Inside a patch of woods on the small island, Princess Zhang Le sat cross-legged on a straw mat. A small incense burner was placed next to her, from which, wisps of smoke rose slowly up into the air, repelling any mosquitoes and insects who tried to seek a bite or two. Peppermint and Angelica were sitting on their heels beside her, looking curiously at Ma Yi, who sat cross-legged in front of Princess Zhang Le.
Ma Yi was wearing an ordinary green Daoist robe, and it made him look just like an ordinary cultivator who one could find everywhere in the world of cultivators. He even had a scabbard strapped to his back, inside which was a lower-grade flying sword of inferior quality. He greeted Princess Zhang Le with a nod, then produced a palm-sized jade slip, carefully placing it before the princess.
"His Majesty and all the ministers have left Myriad Immortals Planet!" This was the first thing Ma Yi told Princess Zhang Le, which made her frown instantly.
"Everyone?" Princess Zhang Le asked.
"Yes, everyone. His Majesty and all his imperial concubines, all the princes, ministers, as well as their family members. Even the disciples and apprentices of various immortal sects who served Great Yan have begun to move out since three years ago." Ma Yi curved his mouth into a smile and said, "As of present, Great Yan has already found a planet in Yu Hua Heavenly Realm. It is a planet inhabited only by ordinary mortals and no immortal sects, and we have seized power from one of the kingdoms."
Three years ago, not long after Wu Qi and Princess Zhang Le left Myriad Immortals Planet, Great Yan had begun the moving process. Under careful handling of the various civil and military officials, they did not alert anyone from White Cloud Immortal Sect. At this moment when Ma Yi came to Green Cliff Planet and had a secret meeting with Princess Zhang Le, Great Yan had transferred all their properties away, bringing any manpower and things that they could out of the planet.
Princess Zhang Le picked up the jade slip and scanned it with her divine will, memorizing all the information recorded in it. It contained the exact location of the planet where Great Yan was at currently, as well as information on all aspects. It was very detailed. After memorizing everything, she clasped her palms and shattered the jade slip to powder.
"How about the other dynasties?" After a moment of silence, Princess Zhang Le asked.
Ma Yi smiled and said with a nod, "Just like Great Yan, the others have left the Myriad Immortals Planet!"
He took a deep breath and said, "It does not feel good to be living under someone. Since all six dynasties have their own Heaven Immortals now, it gives us sufficient overall strength to face the trial and hardship in the outside world. Why should we keep on holding the little foundation on Myriad Immortals Planet?"
A proud smile emerged on his face as he said, "His Majesty has told us that wherever we go, we can always establish a foundation thousands of times greater than the one on Myriad Immortals Planet. That planet is too small, and we might as well let White Cloud Immortal Sect live their pitiful lives with that little foundation!"
Princess Zhang Le thought for a while with a frown on her pretty face. "What exactly does Grandpa want to do?"
As a trusted subordinate for Yan Dan, naturally Ma Yi knew what the emperor wanted to do. He rubbed his palms, hesitating for a while. At last, he stared at Princess Zhang Le and said, "His Majesty said that since we can't live a free and unrestrained life, we might as well live a wild and arrogant life. As we are under the control of someone else, and we don't know when that someone will wipe us out, we might as well build us a grand empire before death."
He gave a few dried laughs, then lowered his voice and said, "His Majesty also told us that he felt really bored after being the Emperor for over two thousand years, yet all his people were just ordinary mortals! Since he had decided to go wild, he didn't mind going to the extreme. 'Why can't we set our goal on the Heaven?' – These are His Majesty's words. 'Why can't the Great Celestial Emperor who sits loftily in the Heaven be replaced by me?'"
Princess Zhang Le knitted her brows into a tight frown, pursing her lips and saying disapprovingly, "With Great Yan's current overall strength, what makes him think that he has the ability to encroach the throne of Great Celestial Emperor? Heaven Immortals, Gold Immortals, Primordial Immortals, do you know how many of these formidable figures are standing in the way? Without having a cultivation base of Primordial Immortal, who dares to cast his eyes on that position?"
Ma Yi gave a bitter smile, shook his head, and said with a sigh, "His Majesty said, since we are already here, we should just give it a try. The result is uncertain, but we have to live an exciting life. Also, His Majesty has sent out a great many people, getting ready to..."
Before Ma Yi could finish his words, the smoke rising from the incense burner placed next to Princess Zhang Le rippled suddenly. A tiny wisp of smoke spread out and transformed into a green smoke screen, on top of which, an image slowly became vivid, revealing the scene around the small island- high up in the sky, Zi Yuexin and another man, who was skinny and had a cunning and obscene look, were stealthily casting some restrictive spells, attempting to break the defensive formation Wu Qi had deployed around the island.
Ma Yi looked at Princess Zhang Le with surprise, his eyes filled with questions. They were at Green Cliff Planet, the very base of Yuan Hua Sect. While Princess Zhang Le was the disciple of Yuan Hua Sect, who dared to disturb her like this? If they were some outsiders, their behavior would arouse the suspicion of provoking Yuan Hua Sect. But, if they were fellow disciples of Yuan Hua Sect, it was even more unreasonable. Such behavior was not considered honorable, and not even considered friendly.
Princess Zhang Le's face turned dark instantly. She slapped the ground with both palms and gently sprung up into the air, flying towards the sky on a five-colored cloud. She could recognize Zi Yuexin, the man who disturbed her on the back of Green Cliff Mountain a few days ago, and nearly got killed by her with a thunderbolt.
She flew straight out from the defensive barrier and came before both men. "What are you trying to do here?"
Both Zi Yuexin and the obscene-looking man were taken aback. A ball of bright light burst from Zi Yuexin's body and protected him within, while the other men spun agilely as a clump of purple smoke rose from behind his back, amid which, a beast soul that looked like a mudfish could be seen swaying a little. In just a twinkle, the man had fled several miles backward.
A loud ringing of metal clashing echoed out. With just a blink, Catfish had suddenly appeared before the obscene-looking man, her hand holding a huge hammer. The gigantic hammer smashed whistling down, forcing the man to give a strange cry and pull out a small dagger, waving it towards the incoming attack. The tiny dagger clashed with the gigantic hammer, and surprisingly, it was not the one on the disadvantaged side. Bright sparks splattered from the center of collision as the tiny dagger cut a deep line on Catfish's hammer, nearly removing half of the hammerhead.
Both of them had their bodies swayed a little and back off by a few steps. "Little guy, you have a great strength!" Catfish cried out with surprise.
The obscene-looking man panted, then gave an evil laugh and said, "Demon with a big fish head, it is you who have a weak foundation and strength! Tsk, why should we fight against each other on such a beautiful day and in pleasant surroundings? Hey, I think the inside of your hammer is hollow, eh?" His words were unpleasant and full of stings, which had infuriated Catfish, causing her to glare at him and getting ready to strike again.
Suddenly, a large patch of water clouds rushed out of the ocean under them. Lord Xiansheng had brought over one thousand huge sea demons and soared up into the sky. As they were absorbing the essence of sun and moon inside the formation previously, all the sea demons were shrouded in a layer of strong silvery light. It made them look mighty and formidable. Some sea demons with a bigger body were carrying weapons as large as their bodies, further giving them a touch of mightiness.
Zi Yuexin shook his head. Grinning cheekily, he turned to look at the angry Princess Zhang Le and said, "Miss Zi Yuexin, you've frightened us! I come with no bad intention! I've constantly been thinking of you since we met a few days ago, and I just can't get your beautiful face out of my mind!"
Upon listening to Zi Yuexin's words, Princess Zhang Le's face turned colder and stiffer, as if it were covered in a layer of frost. She said coldly, "What are you? How dare you keep thinking about me?" She pointed her finger out, as a five-color gleam flashing on her fingertip. Just like what she did a few days ago, she was about to summon a thunderbolt and smite Zi Yuexin.
Right at this moment, an immense immortal pressure suddenly pressed down from above. It was immediately followed by Patriarch Yuan Hua's voice across a far distance, "Zi Xuan, I've decided to marry you to Yuexin. He is a perfect match for you, and you can never afford to miss him. In the future, your children will be the next Sect Leader of Yuan Hua Sect. The decision is final, and once I've brought your grandfather, father, and all relatives here, we will make you two an official couple!"
The tremendous immortal pressure made Princess Zhang Le hardly breathe. The spirit light was blinking on her fingertip, but she just could not trigger the thunderbolt.
Seeing that Princess Zhang Le could no longer move, Zi Yuexin could not help but have his lust aroused. He came before Princess Zhang Le, reaching his hand to touch her face. Even as he did that, he smiled obscenely and said, "Miss Zi Xuan, a beautiful girl like you should not be spoiled by some useless fellow!"
Princess Zhang Le's face turned purple with anger. With great effort, she circulated the divine energy within her body. However, as the gap between her overall strength and Patriarch Yuan Hua was too huge, there was no way she could struggle free from the restriction imposed by the immortal pressure. As Patriarch Yuan Hua had the intention to force Princess Zhang Le, he kept sending his immortal pressure across the distance, pressing against her like a huge mountain.
Seeing that Zi Yuexin's hand was about to touch Princess Zhang Le's face, Lord Xiansheng gave a furious growl as he threw his halberd out, which turned into a beam of purple light and shot straight towards Zi Yuexin. "Rascal! Move your dirty claw away!"
Zi Yuexin did not even give Lord Xiansheng a glance, as a powerful force had traveled across the void from a distance and shattered the halberd in just a flash. Meanwhile, the bodies of all the sea demons behind him who had attained some cultivation base exploded at the same time. Blood and flesh and bones fell down from the sky onto the defensive formation around the island, triggering it as numerous lightning arcs streaked across the void from everywhere, burning all the gore into smoke.
The force had smashed Lord Xiansheng as well, causing him to cough blood and plunge straight down into the ocean, unable to resurface.
Catfish flew into a rage and cursed, raising her huge hammer and smashing down onto the obscene-looking man. The man realized that Catfish's overall strength was almost equal to his, so he just put up a smiling face and kept teasing her with words while thrusting his dagger again and again, each thrust aiming at her vital spots. As Catfish had a large body, her movement was slow. On the other side, the man moved agilely like a mudfish covered in oil. His dagger pierced through the air with loud whistling noises, nearly cutting her body on a few occasions.
Zi Yuexin smiled complacently. His hand had almost touched Princess Zhang Le's face, the face as fair and delicate like a blooming flower in the spring.
A moment ago, Ma Yi had stealthily flown up into the sky on a cloud. When he saw Zi Yuexin was trying to molest Zhang Le, his eyes went wide with anger, and with just a blink, he had leaped next to the princess like a frenzied tiger. A red light flashed as an eighteen-feet long machete suddenly appeared in his grip, and he swung it down brutally, cutting Zi Yuexin into two halves.
A creepy ghost howl echoed out from the machete as a dozen of bloody fiend shadows squeezed out of it, clutching Zi Yuexin's soul with their claws and dragging him into the machete. In just a blink of an eye, his soul was devoured by the fearsome machete.
"How dare you, a mere Nascent Divinity cultivator, act rampantly before me? Just to let you know, I am a Heaven Immortal now!" Ma Yi threw his head and gave a wild laugh, then quickly grabbed Princess Zhang Le and fled back into the island.
Catfish ditched the obscene-looking man and quickly followed them into the island. Without the need of reminding him, when Lord Xiansheng saw Zi Yuexin was slaughtered, he quickly returned to the island through the water channel which Wu Qi had specially constructed for him.
"Xin'er!"
A forlorn howl rang out in the void. Patriarch Yuan Hua suddenly appeared in the sky, his body blinking with a strong blood-red light.