The woman placed her staff on the ground as she put all her weight on it, supporting her on standing up.

She was relentless in her attacks and didn't give him leeway to counterattack. From her experience, the best way to defeat an opponent was to keep attacking them so they would be forced to defend and wouldn't have any chance to attack. Doing otherwise would be foolish.

That was why she was tired. She didn't have much spiritual energy left in her reserves after activating the formations they had placed in the Thousand Mountain Valley, then fighting with her companion had made her already low reserves even lower.

She was spent.

However, her companion was finally dead. With the obstacle now gone, she could finally get the treasure and be over with her mission once and for all.

She slowly walked towards the pillar of the light with her staff supporting her body in every step she took.

Before she could reach the treasure, she felt her surroundings getting warmer. The leftover ice and snow in the area which was left behind by her supreme arts had slowly melted as the surroundings got warmer and warmer.

Then, she heard his voice.

"Now, now, don't think you're getting rid of me that easily."

She heard her companion's easy-going voice from behind!

Her eyes widened considerably.

He should've been dead. She saw it with her own eyes. He was pierced right in his head by her arrow. She sensed his breathing stop and his life... she didn't sense it anymore after that which could only mean that he died.

How was he able to survive taking that hit right in his head? Even if he was at the Heavenly Rebirth Realm, the realm below the Immortal Realm, a direct hit in the head would've killed him! So how? How was he, a Sacred King, able to survive that?

Was she perhaps under an illusion and everything that happened so far was just her, being in an illusion? Was that why he was still alive?

She turned around and saw her companion who was perfectly fine and healthy as if he didn't just suffer a hit in his head. There wasn't even any wound on it, further enforcing her thoughts that what she had seen was merely an illusion.

"How?" she asked.

As a response to her question, the handsome man smirked.

"Why should I tell you?"

The woman's brows furrowed. She thought he was the arrogant type who would tell their enemies about their abilities just to show off. She had met many people like that before which in her opinion were fools for doing so. It turned out she was wrong in thinking that the man in front of her was the same as them, even though he looked like someone who would do that.

"But well, since you're going to be my woman soon anyway, I might as well tell you," he licked his lips as he continued speaking. "Not that you can win even if you know it anyway."

He was looking down on her which was quite displeasing. But him looking down on her was to her advantage. It meant that she could take him off guard since he didn't think highly of her.

On an unrelated note, it seemed that he really was the type of person she thought he was.

"I was sure that you were dead," she said.

The man nodded at her.

"You're right. You were quite good. I let down my guard too much. You were able to kill me."

The woman was puzzled. So she was indeed able to kill him. It wasn't merely an illusion. But that begged the question; why was he still alive?

"I died really," he said as a pair of wings made of fire appeared on his back while his entire body was engulfed in fire. "I am proficient with the Undying Phoenix Supreme Art. It was originally a Divine Art made by my clan's ancestor after gaining enlightenment from watching a real phoenix up close. Too bad I can't use its Divine Art version because of my lacking cultivation realm. I have no choice but to use its inferior, supreme art version for now."

"Undying Phoenix Divine Art..."

Phoenixes were Divine Beasts known for their proficient fire arts, however, what they were known for the most was their ability to be reborn from their ashes.

The fact that his Divine Art was derived from a phoenix meant that it should share some similarities to it however inferior it may be to the real thing.

This was actually the first time she had heard of that particular Divine Art which wasn't strange. There were too many powerful yet unknown Supreme Arts or Divine Arts in the universe. Not even gods nor ancient gods who had lived for hundreds or millions of years would claim that they knew every Divine Art in the world.

Still, she didn't expect that her companion would know that kind of Divine Art.

"Well then, let's finish this. After I defeat you, I will bring you back to my clan along with the treasure. Who cares about the mission anymore. No reward can surpass the value of one of the Twelve Heavenly Grand Treasure in the universe."

The woman bit her lips.

At her current state, she wouldn't last another minute if they fight once again.

Before they could get to that point, however, the formation that they had created was finally broken. That meant that anytime soon, people were going to flock in there, making it hard for them to take the treasure.

Silently agreeing with each other, the two decided to no longer fight as the woman continued to the treasure while the man ran towards it, easily overtaking the woman who was supporting her body with her staff.

The man's hand reached towards the treasure. His hand was merely a few centimeters away from the treasure when suddenly, his body stopped!

He stopped! No, he was stopped by something, preventing his body from moving.

From his outstretched hand, he could see some black, liquid-like substance moving around the skin on his arm. He looked down and saw the same black unknown substance on his body.

Was this the thing that was stopping him?

He was so close! He was just a centimeter away from touching the treasure! To think he would be stopped with the treasure just within his reach! He couldn't believe it.

"Well, well, so it was you two who set that formation up."

Both man and woman looked at the speaker.

It was a man whose body was covered in the same black, liquid-like substance on his arms, accompanied by a wolf beast and a young man.

The woman's eyes widened upon seeing the young man.

It was the father of her daughter, Yun Ling!