Aspiring to the Immortal Path

“What did you say?” Ice Phoenix slapped the table and rose to her feet, angrily glaring at her subordinates. “They were already fish on the cutting board, yet you let them escape!?”

The Ten Disasters Crone prostrated, answering in a trembling voice, “Your subordinate was incompetent. Your Majesty, please punish me!”

Ice Phoenix viciously stared at the crone, her chest rising and falling in anger, but slowly, she calmed down.

And then she chuckled. “Well, these are Tang Jie’s disciple and son we are talking about. It would be impossible for them to not be at least this capable. I know that you all did your best. This matter was an error on my part. I should have realized that Tang Xuanyu, with his peerless grasp of Space, would be the ideal emissary. If I had, I would have strengthened the space-sealing power, ensuring that the two would have had no chance to escape.”

The crone was taken aback. “Your Majesty, you don’t blame me?”

“I already said that it was an error on my part, so why would I blame you? You are from my earliest group of followers, the ones who were with me throughout my conquest of Confusionem, with countless achievements. I understand what kind of demon you are and know that you aren’t that careless.”

The Ten Disasters Crone wept in excitement. Although she was a demon, as a former human, she still possessed human emotions. She had been the brains behind this operation, yet it had resulted in a failure. Yet Ice Phoenix had granted her forgiveness rather than punishment, bringing her to tears.

Ice Phoenix added, “But while I personally forgive you, the rules of God Phoenix Palace must stand. Since you failed at your task, you must take on some punishment. Are you willing?”

“Your subordinate is willing!”

Ice Phoenix nodded. “Very good. You are punished with seven days in the Demon Devouring Lair.”

The crone visibly shivered, hinting that this was no pleasant experience, but she still kowtowed and said, “Thank you, Your Majesty!”

Though she had been punished, the crone felt no resentment toward Ice Phoenix. Ice Phoenix was becoming more and more capable as a ruler.

After punishing the Ten Disasters Crone, Ice Phoenix scowled.

After some thought, she asked, “What’s the situation with Cai Junyang’s group?”

A high-rank devil replied, “They have not made any movements so far.”

“Whiteweep, you’re sure you got Tang Xuanyu with your Blood Decaying Hand?”

The winged Blood Demon replied, “Your Majesty, I would swear on my life that I got him. I just didn’t think that he would still be able to use his Space Dao Art in such a condition.”

“His mother is Xu Miaoran, the Rosecloud Domain’s number one pill refiner. There’s no way he didn’t have some sort of lifesaving medicine on hand. But the Blood Decaying Hand reverses the Five Elements and throws one’s blood energy into chaos, so Tang Xuanyu was probably only just barely able to execute his Dao Art. The fact that Cai Junyang’s side has done nothing is the best evidence. It means that while they managed to escape, they weren’t able to make it back to Cai Junyang. More likely is that they simply opened up a subspace and fled into it.”

Whiteweep fretted, “But that makes finding them very difficult.”

“If they’re lost, they’re lost. It doesn’t appear that we have any chance of finding them,” Ice Phoenix said. “But if we can’t get Tang Jie’s son and disciple, we can still get something else out of this.”

Ice Phoenix cast her gaze down the hall.

Furyhorn was bound on the floor.

After the battle of Meteorville, this poor fellow had been seized by Ice Phoenix’s subordinates as a gift for her.

Furyhorn fearfully looked back at Ice Phoenix.

“I surrender! I surrender! I am willing to serve you, Your Majesty God Phoenix!”

“‘Serve me’?” Ice Phoenix cocked her head. “No, I don’t need your service, but something else from you.”

“What is it?”

“Your life.” Ice Phoenix thrust out a finger. This finger possessed no mighty energy and dealt Furyhorn no physical damage, but it shot straight into his mind and obliterated his Demonic Soul. Furyhorn died without a sound, his corpse left intact.

Ice Phoenix drew back her hand and ordered, “Send this corpse back to Meteorville and spread the word that Tang Xuanyu was attacked and heavily injured there, after which he was captured by the Massacre Saber Devil. I’d like to see if Tang Jie’s good brothers can just sit back and watch! Let them serve as my vanguard in the Heavenly Saber Plains!”

“Has the news been verified?”

Gale Peak.

Wang Posha sat on a large rock at the summit, a rusted saber in hand.

The cultivator down below bowed. “It has been verified. Young Master Tang and Miss Huangfu truly did go to Meteorville, and a major battle truly did occur that day. According to several surviving demons, the Ifrit Furyhorn thought that the young master had a secret art and fought him in order to take it as his own. We found Furyhorn’s body and confirmed that his corpse does show signs that he traded blows with Young Master Tang and Miss Huangfu. In addition, Meteorville truly was flattened by the World Devourer.”

“A mere Ifrit made my junior sister use the World Devourer?” Wang Posha coldly said.

The cultivator replied, “According to our investigation, there were other high-rank devils present at Meteorville at the time, but we are unable to confirm their identities. We currently suspect that the Massacre Saber Devil’s subordinates ambushed the young master.”

“‘The Massacre Saber Devil’…” Wang Posha muttered.

“Posha, why are you still sitting and thinking? We don’t know what happened to Xuanyu and Meng’er, and there’s a high chance that they’ve fallen into the hands of the Massacre Saber Devil. We should go to their rescue at once!” Several people flew over, led by Cai Junyang, Xi Canhen, Wei Tianchong, and Peng Yaolong.

“That’s right. The young master being captured is no small matter. We have to save them no matter the cost,” Peng Yaolong said.

Wang Posha closed his eyes in thought.

After a while, he finally said, “I am keenly aware of how strong Junior Brother is. Even if he couldn’t win, he could at least run. It’s not for certain that they’ve been captured.”

“If he escaped, why can’t we find them?” Wei Tianchong asked.

They were Tang Xuanyu’s back-up in the Primordial Fog Domain, and they maintained constant communication with him. Huangfu Meng even delegated many things to them. This sort of relationship was necessary to make sure that everyone was up-to-date on the situation in the Primordial Fog Domain.

“There must be a reason they didn’t come here, but it doesn’t have to be that they were captured. When we have no evidence, recklessly attacking another faction is unwise,” Wang Posha slowly said.

“You’re right, but on some things, we can’t rule out any possibility, no matter how small. Junior Brother and Junior Sister may not have been captured, or maybe they have, but if there’s the slightest chance that they’ve been captured, then we should go and save them,” Xi Canhen said.

“But what if the Massacre Saber Devil didn’t do it?” Wang Posha countered.

Xi Canhen had no response.

But Wei Tianchong laughed, “If he didn’t do it, does that mean that we can’t attack him? It’s a demon faction, so what does it matter if we destroy it?”

Wang Posha calmly explained, “Mistakenly killing the Massacre Saber Devil isn’t a big deal, but it may serve as a cause for celebration for someone else.”

Everyone immediately thought of Ice Phoenix.

Cai Junyang’s eyes chilled. “Could this matter be related to her?”

Wang Posha shook his head. “I don’t know, but I do know that if it is, then attacking the Massacre Saber Devil is doing exactly what she wants.”

“Then what should we do?” Wei Tianchong started to get a little anxious.

Wang Posha replied, “What else can we do? We attack the Heavenly Saber Plains.”

He had just said that the Massacre Saber Devil wasn’t necessarily the one who had attacked Tang Xuanyu, but now he was calling for an attack on the Heavenly Saber Plains?

Wang Posha explained, “Just as Canhen said, we can’t rule out any possibility. Junior Brother’s status is so important that we can’t even let go of a 1% probability that he’s in the hands of the Massacre Saber Devil. And from another perspective, if he was in that woman’s hands, we should still attack, because that’s the only way we can ensure his safety.”

Everyone fell silent.

Wang Posha was right. Even if they knew it was a trap, they had no choice but to jump in!

“But before that… contact Tang Chuan. Inform Master that Xuanyu has gone missing,” Wang Posha ordered.

No matter what, Tang Jie could not be kept in the dark.

Deep down, Wang Posha was calling out, Junior Brother, where are you? Do you know how much trouble you’re bringing this world by going missing?

In a pitch-black space, Huangfu Meng was tumbling and tumbling, falling ever downward.

But she would never hit the bottom, because this was a fissure in space, and all that existed here was an infinite void. She could keep falling until the end of time.

But Huangfu Meng didn’t care. Her eyes were wide open as she looked for something.

Finally, she spotted a figure floating in the distant darkness.

“Xuanyu! Xuanyu!”

She rushed toward Tang Xuanyu as she shouted.

Finally, while still falling and falling, she reached Tang Xuanyu.

Grabbing him, she shouted, “Xuanyu, are you okay?”

Holding his chest, Tang Xuanyu replied, “I’m fine!”

He said he was fine, but blood was still gushing out of the wound on his body.

Yet he was laughing.

Laughing!

“Close one, close one! Thankfully, we had you, Junior Sister, wise and courageous, even able to break out of Miss Ice Phoenix’s meticulous trap!” Tang Xuanyu laughed.

Huangfu Meng was on the verge of tears from worry. “Why are you laughing? Let me see your wound.”

To break out, Huangfu Meng had no choice but to forcefully awaken Tang Xuanyu, but this had only worsened his condition, invalidating the work of the Hundred Blossom Spirit PIll.

But Tang Xuanyu was still laughing. “So long as I’m alive, what does it matter that I’m injured? Father often says that suffering is the best fertilizer, and it seems that he was right. I had always underestimated Miss Ice Phoenix, but I won’t make that mistake again!”

“Stop talking and get us out of here,” Huangfu Meng gruffly replied. A spatial fissure was not a good place to linger.

She had to admit that while Tang Xuanyu had a rather carefree personality, he had impressive composure in the face of danger and the willpower to always recover from setbacks. It seemed like he had inherited the kingly traits of his father.

“Understood,” Tang Xuanyu replied.

Suppressing the pain, he activated Endless Dimension.

But the moment he did, he paled. “Something’s wrong!”

“What is it?” Huangfu Meng asked. “Do you not have enough power and need to rest?”

“No, my Space Dao Art is being interfered with,” Tang Xuanyu answered.

“What’s happening?”

“Someone is using the Space Dao to influence this space, forcefully opening a spatial passage… They’re trying to come in through it,” Tang Xuanyu said.

“Can you break free of it?”

“No…” Tang Xuanyu bitterly replied. “They’re stronger than me in the Dao.”

“How could that be?” Huangfu Meng said in shock. She was well aware that Tang Xuanyu had a formidable talent in the Space Dao, with nobody in the Rosecloud Domain except Tang Chuan measuring up to him. And Tang Xuanyu also cultivated the arts of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, the Space experts, which further improved his control over Space such that even Tang Chuan was a little inferior.

But this individual was actually even stronger than Tang Xuanyu in the Dao of Space?

Ice Phoenix… When did she get such a powerful ally?

They were being pulled along through the space.

It was like a giant invisible hand had grabbed them, turning their vertical fall into a horizontal one.

A line of light appeared in that pitch-black space.

It grew brighter and brighter, like a rising sun.

The two of them flew toward that light, and then they disappeared into it.