Back in the chaotic universe, inside their secluded cave-dwelling atop a vast mountain surrounded by a forest of large trees, a glowing purple talisman paper appeared before Quintessa and Merita.
It glowed briefly before splitting open, releasing a faint light. Their soul fragments emerged from it and merged seamlessly into their true bodies.
The moment their fragments fused, their eyes flashed, and rage followed.
Quintessa's aura surged, shaking the stones around her. "How dare they try to destroy our fragments. How dare they try to cripple our path forward!"
"Calm down, sister," Merita said, her tone measured. "At least now we know someone's targeting us. That means we can fight back."
"How can I calm down that easily when I lost my treasure."
Merita narrowed her eyes. "What treasure?"
"The Oracle Drive." Quintessa answered, still seething with anger.
Merita blinked. "That thing? We have better weapons now. Why does it matter so much—unless…" Her voice trailed off as she studied Quintessa's expression.
"Unless there's something you didn't tell me."
Quintessa sighed, folding her legs as she settled down. "No more hiding. That weapon… its innate ability is absurd for its tier. Imagine what it could become if we refined it further."
She looked Merita in the eye as she said, "The soul fragment used one of its abilities. And you know what happened?"
Merita stayed silent.
"The Drive didn't just protect the soul fragment. It compelled us—Dao masters—to intervene. Although we would have been alerted either way. It forced our hand before the seal in their soulsea broke. Imagine if it were a rank stronger, it might've forced us to save the entire universe."
Merita's expression changed, her eyes narrowing as realization dawned. That "insignificant" weapon wasn't just a cosmic weapon as she thought, but a potential trump card and powerful one at that.
"Should we tell Master?" Merita asked still standing beside Quintessa. "He could retrieve it for us easily."
Quintessa shook her head immediately. "No. It's too precious. If even we feel tempted by its potential. I fear what Master might do if he truly understood its nature."
"So what now?" Merita asked.
"We wait," Quintessa said, her voice cold.
"Once that assassin finishes his mission and comes to the Misty Empire to collect his reward, we take it from him, and kill him for endangering our future and sabotaging our reincarnation plan."
Merita frowned. "I don't think that will happen."
Quintessa turned to her, puzzled. "Why not?"
Merita folded her arms. "Think about it. If you were the client—if you paid someone to destroy the soul fragments of two disciples of the God Emperor—and they showed up claiming success, what would you do?"
Quintessa's eyes widened slightly. "I'd kill them. To erase the trail."
"Exactly," Merita said. "I don't think we'll be seeing our assassin again."
"But I anticipated this," Merita continued, a spark of triumph flashing in her eyes.
"I left a hidden tracker on the talisman. We can catch him before he reaches the client, and with one strike, eliminate them both."
Quintessa stood abruptly, her white robes fluttering from the sudden movement, a wicked smile creeping across her beautiful face. "Then what are we waiting for? Give me his location."
Merita conjured a glowing golden runic circle in front of her. Her fingers danced through the air, tracing ancient symbols as her eyes closed to focus.
Then they immediately reopened.
"He destroyed the tracker the moment we left," she said bitterly.
"I assumed greed would slow him down once he saw the cultivation technique, but I guess I saw wrong."
Rumble!
As soon as the words left her mouth, thunder echoed across the sky as clouds spiraled into darkness. Quintessa's voice cut through the air like a blade.
"Prepare the Karmic Chamber."
Her words rolled down the mountain like a command from the heavens.
Three hundred meters from their cave, a man in a pristine black suit stood quietly with cold, calm eyes.
He was a Dao Initiate and the personal attendant of Quintessa.
"At once, Your Highness," he said, bowing toward the peak of the mountain before turning to descend.
At the mountain's base, deep within the ancient forest, dozens of cultivators in matching black uniforms heard his call. They were Dao Initiates as well as the servants of the sisters.
"You heard Her Highness," the attendant barked. "Begin preparations. Now."
They moved swiftly.
Ten minutes later, at the forest's eastern edge, the Karmic Chamber was fully prepared. Runes swirled through the air, and ancient glyphs carved into obsidian pillars shimmered as the chamber awakened, ready to peer through fate itself.
Whoosh!
Quintessa and Merita materialized at the entrance of the Karmic Chamber. Merita turned to Quintessa's attendant and said coldly, "Don't let anyone disturb us."
She glanced left, eyes narrowing as they lifted to the treetops. Several presences lingered above, powerful consciousnesses watching from afar.
"Why are the sect elders wasting their time spying on us?" she asked, voice laced with disdain.
A calm voice echoed in reply. "Ah, we meant no offense. We merely sensed your fury across the realms and came to see who dared provoke the disciple of the God Emperor."
Another chimed in, more cautious. "Given your master's seclusion these past three Void Epochs, we feared his enemies might have made a move."
Quintessa scoffed, stepping into the chamber as she said. "Hypocrites."
Merita followed without a word.
"What does she mean, hypocrites? We came out of concern, not to be slandered." Lin Zhu growled.
"Lin Zhu," said another voice, colder and mocking. "You've always had a thick face. You'd never have shown up if you weren't afraid of her master. And don't pretend to care, because if you did, you'd have come with your true body, not just a projected will like the rest of us."
"Ren Zu," Lin Zhu chuckled dryly, "You slander yourself just to drag me down. What a bold move, you even call yourself a hypocrite so you can paint me worse."
Then came a deeper, older voice, filled with weary authority. "Enough. Can't you all hold your tongues for once? You squabble like children, and yet you're older than this universe. What a disgrace." It was Muli, the Deacon of the Hall of Elders.
"Let's take a moment to observe. If their situation doesn't require our intervention, we can move on," Muli asserted confidently.
"Okay," said the others simultaneously.
Inside the karmic chamber, Merita stood at the center of a large, circular platform made of obsidian. The surface was etched with swirling runes that glowed faintly with a golden light.
Surrounding the platform were twelve monolithic pillars, each crafted from rare materials found only in the Voidsea.
Hovering in the center of the platform was the Eye of Karma, a translucent sphere the size of a man's head. Merita controlled the Eye of Karma, which floated in front of her.
"Give me a drop of your essence," Merita said, her voice calm as the Eye of Karma hovered before her chest, glowing faintly.
Without hesitation, Quintessa complied. A purplish drop of essence floated toward Merita and merged seamlessly with the eye.
In an instant, flashes of images rippled across the Eye of Karma's surface.
Merita's eyes narrowed. She watched several karmic threads emerge from Quintessa—one thick and pulsing, pointed directly at her.
But it was the thinnest strand that caught her attention. Her consciousness dove into it, following its trail through the web of fate, seeking any trace of Lex.
A minute passed. Then three. Then seven.
Why is it taking so long? she thought, frowning as she pressed deeper.
After fifteen minutes, she stopped. Her expression darkened.
"He's hiding," she muttered. "He's using a stealth technique to veil his karmic signature."
She turned to Quintessa, who sat silently beside the platform. "He's concealed his trail. And the more I think about him, the more suspicious I become."
"What do you mean?" Quintessa asked as she looked up.
"If he were as greedy as he seemed, he wouldn't have destroyed the talisman," Merita replied.
"And if he were just a loose cultivator, there's no way he could evade my karmic tracing."
"I guess I'll have to use my fading connection to the Drive before it disappears," Quintessa said, her anger easing slightly.
"You had a connection to it this whole time?" Merita said, her tone sharp as she stepped away from the platform. "You should've told me earlier— we wouldn't have wasted so much time."
"Alright, open your soul sea. This is my area of expertise," she added as she moved to stand above Quintessa.
Quintessa closed her eyes and lowered the defenses around her soul sea. A white streak of light shot out from Merita's temple and entered Quintessa's head.
In an instant, Merita found herself in a world of raging molten lava and towering volcanic mountains.
The sky above glowed a deep, fiery red, casting everything in a hellish light.
At the center floated Quintessa's Dao Gem, glowing red and giving off intense heat.
The ground around it was cracked and scorched, as if it had been burning for a long time.
Merita's consciousness appeared near the Dao Gem. She floated down toward the humanoid version of Quintessa's spirit, who stood calmly above the gem. As Merita landed, Quintessa raised her hand.
"This is the link," she said, showing her a weak, fading thread of purple light.
Merita examined it, then immediately sent her consciousness into the thread.
Darkness surrounded her as she found her self in a silent and endless dark void.
After a while of looking around, she spotted a tiny flickering light in the distance. She flew toward it, and after a few minutes, she reached it with ease.
She touched the light with her formless hand, and in the next moment, she was inside the core of the Oracle Drive.
"Found it," she said, glancing around.
"Thank you, sister," Quintessa said, her voice clearly excited.
Merita let out a soft laugh, full of amused disbelief. "Haha, what a twist of fate."
"What is it?" Quintessa asked.
"Guess who's standing in front of me," Merita said, the corners of her voice curled in a smirk.
"Who?"
"The clone of the assassin," Merita replied. Her tone cooled. "But what is he doing here? There's no way he knows the true value of this weapon."