Mengfei placed her teacup back onto the saucer with a crisp clink. Across from her sat a woman who appeared to be in her early thirties and had long, frost-white locks. Coupled with her robe seemingly woven out of strands of snowflakes, she appeared to have been a perfect sculpture carved from ice.
"Grand Elder Xi, it seems that the tea is finished. I'll make sure to restock when you visit next time," Zhang Cuiying, one of the Buzhou Immortal Sect's three grand elders, said.
"It's fine. Tea is supplementary at best," Mengfei said. "How are your wounds? I can no longer detect any fluctuations in your aura."
"My wounds have long healed," Zhang Cuiying said. "They weren't serious in the first place. If you are worried about the sect's plans, no need. However, I'm worried about the Cloud Goddess. What has Elder Twinwisp said?"
"She assured me that the plan has not changed," Mengfei replied.
Next, a silence descended between the two. Mengfei sat there and stared directly at Zhang Cuiying. On the other hand, Zhang Cuiying began to grow uncomfortable. Although Mengfei had suppressed her aura of an immortal sovereign, being gazed at so unblinkingly was not a pleasant experience.
Finally, she sighed. "Grand Elder Xi, how have you been? You returned from exterminating the Leakless Sect not long ago, but I hear word that there is a survivor. You don't have to feel too bad."
Mengfei shook her head. "Sect Master Xia already warned me that a fish might escape the net."
Zhang Cuiying raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Is there something special about him, or did he get some miraculous treasure?"
"No, it's nothing like that. Although I can't discount the possibility of him possessing a treasure or secret technique," Mengfei said. "He is simply a reincarnator, a foreign soul outside the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Against them, I can't cross the distance and detect them accurately enough."
"A child of the Almighty?" Zhang Cuiying muttered. "Sect Master Xia must have learned of the matter thanks to Disciple Xi's efforts."
As soon as she said this, Zhang Cuiying knew she had made a mistake. Mengfei lit up with delight. "Of course. Everything Yi'er did is impeccable. I'm sure he will perfectly complete his mission, even more than I did."
Zhang Cuiying tried not to show the dread on her face as Mengfei started to speak faster and faster. "It was only thanks to Yi'er that we learned of Leakless Sect's secret immortal emperor. They hid this fact extremely well, they didn't tell most of their own monarchs either. Had it not been for Yi'er’s contribution, the sudden appearance of Emperor Solesword would have forced us to change our plans at a crucial time."
"Yes, yes, Disciple Xi is the lucky star of our sect," Zhang Cuiying said, playing along. "With his growing strength, it's only natural that the sect would assign him on this crucial mission."
Mengfei's face didn't change, but a sudden aura of gloom descended around her. "I hope Yi'er is okay. With Daoyi next to him, he should be fine, but I can't help but worry. He liked to sleep like mortals, but will he be able to sleep in enemy territory? Is the lack of sleep going to disturb his heart and cause an inner devil to form? Maybe I should take a look."
Zhang Cuiying almost sprang out of her seat and grabbed Mengfei. "That's an overreaction. With your abilities, can you not sense him?"
Mengfei shook her head. "Unless they deliberately say my name, I won't know their location."
"I see. Disciple Xi's unique cultivation method extricates him from the reincarnation of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. I guess it makes him resemble reincarnators in a way," Zhang Cuiying said. "Hm? What's wrong?"
"Nothing, there's just a pest I have to exterminate. I'll be back soon," Mengfei said, staring into the distance. More specifically, her gaze pierced through the spatial boundary and into the Vast Void. Without another word, Mengfei waved her hand, and a spatial rift appeared.
After Mengfei exited the Huang Realm, Zhang Cuiying waved her arm, cleaning the teapot and teacups before sighing. "Finally."
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In the Vast Void, Mengfei raised her hand in front of her chest, and a palm-sized Tianyi climbed out of her sleeve and onto her palm. "Mother, why did you say so much to Grand Elder Zhang? Don't I report everything that happened on the Earth Continent? Why are you so worried?"
"Knowing and seeing for myself is different. I can't help but feel worried no matter what," Mengfei said. "Yi'er, which direction is your clone?"
"There," the palm-sized Tianyi said, pointing in the direction.
Mengfei nodded. She slipped the palm-sized into her robes, despite his protest of wanting to stay in her sleeves instead, red-faced and sputtering all the while. Unfortunately, this conduit of Tianyi didn't have much strength and could not resist at all.
She flew through the Vast Void, not bothering to form a shroud of protective essence. Relying on the palm-sized Tianyi's connection with Donghai Longzi, Mengfei followed after the demon emperor and the refugees, all the while keeping her distance, intent on discovering the location of the Divine Beast Pseudo System.
As time passed, Mengfei noticed an invisible wave emitting from the white sphere. It was undetectable to those below the Origin Immortal Realm. No wonder the Buzhou Immortal Sect couldn't tail them no matter how many times they tried. It turned out that Demon Emperor Blacktiger had long discovered them.
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While tailing the white sphere, the white sphere suddenly disappeared after merging with the Vast Void. Mengfei had lost track of the demons. Luckily, she didn't need to rely on her own senses.
The demons changed direction, going right. After a while, they stopped and changed direction again. Gradually, Mengfei realized that she was being led in circles, trying to shake her off. Despite her best efforts, she still had been discovered.
With no more need to hide, Mengfei turned into a violet stream of light, streaking toward the demon's location. If she didn't attempt to kill them, it would appear too strange.
The Kunlun Mirror appeared above her head. It shone with brilliant light, giving color to the desolate void and revealing the white space controlled by Demon Emperor Blacktiger.
Next, a black crystalline sword appeared in her hand. With a slash, crescent-shaped qi blasted out toward the white sphere. The crescent sliced through the white sphere, causing it to split apart and reveal its contents.
"Monarch Xi," Demon Emperor Blacktiger snarled. He could feel the scar on the left side of his face throbbing in pain.
"That's my son's title now. It's Sovereign Xi, now," Mengfei said while brandishing her sword.
Demon Emperor Blacktiger snorted. "Who cares. I'll make sure he never becomes an emperor."
"Wait, Mother! He's trying to rile you up. Calm down!" the palm-sized Tianyi shouted, but it was as if his words had entered through one ear and exited out the other.
Mengfei's expression didn't change, but her killing intent erupted. The next thing Demon Emperor Blacktiger knew, she was in front of him with a sword raised above.
She slashed down.
"AH! My eye!" Demon Emperor Blacktiger shouted as he backpedaled.
Mengfei glanced toward San Juling, who was staring at her in hatred. She waved her sword, and another crescent-shaped qi flew at him. San Jiuling tried to escape, but it was obvious that he was too slow.
At the last moment, a hand reached out and grabbed him by the back of his collar and pulled him out of the way.
San Jiuling stared at Donghai Longzi gratefully, to which the latter snorted. "Don't thank me. Emperor Blacktiger wants to keep that turtle alive. If you die, then so will the turtle."
Although Donghai Longzi's words were brash and unlikeable, San Jiuling felt that it was only right. If Donghai Longzi didn't have a motive, he would have become suspicious. "Let's go before you get killed again."
San Jiuling nodded and followed Donghai Longzi to the floating landmass that was unperturbed by the harsh environment of the Vast Void. Once there, San Jiuling noticed a small black tortoise floating at the center. "Turt Little!"
None of the demons dared to stop him, despite their more impressive size. Few were in the True Demon Realm, and they had seen his spar with Donghai Longzi. Although Donghai Longzi made San Jiuling seem weak, that was only in comparison.
San Jiuling stopped a distance away, not because he wanted to but because an invisible barrier stopped him in his tracks. He sighed and then turned toward the ongoing battle between the Xi Mengfei and Demon Emperor Blacktiger.
Once again, hatred appeared in his eyes.
Next to him, the nails on Donghai Longzi's sharpened into claws. After a moment, they returned to normal, and he also observed the battle between a demon and a human.
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Mengfei didn't pursue San Jiuling for two reasons. One, because Donghai Longzi saved him, and two, Demon Emperor Blacktiger was charging at her.
Demon Emperor Blacktiger increased in size until he was over ten thousand meters long. Compared to him, Mengfei was but a speck of dust. The demon emperor raised his paw, his claw lengthened until they were thrice as long and coated in an aura of metal.
Mengfei didn't retreat in the face of the incoming slash. Instead, she charged forward and slashed out her own attack. Despite sound being untransmittable in the Vast Void, a sonic explosion still occurred. Demon Emperor Blacktiger was forced back, while Mengfei's momentum only slowed momentarily.
Numerous crystalline swords materialized around Demon Emperor Blacktiger. Before he had a chance to react, they all impaled him, causing him to roar in pain. Not only that, the crystalline swords absorbed his blood, turning red the more blood they absorbed and causing his flesh to shrivel.
Demon Emperor Blacktiger unleashed a bestial roar that shattered the space of the Vast Void. Then, a giant apparition of a white tiger manifested above him. Its size reached over a hundred thousand meters and caused all life who saw it to kneel subconsciously.
On the floating landmass, both Donghai Longzi and San Jiuling forced themselves to stay on their feet even as they felt their body creak from the exertion. The demons behind them had long kneeled. The only one unaffected was Mengfei.
Her eyes narrowed as the crystalline sword in her hand disappeared. The Kunlun Mirror floated between her hands, reflecting the image of Mengfei's Tri-Unity World.
Green and white energy coalesced between the apparition's jaws. Although it was being condensed, Mengfei could feel the metal and wind essence that formed it and the profound divine-level law the innate ability drew upon. More importantly, she could recall the numerous monarchs that were felled by Demon Emperor Blacktiger's innate ability, White Tiger Roar, from the Divine Beast-Human War.
Mengfei's eyes shone with determination as the metal and wind orb shot toward her from the White Tiger's jaw. The reflection of the Tri-Unity World materialized behind Mengfei, and the White Tiger Roar harmlessly phased through her and into the Tri-Unity Realm.
"Impossible!" Demon Emperor Blacktiger shouted. This was his most powerful ability, his trump card. The one reason he had the confidence to face immortal sovereigns, yet it was so easily invalidated by Mengfei?
Demon Emperor Blacktiger noticed upon closer inspection that Mengfei's face had paled, showing that it was not as easy as it appeared but still far from his expectations. Before he could do anything else, the Kunlun Mirror unleashed a radiant light.
The White Tiger Roar that was absorbed into the Tri-Unity World was shot back at Demon Emperor Blacktiger. It crashed into the White Tiger manifestation, causing it to crumble into millions of pieces. Demon Emperor Blacktiger roared in pain and felt as if his mind had also been split into a million pieces.
Mengfei raised her finger, causing the red crystalline swords to pull themselves from the demon emperor's body, causing him even more pain. After storing those swords, she charged toward the defenseless Blacktiger, a crystalline sword in hand.
However, before she could near, red lightning flashed between her and the demon emperor. Mengfei turned toward the source to see two more figures she hadn't seen since the Divine Beast-Human War: a red dragon and a cyan bird.