The immortals from Invincible Sect were all fighting the others by now. The more they fought, the more shocked the other immortals were. Although there were many of them, they did not have the upper hand. That sword cultivator Yi Qing was scary enough. He looked like a Young Emperor, but even the ten country Emperors together were no match for him. In fact, Yi Qing could still look out for the disciples behind him while tackling the Emperors.

　　The other disciples in Invincible Sect were of lower cultivation levels than Yi Qing, but… but they were body cultivators!

　　Body cultivators were few and far between. These immortals, who had lived for tens of thousands of years each, have not seen more than five body cultivators in their lifetimes. What’s more, the few that they’ve seen were in the lower realm – they have never seen body cultivators ascending to immortality. Yet, there were so many of them here in Invincible Sect. There were females who could knock four or five people off their feet with just one blow.

　　There were body cultivators all around Invincible Sect! What kind of strange sect was this!

　　The immortals were beginning to question if they were imagining things. But the blows felt so real. There were only about ten to twenty of them here, but they were holding up against the rest of the immortals. Moreover, the Protective Mountain Array was standing strong against any attack. Whenever the immortals from Invincible Sect needed a break, they could just retreat into the array.

　　The only one who could do anything about the array was Bai Ti, and yet he was not doing anything about it. He looked absolutely undecided about dealing a blow.

　　“Celestial Emperor Bai Ti, why aren’t you doing anything?” Lu Ming turned and rushed Bai Ti, his expression falling. “Are you going to watch as the Ten Directions Divine Armament fall into the hands of demons?”

　　Bai Ti frowned. He looked on as the Emperors from different countries continuously attacked Yi Qing. Bai Ti twitched. The next moment, Biao Ting flew up in front of him to stop him. “Bai Ti, if you want to do anything, you’ll have to get past me first.”

　　“Celestial Emperor Biao Ting…” Bai Ti retracted his foot, not knowing who to listen to. He was hesitating once again.

　　The entire scene was a mess. Hui Ling had been hiding behind all the immortals for a long time. Suddenly, a look flashed across her face. Nobody knew when she managed to get out of all the action. She took advantage of the mess and found a good, quiet spot to avoid getting attacked. Then, she pulled something shiny out of her robes. While everybody continued to battle, she threw the item toward the array.

　　Her cultivation level was the lowest out of all of them. The various immortals aside, even Yi Qing did not realise that she was there. There was a loud crash. The Protective Mountain Array which protected the Invincible Sect suddenly cracked open.

　　All the immortals paused, then they exploded with joy.

　　“The Protective Mountain Array is broken!” Someone shouted. The rest of the immortals began to charge into the array one by one.

　　Yi Qing’s heart jumped. He struck the Emperors around him with his sword and then flew back to protect the boundaries of the sect. The rest of the lower level disciples were in the sect, and the weak Radish was in the rear garden as well.

　　Outside the array, Yu Hong and the others also began to retreat and ran toward the front hall.

　　But there were too few of them. When the array was still standing, they could fight without worrying about defending the sect. That was how they managed to get the enemies to retreat. Now that the array was broken and the immortals could freely enter the sect, they no longer had the upper hand.

　　They watched as all the immortals rushed into the sect. Rich volumes of demonic Qi suddenly appeared, charging toward the immortals. The immortals had no choice but to retreat. Those who did not manage to dodge the demonic Qi in time felt a sharp pain right in their bones.

　　“Demons! There really are demons in there!”

　　“The Invincible Sect is really in cahoots with demons.”

　　“Lu Ming was right – the Celestial Emperor must have been attacked by them.”

　　The immortals cried out in shocked. Even more furious now, they glared at the people from Invincible Sect. Yet, they stayed where they were for fear of getting too close to the demonic Qi.

　　“How did you get out?” Yi Qing frowned, looking at Lan Hua. He just caused more trouble for them.

　　“You just said that I didn’t have to come out because the array was standing. Now the array has fallen, hasn’t it?” Lan Hua answered, glaring at the immortals in the air. “What’s more, I was the one who set up the Protective Mountain Array – I would surely know when it falls. Where’s my good heart? Is she alright?” He scanned the crowd, looking for Shen Ying, but was unable to locate her. “Where is she?”

　　“It’s noon.”

　　“Huh?” What did she mean?

　　“Master is having her lunch!”

　　“…” Lan Hua pursed his lips. Was this how she should act as a sect master?

　　Well, it was a good thing she wasn’t around. What if something untoward happened to her?

　　He scanned the shocked crowd once again and asked, “Who was it that broke the array?”

　　“It’s…” Yi Qing subconsciously turned to where Hui Ling was, but found that she was no longer there. “Eh?” His heart fell. Using his divine perception, he located her in the rear hall. He had no idea when she ran in.

　　“Master!” Yi Qing exclaimed, turning and running into the rear hall.

　　At the rear hall.

　　Shen Ying was eating dumplings for lunch. Suddenly, she looked up and saw a green figure in front of her.

　　“What’s the matter?”

　　“Shen Ying!” Hui Ling had a strange smile on her face. She looked smug as she said, “You can’t run away this time. I’m going to do the immortal realm a favour today and get rid of you, the trouble-maker!”

　　Once she finished speaking, she conjured a seal with both hands. A white light surrounded her and then spread out quickly to fill the surroundings. The light moved at rapid speed and looked like it was going to swallow Shen Ying whole. She had a split second to defend herself in the face of imminent danger. She suddenly lifted up her left hand and, quick as lightning, with one move.. she picked up the plate of half-eaten dumplings in front of her.

　　The next moment, the two people and the plate of dumplings disappeared. All that was left behind was a table with empty plates.

　　“Master?” Yi Qing ran into the rear hall, but he was too late. There was nobody left.

　　“Where did Sect Master… go?” Yu Hong looked fearful. “What kind of sorcery did that female immortal use?”

　　“I’ve never seen it before!” Lan Hua frowned, worried.

　　“… She’s alright, right?”

　　“I think so, given Good Heart’s capabilities…”

　　“No! I meant that female immortal… Is her brain working?”

　　She dared to take Sect Master on by herself! How brave!

　　ヽ(✿゚▽゚)ノYu Hong wished she could watch!

　　Lan Hua: “…”

　　Yi Qing: “…”

　　—————

　　In a blink of an eye, Shen Ying found the scene around her changed. Beneath her feet, there was green grass. All around her, there was nothing to be found other than green pastures. It did not seem like the green pasture ended either. The green tea from earlier on was gone as well.

　　Her surroundings were boring. Shen Ying looked around calmly and then finished the dumplings on her plate. Mm… Chives and roasted meat.

　　“Shen Ying, you’ve caused me so much trouble to this day. It’s finally time for payback.” Hui Ling’s voice sounded from nowhere. It was extremely strange – Shen Ying had no idea where the voice was coming from. She could not find Hui Ling’s body, but the voice seemed to be coming from right next to her ear. It was like Hui Ling did not exist in this realm, yet she was everywhere.

　　“…” Shen Ying did not answer her. She put another dumpling in her mouth.

　　“Do you know where you are?”

　　“…” She continued chewing.

　　“This is the Fringe Realm, located in the rift between the Three Realms. This place does not belong to any realm, and is not under the jurisdiction of the Heavenly Dao. I know you’re formidable, so much that even the Demon King is not your match, but there is no boundary and no end in this place. You might be extremely talented, but you would not be able to find a way out of here.”

　　“…” Shen Ying put another dumpling in her mouth.

　　“I didn’t want to do this either, but you made me do it. If you hadn’t appeared, I wouldn’t have lost my master, my father and even Xin Han… You owe me this much.”

　　“…” Shen Ying continued chewing on the dumpling.

　　“Your Invincible Sect is in cahoots with the demons – none of you are good, especially that wretch Xuan Tong. She seduced my master. Otherwise, my master… would not have listened to you and treated me that way. Anyway, none of it matters now. All the immortals will seek justice for me and rid the immortal world of you troublemakers.”

　　“…” Shen Ying put another dumpling in her mouth.

　　“Hmph! You’re about to die and you still have the mood to eat dumplings.”

　　She kept chewing…

　　“Then remain in this realm forever! I will make you…”

　　Crunch crunch crunch…

　　“Stop eating!”

　　Crunch crunch crunch…

　　“Shen, are you even listening to me?”

　　Shen Ying paused and swallowed the last of the dumplings. Then, she kept the plate and answered, “Oh.”

　　“Do you think this is all to the Fringe Realm?” Hui Ling seemed extremely angry now. She tutted. The next moment, everything around Shen Ying changed. The green grass was no more. Under Shen Ying’s feet was molten rocks and deviant fire was headed straight toward her. Yet, it did not touch her.

　　A moment later, the deviant fire disappeared and a huge layer of ice appeared underneath her feet. The air felt extremely cold. ice started flying toward her out of nowhere. Once they touched her though, they shattered into pieces.

　　After the ice came a strong wind, then lightning…

　　Every element appeared at least once. Shen Ying remained rooted to the ground, not attempting to run or escape anywhere. She was back in the green field once again.

　　“Hmph! I’ll see how long you can wait!” Hui Ling’s voice was ice-cold now. “I’ve already refined everything in here. I’m the true master of this realm.”

　　“It’s over?” Shen Ying tilted her head, looking bored. “It’s my turn.”

　　“What…”

　　Hui Ling paused. She did not have much time to respond. Shen Ying, who had been standing motionless before, suddenly disappeared into thin air. The next moment, she appeared in the air and grabbed onto something, hurling it toward the ground.

　　There was a strong gust of wind. A figure fell down from the air and landed on the ground with a crash, digging a man-shaped hole in the ground.

　　There was a sharp pain in Hui Ling’s chest. She coughed up blood. Every part of her body hurt. Hui Ling did not even dare to survey her injuries. She tried to regain her composure as her eyes widened and stared at Shen Ying in disbelief. “It’s… impossible! How did you find me!” .

　　Shen Ying pursed her lips. Please! She was the one who told Shen Ying that they were in a rift, then remained at the side of the rift and talked so much rubbish. It would have been weird if Shen Ying did not discover her! She wasn’t blind.

　　“You… What kind of person are you?” Hui Ling’s eyes widened even further. She could not understand what just happened. “The Fringe Realm has already been refined. How did you pull me in here! Only I can control what happens in here!”

　　“Oh, is that because of the chain around your neck?” Shen Ying asked. “The second chain?”

　　Hui Ling became pale. She subconsciously put her hand on her chest to protect the chain. “You… That’s impossible – how did you find out?”

　　“Eh, I don’t like to bully girls,” Shen Ying sighed. She did not answer Hui Ling’s question, but she raised her hand and slapped her. “Talk! Who sent you here to deal with me? Who’s behind you?”

　　“What are you saying?” Hui Ling was afraid now. She began to panic, and struggled to get herself out of the soil. The more she moved, the more her body hurt. She coughed up blood once again. “What do you mean… let… let me go.”

　　“Drop your act!” Shen Ying frowned. She really hated to use her brain. “I’m very low profile in this world. Everybody subconsciously ignores my presence – only you don’t. From the beginning, you’ve been wanting to get my attention. Now, you’re blaming me for everything that has happened to you. I’m sure this is not happening just because you’re retarded, right?”

　　What happened at the Emperor Ascension Stage was caused by the Cold ¹Something and her father. Salted Fish was the one who wanted to punish her. All of it had nothing to do with Shen Ying at all. What’s more, they only met a total of about three times. Hui Ling went an entire round just to blame everything that has happened thus far on Shen Ying, focusing all of her hatred on her. There was no reason for her to do that, and it was ridiculous for her to do it as well. There was no reason to implicate Shen Ying into all of this unless… Shen Ying had been her target from the very beginning.

　　“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Hui Ling continued to stare at Shen Ying in shock.

　　“You’re not even being convincing anymore,” Shen Ying said as she lowered her gaze. “There’s something wrong with how low profile I am as well. Why is that ever since I entered this world, only you paid any real attention to me? There’s no reason for that, unless… the person who dragged me into this world is the same person who’s instructing you as well.”

　　“…”

　　“Talk! Who is he? What has he done to me? What’s his motive!”

　　“What does he want?” Hui Ling began to panic even more. Her eyes did not leave Shen Ying, who was walking slowly toward her. “Get away!” Hui Ling exclaimed.

　　Shen Ying pulled the chain off Hui Ling’s neck. “Or maybe I should ask, who gave you this chain?”

　　“I don’t know what you’re saying. I picked up the chain. Return it to me!” Hui Ling’s face was drained of all colour. She used a considerable amount of energy to raise her hand from the soil, trying in vain to snatch the chain back. “That’s mine!”

　　Shen Ying pulled back her hand, placing the chain out of reach of Hui Ling. Hui Ling’s fingers just touched the red string that was hanging from the chain. There was a bright flash of light, and then the light disappeared. All that remained in Shen Ying’s palm was the red string.

　　“My chain!” Hui Ling’s eyes widened. She panicked. “No! What did you do…”

　　Before she could finish her sentence, she coughed up another mouthful of blood. Her entire body flashed white just like the necklace. Then, the white light started to shine through the cracks on her body, as if she was falling into pieces. Her face was a mask of fear. She began to beg Shen Ying, “No! I don’t want to self-implode and die. Save me… Save me… Save…”

　　Before she could finish speaking, her entire being disappeared. Shen Ying’s surroundings began to twist and turn. The next thing she knew, the surroundings disappeared. Shen Ying felt as though she had just jumped out of a picture. She found herself back on the chair in the rear hall of Invincible Sect. In front of her were the few empty dishes from before.

　　She looked down at her empty hands, pondering. Then, she frowned and clenched her fist.

　　That… isn’t fun.