When Jian Lin regained consciousness and opened her eyes groggily, the sight before her almost made her faint again.
Help, how was she floating in the clouds? This was too terrifying, like a nightmare.
The Demon Lord felt her movement and lowered his head, saying softly, "You're awake? How do you feel?"
Jian Lin grabbed the Demon Lord's arm in return, and after confirming she felt secure, timidly asked, "Where are we? Are we going to heaven?" 138 Reading Network
The Demon Lord didn't know where heaven was, but judging from Jian Lin's tone, it must be a terrifying place.
"Not to heaven. Senior wants to visit Guanlan Sect first. We are currently flying towards the Twelve Peaks. I planned to let you choose yourself after you woke up, whether you want to go to Guanlan Sect with Senior, or return to the Demon Realm with me?"
Jian Lin gradually sobered up. She looked up and saw the Sword Immortal sitting at the very front, his back straight, looking ethereal.
"Ah," Jian Lin was only stunned for a moment before decisively saying, "I'll go back to the Demon Realm with you."
Did she even need to ask? What was there to see at Guanlan Sect? Of course, returning to the Demon Realm to fight enemies was more important.
The Sword Immortal ahead, without looking back, snorted and cursed, "Rebellious disciple, I've truly taught you in vain. You swore in the Sword Immortal's cave that you would take good care of me. It turns out it was all lies!"
Jian Lin didn't like hearing that. She immediately sat up and retorted, shouting, "I didn't lie! If you stay by my side, I will definitely take good care of you. Master, you are the second most important person in this world to me!"
Who was the most important person? Did she even need to ask?
The Demon Lord curved his lips into a sweet smile, while the old Sword Immortal was both angry and amused. What a situation!
She ranked him second, and he still had to say thank you, right?
The Sword Immortal thought it over and could only change his approach, "Rebellious disciple, since ancient times, only disciples follow their masters. When has a master ever followed a disciple? Do you even understand what respect is?"
Jian Lin didn't understand. She sat firmly and argued with the Sword Immortal. In the end, the Sword Immortal got angry and abruptly changed the direction of the Mingyan Sword, almost throwing Jian Lin off, scaring her into screams.
On the edge of the Underworld, too far from the mortal realm, the Sword Immortal flew for a day and a night, only covering half the distance. He was somewhat tired and found a place to rest.
It was also a good opportunity for the three of them to go their separate ways.
It was late at night, with heavy dew. The Demon Lord lit a torch, and Jian Lin rubbed her hands. She reached into her Qiankun bag, preparing to find some food to roast. Her hand happened to touch the fruit of the man-eating flower king.
She remembered that she seemed to have taken a bite. She quickly took it out to examine it. She found that the fruit seemed to have a life of its own; the bitten part had already regrown its outer skin, turning into a strangely shaped fruit.
Her scalp tingled. She couldn't help but wonder if this thing was alive? If she took a bite, wouldn't that be equivalent to eating a living thing? She couldn't accept it and felt like vomiting.
Seeing Jian Lin's sudden change in expression, the Demon Lord thought it was related to her earlier fainting and quickly leaned over to care for her.
Jian Lin's face was mournful. She repeatedly said it wasn't and told the Demon Lord the situation of this fruit in detail.
The Sword Immortal also found it strange after listening. He extended his hand and gestured, "Let me see. How have I never seen this thing before?"
Jian Lin handed the fruit of the man-eating flower king to the Sword Immortal. Hearing the old man say he had never heard of it, her mood became even heavier. What had she eaten?
The Sword Immortal held the fruit and examined it, then used his spiritual power to test it in various ways. Finally, he reached a solemn conclusion, "It's indeed not something edible. Rather than calling it a fruit, it's more like an egg, containing a life within. But whether it's a human, a demon, a spirit beast, or something even more powerful, I can't sense it. You two should keep it well. When the opportunity arises, that thing will naturally break out of its shell."
Saying that, the Sword Immortal tossed the fruit back to Jian Lin. Jian Lin's expression was indescribable. She casually gave it to the Demon Lord, "Here, I don't want it."
The thought of her having taken a bite made her feel particularly uncomfortable and restless.
The Demon Lord took it. After thinking about it, he didn't object. He didn't want it before because he thought the fruit was a high-grade tonic, so of course, he had to give it to Jian Lin.
Now that this thing was inedible and Jian Lin didn't like it, he might as well keep it.
After dealing with the fruit of the man-eating flower king, Jian Lin brought up another topic, talking about the God Array.
When Jian Lin was unconscious, the Demon Lord had already explained it to the Sword Immortal in general. The Sword Immortal had a rough understanding. Now that Jian Lin mentioned it again, his attitude remained the same.
"I believe this matter is true," the Sword Immortal sighed, still unwilling to accept such a fact. "My purpose in going to Guanlan Sect is precisely to investigate it thoroughly, to see what extent they have gone, and then to help you, young Demon Lord, in the Demon Realm."
Hearing the Sword Immortal say this, Jian Lin felt slightly relieved. The Sword Immortal, Daoist Gui Xu, could be considered the most powerful figure in the cultivation world. His willingness to help the Demon Lord increased the Demon Lord's chances of winning.
"By the way, Master," Jian Lin asked her doubts, "I want to know, what is their ultimate goal? To kill gods? But I believe that gods are the most powerful beings in the Three Realms. Not to mention whether gods can be killed, but would gods wait to be killed? If gods knew about this, wouldn't they descend heavenly punishment?"
"That's the crux of the matter. To this extent, there has been no response from the God Realm. And I tried to contact the God Venerable Li Yang, but there was no response," the Sword Immortal frowned deeply and said in a low voice, "I have to suspect that something has happened to the God Realm. It was the gods who met with misfortune first, which then caused the chaos in the Three Realms."
Hearing the Sword Immortal's words, Jian Lin's heart sank. Then what did her mission mean? What did her ascension to godhood signify?
She closed her eyes and called out, but the system still showed no signs of returning.
Only the numbers above the Demon Lord's head showed that the system had indeed existed, and it wasn't just her dream.
"Master," Jian Lin still had many unanswered questions, "if gods no longer exist, and they succeed in their sacrifice, who is that God Array trying to kill? If there's no one to kill, what's the point of this array?"
"Silly disciple, although that array is called the God Array, it's more like an ascension channel. If they truly succeed, countless people with wicked intentions will ascend to the God Realm and obtain even greater power. Then, what will happen to the Three Realms, I truly dare not imagine."
So that was the case. Jian Lin was shocked and couldn't recover for a long time. Then she added, "It's not just people, but also demons. It's not just demons, but also matters of the Underworld. What does the Underworld want?"
"The Underworld, it probably wants to abolish reincarnation," the Sword Immortal picked up a branch, threw it into the fire, and said slowly, "The Immortal Realm, the Demon Realm, the Demon Realm, are all subordinate to the mortal realm. If you don't ascend to godhood, you will die sooner or later, and be reborn in the next life through reincarnation. The King of the Underworld considers himself the head of the Three Realms, but he cannot control the God Realm, and he has no power of his own. The resentful spirits are complaining, which will trigger heavenly punishment. Ghosts must enter reincarnation. He feels that he is being underestimated and wants everyone to look up to him."
Jian Lin understood. The King of the Underworld just didn't want to be a factory worker anymore; he wanted to start his own business and dominate a region.
If the gods were destroyed and there was no heavenly punishment, he could use the power of the resentful spirits to become a King of the Underworld that everyone feared.
Jian Lin's mind raced. What did the Demon Emperor want to gain? As the creator of the array, what did Bai Xian want to gain?
She couldn't figure it out. Perhaps she would have to ask him in person to understand.
If she wanted to have a conversation with Bai Xian, she had to be in a safe place, and the Demon Realm would be a good choice. Thinking of this, Jian Lin stood up and urged the Demon Lord to set off, wanting to leave as soon as possible.
Unexpectedly, the Demon Lord held her hand and said, "You should still go to Guanlan Sect with Senior first. With Senior there, I'm not worried about you encountering danger. With you there, I'm not worried about Senior being deceived. Regarding the matter of Guanlan Sect, no one knows better than you."
The Demon Lord gave her a meaningful look. Jian Lin realized that the Demon Lord meant he was afraid his master would be deceived by those so-called righteous sects. He already had a relationship with those old men, and if Jian Lin wasn't there to watch, his own judgment might be biased.
Jian Lin understood that by accompanying the Sword Immortal and promising to bring him back to the Demon Realm, she would be of the greatest help to the Demon Lord.
Even though she was extremely reluctant, Jian Lin still nodded in agreement and formally parted ways with the Demon Lord.
In this way, the conversation with Bai Xian had to be postponed. Although Jian Lin was anxious, things had to be done one by one, no matter how urgent.
What made her even more angry was that halfway there, the Sword Immortal had a whim and insisted on teaching her the skill of sword flying.
Jian Lin was unwilling at first, but then the Sword Immortal pointed out that with sword flying, she could travel to various places quickly, and it would be very useful in the future.
Jian Lin thought about it and indeed, if a war broke out, having air superiority would be very important.
Because she had something on her mind and was extremely anxious, and the Sword Immortal had a stance of "if you don't learn, I won't leave," Jian Lin didn't need anyone to urge her. She focused on learning sword flying without wasting a second.
Thanks to a good master, a good divine sword, and a diligent disciple, even though her cultivation was slightly lacking, she quickly mastered the art of sword flying.
She was incredibly brave. Wobbly, she clamored to set off. She didn't control it well and fell. She remained silent, refusing to cry out in pain, got back on the sword, and continued flying.
Under the Sword Immortal's "pulling the seedlings to encourage growth" method, by the time the two of them reached Guanlan Sect, Jian Lin was already flying quite proficiently.
Jian Lin, familiar with the way, led the Sword Immortal to the back mountain of Chiyan Peak. She still remembered the incident of Hao Jun's accidental death and felt that after the spirit-absorbing array was destroyed, Yuan Shuo would definitely find another way to compensate.
Such a heinous act must be presented to the Sword Immortal immediately, leaving him with a deep first impression. Then, no matter what those elders said later, the Sword Immortal would be wary.
As the master and disciple slowly climbed up the back mountain path and reached the front of the Chiyan Peak Taoist temple, they felt a chilling ghost aura.
It was a bright sunny day, and it was a place filled with spiritual energy in the cultivation world. The imposing aura of a righteous sect was nowhere to be seen, only a pervasive sense of ghostly chill.
The Sword Immortal's expression turned grim, and he roared, "I must see what they are up to today! Acting on behalf of heaven is my duty!"