Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
That pulse that shook the earth came from the Dragon Queen's body.
She had her eyes closed. Faint light gathered around her wings and merged until it looked like an egg. Bai Fanxian saw what was happening and was about to strike when Wu Jia's group managed to open the secret chamber's door.
"All of you go back first..."
Bai Fanxian's voice sounded in their heads. Though she wasn't nearby, every one of her followers heard it clearly.
"Elder Sister!?"
Xie Suyao was full of protest. But Wu Jia spoke up beside her.
"You staying won't make a difference. I'll use my power to open the gate for the children and these two old men." The middle-aged man meant Huang Zihuan and the Village Chief Beneath the Clouds.
The principle of opening this dimensional gate was using qi power to tear open the barrier protecting it. Then the gate would absorb the remaining qi as payment for passage.
Meaning the more qi power used, the longer the barrier tear could be maintained, and the more people could be sent through the gate.
Like in Bai Fanxian's case back then—using Ancient Sage-level power was enough to tear the barrier for a period and safely send everyone in the room across to this dimension.
"What about you?"
The Village Chief felt something odd about Wu Jia's words.
"...Don't tell me you—"
Xie Suyao's eyes went wide.
This man wasn't planning to return with them!
"I can't go back yet." Wu Jia shook his head lightly and sighed.
"Looking at the situation, everything seems to be transitioning to the next era. The anti-human faction is almost completely wiped out. But I still can't abandon the people in that village."
The elderly Village Chief had tears in his eyes. He knew this Divine Doctor's character well. Back then, it was also because he helped his villagers that Wu Jia stayed at Village Beneath the Clouds until now.
"Besides, this child's condition is fine now." Wu Jia smiled while looking at Hui'er.
Xie Suyao sighed. She knew Elder Sister's first objective was finding the Divine Doctor to treat Hui'er. Now that Hui'er's qi was flowing throughout her body like a normal person, they no longer needed Wu Jia's help.
"Please give this journal to that girl."
Wu Jia reached into his robe and pulled out a worn journal. The girl he mentioned was his disciple—this Village Chief's granddaughter.
"...Did this old man arrive too late?"
Suddenly two people appeared at the cave entrance. Sword Master Zheng Renyi and his granddaughter Mei Ying rushed over with worry to check on the unconscious Tang Yeye and Hui'er.
"I thought we'd have to leave before you arrived."
Marshal Zhang Xianyuan sighed. When the old man heard, he chuckled softly.
"Fortunately this valley isn't far from the east, and my granddaughter and I managed to arrive just in time."
Zheng Renyi had been in the eastern region, not far from this Dragon Queen's valley. When he heard news about two human children being captured, he rushed here. But when he arrived, everything was already over.
"That young lady told us you were here."
The moment they entered this territory, Bai Fanxian—who was spreading her Heaven Sense—detected the grandfather and granddaughter pair. She sent a message through qi telling them to quickly regroup with everyone.
"You all hurry and go."
Wu Jia sensed the energy flow fluctuating outside and urgently warned them. He felt uneasy seeing how stray qi flowing in could create tears in the barrier.
Thump!
Suddenly that final, most violent and tremendous pulse rang out. The qi flow fluctuation surged to its peak.
Boom!
They heard the sound of something breaking. Enormous amounts of qi flooded out until it filled the entire valley.
Bai Fanxian was now staring at the massive creature before her while narrowing her eyes.
The Dragon Queen, who was already large, had grown at least half again her previous size. Those flame-red scales looked like fire was constantly burning on them. The pressure emanating from her body had broken through the Transcendent (Divine) level completely!
The Dragon Queen had become the same existence that Bai Fanxian had reached ten thousand years ago.
Semi-Immortal!
The one status that had once belonged to Bai Fanxian alone. Now she was witnessing the birth of this level of existence with her own eyes!
"...This is beyond even my expectations."
The Dragon Queen was feeling the power in her body with excitement.
"...Human! You made a mistake not killing me when you had the chance." The Dragon Queen spread her wings. Her body suddenly shot up to soar in the sky. Her massive eyes were trembling.
She raised her head. A mass of power gathered above her head—this was one of the killing moves she'd displayed before.
Dragon's Wrath Flame!
In just a blink, that dark red power ball packed with destructive force was released. It shot down at where Bai Fanxian was floating with intensity over ten times greater than before!
"This is bad!"
Wu Jia was anxious. Though he didn't know what was happening outside, just the fragments of power accidentally flowing into this room were enough to tear the barrier around the dimensional gate.
The white sphere of light inside started reacting. It glowed faintly, ready to activate at any moment.
Bai Fanxian flicked her hand at the incoming attack. Her palm struck out and clashed with the Dragon's Wrath Flame until it stopped in midair.
She huffed. That mass of power gradually dissipated before the surprised Dragon Queen's eyes.
"...You truly are strong, human."
As the words ended, an even fiercer battle erupted above the valley.
Now Bai Fanxian's single punch could only make the Dragon Queen's massive body flinch slightly. At the same time, she herself could feel the weight from the Dragon Queen's attacks as well.
Both of them flew up, entangled in the sky. This dimension's inhabitants couldn't even stand when touched by the power scattering everywhere. They trembled and stared blankly without being able to resist.
Crash!
Because of both sides clashing, the valley was gradually destroyed section by section. The once-steep mountain peaks crumbled down until their original form was gone. The Dragon Queen's flames could melt solid rock until it became molten.
Boom!
The Dragon Queen's attacks couldn't harm Bai Fanxian. Fire balls bounced down, striking until the valley was pitted with craters. Bai Fanxian at first hadn't noticed. But her Heaven Sense suddenly detected a group of people in that area!
The secret chamber deep inside the valley had now been struck by stray attacks from the battle until the ceiling above collapsed. Fortunately Zhang Xianyuan and Zheng Renyi realized in time. They released attacks to destroy the falling rock debris into small pieces.
But that caused the room to break through to the surface!
The Dragon Queen, who had been focused entirely on Bai Fanxian, suddenly sensed other presences.
She looked at nearly ten humans below with a strange gaze before revealing a mocking smile at the corner of her mouth.
"Those puny little humans are with you, aren't they?"
Without waiting for Bai Fanxian's answer, the Dragon Queen's body moved toward that direction. With her massive size, just one blink was enough to crush anyone on the ground!
Bai Fanxian's eyes widened. Her body was like a freeze-frame. With speed beyond compare, before the Dragon Queen's physical attack could arrive, she appeared before her followers first.
Her small fist was able to stop the Dragon Queen's massive claws. She quickly turned to tell Zhang Xianyuan:
"Open the gate now."
The Marshal nodded. He was about to explode his power to activate that dimensional gate.
But before that—
The Dragon Queen clashing with Bai Fanxian exploded qi throughout her body. She tried to pin down Bai Fanxian, who had to protect her people below, into the ground.
Bai Fanxian was no less fierce. Her qi surged out like an ocean. Two streams of qi battled against each other in midair.
The dimensional gate—that sphere of white light—when stripped of the boundary barrier wrapping it, upon contacting the tremendous qi of two Semi-Immortal level existences at such close range, suddenly blazed with blinding white light.
Wu Jia's eyes widened. He knew what was about to happen.
Too late!
That white light was larger than ever before. It spread out until it covered the entire valley.
The inhabitants of both tribes who were watching this heaven-shaking battle from a distance saw this light. It expanded until it could swallow the Dragon Queen's massive body whole. It shone with eye-searing white light one final time before every life remaining in that valley vanished without a trace...
.
.
.
In the current era—
Tang Tianji was now sitting with a tense expression. He'd already traveled back to his own home. News about the disappearance of several Grandmaster-level existences including the army's Marshal was becoming a major issue that couldn't be contained.
Cultivators everywhere were heatedly debating this. Especially on the cultivator community web forums, which were boiling over with speculation and arguments.
Comment #6785 (Beginner Alchemist)
Where did the Alchemy Empress disappear to...
Comment #6786 (Pills Are Life)
It's been over a month now. But she hasn't had any news or visited the forums at all.
Comment #6789 (Inside Investigator)
Not just the Alchemy Empress. Seems like the Red Widow Queen of the Xie family, Sword Master Zheng Renyi, and even the army's Marshal all disappeared at the same time.
Across from Tang Tianji was Xie Zizhou, the Xie family's patriarch. After that day at Village Beneath the Clouds, these two had become close.
Also present was General Liu Yianfei along with his assistant Jin Ling.
"Has the army gotten any news?"
Tang Tianji asked softly. Throughout this past month, it was because of Bai Fanxian's reputation and authority built up before her disappearance that allowed several matters to be handled. They'd also received help from Xie Zizhou and Liu Yianfei, letting the Tang family handle issues among eastern cultivators after the Han family lost its prominence.
Liu Yianfei himself sighed.
Because this time even the Marshal had vanished into that thing that looked like a dimensional gate. The army gave full assistance in covering up the news. But until now that gate showed no reaction whatsoever, even when all four Generals combined their power.
By his estimation, this gate probably had some limitations on its use. For outsiders like them, there was no way to know how long it would take before that gate could be opened again.
And they weren't even certain about safety.
This resulted in all the Marshal's work getting dumped on Liu Yianfei. Besides his own regular position's duties, he had to shoulder the temporary additional burden. Though he had his assistant and the Marshal's people supporting him, for the young-looking man, the only thing in his head now was wanting to resign from this position for good!
He felt like ever since meeting Bai Fanxian, his work kept increasing until it overflowed. He'd wanted to take vacation once before. But this time, because it was a critical national burden, he couldn't leave everything behind.
The young-looking man sighed deeply. He sipped tea while gazing blankly out the window. Right now they'd gathered at another of Tang Tianji's residences. Because that house of Bai Fanxian's—even though she wasn't there—the barrier left behind still worked well.
Some of them couldn't get in.
The azure sky and sparkling sea could make him feel like he was resting. The young-looking man used times like these when he had to discuss things with Tang Tianji and Xie Zizhou as opportunities to rest his mind regularly.
But while he was gazing blankly at that beautiful scenery—
Whoosh!
Above that vast ocean, a twisted dimensional rift suddenly appeared.
Before a massive dragon body with brilliant crimson scales burst through that rift along with overwhelming pressure. Not far away, he also saw several familiar faces expelled similarly.
That's the Marshal?
And there was Xie Suyao. Zheng Renyi and his granddaughter. Both children. Huang Zihuan. Including the elderly Village Chief Beneath the Clouds and even the Divine Doctor Wu Jia who'd vanished!
There were also three large black birds that got caught in stray attacks and pulled into this dimension.
Liu Yianfei forgot to even wipe away the tea he'd choked on. Not just him—because of the Dragon Queen's current size, even ordinary people could see her.
They stared in stunned shock. A legendary creature that only appeared in novels or cartoons was now soaring majestically above the ocean!
This didn't look fake. They could feel pressure that made them tremble and their hair stand on end, as if a fierce beast was constantly watching their lives.
The young General stood up. This situation had exceeded the army's ability to control.
He could immediately imagine the chaos after the whole world learned about this thing's existence. It might even escalate to revealing the cultivation world's existence to ordinary civilians.
Just then, before that dimension closed, a beautiful young woman's figure appeared, sweeping her gaze to lock onto the Dragon Queen without backing down.
Grandmaster Bai Fanxian!
Liu Yianfei felt like crying. Just as he'd thought—this young woman reliably created headache-inducing situations for him every single time they met!
If this matter could just be resolved, he wouldn't care about duties anymore. Since the Marshal had returned safely, let him take these tasks back!
As for himself—he was taking vacation!
No matter what anyone said, this time he was really taking vacation!