'Xia Yushan, the Asura Sword Immortal?' Hu Landie thought as she carefully observed the newcomer. Even if Ba Shifang recognized him, she did not lower her guard.
In the future, Xia Yushan would become known as one of the pillars of the Buzhou Immortal Sect when he had ascended to the Immortal Realm. His moniker from when his time as a mortal did not carry over. Instead, he became known as the feared Asura Sword Immortal.
It was a name forged through the countless blood of the Buzhou Immortal Sect's enemies. In fact, one of the many sacrifices had been the Tripartite Alliance's true immortals.
"You are?" Xia Yushan furrowed his brows and tried to recall the name of the man in the Buzhou Immortal Sect's uniform. A name fluctuated in his mind. "You are Ba Shifang, Junior Brother Xi's clone."
Hu Landie hid her puzzlement. She had thought that Ba Shifang had simply been another casualty in the war, so he never realized his potential; thus, she did not hear of him. But if someone as outstanding as Ba Shifang was just a clone, who was his main body?
She ran through the list of the Buzhou Immortal Sect's experts. The first one to come to mind was Xi Mengfei, the Sword Empress.
Thinking of her, Hu Landie couldn't help but frown. 'I'm sure that the Sword Empress stayed in the Extremity Immortal Realm for over a thousand years. Why did she reach the Origin Immortal Realm nine hundred years before I died?'
Hu Landie knew that her presence would bring about a butterfly effect on history, but she did not overestimate her influence either. How could a loose cultivator who had not even reached the Immortal Realm change the course of the famed Sword Empress Xi's cultivation?
Still, it was a question she had pondered over a hundred times before and did not find an answer to. So, she refocused on the problem at hand.
The first name that she recalled was Xi Longyi, but the current Xi Longyi was no longer Xi Longyi but Xi Tianyi, another anomaly. She couldn't help but furrow her brows. If Ba Shifang really was Xi Tianyi's clone, she didn't want to meet him.
She always felt an aversion to anomalies in the present that did not match her future self's memories. She recalled that Xi Longyi had disappeared without reason around this time. The world later learned that he had failed his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation, but that was it.
Xia Yushan's eyes transferred from Ba Shifang to Hu Landie. He had already entered the Unity Realm, but he felt that the blue-robed woman was not simple. He didn't place much more thoughts on her and refocused on Ba Shifang. "What happened to you, why do you look so wretched?"
Ba Shifang felt his face flush. He did indeed look incredibly wretched. His hair was in a mess, his skin a pallid tone, and if his robes were slightly more damaged, they could be called rags. "It's the White Wind Sect. After completing the mission, they suddenly betrayed us and attacked me. Only Miss Hu and I managed to survive."
Only after Ba Shifang explained the matter head to tail did he notice Xia Yushan's state. Although he appeared uninjured, Ba Shifang still saw some marks and cuts on the edges of Xia Yushan's robes. "Senior Brother Xia, did something happen to you?"
Xia Yushan scrunched his brows. "I traveled to the Xia Clan under Master's orders to pick up my future junior brother. Unfortunately, while I was present, the White Wind Sect betrayed us and massacred my clan."
He sighed. "My junior brother died while I was caught by surprise. They sent over twenty earth immortals, and the Xia Clan didn't stand a chance after the patriarch fell. Now, the only Xia Clan members left are those who managed to escape like me and those who became disciples of the Buzhou Immortal Sect."
Cultivation clans like the Xia Clan would send their most outstanding disciples to join sects with more power than them. It was not uncommon for opposing sects to contain disciples from the same clan. Still, the Xia Clan resolutely only sent disciples to the Buzhou Immortal Sect after Xia Meng took the mantle of sect master to show their allegiance.
"I'm sorry about your loss," Ba Shifang said.
"Mhm," Xia Yushan said. "Junior Brother Ba, why don't we travel back together? The sooner we can report the White Wind Sect's betrayal, the faster we can exact vengeance."
Ba Shifang nodded. Among the three of them, he was currently in the weakest state, so this proposal only had advantages for him. "What do you think?"
" I was originally a loose cultivator hired, so I'll listen to Senior Xia's arrangements," Hu Landie said.
"Alright, let's go." Xia Yushan said.
Ba Shifang and Xia Yushan deployed their flying sword artifacts to soar through the sky. Hu Landie stepped on her armored butterfly and followed right behind them.
Along the way, Ba Shifang asked, "Senior Brother Xia, don't you have an immortal boat?"
Xia Yushan answered without even looking back. "Immortal boats are a luxury that I don't want to pay for. I would rather use my resources for my cultivation."
"Ah," Ba Shifang remembered that immortal boats were like luxury yachts or private jet planes for most cultivators. Aside from official sect purposes, most people didn't have immortal boats.
He had thought Xia Yushan would have access to it since he was the sect master's disciple. He had forgotten that masters weren't as liberal with their wealth as parents. Although, he doubted that anyone would give their child an immortal rank boat like Mengfei had. Most would gift immortal boats at the unity rank, and even then, those still cost almost as much as an immortal artifact.
After that, Ba Shifang shut up and didn't say another word. Due to the need to avoid the scouting White Wind Sect members, they had to make several detours.
While they were making a detour, the environment became over ten times brighter, and a familiar warmth that had only existed in their memories for ten months reappeared. All three stared at the disappearing tribulation clouds with some shock.
Ba Shifang's expression changed, and his eyes glazed over.
"What's wrong with Daoist Ba?" Hu Landie asked upon seeing Ba Shifang's strange state.
"Let's wait a moment," Xia Yushan said. Tianyi's Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation wasn't some grand secret. Even if people wanted to hide it, it would be impossible with the commotion he caused, but that didn't mean everyone learned of it. Only those with enough connection and power, like the first-rate sects, knew of it.
As such, Xia Yushan already had an inkling as to why Ba Shifang entered such a strange state. He didn't know the exact circumstances, but he knew that it must be because of Tianyi.
Recalling Tianyi, Xia Yushan's emotion didn't fluctuate at all. He could no longer feel the envy and jealousy towards the younger man even if he wanted to.
When Ba Shifang regained his consciousness, he revealed a smile. "My main body has successfully transcended the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. I've already sent him my coordinates. As long as we move closer, we can reach safety faster."
"Alright, which way should we go?" Xia Yushan asked.
Ba Shifang directed them in a direction, and all three flew where he pointed. He was confused a bit, though. Neither Xia Yushan nor Hu Landie showed much shock or excitement when he heard that Tianyi had become an immortal. Both just nodded with calm acceptance, giving him an empty feeling.
But that was neither there nor here, so Ba Shifang said nothing.
However, they soon found themselves surrounded by over twenty saint-level experts and thirty venerables. It was strange that nothing happened to them when they were in the greatest danger, but when they discovered the greatest hope, trouble found them. It was as if heaven was playing a joke on them.
"We finally found you brats!" One of the transcending mortality saint-level experts said. "Hand over the immortal artifact, and we can give you clean death."
Before Ba Shifang could say anything, Xia Yushan had already struck. He unsheathed his sword and thrust it towards the nearest enemy.
The venerable widened his eyes in shock even as Xia Yushan's sword impaled his body. To his horror, he discovered that his body and soul were collapsing on themselves. Even as he called upon the power of heaven and earth, it could not prevent them from disintegrating.
Xia Yushan didn't bother to give him another look as he pulled out his sword and repeated the same action against three more venerables before a saint-level expert finally obstructed him.
"Go to hell!" the saint-level expert shouted as he clashed with Xia Yushan.
Xia Yushan said nothing as five different-colored figures flew out of his body. Each one wore a different color corresponding to the five elements, and they were formed from the Five Element Incarnation Technique.
With Xia Yushan at the center, the five incarnations flew into five separate but equal distances from Xia Yushan. Not long after, a five-colored, five-petaled lotus emerged and encapsulated Xia Yushan and his incarnations.
To his horror, the saint-level expert discovered that his connection with heaven and earth was interfered with. He could still sense it, but his qi could no longer be replenished as fast as before, and he had to use a vast amount to protect his body from Xia Yushan's five-element lotus.
While Xia Yushan battled against the saint-level expert, the rest of the White Wind Sect present also swamped forward. Ten saint-level had split off to deal with Xia Yushan since he was the only venerable present on the opposing side.
Hu Landie had deployed a second Whitebone Beetle, but its aura was obviously weaker than the first one. Even for her, it would take a lot of resources to raise one that could withstand a saint-level expert's attack.
Once the Whitebone Beetle appeared, Hu Landie performed a beast tamer's supreme technique, Man-Beast Unification. The Whitebone Beetle merged with Hu Landie and turned into a bone-white armor that covered her whole body.
Man-Beast Unification was a beast tamer's signature technique. Using it, they could add the traits of their summoned beast onto their own body, remedying a beast tamer's greatest weakness. Of course, the strength gained from using it was based on the beast that was used to fuse, and if the tamer was too weak for the tamed beast, they ran the risk of being possessed by the tamed beast.
Even so, Hu Landie had been pushed to the defensive. Ten venerables targeted her at the same time, resulting in her being thrown around like a punching bag. Luckily, most of the attention was focused on Ba Shifang, so she could still defend with minimal loss.
'Should I escape?' Hu Landie thought. 'No, I'll wait a bit longer.'
When the twenty saint-level experts and fifteen venerables charged at him, Ba Shifang went all out. Cracks appeared on his skin as it began to enlarge itself.
Soon after, Ba Shifang's giant formed from primal elements emerged. Compared to the first time it appeared, it was even more unstable, with chunks of land constantly falling off. It was evident that the state could not last long.
The White Wind Sect members besieging him wanted to play the long game, but Ba Shifang did not conform to their expectations. Like a raging berserker, he ignored all their attacks and focused on killing with reckless abandon.
"We can't keep doing this, he's gone crazy!" a saint-level expert said after Ba Shifang killed one of them and five venerables.
"I wanted to hide it a bit longer, but form the Palewind Immortal War Formation!" at the leading earth immortal's words, fifteen of the twenty saint-level experts formed together.
Not long after, a giant made of white wind appeared. The remaining venerables charged at Hu Landie while the saint-level experts contained Xia Yushan.
Ba Shifang's giant roared as he punched forward. The Palewind Immortal War Formation replied in kind. When the two giants clashed, the Palewind Immortal War Formation held the upper hand. The elemental giant roared as he crashed onto his back, and whatever rock skin on his arm was shattered in the clash.
The giant roared, got up, and continued to clash against the Palewind Immortal War Formation, but anyone could see it was a futile struggle. The difference in power was simply too large.
Five minutes later, the elemental giant shattered as all the primal elements fell to the ground, revealing a sickly Ba Shifang holding the immortal rank sword in hand. The Palewind Immortal War Formation unleashed a torrent of wind that struck Ba Shifang, crashing him into the ground and forming a deep pit.
The Palewind Immortal War Formation ignored Xia Yushan and Hu Landie as it walked towards Ba Shifang's last known location, intent on claiming its prize.
However, at this time, the sky darkened, lightning rained, and thunder roared. "HOW DARE YOU KILL MY CLONE!"
Coupled with that furious cry, a gigantic bolt of lightning struck the Palewind Immortal War Formation. So large was the lightning bolt that it resembled a golden pillar holding the sky from falling against the earth.
When the lightning disappeared, the Palewind Immortal War Formation fell onto one knee, and in front of him stood a figure in purple.
The figure was shorter than two meters and looked practically diminutive compared to war formation. Still, the crackling lightning around him, coupled with his electrifying aura, made his momentum surge and surpassed the Palewind Immortal War Formation.
He had long black hair, a flame-like mark between his brows, with a handsome face, but the most dazzling features were his pair of deviling eyes.
A golden throne seemingly formed of solid lightning and thunder appeared behind him. Upon sitting down, Xi Tianyi resembled a lord of lightning.
