In the Northern Region, seeing that the Immortal Emperors disappeared, the Immortal Monarchs left one after the other. One even wanted to collect Monarch Allroot's corpse but was surprised to find it gone.
"Which bastard stole it while we weren't paying attention? Damn him!"
No matter how angry he was or the others who had the same thought, they all left without the corpse.
Once they were all gone, from the ground, a figure in blue arose. It was a female cultivator in the Nascent Soul Realm. She wore a pure black robe that seemed to merge with her long hair, and the most striking feature was the blue iris that replaced her right eye.
She was Hu Landie
A fair distance away, the Spring Autumn Butterfly Larva flew through the air and returned to Hu Landie and crawled into the blue iris. She revealed a satisfied smirk.
"I hadn't expected that the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus that was discovered over a hundred years later would appear this early. Last time, Sword Empress Xi never came to the Northern Regions. What changed?" Hu Landie asked before shaking her head.
"Forget it; my strength is far too weak now. Many things from before I turned back time were unknown to me. Even when I ascended to Immortality, I was hunted down because of my Spring Autumn Butterfly."
Hu Landie appeared young, but she was an old monster with over ten thousand years of memories and experience. In her first life, she had miraculously stumbled upon the tomb of an Immortal that cultivated the Spring Autumn Scripture and devised the Spring Autumn Butterfly.
Word of it leaked, and eventually, she was cornered. When that happened, she decided to gamble and refined her own heart to complete the Spring Autumn Butterfly. Through that, she was able to turn back time to before she had begun cultivating.
Using the advantage of her memories and experiences, she quickly rose through the ranks of the Silk Chrysalis Sect in order to attain a chance to enter the Ruin of the Immortal Court.
She soon left the sect afterward as there were no advantages for her. The Earth Continent would be embroiled in a war soon.
She had then entered Immortal Riverrat's tomb to complete the fragment Spring Autumn Scripture in her possession. The materials he left were useful in cultivating her Spring Autumn Butterfly Larva.
Throughout the years, she had been quietly visited the locations that contained essential resources. Eventually, she stopped by the Northern Region by the Fleeting Mist Sect in order to harvest a part of the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus. She had wanted to come back when she became an Immortal to harvest the rest of the lotus, but it seemed that it was released early.
"The flap of a butterfly's wing can cause a hurricane on the other side of the realm." Hu Landie said, recalling the words describing the Spring Autumn Butterfly. She soon left. Her harvest was already considerable, especially the corpse of Monarch Allroot. She could have never imagined such a fortune, not even in her former life.
The scene was atop a mountain. Despite the mountaintop being above the clouds, the ground was still green and filled with blooming flowers. The gentle wind carried the soft clouds like a gentle river.
Zhang Cuiying recognized this scenery. It was a location that she never visited or painted since that battle over a hundred years ago.
She looked at her hands. Her hands were still the same, milky white, and delicate to the point that they seemed to have never held anything. Her sleeves were pale yellow in color, a color she had never worn since he died.
In fact, she had never worn any color other than white since he died.
Why was she here in such a dress?
No, Zhang Cuiying knew. She waited slowly as she watched the noon solar star dipped into the horizon. As dusk began, the scenery was bathed in an orange tint.
"The autumn air is clear,
The autumn moon is bright,
Leaves that have fallen gather and scatter,
Jackdaws roosts and start anew.
Yearning for each other, when shall we meet again?
It is hard to love this night"
The speaker's tone was clear as spring water, and the tone was neither hurried nor slow. It wasn't the most beautiful voice, but the gentle way it was spoken was soothing.
Zhang Cuiying looked towards the sea of clouds to see an Immortal walking towards her. He was robed in light green, and his hair was tied in a top knot. The image of a scholar came up immediately when one looked at him.
His face was above average, but that was par for the norm for Immortals. As a general rule, Immortals were all above average in looks even if they were ordinary or ugly before they started cultivating. But his temperament caused his initial six out of ten looks to become nine out of ten.
"Daopoet..." Zhang Cuiying whispered as if in a trance. Her eyes slightly widened as if in disbelief.
"Ying'er, what's wrong?" The man, Immortal Daopoet, asked with a smile. His eyes were exceptionally gentle as he brushed the stray petals from Zhang Cuiying's hair.
"Are you worried?" Daopoet asked and then lightly laughed. "There's no need. I'm confident in my chances of breaking through into the Seamless Immortal Realm and becoming one of the Buzhou Immortal Sect's Monarch Elders. Rather than worrying about me, it would best if you thought for yourself more. You should have arrived at the Seamless Immortal Realm earlier than me, but you delayed your progress because you were worried. Ying'er, I'm no longer the hairy brat from all those years ago."
Unable to control herself, tears began to leak from Zhang Cuiying's eyes like little pearls. But she didn't close her eyes or wipe them; she kept them open as if to take in everything before her.
"Senior sister!?" Daopoet's voice slightly cracked at the unexpected sight of Zhang Cuiying crying. His calm and collected senior sister, the one who wasn't fazed fighting a Transcending Mortality Sage as a Unity Realm Venerable, the fearless senior sister that protected him from the bullying of the other disciples due to his weak self, the senior sister who would only look at him with disappointed eyes, was now crying before him!
"Did I say something wrong!?" Daopoet's scholarly air completely disappeared as he waved his hand in panic. "Senior sister, I'm sorry I won't do it again. Please just stop crying, I'll change! Umm, I won't dare to trick you anymore! Is it because I snuck a peek at you when you were bathing a year ago!? I apologize!"
Time seemed to have frozen as Zhang Cuiying's tears stopped, and her eyes widened with disbelief at Daopoet.
Daopoet, in contrast, was staring at Zhang Cuiying with his knees buckling with an expression as if expression, "Oh shit, did I just say that out loud?"
Zhang Cuiying slowly broke out of her stupor before giving Immortal Daopoet a truly stunning smile that would make the mountaintop flowers hide away in shame.
Daopoet stood there, stunned at the rarely seen smile from Zhang Cuiying. Slowly, a smile crept upon his face. Before he doubled over in pain with Zhang Cuiying's fist embedded in his stomach.
"You little pervert. I thought you changed from your old habits; it just turned out you learned how to hide them better!!!" Zhang Cuiying growled out through gritted teeth.
Daopoet protected his head with both his arms, expecting his noggin to be struck whenever he made Zhang Cuiying angry. But to his surprise, cool fingers pinched his chin and forced him to face up.
"Senior sis-ompffff!!!" Immortal Daopoet's eyes widened like saucers when he felt something hot clash against his lips. His mind stopped working when he realized that his distant senior sister was kissing him!!!
"Huwah?" Daopoet made an incomprehensible noise when the two's lips separated. A goofy grin appeared on his face as he slowly slipped out of his stupor. "Ehehe..."
Zhang Cuiying smiled helplessly. "Even if this is an illusion and a fake, you can't help but be stupid."
She shook her head in exasperation. "But in the end, a fake is still a fake no matter how I wish it isn't. Break for me!"
The world stopped, and all noise ceased. As if the color was being sucked away, the world gradually lost its color except for Zhang Cuiying. Like this, the illusionary world shattered.
When Zhang Cuiying returned to her senses, she discovered she was on a bed naked with only a blanket covering her.
"Ying'er! Let's get married!" The door to the room burst open, and an exuberant Daopoet walked in. Outside there were a lot of servants who were shocked and peaking in.
Zhang Cuiying felt her lips twitched and, through gritted teeth, said. "EM-PER-OR SOUL-FISH!!!!!"
The Cloud Goddess looked at her surrounding. She was currently kneeling at a mountaintop. But the area surrounding the mountain didn't have any land but colorless space. It was a mountain that existed only in the Vast Void.
In front of her was a man handsome and dignified. He exuded an aura that made him seem like a celestial emperor. He wore jade green dragon robes with golden five-clawed dragon and lotus embroidery. A jade coronet tied a portion of his long black hair.
She remembered this scene. The man before her was like a deity to her of the time, a mere Immortal Monarch who was unable to ascend to the Immortal Emperor level.
"Once you take this step, there will be no chance for regrets." The man said, his voice a conglomeration of numerous voices. It was like a thousand people speaking at once and in the exact same way.
She felt herself nod. "If I do not take this chance, I will regret it for the rest of my days."
The celestial emperor nodded. "Very well, although you will be the weakest of the weak, you will be a divinity."
The Cloud Goddess gained a nostalgiac look in her eyes as her body kowtowed out of her control, but she felt her body stiffened when she heard the next words.
"Even when you start your own force, remember to remain loyal. Do not think of using Monarch Yonderheart's death as a way to break free. We can make you a divinity. Naturally, we can drag you down to a mere mortal as well."
The Cloud Goddess felt cold sweat on her back. Those words back then! Did the man before her predict that she would fall to Emperor Soulfish's attack over a million years ago!?
Eternal Night Emperor was standing with his hands behind his back atop the clouds. Below him, an immortal city was bustling with life. Even the street hawkers were at least in the Foundation Establishment Realm.
There was joy, and there was sadness in his eyes.
All the city citizens wore a variety of clothing; there was not even a hint of uniformity. But more than half of the people had a badge with twelve symbols upon it.
"So that little fellow's attack is so sinister. Bringing us into an illusionary realm that creates our dearest wish based on our memories. In terms of understanding the heart, I'm afraid there is no one more proficient than he. But so what? In the end, a fake is still a fake."
Like with Zhang Cuiying, the world started to lose all color before shattering. But unlike her, another world didn't replace the illusionary world, and he was outside of Emperor Soulfish's technique.
Emperor Soulfish, naturally, had already escaped by this time. He looked around to see that the Cloud Goddess was already out to his surprise. Although she was an Immortal Emperor level expert, that was mostly due to her divine energy and not the power of her Dao. So it was a surprise that she was out before him.
But he saw that her face wasn't right and stayed silent.
It didn't take long for Zhang Cuiying to appear; her face wasn't right either. And Eternal Night Monarch carefully stayed silent around these two women.
A good man doesn't fight with women; Eternal Night Emperor stroked his beard and thought this.
Strangely, no matter how long they waited, Mengfei didn't come out. Although young, her strength should be on the higher end in the group of four.
In the end, although her Dao is strong, her heart needs more tempering. Thinking about it, it is already amazing that she is an Immortal Emperor at only a thousand years old.
"Empress Voidink, please excuse me for not being able to accompany you any longer. Emperor Soulfish has already fled with the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus. As such, I will return to the sect. I cannot hope to be away from the sect for too long. I'm sure you understand." Eternal Night Emperor said.
"I will not delay you." Zhang Cuiying agreed but added. "However, if that Devil were to reappear, can I trust you to lend aid?"
Eternal Night Emperor paused as he studied Zhang Cuiying. They originally teamed up because they wanted to prevent the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus from being stolen, but it seemed that Zhang Cuiying had a grudge against Emperor Soulfish? Was it perhaps related to his technique. Nonetheless, he didn't peer deeper into the issue. "If there is a chance, this Immortal will aid Empress Voidink."
The Cloud Goddess also left with Eternal Night Emperor gone.
With them gone, Zhang Cuiying waited for Mengfei to return. Days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months. Just as she was preparing to return to the sect and have some illusion specialists come, Mengfei reappeared.
Zhang Cuiying paused and observed the newly emerged Mengfei. Mengfei didn't have the indolent air to her when Zhang Cuiying first came to the Northern Region. Rather she seemed to have regressed to her previous state of emotion.
Mengfei's face was blank like before, but Zhang Cuiying felt that something had changed. Even the air around her seemed to have evolved.
"Elder Zhang, do you know what specialties the Northern Region have?"
Zhang Cuiying gave a bewildered look in response. Mengfei, seeing her confusion, elaborated.
"I should buy some souvenirs for Yi'er. Because of the appearance of the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus, he didn't get a chance to go out much. I should buy some gifts to console him."
Zhang Cuiying had only one response to this.
"Haa?"
Just what did Mengfei experience to change her like this!?
D.C.Haenlien
Poem: Autumn Air by Li Bai
In the end, it turned out that I gave Zhang Cuiying more backstory. I quite enjoy writing Daopoet. Too bad he's dead.
In the Northern Region, seeing that the Immortal Emperors disappeared, the Immortal Monarchs left one after the other. One even wanted to collect Monarch Allroot's corpse but was surprised to find it gone.
"Which bastard stole it while we weren't paying attention? Damn him!"
No matter how angry he was or the others who had the same thought, they all left without the corpse.
Once they were all gone, from the ground, a figure in blue arose. It was a female cultivator in the Nascent Soul Realm. She wore a pure black robe that seemed to merge with her long hair, and the most striking feature was the blue iris that replaced her right eye.
She was Hu Landie
A fair distance away, the Spring Autumn Butterfly Larva flew through the air and returned to Hu Landie and crawled into the blue iris. She revealed a satisfied smirk.
"I hadn't expected that the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus that was discovered over a hundred years later would appear this early. Last time, Sword Empress Xi never came to the Northern Regions. What changed?" Hu Landie asked before shaking her head.
"Forget it; my strength is far too weak now. Many things from before I turned back time were unknown to me. Even when I ascended to Immortality, I was hunted down because of my Spring Autumn Butterfly."
Hu Landie appeared young, but she was an old monster with over ten thousand years of memories and experience. In her first life, she had miraculously stumbled upon the tomb of an Immortal that cultivated the Spring Autumn Scripture and devised the Spring Autumn Butterfly.
Word of it leaked, and eventually, she was cornered. When that happened, she decided to gamble and refined her own heart to complete the Spring Autumn Butterfly. Through that, she was able to turn back time to before she had begun cultivating.
Using the advantage of her memories and experiences, she quickly rose through the ranks of the Silk Chrysalis Sect in order to attain a chance to enter the Ruin of the Immortal Court.
She soon left the sect afterward as there were no advantages for her. The Earth Continent would be embroiled in a war soon.
She had then entered Immortal Riverrat's tomb to complete the fragment Spring Autumn Scripture in her possession. The materials he left were useful in cultivating her Spring Autumn Butterfly Larva.
Throughout the years, she had been quietly visited the locations that contained essential resources. Eventually, she stopped by the Northern Region by the Fleeting Mist Sect in order to harvest a part of the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus. She had wanted to come back when she became an Immortal to harvest the rest of the lotus, but it seemed that it was released early.
"The flap of a butterfly's wing can cause a hurricane on the other side of the realm." Hu Landie said, recalling the words describing the Spring Autumn Butterfly. She soon left. Her harvest was already considerable, especially the corpse of Monarch Allroot. She could have never imagined such a fortune, not even in her former life.
The scene was atop a mountain. Despite the mountaintop being above the clouds, the ground was still green and filled with blooming flowers. The gentle wind carried the soft clouds like a gentle river.
Zhang Cuiying recognized this scenery. It was a location that she never visited or painted since that battle over a hundred years ago.
She looked at her hands. Her hands were still the same, milky white, and delicate to the point that they seemed to have never held anything. Her sleeves were pale yellow in color, a color she had never worn since he died.
In fact, she had never worn any color other than white since he died.
Why was she here in such a dress?
No, Zhang Cuiying knew. She waited slowly as she watched the noon solar star dipped into the horizon. As dusk began, the scenery was bathed in an orange tint.
"The autumn air is clear,
The autumn moon is bright,
Leaves that have fallen gather and scatter,
Jackdaws roosts and start anew.
Yearning for each other, when shall we meet again?
It is hard to love this night"
The speaker's tone was clear as spring water, and the tone was neither hurried nor slow. It wasn't the most beautiful voice, but the gentle way it was spoken was soothing.
Zhang Cuiying looked towards the sea of clouds to see an Immortal walking towards her. He was robed in light green, and his hair was tied in a top knot. The image of a scholar came up immediately when one looked at him.
His face was above average, but that was par for the norm for Immortals. As a general rule, Immortals were all above average in looks even if they were ordinary or ugly before they started cultivating. But his temperament caused his initial six out of ten looks to become nine out of ten.
"Daopoet..." Zhang Cuiying whispered as if in a trance. Her eyes slightly widened as if in disbelief.
"Ying'er, what's wrong?" The man, Immortal Daopoet, asked with a smile. His eyes were exceptionally gentle as he brushed the stray petals from Zhang Cuiying's hair.
"Are you worried?" Daopoet asked and then lightly laughed. "There's no need. I'm confident in my chances of breaking through into the Seamless Immortal Realm and becoming one of the Buzhou Immortal Sect's Monarch Elders. Rather than worrying about me, it would best if you thought for yourself more. You should have arrived at the Seamless Immortal Realm earlier than me, but you delayed your progress because you were worried. Ying'er, I'm no longer the hairy brat from all those years ago."
Unable to control herself, tears began to leak from Zhang Cuiying's eyes like little pearls. But she didn't close her eyes or wipe them; she kept them open as if to take in everything before her.
"Senior sister!?" Daopoet's voice slightly cracked at the unexpected sight of Zhang Cuiying crying. His calm and collected senior sister, the one who wasn't fazed fighting a Transcending Mortality Sage as a Unity Realm Venerable, the fearless senior sister that protected him from the bullying of the other disciples due to his weak self, the senior sister who would only look at him with disappointed eyes, was now crying before him!
"Did I say something wrong!?" Daopoet's scholarly air completely disappeared as he waved his hand in panic. "Senior sister, I'm sorry I won't do it again. Please just stop crying, I'll change! Umm, I won't dare to trick you anymore! Is it because I snuck a peek at you when you were bathing a year ago!? I apologize!"
Time seemed to have frozen as Zhang Cuiying's tears stopped, and her eyes widened with disbelief at Daopoet.
Daopoet, in contrast, was staring at Zhang Cuiying with his knees buckling with an expression as if expression, "Oh shit, did I just say that out loud?"
Zhang Cuiying slowly broke out of her stupor before giving Immortal Daopoet a truly stunning smile that would make the mountaintop flowers hide away in shame.
Daopoet stood there, stunned at the rarely seen smile from Zhang Cuiying. Slowly, a smile crept upon his face. Before he doubled over in pain with Zhang Cuiying's fist embedded in his stomach.
"You little pervert. I thought you changed from your old habits; it just turned out you learned how to hide them better!!!" Zhang Cuiying growled out through gritted teeth.
Daopoet protected his head with both his arms, expecting his noggin to be struck whenever he made Zhang Cuiying angry. But to his surprise, cool fingers pinched his chin and forced him to face up.
"Senior sis-ompffff!!!" Immortal Daopoet's eyes widened like saucers when he felt something hot clash against his lips. His mind stopped working when he realized that his distant senior sister was kissing him!!!
"Huwah?" Daopoet made an incomprehensible noise when the two's lips separated. A goofy grin appeared on his face as he slowly slipped out of his stupor. "Ehehe..."
Zhang Cuiying smiled helplessly. "Even if this is an illusion and a fake, you can't help but be stupid."
She shook her head in exasperation. "But in the end, a fake is still a fake no matter how I wish it isn't. Break for me!"
The world stopped, and all noise ceased. As if the color was being sucked away, the world gradually lost its color except for Zhang Cuiying. Like this, the illusionary world shattered.
When Zhang Cuiying returned to her senses, she discovered she was on a bed naked with only a blanket covering her.
"Ying'er! Let's get married!" The door to the room burst open, and an exuberant Daopoet walked in. Outside there were a lot of servants who were shocked and peaking in.
Zhang Cuiying felt her lips twitched and, through gritted teeth, said. "EM-PER-OR SOUL-FISH!!!!!"
The Cloud Goddess looked at her surrounding. She was currently kneeling at a mountaintop. But the area surrounding the mountain didn't have any land but colorless space. It was a mountain that existed only in the Vast Void.
In front of her was a man handsome and dignified. He exuded an aura that made him seem like a celestial emperor. He wore jade green dragon robes with golden five-clawed dragon and lotus embroidery. A jade coronet tied a portion of his long black hair.
She remembered this scene. The man before her was like a deity to her of the time, a mere Immortal Monarch who was unable to ascend to the Immortal Emperor level.
"Once you take this step, there will be no chance for regrets." The man said, his voice a conglomeration of numerous voices. It was like a thousand people speaking at once and in the exact same way.
She felt herself nod. "If I do not take this chance, I will regret it for the rest of my days."
The celestial emperor nodded. "Very well, although you will be the weakest of the weak, you will be a divinity."
The Cloud Goddess gained a nostalgiac look in her eyes as her body kowtowed out of her control, but she felt her body stiffened when she heard the next words.
"Even when you start your own force, remember to remain loyal. Do not think of using Monarch Yonderheart's death as a way to break free. We can make you a divinity. Naturally, we can drag you down to a mere mortal as well."
The Cloud Goddess felt cold sweat on her back. Those words back then! Did the man before her predict that she would fall to Emperor Soulfish's attack over a million years ago!?
Eternal Night Emperor was standing with his hands behind his back atop the clouds. Below him, an immortal city was bustling with life. Even the street hawkers were at least in the Foundation Establishment Realm.
There was joy, and there was sadness in his eyes.
All the city citizens wore a variety of clothing; there was not even a hint of uniformity. But more than half of the people had a badge with twelve symbols upon it.
"So that little fellow's attack is so sinister. Bringing us into an illusionary realm that creates our dearest wish based on our memories. In terms of understanding the heart, I'm afraid there is no one more proficient than he. But so what? In the end, a fake is still a fake."
Like with Zhang Cuiying, the world started to lose all color before shattering. But unlike her, another world didn't replace the illusionary world, and he was outside of Emperor Soulfish's technique.
Emperor Soulfish, naturally, had already escaped by this time. He looked around to see that the Cloud Goddess was already out to his surprise. Although she was an Immortal Emperor level expert, that was mostly due to her divine energy and not the power of her Dao. So it was a surprise that she was out before him.
But he saw that her face wasn't right and stayed silent.
It didn't take long for Zhang Cuiying to appear; her face wasn't right either. And Eternal Night Monarch carefully stayed silent around these two women.
A good man doesn't fight with women; Eternal Night Emperor stroked his beard and thought this.
Strangely, no matter how long they waited, Mengfei didn't come out. Although young, her strength should be on the higher end in the group of four.
In the end, although her Dao is strong, her heart needs more tempering. Thinking about it, it is already amazing that she is an Immortal Emperor at only a thousand years old.
"Empress Voidink, please excuse me for not being able to accompany you any longer. Emperor Soulfish has already fled with the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus. As such, I will return to the sect. I cannot hope to be away from the sect for too long. I'm sure you understand." Eternal Night Emperor said.
"I will not delay you." Zhang Cuiying agreed but added. "However, if that Devil were to reappear, can I trust you to lend aid?"
Eternal Night Emperor paused as he studied Zhang Cuiying. They originally teamed up because they wanted to prevent the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus from being stolen, but it seemed that Zhang Cuiying had a grudge against Emperor Soulfish? Was it perhaps related to his technique. Nonetheless, he didn't peer deeper into the issue. "If there is a chance, this Immortal will aid Empress Voidink."
The Cloud Goddess also left with Eternal Night Emperor gone.
With them gone, Zhang Cuiying waited for Mengfei to return. Days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months. Just as she was preparing to return to the sect and have some illusion specialists come, Mengfei reappeared.
Zhang Cuiying paused and observed the newly emerged Mengfei. Mengfei didn't have the indolent air to her when Zhang Cuiying first came to the Northern Region. Rather she seemed to have regressed to her previous state of emotion.
Mengfei's face was blank like before, but Zhang Cuiying felt that something had changed. Even the air around her seemed to have evolved.
"Elder Zhang, do you know what specialties the Northern Region have?"
Zhang Cuiying gave a bewildered look in response. Mengfei, seeing her confusion, elaborated.
"I should buy some souvenirs for Yi'er. Because of the appearance of the Sovereign Nine Yin Lotus, he didn't get a chance to go out much. I should buy some gifts to console him."
Zhang Cuiying had only one response to this.
"Haa?"
Just what did Mengfei experience to change her like this!?
D.C.Haenlien
Poem: Autumn Air by Li Bai
In the end, it turned out that I gave Zhang Cuiying more backstory. I quite enjoy writing Daopoet. Too bad he's dead.
