Chapter 46: Demons, Aristocratic Families
The rain fell urgently and heavily, beating the leaves from the treetops to the ground. Flowers and plants on both sides of the steps were broken at the waist, scattered into the mud.
Bright red blood soaked into the rainwater, dyeing the muddy ground red.
Xiao Jianming knelt on the steps, his face pale and drained of blood, his black eyes starry dark, paranoid and unyielding.
He slowly curled his lips and said, “Ah Qing gege, we can’t be separated.”
Su Huan was shocked to speechlessness. After a long while, he lowered his head sluggishly to look. The rain washed away the blood on it, the round pill overflowing with spilled golden light.
The Golden Core forcibly stuffed into his palm retained residual warmth. Mixed with the cold rain, it scalded his palm with burning pain.
His hand trembled uncontrollably, and the Golden Core rolled down the steps.
His gaze followed it down the steps, but through the rain curtain, he crashed straight into those black eyes filled with surging love and grief. The intense emotion was like an abyss wanting to pull him down to drown.
Xiao Jianming didn’t care about his own thing at all. He just firmly gripped his wrist, his black eyes fixed on him, suppressing paranoia and madness.
Su Huan’s lips moved a few times. Rainwater fell into his mouth, spreading a bitter taste, very strong and heavy, almost too bitter to speak.
He turned his head away and said, “…You didn’t have to do this. Whatever was between us ended in the last life.”
The thought in his mind became firmerâ
Perhaps the feelings between them were wrong from the start.
Composing himself again, he said, “Consider it my plea. Leave, go back to the Boundless Sea.”
Now, he wanted to correct this mistake and put everything back on track.
The grief in Xiao Jianming’s eyes nearly overflowed. Gritting his teeth, he squeezed out a voice: “Ah Qing gege, how can you be so cruel…”
But he heard a low sigh, and a hand covered his eyes.
Xiao Jianming’s consciousness plunged into darkness.
When he opened his eyes again, the surrounding scenery had changed to an endless sea where no end could be seen, and he was inside an ancient, worn palace.
The seawater outside the palace was azure and translucent, without a trace of evil delusional black qi. It was clear, clean, and extremely quiet.
The wounds on his body were all healed.
The power of a godâcrossing the universe in one step, healing white bones with a turn of the handâwas nothing more than this.
He stepped out of the divine temple in disbelief, wanting to return, but was shocked to find he couldn’t get out.
Every time he swam toward the surface, the distance would shift infinitely, as if there were no end.
Xiao Jianming couldn’t help letting out a cold laugh, looking back at the sea area beneath his feet.
This was the domain Ah Qing gege personally bestowed upon him when he first ascended to the divine throne.
Ah Qing gege said he couldn’t violate the oath that there would be no more gods in the world, but he also couldn’t deprive him of the divine status he had cultivated for a thousand years. Therefore, he gifted this spiritual-less land to him and promised to accompany him to slowly create life and all things.
He was extremely happy at the time, dragging Ah Qing gege to walk through every corner of the Boundless Sea, full of joy building their common home.
Ah Qing gege liked green (cyan/azure), so he paved his divine palace with azure jade.
Ah Qing gege died because of evil, so he wouldn’t allow a trace of evil to appear in his domain.
But now, he was trapped here by Ah Qing gege‘s own hands.
This was truly… wonderful.
…
On the day the Immortal Alliance Conference officially convened, Su Huan arrived at the Dao Discussion Arena.
Almost all the top combat forces of the hundred immortal sects had arrived. This time, they would enter the secret realm together with the disciples.
When Su Huan arrived, Ji Heng, as the head of the Ji family, had already entered and was seated on the high platform. He was stingy with even a glance for this “nephew” of his late wife, not recognizing that the body of this nephew contained the other half of Ji Buhuan’s divine soul he had searched for bitterly but failed to find.
Back then, for Su Yu to marry him, she had an unpleasant falling out with her maternal family, almost severing relations. The two families had almost ceased contact.
It was just that when his divine sense swept over the youth’s face, which somewhat resembled Su Yu, his mind inevitably went into a trance for a moment, recalling that he and Ah Yu had once loved each other too.
Seeing him, Su Huan’s eyelashes trembled abruptly. He lowered his eyes and walked into the Xuanji Sect’s team.
Ji Buhuan’s short dozen years of memory weren’t enough to leave much of a footprint in Cang Xuan’s majestic memories of hundreds of thousands of years, but hatred could.
But killing Ji Heng couldn’t solve the problem; aristocratic families like the Ji family couldn’t be exterminated.
Demons, aristocratic families.
Change must come from the root.
To the right of the Xuanji Sect was the Jianqing Sect team. Seeing him come alone, Nangong Yi asked, “Fellow Daoist Su, why don’t we see Fellow Daoist Xiao?”
Su Huan was silent for a moment, then said, “We won’t be seeing him anymore.”
Hearing this, Yue Jiusi exclaimed in surprise, “What?! Did he desert at the last minute?”
Standing on the left was the Wanxiang Sect team. Meng Qinghui hit the nail on the head: “You two had a conflict?”
Yinzhu was standing at the very front. Hearing this, he turned back in surprise. “Junior Brother Su quarreled with Junior Brother Xiao again?”
Su Huan: “…No.”
Meng Qinghui was quite good at observing words and expressions. Hearing this, she gave a meaningful chuckle and didn’t ask further.
Yinzhu maintained his gentle, good-natured appearance on the surface and persuaded warmly, “Junior Brother Su, couples fight at the head of the bed and make up at the end. You must cherish this fate.”
In the Lingxiao Sect team, Qi Zi glanced at the few people whose tone revealed a familiar atmosphere and let out a contemptuous snort.
Except for Yinzhu, no one dared to speak up to comfort him rashly, and silence fell for a moment.
Perhaps the atmosphere was too silent; even the thick-nerved Yue Jiusi felt a trace of awkwardness and scratched his head.
After a long while, Nangong Yi asked softly, “…Is it because of what happened that night?”
Su Huan looked at him strangely. “What happened?”
Nangong Yi looked at him abruptly. Realizing something, he breathed a sigh of relief as if a heavy burden had been lifted, and looked away in panic. “No! N-nothing.”
Subsequently, he dared not look at him again. He was flustered all over, as if he had done something to wrong him, wanting to get close but restraining himself with extreme shame, not daring to look one more time.
Yue Jiusi was confused by this, not understanding when his Young Sect Master got involved in these two people’s mess.
Although Su Huan had doubts, he didn’t ask further.
Whatever it was, it wasn’t as important as preventing the demons from causing a catastrophe.
Soon, the passage to the secret realm opened.
The top combat forces of the various sects led their disciples into the upcoming “battlefield” one after another.
Before entering the secret realm, Yinzhu suddenly asked a strange question: “Junior Brother Su, do you say… are there really gods in the world?”
Su Huan: “No.”
Yinzhu seemed not to have reacted, dazed subconsciously. “…What?”
He only heard Su Huan say, “Millions of years ago, the Divine Lord had already fallen.”
Yinzhu came back to his senses, his tone revealing a bit of disbelief. “But everyone firmly believes that the Divine Lord didn’t truly die, but has always been protecting his believers in an unseen place… Why does Junior Brother Su say there are no gods?” Yinzhu looked at him. “And how are you certain he has truly fallen?”
The youth turned to look at him. The expression in his light eyes was empty, yet seemed to see through all his secrets.
In this instant, Yinzhu actually felt a trace of fear.
Su Huan: “Historical records state it; everyone knows it.”
Hearing this, Yinzhu was lost in thought for a moment, murmuring, “Yes, everyone knows.”
Suddenly he laughed low, whispering silently: It seems his hope is destined to fail.
…
Su Huan stepped into the secret realm, landing randomly in a deep forest.
Just as he was about to follow his memory to find the demon who appeared first in the secret realm, a clear and gentle voice suddenly came from behindâ
“Fellow Daoist Su, please stay.”
Su Huan looked back. Nangong Yi landed not far from his position. Seeing him, he called out to him but didn’t come over.
Nangong Yi’s family style had always been upright, his character gentle and polite, never rash or panicked. At this moment, however, his face showed a trace of hesitation and determination.
He looked at Su Huan, his eyes holding an indescribable depth, and said softly, “After the Immortal Alliance Conference ends, I ask Fellow Daoist Su to convey a few words to Fellow Daoist Xiao for me. Just say that after the Immortal Alliance Conference ends, I will return to Zhaoyue Zhou… and no longer set foot in Hua Yao Zhou.” And no longer see you.
After speaking, Nangong Yi took one last look at the youth, brushing away a trace of sadness in his eyes.
The youth’s brilliant brows and eyes from their first meeting involuntarily surfaced in his mind, gradually overlapping with the youth’s words after getting drunk that day, forcefully cutting open his heart, making him accept it sweetly yet painfully.
Burn incense and play the zither, cook snow and brew tea.
…If only the one the youth met first was him.
Thinking of this, Nangong Yi’s eyes flickered. Cursing himself in his heart for being dirty, he turned hurriedly to leave.
However, Su Huan stopped him. “I cannot help you pass the message. He is in the Boundless Sea; go tell him yourself when the time comes.”
Nangong Yi paused and smiled bitterly. “I have no face to see him again.” Nor dare I disturb you again.
But he heard Su Huan say, “Sorry, I dissolved the contract and separated from him. I have decided not to see him again.”
Nangong Yi was stunned and turned abruptly to look at him.
Su Huan gave him a strange look, not understanding why he had such a big reaction.
Nangong Yi stared blankly at the youth before him. A roaring sound exploded in his ears, and his heart beat like a drum.
An indescribable secret feeling arose spontaneously from the bottom of his heart.
“Fellow Daoist Su… Can I… can I go with you?”
“Naturally.”
After the two left, a figure walked out from behind a tree.
The youth’s appearance was handsome but not outstanding. He wore the inner sect attire of the Xuanji Sect. His knuckles gripping the tree trunk were pale with force, and his eyes stared fixedly in the direction the two leftâ
It was precisely Xiao Jianming possessed by a divine soul.
He had managed to send his divine soul out of the Boundless Sea with great difficulty, and infiltrated the Immortal Alliance Conference with difficulty, only to see such a scene.
His moist, crimson-black eyes revealed madness. He whispered, “Ah Qing gege, you can only be mine…”
After speaking, his fingertips left the rough tree trunk, leaving a few deep finger marks.
Then he quietly followed the two.
When Su Huan and Nangong Yi found the demon who sacrificed his body for the formation, the demon was in a burst of white fog, his appearance unclear.
This demon, wrapped in dense fog that eroded vitality, was moving rapidly. As if knowing the terrain of the secret realm in advance, he was advancing on a route that could circle the entire secret realm, slashing a few times on the way from time to time, leaving a cloud of white fog.
Su Huan bent his fingers, and a flying flower cut the throat.
The demon’s figure paused. Blood spurted from the neck connection, spraying on the grass, causing the contaminated vegetation to wither and turn black instantly. In a moment, the withering slowly expanded.
However, he didn’t die immediately. He twisted his body slowly, wanting to see who killed him, and met the gaze of a light-eyed youth. Behind the youth followed a sword cultivator.
The demon slowly revealed a sinister, mocking smile, his voice leaking air: “I, one of the magnificent Twelve Demon Generals… actually died at the hands of you two brats in the end. Truly losing face… But killing me, the Demon Army will soon descend here… By then, you tender-skinned kids will be buried with me, hahahaha…”
He said this deliberately, thinking it would cause panic in these two human cultivators. Who expected Su Huan’s face to be calm? He slowly walked up to him and softly called out his name: “Yin Liang.”
The demon’s eyes widened suddenly, but blood flooded his throat, blocking it. Unable to speak, he could only emit hissing roars, dying with eyes wide open.
The youth recognized the last two words he shouted were “Divine Lord,” and couldn’t help lowering his eyes and sighing lightly.
Before the sigh could land, the flesh and blood on the demon’s body vanished in the blink of an eye. Just like in the Heart Tribulation Illusion, strange formation patterns appeared on the ground.
The entire secret realm began to shake.
The expression on Nangong Yi’s face became solemn, gripping his sword in readiness.
Su Huan put away his sword, bent down to collect Yin Liang’s scattered bones bit by bit, and a burst of golden light appeared at his fingertips, transporting them to the tomb of the Zijin Spirit Clan.
The moment the golden light dissipated, a voice that charmed all living beings came from behind Su Huan: “Divine Lord, you indeed did not truly die.”
Su Huan turned around. A huge abyss fissure appeared impressively behind him.
A person walked out of the abyss. His face was just like in the Heart Tribulation Illusion, appearing both male and female, beautifully enchanting.
Behind him followed thousands of demon troops, drums shaking the sky.
Nangong Yi looked at the comer in astonishment, unable to believe it was actually the Demon Lord. His heart jumped instantly. He subconsciously protected Su Huan, transmitting a message for him to find a chance to escape.
Unexpectedly, Su Huan didn’t respond to him. Instead, he left his protective circle and stepped forward to face the Demon Lord alone.
Nangong Yi was about to step forward to stop him, but before his fingertips could touch the youth’s wrist, he was shocked to find the youth’s tied-up black hair growing rapidly to his ankles. In the blink of an eye, it turned into snow-white hair. Golden light emerged in his light-colored eyes, and a golden divine seal appeared on his snowy forehead, exactly the same as the statue of the Divine Lord worshipped and believed in by the hundred immortal sects!
The broken hair on the forehead of the transformed youth fluttered in the wind, and his aura seemed to become extremely unfamiliar. Holding a snow-white, clear, and cold long sword, he called out faintly, “Yin Li, long time no see.”
Nangong Yi was dumbfounded, frozen on the spot.
Translator’s Note: Only a few chapters left until we finished this novel! Shorter than other novels, but still very long. I hope the readers enjoyed reading!Â
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