A couple of hours ago…

“Senior Huan Tao, why are we going to chase that puny girl? She’s not worth our time.” A young man clad in black robes with crimson flower motif could be seen flying next to an elderly man wearing robes of the same design. The old man was naturally Huan Tao from the Demon Flame Sect, who personally set out to chase after Su Qingcheng and murder her in secret even knowing she had a friend accompanying her. However, he didn’t know that the person following her was a Tianqi Emperor with a ferocious background.

“Mu Dao, this matter is very important. If we can eliminate that stupid girl right away, it will incite that bitch, Nie Ran, to come out and seek death by trying to destroy us in the Infernal Lands. We can channel Sect Ancestor’s power to eliminate her at once.” Huan Tao explained.

The two of them continued to fly ahead, and it wasn’t long before Huan Tao spotted Su Qingcheng standing at the peak of one of the mountains talking to Qin Fa. Neither Mu Dao nor Huan Tao recognized the woman that Su Qingcheng spoke to, so they assumed that they could easily handle them. The two guys from the Demon Flame Sect casually floated a very reasonable distance away from the two and concealed their auras so neither of them would notice the pair eavesdropping on them.

“Merely a girl who doesn’t know the immensity of the heaven and the earth.” Mu Dao scoffed, his hearing was incredibly acute and he had heard every single word Su Qingcheng said to Qin Fa. However, when he heard Su Qingcheng referring to Qin Fa as ‘auntie,’ a chill suddenly ran down his back. Despite this, he didn’t say anything to Huan Tao.

Huan Tao ignored the younger Mu Dao’s awkward reaction. As the pair below them started to walk off, he opened his mouth to speak. “Do you think that Xiao Tie fellow is a good seedling?” Huan Tao asked Mu Dao for his opinion on the child from the Xiao clan. Evidently, Mu Dao had a very high position in the Demon Flame Sect for his age or even Huan Tao wouldn’t treat him with such respect.

“I like that kid too. He reminds me of First Elder.”

“Good, it’s good that he has your approval too. A guy like him has his talents wasted on the surface. We ought to get rid of that Su Qingcheng and then we can invite Xiao Tie to join our sect formally. Let’s go.”

Under Huan Tao’s urging, they both pursued Su Qingcheng and Qin Fa from behind, as if tailing them.

…

Su Qingcheng and Qin Fa continued to walk along the downtrodden mountain path. Along the way, Su Qingcheng couldn’t help but get the feeling that they were being watched. The acuteness and insight obtained from the Divine Battle Goddess Soul was definitely described in just one common term – “overpowered!” Though Su Qingcheng wasn’t that heaven-defying enough to identify who exactly it was that was chasing them, she definitely knew they were being followed now. If it wasn’t for the fact that Huan Tao and Mu Dao had concealed their aura earlier, Su Qingcheng would have noticed the duo ages ago. But now it seemed that those two guys were preparing to do something but didn’t take action yet. Su Qingcheng sighed and stopped in her tracks. By now, Qin Fa realized that training on magic beasts was useless, since Su Qingcheng could eliminate all the weaker creatures in a single punch causing the other creatures with intelligence to back off from Su Qingcheng as they didn’t want to die a brutal death.

“What’s the matter?” Qin Fa asked.

“We are being watched. I can feel the Divine Battle Goddess Soul acting up, it is urging me to take action, but I don’t know who is doing it or where they are, if there’s anyone nearby.” Su Qingcheng explained.

“Let’s lead them to the tree. If there are Fruits of Desire there, they will definitely come out. If they wanted to attack us, they would have done it already. They must be following us to find the treasure at the end of the rainbow.” Qin Fa nodded. Actually, her assumption was very fair. In the entire continent, only a handful of monstrous experts knew the origins of the Fruit of Desire.

The Fruit of Desire had a very simple name but had a lot of connotations and legends behind it. It was considered to be a divine-tasting sweet fruit that, when consumed, allowed any Tianqi user of any rank to boost their powers or abilities based on their needs. This is one of the things that gave it its name. In other words, it could be considered a form of “smart fruit.” If the person who ate it had a weak constitution, the nutrients in the fruit would instantly work to bolster their constitution and improve their fleshly body by leaps and bounds. If the person who ate it had weak tianqi paths, the nutrients would improve those instead.

Legend says that the Fruit of Desire was the result of the consummation of love between two divine figures that descended from Cloud Nine after they were banished due from their clan because of their love for each other. They came from clans that were at war with each other, and despite being considered heaven-defying geniuses with immense power, they essentially ended up waging war against the entirety of Cloud Nine in order to protect their love for each other.

When they were banished, they coincidentally fell into one of the mountain peaks of Tianzhan Mountain. Unfortunately, they were still chased by some remnant powerful Tianqi Gods that suppressed their stratum, allowing them to materialize in the continent. After an incredibly bloody battle that shook the entirety of Tianzhan Mountain, everybody involved had died. The blood and remains of the two lovers remained on this mountain peak, giving birth to the giant majestic tree that sprouts Fruit of Desire.

It’s said that their love gave birth to this Fruit of Desire which can give the consumer an immense power borne from this undying love. With a passionate story like this, how can anyone not be interested in trying to acquire the treasure? In any case, the pair of them then decided to ignore the two people following them and continue on their way to go to the tree which was in the furthest mountain peak of the Tianzhan Mountain. Huan Tao and Mu Dao who were following them seemed quite annoyed at their response seemingly not taking them into their eyes.

“That little brat already knows we’re following them.” Huan Tao frowned.

“She’s definitely not a simple kid.” Mu Dao growled. “Too bad. If she were somebody else’s kid, she would definitely also be a good seedling for our Demon Flame Sect. Unfortunately, the nature of her birth already destined us to be eternal enemies. One can’t exist without the other eventually.” He admitted.

“You are right, this is just like what Ancestor warned. He even said that the five-child of Nie Ran would be the undoing of the Demon Flame Sect if he or she ever came into being. Who would have thought that ‘five-child’ meant a Penta-Essence Tianqi user? Even Nie Ran only controlled four of them, such a tyrannical existence could only rival the power of Yao Meiyue who detonated herself to severely damage Ancestor to the extent he had to be in hibernation for countless years.” Huan Tao lamented. “If a girl like that were to grow more, then she could eventually destroy our sect with the flip of a hand. We must definitely kill her. Even if Xiao Tie did not already have an enmity with her, this realization is enough to justify the kill order.”

“But we are not enough; we still lack fighters to operate on the continent. For now, we should ambush her. Her companion may not necessarily be our match. They are directly leading us to the tree bearing the Fruit of Desire also. If we kill the both of them, we can obtain the fruit if it is there. It would be akin to killing two birds with a single stone!” Mu Dao explained his simple but efficient plan.

Huan Tao silently nodded. He gazed ahead and the both of them continued to pursue Su Qingcheng and Qin Fa. Eventually, the two girls made it to the giant tree. They stood beneath it while Qin Fa bowed to it in reverence. Confused, Su Qingcheng copied her gesture but didn’t ask about it. She also knew some of the stories about the tree’s origins but didn’t entirely believe in it. Suddenly, just as Qin Fa was about to point out the existence of a single Fruit of Desire peeking out one of the branches, Su Qingcheng whirled around.

“Oi, I already know you two fogeys are here! Show yourselves.” Su Qingcheng bellowed out in a domineering manner, betraying her youthful fifteen year old appearance. If one were to only hear her voice, they would have imagined her to be akin to a young war general instead. Clearly the Divine Battle Goddess Soul was already taking its effect on her psyche and physique.

Huan Tao and Mu Dao slowly flew into view as Qin Fa also turned around. Recognizing Huan Tao, she pointed at the two guys who followed them to the tree. “You bastards. How is the Demon Flame Sect still alive?” she growled, clearly she wasn’t as informed as Su Qingcheng who already knew that the Demon Flame Sect had been rebuilding in the lower realm; she even knew Xiao Tie had a backing from one of these guys.

“Auntie, the Demon Flame Sect had been rebuilding itself in secret in the Infernal Lands.” Su Qingcheng explained. “Mother had already exterminated their influence in the continent and Yao Meiyue brutally defeated their Ancestor. How could such a grand sect take that humiliation lying down!”

“Good, good, you little brat, you know way too much for your age.” Huan Tao flew forward, exuding his Tianqi Sage aura. In response, Su Qingcheng activated her Divine Battle Goddess Soul Constitution to its utmost, allowing her to easily resist the aura suppression. Qin Fa, who was already an Emperor at the peak, didn’t feel anything. Mu Dao was slightly weaker than Huan Tao but was much younger, so Qin Fa immediately had a better opinion of Mu Dao than the other with regards to battle strength. However, Su Qingcheng was by far the weakest one present, and her Divine Battle Goddess Soul only helped so much. Though Su Qingcheng knew this secret, she didn’t actually know whether the sect was good or bad historically speaking. So she still politely referred to it as a grand sect. This weakened Huan Tao’s killing intent slightly as this gave him the impression that Su Qingcheng could at least recognize Mt. Tai, however this would not prevent him from killing her!

“It’s too bad you’re the devil spawn of that hapless woman. If Ancestor didn’t warn us about you, then we would have taken you in! Unfortunately, you had to be the kid of the one who killed our chances of ruling over the continent. If I don’t kill you today, I wouldn’t be one of the Four Great Kings of the Demon Flame Sect!” Huan Tao roared out in indignation as he ignored Qin Fa and rushed straight to Su Qingcheng in the blink of an eye. However, before he could reach her, Qin Fa had already blinked into his path and struck him with a very inelegant punch, causing Huan Tao to be knocked back to his original starting point.

“Courting death! You dare to try and kill the daughter of my bosom friend with just the two of you?” Qin Fa crossed her arms and stood tall, like a tyrant looking down on a bunch of ants. She exuded her peak Tianqi Emperor’s aura and sneered at Mu Dao and Huan Tao.

“T, Tianqi Emperor!” Mu Dao’s expression paled as he was weaker and younger than Huan Tao, so he was more easily intimidated than Huan Tao, who lived for countless years and was part of Su Ran’s generation. In fact he was one of the undying fogeys who escaped her wrath and helped to reestablish the Demon Flame Sect in secret, making his title as one of the sect’s “Four Great Kings” not simple blustering!

Su Qingcheng’s mouth twitched as she stepped back a little. She knew in this situation she could only stay on the defensive. She could analyze the situation and realized Qin Fa could easily subdue one of them, but if both Mu Dao and Huan Tao were to work together, Qin Fa might be at a disadvantage. This wasn’t due to raw battle power, but due to the mysticism of the techniques the Demon Flame Sect practiced. She had learned some information about them from reading records, but most of her own knowledge came from Su Ran who had personally fought against the entire sect on her own.

“Auntie, be careful!” Su Qingcheng warned. “Don’t get caught in their Rakshasa Cage!!” she blurted out one of the Demon Flame Sect’s key suppressing techniques in a single breath, causing Huan Tao to be stunned. Aside from the Demonic Blood Boiling, he was also the main inventor of the Rakshasa Cage, which utilized Shura Tianqi to create a blood cage capable of suppressing enemies that were much stronger than the technique’s user. However it didn’t work on anyone weaker than them!

“Little stupid brat! How do you know my secret technique?! You must die!!”

Qin Fa blinked as she saw Mu Dao doing some seemingly random hand seals as Huan Tao ignored Qin Fa and tried to kill Su Qingcheng in one blow. Qin Fa once again blinked to try and intercept Huan Tao, but Huan Tao was somehow faster. He had burned Shura Tianqi to get a sudden burst in speed, allowing him to get close to Su Qingcheng. However, how would she allow him to get close? Her incredibly boosted intuition allowed her to predict his movement before he actually moved, and in response she had swiftly rolled away, exposing Huan Tao and giving Qin Fa the opportunity to strike him down hard. Spurting a mouthful of blood, Huan Tao fell forward. Unfortunately, Mu Dao had been left unimpeded and he completed his hand seals and gestures.

“Auntie!!!” Su Qingcheng cried out in anguish as she recognized Mu Dao had been preparing the Rakshasa Cage. Before Qin Fa could blink out of range, she had already been caught in the suppressing cage. When she tried to blink out of the cage, the blood that formed the bars on the cage extended and struck at Qin Fa’s body, causing immense pain and making her emit a cry of pain.

“No!!” Su Qingcheng shuddered as she saw Qin Fa being suppressed by the Rakshasa Cage. Frowning, she was now facing two enemies of the Tianqi Sage realm alone. With Qin Fa being successfully caught by the cage, Su Qingcheng could only rely on Yao Meiyue’s advice.

OK, kid, listen to me carefully. Qin Fa won’t die from this but she won’t be able to help you. Those two farts can’t kill her but they don’t care about her. They already want to kill you! Your only hope is to forcefully break the cage!!

As Su Qingcheng quickly tried to analyze her chances of escaping the situation, she realized she had one key thing that she had completely forgotten about until now. “Master, can Dark Cosmos Fist break through the cage?”

You still haven’t forgotten that forbidden art? Uh, yes, it can break the cage, probably, but you won’t be able to move after using it!

“It’s the only way to do it. Like I said, nothing matters before absolute strength!” Su Qingcheng resolved to herself. She roared out courageously as she quickly recalled the details in the Dark Cosmos Fist stance that she had read before back when Hu Linglei gifted the manual to her. Focusing her Tianqi, her right hand began to channel in negative energy from the atmosphere. The Rakshasa Cage, formed of negative Shura Tianqi, began to vibrate as Qin Fa stared at Su Qingcheng in astonishment.

Mu Dao didn’t look impressed, however, Huan Tao’s greedy smile suddenly froze.

“Im… Impossible!” Huan Tao gasped, as he was stunned by the sight before him.

A small area around Su Qingcheng began to distort as if the very space itself was bending to Su Qingcheng’s will. It looked like it would swallow up anything and everything in the world. At this point, Su Qingcheng appeared like a demonic alien girl hiding monstrous strength as she collected the negative energy into her right fist.

At this point, Su Qingcheng could only utter a few words.

“Get ready to scram!!!!” she ferociously roared out as her Divine Battle Goddess Soul worked overtime to support her Dark Cosmos Fist…