When the Female Emperor's Strictest Master: A Mask

From the day she entered this Drill Tower and parted from her master, she had already vaguely guessed her master's identity.

Most likely, she was the "Human Emperor" whom countless cultivators here often discussed and spoke of with admiration.

Thoughts surged wildly through her mind, and she suddenly recalled the Cloud Leopard she had seen several days ago.

She recalled its suspiciously coincidental and strange actions, then connected them to the present...

Thinking of this.

Li Qingjue bit her lower lip lightly, then silently sent a strand of divine consciousness into the jade feather.

The space within the feather was immense. Her divine consciousness was truly weak, and after searching for a long time, she gradually discovered several rare treasures.

Mountains of exotic source and dazzling Divine Source nearly blinded her senses.

There was also the Purple Jade King, one of the Nine Heavens Divine Jade, as well as Mutton-Fat White Jade Iron that emitted Lunar chill and could be used to forge king-grade divine weapons...

Several porcelain bottles in a corner contained pills.

One jade bottle bore carved dragon patterns, and its pills were amber-colored.

Two green jade bottles contained pill essence that seeped through the bottles and condensed into phantasmal white cranes. Merely brushing them with her divine consciousness refreshed her spirit, making her feel as though all exhaustion had vanished.

A broken bronze war halberd,

A palm-sized tortoiseshell, a finger bone from a Primordial Era vicious beast carved with a star map...

All kinds of treasures she did not recognize were piled inside in dazzling abundance, yet she could never find the coffin she sought.

Only when her divine consciousness continued deeper into the space and touched several fragments did it feel as though a bolt from the clear sky exploded in her mind!

Rumble...

But before boundless grief and bone-piercing cold could drown her state of mind.

Her divine consciousness found the remains of her brother deeper within.

In her perception, the withered bones were like shattered porcelain, covered in cracks that seemed as though a gust of wind would reduce them to dust and fragments.

The remains no longer possessed any luster, as if the dead had been gone for endless ages.

Her master had actually told her that after her brother died, a wisp of ethereal "spirituality" had forever remained on that blue planet. Yet at this moment, her heart still twisted in unbearable pain.

"Brother..."

Tears welled in Li Qingjue's eyes, not yet spilling over.

She had sworn that she would never cry again in this life. Though tears still appeared uncontrollably, her brother was her exception.

Her divine consciousness lingered over the remains for a long time. She did not dare imagine what her brother had endured when he died.

The possible horrors of it made her chest ache so fiercely that she could not breathe whenever she thought of them.

After a long while.

A strand of her divine consciousness withdrew from the jade feather. In the outside world, her tears had already stopped.

Compared to before, she had become incomparably stronger and more ruthless. She suppressed her tears so thoroughly that they never truly ran down her cheeks.

Yet she did not know that grief left unvented would instead accumulate in her heart in another form, and over time, that feeling would become even more unbearable.

After the brief sorrow passed, reason once more took hold of her mind.

Deep-seated hatred and obsession etched into her bones and soul were more effective sobering agents than any form of urging.

Li Qingjue knew that this was not the time to cry. She had to hide the corpse first.

Very quickly, she circulated divine power to protect herself and painstakingly moved the corpse bit by bit.

Over the past few days, she had discovered an excellent hiding place nearby. As long as she moved the corpse there and set up some concealing Dao patterns, it would be relatively safe.

Clang...

Unexpectedly, just as she moved the corpse, she made another discovery.

At the bottom of the pit beneath the corpse lay a bronze mask in silence.

At the sight of it, she froze where she stood.

She naturally knew that this was not her brother's bronze mask. If her brother truly had any relics, they would be on that blue planet.

Why would people from the Feathered Immortal Dynasty transport something useless to them back to the Big Dipper?

The mask in the pit was made of extraordinary material. Her divine consciousness swept over it, yet could not penetrate it, as though it had struck a smooth mirror.

Her thoughts churned. She bent down, solemnly picked up the mask, then, for no reason she could explain, slowly placed it over her face.

It fit perfectly...

"Master, you made this... didn't you?"

Within the ninth level of the Drill Tower.

This minor world corresponded to cultivators at Immortal Platform Level Five, a trial ground for Saints.

It was neither some desolate death zone nor a place of lava, lightning pools, seas of flame, or murderous battle formations teeming with exotic beasts. It was instead a vast starry battlefield that truly tempered one's abilities.

Standing within it felt like being in a miniature corner of the universe formed from dozens of star domains combined together.

After their initial amazement, the Saints who entered this place gradually accepted it.

Perhaps only such grand handiwork was worthy of the Human Emperor's identity.

Within the small starry world floated shattered ancient stars, while cold cosmic dust filled the void like a massive nebula constantly rotating.

This dead silence contained great destruction and great Fortune, conforming to the supreme Dao principle of yin and yang giving rise to one another in endless cycles.

In one corner.

A Cloud Leopard that had spent a thousand years here before successfully advancing into a true Saint walked alongside its master.

Beside it, that breathtakingly beautiful figure had stopped sitting upon its back ever since entering the level corresponding to Immortal Platform Level One.

Gu Qingying had already begun to devote herself to tempering, and at this moment, she too strolled beneath this starry sky.

The Cloud Leopard followed behind its master, glancing around all the way. Only when bored would it occasionally look at its master's peerless back, beautiful enough to make countless men in the world fall for her.

Beneath her plain, ice-silk dress, her figure was graceful and slender. A white jade hairpin was tucked diagonally into her waterfall-like dark hair.

This goddess Gu still wore a light veil over her face, revealing only a pair of cool eyes that seemed filled with endless sorrow from the world and inspired tender sympathy.

Within this minor world, she had clearly suppressed her cultivation to Immortal Platform Level Five, and even to its lowest step.

Only by starting over from the beginning could one truly temper oneself.

Tap... tap...

She walked through the void with light steps, the multicolored ribbons at her slender waist drifting behind her like an immortal descending into the mortal world.

Wherever she passed, phantasmal Dao lotuses bloomed beneath her feet before vanishing.

The Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden Diagram she controlled unfolded above her head. The deity within seemed to awaken and was also comprehending something.

Step by step, the fragments of Dao laws in the starry sky that would trouble ordinary Saints, the astral gales, and streams of chaotic void currents were silently smoothed away by the invisible divine laws and Dao charm beneath her shoes as they neared her peerless body.

She had long understood what her trial should be. It was not merely slaughter and battle, but integrating herself into this ever-changing starry battlefield in an almost natural manner.

She sought to comprehend the Primordial Era true meaning lingering here, as well as the laws of this minor world.

However, while comprehending the Dao recently, part of her attention had quietly remained fixed upon her spirit pet.

She recalled several matters. After giving some thought to certain actions it had taken recently, suspicion had already arisen in her heart.

Qinghan, Are You Hiding Something from Me?

Whoosh!

The woman and leopard had wandered through the small starry sky, comprehending its mysteries for an unknown amount of time.

In the end, Gu Qingying's peerless form descended upon a small planet that was half-withered and half-prosperous.

The hazy, incomparably beautiful painting above her dark hair and forehead slowly rolled itself shut.

This supreme divine artifact of the Spring Autumn Pavilion, known as the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden Diagram, had caught the fleeting attention of many cultivators in the distance. They discovered that eight graceful immortal figures seemed to be dancing across the sky within the painting, their long sleeves stirring heaven and earth. At last, the eight goddesses merged into one, becoming a single person in the painting...

Boom...

Suddenly, at that moment.

Without warning, three Primordial Era battle souls possessing Saint-level combat power and fragmented law creatures manifested in this world and attacked Gu Qingying.

These beings formed from Dao laws corresponded to the cultivation aura she currently displayed, merely Saint First Heaven, but they were rather numerous.

Yet Gu Qingying did not even truly act. Her gaze merely shifted, and spring and autumn, withering and flourishing, seemed to alternate within her eyes.

Buzz...

In an instant, a dim gleam touching upon the laws of time and space flashed from her beautiful eyes.

The next moment.

The overwhelming attacks rushing toward her vanished like dreams and bubbles.

The Primordial Era battle souls and law creatures were likewise swept up by invisible ripples. They decayed, dimmed, and finally turned into rain of light that returned to the void of this small starry sky.

"I never expected that after only three to five days in the Drill Tower, Goddess Gu's Dao would have grown so much deeper. This secret Withering and Flourishing Mystical Art of the Spring Autumn Pavilion has likely already reached perfection in her hands..."

Beneath the stars, some Saints who were also tempering themselves on this level watched from several meteors in the distance.

When they saw this scene, their eyes revealed reverence and apprehension alongside their praise, as well as a trace of suppressed heat.

Unfortunately, before Gu Qingying's absolute strength, they did not dare reveal the fiery fantasies in their hearts.

The peerless grace and methods she had just displayed had already surpassed the scope of mere combat power. They seemed like the manifestation of a "Dao."

They knew very well that although everyone on this level could only maintain Saint-level cultivation, even if they joined forces, they would have no chance at all of suppressing her and fulfilling their desires.

"People say this Goddess Gu's combat power lies somewhere between the Six Forbidden Domain and Seven Forbidden Domain. Now that we have seen her, could she have entered the Eight Forbidden Domain long ago?"

At this moment, an assassin Saint from Human World lurking in the shadows narrowed his eyes and guessed.

"I heard that she could have advanced to the Great Saint realm more than a hundred years ago. To ensure that her cultivation would not fall from its forbidden domain as it rose, she delayed it until now..."

Beside him, an assassin Saint from Hell, which had always advanced and retreated alongside Human World over the years in order to resist the Heavenly Court's overwhelming pressure, voiced his thoughts.

"It seems impossible to take her down. Reject that commission from the Heavenly Martial Holy Land. I just wonder what the Heavenly Court will do?"

"If the Heavenly Court is willing to take this job, then let them do it. We need not fight over momentary gains and losses. Let us watch them while they stand at the height of their power, their invisible rule suppressing the various lineages of the Eastern Wasteland until they can barely breathe. One day, things will inevitably reverse when they reach their extreme..."

The Human World assassin Saint said slowly.

Hearing this, the Hell assassin Saint sighed and said nothing more.

Their powerlessness against the Heavenly Court's rule had reached the point where they could only vent their frustrations with words.

Whoosh...

On the small planet, Gu Qingying keenly sensed the warning chill at her back gradually fading away.

Then, with a light sweep of her delicate hand, she suddenly set up a barrier that isolated the inside from the outside, enveloping herself and her spirit pet, the Cloud Leopard.

Hm?

The Cloud Leopard's heart immediately skipped a beat.

Ever since it had been born, it had been raised by this "master" for nearly a thousand years. The two were actually extremely familiar with each other.

From a single movement or action, it could almost guess what she intended to do next.

The instant the barrier silently formed, it understood that after all these days, she had most likely grown suspicious.

Today, it likely could not escape an "interrogation."

"Qinghan, have you been hiding something from me?"

As expected, Gu Qingying took light lotus steps toward it. One slender, fair hand rested on the Cloud Leopard's nape, and her voice was like a breeze stirring bamboo:

"Think carefully before you answer. Lying would be very naughty..."

Though her voice remained gentle, the gaze she cast upon the Cloud Leopard carried unmistakable scrutiny and severity.

Over this period, she and the Cloud Leopard had fought their way up from the lower levels, suppressing their cultivation and once again experiencing the mysteries of every realm. Their gains had undoubtedly been immense.