Lonemoon’s expression darkened. He pondered for a moment, then turned around and said, “Yu Hong, pass these instructions down: None of the disciples are allowed to exit the array. Also… Get Little Black to use the transportation array within our sect to return to the demonic realm. Ask him to gather the Skyfiends and the other demons and then head to the various continents to garner support from the various heavenly palaces. He will know what to do. Then, ask Lan Hua to use his demonic aura to stabilize our great array even further. It’ll be best if he can block the sun out as well.”

　　Yu Hong understood what Lonemoon was asking for. “Yes, Master!” With that, she mounted her flying sword and took off.

　　The glacier outside the Heavenly Palace was growing in size and the ground was shaking more vigorously now. There were loud crashes echoing throughout the area, yet they could not see a single figure. It was obvious that the enemy was now attacking their great array.

　　“Master!” Yi Qing remembered the person in the house and his heart fell. Immediately, he rushed in and carried both the blanket and the toddler, whose tears had not yet dried. He turned around and opened a portal that led straight to the divine territory.

　　Then, he placed Baby Ying on the thick mat that Lonemoon conjured earlier. He squatted down and said in a hurry, “Master, please be good and wait over here. No matter what happens, don’t run around on your own, alright?”

　　As if sensing that something was wrong, Baby Ying became uncharacteristically quiet. She nodded and muttered, “Alright.”

　　It was then that Yi Qing got to his feet and started to conjure another portal that would lead him back. Baby Ying pulled on his sleeves.

　　“Mommy… you will come back for me, won’t you?”

　　“Of course!” He nodded firmly. “The moment things are settled, I will come back for you.”

　　“Let’s hook our pinkies!” She raised her little pinky, waiting for Yi Qing to respond.

　　Yi Qing felt a sharp pain in his chest. He reached out and hooked his own pinky around hers. “I pinky promise you!”

　　Little Ying broke into a grin and shoved the rabbit in her hands to Yi Qing. “This is for Daddy! You have to come back and get Baby Ying soon!”

　　“Alright!” Yi Qing nodded. He glanced at her one last time before he opened the portal and returned back to the Heavenly Palace.

　　The moment he entered the house, the rabbit in his hands transformed into Lonemoon’s divine perception, and returned straight to him.

　　“She’s settled down?” Lonemoon turned to him for confirmation.

　　“Mm.” Yi Qing nodded. His expression was exceptionally somber.

　　“Let’s go.” The flute in Lonemoon’s hands flashed and turned into a long sword. “This is going to be a long, hard battle.” And they did not have anymore back up. He raised his head to look at the thickening demonic Qi in the air. Faint figures were already beginning to appear above him. He flew upwards on his sword.

　　Yi Qing summoned his immortal sword and followed suit.

　　This time, the invaders came as a shock. The entire River of Forgetfulness was now under the control of these invaders. Their people had also invaded every single small world in this pane, so that it was only a matter of time before they took over the entire plane. This situation was the exact opposite of the one they were faced with before. The immortal realm was now the only place that stood uninvaded by these people. If Lonemoon and the others were not able to defend it well, the entire plane would fall.

　　The purpose of the invasion was clear as well – to get Shen Ying, the manager. That was why it was safest to leave her in the divine territory. The people who were surrounding and attacking the Invincible Sect today formed the core of the invading team. This time, there were more people who had duplicated Father Niu’s powers.

　　Lonemoon and Yi Qing flew out of the array and activated all the sword Qi they had in their bodies. A moment later, daggers began to rain down from the sky, attacking the people who were in turn attacking the array. Hundreds of thousands of swords flashed past the two of them. Just like that, a significant number of familiar figures dropped down onto the ground.

　　More and more people were gathering to attack the two of them. It was almost as if their resources were limited. Sword Qi exploded from Yi Qing’s body as he summoned his sword intent and transformed into a white sword dragon. The dragon flew up and attacked in all directions. Another batch of enemies lay defeated.

　　“There are so many people here – they definitely have a leader!” Lonemoon exclaimed.

　　Behind him, Yi Qing frowned. He released his divine perception to scan the huge crowd. Indeed, above the high glacier was an exceptional aura. Surprisingly, it even felt… familiar.

　　“I found it!” He immediately flew in the direction of that exceptional aura.

　　The enemy seemed to be able to read his intentions. A more aggressive wave of attacks hit the two of them. The people closest to Lonemoon and Yi Qing even self-destructed, hoping to kill the both of them in the explosions. As Lonemoon dodged the attacks, he conjured a defensive shield. Now that Lonemoon and Yi Qing had complete control of their assistants’ authorities, these people’s cultivation levels could not do much harm to them. The only real problem was that there were so many of these enemies that Lonemoon and Yi Qing were having difficulty breaking through the barriers.

　　Lonemoon gritted his teeth and said, “I’ll fend them off. You go over.” He used both of his hands to conjure a seal using overwhelming sword Qi. Then, he shot the ball of sword Qi toward the glacier, opening a clear pathway for Yi Qing.

　　Yi Qing did not wait any longer. Together, they flew right through the open pathway. The crowd was closing in fast on the passageway. Lonemoon drew his sword and fended them off. Working hand in hand, the two of them finally made it to the glacier.

　　Before they could even land, Yi Qing felt the familiar suppressive force press down on him. He felt exactly as he did back in the boundary between the immortal realm and demonic realm. It was almost as if all his powers were being sealed off. This time, however, he understood more. He steadied his heart as the huge Yin-Yang symbol in his mind began to spin on its own. Suddenly, the suppression he felt disappeared.

　　Yi Qing took the chance while he was free to continue moving as close to the exceptional aura as he could. The next moment, he heard a cracking sound.. Beneath his feet, on the glacier, there was a small crack.

　　“Eh?” A suspicious voice sounded. A red figure appeared on the otherwise empty glacier. It was Shortie, whom they had not met in a long time. She stood atop the glacier, with an icy smile on her face. She was smiling, yet she spoke with no warmth whatsoever. “In just a few days, you have unlocked your full powers.”

　　Yi Qing’s expression darkened. He said firmly, “You’re the assistant of that foreign plane!”

　　The woman’s smile grew wider. “It looks like my calculations were wrong. I would need a longer time to get rid of you.” She raised her hand. The glacier seemed to come alive. Sharp ice peaks began to shoot out of the glacier, flying toward Yi Qing.

　　Yi Qing regulated his sword Qi and broke each sharp ice peak into pieces as they flew toward him. Yet, more and more kept coming. Even the ice peaks that he broke mended themselves and flew back toward him. The suppressive force and strange aura were getting heavier and heavier. In it was mixed together a familiar aura – the power of reincarnation that was present in Shortie’s body.

　　Yi Qing was defending himself at a rapid speed. He did not allow even one ice peak to touch him. But the more he shot down, the more there seemed to be. It was almost as if the ice was consciously trying to hold Yi Qing back from the woman.

　　“Your plane’s assistant’s powers are really shocking. You do have such exceptional powers,” the woman said icily. “It’s a pity that I’m no ordinary assistant as well. Even though you know the extent of your true powers, there is no way you can injure someone like me, who has been to hundreds of different planes!”

　　As she spoke, she raised her hand so that a huge suppressive force rushed toward Yi Qing. That force far exceeded any kind of force Yi Qing ever felt in this plane. It was so strong that the air around him began to twist and turn. Even Lonemoon, who stood a distance from him, was affected. Wounds began to appear on his body, as if he was being attacked by some kind of sorcery. The array that surrounded Invincible Sect broke apart from the impact.

　　“No matter how exceptional the two of you are, you only amount to a fraction of our powers!”

　　Yi Qing felt a certain sweetness on his tongue. The Yin-Yang symbol in his mind was spinning even faster now. He sucked in a deep breath and once again, fended off the sharp ice peaks. He could not lose! Master… Master was still waiting for him!

　　Lonemoon gritted his teeth and his powers exploded in his body. He seemed to grab hold of the suppressive force that had caused such a huge impact before. His body glowed red. Then, a fireball appeared and began to circle his body. Inside the fireball, they could faintly see white flashes of lightning.

　　He turned around and took on his true form – he transformed into a huge golden dragon that charged into the sky. This dragon looked completely different from the one before. On top of the great dragon’s body, two huge balls of fire formed the dragon’s wings. The entire dragon was radiating heat. In just a few seconds, huge gusts of True Phoenix Fire and wild flames filled the sky, scorching everything in their wake.

　　The ice peaks and glaciers all around them melted away and disappeared. The clones that looked like Lonemoon were reduced to ashes.

　　“How could this be!” The foreign plane’s assistant, who had been standing on top of the glacier earlier, looked absolutely flabbergasted. She looked in disbelief at the huge dragon. “How can an assistant be this powerful?”

　　Her expression changed, as if she realized something. A blinding white light appeared around her body. The small area of ice left beneath her glowed as well. A frightening force shot toward Yi Qing, together with flashes of light that strangely resembled daggers. The ground shook. Anything that the light touched was cut into half. Even the Heavenly Palace was beginning to crumble.

　　The disciples had no choice but to look for other places to hide. Yet, the clones that looked like Father Niu were attacking them relentlessly.

　　Yi Qing had no choice but to switch tactics. He turned around and fought off the clones that were attacking the disciples. Then, he watched the flashes of light gather to form a huge net, which flew toward Yi Qing.

　　“Chef!” Lonemoon shouted.

　　He did not dodge. Instead, flashes of lightning intensified around his body. A moment later, his entire body seemed to be charged up with electricity. He sent a bolt of lightning bigger than his own body toward the net. There was a loud crash. The lightning pushed the light back toward what remained of the glacier.

　　Beautiful!

　　Lonemoon could not resist giving Chef a thumbs up. There was another crash as a huge crack as thick as an arm appeared on the glacier. Lonemoon wanted to clear off the bunch of clones, but realized that there were only a few figures left flying around him. Was he mistaken? Why were there fewer people attacking him?

　　He released his divine perception to investigate. He was not mistaken – there were very few clones remaining. Lonemoon turned to study the crack in the glacier. He lowered his gaze as something clicked in his mind. Then, his eyes widened.

　　He turned to fly back to where Yi Qing was trying to stop the enemies from attacking the Invincible Sect. “Chef! All of these people are being controlled by the assistant! We just have to get rid of her!”

　　The dragon in the air paused. Finally, Yi Qing turned around and charged toward the assistant. As he flew, he used his tail to knock out as many clones as he could.

　　Lonemoon followed suit. He waved his hand, employing a sword technique that caused swords to rain down on the glacier once again.

　　The expression of the woman on the glacier darkened. She waved her hand so that the clones who had been attacking the Invincible Sect turned around and charged toward Lonemoon and Yi Qing. It was too late, however. Lonemoon and Yi Qing had already arrived at the glacier.

　　Shortie, who was being controlled by the assistant, suddenly looked panicked. Of course, the assistant would not be afraid if she were dealing with any other assistant, but these two…

　　Once again, the blinding white light appeared. Once again, it was defeated by Chef’s lightning. Yi Qing transformed back into a human. The two of them held up their swords and charged toward Shortie.

　　“Wait! The spirit that governs the main source is still inside my body!” The assistant shouted desperately, knowing that she no longer had any way out. “If you kill me, this woman will not live either! Without this source, your plane is finished!”

　　“Source?” The two of them paused. He’s talking about Shortie!

　　“Father Niu…” Yi Qing turned to Lonemoon.

　　“Let’s hit her first!” Lonemoon refused to give in. He kept his sword and used his bare hands to hit the woman’s face, causing her to fall onto the ground.

　　Yi Qing frowned. The last time Father Niu and the others were being controlled, Master seemed to take the same approach. He made up his mind. Thus, he conjured a defensive array that protected the two of them and joined Lonemoon in violence!

　　“Wait!” You cannot do this to… Ah! Stop… You’re crazy… Ah!”

　　A moment later, the foreign plane’s assistant’s painful cries echoed throughout the glacier. Lonemoon and Yi Qing did not rest. Each punch carried with it the power of the assistant. What’s more, they aimed at no other place than her face.

　　The woman soon became unrecognizable. The assistant could bear the blows no longer. A white light floated out of Shortie’s body, then shot past the two of them.

　　“It’s out!” Yi Qing shouted. At the same time, he sent a ball of True Phoenix Fire after the light, and Lonemoon conjured a sword seal.

　　The pained cries continued to echo throughout the glacier as the white light disappeared within the True Phoenix Fire and the rain of swords. Immediately, the figures that had been attacking the defensive array relentlessly disappeared as well. Even the glacier beneath their feet darkened.

　　The two of them felt the glacier slowly disappear. Lonemoon thus summoned his flying sword and caught Shortie, whose face was now swollen beyond recognition. He glanced at the woman whose eyes seemed to be swollen shut, then he looked away. He did this to save her. He absolutely did not do this to release the anger built up inside him when Shen Ying did the same to him earlier.

　　The only difference between this time and the last was that Shortie recovered very quickly. Before they arrived back at the Heavenly Palace, she came to. Before she said a single word, she spat out blood.

　　“Shortie!” Lonemoon’s heart fell. Had they been too harsh on her?

　　Without any thought for the wounds on her face, she looked around in a panic. “Elders, the River of Forgetfulness-”

　　“Don’t worry – we have gotten rid of that assistant.”

　　“Assistant?” Shortie’s eyes widened, and she looked even more panicked. Shortie reached out and tugged at Lonemoon’s sleeve. “No, it’s not her! The one controlling the River of Forgetfulness is not the assistant. There’s an even… even scarier one…”

　　The two of them stiffened. One even scarier than the assistant. Could it be… the manager!

　　They thought that only a world without managers would be interested in invading other planes. Could it be that they did have a manager afterall?

　　“Master…” Yi Qing paled and immediately opened a passage to the divine territory.