The herbs matured shortly after Anna's arrival, having already entered the final phase of their growth. As the team leader D had predicted, the fight began. The noble families started battling and killing each other. However, both Anna and Tania were unable to witness the outcome of the conflict. As they sensed something and their expression changed.
Anna quickly informed the team leader, "Hey, team leader D, we are going somewhere. We will be back after our work is completed." With that, they both disappeared and traveled to the edge of the continent in the blink of an eye.
Anna looked at Tania, who was also gazing in a particular direction with a furrowed expression. "Is it coming for us?" Anna asked seriously.
Tania replied, "I think it is. It changed direction and started heading our way after we left the Dark Forest."
Anna had her suspicions about who it could be and asked Tania to confirm, "Is it from the Luck Absorbing Organization?"
"No, they don't have the ability to send such a powerful being into the mortal world, as they can't bear the penalty for breaching the rules set by the real Heavenly Dao. We’ve also set up a veil of darkness, so they can’t detect how powerful we are or where we are." Tania, having learned a lot about the organization after the White Tiger Clan incident, was aware of their limitations.
"So it must be from a more powerful group than that organization, as they bore the backlash from doing divination and breaching our veil of darkness to find our location. They are also violating the rules set by the Heavenly Dao. But we don’t know who is so powerful that they can detect us Primordial creatures, or what do they want from us," Anna contemplated, her expression serious.
"We will find out soon enough. Anna, be careful. This being is in the Dao realm; we can't afford to be careless. If they come with ill intentions, then kill them at any cost. If we fight, our identities will be exposed, so we can't let it escape no matter what, or there will be endless trouble in future," Tania explained.
Just as Tania finished her warning, the being appeared before them and spoke, "Hmm, Master was right; I did find you here. Wait, why are there two people with the same mark? The master only predicted one person." He was a middle-aged man whose face screamed villainy, with prominent cheekbones and sharp features, his slanted eyes exuding malice. His aura seemed capable of destroying the world around him. He continued, "Well, it doesn't matter. I will take both of you to the master, dead or alive."
"Who are you?" Anna asked, suspecting they had been tracked some mark they both had and didn't knew anything about it. If this man was in the Dao realm, then his master must be in a realm above it. She attempted to extract information from him.
However, he saw through Anna's trick and replied, squinting his eyes, "Don't try to get me to talk to gather information. You both are coming with me, so don't resist. You can't win against me." Despite his bravado, he was wary of Anna and Tania, as he couldn't detect their cultivation levels. It was impossible for him, a Dao realm cultivator, to be unable to see through the cultivation of beings in the mortal world. He sensed something was amiss with both of them.
"Oh, you want to capture us? Then we will have to see if you have the ability to do so," Anna taunted, her expression excited, as this would be her first fight against someone with greater cultivation outside the dungeon.
The man grew even more wary upon seeing Anna's fearless and excited demeanor. He thought, 'My master said the mark bearer is newly born, so how powerful can one be after such a short time of cultivation? Why is she so confident in front of me, and why are there two of them?' he couldn't help but think once again that there was something very wrong here. He didn’t ponder further, as he became furious at Anna's taunt.
"How dare you challenge me, mortal! You are courting death!" he shouted angrily, unleashing a terrifying pressure directed toward Anna and Tania. However, instead of seeing them kneel under his pressure, he was shocked to find them perfectly fine. This made him even more cautious. "Who are you? How can you withstand the pressure of a cultivator at my level? It is impossible for a mortal to do this."
But instead of answering him, Anna started laughing as she spoke. "Hahaha, Tania, this dialogue! I always wanted to hear this in reality. Oh god, this is so hilarious!" Then, mimicking the man's expression, she said, "You are courting death!" and burst into laughter once again. "This is so funny, hahaha!"
The man felt an intense anger rising within him; if he were not a Dao realm cultivator, he would have spat out a mouthful of old blood. An even more powerful pressure erupted from him, beginning to destroy the Apple continent beneath them.
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Tania smiled, understanding why Anna found the dialogue amusing. However, she had heard it many times before, so it was not new to her. Instead, she asked the man, "So you don't know our identities, yet you still came here to kill or capture us?"
Then Anna and Tania both used their powers in a hidden manner to secretly protect the apple continent from further damage by the Dao realm cultivators pressure.
Anna also became serious after Tania's statement. Although she was laughing and taunting, she was secretly wary of the man. If he launched a sneak attack, they would be in trouble since he was one realm higher than them.
"It looks like you people don't know anything else other than our location. But if only our location was known, why did they send a Dao realm cultivator, it looks like it is more of a coincidence that they sent him here?" Anna mused.
The man realized that when Anna mentioned "Dao realm cultivator," something was off. A being from the mortal world could never know what a Dao realm was. Not wasting any more time, he made the first move. "I will learn everything about you after I capture you!" he shouted, letting all the Dao energy he could muster flow into his hands and form a sphere. "Eternal Void Darkness Dao Sub-Dimension!"
The sphere expanded, engulfing both Anna and Tania inside it. Within the sphere was another world filled with only void and darkness; this was a unique ability of Dao realm cultivators, allowing them to create a sub-dimension that manifested in the outside world. However, Anna and Tania did not resist. Once the manifestation was complete, Tania spoke, "Anna, do it now."
Upon hearing Tania's confirmation, Anna began conjuring primordial energy, creating the strongest veil of darkness to cover the entire sub-dimension. She then formed a powerful isolation array combined with ancient runes to prevent anything from detecting what was happening inside the dimension. Tania mirrored Anna's actions, reinforcing the protective measures.
This was the plan they had devised upon realizing that their opponent was a Dao realm cultivator intent on capturing them. A Dao realm cultivator's specialty lay in sub-dimensions, and they are nearly god-like within this realm. No one could know what transpired inside a sub-dimension unless the owner allowed it. The man must have some connection to his master that would enable him to know what was happening, so they took precautions to block any detection.
The man was dumbfounded by their actions and puzzled as to why they had done this. However, he did not want to give them time to prepare their next move. He drew his sword and slashed toward Anna. In response, Anna also unsheathed her primordial sword and made a move. Both swords clashed, creating a powerful shockwave around them, but the combatants remained unharmed.
The man was surprised that Anna could withstand his attack, confirming his suspicion that this mark bearer was not a recent arrival but someone with the cultivation level of at least an Immortal Emperor.
"Ha! Do you think you can win against me in my own sub-dimension? I am the god here; I can do anything!" the man laughed, looking at Anna.
"Humph! Do you think we don't understand Dao realm cultivation? Although you can manipulate a sub-space to your liking, the main influence will only be the Dao you have integrated. I believe your Dao is the Void Dao. Now, don't waste time; let me experience the strength of a Dao realm cultivator. Tania, don't interfere until I am about to die or can't fight." Anna was unfazed by this provocation and spoke with excitement.
Tania could only watch as Anna embraced her fight-loving nature. "Okay, but I will interfere if you are in danger."
The man was angered by Anna's words and infused his sword with Void Dao energy, teleporting beside Anna and slashing with consecutive strikes. However, Anna, trained in combat with the void element opponents, easily perceived his attacks and intercepted all his slashes. Unfortunately, she was unable to counterattack as the man had locked the space around him, preventing her sword from reaching him.
In response, Anna infused her sword with primordial energy and counterattacked, targeting the man's neck, heart, and other vital points. The primordial energy bypassed the void Dao energy and easily cut through the space locked by the man.
Sensing the danger, the man teleported miles away from Anna's attack, but she created a space tunnel in front of her and sent the wave of sword energy directly toward him. Unable to avoid the attack infused with primordial energy, he used more Void Dao energy to manipulate the world around him, deflecting the attacks. He protected his vital points but could not shield his body, resulting in numerous cuts and wounds. Bloodied, he was frightened by Anna's assault and exclaimed, "What type of energy is this? How is it more powerful than Dao energy?"
Anna completely ignored his question and attacked again with the same technique. This time, the man easily blocked it by creating a barrier that mirrored the boundary of the sub-dimension.
"Don't get cocky just because you harmed me once! Now I know you are just an Immortal Emperor, and even with that powerful energy, you can't win against a Dao realm cultivator. Until now, it was merely a game; now I will show you the difference between an Immortal cultivator and a Dao realm cultivator." As the man spoke, all the wounds on his body healed with the Void Dao energy from the sub-space. The Energy began pouring into him in large quantities and his aura was at least 10 times stronger that before. Then Anna started to feel the restrictions around her, as if her body were under heavy shackles.
The Void energy in the sub-dimension attempted to control her body, locking her in place by making chains of void, and started creating a vacuum around her body. There was nothing inside vacuum other than the void Dao energy. The void then began to deprive her of her senses and body. She tried to speak, but no sound came out. All she could hear was the man's voice echoing around her. "Now you will be trapped forever inside the void, with no sense of body, time, or the outside world. You can only exist here, with nothing remaining of your existence. Now go insane, with only the void as your companion."