In the southern skies outside Yao City.

The manifestation of the Emperor’s Phenomena brought the battle between Soul Kings to a halt. Everyone from both sides stood there, slackjawed at the sight before another powerful source of energy exploded onto the battlefield!

So powerful was the aura and quick they were in coming that none of the Soul Kings had even time to react!

“Watch out!!”

Yao Tianji was the first to say anything. Blanching at the newcomer’s aura, he let out a cry of terror!

A dark-red pill appeared in his hand at once. Bringing his hand up, Yao Tianji swallowed the pill without delay!

The veins on his face bulged outwards and his eyes started to show blood. Something in his body was being forced to produce more energy than normal!

“Ahhh!!!”

Yao Tianji’s head snapped upwards. A brilliant flame burst out from his body along with a wave of elemental fire. A sea of fire swallowed up the area around him, preventing anything from crossing over it to the Yao clansmen behind him!

“Boom!!!”

Green and violet light shot past the allied schools in response to the wave of fire!

A world-shattering explosion was had as both forces collided. Unable to handle the pressure, the fabric of space started to tear apart with increasing area!

The explosion forced back everyone from the area, lest they be hit with a wave of energy they couldn’t possibly withstand.

When the explosion dissipated, the Yao clansmen were revealed to be forced back to the walls of Yao City!

“Pcht...”

Yao Tianji’s hand clutched at his chest. Growing pale in the face, the man spat out a mouthful of blood!

“Father!!”

Yao Wuchen raced to his father’s side and aid at once. Holding his father in place, he popped a dark-green pill into the man’s mouth.

The others drew closer to him as well. Each one grew pale at how unresponsive Yao Tianji was and fearful of the new enemy in front of them.

Standing in front of the allied schools was a figure wreathed in the colors of both green and violet. The power exuding from this person far outstripped the one felt by Qin Bangjie. The Yao clansmen could hardly even breathe under this pressure!

The figure within the light gave a small murmur of surprise. The twin lights coming from his eyes moved to rest onto Yao Tianji.

“A pill capable of allowing one to gain the power of a Half-emperor? How interesting...”

The man was definitely surprised how the Yao clansmen were still alive. His attack wasn’t at full power, but the man still expected at least half the alchemists to die. Somehow, Yao Tianji managed to stop the attack and protect everyone.

“Headmaster!!”

An ecstatic voice called out to the figure; it was the elder of the Wind Lightning School, He Changkai!

“Headmaster!? The headmaster of the Wind Lightning School?!”

Men from both the Soul Refining School and Beast Taming School cried out at once.

“Duan Leiting, headmaster of the Wind Lightning School! He was here?! No way!”

Dan Teng cried out in shock.

“No!” His eyes narrowed. “This...is an avatar!”

His senses were telling him that this person ‘only’ had the strength of an Early-stage Soul Emperor, which was incongruent with the rumors of Duan Leiting’s actual strength. Furthermore, the light that surrounded this figure was strange. Not even a Soul Emperor would have a light around their person like that, meaning this had to be Duan Leiting’s avatar. He didn’t feel ‘happy’, knowing that this was ‘only’ just an avatar. An avatar with the strength of an Early-stage Soul Emperor was still a person they wouldn’t be able to fight against!

“As expected from the Alchemy School. Two thousand years and you’ve still this much strength...”

Duan Leiting spoke. His eyes ignored Yao Wuchen and the others in favor to stare at the still-increasing power within the city.

“Boom...”

The pillar of fire erupting from the city was starting to fade away by this point. The whirlpool of fire that surrounded the pillar was also starting to shrink in size.

“That is not the Emperor’s Phenomena, but the signs of a breakthrough. The owner may be a Peak Late-stage Soul King, but the energy is still incredible...What kind of person are they...?” Duan Leiting wondered aloud.

“A person like that cannot be allowed to live!”

“Bzt...”

Power surged out from the avatar upon his last few words. The air around him quivered with the sound of thunder before the avatar shot forward!

“No! Stop him!!” Cried Yao Wuchen. Fire burst out from his person before transforming into a concentrated ray to strike Duan Leiting!

The other alchemists followed suit to use their strongest attack in hopes of stopping the avatar!

“How meaningless!!”

Bolts of lightning and gusts of wind flew out in every direction to accurately stop each attack from hitting him.

“Boom boom boom boom...”

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

One by one, the attacks sent by the Yao clansmen were stopped and shattered apart!

And to make matters even worse, the lightning bolts and gusts of wind continued onward towards the clansmen!

One could see how powerful Duan Leiting’s attacks were by such a sight. And to think this was done with as much effort as one would expend from flicking the wrist!

Flustered by the total inefficacy of their attacks, the alchemists barely managed to throw up a barrier when the attacks landed. Multiple cries rang out as several of them were struck down and heavily injured!

“Kill them all!!”

No longer caring for those Soul Kings, Duan Leiting flew ahead into Yao City to get rid of the ‘threat’.

His command was obeyed immediately. He Changkai and the others from the Wind Lightning School leaped to action at once with the others being only a half-step behind. Renewed with confidence, the allied Soul Kings flew at the Yao clansmen with vigor!

“Damn! How did a Soul Emperor manage to appear!! I can’t deal with that!!”

Wu Dijian was the next to come across Duan Leiting. Barely managing to fend off one of the Soul Emperor’s attacks, Wu Dijian watched helplessly as the avatar shot deeper into the city where Bai Yunfei was!

“Eh? The elemental fire is changing?!”

Yao Feiyun’s head snapped up the moment he felt the change in the elemental fire. Awed by the sheer amount of energy he was feeling, Yao Feiyun let out another cry. “It’s...it’s even stronger than before! What’s happening!?”

He grew more and more awed by how the power was increasing, but soon, the awe turned into fear. As powerful as it was, Yao Feiyun began to worry for his ability to withstand it. He backed out from the room quickly to reach safety in the courtyard.

“What’s...happening?”

His eyes grew wide in both fear and awe at the skies above.

Like the Soul Kings far away, Yao Feiyun was watching the pillar of fire disperse and the whirlpool of flames shrink in on itself!

He was captivated by the sight. The surrounding elemental fire was rapidly draining away from the courtyard and into the whirlpool, meaning visibility was now far greater than before. And when he could finally see the area around him...Yao Feiyun realized with a start that the courtyard was no longer there! They were now standing in an area of nothingness where the only other object to be seen was a figure wreathed in fire floating off the ground...

“Big...big brother Tang?!” Yao Feiyun cried with joy. Racing to the figure, he gave the recently-awoken man a big smile. “Are you finally back to normal, big brother Tang?!”

“Feiyun?” Confused, Bai Yunfei stepped back onto the ground to stare at the younger male. “It’s all thanks to your efforts back then...” He laughed, “but my name isn’t Tang Long, so you shouldn’t call me that.”

“Eh? Then what should I call you?” Yao Feiyun cocked his head in confusion.

A bolt of green and violet light stole Bai Yunfei’s attention away from Yao Feiyun. His head snapped up to stare at the light.

“I am...Bai Yunfei!!”

=========

The end of Book Eight has finally arrived, but I don’t feel as satisfied as I’d like. Book Seven was composed almost entirely of battle scenes, so I strove to make this book a little more peaceful. Many readers were unhappy by this, however. Truth be told, I didn’t feel as enthusiastic about this arc so I decided to end it early.

Bai Yunfei has regained his strength and then some now. What kind of changes has happened in the outside world? Will old friends and new enemies appear now? Will Yunfei finally be able to return to the heights he reached before? Please look forward to the next book...