Shrouding the Heavens: The Years I Was the Female Emperor's Strictest Master

Sorrow, grievance, and anger tangled within Li Qingjue's heart to the utmost extreme.

Her head felt heavy and muddled, but she felt as though she had figured everything out.

Perhaps her master had seen how poorly she had performed when opening her Sea of Bitterness earlier and had deliberately let her witness this scene to spur her on?

Or perhaps...

"Do you know..."

"Master! Don't say any more..."

Suddenly, she jerked her head up. Her tears had yet to dry, and her hazy gaze fixed upon Tan Lin's deep eyes. Nothing remained in her eyes but an indescribable emotion.

"You... really don't need to say any more... Nannan understands, I truly understand...

I first felt this way on the day my brother was taken away. Then again yesterday during the day, at the inn entrance, and again last night...

So please, really don't say any more. Nannan truly understands. You don't want Nannan to become slack because of your appearance...

The path of cultivation is bloody and cruel... Nannan knows... Nannan will cultivate diligently and grow strong enough to be useful to you... Nannan..."

Tan Lin had long since brought Li Qingjue back to the kiln cave, but she had never stopped talking.

He still had more to say, but it seemed there was no longer any need to say it.

In the end.

Looking at the light in his young disciple's eyes, a light that was nearly on the verge of collapse, Tan Lin's remnant soul consciousness stirred faintly.

He remained silent, waiting until her speech gradually became slurred and her gaze scattered. Then he suddenly pointed a finger.

"Have a good sleep..."

Rumble...

Above the Southern Region, beyond the high heavens, stars glittered brilliantly.

The dark-purple warship's thunderous roar never ceased.

The faces of the eight people, including the young man and his Dao companion, were as ugly as could be.

For one reason only.

The formation they used to return to the Ancestral Star and traverse starfields had failed!

"Are you certain it can't be repaired?"

the young man asked in a deep voice.

"It can be repaired, but it will likely take over three months before it can be used again..."

a cultivator skilled in such matters said with clasped hands.

"Over three months..."

Killing intent flooded the young man's eyes. At that moment, the surging blood vitality dormant within his body erupted!

Boom...

Strands of Dao laws churned. Behind him, three Divine Forms emerged—a True Phoenix, a Qilin, and the Chaos Divine Bell—shattering the void layer by layer.

"Don't let me find out who did this!"

The young man's chest heaved violently.

"Why not borrow the sacrificial altar formation of the Feathered Immortal Dynasty? We could make a transfer through it, which would still be better than waiting three..."

the seductive woman beside him said softly.

But the young man swiftly cut her off.

"Heh, borrow their formation?

How long did we stay at that inn before this formation failed?

How could there possibly be such a coincidence in this world? For all we know, the Feathered Immortal Dynasty was behind this. At the very least, they leaked the news. Other than them, who else knew we would be staying in the Big Dipper..."

As he spoke, the young man's expression grew increasingly cold. Yet in the end, he still gave the order.

"My father's grand banquet cannot be delayed. Come, we'll go to the Central Plains and borrow the Human Emperor Hall's formation."

The Human Emperor's Legacy Emerges

Crackle, pop...

The bonfire in the kiln cave burned brightly.

Li Qingjue had slept for a long time. She had dreamed that she woke up and discovered her master was gone.

From now on, she would be all alone again.

Perhaps she had misunderstood her master...

Without her master, she still would not even recognize all the characters. She might even have gone down the wrong path of cultivation before long and paid the price...

Without her master, she would never have seen her brother's remains one last time.

In her daze, the final thread of thought in her dream abruptly ended there.

Come to think of it, ever since her brother had been taken away, she had not slept this peacefully in a very long time.

In the outside world, Li Qingjue's eyelashes trembled before she opened her eyes.

Sitting up and looking around, she found that her master's remnant soul projection had vanished. The Bronze Ring lay quietly atop the worn bundle.

Everything around her was much the same as before she had fallen asleep. The only difference was that beside the bonfire stood a large wooden barrel just big enough for her to sit in. Steam rose from within it, accompanied by a faint, fragrant scent.

At the sight, she bit her lip, clutching the corner of her clothes with her little hand as she spoke apologetically toward the ring.

"Master, I... I shouldn't have lost my temper with you. At the time, I watched helplessly as my brother's remains were taken away. I... I..."

She muttered to herself for a long while, but the ring showed no reaction whatsoever.

Gradually, panic seized her. She fell silent and held the ring in her palms.

She remembered that dawn had only just broken before she fell asleep, while the night outside was now deep. That meant she had slept for quite some time.

Whoosh!

Whoosh... whoosh...

At that moment, faint sounds of air being torn apart came from outside the kiln cave. Streaks of rainbow light flashed into view, then cut across the night sky.

At the same time, cultivators' voices drifted in on the night wind, breaking apart bit by bit.

"The Human Emperor Hall in the Central Plains has stood since the Archaic Era. It isn't even beyond this realm... If there truly were some legacy or palace, would the people of the Human Emperor Hall have allowed it to hang over our Eastern Wasteland for so long?"

"Indeed. Something about this feels off..."

Someone sneered.

"Heh, what do you know? Back then, the Human Emperor died in resentment during the Dao-Proving Tribulation, and the Human Emperor Hall was in turmoil for a long time. They could barely take care of themselves. How would they have had time to concern themselves with these things?"

"That's true. After the Archaic Era, the Human Emperor Hall only concerned itself with its little patch of the Central Plains..."

"What do you mean, died in resentment during the Dao-Proving Tribulation? The records of our Fuyao Sacred Land clearly state that the Human Emperor had already passed the Dao-Proving Tribulation, only to be hunted down by Restricted-Area Supremes and die in resentment!"

"Hahaha! In that case, the books of both your factions were likely written by some worthless rabble. Don't you know that the Dao-Proving Tribulation is divided into the Heavenly Tribulation and the Human Tribulation?"

"..."

"But I still don't understand. From the Archaic Era, especially up to our present age, turmoil has occurred time and again. Even many lineages that truly produced Ancient Emperors and Great Emperors, possessing ultimate weapons, have been destroyed and vanished into the river of time. Yet the Human Emperor Hall has endured to this day?"

"Hiss... that really does seem to be the case?"

"The Human Emperor Hall may possess some great secret..."

"..."

Rumble, rumble...

The commotion in the heavens beyond the kiln cave grew louder and louder, making Li Qingjue clench the ring in her palm as her heart rose to her throat.

Over this period, her impression of cultivators had worsened to the extreme.

Roar!!!

The high heavens trembled as chariots drawn by ancient beasts crushed through the void.

A divine maiden from the Spring Autumn Pavilion smiled beautifully. Everywhere her carriage passed, flower petals filled the sky.

Since news had emerged from an unknown source a day ago that the Human Emperor's Legacy would appear north of the Ancient Yan Kingdom in the Southern Region of Eastern Wasteland, the forces of the entire Eastern Wasteland had been thrown into an uproar!

The Heavenly Martial Holy Land, the Taixuan Sect, predecessor of the later Taixuan Gate... many top-tier lineages had also arrived one after another.

Besides them, many thick-headed independent cultivators already in the Southern Region had gathered here in the wake of the excitement.

Whoosh...

Those scattered rainbow streaks in the sky, lacking divine beasts or divine radiance as a backdrop, belonged to that sort of people.

"Hm? There's actually a kiln cave in this desolate wilderness? Why not go down and rest for a while, then set out again tomorrow?"

"Set out tomorrow? By the time we arrive, I'm afraid we won't even get a sip of the soup..."

Several independent cultivators near the abandoned brick kiln rode rainbow lights through the air and nearly descended, almost coming face-to-face with Li Qingjue.

This made the girl, already flustered because a certain "Human Emperor" had fallen silent and refused to respond, feel even more uneasy.

Fortunately, the tumultuous experiences of the past two days had matured her mind considerably, and she did not do anything foolish for the moment.

"If you don't get into the barrel to soak soon, the medicinal bath will grow cold..."

Suddenly, a faint voice echoed through the lonely kiln cave.

"Master??"

Hearing that voice, Li Qingjue was so overjoyed that she did not know what to do with herself. But in the next instant, she lowered her head and apologized to the ring.

"I... I shouldn't have lost my temper with you and made you angry. I'm sorry..."

"Angry?"

Tan Lin could not help smiling at those words.

In this world, he had lived three lives. How could he possibly hold a grudge against a child?

Earlier, he had merely been immersed in the All-Cause Vision.

The Causal Line between the two had thickened and brightened once more. Causal Points were forming faster, and the second Deep Crimson Light Point was no longer merely an empty shell.

He was already considering whether to use a Deep Crimson Light Point in the near future to recondense the Dao Fruit from his previous life, preparing for attaining the Dao once again in the future, perhaps even becoming immortal.

After recent exploration, he had discovered that after its transformation, the Soul Pearl could accumulate Dao Fruits across multiple lives. Unlike his first three lives, where after death and reincarnation, nothing remained save the wisdom of his past incarnations. Yet the cost was also steep: an entire Deep Crimson Light Point.

"Emotions are nourishment for cultivation, not obstacles. You must slowly learn to control yourself and become the master of your emotions..."

In the outside world, Tan Lin's voice was as cold and clear as ever.

"Why aren't you in the barrel yet? Your Sea of Bitterness should be showing signs of movement."

"Yes..."

Li Qingjue paid no mind to the rumbling heavens outside the cave and obediently climbed into the barrel.

Boom...

The instant her frail body entered the barrel, surging medicinal power burrowed into the pores across her body like countless steel needles piercing her flesh.

But she bit down hard on her lower lip and endured without crying out.

Tan Lin was actually dissatisfied with the few century-old spiritual herbs he had picked in the mountains the previous night. But to obtain higher-quality spiritual herbs, he would have to visit blessed grotto-heavens or even secret realms beyond the mundane world.

Yet all such places were either fraught with danger, far away, or occupied by cultivation factions and turned into medicinal gardens.

Even so, the medicinal power in that barrel was already exceedingly fierce for Li Qingjue's current Mortal Body.

"Your path differs from that of others. The hatred and unwillingness in your heart before this may well become the sharpest spear for breaking through the barriers of the Sea of Bitterness..."

Seeing his young disciple bite her lip until beads of blood seeped out, Tan Lin remained unmoved as he slowly guided her.

"Now. Gather your mind, condense your breath beneath your navel, and try again..."