Reunion with Yao Xian'er

A year later, at the edge of the Heavenly Continent...

Su Min hovered in the void, casting one last nostalgic glance at the land below before turning toward the depths of space.

At her current cultivation level Unity (middle stage), progress had become agonizingly slow. She needed greater opportunities, which lay beyond the stars. Moreover, she wanted to investigate the calamity that had trapped both Yao Xian'er and the little monk.

Thus, she turned away from the continent below and once again traversed into the depths of the universe.

Time passed swiftly, and in the blink of an eye, another year had gone by. Su Min couldn't help but halt her steps, her expression tinged with helplessness.

"Even with my current speed, it took a full year. Just how far away is that place?"

At this moment, Su Min stopped in her tracks. She had now entered the desolate edges of the universe. An eerie silence surrounded her, and the nearby galaxies appeared no larger than plates in her vision.

Yet the distance between them remained vast. Without hesitation, Su Min resumed her journey.

Five more years passed. After traversing countless star domains, Su Min finally came to a stop. She realized that, at some point, she had entered a realm of absolute darkness.

All surrounding stars had vanished, replaced by an oppressive darkness that sent chills down the spine of even a Unity Stage cultivator like her.

This place was far from ordinary. All starlight had disappeared, leaving her in an abyss of pure black. What unsettled Su Min even more was that she could sense spiritual energy far denser than that of the Heavenly Continent—yet it was tainted with malice.

Had she not reached the Unity Stage, she might have been corrupted by this energy.

"Since when does spiritual energy exist in the void of space?"

Spiritual energy typically existed only on celestial bodies, with almost none in the void itself. Upon reaching the Unity Stage, cultivators developed an internal source of spiritual energy, allowing them to traverse the cosmos—though they couldn't cultivate while doing so.

But this strange spiritual energy left Su Min uneasy.

The only consolation was that this place was incredibly far from the nearest inhabited planet. If she weren't at the Unity Stage, reaching this place from the Heavenly Continent might have taken tens of thousands of years.

"Huh? Dharma Body—Manifest!!!"

Suddenly, Su Min's expression sharpened. With a clap of her hands, a colossal Dharma Body several thousand meters tall materialized in the void. Then, with a powerful motion, she intercepted a massive maw that lunged at her from the darkness.

In the next instant, the gaping maw was held back by Su Min's strength, and a monstrous creature emerged from the darkness, intent on devouring her whole.

"A Taotie?!"

Recognizing the beast's form, Su Min was stunned. She never expected to encounter a Taotie here—one that was aggressively attacking her, no less. Moreover, it was a late-Unity Stage Taotie. This was beyond abnormal.

Since when did the Taotie clan have such formidable members?

"Whatever. I'll just kill it."

With that thought, Su Min exerted force. In an instant, the Taotie's maw split open, and its entire body exploded. The resulting blood was swiftly collected by a small gourd in Su Min's hand.

"Something's wrong. Very wrong."

Staring at the corpse, Su Min frowned. The Taotie existed on the Heavenly Continent as well, but they were infamous troublemakers, often hunted down. Yet this situation was entirely different.

How could they possess such strength? Moreover, Su Min now understood why Xie Yingying hadn't received the summons—coming here would have been too dangerous for her.

"Wait, that thing's intelligence was incomplete. Otherwise, it wouldn't have relied solely on brute physical attacks. But at least there's a silver lining."

Glancing at the trembling gourd in her hand, Su Min mused to herself.

This had been an unexpected gain, but it didn't make things any simpler. As Su Min ventured deeper, what she encountered left her increasingly unnerved.

The beings here were shockingly powerful—Dao Comprehension Stage and Divine Transformation Stage demons were everywhere, of all varieties, including some with divine beast bloodlines. Fortunately, she had only encountered one Unity Stage creature so far—otherwise, she might have started doubting herself.

After about a month of further travel, Su Min finally sensed a familiar presence.

"Pure and balanced—that's Yao Xian'er. Has she already reached Mahayana? Her cultivation speed is astonishing. But... huh?"

Suddenly, Su Min paused. Although she had detected Yao Xian'er's aura, it wasn't calm and natural. Instead, it was turbulent and violent.

Then, she realized—Yao Xian'er's aura wasn't alone.

"Three Mahayana auras... She's being besieged."

Su Min's expression darkened instantly. Without hesitation, she transformed into a streak of light and charged forward.

Meanwhile, on a floating landmass, four figures stood in opposition. One was clad in white robes, while the other three appeared grotesquely distorted, exuding an eerie aura.

"Ao Shuang, Donghuang Taixin, Huang Wuyu. To think the three of you, who fell in battle, would be reduced to puppets of this dark corruption."

Yao Xian'er's face was grim. Though she wore pristine white robes, her energy was chaotic—clearly, she had suffered severe injuries. Sensing her weakened state, the three figures began to twist and contort.

In the blink of an eye, three colossal forms, each ten thousand meters tall, materialized, encircling Yao Xian'er's diminutive figure. Had anyone else witnessed these beings, they would have been struck with terror.

A Three-Legged Golden Crow, a Five-Clawed Golden Dragon, and a Nine-Colored Heavenly Phoenix—each was a supreme monarch among divine beasts. Given time, they would inevitably reach the peak of Mahayana. Such exalted beings were unique to their respective races, yet here they stood, gathered in one place.

Yao Xian'er's expression darkened further. At her full strength, these creatures would have been no match for her. But she had been grievously wounded while slaying a chaotic entity.

Though only at the Mahayana Stage, her combat prowess far surpassed her former peak.

Yet that entity had not been weak. After killing it, Yao Xian'er had been left severely injured. These three beings had pursued her here—and she recognized them. They were the mightiest of their races from her era, comrades who had once joined her in the campaign against the distant shore.

In the end, they had perished here. But who could have imagined their corpses would be exploited like this?

"It seems I'll have to burn my essence blood again. This time, the recovery will take at least several millennia. I wonder if Jin Chan can hold those creatures back in my absence."

As the three colossal figures closed in, Yao Xian'er's face twisted with frustration.

"The last Great Emperor of this universe—do you still dare to struggle?"

The massive Golden Crow spoke, its voice dripping with mockery. Though it was a Three-Legged Golden Crow, its feathers had been dyed pitch-black, and its once-golden eyes now gleamed with an eerie light.

"You three abominations of darkness still can't kill me."

Yao Xian'er sneered. These were consciousnesses born of darkness, corrupting the once-sacred bodies and dragging their former Mahayana peak cultivation down to the early Mahayana Stage.

Had Yao Xian'er not been injured, she could have easily slain all three.

"Hahaha! Once you're dead, we will break the ancient Heaven-Sealing Grand Formation within a thousand years. This universe will become our sacrificial offering!"

The black-golden dragon laughed scornfully, while the silent black phoenix blocked Yao Xian'er's escape route.

A battle of cataclysmic proportions was about to erupt. Three Mahayana cultivators—if unleashed upon the universe—could annihilate an entire solar system.

But then—

BOOM!!!

A deafening explosion resounded.

"ARGH!!!"

The next instant, the massive Golden Crow was sent flying by a dazzling surge of multicolored energy. From the darkness emerged a titanic humanoid figure, rivaling the three divine beasts in size. As it appeared, an ethereal river seemed to descend from the heavens.

"Su Min? You've reached completion?!"

Yao Xian'er was stunned, but she quickly recognized the newcomer. The radiant elemental energies, the flow of time beneath her feet—this was none other than Su Min, arriving just in time.

Yao Xian'er was astonished. In such a short time, Su Min had reached the Unity Stage—and her combat power was terrifying.

Though these three entities were only at the early Mahayana Stage, their bodies were once those of supreme divine beasts. Yet Su Min had sent one flying with a single strike. Her power was undeniably at the Mahayana level—her Five Elements Sacred Body had truly reached completion.

Throughout history, only two individuals had achieved a complete Five Elements Sacred Body: the ancient Five Elements Great Emperor, and now the woman before her. Yao Xian'er was both shocked and elated.

"Are you alright? Take these pills. They're only eighth-grade, but better than nothing."

Su Min's colossal form shrank down as she landed beside Yao Xian'er, offering several pills. Without hesitation, Yao Xian'er swallowed them.

"Hahaha! To think we'd meet familiar faces here."

Su Min then turned to the three beasts. Though her earlier strike had been a sneak attack, it hadn't been enough to kill a Mahayana-stage Three-Legged Golden Crow. Still, she faced the three titans with fearless confidence.

"Sigh... How many can you handle?"

Yao Xian'er finally caught her breath, though she lamented that the pills were only eighth-grade. Had they been ninth-grade, she might have recovered most of her strength.

But it was still better than before.

"Two. Can you hold off that phoenix for me?"

Glancing at the trio while manipulating her Dharma Body, Su Min quickly assessed the situation. The Golden Crow and the Golden Dragon were familiar opponents—she had sparred countless times with Little Golden Crow and Ao Xue.

Especially after reaching the Unity Stage, when they were on equal footing. The proud and battle-hungry divine beasts had sought her out for duels.

But against Su Min—especially after her Five Elements Sacred Body reached completion—even their combined efforts ended in defeat unless they resorted to their Emperor artifacts. As a result, Su Min was intimately familiar with their abilities.

The Nine-Colored Heavenly Phoenix, however, was different. While Su Min wasn't afraid of any of them, fighting all three at once would be overwhelming.

Handling two alone was manageable, but adding the third would tip the scales.

"Fine. Do your best. Though my current strength is less than a tenth of my peak, I can still manage against a Dark Phoenix."

Nodding, Yao Xian'er fixed a cold glare on the three beasts.