"Annoying ants!"
Ji Qingyue's brow arched. She immediately executed a Karmic Backlash technique, intending to crush the ant that was probing her. In an instant, an peerless power of heavenly secrets erupted from her, following an ethereal path toward the source of the scrying.
This power was incredibly strong. Combined with her own providence, it not only protected her perfectly but could also easily crush any other cultivator in the Star-Sea Continent.
She assumed the scryer was a local because if someone were trying to probe across continental or world barriers, they would have to be significantly stronger than her. While this current probe was somewhat decent, it was still far too weak in her eyes.
Ji Qingyue sat back, waiting for the feedback of death, just as she had done countless times before.
However, her expression suddenly changed. Her body shook as if struck by lightning. Several strands of her dark hair turned white in an instant, and she coughed up a mouthful of blood.
"How is this possible?"
Blood dripped from the corner of her lips as she stared with wide, unbelieving eyes. There was even a hint of terror in her gaze. It had been many millennia since she had experienced such a thing.
The moment she sent her power along the heavenly path to reach the scryer, she discovered a terrifying providence. A force far stronger than her own had instantly pulverized her energy!
In that moment, she was struck by the backlash of both providence and heavenly secrets. But that was not the end. A power of heavenly secrets descended like a hot knife through butter, shattering her protections. Her providence-protecting treasure only held for a few breaths before exploding!
Consequently, her information—details long forgotten by the world—was laid bare under the gaze of the Heavenly Dao.
Ji Qingyue finally realized that the seemingly weak probe was merely bait used to lure her into a war of heavenly secrets. And the result was clear: she had lost!
"I've been tricked! Damn it!"
Fortunately, she was not a specialized diviner, so her connection to the Heavenly Dao was limited, preventing the backlash from being fatal.
However, the situation was dire. Her old injuries had not yet healed, and now she suffered from this dual backlash. Her combat power would inevitably decline. To make matters worse, the Heavenly Dragon cultivator had invited her to help destroy the Earth Immortal at this very moment, and he had gone to other realms to recruit other races.
She didn't care about the Star-Sea Continent's fate—she had no ties left here. Her "home sentiment" was merely the convenience of having a place to heal. Compared to her pursuit of immortality and breakthrough, it was negligible.
What truly worried her were those alien races. If she was heavily wounded, who knew what those aliens might try? The Heavenly Dragon cultivator hadn't promised to protect her from them; he only promised that he wouldn't strike her or incite the aliens against her. They were aliens! No one in the Star-Sea Continent understood the terror of alien races better than she did, for she was likely the only one who had ventured deep into the Realm-Sea and entered other worlds.
Being injured now was an immense problem.
"Who was it? No one among those people should have this strength... except that one."
"Venerable Bee. Is it him?"
A strange light flashed in Ji Qingyue's eyes. If there was one person she truly couldn't see through, it was that once-in-an-epoch Earth Immortal—the one the Heavenly Dragon cultivators were going to such great lengths to destroy.
"It must be him. But why scry me now? What is his goal? Does he intend to remove me?"
Fear gripped her heart. She didn't understand how he dared. Wasn't an Earth Immortal only peerless within their own domain? According to her understanding, shouldn't he be just a slightly stronger cultivator outside the Qingtian Domain? She should have been able to crush him easily.
As for those traitors... who in this continent could kill her?
Yet an uneasy feeling rose within her. For a high-level cultivator, such a premonition was never a fluke.
"What should I do? Stay and fight? Run? Or gather the others for protection?" For the first time in an age, she couldn't decide.
Meanwhile, within the Qingtian Domain, a smile appeared on Xiao Xianhu's face.
"Awoo! (Boss, I did it!)" The tiger looked at Qi Ping with pride.
"Are you alright?" Qi Ping didn't ask about the result first. He looked at the tiger's bloodshot eyes and weakened aura with concern. He had watched the tiger transform from its peak to this state in an instant.
With the providence he provided and the tiger's own bloodline, it shouldn't have been this hard—unless the enemy was truly too powerful.
"Awoo! (I'm fine, Boss. My bloodline energy is just depleted. I'll be back to normal after some rest.)"
"Awoo! (Hehe, I set a trap for that Ji Qingyue. She's currently suffering from severe heavenly and providence backlash!)"
Though weakened, the tiger's eyes were sparkling with excitement. That woman dared to help outsiders against its boss! It didn't care about her betraying the continent, but targeting its boss was unacceptable! The boss was so good to it; how could it not use its best tricks to help him? Did she think a tiger was just a sick cat?
"Awoo! (Her strength has dropped by at least twenty percent. Here is how it happened...)"
As the tiger recounted the events, Qi Ping understood the gravity of the struggle. Lowering the strength of the "Number One" cultivator by twenty percent was no easy feat. He was moved by the tiger's dedication; Xiao Xianhu had used its own way to share his burden because of the fame of the "Number One" expert.
After finishing the report on the heavenly battle, the tiger began sharing information about Ji Qingyue. As Qi Ping listened, his heart grew heavier.
Ji Qingyue—an old monster whose lifespan exceeded thirty thousand years! She was the oldest living cultivator in the Star-Sea Continent. Her cultivation had been at the Perfection of the Void Refinement stage for many years. Because of the continent's limitations, she had never found the chance to break through to the Unity stage, even after exploring and fighting in the Realm-Sea.
Her cultivation was incredibly deep, and she held a vast number of Void Refinement stage manuals and spells. Furthermore, she had built a massive foundation and countless defensive measures at her residence.
Qi Ping frowned. She was a formidable foe. If she came to the Qingtian Domain, he could kill her easily, but fighting her elsewhere carried significant risk.
However, he had to face her. Without control over the entire Star-Sea Continent, many of his future plans could not be initiated. If he faced even more terrifying alien cultivators in a state of haste, his chances of winning would plummet. Though he had the spatial secret realm of the Void-Aether Fish as an escape, he would lose his foundation as an Earth Immortal.
'If only I could grasp Void Refinement stage spatial arrays now...' Qi Ping sighed. There simply wasn't enough time.
Fortunately, Xiao Xianhu had managed to wound her. Without that, the coming battle would have been even grimmer. Even so, Qi Ping still felt he had a reasonable chance of victory.
However, as he was planning how to best take her down, a strange look crossed the tiger's face. It looked at Qi Ping with an odd expression.
"Awoo! (Boss, we don't need to worry about how to deal with Ji Qingyue anymore.)"
"Hmm? What happened?" Qi Ping was confused.
"Awoo! (She's gone! She's fleeing the Star-Sea Continent at a terrifying speed. She looks absolutely terrified that we might chase her.)"
"What? She ran?" Qi Ping's expression froze. After all that preparation, she just... left?
"Awoo! (Yes, Boss. I just divined it. She's heading somewhere very far away—somewhere beyond my ability to track. She's likely crossing world barriers to go to some minor world.)"
Qi Ping: "..."
As the tiger spoke, Ji Qingyue had already packed her belongings. Ignoring the cost, she performed several Great Teleportations to burst out of the Star-Sea Continent. Only once she was far away did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.
'The Bee Daoist shouldn't have any spatial arrays set up this far out. They can't catch me now.'
'Long Xing, you held back a trump card when we made that contract. You were being unfaithful first, so don't blame me for being unrighteous!'
Long Xing was the Heavenly Dragon cultivator. When he made the contract with her, though he promised much, he left some wiggle room regarding her absolute safety. To counter this, she had insisted on a clause: if the tide of battle turned, she had the right to flee. If she had to fight to the death regardless, why would she help him?
'I'm glad I left myself a back door. Since the Bee Daoist prepared to strike me first and the divination showed "Great Calamity," I'm not staying!'
When she was deciding whether to stay or run, she had used some of her lifespan to perform a single divination focused solely on herself. She didn't dare probe anything else. The result: Great Calamity.
She immediately decided to quit. She grabbed her most valuable possessions and headed for a minor world she had suppressed in the past. With the world barrier between them, neither the Bee Daoist nor Long Xing could find her. Most importantly, since she was abandoning the war entirely, neither of them would be bored enough to hunt her down.
However, to leave a trace of goodwill and a way back to the Star-Sea Continent, she only took her most precious high-grade spirit herbs. She left many other treasures and herbs behind. She had thought about taking them, but realized they were of little use to her now. Leaving them behind was a final gesture of sentiment for her home. Who found them or how they were used was no longer her concern.
'The Heavenly Dao Oath I swore said I wouldn't help the Bee Daoist against Long Xing. But if I flee in terror and don't have time to pack some minor resources, that's perfectly reasonable, right?'
'After all, every second counts when my life is on the line!'
The more she thought about it, the more reasonable it felt. Her Dao-heart didn't waver in the slightest. She imagined Long Xing's reaction; he would likely want to kill her himself.
Once she was sure there were no omissions, she left the Star-Sea Continent without a backward glance.
"It's a bit speechless, but it is a good thing regardless. Fighting her would have been risky," Qi Ping remarked.
His goal was never to kill and pillage; he just wanted control of the continent to maximize his Earth Immortal Druid powers. With Ji Qingyue gone, there was no one left to threaten his plans. As long as he developed for a time, even if she broke through to the Unity stage, he would have nothing to fear.
However, just as Qi Ping was nodding to himself, the tiger said something that left him stunned.
"Awoo! (Boss, Ji Qingyue seems to have left us a gift. A real gift. Almost all the resources and foundations on that Grade 6 spirit vein were left behind...)"