Covering the Sky: The Years I Was the Empress's Strictest Master

The demonic energy around her fluctuated for a moment.

……

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Ready to Go (3K)

"..."

……

The surrounding ruins fell into a brief silence as Tan Lin finished speaking.

The thing Li Qingjue was most anxious about and least wanted to face still happened.

Although her master had said that there would be a day of parting when they met ten years ago, when that day actually came, her heart was still inevitably filled with deep reluctance and sadness.

"Master..."

Her clear, lake-like eyes looked up at Tan Lin as she softly uttered those two words.

The voice echoed through the ruins, carrying a barely perceptible sob.

At this moment, she suddenly had many things she wanted to say to her master.

I would like to ask Master how risky the trip to Zhongzhou is. If it is too dangerous, perhaps we should postpone the trip?

She also wanted to ask when her master would return, and whether this parting would be the last...

"Disciple wishes Master a safe journey and that all your wishes may be fulfilled..."

However, all my thoughts turned into a blessing when I gazed at Tan Lin's illusory figure.

Master has been in this state for thousands of years. How could she, out of her own selfish desire, continue to keep Master in this predicament of being a lonely ghost?

Before him, Tan Lin's remnant soul quietly gazed at Li Qingjue.

His deep gaze seemed to pierce through the bronze mask, taking in the longing and worry that surfaced in the other person's eyes and face.

As parting was imminent, he remained silent for a moment, then slowly said:

“The fledgling eagle will eventually leave the nest. The road ahead is yours to walk alone… The Devouring Heaven Demon Path, though a shortcut, is also a path against the heavens, destined to make you an enemy of the world. You must guard your heart and never forget why you are fighting.”

His words remained simple and clear, but his calm tone contained a rare expectation.

Li Qingjue pursed her lips lightly.

next interest.

poof...

She bowed deeply to Tan Lin, trying her best to hold back the tears welling up in her eyes.

"Your disciple will remember your instructions!"

His voice was completely choked with sobs.

Li Qingjue knew that this separation might be incredibly long, so long that they might never meet again.

The Central Plains Human Emperor's Palace is a den of dragons and tigers that even the master must plan for a long time and be extremely cautious about.

Finally, Tan Lin's remnant soul glanced at her one last time, as if wanting to say something, but in the end it only turned into a barely audible sigh.

Immediately afterwards, his remnant soul, with its flowing sleeves, retrieved the quasi-emperor array diagram buried beneath the ruins of the tower base.

wow...

In an instant, his figure merged into the invisible crimson-gray mist and disappeared completely from the spot.

"..."

Only Li Qingjue remained, standing alone amidst the ruins.

Her emotions were churning, and her body was filled with demonic energy, yet she could not conceal her loneliness.

After a long while, she slowly raised her hand, gently stroking the bronze mask on her face, silently feeling its cool touch, her palm tightly gripping the bronze ring that seemed to have become a little lighter.

It seems that only in this way can one vaguely sense the remaining trace of Master's aura.

"Master, take care... Your disciple will not let you down..."

She murmured to herself, her voice firm, a hint of tears in her tone, yet also a resolute determination to move forward.

She felt that she was growing too slowly and also hated her own weakness.

If I were strong enough, perhaps I could have accompanied my master to Zhongzhou this time, instead of just watching my master's back as he walked away!

…………

Near the border between the Eastern Wilderness and the Central Plains.

Above a lush, verdant mountain range, invisible ripples of space gently undulate like waves on water.

In the dual states of [Reverse Causes Perspective] and [Causes Barrier].

Tan Lin's remnant soul floated silently here, as if it did not exist in this world.

Over the past ten years, the second deep crimson light spot on his Soul Pearl barrier, which had previously become an empty shell, has long been filled.

Even the third point of light had condensed into a thin layer of "fireflies".

The most significant change resulting from this is that three of the 365 dials surrounding the Soul Pearl barrier have been lit up, emitting a hazy, strange glow.

Through long-term observation, Tan Lin has come to realize that the gradual lighting up of the dials signifies that the deeper levels of divine power after the Soul Pearl's transformation are being developed.

hum...

Suddenly, Tan Lin had a thought and tried to activate the deep crimson power that was integrated into the scale.

Wow!

next moment.

An unprecedented perception spread, not due to the concealment, stealth, or convergence of causal lines of the [Reverse Causes Perspective] and [Causes Barrier].

It is not merely the causal insight brought about by the perspective of "all causes".

Rather, it is a kind of focused observation of the anchor point at the end of a certain causal line, and a vague perception of the physical body to be reincarnated in the next life.

In this strange state, Tan Lin slowly closed his eyes.

As he concentrated, he seemed to "see" several mysterious patterns, which slowly evolved into several characters that he could recognize.

"Do not?"

However, perhaps the faint glow within the third deep crimson dot was too dim to illuminate the third mark, and despite trying seven or eight times, both this time and before, he could only make out one word clearly.

It is the character "不" (not).

"Could the characters that these patterns evolved from indicate the constitution one will be reborn into in the next life?"

After seven or eight attempts, Tan Lin had some guesses, but he couldn't be completely certain until he saw the whole picture.

But if that's really what he thinks, then after this reincarnation, he will most likely be born into a race with the bloodline of the immortal golden body.

This will be a physique that is a level stronger than his original Human King Physique in his previous life.

Of course, this is on the premise that the bloodline of the immortal golden body he was born with is refined to a very high level; otherwise, it is not certain that he could have the powerful body of a human king who is born to be respected among humans.

When he came into this world, both his first and second lives were as impure "mortal bodies" with some spiritual and divine bloodlines.

In his third life, perhaps by chance, he was born into a branch of the Human King Battle Body race that migrated from the Ziwei Emperor Star to the Big Dipper. His bloodline concentration was extremely high, making him the contemporary Human King Body of that era.

In addition, Tan Lin summarized his reincarnation experience from the previous three lifetimes and figured out that when he activated the Zhuyin Soul Pearl to reincarnate, the race and gender of the physical body should be highly compatible with his true soul form.

This explains why he was born as a human for three consecutive lifetimes.

However, just like the "word" he perceives at this moment, it is still only a possible guess about the existing phenomenon and cannot be definitively concluded.

"Never mind... the markings are too dim to see clearly, so let's leave it at that. Right now, it's more important to further investigate the condition of those old things..."

In the crimson-gray mist, Tan Lin opened his eyes, shook his head inwardly, and sighed inwardly.

Actually, he wasn't prepared quite thoroughly enough.

However, the time to seize that fragment of the true soul in Zhongzhou has arrived. The opportunity is fleeting, and if we are not decisive enough to let it slip by, we may never have such a good chance of success again.

After all, no matter how much he prepares, he is only a remnant soul. Even if he prepares for millions of years, if he does not reincarnate, can he still surpass the peak of his previous life?

hum...

Amidst the ebb and flow of his thoughts, Tan Lin's remnant soul made a gesture, and the second overflowing deep crimson light spot temporarily detached from the dial and came into his palm.

At this moment, under the [Reverse·All Causes Perspective], his elevated vision was no longer simply about being high above, overlooking all lines of cause and effect.

With a slight thought, he selected the causal main line of the Immortal Emperor, and his vision unconsciously moved closer and closer to the anchor point at its end.

boom……

Finally, after getting close to a certain boundary, the crimson mist in front of Tan Lin exploded with a bang.

With a sudden shift in light and shadow, he glimpsed fragments of the real-time status of a specific object at the end of the anchor point.

That was deep within the Earth's core, where magma was boiling.

A five-colored fairy egg seemed to be deeply embedded in it, and the chaotic glow flowing throughout the fairy egg easily overshadowed the divine light of the earth fire.

Each of its pulses subtly draws upon the Earth's core, connecting it to another passageway space, and continuously drawing upon the abundant essence from the Blood Pool Abyss behind it to refine nutrients.

The blood-red light in the abyss and the dazzling divine radiance emanating from the divine feathers and celestial glow emerging from the surface of the immortal egg intertwine, creating a contrast between the eerie and the sacred.

Boom...

The stellar core magma was extracted into billions of strands of crimson-gold divine light, carrying with it the residual power of faith from an unknown source, and finally all of it flowed into the egg as a torrent.

Tan Lin carefully examined the details in the image and could tell that the star core was not actually on the ancient star Yinghuo. Its specific location was only close to Yinghuo relative to the vast universe.

This resolved some of his earlier doubts.

Perhaps it was a deliberate attempt to create confusion, or perhaps for some other reason, but at this time, the Immortal Emperor did not move his Nirvana lair to the node outside the Path to Immortality on Mars.

At least this time, the other party's transformation did not truly occur in Yinghuo.

"That's a clever tactic. If I hadn't conducted an on-site investigation, I would have almost been fooled too..."

Tan Lin's deep eyes flickered slightly.

bang...

Just then, the five-colored fairy egg rippled with strange waves amidst the blood-red light and celestial glow, and the fragments of the scene before him were completely annihilated.

Tan Lin was not surprised by this.

That strange fluctuation is a normal phenomenon during the transformation of the fairy egg.

Although he had only glimpsed the other party for a brief moment, he had already grasped that the other party's Nirvana had reached a crucial stage, which could not be missed. This would be the key to his success in this trip to Zhongzhou.

"That's enough. A moment's insight is the key to victory."

Tan Lin's remnant soul's gaze grew even deeper, instantly severing its perception of the Undying Emperor.

Although the Immortal Emperor has not yet become an immortal, in order to be absolutely certain, he still cannot spy too much, otherwise it may cause some kind of alarm to the other party.

Thoughts flowed like lightning.

He then glanced at the rapidly dwindling crimson light in his palm, and focused his attention on the end of the largest branch anchor point on this causal line.

boom……

Then another shift in light and shadow appeared before my eyes.

The next moment, he caught sight of the Immortal Daoist sitting beside an ancient well deep within the Human Emperor's Palace.

The ancient well was shrouded in an eerie mist that was not normally visible.

Looking through the surface of the ancient well, he saw that the well contained a pool of water in which golden liquid, silver liquid, and transparent divine liquid were mixed together.

The waters of the Divine Soul Pool?

……

Chapter 40 Departure for the Human Emperor's Palace (3.1K)

"This is... the water of the Divine Soul Pool?"

Tan Lin narrowed his eyes slightly.