remind himself that no matter what height he reached, he would always remain an insignificant weed in the greater scope. Simultaneously, he must always aspire to greater heights. Duckweed was a loose cultivator, but that wasn¡¯t always the case. He was once the son of an elder from an unranked force. Unfortunately, when his father was undergoing his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation, a rival force attacked him, causing him to fail. His father was the one with the greatest chance to reach the Immortal Realm in the sect because of a fortuitous encounter he had. That encounter raised his potential, but it also caused an enemy to set his sight upon him. Once his father died, the rival force destroyed his sect, and Duckweed only escaped because of luck. With his successful escape, the third-rate force failed its objective. Because his father entrusted him with his greatest opportunity to Duckweed! It was a monarch-level artifact. Most true immortals, even those from third-rate and second-rate forces, didn¡¯t have immortal artifacts, much less a monarch artifact. Only a powerful hegemon like the Immortal Court could afford to arm each immortal with an artifact. So, it would not be an exaggeration to say that a monarch-level artifact could act as a guardian artifact of a third-rate force. And now, Duckweed was at the turning point of his life. He had just succeeded in his Immortal Ascensi¨®n Heavenly Tribulation and was in the process of transforming his mortal body into an immortal body. Using the cultivation method that his father found with the monarch-level artifact, his cells transformed and rearranged themselves. It was only the first transformation, and only when he mastered a worldly law and used it as the core of his body would it become a true immortal body untouched by red dust. His current immortal body was just a preparatory stage. With the induction of spiritual qi from heaven and earth, Duckweed¡¯s restructuring of his mortal body was progressing successfully. That is, until the last moment. Duckweed discovered his immortal body was not stable and was starting to collapse. A hint of panic appeared in his heart, but he quickly forced himself to calm down with his strong willpower. His rate of absorption of the spiritual qi increased. More spiritual qi transformed into immortal qi and filled his body. The more qi that filled his body, the more stable his immortal body became, until it fully stabilized. Duckweed revealed a smile of happiness and relief. He had successfully entered the Pathfinding Immortal Realm.
Different from Duckweed¡¯s relief and joy, Tianyi had a grave expression. If he wasn¡¯t paying attention, he wouldn¡¯t have noticed anything at all, and only then, he only caught a trace of it. He shook his head. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because of his cultivation method.¡± He disappeared from his observation spot. From the start and until he formed his immortal body, Duckweed never discovered that there was a second party staring at him. In the next two decades, Tianyi watched three more Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulations. Of the three, one failed while the other two succeeded. With his suspicions confirmed, Tianyi could no longer hide from the truth of the matter. The reason that immortal bodies could not stabilize at first was because they lacked a certain thing. It was the core and foundation of an immortal body, but that thing contained traces of the Heavenly Dao. Tianyi recalled when he entered his mind space and discovered the tribulation essence. His body could no longer feel cold, but he still felt a chill crawling up his spine. It felt like a huge conspiracy of the world. Upon learning of this, Tianyi needed to confirm, so he found Grand Elder Xia. ¡°I forgot that you grew too powerful too fast and don¡¯t know a lot of secrets,¡± Grand Elder Xia said with a smile upon seeing the grave-faced Tianyi. ¡°So you already knew?¡± Grand Elder Xia nodded. ¡°Not just me, but many people in the sect will eventually learn about this. You don¡¯t have to worry too much about this.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°To explain, I need to start with the beginning. Ordinarily, a mortal¡¯s soul cannot withstand the corrosion of an immortal body. If the body is too powerful, the body will harm the soul. That¡¯s why the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation will bequeath a strand of essence of heaven and earth upon passing. With it, the level of the soul is elevated. This is the basis of immortality derived from the Ten Heavenly Scriptures,¡± Grand Elder Xia explained. ¡°But isn¡¯t this dangerous? Isn¡¯t this like leaving a weak point for the Heavenly Dao?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°Then give up the chance to become an immortal?¡± At Grand Elder Xia¡¯s question, Tianyi turned silent. Even if it was a trap, would he give up the chance to reach the Immortal Realm? The answer was obviously no. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry too much. As long as the willpower is strong enough, this little weakness is nothing. It will disappear completely upon reaching the Divine Realm. Besides, there has never been a case of the Heavenly Dao killing an immortal through this connection. The Heavenly Dao only takes action upon the death of the immortal, absorbing them as nourishment for the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System.¡± Grand Elder Xia patted Tianyi on the shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s natural for us, but it may not be the case for you reincarnators.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Tianyi asked. ¡°The souls of you reincarnators are different. They aren¡¯t just stronger, but a higher level than ours. That¡¯s the source of your stronger talents. You can probably form an immortal body without the essence of the Heavenly Dao. And even if there is, it should not be as restraining on reincarnator as those of us born in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. You don¡¯t need as much willpower to resist the effect either,¡± Grand Elder Xia said. Although it was hard to swallow, Tianyi nodded. When he left, he messaged Gan Xuehua. She was returning from observing the worldly laws from the merger of the Divine Beast Pseudo System and Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Originally, Tianyi would only watch if he had the time, but this time, he wanted to watch her Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation to see if it was as Grand Elder Xia said. Gan Xuehua was naturally happy to see Tianyi watch her Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. Before, she was worried if someone would interfere and cause her to fail, but with Tianyi¡¯s presence, there was no need to fear. If anyone dared, they would need to consider if they could escape alive from the Nine Heavens Emperor¡¯s hands. Because Tianyi didn¡¯t want to wait too long. He teleported to the Immortal Embassy and took Gan Xuehua away. Certain rumors would result from his hasty actions. By the time the rumor reached his ear, it was already too late. But for now, it was still just brewing. When Tianyi brought Gan Xuehua back, she didn¡¯t immediately undergo her Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. More than that, Tianyi had recommended that she learn some soul defense measures and increase her willpower. Gan Xuehua couldn¡¯t help but become worried. Was the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation so difficult after nearly comprehending a worldly law? Because of this, Gan Xuehua¡¯s Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation was delayed by two years. Gan Xuehua sat in a lotus position in a clearing of a remote area. The spiritual qi was abundant, but there was no powerful monster or demon nearby. In fact, it appeared as if she was alone, but she knew that Tianyi was hiding somewhere, observing her. She simply did not have the power to perceive him. Although Tianyi wasn¡¯t visible, his presence still brought a sense of safety. Gan Xuehua knew and was a friend of his, but it didn¡¯t stop her awe of him. The more she knew, the more awed she became. When Gan Xuehua felt that she reached her peak condition, she initiated her Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. Dark thunderclouds congregated above her head. Compared to the heavenly tribulation she witnessed before, the size of the thunderclouds was more than doubled. Gan Xuehua steeled herself and the first bolt of tribulation lightning fell. Then another, and another. They fell consecutively. She could easily hold on at first, but it became more and more strenuous. Although she had mastered a worldly law, she was not geared toward combat and had to use different means to resist the tribulation lightning, but she succeeded in the end. After the lightning tribulation was the Inner Devil Tribulation. Gan Xuehua opened her eyes, obviously succeeding. Simultaneously, the black clouds dispersed and golden clouds arrived, immortal songs filled the area as all the qi flew toward her. Gan Xuehua absorbed the spiritual qi and reformed her mortal body into an immortal body simultaneously. The process was surprisingly easy, much more easy than passing the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. Before she had even absorbed a tenth of the spiritual qi rushing toward her, she had already succeeded. ¡°Congratulations,¡± Tianyi said, appearing out of thin air. ¡°Thank you for guarding me,¡± Gan Xuehua said. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I could have succeeded without your help.¡± Tianyi shook his head. ¡°There¡¯s no need. Even if you hadn¡¯t left the Primordial Realm, I think the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation would not have stumped you. At most, it would have just made it a little longer for you to master a worldly law.¡± Gan Xuehua smiled. Tianyi was right. The Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation was easier than she expected. ¡°Perhaps my potential isn¡¯t that good. I heard that your Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation has over ten thousand bolts of tribulation lightning.¡± ¡°That¡¯s different. You shouldn¡¯t compare yourself to me. I don¡¯t think anyone will see another tribulation like that again,¡± Tianyi said. ¡°Do you want me to send you back to the Gan Dynasty, or do you want to rest and enter the Seamless Immortal Realm first?¡± ¡°Please send me back. I¡¯ll become an immortal monarch after returning,¡± Gan Xuehua said. Tianyi nodded. He understood her thoughts. She wanted to use her Dao Manifestation to benefit the Gan Dynasty and warn the demons. He waved his hand, and Gan Xuehua disappeared. Alone again, Tianyi couldn¡¯t help but furrow his brows. Grand Elder Xia was partially right. A reincarnator¡¯s soul was indeed different. The amount of essence that merged with their soul was only a fraction of other cultivators. It was possible that they wouldn¡¯t merge with a reincarnator¡¯s soul if they used a pill to restore and serve as a source of energy, but it might make the formation of the immortal body harder. Reincarnators had a resistance to this, but what about natives like his mother? Perhaps he was overthinking it. The Immortal Court was descended from the primordial era, so their records included information from that era to now. However, Tianyi couldn¡¯t shake off the feeling that there was a greater conspiracy. He couldn¡¯t help it and contacted the Concealed Emperor, but the answer he received was similar to what Grand Elder Xia said. ¡®Should I tell Daoyi and the others? Does Mother know?¡¯ Tianyi thought. After some hesitation, he decided to withhold the information for now. Daoyi and Yan Nie were focusing on comprehending the worldly laws. Making them worry would only make their mind lose focus. Better tell them later. His mother was a different story. When he asked, she seemed surprised but otherwise showed no expression or worry. Tianyi was unable to laugh or cry at Mengfei¡¯s reaction. It seemed she really didn¡¯t put the matter to heart. He sighed and focused on perfecting his inner universe. With the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System¡¯s example, he found a direction. If he could create a similar method, he could use it as a basis to create a method to remove the essence of the Heavenly Dao or defend against it.