Mu Qiuhan looked at Shang Ningye’s face, which was so pale it didn’t seem human, and felt a little puzzled again.
Exhausting her spiritual energy shouldn’t make her look like this.
This person’s complexion changes frequently; could she have some old chronic illness?
Thinking that the other party was a medical cultivator herself, this sliver of doubt seemed a little ridiculous.
She helped Shang Ningye sit up and took out a recovery pill from her storage ring, just about to give it to her, when Xuan Kong stopped her.
Mu Qiuhan looked at Xuan Kong, somewhat confused, but saw him fumbling around and surprisingly take out a Green Spirit Pill.
Compared to the entry-level pill in her hand, the Green Spirit Pill used specifically for repairing wood element spiritual energy was clearly of higher quality and purer medicinal power.
Mu Qiuhan glanced at the pill and silently withdrew her hand.
She didn’t know why she suddenly felt a bit petty in that moment, so with a flick of her hand, she popped the recovery pill into her mouth.
As soon as the pill was swallowed, a warm sensation rose within her dantian.
Only now did Mu Qiuhan feel a little regret.
That day in the Scripture Pavilion, she had only successfully refined two recovery pills in total.
One she had already eaten herself, and this one was supposed to be saved for a more critical moment, but she had swallowed it like a candy out of spite.
Mu Qiuhan belatedly felt a pang of heartache.
To avoid wasting the medicinal effect of these only two pills, she cleared her mind, closed her eyes, circulated her spiritual energy, and began to cultivate.
There are many people around here now, and Wu Ling and her group were also reminded by her, so they shouldn’t come back to cause trouble for a while. There’s no need to worry about their safety.
As for the immortal sect, finding the demon intruders was something the patrol teams would naturally worry about. It had nothing to do with her anyway, so she openly used her identity as an injured person to cultivate on her own.
Xuan Kong watched as Mu Qiuhan began meditating again, completely ignoring everything around her, and was very surprised.
This child was diligent to an extreme, unwilling to waste even the slightest possibility of improving her cultivation.
This kind of mindset was a good thing for a cultivator, but Xuan Kong inexplicably felt a little uneasy.
He looked at this new disciple before him and couldn’t help but feel a little lost in thought.
He couldn’t understand this child’s thoughts at all.
Previously, he had indeed stopped Mu Qiuhan from giving Shang Ningye that pill because of a sliver of suspicion in his heart, but who knew the child would just turn around and swallow the pill herself.
In Xuan Kong’s eyes, this action seemed as if his little scheme had been completely seen through.
The other person was clearly open and frank, while he was here being suspicious.
Xuan Kong’s face felt hot. For a moment, his expression looking at Mu Qiuhan became even more complex.
After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Mu Qiuhan had completely absorbed the medicinal properties of that pill.
Seeing that none of the spiritual energy in the elixir was wasted, she withdrew her hand signs with satisfaction.
Opening her eyes, she saw that Shang Ningye didn’t seem to have woken up yet, but the color had returned to her face somewhat, looking less jarring than before.
Mu Qiuhan’s gaze lingered for a moment on her gentle and pale face before moving away.
Beside her, three immortal sect elders were still discussing whether to proactively send their disciples out to search for the demon intruders.
Mu Qiuhan listened for a bit and just felt that the immortal sect people were a little too cautious.
However, this also gave Wu Ling and her group more time.
In the mountain range several hundred miles away from the small town, a woman dressed in black was rapidly darting into the forest.
Her footsteps were light, her movement technique marvelous, and wherever she passed, only a few birds were startled.
The woman ran all the way towards the northwest, passing through a dense forest spanning several miles, and finally arrived in front of a cliff.
Above the cliff, a waterfall plunged down from the sky, like a snow-white water dragon.
The woman leaped, soaring towards the center of the water dragon, and her figure vanished amidst the mist.
Behind the waterfall was a cave, which they had accidentally discovered a few days ago when they stumbled into this place.
Wu Ling used this place as a temporary base, having agreed with her subordinates to meet here if there was an emergency.
She waited in the cave for about an hour, and four or five people returned one after another.
Wu Ling only breathed a small sigh of relief when she saw everyone had arrived.
She looked at the few subordinates she had brought out in haste, thought for a moment, and said, “The immortal sect sent out three Integration realm elders in total. It’s too dangerous for us to act separately. This mission needs to be reconsidered.”
One subordinate seemed to have something to say, and Wu Ling signaled her, saying, “If you have any findings, just speak.”
The person hesitantly drew a pattern on the ground. When she looked up at Wu Ling again, there was a light in her eyes that couldn’t be concealed.
“Priestess, I found this in the town’s market…”
“Could this be…?”
She paused and asked cautiously, “Could this have been left by the Lord?”
Wu Ling carefully glanced at the pattern on the ground.
“Go to the Yao Realm? Get the Golden Lingjiao?”
She paused, then deliberately let out a cold snort.
“This was likely drawn by those from the immortal sect on purpose, to lure us into conflict with the Yao Clan so they can reap the benefits.”
“As everyone knows, the immortal sect was greatly injured this time, and it will likely be difficult for them to contend with our Demon Realm again in a short time. If not for Leng Yi… if not for the new Lord being too conservative, we would have likely flattened the territory of Longxuan Mountain long ago.”
“On the contrary, that Yao Realm usually keeps a low profile, but during this conflict between the snipe and the clam, they have instead gained a great advantage.”
“Those immortal sect disciples usually don’t treat the demon race as people; it’s common for them to capture recently transformed little demons to refine pills. Now they are likely worried about retaliation from the demon race, which is why they thought of this method of killing two birds with one stone.”
Seeing that her analysis made some sense, the originally fervent expression on the person’s face dimmed considerably.
“It wasn’t the Lord…?” she muttered to herself.
Wu Ling took in the expressions of the several people around her and kept them in mind.
Except for those who personally witnessed Mu Qiuhan self-detonate her dantian on the day of the great battle, many people in the Demon Realm were unwilling to believe that this Lord, the most highly cultivated in the history of the demon realm, had died just like that.
Just like Wu Ling herself.
She had divined a tribulation in Mu Qiuhan’s fate.
But because the day of Mu Qiuhan’s tribulation ascension was approaching, and what was shown in the divination was not a guaranteed death, Wu Ling mistakenly thought Mu Qiuhan’s tribulation would be the heavenly lightning during her ascension.
At Mu Qiuhan’s instruction, she personally went to a secret realm overseas to search for the legendary Unburnt Ancient Wood, hoping to use the power of heavenly fire to offset some of the power of the lightning tribulation.
But who knew she had just found some clues when she received news that the immortal sect was leading an attack on the Demon Realm.
With great difficulty, she rushed back, only to hear news of Mu Qiuhan’s death.
Naturally, Wu Ling was unwilling to believe this.
But the Demon Realm had completely changed by then; she had no choice but to believe.
Six Mahayana realm protectors were lost in battle, with three dying, and the remaining three were injured to varying degrees.
The newly appointed Demon Lord Leng Yi was the one with the highest cultivation among the remaining three, but he also lost an arm in that battle.
The battle between immortals and demons was a bitter victory for the demon race.
Wu Ling saw the bleak scene within her race, and in her worry, she performed another divination.
This time, the divination pointed to the future of the Demon Realm being surprisingly related to Taiqing Immortal Sect.
She pondered it deeply and only reached the conclusion that the Demon Realm and Taiqing Immortal Sect were irreconcilable.
She reported this matter to the new Lord, hoping he could take advantage of the immortal sect’s great injury to conquer Taiqing Immortal Sect in one fell swoop, but he refused.
But what the divination pointed to could not be ignored.
Wu Ling thus held onto a sliver of hope and brought a few trusted followers to the territory of Longxuan Mountain.
She had originally planned to capture some immortal sect disciples to take back and question slowly, but unexpectedly met Mu Qiuhan by a strange coincidence.
After the incident just now, Wu Ling naturally knew that the pattern currently drawn on the ground must have been left by Mu Qiuhan.
Even if the immortal sect people were more capable, they likely couldn’t know the private contact signal between Mu Qiuhan and them.
But currently, the Lord is alone among a crowd of immortals. No matter what the situation, we absolutely cannot let the news that she is still alive be leaked, or the trouble will be immense.
As for the Golden Lingjiao?
What did the Lord want that Golden Lingjiao for?
Now back to Shang Ningye. After she finished absorbing that pill, the spiritual energy in her inner organs was somewhat replenished, and the remaining poison in her body was suppressed by spiritual energy. She then slowly woke up.
Seeing her wake up, Perfected Xuan Kong stood up and stuffed a transmission talisman into her hand.
“Martial Ancestor-Aunt, I’ve thought it over carefully. That secret realm is too dangerous. This transmission talisman has a magic array inside. You crush it and return to the sect together with my disciple here first…”
His words were not yet finished when he was interrupted by Mu Qiuhan.
“Who says I’m going back?”
She had managed to follow them out with great difficulty; how could she just go back like this?
Moreover, she still had some things she wanted to explain face-to-face with Wu Ling.
Shang Ningye also shook her head.
“The elders haven’t been to that secret realm. Although I can’t help too much, with me leading the way, you’ll achieve twice the results with half the effort.”
The three had differing opinions and were deadlocked for a while.
Finally, under Xuan Kong’s insistence, Shang Ningye took the talisman and agreed to crush it if they encountered danger, returning to the sect together with Mu Qiuhan.
Mu Qiuhan watched Xuan Kong meticulously instruct Shang Ningye on every detail, like someone giving deathbed instructions, and let out a light chuckle.
Xuan Kong glared at her.
In Xuan Kong’s questioning gaze, Mu Qiuhan slowly spoke.
“If you’re truly worried that one person can’t protect her, I do have a method.”
She paused, then spoke again, “I heard the sect has a magic artifact called Dream Floating Life. If it can be used for cultivation, one day can equal a year…”
Xuan Kong watched her without changing his expression.
“Do you know that using this magic artifact requires consuming your own lifespan? One day is also equivalent to one year.”
Hearing this, Mu Qiuhan lightly curved her lips.
“Naturally I know. Master, will you agree to lend it to me?”
“Have you truly thought it through?”
