Chapter 196: The Meeting of the Lovers
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
"Little Xuan, you're the only one in the world that cares so much about me," said Xin Han, an unknown emotion flickering across his eyes.
"You... hai! I told you I'm not her. Why do you insist on..."
"No, you must be!" Xin Han clutched her hand tightly and said in an earnest tone, "Nothing matters to me as long as you come back to me, so..."
"Xin Han, why are you so..." Hui Ling paused in shock. "What are you doing?"
Suddenly, the array formation under the two girls lit up and a black crack appeared behind them. They felt themselves drawn towards the crack by a powerful force of attraction.
Xin Han said with a crazed look in his eyes, "We will never be separated."
Then he picked up Hui Ling and walked towards the crack. The crack grew bigger and bigger, sucking in everything around it. Xuan Tong, who was standing beside them, had to hold on to an immortal sword she had stuck into the ground for support.
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"Don't do this!" Realizing that he was trying to take her away, Hui Ling started to struggle.
"Don't worry, nothing will happen to you." Xin Han comforted her, "We're just leaving this place."
"Little Ling..." She heard the sound of a familiar voice coming from the the sky. Chen Ge had finally arrived, flying towards them on his sword. He looked shocked to see the crack on the ground. What is happening..." His words trailed off as he spotted Xuan Tong. Looking at her, he felt something inexplicable tug at his heart.
Who was she?
"Master, save me!" A joyful Hui Ling wanted to rush over to his side, but was held back by Xin Han.
"Emperor Xin Han, what do you mean by this?" Seeing that the three of them were about to be sucked into the crack, Chen Ge conjured out a long piece of golden rope. "I'll use this to save you."
Chen Ge tossed the rope into the air. It flew straight towards them and... coiled around Xuan Tong!
Chen Ge: "..."
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Hui Ling: "..."
Shen Ying: "..."
Then Hui Ling, with a look of disbelief on her face, fell straight into the crack in the ground and disappeared.
A dazed look appeared on Chen Ge's face. Meanwhile, Xuan Tong's sword had already snapped. The attraction force from the crack was so great that he too was pulled towards it.
Just as the two were about to be sucked into the crack, Shen Ying flew over in a flash and carried them off, one on each hand.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye. When they looked down, the crack had closed up.
"Sect master..." Xuan Tong's heart was still pounding. Although she did not know what kind of tunnel Xin Han had dug, she instinctively sensed that danger lurked within it. She looked up at Shen Ying and handed the lamp to her.
"Keep it with you. Pass it to Father Niu later."
Xuan Tong nodded and kept it.
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Chen Ge was still gazing at Xuan Tong fixedly, seemingly lost in thought. After a long while, he asked hesitantly, "Are you all right... Ouch!"
Before he could finish his sentence, Xuan Tong raised her leg and kicked with great force between his legs.
Chen Ge was caught totally unawares. Although his body was protected by immortal qi, the pain still made him double up, his hands clutching the unmentionable body part.
"Hmph! It's all your brain-damaged disciple's fault!" My sect master came here to rescue me, but your disciple sided with that disgusting man. "Next time, teach her properly. Don't let her loose to harm others!"
Shen Ying: "..."
Is Little Shortie all right? That was a vicious move!
Surprisingly, Chen Ge was not angry! He continued to look at Xuan Tong with a conflicted expression in his eyes.
"Sect master, Xin Han has escaped. What should we do now?" Xuan Tong turned around to face Shen Ying, reverting to her usual timid, obedient self.
"... Let's return home." We'll decide after I eat.
"Yes, Sect Master!" Xuan Tong summoned her sword hurriedly. She looked at Shen Ying excitedly. She finally had a chance to fly with her sect master. Happiness! Even her injuries did not seem to hurt her now.
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Shen Ying mounted the sword and they flew off towards the palace exit.
"Little Shortie, who taught you how to kick like that?"
"Master Qi taught me!"
"Roasted Chicken Gal?" Was she so vicious?
"Yes. Master Qi said there are no good men in this world."
Shen Ying: "..."
Shen Ying felt a deep sense of commiseration.
***
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Shen Ying happened to meet the Chef and Father Niu at the palace entrance. The palace was quite deserted, probably because Xin Han had not wanted anyone to know that he was using the soul exchanging spell. So they managed to reach the palace entrance quickly without incident.
"Master!" Yi Qing flew over swiftly. He heaved a sigh of relief when he saw Shen Ying.
"Where did you go?" Father Niu asked, glaring at Shen Ying. Then he turned to look at 'Bai Qiao'. "Why did you bring her along?"
"She's Little Shorty!" explained Shen Ying.
"Elder Lonemoon." 'Bai Qiao' explained, "I'm Xuan Tong. I don't know why, but after the Heavenly Tribulation, I found myself stuck in this body."
"Xuan Tong!" exclaimed Lonemoon. He thought for a moment and a sudden realization came to him. "Let's return first... Huh? Why is Emperor Chen Ge here as well?"
Chen Ge paused in thought as he looked at Xuan Tong, who looked back at him guardedly. He had no idea why he had followed them.
"We'll talk after after we get back!" Yi Qing suggested. He pulled Shen Ying over to his sword reflexively. He guessed that Shen Ying must have been involved in the commotion inside the palace. It was time they left. This was Yi Shui's territory after all.
Everyone nodded and flew towards Heavens beyond Heaven.
At Invincible Sect.
Lonemoon swept his gaze over 'Xuan Tong'. She had recovered from her injuries but there an uneasy expression on her face. After a while, he asked soberly, "Bai Qiao?"
She shuddered, clenching her fists. They knew.
"Tell me. What happened?"
"I... I had no intention of occupying her body." Since they had found out her identity, Bai Qiao had no option but to confess, "That day, to save Xin Han, I had used up all my powers and almost destroyed my primordial spirit. In a moment of panic, I used a soul swapping technique. I didn't think that I would... would be swapped into her body." When she awoke, she heard them say that Xuan Tong's body was too weak, and they were going to borrow the Luo Han Stone. As she wanted to find out about Xin Han's condition, she did not reveal her identity. "Xin Han... Xin Han. How is he? Is he all right?"
"He's fine! Of course he's fine!" Lonemoon snorted coldly. "He's so fine that he could even... carry out soul swapping for his former lover."
"What?" Bai Qiao asked, puzzled.
Lonemoon eyed Bai Qiao and then recounted everything that Xuan Tong had told him. The more she listened, the paler she became. She looked devastated.
After a while, she shook her head and said, "It cannot be. Xin Han won't treat me this way." She had given up everything for him. She could not believe that everything he did had been in revenge for Yun Xuan and that he did not love her at all.
"I don't care whether you believe it or not!" said Lonemoon, rolling his eyes. "Tell us. Is there a way to swap your souls back?" He had never heard of this soul swapping technique before and neither had Chu Xuan and Lan Hua. But he had heard of body possession. But in body possession, the victim soul would be devoured by the possessor; no soul exchange was possible.
"It can't be..." Bai Qiao collapsed on the floor. As if she had not heard him, she kept muttering, "He obviously knew... that I did not deliberately enter Yun Xuan's body. I don't know what happened. After the ascension, I returned into my own body. He told me that he didn't mind. I had no intention of causing her death!"
"..." These love-sick idiots were really annoying!
"How could he say he never loved me? I don't believe... I don't believe!" Bai Qiao covered her face and wailed loudly. Yet a sliver of hope still glimmered in her eyes. "He said that he would never wed anyone but me in this life. Yun Xuan was only his junior sister, how could he like her? He's like this because he practices Heartless Dao. That's it! It's all because of Heartless Dao!"
Everyone present frowned to see her indulge in self delusion. Especially as she was using Xuan Tong's body. Roasted Chicken Gal had to clench her fists to prevent herself from giving her a good beating.
"I want to clarify the matter with him!" Bai Qiao suddenly stood up. "I'm sure he loves me, not Yun Xuan!"
"He definitely does not love her!" Shen Ying spoke up suddenly.
Everyone looked surprised and turned to look at her. What did she mean?
Bai Qiao eyes brightened. She was pleased to find an ally.
"Little creature, I need you to answer one question."
"What?"
"Who did you learn this soul swapping technique from?"
Chapter 197: The Truth Behind The Soul Swapping
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Bai Qiao was surprised by her question. "This technique... was created by Xin Han. It was to help me return to my fox body after my immortal ascension."
"That means to say, he taught you this technique?"
Bai Qiao nodded and continued, "When he me brought along for the ascension, he had to withstand the Heavenly Tribulation for the two of us. I was already heavily injured when I was in the Lower realm. So he had to create this technique..."
"Oh..." Shen Ying turned to look at Yi Qing. He immediately understood what she meant and his expression darkened.
"Why are you asking this?" Lonemoon and the others were puzzled.
"Creating a technique is not that easy." Yi Qing explained. His sword technique was also self-created, but it was created only after years of hard work and experimentation. Even now, he was still making improvements to it. Creating immortal techniques involved the same process. "Moreover, none of the celestial emperors in the immortal realm have heard of this soul swapping technique."
Everyone's expression changed upon hearing this.
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"Xin Han was only an Earth Immortal when he had his first immortal ascension. Yet he was able to come up with this technique under pressure when Bai Qiao was badly wounded." Yi Qing frowned and said, "Unless he has God-given talents, or ..."
"He knew this technique from the start!" Shen Ying said, completing the sentence for him.
"That's not possible!" Bai Qiao's expression changed. She seemed to catch their meaning. Shaking her head vigorously, she said, "He created this technique for me... He said that he would love me no matter how I changed. He won't lie to me!"
"Let me guess." Shen Ying ignored her and continued. "You said you did not know how you entered that Yun Xuan's body. That means you were only a soul in the lower realm. What is the procedure for souls descending to the lower realm?"
Everyone fell silent for a moment before turning to look at Chen Ge.
"..." Why are all of you looking at me? Chen Ge looked baffled, but he answered nevertheless, "Naturally they would have to enter the Three Realm's Samsara and be reincarnated."
"That... that was an accident!" Bai Qiao's face turned increasingly pale and he body started to sway.
"What if it was not?" Shen Ying continued, "A cultivator from the mortal realm accidentally finds a wandering immortal soul who needs to be reincarnated. And coincidentally, this cultivators knows a soul swapping technique. This wandering soul is a female. What is more, this cultivator happens to have a lover who is unable to withstand the immortal ascension. What do you think he would do?"
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"Swap souls!" A look of stunned realization spread across everybody's faces. "Once in the immortal body, she would be able to avoid the Heavenly Tribulation and become an immortal directly." She could bypass the immortal ascension and become Stygian Immortal once she entered the immortal realm!"
"Yes." Shen Ying nodded her head. "But this technique has a flaw. There was no guarantee that it would work, that was why..."
"That was why Yun Xuan died in the soul swapping process!" Lonemoon said, "Xin Han made a mess of the matter and then pretended he knew nothing about it!" Holy shit! He had seen many shameless people but this fellow took the cake!
"He needed the Spirit Convening Lamp because he knew there was a flaw in the soul swapping technique." Shen Ying munched her apple and looked at Bai Qiao and Xuan Tong. "I guess the flaw is... is that for it to work, it requires that the primordial spirits of both parties be highly unstable."
"That explains why, during Little Tong's Heavenly Tribulation, her body was accidentally swapped with Bai Qiao's!" exclaimed Qi Chengyu. Little Tong's primordial spirit had been damaged by the last bolt of Wildfire, while Bai Qiao had also damaged hers while trying to save Xin Han, hence the two were able to swap their bodies successfully!
Shen Ying finished munching her fruit and switched to another one. Looking at Bai Qiao, who was now as pale as a sheet, she said slowly, "You are not the one responsible for possessing his wife's body. You were caught in their scam. You were the one who was deceived for ten thousand years, not him!"
Bai Qiao back away in despair. Her legs gave way and she fell to the floor. She lay there lifelessly but her tears gushed out like water from a broken dam.
Everyone let out a sigh. Perhaps Bai Qiao herself had had her suspicions about the matter, but love had blinded her from seeing the truth.
What Xin Han said about taking revenge for his Dao partner simply did not make sense. If he had really loved Yun Xuan, he could not have failed to tell the real Yun Xuan from the fake. He had kept on with the pretense on account of Bai Qiao being the daughter of Emperor Bai Ti.
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Xin Han was not heartless because of his practice of the Heartless Dao, the only person he loved was himself. He had chosen to abandon Yun Xuan to achieve immortal ascension, so naturally, he had no qualms abandoning Bai Qiao now!
Lonemoon looked at the devastated Bai Qiao and shook his head. It looked as if he would not get any more answers out of her today. Turning to Xuan Tong and Yu Hong, he instructed, "Take her back. Inform Emperor Bai Ti about this matter and ask him to fetch her back."
"All right!" Yu Hong answered. With Xuan Tong's help, she carried Bai Qi out of the room. Qi Chengyu and the other disciples left as well, as did Chen Ge...
Xuan Tong looked back at the man following her. She frowned and said reflexively, "Scram!"
"OK." Chen Ge turned back and sat down.
Shen Ying: "..."
Yi Qing: "..."
Lonemoon: "..."
What happened to this child? Even the script had changed. The female lead was supposed to have a one-sided crush on the male lead, but now the roles seem to have reversed. And wasn't Chen Ge supposed to be trying to save his disciple? Why was he following her instead?
"Er... It looks like we can't take the risk of Xuan Tong and Bai Qiao swapping their souls back?" Lone coughed awkwardly and stole a look at Chen Ge. The changes to the plot was getting too weird for him. They could not simply beat the two girls up to damage their primordial spirits just for the sake of swapping their souls back. They could only wait for Bai Ti to come and let the guardians of the girls decide on the matter. "But at least this problem has a solution."
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"What solution?" Shen Ying asked suddenly.
"What do you mean?"
"That Sin fellow..."
"It's Xin, Xin Han!" Lonemoon's mouth twitched in exasperation. You can't change a person's name at will!
"Yes, that's right. If he was the one who masterminded the soul swapping affair, don't you think it's strange that he abducted Green Tea (Hui Ling)?"
Everyone stood up in shock. Shen Ying was right. If he were truly the mastermind, then being the heartless man that he was, why would he swap Hui Ling's soul into Bai Qiao's body? He was already a celestial emperor; he had no reason to risk offending Bai Ti.
"Master! Xuan Tong told us that the aura inside the tunnel was very strange." Yi Qing suddenly recalled. "Do you know what it was?"
"Demonic Qi!" Before Shen Ying could answer, Chen Ge finally came out from his reverie and cut in, "There was demonic Qi inside the tunnel!"
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Lonemoon: "..."
Yi Qing: "..."
The crowd: "..."
Chapter 198: Changing Race
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Bai Ti arrived promptly. Within two days, he arrived to fetch his daughter. He was very different from the way he appeared the last time – this time, he looked very much older. The way he looked at Bai Qiao showed that he no longer cared for nor cherished her as much anymore. It seemed that he had been extremely hurt by Bai Qiao's stubborn behavior.
Just as Lonemoon expected, the two of them could not swap their souls back. Bai Qiao was fully healed and Xuan Tong's primordial spirit had fully recovered. The success rate for the soul swapping technique was far too low, and there was no way they could fix the targets. They were afraid that if they tried to swap their souls, the souls would end up disappearing. Even with the Spirit Convening Lamp, the risks were the same. The Spirit Convening Lamp could not fix the targets, but it could only ensure that one did not lose his primordial spirit. In other words, when one's primordial spirit was completely whole, and soul swapping is attempted by force, one of the souls would definitely die.
Obviously, when Xin Han thought of swapping Bai Qiao's and Hui Ling's souls, he did not think that Bai Qiao would survive. That was why even though he knew it was not Bai Qiao in that body, he still wanted to go ahead with the soul swapping. When Xuan Tong figured this out, she felt a wave of panic. Thank goodness! Thank goodness Sect Master recognised her, otherwise...
Suddenly, she felt overcome by emotion. She turned and entered Shen Ying's room silently, filling it with potatoes, red potatoes, fresh flowers and other offerings.
Shen Ying: "..."
Yi Qing: "..."
Radish: "..."
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At last, Bai Ti decided not to swap their souls. The two of them were to remain the way they were and Bai Ti was to bring Bai Qiao back. Her cultivation level had been completely destroyed and she was going to have to re-train herself. It was likely that she would not be able to
Xuan Tong, who turned from a human cultivator into demon was suffering much the same fate. Although she had Qi Chengyu's immortal Qi every now and then, which allowed her to keep her human form, her body was not even as powerful as first-stage demons.
Incidentally, Lonemoon did not object to them sticking to the status quo. He only requested that Bai Ti, Xuan Tong and Bai Qiao make a Heavenly Dao promise with him, that they would never attempt to swap their souls back no matter what.
Bai Ti agreed.
After the promise was made, four huge bolts of divine lightning shot down from the sky, casting a curse on each of them. Lonemoon, who looked like he had been forced into making a bad deal, suddenly plastered his business grin onto his face. He turned around and chased them away, saying, "Your Majesty Bai Ti, it's getting late, forgive me for not seeing you out."
"This matter... I have your sect to thank for all your help. You saved my child." Bai Ti was short-tempered, but he still understood how to appreciate favours. The soul swap occurred by accident, but they did save his daughter afterall. "I will thank you properly in time to come."
When he finished speaking, he brought his daughter – who was still recovering from the huge blow – back to Bai Zhao.
Lonemoon's grin widened. This grin just got wider and wider, especially a few days later when people from Bai Zhao arrived from the sect to send over ten storage bags' worth of thank-you gift. His eyes were slits, just like Xuan Tong's new eyes.
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Everybody in Invincible Sect who knew what was going on: "..."
Shrewd businessman!
He took advantage of them and still went further so as to make more money out of this misery. Xuan Tong and Bai Qiao were both suffering equally badly. One was a mortal, and one was a normal fox. Bai Ti had no idea, but Shen Ying and the rest knew all of this.
Xin Han said before that the cultivation level in Bai Qiao had not vanished. What's more, her powers had been sealed by some unknown powers. She was actually a Stygian Immortal. Not only did Xuan Tong increase in cultivation level for no reason, Lonemoon also got paid a huge sum for it.
When everybody saw Xuan Tong's fox body, however, they saw the difficulties. Nobody knew where the seal was. She looked just like a spirit fox that had just gained sentience.No wonder Bai Ti had not realised his own daughter's odd form.
They studied Xuan Tong's body for several days, but still no one could locate the seal. That was until one day, when Radish, who had come to deliver dandelions and carry Xuan Tong's offerings away, suddenly spoke. "Eh, this fox's paw has a mark on it. It looks just like the one that Brother Lan has!"
"The spirit-sealing deed!" Chen Ge was the first to react. "That's the work of demons!"
Everybody was shocked. It was no wonder that they could not locate it – it was the work of demons. They immediately brought Xuan Tong to the rear mountain and located the God of Fortune Lan, who had been refining pills for months.
Indeed, the moment he saw Xuan Tong's predicament, he managed to solve it.
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Lonemoon worried at first that if Chen Ge saw Lan Hua in Invincible Sect, a conflict would arise. Hence, he did not allow Lan Hua to take a single step out of the rear garden. But by then, it was proven though that Chen Ge was not in the least bit bothered by this. Throughout the entire process, he just stared worriedly at Xuan Tong. He was the most anxious out of all of them about Xuan Tong's predicament, as if Xuan Tong was his disciple and not Invincible Sect's.
It was just like Xin Han had said. The moment the seal was undone, the immortal Qi in Xuan Tong's body exploded. Her cultivation level increased at a frightening rate so that she immediately became a Stygian Immortal. Her cultivation level was now the highest after Lonemoon and Yi Qing.
Her tail had also multiplied into nine tails. She was a white nine-tail fox. On her body were streaks of white lightning. She was lightning-elemental!
Lonemoon's eyes twinkled as he gazed at her. Then, he patted the now human Xuan Tong on her shoulder, saying, "From today on, I will personally train you in the sword technique!"
People with lightning-elemental body types were usually naturals at sword cultivation! This time, nobody would be able to lead her astray. Physical cultivators my ass!
Shen Ying: "..."
Yi Qing: "..."
Father Niu, did you forget that she's the female lead?
Xuan Tong paused. Although she was a Stygian Immortal, she was not at all skilled in terms of any technique. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. She knelt down and exclaimed, "Thank you, Elder!" Sticking close to Elder would allow her to see Sect Master more. That was great!
Chen Ge could not help but take a step forward. "Actually, I can help..."
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"Get lost!"
"Oh..." A certain male lead stepped back in his place.
For some reason, Xuan Tong could not stand the sight of that Celestial Emperor called Chen Ge. The moment she saw him, she wanted to hit him.
Shen Ying: "..."
Yi Qing: "..."
Lonemoon: "..."
They could almost hear the novel plot falling apart...
Lonemoon cleared his throat and turned to Lan Hua, telling him about Xin Han tearing an opening that was filled with demonic Qi. Indeed, he found an answer to that as well.
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"The Bite of Ten Thousand Voids!" Lan Hua exclaimed.
"What does that mean?" Lonemoon asked. "Explain yourself."
"That's a kind of sorcery that works like a transportation array," Lan Hua explained. "But it does not have to be conjured beforehand, nor would it cost any immortal stones. The way it works in space is different as well. The Bite of Ten Thousand Voids would allow one to teleport to anywhere in the world in seconds."
"You mean to say that we have no way of knowing where he went?"
"That might not be true!" Lan Hua could not help but offer a cup of hot tea to the foodie who was sitting beside him snacking on pastries. Then, he continued, "The Bite of Ten Thousand Voids requires a large amount of demonic Qi. At the exit, there would also be some kind of phenomenon. You can look around to see where any phenomenon has been spotted in the last few days in the immortal realm, then you'll be able to locate him."
Chen Ge frowned and addressed the crowd as if recalling something. His expression was sombre.
"I'm afraid... things aren't that simple."
"..."
Chapter 199: The Phenomenon at the Cloud Sea
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
"What does the Celestial Emperor mean by this?" Lonemoon asked.
Chen Ge fell silent for awhile before replying, "Do you all remember when I was still Ning Zi'an and had a demon seed planted inside me?"
Everybody stared blankly back at him. Lonemoon snuck a glance at Xuan Tong, who did not seem to notice anything wrong. Lonemoon replied, "I remember! Could that have something to do with Xin Han?"
"Indeed!" Chen Ge nodded. "I just remembered that today. Before I discovered the demon seed, I was invited by him to go to the Void Land to subdue a huge ancient beast. He said that the beast was at the east of Yi Shui, on a land that had been frozen for years. The people thought of various ways and means to chase it into the Void Land, and finally succeeded. To prevent it from coming out again, he invited me to go to the Void Land to subdue it. My Feng Cang continent has always been located really close to Yi Shui. I was afraid that should the beast escape, we would be affected as well. That's why I agreed to go down and help him."
"Could it be... That demon beast?" Lonemoon repeated in shock.
"I only realised later that the great beast was completely black. It travelled extremely fast so we could hardly detect its aura. In the beginning, I thought that this beast was just unique. Thinking back now, I know that the Void Land was a mess of immortal and demon Qi and thus I did not realise that the beast had demonic Qi in it." Chen Ge frowned deeply. "Shortly after we subdued that beast, I was severely injured in another fight. Only after that I realised I had a demon seed planted in me."
"You mean to say... Xin Han purposely led you there to plant the demon seed inside you," Lonemoon summarised.
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Chen Ge was not too sure himself. It was just that even after all these years, he could not figure out who it was that planted the demon seed inside of him. He had always thought it being the person he got into a fight with. But that person was an immortal – using immortal techniques. People who did not have demonic Qi inside of them could not plant demon seeds. He was a Celestial Emperor at that – the person who could hurt him so seriously must have been a Celestial Emperor as well. In the beginning, he suspected Chu Xuan- being the only Emperor whom Chen Ge did not get along with amongst the ten Celestial Emperors.
He glanced at Lan Hua with mixed feelings in his chest. But seeing as how Shen Ying and the others were still so calm, he decided to push his thoughts aside.
"Let's not bother about whether this theory is true or not for now. All we can do is open the Bite of Ten Thousand Voids. Even if he isn't a demon, he is very familiar with the ways of demons." Lan Hua continued, "If he had been plotting this from a long time ago, we will not be able to find him easily."
Everyone suddenly looked uncomfortable. Xin Han was way too good at hiding. Who would have thought that one of the Celestial Emperors whose relationship with Bai Qiao was so complicated would be related to demons? What's more, they could not even guess what he was up to.
"What's the Void Land?" Shen Ying suddenly asked.
"Exalted Goddess, that is a realm that is located on the west of the Bo Sea," Chu Xuan, the mini encyclopedia, glared at Chen Ge. He immediately explained, "That's the only wilderness located in the Bo Sea, but it's closer to the west boundaries of the immortal realm. It is said that it is extremely chaotic there. That's why there's no form of life that grows there–no plants, no animals. Instead, it is filled with obstacles, demons, and things of Yin Qi. Nobody from the immortal realm likes to go..."
Holy shit!
Chu Xuan paused mid-sentence, eyes widening. "Xin Han couldn't really have gone there, right?"
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Everybody in the hall also reacted, shock evident on their faces. That was really possible. Lan Hua said one needed huge amounts of demonic Qi to open the Bite of Ten Thousand Voids, and that there would surely be a phenomenon where the exit was. In the entire immortal realm, the only place where there could be demonic Qi and phenomena occurring without rousing suspicions was the Void Land.
"We can only find out the answer by sending people to enquire of the Celestial Emperor of the Bo Sea, and sending others to the places surrounding the Void Land," Lonemoon suggested. He looked at Chu Xuan and Chen Ge for approval.
Chen Ge nodded and turned to walk out of the hall. He conjured a transportation array and disappeared.
Perhaps it was just as Chu Xuan said–that Chen Ge had the best public relations among all the Celestial Emperors. Within two days, he received a response from the Celestial Emperor of the Bo Sea. Unexpectedly, there was no phenomenon that occurred in the Void Land.
But the other party also said that there was an important piece of news. The Cloud Sea, which was connected to the Bo Sea, saw a weird phenomenon in the last few days. The waters rose and flooded the nearby Yi Shui continent. Even the Cloud Sea's Celestial Emperor Ying Zhi could not do anything about it. But the Cloud Sea was very much isolated and the immortals there did not interact much with the other immortals, so he was not sure what the situation there was like.
Lonemoon cursed under his breath. Now, there was another Cloud Sea to deal with. He gave up the plans to go to the Bo Sea and headed to the Cloud Sea together with Chen Ge, who suddenly recalled that he had a disciple to save, Boss Lan, Yi Qing and Shen Ying.
They could not sit still before they found out exactly what was going on with Xin Han. At Yi Shui, they were the ones who ruined his plan to perform the soul swapping. They were considered his arch-enemies. Knowing how scheming the man was, they were guessing that he was thinking of a way to deal with them. Invincible Sect had already got itself into such a mess – why not take the first step instead of sitting around and wait for trouble to come to its doorstep?
Chu Xuan remained behind to watch over the sect. They were confident that nothing much would happen there. Somehow, Lonemoon had a feeling that things weren't as simple as they appeared.
The five of them spent a few days flying before they arrived at the Cloud Sea. From afar, they saw a thin white cloth floating down toward the ground from the sky. It looked like a silk ribbon that was joining the sky to the earth. Water flowed down from the belt into the Yun Feng continent.
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This was Lonemoon's, Shen Ying's and Yi Qing's first time in the Cloud Sea. Subconsciously, the three of them looked up at the sky and realised that they were an azure blue. Even atop their heads, water was moving non-stop. There were several types of spirit and immortal beasts swimming around in the water above their heads – big and small.
No wonder this place was called the Cloud Sea! There really was a sea among the clouds!
"Whoa!" Shen Ying could not help but exclaim at this sight that defied science. "Won't this water... wu wu."
Before she could finish speaking, Yi Qing's and Lonemoon's expressions changed. Both of them moved to cover her mouth.
"Shut up, let the immortal people of the Cloud Sea go?"
"Master, why don't you have something to eat?"
Shen Ying: "..."
Lan Hua and Chen Ge, who did not understand what was going on: "..."
Lonemoon glanced at the thin cloth in the sky. This was the so-called phenomenon, right? The few of them flew over. Lan Hua took a closer look at the hole in the sky that seemed to be leaking. Then, he shook his head. There was no detectable demonic Qi here.
Lonemoon's expression fell. Then, they all flew toward the entrance to the Cloud Sea. It looked like they had no choice but to look for the Celestial Emperor of the Cloud Sea to have a quick chat. The entrance was not far from where they were. In a little over ten minutes, they saw the heavenly gates.
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Strangely, there were no immortal guards outside the heavenly gates. There was only a huge stone tablet in the middle of the gates. On it, a reminder was written in big red letters.
[A royal decree from the Celestial Emperor: Male immortals and dogs are not allowed in!]
The group: "..."
What does that mean? How did male immortals offend this Celestial Emperor? Why did he block the entrance with this huge stone?
"I almost forgot that Celestial Emperor Ying Zhi of the Cloud Sea is a female," Chen Ge said.
"Don't tell me that she... was hurt emotionally like Bai Qiao was?" It was obvious that she hated all males.
"What should we do?" Lan Hua frowned. "Will she tell us about Xin Han?"
"There's an array on this stone tablet!" Yi Qing pointed forward.
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Lonemoon: "Holy shit, it's the Lonely Yang Array! It can destroy all Yang Qi. Exactly how much does this Celestial Emperor hate men?"
Lan Hua: "So only women can enter?"
Yi Qing: "Can we use the transformation technique?"
Chen Ge: "No way! The transformation spell cannot hide the Yang Qi in males."
"Why not we let Radish turn into a woman and find out the situation inside? He's a bit of both anyway – he has not decided what he wants to be!"
"Pui! I don't want to turn into a woman!"
"Then what should we do? We can't fight our way in, can we? We don't have any females with us!"
"Why don't we go in through the silk cloth back there?"
"That..." Shen Ying, who had been silent for a long time, could not help but raise her hand. "Have you forgotten that I'm a female!"
The five of them: "..."
They all fell silent for at least five seconds.
"Er... we really did forget," Lonemoon answered. "Are you sure that you can look more like a woman than Radish can?"
Shen Ying: "..." Son of a b*tch!
Chapter 200: Breaking The Heavenly Gate Array
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Shen Ying walked towards the stone tablet. Instantly, the array light on top of the tablet flashed. She walked straight through it without encountering any resistance. A familiar voice rang out from a yellow voice transmission talisman which she was holding in her hand.
"Shen Ying, can you hear me? Do you see the red array formation in front of you?"
Shen Ying took a look at the red light flickering in the distance and nodded. Then she remembered that the person at the other end could not see her and replied, "Yes."
"Enter the array on the left. You will find a piece of immortal stone in the center of the array." Lonemoon explained. "Do you see it?"
"Yes."
"Very good. That stone is the switch which activates the array. Remove the stone and let us in."
"All right!"
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"We're here to investigate, not to fight. Don't touch anything other than the stone."
"All right."
"Remember, it's the array on the left. The stone on the right is an array stone, removing it will cause..."
Before he could complete his sentence, there was a loud boom. The stone tablet which blocked off access to the Heavenly Gate, came crashing down and shattered into little pieces on the ground. Through a cloud of dust, Shen Ying could faintly see someone holding onto an array stone, a stunned expression on his face.
The four of them: "..."
"Er..." Shen Ying glanced at the immortal stone in her hand."Is it switched off?"
"..."
Flips table!
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"Switched off, my foot!" She had destroyed the entire array! Lonemoon was hopping mad. "You just love destroying things, don't you? I know you are a navigation idiot, but at least you should know right from left!"
"Isn't this left?" I know where my left is, it's the hand I used to pick up my bowl.
"You're now facing us, so of course this is your left. I meant the direction you came from, where you entered, do you understand?"
"..." So you're blaming me?
"Who are you people! How dare you break into the Sea Cloud Palace?" Several immortals, all carrying immortal weapons, came flying over. Within moments, they were entirely surrounded. Curiously, they were all female immortals.
The leader of the group took a look at the shattered stone tablet and glared at them. "How dare you damage his highness' sacred decree tablet! Seize them!" She gave a signal with her hand and the surrounding immortals charged towards them.
"Stop!" Chen Ge stepped forwards, unleashing the suppressing aura of a celestial emperor. "I'm Chen Ge. I've come here to discuss some matters with your emperor."
"You're the emperor of Feng Cang?" Intimidated by his aura, the female immortal stepped back. Her expression changed and she swept a glance at them. "We of Sea Cloud do not have relations with other continents. Even if you are the emperor of Feng Cang, you don't have the right to destroy our sacred decree tablet!"
"We..." Chen Ge glanced at Shen Ying, who, after passing the array stone to Yi Qing, started munching on a piece of fruit. He had no choice but to come up with an explanation. "This is a misunderstanding! There were no guards at the Heavenly Gate and we could not find anyone to pass our message. So we tried to unlock the array. Unfortunately, we destroyed the array by accident."
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The female immortal was unmoved by his explanation. Looking at them warily, she said, "I don't care who you are! Male immortals are not allowed into the palace. Anyone who defies the order... will be killed!"
She gave a signal with her hand and the immortals moved towards them.Just as the two sides were about to start fighting, a male voice suddenly rang out.
"Exalted Immortal Zhu Yun, what's the trouble?"
A male immortal descended and landed next to the female immortal. He was clad in blue robes and wore a purple crown on his head. His hands were clasped behind his back and there was a stern expression on his face. Immortal qi swirled around his body. There was something familiar about his face.
"What happened to the Ji Yang array?" He was shocked to see the ground covered with stone fragments. He raised his eyes subconsciously towards the person is front and said, "Aren't you Emperor Chen Ge? Why have you come..." His words trailed off as he spotted something. His eyes widened and he exploded in anger, "Lan Hua!"
Boss Lan's expression changed too. Stepping forwards, he said hesitantly, "Brother Yu, why are you here..."
"You still have the cheek to come here!" Before Lan Hua could complete his sentence, Lan Yu summoned his weapon and snarled, "I'm going to kill you!" Then he charged straight towards Lan Hua. A frantic battle ensued.
Everyone looked baffled at what was happening.
Why were they fighting?
"Your highness..." Lonemoon could not help asking Chen Ge, "Who is this emperor?"
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"He's Emperor Lan Yu, ruler of Yun Zhe continent," Chen Ge replied.
"Oh..." The others nodded their heads, finally understanding.
So this was Lan Hua's treacherous younger brother. But looking at his all-out attack on Lan Hua, it seemed as if he had a grievance against him. Obviously, there was more to their feud than met the eye.
"Chef, did you bring melon seeds" asked Shen Ying.
"Yes, Master, would you like sunflower, pumpkin or watermelon seeds?"
"A little of each."
"Yes Master, no problem Master!"
Lonemoon: "..."
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Chen Ge: "..."
Wasn't Lan Hua part of their group? Why were they treating the fight as an entertainment?
The Lan brothers fought for a few hours. Neither seemed to give an inch; both attacked with everything they had, yet after fighting for a whole day, no clear winner emerged. As it seemed like the fight would drag on forever, Chen Ge took the chance to explain to the immortal guard what happened at Heavenly Gate.
Shen Ying had finished the third bag of melon seeds, yet the two brothers were still fighting.
Lonemoon looked at the sky and gave Shen Ying a shove. "Shen Ying, talk sense into them!"
"Huh?" Shen Ying looked at him in surprise. "Are you sure you want me to go?" She asked, preparing to get up.
Lonemoon suddenly remembered what she had done to the Heavenly Gate and pulled her back. "Forget it. Yi Qing, get them to stop." The big cheat was useful, but she was too hard to control!
Yi Qing nodded and passed the bag of seeds to Shen Ying. Then he jumped into the fray. Instantly, swords appeared in the sky and started raining down on the two brothers.
"A sword Immortal! Who are you?"
"Holy shit! Yi QIng, what are you doing?" Why was Yi Qing attacking Lan Hua as well?
Yi Qing did not reply him. Instead, he increased the intensity of his attack. The swords immediately transformed into one huge sword, which then headed towards the two men. Just as the sword was about to hit them, the blade flipped and the flat side of the sword hit them instead.
The two brothers fell face down onto the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust. Their faces became cut and bloodied as a result of landing on the stone fragments on the ground.
Yi Qing flew back and reported calmly, "I've stopped their fight!"
Chen Ge: "..."
Lonemoon: "..."
The crowd: "..."
Lonemoon looked at Yi Qing suspiciously. This was not stopping a fight, this was more like beating them up! And he had even beaten up Lan Hua, their team mate! Yi Qing must have wanted to beat up Lan Hua all along!