The members of the Numinous Sword Sect clench their fists so hard their knuckles turned white. Their hearts had jumped up and down from the furious emotion that filled up their chest the moment Ba Shifang easily defeated his previous foe, to the current nervousness. They watched the black sphere with bated breath, hoping to see a sword piercing the prison.

Seconds turned to minutes, and minutes transformed to an hour, but there was no response. Finally, Sovereign Yanxu sighed and said aloud, “Monarch Ba, you’ve won.”

He had originally wanted to stun the Buzhou Immortal Court and have Meng Tingfeng challenge Tianyi. If he won, great, and even if he lost, it wouldn’t affect much, either. However, it seemed that he was too clever by a half and had his own plans used against him without the Buzhou Immortal Court even trying.

Ba Shifang nodded and unclasped his hands. He wasn’t having as easy of a time as it looked. Although sweat didn’t coat his back, the extensive use of the Five Phases Formation caused his qi reservoir to plummet to seventy percent. ‘I have to find a way to use more qi efficient attacks. It’s fine when I hold the absolute upper hand, but against more powerful opponents, it’s not as effective. After all, not everyone can be like Tianyi.’

When the black sphere dissipated, Ba Shifang stood there stunned. Not just him, but the other onlookers were surprised. Meng Tingfeng was floating in the air with his eyes closed. Had it not been for the strong life force he exuded, Ba Shifang would have thought he died.

‘What is he doing?’ As Ba Shifang wondered, there was a moment of silence. He even felt the hostile gaze of the members of the Numinous Sword Sect.

Just as Ba Shifang wanted to fly closer to take a look, Sovereign Yanxu appeared in front of Meng Tingfeng. His originally stern expression loosened slightly. He turned toward Ba Shifang and the other Buzhou Immortal Court members. “Please give Peak Lord Meng some time. If I am right, it is a happy thing, and I have to thank Monarch Ba.”

Ba Shifang’s expression couldn’t help but twitch. If he wasn’t wrong, Meng Tingfeng should have had an epiphany. ‘Why does it feel like I lost even though I won?’

He flew back into the palace and sat down. The more Ba Shifang thought about it, the more uncomfortable he became. Due to his relationship to Tianyi, he knew it was only a matter of time before the Buzhou Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect came to blows. Wasn’t his action helping the enemy? Furthermore, he had a gut instinct that Meng Tingfeng would become a formidable foe. Even if he felt grateful toward Meng Tingfeng for the gift and for helping him marry Hu Landie, it didn’t change the fact that the two were on opposite sides.

But even if he wanted to get rid of Meng Tingfeng, he couldn’t do it now, or even during the war against the Demon Clan. At least before the war reaches its climax, he could not take action against Meng Tingfeng. Just because he couldn’t didn’t mean Donghai Longzi couldn’t.

Ba Shifang began to formulate a plan. However, all this hinged on the pivot that Tianyi would help him. Only Tianyi could contact and order Donghai Longzi in the future, and anyone else doing it would be too risky. He wouldn’t tell Tianyi now, only after the Jade and Numinous Conference ended. Immortal sense transmission was considered extremely safe, but there are always exceptions.

While Ba Shifang schemed, Meng Tingfeng continued his epiphany. It didn’t last long by most immortals’ standards, even Tianyi’s, just a few hours. But when Meng Tingfeng opened his eyes, his stellar immortal qi rolled off his body in waves, allowing everyone to sense that he had fused two out of the five elemental qis. The surrounding spiritual qi began to fly to him.

In addition to the aura of metal and earth, an additional fluctuation of fire appeared in Meng Tingfeng’s stellar immortal qi. The bright white qi full of twinkling motes of lights that resembled the stellar river in the night sky gained a red sheen. The red sheen turned from pink to a burning red, its fiery aura almost eclipsing the stellar aura the qi possessed.

Just as it seemed that the fiery aura would devour the stellar aura of Meng Tingfeng’s stellar immortal true qi, it halted. The burning red color receded at a rapid rate until it returned to its milky white color. The only difference in the stellar true qi was that it would occasionally twinkle in silver, yellow, or red.

Meng Tingfeng opened his eyes. Although he didn’t yell in celebration, he couldn’t help but have a slight smile on his face. It was as if he hadn’t lost the duel. In fact, even if he won, he wouldn’t be happier. If he won, it would only be some useless honor, but he gained much more than that.

At the crucial moment, right before he was completely sealed, Meng Tingfeng had a stroke of fortune. The Five Phases Formation used by Ba Shifang allowed him to shorten the time he needed to understand the laws of the five elements. It wouldn’t be enough to master all five elemental laws, but it would be enough to reach the fifth step of the Seamless Immortal Realm within a hundred years.

Not only was Meng Tingfeng happy, but so was Sovereign Yanxu.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Although he didn’t accomplish his initial goals, Meng Tingfeng’s ascension from second-step monarch to third-step monarch managed to minimize the losses. This showed that Meng Tingfeng’s strength had doubled, at least in terms of the energy within his qi. If he was to battle Ba Shifang again, the winner would be unknown.

At least for the layman. Sovereign Yanxu knew what determined victory wasn’t how powerful Meng Tingfeng’s qi was, but the difference in depth of comprehension of the worldly laws. Unless Ba Shifang became a fourth or fifth-step monarch, his chances of victory were unlikely to change if all conditions were constant.

Meng Tingfeng flew toward Ba Shifang with a smile. “Haha, you really are my lucky star. Thanks to you, bottlenecks won’t exist for me in the Seamless Immortal Realm.”

Ba Shifang gave a stiff smile. “It’s my pleasure.”

“Let’s have a competition to see who will enter the Extremity Immortal Realm first,” Meng Tingfeng said. “I believe you can do it within ten thousand years, but don’t think that you will have the advantage even if you are closer.”

“A competition?” Ba Shifang repeated and narrowed his eyes. “Okay. I believe I will enter that realm in much less time than a thousand years.”

Upon seeing the fighting spirit in Ba Shifang, Meng Tingfeng internally sighed in relief. How could he not feel the dissatisfaction from his son? Young people never liked it when other people showed them up. He had been targeted by many young masters because of his brilliance in lower realms, and he didn’t want Ba Shifang to develop a similar enmity for him, so he proposed a competition.

Anyway, he believed that he would be able to enter the Extremity Immortal Realm in less than five thousand years. By making Ba Shifang grow accustomed to his talent, Meng Tingfeng will subtly influence the latter and make him think it was only natural. Like boiling a frog in warm water, you had to take it slowly.

Meng Tingfeng excused him and followed Sovereign Yanxu into the palace. But before leaving, he left a few words for Ba Shifang. “When you challenge Bao Ling, be careful. He was able to defeat Kang Qiang, the second greatest genius of the Numinous Sword Sect, before I appeared with a single slash in the same realm.”

He didn’t try to dissuade his son. Although he believed that he would have a hard time defeating Bao Ling, it wasn’t impossible in his eyes. The problem was just whether he was willing to pay the price. Similarly, the same went for Xi Tianyi. And he believed that Ba Shifang had the same confidence in himself as he did.

As expected, the moment they sat down, Ba Shifang stared directly at Bao Ling. “I challenge you to a duel.”

Bao Ling showed no interest and continued to sit there with his sword in his arms. It was until Sovereign Yanxu said a few words that Bao Ling stood up. He disappeared in a silver flash and appeared across Ba Shifang. He no longer crossed his arms and held his sword’s scabbard in his left hand, but showed no intent on drawing the blade.

Ba Shifang frowned, not because of the naked contempt from Bao Ling but the invisible pressure. He could not feel even a single iota of qi from Bao Ling, as if he was a mortal. Obviously, that was impossible. In fact, it felt like Tianyi was standing in front of him. This only filled him with more unease.

Still, he cupped his fist and said, “Ba Shifang of the Immortal Court.”

The man’s sword-like gaze seems to penetrate Ba Shifang’s soul. Then, he quirked his lip upward. It was like an eternal glacier had defrosted, bringing the perfect spring. Should any maiden see this slight smile, they would have gifted their hearts. “Interesting. I’m afraid that fellow will be bewildered and disheartened once he learns of the truth.”

Ba Shifang’s brows pursed even more. He didn’t know what Bao Ling was referring to. Who is that fellow?

Bao Ling continued, uncaring of Ba Shifang’s confusion. “Come, I’ll allow you a few moves. I only need one slash to defeat you.”

Instead of anger at the naked contempt, Ba Shifang became more wary. He raised his hand and gathered qi. No matter what, he cultivated the Sixth Grade of the Nine-Five Scripture, the Eight Symbolic Cores, Four Direction Souls. In terms of qi intensity, he equaled and surpassed many immortal emperors. If he wanted to, he could destroy half of Shangri-La in one move.

Ba Shifang sighed. In the end, prudence won over. He didn’t have the same lifesaving capabilities as Tianyi, so it was best not to reveal too many trump cards. Even towards Tianyi, he didn’t reveal anything. After Tianyi severed his control over him, Ba Shifang became an independent life, but he also lost the ability to revive should he die.

Under Ba Shifang’s control, the shadows of the four divine beasts and a yellow dragon appeared. They directly surrounded Bao Ling and formed a spherical domain one hundred meters large. Like when dealing with Meng Tingfeng, the domain shrunk at a rapid pace. The color also darkened in accordance to the smaller size.

Even as the surrounding blackened until it was pure darkness, Bao Ling did nothing. He didn’t even reach for his sword. It was as if he was trapped in amber, just like Meng Tingfeng, but an air of unease filled Ba Shifang. He gritted his teeth and formed several hand seals.

Incarnations of the four divine beasts and the yellow dragon formed of wood, fire, metal, water, and earth qi appeared. They coiled around the black sphere and transformed into divine chains, tightening the imprisonment of the Five Phases Formation.

For a few seconds, all was silent. It was as if Bao Ling really couldn’t escape from his prison. Then, a flash of light appeared. It was fast, too fast for Ba Shifang to react. It exited out of the black sphere and disappeared into his body.

Just like before, nothing happened. Then the five chains surrounding the black sphere disintegrated. Following that, the sphere itself split into two, revealing Bao Ling, who still had his hand on his blade, before also disintegrating into pure qi.

“Like I said, one slash.”

Ba Shifang didn’t reply as his body floated down, as if he could no longer fly. And indeed, Ba Shifang couldn’t maintain his flight capabilities anymore. Not just that, but he felt extremely weak, weaker than he ever felt before. Even during his time in the Mortal Realm.

He knew that as long as Bao Ling used a bit more force, his immortal body formed from the Law of Five Phases would collapse.

Ba Shifang never thought he would meet someone as powerful as Tianyi in the same realm. And he was right. Bao Ling didn’t feel as powerful as Tianyi. Rather, he felt more powerful.