One Hundred and Forty-Four. Deadly Greed

Having reached an agreement with Luohua Wu, who had also investigated Yue Qi and the others, she had observed Bear the Third and the rest through the Drifting Planet and gained a slight understanding of the little toddler, Yue Qi.

Next came persuading Daoyuan. Her father had failed to appear at the crucial final moment, and no one knew where he had hidden. To compromise and survive, she would follow Jia Youke for a time.

The most persuasive argument of all had won her over: since his fists were bigger, was she the one acting recklessly, or would he dare to act recklessly?

Reluctantly, Daoyuan agreed, trailing closely behind Jia Youke. Meanwhile, Jue Li, her heart trembling and just as Wuyun had predicted, acted very much like a maidservant as she followed behind the pair.

"Humph, without my permission, you are not allowed to practice dual cultivation with him!" Daoyuan issued her command, putting on the full airs of a primary wife even before the Daoist companion ceremony had been held!

When the construction of the teleportation array was nearing completion and over a million disciples were preparing to depart first, Luohua Wu gave instructions to Yangchi and the other Immortal Kings, conversed for a moment with several benefactors, and finally said, "My life and death are uncertain upon this journey. All of you must look after yourselves. Even if you cannot bring the Hundred Flowers Valley to unprecedented glory, you must preserve its heritage so that it endures. If the day of my return ever comes, I shall surely return in glory, bearing imperial might and imperial artifacts!"

Upon hearing this, Daoshan, Yinhu, Yangchi, Tunsheng, Guang Jiuse, Fu Dafu, Lige, and Deaf all bowed in unison.

Finally, Luohua Wu produced her personal collection and said to the Inner Sect Grand Elder Hao Shicun: "After I leave, a portion of the Hundred Flowers Valley shall return to the Drifting Planet. No matter how many fragments this star splits into in the future, you must guard it well. The other portion shall go hither. These are three Immortal Emperors who once pursued me; should you encounter a crisis you cannot resolve, seek help from them."

Hao Shicun knelt and expressed his gratitude. Such a plea for help was something Luohua Wu had been unwilling to invoke even in her present plight. As long as she lived, she would use her own life to fulfill her duties, owing nothing to anyone!

Beside them, Kantu looked slightly pleased. Glancing at Yue Qi, he deliberately said, "I did this all for your sake. Since you are missing your soul, if you do not recuperate properly, it will surely hinder your cultivation. Another day, we must drink until we are completely drunk and won't stop."

Wuyun was left speechless. After thinking for a moment, Yue Qi suddenly blurted out two words: "Wet nurse?"

Slap!

Unable to hold back any longer, Wuyun reached out and slapped Yue Qi on the head, then—amidst Jia Youke's puzzled gaze—feigned innocence as though he had struck himself instead.

In the end, Luohua Wu passed the provisional position of Valley Master to Hao Shicun, leaving the six Immortal Kings who were willing to stay behind to assist him.

Afterward, Kantu led the crowd in executing the final core construction. A one-way spatial teleportation of this scale was unheard of.

Normally, both a starting point and a destination were required to establish teleportation. Could this complex, three-foot-tall, cannon-barrel-like rune machine truly possess such a capability?

Noticing the immortals' doubt, Kantu said impatiently, "With this, we can shatter spatial constraints and create an opposing face, rendering teleportation distance nonexistent."

Once inside, the moment the teleportation array opened space, the immortals would be ejected, skimming along the boundary layers of space to enter the other side.

"All of you need only enter my imperial artifact, and you will all be able to leave safely! Otherwise, anyone below the Mysterious Immortal realm will not withstand the tearing force!" Kantu waved a hand, speaking a few words to Yangzhi, who then unchained the soul locks of Lao Bai and the others.

Following that, the immortals entered the Myriad Life Immortal-Transforming Emperor Pouch, leaving only Luohua Wu behind.

Just as she grew worried, three other imperial artifacts suddenly emerged. Overwhelmed with astonishment, she could not help but ask, "Could it be that you killed soaring Immortal Emperors such as Zuantian?!"

"In time, you will know."

Kantu waved his hand once more, bidding farewell to Lao Bai and Zisi: "There always comes a moment when affinities must scatter. You must go first, and on no account look back! If our ties are not yet severed, there will always be a time to meet again."

Lao Bai expressed his thanks and departed, leading the mother of the black horses away. In the years to come, they would return to their own kind and flourish.

"Senior, if the two of them just leave like this, what if the imperial artifact is—"

Wuyun hummed dismissively: "Stop worrying. Your karmic ties are severed, and from this day forth you shall never meet again unless, in the future, you achieve the realm of an Immortal Emperor and step into the Divine Realm, leaving behind descendants who return to trace their ancestry. Only then will these remaining imperial artifacts attract the faction behind Granny Xiyue!"

Kantu felt a lingering melancholy; his mortal experiences had left him with an attachment that was difficult to sever.

Once nearly a million immortals had followed instructions and entered the imperial pouch, their stay was extremely brief. A profound sense of shared bloodline welled up from deep within their hearts, making it feel as though this place were their true home.

While all the immortals assumed it was Kantu's spellwork, none of them realized that upon beholding their true forms, those transformed immortal bloodlines had instinctively and wondrously mastered certain immortal arts and divine abilities.

***

No sooner had they departed than various baleful spirits possessing physical forms began to appear.

Some possessed consciousness, while others remained completely devoid of it; the difference was profound. The former acted on pure instinct, utterly fearless of life and death; the latter, having attained sentience, harbored the budding notion of a desire to live.

The chanting little insect suddenly stopped reciting scriptures, and an incomplete light of the Buddha poured into the back of his head. He sighed heavily: "Senior's methods are boundless; how is one to deliver these baleful spirits that have transformed into monsters? Amitabha, Amitabha!"

The little insect stood up, preparing to leave alongside Green Leaf, only to discover that within the entire imperial artifact, an artifact spirit had suddenly been born, and a powerful will now controlled the entire vessel.

The final, unyielding obsession of the artifact's former master had been resurrected.

"I've waited for you for so long!" Wuyun said shamelessly, counting the seconds of the past few days as if they were years, before adding: "Recover your strength first while I go take a look at the messy mess outside!"

Since the immortals had already been successfully sent away, what further complications could there be?

To recount, Luohua Wu departed alongside Kantu with a look of astonishment. This teleportation tunnel could only accommodate one imperial artifact at a time, and it was limited in its number of uses.

When the two of them finally emerged, they happened to see Yue Qi and the others standing atop the rapidly flying imperial pouch, gazing into the distance.

Shortly after, Wuyun popped out, and Kantu remarked, "It seems your valley's disciples are not quite as exceptional as you thought."

All the trouble stemmed from a space fortress that had appeared after the immortals emerged.

Originally, the immortals had intended to bid a final farewell to the Valley Master and head to the two designated locations to make the Hundred Flowers Valley prosper. Who could have foreseen that a group of foreign Mysterious Immortal experts who had come to purchase medicine would harbor ulterior motives toward this space fortress?

No one could remain unmoved upon seeing the supreme-grade immortal stones embedded within the fortress and its various rare treasures.

Thus, led by these individuals, certain inner-sect elders and two Immortal Kings could not resist taking the lead to investigate.

"Are spirit stones more important, or is life more important?" Wuyun deliberately asked Kantu.

Kantu's eyes were also glowing with greed; he desperately needed those supreme-grade immortal stones to recover his cultivation. Nevertheless, he shook his head: "Having managed to escape the foreign space, we only need to fly away from the surroundings of this fortress and shake off this second-grade immortal artifact to leave completely. Why bother throwing our lives away here?"

Luohua Wu also perceived the impropriety of the situation. Yet when a Mysterious Immortal clutched some supreme-grade immortal stones and fled in a panic, even more followers joined the fray.

Embracing the mindset that those who survived a catastrophe were bound to be blessed afterward, they set about looting every treasure within the place.

"What do you think the Dharma Immortal Emperor will do if he finds out?!" Kantu shook his head. Luohua Wu managed to persuade only half of them to stop; even the Immortal King Guang Jiuse and Vice Valley Master Yinhu ended up following along.

"They say life is most important, but without immortal stones, what use is life!"

The ringleader was the Immortal King Fu Dafu. His business in the Hundred Flowers Valley had been ruined, and his painstaking efforts reduced to nothing; he was already prepared to leave the valley and seek another path. When he laid eyes on the supreme-grade immortal stones, it was inevitable that his heart would be moved.

Moreover, apart from the immortal stones and treasures, the entire fortress was empty, acting merely as a seal for the portal that previously led to the foreign space.

He was prepared to seek wealth within mortal danger.

Even so, while he was the first to take the lead in seizing the stones, he was also the first to rationally retreat once he had obtained them.

The next to leave was Guang Jiuse, who took a portion and quickly retreated as well. Only Yinhu remained behind to look after the valley's disciples and maintain order, shouting: "One piece for each person! Anything extra must be handed over to the valley for distribution."

Kantu's eyes turned red; Jia Youke, Bear the Third, and the others were all burning with envy. Yet under Wuyun's strict orders, no one was allowed to go.

Even after a period of time, when the fortress had been thoroughly plundered and no strange anomalies had occurred, Wuyun remained uneasy.

"I'm just a little afraid!" Wuyun refused to believe he was being overly sensitive.

The moment they stepped into the spatial passageway, everyone witnessed an imperial projection parting space and emerging, launching an attack directly at the departing Yinhu.

***

Instantly, a battle erupted in the void of space. Luohua Wu could not help but fly back up from the edge of the passage once more to effect a rescue.

"Isn't bringing a wet nurse a bit troublesome?" As soon as Wuyun uttered those words, Gaole, Yisheng, and the others cast strange, lingering gazes at Yue Qi.

The imperial projection that had appeared was indeed a shred of imperial might belonging to the Dharma Immortal Emperor, controlled by a sliver of divine consciousness. He cursed angrily at Yinhu, but the latter showed no fear of him whatsoever!

As long as one was not trapped, escaping unscathed from a conflict with an Immortal Emperor was entirely feasible.

After the imperial projection was defeated by the combined forces of Yinhu and Guang Jiuse, both of them were seized by a ruthless impulse and seized the second-grade immortal-artifact-class fortress, causing Luohua Wu's slender eyebrows to twitch wildly.

"Will the Dharma Immortal Emperor stop chasing Duoduo and turn back?" Kantu muttered. Wuyun pondered for a long time without giving a reply.

The power of the Dharma Emperor's projection was not formidable, its strength barely reaching the peak of the Mysterious Immortal realm. After being shattered by Yinhu's blows, it dissipated completely.

In the distance, the opened spatial passageway was reinforced with a formation by Rongya, and Kantu shouted from within: "Flee quickly!"

Hesitating, Luohua Wu prepared to leave with Kantu when the hesitant Immortal King Tunsheng spoke up from behind her, complaining: "You are the reincarnation of a Demonic Emperor, treating supreme-grade spirit stones like pills. For us Immortal Kings, these hard commodities are what we lack the most!"

With a leap, he plunged forward and discovered that the interior of the seized second-grade immortal-artifact fortress had a spatial breach, from which countless beams of brilliant light were emanating. Upon closer inspection, it proved to be a small pocket dimension functioning as a storage vault for immortal stones. Within it, immortal Qi was as fluid as water, and supreme-grade spirit stones could be seen everywhere.

Guang Jiuse, who had already departed, rushed back the moment he laid eyes on it, ignoring all of Yinhu's attempts to pull him back.

Some Mysterious Immortals from external factions saw an opening and forced their way in as well. After acquiring numerous supreme-grade immortal stones, they rapidly tore open space and fled.

Where there was a first, there would soon be a thousand.

"Even if an Immortal Emperor finds out, what can he do? He was the one who shattered our planet first and left us homeless!" shouted the Immortal King Lige, moving even faster than Fu Dafu as he lunged into the vault.

Shortly after, the images from the small dimension were projected onto another elder, broadcasting everything Immortal King Lige saw and heard in the form of light and shadow.

There was not the slightest bit of danger!

Just as all the Immortal Kings led the plunder and Luohua Wu looked on helplessly, Wuyun shook his head and said to Yue Qi, "I have a bad feeling about this!"

"I have a bad feeling about this too!"

To outsiders, the two of them acted as if they were a single person. As they chimed in with one another, Kantu's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately released his imperial might to suppress the crowd. Those who had been reluctant to leave instantly snapped back to their senses.

"An Immortal Emperor is coming!"

Sensing a clue from the open passageway—a violent fluctuation akin to a fish plunging into water—Kantu was gripped by urgency.

"The Supreme Great Immortal Emperor!"

Warned by Wuyun's telepathic transmission, Kantu voiced the name aloud, prompting Luohua Wu to use her authority as Valley Master to forcefully command a portion of the disciples to flee to other planets first to take refuge.

Crack!

Space locked up with a jolt. A majestic figure first surveyed everything before him through a projection of the void. Upon seeing the disciples of the Hundred Flowers Valley and others carrying away supreme-grade immortal stones, his expression brightened into a smile as he declared: "If you hadn't triggered the restriction, I truly would never have found you!"