Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Wudi City.
Du Longyang had personally stepped out of the city gates to welcome the team from the Great Qian Matriarchal Empire into the city.
The lofty and opulent litter had silk draping off of it, and a cultivator in the Golden Elixir Realm lifted it. In between each step, the silk fluttered in the breeze.
There was a smile on Du Longyang’s face. Quite a lot of cultivators from Wudi City had stepped out to welcome as well.
Finally, the litter came to a stop, and the red petals stopped raining down as well.
Two servants at the Golden Elixir Realm drew the curtain of the litter, and a lean and elegant figure stepped out of it slowly. That was an extremely respectable lady.
Although she donned no opulent accessories, her disposition alone gave off the feeling that she was the kind of person who was also in a high position of power.
“Empress,” Du Longyang greeted with a fist and palm salute.
“City Master Du, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
There was a mature lilt to her gentle voice, and it rang in City Master Du’s ears.
Du Longyang’s eyes lit up, and he smiled.
“This way.”
Du Longyang angled his body, and the numerous Wudi City disciples who lined both sides of the street looked on curiously at the troop from the Great Qian Matriarchal Empire.
The Great Qian Matriarchal Empire was rumored to be beautiful. To the Wudi City disciples, this was extremely tempting and appealing.
But some of the disciples suddenly froze.
Because they noticed that there was a monk in the ranks of the Great Qian Matriarchal Empire troops?
That monk was unhurried and calm, following behind the crowd of powerful ladies indifferently, looking rather out of place.
But the monk seemed rather reserved on the surface. He had even seemed quite calm.
“This is?”
Du Longyang looked curiously toward the Empress.
The Empress had a tall figure, and she was actually about as tall as Du Longyang. Her hair was ink black, and it flowed down to her waist like a waterfall. She cast a glance at the monk, and then her red lips quirked up. “A stowaway from the Void Gate. He’s a steady monk.”
A stowaway from the Void Gate, huh?
Du Longyang caught on as soon as she heard it. This monk was probably a similar existence as Nie Changqing.
“I heard that Master Yuanshang was here, and so I brought this monk with me. I wanted to kill him at first, but I heard that you’re working with the white-robed Young Master, so…I’m sparing his life for now, less I harm the peace.” The Empress smiled.
At the end of the long street stood Master Yuanshang, who was all smiles.
He was rather fearful of this Empress.
The Empress of the Great Qian Matriarchal Empire was no ordinary person. The moment she ascended the throne, she sent out a huge army to attack Kufo Temple, preventing the powerful people from the temple from voicing their suffering.
This Empress took an unconventional path. The female soldiers she sent out had all been dressed to the nines and were beautiful and charming beyond compare. During the attack, they had even performed all sorts of dances and revealed their tender skin as well.
This had really done the Buddhist monks of Kufo Temple in.
Kufo Temple focused on the Brahman Technique, which was about monks distancing from lust. The moment they broke this, they would easily be taken down, and their weaknesses would be revealed.
Kufo Temple had suffered a devastating loss in that battle.
Because of that, Master Yuanshang was rather fearful of this Empress.
“Master Yuanshang.”
The Empress’ red lips quirked up.
“This monk escaped from the Void Gates. I’ll leave you to deal with him,” she said with a smile.
After that, she raised her hand. Her nails were painted red.
The female cultivators at the Golden Elixir Realm who were escorting Ding Jiudeng lifted him up and flung him out.
Master Yuanshang put a palm out and sent out a wave of Qi to stabilize Ding Jiudeng.
Ding Jiudeng had panicked at first. How could he not? He had left the Great Qian Matriarchal Empire, and now he was in Wudi City, a place full of the unknown.
But he zoned out for a little, and he felt everything grow dull, and so he lost all traces of his panic.
He put his palms together and bowed at Master Yuanshang.
“Amituofo.”
Master Yuanshang was astounded. This little monk…was so steady!
After a while, the people entered the inner palace of Wudi City.
The Empress sat in the chair and crossed her legs, her long, pale legs vaguely visible from under the opulent robes.
“Is that Young Master trustworthy?”
“Do you know the specifics of his power?”
“If we’re even the least bit careless with slaying the Immortals, we will end up in a fate worse than death,” the Empress parted her lips slightly to say sombrely.
Master Yuanshang and Du Longyang had informed the Empress about everything they had discussed with Lu Fan.
“I think the Immortals are playing a game of chess, and we’re the chess pieces—nourishment, even, for the Immortals. We are bound by Heaven and Earth, and they’ve created the condition for us to go through calamities to ascend to heaven. But once we do that, it’s likely that we’ll be reduced to meat for slaughter.”
“Just what will we be facing after we ascend? No one knows for certain.”
Du Longyang inhaled deeply.
“But the elders have all warned us that going through calamities to ascend to heaven is just a huge farce.”
“Cooperating with the unknown power is nothing short of impossible.”
The Empress frowned.
“We have no other choice…”
“If we want to jump out of the chessboard—if we want to turn it over—then we have to borrow an external power,” Du Longyang said after he took in a deep breath.
Master Yuanshang joined the discussion.
The three powerful beings debated in the palace to no end.
******
Beiluo, Lake Island.
Lu Fan naturally was not aware of the discussion in Wudi City, and he was not too clear about it either.
He was by the railing listening to the sound of the wind whistling, bronze wine cup in his hand as he sipped on green plum wine. He looked the very picture of satisfaction.
The little Responsive Dragon was working hard to break free of the Spirit Rings, puffing violently through his nose.
In the far distance, on the lake.
A crowd had gathered in front of the Book House, but not a single person made a noise. Everyone was focused on the books in their hands.
This chance was simply too rare. Everyone would be studying like their life depended on it, especially those cultivators who were powerful and blessed with talents. They would reap much more than the average person ever could from these books.
Lu Fan quickly swept his gaze over them.
These cultivation techniques were more focused on combat between cultivators. For these people, they were a great source of inspiration.
But Lu Fan did not wish for them to follow these to the letter. He actually hoped that they would forge their own path with these techniques as the foundation—this was what he actually wished for them.
A month later, the Book House would close.
If these people wanted to enter again, it would not be too easy.
The Overlord, Bai Qingniao, Jiang Li, Sima Qingshan, and the rest of them were all reading the books seriously. Lu Fan had high expectations for them.
He hoped that they would forge a path that belonged only to them.
“Wuhuang Continent is a Mid Level Martial World now, but…they seem a little too clueless for further development.”
Lu Fan sat in his wheelchair and fell deep in thought.
He had sent a tiny Lu Fan to enter Tengen Continent partly to investigate the place. Lu Fan realized that aside from the distance between the powerful people, the two continents were actually not too different from each other.
They were both ruled by power, and there was friction between the powerful forces.
But compared to Wuhuang Continent, Tengen Continent had more species of life-forms, and so they had quite a number of life-forms of cultivation.
Lu Fan squinted suddenly.
He stroked his chin. There was one other dangerous place on Tengen Continent—the Monster Realm.
That was the territory of the Monster Clan, and even the most powerful of Wudi City would not be willing to wade into the Monster Realm.
There was a Monster Pagoda in the realm.
The numerous powerful beings of Wudi City and the Great Qian Matriarchal Empire would wage war on the Monster Realm to prevent the Monster Clan from leaving the space.
Lu Fan’s finger tapped on the wheelchair lightly.
This had given Lu Fan an idea.
Indeed.
Following Wuhuang Continent’s stepping into the Mid Level Martial World, they seemed to have lost stress and motivation. People like the Overlord and Nie Changqing had become extremely powerful, but they seemed to have lost targets worth the challenge.
“Pressure… Pressure…”
Lu Fan’s finger was gently tapping on the Phoenix Feather Arm.
Although he had created the forbidden areas, they were not suitable for the average person to wander.
And so this would only strengthen the cultivation of only a handful of people, but it would not provide sufficient pressure for the entire Wuhuang Continent.
It was not like he could have the entire army of the Great Xuan Dynasty storm the forbidden area now, could he?
That way, forces like Wudi City and Supreme Knife School would no longer just sit by and watch.
“I have to create some sort of localized pressure.”
Lu Fan pondered for a moment.
“What about creating…monsters?” Lu Fan mumbled, and his eyes twinkled.
Lu Fan had never seen the Monster Clan, and so he did not choose to create them hastily.
He had the Transformation Technique, but if he really wanted to use it to create monsters… With his Soul Strength, he would be completely drained and still have barely created just a few Monster Clans.
And so he headed to Tengen Continent to find out more.
Lu Fan thought about it for a while more, and he found that the option was viable.
With this idea in mind, he decided to set the plan in motion. Just as well, he still had one tiny Lu Fan in Tengen Continent.
Lu Fan leaned into the Thousand Blades Chair, and his eyes were at unease state.
But, before this, Lu Fan’s consciousness had pulsed.
He looked up and looked in the direction of the South County Daoist Pavilion.
******
Daoist Pavilion, Tiandang Mountain.
Swirls of clouds were rolling above Tiandang Mountain.
Atop Catching Stars Peak.
The disciples of the Daoist Pavilion sat in their assigned spots. They were all directing the Spirit Qi within them to into visible, flowing lines of Spirit Qi. Indistinctly, it seemed like there was a grand formation of Spirit Qi that had enveloped the entire pavilion.
Xie Yunling’s white beard was flowing. His gaze was extremely serious.
He directed the formation as he looked at Li Sansi, who was struggling in the center of it all, and gave Sansi strength with every pulse of it.
“Hang on, Sansi!” Xie Yunling said.
He was not sure if Li Sansi could hear his voice.
But still, he had to try. He could not allow Li Sansi to be consumed by the demon.
The Daoist Pavilion disciples called out the same thing as well.
Their voices rang out on Catching Stars Peak.
In Li Sansi’s head.
There was currently an intense war waging within. Of course, Li Sansi’s soul had been utterly oppressed.
His power was still in the Internal Organs Realm—in the Foundation Building Realm—but the woman was a powerful being in the Nascent Soul Realm.
The two of them were not an even match at all, and even their souls were worlds apart.
If Li Sansi’s soul were a tiny raft, then that woman’s soul was a cruise ship. It was not difficult to guess what would happen when they collided.
Li Sansi felt like he was about to vanish soon, but he heard the voices of many people. There was Xie Yunling, and there were the others from the Daoist Pavilion…
The voices of these people stirred Li Sansi’s consciousness.
It was like they had given him enormous power.
Though he was in much pain, he was also very agitated.
He howled furiously.
He was hell-bent on struggling out of the woman’s control.
The battle of wills between him and that woman was like a tiny raft going up against a cruise ship.
Though each collision was critical and cruel, he did not give up.
“Give it up already. You can’t do this. The chasm between us is just too insurmountable…” The woman’s charming voice rang out.
“The others have never given up on me, so why must I give up on myself?” There was the sound of Li Sansi gritting his teeth.
Their two souls were like waves as they crashed into each other nonstop.
“All of this will have been in vain,” the woman said.
Li Sansi smiled.
Several scenes flashed before his eyes, and he felt conflicted.
He suddenly remembered how he had acted willfully and entered the forbidden area and how irresponsible he had been.
He still had family left. He saw Li Sansui. He still had so many fellow disciples who cared deeply for him, and he still had his master…
Abruptly, it hit him. He felt like scum.
He had wanted to grow stronger, but in the end, it was not just Zhu Long who had to leave Buzhou Peak to save him—he had even caused the disciples of the Daoist Pavilion and his master to worry.
He had truly done a terrible job.
He thought of Li Sansui whose face was colored with worry, Li Sansui who was going crazy trying to figure out a way to save him.
And he could not help but blame himself even more.
Perhaps it was the power of the formation, or perhaps it was the disciples from the Daoist Pavilion who were giving him strength on Tiandang Mountain.
The woman realized that Li Sansi was starting to be able to resist the pressure she was applying to him.
But she was not worried, because he was still not strong enough.
Even with the support he had, it would still not be sufficient.
“Do you know?”
“I stepped into the forbidden area to become stronger, but…you’ve completely killed this idea of mine.”
“I have a friend who wanted to be stronger at all cost…so much so that he had been willing to exchange life for a life. I used to laugh at him, used to think he was foolish, but now I know… He wasn’t the foolish one. I am,” Li Sansi said.
After he spoke, the woman felt a sense of foreboding wash over her.
As expected…
Li Sansi, who was in the center of the formation, suddenly opened his eyes. He looked at Xie Yunling and said in a low and absolute tone, “Master! Fire formation!”
Xie Yunling was taken aback.
In the next instance, as if he figured out what Li Sansi was doing, his gaze turned sharp. This was a method to stabilize the soul using the five elements, but he would give Li Sansi fire if that was what the latter wanted!
Xie Yunling bit into his own finger pads, and fresh blood sprayed out. He ran toward two directions and placed his bloodstained fingers onto the ground. The fire elemental Spirit Qi of the formation was surging!
At the same time, flames were springing out of Li Sansi’s soul. His soul was burning, and it twisted about painfully among the flames.
The pain of a burning soul was the most terrible pain in the world, far more intense than the pain of a blade cutting through flesh.
“You’re insane! Stop this, now!” the woman’s chilly voice called out.
Near the end, her howl had turned rather maniacal.
The fire burning away at the soul continued spreading, and it would soon reach the part of the woman’s soul that was integrated into it.
Once the soul was almost completely burned away by the flame, she was restricted within it, even if she was much, much more powerful than Li Sansi.
If this soul perished, then so would her soul.
Was Li Sansi planning on going down together with her?
Back then, Li Sansi did not even have the right to pull off something like this, but he did now.
The Daoist Pavilion disciples had given him this opportunity.
He set fire to his own soul, prepared to burn with her.
He wanted to test it—just who was more terrified of dying?
“You’re insane!” the woman howled.
She did not want to die. More specifically, she did not want to die in the hands of an ant like this.
She had not killed Ye Shoudao, so she was not ready to die!
Li Sansi laughed.
The pain of a burning soul made Li Sansi feel as if all his thoughts had disappeared.
Sizzle…
When the fire of the soul had spread to the woman’s soul…
The woman could bear it no longer.
She wailed pitifully and shrilly screamed.
She tore away from Li Sansi’s soul, escaping from his corporal form.
Going down together—she did not want to go down together with an ant.
She floated out.
In the field on Catching Stars Peak.
The numerous Daoist Pavilion disciples opened their eyes.
Xie Yunling’s eyes were gleaming brilliantly. He looked stunned like he could not believe his eyes.
Had she left?
Only to see, floating above his head, the illusory form of a woman with vines that made up the bottom half of her body.
A terrifying pressure had emanated, and it weighed down on every single Daoist Pavilion disciple, making it difficult for them even to breathe.
This woman’s aura was extremely powerful. It far exceeded the Golden Elixir and the Heavenly Lock.
Even though she was but a soul, it was difficult to muster the courage to resist her.
Li Sansi sat in the middle of the formation; his body had collapsed into a heap.
Reluctance and vengeance poisoned her shrill voice, and chills ran down the spines of the Daoist Pavilion disciples who were on the field.
“It was you lot!”
“You ruined all of it…you ants. You deserve to die!”
After the woman finished screaming…
The translucent vines morphed into long, sharp spears, whistling as they shot down from the skies to pierce through every one of the disciples.
******
Beiluo, Lake Island.
Lu Fan leaned back into the Thousand Blades Chair, feeling rather strange. He did not expect that Li Sansi would have forced the woman out by setting his soul on fire.
He had to admit that he was seeing Li Sansi in a different light now.
As for that woman…
Lu Fan huffed coldly.
She dared pick the peach of Lu Ping’an…
When Lu Fan hummed lightly.
On Catching Stars Peak in Tiandang Mountain.
The woman who had been screaming bitterly suddenly froze.
In the next instant, she looked up into the sky…
Only to see that, without her knowing, masses of clouds had gathered up in the sky… They morphed into a gigantic palm that hung over her head!