A hundred years had passed since Su Min left the Immortal Gate.
"I wonder how she's doing now."
Xie Yingying rubbed her temples as she stared at a small vial containing Su Min's blood essence, the only trace of her left behind. Tian Hao had brought it back after one of his brief returns, along with sparse news and fewer answers.
After delivering the promised pill to his lover, Tian Hao had stayed at the Immortal Gate for a few years before departing. The two of them had made too many enemies, and while Su Min's presence had once cowed all opposition, her prolonged absence meant even Xie Yingying and the Golden Crow couldn't maintain the same level of authority. Su Min was irreplaceable, not just in strength, but in presence, in the way she held everything together.
Still, that wasn't what troubled Xie Yingying most. Her fingers tightened slightly around the vial. She wasn't worried about power. She was worried about her. Cultivation was a path of relentless pursuit—for opportunities, for breakthroughs. Tian Hao's road had been paved by the legacy of a deceased Mahayana expert, and Xie Yingying herself had inherited Jiang Xi's lineage in the ancient tomb, ensuring smooth progress to the mid-stage Dao Comprehension realm. Breaking through to the Unity stage was only a matter of time.
But Su Min?
The Five Elements Holy Body was a rarity, with only the Five Elements Emperor known to have wielded it in recorded history. There were no legacies left for her to inherit. Her path was far more arduous.
And now she had left this world behind, venturing into a foreign realm. No allies. No safety net. Who knew what dangers lurked there?
Xie Yingying closed her eyes. It wasn't just worry, it was helplessness. She had long grown used to Su Min's presence. Her quiet confidence. The subtle way she stood between others and danger. The way her voice anchored things, without ever needing to raise it.
Without her, everything felt off-kilter. But even now, she couldn't bring herself to chase after her.
Because Su Min had asked her to stay.
And so she waited.
With a vial of blood in her palm and a heart that, after a hundred years, still beat faster at the mention of her name.
"Report! Another group of celestial outsiders has arrived."
Xie Yingying's headache worsened.
"Those ancient families fled back then, and now they're returning one by one?"
Over a decade ago, the oppressive force shrouding the world had dissipated, revealing the starry sky once more. Yet few could traverse the cosmos.
The inhabitants of the Heavenly Continent, the core of this realm, had little interest in the universe. But the universe had taken an interest in them.
Many sects and clans had fled during the Dharma Ending Era, seeking refuge on their ancestral worlds under the protection of imperial artifacts. Now that the heavenly suppression had lifted, they were returning.
The Heavenly Continent was the heart of all things, home to the finest resources, divine artifacts, and even the Golden Core Heavenly Ranking—a supreme inheritance ground.
Their return was inevitable.
"This world is in chaos. If Su Min doesn't come back soon, even the Immortal Gate might get dragged into the mess. The Fallen were bad enough, and now we have these newcomers."
Xie Yingying sighed. As a top-tier faction, the Immortal Gate could hold its own. None of the returning clans dared act arrogantly in their presence.
But problems remained.
The silver lining was that these families, wherever they settled, naturally became protectors of the land, further squeezing the Fallen's territory. Many Fallen had been eradicated in recent years.
Yet now, a new complication had emerged—a powerful faction from beyond the stars.
"If only Su Min were here. The Golden Crow isn't suited for human conflicts, and I... can't suppress them alone."
Xie Yingying grimaced. The sect was invaluable to both her and Su Min. The abundant resources had propelled her to the Dao Comprehension stage within a century, and she would defend Su Min's legacy at all costs.
The Golden Crow, however, was different. As a divine beast, it was unwise for her to meddle in human affairs unless the Immortal Gate's foundation was threatened.
Even at their peak, divine beasts—whether Golden Crows, Kirin, Phoenixes, or Dragons—had never surpassed humanity's dominance. An ancient war between the two had lasted millennia, ending only when the beasts, unable to sustain their numbers, conceded.
Unless these newcomers invaded the Eastern Mulberry State directly, the Golden Crow and her kin would not intervene.
Which left Xie Yingying in a precarious position. Without an imperial artifact, even her Lunar Sovereign Body wasn't enough to intimidate.
But if Su Min were here?
A peak seventh-tier alchemist could mobilize every Dao Comprehension expert on the continent with a single word. Who would dare oppose her?
"Lady Xie, have you reconsidered? While the Immortal Gate is formidable, occupying six of the seven major states seems... excessive. We only ask for two. The Eastern Mulberry State—your core—and the Wei-Wu State, your ancestral land, we will not touch."
A languid voice interrupted her thoughts. A strikingly handsome youth, no older than eighteen, smiled at her with an almost ethereal charm.
But she felt none of the warmth his smile tried to feign.
"Young Master Yao," Xie Yingying said coolly, her gaze sharpening. "You are not welcome here."
She didn't raise her voice. She didn't need to.
Advancing beyond the Dao Comprehension stage required vast resources, far beyond what mere chance encounters could provide. She had consumed a significant portion of the sect's reserves to reach the mid-stage, leaving the remainder for Su Min.
The Golden Crow, fortunately, had her own inheritance and needed no support.
"Lady Xie, your Lunar Sovereign Body is indeed formidable, and the Immortal Gate is a supreme sect. But your territorial claims are excessive. Our Yao Clan only asks for two states."
The young master's smile didn't waver. His cultivation matched Xie Yingying's, mid-stage Dao Comprehension. As the son of a former emperor, he had been sealed away at the half-step Dao Comprehension stage, inheriting his father's legacy and even gaining partial control of their imperial artifact.
With such backing, even Xie Yingying hesitated to act rashly.
(Note: Xie Yingying had temporarily assumed leadership of the Immortal Gate, as the previous sect master's cultivation was insufficient for these turbulent times.)
Beyond territory, the Yao Clan had another objective—marriage. The Lunar Sovereign Body's primal Taiyin Qi was immensely beneficial to cultivators, and Xie Yingying's cold elegance only heightened her allure.
Xie Yingying had seen that look before, the reverent gaze that cloaked calculation. Behind his smile was the same greed they all had, that simmering ambition cloaked in civility. Power disguised as diplomacy. He spoke as if this were a courteous negotiation, but she knew the truth.
He wanted to carve up the world Su Min had built.
And worse, he wanted her.
That was the part that truly repulsed her.
A match with her Lunar Sovereign Body would grant immense cultivation benefits. Every clan with a shred of ambition dreamed of it. And the way he looked at her—not with reverence, not even with desire, but with entitlement, its made her stomach turn.
She had seen that look before. On men who viewed her as a resource. A key to ascend, not a person.
He was no different.
And he didn't even hide it.
Xie Yingying's patience thinned, her voice dropping to a glacial calm. "Not an inch of the Immortal Gate's land will be surrendered."
Her refusal rang with finality.
The young master's smile finally faltered, if only slightly. But she didn't miss it, the flicker of frustration beneath the mask. The slight twitch of his jaw. He'd expected resistance. But not that it would be so… absolute.
Let him be disappointed, she thought coldly. Let him choke on it.
Because she would never allow him to stain what Su Min had left in her care.
She had fought tooth and nail to hold this ground. Burned the sect's resources to rise high enough to protect what mattered. Su Min had entrusted it all to her, left without a word of complaint, believing Xie Yingying would endure.
She had.
And she would continue to.
As for marriage?
There was no room in her heart for such things, not when it already belonged elsewhere.
Even if she couldn't say it aloud.
Especially not in front of men like this.
Without the Golden Crow's intervention, the Yao Clan held the advantage, three Dao Comprehension experts and an imperial artifact that could be fully unleashed through bloodline power. Xie Yingying, even with the Golden Crow Bell, couldn't match that.
Yet he hesitated.
The Golden Crow might not interfere lightly, but she would if provoked. And then there was the Immortal Gate's true master, the legendary Five Elements Holy Body and a seventh-tier alchemist.
Those titles alone gave them pause.
But as time passed without Su Min's return, doubts grew. Had she perished in the void? A century was a long absence.
"Hmm?"
Xie Yingying's expression shifted, barely perceptible at first, just a flicker in her eyes. Then she froze, posture stiffening like a taut string.
And then, she smiled.
It was a rare expression, unexpected and utterly disarming. So much so that the young master, arrogant, composed, and self-assured, momentarily faltered.
But the smile wasn't his to receive.
It passed over him like sunlight through glass, meant for someone beyond this realm.
"Return in a year," Xie Yingying said lightly, almost distracted. "She will receive you personally."
With that, she turned away, robes sweeping behind her, not bothering to look back. She knew he wouldn't dare make a move.
The young master's face lost all color.
"She… she's returning?"
Fear settled in his bones.
Su Min's reputation preceded her—gentle in demeanor, ruthless in action. If she truly was coming back, their plans would crumble.
The two states they sought were their ancestral lands, territory they had abandoned during the exodus. Had any other faction held them, they would have seized them by force.
But Su Min?
Their intelligence painted a terrifying picture. A woman who had united countless experts to annihilate a Buddhist sect, a feat not even the ancient anti-Buddhist campaigns had achieved.
She was the kind of person no one dared test, because if she acted, you would not survive long enough to regret it.
They dared not underestimate her.
With a pale grimace, the young master turned and left, the air suddenly heavy with unspoken dread. This was the Eastern Mulberry State. Stirring trouble here meant facing the Golden Crow herself, let alone the one who had tamed her.
~
Inside the quiet hall, Xie Yingying stood motionless, her gaze falling on the vial nestled in her palm.
The blood essence inside trembled.
Her fingers curled around it, careful yet reverent. Her chest rose with a silent breath.
So. She felt it too.
Su Min… was close.
For years, this vial had remained active, quietly awaiting resonance. A sliver of Su Min's essence, left behind not just for safety, but as an anchor. A beacon. A promise.
And now it pulsed with life.
Xie Yingying had known. She had sensed it, subtle threads pulling tighter across the cosmos. She had waited, endured, shouldered the weight of command, of politics, of fragile alliances, all for the day Su Min would return.
No longer would she stand alone.
Not that she missed her, of course.
It wasn't that her nights had felt colder. Or that she sometimes reached for a presence that wasn't there. Or that no amount of cultivation quieted the ache in her chest when she thought of her name.
Certainly not.
Still… her lips curved again, just faintly.
"It won't be long now."
Whatever madness Su Min had braved to cross the heavens without an imperial artifact, Xie Yingying would not question it.
If Su Min believed she could return, then she would.
And Xie Yingying would be here, waiting.
Just like she always had.
~
In the depths of space, Su Min's dark eyes flickered open.
"How many years has it been? Crossing the void is no joke."
She took a swig from her gourd.
The cosmos held no spiritual energy, and her Shrinking Earth technique wasn't omnipotent. Asteroid belts and chaotic zones had forced her to rely on raw physical endurance at times.
Without the gourd's replenishment, she would have been lost forever.
The void was no place for a Dao Comprehension cultivator.
"I finally understand that Lovecraftian movie, 'Event Horizon.' The abyss is terrifying. Decades without encountering another living being... a normal human would have gone mad. For them, this journey would have been a lifetime."
She chuckled, then pressed onward.
The final stretch lay ahead—a turbulent cosmic storm where spatial movement was impossible.
Donning her armor, she plunged into the maelstrom.
Half a year later, she emerged.
And before her, a sight that took her breath away.
Not a planet, but a continent—a vast, floating landmass dwarfing any celestial body she had seen in her decades of travel.
No wonder the cults had called it the Heavenly Continent.
"Legend says it was a fragment of the immortal realm, fallen to the mortal world. Now I see why."
Su Min grinned.
"Heavenly Continent, your prodigal daughter has returned!!!"
(Or as the old saying went: "I, Hu Hansan, am back!!!" ...Wait, no. Wrong reference.)
"I, Su Min, have returned!!!"