On the other side, Qiu Ji was escorting Ye Fan and Su Qingxue to God Monarch Palace. Her progress was slow, however, as she was in the process of merging her own life blueprint with Su Qingxue’s.
She said coldly, "In two hours at most, I will have merged with your life blueprint. From then on, I will be you, and you will be me! And you will just be another one of my lives!"
Qiu Ji was thrilled. The incident with Su Qingxue had been a complete accident, and without it, she wouldn’t be this delighted.
She was about to use her connection to Su Qingxue’s soul to check if Ye Fan was behaving, only to discover that Su Qingxue’s body had fainted.
Not good!
Furious, Qiu Ji rushed over, only to find Ye Fan undoing his bindings.
Qiu Ji shouted, "You dare to play tricks right under my nose? You’re looking for death!"
She rushed at Ye Fan and struck him, sending him flying backward and crashing hard to the ground. Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
At that moment, Qiu Ji said to him, "What do you have to say now?"
"I have nothing to say. I just want to tell you that my bonds are broken. Now, either you die, or I do!" Ye Fan retorted.
He unleashed his strongest attack, the power of the Golden Dragon threatening to tear everything apart.
This was Qiu Ji’s small world.
Qiu Ji immediately unleashed her own power to clash with Ye Fan. Both were top geniuses of their generation, and they now faced each other in a deadly crisis once more.
Within her small world, Qiu Ji held all the advantages, orchestrating her attacks perfectly. Ye Fan was simply no match for her here.
She struck Ye Fan with her palm and said, "Stop your futile struggles. You will never escape my grasp!"
"Is that so?!"
Ye Fan leaped up swiftly and punched Qiu Ji. She rapidly retreated, only to realize that Ye Fan had activated the Wanxiang Divine Shield. A blue phantom crashed against the barrier of the small world, instantly tearing a large hole through it. Ye Fan then grabbed Su Qingxue, transformed into a Golden Dragon, and flew out.
The Golden Dragon roared in the sky as Ye Fan shouted at Qiu Ji, "Our war isn’t over. This is just the beginning! Next time, I will make sure you die, you vicious woman!"
Qiu Ji gritted her teeth. "Very well. We’ll see who dies first!"
Ye Fan had already vanished. Qiu Ji, however, was not angry. The other half of her soul had already fused with Su Qingxue’s, allowing her to launch a sneak attack on Ye Fan at any moment. Moreover, she could summon Su Qingxue to God Monarch Palace whenever she wished and use her life as leverage against Ye Fan. She had this play perfectly under control; now she just had to wait for Ye Fan to walk into her trap.
Qiu Ji returned to God Monarch Palace.
"Disciple Qiu Ji pays her respects to the six revered Masters!"
"Qiu’er, you have returned. It appears you have failed this time."
Although the six showed no outward dissatisfaction, Qiu Ji could detect the disapproval in their tone.
She said, "Revered Masters, although I failed, everything is still under my control. Rest assured, it won’t be long before you hear news of his violent death!" This was her guarantee to the six of them.
The leading Old God Monarch said, "Whether you complete this step or not is no longer important, for we already have another plan!"
"What plan?" Qiu Ji asked curiously.
They explained, "The Divine Talisman will soon appear, and the supreme expert slumbering in the Outer Realm will not awaken. As long as he remains asleep, nothing in the Divine World can threaten us."
"And what about the sages of the Demon Clan?" Qiu Ji asked.
They laughed. "Though powerful, they are dead. The dead can’t stir up much trouble! Furthermore, they are on the verge of fading away. The Taibai Demon Star has already dimmed, meaning their lingering consciousness in this world is at its end.
"In ten years at most, the sages of the Demon Clan will be extinguished completely. Therefore, we must wait ten years. When that time comes, it won’t just be the moment of their destruction! It will also be when the Divine Talisman descends. If we can seize this opportunity, the Divine World will be ours to control. In the future, after you reach the Ancestor Realm, you will be the first Ancestor in the history of the Divine World—and the first female Ancestor!"
"Your disciple wouldn’t dare!" Qiu Ji responded quickly.
"Of course you dare. You are our proudest disciple and our successor. Our own strength has reached its limit. We no longer have the potential to transcend the Divine World and contend with the greater universe, the Great Thousand World, to forge a supreme Divine Race. But you can!
"You are destined to reach the Ancestor Realm. Whether our Evil God lineage can flourish in the Great Thousand World depends entirely on you!" the six told her.
Qiu Ji quickly promised, "Your disciple will give her all. Within the next ten years, I will strive to break through and become a Main God!"
This had been her goal.
But the six masters shook their heads.
"It’s not how fast you break through that makes you a peerless genius," they explained, "but that you are flawless in every realm. The path of cultivation is like building with blocks. The more stable your foundation, the higher you can build. If your foundation is unstable, the entire structure could topple in an instant! We hope you understand this principle."
"Your disciple understands!" Qiu Ji replied hurriedly.
From Divine Captain to Subcestor, the path was simply about widening and filling one’s Spiritual Spring. Once the Spiritual Spring turned golden and formed a golden bridge, that was the mark of the Ancestor Realm.
Cultivation, one might say, was both complex and simple; it all depended on one’s comprehension. Hers was considered the strongest in the Evil God lineage.
Originally, she had wanted to rush her breakthrough to Main God, but after the six masters’ counsel, she had a new idea.
In the Outer Realm, Ye Fan was truly injured this time. His battle with Qiu Ji, the ultimate genius of God Monarch Palace, had shown him a level of terror that exceeded his expectations. What was more terrifying was that Qiu Ji now controlled Su Qingxue’s soul. This was the most troublesome part. Unless Qiu Ji withdrew voluntarily, any attempt to expel her soul would inevitably destroy Su Qingxue’s as well.
So, he said to Su Qingxue, "Qingxue, I’m sorry, but you’ll have to endure this for a little while."
"Ye Fan, I’m fine," Su Qingxue said resolutely. "I don’t want to be someone else’s puppet!"
Ye Fan nodded and took her to another location—his secluded place for cultivation—where he restrained her.
Initially, Su Qingxue seemed fine. After two hours, however, she began to change. Her gentle, lovely eyes turned incomparably icy.
She spoke in a chilling tone, "Ye Fan, we meet again. You can’t do anything to me, but I can ambush you at any time. Unless you lock me up for the rest of your life... or kill your precious woman! Otherwise, you’re doomed to die by my hand! Hahahaha!"
She sneered at Ye Fan.
He roared back, "Shut up!"