Tianyi and Daoyi fell silent. The former picked up his cup and took a sip. As if remembering something, a portal opened next to him, but before he could reach in and pull out what he wanted, Daoyi let out a soft cry. “What’s wrong?”
“The Spectral Rising Jewel is reacting. There’s someone with another fragment nearby.”
Tianyi closed his eyes, and his immortal sense expanded toward Rites Peak. He and Daoyi had stopped searching for the other fragments of the Spectral Rising Jewel after their encounter with Emperor Soulfish and their return from the Silent Lightning Timeline. They could no longer get a reaction out of the divine fragment, making them suspect that the rest of the Spectral Rising Jewel had fallen from Emperor Soulfish’s hands into Emperor Begonia’s possession.
He and Daoyi still harbored some hope of retrieving the rest of the fragment, but that disappeared after Mengfei killed Emperor Begonia. Although they salvaged the immortal emperor artifact, the Soul Pagoda, there was nothing left inside it or the late emperor’s body. He likely already sent away all his valuables before confronting the Buzhou Immortal Sect.
To reassemble the Spectral Rising Jewel, they would have to visit the Pure Lands Pseudo System and retrieve it, practically impossible.
However, it seemed their thoughts were wrong. It wasn’t that there were no more fragments of the Spectral Rising Jewel. They just weren’t on the former Heaven Continent. The two never considered the possibility that the participants of the Xu Clan’s destruction would be composed of forces from the Earth Continent.
“Found it,” Tianyi said. The strongest of the Gao Dynasty wasn’t even an immortal lord, so how could he sense Tianyi’s probe? On the contrary, it was the holder of the divine fragment that looked around in suspicion. ‘Is it because of the Spectral Rising Jewel’s influence or her own intuition?’
“Who?”
“It’s,” Tianyi blinked. He didn’t know who was coming for the ceremony. “Give me a moment.”
“It’s the Gao Dynasty, a third-rate force,” Tianyi said after contacting one of the elders responsible for receiving guests. “She should be the thirteenth princess.”
“I see,” Daoyi said as she crossed her arms. “Snatching it by force would reflect badly on the Buzhou Immortal Sect. It’s better for her to hand it over herself.”
A sly smile appeared on Tianyi’s face. “So we just need to propagate the story of the Xu Clan’s destruction. As long as words spread, the Gao Dynasty will know what’s good for them. Even if they don’t hand it over, there should be plenty of people willing to do the dirty work.”
Daoyi stared at Tianyi.
“What?”
“Nothing. I just feel that you’ve become really black-hearted,” Daoyi said.
“Hah? Since when have I not?” Tianyi asked. “Wait, that came out wrong.”
He wanted to explain, but Daoyi had already hidden her giggles behind her sleeve. Tianyi shook his head and pulled out a Violet-Gold Xiyi Talisman. “Should I spread the information now or after the ceremony?”
“After,” Daoyi said. After a second, she added, “Near the end of the ceremony after everything is done. There’s no need to delay the ceremony for this. After the dissemination of the information, we can observe the other forces and see their reaction if they had anything to do with the Xu Clan’s massacre.”
Tianyi nodded. He held his chin. “I’m going to borrow the Three Lives Stone. That Gao Xuehua gives me a strange feeling. Her father couldn’t sense my immortal sense, she actually reacted. Maybe she didn’t detect anything, but her sixth sense is definitely strong.”
“Alright,” Daoyi said with a nod. Tianyi disappeared from his seat. In truth, he had attempted to leave one of his conduits near the Three Lives Stone, but the seal prevented a link between it and the Nine Heavens Universe. Thus, it was useless and Tianyi still had to personally visit.
Since the war ended, Tianyi had a lot of free time on his hands. He attempted to find more reincarnators, an act Sect Master Xia supported. However, using the Three Lives Stone was like finding a needle in a haystack. The Three Lives Stone couldn’t detect foreign souls, so he would have to have information on the suspected reincarnator before verifying with the Three Lives Stone.
Tianyi wasn’t afraid of his mother finding out. In fact, he wanted her to ask him. This way, he didn’t have to initiate the confrontation, but alas, his mother didn’t ask about his actions at all.
On a whim, Tianyi also checked up on the status of the various protagonist-like people he met before. To his surprise, Yan Nie was a fellow reincarnator, and so was Jiang Chunye. The original Jiang Chunye had already died hundreds of years ago from drowning. Still, this didn’t lessen Tianyi’s killing intent. The only problem was that he didn’t know where she went.
As for Lei Jingye, he had died and successfully reincarnated. Another one Tianyi checked up on was Lovespot, but to his surprise, the latter had already died. That wasn’t what shocked Tianyi, who already suspected something was off with the son of the former head elder. What shocked him was who possessed his body. Long Aotian, the Dragon Emperor.
After consulting the Three Lives Stone, Tianyi discovered that Gao Xuehua was a foreign soul like him and Daoyi. He returned to Jade Peak Palace and informed Daoyi.
“In that case, the price we pay might have to be a bit higher.” Upon seeing Tianyi’s querying gaze, she explained. “If she’s from Earth like us, she must have survived the apocalypse. As survivors of such a cruel environment, each one of us has distorted views. Taking away her divine fragment without any reparation will cause her to form a grudge. Don’t forget, even if we’re from the same place, we aren’t necessarily allies.”
“Of course I remember,” Tianyi said. “I have your sister as a reminder.”
Daoyi nodded. “Should we contact her?”
Tianyi shook his head. “Prudence is the better part of valor. Let’s have Xi Ri interact with her. Although he’s still a bit cold, he should be happy that we might have another ally.”
“Unfortunately, he’s secluded himself. He’s already at the peak of the Transcending Mortality Realm, and he’ll undergo his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation soon,” Daoyi said.
“So soon? Why didn’t he tell me?” Tianyi asked.
Daoyi shrugged.
“Then let’s have Yan Nie contact her,” Tianyi said.
“Sounds like a plan,” Daoyi said.
“Was it just my imagination?” Gan Xuehua muttered. Earlier, she felt someone peeping on her, but she couldn’t discover it at all.
She shook her head. “It’s not that strange. Although rude, it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility if the Buzhou Immortal Sect wanted to monitor us . Since there’s no word from the Gan Emperor, then it's most likely an unspoken rule.”
Without realizing her misunderstanding, Gan Xuehua settled down and started cultivating again. She was unlikely to enter the Acupoint Opening Realm before the ceremony began, but that didn’t mean she could just lounge around. The threat of Mu Xuehua still existed.
When she grew tired of cultivating, she would pick up the Xiyi Talisman. Browsing the Xiyinet made her recall the peaceful days before the apocalypse started. Sometimes, she even had the illusion she had gone back, but after seeing her clothes, she returned to reality. She wasn’t wasting her time. While browsing, she would compile the information she got while thinking of a method to contact Xi Ri without arousing Xi Tianyi’s attention.
In the end, she could pin her hopes on the Young Heavens Tournament. As the name suggested, it was a tournament for talented geniuses of the Huang Realm to make their name, and it would occur after all the rites had ended. If she won, she would naturally attract a lot of attention. If she won, she could post something on her blog or even say something only a fellow earthling would know.
However, that all hinged on the fact that Xi Ri would pay attention to her. There was also the risk of someone with malicious intentions noticing her.
Gan Xuehua hesitated. After a while, she sighed. In the end, it was because her strength was too low. If she possessed strength, would she need to ally with other reincarnators or fear others discovering her origin? Conversely, her fellow reincarnators would need to suck up to her. It was a lesson she had long learned in the apocalypse. In this world, only might mattered.
The days passed as Gan Xuehua doubled her efforts. Compared to the apocalypse on Earth, she was still quite lucky. Although the early years of her life were mundane, she now had a chance to reach the zenith. Finally, the day came for the Buzhou Immortal Sect ceremony.
She followed behind the Gan Emperor and Gan Linyou as the immortal elders of the Buzhou Immortal Sect led them to the center of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, where a mountain thrice as large as the other peaks existed. There were many altars, instruments, and offerings arranged in place. According to legend, this Primordial Mountain was created when the Nine Heavens Emperor created the Trinity Continent.
Along the way, Gan Xuehua couldn’t help but look around in amazement. She knew how rare and amazing immortals were, but upon stepping onto Primordial Mountain, eight out of ten people she saw were immortals. The Primordial Mountain was large, but she still saw over ten thousand immortals present. Among the crowd, her father, a lofty true immortal, could only be regarded as average.
She even felt auras far more terrifying than the Gan Emperor. In her heart, Gan Xuehua knew they were the immortal elders of the second and first-rate forces. These old fossils that rarely appear in front of people, but on this momentous occasion, they could also only be regulated as spectators.
Gan Xuehua stood in line with the members of the Gan Dynasty in a predetermined spot. Although the mountain was large, they were also packed next to members of other third-rate forces, but none of them dared to complain. Although tight, she didn’t mind and stared at the peak, where she sensed hundreds of auras far more terrifying than the Gan Emperor’s.
She even suspected that the number of immortal monarchs from the Buzhou Immortal Sect eclipsed all the other forces combined.
As the sun reached its peak, a middle-aged man appeared in front of the altar at the peak. Accompanying him was a beautiful woman with bedeviling eyes in a violet robe, another woman of equal beauty of another type with snow-white hair, an elderly man with lightning crackling around him, a goddess wearing white, and finally, a handsome man in purple. They were Sect Master Xia, Xi Mengfei, Zhang Cuiying, the Cloud Goddess, Grand Elder Eternal Night, and Xi Tianyi.
Despite being only a group of six, their combined aura suppressed all the immortal monarchs and true immortals, especially the Xi mother-son pair. Even a mortal like Gan Xuehua could discern they stood above the rest. She could understand why Sovereign Xi had such a powerful aura, but what about Xi Tianyi? According to the information, he wasn’t even four hundred years old yet.
Gan Xuehua didn’t have time to think as Sect Master Xia’s words echoed throughout the mountain. “I thank everyone for coming to the Buzhou Immortal Sect’s ceremony celebrating the unification of the Huang Realm.”
An applause erupted after Sect Master Xia’s words, but he raised his hand and quickly silenced the applause. He continued. “This will be my last act as the Sect Master of the Buzhou Immortal Sect.”
This didn’t surprise many people. Sect Master Xia had already exposed the fact that he reached the Extremity Immortal Realm. According to tradition, the sect master of the Buzhou Immortal Sect had always been an immortal monarch, but to everyone’s confusion, Sect Master Xia didn’t continue speaking. Instead, the next piece of news shocked everyone.
“From today onwards, the Buzhou Immortal Sect will cease to exist!”
