Xu Xiaoqing was suddenly grabbed by Ye Ling, and she was a little stunned, thinking she had done something wrong. She looked at Ye Ling nervously, like a prisoner awaiting sentencing.
Ye Ling pressed his hand on Xu Xiaoqing's shoulder for a while before releasing it. He then said to Xu Lingzhi and Xu Changsheng, "Sect Leader Xu, may I borrow Xiaoqing for a while?"
Although Xu Lingzhi was curious about what Ye Ling wanted Xu Xiaoqing for, Xu Xiaoqing was just an ordinary disciple in Shu Mountain. This time, Shu Mountain encountered a crisis, and with Xu Xiaoqing's cultivation, she couldn't help much.
Since Ye Ling had spoken, Xu Lingzhi decided to do him a favor. He cupped his hands and smiled at Ye Ling, "Since Xiaoqing can help Senior, let her follow Senior."
After speaking, Xu Lingzhi also instructed Xu Xiaoqing, "Xiaoqing, remember not to cause trouble for Senior Ye, understand?"
Suddenly being singled out by the sect leader, Xu Xiaoqing panicked and nodded repeatedly, "I, I understand! I will never cause trouble for Senior!"
Although Xu Xiaoqing said so, she had no confidence in herself.
Xu Xiaoqing knew her own capabilities very well. With the cultivation of Ye Ling and Ye You, she would be nothing more than a burden if she followed them.
The enemies Ye Ling and Ye You faced could probably crush her with a single finger...
That was definitely not a level she could participate in!
Under such circumstances, Xu Xiaoqing had no idea how she could help.
However, Ye Ling seemed very pleased that Xu Lingzhi was willing to let her go. He smiled and said, "Then I thank Sect Leader Xu in advance. I will take good care of Xiaoqing."
"In addition, your sect's Third Elder is outside. He has already given up resisting. If Sect Leader Xu wishes to return to Shu Mountain, you can bring him along."
"The Third Elder is still alive?"
Hearing Ye Ling's words, Xu Lingzhi's eyes lit up, and he immediately thanked Ye Ling excitedly, "Thank you, Senior, for showing mercy!"
After Xu Lingzhi woke up, he did not see Xu Cai. He thought Xu Cai had already died.
He had known Xu Cai for decades and was very clear about Xu Cai's character.
No matter the reason for Xu Cai's betrayal of Shu Mountain, if he failed, he would surely commit suicide to atone!
Xu Cai was an eighth-rank异士 (yi shi - a type of cultivator/specialist). Now that Shu Mountain had experienced Xu Gui's rebellion and its sect was severely damaged and in need of rebuilding, Xu Cai was an extremely important force for Shu Mountain.
Just hearing Ye Ling's words, Xu Lingzhi understood how great Ye Ling's kindness to Shu Mountain was!
Ye Ling waved his hand and smiled at Xu Lingzhi and Xu Changsheng, "You two shouldn't stay here either. There are still demons wreaking havoc in Shu Mountain. I think it's more important for you two to go out and take charge of the overall situation."
Xu Lingzhi bowed solemnly to Ye Ling and Ye You, "Senior is right, we shall leave now!"
Xu Changsheng also bowed deeply to Ye Ling, "I will go help the Sect Leader handle Shu Mountain affairs. I apologize for the inconvenience."
After speaking, the two went to find Xu Cai, who had given up resisting in this space, and took him away from this space to return to Shu Mountain.
After the Sect Leader and the First Elder left, Xu Xiaoqing dared to speak. She couldn't help but ask Ye Ling, "Senior, you specifically kept me behind, is there something I can help with?"
Although Xu Xiaoqing was happy that she could help Ye Ling, she couldn't figure out what she could do.
"You can help with a great deal," Ye Ling said to Xu Xiaoqing with a smile. "But it needs to be kept secret for now. Just follow along."
"Oh..."
Hearing Ye Ling's answer, Xu Xiaoqing became even more curious about what Ye Ling wanted her to do. However, since Ye Ling had said so, she could only nod and ask no more questions.
At this time, Ye You also glanced at Xu Xiaoqing, her eyes full of curiosity.
She had noticed earlier that when Ye Ling placed his hand on Xu Xiaoqing's shoulder, he had injected spiritual energy into Xu Xiaoqing's body.
Although Ye You didn't know why her brother was doing this, she knew that her brother must have discovered something.
However, Ye You didn't probe further and instead asked, "Brother, are we going to the Ancient Demon Town now, or should we investigate further in this Demon Suppressing Pagoda?"
Their purpose for entering the Demon Suppressing Pagoda space was, on one hand, to rescue Xu Lingzhi and Xu Changsheng, and on the other hand, to find the so-called key forged from flesh and soul.
Now that the people had been rescued, they still had no clue about the key.
Ye Ling said, "Let's go directly to the Ancient Demon Town. Most of the great demons in this Demon Suppressing Pagoda have already been released, and there won't be any useful information."
"Besides, Xu Gui searched for the key for so many years. If there were any clues in this Demon Suppressing Pagoda, he should have found them already. It's meaningless for us to continue wandering here."
"Moreover, I already have a general idea about the clues for this 'key'."
Hearing Ye Ling's words, Ye You was slightly surprised, "Brother, you already know what the key is?"
Ye Ling glanced at Xu Xiaoqing, then said to Ye You, "It's just an idea for now, but it needs to be confirmed. Let's go out first."
Hearing Ye Ling's words, Ye You vaguely guessed that the key might be related to Xu Xiaoqing, but she didn't point it out. She nodded, "Okay, let's head to the Ancient Demon Town now."
As Ye Ling and the other two left the Demon Suppressing Pagoda space and headed for the Ancient Demon Town, Xu Lingzhi and Xu Changsheng also returned to Shu Mountain to preside over the overall situation.
With the return of the Shu Mountain Sect Leader and the First Elder, the Shu Mountain disciples' morale greatly increased. Those Shu Mountain disciples who had followed the Second Elder knew that the tide had turned and all surrendered, awaiting arrest.
The demons that had been rampant in Shu Mountain, after the return of Xu Lingzhi and Xu Changsheng, no longer dared to cause trouble and retreated back to the Ancient Demon Town.
Shu Mountain slowly returned to its normal operations.
At this time, the atmosphere in the Ancient Demon Town was extremely solemn.
The demons that retreated from Shu Mountain gathered in the town square, confronting another group of demons in the town.
Xu Gui's joint attack on Shu Mountain with the great demons of the Ancient Demon Town was carried out in secret.
Not only was Shu Mountain unaware of this plan, but even most of the demons in the Ancient Demon Town did not know about this operation.
It wasn't until the demons were defeated and retreated from Shu Mountain that the other residents of the Ancient Demon Town realized that a group of demons among them had attacked Shu Mountain!
The Ancient Demon Town and Shu Mountain coexisted in a semi-spiritual realm and had been at peace for thousands of years.
Moreover, with the current power of the human race, demon habitats were extremely rare. The Ancient Demon Town was already one of their few sanctuaries, and many great demons had been cautiously maintaining peace between the Ancient Demon Town and Shu Mountain.
Now, some demons had attacked Shu Mountain, which was tantamount to tearing down the facade of peace between Shu Mountain and the Ancient Demon Town!
If the demon race had succeeded in overthrowing Shu Mountain, the Ancient Demon Town would not have been affected.
But now they had failed... Once Shu Mountain recovered, it would definitely seek retribution from the Ancient Demon Town!
To avoid being implicated by Shu Mountain's retaliation, some great demons of the Ancient Demon Town gathered all the unaware demons in the town and prepared to attack the group of demons that had attacked Shu Mountain.
When Ye Ling and the other two arrived, the demons in the Ancient Demon Town had already divided into two major factions.
The two sides were at loggerheads.