My Master Disconnected Yet Again Chapter 181-190

Chapter 181: The Heart Array Stone

"That… ahem!" Lan Hui gave a cough. "It's good that they are not influenced by the illusions."

Shen Ying: "Heh heh…" Suddenly she did not feel like coming to their rescue.

"Who are you?" The two men, who had just drawn in their swords, turned to face the three people who stood a short distance away, their expressions darkening. "Hmph! You still don't know when to give up! Now you've even transformed into three persons."

Lonemoon snorted coldly. Gripping his sword tightly, he prepared to charge at them.

"Wait! "Yi Qing pulled him back. "Let's make sure."

Stepping forwards, he scanned the three people before him, then turning to Shen Ying, asked, "Master, what do you want to eat for lunch?" Shen Ying's mouth twitched in irritation. She looked back at Father Niu, then said through gritted teeth, "Immortal crane!"

Yi Qing: "…"

Lonemoon: "…"

OK, what she said was true.

"Where did you go, why did you take so long to come?" Lonemoon heaved a sigh of relief before walking over. He did not look surprised to see Chu Xuan, whose face was badly bruised and swollen, but exclaimed when he saw Lan Hua, "Why is he here?""

"These two "Chicken oil[1]" friends just reunited!" Shen Ying explained.

What "Chicken oil"? Lan Hua looked baffled by their exchange, but in view of the current situation, refrained from asking. Pointing to the flower meadow, he said, "This is the Illusion Valley. All these flowers can create a false illusion in the mind. Your other disciples are all trapped inside, save them quickly. They won't be able to escape if they stay too long here."

The two men's expressions darkened. Yi Qing asked, "Let me know their locations."

"Thirty meters south-west and to the east…" Lan Hua answered, having already memorized their exact locations. "Time is short. Let's split up to look for…"

Before he could finish his sentence, Yi Qing turned around and struck out with his sword. Blades of sword qi shot out and then condensed to form several huge dragons. The dragons charged out in different directions. In their wake, grass and flowers were uprooted, earth and dust flew everywhere; an entire layer of ground was sliced away. Within moments, the whole flower meadow, apart from those near the five specified directions was reduced to a barren dirt field.

"Thanks!" Yi Qing summoned his sword and saluted. Chu Xuan: "…"

Lan Hua: "…"

This sword qi… You call him a young emperor!! Who are you kidding? What happened in the immortal realm during the years he was cultivating to be a demon?

Shen Ying and Lonemoon walked towards the directions of their disciples as if nothing unusual had happened. As the flower meadow was now destroyed, the disciples woke up from their dream world.

"How do we… destroy this array?" asked Lonemoon.

Although they were now safe, there were several people still trapped in other locations that they had to rescue. Moreover they were still trapped in the primordial spirit stage and could not return to their bodies unless the array was destroyed.

Shen Ying  paused  in  thought  for  a  moment,  then  turned behind to look at Chu Xuan.

Chu Xuan shivered and quickly told them all he knew. "That

… Actually the Illusion Valley is also located within the Immortal Execution Array so the Heart Array Stone… should also be somewhere nearby."

Chu Xuan did not expect that these people could deal with the illusion valley so easily. Although they had entered the array, it would not have trapped them for long.

"Then let's go and find the Heart Array Stone." Lonemoon gave a few instructions to Yu Hong and set up an array to prevent them from getting lost. Then he led the group of disciples and headed towards the cloud of fog.

"By the way." Shen Ying halted as a thought suddenly occurred to her. "Boss, put this necklace back on." He looked weird under that layer of black smoke.

Lan Hua paused in surprise. Was she… worried that the other immortals would find out that he was from the demon tribe when they regained consciousness? His heart warmed and a familiar feeling overwhelmed him. His hand moved involuntarily to his collar…

Wait a moment! Good Heart, don't be rash!

Σ(°△°|||)

Even if he had no immortal stones, he should not offer her his clothes!

Lan Hua felt an impulse to kill himself. Suddenly he had a eureka moment and turned to grab Chu Xuan.

"You… wanted to repay your debt to me, right?"

Chu Xuan was overjoyed. "Master! You've… finally acknowledged me." "Do you have a storage bag?" Before Chu Xuan could finish speaking, Lan Hua reached out his hand to him.

"Yes… I have." Chu Xuan handed it over.

So the next moment, he saw his benefactor open the bag, remove its contents one by one and then shove it to the Shen lady immortal in front of him. While removing the items, he said, "I don't know what these things are? But take them, take them!" As long as he did not have to remove his clothes.

Oh ho! So this Boss has his uses. Lonemoon's eyes gleamed. He fished out an empty bag from robes and handed it over to Shen Ying, saying, "Come, Shen Ying! Use this bag."

Yi Qing: "…"

All the disciples: "…"

Chu Xuan: "…" His heart hurt deeply but he could not speak up. It had to be said, emperors were a wealthy lot. Lan Hua kept fishing inside the bag for almost an hour before he confiscated all the priceless objects inside it.

"Emperor… Emperor…" blurted out Chu Xuan as he looked in disbelief at the empty storage bag he was holding. "How is this Shen… Exalted Goddess related to you?"

"She's my Good Heart. Can't you tell?"

"Good … Heart?" Chu Xuan subconsciously touched his swollen face. "You're sure she's your Good Heart… and not your Demon Heart?"

"…"

————————

The group of them walked towards the cloud of smog. Apart from some flowers, they did not meet with any danger. After walking for about an hour, Lonemoon, the only expert in array formations, suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"The eye of the formation should be just ahead of us." He said, pointing ahead.

Yi Qing conjured a wind seal. Instantly, a huge gust of wind rose and blew away the thick smog, revealing a stone table. Atop it lay various glittering gold dharmic talismans, surrounded by different kinds of array images. A stream of reddish liquid was flowing along the array images and seeping into the ground.

A man sat cross-legged In the middle of the formation with his eyes closed. Blood was dripping continuously from a cut in his hand.

"Chen Ge!" Lonemoon exclaimed in surprise. Why was he here? And it was not his primordial spirit but his actual body sitting there.

"What's happening?" Lan Hua turned to look at Chu Xuan. The expression in Chu Xuan's eyes as he looked at the man in the center of the array still bore a hint of resentment. In a grudging tone he explained, "This array was originally laid out using his blood as a catalyst. So his body is what maintains the eye of the formation." If everything went smoothly, the array would vanish once his body was drained of the last drop of blood and all his immortal qi dissipated completely. Besides, Chen Ge was the one in the array with the highest level of cultivation level, so naturally he was most suitable to be the eye of the array.

"He's now one with Zhu Xian, his body is controlled by the array and his primordial spirit is not in his body. The Heart Array Stone is under his feet. To destroy the array, we need to defeat him."

"I can't think of a way to make him leave the Heart Array Stone." He looked a little timidly at Shen Ying before continuing, "So… that's why I said it cannot be destroyed. If you want to destroy it, you have to fight him. One of you will be injured or even die. He's your Feng Cang Celestial Emperor, I'm sure you won't want to injure… Huh? Huh!"

Before he could complete his sentence, Yi Qing and Lonemoon had already rushed out with their swords. They showed no signs of hesitation as they swung their swords down on Chen Ge. At the same instant, the man inside the array, Chen Ge, opened his eyes. There was no focus in his gaze. His movements as he fought with them were as mechanical as a wooden puppet .

What luck! They had been waiting to beat this asshole for the longest time!

Chu Xuan: "…"

Was it an error of perception? Why did he have the feeling that these two sword immortals seemed overly eager to fight? Don't the citizens of Feng Cang continent look up to their emperor?

[1] Chinese homophone for gays

Chapter 182: A Vacancy For An Emperor

Shen Ying's group left Heavens beyond Heaven the second day after the destruction of the array. They handed Chu Xuan over to Chen Ge immediately once all the emperors had regained consciousness. After all, this matter concerned the two continents and the Invincible Sect was a part of Feng Cang continent. Chu Xuan had set up the Zhu Xian Array to incite discord within the continent. Hence this matter was best left to Chen Ge, who was an emperor as well, to handle.

Chu Xuan accepted the matter well and did not put up any resistance when Chen Ge sealed all the immortal qi in his body. Whether due to being intimidated by the presence of Shen Ying or because he was certain that Chen Ge dared not do anything to him, no one knew for sure. He was He Chuan' ruler after all; his death would trigger an all out war between the two continents.

Although they did not know how Chen Ge would handle the matter, they guessed that it would keep him busy for some time.

Unlike the other emperors who were still indignant over the matter, Lonemoon was uninterested in this type of political intrigue and left with his group of disciples. Their immortal boat and just reached the entrance of Heavens beyond Heaven when a ray of dusky light flashed across the entrance and they saw a figure come running towards them.

"Wait a moment!" It was Chen Ge. He flew over hurriedly and stopped in front of the boat. "Sect master Shen and Sect Elders. Why didn't you inform me that you were leaving. I could have sent you off."

Lonemoon took a look at Chen Ge's face, which was still swollen and puffy and subconsciously turned his head away. Waving his hand, he unlocked the boat's defensive array. Then he saluted him and said, "Celestial Emperor, why have you come?"

"All of you are my old friends. You're leaving, so naturally I have to send you off." said Chen Ge as he descended to the boat. He turned to face the three people before him and curved his lips into a smile. However, this action caused the cut on his lip to tear, causing him to retract his smile in pain.

Lonemoon and Yi Qing both looked up at the sky. Er, this had nothing to do with them. "Thanks to you two Sect Elders, I and the other emperors were able to escape unharmed from the Zhu Xian array." Chen Ge's thanked them gravely, a look of gratitude on his face.

The three of them: "…"

They felt an inexplicable feeling of guilt. They realized that he had come alone, unlike before, when he was always accompanied by an entourage of palace staff.

"Ahem… Er, Celestial Emperor is too kind. We just did our duty as Feng Cang's citizens. Besides… wasn't it Celestial Emperor who destroyed the array?"

Everyone had come out of the array unscathed, except Chen Ge, who emerged with a swollen face. As this could not be easily explained away, Lonemoon and Yi Qing decided to tell everyone that the array was destroyed by Chen Ge. They were only his side-kicks. After all, during their fight, his primordial spirit was not within his body. He would not find out… they hoped?

"Fellow Immortal Lonemoon exaggerates my capability." Chen Ge gave a sigh and said with a grateful expression, "The rest of the emperors do not know the truth, but I do."

"What?" Lonemoon's heart leaped. Wasn't Che Ge's primordial spirit missing then? Has he come here to seek revenge?

"At that time, my primordial spirit had left my body.  I couldn't move, so how could I have destroyed the array and rescued the emperors?" Chen Ge sighed again. With a look of deep sincerity, he said, "So… you two were the ones who destroyed the array and you must have been the ones who protected my body in the array."

Everyone: "…." Do the other immortals know there is a hole in your brain?

"You did it to raise my standing in the eyes of the other emperors. That's why you told them that I was the one who destroyed the array." Chen Ge said with a look of conviction on his face. "Hahaha…" Lonemoon laughed heartily and answered without a hint of embarrassment, "It seems nothing can escape your eyes."

Yi Qing: "…"

Shen Ying: "…"

With such thick skin, he's without doubt a true businessman!

"We haven't seen each other for a long time, I thought that we had grown apart," said Chen Ge, shaking his head. "I never thought that you would be the ones to come to my aid at the critical moment. This is the second time that the two of you have helped me. I'm… deeply grateful." He bent down and bowed deeply to the three of them.

Lonemoon suddenly felt that he had been too heavy-handed towards Chen Ge.

"You're welcome, Celestial Emperor, it's… our duty." After all, they themselves had been trapped in the array. Moreover, the Invincible Sect was also a part of Feng Cang.

Chen Ge became even more emotional. Then seemingly recalling something, he frowned and said, "There was indeed a problem during the Immortal Competition. Hui Ling… It was my fault for not being strict with her. I have already withdrawn her champion's title and ordered her to stay in seclusion for a hundred years. I'll also launch an investigation to find out how she managed to win the competition."

So saying he waved his hand and an immortal artifact instantly floated in front of them. This was the prize given to the Earth Immortal's champion. "It was a negligence on  my part. I wasn't aware of my disciple's wrong actions and was biased. I hope you won't hold this against me."

Lonemoon fell silent, not knowing how to answer him. Shen Ying reached out to take the dharmic artifact from Chen Ge, thanking him, "Don't worry. We won't."

Then she tossed the artifact to the disciple clad in purple behind her. "Little Violet, it's yours." The disciple, who was originally the Earth Immortal's second placed winner, caught hold of it reflexively. Looking a little dazed, she said, "Thank you… thank you Sect Master."  This prize is given by Sect Master! Happiness!

"Sect Master Shen is truly magnanimous. Chen Ge thanks you." Chen Ge saluted them and after exchanging some pleasantries with Lonemoon, turned towards Yi Qing and said, "Actually I have a request to ask of Fellow Immortal Yi Qing."

Lonemoon frowned. He had been wondering why Chen Ge had been so friendly.

"What favor?" asked Yi Qing.

Chen Ge took out a white object that looked like a seal and continued, "This is the immortal seal of the Chong Lan country. Ge You betrayed Feng Cang, so naturally he has lost the right to be its emperor. As Brother Yi Qing has the highest cultivation level in Chong Lan, I would like to ask you to replace Ge You as its ruler." "Ruler!"

Lonemoon and the other disciples were stunned. He had guessed that it would be no small matter, he even thought Chen Ge might ask Yi Qing to help him wage war against He Chuan. Yi Qing, with his skills, was certainly on par with Ge You. He never imagined that Chen Ge would request Yi Qing to take over as Chong Lan's ruler.

"Fellow Immortal Yi Qing is already a young emperor, as well as a sword cultivator. There is no one in Chong Lan who is as powerful as you. So you are the best…"

"I can't!"

"What?" Chen Ge exclaimed, seemingly surprised by his rejection. "Why?"

"Because…" Yi Qing replied gravely, "  I  won't  have  time  to cook for Master then." Chen Ge: "…" What the heck!

Lonemoon: "…" You're a bloody immortal chef!

Shen Ying: "…" What a good chef.

Lonemoon's mouth twitched in exasperation. Sighing, he answered on behalf of Yi Qing. "Thank you for your kind offer. But this matter of a new ruler is of utmost importance, not anyone with a high cultivation level can take on the role. Yi Qing used to be an itinerant cultivator. I'm afraid he's not suited for governance." If Yi Qing took on the role, officially he would be the ruler, but knowing the freakish characters of the master- disciple duo, it would be left to him to do the dirty job! Taking care of the two hundred immortals in Invincible Sect was already sapping his energy, if he had to manage a whole country… Heh heh… He had no wish to shorten his lifespan!

This request has to be rejected!

"I know that all of you here have noble characters, fame and power hold no attraction for you. But…" Chen Ge looked conflicted. He had no choice, Chong Lan needed a ruler, and they were the most suitable.

"In that case …" There was a gleam in Lonemoon's eyes as he suggested, "Shall I recommend someone to you?"

"Really?" Chen Ge's eyes shone in hopeful anticipation.

"Yes, yes, yes." Lonemoon nodded his head emphatically. "He's the best choice."

"I naturally  trust  Fellow  Immortal  Lonemoon's  judgement.

Who is he?"

"He's…"

***

A few miles away. Ah choo!

Xun Shu, who was just about to lead his tribe members home, suddenly let out a loud sneeze. Why did he suddenly feel a cold draft behind him?

Chapter 183: Collective Buff

Four hours later.

The Ten-Direction Ship finally left the Heavens beyond Heaven and headed in the direction of the country of Chong Zhen.

"Hey!" Lonemoon nudged the lump of mud who was curled up on the chair, munching on fruits. "What happened to you this time? You didn't seem like you at all - you forgave Chen Ge and his disciple so easily." Was she usually so magnanimous toward people who agitated her?

"Why shouldn't I forgive them?" Shen Ying looked at him suspiciously. "What did he do wrong?"

"Does that need saying…" He looked at her as if her Alzheimer's was acting up again.

"What did he do?" "He…" Lonemoon suddenly stopped himself mid-sentence to think. It seemed like Chen Ge really did not do anything wrong. Instead, he was beaten up by both Lonemoon and Yi Qing for no reason. "Hui Ling… That little brat… I thought you couldn't stand her?"

"Who says I can't stand her?"

"You must be kidding me!" Lonemoon scanned her from head to toe. Why did this saint-like character of hers only appearing now? "Did you forget what she said to you back at the main hall? She was obviously mistaken about your identity and jealous that you were the only emperor who was a female - that was why she tried to challenge you. She even tried to intimidate you in the name of being a disciple of the Celestial Emperor."

"I haven't forgotten that!" Shen Ying still looked lazy. She picked up a cup of green tea and sipped it.

"And during the competition, she cheated in front of everyone. if she had not depended on the person inside the necklace, "Oh… and?"

"And then?!" Lonemoon's eyes widened. "There are already two matters and you're not in the least bit angry!"

"I am."

"Then you…" Lonemoon was really confused now.

Shen Ying raised her head to look at him, and then looked around at the other disciples. Suddenly, she set down the fruit that she was munching on and sighed deeply. How troublesome!

"Father Niu, exactly what kind of person am I in your eyes?" She lowered her voice and sounded extremely serious.

"Huh?" Lonemoon paused, wondering why Shen Ying was asking him this. "That little Green Tea girl did offend me, but I've already paid her back for it. She did cheat, but she was already exposed and she already apologised to Salted Fish. She also tried to make amends. She has been punished enough., is that not right?"

"But…"

"What do you want me to do? Smash her head?"

"…"

"Apart from these two matters, she has not done anything to harm anyone else right? If someone must be put to death just because she cheated in a competition and said some mean things to someone else, would that not be too scary?" Shen Ying was extremely stern. "I don't like her, and I think she's annoying and hypocritical, but I can't kill her just because I don't like her, right?"

"…" "In your eyes, am I such a… murderer who does not care for what the victim thinks? Someone who cannot accept an opposing view?"

"…"

"Everyone has the right to find other people annoying, but they cannot use their own morals to judge others," Shen Ying continued. "Take Salted Fish for example - I know that you hated him from the beginning because of the novel. But  in actual fact, did he do anything wrong? As a Celestial Emperor, he tried his best to protect the various emperors under him. As a master, he tried his best to protect his student but also did his best to correct the situation the moment he realised something was wrong. He even personally punished his disciple. As someone we used to know, he invited us to join the Mystic Spirits and Immortals Meeting just to scare the various emperors into putting down their hatred. Should we choose to blind ourselves to all of these facts just because he's the male lead in the novel? Should we insist that he has ulterior motives to everything he does?

"…" "Father Niu… Since when did I become such a narrow-minded and ignorant wastrel?"

Everyone in the ship was dead silent.

Lonemoon was extremely confused. It was only then that he started to truly reflect on everything that happened in the Heavens beyond Heaven in the past few days. Putting aside the prejudice he held against Chen Ge, it seemed like… he really did not do anything harmful toward them. Instead, from the beginning, he seemed to be on Invincible Sect's side. He ignored the request of the various emperors and even let the Invincible Sect take part in the great competition.

Although Shen Ying was there and the sect did not really care for his gestures, it was a fact that Chen Ge did not know this. He did not even know about the Immortal Execution Array. All along, he thought that Yi Qing and Lonemoon were the ones who broke the array. So he really… did all he could to help Invincible Sect. Although they did not need his help, could he really ignore all his efforts just because it did not benefit them in the least?

Of course,  there  was the  fact  that after  Hui  Ling offended Shen Ying, Chen Ge only punished her for one day and let her off the hook the next day. But no matter what, the most that Lonemoon could say was Hui Ling being rude to them. In modern times, this did not even count as an offence. As one of the disciples who was to compete as well - it did not seem all that unreasonable to lock her up for just one day.

Why was he treating the both of them so harshly?

In his heart, he knew that the novel was the reason for the way he felt. Before this, he was afraid that things would develop as they did in the novel. It took him plenty of effort to accept that the novel was very different from reality, yet now he could not escape his view of the characters in the novel.

Just because Chen Ge was the male lead and Hui Ling being the new female lead, Lonemoon developed a prejudice against the both of them. He was sure that they would bring only harm to the people around them. This was the lasting impression that they made on Lonemoon. He did not even like Xuan Tong that much in the beginning. He only gradually accepted her after Hui Ling appeared.

Now, he was trapped in this impression of them and unable to see reality clearly. He even… he even thought of making the two of them disappear off the face of the earth forever.

Lonemoon's heart jumped and he stopped himself just before he fell off the ship. Suddenly, everything was clear. It felt like a fog that was there for a long time had finally cleared. He faintly felt something that had been buried inside for a long time threatening to explode.

"Shen Ying…"

"Huh?" Shen Ying paused. "You're not going to ask us to turn around so we can kill them, are you?"

"No, it's merely a suggestion."

"What?"

Suddenly, Lonemoon broke into a grin. "The next time you want to have a serious conversation with me… Can we not do it in the sky?" "Huh?"

Shen Ying had not even asked before a great burst of immortal Qi shot through Lonemoon's body. His entire body seemed to be glowing and the white light was blinding. Below his feet, the top-grade immortal artifact, the Ten-Direction Ship, suddenly cracked with a loud sound.

Holy shit!

Shen Ying lost her balance and almost fell over.

"Master!" Fortunately, Yi Qing reacted very quickly and caught her, placing her atop his flying sword. They flew outside of the reach of the immortal Qi.

"What's happening?"

"He's having an epiphany." Damn! Father Niu's ability to have epiphanies mid- conversation was still going strong!

"Where's the rest?"

"I think.. they're also having epiphanies."

"…"

Shen Ying felt like she just activated a buff for the entire sect.

"Wait…" Shen Ying's expression changed. She subconsciously tried to go back to where Lonemoon was. "Father Niu! You haven't given me my allowance!"

"…"

Chapter 184: Stealing A Lamp In The Middle Of The Night

Everyone's cultivation was greatly boosted in this group BUFF, especially Si Yu and Yu Hong, who directly rose to mystic immortals. Father Niu's cultivation was unchanged, he was still an exalted immortal, except that the immortal qi in his body had increased to the level of a young emperor. As they were not far from Heavens beyond Heaven, they headed back and made a trip to the Immortal Ascension Stage.

However, ever since their epiphanies, the immortal qi in their bodies seemed different from before. In the past, their Qi was clear and pristine, now it was colored with streaks of gold and pulsated around their bodies. This was true especially in the case of Father Niu, who had to rein in his Qi, else the golden streaks of Qi would certainly condense into material form.

Yi Qing investigated this phenomenon for almost half a day but still could not make out what these golden streaks were. Even Feng Ying, who used his system to scan it, did not get a conclusive result. All his system said was that it was harmless.

With all these delays, it was almost four months later before they reached Invincible Sect. Everything was as usual at the Invincible Sect. Although they no longer had the demonic Qi to train in, with the aid of their numerous dharma treasures, their cultivation levels continue to grow. Especially Xuan Tong, who showed signs of developing immortal bones. Although her progress was slower compared to the other disciples, but taking into consideration that her cultivation was limited by the stabilisation effect of her necklace, the fact that she had improved this much showed commendable effort on her part.

Roasted Chicken Gal was naturally very pleased with her. In order that Xuan Tong could have a quiet seclusion for her cultivation, she asked permission from Lonemoon to build a cave abode at the base of the mountain where the immortal qi was densest. Every once in a while she would go there to check on Xuan Tong. This angered Feng Ying, who felt like a neglected boyfriend.

Two months later…

"Hey, plant Radish at the back of the mountain later. I've left a plot on the north side for him. Plant him in the biggest pit there." With a wave of his sleeve, Lonemoon tossed a man-sized flower pot over to Shen Ying. A green radish lay in the center of the pot. It was throwing pebbles with its leaves in a bored manner. Every one of pebbles was aimed at Lonemoon. However, the defensive array formation outside the pot rendered his efforts futile.

"What for?" Shen Ying swallowed the last mouthful of rice and glanced at the pot. Didn't Radish already have his own pit at the back of the mountain?

"The old pit is too remote. We'll plant him inside the immortal vein so that the immortal herbs can grow faster." The herbs that Wu Hong and Biao Ting sent them had already sprouted. Those two immortal emperors, afraid that their herbs would not grow well, even insisted on giving them two immortal veins as gifts. Now that he had embedded the vein into the back of the mountain and adjusted the array there as well, Radish had to change his pit as well.

"It's so troublesome, why did you pick me to do it?" Shen Ying instantly felt her whole body starting to ache.

"If you don't go, you think Radish will be willing to be planted there?" Lonemoon rolled his eyes at her. Radish's stubborn character was all her fault. She had spoiled him. The once pure and innocent vegetation spirit was showing signs of turning into a rebellious teenager. "It takes anywhere from a thousand to ten thousand years for immortal herbs to grow. If Radish doesn't help them to ripen faster, how can we use them to refine pills to earn money?"

Shen Ying asked softly, "Do we still need to plant these weeds to earn money?" Didn't we hit the big time recently?

"Do we need to?" Lonemoon bellowed. He got up and pounded his hand on the table. "Actually we won't  need  to  if  you  stop your habit of taking in freeloaders!" He turned  and  pointed  at Lan Hua angrily. "Xuan Tong was a special case. But how do you explain this fellow?" Isn't he from the demonic tribe? Why is he still here and eating at our  table?  Don't  you  know  that immortals and demons are sworn enemies?"

"Don't be so concerned over these small details!"

"Small details my foot!"

As a demon, not only did Lan Hua not hide from immortal cultivators, he openly came to an immortal sect for a meal. Yet the sect master and her disciples treated this situation as if it were perfectly normal.

Bloody hell! They were decent and abiding immortals!

"You were the ones who first captured me and then dragged me to Heavens beyond Heaven." Lan Hua retorted angrily. "Hmph! If you hadn't done that, I wouldn't be here."

"Then why don't you leave!" Lonemoon glared at him. Now, nobody has tied you up or detained you. Why are you still free loading here?

"Er…" Lan Hua was stumped. He realized that he was indeed free. He did not understand why he had lingered and even sat down for a meal with Shen Ying.

But his legs refused to move when he thought of leaving. After racking his head, he explained, "I… I can't leave because my Good Heart is here." What if something happened to her? "Bullshit!" Lonemoon glared at him. "You left happily enough the other time." He remembered a certain someone hiding in the willow forest.

"…"

OK, you win Father Niu!

Glaring at the two useless bums on the table, Lonemoon said threateningly, "We in Invincible Sect don't accept useless people as members. If you want to stay, you need to work. Understand?"

"Yes, yes, yes." The two of them nodded and continued their meal calmly.

Seeing no response from the two, Lonemoon instructed, "Yu Hong, ask the disciple who went to buy groceries to return at once."

The person who had been busy eating, jumped to her feet immediately.

"Don't worry, Father Niu, leave Radish to me. I'll definitely ensure a good crop of high quality spirit herbs!"

Then she picked up the flower pot and disappeared down the mountain.

Lonemoon turned to look at a certain someone who had remained behind. "You.."

"I'll start work too…" said Lan Hua, waving a melon in his hand.

So in the short space of a day, under the eagle eye of Lonemoon, the multi-talented, immortal emperor Lan Hua toiled like a dog to reorganize the defensive arrays around the mountain and a hundred various arrays throughout the sect, refined three cauldrons of elixirs and two immortal weapons.

It was  when  he  flopped  on  his  bed  in  exhaustion  that  a thought came to him.

Wait a moment!

That freak Yi Qing was not the one ordering him around, why should he be so obedient?

Σ(°△°|||)

——————

Late into the night.

A figure covered with white fur slipped into the front palace and scuttled in the direction of the palace wing until it reached a small building. It then jumped up to one of the windows and sat there with its two furry tails hanging out from the window sill.

The furry animal gently opened the window. Its two black eyes scanned the room carefully and suddenly alighted on a wooden table nearby. Its eyes widened and screeched excitedly, "Coo…"

However, it covered its mouth immediately and panted silently. It scanned its surroundings alertly. After a while, as if satisfied that no one had detected its presence, it reached out to the table with its long tail.

There was a lamp on the table, its flames extinguished. The lamp seemed to be from jade, with flowery designs floating on top. Even though it was night, the lamp was still emitting a faint light.

The small, furry little animal tried hard to extend its tail as far as it could, but the wooden table was at the far end of the room, way beyond its reach.

It seemed a little anxious, waving its tail that was outside the window impatiently. After a while, it seemed to come up with an idea. It chanted a dharmic spell softly. Instantly, its fat tail began to elongate until it became twice its original length and almost touched the table. However, it was still not long enough to be able to wrap around the lamp. It had wriggled almost half of its body through the window, but was still unable to reach the lamp. Shaking its furry body, it then extended its other tail. Opening its mouth, it bit down on its tail. Drops of blood immediately oozed out and flowed down the tail. The other tail began to grow longer until it became longer than the first tail.

Pleased with the result, the furry white animal totally forgot to stem the blood flow and reached its tail towards the lamp. It was about the touch the lamp when…

Shen Ying, sitting beside the table: "…"

The next moment, she reached out with her hand and quietly moved the lamp an inch away from the tail.

"…"

"You'll get burned," explained Shen Ying gravely.

"You.." White  Fur  got  a  start.  His  fur  stood  on  end  and  a female voice rang out, "Why are you here!" When did this person come into the room? How could she have escape its notice.

There was a look of panic on White Fur's face. Suddenly it growled fiercely, "Give me the lamp!" Then its body emitted a red beam of light and its two tails elongated once again. Wrapping its tail over Shen Ying's hand, which in turn was holding onto the lamp, it turned and tried to escape through the window.

It tugged hard, thinking to drag both Shen Ying and the lamp with it, but found that it was unable to… move.

(⊙_⊙)

How could this be possible!?

It muttered a wind spell and then tugged even harder. But… nothing moved. ○ | ̄|_

All it got for its effort was a tearing sensation at the tip of its tail. White Fur curled up in pain.

Shen Ying glanced at her hand that was entwined with a furry tail. She frowned in disgust and instinctively pulled her hand away.

White Fur, who was still trying to pull its tail away, instantly lurched forwards, its four claws still clinging onto the window sill. Bang! White Fur, together with  the window sill, crashed into the room.

The force of the impact caused it to roll forwards until it reached Shen Ying's feet, whereupon it passed out.

Shen Ying: "…"

What was this thing? A beast reared by their Sect… for their supper?

——————

Ten minutes later.

"Demon?" Lonemoon rushed in upon hearing the commotion. Picking up the little white animal, he said, "This is only a second-level demon! What is happening?" Turning to Yu Hong, he asked, "How did this weak demon beak into our sect?" It had even slipped into Shen Ying's room.

"I… I don't know," replied Yu Hong, shaking her hand.

"Are you telling me that none of you managed to spot such a conspicuous demon?" Lonemoon began to doubt the effectiveness of the newly set up arrays.

"There are many animals reared by our disciples. I'm not sure exactly when this demon infiltrated our sect." Lonemoon's mouth twitched. "I thought that the animals you are rearing have not developed intelligence?" Did they think that he did not know that these animals were Shen Ying's backup food source in the event that he reduced their food allowance. "This is obviously a fox. A two-tailed Spirit Fox!"

"Fox?!" Yu Hong exclaimed, glancing at the ball of fur. No wonder they had not discovered its presence. "I thought it was a rabbit demon."

Si Yu: "I thought it was a goat demon.

Bitao: "I thought it was a pig demon."

Shen Ying: "Mmmn. It looks meaty."

Yi Qing: "Master, shall I get a knife?"

"Hey, that's enough!" Lonemoon glared at them. "Do you guys have anything in your brain other than food?" He knew that demons that had developed intelligence in the immortal world were either someone's pet or was related to an immortal demon. It definitely had an owner!

Lonemoon conjured a seal to awake the fox demon.

"Where did you come from and why do you want to steal this lamp?" He asked, pointing to the jade lamp on the table.

The fox demon was still a little dazed. Shaking its head, it subconsciously shifted its gaze to the lamp on the table. Instantly, its eyes widened. "Lamp! My…" Then it pounced towards the lamp.

It clutched the lamp fiercely with its two paws. Before it could pick the lamp up, it suddenly gave a loud whine and released its paws. The fur on its front paws started to turn black. There was a faint smell of burnt flesh.

Shen Ying: "…" I warned you it was hot. Do you want to be roasted? I prefer steaming. Lonemoon frowned and immediately placed the fox demon back in its original position. Then he asked again, "Tell me the truth. Why would a Wind Spirit Root Fox Demon like you steal an old lamp?"

It was only then that the Fox Demon realized the predicament it was in. It looked timidly at them and curled up into a ball. It made no reply but kept looking at the lamp on the table.

"You refuse to tell?" Lonemoon's face darkened. "If you won't tell, I'll look for your master and ask him." He then conjured a contract display seal and waved it towards the fox. Whether they were spirit pets or relatives of a demon immortal, all demons that had reached immortal level in the immortal world had a contract seal, to prevent them from being mistakenly attacked. It was easy enough to find out who its owner was.

The white fox trembled. It seemed to realize what Lonemoon was trying to do and cried out in alarm, "Don't! Don't … This has nothing to do with my master. He doesn't know about this. Don't look for my master!"

"Then why do you want to steal this lamp for?" "I… I…" Its voice grew increasingly weak and it trembled even more. It was unable to give an answer.

"Yu Hong, fetch Lan Hua from the back palace." Lonemoon instructed. He could not be bothered to listen to this fat fox. This lamp was one of the objects that he had dug out from the pile of immortal artifacts. Not knowing what it was, he had placed it Shen Ying's room, to use as a light source. Now it seemed that the lamp had other uses.

"This is a Spirit Convening Lamp!" explained Lan Hua, who had just been dragged in by Yu Hong.

"Spirit Convening Lamp?" What was that?

"It's used to gather all remnant souls." Lan Hua said with a careless air. "There is nothing much useful about it, unless someone's soul is missing. But this lamp can only gather the remnant soul of mortals. It cannot recall the souls of immortals who are critically injured, the most it can do is to recall a part of its primordial spirit." "There's actually an artifact that can recover immortal souls!" Lonemoon was surprised. From what he knew, souls that had left the body were almost impossible to recover. The souls of mortals were particularly fragile, and would disintegrate once it was expelled from the body.

"Who said this is an immortal artifact?" Lan Hua looked at Lonemoon as if looking at an ignoramus.

"Not an immortal artifact?" Then what was it?

"It's an authentic Ten Directions Divine Armament that I found in Yu Feng immortal city!"

Shen Ying: "…"

Lonemoon: "…"

Yi Qing: "…" You even have a divine artifact! Is there anything else you haven't given Shen Ying?

Heh heh… So Shen Ying had been using this divine artifact as a lighting source?

The uses of this Ten Directions Divine Armament were indeed wide-ranging!

Chapter 185: Sending the Fox beyond Heaven

"Great Immortals… please lend me this lamp." The fox demon seemed to have guessed that everybody knew what the lamp could do. She began to beg, "I… I promise that I will return it in ten days. I beg you!"

"Whose Primordial Spirit are you trying to fix with  this lamp?" Lonemoon frowned.

"I… I…" The fox demon looked up at Lan Hua, hesitated, and then looked around guiltily.

Lonemoon was not in the mood to wait for her to come up with a story. He immediately conjured a spell and shot it toward her.

"No!" The white fox panicked and tried to stop him, but it was too late.

In a moment, the mark of a spell appeared on the snow white fur of the fox. On the mark was written: Xin Han.

The white fox immediately became pale.

"Xin Han?" Who's that? Lonemoon turned around and asked, "Who has heard of this name?"

Everybody was shocked. One by one, they shook their heads.

The white fox on the ground paused and excitement filled her eyes. She seemed to heave a sigh of relief.

"Lan Hua, you're the oldest here. Have you ever heard of this name?" Lonemoon turned to address Lan Hua.

The oldest? What the heck did he mean?

"It sounds familiar… Xin Han… Xin…" He pondered for a long time and then shook his head. "I forgot!" "…" What use are you? You're supposed to have been a Celestial Emperor in the past.

Lonemoon rolled his eyes and frowned even deeper. This is going to be difficult. They had no choice but to ask the newly- appointed Country Emperor Tao tomorrow.

"There's someone who might know," Lan Hua suddenly suggested, as if recalling something.

"Who?"

"Wait for awhile, I'll call him over." He flew out as fast as the wind and returned in under two minutes. He was dragging a man in blue robes. With a serious expression, he exclaimed, "Him!"

"Exalted Goddess Shen, Fellow… Fellow Immortals, it's been a long time!" Chu Xuan smiled awkwardly.

Lonemoon: "…" Shen Ying: "…"

Yi Qing: "…"

"Explain yourself!" Lonemoon pursed his lips and let out a sigh. He was trying to hold himself back from throwing a punch at Lan Hua. "Where did this man come from?" Weren't you locked up by Chen Ge? How did you get here?

"He… He appeared just last night." Lan Hua looked wronged. He came across Chu Xuan when he returned to the room the night before. He just had not had the time to chase him out yet.

"Fellow Immortal Lonemoon, you are mistaken," Chu Xuan immediately begun explaining. "I did not escape. It's that rascal Chen Ge… Er, he let me go of his own accord. He Chuan paid a price for my release, and agreed never to fight with Feng Cang again. That's how the issue with the Immortal Execution Array came to a close. We are letting bygones be bygones." In any case, Celestial Emperor Lan Hua has been found. He would still have opportunities to return his kindness. What's more, if he wanted to run, he would not have come here. He glanced at Shen Ying, who was picking at the fur on the white fox. Subconsciously, he retreated behind Lan Hua. For some reason, he felt pain in his body all over again.

"So…" Lonemoon still looked at him with contempt, then turned to glare at Lan Hua. "What has that got to do with you coming here?" Another rice-eater.

Lan Hua looked down to avoid Lonemoon's gaze. This had nothing to do with him. Chu Xuan came here on  his  own accord.

"I came to find Mas- the Celestial Emperor," Chu Xuan answered in a low voice. "Back at the Interspatial Arena, I did not have enough time to say everything I wanted to say, so…"

"So? How long are you planning to stay here?"

"Er… two or three days? Or a few months?" Much depended on the Celestial Emperor. "Get out!" Both of you!

Lan Hua: "…"

Chu Xuan: "…"

Do you take my Invincible Sect as a halfway house? Why was everyone coming here to seek refuge? Was it not enough that they were harbouring two demons? Why were there still Celestial Emperors who were enemies of the continent? If this carried on, they would become an easy target for all refugees.

"Ahya, Father Niu, he's a guest. Let's not bother with the details!" Shen Ying stood up and smacked Lonemoon's shoulder. She turned and addressed Chu Xuan, "Did you bring immortal stones with you?"

"Huh?" Chu Xuan paused, not understanding what she meant. After awhile, he pulled out several bags of immortal stones from inside his robe and handed them over. "I… I brought a few bags." Say so earlier!

Shen Ying's eyes twinkled. So many stones! She took hold of them and handed them to Lonemoon.

Lonemoon's expression softened. "Heh… I'll let you off tonight. You have to go tomorrow!" I'm letting you go on account of your fees.

Chu Xuan: "…"

Why did he feel like they just tagged team to cheat him?

——————

"Xin Han!" Chu Xuan looked shocked after listening to the fox demon's story. "Of course I know her. Wasn't that the child from Yi Shui?" "Yi Shui Continent?" Lonemoon was shocked as well. "Don't tell me that Xin Han is the name of the Celestial Emperor of Yi Shui?"

"That's right!" Chu Xuan nodded. "Don't you know?" Isn't this common knowledge of the immortal realm?

Er…

The new sect of the immortal realm made clear that they did not know any of this.

"Yi Shui is Xin Han's territory," Chu Xuan said as he nodded. He looked down at the fox demon, frowned, and continued, "But the people from there are weird. They're cold and not easy to make friends with. They're not known to mix with people of other continents. I myself have only seen them a couple of times. Among the ten Celestial Emperors, only Chen Ge, that man of many faces, has formed any sort of relations with them."

So this fox is the Celestial Emperor's spirit pet! Lonemoon looked  down  and  glanced  at  the  innocent  little  animal.  No wonder it looks so good.

"Since you're the Celestial Emperor's spirit pet, why did you still covet the Spirit Convening Lamp?" Lonemoon asked. The fox demon remained curled up in a ball, hellbent on staying silent. "If you don't say anything, we'll send you to the Heavens Beyond Heaven and ask Celestial Emperor Xin Han ourselves."

"No…" The white fox began to panic. Suddenly, she got up and pounced at Lonemoon, attempting to break out of the array. However, she was only a little fox demon that did not even know how to transform. How could she possibly break out of Lonemoon's array? The fox demon bounced back, revealing a patch of fur that was burnt where she made contact with the array. The pure white fox looked a little burnt on one side. She lay down on the floor, unconscious and whining.

Lonemoon conjured a coma-inducing spell that caused the fox demon to faint. This was a Celestial Emperor's spirit pet afterall. Lonemoon could not afford to hurt her too seriously. As for the reason that the fox tried to steal the lamp, Lonemoon would have to ask Xin Han himself to find out.

"It seems like we are not going to get an answer from this meeting." Lonemoon instructed, "Yu Hong, take this fox demon to the array on the rear mountain."

"Yes!"

"Find a time to send it back to Yi… Wait!" He stopped mid- sentence, his expression turning dark. "Shen Ying, put the fox down. I said you can't eat it!"

"Chey!"

"Chey your ass! Did you come from Guangdong? Wait… You can't eat the tail either!"

"…"

Damn it, it looked like he had to send the fox away as soon as he could. Immediately, right now! ——————

Father Niu and Yi Qing went to the Heavens Beyond Heaven to send the fox over. They were in such a rush because something happened to the fox in the middle of the night. It tried to run away and made contact with the meridian- protecting array on the rear mountain. It became almost entirely burnt. If Radish had not been in the area and fed the fox several immortal herbs, the fox likely would have been dead by then.

This fat fox was too tolerant of pain. It insisted on not speaking a single word. To prevent it from killing itself, Lonemoon had no choice but to bring forward the trip to the Heavens beyond Heaven.

He was not sure what the Celestial Emperor of Yi Shui was like. To protect himself, he dragged Yi Qing along.

Without the parents around, the Invincible Sect let itself go completely. Nobody did any chores or took care of the immortal herbs. Everybody in the sect began to analyse 101 ways to cook for Shen Ying. Shen Ying was just wondering if she should organise a cooking competition when the fox demon that Father Niu took with him suddenly returned.

He fell into the rear with a loud crash, breaking through the roof and falling straight into the pot that Chef forbade anyone from touching.

Shen Ying: "…"

Everyone outside the house: "…"

So… does it really want to be used as an ingredient?

This was really an ambitious fox!

( 『̄̄)

Shen Ying pondered if she wanted to grant its wish. Suddenly, the fox crawled out of the pot and used two paws to hang on to her robes. In a female voice, it said, "Sect Master Shen, your disciples have been caught by demon immortals!"

"…"

Is that a pig demon?

"What happened?" Lan Hua was the first to react. He picked the fox demon up. "How did you come back?" And it was alone at that. "Where's the rest?"

"We… We… On the way… We met the demon immortal." The fox demon was trembling. Panicked, it continued, "They fought and then… got… got brought away. They saw that I was  a demon and did not take me. You… Please go and save them!"

"Demon immortals!" Chu Xuan frowned. He asked contemptuously, "How does Chen Ge manage Feng Cang Continent? How can demon immortals come and go as they please?" Shen Ying frowned, but did not say anything. The fox demon continued, "I took great efforts to escape and inform you. Those… Those demon immortals were very powerful. You have to be prepared before you go and save them."

"Where did they take them?" Lan Hua asked.

"I… I don't know." The fox demon shook its head. "I just saw them head south."

"South?" Chu Xuan pondered for a moment. "Then  they should be headed for another continent. Shen… Exalted Goddess, demon immortals and immortal cultivators have never gotten along. Seeing that the elders of our sect have been taken away, I don't think it's anything good. We'd better hurry, or else…"

"No rush." Shen Ying sat lazily on a chair and lowered her gaze at the fox demon. "You said Father Niu and Chef both  got caught – and by demon immortals?"

"Yes!" The fox demon nodded. "I saw it with my own eyes. You need to hurry and save them, or you wouldn't make it in time!"

"We need to get things clear first, don't we?" Shen Ying was extremely calm. "Let me guess – they are both Young Immortals. If these demon immortals could capture them, their cultivation level must be much higher – they're at least immortal emperors. But… you might not know this, but they are sword immortals! Put Father Niu aside – even the combined forces of 18 Immortal Emperors are not enough to hold Chef down."

When the white fox heard this, it trembled. Its anxious expression suddenly mixed with a slight panic as it looked away.

"In other words…"  Shen  Ying  continued,  "The  people  who took them away must have been Celestial Emperors – and there was more than one of them." She turned to look at Chu Xuan. "Hey! Boss Lan and that comrade of yours, how many demon immortals are there among the Celestial Emperors?"

Chu Xuan was taken aback. Why was she calling him "Chicken Oil"[1]? Yet, he answered honestly, "Among the ten Celestial Emperors, three are demon immortals. Biao Ting of Qing Feng, Blackbird of Feng Tian and Tian Zhao's Bai Ti." "There are only three of them. That makes things easier." Shen Ying narrowed her eyes and grinned at the fox demon. "I'll tell you something else. Little Birdie and Little Biao are on very good terms with Father Niu. They could not have been the ones who caught them. That leaves us with one suspect."

The white fox subconsciously curled up.

"That last Bai…"

"Bai Ti!" Chu Xuan repeated.

"Oh, we don't know this person. We have nothing against him

– there's no reason he would attack us. Those people must have been coming for you." She lowered her gaze at the fox demon. "A group of people came especially to look for you. Those demon immortals were able to capture both Chef and Father Niu, yet they let you escape. That does not make any sense, unless…" She looked down at the floor, and then suddenly back up at the white fox. "You're in cahoots with them!"

"…" "You did not succeed at stealing what you wanted and even ended up badly injured. You didn't escape at the crucial moment but came back to report what happened to us. Even Radish can tell that you're up to no good."

"…"

"You even just told us that we have to be well-prepared before we go over and save them. Of course, the more prepared we are, the better. Ordinary immortal weapons would not be good enough. We'd better take a couple of divine artefacts with us – like the Spirit Convening Lamp?"

The fox demon was violently trembling by now. Its entire body was now curled up into a ball. It looked like it was going to pounce out of the door and make its escape.

Shen Ying squatted down and got dangerously close to the fox. Slowly and deliberately, she said, "Lying little animals like you will be barbequed!"

The fox: "…" The people: "…"

"Talk – What happened to the two of them?"

The fox demon whose plot was exposed did not answer Shen Ying. It suddenly straightened up and turned, intending to escape.

Lan Hua, who was next to it, waved his hand. A wave of demonic Qi shot past them and knocked the fox demon over. Its head fell hard onto the ground. It started to struggle for its life. "Let me go… Let me… I did not lie to you. They really  got caught. I just wanted that lamp, I just wanted that lamp…"

No matter how hard it struggled, it could not free itself of the demonic Qi. Its pure white fur became streaked with wounds. It was only then that it stopped struggling and submit to its face. It whined, "I beg you… Give me the lamp! I will not tell anyone about this. I'll act like nothing has happened. If you  don't believe me, you can kill me later! I just want to borrow that lamp to save someone. Wu wu wu… I beg you!" "What did we do?" Shen Ying frowned. What was it talking about?

"I… I will not tell! I swear, I swear!"

"Tell me, what exactly happened?" Just say it!

The fox demon raised its head and said meekly, "You… you're hiding… hiding demons."

Shen Ying: "…"

Lan Hua, who was in hiding: "…"

Er… Was that the reason why it did not- for the life of it- want to say why it was stealing the lamp? The crux being… None of it made any sense. Shen Ying suddenly understood why Father Niu was so against Lan Hua staying with them. "Forget it, I'm going to look for the two of them." They can wait until Father Niu returned to discuss everything else.

"Good…"

"Those who are in hiding should remain here!"

Lan Hua: "…"

"Com[2]… I'm not too familiar with the road to Bai Zhao. Lead the way! And take this little animal with us."

Chu Xuan: "…"

It seemed like she was missing a word? Calling him "Chicken Oil" seemed better than calling him "Prostitute[3]"!

(ಥ_ಥ) [1] Sounds like comrade in Chinese

[2] Sounds like "Chicken" in Mandarin

[3] "Chicken" in Mandarin is slang for "Prostitute".

Chapter 186: The Divine Refining Clock

At Feng Luan Palace, Feng Tian continent.

Wu Hong, clad in blue, was pacing back and forth in the main hall of the palace. Boxes of seeds could be seen piled high on the floor and he turned every so often to question the immortal official at his side.

"Is this the new batch of immortal herb seeds that you found?"

"Yes, your highness. There are a total of 375000 varieties of herbs, ten seeds to each variety. These all first grade seeds, specially cultivated on immortal veins and guaranteed to sprout within two days of planting."

"All right." Wu Hong nodded his head. "Have you inspected them? Are you sure there are no spoiled seeds inside?"

"We've done ten rounds of inspection." "Inspect again before we set out!" Frowning, he emphasized, "These are to be sent to the Exalted Goddess, every single one must be perfect, understand?"

"Yes, your highness."

"And change the boxes. These are ordinary boxes, which can only preserve immortal qi. Use boxes made of black immortal wood instead!"

"Yes."

"By the way, have you sent those immortal veins over? This time, add another one. It will be disastrous if they sprout but fail to grow."

"Yes."

"And bring along immortal air. It will speed up their growth." "… Yes."

"Take great care on the road. Use immortal qi to protect them from damage during the journey."

"…"

"Forget it, I'll deliver them instead. I don't trust you."

"…"

With a wave of his hand, Wu Hong packed all the seed-filled boxes into a jade case. He carefully picked it up and was about to leave when an immortal official ran in hurriedly.

"Your highness, Tian Zhao continent's Emperor Bai is here to see you!

"Bai Ti?" said Wu Hong in surprise. "Why has he come?" Why did Bai Ti choose to see him just when he was about to deliver the seeds?

Wu Hong frowned in annoyance. He had no choice but to hand the jade case to the official beside him, instructing him once again to deliver it to the Invincible Sect that very day. Then he motioned his staff to bring in the person outside.

"Emperor Wu Hong." A  white-bearded  man  clad  in  green robes embroidered with gold trimmings walked in. His  voice when he spoke was as loud as a bell, "It's been a long time since we met. How have you been?"

"Emperor Bai Ti." Wu Hong smiled politely. "What brings you here to my Feng Luan Palace?" Although both belonged to the demon tribe, Feng Tian residents were mostly flying creatures who had rose to become immortals, whereas the majority in Tian Zhao were land-based creatures. The two continents could not be said to be on good terms but neither were they on bad terms. This was the first time that Emperor Bai Ti had come to see him.

"We both belong to the demon tribe. We should get together more often." Bai Ti smiled. "Did you come just to say this?" Without changing his expression, Wu Hong went straight to the point and asked, "Has Emperor Bai Ti really come to talk about old times or is there some other matter?"

"Emperor Wu Hong is indeed sharp." Bai Ti's smile stiffened. "Indeed, I've come here to request a favor from you. It's regarding my wilful daughter."

"Has your little princess gone missing again?" asked Wu Hong a little mockingly. Everyone in Heavens beyond Heaven knew about Bai Ti's daugher.

Bai Ti seemed used to such mockery and gave a deep sigh. "You know that I have only this child. I've spoiled her from young, that's why she has grown so stubborn. Of all people, she has to fall in love with… Hai, she left the house in a huff after I told her off."

"Then why are you here instead of looking for her?" Wu Hong asked, "How would I know where your daughter is?" "Yesterday, I spotted her in another continent and was going to bring her back. But …" Bai Ti seemed to think of something and frowned. "I had an encounter with two powerful sword immortals and almost fell into their trap. If not for Emperor Ji Zhe and the divine artifact Divine Refining Clock, I would not have been able to capture them." Sighing once again, he continued, "But she managed to slip away while I was fighting with them. I spent one day searching but still could not find her. I guessed she must have believed in their lies and gone into hiding. I heard that Emperor Wu Hong is acquainted with some immortal emperors. Could you ask these immortals from the lower realm to help look for her?"

Wu Hong nodded his head. This was just a small task.

"But, since you have already captured those two immortals, why don't you ask them directly?"

"Although I've captured them, the Divine Refining Clock can only be activated every seven days. So I can't release them for questioning until then." He opened his fist and a little silver clock suddenly appeared on his palm. A reddish light could be seen flickering in the center of the clock. If he waited another seven days, his daughter would be long gone. "I can solve this problem easily." Wu Hong suggested, "Our avian tribe has a Heart Revelation array, which can reveal the memories of a person when he is at his most vulnerable. If we put the clock inside this array, we might be able to find the location of your little princess."

"That's great!" Bai Ti hurriedly passed the clock over to him. "I'll have to trouble you to take care of this matter then."

Wu Hong took the clock from him. He could sense the aura of two immortals inside the clock. While conjuring a seal,  he asked, "By the way, who are the immortals inside? They must be quite skilled to have been able to take you on."

"I… I don't know them. Never seen them before."

"Oh…"

"But I heard them saying they're from… Invincible Sect."

Clang! Wu Hong immediately flung the little clock away.

Invincible… Invincible… Invincible Sect!

Σ(°△°|||)

You must be kidding me!

"Wu Hong?" Taken aback, Bai Ti hurriedly caught the clock in his hands. "What did you …" He was about to ask Wu Hong what was wrong when he saw the latter's face suddenly turn pale. His two hands were trembling violently.

No, no, no… He must have heard wrong.

"Tell… Tell… Tell me again. Which sect are they from?"

"Invincible Sect from the Feng Cang continent!" Boom! Wu Hong felt as if a thunderclap had hit him.

Pui…

In a daze, he coughed out a mouthful of blood.

"Emperor Bai!" Wu Hong grabbed the latter's hand and beseeched him, "Listen to me. Release these people immediately. Quickly!" Otherwise it would be too late.

"Why?" asked Bai Ti, baffled. "But this clock will be activated only after seven days…"

"Then break it!" Wu Hong was on the verge of tears. "Use immortal weapons, Deviant Thunder, Primordial Fire, I don't care what, just release these people!"

"But these are divine weapons…" "Divine weapons! I don't care if they are divine… yes, divine weapons can break open the clock. Wait here, I have them.. I'll give them to you!" Wu Hong whipped out an ancient zither and thrust it at him.

"Unexpected Zither…"

"Take it and break open the clock! Forget it, I'll do it!" Wu Hong raised the zither and swung it down on the clock.

"Hold on… Emperor Wu!" You can't use the zither like this!

Just the zither was about to land on the clock, a  blinding white beam of light shot out from it. The palm-size clock on Bai Ti's palm began to grow bigger and bigger. Bai Ti had no choice but to let go of the clock. Within moments, the clock had grown as high as a man.

This was followed by a loud sound and a series of cracks slowly appeared on the surface of the clock. The cracks spread out in all directions until it covered the whole surface of the clock. "What … What's happening!" Bai Ti exclaimed in alarm. "My Divine Refining…"

Before he could finish his sentence, there was a loud boom and the silver clock shattered to pieces. A great stream of immortal qi shot straight towards them…

Chapter 187: Be Reasonable

"Emperor Wu Hong, our Invincible Sect has all along been on good terms with Feng Tian continent. The batch of immortal seeds that you sent us is really good. Shen Ying had also specially reminded us to thank you. We sincerely wish to be friends with you."

"I agree, Fellow Immortal!"

"Even little Xuan Tong keeps talking about wanting to see her two emperor uncles. This is due to providence! Since we're also in the same realm, we should value our special relationship, don't you think so?"

"I agree, Fellow Immortal!"

"Our Invincible Sect might not a big immortal sect but we have a set of rules that we abide by. All our sect disciples all friendly people, we don't look for trouble but we don't shy away from it either." "I agree, Fellow Immortal!"

"We can't interfere with who your highness choose to make friends with, but as the saying goes, 'Choosing the right friend is as important as choosing the right way of cultivation. Don't mix with bad company!"

"I agree, Fellow Immortal!"

"Actually, as an emperor, it doesn't matter if your interpersonal relationship is poor. Nobody can do anything to you except for one person. Why bring trouble on yourself?"

"I agree, Fellow Immortal!"

"As for that matter that Emperor Bai Ti spoke about, the circumstances were like this: Shen Ying captured a fox demon burglar that broke into our sect. We discovered the words 'Xin Han' on her body. We wanted to investigate the matter but Bai Ti attacked us on sight and imprisoned us inside the clock. I'm sure you know… we in the Invincible Sect dislike unreasonable people." "I agree, Fellow Immortal!"

"So it was not our wish to break the clock or fight with you.

Do you agree?"

"I agree, Fellow Immortal!"

I understand everything that you're saying but… why did you beat me up as well! You said you were reasonable people but why did you keep punching me on the face?

The worse thing was he did not dare retaliate!

(ಥ_ಥ)

"Regarding today's incident…"

"It's my fault!" Wu Hong nodded his head vigorously. "I made the wrong friend." "Your highness is indeed a sensible person. Then…" Just as Lonemoon was about to bring up the crucial matter of compensation…

Splash! A figure in green crashed into the pond beside them. It was Bai Ti. He had been given a good beating by Yi  Qing. Reining in his immortal qi, Yi Qing descended to the ground.

Then…

Yi Qing turned to look at Wu Hong, who was kneeling by the side.

"You…"

Wu Hong's shivered. Without waiting for Yi Qing to make his move, he raised his hand and said imploringly, "Fellow Immortal, hold on. I get it! I get it!"

Wu Hong got up and walked quickly to the edge of the pond.

Then he 'fell' into the pond with a splash. Yi Qing, who had not intended to beat him up: "…"

Lonemoon, who had just wanted to extort a few immortal stones from him: "…"

Having an overly cooperative team mate was not a good thing either.

****

He Yun Place, Tian Zhao continent.

Shen Ying, who had been waiting for a long time, was about to doze off.

"Hey, Chicken…"

An aggrieved look appeared on Chu Xuan's face. So his name was Chicken now? "Chicken here!"

"Are you sure you know the way?" Shen Ying looked at the ruins of the palace in front of her.

"I'm definite, Exalted Goddess. This is the He Yun Palace in Tian Zhao continent. Bai Ti lives here."

"Oh, but we've been waiting here for three hours. Will that White-Chicken-or-something really return?"

"…" His name is Bai Ti!

"Bai Ti is not in the palace. Even Ji Zhe doesn't know where he has gone to. So, it's best that we stay here."

"Whose Ji Zhe?"

"Exalted Goddess…" Chu Xuan's mouth twitched. Pointing at her feet, he said, "The one you're stepping now on is Emperor Ji Zhe from the Chang Nuo continent."

Weren't you the one who caught him from the neighboring continent and beat him up after learning from the immortal officials that Bai Ti might have gone to look for Emperor Ji Zhe? Don't give the excuse you can't remember him just because you haven't given him a nickname.

"Oh." Shen Ying removed her leg and sat down lazily on top of a stone.

Hai… How long more did she have to wait?

She was hungry.

——————

A day later. In the rear hall of Invincible Sect.

Smoke rose slowly from the stove in the back kitchen. The wooden table at the inner courtyard was covered with plates of delicious smelling food. Surprisingly, Shen Ying was the only one sitting at the table today. She was busily demolishing the food.

There were a dozen people more in the inner courtyard, four of them were sitting on the wooden bench, their positions erect and their hands placed primly on their laps.

These were the four celestial emperors.

None of them spoke, the whole courtyard was filled with the munching sounds.

Bai Ti: "…"This is really scary. That sword cultivator who beat me up is carving meat. This must be a threat of some kind.

Ji Zhe: "…" "This is really scary. That exalted goddess who beat me up is eating meat. Is this a threat?

Wu Hong: "This is really scary. Exalted Goddess looks likes she's still hungry. I hope she's not thinking of eating me?

Chu Xuan: "…" This is really scary. Wait a moment… Why should he be scared?

"Chu Xuan! Why are you sitting there?" Lonemoon glared at Chu Xuan, who was sitting at the leftmost corner.

Chu Xuan paused to think of a reason. That's right. He had not done anything wrong why should he sit there?

Σ(°△°|||)

Shit! He had been so used to doing sitting as equals with the ten celestial emperors that he had sat down reflexively. ○ | ̄|_

Chu Xuan sat up immediately and stood beside Lonemoon. He picked up the white fox in passing and tossed it on the bench.

"Jiao…" Bai Ti looked pained and was about to reach out his hands to hug the fox. However, he thought the better of it and sat back down.

"Tell me. How do the four of you intend to resolve this matter?" Lonemoon rolled his eyes and gave Shen Ying a push. "We're dealing with a serious matter here! Sit over there. Don't get in the way."

Taken aback, Shen Ying got up but she found that all  the other chairs had already been moved to the defendants' side. There were no chairs at the side.

"Exalted Goddess, I have a chair here!" Chu Xuan's eyes brightened. He reached into his storage bag, he fished out a chair and told Shen Ying, "Please take a seat." "Thank you" Shen Ying sat down and resumed eating without a care.

Yi Qing, who had intended to move a chair over: "…" The little bugger!

Chu Xuan: Huh! Why did he feel a cold draft on his back?

"Exalted Immortal! Fellow Immortals, this is a misunderstanding!" Ji Zhe, who was the most badly beaten up among the group, exclaimed, "Bai Jiao is Emperor Bai Ti's only daughter. Because she had missing for a long time, Emperor Bai went to look for her. I happened to meet him along the way. I don't know him well at all!"

Bai Ti: "…" The spineless rascal!

Glaring at Ji Zhe, Bai Ti cupped his fists in apology. "It was indeed my fault! I saw you carrying Jiao Jiao and she was injured. So I thought you…. In a moment of panic, I attacked you. By the time I realized my mistake, you were already inside the immortal artifact. That was why… Now that it has come to this, I'll accept whatever you have in store for me." The main thing was he could not defeat them!

"Me too, Exalted…. Exalted Goddess!" Ji Zhe expressed his stand immediately. As long as he was not beaten to death, he was even willing to give up his throne!

Wu Hong: "I…" Looking at the other two defendants, he subconsciously raised his hands. "But I… I didn't do anything!"

(゚Д゚≡゚Д゚)

"If Fellow Immortal agrees to release me and my daughter, we from Bai Zhao will be able to do it all!"

"I don't want to leave!" Before he could finish his sentence, the fox demon beside him suddenly spoke up.

Chapter 188: Negotiating Compensation

"Qiao Qiao!" Bai Ti called softly. Now was not the time for her to be throwing a tantrum.

"No, I will not go back," Bai Qiao shook her head violently. Her voice was filled with panic. "It took me a lot of effort to find this Spirit Convening Lamp! As long as I can get my hands on it… This time I will surely…"

"Qiao Qiao!" Bai Ti lowered his voice, interrupting her. He sounded slightly angered when he spoke again, "Why are you still stuck in your daydreams? Celestial Emperor Xin Han will never fall for you. So what if you manage to find that Spirit Convening Lamp? You can't change this fact."

"But he's injured!" Bai Qiao explained, panicked. "His Primordial Spirit is injured – that's why he doesn't feel anything for me. Once he recovers, he will see who has been kind to him all this time."

"Ai, you know what kind of technique he's training in, right? Why are you trying to achieve the impossible?" Bai Ti let out a long sigh. Then, he continued, "Qiao Qiao, listen to me! Give up. Come back with Master. There are so many immortals in Bai Zhao. You will surely find someone better than him."

"But they are not Xin Han!" Bai Qiao's eyes were reddening. The tears began to flow down her cheeks. She turned around and clung on to Emperor Bai's sleeves. "Father… I beg you, please let me borrow the Spirit Convening Lamp, will you? I promise this will be the last time."

"300 years ago, you said the exact same thing." Bai Di's eyes became cool. He was beginning to get extremely impatient. "But what happened in the end? All these years, you fell from being a Stygian Immortal to a second-stage demon. Are you really intending to throw your life away for him?  Have  you  ever thought what Father would do without you?"

"I… I…" Bai Qiao hesitated, but there was a little hope that twinkled in her eyes. "Father… Your daughter is unfilial, but all my life I only have this one wish. I… I will be careful. Nothing untoward will happen to me. I just need that Spirit Convening Lamp… I just need…"

"Haven't you thought that he's a Celestial Emperor? Why would he need you to help him heal his primordial spirit? Even without the Spirit Convening Lamp, he should be able to recover. What's more…" Bai Ti explained, "Even if his primordial spirit recovers, he will not feel anything for you!"

"…" Bai Qiao stared at the ground.

Bai Ti's heart hurt to see his daughter this way. He gathered what immortal Qi he could from his heavily injured body and transferred it into the white fox beside him, helping it to transform. After a few seconds, a teenage girl in white robes appeared. She had beautifully shaped eyebrows and huge eyes and small lips. She was truly a manifestation of a fox - she had the features of one. In her eyes, however, there was an immense sadness. She looked like she would break into tears at any time.

"Qiao Qiao…" Bai Ti sighed and continued, "You know that he's training in the Heartless Dao. He has a heart of steel. Nobody in this immortal realm does not know that he broke off a relationship and dug his own heart out in order to become a Celestial Emperor. He was already a heartless mortal who did not care about relationships, anyone or anything. Even if you help him now, he will still remain that way."

"But… But…" Bai Qiao could no longer hold back her tears. As a human, she looked even sadder. "I… I cannot let him go. I really cannot! Father… I only have you… Please, I beg you, help me to borrow the Spirit Convening Lamp? I promise that this will be my last time. Just take it as a favour between father and…"

Before she could finish speaking, her body was thrown aside by someone's kick. She became a fox once again as she rolled down the hill. The rest of her sentence caught in her throat.

"Dau… Dau… Dau… Daughter…" she said as she rolled down the hill.

Shen Ying, who was holding a bowl of rice in her hand, retracted her leg. She grunted in frustration.

Lonemoon: "…"

Yi Qing: "…"

The four emperors: "…" The crowd: "…"

(⊙ o ⊙)

Whoa!

They did not understand why the Sect Master took action, but they felt elated inside for some reason.

Shen Ying calmly sat back down and continued eating her rice, as if she had not just rushed up to kick someone off the hill. She hated hearing people dumbing themselves down and insisting on one-sided relationships. It ruined her appetite.

"Qiao… Qiao Qiao!" Bai Ti only just managed to respond. He turned to glare at Shen Ying and charged at her furiously, "Why, you…"

"Stop it!" Before he could finish, Blackbird, Ji Zhe and Chu Xuan who was standing beside Lonemoon charged forward to stop him. They pushed Bai Ti back so that he fell onto the ground.

Holy shit! He might want to die but they did not want to be collateral damage!

Chu Xuan: Wait! Why did he charge over?

"You all… Wu wu wu…" Bai Ti did not get to finish his sentence. The three men covered his mouth and stopped him from talking. They turned to glance at Yi Qing, who was filling Shen Ying's bowl with more food. Seeming to recall something, they suppressed the anger welling up in their chest. Bai Ti might have been worried for his daughter but this was certainly not the place for him to lose his temper.

Seeing that Bai Ti had calmed down, the three of them let him go.

"Fellow immortal…" Bai Ti sucked in a deep breath and stared at the only man who called the shots in the entire Invincible Sect - Lonemoon.

"We offended you before. My daughter also tried to steal your lamp and that was not right of her. But… You saw for yourself. This lamp is really important to her. I wonder if you could…"

"No!" Shen Ying shouted before Lonemoon could respond.

"I know that this divine artefact is not like any other, but if my fellow immortal is willing to lend it to me, I will pay any price. Even if it means…" Afterall, he had a soft spot for his daughter. He gritted his teeth and continued, "Even if you want to exchange it for a divine artefact of mine… I will do it!"

He twisted his wrist and a silver pocket watch appeared in his palm. It was a Divine Refining Clock, but this clock seemed to be covered in cracks.

"The lamp…"

Shen Ying had not finished speaking before Lonemoon reached out and covered her mouth. He nodded. "Alright!"

Bai Ti broke into a smile.

"But your Divine Refining Clock is already broken. I can only lend the lamp to you for ten days!" Lonemoon continued, "And this loan has nothing to do with what happened before." He would still have to compensate them for his daughter's attempt to steal the lamp.

"Thank you, Fellow Immortal!"

Lonemoon began to discuss with the three men about what an adequate compensation would look like for the entire "misunderstanding". He burnt an enormous hole in each of their pockets before letting them go.

"What do you want this rotten clock for?" Feng Ying could not help but ask, after seeing everything play out before his eyes. It was functional, but its power was already reduced significantly. "You don't even know how to fix it." "I don't, but Tao Shu does!" This divine artifact was created by their race. Swapping that rotten lamp for this divine artifact was extremely advantageous for them!

"…" He was satisfied - there was nothing more he could say

"That's right, what happened to you earlier?" He turned to glance at Shen Ying. "Why did you suddenly kick that demon?" Wasn't she a very lazy person by nature?

"Was it sudden?"" She thought it was natural for her to kick the demon. It was not sudden at all. "Hey, maybe… Maybe I just got reminded of my older sister."

Lonemoon started. "You have an older sister?!"

Shen Ying shivered. She sat up straight and no longer looked as lazy as she normally did. There was a weird expression on her face as she said, "I wish I did not…"

Chapter 189: A Heartless Person

The three Celestial Emperors left. Father Niu made it big. Nobody knew the terms of their agreement. From the way that he so easily agreed to supply supper for an unlimited time to Shen Ying in the future, it seemed that he had earned a significant sum.

Lonemoon sent Lan Hua to the rear mountain to take care of the huge field of immortal herbs. His main task was to water the immortal herbs. Perhaps on account of their exceptional friendship in the Heavens beyond Heaven, Radish did not object to this even though it normally hated any sort of male company. The two of them worked in tandem – one watered the herbs while the other helped them to ripen. Under Lan Hua's supervision, they managed to refine pills and medicine of various grades. The two of them formed the entire manufacturing line, allowing the rest of the sect to rest. As a result, the cultivation levels of all the disciples in the sect increased steadily.

Chu Xuan did not leave either. After handing in a huge sum of money for his food, he planned to stay on for a long time. In the beginning, he followed closely behind Lan Hua each day, hoping to persuade him to go back to He Chuan so that Chu Xuan could repay his kindness. After a few days, however, his efforts still did not bear fruit. Everybody in the sect started looking at him in a strange manner. Every time he arrived at the rear mountain, there would be a group of people gathered there, looking at him. From time to time, some people even encouraged him. At first, he felt weird about it. He spent a couple of immortal stones to get Lonemoon to explain to him the real meaning of a "comrade[1]". After that, he felt uncomfortable all over.

What freaking comrade! What exactly are  you  guys  teaching the disciples in your sect! He loved ladies who were gentle and sweet – ladies, alright?!

To prove himself to be a man of steel, Chu Xuan felt that he desperately needed to do something. So he  chose  to  do something that every straight man would  do  –  he  started chatting up the girls in the sect!

-_-|||

Each day, he tried to find out more and more about what went on in the homes of the ten Celestial Emperors. He was the one who told everyone about the story behind Bai Qiao and Xin Han's abusive relationship. The story was a long one too. He had to start from the divine artefact of Yu Feng Immortal Abode.

Tens of thousands of years ago.

Even though she is Bai Ti's daughter, Bai Qiao was merely a Stygian Immortal. Although Bai Ti has yet to be one of the Celestial Emperors- only being an immortal emperor of a country- the queue of people wanting to be her Dao Partner stretched from Bai Zhao to Feng Cang. Later on, the Divine Refining Clock made its appearance. There was chaos within Bai Zhao. Although Bai Ti managed to obtain the Divine Refining Clock and become a Celestial Emperor, his daughter, Bai Qiao, was caught in the chaos. By accident, she fell into the lower realm.

It was at that time that she met the cultivator from the lower realm, Xin Han. He rescued her from danger while she was in the lower realm, and she developed a crush on him. Later on, Bai Qiao followed Xin Han and ascended into the upper realm. Both of them had a period of romance. It was even said that they had plans to commit to each other as Dao Partners.

Bai Ti, however, was not willing to let his daughter marry an Earth Immortal who just ascended into immortality. Later on, for some reason, Xin Han began training in the Heartless Dao. His cultivation level shot through the roof and in just a few thousand years, he became an Exalted Immortal.

Bai Ti no longer objected to their relationship, but something had gone very wrong. People who trained in the Heartless Dao would lose their emotions slowly. Xin Han became extremely cold toward Bai Qiao. The young couple grew more and more distant. Later on, in order to achieve a breakthrough, Xin Han cut his own heart out.

Despite this, Bai Qiao stubbornly refused to give up. She tried her best to save Xin Han, whose  life  was  hanging  by  a thread. She sacrificed all of her cultivation to heal his heart meridians. Later, Xin Han survived  and  became  a  Celestial  Emperor,  but Bai Qiao was left as a second-grade demon fox.

"Ai, I guess you could say this was luck making a fool out of them. Because of what happened, Bai Qiao could not let Xin Han go. She wanted him to remember the relationship that they used to share. Yet, to this day, Xin Han remains unmoved by her. We can only say that… they have no fate." This shook the entire immortal realm when they first heard about it. Chu Xuan let out a long sigh and scanned the group of hardworking girls, who had been eavesdropping while training. Very seriously, he said, "If it were me, I would never break my woman's heart like that." Do you see that? My manly strength! I like girls!

Everyone was clearly taken aback. They finally understood why Bai Qiao was so stubborn. They were once in love after all. She was just holding on to a relationship that they once shared.

All except Shen Ying…

She continued to chew on her snacks loudly. Suddenly, she said, "Chicken, is this what they mean by not having fate?"

Chu Xuan pursed his lips. Can you not call me "Chicken"?

"Is this not a clear example of it? Xin Han trained in the Heartless Dao for Bai Qiao, yet the better he got, the less chance they had of being together."

"So, according to your logic…" Shen Ying began lazily, "That Something Han was retarded?" "Huh? Ah!" Chu Xuan stared blankly back at her. What did she mean? Why did she say that?

"He knew that this method was not going to work, but he continued anyway. Is that not retarded?" Was she supposed to call him smart? That wouldn't make any sense, would it?

"Er…" I guess so…"But… this technique really can make someone's cultivation level increase extremely quickly. The better someone gets in the Heartless Dao, the less emotions the would feel. Moreover, he was a man without a heart. Without a heart, he would not feel anything. It's normal that he would no longer like Bai Qiao."

"This has nothing to do with being… heartless?"

"Nothing to do with it?"

"Does it?"

"Er…" Were these things related or not? Say something accurate, please.

"Scientifically…" Shen Ying picked up the fruit from the table and chewed it before continuing, "At the end of the day, relationships develop between men and women because once they meet somebody compatible, their bodies secrete large amounts of hormones like phenylethylamine, dopamine, norepinephrine, and the like. These hormones would make them feel happy, excited, and in love. This what people describe as falling in love. These hormones come from the brain - this has nothing to do with the heart!"

"…" Chu Xuan did not understand what Shen Ying just said, but it seemed impressive.

"If your heart decides whether you love someone or not…" She scanned the crowd. "Have you thought about how the emotions of people with heart disease would be affected?"

"…"

That's true. Nobody knew what to say in reply! Σ(°△°|||)

"So the fact that he has no heart, and whether he is heartless or not, has nothing to do with whether he loves that little animal. They're two separate matters." Shen Ying patted the pastry on her palm and continued, "That means that there's something wrong with your logic. That Han-whatever did not stop loving the little animal because of the Heartless Dao. Instead, he trained in the Heartless Dao because he lost interest in her."

There was complete silence…

Chu Xuan: "…" What did Exalted Goddess just say? Why did he not understand a word? And why did she sound like she was making complete sense?

(⊙_⊙)

All the disciples: "…" They did not understand, but everything Sect Master said was right. ╭(╯^╰)╮

Everybody present did not have any doubt left in their head. At the same time, they labelled the Celestial Emperor whom they had never met before.

"Bastard!"

Lonemoon, the only one who understood: "…" Suddenly, he felt that the male leads who were trained in the Heartless Dao in the novels were all retarded!

-_-|||

Eh? Wait!

This was clearly a training arena. Since when did everyone gather here to gossip? Lonemoon's expression darkened. He thought about whether he wanted to increase the fees for the "Chicken", who was busy trying to woo girls.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. The entire sect was trembling. A huge wave of immortal Qi charged toward the mountain, causing the array covering the mountain to break open.

"What's going on?" Everyone stood still.

They did not have time to see what happened before Roasted Chicken Gal came running toward them. She grabbed Shen Ying's arm and shouted anxiously.

"Little Ying, something has happened to Xuan Tong!"

[1] A slang for gay men.

Chapter 190: An Additional Heavenly Tribulation

"This looks like… a Heavenly Tribulation!" Lonemoon glanced at the bottom of the hill and his expression  darkened. Anxiously, he said, "Roasted Chicken… Ah pui, Chengyu, what's happening down there?" Given the cultivation level of the disciples in the sect, nobody should be going through the Heavenly Tribulations yet.

"It's Xuan Tong!" Qi Chengyu replied in a panic. "Earlier, we realised that she was showing signs of developing immortal bones, so we've been trying to build up her defences. Earlier on… Her immortal bones formed but the Heavenly Tribulations started out of nowhere."

"How can this be?!" Lonemoon's expression changed. "Even if she has already formed immortal bones, she's only an Earth Immortal. This isn't the lower realm – there shouldn't be lightning tribulations when she becomes an Earth Immortal!" There were so many disciples in the sect, all of them ascending with their low cultivation levels. Nobody went through the Heavenly Tribulations when they became Earth Immortals.

"I don't know either!" She was obviously anxious. "Her cultivation level was nearing Earth Immortal stage, but the Heavenly Tribulations suddenly began. Feng Ying is outside now helping Xuan Tong set up an array, hoping that it would help to protect her for just a little while."

Before she could finish speaking, there was a loud crash. A huge bolt of lightning struck the bottom of the hill.

"It's begun." Qi Chengyu's face was a mask of worry. Forget about whether Xuan Tong would be able to endure it – if this carried on, the tribulations would affect everybody in the sect.

"Go and take a look!" Shen Ying got up, prepared to rush down.

"Come back here!" Lonemoon snarled, gesturing behind him. "The way down is there!"

"… Oh." Shen Ying turned around. Then, she paused and tugged at a disciple closest to her. "Little Green, call Boss Lan over." "Yes!"

Then, she followed the group toward the Heavenly Tribulations.

The closer they got to where Xuan Tong was being isolated, the richer the immortal Qi felt. It was surging at an insane speed. At the foot of the hill, the immortal Qi dense and felt like it was going to condense into a certain form. It was different when Roasted Chicken Gal and the rest ascended into immortality. The immortal Qi did not condense to form an Immortal Ascension Stage.

Feng Ying was standing at the foot of the hill, holding up a defensive array to protect Xuan Tong, who was not far away from him. However, it was obvious that he could not hold it on for long. Huge cracks could already be seen on the array – it looked like it would fall apart at any time. Following a huge crash of thunder, the second bolt of lightning struck toward the ground. The array broke into pieces and the bolt of lightning hit Xuan Tong.

She was not a physical cultivator. Even though she was well prepared, the impact caused her to spit out a mouthful of blood. Yet, the immortal bones in her body seemed to become sturdier.

"Little Tong!" Qi Chengyu shouted worriedly. She was even more anxious by then.

"Mas…" Xuan Tong turned and her eyes brightened. "Divine… Sect Master!" In this year that she was in isolation, she had grown into a lady. She looked directly at Shen Ying, looking more refreshed.

"Don't be distracted. Focus on handling the tribulation!" Lonemoon instructed.

"Press on!" Shen Ying added.

"Yes!" Xuan Tong stiffened. It looked like she had a sudden surge of courage. She focused on regulating the immortal Qi in her body. The wounds on her body healed before their eyes. Then, the third bolt of lightning struck…

Lonemoon quickly set up several arrays to prevent the lightning from hitting Invincible Sect. He gestured  for  Feng Ying to take a break. The Heavenly Tribulation had already started and it did not seem likely that they could stop it midway anymore. Although they still had not figured out why this was happening, all they could do was to help Xuan Tong tide through the tribulations.

But this lightning…

He looked up and saw the thunder clouds in the sky rolling. Frowning, he said, "This doesn't look like.. the Nine Nine Lightning Tribulation."

"Indeed it isn't," Yi Qing replied. "There wouldn't be Immortal Ascension Lightning Tribulations in the immortal realm."

"So… Don't tell me this is the Heavenly Lightning for Golden Immortals?"

"It is!" Yi Qing nodded. Shit! Lonemoon was worried now. He glanced at Xuan Tong. She did not even have the body of an Earth Immortal, and yet she was going through the Heavenly Tribulations meant for Golden Immortals… Even body cultivators would have a hard time with this, much less Xuan Tong, who had not been training for very long.

"She's only ascending to become an Earth Immortal. There are so many disciples in the sect, yet she's the first to go through such a Heavenly Tribulation. Why is that so?" Lonemoon could not figure it out. What happened to the female lead being attractive? Was the female lead to be treated like this? Did the author know this?

Just as Lonemoon pondered all these matters, Lan Hua flew down with Radish on his back. He was in the rear mountain, so he managed to make it in a short time.

"Good Heart, why did you call for me?"

"Little Big Sister!" Radish had made a comrade and upgraded from hanging onto people's thighs to hanging on their backs. It jumped down from Lan Hua's back and leapt toward Shen Ying, as fast as a bullet. Then… it stuck its head straight into the soil behind her.

Shen Ying had stepped forward. With a serious expression, she waved Lan Hua over. "Boss Lan, come and look at this."

"Look at what?" Lan Hua was obviously confused. Everyone did not know what Shen Ying was getting at either. "What's so interesting about a Heavenly Trib… Eh?"

He paused and looked with surprise at the person within the tribulations.

"Who is that lady? Why does she have demonic Qi in her?" Others might not be able to tell, but he was a demon and thus was extremely sensitive to demonic Qi. There wasn't much, but it was obvious that a thin layer of demonic Qi surrounded the lady. He could also tell that the demonic Qi was coming from inside of her. Yet, she was an immortal cultivator.

"Demonic Qi!" Lonemoon exclaimed. He remembered Xuan Tong's identity, then realised why Shen Ying called Lan Hua over. "Could that be the reason why she triggered the Heavenly Tribulation when she was ascending to become an Earth Immortal?"

"She's an Earth Immortal?" Lan Hua paused. Then, he nodded. "That's possible. This is the first time I'm seeing something like this as well. Normally, immortal Qi and demonic Qi  would never complement each other. Yet, they are co-existing in her body. That might be the reason why she triggered the Heavenly Tribulation when she ascended into  immortality.  That lightning tribulation must be for the demonic Qi in her body." Indeed, with each strike of lightning, a little bit of her demonic Qi dissipated.

Lan Hua looked on for several moments and frowned. "but… the demonic Qi seems to be coming from her primordial spirit. The Heavenly Tribulation would not be able to completely get rid of it unless…"

"It strikes and destroys her primordial spirit," Yi Qing finished Lan Hua's sentence.

Lan Hua nodded. Everybody present suddenly looked sick, especially Qi Chengyu. "Who exactly is this lady? Does she belong to the demon race?" Lan Hua could not help but ask. She had demonic Qi in her primordial spirit, yet only immortal Qi in her dantian. She was also trained in immortal techniques. "I've heard of immortals falling to become demons, but I have never heard of demons ascending to become immortals."

"Do you have any solutions?" Lonemoon ignored his question.

"I do…" Lan Hua became squeamish. "But it's a bit troublesome."

"What's the solution?" Qi Chengyu asked.

"Drain all her demonic Qi into my body!" He was not going to complain that he had too much demonic Qi. "But I would need to make contact with her primordial spirit before I can completely drain her of her demonic Qi."

Qi Chengyu's heart leapt. "Your Majesty Lan Hua, please save Little Tong!" "No!" Lan Hua rejected her. "I don't know her very well and I would have to go into the tribulations to save her. I wouldn't-"

"Boss, save her!" Shen Ying cut in.

"Alright!"

Just after he answered her and before he could stop himself, Lan Hua jumped into the tribulations.

The crowd: "…"

Motherf*cker, how he hated his good heart!