Volume 1, Chapter 139 – A Battle Beyond the Heavens

Meanwhile, in the main hall of Yaochi Immortal Palace,

Gu Han sat cross-legged on the cloud couch with her eyes closed, her mind immersed in the vast Dao Resonance of the Chaos Scripture, when she suddenly sensed something.

It was neither a disturbance from outside nor a message from one of her disciples, but a subtle resonance and warning from the unseen workings of fate, triggered by an expert of her own level making no attempt to conceal her presence.

Her closed eyes slowly opened.

“So soon… She’s already here?”

Gu Han murmured to herself, her cool voice echoing softly through the cavernous great hall.

“The Northern Region… Empress Lingshuang…”

Gu Han slowly rose. The hem of her moon-white palace dress spilled like liquid silver across the smooth spirit-jade floor.

She walked to the window, her gaze seemingly piercing through the palace, the spiritual mist, and the overlapping layers of the sect-protecting grand formation to look a hundred li north of the Immortal Palace.

There, an icy, powerful aura that made no attempt to hide its presence hung motionless like the brightest North Star in a wintry night.

“Just as Qingxuan said. She really is impatient.”

Gu Han shook her head slightly, the faintest trace of an almost helpless smile touching her lips.

What was destined to come would always come.

Now that she bore the title of “Yaochi Empress,” she was destined to face the scrutiny and testing of others at the same level.

There was no avoiding it.

She could only face it head-on.

Her thoughts turned swiftly, and Gu Han quickly reached a decision.

She did not immediately reveal herself, nor did she order the Immortal Palace to go on alert.

That would only create unnecessary tension and make her appear petty.

She merely stood quietly by the window, like a host waiting for a guest to arrive, and watched that direction.

She was waiting.

Waiting for the other party to observe the most basic courtesy and announce her presence first.

This had nothing to do with strength. It was simply the most basic decorum and mutual understanding between powerful experts.

If the other party refused to show even that much courtesy and insisted on barging in, however… then that would be a different matter.

A hundred li outside Yaochi Immortal Palace,

the Ice Jiao Chariot hovered silently in midair.

Ten female generals stood at attention around it, their auras linked together like an impregnable wall of ice.

Inside the chariot, Empress Lingshuang looked through the window at the distant valley shrouded in poisonous mist, where the radiance of formations flickered in and out of view.

With her eyesight, she could naturally tell how extraordinary the sect-protecting grand formation was.

Its layers overlapped and interlocked. It not only served as a defense but also possessed illusion-casting and spirit-gathering effects.

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Hidden within it was also an unfamiliar Dao Resonance that even made her sense danger.

“An interesting formation…”

Empress Lingshuang murmured, a solemn glint flashing in her eyes.

She might be proud, but she was by no means a fool.

Whoever had laid down such a formation possessed attainments in the Dao of formations that could not be underestimated.

“Lanling.”

Her cool voice rang out.

“Your Majesty.”

A female general commander at the late stage of Tribulation Transcendence immediately stepped forward and bowed beyond the curtain.

“Announce our arrival according to protocol.”

Empress Lingshuang’s tone was calm, yet carried unquestionable authority.

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

Lanling solemnly accepted the order, then turned toward Yaochi Immortal Palace.

She took a deep breath as the vast spiritual power of late-stage Tribulation Transcendence slowly surged from her, mingling with her steely battle intent.

Her power transformed into a clear, resounding voice transmission that remained perfectly courteous as it rolled toward Yaochi Immortal Palace:

“Her Majesty Empress Lingshuang of the Northern Region has arrived!”

“We hereby announce our presence and request an audience with Palace Master Gu of Yaochi Immortal Palace in the Southern Region!”

Her voice sounded like a glacier splitting apart and steel ringing against steel, imbued with immense spiritual power.

In an instant, it crossed a hundred li and rang clearly throughout Yaochi Immortal Palace.

“The Northern Region… Empress Lingshuang?!”

“Heavens! It really is her! She’s actually here!”

“She wants an audience with the Palace Master? That tone… Why does it sound like something’s wrong?”

The expressions of the disciples patrolling or cultivating around the outskirts of the Immortal Palace changed when they heard the voice transmission, shock and concern intertwining in their hearts.

Though they had absolute confidence in their Palace Master, Empress Lingshuang’s reputation was simply too formidable.

She was a peerless expert as renowned as Empress Qingxuan of the Eastern Region, someone who had ruled the Northern Region for tens of thousands of years!

Now that she had come in person, she was unlikely to have good intentions!

…

Inside the main hall,

Gu Han naturally heard the undisguised voice transmission, which even carried a hint of proclamation.

“Empress Lingshuang…”

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She repeated the title, her gaze remaining calm.

The other party’s tone might have been rather direct and even carried an implicit provocation, but she had at least observed the most basic rules of etiquette.

In that case, as the host, Gu Han ought to respond.

Gu Han looked north and spoke calmly.

Her voice was not loud, yet it seemed to contain the fundamental truths of heaven and earth. Ignoring the distance between them, every word rang out clearly before the Ice Jiao Chariot:

“Gu Han of Yaochi Immortal Palace.”

“Since Fellow Daoist Lingshuang has come to my territory, please enter and speak with me.”

As soon as she finished speaking…

“Hum…”

The dense poisonous mist and glowing formations around the Immortal Palace slowly parted as though moved aside by an invisible hand.

A straight “passage” condensed from pure spiritual energy extended outward from the depths of the Immortal Palace.

For the first time, a trace of surprise flashed through Empress Lingshuang’s eyes.

It was not because of the divine ability used to create the “passage.” She could accomplish something similar herself.

Rather, it was because of the other woman’s unhurried composure and the confidence and bearing implicit in her actions.

Faced with an unexpected visit from the Empress of the Northern Region, whose fame had shaken the continent for tens of thousands of years, this “Yaochi Empress” had neither panicked nor placed her forces on excessive alert.

Instead, she calmly opened her doors as though welcoming an ordinary guest.

That composure alone was extraordinary.

“Heh…”

The corner of Empress Lingshuang’s lips curved into a smile as crystalline as ice and just as cold.

“Interesting.”

She said nothing more and moved her thoughts.

The ice jiao let out a low cry and slowly pulled the magnificent chariot onto the passage formed from spiritual energy.

The ten female generals followed solemnly on either side of the chariot. Their steps were perfectly synchronized, producing crisp sounds against the passage like the gentle beat of war drums.

The passage seemed to possess a spirit of its own, gradually retracting and coiling back as the chariot advanced.

Along the way, the magnificent scenery of Yaochi, its immense spiritual energy, its unusual architecture, and the disciples of the Immortal Palace, whose cultivation might still be shallow but whose foundations were solid and eyes were bright, repeatedly drew looks of wonder from the visitors of the Northern Region, including Empress Lingshuang herself.

The vast, mist-covered Yaochi and the Enlightenment Tea Tree on the island at its center, which emanated a hazy Dao Resonance, were especially striking.

At the sight of them, Empress Lingshuang’s ice-blue pupils contracted slightly.

“An innate spiritual root… Enlightenment Tea?!”

Such a divine object existed only in legends, yet it truly existed in this world, right here within Yaochi Immortal Palace!

Then there was that majestic tower in the distance, which gave off strange fluctuations of time…

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The foundations of Yaochi Immortal Palace were indeed unfathomable!

The passage ultimately extended to the white-jade plaza before the Immortal Palace’s main hall and settled steadily onto the ground before dissolving into motes of spiritual light.

The Ice Jiao Chariot came to a stop. Its curtains lifted to either side without any wind.

A figure in an ice-blue palace dress slowly stepped out of the chariot. Her features were cool and aloof, and her entire body radiated bitter cold and supreme majesty.

It was Empress Lingshuang!

The instant she set foot on the white-jade plaza, a wave of cold silently spread outward with her at its center.

The temperature across the plaza dropped at once.

The ten female generals followed close behind and formed a line at her back, their expressions stern, like ten unsheathed blades of ice.

At almost the exact moment Empress Lingshuang stepped out of the chariot,

the heavy doors of the main hall silently slid inward.

A figure with snow-white hair, dressed in a moon-white palace gown and possessed of a cool, transcendent air, slowly emerged from the hall.

It was Gu Han.

A hundred zhang apart, their gazes met in midair.

In that instant, even time seemed to freeze.

One was the illustrious Empress Lingshuang, ruler of the Northern Region.

The other was the mysterious Yaochi Empress, whose sudden rise had recently made her famous far and wide.

Their eyes met.

There were no flying sparks and no clash of auras.

There was only a mutual scrutiny so utterly calm that it seemed capable of crushing the heavens.

“Gu Han?”

Empress Lingshuang spoke first. Her clear voice rang like an icy spring striking stone, carrying her innate aloof pride and bluntness.

“That is correct.”

Gu Han inclined her head slightly, calmly meeting the other woman’s gaze, which seemed capable of freezing the soul.

“What brings you here?”

Empress Lingshuang stepped forward, her gaze locking firmly onto Gu Han as she enunciated every word.

“This Empress has come for only two reasons.”

“First, to see with my own eyes just what sort of person Gu Han, whom the Southern Region reveres as the ‘Yaochi Empress,’ truly is!”

“Second…”

She paused briefly, a sharp light flashing in her eyes like an unsheathed blade of ice as it stabbed toward Gu Han.

“This Empress wishes to personally test whether your title of ‘Empress’ is… truly deserved!”

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The final words crashed down like hail, carrying undisguised battle intent and provocation!

The instant she finished speaking, a vast and terrifying pressure erupted from Empress Lingshuang, immense enough to freeze all creation!

This was no mere pressure of spiritual power. It was a manifestation of her comprehension of the laws of ice!

In an instant, the temperature across the entire white-jade plaza plunged below freezing!

The ground, the pillars, and even the spiritual energy flowing through the air rapidly began to form thick layers of ice, accompanied by sharp cracking sounds!

Countless snowflakes materialized from thin air in the sky and fluttered down.

Every snowflake contained a piercingly cold Dao intent that seemed capable of freezing souls!

Yet in the face of this overwhelming might…

Gu Han, standing before the hall, seemed completely unaffected.

Not even the corner of her dress stirred.

As soon as the falling snowflakes came within three zhang of her, they silently melted and evaporated as though they had never existed.

The white jade beneath her feet remained smooth and warm, without the slightest trace of frost.

Gu Han simply stood there in silence, calmly watching Empress Lingshuang unleash the full force of her aura.

It was as though the other woman’s earth-shaking might were nothing more than a spring breeze carrying the faintest hint of chill.

“Your Excellency wishes to ‘test’ me?”

Gu Han spoke in a calm voice, yet it carried clearly through the biting wind and the crackle of shattering ice crystals.

“Very well.”

She slowly raised her right hand, palm upward, and made an inviting gesture.

“Shall we battle beyond the heavens?”

There was no anger, no fear, only an utterly natural composure.

You want a fight? Then let’s fight!

The battle intent in Empress Lingshuang’s eyes burned even more fiercely, and her ice-blue pupils shone with astonishing brilliance.

“Good!”

She uttered only one word before shooting into the sky. Transforming into a streak of light, she pierced the clouds and vanished into the Nine Heavens in an instant!

Gu Han likewise took a single step, and her figure disappeared from where she stood.

The next moment, beyond the Nine Heavens, amid the endless starry expanse.

Two peerlessly graceful figures faced each other from a thousand li apart.

Below them lay the Canglan Continent. Above stretched the vast, cold, deathly silent sea of stars.

This was the true stage where experts of the Immortal Ascension realm could unleash their full strength and fight without restraint!