Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Leave the continent!”
Jiang Yi was shocked. There was still more than a year before the three-year deadline. Yet, the Demon Empress wished to leave in advance? If the world was to know of her departure, they would certainly start making their moves on him in advance.
He replied solemnly, “What happened? Why do you have to leave in advance?”
“The beast tide is coming!”
The Demon Empress’ gaze went towards the east as she spoke in an emotional manner, “The beast tide this time is unprecedentedly huge. Half a year after the beast tide, the eastern sea would become relatively safer. Meanwhile, those demon thearchs would also hide themselves up to recuperate. Therefore, this would be an optimal opportunity for me to leave the continent and return to my homeland. I mustn’t miss this chance.”
“Homeland!”
Jiang Yi eyebrows pricked up. The Demon Empress had mentioned this, and Jiang Yi could guess that the Demon Empress desired to head back for revenge. Therefore, she couldn’t bring the little fox along. From this, he could tell that her enemy was probably very strong.
It was as if the Demon Empress saw through Jiang Yi’s thoughts. She paused for a moment before explaining, “My hometown is in the Heaven Fox Continent, and that was the origins of our Heaven Fox race. Heaven Foxes have always received prejudice in the outside world; therefore, we hardly leave our hometown. Thousands of years ago, my lineage had offended another stronger lineage, causing my whole clan to die with only me escaping alive.
“The biggest wish I had in this lifetime was to return to the Heaven Fox Continent and take revenge. After cultivating in the Stellarsky Continent for thousands of years, I have managed to break through to the Demon Thearch Realm. Thus, I naturally have to kill my way back.”
“Yes…”
Jiang Yi nodded his head. Such stories could be commonly seen on any continent. Take for example the Stellarsky Continent. At any point in time, there would be a clan that got struck with tragedy. This world had always been reign over by the strong, and the weak would be the prey to them.
He pursed his lips and replied, “Is your enemy very strong? Are there any Demon Thearch class experts?”
“Yes! There are at least three of them.”
The Demon Empress nodded her head solemnly before continuing, “Therefore, I am not going to bring Xiao Fei back with me. She’s too young, and once a huge battle broke out, I would never be able to protect her.”
“Ji-Ji!”
It was clear that Xiao Fei knew of this long ago. However, she still cried out sorrowfully, and her eyes were filled with reluctance and grief.
“En.”
Jiang Yi gritted his teeth and replied, “Demon Empress, I might not have the ability to fully protect Xiao Fei, but I can promise you that whoever wishes to harm Xiao Fei would have to walk over my dead body.”
“Alright!”
Demon Empress came to a decision. She was extremely clear that this trip back would probably result in death. If Xiao Fei was to tag along, Xiao Fei would definitely perish as well. Although it was similarly dangerous if Xiao Fei was to follow Jiang Yi, she still stood a chance of surviving with him.
Most importantly, in these recent years, Jiang Yi had created lots of miracles; and the nine star spheres on him were extremely mystical. Even though the Demon Empress had plenty of experiences, it was still something that she never saw before. It was a gamble to her when she chose Jiang Yi, even though he had already ruined himself.
She once cleansed the continent with blood, and if someone was to know that she had left, Xiao Fei would definitely be tamed into a spirit beast once there’s no one around to protect her. After all, once Heaven Foxes matured, they would become very formidable. Minimally, they would be an invincible existence among the tier-three demonic beasts.
She did not have any friends on the continent, and the only person she trusted was Jiang Yi alone! Currently, she had no other alternative and could only place all her hopes on Jiang Yi.
“Oh, that’s right!”
Suddenly, the Demon Empress remembered something and stated. “Jiang Yi, if you have the chance to leave the continent, it would be best for you to search for some mystical herbs. In the past, I heard that there was something called the Destitute Dragon Grass. It is able to reform a person’s constitution as well as purify their marrow and tendons. There’s also hope for you to reform this crippled body of yours, and it wouldn’t influence your future cultivation progression. Of course… this thing is very rare.”
“Destitute Dragon Grass? En, I will remember it.”
Jiang Yi remembered it in his mind. Of course, it was unknown if he would even be able to make it out alive. After all, if the continent wasn’t in peace, how could he even leave? At this very moment, he was stuck in a dilemma. If the Demon Empress didn’t wish for Xiao Fei to get killed, why couldn’t she just get rid of all the experts in the continent?
His current strength could be counted as decent. If the Demon Empress was to kill off the Martial Arts Hall, Ling Clan’s old ancestor, Xiao Longwang, and the others, he would reign supreme on this continent. At least, there wouldn’t be anyone who would be able to threaten his life and Xiao Fei would also be free from danger as well.
Of course…
It was impossible for him to voice it out loud. After all, he owed the Demon Empress way too much, and the Demon Empress would definitely have her own stand. There was definitely a reason why she didn’t make a move herself.
“Jiang Yi!”
Demon Empress’ complexion turned grave abruptly as she stated in a serious tone, “You can kill any martial artist on this continent. Even if you wipe off all the Vajra Realm martial experts, it would also be fine. However, you must remember this. Never become enemy with the Martial Arts Hall. As long as you don’t intervene with any of Martial Arts Hall matters and don’t kill their people, they wouldn’t overstep their boundaries.”
“Uh?”
A moment ago, Jiang Yi was still pondering why the Demon Empress wasn’t going to take any action. He immediately got his answer. It seemed like the Demon Empress was also cautious towards the Martial Arts Hall. In other words… it was very likely that the Martial Arts Hall possessed the ability to kill the Demon Empress.
When he obtained such a conclusion, Jiang Yi’s heart instantly became heavy. Formerly, he deduced that the mastermind behind the murder of Zhuge Qingyun and the person who dealt with Yun Fei and Qian Xue was from the Martial Arts Hall. Now that he saw how the Demon Empress tried to abstain from them, would there still be a chance for him to survive if the mastermind was really the Martial Arts Hall?
“Demon Empress, is the Martial Arts Hall really so powerful?” Jiang Yi let out a long breath and inquired.
The Demon Empress waved her hand and replied, “You need not know too much. Just remember not to provoke them in any kind of situation, and they would not act recklessly.”
“I… have already provoked them.”
Jiang Yi smiled bitterly. When he saw the puzzled expression on the Demon Empress face, he explained, “The Martial Arts Hall have tried to recruit me as their Honorary Elder twice, but I rejected them. In the process, I had also offended their Saint Lady, Dugu Yan…”
The Demon Empress listened to Jiang Yi’s explanation solemnly before beckoning her hand and replied, “All these are just minor matters. The Martial Arts Hall has always laid a low-profile. It would be fine as long as you don’t attack their headquarters and kill any of their personnel who are ranked Martial Arts Branch Hall Master and above. The current Martial Arts Chief Hall Master isn’t so petty, and my impression of him is that he is a very gentle person.”
“Oh?”
Jiang Yi’s eyebrow pricked up. Could his deduction be wrong? The mastermind behind the scene was not the Martial Arts Hall? But… why did Shui Youlan tell him to be careful of Saint Lady Ji?
His eyes flickered for a few rounds before he continued inquiring, “Demon Empress, do you think the underground world is related to the Martial Arts Hall?”
“No!”
The Demon Empress replied firmly, “The Martial Arts Hall has always been righteous and prestigious. How could they possibly be related to that kind of corruption? Why are you asking this?”
Jiang Yi got even more bewildered, and it was not really polite of him to continue questioning. After all, a lot of it was just based on his conjecture, and there was no concrete evidence to support them.
When the Demon Empress saw Jiang Yi speechless, she replied impatiently, “Alright. I have to return to Fairy Peak and pay attention to the situation at the eastern sea. Once the time is right, I would leave immediately. I will be leaving Xiao Fei in your care. If I do not return a hundred years later, it would mean that I have perished. You must never come to the Heaven Fox Continent to look for me unless you have the strength of Heaven Monarch. Otherwise, you will inevitably die…”
After the Demon Empress finished informing Jiang Yi, she didn’t wait for Jiang Yi to reply. A ring on her finger lighted up, and a white palace appeared within her palm. She handed the palace over to Jiang Yi and stated, “This is the Thearch Palace, and it is also a defensive artifact. It is able to withstand against ten peak-stage Vajra Realm absolute expert attacks for ten full days. Once you refine it, as long as you don’t offend the Martial Arts Hall, no one would be able to injure you in the Stellarsky Continent if you have this Thearch Palace.”
“Huh!”
Jiang Yi was baffled. At first, he wanted to reject it as he supposed this artifact was meant to be left for Xiao Fei. Then again, it wouldn’t be good for him to reject her goodwill.
“Xiao Fei, my daughter. Mother is about to leave. Please don’t be sad. Mother is leaving to take revenge for our lineage and would think of all possible methods to stay alive. Wait for my return!”
The Demon Empress glanced at Xiao Fei with pampering love. Following after, she clenched hard on her teeth and turned into a ray of white light, disappearing from the sky and leaving behind Jiang Yi—who was feeling complicated—and also weeping little fox.
