The seasons turned without ceremony. Spring's gentle rains gave way to autumn's crisp air, and a full year slipped by.
At the East Sea Immortal Sect, Su Min stretched, her joints letting out a soft, satisfying pop. It had been an uncharacteristically regular year for her, working from dawn to dusk. She'd used the time to properly stabilize her new Divine Transformation cultivation. The path to Dao Comprehension was a mountain she didn't need to climb just yet.
"This fleeting moment of leisure is over," she murmured to herself. "Now it's time for the Sect Conference."
She was genuinely curious about the event, and she had good reasons to go. She decided to lead the delegation herself, though her role was mostly symbolic. The actual logistics didn't require her personal touch.
Tian Yinzi would be accompanying her. Sending Su Min alone, a Divine Transformation cultivator, would look sparse and unbalanced. A sect needed to show strength at multiple levels to command real respect at a conference like this.
But their sect was in a far better position than, say, the struggling Heavenly Yin Sect. Su Min was a sixth-grade alchemist, a title that now carried weight across the continent.
She had plenty of resources and connections. Many rogue cultivators had sworn allegiance to her after her return. She hadn't accepted them all, but the ones she did take in had significantly bolstered the sect's ranks. The lineup they were bringing this time was genuinely impressive.
For the Divine Transformation stage, Su Min was enough. If a fight broke out, she could handle a group by herself. For the Nascent Soul stage, they had five experts, with the strongest already at the late stage.
This particular expert wasn't an original disciple. He was one of the refugees who had come seeking her patronage. He had a clear and pragmatic understanding of his own limits and had willingly given up the arduous path to Divine Transformation. Instead, he had begged a pill from Su Min to forcibly push his strength to the late Nascent Soul stage.
His combat prowess was decent. He wasn't on Su Min's level, nor could he compare to a prodigy like Hui Xing, but he was a solid, reliable fighter. If Su Min was Tier 0 and Hui Xing was Tier 1, this man was a dependable Tier 2.
In the current cultivation world, anyone who could reach the late Nascent Soul stage was undoubtedly capable. Whether he would advance further was a question for the future, maybe in a hundred years, or maybe never.
"This Sect Conference is being held in the Great Luo Tian Province," Tian Yinzi explained as they made their final preparations. "Aside from the reclusive Buddhist sects, every major faction with a Divine Transformation cultivator will be there."
"Great Luo Tian…" Su Min felt a faint, distant tug of nostalgia. "It's been a while."
"Grand Elder, have you been there before?"
"Once, a long time ago," Su Min replied. "I went to gather some rare materials, back before I moved your ancestors to Eastern Mulberry."
The fact that she could traverse the sealed realms wasn't a secret she bothered to keep anymore. The special flying shuttle she'd once used was now gathering dust in the sect's treasury. After the realms connected, it wasn't such a rare treasure. She'd left it out for others to study.
"Everyone, board the ship," she instructed the group assembled behind her. "It's still a long way to Great Luo Tian."
With a wave of her hand, she summoned a magnificent flying vessel.
It was a Cloud-Soaring Ark, a low-tier Earth-grade artifact she had crafted herself. It was a high-end, luxurious transport that operated based on the user's cultivation power. At its maximum size, it was practically a flying fortress.
Now that she was at the Divine Transformation stage, crafting Earth-grade treasures was finally within her reach. She felt a quiet flicker of pride looking at it.
"Let's set off."
The moment the ark leaped into the sky, startled cries erupted from the disciples on board. The scenery around them began to change in a disorienting way. Everything became a series of jumps, the world skipping frames as each spatial step carried them thousands of meters in an instant.
For the Golden Core cultivators, the sensation was terrifying. This was a high-level divine movement technique, Shrinking the Earth to an Inch. It was a principle similar to the legendary somersault of Sun Wukong, though Su Min's version was far less powerful. Still, it was more than enough for their needs.
A journey that should have taken weeks, covering millions of miles, was completed in less than seven days. When they finally set foot in the Great Luo Tian Province, a place Su Min hadn't seen in centuries, her expression softened just a little.
But the moment they crossed the provincial border, she froze.
"Tian Yinzi, take everyone to the guest quarters first," she said, her voice clipped. "There's an old acquaintance I need to meet."
Since traveling within the province was straightforward, if slower, she handed control of the ark to Tian Yinzi and leaped from its deck.
In the blink of an eye, she vanished. When she came to a stop again, she found herself in a serene paradise of lush, green mountains and a placid, clear lake. And there, sitting by the water's edge, was a familiar figure.
Yao Xian'er.
The woman who had once pushed Su Min to her absolute limits in the Golden Core Avenue trial. After that contest, Yao Xian'er had disappeared without a trace, which wasn't surprising given they were from different realms. The rewards from the trial had likely given her all the resources she needed to reach Nascent Soul, so seclusion was the logical next step.
But seeing her now, Su Min was taken aback.
Yao Xian'er had already reached the Dao Comprehension stage.
Her progress was even faster than Kong Hui's, and Kong Hui had been sealed in time. But considering Yao Xian'er's true nature, a being who had once surpassed the Mahayana stage, this speed wasn't shocking. For her, this was just retreading a path she had already walked.
And though her cultivation was only at the early Dao Comprehension stage, her combat power was undoubtedly terrifying. With her mastery of ten thousand arts, even the dragon princess would likely be outmatched.
"May I ask why Yao Xian'er seeks me out?" Su Min sat down unceremoniously on the grass opposite the young woman. The moment she entered Great Luo Tian, she had sensed Yao Xian'er's aura guiding her here. Resisting the pull of a Dao Comprehension expert was pointless, so she had come willingly. "Given your capabilities, you must have prepared everything you needed before you reincarnated."
Yao Xian'er didn't answer immediately. Instead, her eyes swept over Su Min from head to toe, assessing her. "Early Divine Transformation stage. Not bad progress at all. And you've already obtained the Northern Water's Profound Origin. It seems you've found the path to completion."
It was true that Yao Xian'er had left herself ample resources. Her participation in the Golden Core Avenue had mainly been for the lifespan extension. She was practically the only person of note who had never sought Su Min's alchemical services. She clearly had no need for those pills.
Su Min's expression turned serious. Yao Xian'er's strength and cultivation now far surpassed her own. Even with the boost from Xie Yingying's blood essence, Su Min stood no chance in a fight.
Then, Yao Xian'er's lips curved into a slight, knowing smile.
"I came to talk about your little wife."
Su Min blinked. The words hit her with the force of a physical blow. Her expression shifted through a series of subtle changes, surprise giving way to wariness, and then a tight, controlled tension settling behind her eyes.
"How do you..."
Yao Xian'er chuckled softly. "Relax. Even if you've never made it public, I've lived long enough to recognize the signs." She paused, her voice laced with a quiet amusement. "You don't spend that long looking at someone like she's the moon incarnate without giving yourself away, Su Min."
Su Min averted her gaze, just slightly. "We've been through a lot together."
"Mhm," Yao Xian'er hummed, a sound that carried a world of understanding. "I can tell. The bond is real. You've both touched inheritances that transcend lifetimes. How could I not see it?"
Su Min's expression sobered completely. "She's not in the sect. She left for a secret realm in the far north, hundreds of realms away. I haven't heard from her in years." A slight waver entered her voice. It wasn't fear, not quite, but a tightly clenched thread of unease was clear beneath the words.
Yao Xian'er grew quiet. When she spoke again, her tone was cooler, more distant. "Then listen carefully. You must understand, the current world is incomplete. The Mahayana stage is the limit. No matter how hard you try, you cannot summon the Heavenly Tribulation to ascend. You can only live as long as the heavens and earth will allow."
"I see," Su Min said. She wasn't surprised. She knew that after Mahayana, since the Heavenly Tribulation was inaccessible, cultivators could only grow stronger within the world, reaching for the originally nonexistent Transcendence stage. That was the final stop for all living beings. Legend said that only after transcending could one achieve immortality, reaching the so-called Ascension Realm. But so far, almost no one had accomplished it.
Yao Xian'er, in an era long past, had been one who could be called an Emperor, the Spirit Emperor. Unlike other Emperors, she had been the last before the world's decline into this twilight of cultivation. Even the Great Thunder Temple and the Ancient Lamp Monastery referred to her as a Mythical Being. The secrets she knew were beyond counting.
Su Min was aware of some of this. After all, the final trial in the Path of Immortality game was facing a fallen immortal. She knew the Immortal Realm had shattered for unknown reasons, and nearly all the immortals had perished. The one who remained was barely clinging to life. But after defeating that boss, the ending cutscene showed the shattered Immortal Realm descending, with countless terrifying, ancient beings gazing greedily at the mortal world.
Just thinking about it sent a chill down her spine. This was the lurking dread in her heart.
Right now, the Dark Blood Era had only just begun. The most powerful Fallen had yet to emerge. And behind those Fallen stood these fallen immortals, greedy, cruel, and sinister. They sought to shatter the world and absorb its essence.
But Su Min knew almost nothing about their existence. The only thing she was certain of was that the final fate of past Emperors was tied to them.
Because the two worlds were separated by an immense barrier, crossing between them came at a tremendous cost. There were also restrictions based on cultivation level. But if those beings ever broke through, they could annihilate dozens of provinces in moments. This was a threat on a completely different scale from the Fallen. And the only ones capable of stopping them were those at the Emperor level.
This was also Su Min's destined path. She knew there was no escape. Once her cultivation reached a certain level, she would become like a beacon in the night, impossible to hide. She would inevitably become their primary target.
"It seems the Five Elements Emperor told you quite a bit," Yao Xian'er said, pulling Su Min from her dark thoughts. Her gaze turned inward, as if staring into another lifetime. "Then I'll cut to the chase. In my era, there was another Lunar Sovereign Body. A woman who stood by my side. But no matter how high she reached, she could never outshine me."
Her tone grew soft. It wasn't fond, exactly. It was mournful.
"She tried. Desperately. Until her pride turned to obsession, and her obsession gave birth to inner demons. In the end, she fell."
Su Min's breath caught. "You mean..."
"She became like the Fallen of today," Yao Xian'er confirmed, her eyes distant. "She sacrificed the entire Great Luo Tian Province in a doomed attempt to force open the path to Transcendence. I chased her across the continent. I fought her under the frozen sky. And I killed her in the far north."
A cold wind swept through the valley, stirring the leaves around them.
Su Min stood up without thinking. "She went there. Yingying, she must have gone to that place."
Yao Xian'er sighed, then reached out with one hand and pinched the back of Su Min's collar before she could bolt away. "Will you sit down?" Her tone was pure exasperation. "Honestly. You're worse than I was."
Su Min froze, caught in the grip of a Dao Comprehension cultivator as easily as a kitten held by the scruff. She slowly sat back down, but her eyes were still sharp and urgent. "Then what happened? Why would you let such a place still exist?"
"Because before she died," Yao Xian'er said softly, "she came back to her senses. Just for a moment. She begged me to preserve the remnant of her soul. Not all of it. I split it into two. One part was the good, the penitent part. The other, the hatred and the madness, I sealed away."
Su Min finally let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Whew..." If Yao Xian'er had been the one to set the seal, then there was probably no immediate danger.
"I created a separate secret realm to house the good half. I think your little wife, sharp as she is, must have sensed its resonance. She's there now."
But the moment of relief was short-lived.
"In ten years," Yao Xian'er continued, "the seal on the evil half will break. It will awaken."
Su Min's fingers twitched, but she said nothing.
"When that happens," Yao Xian'er said, watching her closely, "you'll need to be there. To end it properly. If you fail, the soul will fully corrupt. And the one who suffers most will be the one closest to it."
That made Su Min's heart lurch. "Yingying."
"She'll be fine for now," Yao Xian'er said, more gently now. "The remnant won't harm her, yet. But if you let that thing fester..." She let the sentence hang, the unspoken consequence clear.
Then, with a faint, rueful smile, she added, "Look at you. I never thought I'd see the day when the future Emperor of the Five Element Holy Body was so completely tethered by moonlight."
Su Min cursed inwardly. Why did these ancient powerhouses always leave such messy problems behind, trusting that "future generations would handle it"?
Yao Xian'er only smiled wider, seeming to read her thoughts. "Cheer up. If you destroy the evil remnant, it'll convert into a pure origin force. A once in a lifetime harvest for an alchemist like you. Consider it a troublesome gift from the past."
Su Min exhaled, a long, slow breath.
"Troublesome," she echoed dryly. "That's putting it lightly."
===
Little wife. Little Wife. Little wife.
Important things must be said three times. BTW, Su Min is not correcting that title. LOL
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Hi, it's me. I work on another novel that already available on this account. True Heir of Chaos: From Villainess to Empress. In this novel, the MC basically Su Min's level up. You can see the true power or potential of "Chaos" wielder in here, as both of them possess "Chaos" and they also chose "Time" as their "Law". There's also not have good or evil in Dao or Demon cultivator, making it much interesting than usual troupe. This also become the very reason why I often feel uncomfortable when the lore depict demon cultivator as the 'evil' ones as in my opinion "evilness" is mostly depend on person itself, not what they practiced. This novel also one of cultivation novel that I read 'first', making it more memorable and have great impact on me. Or maybe because Jian Dan 'signature' is white magnolia and manjushahua that coincidentally also my fav flowers. Hmm
I can't say that Jian Dan is stronger than Su Min, because their background, environment, and rules are different. For Jian Dan this is her 2nd life, she is also cultivator in her 1st life and already reach Divine Transformation stage. While Su Min is recently graduate student that just work as programmer. So their knowledge reserve gap about cultivation, technique etc in general are too vast.
Even if both of the world also facing extermination crisis threat, it fundamentally different. In Su Min's case, the Heavenly Dao take damage when repelling the Fallen Ones, it then cap the 'Cultivation stage' to early Golden Core on this world to take the reserve qi to heal it self. Making 'Heavenly Decay Curse' descent on this world. All cultivators who beyond early Golden Core their lifespan is losing rapidly, the higher the cultivation the faster their lifespan lost.
Many promising and or powerful cultivators sealing themself, some sect even destroyed and gone because of this restriction (like Yingying sect). This is one of the reason why opportunity to gain knowledge on cultivation is very hard to do as casual or rogue cultivator. Remember that Su Min is essentially one of them, and she build her sect alone and she often complained about the incomplete method and technique in her sect.
Jian Dan in other hand, the Heavenly Dao (of Cultivation realm's) just restrict the cultivator and making them unable to ascend to Immortal Realm. The effect is almost negligible to majority cultivators, also because it very hard to reach the top, this information is not known to the world either.
Anyway if you like this novel, maybe you also like the new ones. So give it a shot, review, and add to your library~