The red-haired woman suddenly thought of something and waved her hand.
The space behind her distorted and formed a spirit formation gate. This was no ordinary spirit formation gate, for it was infused with tremendously powerful teleportation energy. An old man walked out of the spirit formation gate.
The old man was astonished to see the bloodshed around him.
The Death Starfield was one of the most feared places in the Immemorial Domain of Gods due to its countless powerful ferocious beasts, such that few cultivators dared to step in there. This massacre was a huge event that would shake the entire Immemorial Domain of Gods.
However, when the old man noticed the red-haired woman, the shock on his face faded. He didnât seem to be shocked anymore upon learning that the culprit behind the massacre was this red-haired woman.
He hurriedly bowed to the woman and asked, âMilord, you called me?â
âYou previously mentioned that someone of the current era named Chu Xuanyuan invaded one of your territories. What happened afterward?â the red-haired woman asked.
âMilord, I have already dispatched a few subordinates to curb him. There should be news very soon,â the old man replied.
Weng!
A middle-aged man walked out of the spirit formation gate. He had a haughty look on his face, as one would have expected from one of the strongest experts in the world of cultivation, but he nearly fell to the ground when he saw his surroundings.
He had come here in search of the old man, not expecting to be brought to the midst of a vast space with countless tattered carcasses around him. When he noticed the red-haired woman, his face turned ghastly pale.
âM-m-milord! I was looking for Lord Chen Mie. I saw a spirit formation gate in Lord Chen Mieâs palace, so I came in. I wouldnât have dared to do something this insolent if I had known that you were here too. Please spare my life!â
The middle-aged man got to his knees and pleaded for his life despite being a powerful expert himself.
âAm I that terrifying?â the red-haired woman asked.
âCalm down. Donât be an embarrassment here.â The old man walked up to the middle-aged man and patted his shoulder. Then, he pulled the middle-aged man up to his feet and asked, âDo you have updates from the territory?â
âY-yes! The three elders reported that they have managed to encircle Chu Xuanyuan. It shouldnât take long for them to capture him alive,â the middle-aged man reported.
âMilord, how should we deal with Chu Xuanyuan?â the old man asked.
âOrdinary people couldnât even hope to step into your territory, but that fellow discovered the treasures lying there and even managed to steal them all alone. It shows that heâs a competent person. Donât hurt him. Just take back the treasures and wipe his memories,â the red-haired woman said.
The old man nodded. He turned to the middle-aged man and asked, âDid you hear what milord said?â
âI understand.â The middle-aged man bowed before hurriedly escaping through the spirit formation gate.
âI called you here for a reason. Someone has destroyed my medium of connection outside the Immemorial Domain of Gods, but thereâs one item that just might allow me to communicate with the outside world. I need you to retrieve it,â the red-haired woman said before handing a map over to the old man.
The old man was initially confused why the red-haired woman was entrusting this matter to him instead of carrying it out herself, but he understood the reason as soon as he opened the map. âIâll get it done right away.â
âGo on. Iâd like to talk to Luoâer about the situation outside the Immemorial Domain of Gods,â the woman said.
Just then, the middle-aged man who had previously left re-entered via the spirit formation gate. There was a terrible look on his face. âMilordâ¦â
âWhat happened? Get straight to the point,â the old man said.
âThe three elders have reported that they have been wounded,â the middle-aged man replied.
âWounded? They arenât a match for Chu Xuanyuan? Whatâs the use of cultivating for tens of thousands of years when they canât even curb a single present-day cultivator? Useless!â the old man roared angrily.
He quickly suppressed his anger and bowed toward the red-haired woman. âMilord, Iâll go deal with Chu Xuanyuan first before retrieving the item.â
Just then, the middle-aged man spoke up once more, âM-milord⦠you donât need to head there anymore⦠You seeâ¦â
âStop stuttering and get on with it! Youâre embarrassing me!â the old man bellowed.
âChu Xuanyuan has self-exploded! It was the force of the explosion that wounded the three elders!â the middle-aged man hurriedly reported.
âSelf-exploded?â The old man was taken aback. While he was still infuriated, he looked both disappointed and crestfallen by the turn of events. He thought that it was a waste for Chu Xuanyuan to have died just like that, especially when he had heard a lot about the latter.
In truth, he wouldnât have hurt Chu Xuanyuan unless the red-haired woman issued a direct order to get rid of the latter. The current situation was not one he had liked to see.
âDidnât the three of them express their intent to capture Chu Xuanyuan alive? Why was Chu Xuanyuan forced to make such an extreme decision?â the old man roared angrily once more.
This time, his anger was directed at the three elders for forcing Chu Xuanyuan to self-explode.
âMilord, it was not Chu Xuanyuan himself but his clone that had exploded,â the middle-aged man replied.
âClone?â The elder was initially taken aback before a faint smile formed on his face. âYou do know that itâs annoying how youâre speaking in small bits, right? If Iâm getting the situation right, youâre saying that Chu Xuanyuan had his clone self-explode to block the three elders while he made his escape?â
âThatâs not it eitherâ¦â The middle-aged man shook his head.
âIt isnât?â The old man was confused. âWhat happened then?â
âI-i-it has been his clone all along. The real Chu Xuanyuan has never been there from the start to the end!â the middle-aged man reported.
âWhat?â This time, the old man was truly shocked.
Even the red-haired woman revealed a look of interest.
âAre you telling me that the one who trespassed on my territory, defeated my subordinates, stole my treasures, and wounded the three elders was nothing but Chu Xuanyuanâs clone all along?â the middle-aged man asked.
âY-yes, thatâs what the three elders reported,â the middle-aged man replied.
âThat Chu Xuanyuanâ¦â The old man looked terribly conflicted.
The red-haired woman chuckled.
âWe have a Chu Xuanyuan inside the Immemorial Domain of Gods and a Chu Feng outside. Who was the one who said that the present-day cultivators are lacking talent? Just those two Chus are already formidable in their own rights,â the red-haired woman said.
âMilord, who is that Chu Feng you speak of?â the elder asked curiously.
He was interested in Chu Feng whom the red-haired woman was talking about on the same terms as Chu Xuanyuan. After all, he did know how formidable Chu Xuanyuan was, especially after the news he had just received.
âChu Feng is much younger than Chu Xuanyuan; heâs still a junior. Didnât I just mention that someone has destroyed my medium of connection outside the Immemorial Domain of Gods? It was Chu Fengâs doing,â the red-haired woman said.
âAudacious! Who dares to meddle with milordâs possession?!â the old man roared.
âItâs not what you think. He didnât do it intentionally. That medium I was using was no ordinary medium; it is the Immemorial Black Crystal containing the Immemorial Eraâs Dao of Absolute Darkness,â the red-haired woman replied.
âHow did he destroy that treasure?â The old man was surprised, for he knew that the Immemorial Black Crystal was an indestructible object.
âMy consciousness was returned to my body after the medium has been destroyed, so I donât know what happened afterward. However, I think that he might have taken the chance to grasp the final Dao of Absolute Darkness,â the red-haired woman said.
âThe final Dao of Absolute Darkness?â
Those words further shocked the old man. That was the dao that even the red-haired woman was unable to grasp! There was no need for any further words; that in itself was enough to show just how terrifying Chu Feng was!
âThat being said, it wonât be an easy feat to grasp the final Dao of Absolute Darkness. Iâm curious to know whether he succeeds or not,â the woman said.
âWhatâll happen if he fails?â the old man asked.
âHe would have survived if he had failed earlier, but after how far he has progressed, he would only be consumed by the Dao of Absolute Darkness if he failed right now,â the red-haired woman replied.
âThatâd be a huge shame,â the old man lamented.
While he had never met Chu Feng before, he could imagine just how talented the latter was if the red-haired woman had such a high opinion of him. As someone who cherished talents, he wouldnât want to see a prodigy lose his life just like that.
Unfortunately, he was powerless to interfere in affairs outside the Immemorial Domain of Gods. Even the red-haired woman was only able to interfere with the outside world through the powers of the Immemorial Black Crystal.
âMilord, Chu Xuanyuan might have already learned about our existence. With your permission, Iâll personally wipe away his memories,â the old man said.
âForget it. Thereâs no need to pursue him since he has already gotten away,â the red-haired woman replied.
âButâ¦â The old man was still concerned about the matter.
âNo worries. Itâs almost time. The world was bound to find out about us anyway,â the red-haired woman replied.
The old man looked at the red-haired woman with words at the tip of his tongue.
âIs there anything else youâd like to say?â the red-haired woman asked.
âYes, I do.â The old man nodded.
âYou want me to take Chu Xuanyuan under my wing?â the red-haired woman asked.
âMilord, Chu Xuanyuan is a rare prodigy. His talents are outstanding even by the standards of the Ancient Era. Itâs only a matter of time before he surpasses me. If we can bring him into our faction, heâll become milordâs greatest aide in the future,â the old man said.
âHave you met him yet?â the red-haired woman asked.
âI have not. I dare not to carelessly meet him without milordâs permission. However, I have been keeping an eye out for him. While Chu Xuanyuan can be vicious at times, he is a reasonable person,â the old man said.
âHe is also a highly ambitious person. I doubt that heâll willingly come under my command. Weâll talk more about this in the future,â the red-haired woman said.
âUnderstood.â The old man was overjoyed despite not having received the red-haired womanâs approval, for he could tell that the latter had a high opinion of Chu Xuanyuan too.
â¦
Outside the Immemorial Domain of Gods, Chu Feng had finally escaped from the black crystal and returned to the forest. He was floating in mid-air with his eyes closed. He was trying his best to maneuver the black aura around him through his hand seals, but there was a pained look on his face.
Nevertheless, he gritted his teeth and held on, knowing that he was in a crucial moment of taming the Dao of Absolute Darkness!