Xin Lie was about to turn in for the night when she heard the knocks on her door. She sensed two people outside. Both were aura she knew. She already had a bad premonition before she even opened the door.

"Sister Xin Lie," Hai Xuang greeted her when she opened the door. Lan Mei was beside him. They were holding hands.

Looking at the two, Xin Lie said, "This had better not be what I think..."

"Sister Xin Lie, I am leaving with Sister Lan Mei. We will disappear," Hai Xuang said before Xin Lie could finish her sentence.

"Motherfuc... And you choose to tell me?!"

"You are the only one who knows about my relationship with sister Lan Mei," Hai Xuang said. "If I don’t warn you, I can’t imagine what Lord Lang Man will do once he finds out. You need to tell everyone to leave right away tonight."

Lan Mei added, "I’ve my trusted maid secure your departure. My husband won’t know until he wakes up in the morning."

"You can’t go and inform your brother instead of me?" Xin Lie complained.

"He will prevent me from doing this," Hai Xuang replied.

"While I can’t...," Xin Lie said. Hai Xuang’s cultivation was higher than hers. She couldn’t stop him even if she wished to.

"By the time you tell Brother Hai Lao about this, we will be gone already."

"Fuck...! Bloody hell! You owe me one for this!" Xin Lie exclaimed.

"I do... Thank you, Sister Xin Lie. We might not meet again."

Lan Mei gave Xin Lie an appreciative nod before she went away with Hai Xuang. Xin Lie watched the two leave and sighed heavily. She hoped the two could find happiness. She and the rest of the world, on the other hand, would have to face the repercussions of their action.

She walked in the opposite direction from the two, where Hai Lao’s room was located.

Hai Lao was furious upon hearing the news, but he was pragmatic. He knew if he chased after Hai Xuang and Lan Mei, he wouldn’t be able to do it quietly. This might instead cause Lang Man to wake up and investigate the disturbance. Whether he managed to stop Hai Xuang or not, things wouldn’t look good if Lang Man learned of the situation. No matter the outcome, the peace effort was over.

Hence, he did what he could. He had Xin Lie and Li Jing silently wake all the faction members who came with them. Not long after, they quietly exited the mansion. Outside, a middle-aged maid carrying a lantern had been waiting for them.

"Are you the one Lan Mei says will deliver us out of the estate?" Xin Lie asked the maid.

The maid nodded. "Yes, you can call me Maid Lin. Please follow me. Mistress Lan Mei had cleared the guards at the Northern side of this estate and disabled the barrier there. There should not be anyone roaming at this hour, but we will take a concealed path just to be safe. Please do your best not to make noise."

Everyone followed Maid Lin in silence. They went through a small path through a garden beside the lake. As promised, no one guarded that side, and the barrier was down.

"Good luck," Maid Lin told them.

Xin Lie thanked her. The group immediately rushed toward the border. Thankfully, the Peace Estate was built near the border. It was only a few hours away. The border also no longer had a barrier blocking travel between the two domains, so Hai Lao and the others could cross it without a hassle. Before sunrise, they were already back in the Devotion Domain.

Maid Lin watched the group leave. After they disappeared on the horizon, she didn’t return to the estate. Instead, she sent a mental message. She then transformed into a large fox with nine tails and sprinted away from the estate.

---------------

Amon was inside Dao Su’s workshop. He was standing before a newly created, altered beast. He had his hand on the altered beast’s head. Both his eyes and the altered beast’s eyes were closed.

When his eyes opened, he said, "I can’t tame it."

Dao Su, who had been observing by the side, uttered, "Ain’t that surprising. Have I not already said that it is impossible to tame an altered beast? Their souls are no longer normal after alteration. You have tried it many times. Until when will you accept this reality?"

"If you believe that, why do you keep observing whenever I attempt it?" Amon asked.

"Studying the failures of a fool can also be enlightening," Dao Su answered. "Why are you so eager to tame an altered beast anyway? I understand an altered beast can appear stronger, but it is mostly because they are put together with a specific task in mind. If you want an altered beast so much, you must tame it before the alteration, like what we did to the Great Sun Hawk."

"Hmph, it’s not that I want an altered beast as my tamed beast. I simply want to make sure about the state of an altered beast’s soul. If I ask you to imprint Bo Wu’s soul into an altered beast, it is unlikely he can retain its personality, isn’t it?"

"You are right. An altered beast isn’t an ideal host. Any soul imprinted on it will most likely be damaged in the process. It won’t retain much of its original soul. Are you looking to give Bo Wu a new body? Why don’t you just capture a hell beast?"

"Do you know where to find one?" Amon asked.

"Uh, no. Why not just ask Bo Wu? He should know where his kind lives," Dao Su proposed.

"He said his nest and all that lived there have been decimated by Hai Di when he was captured. He does not know any other place where Hell Beasts live. Never mind. Luckily, I have Zee Whang prepared an alternate solution."

"Huh? What can that fatso do?"

"I asked him to..." Amon suddenly stopped speaking. Soon after, he grinned widely.

"Hm, since you didn’t use a message talisman or any other communication tool, I assume you had just received a mental message from your tamed beast?" Dao Su asked.

"I did," Amon answered. His grin remained.

"Good news, I presume?"

"Indeed. My plans had proceeded nicely."

"That plan you said that will provoke the Devotion and Commitment Domains into a full-blown war?"

Amon nodded.

"What did you do to provoke them exactly?" Dao Su asked.

"I persuaded one of Hai Di’s favorite children to elope with one of Lang Man’s favorite wives."

"How the hell did you make that happen?"

Amon shrugged. "I gave them the worst advice anyone can ever give."

"What advice is that?"

"Chase your dream, no matter the consequences."

"Hm? Is that a bad thing?" 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Amon chuckled. "Hehe. Not for immoral people like you and me, it’s not."

"So, what now?"

"Now, we wait. I have added enough fuel that even if I do nothing from this point on, no one can stop what’s coming. Of course, doesn’t mean we do nothing while waiting. Since I have put in motion the play that will disrupt the power balance in this lower world, it’s time I shift my objective to my personal advancement."

"Which is?"

"We will be heading back into the misty border."

The first time Amon entered the misty border, Dao Su wasn’t aware of it. If he did, he might have asked Amon to leave him behind.

Amon seemed to have read his thoughts through his expression. "Don’t worry. You are safe inside here."

"That’s not my concern. What if you fall prey to the spirit beasts inside the misty border?" Dao Su asked.

"I’m touched that you are concerned about my well-being."

"Like hell I am! I don’t give a shit if you die. What I’m worried about is getting stuck with no way out."

"I’ve already shown you how to open the exit portal from inside here in case of emergency."

"I’m not talking about getting stuck inside this dimension. I meant out there inside the misty border, surrounded by powerful spirit beasts, without knowing the way back to the mainland. If you die out there, that is what will happen. I’ve heard all the horrors from people who survived the place. I would rather be recaptured by Hai Di than suffer the same fate as those who failed to return from there."

"Don’t worry. I have survived the misty border once. I will survive it again," Amon said. "Plus, I’m not alone. We have amassed many altered beasts. There is also my battle puppet army, which Zee Whang has upgraded. I have the full might of an army accompanying me in this journey. We will be fine."

Dao Su seemed to cool off a bit after hearing Amon’s explanation. Of course, he didn’t know that the place Amon planned to go was Di Yu’s old nest, where her offspring currently lived. A nest of a Mid Deity Beast was no doubt deep inside a place surrounded by strong spirit beasts. It was incomparable to the Hyanid’s nest.

Amon kept this information to himself. There was no point in making others worry unnecessarily.