608 First Encounter

[POV: Tian Mei]

Tian Mei had come into this contest between the Supreme Heart and the Supreme Bearer expecting something resembling an arena duel. She had imagined a battlefield, perhaps a ruined city or some vast platform where cultivators would clash beneath the watching eyes of their respective factions. She had not expected the arena to be an entire continent.

The realization had left her speechless.

At this scale, the contest was no longer a simple confrontation between cultivators. Armies could be raised. Kingdoms could fall. Entire generations of mortals could be dragged into a conflict they did not even understand. The continent itself had become their arena, and the countless mortals living upon it were nothing more than unwilling participants.

It was a scale painfully unfamiliar to Tian Mei.

She had experience with conflict. She had seen bloodshed, survived dangerous encounters, and spent enough time around powerful cultivators to understand that the cultivation world was hardly peaceful. Yet most of her life had been spent hidden away or cultivating in seclusion. She knew how to fight. She knew how to survive. She knew how to deal with cultivators who were stronger than herself.

War, however, was something else entirely.

Neither of the two cultivators accompanying her could claim the same ignorance.

Mai Duyi had been a volunteer soldier back in the False Earth. Even after its descent into the Hollowed World, he had continued serving in the New Willow military and had eventually become an honorable member of the Guardians. He understood armies, logistics, chains of command, and the ugly reality of sending people into battles where they might never return.

Anna was no less experienced. Her people had endured years of tyranny under the Origin King, and when the Holy Emperor finally liberated the world of Losten, she had been among the first volunteers to fight beneath His Holy Majesty's banner.

Compared to them, Tian Mei's knowledge of war was embarrassingly academic.

She had read enough books to fill several libraries, but books could only take someone so far. Her peers, people who should have been roughly around her age and cultivation, were figures who could have been placed in history books and taught in schools. They had lived through events that Tian Mei had only ever read about.

As uncouth as it sounded, Tian Mei had been someone who had been handed things.

She had been given opportunities. She had been protected. She had been surrounded by good people who had quietly solved problems before they ever reached her. Even her cultivation had been supported by circumstances that most cultivators would have considered absurdly fortunate.

And Tian Mei had thrived because of it.

Unfortunately, there was no one around to hand her anything anymore.

“Stop! Don't resist!”

The shout came from behind her.

Tian Mei sighed.

She glanced over her shoulder and saw several soldiers pursuing her through the palace courtyard. Their armor was crude compared to the equipment of even the weakest cultivation sect, but the people wearing it were not ordinary soldiers.

Every one of them was at the Martial Tempering realm.

That alone was enough to make Tian Mei feel slightly offended.

Ten years.

It had already been ten years since her party had fallen into this world.

The situation had forced them to split up, especially after they realized just how enormous the contest had become. They needed to exploit the scale of this world rather than fight against it. They were outnumbered two to one, and confronting the enemy directly would have been little more than suicide.

So they had hidden themselves.

They had gathered information, studied the local powers, searched for natural resources, and slowly built themselves up from nothing. They had to play the information game, make use of the world's resources, and establish their own influence before their enemies could do the same.

Tian Mei had chosen this coastal country.

It had seemed like a reasonable decision at the time.

She had even taken in a royal princess as her disciple.

The mortals of this world knew nothing about cultivation. Compared to the countless worlds Tian Mei had visited, it was almost comically primitive. Convincing the young princess that immortality existed had therefore been remarkably easy.

The girl had been painfully naive.

Tian Mei should have recognized that as a warning.

After all, she possessed eyes inherited from her bloodline that allowed her to peer directly into the souls of others. She could see things about a person that ordinary people could never perceive.

Yet somehow, she had still failed to judge the character of her own disciple.

Her father had warned her about that.

Do not underestimate the soul.

Your eyes are nothing special. They are merely a tool that allows you to look at the world differently.

Tian Mei had understood the words.

She had simply failed to live by them.

“Apprehend her!”

“Her Majesty wants her alive!”

“Don't let her escape!”

Tian Mei glanced back again.

An immortal capturing net descended from above, its runes illuminating the courtyard as it spread across the sky. It was unexpected, since she didn't remember teaching the soldiers something like this. Tian Mei could have shattered it with a flick of her finger. She could have done the same to the soldiers pursuing her.

But she didn't want to hurt them.

They were only mortals who had somehow reached the Martial Tempering realm. They had no idea what they were involving themselves in. As far as Tian Mei was concerned, beating them senseless because their queen had ordered them to capture her would have been unnecessarily cruel.

So she simply dodged.

The net missed her by less than an inch.

Tian Mei stepped onto the palace wall, walked across it as though gravity had ceased to matter, and then leaped beyond the outer perimeter.

Behind her, the soldiers shouted in panic.

She ignored them.

By the time the palace disappeared from view, dawn had already begun to break.

Tian Mei eventually found herself standing beside the shore.

The sea stretched endlessly before her, its surface reflecting the pale light of the rising sun. Waves rolled against the sand with a soothing rhythm, completely indifferent to the contest taking place upon the continent.

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Tian Mei stared at it for a long moment, when a familiar voice came from behind her.

“Master.”

Tian Mei did not turn immediately.

A woman wearing a hood stood several steps behind her. Her face remained partially concealed, but Tian Mei had no difficulty recognizing her.

“I knew I'd find you here,” the woman said quietly. “You've always liked the sea.”

Tian Mei nodded.

“I have.”

There was no point denying it.

“I've always longed for adventure in my youth,” Tian Mei continued. “Sometimes, I'd look toward the sea from the mountainside and dream about leaving my seclusion. I wondered what was beyond the horizon. I wanted to travel, meet strange people, and see places I'd only ever read about.”

She paused.

“Unfortunately, it was impossible for me.”

The woman's expression tightened.

Tian Mei finally looked toward her.

“Complications concerning my history would have put the people I loved in danger. Ironically enough, that didn't stop me from gallivinating around, looking for my father as an excuse. Shu Dai bought it, so why not?”

Her voice was calm, but the memories behind those words were not.

During the Civil War in the Empire and the subsequent Hollowed World War, the woman who had served as her mother figure had hidden her away. They had pretended to be dead and allowed the world to believe that they had vanished.

Even after the wars ended, they had remained hidden for a long time.

They had focused on cultivation, survival, and making certain that no one could use Tian Mei or the people around her to find them. Tian Mei had understood why they had done it. She had never blamed Tian En for it.

That did not mean she had never wished things could have been different.

She exhaled slowly.

“Let's get this over with.”

The woman lowered her head.

Tian Mei studied her for a moment before asking, “How does it feel to be a queen?”

The woman flinched.

Tian Mei's gaze hardened.

“Why did you do this, Xieren'er?”

The woman beneath the hood was He Xieren.

Once, Tian Mei had known her as a foolish, curious little princess who had looked at her with wide eyes and asked whether immortality was truly possible. Now, she was the queen of this coastal country. And she had just sent an entire palace guard after her former master.

He Xieren shoulders trembled, her voice was mournful.

“I didn't want to do it.”

“You’ve changed so suddenly,” Tian Mei remarked.

Her eyes narrowed as she examined Xieren. There was a small taint within her soul, faint enough that an ordinary cultivator might have overlooked it, but impossible for Tian Mei to miss. More concerning was the spiritual pressure radiating from her disciple.

When Tian Mei had last seen her, Xieren had only been at the Mind Enlightenment realm.

Now, she was at the Will Reinforcement realm.

Tian Mei's expression became complicated.

In the span of a single month, Xieren had made a leap that should have been impossible for a mortal cultivator. Even with the special methods Tian Mei had used to accelerate her disciple's cultivation, reaching the Will Reinforcement realm this quickly would have been absurd.

He Xieren slowly removed her hood, showing two small horns from her forehead, their appearance so unnatural against her otherwise familiar face that Tian Mei stared for several moments.

This was the first time she had ever seen them.

“Master,” Xieren whispered. “Please forgive me.”

Tian Mei's heart sank.

She had only been away from the He Nation for a week.

It had been a completely ordinary trip. Tian Mei regularly left the country for short periods to investigate various matters, meet with her companions, and arrange the smaller pieces of their long-term strategy. Their decisive confrontation was still some distance away, and there was no reason for her to remain in one place every waking moment.

That week had been no different.

Until she returned.

The royal bloodline of He had suddenly died.

Every member of the royal family, with the sole exception of He Xieren, had perished, leaving her as the only remaining heir to the throne.

The circumstances had immediately struck Tian Mei as suspicious. Her eyes had told her the truth. Xieren had killed her own family.

Tian Mei had confronted her the moment she discovered the truth, expecting an explanation. Instead, Xieren had refused to speak with her and ordered her guards to attack.

Tian Mei had initially thought it absurd, when she had noticed something peculiar.

The soldiers chasing her had not been cultivators from some hidden sect. They had been Xieren's ordinary guards, mortals who had somehow been ordered to pursue a person they could not possibly hope to defeat. She knew what her disciple felt about her soldiers. She'd never do something like send her soldiers to there deaths.

If anything, it looked like to to Tian Mei that the soldiers had been ordered to drive her away. Now, looking at Xieren's trembling body, Tian Mei finally understood why.

Someone was driving a wedge between her and her disciple.

He Xieren suddenly collapsed onto her knees.

“Master, please.”

She pressed her forehead against the ground.

“Please leave.”

Tian Mei stared at her as she slowly began putting the pieces together.

“No.”

He Xieren froze.

“Stand up.”

“Master—”

“Stand up. Talk to me.”

Tian Mei's voice was gentle, but firm.

“Make me understand. Why did you do it?”

Xieren remained on her knees.

Tian Mei glanced around.

There was no one else here.

The hood He Xieren wore had been enchanted with a spell that concealed one's existence. Tian Mei herself had given it to her disciple not long ago. Anyone outside their immediate vicinity would have found it difficult to track her here.

“No one else is listening,” Tian Mei said. “It's only us here. So tell me the truth.”

He Xieren trembled.

“Master…”

“Why did you do it?”

Blood-red tears suddenly streamed down He Xieren's cheeks.

“You don't understand.”

Tian Mei's eyes widened.

“I…”

He Xieren's voice cracked.

“I didn't do it.”

Her body began trembling violently.

“The demon made me do it.”

Tian Mei's pupils contracted. Then He Xieren's head exploded. Blood and fragments of bone splattered across Tian Mei's person. For several seconds, Tian Mei simply stood there. She stared at the headless corpse kneeling before her. Her expression slowly became blank.

“That was anticlimactic.”

A woman's voice came from beside her.

Tian Mei turned.

A demonic woman stood there as if she had always been present.

She had red skin, dark hair, and wore revealing garments that did little to conceal her sensuality. Her smile was playful, but there was something deeply unpleasant in her eyes.

“I put in so much work corrupting her,” the demon complained. “And she just had to go against my geass at the very end. I thought you'd make for an easy kill. But with your guard up right now, I imagine you won't go down quite so easily.”

Tian Mei's eyes became cold. She recognized her. Someone with a layer of immortality in this place could only be a champion of the Supreme Heart.

Before Tian Mei could respond, another presence appeared.

“Are you not glad I came with you?”

A wolf stood behind the demon.

Or, more accurately, a man shaped like a wolf.

He possessed the head of a great wolf, with fur covering nearly his entire body. He wore little more than a belt and a pair of pants, both of which were practically overflowing with concentrated qi.

Another champion.

Tian Mei's gaze moved between the two.

“How did you corrupt her?”

The demon's smile widened.

Tian Mei continued, “I built wards around her soul. I gave her accessories capable of repelling evil. Even if you possessed some supernatural means of corruption, you shouldn't have been able to infiltrate her soul so easily.”

The demon laughed.

“Oh, how adorable.”

Her laughter carried genuine amusement.

“Do you really think all forms of corruption have to be supernatural? Do you think corruption must always involve moving the qi of the universe or some grand mystical technique?”

Tian Mei remained silent.

“Wrong.”

The demon raised one finger.

“I started with her mother.”

The demon delighted in her reaction.

“Then her father.”

The finger curled.

“Then her siblings.”

Tian Mei's heart sank.

The demon's smile became wider.

“Words alone can hurt someone. Words can break a person's spirit. Words can even kill, given enough time and the right circumstances. Imagine what words can do to a mere mortal like her when spoken by the people she trusts most.”

Tian Mei's thoughts immediately connected. One thought led to another. Her expression became increasingly grim. The only way this made sense was if the demon had personally infiltrated the royal court of He.

That told Tian Mei two things.

First, her party was woefully behind in counter-intelligence.

Second, the enemy had underestimated them.

The demon had been so confident in her scheme that she had exposed herself rather than simply allowing He Xieren to continue suffering until she became completely useless.

Tian Mei slowly smiled.

“You're right. Words hurt.”

Tian Mei raised her hand, and a whip appeared in her grasp. The weapon was pale and strangely unassuming, yet an indescribable divinity lingered around it. It was made from the tongue of the Holy Emperor himself, making it a legendary treasure.

Through it, Tian Mei could cast the Divine Word as though the Holy Emperor himself had spoken them.

The whip cracked.

“Bind.”

The instant the Divine Word manifested, the whip lashed forward.

The demon's expression changed.

“What—?”

The weapon wrapped around her body. Divine power erupted. The demon screamed.

“What's this!? IT HURTS!”

Her red flesh began burning wherever the whip touched her, divine light spreading across her body like a plague that her demonic nature could not resist.

“Get it off me!”

She struggled violently.

“Get this damned thing off!”

The wolf's expression darkened.

“Let her go!”

Tian Mei ignored him.

The demon screamed again, her earlier confidence completely gone.

“Why does it hurt this much?! This shouldn't be possible! I'm a champion of the Supreme Heart! How can a mere whip—?!”

“Enough!”

The wolf lunged forward.

Tian Mei's eyes flicked toward him. She did not need to fight both of them at once. With a sharp movement of her wrist, Tian Mei swung the whip and hurled the demon toward the wolf.

The wolf caught her instinctively.

That was all Tian Mei needed. She released the whip. The demon was no longer her concern. Tian Mei immediately rushed toward He Xieren. Her disciple's headless body remained kneeling exactly where she had fallen.

Tian Mei's expression tightened.

“Xieren'er.”

She reached her.

There was no time to think.

Tian Mei extended her spiritual sense and wrapped it around her disciple's body. With a single thought, space distorted within her. A pocket dimension opened. Tian Mei pulled He Xieren body into it before anyone could interfere.

Then she felt something above her.

A monstrous killing intent descended.

Tian Mei looked up.

The wolf was already there.

He had thrown aside the demon and appeared directly over her, his claws descending toward her head.

His wolfish face twisted into a savage grin.

“Die, you little thing!”