The Stars Beyond

Chapter 496: Fire In His Eyes

Stealing from my sister? Wang Xuan hesitated, fearing the Fairy Lord's wrath upon discovering her possessions had been plundered. The very thought might give her an internal injury, preparing a lengthy account to settle with him.

"Come on, let's help her move. There's so much stuff. Where's the purple gourd? Get ready quickly." Jiang Qingyao urged, her face alight with excitement and joy.

"Right, we're just helping her move!" Wang Xuan reasoned, rationalizing that the great barrier was soon to extinguish, and the Immortal Realm would perish completely.

With the Fairy Lord away in the Undying Lands, battling mightily, should she fail to return in time, her abode would be reduced to ashes alongside the Immortal Realm. Such wastefulness seemed a shame.

As her sworn brother, it was his duty to safeguard her assets, transporting them all to the human world ahead of time. Surely, she would be grateful upon discovering his actions.

Thus, Wang Xuan was invigorated, filled with zeal, treating the task as if he was safeguarding his own treasures, determined not to overlook a single item.

The fields of spiritual herbs were scraped clean, leaving nothing behind.

The chamber of scrolls, along with its stone structure, was transported into the gourd.

The Fairy Lord's dressing room, with its myriad of cutting-edge garments, exquisite inner armors woven from celestial silkworm silk, and more, was plundered in its entirety.

"These clothes are quite avant-garde—mesh, black, red, shell-shaped. They must have been refined from divine materials in styles akin to those in the human world, right? Luxurious and seductive, befitting the grand enchantress in red!" Jiang Qingyao commented.

Wang Xuan glanced at the makeup room, then the bedroom, and felt his eyes burn. Fairy Lord Yan truly kept pace with the times. Even in the modern city, she'd be a passionate and unrestrained beauty, with a stunning figure and dazzling charm.

Various garments, accessories, and luminous armor with sleek curves quickly vanished from sight.

Jiang Qingyao, a stickler for cleanliness, didn't intend these for personal use but relished the process of depriving the Fairy Lord of them, avenging her own master.

"Ah, the Fairy Lord actually has the Celestial Marrow for beauty. This piece hasn't even been used. In that case, I might as well make use of it!" she gleefully hunted for treasures.

In the armory, treasures shone with five-colored brilliance, imbued with celestial light and patterns of laws, floating amidst their profound presence.

"Take them all!" With a gentle command, the armory was stripped bare.

Of course, the truly unparalleled treasures and supreme scriptures were absent; the most precious and crucial items always remained with the Fairy Lord.

This raid might infuriate her but wouldn't cause substantial harm. Jiang Qingyao harbored no illusions of striking it rich from the haul but found immense joy in the act.

Soon after, aside from the unconscious white tiger girl and a few other fairy guards, the area was completely deserted. The supposed supreme sanctuary of the demon race was indeed purified to the utmost.

"Let's go!" Celestial Sword Maiden Jiang Qingyao wrapped up her work swiftly, not long after beginning. To savor the thrill of her achievement, she didn't cram all the items into the purple gourd. Instead, she fashioned herself in the guise of a roguish wanderer, sword slung over her shoulder, a bag hanging behind, embodying the spirit of an outlaw, reveling in the exhilaration of her deeds.

Whooshing away, she swiftly vanished with Wang Xuan in tow. Lingering in that place was asking for trouble, a sure cause for complications later on.

"My head hurts!" The little white tiger woke up, rubbing the back of her head, discovering a lump as big as a fist, the pain causing her to bare her small tiger teeth in discomfort.

Without a doubt, her spirit had been jolted harshly; otherwise, she wouldn't have been knocked unconscious.

"Who dared to ambush me?!" As clarity returned, indignation flared within her. Was there no justice left? To think she'd be assaulted within her own domain, left with a swelling bump on her head.

Now a figure of near-supreme caliber, on the cusp of celestial ascension at the ninth level, she touched the large bump on her head, questioning her existence, feeling its tender and soft anomaly.

Then, as her vision cleared, she recognized her surroundings. But where was she? Everything was barren. Who had the audacity to knock her out, then dump her in this desolate place?

Wait, recognition dawned on her – the lake, the mountains, the springs, all belonged to the Fairy Lord, the supreme sanctuary. But why was it all stripped bare?

"Is there no law left?!" The round-faced girl erupted in fury, standing up in a rage, disbelieving what her eyes beheld.

Though she voiced her anger boldly, she felt a surge of apprehension and readied herself to flee. The place felt cursed, utterly terrifying. To be attacked without a clue by whom, it was time to leave this accursed place!

......

"Let's head back to the mortal realm," Jiang Qingyao suggested with a smile, her demeanor once again reflecting her ethereal and transcendent nature, her form surrounded by an aura of immortality.

"I was thinking," Wang Xuan ventured, a mischievous glint in his eye, "since we've already embarked on this path of ransacking, whether we plunder one or two households, or three or four, it's all the same. Do you have any enemies or rivals in mind, especially those with significant fortunes? We could... pay them a visit?"

Jiang Qingyao cast him a sidelong glance, cautioning, "Your thoughts are dangerous. There's a time to advance and a time to retreat. Excess can be as perilous as deficiency."

Wang Xuan looked sheepish, realizing perhaps he was getting carried away.

However, Jiang Qingyao soon added, "But given the unique confluence of circumstances, the unparalleled backdrop of this era where supreme immortals are not at home, there's truth in the saying that fortune favors the bold. To refuse heaven's gifts may invite misfortune."

Wang Xuan watched her, intrigued. What or whom had the down-to-earth Celestial Sword Maiden set her sights on now?

"As you've seen, though the supreme masters have departed, the true treasures, those capable of stirring hearts, have also been taken with them. We should consider carefully whose home to visit next, who might possess such genuine treasures," she mused.

"I've heard about the Demon Ancestor's Blood Pool that contains divine herbs he hopes to evolve into true, Daoist medicines," Wang Xuan mentioned.

"Ah, I've heard of it too. Let's start with his place. Hmm, once the Demon Ancestor even proposed his eldest son as a suitor for me. Had I not leveraged the reputation of that ancient lunatic, they might have actually pressed the matter," Jiang Qingyao said, her expression darkening.

Wang Xuan's face stiffened, and he solemnly offered, "If the Demon Ancestor isn't home, how about we deal with his eldest son, as a way to vent your frustrations?"

"In this realm? Are you sure you're up for it?" Jiang Qingyao teased with a glance.

"Why wouldn't I be? Let's go!"

Wang Xuan was confident. Beyond the treasures he carried, he was bolstered by the supreme runes inscribed on him by Zhang Daoling, Fang Yuzhu, the Demon Lord, and the Patriarch of Ming Blood Sect. In the celestial realm, unleashing them was akin to delivering their earth-shattering blows.

Last time he went to assassinate Zheng Yuantian and raided the first immortal tea tree from the Hengjun Cave Mansion, he hadn’t used up all the runes; more than half were still left.

However, he kept this information to himself, choosing not to reveal it in front of the Celestial Sword Maiden. If he were to destroy the runes inscribed by Old Zhang and then seize the blood pool, which was as precious as life itself to the Demon Ancestor, it would certainly be worth it.

"Alright, it's the thought that counts. When the time comes, just follow my lead. I'll take you to the Demon Clan's sacred mountain to enjoy the magnificent scenery. Stick close to me; I'll protect you if there's any danger," Jiang Qingyao declared, her skin as radiant as jade, her lustrous black hair flowing like silk, her demeanor proud yet full of camaraderie.

The residence of the Demon Ancestor wasn't in this part of the celestial realm but deep within the cosmic veil corresponding to the new star, a place unreachable by ordinary immortals.

However, once one reached the pinnacle of existence, traversing different realms of the celestial domain became possible. Jiang Qingyao, with Wang Xuan in tow, soared across the cosmos, piercing through the dark voids, and ventured towards the semi-material, semi-energetic plane corresponding to the new star.

Upon reaching this cosmic curtain, their first stop was the sacred mountain of the Demon Clan, the secluded meditation ground of the Demon Ancestor.

This region was dominated by terrifyingly tall mountains stretching tens of thousands of miles, ancient trees touching the skies. The true sanctum of the Demon Clan, where the Demon Ancestor practiced, was perpetually shrouded in blood clouds, a manifestation of his breathing exercises—his exhalations forming clouds and then dissipating.

"No blood clouds, the Demon Ancestor isn't home!" Wang Xuan exclaimed with delight.

Observing from a distant peak, they saw the area guarded by the Demon Ancestor's second son, Qi Lian Dao, closely monitoring the sacred mountain.

"His avatar was quite the lunatic in the mortal world, but after I defeated him, he turned out to be quite reasonable," Wang Xuan commented with a smile.

"Pity, the Demon Ancestor's eldest isn't here; I would have loved to cut him down," Jiang Qingyao said, now fully assimilating the Time-Slicing Sword.

Suddenly, her brows furrowed. "Something feels off here. This place... we should leave," she muttered, her instincts alarmingly sharp. Pulling Wang Xuan, she was ready to depart immediately.

"Hold on, let me have a closer look," Wang Xuan said, using his spiritual eye combined with his own profundities to survey the Demon Clan's sacred ground. He quickly noticed something amiss around the crucial blood pool, steaming with potent energy.

He couldn't tell if there were divine herbs within, but a terrifying being was lurking, cultivating in secret, devouring the vast essence of demonic celestial blood.

It was the Demon Ancestor himself, patient and undisturbed by the movements of other powers to the undying realm, following his own path, secluded in the blood pool for cultivation.

"Is someone spying on me?" In the celestial realm, the acute senses of the Demon Ancestor, Qi Yi, alerted him to the gaze upon him, prompting an immediate emergence.

"Let's go!" Celestial Sword Maiden Jiang Qingyao, seizing Wang Xuan's hand, activated a treasure, vanishing in an instant.

With a thunderous roar, demonic energy surged, and blood clouds enveloped the sky as the Demon Ancestor Qi Yi swiftly appeared, traversing hundreds of miles. He landed with such force that the mountain Wang Xuan and Jiang Qingyao had just stood upon was shattered beneath his foot.

Attempting to trace the source of the intrusion, Qi Yi found only vagueness and obscurity, unable to deduce anything. He swiftly pursued the residual aura, but Jiang Qingyao's frequent changes in direction left him with no trail to follow. At their level, one could traverse thousands of miles in an instant.

"What a loss, all for nothing. The Demon Ancestor truly is formidable, a timeless giant indeed," Wang Xuan reflected, considering a future contest in the mortal world where they might stand a chance.

Jiang Qingyao remained untroubled, her calmness undisturbed. "Cultivation is such; filled with surprises and perils. Some prodigies might fall unexpectedly, not everything will go as desired. If one's journey is too smooth, without life's ups and downs, that would be abnormal."

Wang Xuan nodded in agreement, finding wisdom in her words.

"However... your spiritual eye surpasses my expectations, sharper by degrees than my half-matured one. It's incredibly rare," Jiang Qingyao remarked, her eyes gleaming, her composure giving way to enthusiasm.

"Your eyes sparkle with excitement, what is it? Do you fancy me or my eyes?" Wang Xuan teased.

Jiang Qingyao playfully hit him with her scabbard. "Your eyes are too cunning, seeing beyond what's ordinary. I believe they'll be greatly useful."

"Oh? And what are you planning now?" Wang Xuan perked up, ready for the next adventure at her suggestion.

"I'm not interested in visiting the dwellings of those rival patriarchs or the entrances to their sects; the treasures have all been taken by them. I believe we should seek the world's premier sword scripture!" Indeed, Jiang Qingyao's eyes sparkled with an eager light, the maiden seemingly falling from the celestial realm back to the mundane world.

"More formidable than the Zhan Dao Sword?" Wang Xuan referred to the sword technique recorded within the golden bamboo scrolls.

"The Zhan Dao Sword is indeed powerful. Different practitioners can interpret various methods from it, a legacy of a bygone super civilization. But it's impossible to witness its original masters in action; those from that era have long perished, unable to endure through the eons," Jiang Qingyao said, her gaze drifting towards the horizon.

"The supreme sword scripture I speak of should be no less potent than the Zhan Dao Sword, and even more practical in combat, given that I've seen fragments of the original master's demonstrations."

"You're not suggesting we attempt to steal the sword scripture of that ancient madman, are you?" Wang Xuan was immediately shocked.

That figure stood vaguely as the world's foremost, unmatched even by Fang Yuzhu in absence. To steal a glance at his sword scripture would likely result in being cleaved into blood mist from miles away.

"His training ground is indeed a forbidden zone, where not even unparalleled beings dare tread. Moreover, it's protected by a sword formation. However, he isn't always present. With your rare spiritual eye that can pierce through illusions to directly observe the Sword Cliff, we have a chance to behold the various sword techniques engraved on the precipice, casual yet profound insights he left behind. These are supreme methods!"

Jiang Qingyao, serene in her detachment, yet bold and proud in her ventures, dared to envisage observing the madman's sword scriptures.

"Let's go back to the realm corresponding to our old world. I feel that together, we can collect all the most renowned sword scriptures in the world and carve out a new path in swordsmanship!"

Celestial Sword Maiden Jiang Qingyao, taking Wang Xuan's hand, lifted into the sky like a pair of birds in flight, traversing the celestial dome to return to another realm within the celestial universe.