It wasn’t a long wait. Only four years.

Before the ascension of the Huang Realm to the Primordial Realm, Ba Shifang would have never thought that four years was a short time. After all, at that point, he hadn’t even lived for five hundred years. Even if he did, four years was still nearly one percent of the time he spent alive. Although he wouldn’t consider four years a blink of an eye or even a brief nap, he still thought it was a short time.

Ba Shifang considered four years a short time, much less than other true immortals. Even Meng Tingfeng was the same. If he went by the time flow of the immortal-rank realms, he would only be a few years younger than Ba Shifang, but he spent his early years in lower realms, where time flowed faster. His true age was several times that of Ba Shifang.

To prevent the demons from noticing anything different, most of the cultivators hid themselves. As investigators and scouts, they were skilled in formations. Those that didn’t have great concealment skills, including a few monarchs, erected a concealment formation.

Ba Shifang used his martial body and merged with the surrounding environment. Only those monarchs with incredible willpower and specializing in detection would be able to discover him. The true immortals and monarchs sighed and marveled at his ability.

The one who surprised everyone the most was Meng Tingfeng. His body morphed until it took on the form of a wolf with silver fur and a glowing star between its eyes. Not only did his body change, but even his aura changed to that of a demon. As a sword immortal, Meng Tingfeng actually learning a skill not related to combat was surprising.

Upon deeper thought, it was not that strange. Meng Tingfeng rose from the lower realm, and he had no backing. Thus, he must be skilled in survival techniques to reach his current height. In contrast, most of the sword monarchs from the Numinous Sword Sect had no competition aside from their own allies. So, they did not need to think about survival as much. No force in the Numinous Realm would openly dare to kill them.

As for the soul cultivator dispatched by the Immortal Court? He changed his form to that of a serpentine beast with two front legs and nine human heads, appearing akin to the mythological xiangliu demon. This was only a physical change, but soon, even his aura changed. Unless he attacked, no one could discern that he was a human.

The soul monarch and Meng Tingfeng flew into the air. To hide their tracks, Ba Shifang had repaired the hundreds of cauldrons. Of course, only the appearance was repaired, and they were no better than lumps of metal. They filled the cauldrons with fake blood and created some false miasma of resentment.

Not long later, the dimensional boundaries of the Hundred Pill Realm trembled for a brief moment. So slight was the disturbance that only the immortal monarchs detected the change. Immediately after, a demon with long, tucked legs, short stubby front arms, flat and wart-covered body, and two long whiskers appeared. It was Jiaohu, the dragon that looked like a toad.

Because they discovered the demon’s plan in the Hundred Pill Realm, both forces gave up chasing Jiaohu and Donghai Longzi. Since they were stringing them along, it meant the demons could escape anytime they wanted to. Rather than chasing a decoy, it would be more logical to focus the manpower more efficiently. Only, they never expected the target they chased would show himself in front of them.

Jiaohu looked around. Finally, his eyes settled on the two disguised demons. An arrogant aura pressed down on the two of them. Meng Tingfeng and the soul monarch had disguised themselves as ordinary true demons. How could their blood be as noble as that of a true dragon like Jiaohu?

“What? Aren’t you two going to kneel down? Even if it’s my first time collecting the Human Pills, don’t you two think you should show the proper respect?”

Meng Tingfeng and the soul monarch quickly shared a glance. They lowered their heads and flew toward Jiaohu.

Jiaohu smiled in satisfaction as he saw the two of them start to kneel, but half a second later, his expression stiffened. Before Meng Tingfeng and the soul monarch fully lowered their heads, they took action.

Sword light full of sword intent shot forth from Meng Tingfeng’s eyes. He was a sword immortal, and only when wielding a suitable sword could he unleash his full combat potential, but that didn’t mean he was weak without unsheathing his sword. Against ordinary monarchs, he didn’t even need his sword.

The soul monarch also unleashed an attack. Although his attack wasn’t filled with intent like Meng Tingfeng, its speed rivaled the sword light because it was a soul attack. By nature, soul attacks were faster than physical attacks. In fact, it struck Jiaohu a second faster than the sword light.

Jiaohu reared his head back and screamed in pain. The pain did not last long as he turned to glare at the two demons. By now, he already sensed something wrong, but before he could question the disguised demons, the sword light arrived.

Thankfully, he reared his head back and avoided having his head impaled, but it was not much better. The sword light pierced his chest and exploded in his body, wrecking his insides and leaving a gaping hole. Blood poured out of the wound and filled the air with a metallic scent.

The soul monarch and Meng Tingfeng frowned. Demons had strong souls, but it was still only around the level of martial cultivators. So, the soul monarch expected Jiaohu to die in one attack, but it actually only caused him to scream in pain for less than a second. It could only mean that the demon carried a soul defensive artifact. And one at the monarch level. Otherwise, Jiaohu would have received a critical soul injury. Just as the two forces expected, the Demon Clan placed a huge importance on Jiaohu.

Meng Tingfeng also expected a mere demon to die, even if his attack didn’t pierce the head. It seemed that he underestimated the vitality of demons, or maybe it was the tyrannical body of a dragon that saved Jiaohu. Still, if one attack didn’t work, then just use two.

He removed his disguise and reached for his sword. Just as his hand grabbed the hilt, he looked up to see a colossal clawed hand reaching for him. He instantly recognized it as belonging to Donghai Longzi. Fighting intent erupted from his eyes as he unsheathed his sword and a powerful crescent-shaped energy flew toward the claws.

Donghai Longzi ignored Meng Tingfeng’s attack and enclosed his hand around Jiaohu, protecting him from all attacks. When Meng Tingfeng’s attack reached Donghai Longzi, a thin film of black energy burst and counteracted it. However, it only lasted for a second and the crescent struck true.

Meng Tingfeng’s eyelids twitched when he saw only a white line. His attack only left a few cracked scales at best. Donghai Longzi had never used the black film to defend before and only used his tyrannical body. He learned that the black dragon actually hadn’t gone all out.

Also shocked was the soul monarch. As soon as he appeared, he unleashed an even more terrifying attack than the one he used on Jiaohu, but Donghai Longzi didn’t even react. It was as if the soul attack was a pebble that fell into a lake. Except for the nonconsequential ripples, it was ultimately meaningless.

The soul monarch couldn’t help but question when soul defensive artifacts became so common. In reality, Donghai Longzi simply had a powerful soul. Although the soul monarch’s attack did affect him, he didn’t show it and quickly healed what damage had been done.

Donghai Longzi pulled his hand back, intent on retreating into the Vast Void with Jiaohu, but the elemental qi around him solidified. The earth qi turned into rocks, the metal qi turned into steel, the fire qi burned, the water qi condensed as dew on his scales, and the wood qi gave birth to trees. The myriad phenomenon didn’t last long as they came together and formed a giant.

Steel formed a skeleton, earth was its muscles, water flowed as blood, barks acted as skin, and fire burned as its soul. The titan of five elements materialized and towered over Donghai Longzi. It reared its fist back and punched toward the black dragon.

Donghai Longzi quickly enlarged itself until his mass matched the five element titan. He used his free hand to grab the titan’s incoming fist, all the while puzzled. Normally, it was him seeking a fight. When did Ba Shifang become so belligerent?

“Did you know?”

Transparent eyelids slid horizontally across his vertical pupils. “Huh? What are you talking about? If you’re asking about Main Body’s plan, shouldn’t you know more? Besides, why are you contacting me through your immortal sense? Aren’t you afraid of exposing a loophole?”

“You really don’t know?”

“Know what? Stop speaking in riddles and actually ask me! Then I might know,” Donghai Longzi said. He sucked in a large breath and then exhaled. Black mist burst forth and struck the five element titan’s chest. Due to the corrosive nature of the breath, it constantly eroded away at the titan’s exterior, exposing the innards.

Ba Shifang finally confirmed that Donghai Longzi was just as in the dark as he was, so he exhaled in relief. He quickly explained what he had discovered, and upon learning it, Donghai Longzi stilled for a moment.

He wanted to reply, but Meng Tingfeng and the other hidden monarchs took action at this time. All their attacks struck Donghai Longzi despite his best attempt to dodge. Not to mention the burden on one of his hands. Still, most of the attacks only caused his scales to crack, and even Meng Tingfeng only managed to leave a shallow cut on his body.

“Dammit, this bastard hid his strength before! Everyone, we have to kill this calamity here. I originally thought he only possessed a powerful defensive ability, but his attacks are actually just as strong. No, even stronger!” Meng Tingfeng shouted. “I feel he is not weaker than an immortal emperor. If he really breaks into the Demon Emperor Realm, he will become a huge obstacle for us!”

At Meng Tingfeng’s shout, all the other monarchs said nothing, but the intensity of their attacks increased. Donghai Longzi glared at Meng Tingfeng. Even for him, guarding against ten immortal monarchs was tiring, even if one of them was secretly on his side and another one’s soul attack was not effective against him.

He quickly curled himself into a sphere when he saw the five element titan charging at him with a punch. When the titan punched him, the damage was actually negligible, but the momentum was not. He knew that Ba Shifang was actually helping him, so he used the momentum to flee into the Vast Void.

“After him!”

The ten immortal monarchs gave chase, but what awaited them was the red breath of a Scarletblood Dragon. All true dragons possessed special breath weapons. They could be considered techniques and innate abilities, and they all possessed unique powers.

The breath of a Scarletblood Dragon had the ability to ignite the blood and cause it to run out of control. If not careful, even an immortal monarch could become powerless to defend themselves. In the worst case scenarios, they might even have to abandon their flesh and escape with their soul.

Still, none of the monarchs were easy. Each one took out a defensive artifact or technique to deflect or neutralize the breath. The red breath had a powerful suppressive effect on flesh and blood, but its attack was lackluster on nonliving matter, like artifacts.

Ba Shifang charged forward bravely. Since he hid himself inside the five element titan, he was the one most unafraid of Honglin’s breath. At this time, a powerful black beam erupted and pierced the five element titan. The beam continued and struck the numerous immortals behind the titan.

The beam only lasted a moment as it ended, and so did Honglin’s breath. Both dragons, one red and one black, stared hatefully at the ten immortal monarchs. No, it should be nine now.

“No!” Meng Tingfeng shouted when he saw the five element titan revert to its primal elements. When all the matter made by its body returned to particles, Ba Shifang was nowhere to be seen.

“I’ll kill you!” Meng Tingfeng shouted, eyes red. The seven star sword in his hand lit up as he charged forward. A silver light encased, making him seem like a shooting star. 

D.C.Haenlien

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