My Master Disconnected Yet Again Chapter 211-220

Chapter 211: Radish Meeting

Lonemoon and the others' bodies were trapped while Lan Hua forcefully tried to activate the array. Both sides were pulling hard, causing their primordial spirits to be pulled back into the rear garden, and scattered into the various immortal herbs. Only Radish remained in its true form.

The array that was trapping Lonemoon pulled the others along as well - all of their auras were connected. One pulled the other so that even though Lan Hua only meant to pull two of them back, he got all seven back.

"Sect Master Shen, we haven't saved one more person," Chen Ge shouted anxiously. Xuan Tong! Xuan Tong's still there!"

Lonemoon did a headcount. Indeed, Xuan Tong could not be found among the radishes.

"Wasn't she in the same array as all of you?" Lan Hua asked.

"She's at the center of the array. She wasn't trapped in the array like we were!" Chen Ge answered. "Besides, Xin Han used her to set up the array. It's way too dangerous over there now!"

"Her aura is not connected to all of yours - she could not come over." Lan Hua frowned. "What's more, her circumstances are quite special. That's not her own body. Unless we find something connected to her soul or her primordial spirit and try to activate the array again, we can't do anything about it."

Chen Ge's radish whitened.

Yi Qing and Shen Ying exchanged a meaningful look.

Something connected to her soul… "There's something!"

"What?"

Yi Qing and Shen Ying both stuffed Chen Ge's radish into the pit at the same time.

"Boss Lan, activate the array!" "…"

A minute later, there was one more radish in the ground!

——————

Five minutes later.

The group of people (or radishes) finally understood their situations. They did not know what to feel. Although they had escaped from the Emperor Ascension Stage, only their primordial spirits were free and not their bodies. That proved that the array was still effective even though it was so old. They could not help but feel worried. Yet, they were Celestial Emperors afterall, and began to discuss possible solutions.

"Our primordial spirits are back, but our bodies are still trapped in that array. We have to rush to the Emperor Ascension Stage."

"But the array is extremely powerful. It could absorb all of our cultivation levels. Are we confident of getting rid of an array like that?"

"Zi Chen planned for this to happen all along. He has been planning to use us to open the heavenly realm gates ever since he was born a few thousand years ago."

"Mm, he was probably the one who planned for his daughter and Xin Han to get thrown into the lower realm. How could things be so coincidental - she fell into the lower realm at the same time as Bai Ti's daughter."

"That's right. I think he had been eyeing Bai Qiao, the Nine- Tail Immortal Fox for a long time, He had planned to sacrifice her for the array the entire time."

"But what should we do now? Even if we rush over, our current bodies would not be able to withstand a fight against Zi Chen and his disciple."

"We don't have to worry about our physical strength now. We were transported here by the Heart Entrapping Array. The Emperor Ascension Stage is about ten thousand miles from here

- there's no way we're going to make it there so quickly. What's more…" Lonemoon lowered his voice and turned to shout at the person next to him, "Shen Ying! Can you stop freaking pouring water over my head!"

"Huh?" Shen Ying, who was holding a watering can, tilted her head. "Didn't you say you were thirsty?"

"Radish was the one who said it was thirsty. I'm Lonemoon!" Lonemoon was trembling with anger by then. "Can you make sure you identify the right radish before you water it?" If you pour any more water over my head I'll become a soaked vegetable!

"Oh." Say so earlier. Shen Ying scratched her head. "Ah, why do all of you look the same?"

"How do we look the same!" We're of different colours! "What's more, isn't this all your fault?" They would not have been radishes if not for her. "We were just trying to find you. Father Niu, stop focusing on all these little details."

"Details my ass!" This isn't even a little detail - they're not even human anymore!

"…" Sure, blame it all on me.

Shen Ying retracted her hand and turned around to water another radish instead.

"Er… Exalted Goddess, I'm Little Birdie."

Shen Ying: "…"

She watered yet another.

"Exalted Goddess, I'm Chicken!" Another…

"Exalted Goddess, I'm Ji Zhe."

Shen Ying: "…"

Yi Qing: "…"

Lan Hua: "…"

All the radishes: "…"

Radish: "Little Big Sister, I'm Radish! I am!"

"Radish, shut up!" Lonemoon's head was starting to hurt. What time was it why was Radish still making a big fuss out of being watered? "Pui!" Radish glared at him. It took over the watering can from Shen Ying using its leaves and watered itself.

"Heh, well…" Chen Ge cleared his throat and veered the topic back. "Young Emperor Lonemoon is right, Invincible Sect is way too far from the Emperor Ascension Stage. By the time we arrive back there, Zi Chen would have almost completely set up his array." Then, they could forget about stopping him. They did not even know yet what he was up to next.

"We could go to the Heavens beyond Heaven first. There are transportation arrays at all the heavenly gates that would take us straight to the Emperor Ascension Stage. That would speed things up a lot," Ji Zhe suggested.

"No way! That'll take too much time as well. It'll take us at least two days to get to the Heavens beyond Heaven from here." Chen Ge shook his head.

"Then what can we do?" Chu Xuan was getting anxious. "The longer our primordial spirits are away from our bodies, the more difficult it would be for us to return to our bodies later. What's more, the array that Zi Chen set up at the Emperor Ascension Stage could possible suck our cultivation levels away. Then…"

He did not complete his sentence. All the radishes (people) understood what he was trying to say. If they waited until then, they would have no idea how far their cultivation levels would have deteriorated. There was a palpable silence in the air.

"I have a solution!" Lan Hua, who had been helping Radish water itself, suddenly spoke up. He scanned the group and then said sarcastically, "It's just about… whether you believe in yourselves."

"The Bite of Ten Thousand Voids!" Lonemoon's radish jumped out of the pit excitedly. How did he forget that technique? Had he not heard that Xin Han himself escaped using the Bite of Ten Thousand Voids? Lan Hua was a demon, he could help them set it up as well.

"That's right." Lan Hua nodded. He looked around at all the radishes once more, raising his voice a pitch higher. " This array could take you all straight to the Emperor Ascension Stage. I could use it to take you there, and it would be my accommodation fees. But I'm not taking anyone else there!" "Why?"

"Hmph!" Lan Hua snorted. "When this bunch of Celestial Emperors ganged up against me, each one was after my life. Why should I help them? What's more… This is an array that belongs to my demon race. Would they dare to enter it?"

He was clearly mocking them. The radishes all reddened. Lan Hua absolutely detested the ten Celestial Emperors. Of the seven here, every single one of them had joined forces to attack him before. They never thought that what they did before would come back to haunt them today.

The atmosphere was incredibly tense. The green radish, Lan Yu, rolled his eyes. You freaking asked for it!

"Lan…" Chen Ge started.

Shen Ying suddenly tugged at Lan Hua. "Don't be petty - set up the array!" "Alright!"

Lan Hua raised his hands and conjured the spell.

Lonemoon: "…"

Yi Qing: "…"

All the radishes "…" Didn't he say he wouldn't send them over?

Lan Hua: "…" Motherf*cker!

He set up the array very quickly. There was already some demonic Qi lingering in the air from the Heart Entrapping Array. In a few seconds, the black Qi in Lan Hua's hands stirred. He pushed it forward, causing a shift in the air. A huge crack appeared. Inside, there was a great amount of demonic Qi flowing continuously. "It's done!" Lan Hua announced unwillingly, turning to glare at all the radishes.

Lonemoon instructed, "Yu Hong, look after the disciples in the sect. Send a letter to Celestial Emperor Bai Ti and tell him that Xin Han wanted to sacrifice his daughter's previous body for the array."

"Yes!"

"Celestial Emperor Biao Ting, please look after everybody's primordial spirits later."

"Alright, no problem!" Biao Ting nodded.

"Lan Hua, look after Xuan Tong."

"I got it." "Shen Ying, Yi Qing, let's go!"

Yi Qing drew his flying sword and helped Shen Ying up onto it. Then, he picked Father Niu up from the pit and flew into the crack.

All the radishes jumped out of the pit and followed Yi Qing in. When they walked past Lan Hua, they could not help but bow the leaves on top of their heads. "Thank you, Celestial Emperor Lan Hua. We never thought that you would put aside what we did to you and set up the array in our time of need. We apologise for what we did to you before."

The corners of Lan Hua's mouth twitched. I did not want to help you. If not for Good Heart…

"Hurry, the array is not going to last for very long." Lan Hua impatiently rushed the bunch of radishes on the ground. He could not tell who was who, but grabbed the last green radish and threw it into the array. Then, he picked Xuan Tong up and jumped in after them." Lan Yu, the green radish that was thrown in: "…" He really should have killed him!

(╯°Д°)╯(┻━┻

Chapter 212: The Battle at the Emperor Ascension Stage

Lan Hua's technique was quite reliable. In a blink of an eye, all of them arrived at the Emperor Ascension Stage. By that time, a red light illuminated the entire stage. It was extremely blinding. Xin Han stood in the middle of the array, controlling it. Zi Chen and Hui Ling were standing on either side of him, protecting it.

"I didn't think your primordial spirits would come back after managing to escape," Xin Han mocked them. He clearly recognised the Celestial Emperors' primordial spirits. Xin Han scanned the crowd, spotted Shen Ying and paused. Then, his eyes widened. "It's you!" There was a flash of panic that crossed his face. As if recalling something, he regained his composure. "The array has been activated. Nothing you do can stop it now."

"Little Biao, stay here. I'm going to save them!" Yi Qing had no time to waste listening to Xin Han's nonsense. He drew his immortal sword and charged forward.

Lan Hua flew out at the same time, heading straight for the bodies that were seated cross-legged in the array, motionless. Suddenly, a golden light shone out of the array. Before the two of them even made contact with it, they rebounded. Yi Qing was quite alright - he was only forced back a couple of steps. Lan Hua's sleeves, on the other hand, caught fire. He took off his Dharma clothing, which were covered in white hot flames, in order to prevent his own body from being burnt. The rich demonic Qi that surrounded his body before had dissipated.

Lan Hua started. That array… cleanses demonic Qi!

"I never thought that all the Celestial Emperors would one day join forces with demons," Xin Han observed coolly, glancing at Lan Hua. He was obviously pleased. "It's a pity that the Emperor Ascension Stage was set up by the divine beings. A demon trying to make contact with something made by divine beings - what a joke."

If immortal Qi and demonic Qi were opposites, divine power would be considered toxic to demonic Qi.  This  Emperor Ascension Stage was actually made by divine beings.

"Celestial Emperor Lan Hua, please remain calm," Chu Xuan reminded him worriedly. Lan Hua''s expression fell. He had no choice but to retract what little demonic Qi he had left inside him.

"I'll do it!" Yi Qing gestured for Lan Hua to step back. He regulated his immortal Qi and a burst of sword Qi rushed forward. A second later, a Great Golden Sword formed, charging straight for the pillar of light.

"Hmph! It's useless." Xin Han did not look in the least bit worried. "You cannot break this Emperor Ascension Stage."

There was a loud crash. Yi Qing used every ounce of energy he had, focusing on his sword intent, willing it to cut through the red pillar of light. The Emperor Ascension Stage only vibrated a little, but the great sword did absolutely no damage to it. There really was no way to get to the bodies inside. The entire Emperor Ascension Stage was covered with this red shield - there was no way to break through it.

"Since you've sent yourselves here to die, I'll grant your wish!" Xin Han's expression hardened. He conjured a seal with both of his hands. "The Spirit Manipulation Technique!" Chen Ge recognised Xin Han's hand movements immediately.

The other radishes' expressions fell at the same time. They could not help but curse under their breaths, "Bastard!"

He was trying to manipulate their own bodies to fight them!

Xin Han's technique worked. The next moment, the bodies that were seated motionless within the array stood up one by one. They looked like puppets controlled by invisible strings as they charged toward Yi Qing.

"Young Emperor Yi, be careful!" Biao Ting shouted.

Yi Qing had no choice but to pause his attack on the pillar of light. He turned to defend himself, fighting four or five bodies at once. Xin Han could only manipulate all the bodies, but apart from Lonemoon and Tao Shu, all the bodies were those of Celestial Emperors. Even without their primordial spirits, they were powerful in their attacks. Biao Ting was having a harder time. He had to protect all the radishes which were unable to fight, and he had to fight off the bodies. He also had to be careful not to cause too much harm to the bodies because they belonged to the radishes.

The situation was extremely tense. All the people had no choice but to play defensive. If they did not break through the array soon, they would never get their bodies back.

Xin Han laughed mirthlessly as he watched the helpless group. Pleased, he said, "You're overestimating yourselves - I said before that no one can break through this array."

"Well…" Before he could finish speaking, he felt someone tap his shoulder. A familiar voice spoke right beside his ear. "You seem to be forgetting about me."

Xin Han jumped and whipped his head around. He immediately paled, as if he had just seen a ghost. "You… how did you get in here?" That's impossible! This was a divine array - how could she come in even after the array had been activated? "How did you do that?" "I jumped in!" Shen Ying pointed at the artifact that all the radishes were standing on. There was no space to walk past them, so she had no choice but to jump.

"No! That's impossible! What kind of person are you?" Xin Han's expression was panicked and wild - he could not believe what he was seeing.

"Alright, alright. Stop your nonsense! I haven't even eaten dinner!" Shen Ying waved her hand at him.

Xin Han suddenly remembered something and all the colour drained out of his face. He supposed it was true that extreme fear could unlock one's potential. "No!" He shouted, regulating his immortal Qi and retreating as fast as he could. Within the next few seconds, he cast several spells. Suddenly, on the Emperor Ascension Stage, there were ice towers, fire dragons, wind blades and bolts of lightning targeted at Shen Ying.

None of these had any effect on her whatsoever, except that she suddenly could not see clearly thanks to the myriad of colours flashing before her eyes. She reached out instinctively, meaning to grab Xin Han's arms. She caught something and pulled, hearing a tear. Shen Ying looked down and saw that she was holding a long and wide piece of cloth, with embroideries of clouds on it.

Her mind went black. Then she thought, could this be…  a belt?

She turned and saw that three steps away from her, a pair of white trousers lay on the floor. Xin  Han  stood  a  metre  away from her bare-legged and frightful.

Shen Ying: "…"

Zi Chen: "…"

Hui Ling: "…"

Er…

The corner of Shen Ying's mouth twitched. If she said she did not do that on purpose, would they believe her?

(╯_╰)

"Well…" She returned the belt. Then, she hurt Father Niu's urgent voice.

"Shen Ying, what the hell are you doing over there? Hurry, we can't hold up any longer." Outside the array, Lonemoon and the other radishes were trapped by the bodies that Xin Han manipulated. Biao Ting and Lan Hua could not fight them. They could only shout for help!

Shen Ying paused. She threw one end of the belt to the group of radishes. The belt was a part of the Dharmic clothing. Suddenly, it lengthened and turned into a rope, which circled around Father Niu and the rest. Then, she pulled the rope, dragging the group of them into the array. With a quick flick of her wrist, she threw the end of the rope to Yi Qing.

The group of bodies which were being manipulated by the Spirit Manipulation Technique fell down to the ground. Shen Ying threw the belt aside.

"Your turn!"

Xin Han stepped back when he saw Shen Ying turn to him. He tried to conjure a spell, but a red light suddenly flashed past the bottom of Shen Ying's feet. The array took shape below her feet

- it looked just like the one that trapped all the others on the Emperor Ascension Stage earlier.

The circular pattern started to change. A red light formed at the bottom of each person's feet - including Zi Chen and Hui Ling.

"Little Han, what are you doing?" By the time Zi Chen realised what was happening, it was too late. He could not move. His cultivation level was dropping bit by bit. He looked at the people around him in panic.

Shen Ying paused. Is this… a rebellion?

Chapter 213: Seal on the Emperor Stage

"Master, your disciple is only helping you accomplish what you wanted to do," Xin Han replied with a cold look in his eyes. He looked like Zi Chen like he was looking at a dead man.

"What do you mean?" ZI Chen paled.

Xin Han tutted, filled with the intent to kill. "Don't think I didn't know that this array was meant to concentrate everybody's cultivation level into one place. In other words, even if the divine realm gates opened, only one person would make it to become a divine being. Master was planning to kill me after everything was accomplished so that you alone could make it to the divine realm."

"You…" Zi Chen's expression was a mask of panic. Then, a thought flickered in his mind.

"Xin Han!" Hui Ling, who was standing by the side, shouted anxiously. "I did not know his plan. Why are you treating me this way? I trusted you!" "Little Xuan…" For the first time, Xin Han's looked pained. Yet, he did not undo the array underneath Hui Ling's feet. "I still love you, but why are you his daughter? Rather than have you hate me in the future, why not-"

"I'm not his daughter," Hui Ling interrupted, panicked. She completely lost her look of innocence from before. "I've already reincarnated. Whatever happened in my past life has nothing to do with me now."

"All of this doesn't matter anymore. Don't worry, when I become a divine being, I will find a way to resurrect you."

"I don't want it!"

Xin Han ignored her cry and turned to face the group of bodies that were on their way back and Shen Ying. His panic now turned into excitement as he announced, "Thank you for sending these additions to the array back here so that I could set up the array all over again. These people are going to lose their cultivations once the realm gates open!" With both his hands, he activated the array and laughed maniacally. He would have had a victorious look about him if… he was not bare-legged.

-_-|||

"How does it feel to be trapped in this ancient divine array?" Xin Han mocked. "No matter how strong you are, you won't be able to-"

Before he could finish, Shen Ying looked down at her feet. She felt nothing. Then… she stepped out.

Xin Han: "…"

The father and daughter: "…"

Everyone: "…" "How… how is this possible!" Xin Han shook his head, trying to shake away this illusion. "This is a divine array! How could you… This is impossible!"

"I'm great, aren't I?" Shen Ying tilted her head. She looked slightly confused as she said, "Let me try." She squatted down and clenched her fists. Then, she punched the ground.

There were a series of cracks. A long, wide crack appeared. The next moment, the entire Emperor Ascension Stage began to crack open. It looked like falling domino tiles. Cracks began to spread all around the stage, with Shen Ying in the center of it all. The next moment, it looked like a spider web had been laid out on top of the Emperor Ascension Stage - it was completely covered with cracks.

The red array fell apart.. There was a burst of red light and the people who had lost control of their bodies before fell to the ground. There was a loud ring and the red pillar of light disappeared as well. What remained were red sparks in the air.

"Its quality isn't that great!" Shen Ying shook her head. Everyone: "…"

"No!" Xin Han looked at where the pillar of light was, looking like he was about to break down. "The Heavenly Pillar… Realm Gate!" No way! He was so close to accomplishing his plan - just a little bit more to go and he would have become a divine being.

"Master, are you alright?" Once the array disappeared, Yi Qing was the first to fly onto the stage. The moment he landed, he surveyed the cracks and pulled Shen Ying onto his flying sword.

"Yes," Shen Ying replied, dusting her hands.

Biao Ting carried the group of radishes and flew onto the stage as well.

"Why did  you  take  so  long  this  time?"  Lonemoon  pulled

himself onto Yi Qing's sword and glared at Shen Ying. Wasn't she used to getting things settled within a minute or two? She took five minutes this time! "You dare to destroy this divine array!" Xin Han's eyes were red with anger. He looked deranged as he glared at Shen Ying. "You deserve to- Pu…"

He could not finish his threat before he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He spat out a mouthful of blood. Looking down, he saw a fist punch right through his chest. That fist was Zi Chen's.

"Ah!" Hui Ling screamed as she too was taken aback by the punch. The colour drained from her  face,  but  she  did  not  go over to support Xin Han.

"You…"

"Good disciple, I forgot to tell you that the Emperor Ascension Stage really is a heavenly pillar, but it cannot open the divine realm gates!" Zi Chen grinned as he watched Xin Han's panicked expression. "Because there is no array around the Emperor Ascension Stage at all - it was just a seal!"

Zi Chen retracted his fist, dragging Xin Han's primordial spirit out from inside his body. The immortal Qi that surrounded Zi Chen's body immediately changed into black demonic Qi.

"You are…" Those were Xin Han's last two words before he drew his final breath. He collapsed onto the ground, the look of shock etched on his lifeless face.

"That's… demonic Qi!" Biao Ting exclaimed. He watched the man who suddenly transformed. Zi Chen was a demon. How could that be?

"You're a Skyfiend!" Lan Hua's eyes widened. Only Skyfiends could disguise their demonic Qi as immortal Qi.

The demonic Qi around Zi Chen's body exploded. He turned to address the group. "I need to thank you all for destroying the Emperor Ascension Stage for me so that I could break the seal!"

He raised his palm and dealt a blow on the stage underneath his feet, extinguishing the last bit of red light that remained in the air. The Emperor Ascension Stage was now in smithereens. The next moment, a huge amount of demonic Qi  surged through the air. Within moments, the entire Heavens beyond Heaven was filled with demonic Qi. Everything looked dimmer.

"We have to leave!" Lan Hua shouted. He led the group of people who had found their bodies away from the Emperor Ascension Stage.

But the demonic Qi was moving way faster than them. The radishes scanned the demonic Qi around them in shock. There was too much of it! They had never seen so much demonic Qi in one place before. It felt just like they were in the  demonic realm. Everything around them was dark and they could hear Zi Chen's maniacal laughter by their ears.

"Hahaha… I've waited for tens of thousands of years and I've finally broken the seal!" He shouted.

"What's that?" Someone cried.

They looked back. Where the Emperor Ascension Stage was, a large amount of demonic Qi had condensed, building up to the sky. It looked like it was going to form something. The next second, something huge appeared, which seemed to connect the heavens to the earth. It looked… quite familiar!

Lonemoon's heart had risen up to his throat, but it dropped back down immediately. He pursed his lips and nudged the person beside him.

"Yi Qing, I'm not seeing things, am I? That's-"

"Yes, that is."

"I want to go back and eat all of a sudden."

"…"

The rest of them only realised what it was when the demonic Qi solidified.

"It's a gate?" "The gates of the demonic realm! It's the gates of the demonic realm!"

"So this was what the Emperor Ascension Stage was sealing.."

"He trapped us here not to become a divine being but to break open the gates of the demonic realm."

All the radishes became pale when they realised what was happening.

"Hahaha…" Zi Chen laughed once again. "The seal is broken. It's time for the demonic realm to be joined to the three realms!"

There was a loud crash. Two huge black gates appeared, slightly opened. More demonic Qi escaped those gates and continued to fill the air around them. A voice from  hell sounded, echoing throughout all of the Heavens  beyond Heaven.

"Who has summoned the gate?" Zi Chen could hardly contain his excitement. He knelt before the half-opened gates. "Greetings, my king!"

"Could it be…" The observers' faces were drained of all colour.

They did not even dare to utter their guess.

The gates opened even further, so that two people would have been able to fit through it. A black and big figure appeared behind them. No one recognised him, but they all felt a bone- chilling aura emanating from the figure. It froze  their primordial spirits so that they could not even move to defend themselves. If not for their high cultivation levels, they might have even been very seriously injured already.

Until…

The figure's gaze landed on Shen Ying.

"Hey! Little Black!" She waved.

The figure inside paused, and the demonic Qi suddenly stopped surging.

Everybody fell silent for two whole seconds.

The next moment, there was another loud crash. The demonic gates that had already opened more than halfway were sealed once again.

Shen Ying: "…"

Zi Chen: "…"

The radishes who did not yet understand what was going on: "…"

What's… happening?

Σ(°△°|||) The three men from Invincible Sect and Chen Ge: Ah, it's time to go back for dinner.

Chapter 214: Crowd Rebellion

The ultimate move that Zi Chen had painstakingly planned for tens of thousands of years had been a dud, the people from the Celestial World were all stunned. For a few moments, the surrounding area was exceptionally quiet and even the demonic Qi that had been permeating the air seemed to have frozen in place.

The crowd had were unable to respond to what had happened.

Five minutes later…

Shen Ying looked at the tightly shut Demon World door in front of her, she raised her hand and knocked on it.

"Little Black, open the door!"

"I don't want to!" A frightened voice voiced its objection from beyond the door. "Just come out for a while, I have something to ask you."

"No, I don't want to come out from this door anymore." Sniff, sniff, how scary!

Shen Ying: "What are you crying for? I won't hit you!"

Little Black: "… Really?"

Shen Ying: "Yes."

Little Black: "Really, really?"

Shen Ying: "Yes."

Little Black: "Really really rea…"

Shen Ying: "If you say anything more, I'll hit you right now." As her voice landed, the door creaked and finally opened. It was still the Demon King dressed in black with his pair of blood- red eyes. The surrounding demonic Qi became even more intense and as compared to his overbearing nature previously, he was now exceptionally obedient, tears welling up in his eyes, even his burly body was much shorter than just now.

"What are you kneeling on the ground for?" Shen Ying looked at the person on the floor and asked.

The Demon King shuddered and replied seriously, "Exalted Goddess, I feel that you look exceptionally majestic when I look at you while kneeling."

Shen Ying: "…"

Everyone: "…"

What was this sudden urge to light a candle for Zi Chen?

Shen Ying's mouth twitched and she threw Zi Chen, who she had casually dealt with on her way here at him, saying, "Explain, what's going on here?"

The Demon King immediately tried to shirk off all relations with him by moving two steps to the side. He then replied, "Exalted Goddess, I'm really innocent! I don't know anything, I only came because I heard someone summoning me. I didn't know that the Celestial World was behind the door." If he had known, he would never have opened the door.

"You mean…" Shen Ying's voice became sullen, "There are many other doors like this one?"

The demon prince's expression paled and cold sweat rushed down his face, "Per… per… perhaps… I think!" Oops, he had let the cat out of the bag!

Beside him, Yi Qing had also understood and his heart sank. Indeed, this door had looked identical to the one that had opened in the Invincible Sect, but this was the Emperor Ascension Stage and it was evident that they were not the same door. This meant that there was not just one door that led from the Celestial World to the Demon World. "How many of these doors are there!" Yi Qing asked.

"This…"

The Demon King clenched his teeth and prepared to answer, but Zi Chen who had been lying on the ground suddenly responded with an expression of disbelief, "My king, what are you doing? You only need to give the order and the army of the Demon World will conquer the Three Realms. Why are you…"

"Shut up!" The Demon King sent a wave of suppression towards him and crushed him back on the ground, this little b*tch trying to accuse me! Where would the Demon World army

come from, the 10 Skyfiends had already been defeated by them

and were still lying in their Demon Palaces licking their wounds!

"Exalted Goddess, please listen to my explanation!" The Demon King was in tears and looked at Shen Ying weakly, saying, "All this was done by the previous Demon King! He wanted to conquer the Three Realms, so he had sent our people to conduct subterfuge within the Three Realms. It's not just the Celestial World, the lower realm has them too. They are all Mission Demons, once the realm door is opened, they will be able to summon Demon Kings immediately. However, I … do not know exactly how many there are." He frantically said everything he knew.

"You're saying that there are more demons in the Celestial World?" Lonemoon was astonished.

"There should be … I think?" He nodded, then continued saying, "The lower realm is not a good place, so the previous Demon King had wanted to conquer the Celestial World. However, millions of years ago, the Celestial World and the Divine World were connected, so he could not find an opportunity to strike."

Lonemoon thought about it carefully and understood the entire story. In the past, the demons had been afraid of the divine race, so they did not dare to lay their hands on the Celestial World. Afterwards, the Divine World and the Celestial World had a falling out, but left the Emperor Ascension Stage to seal off the door to the Demon World. The Demon King was unhappy with it, so he had sent these people to create chaos to try to open the world door. Zi Chen had been one of his men, but after so many years of preparation, the Demon King was already another person. Most importantly, he had run into Shen Ying. At that moment, he did not know whether to be happy for the Celestial World or to mourn for Zi Chen.

"Can you find these people?" Shen Ying asked.

"Yes, of course!" The Demon King immediately nodded his head like a little chicken. These were the Exalted Goddess' orders, he needed to, absolutely had to, it was a definite must!

"That's fine then, within three days, think of a way to get your men out of here." Shen Ying waved her hand and continued saying, "In the future, manage your territory properly and don't come out for a stroll with no good reason."

"Yes Exalted Goddess, no problem Exalted Goddess!"

"Alright, you can go now."

"Yes, Exalted Goddess!" The Demon King let out a sigh of relief and picked himself up speedily while picking up Zi Chen who had already  fainted. With a whoosh, he had snuck into the door and disappeared.

——————

Three days later.

The Demon King was actually quite efficient. He had taken out a Skyfiend token, it was a Dharma artifact for summoning demons. One day after he had used it, there were people reporting at the door to the Demon World one after the other.

Within these people, there were insignificant immortals, immortals who were famous throughout the Celestial World and one of them was even the emperor of a country. Although they were not Skyfiends, they all had means to disguise their demon identity. The Immortal Emperors were shocked to see all these people and a cold sweat ran down their spine. If it was not for Shen Ying, perhaps the Celestial World would really fall into the hands of the Demon World not long after. These people were all brought back by Little Black into the Demon World and the crisis was averted. Zi Chen had also been brought back into the Demon World, but by the look on the Demon King's face, he would probably not have a good end.

The only person who had not been dealt with was Hui Ling. The things that she had done were not unforgivable, but they were definitely not minor either. The entire incident had not been because of her and she had been influenced by Xin Han, but she had deceived her elders and robbed them of their Divine Artifacts.

Putting the others aside, the person with the most right to deal with her, also the person who had been tricked the hardest was Chen Ge. Thus, the other Immortal Emperors left it up to him to decide.

"Strip her of her immortal bones and her cultivation, then send her to the lower realm." Chen Ge's expression did not change as he announced Hui Ling's punishment.

While Chen Ge's punishment might have seemed lenient, to Hui Ling, it was the most severe punishment she could receive. For someone who had already become immortal, who would want to reincarnate and be reborn as a mortal. Moreover, an immortal whose immortal bones had been removed could not cultivate again. A mortal's lifespan would not last longer than 100 years, to Hui Ling, who was previously an immortal, it was probably a fate worse than death.

It seemed like her previous actions had left Chen Ge's heart frozen. He no longer indulged her actions.

"Emperor Lonemoon, what do you think about this punishment?" Chen Ge turned his head and looked at the red radish beside him.

"It's none of my business!" Lonemoon glared at him, the temper he had been keeping in for days finally erupting. He then said, "Put the matter aside. Didn't you say that if we hurried and found our bodies, we could go back? Why am I still a radish?"

"…"

"Uh…" Chen Ge's mouth twitched, then said in a sullen voice, "Emperor, our bodies are all severely injured. If our primordial spirits go back into our bodies all of a sudden, our injuries might become worse. We need to consider it seriously, we can't rush it!"

"Alright! Even if we need to wait for our bodies to recuperate before we can go back, then…" He took a deep breath and looked at the entire room of radishes and howled, "Why are you all still here?!"  The  fight  was  already  over,  shouldn't  they  be  going

back? What were they leeching on the Invincible Sect for? The

water for watering them didn't come free!

The radishes all stiffened.

"Father Niu, it isn't really appropriate for them to bounce back like this!" Shen Ying interrupted. They were Immortal Emperors after all and had reputations to protect.

"You shut up!" Lonemoon's gaze immediately turned to her and he shouted, "If it wasn't for you, would our bodies end up this beaten up! Would we need to bounce around like radishes all day?" Shen Ying did a double take and replied, "Wasn't it you who asked me to hurry up that day."

"I was asking you to beat up the b*stard Xin Han! Who asked you to lash at us with your belt."

"I did that to save all of you!" Sure, blame me for your weak bodies!

"Save us, my foot! Is that saving?" When they came back and inspected their bodies, they realized that because of her lashing at them with her belt, out of their nine bodies, eight had their meridians destroyed and immortal bones damaged. The only one who was better off was Xuan Tong, but that was because she was alone. Initially, Xin Han had not controlled her body to attack them, she had only suffered excessive blood loss from the array sacrifice. So, she had returned to her fox body while the rest were radishes.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't suppress his anger! "Also, move that d*mn watering pot away from my head, stop watering me. Are you color-blind! I already told you I'm not a radish!"

Shen Ying: "…"

Yi Qing: "…"

The various Emperors:"..."

——————

Their bodies had been injured and they could not return to their bodies temporarily, so they were all worried. Moreover, because six of the eight radishes were Celestial Emperors, those who had lower cultivation than them would be injured if they tried to heal their bodies. The only person who could do it was Little Biao, but it would take forever to heal them one by one, so he eventually thought of a more efficient method.

"Since all the Immortal Emperors' primordial spirits are in immortal herbs, the immortal herbs are of the wood element, so why not let their actual bodies be surrounded by the same aura too?" Biao Ting continued seriously, "Moreover, the earth and wood elements are complementary to each other, they can use this method to induct the elements into their bodies for self- healing. The back mountain has immortal soil and can aid in…"

"Speak human language!" Shen Ying interrupted him.

"Oh, it means that we just need to bury their bodies in the back mountain, perhaps they will grow back just like radishes."

"…"

The radishes all fell silent, no matter what method it was, they could only try it. So, they all hugged their own bodies and buried them in the back mountain. Perhaps it was the trauma of the Emperor Ascension Stage, they planted themselves tidily into a circle, just like their positions when they were trapped.

Regardless, Little Biao's method was indeed effective. Their bodies had started to regain the flow of their meridians under the regulation of the immortal vein and the earth aura, repairing their bodies automatically. Thus, in order to increase the speed of recuperation, they all took out multiple immortal veins and planted them in the ground. For a moment, the Immortal Qi in the Invincible Sect had even exceeded that of the Heavens beyond Heaven. Under the nourishment of so many immortal veins, their bodies started to recover visibly. Moreover, the immortal herbs that would take tens of thousands of years to mature had done so in a couple of hours, causing the disciples to harvest them until their hands were weak.

As he saw this, Lonemoon rescinded the thought of having the few of them pay for accommodation.

The few of them were buried in the back mountain for half a month and their bodies had almost recovered. As they were about to fully recover in one fell swoop, a piece of unexpected news spread from the Heavens beyond Heaven.

"What? Hui Ling escaped?" Lonemoon was stunned.

Chen Ge's expression became grim. He was not in fit shape to go out now, so Biao Ting was the one who had escorted her and she was temporarily locked up in the immortal prison. Normally, her punishment was also settled by transmission amulets, so nobody had expected her to be able to escape from the Immortal Rainbow Palace's immortal prison.

"With her cultivation, it's impossible for her to break through the array formation. Who helped her?"

"It was… it was…" The sound in the transmission amulet got softer and replied with a trace of hesitation, "Emperor, it was Lu Ming."

"What!" Chen Ge was shocked and had an expression of disbelief. Half of his radish face was red with anger. He knew that Lu Ming was on good terms with Hui Ling, but he did not expect that he would defy him because of that. "This d*mn disciple!"

He had only taken in two disciples, but he had not expected each to be worse than the other. Even the other radishes in their holes shot him pitying glances. Chen Ge took a deep breath to suppress his boiling anger and said in a grim voice, "Where have they escaped to?"

"They did… didn't escape!" The voice in the transmission amulet became even weaker.

"What do you mean?"

The voice stopped for a moment, then hesitantly replied, "Lu Ming said that Emperor was harmed by the wicked people in the Invincible Sect and is now nowhere to be found. The person who gave the order to detain Junior Sister Hui Ling must not be you, so he has contacted all the country emperors to … to take revenge for you."

Chen Ge: "…"

Lonemoon: "…"

All the radishes: "…" Yo, they did not expect Hui Ling to have such sleek moves, she was way more intellectual than when she was completely in love.

She understood best where Chen Ge was and what had happened to them. Now, she was using revenge as an excuse to take advantage of Chen Ge's injury to rebel and kill him off, then replace him?

She probably knew that she could not escape heavy punishment and decided to go for an all or nothing.

The crowd thought about it and immediately understood, but their gazes towards Chen Ge became full of pity. They were all rejoicing internally that they did not take in disciples out of boredom.

However… to ally with the country emperors to attack the Invincible Sect? Were they out of their minds? Although Chen Ge was a radish now, Lan Hua, Biao Ting, Yi Qing and the rest were not to be trifled with. Moreover, there was still Shen Ying. The radishes were all about to discuss Chen Ge's disciples' intelligence, but Yu Hong hurriedly ran over and said, panting, "Elder Lonemoon, there are many unfamiliar immortals that have appeared at the foot of the mountain, shouting about wanting to take revenge for the Immortal Emperors."

"I know, it's the country emperors men, right." Lonemoon nodded and continued, "You inform Little Biao…"

"No!" Before he could finish, Yu Hong shook her head and said, "They're from the Phoenix Heaven."

"What?" Blackbird nearly jumped out from his hole in shock, "Why would my people be here? Little Hong, are you sure you saw correctly?"

"I'm sure!" Yu Hong declared certainly, "They are all demon immortals, claiming to be here to take revenge for you. I told them you were fine, but they wouldn't listen."

"…" Blackbird had an expression of confusion. He wasn't even dead, what revenge were they talking about! Oh my, oh my, these bumbling idiots.

Suddenly, with a giant crash, a transparent force field appeared above the Invincible Sect, surrounding the entire Sect.

That was… the Protective Mountain Array!

There was someone who was forcefully attacking them!

Blackbird felt himself freeze up. Holy shit! Those idiots really dared to come up!

The few of them had not recovered from the shock before they saw droves of immortals flying in the air, covering half the sky. They were not just from the East's Phoenix Heaven, even the West's Cloud Pool, the North's Cloud Sea and the South's Chang Nuo were all…

Apart from Biao Ting's Qing Ze Continent,  the  immortals from the other continents had all gathered and had coordinated to surround the entire Invincible Sect. The radishes who had just gathered to watch a show all had grim expressions now.

Going to die, going to die, going to die, oh my god, we're going to die!

Σ(°△°|||)

Chapter 215: Sect Battle

The sky around the Invincible Sect was surrounded by immortals, all teeming with Immortal Qi. Apart from Hui Ling and Lu Ming, there were famous immortals from other continents who were at least Stygian Immortals. What was surprising was that none of the country emperors from Feng Cang were here, those who followed behind the two of them were all unfamiliar faces with low cultivation levels.

The immortals came with a vengeance, attacking the array without any warning. All sorts of Dharma spells were used, covering the entire sky with glows of multicolored sorcery. However, the moment they were fired, they were all blocked by the Protective Mountain Array and none of them could break through.

After all, Lan Hua had personally set up the Protective Mountain Array, they could not break in with just the country emperors' Immortal Emperor cultivation level. At the same time, all the Invincible Sect disciples had already gathered at the public square in front of the palace.

Biao Ting had also been alarmed and was looking at the entire sky of immortals. What were they doing? Seeking death together?

"Everyone, the Invincible Sect has wild ambitions of ruling the Celestial World, so they set a trap for the Emperors, causing them to die. All us immortals have been under the protection of the Emperors for so long, now that they have fallen to such a calamity, we need to take revenge for them." In the air, a male voice suddenly sounded out, echoing throughout the entire Invincible Sect.

At that moment, the immortals in the air became even more agitated and all started shouting for revenge.

"Stop your nonsense!" Biao Ting rebutted in anger, a Celestial Emperor's suppression evident in his voice, instantly shutting up the rest of the immortals. "Who told you that the Emperors are dead?"

Perhaps because they felt his Celestial Emperor's suppression, all the immortals who were attacking the Protective Mountain Array stopped. Biao Ting flew into the air, looking at the immortals from inside the array formation. Realizing that there were no demon immortals from Qing Ze, he heaved a sigh of relief. As he turned to look at the two people who were in charge, he frowned.

"It's you?" Weren't these the traitors who were Chen Ge's disciples?

"Emperor Biao Ting, you don't have to act anymore." Lu Ming appeared to have no fear for his identity and humphed, saying, "Since the Invincible Sect dared to do such a thing, they would naturally find an ally. You are in cahoots with them."

"A little Golden Immortal like you better not speak out of turn." Biao Ting's expression became grim and his suppression headed straight towards Lu Ming. "The entire Invincible Sect, especially sect master Shen, are all benevolent immortals. The things that you have said were done by that lady beside you. Now that the cat is out of the bag, she wants to push the blame onto the Exalted Goddess? I am indeed a good friend of the Invincible Sect, but that is of my own volition!" I found a solid backer with my own ability, it's none of your business!

Lu Ming  was  forced  back  by  his  suppression  and  had  a flustered expression. He turned around hurriedly and said, "Emperor Bai Ti, you've heard it as well! The Invincible Sect is indeed colluding with Qing Ze."

The immortals opened up a path and a person flew forward.

"Bai Ti!" Biao Ting was also shocked for a moment. Why was he here?

"Emperor Biao Ting." Bai Ti frowned and said with hesitation, "The emperors' death, was it really your doing?"

"Who said the emperors are dead!" Biao Ting looked at him like he was looking at an idiot, "Bai Ti, you can't possibly believe his words. You can't possibly not know what kind of person the Invincible Sect's Exalted Goddess Shen is?" If the Exalted Goddess wanted to rule the Celestial World, would she need to set a trap?! With one sentence, they would all have to kneel before her!

Bai Ti really did not know, but looked apprehensively at Yi Qing, who appeared to be counting their numbers. "Are you saying that the emperors are fine?" Bai Ti became even more hesitant at that moment.

In reality, he was suspicious when Lu Ming said that the Invincible Sect had laid a trap for the emperors. However, when he checked, he realized that the other emperors were all not in their palaces. He had originally owed the Invincible Sect a favor, so when he saw that the immortals had all gathered here, he was afraid that something irreversible would happen, so he had come along as well.

"Of course they're fine." Biao Ting shook his head and pointed to Hui Ling, who was standing beside Lu Ming and said, "That day, it was this girl who betrayed her elders and trapped them. It was the Invincible Sect who rescued the emperors. Now, they're recovering and will be able to go back in a few days."

"You're speaking nonsense, my Junior Sister did nothing of the sort!" Lu Ming raised his voice and rebutted. "If it's really like you said, how about we invite the emperors to meet and confront us face-to-face?"

Biao Ting froze. If those radishes could come out why would he need to persuade these brain-dead immortals. Disregarding how humiliating it would be to be seen with that image, simply the situation of them losing their battle ability was enough to warrant other immortals' scheming against them and cause them to really die. This was why they would rather all stay in the Invincible Sect than return to their palaces. At least they would not have to worry about their safety when they stayed here.

"Everyone!" Lu Ming turned around and instigated the immortals behind him. "The Invincible Sect has colluded with the Qing Ze Celestial Emperor to trap the emperors. It was my Junior Sister who personally saw it and had a tough time escaping to deliver the news to us. Now that Biao Ting is here, it is the best evidence. Moreover, that's not all the evil things that he's they've done." As he said that, he turned to Hui Ling, who was standing beside him and said gently, "Junior Sister, don't be afraid. Tell everyone what they did."

Hui Ling looked at Biao Ting, a flustered glint appearing in her eyes and she immediately retracted her gaze with an expression of fear. However, her voice sounded clearly, "I saw… the Invincible Sect's sect master Shen Ying colluding with the demons, setting up an array formation on the Emperor Ascension Stage to trap the emperors and … and they even tried to open the gate to the Demon World." As her voice landed, the entire area was in an uproar.

"Demons!"

"There were even demons participating, no wonder the emperors fell prey to them."

"Recently, there has been a lot of demonic Qi in the Heavens beyond Heaven. Could it be… the gate to the Demon World is already open?"

"As immortal cultivators, they actually connived with the demons. We need to get rid of these scum."

"That's right, take revenge for the emperors!"

At a moment's notice, the immortals who had fell silent just now started to become rowdy again. "…" F*cking retards!

Biao Ting was so angry that he could feel himself hurting. He suddenly did not want to care about these people who sought death. They could do whatever they wanted since the ones who would be lying on the ground were not his Qing Ze's immortals.

"I advice you to give up without resistance!" Lu Ming's expression became sullen and he looked at the angry mob, then continued, "So that us immortals will not have to take action."

"Everyone…" Hui Ling also walked forward, a glint flashing past her eyes. She had a kindly and worried expression as she said, "This entire matter might be sect master Shen and her aides' idea! I think … a majority of the Invincible Sect's disciples are innocent, what is most important is for us to take down sect master Shen Ying and take back the Ten Directions Divine Armament that were taken away. We will definitely not make life difficult for the others."

She had intentionally mentioned the Ten Directions Divine Armament. As expected, when the crowd heard it, their eyes lit up and they all started shouting. "That's right, hand over the b*tch Shen Ying and the Divine Artifact."

"The Divine Artifact can definitely not fall into the hands of the demons!"

"That's right, hand over Shen…"

The crowd's shouts had not ended when tens of thousands of rays of light shone from the ground and flew towards the crowd with a dominant suppression, piercing straight towards them.

Many people did not even manage to dodge and were knocked down from the sky immediately Even Biao Ting was nearly hit and as he focused his gaze, he realized that it was raining swords.

All at once there was silence.

"Yi … Emperor Yi Qing!" Biao Ting was stunned as he looked at Yi Qing, who had flew into the air. The sword in his hand still had Sword Qi on it and the dozens of disciples behind him were from the Golden Immortal to the Mystic Immortal cultivation level. The highest among them was only a Stygian Immortal. They were all looking at the immortals outside the array with … excited expressions?

(⊙_⊙)?

"Cut the nonsense!" Yi Qing swung his sword in Hui Ling and Lu Ming's direction, "If you can fight, don't try to reason!"

Biao Ting: "…" He always thought that only Exalted Goddess Shen was more violent. Was the entire Invincible Sect like that?

The Sword Qi on Yi Qing's body erupted and he manifested six immortal swords behind him, each with a suffocating Sword Qi. The immortals could almost feel the suffocating aura on the other side of the array. The next moment, the six immortal swords turned into a rain of swords again and tens of thousands of immortal swords arranged themselves in formation, flying neatly towards the immortals. "Eh, where's Exalted Goddess Shen?" Biao Ting looked around and realized Shen Ying was not around. His expression changed, was it really fine not to have the Exalted Goddess around?

"Master has important matters to attend to and cannot make it." Yi Qing said with a low voice. "We are enough!"

"Then that's… wait Yi Qing, don't rush…"

Before he could finish speaking, Yi Qing waved his hand and said, "Do it!"

"Yes!" The disciples all replied.

"…" Wait a minute, there are thousands of immortals on the other side!

Immediately, tens of thousands of swords fired and were about to rush out of the array formation. Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded from the back palace.

"Chef…"

The figure that was just about to rush out of the array formation did an emergency stop mid-air. Even the rain of swords in the sky froze abruptly.

"Master?"

Biao Ting heaved a sigh of relief. Thank god, someone was here.

However, he heard the sound loudly again.

"Where did you put the vinegar? I can't find it!"

Biao Ting: "…" Bai Ti: "…"

Lu Ming: "…"

Everyone: "…"

What the heck was vinegar? Wait, why was the Exalted Goddess sitting in front of a table in the back palace, what was that stack of ingot-looking things before her? Dumplings?

What happened to the important matters she had to attend to? Was her important matters eating dumplings? And the kind that she couldn't find the vinegar for!

(╯°Д°)╯(┻━┻

Flip the table! This is a Sect Battle after all, why is the outsider the only one who's worried?!

"Wait a minute, Master." Yi Qing replied without hesitation and zoomed down from the sky into the back palace's kitchen. Within three seconds, he had brought a few small saucers out and placed them in front of Shen Ying, saying  seriously, "Master, this is vinegar, this is chili, this is a garnish."

"Oh, I'm really not used to eating dumplings without dipping sauce."

"Does Master have any other orders?"

"None, you can get busy now."

"Yes, Master!"

He then zoomed back into the crowd with the same calm, battle-ready look. He held his weapon in his hand and looked at the immortals in the air, Sword Qi emanating from him as though the person who had run into the kitchen and made the dipping sauces was not him.

Wait a minute! What is he holding in his hand that's a d*mn spatula!

w(゚Д゚)w

"Do it!"

"Yes!" The disciples replied once again.

Without any hesitation, the tens of thousands of swords flew towards the immortals who were still in a state of confusion.

Biao Ting: "…"

Hang on! Why did they start fighting? Why did these disciples not have any questions? It was like him entering the kitchen in the middle of a fight was a normal thing? Why did the immortals even wait for him to finish making the dipping sauces before fighting?

Most importantly… Why was it that even though Yi Qing was holding a spatula, the immortals were still being beat up like dumplings?

Did no one feel that him waving a spatula around was odd?

Why!!!

(゚Д゚≡゚Д゚)

Chapter 216: Hui Ling's Scheme

The immortals from Invincible Sect were all fighting the others by now. The more they fought, the more shocked the other immortals were. Although there were many of them, they did not have the upper hand. That sword cultivator Yi Qing was scary enough. He looked like a Young Emperor, but even the ten country Emperors together were no match for him. In fact, Yi Qing could still look out for the disciples behind him while tackling the Emperors.

The other disciples in Invincible Sect were of lower cultivation levels than Yi Qing, but… but they were body cultivators!

Body cultivators were few and far between. These immortals, who had lived for tens of thousands of years each, have not seen more than five body cultivators in their lifetimes. What's more, the few that they've seen were in the lower realm - they have never seen body cultivators ascending to immortality. Yet, there were so many of them here in Invincible Sect. There were females who could knock four or five people off their feet with just one blow.

There were body cultivators all around Invincible Sect! What kind of strange sect was this!

The immortals were beginning to question if they were imagining things. But the blows felt so real. There were only about ten to twenty of them here, but they were holding up against the rest of the immortals. Moreover, the Protective Mountain Array was standing strong against any attack. Whenever the immortals from Invincible Sect needed a break, they could just retreat into the array.

The only one who could do anything about the array was Bai Ti, and yet he was not doing anything about it. He looked absolutely undecided about dealing a blow.

"Celestial Emperor Bai Ti, why aren't you doing anything?" Lu Ming turned and rushed Bai Ti, his expression falling. "Are you going to watch as the Ten Directions Divine Armament fall into the hands of demons?"

Bai Ti frowned. He looked on as the Emperors from different countries continuously attacked Yi Qing. Bai Ti twitched. The next moment, Biao Ting flew up in front of him to stop him. "Bai Ti, if you want to do anything, you'll have to get past me first." "Celestial Emperor Biao Ting…" Bai Ti retracted his foot, not knowing who to listen to. He was hesitating once again.

The entire scene was a mess. Hui Ling had been hiding behind all the immortals for a long time. Suddenly, a look  flashed across her face. Nobody knew when she managed to get out of all the action. She took advantage of the mess and found a good, quiet spot to avoid getting attacked. Then, she pulled something shiny out of her robes. While everybody continued to battle, she threw the item toward the array.

Her cultivation level was the lowest out of all of them. The various immortals aside, even Yi Qing did not realise that she was there. There was a loud crash. The Protective Mountain Array which protected the Invincible Sect suddenly cracked open.

All the immortals paused, then they exploded with joy.

"The Protective Mountain Array is broken!" Someone shouted. The rest of the immortals began to charge into the array one by one. Yi Qing's heart jumped. He struck the Emperors around him with his sword and then flew back to protect the boundaries of the sect. The rest of the lower level disciples were in the sect, and the weak Radish was in the rear garden as well.

Outside the array, Yu Hong and the others also began to retreat and ran toward the front hall.

But there were too few of them. When the array was still standing, they could fight without worrying about defending the sect. That was how they managed to get the enemies to retreat. Now that the array was broken and the immortals could freely enter the sect, they no longer had the upper hand.

They watched as all the immortals rushed into the sect. Rich volumes of demonic Qi suddenly appeared, charging toward the immortals. The immortals had no choice but to retreat. Those who did not manage to dodge the demonic Qi in time felt a sharp pain right in their bones.

"Demons! There really are demons in there!" "The Invincible Sect is really in cahoots with demons."

"Lu Ming was right - the Celestial Emperor must have been attacked by them."

The immortals cried out in shocked. Even more furious now, they glared at the people from Invincible Sect. Yet, they stayed where they were for fear of getting too close to the demonic Qi.

"How did you get out?" Yi Qing frowned, looking at Lan Hua.

He just caused more trouble for them.

"You just said that I didn't have to come out because the array was standing. Now the array has fallen, hasn't it?" Lan Hua answered, glaring at the immortals in the air. "What's more, I was the one who set up the Protective Mountain Array - I would surely know when it falls. Where's my good heart? Is she alright?" He scanned the crowd, looking for Shen Ying, but was unable to locate her. "Where is she?"

"It's noon." "Huh?" What did she mean?

"Master is having her lunch!"

"…" Lan Hua pursed his lips. Was this how she should act as a sect master?

Well, it was a good thing she wasn't around. What if something untoward happened to her?

He scanned the shocked crowd once again and asked, "Who was it that broke the array?"

"It's…" Yi Qing subconsciously turned to where Hui Ling was, but found that she was no longer there. "Eh?" His heart fell. Using his divine perception, he located her in the rear hall. He had no idea when she ran in.

"Master!" Yi Qing exclaimed, turning and running into the rear hall. At the rear hall.

Shen Ying was eating dumplings for lunch. Suddenly, she looked up and saw a green figure in front of her.

"What's the matter?"

"Shen Ying!" Hui Ling had a strange smile on her face. She looked smug as she said, "You can't run away this time. I'm going to do the immortal realm a favour today and get rid of you, the trouble-maker!"

Once she finished speaking, she conjured a seal with both hands. A white light surrounded her and then spread out quickly to fill the surroundings. The light moved at rapid speed and looked like it was going to swallow Shen Ying whole. She had a split second to defend herself in the face of imminent danger. She suddenly lifted up her left hand and, quick as lightning, with one move.. she picked up the plate of half-eaten dumplings in front of her.

The next moment, the two people and the plate of dumplings disappeared. All that was left behind was a table with empty plates.

"Master?" Yi Qing ran into the rear hall, but he was too late.

There was nobody left.

"Where did Sect Master… go?" Yu Hong looked fearful. "What kind of sorcery did that female immortal use?"

"I've never seen it before!" Lan Hua frowned, worried.

"… She's alright, right?"

"I think so, given Good Heart's capabilities…"

"No! I meant that female immortal… Is her brain working?"

She dared to take Sect Master on by herself! How brave! ヽ(✿゚▽゚)ノYu Hong wished she could watch!

Lan Hua: "…"

Yi Qing: "…"

—————

In a blink of an eye, Shen Ying found the scene around her changed. Beneath her feet, there was green grass. All around her, there was nothing to be found other than green pastures. It did not seem like the green pasture ended either. The green tea from earlier on was gone as well.

Her surroundings were boring. Shen Ying looked around calmly and then finished the dumplings on her plate. Mm… Chives and roasted meat.

"Shen Ying, you've caused me so much trouble to this day. It's finally time for payback." Hui Ling's voice sounded from nowhere. It  was extremely strange -  Shen Ying had  no idea where the voice was coming from. She could not find Hui Ling's body, but the voice seemed to be coming from right next to her ear. It was like Hui Ling did not exist in this realm, yet she was everywhere.

"…" Shen Ying did not answer her. She put another dumpling in her mouth.

"Do you know where you are?"

"…" She continued chewing.

"This is the Fringe Realm, located in the rift between the Three Realms. This place does not belong to any realm, and is not under the jurisdiction of the Heavenly Dao. I know you're formidable, so much that even the Demon King is not your match, but there is no boundary and no end in this place. You might be extremely talented, but you would not be able to find a way out of here."

"…" Shen Ying put another dumpling in her mouth. "I didn't want to do this either, but you made me do it. If you hadn't appeared, I wouldn't have lost my master, my father and even Xin Han… You owe me this much."

"…" Shen Ying continued chewing on the dumpling.

"Your Invincible Sect is in cahoots with the demons - none of you are good, especially that wretch Xuan Tong. She seduced my master. Otherwise, my master… would not have listened to you and treated me that way. Anyway, none of it matters now. All the immortals will seek justice for me and rid the immortal world of you troublemakers."

"…" Shen Ying put another dumpling in her mouth.

"Hmph! You're about to die and you still have the mood to eat dumplings."

She kept chewing…

"Then remain in this realm forever! I will make you…" Crunch crunch crunch…

"Stop eating!"

Crunch crunch crunch…

"Shen, are you even listening to me?"

Shen Ying paused and swallowed the last of the dumplings.

Then, she kept the plate and answered, "Oh."

"Do you think this is all to the Fringe Realm?" Hui Ling seemed extremely angry now. She tutted. The next moment, everything around Shen Ying changed. The green grass was no more. Under Shen Ying's feet was molten rocks and deviant fire was headed straight toward her. Yet, it did not touch her.

A moment later, the deviant fire disappeared and a huge layer of ice appeared underneath her feet. The air felt extremely cold. ice started flying toward her out of nowhere. Once they touched her though, they shattered into pieces. After the ice came a strong wind, then lightning…

Every element appeared at least once. Shen Ying remained rooted to the ground, not attempting to run or escape anywhere. She was back in the green field once again.

"Hmph! I'll see how long you can wait!" Hui Ling's voice was ice-cold now. "I've already refined everything in here. I'm the true master of this realm."

"It's over?" Shen Ying tilted her head, looking bored. "It's my turn."

"What…"

Hui Ling paused. She did not have much time to respond. Shen Ying, who had been standing motionless before, suddenly disappeared into thin air. The next moment, she appeared in the air and grabbed onto something, hurling it toward the ground. There was a strong gust of wind. A figure fell down from the air and landed on the ground with a crash, digging a man- shaped hole in the ground.

There was a sharp pain in Hui Ling's chest. She coughed up blood. Every part of her body hurt. Hui Ling did not even dare to survey her injuries. She tried to regain her composure as her eyes widened and stared at Shen Ying in disbelief. "It's… impossible! How did you find me!" .

Shen Ying pursed her lips. Please! She was the one who told Shen Ying that they were in a rift, then remained at the side of the rift and talked so much rubbish. It would have been weird if Shen Ying did not discover her! She wasn't blind.

"You… What kind of person are you?" Hui Ling's eyes widened even further. She could not understand what just happened. "The Fringe Realm has already been refined. How did you pull me in here! Only I can control what happens in here!"

"Oh, is that because of the chain around your neck?" Shen Ying asked. "The second chain?" Hui Ling became pale. She subconsciously put her hand on her chest to protect the chain. "You… That's impossible - how did you find out?"

"Eh, I don't like to bully girls," Shen Ying sighed. She did not answer Hui Ling's question, but she raised her hand and slapped her. "Talk! Who sent you here to deal with me? Who's behind you?"

"What are you saying?" Hui Ling was afraid now. She began to panic, and struggled to get herself out of the soil. The more she moved, the more her body hurt. She coughed up blood once again. "What do you mean… let… let me go."

"Drop your act!" Shen Ying frowned. She really hated to use her brain. "I'm very low profile in this world. Everybody subconsciously ignores my presence - only you don't. From the beginning, you've been wanting to get my attention. Now, you're blaming me for everything that has happened to you. I'm sure this is not happening just because you're retarded, right?"

What happened at the Emperor Ascension Stage was caused by the Cold[1] Something and her father. Salted Fish was the one who wanted to punish her. All of it had nothing to do with Shen Ying at all. What's more, they only met a total of about three times. Hui Ling went an entire round just to blame everything that has happened thus far on Shen Ying, focusing all of her hatred on her. There was no reason for her to do that, and it was ridiculous for her to do it as well. There was no reason to implicate Shen Ying into all of this unless… Shen Ying had been her target from the very beginning.

"I… I don't know what you're talking about." Hui Ling continued to stare at Shen Ying in shock.

"You're not even being convincing anymore," Shen Ying said as she lowered her gaze. "There's something wrong with how low profile I am as well. Why is that ever since I entered this world, only you paid any real attention to me? There's no reason for that, unless… the person who dragged me into this world is the same person who's instructing you as well."

"…"

"Talk! Who is he? What has he done to me? What's his motive!" "What does he want?" Hui Ling began to panic even more. Her eyes did not leave Shen Ying, who was walking slowly toward her. "Get away!" Hui Ling exclaimed.

Shen Ying pulled the chain off Hui Ling's neck. "Or maybe I should ask, who gave you this chain?"

"I don't know what you're saying. I picked up the chain. Return it to me!" Hui Ling's face was drained of all colour. She used a considerable amount of energy to raise her hand from the soil, trying in vain to snatch the chain back. "That's mine!"

Shen Ying pulled back her hand, placing the chain out  of reach of Hui Ling. Hui Ling's fingers just touched the red string that was hanging from the chain. There was a bright flash of light, and then the light disappeared. All that remained in Shen Ying's palm was the red string.

"My chain!" Hui Ling's eyes widened. She panicked. "No! What did you do…"

Before she could finish her sentence, she coughed up another mouthful of blood. Her entire body flashed white just like the necklace. Then, the white light started to shine through the cracks on her body, as if she was falling into pieces. Her face was a mask of fear. She began to beg Shen Ying, "No! I don't want to self-implode and die. Save me… Save me… Save…"

Before she could finish speaking, her entire being disappeared. Shen Ying's surroundings began to twist and turn. The next thing she knew, the surroundings disappeared. Shen Ying felt as though she had just jumped out of a picture. She found herself back on the chair in the rear hall of Invincible Sect. In front of her were the few empty dishes from before.

She looked down at her empty hands, pondering. Then, she frowned and clenched her fist.

That… isn't fun.

[1] The meaning of "Han" in Xin Han.

Chapter 217: The Mastermind

"Master!" Yi Qing was the first  to  notice  Shen  Ying's  return, but he was blocked by over ten country emperors as he tried to go over.

The time that Shen Ying had left was not short and the Invincible Sect's battle was becoming difficult. Although the disciples were not weak, the other party simply had too many people, especially when the Protective Mountain Array was breached, they had nowhere to retreat. Over time, even immortals would become tired and there were even disciples who had been injured.

"Kind Heart." Lan Hua used his demonic Qi to protect a few weaker Earth Immortal disciples. He then turned around and asked, "Why are you only just back, what on earth happened?"

"…"

"Hey, are you alright?" Seeing as she was not replying, Lan Hua pushed her, "What are you spacing out for?" "What's up?"

"What's up? What else!" Lan Hua glared at her, "Can't you see? Help us out! If this continues, they're really going to enter the back mountain where the radishes are."

Shen Ying raised her head and looked at the entire sky of immortals. There were sparks from spells everywhere and weapons all over the floor.

Her brows immediately furrowed, it was really… quite frustrating!

(╰_╯)#

Shen Ying replied, "Oh."

She then stood up, grabbing a sword that had been pierced into the ground and pulled it out. "Kindness, you go to the back mountain and defend…" Just as Lan Hua was about to ask her to go to the back mountain and defend the area, after all, Lonemoon and the rest were there and there was an array formation. However, he did not finish his words as he felt a weight on his shoulders and was pushed to the side by her.

"Make way!"

"Huh?" He lost his balance and was pushed to the ground, "What are you…"

As he was about to lose his temper, he saw Shen Ying walk forward, turning the sword in her hand and swinging it forward forcefully. It was a very normal swing, but in an instant, a terrifying Sword Qi that felt like it could split apart the heavens materialized on the sword and blasted forwards.

With a giant crash, a bottomless abyss appeared in the ground, as though the entire Celestial World had been split apart by a sword. The giant crack continued to expand forward, and the earth shook, even the sky distorted for a while and looked as though it would collapse. The immortals could not even maintain their sword-riding and crashed to the ground. Complete silence!

Everyone looked at the giant bottomless abyss in the Invincible Sect with a confused expression and could not react for a long time.

What… just happened?

∑q|゚Д゚|p

"Get out!" A voice suddenly sounded. Even though the voice was not loud, it was exceptionally evident among the silence.

The immortals all felt their hearts go cold and shuddered uncontrollably as though all the meridians in their body had been frozen.

A boundless fear crept up on everyone's minds.

It was unsure who first started, but someone turned around and rode his sword-ride to escape without even turning around to see who was the one who had struck out.

The next moment, the entire floor of immortals seemed to have some switch turned on. Those who could sword-ride all rode their swords, those who could tunnel through the ground tunneled through the ground, those who could summon clouds summoned clouds and flew off in a mad frenzy. They all spread out in all directions and escaped from the Invincible Sect, in a short while, they were all gone, leaving an entire floor of Dharma artifacts.

Thus, the immortals' alliance crusade against the Invincible Sect came to a halt right before their victory. Apart from the people from the Invincible Sect, nobody knew what had happened. The immortals did not even know why they were escaping, but they all had one thought in their heads then, if they didn't leave… they would die!

(இдஇ;)

The Ten Continents regained its usual peace, but there was a giant crack spanning the entire Celestial World in the ground. The crack was not even three feet wide, but it was bottomless, if you were lucky you could see the Three Thousand Worlds faintly through it.

——————

Half a month later.

"There's a mastermind behind Hui Ling and it could be the person who caused us to transmigrate to this world?!" Lonemoon was stunned and he stood up in shock.

"Yes." Shen Ying picked up the cup on the table and moved it to the side before nodding.

"You're saying that we were dragged here by others and not transmigrated here accidentally?" Lonemoon asked, looking at her in disbelief.

"Yes." She nodded her head again. Lonemoon looked at the emotionless Shen Ying and asked, "When did you know about this?"

"From the start." She bit into a fruit with a crunch.

"From the start… What the f*ck! Why didn't you tell me?"

"You didn't ask."

"Can't you just say it even if I didn't ask?" Where was the trust between father and daughter?!

"I thought you knew."

"Which eye of yours saw that I knew?"

w(゚Д゚)w Who would be able to guess such a thing easily?

Shen Ying tilted her head, "Wasn't it you who told me about the plot?"

"Huh?" He faltered, what did she mean? "What does this have to do with the plot?"

"The book you read!" Shen Ying continued eating her fruit leisurely, "Apart from the emotional drama, although the process is completely different, aren't the people who appeared the same as those who appeared in the end?"

Lonemoon thought about it attentively, indeed all the main characters had appeared. Be it the male and female lead, Yi Qing and even the gate to the Demon World had appeared.

However…

"What does this have to do with me? I'm not a person from the plot." "It's exactly because you're not."

"What do you mean?" They were originally not from the book.

"Sigh!" Shen Ying let out a long sigh and put down the core of the fruit she had finished eating. "Father Niu, you kept saying that the book was your niece's. So, do you remember which publisher the book was from? The author? The price?"

"Who would notice these kinds of things when reading books?" He replied habitually.

"Alright, let's just say you didn't notice. What about  the cover? You should have seen the cover of the book, what genre was it? Can you describe it to me in detail?"

"Of course I know it, it's…" Lonemoon was halfway through his speech and the clear image in his head suddenly became fuzzy. He could really not remember how the cover looked like?

"Can't remember?" "Why is it like this?"

"It's because you've never seen read the book before, or perhaps the book never belonged to your niece."

"How can that be, I clearly saw it, my niece was carrying it around the entire summer holidays."

"Is that so?" Shen Ying continued to say, "You must dote on your niece a lot?"

"Of course!" Although he did not know why she would ask this suddenly, he habitually nodded, saying, "I only have this one niece."

"That's even weirder." Shen Ying glanced at him and said, "You're so rich and you dote on your niece so much, but you let her read a pirated book the entire summer holidays."

"Pirated? How could it be…" "Father Niu!" She interrupted him and patted him on the shoulder, saying, "Erotic novels are not allowed to be published." Pornography was banned!

"Uh…" I already said it wasn't an erotic novel… Alright, maybe just a little.

^(* ̄(oo) ̄)^

"So…" Shen Ying stood up and looked nonchalantly at the empty plate in front of her, then swapped it with the platter in front of him and continued saying, "If you really read that book, the only possibility… is that someone intentionally let you see it."

Lonemoon frowned, "You're saying that someone intentionally made me transmigrate into this book."

"You still think that this is the world in the book?"

Lonemoon faltered, "Isn't it?" "Is it?"

Chapter 218: Change in the Celestial World

"Isn't there a saying, there is a world in every flower." It's probably not weird for a book to contain a world?

"I don't know whether a flower contains a world, but at least the flower is alive. A book is only fibers plus ink, you think these can breed life?"

"Uhhh…" This made so much sense that Lonemoon was speechless.

"Even if there is a world in the book, it's probably only a two- dimensional world, how could they drag someone like you from a three-dimensional world in?" Shen Ying munched on her fruit and continued saying, "Even if we take ten thousand steps back and concede that there is a world in the book, we are not erasers, why can we change a plot that has already been written?"

"…" Lonemoon was stunned and his heart skipped a beat. "You mean to say that someone from this world wrote the book to intentionally summon us to this world? But the plot in the book were all events that happened after I transmigrated. Then, isn't this book…"

"A book of prophecy." Shen Ying finished his sentence.

"F*ck!" There were indeed some spells that could predict the future, but why would they write it into an erotic novel? However, if he thought about it this way, the reason why they could change the plot so easily was because the future was uncertain. "Who is this b*stard? Did you manage to know who it was from Hui Ling?"

"No."

Shen Ying shook her head and told him the details of the b*tch's disappearance.

Lonemoon frowned even harder, a sense of worry that he never had rushing over him. This feeling that he was being controlled by someone else was terrible and it felt even worse to not know who it was. "So Hui Ling died just like that?"

"Yes."

"So, do you think Hui Ling knows who…"

Shen Ying pondered for a while and shook her head, saying, "Probably not."

Seeing the b*tch's initial reaction, she didn't look like she was lying. She really did not know what she was asking, she was simply a chess piece that had been manipulated by others.

"So, what does the mastermind want us to do after transmigrating us to this world?" Lonemoon thought thoroughly, but the mystery only got larger. "Also, about that book, he wrote the events that he predicted into a book to tell me, for what purpose?"

Shen Ying frowned and only replied sullenly after a while, "Maybe… to open that door?" "Which door… the gate to the Demon World!" Lonemoon's eyes widened vigorously and thought about the plot of the book. The final battle was indeed the gate to the Demon World, however, the gate was sealed by Yi Qing before it had fully opened. From the start, he had admired the Yi Qing in the plot, of course, that was before he became a chef. After he knew the plot, he had put in a lot of effort to stop him from dying because of sealing off the gate to the Demon World. If the book was an attempt at misdirection that would be the result that the other party wished for. "You're saying that the person who caused us to transmigrate, is very likely to be… from the Demon World?"

"Yes." Shen Ying nodded.

"So… that's why he would direct Hui Ling to lock her in the Fringe Realm." As long as Shen Ying wasn't around, there would be nobody to stop the Demon World from invading the Celestial World. However, the other party might not have expected that the Fringe Realm was completely unable to trap Shen Ying.

Lonemoon stood up frantically and looked outside, giving orders. "Yu Hong, you go and look for Lan Hua. Ask him to set up an array formation to bring us to the Emperor Ascension Stage." Back then, Shen Ying had given Blackie three days to summon back all the demons under subterfuge in the Celestial World. Now, one month had passed, the door should have disappeared, "Go and see if the gate to the Demon World is still…"

Before he finished his sentence, the ground quaked and a giant rumbling sound sounded from an extremely distant location. A huge amount of Immortal Qi rushed towards them and swept across the entire palace like a gust of wind.

Lonemoon's heart clenched as he immediately had an ominous feeling. He exchanged gazes with Shen Ying and rushed out of the palace.

The rumbling did not stop and not only the Invincible Sect, everywhere else was quaking, as though the earth had come alive. The disciples had all gathered outside the palace.

"Master…" Even Yi Qing who was cooking had rushed out, his spatula still in his hand. He turned around and looked at Shen Ying before turning his head to the distance and frowning.

"Do you feel anything?" Lonemoon asked hurriedly. After all, Yi Qing was the most sensitive to aura.

Yi Qing raised his spatula and pointed in the distance, "The Immortal Qi appears to be rushing from there, like… something is driving them away. I don't know what it is either."

"Driving them away?"

"Something fell." Shen Ying suddenly said.

"What?" Lonemoon was shocked, "What the…"

Before he could finish speaking, a black mist appeared and flew at a breakneck speed towards them, heading straight for Shen Ying. "Kind…"

"Who is it!" Yi Qing, who was standing beside Shen Ying, swung his spatula towards it on reflex. Clang! A dreadful sound could be heard as the entire black mist was knocked away and landed heavily on the stone steps. "Holy shit! Chef, what are you hitting me for?"

That voice was…

Lonemoon was stunned as he looked at the person who picked himself up from the floor, "You're Lan Hua?"

"Isn't that obvious! It's me of course, who else here would have demonic Qi on their body?" He angrily stood up and produced a hand seal. In an instant, the demonic Qi on his body vanished and he reverted to his human form.

"What are you doing, releasing your demonic Qi like that?" Lonemoon rolled his eyes at him, who could see who you were in that black mist, you deserve to be beat up.

"What do you mean like that, I didn't want to as well, it was because… That's right!" He appeared to have remembered something important, and he turned towards Shen Ying, grabbing her and scrutinizing her, "Kindness, are you all right? Have you lost an arm or a leg, tell me quickly!"

Shen Ying: "…"

Yi Qing frowned and smacked his unruly hand away with his spatula, "Master is fine, what ulterior motive do you have for asking that?"

"You're really fine?" He had a doubtful look, and he frowned, "Then why have I suddenly become a Skyfiend?"

"Skyfiend!" Everyone was shocked by it too, "You broke through your cultivation level!"

"That's right." He nodded. "Just now, my cultivation level suddenly increased rapidly and rose to the level of a Skyfiend. I thought something had happened to Kindness, so I came to take a look." Logically, he could only rise to the level of a Skyfiend by eliminating his final trace of kindness. However, he was just filling up the holes with radish at the back mountain and his cultivation level suddenly rose. "Did you not feel anything happen just now?" The ominous feeling in Lonemoon's heart was becoming even stronger.

"No." He shook his head, "There was just a lot of demonic Qi that had appeared all of a sudden, I couldn't even absorb it all." Just like he said, black Qi suddenly appeared around his body, looking as if they were about to turn back into the black mist.

"Demonic Qi…" Lonemoon's eyes enlarged as his heart sank. He turned back to look at Shen Ying, then said solemnly, "Lan Hua, create an array formation to send us to the Emperor Ascension Stage, now!"

"Huh?" Lan Hua looked baffled, not understanding what he meant, but he still used his demonic Qi to cut through the air.

Perhaps due to his increase in cultivation level, the time taken up to set up the array also sped up. Soon, a black crack had appeared in front of them.

"Go!" Lonemoon immediately rushed in and the other three people hurriedly followed. In an instant, the view before their eyes had changed and they were in another area. The moment they stepped out of the crack, the four of them felt a familiar quaking, just like the one they had felt in the Invincible Sect. However, it was much more vigorous and in the next moment; they were stunned by the sight before their eyes.

The skies that were initially full of Immortal Qi were now nearly devoid of Immortal Qi. The empty area behind the Emperor Ascension Stage now had an entire field of black, as though the skies had been split into two, half completely black and the other completely white.

They could faintly see strange rocks and lava all around within the field of black, all surrounded with a black mist.

The area looked familiar as Shen Ying narrowed her eyes.

That place was…

Chapter 219: The History of the Demon World

"The Demon World!" Lan Hua exclaimed, shocked. He was a demon - surely he could recognise what was in front of him.

Holy shit! Lonemoon's expression darkened. He wanted to curse somebody's mother. The Demon World actually appeared here. They were not just talking about to the gates to the demon world - the entire Demon World had dropped in front of them. It was merging with the immortal realm!

The Emperor Ascension Stage was located at the boundaries of the Heavens beyond Heaven. Not far under it was the  Void Land. That was the boundary of the entire immortal realm. A little further, there would be nothingness. If the Demon World appeared there, it meant that the Demon World was merging with the Immortal realm.

It was no wonder that there was such huge movement before this. The entire immortal realm had been shaking violently for almost an hour. The immortal realm and the demonic realm originally existed together - it would be strange if there was no indication that they had merged. "What happened?" Yi Qing frowned. He looked at the strange horizon in front of him. Who had the capabilities of dragging the entire demonic realm down to the immortal realm?

"It looks like we have to ask the demon who did this!" Lonemoon's voice was cold.

The four of them turned to glare at the figure on the Emperor Ascension Stage.

The Demon King was shaking in terror. He was suppressing his urge to turn and make a break for it. Straightening his back, he decided to be submissive and obedient.

"Did you do this?" Lonemoon gestured at the demonic realm and the opened demonic gates behind him.

"I'm wronged, Exalted Goddess!" The Demon King was breaking out in a cold sweat and his eyes welled up with tears. "I don't even know what's going on. I listened to you and brought all the demons back into the demonic realm. But the gates suddenly opened, and… and… I appeared here." He did not want to go into the immortal realm himself! It was easy being the Demon King - everybody was at his beck and call.

Now that the demonic realm and the immortal realm were merged, there was not even a gate to separate them. He could bump into the Exalted Goddess anywhere he went. That was so scary! All the demons were in danger!

(; ́༎Д༎`)

"You really had nothing to do with the demonic realm dropping into the immortal realm?"

"I didn't!" The Demon King shook his head. He had already given up all his ambitions as a demon. "If I had such powers, would I have waited until now to do it?" One needed great skills to merge the two realms together. That aside, even if he did possess such skills, he would have merged the demonic realm with the mortal realm - not the immortal one!

"Then who has the skills to do this?" Shen Ying asked. "Huh?" The demon king paused, fearful. "Well… Well, I'm not too sure myself. It's difficult enough opening the gates to the demonic realm, much less merging the two realms. I have never seen anyone who possesses such power. Unless…" His eyes brightened up, as if thinking of something. "It is someone from the Divine Realm."

"The Divine Realm?" They all paused.

"Yes, yes, yes." The Demon King nodded furiously, obviously excited. "In the beginning, the immortal and divine realms were merged together. Later, a huge battle broke out and the divine race broke the heavenly pillars, leaving the two realms separated by an array. That was how the two realms became separate."

"The heavenly pillar…" Lonemoon turned to look behind him. The colourful gates to the demonic realm stood high on top of a hill of rubble. In his mind, a bulb lit up. "Could it be that the demonic realm fell into the immortal realm because… of the Emperor Ascension Stage!"

He turned to look at the others. Indeed, they thought of this exact reason too. The fog in their minds cleared up instantly. Shen Ying said that the person who allowed them to transmigrate wanted to open the gates to the demonic realm. But he could have achieved this by sending any other person. Why did he look for them to transmigrate?

What's more, when they were in the Invincible Sect, the gates of the demonic realm had opened once, but nothing like this happened. When Shen Ying emerged, the gates disappeared as well.

This time, the gates to the demonic realm were closed, but it was set up right there.

In other words, opening the gates was secondary - the important thing was where they opened those gates. It was obvious that his goal was the Emperor Ascension Stage. He did not want to open the gates to the demonic realm for the sake of it. Instead, he wanted to make use of the isolation array on the heavenly pillar to pull the entire demonic realm over and be merged with the immortal realm.

"How did you know about the heavenly pillar?" Lonemoon scanned him from head to toe. They had only recently found out about the heavenly pillar. What's more, they had never heard about the isolation array before.

"These are all written in the historic books of the demonic realm." The Demon King flicked his wrist and a black dharmic talisman appeared in his palm. He handed it over to Lonemoon. "This is the history book of my demon race - everybody in the demonic realm knows about it."

"History book?" The demons liked books too. Lonemoon received the talisman and subconsciously activated his immortal Qi. Nothing was happening. He pursed his lips and handed the talisman to Lan Hua.

Lan Hua sent a gust of demonic Qi into the talisman. The next moment, a black book appeared. On the cover was written, "The Classical Texts of the Demonic Realm". Below the title, it was written…

"In the 43,671st year of the demonic realm, the King rose to become the Demonic King. Heh heh! He destroyed his descendants who mocked him!" "In the 109,135th year of the demonic realm, I killed the Demonic King in power. From today on, I am your new king!"

"In the 204,000th year of the demonic realm, I became bored being the Demon King. I heard that there is an immortal realm outside of this place and decided to go out and take a look."

"In the 204,001st year of the demonic realm, the two Demon Kings before me were killed by the divine race. I became the new Demon King!"

"In the ***th year of the demonic realm, I decided to go to the immortal realm. I got to know Cuihua. She's beautiful! Heh heh heh, I'm going to marry my queen."

"In a year of the demonic realm, I heard that those perverted divine beings fell out with the immortals. The heavenly pillar has been broken and an isolation array was set up. Hahaha. Serves them right! It's their just desserts for not allowing me to meet my Cuihua."

"In some year of the demonic realm, the demonic realm sealed me in and did not allow me to go out. My Cuihua… Wu wu wu!"

"I'm lazy to count which year of the demonic realm this is. For Cuihua, I have decided to break open the gates of the demonic realm! Cuihua, wait for me!"

"In the demonic realm-"

Shen Ying: "…"

Lonemoon: "…"

Yi Qing: "…"

Lan Hua: "…"

What kind of freaking history book is this! This is obviously the daily diary of the Demonic king. No! It's a century diary! What was he even writing inside it? His literacy as a Demon King was so low, and yet he still dared to publicise this to the rest of the demonic realm. Had he no shame? It was high time that they educated themselves!

What's more, who the hell was that Cuihua who featured so many times in the diary? Did the writer of the diary plant his little black spies in the immortal realm just to open those gates?

So the reason that the demonic realm was so hell-bent on opening the gates was so that their king could court a girl?

(╯°Д°)╯(┻━┻

What a fraud!

Everybody felt the second-hand embarrassment for the Demon King. Suddenly, nobody was interested in asking about what the ultimate motive of the mastermind was. This Demon King definitely was not the man who transmigrated them. He could not be! Otherwise… it would be such a joke!

Chapter 220: Selecting a Celestial Emperor

The demonic realm was now merged with the immortal realm, causing panic to spread throughout the latter. The demons have always been the bane of the immortal realm's existence. It could be said that they were arch-enemies.

That day, the moment the vibrations stopped, the immortals in the vicinity came out to find out what was going on. Perhaps because Blackie was strict with his demons, there was no movement in the demonic realm. No demon came out to find out what was happening. That was why no fight broke out just yet.

But the immortals who found out what happened were shaken to their core. This was not just the appearance of the gates to the demonic realm - the entire demon race had migrated to their doorstep.

The demons have always been ferocious. Inside the demonic realm, there were ten Skyfiends who were even more ferocious. Skyfiends were equivalent to Celestial Emperors. Now the immortal realm was short of two Celestial Emperors, and the demonic realm had a Demon King that was stronger than all of them. If a fight really broke out, the entire immortal realm would be devastated.

Suddenly, all the immortals around the Emperor Ascension Stage moved away. Immortals from all the different continents were panicking, anticipating the beginning of the big battle between demons and immortals. Only the various Celestial Emperors in the Heavens beyond Heaven remained relatively calm.

What's the big deal about the Demon King - we have the Exalted Goddess!

(づ̄3 ̄)づ╭❤~

The moment the various Celestial Emperors received the news, they thought about Shen Ying.

Therefore, the radishes who took so much effort to return to their bodies turned and gathered at Invincible Sect. At the bottom of the hill, there was an entire row of rad.. Wait, they were Celestial Emperors. Lonemoon's expression darkened.

Damn it, this bunch of freeloaders- weren't they  done?  They had not even paid their fees for the last time they stayed here! Them aside - even Bai Ti was here now. So… Lonemoon added one more stroke to their debt to him.

Shen Ying could not be bothered with the radishes either. She gestured for Blackie to go over to her. She was going to leave them to their own business - anyway, none of them bothered to bring her anything to eat!

She could not tell whether it was because Lan Hua,  the demon, was present to scare them, or because the Demon King's scared demeanour left a deep impression in their heads. Both parties negotiated amicably and very smoothly. The various Celestial Emperors showed no disdain for the Demon King, and did not even try to pick a fight.

Everybody was very clear that this was very different from the original states of the two realms. At that time, when the Heavenly Pillar was holding things up, the two realms did not overlap. That was how they managed to continue to lead independent lives. Now that the immortal realm and the demonic realm were merged together, they could no longer run things separately. If one realm fell, the other would be affected as well.

The immortal realm was now in the same space as the demonic realm. That was a fact and there was nothing they could do to change it. All they could do was… deal with it!

The two realms were merged, but they still had their boundaries. As long as they consciously stayed out of each other's paths, there would be no big problems. There would inevitably be some conflicts between the two realms - that was why they had to set some rules and regulations.

The various Celestial Emperors discussed with the Demon King for several days. Finally, they managed to set the rules and regulations governing any interactions between the two realms. The basic idea was for them to maintain the isolation of the realms - they were to minimise interactions as far as possible. In other words, they could each do whatever they wanted as long as they remained on their side of the realm. Both parties had no opinions. They discussed more minor details and decided to adjourn the meeting. The Demon King updated Shen Ying and then quickly escaped back to its own side of the realm. The eight Celestial Emperors - who clearly had no sense of shame - remained in Invincible Sect.

"What?" Shen Ying paused. "The Bo Sea and Yi Shui… What?"

"Exalted Goddess…" Chu Xuan laughed nervously as he stepped forward. "Zi Chen is a demon and Xin Han has also fallen. Now, the Bo Sea and Yi Shui both have no emperors governing over them. We have to push someone up."

"And then…"

"Given the Exalted Goddess' cultivation level, you are clearly the best person to rule over both territories. What's more, the Bo Sea and Yi Shui are connected, and coincidentally…"

"Coincidentally, they're also connected to the demonic realm?" Shen Ying completed his sentence. Chu Xuan: "…"

The Celestial Emperors: "…"

Must she be so straightforward? How were they supposed to carry on the conversation now?

(+_+)~

"Sect Master Shen…" At last, Chen Ge was the one to speak up first. "We did think of sending you to scare off the demons, but the Bo Sea and Yi Shui indeed cannot carry on without an emperor. Otherwise, trouble is bound to start there. Those territories are near the demonic realm as well, we cannot take it for granted that the demons would not try to invade them."

"That's right, Exalted Goddess!" Chu Xuan nodded furiously. "As of today, there is no immortal in the immortal realm who is a Celestial Emperor. We have no other solution that's why-"

"I'm not going!" Shen Ying sat down on her chair. I reject the offer! It's so troublesome to be an official. As a sect master, she's already being forced by Lonemoon to water the radishes every day. Would she even have time to eat if she agreed to become a Celestial Emperor? No way!

"Eh!" Chu Xuan stared blankly at her. "Exalted Goddess…"

"Save it - she won't go with you." Lonemoon looked pointedly at the yawning foodie. What Celestial Emperor? She would push all her responsibilities to him in the end. "The Invincible Sect already has enough on its plate with all of these disciples. If you really can't find someone, why don't I give you a recommendation?"

"Who is he?"

"Of course it's Xun Shu!" He sold the man out once again without any hesitation whatsoever. "DId he not just become an immortal emperor awhile ago? He's a sword cultivator as well - he must be capable enough to be a Celestial Emperor, right?"

They all paused to think for a moment. That was indeed true. Immortal emperors were a whole cultivation level below Celestial Emperors, but sword cultivators were indeed stronger than ordinary immortals. If he were made a Celestial Emperor, he would truly be able to handle the masses.

"But even if Xun Shu can become a Celestial Emperor, he can only rule over one territory," Bai Ti said. Xun Shu was only an immortal emperor after all. He could take care of one continent, but the public would be unhappy if he were allowed to rule over both the Bo Sea and Yi Shui. "What are we going to do about the other continent?"

"Why are you looking at me?" Lonemoon rolled his eyes. He already helped them to look for one Celestial Emperor, why couldn't they think of the other person?

The various emperors fell silent. They were going to make a couple of suggestions when they heard a loud crash coming from outside. A great surge of energy filled the entire main hall, and it looked like it was going to condense to form something.

"This is…" They all flew out of the hall in shock and realised that it was extremely dark outside. The entire sky was overcast and the immortal Qi in the surroundings were surging toward the rear hall. The pressure was making even the Celestial Emperors feel uncomfortable.

In the middle of the layers of immortal Qi, Yi Qing held on to a plate of pastries. In his other hand, he held a rolling pin. He had a nonchalant expression on his face.

"Yi Qing, it's your lightning tribulation!" Lonemoon immediately realised what was going on.

"How could it be?" Yi Qing looked up at the overcast sky and started. In a flash, he appeared before the various immortals and handed the plate over to Shen Ying. "Master, your osmanthus cakes."

"Oh, thank you!" Shen Ying received the plate.

He turned to Lonemoon. "Father Niu…" "I know." He was going to tell Lonemoon to cook for Shen Ying. Every time he went through the lightning tribulation, he gave the same instructions. How naggy! Lonemoon waved him away. "Hurry, the lightning tribulation is going to start." If he didn't move further away, the sect would be affected.

Yi Qing nodded, turned and mounted his sword, then flew far into the distance. He even forgot to set down the rolling pin in his hand.

Less than five minutes later, blinding flashes of lightning struck down where Yi Qing was. The ground began to shake.

"Young Emperor Yi Qing is going to ascend once again! We should celebrate!" The various emperors' eyes twinkled as they exchanged meaningful looks. "Young Emperor Yi Qing is also a sword cultivator, right?"

"…" Lonemoon pursed his lips. Damn it, they just could not run away from these responsibilities. If he had known earlier, he would not have recommended Xun Shu. "Young Emperor Lonemoon, it looks like the future Celestial Emperor of the Bo Sea would be…"

Lonemoon's expression darkened. He immediately retrieved the jade flute from within his robes and said very seriously, "Various Emperors, it seems you have made your choice. Why not we talk about other matters, like the accommodation fees, utility bills and other service fees that you owe to my Invincible Sect for the past two times that you stayed here."

He shook his jade flute, and it immediately turned into  a white jade abacus.

F*ckers, you're causing me so much trouble, my surname would not be Niu if I don't make you pay for it!

The Celestial Emperors: "…"