“Mirrorbloom, your ambitions have made you blind. You were already on the fringes of the supreme dao. You were so close to receiving its favor. But now, you reject it like a madwoman. Sometimes, you have to take a step back to move forward. The longer you persist in the wrong direction, the further you travel from the truth. Mirrorbloom, you’ve lost your way...”

“Shut your mouth!” At this stage, anything the celestial emperor said was only sheer annoyance to Mirrorbloom’s ears. Her desires clouded her mind.

The only thing on her mind was to kill the pair and wrest control of Taiyuan Plane so she could use its energy to nourish her embryonic world. She wanted a realm to call her own sooner rather than later, and the supreme dao’s endorsement to boot, along with her own creation token!

To that end, she’d bided her time in secret for ages untold.

Taking a step back after all of this? It’d be the failure of an entire lifetime! It was too late for her to turn over a new leaf.

But it hadn’t been long since she’d attained enlightenment and crafted her embryonic plane. With little time to strengthen it, the combined assault from Jiang Chen and the four sacred beasts was a constant thorn in her side.

The young man’s voice reached her, echoing directly inside her realm. “Mirrorbloom, I will spare you if you release my father!”

He might have looked a single step away from Mirrorbloom Plane, but they were in fact two worlds apart. To convey his voice through the different spacetimes was proof that his power had reached the celestial emperor realm.

She smirked cruelly, her eyes pure venom. “Little pup, I’ve already pulped him into mincemeat and made dumplings with him. Want a taste? The flesh of a celestial emperor is quite tender.”

Steam almost boiled out of Jiang Chen’s ears. “You crazy woman, if you dare harm a single hair on his head, I’ll cut you into a thousand pieces and torment your soul night and day for a million years. You’ll be begging me for death!”

“Hmph, what a load of bullshit! A snotty brat challenging me? Remember, I took down your old man at the height of his power. I guess you’re a chip off the old block. See how I deal with you disgraceful lot!”

She clasped her hands together, then spread them apart.

A strange hexagonal mirror appeared between them, seeming to encompass the four cardinal directions and the entirety of the universe. Within that mirror, she held the moon in one hand and the sun in the other.

“Taiyuan, it’s time to send you off to the afterlife. Don’t worry, your little pipsqueak will be along soon to keep you company!” She crossed her arms and sent two beams at him. Midway, they combined into one, shooting his way with supreme power.

Merging yin with yang, the dreadful attack carried the most primordial principles of the universe. It was a solid hit that demonstrated full comprehension of her own power.

Boom!

The beam twisted on itself and rammed against Celestial Emperor Taiyuan’s golden vortex in a deafening crash, overpowering it and shattering it to pieces.

Fortunately, the vortex cushioned some of the impact before disappearing, mitigating the damage as Celestial Emperor Taiyuan took it head on.

Divine light exploded around him. But his armor served its purpose. Its glow dimmed as its structure underwent an alarming change, its defenses instantly distorted by the onslaught of energy. In the end, it withstood the attack.

“You old fart, I guess you were once a celestial emperor after all. A fallen titan’s still a giant! But do you think simple armor will save you? Now that your power has declined, all resistance is futile. Watch me take your life!”

For her, the man was merely prey. She’d been toying with him thus far to enjoy his futile struggles, but Jiang Chen’s attacks cut the spectacle short. The situation was too urgent for her to waste her time tormenting the father.

I’d better kill him as fast as possible. A long night is fraught with dreams.

Celestial Emperor Taiyuan had been held captive for too many years to count. Bit by bit, the prison’s constant corrosion had eaten away at his cultivation and devoured his strength. After several hundred thousand years, not even he could avoid being affected.

A celestial emperor he might be, but his body was made of flesh and bone, rather than of the supreme dao itself. Not to mention, he no longer had his creation token by his side. He was far from his zenith, and the supreme dao’s protection was weakened.

Though he’d secretly sent the creation token to his son, he was still a celestial emperor recognized by the heavens.

It was how he’d endured for this long. The prison might have gnawed away some of his strength, but not all of it. He’d simply fallen to the level of a godking.

Even so, he could handily sort out the current crop of godkings. But perhaps one who matched a celestial emperor in strength like Mirrorbloom was a step too far.

His long captivity, the lack of a creation token, and various reasons all conspired to make him lose ground against her. He resisted her casual attacks with his reserve of energy, but a strike containing the supreme dao of the universe was beyond his ability to weather.

Luckily for him, he was wearing his celestial emperor armor, but it couldn’t shield him forever. Fending her off once or twice was its limit.

In the outside world, he might have used his dexterity to evade. But she was supreme inside her own world. No matter how he moved, her attacks could arise from anywhere in her plane, so dodging would be a waste of mental and physical stamina.

Hence, he didn’t even try. He spared himself the trouble and sat on the ground cross-legged, preserving his energy. Why squander what little he’d managed to save from the prison’s clutches?

As a veteran of untold battles and an experienced celestial emperor, he barely held on despite her frenzied barrage. How long could he last? He himself couldn’t answer the question.

Yet, his heart was light. His son was now a fine man thanks to his plans. His legacy would live on. Why should he be worried?

“Chen’er, I know you’ll come out victorious,” he silently repeated to himself. He was staring death in the eye, but seeing his son all grown up again was enough. His efforts hadn’t hadn’t been in vain.