Spirit Vessel

The man landed on a floating palace made from jades and crystals. Its master had died long ago.

He gazed at the celestial river and saw through everything, eventually stopping at a star.

“You’re still alive?” An illusory voice seemed surprised to see him.

The man posed with both hands behind his back. His eyebrows and beard were trimmed neatly as he looked confident and said: “I came back to life, miracles happen all the time in this unpredictable world. Just like today, I found you after following the arrow’s aura.”

“You should have been wiser after coming back to life instead of trying to find me, it’s a suicidal endeavor.” The voice answered.

“I cannot live well when I know you are still alive.” The man said.

“Aquamoon Deity used herself as bait and killed off two saints on our side. You were involved as well?” The voice asked.

“I am not a participant but we share the same goal of eradicating hidden insects before the calamity.” The man said.

“Haha, very well, you’re the only human worthy of facing me, I am willing to entertain you.” The voice laughed.

“I didn’t know of your lot’s existence during my previous life so I ended up fighting Soaring Phoenix Queen only to be ambushed. I have learned my lesson.” The man said with a self-deprecating smile. This didn’t diminish his heroic aura.

“It’s a good thing, knowing pain is a sign of maturity.” The voice answered.

“I don’t disagree with that statement, so I’m rather mature now. My question is, are you Heavendao?” The man asked.

“Such a thing does not exist, heavenly dao and so on, but it is a decent title representing supreme status. If you truly want to know, you must defeat me first. Otherwise, what’s the point of telling you if you can’t even beat me?” The voice said.

“You’re absolutely right!” The man agreed while gazing at the boundless continent ahead.

Mountain ranges resembled dark lines; lakes and sea appeared like dots of varying sizes. From his perspective, it looked like an endless map instead of a planet.

His eyes saw everything but most importantly, a golden cocoon in the void with a blinding radiance.

“Boom!” The radiance pulsed outward and caused devastating quakes.

He smiled and said: “Don’t think the arrow is working too well for you.”

The voice let out a sigh and responded: “Too many unpredictable things in this world but since it’s karma, I don’t mind too much regarding her Golden Silkworm Scripture. I’m more curious about your knowledge of our existence.”

“As you said, too many unpredictable things. If I hadn’t died back then, I wouldn’t have walked the path of reincarnation, met the final grand saint of Time Immemorial, and learned about you all. That’s karma as well.” The man said.

“I see, Immemorial Divine Phoenix. His final intent must be hiding there, no wonder we couldn’t find it. After I kill you, I’ll go have a chat with him, that sounds great.” The voice said.

“Can’t you tell that you won’t have the opportunity to chat in the future? There’s a reason why I’m being so candid.” The man said.

“Let’s see what you have learned on the path then.” The stars suddenly trembled in this celestial river.

The man sat down on top of the palace and said: “Space shall be our board and the stars are our pieces, let’s have a match.”

“That’s fine, I do dislike fighting like brutes, they ruined a healthy world for nothing, what a shame.” The voice said.

The man’s tiny eyes contained numerous stars. He raised one finger and made a move.

A billion miles away, one planet moved three hundred million miles eastward, forming a binary constellation with another planet.

“Not bad, affecting two planets with one move.” The voice said.

It commanded a smaller star to slam into one of the planets, breaking the balance and creating a tiny black hole devouring everything nearby.

Just one star was able to change the landscape of a massive area.

This galaxy continued to change like a go match. The stars were the pieces and the players, two mighty cultivators.

Back on the ground, human and demon wisdom masters in observatories trembled in horror. They couldn’t understand the celestial phenomena - chaos and changes regarding fate.

They would be frightened to death if they were to know that this was due to a contest.

***

The battle outside of Aquamoon also shocked those in the know. A golden cocoon fought evenly against the golden crow.

Shaman Crow could sense a monstrous power constantly increasing within the cocoon.

“Boom!” The cocoon finally opened and turned the surroundings into primordial chaos. An ethereal figure with long hair and an immaculate body could be seen. Silk strings gathered around her to form a dress, hiding her perfection.

Golden Buddhist energy coiled around her, causing her form to become increasingly corporeal. The metamorphosis eventually completed just like a butterfly breaking free from the cocoon.

A celestial maiden appeared but instead of dancing with her sleeves, she danced with a blade.

Sword intents rushed in all directions and decapitated Shaman Crow.

“Alive again!” Shaman Crow was still alive and glanced upward, hoping for that existence to fire another arrow.

Alas, instead of a savior arrow, several hundred planets descended and smashed his already injured head.

Shui Yueting came again with another slash!

Shaman Crow lost the will to fight. His severed head fled while chanting: “Battle Avatar!”

“Boom!” The severed body grew another head and started attacking Shui Yueting.

She swung and reduced it to pieces of flesh and splashing blood. However, the head was nowhere to be found, able to escape with the help of Immortal Refiner.

She knew she wouldn’t catch up in time and focused on gathering Shaman Crow’s corpse, sealing it into a stone coffin.

As for Governess, the corpse had been reduced to dust by her sword world. Nonetheless, the little pieces turned this place into a perilous ground.

She held the citadel created from four saint corpses and many more yin materials. She had no love for it and sealed it into the stone coffin as well.

As for the dragon’s corpse, she ignored it since members of that race would come to pick it up later.

She stood on the stone coffin and glanced upward: “My dao is of use.”

***

The news of her victory ignited sincere excitement in all the spectators. An old pseudo-saint rushed for Aquamoon Paradise and relayed this information.

Aquamoon Deity defeated three saints in a single day, killing two in the process. Humans would not be able to sleep well tonight due to pride and jubilation. Perhaps a golden age was coming for their race.

***

Shui Yueting walked slowly into space with a stone coffin behind her, resulting in a beautiful yet strange scene.

She stopped before Feiyun and stared at him. No one could read her current emotions through her mysterious and pure eyes.

Feiyun didn’t know what she was thinking either. In fact, he didn’t know his own emotions during this moment.