“Master… Master? How did she…” Dong Shiyue’s second disciple, with hair like straw, stared blankly in the direction where Wen Qiwu had disappeared. Where was her little bird dumpling? How had that small, fluffy dumpling suddenly turned into such a beautiful young lady? And then vanished!
“You knew all along?”
Dong Shiyue kept a wooden expression. “No.”
If she had known, she never would have locked someone up in a cage and brought them back!
Of course, her second disciple knew what kind of person her master was—she would never do something like kidnapping a young lady back to the sect.
“What a pity…” the second disciple murmured without thinking.
Dong Shiyue shot her a glance. “Don’t even think about it.”
“Got it… It’s just… Master, didn’t it feel really nice to touch?” The second disciple recalled the soft, fluffy sensation of the feathers and unconsciously rubbed her fingertips together.
“…That was a demon cultivator senior at least in the Earth Immortal Realm. Still feel like touching now?”
The second disciple immediately fell silent. She widened her eyes in disbelief at her master, but unfortunately, she saw no hint of joking on her master’s face.
Th-that was real. She wouldn’t dare anymore. She had actually just touched the head of a demon cultivator senior at least in the Earth Immortal Realm?! Heavens, were her hands still there? The second disciple patted her hands—good, good, every finger was intact.
But another problem arose. How had her master, a Hedao Realm cultivator, managed to capture that senior? Had her master quietly broken through to the Earth Immortal Realm without a word?
Dong Shiyue casually picked up a tree branch and knocked it on her second disciple’s head, which was full of wild imaginings. She had only just broken through to the Hedao Realm—how could she reach the Earth Immortal Realm in just a few months? Even the sect master back in the day hadn’t cultivated that fast.
If it had been by her own power alone, she certainly couldn’t have captured this Earth Immortal Realm demon cultivator senior. It must have been because of that cage—it was an immortal artifact personally crafted and given to Elder Wen by the sect master. She had heard that even Golden Immortals found it hard to break free once locked in.
“Master, don’t worry. That senior seemed gentle and warm, not angry at all. She probably won’t cause you any trouble,” the second disciple comforted her.
Dong Shiyue’s brows furrowed slightly. She wasn’t worried about that…
She recalled how the other woman had anxiously asked her about the sect master just moments ago. That expression was so similar.
If only Elder Wen were still here… Dong Shiyue thought sadly, lowering her gaze.
The sect master’s illness was a disease of the heart, and the only one who could cure it was gone.
Elder Wen would surely want the sect master to live well. She wondered when the sect master would realize it, when she would let go.
But the sect master had looked much better earlier. She hoped she could gradually move on. Dong Shiyue prayed silently in her heart, unaware that Yun Heng was teetering on the edge of life and death at that very moment.
From the outside, Cloud Mist Mountain appeared entirely normal. The perpetual windswept snow had dispersed, and sunlight dotted the snow-covered peaks, making the scene exceptionally serene and beautiful.
A figure in green paused not far from Cloud Mist Mountain. She raised her hand and touched the air, feeling an invisible barrier. As expected…
There was an array here isolating external perceptions from the inside. Her senior sister must be doing something.
Wen Qiwu felt both anxious and heartbroken. She forced herself to calm down and began cracking the array. But to her surprise, when she channeled her immortal power to break it, the resistance from the array suddenly vanished.
Wen Qiwu couldn’t pull back her power in time and tumbled straight into the array. Once inside, the entire scenery of Cloud Mist Mountain changed.
The sky over Cloud Mist Mountain was shrouded in chaotic qi, as if returned to the primordial state before the heavens and earth formed. That chaos brewed terrifying power, like heavenly retribution. Just standing there gave Wen Qiwu a suffocating sensation, as if her heart were gripped tight.
What is senior sister doing?
The array enveloping Cloud Mist Mountain hadn’t disappeared. Probably, outsiders could only enter with the master’s permission—and the current situation looked extremely dire. Wen Qiwu figured her senior sister wouldn’t let anyone else in, but for some reason, she had become the exception.
But Wen Qiwu had no time to dwell on it. The anomaly in the sky filled her with dread.
The Heavenly Dao was enraged!
A massive rift tore open in the heavens, and in that pitch-black depths, countless “slender” bolts of lightning gathered together. Those so-called slender bolts were actually thicker than ordinary thunder, not to mention what they continuously coalesced into. It was the first time Wen Qiwu had seen the Heavenly Dao so “frantic with rage.”
The Time Reversal Technique was a taboo among taboos. Normally, the Heavenly Dao ignored forbidden arts, but this one was strictly prohibited. That was why almost none of the Divine Realm powerhouses from back then had succeeded—and Yun Heng hadn’t even reached the Divine Realm yet.
Wen Qiwu’s face gradually paled. She didn’t know exactly what Yun Heng had done, but she knew her senior sister’s body was very weak right now. Could she really withstand the Heavenly Dao’s fury?
Her body reacted faster than her thoughts. By the time Wen Qiwu made up her mind, she had already appeared in the former Flower Herb Garden. This place had once been planted with rare treasures for her medicinal use, but now only frozen, barren soil remained.
This spot was closest to Cloud Mist Mountain’s spirit vein. Yun Heng directly drew power from the spirit vein, and rich spiritual light gathered from all directions, ultimately forming a spiritual sea around the immortal.
That shocking spiritual sea resembled the Milky Way reflected in the night sky, giving the illusion that Yun Heng already possessed the strength to contend with the heavens.
If she used all that power to fight the heavens, she might have a chance. But Yun Heng’s goal had never been to resist the Heavenly Dao—it was to revive Wen Qiwu.
Thus, all the power around her poured entirely into the bone ash urn placed in the center of the array. The forbidden technique activated, thoroughly enraging the heavens.
Yun Heng maintained the forbidden technique’s operation while barely resisting the Heavenly Punishment. Though disheveled, she hadn’t suffered severe injuries.
But since Wen Qiwu hadn’t actually died, revival was impossible, so the forbidden technique was doomed to fail.
And all the changes happened in the instant the forbidden technique collapsed.
Yun Heng stared blankly as the forbidden technique crumbled, momentarily forgetting the Heavenly Punishment overhead.
Or perhaps she had simply given up resisting.
The backlash from the forbidden technique followed. Yun Heng spat out a mouthful of blood, her vision blurring instantly.
“Boom!” Crimson light carrying power that seemed capable of shattering the Cangwang Realm poured down. At that moment, a green shadow flew forward, shielding the tottering figure beneath her.
Wen Qiwu summoned every magic tool she could use, but she had been brought here straight from the Endless Tree Sea with nothing substantial on her—not even her Nine Tribulations Bow, which was still back at the sect. She knew these things might not help much, so she used her immortal beast body to block the impending Heavenly Punishment for Yun Heng.
An immortal beast’s physique was many times stronger than a human’s, tougher than ordinary immortal artifacts—that was why Wen Qiwu dared to take the risk.
Yun Heng’s breath hitched. She couldn’t see the face clearly, but without visual distraction, the tremor in her soul was all the clearer.
A Que…
Am I dreaming?
But Yun Heng had no time to wonder if it was a dream. In the instant the Heavenly Punishment fell, she hugged the slightly trembling body and switched positions, firmly shielding the other beneath her, letting the Heavenly Punishment strike her instead.
