Zhao Yue’s breath hitched as Bai Zihan’s shadow fell over her.
Her pride—once towering—was now shattered.
Her limbs trembled, strength gone, her cultivation suppressed by the brutal blow she’d taken earlier.
She couldn’t fight. She couldn’t flee.
Only beg.
“No—please, Bai Zihan… please…”
Her voice cracked, barely audible.
“I was wrong. I-I shouldn’t have…”
Bai Zihan looked down at her. His expression wasn’t cruel.
It was detached.
Like he was passing judgment, not vengeance.
“Like I care. You should ask your father to do a better job protecting you.”
He raised his foot again.
Zhao Yue shrieked and covered her face on instinct, her body curling inward.
But the strike didn’t come.
Instead, Bai Zihan halted mid-motion. Not out of pity, of course.
His eyes narrowed.
He was gazing toward the horizon.
As if something… terrible was coming.
BOOM!
The heavens shuddered.
A shimmering ripple tore through the space above the battlefield.
Reality itself cracked like glass, and from the heart of the distortion stepped a woman clad in flowing robes of misty silver and pale blue, her long hair like drifting starlight.
Each step she took was accompanied by a ring of glowing lotus sigils beneath her feet, vanishing the moment they appeared.
Her presence was ethereal—no, divine.
As though she didn’t belong to this era.
As though she had stepped out of the legends.
“…The Flowing Moon Sect…”
Elder Bai Feng whispered, his voice trembling.
“That’s… indeed their ancient symbol!”
“What is someone from the Flowing Moon Sect doing here?!”
He wasn’t the only one who recognized it.
Even the elders of the Zhao and Li Clans stiffened in collective dread.
Their arrogance—their obsession with the Immortal Emperor’s Inheritance—suddenly felt childish.
Because the Flowing Moon Sect was not merely a strong Sect.
It was a transcendent power beyond their comprehension.
The Flowing Moon Sect…
A name barely known in the Desolate Heaven Empire—only those at the very top had ever heard or know about it.
A name that did not belong to any known faction within the empire—
Because it wasn’t of the Desolate Heaven Empire at all.
The Flowing Moon Sect originated from one of the Five Supreme Empires that ruled the peak of cultivation across the Central Glorious Continent.
A sect that stood at the very apex of the immortal path.
Within the hierarchy of the continent, the Desolate Heaven Empire, as powerful and fearsome as it was, belonged only to the Upper-Middle Tier of empires.
It ruled its surrounding region with unquestioned authority, overwhelming most other nations nearby.
But above it…
At the true summit of the cultivation world—
Were the Five Supreme Empires—who had the strongest Cultivators of the Continent.
And the Flowing Moon Sect came from one of them.
A single envoy from the Flowing Moon Sect carried more authority than the combined forces of the Bai, Zhao, and Li Clans.
Even the Imperial Court of the Desolate Heaven Empire would not dare offend such a person—lest they invite annihilation.
Now such a person has arrived in the Desolate Heaven Empire!
The silence on the battlefield grew heavier.
Even Li Jianhong, just moments ago sneering at Bai Zihan’s threats, now clenched his fists—helpless.
There was nothing he could do.
To challenge the Flowing Moon Sect was to invite ruin not only upon himself…
But upon the entire Li Clan.
The woman didn’t glance at anyone else. Her gaze was calm, direct, and sharp—
And it landed squarely on Bai Xinyue.
The battlefield instinctively parted before her. Cultivators from every clan lowered their gazes in silent reverence.
“What… What is someone from the Flowing Moon Sect doing here?”
“Do you know something about her?”
“Sheesh! Don’t point at her! You’ll get your entire clan wiped out!”
…
The onlookers murmured in awe, most not knowing who this celestial woman was.
But looking at the expressions of the Bai, Li, and Zhao Clans…
They knew she wasn’t someone to mess with.
While those who has an idea about her began to explain it to other and also warn them about making any comment about her.
“Is she the one?”
The woman finally spoke—her voice gentle, but impossibly commanding.
“Yes!”
Someone answered behind her.
Only then did the others notice the person standing just behind the envoy, and it was someone that most of them recognized.
It was Peak Master Qinglan!
Bai Zihan and Bai Xueqing’s master.
So it was her—Qinglan—who had informed the Flowing Moon Sect.
That was how they had known about Bai Xinyue.
Though they still wondered, how just an elder of Heaven Sword Sect knew such an esteemed person from Flowing Moon Sect.
“So, What do you think, Yue? Is she qualified to become a disciple of the Flowing Moon Sect?”
Qinglan asked.
By the way of how Qinglan was casually addressing the person from Flowing Moon Sect, it looks like Qinglan was friends with her.
“Hmm…”
The woman studied Xinyue closely.
“Indeed. I can sense something ancient which even I can’t recognize. That should be related to the Immortal Emperor’s Inheritance. That alone would be enough to qualify her as a Core Disciple…”
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
“…But that’s not all. Dao Bone and Phoenix Physique.”
She turned slightly to Qinglan.
“Qinglan… it seems she’s worth far more than you realized.”
“What?”
Qinglan was stunned.
Dao Bone?
Phoenix Physique?
She didn’t know about that before!
She turned to Bai Xinyue again, now understanding why she had obtained the Immortal Emperor’s inheritance in the first place.
It wasn’t luck.
It was destiny.
She felt a trace of pity that their sect would lose someone like Bai Xinyue—but even more than that, she was certain they couldn’t protect her.
Someone like Bai Xinyue… their sect—perhaps even the Desolate Heaven Empire itself—simply wasn’t enough for a talent of her level.
“Fairy Yue Wushuang—what brings you here?”
Zhao Wutian asked respectfully, his voice calm but his posture clearly deferential.
He wasn’t the only one to act.
Just moments ago, the Bai, Li, and Zhao Clan Leaders had been locked in bitter, deadly combat. But now—
They stood side by side, shoulder to shoulder.
And then, together—
They bowed and greeted Yue Wushuang.
Three of the greatest powers in the Desolate Heaven Empire—forced to set aside their hatred in the presence of a single woman.
Because they all knew exactly who she was.
Fairy Yue Wushuang!
One of the brightest legends of the Central Glorious Continent.
An Immortal Ascension Stage cultivator!
Why?
Because she had achieved that level of cultivation before even reaching a thousand years of age.
In contrast, within the Desolate Heaven Empire, those who reached the Immortal Ascension Stage were considered founding ancestors who required millennia of accumulation to break through.
Yet Yue Wushuang had reached that same realm in less than a tenth of that time.
A genius so terrifying that entire sects from middle-tier empires refused to even speak her name carelessly.
“Fairy Yue Wushuang,” Bai Tianheng said, his usually powerful voice low and respectful, “It is our honor to welcome someone like you to this humble empire.”
Li Jianhong followed. “If we had known you were coming… we would have cleared the continent for your path.”
Yue Wushuang didn’t respond immediately.
Her gaze remained fixed on Bai Xinyue, and her spiritual sense quietly brushed over the girl again—as if confirming something.
“You should know why I’m here.”
The battlefield was dead silent.
The three clan leaders—Bai Tianheng, Li Jianhong, and Zhao Wutian—all nodded solemnly.
There was no need to guess.
If there was anything in the Desolate Heaven Empire worthy of catching Fairy Yue Wushuang’s attention—it could only be Bai Xinyue.
A girl who now possessed the Immortal Emperor’s Inheritance, carried a Dao Bone, and awakened the Phoenix Physique…
She was no longer just the Bai Clan’s future.
She was a blazing sun that could not be contained within their sky.
Yue Wushuang turned slightly, her eyes falling on Bai Tianheng.
“Clan Leader Bai!”
He immediately stepped forward, cupping his fists with both hands and bowing deeply.
“Fairy Yue,” he said respectfully, “I am honored to answer!”
Yue Wushuang gave a light nod, then asked—
“May I take her?”
Though her tone was soft, the meaning behind the words was no less than a divine command.
It wasn’t a threat.
It wasn’t a negotiation.
It was a courtesy—a moment of respect offered to the Bai Clan before she swept Bai Xinyue away from the mortal world.
Bai Tianheng was silent for a moment.
Bai Xinyue was someone who could literally change the clan if they were to keep her.
Her relationship with Bai Zihan also seemed to have improved—at the very least, she wouldn’t kill him.
But could they really keep her?
Could they protect her from the storm she was destined to walk into?
Not to mention—refusing Yue Wushuang?
No!
With a long breath, Bai Tianheng raised his head and smiled, bittersweet.
“I, of course, do not mind. But it all depends on Bai Xinyue. If she wishes to leave, then she can leave without a doubt.”
He glanced at Bai Xinyue with guilt.
“But if she doesn’t, then I couldn’t force her either.”