Chapter 380: Return

A silence fell over the battlefield as all signs of Emperor Soulfish vanished. No one could even sense his lingering aura anymore; it was as if all proof of his existence had disappeared except for the memories of those present.

That silence did not last long as Mengfei turned her attention to Emperor Begonia. Without an ounce of hesitation, Emperor Begonia bolted, and the battle resumed. The Buzhou Immortal Sect’s war formations dominated the fourteen emperor war formations of the Anti-Heaven Alliance and remnants of the Begonia Tower.

However, Mengfei did not need to concern herself with this scuffle. Her Tri-Unity World suppressed the opposing force and bolstered her allies’ strength. It also interfered with the construction of her opponent’s spells and techniques, either dramatically weakening their power or outright invalidating them. In essence, Mengfei was the realmlord of her Tri-Unity World, and her control of reality within was unmatched.

She didn’t move, nor did she take any overt action. Yet, the space in front of her blurred for a split second and Emperor Begonia appeared, flying straight at her. The soul emperor’s eyes widened in disbelief. He had clearly been flying away. Why was he suddenly flying at the worst possible opponent?

Mengfei didn’t care for her foe’s astonishment and swung her crystalline sword.

Emperor Begonia tried to dodge, but all he succeeded in doing was slightly shifting his body. A spurt of blood later, one of Emperor Begonia’s arms flew into the air. He didn’t even have a chance to reclaim it as it vanished from his sights. Knowing that it was a futile endeavor, Emperor Begonia abandoned all thoughts of retrieving his arm and attempted to flee once more.

He hadn’t just lost an arm, but her slash had also left a mark on his body. No matter what he attempted, the wound would not close, and his qi constantly leaked out.

The sole immortal sovereign stared at Emperor Begonia’s retreating back. After that brief clash, Mengfei knew that Emperor Begonia did not cultivate any Buddhist techniques. Buddhism resembled a mixture of spiritual, martial, and soul paths.

The souls of Buddhists weren’t as strong as soul cultivators in the same realm, but they possessed greater willpower and purity. In addition, they possessed strong bodies. Compared to the martial path, it’s even easier to embark on the Buddhist path.

Had Emperor Begonia cultivated, his body wouldn’t have been so weak—not that his arm could evade the fate of dismemberment.

At least, this explained why Emperor Begonia remained under the Buzhou Immortal Sect’s radar. Had he cultivated Buddhist techniques, the chances of his exposure would have soared.

Mengfei didn’t move, but Emperor Begonia appeared in front of her again. She raised her sword and slashed out.

This time, Emperor Begonia had prepared himself. He raised his remaining arm in front of him in a defensive position. A dense aura of Karmic Merit shrouded his body. And in rapid succession, they compressed into an increasingly thin and sturdy layer.

Mengfei frowned, and the condensing Karmic Merit lost its integrity. The Karmic Merit didn’t return to its previous state, but even started to disperse from Emperor Begonia’s body.

Undisguised shock and horror appeared on Emperor Begonia’s face. Karmic Merit wasn’t like qi. It was a rule that the Heavenly Dao had laid down for the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Even divinities would find it challenging to remove Karmic Merit, much less an immortal.

Unaware of Emperor Begonia’s thoughts, Mengfei dismembered his remaining arm and one leg. With the second clash, she confirmed his connection to Buddhism.

Emperor Begonia had used a very common Buddhist technique. Karmic Merit was almost as useful to Buddhism as qi was. They could use Karmic Merit to temper their body, form shields, conceal their presence, and much, much more.

Obviously, Emperor Begonia hadn’t really practiced it. As a soul emperor, his body was his weakness. And even if he was a martial immortal emperor, Mengfei had the confidence to dismember him. He likely knew this, and thus, it was probably a last-ditch attempt at protection at best.

The space around Emperor Begonia froze as a white circle appeared around him. It wasn’t like the fractures that killed Emperor Soulfish, but it was still equally terrifying.

Emperor Begonia could sense a disconnect from the surrounding space, as if he was being split from it. He knew that if the technique succeeded, he would be akin to a lamb for slaughter, so he did everything in his power to resist.

His body had become incredibly weak and he couldn’t use the Karmic Merit he accumulated. Emperor Begonia gritted his teeth and a ghastly silver light shrouded his figure.

For a split second, Emperor Begonia’s body took on an ethereal tone, but before it could continue, his body returned to normal. A faint shock appeared in his eyes.

Emperor Begonia stared at Mengfei. Her position was slightly distorted, like the refraction on a water’s surface. Still, his gaze bore into her figure.

From his brief interaction with Mengfei, it was as if she had no weaknesses. He had attempted to enthrall her with his soul techniques, but his spells failed. Soul techniques were not hindered by spiritual or martial methods, and it took another technique of similar attribute to counter.

This meant that the information he received from Emperor Soulfish was wrong or outdated.

In addition, he knew that Mengfei’s sword strike was incredibly simple. It did not rely on qi techniques, so her physical strength was off the charts.

He even suspected that the public information that Mengfei only cultivated the spiritual path was false. Spiritual, martial, and soul, she had no weaknesses.

Shock was shock. Emperor Begonia swiftly composed himself and enacted his failsafe plan. An ethereal figure exited out of his body. The figure had the same exact features as Emperor Begonia, this was his soul!

When a soul immortal’s soul exited their body, it was simultaneously their strongest and weakest state. Changing their physical body into a soul state produced similar results, but the effects are only at most around eighty to ninety percent of when their actual soul left their body.

This was because the body was still ultimately made of solid matter and not soul essence. However, there’s a reason a soul must exist in a body. The body protects the soul and souls are extremely difficult to heal.

When a soul cultivator’s soul leaves their body, the danger increased drastically and they might suffer irreparable injuries.

But before his soul detached from his physical form, an unknown force sucked him back into his physical body. His body, which was originally a shield for him, had become his prison.

While this happened, the space around Emperor Begonia continued to split. His senses started to dull and his mind slowed. “You want to capture me alive?”

Mengfei did not reply. She could, but that would require her to split her attention. Although she could easily kill immortal emperors, capturing them alive was a different story.

She pursed her brows. “Not good.”

She had planned to split off a portion of her Tri-Unity World as a dedicated prison realm for Emperor Begonia. Once the world finished forming, Emperor Begonia would lose all his abilities to resist. He couldn’t even commit suicide. Once the world was completed, that is.

Inside the nascent world, the light of life dimmed. While his flesh became a prison, it still protected Emperor Begonia from Mengfei’s control. Committing suicide was one of the few acts of defiance he could accomplish.

Since his soul had disappeared, his body had become a dead thing. The process of splitting increased and a new world formed. The world that encased Emperor Begonia’s corpse shrunk and flew into Mengfei’s hand.

Even if Emperor Begonia committed suicide, perhaps they could gleam some secrets from his corpse. Or maybe he only pretended. Stories of soul cultivators dying only to mysteriously revive appeared for a reason, after all.

With her goal partially achieved, Mengfei raised her sword. Gigantic versions of her crystalline sword materialized in the sky and rained down upon the war formations of the Begonia Tower and Anti-Heaven Alliance’s remnants.

The Buzhou Immortal Sect had no intention of keeping any prisoners.

Mengfei’s crystalline swords tore through half the war formations while the other half managed to survive, but it was obvious they would not last long. The war formations crumpled like paper, revealing the fragile, true immortals. Their combined might was not Mengfei’s match, much less the fragile components.

It took less than thirty minutes for the remnants to perish, yet the land of the Tri-Unity World appeared unmarred by war. It still looked as pristine as when the occupants first appeared inside.

Mengfei dispersed the Tri-Unity World and everyone returned to the Huang Realm.

“I’ve troubled Grand Elder Xi,” Sect Master Xia said.

“It’s nothing. I’ve only done my part,” Mengfei said without much emotion.

Sect Master Xia said nothing. Ever since the war, Mengfei had only appeared to fight the Cloud Goddess. Of course, this was all an act played by the two. Still, they couldn’t hold back their hands too much. Otherwise, people might have been suspicious.

Despite the destructive techniques unleashed by both parties during their act, Mengfei never showed this level of strength. Even alone, Sect Master Xia suspected that Mengfei could kill ten sovereign war formations with no danger to her life.

With the revelation of the upper limits of her strength, Mengfei couldn’t be treated the same anymore. Even if Mengfei acted the same and didn’t treat anyone differently, the other party would subconsciously act differently.

Sect Master Xia already saw the other head elders and immortal monarchs present subconsciously lowering their heads. The only reason he didn’t act too differently was because of his rising strength.

Since he cultivated the Five Element Method, his strength had risen from the Early Extremity Immortal Realm to the Intermediate Extremity Realm. Within ten thousand years, he might even reach the peak of the Extremity Immortal Realm, but breaking into the Origin Immortal Realm was another story entirely. He still had to eliminate his alternate selves.

“Since the matter is done here, let’s return to the sect and wait for the reports from the other squads,” Sect Master Xia said. “Who knows, maybe Little Xi might already be back waiting for us.”

Mengfei nodded. “Alright.”

Five immortal monarchs and two thousand true immortals stayed to survey the situation in case of any accidents. Everyone else flew back to the Buzhou Immortal Sect.

Once she caught sight of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, Mengfei, who had flown at the same speed as the rest, suddenly sped up. Sect Master Xia smiled, seemingly already knowing the reason.

As he suspected, Sect Master Xia saw Mengfei hugging an awkward Tianyi. He glanced away and looked at Grand Elder Zhang and the Eternal Night Emperor, along with the rest of the immortals dispatched to the Earth Continent and the remnants of the Cultivator Alliance.

He walked forward and cupped his fist. “Welcome back, Grand Elder Zhang, Grand Elder Eternal Night.”

“It’s good to finally be back,” the Eternal Night Emperor said with a laugh.

Sect Master Xia’s smile deepened. He was worried that a divide would occur because the Cultivator Alliance had been split too long from the Buzhou Immortal Sect, but it seemed that it was a needless worry.

However, he noticed a frown on Grand Elder Zhang’s face. His heart skipped a beat but his expression didn’t change. “Is something wrong?”

Grand Elder Zhang glanced at Mengfei before glancing back at Sect Master Xia. “It’s not convenient to say here.”

Sect Master Xia’s heart palpitated. Did an accident happen to Tianyi on the Earth Continent? Despite his realm, sweat coated his palms as he imagined all the things Mengfei would do to him.

Now, he experienced all the emotions the immortal monarchs had, only worse.

Still, he didn’t allow the panic to seize control. He prepared everything for the Cultivator Alliance, the after battle logistics. Only then did he find a private time to meet up with Grand Elder Zhang.

Inside the hall of his mansion, with all the protective formations active, Sect Master Xia asked what happened.

Grand Elder Zhang sighed. “Your disciple, Xia Yushan, attempted to kill Jiang Daoyi.”