Stealing an Immortal Back to the Demon Realm Chapter 41

Shang Ningye felt a little puzzled.
Everlasting lanterns used for wishing in the mortal realm were usually red, though other colors existed. However, the one before her now was a bit too plain.
Perhaps the customs of the Demon Realm were different from other places?
“This is…”
Just as she was about to ask for clarification, she heard someone in the crowd shout loudly.
“The time has come!”
A rustling sound arose from the previously quiet crowd.
As soft crackling sounds echoed around, everlasting lanterns were lit one after another with flint strikers.
One by one, the everlasting lanterns slowly rose, gradually dyeing the night sky an orange-red.
The gentle flames flickered in the wind, swaying as they slowly ascended.
Shang Ningye took the flint striker handed to her by the shopkeeper and silently lit the lantern in her own hand.
The moment she let go, she heard the crowd begin to softly chant a song she had never heard before.
The melody of the song was low, as if expressing longing for someone.
Shang Ningye subconsciously glanced at Mu Qiuhan beside her.
Mu Qiuhan had already released her lantern.
At this moment, her eyes were closed, facing the night wind, humming along with the crowd to that very sorrowful-sounding song.
The wind carried their voices far, far away.
Shang Ningye saw that beneath the flickering lights, Mu Qiuhan’s eyes seemed to glisten faintly.
Although the shopkeeper of Ruili Pavilion didn’t sing with the crowd, her gaze was also fixed on the vast expanse of everlasting lanterns in the sky, seemingly lost in thought.
Until the specks of light disappeared one by one into the deep night sky, the firmament returned to its usual tranquility.
Suddenly, a voice erupted from the crowd.
“Heaven bless our Demon Realm!”
Hearing this, the crowd was stunned for a moment, then all at once broke their previous silence.
Some lowered their voices, silently chanting with him, “Heaven bless the Demon Realm.”
Others began to cheer loudly, shouting with him, “Heaven bless the Demon Realm!”
Eventually, the voices rose and fell, almost merging into one.
Amidst these continuous prayers, someone else shouted, “May the Lord be ever safe!”
The crowd then followed, shouting, “May the Lord be ever safe!”
Shang Ningye was stunned by this scene.
She had initially thought all of this was deliberately arranged.
She looked towards the person from Ruili Pavilion, only to see the same shock on her face.
Shang Ningye then turned her head away.
The crowd was lively for a while, then gradually calmed down.
After the gathered people began to disperse, Mu Qiuhan, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke.
She nodded slightly to the Ruili Pavilion shopkeeper beside her and said in a low voice, “Thank you for protecting the people of this city that day.”
Hearing this, the shopkeeper’s expression seemed to stiffen slightly.
After a while, Shang Ningye heard her somewhat awkward reply.
“Don’t thank me. I did it for myself. If everyone in this city died, how would I do business?”
With that, she waved at Mu Qiuhan somewhat affectedly.
“Going back to sleep. The things you want will be sent over by someone within three days.”
Shang Ningye watched the person slowly leave with the crowd, showing no intention of waiting for them.
She withdrew her gaze and casually asked, “Why are the Demon Realm’s wishing lanterns white?”
Mu Qiuhan answered softly after a moment.
“Everlasting lanterns aren’t for wishing. They are to commemorate the heroic spirits who have passed away.”
Shang Ningye froze instantly.
Thinking of the dense cluster of lanterns in the night sky earlier, she suddenly felt a chill.
Shang Ningye bit her lip, wanting to say something more, but felt that nothing she could say would be right.
Mu Qiuhan didn’t seem to notice her embarrassment.
She took Shang Ningye’s hand.
“It’s getting late, let’s go back too.”
She tilted her head and earnestly advised, “From now on, if you’re bored staying alone in the palace, you can go to Ruili Pavilion to find Yu Chengjun.”
Seeing Shang Ningye looking at her with a puzzled expression, Mu Qiuhan added an explanation.
“Yu Chengjun is from your Immortal Sects.”
Someone from the Immortal Sects?
The doubt in Shang Ningye’s eyes deepened.
Why would someone from the Immortal Sects come to the Demon Realm and even run a crystal stone business?
Shang Ningye was sure there was no such person in the Taiqing Immortal Sect, so she asked, “Which sect’s disciple is she?”
Unexpectedly, Mu Qiuhan chuckled upon hearing this.
“Disciple?”
She sounded as if she had heard something amusing.
“Have you heard of the Star Refining Pavilion in the south?”
Seeing Shang Ningye nod, Mu Qiuhan continued.
“She is the former Pavilion Master of the Star Refining Pavilion.”
Even after the two returned to the Demon Palace, Shang Ningye still found this matter quite incredible.
The Star Refining Pavilion was a famous major artifact refining sect in the Immortal Sects, much more renowned than the Taiqing Immortal Sect’s Heavenly Pillar Peak.
To be the Pavilion Master of the Star Refining Pavilion, her cultivation level must have reached the Mahayana Stage long ago. How could she be running a small crystal stone business in the Demon Realm?
At this time, Shang Ningye didn’t know that the small crystal stone business in her eyes was merely the facade presented by the Ruili Pavilion shop in Jialuo City.
Ruili Pavilion’s business had long since spread to every corner of the Demon Realm and the Yao Realm.
As for why that shop looked unremarkable, not even as impressive as Clear Moon Pavilion, it was because—
The owner of Ruili Pavilion was a cheapskate.
Three days later, Shang Ningye received the item sent over by someone from Ruili Pavilion.
Mu Qiuhan was currently busy in seclusion, refining her Yin-Yang Mystic Dragon Pill.
The day after returning from outside the city, Mu Qiuhan announced to the public that she would be in seclusion for a short period.
The clan had just held a grand banquet. Hua Ganglie, Wu Ling, and Chu Yue were all present, so Leng Yi alone couldn’t stir up much trouble.
Besides, everyone in the Demon Realm now knew she had returned safely. If Leng Yi wanted to make a move again, it would be rather foolish.
Mu Qiuhan was peacefully in seclusion, preparing to enhance her spiritual roots.
Shang Ningye, however, was in a bind.
That day at Ruili Pavilion, she hadn’t actually seen the blueprint in Mu Qiuhan’s hand clearly.
She didn’t even know what the item Mu Qiuhan wanted looked like.
As for the crystal stone…
Although she could feel that this bracelet made of crystal stone, despite having a complex array formation set upon it, still couldn’t conceal its brilliance and radiated vigorous spiritual energy.
However, whether this was truly the best crystal stone in Ruili Pavilion remained to be verified.
Seeing no movement from Mu Qiuhan’s side, Shang Ningye thought to herself, Well, Ruili Pavilion isn’t going to disappear into thin air anyway. So she took it upon herself to temporarily accept the bracelet.
As night fell, a strange celestial phenomenon suddenly appeared above the Demon Palace.
Dark, oppressive clouds gathered in this direction, obscuring the originally clear night sky.
From afar, Shang Ningye smelled a waft of pill fragrance.
It was the unique fragrance emitted when a medicinal pill was about to form.
When a fierce heavenly lightning bolt struck down from the clouds, heading straight for Mu Qiuhan’s study, Shang Ningye knew the Yin-Yang Mystic Dragon Pill was successfully refined.
The heavenly lightning was ferocious, shattering the barrier above the Demon Palace in one strike.
But thanks to that barrier, the power of the lightning tribulation was greatly reduced when it descended.
Shang Ningye stood by the window.
She watched as the heavenly lightning instantly blasted the roof of the building opposite into ashes.
She stared intently in that direction.
After a soft cough, a figure emerged from the charred mess.
Ever since the thunderclouds began to gather overhead, Shang Ningye’s heart had been in her throat.
She had read in books before that immortal-grade medicinal pills would attract a lightning tribulation upon formation.
But she had never witnessed such a pill lightning tribulation with her own eyes.
The might of this lightning tribulation was immense, appearing almost comparable to that faced by a Mahayana Stage cultivator undergoing their tribulation.
Although there was only one bolt, Shang Ningye could feel that if Mu Qiuhan relied solely on her current Void Refinement Stage cultivation, she would likely be reduced to ashes after the tribulation.
Seeing Mu Qiuhan’s figure emerge from the room now, Shang Ningye breathed a sigh of relief.
She almost flew out of her room.
Mu Qiuhan’s robes were stained with patches of grey and black.
Shang Ningye performed a spell to completely remove the soot from her clothes.
Mu Qiuhan finally regulated her breathing.
She smiled at Shang Ningye, then turned to look at the area of rooms destroyed by the lightning tribulation.
Mu Qiuhan was rather speechless.
She hadn’t expected that the lightning tribulation attracted by this pill couldn’t even be withstood by the palace’s protective barrier.
Otherwise, how could she have risked refining the pill here?
But fortunately, she had chosen this place. Had it been anywhere else, she probably wouldn’t have seen tomorrow’s sun.
The barrier in the Demon Palace was set up by her during her peak, capable of withstanding the combined attacks of several Mahayana Stage cultivators.
Such a barrier was actually completely shattered by a single lightning tribulation.
Without this barrier, her fate was imaginable.
It seemed everything was predestined.
Mu Qiuhan let out a long sigh of relief in her heart.
She opened her palm and quietly looked at the perfectly round spirit pill in it.
The pill was a magnificent light purple, covered with patterns of varying depths.
At first glance, it resembled a three-dimensional taijitu symbol; upon closer inspection, it looked like a swimming dragon.
Shang Ningye had never seen a pill of this grade before.
Even standing a few paces away from Mu Qiuhan, she could feel the immense spiritual energy contained within the pill.
Mu Qiuhan, seeing her gaze fixed on her palm, offered the pill to Shang Ningye.
Shang Ningye raised her head in confusion.
Mu Qiuhan’s eyes curved into a smile. “Help me keep this pill for now.”
Shang Ningye glanced down at Mu Qiuhan’s palm but didn’t reach out to take it.
“You’re not planning to take this pill now?”
Mu Qiuhan hummed in agreement.
She thought for a moment, then added, “My current condition isn’t suitable for taking the pill immediately.”
Shang Ningye frowned upon hearing this.
“Are you injured?”
She stepped forward, intending to check Mu Qiuhan’s pulse.
Mu Qiuhan turned her hand and smoothly pressed the pill into Shang Ningye’s hand.
Shang Ningye was stunned.
Since Mu Qiuhan insisted, she couldn’t well refuse.
She just never imagined that after everything that had happened, Mu Qiuhan could still trust her so much.
She solemnly placed the pill into her storage ring, then reached out again and grasped Mu Qiuhan’s wrist.
The spiritual energy in Mu Qiuhan’s dantian was still a bit chaotic, but other than that, Shang Ningye found no signs of injury.
She instantly understood everything.
She frowned and glared at Mu Qiuhan, only to receive a sly smile in return.