Stellar Transformation Book 12 - Qin Yu - Cerita silat IndoMandarin

Book 12 - Qin Yu

@Chapter 1: Amber Moon Star

The Immortal, Devil and Demon Realms makes up a vast space – Almost endless space. The entire region was ﬁlled with limitless holy elemental spirit. Its density was exponentially higher than energy equivalent of holy spiritual energy found in the mortal realm.

The massively large region is comprised of four major powers: the immortals at the East realm, the devils at the South realm, the demons in the West and North realms, and ﬁnally, the hidden and special power in the Northeast realm.

Though the four major powers may be allocated to their own realms, the boundaries for each realm is very much blurred, in particular the boundary of the mysterious and special region. The borders are usually complex, jagged and overlapping.

One of the largest cosmic domains that contain the immortals and devil realms – Indigo Bay.

The Indigo Bay, a cosmic domain with ten mega-galaxies. These ten galaxies span unimaginably large, each galaxy hold countless planets and stars, but in any case, the planets with life are far less than the total number there is.

One shouldn’t assume that the weakest or the lowest of the food chain in the immortal plane, are immortals, devils and demons. It was just a place with worlds like the mortal world except there are countless Xiuzhenists (practitioners), but many couples give birth to children, whose children become Xiuzhenists, in turn, gives birth to more children, this is the cycle of life in the immortal plane. Being born under the pressure exerted by the transparent and gaseous form of holy elemental energy, infants are born to be at least at the Jindan stage.

Since at birth, the infants must be able to absorb holy elemental energy, while mortals cannot. Remember that these infants are the children of original Xiuzhenists at least at the Jindan stage. Even before birth, in the womb, these children can absorb holy elemental spirit already!

In the immortal plane, infants are born mostly at the boundary between mortals and immortals – Peak Houtian Stage! They are much more powerful than ordinary mortal ascendants, and with just a hundred years of serious training, they can immediately become Jindan Xiuzhenist.

Now compare that to martial practitioners of the mortal realm, the latter needs thousands of years of training to achieve the same stage of comprehending the way of heaven. They’re simply incomparable; not at the same grade like pears versus apples.

Nevertheless……these infants may become immortals very quickly, but it does not mean all will survive those years, so even with the accelerated training, their numbers could not keep up with mortal ascendants.

The Indigo Bay cosmic domain, in a Silver Stream Star System. In there, are thousands upon thousands of planets with Xiuzhenists, but the Amber Moon star is only a mid-large Xiuzhenists’ planet. On it, there are tens of millions of Xiuzhenists, immortals in the tens of thousands and only a few golden immortals.

Even a mid-size planet has so many immortals. Now imagine how many there will in the entire immortal plane?F

…

At the border of the immortal and devil realms, in the cosmic domain of Indigo Bay, within the silver stream system, and on the ‘Amber Moon’ star…

…

Lakeside of ‘Liu Feng’ city – one of the three largest cities of Amber Moon.

A youth in the twenties, was kneeling at the lake, tears glistened in the light like silver droplets.

‘Sob’ “Mother…’sniff’…I’ve been training for many years. At twenty ﬁve years old, I, my mother’s son, is 25 years old now, but is still at the Jindan Stage. Only the Jindan Stage! ‘Sob’… Of our clan, the oldest other is only sixteen years old!” the blue clothed youth sobbed to himself, resenting his own lack of talent. Amongst the inner sect of the clan, he’s results was unprecedented.

“I’ve worked so hard, I’ve never slacken my diligence. But, but, no matter how hard I train, how long I train, it’s no use!” the youth in blue bit down on his molars and pounded his right ﬁst into the moist ground. “I don’t have any low grade holy elemental stone. By simply absorbing the elemental spirits in the world, when will I be able to reach the Yuanying Stage?? My only chance….during the clan contest among the inner sect, my only chance was dashed when I fell to the hundredth rank…” His shoulders sagged, frustrated with his own helplessness.

The contest, it was a test of sorts, a contest between peers, an event to gain qualiﬁcations.

In his generation, all his peers were at the Yuanying stage, if he weren’t at the last place, who else would it be? “Because I’m weak, I’m at the lowest rank of the contest within the clan, so none of the low grade holy elemental stones were given to me. While the higher ranks are treated as elite disciples with elite privileges. They are given the low grade holy elemental stones, while I’m not given any. I’ve declined, while they’ve grown. The power gap gets larger with each coming year. This burden, this responsibility is getting heavier year on year. Now the gap is so large, that I……I am losing conﬁdence in my abilities…I feel like I’m wandering in the darkness, lost…I can no longer carry on.” The two salty streams fell from above, down the soft textured hills and splashed into the serene lake, causing ripples on the surface.

‘Sniff’, “I’m respectful towards all the older generations of the clan, and I train so hard. Bu…..it’s useless, the results are fruitless. Without the strength, I cannot carry the burden. Without power, I cannot even dream to be…..to be an elite disciple, I will always be tread on as the loser at the bottom.” The young man lamented to himself, his body trembled at this reality.

“Father, he….he is so strict with his demands, but…..I can’t help it! Every day, ‘Sniff’, every day, I spent more than half the day training, but my potential is poor, much worse than my peers. My meridians – my spiritual channels, are weak and thin…..when will I be able to stand up? When will I be able to change my life for the better?” the youth wore a bleak expression, his lips – a grimace. “Liu Han Shu, I am a ‘Liu’ of the great ‘Liu’ Clan. But for me, it represents endless pressure. My heart and body are tired. I can no longer hold up the burdens.” The Liu Clan, one of three great houses on Amber Moon. The Liu Clan has been in existed for a number of thousands of years, naturally, its younger generations are numerous as well. In the Clan contest, the competition is ﬁerce, and Liu Han Shu is the weakest among his peers.

New-borns are generally near the edge of the peak Houtain Stage. In general, at age ﬁve, they will reach early Jindan stage and at age ten, they’ll reach early Yuanying stage. But Liu Han Shu? He was still at the Jindan stage at age twenty ﬁve! His peers were already at the Yuanying stage.

Poor aptitude, there’s nothing more to say.

“Father, he originally had poor aptitude, but he was very respectful and treated everyone with care. One day, on that particular day, he met an immortal stage expert who helped him widen his meridian channels, so that father could ﬁnally catch up to the average man. Now he is a Dongxu stage practitioner. Father said that towards experts, ‘you must bowed and pay compliments’. But to do so for a lifetime, to live as a person at the will of another, I cannot withstand such humiliation.” He laughed at himself, “Mother, I don’t have the aptitude, the strength, the talents, and still desire to be the strongest, like the tallest pine in the forest. Are these only dreams?” Liu Han Shu wore a dreary expression.

He had become very tired over these passing years. A young adult at the Jindan stage, what was that? Every when walking down the street, one needs to look down and avoid eye contact and other’s wrath. Children at the age of twelve years old would already be at the Yuanying stage, they could beat him blind-folded.

Being humiliated by others, being looked down at by his own clan members, being denounced by his father, and even despised by his peers……

This has all driven Liu Han Shu mad. Mad with grief.

He always wanted to be someone who was respected, someone praise-worthy, someone with a happy and warm home of a loving family. But…… in this world, a ﬁercely competitive world, only the strong is respected…. But Han Shu is the weak.

It’s not because he doesn’t work hard – he works harder than anyone, but his aptitude and potential were too poor, that is why he is failing so miserably.

Whenever he cannot withstand that pressure, that humiliation, he would come to this lakeside.

That year, his mother had perished at this same lake, killed by a Kongming stage expert. His mother was a strong practitioner at the Kongming stage. If his mother was still alive, maybe he would have live a better life.

But –––––––

That was only just a fantasy.

“This is how my days pass. Anyway, I should return. Amber Moon is only so big, where could I hide from the probing sense of a Xiuzhenist? Impossible, I can only face reality. Time to go back and train in earnest.” Liu Han Shu stood up, his face – a sour expression.

If Liu Han Shu would return normally with Qing Chang, then he would be subject to a lifetime of endless humiliation, and to live at the very bottom of the entire Amber Moon star.

However, this time it will be different from the ﬁrst few times…

As Liu Han Shu turned, preparing to go back…

…

A voice echoed around the lake, a clear and aloof voice. “Hey, friend.”

Liu Han Shu was truly the weakest critter on Amber Moon. If someone called him, how could he dare not to listen? He immediately turned his body, his visage instantly changed from grim to ‘respectful and friendly’.

It was a notable skill to not insult the great powers out there and to live a good life.

He slowly looked upwards to the source of the voice.

The air above him blurred, a ﬁgure appeared in front of him.

“So fast. At least a Kongming expert.” He’s live for some time among Xiuzhenists so his judgement isn’t bad.

The expert was a man dressed in black robes. Robes the ﬂuttered lightly with the wind. Eyes full of wisdom, but also piercing as if he could see through people’s souls.

The expert was… It was Qin Yu.

…

Formerly, he had ascended with Shi Xin, his divine beast. He had thought that they would arrive at the same place, but after he came to Amber Moon, he could not ﬁnd Shi Xin at all.

Even with his ‘Soul link’, he could barely feel Shi Xin in the western direction, but how far, he wasn’t sure. Qin Yu couldn’t imagine the distance between him and Shi Xin. Clearly, Shi Xin has ascended to another planet in the demon realm, while he was one this planet.

“Junior Liu Han Shu greets his senior.” The blue robed youth bowed respectfully.

Qin Yu secretly nodded at the fellow, and using his immortal sense, he swept through the youth. He found that this Liu Han Shu was at the middle Jindan stage, but the fellow’s meridians was actually very narrow.

“With such narrow meridian, he could still become a Jindan stage practitioner?” Qin Yu felt shocked at this information.

If the fellow was in the mortal plane, and with such narrow meridians, even reaching Xiantian would be near-impossible, let alone Jindan stage. But Qin Yu was mistaken, he had forgotten than practitioners in the immortal plane could not be compared to those in the mortal plane. This was because, in the immortal plane, the practitioners would be able to absorb the dense elemental energy.

“Hm, how old are you?” Qin Yu inquired. He wanted to know how long it takes to become a Jindan stage Xiuzhenist with such poor quality meridians.

Liu Han Shu could not help a trace of bitterness show on his face. An aged twenty-ﬁve middle Jindan stage practitioner was regarded as a joke.

“This junior is twenty-ﬁve this year. Because I have poor aptitude, I’ve spent such a long time to reach this stage.” The fellow replied without hesitation, he couldn’t dare not to answer.

Qin Yu was shocked. “Twenty-ﬁve years old? It took twenty- ﬁve years to reach middle Jindan stage? You aren’t lying, right?” On the Qian Long continent, in general, for practitioners to reach early Jindan stage it takes an additional decade, and to reach middle Jindan stage, it will take over a century. At only twenty-ﬁve, the fellow was already at middle Jindan! He is a genius.

Qin Yu took close to twenty years to reach early Nebula stage.

“Junior dares not to lie to senior about such a shameful thing.” Liu Han’s face twisted into a grimace, but he felt that this expert was different from the resident experts of Amber Moon. The experts in the past were extremely arrogant, hardly giving a word, but this fellow was at least friendly with him.

“Shame?” Qin Yu felt startled at Liu Han’s reply. Prior to ascending, Qin Yu had investigated some things about the immortal plane such as information about golden immortals and immortal emperors, as well as geography and so on. As for immortal plane Xiuzhenists? Why would Qin Yu care about them?

That’s why he wasn’t very knowledgeable about immortal planes’ Xiuzhenists.

Seeing Qin Yu undisguised surprise, Liu Han Shu continued in a self-mocking manner, “Usually around the age of 5-6, children will reach early Jindan stage, around 10-11, they will be at Yuanying stage. And around the twenties, they will be at the Dongxu stage, yet I’m still at the Jindan stage, how could I not be ashamed?”

Qin Yu inhaled a sharp breath. Jindan stage at ages 5 to 6? And that’s normal?? Himself had only reach Nebula at twenty and was venerated and worship by countless descendants of the Qin clan. If these results were to be brought to the immortal plane, would it not be humiliating? “Shuo Yan. Does immortal planes’ Xiuzhenists train very quickly?” Qin Yu projected his inner voice into the Atlas of Ten Thousand Beasts.

Within the ﬁrst layer world of the Atlas, Shuo Yan began to explain the situation to her master. Their conversation last a long time, but in reality, time had trickled by, by less than a split second.

“I see.” Qin Yu nodded to himself. Thought he still has many grievances such as ﬁnding a complete map of the realms. For most golden immortals (devils and demons), they rarely venture out of a galaxy, in most case, they would just teleport within the galaxy to go about their businesses. Even the demons of the Atlas only have knowledge about a few demon systems in the demon realm. They wouldn’t know of the overall geography of the realms.

“Liu Han Shu, which planet are we on now? And which territory does it belong to – demon, devil or immortal?” Qin Yu urged to the fellow to continue. In spite of the expert’s near ‘dumb’ questions, Liu Han Shu continued to explain politely: “This planet is called the Amber Moon planet. It is within the Indigo Bay domain that is within the Silver Stream galaxy. This galaxy is not in either immortal or devil controlled realms, it is on the boundary of both, and connect to either side. There are immortal controlled planets and devil controlled planets within this galaxy. This planet is under the control of the immortals.”

Qin Yu ﬁnally gained a clear understanding. He ascended to a place not of immortal nor devil. To this day, he has only opened the ﬁrst layer world of the Atlas, whose demons would not know anything about the devil or immortal realms, let alone this planet called Amber Moon.

An idea springs to his mind, “In this immortal plane, with powers lower than a golden immortals are incapable of interstellar travel. For now, I’ll live here temporarily on this Amber Moon planet. Only when I’ve reached the golden immortal stage and able to open the second layer world of the Atlas, and at that time, I will go scour the universe!” He had made up his mind – ﬁrst train then act. Now, Qin Yu understood that this Liu Han Shu stood at the bottom level of all Xiuzhenists on this planet.

“Liu Han Shu, I am not very familiar with this Amber Moon planet, so advice where possible. Here.” He retrieved a middle grade holy elemental stone from his inventory, “This is a middle grade holy elemental stone, and it will be a remuneration for your guidance.”

Chapter 2: Reforming The Meridians

A piece of middle grade holy elemental stone?

Something like that wasn’t even worth much to Qin Yu. In his Nine Swords Immortal Mansion, the entire structure was made of one whole holy elemental stone. And within the allotted warehouses within the mansion, these stones are piled high like small mountains, even high grade stones were a common place. Aside from holy elemental stones, other treasures piled high are all ores used to reﬁning immortal weapons, the downside is that there aren’t any top grade elemental stone anywhere.

“Middle grade holy elemental stone? For being a…guide?” Liu Han Shu couldn’t believe what his ears were telling him. For normal immortal stage expert, something like a middle grade elemental stone was to be cherished, while poorer ones hold to them like their own precious children, and wealthy ones may gift them rarely.

But providing guidance….? Guidance in exchange for a piece of middle grade holy elemental rock? Seriously???

Han Shu stared at the stone in the fellow’s hands and felt the whole world burst with life. Gone was the decrepit world in gray-scale of humiliation and neglect, and come the new vibrant world – full of valour, life and colour, of hopes and dreams.

“Unless, you do not want to?” Qin Yu raised his brows questioningly.

“I do, I do. Junior is honoured to do so.” He was excited. In the last twenty years, he hadn’t been as excited as he was now. He wasn’t as foolish to pretend it was good enough a reward. “Senior, a little thing as guiding you isn’t worth a holy elemental stone. Junior does not deserve such exuberant reward.”

Qin Yu smiled at the fellow’s generosity, “If I say you can have it, then take it. This is the ﬁrst time I’ve come to Amber Moon planet, I am not familiar with much of the situation here, which you will have to inform me. Come, take me to a place where I can stay.” He tossed the middle grade elemental stone to the young man.

Liu Han Shu jumped to catch the stone, and bowed immediately after. “Senior, please follow me.” The moment he took the stone, he grasped it ﬁrmly, suddenly forgotten to store it. He was too excited at his luck. By turning towards the city’s direction, he stored away his treasure. “Thankfully, I have a storage bracelet…” With the stone stored, he ﬁnally regained his posture and felt relieved.

Once the exchange was done deal, Liu Han Shu leaped onto his ﬂying sword and starting ﬂying towards the destination, alongside him was Qin Yu – matching his speed.

Qin Yu was already aware there was a city in the distance, but he knew little about the immortal plane and its realms. He had decided to get a guide and live in this city for the time being. He knew this Liu Han Shu fellow grew up in Amber Moon, and having a native help out would save him a lot of worry.

Well………he also was determined to help change Liu Han Shu for the better.

Close to the city boundaries.

To this day, Qin Yu had never seen such an expansive city, whose population was at least ten million.

Han Shu started to give the expert a detailed tour. “Senior, this is Liu Feng city, one of three major cities of Amber Moon. The other two are Wan Lian city and Yan Shan city.” Qin Yu nodded, and answered with a question. “Han Shu, how strong are the experts of on Amber Moon?”

Han Shu paused for a short while, and thought out loud, “Hmmm, experts….on Amber Moon, that would at least be at the immortal stage. In the entire planet there are about ten thousand, while golden immortals are few in number. They could be counted in one hand.”

A handful? A smile surfaced on Qin Yu’s face. Was that all? That was the pinnacle of the experts on Amber Moon? Qin Yu could tread wherever he likes without fear. Let alone the golden immortal sword puppet, he – himself was a force to be reckoned with. Coupled with his Blazing Ice Ring and his divine weapon – Sky Piercer, and divine armour – Black Snow, his strength would be supreme. But nevertheless, he wanted to be on the safe side, “There aren’t any Mystic Immortals – immortal emperors?”

“Immortal Emperors?” Han Shu’s lips quivered, he swallowed aloud, “Senior, those ﬁgures are…… truly reign supreme. They are too distant from us. Even the main branch of my clan had not ever met an immortal emperor.” Qin Yu felt much relieved, but it seems that mystic immortal emperors were far and few between.

Qin Yu lifted his head from quietly musing and absorbed the sights and sounds of the bristling city. Liu Feng city gates were wide and tens of metres tall, as he follow Han Shu into the city. From the gate, Qin Yu was stunned by the width and size of the streets, and the amount of pedestrians. With a casual sweep of his immortal sense, he noted the weakest was at Jindan stage, most of all he was awestruck by the infants. The infants, still in arms of their mothers’, were at the Xiantian stage! Seeing was believing. The fantastical scene amazed Qin Yu. The immortal plane was really a different place, even infants was Xiantian practitioners. Roadside shops had various and wide range of ores, arms and clothes. He did not hesitate, and allowed Han Shu continue to show and tell him about everything. “Senior, look, this weapon shop is renowned as the

top three arms shops in the city, but the price is also exuberant.

Oh, that pub’s wine is superb. I’ve also frequented there once.” Han Shu felt somewhat proud to have drank the wine from that pub. “Ah, Senior, see that store….”

…

After walking around for an hour, Qin Yu had gained a reasonable understanding of Xiuzhenists’ cities in the immortal plane. He also bought a few bottles of high class wine to quench his thirst on the way. The true experts of Amber Moon may be far and few between, but the wine was undeniably better than the wine from his home world.

“Senior, the city is governed by the Liu Clan – one of the three great clans of the city. Myself, am a son of the Liu Clan.” Han Shu whispered softly, he did not want others to hear this. Qin Yu face broke into a wistful smile, “Hoh, I didn’t expect that you were a son of the governing clan.” Han Shu replied by shaking his head with a bitter smile, “Senior, please don’t make fun of junior. The Liu clan had existed for many generations, there are over tens of thousands disciples, so what make me? Though I am a son of main family, but when raising disciples or successors, the clan favours the strong, it has little to do with being in the main family or not.” This was the world where the strong ruled; strength was respected, nobody cared if you were a direct descendent or not.

“Don’t be discouraged. The strong also started from being the weak.” Qin Yu reassured, he saw much of himself from this fellow – Han Shu. Back then, he had no aptitude at all and had to forcibly practice external techniques. Compared to Han Shu, he had worse aptitude, but even so, he persevered to the present level. “Your right.” Han Shu lightened up hearing Qin Yu’s encouragement.

“Senior, today I’m very fortunate. I mean, how often, do I get the chance to walk with head held up in the middle of the road? Normally, I would’ve already be kicked aside by some passer byer.” Han Shu laughed at his own joke as to elevate his pain. Qin Yu could only give Han Shu a reassuring pat on the fellow’s back.

Qin Yu had already pick up those condescending looks the passer byers directed at Han Shu. When they noticed him beside Han Shu, they did not dare to stare any longer.

“Senior, this is my home. Amber Moon may not have much else, but land is plentiful. Another good thing is that as the descendent of the main family, I am assigned a small town house.” Han Shu led Qin Yu to the gate in front of a town house with a small courtyard. He opened the gate and let Qin Yu enter ﬁrst. “Ho, not bad. It’s pretty comfortable. I shall live here for now, do you mind?” Qin Yu uttered a short laugh. Han Shu hastily gestured, “Not at all, feel free to pretend it were your own home.” He whooped to himself, at his luck. For a master like Qin Yu to stay with him only had beneﬁts rather than inconveniences.

“I found you have some problems with your meridians, come here and let me see…” Qin Yu sat down on a nearby stone bench, and gestured at Han Shu, but the fellow shook his head and sighed, “Senior, I’m sorry, but this is something I was born with. Without reaching the immortal stage, it would be impossible to widen the meridian channels.” In the mortal plane, it may be possible for Dongxu stage practitioners to open up another’s meridians. But in the immortal plane, the mortals from infancy absorbed elemental energy. They were physically different from the mortals of the mortal plane.

“Just come here and give me a look.” Qin Yu had his hands stretched forward, Han Shu was dragged to his side by an invisible force. With his open palms, he gripped the fellow’s wrist like vice, then injected a strand of power from his dark star and a trace of his life force into the latter’s body. The life force came from within the meteor tears. And with the offensive power of his dark star, Qin Yu break down the fellow’s meridians directly, since it was much harder to widen the narrow channels. After breaking them down, he would use the extended life force to rebuild another, since it was the life restoring force from his meteoric tear, he did not doubt its capability to such a task.

“Ah!” Tearing apart Meridians was incredibly painful. The pain racked Han Shu’s body, and cause him to convulse involuntarily, but despite so, he tried to suppress the pain. “Good. You have perseverance.” Qin Yu smiled and encouraged, like a good doctor using something else to distract the patient from the pain. He began to manipulate the life force energy to build the meridians anew.

Under the continuous application of the energy, the meridians reformed. The newly formed meridians was several times wider and more resilient than the average man in the immortal planes. As the meridians grew with the life force energy, the toughness increased to the level of Kongming stage experts.

Whereas, previously Han Shu convulsed with pain, now his body felt serene and relaxed.

“Alright.” Qin Yu let go and nodded at Han Shu, “Liu Han Shu, I will go ahead and rest in the house. In a moment, when I tell you, you must come in as well.” As soon as he had informed Han Shu, he walked into the empty house.

Han Shu barely registered what Qin Yu said, as he was too busy dumbstruck by the status of his meridians. Suddenly his face ﬂushed and his body vibrated with unnatural frenzy, the facial muscles tensed and wild tears streamed down his taut cheeks. ‘Smack’, both his knees hit the courtyard ground. He knelt in unknowing worship of the changes to his body, and exclaimed, “Mother, I’ve ﬁnally, ﬁnally have the chance to stand up. I can ﬁnally walk down the street without worrying who my next aggressor would be, or who might insult and spit on me. I can ﬁnally stand up proud!” Tears rained on the region of the ground directly from his face while he kowtowed. Those tears moisten the dry ground like merciful life droplets.

Liu Han Shu was so excited that he was silent thereafter.

From a young age, more than twenty year, he had been the bottom scrubber of every person he ever knew like a grovelling slave. He’d suffered endless curses, humiliation, scorn of his fellow peers, if that weren’t enough, even strangers to go out of their way to harass him. Life of unbearable; it wasn’t life.

But –––––––

Now, he was given a chance, a god-sent chance to stand up tall with his newly transformed meridians aided by Qin Yu. Now he had the potential and aptitude of a thousand men – a genius of geniuses. He also had the middle grade holy elemental stone making breakthrough to the next stage easy.

Listening to the rampart cries of joy and hoarse exclamations, Qin Yu only smiled lightly. “This reminds me of that year when I achieved Xiantian stage via external techniques. I think I was as elated as Han Shu was, but that time my father did not let me go with him to the chosen place in the Wilderness.”

He withdrew his grin, and thought about numerous things about the situation.

“Han Shu, you can come in now.” Qin Yu beckoned to Han Shu. The fellow should have felt calmer after his outcry.

After being harassed for over twenty years, Han Shu had, at last, released some of his pent up frustration. Afterwards, he used his internal spiritual energy to dry his tears and clean up his attire, then he strode into the house. “Junior Liu Han Shu will never forget this gracious act.” ‘Smack’ his head hit the cold, hard ﬂoor as he kowtowed showing his undying respect towards his benefactor.

Qin Yu laughed openly – a open and honest laugh, and waved it off, “You’re welcome. To be honest, you could still train with me doing so. You were far better than I was, I couldn’t even train in the normal method, but you can. Alas, when I see you I see a part of myself.”

Han Shu froze, this senior was worse than himself?

“Senior, I beg of you, please take me in as your disciple.” Han Shu pled.

Qin Yu froze, his face an expressionless visage, then glanced at Han Shu. “This Liu Han Shu is not without diligence. Ha ha, he knows that I have a good impression of him, so that he asked me.” Either way, Qin Yu did not mind, and nodded to himself, then spoke aloud: “Alright, I will take you in as my disciple.” Han Shu was elated, he quickly stood up and gave his new master a respectful bow. “Disciple greets his master.” Having a master would allow him to live better days in the future.

“Han Shu, let me ask you one thing: if I want to travel to the demon realm, how would I go about it?” As if the previous pled was just a small episode in Qin Yu’s life.

“To the demon realm?” Han Shu frowned in contemplation, “This could be difﬁcult, and junior only knows the approximate geography of the immortal planes. We are currently located on the Amber Moon planet of the Indigo Bay star ﬁeld, part of the Silver Stream galaxy.” Qin Yu listened carefully, he knew his understand of the immortal plane was second to his disciple. “Indigo Bay star ﬁeld was between the devil and immortal realms’ borders, and all the realms have borders touching each other. As far as I know, to go to the demon realm, it would be best to go directly to the immortal hinterlands, from there go into the demon territory.” His disciple frowned again, “The problem is…… interstellar travel is very expensive for every, teleportation talisman, road tolls for passing each ruler’s planet. From here to the demon realm would costs……an astronomical amount of money!” “Road tolls?” Qin Yu queried.

“Yes. For example, if you were to travel from Amber Moon to the next planet over – Blue Mountain, it would require a teleportation talisman costing one low grade holy elemental stone. While road toll would cost two low grade holy elemental stones. If you go further to the second star over, it would cost three for the talisman and six for the road toll, and so on.” Han Shu informed Qin Yu. It seems to be a way to make money for each planet’s ruler. “And that’s just travelling, then you need a map. A detailed maps for interstellar travel are very valuable. Recorded on it was planets’ teleportation coordinates, teleportation routes, and safe routes and so on. It would also have notes on dangerous planets, entry-barred planets. In short, interstellar travel is only possible with a map.” Han Shu took a deep breath and continued. “Don’t even need to mention travelling to the demon realm, since a detailed map of the Indigo Bay star ﬁeld are few in number. As for a map from here to the demon realm, even junior does not know……oh! An immortal emperor will deﬁnitely have it.”

Once Qin Yu heard it all, he wore a strange smile. He understood that to travel to the demon realm, he needed two things: one, money to pay the exuberant road tolls, lastly, an interstellar map recording the teleportation coordinates of planets and dangerous places.

Chapter 3: 3-in-9 Soul Reﬁnement

“So road tolls and an interstellar map.” Qin Yu repeated to himself. In terms of the road toll, he wasn’t worried at all, he has mountains of low grade elemental stones. The down side was that he didn’t have an unlimited amount, if only he could be able to sell a few pieces of immortal class equipment, it would deﬁnitely increase his stocks. He had obtained multitudes of treasures from Ni Yang’s Realm. The next most important thing was the star chart.

From what Qin Yu could gather from his new disciple, stellar maps are very rare.

“Ah, master, there is another important thing I forgot to mention before.” Han Shu suddenly said aloud. “Speak.” Qin Yu turned to face his disciple. His disciple hastily replied, “I have heard rumours that a star chart is not always correct, the coordinates may be but the teleportation talisman may be destroyed at that location.” Qin Yu couldn’t help but feel a strand of loss.

He’s right, it might not be possible to permanently destroy or damage a teleportation talisman, but these star charts are as old as time. They couldn’t be kept up to date, which is to say that the talismans may or may not be usable, at least usable with ease.

Han Shu seriously pondered his master’s query, he wanted to be useful to his new master, “And……between two talismans, a star may have collapsed and became a ‘devouring region’. It might have drawn nearby stars and planets towards its core, making the talismans on those planets or stars less accessible.”

Qin Yu gazed downwards, deep in thought, considering all the possible problems that may occur below the surface of simple interstellar journeys. Cosmic bodies are constantly changing, a star chart will only show general routes but not the present situation at each talisman’s location. In order to determine the current situation at the location, he’d have to be there to accurately assess the scenario.

“Master, another thing, I’ve heard my father talk about interstellar journeys. Supposedly, the trekker needs to be at least a golden immortal stage expert!” Han Shu whispered in a breathless tone, eyes widened. Qin Yu only smiled slightly. “Hoooh, Han Shu, you think that your master is not on par with a golden immortal? You’re worried that I might be in danger on my interstellar journey.”

Han Shu hastily replied, he didn’t want doubt his own master, “Master, junior does not doubt in master’s prowess. It’s just that…our Amber Moon star produced an interstellar merchant. I hear that those merchants are at least above golden immortal stage experts. You see, my father once served an interstellar merchant once, and when he returned he ﬂaunted about his time telling me many things about an interstellar merchant.”

“Interstellar merchants?” Qin Yu brows shot up in mild surprise, “Tell me, what these so-called interstellar merchants?” He had his own assumptions of what they were, but he wanted to clarify these existences.

Han Shu licked his lips, his eyes swooning, his expression was in full worship, and said: “interstellar traders, those people are the cream of the crop of experts. They are all very skilled. They originate from the demon, devil and immortal realms, in all manners of places. Their primary goal is to buy cheap herbs, items or ores from one place, and sell it high at a distant place. They would earn the difference in prices – selling and buying, between the two markets. Sometimes, the difference would be ten times, or even a hundred times!”

It was as Qin Yu expected: they were very much similar to the merchants and traders of the Qian Long Continent, except they would travel longer distance.

“There is high risk to interstellar travel and the road toll is also very high, so those interstellar traders selling at prices hundred time greater than the buying price, is commonplace. The risks are sky high after all.” Han Shu continued solemnly as if showing sympathy, “Master, our small planet does not have many experts, but at the epicentre of our galaxy – the silver stream galaxy. That is at the Scarlet Leaf star, experts are plentiful and powerful. In the entire immortal plane, only the strong is respected. If others know you have many treasures, the powerful will likely to kill you for those treasures.”

Of course, Qin Yu had suspected as much. Most merchants must carry a number of treasures and precious goods, if they weren’t strong then they would’ve died and robbed by experts at each planet. Han Shu in toned, “Our part of the immortal realm is slightly better, at least most people consider robbery in broad daylight below themselves, and they’re unlikely to act directly. They will only under the table or in secret. I hear that boundary between the devil and demon realm is far more chaotic and lawless, people get mugged as often as they could blink.”

Qin Yu uttered a hearty chuckle, his disciple was still a sapling, he doesn’t understand that underhanded cloth-and- dagger manoeuvres are more dangerous than daylight robbery. But he knew all that was said were all rumours or things his disciple heard second hand, and only by witnessing it ﬁrst hand, will he be able to determine the authenticity of the information. Some things must be true or else it wouldn’t be gossiped, and from that he gain some understanding.

He heard enough, then instructed Han Shu, “Han Shu, I noticed the Xiuzhenists on the streets before did not have solid foundations. Your skills may be poor, but your soul is at the late Yuanying stage. Go on, absorb the energy from that middle grade holy elemental stone. Once you’ve reach Yuanying stage….we’ll see then.” “At once. Then I will be retiring.” Han Shu immediately left the room after a curt bow.

Qin Yu sighed, “In the immortal plane, Xiuzhenists here are far more fortunate than the ones in the mortal plane. Here the density and quality of the energy in the world is of a higher grade than energy in the mortal plane. Alas, not only do practitioners train faster in skill, but also in soul.”

Even children are Jindan practitioners, if this were the mortal world, it would be unbelievable.

After a while, Qin Yu discarded his roaming thoughts. This place was his ‘here and now’, thinking about the past would not help his situation at all.

He recollected his thoughts and determined: “To know how much road tolls will cost, I need to ﬁnd an interstellar merchant. As for the map, for now I don’t need a planar map of all the realms. A map for the Indigo Bay star ﬁeld will sufﬁce.” He knew how valuable and rare maps were, and didn’t want to set his sights on something unreachable.

But there are more things important than those goals, “I have more hidden power. As soon as possible, I should open the second layer world of the Atlas of Ten Thousand Beasts. In there are plenty of demon king stage divine beasts. Then will I be able to breathe easier.” Qin Yu had settled on his action plan, he wasn’t a bit worried.

A broad grin parted his lips, he remembered something essential, “Ha ha, how could I been so foolish. As a new master, I still haven’t bestow my disciple a gift.”

The only decision now was which treasure should he give? When he was in Ni Yang’s Realm, he had acquire numerous high grade immortal equipment. But, then a Yuanying brat with a high grade immortal item, isn’t that asking to be robbed and killed? “How about giving that top grade holy weapon to my disciple?” With a wave, Qin Yu retrieved that familiar black long sword, he’d used in the past, Hei Yuan.

‘Hei Yuan’ was a top grade holy weapon that Qin Yu reﬁned himself. The key aspect that makes it no less precious than a low grade immortal item lies in its adaptability. It was that metallic sword that could shape-shift; whether it was defense, attack or various other designs, it could mimic very well.

He retracted the blood contract with the weapon and stored it again, in preparation for Han Shu, when the fellow ﬁnishes training.

…

“Shou Yan, bring another with you when you come out.” Intoned an indifferent voice.

From thin air, a beauty – Shou Yan, wearing fragrant purple gown and a middle-aged man in a teal robe appear unexpectedly in the room. The duo immediately bowed. “At your service, Milord.”

Shuo Yan started introductions, “Milord, this is Zang Yuan, a level 9 demon. He’s original form is the powerful Teal-coloured Shadow Panther. Whether it is strategy or strength, he is among the top ten of all the divine beasts of the ﬁrst layer world.” Qin Yu nodded in interest. There were over two hundred level 9 demons in the ﬁrst layer world, and as per Emperor Ni Yang’s introduction, all are powerful demons. It’s true that Shuo Yan mentioned the ones in the ﬁrst layer world had poorer aptitudes, simply because they did not ascend to the second layer world as a demon king. To be able to stand at the top ten of so many level 9 demons, their strength would be no less than ordinary level 9 golden immortals.

“Zang Yuan, Shuo Yan. I know that interstellar merchants exist with strength no less than a golden immortals’, but their servants couldn’t be as powerful as them, right?” Qin Yu laughed.

Shuo Yan smiled in return, “Milord, you should direct this question to Zang Yuan. His father was a former interstellar merchant.”

“Oh?” Qin Yu arched his right brow in mild surprise. He looked at Zang Yuan with anticipation. “Milord, an interstellar merchant must be at least a golden immortal, that is fact. The most common reason is that the journey is dangerous, but the most important reason is so that they could use ‘greater teleportation’ during their travels. Say, if the merchant meets trouble at a location on the map, their sense to no lose out on proﬁts enforces them not to turn back. In this case, they would need an escape plan, right? That’s where ‘greater teleportation’ comes into play as a way to take a shortcut around the problem.”

His disciple had only heard about interstellar merchants while Zang Yuan had a ﬁrmer backing and more to say.

“These merchants may be soloists or come with attendants. Attendants are separated into two categories – bodyguards and servants. Normally, the prowess of bodyguards are relatively strong, of course, golden immortal bodyguards would cost a fortune to hire.” Zang Yuan informed, “A rule of thumb: the most powerful the hired guns are the more expensive their fees are. While servants are primarily to serve the merchant’s everyday desires, and are naturally weak.”

“Everything has a price. Tell me, how much is money, in the immortal plane, worth?” He had held this question in for a while now, unsure who to ask to get an accurate approximation.

Shuo Yan had a smiled playing on her lips, “Your honour, that is very easy. For experts at the stage of immortal, devil and demon, low grade elemental stones represent the smallest unit of money in the immortal plane. Generally, say it something costs a hundred dollars it represents a hundred low grade elemental stones.” With another smile, she continued, “In terms of higher units and currency exchange: 1 top grade elemental stone = 100 high-grade stones = 10,000 middle-grade stones = 1,000,000 low-grade stones. The most valuable is the elemental essence core, where 1 = 100 top-grade elemental stones. But, this is only an approximate, because essence cores are extremely scarce. At times, they can be worth more than said amount.”

The trio continued to discussion for a long time.

…

By the end of the conversation, Qin Yu had gained some deeper insights to how the immortal plane operated. He excused himself and began to meditate and train his soul force. What he needed now was the sufﬁcient soul force to reﬁne level 1 golden immortal yuanyings, because he still has three unreﬁned golden immortal yuanyings.

…

“I’ve ﬁnally done it. I’ve ﬁnally broken through to the early yuanying stage.” Han Shu breathed in deeply, his eyes shone with excitement. He walked out of his room towards the direction of his master’s.

“Halt.”

A chilling voice broke him from his thoughts, he snapped his head towards the voice. In the courtyard, there are a man and woman eating some fruits from a stone table.

The fruits looked peculiar; these were fruits grown in the ﬁrst layer world of the Atlas. “Who are you? Why did you come to my residence?” Han Shu looked worriedly at the two strangers.

Unknown to him, the duo was precisely, Shuo Yan and Zang Yuan.

The two continued to eat, didn’t even give Han Shu a look, “The master is training, do not disturb him.” The woman said nonchalantly, “Our lordship is also your martial master, do not worry, and just wait outside for him.” A yuanying stage practitioner wasn’t even worthy her attention. She was the leader of a large group of level 7-9 demon stage divine beasts.

“Mm…aster?” Han Shu choked on his own breath. He widened to the limit, how did his own master gain two attendants already? And so quickly!

…

Within Qin Yu’s room. Qin Yu was sitting in a cross-legged position, as lifeless and still as a rock. There wasn’t a wisp of life force or presence around his body.

During his soul training, he became aware that the training was divide into three stages: human, earth and then sky. Only when one reaches these three stages, one’s soul could then be considered complete and whole.

The room became clouded by thick grey fog, even though the room was aired out con the breeze from the open windows, the mist did not clear. It hung around like a bad cold.

Qin Yu had spread his awareness to the space surrounded the mist. This was the ﬁrst stage of the soul – the human stage soul domain, he’d only know of it when his soul was transformed by his meteoric tear – by the 3-in-9 Soul Reﬁnement. Before this time, Qin Yu had not known that the soul could be trained. He had always thought the soul could only be nurture with age.

The mist and domain was the materialisation of Qin Yu’s human stage soul and awareness.

Within the illusionary ﬁrst layer’s mist of the soul, his hands moved in a preordained manner according to the pattern depicted by the ‘3-in-9 Soul Reﬁnement’. It contained a continuous ﬂow of thirty-six hand seals. On the surface looked easy but as he ﬂowed through from the ﬁrst to the next, each

successive seal was somehow more difﬁcult than the last.

He couldn’t divert his attention even a little, the slightest distraction would cause that sense to fail, but…..he noticed that these seals have a unique aura to them, when completed it relaxed the mind and body.

As he shifted through the hand seals, streams of green-tinted mist pervade the ﬁrst layer soul domain from outside. Over time, many more streams of green mist ﬂowed into the domain. His hands moved like experts in mid-combat ﬂowing from one form to another, through the thirty-six seals.

It may have been dull for others to repeat the same movement, but Qin Yu did not tire, he could feel his soul developing, growing and transforming, constantly at an astonishing rate.

Were he not too focused on capturing this mantra-like state, he would notice that the green-tinted mist was diluted versions of the bright green specks the ﬂowed out from the meteoric tear. In this form of meditation, like any other close-door training, time was a subjective thing – it did not feel like time ﬂowed the same as in the real world.

Suddenly, something clicked, like a light prevailing over the endless space…

Qin Yu was at the precipice of another breakthrough, but he did not proceed and stop immediately. “Phew, well now, my soul force should be around a level 8 immortal.” Qin Yu couldn’t feel much like has passed, but look about and by estimation, he knew a full three months had passed.

He sighed; if he’d allowed his soul to passively cultivate the meteoric tear’s nourishment, it would have taken at least three years to reach this stage. By active cultivation it only taken him three months to accomplish the same results. Looking about his room, he walked outside for the ﬁrst time in three months.

In the courtyard of the little residence, the two demons were patiently waiting for their master. Seeing Qin Yu approach, the two stood up in unison and paid their respects. “Welcome, master.” Qin Yu gave them a light nod, “Oh that’s right, where is my disciple?”

“That child – Liu Han Shu, did not know how long the master would train for, so he went out a while ago.” Shuo Yan answered.

Qin Yu nodded, almost to himself. It was expected. He extended his immortal sense to encompass the entire city, not single action in the city went unnoticed.

Liu Feng city; with over ten million population, was a bristling city. Citizens were going about their destinations, among them were about a thousand immortals. These immortals dotted the landscape, in every profession, every craft and every task. It was business as usual.

He already could sense where his disciple was. “I’d never of thought….” He swung his head side to side and sighed, “My ﬁrst disciple in the immortal plane would be bullied and kicked about at someone else’s leisure….. Well, I wish to acquire a star map, so it would be best if I establish myself with a little force.

First I’ll gain control of this puny Amber Moon planet, and acquire some attendants and followers, that would make my job much easier.”

Qin Yu wasn’t one with excess patience, he would not allow things to ebb by in nature’s way. He was the type of person to take things by storm and calculation, of course.

With a thought, he disappeared from the courtyard. He had teleported to his destination.

As the master of both Shuo Yan and Zang Yuan, they were aware of their master’s location, and a second later, they also teleported to Qin Yu’s location. Amber Moon was governed by three major clans, these clans hold equal power. But with the appearance of Qin Yu and formation of his relationship, with one clan’s – Liu’s, nearly insigniﬁcant disciple, clouds of change was rolling in from the far horizon. Amber Moon was the verge of this coming storm.

Chapter 4: A Formal Visit

The streets of Liu Feng city are wide and spacious, the main streets separated the city into smaller districts. The northern district was entirely Liu clan’s headquarters, residences and the governor’s palace, this was where most of Liu house’s children and disciples reside. On one particular street in this district, a signiﬁcantly large crowd of hundreds were watching a spectacle.

“Tsk tsk, heh, ho what a surprise. Ha ha ha, a wimp like you actually became an early yuanying stage. Ha ha ha ha.” A middle-aged man mocked Liu Han Shu, spit splattering out of his foul mouth. The crowd laughed with him, taunting the wimp.

Another middle-aged man taunted, “Liu Han Shu, you’re the weakest of your generation. Look at your nephew, Liu Han Ming, and you are the same age and you can’t even compare against him. At least he is a late Dongxu stage. To think today, a scum like you would dare walk in the middle of the street like today. That’s a crime! The beating you’ll get from Han Ming is just your just desserts. May be you’ll learn this time, ha ha!” …

Surrounded by this circle of mob Xiuzhenists, a sorry looking Liu Han Shu crouched. A sweet and salty sensation was tasted at the back of his throat, it was blood. Another stream of it threaten to erupt from his mouth. An angry sneer played on his lips as he stared at his latest aggressor – his own brother of his generation – Liu Han Ming. He didn’t dare oppose, or that he couldn’t, his face was parched white.

“Look at yourself, Liu Han Shu, even if you reached the early yuanying stage, you are still the weakest of our generation. Look around you, are anyone of your generation still at the early yuanying stage???” The white robed youth sneered and spat out his name as if it were bile. This man was precisely that Liu Han Ming. Within the Liu house, all of the ‘Han’ generation was cultivated as elites. Except him. But Han Ming was right, at early yuanying, he was still the weakest of the litter.

“Eldest prince, do not waste your precious time with bottom feeders like him, sire. The Elder invited a powerful guest to personally instruct you.” A rather reﬁned middle-aged man beside the white robed Liu Han Ming advised. Behind the two was a dozen personal guards.

The digniﬁed looking middle-aged man was a level 2 immortal. He wasn’t part of the Liu family but personally invited by Liu Han Ming’s grandfather to care for Han Ming.

Both Han Ming and Han Shu were sons of the main family, but their treatment was like two opposite poles. One was a prince and the other a rufﬁan. The main reason was personal power. At age twenty-ﬁve, Han Ming was already a late Dongxu stage practitioner, only one stage from early Kongming stage.

“Liu Han Ming, one day, I swear, I will become better than you.” Liu mumbled under his breath, wiped the rivers of blood from his mouth and chin and stood up. At this moment, he thought of his new master, Qin Yu, and at once, he felt conﬁdence swell up in his chest.

“How dare a little wimp like you look at the eldest son? He is the digniﬁed eldest son of the main family. Young master, let us return.” The reﬁned middle-aged man’s steely voice resounded in the encirclement. Then he waved his hand in a shoo-ing manner, at Han Shu. “Get lost, crawl back to the cave whence you came.”

There was no way, he’d be able to defend, and a level 2 immortal’s strength was incomparable.

Suddenly –––––––

“Boom!”

A circular wave of spiritual energy erupted, with Han Shu as the epicentre, towards the encirclement. Both the young master, the reﬁned looking middle-aged man and the entourage of guards were thrown a few metres aside. They all landed in an undigniﬁed pile. The nearest onlookers were also repulsed back, and spat out blood. The rest of the farther onlookers were thrown to the ground, while the distant ones scurried like rats to ﬂee from the shockwave.

As the dust settled and the blast wave ebbed away, the crowd could see another ﬁgure standing by Han Shu’s side. The newcomer was a youth who wore a ﬂuttering black robe. The crowd gasp as they felt the pressurizing aura released by the newcomer, simultaneously, they all thought of one thing –––– it was a real master!

The black robed youth swept a cold gaze across all present. Everyone felt as if they were petriﬁed or downing in icy water. That chilling gaze penetrated the very hearts of the crowd.

A voice shattered that silence ––––––

“Master” Han Shu could not help but rejoice at his master’s spectacular appearance.

The ﬁrst to stand was a white robed youth, who immediately bowed and plastered a smile on. “Junior Liu Han Ming greets senior. I would’ve never thought that brother Han Shu would become the disciple of exalted senior. It is really is Brother Han Shu’s great fortune.”

Qin Yu’s expression did not change. It was a deadpanned looked, as if this fellow didn’t even exist in his eyes.

Han Ming saw this and mumbled on impulse, “When did Liu Han Shu become the disciple of such a master? But this man is a little too cold towards my greeting.”

“Milord.” Shuo Yan and Zang Yuan appeared behind Qin Yu and greeted their master.

Qin Yu continued to eye Liu Han Ming’s group, whom trembled in their boots and could not cease their worries in their hearts. Among this group, the most powerful – the reﬁned middle-aged man, stood out from the crowd. “Please excuse this junior, but I am not sure where senior has come from?” The reﬁned middle-aged man was a level 2 immortal, he’d have some knowledge of the experts around here.

Qin Yu did not answer, he was not inclined to even leave the man with his dignity or face.

The other naturally didn’t dare budge, not that they could anyway. Qin Yu had enveloped them with his aura ﬁxing them to their places, any signs of opposition would be met with death.

“Speak. Who was it, who dared to harm my disciple?” A deadpanned voice rang around the street.

The Han Ming fellow bowed and answered, “senior, I witnessed one of my security detail enact violence on Liu Han Shu, who was walking in the middle of the street.” There was no way he would do such humiliating thing himself, even if he did he won’t lie to an expert – that would be courting death.

Qin Yu only answer with two words, “Which one?”

A guard stepped up from the crowd, “it was me.” The guard was only a dongxu stage practitioner, a relatively weak one at that, of the entire Liu Feng city. “Liu Han Shu is a weakling. Stepping on the weak is a privilege of the strong, is there a problem?”

Qin Yu gave this man an eyeful.

‘Bam!’ the guard’s lifeless body settled in a heap on the ground, eyes wide, unknowing of his demise.

“Showing such disrespect to my master. You deserve nothing but death” the man behind Qin Yu sneered. That instant killing shot was by that man, Zang Yuan, but nobody knows that this was a command from Qin Yu, himself.

The surrounding mob broke in cold sweat, even Liu Han Ming’s group ﬂinched in shock.

Even of the highest skilled of the onlookers – a level 6 immortal of the elder Liu generation, did not see how Zang Yuan killed the guard. Despite the elder’s endless effortless, he would not, because Zang Yuan was far stronger than an ordinary level 6 immortal.

Before anyone noticed, dozens of experts appeared in the air space over the encirclement. Following their arrival, all could only hear the sound of whistling gale. The newcomers all stared at the masses below like gods above looking at puny mortals.

The one in the middle spoke, his voice echoed in the ears of everyone present, “Who dares to cause a ruckus at my home?? Who………” The man suddenly paused mid-sentence, and in a ﬂash, his expression changed from one of wrath to a friendly look. The man was a handsome looking middle-aged man.

“Honourable great-grandfather.” Han Ming bowed deeply to the man, followed by an equally respectful bow from Han Shu: “Honourable great-grandfather.”

The man was precisely the grandfather of the two, “This one is called Liu Yun Shan, greets senior. I do not know what the argument is about between my great-grandchildren, but senior, please restrain your hand. Please don’t be angry.” The elder bowed and wore a cordial smile of politeness.

As if preordained, the level 6 immortal among the onlookers stepped out from the crowd and joined Liu Yun Shan. The two looked much alike, the newest addition intoned: “Senior, this one is called Liu Yun Tan. Since you are Liu Han Shu’s master, then we are all one clan, please spare the offense Han Ming committed. These two’s squabble is of no importance.”

At the same time, he and Liu Yun Shan were having a voice transfer discussion.

“Yun Shan, if I didn’t warn you before with voice transfer, your arrogance would’ve provoked this extraordinary ﬁgure and brought calamity to our Liu clan. That would be a great sin.”

Yun Shan replied, “Yun Shan, I suppose this time, I owe you for the early warning. I did not expert three experts to simultaneously appear here all of a sudden. Not to mention, I can’t even see how powerful the three are.”

As soon as they ﬁnished, which was less than a second, the two waited for Qin Yu’s response. They were part of the higher echelons of the Liu clan that meant they represented the voice all Liu clan members present. Qin Yu laughed heartily to himself, his outward expression unchanged. He’d not thought, after all this tossing around, he had become part of the same family now.

Instead of answer directly, he turned to his disciple to his side, and asked, “Han Shu, well, what do you say, how should this matter be resolved?”

Han Shu hesitated with the sudden question.

The two elders followed his gaze and looked at Han Shu, giving the fellow a knowing look. Of the two, the earlier one – Yun Shan, quickly added, “Han Shu, please don’t bring your petty squabbles up and bother your master. Oh, I realise that it has been a long time since your father and you have come to see me. After this, if you have time, come visit me more often.”

Han Shu couldn’t stop his heart from turning sour, he felt some sorrow and sadness. Before today, before he met Qin Yu, his own great-grandfather’s palace was as unreachable as heaven. He were to approach more than a hundred metres of the front gate, he would be frog-marched outside or sometimes booted out. But now, his lofty great-grandfather was giving him such a different kind of treatment – one more kindly.

“Master, let’s just let this affair go. It wasn’t a big deal anyway.”

Qin Yu nodded, “Very well, since Han Shu said so, I’ll spare your lives. Death may be too heavy a punishment, but injury is not. Zang Yuan, make sure these people need to be ‘resting’ for three months.”

“Senior!” Yun Shan and Yuan Tan stared with disbelief, the young master – Han Ming, also gaped with confusion.

All they heard from Zang Yuan was, “As you command, master.” And in the time for a breath, Zang Yuan who was standing behind Qin Yu disappeared. For a top ten ranker of more than two hundred level 9 demon, Zang Yuan is nothing short of a monster to those present. To deal with a group with the strongest two being a level 2 immortal, wiping the ﬂoor of them was a cake walk! The next instant after that breath, the group was lying on the ground, vomiting copious amounts of blood, painting the monotonous ground with splashes of scarlet.

“Senior, this is going too far.” Yun Shan spoke, his jaw trembled slightly with some rising anger. His spirit was increasing in ferocity, but before anything else, Qin Yu swept his gaze to him. Liu Yun Shan could feel his entire body involuntarily shudder as if he’d been submerged in freezing water. The shock woke him from his bull-headedness and before he committed more irreversible acts.

Without taking his eyes off Yun Shan, he spoke for the ﬁrst time in a while, “A disciple of mine – Qin Yu, is not to be slandered nor bullied.” His voice was soft, but it could be heard as if he’d spoken next the ears of everyone present. “Han Shu, return home with me. Why stay in a clan that don’t even treat their own as their own. You should not be too attached to this place.”

Han Shu heart pounded loudly, he’d never thought in all his life that he would hear something as warm as that. He recalled his past, but shuddered slightly trying not to imagine anymore and bring up any painful memories.

Home?

What was home?

Was that home?

The peers that spat on him, bullied him and assaulted him. It was a home of nightmares.

Within Han Shu’s heart, a heavy burden was tossed aside. For the ﬁrst time in his life, he felt so……so relieved?

“Yes, master.” Came the answer.

Liu clan may be known as one of the three great clans, but they only have one golden immortal stage expert, the rest was only immortals. Within the Atlas, Qin Yu had more than two hundred level 9 demons, and destroying the Liu clan could be done with a nod.

“Depart.” Qin Yu held onto Han Shu’s shoulder and vanished.

Shuo Yan and Zang Yuan turned around and faced the Liu elders, the two directed a cold, sly grin on their face, and then they too vanished.

The elders gave each other an eyeful, both foreheads were creased.

…

In a remote part of the city, in an insigniﬁcant town house far different from the luxurious palaces of the Liu clan headquarters.

On this particular day, a group of people had gathered in front of the courtyard in front of that house – Han Shu’s house. A loud shout was heard, “Master is currently tutoring Mister Liu Han Shu. No one is to enter within 6 hours.”

Two burly giants stood at the two sides of the entrance to the courtyard. These two were level 8 demons Qin Yu withdrew from the Atlas – Pi Huan and Pi Fan. There were numerous level 9 demons and their reputation was high, which made the two level 8 demons desire to show the level 9s that level 8 demons are not to be squandered nor forgotten. So in their master’s presence, they want to leave some good impressions. They were also a representatives of the level 8 demons, so that they wouldn’t want to be shadowed (not lose face) for their seniors as fellow demons.

Outside the residence were three elders of the Liu clan, an unknown honoured guest of the Liu house, another guest and a group of Liu clan’s elite guards. The elders could not help but show a repressed smile of understanding.

“Yun Shan, you said that the two guards were not the same as the two from the other day, right? The Liu clan leader asked the other elder – Yun Shan. The fellow nodded, “I’m very sure. These two men are not the ones before. Those two were a woman and a lean looking man, not two burly giants.”

“Hmm, a level 8 demon.” The fourth elder-looking guest – the honoured guest of Liu house, said “If I’m not mistaken, the two guards are Flame Lions. Their actual power far surpasses level 8 immortals. At most, elder Xiu could only barely handle one.”

“Even the guards are two level 8 demons.” Every one of the elders gasped, they could felt invisible pressure on them, “that ‘Qin Yu’ must be even more fearsome than these two men. What a monster………when did such an individual come here?”

The clan leader also felt a headache coming on, because demons are stronger than immortals of the same level. That was true, unless that immortal followed a special path of practice, but nevertheless the chance of that was so miniscule that it very nearly did not exist. “Eldest brother, did you notice that the two guards called Qin Yu as ‘master’. If it was the normal hierarchical structure then it only be ‘lord’ and not by ‘master’. There is deﬁnitely more to it.” Yun Tan remarked. The clan leader nodded at that, he didn’t notice it at the beginning. Usually only the within the super large clans that control many planets would cultivate these experts, and only these experts would be titled ‘master’.

After a long time…

‘Squeek’ one of the guards opened the courtyard door.

“Our master has said you may come in now.” The other guard spoke, his voice rumbled like thunder, “Also, leave your guards outside, the garden would not ﬁt you all.”

The clan leader laughed. “There is one other person. He is Liu Han Shu’s father….”

A bored voice reached the guests’ ears from within the gate, “Let him come in, then.” One by one, the clan leader, the three elders, an unknown guest and Han Shu’s father walk in order through the doorway.

Within the courtyard.

Han Shu had ﬁnally mastered the top grade holy weapon ‘Hei Yuan’. Today, he wore a dark-grey sleeved shirt made part of ‘Hei Yuan’, while the other part was in the shape of a ﬂying sword. Qin Yu sat on a stone bench, ﬂanked by Shu Yan and Zang Yuan, on the left and right. Han Shu stood slightly ahead of him and to the side.

The unknown guest was the ﬁrst to speak….through voice transfer, “Clan master, the two men standing guard are very strong, I could not perceive all of it, they are at least level 9 demons, as for Qin Yu, he is about a level 8 immortal.”

But, with the meteoric tears’ fusion with his soul, his control of spiritual energy has reached a profound level. With a light sweep, he could acquire all the information. “Oh, not bad.” Qin Yu laughed out loud. With his soul’s fusion, and withdrawn of his soul and spirit, even a golden immortal would not be able to perceive his true strength, let alone an unknown immortal.

The unnamed guest’s face paled, “This clan master’s – Qin Yu’s, strength is unfathomable.” that was because he was unable to sense a hint of life force nor spiritual energy from Qin Yu’s body.

The Liu clan leader stared at the unknown middle-aged man, suddenly little frustrated that the guest would say Qin Yu was a level 8 immortal, then say the fellow’s strength was unfathomable!

Chapter 5: Teleportation Array

“This one is the Liu clan’s clan leader, here to greet Mister Qin. We are unsure, to what fortune, does Mr. Qin wish to do here on this little planet – Amber Moon. If there are anything within my clan – Liu house, can handle, please allow us to do so. On Amber Moon, I of Liu clan at least have some capabilities.”

Qin Yu allowed a faint smile to show on his lips, pointed at a seat on the left side, the kind aimed for guests. “Sit.”

The clan leader immediately sat down.

Qin Yu looked at the leader mildly, “We won’t talk about my business, there is something far more important to discuss than my business. You see, here on Amber Moon, I took on a disciple. But, I discovered that someone dared to insult my disciple, and that someone was his own brothers of his generation. Liu clan leader, about this matter, can you explain to me why this is so?” Standing behind Qin Yu was Shuo Yan, who smiled coldly, eyes ﬂashed with hidden intent. “Oi, scion of the Liu clan, you better wise up. If you listen well and aid my master, then perhaps your clan may prosper, but……if the master isn’t happy with you, then your clan may just die out, unexpectedly.” She hit the bull’s-eye. What Qin Yu needed the most was a star map, he did not care for power.

There are many ways he could go about acquiring this star map, except that Qin Yu chose to use this particular method: manipulation and negotiation with these ‘major’ families. Of course, that would be the climax of this whole discussion.

“Bullying? Hm, how should we go about this?” The clan leader asked no one in particular, then smiled lightly. “This was a problem that arose from internal clan competitions between those children. To this, I promise one thing, and that is those things will never happen again.”

“You swear it?” Qin Yu answered with a short, dry laugh, “I ﬁnd it hard to believe in your supposed promise.”

Han Shu shifted uncomfortably on his feet, he lowered his head in his master’s direction, and whispered, “Master, the clan leader’s words are quite inﬂuential.” Qin Yu laughed with a hint of sarcasm. “You foolish apprentice, I don’t even know what to say to one like you.” Han Shu was only a twenty-ﬁve years old practitioner, who haven’t seen much of the wider world. A man with such tunnel-vision and naivety, would only feel honour at the sudden appearance of the greatest pillars of his Liu family present today. Indeed, Han Shu felt he was drifting and ﬂuttering about on cloud nine, and hearing the clan leader’s promise, he was already convinced. He couldn’t help add his two-cents to aid the elder.

…

“Very well, let this be. Since Han Shu has said the matter is no longer a problem, then let bygones be bygones.”

The clan leader smiled – sly smile, as if this whole ordeal was just a façade. “I noticed that the holy equipment on my own Han Shu is quite extraordinary. It seems it can transform and reshape itself…such wondrous holy equipment, it must have been yours, right? Such equipment, was reﬁned by Mr Qin?”

Qin Yu conﬁrmed it. He knew the reason why the clan leader was paying him such compliments. The proposition of any clan leader was to improve their impression they would leave on him, Yun Lu was not an exception. He must admit, so far the group has been quite sensible, and not bull-headed. “Liu clan leader, weren’t you inquiring about my business here on Amber Moon, right? Well, I do have one affair of utmost importance, I wish to trouble you for. Of course, I will provide suitable……rewards for.”

The fellow’s eyes actually twinkled and hastily asked, “Whatever are the rewards……if I can help, I will certainly do so.”

“No, not to aid me without compensation. I am not one to leave my debts unpaid.” Qin Yu shock his head.

“Well then, If Mister Qin, does not wish to owe anything…” The clan leader’s face brightened, “I do have a small request…I hope you could become an honoured guest allied with our Liu clan.”

“An allied guest?” Qin Yu furrowed his brows. “I am a busy man.” The clan leader hurriedly added, “Just in name. In name only. If problems arise, and you are free, then you could aid us…But don’t worry, we will not come to seek your aid.”

“If it’s like this…” Qin Yu thought for a moment under the watchful gazes of all the guests, including the unnamed visitor. “Alright. I accept.”

“That’s fantastic. Please, this is a gift for any honoured guest hired by the Liu clan. Every honoured guests are given the same treatment. Please accept this, as a sign of goodwill.” A small assorted goods appeared on the nearby table.

At closer observation, it was a Token of Authority. An opal- coloured, transparent bead. And ﬁnally, ten high grade holy elemental stones.

“This token is inscribed with the mark of the Liu clan’s honoured guests. Anyone of the Liu clan are to carry such an item with them. This bead is a ‘voice transfer talisman’ bead, it may not be very expensive but to acquire may be met with some difﬁculty. These ten high grade holy elemental stones are for the gentleman to train with.” The clan leader had a smile plastered on his face the whole time he gave his explanation.

Qin Yu widened his eyes, and smiled lightly, “This is quite generous.”

High grade holy elemental stones are something Qin Yu did not even care about. He hadn’t even assessed how many high grade elemental stones, he has within his Nine Swords Immortal Mansion. He only knew he had a lot…at least several thousand. But a ‘Voice Transfer Talisman’, this was the only thing he desired.

It’s true that the voice transfer talisman does have an effective range, but on the same planet, no matter how large, is very efﬁcient. If the distance between two planets are close, then it would be barely possible to communicate between them. In the immortal planes, only using the voice transfer talisman can one communicate over long distances, a standard voice transmitter would not work. The range should cover up to two planets. If one wished to communicate to distances greater than the range of one or two planets, you would need to be inside a greater formation of communications. Only within this greater formation, can one be able to communicate, say, from the immortal realm to the demon realm. With the talisman and the formation, the voice transferred messages could be convey over ‘very’ large distances – practically encompass most of the

immortal plane. The only drawn-back was that the formation

was very difﬁcult to create.

What he needed right now was precisely this, a voice transfer talisman bead. “Well, since Liu clan leader is so insistent, I will have to accept.” He calmly stored the three gifts.

“Now, tell us about the task, Mister Qin. Any matter of an honoured guest of the clan is a matter of the entire clan. We will seek ways to fulﬁl the task.” Liu clan leader afﬁrmed.

A small smile ﬂourished on Qin Yu. “To be honest……my senior martial elder wishes to go to the demon real, but lacks a star map. I was wondering if the Liu clan leader could help obtain such detail map of the stars.” As if by design, a helpless expression adorned his face. The moment the guest heard that the desire was to go to the demon realm, brows wrinkled with distress, which changed to faint understanding. The men knew that Qin Yu had many demon guards, and likely to have some connection to the demon world. So if the elders from Qin Yu’s side wished to go

to the demon realm, it wasn’t an outlandish desire.

“This……interstellar map…..is……” the clan leader stuttered, deep in thought, “Mr. Qin, honestly speaking, star maps are very rare and also very precious. These maps are created by interstellar merchants through trial and error, and unlikely to part with a copy of it. These entrepreneurs often record the path most suitable for their goals and shortcuts, often are incomplete. So even ﬁnding a detailed copy of a local star map is very difﬁcult.”

He obviously had already thought of this. During the years of turmoil and revolutions on the Qian Long continent, maps, in general, were regarded as priceless treasures. In terms of civilisation stage, the immortal plane has boundless stars and planets, mapping these this boundless space was immeasurably more difﬁcult than mapping Qian Long. Therefore maps were a sight for sore eyes. “Of the entire Liu clan, we only have one complete map of the Indigo Bay star ﬁeld. As you may know there are ten galaxies within it, and of that, each has hundreds to thousands of planets with habitants and human activity. Do you know how much this map would cost if given a quote in the current market?” the clan leader spoke rather breathlessly.

“Hm, I do not know. Please, enlighten me.” Qin Yu gestured.

“One million! And that’s only the wholesale price.”

He understood what the elder meant by a million, as in one million low-grade holy elemental stones. In other words, it was one hundred high-grade holy elemental stones, was a very expensive item! “Oh, then why aren’t there any market prices available?”

“Our star map of the Indigo Bay star ﬁeld, was something my family was very fortunate to acquire a thousand years ago. Even the two other great families of Amber Moon, that Yan clan nor Wang clan, could not have such a complete map of the star ﬁelds.” The clan leader asserted with an unyielding expression.

When Qin Yu heard this, he instantly knew that the clan leader holds this map in high regards. Obviously, the fellow wanted him to show more gratitude towards the Liu clan. “Clan leader, what I desire is a detailed map from here to the demon realm. That is pretty much the map of the demon and

the immortal realm. Of course, a map of the Indigo Bay star ﬁeld is already quite good.” At least with the Indigo Bay map, he would fear losing his way while traveling in the Indigo Bay’s boundless space.

With the Indigo Bay star ﬁeld map, he could go to some planets with more experts. Places where major powers reside, such as planets with Immortal Emperors. Once there, he could obtain the maps of the demon and immortal realms. The chances of that are not improbable.

The clan leader frowned and wore a bitter expression. “Mister Qin, this star map is not under my jurisdiction but the Liu Ancestor. I want to help you make another copy, but this is very difﬁcult.”

Qin Yu already had thought it would play out this way, he laughed lightly in return, “As long as Liu clan helps with this task, I will deﬁnitely remember this act.”

The fellow pondered for a second and swallowed visibly, “Very well, I will return and see if I can persuade out ancestor.”

“Clan leader, how can your authority is not on par with the Liu ancestors?”

The respondent laughed dryly, “Mister Qin, you may not know, but in my Liu family there are between ten and twenty elders and around eight honoured guests. They all have one thing in common, which is that they adhere to our Liu ancestor’s commands. What say you, do you think the ancestor’s authority is great or not?”

Finally, Qin Yu understood. “And Liu clan leader does not even feel some envy towards such authority?” Qin Yu asked, playful light danced in his eyes.

“Envy? Why would I be envious? He is the previous generation clan leader and my grandfather. Why would I feel envious?” The clan leader questioned, clear confusion showed on his face. “My grandfather is also the number one expert of our Liu clan. His authority comes with his abilities.”

Qin Yu afﬁrmed, “Alright, our talk shall end here. When clan leader has completed my request, only then we will convene…”

The latter agreed, “Yes, farewell then.” The clan leader stood up and led his entourage, and left the house.

“Getting this star map is really difﬁcult.” Qin Yu sighed and shook his head, “My own prowess is still too shabby. Even now, my soul force is not high enough to reﬁne level 1 golden immortal’s yuanying. At that time, I would be able to open the second layer world of the Atlas of Ten Thousand Beasts.”

The second layer world of the Atlas? What did that entail?

Inside are a horde of demon kings, with one withdrawn, he could release tens or even hundreds of demon kings. With that kind supremacy, he would have an easier time to acquire what he desired. After all, the only power he had that was over the early golden immortal stage was his sword immortal puppet. However, the latter required him to use top grade elemental stones to power.

“I will retreat into meditation. When the clan leader returns, Shou Yan, you should notify me with voice transfer. Anything other than that, do not disturb me.” Qin Yu had already walked halfway to his own room.

A seductive voice was heard, “Yes, master.”

The two – Shuo Yan and Zang Yuan, bowed to their master.

…

When Qin Yu had returned to his room, across the hall, Han Shu and his father had struck up a conversation. Over the past decades, his father – Liu Nian Xu, had been living under the thumb of many people. Whenever he saw another person, he would have to bow very deeply, but today, he has ﬁnally regained his right to stand tall. …

In the ﬁrst layer of the human stage soul space.

In the vast emptiness and boundless space, at the centre a cross-legged Qin Yu meditated, consciously shifted from one hand seal to the next. With each complete seal, divine powers released from it. His soul force, presently at the human stage, continued to devour energy from the meteoric tear like a pair of ravenous tigers – endless hunger and evolution.

The time continued to move forward, while Qin Yu cultivated.

…

After ten days.

In the courtyard of the house, two people sat in wait. One in blue was a wizen old man, and the other was the Liu clan leader that came several days ago. “Liu clan leader and guest, please wait here.” Shuo Yan then alerted Qin Yu through her mind.

In a short while, Qin Yu emerged from the door of his room.

On this day, he wore a broad smile.

“Mister Qin, allow me to introduce to you; this is my Liu clan’s ancestor.” The clan leader hurriedly explained.

As he explained, Qin Yu carefully inspected this new guest, his reaction of only so and so. “Just a golden immortal. Probably about the same level as Hua Yan.” He had already grasped the depth of this individual’s power.

“This one is Liu clan’s Liu Ming Han. Mister Qin has an incredible disposition and power.” Ming Han found that he could not perceive a single wisp of energy from Qin Yu. Ming Han was shocked, he couldn’t even detect any soul energy nor a hint of power either. Qin Yu had retracted his soul force into his meteoric tear and withdrawn his energies into the core of his small dark star. For Ming Han not being able to detect it was very normal.

“Mister Liu is quite well-versed in the immortal’s way. I do not know if the request I asked the clan leader last time could be allowed?” Qin Yu enquired.

The clan leader turned to Ming Han. The latter replied, “Mister Qin, you might understand that the Indigo Bay map is very precious. The map not only has the common routes to human inhabited planets, but also: uninhabited planets, other special places, and it also has explanations about the stationery Teleportation Array. One example; some planets’ teleportation arrays only allow one way transfers – only in but not out.”

“Only entry but not exit?” Qin Yu starts with surprise.

“That’s right, for those one way teleportation arrays, you must rely on your own abilities to leave.” Ming Han explained, “In short, this map has many insightful information, since…… interstellar travel is not a simple matter.” A light bulb shone within Qin Yu’s mind, he ﬁnally understood rarity of a star map. “No wonder a star map was so valuable!”

“Mister Qin, this is a copy of the map in my family’s possession. It was obtained about a thousand years ago, and at my estimates, it was created about ten thousand years ago. In ten thousand years, I presume, the changes of the Indigo Bay should not be too big.” Ming Han carefully handed a Jade slip to Qin Yu.

Is was created ten thousand years ago? From Zang Yuan, Qin Yu knew that a star map made a hundred thousand years ago is still very valuable, let alone one created ten thousand years ago.

Qin Yu did not hesitate in taking the jade slip and storing it into his Blazing Ice ring.

“Mister Liu, clan leader, since the two are so generous to give me this star map, I shall owe you a favour. I do not know what you require, but as long as I deem within my ability, I won’t easily refuse.” Qin Yu already had thought that for the two to give him the map so easily, how could they not have a request of their own?

Chapter 6: Battle For Control

The ancestor in question was Liu Ming Han, who at this moment turned and gave the clan leader beside him, a knowing look. He turned back to face Qin Yu and wore an embarrassed smile, “This request…I will explain it. It’s true, Mister Qin, we do have a request. But to ask of such…could be preposterous.”

Qin Yu furrowed his brows, too much to ask?

If it is truly too much to ask, why bother mentioning it?

A glint ﬂashed across his eyes, he knew why the former two would say it in such a way. He had already taken the goods from them, how could he refuse to help now? Qin Yu laughed dryly, “Mister Liu and Liu clan leader, I’m aware of my own powers. If I can help then I will, but let me be frank, if I cannot complete it, then it cannot be done.”

“Of course, that’s obvious.” The clan leader quickly replied. “Yun Lu, just be frank about it now.” Ming Han gestured to the clan leader.

“Yes, great ancestor.” The fellow nodded, then asked, “This request is about the battle for control of the Teleportation Arrays. This contest or battle is held every once a century, in a decade, the same contest will be held once again. Mister Qin, please help us – Liu clan, claim control of the teleportation array.”

Lines of confusion was shown as Qin Yu frowned, “Speak clearly, what is this battle for control over the teleportation arrays?”

The clan leader hurriedly apologised, “My apologies, I said it in a rush. The situation is like this: each planet has multiple teleportation arrays, and just by controlling a teleportation array, the amount of low grade elemental (money) earned is a terrifyingly high number. Every century on Amber Moon, the three great families have to compete for control over these teleportation arrays. Only the triumphing family would have complete control over the arrays for the next century until the next contest.” Qin Yu pondered and understood, “Hm, I understand. Now, I have a question for you too, how much ﬁnancial power does the winning family get of the three families?” His question startled the clan leader enough that the fellow paused for a moment. “Liu clan leader, you do not have to answer my question, if you do not wish to. I know…this question is a little too insensitive and blunt.”

Ming Han gestured the clan leader to withdraw, “Don’t mind it at all. Allow me to answer. I see from Mister Qin’s question, you haven’t thought or cared that the clan would invest in gaining that money, right?”

An awkward smile played on his lips. “It….it is indeed as you say.”

Ming Han nodded, he already knew why Qin Yu asked such a question. “Mister Qin, all you see, on the outside, our clan is bountiful and splendid, but underlying such large clan money is needed. You do not see how much we spend to maintain the clan, the multiple guards, as well as the many honoured guests we’ve invited. This all amounts to a huge annual expenditure! So many low grade holy elemental stones, that it!” He sighed, but continued, “In terms of the family’s wealth; since the founding of the Liu clan, our revenue is only slightly above out expenditure each year. For example, when we invited Mister Qin as an honoured guest of the clan. It required one honoured guests’ token of authority, which is made and reﬁned from precious ores worth ten thousand. Then there’s the Voice Transfer Talisman bead worth about a hundred thousand, but it is rarely found in the market, so another more secretive method of acquisition had to be used. That bumped the cost up to about three hundred thousand. And ﬁnally, the ten high grade holy elemental stones which costs at least ten thousand. This all adds up to several hundreds of thousands. There also the yearly payment to honoured guests for their own training…” Qin Yu at last comprehended the situation. Those several hundreds of thousands equate to several hundreds of thousands of low grade holy elemental stones.

“…And that is only one honoured guest. In our family, we have nine honoured guests, ten thousand immortal stage experts that have upkeep, and there are still tens of thousands of our disciples and children…Tell me, don’t think that expenditure is high?” Ming Han laughed in mock horror, “In the immortal plane, for anyone to earn holy elemental stones, you need can do it in two ways: one is by mining precious ores and cultivating precious spiritual herbs; the other method is by taking the toll of any interstellar trader as they come here via the teleportation array. The second method of controlling the teleportation array yields the greatest amount of revenue.” Qin Yu was silent after the elder’s machine-gun reply. For a large clan: if they did not mine ores, herbs and others, did not engage in business and did not control the planet’s teleportation array. There wouldn’t be many people willing to give their services to that family for free, particularly those honoured guests. But the least of their worries, with no holy elemental stones, how can the disciples and children of the family get stronger fast? It’s impossible. Their training rate would be extremely slow. If the family was weaken like that then other external powers could easily overrun the family. Qin Yu agreed, “Seems that maintaining a large clan is really difﬁcult.”

His own Qin Clan had absolute military and economic superiority, and also they were the royal clan in the past, so loyalty within its population is relatively high. There wouldn’t be much usurping powers arising from its territories. In this way, his Qin clan was the pinnacle of supremacy, as long as the status quo is maintained, there wouldn’t be a problem.

His family had it easy, because the competition wasn’t so ﬁerce. In the immortal plane, however, the families are large and more powerful. Not to mention the most powerful experts like Emperor Yu and those standing at the top of the Mystic Immortal Emperor stage. They would have to compete with other similarly powerful experts in the Devil and Demon realms. Similarly, smaller local powers like Liu clan have to compete with two other families on one planet. Qin Yu recovered from his thoughts, he looked up at Ming Han. “Mister Liu, please continue.”

Ming Han gave his consent through his look, “Mister Qin, you asked me how much assets our family has? I will tell you. As of present, our family has, in our storage, at best, one hundred million low grade holy elemental stones.”

A hundred million low grade ones? That’s about a hundred top grade stones.

“Take this scenario: if there wasn’t any revenue, this hundred million would only last our family for one hundred years. And do you know, how much revenue you would get from controlling the teleportation arrays for a hundred years?” Ming Han directed the question at Qin Yu. “This….I afraid I do not know.” In fact, Qin Yu did not have the faintest idea how much inter- planetary teleportation tolls would cost, let alone how much the receiver of tolls would earn in a hundred years.

The asker’s eyes shone with visible light. “To use this planet’s teleportation array, the toll for the nearest planets is around four to ten low grade stones. Further out, it would be about a hundred, and the furthest one requires about a thousand.”

“Excuse me for a moment. Mister Liu, how far can this teleportation array allow transfers?”

The fellow laughed with mirth, his face betraying the seriousness of the situation. “How far will it allow transfers to and fro? The furthest distance in within the boundaries of the same galaxy, ha ha.”

Qin Yu was stunned. He knew the cost would be great, but not this great. There were ten galaxies within this Indigo Bay star ﬁeld, just passing through this star ﬁeld would cost ten thousand. So to go to the demon realm, it would cost hundreds of thousands, if not more than millions.

He looked towards Ming Han who was about to continue, “The daily revenue from travellers, coming and going through the teleportation, would amount to tens of thousands, which means that’s about ten million a year. So over a hundred years, that’s about one billion or so.” Ming Han sucked in a sharp breath. “Just winning over the control of the teleportation arrays for one hundred years is enough to let us be at ease for a few thousand years.” That one billion stones was enough to cover all costs for the Liu clan for a thousand years.

“I dare ask, Mister Liu, since the founding of your family, how many times have you controlled these…teleportation arrays?” Qin Yu probed.

The fellow’s eyes shifted nervous as if he was somewhat too embarrassed to answer. “How many times……Our Liu family has prevailed for a long time – at least few hundred thousand of years! In all our existence, we have gained control over the teleportation arrays……only once!” “What!? Once, only once?”

Qin Yu was previously only mildly surprised, now his eyes shot open like giant meteors. “By the Gods! The Liu clan had been around for few hundred thousand years and they had tens of thousands of chances to compete. But of those numerous chances, they’d only gained control once…only once???” He couldn’t hide the shell-shocked expression from blossoming on his face, “And there still called one of the three ‘great’ families??”

He gaped at the elders, who were, indeed, quite embarrassed by that fact.

Ming Han avoided his eye contact, sighed and looked up again. “Mister Qin, could please not make fun of us…these things…I know…god!” Ming Han had a solemn look about him, but he explained nonetheless, “That one time when we gained control…that was about a hundred thousand years ago. All these years after, my Liu clan had become a huge family. We’ve tried to do business with minerals, ores and herbs…but alas, over the years, the valuable ores and minerals have depleted! In the later years, we have had this monetary problem weighing on us!” The clan leader nodded solemnly as well, “That is exactly it……Mister Qin, as you know, you apprentice – Liu Han Shu, is a low level junior, but if it was a hundred thousand years ago, every child of the Liu clan would receive a yearly stipend of a low-grade holy elemental stone. However now, those elemental stones can only be given to those children who compete and win in the inner sect competitions. Only by gaining a suitable rank, will they get those stipends.”

The two had spoken with such bitter tone that Qin Yu had nothing much to say.

Silence –––––

A cold female voice broke that same stillness in his mind. “Master, these people are truly pitiful! Why do they wish to acquire so much people and yet do not have the wealth to support it???” It was a voice transfer via soul connection – soul communication. Once he had heard Shuo Yan’s rebuke, a matter-of-fact smile touched his mind’s eye. For a clan, would they be willing to give up any people that comprise their superiority?

Qin Yu still had another question he wanted to ask, “Gentlemen, honestly speaking, I still cannot fully comprehend the problem. As said, does that mean your family is much less well off than the other two families? Since the controlling power is refreshed every century and you’ve only gained that control once so far.”

As to why he asked that….

A thought had come to mind. If the discrepancy between the three families’ wealth is many times larger than one – Liu’s, which means the other two would have incredible wealth. At that time……why not just ‘take’ the wealth away from the wealthy leaders. Just rob them. After all, what Qin Yu desires are top grade holy elemental stones. As for the golden immortal on this puny planet, they weren’t even on the same eye level as Qin Yu. “Large discrepancy? No, no, we’re actually ranked second of the three great families, in terms of combined powers. The lowest is the Wang clan, of their entire existence, they hadn’t gotten control even once.” Ming Han explained.

His face stiffen at that revelation. “Do you mean that……the number one was always Yan clan? And that the control of the teleportation arrays has always been in their hands? That means their wealth and inﬂuence was heavens beyond yours?” He felt quite complicated knowing about this ordeal with the ‘Yan Clan’.

How many hundred years was that?

How much wealth was that??? Holy Sh*t.

If he’d just grab a few hundred top grade holy elemental stones, his usage of the sword immortal puppet wouldn’t be so stingy. He wouldn’t have to fear for overusing the energy stored in his top grade stones. As long as he had enough top grade stones, then his sword immortal puppet would truly be immortal and ever-lasting! He had no doubt, after all, he knew about his puppet’s defence. He had never seen anything that could break or damage the puppet the slightest.

Ming Han conﬁrmed, “Yes, all these years, the control of the teleportation arrays has always been in Yan clan’s hands.”

His eyes lit up with hidden glee, “Oh…..then tell me about this ordeal with the Yan clan.”

From behind Qin Yu, the two motionless attendants almost felt pity towards Yan Clan, “Woe to you, Yan Clan. You are in big trouble now.” The two had the same thought. As Qin Yu’s attendants, they knew about his sword immortal puppet, and could guess what their master had in mind.

Ming Han chuckled lightly, “That is something naturally said, an ordeal it is. If it weren’t for the Yan clan, our family would have already been in control of the teleportation arrays.” After a pause, Ming Han jovial mood lifted, and solemnly said, “The top expert of Yan clan is, presently, the great ancestor ‘Yan Gao’. He is a sword immortal, and also……is a level 6 golden sword immortal.”

Qin Yu glanced at Ming Han, “Mister Liu, I must know, what level is your strength?”

Ming Han stuttered and said embarrassedly, “I….I’m… presently, at level 2 golden immortal stage. I cannot be compared to that Yan Gao.” The fellow looked somewhat dejected.

Qin Yu shook his head casually. That’s right, any sword immortal’s strength was already high, let alone a level 6 golden sword immortal. For Ming Han to compete against that, it was no wonder Liu clan could not gain control. But even so, a level 6 golden sword immortal was not impossible to tear down.

“Yan clan has only this one person – Yan Gao, who is very formidable. There is another golden immortal, but even I do not see much of a rivalling power in that one.” Ming Han said with conﬁdence, “My only worry is with that Yan Gao, if we can solve that problem, then everything else would not be a problem.” At this, Qin Yu frowned. His expression was an act, unbeknownst the other two.

The two only saw a frown on Qin Yu’s face, and felt uneasy.

“Gentlemen, you say you want me to help you seize control, but I ask you, how should I help you seize it? Just state your intentions clearly.”

Ming Han answered immediately, “There are two ways. The ﬁrst is……after a decade, compete for us and win the contest. The contest is made up of three matches, once you’ve won twice, the contest is over.”

Murderous light ﬂashed through Qin Yu’s eyes, “And….the other approach?”

With an equally murderous light, Ming Han exclaimed, “The other is to help us……kill Yan Gao!” Ming Han spat that phrase out vehemently. It was obvious, the hatred runs deep in his bones.

The previously knitted brows relaxed, Qin Yu already had deduced thus far. Killing Yan Gao? He would gain a lot of top grade holy elemental stones from destroying the Yan clan!

“Heh….golden immortal, not to mention a sword immortal – the most powerful of immortal paths, and a level 6 golden immortal at that. This is very difﬁcult……indeed very difﬁcult!” Qin Yu exclaimed with reluctance, “At the very least, I have no way to beat it.”

“What? You really have no way to do it?” the two elders exclaimed, their hope was somewhat deﬂated.

…

Qin Yu pondered for a short while.

Ming Han was the ﬁrst to recover, a rosy light blossomed from his face, “I remember Mister Qin mention your martial senior wished to go to the demon realm, right? Then would your martial senior be close to here, maybe on a planet in the Indigo Bay star ﬁeld? Maybe….”

“No need to say any more, I know what you mean.” Qin Yu gestured with his right hand, and sighed, “My martial senior is very powerful, so killing a level 6 golden immortal is……a matter of fact.” A pair of bright smiles broke through that gloomy husk of a face of the two elders…

Only be frozen by Qin Yu’s bitter laugh, “I’m just a puny junior of the martial school. How much my word would be heard by my senior? With no reason whatsoever; to ask my senior to kill a level 6 golden immortal, I’m afraid offending him and being killed wouldn’t be a surprise.”

“Ah…..” Both elders frowned. Ming Han immediately added, “Is there really no way? Whatever the conditions, as long as it is within my family’s power, I will deﬁnitely do it.” To Ming Han, even to give up all the wealth of his family – that one hundred million, it would pale to compare to being able to control over the teleportation array.

Qin Yu pretended to ponder seriously for a moment. He looked up, his eyes lit up like light bulbs and said, “Actually, there may be a way to persuade my martial uncle. You see, my martial uncle is actually undergoing reﬁnement of treasures of mysterious content. He is in need of large quantities of top grade holy elemental stones. Only with the concentrated energy found in a top grade holy elemental stone, will he be able to train effectively. So……as long as you provide enough top grade elemental stones, it could help persuade him. At that time, I will have to rely on my relationship with my martial uncle to help your case.”

He had led the duo around and around, and ﬁnally showed his true villainous intentions.

“Ah, top grade holy elemental stones?” the duo drew in a sharp breath, and simultaneously felt a lack of air in the surroundings. The two elders could not help but sigh in praise. “Ah, to reﬁne a hidden treasure using large quantities of top grade holy elemental stones. No wonder, no wonder, the man possessed incredible power!”

Chapter 7: Deception

The two elders – Liu Ming Han and the Liu clan’s clan leader, felt a shortness of breath. They were at awe of the powerful forces behind Qin Yu, whilst the same time feeling a little frustrated at heart.

Before even getting into the negotiation stage, the start line was already at top grade holy elemental stones!

It wasn’t one or two, but a matter of how many!?

The ugly expression on their faces betrayed their thoughts. How much was one top grade holy elemental stone worth? How about one million? Of the three great families, how many top grade holy elemental stone could they have, combined?

“Top grade holy elemental stone. A single piece was worth a million.” Ming Han expressed helplessly, “Mister Qin, our family does not have many people requiring such luxurious things as top grade holy elemental stones. We may have many pieces of high grade stones, but as for top grade stones, we have far and few between.” In normal operations, the Liu clan does have an accumulative one hundred million stones worth of assets, but they could not afford to use top grade holy elemental stones. Usually, they expend low grade, middle grades and rarely high grades.

“Mister Liu, what should we do?” Qin Yu sighed exasperatedly, “you have already given me a star map and help me so. I will also give two top grade holy elemental stones to my martial uncle to aid your cause. But of course, the rest is up to you……I dare say, anything less than ten pieces would probably not be worth my martial uncle’s eyes…”

The two elders gave each other an eyeful, unsure of how to proceed. They neither talked nor used voice transfer to discuss anything, they just looked at each other dumbfounded.

Flanking the master’s chair, Zang Yuan stood, partly concealed behind a veneer of sincerity. The man’s mouth was a thin line, not a slightest change in his expression, but underneath that visage, he was laughing so hard that his gut would have hurt. For Qin Yu to give two pieces of top grade holy elemental stone. It would be the same as having something in your right hand and giving it to your left hand. There wouldn’t be any change in ownership, at least not from the insiders’ perspective.

Only now does the elders’ converse using voice transfer. “Grandfather, we need to be more decisive. Think about it, as long as Yan Gao is dead and we acquire help from Jade Sword School, not only this time but on other occasions, we will be able to control the teleportation arrays.” The clan leader was ﬁrst to jump into the discussion. He knew, for such important matters, only his grandfather’s decree is sufﬁcient.

Like an eager child, the clan leader awaited Ming Han, but the latter was struggling to come to a decision.

Instead of replying, Ming Han looked up from his reverie, “Mister Qin, could please give me estimation of the minimum of which is acceptable?” He paused and continued, “How much top grade holy elemental stone is needed to persuade your martial uncle?” Clearly, he had come to some kind of decision.

“You say how many?” Qin Yu paused with purpose then his brows ﬂexed showing a thoughtful expression, “I know for a fact that my martial uncle is currently reﬁning a hidden treasure and he requires a vast amount of top grade holy elemental stones, but……for how many? I can only guess that with twenty or thirty stones, you can deﬁnitely catch his eye. With more than ﬁfty, he would deﬁnitely listen, but for certain results, I believe a hundred can deﬁnite persuade my martial

uncle…” He had precisely calculated this would be the upper limit based on the total assets of the Liu clan. How he would lead them on would depend on his meticulous handling.

Ming Han responded with a nod, “Alright, Mister Qin. Though my family does not own many top grade holy elemental stones, I will retire from here and think about this. Sometime after I will have to trouble Mister Qin again.”

“Don’t mind, don’t mind at all. You have already given me this star map of Indigo Bay star ﬁeld, how can I not aid you where I can?” Qin Yu smiled. An innocent and honest smile.

With that matter ﬁnished, the elders did not loiter, and left the residence promptly.

… In the Liu clan’s conference hall.

A rather chubby looking middle-aged man was currently standing ovation then promptly bowed and offered a respectful salutation to Ming Han. “I pay my respects to the great clan master.” The latter inhaled deeply and said in a low tone, “Yun Fan, all these years of operation, our family had entrusted all its common commerce side to you. But now, I have a very important task to give you!”

“Great elder, please give the order.” Liu Yun Fan replied without a shred of hesitation. The man held a high position within the Liu family, his power lie in the fact that the family’s entire business side was under his control.

The patriarch, Ming Han handed Yun Fan, his own spatial storage ring, “In here are numerous high and middle grade holy elemental stones, I would like you to convert them into top grade holy elemental stones.” The request startled Yun Fan. Normally, a family’s entire wealth was kept with the elders and the patriarch, whose storage rings make up the warehouse of the family. In particular, the Liu family patriarch, whose storage ring contained at least a third of the entire family’s total assets.

“There is about thirty million in here, try your best to exchange these for top grade holy elemental stones. Whatever you can get your hands on then do so. Whatever the results are, it will be as it is.” Ming Han still had not let go of the ring, he held Yun Fan’s hands and articulated each word he said.

By simple conversion, thirty million was equivalent to thirty pieces of top grade holy elemental stones.

Yun Fan did not let his surprise show too much. “Clan patriarch, for such a large amount in such short time frame, I’m afraid that the exchange rate may be low and not in our favour. Normally, anyone with top grade stones ﬁnd exchanging them too bothersome, while others are too poor to afford them. Even the great experts who have them, loathe in having lower grades in their possession. If we do ﬁnd some who may want to trade, they will most likely increase their own buying rate. In that case, the exchange rate may be 1 top grade to 110 high grades.” Yun Fan quickly added, “Why don’t we exchange over a longer period of time?”

It may be true that value of different levels of money such as one top grade is equivalent to a hundred high grades, but that is only known as an intrinsic value. If one want to trade them for a higher grade, the seller would have to take a loss at a lower rate, since the buyer would decide the trade rate.

The same could be said about the voice transfer talisman bead; its market value is about a hundred thousand stones, but reﬁning such item is very difﬁcult. Most are obtained from a rare reﬁner in a distant city. Over the course of the journey from the seller to the buyer, the price would have increased to about three hundred thousand stones.

Ming Han already knew about that deﬁcit, “Make haste. It is alright to suffer some losses, but the most important thing is……convert them into top grade holy elemental stones.” He gave Yun Fan a ﬁrm look.

Since the great clan patriarch has spoken, there was nothing more to be said. Yun Fan intoned, “Yun Fan will not fail great patriarch’s expectations,” he extended his hands and respectfully received the huge amount of wealth within the ring.

Ming Han did not doubt the fellow’s loyalty nor did he worry about Yun Fan taking the money for their own gains. The reason being, any individual in charge of the commerce and ﬁnance of the family have to take a blood oath of loyalty before being accepted. A blood oath is not to be underestimated, the oath bearers will face heavy penalties if the oath was violated. Violation was incurring heaven’s wrath.

Days passed like river ﬂow.

The entire eastern section of the Liu Feng city was comprised of a peaceful forest and glade. Atop that glade was a secluded and quiet manor, known as the Bamboo Garden. Inside resided Qin Yu and his disciple – Liu Han Shu, both had moved in once Liu clan had given them this new residence.

At the time of granting this manor, Liu clan also gifted an entourage of maids and guards. Like a complete set. They also decreed that no one is not to offend or shame the master of this bamboo garden. This announcement had become the source of many rumours in Liu Feng city. Many had gossiped about the identity of this master of the bamboo garden manor.

Within the Bamboo Garden…

A female attendant was currently leading a group of guests towards the core of the bamboo garden. The group had the same two elders that came before – Liu Ming Han and the clan leader, in the days gone passed. Through a series of circular archways, the group approached a dense bamboo forest with soft tones of light shafting down from above. In a short moment, they had arrived at a clearing, and in the centre of the clearing was a large pond, whose waters rippled slightly with the bobbing of a ﬁshing bait.

The owner of the bait and ﬁshing rod was sitting and quietly ﬁshing.

It was Qin Yu. A delightful sound passed through his lips, “Ho ho, I’ve got one,” with a deft movement of his hands, the ﬁshing rod rose and a lively looking carp of about one and a half kilos broke through the surface of the pond.

“Ha ha. Mr. Liu, and Liu clan leader. I’ve been sitting here ﬁshing for quite some time, and yet I haven’t even caught one. But the moment you came, a ﬁsh took the bait and I caught one. Makes you wonder how mysterious that is, eh?” Qin Yu casually ﬂip the rod aside and dropped the ﬁsh into a nearby basket, then stood up from the stone bench. He looked up a smiled a greeting towards his latest visitors.

Ming Han laughed in return, “Luck has come your way Mr.

Qin, and there be no stopping it.”

At one side of the pond, a fair bit away, two ﬁgures stood. They were precisely, Shuo Yan and Zang Yuan, who was snickering inwardly.

They both had one thought: “A ﬁsh has been hooked? Well, now, aren’t there two big ﬁshes eagerly taking the bait?” Qin Yu stepped forward and gestured politely, “Please sit,” to a round marble table with three marble stools. The moment, he had gestured, a maid stepped forward and set a matching tea set on the table with fresh tea. The three stools were taken by Qin Yu and his two guests.

Qin Yu was the ﬁrst to take a sip from his tea cup. While drinking, he glanced at the two elders out of the corner of his eyes, then put down the cup and said lightly, “It has been, what, two months since our last meeting? I presume this time, the two elders have come because the preparations, of top grade holy elemental stones, are complete?”

Ming Han conﬁrmed instantly. “The preparations are done.”

Qin Yu nodded and abruptly sighed with helplessness, “I must say, the two elders were quite slow in the up taking. During these passing days, my martial uncle has been busy collecting top grade stones, and as far as I know, he is not far from ﬁnished. The gap between have and need is much smaller. I do not know exactly how much my martial uncle has been able to collect, but I must say, if he is ﬁnished collecting, then even if you have the top grade stones, it would not sway my martial uncle.” He shrugged as if to articulate this helpless situation.

As he ﬁnished, the two elders rosy expression froze and fell.

They can understand that reasoning too. Their honoured guest’s martial uncle was in need of top grade stones to reﬁne a hidden treasure, naturally, the man would seek them as well. Given the prowess of the other’s martial uncle, their collection speed should be quite fast.

“You should know that mere money would not sway my martial uncle, but it was only because I knew my martial uncle needed top grade stones to reﬁne his hidden treasure. And, that was why I informed you two elders of such, but now…” Qin Yu sighed a second time.

Ming Han looked somewhat perplex, and hastily inquired, “And now it can’t be done?”

“Don’t worry, let me ask my martial uncle about it.” Qin Yu immediately took out the voice transfer talisman bead and pretended to use it. He did not actually use it, but it was important to portray that he was to complete the act.

Silence instilled.

All one could heard was the mufﬂed ‘plopping’ of ﬁsh splashing in the pond.

And midst the soft ‘rustling’ of brushing bamboo leaves, swaying in the light afternoon breeze.

It was serenity.

However no one at the stone table was enjoying such natural splendour.

The two elders shifted nervously in their seats, but not from stone being uncomfortable but from anxiety. The two breathed in and out in shallow gulps of air, and waited with abated breaths. They stared with nervous anticipation at Qin Yu’s face, trying to decipher any signs of new information between Qin Yu and the martial uncle’s telecommunication.

Time slurred, and it felt like a year had passed, but in reality…

Only a short while had passed…

The ﬁrst to shatter that silence was Ming Han. “Well, Mr.

Qin, what is it? What did your martial uncle say?”

Qin Yu breathed out and said cheerfully, “It’s fortunate. My martial uncle wasted a lot of time collecting ‘Aquamarine Ores’ and did not have the time to collect much top grade holy elemental stones. It seems, there is hope.” He paused to a moment, and asked, “Oh that’s right, how many top grade stones did you bring?”

Ming Han gritted his teeth and exclaimed, “Forty pieces!” These forty pieces was exchanged with the sweat and blood of his family.

Qin Yu did a little whoop of joy inwardly, but on the surface, his face did not even twitch in the slightest. “Oh, just forty pieces? It seems there is only a moderate percentage to sway my martial uncle. On the contrary, my martial uncle cares for me deeply, so with my word, I’m conﬁdent my martial uncle would agree.”

While Qin Yu was pumping his ﬁsts in joy, Ming Han and the clan leader felt like a thousand needles stabbed into their hearts.

This was forty top grade holy elemental stones!

It was close to half of his entire family’s assets. The forty was scraped together by hastily instructing Yun Fan to exchange many lower grades and the meagre top grades that was originally in the warehouse. Only by summing up all these, did they come to forty pieces!

Qin Yu wore an innocent smile, and advised, “Elders please rest here for a few hours. Right now, it is around noon on the planet my martial uncle is on. And I know for a fact that my martial uncle’s mood is the most pleasant in the evening. Likely, the success rate is much higher than any other time. So elder please wait for a while.”

“As it should be, ha ha, it should be.” When the two elder had heard that the ‘highest success rate is when the martial uncle is most relax, which is in the evening,’ how could they not accept?

Presently, the two elders felt conﬂicted, “What to do about these forty top grade holy elemental stones?” They had sat on that question for a while now. If they gave these top grade stones to Qin Yu, they were worried the receiver would deceive them and ﬂee. However, they were also worried they would insult Qin Yu, if they didn’t give the forty to Qin Yu.

A casual smile touched Qin Yu’s lips, he already knew why the two was looking so hesitant. “Elders please rest inside. Ha……as for the top grade stones, please hold on to them for the time being. When my martial uncle comes, you can personally hand it to him, this way you wouldn’t feel that I would cheat you of them.” He chuckled at the two elders’ demeanour.

The two elders hurriedly added, “We do not doubt Mr. Qin a bit.”

The elders then retreated to rest indoors. They had been conned into resting in the manor.

And what of Qin Yu himself?

He resumed to ﬁsh.

Only this time, he had a rosy and broad smile on his face, while his subordinates – Shuo Yan and Zang Yuan proceeded to howl with laughter and talk amongst themselves using voice transfer.

At around the appointed time, Qin Yu pretended to call his martial uncle with his voice transfer bead. In reality, he was instructing the manor’s maid, “Tell the two elders: it is time. Then tell them to come back here.” “Yes, sire.” The maid curtsied respectfully.

In a short moment, Ming Han and the clan leader appeared in the clearing.

“How did it go?” Ming Han asked immediately.

Instantly a big grin broke apart on his face. “It is done!”

Ming Han and the clan leader looked at each other and also broke into a hysterical laugh. “Ka ha ha ha…” The two beamed at each other, and exclaimed, “From this day onwards, my family – Liu family, will be the top family in all of Amber Moon!” There wasn’t a trace of pain for using up forty top grade stones from earlier. There was only smiles and looks of joy, brimming full of excitement, but Ming Han did not forget to ask Qin Yu. “Mister Qin Yu, when will your martial uncle arrive?” Qin Yu was also pleased, but for different reason, “My martial uncle is in the Silver Stream galaxy, and through the voice transfer talisman bead, he had already deciphered the location of Amber Moon. Using ‘greater teleportation’, he will come here immediately. I presume in an hour he will make his appearance.”

“An hour?” The rosy smiles on the elders face broadened to inﬁnity.

If they could kill Yan Gao, then the Yan clan is ﬁnished!

“Two elders, I’ve said before, I will personally add another two more top grade holy elemental stones to your tribute. Here, this is the two top grade stones. When my martial uncle arrives, give these two with your forty to him. But, of course, do now say the extra two was from me.” Qin Yu handed two top grade stones to Ming Han.

When the two saw Qin Yu give two top grade stones and say not to tell his martial uncle, they could not help but feel moved. They had never have thought this ‘Mister Qin’ would be such an honourable and valiant person.

“No, this, how can we take this?” Ming Han abruptly refused. While Qin Yu wore a carefully displayed a well- designed angry expression and replied, “If you do not take it, then I would feel that you have not given me any face.”

At this, the two elders had no choice but to take it, but nevertheless felt even more grateful in their hearts for Qin Yu’s honourable personage.

In about an hour’s time…

Qin Yu secretly estimated that the time was nigh, and with a thought ––––––

A ﬁgure appeared in the air space above the clearing. The newcomer wore a ﬂowing robe, had a ram-rod back and a stern posture, emanating a brilliant aura. On the newcomer’s back was the pommel and hilt of a magniﬁcent golden long sword. Everyone in clearing could feel the unfathomable power of the newcomer’s gaze like a king looking down on his subjects. Qin Yu instantly bowed and greeted his martial uncle, “Greetings to martial uncle.”

The two elders looked upwards as they got up from their seats, at Sword Immortal Lan Feng and curtly chanted, “Juniors, Liu Ming Han and Liu Yun Lu greets senior.”

The golden ﬁgure of sword immortal Lan Feng swept his cold gaze below to Qin Yu. “Martial nephew, did you say, to kill a level 6 golden sword immortal for forty-two top grade holy elemental stones?” Qin Yu hurriedly glanced at Ming Han and said, “That’s is correct. Mister Liu, please give the said amount of top grade stones to martial uncle.”

Ming Han could already feel the dominating aura from the golden sword immortal in the air space above. He, himself drew in a sharp breath and the prowess of this newcomer, and was certain a individual more powerful than Yan Gao. With poise, he wave his hand in a ﬂourish, and in the air in front, forty-two pieces of top grade holy elemental stones appeared. “This is forty-two top grade stones, senior, please accept this humble gift.” The golden sword immortal – Lan Feng, accepted and stored that allotted stones, and spoke. “I’ve accepted the forty-two top grade holy elemental stones. As such, I will kill this person you desired to die. Now, tell me about this individual.” The immortal’s cold voice boomed in the ears of all in the clearing.

The two elders was completely focused on the levitating immortal and did not notice the trace of mirth that danced playfully in Qin Yu’s eyes, nor the upward slant of his lips.

The entire forty-two top grade stones were already in his hands, and not one less. With that, he can freely use his immortal sword puppet for the time being……

Not to mention, he was about to go to the Yan clan to kill Yan Gao, whose clan will surly have no less amount of top grade holy elemental stones.

That very thought had brought illusionary ﬁre-wisps to dance in his eyes.

Chapter 8: The Thirty-Six Rulers

“Senior, the target – Yan Gao, is a level 6 golden sword immortal and also is the Amber Moon’s Yan Clan’s great patriarch. Other than him, other people of the Yan clan aren’t worth mentioning. But, beware of one thing, senior. This Yan Gao is part of the Jade Sword School!” A middle-aged looking Liu Ming Han spoke.

“Jade Sword School?” The golden sword immortal Lan Feng frowned and narrowed his eyes, “What is this ‘jade sword sect’?” While the lofty immortal spoke, Qin Yu instantly felt annoyed at the elders, because previously they did not mention such thing.

“Yes, senior.” Ming Han continued, “The Jade Sword School is just a small faction within the immortal realm, but the master of the school is not an ordinary existence. He is a level 1 Mystic sword immortal.”

“A level 1 Mystic Immortal?” the Sword Immortal’s face fell and Qin Yu cursed in his heart. One must know that his own immortal sword puppet was just a simple level 9 golden sword immortal, while the other was a level 1 mystic sword immortal. Though the level gap between only differs by one, that one step of power, from level 9 golden immortal to level 1 mystic immortal, is huge. Most people would know that there is a bottleneck every level of a normal, golden or mystic stage, but the bottleneck between stages is so much higher than levels within a stage.

Ming Han hurriedly added, “But, rest assured, senior would not suffer any repercussions from killing Yan Gao, whom the master of the Jade Sword School is not too concerned about. Additionally, no one would know, this I can guarantee and swear in heaven’s name.” Even he could tell the senior, who was a top class golden immortal, would be hesitant to act against a level 1 mystic immortal.

“Oh, it that so?” Lan Feng swept his cold gaze upon Ming Han, and in an equally cold voice, his said, “Is there any more to be said? I advise you to make sure every matter is explained to me crystal clear, or else if calamity comes, I will not still my hand. At that time, you better be careful that I won’t directly wipe your family off, from the face of existence.” Ming Han trembled involuntarily as the cold gaze swept over his body. He felt, he could simply suffocate from that menacing aura. After all, the senior could casually kill a level 6 golden sword immortal, so eradicating the Liu family was as easy as ﬂipping his hand.

The clan leader who was silent all this time, suddenly spoke, “I just remembered another thing. I remember hearing about Sovereign Yu of the Immortal Realm commanded eighteen emperors and thirty-six rulers, and of the thirty-six rulers, the master of the Jade Sword School was supposedly one of them.”

Qin Yu was shocked to hear such a phrase, “Sovereign Yu”, so soon. After residing in the Immortal plane for such a long time, he had ﬁnally learnt of some of the pillars of the powers under Sovereign Yu.

His thoughts was interrupted by an angry shout, “Martial nephew! What is going on here?? How did all this lead to Sovereign Yu, now!?” Lan Feng’s former smiles had gone, only a dark scowl remained. Qin Yu snapped out of his panicky state, and hastily bowed. “Martial uncle please allow me to inquire this.” His gaze turned cold and locked onto the two elders – Ming Han and the Liu clan’s clan leader, “Elders, now is not the time to twaddle on truth. You’d best not hide any more information about this matter anymore.” Though he didn’t shout, but each word was punctuated by the serious expression on his face.

Ming Han could feel the anger radiating from Qin Yu and the sword immortal above. Suddenly, as if struck by lightning, he quickly replied to quail the others’ wrath, “Esteemed guests, Sovereign Yu is a supreme ﬁgure of the immortal realm. Below him are eighteen emperors and thirty-six rulers, whom are all mystic immortal stage experts. The Jade Sword School master is one of the thirty-six rulers, but how could his majesty, Sovereign Yu, bother with the puny matters here? His majesty couldn’t care less about the minute matters here, so please rest assured, esteemed guests.”

“Mister Liu, I’m somewhat curious about this Sovereign Yu, could you enlighten me about this matter?” Qin Yu said abruptly. At this, Ming Han’s facial expression looked somewhat dumbfounded.

As long as one is an immortal, how could not know of Sovereign Yu? He had suspected that Qin Yu had undergone closed-door training in a remote place since childhood, that the fellow did not know much about the outside world.

Nevertheless, Qin Yu had asked the question, so he gave an honest reply, “The immortal realm has about twenty stellar domains, of which there are three supreme ﬁgures who are: Sovereign Yu, Emperor Xuan and Emperor Qing. But their combined inﬂuence did not spread to less than half of the entire immortal realm.” Ming Han smiled. “The immortal realm has a number of mystic emperors, each occupying a territory with their own inﬂuence. Although their individual sphere of inﬂuence was less than the three supreme ﬁgures of the immortal realm like Sovereign Yu and the others, the combined inﬂuence make up most of the immortal realm.”

Qin Yu nodded to himself, he ﬁnally could see the picture a little more clearly. It seems that this immortal realm is quite chaotic. Even the three supreme ﬁgures of the immortals could only spread their inﬂuence to a small part of the total region.

The elder wasn’t ﬁnished. “For example, this Indigo Bay star ﬁeld was also quite chaotic, since the Silver Stream galaxy belong to multiple powers. These powers included: Sovereign Yu, Emperor Qing, Emperor Xuan, other immortal emperors and even Devil Emperors. It was a total mess!”

While the elder spoke, Qin Yu listened quietly, he was like wandering blind man on regards to any matters of the immortal realm.

With this train of thought, Qin Yu interrupted, “Then that means Sovereign Yu is the most powerful of the three foremost ﬁgures of the immortal realm…”

Ming Han turned to stare at Qin Yu in mild surprise. “Mister Qin, this statement is incorrect. It seems to be true that you are usually undergoing closed-door training. You do not know of a variety of the simplest things of the immortal realm.

Qin Yu did not know how to respond, so he just muttered, “Eh……yes, that’s right.” Ming Han sighed and spoke with a touch of reverence, “In terms of personal power, Sovereign Yu and the other two may be in the top few, but you cannot say that they are the three most powerful. In the immortal plane and immortal realm…… there are numerous experts, many of which do not bother to occupy a large territory. Some of which could be super-experts, whose strength was comparable to Sovereign Yu and the other two.”

Qin Yu marvelled at that revelation, he understood that some like to be revered like imperial personages and some like to live unfettered, unattached and with freedom. Sovereign Yu and his lot of three are only regarded, on the surface, as the three most powerful, because the power struggles between them are visible. While, in terms of personal strength, there are a few that would match Sovereign Yu and the two other emperors.

Ming Han sighed again. “I still remember back in the days………when Emperor Ni Yang lead his campaign across the immortal realm, Sovereign Yu and the other two had been allied together on the opposing side……But, it was unfortunate, Emperor Ni Yang vanished since then.” Qin Yu smiled inwardly to himself. Not many people knew about Emperor Ni Yang’s death.

“Emperor Ni Yang was indeed very powerful. It is said that, his power could suppress Sovereign Yu and the like, however……He was defeated once, just once. That glorious battle shook the very pillars of existence in the entire immortal plane. It was that great of a battle!” Ming Han was the great patriarch of a relatively large clan, so he knew about many events of the immortal plane.

“Emperor Ni Yang was defeated? But, by whom?” Qin Yu had to satisfy his growing curiosity. He knew who Emperor Ni Yang was: “The fellow was a level 8 mystic immortal and known to be the strongest sword immortal in offense. The fellow practiced the sword art of the ‘Heaven Sundering Sword Technique’, while wielding the divine weapon – ‘Sky Piercer’, and adorned by the divine armour – ‘Black Snow’. How could he be defeated?”

“That’s right, because that battleﬁeld was in our own ––––– Indigo Bay star ﬁeld!” Ming Han cried out at a higher octave that emphasized the elder’s own excitement as he recalled that battle.

“Eh, Indigo Bay star ﬁeld??” Qin Yu’s heart started to pump faster, he wondered who could beat Emperor Ni Yang? Who?

He was completely taken by the adrenaline and drive of the story.

Ming Han puffed up his chest and proclaimed with pride, “The one who defeated Emperor Ni Yang was none other than the most respected super expert of my home – Indigo Bay star ﬁeld. That super expert is the absolute in the top few of the entire immortal plane, known as ‘Emperor Yin’!”

“Emperor Yin?” It was the ﬁrst time, Qin Yu had ever heard of this name before.

“Indigo Bay star ﬁeld is at the boundaries of both the devil realm and the immortal realm, but neither party dares to openly attack each other in fear of offending Emperor Yin. In the devil and immortal realms, no one, absolutely no one dares to show any disrespect to Emperor Yin!” Ming Han chided. Qin Yu could not help but feel that this Emperor Yin is a third deterring power. With the presence of Emperor Yin, the Indigo Bay star ﬁeld would not fall into chaos.

“Emperor Yin does not bother with the power struggles, but prefers to live in his home world. A planet with extremely dense elemental energy, known as the Yin Emperor planet. Originally, the planet had a different name, but everyone had forgotten it, now it is simply called the Yin Emperor planet.” Ming Han had a far-off look, his eyes aﬂame with clear veneration and admiration.

Qin Yu also felt somewhat apprehensive towards this Emperor Yin. For starters, to be able to defeat Emperor Ni Yang was a feat known only to a powerful ﬁgure of the top three in the immortal realm. In addition, that individual was not greedy or desired ruling power.

“The Yin Emperor planet has experts as common as clouds in the boundless sky. Many mystic immortal friends of Emperor Yin, as well as many Emperor Yin’s disciples, reside on that planet. There are also many visiting admirers and experts that frequent the Yin Emperor planet. Though it is only one planet, but no one……no one dares to offend or tread heavily there.” Ming Han sighed with praise, “Both, Amber Moon and Yin Emperor Planet, are planets, but their prestige are like comparing an ant to heaven.”

Qin Yu snickered. How could Amber Moon be compared to Yin Emperor Planet?? Impossible. The other had countless mystic immortals, how could these two planets be compared?

“Ah, Yin Emperor Planet!” Qin Yu exclaimed in his heart. He longed to go there.

That planet was like a hidden gem among countless basest metals. A place with conceal talents and powerful experts.

“I hear that on the Yin Emperor Planet, one must be at least a mystic immortal, or else one would have to live humbly…… otherwise……” Ming Han smiled momentarily. “Even Sovereign Yu and the like had once go to greet Emperor Yin, but……well…that was just something I heard of. I do not know whether it was true or not.” People generally have a sense of belonging as part of a faction, community or such. Even from the tone of voice from Ming Han, one could detect that unfettered pride to know that his own star ﬁeld – Indigo Bay, produced such a fearsome fellow known as Emperor Yin.

Qin Yu was also affected by Ming Han’s inﬁnite admiration that he promised himself. “In the future, when I have the opportunity, I must go check out this Yin Emperor Planet.” Perhaps when he’s found his sworn brothers and ﬁgured out the matter with Li’er, he would take his brothers to visit this yin emperor star.

“Whether it is Emperor Yin or Emperor Yu, even the eighteen emperors and thirty-six rulers are ﬁgures of immense power. They are all far above golden immortal like us.” But, Ming Han showed a self-deprecating smile. “Mister Qin, do you know how many mystic immortals are there in our silver stream galaxy? And, how many golden immortals are there?”

Qin Yu shook his head in denial. “I do not know.” “In the entire silver stream galaxy, of all the people in it there is only one mystic immortal and that is the Jade Sword school master. Amongst those countless people, there are tens of thousands of golden immortals. Now, do you know the gap between golden immortals and mystic immortals?” Ming Han chuckled lightly.

Even the taciturn Qin Yu was shocked at this revelation. “What about normal immortals?”

“Normal immortals?” Ming Han repeated and paused. “In any one planet with life in the immortal plane, would have thousands if not tens of thousands of normal immortals. If it were the entire immortal plane, normal immortals are countless! You wouldn’t even want to count them! That is how many there are – so many, that they are like a drop of water in an ocean!”

Qin Yu also crunched some of the statistics and found the number to be exponentially and incredibly high.

“Well, honourable senior, Mister Qin, do you now know how lofty and superior immortal emperors are? So how could killing one Yan Gao of the golden immortal stage matter to the mystic immortal of the jade sword school master?” Ming Han proceeded to chuckle.

Finally, Lan Feng mouthed lightly, “Martial nephew, you should to lead the guests out. About this Yan Gao, I will prompt take the fellow’s life.”

“Yes, martial uncle.” Qin Yu bowed curtly then proceeded to lead the elders out of the bamboo garden. During the walk out, Ming Han asked Qin Yu to help quicken the completion of this task.

Once the duo had ﬁnally left the premise, Qin Yu and Lan Feng quickly entered the enclosed cultivation chamber within the manor.

Within the hidden cultivation chamber.

Qin Yu was sitting cross-legged, while his sword immortal puppet – Lan Feng, stood aside motionlessly. Shuo Yan and Zang Yuan stood outside as the gatekeepers of the chamber. Qin Yu immediately issued a command, “Shuo Yan and Zang Yuan. From now on, you will exercise caution while guarding the hidden chamber’s exterior. If there are any important events, notify me using soul communication through your mind.”

Shuo Yan and Zang Yuan bowed in acknowledgement. “Yes, master.”

While sitting, Qin Yu looked inwardly with his mind’s eye and promptly entered his soul fused meteoric tear. Immediately after, his conscious ﬂew into the core of the sword puppet. Soul separation; it is a skill that required the user to be at least at the Dongxu stage. It meant that his soul would be fused into the Yuanying. Qin Yu’s level of comprehending the depth of practice path has allowed him to use soul separation with ease, and also view his internal sectors with ease as well.

Separating from his body, his soul quickly entered the interior of the immortal sword puppet.

Normally, he need a thought or action within his consciousness to control each movement of the sword immortal puppet. Once his soul had entered the puppet, controlling it would be like controlling his own body, making attacks, defence and movement sharper and distinguished.

Qin Yu felt around his new vessel and could not help but lament at the prowess of its creator – Uncle Lan. “This immortal sword puppet’s body is incredibly tough and resilient and yet supple and elastic to the touch….”

Qin Yu (Lan Feng), immediate immersed his soul force with the world and applied the teleportation technique, then instantly vanished from the chamber.

And his original body had also vanished from the hidden chamber. His original body had already been stored within the Nine Swords Immortal Mansion. Thankfully, no one was around to witness the scene where the hidden chamber was completely empty.

Qin Yu’s original body may be tough as an immortal, but it was far less resilient than the immortal puppet. Just the feeling of possessing the puppet, he marvelled at the strength of its body, and thought it must be comparable to divine rank equipment. Its toughness wasn’t a joke!

…

In the late night sky above Liu Feng city, a shadow stood above its air space.

“Immortal class swords can change its shape and size, which means this body could also change…..” With that thought in mind, the puppet’s body instantly grew about ﬁve to six centimetres, while a long cut of a scar appeared on the puppet’s face. “Since the body is so powerful, then I presume it can ﬂy at high speeds as well.” Qin Yu had a toothy grin, as he tested out his new toy.

In the night sky of Liu Feng city, the puppet’s body shuddered and vanished, the air around its original position quivered and rippled.

In one breath’s time… Qin Yu appeared at the nearby mountain peak overlooking Yan Shan city.

It may have been an instant but it was purely based on ﬂying speed and not by teleportation!

Qin Yu sighed in praise, “This immortal sword puppet’s body is at least a thousand times stronger than my own body and speed is at least ten times of my own…” As soon as he was done, he resumed a taciturn expression, planning his next move.

From his vantage, he could clearly see that this Yan Shan city was much larger then Liu Feng city. “It seems the palaces of the Yan clan are much more luxurious and there are more subordinates as well.” He noted all the distinctive features of headquarters of the Yan clan, as well as any details, paths and overall size of the clan’s land.

It was still early night time. The entire Yan clan’s headquarters was lit, most people were at home or meditating, but some disciples were wandering the lively streets of the city, exploring the nightlife. Pairs of armoured guards continuously weaved around the clan’s land – patrolling and unaware.

Chapter 9: Changed Affairs

Colourful lights lit the wide boulevards of the streets of Yan Shan city, shoppers and carousers came and went, going about and enjoying the city nightlife. To Xiuzhenists, sleep wasn’t an imperative, naturally, many people crowded the streets of the city, whether it was with friends or by themselves…

Qin Yu was but one of those people that walked the streets of this big city.

He was one of them.

Even walking in the middle of the street, he was already one with the magical night market and festive citizens of the city.

He had one thought, “Killing Yan Gao is not urgent. For now, I’ll enjoy this festive mood.” He thorough browsed over the market goods, completely at ease with the pleasant mood. On the streets he saw handsome men, pretty boys, beautiful ladies and seductive women. There were even people of high status, arrogant people, aggressive people and many more. There were all sorts of colourful people on the streets of Yan Shan city.

One had to be careful in midst this wondrous parade, after all……

Xiuzhenists can change their appearances!

‘Sigh’ “What a sensual looking young lady with such bewitching beauty…” Qin Yu had settled his gaze on a young lady in a sensual green gown not too far down the street. He could not help but sigh in appreciation. That’s right, he only praised from the perspective of a viewer appreciating beauty.

“Mistress, Amber Moon planet is famed for its fabulous teas, in particular the one known as the ‘Gliding Maple-leaf Red Tea’. It is one of its native tastes, we should try it out.” A lithe young female attendant suggested to the lady in green slightly in front of her.

The lady in green nodded with poise, “I guess so”, with a hint of smile in voice. Promptly, the two ladies entered that tea house –––––– ‘Gliding Maple-leaf Tea House.”

The ladies voices travelled up the road and into Qin Yu’s ears. “Gliding Maple-leaf Tea House, eh? If it is as the lady said as a ‘must-see’ place, I should go as well.” Qin Yu was piqued by the information, and a head full of curiosity, he also stepped into the Tea House.

Just as he foot was about to cross the threshold of the Tea House’s main door, he frowned with annoyance. “Seems that there are some stalkers watching my movement?” A part of his mind rang with alarm.

After fusing his soul with the meteoric tear, Qin Yu has raised the level of sensitivity of detecting soul force. Though he was only a level 8 immortal, even whenever a level 2 golden immortal like Liu Ming Han, shifted their sights on him, he could clearly detect it.

On the contrary, the stalker who had just ﬁxed their sights on Qin Yu, he could only vaguely feel the other’s gaze.

All this happened in an instant. Without pause nor a change in his facial expressions, Qin Yu entered the Tea House.

Across the street on the veranda of a restaurant, a wizen old man swept a quick inspection of the tea house, conﬁrmed to himself, “The most powerful person in the tea house is only a level 8 immortal. There is no danger to the young mistress.”

Inside the tea house.

Qin Yu was considering the tea house’s menus and was somewhat surprised to see the ﬁgures on it. “I must say, only the rich could enjoy the things in this Gliding Maple-leaf Tea House. The highest priced selection of tea is a hundred stones, which is about one mid-grade stone. I guess, only done-well immortals could afford such extravagance.”

It was the normal day for the famed tea house. There was only a handful of customers, but what was astonishing that all of them were immortals of least level ﬁve. The lady in green that entered just slightly ahead of Qin Yu, was the lowest level at level one, while her attendant was already a level seven immortal.

Qin Yu deft lifted his tea cup, the aromatic fragrance of the tea immediately hit his sinuses. The warm draft from the steam bathed his heart in splendour which slowly dissipated as he lift the tea cup away. “Truly great tea, it is.” Just the fragrance of the saturated leaves are enough to leave such miraculous effect on Qin Yu. He could only gasp in marvel of such great tea.

The waitress at his left side set down the tea pot, and said, “Seems that the young master is not from around here, right?” Qin Yu slowly conﬁrmed and glanced at the waiter who continued, “The only thing that makes Amber Moon well- known is this Gliding Maple-leaf tea. Of the entire domain of the Silver Stream galaxy, there are only two places that produce this tea leaves – one is our planet and the other is the Red Leaf Planet. Though, the yield of our amber moon is signiﬁcantly lower and also our cities are less populated and less wealthy.” The waitress didn’t even pause at all, as she rattled on with a hint of pride, “Amber Moon is but a small rural place, and naturally the prices are very low. A jug of gliding maple-leaf tea is only priced at a hundred, whereas at Red Leaf Planet, it is price at two hundred. And in any other places in the immortal and devil realms, a single jug could cost up to a thousand or so stones.”

A few booths away, the female attendant of that lady in green said aloud, “Well spoken. The gliding maple-leaf tea at our place costs around ﬁve hundred, and yet cannot compare with the quality of the tea here. What do you say, mistress?”

Finally, Qin Yu slowly took a few light sips and rolled the ﬂuid around in his mouth, prolonging the moment and tasting the tea. He put down the cup delicately, and asked the waitress, “How much stock of this gliding maple-leaf tea leaves does this tea house have? If possible, I would like to purchase some.”

The waitress’ eyes lit up. “Young master, please wait for a moment, I will go inform the owner.”

A moment later, the owner arrived to negotiate selling price, but Qin Yu didn’t bother haggling one bit. He immediately took out twelve pieces of high grade holy elemental ores to purchase around ninety percent of all the tea house’s stocks. That left ten percent for the tea house to use to entertain and receive guests. After the ﬂash buy, Qin Yu sat back and leisurely enjoyed his tea, savouring every ﬂavour.

A booming voice rang throughout the teahouse, “third brother, do you have any more stock of gliding maple-leaf tea leaves?” Almost all the guest simultaneous frowned in annoyance. Multiple pairs of eyes looked pointedly towards the source of the interruption.

The source of the disturbance was a digniﬁed looking middle-aged man at the entrance of the teahouse.

The teahouse owner immediately walked out from the rear of the teahouse. He was already shaking his head. “Eldest brother, I afraid almost all of my stock was sold out. I have very little left that I was already planning to get some from you.”

The man at the entrance looked somewhat helpless. “I’m out of stock as well. You know how much the great patriarch loves gliding maple-leaf tea, the moment he leaves his most recent closed-door training session, he most deﬁnitely wants some. I’ve already ran around a few places and was without luck….it seems….that we must go replenish our stocks at Red Leaf Planet.”

Sadly though, Amber Moon does produce these tea leaves locally, but the production is barely able to cover the usage of it for its locals.

The teahouse owner pursed his lips. “Red Leaf planet? Not to mention travel expenses, even the prices there are double of what we have here….” The man at the entrance also looked reluctant but replied, “For the sake of the great patriarch, this amount of money is worthwhile.”

The teahouse owner pondered for a moment, and walked over to Qin Yu’s booth. “Young master, could I please withdraw your earlier purchase of the tea leaves, and likewise, I will also return the twelve pieces of high grade ores.”

Qin Yu frowned in annoyance at the teahouse owner’s request. ‘Is this how you do business??’ “Young master, I am called Yan Wu Tao, this establishment is also part of the Yan Clan. I hope that the young master could give us some face.” The man at the entrance walked over to the booth. “Of course, you can name the price. How about ﬁfteen high grade ores?”

‘They’d just sold the leaves and yet now they want them returned??’ Qin Yu stared at no one in particular, and said, “Do I look like someone who lacks money?” He hadn’t even bothered haggling before and instantly took out twelve high grade ores, why would he be a kind of person to care about that sort of money?

The teahouse owner and Wu Tao stiffened.

“Did you just say that your great patriarch has entered closed-door training?” Realisation dawned on Qin Yu. When he put the facts: one, they are Yan Clan’s people and two, they said their patriarch was in closed door training, together, it meant that the Yan patriarch must have entered seclusion.

Wu Tao immediately replied, “That’s right, the patriarch has entered seclusion, but when he comes out, it would require this tea. Could you please part with it?”

‘In seclusion…’ Qin Yu did not wait any longer, he immediately left the teahouse while ignoring the two men’s pleas. Following his leave, the two shouted after him in vain, “Hey, wait, customer.”

Walking down the street, Qin Yu sighed helplessly, “Just when I was about to go ‘trouble’ the Yan patriarch, I ﬁnd the man has entered closed-door training….uh, I can only go see how strong the forces are protecting his closed-door training location.”

“Yes!” Qin Yu eyes lit up with resolution, “I’ll just grab someone and interrogate them.” With a quivering movement of his body, he vanished from sight.

Wu Tao was feeling very frustrated as he walk out of the teahouse and into a nearby alley. Back then in the teahouse, the customer – Qin Yu, maintained an uncaring attitude, it had made he quite furious. He wanted dearly to kill Qin Yu, but when he probed Qin Yu, he found he couldn’t determine the other strength. That could only mean one thing, Qin Yu was much stronger than him.

This made him quite cautious. Not to mention the extravagant and lavish gesture to buy out the teahouse, coupled with that individual’s strength, his Yan Clan couldn’t afford to offend that kind of person with such strong backing. He knew his Yan Clan was just a small ruler of one planet, and couldn’t compare with some of the bigger players in the immortal plane.

A voice resounded out, breaking Wu Tao out of his reverie, “Are you Yan Wu Tao?” The man in question ﬂinched with surprise, “Who is calling for me?”

Before Wu Tao could speak again, he suddenly felt his mind had blanked out, and the next moment, everything turned black.

… With Wu Tao captive, Qin Yu pulled the fool deeper into the secluded alley; out of the prying eyes and ears of the city goers.

“With my meteoric tear, using this technique has become quite easy.” Qin Yu was currently controlling the man in question – Yan Wu Tao. For one he was much stronger than Wu Tao and two, he had the constant aid supplied by the meteoric tear.

“Now, tell me, when did the patriarch enter closed-door training?”

Wu Yan blinked blankly, and looked listless, even his eyes were lifeless like marbles. Words dropped out of his mouth in monotone, “The. Patriarch. Retreated. Three. Days. Ago.”

Another calm question came his way. It sounded slurred like a hypnotist’s serene voice, “Tell me. When will he exit seclusion?”

This time, the answer came out in better formation. “I do not know. The great patriarch had said that it could be one day or it could be one year. But, he said this time it should be no more than two to four weeks.”

…

Silence. Qin Yu was somewhat satisﬁed by the answer. That’s right, he could wait a few weeks, and he was in no hurry. Of course, the quicker the deed is done the better it is for him.

He already had determined that Wu Tao was a level 5 immortal. A immortal at that level should have a relatively high position within the Yan Clan, which meant the fellow would know about many things. Then he asked the third question: “Where is the patriarch conducting his closed-door training?”

Another mechanical reply: “In Sword Immortal Temple.”

“Sword immortal Temple, is it?” the fellow nodded in slow motion. Without pause, Qin Yu asked again, “How are the defences?” “Sword immortal temple is a formation array created by the patriarch himself with the aid of his fellow martial brothers. The defensive ability is very high, the patriarch once boasted that even a level 9 golden sword immortal would have difﬁculty breaking into the sword immortal temple.”

Silence.

‘Hmm’ Qin Yu was carefully digesting the information, ‘Martial brothers of Yan Gao must be the disciples of the Jade Sword school. Since Yan Gao, himself is a level 6 golden immortal, then his martial brothers are most likely at the same level. In that case…in that case, the formation array of their combined efforts should have enough power to defend a level 9 golden immortal’s assault.’

What Qin Yu did know was that, the strongest of Yan Gao’s martial brothers had reached level 9 golden immortal. So the combined creation of a defensive formation will not simply defend against a level 9 golden immortal’s attack, but also restricts the attacker. Qin asked again, “Who…..who is the clan leader of the house at the moment? And what is that fellow’s power level?” He wanted to know as much about the Yan Clan as possible, especially the current clan leader.

He knew that a family’s wealth is divided into three portions. The ﬁrst is held by the strongest of the clan, the second is held by the clan leader and the third is stored in the clan’s shared warehouses.

Since Yan Gao is in seclusion, then it’s high time to deal with the clan leader, which is right now.

The answer came after his short soliloquy, “The clan leader is ‘Yan Xu Tan’ and is a level 1 golden immortal.”

The interrogation went on.

“Then is Yan Xu Tian a sword immortal? How many sword immortal does the Yan Clan have?” This time the interrogated gave a detailed explanation, “No, the clan leader only practices the clan’s internal arts. In our family, only three are sword immortals. One is our great patriarch, while the other two are common immortal stage sword immortals.”

Qin Yu grunted with satisfaction. “Now, you can lay down and sleep.” Qin Yu dismissed the somewhat slack-jawed Wu Tao, and merged back into the shadows.

Yan Xu Lan. He was the second most powerful expert of the Yan Clan and also the current clan leader. His residence was a luxurious palace populated with dense packets of security detail and ﬂourishing botanic gardens. Between patrolling guards and being the second strongest in the clan, the defences are naturally very tight.

In the Palace bedchamber.

Xu Lan was sitting cross-legged on the master bed, in his hand held a high grade holy elemental ore. Streams of energy continuously ﬂowed from the rock and into his body. The man had a noble but ﬁerce air about him, even his eye brows were shaped like spears.

A hollow voice rang about the bedchamber.

“Yan Xu Lan.”

The man on the bed shouted, “Who is it?” His eyelids immediately shot open, his gaze ﬂickered side to side like probing lasers.

“SHHIIIOUUU!”

A wave of sword energy had already arrived at the man face. All one could see was a look of frozen surprise on the man’s face, before his body fell apart to each side. At the same time, his interspatial ring and a few immortal equipment appeared by the man’s side. The intruder appeared beside the bed and leisurely approached the loot.

The intruder was precisely Qin Yu.

“Well, whatever the goods, at least there is a level 1 golden immortal’s yuanying. It shouldn’t be wasted.” Qin Yu quickly stored the yuanying, and the other dropped goods into his Blazing Ice Ring.

He lifted the dropped interspatial ring for inspection and sighed, “Three voice transfer talisman beads, not bad. A few immortal class items…..’Sigh’ the best is only at middle-grade, that’s too poor. Last but not least, top grade holy elemental ores…..only eight pieces??”

The fact was that Qin Yu did not know much about the wealth of the Yan Clan, nor did he know how wealthy the clan was.

He turned and left, riding the wind outwards. In his wake was the desolate corpse of Yan Xu Lan, whose eyes were still wide open uncomprehending how he died.

…

The next morning.

Two servants of the clan leader’s palace shifted from one foot to another as they shouted to rouse the master, but no responses were heard. They looked at one another. One on the left thought aloud, “What is wrong with the master? Did something happen?”

The other dismissed the ﬁrst, “Impossible. It must mean the master had already left the house. Why wouldn’t he respond? You should already know that even if the master is asleep, he would hear our cries.”

The ﬁrst looked sheepishly at the second. “Well, then. We will enter master’s room to clean.” The two servants promptly entered the house and started cleaning and organising the items in the house. Slowly but surely they worked their way towards the bedchamber. The moment they approached the bed…

“Ahhhh!” the ﬁrst shrieked

The other cried out, “Ah! Master, master!”

In the short minutes that trickled by, every elder, disciple and member of the Yan Clan had heard of the clan leader’s death. Each searched in frenzied manner for the would-be murderer of their clan leader, but all was in vain. Even they know that it was impossible for themselves to ﬁnd that person given how quickly and quietly the murderer managed to kill the clan leader. Only the patriarch of the family could be able to achieve success.

In a village hospital near the foot hills of the Yan Shan city. A wizen old man bowed respectfully at a familiar lady in green. “Mistress, we should return. Amber Moon is no longer safe.” But, the lady in question puckered her sweet, rosy lips, while drumming her delicate ﬁngers, and shook her head, “Let’s stay and play for a few more days.”

The old man sighed again. “Mistress, last night the Yan clan’s clan leader was assassinated. When I investigated the area that Yan Xu Lan was killed, there wasn’t the slightest life aura present. I could barely detect the slightest trace of sword energy in the area. I presume the assassin is at least a level 9 golden immortal, or it could have been a mystic immortal. Mistress, it is no longer safe for you to stay here, that sort of expert could pose a threat to the mistress.”

The young lady uttered a cute and mufﬂed cry, “Ah…..” then reluctantly agreed, “Alright then.”

Chapter 10: Valiant

People slowly trickled into the Yan clan’s great hall, one after another elders and disciples wearing gloomy and sullen faces. Amongst them was elders Yan Xu Fan and Yan Xu Yan.

Xu Fan mumbled to the elder next to him, “Second elder, you are the next in line in terms of seniority. Please go and speak for us.” The elders had sorrowful faces. The second elder took a deep breath and felt determination gradually return to his posture: “Ladies and gentlemen, as you all know, last night, the clan leader was murdered within his own home, and yet no one in the surroundings felt anything amiss.” He paused and swept his gaze cross all present, swallowed and continued, “As of now, we are expending all efforts to ﬁnd the killer; everyone is looking out for the man in question, but it is only a display. Knowing that the killer could take out Xu Lan must mean the killer is, at least, a golden immortal. If the killer wanted to escape, he would’ve used greater teleportation to get away. So even if we look, we wouldn’t even catch a shadow.”

The crowds of people all wore self-mocking smiles and bitter faces. What the elder said was the truth! Though many people were dispatched to search for the would-be killer, but it was a quest fated to be fruitless. The killer must be at least a golden immortal, and as a golden immortal who has greater teleportation to escape, how could anyone ﬁnd anything?

“Second elder. Someone has killed our clan leader and do we just swallow that down and act as if nothing has happened? Or do we take our revenge?” Xu Tan asked a little agitatedly.

Xu Fan reprimanded the speaker, “fourth elder, keep you calm.”

The announcer – the second elder, slowly shook his head to refute, “Our Yan family is far too feeble. Simply relying on ourselves is impossible.”

Hearing this, Xu Fan looked up with hope at the speaker, “Second elder, your meaning is….?”

The second elder nodded to Xu Fan and to everyone at large, “Exactly. We must ﬁnd a way to acquire some help from the Jade Sword School. If they are willing to help then the chances of revenge is very high, but unfortunately we do not have much inﬂuence over the school or relate to them in any way. This matter, we must let the great patriarch to act, since the patriarch is a disciple of the school, his word would weigh

more than ours.”

“But, but the patriarch is currently undergoing closed-door training……” the wife of the clan leader instantly looked up at the announcer with a helpless look.

The second elder and also the announcer nodded solemnly, “That’s right, we can only wait. This time the patriarch wishes to reach the seventh level of the golden immortal stage before exiting his training. If we were to disturb him before he reaches his goal, we would be labelled as traitors or criminals of the Yan family.”

Everyone in the hall knew that the patriarch is of more importance than Liu Xu Lan – the clan leader. Though the latter is dead, as long as the Yan Gao – the patriarch, is around the Yan family can still stand up proudly, with their heads held high, on Amber Moon. But if, Yan Gao were to perish and be destroyed in both, body and soul, Yan family would never stand up again. They would be heavily suppressed or suffocated by the other two great families.

…

In a remote village on the borders of the controlled boundaries of the city – Yan Shan, a Xiuzhenist is currently in thought.

The Xiuzhenist was sitting in the front courtyard of a well- sized residence. It was Qin Yu. He had bought the residence with one piece of mid-grade holy elemental ore. He didn’t bother negotiating and immediately bought the place, the payment was worth far more the house, at least for any Xiuzhenists it was.

He was currently deep in thought and inspecting the goods in Xu Lan’s possessions.

He sighed, “I’d never have thought that this Yan Xu Lan would be so ruthless.” He had picked up several receipts showing sums of money to be owed to him. According to his understanding, these were similar to high-interest rate loans from loan sharks of his Qian Long Continent.

He was only mildly surprised at these packets of receipts, but what was more shocking was that the receipts were signed with blood oaths.

From his palm came rivulets of purple heavenly ﬁre and immediately burned all the receipts, reducing them to smouldering ashes.

Through the blood oath seal, the many contractors of the oath would have felt the change as the receipts or contracts were burnt. There contractors were driven into frenzied states just from the presence of these extreme loans, naturally, they would be overjoyed to ﬁnd the contracts were not in existence and they did not have to pay back the money.

Qin Yu frowned at his inspection, “This is strange, very peculiar. For the last million years, the control of the teleportation arrays was almost always claimed by the Yan clan. Logically, speaking, the accumulative wealth should be at least several billions but in actuality……there’s only one hundred million…?” He swept his immortal class spiritual senses once more into Xu Lan’s interspatial storage ring. He was very positive the total amount of all the holy elemental ores sum to only one hundred million.

Now the question was: for a large clan, how and why would their clan leader’s wealth be so small?

He threw the ring into his own storage unit and sat back down in a meditative position. “Forget this. I’d rather spend the time training.”

Instead of returning to his original body, he chose stay within his puppet, because he was training in the ways of the soul. Wherever his soul goes, he can train there.

In the immortal plane, strength is absolute. This doesn’t just mean personal power, but also strength in the mind and soul. With these as absolutes, once the possessor kills, the target will be killed without quarrel. If the possessor showed mercy time and time again, they would not live long. Qin Yu was no exception. Over the timeless years of meditation and training, his heart had become stone cold and more ruthless as the time passed.

Perhaps the only shred of humanity and love left in his heart is his familial love, his brotherhood, his signiﬁcant- other….and these remain in his heart for all eternity.

…

The Yan clan’s sword immortal temple.

A middle-age man sat in the centre of the temple, despite man’s looks of about middle-ages, his eyebrows were completely white and hung down from the two outsides of his face. Around him was waves of sword energy was emitted and absorbed.

Suddenly, the same drooping brows ﬂoated up by formless energies. Instead of emitting energy, all the energy around him was instantly converged with him as the epicentre. The oppressive force of such highly concentrated sword energy cause a heavy suffocating atmosphere in the chamber around him. The man, himself, was heating up quite quickly, his face was red from constant exertion.

It was red.

Now it turned purple.

Steam and energy was expelled out of the man’s nostrils, from within two waves of oppressive sword energy was sent outwards, which encircle his body and ﬂew back in. The process was repeated, each time the interval between breathes was shortened, until….

Until, the man’s body started to shake uncontrollably.

“Boom!”

“Sou! Souuu! Sou!” Countless waves of sword energy erupted from the man’s body, expanding outwards in all directions and slammed into the barrier applied on this sword immortal temple. The barrier only rippled slightly without much change. It was, after all, a formation barrier constructed by the man and his fellow martial brothers of high pedigree.

In the silence that followed, the man breathed out and said with a satisﬁed look. “I’ve succeeded. I’ve ﬁnally reached the seventh level of the golden immortal stage.” The middle-aged man’s eyes shot open, and from within blazing light shot out.

The man’s name was Yan Gao. He was the patriarch, who’d undergone closed-door training some time ago. A while ago, he had sensed that he was at peak of the sixth level of the golden immortal and only one step away from breaking through. So this time, the closed-door training had succeeded to allow him to reach level seven.

Of the Jade Sword School which he was part of, his achievements and prowess was only considered to the mid-low, in other words he was below average. He belonged to the third generation of disciples. The ﬁrst generation was also the school master and was a mystic immortal at the ﬁrst level.

The second generation constituted of eight disciples, seven of which were level nine golden immortals and one was a level eight golden immortal.

In the third generation, there were dozens of disciples. Of them, six were level 9, level 8 were numbered in between ten and twenty. As for level 7 golden immortals were plentiful, and the rest of the disciples were level 6 golden immortals. Since Yan Gao has reached level 7, he had ﬁnally broken through to the average level of the third generation.

With a casual ﬂip of his hand, a voice transfer talisman appeared.

With a content look, Yan Gao spoke aloud respectfully, “Master, I’ve reached the seventh level of the golden immortal stage.” His master was Yu Dian of the second generation of jade sword school disciples. His master was also the only one among the second generation at the eighth level of the golden immortal stage. But in terms of governing and management capabilities, his master is top ranked. So despite, his master low cultivation achievements, Yu Dian still held a relatively high position and status within the school.

Yu Dian also looked quite happy. “My disciple, you have ﬁnally reached level seven golden immortal stage. That’s good, very good. I’ve wanted you to help me with some matters, but was worried that you may not have the commanding aura, when you were still at level 6. In a few days, you should come to the Red Lead Planet, and report to me.”

In terms of trust and assurance, using one’s own disciples was most assuring.

“Master, rest assured, this disciple will ﬁrst make some arrangements for his own family, then immediately rush over there.” Yan Gao was not an idiot, how can a small planet like Amber Moon allow him to achieve anything? He was elated at his master’s request, and eager to be on his way.

The Red Lead planet was situated in the heart of the Silver Stream galaxy. Where there are many powerful experts residing, so for his own development, that planet would be more promising. He had already planned to use the connection between the jade sword school and sovereign Yu, to allow him, one day, to work at sovereign Yu’s side.

Even by the end of the voice transfer call, his face was full of smiles. “This Amber Moon too small and non-proﬁtable for me. I’ve only got one top grade immortal class weapon, which had come with generous help from my master, or else I wouldn’t be able to obtain. Once I’ve reached the Red Lead Planet and started working with the jade sword school, not only will I be able to be respected and gain prestige, but treasures would be abundant too.”

Afterwards, he sent out his immortal spiritual powers to encompass his family’s town. “Yan Shuo, Yan Lan, I’m about to exit the closed-door training area.” He was startled to ﬁnd that he couldn’t ﬁnd Yan Lan’s voice transfer signature, and promptly expanded his ﬁeld of search. However, when he had encompassed the entire mountain range around his home city, he still couldn’t ﬁnd Yan Lan.

The replying message from Yan Shuo made his blood freeze. “Great patriarch, the clan leader has been murdered.” He had just broken through to the seventh level of the golden immortal stage, also received praise and a job from his master, and was feeling on top of the moon. But now a single piece of news had ruined his parade and darkened his mood. “And what about the killer?”

The second elder jumped into the communications link. “Great patriarch, the assassin snuck in, in the darkness of the night and killed the clan leader. No one saw the face of the killer nor their escape. As such, we have no way to ﬁnd the killer.”

Yan Gao grounded his molars in rage, his face had become the incarnation of a demon’s. “Wait until I get there.” His message had been broadcasted to every child, disciple and member of the Yan clan, even those who did not have the status to attend the gathering in the main hall.

Only a few was deeply impacted by the death, and in most cases, Yan Xu Lan’s death had little impact on the family as a whole. That was because the pillar that supported the Yan clan was the patriarch, Yan Gao. …

Within the courtyard of a remote mountain village, Qin Yu could clearly feel the probing sweep of Yan Gao’s immortal spirit power. Though the difference of soul power between the two was large, but thanks to the fusing with the meteoric tear, Qin Yu’s immortal powers became very sensitive to the point where he could clearly detect the other.

“Hmm? The old man ﬁnished his training, huh?” He looked up into the horizon in the direction of the Yan Clan’s headquarters, and with a slight shake of his body, he vanished from sight.

…

Within the main hall of the Yan family’s headquarters.

Chatter ﬁlled the main hall. On this day, around a hundred family members gathered in the main hall. These hundred were all the elites of the Yan family, even the previously held captive Yan Wu Tao was present.

At the time, Qin Yu only captured and interrogated Wu Tao, then put the fellow into a amnesiac coma, and didn’t kill the fellow.

A harsh voice boomed in the hall, “Silence!”

Xu Fan, an elder of the family looked onwards in the distance as he ﬁnished his shout. Every bicker and chattered stopped in mid-sentence like someone had frozen time in the main hall. Not one peep of sound escape another one’s lips, because they had all guessed……the great patriarch had arrived!

From behind the rear screens of the main hall, the patriarch and the second elder walk out. The former was in front while the elder walked behind. The patriarch commanded a ﬁerce aura that swept outwards, with brows like spears and a dark scowl, every Yan family member could hardly take a breath.

The two elders approached three high-backed thrones at the rear of the hall. The patriarch sat down in the centre and the second elder sat to his left. Normally, the clan leader would sit in the middle while the two would sit at either side. Today, to the patriarch’s right sat clan elder Yan Shuo.

Yan Gao ﬁxed everyone below, in the hall, a stony stare. “I just ﬁnished my training, only to hear an very infuriating piece of news. Xu Lan had been killed.” If his eyes did not convey the smouldering anger within, then his words deﬁnitely did: every member in the main hall could not even speak out. His face still deadpanned as he continued, “I know this matter has little importance to you all, since killing Xu Lan meant the killer must be at least a golden immortal. Everyone has been called here today for two reasons. One is to swear to avenge Xu Lan, and the second is to elect a new clan leader.”

A clan leader election? If the patriarch was going to vote, then no one could dare oppose.

“But now is not the time to discuss that.” He paused. Then he continued lightly, “The biggest problem is revenge for Xu Lan…..we do not have any information about this killer. I ask any of our honoured guests: have you found any information about the enemy?” These honoured guests only shook their heads in shame. Without any clues about the identity of the murder, how could they ﬁnd any information?

Right at this moment, a voice rang out in the hall, “I have some information about the killer.”

The speaker was of a thin and lanky built man with a ﬁerce and cold expression. On the man’s face was a nasty and straight scar that accentuated the man’s murderous look. On the man’s back was the hilt of an immortal class long sword. Any immortal wield a visible sword is a special characteristic known to only sword immortals.

The newcomer was Qin Yu in the guise of his immortal sword puppet’s body.

Xu Fan snapped at the newcomer, “Who are you!? Who let you enter the glorious main of my, Yan family’s headquarters???” The fellow was a strong contender for the clan leader position within the family, naturally, wanted to show some poise and command in front of the patriarch.

“You…..silence fool!” Qin Yu didn’t even look at the man and snapped at him with disdain, “I am speaking with the great patriarch, not some puny junior of the likes of you.” He didn’t bother give the man any shred of respect at all, only a disdainful look. The man wasn’t even a golden immortal, and

in his eyes such person wasn’t even worth the dirt on his boots.

Yan Gao spoke with a polite tone, “This one is the third generation and a disciple of the jade sword school, and is called Yan Gao. May I ask which school is fellow sword disciple from?”

Qin Yu had deliberately leaked some of his strength and soul force out to allow the other to probe. The fellow thought Qin Yu was just a level 8 normal immortal, and was unconcerned about his arrival. The only reason why the fellow asked was because on his back was a sword which symbolized he came from a sword immortal school.

A sword immortal school was numerous in the immortal plane. Many were very powerful, and the jade sword school was just a small school compared to those greater powers. What Yan Gao feared wasn’t Qin Yu, but the powerful school behind Qin Yu.

Qin Yu laughed timidly, “I…..I’m not part of a particular school.”

He could see the fellow’s face fell into a scowl. “Did you come to fool me with some kind of trick?”

The second elder to his left exclaimed, “Great patriarch, those who dare to trespass in my – Yan clan’s, main hall is already committing a great crime! Now that trespasser dares to show such audacity to mouth off in its wall. He should be punished accordingly!”

Qin Yu’s face instantly sharpened with a murderous expression.

“I didn’t come to fool you, but to……kill you.” He had already grasped the hilt of his long sword behind his back. In the next instance, he had drawn his sword and activated the seventh technique of the Heaven Sundering Sword style. A ﬁercely thin wave of opaque sword spirit howled towards Yan Gao, who had also pulled his sword out and promptly erupted in explosive power.

“Shiinnn!”

Before Yan Gao could even unleash his own attack, a thin line had appeared from his head to his nether region, a look of disbelief still visible in the fellow’s eyes as his body fell to the ﬂoor and split apart. Body ﬂuids gushed out in fountains, blood vessels and cranium matter splattered on the raised platform where the ruling seat stood.

In one sword stroke, the level seven golden sword immortal – Yan Gao, had died!

Everywhere and everyone around was petriﬁed in shock, in dismay, as if time had really stopped. Their clan’s sole guardian angel – Yan Gao, and the greatest power had died! And died so pitifully!

No one reacted as Qin Yu picked up the Yuanying of their venerated elder, “a level 7 golden immortal yuanying shouldn’t be waste. It deﬁnitely shouldn’t be wasted,” because the reality still couldn’t be accepted by the onlookers.

Qin Yu smiled and stored the yuanying in his blazing ice ring then disappeared from the main hall.

When they heard the newcomer’s voice and watched the man take the yuanying and disappear, and only then did the crowd wake from their stupor into reality.

Chapter 11: Seclusion

All of a sudden, cries and rancour shattered the silence in the Yan clan’s main hall. “The, the, the great patriarch is dead!”

Every single onlooker was a disciple and child of the family, and every one of them stare stupidly at the gory remains at the foot of the central throne. Patriarch Yan Gao was a guardian angel to the family, but for these disciples the man was more than that, he was an invincible god worshiped by many.

However……on this day, that invincible god known as Yan Gao – a valiant and heroic entity, was killed in a single sword stroke by the enemy.

Amidst all this shock, Xu Fan’s voice rang in their ears, “Catch the murderer, go catch that murderer!!!”

Following this shout, the entire hall erupted in shouts and cries. Many members of the family roar in agony, others ran about hurriedly and the rest busied themselves to look for the murderer. It was all hot air and no action, and they all know it. For them, they knew that for an enemy to be able to kill the patriarch in one sword stroke, wiping them out of existence was as easy as turning their hand over.

Still, chaos ensued and frantic bodies milled around in the main hall.

Amidst this chaotic display, the elder Xu Fan gestured to the second elder across him, “Second elder…”

The second elder had a very ugly expression and spoke to Yan Shuo – the other elder, “Our elder brother is a third generation disciple of the Jade Sword School. Any who dares to act against him would incur the wrath of the school behind him. Contact the jade sword school, and have them to deal with this issue.”

Xu Fan also agreed. “If our Yan clan hands over 90% of our century-worth proﬁts to the jade sword school, they’ll likely to take up our request.”

… Far away, Yan Gao’s master Yu Dian – a second generation level 8 golden immortal, was standing on the surface of a nameless planet in the Indigo Bay star ﬁeld. The man was preparing to use this particular planet’s teleportation array to continue his journey.

Suddenly, alerted by the voice transfer talisman in his spatial ring, he halted his steps and took out the talisman. On the other end was one his disciples named Feng Shan. “Master, there has been a big incident.”

Standing beside the huge teleportation array, Yu Dian paused and shook himself helplessly. He has many disciples, but among them Yan Gao has the lowest strength and worst aptitude with the best disposition. The man neither gets ﬂustered nor daunted by any task. For disciple Yan Gao, he feels he has a special connection with the man. In many ways, he was very similar to Yan Gao. As a second generation jade sword school practitioner, he was the runt of the eight second generation disciples. Where the seven others were all level 9 golden immortals, he was only a level 8 golden immortal. But, in terms of maturity, strategy and managing, he was, by far, the best of all the second generation disciples. Similarly, Yan Gao is the weakest disciple, but the most mature. When he looked at Yan Gao, he saw himself years ago – the runt of the litter.

So when he was about to leave the Silver Stream galaxy, he was preparing to let Yan Gao take over all the matters in the galaxy’s commanding planet – ‘Red Leaf Planet’. He was ready to train Yan Gao to become his successor.

Snapping out of his memories, he sent a reply, “Feng Shan, No need to be in such a rush. You should try learn a little from your junior Yan Gao to be a bit more composed.” He scolded lightly, and asked, “Alright then, what matter is causing such a fuss?”

The breathless reply rooted him to the ground and left him dazed. “Master, Yan Gao has been killed!”

Finally he stuttered out, “What, what? Ha ha, what did you say?” He could barely believe what he was hearing. A day ago, his disciple Yan Gao sent him a message saying that he had broken through the level 6 golden immortal stage to level 7, but today… The fellow at the other end carefully selected his next words: “Martial brother Yan Gao has died. The killer was a sword immortal, who had killed him in the main hall of the Yan clan boldly and undisguised.” There was a visible pause as the man gulped and continued, “This piece of news was just sent over by the clansmen of the Yan family.”

Yu Dian felt a little light-headed and woozy, but soon recovered enough to reply, “Feng Shan, you said the killer was a sword immortal, right? Who is it?” His voice quivered a little with fury.

Feng Shan answered, “Master, I had questioned the Yan clan about the incident. They passed over a detailed account of the person’s appearance, but with just the killer’s appearance, we cannot accurately determine who the killer is. If the killer could alter their appearance then…”

He was a man who managed all the affairs of the jade sword school, no matter large or small. After grieving his lost disciple for a very short while, he had already recovered his stony and calculating look, and instructed his disciple. “No one is to worry about this matter for now. As for the affairs on the Red Leaf Planet, leave them to your eldest martial brother. About the Yan Gao incident. Wait until I return.” He wasn’t one who would allow emotions to cloud his sound judgement. He could clearly understand that anyone who could kill a level 7 golden immortal in broad daylight, boldly and undisguised, deﬁnitely has superior power.

“Yes, master.” On the other end, Feng Shan ﬁnally loosed a breath. He also knew the murderer had to have strength beyond Yan Gao, naturally, did not want to go investigation such a ﬁgure.

Yu Dian withdrew his voice transfer talisman bead. And stride forward to the teleportation array. He was a man who held great responsibility. Not only was he a representative for the school master of the jade sword school, but he also would go on the behalf of Emperor Yu and the Devil Realm, as their middle-man on important matters. So he could not postpone it a bit.

He was due to reach his destination of the core and commanding planet of Indigo Bay star ﬁeld – the Blue Solar star. “From here to there and the matters accompanying the devil realm side as well; it would all take a large amount of time.” He thought about it with frustration, ’Sigh’ “No matter, Emperor Yu’s matters are of the utmost importance, if I screw up, not only will I feel the emperor’s wrath but my school master would also feel the aftershock of it. First things ﬁrst. I will sort this matter out, then return and carefully go over this

Yan Gao incident.”

With his plans complete, he stepped into the teleportation array, paid the toll of 300 then vanished as a beam of light into the furthest distance.

…

Within the bamboo garden.

Two Liu family elders was present to thank Qin Yu about their request.

The patriarch of the Liu clan was the ﬁrst to speak: “Mister Qin, I wish to convey out deepest thanks about this recent ordeal.” He had just been sent the good news. With Yan Gao dead, the Yan family could be suppressed with ease.

Qin Yu laughed lightly. “It was just a small matter, no need to be so thankful to me. After all, it was my martial uncle who had received your request…Oh there is one thing my martial uncle was discontent with…”

The patriarch, Ming Han, looked puzzled, “With what matter?”

Qin Yu mimicked Ming Han’s puzzled look. “You had said that the Yan family had been in control of the teleportation array for most of the time. Their wealth should be hundreds of times greater than your own. My martial uncle was puzzled by why killing the patriarch and the clan leader of the Yan Clan only yielded a few hundred million?” He was completely befuddled by this result.

He did notice the changes to the facial expressions of the two elders freeze. “Mister Qin, about this, do you not know?” He scratched his head in his mind’s eye. He may have asked another dumb question. He could not deny his understanding of the matters, in the immortal plane, was very lacking. What can he do about, other than ask? “Back then I had told my martial uncle that the Yan clan is sure to hold onto great wealth, but after he had killed the two top members of the clan, he had noticed their combined wealth was quite shabby. That is why I raised this issue with the two of you.”

Ming Han and the Liu clan’s clan leader exchanged a look. “It seems that Mister Qin does not understand the inner workings of societies within the immortal plane.” Ming Han explained, “Over the years of controlling the teleportation arrays, it would yield a shocking amount of wealth that is, if all of it, belong to the controlling clan – Yan clan. Only then will they have wealth few hundred times greater than my family. However, more than 90% of the income is collect by jade sword school as tax from this planet. The jade sword school will collect tax from all in its territory and give it to Emperor Yu!” He paused and took a big breath and continued, “Emperor Yu controls a large territory, and how could he not apply taxes on all in his territory? From the Amber Moon, money is given to the jade sword school then passed onto the emperor. In this way, the vast majority of wealth is in the hand of the peak experts of the immortal plane like emperor Yu and emperor Xuan.” Comprehension dawned on Qin Yu. So it was just like the taxes in the mortal plane’s countries, nations and dynasties. Most of the taxes are paid to the governing body of the nations. In this case, the jade sword school and the like, are the states and local governing bodies, which coagulates and collects

individual region taxes. While emperor Yu and emperor Xuan and the like are similar to monarchs. His eyes sparkled as he imagined the amount of wealth concentrated in the hands of people like emperor Yu.

“Even if most is turned over to the ruling monarchs, those that live under them live well sheltered lives. Their wealth is at least a few dozen time greater than my – Liu family.” Ming Han looked around and said, “So to seek shelter from monarchs like emperor Yu would be most favourable.”

Qin Yu smiled with acknowledgement. “Mister Liu is quite right. With the tribute paid from proﬁts from the teleportation array, only then will you be able to seek appropriate shelter from emperor Yu. At least, part of the proﬁts would be left within the family, if one doesn’t seek shelter from emperor Yu, the chances to obtain great wealth is much less, right?” Ming Han conﬁrmed. “Yes.”

Qin Yu said no more and only sipped on his tea.

Seeing the former wasn’t going to ask any more questions, Ming Han gestured, “Farewell, Mister Qin, we will leave then.”

Qin Yu laughed. “Alright, I won’t send you off then.”

Before leaving the duo had left a pile of assorted wealth up to about a few million, comprised of elixirs, elemental stones and other valuables.

Putting down the china, he opend his mouth and his voice echoed in the peaceful surroundings, “Han Shu.”

An energetic youth bounced into the clearing and bowed respectfully. “This disciple greets the master.” Qin Yu lift a single ﬁnger and pointed at the gift left by the patriarch of the Liu family. “These items were left by the Liu family, which I have no use for. Hence, they are yours from now on.” He couldn’t care less about these useless baubles.

His disciple was stunned. Han Shu still could not believe what he was hearing, and eager to conﬁrm. “Master, are you saying you are giving all of this to me?”

Qin Yu nodded mildly. “Be quick about it. I have matters to discuss with you.” His tone was edging towards displeasure.

Han Shu feared Qin Yu’s temper and hurried stored the goods.

“Han Shu, I have not taken you in as my disciple for a long time, but nevertheless, I can feel you have had some… remarkable changes to yourself.” His tone was solemn and deep that reverberated in the inside of Han Shu’s body.

Changes? Han Shu wanted to laugh out loud. These days, no one dares to disrespect him in any way and the clan leader greets him politely. In a matter of a very short time, he had transformed from the ugly runt of the family into the most prized jewel of the family. For that, he felt quite smug these days.

Qin Yu’s tone quietened and grew colder, “In the past, you work hard to train, but nowadays, I have seen a sharp drop in the amount of time you spend training. Often I see you are outside partying and playing with those Liu clan disciples. What I’ve said are all correct, isn’t that right?”

What Qin Yu had said was the heart of the problem. The truth pierced through Han Shu like a cold knife.

It was true. He had spent his days too leisurely. He had no ambition, so with the little recognition he’s gotten from his family already achieved. There wasn’t more that he wanted, hence he had become complacent.

Han Shu hurriedly apologised, “this disciple was in the wrong.” “No, no…you were not mistaken.” Qin Yu shook his head. “I was the one who was wrong.”

“Master, you…” Han Shu felt panicky, his heart pounded loudly, its beat quickened in his ears.

Qin Yu sighed with exasperation, as if he was berating himself. “If I had not appeared, then perhaps you would have practice resolutely despite the hail of insults from others. But, one day, through your perseverance, you would eventually reach the Dujie stage and so on. You could either become a loose immortal or a normal immortal, such difﬁculties with your meridians and other bodily issues would not plague you. Henceforth, you would rise from the ashes of scorn like a phoenix reborn, dazzling all those around you and put the fear of your greatness into them, then soar into unfathomable skies above without any opposition.” Qin Yu had a helpless look. “But, because of my appearance, your life had changed. The same perseverance of yours in the past was shattered by my appearance.” Qin Yu shook his head yet again and sighed again, “Han Shu, I ask you, do you know who allowed you to have the respect of everyone around you?”

Han Shu replied without hesitation. “It was you, master.” That was right. Precisely because of the master-disciple relationship between Qin Yu and Han Shu. That was the reason why the Liu clan’s clan leader looked very favourably on Han Shu, and in turn, all the disciples of the Liu family was very respectful to Han Shu as well.

A resolute glint entered Qin Yu’s eyes as he stared holes into Han Shu. “Han Shu, you must understand that to be truly respected, you must gain that respect by yourself. There is only shame in hiding behind the reputation of the teacher. In the end, that sort of ﬂimsy image will not last.” Without blinking, he continued, “You may be living comfortably now when I may be by your side, but if one day I’m not around, will your feeble powers gain the respect of those around you now?”

Cold sweat broke on the face of Han Shu. At this moment, at this time, he had ﬁnally woken up from the dreamscape of the recent high life he was living.

What was gained from others was not permanent, only by grasping it with your own hands, will the things obtained be everlasting.

Qin Yu turned away and looked at the border of the bamboo grove. “Enough. I do not wish to say anymore to you. I will enter closed-door training immediately, but when I come out, I’d better see some profound changes to you, or else……You need not bother call me master again.”

From the bowed position, Han Shu stood up straight, looking ﬁrm and respectfully intoned, “Of course, master. This disciple will not let master down.”

…

Within the bamboo grove’s secret cultivation chamber.

There wasn’t a single person within the secret chamber.

A ﬁne layer of sparkling teal coloured gravel covering the ﬂoor. No one could imagine that the Nine Swords Immortal Mansion was one of the specks of gravel on the ground.

Qin Yu was current within that teal colour mansion, deep in meditation. He was sitting cross-legged in a centre of a ﬂower garden directly in front of an elaborately designed fountain, which was the same colour as the rest of the residence.

Suddenly, his eyes shot open. “Haah, back then……” He was staring at the stone table a fair distance away from his position. He was remembering the memories of his brothers – Xiao Hei and Fei Fei, and himself carousing and chatting happily between drinks. Now, he was only by himself.

His royal father and brothers were still in the mortal plane, but his beloved Li’er was far, far away in an unknown place. And his own sworn brothers, who he could talk to about anything, was in a place along the distant horizon of the Demon realm.

Whether it was in front of his subordinates – Shuo Yan and Zang Yuan, or the Liu clan’s elders, or his own disciple, he is the higher being of great intellect, virtue and upstanding character. But he was also a man who yearned for someone to talk to, heart-to-heart. In the past, he could discuss his frustrations, his days’ events, anything or everything with his brothers, but now? Now, he could only ponder about his problems by himself.

In this vast universe, where could his brothers be? That huge gap between made Qin Yu feel a kind of looming and suffocating loneliness. It made his heart grow heavier with time, and his visage become colder and made him feel more withdrawn.

This kind of unbearable pressure on him has made him want to reunite with his brothers more so than ever before. “In this next closed-door training session, I should rise my soul power to the golden immortal stage and reﬁne a level 1 golden immortal yuanying, with it I will open the second layer world of the Atlas. Then I can immediately prepare to depart.”

Once he’d decided on his plan, he stilled his heart and entered the meditative state to access and use the ‘3-in-9 Soul Reﬁnement’ to quickly advance the stage of his soul force.

A Year passed. Then two years.

…

Within the soul space of the Human stage – ﬁrst layer, of the Soul Reﬁnement’s practice spaces, Qin Yu could not feel the passage of time, as his soul grew in power and continuous transform as he continued tirelessly through the many hand seals, which blurred with time…

Chapter 12: Enter Jade Sword School

On the Red Leaf Planet, of the Silver Stream galaxy, the headquarters of the Jade Sword School is located in.

The headquarters was situated atop ninety-six layers of steps, each layer had a few golden immortal stage disciples. Currently, outside the main hall’s entrance, two neatly arranged rows of elite disciples numbering near a few hundred, assembled. These two rows continued from the walls of the courtyard and into the school’s plaza below.

Each disciple wore happy faces with bright smiles looking towards the ﬁgure at the head of the two columns. The ﬁgure was their revered school master – Yu Qing Zi. Directly below the school master was four direct disciples of the master who had reached level 9 golden immortal stage. Then came the level 8 golden immortals of the third generation, while the fourth generation disciples waited below.

“Martial master, Brother Yu Dian has done a great service for our jade sword school. He has made all the disciples of the school feel proud.” A young man, also endorsed by a constant smile, whispered to the school master in front.

The school master – Qing Zi, also was a face full of joy. “Mmhmm, emperor Yu personally notiﬁed me about this delight. It seems disciple – Yu Dian, has really lived up to my expectations and fully given me face as the school master of his school.” A middle-aged also laughed and said, “Yu Dian’s abilities with management, prose and communication are nothing less than brilliant.”

Their continuous barrage of praises was interrupted by the voice of one of the third generation disciples. “Patriarch, martial Uncle Yu Dian has arrived.”

All of the experts in the jade sword school turned to look at the bottom step a fair distance away.

Being immortal practitioners, their vision was incomparably greater than the average man’s, they saw Yu Dian wear a hinted smile leap up the steps as if the man was just strolling leisurely up a seventy-degree incline. As the man passed by, disciples of every generation bowed respectfully at this powerful ﬁgure, whom they revered. Being given the hero’s glorious welcome was something no other disciple of the jade sword school had ever enjoyed.

Layers one after another blurred by the man’s feet, soon he had reach the area in front of the school master, Yu Qing Zi.

“Disciple Yu Dian greets the school master.” Yu Dian knelt down with one knee and saluted in traditional Chinese greeting style to Yu Qing Zi.

The school master used both his arms to prop Yu Dian from his kneeling position. The master had a pleased expression on his face, and spoke, “Well, Yu Dian, you have achieve another spectacular success with this time’s trading agreement with the devil realm and his majesty – emperor Yu. With your success, you have gained more than what his majesty expected, and has gained his praise and attention on you. You are deﬁnitely climbing up the ladder to the most favourable position to serve emperor Yu.”

Hearing this remark, Yu Dian couldn’t help but rejoice inwardly. He knew that his accomplishments are limited while working for the jade sword school master, whereas working for emperor Yu – a peak expert of the entire immortal realm, has a brighter future. Any small gesture of praise from emperor Yu could provide him with endless beneﬁts.

His fellow disciples all bowed, chanting: “Congratulations, martial brother”, “Congratulations, martial uncle”. Their voices resounding in the plaza.

…

The faces of all the disciples were rosy and full of smiles. They knew that, though the power of Yu Dian is one level lower than those of his generation, with this latest matter, Yu Dian had risen to a higher position.

Know what was in the minds of the masses, Yu Dian bowed again and said in a humble tone, “Master, these are just rumours and hot-air. It is this disciple’s greatest pleasure to stay by the master’s side often.”

His master’s smile broadened, and patted Yu Dian on the shoulder. “Man should always strive to attained greater places or progress. For a disciple of mine to work alongside emperor Yu will bring greater pride to the master.”

“This lesson, this disciple has received appreciatory.” Yu Dian bowed again.

His master waved indifferently, and then gestured, “Enough, let’s not stand outside and talk. We shall begin the feast.” Thus it began the celebratory feast in the main hall of the jade sword school. The seat of honour was taken by Yu Dian, as one after another well-wishers came forth to drink to celebrate Yu Dian’s achievements. Soon the evening sun descended into the horizon, and stars ﬁlled the sky. Only deep into the night, disciples began to disperse, and under the carousing and happy farewells from his fellow disciples, did Yu Dian ﬁnally return to his residence.

Later at night.

When the stars were fully visible in the reﬂective gaze of the courtyard pond of Yu Dian’s residence, did he quail his joyful expression. Just a while ago, the loud festive shouts from the main hall had faded, only endless silence remained in the residence, did Yu Dian settle down.

His expression was one of cold determination. His voice – a soundless whisper, was a message to himself: “My dear disciple, Yan Gao. Originally your master wanted to let your take over my position here on the Red Leaf Planet, but I’d never would have thought that you would be killed by a sword immortal. In these ten years, your master has put his all into helping emperor Yu with the trading affairs, and haven’t had the time to avenge your death.” A sharp ominous glint entered his eagle eyes. “But now………your master has successfully completed that task, your master will spare no effort to avenge your death. Despite my time here in the Silver Stream galaxy is short, I won’t stop until I avenge you.”

Yu Dian turn to face the starry sky, bathing his face in a serene soft glow, but in contrast, and his heart darkened with thoughts of murderous intent.

… On the outskirts of the Amber Moon’s teleportation arrays. Pillars of precious minerals and ores embedded in intricate positions and shapes surrounded a ten metre wide circular platform. Around the platform were ideograms of odd ﬁgures scribed into the platform. The creation of a teleportation array is very difﬁcult and complex, but maintaining these arrays were very simple.

Currently on Amber Moon, there are three such teleportation arrays. Normally there would only be a few dozen guards at the teleportation arrays, but on this particular day, over several hundred people dotted the land surrounding the arrays. At the forefront and closest to the array was Yan clan’s elders Yan Shuo and Yan Xu Fan, who was the newly elected clan leader.

The two elders of the clan stood with a ram-rod straight back in front of the array waiting quietly for some unknown event.

The clan leader whispered to the elder next him, “Say, when senior Yu Dian is going to come here?” Instead of a straight answer, the latter just shook his head and said, “Who knows. The message said it would be today, but who knows what time will it be? We shouldn’t be worried, since we’ve already been waiting all these years under the pressure from the other two great families – Liu and Wang. How could a little more waiting for a day’s time be compared to what we already have withstood? Today, senior Yu Dian will ﬁnally come, and with him, is the hope of our Yan clan.” The former nodded his assent as well. What was a day compared to those years of waiting.

Since the day their great patriarch and former clan leader died, their family had been living under pressure from other clans. Even though, the new clan leader – Xu Fan, broke through to level 1 golden immortal stage, their family wasn’t a match for the other two great families and their experts. Naturally, they had to grovel under the foot of the other families, suppressing their inﬂuence and power in every direction.

In the silence that instilled.

When one of the teleportation arrays lit up with blinding light, every member of the hundred plus Yan dignitaries snapped into attention and bowed deeply, thinking the newcomer was their would-be saviour… But, from the shaft of light came a short and stocky ﬁgure, whose power level was only at level 2 normal immortals’. The newcomer ﬂinched at the sight of a hundred plus people welcoming him, and started to sweat bullets. The sight had shocked him beyond belief, why would so many people welcome someone like him?

Seeing the stocky dwarf, the faces of the hundred plus dignitaries contorted into grimaces and stared daggers at the newcomer. Xu Fan instructed a Yan disciple behind, “Quickly, send this one out of here!” That disciple promptly escorted the level 2 immortal from the premises and quickly returned to wait.

Seconds turned to minutes, which turned to hours. Soon the sun was setting on the horizon.

Just before the last shaft of the evening light was cut off, one of the three teleportation arrays, once again lit up, and all the Yan members present bowed deeply to welcome the newcomers. From the blinding soft glow, a group of ﬁve stepped out from the array. Any one of the ﬁve’s power couldn’t be perceived by any one of the welcoming committee, meaning that all were at least golden immortals. At this point it didn’t matter if the newcomers were with Yu Dian or not, Xu Fan did dare offend these powerful individuals.

A young man among the ﬁve was the ﬁrst to speak, his voice was heard in the ears of all. “Where is Yan Shuo and Yan Xu Fan?”

The answer came without pause: “This one is called Yan Shuo, is present.”

A moment later came another, “This one called Yan Xu Fan is also present.”

Xu Fan bowed again and asked, “Can I please ask, if the ﬁve seniors are with senior Yu Dian’s group?”

These ﬁve were indeed the group with Yu Dian. Yu Dian knew that the killer must be very powerful, so to make sure his vengeance is unperturbed, he had brought a few fellow disciples and brothers to help him out. Of them, the weakest was a level 7 golden immortal.

“That is correct.” The young man seemed to be the spokesperson of the group. “I am called Lu Cao, a martial brother of Yan Gao. Listen well, this person is my master – Yu Dian.” The young man had gestured towards a deadpanned middle-aged man to his right.

The two elders and hundred plus entourage immediately bowed and saluted to the master. “We humbly greet the lordship, senior Yu Dian.”

The young continued to introduced the others, “This is my martial brother Heng Yu. He is the disciple of my martial uncle. And he is a powerful level 9 golden immortal.” This time, the young man gestured to an ebony young man.

While in their bowed positions, the two Yan clan elders’ hearts quailed as if they had been doused in icy cold water. A level 9 golden immortal, eh? That is an extraordinary ﬁgure! The elders led the hundred plus welcome committee to bow and pay their respects to another powerful ﬁgure. “We humbly greet this lordship, senior Heng Yu.” The man in question only nodded slightly as if looking at ants. This time, he came only for the sake of his martial uncle, to give his uncle some recognition (face), otherwise why would someone like him come to such a run-down and out-in-the-boonies planet like this?

The introduction continued, “This is my martial brother Feng Lian, who is a level 8 golden immortal.”

A level 8 golden immortal??

For these elders, these newcomers were far superior to them. “We humbly greet the lordship, senior Feng Lian.” The two respectfully bowed again.

“This person is my fellow martial brother Heng Feng, who is, with Feng Lian and I, a direct disciple of our master – Yu Dian. He is also a level 8 golden immortal” Holy sh*t! Another level 8 golden immortal??

The two elder, once again, bowed and paid their respects, “We humbly greet the lordship, senior Heng Feng.”

“And lastly, I. I am slight weaker at the level 7 golden immortal stage.” Lu Cao laughed, as if joking to himself. “In the future, if you have anything urgent, I can help you contact my master.”

This Lu Cao obviously was an operative, but nevertheless, a level 7 golden immortal operative, thus the two elder bowed respectfully once again to the speaker.

With the newcomers, they led the group directly to the home of the Yan clan.

…

Inside the main hall of the Yan clan.

At the head of clan hall, sat Yu Dian in the host’s seat. In the seats on the man’s two sides was Heng Feng, Feng Lian, Lu Cao and Heng Yu. In the central visitor’s area was Yan Shuo, Xu Fan and an elderly man with pale green hair and beard.

Xu Fan bowed deeply and said in a humble tone: “As per your command – senior Yu Dian, we have secretly been observing the Wang clan and the Liu clan. This person is an honoured guest of our clan, whose words are solid and truthful. From him, we gained a vital piece of information.”

Yu Dian narrowed his eyes, a strange light ﬂickered about from within. “Speak.”

Xu Fan glanced at the elderly man, and the elderly with a head of pale green hair, stepped forward and bowed deeply. “Senior, around ten or so years ago, a mysterious honoured guest was invited into the Liu clan. This honoured guest possessed unperceivable strength and had level 8 demons are his doormen. Even the patriarch and elders of the Liu clan can forth to visit this guest.” Yu Dian ﬂicker his gaze to Xu Fan. “Say, was there anything strange from the Wang clan?”

The latter shook his head fervently, “Nothing strange was of notice from the Wang clan. No one of particular powers appeared. This Liu family’s honoured guest is the most likely suspect. As senior said before, my eldest brother – Yan Gao, had not ever offend any powerful experts before, so most likely the act was surfaced from the familial feud between our family and the Liu clan.

The china in Yu Dian’s hand shattered like thin ice, ‘Piiiinnn’, hot scalding tea shot out. Not even fazed by the hot beverage splashing on his hand, as he slammed his clenched ﬁst onto the chair-side table, which collapsed like a castle of cards. The sudden motion caused the two Yan clan elders and the honoured guest to quiver in fear.

Yu Dian stared daggers at the elderly with pale green hair. “The Liu clan’s honoured guest, you say?”

In a deadpanned expression and icy voice, Yu Dian instructed, “Take this honour guest back to his residence, and bring me any information about this Liu clan’s honoured guest. This is a matter I will personally handle.”

It was an answer, the Yan elders were eager to hear. “Of course, senior Yu Dian.”

Only stars lit the skies.

Amongst the icy gales, ﬁve ﬁgures rode the wind across Yan Shan city.

Lu Cao laughed with amusement, “Master, this Liu clan’s honoured guest is a really interesting ﬁgure. Since meeting the Liu family’s elders, the guest have been in closed-door training and hasn’t come out for a decade.”

The most powerful of the group – Heng Yu, sneered, “This is for the better. We don’t have to look under every rock on this planet to ﬁnd this guy. All we have to do is go there and capture this guy directly, whether as a hostage or as the murderer, I will kill them nonetheless.

While the two martial practitioners chattered, Yu Dian muttered to himself, “This Liu clan’s honoured guest……I have a feeling my disciple’s – Yan Gao’s, death deﬁnitely had something to do with this ‘guest’.”

Though, Yu Dian’s mumbles was very quiet, but his companions were immortals with heightened senses, so naturally they could hear Yu Dian’s soliloquy. “Master, rest assured, with the ﬁve of us, the guy is as good as dead. Unless the opponent is an immortal emperor stage expert, they wouldn’t survive. Plus, martial brother Heng Yu is no ordinary level 9 golden immortal but a sword immortal with the strongest offensive power among immortals. Even if the opponent is a level 1 mystic immortal, the opponent won’t faire well.” His disciple Feng Lian smiled reassuringly at him.

The other martial disciples laughed mockingly as this.

As a disciple of the jade sword school, the immortal practitioners of the sword are far more offensively powerful than an ordinary level equivalent immortal practitioner. “No matter who it is, we need to be on our guard.” Yu Dian’s face changed to a very serious expression. “Did you all forget already, what the Yan clan’s newly elected clan leader said? Yan Gao who had reached a level 7 golden sword immortal was killed in a single sword stroke??”

Instantly the others shut up, the easy-going smiles of the other four companions disappeared and was replaced by ugly expressions.

One sword stroke?

A level 7 golden sword immortal was killed in one stroke? That single strike must not have been very simple as it is said to be then.

Lu Cao broke apart with boisterous laughter. “Master, I will not believe that person is a mystic immortal. Much less than a mystic immortal who would go about and randomly kill off golden immortals as their leisure.” His fellow martial brother Heng Feng also joined in laughing at this frivolous idea, “Ha ha, that’s right! An immortal emperor reduced to dealing with golden immortals? What the heck is that?”

With those two’s outburst, the tense atmosphere in the group instantly dispersed like fog in morning light. They continued to travel at an easy-going pace with a joyous mood. None of them could believe that an immortal emperor stage expert would come to a remote planet like Amber Moon, to deal with a golden immortal??? That is absolutely preposterous! Unheard of! Impossible!

Yu Dian also laughed at this idea as well. “Ha ha, that’s quite enough. Let’s go to this Bamboo Garden to ﬁnd this honoured guest called Qin Yu. Of course, everyone is to act according to the plan where we attack simultaneously using the Five Point Chain Sword technique. We mustn’t be careless.”

The other four, third generation disciples, voiced their conﬁrmations. “Yes, master”, “Yes, martial uncle.” With that the group accelerated into beams, of golden sword energies spheres, and instantly disappeared in the air space just outside Yan Shan City.

…

While the group was talk frivolously, within the Bamboo Garden, the two demons – Shuo Yan and Zang Yuan, was relaxing in the shade of the singular pagoda drinking fresh tea. The two sentinels had never left the Manor grounds since Qin Yu ﬁrst entered the secret cultivation chamber, which was below the ground where they sat on stone stools.

The male of the two guards, known as Zang Yuan, smiled lightly and spoke to his female counterpart: “The master has been in closed-door training for a decade. I wonder what stage the master is at now.”

Shuo Yan mused quietly, looking somewhat reluctant. “Given the mystical nature of our master’s path of practice, in these ten years……I fear that he has surely surpassed us. I think he should be able to open the second layer world of the Atlas, releasing hundreds of demon kings. By that time, I think we wouldn’t have the chance to help milord with any more things.” At this the two quietly sat on their stools in silence, and just as they were pondering about their own things….

“Pshh, BOOOM!” High density air pockets slammed into the surrounding bamboo shoots, causing the stems to burst apart in the ravaging winds. Countless bamboo leaves was scattered in the air space above the garden and slowly drifting downwards. A split second after, the space above the garden rumbled like thunder and shook in all directions. Countless rippling sword waves was ﬂying from all directions into the garden grounds.

“Psheee, Sou! Sou! Sou! Plsheee!!” The garden’s maids and normal guards were cleaved and diced by the savage on- slaughter of countless sword waves. Blood, intestines and internal organs exploded into small droplets of crimson coloured ﬂuid which fell like rain drenching the ground in dull red. There wasn’t a single breath of silence. Mayhem ﬁlled the garden, full of wretched cries and despairing screams dying servants, while being turned into human gore passed through a meat grinder. Between their sorrowful cries was the menacing howls of multitudes of sword waves. In an instant, the peaceful garden had been transformed to a bloody hell with cut bodies and bloody remains painting the grounds.

Above all this chaos, a challenge was boomed in the sky: “Qin Yu! Come Out and Beg Mercy! Give yourself up right now!”

That booming voice echoed in the skies above hell, then the outlines of ﬁve ﬁgures appeared in the sky. Each stood at the ﬁve primary points of traditional Chinese philosophy of any formation arts: Wood, Fire, Earth, Gold (metal) and Water. At their hips or on their backs were the hilts of swords. In their positions, their hands formed strange hand seals where they stood like divine adjudicators bringing judgement upon all.

Chapter 13: Sword Waves In All Directions

Within a misty spatial pocket, a silently meditating Qin Yu was sitting in a cross-legged position. His hands deftly shifted from one hand seal to the next of the thirty-six different hand seals, with practiced ease. These hand seals belong to the art known as ‘3-in-9 Soul Reﬁnement’ technique, whereas the thirty-six hand seals was only the ﬁrst three movements – part of the ﬁrst stage (human stage), of the soul reﬁning art.

Consequently, the spatial pocket he was residing in wasn’t a normal space, but the spatial pocket manifested by his soul.

The thirty-six hand seals each consume a large and increasing amount of soul force, when made. At the beginning, Qin Yu found that later hand seals of the series were incredibly difﬁcult to form, but now and over the course of his meditation, he could form them much more freely.

And just like that tireless training, Qin Yu had successfully made it through every one of the thirty-six hand seals. He felt his entire existence was immersed in the embracing comfortable and wondrous space, and in there the passage of time was non-existent, thus time outside ﬂowed by endlessly.

A soft voice echoed in the depths of that soul space, waking Qin Yu like being doused in icy cold water.

…

Within the Jade Immortal Mansion.

A cross-legged statue jerked alive. The statue’s eyes ﬂickered open. Before Qin Yu’s eyes was the familiar teal-green jade colour that was of the Jade Immortal Mansion. In his ears was the crystal clear sounds of splashing and sloshing of ﬂowing water on the fountain nearby.

The same soft but anxious sounding voices rang in his head. “Master, the situation is terrible. The enemy has invade the garden intending to slaughter us.” The voice belong the two very nervous sounding Shuo Yan and Zang Yuan. The two weren’t too worried about themselves, because they could just instantly return to the ﬁrst layer world of the Atlas. They feared the worst for their master – Qin Yu. They feared that the enemy would’ve killed Qin Yu within the hidden cultivation chamber.

But what they didn’t know was that Qin Yu was meditating within the Jade Immortal Mansion.

“Hoh? The enemy?”

Qin Yu frowned at this, who would dare attack him right now? He instantly expanded his immortal spiritual powers out of the jade immortal mansion to investigate the disruption in the bamboo gardens. Ever since the fusion of his soul with the meteoric tear, his soul and soul force has undergone amazing transformations. Such as his ability to use greater teleportation when at the normal immortal stage and having extremely powerful passive and active detection capabilities of the soul.

“Hmm, the enemy consists of ﬁve people. The most powerful is at level 9 golden immoral stage.” A ﬂicker of his thoughts, he could clearly perceive insightful knowledge about the enemy force. “All ﬁve are quite powerful.” He was startled with the information. In just that brief moment, he had his spiritual powers encompass the entire garden and the hell it was wrought into, and covered the entire Liu Feng city to discover his disciple – Liu Han Shu, currently present in the main hall of the Liu clan’s headquarters.

He instantly made his decision, “First. Shuo Yan, Zang Yuan, there’s no need to evade those sword waves anymore. Return to the Atlas, where you will be safe.” Without pause and a ﬂicker of his thoughts, he withdrew Shuo Yan and Zang Yuan back into the Atlas of ten thousand beasts. With the Jade Immortal Mansion’s protection, he would not believe that the ﬁve opponents would be able to ﬁnd and perceive through the contraptions and protections set by Emperor Ni Yang himself. “Well, ﬁrst things ﬁrst, I should calculate how long I’ve been undergoing this time’s closed-door training session.” After a short while, his eyes ﬂickered with wisdom. “Ahh, whilst training, it did only seemed like a few months or years. In a blink of an eye, a decade had passed.”

He pursed his lips. “Oh that’s right, no wait…..ten years…..didn’t the Liu clan’s clan leader say, ten years ago, that the contest for the control of the teleportation arrays was going to be held in ten years’ time? I wonder if it was held already.” As soon as he thought of it, he put it aside, it wasn’t his problem nor the important matter at hand.

Carefully, he started to investigate the details of his progress with his latest training session. “Ha, I’ve wasted at least half a year’s time.” He found that he had already successfully achieved the complete ‘Human’ Stage of his Soul Reﬁnement technique.

Ten years ago, his soul was at the level 8 normal immortal stage, and half a year ago he was already at level 1 golden immortal stage, which wasn’t much of a surprise. It was just that Qin Yu was fully immersed in that transient realm so he did not notice his ‘Human’ stage soul was already achieved, and he could’ve started on the next step – the ‘Earth’ stage of his soul reﬁnement arts.

Feeling quite happy with his progress, a smile surfaced on his face. “Hah, my soul has reached level 1 golden immortal stage. Reﬁning one or two level 1 golden immortal yuanying shouldn’t be difﬁcult now.” He was conﬁdent in his success to reﬁne such yuanying, and yet he did not start reﬁning. Now was not the sort of situation where he wanted to start reﬁning, because ﬁve powerful experts who were here to kill him was outside. So if he did not come out of hiding, the ﬁve intruders would continue to wreak havoc on the surroundings including the city. Along that line of thought, Qin Yu wasn’t……too worried about confronting the ﬁve intruders as well. “My immortal sword puppet may just be one level 9 golden sword immortal, but he wields and uses the most powerful sword style in all of the immortal planes – the ‘Heaven Sundering Sword style’, and its body is nearly indestructible. Simply considering the toughness and defence of the puppet, it is alone, powerful enough, to face a level 1 mystic sword immortal’s assault. If not wiping the ﬂoor of these fools, at least I will not lose.”

There isn’t another sword immortal with toughness comparable to the sword puppet, nor there another sword immortal with offensive power as one who uses the supreme sword art – Heaven Sundering Sword. Simply by these two factors, Qin Yu’s sword puppet was at least one level higher than sword immortals of the same level as it.

He knew the battle wasn’t going to be an easy one at that. “Those ﬁve experts outside have peak powers of this stage, I cannot be careless. Best I control the sword puppet myself then using my thoughts to remotely control it.” His soul quickly separated itself from his body. As it ﬂew it, the sword puppet also appeared in the courtyard of the jade immortal mansion, where the soul directly entered the sword puppet without hesitation.

Normally, to control one’s precious equipment involve using thoughts, but in actual fact, precise control of the equipment uses soul force, and with an equipment directly possessed by the master’s soul, control is most articulate.

Once his soul had entered the puppet, a ﬂash of an idea happened on him. He instantly moved the Blazing Ice Ring into the puppet’s interior, then altogether, exited the jade immortal mansion.

In the air above the bamboo garden, the ﬁve invader still levitated in the ﬁve primary vertices of a star. They were Yu Dian’s group of avengers consisting of four disciples of the third generation jade sword school descendants. Instead of delightful faces having relieved themselves by massacring all in the bamboo garden, they were serious but somewhat disappointed faces. The one called Feng Lian opened his mouth and wondered aloud, “Master, there isn’t a shred of life force in the bamboo garden below, do you suppose that……honoured guest of the Liu clan has also been killed?”

Yu Dian only frowned but did not reply.

The ‘ﬁve point chain sword formation’ was a formation with the ﬁve of them standing at the ﬁve vertices of the formation, with their hands contorted into the hand seals belonging to the Imperial Spirits style. The formation is merely for skimming out the ‘fat’ or the weak over a large area with an area-of-effect technique. Though, countless sword waves ﬁlled the large area the technique encompasses, it could be quite easily shrugged off by powerful golden immortals.

Who would have thought that the formation, which is completed their hand seals, would not leave a single speck of life force in the entire bamboo gardens. Even Lu Cao agreed with this juncture. “Master, if you take the size and location of this puny amber moon planet, and the size of the Liu clan, it is obvious that the strength of the honoured guests of the Liu clan is comparable to the total power of the Liu clan. I’d say that the honoured guest is but a level 9 normal immortal. Maybe the man had already died from our formation attack just then.” Lu Cao’s lips curved upwards into an eventual smile.

If the suspect, which is the Liu family honoured guest, was just an ordinary level 9 immortal who was killed in one move by their formation, and if this got out, they would be a laughingstock for overkilling such a weak target. Yu Dian felt slightly ashamed to bring ﬁve late stage golden immortals, including himself, to take out a level 9 immortal. He pondered for a short while then looked at Heng Yu. “Martial nephew, your soul force is the most powerful of us, could you……check if there are any more human beings in this bamboo garden?”

“Of course, martial uncle.”

Heng Yu immediately spread his spiritual power to sweep over every nook and cranny of the bamboo garden belong. His spiritual powers even swept over the speck of gravel, which was the jade immortal mansion. Even if he probe every aspect of the surroundings, the jade immortal mansion included, how could this fellow even imagine breaking passed the illusionary and defensive spells placed by emperor Ni Yang, himself, on the jade immortal mansion. “Martial uncle, I’ve just swept the entire gardens with my spiritual power and did not ﬁnd a single person ali…” ––––––– Before Heng Yu could ﬁnish his sentence, be choked on his words and ‘coughed’, an expression of shock adorned his previously aloof ﬁgure, because…

A shadowy ﬁgure emerged out from behind some, still standing, bamboo shoots.

The ﬁgure resembled a young man whom was dress in a ﬂowing black robe, with the hilt of a long sword strapped to his back.

The ﬁve intruders instantaneously ﬂicked their gaze to rest on this newcomer.

In that instant, they all had one thought: “It’s a true expert!” They were shocked to ﬁnd they couldn’t perceive even a little of the spiritual powers of this newcomer, so the next most possible answer is that this man was much stronger than them. In a majestic and yet arrogant manner, the newcomer lifted his head and swept an icy gaze over the ﬁve ﬂoating intruders, and in an equally icy voice, he said: “Who are you, and why would you dare come to my bamboo garden and cause mayhem?”

At this instance, the leader of the ﬁve – Yu Dian, could not quail the easiness pressing down on his heart. At ﬁrst, he had hoped the opponent was no more than a level 8 golden immortal, and at worst a level 9 golden immortal, but not someone with……powers greater than theirs.

Yu Dian could only answer in a lighter tone than his previous challenging tone. “I am called Yu Dian, the master of Yan Gao. And who are you? What kind of relationship do you have with Qin Yu?” The other four may be slightly hesitant in front of such adversary, but Yu Dian was the subordinate under the leadership of emperor Yu. What could he be afraid of? Even in the face of other peak experts and powers in the immortal realm, mowing down a few was ﬁne and dandy, but he would not be allowed to lose face for his ruler, emperor Yu.

“The martial arts master of Yan Gao?” It all made sense now. Qin Yu was mildly surprised that they could immediate pinpoint the location and the relationship between him and the murderer so easily. Unknown to him, the other side wasn’t completely sure he was the culprit.

“Who am I, you say?……normally, you’re not qualiﬁed to know, and yet you wish to know about my relationship with Qin Yu?” A crafty smile grew on the man’s face, “I’ll tell you: I am Qin Yu’s martial uncle.” He was currently in the body of his immortal sword puppet. If the mortal plane emissaries were here, they’d instantly recognise this quirky and aloof sword immortal. It was Lan Feng.

“Martial uncle?” Understanding ﬂashed through the eyes of the ﬂoating Yu Dian, who instantly had an epiphany about the situation at hand. The honoured guest of the Liu clan is Qin Yu, whose strength is poor, but to be able to kill Yan Gao the murderer must have been this martial uncle by Qin Yu’s request.

Without beating around the bush, Yu Dian looked pointedly at the man below. “So did You kill Yan Gao?” “Yeah, so what? What of it?” the man answered in a dismissive and condescending tone. “And what are you going to do about it, eh?” The expression on the man’s face displayed how much disdain as he looked at the ﬁve intruders.

The ﬁve’s expression all grew ugly and menacing, in front of ﬁve powerful golden immortals, the man dares to trample their faces. Though, Yu Dian was an avenger, he was by far, not a rash person. “Hoh? And are you a mystic immortal stage expert? If you are, then you must be in the same generation as my school master, and only then you could have show such disdain towards us. But if you’re just a poser……trampling on our faces and insulting us in such rambunctious way, we’d need to at least give you a piece of your own medicine.” Yu Dian’s voice was soft but there was some steel in his tone.

“Oh, a mystic immortal stage? ‘sigh’ I am, but a step from that stage.” Qin Yu laughed gleefully, “No need to beat around the bush any more, allow me to inform you fools. I am a simple man at level 9 golden immortal stage, but am I afraid of you…? Ha ha!” Qin Yu looked these people as if they were a bunch of clowns in front of his eyes, so he joked about them.

Yu Dian’s face twitched with rising anger.

But that didn’t stop Qin Yu from continuing his monologue. He turned to glance at the surrounding scattered bamboo shoots, and said with a dramatic ﬂourish of his hands, “Ah! My dear bamboo garden, I have lived among you for nearly a decade! To all the greenery and tall bamboo groves, I feel slightly disheartened at your current and……sorrowful outlook, it brings a tear to my eye. And woe to my servant girls and my beautiful maids!” He turned his body and waved his hands in a conductor’s pose at the bloody remains of his servants. “Since you don’t wish to act ﬁrst, I must avenge my fallen comrades of my bamboo garden. For every plant, I’m so emotionally attached, I must reap your lives for your underhanded actions!”

“Now is the time!”

A single phrase from Yu Dian, via voice transfer, echoed in the minds of Heng Yu, Feng Lian, Heng Feng and Lu Cao, followed by a quick decision: “Go all out! Use our ultimate move now!”

With the level 9 golden immortal – Heng Yu, as the head of the formation and four supporters, each immortal knotted their hands through a series of hand seals. Golden light rushed out from their bodies, as their swords levitated free of their scabbards and ﬂoated above their heads, pointing inwards.

Qin Yu narrowed his eyes against the blinding light from these ﬁve opponents.

Amidst this dazzling but cold harsh light, Qin Yu smiled a devil’s smile. “Whoa…they come here and immediate use such a cruel and ﬁerce technique.” Without losing a hint of his darkly smile, he straddled the air and climbed upwards, as if walking on celestial heavenly stairs, at a leisurely pace, completely at ease when confront with the opponent most powerful mystic art.

Qin Yu ascended the ‘heavenly stairs’ under the watchful gaze of the ﬁve attackers. Seeing Qin Yu’s bravado, arrogant and aloof expression, they laughed and jeered in their hearts, because they knew their attack was incredibly powerful.

“Five Point Chain Sword Formation ––––– Five Points, Break!” “Riiiip! BOOOM!!”

The immediate space in front of the ﬁve rumbled like heavenly thunder, ﬁve streams of golden streams escape from the mouths of the ﬁve and into their respective immortal swords, which were ﬂoating above their heads.

Qin Yu felt the word light up like lit magnesium ﬂares, sleek bolts of lightning descended on the world below, which combined to strike at Qin Yu. If there was an immortal emperor present, they would notice that this lightning bolt is, in fact, a massive long sword.

Qin Yu looked up at the descending lightning bolt, as if to admire its beauty as it cleaved through the air.

Under the glow and super heating of the oncoming lightning bolt, Qin Yu stood there in mid-air, motionlessly watching the spectacle. “KABOOOMM!! HONGG! HONGG!”

An earth-shattering crash and explosion was heard, followed by a tremendous shockwave of resonating air and smashed against whatever buildings currently standing in the surroundings. With Qin Yu at the epicentre, the crater with a radius of one kilometre was made from the explosive impact of the descending lightning bolt. Everything within that crater was blasted into smithereens; buildings, trees and rocks were transformed into ﬁne powder. What are previously a bloody hell was instantly transformed into a lifeless ruin, where the ground was immaculately clear from a single drop gore.

In an instant, the world within the bamboo garden was remade into a new scenery.

The actions of this ‘martial uncle’ had completely bafﬂed the ﬁve attackers, even the taciturn Yu Dian was puzzled. Why did this ‘martial uncle’ not resist nor dodge the attack?

As the ﬁne powder of everything had settled, a silhouette appeared in front of them.

The silhouette resembled someone they were familiar with.

‘That martial uncle’ had appeared in front of their very eyes.

“You, yo……” Yu Dian and the others were completely mystiﬁed and made slack-jawed by Qin Yu’s appearance.

They could not believe what their eyes were seeing!

How could a level 9 golden immortal under the direct assault of their ultimate technique survive that attack??? Even the jade sword school master – Yu Qing Zi, would try to dodge the attack, desperately, as if their life depended on it.

Qin Yu smiled devilishly at the ﬁve fools. “That sword formation technique was indeed quite powerful, but it’s still far from hurting me. Well, that attack was your move, now it is time for my turn.” He moved his hand and gripped the long sword behind his back, just as the ﬁve snapped awake from their stupor.

But it was too late.

Escape is but a dream!

Deadly cold light ﬂashed through Qin Yu’s eyes –––––––––

Heaven Sundering Sword Style! Eighth Movement!

Omni Slash!

Sword Drawing!

With the immortal sword facing the heavens above, eight slender waves of heaven sundering sword waves ﬂew outwards in all directions. Six of which fused into three extremely powerful sword waves and all heading in the direction of the ﬁve fools’ heads.

The waves may have looked like they moved slowly, but their targets did even move so much a muscle, before the waves had arrived.

The three fused waves had arrived in the faces of Yu Dian, Heng Feng and Feng Lian and the weaker two waves arrived in the faces of the remaining level 7 and 9 golden immortals – Lu Cao and Heng Yu.

Chapter 14: Second Layer World Of The Atlas

While Yu Dian’s group was still failing to comprehend what in the world was going on. They barely noticed Qin Yu initiating his own counterattack. And before they could move a muscle, three powerful and two slightly weaker waves of sword energy had already arrived at their faces.

The eighth move of the heaven sundering sword style was an extremely powerful technique from the heaven sundering sword repertoire, how could some miserly level 8 golden sword immortal even dream to resist?

“This move consumed about 50% of all nine top grade elemental stones installed. If I couldn’t kill the lot of you, wouldn’t I have made a big loss?” Qin Yu snickered to himself. He was conﬁdent in killing the four of the ﬁve, except the level 9 golden immortal. He wasn’t a fool to think he could deﬁnitely take care of that level 9 golden immortal Heng Yu, so the moment he executed the Omni-slash, he dashed toward Heng Yu.

“Shillllicc!” “Shillicc!” Feng Lian and Heng Feng was instantly bisected at the chest level, blood spraying from the entry and exit wounds of the sword wave, their bodies completely lifeless as they fall down to the ground.

Confronted by such silent killer move, Yu Dian was no better than his own disciples. He may have had the business savviness of the trader and the management skills of a leader, but in terms of combat prowess, he was much weaker. He too, was rendered lifeless by the attack.

As for Lu Cao, he was, by his nature, a cheeky and cunning individual. The moment he saw the ‘martial uncle’ wasn’t dead, he was the ﬁrst to react and dodge to the side….

But, the sword wave that was aimed at him wasn’t following a straight line either.

Each sword wave wasn’t a simple sword wave. Each was a wave of sword energy created using the Heaven sundering sword energy, meaning that each wave will home in on their targets like sword waves with consciousness.

The sword energy created by the divine long sword Sky Piercer bestows the ability and moves belonging to the Heaven Sundering Sword Style. Something as profound and omnipotent at the heaven sundering sword strikes wasn’t something a sly and cunning individual like Lu Cao could even dream on dodging. Naturally, he also fell victim to such a horriﬁc display of power.

…

In this world and in any other world, the strong are revered. Sometimes, in the battle between seemingly equally powerful experts, a slight mistake or difference in strength could determine life or death. Who would bother with several hundred rounds of assault? If you wish to kill the opponent, you would use your sure-kill moves.

In a moment of weakness, carelessness or a result of the opponent’s lightning reﬂexes, and with the element of surprise, the targets wouldn’t have a chance of survival. Not to mention, the difference in power would only widen that gap.

In a blink of an eye, four of the ﬁve attackers, who were all late stage golden immortals, were instantly decapitated.

By concentrating the limited sword energies, Qin Yu instantly projected these sharpened blades and killing four golden immortals in one go, while he himself rushes forward to confront Heng Yu, who could feel the chill rise up from his toes.

Being the strongest of the group and most experienced in combat, Heng Yu had just enough time to unsheathe his sword and block the oncoming sword wave head-on. The impacting power from the sword wave sent him a hundred metres or two, while his hands felt a little numb from the jarring force. The force had shocked him greatly, as he felt the pressure from the wave, and his heart quivered in fright. “What a ﬁerce and powerful sword wave.” Even though the wave was only one eighth of the total power of the Omni-direction attack, it wasn’t wise to underestimate its destructive force. “No wonder. No wonder, my martial uncle and the others could not escape from their fate.” A level 9 golden immortal like Heng Yu was even knocked over a hundred metres back from the strength of that one attack. He now was very cautious and more prepared for the strength of this martial uncle of Qin Yu’s, and stood his ground in mid-air. One should know that melee combat on the ground gives the combatant less manoeuvrability and freedom to rampage, whereas in the air, it allows for more three dimensional movement.

“Hoh, you want to oppose me, eh?” Qin Yu smiled then broke into a loud laugh when he saw the provocative expression on the last golden immortal. Then accelerated into the air and towards his target.

The target was ten thousand and so metres above the ground!

Heng Yu and Qin Yu faced off each other, each clashing at high-speed at which lesser immortals could only catch shadowy blurs in the sky.

It was a ﬁght between two super experts, whose clashes and power ﬂuctuations created huge energy shockwaves the hammered the residents in the land below. Those of the Liu clan and even the Wang clan of the nearby city, could feel energy ﬂuctuations. After all, these people were all immortals with spiritual sense, how could they not feel the wide-spread quakes in the area?

Below, the Liu clan’s clan leader and Liu Han Shu, could only grimace bitterly at the explosive forces rain down from above.

Elders – Yan Xu Fan and Yan Shuo from Yan Shan city, approached from below, towards the Liu family elders. “Liu Ming Han, the honoured guest you invited is simply amazing, he’d even dare to kill a senior generation of the jade sword school.” Yan Shuo sneered at the Liu clan’s clan leader. “It’s no use for excuses now, I’ve already informed the jade sword school about everything with my voice transfer talisman bead.” Yan Shuo laughed and the pitiable expressions on the clan leader’s face, he very much enjoyed to torment the other.

Amber Moon was a planet in the Silver Stream star ﬁeld, which was in turn, under the command of Emperor Yu’s thirty- six rulers, which in this case was ‘Yu Qing Zi’. Offending the jade sword school was the same as offending emperor Yu. For the puny little clan like the clan leader’s Liu clan, offending emperor Yu was the same as facing genocide.

“Yan Shuo, don’t you dare slander me. My family’s honoured guests have only the power of a level 9 immortal. Can you not free the explosive energy waves from the ﬁght above? How can an expert of that level accepted an invitation from my Liu clan?” the clan leader wore feigned expression of pity.

Ming Han of the Liu clan refuted in a righteous manner, “Yan Shuo, you know you have little grasp in controlling the teleportation array via the contest in a month’s time, such that you dare to use such an underhanded move to ‘hit me below the belt’ and denounce my family. The truth of your intentions will be known by the jade sword school master, who will put you in your place!”

Yan Shuo only laughed in an arrogant and condescending manner. “I won’t argue with you here. When the school master ﬁnds out about the death of a senior member of the school, all will be known.” Yan Shuo eyed Ming Han with disdain. On the surface, Ming Han only nodded and smiled in provocation, but in his mind, he had already made a decision: Qin Yu is undeniably my honoured guest, but his martial uncle and my family have no relation whatsoever. “Qin Yu, hah, Qin Yu, I’d never have thought the prowess of your martial clan senior would be so powerful. Not only Yan Gao, but the man’s master and several more powerful comrades above level 7 golden immortal, each fell at your martial uncle’s blades. One after another was killed effortlessly at your uncle’s blade.”

Ming Han didn’t know whether to cry or laugh in delight.

But he knew one thing: he could not afford to offend the jade sword school nor Qin Yu, since both have the capability to kill level 7 or 8 golden immortals. He had to appease these two powers. With that in mind, he gazed upwards to the showdown between two experts in their ﬁnal stage of their life and death battle.

“Booom!” howling gales of two powerful sword energy waves collided creating two opposing wind fronts and a subsequent explosion. The force of the collision sent the two combatants ﬂying outwards like two strongly like poles, but without a pause in their cadence, they each launched forward at each other for a second round. This process of clashes and rounds proceeded for a short while, when ﬁnally Heng Yu stopped and wiped some fresh blood from the corner of his mouth and stared daggers at Qin Yu. “You, you are very powerful and your techniques are bizarre. I do not have conﬁdence in killing you…”

“If you cannot kill me, but I will kill you.” Qin Yu spoke in a deadly chilled voice.

In reality, Qin Yu was just testing out the true power of a high level expert in a melee combat to get a feel for the powers he will be facing in the future. To do this, he expended all the power from nine top grade holy elemental stones by using lower powered attacks each time to draw out the match.

But now, they were at the precipice of the showdown.

Qin Yu was currently residing in the sword immortal puppet with an essential ‘immortal’ body. To this day, Qin Yu had never seen anything that could actually hurt or damage the puppet’s body in the slightest. That was why, he wanted to utilise this opportunity to test the extents of his puppet’s defence. But despite this aim, in this melee confrontation, his puppet had not suffered the smallest of blemishes yet, whereas Heng Yu was seriously injured. Cuts and gashes were rare to being the man’s body, but internally, Heng Yu was completely battered.

In the man’s eyes was a glint of malevolence. Heng Yu may be an extremely aloof ﬁgure even among the disciples of the jade sword school, no one would dare say they had won against Heng Yu. He wasn’t just merciless to others, he was the same with himself. “If you want to kill me, then prepare to witness this last ultimate technique of mine!”

It’s either you or me now!

Bloodlust in the form of crimson invade Heng Yu’s pupils, with his hands clasped together on the double hilt of his long sword, torrents of explosively bright energy channelled into the sword. A second later, the sword erupt upwards like a howling lightning dragon in the sky above, bisecting clouds and creating a special formation region that contained Qin Yu and himself. Wary of this move, Qin Yu reacted instantly.

Assimilating with his own sword, he cut a wide path by directly colliding with the hailstorm of sword waves, and taking numerous barrages of sword wave he was knocked back a few hundred metres. But even so, would some sword waves hinder his ‘immortal’ body? With a ﬂicker of his eyes and feet, he approached Heng Yu at an even faster speed.

Without hesitation or remorse, he pierced right through Heng Yu’s abdomen.

Tendons and muscles ripped in quick succession, the alarming sound of a blunt knife piercing into a carcass was heard in the region, the hand instantly grabbed the yuanying within the body of the victim, only to feel explosive sword energy emitting from it.

That instant when Heng Yu’s yuanying was gripped –––––––

A terrifying explosion and boom was heard from Qin Yu’s palm, while a wrathful voice was heard in Qin Yu’s mind, “Ha ha, my ultimate technique is to combust my yuanying. I refuse to believe that the explosive force from a combusted level 9 golden immortal’s yuanying will not kill you!”

“BOOOOOM!! RUMMBLE!”

The explosion had occur in the air, but the earth below shook and shockwaves continued to progress until it encompassed the entire planet. The incredible energy stored and combust in a level 9 golden immortal cause a solar ﬂare to envelope the skies of the planet, and in that instant, its brightness eclipse the sun.

Propelled by this ferocious force, Qin Yu was swept aside.

“My goodness!” Cries from below did not wake Qin Yu, as the violent explosion had happened right next to him and shook the very foundations of his soul, making him lose consciousness. Qin Yu’s body – Lan Feng, had assumed a dazed state, and within the time for ten breaths, his body had fallen a considerable height. Afterwards, he woke and exerted control over the body and stopped his descent. “This immortal sword puppet’s body is…..I wonder how Uncle Lan had been able to reﬁne such an item! That violent explosion had not damaged the puppet at all!” Qin Yu ﬁnally recovered from his dazed state and shocked to ﬁnd his body was not damage and none of his limbs were missing!

The previous explosion had only left a numb feeling in his hand, while the tremor from it was the most harmful, as it partially attacked his soul. “No matter. This Heng Yu guy is now dead.” Qin Yu immediately spread out his immortal spiritual powers.

Below, numerous sparkling treasures littered the grounds of Liu Feng city, but neither Liu clan, the Wang clan or the Yan clan dared to touch anything. They were very much afraid of offending Qin Yu, thus incurring Qin Yu’s wrath to rain on their heads. Their lives were more important than treasure!

The loots below included Heng Yu’s interspatial rings, other assorted items as well as the yuanying and items left from the death of the other four golden immortals. These were all collected by Qin Yu. “Hah, it’s unfortunate, I could not get Heng Yu’s yuanying. The guy was a level 9 golden immortal no less!” Qin Yu expressed a exasperate sigh, as if the remaining loot was not enough. “No matter. The remaining loot is still quite good: three level eight golden immortal yuanyings and a level 7 yuanying. With these breaking through to the ‘Black Hole’ stage should be useful.

Though Heng Yu combusted the fellow’s yuanying, the other four didn’t have the chance to self-destruct.

While collecting the loot, Qin Yu’s face instantly turned ugly. He had found that the dead body of Lu Cao had held, in the man’s hand, a voice transfer talisman bead! “This guy’s strength was the lowest, yet the fastest to react.”

At ﬁrst he was afraid of causing a huge uproar and attracting big trouble, but now he did not care, because his current identity was as superﬁcial and fake as the intentions of the lowly three major clansmen of Amber Moon.

“Clans: Yan, Liu and Wang.” His voice sounded out as he eyed the group of people some distance away. He had deliberately raise his voice to be heard by everyone else as well.

The faces of those clansmen was drained of all colour, where each had sported parched white expressions.

They all had a premonition; such an entity was killing level seven to eight golden immortals like taking a stroll in the park, could easily crush their families for breakfast.

“Heh, heeh.” Qin Yu chortled coldly at the clansmen, then disappeared from sight.

This cold snicker was enough to shake the hearts of the clansmen into submission. They unanimously decided, from henceforth, they could not afford to offend the martial elder of Qin Yu’s martial school and jade sword school.

That is the woe of puny powers like theirs. They could only prostrate themselves in front of the greater powers. …

On a distant and barren mountain, a few kilometres below was piles of gravel and sedimentary rocks, among those specks of gravel was the Jade Immortal Mansion.

Within the jade immortal mansion.

Qin Yu had already returned to his own body, and was sitting a cross-legged position, in front of the same water fountain, but with a level one golden immortal’s yuanying levitating in front, a little below eye level.

A while later, his mouth opened and from his mouth came tongues of blue ﬁre.

After reaching the mid-level of the Dark Star stage, the original heavenly purple ﬂames had become the upgraded ‘blue skyﬁre’. These tongues of blue fames wrapped around the yuanying of the emissary of old – Hua Yan. Under the constant heating of the blue skyﬁre, the yuanying was melted and reﬁned into a golden liquid.

“Glug, glug.”

Like drinking water from an oasis, Qin Yu drew in and drank the golden liquid, then he promptly shut his eyes and cleared his mind, and resumed his meditation.

Within the dantian region – the region a few centimetres below the collar, that golden liquid droplet was eroded drop by streams of golden liquid, as his red ‘Dark Star’ absorbed the concoction. The volume of the star did not decrease but the colour of the star darkened.

“Hm, still no enough.”

He couldn’t detect that marvellous feeling of an imminent breakthrough was at hand. So he instantly withdrew another yuanying, which had belonged to the Devil emissary – Du Zhong Jun. Under the tongues of blue skyﬁre, the yuanying turned into a golden red droplet.

“Gulp.” The next droplet was swallowed whole.

Once again, the liquid entered the dantian within his body and was absorbed, only this time the absorption rate was much higher. The yuanying of the devil Du Zhong Jun was instantly consumed by the dark star, whose volume increased by an signiﬁcant multiplication, while the colour was nearly black.

“Crackle.” Along the surface of his ‘dark star’ had begun to split apart and change.

To accelerate this process, Qin Yu withdrew a third yuanying of the dragon emissary Ao Feng, then reﬁned it and drank the golden liquid once again. The subsequent result was the dark star increased in size by another multiplication, though the star was still small in the boundless universe within his dantian. With the purest energy from three golden immortal’s yuanyings, the crackling and changes to the dark star sped up signiﬁcantly. “Can’t consume any more yuanyings.” He felt incredible energy erupting from the dark star, threatening to overwhelm his soul’s control, thus he didn’t dare to reﬁne any more yuanyings.

“Crackle, crackle.”

Ionic beams like open wounds laced the surface of the star, and suddenly, the star collapse inwards to a tenth of its original size. Now the star was completely black, deeper than the darkest of nights. Incandescent and ominous light shone from within, like a pearl of evil.

After a long time, the transformation stilled.

He opened his eyes, and from within a hint of a smile was seen, even his lips curved into a natural smile. He knew he had ﬁnally reached the late dark star stage. He then broke into a laugh, “Ha ha, now I should have the power to open the second layer world of the Atlas, right?” he asked to no one in particular. At a moment’s notice, he felt the power of his current dark star was at least ten times more powerful than his previous middle dark star stage.

Given how close he was to opening the second layer last time, he now should be able to open it without difﬁculty.

“Oh, I wonder how many demon kings will there be within the second layer world of my Atlas? And how many will there be of level 9 demon kings?” His heart thumped with excitement, as he imagined wielding a small army of elite peak level demon kings obeying his will.

Without further ado, he stiﬂed his excitement and directly entered the Atlas to proceed with opening the second layer world of the Atlas!

Chapter 15: Peak Level Demon King

His heart quivered with anticipation as he speculated about the amount of peak level demon kings within the second layer world. With these ﬁerce new powers, even level 1 or 2 mystic immortals would be crushed by an army of peak level demon kings.

He held out the golden scroll that was the Atlas of Ten Thousand Beasts.

Then channelled his newfound powers of his late dark star stage into the golden scroll. Originally, to open the second layer world of the Atlas required the power of a golden immortal, but his late dark star stage had the power of a level two to three golden immortal, so entry should be easy.

Blinding light erupted from within the scroll, Qin Yu face split apart in a wide grin. He had succeeded!

“Creeeaak!” The pearl gates of the second layer world opened slowly and the individual presences and information of all the beasts within entered his mind.

The second layer world of the Atlas.

It was a mundane day for the divine and magical beasts, many were talking and carousing together. They had all spent years together, but just at this moment, when Qin Yu opened the second layer world, all the hearts of these beasts trembled slightly. They all looked upwards at the approach of their new master.

“There’s….there’s 28 level 9 demon kings!” Qin Yu’s heart pumped loudly in his chest. By the gods, that’s twenty-eight peak level demon kings. If he had opened the second layer world much earlier than would he have needed to use and directly control his immortal puppet to kill the ﬁve immortals of Yu Dian’s group?

Could have just sent ﬁve or six level 9 demon kings, and it would’ve been a done deal just like that.

“There are 28 level 9 demon kings, level 8s are just over a hundred and level 7s are as high as three hundred!” He felt his chest swell with vigour like a general inspecting his new batch of elite troops. That feeling that within his hand held enormous power; the feeling of supremacy!

“Attention all of the second layer world of the Atlas, who is the leader here?” He sent this message into the world through his mind.

Qin Yu’s voice echoed in the hearts of all the beasts within the layer, a moment later, a tall thin man, a burly fellow with a head of golden hair and a woman in a luxurious white robe, stood in the airspace above the surface. The thin man was slightly in front while the golden haired brute and the woman ﬂanked the former.

“Master, this one is called Kong Lan. This world is under my supervision, as well as my two right-hand (man) and left-hand (woman) subordinates – Tu Gang and Dan Meng.” The word leader’s voice projected into his mind.

With a single thought. These three experts appeared in front of the eyes of Qin Yu, who was sitting in a cross-legged position on a jade coloured bed side.

“We greet the great master.”

The trio immediately bowed deeply.

Qin Yu nodded fractionally. “Alright, by opening the second layer world of the Atlas, I am already quite familiar with your strength. From what I observed, you are the leader of the level nine demon kings, magical beasts. You, yourself is a mid-class divine beast, right?”

“That is right, master.”

He had already inspected and paid careful attention to all 28 of the level 9 demon king. Of them, a smaller group consists of magical beasts, while the majority are divine beasts numbering up to 20 beasts. Their leader Kong Lan is, in fact, a mid-class divine beast, while the major group consists of low-class divine beasts. For Kong Lan to be the leader of all these demon kings, naturally, one can understand, he has the power to back that fact up. “Master, Elder Brother Kong Lan is not just the leader of the

28 demon kings and a mid-class divine beast, but also an ascendant from the ﬁrst layer world of the Atlas. Of more than the thousand beasts in the ﬁrst layer world, he was the fastest to ascend to this layer world.” The left hand side woman wearing a body hugging white robe smiled dreamily and with a playful spark in her eye, as she gave Kong Lan an eyeful.

The moment he heard this remark, Qin Yu could determine one thing: ‘After the death of emperor Ni Yang and the time after, around one thousand magical beasts had ascended from the ﬁrst layer world to the second layer world. To think that Kong Lan could be part of these thousand and also reach level 9 demon king stage, he must be ‘one of the talented ones’ mentioned by Shuo Yan before.’

“Kong Lan, ah. Your cultivation speed is indeed very fast!” Qin Yu exclaimed, and smirked.

The fellow humbly replied, “Master, it was simply because I was lucky. The class of a divine beast is a qualitative measure of their innate potential, having spent a hundred thousand years to progress from a level 8 normal demon to a level 9 demon king, is not something I would boast about.” It was true. Nearly a hundred thousand years had passed since Emperor Ni Yang’s death.

“Ha ha, you don’t need to say so humbly. Within the ﬁrst layer world, wasn’t there magical beasts that was still a level 7 normal demon in that hundred thousands of quietude and practice?” Qin Yu laughed and casually waver the man’s self- deprecating remark.

“Those people grew complacent and lazy, because there would be less of a chance for the master to give them tasks. However I, do not loiter around and waste time, and let nature have its way with cultivation! I do not sit around and passively cultivate.” Kong Lan frowned, obviously disliked some of these slackers.

“Oh?”

This was the ﬁrst time Qin Yu has ever heard of such a thing! The lower the strength of a beast, the less likely the master would give them tasks, which means they will have less opportunities to please their master. This drives them to become complacent.

The white robed Dan Meng piped up, “Elder brother Kong Lan is right. Many of the Atlas relish in this concept, but most others also do not want to spend their lifetimes stuck within the Atlas. Those also want to go out into the outside world and test themselves, explore and journey with the master. Only those people work hard and cultivation fastidiously, eagerly competing for more opportunities from the master to certain jobs above world.”

Qin Yu gave them a faint smile, he too could empathize with their desires. Who would want to be under ‘house arrest’ for their entire lives, without having seen the outside world?

A light entered his mind as something piqued his interest. “Say, Kong Lan, you must have known many people over these numbers of years, how many magical beasts ascended from the second layer world to the third?” Kong Lan showed a thoughtful expression, and answered: “Master, I’ve only heard this from the older generations of this layer world. They say that the step between a level 9 demon kings to a level 1 demon emperors are like comparing the babel tower to piece of paper; the difﬁculties to break through from level 9 demon king to level 1 demon emperor is beyond imagination. Of these hundred thousand years, only one demon king succeeded on ascending to the third layer world!”

“Only one??”

He ﬁnally felt like he could really comprehend the difﬁculty level of breaking through from the peak demon king stage to the lowest level of the demon emperor stage, though the difference is only one step.

Kong Lan explained, “Master, the number of demon kings of the Atlas are only between twenty and ten. To have even a single one breakthrough from the second layer to the third layer of that lot, is already an incredible occurrence. Under normal circumstances, only one out of a hundred will become a demon emperor.” After a short pause, Qin Yu suddenly asked him, “Kong Lan, if I let you ﬁght against a demon emperor, would you have some certainty in your success?”

Kong Lan immediately shook his head in denial, “I do not.”

Qin Yu started.

In his opinion, a mid-class divine beast at level 9 demon king stage like Kong Lan should be equivalent to a mid-class divine beast at level 1 demon emperor stage, which means the fellow would inevitably defeat a magical beast at level 1 demon emperor stage with ease.

The fellow wasn’t ﬁnished. “I am not for a demon emperor, but a mystic immortal should be possible.”

Qin Yu pondered about this: ‘Don’t demon emperor of magical beasts have similar strength as immortal emperors? But Kong Lan is quite ﬁrm on his chances with an immortal emperor than a demon emperor.’ Soon the fellow provided his answer, “Master, any who was able to reach the demon emperor stage is at least a divine beast. Only divine beasts have good aptitudes and potentials, as the possibility of a breakthrough to the demon emperor stage is too great of a hurdle for all beasts. That is why I do not have a chance against a demon emperor.” Kong Lan paused then carefully measured out his words: “For a mystic immortal, however, I have about a 50% chance of victory. But……that would depend on their equipment. If their equipment is just so and so, I could very well win, but if the immortal has the best grade armour, weapons and so on, I probably could not defeat the immortal much less than killing.”

Kong Lan’s shoulders slacked visibly, as he sighed he said, “That is……because…..my….my weapon is of weak and of poor quality.” The guy looked very dejected having a helpless and embarrassed expression on his face.

Qin Yu, on the other hand, was shocked to know this. He immediately inspected Kong Lan’s equips then all the equips of all the beasts in the second layer world. The results surprised Qin Yu once again; the best equipment on Kong Lan was a high grade immortal item, while the best weapon in the entire second layer world of the Atlas was just a high grade immortal class weapon. Not one piece of top grade immortal class equipment was found!

Dan Meng immediately explained why this was so, “When the previous master – Emperor Ni Yang, acquired the Atlas, his power was already at the mystic immortal stage. At the time, when he ﬁrst caught us, his aim was just to ﬁll up the ﬁrst and second layer world of the Atlas, to him, we are hardly useful. He couldn’t be bothered to use us and would rather use the demon emperors of the third layer world almost all the time!”

Qin Yu turned to face Dan Meng. The woman was a veteran among the level 9 demon kings, and had to have known many affairs regarding the Atlas. “He would have hardly any use for us – demon kings, so of course, we would not have much good combat gear. It was just that Emperor Ni Yang was too wealthy at the time! He had tossed some high and middle grade immortal equips into the second layer world, and also dumped some middle to low grade equips into the ﬁrst layer world.” Dan Meng sighed with some jealousy. “I can predict that the third layer world’s demon emperors should have the best equips. Since Emperor Ni Yang used them the most, they would have the best grade weapons, armours and other trinkets.” Qin Yu smiled faintly. What a joke! Would anyone in their right mind give the better equips to the weaker subordinates rather than the stronger ones?

He could follow the Emperor’s train of thoughts at the time.

The Emperor, at the time, was already an immortal emperor and a sword immortal at that! Obviously, the beasts of the ﬁrst and second layer worlds are of insubstantial existences to him, which he had captured only for the sake of displaying his prowess. The real elite soldiers of his army are the demon emperors of the third layer world!

He couldn’t help but sigh in praise of the awe-inspiring powers in the third layer world, his face glistened with expectation. “Ahh, the third layer world. I am truly looking forward to that.” He could simply imagine the heroic ﬁgures of the demon emperors with their indomitable equips and powers, with at least top grade immortal equips, possibly even……divine equips!

But he knew that was a faraway goal, after all, to open the third layer world of the Atlas would require an immortal emperor or equivalent’s power. He thought to himself: “No rush. I need to take one careful step after another, even the grandest of structures was built from laying the foundations! With eighteen hundred demon kings at my disposal, I should be a formidable force within this Indigo Bay prefecture (galaxy).” The forces under his command should be comparable to the jade sword school’s forces of the Silver Stream province (star ﬁeld), after all, the school master was just a level 1 mystic sword immortal.

“Kong Lan, you are the most formidable of the second layer world of this Atlas, thus I will bestow you with a set of top grade immortal class weapon and armour.” Qin Yu withdrew the prescribed set with a wave of his hand from his Blazing Ice ring.

Instantly, two shining items appear and ﬂoated in front of Qin Yu. They were an assault division and defence division item, and were top grade immortal class items!

Kong Lan shuddered with pleasant shock, but immediately shook himself awak, then kneeled in honour and in gratitude. “My greatest thanks to the master.” He accepted the items with grace as he kneeled with one knee down and his hands above and forward accepting his master’s gracious act, then stored them away.

“Dan Meng, Tu Gang, the two of you are only slightly inferior to Kong Lan in strength. I shall grant you both a top grade immortal class weapon for now. In the future, when you have made greater achievements for I, your master; I will then bestow you with more rewards.” With another wave, Qin Yu withdrew a few top grade immortal equips from his ring

Dan Meng and Tu Gang were instantly ecstatic and elation was evident on their faces. It was the ﬁrst time their master showed such generosity, and top grade immortal class items no less! For them, it seemed that their new master was much better, in many ways, than their previous one.

Still giddy with joy, the two chose one weapon for themselves that was most suited for them.

“Now then, you all are divine beasts, no less, and now you have the appropriate weapons, I ask this: how sure of you are you, in winning against a level 1 mystic immortal?” Qin Yu inquired with a quirky smile.

“A level 1 mystic immortal? I am fully conﬁdent in my ability to win against such a person.” Kong Lan said conﬁdently.

With a top grade immortal weapon and armour, his new combat ability was at least doubled of his original combat ability, so dealing with a level 1 mystic immortal is no longer a difﬁcult task.

“I would be the same.” Dan Meng and Tu Gan also piped up with their opinions.

“Then……how about a level 1 mystic sword immortal?”

When one wishes to compare a normal mystic immortal to a sword immortal equivalent, one does not simply compare them. They are two very different entities.

The trio’s facial expression instantly froze. None had anything more to add and were completely speechless. Dealing with a level mystic sword immortal was light years different than dealing with a normal mystic immortal, and even they weren’t sure they could beat the former.

From his series of questions, Qin Yu ﬁnally grasped the extent of the strength his subordinates had.

“Kong Lan, I want the three of you to stay here in the jade immortal mansion, while I help you reﬁne, improve and get used to, your new top grade equips. Once you succeed, I will take you with me to the outside world.” Qin Yu said with a gleeful smile.

Take them out to the outside world??

The trio’s face lit up like lamps and eye shone with splendour. How long had they stayed within the Atlas without being in the sunlight outside?? How long had they’d desired that so very much?

“Alright, you should all go about my jade immortal mansion and select a place so that you can practice with your new equips.” Qin Yu said ﬁnality.

“Of course, master.”

The trio followed Qin Yu and promptly left through the second layer world’s gateway.

…

In the jade immortal mansion, Qin Yu stood motionlessly next to the familiar fountain. He stared in the direction of the fountain, but wasn’t looking at it, he was staring into a far off space, somewhere in the distance. His mind was thinking about the brothers he missed so dearly and loved ones he left behind in the mortal plane.

“I’ve reached the later dark star stage and with the powers contained in the second layer world of the Atlas, I’d say, I have sufﬁcient power to protect myself in this perilous immortal plane……About time I begin my journey.” He pondered, and estimated this was high time to leave this Amber Moon planet. After three days.

Kong Lan and the other two had completed their merging and use of their new equips bestowed to them by Qin Yu. Now they could convey the full force of their powers with their new equips, and at this time, he decided to ﬁnally leave the jade immortal mansion with them.

…

That time ago when Qin Yu massacred the ﬁve golden immortals of Yu Dian’s group, he immediately entered the jade immortal mansion to cultivate, and by reﬁning yuanyings he opened the second layer world soon after. During this time, the three major families of Amber Moon were in a state of chaos.

The death of ﬁve great golden immortals of the jade sword school including a second generation elder – Yu Dian, and four third generation disciples. Moreover, Yu Dian wasn’t some nobody of the jade sword school either. He was someone praised by emperor Yu, and within the territories of the jade sword school, his authority was second only to the school master, himself.

When the death of Yu Dian was known by the jade sword school of the Red Lead planet, the news had left them in shock. Only mayhem will follow.

Chapter 16: Sudden Surprises

The Great hall of the jade sword school.

Five second generation jade sword school practitioners were currently pacing about the main hall like stalking tigers, each showed a face of irritation. The mood and atmosphere in the hall was very tense, none of them were at all calm.

Every one of the second generation of the jade sword school are elders of their school, of the eight, ﬁve was already assembled, which meant the matter this time is of utmost importance.

“Eldest martial brother, we’ve heard of martial brother Yu Dian’s death, but our school master is currently with senior Qian Qi, reﬁning immortal pills in the Pill Creation Hall. He has yet to hear of this, what should we do now?” A middle- aged man dressed in yellowy robe voiced his thoughts. The man was the third eldest brother of the eight second generation brothers. “Third brother, you’re asking me what we should do, but I should be asking you that instead, how do I know what we should do?” A fair headed young man shook his head repeatedly. “This matter also involved my disciple ‘Heng Yu’s’ death as well. I, also, am extremely infuriated, don’t think I

wouldn’t be tasting bile in my mouth at this as well?? I also have a belly full of ﬁre, which I want to spit at the killer.”

The other three’s shoulders slacked helplessly, none of them had any idea what to do.

If the death was of another similar generation’s martial practitioner, they may be infuriated, but they could just resolve it all by getting revenge. They would deﬁnitely be short of their current worrisome predicament.

Now that Yu Dian is dead, not only the ﬁve closest and same generation martial brothers were assembling, the two brothers far from home are also hurrying back. This matter regards to Yu Dian’s identity – their brother was a valued asset of Emperor Yu! Allowing Yu Dian to meet his end could incur the wrath of Emperor Yu, which would rain hell upon the heads of all in the jade sword school.

“We can only wait for now, until Senior Qian Qi and our master has ﬁnished their immortal pill reﬁnement.” A middle- aged elder sitting at one corner muttered, “Even our master is respectful to the senior and needless to say, alchemy and pill reﬁnement requires utmost attention, even the slightest distraction could result in a failure, and that is a responsibility we cannot bear. So voice transfer messages to our master is deﬁnitely out of the question, say if the reﬁnement fails, senior Qian Qi will be very angry.”

The other four chuckled bitterly at that prospect.

What can the four of them do now?

“Prior to Lu Cao death, he had explicit said that the opponent was a lone wolf capable to take down their ﬁve man ‘Five Point Chain sword formation. Most likely, the opponent’s strength is no less than our master’s, I fear that even with us ﬁve, the results would still be the same; we would all perish without fail.” Their eldest martial brother rubbed his solar plexus at the rising headache that was threatening to break out.

Just thinking about that ominous message was enough to the people in the hall on edge.

No doubt about it; they would die just as easily.

The people present all shrunk visibly, thinking about the scene that would have played out from Lu Cao’s message.

‘Five men stood in the air at ﬁve primary points of the “ﬁve point chain sword formation”, each formidable in their own right. One was at the head of star, a level 9 golden immortal of high pedigree, a compatriot of Yu Dian – the man who assembled the team, the rest of the vertices was ﬁlled with three level 8s and one level 7, completing the formation. It was a last resort as well as an ultimate technique, one which was sure to grant them victory. They could imagine the amount of power of formation would channel to their collective target.’ Breaking the thoughts of the others, a, previously silent, middle-aged man, who was sitting at the foot of a pillar, opened his mouth, “Unless we had the help of the school master and other level 9 golden immortals of our school, including other experts belong to emperor Yu’s faction, which were currently in this Silver Stream galaxy, we would be hard pressed to ﬁght this opponent. Only with their help, will be have any certainty to erase the enemy.”

The other four didn’t utter a squeak.

To convene the masters within the jade sword school as well as the experts outside its doors, would require someone with greater authority than people like themselves.

One who has the authority to command and gather all of the experts in Emperor Yu’s faction within the silver stream galaxy……and that someone is their master – Yu Qing Zi. He is someone who was sent here to the silver stream galaxy as per emperor Yu’s direct orders.

“Even if master was to act, I’m afraid out losses will still be large.” The elder brother, who was standing the furthest inwards from the hall’s gateway, contemplated.

The same middle-aged man at the pillar, mused, “If…if Senior Qian Qi would not mind acting with us, then the confrontation would not be so difﬁcult.” He looked up and into the eyes of the other, who all had a literal light ﬂicker within their eyes.

This senior, immortal emperor Qian Qi is no joke. Under the directives of Emperor Yu are thirty-six rulers, within which Qian Qi is a member of, whose strength far exceeds Yu Qing Zi.

…

Liu Feng city of Amber Moon.

In a quiet corner of the city was the manor of the Liu clan patriarch’s remote home away from home. This manor was usually rarely used by the patriarch, as he was much too busy with the clan’s matters and rarely spent time here, however recently, he had come to frequent its rooms.

A lone man within of the manor’s rooms, sighed quietly, muttering to himself. “Hah, for our small clan to mix with the conﬂicts of great powers is like riding a wooden raft amidst a typhoon. At any one time, the boat caught capsize and its passengers would drown.”

During these coming days since the great battle above the city, between the jade sword school and Qin Yu’s martial uncle, had led the patriarch to worry, day and night, about the consequences. Within that turbulent mind storm, traces of ambition was present, what did this present?

If the clan was to operate and proceed as normal, they would still be a small clan, on a small planet, and at the mercy of far too many others. With the recent development, if nurtured well, they could gain either the backing of the Qin Yu’s faction or the jade sword school. Gaining either one allow a puny clan like theirs to advance in leaps and bounds.

“Mister Liu.” An insipid voice rang about the manor grounds. The previously silent patriarch made a start.

He knew this voice; it was the voice of his clan’s honoured guest by the name of Qin Yu.

“Welcome, Mister Qin, why not come and join me for a cup of tea?” Liu Han smiled faintly to no one in particular, whilst ﬂickering his gaze from the door way to the air space above.

As soon as he blinked, and opened his eyelids again for the third time that moment, Qin Yu strode into the courtyard of the manor, with three other attendants in tow.

The moment the patriarch – Liu Ming Han, laid his eyes on the three following Qin Yu, a step behind, his iris contracted with surprise.

“This mister Qin Yu already has a new group of subordinates……whose strength cannot be perceived by me!” Ming Han hand froze for a moment before putting his tea cup back down. A while ago, he could still be able to perceive the power levels of Qin Yu’s previous group of subordinates, but now he can’t.

“Mister Qin, I’m glad you are alright. In the aerial battle above the bamboo garden, I feared for the worst, but fortunately, I see you weren’t too hurt.” Ming Han stood up to received his guest and show his concern.

“Come, come, please sit with me.” Ming Han showed Qin Yu to the seat opposite himself, then sat down promptly.

That short pause did not escape Qin Yu observant gaze, though his expression did not change during this entire scene. A touch of a smile was constant on his lips.

The patriarch looked quizzically at Qin Yu’s companions then at Qin Yu, “Mister Qin, these people are……?”

“Mister Liu, you are aware that the ﬁve golden immortals assault, if it weren’t for my martial uncle’s help, I would have lost my life. My clan is quite worried about my safety, so they sent three experts to oversee my protection me.” He knew he could not leak any hint about the Atlas being in his possession, the clue itself would sway hordes of men to kill him for it. If it gotten out, not only men, but the immortal emperor factions such as Yu and Xuan, as well as other demon and devil emperors would also rob and kill him for it. The third layer world of the Atlas has demon emperors, whose are valued companions of Emperor Ni Yang himself! Imagine commanding such formidable force with a single gesture of his thoughts.

“I’m curious to know: where Mister Qin’s clan is.”

“Well.” Annoyance furrowed his brow, as he looked coldly at the patriarch. “Mister Liu, are perhaps aware you are prying a little too much into my business?”

Ming Han shuddered involuntarily, and hurriedly tried to remedy the situation: “My deepest apologies, I was too presumptuous.” The awkward situation had passed, Qin Yu smiled knowingly. “Mister Liu, anything you need to know I will inform, other than that, you shouldn’t pry.”

“Of course, of course.” Ming Han nodded vigorously, cold sweat broke on his back. He had just avoided a freight train. He could feel a mysterious air about his honoured guest, which wasn’t present previously, one which he couldn’t place his tongue on, but nonetheless caused his throat to clench. Unknown to him, this aura was the product of Qin Yu’s soul fusing with his meteoric tear.

“Mister Qin, you are aware that in half a month’s time, the three great clans of Amber Moon will convene for the century event: Teleportation Array Contest, which will decide the clan to control the arrays for the next century. If Mister Qin has time, please feel free to come watch the contest.” Ming Han smoothly and tactfully changed the subject.

“Very well, if I have time, I will come.” Qin Yu smiled at the patriarch, aware of his tactful retreat. “Mister Liu, I must apologize. The bamboo garden was something you had given to me and yet I allowed some troublemakers to cause havoc in it. My apologies.” Ming Han laughed, not one bit angry. “This matter could not be blamed on Mister Qin, my clan has another manor in the White Circle district. A few days ago, I’ve ordered that manor to be cleaned out and prepared for your residence.”

Qin Yu readily accepted the patriarch’s invitation. “Many thanks, then.”

He promptly stood up. “Mister Liu, it is time I left. Do not worry, I’ve already mapped the location of the White Circle district with my spiritual power, and do not need assistance navigating there.” Then turned and led his three subordinates to leave, just as he stepped outside the gateway of the manor grounds, he twisted around to face Ming Han and said: “Mister Liu, if you see my disciple Liu Han Shu, inform him that he must make a journey to the White Circle manor to see me.”

“Very well, I will immediately instruct him to see Mister Qin.” Qin Yu smiled a thank you then strode away from the gateway.

For Xiuzhenists, it is not difﬁcult to acquire manors and land, but the White Circle Manor had numerous rare herbs and botanic treasures that pleasantly surprise Qin Yu, given the great pains the patriarch would have to go through to acquire such and give it to Qin Yu.

…

While sipping green tea, Qin Yu sat quietly in the main hall of his new manor, waiting for his disciple to arrive.

In a short moment, a familiar ﬁgure speedily walked in from the manor’s main gate. Han Shu half ran and half walked, then knelt before his master. “This humble disciple greets the master.”

A decade ago, Qin Yu had strongly suggested Han Shu to work hard, this in turn awoke Han Shu from his stupor of basking in his master’s radiance, and started to train hard. Since receiving his master’s support by reforming his meridian channels and near limitless supply of holy elemental stones for his training, his cultivation speed was astounding. Within a decade’s time, Han Shu had progressed from an early yuanying stage to a middle kongming stage.

Qin Yu narrowed his eyes and carefully inspected Han Shu’s body, and a barely perceivable smile touched his lips. “It seems you have truly spent this last decade in training hard. Now, I ask of you, among peers of your generation, who is the strongest and most skilled?”

“As of today, of my generation, the strongest are at middle Kongming stage, which includes myself, while the other is the one master reprimanded – Liu Han Ming.” A momentary ﬂash of pride cross Han Shu’s face as he continued, “But, in another decade’s time, this disciple will have an absolute advantage over all other peers of my generation.”

“Liu Han Ming, eh? I remember there was fella’ with that name.” Qin Yu scrunched his brows, trying to recall the young man Han Shu was referring to, and with great effort he remembered: “Ten years ago, that Liu Han Ming was said to be already at the late dongxu stage…Well, getting to middle dongxu stage in another decade is just about satisfactory.”

“Master, I have not seen master for a long time – ten years no less, and had somewhat missed master during this time.”

Qin Yu froze.

He suddenly remembered he had not seen his disciple not once these past ten years. Not only neglecting his disciple, he failed to instruct his disciple in the correct ways to cultivate, and all at once, he felt he had failed as Han Shu’s master.

As if to make up for his duty as the master, he and Han Shu talked for a long while, during which many matters about Han Shu’s training was resolved.

… In time, night has fallen.

Qin Yu sat alone in the master bedroom of the manor, in his vision were the loot from the ﬁve golden immortals that previous fought with him over the Liu Feng city air space. Since events propagated from another, he had not have the time to ascertain the dropped goods from his battle, thus decided to inspect them now.

“Hah! Now wonder people like to resort to being bandits in the immortal place. Wealth and murder go hand in hand; relieving others their entire wealth is so much more proﬁtable than accumulating them yourself.” Qin Yu pondered in retrospect, though, he did not feel guilty at all, at this moment.

For Xiuzhenists, there are no ﬁxed abodes. The path to immortality and ascension is a tough one and frequently require practitioners to adventure around, they generally hold all their wealth on their person. Under normal circumstances, the greater the skills of the individual, the more wealth he or she has. Lu Cao, Heng Yu, Heng Feng and Feng Lian, are all third generation jade sword style practitioners, who all have relatively high position within their school. Naturally, their wealth will be greater than the wealth accumulated by Yan Gao, but Yan Gao had the backing of his own clan, thus the latter had relatively more by himself.

The four golden immortals, collectively, donated about ﬁve to six hundred million to Qin Yu.

“Hmm, according to the clues within Lu Cao’s interspatial ring, this Yu Dian fellow is a second generation jade sword practitioner, who is in charge of the ﬁnance and commerce for the school.”

Seems to be that among the ﬁve, Yu Dian held a higher position than the others.

Driven by curiosity, Qin Yu sent his spiritual powers into the ring to inspect its contents…

‘Gasp!’ Qin Yu sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes bulged: “Whoa, there’s far more than I had anticipated!”

Within the interspatial ring, there was mountains of assets, the sheer volume overawed Qin Yu, not including the magical items, by holy elemental stones alone, the total amount exceed a billion!

What Qin Yu did not know was that, the wealth of the jade sword school and the position of ﬁnancial ofﬁcer is succeeded by later generations. Because, Yu Dian is soon to be departing the school, the school’s wealth was already handed to over to the school master, even so, the wealth of Yu Dian, by himself, is already alarming.

As he continued his casual sweep of the contents, he happened upon an interesting discovery. “This is…” Qin Yu hurriedly withdrew a ‘jade slip’ and inspected this item more closely…

It was a map!

A, a star chart no less!

Now, what was the thing that Qin Yu desired the most?

It is a star chart.

He had, with some effort, obtained a star chart of the Indigo Bay star ﬁeld, but this slip contained the map of the entire immortal realm!

“Hold it…this map is not as detailed at the previous one, but, it seems to have the main routes of the stars in the immortal realm. With this map, I would not worry about getting lost while travelling.”

He couldn’t wipe the smug grin as he beam at this discovery.

“The magical items of the ﬁve golden immortals did not amount to the items found in the rings of those three emissaries, I killed in the mortal plane, but for me, this map is worth more than their combined wealth.”

Still grinning with glee, like a child on Christmas day, ﬁnding more gifts than expected. “This map was really a sudden jubilant surprise!”

This map was a gift emperor Yu gave to Yu Dian for the latter’s good work, while on Blue Solar plane.

But now, it has fallen into Qin Yu’s outstretched hands!

…

Red Leaf planet, jade sword school.

“Grind, grind….” The stone doors of the primary alchemy hall, slowly opened, from within came a rosy faced Yu Qing Zi and another slightly older man in tow. Outside the doors, were seven second generation disciples, and were nearly driven insane with worry.

Their spokesperson, the eldest, called frantically to their master, “Master, there has been a grave ordeal!”

Still basking in the joyful results of success from the alchemic session with another expert, Yu Qing Zi walked a little more before realising he was spoken to.

Before him was seven of his direct disciples.

He knew many of the seven were in places far away from the school, but what happened, which would force them to convene here?

Qing Zi looked at each of his disciples in turn, then his face fell.

“What is going on? And where is Yu Dian, how come he isn’t here?” Qing Zi’s cry was thick with anxiety.

Chapter 17: Qin Yu, This And That

Yu Qing felt a terrible premonition and seeing so many of the disciples faces only made him feel even worse. It was obvious that none of the second generation knew how to speak properly of the matter to him. All eyes rested on the senior disciple to do so.

“Master, Yu Dian has been killed!” said the senior disciple sorrowfully

“Killed? Yu Dian has been killed?” said Yu Qing has his whole body began to tremble. Yu Dian was the disciple that he was most proud of. The fact that Yu Dian managed to gain the recognition of Emperor Yu only made him more prideful of his disciple. After all, Emperor Yu decreed to the “36 rulers”, of which he was part of, that only a person who has raised a good disciple can be worthy enough to be prideful. This time even immortal emperor Qian Qi arrived to praise his disciple Yu Dian.

“Yu Qing, my martial nephew has been killed?” ranged out immortal emperor Qian Qi

Yu Qing nodded and took a deep breath to try to suppress the fury in his heart. He looked at his own disciple “how did this come to be? I demand a proper explanation!”

“Fan Lan as you are the most senior disciple I’ll have you tell me how this happened” said Yu Qing as he looked toward his most senior disciple. By his side immortal emperor Qian Qi also paid his attention towards Fan Lan.

Fan Lan gathered his recollections of the situation and immediately started to answer. “Master Yu Qing. Ancestor Qian Qi. The reason why Yu Dian was killed was due to a matter ten years ago.”

“Ten years ago?” Yu Qing’s brows began to crease. “Why does a matter ten years ago have to do with this?”

“If I remember correctly ten years ago was when Yu Dian completed the task that was entrusted to him by Emperor Yu” said immortal emperor Qian Qi on the side. Fan Lan nodded “correct, ten years ago Yu Dian left to take care of the task given to him by Emperor Yu. At the same time however his disciple Yan Gao was killed.”

“While Yan Gao’s martial skill was ordinary he possessed incredible acumen in business. In this way he was similar to Yu Dian which made him his favorite disciple. Ten years ago Yu Dian was preparing for his disciple to take over his position, who would have thought that he would be murdered? However he still had to complete the task given to him by Emperor Yu which made him unable to immediately seek vengeance for his disciple’s death.”

Both Yu Qing and Qian Qi nodded at this explanation. Yu Dian clearly knew how important a task given by Emperor Yu was.

Fan Lan continued. “Ten years past Yu Dian returned home to a warm welcome, yet he never wavered from the thought of avenging his disciple. Immediately after the celebration banquet Yu Dian took four of the third generation disciples and set off.” “What was the strength of the four disciples that he took with him?” asked Yu Qing. He wanted to fully know how strong the disciples that set off with Yu Dian was.

Fan Lan once again continued “master, the disciples that he took with him was a level 9 golden immortal, two level 8 golden immortals, and one level 7 golden immortal.”

“Five people, ﬁve experts of the ﬁve point chain sword formation.” Muttered Yu Qing

“Master, Yu Dian with his four disciples went to the Amber Moon planet to face the foe with their ﬁve point chain sword formation yet they were still killed. Not a single one of them survived so we only knew of this through the message that Lu Cao sent.” Said Fan Lan with his voice tinged with remorse.

Yu Qing was a school master and a person that was hard to read what was on his mind. He thought for a moment and then asked “does the message tell of how strong this enemy is?” “Ah master, there is a matter that I must speak clearly about.” Fan Lan shouted has he had a sudden recollection. “Lu Cao didn’t speak of the enemy’s strength in detail, however he said that the foe was an elder of a person named Qin Yu. He was able to easily defeat the ﬁve point chain sword formation’s strongest attack.”

When Yu Dian and his disciples fought with Qin Yu’s “elder”, Qin Yu said that he has yet to pass into the realm of an immortal emperor. However when Lu Cao saw how easily the elder beat back the ﬁve point chain sword formation he could not believe that was true. As such in the information provided by Lu Cao, there was no mention of what Qin Yu said.

“It’s incredibly difﬁcult to defeat the ﬁve point chain sword formation strongest attack, especially when done by such experts like Yu Dian and his disciples.” Said Yu Qian as his complexion changed.

Immortal emperor Qian Qi responded “one level nine golden immortal, three level 8 golden immortals, and one level 7 golden immortal. Given that the attack has the accumulated strength of these ﬁve golden immortals ampliﬁed by the strongest attack of the ﬁve point sword formation, its power must have been truly outstanding. Yu Qing, even you would be afraid to face such an attack head on right? “

Yu Qing nodded, “Elder brother Qian Qi is right. If I had to face a combined attack by those ﬁve, even I would be grievously injured.”

“If this is true then our foe’s strength would be no less than yours.” Said immortal emperor Qian Qi as the wrinkles on his head also began to rise.

Yu Qing nodded as he began to question Fan Lan “what kind of celestial body is the Amber Moon planet? How could there be such a power expert residing in it?” Yu Qing already thought that this enemy’s strength was at that of an immortal emperor.

In reality Qin Yu’s immortal puppet possessed an incredibly strong body that could not be damaged by such an attack. Even the detonation of a level 9 golden immortal’s yuanying failed to put a single scratch on the body of the immortal puppet. This point caused both Yu Qing and Qian Qi to guess wrongly. “The Amber Moon planet is a fairly ordinary celestial body which possess only a few golden immortals. There are three major families residing of which Qin Yu was an honorable guest of the Liu Clan. The one who killed Yu Dian is certainly this Qin Yu’s elder.” Carefully stated Fan Lan

“Alright, all of you can retire early. Elder brother Qian Qi and I have important matters to discuss.” Ordered Yu Qing suddenly.

“Yes master” bowed all 7 of the second generation disciples. After they bowed Fan Lan lead the group of seven out leaving just Yu Qing and Qian Qi in the room.

Yu Qing spoke “Elder brother Qian Qi, the strength of our enemy is extremely powerful. I want to deal with this myself however though I possess the will, I lack the strength to do so.” What Qing Yu inferred of the enemy’s strength shook him to his core. He imagined that the foes strength was a few levels higher than that of his as an immortal emperor.

Qian Qi muttered “Yu Qing, Lu Cao was able to send a message back and this person seems to be one that fully handles his disputes. It seems that though this person’s strength is immense, it isn’t too strong yet for there to be no room for action.

Yu Qin nodded his head. If immortal emperor Qian Qi wanted to kill the ﬁve of them at the same time how can he let one of them have the opportunity to send a message?

“However I’m still worried about one thing. Is that foe Qin Yu’s elder or is this one Qin Yu’s elder? How many of them are there? Is this one the most powerful?” Immortal emperor Qian Qi spoke out his worries.

Yu Qing’s complexion changed. “Right!” Now this Qin Yu’s elder appeared, is this one the strongest? If that’s not the case then there lies an immortal emperor that is even stronger and frightening.

“I turn to elder brother Qian Qi for help.” Asked Yu Qing

Qian Qi was the head of Emperor Yu’s “36 rulers”. Not only was his strength immense, he also possessed a great mind that is able to think of ways to handle such affairs.

Qian Qi faintly laughed “Don’t tell me you have already forgotten Yu Qing?”

“You said…” Yu Qing’s eyes shone brightly “his majesty!”

Immortal emperor Qian Qi fought to hold down his laughter “Smart, now you need to recollect that his majesty paid unusually close interest in Yu Dian. Now that Yu Dian has been killed, would his majesty remain unconcerned over this matter?”

“Brilliant” laughed Yu Qing

Qian Qi continued “It is difﬁcult to determine how many people the enemy possess but we do know of at least two. As the proverbs say there is safety in numbers. We must gather at least all of the level 8 and 9 golden immortals in the silver stream galaxy. In addition to this we must also implore his majesty to send over an expert to handle this matter. In this way if an even larger action than originally thought is needed then we can ask his majesty directly.”

Yu Qing’s thoughts relaxed as he heard this. If this affair reached this stage of the process then his majesty Emperor Yu would personally handle the matter. This way even if the matter couldn’t be solved, Emperor Yu would be unable to blame him for the failure.

“Elder brother Qian Qi I ask that you take a little rest, I will leave to send a message to notify his majesty Emperor Yu.”

Asked Yu Qing

“You don’t need to be so polite Yu Qing, feel free to go ahead.” Laughed immortal emperor Qian Qi.

Immediately Yu Qing left to message Emperor Yu. The realm of the immortals, devils, and demons is far too large and for such a distance a voice transfer talisman bead would be unable to send a message. It could only be used to cover an area such of that of a single galaxy. The way to send a message over a distance of several galaxies was to put a message within a ‘secret transfer arrangement’. Only in this way would a voice transfer talisman have the capability to receive message from such a far distance away.

Clouds and mists pervaded across the air slowly. Within it lied a muslin veil ﬂuttering in the wind. Within the veil sat two people. Between the two was a small table which lied two cups of tea at the top. On one side of the table sat a man that was covered in black clothes from head to toe carrying a long sword on his shoulder. On the other side sat a man wearing a purple gown with his long hair draped over his shoulder

“Zhi Bai, I ask of you to wait for just a little longer. The message from Yu Qing will arrive soon.” Said the middle aged man wearing the purple gown.

“As your majesty pleases” nodded the black clothed word immortal

The identity of this middle aged man was truly outstanding. This middle aged man was the master of one of the three great powers, the leader of the immortal realm ‘Emperor Yu’. Emperor Yu had stood proudly at the top of the immortal realm for countless years. There is no need to even talk about the strength of such an individual. As a level 8 mystic immortal there was no one in the immortal realm who could compare to him. And for this black clothed sword immortal, even though his strength couldn’t compare to that of Emperor Yu he was still feared by countless individuals.

The black clothed individual is called the “Green Blood Sword Immortal” immortal emperor Zhi Bai. He is one of Emperor Yu’s 18 Immortal Emperors, a level 7 mystic sword immortal! As a level 7 mystic sword immortal he was only one level lower than that of Emperor Yu himself. However the green blood sword immortal possessed the most powerful attack out of all the sword immortals. In the days when immortal emperor Ni Yang still roamed among the living, the green blood sword immortal was almost on par with him. Many people have said that the only reason that immortal emperor Ni Yang was the stronger sword immortal was simply because that he was a level 8 mystic immortal emperor. They say that if the green blood sword immortal was also a level 8 mystic immortal emperor then his attack power would even surpass that of immortal emperor Ni Yang. This isn’t merely just talk as the source of it was the blood sword immortal’s sword art, the killer sword art. Of course all of this is merely conjecture as the green blood sword immortal is still a level 7 mystic immortal emperor. The want to breakthrough, this is not done by merely relying on time.

“Qin Yu, Qin Yu….?” Muttered Emperor Yu holding a voice transfer talisman bead. His brows pursed which was immediately seen by the green blood sword immortal.

“Zhi Bai, do you remember your disciple Hua Yan? The one we sent to the mortal realm as to enter Ni Yang Space and failed to come back?”

At that time Hua Yan, Du Zhong, and Ao Feng all failed to return to their respective realms. After the affair in Ni Yang Space was already completed, Hua Yan messaged back to his leader. He however never returned.

“I remember” nodded Zhi Bai

“It has been quite some time since the affair over Hua Yan message. He mentioned an individual that held quite a mysterious power. This power leads me to think that there exists three people related to Qin Yu. This Qin Yu has a martial uncle called ‘Lan Feng’ and there is still someone even more mysterious called ‘Lan Shu’.” Zhi Bai nodded “right, and the fact that this Lan Feng even knows the Heavens Sundering Sword technique is truly astonishing. What’s going on? Your majesty mentioned Qin Yu just a moment ago.”

Emperor Yu smiled “It’s nothing, a message arrived from Yu Qing stated that the golden immortal Yu Dian has been killed. The person that killed him was Qin Yu’s elder.

“Qin Yu?” stared Zhi Bai blankly “According to Hua Yan’s message, this Qin Yu managed to reach DaCheng stage. It is possible that he has ascended. However the realm of immortals, devils, and demons is vast and there are thousands of people named Qin Yu. It is possible that he is not the Qin Yu from the mortal realm.

“This I know” nodded Emperor Yu “This is the message sent from Yu Qing. It says that Qin Yu’s elder is also incredibly powerful, at least of that of an immortal emperor. With such a powerful elder by his side there are very few things that Qin Yu needs to be afraid of.” Zhi Bai nodded his head.

Emperor Yu let out a small laugh “No matter what we still need to investigate. If it turns out that person is the Qin Yu from the mortal realm, then hopefully after a period of time the situation won’t be too oppressive.”

Won’t be too oppressive? If the person possesses the atlas of ten thousand beasts that Emperor Ni Yang was said to have, then it would already be sufﬁcient enough for immortals, devils, and demons to once again band together to ﬁght.

“This Qin Yu and that Qin Yu, could they possibly be the same person?” smiled Emperor Yu as he gazed southward. It was as if Emperor Yu could see across the myriad of space and looked at Qin Yu in the Indigo Bay Star Field.

TL Notes:

*I feel like the Chinese has mastered the profound mysteries of laughter and nodding. There’s still so much laughing/smiling and nodding here despite me cutting some of it out. So much点头道.

** I have 师门⻓辈 as elder, but I guess it could also be elder master/teacher or something too. Still not that experienced with this kind of translation.

***I’m doing this to help myself improve my Chinese so sorry for any mistakes beforehand.

****Quite confused about the way they described the method of transferring messages over distances larger than a galaxy, would appreciate if you can add some input on that.

Chapter 18: Emperor Yu’s Command

Silver Stream Galaxy; Red Leaf Planet.

In the famed location known as the Jade Sword School.

And in a particular hall, a heavy atmosphere clung to the ceiling; there immortal emperor Qian Qi and the jade sword school master – Yu Qing Zi, are currently feeling puzzled with their predictament. Both had rushed over from the Immortal Pill Alchemy chamber, after hearing the disastrous news.

“Martial brother Qian Qi, I presume that you have already received emperor Yu’s decree, right?” The young one of the two smiled hesitantly at the other. The speaker was Yu Qing Zi. The other was his senior martial brother Qian Qi, who just now removed a voice transfer talisman from their lips.

Qian Qi nodded, but his face was grave. “Yes, I’ve just gotten his majesty – emperor Yu.” “Did his majesty’s orders seem……a bit odd? A bit foolish?”

“So you’ve also gotten his majesty’s decree, right?” Qian Qi sounded surprised as Qing Zi just acknowledged the same. “Originally, I had thought that his majesty would wish us to seek revenge against enemies of Yu Dian, but in contrast, his majesty did not care about Yu Dian’s death. His majesty stressed that we should capture any and all who are related with the school this Qin Yu belongs to, then use the ‘soul scour’ art to ﬁnd the rest.”

Some short moments ago, the two had just received a list of orders from his majesty – emperor Yu. Orders was to:

1. Capture any and all related to Qin Yu using one suspect with soul scour to search for the rest. If the soul scour attempt is unsuccessful, then resort to killing.

2. If you’ve found Qin Yu’s martial elder or patriarch, then kill them and retrieve all the equipment from their body. Qing Zi looked at Qian Qi with an expectant expression. “Elder bro, Qian Qi, what do you suppose the purpose for his majesty’s orders?”

“I presume, his majesty’s orders are to see the extent of power of this school Qin Yu belongs to.” Qian Qi pondered slowly, savouring the taste of his words. “In any case, to capture targets alive and administer the ‘soul scour’ technique is key to ﬁnding the school elders and patriarch and assassinate them. Then killing the target and retrieving their precious equipment…surely it is for his majesty to determine the power and quantity of the opposing forces.”

“Elder brother…that does makes sense.”

Unknown to the duo, the true purpose of their master is to determine if this Qin Yu was the same as the Qin Yu that popped up in the mortal realm during the Ni Yang’s Realm Arc.

The younger man frowned, a little hesitant with whatever was on the man’s mind. “Though his majesty’s orders…I can see that he values our successes this time with his affairs, but to instruct all the top experts of Indigo Bay star ﬁeld to be under our temporary command is…just that I don’t feel too conﬁdent in my capabilities.”

“Indigo Bay star ﬁeld has quite a number of top class experts under emperor Yu’s command, who will be under our directives, so rest assure, our success is evident.” Qian Qi smiled knowingly and encouraged his junior.

Spurred by his senior, Qing Zi glanced at his senior expectantly: “I’m grateful to have you, senior Qian Qi by my side, I know all too well about my inadequacies and my capabilities.”

“Well then, this matter should be divided into two parts. The ﬁrst; we will gather all the available level 8 golden immortal of Indigo Bay here – in the red leaf planet. The downside is that the number of experts under belonging to emperor Yu’s faction is small and only a handful are mystic immortal stage experts.”

Qian Qi exhaled, a sharp glare ﬂashed by his eyes. “That will be the ﬁrst part of this two part plan. First is the gathering of experts, and the second……to make sure the entire Indigo Bay is under our control.” That sharp glare was none other than a stone-cold severity.

“Brother Qian Qi, your meaning is……?”

Qian Qi smiled devilishly. “Did you say that, this Qin Yu was the Liu clan’s honoured guest, right? Then ensure we have complete control over this Liu clan, that way whatever Qin Yu does or wherever Qin Yu goes, he will be within the palm of our hand. By applying pressure or threats where possible, we can corner the martial elders of Qin Yu’s school.” What was the previous amiable looking man, now a scheming devil with a toothy grin. “For a puny little planet like Amber Moon, and likewise insigniﬁcant three major clans, a word from us would be enough to chain them to our cause?”

Joining the devil was the younger looking man. Qing Zi snickered with his senior, as the two plotted out their plans, “For a small clan the likes of them, their greatest fear is their destruction of their clan. At that time, if they still wish to sow and reap beneﬁts from both sides of the fence, then they can do that in their dreams! We will directly blackmail for threaten them with their destruction. If any of them step out of line then we will annihilate them!” For clans in a remote and insigniﬁcant place like Amber Moon, in the opinions of the thirty-six rulers under emperor Yu, destruction is but a ﬁckle thing. Their deaths would not even create the slightest ripple in the grand view of things.

Taking a decisive stance, Qian Qi instructed his junior, “Qing Zi, make haste to make the call of gathering for all the experts within Indigo Bay that are under emperor Yu’s wing. Have them gather here in Red Leaf, the sooner this is done, the better.

“Don’t worry, I’ll do this right now.”

In the entire Indigo Bay star ﬁeld, there are ten major galaxies, of them the Silver Stream galaxy is the only one completely controlled by Emperor Yu, the others are of other powers. Despite that, emperor Yu had inserted numerous powerful forces in the other galaxies to keep the power balance in check. With a simple command from Qing Zi, many of these insurgents with powers above level 8 golden immortal stage, one by one or in groups, all rush to congregate to Red Leaf of the Silver Stream galaxy. Even the level 8 golden immortals or above experts of jade sword school gather to the call of their school master.

Time passed, masters and experts continued to gather in Red Leaf.

As a show of force, simply the jade sword school by themselves have sixteen level 9 golden immortals and ﬁfty level 8s, not including many other lesser powers in one galaxy – Silver Stream galaxy. Though the collective forces from other places, by themselves, cannot compare to the supremacy of jade sword school.

From the Silver Stream galaxy, over forty are level 9s and a hundred plus a few are level 8s. Whereas from all the other places, there was a level 1 mystic immortal, thirty or so level 9s and a little more than a hundred level 8s, all convened in Red Leaf. In just ten days.

Ten days’ time, Red Leaf was ﬁlled with waves of elite force of emperor Yu’s faction. The forces number in the hundreds; they represented most of the total forces of emperor Yu’s side.

In actual fact, immortal emperor Qian Qi did not reside in the jade sword school, his lair was not in Indigo Bay star ﬁeld. The only reason why the man was here on Red Leaf, was for the purpose to practice alchemy and reﬁne immortal pills. The man’s presence was more than enough to heighten the conﬁdence of all that gathered as well as lending honour to all present.

Hailing from another galaxy of the Indigo Bay, was another mystic immortal named Hua Xia. Though, the fellow was a level one mystic immortal, energy equivalent as Qing Zi, but he wasn’t part of the title ‘thirty-six rulers’ group. The reason being that, although their energy levels were similar or within the threshold, to enter the ‘thirty-six rulers’ group requires personal strength and external backing. Qing Zi not only have formidable personal power, but also the backing of the jade sword school, which allowed him to become one of the thirty- six rulers.

A mighty army of elite forces, headed by immortal emperors: Qian Qi, Qing Zi and Hua Xia, of over seventy level 9 golden immortals and over two hundred level 8 golden immortals. A supreme force, unlike any seen in the last century, was about to depart to due to arrive in Amber Moon for their cause.

Sometime before the departure the preparation was already complete, all of the three major clans of Amber Moon were ‘brought’ into control by the leaders of this expeditionary force.

…

Such fearsome event of experts readying for war was unknown to a young man on Amber Moon. Qin Yu part of a small clan like Liu clan, which was restricted to one planet, naturally they could not have heard about the gathering. They could not have such extensive intelligence to hear about the strange gathering of masters on Red Leaf. In a peaceful, ‘little’ residence in White Circle district, Qin Yu sat atop of stone stool, with his back ramrod straight, opposite his latest subordinates: Kong Lan, Tu Gan and Dan Meng. The four slowly sipped their fragrant tea ignorant of the incoming storm.

Qin Yu put down his cup, swallowed in small gulps. “Kong Lan.”

“What does master wish me to do?” the man in question looked quizzically at Qin Yu, waiting expectantly for instructions.

“I’m still contemplating about that same problem. If there wasn’t this problem, then I would have already left Amber Moon.”

“Master, are you, perhaps……referring to young master Han Shu?”

Qin Yu sighed, “I am, after all, he was my ﬁrst and my own personal disciple, how could I just leave him here? If I took him with me, the dangers outside of here are unknown and unfathomable, following me would be dangerous for both of us.”

“Then let him stay on Amber Moon.” The silent totem, Tu Gang put in his two cents.

Qin Yu shook his head, again and again, unsure of how to proceed.

If he left Han Shu here then he would fare much better on his journey.

But that would be against his principles! He was a teacher, a master and a mentor. The journey is a long one, from here to the demon realm numerous unforeseeable hazards and obstacles will block his way, even a thousand years could easily be given up.

A hidden battle was been fought within his mind. Principle versus desire.

He was a master though! How could he have the heart to abandon Han Shu for a thousand years?

His subordinates were all deep in thought, trying to suggest ideas, Dan Meng also put forth her idea: “Why not let young master Han Shu stay within the Jade Immortal Mansion?”

Qin Yu chuckled knowingly, he had already thought about that possibility. “That cannot do. The jade immortal mansion is void of any life, there isn’t any inhabitants there. Think about it, how old is Han Shu at the moment? How could he stand the solitude, if I were to let him into the jade immortal mansion?”

This idea had to be scratched out.

This wasn’t alright, that wasn’t alright…

All these convoluted circles was giving Qin Yu quite the headache.

On one hand he wanted to be the respectable mentor, on the other hand he wanted to go his own way.

Respectability of a so-called master started on oneself and one’s self-discipline.

Perhaps he should leave some slips entailing mystic arts, cultivation arts and techniques to his disciple, then he could be on his way. If his disciple has reached a bottleneck, then he could give advice via voice transfer talismans! Did he need to be by his disciples side all the time??

“If he still cannot breakthrough then he can only ask other Xiuzhenists for help.”

Qin Yu hardened his heart, he couldn’t waste any more time here. What he wanted the most at this moment, was to rush to the distant shores of distant planets, to explore the unexplored, to seek his answers and to ﬁnd his long lost brothers. Just as Qin Yu had made his ﬁnal decision, a rather red-faced Han Shu sprinted into the vicinity of the manor. His disciple’s face was one of excitement and light exertion.

“Master!” The fellow was still ﬂushed. Excitement was etched into the dimples as a grin was constant on the fellow’s face.

Qin Yu couldn’t help but be infected by the fellow’s mirth, and he returned a smile which touched his eyes into merry slits. “Han Shu, what is the occasion?”

Han Shu bit his lip, in a very feminine but cute manner, and took a deep breath. His master just raised a brow in anticipation. “This disciple has…has…fal-…a crush on a girl.” The reminder of the phrase was barely a whisper, but to immortals whose senses are heightened above the likes of mortals, a bare whisper is clear as day.

“Oh.” Qin Yu replied almost on reﬂex, then his eyes unfocused and did a double-take on his disciple, surprise was evident on his face with wide-opened eyes. “What did you say?? Did you say, ‘you’ve gotten a fallen in love with a girl’???” “Yeah.”

The fellow nodded his head repeatedly, as if excitement made him lose reason. “I met her two days ago, she seemed to be a very good person; kind-hearted and someone I can talk to about anything really….but I found out she was not a resident of Amber Moon…” Han Shu almost cursed in frustration, as if he couldn’t bear to leave her.

The topic was somewhat interesting to Qin Yu. “Well, tell me, how does she treat you? Does she reciprocate the same type of affection?”

Han Shu stared into the ground at his feet, he ﬁdgeted nervous, somewhat too embarrassed to say. “Uh….well….um… I, uh, think that girl….int-….to me, also interested….in me…”

Dan Meng, the only female listener laughed out loud: “How shameless!” At either side of Dan Meng, Tu Gang and Kong Lan also joined in the amusement, chuckled at the young man’s passionate exclamation. Seeing the amused looks, Han Shu suddenly felt very self-conscious and drifted between embarrassment and straight up awkwardness. He pouted like a

little boy caught red handed stealing a cookie from the cookie jar, “Love is love. I will not hide from my feelings. I also feel that she also likes me as well, at least she likes me.”

“Master, this feeling! I want to chase her, I want to catch her! I want to marry her!” Han Shu stared wide-eyed at Qin Yu as his passion erupted.

Qin Yu’s mouth opened slightly, his disciple’s proclamation of love was like a gong to his ears, while he heart wavered.

Even his own disciple was more….more braver than him. At the time, he knew he loved Li’er with all his heart, yet, he couldn’t say it, he didn’t have the guts to say it aloud and kept it bottled up. As time passed, he luxuriate in that euphoric feeling they both shared, and still he could not confess. His own disciple was far more emotionally developed than he. His disciple could say the unspoken words he could not. “Han Shu, I will support you. If you love her, then chase her.” Qin Yu chuckled as he folded his arms behind him.

Han Shu looked downwards, feeling gloomy and reluctantly explained, “It’s just that, she is a level 2 immortal, while I am at middle Kongming stage, that gap is quite large. Plus I think she comes from an upper class family with a formidable background.

“Level 2 immortal and Kongming, eh? That gap is not small, but it can be caught up if you work hard. As for family background, eh? If you like her then pursue her, you needn’t worry about her background.”

Qin Yu couldn’t help but emphasize ‘background’ with some heat.

Family background???

‘Ha ha, Li’er’s family background, now that is near unsurmountable. Just look at Li’er and those around her, like that, what’s his face, ah that ‘Zhou Xian’ prick, or even that incredible heart-stopping void creation technique of his. Anyone can see how incredible and extraordinary Li’er’s family background was.’

“Master will support you.” Qin Yu encouraged aloud, but deep inside he said to himself gloomily: “I may support Han Shu, but who will support me??”

Uncle Lan.

Still talking to himself: “Uncle Lan supports me, but his inﬂuence or authority isn’t enough to allow Li’er the freedom to marry whoever she wishes nor allow him to stand by Li’er’s side…I can only rely on myself…”

“Thank you, Master.” Han Shu was unaware of the inner envy his master was currently feeling, in contrast, he was feeling very ecstatic and promptly withdrew a jade slip from within the folds of his clothes. “Master, here. That girl’s portrait is imprinted within, once you’ve seen it, you will understand the situation better.” “Oh.” Qin Yu just grunted a reply.

As Qin Yu swept the jade slip with his spiritual powers, surprise registered on his face.

The woman, his disciple loves, was that same woman in green he saw in the Amber Moon Tea House. It was during the time, ten years ago, when he sought to assassinate Yan Gao and kill the clan leader from the Yan Clan. He could still remember that woman! Back then, she was a level 1 immortal, but in a decades’ time, she became a level 2 immortal.

“It seems that my disciple has fallen for a lady belonging to quite a powerful family. I remember that the lady’s subordinates were all level 7 immortals at the time.” Qin Yu speculated to himself.

Since undergoing the ritual for ‘3-in-9 Soul Reﬁnement’, his soul had become stronger at an accelerated rate unimaginable to normal practitioners. Upon opening the third layer world of his Atlas, he would become one of the most powerful forces within the immortal plane.

Presently, he had only just opened the second layer world of the Atlas. His power couldn’t be considered tyrannical nor a match for the major powers, but to smaller forces, he was a ﬁgure to be revered or respected.

…

In the days that followed his disciple’s confession, the fellow frequently accompanied that same lady in green around Liu Feng city, seeing the city’s sights. From his disciple’s foolish and, sometimes silly laughter, he knew his disciple truly was smitten by that lady.

He, himself stayed within the white district manor’s ‘white garden’.

His eyes were shut as he leaned, in a somewhat forlorn manner, against the railing of a pagoda, one hand grasped a jug of wine. Sometimes he would take a sip, others, he would chug continuously. Sometime after, the Liu clan patriarch – Liu Ming Han approached the solitude pagoda, but seeing the man within had their eyes closed, he turned back to the way he came from, careful not to disturb the resident.

The resident’s eyes ﬂickered open.

Qin Yu looked in question at Ming Han. “Mister Liu, what have you come today?”

The fellow smiled in apology. “Mister Qin, tomorrow is the day of the contest for the control for the teleportation arrays. The location will be on the Great Plains adjacent to the teleportation arrays themselves. If Mister Qin has the time, please feel free to attend.” Then immediately handed Qin Yu an invitation slip.

Qin Yu took the slip and murmured, “I will, if I have the time.”

Finished with the exchange, he closed his eyes.

“Then I won’t bother Mister Qin any longer. Farewell.” Ming Han chuckled quietly, then left.

With his eyes closed once again, he continued to enjoy the gentle embrace of the cool afternoon breeze. He was loved by the wind, and he loved it back, it reminded him of the cool yet delicate stroke of his beloved, Li’er’s hand. The time she caressed his face in affection and in love.

Chapter 19:

“Li’er, I will ﬁnd you soon, very soon.” Qin Yu murmured in his heart, and, at closer inspection, one would note the moisture on his eyelashes that revealed the longing in his heart.

His eyes closed, and he began to drift in a dream full of scenes and images of his time spent with Li’er, ﬂickering by like a digital gallery. A speciﬁc one stood out; it was the time just prior to Li’er’s departure, before her lovely ﬁgure was swallowed by the rupture that pierced the sky. It was the ﬁnal glance as their gazes met and locked in place as if time had frozen, but sadly time did not stop, and that moment had ended. What was left was only regret. Deep regret.

“What is the farthest distance in the whole wide world?”

The big question.

His eyes ﬂew open as he remembered when he was a boy on Qian Long Continent, when he had heard of such a question.

He remembered what the answer was: ‘The farthest distance known to man was to stand in front of you, right next to you, yet not know I love you.’

But another answer came to mind.

“The farthest distance known to man should be the distance between two people who love each other deeply……and yet cannot be together.” The thought pulled at his heart strings, and a sharp pain blossomed in his chest. In the past, when he was still mortal, Qin Yu still had his brothers and family, he had not felt the ache of loneliness then. However, now in Immortal realm, he cannot help but to constantly think of Li’er.

“Hu!”

Qin Yu stood up strongly, shook his head, and struck the surrounding with his palm. The water in the lake beside the pavilion splashed, and a breeze carried some of the water droplets onto his face, leaving Qin Yu refreshed.

“Training, training, I must not rest.” Qin Yu reminded himself.

Only by training relentlessly, not idling or pitting his wits against others, can Qin Yu take his mind off Li’er and not feel the torment of missing her terribly.

“I can’t wait anymore. I’ll just accompany Han Shu to watch the competition for another two days, after which I must leave immediately.” Qin Yu muttered, gritting his teeth.

The next day.

At the plains of Amber Moon Planet’s teleportation arrays, the experts of the three great clans gathered. The competition to obtain the right to control the teleportation arrays could be said to be the biggest event on Amber Moon Planet.

The Yan Clan, Liu Clan, and Wang Clan; these 3 families have to compete against one another.

The Yan Clan will ﬁght against the Liu Clan, the Liu Clan against the Wang Clan, and ﬁnally the Wang Clan against the Yan Clan. A total of 3 matches to see which clan will obtain the most victories, and each match is decided by the best of out of 3 rounds.

“The Liu Clan will win!”

………….

Each and every Liu Clan members were shouting and cheering, and the members of the Yan Clan and Wang Clan followed suit. Each hoped to pressure their opponents.

“Yan Shuo, what are you staring at me for?” Liu Ming Weng mentally transmitted with surprise on his face. Yan Shuo, who was sitting in the opposite camp, laughed coldly: “Liu Ming Weng, I shall see how long you can be smug for. We will not let the matter of my brother’s death go, nor will the Jade Sword School for that matter.”

Liu Ming Weng only smiled indifferently at the threat.

At the Liu Clan’s camp, Qin Yu sat on a chair with Liu Han Shu standing beside him.

“Master, who do you reckon will win? How will our Liu Clan fare?” Liu Han Shu voiced his concerns. With the rules of ‘best of three’, it is not just a simple case of having the strongest expert.

“The 2 strongest experts in the Yan Clan have already died, so it will be strange if they could somehow win.” Qin Yu laughed lightly. “As long as that Liu Ming Han plays his cards right, he can obtain the controlling rights this time.”

Qin Yu already knew the strength of the various participants with one sweep of his holy sense.

With Yan Gao’s death, Liu Ming Weng had become the strongest within Amber Moon Planet’s 3 clans. It would be a guaranteed win regardless of which match he was in, furthermore, the number of Level 9 immortals in the Liu Clan was enormous as well. There were still the 2 elders who were reaching the Golden Immortal Level soon; achieving another two victories would be simple.

The match was not a big deal to Qin Yu.

It was after all a competition, not some ﬁght to the death. Even if both sides displayed their prowess without holding back, it was meant to defeat the opponent, and not kill them. This type of competition was deﬁnitely dazzling, each ﬁght could last for many hundred exchanges, and the skills displayed were eye catching. In the end, whoever manages to injure the opponent will obtain victory.

The outcome was as Qin Yu predicted. In the match between Liu Clan and Wang Clan, Liu Clan won 2-0, so there was no need for a third round.

In the match between the Wang Clan and the Yan Clan, the Wang Clan lost. At this point, the Wang Clan had lost all of its face.

After which, the Liu Clan fought the Yan Clan, and won 2-0.

In the end, as expected, the Liu Clan obtained victory.

Joyful cheers ﬁlled the air; the energy was felt even by Qin Yu. Every single member of the Liu Clan was excited as this was only the second time they had obtained the control rights since the ﬁrst victory a few 10,000 years ago.

“Master, the move that Great Elder executed against the current Yan Clan’s lord was wonderful and strong, wasn’t it?” Liu Han Shu was still immersed in the energy of the exchanges earlier. “Strong?”

Qin Yu laughed indifferently: “A simple sword strike would have sufﬁced, why waste so much energy?” Qin Yu had his own sentiments regarding battles.

“Han Shu, I will be leaving tomorrow.” Qin Yu spoke suddenly.

“Ah, Master, what are you talking about?” Liu Han Shu looked at Qin Yu in shock.

Qin Yu laughed: “I stayed on Amber Moon Planet just to prepare for the Demon Realm, I can’t waste any more time, and therefore my decision is to set off tomorrow.”

“Then this disciple shall follow Master.” Liu Han Shu gritted his teeth and said. His heart could not bear to leave the lady in green, but he could not bear to separate from his master as well.

“Won’t you miss that girl you like?” Qin Yu laughed and continued, “Han Shu, the journey to the Demon Realm is not only a long one, but one that may be dangerous. Being by my side is not safe. Furthermore, the road of cultivation does not require you to always be with me. If you have any difﬁculties in the future, you can always use the soul transmission jade slip anyway.”

Liu Han Shu pondered for a long time, then nodded.

“Your disciple will obey.”

Qin Yu nodded satisfactorily: “I don’t wish to bid Liu Ming Weng goodbye, help me convey the message tonight.” At the same time, Qin Yu pulled out a Spatial Ring, “This time, I have no idea when I will be back after I depart, so this Spatial Ring shall belong to you once you’ve dropped your blood. There are many immortal weapons and elemental stones in it.” Liu Han Shu knew of a spatial ring of Immortal grade’s importance and value.

“Yes, Master.” There was a lot in his heart he had yet to say, but Liu Han Shu could not manage to.

Night.

“Great Elder, Han Shu seeks an audience,” Liu Han Shu called out from outside the great hall.

“Oh, it’s Han Shu, come on in,” Liu Ming Weng’s voice sounded from the great hall. As Liu Han Shu stepped into the great hall, Liu Han Shu also entered from the back Liu Ming Weng sat down and smiled gently, “Han Shu, come sit quickly, what’s the matter that you would be looking for me so late at night?”

Liu Han Shu laughed bitterly after taking a seat, “My master had told me that he will be leaving Amber Moon Planet for the Demon Realm tomorrow. He told me to inform the elders that he’s leaving directly.” Liu Ming Weng trembled and his face turned white.

“Oh no.” The great hall’s door closed with a wave of his hand, and Liu Ming Weng asked hurriedly, “Han Shu, you’re saying that your master Qin Yu will be leaving tomorrow for the Demon Realm? Are you very certain?”

Liu Han Shu was startled.

“Great Elder, what’s the matter? At the time he arrived, Master had asked for a map of the Demon Realm, did he not? His staying here for these many years has been a treat for us. Surely we can’t expect a person of his caliber to stay on this small planet forever, right?” Liu Han Shu was speaking for his master.

Liu Ming Weng felt that he must have looked too anxious, and brushed it off, laughing, “Oh it’s not a big deal. It’s just that Mr. Qin Yu’s desire to leave so suddenly came as a surprise. Han Shu, can I ask you for a favor?” “Great Elder, please say it.” Han Shu hurriedly replied.

Liu’s Clan Great Elder was here asking for a “favor”, this made Han Shu worried.

Liu Ming Weng laughed, “Your master Mr. Qin Yu has been a huge benefactor to our Clan and has done us a huge service. If we just let Mr. Qin Yu leave like that, it would seem as though our Liu Clan does not know how to repay favors. Why don’t you go and ask your master to stay for just a few more days. We will prepare a huge feast to send him off properly. Han Shu, what do you think?”

“This…”

Han Shu hesitated.

“It’s just a farewell feast. Mr. Qin Yu has already stayed for so many years, a few more days would not make a difference,” Liu Ming Weng laughed hurriedly. Han Shu shook his head helplessly: “Great Elder, it’s not that I’m unwilling, but Master has stated that he leave early tomorrow morning. I know his temperament; once he has decided something, nothing can sway him.”

Liu Ming Weng frowned.

“Liu Ming Weng, there’s no need for so much trouble,” a cold voice rang out suddenly as a middle-aged man walked out from the back.

“Lord,” Liu Ming Weng bowed in respect.

Han Shu saw the scene and his entire body prickled in suspicion and he thought, “ ‘Lord’? The sudden appearance of this person, led the Great Elder of the Liu Clan to call him ‘Lord’, just who was this mysterious character?”

The middle-aged man spoke coldly: “What’s the use of dilly- dallying? If this matter is not settled, your Liu Clan can await its demise.” “Wiping out the Liu Clan?”

Han Shu was shocked and immediately used the soul transmission to contact Liu Ming Weng, “Elder, who is this person, why does he want to wipe us out?”

Worried, Han Shu maintained his alertness in front of this person.

Liu Ming Weng looked towards Han Shu, and said helplessly, “Han Shu, just treat it as me begging you, please make your Master stay for a few more days. Otherwise… our Liu Clan will really be over.”

“What’s going on, just what is going on?” Liu Han Shu was perplexed at the scene in front of him, and he could only fathom something he did not want to believe.

His own family had actually conspired with someone to deal with his Master.

Han Shu easily guessed the situation, but he was not willing to believe it.

“You are that Qin Yu’s disciple?” The man looked coldly at Han Shu: “You listen carefully, I’m giving you two options: One, listen to your elder and convince Qin Yu to stay awhile longer. Two, you oppose me, but let me tell you that I, Wu Bo, am a Level 8 Golden Immortal so every move you make will be under my observation.”

“You can forget about using the soul transmission. I have already laid a foundation array around the great hall when I came here. You can also forget about using the soul transmission jade slip, because the moment it appears in your hand, I will kill you.”

Wu Bo looked coldly at Han Shu.

One was a Level 8 Golden Immortal while the other was just a late stage Kong Ming practitioner. It was like the difference between the heavens and earth.

“Your people want to kill my Master?” Han Shu glared angrily at the Level 8 Golden Immortal Wu Bo in front of him.

“Yes, and you had better cooperate. You should know the importance of this matter.” Wu Bo laughed lightly, “What a coincidence! If you hadn’t come to report, Qin Yu would have gotten away.”

Han Shu’s heart burned like an angry ﬂame.

“Sealing me? I know you guys are worried that with my death, my jade slip will shatter, and if my master knows something happened to me, he will get wind of your plan, right?” Han Shu laughed and licked his lips, as his eyes seemed to turn red.

“Clever.” Wu Bo laughed lightly, and raised his ﬁnger. A streak of divine energy shot from his ﬁnger tip and into Han Shu’s body, sealing Han Shu’s yuanying. At this point, even if he wanted to self-destruct, it would be impossible.

“That is why I will not let you die. This way, Qin Yu will not suspect a thing,” Wu Bo continued, “Son, be smart. If this matter goes awry, thousands of members from your Liu Clan will have to die.”

“Han Shu, for the Clan’s sake, just promise.” Liu Ming Weng chipped in.

“For the Clan,” Han Shu laughed loudly. “Liu Ming Weng, at this juncture, for the Clan’s sake, you want to sacriﬁce my Master, who has given me a second chance at life?” Liu Han Shu had directly addressed Liu Ming Weng by name.

Liu Ming Weng was startled.

The level 8 Golden Immortal Wu Bo still looked coldly at the scene. Liu Han Shu had obviously gone mad: “Since you dare talk to me about the Clan, what has the Clan given me from young?! Not even a single piece of low grade elemental stone. What it has given me was endless ridicule, shame, and torment!”

“From when I was young, I was just a target of humiliation for the Liu Clan. I couldn’t even walk with my head upright. I couldn’t look people in the eye, and anybody could order me around.” Han Shu’s voice was getting more desolate, his eyes turning redder, “You talk to me about the Clan, but do I really belong here? What the Liu Clan has given me was ridicule and humiliation, I’m worse than being an orphan!”

“I used to think my life was over; my mother had died by the lake, and I almost committed suicide. But master appeared. He was sincere towards me. He reconstructed my veins and didn’t hold me in contempt. He even stayed in this small Maple Moon Star for me for a whole ten years. I was reborn, and, in these ten years, nobody dared to look down on me, no one dared to disrespect me. Even you, the Great Elder Liu Ming Han, has to kindly call me ‘Han Shu.’”

Liu Han Shu angrily pointed at Liu Ming Han, his whole face turning red.

This whole time, even Wu Bo noticed that something wasn’t right.

“Standing up straight and walking and living comfortably, this was my dream since I was small, and Master let my dream come true. I was happy these past ten years.” Liu Han Shu’s face turned red and started dripping with sweat.

“I lived this whole time, not for others, but to be able to stand up straight and dashing for myself, only for this reason. Master let me live happily for ten years, so I am also satisﬁed. If I am sorry for anybody, it would probably be for him.”

Liu Han Shu lowered his voice.

Suddenly Liu Han Shu lifted his head and stared at Wu Bo, “You are probably very confused as to why my face is this red, right? I’ll tell you…this is a poison, a poison which only the Maple Moon Star has. It is unfortunate that this is a poison that you immortals don’t know about, but I do.” Wu Bo was surprised, and he poured divine energy into Liu Han Shu’s body and tried to block it, but he didn’t understand the properties of the poison.

This was a type of poison for normal cultivators. After eating it, the poison would cause the blood vessels of the brain to burst, making the seven oriﬁces bleed and thereby killing them. Although Liu Han Shu had a yuanying, it had been sealed. Therefore the effect of the poison was completely utilized, and the blood vessels in his head burst open. His soul couldn’t fuse with the yuanying and was naturally was dispersed.

Wu Bo’s only course of action was to lift the seal and let Liu Han Shu’s soul enter the yuanying. Unfortunately, Wu Bo didn’t dare remove the seal because, if he removed it, Liu Han Shu might send information to Qin Yu or “self destruct” his yuanying.

No matter what, Liu Han Shu would die.

“Master, I have had ten years of self-respect, and it was better than living a hundred, no a thousand years, as a mediocre person. If your disciple’s death can let you know of the danger, your disciple is already satisﬁed.”

In Liu Han Shu’s eyes there was a hint of a regretful longing; his love had just begun, but it had already ended.

“Hong!”

Bleeding from his seven oriﬁces, Liu Han Shu collapsed slowly. At the same time, in Qin Yu’s Blazing Ice Ring, Liu Han Shu’s soul jade slip shattered with a “Peng” sound.

Title: Han Shu’s Death

Chapter 20: Blood On The Amber Moon

“Oh No!”

Wu Bo, the 8th level Golden Immortal, quickly took out his transmitter pearl, “Master, we have trouble! Qin Yu has discovered our trap! We need you to get to the Amber Moon System quickly. Any delay and he will surely get away.”

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Red Leaf System…

Upon receiving the message, Yu Qing Zi’s disappointment made him feel as if he had just been punched in the temple. “They had so many opportunities, but they give me just a ton of failures!” he grumbled. But he had no time right now to punish his errant disciples, he had to get some people to the Amber Moon System immediately! “Everyone take note of the following orders! I will be leaving ﬁrst along with brother Qian Qi and Xia Hua. We will then be followed by the Level 9 Golden Immortals. After that, Level 8 Golden Immortals will take up the rear. Everyone is to proceed as quickly as they can towards the Amber Moon System.”

Yu Qing Zi’s spiritual sense swept out to envelope the entire Red Leaf System. His call to arms could be clearly heard by all involved.

“Yu Qing Zi! What happened?” The Immortal Lord, Qian Qi, silently enquired.

Yu Qing Zi had a belly full of ﬁre. This task had been carefully entrusted to him by the Emperor Yu. If they screwed it up, there would be hell to pay.

“I have no damn idea what those disciples at the Amber Moon System were doing, but they actually leaked our intentions to Qin Yu and he now knows that we are after him. Brother Qian Qi, Xia Hua, let’s move quickly. We can’t let him get away no matter what!” “Indeed. Who would dare defy the orders of emperor Yu?!” Xia Hua agreed.

The three Immortal Lords immediately rushed towards the teleportation array leading to the Amber Moon System, and, in a few moments, close to seventy Level 9 Golden Immortals as well as nearly two hundred Level 8 Golden Immortals gathered nearby.

However, the teleportation array could only take ten people at any one time and there was no direct connection to the Amber Moon system, so everyone had to pass through several arrays to get to their destination.

“Let’s go!”

Yu Qing Zi, Qian Qi and Xia Hua immediately got into the teleportation array. In a ﬂash of light, they were transported away just as ten Level 9 Golden Immortals quickly moved up to a similar teleportation array. There were two routes leading from the Red Leaf System to the Amber Moon System and the three Immortal Lords naturally chose the shorter route.

A long line of Golden Immortals snaked their way down towards the two teleportation arrays. Their destination was the innocuous Amber Moon System, but, today, the quiet Amber Moon System would soon usher in the most glorious night in its entire history.

This night, the Amber Moon System would be ﬂooded by such a huge number of experts as it had never been before in its entire recorded history.

The three Immortal Lords, seventy Level 9 and two hundred Level 8 Golden Immortals. The strength of such a team was absolutely unimaginable. Every single one of them was an expert in his own right. Even Level 7 Golden Immortals were not qualiﬁed to be a part of this team.

* * * Kong Lan, Tu Gan and Dan Meng were quietly waiting on Qin Yu, while Qin Yu himself was silently looking up upon the majesty of an amber moon. The moon within the Amber Moon System was truly amber in colour, its uniqueness was the system’s deﬁning characteristic.

They were to leave early the next morning, and Qin Yu found that he did not want to spend the night sleeping.

All of a sudden, Qin Yu’s expression changed. With a ﬂip of his palm, several jade slips appeared in his hand. As he looked upon the jade slips, Qin Yu’s eyes widened and his face turned ugly.

“Han Shu! Han Shu is in danger!” In the blink of an eye, Qin Yu’s spiritual sense spread out to cover the whole Amber Moon System.

Ever since his soul had fused with the meteoric tear, Qin Yu’s spiritual sense had advanced to a truly frightful degree. The basic restrictions set up by a Level 8 Golden Immortal simply could not hold him.

His spiritual sense very quickly focused in on the presence of Wu Bo and Liu Ming Han, and beside them, the fallen Liu Han Shu. In a ﬂash, Qin Yu vanished, leaving behind him nothing more than a shock wave in the air. Kong Lan looked up, and after taking a brief moment to lock on to Qin Yu’s position, the three Level 9 Demon Kings swiftly followed.

* * *

In the great hall of Liu Ming Weng’s mansion, Liu Han Shu had only just fallen and Wu Bo just sent his message, yet in a split second, Qin Yu appeared and rushed to Han Shu’s side.

“Han Shu! Han Shu!” Han Shu’s soul had already left his body. There was no one to reply to Qin Yu’s cries.

“Liu. Ming. Weng.” Qin Yu turned his eyes towards Liu Ming Weng, his body shaking from uncontrollable grief and anger. “Liu Ming Weng. As an Elder of the Liu family, you actually conspired with the enemy to kill my disciple?! My only disciple!”

“No! No!” Liu Ming Weng protested, “It was the Jade Sword School. Nothing to do with me!”

Yet how could Qin Yu believe him at this point?

Shua!

In a ﬂash, Qin Yu appeared before Liu Ming Weng, his speed was simply outrageous and even the Level 8 Golden Immortal Wu Bo felt that he would not be Qin Yu’s match. This was Qin Yu’s ﬁrst display of speed since he had encountered the Dark Star.

With a wave of his arm, Qin Yu’s hand pierced right through Liu Ming Weng’s stomach and grabbed his YuanYing. Liu Ming Han could only stand there, shaking uncontrollably. He had absolutely no means of defence against Qin Yu’s amazing speed.

With his hand on Liu Ming Weng’s YuanYing, Qin Yu performed the secret magic art, Soul Search! With the help of his newly fused meteoric tear, it took but a moment for Qin Yu to ﬁnd out exactly what had happened.

Whether it was the secret plans of the Jade Sword School, or the entire proceedings within the great hall that night, all was revealed to Qin Yu, whatever Liu Ming Weng had seen were now replayed in Qin Yu’s mind.

“Family? You dare talk to me about family? Do I have a family? The Liu family has given me nothing but insults, nothing but humiliation. Family? I’m worse than an orphan!”

As Qin Yu saw how his only disciple was pushed to the point of despair, he could not help but feel an even closer connection to this disciple of his. Desperation? Hopelessness? Didn’t he go through those feelings as well in his younger days?

“Are you surprised? Surprised by how red my face is? Let me tell you, I’ve just ingested poison! This poison can only be found in the Amber Moon System. Unfortunately, this is a poison that you immortals would surely know nothing about, but I know…”

As Qin Yu watched Han Shu put his own life on the line to save him, he could not help but be consumed by hatred.

“Foolish child… So what if my enemies came looking for me? Did you think they were even capable of killing your master? If only I had told you earlier of the true extent of my power, about my Jade Immortal Mansion, about my Beast Atlas. What have I to fear? Yet you sacriﬁced yourself for me, just so your death could be a warning to me, and I might not fall into their trap. Foolish child…”

“Master, these ten years that you have been with me have been years when I have ﬁnally been able to walk around with some measure of self-respect. These ten years have been far more worthwhile than a hundred, no, even a thousand years of living in shame and mediocrity. If, by my sacriﬁce, I am able to warn you of this coming danger, then it would have been a worthwhile sacriﬁce…” Qin Yu looked on in silence as his disciple was dying, blood ﬂowing from every pore of his skin. It brought back memories of how his own father had met with danger and how Qin Yu had sought to perish together with their enemies. The determination to do what needed to be done at any price, he

now saw it in his disciple.

“My only regret… is her.” With his dying breath, Han Shu could still only think about her, his eyes misting over as if in a dream as he held on to this ﬁnal thought, one which he was unwilling to let go of.

In his mind’s eye, Qin Yu looked on as the ramrod straight Han Shu slowly fell onto the ground with a loud “thud!” Qin Yu himself felt as if he had been physically hit by the sound of the body hitting the ﬂoor. He awoke with a start, his body trembling with equal parts sorrow and anger.

“Ahhhhh!” Qin Yu’s whole body was trembling. His hands were trembling, the muscles in his entire body were now so taut you could see the veins straining against his skin, and his eyes resembled a crazy predator’s as they ﬁxed onto Wu Bo. “Jade Sword School. This is a blood debt you must repay!”

“Only a Level 2 or 3 Golden Immortal.” Wu Bo sniffed. He could easily sense Qin Yu’s strength and looked on in disdain. After all, he was an eighth ranked Golden Immortal, and a Sword Immortal at that. He had nothing to fear from a mere third ranked Golden Immortal.

Wu Bo unsheathed his sword and attacked with a bang! With less than ten meters between them, when a Level 8 Golden Immortal faced off against a last stage Dark Star expert, there was simply no room to dodge!

Qin Yu was wearing a top grade immortal armour, and he also had an artifact armour hidden within his skin that could surface at a moment’s notice. Wu Bo’s sword landed squarely on Qin Yu’s armour and did not make so much as a scratch.

However, strangely enough, the energy behind that strike could be keenly felt by Qin Yu as if it had passed directly through his armour without being stopped by it at all. Wu Bo grinned evilly. If one’s YuanYing was weak, a Level 3 Golden Immortal would be completely obliterated by this single strike.

Unfortunately for him, Wu Bo had severely underestimated Qin Yu.

It was true that Qin Yu was only a late stage Dark Star expert, and without the use of any special weapons, his offensive strength would only be equivalent to a Level 3 Golden Immortal. However, Qin Yu’s body could be said to be even stronger than a Level 9 Golden Immortal’s! After all, it was extremely rare for an immortal to have trained their body to the extent that Qin Yu had, and, more importantly, Qin Yu was ﬁlled with a profound and limitless life force. Even when he was injured, his life force would replenish almost instantaneously.

Furthermore, Qin Yu’s body did not hide an ordinary, weak YuanYing, but held the extremely condensed strength of the Dark Star!

The strike that would be so devastating on someone else was easily brushed off by Qin Yu. The only question was, would Qin Yu’s offensive strength be sufﬁcient to overcome the defense of a Level 8 Golden Immortal?

Wu Bo was only wearing a mid-grade immortal armour, yet, with his natural strength as a Level 8 Golden Immortal, Qin Yu might not be able to harm him even if he was using a top grade weapon!

In an instant, a short sword appeared in Qin Yu’s hand, and, in one smooth strike, pierced right through Wu Bo’s body and stabbed straight into his YuanYing, passing through Wu Bo’s armour as if it was made of paper.

“This is the ﬁrst time I’ve used a divine weapon to kill someone,” Qin Yu whispered to Wu Bo as the latter looked on in surprise at the sword sticking through his chest.

“That’s … Sky Piercer…?!” Wu Bo simply could not believe his eyes. Every single immortal was keenly familiar with Sky Piercer, the divine sword of the top sword immortal, Emperor Ni Yang. Could this short sword actually be that sword of legends, the divine Sky Piercer? There was indeed a huge gulf between the strength of Qin Yu and Wu Bo. Were it not for Wu Bo’s initial assessment of Qin Yu’s aura that had led him to underestimate Qin Yu, there was no way that Wu Bo could have been killed so easily. In the end, it was still the shock factor of the divine Sky Piercer that made the difference.

The strength of divine weapons was such that it could allow an individual to defeat one who was several tiers of power above him. In addition, Sky Piercer was a mid-grade divine weapon, far more powerful than the low-grade divine weapon that Pan Mang had previously used.

“Foolish disciple, I decided not to use my sword immortal puppet, but to personally kill this man for you.” With a wave of his sleeve, Qin Yu respectfully stored away the body of Han Shu.

“Han Shu, once this is over I will give you a proper burial. As for now, let us make sure that we make your enemies pay for this with their own lives.” In an instant, the sword immortal puppet had appeared and a beam of light passed from Qin Yu into the puppet. Just like that, Qin Yu’s soul was now within the sword immortal puppet.

With a wave of his hand, Qin Yu stored his body into the Jade Immortal Mansion. Of course, he knew that his own body was far more important than the sword immortal puppet. After all, he relied on his own body to progress in his training, and it was his body that possessed limitless potential for further growth and development.

But as for now, the sword immortal puppet was far stronger and far more suited to Qin Yu’s current purpose, which was slaughter -just plain, all out, mass-murderer-type slaughter.

As Qin Yu pushed open the doors of the great hall, Kong Lan, Tu Gan and Dan Meng were all respectfully waiting outside. They had known all along that Qin Yu was in the great hall, but they did not want to interrupt him in his grief.

“Master.” Kong Lan bowed deeply as he greeted Qin Yu.

Qin Yu raised his head to glance at the dark amber moon and whispered, “Kong Lan, have you noticed that under the light of this dark amber moon, this Amber Moon System simply isn’t red enough…”

Kong Lan’s pupils narrowed, his eyes revealing a hint of bloodlust, “Then perhaps we need to paint it a deeper shade of red… blood red!”

Hearing his reply, Qin Yu slowly nodded his head, “You’re right, we should paint it blood red, with the blood of our enemies.”

Staring at the open sky, Qin Yu’s sensitive spiritual sense had already detected several people approaching them with killing intent.

These three individuals were moving very fast and the aura they were giving off was so strong it made the inhabitants of Liu Feng City quake in their boots. Never before had they felt such fear from just an aura!

Three Immortal Lords!

In the dark of the night, three shadows stood side by side in the air, coldly looking down at three others below them.

“Three Level 9 Demon Kings, and they’re all Divine Beasts as well. Not bad at all.” The Immortal Emperor Qian Qi smiled as he remarked.

Just then, ten more shadows started ﬂying over at breakneck speed; the ﬁrst group of Level 9 Golden Immortals had arrived.

Turning from the Demon Kings, the Immortal Lord Qian Qi turned to glance at Qin Yu inside of the puppet.

“Are you with Qin Yu’s clan?” He felt that this person was rather mysterious and carried an unreadable air about him.

Qin Yu responded with a cold, cruel laugh.

“My clan disciple was killed by one of your men. He was my only disciple, and he died for me!”

Qin Yu’s obvious anger and frustration were pointedly ignored by the three Immortal Lords. By now, group after group of Level 9 Golden Immortals had arrived one after another, quickly followed by the many groups of Level 8 Golden Immortals.

“Nearly seventy Level 9 Golden Immortals, and almost two hundred Level 8 Golden Immortals.” Qin Yu looked on coldly at the arriving groups of immortals.

Almost three hundred experts formed up into two large circles in the air, looking straight down at Qin Yu and the three Demon Kings. Three hundred! Each one was no weaker than a Level 8 Golden Immortal. The aura they collectively gave out would suffocate a normal person to death.

“Looks like everyone should be here by now… right?” As Qin Yu asked that simple question, the surrounding immortals could not help but feel a sense of surprise.

“My dear disciple,” Qin Yu muttered to himself, “There was one thing that your teacher never had the chance to ﬁnd out. The strength of this sword immortal puppet, when coupled with the power of the divine Sky Piercer… what sort of devastation do you think that would bring about?”

Qin Yu looked up, his gaze slowly falling on each and every Golden Immortal surrounding him.

“I guess today is the day when we will ﬁnd out!”

Chapter 21: Pay With Your Death!

Emperor Yu commanded many experts, especially Immortal Lord Qian Qi, after all he was the leader of the “36 Immortal Lords”, be it in power or status, he was much higher than Yu Qing Zi.

“Was it you who killed my disciple Yu Dian?” Yu Qing Zi shouted condescendingly.

Currently, Yu Qing Zi felt that everything was under control. Therefore, before making a move, he wanted to ﬁnd out in detail what kind of person the murderer of his disciple was.

“It was me.” Qin Yu lifted his head and gazed coldly at Yu Qing Zi, “Not only have I killed your disciple Yu Dian, but today I want to kill many more of your disciples.”

“Utter nonsense.” Yu Qing Zi glared furiously. At this time, Immortal Lord Qian Qi’s voice transmitted to Yu Qing Zi: “Yu Qing Zi, don’t forget Emperor Yu’s order, it would be best if we can capture him alive, if not, after we kill him, it would not be too late to use the ‘Soul-Searching Art’.”

“Brother Qian Qi, it was rash of me.” Yu Qing Zi apologized immediately.

Seeking revenge for Yu Dian was not as important as completing Emperor Yu’s order, which was of the utmost priority.

Immortal Lord Qian Qi gazed indifferently at Qin Yu: “I, Immortal Lord Qian Qi, am after all the leader of Emperor Yu’s 36 Immortal Lords. I do not kill small fries, tell us your name now.” Qian Qi wanted to use this tactic to ﬁnd out the opponent’s name.

Emperor Yu? 36 Immortal Lords’ Leader?

Although murderous qi ﬁlled his entire chest, Immortal Lord Qin Qi’s words made him vigilant from the bottom of his heart. If the enemy only wanted to get revenge for Yu Dian, moving this big of a force was simply unimaginable.

“Whatever my name is, you people are not qualiﬁed to know.” Qin Yu coldly said.

“Brother Qian Qi, let’s just stop this nonsense. According to Emperor Yu’s orders, we can just kill him right now, then use the ‘Soul Searching Art’ later right before he dies.” Yu Qing Zi said icily.

Yu Qing Zi even spoke this out loud so Qin Yu can hear it.

“You can crazily resist all you want, Emperor Yu personally sent a order for your capture, do you think you can still escape?” Yu Qing Zi coldly said to Qin Yu.

“Qin Yu’s mind was somewhat feverish, but his heart was calm. “Stay calm, stay calm, the other side is clearly under the orders of Emperor Yu. So Emperor Yu must have heard the name ‘Qin Yu’. In the mortal world, both Qing Xu Mountain and Yin Yue Palace had a way to communicate with the Ascendant Realm. When that Hua Yan was in the mortal world, he deﬁnitely contacted the immortal world, most likely….Emperor Yu is also familiar with my name.”

Qin Yu suddenly felt a surge of wrath.

“I don’t believe that they can stop me. If I really wanted to escape, the horizons of Immortal, Devil and Demon Realms are limitless, how will Emperor Yu be able to ﬁnd me?” Qin Yu’s killing intent started to rise. “When this matter is resolved, with the help of the Meteoric Tear, I will be able to breathe a little and gather my strength. Once I have left here, I will change my appearance. No one will be able to recognize me then!” Qin Yu felt more certain of his chances.

Nothing afterwards can worry him, what does Qin Yu have to fear?

Just then, Qin Yu stopped suppressing his fury, and, in a ﬂash, it ﬁlled his thoughts. “Brother Qian Qi, let’s stop wasting time, we should make our move.” Yu Qing Zi called out.

Immortal Lord Qian Qi looked once more at Qin Yu: “I shall give you your last chance, as long as you surrender, you can at least keep your life, otherwise…with a single command, your death is certain.”

“My death is certain?” Qin Yu licked his lips, and a bloodthirsty light ﬂashed past his eyes.

Kong Gang, Tu Gang, and Dan Meng; these three people were waiting quietly for Qin Yu’s order.

“Emperor Yu, you put in so much effort to ﬁgure out my identity, so I cannot disappoint you.” From Qin Yu’s heart gushed an uncontrollable urge to kill, and his pupils shrank.

Immortal Lord Qin Qi saw Qin Yu’s expression and knew that the enemy wouldn’t just let himself get captured. He ordered immediately, “Kill all four people within one breath.” “Yes!”

All 70 Level 9 Golden Immortals and 200 Level 8 Golden Immortals responded to the command. Their voices shook the area, and the practitioners in the entire city felt their hearts trembling, only daring to peek out of their windows to watch the shadows of the numerous experts in the skies.

“Hu!” “Hu!” “Hu!” Countless sword energy shot towards the 4 individuals, like a rain of arrows.

Qin Yu and his companions were surrounded by the sword energy in a ﬂash.

…..

“All the Level 8 and Level 9 Demon Kings in the 10-Thousand Atlas, attack!” When Immortal Lord Qian Qi gave his command, Qin Yu had done similarly.

“40 pieces of holy elemental stones, let’s see how long it can fuel this Immortal Puppet’s body? Silly disciple, this is your Master’s memorial gift of a bloody night for you!” Qin Yu saw the imminent sword energy, and his whole body suddenly sprung into action.

Qin Yu’s entire body became a dark shadow and pierced through the gathering of the Level 9 Golden Immortals in the skies, fresh blood spraying into the night sky. Wherever Qin Yu’s body ﬂashed past, a few Level 9 Golden Immortals would fall.

Those Level 9 Golden Immortals had holes in their abdomens, their Yuanyings penetrated.

Qin Yu made use of the Immortal Puppet’s indestructible defence, and attacked without a care for the enemies’ immortal weapons and sword energies. His whole body ﬂashed with the quickest speed and used the divine “Heaven-Sundering Art”to cut off his opponents’ lives.

“Impossible…”

Immortal Lord Qian Qi, Yu Qing Zi, Immortal Lord Xia Hua were all shocked.

Even an Immortal Lord’s defence would not reach Qin Yu’s level where he can ignore all Level 9 Golden Immortals’ attacks, and, on top of that, be able to kill 12 of them in a short span of time to boot!

Slaughter. This was a slaughter!

“Ah~~!” Screams ﬁlled the air.

Immortal Lord Qian Qi, Yu Qing Zi and Immortal Lord Xia Hua only then realised, many shadows appeared amidst the Level 8 Golden Immortals, and they were crazy beyond any comparison. With just a “shoosh”, many people had appeared.

In the 2nd Tier of the 10-Thousand Beasts Atlas, there were 28 Level 9 Demon Kings, and over a 100 Level 8 Demon Kings. This entire group had also suddenly launched their attack, so the Golden Immortal army was caught off guard right from the start and lost many experts. However, in a short while, these Level 8 and 9 Golden Immortals began their counterattack.

Some of the Golden Immortals saw that they were not a match for their enemies, and immediately tried to escape. In a blink of an eye, they were beyond miles away, yet some of the Demon Kings chased after them.

What was supposed to be only a battle in the skies above Liu Feng City had transgressed to a huge war zone that affected many areas due to the ferocity of the ﬁghting.

“Boom~~~”

Huge explosions sounded everywhere, the power of the Level

8 and 9 Golden Immortals ﬁghting surged non-stop and exploded everywhere like a thunderstorm that raged incessantly. Not only the Liu Feng City, even the other two capitals on Amber Moon Planet heard the sounds of this battle.

Sword energy everywhere!

Light shot in 4 directions!

Houses fell, mountains split, and rivers stopped ﬂowing….

Hundreds of Level 8 and 9 Golden Immortals clashed with madness, the entire Amber Moon Planet seemed like it was in the midst of hell. Even the strongest cultivators only had strength of a Level 1 or 2 Golden Immortal, so they simply could not match up to the levels of the experts.

Apocalypse! Countless cultivators were all trembling.

******** “The ﬁfteenth one!”

Qin Yu’s entire self shot out from yet another Level 9 Golden Immortal, whose body split into 7 to 8 parts, fresh blood splattering all over, and Qin Yu proceeded to keep the Yuanying inside his Flame Ice Ring with a ﬂick of his hand.

Suddenly—–

A green sword energy shot down from the sky, heading towards Qin Yu.

Qin Yu thought to dodge, but he suddenly felt that his whole body was bogged down and his speed fell drastically. There was not enough time to escape, so Qin Yu switched to hisshort sword to block that sword energy.

Qin Yu descended ﬁercely as though he was smashed by a huge weight. “The power consumption is too fast.”

Just by blocking this strike, Qin Yu could feel that it used up 30% of the power generated from the 9 pieces of holy elemental stones.

“To think that you are able to take a hit from me and not die, your strength is remarkable.” Yu Qing Zi stood in front of Qin Yu, looking coldly at him. “You were able to withstand so many attacks earlier, are you wearing some divine battle armour?”

Immortal Lord Qian Qi and Xia Hua both looked at Qin Yu, the 3 immortals’ gaze searing.

They had seen Qin Yu’s reckless actions during his massacre of their army earlier. Other than the explanation of having a divine armour, they could not fathom how Qin Yu’s defence could be at such a formidable level.

Divine battle armour? To date, even Immortal Lord Qian Qi did not have a single divine equipment, so one can only imagine how precious they are, let alone a complete divine armour.

All 3 immortals’ eyes were green with envy (although the chinese said red). Qin Yu did not move, he just stared at Yu Qing Zi.

“What technique did you use just now, how did you make me feel as if I was bogged down?” Qin Yu questioned directly.

Yu Qing Zi, Immortal Lord Qian Qi, and Xia Hua were all startled.

“When achieving an Immortal Lord’s level, one can control the ability ‘Domain’. Don’t tell me you didn’t even know this?” Yu Qing Zi was stunned, and laughed coldly. “You do not need to act dumb here.”

Yu Qing Zi made his move again! This time, Qin Yu saw the misty sword energy.

The moment Yu Qing Zi’s sword swung, the surrounding area spread out like a wave. At the same time, countless sword energy naturally appeared in this space and gathered at the sword without stopping.”

“This must be ‘Domain’?” Qin Yu wondered.

“Master, the number of Level 9 Golden Immortals are too many, and quite a few of them are Sword Immortals. Our brothers cannot hold on.” Kong Lan’s voice sounded in Qin Yu’s mind.

As Qin Yu retreated swiftly, he spread out his Holy Sense.

What he saw was a massacre everywhere, the people from the Jade Sword School had powerful might. Level 8 Golden Immortals fought against the Level 8 Demon Kings, however many of these Golden Immortals were Sword Immortals whose attack might was much stronger than average Golden Immortals. Qin Yu’s beast army was facing a disadvantage.

One by one, whenever the Level 8 or 9 Demon Kings were about to be killed by their opponents, they would retreat unanimously into the Atlas.

This led the numerous Golden Immortals to discover, to their disdain, as they were about to kill off their opponents, the enemy would just disappear as fast as they had appeared.

However, the similarly powerful Level 8 or 9 Demon Kings were mostly Divine Beasts, they could also deal huge damage to the opposing Golden Immortals by penetrating their bodies, destroying their Yuan ying, and scattering their unfortunate souls.

The Demon Kings could escape into the Atlas in times of danger.

The same cannot be said for the Golden Immortals being killed by Demon Kings. Fresh blood…..painted the night sky.

One by one, many lives were lost , with the huge majority belonging to the Golden Immortals.

“Kong Lan, kill as many as you can. When it becomes overwhelming, just hide in the Atlas. With regards to the remaining….” Qin Yu felt the limitless energy in his body, “Leave it to me.”

Qin Yu held the “Heaven-Sundering” Sword in his hands tightly.

“Yes, Master!”

Qin Yu looked towards Yu Qing Zi, who was at a distance, and called out, “Yu Qing Zi, I remember that Silver Stream Star System is under your control, right? You must be considered the number one expert on Silver Stream Star System.” “At this point of time, you still want to drag out the time? Your death is certain, so you don’t have to rack your brains for another way out.” Yu Qing Zi looked coldly at Qin Yu, while the other two Immortal Lords surrounded Qin Yu on the other sides.

Qin Yu could not be bothered by this, he just looked at Yu Qing Zi: “No, I just want to tell you one thing. On this Amber Moon Planet, the Liu Clan had a member whose name was Liu Han Shu. He reached the middle Jindan stage only at 25 years old.”

“Only middle Jindan stage at 25 years old?” Hearing this, Yu Qing Zi could not help but smirked at Liu Han Shu’s lack of talent.

“Liu Han Shu could be considered the lowest lifeform, always being ridiculed and looked down upon. When he was 25 years old though, he experienced a life-changing chance.” As Qin Yu was recounting, Immortal Lord Qian Qi and Xia Hua were secretly laying a formation array. Qin Yu did not seem to care, Yu Qing Zi was also gladly delaying the time.

“Leading a life where he could live proudly and freely, it was only a short 10 years. He died…..because of me, and was killed by your man.” Qin Yu’s voice had turned mild, not only was there no anger, he even had a trace of a smile, however his smile made people shiver, “Therefore, I want every single Golden Immortal here, even the Immortal Lords, to be buried with him as compensation.”

Qin Yu lightly swept his gaze over the three Immortal Lords.

“A single 25 year old piece of trash in the middle Jindan stage died, and you want us Immortal Lords to die as compensation, dream on.” Yu Qing Zi sarcastically retorted.

“Whether it is wishful thinking, you will know right away!” Qin Yu laughed lightly.

“Die!” As Yu Qing Zi’s voice rang out, 3 blades of light shot out from the 3 Immortal Lords’ hands. Qin Yu’s entire body seemed to be engulfed in it, and the space around him seemed to distort into 3 colours.

“Seal!”

Suddenly, the area surrounding Qin Yu exploded, and, in just a ﬂash, the entire area lit up as brightly as the sun, shining over the whole Liu Feng City.

“Must be dead.” Immortal Lord Qian Qi was feeling very satisﬁed, thinking, “Even if it was me facing this skill, I would have died on the spot.” The other 2 Immortal Lords also reckoned that Qin Yu was dead.

Just then—–

The weakest Immortal Lord Xia Hua was only 10 metres away from the explosion as a single shadow shot out from the explosion. The distance was too short to prepare any defence, Immortal Lord Xia Hua could only block with his strength.

The short sword pierced through Immortal Lord Xia Hua’s body, right through his Yuanying. The sword swept upwards ferociously, resulting in a wound over half a metre long. Qin Yu grabbed his body with both hands, and tore apart Immortal Lord Xia Hua, blood splattering the entire ground.

Qin Yu’s entire body ﬂoated where he stood, bathed in the blood of Immortal Lord Xia Hua, whose fresh blood slowly dripped off Qin Yu’s body. Under the blood red light of the moon, Qin Yu looked even more horrifying.

“Silly Disciple, this is the ﬁrst Immortal Lord that I bury for you,” Qin Yu silently thought in his heart, and with just a slight movement, shooting like a meteor, he appeared in front of Yu Qing Zi.

Chapter 22: A Sneaky Escape

Impossible! Yu Qing Zi and Qian Qi simply could not believe their eyes! Even the combined attacks of three Immortal Lords was not able to kill Qin Yu! Impossible!

Having just witnessed Xia Hua be destroyed in the blink of an eye, and watching Qin Yu now speeding furiously towards his direction, Yu Qing Zi did not delay but seized the initiative to let loose a tremendous strike with his sword!!

Smash! Qin Yu’s entire body was sent ﬂying, and it was several seconds and a few hundred metres before Qin Yu managed to compose himself, ﬂoating in mid-air to stare silently at Yu Qing Zi and Qian Qi. Or so it seemed anyway. While Qin Yu looked to be simply staring at the two Immortal Lords, in reality, he was swiftly reloading the sword immortal puppet with a new batch of top-grade holy elemental stones.

“All that energy, completely used up. Gotta load up with these nine fresh top-grade holy elemental stones.” It took but a moment to reload, but Qin Yu was nevertheless shaken by Yu Qing Zi’s tremendous attack. In just one strike, roughly 30% of the sword immortal puppet’s energy had been depleted!

“Looks like I was pretty lucky that their ﬁrst strike was meant more to restrict than to overpower. So much of their energy was spent to lock me down that the attack itself wasn’t all that powerful.”

Qin Yu sighed to himself. This, was the one big disadvantage to the sword immortal puppet, its insatiable need for energy. Obviously, Qin Yu could choose not to power the puppet with top-grade holy elemental stones, yet if he did not, then that last strike from Yu Qing Zi would surely have had him soaring like a comet across the Amber Moon planet. When he was up against an attack of that calibre, there was no way Qin Yu would possibly be able to meet it without expending his precious energy.

“Yu Qing Zi,” Qin Yu smiled darkly. “I did mention that I’d be sending some Immortal Lords to hell to accompany my disciple Han Shu, didn’t I? Did you think I was kidding?” Qin Yu glared at the two remaining Immortal Lords.

Yu Qing Zi and Qian Qi were completely stunned. To have Qin Yu actually live through the combined attack of three Immortal Lords? Impossible!

“I also said that I would send hundreds of Level 8 and 9 Golden Immortals to accompany him. Look around. How many more do you think I have to kill?” Qin Yu smirked.

Yu Qing Zi and Qian Qi immediately swept across the planet with their spiritual senses. Out of 200 Level 8 Golden Immortals, about 130 were dead, and of the 70 Level 9 Golden Immortals, almost 30 had already died. Even as they watched, Kong Lan, Tu Gan and Dan Meng were leading several others in continuing their slaughter.

Kong Lan was clearly the most outstanding of the lot. Clothed in a top-grade immortal armour and wielding a top- grade immortal weapon, coupled with his own natural ability and strength, not one among the Level 9 Golden Immortals was able to match up to him. “A top-grade immortal weapon?!” Yu Qing Zi’s eyes lit up. Moving quickly, Yu Qing Zi turned swiftly away from Qin Yu, launching himself several hundred meters in the direction of Kong Lan while throwing out a vicious strike in his direction.

Completely taken by surprise, Kong Lan could only hurriedly raise his weapon to block the incoming strike.

A Level 9 Demon King would already be at a disadvantage in a clash with a Immortal Lord ranked sword immortal. Furthermore, this strike from Yu Qing Zi was completely unexpected and Kong Lan was taken by surprise.

Kong Lan threw up a mouthful of blood as he was sent ﬂying from the sneak attack, while Yu Qing Zi was already swiftly closing in to deal the ﬁnishing blow. There had simply been no time at all for Qin Yu to react!

But suddenly, even as his entire body was sent ﬂying from the massive blow, Kong Lan simply vanished right in front of his enemy’s eyes! As Yu Qing Zi stared in shock at where Kong Lan had been, a sudden fast approaching shockwave could be felt through the air. As soon as Yu Qing Zi saw those cold bloodshot eyes staring at him, he wasted no time at all in raising his sword, striking out in a beam of stunningly brilliant light.

Boom!

As Yu Qing Zi and Qin Yu met in a clash of swords, the resulting impact sent both of them ﬂying off in opposite directions.

“There goes another third of my energy.” Qin Yu muttered in frustration to himself.

“This fella’s offensive strength is clearly far beyond that of Xia Hua. Just one strike from him could cleave me in two. Even before I could get close enough to attack him, that one move was so stunning there was simply no way that I could have dodged it!” Yu Qing Zi’s position as one of the “36 Immortal Lords” was truly well earned. How could Yu Qing Zi be so easily defeated?

“Yu Qing Zi, this guy is wearing divine armour and will have a natural advantage in an exchange of blows. Do not let him get close!” Qian Qi transmitted to Yu Qing Zi.

“I know. Don’t worry. There is no way that he will be able to get past the defensive moves of my Yu Huan Sword Technique.” Yu Qing Zi conﬁdently replied.

*(Note – It’s actually the Jade Ring Sword Technique, which could be confusing so Yu Huan was used. The breakdown is probably that it is part of the Jade school and and it creates a defensive ring using the sword!)

“Brother Qian Qi, I get the feeling that his own strength isn’t actually all that great. If you use your earth-shaking symbol, even if most of it is blocked by his armour, you should still be able to kill him.”

“My earth-shaking symbol?” Qian Qi’s eyes lit up.

Qin Yu watched quietly as the two immortal lords conversed. Though he could not hear what they were saying to each other, he was in no rush to attack. After the initial few passes, Qin Yu could tell quite clearly that he would not be able to match up to them.

“Dear disciple, looks like your master still isn’t strong enough right now. I’m not even able to get close enough to them to attack.” Qin Yu swept his gaze around, taking in the carnage that had been wrought all around him. Currently, among the Level 9 Golden Immortals, only thirty or so had been killed. He quickly made up his mind.

“If I can’t kill another Immortal Lord for you, guess I’ll have to make it up by killing more Level 9 Golden Immortals!”

A black beam of light shot out in the direction of the various groups of Level 9 Golden Immortals. Every single Golden Immortal that encountered that black beam was swiftly sent to accompany Han Shu in death. As the Golden Immortals were being massacred, Qian Qi looked on solemnly, his ﬁngers creating many intricate symbols in the air. As he formed those symbols, streams of light were pouring out from them, combining into a glowing green character that slowly imprinted itself onto Qian Qi’s palms.

Just as Qin Yu killed the twelfth Golden Immortal, he suddenly felt as if he was stuck in quicksand, his movements restricted like never before! At the same time, a 8 meter high palm appeared in mid-air, ﬁercely slapping down towards Qin Yu.

Smash! With no way to dodge, Qin Yu took a direct hit and was smashed down to the ground!

As soon as he was hit, Qin Yu felt a strange force that actually passed right through his armour, into his body, heading directly for his ‘9 by 9 spirit array’.

Qin Yu was scared witless! If his spirit array was breached, the sword immortal puppet would also be destroyed! Thankfully, just as the strange force approached the perimeter of his spirit array, it seemed to immediately disperse.

Qin Yu heaved a sigh of relief and quickly reloaded the sword immortal puppet with a fresh load of top-grade holy elemental stones. Just as his body was approaching the ground, Qin Yu ﬁnally managed to regain control and halt his fall.

“Wow! That strike depleted half of my energy!” As Qin Yu took a minute to assess the extent of damage caused, he was stunned by just how powerful that attack from Qian Qi must have been.

“Die!”

Smash! Yet another huge palm from Qian Qi smashed down towards Qin Yu. This palm struck directly onto the top of Qin Yu’s head,and that huge force smashed him directly into the ground!

Yet once again, as that strange force approached his spirit array, the entire force just automatically dispersed.

Smash! Smash! Smash!

Qin Yu’s sword immortal puppet was smashed repeatedly into the cold hard rock, and all of the energy from his top- grade holy elemental stones had been completely consumed by now.

“Qian Qi’s strength is just too frightening! If I was in my real body, even with the help of the divine armour Black Snow, I would still probably be heavily injured, or possibly even killed!”

Qin Yu could feel that although the strength of each palm strike was mostly on the surface level, there was still a strange layer of force that bypassed the surface to strike directly into his body. If this force struck his real body instead of the sword immortal puppet, Qin Yu would indeed be in deep trouble.

The sword immortal puppet however… Not only was the body of the puppet indestructible, it seemed that even its inner spirit was indestructable too!

“Not going to play around with this Qian Qi any longer. Just two palm strikes was all it took for him to deplete my puppet of all its energy!” Qin Yu swapped in yet another new batch of top-grade holy elemental stones and stopped to look around.

As Qin Yu took stock of his surroundings, he realised that he had already been struck deep into the crust of the planet!

“Hmm, it seems that the spirit beasts have already returned to the Beast Atlas, so that’s one less thing to worry about. Just that I’ve still yet to ﬁnd out exactly what these attacks are all about!” Even up till now, Qin Yu had no idea why these enemies were after him. Were they trying to ﬁnd out more about his identity? Or were they simply trying to take revenge for Yu Dian?

Just as he was thinking about this, Qin Yu suddenly realised that Qian Qi was speeding down the tunnel that the puppet had carved out as it was being struck into the earth. Without a moment’s hesitation, Qin Yu made his decision and swiftly rushed off in the opposite direction. Neither of them dared to teleport. As it is, the air around both of them was vibrating with the force of their passage. Teleportation under these circumstances was incredibly dangerous and there was a risk that their bodies would be torn apart amidst the chaotic space.

Relying on the strength of the immortal sword puppet, Qin Yu smashed through the rock and, in a single breath, arrived once again on the surface. With a quick sweep of his spiritual sense, Qin Yu detected a Level 8 Golden Immortal somewhere nearby. Without even bothering about the chasing Qian Qi, he took off immediately in the direction of the Golden Immortal.

This Golden Immortal had been engaged in a prolonged ﬁght with a Level 8 Demon King. The ﬁght had taken them through several cities when his opponent had suddenly vanished without a trace!

Right now, the Golden Immortal was incredibly frustrated that all his efforts had come to nought. Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he sensed a swift shadow passing behind him. And then, he knew no more. Qin Yu’s hands were stretched out like claws, sunk into the head of the Golden Immortal. Soul search demonic art!

The soul search demonic art was dependant on the soul of the user. Even though Qin Yu was in the body of the sword immortal puppet, this did not in any way inhibit him from performing this demonic art. As he searched through the soul of this third generation disciple of the Jade Sword School, Qin Yu ﬁnally realised the truth.

“Yu Qing Zi, Qian Qi and the rest of these people aren’t here to seek revenge for Yu Dian?” Qin Yu ﬁnally realised the truth. If the enemy wasn’t here to seek revenge for Yu Dian, then there could only be one other possibility…

Emperor Yu was now truly suspicious about Qin Yu.

“Bah! So what! Emperor Yu, by the time your subordinates have reported back to conﬁrm your suspicions, you may have guessed by then that I do indeed have the Beast Atlas, but what good would that do you if you aren’t able to ﬁnd me?” Qin Yu muttered conﬁdently to himself.

The meteoric tear could hide him from the spiritual searches of others, so as long as Qin Yu disguised himself, there would be no way for Yu Qing Zi, Qian Qi, or anyone else to be able to identify him!

Suddenly, Qin Yu felt a terrifying force descending from the sky! Not far away, the immortal lord Qian Qi was ﬁnally catching up to him.

“Eat my dust!”

The divine sword Sky Piercer magically enlarged itself as Qin Yu stepped onto it while it ﬂoated in mid-air. As soon as Qin Yu got on, Sky Piercer shot away at a terrifying speed. Qian Qi could only stare, wide-eyed and slack-jawed as Qin Yu literally left him eating his dust.

In a little while, Yu Qing Zi and the remaining Level 8 and 9 Golden Immortals also arrived. Roughly only twenty Level 9 and ﬁfty Level 8 Golden Immortals were still left standing, and even then, every single one of them was heavily injured.

“Brother Qian Qi! Where did he go?” Yu Qing Zi looked quizzically towards Qian Qi.

“He got away!” Qian Qi could only reply bitterly.

Throughout this entire battle, the enemy did not suffer any signiﬁcant losses. Perhaps only a few enemies were killed when their own golden immortals unexpectedly self-destructed. And yet most of the immortals on their own side had been killed, including the immortal lord Xia Hua!

On the other hand, Qin Yu left the battleﬁeld with a huge bounty of Level 8 and 9 Golden Immortal Yuanyings, and even the Yuanying of an Immortal Lord!

And now that Qin Yu had ﬂed the battleﬁeld, how would they ever be able to ﬁnd him again?

Chapter 23: Xi Shuang

The Liu family Patriarch, Liu Yun Lu was petriﬁed at the moment. The shockwaves from the battle in the sky added to his worry and fear. Whether it was the Jade Sword School on the one side or Qin Yu on the other, the two side’s strength was so strong that it was scary.

“Over three hundred Golden Immortals, and the weakest are the Level Eight Golden Immortals, what strength is this?” Liu family Patriarch’s heart trembled.

When that Level Eight Golden Immortal Wu Bo contacted the Liu family Patriarch and the Liu family Elders, he had revealed that the lowest level of the experts coming were Level Eight Golden Immortals and the Liu family Patriarch was also aware of the number of combatants.

Since, the planet’s teleportation array was under the control of the Liu family, therefore, the Liu family was always aware of the number of visitors, however many they may be. “That Qin Yu’s background is too big, even when compared to the Jade Sword School you can’t tell who is stronger.” Liu family head remembered the Great Elder being killed and he felt his legs grow soft like jelly. “If the Jade Sword School wins, then they might blame my Liu family because Qin Yu is a honored guest. If Qin Yu wins, since he could kill the Great Elder, he could also easily exterminate my Liu family.”

No matter who won, it wasn’t good for the Liu family.

The Liu Jia family head could only see darkness ahead of him.

The sounds of the explosions slowly faded away , the Liu family head felt that the blood-red night slowly begin to revert back to its tranquility, like the calm in the aftermath of a storm. It was so eerily quiet that any slight noise could be heard clearly. This caused the Liu family head to become even more distressed.

Sitting in the study, the Liu family head’s mental state was very unstable.

Suddenly…

A chain of piercing sounds rang outside the study, and the Liu family head’s face started to lose color.

“Liu Yun Lu, come out.” A thundering voice came from outside the study.

“What was supposed to come has came.” The Liu family head still felt depressed as he stood up straight, opened the door, and went out. Outside stood Yu Qing Zi’s side, enraged like a bull.

Yu Qing Zi and Immortal Lord Qian Qi, led the surviving seventy to eighty Golden Immortals behind them. When they came, the Level Eight and Level Nine Golden Immortals numbered over two hundred seventy, and now almost two hundred had died, including an Immortal Lord. “Liu Yun Lu, this is my Jade Sword School’s school head, who is the elder generation of Immortal Lord Qian Qi.” A Level Nine Golden Immortal shouted.

Liu Yun Lu immediately bowed and said, “Liu Yun Lu greets the elder generation.”

At this time, Liu Yun Lu didn’t seem at all nervous. When a man’s fear reached the limit, they would resemble the present Liu Yun Lu, no longer afraid of anything, since he had already prepared for the worst.

“Are you the Liu family Patriarch?” Yu Qing Zi’s gaze was cold.

“Yes.” Liu Yun Lu bent to bow.

Yu Qing Zi slowly said, “The Emperor Yu has ordered the arrest or death of Qin Yu’s martial elder. However, this time that guy managed to escape. Although we searched the whole Amber Moon Planet for Qin Yu but we couldn’t ﬁnd a trace of him. What happened?” “I know that the teleportation array on the Amber Moon Planet is controlled by your Liu family. He can’t leave without your Liu family knowing, right?” Yu Qing Zi asked.

Liu Yun Lu thought in his mind, and concluded, “Qin Yu’s power has reached the Golden Immortal Level. I think he got information beforehand. It might not be impossible that he then used “Greater Teleportation” to escape to another planet.”

Yu Qing Zi’s hid his dark expression, and the nearby Immortal Lord Qi Qian also was upset.

This time they lost badly. Yu Qing Zi was so mad that he wanted to go on a killing spree. If he had to continue to suppress his anger, Yu Qing Zi would go go crazy from it. In this skirmish, their Jade Sword School lost so many of their elite disciples, and the number of second generation disciples was also reduced to two.

In the Silver Stream Galaxy, this number of experts was far from enough to maintain prestige. Feng Yu Zi’s position with Emperor Yu would also decline.

Immortal Lord Qin Qi similarly failed in his tasks. Although the galaxy he was in control of wasn’t the Indigo Bay Star Field, but he didn’t ﬁnish the highly important and sensitive task given by Emperor Yu. Of course Immortal Lord Qin Qi wasn’t happy.

“Tell me everything that you know about Qin Yu, especially where Qin Yu could have gone.” Immortal Lord Qian Qi spoke out.

Immortal Lord Qin Qi and Yu Qing Zi had already ordered for those people who had fought with Qin Yu in close quarters to be treated. They believed they had no chance of ﬁnding Qin Yu’s martial elder, so they could only ﬁnd Qin Yu now.

“Where could Qin Yu be now?” Liu Yun Lu pondered solemnly.

Immortal Lord Qian Qi and Yu Qing Zi stared at Liu Yun Lu.

“Ah, it could be that.” Liu Yun Lu’s eyes suddenly lit up and he hurriedly said, “Two elders, that year when Qin Yu ﬁrst came to the Amber Moon Planet he had requested from us an Interstellar Map for the Demon Realm. We talked many times, and it seems that Qin Yu always wanted to go to the Demon Realm.

Immortal Lord and Yu Qing Zi felt their hearts leap with happiness.

“Demon Realm?” The two great Immortal Lords opened their eyes.

“Tell me, is there any other way to ﬁnd Qin Yu?” Immortal Lord Qian Qi inquired again. They wanted to suck all the information that Liu Yun Lu knew.

Liu Yun Lu thought for a long time, then helplessly shook his head. Yu Qing Zi’s eyes ﬂashed angrily and he asked again, “In your entire Liu family, other than you and the Great Elder, who else was close to Qin Yu?”

“None, even if there were they’re all dead now.” Liu Yun Lu replied as he thought of Liu Han Shu.

When Liu Yun Lu found out the Great Elder had died, he also found that Liu Han Shu’s soul jade slip had also shattered in the soul jade slip hidden storage.

Yu Qing Zi and Immortal Lord Qian Qi were stuck on the Amber Moon Planet doing nothing for a whole day. They carefully searched every spiderweb and horse print. Finally they could only dejectedly head back to Red Leaf Star.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

An ethereal white tent ﬂoated in the air, playing hide and seek with the drifting clouds. Within the tent.

A purple robed middle-aged man sat alone in the middle, with a cup of tea on the small table in front of him. On the other side was a green clothed sword immortal who had no more information to disclose.

“A very strong defense? Suspected to have a divine grade battle armor?”

The corner of Emperor Huang’s mouth held a trace of a smile. “Looks like it might really be Ni Yang’s ‘Black Snow’ Divine Grade Battle Armor. That person was able to kill Xia Hua, looks like he’s around a Level Nine Immortal or a Level One Immortal Lord.

“There were a lot of Level Eight and Level Nine Demon Kings?”

Emperor Yu looked at Soul Transmission Talisman’s information and shook his head as he laughed. “That time Hua Yan sent me some information that the Atlas of Ten Thousand Beast was obtained by Qin Yu’s martial uncle ‘Lan Feng’. Looks like that person who slaughtered everyone really is that Lan Feng, but why would he only send out Demon Kings? His power level should be that of a Level Nine Golden Immortal.”

From these several scraps of information, Emperor Yu had already deduced some new ones.

Since he already knew that there was the Divine Grade “Atlas of Ten Thousand Beasts” and “Black Snow”, Emperor Yu could easily deduce that there had to be other Divine Grade equipment, such as “Sky Piercer”, the Divine Sword and the number one treasure of the Immortal, Devil, and Demon Realms, the “Painting of the Lost God.”

Even after listening to these messages, Emperor Yu’s expression didn’t change, and he only lifted his eyebrows a bit.

“Heading to the Demon World?”

Seeing Yu Qing Zi’s message, Emperor Yu hesitated slightly, then immediately understood. “Hua Yan once said that Qin Yu has two brothers, one of which was a Fiery-Eyed Aquatic Monkey. It looks like his two brothers ascended to the Demon Realm, and he wants to go ﬁnd them.

Everything that Emperor Yu speculated was pretty close.

Then Emperor Yu lightly issued a few orders.

Taking a sip of his tea, Emperor Yu gazed towards the southwest, “From the Indigo Bay Star Field to the Demon Realm, directly heading eastwards from the Immortal Realm should be the shortest path…and it is also the place where my inﬂuence is the strongest.”

“Lan Feng, QinYu. My many obstacles, can you two, uncle and nephew, pass them?” Emperor Yu’s displayed a big smile.

“Ha…” Lightly letting out a breath of air, Emperor Yu said to himself, “Painting of the Lost God! Oh Painting of the Lost God!! Even if it’s me, knowing of your existence moves my heart. I am already a Level Eight Mystic Immortal, but I can’t tell when I will become a Level Nine Mystic Immortal. The only obstacle before me is that the Divine Calamity’s power is too great, and the chances of success are too low.”

“Painting of the Lost God, if the fact that you came back to the Immortal, Devil, and Demon Realms gets spread out, those old friends will surely leave their lairs.” Emperor Yu raised his tea cup and slowly stood up.

“Last time it was Ni Yang who got the Painting of the Lost God, but it was his bad luck that he was poisoned by the Celestial Realm’s poisonous bug. You can’t even underestimate a bug from the Celestial Realm! Only this time, I am the ﬁrst to know information regarding the Painting of the Lost God.This one time it should be my turn to obtain the Painting of the Lost God.”

The smile on Emperor Yu’s face grew even more brilliant as he peered through the white fog, through space, and ﬁnally his gaze fell at…Qin Yu. From the Violet Bay Star Field to the transportation array to the Demon Realm the security is very strict, especially in case, people from the Demon World appear. Even Yu Qing Zi and Immortal Lord Qian Qi were there to carefully inspect any suspicious people. After all, Yu Qing Zi and Immortal Lord Qian Qi have seen Qin Yu as well as Kong Lan, Tu Gang, and Dan Meng.

Emperor Yu’s inﬂuence is very strong.

The number of galaxies that he actually controls is over 20, but…it is impossible for him to control an entire star ﬁeld. The galaxies controlled by the three great powers of the Immortal Realm were all scattered, no one could control an entire star ﬁeld.

Emperor Yu controlled about twenty galaxies, and he also has many allies and vassals, so Emperor Yu controls a large area.

Search!

But despite Yu Qing Zi and Immortal Lord Qian Ri running around till their legs were almost broken and searching all the suspicious things, they could not ﬁnd a trace of Qin Yu. This caused the faraway Emperor Yu in the headquarters to be surprised. On one relatively busy planet, Yu Qing Zi and Immortal Lord Qian Qi faced each other.

“Brother Qian Qi, just now His Majesty Emperor Yu sent a message, and it seems the two of us can rest for some time.” Yu Qing Zi let out a long sigh of relief.

Immortal Lord Qian Qi also smiled helplessly, “It is clear that Emperor Yu pays a lot of attention to the school which Qin Yu comes from, making us expend our best efforts to try to catch those two, and monitoring anyone who came from the Demon Realm. But…it was all for nothing.”

“That Qin Yu and his martial elder are so strange, it’s like they evaporated into thin air, how can we not ﬁnd them?” Yu Qing Zi helplessly said.

Immortal Lord Qian Qi lightly smiled, “When we were on the Amber Star Planet, the enemy escaped and we couldn’t ﬁnd anything, and even now there is no trace of them, haha…it really is interesting.”

“We are monitoring everything so strictly and yet we couldn’t ﬁnd anything, maybe…when they’re traveling among the stars, maybe they didn’t use the transportation array, but directly use…Greater Teleportation?” Yu Qing Zi suddenly said.

Immortal Lord Qian Qi hesitated.

“Repeated use of Greater Teleportation for interstellar travel?”

Even Immortal Lords wouldn’t be so crazy, Greater Teleportation’s range was certainly greater than teleportation, but to continuously use it for interstellar travel, not only does it waste energy but it also consumes time.

Using the teleportation array, not only was it easy, but it was also fast and optimal for long distance travel.

“If Qin Yu and his martial elder really used Greater Teleportation to travel, then they could have avoided Emperor Yu’s men.” Immortal Lord Qian Qi smiled as he said, “Except if they were to do that, wouldn’t it be too ‘crazy’?” The intersection of the Devil and the Immortal Realms, the Indigo Bay Star Field has ten big galaxies. Of them, the biggest was called the Blue Moon Galaxy, which was shaped like a crescent. In the Blue Moon Galaxy, there were two planets with an enormous inﬂuence, one of which was the Lord Yin Star.

Lord Yin Star was in the northern region of the Blue Moon Galaxy, and the experts were as many as the clouds. In normal planets, the number of Golden Immortals were very small. However, in the Hidden Emperor Star, you could see them everywhere. After all, on the Hidden Emperor Star, there lived the number one expert of the Immortal Realm, “Lord Yin.”

Of the two powerful planets in the Blue Moon Galaxy, the other was the Blue Flame Star.

Blue Flame Star was the central planet of the “Indigo Bay Galaxy”, very powerful and ﬂourishing. Even among the countless planets of the Immortal, Devil, and Demon Realms, the Blue Flame Star could be considered one of the top planets, ﬁlled with countless Immortal, Devil, and Demon experts. There were people from many mysterious places, it was like ﬁshes and dragons were mixed together.

On the Blue Flame Star, there was a upper-middle class inn called “Bright Moon Inn”, which was an eighteen story inn. For Immortals and Devil Experts, not to mention an eighteen-story inn, even a hundred story palace is easy to build.

On the second ﬂoor of the Hao Yue Inn, there were quite a few people eating and drinking.

“Young Master, please go back and rest, the meal has taken too long to eat, the dishes are cold now.” A maid with bright eyes and a pretty smile gently pulled at the hand of her master. This maid was from the Demon Realm and was already a Level Six Demon King, and was originally a white rabbit

Her Young Master was a young man clothed in blue.

“Wan Er, don’t worry, please wait until your Young Master ﬁnishes drinking this wine.” This young man treated his maid very nicely. The maid Wan Er puffed her cheeks and looked at her master while nodding her head.

The blue clothed young man gave a light smile, then slowly drank some some. He gazed outside the window and looked at the bustling city. The street was full of experts, and Golden Immortal Level experts could be seen everywhere.

This was the central planet of a Star Field.

Although the Hao Yue Inn was not one of the top ones, but a stay for one night was a hundred low-grade holy elemental stones. It wasn’t something normal people can afford to live in.

“Owner Qing Yan.” The blue clothed young man suddenly called out.

A stout middle-aged man heard the cry, and immediately turned his head and looked over: “Ah, it’s young master Xi Shuang, I didn’t think that I could see young master Xi here.” As he said this, he laughed out loud and walked over.

Chapter 24: Hibernation

Qing Yan, the owner of Hao Yue Inn, can be considered one of Blue Flame Star’s underground bosses, and the wealth he possesses can rival that of Amber Moon Star’s major clans. There are numerous inﬂuential people on Blue Flame Star, and people like Liu Ming Weng and Yan Gao would only be considered average if they come to Blue Flame Star.

On Blue Flame Star, the likes of the inﬂuential people on the level of those from Amber Moon Star are many. From this, it can be seen that Blue Moon Star is truly worth its reputation. Here, there may be top-tier experts who may even have had the opportunity to see Immortals or Devils of the King level.

Hao Yue Inn’s boss Qing Yan had gotten to know this Young Master Xi Shuang just a fortnight ago.

He could remember Young Master Xi Shuang mainly because…. Young Master Xi Shuang was truly generous. The cost of a staying a night at Hao Yue Inn was a hundred stones, yet when Young Master Xi Shuang came, he casually placed a deposit of 10 pieces of high grade holy elemental stones, and just said: “Just deduct the cost of my accommodation and meals from these. Let me know if it’s not enough.”

10 pieces of high grade holy elemental stones, it was worth ten thousand stones!

It was deﬁnitely enough for Young Master Xi Shuang to stay here. Inﬂuential customers like him were rare, mainly because those intending to stay long would rather rent a place or purchase a house directly. Very few would stay at the inn.

Hao Yue Inn had 18 levels, level 7 to 17 were the guests’ rooms and every room was spacious.

That time, Qing Yan drank with Young Master Xi Shuang at the same table.

The moment Qing Yan saw Young Master Xi Shuang’s maidservant, he knew that he was not a common man, as this maidservant’s prowess was equal to a Level 6 Demon King, and was just standard. Furthermore, Young Master Xi Shuang seemed to give off an aura of a Level 2 or 3 Golden Immortal.

The master is weaker than the maidservant?

This can only mean that this master must belong to some huge clan. Otherwise, to get someone so much stronger to do his bidding, would deﬁnitely be out of the question.

“Young Master Xi, have you gotten used to this place during this past fortnight?” Qing Yan laughed, walking to his side.

“Sit.” The youth dressed in blue smiled.

“What is Boss Qing Yan rushing out for?” The youth in blue laughed lightly and asked. Qing Yan was a little startled, the youth continued casually, “If it’s supposed to be secretive then there’s no need to answer, I won’t press further.”

The maidservant who had always been quiet, lashed out: “The young master asked you a question, what are you making a face for.” “Wan’er.” The youth looked at Wan’er, and she immediately held her tongue.

Qing Yan laughed aloud: “Master Xi, there’s no need to blame Miss Wan’er, there’s nothing secretive about my trip. Most of the time, Hao Yue Inn receives low grade holy elemental stones as payment, rarely do we get mid grade ones. High grade stones are even rarer. Therefore, usually over a period of time, our inn will accumulate huge amounts of low and middle grade stones, I’m just thinking of exchanging for high grade ones.”

“Oh.”

The youth understood, “That’s true, the prices here are only so so, why would people use high grade stones? Oh right, the low and middle grade stones that you have right now, where will you go to exchange them?”

Qing Yan chuckled: “Master Xi would not know this. Like I wish to exchange upwards, there are people who want to exchange for the lesser currency as well. Having stayed here for so many years, I have my ways.”

The youth smiled and nodded: “With regards to the understanding of this Blue Flame Star, my knowledge cannot match Boss Qing Yan’s.”

“There’s no need to say that. Young Master usually would have his servants to help with his affairs. How can you be expected to handle all these cumbersome matters? Not knowing some underground matters is normal.” Qing Yan immediately replied heartily.

Qing Yan has long felt that Young Master Xi Shuang was not from a common background.

It was not just the simple matter of observing his maidservant. The way he carries himself, that aloof and elegant aura. Most of the guests of Hao Yue Inn belonged to the Level 8 or 9 Golden Immortal/Devil King realms. However, this Young Master Xi Shuang did not even seem to care about them.

The youth smiled lightly: “Speaking about exchanging currency, I suddenly recall something I need to trouble Boss Qing Yan with.”

“Please don’t stand on ceremony, if it’s within my capabilities, I will deﬁnitely provide my assistance.” Qing Yan spoke at once.

The youth nodded: “Lately, I’ve been thinking of cultivating, the only problem is that my stash of top grade holy elemental stones is too little, and the high grade ones are not enough for me to absorb. I wish to seek Boss Qing Yan to help me exchange my high grade stones for top grade ones.”

Qing Yan was stiﬂed.

He scolded in his heart: “What the hell!! Using high grade stones for cultivation is not enough? Even I feel the pinch when I use just one high grade stone each time.” Fortunately, the youth had erected a small barrier isolating their exchange, otherwise the other customers would have cursed him equally if they had heard his words.

At the same time, Qing Yan became even more certain.

This Young Master Xi Shuang must be from a big clan, with only the strength of a Level 2 or 3 Golden Immortal, his training already requires the usage of top grade holy elemental stones, just 1 piece of top grade holy elemental stone is worth a million.

It can be estimated how vast his wealth was.

“Exchanging for top grade stones….” Qing Yan thought deeply and after a moment, smiled bitterly, “Master Xi, although I have my means, I usually only exchange for high grade stones, as to top grade ones…..I did exchange a few times, but only a few at that.” Young Master Xi Shuang smiled mildly: “I know you’re familiar with the channels here, I won’t let you work for nothing.”

Qing Yan heart leapt a beat upon hearing this.

He knows when such an inﬂuential character promised him something, then the rewards for his efforts will deﬁnitely be huge.

After pondering a while again, Qing Yan’s eyes shone with determination, and looked at Young Master Xi Shuang: “Master Xi, this time I will do my best and try for your sake. How many are you intending to exchange for?”

Young Master Xi Shuang took a light sip of his wine, and smiled lightly: “Do your best, a hundred is not considered little, nor is a thousand considered much, of course….. the more the better. I have plenty to exchange .”

“Gulp….”, Qing Yan swallowed.

He felt his heart trembling.

A hundred is not considered little?

A hundred top grade holy elemental stones was worth a billion, even if Qing Yan was to pool his entire fortune, it barely came to that much. Hearing Master Xi’s tone, it really sounded like it meant nothing to him.

Seeing Qing Yan’s expression, Young Master Xi Shuang smiled to himself.

What does a billion mean to himself?

During the battle at Amber Moon Star, the number of Level 9 Golden Immortals killed was huge. Even the dead Level 8 Golden Immortals numbered in the 100s. The divine beasts under his command managed to obtain the Yuanyings and spatial rings of those they killed.

This was Qin Yu’s command from the get go.

Pillaging treasures during the slaughter, it was perfectly normal.

Level 8 and 9 Golden Immortals, even the poor ones had more than 10 million, the rich had at least 10 billion. Amongst those that Qin Yu killed, the richest was naturally Immortal Lord Xia Hua, he was after all an Immortal Lord, his fortune was alone worth almost 50 billion.

When combining all that wealth, he easily exceeded 100 billion.

Furthermore, at that time, the three emissaries Hua Yan, Ao Feng and Du Zhong Jun possessed a lot of treasures, even if they did not have as many stones. The sum of the wealth from those 3 was also unbelievable . If one was to count treasures also, Qin Yu himself possessed over a 100 pieces of top grade divine equipment, and over a 1000 pieces of high grade ones.

“Xi Shuang, Xi Shuang….. Wan’er actually feels that this name is feminine.” Qin Yu smiled self-deprecatingly.

Xi Shuang. It was an alias Qin Yu had invented for himself.

The battle at Amber Moon Star.

At the last moment, Qin Yu had dodged like lightning, and relied on the continuous use of Greater Teleportation to move from planet to planet, for over 3 days and 3 nights.

From one planet to another planet.

Fortunately, Qin Yu possessed the comprehensive map of the Indigo Bay Star Field, and knew which planets were safe, which were not. It was like this that Qin Yu made his way through planets. One moment an entirely deserted one, the next, a populated one.

This was how he spent three whole days, and at the end after exiting the Silver Stream Star System, he managed to recollect himself, changed his appearance, and sent Kong Lan, Tu Gang and Dan Meng back into the Atlas. After which he made his way to Blue Flame Star through the relaxing means of the teleportation arrays.

Even if he met patrols along the way, no one could recognize Qin Yu.

With the aid of the Meteoric Tear, even if Yu Qing Zi and Immortal Lord Qian Qi came personally, they would not be able to even discover his breath. His Dark Star had perfectly condensed, and currently rested at the dantian’s deepest and smallest spot.

At this point of time, Qin Yu arrived at Blue Flame Star. Knowing that Emperor Yu would deﬁnitely lie in wait along the way to the Demon Realm, Qin Yu decided to lead a quiet life. And therefore Qin Yu decided to bide his time at the most vibrant place in the Indigo Bay Star Field, Blue Flame Star.

Qin Yu knew that Emperor Yu would have ordered his subordinates to keep a look out for the existence of Level 9 Demon Kings.

Appearance of even a single Level 9 Demon King aroused suspicions of the Beast Atlas being nearby.

The bustling activity on Blue Flame Star can be disconcerting. There were many experts from all three realms here as well. Qin Yu decided to choose a Rabbit of the Level 6 Demon King strength; here this type of strength was not noteworthy.

Qin Yu even went the extra mile to instruct ‘Wan’er’ to address himself as ‘Young Master’, instead of ‘Mi’lord’. Like this, a maidservant Wan’er and a young master Xi Shuang led a life unnoticed by many. How would the underlings of Emperor Yu be able to ﬁnd them?

“Young Master Xi, a hundred, that kind of exchange, I don’t have that ability.” Qing Yan exclaimed helplessly.

Qin Yu was not worried at all.

In the aftermath of the battle at Amber Moon Star, he obtained so many spatial rings. In them he found quite a few top grade holy elemental stones, the total number was shocking! Especially Immortal Lord Xia Hua’s. It could be because of his position and status, or because his cultivation required the use of top grade holy elemental stones, but he possessed over a whopping 200 pieces of them!

“Do what you can, just exchange as much as you can, for every 1 piece of top grade holy elemental stones that you change, your commission will be 5 pieces of high grade ones.” Qin Yu’s had a light smile. Qing Yan’s eyes brightened, and his breathing became rougher.

“Rest assured Master Xi, I will do my best to help you exchange enough top grade holy elemental stones.” Qing Yan’s manner had changed completely, he had obviously decided to make full use of his channels and means to assist this youth.

For every top grade holy elemental stone he exchanged, he would get 5 pieces of high grade ones.

That is to say, if he managed to exchange for 500 pieces of top grade stones, he would earn 2500 high grade ones, that would mean a fortune of 25 million!

“Regarding this matter of exchange, whatever you can change for me during the period that I am staying here, I will accept that amount.” Qin Yu laughed, “I still have to seek your advice on another matter.”

“Please go ahead, Master Xi.” Qing Yan was deﬁnitely motivated.

Qin Yu’s eyes twinkled, “Boss Qing Yan, I heard that 10 years ago, the Emperor Yu and the Blood Devil Lord from the Devil realm forged a good trading relationship, right?”

“That’s right.” Qing Yan had a look of envy, “Emperor Yu and the Blood Devil Lord, both of them are supreme characters. Their agreement, has led their wealth to reach truly frightening proportions . 10 years ago, their newly formed friendship was a huge event on Blue Flame Star. At that time, there was a Level 8 Golden Immortal assisting Emperor Yu to facilitate the negotiations, called Yu Dian if I recall correctly.”

“Oh.”

Qin Yu nodded lightly.

This time, he had two motives for staying at Blue Flame Star. One was to hide amongst the numerous experts of both sides of the law. Naturally it would be safe. The second was to investigate! Investigate about Emperor Yu!

The agreement between him and Blood Devil King, allowed for the strength of these 2 super powers to grow even more.

There trade agreement related to items specially belonging to the Immortal Realm, and some only native to the Devil Realm. Thus, the agreement was beneﬁcial to both.

It was just that such an investigation was not so simple. Qin Yu had to make sure he understood everything thoroughly, before making his move. At that point of time, he would also make use of the Immortal Puppet’s identity.

“How often is the trade conducted?” Qin Yu continued asking.

“I am not very sure but I think that they conduct their trade once every 3 years. Even then, it is not ﬁxed. Sometimes it could be once in 4 years. This is only hearsay, but I heard Emperor Xuan, Emperor Qing, even the Black Devil Lord and Asura Devil Lord from the Devil Realm want to sabotage the trade agreement.

Qing Yan continued speaking to himself, “Ah, just Emperor Yu and Blood Devil Lord, their partnership has increased their strength. Damn it, every time they do a trade, if one manages to steal that, it would be worth at least a 100 billion.”

“So the other Immortal Lords, and Devil Kings have been plotting in the shadows too.”

“No, it can’t be said ‘in the shadows’.” Qing Yan hurriedly said, “There’s no one here on Blue Flame Star that does not know. As long as there are people who can think, they will be able to guess. However, since the agreement is important to a lot of people under Emperor Yu and Blood Devil King, hence there hasn’t been any issues.”

Qin Yu understood, this was all conjecture of people on Blue Flame Star. It was just that the possibility of this information being positive was still huge.

“Young Master Xi, why are you asking all these? Don’t tell me…..” Qing Yan thought of a possibility.

Since this Young Master Xi was so generous, he must deﬁnitely belong to some super huge and strong family. It was likely that the family had their motives and wanted to take action as well.

Qing Yan knew, regardless of realm, there were many strong individuals other than the strongest Emperor Yu, Emperor Xuan, Emperor Qing, Blood Devil King, etc, and the strength they possess may not necessarily be lesser.

“Be careful of what you say.” Qin Yu smiled lightly.

Qing Yan immediately broke into laughter: “Ha ha, it was a joke.” However, he thought: “Who knows, this Young Master Xi’s family could really be thinking of planning a heist.” Qing Yan was a small character in this boundless world, with regards to having designs on matters of importance like this, he only dared to dream about it.

Qin Yu lifted and ﬁnished his cup of wine.

“Boss Qing Yan, regarding the exchange of currency, I have to trouble you already.” Qin Yu stood up, “Wan’er, let’s go back.” After which, Qin Yu dispelled the barrier.

“Yes, Young Master.” Wan’er hurriedly stood up beside Qin Yu.

“Young Master Xi, please take care.” Qing Yan smiled and bowed lightly.

Chapter 25: Ambush!

Qin Yu’s suite in the inn was very large, consisting of three bedrooms, one great hall, as well as one guest hall. Qin Yu called out to Wan’er as he entered his suite.

“Wan’er, why don’t you head back to your own room and rest. If there’s nothing urgent, please don’t bother me. If something important crops up, you can just inform me with a thought.” Qin Yu smiled at Wan’er as he approached his own bedroom.

“Certainly, Young Master.” Wan’er bowed respectfully to Qin Yu. As Wan’er watched Qin Yu enter his own room, she could only sulk quietly to herself.

“Such a rare honour to be called upon to serve the master, yet all he does is coop himself up in his own room to train. It’s boring me to death!” Wan’er pouted her lips in annoyance as she entered her own room.

… Qin Yu drew open the curtains as he looked down on the mass of people below, along with the occasional expert ﬂying past his window. As he looked out, Qin Yu’s brain was swiftly analysing his current situation.

“Emperor Yu should have found out about my background by now, and would deﬁnitely be searching all over for me. There is no way I will be able to stand up to him with my current strength, and I’m also much too far from the target that Uncle Lan had set out for me. Completely unlock the ‘Jiang Lan Realm’? I’m not even able to open it to the ﬁrst level!”

With a ﬂip of his palm, Qin Yu took out that little green tower…

“When you are able to fully unlock this Jiang Lan Realm, that’s when you will be ready to be reunited with Li’er.” Qin Yu could hear Uncle Lan’s words still resounding in his ears.

When Qin Yu infused his energy into the ‘Jiang Lan Realm’, it would start giving off pulses of green light. As Qin Yu poured more energy in, the intensity of the light would slowly increase as beads of perspiration formed upon Qin Yu’s brow. After some time, Qin Yu gave up.

“No good. Looks like it requires the strength of a level 5 Golden Immortal at the very least. I am still far from that.” The ‘Jiang Lan Realm’ responded only to a user’s energy levels, rather than the offensive strength that was borne out in battle.

Only by unlocking all three levels of the ‘Jiang Lan Realm’ would he be able to prove himself worthy of Li’er. But exactly what level would he need to obtain before that could happen?

“I may not know how long the road will be, but as long as there is hope… I will never give up.” Qin Yu’s eyes ﬂashed with determination, his heart was set. No matter how powerful the storm, he would not waver .

As he closed his eyes to rest, thoughts of his friends and family came to mind. “I wonder how much longer father and the rest of them will have to train for, before they are able to ascend. As for Xiao Hei and Fei Fei, I wonder how they’re doing in the Demon world. It will probably still be some time before we will meet again.”

Finally, Qin Yu’s thoughts rested on his only disciple, Han Shu. Qin Yu was very fond of Han Shu. Perhaps it was because of their similar personalities, or the similar sacriﬁces that they both chose to make.

Either way, the death of Han Shu was a deep blow to Qin Yu, and while it had healed over time, Qin Yu’s recollection of Han Shu’s death only served to reopen old wounds, releasing within Qin Yu, repressed feelings of grief, guilt, and rage.

“My only regret… is her.” Qin Yu would never forget Han Shu’s last words as he gave up his life for his master.

Just a few days before that, Han Shu had shyly revealed that he had fallen in love with a girl. Yet now, that love story would never be brought to fruition. “So mysterious…” Qin Yu sighed to himself.

“Qin Yu ah, Qin Yu. You sure know how to act mysterious. If only you had told your disciple everything about yourself, and not kept any secrets from him. If only you had told him about your Jade Immortal Mansion. About your Sword Immortal Puppet. About your Ten Thousand Beast Atlas. Would things still have turned out in this terrible way?”

Qin Yu was convinced that the blame for Han Shu’s death lay with him. It was his fault, and his alone.

“Emperor Yu, though Han Shu’s death isn’t really your fault, but it was, after all, caused by your subordinates. Besides, I also gave my promise to the Immortal Lord Ni Yang. Whether it is for that foolish disciple of mine, or for Lord Ni Yang, I’ve decided that this is something that I have to do.”

Qin Yu’s face grew calm as he came to his decision. In an instant, his body vanished. On Qin Yu’s bed was a tiny, mite-sized Jade Immortal Mansion, no larger than a speck of dust. After entering the Mansion, Qin Yu immediately started training in the 3-in-9 Soul Reﬁnement. Based on what he knew, this was currently the fastest way to train his soul.

The training of the soul was divided into three main realms. The Human Soul, the Earth Soul, and the Heaven Soul. Qin Yu had ﬁnally stepped into the very ﬁrst level of the realm of the Earth Soul. That mysterious image on his hand was also no longer the same as when he had been in the human realm of the soul.

When the 1st mark appeared on both hands, Qin Yu felt his soul consume a huge amount of power, but at the same time, a stream of energy ﬂowed from the Meteoric Tear, and ﬁlled up the ‘Earth Soul’ space of his soul.

It was obvious…..

The moment he entered the ‘Earth Soul’ space, the rate of absorption of the beneﬁts of the Meteoric Tear rose tremendously.

Half a month later.

In the hall of Qin Yu’s room, Wan’er was standing obediently at a side, while Qin Yu was seated.

“Please take a seat, Boss Qing.”

Qin Yu laughed lightly as Qing Yan took his seat opposite Qin Yu, his face full of excitement: “Young Master Xi, I’ve manage to contact a few old friends during this period, and ﬁnally gotten hold of an important person. He’s willing to exchange a 100 pieces of top grade stones, on the condition that Young Master Xi must change it all for 10,000 pieces of high grade ones. He is not interested in the other inferior stones.”

“Wow, you’re quite efﬁcient.”

Qin Yu laughed and nodded: “Good, I agree to this transaction .” The quality n of high grade stones belonging to Qin Yu can be considered the highest. This was due to Qin Yu massacring so many Golden Immortals with the aid of his Demon Army, and most of his victims cultivated with high grade stones. Consequently, their possessions and Yuanyings were high grade.

As for top grade stones, those people could never afford too much, and hence, would occasionally use one or two. They could not even bothered with the mid grade ones.

“I wonder when Master Xi will be done assembling the 10,000 high grade stones?” Qing Yan asked heartily.

Qin Yu waved his hand, and in an instant, a huge heap of high grade stones appeared in the hall, occupying almost 30% of the space. It was a huge pile of high grade stones, just like that.

Qing Yan gasped. “There’s 10,500 pieces of high grade stones here, 10,000 for the exchange and the remaining 500 for your commission, as promised.” Qin Yu stated lightly.

According to their agreement, Qin Yu and Qing Yan had agreed that for every piece of top grade stone exchanged, Qing Yan would receive 5 pieces of high grade stones.

Qing Yan struggled to suppress his excitement.

Heavens, 10,000 pieces of stones, all in a pile. He himself had never seen such a scene before.

“Young Master Xi, are you not worried that I would run with this fortune?” Qing Yan looked at Qin Yu probingly.

10,000 high grade stones, that was a hundred million worth of stones.

It was enough to drive a person crazy.

“You?” Qin Yu looked at Qing Yan, “If you have the ability to take, just take. However, if you take too much, be careful that you may burn your hands. In fact, you may…even lose your life.” Qin Yu raised his cup and took a light sip of his tea.

Qing Yan gripped his hands a few times: “Qing Yan, keep calm, keep calm, if you take it you will lose your life!” He muttered to himself a few times, and ﬁnally managed to calm down.

“Don’t worry Young Master Xi, I will ensure that everything is handled smoothly.” Qing Yan spoke conﬁdently.

“Since Boss Qing is personally handling it, I am at ease.” Qing Yu changed the topic at once. “Oh right, Boss Qing, that Emperor Yu and Blood Devil Emperor’s trade, when are they holding the next one?”

Qing Yan pondered a while, looked at Qin Yu and laughed: “This, as of now, I am unsure, but there is one thing I am certain of and can let Young Master Xi know. Emperor Yu and Blood Devil Emperor are inﬂuential characters after all, their exchange will deﬁnitely be aboveboard. They would not conduct it in secret, so when it is time, Young Master Xi will naturally come to know of it.”

“Aboveboard?”

Qin Yu considered awhile, and understood.

For a trade of such a scale, both sides would deﬁnitely mobilise their own experts.

So what if they were aboveboard? Most of those who knew of it were absolutely too weak to snatch. As for Emperor Qing, Emperor Xuan, Black Devil Emperor, etc, even if Emperor Yu and Blood Devil Emperor were to be secretive of it, they will still get wind of it. Furthermore, both Emperor Yu and Blood Devil Emperor valued face, and would not stoop to being covert.

“Rest assured Young Master Xi, before the trade happens, Emperor Yu and Blood Devil Emperor will announce to the public, even the location of the trade…both sides will prepare heavy security, and they’re not afraid of anyone who wants to try disrupt.” Qing Yan whispered.

Qin Yu was elated.

This Emperor Yu and Blood Devil Emperor were really crazy, to even announce the date and location a few days prior.

“Young Master Xi, let me say this: This trade between Emperor Yu and Blood Devil Emperor, those who want to show themselves will deﬁnitely be powerful experts of the Immortal Lord level, and those hiding in the shadows may even have more powerful experts, who will be able to succeed in stealing from them?”

Qing Yan expressed this profound opinion .

Qing Yan had always felt that Xi Shuang was really mysterious. Who knows, he could really be planning to steal from Emperor Yu and Blood Devil Emperor. Qing Yan was trying to warn Qin Yu: To wade into these muddy waters, it would be difﬁcult, and he may even lose his life!

“Once news of the trade is out, just inform me at once” Qin Yu stated indifferently, “I am interested in this matter, it should be fun to observe a little.”

“Sure, Young Master Xi.” Qing Yan laughed, yet his heart was suspicious, “Just to observe?”

The days passed with haste, and not long after, Qing Yan successfully exchanged a hundred top grade stones for Qin Yu, and Qin Yu himself was cultivating quietly during the 3 months, and the progress for his soul reﬁnement he made during this time was great.

Hao Yue Inn 2nd level.

“Have you heard? His Majesty Emperor Yu and Blood Devil Emperor has arranged for the trade to take place 7 days later at the Blue Fiery Cloud Inn. We deﬁnitely must go check it out. Previously, there had been people who tried to stir trouble. Too bad, we missed it.”

“You might not have seen it, but I sure did! The troublemaker was really strong, at least an Immortal Lord. That battle was really ﬁerce, at the end, many experts made their move, some died, some escaped.”

2 Golden Immortals were drinking and discussing the events at a side.

These discussions were springing up everywhere on Blue Flame Star. Because it was not considered a secret, most of the immortals or devil experts were discussing without a care.

Similarly, Qin Yu had already received the news two days previously.

And at this moment, Qin Yu was sitting by the window drinking his wine. “Blue Fiery Cloud Inn, 7 days later….who knows how many experts will take action then.” Qin Yu thought to himself, then tilted his head backwards to take a huge gulp from his wine cup, and gazed towards the clouds, “Regardless, I will make my move!”

Wan’er, who was sitting obediently beside, poured wine diligently for Qin Yu.

Blue Fiery Cloud Inn, this was a palace built in the clouds, split into 3 levels. Its entire body was blue in colour, and its top designed to look like a ﬂame. Even though it had only 3 levels, its interior was massive, exceeding a few hundred metres for both length and width.

Far above the skies, amongst the enormous clouds, was the huge magniﬁcent palace – Blue Fiery Cloud Inn.

Inside one of the humble rooms on the 3rd level, there were 2 people. A man dressed in green, with a long sword on his back. It was the attire of a Sword Immortal. The other person was dressed entirely in dark red robes, in contrast with his long white hair, and the cold gaze in his eyes.

The green clothed Sword Immortal was one of the 18 Immortal Lords under Emperor Yu’s command – ‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’ Zhi Bai.

Being a Sword Immortal of a Level 7 Mystic Immortal strength, his power was estimated to be within the top 10 in the entire Immortal Realm, and appearance of such a character at Blue Fiery Cloud Inn would deﬁnitely surprise those who knew. Even if there was security required for the items, it should not have warranted the appearance of a Level 7 Mystic Immortal.

The white long hair man with that icy aura was also not someone simple.

Blood Devil Emperor was without a doubt, the strongest on the Blood Devil Path, and the person second to him was the legendary ‘White Hair Blood Devil’ – Xue Yi Leng! Similarly, he was an expert with the strength of a Level 7 Demon Emperor.

2 such powerful exponents were actually gathered here.

Both of them were apathetic people, but currently, they were actually smiling while talking.

If the people who knew them saw that the Green Blood Sword Immortal and White Hair Blood Devil were actually talking and laughing, it would deﬁnitely come as a shock. It was a rare sight to even see them smile.

“Brother Zhi Bai, how long has it been since we last met?” Xue Yi Leng laughed lightly.

“I think….a million years.” Green Blood Sword Immortal Zhi Bai also had a smile on his face, “I still recall the scene all those years back. During the slaughter in the Devil Realm, if it hadn’t been for you….I would have died at the hands of someone. I can still feel my blood boil thinking of it..” Xue Yi Leng laughed: “Yes…..At that time, even I thought I was going to die. Who knew at my moment of desperation I would meet you, under the same circumstances of being pursued. Never would have thought that the 2 of us would manage to live on.”

Zhi Bai sighed: “At that time, I was only a Level 9 Golden Immortal. You were also the same. As we killed our way out, I suddenly advanced to the Level 1 Immortal Lord, and at the same time did away with a Level 3 Devil Emperor, 2 Level 1 Devil Emperors, and countless Devil Kings!”

Both of them became quiet while reminiscing.

At that time, caught in the middle of that ﬁerce ﬁghting, constantly hovering on the edge of life and death, how could they ever forget that their entire lives? This was also the reason why they became sworn brothers.

The reason Emperor Yu could forge a good relationship with Blood Devil Emperor, was precisely because of the 2 of them as well.

“This time, the two of us are together again. It is just that we do not know if the experts sent by Black Devil Emperor, Asura Devil Emperor, Emperor Qing, Emperor Xuan and others, would be enough for us to kill to our satisfaction!”

Xue Yi Leng laughed aloud, Zhi Bai joined in as well.

Chapter 26: Gathering Of All Sides

“Yi Leng, no matter how many people come it isn’t enough for us to kill.” Zi Bai laughed and said.

Xue Yi Leng hesitated then laughed, “Haha, that makes sense, Brother Bai. Back then when we fought together, our coordination was almost perfect, but, after so many years, what will happen?”

“Coordination?” Zhi Bai smiled lightly. “If you and I work together, how many people will the Immortal, Devil, and Demon Realms have?”

Zhi Bai’s tone was forceful.

But even if people with the status of Emperor Yu heard it, they wouldn’t doubt what they heard, because Zhi Bai and Xue Yi Leng’s attacks were ﬁerce and their killing intent were at the top of the Mystic Immortals, the Level Seven Mystic Immortal Level. When he just reached a Level One Mystic Immortal, Zhi Bai killed a Level Three Devil Emperor in the Devil Realm. No one could doubt his powerful offence.

The two of them also have a deep understanding forged between Zhi Bai and Xue Yi Leng that year when they went through countless life and death situations together. This understanding has already sunk deep into their subconsciousness.

“That is correct. If we work together, even if the Black Devil Emperor were to come, he couldn’t do anything to us. The present that the Black Devil Emperor gave me that year, I remember it. Even now, I still can’t grasp of a way to defeat him.” Xue Yi Leng’s eyes ﬂashed with a cold light.

That year, the person who tried to kill the two of them was the Black Devil Emperor himself.

Zhi Bai lightly laughed. “Which one do you still remember? I have long forgotten it. That year, if it wasn’t for the Black Devil Emperor’s help, my understanding of the ‘Green Blood Sword Technique” wouldn’t be so deep!” “Whatever, don’t bring this up again.” Xue Yi Leng shook his head and laughed, “His Majesty Emperor Yu’s transaction is obviously a trap to capture the enemy’s experts. But what are the goods they are trading? I’m not so sure about this.”

“The goods this time aren’t small, In order to attract the enemy’s experts, this deal has a lot of cherished treasure.” Zhi Bai lightly smiled. “You know, for people of our level, except for divine grade and other treasure’s of that rank, everything else is useless.”

Level Two or Three Mystic Immortals might still be attracted to money and wealth.

But Level Six and Seven Immortal Lords did not care for worldly possessions, they will try every single way to improve their attack and their Spirit Boundary. For them, strength is the most important.

“So in order to attract the experts, this time within the goods…there is a piece of divine grade equipment.” Zhi Bai lowered his voice.

“Ah? Divine Grade!” Xue Yi Leng was shocked.

Zhi Bai smiled and nodded his head, “If this message doesn’t have an accident and arrives to Emperor Xuan, Lord Su and his allies will know about it, and they will deﬁnitely sent experts over.

“Zhi Bai, if experts of the same level as Emperor Xuan and Devil Emperor Xiu Luo personally come then what will happen?” Xue Yi Leng suddenly said.

“Personally?” Zhi Bai shook his head. “Whatever position they are in, if they really come and try to take the goods, I will order the immediate cancellation of the deal. At the same time, I will bind the Divine Equipment with my blood. I trust that with my strength, although I wouldn’t be able to ﬁght with them, it will not be much of a problem to escape.

Xue Yi Leng thought for a moment then nodded his head, “Yes, if that really happens, that’s the only way.” “Yi Leng. The probability that it will happen is too low. All we have to do is rest and wait for the day when countless people are in the Blue Fiery Cloud Inn. We will begin the slaughter then.” Zhi Bai’s eyes ﬂashed with cruelty.

Zhi Bai, one of the most horrible killers under Emperor Yu’s command.

Xue Yi Leng, a Blood Devil who originally became famous by killing people with Zhi Bai.

Two killing experts together; this time Emperor Yu and the Blood Devil Emperor were really cruel to the opponents and told Zhi Bai and Xue Yi Leng to kill until their hearts hurt. After all, the previous transactions already caused the two great powers to feel troubled.

If you kill the enemy enough to frighten them, they won’t bother you again. “Do not have the slightest hesitation, the more experts we kill the better. We want to make the future transactions have absolute safety.” These were the orders of Emperor Yu and the Blood Devil Emperor.

……

Time passed very slowly. Especially with the anticipation, the days passed even more slowly.

Blue Flame Planet gathered more and more experts during this time period. Every time the Emperor Yu and the Blood Devil Emperor met, there would be many random killings. This could also be considered a special feature of the trade.

Most people came just to see the ﬁghts between experts at the level of Immortal Emperors.

Normally, when can you see Immortal Emperors act? An opportunity like this doesn’t come often. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Night.

Cold air outside, Qin Yu opened the window, looking at the endless night. He couldn’t sleep at all.

Tomorrow was the date of the transaction.

“Tomorrow I will act again. When Emperor Yu comes, I will already be on the Blue Fiery Planet, so it looks like we will have to move it forward.” Qin Yu made a complicated smile. He did not worry about escaping.

Whether his identity got leaked, he still had to see what happens at that time.

If Yu Qing Zi and Immortal Lord Qian Qi weren’t here and he didn’t use the Atlas of Ten Thousand Beasts, the probability that his identity would be revealed is very low, as no one else is very familiar with him.

“Han Shu, I will one day kill Yu Qing Zi and Immortal Lord Qian Qi to avenge you. As for now, I’ll get some interest.” Qin Yu slowly said in his heart.

His gaze shifted towards the endless night.

Qin Yu just stood like this…

The night passed, and the sky started to light up. A distant star hung in the sky. Today, the Blue Fiery Planet was bustling with people in the air. Many of them were ﬂying headed for the Blue Fiery Inn.

“Master.”

Wan Er stood outside the door, she had already watched over Qin Yu for the entire night.

Qin Yu took in a cool breath of air and turned to look at Wan Er. “Wan Er, today things are going to get very dangerous. It’s best if you don’t show yourself here, go back to the Atlas of Ten Thousand Beasts.”

“Yes, Master.” Wan Er nodded her head. She already knew long before that this would happen, and her heart was moved. She then returned to the Atlas of Ten Thousand Beasts.

From Qin Yu’s body another one split out. It was the Sword Immortal Puppet.

A fragment of his soul sunk into the Immortal Sword Puppet, and Qin Yu put his original body within the Atlas of Ten Thousand Beasts. For today’s purpose, the Sword Immortal Puppet’s body was safer.

After changing the face of the Sword Immortal Puppet. His shadow ﬂickered and his ﬁgure disappeared from the windowside, going into the clouds. “So many people.”

Qin Yu concentrated a little bit and discovered that with a few hundred meters, there were four or ﬁve experts ﬂying towards the Blue Fiery Inn. However, with just a little of his divine sense, he found that there were many experts coming.

“Brother, are you also going to the Blue Fire Cloud Inn?” A large chinned blue cloaked man with a long beard ﬂew to Qin Yu’s side. “I am called Lu Ba, a Devil Realm Black Devil School’s practitioner.”

Qin Yu smiled lightly, “You can call me Qin. I come from the Silver Stream Galaxy.”

“Oh, the Silver Stream Galaxy. That is the territory of the Immortals. I just like to make friends, so, if Brother Qin doesn’t object, how about we go to the Blue Fire Cloud Inn?” Lu Ba personally came to invite him, which seemed very nice.

Qin Yu smiled while nodding his head.

Then the two people ﬂew together, and their ﬂying speed was not too fast. After all, there is a period of time until the transaction will start.

“Brother Qin, when we arrive at the Blue Fire Cloud Inn, we should stay farther away.” Lu Ba said. “This big transaction, I have already come to see it two times. Once, I almost lost my life.”

“It involves the bystanders?” Qin Yu was puzzled.

Lu Ba nodded his head in fear and asked, “Brother Qin, you haven’t seen it before?”

“This is my ﬁrst time coming to the Blue Fiery Planet.” Qin Yu honestly said.

Lu Ba has considerably more experience than Qin Yu. “Brother Qin, you power is greater than mine, but you haven’t reached the Immortal Lord or the Devil Emperor level yet, right? When the transaction happens, the people who usually act are at the level of the Immortal Lords or Demon Lords.”

“Since Brother Qin has not seen that you don’t know, when that level of experts start ﬁghting, just an unintentional wave of Sword Qi can be fatal for us.” Lu Ba exclaimed. “But sometimes, even staying far away is no use. While they kill they also ﬂy, and maybe they suddenly ﬂy next to you. If a stray energy wave hits you, you’re ﬁnished.”

“Lu Ba, then why do you still come?” Qin Yu asked back.

Everything that Lu Ba said, Qin Yu could already imagine it. Several great Immortal Lords and Devil Emperors experts ﬁghting against each other, that kind of scene was easy to imagine.After all, experts of the Immortal Lord level release their power, a planet can be completely destroyed!

Lu Ba frustratingly said, “Relying on our own cultivation speed is too low, so watching the Immortal Lord and Devil Emperor experts ﬁghting can also help. Not only that…the opportunities to see the Immortal Lord and Devil Emperor ﬁghting are too few.

Qin Yu nodded his head.

The status of the Immortal Lords and Devil Emperors experts were already very high in the world, it was like they were in a different territory altogether.

When Qin Yu was ﬁghting with Yu Qing Zi that time, it was only because Qin Yu’s speed was very fast and he attacked without a care for his life. But for some reason, Yu Qing Zu managed to always block Qin Yu’s attacks.

Qin Yu’s attacks hadn’t touched the opponent’s body.

Qin Yu could tell that the speed of Yu Qing Zi’s sword wasn’t fast. Why is it that each time he could always block it? And he himself would always get knocked back. This was incredibly mysterious, it was just that the Qin Yu right now couldn’t feel it. While talking, the two ﬁnally came within sight of the Blue Fiery Cloud Inn.

Above the clouds, sunlight reﬂected off the Blue Fiery Cloud Inn, giving everyone a sense of brilliance from the Blue Fiery Cloud Inn.

The sound of greeting, laughter, and ﬁery curses…sound of every kind came from around the Blue Fiery Cloud Inn, making it supremely noisy. Qin Yu couldn’t help but frown as he ﬂew. Then he could see the people standing at the cloud level near the Blue Fiery Cloud Inn.

“There are at least tens of thousands and close to a hundred thousand people here.” Lu Ba conﬁrmed.

“It’s also possible that it’s over a hundred thousand.”

Qin Yu couldn’t help but look at the sea of clouds crowded with people. In fact, this was nothing. The Immortal, Devil, and Demon Realms had too many people. Any single galaxy could have this many people.” “Even the normal Immortal, no… even Kongming Stage Xiuzhenists came?” Lu Ba swept the surrounding area with his eyes.

Qin Yu also looked around and found many normal Immortals. Except for a few Xiuzhenists who didn’t know what was going on, most of the Xiuzhenists came with their elders.

A Xiuzhenist wants to observe a battle between Immortal Lords?

If something happened, they wouldn’t even have time to escape, but if a Xiuzhenist could see a battle between Immortal Lords, he can already be proud of that.

“Lu Ba, will we go into the Blue Fiery Cloud Inn, or will we stay outside with that many people?” Qin Yu inquired.

Lu Ba smiled, “Brother Qin, going into the Blue Fiery Cloud Inn? Stop joking, look how many people are in the Blue a Fiery Cloud Inn right now?”

Qin Yu spread out his divine sense.

When he spread his divine sense, Qin Yu was shocked completely.

“Experts, so many experts!” Qin Yu immediately dispersed his divine sense before it could attract the attention of those great experts. The experts who were sensitive to divine sense felt it, but it was only the divine sense of a Level Two Golden Immortal, so they didn’t care. They also thought that Qin Yu was unable to ﬁnd them.

Qin Yu cast a glance to his left.

To his left four hundred meters away, there stood a white clothed woman and a dirt yellow clothed man. These two people were inconspicuous within the large group, but because of Qin Yu’s Meteoric Tear, he could clearly feel that the power of these two…were greater than Yu Qing Zi.

Immortal Lord level experts.

Qin Yu also cast a glance at the tall thin Devil practitioner not far ahead of them.

“Devil Emperor level expert.” He wasn’t able to clearly determine the person’s level but he was able to tell that practitioner could pose a great threat to him.

And not far from that tall and thin man was an indifferent young man.

“An even more terrifying Devil Emperor level expert.”

Qin Yu felt envy in his heart.

Heavens, it is rare to see a Immortal Lord or Devil Emperor at all. And today he only partly spread his divine sense, which didn’t cover the whole area, and he already found so many Immortal Lords and Devil Emperors.

No wonder so many people gathered here. The majority of them were here to look at the ﬁght scenes between Immortal Lords and Devil Emperors.

“Brother Luo Yu, ﬂy a little bit more steadier.”

A crisp voice sounded not far behind. Qin Yu couldn’t help but turn back and look.

Only to see a depressed young man unsteadily ﬂying. Next to him was a very sweet girl with attractive big eyes. Qin Yu had a very good impression of the pretty girl when he saw her.

“It’s another two Immortal Lord level experts.”

Qin Yu was speechless. Even this depressed youth and pretty girl were experts of the Immortal Lord level?

“Lu Ba, how many Immortal Lords or Devil Emperors appeared last time?” Qin Yu faced the nearby Lu Ba and asked.

Lu Ba excitedly replied, “Last time four Immortal Lord and Devil Emperor experts appeared. My whole life, the only time I’ve seen Immortal Lords and Devil Emperors were in the Blue Fiery Cloud Inn. I haven’t seen them anywhere else.

Qin Yu was very surprised.

Last time there were only four, but this time he spread out his divine sense a little and found so many Immortal Lords and Devil Emperors.

“This time Emperor Yu and the Blood Devil Emperor’s transaction doesn’t seem to be the same as the ones before. The number of Immortal Lords and Devil Emperors are unusually high…” Qin Yu looked at the mountains and seas of people around him, and he thought of a scene involuntarily. Once they start ﬁghting, how many of the millions of people around them will be affected and how many will be killed?

Chapter 27: God-Like Battle

Blue Fiery Cloud Inn was ﬁlled with people; there were troops from the Immortal Realm, experts from the Devil Realm, and even some characters from the Devil Realm… regardless, it was chaotic scene, the noise level deafening.

Transaction?

The spectators could not be bothered by the deal. The transaction between Emperor Yu’s and Blood Devil Emperor’s personnel would not take long, who would be curious about that? Instead, everybody was on the edge of their seats…….for a battle.

The battle and resulting slaughter when experts of Lord/Emperor Level face off.

“Brother Qin, don’t be anxious.” Upon seeing Qin Yu scanning the crowd, Lu Ba laughed aloud, “There is no meaning in acting now, so let’s wait patiently. The moment one of them make a move, the entire scene will be in chaos, various experts will follow suit.” After saying this, Lu Ba actually crossed his legs and sat back amongst the clouds.

Even though there were many people, there is unlimited space in the air, so most of the individuals found themselves having a distance of 5 – 6 metres between each other.

“Lu Ba, I shall sit and wait then.” Qin Yu smiled and crossed his legs, he had no excuse for his actions earlier.

Qin Yu and Lu Ba sat down, while the dispirited youth and girl with large eyes also crossed their legs and sat down.

“Brother Luo Yu, please don’t lose your head this time. There are many dangerous experts in this Blue Fiery Cloud Inn.” That girl with large eyes pulled her ‘Brother Luo Yu’ and pleaded.

This person called Luo Yu was actually handsome, however, there was always melancholy behind his eyes, and it made his entire appearance seem low-spirited. “Yan’er, you don’t have to worry. I know my limits.” This ‘Luo Yu’ had a very gentle voice. Though, after reassuring Yan’er, this ‘Luo Yu’ looked towards Blue Fiery Cloud Inn again, and his gaze was cold.

Yan’er blinked those large eyes, and sighed helplessly. Suddenly she noticed Qin Yu sitting in front, and, with her eyes shining, she ﬂew over.

“Hey, nice to meet you, my name is Jiang Yan.” She blinked her eyes at Qin Yu.

Qin Yu was slightly startled.

“Brother Qin, you’re acquainted with this Miss Jiang Yan?” Lu Ba called out from the side.

“No, it’s actually my ﬁrst time seeing her.” Qin Yu replied and looked back towards Yan’er, smiling, “How do you do Miss Jiang, have you….seen me before?” Jiang Yan giggled, “Not really. I’ve never seen you before, and this is our ﬁrst time meeting. I just felt that you were eye- catching, so I came over to talk to you.Why? Am I not welcome?”

Qin Yu subconsciously felt a liking to this ‘Jiang Yan’ lady; her nature must be straight-forward.

However, he knew that Jiang Yan and her ‘Brother Luo Yu’ are actually experts of the Immortal Lord Level and were much stronger than him.

“How are you not welcome, Miss Jiang Yan and… that person” Qin Yu pointed towards the despondent youth.

“Ah.” Jiang Yan looked back and gave a small cry of alarm. She immediately gave Qin Yu an apologetic look, “Sorry! Brother Luo Yu was drinking again, I have to accompany him. Let’s chat next time!” With this, Jiang Yan ﬂew back to her Brother Luo Yu’s side.

“Brother Luo Yu, didn’t I tell you not to drink any more, but you just keep drinking all day.” Jiang Yan grabbed the wine bottle from Luo Yu’s hands, and he only smiled blandly without resisting.

Luo Yu glanced at Qin Yu, then looked back at Jiang Yan before saying with difﬁculty: “Yan’er, it’s rare that you will make a move to greet others. You don’t usually pay guys much attention.”

Jun Luo Yu had some doubts.

He knew his ‘godsister’ Jiang Yan treated most guys with disdain, not to mention the general Golden Immortals. Even the few Immortal Lords he knew, Jiang Yan did not care about.

Of course, Jiang Yan had capital. Even though she was only of a Level 1 Mystic Immortal strength, she possessed mysterious powers and was even backed by an extremely powerful master. Seeing Jiang Yan approach another guy of her own accord today, when she usually does not hold most guys in regard, deﬁnitely led Jun Luo Yu to be shocked.

“I don’t pay attention to guys? Then how do you explain my following you?” Jiang Yan pouted her cheeks and retorted.

Jun Luo Yu laughed bitterly.

Jiang Yan liked Jun Luo Yu to the point where she intended for Jun Luo Yu to be her husband, something Jun Luo Yu knew all too well. It was just that….Jun Luo Yu’s heart already had someone else, and that person was already dead!

Therefore, Jun Luo Yu could on treat Jiang Yan as his godsister.

However, Jiang Yan would not admit herself to be just Jun Luo Yu’s godsister. “Yan’er, my heart is already long dead, why do you insist on mistreating yourself so….” Jun Luo Yu laughed bitterly. The powerful master behind Jiang Yan was also a Level 1 Mystic Immortal himself, so the number of suitors was deﬁnitely not little.

Even if they were Immortal Lords, they wanted to be companions.

“Mistreat….how is this mistreating? As long as I’m by your side, I am happy.” Jiang Yan broke into a sweet smile, seemingly ignoring Jun Luo Yu’s despondent expression.

Jun Luo Yu sighed deeply, and he took out another wine bottle and poured it towards his mouth.

“You still want to drink!” After just drinking one mouth, it was snatched away again by Jiang Yan, and her ﬁerce stare cause Jun Luo Yu to be startled. He could only smile lightly and cross his legs, sitting down quietly on the cloud. Jiang Yan looked at Qin Yu who was in front and felt like going over to talk to him. However she frowned and continued staying by Jun Luo Yu’s side. Jiang Yan had a good impression of Qin Yu, but she could not leave her ‘Brother Luo Yu’ be.

Time passed, almost every spectating experts were sitting down waiting patiently.

To these experts, waiting a few hours did not count as much, and it could even be considered a form of mental training.

“Lu Ba, when did the previous battle between the Immortal Lords and Devil Emperors last occur?” Qin Yu asked Lu Ba. He noticed the exchange between Jun Luo Yu and Jiang Yan earlier, and he had a rough idea of what was going on.

Lu Ba looked towards the skies and faintly nodded to himself before responding, “Previously, it was around noon, this time, it seems like it’s going to be noon as well. Guess….it’s about time.” Qin Yu took an upwards glance at the sun and did not say anything else.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he had already noticed the existence of a few more Lord Level experts. Regarding the exact number of experts surrounding Blue Fiery Cloud Inn, Qin Yu did not dare to openly sense.

Those experts were all calmly waiting, without a single sound.

After a while—

“The guests of the ﬁrst level of the inn, please leave.” A heavens-shaking voice sounded within a distance of a 1000 li in just a short span of time. Over a million noisy spectators disappeared in a ﬂash, and it became peacefully quiet.

“Oh, doesn’t this inn have 3 levels? Previously only the 2nd and 3rd level did not allow any guests, how come this time even the 1st level is off limits?” Lu Ba, who was familiar with the previous proceedings, muttered. Qin Yu frowned slightly, and looked towards the middle-aged man ﬂoating in air a distance away.

Especially after hearing Lu Ba’s mutter, Qin Yu could not help but have a feeling that this time the exchange was special.

“Immortal Lord Ai Xiao, why can’t there be people allowed in the 1st Level? There may be enemies who want to ambush you on the 2nd Level, but the 1st Level is separated from the 2nd Level. There shouldn’t be any problems rights?”

A strong voice resounded from the 1st Level of the inn.

Hearing that, the man ﬂoating in the air should be precisely Immortal Lord Ai Xiao.

Immortal Lord Ai Xiao called out indifferently, “Who dares defy? Should you go against Emperor Yu or Blood Devil Emperor, don’t blame me for not warning you beforehand should you die.” After that, he ﬂew to the 3rd Level. The sounds of discussion started to rise.

The experts in Blue Fiery Cloud Inn came out one by one. Against that blatant threat, they knew their limits and could only back off.

“The exchange is about to start.”

Jun Luo Yu muttered, those desolate eyes of his started to gleam, and that dispirited aura he gave off slowly dissipated. What remain instead was a hint of powerful energy.

With the Blue Fiery Cloud Inn as the epicentre, the surrounding space within a 1000 li was enveloped by a huge pressure, and everyone quietened down at once.

As long as one was not a fool, they could feel the imminent huge change. “There are many experts, I won’t be that anxious.”

Qin Yu sensed those Immortal Lords and Devil Emperors not so far off, licked his lips lightly, and kept very still.

Hu!

A wierd sound rang out. Following that….in a ﬂash, with the inn as its centre, the surrounding area started to disappear like a ripple in a lake. Not even air remained!

“No good! Brother Qin, retreat!”

Lu Ba transmitted, and at the same time he pulled Qin Yu and retreated swiftly. Qin Yu quickly followed suit.

It was not just Lu Ba, every expert at the scene swiftly put a distance between the inn and themselves. “Shu!”

A single beam of light shot down from the sky and struck the highest ﬂame atop the inn, and Qin Yu, who was at least a 100 li away, could clearly feel the tingling energy in the air.

“Seal!”

“Chi chi~~~~~”

Countless lightning bolt dispersed from the Blue Fiery Cloud Inn and snaked around in the air. Their energy was so strong that any weak people who got too near would be burnt to a crisp.

In just a blink of an eye, over ten thousand spectators died unexpectedly.

“His Majesty has matters, and someone dares to create a ruckus. Whoever did that earlier better show yourself! Hiding like this, do you have any honour?”

6 silhouettes appeared at the roof of the inn, 4 males 2 females. The one who spoke was one of the males.

These 6 people were split into Emperor Yu’s camp and Blood Devil Emperor’s underlings, and they were all Immortal Lord and Devil Emperor levels. The 3 Immortal Lords on Emperor Yu’s side: Zhou Yu, Ai Xiao, Duo Mi. The 3 Devil Emperors on Blood Devil Emperor side: Pian Yi, He Ni, Suo Wo.

Duo Mi and He Ni were female, the rest male.

“Ha ha…..so what if I appear?” A skinny man clad in black appeared in the sky.

“It’s you!” Emperor Yu’s team commander Immortal Lord Zhou Yu frowned slightly, “Your top grade divine weapon is already special enough.” Green-Blood Sword Immortal Zhi Bai’s hands held a very small black nail. This small black nail seemed common, but when hidden in the lightning strike earlier, its power was enough to break the protection barrier around Blue Fiery Cloud Inn.

Blue Fiery Cloud Inn was built jointly by Emperor Yu and Blood Devil Emperor, destroying it was tantamount to disrespecting these 2 powers. Therefore Green-Blood Sword Immortal Zhi Bai had no choice but to show his move to let the Immortal Lord Wu Ya know that the people hidden in the dark were not necessarily weaker.

With regards to someone like Immortal Lord Wu Ya who did not belong to any side, killing him would not make a difference.

“Someone has made his move.” ‘White-Hair Blood Devil’ Xue Yi Leng called out.

“Hong!”

Explosions sounded at almost the same time when Xue Yi Leng spoke. “Ha ha….the items are still not out, and just the few of you want to think of blocking me?” Huge laughter followed by explosion sounds rang non-stop. A tall and skinny silhouette was currently ablaze.

The colour drained from the faces of Immortal Lord Zhou Yu and Devil Emperor Pian Yi’s company.

“Devil Emperor Lie Zhao, he’s Black Devil Emperor’s subordinate, a Level 4 Devil Emperor expert.” Devil Emperor Pian Yi transmitted to the other 5.

Devil Emperor Lie Zhao sneered in his heart: “Even if you have your strongest Level 3 Devil Emperors, what will you do about the number of assassins? This time there are so many Lord/Emperor Levels experts, how long do you think you can last?”

This Lie Zhao was very conﬁdent. Hu!

Devil Emperor Lie Zhao’s robe ﬂoated up, and surging ﬂames burst forth like a ﬂood gate in all directions, causing countless spectators to ﬂee for their lives while cursing.

Devil Emperor Lie Zhao raised his both hands and lightly pressed.

Suddenly…

The surrounding area seemed to quieten down, and Immortal Lord Zhou Yu, Devil Emperor Pian Yi and their company felt trapped, their speed dropping to a frightening low point.

“All those hiding in the shadows, you still won’t appear? Let me force you out then.” Devil Emperor Lie Zhao’s hands suddenly changed into claws. At the same time, red light seemed to ooze on his skin surface, covering his ﬁngers…. * * *

[HUGE Translator Note: This chapter serves as a clearer picture of the terms that are used interchangeably:

妖 – Demon – Heavenly Demon, Demon King, Demon Emperor

仙 – Immortal – Heavenly Immortal, Golden Immortal,

Immortal Lord

魔 – Devil – Heavenly Devil, Devil King, Devil Emperor

⽞仙 – Mystic Immortal

Generally Mystic Immortal is used as a term describing all those at the pinnacle level. Most of the experts in this chapter are actually of the Devil Emperor and Immortal Lord strength, but the author uses Mystic Immortal interchangeably. We have grown used to translating the 魔帝 as Devil Kings, when in fact they are of the Devil Emperor strength, equivalent to the Immortal Lords. In the previous few chapters, Qin Yu massacred a lot of Golden Immortals (2nd Stage), but the main bad guys were Immortal Lord strength. Qin Yu brought out many Devil Kings from the Beast Atlas and they were 魔王. This chapter the experts were actually Devil Emperors.

However, while the Immortal Lords can be described as so to avoid confusion from the 3 main Emperors/Sovereign Yu, Qing and Xuan, the Devil and Demon realm are slightly harder.

修罗魔帝 as Asura Devil Emperor, ⾎魔帝 as Blood Devil Emperor and ⿊魔帝 Black Devil Emperor, and their subordinates all have the 魔帝 Devil Emperor sufﬁx to them. I have translated them as Devil Kings for now to avoid confusion, but feel free to revisit the terms in the previous chapter(s).

Chapter 28: Crisis

Devil Emperor Zhao Lie truly deserved his name, it was due to his particular mysterious and sharp claw technique.

“Come meet your death.” Devil Emperor Zhao Lie cackled loudly, both hands forming claws, and aimed for the weakest Immortal Lord Duo Mi. However, Immortal Lord Zhuo Yu hurriedly rushed up to meet his attack.

“Brother Pian Yu, let’s attack together.” The message transmitted directly to Devil Emperor Pian Yi’s mind.

With Immortal Lord Zhuo Yu’s and Devil Emperor Pian Yi’s current capabilities, they might not be able to use their own “Domain” to break the opponent’s “Domain”. But at the very least, they could counter it, negating its effects as much as possible.

Huge ‘pop’ sounds started to ring out successively. The surrounding spectators stood at a distance of 10 li. They were also from the Immortal, Devil and Demon realms, but the difference in power and strength was too huge. They could only diligently observe the ongoing battle.

A battle of Immortal Lords and Devil Emperors; most common people would not be lucky enough to witness one such event in their lifetimes.

“Careful!” Someone exclaimed in terror!

“Hu!”

A single claw strike stretched out from the battle in the air. In a few blinks, it had travelled to the spectators, and a huge number of people scattered in terror.

Bursting sounds rang out. Just that one claw strike led to a few people dying instantly. Their bodies split open and exploded, fresh blood dyed the clouds. The remaining spectators could not help but retreat even further.

To watch a battle of this scale, one must be prepared to get caught up in it and die.

“Brother Qin, let us retreat further. It isn’t safe here.” Lu Ba watched the people on his side die after the claw strike penetrated, and he could not help but call out to Qin Yu worriedly.

Qin Yu transmitted: “Stand behind me, I guarantee that you will be ﬁne.”

Lu Ba was startled, and thought to himself, “Don’t tell me Brother Qin is actually a top tier expert? Level 8 or Level 9 Golden Immortal?” The dissipating energies from the clash between the Immortal Lords and Devil Emperors were only dangerous to the weaker onlookers. As for those who were above ranked Golden Immortals, it could not do much. Lu Ba silently stood behind Qin Yu.

Around the Blue Fiery Cloud Inn, only Devil Emperor Zhao Lie was ﬁghting against two opponents. Devil Emperor Zhao Lie could only just maintain equal grounds, and he was getting impatient: “Damn it boy, you still don’t want to attack?”

“Boy?”

Devil Emperor Pian Yi and the rest were surprised.

“Ah!” He Ni was the only female amongst the security detail sent by Blood Devil Emperor. She could only stare with her eyes wide open, staring at the jade green-coloured blade in her waist with a face full of disbelief.

“Chi chi….” The blade pulled out slowly from her body, and the sound could send shivers down the spine. When the blade was free, He Ni’s body fell.

The blade was in the hands of cool looking teenager.

“Jade Blade Boy!” Immortal Lord Pian Yi exclaimed in shock. When compared to Devil Emperor Zhao Lie, Jade Blade Boy was even more terrifying. He was the top general directly under one of the 3 Great Emperors of the Devil Realm – Asura Devil Emperor. His strength was around the Level 6 Devil Emperor strength, and this Jade Blade Boy could easily kill everyone present.

Jade Blade Boy held He Ni’s spatial ring: “The divine equipment is not in here.” He frowned and looked at Devil Emperor Zhao Lie, “Zhao Lie. This is my last warning. I don’t like people calling me ‘boy’. You may address me as Jade Blade Boy, or Jade Blade Asura.”

Jade Blade Boy spoke indifferently to Zhao Lie who battled near him, after which he transformed into a beam of jade green light as he shot towards the other Immortal Lords and Devil Emperors.

“Ha ha…..Jade Blade Boy. Let me assist you.”

The sounds of laughter rang out, and another shadow rushed from the skies.

“Hmm, the people from the Devil Realm are really full of bullshit. You want to kill, just kill.” Yet another cool looking middle-aged man rushed from the skies, this was an extremely powerful Immortal Lord….

One by one, the experts kept coming.

Qin Yu could not refrain from smiling upon seeing this scene: “Looks like things are getting even more exciting. The number of Immortal Lords and Devil Emperors really did exceed my observations.”

From Qin Yu’s observations, he discovered only 6 people, including Devil Emperor Zhao Lie, Jade Blade Boy, a lady in white, a man dressed in earthly yellow, plus Jun Luo Yu and Jiang Yan.

Suddenly– A white light enveloped the entire surroundings up to hundred li. At the same time, a yellow radiance shone out. The 2 lights began encircling, and two ﬁgures appeared in the air.

It was the lady in white and man dressed in yellow that Qin Yu discovered.

“Xuan Huang Double Swords!”

Sounds of surprise rang out. They were under the command of one of the 3 Immortal Emperors, Emperor Qing. The couple was individually Level 5 Mystic Immortals. However, when they joined forces, they were possessed a might to rival Level 6 Immortal Lords. There was no doubt about their strength.

Emperor Yu’s side only had those of Level 3 Mystic Immortal strength: Immortal Lord Zhou Yu, Devil Emperor Pian Yi, and the other 3 slightly weaker Immortal Lords and Devil Emperors.

As for those who came to steal.

Regardless of where they came from, even the weakest at least possessed a Level 3 Immortal Lord’s strength. The strongest was Jade Blade Boy who was reaching Level 6 Demon Emperor strength, plus they had at least 8 on their side.

It was obvious who was at a disadvantage.

“Che che, we have a lot of experts today. Brother Zhi Bai, do you think it’s enough for us?”

The long white hair ﬂowed as though it was like a waterfall, and with a roll, one of the Level 3 Immortal Lords at the scene died instantly. ‘White Hair Blood Devil’ Xue Yi Leng killed an Immortal Lord within seconds of entering the fray.

“White Hair Blood Devil!”

Jade Blade Boy’s face turned a nasty colour. In the Devil Realm, those who could overcome Jade Blade Boy were few in numbers. On the side of Blood Devil Emperor, only the Blood Devil Emperor himself and ‘White Hair Blood Devil’ could make him uneasy. Who knew that he would meet ‘White Hair Blood Devil’ Xue Yi Leng today.

“Zhi Bai?” The Xuan Huang Double Swords couple heard the words ‘White Hair Blood Devil’ and their blood turned cold.

There were many called Zhi Bai. But for ‘White Hair Blood Devil’ Xue Yi Leng to actually refer to this ‘Zhi Bai’ so affectionately, it could only mean that it was the ‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’ Zhi Bai.

A sudden ﬂash of sword energy.

Devil Emperor Zhao Lie opened his eyes wide, and his body fell right after. As his corpse fell, his entire body exploded with a ‘Hong’, leaving nothing behind.

“Enough for us? I say, barely.” ‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’ Zhi Bai appeared beside ‘White Hair Blood Devil’ Xue Yi Leng.

One Level 7 Immortal Lord, one Level 7 Devil Emperor.

Two similar experts, famous for their methods of killing. Their appearance forced everyone present to come to a standstill. A silent pressure started to spread, and even the million spectators that were miles away all kept quiet.

Jade Blade Boy and the Xuan Huang Double Swords, 2 Immortal Lords and 1 Devil Emperor stood on the same side.

“Jade Blade Boy, I noticed that you were looking for divine equipment. Let me tell you….the divine equipment is in my spatial ring. If you have the capability, come and get it.” ‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’ Zhi Bai called out indifferently.

Jade Blade Boy gripped his blade, remaining silent.

“It was a trap!” The husband of the Xuan Huang Double Swords ‘Huang Yi’ laughed bitterly, “I didn’t expect Emperor Yu and Blood Devil Emperor to be so ruthless. They actually want to kill us all in one fell swoop to warn others.”

Jade Blade Boy and the Xuan Huang Double Swords couple did not dare act rashly.

There were countless sword energies circulating in the air around the space, this was the effect of ‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’ Zhi Bai’s Domain. If they made a sudden move, they would immediately face a deadly blow from the ‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’.

In addition to the fearsome ‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’, there was the equally terrifying ‘White Hair Blood Demon’ Xue Yi Leng.

“Who do you want to take on, Jade Blade Boy or the Xuan Huang Double Swords couple?” Xue Yi Leng looked coolly at Zhi Bai.

“I want….” ‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’ Zhi Bai answered lightly, “Jade Blade Boy.”

“That leaves the couple for me.” Xue Yi Leng laughed coldly.

To the two of them, only Jade Blade Boy and the Xuan Huang Double Swords couple posed a threat. As for the rest of the riff- raff, killing them was only a simple matter of seconds for them.

“It was a trap.” Qin Yu had not made his move, his gaze locked on the ‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’ and ‘White Hair Blood Devil’ in the distance. “Emperor Yu and Blood Devil Emperor want to demonstrate their capabilities for deterrence once and for all, to make things easier in the future.”

Qin Yu understood their plan after observing the scene.

“Emperor Yu. This deal was helped set up by the Jade Sword Clan’s Yu Dian right. Since my silly disciple’s death is also linked to this Yu Dian and he helped you forge this relationship, I will destroy it.”

Qin Yu’s Immortal Puppet was instantly fully recharged with 9 pieces of top grade stones.

Just as ‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’ Zhi Bai and ‘White Hair Blood Devil’ Xue Yi Leng were about to make their move

—

“Puchi!”

A rust edged long sword pierced through one of Blood Devil Emperor’s team, Devil Emperor Suo Wo’s chest, directly piercing the Yuanying. Hearing his scream of death, everyone could not help but stand in amazement and look towards the scene.

“Jun Luo Yu!” Green Blood Sword Immortal was shocked. ‘Genius Immortal Lord’ Jun Luo Yu was one of the legends in the Immortal Realm. Jun Luo Yu managed to cultivate from the ﬁrst Heavenly Immortal level to the 2nd Mystic Immortal level, in less than a 1000 years!

In fact, it was just a period of a number of hundred years, and he managed to attain Level 2 Mystic Immortal strength!

Genius! He was a genius amongst geniuses!

“I will kill those who are dogs of the Blood Devil Emperor.” Jun Luo Yu spoke slowly, his gaze locking on to ‘White Hair Blood Devil’ Xue Yi Leng.

Jun Luo Yu was only a Level 2 Immortal Lord, the distance between him and Xue Yi Leng was too huge. However under the strong gaze of Jun Luo Yu, White Hair Blood Devil Xue Yi Leng only had a bitter smile, “Luo Yu, why do you torment yourself so?”

“Go ahead if you want to kill me.” Jun Luo Yu called out indifferently, “However, we will have to see if you’ve got the ability.”

Xue Yi Leng shook his head: “Alright, that’s enough, can you stop this madness? If you continue like this, no one can protect you at all. I may tolerate this, but His Majesty may kill you in a ﬁt of anger.”

“Don’t mention him.” Jun Luo Yu’s eyes ﬂashed coldly, “I won’t kill him, but I’ll make him regret what he did!”

“Luo Yu….” ‘White Hair Blood Devil’ just uttered that one phrase.

Suddenly–

A violent surge of white waves, with ‘White Hair Blood Devil’ at the center, swept over the 2 Immortal Lords and 1 Devil Emperor standing beside Jade Blade Boy in an instant, and you could see a streak of blood red rolling in those white waves. It was just the blink of an eye.

Both the Immortal Lords and the Devil Emperor died on the spot.

“Hu!”

Jade Blade Boy and the Xuan Huang Double Swords were shocked, but they did not dare move, because ‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’ Zhi Bai had used his Holy Sense to complete lock them down, and both parties were not conﬁdent of blocking a single sword strike from the ‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’.

When comparing single attack power, ‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’ Zhi Bai was stronger than ‘White Hair Blood Demon’ Xue Yi Leng.

“This area attack, Yi Leng! You are deﬁnitely far better than me. 1 Level 4 Immortal Lord, 1 Level 3 Immortal Lord and 1 Level 3 Devil Emperor. If I had to kill them, it will deﬁnitely take a longer time.” ‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’ Zhi Bai sighed.

“Zhi Bai, don’t say that. If we were to exchange blows, I will deﬁnitely not be able to win over you, this I know clearly.” Xue Yi Leng laughed lightly.

With a single strike, the heavens and earth could be split.

“Jun Luo Yu, ‘Genius Immortal Lord’! This is my ﬁrst time meeting you, I have long heard of your fame.” ‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’ Zhi Bai looked towards Jun Luo Yu, his words spoken halfway —

Jade Blade Boy and the Xuan Huang Double Swords couple made their moves at the same time!

One southward, one northward! They did not teleport, because the surrounding space was permeated with sword Qi, teleporting at this time was looking for death. They waited for a chance, waiting until now before they could make their move to escape.

Zhi Bai’s eyes turn cold and while he was still addressing Jun Luo Yu, twisted his hand and grabbed the sword on his back.

Unsheathe sword!

A sword shadow broke through the skies!

A single beam of green-coloured sword energy the width of a ﬁnger seemingly ﬂashed in front of Jade Blade Boy’s eyes.

‘Awuu.’ The howling sound resonated. Jade Blade Boy’s entire body that was exposed was covered in numerous wounds. His expression grim, his hand gripping his jade blade tightly and blocked with all his might. “Pu!” Fresh blood spewed from Jade Blade Boy’s mouth. At the same time, the wounds on his skin all split open, fresh blood ﬂowing. Regardless, he managed to block this attack.

However….

The same green sword energy once again came towards Jade Blade Boy. ‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’ Zhi Bai had a hint of a cold sneer. Even most Level 7 Immortal Lords who had faced him came off worse. Almost all died. How could Jade Blade Boy even compare?

The fact that Jade Blade Boy could block the ﬁrst strike should be considered fortunate enough. To block two consecutive strikes?

How was it possible?

Jade Blade Boy felt the desperation from the depths of his heart. “‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’ is just too strong.” Jade Blade Boy lost hope.

“Hurry. Flee.”

Jade Blade Boy suddenly felt the soul transmission, only to see a youth directly blocking the strike in front of Jade Blade Boy with his own body.

“Many thanks senior.” Jade Blade Boy replied through the soul transmission with his thanks. At the same time, he quickly ﬂed.

Qin Yu felt his whole body thrown back like a meteor, yet he laughed in his heart: “Senior? This Jade Blade Boy actually referred to me as senior?”

Qin Yu did not use any power from the top grade stones to offset the momentum, he just let himself be sent ﬂying. “Oh no!” Qin Yu felt his entire body turn numb. This feeling he had never felt before, as he inspected the Immortal Puppet’s body closely….

At the back, where he used his back to take that sword energy, there was a huge wound, and fresh blood was ﬂowing.

The Sword Immortal Puppet’s internal body was like ﬂesh. Only the Dantian region had the protection of the 9-by-9 Spirit Array. Qin Yu’s brain was in a frenzy, “How can the Sword Immortal Puppet be damaged? Did Uncle Lan lie to me?”

* * *

[HUGE Translator Note: This chapter serves as a clearer picture of the terms that are used interchangeably:

妖 – Demon – Heavenly Demon, Demon King, Demon Emperor 仙 – Immortal – Heavenly Immortal, Golden Immortal,

Immortal Lord

魔 – Devil – Heavenly Devil, Devil King, Devil Emperor

⽞仙 – Mystic Immortal

In the previous few chapters, Qin Yu massacred a lot of Golden Immortals (2nd Stage), but the main bad guys were Immortal Lord strength. Qin Yu brought out many Devil Kings from the Beast Atlas and they were 魔王. This chapter the experts were actually Devil Emperors. However, while the Immortal Lords can be described as so to avoid confusion from the 3 main Emperors/Sovereign Yu, Qing and Xuan, the Devil and Demon realm are slightly harder.

Chapter 29: Troublemaker

The Sword Immortal Puppet, was created by Uncle Lan at that time using his extraordinary supernatural skills. Even Qin Yu did not know how it was made, but he knew one thing . . . whenever his soul entered the Immortal Puppet, he could control the body as if it was his own.

The main difference that the Sword Immortal Puppet had from a normal body was . . . it drew its energy from the 9-by-9 Spirit Array.

The Immortal Puppet could be injured, and could bleed!

This was the ﬁrst time that the Immortal Puppet bled, and it was an unprecedented shock to Qin Yu.

From the Mortal Realm to the Ascendant Realm, the Sword Immortal Puppet’s invulnerability had never disappointed Qin Yu. Even during the battle at Amber Moon Star, when he forcefully blocked Immortal Lord Qian Qi’s attack, the Immortal Puppet did not suffer a single scratch.

This time . . . the Immortal Puppet was actually injured.

The wind was whistling, as Qin Yu ﬂew like a meteor after receiving that ﬁerce sword energy attack. He broke through many clouds, yet was unconcerned about the distance he was knocked back. Rather, he was worried about the Immortal Puppet.

“‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’ Zhi Bai is a Level 7 Immortal Lord, his strength is deﬁnitely on a higher level compared to Immortal Lord Qian Qi. Even if Qian Qi failed to damage the defence of the Immortal Puppet, it does not mean that Zhi Bai would also fail.”

At this, Qin Yu calmed down.

When he had used the ‘Soul-Search Art’ on the Level 8 Golden Immortal disciple of the Jade Sword School, he had come across information on this ‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’ Zhi Bai. “My priority now is to ﬁx the body of the Immortal Puppet. Even though the wound does not really affect me, the enemy can make use of this wound to attack me directly.”

Qin Yu could not help but use top grade stones to begin the healing process.

Most bodies could heal with energy after receiving damage.

Qin Yu also treated the Immortal Puppet as though it was like a normal body. When bits of energy travelled into the wound, Qin Yu found that the wound was closing slowly, and small strands of muscle ﬁbre was growing.

“It’s effective!”

Making use of the energy was deﬁnitely of help to heal the wound. However the speed was too slow. When all 9 top grade stones were depleted of the energy, Qin Yu found that the wound only recovered about 10%. Qin Yu frowned.

If he continued like this, to completely restore the Immortal Puppet would require at least 90 top grade stones! This kind of price was not something Qin Yu could bear.

“Oh yes, there’s still a way.” Qin Yu suddenly thought of another possibility.

Within the range of a thousand miles of the Blue Fiery Cloud Inn, it was deathly quiet. Most of the people present could hear their own nervous heartbeat.

In the skies above Blue Fiery Cloud Inn.

‘White Hair Blood Devil’ Xue Yi Leng’s pressure enveloped the Xuan Huang Double Swords couple. Both of them did not dare move, and instead, gathered their energy to prepare for their strongest move. Jun Luo Yu was just standing still, and staring coldly at Devil Emperor Pian Yi.

Yet, ‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’ Zhi Bai was frowning.

“Zhi Bai, what’s wrong?” Xue Yi Leng inquired puzzledly.

Zhi Bai’s eyes showed disbelief: “Just now, you were busy stopping the Xuan Huang Double Swords couple, and did not notice. There was someone who actually blocked my attack. Even though it wasn’t my full power, it was at least at 80% strength. He actually used only his body to block it.”

“Impossible.”

Xue Yi Leng hesitated. When Qin Yu blocked that sword energy, it happened in a ﬂash. Most of the weak spectators could not see Qin Yu’s lightning-like ﬁgure even if their eyes were wide open. “I also thought it was impossible, but the fact is that it happened right in front of my eyes. It was just….too unbelievable. If he had used some form of equipment I wouldn’t be so shocked, but he used his own body, and he is not dead yet.”

‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’ Zhi Bai’s focus switched to that mysterious person.

Xue Yi Leng was also deep in thought.

The Xuan Huang Double Swords couple Bai Yi and Huang Yi. They had a very good relationship, from the early stages of their Yuanyings, they were together for over a million years. They could not bear to separate at this time.

The ‘White Hair Blood Devil’ Xue Yi Leng was very strong.

It was just that there were 2 of them. Their strength was at most equal to the previous Immortal Lords and Devil Emperors that he had killed. However, ‘White Hair Blood Devil’ was only conﬁdent of killing one with his skills; to kill both, he was not so sure.

Therefore…..Xue Yi Leng was waiting for Zhi Bai.

“Wife, you better hurry leave, this Zhi Bai is still in shock. We just have to face Xue Yi Leng. I will use some techniques to block his way, you have to leave then.” Huang Yi transmitted to his wife.

Bai Yi looked at her husband: “Yi-Ge*See translation note 2*, don’t forget our promise that year.”

Huang Yi looked at his wife as well.

Their eyes met, words were not needed.

That year, when they were just in their 20s, they made the promise to be together in life and death. Regardless of any dire situations that they faced, they have never left each other.

So many years……their feelings have really grown too deep.

This time……they did not have any conﬁdence. Both Xue Yi Leng and Zhi Bai were beyond their abilities, there was no chance of survival!

“I’ve long heard about these 2 joining hands using their ultimate technique. If they strike desperately, they may even wound me. Sigh, with regards to single attack power, I cannot compare to Zhi Bai.” Xue Yi Leng felt helpless, he could only use his holy sense to continue locking down the 2 of them, exuding his breath over a wide area.

As long as they moved, he would attack straightaway.

He was waiting for Zhi Bai.

“Zhi Bai, don’t fret about it, let’s quickly kill the Xuan Huang Double Swords couple ﬁrst.” Xue Yi Leng was getting more anxious.

Zhi Bai pondered a moment, shook his head and sighed: “I never would have thought that, there is such an expert in our realm, and saved Jade Blade Boy at the risk of my attack. He also disappeared just like that. I can’t ﬁnd him with my sense at all.”

Jade Blade Boy teleported immediately after being saved.

As for Qin Yu…..

If Zhi Bai could sense Qin Yu, it would be too horrifying, because as of now, Qin Yu was currently in the Immortal Mansion carefully testing his conjecture.

“Zhi Bai.” Xue Yi Leng called out once more with transmission.

Suddenly at this moment— “Wife, leave now! If you don’t, I will never rest in peace!!” That voice full of anguish resounded in Bai Yi’s mind, and her husband Huang Yi started to radiate a blinding golden light, rushing towards Xue Yi Leng like the rays of the bright sun.

“Yi-Ge!” Bai Yi’s face turned white, upon seeing this scene she knew what her husband was about to do.

Huang Yi, who usually exuded an elegant and carefree aura, had a look of intense madness on his face, his entire body radiating golden light, and the sword in his hands ﬂashed with a piercing light towards Xue Yi Leng.

“Suicide attack?”

Xue Yi Leng looked at the scene and just laughed coldly, a blood red sword with an extremely ﬁne edge appeared in his right hand. At the same time, he transmitted: “Zhi Bai, if you still don’t take action, the lady is about to escape.”

‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’ Zhi Bai was still very concerned about the mysterious person. However, he still kept a little attention on the battleﬁeld. He was after all someone who had overcome countless battles.

“Relax, she won’t escape!”

Zhi Bai’s message sounded in Xue Yi Leng’s mind. Xue Yi Leng smiled lightly. When did his old partner ever let him down?

Xue Yi Leng was facing Huang Yi.

Zhi Bai faced Bai Yi.

“Pu chi!”

The rusty sword belonging to Jun Luo Yu pierced through Devil Emperor Pian Yi’s chest. Jun Luo Yu only glanced at that look of disbelief in Pian Yi’s eyes, and laughed lightly, before slowly pulling out his sword. “How is that…..”

Without ﬁnishing his sentence, Devil Emperor Pian Yi’s entire body fell from the sky. Level 2 Immortal Lord Jun Luo Yu had actually used one strike to kill Level 3 Devil Emperor Pian Yi.

The 3 Devil Emperors on Blood Devil Emperor’s side who were acting as bait – Pian Yi, He Ni, and Suo Wo, had all died.

On the other hand, none of Emperor Yu’s bait team of 3 Immortal Lords had lost their lives. Zhou Yu, Ai Xiao and Duo Mi – all 3 of them were currently staring at Jun Luo Yu in shock and horror.

Jun Luo Yu was obviously far away earlier. How had he managed to arrive behind Devil Emperor Pian Yi when evidently the surrounding space was being distorted by the energy level and nobody dared to teleport.

These 3 Immortal Lords still drew their weapons as per normal, and surrounded Jun Luo Yu.

Jun Luo Yu had killed Devil Emperor Pian Yi with just a relaxed strike, there was no sound.

Yet as Xue Yi Leng faced Huang Yi, the sounds from battle shook the heavens . . . This was the horrifying sound of Huang Yi self destructing his Yuanying after his failed attempt on Xue Yi Leng.

With Huang Yi at the center, the force of the explosion instantly spread out in all directions.

It was like a stone that had smashed into and disrupted the peaceful water.

The self destruction of a Level 5 Immortal Lord!

Its resulting energy was too terrifying, in just the short time of 2 breaths, the explosive energy had travelled to the spectators at the 100 li distance. All of them were scrambling to avoid that energy.

Those who were weak and only at the Heavenly Immortal Heavenly Devil Level, exploded at the touch of the resulting energy. Fresh blood dyed the entire sky. Low-level Golden Immortals were also heavily injured, only the stronger Golden Immortals were able to block the energy.

“Crazy!”

Xue Yi Leng, who was closest to the explosion, bore the full brunt of the explosive force. Even with his strength of a Level 7 Devil Emperor, he felt his internal energy shaken to the core, and could not help exclaiming.

“This insane guy actually started detonating his Yuanying as he attacked me. Otherwise he wouldn’t have self destructed so fast.” Xue Yi Leng felt furious.

It was clear that Huang Yi had attacked with the knowledge and determination of his death. “Yi-Ge!”

A hoarse scream of pain resounded through the sky. Xuan Huang Double Swords’ other half Bai Yi was quivering from the grief, and the nearby Zhi Bai only sighed: “Bai Yi, since you’re suffering, let me give you a painless death.”

Actually, when Bai Yi was devastated after witnessing her husband self destructing, Zhi Bai could have easily raised his hand to kill Bai Yi.

However, Zhi Bai did not act.

With his strength, killing Jade Blade Boy of the Level 6 Devil Emperor level was a simple matter. Needless to say, killing Bai Yi of the Level 5 Immortal Level was even easier. However, Zhi Bai was not someone who acted when the opponent was distracted, he wanted to kill on equal grounds and aboveboard.

“Zhi Bai.” Bai Yi’s face was white, her entire person seemed bleak, “I cannot win over you. I know I can’t escape as well. If you want to kill me, just do it . . . Otherwise, if you don’t ﬁnish me off today, I will come back seeking revenge. Our enmity, even the waters of the rivers cannot wash it clean. With Yi-Ge’s passing,

it’s already destined….either you guys die, or I perish.”

Bai Yi did not bother hiding her intention.

Indeed.

If she could escape, Bai Yi would deﬁnitely come back for revenge. However, escape from Zhi Bai was simply wishful thinking.

“Alright, get on your way then.”

Zhi Bai sighed and grabbed the sword in his right hand. The ‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’ did not realise that at that very moment, a speck of dust was ﬂying at a scary speed towards them . . . That speck was actually the Immortal Mansion. With the barrier that Immortal Emperor Ni Yang had erected long time ago, Zhi Bai failed to notice it without careful observation.

A drop of tear rolled down from Bai Yi’s eyes.

“Yi-Ge, I’m so sorry.”

The spectators at the distance all felt that Bai Yi was most deﬁnitely going to die. The Xuan Huang Double Swords who used to roam the Immortal Realm was going to be wiped out.

Zhi Bai’s right hand on the hilt of the sword suddenly moved–

Unsheath! Within the space of 10 li, countless sword energy surged. This was the domain of Sword Qi, and there was green light condensing around the Green Blood Sword Immortal’s blade, preparing to shoot towards Bai Yi.

“Hi*See translation note 3*, I’m back.”

A voice resounded in Zhi Bai’s mind. He was startled, and his eyes saw the familiar ﬁgure appearing out of thin air.

Directly blocking in front of Bai Yi.

“Bai Yi, hurry leave!” Qin Yu pushed Bai Yi forcefully. This push caused Bai Yi to ﬂy dozens of miles away, and Qin Yu’s entire body once again blew away like a meteor.

“It’s you again!” Even if he was mild-tempered, being disrupted time and time again, ‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’ was furious, his facial muscles quivering. “Don’t think of leaving!”

With a roar, Zhi Bai was about to chase. A beam of red light had already shot forward at the same time and simultaneously a message was transmitted: “Zhi Bai, I will chase him. Help me settle Jun Luo Yu. With regards to him, I cannot do it myself.”

“Alright.”

‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’ Zhi Bai agreed to his friend’s request. However, in that short span of time, Bai Yi had already escaped beyond thousands of li, and had already used Great Teleportation to escape.

Zhi Bai still remembered what Bai Yi said: “If you don’t kill me today, I will come back seeking revenge, our enmity, even the waters of the rivers cannot wash it clean. With Yi-Ge’s passing, it’s already destined….either you guys die, or I perish.”

“This is troublesome.” Zhi Bai’s heart was consumed with fury, hating the person who interrupted earlier. The trap they set this time, had actually caught Jade Blade Boy and the Xuan Huang Double Swords couple.

However, Jade Blade Boy and Bai Yi were actually rescued by this mysterious person. The trap that Emperor Yu and Blood Devil Emperor set was singlehandedly destroyed by this mysterious person.

* * *

Translator Note:

1) 九九元灵阵 – 9-by9 spirit array (Translated as Multiplying Elemental Holy Formation Book 10 Chapter 29 – It’s the reason why the Puppet can exhibit a Level 9 Golden Immortal strength with 9 stones.) We have referred to it as 9-by-9 Spirit Array sometime in Book 12 Chapter 22 and have decided to stick with it.

2) Yi-Ge (Used by Bai Yi to address Huang Yi) It’s a common usage in some Asian countries to address their loved ones by Brother or Sister even when they are married

E.g Jing Ge Ge used by Huang Rong from Legend of Condor Heroes

Oppa used by korean girls to address guys older than them

No incest nor innuendos intended.

3) Qin Yu is such a bad-ass, he literally says hi here HAHAHA. Appearing twice to save people, and being blown away like superman each time.

Chapter 30: Divine Equipment “Heaven Turner”

‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’ Zhi Bai ﬁnally understood the feeling at the back of his mind. His gaze shifted towards his good friend ‘White Haired Blood Devil’ Xue Yi Leng’s prey that he wanted to kill but couldn’t — ‘Genius Immortal Lord’ Jun Luo Yu.

Having become a Level Two Immortal Emperor with only a few hundred years worth of cultivation, this speed was horrifying to whoever heard about it. There were no doubts about the title of genius.

Currently, Jun Luoyun was surrounded by the three Immortal Lords, while the 3 of them were wary of Jun Luo Yu and his unknown skills, Jun Luo Yu on the other hand was drinking his wine, without a care.

He did not escape or panic.

He just stood there drinking his wine.

The 3 people on Zhou Yu’s team, on the other hand, were nervous. Earlier, Jun Luo Yu had suddenly materialized behind Devil Emperor Pian Yi, and killed him with only one strike . The 3 of them could still vividly recall that scene. They did not know whether Jun Luo Yu would exhibit that mysterious

ability once again and appear behind them.

“The 3 of you, retreat.” Zhi Bai waved his hand, and allowed Zhou Yu, Ai Xiao and Duo Mi to retreat to one side.

The 3 of them heaved a sigh of relief, it was nerve-wrecking even after having surrounded Jun Luo Yu, and they were too frightened to make a move. Now the 3 of them retreated back with ecstasy.

‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’ Zhi Bai just looked at Jun Luo Yu.

“Why didn’t you escape earlier?” Zhi Bai called out. Jun Luo Yu laughed indifferently: “Escape? Why should I, it’s not too late to leave after ﬁnishing this bottle of wine.”

Zhi Bai’s expression turned rigid, and cursed in his heart: “Jun Luo Yu ah Jun Luo Yu, I don’t know whether to commend you for your guts , or to scold you for being an idiot, ‘Genius Immortal Lord’.”

Facing the infamous ‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’, Jun Luo Yu still could not care less, slowly drinking his wine.

“Are you done drinking?” Zhi Bai purposefully called out again.

“Not yet.” Jun Luo Yu replied honestly.

Zhi Bai was speechless. Having met a person with such a weird temperament, he breathed in lightly. Zhi Bai laughed: “Jun Luo Yu, this time… it seems like our ﬁrst meeting right?” Jun Luo You slightly nodded.

“‘Genius Immortal Lord’, you only cultivated for a few hundred years and you have already reached the Level 2 Mystic Immortal, this kind of miracle is really shocking. It took me more than a hundred thousand years to reach your present level.” Zhi Bai did not worry in the least. “You took a hundred years, I took a hundred thousand. Such a big difference!”

“I’m done.” Jun Luo Yu tossed the wine ﬂask aside, it drew a small arc as it descended and disappeared downwards.

Zhi Bai’s face broke into a big smile: “Jun Luo Yu. You’re a genius, no one doubts about that. Let me ask you, when you gain more power in the future, are you going to kill Xue Yi Leng?”

Jun Luo Yu nodded: “That’s right. Anyone and everyone working under Blood Devil Emperor is my target.”

“Yet Xue Yi Leng spared your life earlier.” Zhi Bai frowned and lashed out in anger, “Not only are you not grateful for that, you even want to make a move on him in the future, aren’t you too much?”

Jun Luo Yu laughed indifferently: ” It’s not that he doesn’t want to kill me, rather he can’t.”

“He can’t?” Zhi Bai thought back to Xue Yi Leng’s transmission. He really did express that he could not kill Jun Luo Yu himself, and Zhi Bai started to get suspicious.

“What’s more, even if he wanted to, he won’t be able to kill me.” Jun Luo Yu continued.

Zhi Bai felt like he had just heard a huge joke. A mere Level 2 Immortal Lord saying that a Level 7 Devil Emperor had no means to kill him, was it not a joke?

“Unable to kill you, what makes you think that?” Zhi Bai replied. Jun Luo Yu raised his eyebrows, and cast his drunken gaze lightly on Zhi Bai: “Why should I tell you?”

Zhi Bai was not irritated, and replied with a laugh: “You should know, before Xue Yi Leng left, he asked me to do something for him….”

“He asked you to kill me.” Jun Luo Yu interrupted, his gaze still uncaring, “I already guessed it, he deﬁnitely doesn’t dare to let me live.”

Zhi Bai nodded: “That is correct. He wants me to dispose of you. He obviously can’t let you live. You managed to reach a Level 2 Golden Immortal in just hundreds of years, who knows how long it will take you to reach Level 8 or 9. Maybe in another 10,000 years you would have reached there. Your cultivation speed is too shocking. Even the ‘White Hair Blood Devil’ wants to kill you off now rather than face you in the future.”

Facing a genius. How could ‘White Hair Blood Devil’ not worry and let him continue growing?

Jun Luo Yu lazily stretched his arm and raised the rusty sword onto his shoulder, and looked towards Zhi Bai, “There’s no need to say so much. I know you want to kill me. Didn’t you want to know why Xue Yi Leng cannot kill me? Try it and you will ﬁnd out . . . Because even you don’t have the qualiﬁcations to kill me.”

Zhi Bai laughed coldly in his heart.

An expert must have absolute conﬁdence in his abilities, otherwise, he could not be considered an expert as well. Zhi Bai could roam the 3 realms for so many years, it was due to his conﬁdence and the fact that he was not easily swayed by a few words.

“You think I won’t be able to kill you? Everyone knows how to talk big. But toback it with action , only a few have succeeded.” Zhi Bai slowly raised his hand towards the sword on his back.

“I am, exactly one of those few.” Jun Luo Yu laughed lightly.

“Oh, so you are that formidable? Let’s try it out!” Zhi Bai ﬂicked his hand.

Unsheathe sword!

A blinding green coloured sword energy shot towards Jun Luo Yu. Based on the speed of that sword energy, it was impossible for Jun Luo Yu to dodge in time. Furthermore, Zhi Bai could even control the direction of the attack.

Seeing the green sword energy pierce through Jun Luo Yu’s body, ‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’ Zhi Bai laughed blandly, “Another one who only knows how to talk big.”

Really?

“Ah . . . ” Pitiful screams ﬁlled the air.

Earlier, when the sword energy had shot through Jun Luo Yu, its energy did not seem to dissipate. Instead, it continued forward and in the blink of an eye, it reached the distance of a 1000 li.

There were still many spectating Golden Immortals, Demon Kings and Devil Kings surrounding the area. Many of them died instantly when the green sword energy struck.

“That’s not possible .” Zhi Bai’s face changed colour. He looked once more towards where Jun Luo Yu stood earlier.

Only to see . . .

Jun Luo Yu was standing about 10m away laughing at him.

“You didn’t die?” Zhi Bai could not fathom what was happening, “I saw you getting pierced with my own eyes, how is it that you are totally unharmed?” Jun Luo Yu was still showing that despondent look, “I already told you. Not only is Xue Yi Leng not qualiﬁed to kill me, even you are no exception. Do you believe me now?”

“I . . . ” Zhi Bai faced Jun Luo Yu once again, “Still don’t believe!”

“Kuang!”

The divine sword came out of its sheath.

That long sword of Zhi Bai’s turned into many long swords. In a ﬂash, shining with radiance that pierced the sky, they shot towards Jun Luo Yu.

Divine Sword ‘Green Blood’, its sharpness was without peer.

3 of the long swords pierced through Jun Luo Yu’s body, while the rest were piercing the space around Jun Luo Yu.

The divine sword entered back into its sheathe.

Zhi Bai carefully observed Jun Luo Yu’s body again. his time Zhi Bai noticed that the different parts of Jun Luo Yu’s body that were pierced and scattered, started to fade. Jun Luo Yu appeared once again where he stood.

“I told you, you can’t kill me.” Jun Luo Yu laughed lightly.

While Zhi Bai was observing, he also used his holy sense to detect changes in the surrounding space. When he had attacked earlier, the space around Jun Luo Yu had actually distorted.

“Don’t tell me . . . ”

Zhi Bai thought of a possibility. “Divine equipment ‘Heaven Turner’, how did you come to possess it?” Zhi Bai’s face turned white, “It should belong to a girl, why do you have it?”

The experts who knew about the divine weapon ‘Heaven Turner’ numbered a few, and Zhi Bai was one of them. And because he knew of it, he did not continue making a move.

“Don’t tell me you killed that girl?” Zhi Bai’s face was full of shock.

“No.” Jun Luo Yu laughed indifferently, “I didn’t expect that you knew about ‘Heaven Turner’ as well. Yes, the reason why I said you guys wouldn’t be able to kill me is precisely because Yan’er lent me this ‘Heaven Turner’.”

“Lent you?” Zhi Bai hesitated.

Others may not know what possessing the ‘Heaven Turner’ represents. However, he, the famous ‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’ being Emperor Yu’s 2nd-in-command, knew about it. This divine equipment allowed the user to teleport to any location out of thin air.

However, it was not invincible. As long as one attacked the space under the user’s control, one could still damage the user sufﬁciently enough to kill.

Nonetheless, having the divine equipment ‘Heaven Turner’ also represented a status.

“Ah . . . I couldn’t care less. That person just told Emperor Yu not to touch her disciple, that young lady. Even if I kill Jun Luo Yu, she shouldn’t have any reason to ﬁnd trouble with Emperor Yu.” Zhi Bai convinced himself.

Zhi Bai knew exactly how formidable the person whom ‘Heaven Turner’ belonged to. Yet he and ‘White Hair Blood Devil’ Xue Yi Leng could be considered sword brothers. For his sworn brother, what could he not forsake?

Furthermore. That person only against harming her disciple, and she did not mention Jun Luo Yu.

“Just because you possess ‘Heaven Turner’, you really think you’re above death?” Zhi Bai slowly pulled out his divine sword ‘Green Blood’, as compared to previously where he drew it out in a breath.

Now Zhi Bai was about to unleash his fury.

Green Blood Sword Art – Blood Shadow, Confuse!

Countless sword shadows covered the entire space of a 100m around Jun Luo Yu in the blink of an eye, condensing around him. Regardless of where he hid, he would be attacked.

“Peng.”

A sound rang out, Jun Luo Yu’s silhouette appeared at another place, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth: “ ‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’, you really live up to your name. Your strength is indeed powerful . . . But if you want to kill me, dream on.” This statement was still ringing in the air when Jun Luo Yu’s entire body stepped on his rusty blade and ﬂew above quickly.

“Even though my attack was scattered, every sword energy contains at least 10% of my strongest power, yet this Level 2 Immortal Lord could actually block it. Don’t tell me that rusty blade of his . . . is not a common blade?”

Zhi Bai’s was still hesitating in his mind, yet he chased on.

Zhi Bai had actually guessed correctly. Jun Luo Yu’s rusty blade was also a divine weapon, Jun Luo Yu had come across it very early on.

Stepping on that rusty blade, Jun Luo Yu’s speed was extremely fast.

However, Zhi Bai was also using his divine blade. His speed was not slower than Jun Luo Yu. Only . . . with Jun Luo Yu possessing ‘Heaven Turner’, it was incredibly hard for Zhi Bai to catch up to Jun Luo Yu.

Jun Luo Yu would often change his position and direction every once in awhile amidst the pursuit. His entire being appearing at other locations in the blink of an eye.

Under the onslaught of the sword energy, Zhi Bai did not dare teleport. Even though his speed was fast, Jun Luo Yu’s craftiness and change of direction rendered him helpless, and he could only chase on furiously.

“Pu Chi.”

Jun Luo Yu had just changed his location again, tens of sword energies shot towards him, leading him to change his position yet again: “This Zhi Bai actually predicted my change of locations.”

Jun Luo Yu proceeded on with caution, Zhi Bai was equally persevering.

Zhi Bai only used his index and middle ﬁnger to form a sword shape, and the resulting sword energy was sharp, with a strong condensed attack power, and continually attacked. Jun Luo Yu had to rely on ‘Heaven Turner’ to dodge constantly.

Jun Luo Yu had been dodging with ease.

However the residents on Blue Flame Star were not as lucky, those who were unfortunate to be hit by any of the sword energies died instantly, and the death count was rising.

. . .

In another area amongst the skies of Blue Flame Star, there was another ongoing pursuit.

‘White Hair Blood Devil’ Xue Yi Leng was currently on his blood red thin sword, summoning his energy with fervor to chase Qin Yu who was quite a distance away: “This mysterious person’s speed is really too fast.” Xue Yi Leng, a Level 7 Devil Emperor, the sword beneath his feet was a low grade divine equipment. As the top general of Blood Devil Emperor, how could he not have a divine equipment.

Qin Yu, was riding on the divine blade ‘Sky Piercer’, and it was a mid grade divine equipment.

Qin Yu’s divine equipment was slightly better than Xue Yi Leng’s. Plus his body was the Immortal Puppet, it could be considered a divine equipment as well. Body and sword as one, his speed was needless to say, fast. The only weakness . . . was that Qin Yu’s current ﬂight strength was equivalent to that of a Level 9 Golden Immortal only, due to the strength of the 9-by-9 Spirit Array.

Xue Yi Leng, when comparing his body or equipment, could not match Qin Yu. However, what he possessed was raw strength. His energy was more pure, stronger, and his resulting speed was faster than Qin Yu just by a little. “At that time when I used ‘Sky Piercer’, that Immortal Lord Qian Qi could not even see my shadow ﬂashing past in the blink of an eye. This Xue Yi Leng, even though he is a Level 7 Devil Emperor, his speed is really much faster than that Qian Qi.” Qin Yu could still clearly remember the scene where he made use of ‘Sky Piercer’ to let Qian Qi eat his dust.

“This Xue Yi Leng is not slower, rather he is just a little faster, really too terrifying.” Qin Yu was kept busy trying to avoid falling as he dodged the constant sudden attacks by Xue Yi Leng.

Qin Yu tried to hold in his laughter. He was actually making Xue Yi Leng chase after him relentlessly.

A digniﬁed Level 7 Devil Emperor, with the possession of a low grade Divine Sword, had to consume huge amounts of energy like crazy and yet, still could not catch up to Qin Yu.

These 2 pursuits continued to play out in the skies of Blue Flame Star.

Chapter 31: Nameless

As the 2 battles were raged in the skies of Blue Flame Star, the crowd of spectating Golden Immortals, Demon Kings and Devil Kings were starting to dissipate. This time, the battle was of such scary proportions as compared to the past few trades.

‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’ Zhi Bai, a Level 7 Immortal Lord!

‘White Hair Blood Devil’ Xue Yi Leng, a Level 7 Demon Emperor!

Many of the spectators felt that with just the appearance of these two experts, who were considered legends, the trip was worthwhile. Furthermore, other notable characters like Jade Blade Boy, the Xuan Huang Double Swords couple, especially the mysterious troublemaker who appeared at the end, added to the excitement.

“That mysterious person who appeared at the end was really too strong, he could even block the Green Blood Sword Immortal’s attack. His strength must be at least a Level 6 Immortal Lord, if not a Level 7 one.”

“Observing these Immortal Lords’ and Devil Emperors’ strength was a good opportunity. Now we know how far we are from these experts’ level of strength.”

The spectators discussed the battle as they ﬂew away from the location, their hearts beating and blood boiling with excitement, this battle would leave a lasting impression in their minds.

“Brother Qin disappeared, what a pity, I still wanted to have a drink with him.” Lu Ba whispered to himself, and followed the crowd and left Blue Fiery Cloud Inn.

At this time, Jiang Yan was frowning: “This Brother Luo Yu, always doing things so rashly. That asshole ‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’, having seen the divine equipment ‘Heaven Turner’, he still dared to chase . . . Hmm, what should I do?” Jiang Yan was after all only a Level 1 Immortal Lord, she could not even match Jun Luo Yu, and would not be of any help at all.

“Ah. Let’s go see if Brother Nameless is still around!” Jiang Yan’s eyes shone brightly again, and she transformed into a beam of light and shot towards the east, disappearing into the eastern sky.

×××

It was a normal inn, one of the levels housed a great hall which accomodated a few banquet tables. Leaning against the window at one of the tables was a cool yet arrogant looking youth.

What stood out more . . . was that this youth had a full head of golden hair, underneath those coarse eyebrows, his gaze seemed to burn with vigor, and it looked like there was a lightning thunderbolt in between his eyes. He was currently holding a cup of wine in his hands. Raising the wine ﬂask, he would occasionally lift his head to down the wine.

He enjoyed his wine alone. There were quite a few dishes on his table, yet what attracted his interest the most was the barbequed lamb meat in the centre of the table. This golden- haired youth would grab one of the lamb legs, and with just 2 to 3 bites, completely devour it.

At the side of the table, there was a golden coloured long spear.

“Brother Nameless!”

A clear voice rang out in the inn. That golden-haired youth who was drinking, looked up in surprise, and he could not help but break into a bitter smile: “It’s you Yan’er, is something the matter?”

Nameless always felt troubled when it came to Jiang Yan. Jiang Yan’s character was good and easy going, it was just that sometimes . . . it was over the top. Nameless was someone who preferred to eat and drink in leisure, and he did not like loud occasions.

Using his strength to threaten Jiang Yan?

Nameless had already long given up. To him, Jiang Yan’s strength was not high, only a level 1 Immortal Lord. However, she possessed 2 divine equipment, one was ‘Heaven Turner’, the other ‘Phantom Shifter’.

With the 2 divine equipment’s protection, unless Nameless attacked with the intention to kill, he would not be able to hurt Jiang Yan.

“Brother Nameless, I have something that I need your help with, can you promise me you’ll help?” Jiang Yan asked with her eyes wide open.

Nameless frowned a little. Although Jiang Yan was not very strong, she had a lot of tricks under her sleeves, it could be said that very few matters would pose a difﬁculty to this imp Jiang Yan.

“So you would have a matter that requires my help, say it. Let us see if I can help.” Nameless replied.

“No, you must ﬁrst promise me.” Jiang Yan shook her head, her eyes staring ﬁxedly at Nameless.

Nameless’ heart ached at the sight of Jiang Yan.

“Yan’er ah, if I am unable to help, how can you make me promise? You know that when I say it, I will do it. If I can’t fulﬁl it after I made the promise, won’t it make things hard for me?” Nameless chided gently.

“I don’t care.” Jiang Yan shook her head profusely, her big eyes still ﬁxed on Nameless, “If you don’t agree, hu hu . . . I won’t let you have a moment of peace forever.” Thinking about Jiang Yan’s countless tricks, Nameless was really at a loss.

There were indeed many whose strength surpassed Nameless, yet those who can actually make him compromise number a few, even his own father could not make him change his decision once he set his mind. Only Jiang Yan led Nameless to be really helpless.

“Alright, alright, I’ll just promise you.” Nameless replied helplessly, “But I must say ﬁrst, I will do my best, if I really can’t do it, then I can’t help it.”

Jiang Yan immediately broke into a smile: “Haha, I knew Brother Nameless treats me the best. Brother Nameless, Brother Luo Yu is currently being pursued by someone, there’s also another friend being pursued at the same time, can you help save them both.”

“Brother Luo Yu is being pursued?” Nameless immediately set down the wine cup, “Where is he?” “He and the friend I just met are currently being chased in the skies of Blue Flame Star.” Jiang Yan replied quickly, she was also in a rush to help Qin Yu.

Nameless paused for awhile, and a huge holy sense spread out, and he could observe everything happening on Blue Flame Star in just an instant. He could also sense the 2 pursuits in the skies.

“It’s the 2 of them?”

Nameless’ expression changed, and smiled bitterly at Jiang Yan, “Yan’er, you are really insidious, you’ve managed to involve ‘White Hair Blood Devil’ Xue Yi Leng and ‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’ Zhi Bai. You think your Brother Nameless can take on these 2 experts?”

“Brother Nameless is the strongest.” Jiang Yan giggled.

Nameless could only sigh helplessly: “You . . . ah, not only are Xue Yi Leng and Zhi Bai experts, they represent 2 of the biggest powers. You want me to take on them, isn’t it equivalent to offending those 2?”

Jiang Yan pouted, and snorted: “Don’t tell me Brother is scared of them?”

“Alright alright, cool it. Since I’ve already promised you, I will help.” Nameless grabbed the other lamb leg and tore into it with a huge bite, “Green Blood Sword Immortal, White Hair Blood Devil. These 2 strong opponents, I must eat my ﬁll, and have a good ﬁght with them.”

Jiang Yan did not know to cry or to laugh.

Her Brother Nameless was really humourous. At his level, there was no real need to eat, how was he still worried about his stomach?

“This girl actually lent her divine equipment ‘Heaven Turner’ to Luo Yu.” Nameless mused silently, even he did not know for sure the capabilities of that equipment.

However, he knew the special attribute of its teleportation ability, it would only deﬁnitely teleport forward.

×××

As Qin Yu ran, Xue Yi Leng chased!

In just a while, Qin Yu and Xue Yi Leng had gone around Blue Flame Star a few times, their speed reaching their maximum levels. The directions would also keep changing.

“Where did this mysterious person come from, how come I have never heard of him before, his body has actually been trained to such a degree, don’t tell me . . . ”

‘White Hair Blood Devil’ Xue Yi Leng suddenly thought of a mysterious place within the 3 realms, where some experts reside. The experts from that area were known for having incredibly strong bodies.

“Even if he really is from that place, to be able to block an attack from Zhi Bai using his body, this type of strength could be considered from the upper echelons of that place. If I kill him today, will it offend that place?”

‘White Hair Blood Devil’ Xue Yi Leng started to become uncertain in his heart.

If that person in front is really from that place, killing him . .

. is not a small matter.

“Where is he?” Xue Yi Leng suddenly opened his eyes wide, his holy sense spread out to search. However, the person who was just in front of him a while ago, had actually disappeared.

Inside the Immortal Mansion. Qin Yu sat on one of the stone chairs, feeling a little helpless.

“This ‘White Hair Blood Devil’ is really too strong . . . the Immortal Puppet’s body is stronger than his, the ‘Sky Piercer’ is Immortal Lord Ni Yang’s legendary sword, it should deﬁnitely be stronger than his blood blade. It’s too bad that the Immortal Puppet’s energy is equivalent to a Level 9 Golden Immortal only. His strength is really amazing.”

Qin Yu sighed again.

In the chase earlier, not only had he depleted the 9 top grade stones’ energy, it was also mentally exhausting. Furthermore, he had to continually change directions to avoid attacks.

Qin Yu swapped out another 9 top grade stones, just that chase alone consumed 9 stones, that spoke for how thrilling the chase was.

“Ahah, my life force is really miraculous.” Qin Yu observed that the wound obtained earlier was already gone.

This Immortal Puppet’s body was strange, it’s strength and body was almost the same. Qin Yu had tried using the internal energy to recover the wound, and guessed that using his own life force would work as well.

While he had to deplete 9 top grade stones just to heal 10% of the injury, using just a little bit of his life force had a great effect.

With regards to the Meteoric Tear, Qin Yu had a few conjectures about some of its abilities.

The ﬁrst, was that it could guide life force to heal injuries and repair the body.

The second, was that it could be linked with the soul, and allowed the soul to be condensed within, this prevents others from searching for his power successfully. The third, was that the Meteoric Tear allowed Qin Yu to be in sync with the natural surroundings. He could feel the energy easily, and he could discover Immortal Lord level experts.

However, even up till today, Qin Yu had not fully understood the Meteor Tear, unlike other divine equipment, where once branded, the owner will fully unlock its capabilities.

“Peng!”

Qin Yu felt the Immortal Mansion shake.

The Immortal Mansion had been hidden, yet Qin Yu knew . .

. the tremor earlier was caused by Xue Yi Leng’s vicious blows on what the Immortal Mansion had transformed into, a piece of dust particle.

Qin Yu eyes grew wide: “This ‘White Hair Blood Devil’ is too tough, being a Level 7 Devil Emperor, he actually managed to sense the barrier that Immortal Lord Ni Yang had set up.” “Fortunately, Immortal Lord Ni Yang’s Mansion doesn’t only have illusion barriers, there are various defensive barriers as well. If a level 7 Devil Emperor wants to break down these barriers, it should take at least one or two days.”

Qin Yu’s heart could still be considered calm.

It was just that the enemy had discovered the Immortal Mansion, this was without a doubt true.

“Peng!”“Peng!”“Peng!”“Peng!”“Peng!”……

Attacks rained one after another onto the Immortal Mansion, Qin Yu felt the energy supporting the defensive barriers gradually being consumed, even as it was replenishing from the external energy surrounding the area.

However, the consumption was too fast, at this rate, within half a day, the defences would break, instead of the 1 or 2 days Qin Yu had earlier anticipated. “I can’t let him continue attacking.”

Qin Yu could not bear to let his lair be destroyed.

“You only know how to hide within your Immortal Mansion, so you won’t come out right?” Xue Yi Leng’s cold laugh resounded throughout the sky, Qin Yu being the owner of the Immortal Mansion, naturally he heard the sounds.

Qin Yu’s face changed.

I cannot stay here holed up like this. Hiding here I will just receive his beating.

Outside the Immortal Mansion.

‘White Hair Blood Devil’ Xue Yi Leng attacked that little spot viciously, although it was inconspicuous, he managed to discover it with his devil sense. When he discovered that Qin Yu had disappeared, he had immediately spread out his devil sense to search.

However, as he was focused on the broad area, he did not particularly notice the small particle of dust. Furthermore, Immortal Lord Ni Yang’s illusions were not off the mill, this led to Xue Yi Leng missing it carelessly.

Hence, Xue Yi Leng was furious, and he unleashed his energy in all directions. Xue Yi Leng’s power was really formidable, and in the wake of his outburst, not many things could have survived.

Except that little particle of dust that seemed to be unharmed in any way.

With Xue Yi Leng’s strength, he naturally felt the resistance from that particle, that slight power came under Xue Yi Leng’s radar, and he knew right away that the dust was not normal. Therefore, he used his devil sense to carefully observe the particle. Xue Yi Leng was only lower than Immortal Lord Ni Yang by a level, therefore by observing carefully and determining that there was an illusion barrier, he began attacking viciously.

Suddenly . . .

The dust particle disappeared, and a blurry ﬁgure ﬂashed by.

“You ﬁnally appeared.”

Xue Yi Leng discovered that the mysterious person had once again resumed his escape on the divine equipment. Xue Yi Leng having chased for such a long period of time to no avail, it was really getting on his nerves, and chased after him with fervor again.

“Chase, chase, keep on chasing.”

Qin Yu’s direction changed rapidly to shake off Xue Yi Leng. As he was in pursuit, his Immortal Puppet’s energy was being depleted quickly again. He was escaping for his life at the expense of his money. (Chinese term: Burning money)

“Brother Luo Yu, Brother Qin, please come over to my side.”

A voice transmitted directly to Qin Yu’s mind, at the same time, he felt the location of the energy source. Qin Yu ﬂew towards that direction without hesitation.

He was puzzled, how did the other party knew he was called Qin?

As he was ﬂying hastily towards that direction, he was joined by Jun Luo Yu who was heading there at the same time. Both of them had heard the message, and both discovered each other.

“Brother Qin.” Jun Luo Yu transmitted, “That person is my good brother.” When they were spectating at the Blue Fiery Cloud Inn earlier, even though Jun Luo Yu was drinking, he overheard Lu Ba and Qin Yu’s exchange and Lu Ba addressing Qin Yu as “‘Brother Qin’, Jun Luo Yu heard this clearly.

“Brother Luo Yu, let us hurry there then.” Qin Yu replied.

Even though they met at a distance of more than 100m away from the place, to them, the distance was like a few metres to normal mortals. Within a breath, both of them entered the inn at almost the same time.

The pursuers Xue Yi Leng and Zhi Bai both arrived shortly.

Standing at the main door was a golden-haired youth, his hands held a long golden spear, just a man with his spear in front of the door. Yet he gave off an aura as if he could hold off ten thousand men on his own.

Chapter 32: Prince ‘Wu Ming’/Nameless

Xue Yi Leng and Zhi Bai descended from the sky like meteors and rushed into the inn at their maximum speed. These 2 experts instinctively stopped when they discovered the golden- haired youth.

“It’s him?”

Zhi Bai was full of shock.

“It really is Prince Ao Wu Ming. Brother Zhi Bai, I thought that the Dragon Clan didn’t interfere with the power struggle? When did this Ao Wu Ming decide to join in the fray?”

“Who knows what this Ao Wu Ming is thinking. He has exhibited his rebellious personality even before this. Even his father Long Huang couldn’t keep him under control. And his own skill is also very high. He is even considered to be the second ranked expert of the Dragon Clan.” “Brother Zhi Bai, then you guys…”

“Don’t worry that much, just pretend that we didn’t seen this Ao Wu Ming and charge in from two sides to kill Jun Luo Yu. Even if Ao Wu Ming manages to block one of us, can he handle two at the same time.

Their exchange, using transmission, happened within the span of a few breaths.

In just that short space of time it took Xue Yi Leng and Zhi Bai to rush into the inn, both of them had already come to the like-minded decision —- pretend not to notice Ao Wu Ming!

“Hu!” “Hu!”

That fast ﬂying speed, caused ﬂuctuations in the air, and Ao Wu Ming’s golden hair also ﬂoated as if the strands were dancing. “Not stopping?”

Ao Wu Ming held his spear singlehandedly, lightly tilted his head and laughed at the 2 ﬁgures rushing towards him. Xue Yi Leng and Zhi Bai, one on the left and the other on the right, intending to rush in through the windows of the inn.

×××

Qin Yu, Jun Luo Yu and Jiang Yan were inside the inn carefully observing the scene. Be it Qin Yu or Jun Luo Yu, they had no intentions of ﬂeeing. Ao Wu Ming was staking his life for them, how would they be able to only think for themselves?

“Brother Qin, be at ease. Brother Wu Ming is very strong.” Jun Luo Yu saw the uneasy expression on Qin Yu’s face and tried reassuring him.

However, his own eyes were ﬁxed on the ﬁgure standing at the door. “Can he really block them? His opponents are Xue Yi Leng and Zhi Bai! If it is just him alone, I’m afraid he might not be able to even block a single move.” Qin Yu could not stop worrying.

In front of Qin Yu—-

Ao Wu Ming’s lips slightly parted, and that long golden spear moved!

In just a moment, the skies changed, countless dragon roars reverberated in Qin Yu’s ears. Golden light covered the entire area, and only loud booming sounds continued to ring out.

Gradually . . .

Everything settled down.

In front of Ao Wu Ming, the entire street had been reduced to rubble. All the buildings had been unable to withstand the energy from the resulting clash between these 3 experts and collapsed. The destruction of the surroundings fanned outward.

Only the inn behind Ao Wu Ming was without a scratch.

Zhi Bai and Xue Yi Leng stood shoulder to shoulder in the skies, and had expressions of shock as they stared at Ao Wu Ming.

Ao Wu Ming stood there nonchalantly, as though neither he nor his spear had made any move. His gaze however, was ﬁxed on the 2 experts in the skies, giving off a burning desire for combat.

“So strong.” Qin Yu, who was watching from the back, was shaken to the core of his heart.

Earlier, his sight and hearing had been taken in by the shocking display of power, and the changes in the surrounding from the skill. Only his holy sense had managed to grasp a little understanding of the clash. Even with the aid of the Meteoric Tear, he had only barely seen a little of the exchange earlier.

Qin Yu’s gaze went back to Ao Wu Ming, who looked like a war god. Looking at his back, he could not help but think: “Zhi Bai and Xue Yi Leng’s idea to rush in from both sides was good, most people would not be able to have block against that. However, this Wu Ming is really too strong.”

“I’m afraid I’ll never forget this skill.”

Qin Yu’s mind replayed that scene earlier.

The moment Ao Wu Ming had made his move—-

Everything had changed colour. That spear had given off such a tyrannical aura, and had pierced towards the skies like an furious dragon, striking towards the space between the 2 experts in the skies. Following which, that hard spear had suddenly bent like a coiling snake, and was circling in that space, forming a “Tai Chi” diagram.

Just that one skill!

Both experts had been forced to stop in their tracks.

“Ah, so it was Brother Wu Ming.” Zhi Bai wore an expression as though he had just recognized him. “I was still wondering, who had the power to block Yi Leng and me, so it was Brother Wu Ming.”

“Brother Wu Ming, earlier Zhi Bai and I were too focused in our pursuit, and ran into you, please don’t take it to heart.” Xue Yi Leng forced a smile and said.

At the same time, both of them descended from the skies.

Ao Wu Ming looked at the 2 of them, and a spear cover appeared in his hand. He carefully kept his long golden spear, and hoisted it back onto his back. Ao Wu Ming had a habit, he did not like to keep his weapon inside his body, instead he liked to carry it.

“Green Blood Sword Immortal Zhi Bai, White Hair Blood Devil Xue Yi Leng, both of you are legendary experts, how come both of you are joining hands in pursuing people? What kind of people are actually worth your time?” Ao Wu Ming laughed lightly and said.

Zhi Bai and Xue Yi Leng exchanged a look, and Zhi Bai replied: “Brother Wu Ming, earlier, the deal between Emperor Yu and Blood Devil Emperor was going on at Blue Fiery Cloud Inn, there were people who actually caused problems, and even killed our men. Killing our people like this in broad daylight, is tantamount to not giving a shit about Emperor Yu nor Blood Devil Emperor, how can we let them off?”

Ao Wu Ming felt helpless.

However he had already promised Jiang Yan, he could only try his best to defend Jun Luo Yu and Qin Yu. Ao Wu Ming frowned and responded: “Zhi Bai, Xue Yi Leng, the two of you are considered to be famous and respected elders, there’s no real need to concern yourselves with such small matters.”

“Brother Wu Ming, what do you mean by that?” Zhi Bai and Xue Yi Leng were starting to feel displeased.

Ao Wu Ming lightly smiled: “I’m sure you can guess the meaning behind my words, if you want me to spell it out . . . The 2 guys you were chasing earlier, are under my protection. Consider it as giving me face, just let the 2 of them go, how about it?”

“Brother Wu Ming, don’t tell me the 2 of them are with your Dragon Clan” Zhi Bai replied.

×××

“Dragon Clan?” Upon hearing those words, Qin Yu could not help being suspicious. Jun Luo Yu laughed and replied: ” Brother Wu Ming is a prince of the Dragon Clan. Brother Qin, don’t tell me you have not heard . . . There are 2 experts in the Dragon Clan, termed as the Kingly Duo of the Dragon Clan!”

“Kingly Duo? Do pardon my ignorance, I’m not very knowledgeable about this.” Qin Yu asked apologetically.

Jiang Yan blinked her eyes from the side, “Wa, you don’t even know about this, let me tell you then. Oh right, what exactly is your name? I only know your surname is Qin.”

When Jiang Yan and Jun Luo Yu were at Blue Fiery Cloud Inn, they had overheard the exchange between Qin Yu and Lu Ba, and hence knew that his surname was Qin. As for his full name, they were still in the dark.

Qin Yu hesitated a little while, then replied, “My name is Qin Yu.” After which he looked at the 2 of them, having felt that providing his real name was a little hasty. “From their actions and mannerism, this Jiang Yan and Jun Luo Yu can be considered friends worth having. Furthermore they saved my life, letting them know my real name shouldn’t be a problem.” Qin Yu calmed himself down.

Jun Luo Yu laughed. “So it was Brother Qin Yu, you can call me Jun Luo Yu.”

“And I am Jiang Yan.” Jiang Yan hurriedly interrupted, suddenly her eyes widened and she pouted, “Oh right, I seemed to have told you my name already the ﬁrst time we met.”

Qin Yu looked at Jiang Yan’s cute expression and could not help but laugh.

Jiang Yan coughed, “Weren’t you curious about the Kingly Duo earlier? I shall tell you out of kindness.”

Qin Yu was speechless. He did not seem to have asked Jiang Yan, just that she was too zealous of her own accord.

Jiang Yan had already began her speech. “The Dragon clan is one of the most united great groups in the Immortal/Devil/Demon realms. The Demon group can be classiﬁed into 3 major groups, the Land Beasts, the Flying Beasts and the Dragon Clan. Out of the 3, the ﬁghting strength of the Dragon Clan is considered the weakest, but undoubtedly, amongst the 3, the Dragon Clan is recognized as the strongest.”

“Be it the Land Beasts or Flying Beasts, they always have internal strife amongst their own clans, therefore they aren’t as united. On the other hand, the Dragon Clan is extremely close, and precisely because of that, they are the strongest.”

“What’s more, the Dragon Clan has 2 extremely powerful experts, plus they share a father-son relationship. One is the Dragon King, one his very own son ‘Ao Wu Ming’, which is our brother that you see.”

Jiang Yan giggled while looking at Qin Yu, “Now you know how powerful Brother Wu Ming is, he is comparable to Emperor Yu in terms of status, and deﬁnitely is more than a match for that Idiot Blood Devil, and Green Vegetable Sword Immortal

[Translator Note: White Hair has become Idiot – A pun on the ‘White’ portion of the name; same goes for Green Blood becoming Green Vegetable – A pun on the ‘Green’ portion. It’s pretty funny in Chinese]

Qin Yu could not help but look at Xue Yi Leng and Zhi Bai, as Ao Wu Ming spoke with them. “Who would have expected that Ao Wu Ming was such a character. Just his Dragon Clan’s forces are comparable to those from the Immortal Realm. He really can be considered of equal standing as Emperor Yu.”

Jun Luo Yu also chipped in, “Speaking of which, the case is also rare for him. In the Dragon Clan, the Dragon King’s strength is immeasurable, being a 5-Clawed Golden Dragon Super Divine Beast. Plus he’s of the Level 8 Demon Immortal strength, and he possesses the Dragon Clan’s greatest Divine Treasure. It would be enough if you just consider his own strength, but the offsprings of him and his wife, an ordinary Green Dragon, are considered to be even more rare.” “He has 2 sons?” Qin Yu was intrigued.

It was not just Ao Wu Ming one person, but he has a brother?

“Qin Yu, you should know that amongst the Dragon Clan, the 5-Clawed Golden Dragon is very rare. Even if one was born a 5- Clawed Golden Dragon, his son may not necessarily be one!”

“This I know.” Qin Yu was quite clear on this.

5-Clawed Golden Dragons, was a chance happening. It could be an offspring between a Green Dragon and Black Dragon, or it could have been between any other Dragon. It was based on pure chance, however the probability was perhaps less than a billionth.

Therefore, within the entire Dragon Clan itself, the number of 5-Clawed Golden Dragons did not exceed 10. “The Dragon King’s 2 sons, are truly formidable. One is Brother Wu Ming, and Brother Wu Ming is also a 5-Clawed Golden Dragon Super Divine Beast!” Jun Luo Yu sighed.

“It is really rare, a 5-Clawed Golden Dragon begetting another 5-Clawed Golden Dragon, in the history of the Dragon Clan, it must be a rarity.” Qin Yu nodded his head in agreement.

Jun Luo Yu continued, “This is not all, the other son is even more shocking.”

“Oh?”

Qin Yu looked towards Jun Luo Yu in shock.

If the Dragon Clan’s other prince was that formidable, then why were they not termed as the ‘Kingly Trio’, instead of the ‘Kingly Duo’ now. It was obvious that the other son could not compare to Ao Wu Ming. “The other son was born a Red Dragon.” Jun Luo Yu laughed, “This matter was considered the biggest joke in the Ascendant Realm at that time. A 5-Clawed Golden Dragon was a Super Divine Beast. Even if his own son was not another 5-Clawed Golden Dragon, at the very least, he should be a Golden Dragon, or the weakest possibility, a Black Dragon or Silver Dragon. Who would have thought that the son was the weakest and most common Red Dragon.”

Qin Yu knew all this clearly.

Within the Dragon Clan, the 5-Clawed Golden Dragon was the most revered, termed as a Super Divine Beast.

The Golden Dragons were next, termed as Top Divine Beasts.

The Black Dragons, Silver Dragons followed, termed as Uncommon Divine Beasts.

As for the Green Dragons, Red Dragons, Blue Dragons and others, were considered the most common and weakest Dragons, Common Divine Beasts.

“How is that shocking?” Qin Yu was doubtful.

The Prince was actually a Red Dragon. How was it shocking, it was more of a joke.

Jiang Yan excitedly interrupted, “It’s my turn to say, that Red Dragon is actually Brother Wu Ming’s elder brother, his name is ‘Ao Wu Xu’ (*No Humility/Proud*). There were a lot of people in the Dragon Clan that looked down on Ao Wu Xu. Who knew . . . Ao Wu Xu’s cultivation speed was horrifying, his strength is actually not at all below his 5-Clawed Golden Dragon younger brother Ao Wu Ming.”

“What?!” Qin Yu was truly curious.

A Red Dragon could actually chase up to the 5-Clawed Golden Dragon ‘Ao Wu Ming’?

Being a Super Divine Beast, not only was the cultivation speed fast. At the same time . . . with regards to opponents of a similar level, a Super Divine Beast actually possessed stronger combat power.

“Brother Wu Ming’s elder brother Ao Wu Xu, was more withdrawn due to being looked down on from young. He left the clan to wander around the realms, and only afterwards was his true identity disclosed!”

Jiang Yan paused for dramatic effect, with a mysterious face.

[Translator Note: So funny, I can totally imagine the kind of energy and anticipation she tried to build up.]

Qin Yu waited for Jiang Yan to continue.

[Translator Note: Somehow I got the feeling Qin Yu must have looked nonchalant.]

“Ao Wu Xu’s actual identity was not a normal Red Dragon . . . Rather, he was the rarest variation of Dragon, not seen in the history of the Dragon Clan for a billion years — A Super Divine Beast ‘Blood Dragon’!” Jiang Yan ﬁnished dramatically, and waited expectantly for Qin Yu’s awestruck expression.

A rare variation in a billion years? Super Divine Beast Blood Dragon?

“Blood Dragon, Red Dragon . . . Ha ha, interesting, interesting!” Qin Yu laughed, “The Dragon King is truly capable, of his 2 sons, one a 5-Clawed Golden Dragon, one a variation but similar Super Divine Beast, a Blood Dragon.”

Qin Yu looked towards Jiang Yan and asked: “Then how come they are termed ‘Kingly Duo’? Based on what you said, Wu Ming’s brother Ao Wu Xu is not weaker than Wu Ming. Why aren’t they termed the ‘Kingly Trio’ then?”

“Who knows? That Ao Wu Xu left when his power was weaker. His character is a bit eccentric, rumours are that his strength is actually above Brother Wu Ming by a little. Just that Ao Wu Xu never once returned to the Dragon Clan, nor does he calls himself from the Dragon Clan. Therefore, most of the Ascendant Realm call them the ‘Kingly Duo’, but everyone in the whole Ascendant Realm knows this name — the Blood Dragon ‘Ao Wu Xu’.” Jiang Yan shook her head while pouting her lips.

[Translator Note: ???? Reminded of somebody? I looked back at the old chapters to ﬁnd that person I suspected but the strength differs, or so I think.]

Qin Yu thought for awhile and was able to guess a few things.

“Oh no, seems like negotiations between Brother Wu Ming and the others have failed !” Jun Luo Yu called out, Qin Yu and Jiang Yan stopped talking and looked outside.

Chapter 33: Heaven Shaking Battle

Under the power of the three super experts, the space itself shook and even the shadows became blurred.

“Wuming!”

Sword energy radiated in and out of Zhi Bai’s body, his entire aura was intimidating. He stared at Wuming, “You are the Prince of the Dragon Clan! You should know that your Clan has never gotten involved in our power struggle. If we want to catch someone, who are you to stop us?”

“Don’t tell me, you dare to ignore the rules that your own clan has abided by?” Xue Yileng also gazed coldly at Wuming.

At the start, Zhi Bai and Xue Yileng still tried to negotiate, and used various words to try persuade Ao Wuming to leave. However, he would not budge, and insisted on protecting the other two. “Haha…don’t even talk about the Dragon Clan, to protect those two people is my duty. Today, I, Ao Wuming am here representing myself! Or else are you insisting that I, Ao Wuming, cannot even protect my friend?”

Ao Wuming’s golden hair ﬂuttered in the air, his tiger like gaze ﬂashing brightly. The golden spear behind his back also dimly glowed with a golden light.

“Representing yourself?” Zhi Bai sneered coldly. “Good! Wuming, you are a Level Seven Demon Emperor and Yileng and myself also happen to be Level Seven Immortal Emperor and Devil Emperors. Even though you are a Super Divine Beast, I don’t believe that we two aren’t a match for you!”

“Oh.”

Ao Wuming stretched out his hand, and the gold colored spear within its sheath let out the sound of a dragon’s cry. It ﬂew out of the sheath and right into Ao Wuming’s right hand. His hand grasping the spear, Ao Wuming’s aura rose by another level. His tiger like gaze shined at the two opponents “I haven’t fought with another expert on the same level for such a long time. You two teaming up can help me practice.”

After all, Ao Wuming was a Super Divine Beast. Even though it was one versus two, he was still conﬁdent.

“Practice?”

‘Green Blood Sword Immortal’ Zhi Bai and ‘White Haired Blood Devil’ Xue Yileng laughed out loud. That laugh had a special meaning contained within it.

“Zhi Bai, do you still remember that time in the Devil Realm where we were repeatedly thrown into life-and-death situations? Where we fought together?” A smile ﬂashed on Xue Yileng’s face. The ﬁghting aura of his body continuously rose.

Zhi Bai also felt his whole body burning with anger. He felt as if he had returned to the time when he fought together with Xue Yileng. “Of course I remember. So many years have passed, I was almost under the impression that we would no longer have the opportunity to team up and confront an enemy again. Never did I imagine that ‘His Highness’ from the Dragon Clan would give us the opportunity to ﬁght together like we did back then.”

In this life and death battle, astonishing ﬁghting auras were being emitting by Zhi Bai and Xue Yileng.

Their imposing auras were complimenting each other and increasing together.

“Haha, seems like you two are a pretty good match. The attack power of you two joining hands ought to be more than just one plus one…. You’re just making it even more worthy for me to ﬁght you two.”

Just like caressing a lover, Ao Wuming gently stroked the long spear in his right hand.

His aura continued to rise!

Even Before he attacked, his heaven alarming aura had already shocked the countless experts in the Blue Flame Star. One by one, they started to panic; they became afraid and their hearts started to tremble.

A level seven Super Divine Beast Demon Emperor ﬁghting against a level seven Immortal Emperor and a level seven Devil Emperor.

A battle of this level could destroy the enormous planet called Blue Flame Star entirely. At this moment…

“This battle is too frightening, quickly, ﬂee to nearby planets.”

Within the encampment of some major powers within the Blue Flame Star, various commanders began to give order to the experts under them. Countless experts in the Blue Flame Star began to ﬂee. Those whose power were at the level of Golden Immortals and Devil Kings began to directly go toward areas with stable space and used their Greater Teleportation skills to ﬂee to other planets.

Those who are weaker, such as the Heavenly Immortals and regular cultivators, were running to the Conveying Arrays in order to ﬂee as if their lives depended on it.

“My spear is called ‘Absolute Piercer.’ There is nothing that it cannot piece through!” At this moment, Ao Wuming was completely surging with bloodlust. Even he was looking forward to the battle that was about to happen!

“My sword is called ‘Green Blood.’” said Zhi Bai.

“My sword is called ‘Red Snow.’” said Xue Yileng.

At this moment, Qin Yu, Jiang Yan and Jun Luoyu who were nearby, did not ﬂee. Jiang Yan and Jun Luoyu were, after all, Immortal Emperors. Although they were not at the levels of experts like Ao Wuming, Zhi Bai and Xue Yileng, they were still able to withstand the repercussions of the battle.

As for Qin Yu, not mentioning withstanding the repercussions of the battle, his body alone was able to withstand the direct attack from a level seven Immortal Emperor.

Silence!

The space was vibrating. However, within the surroundings of several tens of thousands of miles was absolute silence. Other than a couple experts at the level of Immortal Emperors, the rest of the people seemed to have all ﬂed far away.

Qin Yu, Jun Luoyu and Jiang Yan held their breaths, as they carefully watched the battle that was about to unfold.

Zhi Bai and Xue Yileng’s gazes seemed to have changed at the same time! “Woosh!” The White Hared Blood Devil Xue Yileng’s long hair suddenly started to increase in length. In a ﬂash, countless white hair silver strands covered the vast space. Within each strand of the long hair was a speck of blood-thrist.

All of a sudden, Ao Wuming found himself in the area where the white hair silver strands covered. If it was a level three or four Immortal Emperor level expert, they would be killed the moment they were bound by the white hair. However, Ao Wuming was an expert that was even stronger than Zhi Bai and Xue Yileng.

Seeing the scene before his eyes, Ao Wuming merely had a trace of smile. He did not mind it in the slightest.

Crimson colored sword rays!

As if the space composed of white hair silver strands were being covered by scarlet vipers, in an instant, thousands of scarlet colored viper like sword shaped light rays were all that one can see. These scarlet colored sword rays came from all sides pointing toward Ao Wuming.

Ao Wuming closed his eyes.

His golden spear, contrary to expectations, thrusted back into the spear sheath.

Just the movement of the spear thrusting back into the spear sheath actually gave birth to a brilliant light with Ao Wuming as the center. A vague golden light cover completely wrapped Ao Wuming.

No matter how many of the scarlet viper sword rays thrust at the golden light cover, Ao Wuming merely smiled with his eyes close. His spear still continued to maintain the movement of thrusting into the spear sheath. It seemed like he could draw the spear at any moment.

Absolute Piercer Spear Technique — Attack Refusal!

The countless scarlet viper swords rays dissipated into thin air, the white hair silver stands domain also collapsed.

Within the endless white snow, a hint of green appeared!

Green Blood Sword Immortal Zhi Bai was still united with his sword. He had a frantic and sinistrous expression. As though he would not stop until he killed his enemy. His Divine Sword, Green Blood, was also fast to the extreme.

Green Blood Sword Technique — Endless!

Ao Wuming’s eyes shined.

“Kachang!”

Qin Yu and the others who were watching the ﬁght from afar were unable to see Ao Wuming draw his spear. The only thing they saw was the spear tip of Ao Wuming’s golden spear colliding with Green Blood Sword Immortal Zhi Bai’s Divine Sword’s blade. A tiny space crack appeared in the location where the spear and the sword collided in!

“Peng!”

With the location of the collision as the center, a space ripple began to spread in all directions. Wherever it passed, all the buildings were crushed into dust. It continued to spread over to a distance of ten thousand miles.

×××

“Unable to see clearly anymore.” Qin Yu had a bitter smile on his face.

At the beginning, using his soul and Meteor Tear and with great difﬁculty, Qin Yu was able to use his Immortal Awareness to see the profound techniques the two sides unleashed. However, as the battle intensiﬁed, even with the assistance of the Meteor Tear, Qin Yu was unable to see them clearly anymore.

That’s because the space where the battle occurred at was completely distorted.

“Brother Qin, I am also unable to see clearly.” Said Jun Luoyu with a smile. “Big brother Wuming is after all a level seven Demon Emperor level Super Divine Beast. His strength is deﬁnitely at the level of Emperor Yu. As for Zhi Bai and Xue Yileng, the two super experts, joining hands; they are deﬁnitely enough to match a level eight Immortal Emperor. The battle between these three is deﬁnitely the most utmost level battle in the Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm.”

Qin Yu nodded. Countless violent space vibrations continuously passed through his body. However, Qin Yu’s Sword Immortal Puppet body did not receive even the slightest damage. His gaze was still on the battle.

The space was being distorted!

Countless sword rays were ﬂickering! The location of the battle was like a ruined hell. That ﬁerce aura would from time to time soar into the sky and change into a golden colored long dragon. And other times, it would twist into a long snake or become a golden thunderbolt.

White rays, crimson specks, dark green sword rays!

Frightening energies were continuously being spread out from the twisted space. The whole Blue Flame Star was experiencing an unprecedented destruction. Fortunately, majority of the experts had already ﬂed. Even those who didn’t manage to ﬂee had already arrived at the places that were utmost distant from the battleﬁeld.

“Roar~~”

A frantic snarling sound passed through the whole of Blue Flame Star and into the whole cosmos.

Qin Yu clearly saw an enormous long golden dragon ﬂying out of the distorted space. That long golden dragon was over a thousand miles long. The movement of its thick dragon tail caused the earth to quake and the mountains to shake.

Soon after, a golden ray emerged from within the long golden dragon!

After a short period of time, a man whose whole body was covered with golden dragon scales emerged. The current Ao Wuming hair was radiating golden rays. The golden dragon scales that covered his body were also equally dazzling.

He was holding a golden Divine Spear in his hand.

“To force me to enter my optimal battle mode, you two should be proud.” Ao Wuming was laughing loudly in the sky. The weaker Dragon clansmen could increase their strength when they take on their dragon form. However, the Dragon clansmen who have reached an extremely high level, for example Ao Wuming, would feel their enormous dragon form instead as a type of burden. They were able to change their dragon form to a Battle Mode Human Form. Battle Mode Human Form meant that the body still have the human appearance and limbs but were covered in a layer of dragon scales.

Under this sort of condition, the energy was not one bit lesser when compared to the dragon form but the body was numerous times smaller. The battle power, when compared with the regular human form, was at least two times stronger.

“Super Divine Beasts are worthy of being called Super Divine Beasts.”

Zhi Bai and Xue Yileng stood midair. While they could still be considered as looking graceful and conﬁdent, they had some helplessness within their hearts.

In the battle before, even though they had not used all of their strength, they had still used ninety percent of their strength. However… even that was to no avail against Ao Wuming. And now that Ao Wuming had taken his Battle Mode Human Form, even if they were to ﬁght him together, they still would likely be defeated.

“Brother Wuming’s strength is indeed strong. Now we know that we’re inferior.” said Zhi Bai.

Ao Wuming’s expression changed, he said. “You admitted defeat?”

Xue Yileng said. “We admit defeat. Zhi Bai and I had only heard of your ﬁghting prowess, never had we expected that you would be that strong even while in human form. We admit our defeat.”

The two of them joining hands and displaying ninety percent of their strength were unable to defeat Ao Wuming in his human form. If they didn’t admit their defeat, then they would be seeking their own death. These two men were able to reign across the Immortal, Devil and Demon realms for all these years, they would naturally know when to advance and when to retreat.

Ao Wuming gave a reluctant smile. “So boring.” He wanted to have a great battle. However, what could he do when the other side had already admitted their defeat? Kill them? Behind Zhi Bai and Xue Yileng were Emperor Yu and the Blood Devil Emperor. His Dragon Clan had no plans to provoke both the Immortal Realm and the Devil Realm at once.

After all, regardless of whether it’s the Immortal Realm or the Devil Realm, if they were to be provoked by the Demon Realm, then the Three Great Powers within the Immortal and Devil Realms would certainly unite against the Demon Realm.

“You’re not going to chase and kill them anymore?” Asked Wuming.

Zhi Bai laughed at himself. “We’re not even able to match brother Wuming and brother Wuming is also unyielding in his protection for these two individuals, what else can we do? How can those without strength force their way through?”

“Good, since you two are reasonable, then I will not force you two to stay anymore.” Wuming’s golden spear was thrusted back into the spear sheath behind him.

“Farewell.”

Zhi Bai and Xue Yileng cupped their hands in respect and then turned into two rays and disappeared into the horizon.

Zhi Bai and Xue Yileng wanted to kill Qin Yu and Jun Luoyu real badly. A genius Immortal Emperor like Jun Luoyu, although his strength was currently weak, but he was able to reach level two Immortal Emperor in only a couple hundred years, no one would be able to feel relieved to have him as their enemy. As for this mysterious person called Qin Yu, he was an expert who could use his own body to block an attack from a level seven Immortal Emperor, who could feel relieved to have him alive?

However, there was nothing they could do. When faced with Ao Wuming, Zhi Bai and Xue Yileng could only retreat.

×××

“Big brother Wuming, you’re super powerful.” Seeing Ao Wuming walking toward them, Jiang Yan was the ﬁrst one to rush over cheerfully as she tried to hug Ao Wuming. Ao Wuming was only able to force a smile.

Jun Luoyu and Qin Yu also walked towards him together.

“Big brother Wuming, thank you for saving us.” Jun Luoyu said. “This is brother Qin Yu.”

“Qin Yu?” Ao Wuming looked toward Qin Yu.

Qin Yu immedaitely responded. “Brother Wuming’s grace of saving my life, Qin Yu would deﬁnitely remember. “ At the same time he said those words, Qin Yu already remembered the grace. After all, Qin Yu didn’t like to owe someone a favor.

“Trival matter, trival matter.” Ao Wuming waved his hand, he wasn’t concerned in the least. “It’s been a long time since I have fought so heartily. I need to thank brother Luoyu and brother Qin Yu for that.”

“Tsk, you enjoyed yourself, but look… your battle had destroyed over half of the Blue Flame Star.” Said Jiang Yan resentfully.

“Haha… regarding that.” Ao Wuming gave a wry smile.

The battles of experts in the Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm does not take into consideration of cities and buildings. That’s because just the aura they give off before their battle were enough to scare all the people away. As for destoying cities and buildings, with the methods of experts in the Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm, reconstructing a city was really easy.

Within half a year.

The Blue Flame Star had almost returned to its ﬂourishing past. The Heaven Startling Battle was even causing the reputation of the Blue Flame Star to increase.

“Ah, the most delightful thing to do after a battle is to drink strong alcohol. Brother Luoyu, brother Qin Yu, come. Let’s go and drink for three days and three nights.”

Ao Wuming went to pull Qin Yu and Jun Luoyu as he said that.

Three days and three nights?

Qin Yu was really startled.

“What? If you two refuse to join me, then you’re refusing to give me face and not considering me as a brother.” Ao Wuming stared at Qin Yu and Jun Luoyu. Qin Yu and Jun Luoyu forced a bitter smile.

Seems like they could only accompany him. “Deference is no substitute for obdience.” Said Qin Yu while smiling.

“Good.” Ao Wuming had a face full of smiles. He swept his eyes across the surroundings and then frowned. “They’re wrecked pretty clean. There’s not even a place to drink.” After pondering for a short moment, Ao Wuming’s eyes shined. “That’s right, I have a great place for us to drink at.”

Chapter 34: Getting Drunk

The silk veil was drifting in the midst of the lingering clouds and mist.

Emperor Yu sat crossed legged in the pavilion. In front of him was still a small table. His cup of tea had already become cold.

Seeing the already cold tea, Emperor Yu sighed with a weak laugh. “My heart’s at unrest, oh my heart’s at unrest.”

These past few days, Emperor Yu had been paying extreme attention to the matters regarding that ‘Lan Feng.’ However, his subordinates were completely unable to ﬁnd any trace of that ‘Lan Feng.’ It was as if that ‘Lan Feng’ had disappeared into thin air from the world.

“It’s one thing to be unable to ﬁnd Lan Feng, however, even his junior, Qin Yu, were unable to be found. I really don’t know what my subordinates are doing?” Emperor Yu slowly exhaled. After sitting there without moving for half a day, Emperor Yu stood up.

“The affair in the Blue Fire Star should’ve been settled by now, with the Zhi Bai and Blood Devil Emperor level Xue Yileng joining hands, no matter how many experts came, they should all be killed by them. Why is it then that Zhi Bai still haven’t transmitted anything to me yet?”

Emperor Yu grew a bit puzzled. According to the timing of things, the Green Blood Sword Immortal, Zhi Bai, should’ve already transmitted messages to him.

Suddenly—–

“It’s Zhi Bai.”

A smile of relief appeared on Emperor Yu’s face. He turned his hand and took out the transmission spiritual pearl. “Your Majesty, the plan this time could be considered a failure.” Zhi Bai transmitted.

Emperor Yu slightly frowned. He transmitted back asking. “Failed? Zhi Bai, with you and that Xue Yileng acting together, there shouldn’t be many people in the whole Immortal, Devil and Demon Realms that are able to destroy the plan.”

Zhi Bai also felt helpless.

“Your Majesty, the plan was at ﬁrst proceeding extremely well. That Jade Blade Boy and the Mystic Yellow Dual Swords had all appeared. Yileng and I was already about to kill them. But…“ Saying to this point, Zhi Bai was holding back his feeling of being wronged.

“Jade Blade Boy and the Profound Yellow Dual Swords. Had you killed them, then it could be considered as being successful; what’s the but for? What sort of unforeseen event happened?” Emperor Yu remained not very worried. “At the moment when I was about to kill the Jade Blade Boy, a mysterious man appeared. He used his body and obstructed my sword and allowed that Jade Blade Boy to escape. Afterwards… when I was about to kill Bai Yi of the Profound Yellow Dual Swords, that mysterious man once again appeared and used his body to obstruct my sword and allowed Bai Yi to escape. This time, the only genuine achievement from our plan was killing a single Huang Yi and nothing more.” Explained Zhi Bai.

Emperor Yu grew silent.

After a while, he said. “Zhi Bai, you said that mysterious man used his body to block your sword? Have you manage to determine his power level was?”

“Power level…” Zhi Bai slightly paused, he was dazed. “Your Majesty, I am not certain about the power level of that mysterious man because the person who ended up chasing him was Yileng. However, I felt that his energy wasn’t powerful.”

Zhi Bai did not speak a sentence that he have in the bottom of his heart.

He felt that the mysterious man’s energy was only around the level of a level one Heavenly Immortal.

Level one immortal emperor? Instinctively, Zhi Bai refused this conclusion. He didn’t believe that a beginning stage man would be able to block his sword. Even if he possessed a Divine Armor, it’s still impossible.

He was, after all, a level seven heavenly sword immortal and possessed a Divine Weapon.

“His energy wasn’t strong and was chased by Xue Yileng. However, he was able to withstand your sword strike with his body.” Emperor Yu think aloud in a low voice. A smile gradually appeared on his face.

“Zhi Bai, do you still remember the news regarding Maple Moon Star that was transmitted by Qian Qi?” Asked Emperor Yu. ”Green Blood Sword Immortal Zhi Bai didn’t know why Emperor Yu said those words. However, he still answered. “Of course I remember, that time, we entered the Maple Moon Star and lost over half of what we had in the Silver Stream Star System.”

Emperor Yu continued. “Do you remember the matter regarding ‘Lan Feng’ that Qian Qi described?”

“Very much so. That Lan Feng’s body was able to resist Yu Qingzi’s attack. He was even able to take on Qian Qi’s continuous attacks…. ah, are you suggesting that…” Zhi Bai ﬁnally also realized.

“That’s right. Although Qian Qi is weaker than you, he’s still a level four Heavenly Immortal. A continuous attack from him, I reckon that even you wouldn’t dare take it on with your body.” A smile was seen on Emperor Yu’s face.

Zhi Bai was astonished. “Of course, I am a sword immortal and I do not possess an immensely reﬁned body like the Black Flame Lord and the White Profound Lord. My body naturally cannot withstand the attack from a level four Heavenly Immortal”

“However, that Lan Feng was able to. I have also dispatched countless men at the Indigo Bay Star Field, all the way to the Demon Realm to search for Lan He but they were unable to ﬁnd him. I now suspect… that mysterious man is Lan Feng. The whole time, Lan Feng had not left the Indigo Bay Star Field.”

Emperor Yu had come to his own conclusion.

“Of course, this was only my suspicion and nothing else. There’s another possibility, this Lan Feng is a subordinate of the Black Flame Lord and them.” Emperor Yu deduced.

“Right.”

Zhi Bai also agreed with Emperor Yu’s conclusions. The two had never thought that it would be the Black Flame Lord, White Profound Lord and them. That’s because if a person at the level of the Black Flame Lord encountered Zhi Bai and Xue Yileng, it’s impossible for them to ﬂee from them. A single ﬁst from the Black Flame Lord is likely able to knock Zhi Bai ﬂying.”

“Zhi Bai, why didn’t you guys catch them afterwards?” Emperor Yu continued to ask. He already knew that they didn’t manage to catch them.

“We encountered the Prince of the Dragon Clan, Ao Wuming.” Zhi Bai’s words caused Emperor Yu to smile.

“I understand now. With Ao Wuming’s strength, even if you and Xue Yileng joined hands, you’ll still not be his match. The failure of this plan cannot be blamed on you two.” Emperor Yu transmitted over.

Zhi Bai smiled bitterly, he then transmitted back. “His strength was indeed very strong, much stronger than what I had imagined.” “That’s of course, Ao Wuming’s strength was at the very least three times as strong as yours. If he was in his ordinary form, then you two might possibly be able to ﬁght against him. However, once he turned into his battle form, there would be absolutely no hope for you two.”

Zhi Bai was astonished.

The Dragon Clan had always concealed their strength. As the top subordinate under Emperor Yu, Zhi Bai doesn’t even in the slightest amount know of Ao Wuming’s strength. However, Emperor Yu knew of Ao Wuming’s strength extremely well.

“Right now, that ‘Lan Feng’ should be with Ao Wuming. As long as he’s with Ao Wuming, it’s impossible for us to take care of him.” Emperor Yu pondered for a moment and started to have a plan in his mind.

A day passed. All of the secret forces of Emperor Yu had moved out, their target was precisely… the Indigo Bay Star Field.

，

Inside ths Wuming Dragon Mansion.

Qin Yu, Ao Wuming and Jun Luoyu were enjoying themselves and drinking for a whole day and night now. The servants continued to bring jars after jars of wine. At the same time, whole roasted lambs, pigs and cows were also being continuously served.

They ate the meat and drank the wine in huge quantities.

They had already agreed before they started drinking that none of them were allowed to use their internal energy to eliminate the drunkenness and were to allow the strong alcohol to intoxicate them. Everything was to be determined by their drinking ability. “It’s the ﬁrst time I had to use the urinal six times when drinking.” Qin Yu’s face had a slight drunken red.

Before Qin Yu entered the Wuming Immortal Mansion, he had already returned his soul back into his original corporeal body. He then used his original appearance to express his regards and apology to Ao Wuming and Jun Luoyu.

On the contrary, Ao Wuming and Jun Luoyu were very happy because they felt that Qin Yu trusted them.

A day and night had passed.

Even if the three of them didn’t have to use their internal energy to eliminate their drunkenness, with their valiant bodies, to make them drunk from drinking was also a very difﬁcult matter.

“Haha… it’s not that I’m bragging, but a Immortal Mansion at the scope like mine here; there’s less than ten in the whole immortal, devil and demon realm.” Ao Wuming had been drinking so much that he started bragging. He was grabbing a large wine jar in one hand and a lamb leg on the other.

“Ten? You’re bragging.” Jun Luoyu also started laughing.

The only time Jun Luoyu would act so carefree was when he’s drunk.

“I also don’t believe you.” At this moment, Qin Yu also lost his cautiousness. Instead, he appeared to be very outspoken and straightforward. He was drinking bowls after bowls of wine.

“Heh, you don’t believe me?” Ao Wuming ﬂipped back his head like a golden haired lion.

“Let me tell you all, this whole Immortal Mansion of mine was composed of an enormous Elemental Spirit Core Stone. Look at how big this Immortal Mansion is. Can you imagine how big that Elemental Spirit Core Stone was?” Ao Wuming was ﬁlled with pride.

Jun Luoyu also stood up.

“Mm, this Wuming Dragon Mansion was indeed very big. An elemental core stone of this size. Tsk tsk…an elemental core stone this huge.”Jun Luoyu held a large jar of wine.

Fortunately Jiang Yan had already been dragged away by Ao Wuming’s wife to discuss matters regarding the household. Otherwise, Jiang Yan would most deﬁnitely stop Jun Luoyu from drinking like this.

“Is… this big?” Asked Qin Yu whose knowledge of the immortal world was still lacking.

Compared to his own Qingyu Immortal Mansion, this Wuming Immortal Mansion was still slightly smaller. Although the difference wasn’t a lot, it was nevertheless smaller than his Qingyu Immortal Mansion. Thus, Qin Yu naturally didn’t consider it to be huge.

“Not big?” Ao Wuming’s tiger eyes glared. “At that time when we found this extremely large elemental spirit core stone, numerous people in our dragon clan tried fought for it. Finally, it’s your big brother, I, who swept across all of them by myself and took it for myself.”

So it turns out that this enormous elemental spirit core stone was something that Ao Wuming took by force.

“”Strong!”

“Though!”

Qin Yu and Jun Luoyu who are both somewhat drunk raised up their thumb. At this moment, they had pretty much abandoned all restraint.

“Humph humph.” Receiving the praise from the two, Ao Wuming was pleased. “After obtaining such an enormous elemental spirit core stone, I used a lot of effort in order to reﬁne and make it into such an enormous Immortal Mansion. I even used the Elemental Spirit Essence Soul to directly control it.”

“Tsk tsk, controlling it directly with the Elemental Spirit Essence Soul, how convenient. The other people’s Immortal Mansion that used the Mansion Suppressing Stele to control was truly inconvenient.” Ao Wuming raised his head and drank a couple mouthfuls of wine continuously. He then ate a couple mouthfuls of lamb meat.

“This lamb meat is no ordinary meat. It’s from the Black Patterned Lamb that’s speciﬁc to the Dragon Clan. Its meat is both strong and fragrant. I had brought numerous of them with me from the Dragon Clan to raise in my Wuming Dragon Mansion. Otherwise, how could there be enough for me to eat?”

Ao Wuming once again ate the whole lamb leg in only a couple mouthfuls.

“The Wuming Dragon Mansion is indeed pretty good. With such a vigorous elemental spirit aura, it makes one feel comfortable from head to toe.” Jun Luoyu reclined back on the chair and continued to drink. “Such comfort, I remember back in the days when I laid on A’Jiao’s legs as I watched the stars was also so comfortable like this.”

As Jun Luoyu continued to speak, he suddenly stood up. He raised his head up and a large jar of wine entered his stomach.

“Delightful!”

Jun Luoyu threw the wine jar aside. The wine jar broke apart. However, Jun Luoyu only grew more excited.

……

As the three continued to drink and compare their alcohol tolerance, they gradually grew intoxicated.

At the beginning they said they’ll drink for three days and three nights. At the end, no one knew how much they actually drank.

Qin Yu was hugging the wine jar as he laid on the ground. He was thoroughly drunk.

“This feeling is so comfortable. It was just as comfortable as the time when I laid down on the grass and talked with Li’er in the Qingyu Immortal Mansion.” Qin Yu was also narrowing his eyes as he continued drinking. He had a trace of tranquil smile on his face.

Qin Yu smiled a smile that he would involuntarily smile whenever he saw Li’er.

“Qin Yu Immortal Mansion?” Ao Wuming was drunken red. Somewhat distracted, he heard the Qingyu Immortal Mansion that Qin Yu spoke of as Qin Yu Immortal Mansion. “Brother Qin Yu, is your Immortal Mansion as good as mine?”

“Naturally, it’s certainly comparable to yours.” Qin Yu said angrily. “Nonsense, in the whole Dragon Clan, even my old man’s Dragon Mansion is unable to be compared with mine.” Ao Wuming was also ﬁlled with drunkenness. “Luoyu, Luoyu, get up, get up, come, and tell me. This mansion of mine against Qin Yu’s Immortal Mansion, which one is better?”

[TL: old man as in father.]

Jun Luoyu was drank so much that he’s already muddle headed.

“Oh, whose is better? Oh. Oh…..” Jun Luoyu’s dangling eyes no longer knew what is what, he was already completely drunk beyond help.

“Come.”

Qin Yu suddenly stood up. “Big brother Wuming. Having seen your Wuming Dragon Mansion, let me take you two and check out my Qin Yu Immortal Palace. It’s absolutely not inferior to yours.” “Sure, let’s go.” Ao Wuming also grabbed Jun Luoyu. “Luoyu, go and judge whose Immortal Mansion is better.”

“Oh, oh.” Jun Luoyu was still completely muddleheaded.

“Let’s go.” With a move of his will, Qin Yu brought the two into the Qingyu Immortal Palace.

After a long time, the three came back out.

“What you think, mine is better, no?” Qin Yu walked to the table and picked up a large pig leg and started eating it. The servants on the side didn’t dare to say anything.The three had eaten several tens of cows and lamb.

Ao Wuming said drunkenly. “Mn, it’s indeed a slightly bigger than mine. Strange. Where you got your Elemental Spirit Core Strone?” Ao Wuming was currently in a state where he was half-drunk half awake. When he entered the Qingyu Immortal Palace, with a single sweep of his Demon Awareness, he was able to determine the size of it.

“Why do you care where I got it from?”

Qin Yu swayed to the chair. He sat down and immediately laid himself back on the chair. “In any case, mine is bigger than yours and that’s all that matters.”

“Come, drink wine. Your Immortal Mansion actually turned out to be better than mine, you, drink!” Ao Wuming also fell atop of a chair. He was mumbling a pile of words. As for Jun Luoyu… he was already laying on the ground.

Quietness.

Finally, the three were all drunk and asleep. Ever since he began his cultivation… it was the ﬁrst time that Qin Yu was able to get drunk and forgot all his worries, pressures, the things he had to bear and his schemes. Without a moment’s hesitation, he was drunk like a newborn.

“The three.”

Jiang Yan and a beautiful madam walked into the garden where they were drinking. Jiang Yan muttered as she saw the three who were sleeping like dead pigs. She felt completely helpless.

Chapter 35: Hidden Emperor Star

After a long time had passed, Qin Yu opened his eyes and felt a slight headache. He knew that he had drank too much wine in a drinking frenzy. Even his powerful and resilient body became drunk, so he was able to imagine how much he had drank.

“Drank too much, drank too much.”

Qin Yu dispelled the hangover and then stood up.

He swept his eyes on the surrounding. It was an elegant room. He then used his Immortal Awareness, he came to know that this was a only a room in Wuming Dragon Mansion and that Jun Luoyu was still asleep in a room next to his.

“How many years has it been…” Qin Yu had a slight smile on his face. “since I drank and relaxed like this?” After that, Qin Yu slowly walked out of the room. Numerous winding corridors were outside the room. Qin Yu followed the complicated zigzagging corridors and arrived at the garden where he drank alcohol with Ao Wuming and Jun Luoyu. The cushion like green meadows vaguely caused Qin Yu to remember the scene of him laying on it drinking.

“Haha… Qin Yu, you woke up earlier than Luoyu.”

Ao Wuming’s clear and loud laugh was heard. Qin Yu immediately turned around and smiled. “Big brother Wuming, I was a bit loose after being drunk that day.”

“That’s what it means to let your true nature out.” Laughed Ao Wuming.

“Oh, that’s right, Qin Yu, that day when I was almost drunk… I somewhat remembered that you brought me to see your Immortal Mansion. That Immortal Mansion of yours was actually even a slightly bigger than my Wuming Dragon Mansion.” Said Ao Wuming. When Qin Yu and Ao Wuming were drunk, they were both somewhat muddleheaded. Their memory about the time was also pretty fuzzy. When Ao Wuming remembered the incident with the Qingyu Immortal Mansion when he became sober, he immediately started to puzzle over it.

“Qin Yu. There’s a matter than I had buried in my heart the whole time and didn’t dare to ask. Now that I consider you as my brother, I will not longer attend to it too much…” Ao Wuming asked curiously. “Qin Yu, your original body’s power wasn’t that strong, so how did you managed to escape the White Haired Blood Devil?”

Ao Wuming was very curious.

When Qin Yu was with them, he did not bother to conceal his strength. How could a man with the strength of a level two or three Golden Immortal be able to escape a level seven Devil Emperor and survive?

“This…” Qin Yu was a bit too embarrassed to mention it.

“Not only this matter, there’s also the matter with your Immortal Mansion. That day, I was drunk and didn’t think too much about it. However now, I found it very strange. There’s less than ten Immortal Mansions of my size in the whole Immortal,Devil and Demon Realm. How did you managed to obtain one?” Ao Wuming once again asked.

Qin Yu was at a loss as to what to say.

He was a bit conﬂicted.

That day when he was drunk, he let his sectret, the ‘Qingyu Immortal Mansion,’ out to Ao Wuming. However, he was still confronted with numerous dangers; especially people like Emperor Yu who wanted to gain something from him, they especially wanted that so called number one treasure of the Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm, the ‘God Bewitching Painting.’ Qin Yu had a good impression toward Ao Wuming and Jun Luoyu. After drinking with them, he had considered them to be people that he could become good friends with. Merely, a secret of this level was something that’s hard for Qin Yu to immediately tell.

“You don’t have to make things difﬁcult for yourself.” Ao Wuming laughed and waved his hand, he didn’t mind in the slightest. “You probably had some important secret. All people have some secrets that they cannot tell outsides. I simply asked because I was curious. I am a bit too straight forward when I speak, if there’s anything that you’re puzzled over, you can tell me directly.Qin Yu, you also don’t have to be too mindful of me.”

With a lack of better option, Qin Yu promptly apologized. “There’s some secrets that I still cannot tell others yet. When the times comes, I will most certainly tell you.”

“It’s all good.”

Ao Wuming didn’t mind it at all, he then opened his eyes wide and said. “Qin Yu, to be honest, that corporeal body of yours really did surprised me. Its defense was very strong.”

Qin Yu knew that Ao Wuming was referring to his Sword Immortal Puppet.

“However, it’s still nothing too surprising. When compared to that girl Jiang Yan’s ‘Heavenly Phantom Gauze,’ the gap was very big.” Ao Wuming sighed. “That girl’s grandmother… how could there be such a powerful person? Exactly how many hidden super experts were there in this Immortal,Devil and Demon Realm?”

“Not a lot!”

Jiang Yan’s voice sounded. Jiang Yan who was pink from head to toe were hopping over. Behind her was the gentle beautiful madam, Ao Wuming’s wife.

“Big brother Wuming, did you think that Hidden Super Experts are radishes that you can have as many as you want?” Jiang Yan puffed her face, pointed her ﬁnger and said. “The strong people in the Immortal Realm include the Cyan Emperor, Emperor Yu, Mystic Emperor and the Hidden Emperor who doesn’t really bother with things.”

Ao Wuming interrupted and said. “There’s also your master.”

“My master?” Jiang Yan laughed. “Grandmother doesn’t like to bother with things. In the whole Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm, those whose strength was close to my Grandmother was only those two or three people.”

Qin Yu was overwhelmed with shock.

There’s only a couple people who could compete with Jiang Yan’s Grandmother. Clearly, her grandmother was an expert at the apex. When he thought about that, he found it to be truly frightening.

“Young lady Jiang Yan, your master was truly powerful.” Uttered Qin Yu. Jiang Yan said grudgingly. “What’s the use of being powerful? I want to come out to play and Grandmother refuse to let me regardless of what. After we ﬁnally ended up in an argument did I managed to get an agreement from Grandmother to come out.”

“An argument?” Ao Wuming was also shocked.

“Wuming, in order to leave her Grandmother and come outside, little sister Yan’er had a huge resolution.” The gentle Ao Wuming’s wife, ‘Lian Zhu,’ said smiling.

“Oh, what happened?” Ao Wuming looked toward Lian Zhu.

Lian Zhu’s eyes narrowed from her smile. She rubbed Jiang Yan’s head and said. “Yan’er got into a huge argument with her Grandmother and then her Grandmother said she will no longer bother with her in the future.”

“Grandmother, humph.” Jiang Yan raised her nose up. And at this moment, Jun Luoyu also walked out. Amongst all those present, Jun Luoyu was the one who knew the most about what happened with Jiang Yan. “Yan’er, if you Grandmother really meant what she said, why would she do those things? If she really didn’t care about you, why would she give two Divine Weapons to you?”

“Divine Weapon Sky Shifter and Divine Weapon Heavenly Phantom Gauze, these two Divine Weapons were extraordinarily miraculous. Had I had those two, then even if it was my dad, I’d still dare to ﬁght him.” Ao Wuming praised in admiration.

Qin Yu was however not familiar with the two Divine Weapons.

“Luoyu, what does those two Divine Weapons do?” Asked Qin Yu.

Jun Luoyu laughed and said. “These two Divine Weapons; the Divine Weapon Sky Shifter could allow for teleportation. It means that you can teleport in the middle of a battle. Even if the space was to ﬂuctuate, with the Divine Weapon Sky Shifter, you’re still able to teleport.”

“That powerful?” Qin Yu immediately understood why this Divine Weapon was so powerful.

If it was an expert of the same level, then with this Divine Weapon, then he would be able to teleport and assassinate the enemy.

Even if the you’re a lot weaker, you can still use this Divine Weapon and escape.

“The other Divine Weapon, ‘Heavenly Phantom Gauze,’ was even more powerful. Not only could the Heavenly Phantom Gauze could create all kinds of illusions when attacking, it’s attacking power was also extremely exceptional. However, the most powerful aspect of this Heavenly Phantom Gauze is in its defense. Once the Heavenly Phantom Gauze surrounded oneself and created a barrier, then its defense… even extreme experts like Emperor Yu were unable to break through it.” Said Jun Luoyu admiring.

Qin Yu was at a loss for words.

Who exactly was this Jiang Yan’s extremely frightening Grandmother?

Aren’t these two Divine Weapons a bit too awesome? The Heavenly Phantom Gauze could both attack and defend. When it’s used for defence, even Emperor Yu could not break through its defense. That other Divine Weapon, Sky Shifter, was equally abnormal.

“Even Immortal Emperor Ni Yang’s Divine Weapon was inferior to Jiang Yan’s Grandmother’s.” Unable to help himself, Qin Yu came to this conclusion in his heart.

Qin Yu didn’t know if Immortal Emperor Ni Yang was inferior to Jiang Yan’s Grandmother in terms of strength or possessions. However, just by exposing a little bit of their power, these hidden super experts were already terrifying enough. Ao Wuming laughed and said. “Enough, let’s stop admiring. There is no need to doubt Yan’er’s Grandmother’s strength. I only recently learned of the existence of super experts at the level of Yan’er’s Grandmother through my father.”

“Within the past millions of years, I had never knew of the existence of Yan’er’s Grandmother. Compared to the Hidden Emperor, Yan’er’s Grandmother was the real hidden expert!” Ao Wuming praised.

Qin Yu also nodded in approval.

Although the Hidden Emperor was known as the Hidden Emperor, his reputation was well known throughout.

This Jiang Yan’s Grandmother was extremely powerful. Just from the conversations, Qin Yu became aware that she was certainly a top-notch existence within the Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm. However, even the Prince of the Dragon Clan, Ao Wuming only recently found out about her. One could imagine exactly how hidden Jiang Yan’s Grandmother was. “Well, grandmother doesn’t like to be bothered by others. She gave me these two Divine Weapons and appeared and greeted those Emperor Yu, Profound Emperor and whatnot so that I could be safe and won’t have to bother her in the future.” Said Jiang Yan with a frowning expression. At the same time, her mouth was mumbling nonstop.

Qin Yu shook his head, smiled and then said. “Young lady Jiang Yan, your grandmother gave you the two Divine Weapons. People lower than the level of Emperor Yu were simply unable to harm you. As for experts who’s at the level of Emperor Yu, your grandmother had went and greeted them. She was so concerned about you, you ought to appreciate her.” Qin Yu was very concerned about the appreciation of elders.

Qin Yu’s elders, rather it’s his father, Grandfather Lian or Uncle Lan; they were all individuals that he deeply respect. He was unwilling to see a younger generation not respecting an elder’s concern.

“The reason why she did that was just because she don’t want others to disturb her.” Jiang Yan tried to continue to justify herself in a low voice. “You don’t even know grandmother’s character. Grandmother doesn’t like to interact with people and doesn’t like to see strangers. Had it not been for the fact that I came outside this time around, then those people like Emperor Yu and the Dragon Emperor would not know of her presence in the Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm.”

“What you said is true.” Ao Wuming nodded in approval.

“We all had been sitting and looking at the sky. The Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm is boundless, there might just be another expert at the level of Yan’er’s grandmother in some other place.” Said Jun Luoyu.

“Regardless of how strong they are, they were still at one point weak and raised their strength step by step.” Qin Yu was actually not very mindful about it.

“You’re right.” Ao Wuming nodded. He then looked toward Qin Yu and Jun Luoyu and said. “Qin Yu, Luoyu, recently, I wanted to go to the Hidden Emperor Star. If you don’t have anything going on, how about joining me and have some fun?” Hidden Emperor Star?

Qin Yu’s eyes shined.

Leaving aside the so secretive that one don’t even know where she lives at Jiang Yan’s grandmother, this Hidden Emperor was someone that Qin Yu had heard of. A level nine Immortal Emperor, he’s most deﬁnitely a top-notch existence.

After a short while of consideration.

“I don’t have anything major, might as well join and roam around in the Hidden Emperor Star. I’ll randomly ﬁnd a place there and train in seclusion. My strength… is too weak.” Laughed Qin Yu.

Hearing Qin Yu saying ‘train in seclusion,’ Jun Luoyu’s expression changed. “I’ll join you too.” Jun Luoyu had a hint of agony on his face. “I only came to realize when I saw big brother Wuming battling against Zhi Bai and Xue Yileng that I am still a lot weaker than them.”

As he continued saying, Jun Luoyu suddenly came to a halt. “Big brother Luoyu, you needn’t grieve.” Said Jiang Yan as she lightly shook Jun Luoyu’s arm that she was pulling. Her large eyes were also staring at Jun Luoyu. The one who’s most familiar with Jun Luoyu amongst all those present was her.

Jun Luoyu gave a bitter smile. “I have vowed to cause that Blood Devil Emperor to wish he were dead. I had vowed to kill all his vicious and merciless subordinates. However, my current strength is nowhere near enough. Nowhere near.” As he said those, Jun Luoyu looked toward Qin Yu with a burning gaze. “Qin Yu, after we arrived at the Hidden Emperor Star, I shall join you in the seclusion training. I will not leave the training unless I make a breakthrough.”

Sensing Jun Luoyu’s determination, Qin Yu smiled and nodded. “Yes, we shall train in seclusion together.” Ao Wuming started laughing. “Haha, good. We three shall go to the Hidden Emperor Star together. To be together with my brothers is simply a delightful thing. Even drinking wine, I would still have someone to keep me company.”

“Wuming, you should drink less.” Ao Wuming’s wife, Lian Zhu said softly.

Ao Wuming’s smile immediately turned into a bitter laugh, he repeatedly nodded his head. “Yes, yes. drink less, I will drink less.”

Qin Yu and Jun Luoyu started to laugh. Seeing how loving the Ao Wuming couples are, they began to recall their own matter and grew a bit sentimental.

×××

Hidden Emperor, the number one expert in the Indigo Bay Star Field, so much that he’s known as the number one expert of the Immortal Realm. He resided in the planet Hidden Emperor Star. The Hidden Emperor Star had ten Conveying Arrays.

The Conveying Arrays were stationed on the waist of a large mountain on the Hidden Emperor Star. The name of this mountain is ‘Mount Green Bamboo.’

Vast mountain range, the spring water runs. Numerous plain palaces arranged irregularly yet charmingly covered the whole area of the waist of Mount Green Bamboo. These palaces were the locations where the experts who defend the Conveying Arrays lived at.

In the middle of several palaces was the Interstellar Conveying Arrays.

By the side of the ten Interstellar Conveying Arrays were numerous experts. Even the weakest amongst them were a Golden Immortal. THe strongest amongst them, the leader, was at the level of an Immortal Emperor. Chances are, only the Hidden Emperor Star would dispatch an Immortal Emperor to guard the Conveying Arrays.

Occasionally, the ten Conveying Arrays would ﬂicker with radiance. It was evident that the trafﬁc of the people in the Hidden Emperor Star was very large. Everyday, the amount of people who arrived at the Hidden Emperor Star was very many. Soon, an Interstellar Conveying Array was ﬂickering with radiance.

Qin Yu, Ao Wuming and Jun Luoyu emerged.

Ao Wuming’s wife, Lian Zhu, doesn’t like the noisy situations and decided to remain in the Wuming Dragon Mansion. As for Jiang Yan, she stayed in the Wuming Dragon Mansion to accompany and chat with Lian Zhu. In any case, since the Wuming Dragon Mansion was taken into Ao Wuming’s body, if Jiang Yan wanted to see them, she can come out at anytime.

Chapter 36: The Thirty Six Heavenly Stars

[TL: In Daoism, there lived a god in every Heavenly Star and a god in every Deity Star of the Big Dipper Star Cluster. There are 36 Heavenly Stars and 72 Deity Stars. I have no idea what the Big Dipper Star Cluster is.]

* * *

“The Hidden Emperor Star is divided into three major regions. One of them is the nucleus region of the Hidden Emperor Star — Hidden Lead. Hidden Lead is the region for the dwelling of the Hidden Emperor, his friends and descendents. No outsiders are allowed inside.”

Ao Wuming, Jun Luoyu and Qin Yu were standing on their ﬂoating clouds and ﬂying in the air. Ao Wuming was currently introducing the Hidden Emperor Star to Jun Luoyu and Qin Yu. Jun Luoyu had only cultivated for a couple hundred years. Although he was powerful, he didn’t know any more than Qin Yu when it came to Immortal, Devil and Demon realms.

“Three regions, one of them is the Hidden Lead. What about the other two?” Qin Yu asked.

Ao Wuming laughed and said. “The other two regions are ‘East Star City’ and ‘West Star City.’ Although they’re called cities, they actually are not cities.”

“Oh?” Jun Luoyu grew curious.

Ao Wuming laughed and said. “This Hidden Emperor Star is immensely large. Its diameter is more than one billion miles. The ‘East Star City’ and the ‘West Star City’ are not even a tenth of a billion miles. In actuality, rather it is that the East Star City and the West Star City, they’re both composed of a major city and numerous defensive cities that surround them.”

“Defensive cities?” Qin Yu was confused as to what Ao Wuming meant by that.

“Defensive cities are cities that protect the ‘main city’ like guardians. For example, the East Star City’s main city is surrounded by eight defensive cities on all sides. The entirety of the defensive cities and the main city is known as the ‘East Star City.’ The West Star City is the same. The only difference is that the West Star City has even more defensive cities; a total of sixteen!” Ao Wuming carefully explained.

Understanding it, Qin Yu laughed. “This Hidden Emperor Star is truly unusual. Especially the concept of defensive cities, I’ve never seen it in other planets.”

Jun Luoyu sighed in admiration.

“Come, let me take you guys to these places. Let’s go check out Hidden Lead ﬁrst.”

Following which the three began to proceed directly toward ‘Hidden Lead’, one of the three major regions. With their speeds, after a short while, they had arrived in front a boundless and vast region. This region appeared to be ﬁlled with boundless mountains, trees, marsh, and so on.

“We can’t go any forward.” Ao Wuming said as he descended along with Qin Yu and Jun Luoyu.

Seeing the boundless region in front of them, Qin Yu and Jun Luoyu both were clearly able to perceive that not far away, there was an enormous restricting energy that was continuously drifting out from the boundaries of the region.

Ao Wuming pointed at this boundless region and laughed. “This is the nucleus region of the Hidden Emperor Star ‘Hidden Lead.’ The Hidden Lead has a circumference of several tens of million miles. However, the amount of people who live there is extremely low. As a result, the surrounding seems to be devoid of signs of habitation.”

Qin Yu and Jun Luoyu nodded. “Big brother Wuming, is there no way to enter this Hidden Lead?” Asked Qin Yu.

Wuming Laughed and said. “Of course there is a way to enter. Even Hidden Lead has an entrance. It’s just that, the entrance is guarded by the people from within the Hidden Lead and only those who obtain their permission are allowed enter.”

“Haha. With my strength, I can naturally force my way in.

Only that it’s very rude toward the Hidden Emperor.”

Qin Yu started spreading his Immortal Awareness.

However, when his Immortal Awareness came into contact with that immense restriction ﬁeld, unexpectedly, no matter what he did, he was unable to penetrate it. He was only able to sense that this enormous restriction ﬁeld contained an astonishing energy.

“Qin Yu, you should stop trying.” Ao Wuming told Qin Yu to stop. “This enormous restriction barrier was something that was deployed together by the top three experts of the Hidden Emperor Star. What I said earlier of using my strength and forcing my way through was only meant for the entrance. As for this restriction ﬁeld, trying to break through it is simply impossible.”

“The top three experts of the Hidden Emperor Star?” Jun Luoyu looked toward Ao Wuming.

Qin Yu was also confused, shouldn’t the strongest person in the Hidden Emperor Star be the Hidden Emperor? How come there’s this ‘top three experts’ of the Hidden Emperor Star then?

“Although the Hidden Emperor’s sphere of inﬂuence only consist of the Hidden Emperor Star; rather, it only consists of the ‘Hidden Lead’ of the Hidden Emperor Star. Even then the major powers of the Immortal Realm, Emperor Yu, Profound Emperor and Cyan Emperor, don’t dare to offend Hidden Emperor. If the Hidden Emperor Star only had Hidden Emperor alone, then Emperor Yu and gang could use their numerous subordinates and battle tactics against him and wouldn’t be scared of him.” Ao Wuming continued to explain in detail. “This Hidden Emperor has two experts as his subordinates, the Black and White Immortal Emperors. Although I called them ‘subordinates,’ Hidden Emperor instead calls the Black and White Immortal Emperors as his close friends.”

“Are those two very strong?” Jun Luoyu frowned. “How come I’ve only heard of the Hidden Emperor of the Hidden Emperor Star and not anything about the Black and White Immortal Emperors?”

Ao Wuming laughed. “The Black and White Immortal Emperors don’t care about fame and reputation. They also rarely engage in worldly matters. Thus, their reputation is naturally not renowned. However, their strength was not something to be doubted. That’s because… they are both level eight Immortal Emperors.”

Jun Luoyu was startled.

Qin Yu was also shocked. He knew that Emperor Yu was a level eight Immortal Emperor.

However, this Hidden Emperor was a bit too valiant. Not only was he a level nine Immortal Emperor himself, even his two friends were both level eight Immortal Emperors.

“If we were to compare the super experts, then perhaps only when Emperor Yu, Profound Emperor and Cyan Emperor combined their strength would they be able to compete with Hidden Emperor.” Sighed Qin Yu.

“No.” Ao Wuming shook his head and said. “Qin Yu, remember that the power level alone doesn’t equate one’s actual strength. Although Emperor Yu is a level eight Immortal Emperor, but his actual attack strength is something that’s hard to determine.”

Qin Yu slightly smiled.

He certainly understood this. To reach level eight of nine levels of Immortal Emperor could already be considered as reaching the pinnacle of the Immortal, Devil and Demon Realms. When they ﬁght, they would certainly need few special skills or extremely powerful Divine Weapons.

“With these three people present, who would dare to disturb the cultivation of the Hidden Emperor?” Ao Wuming laughed and said. “Furthermore, a large amount of scattered and idle Immortal Emperors are in the Hidden Emperor’s Hidden Lead. The Hidden Emperor’s strength… was extremely powerful. He has his own disciples and such.”

Jun Luoyu couldn’t help but sigh. He said. “The Hidden Emperor’s inﬂuence is limited to a single Hidden Emperor Star but his overall strength is instead stronger than people like Emperor Yu. Extraordinary, extraordinary.”

“The real strength in the Immortal, Devil and Demon Realms isn’t determined by how much territory you control. Instead, it’s determined by the amount and strength of the level seven, eight and nine Immortal Emperors.” Ao Wuming said solemnly.

Both Qin Yu and Jun Luoyu came to realize that.

In the war between the top powers, although level two and three Immortal Emperors were still inﬂuential, they are useless in the big picture. The people that truly inﬂuence the path of the war are those super high level experts. At the very least, they’d have to reach the level of the Green Blood Sword Immortal, Zhi Bai’s level before they qualify to have the arrogance.

“Come, let’s go to the East Star City’s main city.” Said Ao Wuming. “This time, the main reason why I came to the Hidden Emperor Star was to meet a friend. After meeting that friend, I don’t have any other business here. At that time, we could all go and cultivate in seclusion together. Hehe…”

“Let’s go quickly then!” Said Qin Yu with a laugh.

“Let’s go!”

The three became three rays of light as they ﬂew toward the East Star City’s ‘main city.’ Seeing these large cities in the Immortal, Devil and Demon Realms, the mortal cities in the Qianlong Continent appeared to be like nothing more than villages. The disparity was extremely big!

The tall city wall continued to extend all the way from north to south. It appeared to be endless. Merely the walls on one side of the city were already an unknowingly thousands of miles long. Perhaps, only with the help of countless Immortal and Devil Realm experts were they able to establish such a huge city.

Inside the Main City of the East Star City.

“There’re too many people.” Right after entering through the city gate, Jun Luoyu started to lament.

“There’s not even a hint of a man in the Hidden Lead but, there’re countless people in here.” Qin Yu also felt that this place was extraordinarily lively. The Hidden Emperor Star was deserving of being a famous planet within the Immortal, Devil and Demon Realms. There are experts from all over the Immortal Realm, Devil Realm and Demon Realm.

“Haha, the inﬂuence of the Hidden Emperor Star is both tangled and complicated. It is, after all, the Hidden Emperor’s planet. No matter the Immortal Realm, Devil Realm or the Devil Realm, they all have their respective staffs stationed here.” Ao Wuming said with a laugh.

The three strolled around the street.

Even walking on the street needed strength. Those who were weak had to walk toward the corner of the road whereas those who were strong could walk in the middle of the road. Of course, this was something that everyone in the Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm knew.

“Big brother Wuming, who are you meeting?” Asked Jun Luoyu.

“A good friend of mine, he’s the boss of the Beasts of the Demon Realm in the Hidden Emperor Star.” Ao Wuming said casually. “His power is a lot stronger than you two. I came to know him back in the days through drinking.” Qin Yu and Jun Luoyu both chuckled within.

Seems like this Ao Wuming was truly an alcohol addict.

“Jie Li, what does that young fellow possessing a treasure have anything to do with you? What, are you planning to snatch it away from him in broad daylight that too in the middle of the main streets of the East Star City just because you possess great skills? Isn’t that a bit too excessive?!”

Qin Yu and gang were still chatting when they heard loud shouting coming from up ahead.

“Oh? Snatching in broad daylight? Interesting, let’s go check it out.” Ao Wuming evidently loved getting into the action. Qin Yu and Jun Luoyu also followed. At this moment, there was already a crowd gathered up ahead.

They entered inside the crowd to see.

Although Qin Yu’s strength wasn’t strong, with the assistance of the Meteor Tear, his Immortal Awareness was extremely sensitive. He immediately discovered two people in front of him. The black clothed male, with long hair, was a level nine Devil King. As for the purple clothed male, was a level eight Golden Immortal.

Standing behind the purple clothed male was a frightened youth. This youth’s strength was only a level six Heavenly/Standard Immortal.

The black clothed long hair male said enthusiastically. “Jia Jin, although this youth was lucky enough to dig out this treasure, but with his strength, it’s completely impossible for him to safeguard it. As they say… the treasure of a genius is the possession of the strong. You better step aside.”

Qin Yu couldn’t help it and started laughing.

The possession of the strong, the tamper was very smooth. [TL:Don’t know if this term came up before. Seems like it had.]

The purple clothed youth instead shook his head and said. “In your dreams. To want to snatch it in broad daylight in the middle of the main street, no matter what, you’d best forget about being able to get away with it.”

“Then you can drop dead.” The black clothed long hair male voice suddenly grew cold. His long hair moved without the wind. He barely moved but his body turned into a black shadow and disappeared.

“Asura Devil Technique, he’s pretty skillful, his weapon is a Top Grade Devil Weapon.” Ao Wuming stood aside as he provided commentary. “That level eight Golden Immortal… hohoho, their strength should be pretty close.”

When these two started to ﬁght, the crowd that surrounded them immediately retreated back. Numerous aura waves of the two spreaded in all directions. The two experts appeared to be extremely familiar with each other, they were surprisingly equally matched instantly.

“Two idiots.”

An ice-cold voice sounded.

Jun Luoyu had already arrived next to that pitiful and frightened youth. When they started ﬁghting, their frantic aura had almost killed this level six Heavenly Immortal. Fortunately, Jun Luoyu arrived to block it.

“What did you say?!” The facial expression of both the black clothed long hair youth and the purple clothed youth immediately changed. They stopped ﬁghting and looked at Jun Luoyu.

Everyone wanted to save their face, especially experts at the level like them. “You!” Jun Luoyu pointed at the black clothed long hair youth. “The strong forcibly taking stuff from the weak is not something that rarely occurs. However, you tried to do in it broad daylight and even in the middle of the main street. If you’re not an idiot, then what are you?”

“And you!” Jun Luoyu pointed at the purple clothed youth. “You wanted to protect him but then started ﬁghting and completely forgot about protecting. Had I been a bit slower, this little fellow would’ve lost his life already. You call that protecting?”

The facial expression of both the black clothed long haired youth and the purple clothed youth were very unsightly. Regardless of who, if they’re being pointed at and then scolded by someone, they would be in a bad mood.

“Scram!”

A cold shout sounded. Two large hands appeared in the air. They pushed aside the black clothed long hair youth and the purple clothed youth. Like sandbags, the two were smashed onto the walls of either side of the street.

He had dragon like muscular arms, robust body, explosive red hair and tiger like eyes.

Just standing there, his unshakable grandeur caused everyone in the surrounding to tremble in their hearts.

What a robust man!

“Meng Hong.” Ao Wuming laughed and said.

“Wuming, you ﬁnally came.” The red haired robust man laughed loudly and said. At the same time, he glanced at the black clothed long hair youth and the purple clothed youth and scolded. “Motherfuckers, as for your travial matters, this time, I’ll spare your life cause I am in a good mood because of my brother’s arrival, if in future I’m to see you guys block my road in the main street, I’ll kill you.”

The black clothed long hair youth and the purple clothed youth gulped, they didn’t dare to say any superﬂuous words and immediately ran away.

Although others didn’t know who this red haired robust man was, they did.

He was a Demon Emperor, an extremely strong Demon Emperor on top of that. Even if the black clothed long hair male and the purple clothed youth were to ask the seniors in their school to come, they’ll still be throwing away their life.

“Meng Hong, let’s chat after we arrive at your place.” Said Ao Wuming.

“Sure.” Meng Hong smiled at Qin Yu and Jun Luoyu. Jun Luoyu pulled that level six Heavenly Immortal’s hand and followed Meng Hong.

Inside a Manor that was dozens of acres big. “Wuming, you still haven’t introduce me to these two gentlemen.” Said Meng Hong with a laugh.

Ao Wuming immediately turned to Qin Yu and Jun Luoyu and introduced them. “This is Jun Luoyu. This is Qin Yu. They are both my good brothers.”

Meng Hong looked at Jun Luoyu and Qin Yu, his face was ﬁlled with smiles.

“Brother Luoyu, brother Qin Yu, as you are Wuming’s brothers, then you are also my brothers. In the future, if anything were to happen in the Hidden Emperor Star or the Devil Realm’s Beast’s territory, go ahead and come ﬁnd me.”

Said Meng Hong while patting his chest. He appeared to be very outspoken and straightforward.

Immediately after that, he laughed and said. “Of course, I am unable to take charge of the Bird Clan and the Dragon Clan. Anything within the Dragon Clan, Prince Wuming’s words will be a lot more useful than mine.” Ao Wuming who stood on the side also started laughing.

Jun Luoyu said. “Big brother Wuming, you still haven’t introduce us to brother Meng Hong.”

Ao Wuming did a facepalm and then laughed. “It’s my mistake, Luoyu, Qin Yu, this is the Devil Realm’s Beast Clan’s ‘Ox Demon Emperor’s’ Demon Emperor Meng Hong of the Thirty Six Heavenly Stars. He’s very powerful.”

Qin Yu didn’t pay complete attention to what Ao Wuming said.

That’s because he remembered what Meng Hong said, ‘If anything were to happen in the Devil Realm’s Beast’s territory, go ahead and come ﬁnd me.’

“Wasn’t Fei Fei a Fiery Eyed Water Ape? He’s part of the Beast Clan. Maybe this Meng Hong knows about the information regarding Fei Fei.” Qin Yu started to become emotional.

Before he could even give any words of compliment, Qin Yu immediately asked. “Brother Meng Hong, did anyone called Huo Fei ascend into your Beast Clan within the past two hundred years?”

After saying those words, Qin Yu was so nervous that he was even able to hear his own heartbeat. His eyes were staring straight at Meng Hong.

Meng Hong was confused, he said. “Huo Fei? Is the one you’re talking about… the latest arrival of the Apes and Monkey Clan, that super Divine Beast, that Fiery Eyed Water Ape?”

Chapter 37: News Regarding Fei Fei

Qin Yu felt that a sudden burst of dizziness entered his brain. With eyes wide open, he looked at Meng Hong. “You said, you said… the Monkey and Ape Clan had a Fiery Eyed Water Ape named ‘Hou Fei’?”

Qin Yu only asked Meng Hong about it because he suddenly thought about it, never had he expected that this Meng Hong actually knew about Fei Fei. Right now, what Qin Yu wanted to make sure of the most was whether the Hou Fei that Meng Hong spoke of was his second brother or not.

“Haha, why would I deceive you?” Meng Hong laughed loudly. “Brother Qin Yu, how about we discuss about this matter more after we reach the table? I have already prepared a banquet in the great hall.”

Qin Yu knew that he was too impulsive, they were still in the corridor of the Manor. For him to try to get to the heart of the matter, he really was too anxious. He forced down his excitement and apologized. “Yes, let’s talk about this after we arrived at the table.”

Ao Wuming looked at Qin Yu, he could sense the rapid change in Qin Yu’s mood. That fast changing mood had Qin Yu’s face to be slightly red.

With magniﬁcent hospitality, Meng Hong lead Ao Wuming, Jun Luoyu and Qin Yu into the great hall. Inside the great hall, numerous maids were standing and bowing. There were four seats in the great all. In front of every seat was a knee-high table. Each of the table was ﬁlled with beautiful culinary delicacy.

The four of them each took their seat.

After being treated to three rounds of wine, Qin Yu had calmed down a little. At this moment, he asked. “Brother Meng Hong, You had said earlier than a Fiery Eyed Water Ape called ‘Hou Fei’ had appeared within the Ape and Monkey Clan?” Right after hearing Qin Yu’s question, Meng Hong immediately placed down his wine cup. He crudely wiped the corner of his mouth and said with his eyes wide open. “Brother Qin Yu, regarding this matter, at that time, it had caused the whole Ape and Monkey Clan to be incomparably bustling with noise and excitement. That Fiery Eyed Water Monkey was called ‘Hou Fei,’ that I am absolutely certain.”

“Are you sure that there’s only a single Fiery Eyed Water Monkey called Hou Fei?” Qin Yu asked.

“Haha…” Ao Wuming started laughing out loud. “Oh Qin Yi, what did you think the Fiery Eyed Water Monkey was? That’s a Super Divine Beast, there had only been a couple Fiery Eyed Water Monkeys in the whole history of the Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm. As for the ones that’s still alive right now, it’s only Hou Fei. Did you think that it’s that easy to be renowned?”

Qin Yu had a sigh of relief from the bottom of his heart.

“When did that Fiery Eyed Water Monkey called Hou Fei appeared in the Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm?” Qin Yu had more questions. He wanted to thoroughly understand the situation so that he can be relieved.

“Very short, only a couple hundred of years ago.” Meng Hong said casually.

For an expert at the level of a Demon Emperor, a couple hundred years was an extremely short period of time.

“There’s only a small amount of Super Divine Beasts in the Demon Realm. The amount of Super Divine Beasts within the Beast Clan was even less. When my Beast Clan found that Hou Fei, we even had a large celebration.” Laughed Meng Hong.

Qin Yu was completely certain now.

This Hou Fei that Meng Hong spoke of should be his brother.

“Qin Yu. Why are you so concerned about that Hou Fei?” Jun Luoyu asked curiously.

Qin Yu laughed and said. “Luoyu, this was something that you didn’t know but this Hou Fei was actually my brother.”

“Oh?” All of them grew curious.

“Qin Yu, how did you had a relationship with this Hou Fei?” Ao Wuming asked.

“Big brother Wuming, there’s still a lot of things that I can’t clearly describe. After a couple days you guys will be able to understand.” Qin Yu passed the question by like that. Simultaneously, he looked at Meng Hong and asked. “Meng Hong, you said that the Fiery Eyed Water Ape was a Super Divine Beast?”

“Right.” Meng Hong nodded with certainty. Immediately after that, he looked at Qin Yu puzzledly. “Could it be that you didn’t know about this?” Jun Luoyu also started to laugh and said. “It’s not only Qin Yu who didn’t know about it, I also don’t have much knowledge of it. I only know that the Five Clawed Golden Dragon and the Phoenix of the Bird Clan are Super Divine Beasts. As for the rest, I know nothing about them.”

“Brother Wuming, it’s better for you to tell them about it.

You’re the most qualiﬁed one.” Laughed Meng Hong.

Ao Wuming himself was a Five Clawed Golden Dragon, so it was obviously the best for him to speak. Ao Wuming laughed and said. “Haha, Super Divine Beasts… are extremely rare. Even the ones that numbered the most amongst the Super Divine Beasts, the Five Clawed Golden Dragon, it’s also only a couple of them. You can even count them with your hands.”

It was evident that the amount of Five Clawed Golden Dragon was less than ten.

“There’s the most Five Clawed Golden Dragon Super Divine Beasts?” Said Qin Yu. “Right.” Ao Wuming laughed again. “The Bird Clan was divided into many different types. The Beast Clan was the same. Only my Scaled Clan was almost nearly dominated by the Dragon Clan. The Dragon Clan could be considered as the Scaled Clan itself. If the Dragon Clan doesn’t have a lot of members, if they didn’t have a lot of Super Divine Beasts, then how could they compete with the Bird and Beast Clans?”

Qin Yu, Jun Luoyu and Meng Hong all laughed.

They all knew that the Bird Clan was divided into the Eagle Clan, Peng Clan, Phoenix, Hong Luan… and numerous others. The Beast Clan was also divided into the Qilin, Lion, Ape and Monkey, Ox, Tiger, Bear and a lot more.

Only the Scaled Clan’s minor clans were able to be completely disregarded. The Scaled Clan was almost completely carried by the Dragon Clan.

Or in other words, the Dragon Clan could represent the whole Scaled Clan. “The Super Divine Beast within my Dragon Clan was only the Five Clawed Golden Dragon. However, the Super Divine Beasts within the Beast Clan are the Golden Eyed Rock Ape, Fiery Eyed Water Ape, Purple Eyed Ox Demon King and the Fire Qilin. The Beast Clan had four types of Super Divine

Beasts whereas our Dragon Clan only had one. Thus, naturally our number would be slightly bigger.” Laughed Ao Wuming.

Qin Yu smiled and nodded.

He now understood that the Super Divine Beasts within the Beast Clan are the Golden Eyed Rock Ape, Fiery Eyed Water Ape, Purple Eyed Ox Demon King and the Fire Qilin.

“Brother Wuming, although the Beast Clan had four different types of Super Divine Beast, but there’s currently not even a single Fire Qilin in the whole Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm. There’s at most only three Purple Eyed Ox Demon King and only a single Golden Eyed Rock Ape. As for the Fiery Eyed Water Ape, we had also only recently discovered one.” Said Meng Hong with a smile.

Hearing these numbers, Qin Yu was amazed.

“Qin Yu, do you understand the status of that Hou Fei now?” Laughed Ao Wuming.

Qin Yu grew excited within.

How can he not understand? There’s actually only two Super Divine Beasts within the Ape and Monkey Clan – one Golden Eyed Rock Ape and one Fiery Eyed Water Ape. Do one even need to think about what status Hou Fei currently held?

“The Beast Clan is mostly supported by the Ape and Monkey Clan and the Ox Clan. And because of the fact that there’s three Purple Eyed Ox Demon Kings that’s born with leadership, that’s why the strength of the Beast Clan was very powerful.” Ao Wuming praised.

“What is Hou Fei doing right now? Brother Meng Hong, do you know of it?” Asked Qin Yu with a smile. Qin Yu wanted to know more information regarding his second brother.

Meng Hong laughed and said. “Who would not pay attention to the new Super Divine Beast of our Beast Clan? About two hundred years ago, I don’t know what His Majesty the Ox Demon King was thinking, he actually sent the youngest Purple Eyed Ox Demon King, a Purple Eyed Ox Demon King that’s only at the level of Demon King, Man Qian, into the Mortal Realm. Although the Ni Yang Realm was important, it’s still unworthy of sending down a Super Divine Beast.”

Meng Hong, as an Emperor of the Beast Clan and one of the Thirty Six Heavenly Stars of the Ox Demon Emperor, knows completely regarding the matter of the Ox Demon Emperor sending Man Qian down to the Mortal Realm.

“Meng Hong. Don’t talk drivel, how would you be able to understand what His Majesty the Ox Demon Emperor was thinking?” Reprimanded Ao Wuming.

“Right, right.” Meng Hong ﬂing his head, he knew that he was a bit hot headed.

“Meng Hong, my brother Qin Yu asked you about Huo Fei yet you went as far as to talk about Man Qian.” Ao Wuming shook his head.

“Ah, my apologies, brother Qin Yu.” Meng Hong immediately apologized and then said. “Regarding this Hou Fei. At that time when the Fiery Eyed Water Ape appeared within the Beast Clan, the news of it spread like a whirlwind. One of the two Emperors within my Beast Clan, His Majesty the ‘Great Ape Emperor,’ personally left to beat up Hou Fei and then started to keep Hou Fei by his side.”

“His Majesty the Great Ape Emperor is personally keeping Hou Fei by his side?” Qin Yu felt relieved. Hou Fei was being treated as a treasure, so he would naturally not encounter any danger. Ao Wuming puffed his mouth and said. “Although the Beast Clan possess two Emperors, but the one who’s actually in charge is the ‘Ox Demon Emperor.’ As for the ‘Great Ape Emperor,’ he might take part in battles but if he were to be tasked with administering the enormous Beast Clan, that’s certainly impossible.”

“Although His Majesty the Great Ape Emperor doesn’t do administer work, but he’s naturally very concerned about the second Super Divine Beast of the Ape and Monkey Clan.” Said Meng Hong solemnly.

The Ape and Monkey Clan, even with the addition of Hou Fei, only had two Super Divine Beasts.

How could the Great Ape Emperor not be concerned about Hou Fei?

“Come, drink.” Qin Yu raised his cup up for a toast and started to drink happily with the rest. He was extremely happy to know news about his second brother Hou Fei. After they ate and drank for half a day, they were on very good friendly terms.

“Brother Qin Yu, that Hou Fei, now that we mention him, he’s extremely strange.” Meng Hong drank a mouthful of wine and said with a frown.

“Oh? What’s strange about him?” Qin Yu immediately prick up his ears. Meng Hong lay down his wine cup and said. “This Hou Fei, this Hou Fei train really hard by Great Ape Emperor’s side. However, other than training, he surprisingly always wanted to go to the territory of the Bird Clan. Say, don’t you think that’s strange?”

“Going to the Bird Clan?”

Qin Yu immediately understand what he meant. His second brother wanting to go to the territory of the Bird Clan should likely be to seek for ‘Xiao Hei.’ Afterall, Hou Fei doesn’t know where he, Qin Yu, would ascend to in the Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm. However, Xiao Hei was certain to ascend to the Demon Realm’s Bird Clan’s territory.

“Did he managed to go to the Bird Clan’s territory?” Qin Yu asked.

Meng Hong replied clearly. “In order to reach the Bird Clan’s territory from the Beast Clan’s territory, one must ﬁrst past the Dragon Clan’s territory. The journey was also ﬁlled with all kinds of danger. The Great Ape Emperor told Hou Fei directly that he would not bring him to the Bird Clan’s territory until he’s at least at the level of a Demon King.”

“Guess what happened with that Hou Fei.” Meng Hong looked toward Qin Yu, Jun Luoyu and Ao Wuming.

Seeing that the three had expressions showing that they were waiting for the answer, he contentedly said. “That Hou Fei was extremely abnormal, worthy to be called a Super Divine Beast, in a mere hundred some years, he managed to train all the way to the level one Demon King!” “A hundred some years?” Qin Yu was somewhat amazed.

“Don’t you think that’s fast, how abnormal was that. Even if he was a Super Divine Beast, even if he had the guidance of the Great Ape Emperor, his speed still shouldn’t be this abnormal.” Meng Hong sighed.

Ao Wuming started laughing. “Haha… brother Meng Hong, had you said these words in front of others, then it’s still good. However, saying those words in front of brother Luoyu, it’s nothing but a jest. Do you know what people called brother Luoyu?”

Hearing Ao Wuming speaking like that, Jun Luoyu helplessly smiled.

“What people called brother Luoyu?” Meng Hong was startled.

“Genius Immortal Emperor!” Said Ao Wuming proudly. “Genius Immortal Emperor, in a couple hundred years, brother Luoyu already managed to reach level two Mystic Immortal. The time he took to reach Golden Immortal was less than a hundred years! That Hou Fei was even a Super Divine Beast and had the guidance of the Great Ape Emperor. Brother Luoyu is only a human and didn’t had a master, he reached that level all by himself without any assistance.”

Meng Hong looked at Jun Luoyu in shock.

Jun Luoyu could only shake his head and laugh.

“Genius Immortal Emperor, I did not expect brother Luoyu to be this outstanding.” Meng Hong looked at Jun Luoyu with wide open eyes.

“Luck, it’s only luck.” Laughed Jun Luoyu.

Meng Hong took a deep breath and looked toward Ao Wuming. “Brother Wuming, the guests of today’s fest were all extraordinary. Brother Luoyu is the Genius Immortal Emperor, then what about brother Qin Yu? Surely he’s also extraordinary.” “Oh don’t mention me, I’m but a commoner.” Qin Yu waved his hand and laughed.

“What’s there to be modest about?” Ao Wuming laughed.

He was extremely curious regarding Qin Yu.

To be able to ﬂee from a level seven Devil Emperor, possessing an Immortal Mansion that’s even bigger than his Wuming Dragon Mansion and then being brothers with the new Super Divine Beast of the Beast Clan, ‘Hou Fei.’

A man like this, could he be a commoner?

“Brother Qin Yu, he’s stronger than me.” Jun Luoyu laughed insipidly.

Jun Luoyu had personally seen Qin Yu’s astonishing speed when he was being chased by the ‘White Haired Blood Devil.’ A speed that even the ‘White Haired Blood Devil’ was unable to catch up to. Furthermore, he didn’t even use his Divine Weapon, the Sky Shifter. He did all that using his skills.

Furthermore, Jun Luoyu also knew that Qin Yu could unexpectedly change his body. A man with the strength of only level two or three Golden Immortal that could easily ﬂee from the ‘White Haired Blood Devil’ Xue Yileng.

Jun Luoyu was not ashamed of being inferior to him!

“Okay, you all don’t have to look at me like this. To be honest… I am indeed the weakest amongst the four of us.” Said Qin Yu with a smile.

Everyone had secrets hidden in their heart, seeing Qin Yu acting this way, they would not continue to question.

Merely Qin Yu’s mysteriousness had already been deeply engraved in the bottom of their hearts. “Brother Meng Hong, big brother Wuming, I have a thing to ask you two… had there been a black eagle called ‘Hei Yu’ appearing in the Bird Clan within the past two hundred years?” Qin Yu had always been concerned about Xiao Hei.

“Hei Yu?”

Ao Wuming and Meng Hong were both very confused. Ao Wuming promptly said. “Qin Yu, the population of the bird clan was immense. Those called ‘Hei Yu’ should be by the thousands and tens of thousands. Which one are you talking about?”

Qin Yu thought about it for a moment and then said. “Hei Yu is a black eagle. As for what exactly his species was, I am not even sure about that. However, I know one thing for certain… he’s at the very least a Top Level Divine Beast. He might perhaps even be a Super Divine Beast. He ascended up within the last two hundred years. Do you know of him?”

Anxiously, Qin Yu looked toward Ao Wuming and Meng Hong.

Ao Wuming was the prince of the Dragon Clan and Meng Hong was one of the Thirty Six Heavenly Stars under the Ox Demon Emperor. They ought to know major news in the Demon Realm.

“Someone called Hei Yu? And at the very least a Top Level Divine Beast?” Meng Hong started to frown. Ao Wuming was also carefully thinking about the stuff he knew. Qin Yu was staring at the two and waiting for an answer.

Chapter 38: Training Of The Soul

“Have you all heard of him?” Asked Qin Yu who grew a bit impatient.

Meng Hong thought for a bit but still shook his head. He said to Qin Yu. “Qin Yu, I’ve never heard of a Divine Beast called Hei Yu appearing within the Bird Clan in the past two hundred years.”

Seeing that Qin Yu was a bit disappointed, Meng Hong continued. “You should ask Wuming, he’s the Prince of the Dragon Clan and the Dragon Clan’s territory was next to the Bird Clan’s. He knows more than me, maybe he would know.”

Qin Yu ﬁrmly looked toward Ao Wuming. Ao Wuming started to helplessly shake his head. “Qin Yu, you said that that Hei Yu was at least a Top Level Divine Beast? And he’s also just recently ascend to here within the past two hundred years?”

“Right, at the very least he’s a Top Level Divine Beast.” Qin Yu nodded continously.

Xiao Hei possessed inherited memories, this signiﬁes that Xiao Hei was at the least a Top Level Divine Beast. He might even be a Super Divine Beast.

“You also said that he’s a black eagle?” Ao Wuming had a slight smile on his face.

Qin Yu nodded.

“Qin Yu, let me tell you… the amount of Super Divine Beast was extremely sparse. As for Top Level Divine Beasts, they’re also sparse. If that Hei Yu was a Top Level Divine Beast that ascended within the last two hundred years, then I would most certainly know about it!” Said Ao Wuming decisively. “However, I had never heard that there’s a Top Level Divine Beast named Hei Yu ascended here within the last two hundred years.”

Qin Yu was slightly startled. However, he suddenly came to realization and hurriedly asked. “Perhaps… perhaps he’s concealing his name?” “That is also possible.” Ao Wuming loosened his ﬁrm expression. “According to the information that my Dragon Clan possess, there’s three Top Level Divine Beasts that ascended to the Bird Clan. One of them was a Hong Luan, the other is from the Peng Clan and the last was from the Crane Clan. There wasn’t any from the Eagle Clan.”

“Therefore, the Top Level Divine Beast you spoke of was simply nonexistent.” Ao Wuming once again cut off Qin Yu’s hope.

Qin Yu felt a headache.

His heart began to feel somewhat jittery. Unable to help himself, he frowned.

“That shouldn’t be the case, Xiao Hei ascended at the same time as Fei Fei. Fei Fei ascended into the territory of the Beast Clan, then why isn’t there any news regarding Xiao Hei? Xiao Hei possessed inherited memories, and that was absolutely certain. So why?” Qin Yu head was like being shocked by electricity. He’s also extremely anxious.

Xiao Hei was the only person Qin Yu had with him growing up. Their relationship was very deep. Ao Wuming’s speech caused Qin yu to have an indescribable panicky feeling from the bottom of his heart. He believed that Ao Wuming would certainly not lie to him.

And the grand Dragon Clan would certainly not had mistaken the information.

“Ah, could Hei Yu be a Super Divine Beast?” Asked Qin Yu.

Meng Hong who stood on the side started to laugh loudly. “Haha… brother Qin Yu, let me tell you. There’s four types of Super Divine Beasts within the Bird Clan. Two types were from the Peng Clan. The other two are the Seven Colored Peacock and the Phoenix. There’s certainly not Black Eagle.” Ao Wuming also nodded. “Qin Yu, if a Super Divine Beast were to appear in the Bird clan, then how would I not know of it? Let me tell you, there’s only a single Super Divine Beast emerging within the the Bird Clan. It’s a Golden Winged Peng of the Peng Clan. His name is Zong Jue.”

“Zong Jue.” Qin Yu understood everything.

The top individual of the Mortal Realm’s Chaotic Astral Ocean, the Island Master of the Devil Peng Island, Zong Jue. Qin Yu naturally knew of him.

“There’s absolutely no other Super Divine Beast other than that Zong Jue.” Ao Wuming said certainly. “Besides, there had never been a Super Divine Beast from the Eagle Clan. Unless the Eagle Clan were to be super lucky and had a Variant Super Divine Beast appearing in their ranks.”

Qin Yu’s eyes shined.

Right.

Xiao Hei had the appearance of a Black Eagle. He’s not a Peng, Peacock or Phoenix. Maybe he’s a Variant Divine Beast of the Eagle Clan.

“Qin Yu, you should stop overthinking it. Super Divine Beasts are very rare. For a special Variant Divine Beast to appear, that’s much harder to come by. In the whole history of my Dragon Clan, only my big brother was a Blood Dragon.” When Ao Wuming mentioned his big brother, his expression grew sullen.

“The only Blood Dragon in the Dragon Clan’s history?” Jun Luoyu was surprised.

How many years had the Dragon Clan been in existence?

Not many people know. However, it’s certainly an enormous amount of years. However, in all those years, there’s only a single Blood Dragon’s emergence. “Even if he’s a Variant Divine Beast, then regardless if he’s a Top Level Divine Beast or a Super Level Divine Beast, it’s impossible for him to be unknown… if he were to exist, then my Dragon Clan ought to know. However, we do not know about him.”

Ao Wuming’s words were like Heavenly Thunders striking directly on Qin Yu’s head.

“What exactly happened to Xiao Hei?”

Qin Yu was continuously thinking and immediately grew very worried. His second brother Hou Fei had the Great Ape Emperor of the Dual Emperor of the Beast Clan looking after him. This allowed Qin Yu to feel very at ease. However, what about Xiao Hei?

“This…” Seeing Qin Yu’s expression, Ao Wuming, Jun Luoyu and Meng Hong became lost at to what to say.

They were all able to tell that Qin Yu was very concerned about this Hei Yu.

“Qin Yu, perhaps some of the people within my Dragon Clan were slacking off and didn’t gather all the information of the Bird Clan. Furthermore, the territory of the Bird Clan was extremely large, it’s about as large as the Immortal Realm. In such a large territory, perhaps somewhere in it was Hei Yu.” Ao

Wuming went to console Qin Yu.

Qin Yu took a deep breath and then slowly exhale.

“It’s alright, don’t worry, I’m ﬁne.” Although Qin Yu said those words, they were still able to see that his complexion was somewhat pale.

“Come, let’s drink.”

Said Meng Hong loudly. Immediately after the four started to drink again. The atmosphere in the great hall immediately became lively again. Merely that within all the drinking and laughing, in the deepest part of Qin Yu’s eyes were still a hint of worry. The East Star City was enormous. Qin Yu had never seen such an enormous city before. Even the Blue Flame Star’s city were a lot smaller compared to the East Star City.

Since they had arrived in the Hidden Emperor Star, Qin Yu and Jun Luoyu would not immediately start training in seclusion.

The two of them accompanied Ao Wuming and Meng Hong and began visiting the East Star City. And Jiang Yan who had been in the Wuming Dragon Mansion the whole time also came out of the Immortal Mansion to visit the city together with them.

A party of ﬁve were relaxingly strolling the East Star City.

Meng Hong was acting as the guide, he was introducing the surroundings to the four beside him.

“This building is called Heaven Connecting Building. It had nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine ﬂoors and is the tallest building in the East Star City. Within the Heaven Connecting Building were casinos, auctions, shopping malls, restaurants, tea houses, and recreation and entertainment facilities.”

Said Meng Hong as he pointed at a tall building that lead all the way to the deepest skies.

From a glance, this Heaven Connecting Building does indeed thrust through the skies. It was impossible to see exactly how tall this Heaven Connecting Build was. However, the extremely tall Heaven Connecting Building would still instill a surge of emotions within those who saw it.

……

“This several hundred miles long extremely large palace is the Immortal Mansion Theme Park. There’s a lot of fun and interesting things inside. When one’s bored from cultivation, one could enter there and relax one’s body and mind.”

Meng Hong pointed at the enormous Immortal Mansion Theme Park that’s not far away.

The Immortal Mansion Theme Park wasn’t tall. From a glance, one could see numerous strange and mysterious buildings within it. The shorter ones were only a single ﬂoor building. As for the taller ones, they’re also nothing more than a couple ﬂoors tall. On the walls of the Immortal Mansion

Theme Park carved a long drifting dragon.

“This engraving of the Divine Dragon revolve around half the Immortal Mansion Theme Park’s walls. Its length were over a thousand miles.” Meng Hong smiled as he looked toward Ao Wuming. “The powers standing behind the Immortal Mansion Theme Park, amongst them were the Dragon Clan.”

Ao Wuming nodded and laughed. “Fifty percent of the earning from this Immortal Mansion Theme Park goes to my Dragon Clan. At that time, the idea of building this Immortal Mansion Theme Park had come from a cultivator too.”

“Within the Immortal Mansion Theme Park were places for entertainment, excitement, and freight. There’s all sorts of places. Through the strange and exquisite game rules and the arrays of experts to control regulations, various fascinating and wondering places were constructed. Furthermore, there is a place within the Immortal Mansion Theme Park that allows practitioners to become even more intimate with and appreciate the nature.” Ao Wuming was clearly very knowledgeable of this Immortal Mansion Theme Park.

“Intersting, intersting. Let’s go, let’s go there.” Jiang Yan’s eyes were shining.

The couple mens could only force a bitter smile as they followed Jiang Yan to the Immortal Mansion Theme Park.

….. Three whole months passed. Under the guidance of Meng Hong, Qin Yu and them had went to every famous locations within the East Star City. They places were all strange and exquisite; so much that even QIn Yu feel that his mood had changed.

Sometimes, to train doesn’t necessarily need to be in seclusion. This type of sightseeing was also a type of training. This was especially true toward people like Qin Yu who had never really rested. Within the Wuming Dragon Mansion.

“I had seen so much in the three months, I must say… those cultivators who possessed the strength to overturn seas and rivers, not only are they extremely strong in combat, they’re equally amazing in constructing a city and the various peculiar places within it.” Qin Yu praised.

A building that’s nine thousand nine hundred ninety nine stories tall.

The Immortal Mansion Theme Park that’s several hundred miles wide. The thousand miles long Divine Dragon Carving. While it might be effortless to mention them, however when one really stood in front of them…

Standing under the Heaven Connecting Building as one looked toward the building that pierces through the skies.

Standing in front of the gates of the Immortal Mansion Theme Park as one looked at the unending Divine Dragon Carving.

Standing inside the Sculpture Building and seeing the millions of vivid and lifelike statues.

……

All in all, those majestic aura was enough to cause people to quake in fear.

So it turns out that… that using the immortal level skills on the ﬁeld of art was even more awe inspiring. This was the Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm. A world where Heavenly Immortal, Golden immortal, Heavenly Devil, Devil King, Heavenly Demon, Demon King, and Emperor level experts exist in.

A world that’s far surpassing the mortal realm.

Although this world was bustling and lively, it’s also as cruel and grim.

……

“Brother Qin Yu, those are the training rooms that I specially constructed within the Immortal Mansion. You and Luoyu can go ahead and pick whichever one you prefer to train in. There will be absolutely no one to disturb you two.” Smiling, Ao Wuming pointed toward a group of training rooms within the Wuming Immortal Mansion.

Ao Wuming didn’t feel at ease to allow Qin Yu and Luoyu train in Meng Hong’s place. That place was after all the outside world. However, this Wuming Dragon Mansion was much safer.

“Thank you big brother Wuming.”

Both Qin Yu and Jun Luoyu thanked him.

“Training in seclusion, training in seclusion, all you know about is training in seclusion.” Jiang Yan had her cheeks puffed up. She stared at Qin Yu and Jun Luoyu with her big eyes. “Who knows how long you’ll be there once you started your seclusion training; I’ll be left all alone.”

“Yan’er, rest assured, I would not be taking a long time. Do you remember how long it took me to reach level two Mystic Immortal? Once I reached level three Mystic Immortal, I’ll come right out. I suspect that I won’t even need a hundred years.” Said Jun Luoyu with a smile.

Qin Yu had ﬁnally experienced how outstanding this Genius Immortal Emperor was.

For others, to reach level three Mystic Immortal from level two Mystic Immortal, they would require an immense amount of time. Only this Jun Luoyu dared to say that he would only need a hundred years.

“Luoyu, you’re totally showing off, totally showing off!” Said Ao Wuming detestfully. Jun Luoyu exposed a forced smile. In reality, he wasn’t showing off at all.

“I suspect the amount of time it takes for me to train would be about the same as brother Luoyu. It might even be a bit shorter.” Said Qin Yu smiling. He had never dared to tell others his cultivation speed.

If he were to tell others that it had only been a dozen or so years since he since he ascended into the Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm, then Ao Wuming and them would likely be even more astonished.

‘Three in Nine Soul Reﬁnement.’ Training the soul and reﬁning the Nascent Soul to increase its energy. If one were to compare the speed of training, nothing could be faster than this.

“Good, you two, take care and train. As the training time is long and I have no serious matter in my hands, I will be staying in this Hidden Emperor Star for the next hundred years.” Ao Wuming said while laughing.

Immediately after that, Qin Yu and Jun Luoyu each choose a training room and started training in seclusion.

Within a training room of the Wuming Dragon Mansion.

Qin Yu sat cross-legged and motionless on the vine mat. He does not have the dazzling radiance of others’ cultivation. He also didn’t have to engulf any Soul Aura. Qin Yu’s cultivation was like sleeping.

Within the ﬁrst layer of the Soul’s Soul Space.

Clouds and mist were rolling. Within this boundless Soul Space, Qin Yu was sitting cross legged in mid air. However, his hands were constantly doing the Hand Seals of the Great God. After reaching the Earthly Soul Realm, Qin Yu’s Thirty Six Forms Hand Seals were already different.

Likewise, executing this Thirty Six Forms Hand Seals consume an enormous amount of soul power; so much that Qin Yu smacked his lips.

Right after Qin Yu did a hand seal, he sensed that the energy within his soul were being franticly consumed. Qin Yu could only slowly do the hand seals. After doing two or three hand seals, he felt that he had to wait for his soul to replenish its energy become he could continue.

In order to completely execute the Thirty Six Forms Hand Seals, the amount of time Qin Yu needed was extremely long.

However, the effect was also extremely good. Qin Yu could feel that his soul were maturing at a continuous speed.

In order to the soul to transform, there’s three methods.

They correspond to the three types of cultivation experts.

The ﬁrst method was to slowly let the soul progress with the passing of time. This method was extremely slow but very stable. The reason why many experts had cultivated for millions or even tens of millions of years was precisely this reason.

This method was very slow in increasing the expert’s soul level.

The second method — Enlightenment.

Enlightenment were to let the soul achieve a profound state. Under that state, the soul would mature at a frightening speed. However, that state were something that can only be discovered but not sought.

Experts using this method, their cultivation speed were usually slow but were extremely fast at the moment of enlightenment.

The third method were something that only some special group of talented individuals possess. They were usually known as — Genius!

These people doesn’t need enlightenment but their soul cultivation speed were always fast. Although their soul improvement speed were not as fast as those in the moment of enlightenment, but they’re many times faster than those who use the ﬁrst method.

Jun Luoyu belonged to this category. He was also the most excellent people in the third category. There’s many geniuses within the Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm. However, a genius who achieved level two Mystic Immortal within a couple hundred years was a genius amongst geniuses.

As for Qin Yu…

He doesn’t belong to any of the categories. His soul improvement speed was even faster than Jun Luoyu.

……

Time ﬂew by. A year after another. The outside world was constantly changing. Within the training room, the amount of dust that covered Qin Yu were also continuously increasing… Training within the Soul Space, Qin Yu was completely unable to sense the passing of time. He was only able to sense that his training had born fruit and that the Meteor Tear’s Great God’s Thirty Six Forms Hand Seals were a slightly easier to execute.

In the past, his soul strength only had the energy to execute two Hand Seals at once. However now, he could execute eight Hand Seals at once. And Qin Yu was still training hard. As for how many years had passed in the outside world, Qin Yu was completely unaware. He continued to be immerse in training…

Chapter 39: The Black Hole Realm

Sitting by the pond, Jiang Yan’s white toes were stirring the pound water. Her large quick witted eyes were spinning around and around. One does not know what kind of sinister plot she was currently thinking of.

“So boring!”

Jiang Yan suddenly shouted. After shouting, she saw that there wasn’t anyone coming and then shouted even louder. “So freaking boring!”

“Little sister Yan’er, stop shouting.” The beautiful and gentle Madam Ao walked over. “Qin Yu and your big brother Luoyu had both entered seclusion training, even your big brother Wuming had entered seclusion training.”

Ten years after Qin Yu and Jun Luoyu started their seclusion training, Ao Wuming, having nothing to do, decided to also enter seclusion training. This caused the restless Jiang Yan to be extremely pained. Initially, she was able to chat and play with her sister-in-law Lian Zhu. However, as time passed, Jiang Yan grew bored of doing that.

“It’s been ﬁfty years!” Jiang Yan held her palm toward Lian Zhu. With her eyes wide open, she said. “Big sister Lian Zhu, can you see? It’s been ﬁfty years! Qin Yu and big brother Louyu had already been in seclusion training for ﬁfty years! I’m about to die from boredom, die from boredom!!!”

Lian Zhu shook her head and slightly smiled. She stroked Jiang Yan’s head.

Jiang Yan puff her mouth but didn’t say anything.

“Don’t worry, if you really can’t keep waiting for them, then you can also go and enter seclusion training. Once one started training, they’ll be unable to feel the passing of time. If you were to strenuously wait for them, then the more impatient you are, the more painful it’ll be to wait.” Said Lian Zhu while smiling.

Jiang Yan shook her head very hard. “No, I don’t like training.”

“Qin Yu, Jun Luoyu and Ao Wuming, this lady would wait for another ﬁfty years. If you all still don’t come out to keep this lady company then, humph humph… then let’s see how this lady would deal with you all when you do come out.”

Jiang Yan looked toward the direction of the training rooms and said ﬁercely.

“Big sister Lian Zhu, let’s go take a stroll down the street.” Said Jiang Yan as she pulled Lian Zhu’s hand.

Lian Zhu slightly laughed and nodded. She said. “Okay, I know that it’s impossible to persuade you.”

“Heehee.” Jiang Yan showed a brilliant smile to Lian Zhu. Lian Zhu did a hand seal and then Jiang Yan and Lian Zhu disappeared into thin air from the Wuming Dragon Mansion.

This Wuming Dragon Mansion was created through Ao Wuming’s reﬁnement. Lian Zhu, as Ao Wuming’s wife, naturally learned some techniques to control the Wuming Dragon Mansion.

×××

In the Wuming Dragon Mansion’s training room that Qin Yu was in.

Qin Yu’s body was already covered with a thick layer of dust. He had trained for ﬁfty years but neither his clothes nor his physical appearance changed slightly.

Within the ﬁrst layer of Qin Yu’s soul’s Earthly Soul Space.

Qin Yu was sitting cross legged and in the air within the boundless space. He was continuously executing the Thirty Six Hand Seals of the Great God.

Executing the Thirty Six Hand Seals was very difﬁcult. After training for ﬁfty years, Qin Yu’s current soul power was much stronger than before. He now could execute twelve Hand Seals at once.

However, when Qin Yu tried to continue the Hand Seals when he had reached the twelfth Hand Seal, it was as difﬁcult as trying to ascend to the Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm.

Qin Yu’s consciousness started to have a light and airy feeling, and, at the same time, his consciousness directly ﬂew into the Earthly Soul’s Second Layer Space from the Earthly Soul’s First Layer Space.

“I broke through!”

The sensation of breaking through to the Earthly Soul’s Second Layer Space from the Earthly Soul’s First Layer Space caused Qin Yu to be completely clear-headed. Within the training room.

“Buzz~~”

Qin Yu’s cross legged sitting body started to vibrate. The dust that covered his body were all shaked off. His sharp Earthly Dark Star power circulated through his body’s surface and, in a ﬂash, there was not a hint of dust covering Qin Yu’s body. His appearance was still the same cold handsomeness that he had ﬁfty years ago.

His eyes opened, his gaze was even more profound than before.

“Now that my soul realm level was a lot stronger than before, I’m about the level of a level four or ﬁve Golden immortal. I could attempt to break through the Dark Star’s later stage into the Black Hole Realm.” Qin Yu’s expression was no longer tranquil.

He stood up.

“The training of the soul is taciturn, it is something that I can do within this training room. However, in order for me to make a breakthrough, I am required to reﬁne a Golden Immortal’s Nascent Soul. When that time comes, my energy would be surging. It is better that I train within my Qingyu Immortal Mansion.”

After considering about it, Qin Yu changed the Qingyu Immortal Mansion to the size of a speck of dust, placed it within the training room and then entered it.

From the Dark Star Realm breaking through to the Black Hole Realm.

Would it be successful?

In reality, Qin Yu doesn’t have a lot of certainty. After all, the next realm for the Dark Star Realm would be the Black Hole Realm was only Qin Yu’s own speculation. No matter what, if something were not to actually happen, then it’s all a theory. Within the Qingyu Immortal Mansion.

In the plaza within the main hall of Qin Yu’s Immortal Mansion. Qin Yu was sitting in the middle of the plaza without moving. Qin Yu was able to feel completely reassured when he’s inside the Qingyu Immortal Mansion.

“Fuu!” A blue ﬂame that’s blazing hot to the extreme started to revolve around Qin Yu’s body. This was Qin Yu’s current Stellar True Flame — Blue Heavenly Flame.

Qin Yu took out a level seven Golden Immortal’s Nascent Soul. This Nascent Soul was the Yan Clan’s great elder, Yan Gao’s Nascent Soul.

Under the ﬂames of the Blue Heavenly Flame, the Golden Immortal’s Nascent Soul that doesn’t have a soul to control it was easily dissolved. After a short amount of time, it melted into a puddle of golden liquid. This golden liquid started to coil around Qin Yu’s body as it ﬂew. Qin Yu opened his mouth like a whale swallowing water, the Nascent Soul of a level seven Golden Immortal was directly swallowed by him.

A speck of dust was able to contain three thousand worlds.

Although the Dantian was located within the human stomach, but the space within it was also boundless.

Within Qin Yu’s Dantian.

An extremely small black particle within the nucleus was faintly giving off an astonishing attractive force. The energy from the level seven Golden Immortal’s Nascent Soul was being frantically swallowed. The Dark Star was slowly growing bigger and was undergoing some peculiar changes…

On the Qingyu Immortal Mansion’s plaza. Without any wind or sound, Qin Yu was quietly sitting cross legged in the middle of the paza. From the quietness, one was unable to tell that Qin Yu’s dantian was currently ongoing a huge and astonishing change.

Suddenly–

“Boom!”

An extremely frightening energy was shot out from Qin Yu’s body like numerous arrows. The energy shot all around without excluding anything. All of a sudden, a catastrophe covered the whole Qingyu Immortal Mansion…

At this moment, the defensive barrier of the Qingyu Immortal Mansion automatically started. The only thing that happened was that a faint light appeared in the plaza and the palace.

“Rumble~~~” Rumbles continued to sound in succession. A frantic wind whiz through the plaza. The whole plaza was shaking incessantly.

Qin Yu was ﬂoating within the explosions.

Swallow!

The energies that had shot to all directions frantically started to gather toward Qin Yu. Not only these energies, even the Elemental Spirit Aura from within the Qin Yu’s Immortal Mansion were also gathering toward Qin Yu.

Like a whirlpool, Qin Yu swallowed the countless energy.

Within Qin Yu’s dantian.

The Dark Star had already disappeared. Just like what Qin Yu planned, the Dark Star had turned into a vortex, a vortex that’s swallowing everything… large amounts of energy were being swallowed up by it.

The Black Hole Realm.

The eighth great realm of the <> was the Black Hole Realm.

“What, what exactly happen?” Qin Yu was extremely shocked. He knew that the eighth great realm was the Black Hole Realm.

However, never had he expected that the Black Hole Realm had a ‘black hole’ like this. The Dark Star had absorbed enough energy to transform, it ﬁnally cave in and formed the black hole. However, this black hole was like a space channel that leads to a place that no one knows.

Qin Yu was able to sense that was frantically swallowing and absorbing immense energy of the surrounding. Regardless of what kind of energy it was, even the Qingyu Immortal Mansion’s Elemental Spirit Aura is being swallowed.

Had the Qingyu Immortal Mansion not had its Defensive Barrier protecting it, then it’s likely that Qin Yu would have also swallowed up all of the Elemental Spirit Core Stone. At the moment the Black Hole was formed—

An ancient, extremely old and time surpassing space aura was transferred over from the other side of the black hole. All of a sudden, it binded up Qin Yu’s consciousness and then assimilated into it.

Within Qin Yu’s consciousness.

At the moment what that ancient aura assimilated into Qin Yu’s consciousness, Qin Yu clearly sensed his transformation. It was an origin level transformation. It was a kind of feeling that Qin Yu was unable to describe clearly.

However, Qin Yu understood.

At that moment, Qin Yu felt as if he had turned from an ant into a person. Although it was an infant, he was nevertheless no longer an ant. “The Black Hole Realm is still not stable enough, it needs energy.”

Qin Yu immediately determined the reason why the Black Hole was continuously swallowing energy. Then, an idea popped into Qin Yu’s head —

Blazing Profound Ring — Heavenly Flame Domain!

[TL: Combination of Black Flame Lord’s Ring + White Profound Lord’s Ring → Thunder called it Blazing Ice Ring → Which is a bad translation. Also, Lord of White Ice should be White Profound Lord]

A blue ﬂame dragon ﬂew out and encircled Qin Yu. The Heavenly Flame the Blazing Profound Ring’s Heavenly Flame Domain displayed was dependent on the user’s power level.

Back when Qin Yu was still in the Mortal Realm, he was only able to produce Purple Heavenly Flames. However now, he was able to profound endless Blue Heavenly Flames.

“A level eight Golden Immortal’s Nascent Soul, I’ll see if that’s sufﬁcient enough.” Qin Yu took out a level eight Golden Immortal’s Nascent Soul from within the Blazing Profound Ring. “The early stage of the Black Hole Realm, I suspect my strength is only comparable to level ﬁve or six Golden Immortal. Giving it a level eight Golden Immortal’s Nascent Soul should be sufﬁcient.”

While this was what Qin Yu was thinking in his mind, what about the reality?

The level eight Golden Immortal’s Nascent Soul turned into a golden stream after being burned by the frantic Blue Heavenly Flames. With an inhale of Qin Yu’s mouth, all of the stream was sucked into Qin Yu’s stomach and into the Black Hole.

“Heavens, a level eight Golden Immortal’s Nascent Soul was swallowed yet this Black Hole only slightly stabilized, it was almost as if there was no change at all.” Qin Yu was scared by this change.

He was merely trying to reach the early stage of the Black Hole Realm, yet exactly how much energy was required?

Qin Yu took out a level nine Golden Immortal’s Nascent Soul. In the great battle on the Maple Moon Star, Qin Yu obtained a lot of Golden Immortals’ Nascent Soul. Qin Yu had originally thought that it was enough Nascent Souls for him to train for a long time.

However now, it was merely the early stage of the Black Hole Realm yet it required such an excessive amount of energy.

The level nine Golden Immortal’s Nascent Soul was reﬁned and sucked into the Black Hole. “it truly is a bottomless pit.”

Contrary to expectations, Qin Yu had a slight smile on his face. However, he was still somewhat worried. That’s because he felt that reﬁning a level nine Golden Immortal’s Nascent Soul did indeed stabilized the Black Hole Channel within his Dantian a lot.

However, the current Qin Yu was still unable to easily control the Black Hole to make it stop absorbing energy.

“Let’s see exactly how much you can absorb. I have more than enough Nascent Souls, let’s see if you can absorb all of them.”

Qin Yu started going extreme. He started to take out Nascent Souls from the Blazing Profound Ring. At a stretch, he took out six Nascent Souls.

Three level eight Golden Immortal’s Nascent Souls and three level nine Golden Immortal’s Nascent Soul were ﬂoating around Qin Yu’s body. Under the Blue Heavenly Flame, they turned into a thick pool of golden water.

The extremely thick pool of energy from three level eight and level nine Golden Immortal’s Nascent Souls were swallowed up by the Black Hole. Qin Yu felt as if he had ate a Great Recovery Pill as his stability level had leaped. However, even though that was the case, the only thing Qin Yu was able to control was the absorption speed of the Black Hole – increasing it or decreasing it. He was still unable to control the Black Hole to make it stop absorbing.

Qin Yu’s goal was — ‘to make it speed up when he wants it to and to make it stop when he wants it to stop.

“Its stomach was pretty big.”

Qin Yu continuously took out Nascent Souls from within the Blazing Profound Ring. He had taken out one after another… Qin Yu was dumbstruck by the Black Hole, it didn’t refuse anyone and its stability level continued to rise.

After swallowing a total of thirty level eight Golden Immortal’s Nascent Souls and ten level nine Gold Immortal’s Nascent Souls, a fundamental change ﬁnally occurred to the Black Hole.

A golden ring of light came ﬂying out from the other side of the Black Hole’s Channel. After ﬂying only a third of the Channel, it stopped.

Qin Yu’s had a movement of thought.

And the Black Hole abruptly stopped its absorption. Immediately, the former peace had completely returned to the Qingyu Immortal Mansion. However, the density of the Elemental Spirit Aura had declined over a hundredfold. It was because they were all swallowed up by the Black Hole.

“What is that Golden Ring of Light?” Qin Yu started to ponder.

Although the Black Hole was powerful, it didn’t have any attractive force toward Qin Yu’s consciousness. After all, the Black Hole was something that Qin Yu cultivated. All of a sudden, Qin Yu’s consciousness assimilated within the Golden Ring of Light.

“What a pure and concise energy.” Qin Yu was able to clearly sense the extremely sharp energy from within the Golden Ring of Light. Its energy was even more condensed and tyrannical than the energy within the Dark Star.

Qin Yu extended his ﬁnger.

A ray of golden energy was shot out through his ﬁnger and landed on the Defensive Barrier of the Qingyu Immortal Mansion.

Qin Yu opened his eyes and stood up. He had a confused expression.

“Although the energy from this Golden Ring of Light was pure, concise and forceful; but I had, at a stretch, reﬁned thirty level eight Golden Immortal’s Nascent Souls and ten level nine Golden Immortal’s Nascent Souls. The energy from the Golden Ring of Light was only close to a tenth of the energy that was absorbed. What happened to the remaining ninety tenths?”

Qin Yu started to be completely confused. Suddenly, Qin Yu’s eyes shined. “Could it be because of the space the Black Hole Channel connected to?”

Even now, Qin Yu still didn’t know where exactly the Black Hole Channel connected to. However, when the Black Hole Channel was formed, the ancient aura assimilated into his consciousness. The transformative sensation was something that Qin Yu was never able to forget for eternity.

“What’s exactly at the other side of the Channel?” Qin Yu was unable to suppress his curiosity.

Finally, he decided… to check out the other side of the Black Hole Channel.

Qin Yu’s consciousness started to ﬂow through the Black Hole Channel. Gradually, Qin Yu’s consciousness arrived at the other end of the Black Hole Channel. What he saw was a sight that completely stunned him.

Chapter 40: Little Friend, We Were Waiting For You

The Wuming Dragon Mansion had turned into an extremely small speck within the Hidden Emperor Star’s East Star City. The Qingyu Immortal Mansion turned into an extremely small speck within the Wuming Dragon Mansion. Thus, no matter what happened on the Hidden Emperor Star, Qin Yu, who was in the Qingyu Immortal Mansion would not know of it.

The Cosmic Space was the hardest to predict.

There are dangerous places that not even experts at the Immortal Emperor or Devil Emperor level would dare enter. For example, the Cosmic Fragmentary Golden Stream, the Utmost Frozen Cold Stream, the Extremely Silent Heavenly Flame Stream… and numerous other kinds of frightening energies.

However, the Black Hole that was formed within Qin Yu’s body, the moment it connected to a different area; a change occurred in the whole Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm. [TL: when translating Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm. I have debated whether it should be Realms instead of Realm. However, after pondering over it, I felt like Realm would be better. Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm could be considered as the ‘universe’. So they’re the bigger Realm where the three realms existed in.]

Cosmic Fragmentary Golden Stream, the Utmost Frozen Cold Stream, the Extremely Silent Heavenly Flame Stream, Countless Electric Serpents; all kinds of extremely frightening energies were rushing toward the Hidden Emperor Star with great momentum as if they’re striving to be the ﬁrst to arrive.

The sudden change in Cosmic Energies was something that even Golden Immortals could sense. So obviously, the experts at the level of Immortal Emperors felt it.

The experts in the Immortal Realm, Devil Realm, Demon Realm and some other special realms were all shocked.

Some of the non-famous hidden experts that are stronger than even people at Emperor Yu’s level were also all roused by the event. They all sensed the astonishing change within the Cosmic Space; and, with their strength, they determined the source of the everything.

Hidden Emperor Star!

All the experts within the Indigo Bay Star Field determined this to be the answer. The powerful current of Cosmic Energies were rushing toward the Hidden Emperor Star. The news of that was quickly spread throughout the whole Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm.

In about half a day’s time.

All the top powers within the Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm knew of it. They knew that the astonishing change in the Cosmic Energies was because of the Hidden Emperor Star. Thus, the Hidden Emperor Star had attracted the attention of the whole Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm.

××× Within a certain pink palace hall in the Immortal Realm.

“What’s going on? What exactly happened within the Hidden Emperor Star to cause all the Cosmic Energies to become mobile?” A mellow voice sounded from above in the palace hall.

“Your Majesty, could it be that the Hidden Emperor is about to undergo the Divine Tribulation?” Said a white haired and white clothed man standing underneath.

[TL: It’s a bit confusing to translate. Usually emperors sit in their emperor seat, which is a few steps above the place hall where their subjects stand. Thus, they are literally ‘above’ and ‘higher’. ]

The voice above once again sounded. “Humph, even if he was undergoing the Divine Tribulation, how could it possibly jolt all the Cosmic Space Energies within the Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm? Some great extraordinary event must have happened.” “Great extraordinary event?”

The couple of people standing underneath in the palace hall looked at one another. They didn’t know what to say.

“The Cosmic Energies had once went mobile before in the Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm. However, the Energies was limited to two or three Star Fields. However this time, it extended to the whole Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm…”

The person atop the palace hall started to mumble. “The reason why the Cosmic Energies spread to two or three Star Fields last time was because of the appearance of the Bewitching God Temple. Could it be that this time it’s even more frightening?”

There was a cottage on a desolate uninhabited planet. No matter how big the storms within the planet was, they were still not in the slightest able to assail the cottage.

An kind looking old lady walked out of the cottage.

“Strange, strange. How could the an Energy Fluctuation that extended into the whole Cosmic Space occur in the Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm?” The old lady’s face was ﬁlled with confusion. Her brows frowned.

“The Hidden Emperor Star was not damaged at all.” In a blink of an eye, the old lady had ﬁgured out the current state of the Hidden Emperor Star. “However, the Hidden Emperor Star caused the ﬂuctuation in the Energies within the entire Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm; why exactly was that?”

“Strange. Strange.”

The old lady thought for a long time and then ﬁnally sighed and shook her head. “Sigh, that girl Yan’er is also at the Hidden Emperor Star.”

All the major powers and hidden experts had different reactions to what happened. Some hidden experts didn’t bother to move, some of them continued to train in ease. However, some hidden experts believed that something major must have happened for such an unprecedented mobility of Cosmic Energies that encompassed the whole Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm to occur and decided to leave their hermit life.

As for Emperor Yu, Mystic Emperor…and other extremely powerful bosses. They had already reacted.

In a short period of time, the Hidden Emperor Star turned into the place where all the sight in the Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm landed on.

×××

In the surroundings of the Hidden Emperor Star, countless frightening Energies started to whistle, surge and even ram into each other. However, what’s strange was that…. none of these Energies tried to assail the Hidden Emperor Star. As the time passed, the amount of Energies surrounding the Hidden Emperor Star continued to grow.

Frightening!

The people living in the Hidden Emperor Star were trembling with fear. Cosmic Energies were gathered in the surroundings of the Hidden Emperor Star, even one percent of any of them were able to completely destroy the Hidden Emperor Star. Even if the Hidden Emperor and the Black and White Great Immortals were to join hands, it would still be for naught.

“Brother Li, quickly leave this Hidden Emperor Star. It’s too dangerous. Who knows when the Hidden Emperor Star might be destroyed.”

“Yes, wait a moment, I’ll leave immediately.”

“You are all trying to leave the Hidden Emperor Star? What fools. Such an extraordinary thing had never happened before in the whole Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm. Even if you were to die, as long as you can experience such a thing, then you should be able to die without regret.”

Cultivators, for the most part, do not fear death.

After all, majority of the cultivators have to cultivate for thousands of years or even tens of thousands of years. Due to their long life, they do not have serious attachment to life and death. The value of their existence was their respective goals.

Inside the Hidden Lead of the Hidden Emperor Star.

“Big brother, now that such an astonishing change had occurred in the Cosmic Space and the origin of this was our Hidden Emperor Star; third brother and I remained puzzled even after pondering over it for a hundred times. “ Said a black clothed and black haired middle aged man.

A white clothed and white haired man also nodded and said. “Big brother, as you are the most knowledge amongst us, do you know the cause for this? Could it be because you’re about to undergo the Divine Tribulation?” A black bearded middle aged man who had his head raised up and looking the sky smiled and said. “Second brother, third brother, even if I were to undergo my Divine Tribulation, how could it possibly lead to the ﬂuctuation of the Cosmic Space Energies in the whole Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm? Furthermore, there’s still a period of time before my Divine Tribulation.”

“In that case, what’s the cause for this?” The black clothed black haired man and the white clothed white haired man both started to puzzle.

“Second brother, third brother, do you still remember scene of the arrival of the Bewitching God Temple to the Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm?” Black bearded middle aged man faintly smiled and said.

The black clothed black haired man nodded. “Last time during the arrival of the Bewitching God Temple, we were still extremely weak nobodies. However, the Cosmic Space Energies that were ﬂuctuated from the arrival of the Bewitching God Temple, while it stunned everyone, it still only covered two or three Star Fields.” “Big brother. You think that something similar to the Bewitching God Temple has appeared in the Hidden Emperor Star?” The white clothed white haired man had a slight happy expression on his face.

“No.”

The black bearded middle aged man shook his head. “The Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm’s Energies ﬂuctuation was absolutely not that simple. At the very least, I’m still unable to determine… Have a look at those Energies gathered around the Hidden Emperor Star.”

“Big brother, you can stop. Those Energies came from the extremely dangerous Cosmic Space. With so many of them gathered here, if a hundredth of them were to strike us, then our whole Hidden Emperor Star would be turned into ashes, us three included.”

The assembly of so many frightening energies. Even the strongest three individuals in the Hidden Emperor Star have to admit… even if only one percent or even a tenth of a percent were to strike them, they would be unable to resist it.

One could not blame the countless experts within the Hidden Emperor Star wanting to escape using the Interstellar Conveying Arrays.

Merely, the Hidden Emperor Star had limited amount of Interstellar Conveying Arrays yet the amount of people wanting to ﬂee were much more than that. Interstellar Conveying Arrays was a point to point transmission. It do not have to care about the Energy Fluctuations in the surroundings of the planet. Thus, it is very safe.

However, the Greater Teleportation is different. The Greater Teleportation was an assimilation with the world in order to conduct its teleportation. The surroundings of the planet was covered with frightening energies; thus, Greater Teleportation was completely impossible to do.

Therefore… the amount of people that managed to ﬂee was extremely small.

At the same time, there was even more people coming into the Hidden Emperor Star from the outside. Most of these people are experts dispatched from the major powers.

As for super experts like Emperor Yu and them; they were not willing to risk their own lives and merely dispatched subordinates under them. However, Emperor Yu, Blood Devil Emperor and other super experts have, nevertheless, rushed into planets like the Blue Flame Star that could lead directly into the Hidden Emperor Star.

×××

The extremely frightening Cosmic Space Energies in the surroundings of the Hidden Emperor Star were continuously gathering. Although it was growing larger and larger, but because there’s truly too much frightening Cosmic Space Energies gathered together, even the Hidden Emperor Star started to change a little. For example, the Elemental Spirit Energy of the Hidden Emperor Star started to surge violently. The space was also no longer stable.

All in all… it was like the end of world.

“Why did my wife called me?” Ao Wuming was confused as he walked out from his training room. He was still doing seclusion training when Lian Zhu used her Demon Awareness to call him continuously.

Immediately after coming out, Ao Wuming’s expression changed. “What’s going on with the Hidden Emperor Star?”

As the master of the Wuming Dragon Mansion, he was easily able to sense the change in the space outside of the Wuming Dragon Mansion. At this moment, the space in the Hidden Emperor Star was slightly ﬂuctuating. Furthermore, it’s ﬂuctuating nonstop.

“Big brother Wuming, you ﬁnally came out.” Said Jiang Yan with her eyes wide open.

“Wuming, news have arrived from the Dragon Clan stating that half a day ago that all the Cosmic Space Energies started to ﬂuctuate and started to continuously gather toward the Hidden Emperor Star.” Lian Zhu had a serious expression.

Ao Wuming’s expression changed. He immediately took out his Transmission Spiritual Pearl.

“The entire space of the Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm?” Ao Wuming found it a bit hard to believe.

From his knowledge and experience, he naturally knew that Energies in the entire Cosmic Space had started to move was an extremely shocking matter.

“That’s right, the current Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm already have countless frightening energies gathered within. There’s the Cosmic Fragmentary Golden Stream,, the Extremely Silent Heavenly Flame Stream, Cauterizing Dark Stream… all in all, there’s all kinds of frightening energies gathered in the surroundings of the Hidden Emperor Star.” Lian Zhu’s expression was very serious.

“How could that be?” Ao Wuming was astonished.

Cosmic Fragmentary Golden Stream? What is that? That is something that even an expert of Ao Wuming’s strength would likely be broken into pieces the moment he entered. Even the soul would be broken into pieces.

Extremely Silent Heavenly Flame Stream?

The Heavenly Flame was composed of the regular Purple Heavenly Flame, the next level was the Blue Heavenly Flame and the level after that was the Extremely Silent Heavenly Flame. When burned by the Extremely Silent Heavenly Flame, if one didn’t have the protection of Divine Armors, then one could prepare to die.

Furthermore, there’s a lot of other frightening Energies of the same level gathered here. With so many Energies, if they were to fall… Then no matter who, even if it was the Hidden Emperor himself, he would still be turned into ashes.

“Quickly, call Luoyu and Qin Yu.”

Ao Wuming immediately commanded. At this moment, Ao Wuming’s forehead was covered with cold sweat. He wasn’t worried about himself but he was worried about his wife, his brothers and his friends.

×××

Within the Qingyu Immortal Mansion, Qin Yu was motionlessly standing on the plaza with his eyes closed.

Within Qin Yu’s Dantian.

After passing through the Black Hole Channel, Qin Yu’s consciousness ﬁnally arrived at the other side of the Black Hole Channel. However, what he saw on the end of the channel was a scene that’s hard to believe.

“What kind of space is this?”

Qin Yu looked at the other side of the Black Hole Channel.

It was an enormous and boundless space. However, this space was crammed full with a special substance. This kind of substance was like essence, however, unlike essence, they were ﬂowing.

They seemed like… ﬂour paste!

Boundless ﬂour paste!

As for the energy that from all the Golden Immortal’s Nascent Souls that were reﬁned, they were in the the other side of the Black Hole Channel. They composed of a small region of the boundless ﬂour paste space. The energy from all the Golden Immortal’s Nascent Souls composed only an region of around two to three meters wide.

Qin Yu’s consciousness have passed through the Black Hole Channel and arrived at the space where the two to three meters wide energy was.

“Separated?”

Qin Yu was able to clearly sense that the two to three meters wide area that his energy occupied was completely separated from the boundless ﬂour paste space. It seems like there’s an existence of something like ‘rules’ that caused Qin Yu to be unable to leave the two to three meters territory of his energy and into the boundless ﬂour paste space.

With a move of his thought.

Qin Yu’s consciousness once again went through the Black Hole Channel and returned to his body. In the Qingyu Immortal Mansion, Qin Yu opened his eyes.

“How strange, where exactly is that ﬂour paste space?” Qin Yu rubbed his chin as he pondered. “Reaching the Black Hole Realm, why is the Black Hole Channel connecting to there?”

Qin Yu now knew where the majority of the energy that he obtained from reﬁning the Gold Immortal Nascent Souls were. They are in that two to three metres wide area.

The territory that he had in the ﬂour paste space was only that big.

“Forgot about it, stop thinking about it.” After being unable to understand it, Qin Yu decided to give up.

Qin Yu took a deep breath. He clearly sensed his transformation. Having reached the early stages of Black Hole Realm, the energy within his body was unexpectedly located in another space. It seems like his attack power was limited to the energy from the Golden Ring of Light. As for others, they are going to be unable to perceive anything. Furthermore… his own consciousness had also had a special transformation.

Qin Yu was not very knowledgable about the existence of consciousness .

He believes that ‘soul’ was the most important. As for consciousness… it was like an something that had always been there.

“I’m not going to think too much about it anymore, ﬁnding Fei Fei, Xiao Hei and Li’er is the most important.” Qin Yu turned over his hand and took out a little green tower. “My current strength should allow me to open the Jiang Lan’s Realm’s ﬁrst layer.”

However, right at this moment — Qin Yu felt that a transmission had arrived in his Transmission Spiritual Pearl.

“Qin Yu, there’s a major event concerning the matter of life and death, quickly, come out!” It’s a transmission from Ao Wuming.

Qin Yu was able to sense how grave the matter was. He can no longer spend his time trying to open the Jiang Lan’s Realm anymore. After all, there’s plenty of time in the future for him to open it. Immediately, Qin Yu rushed out of the Qingyu Immortal Mansion and then opened the doors to his training room and walked out.

Inside the Wuming Dragon Mansion.

Right after coming out, Qin Yu saw Ao Wuming, Jun Luoyu , Jiang Yan and Lian Zhu all had a slightly worried look.

“Qin Yu, we will talk about this later. Let’s go out and see exactly how the situation is ﬁrst.” Without saying much, Ao Wuming led Qin Yu, Jun Luoyu and them out of the Wuming Dragon Mansion.

Qin Yu, Ao Wuming, Jun Luoyu, Jiang Yan and Lian Zhu appeared in Meng Hong’s manor.

“Look toward the sky.” Said Lian Zhu.

Everyone raised their head and looked toward the sky.

Now that there’s too much frightening energies gathered there, it was now possible to see them just by raising one’s head. The whole sky was covered densely covered with all kinds of colored frightening energies continuously ﬂowing.

However, soon after Qin Yu and them raised their head to look, all of the frightening energies started to ﬂow rapidly.

Soon after, All of the different colored energies ﬂowing actually formed a large sentence covering the entire sky — “Little friend, we were waiting for you.”

At the same time, the words started to dazzle brilliantly, illuminating the whole Hidden Emperor Star.

When Qin Yu and them saw those words, countless experts within the Hidden Emperor Star also saw those words.

Everyone was dumbstruck!

Chapter 41: Who Is The Little Friend?

The golden light was dazzling. However, countless people on the Hidden Emperor Star still had their eyes wide open as they looked toward the sky and the words on the sky — ‘Little friend, we were waiting for you.’

Silence.

A strange silence!

。

Cosmic Fragmentary Golden Stream, Extremely Silent Heavenly Flame Stream, Cauterizing Dark Stream… all kinds of frightening energies were surrounding the Hidden Emperor Star. They densely covered the whole Hidden Emperor Star. No one had expected that ﬁnally, they would form a series of words. The whole Hidden Emperor Star grew silent. Everyone was dumbfounded.

However, after a short period of time had passed… the entire Hidden Emperor Star grew noisy. As though there was an explosion, everyone in the Hidden Emperor Star started making noise. They were all discussing their astonishment.

What exactly was going on?

The frightening Cosmic Energies of the Immortal, Devil and Demon Realms all had gathered here only to form a series of words?

×××

On the Blue Flame Star.

Emperor Yu was grasping his Transmission Spiritual Pearl. He had just received an information transmission from his subordinate at the Hidden Emperor Star. Emperor Yu was also completely astonished and confused. The series of words not only brought him immense shock, it also brought him something that was a whole lot deeper.

“Controlling all the energies in the entire universe, what kind of remarkable ability is that?” Emperor Yu shivered in his heart.

Emperor Yu clearly understood that the gap between him and the existence that controlled all the energies within the whole Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm was like the difference between an ant and a giant. The gap was as wide as Earth was from Heaven.

“Could those people possibly be…. from the Divine Realm?” Emperor Yu guessed to himself. “‘Little friend, we were waiting for you.’ What exactly is the meaning of this sentence? The person who could cause such a large disturbance, what exactly was he planning?”

Actually, Emperor Yu already had a guess in his heart.

However, he didn’t dare to accept it.

It wasn’t that they didn’t have people in the Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm that had ascended to the Divine Realm. However, never had such a large disturbance happened before.

Thus, he didn’t believe that ascending to Divine Realm would allow the super experts in the Divine Realm to cause such a large disturbance.

“Could it be that… a certain big shot of the Divine Realm reincarnated, started cultivating, and now that he had cultivated successfully, the super experts of the Divine Realm caused such a big disturbance to congratulate him?”

This guess of Emperor Yu was a bit comical. However, Emperor Yu was unable to think of any other reason than this.

“Little friend, little friend, who exactly is this little friend?”

Emperor Yu walked to the window and looked toward the sky. “Seems like I will have to go to the Hidden Emperor Star.” Not only Emperor Yu; Mystic Emperor, Cyan Emperor, Blood Devil Emperor, Black Devil Emperor, Asura Devil Emperor, Ox Demon Emperor of the Beast Clan, Dragon Emperor of the Dragon Clan… all the big shots of the Immortal, Devil and Demon Realms had obtained the information. They all started to ponder who exactly was this ‘the little friend’ referring to.

×××

Who is this little friend?

Not only were these big shots thinking about it. Everyone on the Hidden Emperor Star was thinking about it. And, likewise… Qin Yu, Ao Wuming, Jun Luoyu and gang were also thinking about it.

In the main hall of Meng Hong’s manor, a couple of people were drinking while discussing. “Strange, so very strange. I, Meng Hong, have lived for so long yet I’ve have never heard of such a strange occurrence before. To maneuver all the Cosmic Energy and have them assemble here all to form a series of words? And the words even said ‘Little friend, we were waiting for you!!’” Said Meng Hong after drinking a large mouthful of wine.

“Not only is it strange, it’s also enough to cause one to tremble.”

Ao Wuming sighed in awe. “When I saw those words that were formed by countless frightening Cosmic Energies coming together, the feeling of oppression that it brought to my heart was extremely strong.”

“That’s right, at that time, I had a suffocating sensation.” Said Jun Luoyu in approval.

The rest of the people also nodded in succession.

Cosmic Fragmentary Golden Stream, Extremely Silent Heavenly Flame Stream and other energies of those level gathering in one place on the sky forming a dense layer. Who would not be worried or scared when they had seen that? However, all these energies converged into a series of words.

The feeling of oppression was something that needn’t be explained.

“Qin Yu, what do you think?” Ao Wuming suddenly looked towards Qin Yu.

“I,” Qin Yu nodded. “was shocked as I stood there.”

He merely had a shock, Qin Yu did not sense any feeling of oppression in his heart.

Actually, the current Qin Yu was surprised about one thing. Ever since he had reached the Black Hole Realm, the feeling he had in his heart when he looked at Ao Wuming, Jun Luoyu and rest was completely different. In the past, when he looked at super experts like Ao Wuming, he naturally had a type of high respect feeling in the deepest parts of his heart.

However now, Qin Yu felt very calm when he looked at the level seven Demon Emperor Ao Wuming. It was as if he was looking at someone from a third person’s point of view. He was observing everyone in a detached manner. He no longer had any sense of oppression. It was as if he was the Heavens looking down on everyone.

Qin Yu turned around. His gaze looked past the doors and into the sky.

Even if it was those frightening Cosmic Energies, Qin Yu’s heart still didn’t have the slightest feeling of fear. It was completely tranquil.

“Qin Yu, you seem somewhat different from before.” Said Jiang Yan as she stared at Qin Yu. “Oh, different? What’s different about me?” Said Qin Yu smiling.

Lian Zhu also nodded and said seriously. “You have indeed changed. How should I say it, it’s like… you’ve become a bit more matured.”

“Matured?” Qin Yu was amazed, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Ao Wuming, Jun Luoyu, Meng Hong and rest all started laughing.

Ao Wuming laughed and said. “Qin Yu did change slightly. I reckon you’ve had a breakthrough in your training. Say, Qin Yu, am I right or wrong?”

Qin Yu nodded and said. “I did indeed have a slight breakthrough in my power, I reckon this is precisely the cause.” “Let’s not talk about this anymore, instead, what kind of existence do you all think was able to control all the Cosmic Space Energies to form those words?” With a solemn expression, Jun Luoyu looked toward the sky outside the manor. It was covered with a dense layer of frightening energies.

To be confronted with that kind of existence, Jun Luoyu and them were unable to help themselves from admiring it.

Jiang Yan laughed with a hee hee sound. “Who cares about who he is? He’s certainly someone that’s very powerful. According to what my granny had told, even level nine Immortal Emperor level experts are unable to inﬂuence the ﬂow of the Cosmic Energies. To be able to create such a large disturbance, I reckon that he must be someone from the Divine Realm. Furthermore, he must be a high level expert in the Divine Realm.”

“Yan’er, be a bit more serious.” Ao Wuming’s expression was very serious. “The remarkable ability of the Divine Realmers is not something that you can imagine; in the future, you must not make absurd comments about the Divine Realm.” “Oh. I understand.” Said Jiang Yan with a sullen expression.

Ao Wuming stood up from his seat and walked out. He walked out to the hall, into the courtyard and looked up toward the sky. In the sky, the dense layer of frightening energies continued to form those words — ‘little friend, we were waiting for you.”

“Little friend, who exactly is this ‘little friend’?” Muttered Ao Wuming in a low voice.

Jun Luoyu and Meng Hong also walked out. When they saw those words, they had the same kind of puzzled expression on their face. Evidently, they were also trying to guess who exactly this ‘little friend’ was referring to.

“Little friend, who exactly is it referring to?” Qin Yu also started to guess when he saw those words.

Who exactly is this little friend? No one knows.

Perhaps, only this existence who was surpassing the whole Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm and had caused this tremendous disturbance knew of who this little friend was.

However, one thing was mostly certain for — this little friend was surely in the Hidden Emperor Star. Otherwise, why would all these Cosmic Energies gather in the surroundings of the Hidden Emperor Star?

Qin Yu, Ao Wuming, Jun Luoyu, Jiang Yan, Lian Zhu and Meng Hong all had their heads raised toward the sky. They were looking at the words and pondering about who this little friend was. At this moment, in the Hidden Emperor Star, countless people were pondering about the same thing. They were guessing about who exactly this ‘little friend’ was.

Suddenly —

“Boom!” As if the heavens were falling and the earth were cracking, the dense layer of frightening energies on the sky exploded. A rumbling voice echoed through the whole heaven and earth.

“Little friend, train quickly, we are waiting for you, ha ha…”

A clear voice sounded through the whole heaven and earth. For some unknown reason, the voice echoed through every part of the Hidden Emperor Star. It echoed in the ears of everyone. It echoed in the minds of everyone. It echoed in the deepest part of everyone’s soul!

Regardless of whether they’re infants, mortals, cultivators or even experts of the Hidden Emperor’s level.

They were all unable to reject this voice from sounding in their ears, mind and soul.

Everyone was once again stunned.

“Boom!”

Two frightening energies of completely different attributes collided into each other and then exploded. Like ﬁreworks, they were gorgeous and brilliant. However, the vibration caused by the explosion had turned into nothingness when it approached the Hidden Emperor Star.

The Extremely Silent Heavenly Flame Stream collided with the Utmost Frozen Cold Stream.

The Cauterizing Dark Stream collided with the Cosmic Fragmentary Golden Stream.

The Sand Flame Stream collided with the Bird Meteor Stream.

All kinds of Cosmic Energies of different attributed collided and exploded. One by one, gorgeous ﬁreworks formed in the skies of the whole Hidden Emperor Star. However, the space ﬂuctuation caused by the explosions were completely unable to penetrate into the grounds of the Hidden Emperor Star.

The Hidden Emperor Star was not damaged in the least.

Everyone, including the Hidden Emperor and the Black and White Dual Emperors, had an astonished expression on their face. Who had ever seen such gorgeous ﬁreworks before?

These countless frightening Cosmic Energies exploded for close to an hour. Finally, they vanished like thin smoke into air. The strange Cosmic Energies that were created from the explosions once again turned into powerful streams and started to ﬂow out in all directions of the universe.

The surroundings of the Hidden Emperor Star ﬁnally returned to the tranquility that it had before.

“What is this? Fireworks?” Qin Yu was truly startled. Back when he was in the Qianlong Continent, there were mortals that had already researched into ﬁreworks created by black gunpowder. However, the ‘ﬁreworks’ that’s created by the collision of frightening Cosmic Energies were even more gorgeous.

×××

All the Cosmic Energies had left the Hidden Emperor Star. The Hidden Emperor Star had became auspicious and peaceful like before. However, in everyone’s heart was a single matter.

Other than the Hidden Emperor, there was an even more mysterious ‘little friend’ on the Hidden Emperor Star.

Within the Hidden Lead of the Hidden Emperor Star.

In a small bamboo forest. Within a bamboo house, a couple stone stools and a couple stone tables, were placed. The white clothed white haired man and the black clothed black haired man were sitting around a stone table in the bamboo house. Another black bearded middle aged man was holding his teacup as he looked up toward the boundless sky.

Suddenly, a white haired old man walked over. He saw the black bearded middle aged man, cupped his hands in respect and said. “Master…”

“I already know, let Emperor Yu in.” The black bearded middle aged man said calmly.

“Yes, master.”

The white haired old man didn’t say much. His master knowing about the arrival of Emperor Yu was not something for him to be surprised about.

“It’s likely that a lot of people would be coming soon. Mystic Emperor, Black Devil Emperor and other people like them. You need not block them, it would sufﬁce if you were to allow them to come in directly.” Said the black bearded middle aged man.

“Yes.”

The white haired old man accepted the orders, turned around and left. Right after the white haired old man disappeared into the bamboo forest, a man dressed in a purple gown appeared in the middle of the bamboo forest. This man was precisely Emperor Yu.

“Brother Lin, you’ve truly startled me. The Hidden Emperor Star that you controlled was surprisingly capable of having such a large disturbance occurring.” Emperor Yu walked in slowly. He had a faint smile on his face.

Emperor Yu’s pace was neither fast nor slow. However, it had a strange rhythm. The whole bamboo forest, as if it was following the rhythm, also started to move up and down….

“Old boy Feng Yu, I suspect you’re almost at the level of level nine Immortal Emperor.” Said the black bearded middle aged man with a smile. There weren’t many people in the whole Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm that dared address Emperor Yu as old boy Feng Yu. However, the Hidden Emperor of the Hidden Emperor Star was one of them.

“Brother Feng Yu.”

The Black and White Dual Great Immortal Emperors got up at the same time. They smiled and greeted Emperor Yu.

Emperor Yu nodded his head and said. “Brother Lin, I presume that you have experienced the ‘great disturbance’ that had just occurred in the Hidden Emperor Star? Such a large disturbance was extraordinary.”

“It was indeed extraordinary. However, I am still very confused.” The Hidden Emperor had a smile mocking smile on his face.

The Black and White Dual Great Immortal Emperors didn’t interrupt the conversation. They sat down and started to drink their tea calmly.

Emperor Yu sighed in awe. “Cosmic Fragmentary Golden Stream, Bird Meteor Stream, Extremely Silent Heavenly Flame Stream… the gathering of countless frightening Cosmic Energies from all around the universe around the Hidden Emperor Star. Such a large disturbance was unprecedented in history of the whole Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm.”

“That’s right.” The Hidden Emperor also sighed in awe.

“The Bewitching God Temple was an extraordinary existence. However, the arrival of the Bewitching God Temple on the Immortal, Devil and Demon Realm only caused the Cosmic Energies of two of three Star Fields to ﬂuctuate. However, this time around…. the disturbance was too terrifying.” Emperor Yu’s eyes were burning with radiance.

“Brother Lin, who exactly is this little friend?” Emperor Yu suddenly asked.

Hidden Emperor shook his head. “I don’t know.” “Brother Lin is the master of the Hidden Emperor Star, if such an extraordinary person were to appear in the Hidden Emperor Star, then how could brother Lin not know of it?” Said Emperor Yu while smiling.

Hidden Emperor slightly smiled. He walked to next to the stone table. He added some tea into his teacup and then said tranquilly. “Little friend, it’s not that easy ﬁnding out who that little friend is. However, he should be someone on the Hidden Emperor Star.”

And right at this moment —

Hidden Emperor, Emperor Yu and the Black and White Great Immortal Emperors all looked toward the narrow path in the bamboo forest.

Wearing a cyan garment, a long ﬂute in his hand and an extremely charming smile that was able to cause one to fall in lust. “There’s truly a lot of people arriving at my tiny place today. Emperor Yu had just arrived and now Cyan Emperor has also arrived.” Said Hidden Emperor while laughing.

Emperor Yu saw Cyan Emperor and promptly smiled. He said. “Brother Chi Qing.”

Cyan Emperor, Chi Qing, had a very special position in the Immortal Realm. Although he was the boss of one of the Three Great Powers, Cyan Emperor, Chi Qing, was different from the bosses of the other two Great Powers. That’s because the amount of time the Cyan Emperor, Chi Qing, had spent training was extremely long.

It was so long, long enough to make people shiver.

Even the level nine Immortal Emperor, Hidden Emperor’s cultivation time was a magnitude lesser than the Cyan Emperor. Cyan Emperor, Chi Qing, had another nickname, ‘Eternal.’ This was to represent how long his cultivation time was. What’s the most strange was… this Cyan Emperor had already reached the level eight Immortal Emperor level many tens of thousands of years ago. So many years have passed, the experts of his generation had all either successfully passed their Divine Tribulation and ascended to the Divine Realm or had failed their Divine Tribulation and died.

However, only this Cyan Emperor still remained at level eight Immortal Emperor.

Merely with the length of his cultivation, no one dared to look down on this Cyan Emperor.

“Old boy Feng Yu, not only me, a lot of other people have also arrived.” Cyan Emperor walked up to the side of the Hidden Emperor. He said as he turned around and looked toward the narrow path in the bamboo forest. At that moment, two individuals walked out together.

(Who’s the little friend? Even Qin Yu doesn’t know.

Heehee~~~)

Chapter 42: Green Clothed Girl

Two people walked out from the small narrow path in the bamboo forest. One of them was tall and had both handsome facial features and sparkling and translucent jade-like skin. However, it was hard to determine whether this person was a male or a female from the appearance. The other person was a large plump fatty.

“So Asura Devil Emperor and Black Devil Emperor have also arrived.” Emperor Yu smiled as he greeted them.

Cyan Emperor, Black and White Dual Immortal Emperors and the Hidden Emperor all greeted them.

“Gong Pang, say, can you not change your appearance a bit?” Hidden Emperor laughed as he said this towards the big plump fatty. “You’re the Black Devil Emperor, yet you always possess such a meatball-like appearance, it’s really…”

Gong Pang was very fat. However, his expression was ice- cold. “The most important aspect of the Black Devil Path is the body. In a battle, the most optimum body ﬁgure is that of a meatball.”

“Brother Lin, you’d best stop trying to persuade him. Nobody has been able to change something that Gong Pang had decided upon.” Laughed the handsome yet gender indeterminate Asura Devil Emperor who had arrived with Gong Pang.

The Asura Devil Emperor was called Zi Ruxue. As for the gender… he was a male!

In the house within the tiny bamboo forest. In a short period of time, so many big shots had arrived. All of these big shots were at a super high level, aloof and remote. Many of the normal cultivators had even set them as their ultimate goal.

Cyan Emperor, Emperor Yu, Asura Devil Emperor, Black Devil Emperor all sat down in succession.

“I do know why you all have arrived at this time around.” Hidden Emperor took a glance at everyone present. “Such a large disturbance happened, in the entire Immortal, Devil and Demon Realms, only to unexpectedly form a few words.”

Emperor Yu laughed. “Not only words; at the end, those frightening energies collided with each other. It was a truly gorgeous and beautiful sight. At the same time, there were also the words of that existence which transcends the entire Immortal, Devil and Demon Realms. I believe you all have heard that.”

Everybody’s expression changed.

Heard?

That voice completely ignored the willpower of everyone. It directly sounded in their ears, their mind and then soul. Even experts of Hidden Emperor’s level were equally unable to resist it.

Difference in level. That was precisely the difference in level. “The person who said ‘little friend, train quick, we are waiting for you,’ how strong he is was not something that we need to think about. He was already way beyond the level of our imagination. However, as to who this little friend is, I am wondering if brother Lin have an answer to that.” Black Devil Emperor looked at Hidden Emperor.

Hidden Emperor shook his head.

“Brother Lin truly don’t know. I had already asked him earlier.” At this moment, Emperor Yu assisted Hidden Emperor.

At the same time, Emperor Yu stood up. “Everyone, I apologize but I must leave now.”

This Emperor Yu suddenly out of nowhere decided to leave ﬁrst. However, Hidden Emperor, Asura Devil Emperor, Cyan Emperor and the rest of them all had a slight smile on their faces. Even the Black Devil Emperor’s facial muscles trembled a bit. “Old boy Feng Yu, you can leave ﬁrst. We know about your difﬁculties.” Said the Hidden Emperor with a smile.

Emperor Yu’s old face grew slightly red. After walking for a couple steps, he disappeared into the bamboo forest.

Right after Emperor Yu disappeared, a ﬁgure of a beautiful woman appeared within the bamboo forest. Her pink silk dress was ﬂuttering in the wind. A woman who’s so beautiful, enough to move hearts, appeared in front of the Hidden Emperor and the rest.

“If old boy Feng Yu doesn’t appear, then little sister Xuan Xi would also not appear.” Said Cyan Emperor as he chuckled.

The person who arrived was the Mystic Emperor, Xuan Xi.

The Mystic Emperor merely faintly smiled but didn’t say anything. ×××

Hidden Emperor Star, East Star City. Inside a certain manor’s garret.

Emperor Yu was currently sitting inside the garret.

“Xuan Xi’s temper is way too strange. Wasn’t she ﬁne a couple of days ago, how come she’s mad at me again? Sigh…” Emperor Yu sighed in his heart. He slightly had a bitter smile.

At this moment, a bald headed man walked in.

“Your Majesty.”

Said the bald headed man respectfully. This bald headed man was one of the ‘Eighteen Emperors’ working under Emperor Yu, a level six Immortal Emperor, Yuan Lan. Emperor Yu’s expression returned to the tranquility it had before. “Yuan Lan, when I had you dispatch people to follow those people, did you manage to obtain any result?”

Immortal Emperor Yuan Lan said respectfully. “Your Majesty, ﬁfty years ago, the Prince of the Dragon Clan, Ao Wuming, Jun Luoyu and that man that Your Majesty wanted arrived to the Demon Emperor Meng Hong’s manor.”

“Did you manage to ﬁnd out the identity of that person?” Asked Emperor Yu.

Yuan Lan nodded, he said. “Yes, Your Majesty. From the maids of Meng Hong’s manor, we discovered that Meng Hong and the rest of them called that man ‘Qin Yu!’”

“Qin Yu?” Emperor Yu’s face had a slightly astonished expression.

To be able to ﬂee from the White Haired Blood Devil, Xue Yileng; how could it be Qin Yu?

Emperor Yu had always thought that Qin Yu was only Lan Feng’s sect nephew. He had thought that Qin Yu was only a nobody that had just ascended to the Immortal Realm. Who Emperor Yu truly held in importance in his heart was Lan Feng.

“Qin Yu? I’m afraid that’s a false name that Lan Feng deliberately used.” Emperor Yu laughed mildly.

“This subordinate doesn’t know. However, Your Majesty had dispatched people to search for that Lan Feng, certainly that Lan Feng would also know of the dangers. Perhaps he truly was using ‘Qin Yu’ as a false name.” Immortal Emperor Yuan Lan voiced in approval.

“Continue speaking.” Said Emperor Yu indifferently.

Immortal Emperor Yuan Lan went through his thoughts before continuing. “In these ﬁfty years, based on our investigation, we had determined that Ao Wuming and them should all be hiding within that Wuming Dragon Mansion. For a period of time, we had thought that Ao Wuming, Jun Luoyu, Qin Yu and them had left the Hidden Emperor Star. However, in these ﬁfty years, we had seen Jiang Yan and Ao Wuming’s wife Lian Zhu strolling down the street. Thus, in these ﬁf