When news got back to Soulburn Hall, the entirety of Xuanyuan Lake was shocked. Tianming had actually been abducted from right under their noses! When so many elites of the sect had left in a hurry, they instantly knew what was going on.
Xuanyuan Dao returned after a short chase only to see Feiling with a panicked and worried look. "Did you rescue him? Is Tianming alright?"
"Your Eminence, Fang Taiqing and Jian Wuyi have given chase, along with a hundred tribulation elders. I worry that there’s other spies in the sect using Tianming to lure the elites away, so I didn't dare move too far away from Soulburn Hall," he said with a furrowed brow.
"It's fine. You should go, too. We have to save him no matter the cost!" She was finding it harder and harder to control her emotions. There was no way she could calmly deliberate on this now that Tianming's life was in danger.
"Your Eminence, there’s enough people giving chase. Not to mention, I alone won't be able to be much help, so staying here is for the best. Li Caiwei definitely intends to use Tianming to open the Kilostar Domain, so he will be safe until then. We can only put our trust in Fang Taiqing and the rest now," he said helplessly.
"Is there nothing we can do but wait?" She bit her lip, her eyes filled with hate as she stomped around with heavy breathing. Xuanyuan Dao and Fang Qingli didn't dare to utter a sound. "Leave, leave!"
She knew that she could no longer control her emotions, and she didn't want them to see her like this.
"Understood." They had no choice but to leave the inner formation and stand guard outside.
With the hall now empty, Feiling leaned against a pillar and slumped down with her fists clenched and tears flowing. "Why...? We were so careful, but they still won't let us off..."
The worst part was that she had been able to face hardship with him together before, but now she couldn't even leave Soulburn Hall. She was a caged bird, suffering the greatest torture of worrying for her loved one.
......
Outside Soulburn Hall, Xuanyuan Dao and Fang Qingli stood without speaking. Their goddess's reaction was too obvious. That definitely wasn't something a master would feel for a disciple. She seemed like a panicky young girl that couldn't control herself at all.
"Don't think too much about it. Her Eminence passed away in her previous life at the age of twenty. Even after a hundred thousand years, she's still only a twenty-plus-year-old," Xuanyuan Dao said.
"Yeah," Fang Qingli said, nodding.
"Have you heard of anything like what Li Caiwei did? I know there’s people who are experts at disguise, but Li Caiwei could even change her height, figure, gender, aura, and cultivation, effectively making her appear like a completely different person. Not even we could see through the disguise."
"At the very least, there have been no records of something like this in the past two hundred thousand years of history. If we go further back, it's the age before beastmasters. We don't have the slightest idea of the techniques that existed back then."
"Fortunately she had to reveal herself to act, otherwise it’d be far too terrifying. Perhaps the only reason she didn't enter Soulburn Hall was the Nine Dragon Formation. We have to be vigilant against something like this on the battlefield as well."
"Let's hope she's the only one capable of a feat like this then."
......
Tianming didn't know how long had passed throughout the pursuit. All he knew was that, while Li Caiwei was hurt, she soared nonstop after leaving the Nine Dragon Formation. Now, the pursuers couldn't really do much to harm her with her using Tianming as a shield. Had she been escaping alone, she wouldn't have been able to run so far, either. Now, the elites of the sect had finally witnessed the might of the millennium vixen!
"Senior, your surname is Li just like mine. We might be distant relatives! Can't you let me off just this once?" Tianming felt really dizzy, tied to her back and with the wind hitting his face so hard.
"Why’d you have to become the goddess' disciple then? You deserve it! If you were my disciple, you wouldn't have to worry about your safety."
"Nah, I don't trust you. Your disciple Chu Xiaoqi ended up killed after all." Killed by him, no less.
"Hahaha... You're really testing my patience. Let me be direct: you got caught. It's over for you. You think your surname schtick will work? Well, maybe in the next life," she said.
"I guess it's worth it. Being tied to you limb to limb like that for so long is enjoyable for me, to say the least."
Even though he was wrapped up in the Fatedream Shawl, he could still smell the fragrance coming from her. If his life weren't in danger, he would definitely be enjoying it to his fullest.
"Is that so? There’ve been countless men who have toyed with me. Do you know how they ended up?"
"Pray tell."
"They suffered a fate worse than death." After that, Li Caiwei no longer wasted her breath on him, lest her attention divert and allow the others to catch up to her. Her conversation just now had cost her a lock of hair from Jian Wuyi's latest attack, causing Tianming's mouth to be stuffed with strands of them.
"Come on, Senior, don't stop speaking. I'm only twenty, you know. I'm still filled with vigor. Don't you want to have a taste of this slab of young meat? Come to think of it, your waist really is amazing. Are you sure you're already a hundred?" Tianming kept on yapping.
"I'm only ninety-nine!" she snapped, chuckling.
"Ah, then you could be my grandmother already. You're really getting the better end of the deal, being able to feel up my baby-smooth skin like that."
"Shut up." She couldn't tolerate him any longer and wrapped his mouth up in the shawl as well. Just then, Fang Taiqing appeared in front of her and slashed with his large, green blade, almost catching her forehead. She managed to dodge in time, but she suffered a cut to her shoulder.
"You three slave houses just wait! One day, I’ll tear you all to pieces!" Had she not tied Tianming behind her and limited her movement, she would've long retaliated against her pursuers.
"Let the imperial son go and you'll get to keep your life!" Fang Taiqing said.
"Haha, you think you can mess with me just because you have more people on your side? We're almost to the Kilostar Domain, so it'll soon be your turn!" Li Caiwei said with a flash in her eyes.
They were nearing the starry skies above. The trees, mountains, and rivers were nowhere to be seen, replaced instead by an endless starscape. They were almost to the Kilostar Domain, after all, and few people passed through that area. Those of Deepstar Hall that were stationed there saw them and asked, "Sect Masters, why are you here?"
Seeing that they were chasing Li Caiwei down, they hurriedly tried to intercept.
"Why’d you come back?" Fang Taiqing said.
"Sect Master, those from the five divine realms are here and they occupied the entrance of the Kilostar Domain! We had no choice but to mount a hasty retreat. Now, access to it is forbidden!"
"Sect Master, they even sent some out to pursue us and they've almost caught up."
"The five ghoul kings of Nonahall are also here, including Feng Qingyu, Long Cangyuan, and Changsun Shenqiong."
The ones from Deepstar Hall were really anxious. Since the enemies had made their move, continuing their pursuit would be incredibly dangerous and they risked being wiped out. If that happened, Archaion wouldn't even stand a chance at all. Fang Taiqing looked at Jian Wuyi, both of them incredibly troubled. They could already see the enemies coming their way; there was no time to hesitate at all.
"Fang Taiqing, once this brat opens the Kilostar Domain, I’ll kill him! If you wait down there, you might even be able to catch his head!" Li Caiwei said with the most seductive of smiles. She was trying to goad him into continuing the pursuit.
"Sect Master, we can't keep on! If we do, we'll be dead for sure!"
"There's too many of them! If we get killed here, it'll be the end of Archaion!"
"Sect Master, we have to leave now. At least the goddess is still with us."
They couldn't afford to hesitate at all.
"You all should hurry back to the sect. Wuyi, take them with you."
"What about you?"
"I'll try to see if there's any chance I can still get him back."
"Be careful," Jian Wuyi said. Then he called for the rest from Deepstar Hall to return to the sect with him. The tribulation elders also stopped their pursuit without needing to be told.
Li Caiwei had managed to abduct Tianming from under the noses of their most powerful elites, and even made it out of there. It was a huge triumph for her, and a humiliation for the Archaion Sect. While she had used Tianming as her shield, nobody would nitpick on the details. All that people would remember was that the sect had managed to lose their imperial son to a lone woman, which would no doubt severely affect their troops' morale.
Tianming had just raised their morale by inheriting Great Emperor Xuanyuan's legacy, only for all of that to be nullified by this incident, leaving them probably worse off than before. Too many people would be discouraged by this. They all knew that the Lunar Master had a reputation to be feared, but even they hadn’t expected something this ludicrous could even be possible. Even though she had been rather heavily injured, her feat was something even the toughest of men would envy.
Now, Fang Taiqing alone continued the chase while the rest gave up and returned. Those from the five divine realms didn't travel far, either. Once they received Li Caiwei, they immediately returned to the entrance of Kilostar Domain, which showed how much they valued it.
......
At the entrance of the domain, Tianming could hear lots of cheering for Li Caiwei. Almost immediately, the shawl around him unraveled, giving him back his freedom, but one look at his surroundings and he could only smile in resignation.
While he could walk about now, he was completely surrounded by more than two thousand of the most powerful elites of the five divine realms. Most of them were on the level of second-origin tribulation elders or above, including the five ghoul kings, Li Caiwei, Long Cangyuan, and Changsun Shenqiong. They were among the most powerful cultivators on the continent, so how would a young junior like him be able to escape?