One could only imagine the trio’s dilemma back then. Killing the most powerful dark lord left them ladened with injuries. Moreover, fixing the rift wasted their energy and vitality.
The second dark lord knew that the three immortals had the home-court advantage in the expanse so he avoided any direct confrontations. He made the fallen ones buy time.
This made it difficult for the three to kill him right away.
“The temptation of darkness was too much so many experts switched sides. If that had continued, the pillars of Three Immortals would be gone even after we kill him.” Emperor Nong said.
If they needed to kill all the fallen ones to get to the dark lord, the expanse would run out of masters.
“That’s why we needed to enter Three Immortals again.” He continued: “We stayed on the pursuit while using our dao heart to find suitable candidates.”
“So you found Zither Empress, Fire Ancestor, and the others, letting them form a powerful alliance to face the darkness. Very helpful on top of stopping individual experts from falling.” Li Qiye understood the plan.
“Right.” Emperor Xi nodded.
Their disciples didn’t let them down either. These brilliant geniuses eventually became the most powerful progenitors. They recruited powerful alliances and entered the expanse.
“After several bloodied battles, we finally managed to stop and imprison the second lord. We thought that we would have been able to refine it completely…” Emperor Xi paused for a bit.
Emperor Sui sighed after getting to this point.
“A traitor, Fire Ancestor.” Li Qiye said.
“Yes, he fell to the third lord.” Emperor Sui continued with melancholy: “The third one hid the entire time while continuing to recruit people.”
Fire Ancestor betrayed them when they thought victory was certain. This was surprising because he was Emperor Sui’s prized disciple and had numerous meritorious achievements against the darkness.
“That’s why he earned the trust of the third one.” Li Qiye nodded.
Fire Ancestor managed to get a strand of hair and a fingernail from the third existence, clearly a showing of trust.
“So the ambush allowed the imprisoned one to escape and we couldn’t find them afterward.” Emperor Sui said with disappointment. It didn’t feel good to be betrayed by the disciple he trusted the most.
“The unicorn needs help in order to win. There’s no chance for him going alone against you three after the death of the second one.” Li Qiye also understood the unicorn’s plan.
“Haha, the second one lost patience and was captured by you.” Emperor Xi said.
The grievously injured dark lord no longer showed up later as well, the same with the third one. The latter continued to work in the shadows in order to build up an army.
The second lord took advantage of the heavenly tribulation and suddenly escaped out of the expanse.
He needed to replenish his vitality and Three Immortals was the perfect target. Unfortunately, he ended up being captured and refined by Li Qiye.
“Later on, we stayed here in order to watch the rift, look for the third one, and heal our injuries. We also sent our dao avatars to look for the tree, that’s the only way to fix the gap.” Emperor Nong spoke while looking at the tree in his hand.
In the end, Li Qiye was one step ahead of them and found the tree. Emperor Nong had no choice but to make a deal.
As for the unicorn, he knew that the three immortals have been keeping an eye on the expanse still. Thus, he chose to order the other progenitors and experts to cause chaos, hoping to attract their attention.
The invasion on Three Immortals had the same goal. He wanted the three immortals to come back so that he could move on to the next step of his plan. Alas, they didn’t bite. Moreover, Li Qiye came out of nowhere and ruined it completely.
“All along, those from that world outside still want to come here. We don’t know how much longer we can last without this tree.” Emperor Sui stared at the tiny rift and said.
“It’s over now. Brother Li had dealt with all of this on his own, this is a peerless contribution to the worlds.” Emperor Nong smiled.
This was no exaggeration. Li Qiye killed two dark lords and swept away the darkness on top of finding the tree. His contribution was above theirs right now so they had nothing but respect for him.
Li Qiye didn’t say anything and focused his gaze on the rift.
“We should start and mend the rift with the tree. No more problems later on.” Emperor Xi suggested.
Previously, they were very curious about the unknown world but this was no longer the case. The existence of this rift meant a potential disaster for Three Immortals.
For them, nothing was more important than the survival of Three Immortals. Thus, they threw away their curiosity and desires before mending this rift. Everything would be the same again.
“Not going to take a look?” Li Qiye asked with a smile.
“No!” All three answered at the same time.
“I will though.” He smirked.
The three became serious because this wasn’t a joke. This pertained to the survival of all.
“You mean…?” Emperor Xi asked.
“Three Immortals have been exposed, they know about this fatty piece of meat now. It’ll do a good job at curing their hunger. You don’t think they salivate while thinking about it?” Li Qiye said.
The three knew that their world was a prime target now after the formation of this rift. These other beings wanted nothing more than to devour it.
“We’re sinners.” Emperor Sui sighed.
“Fixing this rift is a temporary solution, not permanent. I’m positive that it is inevitable. No one will be able to escape in the future.” Li Qiye’s eyes became profound.
“Elaborate, Brother.” Emperor Xi earnestly asked.
“Take them all down! Go all out with this opportunity. There won’t be another one.” Li Qiye said.
The three exchanged glances. They were the strongest cultivators of this world but after fighting the dark existences, they knew that this unknown world was unimaginably frightening.
“We’re not being unduly humble when saying that we won’t be able to do anything there. It’s not about staying alive for us since death isn’t enough to atone for our mistake. However, this rift must be fixed for the sake of Three Immortals.” Emperor Xi said seriously.
“I’m not telling you three to go. It’s my personal wish so I’ll go alone. It’ll be selfish to bury Three Immortals by forcing you three to go there.” Li Qiye smiled.