It was rare for a single immortal to rise out of a hundred saints, and the average time it took for one cultivator to successfully pass their Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation was one in five thousand years. And that was the average rate for the Buzhou Immortal Sect. For loose cultivators, the rate was even lower, maybe not even one a hundred thousand years.
However, true immortals shared longevity with heaven and earth. As long as their willpower could sustain themselves, they could theoretically live infinitely. As such, the number of immortals was actually staggering after millions of years.
In addition, most forces had some secret techniques that allowed their immortal elders, who were nearing the limit of their willpower, to sleep and wake up for when the force needed them. At this point in the war, none of the three factions had awakened their immortals.
Still, the addition of three new true immortals to the Buzhou Immortal Sect raised the morale of the Buzhou Immortal Sect even higher. First, it was the addition of the new immortal monarch. Then, three more true immortals appeared. It was as if the heavens were on the Buzhou Immortal Sect's side in the Heaven Continent War.
Sect Master Xia struck while the iron was hot. He formed a three-person squad composed of "Xi Tianyi," Xia Yushan, and Lovespot to counterattack the Tripartite Alliance and Anti-Heaven Alliance.
As for why it was Xi Tianyi and not the new "mysterious" immortal from Jade Peak?
Sect Master Xia rolled his eyes and couldn't help but blame Tianyi for leaving Ba Shifang in Jade Peak to undergo his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. If Ba Shifang had undergone his heavenly tribulation away from the sect, he wouldn't have needed to dispatch a brocade immortal to pretend to be a newly ascended immortal.
Luckily, aside from himself and the Concealed Sovereign, no one knew the true identities of the Brocade Immortals. Not even Grand Elder Xi or Grand Elder Zhang knew.
Sect Master Xia sighed and glanced at the new pseudo realms Tianyi had created for him. With his newfound powers, Tianyi's speed at forming pseudo realm had increased, though the quality had barely risen. The problem now was gathering enough materials without alerting the other factions' notice, especially the Numinous Sword Sect.
He gathered the pseudo realms and flew towards Broken Heaven Valley, the forbidden grounds. Right now, only the Concealed Emperor had the ability to refine the pseudo realms into realms artifacts in preparation for the Buzhou Immortal Sect's future plans.
Ba Shifang walked towards the Mortal Severance Gate at the foot of the Buzhou Immortal Sect.
As he walked, he emitted the aura of a true immortal. Thanks to his main body's efforts, he had already mastered the Law of Lightning and became an immortal lord, but he wasn't willing to enter the Seamless Immortal Realm using the Law of Lightning. He planned to master seven more worldly laws. Once he did so, he would shortly enter the peak of the Seamless Immortal Realm.
His face had changed into an exact copy of Tianyi's, and he wore Tianyi's characteristic purple robes and gold coronet. Behind him, Su Bojing followed obediently behind. As he walked, it became evident that he was missing an arm.
Xia Yushan stood at the gate with his hands by his side and a sheathed sword on his back. After entering the Immortal Realm, he had shed his disciple uniform and wore a robe of pure white. Besides him stood two earth immortals of the Xia Clan.
"Senior Brother," Ba Shifang greeted.
"Immortal Xi," Xia Yushan replied.
Ba Shifang blinked. "Senior Brother Xia, why the distance? Since we're both immortals, why don't we address each as we've had before?"
"You are of Jade Peak's lineage, while I am not. How can I?"
At Xia Yushan's words, Ba Shifang stayed silent, not knowing what to say. Strictly speaking, even those within the same sect don't necessarily have to address each other as disciple brothers depending on their lineage, but it just rubbed Ba Shifang the wrong way.
Luckily, a third party arrived before the awkwardness could settle in. Unluckily, Ba Shifang hated him.
Ba Shifang's eyes twitched when he saw the black robes with dragon patterns Lovespot wore as he walked forward. Behind him, a grandmaster followed behind.
He instantly recognized the young man as Zi Zun. Furthermore, with his mastery of the Law of Lightning, Ba Shifang could discern that lighting qi contained with him and the condensed lightning concepts.
"Oh, you two are early. You seem excited." Lovespot said as he smiled provocatively at the two."
Ba Shifang rolled his eyes and didn't bother hiding them. "Since we're already here, we should hurry and complete the mission. I don't know about you, but I want to return to cultivating as soon as possible."
"Xi Tianyi, don't you know that you can't just seclude yourself and cultivate. You have to experience the world. Otherwise, you will never rise. Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot that you were a boy that relies on your mother to cultivate," Lovespot mocked.
Ba Shifang felt his lips twitch. "Are you sure you aren't talking about yourself? You should thank me for exposing your grandfather's corruption. Otherwise, would you realize that you needed to rely on yourself like me instead of just using resources from your grandfather? Otherwise, why did you only become an immortal now instead of hundreds of years ago?"
Lovespot's face darkened. He opened his mouth but shut it again.
"I also suggest you learn to follow the rules more. Don't learn from Immortal Redseal's example and twist and bend the rules for your own benefits. Oops, I forgot, he got imprisoned because of you, so you should learn from your past self," Ba Shifang said. "Don't think that just because you're an immortal now, you can harm the sect's disciples as you wish."
Soon after Lovespot turned immortal, he immediately set out to get revenge on the people who had harmed him after Immortal Redseal had been imprisoned. Had it not been for Tianyi, nearly all of the Lovespot Tormenter Chat Group would have been crippled.
"Breaking the rules? I'm simply returning what they owed me," Lovespot coldly said.
Ba Shifang gave a gentle smile, but there was an unmistakable mockery contained within. "You and them do indeed have a debt. But it's you who owed them? Did you think that just because you forgot your memories, it invalidated all the crimes you did before?"
"You!" Lovespot said through gritted teeth.
"Why are you glaring at me like that? So you also know you owe them. What gives you the right to get revenge on them?" Ba Shifang narrowed his eyes and focused all his attention on Lovespot. "Unless... you aren't Lovespot at all. Maybe you're a soul that happened to possess his body by chance. But that still doesn't make sense. You can't possibly cultivate this quickly. Maybe you got a lucky chance. What is it? A system or maybe scientific knowledge?"
Lovespot's face showed no signs of fear, only anger. "Xi Tianyi, don't try to spin your lies by making up a few words. What the hell is a system or scientific knowledge? If I'm possessed, would my soul lamp have been extinguished? Hmpf!"
'Am I really overthinking?' Ba Shifang thought. 'Although he is as arrogant, but at least he has some capital to be arrogant. Unlike the former Lovesopt.'
"Enough."
Both Ba Shifang and Lovespot turned towards Xia Yushan.
"Since everyone is here, let's leave."
Ba Shifang nodded and directly ignored Lovespot. Lovespot snorted and also followed Xia Yushan. Instead of following behind him, Lovespot flew in front of Xia Yushan as if he was the leader.
Tianyi's clone couldn't help but mutter, "Childish."
With a flip of his hand, an immortal boat appeared. It was Tianyi's immortal boat, but since he had crafted a better one, he lent it to Ba Shifang to sell the illusion better. "Immortal Xia, do you want to travel on my immortal boat instead of flying?"
Xia Yushan looked back. After a moment of consideration, he and the two earth immortals landed on the deck of the immortal boat. Ba Shifang smirked and glanced at Lovespot's back. He couldn't see Lovespot's expression, but he could already imagine his furious expression.
Up at front, Zi Zun snarled. "Senior Brother, that Xi Tianyi is mocking us!"
Lovespot said nothing, and his dragon immortal qi wrapped around Zi Zun. The two's speed suddenly increased tenfold and neared the velocity to break the Huang Realm's sound barrier.
Ba Shifang controlled the immortal boat to speed up. Although he didn't have an inexhaustible reservoir of qi like his main body, he had confidence that no one could exceed his endurance except the previously mentioned one.
However, the scene of Lovespot slowing didn't occur at all, and he maintained his speed all the way towards their destination. 'Tch, it seems he maintained a sustainable speed. I should have flown faster and forced him to expend his qi.'
The three newly-promoted immortals arrived at one of the Tripartite Alliance's third-rate vassal sects, the Silent Sound Sect. Although it was a third-rate force, the Buzhou Immortal Sect judged that the three newly promoted immortals were enough to destroy it.
Lovespot struck first. He waved his hand, and a crimson lotus burst forth. Each of the lotus leaves turned into a snake's head like a hydra and sprung forth, raining down upon the Silent Sound Sect.
There were no needless words of questioning the trio. There was no need. This was war.
The Silent Sound Sect was primarily comprised of females with hardly any males. Upon seeing the beauties, each with their own characteristic, Lovespot's eyes lit up.
However, none of them were true immortals, so Xia Yushan, Ba Shifang, and Lovespot didn't move. They first had their followers attack.
Su Bojing showed his power as a Buzhou Immortal Sect disciple. None of the grandmasters could hold a candle to his prowess, but he was the least eye-catching follower.
Xia Yushan's fellow clan members showed their power as earth immortals, but it was Zi Zun who amazed everyone watching. Using his Soul Nourishing Realm cultivation base, he defeated venerables and even resisted saint-level experts.
With his spiky yellow-haired state and lightning-clad figure, he deserved his moniker as Thunder Martial.
However, it was clear that the four couldn't resist the whole force of the Silent Sound Sect. That was fine. Ba Shifang only wanted to temper Su Bojing, and so did Lovespot towards Zi Zun.
"Retreat," Ba Shifang ordered.
Su Bojing immediately followed Ba Shifang's orders. The two Xia Clan earth immortals complied as soon as Xia Yushan nodded. As for Zi Zun? Although he snorted, he still obeyed. Even if he wanted to disobey, what use would it be if he was the only one who didn't retreat?
Get swamped and killed?
Ba Shifang waved his hand, and the Thunder Throne Mk 4 appeared. He sat down and shifted into an imposing form. He smiled even as the thousands of venerables, saints, and earth immortals rushed toward him. He could even see a few instrument-shaped war formations exuding the power of a true immortal.
"Both of you, let me take care of this," Ba Shifang said as he raised his hand. Xia Yushan sheathed his sword while Lovespot snorted, again.
The sky darkened as black clouds gathered above, casting the Silent Sound Sect in darkness. Thunder rumbled, and Ba Shifang brought his hand down. The lightning followed.
Faced with the immortal-level attack, all the Silent Sound Sect members, who weren't in a war formation, instantly died. Their tragic cries filled the air.
"I thought that the famed son of the Sword Sovereign would be gentler to women, but it turns out you are quite cruel to them," Lovespot jeered.
"How can this be called cruel?" Ba Shifang asked. "I'm respecting them. Haven't you heard of gender equality? Unlike you, I treat women as proper opponents instead of lusting after them like a certain someone."
Lovespot sneered. "Do you have the time to talk? You haven't taken down the war formations. Unless you need help? If you beg, I can maybe help."
"No need," Ba Shifang coldly said.
Still, he didn't take any more action and just watched the war formations. The war formations didn't attack and seemed to panic, instead.
The black clouds didn't dissipate and instead condensed even more. The heavenly tribulation had descended.
Lovespot frowned as he watched the war formation disintegrate under the onslaught of tribulation lightning. He had heard that Xi Tianyi could control heavenly tribulation, but he had not believed it until now. He stared with great wariness towards Ba Shifang.
Ba Shifang just watched as the tribulation lightning destroyed the war formations and the users within. He raised an eyebrow when he saw Zi Zun shoot forward near the end of the heavenly tribulation and take on a bolt of tribulation lightning.
With his senses, he could discern Zi Zun was absorbing the tribulation of lightning. The heavenly tribulation that had begun to dissipate, stilled and condensed once more. With a thunderous, it rained three more bolts of lightning on Zi Zun, who would have died had Lovespot not dispersed the heavenly tribulation.
'I can't help but think the heavenly tribulation overreacted to Zi Zun's acts because of my main body's act of absorbing the tribulation essence.' Ba Shifang glanced at Zi Zun's charred body. 'Though, I don't think he absorbed any tribulation essence.'
After Ba Shifang eliminated most of the Silent Sound Sect's forces, Lovespot glanced at Xia Yushan. "Xia Yushan, both of us have already taken. Don't you think it's a bit improper that you've done nothing?"
"Elder Lovespot. If it was Elder Xi speaking, it might have some effect, but you only attacked the Silent Sound Sect once and only harmed their barrier formation. You should contribute more before speaking," One of the Xia Clan's earth immortal said.
Lovespot lightly glanced at the earth immortal, causing him to feel as if he had sunk into a sea of ice.
Xia Yushan didn't say anything and flew forward. He unsheathed his sword, and all the metal qi in the air vibrated in resonance. With metal qi as the core, fire qi, water qi, wood qi, and earth qi merged into Xia Yushan's shimmering sword.
He slashed and unleashed a sword-shaped light toward the Silent Sound Sect. With that single strike, it destroyed numerous formations in an instant.
But Xia Yushan wasn't done. He continued to strike, each sword strike seemed to lead to another, and Ba Shifang even felt a hint of a budding sword intent in Xia Yushan's blade.
Under Xia Yushan's assault, the Silent Sound Sect's formation could not withstand it for long, and the three true immortal elders appeared. They had numerous injuries as a result of Xia Yushan's attack despite not having faced him head-on.
Lovespot's eyes zeroed in on the most beautiful immortal wearing a pale yellow dress. Before Xia Yushan could strike, he had already attacked. Using swift and ruthless means, he killed two of the three true immortals and captured the most beautiful one.
"Lovespot, what do you plan to do with her?" Ba Shifang asked with a dark expression.
Lovespot sneered. "Naturally, I plan to interrogate her for information. What? You finally found your heart and can't bear it?"
"No, I just hope that you are properly interrogating her and not conducting activities with your third leg," Ba Shifang said.
"Naturally, I will extract useful information out of her."
Ba Shifang toyed with the idea of killing the female immortal then and there, but knowing Lovespot, he could easily spin it as a tail of him attacking a fellow sect member. Ba Shifang wasn't afraid of disputing, but was it really worth it for the Buzhou Immortal Sect's enemies?
'Tch, this Lovespot. He can't secretly harm women in the sect or ally sect anymore and is using the war as an excuse. Piece of shit." Ba Shifang thought. 'Forget, I'll try reporting it to the War Hall and see if I can transfer her. Although she'll still be tortured, at least, it'll be better than suffering in Lovespot's hands.'
Just as the group prepared to leave, they stopped as they sensed a group of immortals flying toward them. After a short discussion, they stayed to see who the Tripartite Alliance sent and see if they could cull them too.
Ba Shifang widened his eyes as he spotted a familiar presence. 'Dong Chifan?'
