Chapter 107: You Win Nothing

Grand Dao Sect, Bai Lan Peak.

"You said the one seeking audience outside the sect is who?" Bai Qiulan’s eyes revealed a trace of surprise.

"What is she doing here?" Yue Hongling frowned.

Truthfully, she had always been a little at odds with Shangguan Huanling—because she felt that Lu Ye treated that woman far too well.

Even better than he treated her!

How was that acceptable?

And that Shangguan Huanling...

How should she put it?

In Yue Hongling’s opinion, her own master, Chu Ling, Vermilion Bird—any of them—

They were all qualified to become Great Emperors.

Even if Lu Ye had helped them greatly, it didn’t mean they couldn’t have ascended on their own.

She cultivated the Eternal Reversal Scripture, and her personality feared neither heaven nor earth—fearless and unyielding in battle.

She had true combat power, and the Dao was with her.

Chu Ling as well—her progress in the sword path had been meteoric, her combat strength unmatched. She could be considered one of the top sword cultivator emperors.

Bai Qiulan possessed the Chaotic Taiyin Divine Physique, born with the power of Chaotic Taiyin, rivaling those born with innate Dao embryos. Her Taiyin techniques were overwhelmingly terrifying.

Even Vermilion Bird—gentle and sorrowful as she might seem—had a terrifying background. She was Vermilion Bird, and the divine powers she wielded were enough to secure her a place in the Great Emperor realm.

In the previous life, even the Purple Phoenix Great Emperor would likely end in mutual destruction if she fought Vermilion Bird.

As for Shangguan Huanling...

The Purple Phoenix Great Emperor had nearly died of anger.

Great Emperors had their pride too. When Lu Ye had just become a Heavenly Venerable, the Purple Phoenix Great Emperor hadn’t even wanted to give him any face. Because the things Lu Ye had asked her to do back then were practically humiliating.

But later, Lu Ye grew stronger and stronger.

And on top of that, he always treated others with courtesy.

So she had no choice but to give him face.

Eventually, Lu Ye reached an utterly terrifying level.

Only then did the Purple Phoenix Great Emperor finally accept it—being asked by such a Heavenly Venerable, wasn’t it just acting? No problem!

Bai Qiulan had just learned that the Supreme Empire had directly surrendered to the foreign races. Shangguan Huanling had probably come here because she refused to surrender.

"I’ll go receive her."

"I'm not going!" Yue Hongling’s temper flared. That annoying senior brother had been gone for a long time.

Back when Lu Ye had been here, she hadn’t thought much of it. But now that she hadn’t seen him for such a long time, she actually started to feel quite lonely.

She kind of missed him...

Her senior brother must have already reached the Integration Realm, right?

Would he still walk the path of protection like he did in the previous life?

If he chose that path again, all she had to do was enter his circle of protection again—Lu Ye would always protect her.

This time, she wouldn’t be so willful.

Not long after, Bai Qiulan brought Shangguan Huanling inside and released a barrier.

"Alright, it’s safe here. You can relax a little now," Bai Qiulan said gently.

Shangguan Huanling let out a long breath of relief.

She poured herself a cup of water and drank it in one go—not because she was thirsty, but to suppress the ache in her chest.

"Sister Bai... the Supreme Empire has fallen again!"

Shangguan Huanling spoke—and her tears nearly fell.

Bai Qiulan had nothing much to say about it. It wasn’t like she could say serves them right.

After all, in the last life, the Supreme Empire had colluded with the foreign races. There really was no way to justify that.

"Don’t be sad. If you have nowhere else to go, you can stay here on Bai Lan Peak," Bai Qiulan said softly.

Yue Hongling raised an eyebrow.

Though she felt some resentment and dissatisfaction, in the end, Yue Hongling still didn’t say anything.

"I didn’t come here to stay at the Grand Dao Sect. I came because I want to get to the bottom of something."

Yue Hongling and Bai Qiulan both turned their gazes toward Shangguan Huanling.

Shangguan Huanling took a deep breath.

"The cultivation technique I practiced is called the Origin-Swallowing Heaven Scripture. Do you know of it?"

Bai Qiulan and Yue Hongling exchanged a glance.

They could clearly see ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) the particular look in each other’s eyes.

"We know it."

"In my previous life, I became a Great Emperor using this technique. Wouldn’t you say it counts as an extremely powerful cultivation method?"

Bai Qiulan nodded again. For a technique that could push someone who didn’t cultivate the Great Dao into the realm of a Great Emperor—that couldn’t simply be called powerful. It was practically peerless, unheard of throughout history.

Even more terrifying than her own Taiyin Ascension Sutra.

This was also one of the reasons Yue Hongling and Shangguan Huanling didn’t get along.

Yue Hongling’s technique came from the Fearless Great Emperor. Although it was a perfect match for her, it wasn’t something Lu Ye had created.

But the technique Shangguan Huanling cultivated—while it had initially drawn from the Demonic Heaven-Swallowing Sutra—eventually became something Lu Ye created entirely on his own. No one knew how much effort he had poured into it. He pampered Shangguan Huanling more than he did Yue Hongling—and how could that be acceptable?

"If this cultivation method is truly that powerful, then why is it that after breaking through, all the way to the peak of the Integration Realm, my combat strength is still no better than some ordinary Tribulation Crossing cultivator?" Shangguan Huanling asked, unable to accept it.

As soon as she said that, Bai Qiulan fell silent.

Yue Hongling rolled her eyes. In their past life, Lu Ye had repeatedly warned them never to strike down Shangguan Huanling with words, because her Dao had already collapsed—she was already devastated. If they ridiculed her further, Lu Ye worried she wouldn’t be able to bear it.

He had planned to tell her everything later, once the time was right.

And then she went and killed Lu Ye.

Nice job. Real nice.

Bai Qiulan didn’t know how to explain it—but Yue Hongling wasn’t afraid of anything anymore.

Everyone had betrayed their senior brother. He didn’t seem to care about any of them anymore.

So whether Shangguan Huanling broke down or not—what the hell did that have to do with her?

"Your technique—it is pretty damn powerful, but the problem is that it’s not a combat technique. You were a Great Emperor in your previous life—how do you still not get it? A so-called Great Emperor who can’t wield the Great Dao—does that even count as a real emperor?" Yue Hongling said bluntly.

Shangguan Huanling froze, then hurried to argue back.

"How could it not be a combat technique? I fought the Purple Phoenix Great Emperor and won two out of three duels!"

Yue Hongling sneered.

"Hongling!"

Bai Qiulan couldn’t help but scold her.

"Sister Bai, let her say it!"

Shangguan Huanling felt as if she were on the verge of hearing an enormous, earth-shattering truth. She was terrified—but also desperate to know.

"Huh? Why is the formation sealed off again?" Sun Ruowei outside the door was startled.

More drama?

Damn you, Bai Qiulan. Sun Ruowei had thought she’d already finished eating all the gossip, but now there was another damned barrier.

She pressed herself against the edge of the formation.

What were they saying in there?

"You want me to say it? Fine. You really think you could beat the Purple Phoenix Great Emperor? She never even took those fights seriously. If she’d fought for real, you wouldn’t even be able to take one move before being turned into dust!"

"Hongling! That’s enough!"

Shangguan Huanling’s eyes went wide.

"Impossible! We fought three times. She lost because I improved—she couldn’t keep up with me!"

"Bullshit. The first time, senior brother had just become a Heavenly Venerable. He heard you were about to spar with the Purple Phoenix Great Emperor and quickly sent her a transmission telling her to lose. But she didn’t listen. Even so, she held back and didn’t hurt you."

"The second time, senior brother visited her personally after killing the Fallen Dao Heavenly Venerable. He was injured. She was moved, so she let you win that time."

"The third time, senior brother sent gifts again. The Purple Phoenix Great Emperor didn’t care anymore, so she played along and let you win happily."

"If not for senior brother, win my ass! With your kind of ‘vase’ emperor power, you don’t even qualify to stand in front of the Purple Phoenix Great Emperor—much less talk about two wins out of three."

"Have you no shame?"