Chapter 911: First Battle on the Other Shore

Chapter 911: First Battle of the Paramita

The Heavenly Profound Star.

The supreme ruler of this star, Emperor Withered Wood, had recently felt a sudden, gripping unease, a persistent premonition that something calamitous was about to unfold.

Having cultivated to the level of an immortal emperor governing an entire realm, there were few matters he could not calculate; such an inability to divine the future invariably meant the adversary involved was at least his equal, and in all likelihood, far stronger.

Sifting through the events of late, only Luochuan fit that echelon. As for the blade-wielding fellow who had been hunted and fleeing back then, his caliber was not yet sufficient.

Luochuan had sustained such grievous injuries that he should not be casting such an omen of warning in the short term... Could he have recovered so swiftly?

Emperor Withered Wood paced back and forth, feeling that something was amiss; it simply could not be that fast.

Moreover, speaking of Luochuan's injuries, Emperor Withered Wood knew full well that his own strike at the time could not have wrought such a devastating effect. The reason the opponent was so severely wounded was that an astonishing power had erupted from a magical treasure nestled in the blade-wielding man's bosom, blending precisely with his own strike and causing Luochuan to suffer a catastrophic setback.

A man who had not yet reached the Paramita, harboring a Paramita-grade magical treasure... To be frank, Emperor Withered Wood was deeply enticed.

Magical treasures of this grade were rare occurrences to be chanced upon but never sought; gaining the amplification of such an artifact would, in all probability, allow him to surpass his other old rivals, break the long-standing equilibrium, and perhaps even unify the star cluster. Luochuan's pursuit of that man was bound to be a contest for this treasure, which was why he had openly violated the taboos and come here to unleash a slaughter.

Now that this Emperor knows of it, that treasure belongs to whoever has the might to take it...

Yet, despite deploying his subordinates to search the star cluster for the past ten days or so, Emperor Withered Wood had turned up nothing, and his attempts to divine the other party's whereabouts remained equally shrouded in fog.

This was truly devilish.

Emperor Withered Wood suspected that his sense of unease might stem from this very source, rather than from Luochuan.

Could a man who had not yet reached the Paramita truly cause him unease? One must remember that he, Emperor Withered Wood, was no solitary soul, but commanded the power of an entire planet!

Just as this thought crossed his mind, a sudden "thud" echoed as a subordinate he had sent out to scout for the man was hurled into the mountain-protecting grand array. The array triggered automatically in response, and tens of thousands of sword-qi soared into the sky.

The subordinate, drenched in cold sweat, hastily produced a command token.

The aura upon the token was recognized by the grand array, halting the assault.

In that split second, a shadow flickered. A man and a woman stood hand-in-hand at the minute flaw exposed by the array. The man's broad blade cleared its scabbard, cleaving directly into the array's core.

Dimensions severed, space fractured into chaos, and the energy flow of the grand array slipped its reins and ran wild, instantly reduced to utter ruin.

The mutation arose so abruptly that before Emperor Withered Wood could even intercept at the first instant, the grand array had already collapsed...

"Clang!" The broad blade wheeled back, slashing against the divine ability Emperor Withered Wood unleashed in assault; both sides swayed from the impact.

Emperor Withered Wood's eyelids twitched violently: "The Paramita!"

The great divine ability he had condensed clashed with the opponent like a collision of ordinary sword-qi, failing entirely to produce any effect against the other party. To break it so effortlessly could only prove they stood upon the same realm.

Presently, this man's countenance had changed somewhat; the one hunted previously possessed the appearance of a middle-aged, long-bearded man, whereas now he was a youth... Yet Emperor Withered Wood recognized him as the same person at a single glance. The prior concealment and alteration were clearly to evade easy detection, and now that he had broken through to the Paramita, he showed himself in his true colors.

When this fellow was being hunted a dozen days ago, he had not yet reached the Paramita, barely even counting as a half-step... It was one thing for his severe injuries to heal so quickly, but to break through the moment he recovered?

Where did this absurd cheater come from... If one could break through simply by suffering injuries, Emperor Withered Wood would rather endure a thousand cuts every single day.

Emperor Withered Wood's gaze shifted again to the purple-skirted woman beside the man, his mind filled with shock and doubt.

If this man was of the Paramita, and the woman beside him possessed an aura so close, could she be one as well?

This star cluster had seen no change for tens of thousands of years; where did so many Paramita masters spring from? If they truly were a husband-and-wife pair of the Paramita, the heavens of the star cluster were about to change. Emperor Withered Wood felt a heavy weight in his heart. Dismissing his surrounding subordinates, he stood alone before the pair, secretly guessing their intent.

Numbers held little meaning now...

"Fellow daoist, your face is entirely unfamiliar. May I know your name?"

"Zhao Changhe." Zhao Changhe held the hand of the woman beside him: "This is my humble wife, Jiuyou."

Ye Jiuyou curled her lips, and within the Heavenly Book, Ye Wuming rolled her eyes.

Before this it was still "entering the night," and now it's "already entered," is it.

Zhao Changhe asked: "May I know your esteemed name, fellow daoist?"

How could Emperor Withered Wood know that this wretched couple was still playing such petty games? Seeing the other party ask, he replied with gravity: "Withered Wood."

"Before coming here, I made some inquiries... Though Fellow Daoist Withered Wood resides in an immortal mountain rather than an imperial palace, your honorific is Emperor?"

Emperor Withered Wood said indifferently: "A daoist title is merely the rule of the star cluster; the guardian of a star is called an Emperor. There are those who build grand palaces, but I prefer mountains and rivers and have no need for palaces."

Zhao Changhe smiled: "People of the immortal path ought to be so. Creating some Palace of the Sun or Court of the Night is utterly vulgar."

Ye Wuming: "..."

Emperor Withered Wood could not comprehend what he was talking about and said coldly: "Fellow daoist, by coming here, wounding my people, and destroying my array, do you truly believe my Heavenly Profound Star can be bullied so easily?"

Zhao Changhe smiled faintly: "What are you saying, Emperor... The other day I was hunted by an enemy and entered this star by mistake. I even used your grand array to strike back at my adversary. Speaking of which, you could be considered to have saved my life."

Emperor Withered Wood said indifferently: "Since you also say I saved your life... Is wounding my people and destroying my array the way you treat a savior?"

"A savior you are, but you are also the foe who harmed me." Zhao Changhe withdrew his smile and said blandly: "That empty palm strike of yours, Emperor, kept me bedridden for half a month. Yet, destroying a mere array—an external possession—and you feel such heartache?"

Emperor Withered Wood's heart twitched. A mere half a month... That palm strike of his could turn most people directly into meat paste, not to mention you were already heavily injured at the time; to take another strike and only be bedridden for half a month...

He did not know that in reality, Zhao Changhe had only been bedridden for two days, and the subsequent dozen days had been spent doing things they loved to do; if he knew, he would likely question the meaning of life even further.

Zhao Changhe himself had never imagined that the flesh-tempering and hard-qigong he practiced in the world of the Heavenly Book would still be top-tier demonic body protection when brought to the outer world. Those years of cultivation had, after all, not been practiced in vain.

"So, fellow daoist, your coming here to destroy the array is to seek vengeance?"

"Yes and no. If we did not temporarily disable this array, we would have no certainty of leaving once we entered." Zhao Changhe said blandly: "The brother I threw in just now was likely sent out by you to search for us... Now that friend and foe are hard to determine, we must naturally take precautions."

Emperor Withered Wood narrowed his eyes.

"Friend and foe are hard to determine"... The way he phrased it made it seem as though he truly did not come for vengeance; whether they were friends or foes depended entirely on his own attitude?

Speaking of attitude, he had previously wished to seize the treasure... But facing a husband-and-wife pair who were both of the Paramita, even a fool would know there was no benefit in making enemies of such a couple.

Emperor Withered Wood's notion of seizing the treasure temporarily vanished. His mind raced as he spoke: "That palm strike of mine was meant more to expel you from this star; I had no intention of killing you. Otherwise, I would not have used a palm, but rather some other magical treasure or sharp weapon... Of course, I did not hold back much either. After all, you trespassed into a forbidden area and triggered the grand array to involve an external enemy, using me as a shield... Heh, I am no soft persimmon either. Under that palm, whether you lived or died depended on your own fortune."

These words were honest enough; at the time, that was indeed his intention. His design upon the magical treasure was something that arose after that palm strike.

Zhao Changhe nodded: "So if I hadn't endured it, that strike would indeed have claimed my life."

Emperor Withered Wood said indifferently: "What do you intend to do?"

Zhao Changhe smiled faintly: "Receive a palm strike from me, and this grievance shall be cleared between us."

Emperor Withered Wood felt a surge of anger in his heart. If this were a pleasant and amicable conversation, it should be said that all grievances were cleared right now; after all, he had indeed helped this man fend off Luochuan. Though it was not solely to save him, but primarily because Luochuan had violated his domain and had to be expelled lest he lose his authority hereafter, this grace of saving a life was an objective fact. This man, however, was only thinking of retaliating for the grievance.

He, too, aroused a bit of mettle, saying coldly: "Receive a palm strike from you... What if you are harmed here once more?"

Zhao Changhe paid no heed to those words at all. Aligning his palm into a blade, he had already cleaved it forward.

Emperor Withered Wood's pupils constricted abruptly.

Countless cultivators of this star and Emperor Withered Wood's subordinates suspended themselves in the sky, hiding at a distance to watch. Witnessing this cleaving blow, all of them let out a horrified gasp.

"Is it an illusion?" someone said in terror. "I actually feel that this single chop is enough to split the sky open."

One who was more adept in the trade wore a grave expression: "If this were a lesser realm, this single chop would indeed have torn open the firmament. It is by no means an illusion."

This was a true, genuine strike that could open the heavens!

When had the star cluster produced another figure of the Emperor level?

Emperor Withered Wood practiced a very traditional immortal cultivation; magical treasures and flying swords were more important than the person themselves, and this kind of close-quarters physical brawl was by no means his forte. Facing this heaven-cleaving and earth-shattering chop, Emperor Withered Wood would conventionally sacrifice a magical treasure to endure it. Yet under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the opponent used only his bare palm; would you, a grand Emperor, have the face to employ a magical treasure?

Once a magical treasure was employed, even if he won, he would have no face in the eyes of others, and it would be even more disgraceful.

Emperor Withered Wood's thoughts whirled at lightning speed, and biting the bullet, he also sliced out a palm strike in return.

Two palms met, and heaven and earth fell silent.

The onlookers suddenly felt as if the light and shadow before their eyes had twisted, yet nothing changed—only that the world seemed to lose its color, its sound, everything... but in an instant, it snapped back to normal; ordinary folk might have thought their eyes merely played tricks.

Only the Withered Tree Sovereign knew what had truly happened.

Zhao Changhe’s palm strike had severed nothing less than his own past.

Had it succeeded, the name of the Withered Tree Sovereign would vanish from heaven and earth, his existence erased from past and future alike.

Zhao Changhe’s art of severing karma, cultivated to this point, was now declared perfected.

In that single clash of palms, their souls had actually collided and conflicted across countless different temporal nodes, from ancient times to the present, only to return to the origin.

The Withered Tree Sovereign suddenly retreated several li, speaking calmly: “I have learned my lesson.”

Zhao Changhe stood unmoving, his robes stirred by the wind, looking utterly at ease: “This grievance is settled.”

On the surface, Zhao Changhe had not moved while the Withered Tree Sovereign retreated—victory and defeat were clear. Yet there was no real harm, merely a slight disadvantage, a touch-and-go affair. No one knew that the Withered Tree Sovereign was desperately holding back a mouthful of clotted blood, enduring with immense effort to keep from spitting it out.

The onlookers, unaware that the Withered Tree Sovereign was already injured, were all stunned into losing their very thoughts.

An enemy at the Other Shore, defeated in a single blow!

For ten thousand li around, not a sound was heard; all stared dumbfounded at the scene above the immortal mountain... Where had this dragon crossing the river come from!

Ye Jiuyou had stood silently by his side throughout, guarding the battle and allowing no one to interfere. Now she turned her head, her beautiful eyes fixed on her lover’s profile, shimmering with light.

She knew that Zhao Changhe had several purposes in staging this spectacle, one of which was training. Breaking through in cultivation was not enough; he needed a bout with a peer opponent to more clearly grasp his current abilities, to hone and consolidate his new power. But she had not expected him to truly defeat the enemy in a single blow, achieving even better results than imagined.

This was an Other Shore Sovereign who had forced back Luo Chuan! Truly wounded in one strike!

Ye Jiuyou did not know if she herself could have accomplished what Zhao Changhe had; she felt it was uncertain. Without her noticing, the little man who once had to rely on Ye Wuming’s entanglement to survive under her hand had now surpassed her, in every sense. Now it would likely take both sisters combined to steadily defeat him, and on another battlefield, even their combined forces would be routed.

At that moment, Ye Wuming’s thoughts were almost identical to Ye Jiuyou’s; both sisters fell into reverie, their cheeks faintly flushed.

The Withered Tree Sovereign, too, could never have imagined such an outcome. Even without using his magical treasures, he should not have been suppressed so severely, as if they were not even on the same level... He barely swallowed back the clotted blood and, feigning calm, spoke again: “You have made your might known. Why do you linger? Do you intend to exterminate me completely?”

As he spoke, his hand had already stealthily touched his treasure.

How infuriating—if not for the woman standing by your side, how could this have turned so passive? Now, if things go badly, even being wiped out is not impossible...

But then Zhao Changhe smiled slightly: “This grievance is resolved. Now it is time to repay a kindness.”

The Withered Tree Sovereign: “?”

“I did not say the debts were cleared earlier because these two matters cannot offset each other.” Zhao Changhe waved his hand, and a colossal corpse puppet appeared in midair: “I sensed that Your Sovereign’s Dao body still has some deficiencies... This is a demonic body that once evolved a small world on its own. I present it to you, to aid your path to the Other Shore.”

The Withered Tree Sovereign’s mind was still reeling: “You’re giving this to me?”

The aura of this demonic body was overwhelmingly powerful; merely refining it into a corpse puppet would grant a terrifying pseudo-Other Shore level asset, not to mention its immense value for research and reference. It was a treasure worth more than a planet—and he was just giving it away?

Zhao Changhe asked with a half-smile: “What, does Your Sovereign think that my, Zhao Changhe’s, life is not worth a single treasure?”

The Withered Tree Sovereign hesitated for a moment, then finally said: “Not at all. It’s just that my help back then was a mere trifle; I feel unworthy of such a gift.”

Even as he said this, he quickly stowed the demonic body away, as if afraid Zhao Changhe might change his mind the next instant.

Zhao Changhe watched and did not mind, laughing: “Not only that. For my sake on Tianxuan Star, several cultivators fell victim to Luo Chuan’s hand... If these individuals have families or friends, from now on they are my family and friends. They may make any request to me.”

His voice spread across the entire star, heard by all.

“...” The Withered Tree Sovereign twitched his cheek and lowered his voice: “What exactly do you want, Daoist friend?”

Don’t you realize that you could take this opportunity to kill me, then subdue the entire star—and even its surrounding satellites?

Do you have any idea what the resources of an entire star system mean?

Yet, riding on the momentum of victory, you suddenly change course, offering treasures and favors... Once I recover from my injuries, you won’t have such a good chance again...

“Gratitude and grievance are clear, and my mind is at ease—that is all.” Zhao Changhe said: “As it happens, my wife and I have just arrived in your esteemed realm and wish to tour the stars. If Your Sovereign could provide us with a guide, we would be most grateful.”

“That is a trivial matter...” The Withered Tree Sovereign hesitated briefly, then finally spoke: “Since you wish to tour the stars, have you already finished touring our Tianxuan Star?”

Zhao Changhe laughed: “Does Your Sovereign have any instructions?”

The Withered Tree Sovereign was silent for a moment: “I, too, have many perplexing matters I wish to ask you. If you do not mind, why not stay here for a day, and we can talk through the night, knee to knee?”

Zhao Changhe and Ye Jiuyou exchanged glances, both smiling: “Then we shall gratefully accept.”

Since they had come to his home turf and stirred up such a commotion, it was not merely to show off—there was much more to do.

Why destroy the formation first?

Of course, to stay here—who would dare to live with the formation intact?

The Ye sisters had fought Luo Chuan for two epochs, yet they actually knew little of his background. But from their previous observations, the people of Tianxuan Star clearly understood it—that was the main purpose of this trip.

Take the gift of the demonic body, for instance—though it stung a little... but that was Luo Chuan’s separated body. If the Withered Tree Sovereign was not tempted, fine; but if he truly coveted it and accepted, that would forge a solid ally bound to the same chariot. Just to keep that demonic body forever, the Withered Tree Sovereign would inevitably cooperate with them to eliminate Luo Chuan once and for all.

You can’t catch a wolf without baiting a trap... Besides, Luo Chuan had been hit by a sorcerous technique and would be wary of it; the demonic body no longer held as much value for their side, so it was better to use it to hire an assassin.

But no matter what cooperative ideas existed, the prerequisite was to display strength—otherwise, it would only attract covetous sharks. This battle was never about settling a grievance; it was merely a show of force.