Strictly speaking, although the Eight Pillar Sect and the Buzhou Immortal Sect were currently in an alliance, that didn't mean the Eight Pillar Sect were enemies with the Cloud Goddess Cult or the Anti-Heaven Alliance. If anything, the two becoming allies was even better than allying with the Buzhou Immortal Sect.
However, alliances were matters between the Eight Pillar Sect and the Cloud Goddess Cult, not between individual members like Tai Wuling and Yun Xialan—especially if it concerned a law fragment. On an off note, Monarch Dong might have secretly contacted the leader figure of the Cloud Goddess Cult outside the entrance to the Yellow Mausoleum.
Now, Tai Wuling wouldn't call himself a master at reading people, especially those purposely masking their emotions, but he was quite confident he saw murder in Yun Xialan's eyes. He knew that the law fragment would make any cultivator go crazy, but Yun Xialan's killing intent only seemed to be partially motivated by the law fragment in his hand.
Tai Wuling didn't have time to ponder anymore as he jumped out of range of Yun Xialan's sword. The cloud-patterned blade swerved midair toward his new position, causing Tai Wuling to stomp on the ground. A dense stone slab sprouted from the ground, and the sword pierced it halfway.
Yun Xialan flicked her fingers and frowned. Her sword refused to pull itself out of the stone, or rather, something held it inside the stone. At this time, Tai Wuling leaped into the air after her, causing the saintess to control the cloud to fly higher and out of his reach. How she flew, he didn’t know.
Tai Wuling formed several hand seals, and sand materialized around him, forming a giant tornado of sand that dealt small but innumerable cuts from sheer speed.
Yun Xialan formed several hand seals in response, causing the cloud beneath her feet to shoot out raindrops. Despite the seemingly small size, large enough to fit only her, the raindrops never ended. Each raindrop captured several specks of sand, dampening them and causing them to fall back to the ground.
With the sandstorm dealt with, Yun Xialan pointed her fingers at Tai Wuling. The raindrops shot toward him like bullets from a gatling gun. A thin red film of light covered Tai Wuling's body before swiftly being covered by an earthen yellow aura.
The raindrops crashed into Tai Wuling, splattering into mist during the process. Each raindrop did not contain much force, but an unending stream of shots launched him even faster toward the ground. The raindrops splattered once they did their duty, but they did not disappear, turning into fog instead.
The more raindrops connected, the larger the fog that surrounded Tai Wuling. In correlation to the increasing size of the fog, his protective earthen light became dimmer. Tai Wuling ignored the pelting raindrops and flipped until he landed on his two feet.
He didn't delay and dashed away from the raindrops pelting him. Simultaneously, the earthen light protecting him disappeared, leaving only the fiery light behind. The remaining light grew in intensity until the air around Tai Wuling started to blur, and the fog started to thin.
When the fog had all but disappeared, the fiery red light around Tai Wuling also disappeared, and he hadn't only been neutralizing Yun Xialan's attack. With each step he took, sharp rocks would shoot toward her, forcing her to dodge and lessening the number of raindrops shot toward Tai Wuling.
"Hold on a second," Tai Wuling shouted. Surprisingly, Yan Xialan actually stopped. "Let's have a talk!"
Yun Xialan lowered her hand, but her eyes bore into him. Seeing that she had no intention to speak, Tai Wuling opened his mouth. "Both of us are wasting too much time. The longer we fight, the more likely someone will stumble onto us. How about we make a deal?"
Tai Wuling held out his hand, and the fragment of the Law of Earth shimmered from within his grasp. "Both our goal is this, how about we team up?"
Still no word from Yun Xialan.
"Splitting the law fragment in my hand might destroy it, so how about we combine our powers and hunt for more earth monsters?" Tai Wuling suggested. "Both of us possess the strength of immortal lords. Together, we'll be able to monopolize the law fragments."
Tai Wuling frowned when he saw Yun Xialin still not answering. Just as he was about to speak, he quickly disappeared from his spot and reappeared a distance away. Where he once stood, a human-sized cloud floated. Liquid dripped from the cloud, and it melted a hole into the ground.
Tai Wuling glared. "Why? Is it because the Eight Pillar Sect is allied with the Buzhou Immortal Sect? Alliances aren't permanent. Think about it. If the Eight Pillar Sect and Anti-Heaven Alliance ally, then we can suppress the Buzhou Immortal Sect!"
"You make several valid points," Yun Xialan finally said. "However, I only need one reason to kill you."
With that, Yun Xialan raised both arms. White-blue clouds appeared above the ground, and Tai Wuling could feel his robes, ankles, and feet constantly being dissolved by the acidic cloud. He did not let a groan of pain leave his lips, he only stared at the Holy Cloud Saintess and asked. "What reason?"
Perhaps she felt humored or confident in her decision, but Yun Xialan answered his question. "Who told you to oppose Brother Nie?"
Tai Wuling frowned, not recognizing that name. Was it someone from the Cloud Goddess Cult? But Yun Xialan was the first member of the Cloud Goddess Cult he fought. None of the true immortals from earlier were from the Cloud Goddess Cult, although a few were part of the Anti-Heaven Alliance.
He shook his head, it didn't matter. He could feel that whatever comprised the clouds were special, like the Divine Flame Lord's five-colored flames. He had the confidence to win, but duking it out with Yun Xialan would take too much effort. Plus, he didn't want to beat a woman.
Tai Wuling became encased in a fiery light once more and started to sink into the ground. Yun Xialan saw this and sent her cloud-patterned sword upon him, but it was too late as his neck had already sunk into the ground.
All was as Tai Wuling planned, except for when his forehead neared the ground. All the clouds condensed around his forehead, turning into a blob of violet-blue liquid. It felt as if the liquid had drilled a hole into his forehead and seeped into his brain.
Tai Wuling screamed. In his increasingly fuzzy vision, he could see Yan Xialan frantically weaving several hand seals. The black sphere in his consciousness hummed to life, but he didn't have time to care.
He knew that he would faint, so before then, he had to find a safe location. Using Earthwalk, Tai Wuling fled over a hundred kilometers before losing consciousness.
While he lost consciousness, the violet-blue liquid swirled inside his sea of consciousness. It circled around the black sphere as it was slowly absorbed. As the black sphere did so, numerous runes written in the ancient language of the primordial era glowed a bright violet-blue. At the same time, the law fragment in Tai Wuling's hand also disappeared, absorbed by the black sphere.
After absorbing the violet-blue liquid and the law fragment of earth, the black sphere had runes glowing a soft violet-blue permanently. Unlike its previous silent state, it now seemed to be perpetually on.
A blue shard fell out of the black sphere and merged with Tai Wuling's consciousness. Outside, hidden in a hole in the ground, Tai Wuling started to frown. His eyelids flickered as his eyes constantly moved.
Tai Wuling stared into vast chaos. The chaos did not resemble the Vast Void he knew. Countless stars filled the distance, and no realms existed. Instead of realms, he saw numerous round spheres circling stars.
He didn't know how long he drifted through the chaos. He would pass countless stars, with a minority orbited by those rocky spheres, but sometimes they seemed to be covered in large gases. Sometimes, he would see random spheres formed of rocks or ice drifting like himself.
Tai Wuling had already figured out everything he saw wasn't in his control. It was like he was watching events through another's eyes. He guessed it must have been the memories of the black sphere's original owner.
As he drifted through the chaos, he would sometimes meet other living beings, but they weren't like any lifeform Tai Wuling knew. He could see hints of features belonging to lifeforms he knew, like demons, monsters, and regular animals. Strangely, he saw no beings resemble humans.
Sometimes, Tai Wuling would fight them. Each clash was disastrous, stars collapsed, and countless numbers of those giant spheres would shatter. The sheer power from a simple punch from the black sphere's original owner and his foe could easily destroy any realm of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System.
Other times, he would sit down and discuss the worldly laws with the mysterious beings. Without exception, Tai Wuling could not comprehend the esoteric knowledge spoken by the two. It almost made him go crazy because he knew the original owner of the black sphere specialized in the five elements.
But most of the time, when he passed another being, they would stare warily at one another and continue on their way. Sometimes, it was the other being staring at Tai Wuling in fear and distancing themselves as far as possible. Not once did he see another being more powerful than the black sphere's original owner.
Time passed slowly, almost agonizingly so. Tai Wuling tried to comprehend the laws, but he couldn't even sense them. He didn't know if it was because he was reliving the original owner of the black sphere's life or because he was in this vast chaos.
Without the ability to comprehend the laws or cultivate, Tai Wuling could only wait for the memory to end. The only enjoyment he could squeeze out of this monotony was when the original owner of the black sphere interacted with another mysterious lifeform. Such occurrences were few and far between.
Tai Wuling didn't know how long this continued. He had counted the black sphere's original owner interacting with exactly forty-four other beings since the memory had started. Although he didn't know the exact timeframe, he was pretty sure the time between each interaction was slowly decreasing.
Then, he felt countless ripples emanating from the distance. He sensed the original owner of the black sphere's confusion and instincts warning him of the danger. The original owner of the black sphere flew toward the source of the disturbance.
Tai Wuling soon discovered it hadn't just been the original owner of the black sphere but numerous other beings journeying toward the ripple's source. The closer he got to the source, the more beings he saw. He counted over a hundred of the beings, twice as many as he had seen before.
Most of the mysterious beings seemed content to keep their distance while striving toward the source, but fights occasionally broke out. There was also one being that caught his eye. It was a being bearing the form of a monkey or an ape.
The being swung a cudgel, battling against all the other beings. It didn't matter if the being didn't have the upper hand. He would grow stronger the longer the battle lasted and achieve victory.
Eventually, the monkey-like being challenged Tai Wuling. It was the most difficult battle experience in the body of the original owner of the black sphere. Still, the original owner of the black sphere achieved the sole victory against the monkey-shaped being.
The battle was but a footnote for the journey toward the source of the ripples. After an unknown period of time, Tai Wuling arrived and discovered a giant egg more gigantic than any being he had seen. He counted over a thousand of those mysterious beings. It sent a shiver down his spine to see so many beings capable of destroying realms with but a swing of their fist.
All the beings said nothing as they observed the egg. It released a tremendous pressure that made every mysterious being nervous. A change occurred.
The colossal egg cracked, shattering into nothingness to reveal a humanoid one-one hundredth of the egg's size. The loincloth-wearing being held an ax in hand, wore a butterfly-shaped hairpin that did nothing for his wild mane, and stood atop a thirty-six-petaled lotus.
No matter how dull Tai Wuling was, he recognized Pangu, the creator of the universe.
