A FEW MINUTES PRIOR

Aer watched as her student fought against the golden drake, casually swirling the clouds above her. Seira was matching the spirit-beast blow for blow, leveraging her new aspect in some very interesting ways. She extended her mana sense, locating her other apprentices. The sun was finally dipping, which meant the beasts of this unnamed world would soon retreat to their earthen homes. As long as Seira didn't waste all her mana trying to defeat the alpha, they were pretty much guaranteed a win. She smiled. Sure, she had to help them along a little bit, but the results of her aid far outstripped the detriments — their ascensions were far greater than even a Saint could have hoped for! Even Kiro was —

She jumped up. There was a disturbance in this world's wind, an unexplained heat burst a few dozen miles southeast. She waved her hand, letting the world's natural streams carry her towards her destination. Who could have possibly come to this tiny little border world? Within a few minutes, she found out.

***

Hong Ma furiously flew towards the intruder, surrounded by a coalition of her Second Circle Elders. Despite being dozens of times older than her entourage, she held the features of a woman just past her prime, though this was now more due to cosmetic-altering elixirs than the lifespan benefits of Aspectual Linking. To truly be beautiful again, she needed the eternal youth of Sainthood, and Sainthood required Subject 1.

"Thief!" she roared, jets of flame shooting from her limbs. "You will not live to see the night!"

The woman with silver hair frowned, slowing to a stop. "You call your own clansmen your property? What kind of matriarch are you?"

With her nod of approval, an Elder sped towards the woman, conjuring a lance of flame. "You will not speak to the matriarch in such a manner! She works with forces you could never comprehend!"

The woman laughed, casually deflecting the blow. "Ah, forces I could never comprehend? Perhaps you're right. After all, I could never understand why someone would perform such wicked experiments on a bunch of innocent human beings."

The man's eyes went wide, and he threw himself at her, cloaked in a shroud of fire. "How do you know about that!"

As quick as lightning, she snatched him by the collar, throwing him back towards them. "So… honored matriarch of the Hong clan, what brings you to this humble world?"

Hong Ma harrumphed. The insolence! Deliberately flaring her aura, she began gathering mana around her. "Prepare yourself, fiend! You might have been able to best my Formation-staged Elders, but let's see how well you handle the power of the peak of the Third Circle!"

The woman giggled. "Oh! You even gave a cold snort! You must be very serious!"

That was enough from this child! The matriarch released her growing technique, conjuring a flame serpent the size of a city. This technique had singlehandedly obliterated civilizations, consuming their peoples in a single, blistering inferno. The ginormous serpent blotted out the sun, but that didn't mean that their surroundings were any less bright. It emitted so much light that her Elders had to turn away from the nascent attack, lest they become blind. With a mighty roar, the technique finished, and she shouted its name.

"Rise! King's Bane, Emperor's Strife! Serpent to Consume the Heavens! Almighty Conflagration!"

The attack coiled towards the impertinent girl, looming over her like a mountain. Yet, she seemed unphased. As slow as she possibly could, the thief raised her index finger. "One thing you might want to learn, miss matriarch of flame, is that all fire… needs wind."

The finger descended, and the very air around them split, rushing away from the serpent with an ear-deafening crack. In an instant, the technique unravelled, the flames going out in an unceremonious puff. Hong Ma stopped in the air, trembling. That technique had cost nearly all her mana, and this… thing had just taken it out in a single blow!

"What are you?"

The woman flared her aura, and all the Elders collapsed.

"I am Aeripha, Saint of Wind and Storms, Savior of Din, Caller of Lightning, Tamer of Dragons, and guardian of this world. Now, I know that you have been cooped up in your little border world for many years, but I trust that you still remember the old adage about punching above your cultivation level? To fight between stages is a risk. To fight between circles is folly. To fight between realms..."

The mighty matriarch's lips moved against her will, whispering the rest of the saying.

"...is to try and fight the heavens themselves."

***

Aer stood in midair, gazing down upon Hong Ma. Killing intent spilled from her being, causing the Elders who were still conscious to go into shock. Oops. She might have overdone it. She prayed to the heavens that Hong Ma would leave, because she really didn't want to kill someone today.

The woman took a step back, which was funny because she was still hovering on her fire jets, and jumped back into the void. Without a second thought, Aer levitated all her little Elders, tossing them back with their matriarch. They would eventually wake up and navigate back to their home world — they were in a gentle enough area that even a puny Nascent Soul cultivator would have no trouble doing so.

She yawned. Alright, it was time to see what her apprentices were up to!