"Retreat!" The Fire Sea King finally had his army retreat.
To his surprise, his army turned out to be weaker than Yi Mingxue's newly built army.
This was somewhat embarrassing for him.
With his army retreating, he could focus more on fighting Yi Mingxue although over time, he began to be cornered as Yi Mingxue's speed allowed her to attack from multiple sides.
What about escaping?
That was what he wanted to do, but it was a bit difficult for him.
In the end, he retreated slowly while continuing to fend off Yi Mingxue's attacks.
As long as he could enter into an Ancient Country, a country ruled by an Emperor, then Yi Mingxue would definitely stop.
Continuing to fight within that country and causing damage could make the Emperor angry.
"Hmph, are you afraid old man?" Yi Mingxue taunted him as she realized his plan.
The Fire Sea King did not answer. His heart was full of anger but there was nothing he could say.
Fortunately, Yi Mingxue stopped not long after, not chasing him all the way to an Ancient Country.
Her goal was to take over his territory. Since he had escaped, then her mission was successful.
Afterward, she returned to her troops, ordering them to take over the Fire Sea King's territory.
It was the largest territory she attacked, so her territory increased drastically.
After finishing the battle, she then disappeared.
The tribes in that remote region breathed a sigh of relief that the battle was over.
Although their territory suffered a lot of damage, at least there weren't many casualties because it wasn't a long battle.
Their defense formation still managed to hold.
Moreover, they had gotten quite a harvest as several High Level Great Sage corpses fell in their territory, making them obtain treasures from those corpses.
Actually, Yi Mingxue now went to the bank of an enormous river.
She stood there, taking the river water to wash her beautiful face.
No dust could stick to her face, yet it became brighter after being washed.
"Girl, I think you are a very attractive woman. Born as a princess with extraordinary talent, shouldn't you be a woman who is kind and gentle and likes to protect the weak? However, instead of being a good woman, you are so greedy for other people's territory that you endlessly wage wars to obtain their territory. In terms of nature, I feel that you are more akin to the daughter of a bandit even though in appearance, you are better than almost all nobles."
Yi Mingxue who was still washing her face suddenly heard the voice of a man behind her.
She was very surprised that the man was talking about her being born a princess.
After all, it was in the distant past, how could someone know that?
Even in her originating Great Universe, no one knew that, let alone in the Sacred Silk Realm.
Although being called the daughter of a bandit made her expression sour, it was only for a moment.
Her eyes were filled with curiosity as she stared back.
"Who are you?" she asked directly.
Asher seemed to be only 17, which was younger than her appearance.
However, this was a world where many people had lived billions to trillions of years and it was easy for them to appear at any age. As such, no one cared much about appearance.
The first thing she noticed was naturally his cultivation.
When she sensed he only had the aura of a Paragon, she was a little calmer, but then she narrowed her eyes, feeling that the Paragon aura of the man seemed strange.
"Girl, give me a cup of tea and call me master if you want to be my disciple," Asher said to her in response, getting straight to the point.
Yi Mingxue was very surprised to hear his words.
Asking her to be his disciple? She felt she had misheard something from this strange Paragon.
Of course, she did need a teacher which was why she did not hold back when she displayed her strength.
For Dao Cultivators, teachers were a very important existence, especially teachers of the same Dao.
They could learn from their teacher's Dao insights, obtain secret techniques, and gain various opportunities.
No matter how aloof and haughty one was, it would be difficult to advance without a teacher.
However, as a Paragon who had already reached the power of a Great Paragon and was confident of breaking through to become a Great Paragon soon, Yi Mingxue would only take a Peak Great Paragon with the Dao of Destruction as her teacher, an Emperor was the best choice.
There was no way she would choose a teacher who had the same cultivation as her.
Asher realized her hesitation.
He smiled faintly and did something, leaping towards her with a tightly clenched fist and sending it at her beautiful face.
It was a seemingly ordinary fist, possessing Paragon energy that even seemed weak.
Yi Mingxue hadn't expected this man to attack her. Of course, she did not stand still.
She slashed her sword with the power of destruction at that fist.
However, before the fist and sword even met, the power of destruction that enveloped the sword suddenly shattered.
BANG!
Asher's fist slammed into the sword, knocking it out of Yi Mingxue's hand.
This was a small confrontation but it should have resulted in a huge explosion of power.
However, Yi Mingxue's power of destruction had already been destroyed, so that explosive effect didn't happen because Asher's fist didn't produce an explosive effect.
It also didn't continue to attack her because that could kill her.
"You!"
Yi Mingxue jumped back, instantly arriving on the other side of the river.
Her eyes stared at Asher's fist.
Although the power of the fist seemed weak, its Dao was so profound that its effect easily destroyed the strength equivalent to a 1st Stage Great Paragon. This was equivalent to the effect of a 2nd Stage Great Paragon's attack.
And this was purely because of the depth of the Dao, not because of any special techniques like the ones she used to increase her attack power and speed.
Shua!
Yi Mingxue sent another attack from afar.
This time, Asher did not dodge, letting the attack hit his body.
His Physical Dao radiated from his body, creating a defense that blocked the attack.
The lack of energy didn't make the defense break even though it was an attack equivalent to that of a 1st Stage Great Paragon.
Asher's physique easily withstood the attack from Yi Mingxue.
"Really equivalent to a 2nd Stage Great Paragon," said the woman, becoming more surprised.
Of course, she was sure it was equivalent to a 2nd Stage Great Paragon, not a 3rd Stage because if it was equivalent to a 3rd Stage, her attack would have been pushed back first before it could hit the target.
"What's wrong, little girl? What are you so surprised about?" Asher chuckled.
To him, she was just a little girl. After all, 1 trillion years ago when he escaped from the pursuit of the Monster Progenitors, she had not yet been born.
"Who exactly are you? How are you so powerful as a Paragon? Isn't it impossible for a Paragon to reach the power of a 2nd Stage Great Paragon?" she said.
She rarely spoke, but this was too strange for her.
If only she had reached the peak of cultivation within the Great Universe, having many avatars that teleported to other Greater Universes, she would surely receive information on what kind of existence could possess the power of a 2nd Stage Great Paragon with the cultivation of a Paragon.
They were the most powerful existences outside of the Great Universes.
Meeting one was a huge fortune.
However, information like this was also unknown to most Peak Great Paragons, only Peak Void Masters were capable enough to send multiple avatars to other Great Universes far away from their own.
Peak Great Paragons, they could only send four or five avatars and not far away from their Great Universe.
If they sent too many avatars to distant places, their souls would be pressured to control them.
"Nothing is impossible," Asher replied with a faint smile.
"So what now, do you want to be my disciple or not? Unless you think being a disciple of a 3rd Stage Great Paragon is better than being my disciple."
Of course, he had no trouble guiding her.
Although the Dao of Destruction was not his main Dao, this did not mean he did not master it.
It might not have reached the level of void, but it was already the pinnacle in the Great Universe, already possessing a Perfect Half Void Body or 3rd Stage False Void Master.
Shua!
Yi Mingxue suddenly leapt towards him.
This time, she kept her sword in her storage ring.
When she landed in front of him, she actually knelt down, taking out a cup filled with warm tea.
"Mingxue formally salutes master," she said.
Although she was an arrogant and domineering woman, meeting an expert who was far above her and whom she felt she could learn from, she easily showed politeness. Even her politeness was very natural, which showed that she was truly culturally educated.
Having many disciples, Asher had often encountered people who still couldn't be polite in front of him even though they had reached the pinnacle in the Great Universe, even pretending was too difficult for them.
Seeing Yi Mingxue's way of saluting, he became even more satisfied with her.
He took the cup in her hand, drinking the tea she gave him.
It had a honey sweet flavor, quite delicious. Perhaps it was the best tea kept by that woman.
"From now on, you are also my disciple and I will give you my Dao as well as guidance for you in the Dao of Destruction and other Dao that you actually have talent for but you don't realize it," he said.
Dao cultivators need teachers and for those who are stronger, disciples are like children to them so Dao cultivators continue to accept disciples.
If their students become stronger than them, then it is a very successful big investment.
Because Dao Cultivators attached great importance to their Dao Heart, they hardly dared to betray their vows even if they had become demons.
When one decided to become someone's disciple, it was an oath to never betray.
Once they betrayed, it would damage their Dao Heart.
Consequently, their cultivation would no longer be able to advance. There was even a possibility of their cultivation going downwards because their hearts could not control it.
Bloodline Cultivators didn't have this concept, oaths didn't bind them at all because they didn't need a Dao Heart and they often used it to deceive Dao Cultivators who knew nothing about Bloodline Cultivators. Even Asher had been fooled many times when he reincarnated into the second Great Universe in his life where he met many Bloodline Cultivators.