"If I want to see him now, can I?" Xiao Man remained unmoved. Once she had the item, what if the Sky Demon race reneged? She had no recourse, as their reputation was less than stellar.
"Tian Ze is currently a guest of the Divine race. I doubt you can see him now. If you don't believe me, once we have the item from inside, come with me to Futu Mountain, and I guarantee you'll see him. He is safe and sound, a honored guest of the Divine race," the man said calmly. "Of course, if you open this coffin and accompany the person within to Futu Mountain with me, you will also be a honored guest of our Divine race."
"Can you make that decision?" Xiao Man pondered for a moment, then asked earnestly, "How can I be sure that after I open the coffin and you get what you want, you won't kill me to silence me?"
The man paused for a moment and produced a token. "This token will grant you unimpeded passage in Futu Mountain. Furthermore, I have no means to kill you here, do I?"
Xiao Man emerged from the Tongtian Tower, standing not far away. "Give me the token."
The man tossed the token to Xiao Man. She caught it, examined it carefully, confirmed there were no issues, and then put it away. "What about me releasing the Demon Lord?"
"He's just a Demon Lord. If he can be suppressed once, he can be suppressed again. As long as you retrieve the item inside for me, this matter will be settled."
"You truly won't kill me?"
"No."
"And you won't kill the people around me?"
"No, bygones are bygones." The man said patiently, "Xiao Man, I've shown my sincerity. The next step is yours."
Xiao Man smiled. "Since you've shown your sincerity, I will naturally do my best. However, I must emphasize one point: Yue Tianxia's life is mine to take."
"He is yours to deal with. He has already been demonized, so he is of no use to us." The man handed Xiao Man a storage ring. "Open the barrier and store the coffin inside the ring together."
"Alright. When will you tell me the method to remove the demon bloodline?" Xiao Man walked onto the sacrificial altar, her gaze fixed on the coffin. The coffin was pitch black, and she couldn't discern its contents.
"Once you break the seal, I will tell you the method," the man said, standing before the coffin. He could not advance further; he could not approach the barrier.
Xiao Man cast a deep glance at the man, then reached out towards the barrier. The moment her hand touched it, it was pulled inside, nearly causing her to collide with the coffin.
The man's eyes widened in disbelief. He had tried every method to break the barrier, yet it had actively absorbed Xiao Man. But that wasn't the main point; the contents of the coffin were. "Try to store the coffin in the ring together. If not, open it and take everything inside."
"Now, tell me the method to remove the demon bloodline first." Xiao Man turned to face the man. "I've also shown my usefulness. Only I can open the barrier, and only I can retrieve the contents."
"Give me the item, and I will immediately tell you the method of treatment."
Xiao Man smiled. "If, after I retrieve the item, you escape, what then?"
The man was somewhat impatient with Xiao Man's attempt to bargain. "As a dignified envoy of the Divine race, would I deceive you?"
"I never trust my enemies. After all, you have repeatedly sought my life," Xiao Man said seriously. "So, tell me now what I want to know, or we can continue this stalemate. You know better than I what the outcome of that will be."
The man gritted his teeth. There was no cure for the blood poison of the Sky Demon race. He had only claimed he could remove it to placate Xiao Man.
"I will write down the method to remove the demonic poison on paper and place it in the furthest corner. When the time comes, I will take what I want, and you will take what you want. How about it?"
"Deal."
The man produced a piece of parchment, wrote on it with spiritual energy, rolled it up, and tossed it into the opposite corner. "Now, you can open the coffin, can't you?"
Xiao Man turned and opened the coffin. Standing beside it, she peered inside. The man also approached the barrier curiously, trying to see if the coffin contained what the Divine Lord desired.
However, Xiao Man's position perfectly blocked his view. The man shifted his position, trying to get a clearer look at the coffin's contents. But as he moved a few steps, he felt a sharp pain in his dantian, and all his spiritual power vanished instantly. He looked down to see a hand piercing his dantian – it was another person hidden in the shadows!
"Despicable!"
"One must use despicable methods against despicable people." Nangong Yu gave the other no chance to retaliate and severed his head with a single sword strike. With his dantian destroyed and his nascent soul annihilated, there was no possibility of survival.
"Man'er, what's inside the coffin?"
"A person." Xiao Man looked at Nangong Yu. "Someone I know very well."
"Who?"
"Another me." Xiao Man's expression was quite peculiar. "Dugu Man."
Nangong Yu's face showed surprise. Dugu Man inside? How was that possible? Dugu Man's remains had been destroyed, and it was he who had ordered their destruction. The person inside could not possibly be Dugu Man.
"Impossible."
"But, the person inside is indeed Dugu Man."
Xiao Man helped the person from the coffin. Although she wore different clothes, Nangong Yu would not forget that face. It was indeed Dugu Man, or rather, this person looked exactly like Dugu Man.
"Could this person be Xuan Xin?" Nangong Yu pondered. "Tian Ze escorted Xuan Xin's divine soul to reincarnate on the Yong'an Continent back then, which is why Dugu Man looked so much like Xuan Xin. Later, Dugu Man died, and you reincarnated as Xiao Man, which is how your appearance changed."
"So, I really do have a connection with Xuan Xin," Xiao Man said with a wry smile. "Tian Ze went to great lengths to protect my life."
"Did the Sky Demon race want Xuan Xin's remains?"
"Probably not." Xiao Man said calmly. "They likely wanted something else."
Xiao Man searched meticulously inside the coffin. The Sky Demon race hadn't specified what they truly wanted; it certainly wasn't just a corpse.
"Man'er." As Xiao Man searched intently, Nangong Yu's voice reached her, tinged with a faint tremor.
Xiao Man knew Nangong Yu well. If he wasn't extremely shocked, his voice wouldn't tremble. She instantly retreated, but her entire body slammed against the barrier. A powerful pressure pinned her against it, rendering her immobile.