“Are they all dead?” The young master of Yunliu Pavilion trembled with fear as he listened. With a slight mental probe, he confirmed it—he could no longer sense the karmic threads of Chen Fu and the other two.
“The dream… the dream is manifesting in reality.” The young master was utterly terrified. In that dream, his three subordinates had died, and so had he! Yet in reality, only he remained alive. What terrified him most was that all his treasures were gone. If someone could strip him of his possessions so effortlessly, taking his life would be even simpler.
Many of those treasures had been refined to the point of being concealable within a single drop of blood. For someone to seize them so easily meant they had complete control over his very existence.
The fact that the assailant had effortlessly eliminated his three subordinates filled the young master with dread, fearing he would be next.
“Quickly, inform my grandmother! Tell her my life is in danger,” the young master urged.
“Shall I report to the City Lord?” The stern-faced elder hesitated slightly, puzzled as to why the young master didn’t contact her himself. Little did he know, the young master had lost all his treasures—even his communication artifacts.
“Now!”
The young master pressed.
“As you command.” The elder complied swiftly.
Soon.
Boom—
A terrifying aura descended as a breathtakingly beautiful woman with long white hair strode in. Her presence was like an endless world, causing even the stern elder—a late-stage Divine Emperor—to tremble in fear. After all, ‘City Lord Yunfeng’ could annihilate a late-stage Divine Emperor like him with a single strike. She was the only one on the Divine Emperor rankings who had personally slain a peak-level Divine Emperor.
Of course, there were exceptions among peak-level Divine Emperors, such as the innate Primordial lifeform ‘Valley Lord Fuliu,’ whose true form was an ancient tree with monstrous vitality. Even City Lord Yunfeng couldn’t kill him, though she could still overpower him.
Beside City Lord Yunfeng stood a red-haired woman, her aura equally extraordinary—a peak-level Divine Emperor and an innate Primordial lifeform known as ‘Phoenix Divine Emperor.’ She and City Lord Yunfeng were as close as sisters.
“Yunliu, what happened?” City Lord Yunfeng’s voice softened as she gazed at her grandson, reminded of her own fallen children.
“Everyone else, leave! Now!” the young master barked.
Immediately, the hall emptied, leaving only City Lord Yunfeng, Phoenix Divine Emperor, and the young master.
“Grandmother, I almost died,” the young master said, his voice laced with terror.
“Oh? Tell me everything.” City Lord Yunfeng frowned, a hint of killing intent flickering in her eyes.
The young master recounted the events in detail.
City Lord Yunfeng’s brow furrowed slightly. “To silently trap you in an illusion—you are, after all, a mid-stage Divine Emperor, and your three fallen subordinates were also at that level. Yet none of you could resist! Their souls were annihilated… Fan Yun Pavilion is always bustling, and I even stationed a late-stage Divine Emperor here. Yet no one sensed anything.”
“An illusion, utterly silent,” Phoenix Divine Emperor mused. “But in the entire Divine Realm, I’ve never heard of such a terrifying illusion. Mastering illusions is difficult—it’s a branch of soul arts.”
“Indeed,” City Lord Yunfeng nodded. “First, there may be an unprecedented master of soul arts. Second, it could be a Divine Realm native who awakened a formidable illusion-based bloodline ability. Third, perhaps a new innate Primordial lifeform has entered our world—one specializing in illusions.”
“Regardless of which it is, to dare target my grandson in Yunfeng City takes audacity,” City Lord Yunfeng said coldly. “But since it was only a warning and he spared my grandson, I’ll merely punish the culprit severely before letting him go.”
With a wave of her hand, she attempted to reverse time and replay the events. Yet the scene where Dongbo Xueying had cast his Void Illusion remained blank—utterly irretrievable.
“Time reversal… fails?”
City Lord Yunfeng smirked.
She waved again, summoning a mist that coalesced into a mirror. The mirror began displaying everything that had transpired.
The reflection showed the hall—the young master, his maids, and the six sisters all collapsed in slumber.
The door creaked open.
A white-robed youth with a divine sword strapped to his back entered calmly. Outside, several figures lay unconscious, including Divine Emperor Chen Fu. The youth flicked his wrist, and all the young master’s treasures flew into his grasp.
Then—rip—a black rift tore open. The youth stepped through and vanished.
“Hmm?” Both City Lord Yunfeng and Phoenix Divine Emperor were startled.
Though they were among the mightiest in the Divine Realm, ultra-long-range spatial teleportation was a feat only a handful could achieve.
“An unprecedented illusion, ultra-long-range teleportation… Who is this?” City Lord Yunfeng now regarded the white-robed youth as an extreme threat. If he wished to assassinate her grandson, even she couldn’t protect him—illusions were beyond her ability to shield against.
“A white-robed youth with a divine sword… Who could it be? None of the Divine Realm’s top experts match this description,” Phoenix Divine Emperor pondered. “A cultivator from the lower realms? A Divine Realm native? Or an innate Primordial lifeform?”
Humanoid forms weren’t exclusive to natives—innate Primordial lifeforms like her, Phoenix Divine Emperor, often took human shapes when moving among mortals.
“Now you understand,” City Lord Yunfeng said to her grandson. “I can’t shield you from all enemies. This mysterious expert could kill you silently. From now on, rein in your subordinates. No more recklessness.”
“I understand, I understand,” the young master replied hastily. Having brushed so close to death, he dared not indulge further. While he cared little for the lives of the weak, slaughter held no appeal—his true passion was indulgence.
City Lord Yunfeng inwardly relaxed. The assailant’s decision to spare her grandson suggested no intent for a blood feud. As long as her grandson behaved, there’d be no further threat.
Perhaps this was a ‘warning’ for him—a reminder that even in the Divine Realm, death lurked in the shadows.
“But who is he?” Though she sensed no personal threat, City Lord Yunfeng knew this mysterious expert posed immense danger to other Divine Emperors.
“Sister, with power like his, fame is inevitable. Given time, he’ll reveal himself,” Phoenix Divine Emperor said with a smile. “Then, we’ll test his strength ourselves.”
—
Dongbo Xueying had arrived at Iron Dragon City.
“Finally, everything is gathered,” he thought eagerly. The Withered World Leaf and Golden Thunder Primordial Pearl were now in his possession. While these were invaluable to Divine Realm natives, he cared little for them. What he truly coveted was the corpse of that ‘Void-path’ innate Primordial lifeform.
In the Heartvoid Continent, the Broken Tooth Mountains housed few innate Primordial lifeforms—and none of the Void-path. This world, however, had far more, with only three Void-path specimens. Securing even one would suffice.
As a Void-path being, the corpse’s body would largely be a manifestation of Void principles. Unlike ordinary beasts, innate Primordial lifeforms were colossal, their every scale a subject of profound study. Merely examining the entire corpse would take ages, making it the ultimate reference for his Void Dao—far surpassing any manual.
At the gates of Iron Dragon Manor, the guards stared in surprise at the white-robed swordsman approaching—Divine Emperor Qingyun had visited not long ago.
“Divine Emperor Qingyun,” a guard inquired, “what brings you here today?”
“Please announce my arrival. I wish to see the eldest young master,” Dongbo Xueying said.
…
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