Seeing Canghai Great Emperor's overwhelming display of power, Consort Dan couldn't help but feel secretly impressed. She had only ever witnessed more formidable divine abilities from the Peacock Great Emperor, but this move from Canghai Great Emperor was without doubt the most powerful technique she had ever seen outside of that.
The Geng brothers exchanged a glance, a sense of respect rising in their hearts. An Emperor-realm powerhouse was still an Emperor-realm powerhouse after all. With just a single move, he had his target firmly in hand, leaving Elder Qiu no opportunity to flee, nor any chance to resist.
This level of power was something the Geng brothers could never hope to match even if they spent their entire lives trying.
The Geng brothers, much like the Huai Mountain twins, had originally believed that Canghai Great Emperor was nothing more than a lapdog of the Shura Great Emperor, who had switched his allegiance to Young Master Jiang Chen under pressure from circumstances. They had looked down on him for his poor character and subconsciously regarded him with contempt.
Now, having witnessed his formidable capabilities, they realized that Canghai Great Emperor wasn't merely skilled at flattery — his actual martial prowess was nothing to scoff at either.
Elder Qiu hung in Canghai Great Emperor's grip like a defeated rooster.
Canghai Great Emperor had seized their vital points and tossed them unceremoniously onto the ground.
"You two brothers, take these two back to Dan Qian Palace and report everything that happened here to the Young Master in full. Make sure to tell him that we've found Miss Consort Dan, an old acquaintance from his days in the Sixteen Kingdoms Alliance. And don't forget to mention that Miss Consort Dan is also the adopted daughter of His Majesty the Peacock Great Emperor — Miss Dan'er."
The Geng brothers didn't hesitate, nodding promptly. "Very well. We'll leave things here to you, Canghai Great Emperor."
Watching the Geng brothers leave with Elder Qiu and Zhao Mang in tow, Consort Dan still felt as though she were in a dream. Just moments before the Geng brothers had appeared, she had been on the verge of despair.
Zhao Mang had already been trouble enough, and then Elder Qiu had shown up. That Elder Qiu's strength was simply overwhelming.
Even though Consort Dan possessed numerous escape artifacts, she wasn't confident she could have survived if she'd had to flee from Elder Qiu.
Yet, at her most desperate moment, the entire situation had undergone a dramatic reversal. The arrival of the Geng brothers and Canghai Great Emperor had not only completely turned the tide of battle, but had also delivered a piece of shocking news that she still struggled to believe.
"Miss Dan'er, shall we set out now? Or would you like to stay a while longer?" Canghai Great Emperor suspected that Consort Dan's relationship with Young Master Jiang Chen was no ordinary one, and on top of that, she was the Peacock Great Emperor's adopted daughter.
Both of these identities were more than enough to warrant Canghai Great Emperor's full respect and patience. After all, his current position was still somewhat awkward. He was no longer the lofty Great Emperor of the Glazed King City that he had once been.
Seeing Canghai Great Emperor treating her with such courtesy, Consort Dan felt somewhat embarrassed.
He was, after all, a Great Emperor of his generation.
"Senior Canghai..." Consort Dan thought for a moment and decided to change how she addressed him.
However, the moment Canghai Great Emperor heard this form of address, his face turned green. He waved his enormous hands — broad as palm-leaf fans — frantically. "Miss Dan'er, you absolutely must not call me that! You are a contemporary of the Young Master. I am the Young Master's subordinate now. At best, we are equals. How could I possibly presume to be Miss Dan'er's senior?"
Canghai Great Emperor truly did not dare accept that title.
Seeing the way he looked as though he'd seen a tiger at the mere mention of it, Consort Dan couldn't help but feel a little surprised. But after a moment's thought, she made a rough guess as to why.
"Then I'll just call you Canghai Great Emperor. This Treasure Tree Sect has been occupied by a band of rogue cultivators. Their leader is some distant nephew of that Elder Qiu — and I killed him. I didn't expect them to keep coming here wave after wave. The Treasure Tree Sect is merely a sixth- or seventh-tier sect. How could it possibly attract this much attention?"
Consort Dan was quite puzzled by the whole affair.
The Treasure Tree Sect did, in fact, have a legacy — the Canxia Treasure Tree was its inherited treasure.
But in the end, the Canxia Treasure Tree was nothing more than an ordinary spirit tree. For a sect of the Treasure Tree Sect's level, it was a sect-guarding treasure. But on the grand stage of the Upper Eight Domains, it didn't amount to a fart.
If someone had told her that the first-tier Tianhe Palace had come all this way for something as trivial as the Canxia Treasure Tree, Consort Dan wouldn't have believed it. Since it wasn't for the Canxia Treasure Tree, what else could there possibly be in the entire Treasure Tree Sect that would interest them?
Consort Dan wanted to search for clues, but no matter how hard she looked, she couldn't find anything useful.
The Treasure Tree Sect's people had been gone for so many years, and the sect had been overrun by rogue cultivators for just as long. Within the sect's gates, virtually nothing remained of what had once belonged to the Treasure Tree Sect.
The mountains and rivers were the same, but everything else had changed beyond recognition.
Consort Dan made a full circuit of the Treasure Tree Sect and found nothing. Combined with the fact that she was still preoccupied with matters concerning Jiang Chen, she felt rather dispirited.
In the end, she had no emotional attachment to the Treasure Tree Sect whatsoever. She had come here purely to find Jiang Chen — to find Old Master Ye Chonglou.
Early the next morning, Consort Dan led the group of mortal women out of the Treasure Tree Sect's gates, intending to bring them back to the Tiangui Kingdom.
She had expected that these mortal women, upon seeing daylight again, would be overjoyed.
But Consort Dan discovered that once they had entered the Tiangui Kingdom, the women did not display the elation she had anticipated.
This left Consort Dan quite confused. As for Canghai Great Emperor, he hadn't said a word the entire journey — his only responsibility was to ensure Consort Dan's safety.
"All right, we've entered the Tiangui Kingdom's territory. You may return to wherever you came from. If you can't find your way, ask around."