Bang!
A spiritual projection shattered loudly, plunging the great hall into silence.
Floating in the air, men and women in colorful robes from every major sect and powerful clan stood frozen. It was as if time itself had locked them in place, leaving them unable to move or spe.ak.
At last, one of the faceless individuals tremblingly managed to ask. "…Is… is that really the only way? To defeat her?"
No one answered at first. So he gulped, making his Adam's apple bobbed. He continued.
"To go back in time… all the way to the mortal world? To kill her before she ever becomes the Celestial Demon Empress? When she's nothing but an ordinary girl?" His voice began to rise, trembling. "There's no way we can do that with our cultivation! Impossible!"
After he said that, there was only a long silence that followed. But then, another cultivator snarled.
"That damn Celestial Demon Empress! It was only five thousand years had passed when she first emerged, when her cultivation realm was still low, we should have taken action!" His voice turned hoarse. "Now, because we allowed her to grow, she became our executioner, erasing our sects, our home, our authority, and our lives one by one."
Bam! He slammed his palm to the void, making cracks in the air.
Another powerhouse growled, "We exhausted our combined resources, every divine treasure, every forbidden technique, just to know how to defeat her and this is what Heaven reveals to us? That the only way to beat her… is to kill her mortal self? Using time travel?"
A cultivator with flowing white sleeves let out a cold, hollow and bitter laugh. "How ironic. We, at the peak of existence, have no idea how to do it…"
But even bitterness could not hide the despair from his words.
None of them possessed cultivation high enough to touch the laws of time. To go back in time. Go back to the lower mortal world. Worse, they don't know the mortal world where she, the Celestial Demon Empress, came from.
Soon, the chamber felt like it was being pressed from left and right. Their robes flapped with agitated spiritual qi. Some muttered about their helplessness, others bit their tongues out of it. Then, suddenly—
"Wait!"
The word stopped them all.
Dozens of faceless cultivators turned their heads in one direction. They saw a conspicuous looking cultivator with a rotting aura standing menacingly.
"There is hope," he said, with a tone sounding convincing. "I heard our fellow Daoist Ji has been researching the mysteries of time for years. Is it not so? Perhaps… he has a method."
The hall fell silent again. Every gaze changed their directions at once toward a single figure at the edge of the gathering.
Wei Ji.
He tried to hide his presence ever since the time travel was mentioned. But still, he was pointed at. He couldn't help but feel cold.
You bastard!
He didn't know how the one who spoke found out about it, but considering these old monsters had lived for countless ages, it was only natural they'd sniff out what their peers were doing.
After all, throughout his life in this cultivation world, he had devoted himself to finding a way to travel back in time. It was his backup plan for when his aging, immortal body could no longer live, he wanted to create a way to return to Earth.
However, despite his extensive studies, he was uncertain if his method would work. After all, he had never dared put it into practice. So his method was useless and can only be used as a last resort.
Still, under their burning gazes, Wei Ji needed to come up with an excuse. He knew these old dying fools were desperate. They wouldn't care if there was only a one percent chance out of a hundred chances; as long as there was a hole, they'd peek into it.
Wei Ji remained calm to assure them. "I haven't made a breakthrough yet," he said. "My understanding of the Law of time was still too shallow."
His words should have been the end of it. But no. Not here. Not now. Not when all were desperate.
The floating cultivators suddenly floated closer, with their robes trailing streams of spiritual pressure behind them.
Wei Ji's eyes twitched.
"You bastards…" he muttered.
One of them chuckled darkly. "Come now, Daoist Ji. This is a time of need for us all. Why do you need to hide this important knowledge of time on your own? Why not..
" he paused, and added, "...share?"
Wei Ji's fingers twitched behind his back. An incantation slipped at the tip of his finger, glowing faintly. If he could cast it fast enough, he could escape—
"Don't let him flee!"
Swoosh!
Immediately, the pressure in the hall snapped shut. Several nets of spiritual chains from each direction lashed out, clamping onto him fast. Almost in an instant, he couldn't move. And the light at the tip of his fingers fizzled out.
Wei Ji's teeth were bared in fury. "You old fools! Release me, or when I break free, I'll bury you all!"
"Hahaha!" Their laughter boomed. "Let us see you try while we look into the depths of your very soul!"
Wei Ji cursed. "Damn it!"
But before they could perform a soul search, a massive explosion occurred.
The world itself and the chamber shook. The floor cracked. The ceiling groaned and dropped some dust. Outside, the wind of heavens howled.
Wooooooo! Wooooooo!
A silent wrathful echoes of the dead rumbles from every direction, like shrieks of abyssal ghouls, high-pitched and skin-crawling, making the entire hall quivered fear.
The cultivators froze, face paling. Then, one by one, their pupils shrank.
"The Celestial Demon Empress's army…"
"No… no, it can't be!"
"The Celestial Demon Empress's army is here!"
"They found us!"
Panic immediately erupted.
Artifacts flared—clang! swoosh!—as cultivators summoned forbidden weapons. Talismans ripped open—snap! crackle!—unleashing bursts of protective light. Some bit their tongues and spat blood, activating secret arts that would drain their lifespans.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!—they fled in every direction, shattering walls, bursting through the skies.
Wei Ji, still bound in chains, thrashed wildly. "No!" His heart quivered. His spiritual Qi blazed as he tried to get himself out, but the more he struggled, the more the chains that they put dug into his flesh. "Shit!" He realized even if he tore the chains apart this instant, the army would descend upon him first.
Then—swash.
A whirl of black smoke materialized before him. It twisted and writhed like a living snake until it condensed fast into the form of an exquisite young girl.
Her skin was pale as snow. Her expression was innocent. But her bloody spear, crimson eyes that seek destruction made a terrifying contrast to her very existence.
Suddenly, she raised it and sent it flying with terrifying speed toward the almost-fleeing cultivator. Bang! His chest was pierced through! She immediately called back and retrieved the spear in her hand and turned to him.
Wei Ji's heart pounded. He yankked forcefully at the chains, forcing himself free, his cultivation Qi burst from every pore. And tried to conjure something… But—
Swoosh!
Her spear coldly whistled in the air, seeking to end it all as fast as possible.
"Guhh—!" Wei Ji choked his own blood. Her spear struck his chest with a bloody crack, punching straight through it thoughtlessly.
The girl tilted her head, took back her spear, and blinked at him and the other fallen immortal cultivator with a smile too sweet for such a scene. "The Empress says I need to hunt you all if I want to be one of the great generals under her command. So… I'll leave you for now!"
She turned as if she's going to chase the others immediately, but then she paused, tapping her chin with her finger.
"Oooh, right. Both of you will die in about sixty seconds. And don't try anything stupid. After all, this is natural to ask for this. So please, don't destroy your spiritual treasures, okay? I need something to bring back as proof to my hunt. Bye-bye!"
Her footsteps were heard, getting smaller and smaller.
Wei Ji trembled covered in blood. His vision blurred red. He felt her innocence like a knife cutting deeper than her spear. How could she smile so sweetly after gutting him? How could death be dealt with so casually? Every old man like him wanted to die in a blaze of glory, but this?
He felt small. Weak. Like a bug squashed under a child's careless hand.
"Damn it… damn it!" His teeth cracked as he bit down.
Killing intent burned in his eyes. He remembered his sect, his disciples. His proud banners were torn to ashes. He recalled the laughter of the Celestial Demon Empress as her demonic sect members trampled everything he had built.
He had not wanted fame. Not power. Not heaven-defying might. He only wanted a sect—a family—to stand tall at the peak of these upper middle heavens before he laid down to eternal rest.
He was so proud when he created a top-level sect. He had come here without a heaven-defying spiritual root, without cheats, without a grandfather, and without anything that set him above all others. Yet, he created a sect and became one of the top powerhouses. He was so proud. Extremely proud of his achievements. But just when he thought he only needed to wait for the end of his lifespan, she, the Celestial Demon Empress, appeared and burned them all to the ground.
And now, he's alone. Nothing on him. And a girl under the Celestial Demon Empress had gutted him like chicken. He didn't even last a second.
Wei Ji's neck popped as he tilted his head upward. His hands trembled as he looked up.
"Am I really going to die just like this?" His voice rasped, as if he accepted what was about to happen but still couldn't believe it. The creations, the sects he had created, and the dreams he had envisioned at the end of his life all became nothing but imagination.
Suddenly, he paused; Wei Ji remembered something, and then, eventually, he mumbled, "Then let me use that!"
His palm opened.
Fwoooom!
The orb hidden within his dantian flared, the was light so bright it pierced the dark sky.
Stab!
A sting shot into his very soul, searing him with agony beyond flesh. His immortal soul quivered, splitting at the seams.
"Urghhh!" Wei Ji gritted his teeth until some blood spilled from his gums. The pain clawed far deeper, sharper, until to the point it was unbearable. And when he thought he could no longer hold on—when his mind whispered in his ears to give it up—he roared.
"To hell with it all!"
Wei Ji saw his vision slowly darkening and noticed his spirit slowly crumbling. "I don't know how this will work, but if I am given another chance, I won't leave a mark or create a sect until I end your life, in my own very hands, Celestial Demon Empress!"