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Chapter 588: Joining the Hunt
🕑 Added 2025-04-28 00:00:09 +0000 UTCWhen Daoyi opened her eyes, her irises radiated a dark blue hue that seemed to suck in everything and an ephemeral light coated her body and clothes. The strange light disappeared in a few seconds, but there was a certain unsettling tenseness in the air, as if even ghosts dared not appear.
“Congratulations on becoming an immortal empress,” Tianyi said, breaking the tense atmosphere.
“It doesn’t feel very sincere when you say it, Mr. I-Became-A-Sovereign-Twenty-Thousand-Years-Ago.”
Tianyi raised his hands helplessly. “You know that it’s hard to define what power strata I fall under because of my unique cultivation method. I’m beginning to think it was a fluke miracle that I didn’t die.”
Daoyi nodded. As one of the people closest to Tianyi, she knew of his peculiarities.
“Moving on from the jokes, when do you plan to come to the Nahui Ollin System?” Tianyi asked.
“Give me some time to get used to my new realm. I should be ready before the next deployment.”
Thanks to the convenience brought by Tianyi, the immortals fighting in the Nahui Ollin System could retire after fulfilling their quota by defeating devils and earning contribution points. The quota varied depending on the immortal’s potential and current combat prowess. Though the gap wouldn’t be too big within a cultivation realm.
After fulfilling their quota, the immortal could choose to continue to temper themselves in the Nahui Ollin System or retire and return to the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Because of the soldier limit set by the Pantheon Alliance, only when immortals choose to retire could new immortals enter the Nahui Ollin System.
Tianyi nodded. “Then you have forty-three years.”
As the person in charge of transporting the immortals, Tianyi naturally had a grasp on the change in deployment time.
Of note, it had to be said that connections also helped. Whether it was for limiting danger and returning from the devil hunt as soon as possible, or to be deployed to the Nahui Ollin System. Although Tianyi’s influence may have affected Daoyi’s deployment, it wasn’t much. Even in the current Immortal Court, an immortal empress still had a lot of weight.
Tianyi left to allow Daoyi to consolidate her new cultivation base. Forty-three years later, he waited on Central Peak. Standing in front of him were the new recruits for the devil hunt. Daoyi stood out as the sole immortal emperor.
Many of the immortals cast secret glances toward her. Some in admiration and some in envy.
“Is that Elder Thrallsong? She feels much stronger than any monarch I’ve seen,” an immortal commented.
His friend glared at him. “Of course she’s stronger than monarchs. Can’t you tell that Elder Thrallsong has reached the Extremity Immortal Realm?!”
“Ah? No wonder. This is the first time I’ve seen an immortal empress,” the immortal said.
“I guess we’ll soon be calling her Empress Thrallsong. What talent. Even in the long history of the Immortal Court, very few reached the Extremity Immortal Realm in less than fifty thousand years,” his friend said.
At this time, a third immortal interjected. “Hmpf, so what? Can she compare to the Nine Heavens Grand Elder? He’s already surpassed the Extremity Immortal Realm over twenty thousand years ago.”
The immortal and his friend stared at the third immortal. “Isn’t that natural? The Nine Heavens Grand Elder is the greatest genius since the primordial era. Even in the primordial era, he should be considered unrivaled, right?”
The third immortal glared at them. “That’s not the point. Did you forget Nine Heavens Grand Elder and Thrallsong’s relationship?”
“Ah,” the immortal and his friend let out once they recalled.
“That’s right. Thrallsong could only become an immortal empress thanks to the Nine Heavens Grand Elder’s aid. Without it, she’d probably stay as an immortal monarch for who knows how long.”
“You just sound envious of her talent,” the immortal said.
“Talent? Hardly,” the third immortal shot back. “If I had access to the same amount of resources, I would have taken less time than her.”
“Why would the Nine Heavens Grand Elder give resources to you? What are you to him? His wife? Even if you wanted to be his wife, the Grand Elder only accepts women, not men, okay?” the friend said.
“You!”
“I remember now,” the immortal said. “You were once the most promising genius ten thousand years ago, but after you entered the Immortal Realm, you fell into obscurity.”
The third immortal sneered. “Hmpf, just you wait. I’ll become a monarch soon, just you wait. By then, I’ll make you regret your words.”
“Oh? Do you think you can call the wind and rain if you become an immortal monarch? This is the Immortal Court, not some first or second-rate sect. Even immortal monarchs have to follow the rules unless you want to get punished.”
The two sides geared up to continue the argument, but a cough booming next to their ears halted any further conflict. They turned to see Xi Tianyi coughing into his fist. The immortal sovereign’s false cough didn’t just ring next to their ears, but also next to all the gathered immortals’ ears.
“The time has come,” Tianyi said. He did not raise his voice, but the listeners could hear his every word clearly, as if there were ten of him speaking to each and every one of them from all sides.
He waved his sleeve and a portal over a hundred meters in diameter appeared. At first it was black like the void, but soon, a different scenery appeared. The immortals could see a settlement built in the traditional style of the Three Thousand Immortal Realm. The buildings were familiar, but the environment wasn’t. They could see verdant trees of unknown species peeking out from above the protective walls.
Tianyi had already opened a portal from the Nahui Ollin System to the Three Thousand Immortal Realms. Of note, the retired immortals were sent to a quarantined area to make sure that they weren’t possessed by devils or contaminated in any other way.
“Let me warn you again, it’s not too late to back out now,” Tianyi said. “Devils are insidious creatures that prey on your darkest emotions. No defense is seamless to them. Even if you slay all devils you face, there is always the possibility of them infiltrating your hearts and forming an inner devil. The only way to defend against them is to steel your resolve and rely on your willpower.”
He wasn’t just scaring them for the sake of scaring them. His words were the wisdom condensed from the hundred years of fighting against the devils. It was true that devil outbreaks occasionally occurred in the former Huang Realm and the other realms in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, but like himself, devils were restricted by the Heavenly Dao.
The devils in the Nahui Ollin System were far more terrifying and insidious than the ones natives to the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. There were several times that the devils had infiltrated the hearts of the immortal returning to the Three Thousand Immortal Realms.
Some were discovered by Tianyi and a soul immortal right before returning to the Primordial Realm.
Some of the true immortals gulped, but none of them backed down. Since no one retreated, Tianyi would not remind them anymore and gestured with his hand. “Then go.”
One by one, the immortals walked through the portal and stepped into the Nahui Ollin System. The first person to greet them was naturally Tianyi’s other conduit.
“Miss me?” Tianyi asked, using his universe sense.
Daoyi rolled her eyes.
“Someone will come and arrange your accommodations. Before you leave, you should prepare yourself as much as possible. No matter your pride, it’s not shameful to ask for advice from immortals who have already fought with the devils.”
With those parting words, Tianyi led Daoyi to his private wing in the fortress. Although he spent most of his time in his standby mode, it didn’t mean his living space was empty. It was easy for immortals to create their own furniture.
For example, an immortal who mastered the Law of Wood could easily shape trees into chairs and a desk. Immortals who mastered the Law of Metal could directly bend ingots into the appropriate shape. Of course, that was in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. It was much harder in the Nahui Ollin System.
“How about it, do you have any advice for me?” Daoyi asked.
Tianyi scratched his cheeks. “Except for that one time, I haven’t really fought against many devils. Besides, as a soul cultivator, you should have the strongest defense against devils. If need be, you can just ask Minister Vastlight or Minister Huang. They should know much better than me.”
Daoyi giggled. “I’m just joking.”
Tianyi sighed in relief, but then he processed what he said. “Wait, are you saying that you never expected me to have good advice in the first place?!”
“Who knows?”
“Hey, tell me. I’m serious.”
The two walked side by side and disappeared from the eyes of others. Their voices were a muffled mess, as if the two were speaking from another dimension.
***
In the Vast Void, a murky figure appeared. Only the figure’s outline was apparent. Not because their clothes and skin contrasted against the darkness, but because they resembled a hole in reality.
“Finally, I’m back,” Chunsang said.
The female fiend moved her body. It felt as if she was wearing a shackle that covered her entire body. It didn’t only affect her physical abilities, but also the flow of the devilish energy within it too.
It had taken her some effort to return. After losing to Mengfei, she had respawned directly in the Nine Hells Abyss. So, she didn’t know the coordinates to the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System.
In fact, it wasn’t just her, but every devil from the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System could only return to the Nine Hells Abyss after perishing. Such a process did not come without risks. Most devils who perished truly perished and did not regenerate in the Nine Hells Abyss. Chunsang was one of the lucky ones.
None of the devils made it by traveling through the True Nothingness because they were all culled before they grew strong enough to survive the journey.
Still, it did not mean she did not have the ability to locate the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. The Buddhist method used all things in heaven and earth as material to temper themselves and elevate their cultivation base. Naturally, devils were not exempt.
Normally, this would not be enough, but the Buddhist Pure Lands Pseudo System actually left the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, which allowed Chunsang and many other devils to locate the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System.
However, the time she could act was short. Just because she knew the location of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System now did not mean she would know it ten thousands years later. Systems were not stationary. Rather, all systems were all in a constant state of movement. Only special locations like the Nine Hells Abyss remained in the same location relative to all others.
But that was beside the point. Point was, Chunsang returned and was ready to take revenge. Since she couldn’t kill Tianyi, she would destroy his happiness. If that included ravaging Daoyi, that would be a fortunate coincidence.
For her, not Daoyi.
However, that did not mean Chunsang would rush to the Primordial Realm. No, she entered a higher rank realm under the jurisdiction of the Immortal Court. There, she tried to get a Xiyi Talisman.
She had already noticed the trinket, and it awakened long-lost information from everything Jiang Chunye contributed to her existence. She had tried to access it, but she failed every time.
Now, with more time to scheme, Chunsang tried again.
However, she had less luck. If anything, the reaction was worse. Chunsang noticed an immortal flying toward her location not long after she tried accessing the Xiyinet. Although it was no problem to dispatch a mere true immortal, she fled, not wanting to raise any alarms.
Chunsang tried again in another realm, but with the same results. After two attempts, she realized that Xiyi Talisman would automatically record the energy signature of the user, which would out her as a devil. Even if she only used physical buttons, the Xiyi Talisman would still collect information from the moment of contact.
Since that was the case, Chunsang decided to implement her plan early. Originally, she wanted to learn more about the current situation of the Primordial Realm, but the situation would not allow it.
She scoured the higher rank realm, looking for a suitable host to possess. She noted that many families with decent protection would have a faint divine energy protecting them.
The divine energy came from the families’ belief in the Kitchen God. If she attempted to possess any of them, the divine energy would counterattack. For Chunsang, this was nothing, but it would likely cause her possession to fail. The energy backlash would kill the mortal it was protecting.
Finally, Chunsang found a suitable host in a remote village.
In the dark of a night, a child opened her eyes. If anyone saw, they would only see bottomless holes from the child’s eyes, but that soon disappeared as they returned to their dark brown color.
The child’s gender was not obvious because of her dirty attire. She was also malnourished, appearing closer to six instead of her actual age of ten, but Chunsang didn’t care.
“Huh, this body’s surname is also Jiang. What a coincidence. From now on, I will be called Jiang Chunsang!”
Comments
Zaim İpek
Been so long since we saw Daoyi show her abilities. I wonder what she can do now. I wonder how she would compare to Boddisatva Magnolia, who is probably the best non-divine soul cultuvator we have seen so far.
