Shrouding the Heavens: Those Years as the Empress's Strictest Master

The Empress's Heartblood

"This Human Emperor really doesn't act according to convention!"

"His methods are impossible to fathom..."

In a single day, the Human Emperor returned and reignited the war.

At the same moment, within several other Life Forbidden Zones such as Divine Ruins and Immortal Mausoleum, ancient gazes pierced through the void and turned one after another toward Undying Mountain.

They covertly watched the figure who had severed away Black Mountain from afar, their divine senses carrying a trace of barely perceptible wariness.

The Human Emperor's actions, as well as that peculiar state of his, were an extremely unstable variable to every self-severed Supreme Being.

The barefoot feared no one wearing shoes.

No one wished to provoke such an existence at a time like this.

Several breaths passed. Although the disturbance caused by the severing of the Undying Mountain peak had already come to an end, they could tell that the Human Emperor had merely left Undying Mountain and had not truly vanished.

Who knew? Perhaps in the next moment, he would arrive at the forbidden zones where they resided.

If they truly emerged and fought this man, then even if they won, they would be the ones at a loss.

If they lost, they would suffer an even greater loss...

Central Region of Eastern Wasteland, Fire Demon Ridge.

This was a terrifying mountain secret realm where the undying Southern Bright Fire burned year-round.

Within the secret realm, magma spread like a sea, yet it could not submerge the strange mountain range formed from flames.

At this moment, at the heart of the mountain range, a fully matured fire-element Saint Spirit with blood-red scales and crystalline jade horns atop his head awoke from a long slumber.

His location was only a little over a hundred thousand li from the Undying Mountain forbidden zone. To experts of the Saint Realm and beyond, such a distance was merely a few steps.

"Is this Human Emperor really not going to stop today? He dared to stroke the Stone Emperor's tiger whiskers..."

The Fire Demon Saint Spirit, shaped like a fiery Qilin, suddenly spoke. His deep, booming voice reverberated through the secret realm.

The instant his voice rang out, the Southern Bright Fire swirling around him surged. Magma throughout the mountain range erupted tens of thousands of feet into the air, scorching even the void connecting the secret realm to the outside world until it warped.

This place was so close to Undying Mountain. Just as the Supreme Beings within the forbidden zone had been repeatedly shaken awake, he too had been indirectly and frequently disturbed.

Recently, he had been using his own Dao resonance to nurture the artifact born alongside him. He had been on the verge of success, only to be interrupted time and again. Naturally, resentment had built in his heart.

Yet under the Human Emperor's might, no matter how displeased he was, he could only endure it obediently.

But times would change. Once that man passed away, he might very well strike hard!

"Zhen Yan..."

As his thoughts turned, he suddenly called out a name.

Whoosh!

In the next instant, a humanoid divine flame burst from the surrounding magma and respectfully knelt before him.

"Your subordinate is here!"

He too was a fire-element Saint Spirit, but his cultivation was far inferior to that of his master, Fire Demon. Though he possessed only the cultivation of a Saint King, the Saint Spirit Race had been invincible among those of the same realm since ancient times. In the outside world, he could still establish a sect and become an ancestor.

"This artifact is bound to me as one body from the womb. This time, the resentment in my heart cannot be dispelled, preventing me from nurturing the Dao artifact. Instead, it has been tainted..."

Fire Demon's molten-gold eyes seemed to pierce through the secret realm and stare directly into the outside world, filled with deep gloom.

"The Dao artifact still needs nurturing, and I cannot spare the time. After today, go out and seize some human blood food for me. If the Dao artifact is washed with human heartblood, it should be refined in one stroke!"

"Yes!"

The Saint Spirit Zhen Yan accepted the order.

However, at this very moment—

As his master Fire Demon swept his gaze across the outside world, he inadvertently noticed a woman with exceptionally rich Soul Resonance crossing the boundary wall into the Central Region and arriving not far from Fire Demon Ridge.

The woman's black hair cascaded like a waterfall, held by a wooden hairpin. Her black dress fluttered about her graceful, otherworldly figure. Even with her face concealed behind a Bronze Mask, she still possessed peerless elegance.

She had only just entered the Immortal Platform Secret Realm, yet an invisible divine charm capable of drawing in all Dao already faintly surrounded her!

"As this great age begins, why does the human race have so many astonishing talents..."

Fire Demon narrowed his eyes.

"This woman is extraordinary. If I can obtain her heartblood, or even her origin, to nourish this artifact of mine, it will be the icing on the cake. Lock onto her aura. Tomorrow, seize her and bring her here. It will also count as eliminating a future threat to our Saint Spirit Race in advance..."

This matter could only be handled by his underlings. An existence like him found it inconvenient to act and could not do as he pleased.

This was essentially an unspoken understanding among all races. It was easy for the strong to prey upon the weak and snuff out the geniuses of other races, but once such a precedent was set, others could imitate it as well. Thus, none chose to do so.

Whoosh...

Meanwhile.

Northern Region of Eastern Wasteland. Crimson mist permeated the air as Tan Lin strode through the void, seeming to wander leisurely through Big Dipper's magnificent lands.

He had come all the way from Undying Mountain in the Central Region. His speed was neither fast nor slow. At times, he stopped upon the clouds and gazed over the changes in Big Dipper's mountains, rivers, and customs over the past million years, as well as the countless forms of life that existed today.

Then he silently calculated how much longer he could remain in this world.

After severing away three peaks of Undying Mountain, he had not chosen to return directly to that hidden place, because it too was located in the Central Region.

Though he was confident that, without the status of a Red Dust Immortal or even an Immortal King giant, no one could see through the heavenly secrets concealed by his crimson state—

That hidden place was where he would activate the All-Causes Soul Pearl to begin the next Lifetime, as well as where he stored his treasures. There was no harm in being more cautious.

Thus, he paused in many places, muddling the heavenly secrets in a more tangible, concrete manner.

Besides, he truly wished to empty his mind. He had slept for a million years, and after awakening, had exhausted himself plotting to reclaim the fragments of his true soul, calculating against the Restricted-Area Supremes, and laying plans everywhere.

Now that his time had entered its countdown and he could begin his next Lifetime at any moment, embarking on a new life, he wished to take this chance to clear his thoughts.

"Riding upon the proper course of Heaven and Earth... commanding the transformations of the six breaths... to roam the boundless..."

Tan Lin stood atop the clouds with his hands behind his back. For no apparent reason, he suddenly recited this ancient passage.

He slowly savored the passage's artistic conception, feeling some regret in his heart.

In his current state, even if he gained insight, he could not further refine his cultivation. He could only preserve those realizations within the Soul Pearl's memories and the Soul Resonance of his reincarnated innate wisdom, leaving their legacy to his next Lifetime.

In truth, he had not expected that, so close to the complete end of this life as the Human Emperor, he could still gain enlightenment.

In fact, he knew his own talent very well.

Without a supreme treasure like the All-Causes Soul Pearl, which allowed his Soul Resonance and innate wisdom to stack with every reincarnation, did he think he could attain the Dao?

With so many heavenly talents and outstanding figures in this world, would it have been his turn?

When he first came to this world, even after adding the innate wisdom and Soul Resonance of his previous life, he had only cultivated to the Immortal Third Realm before making no further progress.

From this, one could see just how rare someone like the Empress was—someone of unmatched talent, peerless through all ages.

One in hundreds of millions. How many eras, or even how many epochs, would it take for such a woman to appear?

"Why did this little girl go to the Central Region?"

Pulling free from his state of enlightenment, Tan Lin checked the positions of the Anchor Points at the ends of several conspicuous Causal Lines, and one brow rose slightly.

One Must Respect One's Master and Honor the Dao

"Fire Demon Ridge? So that's how it is..."

Tan Lin smiled faintly.

Under the [Inverted All-Causes Vision], the future Empress's master-disciple relationship with him made their causality exceptionally profound.

Her experiences outside and her interactions with others would generate certain indirect causal feedback toward him.

For this reason, he could adjust his field of vision and observe certain causal branches extending from Li Qingjue as their core along her main Causal Line.

Naturally, some of these branches were tangled, some were darkened, and only a very few were pure crimson.

For instance, at this moment, he noticed a tangled, darkening thin line slowly growing from the main Causal Line where she was located.

The thin line was on the verge of snapping and had yet to fully take shape. It could disappear or break at any time. This meant that the causality between the Anchor Point at the line's end and Li Qingjue had not yet been fully established, leaving room for change.

He had only a faint impression of the fully matured Saint Spirit of Fire Demon Ridge, whom he had never met in the future.

Even within the original course of events, there had only been a few passing mentions of him.

Whoosh!

After pondering briefly, Tan Lin casually waved his hand and sent three streams of clear radiance flying toward the Central Region. Across the air, they merged into the invisible aura around Li Qingjue.

The woman in black noticed nothing at all.

At this moment, she stood gracefully upon a hill outside Fire Demon Ridge, gazing toward Undying Mountain. A sense of loss filled the heart of the evil dragon.

When news arrived that her master had "charged into" Undying Mountain, she had just entered the Immortal Platform Secret Realm. Before she could stabilize her cultivation, she transformed into a rainbow and flew from the Southern Region to the Central Region, hoping she might see her master one last time from afar.

Yet she had not expected that, in the mere dozen or so breaths it took before she could cross the boundary wall of the Central Region, her master would vanish once more.

"If only I had a spatial array platform like the Profound Jade Platform..."

As the cold wind howled across the hills, Li Qingjue murmured softly.

She was somewhat distraught.

Another person most important to her was about to leave her!

Today, in the Southern Region, she had heard other cultivators say more than once that the Human Emperor's current state was the result of sacrificing every trace of his past Dao, allowing the imprint he had left between Heaven and Earth to return.

Like an epiphyllum blooming for but a moment, he could not endure for long.

So after her master passed away this time, could he still return?

This question circled endlessly in her heart, leaving her restless throughout the day.

And before leaving, her master had never directly answered this question.

"Master, you..."

Beneath the Bronze Mask, her peerlessly beautiful face, capable of anger or joy alike, was filled with melancholy.

As she spoke to herself, she lightly bit her lower lip. In the end, she uttered only those three words. She felt that anything further would carry a trace of resentment.

She had to respect her master and honor the Dao.

Resentment was disrespectful toward her master. That was unacceptable.

She could not control what others did, but at the very least, she could not permit herself to do such a thing—not even to harbor the slightest resentment...

More than ten years had passed. The disciple who had once been a little girl had grown into a graceful young maiden, and Tan Lin naturally had no way of knowing her thoughts at this moment.

He lingered on the clouds where he stood for a while.

The three streams of clear radiance he had sent forth could help her overcome three deadly tribulations.

Beyond that, he made no further move.

Everyone had their own path to walk. Too much interference could be worse than none at all.

"Let us watch and see..."

He sighed softly.

At its root, it was because his presence as an unforeseen variable had caused Li Qingjue to accidentally enter the field of vision of the fully matured Saint Spirit of Fire Demon Ridge too early, thereby creating an invisible connection.

The cause of this killing tribulation had arisen because of him. There was no reason for the final consequence to be borne entirely by his disciple. That was why he had given her the three streams of clear radiance.

Whoosh...

Soon, Tan Lin no longer paid attention to the Central Region.

His thoughts returned to himself as he continued to ride the six breaths of Heaven and Earth, roaming the vast skies and lands.

Above the clouds, his body moved with the wind. Wherever the wind blew, his figure went.