High above the Huang Realm and the other realms that orbited it, Tianyi sat in a lotus position. One level below him were the immortal officials. Essence of fire, water, earth, metal, and wood circled around him and the immortal officials.
Not just the essence of the five elements, but yin, yang, light, darkness, space and time essences also revolved around them. They circled Tianyi the most, followed by the immortal officials, then the second-ranked officials and so on. They would brush against their bodies. Most of the essence would slide off, but a little bit would enter their bodies.
Below, the realms Tianyi plucked slowly rotated with the Huang Realm at its center. Of the ninety-eight realms plucked, only fifty-seven remained. The other forty-one realms had merged with the Huang Realm, strengthening the latter.
At this moment, a middle-ranked realm merged into the borders of the Huang Realm. The two realms' dimensional boundaries clashed, and as they merged, it caused damage to both, more so for the middle-ranked realm than the Huang Realm.
The destroyed portion of the two realms floated to the top. During the process, they disintegrated into a cloudy gray energy and elemental essences. Tianyi stored the cloudy gray energy, which was realm essence, and allowed the elemental essence to circle around him and everyone else.
When all the realms merged into one, the process of upgrading the Huang Realm would become complete, and by then, the Huang Realm would gain a new name.
In Tianyi’s estimation, the Huang Realm would evolve into a peak immortal-rank realm, comparable to a divine-rank realm. If he could, Tianyi would have wanted to upgrade the Huang Realm into a divine-rank realm, but to do so, he would need to be a divinity or have the power of one.
“Huh?” Tianyi opened his eyes and glanced toward the outer fringes of the zone where the realms orbited. ‘Did something go wrong with Jun Qiangwu?’
All the conduits of Tianyi shared one mind. Although they appeared to act independently, they were all controlled by Tianyi’s consciousness inside the Nine Heaven Universe. If the conduits lost complete connection to the inner universe, they would cease functioning and fall inactive like puppets.
So, the most powerful conduit of Tianyi, the one above the Huang Realm, also knew what happened in the low-ranked realm.
He was about to have one of his other conduits teleport to the low-rank realm, but he stopped. Perhaps he should experiment.
Tianyi focused his thoughts and the space above the low-rank realm trembled. It contracted and expanded repeatedly until it transformed into a humanoid. Endless stars lit up within the humanoid, including the Nine Heavens System.
The cosmic giant he created wasn’t from using the power of his inner cosmos, but his control over the spacetime around the Huang Realm and other realms. If his previous cosmic giant was the internal cosmic giant, this was the external cosmic giant.
Calling it a giant was a disservice. Its height easily dwarfed all the cosmic giants he formed before, at nearly a hundred thousand kilometers. It rivaled the entire low-rank realm.
However, such size was useless. Despite its seemingly impressive power, it was spread apart. If the external cosmic giant punched the low-rank realm, it would only feel like a particularly strong breeze had passed.
Tianyi clenched his fist. ‘Condense!’
The external cosmic giant started to shrink. From nearly a hundred thousand kilometers to ten thousand kilometers, a thousand kilometers, a hundred kilometers. It kept shrinking until it was only a thousand meters tall, at which point it entered the low-rank realm.
Since it would cause irreparable damage on landing, the cosmic giant didn’t directly touch the ground. Instead, it just hovered barely above.
Tianyi’s sight, hearing, and his other senses were linked to the cosmic giant’s, so he could see everything. Not that he needed, since he could sense everything that was happening within the zone of merging realms from his original position.
The cosmic giant’s head turned down, causing everyone to appear like deer frozen in headlights. Only Jun Qiangwu showed anything resembling excitement, although apprehension still filled the majority of his face. The other cultivators, outer elders that Xi Ri had brought with him to the lower-rank realm, trembled, fearing the worst.
He ignored them and focused on Jun Qiangwu. The cosmic giant reached down and picked Jun Qiangwu up in his hand. Compared to the cosmic giant, the foundation establishment disciple literally appeared like an ant.
Jun Qiangwu got on his knees and said, “Great Creator, they discovered the system and they grew greedy! They wanted to strip me of the system for their own use!”
Elder Hui and the other members of the Xi Immortal Dynasty grew worried. They didn’t know how a yokel like Jun Qiangwu got in touch with such a powerful existence, but they had their own confidence. As the strongest among them, Elder Hui cupped his hand and said, “Senior, we are members of the Immortal Court. Jun Qiangwu was a member of a peripheral branch, and we hunted him down because he killed his fellow disciples.”
“So what?! They provoked me first, I killed them with just reason!” Jun Qiangwu shouted back.
“You!” Elder Hui shouted. He wanted to elaborate on the situation, so the cosmic giant didn’t get the wrong idea. He was fearful of his life, but not for the Xi Immortal Dynasty. No matter how powerful the unknown senior was, could he be more powerful than the entire Immortal Court?
“Enough.” The cosmic giant had no mouth to speak, but everyone present still heard its words in their ears and minds.
Elder Hui and the other elders of the Xi Immortal Dynasty had an ugly expression. A few even glared at Jun Qiangwu, who happened to see when he looked back. Although his expression didn’t change, his eyes did not lie. After hunting him down for so long, they finally received retribution.
But that superior attitude did not remain for long.
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“I already know everything, including the cause and effect.”
Jun Qiangwu turned his head up and looked the cosmic giant in the eyes. Even with the semblance of human form, the two eyes still resembled the solar and lunar stars to an insignificant mortal like Jun Qiangwu. He felt like he would spontaneously combust if the cosmic giant stared harder.
“Do you know that the leader of the Xi Immortal Palace is surnamed Xi?”
Baffled by the seemingly random question, Jun Qiangwu reflexively shook his head. Although he didn’t know, it didn’t surprise him.
“Then, do you know that I am also surnamed Xi?”
Dread rose from the pits of Jun Qiangwu’s body. It was still at the peak of summer, but it felt colder than a snowstorm. In contrast, the elders of the Xi Immortal Dynasty became excited. They knew the palace lord’s true identity, and they only knew two other people who achieved supreme strength with the surname Xi: The Sword Sovereign, and the Nine Heavens Emperor. The voice earlier was male, so the identity was obvious.
In unison, the elders of the Xi Immortal Dynasty all bowed. “““We greet the Nine Heavens Emperor!!!”””
Jun Qiangwu felt a bomb go off in his head upon hearing the elders’ response and greeting. He stared closely at the cosmic giant. No wonder the Nine Heavens Revenge System told him to join the Xi Immortal Dynasty. At this moment, a hint of anger erupted. Why didn’t the system tell him? If he knew, he would have been more careful.
Now, Jun Qiangwu knew that escape was all but impossible. But since the Nine Heavens Emperor appeared, it meant that he should be valued, right? So, even if he was punished, it wouldn’t be the capital punishment.
“I can understand your hatred toward Qian Jiafeng. Although I do not like it, I can even understand your craziness toward the innocent disciples. If it was only that, I can still let you live.”
Jun Qiangwu’s heart dropped into his stomach. His throat became parched, and he wanted to open his mouth and vindicate himself, but he discovered that he was frozen, like an insect encased in amber.
“But you shouldn’t have practiced the devilish art. No one in this world is allowed to practice them and live.”
Jun Qiangwu wanted to shout and say that he didn’t know, and that he would stop. Alas, he was sealed, but the cosmic giant seemed to know what he was thinking.
“Ignorance is not innocence.”
The cosmic giant clenched its hand and Jun Qiangwu was no more. Not even a cell of his was left. And not just his physical body, but the soul was destroyed as well. Devils were tenacious creatures and even if you killed those that practiced devilish art, the devilish qi would remain. If left unattended, it would wreak havoc, so to prevent this, it must be exterminated. Since the devilish qi was entrenched into the soul, the simplest method was to destroy the soul, too.
When the cosmic giant unclenched his hand, a wisp of devilish qi remained. “How persistent.”
The cosmic giant raised its palm up and, like moths attracted to the fire, streaks of light shot up from everywhere in the low-rank realm and congregated into its palm. Those at the source of light would discover that the person originally standing there disappeared for unknown reason. It happened everywhere, from villages to imperial capitals and even Xanadu.
When the cosmic giant lowered its hand, over a hundred wisps of black qi were present in its palm. It clenched its palm and explosions rang within. When the cosmic giant opened it again, the devilish qi had vanished.
The cosmic giant turned toward the Xi Immortal Dynasty elders. “Tell Xi Ri not to worry. I’ve already taken care of the matter.”
Without waiting for them to respond, the cosmic giant expanded into a giant starry sky before disappearing, returning the low-rank realm to daytime again.
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Tianyi stood up from within the Nine Heavens Palace. He disappeared from his spot and when he reappeared; he was right in front of Xia Meng’s residence. Ever since he resigned from his position as sect master, he moved from the central peak to another mountain and named it Xia Peak, becoming a peak lord.
“Oh? What a rare visitor,” Xia Meng said as he walked out and greeted Tianyi. “Are there any problems?”
Tianyi didn’t smile and showed a serious expression. “There really is a problem.”
“Oh? Just what is it that can stump the famous Nine Heavens Emperor?” Xia Meng asked.
The corner of Tianyi’s lips twitched. “I can accept the praises of monarchs and below, but hearing it from your mouth makes it feel like sarcasm.”
Xia Meng laughed. “Come in. It’s not suitable to talk outside.”
Tianyi followed the middle-aged immortal in. Once both emperors were sitting in front of a table with two cups of steaming two in front of each, Tianyi spoke. “I recently visited several low-rank realms, and I discovered the intrusions of the devils. Although they didn’t appear with their actual bodies, they scattered a lot of devilish art and disrupted the peace of the realms.”
“Oh, that?” Xia Meng asked. At Tianyi’s shocked expression, he calmly picked up his teacup and took a sip first. “The Immortal Court has always known this would happen. How can there be no side effects from the collision of realm boundaries?”
“You mean this is a result of the fusion of realms?”
Xia Meng nodded. “That’s correct. We already knew that this would happen, but you don’t have to worry. It’s nothing more than miscellaneous fishes that slipped through the barrier of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Cleaning them all individually would take too much manpower and time, so I already dispatched immortals to cleanse the realms that just merged with the Huang Realm.”
Tianyi sighed. He thought he discovered a huge crisis, but it turned out he was making a mountain out of a molehill. Still, he had to ask. “Are you sure there won’t be problems? I can help.”
“Hahaha, even if you don’t trust me, you should trust your mother, right?” Xia Meng asked.
“Mother?”
Xia Meng nodded. “Right. She is the head of this cleansing operation. Compared to her, no one else can sense the devilish energy better.”
Tianyi sat there and his eyes clouded over.
“Grand Elder Nine Heavens?” Xia Meng asked.
Tianyi blinked and gave an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I just recalled something.”
Xia Meng nodded. “Is there anything else I can help you with?”
“No, that’s it,” Tianyi said. He stood up. “I must leave right now. I just remembered that I have something to do.”
“Then I will bid you farewell.”
After Tianyi left, he didn’t return to Nine Heavens Peak, but teleported outside Jade Peak Palace. He just stood there, hesitating and wondering if he should just leave. He wanted to leave, but Daoyi’s words rang in his head, chaining his feet to the ground.
Before he could make his decision, the palace gates opened by themselves. His mother, Xi Mengfei, stood there looking at him fondly in her violet robes. “Yi’er, why are you standing there? You should have just teleported inside.”
“How could I simply come in without telling you? I already moved out long ago.”
“No, it’s still your home,” Mengfei said. “There’s no need for this distance. You are my son, and you can leave and come whenever you want. Since you are here, how about staying for a thousand years?”
Tianyi’s lips twitched. Most people would say a few days or week, but his mother directly asked him to stay for a thousand years. He wasn’t even that old yet, okay?
His lips stopped twitching, and he stared at his mother. When he walked up, he realized that she was over half a head shorter than him. ‘When did I grow taller than her?’
“Yi’er, is there something wrong?” Mengfei asked. She reached up and placed her palm on his cheek.
“Mother, there’s something I have to tell you.”