Wu Meiying stepped outside of the cultivation zone and felt the air shift. The inside of a cultivation zone always felt thick and heavy, like something was pushing down on her shoulders. It was the result of all that chi from the medicine rivers being diffusing the atmosphere. Her cultivation was already stalling now that she had stepped outside.

Though, of course, that didn’t matter to Wu Meiying. Her cultivation had stopped not long ago. She would need more than a simple cultivation zone to increase her level now.

Her feet left the ground as she used her chi to fly. She rose high above her private mountain peek. From there, she could see the entire Heavenly Sword Sect.

Many people thought the Heavenly Sword Sect was located on Heavenly Sword Mountain, and that was true to a certain extent. The entrance, at least, was there. However, like most great sect, the Heavenly Sword Sect was located inside of its own sealed world.

The sealed world was quite vast. Her peak was but one of many. All core disciples and elders had their own peak to live on, and there were hundreds of them. The peaks were also just a small part of this sealed world. Below the mountaintops was a large city with two layers meant for outer disciples and inner disciples.

Wu Meiying knew that it spanned roughly one hundred square lî. It made evident the fact that this sect was the greatest among the Three Great Sects.

Several people passed Wu Meiying as she flew toward the tallest peak. Some were flying on their own, but the vast majority needed to use swords to fly because they hadn’t yet reached the Human Limit Realm. Most of them did a double take when they saw her. She heard them whispering about her, but Wu Meiying paid them no mind. Whatever they had to say wasn’t worth hearing. She turned them out and focused on traveling.

The tallest peak within the Heavenly Sword Sect belonged to the Sect Master. It was not only the tallest but also the largest, and sitting upon its massive top, which had been flattened as though someone cut off the tip with a sword, was a palace unlike any other. It gleamed in the light, an intimidating structure that resembled numerous swords piercing the heavens. The imposing building would have inspired awe in many.

Wu Meiying thought the person who built it had been trying too hard.

She set down before the entrance, a pair of giant double doors guarded by two Deva Realm Cultivators. The pair straightened the moment she stepped forward. Despite being a whole realm beneath them, the guards showed her the highest respect.

“Madame Oracle! Welcome. The Sect Master has been expecting you. Please, go inside,” one of them said. He looked young, but she knew he was at least two hundred years old. She would have looked into his time if she could. Sadly, the necklace she wore prevented her from using her powers.

“I shall. Thank you,” she said.

The guard on the left stamped the butt of his spear into the floor. A loud grinding sound echoed around them as the door slowly opened. Beyond the doorway lay a hall of incredible size, with tiles painted like swords and columns that disappeared into the ceiling high overhead. Wu Meiying ignored the decorations as she walked inside.

The Sect Master’s office was located on the first floor. All she needed to do was walk through the first hall, take several turns, and she was soon standing before a doorway made of gleaming meteorite silver. No other sect save maybe the Divine Moon Hall had the money to build a door made from such rare materials.

She knocked once.

“Sect Master, it is Wu Meiying. I am here upon your request,” she called out.

“The door is open,” said a voice from inside.

Wu Meiying opened the door, stepped inside, and closed it behind her. She looked around for a moment, head turning left, then right.

“My son is not here, if that’s who you’re looking for,” said a man standing before a grand map of the entire world.

He was a refined man who bore a striking resemblance to his son. Age had gifted him with the appearance of a scholarly gentleman, a sword-wielding scholar who could split the seas and rend mountains if he so chose. His hair was black without a speck of gray. Tied behind his head in a topknot, there was not even a strand to block out his sharp eyes and sword-shaped eyebrows. The heroic shape of his jaw and nose lent him the appearance of a renowned hero of old. Despite his appearance, the robes he wore were quite plain, but that only highlighted his more distinctive features.

His name was Zhe Dāozhe, and he was considered the most powerful man on the Xiao Continent.

She sighed in relief.

He smiled wryly. “Are you really so against letting my son get close to you?”

“Of course I am,” Wu Meiying said as she walked into the room. “As I’ve told you before, my power depends upon my chastity. The moment I lose it is the moment my powers stop working.”

That was a load of crap. She was lying through her teeth, but it wasn’t like anyone could dispute her. Time manipulation was not a well-known ability in this world, and her powers over time were far beyond those of anyone else. She had told the sect master that her power was due to her unique physical constitution, and that maintaining it required her to retain her chastity. That was how she had decided to protect herself in this sect. She was sure the sect master would have already forced his son onto her if she had not.

“Yes, I am aware. Still, I do not believe it would hurt if you were kinder to him,” he tried.

She disputed him. “With all due respect, Sect Master Zhe, leading your son on would only hurt him in the long run. He will eventually need to marry and sire children. This is something I cannot do for obvious reasons. It is better not to get his hopes up so that he can move on and find a good woman.”

“That… is true. Well, let us set aside this matter for now.”

Set aside my foot.

Wu Meiying knew this wouldn’t be the last she heard of this. Zhe Dāozhe brought this up every time they met. He would not let this matter go no matter how many times she told him it was pointless, but he also wouldn’t push because her abilities to tell the future were far more important than his son’s lustful intentions toward her.

“As you know, the Thirteen Kingdom’s Tournament is coming up in one and a half years,” Zhe Dāozhe began, placing his hands behind his back. “Talented young cultivators from all over the Xiao Continent will be coming to the Xia Dynasty to compete. I assume I don’t need to tell you why this tournament is important for us?”

“This tournament is a great chance to scout out potential cultivators to join our ranks,” Wu Meiying said.

“Correct.”

The Three Celestial Sects did not belong to any nation and therefore were ineligible to participate. They were instead given the honor of spectating the tournament to scout for new recruits. Any cultivator who was recruited by one of the Three Celestial Sects would not only be given untold honor, but their clan or sect would be given numerous cultivation resources. All this was done with the hopes that the clan or sect in question could cultivate another talented individual who would hopefully join their sect during the next tournament.

“I assume you want me to spectate?” asked Wu Meiying.

Zhe Dāozhe nodded. “Your talents make you uniquely suited to finding powerful individuals worthy of joining our sect.”

Well, now she was in a quandary. She could not very well tell this man to shove his request up his ass, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to attend this tournament yet. There were too many variables.

“Activate the barrier, please.”

Zhe Dāozhe hurriedly shaped his hand into a seal. The floor beneath the glowed with silver chi, then a barrier so powerful it was impossible to see through appeared around them.

Wu Meiying removed her necklace and closed her eyes.

“Hmmm.”

She searched through the timelines of this planet. Images flashed through her mind and vanished within the blink of an eye as she narrowed her search. She could not find Wu Jian anywhere, but she did not expect to. Instead, she searched for Hou Jingshu. If she found Hou Jingshu, she would find Wu Jian.

I want to see everything, but I’ll have to narrow my focus down to the tournament. There’s not enough time to view every possible future she has from now to then.

Wu Meiying further narrowed her focus and soon found what she was looking for—Hou Jingshu attending the tournament as one of the Shang Kingdom’s three competitors. She did not recognize one of them, a handsome young man with a sharp aura, but the masked figure she saw while looking through Hou Jingshu’s time was easy to figure out. He was a blank space in her perceptions. She could not sense him at all.

She opened her eyes again and looked at the sect master.

“I’ll go.”

Zhe Dāozhe’s eyes brightened. “Did you see something?”

“Just a possibility,” Wu Meiying said with a smile. “I have a feeling there will be a couple of very interesting candidates this year.”

“That’s good enough for me,” Zhe Dāozhe said.

“Then may I take my leave?”

“Haaaah. Going back to your peak? You should learn to be more social.”

Wu Meiying shrugged. “Being social requires me to walk among men, and I’ve yet to meet a man who doesn’t possess some intentions toward me.”

She had actually tried to be social at the beginning, but she soon learned how bad of an idea that was. Every man she met came up to her with the intention of bedding her. They saw a beautiful flower they wanted to possess. Not a single one of them could keep their desires off their faces. Even men who were already in a relationship had attempted to covet her.

Perhaps there were a few among them who wouldn’t covet her, but she had neither the time nor desire to find them. Building relationships in this small sect on this tiny world held no interest for her. All she wanted was to reunite with the people she had grown attached to.

The actions of the men made the women jealous. Many of the Heavenly Sword Sect’s female disciples had tried to bully her. She had beaten them all black and blue, of course. Why should she let these people punish her for their man’s inability to show restraint? After several such instances, Wu Meiying had simply decided it was better to avoid people altogether.

Wu Meiying eventually arrived back at her peak and entered the pagoda. She slid out of her shoes, stripped off her dress, and grabbed the white robes she had been wearing before. After tying it together with a simple band, she stepped outside and sat cross-legged on the ground.

“Now, what should I do? Should I go revisit the past, or should I see what’s happening in the present?”

This was a dilemma. She should probably look into what her future sisters were doing right now, but she really wanted to revisit her past. That was the only time she could see her light right now. Watching a blank space just wasn’t the same.

“Ugh… I wish he didn’t have to wear that necklace. Damn that chimera. If it wasn’t for him spreading his teachings so far and wide, I wouldn’t be having this problem. Then again, if he hadn’t done so, I doubt Wu Jian and I would have been forced apart.”

This was another blight on that bastard’s records. She would not soon forget all the harm he had caused her, the trauma she had faced.

With a soft sigh, she made a hand seal and shut her eyes. Knowing what her future sisters doing was more important than her feelings right now. She needed to plan accordingly so she could finally have her happy ending.

Just before she sealed off her consciousness to explore the world’s timelines, several words emerged unbidden from her lips.

“Dear apprentice, be sure to wash your neck thoroughly. I will take your head once I return to the Nine Heavens.”