Blast from the Past

Still, I am not as crazy prepared as I would have liked. Not after what had happened. While it is mostly my fault for oversleeping, I have to admit that I had a pretty awesome dream. It is one of a kind dreams in a long time, given the fact that I have pay more than a billion years for it.

I would have woken up sooner if my iPhone did not die in my sleep. I did have the phone fully charged before entering my slumber, but I totally forgot to turn on silence mode to conserve its battery.

If I had done that, my phone should have lasted a few million years on a single charge. Then again, if I had done that, I would have not known about the utter destruction of my interdimensional network.

One of those bastards (or bitches) must have wrecked my stuff when I was out of commission. Fucking hell. Only a Divine Emperor or Empress can destroy the network so completely, and it is really fucking hard to kill one of them, considering that they are more or less on the same power level as me.

Furthermore, it is also literally impossible to hunt down a Divine Emperor or Empress if they seriously do not want to be found.

Goddamn fucking Gods.

I also did not expect the total collapse of my personal cult within this region. The subsequent robberies by countless interlopers have also hindered my progress greatly. Honesty, if I have all of my elemental stones in my storage ring, I could have established my foundations already.

Maybe establishing some pillars too.

It is unfortunate that those elemental stones cannot be stored in any sort of pocket dimension. Like a storage ring, for example. The reason for that is because they contain a pocket dimension themselves, as a pocket dimension cannot be inside another pocket dimension.

The same reason to why I have not activated my first cheat yet. Using its full power means that I would have to give up my Imperial Palace, as the palace is considered a pocket dimension unlike my Domain, which is in turn a separate dimension onto itself.

Between my cheat and the Imperial Palace, I am not sure which is more useful. The cheat is most likely better suited as it had helped me in the past. It is also overpowered as fuck thanked to all the upgrades I have unlocked. But I am curious what would happen if I obtain Immortal Emperor status again.

Will I be able to form another Imperial Palace upon ascending into the Immortal Realm?

I might be able to due to me keeping my status as Divine Emperor despite no longer have the necessary cultivation level.

It is a bit screwy, all thanks to the Mandate of Heaven in my possession. Having it allows me to be like a unique case. A very unique case.

So unique that the Heaven itself has like no fucking clue what to do about me, or I think it would have done so already. Like at least take back the Mandate of Heaven. But for it to do so, it would be going against its own Law.

Even the Heaven is abided by its own Law, and with its hands currently tied, I can do some crazy shits – the kind of shits that other Divine Emperors and Divine Empresses have to think twice about.

Heh.

While I was thinking about all of that as well as how to deal with Zhao Yao, I have complete examining most of Zhao Liu's vivid memories and associated thoughts. Those are usually the most important.

Although I do have the time to look through all of her memories, starting from her earliest memories, which would be when she was a baby, until now. Doing so would mean I essentially live her entire life on fast forwards. But sadly, I do not have the power to do so.

The fading of my divine aura forces me to remove my hands from Zhao Liu.

Just the offending hand on her forehead, as the other hand of mine is totally fine where it is, currently.

That hand is not really offending anyone, for I am merely exploring one of my prized possession. More so now that Zhao Liu has vowed to serve me and only me as her Divine Emperor.

Zhao Liu cannot go back on her words, as the Heaven will not forgive her for doing so. Of course, I can release her from her vows, but why would I do something like that? There is nothing anyone can give me in exchange for one of my girls.

Once the golden aura around me fades away completely, I take in a deep breath, letting my body takes a good rest from the built-up stress. There is no pill or remedy that can help me with this stress, as the unfathomable power of a Divine Emperor is not something a mortal can utilize.

The only reason that I can is because it is my power to begin with. If it was power bestowed upon me by any other Divine Emperor or Empress, instant death would be the least of my problem. It is similar to using a nuclear bomb to power a phone.

The phone would be vaporized alongside with the rest of the city.

Even if I can utilize my own divine power, the amount that I can channel is miniscule. It is more or less just a tiny drop in a vast ocean that housed within the ring.

In order to utilize more of my original power, my physique has to be more powerful than it is currently, and to do that –

I cough a little into my free hand, finding bloods on my palm. It seems that the damages to my internal pathways is fairly severe. If I channel more divine powers, my body would be fucked up, requiring me to seek some serious help.

That is also a problem onto itself, as I do not want anyone to know my current depowered state. They will take advantage of me. I certainly would, so I can safely assume they would so too. Friends are for losers.

I grope Zhao Liu a bit more to forget the pain. She is useful that way, and she doesn't need to be awake to be useful.

Once I have my fun, I have a look at my inventory afterwards, specifically at my trophies, and I do have a lot of trophies. Most of them have lost their shine, meaning that their owner is likely dead or become something else.

Some of the trophies shine even brighter than I recall, indicating that their owner has ascended into a greater height while I slumber. A billion years is a good amount of time to reach Immortal Realm and more.

Out of all the trophies I have, I select a bag of colorful feathers.

This is because the bag of feathers stands out the most by having the weakest glows as well as auras, and the moment that I summon it into my palm, I could hear a very toasty bird begging me for mercy, desperately.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I did not know who you are! I did not. Please. Ah! Please. I swear I am not tasty – not tasty! Please don't eat me. Please! Ah! Ah!"

Funny bird.

It managed to avoid becoming my dinner due to some asshole had interrupted my cooking, and I lost my appetite after the ensuring bloodbath. While I did let the bird go afterwards, I did not give the bird back its feathers.

No particular reason for me to, especially when its feather is a high prized alchemy ingredient. I didn't use any of the feathers to concoct anything though. Maybe that is a good thing.

After a close examination of the feathers under the Eyes of the Beholder, I am fairly surprised at how priceless each of these feathers is. More than that, I am amazed that the owner manages to stay alive without its feathers.

Does it have incredible hidden potential? Most likely. Or it is just incredible lucky.

And as for why the feathers have the faintest glows and auras, it is because the owner cannot ascend into higher realm. Still, the owner should be more than enough to deal with Zhao Yao, assuming that she is what I believe that she is.

It is not that rare for a cultivator to suddenly has a change in personality after returning from the world of spirits, and the reason for that is quite obvious. Obvious to me, anyway.

Before heading back to the Valley of the Wind, I take out a small metallic sphere from my storage ring and open it to place a feather inside. Once the sphere is closed, it begins to rotate for a brief moment before becoming inert again.

With the Sphere of Summoning in my hand, I am ready to head back to the Valley of the Wind. Then I realize that I have no way of getting back quickly enough. I have come here via Shattered Dimension, and to return, I must return via Shattered Dimension.

Without any divine power shielding me from the distortion effect of the Shattered Dimension, it would be suicide. Even my divine robe will not protect me from the Shattered Dimension, as the robe is not a sealed-in suit.

After some thoughts, I decide to just channel a bit of divine power. Just enough for myself and myself only. I will leave Zhao Liu behind for now.

Zhao Liu will be safe here, and I will come back to get her later. Of course, I left her some foods even though I am sure she has some in her storage ring. She might not be able to get them out because of her shattered foundations.

After drawling out a bit more divine energy, I enter the Shattered Dimension. Taking a couple of steps into the right direction, I exit the Shattered Dimension and emerge into a well shielded chamber.

I nearly collapse onto the ground afterwards due to the sheer exhaustion. Looks like I cannot channel more of my divine power for the rest of the week unless I want to permanently damage my pathways.

No problem. I have plenty of ways to deal anything comes my way.

After taking a deep breath, I come face to face with a dimensional rift.

It is in the middle of the room, and from the amount of spiritual energy leaking out, the other side of the portal must be the Spiritual World. I suppose that this is one way to cultivate one's spiritual energy without needing to enter the Spiritual World.

But for Zhao Yao to enter it anyway means that her cultivation has reached quite a high spiritual level, and it might be a problem.

I look around the room to make sure the chamber is indeed devoid of anyone else but me. My cheating eyes can discern all sort of things, including invisibility. Spirits are not exactly invisible to a cultivator.

Since Zhao Yao is not here, time to loot her belongings. I mean to keep her belongings safe just in case this chamber somehow becomes a smoking hole in the ground.

It does not take me long to clean the room of everything not bolted down, and once I am done, I could wait for Zhao Yao to come back. It will not be the same with Zhao Liu, as Zhao Yao entered the Spiritual World with her actual body.

She will return with her actual body, thus preventing from repeating the same trick. Also, it might not work since her spirit will be a force to be reckoned with.

That is where my summoning sphere comes in. I throw it into the ground to activate it, and the instant it explodes (because I like things exploding), all the spiritual energy in the room vanishes.

No. Not just vanishes. Rather, they are all absorbed by the summoned person.

"Someone can force summon me…?" the stunning beauty questions before noticing me. Her unearthly eyes widen a little before becoming utterly shocked. "You!"

I am also shocked, but not at the fact that she is a Vermillion. I am at the fact that she manages to gain a human form despite losing all of her feathers, and she is definitely a 10.

Maybe a low 11 simply due to her mythical status.

"Oh, you remember," I response with a smile before she attempts to attack me.

And as a billion years old Spiritual Beast, tanking her attack even with my divine robe will still turn my inside into mush. That is from the force behind her strike alone, and it is a good thing that she is unable to connect her attack.

"W-what?"

I chuckle. "Did you forget that as a summoned Spiritual Beast, you cannot attack your summoner?"

"Summoner…? Impossible. I have never given you my contract!" she points out with a hint of fear. She understands what it means to be a summoned beast.

"Have you forgotten who I am? Shall I pluck all of your feathers and then roast you again? Maybe this time, I shall have a taste of you. I am sure it will be quite heavenly," I response with a devilish grin.

"No. No. No! No!!"

And she runs away by literally leaving a huge hole in the wall. All the barriers and seals protecting this secret chamber does not even slow her down. She is definitely beyond the Spiritual Realm.

Like way beyond.