"It's almost time."
Lie Yan drew a deep breath, striving to make her voice sound cold and unfeeling. "If we delay any longer, something unexpected might happen."
Bai Qinchen nodded, taking one last, deep look at Tang Wutong, Gu Yuena, and the others. Then he resolutely turned away, waving the heavy chains with his back to the women. "I'm off! Wait for my good news!"
As his words fell, a dazzling pillar of seven-colored light thundered down from the highest heavens, instantly enveloping Bai Qinchen and the nine Divine Empresses.
The pillar brimmed with a vast, sacred presence. This was the Divine Realm's guiding light.
"Escorting a dangerous prisoner. Return to the realm immediately!"
Angel gave a cold shout and slammed her golden spear against the ground. As Divine Power surged, she and the other eight Divine Empresses surrounded Bai Qinchen, trapping him firmly in their midst.
Amid the interweaving, brilliant light, Bai Qinchen slowly rose into the air with the pillar.
Within it, the concepts of time and space grew indistinct, and everything around him twisted into lines of flowing color.
After an unknown stretch of time, the dazzling light before his eyes abruptly receded.
He felt solid ground beneath his feet, and a sacred presence ten thousand times richer than that of the lower realm washed over him. Breathing it into his lungs left his entire body feeling wonderfully at ease.
Bai Qinchen slowly opened his eyes to an endless White Jade Square. Divine light shimmered over the square, and immortal mist swirled through the air. In the distance stood a magnificent cluster of golden palaces towering into the clouds, each radiating extraordinary majesty that involuntarily inspired awe.
This was the Divine Realm Hub.
And directly ahead of the square, figures already filled the space.
At their head