Compared to his appearance during the Heavenly Connection Gathering all those years ago, Dong Chifan appeared slightly older, a man in his prime. Gone was his teenage youthfulness and, in its place, a mature and serious temperament.
Ba Shifang recalled from Tianyi's memories that Dong Chifan and the rest of the Leakless Sect's scions had disappeared right after the gathering, but now, it was obvious that they had returned. In addition, Dong Chifan sported the Leakless Sect's elder uniform, but the most striking feature was his aura of immortality.
Despite the Tripartite Alliance squad containing ten immortals, neither Xia Yushan, Lovespot, nor Ba Shifang retreated. Instead, they waited until they were face to face.
"Long time no see, I see you've ascended to immortality. Congratulations," Ba Shifang said when the opposing squad stopped.
They seemed caught off guard by his friendliness, and some even stared at him, trying to see if it was some sort of ploy to lower their guard. Finally, Dong Chifan stepped forward and spoke. "Thank you, Senior. I didn't expect that our second meeting would be like this. Congratulation for entering the Immortal Realm as well."
'Technically, this is our first meeting.' Ba Shifang thought.
"Senior, I advised you to give up without a fight. This way, you won't have to get hurt."
Ba Shifang just stared at him for a moment, processing those words. Then, he chuckled. Not just him, but even Lovespot laughed.
"Junior, do you think that you have an advantage just because you have more people? Only the weak group together in large numbers," Lovespot asked. "How about this. I advise you to give up. Otherwise, you might get hurt."
'Hey, hey, technically, aren't all forces just people grouped together? Are you slapping your own face?!' Ba Shifang thought but didn't say anything.
"Senior, I respect you, so I wholeheartedly advise you to leave while you can. The Buzhou Immortal Sect is corrupt. Had it not been for them, I wouldn't have almost died and fallen to a lower realm. If you leave, I can ask for leniency for you." Dong Chifan said.
Ba Shifang shook his head. Ignoring the fact that he wasn't Tianyi, his identity's mother was the Sword Sovereign and grand elder of the sect. If he really left, he'd be hunted down like a traitor, and he didn't want to cause trouble for Mengfei.
"Where'd you get the slightest notion that I'd leave? My mother is the Sword Sovereign. Ignoring her identity, you rebels don't even have an immortal sovereign. Why would you think I would leave the obvious winning side?" Ba Shifang asked.
"The new generation will always surpass the older generation. Someone will surpass Sword Sovereign Xi's strength. Just like how the Buzhou Immortal Sect's hegemony has come to an end."
It wasn't Ba Shifang who answered but Lovespot. "You're right, but that person isn't you!"
Without waiting, Lovespot started attacking after throwing the female immortal to Zi Zun. Since Lovespot attacked, Xia Yushan followed suit.
Ba Shifang formed a barrier formation around Su Bojing and the other mortal cultivators before joining the fight. Surprisingly, Dong Chifan was barely able to hold off Lovespot, but the other immortals were being suppressed by Xia Yushan. It was only a matter of time before they fell, and with the addition of Ba Shifang, their fate was sealed.
He snapped his hand, and the Thunder Throne Mk 4 shot a pillar of lightning into the sky. The lightning split into eight rays and curved back, locking the battlefield. With another snap, Ba Shifang formed another formation, the Eight Extremes Lightning Cage Formation.
Inside the Eight Extremes Lightning Cage Formation, the immortals from the Tripartite Alliance felt as if they were constantly being electrocuted. Furthermore, they could feel the lightning continuously burn and evaporate their qi. And, their connection to heaven and earth was cut off, so they could not absorb spiritual qi to replenish what was lost. And that was only three of the eight effects.
In less than half the time it took to take down the Silent Sound Sect, three immortals had already fallen.
Dong Chifan grunted as he resisted another attack from Lovespot. His eyes frantically searched for an opening in the Eight Extremes Lightning Cage Formation, but the space was securely locked, preventing him from using the World Piercing Mammoth Boar's ability. Finally, he gritted his teeth and allowed Lovespot's attack to strike true.
It injured him but also gave him a chance to charge toward Ba Shifang, who was aiding Xia Yushan using ranged attacks. Lovespot moved to block him but stopped upon seeing his target. Instead, he turned his gaze towards the immortals resisting Xia Yushan. A claw art later, the fourth immortal of the Tripartite Alliance fell.
"Senior Xi, release the formation. Otherwise, I won't be able to guarantee your life." Dong Chifan said.
Ba Shifang snorted. "Open your eyes, Dong Chifan. Do you think you have any chance of winning? I'll tell you right now, I'm the strongest out of the three of us."
He ignored Lovespot's snort.
"Then take my move!" Dong Chifan shouted as he pulled out an awl from his spatial ring. The awl was half a meter long and appeared ordinary, but soon, runic markings covered the whole thing.
Behind Dong Chifan, a martial manifestation, the reflection of a martial cultivator's strength, appeared behind him. Two drill-like tusks appeared first. They bore a great resemblance to the singular tusk he showed during Heavenly Connection Gathering, only more realistic and exuding a horrifying pressure.
Next, the head of the World Piercing Mammoth Boar appeared. Its eyes shone like suns and had stiff, black fur that perfectly matched the night sky. Like a stone thrown into a still pond, spatial distortion rippled with the martial manifestation in the center.
But, once it touched the edge of Ba Shifang's Eight Extremities Lighting Cage Formation, it stopped.
To the casual observer, it might appear as if Dong Chifang's spatial distortions were very powerful, but to Ba Shifang, it couldn't be farther from the truth. He hadn't mastered the Law of Spacetime, but his incomplete mastery was more than enough to discern that it was all flair with no substance.
The space in front of Dong Chifan's awl started to twist and distort like a drill as it pierced towards Ba Shifang. Lightning crackled, and thunder roared in Ba Shifang's hand as he raised it, ready to face the attack head-on. To an ordinary true immortal or maybe an immortal lord, the technique might be fatal, but not to him.
As Dong Chifan neared him, Ba Shifang's eyes suddenly became unfocused. Dong Chifan's eyes lit up. He didn't know why Ba Shifang suddenly entered a daze, but he wasn't willing to give up this chance.
Unfortunately for him, just as the tip of the technique almost reached Ba Shifang's chest, Ba Shifang's eyes regained clarity. His body flashed with brilliance, almost blinding Dong Chifan. The next thing everyone knew, Ba Shifang reappeared ten meters behind Dong Chifan.
It seemed like teleportation, but Dong Chifan, who cultivated the World Piercing Mammoth Boar's ability, sensed no spatial fluctuation. And, he was clear that with the distortion from his technique, no one would be able to teleport unless their mastery of space surpassed his.
Suppressing his questions, Dong Chifan did a one-eighty and charged toward Ba Shifang again. The most important thing was to destroy the Eight Extremities Lightning Cage Formation as soon as possible and escape.
Unlike the previous time, Ba Shifang didn't enter a daze. He raised his hand, but it didn't contain any lightning or thunder at all. Instead, his sleeve suddenly enlarged.
Dong Chifan, who was charging straight at him, felt alarm bells ringing in his head. From his perspective, he could see the sleeve containing a portal leading to a black space filled with a sun, eight planetary objects, and numerous dazzling stars.
He tried to adjust his trajectory, but a colossal suction forced dragged him into Ba Shifang's sleeve. Once he entered, the spatial distortions caused by his technique disappeared, and Ba Shifang's sleeve returned to normal size.
After eliminating the remaining immortals, Ba Shifang rescinded the Eight Extremities Lightning Cage Formation. Xia Yushan couldn't help but fly forward and ask. "Immortal Xi, was that the legendary World Within a Sleeve Technique?"
Ba Shifang could see everyone peaking at him, even Lovespot. He smiled and said, "It's not. It only appears similar. Just parlor trick I created based on the records."
Xia Yushan didn't say anything. Some of them showed disbelief while others nodded, but Ba Shifang didn't care. He took out his immortal boat and after Xia Yushan stepped in, controlled it to return.
He didn't bother asking Lovespot.
"Who are you? Where are we?" Dong Chifan asked as he stared at the white-haired, black-robed man that suddenly appeared. After being sucked in, he was brought into a picturesque location with mountains and rivers but discovered that he couldn't move his limbs as if invisible shackles restrained him. He squinted, trying to see through the man's mask, but it was no use.
Tianyi stared at Dong Chifan. He pondered whether or not to reveal his identity. In the end, he waved his hands and removed the invisible shackles placed on Dong Chifan. "Don't worry. We're on the same side."
Dong Chifan clearly didn't believe him as he inched farther away. But he didn't turn tail and fled. Instincts told him that the man in front of him was far more powerful. He couldn't sense any cultivation from the man, but that only highlighted the difference in strength even more.
Tianyi sighed. "Did you live the apocalypse like the other earthlings?"
Dong Chifan furrowed his brows and stared suspiciously at Tianyi. "Senior, what are you talking about it?"
Tianyi smiled. "Don't bother hiding. You already exposed your roots when you started selling coke. Or is just you being cautious after living through the apocalypse and the present war?"
With Tianyi's current sensory ability, it was impossible to hide any change in expression from him in the Nine Heavens Universe, but to his surprise, Dong Chifan really didn't show any reaction to any of the words he said.
"Kamehadoken?" Tianyi tested, trying to get a reaction. But Dong Chifan only showed a confused expression. 'Is he really not a reincarnator?'
"Senior, I really don't know what you are talking about. I think you might have mistaken me for someone else," Dong Chifan said.
"That's impossible. Where did you learn the taste of coke and the carbonation process needed to make it?" Tianyi asked.
Dong Chifan hesitated for a moment. 'I haven't learned of where I am, but judging from Senior's actions, he shouldn't have any ill will towards me. But he must be related to the Buzhou Immortal Sect in some way, but he seems to have some relationship to the immortal who I've learned the inheritance from. Should I gamble on this connection?'
After a moment of hesitation, he decided to take a gamble. Hadn't he turned enemies, San Jiuling of the Leakless Sect, into allies before?
"Senior, did ascend from a lower realm like my master?"
"Your master?" Tianyi asked.
"Yes. When my master took me as a disciple, he had already fallen, so I happened to chance upon his inheritance site. He left behind an artificial spirit that he called an A.I. that chose me as his disciple. The coke that Senior spoke about was from Master's inheritance," Dong Chifan said.
Behind his mask, Tianyi's eyes widened. 'Is his master the reincarnator? Is that possible? Xi Ri, Jiang Chun Feng, Daoyi, and I are of similar ages. Did Dong Chifan's master arrive earlier than us?'
"Do you know when your master fell?" Tianyi asked.
"Replying to Senior, over three thousand years ago."
Hearing this, Tianyi fell silent. Then he stared at Dong Chifan, trying to see any hint of deception. "Does the word Earth mean anything to you?"
"Earth?" Dong Chifan repeated. He shook his head and said, "I don't know of such a world."
"Forget it, forget it," Tianyi said as he disappeared.
"Senior? Senior?!" Dong Chifan shouted at Tianyi's sudden disappearance. He looked around to see if he could discover where Tianyi had disappeared to. "He just left me here. Isn't he afraid of me running away?"
Tianyi really wasn't afraid. He had brought Dong Chifan onto Sixth Heaven, the Nine Heavens Universe's equivalent of Earth. Unless he was an immortal sovereign or a divinity, Dong Chifan could never escape.
He still wasn't sure Dong Chifan was telling the truth, so he waited to see if Dong Chifan would reveal any holes if he lied with time.
Right now, Tianyi reappeared at another location. There, it was a near-exact replica of his Jade Lotus Clear Pond, and Daoyi sat at the center. He really was curious as to what kind of avatar Daoyi would create.
