Chapter 51: Chapter 51: Awakening
I'm floating.
That was the only thought Xueli could grasp as her consciousness drifted away from the physical world.
I feel... lighter.
It was a sensation she had never known—the absence of the heavy, suffocating pressure that usually accompanied the life of a cultivator in the Eastern Region.
For a long time, she felt as if she were floating aimlessly in a vast, dark void.
It was a place of profound coldness and infinite loneliness, a vacuum that should have terrified her.
But surprisingly, she didn't feel any of that.
The fear that once defined her, the fear of being weak, of being left behind, of being ordinary, had simply evaporated.
Instead, she felt cool. It was as if her entire being was submerged in a deep, hidden spring of celestial water.
This was the process of the Bright Silver Emperor's legacy taking root, and unlike the violent, bone-breaking breakthroughs she had experienced before, this was an act of profound refreshment.
The silver light of the inheritance began to wash through her meridians like liquid moonlight.
Every impurity left behind by the crude "Spirit Contract" methods of her ancestors was gently dissolved and flushed away.
Her very cells were being bathed in the essence of the stars, and she felt the ancient, jagged fragments of her soul being smoothed out and polished until they shone like mirrors.
The Star Forging Bright Silver Cultivation Technique— a High Tier Supreme Grade Cultivation Technique and the cultivation technique of the Bright Silver Emperor— began to hum within her sea of consciousness, its complex verses unfolding like a blooming lotus.
It wasn't just power being handed to her, but more of a fundamental reconstruction as she felt her bloodline being rewritten, becoming denser and colder, infused with the silent majesty of the night sky.
The Core that is forming on her chest began to thump with rhythmic harmony with the Emperor's soul, acting as a bridge that made the transition as smooth as glass.
Just then, darkness of the void began to retreat, replaced by a soft, shimmering brilliance.
It didn't burn like she imagined, instead it was very soothing.
It felt like the first breath of spring air—crisp, clean, and invigorating.
Her mind became sharper, her senses expanding until she could feel the vibration of every silver mote in the room.
Finally, the cooling sensation reached its peak and her eyes snapped open.
The silver cocoon shattered into a million sparkling fragments that were instantly pulled into her pores, and as her feet touched the ground of the platform, a massive aura erupted from her, silent but incredibly dense.
Within those two years of deep, starlit slumber, her power had undergone a terrifying leap.
She was no longer at the Foundation Establishment realm, instead her aura settled at the 9th Stage of the Core Formation Realm, standing just a single step away from the Golden Core.
Xueli looked at her hands, which now possessed a faint, pearlescent glow and couldn't help feel the strength that was calm, deep, and absolute, as if she could crush mountains and split the seas.
She looked toward Haoran, who was standing just a few meters away from her, and a confident, radiant smile breaking across her face.
At this moment, the "Little Witch" was gone and in her place stood the Bright Silver Succesor.
"I kept you waiting," she said, her voice now carrying a silver resonance that made the air hum.
Haoran stepped forward, his movements languid and effortless despite the residual pressure of the platform and stood before Xueli, his golden eyes sweeping over her new, radiant aura.
"It's been two years," he said, a faint, amused smile playing on his lips. "You really took your time. I was beginning to wonder if you'd decided to hibernate for a century."
Xueli let out a melodic laugh, the sound carrying a crystalline resonance that hadn't been there before. "You did say you would wait for me, Haoran. A gentleman shouldn't complain about a lady making him wait."
"Indeed," Haoran nodded, though his gaze turned critical as he assessed her 9th Stage Core Formation aura. "Although, it's a shame you couldn't break through to the Golden Core Realm even after two years of total immersion. I guess this legacy is really just a second-rate inheritance at most. It lacks the 'punch' of the Central Region's supreme arts."
"Hey!"
Just then, a silver mist swirled violently as the phantom of Lei Yin manifested, his spectral face flushed with indignation. "That is because most of the energy that was supposed to be fed to her was redirected to fixing her horribly damaged foundation! If I hadn't spent eighteen months meticulously reconstructing her meridians and purging those local impurities, the most she could ever hope to reach was the Profound Saint Realm, maybe Earthly Saint if she was lucky and had a mountain of resources to burn."
Xueli turned to the spirit, her expression softening with genuine gratitude. "Senior, don't listen to him, he's just spoiled by the treasures of the Imperial Capital. I think your legacy is incredibly powerful. Especially this Star Forging Bright Silver Technique. From the description, once I practice it to perfection, it can basically transform all my cells into microcosmic stars and my body will become a living galaxy."
Haoran raised an eyebrow, his interest piqued. "Transforming cells into stellar anchors? That's actually pretty impressive for a technique from this region."
"Isn't it?" Xueli smiled, her pearlescent skin shimmering.
"Hmph! Of course it is!" Lei Yin huffed, crossing his spectral arms with a spark of pride. "That is the Cultivation Technique I spent my entire life, and a portion of my soul, creating and perfecting! Just because I chose to spend my final days in the Eastern Region doesn't mean my accomplishments are any worse than those Supremes in the Central Regions who hide behind their clan walls!"
"I admit," Haoran said, conceding with a slight tilt of his head, "you do have a certain level of ability."
Lei Yin smirked, ready to deliver a witty retort, before he suddenly paused as he looked down at his translucent hands, noticing that they were starting to dissolve into formless silver motes.
"Senior? What's... happening?" Xueli asked, her voice tinged with alarm as she reached out, her hand passing straight through his fading arm.
Lei Yin gave a casual shrug, though his eyes held a serene, tired peace. "It's nothing, lassy. Because I've already passed on the core of my legacy, the last of the energy stored in this remnant body has been transferred to you. Now that you have inherited my legacy, I'm starting to disappear."
"..." Xueli could only stared at him shocked.
He turned toward Xueli, who looked genuinely saddened, and offered a gentle, paternal smile. "Don't be sad. I've been dead for tens of thousands of years; I'm just a lingering soul that finally found someone to help him pass on. At least I can move on peacefully now, knowing that my life's work wasn't buried in the sand."
"Senior..." Xueli muttered, her throat tightening.
"Don't pull a long face. I knew this moment would come since before your ancestors were even born," said Lei Yin, letting out a final, booming laugh. "Although you aren't the 'Fated One' the stars originally pointed to, I've got to say, I am incredibly satisfied with you, lassy. You have a fire that no prophecy can predict."
He then turned his gaze toward Haoran, his expression becoming solemn and heavy. "Heir of the Shen Clan, I have something important to say to you before I pass into the afterlife."
Haoran raised an eyebrow, his posture straight and attentive.
"The Seer who told me about the future... he didn't just predict about my successor and the coming of the great era," Lei Yin whispered, his voice echoing as if from a great distance. "He predicted that in this Great Era, the old powers, the pillars that have stood for eons, will be flipped upside down and buried as a new order will form from the ashes. There will be countless geniuses born with 'Heavenly Luck' who will shake the very foundations of not just the Tian Yuan Empire, but the entire Prime Origin Realm."
Haoran simply smirked, his golden-purple aura flickering with a hint of disdain. "Old powers will be buried? With just those people? If it were that easy, the Shen Clan wouldn't have stood at the pinnacle and remained unshaken since time immemorial."
Haoran knew exactly what the Seer was referencing.
The Anomalies.
The world was entering a cycle where the Heavenly Dao would vomit out "protagonists" like a desperate gambler throwing his last dice.
But what's there to be afraid of? he thought. Just a bunch of nobodies relying heavily on the care and love of the Heavenly Dao. Take that luck away, strip them of their 'plot armor,' and they are nothing more than rabid dogs barking at the sun.
Lei Yin stared into Haoran's eyes, seeing a darkness and a certainty that even the Seer hadn't described.
He nodded slowly. "Very well. Perhaps you are the variable the stars couldn't see."
He turned his gaze back to Xueli one last time and smiled, his form now nearly transparent. "Farewell, my successor. Reach the apex... for both of us."
And with that final wish, his entire body dissipated into a cloud of silver starlight, leaving the summit of the 999th step in a profound, ringing silence.
Chapter 52: Chapter 52: Return
The Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range, once a jagged landscape of impenetrable peaks and ancient forests, had been scarred into a hollow memory two years prior.
It had become a battleground of such catastrophic intensity that the common folk whispered not even a blade of grass would grow there for a century.
But nature is indifferent to the wars of men.
Two years were enough for the world to begin hiding the jagged traces of that day; wild grass had begun to carpet the scorched earth, emerald vines and thick moss clung to the shattered boulders, and hardy tree saplings were already sprouting from the silt.
The only permanent scar was the massive, unnatural plain—a literal erasure of several mountains that had once acted as a barrier.
Now, the Eastern Region sat exposed to the vast, lawless wilderness outside the empire, a gateway for both opportunity and ruin.
At the center of this silence stood the mossy, weathered gates that had served as the entrance to the Supreme Inheritance, and in front of it, Qing'er waited there.
She had remained perfectly still, a silent sentinel who had not moved a single step since the gates closed.
With her eyes closed and her arms crossed over her chest, she had become so much a part of the landscape that songbirds had nested in the nearby ruins and perched atop her head and shoulders, sensing no malice or movement from the Profound Saint.
Suddenly, the air hummed, and a beat later, the stone archway of the gate pulsed with a rhythmic, silver light.
Sensing that, Qing'er suddenly moved, her eyes snapped open, a sharp golden glint reflecting in her pupils and as she lowered her arms, the startled birds took flight in a flurry of feathers.
The gates glowed with a blinding brilliance before the space buckled and dissipated, revealing the figures of Shen Haoran and Ning Xueli.
Qing'er immediately dropped to one knee, her head bowed low in a display of absolute fealty. "Welcome back, Young Master."
"Hm." Haoran offered a curt nod, his gaze sweeping the horizon.
Qinq'er noticed that he looked taller, his presence more domineering than before. Is this the effects of awakening his divine physique? She wondered.
Naturally, as a genuine Saint rank expert, she felt the awakening of Haoran's physique, especially when she was so close to him.
"Qing'er, tell me how is the situation in the outside world?"
"The Eastern Region has been plunged into a total war, Young Master," Qing'er reported, her voice clinical. "The Allied Forces of the various kingdoms are currently being dominated by the Spirit Hall. The balance of power has shifted significantly in your absence."
"W-What!?" Xueli's face turned pale, her starlight aura flickering with agitation. "My father! How is my father, Miss Qing'er!? What happened to the Ning Clan?"
Qing'er shifted her gaze toward the girl, her expression softening only slightly. "No need to worry, Young Miss. Your father and the rest of your clan have maintained absolute neutrality. They have closed their borders and refused to be involved in the conflict. For now, they remain untouched by the flames of war."
Xueli breathed a long, shuddering sigh of relief, her hand clutching her chest.
Haoran turned to her, his expression unreadable but his voice firm. "Go and see them."
"I—Is that alright?" Xueli asked, surprised by the sudden dismissal.
Haoran nodded. "I also have someone I want to meet. After all, it's been two years, so go and reunite with your parents; deal with your family affairs while I attend to my own business."
"Then... alright. Thank you, Haoran," Xueli said softly, a trace of warmth in her silver eyes.
Haoran turned back to his guardian. "Qing'er, take her to the Ning Clan."
Qing'er's eyes widened, a rare flash of panic crossing her stoic features. "Young Master, I couldn't! I am responsible for your safety! I cannot, and will not, leave your side in a region currently infested with war and desperate cultivators!"
"Just do it," Haoran's voice dropped an octave, carrying a draconic weight that brooked no argument. "Or are you disobeying my direct command?"
Qing'er bowed her head even lower, her voice trembling slightly. "I dare not. But..."
Haoran sighed, the tension in his shoulders relaxing slightly. "You don't have to worry. I am only going to meet Yue'er. With my newly awakened physique and the artifacts I carry, no one in this backwater region has the strength to harm me. And if you are still worried, simply find me the moment you have dropped her off at her clan's gates."
After a long moment of agonizing hesitation, Qing'er finally nodded.
Although she was his mother's servant, and her orders must be prioritised, but she also knew that the Mistress was incredibly doting on the young master, and would agree to whatever he desires.
Not to mention that the Mistress has already given her to Haoran, so she has to prioritise Haoran's order more now.
So she knew the Young Master's will was absolute. "I understand. I shall deliver the Young Miss with the utmost speed and promptly return to your side, Young Master."
Haoran turned back to Xueli, his gaze lingering on her for a moment. "We leave for the Central Region in three days. Do not be late."
Xueli nodded solemnly, her determination returning. "I understand. I will say my goodbyes to my father and prepare the clan for my departure."
Haoran offered a final nod to Qing'er as the Saint immediately stood up and placed a hand on Xueli's shoulder.
Then, with a sudden ripple of distorted space, the two women vanished as if they had never been there.
Haoran stood alone in the silence of the massive plain for a moment, the wind whipping his golden hair across his face.
After a few moments, he reached into his spatial ring and withdrew a pristine, white sword.
Without hesitation, he tossed it into the air, where it hummed and expanded until it was several meters long, hovering a few feet above the mossy ground.
He jumped onto the blade with practiced ease and within an instant, the sword accelerated with a thunderous crack, leaving only a streak of white light behind as he vanished toward where his fiancée was currently located.
*
*
*
At this moment, the golden dunes of the Great Tao Desert were currently being kicked up into a massive, trailing sandstorm as Huo Yue and Zhu Ziyan sprinted frantically across the horizon.
"What did you do!?" Ziyan exclaimed, her usual cool and aloof demeanor completely shattered and her feline ears were pinned back against her head, and her breath was coming in sharp, panicked gasps.
"Nothing! I just stole their Queen and their Heavenly Flame!" Huo Yue shouted back, letting out a wild, adrenaline-fueled laugh that bordered on manic.
"You what!?" Ziyan's voice hit a frequency of shock she hadn't reached in years.
She risked a glance over her shoulder and felt her blood run cold, as emerging from the shifting sands like a nightmare was an entire army of Lamias— an all female desert-dwelling race of creatures with the slender upper bodies of humans and the long, powerful lower bodies of serpents.
In the Eastern Region, Lamias were the stuff of campfire horror stories. Why? Because they were infamous for their predatory nature and a diet that favored human cultivators.
Yes, they apparently eat humans!
Not to mention because of their unique physiology, their physical strength was vastly superior to humans; a Lamia at the Foundation Establishment level could easily crush the ribs of a human Foundation Establishment expert with a single coil of their tail.
More terrifyingly, their ruler, Queen Medusa, was whispered to be one of the three great powerhouses of the entire Eastern Region— a genuine 9th Stage Spirit Ascension Realm expert.
Rumors had it that she was already on the verge of breaking through Nirvana Rebirth!
If the Eastern Region wasn't plunged into a war, the kingdoms would've united to suppress the Lamia Tribe.
After all, a Nirvana Rebirth Lamia, who is said to hate and eat humanity, is far too dangerous of an existence for the Eastern Region.
Unfortunately, humanity are so busy with their war that they didn't pay any attention to the Lamias.
"How did you even do that!?" Ziyan asked, her mind reeling at the logistical impossibility of kidnapping a regional powerhouse and her most precious treasure.
"I'm very lucky!" Huo Yue answered, though her internal monologue was far less confident.
'Master! Your dearest disciple can no longer hold this! My legs are going to turn into jelly! Aren't you going to help me!?' Huo Yue screamed in the privacy of her mind.
A weary, long-suffering sigh echoed from the ring on her finger. "You always find the most troublesome nests to poke, child."
Suddenly, the air around Huo Yue changed.
Her red hair began to glow with an intense, ethereal fire, and her eyes shifted from their warm amber to a piercing, crystalline blue.
Within a heartbeat, Fairy Liu took full control of the body.
Huo Yue's arm shot out, grabbing Ziyan by the waist before the girl could protest, and with a sudden burst of flame that turned the sand beneath them to glass, the two of them shot into the sky in a blinding streak of crimson light.
"No! Give us back our Queen! Return the Flame!"
"You bastards!"
The Lamia army roared in collective fury, their voices Hissing and echoing across the dunes.
They lashed their tails and threw obsidian spears, but it was a futile effort.
After all, true, sustained flight was a luxury enjoyed only by those who had touched the laws of the Spirit Ascension Realm.
The strongest Lamias in this pursuit group were merely at the Nascent Soul Realm; they could leap great distances, but they could not chase a streak of light into the heavens.
"Hurry back and inform the Elders!" the lead Lamia commander hissed, her eyes slitted in rage as she watched the crimson light dwindle into a speck. "Mobilize the vanguard! We must take the Queen back at all costs, or the desert will run red with human blood!"
Chapter 53: Chapter 53: Reunion(1)
Great Tao Desert, a massive desert located between the Eastern Region and Southern Region.
It is under the control of Spirit Hall, with various desert cities serving as trading hub between the East and the South.
And the only thing separating these two regions was the Yellow Earth Mountain Range.
This mountain range was a jagged spine of scorched sienna and burnt orange, carved into bizarre, skeletal shapes by millennia of abrasive desert winds.
And at this moment, hidden within a narrow fissure that looked like nothing more than a trick of the shadow, Fairy Liu, still navigating through Huo Yue's weary body, slipped inside a cave.
The interior of the cave was cool, the air smelling of dry dust and ancient mineral, providing a stark contrast to the oppressive, shimmering heat of the Great Tao Desert outside.
Just then, the ethereal blue glow faded from Huo Yue's eyes as Fairy Liu retreated back into the ring, leaving the young woman to collapse against the smooth sandstone wall.
Huo Yue breathed heavily, her chest heaving as she wiped a streak of grime from her forehead, but she couldn't help but grin as her heart was drumming a frantic, joyful rhythm against her ribs.
"That was... incredibly thrilling!" she managed to wheeze out, her voice echoing in the cavern.
"No! No, it's not!" Ziyan snapped, her usual cool and aloof demeanor completely shattered.
The cat-eared mercenary glared at Huo Yue with a mix of terror and disbelief before sliding down the opposite wall and closing her eyes, her feline ears twitching at every phantom sound from the tunnel.
"I really thought that I was about to die. I could practically feel those serpent tails coiling around my neck."
"But we didn't! And look at what we got for the trouble," Huo Yue countered, her eyes sparkling with a mischievous light.
She then sat up straight, ignoring the ache in her muscles, and began to rummage through her spatial storage. "Anyway, let's lay low here for a while. The Lamias might be fast, but even they can't track us through the air after ma—...my little stunt."
With a flourish, she began to pull items out of her ring, and the cave floor was soon covered in a staggering display of wealth; glistening spirit stones, carved jade boxes, and bundles of fragrant, glowing herbs.
"Here," Huo Yue said, pushing a massive pile of the loot toward the stunned Ziyan. "Let's each have half. You were a great help distracting those guards back there. It made it easier for me to steal these things."
Ziyan stared at the fortune before her, her throat bobbing as she swallowed hard.
"Thank you," she whispered, her voice regaining some of its composure as she nodded to Huo Yue, gathered her portion of the treasures, and walked deeper into the shadowy recesses of the cave to find a private spot to cultivate and mend her wounds.
Once Ziyan was out of sight, Huo Yue's composure broke, and she began to smile like a thief who had just pulled off the heist of the millennium.
She hugged herself, rocking back and forth on her heels. "Fufufufu~! I'm rich! Rich! So filthy rich! Haoran won't believe how much dowry I've gathered!"
Once she calmed down a little, she began to take a frantic, joyous inventory, and the grin wouldn't leave her face as the haul was nothing short of legendary.
There were a total of 3 million medium-grade spirit stones, a sum that could buy a small city in the outskirts.
Then there were the ten thousand Bone-Chilling Spring Pearls, rare artifacts harvested from the deepest subterranean aquifers; they were invaluable for a fire cultivator, as they increased heat resistance and stabilized the volatile nature of one's internal flames.
The pile continued with mountains of Rank 4 and 5 pills, followed by countless Rank 4 and 5 spirit herbs, with the occasional shimmering leaf of a Rank 6 herb that radiated a potent, medicinal aroma.
And this was only one of their treasury! There are dozens more she couldn't open because she lacked the time! She wondered just how rich the Lamias really were.
But the crown jewel of the heist was the Blue Lily Earth Flame!
Huo Yue opened her inner world, feeling the intense, sapphire heat pulsing within her Dantian.
This was her second Heavenly Flame, ranked 18th in the Heavenly Flame rankings.
According to her master, this flame can only born under the pressure of the earth, and receiving tempering after tens of thousands of years.
Once it fully blooms, this flame has the ability to cause volcanic eruptions, and summon magma from the ground.
Integrating it during their frantic heist had been a gamble, but it had paid off.
The flame had not only evolved her Imperial Flame Transformation Technique into the Grand Tier Spirit Grade, but the sheer influx of pure elemental energy had forced her cultivation to skyrocket, pushing her directly into the 9th Stage of the Core Formation Realm.
And also...
Hisss~
A soft, rhythmic hissing sound vibrated against her skin, and from the sleeve of her tattered brown cloak, a small, elegant head emerged.
It was a snake no longer than a forearm, covered in shimmering scales that shifted through every color of the rainbow like a prism held to the sun.
"Oh, Xiao Mei, are you hungry already?" Huo Yue swooned, her voice turning high and motherly at the sight of the cute creature.
She opened her palms, and a lily-shaped blue flame appeared, hovering just above her skin.
Although the heat was intense, the snake seemed like it didn't mind at all, "Come, come, eat. You need your strength if you're going to keep being my lucky charm."
The snake, whom Huo Yue had dubbed Xiao Mei, slithered onto her palms and began to "eat" the flame, drawing the essence of the Blue Lily into its tiny body.
"I can't believe that terrifying Queen Medusa was this cute," Huo Yue mused, poking the snake gently on its head and began petting it as it ate.
It was the ultimate irony, actually. This tiny, docile creature was indeed the terrifying Queen Medusa, the undisputed sovereign of all Lamias and a genuine 9th Stage Spirit Ascension Realm powerhouse.
The reason she had been reduced to this vulnerable state was a tale of ambition and tragedy.
She had been attempting to purify her ancient bloodline using the Blue Lily Earth Flame she found and the flame that Huo Yue stole, to breakthrough into the Nirvana Rebirth Realm.
She had succeeded in the evolution, but the process had been too violent and the backlash had thoroughly damaged her soul, forcing her into a deep slumber and regressing her body into this infantile, primal form.
It was actually because of that incident that Huo Yue had the chance to steal the flame, if not, she can only dream of stealing something that a Spirit Ascension Realm Expert possessed.
"Don't be fooled by her appearance," Fairy Liu's voice suddenly rang in Huo Yue's ears, sharp and warning. "Although she looks small and harmless now, that snake is the infant form of a Rainbow-Scaled Divine Serpent, a genuine Rank 10 Demonic Beast."
"What!? Rank 10!?" Huo Yue's jaw dropped.
In the hierarchy of the Prime Origin Realm, a Rank 1 Demonic Beast is equivalent to a Qi Gathering Realm, while Rank 10 is equivalent to a Heavenly Saint.
As for the equivalent of Body Refining Realm, well, beasts of that level doesn't have Beastial Qi, so they couldn't technically qualify as a Demonic Beasts, so some people merely referred to them as "Fierce Beasts", or just beasts.
And as for the Demonic Beasts that are the equivalent of Supreme Emperor, they are referred to as Supreme Beasts or Emperor Beasts.
They are terrifying creatures that can swallow the moon and stars.
"You're telling me I'm holding a future Heavenly Saint in my hands?" Huo Yue whispered, her eyes wide as Xiao Mei licked her thumb with a forked tongue.
"I am telling you that once she wakes up, she might decide to swallow you whole for kidnapping her," Fairy Liu retorted. "Anyway, once the both of you have fully rested and stabilized your Qi, you must set off immediately. Those Lamias won't let you off for taking away their Que—"
Fairy Liu's voice suddenly cut off, replaced by a sharp intake of spiritual breath. "Not good! They are already here!"
BOOM!
The entire sandstone mountain shuddered, as dust and pebbles rained from the cave ceiling, and the cool air was suddenly replaced by a dry, suffocating heat that smelled of venom and ancient sand.
"HUMAN THIEF! GIVE US BACK OUR QUEEN OR BE GROUND INTO THE DUST!"
A thunderous, multi-layered voice echoed through the fissure. It wasn't just one voice; it was the synchronized roar of hundreds, led by a powerhouse whose aura made the sandstone walls groan under the pressure.
The Lamias had found them, and they hadn't come for a negotiation.
Huo Yue stood up, her 9th Stage Core Formation aura flaring to life, her black-and-red ruler already in her hand.
"Well, Xiao Mei," she muttered, her eyes hardening as she looked toward the cave entrance. "It looks like the thrill isn't over yet."
Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Reunion(2)
The sandstone cavern, which had offered a brief and cooling sanctuary, was no longer a refuge.
At this moment, as the thunderous voice of the Lamia commander reverberated through the sandstone walls, Zhu Ziyan emerged from the dim recesses of the cave.
Her feline ears were pinned flat against her hair, and her fingers flicked with a sharp, agitated rhythm.
Her face was pale, reflecting the absolute terror of someone who is only at the Foundation Establishment realm facing a regional apocalypse.
"They found us?! So quickly?!" Ziyan's voice was a frantic whisper, her eyes darting toward the cracks in the ceiling where sand began to pour in like a countdown timer.
Huo Yue didn't look back at her; her eyes were fixed on the tunnel leading out.
She felt Xiao Mei slither back into the safety of her sleeve, the small Rainbow-Scaled Divine Serpent sensing the murderous intent radiating from outside.
"Yeah," Huo Yue nodded grimly. "Right now, we really have nowhere to run. They've surrounded the entire mountain range."
"COME OUT! HUMAN THIEF! RETURN WHAT YOU HAVE STOLEN OR WE SHALL FLAY THE SKIN FROM YOUR BONES!"
BOOM!
An explosion of concentrated spiritual energy slammed into the mountainside, and in that instant, the structural integrity of the sandstone, weakened by centuries of erosion, gave way instantly.
The entire cave trembled violently before the ceiling groaned and collapsed in a cascade of boulders and fine silt.
Huo Yue frowned, flames erupting from her hands as she shield herself and Ziyan.
Outside, if a human were to see this scene they will surely be overwhelmed with dread as thousands of Lamias, all radiating bloodlust and anger, had formed a suffocating perimeter around the base of the collapsed peak.
The air was literally shrouded with the scent of ozone and venom, so much so that if an ordinary cultivator were to inhale the air here, they will die of poison within seconds.
This was not a mere hunting party; this was a vanguard of the desert's most dangerous race.
Not a single Lamia among them possessed a cultivation lower than the Nascent Soul Realm, and several figures hovering in the air radiated the bone-chilling pressure of the Spirit Ascension Realm.
Standing at the forefront was the commander, Hua Lin.
She was a vision of lethal beauty, with long, flowing pink hair and tanned skin that shimmered under the desert sun.
Her lower half was a powerful, pink-scaled snake tail that coiled and uncoiled with predatory grace.
As the third strongest of the entire Lamia race, with the cultivation of a 7th Stage Spirit Ascension, her qi possessed heat that caused the very sand at her tail to vitrify into glass.
Just then, from the smoking rubbles of the collapsed mountain, a brilliant dome of bluish-green flames erupted.
It was a spectacular sight, a hemisphere of pure elemental heat that pushed back the falling debris and vaporized the dust.
And as the dome dissipated into flickering sparks, Huo Yue and Zhu Ziyan stood in the center of the crater, completely unharmed.
This dome was a spur-of-the-moment defensive technique Huo Yue had devised by weaving her two Heavenly Flames together: the newly absorbed Blue Lily Earth Flame and her first flame, the Green Spirit Flame, which is ranked 22nd.
The combined heat was so extreme it acted as an absolute barrier, a solar shield that could melt steel before it even touched her skin.
"You thief! Give us back our Queen!" Hua Lin screamed, her voice cracking with fury as her eyes were fixed on Huo Yue's sleeve where the royal aura lingered.
"Hey! It's not my fault you couldn't satisfy your Queen!" Huo Yue retorted, standing her ground with a defiant smirk, with her red hair whipping at her back in the thermal updrafts created by her own flames. "She's just pursuing her own happiness! She told me she couldn't live without my thing anymore!"
By "thing," Huo Yue was referring to the specialized nourishment of her Heavenly Flames, but Ziyan, standing right behind her, turned a deep shade of crimson at the unintentional, or perhaps very intentional, double entendre.
Hua Lin and every Lamia present felt their faces turn a mottled red from pure, unadulterated anger as their collective auras burst out simultaneously, causing the sky to turn a bruised, stormy purple and the air to become so stagnant it felt like breathing soup.
"You! You! Aren't you a woman?!" Hua Lin demanded, her grip tightening on the hilt of a scimitar made of monster-bone. "What have you done to our Queen?! What 'thing' could a human girl possibly possess?!"
"The thing that can make her very satisfied, unlike yours! And everything that should be done has been done!" Huo Yue barked back, recalling how she had spent earlier petting and feeding the tiny snake. "She is mine now!"
Although she looked like a defiant goddess of fire on the outside, internally, Huo Yue was a mess of screaming nerves.
'Master! Help! Help! Help! They look like they are really, truly going to kill me! You don't want your beautiful, precious, talented, beautiful, and beautiful disciple to die right here, do you?! I'm too young to be snake food!'
A weary, almost mocking voice echoed in her mind. 'Why haven't I realized how narcissistic you are? How many times have you called yourself beautiful in one sentence?'
'Important things must be said thrice! Now hurry and help me, oh my glorious, kindhearted, talented master whose beauty is second only to mine!'
'....The last part isn't necessary.'
'Master!'
'Quiet, child. No need to fret, I can feel the Qi of your fiancé is approaching, and since he's coming, I am not needed here.'
Huo Yue's heart skipped a beat. Haoran? He's here?
"You bitch! I will kill you myself!" Hua Lin roared.
She slithered forward with terrifying speed, her tail snapping like a whip against the sand.
The full-blown aura of a Spirit Ascension Realm expert erupted from her body, creating a shockwave that sent the weaker Lamias sliding back.
"Back off!" Huo Yue tried to bolster her act, pointing her ruler at the approaching commander. "Believe it or not, my husband is from the Central Region, and he is someone you absolutely cannot afford to offend! If you take one more step—err, one more slither forward— I will throw your Queen to him and let him play with her until she forgets her own name!"
By that, she meant letting him tickle the snake until it laughed itself to mind breaking euphoria.
Ziyan's eyes widened so far they looked ready to pop out as she immediately grabbed Huo Yue by the shoulders and began shaking her with a frantic, desperate strength.
"What are you saying?! Are you insane?! Do you want us to die that badly?! You're taunting a Spirit Ascension expert with threats of her Queen's defilement!"
"Shut, my good friend, I know what I'm doing!" Huo Yue hissed back, though her eyes were frantically scanning the skies.
But at this moment, Hua Lin's rage had reached the point of no return. "It seems like you really don't want to live anymore! Die for your insolence!"
She raised her bone-sword, the blade glowing with a sickly, necro-pink light, and slashed it down.
The world seems to lost all its colors as a massive, crescent-shaped Qi slash of absolute destructive power burst from the blade.
It was a strike intended to level the entire mountain range, traveling at a speed that defied the perception of the human eye.
To Ziyan, time seemed to slow down as she realized they were about to be erased from existence.
But Huo Yue remained perfectly calm. She didn't raise her ruler to try and defend, nor did she flare her flames. Instead, she took a deep, lung-bursting breath and screamed at the heavens:
"HAORAN!!!"
SWOOSH!
From the high atmosphere, a streak of golden light descended like a falling star as a second Qi slash, this one composed of sharp energy, tore through the clouds.
It struck Hua Lin's pink crescent in mid-air with the force of a tectonic collision.
The two attacks clashed for a fraction of a second, the energies grinding against each other and warping the space between them, before they both detonated in a massive, blinding shockwave.
BOOM!
The resulting wind-blast was so powerful it flattened the nearby dunes for miles.
Ziyan stumbled back, falling onto her butt as she stared in absolute shock before she began frantically feeling her arms and legs to see if she was still complete, unable to believe she hadn't been vaporized.
Huo Yue, however, was smiling brightly as she looked up, her red hair dancing in the dissipating smoke.
There, standing atop a hovering white sword that glowed with a divine, arrogant light, was the man she had thought of every single day for the past two years.
His blonde hair caught the desert sun, and his golden eyes looked down upon the Lamia army with the indifference of a god looking at ants.
Shen Haoran.
The moment he appeared, the atmosphere changed instantly, and the heavy, venomous pressure of the Lamias was neutralized by a new, domineering force—the aura of the Infinity Dragon God Divine Physique.
"I heard someone calling my name," Haoran said, his voice smooth, cold, and carrying an authority that made Hua Lin's bone-sword tremble in her hand. "And it sounds like someone was threatening to turn my woman into dust."