In the empty space, Hostess Su and Lishang crashed out of nowhere.

"Let's go, hurry! Once those powerful beings make a move, the affected area will definitely extend far beyond this place!"

Clearly in a hurry, Hostess Su pulled Lishang and fled. She tore through space faster than light.

Lishang looked as though some spell had struck her. A trace of confusion lingered in her eyes as she looked back at the stars flickering and being extinguished.

An invisible fluctuation of the Great Dao surged straight toward them. The fabric of space churned like a tidal wave.

Fortunately, Hostess Su had a high cultivation realm. Although she followed a different path, it played a crucial role at this moment. She positioned herself in front of Lishang to shield her just before the surging currents of space swallowed them.

Half a day later, the disturbance in the Eastern Sky Region finally settled.

A small quake seemed to have hit the vast and boundless space. Although several suns were extinguished, and more than a dozen qi planets and desolate planets were reduced to ash, only a few cultivators met a sudden, tragic end. Given the sheer scale of the Eastern Sky Region, it was ultimately of no consequence.

The koi-drawn carriage sped once again through space, heading toward the Northern Sky Region. Inside the carriage, only Hostess Su and Lishang remained.

Earlier, Wang Shan had taken Wang Sheng away. The small group that had caused trouble had already scattered.

Pi Kachew... Fei Yu... Wang Sheng...

Lishang asked softly, "Senior Hostess Su, is he the final life essence that my ancestor left behind?" 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"Who? Fei Yu?" Hostess Su held the crystal sphere and examined it carefully. She chuckled softly. "You still haven't figured it out? I thought you insisted on coming because you already knew. Yes, he is the life essence that Empress Nuwa had left behind. He is also called the sacred spirit.

"Back then, Empress Nuwa exhausted the last of her strength to forge his destiny to unify the Three Realms. However, before he was even born, the Immortal Emperor likely intervened midway. You should know this more clearly than I do. Your race seems able to pass down memories from the Primal Era through your bloodline."

Lishang nodded lightly in acknowledgment. Afterward, she sat quietly in thought.

Hostess Su soon received news from the Immortal Saint Realm. With a soft note of admiration, she asked, "Want to know what happened in the Immortal Saint Realm?"

"Senior, you seem to get your information extremely quickly."

Hostess Su smiled. "I exhausted all my life essence to obtain six Qiankun Bugs, an extremely rare celestial beast. Three of them are in the Immortal Saint Realm, allowing me to quickly receive any news from there."

Lishang nodded lightly. Showing little interest, she asked softly, "What happened there?"

With clear amazement, Hostess Su said, "A strand of Emperor Qinghua's consciousness appeared in avatar form. Just that avatar alone was able to beat the Black Emperor up until he coughed blood nonstop. The Great Dao of Death will truly become a nightmare for the Immortal Saint Realm.

"The Immortal Saint Realm is in an extremely complicated situation. The powerful beings and factions that once joined forces to destroy the Heavenly Court have already lost too much primal qi while fighting over territory in the Immortal Saint Realm.

"They haven't even recovered from the losses they suffered while fighting Emperor Ziwei yet. Now, Emperor Qinghua has risen forcefully, and Fei Yu has officially stepped into the battle within the Immortal Saint Realm. Tsk, this chaotic era is far more interesting than times of peace."

Lishang whispered, "Where do we find him? I want to go to his side and protect him."

Hostess Su smiled faintly. She took out a jade slip from her sleeve, inscribed a cultivation technique into it, and handed it to Lishang.

"This is the dual cultivation technique I gave Fei Yu before," Hostess Su said softly. "I know you probably wish you could sacrifice yourself and merge with him as a shortcut to make him stronger. However, that won't be necessary. His forefather analyzed his condition with me while he was asleep last time. We found that he is a mortal with a fairly good aptitude."

"What do you mean by that?"

"He is indeed the sacred spirit, but none of us know what kind of restraint the Immortal Emperor placed on the sacred spirit in the past. Still, I believe the emperor dealt a serious blow to it. We assume that it reincarnated through the Reincarnation Stone in the Small Nether Realm and took on a human form: Fei Yu. In other words, he has likely not yet recovered his true power. You may be the key."

Hostess Su raised her hand and tapped the crystal sphere. It transformed into a blue celestial body.

"This is Earth, Wang Sheng's home qi star. It was where Emperor Ziwei once led the immortals to escape pursuit. They also prepared their counterattack here, leaving behind the Small Immortal Realm and the Small Nether Realm."

Lishang nodded lightly. She had heard these stories more than once.

Hostess Su added, "I heard quite a bit about it from Fei Yu's forefather. Since that ruthless man received quite a bit of care from Emperor Ziwei, he knows some of the lesser-known details. "Emperor Ziwei probably knew the most about the Immortal Emperor and the Realm of Exiled Immortals, but he fell before telling anyone.

"Fortunately, Fei Yu's forefather once vaguely heard Emperor Ziwei mention that within Earth lies the hope of the Three Realms. Only after Great Divine Guardian Wang revealed Fei Yu's identity did his forefather finally understand what that meant."

Lishang sighed softly. A sense of helplessness rose in her heart.

Ever since she met Wang Sheng, she had always felt a slight sense of closeness toward him. She had assumed it was because she had matured, and that it was a natural response to being around someone whose species was genetically close to hers.

However, as she spent more time with Wang Sheng, that sense of closeness became clearer. It made her mistakenly believe she had developed feelings she should not have for someone who already had a partner.

Now, she finally understood that what drew her closer was not only Wang Sheng's belief that effort could overcome anything or his sense of responsibility. It was also the guidance within her bloodline.

However, because of that attraction, she had truly developed thoughts she should not have.

"Perhaps the reason my race's bloodline has continued until now is so that in this life, I can stand by his side and protect him," Lishang remarked.

She then lowered her head and looked at her palm, her gaze flickering slightly.

Hostess Su asked, "What is it?"

"Since Pi—Fei Yu is now with Great Divine Guardian Wang, he should be safe for now. Since there is nothing we can do to help even if we go over to them, can you send me back to my ancestral land instead?"

Hostess Su blinked lightly. "Oh? You are only at the Heavenly Immortal Realm right now. Even if you return to that place, you won't be able to awaken your bloodline, will you?"

"I am going back to retrieve several treasures." Lishang's gaze grew firmer. "I finally understand why I have this urge to stay by his side. My ancestors are guiding me from somewhere beyond, insisting that I stick with him.

"I will bring out the important treasures in my ancestral land. They may not be able to turn the tide, but they could at least give him a better chance of surviving this crisis."

Hostess Su smiled. "Then lead the way. We cannot take too long, though. Great Divine Guardian Wang and the others' location will likely be exposed soon. If we fail to catch up to them, even supreme treasures will be useless."

Lishang closed her eyes and focused. After sensing their destination quietly for a moment, she quickly pointed in a direction. This time, luck was on their side. Her ancestral land had moved to the northwestern part of the Eastern Sky Region; they would not need to backtrack much.

However, they were also unlucky. Wang Shan did not intend to remain in the same place for long. Even if they went straight to the Northern Sky Region, they would not run into Wang Sheng.

On the way, Hostess Su noticed the lingering conflict in Lishang's expression. Hence, she told her a short story about a sword spirit and her sword master.

"How much do you know about Yaoyun?" she asked.

"Mm? She is a princess of the Heavenly Court," Lishang replied. "She is very close to Fairy Hua Qing and constantly watches whether any women approach Pi—Fei Yu."

Hostess Su sighed. "Do you know of the entanglement they've gotten themselves in?"

Lishang shook her head lightly.

A trace of pity showed in Hostess Su's eyes as her tone turned distant. "Yaoyun was most likely the first to learn the truth. Afterward, she willingly became his sword spirit. The instant her divine soul merged with Fei Yu's, she saw the full chain of past events and their consequences.

"Yaoyun probably saw the ruthlessness of her father when he acted against the sacred spirit, causing the image she had of her father to collapse. She also understood then why the Reincarnation Stone shattered, and why her path to reincarnation was cut off. The stone broke because it had to bear the reincarnation of the sacred spirit's soul, which became Fei Yu.

"A mere fragment of the Six Paths of Reincarnation could not withstand the sacred spirit's complete past. Fei Yu and Yaoyun's relationship is truly hard to explain."

Lishang frowned slightly. Yaoyun... She is actually quite a good person.

***

Within the frozen planet in the Northern Sky Region.

A black vortex slowly appeared, and two men walked out of it. It then closed on its own.

Wang Shan said, "Rest here for a while. Later, I will take you to a hidden place where you can cultivate for some time."

Wang Sheng smiled. "Thank you, Senior."

Wang Shan only nodded, then hurried into a nearby ice cave and went down to attend to matters.

He was likely busy collecting the heavily injured below. The former immortals and gods of the Heavenly Court who were still active outside had already received the news and begun moving to another area.

The preparations that they had made over hundreds of thousands of years were finally about to come into use—but not quite as they had originally expected.

To keep the Heavenly Court's heavily injured members safe, Wang Shan had prepared many escape routes. Unexpectedly, the opposing forces did not pursue them here. Rescuing Wang Sheng forced them to move ahead of schedule, though.

Wang Shan and Chun Yangzi had crossed paths earlier behind Wang Sheng. Chun Yangzi immediately withdrew because he trusted Wang Shan's ability to escape.

More importantly, if Chun Yangzi had taken Wang Sheng away, those pursuing them would not have been only the ambitious ones; those whose hearts Chun Yangzi had broken would also join the chase.

Wang Sheng found a wooden chair, sat cross-legged, and then steadied his mind. Since he was already here, there was no point in overthinking.

As for what comes next... I'll just follow Great Divine Guardian Wang's arrangements.

Right now, the powerful beings in the Immortal Saint Realm were likely watching him using different divine abilities. The beam of green light earlier could have marked him.

Soon, Wang Sheng felt faint traces of attention sweeping across the area. His enemies seemed to be conducting a wide search. However, his instincts did not warn him of any danger.

After a short while, Wang Shan emerged from the ice cave and whispered, "Let's go. I know you still hold some resentment toward me, but from here on, you will travel with me. I do not need you to see me in a different light. As long as you live, that is good enough for me."

Wang Sheng nodded.

Wang Shan grabbed him by the arm again. He then raised his hand and drew a simple circle in the air, transporting them to another unfamiliar stretch of space. However, their journey had only just begun.

Wang Shan teleported them to multiple different areas, taking Wang Sheng all the way from the Northern Sky Region to the Southern Sky Region.

The tearing sensation during those transitions made it impossible for Wang Sheng to hold back. As soon as they arrived, he turned his head and retched.