Ba Shifang’s eyes lit up with delight the moment he saw the Descending Immortal Embassy vanish from the Buzhou Immortal Sect from his location on Jade Peak. The Descending Immortal Embassy’s sheer size guaranteed that very few in the Buzhou Immortal Sect couldn’t see it from any distance.
He lamented his cruel fate. While other clones enjoyed themselves away from the main body, he had to stay and become a lab rat.
How pitiful was he!
The way Shifang saw it, if Juedai Fenghua survived being sent through the spatial rift, then she had the greatest freedom of them all. Well, not that Ba Shifang was inclined to repeat Fenghua’s accident. Although he was a clone, the main body already invested a lot of resources into him, and his potential was greater than all the other clones.
Clearing his thoughts, Shifang called out in a loud voice. “Bojing? Bojing, where are you?”
Not long after, Su Bojing landed next to Shifang. “What do you need, Young Master Ba?”
Su Bojing knew that Shifang was Tianyi’s clone, so he dared not slight him, even if Ba Shifang was just a mere qi gathering pupil. If Shifang died, Tianyi would definitely look for him to settle the score. Before Tianyi left, Tianyi made sure to tell Su Bojing to look after this clone of his.
“Have you finished preparing the Void Isolation Meditation Chamber?” Shifang asked.
The Void Isolation Meditation Chamber was precisely the place that Tianyi was sealed when he was still a qi gathering pupil to sense his eight extraordinary meridians. The chamber was something Mengfei specifically create for Tianyi, and since Mengfei never destroyed it, Tianyi wanted Ba Shifang to make use of it.
“I have. Are you preparing to enter the Void Isolation Meditation Chamber?” Su Bojing asked.
Ba Shifang shook his head. “Not yet. Help me ask Sect Master Xia to give me access to Lei Jingye in the Six Desires and Seven Emotions Abyss.”
Su Bojing paused, feeling slightly apprehensive. He knew that he would never be imprisoned there, but just like an average citizen feared being jailed, so did Su Bojing fear the Six Desires and Seven Emotions Abyss. “I’ll send a message.”
When Sect Master Xia received the notice that Tianyi’s clone wanted to meet Lei Jingye, he was befuddled. They had healed Lei Jingye’s soul and extracted much more information from him. Compared to Tianyi’s hazy recounts, excluding the time when Lei Jingye died, his information was much more comprehensive.
After deliberating for a while, Sect Master Xia gave permission for Shifang to visit Lei Jingye. Currently, Lei Jingye was still alive because the sect wanted to use him to search for the Dragon Emperor.
Who knows, maybe Tianyi or his clone could unearth a surprise from Lei Jingye.
Soon, both Shifang and Su Bojing were welcomed to the Six Desires and Seven Emotions Abyss. The entrance was located in the core of Justice Peak Palace and heavily guarded by four immortals, not that Ba Shifang or Su Bojing could sense or even see the guards. The entrance was actually quite plain, contrary to the fearsome rumors surrounding the prison.
As Shifang and Su Bojing weren’t members of Justice Peak or even immortals, they had an Immortal Realm warden accompanying them upon entering
Shifang and Su Bojing followed the warden closely. All around them was gray fog, even the floor could not be seen. If not for feeling the solid ground underneath him, Shifang would’ve felt that the floor was nonexistent.
In addition, the two had been given pendant-shaped tokens before entering. If they did not have the tokens, they would have instantly been enthralled by the Six Desires and Seven Emotions Abyss, becoming prisoners of the illusion.
Not long after, they were brought to a small clearing in the gray fog where Lei Jingye was moving around. Shifang didn’t immediately take action and observed Lei Jingye.
Lei Jingye’s eyes were exceptionally clear as if he wasn’t bewitched, but his actions proved otherwise. He would move around without any discernible reason and then speak as if he was talking to someone.
“Hmpf, thanks to Xi Longyi, the Buzhou Immortal Sect has made enemies with the whole world. We don’t need to take action too quickly. Our strength hasn’t reached the point yet. Let’s become the oriole watching the cicada and the mantis.”
Shifang felt his lips twitch at this. Enemy of the world, wasn’t that the Dragon Emperor? And Lovespot too. If Lovespot continued his actions of harming the vassal sects, then he would have become the public enemy and drag the Buzhou Immortal Sect down.
Shifang made a mental note to check up on the Lovespot Tormenter Chat Group, a text group formed when Tianyi first distributed the prototype Xiyi Talisman. They were the masterminds between the hundreds of disciples giving trouble to Lovespot.
Finally, after observing long enough, Shifang stepped towards Lei Jingye. He clenched his hand into a fist and then punched Lei Jingye in the face. When Lei Jingye continued on as if he didn’t feel it despite the obvious impact, Shifang hit Lei Jingye more.
Shifang made sure to control his strength as Lei Jingye lost his spiritual core, making him weaker than an average mortal. As for his nascent soul? Lei Jingye never formed a nascent soul; that was the Longwei, or rather, the Dragon Emperor.
After a few more hits, Shifang stopped and then looked suspiciously at Lei Jingye. “Lei Jingye, Daoyi is getting a dao companion.”
Still no response.
“Her dao companion is Xi Longyi.”
Still no response. Shifang couldn’t help but hold his chin suspiciously. He looked towards the warden and asked. “Can I kill Lei Jingye?”
“No,” The warden said emotionlessly. All the prisoners of the Six Desires and Seven Emotions Abyss could not be killed without permission.
After deliberating for a while, Shifang asked again. “Staying here wouldn’t allow anyone to suddenly derive a Six Desires and Seven Emotions soul method or anything, right?”
The warden originally planned on ignoring and not answering Shifang unless absolutely necessary, but the ridiculous idea Shifang said made him speechless. “Absolutely not. If it were so easy to escape, then the soul immortal prisoners would have long escaped.”
Shifang rubbed his chin as he thought. That was true. Perhaps he was just too wary of Lei Jingye. After settling his heart, Shifang left with Su Bojing and returned to Jade Peak. It was time to open his eight extraordinary meridians.
Before that, maybe he should find some trouble with Lovespot. After all, as an administrator of the Xiyi Talisman, he could easily monitor the Lovespot Tormenter Chat Group. Although he wouldn’t reveal that he could spy on them, it was counterproductive to the consumer’s trust in the brand, after all.
That didn’t mean he couldn’t interfere and make Lovespot’s days worse. It’d be best if Lovespot died due to depression or some crap. If it wasn’t for Lovespot’s backing, he was sure his main body wouldn’t mind abusing his status to get rid of the scourge once and for all.
But to Shifang’s disappointment, he discovered that Lovespot had snuck out of the sect with minimal notice when everyone’s attention was focused on the Demon Slaying Expedition.
The Dragon Emperor gave one last glance at the Buzhou Immortal Sect’s Mortal Severance Gate before leaving with a sneer on his face. What leader of the orthodox sect, it was just as rotten as the despicable devilish sects.
After several years of possession, the Dragon Emperor had discovered Lovespot’s glorious deeds. It only strengthened the Dragon Emperor’s negative impression of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. In his eyes, Lovespot was complete trash and unable to fully appreciate all the good things he had, preferring to laze around and stagnate. However, the Dragon Emperor had to thank Lovespot, otherwise, where else would he have gotten such a compatible body?
However, that didn’t stop the Dragon Emperor from looking down on Lovespot in contempt. No wonder the Buzhou Immortal Sect’s influence had been weakening even when he was at his peak. Ever since the Human-Divine Beast War, the Dragon Emperor had noticed that the Buzhou Immortal Sect’s influence was becoming weaker and weaker. His lips curled as he thought of the further damage brought by him when all the sects allied and sieged him.
The Buzhou Immortal Sect lost over fifty percent of their longtime immortal monarchs and hundreds upon hundreds of true immortals. He even killed one of their immortal emperors! The Dragon Emperor made sure to give them special care as they were the mastermind behind his fall from grace.
The Dragon Emperor also remembered Redseal during the siege. As he was a relatively young immortal monarch, two of the older immortal monarchs had given up their life to save Redseal’s life from the Dragon Emperor’s attack. He never expected that upright-appearing Redseal to have such a pig teammate of a grandson.
He didn’t think it was wrong of Lovespot to kill the disciples of other sects. The Dragon Emperor had also been overbearing and fought and killed anyone who was against him. There was nothing wrong with such a tyrannical style in his eyes.
If you dare steal from me?
Kill!
Offend me?
Kill!
Look at me wrong?
Kill!
Take a fancy to a woman?
Steal!
Block my way?
Kill!
Prevent my immortal path?
Kill!
However, the Dragon Emperor knew that it was not the style of the Buzhou Immortal Sect who liked to act hypocritically righteously. Instead, it was a method to control the growth of vassal sects from his view. In the past, the Buzhou Immortal Sect would have never committed such an act, but the Dragon Emperor thought it was possible with the Buzhou Immortal Sect being at its weakest in years. Although he couldn’t find any evidence, the Dragon Emperor even suspected that Lovespot’s actions were secretly encouraged because how could Redseal not know about this matter?
What truly made the Dragon Emperor disdain Lovespot and the Buzhou Immortal Sect was his actions against his fellow sect members. Acting against your own sect members was a sign of decline. Unless they offended you, you should never purposely hinder your own sect’s growth. Even rabbits do not eat the grass around their burrows.
Well, the Dragon Emperor wouldn’t plan for the Buzhou Immortal Sect. In his eyes, the more corrupt the Buzhou Immortal Sect was, the better it was for him. However, he still had reservations and wariness towards the Buzhou Immortal Sect’s trump cards.
The Buzhou Immortal Sect had experienced ups and downs. At one point, the Buzhou Immortal Sect had seven immortal emperors. It was an unprecedented time of prosperity for the Buzhou Immortal Sect, to the point that their immortal emperors died of old age instead of battle.
But what, or rather, who the Dragon Emperor feared the most was the reclusive Concealed Emperor.
The Concealed Emperor had existed since the creation of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, some said he existed even longer then the Huang Realm, back when it was the Yu Huang Realm. The average immortal monarch lived for around a hundred thousand years before they couldn’t bear the passing of time and self-terminated. The longest record of an immortal emperor was five hundred thousand years, aside from the Concealed Emperor. This meant that the Concealed Emperor had lived for over three million years, exceeding all other immortal emperors and even true immortals who shared longevity with the Huang Realm!
There were rumors that the Concealed Emperor had long perished and that the Buzhou Immortal Sect was simply hiding it, but the Dragon Emperor didn’t think so. One reason was because the Buzhou Immortal Sect never proclaimed the Concealed Emperor’s death, although they never claimed he was alive either. Still, anyone, even a disciple, who lived within the Buzhou Immortal Mountains could discern that he was alive, or someone was pretending to be him. The Dragon Emperor learned towards the former, mostly due to his intuition, something that saved his life many times.
Despite the Concealed Emperor never appearing during the siege against him that went against his intuition, the Dragon Emperor couldn’t help but ponder over the truth of the matter. In all his years pretending to be Lovespot, the Dragon Emperor attempted to probe the Concealed Emperor’s survival, but he couldn’t find any substantial proof. He had a feeling that the Concealed Emperor would be the greatest obstacle to his ascension.
As for Xi Mengfei?
The Dragon Emperor didn’t believe the rumors outside proclaiming her as the number one immortal emperor. In his eyes, she was just far too young and her accumulation too shallow. The other immortal emperors simply didn’t care enough to contradict the rumors, and they were giving the Buzhou Immortal Sect face. In his eyes, it was likely the Buzhou Immortal Sect’s handiwork spreading the rumors to reclaim their prestige after their devastating losses against him.
Having his thoughts drift towards Xi Mengfei, the Dragon Emperor had to admit she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. However, those pair of eyes from her reminded him instantly of Tianyi, causing him to gnash his teeth together.
If the Buzhou Immortal Sect was the enemy the Dragon Emperor would topple over a long period of time, then Tianyi was the nemesis he had to kill as soon as possible. Not just once, but he had failed twice due to Tianyi’s intervention. He wouldn’t even mind exposing his identity just to kill Tianyi, as he would have an escape plan after all. Tianyi’s whole existence was a blight against him.
Part of the reason for the Dragon Emperor’s journey out of the sect was to increase his strength secretly. Lovespot had a lot of good stuff, but those were known variables. Whenever he decided to betray the Buzhou Immortal Sect, his trump cards would be laid bare, so he needed to hide some of his strength and trump cards.
Plus, he was beginning to feel stifled being cooped up in his enemies’ headquarters. Numerous times, he had thought of lashing out, but he held back in the end. Plus, he needed to recuperate his strength, and the best way to do that was to assimilate his soul fragments. In other words, he had to kill his soul fragment clones.
A few months later, the Dragon Emperor allowed himself to smirk as he discovered an immortal’s inheritance site. He had chased after a clone of his to Sky Pillar Mountain and discovered Grand Duke Xuanfei’s inheritance site.
With high aspirations, the Dragon Emperor began Grand Duke Xuanfei’s trials to acquire his inheritance. He didn’t put a mere true immortal in his eyes, but right now, he would take everything he could, beggars couldn’t be choosers. If he received an immortal artifact, all the better. In the Dragon Emperor’s eyes, no one else could pass through the trials better than he could.
When the Dragon Emperor passed all the trials and reached the end, he was covered in injuries. Despite his skill and experience, he was still a Core Formation Realm cultivator in the end, so he didn’t come out unscathed.
He had attained the highest evaluation, so his rewards would be the best. When he went to receive his just rewards, the Dragon Emperor discovered that the Grand Duke’s inheritance grotto had been wiped clean with nothing left for him!
The Dragon Emperor had spent so much effort only to discover that he was rewarded with nothing! If he had his previous strength, the Dragon Emperor would have wiped the inheritance site out of existence. Alas, he didn’t, so he could only leave with a belly full of grievances.
Unwilling to return empty-handed, the Dragon Emperor recalled the inheritance sites and graves he discovered in the Central Region when he was still at his peak. Naturally, he disdained mere true immortal inheritances, but to the current him, they were priceless resources.
Recalling how effective his soul attack was on Tianyi, the Dragon Emperor decided to head towards Soul Immortal Frosteye’s inheritance at Feather Sky Mountain Range. To his outrage and shock, it was also cleaned out. There weren’t any techniques or rewards left, only the trials, just like Grand Duke Xuanfei’s inheritance.
Leaving empty-handed once more, the Dragon Emperor felt as if he swallowed a fly. He couldn’t stand the feeling, so like an enraged beast, he searched for other inheritances.
True Lord Flamesurge’s grave at Permaheat Abyss.
Sword Immortal Halfmoon’s inheritance at Moonshadow Peak of Thousand Weapon Mountain Range.
Immortal Lord Swaysong’s inheritance at Soundless Mist Domain.
Without fail, all of these inheritance sites and graves were empty.
“FUCK!!! Does everyone know about them and cleaned them out? How could it be? When I discovered them, all of them weren’t empty.”
The Dragon Emperor couldn’t help but think that someone was deliberately messing with him, but he quickly dismissed the idea. He didn’t originally plan to visit these immortal inheritance sites and graves, so unless an immortal was secretly following him and cleaning out the place before he could reach the rewards, then that could only mean that someone had discovered them before him.
In the end, he could only chalk it up to bad luck. Perhaps some lucky individuals stumbled upon them and cleaned them out before him after his first death. Having been jilted too many times, the Dragon Emperor decided to focus on reclaiming his soul fragments for the time being.
He didn’t have a name, only a designation. Since he was young, all he knew was the Buzhou Immortal Sect and that he had to serve them faithfully. From the Qi Gathering Realm to the Foundation Establishment Realm to the Core Formation Realm and all the way to the Immortal Realm, he had served the Buzhou Immortal Sect with unquestioned loyalty.
He wasn’t the only one, as there were numerous like him, but few were able to reach the Immortal Realm and join the Brocade Immortals like him. Most died before they reached the Immortal Realm, becoming one of the unaccountable nameless protectors of the Buzhou Immortal Sect in the shadows.
If there were a comparison, he and the other shadow soldiers would be akin to the death guards raised since childhood by the many imperial clans.
His designation was Thirty-Seven, Brocade Immortal Number Thirty-Seven.
Thirty-Seven had been summoned to shadow the disciple known as Lovespot under the orders of the Concealed Sovereign. Contrary to popular belief, the Brocade Immortals did not serve the sect masters of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. It was just that they had been ordered to follow the sect master’s orders, giving many people the impression that they obeyed the sect master. Their true allegiance lay with the Concealed Emperor.
He had wondered why the Concealed Emperor ordered him to shadow Lovespot until he observed him absorbing the Dragon Emperor clones’ souls. Thirty-Seven instantly realized why the Concealed Sovereign ordered him to shadow Lovespot.
Based on his preliminary investigation, Thirty-Seven knew that Lovespot had lost his memories a few years ago. It was highly likely that the current Lovespot wasn’t the real Lovespot, despite his soul lamp still being lit. A hint of comprehension dawned in his eyes when he added the pieces together.
As a Brocade Immortal, there was little that he wasn’t privy to, including Lei Jingye’s relationship with the Dragon Emperor. Putting two and two together, Thirty-Seven had a daring guess.
The Brocade Immortals were not among the participants that besieged the Dragon Emperor at his peak, so their strength remained intact. As a result, most of the aging immortals of the Buzhou Immortal Sect died instead. The Brocade Immortals did not question why, and even now, they had no particular feelings towards the Dragon Emperor. They simply followed orders.
Thirty-Seven didn’t kill Lovespot or whoever he was. Lovespot’s current identity didn’t matter, Thirty-Seven obeyed the Concealed Sovereign no matter what, even if he was ordered to die. His current order was to investigate Lovespot as much as possible.
Brocade Immortal Thirty-Seven had already reported his findings to the Concealed Emperor. Now the matters were out of his hands. All he had to do was continue to shadow Lovespot.