“Master, if you show up right now, won’t that draw too much attention?” Yan Zhen said with some concern. “There should be Demon Domain spies inside the holy land too.”
For example, among the Jialan Seven Sages, Fog Supreme was a splinter created by the Demon Domain Lord. Before her memory seal was unlocked, even she hadn’t realized she was a spy!
“If This Master doesn’t step in, Little Yu’er alone won’t be able to hold off that old man from Spirit Mountain.”
Yu Shizun lowered her head slightly, clearly feeling guilty.
If not for the restrictions of her cultivation technique, she would be at least a Fifth Grade Supreme by now.
“But Master, you’re not in a good position to fight right now either, are you? I don’t want you delaying your chance at sainthood because of me.”
“Sainthood is nowhere near as important as you, Zhen’er.” Chen Xi smiled as she reached out to ruffle her precious disciple’s hair. “With This Master here, no one will harm even a single hair on your head.”
“Master…” Yan Zhen hesitated for a long time before finally coming clean. “Actually, I have a way to deal with the Spirit Mountain Ancestor.”
“What way? Zhen’er, don’t do anything foolish.”
If they were talking about Yan Zhen’s trump cards, it had to be his Extreme Flames.
There were five Extreme Flames within Yan Zhen’s body. Apart from the relatively weak Gold-Silver Fire, the rest were all Heavenly Fires. The weakest among them was still at the Supreme level, and the Rootless Earth Spirit Fire was so formidable that even a Mystic Saint would struggle against it. If he unleashed them all and let them rampage unchecked, they could level half the holy land.
Yu Shizun, standing to one side, suddenly recalled the time the Heavenly God Clan emissaries had come. Yan Zhen had summoned a host of powerful female phantoms—including her, the women of the Yu Family, Cai Lian, Your Highness Zi Ji, Your Highness Long Ying, and even Lady Chen Xi.
Such a lineup made Yu Shizun think of the word “womenfolk,” leaving her with a rather odd feeling in her heart.
“Don’t worry, Master. I won’t do anything stupid. I really do have a trump card.”
“What trump card? How come This Master doesn’t know about it?”
“It’s these.”
Yan Zhen called up the System Interface and then visualized his Trump Cards and Special Trump Cards. One by one, strange cards materialized like living things, orbiting around them in a ceaseless rotation.
Seeing the cards appear out of nowhere and sensing the unique aura emanating from them, Chen Xi and Yu Shizun both widened their eyes in surprise.
“The aura of Extreme Flames… Are these cards made from Extreme Flames?”
“Yes, Master. It seems like the me from my past life left this power for myself—a set of 108 Special Trump Cards forged from 108 Extreme Flames. Each card retains part of its Extreme Flame’s properties and abilities, infused with personal stylistic touches I preferred. Together, they let me handle almost any crisis, but each one can only be used once per realm.”
Her disciple’s words sent a shock through Chen Xi’s heart. She examined the cards closely and reached out to grab one, only for her hand to pass right through it.
Yan Zhen hurriedly explained, “These Trump Cards can only be used by me. No one else can even touch them.”
“Heaven’s Mandate Power and the Emperor Flame Technique…” Chen Xi furrowed her delicate brows in thought. “These cards are like consumable Emperor Artifacts. It really does seem like something your past self prepared.”
Unable to hold back any longer, Yu Shizun asked, “Were those phantoms you used against the Heavenly God Clan emissaries in the Inner Academy summoned from these cards?”
Yan Zhen nodded and drew one out from the orbiting deck. “Exactly—this is the ‘Special Trump Card: Accelerated Synchronization.’ It summons allies—er, acquaintances—from the past, present, or future to unleash a full-power strike.”
Sudden understanding dawned on Yu Shizun, though fresh doubts soon followed. Why were all those acquaintances women?
“Past, present, and future?” Chen Xi pondered for a moment before exclaiming in renewed shock. “Zhen’er, this card of yours—was it made from Extreme Flame: Boundless, the number one on the Extreme Flame List?”
Extreme Flame: Boundless traversed the cracks in space and swam through the river of time, an intangible and unique existence—the ultimate key to the path of Emperor!
Yan Zhen blinked, having never really considered the question before. But hearing his beautiful master put it that way made it sound entirely plausible!
“Probably. This Accelerated Synchronization seems to be the strongest card in the deck. In a direct clash, it could even blast a Mystic Saint to oblivion.”
Provided it hit its mark, of course. Mystic Saints had exceptional means of dodging danger, which was why Yan Zhen planned to use Accelerated Synchronization against the Three-Turn Half-Saint Spirit Mountain Ancestor. The moment battle was joined, it would be an instant kill shot!
“With these cards, you should indeed be able to handle that old man from Spirit Mountain,” Chen Xi mused. “But Zhen’er, didn’t your past self leave any memories behind with them?”
“No.”
In truth, he sort of had—two scripts written from his first-person perspective, a no-harem xianxia power fantasy!
But he couldn’t reveal the scripts just yet, or he’d die of embarrassment.
Speaking of no harem, he now realized how much he’d let down all those wonderful girls in his past life.
Yun Xiu, Qingqing, Xian’er, Sister Ji Ya, Meng’er, Cousin Ruyu, Senior Sister Xue’er, Senior Sister Xinyan, Mentor Yu Xuan… and his master.
Fortunately, he’d made it all up to them now.
“That’s strange. The fact that you went out of your way to leave yourself these Trump Cards means your rebirths were deliberately triggered by your past self. So why retain the memories only for them, and not for yourself?”
—Because Reincarnators weren’t supposed to keep their memories in the first place.
The reason everyone remembered was due to the power of Extreme Flame: Boundless at work, though the memories they’d brought back were incomplete anyway. It was all just a fluke… probably.
Yan Zhen shook his head. “I’m not entirely sure. Maybe something went wrong. Techniques that reverse time and space aren’t supposed to be possible in the first place.”
Chen Xi nodded slightly in agreement. “That makes sense. Even Emperors aren’t omnipotent. They can’t even bring back the girls they love.” She chuckled softly. “Hehe~”
Hearing his beautiful master’s teasing, Yan Zhen flushed red. Inwardly, he grumbled that it was past-life Yun Xiu who couldn’t get over her hang-ups. Now he could marry her, couldn’t he? Even with his master as part of the package. Hmph~
“Alright, This Master was just teasing you. Look at that pout.” Chen Xi laughed. “In that case, This Master will follow your lead and hold back for now. If you can’t handle it, I’ll step in to help. Sound good?”
“Mm! Thank you, Master. You’re the best to me!”
“Silly boy…”
Yu Shizun watched the master-disciple pair’s interaction in silence, a faint envy stirring in her heart. She wasn’t sure if she envied Yan Zhen’s closeness with Lady Chen Xi, or Lady Chen Xi’s freedom to casually stroke his little head.
“I had a Body Refining lesson prepared for you, but we’ll have to postpone it until after this incident,” Chen Xi said, making arrangements. “Oh, right—bring She Ji and the others inside first, so they don’t get ambushed. You don’t need This Master to remind you; you already know She Ji is carrying Yan’er. We have to take good care of her.”
Yan Zhen nodded eagerly. That was exactly what he’d been thinking, and he was about to bring it up when his thoughtful master beat him to it.
Master really was so considerate~
With that thought in mind, he heard her continue. “Perfect timing. This Master hasn’t spoken with those two from the Yu Family yet either. Have them come in together.”
