"Shit!" Still, Bing Tian took into account their identity as partners and decided to not let her corpse stay here. She pulled and brought her over with a wisp of Mystic Power. With a tug, she held Highlord Spiritwalker and shot off into the distance, abandoning San Yongli.
As she got further, she was shocked that Highlord Spiritwalker still had her Mystic Soul intact and lifeforce was hanging in there—she was alive! Of course, Highlord Spiritwalker wasn't an Earthly Saint, so if her body was destroyed, her Mystic Soul would swiftly follow without a treasure to store it, such as Wu Yu's ring. She didn't have such an item on hand.
The lingering traces of lifeforce meant her container of a body was still good to sustain herself and keep her Mystic Soul functioning. Her luck was absurdly good.
However, while she was blitzing back to the Aeternal Sky Starfield, hoping to seek safety in her home, a figure flashed before her in a burst of grey light!
The Evil Blessed was garbed in a concealment cloak, his features unable to be determined, and he seemed like a slayer of hell with that gigantic blade hanging from his shoulder in a casual heft.
Bing Tian's heart shook with fear. She hastily shouted, "I'm Highlord Frostwind of the Bing Clan! By the oath of the Saint Cyclic Renewal Summit, I can not be harmed! If you do, you'll be the enemy of the entire stellar region!"
She said this, but she knew that certain rules were put in place, and since they had attacked first, they were no longer protected by this oath. In fact, it was only because the figures operating under Trueborn were also excluded by a sentence. They could be considered 'foreign' entities due to a non-officially recognized position of power.
That said, if the figure said he was from a specific force, they would similarly have to stop attacking. This was why they both unleashed spells at first, to disorient their enemy to not reveal his origins, and slaughter him at first sight. It wasn't completely unknown that some official powers were part of Trueborn as well.
The Evil Blessed didn't respond to her, clearly undaunted by her threats. Before him were three shadowy cores that quietly hovered. Bing Tian gritted her teeth, her hand clutching around Highlord Spiritwalker.
If the Evil Blessed attacked again, she would infuse Highlord Spiritwalker with Mystic Power and stimulate a self-detonation to tank the next strike.
"What do you want?" She asked solemnly with a low-tone.
The Evil Blessed sent her a spiritual transmission and her expression changed immediately. She tightened her fists with unwillingness in her eyes.
"He's weak! He can only unleash the Heretical Berserk Godsword strikes three times with his cultivation base! Don't be fooled! He can't attack and he can't run!" San Yongli's frantic yet confident voice sounded out inside Bing Tian's mind, their previously set-up spiritual formation had been activated!
Heretical Berserk Godsword?!
Bing Tian's mind grew suspicious; was this woman trying to send her to her death? But she couldn't grasp the Evil Blessed's physical status with his concealment or sense his cultivation.
"Think, Highlord Frostwind! What cultivator at his level can unleash that type of power?!" San Yongli cried with urgency. She couldn't let the Shadow Egg's Cores escape her grasp.
She absolutely couldn't.
At first, San Yongli was planning to avoid the Evil Blessed. In her original timeline, the Shadow Egg had two cores, a primary core, and a backup core. According to the Book of Heaven's Path, the primary core ended up in the hands of a Trueborn agent only known as the Heretical Godking Emperor shortly after the Chaosnova. While the backup core later found its way to the Six Paths Empress during an accidental journey through chaotic space.
In this timeline, three Shadow Eggs were used, but only three cores would be found and existed, with no backup. Why? Because the cores weren't the typical engine cores, and they were extremely costly to make. She speculated that Trueborn only had three readily available.
The Book of Heaven's Path had registered this change, and it allowed her to take notice of this opportunity. While it had changed from two to three, and the third core eventually ended up with the True Martial Emperor, she could still seize two for herself. Just because they would end up eventually in their hands mattered little to her.
Unfortunately, the Book of Heaven's Path only said that the three cores will eventually end up in those three legendary figures' hands, not how…
She thought…the Evil Blessed, referred to as the Heretical Godking Emperor by the Book of Heaven's Path, would only seize one and the other two would linger in the chaotic space generated by the Chaosnova.
She was wrong.
She realized her assumption was wrong, and the cores would likely be lost or sold by the Evil Blessed.
San Yongli gritted her in frustration. Why can't the Book of Heaven's Path be clear? Be more specific? Still, she had made preparations to fight. The current Evil Blessed should only be at the Soul of Mysticism Phase, and wouldn't become a Demi-Mortal Lord for long, so she only needed a few experts at her side.
Unfortunately, the summit meant all the Earthly Saints were preoccupied, even San Luoyang, so she was at a loss and forced to rely on two greedy Demi-Mortal Lords with her short notice.
Highlord Spiritwalker had been stabilizing her cultivation base and Bing Tian had been recently freed in the middle of the summit, and she didn't wish to see her captor—He Yangzhen, He Clan's Earthly Saint—again so soon. They were readily available cultivators that had an appetite for power and benefits, capable of enticing with ease in the limited time frame she had.
Bing Tian eyed the black-cloaked figure that wasn't privy to their conversation. She was still left with the opportunity to accept his offer, but she decided against it. She had been a captive by He Yangzhen and almost forced to become his concubine against her will, and she refused to accept being used by a man in this lifetime.
While she said this, if San Yongli had never mentioned it, her panic would've left her relenting. She had already ignited her Mystic Soul forcefully and didn't want to die, so she had a 90% chance to have given in for life. However, since there was a possibility this was a mere bluff, she decided to risk it.
If something went wrong, she had a decoy that was Highlord Spiritwalker. She clenched her teeth as her raging Mystic Power flowed in her body, the Mystic Runes embedded in her body glowed, and her eyes effused an icy killing intent.
The Evil Blessed didn't stand down and even grasped his world-shaking sword a little tighter as if threatening her. However, this didn't deter Bing Tian from taking the risk. She kicked off on a platform of condensed chaos mana, explosively shooting toward the Evil Blessed. Her mouth gathered a storm of icy power, and she blew with great strength, expelling a planet-enveloping blizzard!
The Evil Blessed clicked their tongue, and regret flashed through their eyes. With a heavy grunt, he pressed against his chest and a grey light of Void Energy surged outwards, enveloping him, and then he vanished!
Unfortunately, the three cores remained. They were engulfed by the blizzard of icy power and frosted over instantly.
"..." Bing Tian was stunned; the Evil Blessed had departed with a quickness, and it seemed he used a unique talisman that prevented him from bringing along the three cores. She rushed into her blizzard as if it was a happy stroll and saw the three cores floating without the slightest foreign power over them.
Her heart raced excitedly.
San Yongli was right! It was a bluff.
The greed of that scum bastard! If he had just run away before, not appearing before her and proposing a core for her Primal Yin, she would've left by now in fear.
An urge to laugh at how the disgusting habits of men cost this idiot such great fortune. But she didn't shame him for thinking of the plot. After all, she was amongst the very, very few Ascended women that had her Primal Yin intact. If she had to count, the number of female Demi-Mortal Lords that had their virginity intact throughout the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region could be counted on one's fingers.
The vast majority had children and husbands as mortals or shortly after reaching the Soul of Mysticism Phase. The chances of succeeding to the Mystic Ascendant Realm were too slim to sacrifice your intimate life. And many females agreed with that sentiment, especially since dual cultivation with a stronger male increases one's chances greater than keeping it for yourself.
Woosh!
San Yongli arrived beside the raging blizzard, communicating with Bing Tian via their formation.
"Hurry! We need to leave. The others will be arriving soon," she said as she received a message from San Luoyang that Earthly Saints have jointly agreed to investigate the event together after an extended discussion and were flying over.
Bing Tian broke out of her excitement and snagged the three cores before flying towards the Voidship. It entered concealment and began to fly away. They had succeeded, but the events left her trembling.
Far, far away, a figure tumbled out a spatial shift empowered by Void Energy. The cloak that covered his identity was removed, revealing a handsome figure with sharp features, a few old scars on his face that highlighted his looks, granting it a war-like feeling, sword-like eyebrows, short black hair, and a glint of evilish light within his pupils. The light was berserking with a tinge of madness, clearly a result of an external power.
It was the Evil Blessed!
His breathing was hectic and heavy, while his arms and legs trembled. Swinging the Heretic Berserk Godsword was extremely difficult, and doing so three times in a row exhausted almost his entire reserves of Mystic Power and damn-near bottomed out his innate energies.
"Fuck!" He cursed vehemently as he kept the Heretical Berserk Godsword in his heart, a uniquely cultivated Internal World meant to hold the world-crushing weight of this fearsome weapon.
"Yun Che! Fuck! Why did you try to pull that stunt?! You should've just left! Fuck." The Evil Blessed smacked his head repeatedly in irritation at his own actions, causing him to bluff, and he had paid the cost. The three Heavenly World Cores contained Heavenly Mana that could only be refined by infusing Heavenly Chaos with Mystic-graded Mana.
Unfortunately, it's very nigh-impossible to transport it via fixed space or store it inside an Internal World, and doing so was suicide without being a Heavenly Saint. Only those who can dominate Mana can prevent the aggressive reaction it'll have using their Mana Dominance, an ability granted by the Origin State.
These Heavenly World Cores can be used to cultivate certain arts to take one down that path, but other materials were needed.
He had just lost that.
But he refused to leave it at that!
His eyes glinted viciously while gazing at the Bing Clan's distant planet. He'll take those cores back no matter what.
