The Conclusion
The ending proved eventful. Nie Li immediately ordered the sect gates to be closed and sealed off any attempt at exit. I had previously checked with my divine sense for any actual evidence other than what Linglong possessed, and indeed found the demon God sect token he had once taken from his ring, which he was now trying to destroy secretly. Cutting off a finger would not stop the ring's destruction if it was set to explode when spiritually commanded.
So I simply willed the space inside the ring, which was currently within my scope, to be protected using creation energy. As the storage ring of Long Tianming silently destroyed, a large space suddenly appeared untouched, containing a large amount of treasures and a distinct token of the demon God Sect.
"Since when do the accused deliberately release evidence against themselves like this?" Murmurs rose. " May be he was trying to beg mercy?"
"Long Tianming, what else do you have to say?" His final mad persistence of accusing others of conspiracy moved no one.
He was not immediately killed but taken for memory extraction. While the hierarchs discussed the matter among themselves, Nie Li, after ordering the searches, came down to meet his master, Ying Yueru I previously released.
"Master, I thought you were gone far from our Sky Soul Institute," he said.
"Well, how can I miss my disciple's achievement. I am carrying your fate and currently am under someone else's protection so I am not exactly free to appear as I choose. Do you have anything to ask me?"
" Are you still not going to tell me who that person is..?"
"...No. I can't."
"Please come with me, then." He took her to someplace while I messaged her that it was okay, that I would cover for her.
Inside the myriad miles map, he first introduced Xiao Yu, who had the same problem with heavenly divination fate techniques' aura. "Master, I can protect you. You just need to safely stay here and cultivate."
"The myriad miles map is indeed helpful in hiding the aura, but not the fate itself. As the technique inside mine revolves further, the destiny will be sensed easily, so staying inside won't help, my disciple. For her, she is not cultivating it, but gaining essence stored of same origin so she can weight for longer. Someone will help you by then."
" ... "
"Okay, then ... is it Tao?"
" Why do you think so...?"
" Just an instinct."
***
Ying Yueru later came to me alone. Well, at least I had stayed in a convenient place long enough for her to approach me privately.
" You are still in the heavenly axis realm ~ why not just cultivate and improve? After all, defeating the Sage Emperor is important." I handed sacred elixer to her and a day later teleported her to the ring world.
"Better to be in a place free of distractions and cultivate." Saying that, I ventured elsewhere.
Six Months Later
The months had slipped by faster than expected. The sect remained sealed while disciples received various cultivation incentives and sacred elixirs as rewards for breakthroughs. Nie Li had been busy setting up arrays throughout the grounds and gathering deity roots from surrounding territories. His followers spread across other sects, delivering resources to his allies and supporting their respective factions.
Large quantities of artifacts and dragon spirit souls flowed in from the outside world. Nie Li worked constantly, refining god-level demon spirits through his special vessels while transporting millions of spirit stones weekly to fill the sect treasury and power the arrays. During this time, I learned that Long Tianming had been stripped of his cultivation and imprisoned within a punishment array after the full extent of his betrayal came to light.
My daily routine had settled into a pattern. Ying Yueru cultivated peacefully though she was taken with me whenever I need to venture out. She couldn't directly reveal my involvement without triggering the memory seal. I check on Yu Yan, as she attempted to recover buried memories from deep within her mind at my request. Xiao Huo trained in combat regularly against me while Shen Xiu had returned to her maid duties. Through the soul corridor, I maintained communication with Xiao Ninger and Ye Ziyun.
Yes. After months of silence between us, we had finally come to terms with what happened. The three of us would meet each other in outside world often aside from having soul communication. Yes slipping past the sect which is closed off is not a problem for me.
I sent them cultivation elixirs beyond what Nie Li provided. While I could now refine entire divine fruits one after another for myself, normal cultivators like them needed four months to properly absorb the power of divine elixirs ... which is only made from one in ten thousand part diluted of just a peel of this fruit, even with the techniques I had given them.
Taking them to outside world, and obtaining some treasures and even gaining experience and having fun together, time passes in between. Our relationship progressed from being slept with ones, to actual love. I opened up a bit more of myself to them. They had all reached the late stage of Dragon Dao realm.
Peer
My cultivation had advanced to the second stage of Martial Ancestor and kept growing steadily. The cultivation at Martial Ancestor felt increasingly difficult, unlike my carefree style before, because now my overall cultivation increases with each minor realm upgrade. That means body, soul, and internal world together.
The requirements for growth now needed more time and resources, but in these six months I had considerable gains after consuming many divine phaseless elixirs that I simply copied. Yes, I haven't used an entire phaseless fruit in a while. I can eat elixir pills like candies whenever I like, unlike the fruit, which I need to finish in one sitting.
Hierarch Linglong approached me officially about Long Yuyin's marriage prospects. The timing seemed abrupt until I read her reasoning through her thoughts. Given my apparent talent and combat ability yet being in seclusion with no followers, they assumed I lacked ambition unlike Nie Li. Marriage seemed like a way to secure my talents while giving me a reason to stay.
I had noticed changes in Long Yuyin over time. She had transformed from a reserved girl aware of my incomparable power and future knowledge, through hesitation and apprehension, until recently the mental barriers around me had loosened completely. She had become increasingly unrestraint in my presence, despite Ying Yueru's constant warnings.
Perhaps it was due to my assistance as her master but of comparable apparent age, along the way and her sense of freedom enabling her to loosen up after the sudden consolidation of scattered sect strengths. The dissolution of old rivalries in Divine Feather Sect had suddenly made everyone passionate about sect progress.
From Linglong's perspective, the situation was clear ~ the girl liked me but wasn't open about it. Previously, all hierarchs had decided to avoid internal politics by letting me approach them when I needed advice or resources. That hadn't happened, and they had missed their opportunity. Now that I had reached Martial Ancestor realm, she had even told me to stop calling them Hierarchs anymore. As a peer, their earlier decision to stay uninvolved was no longer viable. They couldn't force any relation either without risking backlash, considering my strength.
"Elder Linglong, have her come to me in a few weeks after I finish my current seclusion. Let her speak for herself. Then we can decide whether to continue with this."
She left after securing this promise, coming directly this time, unlike before when she would send followers multiple times to just pester me about this matter.
Jin Yan
During the last few months, Yu Yan advanced to Martial Ancestor realm fifth stage after consuming divine elixirs and entering seclusion. She figured out her true origins and came to me. I had made her fate turbulent by linking her to my soul seal, so the memory recovery took much longer than expected.
"You knew me before, didn't you?"
"Jin Yan? Is that really you?"
"Yes, I have regained my memories. I can see that we have both entered the supreme artifact of temporal demon spirit book before. Now..." She paused and looked at me with clear anger and frustration building in her expression. "Why are you even cultivating spiritual cultivation and wasting time? You can kill the Sage Emperor on your own by your essence cultivation alone if you tried ~ I know you know about him."
"Yeah, I can even see his clone in deep sleep outside right now. The one who is fated to do that is here, so why should I bother?"
"Then you know how important he is. Why did you change the destiny of so many people? Including mine? I was one of the deity level peak rank beings in my previous life, created the Ancestral God Land by sacrificing myself and was able to seal his Demonic Bones, and much of his power. But ultimately using my intent I was reborn in an attempt to remove the Heavenly Dao Inscription Array of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths... Do you understand how much struggle the six masters like me from the ancient era have gone through? And you are simply mocking our existence."
"Those who have strength get to act. Even if I play with fate, in the end, I would be able to solve the Sage Emperor problem on my own."
"What if you go somewhere and never come back? Countless beings have sacrificed for eons to get their fighting chance against him. Now why do you make us so desperately reliant on you? The matter of the Sage Emperor concerns all life under heaven and earth. Time is slipping by. If you are not going to act, I want to leave and assist another."
"Who is reliant? Look at your cultivation. Without me, would you reach this height this fast? The point is you are stronger, your allies are getting stronger. What is the point in arguing? Just say what you want."
"Recover the treasures in Tiny World, especially the temporal artifact. With your strength you can take possession of it unlike before. Either break the seal on your own or help us gather fragments of the Myriad Ancestor Sword to deactivate the seal."
"Nie Li can have it. I can shield the plane from even the Sage Emperor if the Tiny World is unsealed. As for after, I don't really care if seal stands or not. Wait for a month at least before acting. Cultivate in the meantime, or just go and meet the others. You just won't be able to reveal anything about me until you hit your past cultivation level."
The month-long wait was because I was working on something important until now, and it required my complete attention to finish properly.
Truth Divine Ability of Confinement
With my spiritual cultivation finally improving alongside my Martial Ancestor advancement in yang soul development, I decided to recreate my Rule Domain more efficiently. I wanted to address the flaws I had identified through analysis of the three thousand and one divine daos I currently possessed. The preliminary forms of Blood Essence Divine Dao and Saint Fire Divine Dao had been condensed through numerous trials within my internal world, studying the chaos principles from the Library of Heaven's Path, though they barely resembled ten percent of the originals.
The problem is the form is inherently flawless, but new knowledge is needed to condense any further since LoHP is not formed of the fragment of firmament of that reality either.
In the internal world, even some true god inhabitants came to study from me as I worked. I didn't mind. They studied merging Dao while I focused on the flaws. I had also completed analysis of the Truth Divine Ability of Confinement from the altar, understanding it as a partial combination of divine daos with inherent flaws intact. It could be merged with bloodline, but I find it unnecessary as I could have complete merger if I eventually gathered all flaws.
The confinement ability works the same way in TDG world as the world is comparatively a low level world compared to Chaos world, but instead of weakening to a mortal, they would only weaken to a limit.
Prison Continent
I isolated a continent within my internal world and placed the recreated desolate bones I had made into several large mountains there.
Similar to the Warden race structure, I appointed righteous inhabitants as controllers without ability to cultivate desolate gods, while placing troublemakers and even some true gods as prisoners with the option to cultivate desolate gods. I established the adjudication light and confinement pillars myself, setting the interval to one thousand years.
The system had only cycled once since its creation, given that I had reduced the internal world's time perception.
True Meaning of Dao
I realized I could recreate the heavenly energy of the TDG world draconic ruins through manipulation of laws within my internal space. It still needed work, but I left it as is for now. Meanwhile, my internal world had expanded by another two million miles.
The reconstructed Rule Domain better mirroring the chaos world principles, giving the true meaning more pronounced effects in soul refinement. While there was no Other Shore realm equivalent, I found that running the true meaning gave the growing soul power of Martial Ancestor some form to adhere to, resulting in rapid advancement without requiring excess heavenly cultivation.
The Rule Domain succeeded. For the past two weeks, I had been practicing exactly that method. I ran the true meaning of nature simultaneously with the true meaning derived from Taishang refinement, using my divine ability of the mutated sprite fire. It didn't require explicit recitation since it would activate automatically once I initially sensed it.
"Beyond the heavens themselves lies the Grand Dao," I spoke steadily during one session. "Dao is both the path and the destination. The true meaning of natural Dao lies in something far greater than we can comprehend."
The atmosphere shifted as I spoke, the air around me trembling slightly, resonating with the truths I began articulating through the true meaning of nature with intent.
"The essence of cultivation is reaching eternity through sheer will. The natural laws of existence cannot be comprehended by ordinary means. Something unknown, something beyond the birth of heaven and earth, exists ~ a force without shape or form, profound and elusive. Its voice cannot be heard, yet it influences all. The natural Dao is something to understand not through study, but by surrendering to the nature of the world itself. Laws are not to be comprehended but to be felt as part of existence. Primal chaos is number..."
While I remained entranced in the refinement fire, continuing my involvement in the true meaning aura, several people had gathered nearby. Ying Yueru, Shen Xiu, Yu Yan, and Long Yuyin, who had joined later. I only sensed them when I emerged from my trance. I stopped the process and returned to awareness, noticing my cultivation realm had jumped directly from second layer to peak of second layer. Seeing them cultivating nearby but stopping when I did, I asked, "What did you feel?"
"It was mysterious. I could hear every word you spoke in clarity and felt and intense dao intent, but when I tried to piece them together in memory, they suddenly made no sense," Ying Yueru replied.
"Yes Master, I seem to forget the words soon after hearing them. Most strange of all, even though the fire enveloping you seemed extremely frightening, it transformed into a dragon that stayed still for me," Long Yuyin added.
"Dragon? No, I clearly saw it as a fire tree," Yu Yan corrected.
"Weird, I just saw him as he is" Shen Xiu said.
"That means it was successful. Why were you cultivating near me?"
"We felt some mysterious aura surrounding you that triggered our heavenly energy and soul force. When we cultivated, the speed was incomparable, as if we had taken powerful elixirs," they explained.
"You can go back if there's nothing else."
Only Long Yuyin remained after the others had departed.
Revelations by the River
I glanced at her but said nothing directly. Instead, I gathered my fishing pole and made my way toward the river that bordered my mountain, where I kept demon fishes I had captured and cultivated from distant waters. She followed without invitation. I would usually sit here while checking on Nie Li and the rest of the world as a story.
"Tao... do you like someone?" The question came quietly as we walked. She had begun using my name in private rather than calling me master.
Since I understood her purpose here, there seemed little point in speaking around the matter.
"I like many people. If you mean romantically, there are a few. One is bound to me by contract ~ Xiao Ning, who sat beside me during the sect meeting. Another has decided on her own that I belong to her. The third is Shen Xiu, though that arrangement is more of master and servant. If you're here because the hierarchs sent you, consider your next steps carefully."
"So many..." Her voice carried surprise, then she walked beside me in silence.
When I settled by the riverbank and began weaving heavenly energy into an invisible fishing line, she lowered herself to sit nearby. Her composure wavered slightly as she asked, "Considering our relationship, introductions aren't necessary... Do you like me? Not as a disciple or friend, but as a woman?"
"I do, in all the ways you are, but not to the extent of claiming yourself as mine. I would also accept you leaving to pursue your own interests with someone else, without any possessiveness on my part."
"Why? Do you think I'm worth less than the others you spoke of?"
"No. I speak from experience. It's not about worth, but relationship maintenance requires significant investment."
"Stop deflecting and answer me properly." She reached to pinch my arm, though her fingers found no purchase against my refined flesh.
"I won't actively pursue you. If you want to be with me, stay. But understand ~ I'm not entirely what you see. I can be... unrestrainined in relationships. You might find it disturbing, but I don't easily part with someone who knows my secrets and becomes deeply involved, short of extreme measures."
"Then tell me some of these secrets so I can prepare myself."
I looked at her directly and activated the soul seal.
"Twenty years have passed in this reality since my birth, but my age isn't twenty. It's closer to three times that, counting the years I've lived since being born. The explanation would require discussing my origins, which is more complex. Does this concern you?"
"That's hardly an issue. We're infants compared to the lifespans available at our cultivation levels. A martial ancestor can live thousands of years."
"I don't particularly care about ancestral traditions or filial obligations if you need someone who will honor your family's status. And I won't take the surname Long in your family's style. I have only the name Tao, regardless of what others might try to call me ~ Tian Tao, Chi Tao, whatever they prefer. Just 'Tao' satisfies me."
"What else, 'just Tao'?" She took my hand quietly as I spoke, as if claiming territory.
"Currently my inclinations are straightforward, but..." I looked at her and transformed into my feminine form, speaking in my natural voice. "I can also be a woman. You can call me Yue or Chiyue. I'm somewhat complicated."
"Beautiful..." She stared at my changed appearance until she shook herself free of the trance and reached out to examine me without restraint, as if testing whether I was still joking and how long can I restrain myself under her mischief. But her hand found absence where something should have been, and she touched my chest, looking at me with complete disbelief.
"What?" she whispered, blinking rapidly as if her vision had failed her. Her gaze swept over me, stunned, lingering on my curves, my voice, my eyes. "Are you~"
Her hand jerked back. "You're a woman?"
"Sometimes. Sometimes not. I can choose."
She stared for another heartbeat, then laughed once, sharp and uncomfortable. "No, wait. You're joking. You're trying to shock me. This is some technique or spirit ability, right?"
"It's not a joke, and it's not a technique. This is part of who I am. I've lived as both, so it no longer constrains me."
Her mouth opened, then closed. Her eyes darted toward the river, the rocks, anywhere but me. "What is this supposed to mean? You were a girl all along? Why show me this now?"
"You seemed determined to know the real me. After all, this concerns your engagement, your life decision. And no, I wasn't a girl all along ~ I can be complete as either man or woman or anything else, shifting my physique and nature."
" Well, you can transform...but you are a man inside right? Like in soul?"
" No not really. To be precise my base form is what my bloodline governs. And it is not human. Humanoid yes. If you are asking about my priorities or orientation, I don't have one."
" Demon beast?"
" Hmm? Are you that dumb? No, just a unique individual."
"I'm not." Her voice cracked, not from sorrow but from pressure building behind her ribs "I can't process this right now."
"That's reasonable."
"No, it's not reasonable, it's... wrong. What am I supposed to do with this information?" She slid back several inches. "You're not the person I thought you were. All this time I was..."
I kept hold of my fishing pole. "I never lied about it, since my role as your mentor didn't require that disclosure."
"You never said anything either."
Her gaze left me again, fixing on the flowing water.
"Among the relationships you mentioned, do they know? And are there any men? or anything else?"
"Yes they all know it very well. In fact, too well." I found myself remembering certain moments. "In-fact my relations always been with some races of humans only till now. No men. Not currently."
"Do you feel attraction to men when you're in this form naturally, the way we do?"
"Generally, my thoughts don't move in that direction. But I'm not repelled by the idea when I'm a woman. I can't say the same when I'm in my usual state. I feel indifferent toward the same gender I am, whether man or woman. Do you really need these answers anyway?"
"What is your origin then? "
" I can't answer as you are not my woman yet."
She exhaled sharply through her nose. "No. Of course not. And after this, I don't think I want to be."
There it was. Simple and direct.
"I'm leaving," she said, already standing. "This is too much."
I transformed back suddenly, my form-fitting clothes adjusting to normal proportions. She watched the change, remaining silent.
"If your family pressures you, tell them I was uncomfortable with the arrangement. If you feel uncomfortable associating with me afterward, say so. I'll remove the seal and erase whatever memories I must. You can choose whether to continue as my disciple or not."
She stopped for just a moment. Her head tilted slightly back, but not enough to meet my eyes. Through my divine sense, I noticed moisture gathering in her eyes. Her face flushed with anger or grief, possibly directed at herself or mine. Then she was gone. No farewell, no spiritual energy flare. Just the sound of her boots on earth fading into distance, then nothing.
The river wind brushed past again. I sighed. "Two relationships in this reality. I think that's sufficient."
The line tugged.
A bite.
Heavenly star realm demon salmon.
I reeled it in despite its cursing at me in human language. There was still work to be done.