Jiang Daoyi huffed as she finally reached the top of the mountain. She stopped and sensed the qi fluctuations emanating from within the divine palace. Her form shimmered, and the silver aura left her, causing her back to bend under the pressure.
To ascend up the mountain in record time, she had shifted her body's nature to a spectral form because souls didn't have weight. However, that only partially offset the gravitational force. The laws governing the Yellow Dimension had forced the rules of weight onto souls.
Still, Daoyi didn't shift back into her spectral form. The weakening gravitational force meant she could withstand it, even as a soul cultivator. 'I focused too much on soul cultivation and neglected my martial cultivation. I'm already an immortal, so now it's too late to form a martial body. When I get back, I'm going to need to temper my body with treasure.'
An aura of death surrounded Daoyi, and her presence disappeared. Even if another immortal were to stare straight at her, they would subconsciously overlook her. With her preparations complete, Daoyi slowly made her way toward the origin of the qi fluctuations.
There, she saw Yan Nie pressing Tai Wuling in a corner. Through her expertise in the soul, she could sense that Tai Wuling's soul had changed. If she had to put a word to it, his soul had been elevated, like how a cultivator's soul would transform when they reach the Core Formation Realm from the Foundation Establishment Realm or from the Nascent Soul Realm to the Unity Realm.
Before, Tai Wuling's soul had been stronger than the average true immortal, almost at the seamless immortal level. But now, it reminded Daoyi of her master, Xi Mengfei. It was only a hint, but she could tell that his soul was still in the process of upgrading.
Daoyi narrowed her eyes and weighed her options. The sense of threat from Tai Wuling was greater than that of Jiang Chunye. She had a feeling, if Tai Wuling realized his potential, he would become one of the greatest threats to the Buzhou Immortal Sect's plans.
Her fingers drummed on the wine gourd tied to her waist. Should she strike now or wait for Yan Nie and Tai Wuling to tire each other out? Despite Yan Nie's dominance, he couldn't land a decisive strike or pierce Tai Wuling's defense. At this rate, Yan Nie would tire before Tai Wuling.
Daoyi's thoughts wandered back to the mountain path. Aside from her, members of other forces were also present, including those from the Eight Pillar Sect. If she waited too long, there would be too many witnesses.
The Buzhou Immortal Sect and the Eight Pillar Sect were still in a cooperative alliance, and if her actions were to be discovered, the Buzhou Immortal Sect's plans might fall through. How fast could she kill Tai Wuling and Yan Nie?
"Can you kill or trap them?" Daoyi asked the chibi Tianyi using immortal sense.
"No," the chibi Tianyi answered back. "My spatial abilities were already suppressed, but nowI can barely open up a portal in the palace. The suppression of the law is too strong."
Daoyi frowned. Just as she was contemplating the pros and cons of her choices, Tai Wuling neared the entrance where Daoyi was. She wanted to move out of the way of Yan Nie's attack, but his spear collapsed the air around him, creating a suction force. It might not affect Tai Wuling with his powerful flesh, but Daoyi's flesh was only average at best.
Not hesitating, Daoyi gripped the Liquorlight Gourd. The cork popped off by itself, and a heavy alcoholic scent assaulted her nose as a glowing blade extended from the gourd's mouth.
Once the speartip struck the liquorlight sword, a fiery explosion blasted forward, aka at her. The explosion blasted the death qi cloaking her away and would have severely burned her had it not been for her lifebound defensive artifact.
Daoyi could already feel her hair fraying from the sheer heat. She glared at Yan Nie.
Both Tai Wuling and Yan Nie stared at her in surprise at her sudden appearance. Yan Nie quickly retreated as he held his spear defensively in front of him. Tai Wuling stared at Yan Nie before realizing what he was thinking. Tai Wuling turned to Daoyi and said, "Thank you for blocking the strike for me!"
Then, Tai Wuling suddenly ran past Daoyi, all while shouting, "Miss Jiang, we should hurry and flee. The Divine Flame Lord's strength is already firmly at the monarch level!"
Daoyi watched in silent surprise before realizing what Tai Wuling had done. Yan Nie likely hadn't realized the closeness between her and Tai Wuling, thinking she had come to save the latter. It would make sense. The Buzhou Immortal Sect and the Eight Pillar Sect were currently in an alliance, so it would only be natural for them to team up.
Seeing Yan Nie's increased wariness toward her, Daoyi felt annoyance rise within her before she quickly suppressed it. She scanned the throne hall and saw no treasure of note. Since there was no treasure to speak of, Daoyi activated her concealment technique. Since she couldn't kill Tai Wuling, there was no point in remaining.
Yan Nie, however, seemed to disagree as he struck with his spear, dispersing her congregating death qi. Forcing Daoyi to dodge out of the way. Compared to his previous strike, this was multitudes weaker.
"Divine Flame Lord, you and I shouldn't have any grievances. Why do you insist on fighting me?" Daoyi asked.
"Sorry," Yan Nie apologized, but he still pointed his spear at Daoyi. "It's true that you and I don't have any grievances, and I really don't like fighting women, but you and I are on opposite sides. Don't worry, as long as you surrender, I can promise you that no harm will come to you."
Daoyi's brows twitched slightly. "I think capturing me as a hostage is far worse than fighting women, don't you agree? You should have another motive."
She continued speaking. "Rather than capturing me, capturing Tai Wuling would have a bigger deterrence since it's the Eight Pillar Sect that is mainly warring against you. The Buzhou Immortal Sect hasn't even officially joined the war yet. Even our last encounter was just you fighting Tai Wuling and Yang Linyin. So, you must be using it as an excuse."
Yan Nie stayed, but the grip around his spear tightened until his knuckles turned white. Daoyi saw this but ignored it. "You wouldn't care too much about the Buzhou Immortal Sect's actions, then what about the person close to you? Say, the Holy Cloud Saintess."
Veins bulged on his hands, but he gritted his teeth and stayed silent.
"As the saintess of the Cloud Goddess Cult, she must know how dire the situation for the Anti-Heaven Alliance is," Daoyi said. "Last I heard, they reached the point that they had to team up with the Tripartite Alliance. But I don't blame you. You said it yourself, this is war, and we are on opposite sides."
Yan Nie's grip slackened in surprise, but his expression darkened to a terrifying degree when he heard Daoyi's following sentence.
"That's why you won't blame me if I kidnap the Holy Cloud Saintess, right? After all, this is war, and all is fair," Daoyi finished.
The air started to tense, and the temperature dropped to a terrifying chill despite the fiery aura that blasted Yan Nie's body. "You're right. This is war, but you have to have the strength to back up your words."
Without waiting for Daoyi to reply or react, Yan Nie arrived in front of her. He swung his spear in a large arc, and it struck Daoyi in the stomach. Before Yan Nie could celebrate, Daoyi's body transformed into a silver haze that quickly evaporated.
"Where!" Yan Nie held his spear close and waited for Daoyi to strike. After ten minutes of no reaction, his eyes widened. "Not good!"
Yan Nie ran out of the divine palace and turned into a fiery streak down the path he came up. Even if the gravitational force had weakened, it still took a lot of qi for him to move at such speeds, but he didn't care. He couldn't let Daoyi capture Yun Xialan.
"Brother Yan?" Yun Xialan called out in confusion as Yan Nie appeared in front of her. "What's wrong, did something happen?"
"Keep your guard up, we might get attacked soon," Yan Nie said as he turned his back to Yun Xialan. He brandished his spear and waited for Jiang Daoyi's strike.
Yun Xialan also raised her guard. Although she didn't know who would attack them, she trusted Yan Nie with her life.
Yan Nie couldn't help but recall their past together. Although Yun Xialan wasn't a part of the Yan Family, she grew up with him. Thinking about it now, Yan Nie only realized the abnormality of it.
Since Yun Xialan had always dressed like a boy since she was young, Yan Nie had always treated her like a brother, if a bit too pretty. His face flushed as he recalled what he did in front of her when they were young. He peed in front of her! Recalling that event, Yan Nie had the urge to bury himself in a hole.
Anyways, Yun Xialan disappeared shortly after his duel with Pan Lanyue when conflict around the Heaven Continent started to rise, but they promised to reunite one day. And reunite, they did, just not in the way he expected.
When he saw Yun Xialan again, she was wearing a dress. He had walked up to her and asked why she was crossdressing even if it did look good on her. Yeah, he had gotten a slap in the face for that.
Her identity as the Holy Cloud Saintess of the Cloud Goddess Cult had shocked him, to say the least. When he asked why someone with an identity as noble as hers would come to a backwater place like the Pan Kingdom, Yun Xialan only shook her head and told him that it would be revealed in time.
Yan Nie nodded and didn't ask anymore. They split once more and promised to meet when one of them entered the Seamless Immortal Realm. He just never expected them to meet again so soon due to the Yellow Mansion. Although she didn't say anything, his master, Monarch Pillrabbit, had revealed the dire situation of the Anti-Heaven Alliance to him.
"Are you sure someone is targeting me?" Yun Xialan asked as over half an hour passed without incident. Numerous immortals had sped past them as they kept their guard up.
Yan Nie's brows furrowed. He didn't want to admit it, but he had no choice. "I may have been tricked."
"Tricked? What do you mean?" Yun Xialan asked. After Yan Nie explained what had happened, her heart warmed, but she still raised a stern front. "Stupid. Do you think I can't protect myself?"
"She was able to block my strongest move," Yan Nie explained. "You should know that my strongest attack has solidly passed the threshold of the monarch level. I don't mean to demean you, but didn't you lose most of your Polar Profound Umbralwater to Tai Wuling?"
Yun Xialan pursed her lips and pouted. She slapped Yan Nie's shoulder and said, "Let's hurry up. While we wasted time, many people have already passed us. We should hurry up and catch up, so we don't miss out on any treasures."
Yan Nie shook his head. "There's probably not much, if any. I didn't check everything, but the only thing of value was likely taken by Tai Wuling."
Yun Xialan frowned. "You said he ran out before you, right? I didn't see him. Thinking about it, I didn't see the Sword Sovereign's disciple either."
"I don't know what Tai Wuling did, but I know Jiang Daoyi has a terrifying concealment technique. She was only revealed when she blocked my attack," Yan Nie said. "We should hurry about and leave. Unlike Tai Wuling or Jiang Daoyi, many people saw me leave. They might think I have some treasures on me."
Yun Xialan scanned the surroundings and caught sight of a few immortals who were secretly observing them. She nodded, "Let's go."
