Immortal of the Ages

Chapter 707: Fox and Great Mother

The old man was a peculiar sight, draped in a wide conical hat which hid his features except for a single dark red eye—his face devoid of mouth, nose, or ears.

"Celestial Devil Abyss, the Devil Eye," Yun Xiao introduced to Divine Dawn.

"And what can he do?" Divine Dawn scoffed, clearly unimpressed by the Devil Eye, yet murmured to herself as if reconsidering, "It dares to show itself now; it must be lucid and useful."

This moment was like a clash within her own psyche.

As she wrestled with her multiple personalities, Yun Xiao beckoned the Devil Eye closer, saying, "Repeat to her what you just told me."

The one-eyed elder bowed slightly, his voice earnest, "I greet the Seventh Princess."

"Cut the nonsense!" Divine Dawn commanded sternly.

"Yes..." The Devil Eye pointed to its singular eye and explained, "This lone eye of mine is all I have. It sees deeply, sees far, glimpsing things beyond the ordinary reach."

"Can you discern her true nature?" Yun Xiao interjected.

"Do you mean to say you can see into the mortal realm?" Divine Dawn ignored the three and pursued the heart of the matter.

From her cautious expression, the one who answered was the girl Yun Xiao knew best.

The Devil Eye nodded vigorously. "I can see the emissaries of the imperial family, and which mortal stars they're stationed at."

Divine Dawn paused, amazed. "Wow, how is that possible? Your sight reaches too far! Old man, what is your eye made of?"

The Devil Eye chuckled modestly. "Merely a trivial skill, hardly worth mentioning."

His laughter stemmed from his amusement at Divine Dawn's rapidly changing moods, quite an entertaining spectacle.

"If you dare lie, you're a dead man." Divine Dawn's wonder quickly turned to a threatening scowl.

"I would not dare." The Devil Eye quickly bowed in assurance.

"Devil Eye," Yun Xiao called out, then seriously tasked him, "Now that we've discussed this, I entrust you with a mission. Take your people and swiftly purge these imperial traces from the mortal realm. Bring their heads to me. Accomplish this, and you will be forever safe."

The Devil Eye, invigorated by the promise, vowed, "I assure you, the task will be done!"

"Remember, do not harm the civilians," Divine Dawn cautioned.

"By your command." The Devil Eye nodded.

"Go and make it so," Yun Xiao dismissed him.

"As you wish."

With a bow, the Devil Eye vanished into the swirling dark mists, disappearing from sight.

"Why do you trust him? He's a formidable foe from Naraka," Divine Dawn questioned.

"Because the moment he first saw me, he knew to fear me," Yun Xiao answered.

"You're still so confident," Divine Dawn remarked with a hint of melancholy.

"Missing home?" Yun Xiao suddenly took her hand, his longing stirring within him.

Divine Dawn paused, then shook off his hand, her voice cool, "I merely slept for a while; how many women have you found in the meantime?"

"Truly, there are none. You misunderstand me," Yun Xiao replied.

"And this body—how do you explain waking up no longer pure? Dare you say it wasn't your doing?" Divine Dawn challenged.

"You're all the same person; why make such distinctions?" Yun Xiao said.

"No, we're not." Divine Dawn shook her head, sighing softly. "You don't understand, we're not the same."

"How can you not be..."

Before Yun Xiao could finish, tears threatened to fall as she confronted him. "Yun Xiao, how could you bear to stab me?"

Yun Xiao coughed awkwardly, at a loss for words.

"The third time will be you flipping the tables on me, right? Well, in this life, I shall not entangle with you anymore," Divine Dawn suddenly declared.

"Don't." Yun Xiao reached for her hand again.

"What are you doing? Stay away, you rogue!" she snapped, anger boiling over.

Yun Xiao watched her decisively walk away, his heart silently aching with unspeakable sorrow.

"Let it be, adjust slowly."

The situation now was complex:

The Seventh Princess didn't recognize him, treating him as a rogue.

Lian Xi loved and depended on him, yet felt wronged, angry, and unforgiving.

Chen Xi was the most complicated. She knew all Yun Xiao had done for her, but the memory of their third encounter was a painful one for her, leaving her with a conflicted mix of love and resentment towards him.

"Let's solve the immediate problems first, then worry about romantic entanglements." Yun Xiao turned away, looking toward the sanguine dome over the Great Celestial Palace.

"If the disaster in the mortal realm can be resolved, then only our direct confrontation with the imperial family remains..."

Divine Dawn had not left; she too was nearby, seeking a last-minute chance to boost her strength.

"I need to find a way to trigger the tribulation!"

Setting aside other thoughts, Yun Xiao's expression grew stern as he entered a state of breakthrough.

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In the desolate reaches of the Celestial Demon Abyss, Moon Fairy glided forth through the barren lands.

Ahead of him, the earth itself trembled as a mountain of flesh and blood, still oozing, roared with fury. All along the path, demons became fodder for its insatiable hunger.

She was like a person whose belly had been torn open, madly devouring while the food spilled out from her guts.

"The corpse demon is usually formless, to appear in this state, it can only mean that the Immortal Asylum has truly wounded her at her core," Moon Fairy muttered to himself.

Why else would corpses be falling out of her stomach?

Under normal circumstances, even split in half, she could immediately coalesce anew.

Following closely, Moon Fairy could see clearly—a gaping wound on the Great Mother’s body, like a bloody centipede, continuously tearing at her flesh, causing her immense pain.

If she ceased to feed, her body would shrink. For the corpse demon, this was agony enough to be fatal.

"She's miserable enough, she shouldn't bother with me now."

With this conclusion, Moon Fairy wasted no further words and set off toward the Divine Desolation Sea—his true objective on this journey.

The last time, he hadn’t absorbed much desolation before the Great Mother had consumed him, leaving Yun Xiao still longing for the Divine Desolation Sea.

Now, with the Great Mother grievously injured, he decisively chose to send his body double back. Otherwise, staying in the Celestial Court, Moon Fairy saw little chance for short-term advancement.

Yun Xiao trusted in his own destiny more than convenient opportunities. As long as he grew strong enough, wouldn't the chance to destroy the White Emperor always be there?

With a hum, Moon Fairy transformed into a six-tailed silver fox, swift as a flash of silver light, darting into the Divine Desolation Sea.

The water rushed around him, unrestricted and unrestrained, this time he relished in the unbounded freedom.

Vast amounts of desolation surged into his body.

The elements of wind, fire, water, and earth—at the Dao and Divine Heaven grade—flooded into his fleshly body, tempered by the Will of Divine Desolation, rendering his physique ever more formidable.

Thunderous echoes reverberated as Moon Fairy overcame the Wood Spirit Thunder and Gold Origin Thunder, effortlessly, advancing to the Establishment Anima Tribulation Realm.

The entire Divine Desolation Sea was his to churn, an ocean without a master, and he stirred it into upheaval.

"Sly fox!"

Suddenly, a harsh, vicious, eerie growl echoed from above.

After overcoming the Gold Origin Thunder, Moon Fairy, now in a humanoid form with fox ears and tail, burst forth from the Divine Desolation Sea.

Before his modest five-and-a-half foot stature, an eight-foot-tall woman appeared, her long hair cascading like a waterfall, her skin pale as paper, with a blood-red centipede writhing across her abdomen.

"Can you rid me of this?" the Great Mother asked, her voice chilling.

Moon Fairy glanced at her and shook his head. "I cannot."

"Then you are useless to me!" the Great Mother hissed, glaring at him.

"You cannot harm me anymore." Moon Fairy, uninterested in further discourse, turned back toward the Divine Desolation Sea.

"Wait!" The Great Mother blocked his path, her voice ferocious, "Your friend, he has that Life Sigil, he can surely help me."

"And why would he help you?" Moon Fairy's voice was a quiet murmur.

"I can aid him! Kill the White Emperor! Destroy the imperial family!" the Great Mother pleaded urgently.

"And what if, once healed, you decide to seize his Life Sigil?" Moon Fairy questioned.

The Great Mother's mind was far more deranged than the ethereal quiet of Pale Revenant.

"I won't! I won't! I'll behave," the Great Mother insisted desperately, her hollow eyes brimming with tears.

"Alright, wait here," Moon Fairy waved dismissively, "Once I'm done, I'll take you to him."

"Hurry, I can't hold on much longer," the Great Mother said pitifully.

"Stay put and behave!"

With a stern glance, Moon Fairy dived back into the Divine Desolation Sea.

Meanwhile, the Great Mother could only sit tensely on the side of a mountain, waiting anxiously.