When the explosion died down, the members of the Buzhou Immortal Sect and Anti-Earth Alliance felt the chill of death leave their body while sighing in relief. Still, they gawked at the devastation.
It didn’t appear as if an explosion had ravaged the land, but something more terrifying. All life had vanished. What greenery that had survived the clash between the two forces had disappeared. Emperor Infinity’s self-detonation had created a barren wasteland that would not look out of place in the Broken Primordial World. Not only that, but spatial rifts floated above the land. The rifts would suck any unlucky fool who neared it into the Vast Void.
Slowly, the rifts in the dimensional boundary closed. With their safety assured, the Buzhou Immortal Sect and Anti-Earth Alliance began to search for survivors. Emperor Infinity’s last attack had exceeded their wildest imagination. Not even the Myriad Rule World Formation, a formation composed of over three hundred immortal monarchs, could defend against it. Emperor Infinity must have used several forbidden techniques, not only sacrificing his blood essence but likely his very soul.
Those who entered the Immortal Realm could no longer undergo reincarnation after death under normal circumstances, but that didn’t mean they had no hope of revival. Just look at the Dragon Emperor.
The Eternal Night Emperor and Grand Elder Zhang ordered a headcount and search for any survivors, as well as for any remnants of the Eight Pillar Sect that might have survived. Although the majority of the immortals survived, at least ten percent did not escape the blast radius. Less needed to be said for Tianyi, since he was practically at ground zero.
Grand Elder Zhang furrowed her brows as the search continued. The self-detonation left bodies behind, but the search wasn’t for them but Tianyi. Tianyi had become an integral part of the Buzhou Immortal Sect’s future plans, and his death would severely hinder them. Not to mention she didn’t want to explain to Mengfei why her son had died.
She might get stabbed a hundred times—if she was lucky. If not, Mengfei might just very well shatter her soul and go crazy. An inner devil overtaking an immortal sovereign was no joke. Inner devils were born of a person’s heart, thus they could be seen as a reflection of that person.
Usually, cultivators who were overtaken by inner devils would not just become crazy but hyper fixated on something. An inner devil born of hatred might hunt down any and all people related to said hatred. Inner devils born of love would usually lead to tragic consequences for the loved subject. If Mengfei really did become bedeviled, their best hope was to kill her before she can cause any major damage.
If they were lucky, she might attempt to revive Tianyi at any cost. If they were unlucky, she might hunt all those related to his death, be they enemies or allies.
Grand Elder Zhang’s gaze settled on a blue-robed figure. Her eyes gained a hint of hope as she flew toward said figure. Daoyi’s calm state brought some relief to the white-haired elder. “Elder Jiang, have you any clue perhaps of Elder Xi’s state?”
Daoyi frowned. “He should be alive. I just don’t know if his body survived.”
“Body, has his soul left his body?” Grand Elder Zhang didn’t know all the details about Tianyi at the latter’s request. Thus, she only knew about some of Tianyi’s abilities.
“That’s—” Daoyi opened her mouth to explain but halted upon sensing a change in the atmosphere.
Grand Elder Zhang scanned the surroundings upon sensing the same change. Not just her, but the Eternal Night Emperor also raised their guard. They prepared to form the war formation in case Emperor Infinity had any backup plans or anyone who wanted to fish in muddied waters appeared.
The sky and land darkened as tiny motes of dark light appeared where Emperor Infinity had self-detonated. The numbers of motes reached an uncountable degree. From within each mote, a brilliant light resembling stars shone. The starlight exuded auras of time, space, fire, water, earth, wood, metal, lightning, yang, yin, death, life, and many more.
Despite herself, Grand Elder Zhang found herself enthralled by the motes of light. She could sense the myriad laws laid bare before her. She wasn’t the only one as many immortals found enraptured by the sight. It was much like how a painter would stare at the most beautiful scenery or image to paint. Even if the world’s most beautiful human appeared before them, they would not care.
Such was the beauty of the scene.
The only one not enthralled was Daoyi, because she experienced this sensation many times before. As she expected, the tiny motes of starlight congregated at the center of the devastation. They clumped together and merged into a black, misty blob no larger than two meters. The mist condensed and formed two arms, two legs, and a head.
The mist on the head faded away to reveal Tianyi’s features. Still, the black mist partially covered his body and made it seem illusionary and not solid. Anyone who gazed into the mist would peer into another universe. When Tianyi opened his eyes, the aura of the worldly laws vanished, much to the immortals’ disappointment.
“Goddammit!” Tianyi said. “I really thought I was going to lose this body for a moment!”
He stopped complaining and turned his gaze toward Daoyi, who was the first to fly over. “I knew you wouldn’t die so easily.”
Tianyi scratched his cheek. “Weren’t you worried at all?”
“Of course,” Daoyi said. “Losing a body is minor, but if you were to die or disappear from the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, Master might go crazy and kill everyone.”
“Mother wouldn’t do that. Right?”
“Master has had an emotional past.” Daoyi said. “For some people, as long as they have an emotional pillar of support, they can brave anything. You are master’s pillar of support. If anything were to happen to you, she might form an inner devil, or worse.”
Tianyi opened his mouth to deny Daoyi’s claim, but recalling his mother’s past, he didn’t have the confidence. Thankfully, this was only one of his conduits. Although the heavenly punishment sent one bolt of punishment lightning to the conduit on his mother, nothing happened. Still, he would like to keep the exact details of what happened from her.
He and Daoyi didn’t talk for long as Grand Elder Zhang, the Eternal Night Emperor, and the various leaders of the Anti-Earth Alliance flew toward him.
“Elder Xi, are you alright? Your state doesn’t seem good,” Grand Elder Zhang said.
Tianyi blinked. Then he looked at the sky. Strange, the sky wasn’t collapsing and the cold elder in front of him was actually asking if he was okay. He could still vividly recall the distaste in her eyes when he first met her. Realizing that his actions were a bit too obvious, he quickly said, “I’ll live.”
Grand Elder Zhang’s eyes showed disbelief. Tianyi sighed, and he also glanced at the various sect masters and the Eternal Night Emperor. “My current state is a bit special. My actual combat abilities haven’t diminished much, but I’d rather not expend any unnecessary energy.”
‘Who knows if I might accidentally expose the Nine Heavens Universe and bring forth another heavenly punishment? It would be safer to just destroy this body, but I’m unwilling to give it up so easily. I’ll just hide it in the Nine Heavens Universe for now,’ Tianyi thought.
Tianyi’s haze-covered figure disappeared and in his place was a miniature Tianyi less than a quarter of a meter. The miniature Tianyi quickly grew into his regular size, but even though none of the immortals could sense his aura or presence, they still felt a weakness emanating from Tianyi.
“We finally meet,” the Eternal Night Emperor said. He motioned toward his compatriots. “These are the sect masters of the Northbound Longevity Sect, Skymist Gorge, Goldlight Sect, and the Yangsource Sect. But you may better know us by our other titles, the Zodiac Immortals.”
Tianyi smiled and cupped his hands. “I’ve long heard of Grand Elder Ouroboros and the other Zodiac’s contributions. It’s been my honor to fight alongside you all today.”
That’s right, the Eternal Night Sect, Northbound Longevity Sect, Skymist Gorge, Goldlight Sect, and the Yangsource Sect originated from the former Mortal Continent’s hegemonic force, the Cultivators Alliance. But in reality, they had another identity, the external branch of the Buzhou Immortal Sect.
In their original plans, the Buzhou Immortal Sect planned to pincer the Eight Pillar Sect with the Cultivator Alliance and unify the Huang Realm like the Numinous Sword Sect had done with the Numinous Realm. They even picked out a new name for the Huang Realm after they succeeded—the Jade Realm.
But none of them foresaw Confucius and the rise of the Saintly Scholar School.
The fall of the Cultivators Alliance drastically altered the Buzhou Immortal Sect’s plan, forcing them to postpone the Eight Pillar Sect’s destruction for hundreds of thousands of years. The fallen Cultivator Alliance split into two groups, one that continued the legacy of its original nature. Only now, they based their headquarters in the endless seas.
The other half infiltrated the Earth Continent and slowly rose to their current status as first-rate sects and formed the Anti-Earth Alliance. Naturally, some members of the Anti-Earth Alliance weren’t secret members of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Thus, they used the Eight Pillar Sect’s plan to cull them, like the Allbeast Sect.
For years, the Buzhou Immortal Sect waited for an opportunity. The Dragon Emperor’s existence halted their plan once again. Tianyi’s progression and unique abilities gave them a unique confidence. They feared neither the Eight Pillar nor the Anti-Heaven Alliance. The latter was even less of a threat than the former. Their only cause of concern within the Huang Realm was the Saintly Scholar School, but the Concealed Emperor ordered them to begin the war of unification.
The Buzhou Immortal Sect always possessed the strength to destroy the Eight Pillar Sect. The question was how high of a price they had to pay. If the war weakened them too much, then the Numinous Sword Sect might take this chance to invade. Thus, they had to eliminate the Eight Pillar Sect and Anti-Heaven Alliance in the shortest time possible, with the least amount of losses.
Their plan succeeded in the Earth Continent, now it was time to clean up the rest on the Heaven Continent.
At least, that was the plan.
“I had my doubts about the word of Monarch Nine Heaven’s abilities, but actions speak louder than words. All my doubts have been cleared,” the Yangsource Sect Master said. “—no, I’ve been rude. I should address you as Emperor Nine Heavens.”
Tianyi blinked. His current cultivation method didn’t have any minor realms like the Immortal Realm’s Pathfinding Immortal Realm, Seamless Immortal Realm, Extremity Immortal Realm, and Origin Immortal Realm, so he had forgotten about how the revelation of his true strength would change the address. Still, he narrowed his eyes in enjoyment.
Daoyi inwardly rolled her eyes upon sensing Tianyi’s barely concealed excitement.
“Not just you, we old fossils all had our doubts.” The Skymist Gorge Sect Master said with a laugh as he stroked his beard. “Can you blame us? A three hundred-year-old immortal emperor!? A tiger mother has birthed a dragon son!”
Tianyi practically preened under the praise. It felt like he could float off at any moment as the praises piled on. Thankfully, someone had the tact to redirect the topic away from flattery.
“Although I am thankful for Elder Xi’s joining us so quickly, what about the Eight Pillar Sect headquarters?” the Eternal Night Emperor asked. Grand Elder Zhang also turned toward Tianyi. In their estimations, they should have finished the battle and joined up with Tianyi to eliminate the rest of the Eight Pillar Sect.
“Destroyed, I killed them all,” Tianyi said.
All the immortals present stared at him with wide eyes of disbelief. Although the Eight Pillar Sect dispatched their main army to the northwest battlefield, the early termination of the teleportation portal should still have left them with a sizable force at their headquarters. How could Tianyi defeat them so quickly before they even finished? And by his lonesome?
“Oh wait, Soulsilk is still alive. I trapped him, but it shouldn’t be long before he runs out of qi and dies,” Tianyi added.
Grand Elder Zhang, Eternal Night Emperor, and the other members of the zodiacs shared a look. Finally, Grand Elder Zhang coughed into her hands. “Still, it’s a large duty for one immortal to fulfill. How about we go and take a look to search for any loose ends?”
Tianyi showed an awkward expression. He scratched his cheeks. “I don’t think there is any need for that.”
His words only deepened their doubts. Grand Elder Zhang said, “We must not let any loose ends lie. No matter how small the chances are.”
Tianyi was about to reject it again, but Daoyi pulled on his sleeve and transmitted a message to him. Realization dawned on his face, and he sighed. “Alright.”
