Chapter 1025: The Qing Grandmasters' Successors

Beyond the heavens, as the battle came to an end, Madam Rouge, the Divine Emperor, and Liu Miaoyin rushed forward, along with countless other supreme cultivators across the world.

They found the Yuqing Grandmaster sitting cross-legged in meditation, as if attempting to sense something. The Taiqing and Shangqing Grandmasters guarded him, neither speaking a word.

The three women waited patiently as the Yuqing Grandmaster's face contorted. He seemed to have discovered something.

Long moments thereafter, the Yuqing Grandmaster slowly opened his eyes.

Madam Rouge asked urgently, "Yuqing Grandmaster, do you have news about my husband?"

The Yuqing Grandmaster nodded and turned to the cultivators that were arrayed around him. "Leave us for the moment. I have affairs to discuss with Xiao Nanfeng's wives."

𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

The supreme cultivators were perplexed, but they didn't dare disobey the Yuqing Grandmaster. They retreated and left the three Qing Grandmasters alone with the three women. The Yuqing Grandmaster conjured a cloud of haze to obscure his surroundings.

Madam Rouge glanced at the cultivators in the distance. "Yuqing Grandmaster, do you suspect that there are spies for the Superior among their number?"

The Yuqing Grandmaster nodded. "We've fought against the Superior multiple times, and have learned to be on guard."

The Taiqing Grandmaster interrupted, "Enough about that for now. Let's hear about what you've sensed."

The Yuqing Grandmaster nodded. "My marker accompanied the Superior's avatar into the white life hidden realm, which lies in the depths of the primordial altar. However, there exists another force within this hidden realm, one no weaker than the primordial altar itself. It even currently seems to hold the advantage."

The Taiqing Grandmaster's eyes widened. "The Superior's main body?"

The Yuqing Grandmaster nodded. "That is the only reasonable conclusion. My marker detected the presence of countless white-furred monsters in the realm attacking a certain foe—likely Xiao Nanfeng."

The three women sighed in relief. At the very least, Xiao Nanfeng wasn't yet a captive, and he was unharmed.

The Taiqing Grandmaster frowned. "White-furred monsters? In other words, the Superior must have melded his world of the heart with that hidden realm."

The Yuqing Grandmaster nodded. "Indeed."

The Shangqing Grandmaster shook his head. "That explains it all. No wonder the Superior kept targeting certain cultivators—he must have sent them all into this hidden realm."

The Yuqing Grandmaster said, "They're all dead. There are no living beings within the hidden realm."

"They're all dead?" the others exclaimed.

"Indeed. These white-furred monsters are spiritual bodies. There are no physical bodies among them."

The Taiqing Grandmaster frowned. "It's much like in our own hidden realms, but we can transmit energy and strength from the void and the outer world within. That hidden realm must have been sealed by the primordial altar. How can the Superior endow those white-furred monsters with energy? Unless—he must be giving them the energy present within his main body."

The Yuqing Grandmaster continued, "As far as I can tell, there are two disparate sources of energy within these white-furred monsters: one, the Superior's own spiritual power; two, the primordial altar's.

"Oh?" Everyone raised an eyebrow.

The Taiqing Grandmaster hissed. "In other words, the Superior is trying to use these white-furred monsters to absorb the primordial altar's energy."

The Yuqing Grandmaster nodded. "Indeed. The Superior's spiritual power maintains the white-furred monsters' bodies and allows them to absorb the primordial altar's energy—the special spiritual aether of the hidden realm."

The Taiqing Grandmaster cursed. "What a schemer he is."

The Shangqing Grandmaster asked, "Can we disrupt what's happening within?"

"We can, but if we do, we won't be able to come back out. I can sense that the primordial altar paid a heavy price to seal the Superior's main body, and even it cannot undo its own seal. With the Darkborn threat looming, the three of us cannot take this risk," the Yuqing Grandmaster concluded.

The Taiqing and Shangqing Grandmasters nodded in agreement.

Madam Rouge volunteered, "In that case, let me enter in your stead."

"And I as well!" Liu Miaoyin and the Divine Emperor exclaimed.

For Xiao Nanfeng, they would take this risk and sacrifice their freedom.

The Yuqing Grandmaster shook his head. "You may not enter."

"Why not?" The three women frowned.

The Yuqing Grandmaster replied, "The Superior has transformed this hidden realm into one of yin. It does not affect spiritual bodies, but will corrode and degrade physical ones. Unless you possess a complete world tree, you cannot resist this corrosion. Your world trees are yet incomplete."

Madam Rouge began, "We've all undergone the primordial advancement. Even if we can't enter, we can create spiritual avatars that can."

The Yuqing Grandmaster shook his head. "How much strength could these avatars wield? Rather than help Xiao Nanfeng, you may end up as burdens that weigh him down. If the Superior seizes you, even if you commit suicide, you'll be transformed into white-furred monsters that the Superior will use against Xiao Nanfeng. My marker is itself weakening from the corrosion, and I cannot provide you with any support if you were to enter."

The three women grimaced at each other.

Madam Rouge took a deep breath and suppressed her exasperation. "Yuqing Grandmaster, can you assist my husband?"

The Yuqing Grandmaster turned to the other two grandmasters. They exchanged glances and ultimately all nodded in agreement.

The three grandmasters waved their hands simultaneously, summoning three women from their respective worlds of the heart: their successors. Xia Yu'er, Lan Yaoguang, and Zhang Lingjun had been in the midst of cultivation when they were summoned out of nowhere. They opened their eyes and glanced around in shock.

Madam Rouge and the other two women exchanged glances with each other.

Zhang Lingjun was the first to speak up. "Grandmaster, is something the matter?"

Xia Yu'er and Lan Yaoguang also eyed their surroundings with curiosity.

The Yuqing Grandmaster said, "Too much has happened in the meantime to discuss. I will relay the information to you mentally."

He sent three purple orbs into the three women's mindscape, relaying the events that had transpired in their absence.

The three women's eyes widened in surprise. They hadn't expected so much to happen in the meantime.

And Xiao Nanfeng, that lecher—he had found even more women! Fortunately, they were all aware of each other. Though in some sense they felt that the others were all latent rivals, there was nothing that could be done now. They would vent their feelings on Xiao Nanfeng once they rescued him.

Furthermore, much of their anger was washed away and replaced with fear the moment they found out that the Superior had schemed against Xiao Nanfeng, and that the latter's life was on the line.

Xia Yu'er cried out, "Grandmaster, can we save Nanfeng?"

Zhang Lingjun and Lan Yaoguang also began to fret. With Nanfeng close to death, worrying about the other women by his side seemed like a distant luxury.

The Yuqing Grandmaster glanced at the three women. "You are the successors that I, Taiqing, and Shangqing have selected to receive our entire inheritance. The goal was to pay this planet back for having nurtured us and helped us grow."

The three women nodded. In the past, they had been worried that the three Qing Grandmasters intended on possessing them, but their years of cultivation since had made them realize the truth: the Qing Grandmasters truly intended to show them benevolence.

The Yuqing Grandmaster continued, "Though we initially hoped to keep you safe until our passing, we have since found that Xiao Nanfeng possesses his own suite of remarkable gifts. We too hope that you can rescue him. Are you willing to do so?"

"Of course!" the three women replied simultaneously.

Madam Rouge frowned. "Why can they enter, but not us?"

The Yuqing Grandmaster replied, "Ten thousand years ago, the three of us all cultivated techniques at the pinnacle of yin. Today, we shall transfer all that yin energy into their bodies, which are attuned to yin and primed to accept it. They're the only ones who would be able to survive the harsh corrosion of the hidden realm."

Madam Rouge, the Divine Emperor, and Liu Miaoyin's brows furrowed slightly, but they had no choice but to nod.

The Yuqing Grandmaster turned to the three Qing successors. "The strength that the three of us used to have has been sealed within your bodies. It would take you an exceptionally long period of time to access it all via cultivation alone. Within this hidden realm, the pressure that threatens to corrode your very soul will allow you to master it all quickly—but you must be prepared for the possibility of being trapped within for eternity if you fail."

"We aren't afraid!" the three Qing successors replied.

The Yuqing Grandmaster nodded. "The Darkborn army will soon arrive. We need to conserve what strength we can. All we can grant you now are those red-, blue-, and purple-furred lifeforms from our hidden realms that you now command."

The Yuqing Grandmaster conjured a purple orb. Beside him, the Taiqing and Shangqing Grandmasters conjured a red and blue orb respectively. They sent those orbs to their successors.

"Thank you, Grandmasters!" The three women bowed.

"This marker that connects to the interior of the hidden realm can only be used once before it dissipates. I'll be able to send you within, but you won't be able to contact us thereafter," the Yuqing Grandmaster warned.

Xia Yu'er said seriously, "I'd do anything to save Nanfeng."

Lan Yaoguang and Zhang Lingjun nodded resolutely as well.

The Yuqing Grandmaster nodded. "Be careful, and try to seek Xiao Nanfeng out as quickly as you can. He should be able to take advantage of your abilities."

"Understood!" The three women nodded firmly.

The Yuqing Grandmaster began to chant. With a hum, void ripples formed underfoot as the three women were surrounded by bright purple light.

"Enter now. This portal will destabilize at any moment," the Yuqing Grandmaster warned.

The three Qing successors rushed through the portal and vanished from sight as the light burst apart.

"Did they make it in?" the Taiqing Grandmaster asked.

The Yuqing Grandmaster nodded. "They have, but my marker has been destroyed. I can't sense what's going on in there any longer."