Sentient and intelligent as the [Legged Snake of the Depths] in front of Bai Qi was, it didn't speak a single word, simply roaring as it appeared in front of the human cultivator and attacked the latter, not even giving him a chance of preparing at full.

Bai Qi was honestly worried about this fight, at least inwardly. But from the outside, he appeared calm, almost as if he was both ready and able to beat the [Legged Snake of the Depths], not even dodging the surprisingly quick lunge of the enormous beast.

While Hudie Xiuying had been told to stay out of the matter and had herself commanded the other elders to do the same, she couldn't help following after Bai Qi's movements via a mind-connection to the main formation of the [Lands of the Fairy].

Even as she talked and exchanged pleasantries with the so-called local powers representatives, who showered her and the [Palace] with nothing praise, all in hopes of getting closer to what was fundamentally the most powerful, or at least the richest, organization in the entire region, excluding the 1st-tier powers of the overlord, she kept a watch at every action undertaken by the man that the remanent spirit of the so-called [Fairy Goddess] had chosen for a task that only it understood.

She nearly sighed as she observed how easily Hei Ye, the [Black Fang], overwhelmed Bai Qi's aura barrier, sending the young boy flying away with a single claw swipe.

But Hudie Xiuying didn't sigh. In place of that, her face once again grimaced into a small smile as she congratulated Guanghui Zhi, the leader of the [Pingheng Gong], the [Palace of Balance], a 3rd-tier power located barely some hundred miles from the edge of the [Delicate Forest Palace] lands. The [Brave Hairstreak] inwardly smirked, recalling that from all looks, the second place in the [Martial Path of the Hebrs] would belong to a disciple of the latter.

***

The ones to sigh aloud would be two of the elders present in the formation control room, although their reasons varied.

Elder Zhi Yui sighed in sadness, all of her plans about getting Bai Qi into the fold of the [Palace] by any means destroyed by the beast the boy now faced.

As for Elder Xun Guo, she sighed in relief. The project that had been mentioned before in the same room, what once had been considered blasphemy but then, surprisingly, had been accepted even by the strand of consciousness that still ruled the lands, the last vestige of the [Primordial Fairy], was one of her make, and she had no desire to see it snuffed out, even if by the decision of the same one that allowed it.

"...you both should hold your sighs. They are not only unbecoming of the Elders of the council, but they are also misguided. Look closely!" The [Wise Elfin], Huang Song, was neutral in the matter, considering that everything would go as desired by the [Primordial Fairy] and that they had no way to interfere.

And so, she at first planned to slightly reprimand the two Elders. Yet, her gaze had never left the scene playing before their eyes. And her reprimand turned into an actual scolding, as the two missed that while Bai Qi was swept away by the claw, and his aura had failed to even slightly stop the [Legged Snake of the Depths] called [Black Fang], he had not been injured. He even managed to stop himself a few inches from the sharp rock he had been sent to crash against, his expression as calm as it was before the start of the battle!

***

If an observer could have been present in the room hidden beneath the massive [Midnight Granite] hill, they would at first wonder just how it was possible for such a room to even exist. They would later wonder about the pair of beings inside the empty but heavily decorated room, questioning if such beings were even meant to exist.

And indeed, in the enormous stretch making up the room, not lesser than an entire mile from wall to wall, except the ornate jade pillars and even more heavily decorated walls, all depicting flowers, made up from every possible gemstone - though the rarest of the jade, the pink jade, took head over the others - there where two beings that not even a [True Immortal] could explain. At least not when considering that the [Sky Tear Plane] was nothing more than an Intermediate-tier plane, where no cultivator above a half-Saint, the phase between a peak Warrior Emperor and a true 1st level Saint, could exist.

And the presences, both of them, were far above the limits of the plane. Even now, where any cultivator could feel that the remnant spirits present in the room were that, and not actual living cultivators, or beings if one was to be specific.

A woman that looked no more human than the pillars of the room, such would be the first thought of any observer. Just some three feet tall but with perfect proportions, so perfect that it already denoted their owner as someone not human, with long and flowing hair of an uncommon green hue and brightly shining red eyes. The [Little Fairy] or [Flying Fairy], later known as the [Goddess Fairy], Tianwan Fei Xian, could assume many forms, but this one was her true one. The first one she had obtained after her first life as a simple non-spiritual [Tiger Lily] had ended.

A man, one that would look normal to many observers, at least at first glance, and if ignoring the fact that his body was absolutely transparent, the heavily decorated columns and walls, with all their flower-like engravings and mosaics observable through his frame. Nearly seven feet tall and of muscular build, his nearly-intangible body still showed the strength the man had during his life. And indeed, when ignoring the grayish hair and the state of the latter's body - covered by a mix of age spots, scars, and wrinkles - the man, the first male to step into this land, was indeed impressive-looking.

"Your lands never accepted a man, except me, but now, when one who has all the right to step upon them, you send the snake?" The man asked in a deep voice, one that barely denoted the mix of doubt and anger he felt, as he turned away from the water mirror he had observed Bai Qi through and faced the [Fairy], or actually, just the remanent spirit of the woman that had made him walk the proverbial mountains of daggers and seas of flames just for a single meeting.

"The nine guardians of my true body are always aware of the challenger's power, and so, the [Black Scale], Hei Ya, was the only one capable of posing a challenge." Fei Xian, the name with which she would become known to Zhen Jian, one of the first peak cultivators to walk this plane, answered without even looking at the man that had broken through her disdain towards anyone but herself, freezing all of her emotions as the moment required. Being just a remanent spirit, the current embodiment of the [First Fairy] was perfectly aware that neither she nor Zhen Jian were alive. Even so, she had to remind herself, every single breath, of the fact while she remained inside this specially formed room. After all, if she didn't, there would be no meaning to her existence, but the same that made the original Tianwan Fei Xian sacrifice herself except to give a human cultivator a couple of years more to live.

"A test tailored to one's talents, huh?!" Zhen Jian had heard the same reasoning too many times, even while being alive and not trapped inside the room where he had met with the woman that stole all of his mind.

But now, generations over generations of women, disciples, and even elders of the [Delicate Forest Palace] that had been founded after his death by the followers of his own sister, died while attempting to recreate the ritual that had brought the souls of a fairy and a man together. By now, his battered soul, which couldn't leave this place, had seen too many deaths. And so, he could not allow even one more to die, especially a man that even what remained of his only and true love, Fei Xian, had considered worthy.

Zhen Jian would have one too many angry remarks and even a plea to speak up, imploring the [Little Fairy], not Fei Xian, to spare at least a single life. But they would die in his throat, as no one else but the fairy herself would point, with a hand whiter than the snow, at the water mirror, "Look! See that not I, nor my guardians, can be mistaken!"

Bai Qi had not dodged the [Legged Snake of the Depths] attack not because of pride but to test his own limits. Since he had achieved the 4th level of the Warrior Lord realm, jumping nearly to the latter's peak with a single breakthrough, his aura had also improved, now comparable to an actual 8th level Warrior Lord.

And yet, even such an aura? It would prove to be nothing against the power of the [Fake Dragon] in front. A single slash of its foreleg was enough to disperse Bai Qi's aura as if it was nothing.

Thankfully, his cultivation set had required Bai Qi to train not only his aura, but to surpass Warrior Lord's speed, physical strength, and even qi capacity, even as a simple sage, and now, the result was shown, with Bai Qi actually deflecting the nearly-deathly slash of the claw by countering it with a punch infused with all of his qi and strength.

Granted, it would be Bai Qi the one sent flying back, nearly as to crash against a couple of sharp spikes of the [Midnight Granite] that comprised the hill, but at the same time, his timely counter and body control allowed him to stop just a couple of inches away from them, having received not a single injury, maybe except to his pride, as Bai Qi had considered his aura to be enough to at least stall the beast's attack.

"Well, damn. You are strong, oh [Legged Snake of the Depths], but I am not planning on dying just yet." While he considered that using an overbearing manner and showing arrogance was something rare for him, in all truth, since his revival, even before the understanding of his cultivation set, Bai Qi had done it a lot. And now, his manner didn't change, not even Bai Qi, when revisiting the events, being able to say if it was he, Bai Qi, the [White Scroll Immortal], or he Bai Qi, as the [Master of Everything, Ruler of Nothing], the one to pronounce such words.

But the fact was there, the words were said, and Bai Qi followed them with an action that not a single of the observers, ones that Bai Qi couldn't even sense, would be able to explain.

And indeed, in such a setting, who would have expected that it would be Bai Qi the one to set forward? The one to launch against the beast that was at the true peak of a 3rd level Saint Beast, with all of its protections, most derived from the stony scales that covered it, appearing as if he could actually break through them?!