The Immortal Realm.

　　Immortal Qi was surging at the entrance of the Azure World, illuminating the entire sky. It seemed to set the stage for immortal ascension.

　　“What’s going on?” The immortal steward at the Qing Tong Immortal Abode asked.

　　“I think… it seems like someone from the Azure World is ascending into immortality,” another

　　immortal answered.

　　“Another person is ascending? Didn’t one just ascend four hours ago?”

　　“It is highly likely that these people are feeding on the immortal qi now that the entrance has been opened.”

　　“From the looks of it, another sword cultivator is about to ascend into immorality. Since when were there so many sword cultivators in the Azure World? Where’s the Earth Immortal who’s supposed to be standing guard at the door? Why isn’t he sorting this out?”

　　“Well… I am unsure. The entrance is already closed – it seems like the Earth Immortal has already been away for quite some time.”

　　“Ridiculous! The Day of Re-Harvest is such an important day, yet he dared to leave his post!”

　　“I will arrange for another immortal to stand guard immediately to stop these people from ascending into immortality.”

　　“Forget it. So many immortals have already gone down earlier; surely someone will realise and do something about it.”

　　“But… we have already struck 78 bolts of lightning for the Lightning Tribulation.”

　　“What!” The manager exclaimed. “Not one of the immortals who went down to clean up the place stopped this from happening?”

　　“No…”

　　“This is nonsense! Go and report this to the Abode Master immediately. The rest of you, follow me to the entrance.” The steward pointed to someone before leading the five remaining mystic immortals to the entrance where the Immortal Qi continued to surge.

　　At that moment, the Immortal Qi had become so thick that it was almost tangible. Without the Earth Immortal standing guard at the entrance to suppress the Immortal Qi, the Immortal Ascension Stage began to form in the midst of the Immortal Qi. The closed entrance to the Azure Word was beginning to crack.

　　The steward arrived at the entrance and saw that the 80 bolts of lightning had been sent down to the Azure World. The last bolt of lightning struck, hitting the subject of the tribulation. He paused, horror-struck, then immediately summoned an array with his hands to suppress the fast-forming Immortal Ascension stage.

　　He opened the gate and entered the Aure World, muttering a curse under his breath. On account of the fact that the subject of the tribulation was a sword cultivator, he gathered close to 90 percent of his immortal energy to summon a huge purple lightning bolt which flashed red at the tip, making it follow closely after the 81st bolt of lightning of the Lightning Tribulation.

　　He immediately turned back to the five immortals behind him. He started to seal the entrance to the Immortal Realm, which burst open once again because of the Lightning Tribulation. Just as he lifted his hands to summon the seal, a look of horror crossed the immortals’ faces and they pointed to something behind him.

　　“Steward Yi, behind you!”

　　The steward paused. He could not react in time. All he saw was a flash from behind him. The lightning bolt that he released was shooting upwards toward them, as if it had a life of its own. There was a loud whipping noise as the lightning bolt reached the group of immortals, coiling around their waists like a whip.

　　They felt their bodies sink to the ground and heard a swoosh by their ear. Together with the steward, the mystic immortals were pulled down through the entrance into the Azure World like a string of gourds.

　　Without the immortals’ array to suppress it, the Immortal Ascension Stage took form. It was glowing golden and rising quickly into the air. It seemed to bathe the entire Qing Tong Immortal Abode in its gold light.

　　Xun Li’s eyes suddenly shot wide open. He had been resting in the great hall, but was interrupted by a bright golden light which illuminated the entire hall. He looked toward the source of the light.

　　“The Heavenly Beam… what is going on?” His deep voice travelled quickly through the abode.

　　The Stygian Immortal’s power caused everything within a hundred-mile radius to vibrate.

　　“Your Excellency…” The immortal who had come back with the report earlier happened to be standing outside the doors of the hall. He was trembling as he replied, “There is a sword cultivator… in the Azure World. He just ascended to immortality. Steward Yi brought men with him to stop this from happening but it looks like… he was too late.”

　　“Hmph, Steward Yi is becoming less and less reliable,” Xun Li’s expression darkened. He waved his hand and a burst of light shot forth. An array suddenly appeared in the sky, hiding the golden light and stopping it from illuminating the Qing Tong Immortal Abode. Then, he commanded, “Go to the Meeting Hall and ask a few people to destroy the Immortal Ascension Stage immediately.”

　　“As for the cultivator… we must stop him from ascending completely. Destroy his immortal bones and remove his soul. Keep him trapped in the Lower Realm.”

　　“Yes!” The immortal bowed and retreated.

　　Within minutes, he returned. “Your Excellency, something bad has happened! It’s… it’s up here!”

　　”

　　What?” Xun Li shouted. “Even the people in the Meeting Hall could not stop the man from ascending into the Upper World?”

　　“No… No, they didn’t stop him, but… he’s also not… he’s not a man.”

　　“What nonsense are you spouting?” He frowned, his face contorting with anger. “Why are you panicking? What exactly is happening?” He cast a clarity spell onto the immortal.

　　“The lower realm… lower realm…” The man remained flustered, pointing toward something behind him. “Something bad has come up.”

　　“What bad…” Xun Li started to ask.

　　Suddenly, the ground began to shake and large cracks began to form, causing loud cracking noises to echo throughout the Upper World. The great hall also began to shake. Xun Li looked around in shock, then flew up into the air and steadied himself.

　　It was only then that he realised that the entire Qing Tong Immortal Abode, including the golden Immortal Ascension Stage, appeared as if it were falling into pieces. Cracks covered every surface and the immortal abode which stood tall just seconds ago collapsed onto the ground. Hundreds of immortals flew out from different directions. The Heavenly Beam penetrated through the cracks, illuminating the entire immortal realm.

　　What… is going on?

　　The golden light shone brighter and brighter. Something had broken through his suppressive array – the beam was now uncontainable.

　　Xun Li’s eyes widened, yet he still could not figure out what was happening. The immortal who had delivered the message earlier suddenly pointed to something and shouted, “Your Excellency, that thing… is up… up here!”

　　Xun Li turned around and saw the crack-covered ground. Something huge was sticking out of the middle of the Qing Tong Immortal Abode, and it seemed to be growing taller and taller, rising above the surface.

　　The ground shook more vigorously. There was a loud explosion and bricks flew in all directions. A huge body emerged out of the ground and flew several feet into the sky before landing on the ground with a loud bang. It landed where the Immortal Abode stood previously, threatening to shatter what was left of the ground into pieces.

　　In front of them was a patch of lush greenery.

　　What they were looking at seemed to be… a spiritual peak that flew up out of the Azure World!

　　Σ(°△°|||)

　　Nobody could bring themselves to say anything. A chilling voice suddenly said, “Well, who is the Stygian Immortal Xun… Xun… Xun what again?”

　　“Xun Li,” another voice responded.

　　“Oh, yes. Xun Li.”

　　The immortals looked up and realised that atop the peak stood three people – two males and one female. The one speaking was the female who was standing in the middle.

　　“Who is Xun Li?” Shen Ying asked once more.

　　All the immortals still seemed to be recovering from the shock of seeing an entire spiritual peak emerge from the ground. They dazedly turned toward the man standing in the center of all of them.

　　“I guess it’s you…” Shen Ying narrowed her eyes and studied Xun Li. “That. whoever…. I came here to tell you something. From today onward…” She suddenly stepped forward and enunciated each of the following words slowly and clearly.

　　“In the name of freedom, the Azure World is independent!”

　　“…”