Mengfei stepped off the Heaven-Earth-Man Trinity Palace. She didn't summon the pillar of light to descend back into the Huang Realm. Rather, she drifted down toward the realm boundary. Behind her, ten mighty immortal warships flew.
Before touching the boundary, she stopped and summoned a silver mirror to her hand. This was the Kunlun Mirror Tianyi had found in the Broken Primordial World. After years of effort from her and the Buzhou Immortal Sect, they managed to mend it enough for use, but a phantom crack still lingered on the mirror.
Under Mengfei's exquisite control, a divine light surged out of the mirror and touched the realm boundary. A hole appeared on the realm boundary and widened until it could fit her and the ten warships. Despite the large hole, no immortal in the Huang Realm sensed the changes.
No one except the founder of the Saintly Scholar School on the Mortal Continent, but he simply closed his eyes after learning of the source of the disturbance.
As Mengfei and the warships entered, they entered a fold of spacetime on an even higher level than Tianyi's method. The hole in the realm boundary also closed soon after.
From her view, the Heaven Continent appeared to be the size of her palm. In the distance, the Earth Continent and the Mortal Continent were like specks of dust, and the countless islands that dotted the endless seas weren't even visible.
Mengfei and the warships slowly descended toward the juncture between the Central Heaven Region and Eastern Region of the Heaven Continent, the headquarter of the Leakless Sect.
Even as they appeared just right outside the Leakless Sect's guardian formation, no one detected them.
"Get into place," Mengfei ordered.
Two warships stayed behind Mengfei while eight circled the Leakless Sect, each an equal distance from the others. The eight warships' hulls split open, and colossal pillars dropped down from the opening and onto the ground with nary a sound.
Each pillar had a different word and scene carved into them. The east pillar was named Zhen, which represented thunder. The southeast pillar was named Xun and represented wind. The south pillar was called Li and represented fire. Kun was the word on the southwest pillar, and it represented earth. For the west pillar, its word was Dui and represented lakes. The northwest pillar's word was Qian and represented the sky. The north pillar was named Kan and represented water. The northeast pillar's word was Gen and represented mountains.
Shockingly, all eight artifacts exuded the aura of sovereign artifacts. Not even the divine artifact, the Kunlun Mirror, in its weakened state, could hide their aura for long. The immortal warships' primary purpose wasn't for offense but simply to deliver the eight pillars without attention.
The Eight Trigrams Pillars released the essence of the five elements, linking each other. Mengfei flew above the Leakless Sect at the core of this giant circle. Violet, gold, and silver essence floated off her body like dust. The three colors of heaven, earth, and man, intermingled with the color of the five elements: red, black, yellow, green, and white.
"Eight Trigrams Tri-Unity World rise!" Mengfei softly said.
Mengfei's whispered words transformed into a physical ripple that spread through space as if the world was but a reflection atop a lake. Slowly, that ripple reached past the eight pillars and stopped. A bubble formed.
From the outside, nothing seemed out of place, and the Leakless Sect seemed the same as usual. Inside, everything had changed. No longer was the Leakless Sect situated upon a rich spiritual vein, but a barren land that emitted immortal qi of chaos. All those too weak would instantly dissolve and perish, body and soul.
The guardian formation immediately appeared. The numerous layers turned as they came to life. Just as they were beginning to redirect and extinguish the external threat, they suddenly stopped, as if someone had jammed a steel pipe into a crucial cog in a machine.
The grating screech of metal grinding metal thundered in the surroundings, but it lasted only a moment. In the next second, countless cracks appeared all over the guardian formation. Before anyone had a chance to react, it shattered into a billion shards.
Mengfei raised her hand, and hundreds of thousands of black crystalline swords materialized from the sky, each ranging from ten meters to a hundred meters long, and rained down upon the Leakless Sect.
Except for the core locations, all of the Leakless Sect turned into a cratered land. Roars of fury reached Mengfei's eyes, but they did not fluctuate at all. She raised her hand and brought it down, "Attack."
The immortal monarchs and true immortals descended onto the Leakless Sect like divine punishers.
Less than an hour ago, in the guest residence of the Leakless Sect, Hun Jusang suddenly stood up from his seat as his master, Monarch Fiendclaw, entered. "Master!"
Monarch Fiendclaw was a man with sickly skin and sunken eyes, and an aura of gloom constantly surrounded him. He shook his head, "I'm sorry."
What little light left in his eyes disappeared. "Is that so? Please excuse me, then. I want to spend what's left of my life with Chunye."
Monarch Fiendclaw frowned as Hun Jusang walked around him. "Stop!"
He turned around to see Hun Jusang's foot already out the doorway. "Turn around and look at me."
Hun Jusang obeyed, and Monarch Fiendclaw stared into Hun Jusang's pitch-black eyes. "You've already given up."
"What can I do?" Hun Jusang countered. "Not even the Grand Elder of the Leakless Sect has any methods."
"You can complete the devil transformation," Monarch Fiendclaw said.
"No!" Hun Jusang vehemently denied it. "Devils are the source of all miseries. I'd sooner die than become one of them!"
"Jusang, you're blessed with an opportunity countless cultivators wish they had. If you only viewed it as a blessing instead of a curse, your situation would have changed," Monarch Fiendclaw said.
Hun Jusang released a bitter laugh. "A blessing? How could my Devilure Physique ever be considered a blessing? If I could, I would gift those fools with this curse and have them experience the abyss of agony I lived in every day!"
Monarch Fiendclaw sighed. He stared at the disciple he had lovingly raised for hundreds of years. "What if I told you can shed your body and become a true immortal?"
Hun Jusang stilled, and then he stared at his master in disbelief. "Master, are you speaking the truth? Can I really live without this curse?"
The immortal monarch nodded heavily. "But there is a price."
"What is it? As long as I don't have to live every day in torment, I'm willing to do anything."
Monarch Fiendclaw didn't say anything. He only stared at Hun Jusang as if judging his commitment. Finally, he opened his mouth. "That lass, Jiang Chunye, must die."
Time stood still for Hun Jusang. "What? Master, you're joking, right? Why does Chunye have to die? She doesn't even have a special physique or soul. Why?"
Hearing the outburst, Monarch Fiendclaw already knew that it was unlikely. However, Hun Jusang didn't continue to ramble. "Could it be that someone in the Nihility Sect wants her death at a price? Who would be so foolish? She has already entered the Seamless Immortal Realm and is part of the sect's core strength."
"Did everyone forget how much Chunye contributed to the war effort? The only one in the same generation with the same contribution is San Jiuling. Unless the Leakless Sect wants her to die," Hun Jusang suddenly stopped, and he stared at Monarch Fiendclaw. "Unless some people in the sect regret betraying the Buzhou Immortal Sect and want to offer a peace offering?"
"Preposterous," Monarch Fiendclaw roared. "None of us have strayed from our determination ever since the creation of the Tripartite Alliance. No matter what, we will never regret our decision. What I'm worried about is that lass's control over you."
"Control?" Hun Jusang asked. "Chunye wouldn't control me, she loves me."
"Love, ah," Monarch Fiendclaw sighed. "Did you hear the story about Bing Huoyuan from Boundless Mountain?"
"The one the Buzhou Immortal Sect executed for betraying them?" Hun Jusang asked.
"Yes," his master affirmed. "But did you know the cause of his actions? He attacked Xi Tianyi to protect a single woman, the White Lotus Demoness."
Hun Jusang's eyes widened. He had interacted with Bing Huoyuan before and didn't seem like such a person. He knew who the White Lotuses Demoness was. Those titled devil or demon were enemies of the whole cultivation world. Why would Bing Huoyuan do such a thing?
"He did it for the same reason you refuse to, love," Monarch Fiendclaw said.
Hun Jusang shook his head. "No, I'm different. Chunye is a loyal member of our sect. She killed more Buzhou Immortal Sect members than anyone else. She wouldn't betray us and go down the path of evil."
"You're right," Monarch Fiendclaw said. "Jiang Chunye is staunch in her opposition to Heaven Continent's hegemon. So long as we're enemies, we shouldn't need to fear her."
"Master," Hun Jusang said. "I have a request."
"What is it?"
"After I leave, can you take care of Chunye?"
Monarch Fiendclaw's frown deepened. "Do you hear yourself? You've sunk deeper and deeper into this pit. Before asking me to take care of her, what about your clan? Did you think about them?"
Seeing Hun Jusang's shock and surprise, Monarch Fiendclaw knew that his disciple hadn't. "Your world no longer revolves around yourself but her. If you hadn't fallen in love with that lass, you wouldn't reach the point of no return."
"Perhaps you're right, Master," Hun Jusang said. "I wouldn't have reached this point, I would have perished sooner. Had Chunye not supported me, I'm afraid I would have died sooner."
"You!" Monarch Fiendclaw angrily pointed his finger at Hun Jusang, hating iron for not becoming steel. "Leave!"
Hun Jusang bowed to Monarch Fiendclaw before bidding farewell.
Watching Hun Jusang's departing back, Monarch Fiendclaw sighed and shook his head in disappointment. He watched as Hun Jusang made his way toward Jiang Chunye's yard in the Leakless Sect's guest residence.
Monarch Fiendclaw stared at the sky and closed his eyes, his face appearing even more skull-like. "Jusang, ah Jusang. I gave you your chance."
Instead of waiting for Hun Jusang and Jiang Chunye to finish, Monarch Fiendclaw left the guest residence and visited one of the Leakless Sect's monarch elders, Monarch San.
As his name suggested, Monarch San was San Jiuling's grandfather. He was relatively young for a seamless immortal, just shy of a hundred thousand years old. Correspondingly, Monarch San was only a first-step immortal monarch, meaning he only merged one of the five elemental qis into his immortal qi.
"Daoist Fiendclaw, to what do I owe the pleasure to?" Monarch San asked.
Monarch San was a rather portly man with glossy skin and a lighthearted smile that made everyone feel at ease. Monarch Fiendclaw couldn't really see any resemblance this grandfather-grandson pair had.
"It's for a small favor," Monarch Fiendclaw said. "My disciple, Hun Jusang, constantly embroils himself in childish emotions. I was hoping a spar with your grandson would awaken him from his foolishness."
Monarch San laughed. "A minor matter. Unfortunately, my grandson is not in the sect as of this moment. He’s currently adventuring with a few members of the sect. I'd be happy to schedule a time when he returns."
Unlike Monarch San, Monarch Fiendclaw was a third-step immortal monarch, so he was happy to trade favors. The most correct decision he made this entire life was to adopt San Jiuling as his grandson.
Although San Jiuling was still in the Pathfinding Immortal Realm, he was already an immortal lord. Coupled with his nine lifebound artifacts, Monarch San couldn't guarantee victory over his grandson.
"He's out? That's unfortunate," Monarch San said.
Just as those words left his lips, the entirety of the Leakless Sect began to shake. Monarch San shouted, "What's happening?"
His eyes widened when he felt the Leakless Sect's Seamless Truelord Barrier appear above the whole sect. That shock turned to horror as countless cracks covered it, shattering seconds later. Then, he saw the enemies descending like a pack of wolves.
He could feel the space oppress him like he was some foreigner. Of his full strength, he could likely only unleash fifty percent. It might be better for monarchs on higher stages, but he didn't know. Monarch San turned to Monarch Fiendclaw. "I beseech you for your aid."
Monarch Fiendclaw nodded. "We're allies. It's only natural to help my allies."
"Despicable Buzhou Immortal Sect!" Jiang Chunye screamed as she pierced another true immortal's heart.
She, Hun Jusang, Monarch Fiendclaw, and a small entourage of true immortals arrived at the Leakless Sect for two reasons. One, to discuss the Tripartite Alliance's merger with the Anti-Heaven Alliance. Naturally, the Jade Cauldron Sect also dispatched envoys. The second was more personal, to seek a method to cure Hun Jusang.
Had the Leakless Sect possessed the same strength as the Nihility Sect, Jiang Chunye wouldn't have believed they possessed the means. But the Leakless Sect possessed a trump card that gave them the confidence to defy the Buzhou Immortal Sect.
During the siege against the Dragon Emperor, two of the four grand elders of the Leakless Sect died. But one of the remaining two living grand elders secretly broke through to the Extremity Immortal Realm, becoming a bonafide immortal emperor!
Still, Jiang Chunye never expected that the Buzhou Immortal Sect would be so daring to attack the Leakless Sect's headquarters. Even if they dispatched Mengfei, an immortal sovereign, it wasn't a task that could be accomplished in a short time.
Thanks to whatever dirty methods the Buzhou Immortal Sect used, she couldn't even unleash most of her strength. What would have taken her one percent of her immortal qi now took five to ten percent!
Luckily, it seemed devil qi wasn't affected, so Hun Jusang could unleash his full strength. They had just had to be careful that he didn't extend himself and enter a mad state.
"Daoyi, it must have been that bitch!" Jiang Chunye said through gritted teeth. "I swear I'll kill you and that Xi Tianyi as well. You swore an eternity for your marriage, then you two should stay together in death."
Jiang Chunye froze. Not just her but Hun Jusang and all the immortals near her. A figure in silver robes appeared. She possessed a vivacious beauty that was only enhanced by her frosty aura, but the most attractive feature on her face was those pair of deviling eyes.
Having seen portraits, Jiang Chunye recognized the beautiful woman instantly, Xi Mengfei. She wanted to scream, to struggle, but she was akin to a bug stuck in amber.
She could only watch as Mengfei grew closer, and a black crystalline sword appeared in her hand. The immortal sovereign stopped when she was only a meter away from Jiang Chunye. Then, she slashed.
