Chapter 169
I Hope You Don't Run Into Trouble, My Lady
"...Ready yet?"
At the quiet beach, Bai Fanxian stood before a group of nearly ten people, all familiar faces. Tang clan head Tang Tianjie, busier now than ever, had still willingly made time to see her off in person. Marshal Zhang Xianyuan had rushed to arrive before she left.
"I'm ready."
Grandmaster Lu Qing smiled faintly at Bai Fanxian. He drew out a pill from his breast pocket and held it at the ready.
"Safe travels."
Zhang Xianyuan formally saluted her. Bai Fanxian gave a single, light nod in return.
"If anything happens, go to the island. Huang Zihuan will be there and can help."
She said it as a precaution, in case unexpected situations arose. She had left some treasures on her private island, including pills she had refined in a hurry during this period. Demonic beast appearances were still ongoing, but everyone had adapted and could handle them without heavy losses.
"Understood."
Liu Yianfei was the next to approach, worry plain on his face. He gripped his long sword and asked with hesitation—
"Should I go along?"
He had come prepared with supplies, just in case Bai Fanxian changed her mind. One nod from her was all it would take.
"You stay here. That way I'll feel much more at ease."
"...Yes."
He sighed and accepted it. Her decision this time was a strange one. She had not mentioned bringing anyone other than Tang Yeye and Hui'er.
Except for Grandmaster Lu Qing, who was needed to open the portal for both the journey there and the return. He had been part of the group from the start.
That made four in total.
"...Any news of Suyao?"
Xie Suyao had been another person Bai Fanxian had considered taking. But since their last farewell, there had been no opportunity for the two of them to meet again.
"The Xie clan sent word that Grandmaster Xie is in a critical period of breakthrough..."
"...Then it's fine."
Bai Fanxian had chosen these three because they were the ones with the highest potential, occupying a role not unlike that of her disciples. If the Goddess Palace still stood and still carried the air of the old era, she wanted them to witness that place for themselves.
She turned and looked quietly at Hui'er. She did not say it aloud, but there was another reason: she was still curious about something in this child's origins. And her instincts told her the answers might be waiting at that Goddess Palace.
"Then let's go."
When the time came, Bai Fanxian nodded to Grandmaster Lu Qing. He flicked the pill into his mouth in an instant. In less than ten seconds, the immense pressure and the form that many had witnessed the day before reappeared before them.
The pitch-black serpent coiled through the air around him, bat wings spread wide.
Grandmaster Lu Qing gathered power into both palms, then slashed the air in one long motion. The most stable dimensional rift he could manage tore open in midair — but halfway through, he furrowed his brow and murmured:
"Coordinates are deviating..."
"What happened?"
"Bathin's power can sense the Myriad Demon dimension. But I don't think I can pin down a specific location..."
"We might not know where we'll come out over there."
Bai Fanxian tensed. If that was truly the case, bringing two children along might be riskier than expected. The safest option would be for her to go alone.
"Meow! Let Kuro help, meow!"
Having been all but forgotten by everyone, Kuro was displeased. It was a member of the rare Dimension-Rending Cat species, but with Bathin's presence here, it felt as though its one unique gift had been stolen, and it was quietly a little hurt by that.
It leaped up and clung to Grandmaster Lu Qing's head. Dragon Queen, seizing the opening her lady had not explicitly forbidden, flew over and latched onto Tang Yeye's shoulder, ready to tag along.
"Meow!"
One cry from Kuro was all it took. Power stirred within its small body, thin black shadows spreading outward and fusing with the energy connecting it to Lu Qing. Grandmaster Lu Qing's eyes went wide — the problem he had just run into had vanished entirely.
"Coordinates confirmed. Should be the city Kuro used to live in."
He reported at once. Kuro lifted its head with pride. It had crossed between worlds countless times before. Knowing where to surface on arrival, and helping Lu Qing lock in the coordinates, was nothing to it.
"...Then let's go."
With no further complications, Bai Fanxian turned and signaled both children to follow. Just before stepping through the dimensional portal, she sent her Intent out to cover everyone.
"Hold my hands tight."
Tang Yeye on her left, Hui'er on her right. Both children gripped her hands. Bai Fanxian's qi flowed outward from her body, enveloping all four of them, plus the two creatures.
At least that would ensure there was no repeat of what had happened to Dragon Queen.
"...See you again."
She turned to say her farewells one last time. She could still clearly sense the worry in the gazes fixed upon her.
So no matter what, she had to come back.
*Whoosh!*
Blue light swallowed their figures as the dimensional rift began to dissolve. The gap sealed itself at a visible pace. When the light faded, the shore was empty.
"They're gone..."
Sword Master Zheng Renyi, who had stood watching from a distance, turned to his granddaughter. Bai Fanxian had not taken Meiying along this time. He had worried it would make the girl sad.
Would she be hurt by that?
He did not need to wonder long. Meiying, standing beside him, turned and gave him a wide smile.
"Grandpa, don't worry... I'm not upset at all."
"Oh? Is that so?"
"Yes. I know what each person here is capable of. The two of them can protect themselves if something happens. But what I can do right now is just refine pills."
Sword Master Zheng Renyi studied his granddaughter in silence. With the eyes of a man who had lived well past his prime, how could he miss the faint sadness beneath those words?
"Meiying..."
"...But even if I'm not upset... I still can't help feeling a little sad, right?"
Sad at her own weakness.
If she were stronger, she might have been standing there with them.
Zheng Renyi did not know how to console her. Watching tears form at the corners of her eyes only made him feel more helpless.
"Grandpa..."
"...?"
When he was at a loss, the girl gripped his hand.
The old man forced himself to steady his emotions and listened carefully to what she was about to say.
"...Can you teach me swordsmanship?"
"...!"
Seeing her grandfather go quiet, Meiying thought she was about to be refused. Her already sad face grew sadder still.
"It's because my body is weak..."
"No! Not at all!"
Before she could finish, he burst out — startling many around them. Liu Yianfei, assuming they were quarreling, walked quickly over to intervene. But when he looked more closely, he found Zheng Renyi's face alight with excitement.
How many years had he waited for this?
The day his granddaughter would ask, of her own will, to carry on his swordsmanship.
Before, her frail body had made it impossible. But after receiving treatment from Bai Fanxian, that was no longer a concern. Out of love for her — and seeing her genuine interest in alchemy — he had never pushed her toward swordsmanship.
Because even if she could not fight, he would protect her himself.
"...You mean you'll use that too, right?"
"Yes... if it'll make me stronger."
Seeing the determination in Meiying's eyes, Sword Master Zheng Renyi laughed out loud, oblivious to the stares of those around him. He lifted his granddaughter onto his shoulders and prepared to soar toward Bai Fanxian's island — by any measure, the finest training ground in the world.
And before he left, he turned to Liu Yianfei, whose expression was still thoroughly baffled, and said:
"Yianfei, mark my words. Before long, the title of greatest swordsman won't belong to either of us anymore."
"Hm?"
"Just wait and see!... It won't be long. Hahaha!"
With that, his figure shot into the sky and became a streak of light. Watching him go with such urgency, Liu Yianfei smiled to himself and shook his head.
This place got more interesting every day.
"...I hope you don't run into trouble, my lady."
.
.
.
*Hah! Hah! Hah!*
"Die!"
*Clang!*
"No! You... you dare kill my comrade!"
"Kyaa!?"
"Quick, go help the right side! Can't hold on anymore... ack!?"
"Damn it! They're way more than reported. Are those intelligence units all blind!?"
"This is bad! Send medical units to the front lines! They're all going to die!"
"B-but even now we're stretched thin..."
Chaotic sounds erupted from every direction. People so numerous they looked like ants. The air was thick with blood and tension.
No mistake — no matter how you looked at it, this was —
"A battlefield."
Bai Fanxian stood in midair, her followers beside her. Both children, pale and disoriented from the crossing, lay unconscious on Dragon Queen's back, the dragon having grown somewhat larger. Bai Fanxian studied the scene below with quiet interest.
"Demonic beasts and humans..."
Below them, human cultivators clashed in chaotic combat without end. The human side ranged from Martial Masters up to Sage-level cultivators, the latter few and far between. The demonic beast side was a gathering of many different tribes.
Mythical beasts. Creatures she had never even seen before.
"Kuro... do you know what's happening?"
The little black cat was just as fresh and unbothered by the crossing as Bai Fanxian herself. It clung to her shoulder, old memories surfacing in its eyes as it looked around.
"Don't know either, meow. When Kuro left, everything was still peaceful, meow."
It swept its gaze across the landscape, searching for familiar sights.
"Here should be the grassland beside the city, meow. Look — the city wall is over there, meow!" It raised a small paw to point. At the very edge of their vision, a city's outline was faintly visible.
"...What should we do?"
Grandmaster Lu Qing, restored to his normal form, did not know what to make of it. Seeing people injured and dying at the hands of demonic beasts stirred an instinct in him to go down and help.
But he had to hear what Bai Fanxian thought first.
If she chose to stay out of it, he was ready to do the same.
He was mature enough to know he should not let his own feelings ruin everything.
"...That's it."
While Bai Fanxian was still deliberating, a burst of crimson light erupted upward from below.
She squinted. Through the light, she made out a fearsome wolf — massive, with griffin wings. It shot toward her at blinding speed and lunged to tear her apart.
"One strayed over?"
*Slash!*
With a single wave of her hand, a sharp arc of purple qi cut through the air. It sliced through the wolf's body — larger up close than she had expected — and opened a deep gash. Blood sprayed across the open sky. The beast let out a mournful howl before plummeting into the chaos below.
Bai Fanxian narrowed her eyes, noting how tough the creature had been.
Had she gone too easy just now?
She had meant to cut it cleanly in two.
She was still turning it over in her mind when she noticed the change on the battlefield below.
The chaos gradually fell still, the silence spreading outward in wide circles from where the wolf had landed, rippling across the entire field until it swallowed everything.
Finally, it went dead silent.
Even Bai Fanxian took notice.
"..."
"...What happened?"
"...Lord Marsosius is dead!!"
No one knew who had spoken first. But the voice rang out so clearly it carried across the entire, utterly silent battlefield.
"Lord Marsosius is dead!"
"Lord Marsosius is dead!"
"Lord Marsosius is dead!"
The cry spread outward in waves. The demonic beast army, those with enough intelligence to understand language, like Kuro, broke into a panicked rout. They fled without looking back, some trampling each other in their haste.
The sight left many speechless.
"..."
"..."
"Yeah!!"
And then, thunderous cheering from the human side. Cultivators or not, they still loved their lives. Leaving the battlefield alive was what every one of them had wanted more than anything. So it was little wonder that many, without even understanding what had happened, burst into tears or broke out laughing, throwing their arms around the people beside them in pure relief.
"We won!"
"Sob... so good. So good!"
"Hey! Brother! Don't die — wake up!"
When that first wave of emotion passed, they began to notice the gazes of others turning upward. One by one, until every soldier, regardless of rank or faction, was looking up at the sky.
There was only one person that many pairs of eyes could be fixed upon.
"...Lady Bai?" Grandmaster Lu Qing let out a dry laugh at the unexpected attention. He turned to face the one responsible — Bai Fanxian, who had already raised a hand to her temple, eyes shut, letting out a long, heavy sigh.
"...I see trouble already."