Yan Zhen pinched his chin, analyzing thoughtfully. “At the moment spacetime reversed, only those covered by the grand array—namely, everyone in the Emperor Palace—awakened their past-life memories. Shui Tiannü probably didn’t… though there are exceptions like Master. I’m not entirely certain.”
Chen Xi turned to Yu Shishi. “Little Yu’er, what do you think?”
Yu Shishi pondered for a moment. “I don’t have any past-life memories either. Only fragments awakened gradually afterward.”
She and Shui Tiannü were both incarnations of Luoshen. By that point, their three bodies had merged into one, leaving her with almost no recollection of her previous life. Shui Tiannü must have been the same.
“In any case, we’ll find out when we see her. Let’s head to Heavenly Dao Academy.”
Heavenly Dao Academy was one of the five great ancient sects on Divine Martial Continent. Its overall strength surpassed even the major holy lands of Profound Heaven Continent, roughly on par with the weaker God Race clans.
The dean and three vice-deans were all in the Saint Realm, giving the academy four Saints in residence. Beneath them were the ten academy heads at the Half-Saint Realm, numerous vice academy heads at the Supreme Realm, and so on.
The cultivation realms on Divine Martial Continent were similar to those on Profound Heaven Continent. Cultivators refined the qi of heaven and earth into martial dao true qi, progressing through ten major levels: (Martial Disciple), Warrior, Fighter, Master, General, King, Monarch, Sect Master, Venerable, (Supreme), (Half-Saint), Martial Saint, and Emperor!
Yan Zhen and his four companions were all Nine Star Great Saints at present. Yan Zhen and Chen Xi had even suppressed their cultivation from the Emperor Realm. Though restricted by this world’s laws, they could still effortlessly annihilate an ancient sect and strut freely across the continent.
Of course, they weren’t here to conquer. Their goal was to confront the forces of this world’s Demon Domain.
On Divine Martial Continent, invaders from beyond the heavens—aligned with the same faction as the Demon Domain Lord—had established a power akin to the Demon Domain: the Demon World.
To counter the continent’s powerhouses and seize the God Race’s godheads, the lord of the Demon World awakened the First Evil God, who had once rampaged out of control and been sealed away. This sparked a cataclysm.
The scheme was much like the Demon Domain Lord’s, with the key difference that both the Demon World’s lord and the First Evil God were far more powerful. Even with the continent’s deities still present, they stood no chance!
It had come down to him—the Flame Emperor.
But now, armed with foreknowledge, they could minimize Divine Martial Continent’s losses, just as they had on Profound Heaven Continent. Victory wouldn’t demand a bloodbath this time.
Their objectives remained unchanged: forge alliances, unify the front, root out traitors, and halt the Demon World’s lord from fully reviving the First Evil God.
The challenge lay in the fact that, absent an existential crisis, the Human Race could never unite. They thrived on scheming, factionalism, and backstabbing. The God Race were even worse—a pack of arrogant fools, most lacking any brains worth mentioning.
Putting sharp minds in charge would make everything smoother.
Take Heavenly Dao Academy, for instance. The dean’s mild temperament left him with too lax a grip on his subordinates. Only by elevating the “Heavenly Maiden” Shui Bingling to power could things improve.
In his past life, after the dean’s death, Shui Tiannü had stepped up amid the crisis, rallying Heavenly Dao Academy and the other ancient sects into an alliance.
Then there was Nine Heavens Immortal Palace. Its current Palace Lord was a stubborn old auntie, cut from the same cloth as Extinction Senior Nun—obsessed with some Heartless Dao, impossible to deal with, let alone ally with. Her disciple, the “Pure Clarity Immortal” Zhu Qingying, would need to take the reins.
And Martial God Hall, the foremost of the five ancient sects, was the most thoroughly infiltrated by the Demon World. From top to bottom, hardly anyone remained untainted.
After meeting Shui Tiannü, Yan Zhen’s first stop would be Martial God Hall.
…
Lost in these thoughts, they soon arrived at Heavenly Dao Academy. It was a sprawling complex of grand architecture that blanketed nearly the entire mountain range. Palaces of every style crowned the peaks, while aerial pavilions floated in the skies above. A single straight tower thrust skyward, vanishing into the clouds.
That was the academy’s famed Trial Tower: one hundred and eight floors in all. Each layer cleared granted corresponding rewards, and those who reached the summit could claim the academy’s core technique, the Heavenly Book Art—and even succeed the dean.
In his past life, Shui Tiannü had proven herself by summiting the tower, smoothly assuming the dean’s position to the acclaim of the entire academy.
A massive spatial barrier enveloped the whole of Heavenly Dao Academy, but it posed no obstacle to Yan Zhen and the others. They passed straight through.
The academy was divided into ten institutes, named for the Ten Heavenly Stems: Jia Institute at the fore, Gui at the rear.
These ten lay within the mountain range, while the floating palace cluster overhead formed the “Forbidden Academy”—accessible only to authorized teachers and students. It housed the academy’s true core.
The Forbidden Academy was guarded by even stronger array formations. Yan Zhen could have cracked them effortlessly, but that would have been rude. Instead, the five of them landed politely before its gates.
The two enormous stone lions flanking the entrance stirred to life at once—one with blue eyes, the other red. Both were at the Xuan Venerable Realm and wielded Spatial Power.
The lions bellowed at Yan Zhen and his group. “The Forbidden Academy is off-limits to outsiders. Leave at once!”
“Trespassers will be punished according to academy rules. Do not bring punishment upon yourselves!”
Yan Zhen replied calmly, “Go tell Shui Tiannü an old acquaintance is here to see her. Have her come out.”
The blue-eyed lion scoffed. “And who might you be? Since when does our Heavenly Maiden have an acquaintance like you?”
The red-eyed lion added, “State your name, that we may know what exalted figure stands before us.”
Yan Zhen smiled faintly. “Just say it’s the Flame Emperor. That should suffice.”
The Flame Emperor? The lions exchanged a glance, baffled, then burst into mocking laughter. “What brat is this, daring to claim the title of emperor!”
“True Emperors haven’t appeared in millennia, and the Heavenly Mandate has no heir—nor is the honorific for just anyone!”
“You two beasts,” Yan Zhen said coolly, “I’ve spoken to you civilly, yet you dare insult me. You deserve punishment.”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than roaring flames erupted across the lions’ bodies, swiftly melting their massive stone forms.
The lions’ laughter cut off. They howled in abject terror. “My body—it’s so hot, melting!”
“Noble guest, have mercy! Noble guest, mercy! We were blind and failed to recognize your saintly presence. Spare us wretched beasts!”
Yan Zhen snapped his fingers. The Extreme Flame snuffed out, and the lions recovered. They gazed at him now with eyes brimming with awe.
To incinerate them with such ease required the might of a Martial Saint powerhouse!
With that thought, they prostrated themselves on all fours and bowed toward Yan Zhen. “Many thanks to you, esteemed guest, for sparing our lives. We’ll notify Shui Tiannü right away. Please wait just a moment.”
Yan Zhen didn’t make things any harder for the two gatekeeper lions. “Wouldn’t it have been simpler if you’d done this from the start? Go on—once the task is complete, your wounds will heal on their own.”
The stone lions didn’t dare delay a second longer. They promptly transformed into streaks of flowing light and shot into the courtyard, then unleashed a resounding lion’s roar: “Lady Tiannü, a guest has arrived at the gate. Please send someone to receive them.”
In less than the time it took to brew a cup of tea, a graceful silhouette descended before the main gate.
