Wu Meiying set down in front of the sect master’s residence and walked to the entrance, where a pair of guards snapped to attention as they allowed her to pass. Anyone else would have been stopped. She had cemented her position within the sect, however, and now, nobody dared to stand in her way.

Except one person.

“Wu Meiying, I see you’ve finally come to pay your respects to the sect master after so many months in isolation, and yet, you have not once come to pay your respects to your elders,” said a woman walking out from around a corner.

The term “jade beauty” would have been appropriate to describe the woman. She had long black hair, vivid green eyes, and skin like jade. Long bangs framed a face full of feminine beauty and cold austerity. Almond shaped eyes lent an innocent flare to an otherwise cold visage. The figure hidden underneath her hanfu that signified her status as an elder was more voluptuous than any woman Wu Meiying had met thus far.

Wu Meiying withheld a sigh as she realized yet another fool wanted to get in her way. This was why she hated sects. Everyone was so busy fighting each other, using people as stepping stones in their path to power, that they had foregone all common decency.

She masked her thoughts with a pleasant smile. “Mei Qi, it has been some time. I trust you’ve been well.”

“Tch. I see you’re as disrespectful as always. You do not even offer your elder a proper bow.”

Mei Qi was an elder who trained inner court disciples. She had been given the nickname Jade Iron Beauty because, despite her beautiful appearance, she had harsh demands and punished those who disobeyed her mercilessly. Her ironfisted approach to teaching turned off her many disciples. Only a select few disciples with weird procilivities appreciated her approach.

“You might be an elder, but respect is earned, not given, and you’ve never done anything to show you’re worthy of my respect,” Wu Meiying shrugged.

Mei Qi’s face turned red. “The only reason you can act so insolent is because the sect master favors you, but mark my words, there will come a day where I’ll make you regret mocking me like this.”

“No, there won’t,” Wu Meiying said in a cold voice. “I have already seen your future, and you only have a handful of options available to you. If you go against me, you will regret it. There is no happiness in your future should you choose to get in my way. If you want to avoid an unhappy future, I suggest you simply choose to ignore me. Pretend I don’t exist and you’ll find a much happier ending.”

Mei Qi’s already burning face gained an even more vibrant shade as anger boiled inside of her. Wu Meiying sighed. What she had said was the truth. This woman only had five futures. In three of them, she chose to make trouble for Wu Meiying and eventually died. Only the two options where she stopped interfering did her future take a turn for the better.

Of course, there was very little chance of this woman choosing the futures that made her happy.

For some reason, people would rather suffer than be happy, even when there was nothing to gain from suffering.

Wu Meiying didn’t understand why.

“How dare you…” Mei Qi grittted her teeth and clenched her fists.

“I need to speak with the sect master. I highly recommend you rethink your life choices,” Wu Meiying said before walking past the woman.

She heard Mei Qi’s shouts seconds later. “You snot-nosed little brat! Are you courting death?! You might have reached the Deva Realm, but don’t think that means anything! I’m far more powerful than you, and I will make you regret crossing me!”

Mei Qi had not liked Wu Meiying since the moment she entered the sect. Of course, Wu Meiying had not done anything to engender herself to the people in this sect, but she had not gone out of her way to antagonize them either. The reason Mei Qi disliked her was quite simple.

The woman was ambitious.

Really ambitious.

Her entire goal in life centered around marrying Zhe Fēnglì. She wanted to use her marital status with him to boost her reputation in the sect so she could eventually take over. There was actually still a chance she could see her goals realized, but whether she took the option that would make this a reality remained to be see.

Wu Meiying reached the sect master’s office and knocked once.

“I thought I asked not to be disturbed,” said someone from the other side.

“I didn’t realize you had requested no one disturb you,” Wu Meiying said. “Should I save my conversation for another time?”

“Wu Meiying?!”

The door suddenly flew open and the visage of Zhe Dāozhe appeared before her. He was a refined man. 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.

“I see you’ve finally come out of your isolated cultivation.” He paused and studied her further, eyes widening. “I felt someone crossing over to the Deva Realm. I should have known it would be you. Congratulations on breaking through.”

Wu Meiying gave this man a martial bow. “Your words honor me, Sect Master. I wish we could trade more pleasantries, but I have urgent news for you. I saw something disturbing during my breakthrough.”

“What did you see?” asked Zhe Dāozhe.

Wu Meiying took a deep breath before quickly launching into what she saw. She did not share everything. For example, she said nothing about her enemies, nor did she share that Hou Jingshu was their target. No good future appeared before her when she chose to tell him this.

Zhe Dāozhe listened with furrowed brows, then sighed when she was done.

“That is indeed disturbing news. How much time do we have?”

Wu Meiying shook her head. “I don’t know. All I can say was this happens in the future. Since it has not happened yet, there is still time, but I could not tell you whether we have one month, one year, or just one day to act.”

“So we’re on a clock, but we don’t even know which clock. That makes things difficult. I suspect you already have a plan? What would you have the Heavenly Sword Sect do?”

“If we choose to ignore the threat of magical beasts, the Xaio Continent will be plunged into chaos. We can ill-afford to neglect this threat. You should send your best people to the Yuan Peninsula and have them search for a ritual to summon magical beasts.”

The Yuan Peninsula was closest to the Da Continent, separated only by a small channel. Magical beasts from the Da Continent invaded their nation by swimming across this channel without fail every few years. Most of them were eaten by the magical beasts in the ocean, but several hundred always made it through. It was the job of the Three Celestial Sects to kill these magical beasts when they appeared.

“Very well. I’ll send out several elders and a contingent of cultivators to go an investigate the Yuan Pensinsula. What about the Zhou Kingdom’s plans?”

“We cannot attack them when they haven’t done anything wrong yet. Doing so will turn the world against us. So long as we can prevent the magical beasts from invading, they will have no choice but to back off,” said Wu Meiying.

“A good point. But what if we fail?” asked Zhe Dāozhe.

Wu Meiying closed her eyes and began shifting through various futures. It was easier now that she had reached the Deva Realm, but she was still limited in what she could do. She could not afford to look too far into the future. Her enemies might find her if she did. They were constantly shifting through the timelines, and right now, she still wasn’t strong enough that she could confront them.

“If we mobilize our forces to defend the Shang Kingdom, the other two Celestial Sects will get involved. We cannot act rashly. However, we must uphold the alliance. Gather a group of Deva Realm experts and have them on standby in case things go south. They should not act if we use just enough force to suppress the Zhou Kingdom.”

“Very well. I’ll have Zhe Fēnglì stand by with some of our best young cultivators. Will that be enough.”

“It should be,” Wu Meiying said with a nod.

She wished she could give greater advice, but the future was blurry. Her enemies were obviously involved in what was happening in the Shang Kingdom. Many of the futures she sifted through that involved the Heavenly Sword Sect responding were met with blank slates. She could not see what happened in these futures. It was enough to tell her the Heavenly Sword Sect would face heavy opposition that would likely result in an even greater catastrophe befalling the Xaio Continent.

I should be used to this feeling by now, but it is never easy facing off against someone who cultivates the Dao of Time.

Compared to the tens of thousands of years she spent as Tiāntáng Meiying, the several thousand years she’d been reincarnating herself to stay with Wu Jian was but the blink of an eye. Yet even though it was such a short period of time, it felt much longer and more fulfilling than her entire lifetime as Tiāntáng Meiying.

Unfortunately, while she had a greater understanding of the Dao of Time, her enemies had a higher cultivation level. Power trumped understanding. It might not have mattered if her enemies were just a bit stronger than her, but the person acting behind the scenes was strong. She guessed he was at the Perfection Realm. She would have suspected he had already broken through the Nine Mortal Realms and entered the Seven Divine Realms if not for the fact that it was impossible to remain on this planet after breaking through the shackles of mortality.

“Remain with me. I’ll call a Council of Elders to relay my orders,” said Zhe Dāozhe.

Wu Meiying nodded. She would have preferred keeping to her own company, but she knew her presence was needed. She was Madame Oracle, the Jade Goddess of the Sword, and the only disciple who could make the sect master himself heed her advice. All the elders and some members of the Heavenly Sword Sect’s elite guard knew about her abilities, and they had been forced to take an oath under heaven.

Swearing an oath under heaven was the highest oath a person could take. Should the oath be broken, the heavens themselves would respond, crippling the oath breaker’s cultivation. It was not something that was done lightly. Yet even Mei Qi had been forced to take this oath.

The meeting was soon called. Wu Meiying stood behind Zhe Dāozhe as he sat at a round table inside of the council room. All the other elders were present as well, including Mei Qi, who glared at her with undisguised loathing. There were nine head elders, thirteen inner courtyard elders, and nine outer courtyard elders. Because Zhe Dāozhe was the founder of the Heavenly Sword Sect, they did not have an ancestor. However, there was no need for one since he had reached the pinnacle of this world’s cultivation already.

Due to the nature of the conversations that took place here, the room was enclosed on all sides and contained a powerful sealing array that separated it from the rest of the world. No one would be able to listen in. Zhe Dāozhe also controlled the array, so no one was able to leave if he did not want them to. He could keep them all inside this room indefinitely if he so desired.

“Let us skip the formalities. An unprecedented crisis will be occurring shortly that could plunge the Xaio Continent into chaos. As the strongest among the Three Celestial Sects, it is our job to prevent this disaster.”