Chapter 1017: Emperor Bean Passes Away, the Dynasty Perishes

Yunzhi had returned to her ancestral home on business, and upon her return, she discovered that the summit of Tianmen Peak was entirely deserted, save for the Qingfeng Sword thrust into the earth, exuding an unmistakably ominous air.

Entering the minor world within the Qingfeng Sword, she beheld four Half-Immortals locked in combat, all of whom were familiar acquaintances.

Adding the fallen and immobile Little White Tiger to the count, did this mean a total of five Half-Immortals had joined the fray?

A war of such magnitude seemed to have occurred only during the ancient era, when Half-Immortals walked the earth in multitudes.

"Cease this at once!"

The Immortal Fairy cried out, halting the clash of the four Half-Immortals; in the face of a great adversary, this was no time for internal strife.

As the sovereign of two great factions, her words carried the weight of law, and none dared disobey; the four mighty masters—Ao Ling, Jiang Lianyi, Yun Mengmeng, and Bu Yaolian—all stayed their hands simultaneously and fell in line behind the Immortal Fairy.

Seeing this, Jin Caiwei stopped feigning death and swiftly scrambled up to take her place among them.

At a time like this, the herd mentality proved highly effective.

The Immortal Fairy spread her arms wide as the five Half-Immortals fanned out in a neat row behind her, flanking both her sides.

This was the formidable force she had painstakingly cultivated for the sole purpose of vanquishing Yunzhi!

Lu Yang turned his head to look up at the Immortal Fairy floating behind him, then crouched down, stealthily slipping away to the most inconspicuous position at the very rear of the formation.

"Little Girl Yun, you never expected this, did you? That This Immortal could raise such a massive faction right beneath your very nose!" The Immortal Fairy boasted of her might to Yunzhi, utterly triumphant.

With the sole exception of Emperor Xia, the Prime Minister of the Great Bean Dynasty, every single member of the dynasty was present.

The four scions of the Immortal Lineage were also gathered, among whom Yun Mengmeng wore many hats, additionally serving as the Minister of Rites for the Great Bean Dynasty.

In truth, there existed another faction within the Daoist Sect that opposed Yunzhi—the little herb kings of the medicine garden—but it was far too late to summon them now.

"Charge together! Let Little Girl Yun bear witness to our prowess!" At the Immortal Fairy's command, Yun Mengmeng was the first to strike.

"Take this!"

Even during her prior clash with Ao Ling, Yun Mengmeng had never displayed such vibrant vigor.

Yunzhi's brow twitched slightly; what business did she have joining in this chaotic revelry?

Jin Caiwei, who had initially hesitated and wavered on whether to strike, saw that even Yun Mengmeng—who was only in the early stage of the Tribulation Transmutation Realm and had just barely coalesced the rudimentary form of a Dao Fruit—had joined the assault, and concluded that her own participation should pose no issue.

Furthermore, was the Immortal Elder Sister not here to anchor their formation?

"Roar—"

Jin Caiwei shifted her form, transforming into a massive and majestic skeletal-winged white tiger; seeing this, Ao Ling and Jiang Lianyi refused to be outdone, both manifesting their true forms as dragon and phoenix.

A True Dragon, a Phoenix, and a Qiongqi—these three legendary immortal beasts had never once allied against a common foe even during the ancient era, yet today history was made as the three beasts joined forces!

Bu Yaolian wore a miserable expression, dutifully stepping forward to detonate himself as a mere opening act.

Why was it that today he was either fighting Jiang Lianyi or fighting Yunzhi? As a dignified Half-Immonrtal, how was it that every opponent he encountered since his debut was of this caliber, leaving him without a single victory to his name?

Come to think of it, the only time he had ever gained the upper hand was during his battle against the second State Master of the Great Yu Empire.

"Charge! Now is the very moment the Dynasty requires you to storm the enemy lines! Defeat Little Girl Yun, and promotions, titles of nobility, and enfeoffments as marquises and chancellors shall surely be yours—"

The Immortal Fairy stepped forward to inspire her troops, promising high office and lavish rewards.

Lu Yang felt that gaining promotions and titles of nobility would be difficult, though posthumous honors seemed quite plausible.

The three great generals felt immensely emboldened and formed the Tri-Unity Array; Ao Ling, possessing the mightiest physical body, charged at the absolute vanguard, while Jiang Lianyi and Jin Caiwei flanked her, executing a flawless cooperation.

The Immortal Fairy proved herself a paragon among rulers; unlike other sovereigns who merely commanded their soldiers from afar, she led by example, actively throwing herself into the combat against Yunzhi.

The Immortal Fairy's resolve was absolute, and even the remonstrations of Grand Tutor Lu Yang were of no avail.

Grand Tutor Lu Yang had personally witnessed the rise of the Great Bean Dynasty and was the designated successor to the throne as the next Bean Emperor; now, beholding the sun setting upon the Great Bean Dynasty, he could not help but feel a profound grief welling in his heart.

Lu Yang invoked the Technique of Deceiving Heaven and Blinding Fate alongside the Earth-Shrinking Technique, burying himself deep within the soil to share the ultimate fate of the Great Bean Dynasty.

...

Time flowed like a river, years slipped away like a shuttle, and the great eastern torrent washed away all heroes.

A pale hand thrust upward from the grave, and a youth crawled out from the earth, his gaze blank and bewildered.

"How long have I slumbered? What year is it today? Why am I here?"

He beheld the devastated landscape of the minor world, saw the corpses of those acquaintances who had been hailed as invincible across various eras, and his sealed memories gradually resurfaced.

"The founder of the Great Bean Dynasty, the Immortal Fairy; the ancient ancestor of the Dragon Race, Ao Ling; the ancient ancestor of the Phoenix Race, Jiang Lianyi... Did these figures who once shook the world ultimately fail to defeat that peerless, monumental adversary?"

Lu Yang's lips trembled, unable to accept the cruel reality before his eyes: "The Half-Immortals have fallen, so why am I the sole survivor?"

"Second-in-command, what are you muttering about?" The Immortal Fairy scrambled up from the ground, looking entirely unbothered.

Ao Ling, Jiang Lianyi, and the others also revived one after another.

"Oh, it's nothing." Lu Yang remained perfectly composed, as though the person who had just spoken were not he.

In the entire arena, Jin Caiwei was the most utterly astounded; the preceding battle could only be described as a devastating rout, for they, despite being Half-Immortals, could not even withstand two blows from this person named Yunzhi.

Who on earth was she?

"This is the Hierarch of our Heavenly Court Sect," Lu Yang introduced upon seeing that Jin Caiwei did not recognize his Eldest Senior Sister.

"She belongs to our Heavenly Court as well?" Jin Caiwei had never imagined that their Ancient Heavenly Court possessed such a master besides the Immortal Elder Sister.

"I brought a few peaches; let us share them." Yunzhi gathered everyone together and unwrapped a bundle containing immortal peaches freshly plucked from her ancestral home.

She had originally intended to give her youngest junior brother a few immortal peaches to celebrate the completion of his arduous body-tempering regime.

She had hardly expected that upon her return from picking the peaches, she would find everyone engaged in a chaotic melee within the minor world of the Qingfeng Sword.

"Immortal peaches!" Jin Caiwei's eyes shone brightly; this was a treasure of the highest order, which the Qilin Immortal had once allowed her to taste.

Ao Ling and Jiang Lianyi had not tasted an immortal peach in a very long time, and now that they were suddenly produced, a wave of nostalgia washed over them.

Only Yun Mengmeng appeared the most composed: "Xiao Zhi, these peaches are..."

Yunzhi used her gaze to warn her good sister to mind her words: "I grew them from peach pits."

"Ah? Oh, right, right, that's how it was."

"An immortal peach tree can actually be grown from a peach pit?" The Immortal Fairy was perplexed; how was it that she had never heard of such a thing?

"It can," Yunzhi stated with absolute certainty.

After the battle, everyone gathered in a circle to eat the peaches; the fragrance of the fruit wafted through the air, creating a heartwarming scene, and the Immortal Fairy, utilizing Lu Yang's body, managed to taste the immortal peach as well.

"Delicious, it tastes exactly as it used to."

"Though it falls short of the dishes prepared by Sister Immortal, it is still exceedingly delicious."

Only Bu Yaolian, existing as a spiritual entity, was unable to partake.

Within the mental space, having savored the immortal peach, the Immortal Fairy recalled the total annihilation of the Great Bean Dynasty and let out a heavy sigh.

"Fairy, is something amiss?"

"Is it possible that This Immortal can only resort to eating people now?"

Lu Yang received a terrible fright; how had this suddenly escalated to eating people?

"Was it not you, Little Yangzi, who told This Immortal that story? A certain emperor was defeated and captured, whereupon this emperor consumed hearts and devoured livers to bide his time, eventually staging a comeback and returning in glorious triumph."

"...Fairy, the phrase I used was 'sleeping on brushwood and tasting gall'."

"Quite a refined way of putting it."