Chapter 79: Spirits of the Secret Realm
No matter how high a cultivator’s power was, they couldn’t wrestle with the extreme forces of nature. It was the same logic as an arm being unable to win against a leg.
Wu Gou tried to ride a flying artifact, but before he could travel a mile, he was tossed up, down, left, and right by an 800-degree wind. In a moment of carelessness, he was slammed back into the sea by a giant wave.
“Hahahahaā!”
The Fox Ning Ke laughed so hard he slapped his thigh while sitting on the reef.
He had only laughed a few times before another ten-meter wave crashed down on his head, successfully silencing him.
Fifteen minutes later, the two monks resignedly huddled on the reef, reinforcing their spiritual barriers by twenty layers. They planned to wait for the wind and waves to calm down before trying to leave again.
At Ning Ke’s level of cultivation, he didn’t actually need to eat. Being bored and so close to the sea, he caught a few fish and used his Fox Fire to grill them, carefully controlling the heat.
“Benefactor Ning, you are currently a disciple of the Buddhist Sect. You must eat vegetarian.”
“Meat and wine pass through the intestines, but the Buddha remains in the heart,” Ning Ke said, swallowing his saliva at the scent of the grilled fish. “Besides, Iām not a real monk; why are you being so strict? But if you really mind, Iāll just change my appearance.”
As his words fell, the flame mark on his forehead slowly vanished. Hair grew on his bald head, and his features shifted. He had lifted the seal and returned to his original appearance.
After all, in this godforsaken place, there was only him and Wu Gou. Returning to his original form wouldn’t be discovered by Lou Yunxiao. He simply stopped pretending.
Even for Wu Gou, whose six senses were supposedly purified, his breath hitched upon seeing Ning Keās current appearance. Before in Ning Village, he had only seen the Demon Venerableās appearance from afar, but now he was less than a meter away. The visual impact was incredibly strong.
His look was extremely demonic and alluring, enough to enchant oneās soul.
However, two seconds later, Wu Gou watched as this person sat astride a stool and chewed on fish until his mouth was covered in grease. There wasn’t a trace of beauty left; he looked like a reincarnated hungry ghost, his behavior utterly uncouth.
“…” Wu Gou shook his head helplessly and smiled.
He lowered his eyes and said to Ning Ke in a deep voice, “Benefactor Ning, actually… I don’t believe it was you who destroyed the Liuyun Sect.”
Outside the spiritual barrier, the waves were mountainous, as if they could swallow everything. Inside the barrier, however, there was a deathly silence.
Ning Ke stopped chewing the fish. He didn’t move for a long time.
“The reason I followed you this time was also to see the old site of the Liuyun Sect and verify this suspicion of mine.”
“…” Ning Ke put down the fish and said, “If I told you that even I don’t know if I did it, would you believe me?”
During his first time regression, the Liuyun Sect was already submerged in a sea of fire. Lou Yunxiao, who had lost his eyes and cultivation, lay on the ground in a pathetic state, questioning his crimes. Combined with his knowledge of the plot, he had naturally stepped into the role of the enemy. However, as for what the truth actually was, he truly… didn’t know.
“I believe you.”
Ning Ke was stunned.
Lifting his eyes, he saw Wu Gou say, “Benefactor Ning, I can see karma. Therefore, everything you do has its own logic. Perhaps you really did kill people, but that would have been a necessary choice. It would have been the best choice made to preserve others.”
“You…” Ning Ke dithered for a moment before slapping the little monkās head. “Why are you suddenly talking like that? Youāre giving me goosebumps. Forget it, forget it, stop talking. Letās drop the subject.”
Wu Gou’s mouth twitched. “…Benefactor Ning, the grease on your hand is all over my head!”
Ning Ke continued chewing his fish without looking up. “What are you making a fuss about? Just go wash it in the sea.”
“…”
…
The two waited on the reef for three days until the wind and waves finally subsided a bit. Ning Ke then went with Wu Gou to search for land.
Once they finally found land, the two realized this secret realm… was very wrong.
The sun was a purple-red color. It hadn’t seemed different on the sea because of the dark clouds, but once on land, the purple-red light draped down, making both Ning Ke and Wu Gou feel quite uncomfortable. Even their cultivation seemed suppressed, and they couldn’t exert their full strength.
The moment the two stepped onto the shore, it was as if they had awakened something. In the next instant, countless clouds of black mist rushed toward their faces!
“Give it to me, give me flesh and blood…”
“It smells so good, I want to eat, I’m so hungry…”
The black mist condensed into human shapes, yet they had no facial features, only wide-open maws biting toward the two!
“Wu Gou, catch!” Fearing Wu Gou might be hurt, Ning Ke quickly returned the staff to him.
The little monk took the staff, and as the Buddha Lotus Lamp lit up, all the black mist froze. The cultivation of the mist was only at the Foundation Establishment stage; even if there were many of them, they were mere trifles to two Soul Transformation cultivators. Furthermore, the Buddha Lotus Lamp could purify all things.
Hearing the sound of Wu Gouās chanting, the black mist stopped attacking.
“These are demonic creatures.” Ning Ke looked up at the purple sun and frowned. “This place is actually the Demon Realm.”
The Heavenly Dao had originally split the world into three. The barrier between the Human Realm and the Demon Realm wasn’t very thick, so they could occasionally interact. Only the Demon Realm had been completely isolated into an extraterrestrial space. In this extraterrestrial space, there wasn’t a single demon or human; there were only low-level demonic beasts and flora. Occasionally, due to spatial instability, an entrance would appear in the Human or Demon Realms, but it only allowed humans and demons to enter, not for demons to leave.
Back then, Ning Ke and Lou Yunxiao had fallen into one such entrance and plunged into the Demon Abyss. He never expected that what swallowed the Liuyun Sect wasn’t a secret realm, but the Demon Realm! And the act of manipulating the Demon Realm to swallow the entire Liuyun Sect didn’t seem like a natural occurrence caused by spatial instability at all! It was more like someone was deliberately controlling it!
Thinking of this, Ning Ke felt as if he had touched upon an extremely dark truth, and a chill rose from the soles of his feet.
As Wu Gou finished the sutra, the demonic creatures actually turned from black to white and slowly dissipated. One of the white specks of light approached Ning Ke, seemingly recognizing him, and said, “Demon Venerable… save… us…”
But before he could finish, the speck of light vanished completely. It was as if this sentence was a lingering obsession in his heart; now that he had said it, he could let go and disappear entirely.
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