As Jian Lin, a cannon fodder, finding a bear tribe youth in the vast demon realm was no easy feat, but as the divine venerable Mu Sheng, it was effortless.
Especially with her holding his father's demon core, Jian Lin quickly identified the bear tribe youth's location by their close blood ties.
As she searched, she found that the demon realm had undergone tremendous changes compared to her last visit.
The wild, ferocious, and free atmosphere had vanished, replaced by one where demons were self-aware and cautious.
Not only were there no demons seen during the day, but even at night, no demons were out and about.
She arrived at the outskirts of the demon city, where tents once stretched for dozens of miles, with demons gathered, engaging in daily battles for a chance to enter the city.
It was also night, and the tent area was much quieter, with only a few scattered lights. There were no passionate shouts, as if no duels were being held.
Jian Lin followed her memory and found Boss Snake's tent. She asked softly from outside, "Boss Snake, are you there?"
A gap appeared in the curtain, and a pair of orange-yellow beast eyes peeked out. After carefully observing her for a moment, a voice said, "Miss, are you a regular customer?"
After Jian Lin reverted to her original form, Tian Yi's disguise disappeared. She was now the original Jian Lin, and also the appearance of Jian Mu Sheng when she was cannon fodder.
The demons' intuition was truly sharp. Even after she changed her face, she was still recognized by Boss Snake.
She had heard that they primarily identified targets by scent, and it seemed to be true.
"Yes, Boss Snake," Jian Lin said in a low voice, "Tao Niang left with me."
Boss Snake's pupils contracted. Recognizing her, he opened the tent flap and invited her in.
After they were seated, Boss Snake looked at her and asked with confusion, "I've heard some rumors that you seem to have fallen out with the Demon Lord. I never expected it. I thought you two had a good relationship back then."
Jian Lin felt embarrassed. This matter was a long story, and it was really difficult to explain.
She smiled awkwardly, trying to change the subject, "By the way, Boss Snake, what happened in the demon city? Why aren't you open for business?"
"You haven't heard?" Boss Snake was somewhat surprised, then explained, "A few days ago, the demon city caught fire, and many demons died. The cause is unknown. It seemed like an accident, but most demons believe it was related to the Demon Emperor."
For some unknown reason, the Demon Emperor killed many demons. At such a time, no demon wanted to enter the city, and Boss Snake's business naturally stopped.
Jian Lin understood. She then inquired further about the Demon Emperor from Boss Snake and finally asked him to help find the bear tribe youth.
She fumbled in her embrace and took out a stone from Mount Huanggu. This was an item from the divine realm. Boss Snake's eyes lit up. He took it and studied it, promising to help find the demon as soon as possible.
How soon was it? It was found the next morning.
After all, with the demon core, it was easy to find the demon by following the scent.
Seeing the bear tribe youth again, Jian Lin almost didn't recognize him. He had grown a lot and become much stronger. There was a scar on his profile, indicating that he had suffered a lot.
For some reason, the bear tribe youth didn't know why he was captured. He no longer recognized Jian Lin and stubbornly shouted, "Kill me if you want, I won't beg for mercy."
Jian Lin smiled and shook her head. He was quite tough. She handed him his father's demon core. The bear tribe youth was stunned. He had been so resolute just moments ago, but upon recognizing the demon core, he burst into tears.
Boss Snake, understanding the situation, comforted the bear tribe youth, "Why are you crying? You've inherited your father's demon core, and your strength will greatly increase. No one will dare to bully you anymore. This is a great thing. There are too many cases of demons killing their fathers in our race, but this is the first time I've seen one cry."
Jian Lin sighed from the side. The bear tribe chief was indeed different. He had his own thoughts and had taught his son well. He lacked the ferocity of demons and had a touch more humanity.
Thinking of this, she suddenly felt that this demon would surely achieve great things in the future.
Jian Lin squatted down and encouraged the bear tribe youth, "Cultivate well. If you become a top-tier powerful demon in the future, I will take you... to see your father."
Seeing the King of Hell was a trivial matter for Jian Lin.
However, to the bear tribe youth, it did not sound like good news.
The bear tribe youth stopped crying, took his father's golden core, and politely bid them farewell.
Jian Lin realized it belatedly and couldn't help but smile. She didn't mention it further, only asking Boss Snake to take good care of the bear tribe youth.
Leaving Boss Snake's tent, Jian Lin did not linger and headed straight for the interior of the demon city.
Now that she had divine power protecting her, she didn't need to be timid. The mere Demon Emperor posed no threat to her.
She had been to the Demon Emperor's palace and knew where his main hall was. Along the way, she avoided various patrolling guards and went straight to the main hall.
The main hall was empty, with no demonic figures in sight. Jian Lin unleashed her senses, perceiving a massive demonic power, and found the Demon Emperor himself in a sleeping chamber in the back hall.
He was slumped on his throne, swollen all over, with vacant eyes. Upon seeing Jian Lin enter, he merely moved his fingers slightly, showing no reaction.
Seeing this scene, Jian Lin's mood was very complex. She didn't hate this mindless monster so much, only felt pity.
"Demon Emperor, your greed was too great. You devoured too many demon cores, and the backlash is imminent. Let me send you on your way," Jian Lin said charitably.
The Demon Emperor wriggled his body. He also recognized Jian Lin and let out a weak roar, "Where is Bai Xian?"
Jian Lin was stunned. She hadn't expected that at the brink of death, the Demon Emperor's greatest concern would be Bai Xian.
"In the demon realm," Jian Lin replied. She knew the general location of Bai Xian, but not the specific location.
"I want to see him..." the Demon Emperor murmured stubbornly, as if this was his only wish before death.
Jian Lin's expression was calm, and she said coldly, "Impossible. Demon Emperor, you have committed countless evils in this life and killed so many demons. You should depart with regret. I cannot fulfill your wish."
The Demon Emperor seemed not to hear her, repeating with his last bit of strength, "I want to see him..."
Jian Lin didn't want to waste any more words. She raised her hand and summoned heavenly lightning.
The tribulation and ascension that the Demon Emperor had tried to avoid his entire life finally arrived.
Jian Lin closed her eyes and silently recited Xiao Li's name. A small jade bottle flew out from the Demon Emperor's embrace and directly into her palm.
That night, unprecedentedly terrifying and heavy dark clouds gathered over the demon city. The demons smelled danger and fled wildly.
The eighty-one bolts of heavenly lightning brought down countless celestial fires, and the demon city burned for more than half a month.
The once magnificent demon city, along with its creator, the Demon Emperor, perished and turned into ruins.
At this time, on a small road far from the demon city, two figures, one large and one small, were slowly walking.
Xiao Li had just come out of the jade bottle. She didn't know what had happened, only remembering the final battle with the Demon Emperor.
"Where is he?" Xiao Li asked.
She remembered that she had transformed into her original form to fight the Demon Emperor in order to save him.
"Who?" Jian Lin pretended to be ignorant.
"Him, the person with you," Xiao Li explained seriously.
Jian Lin couldn't pretend to be ignorant anymore. She sighed and said sadly, "I hurt him, and he's ignoring me."
"Oh, then he really shouldn't be talking to you," Xiao Li commented.
Jian Lin choked. Why was this child always speaking the truth?
After learning the truth, Xiao Li didn't ask further and changed the topic, "Where are we going now?"
"To Zhongling Mountain, to see an old friend and give him something," Jian Lin replied.
When Jian Lin was in the underworld, she had asked the spirit crane maiden if she was willing to be reborn.
The spirit crane maiden was unwilling because her kin were all gone, and rebirth was meaningless. She only wished to enter the cycle of reincarnation.
Jian Lin respected her and didn't interfere too much. Zhu Qingyu would never see the maiden he longed for in this life.
Therefore, Jian Lin decided to give him the Red Jade hairpin and a message: if fate and destiny allowed, he would meet her again, though she didn't know when that would be or what she would be reborn as.
Zhu Qingyu didn't mind. He bowed deeply to Jian Lin, thanking her for her concern and kindness. He would wait patiently, believing they would reunite one day.
After dealing with matters in the demon realm, Jian Lin took Xiao Li, bought a carriage, and set off leisurely to find the Demon Lord.
In fact, with Jian Lin's current strength, she could appear before the Demon Lord instantly, but she couldn't. She wasn't mentally prepared and didn't know how to face him.
Should she just say, "Hey, brother, don't mind, I stabbed you, you helped me successfully overcome the tribulation, I must thank you."
Or should she use a roundabout way to guilt-trip him, saying it wasn't intentional, she did it for the sake of all living beings, and if he was angry, it meant he didn't care about all living beings.
Wait, would the Demon Lord care about all living beings?
Oh dear, this is really troublesome.
On the way to find the Demon Lord, they passed several battlefields. Jian Lin observed carefully and found that it was the immortal sects and various families fighting each other. It seemed they were having internal strife.
Jian Lin really wanted to laugh. They were reaping what they sowed. Let them fight slowly.
She didn't want to meddle in the affairs of the immortal sects. The first immortal sect, Guanlan Sect, had already been corrupted to an unbearable degree internally. Only through a fierce battle could it be purified and a new generation of immortal sect leader emerge.
One day, they passed through a small town. This town was located on the border between the demon realm and the human world, in a desolate area with a harsh climate and sparse population.
Within a radius of tens of miles, there was only this small town. The town mostly consisted of inns and taverns for traveling merchants to rest.
Jian Lin, with Xiao Li, casually found an inn to eat and rest.
Xiao Li had never been out of the demon realm and was curious about everything. She wanted to eat everything and ate simple meals with relish.
Jian Lin called the child easy to raise while giving her more than half a chicken to eat.
As the two were eating peacefully, a group of people suddenly arrived from outside. They were all fairies in snow-white Daoist robes. They chattered as they entered the inn and asked the owner for several pots of tea.
Jian Lin turned her head to look and recognized the emblem on their Daoist robes. This was Jiang Xueyin's sect.
She looked at them one by one, wondering why she didn't see Jiang Xueyin.