The path to the Demon Realm was shrouded in thick black mist, and upon glancing around, one could only see countless demonic shadows, like fish swarming and sliding along a stream.
A demon with a head as large as a carriage and a mouth full of fangs sniffed the delicious scent of a cultivator's blood and flesh in its mouth. To its surprise, it had stumbled upon such a delightful snack on its way home. Ecstatic, it rolled its rough tongue, eager to swallow her whole.
Yu Yi reacted swiftly, thrusting her Qingzhu Sword into the demon's tongue, pinning it firmly in the creature's mouth.
The demon let out a piercing howl, its teeth chattering loudly. It suddenly opened its mouth wide, revealing rows upon rows of sharp teeth, like a meat grinder lined with knives, ready to grind the unsuspecting prey that had wandered into its jaws.
But just as it was about to close its mouth, something seemed to stop it, leaving it frozen in that comical position.
Yu Yi, holding onto her Qingzhu Sword, felt a gentle breeze brush against her face. The wind wrapped around her, its touch cold and slimy, like invisible tendrils caressing her skin.
"Achoo?" She reached out to grab it, but her hand only caught air.
Ahead, the black mist parted, revealing a vast and serene world.
The dense demonic energy of the Demon Realm soothed the deep resentment of the demons. Nothing was more comforting than returning to one's homeland, and demons were no exception.
In the cultivation world, countless lightning strikes had ravaged the land. Many cultivators who failed to withstand the trials of the lightning had perished, and even in the human realm, far from the immortal mountains, people could see the continuous flashes of lightning, witnessing the wrath of heaven.
Yu Yi had infiltrated the demon army and entered the Demon Realm, but she too had not escaped the lightning strikes. The three realms were all under the heavens, and demons, like all living beings, were subject to the will of the heavens.
Thunderous pillars of lightning struck down, scaring the newly returned demons into a panicked flight. Even the demon that had lost its prized fangs in the encounter with Yu Yi couldn't find the time to seek revenge. It spat out the culprit that had attracted the lightning, sending Yu Yi flying.
As a cultivator, Yu Yi's flesh and blood were the most coveted by these demons. However, with the continuous lightning strikes and the awe-inspiring power of the heavens, she was inadvertently protected.
The combined lightning strikes of the Golden Core and Nascent Soul stages rained down simultaneously, with golden lightning and purple electricity intertwining. Yu Yi, having mastered the Ninth Sword, which could split the chaos, was not afraid of the heavens' trial of the heart. However, her hasty response to the lightning left her ill-prepared.
The power of the lightning strikes was unlike ordinary thunder. Each strike of the Golden Core stage directly hit the meridians and dantian, while the Nascent Soul stage strikes targeted the soul and heart. The dual assault made it impossible not to feel the fear of imminent death.
This fear, too, was part of the trial.
Nine lightning strikes lasted an entire day. When Yu Yi emerged from the lightning, she was nearly charred to a crisp. However, as the lightning dissipated, the soot on her body fell off in pieces, like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon, her body and soul purified by the trial.
Now, she truly possessed a golden body and a divine soul.
Yu Yi suspended her sword above her head, forming a sword light barrier. She changed out of her damaged clothes, re-combed her hair, and adorned it with a hairpin. After tidying up, she stepped out of the sword light, looking refreshed and rejuvenated.
She summoned her Qingzhu Sword back and waited a moment. Crane Senior Brother, who had been hiding in the distance, saw that the lightning had completely dissipated and flew over, flapping its wings.
Yu Yi took the storage bag containing Xue Chenjing's parents' remains from Crane Senior Brother and stored it safely. She climbed onto Crane Senior Brother's back and flew high into the sky, surveying the Demon Realm. She sighed, "Now, I don't know where to find him."
It used to be Xue Chenjing chasing after her, but now the roles were reversed, and she was the one searching for him. It seemed like karma was at play, and the time for retribution had come.
Xue Chenjing had sacrificed himself to restore the Demon Realm. No matter what form he had taken now, even if it was just a wisp of turbid air, he should still be within this realm.
The Demon Realm's landscape was naturally not as clear and bright as the human world, but it had its own unique charm. The deep black land stretched endlessly, with ravines and gullies crisscrossing. The plants that grew here were vividly colored to an eerie extent, and just looking at them, one could tell they were no good, likely poisonous.
Demonic energy permeated the entire land, and from time to time, black mist surged up from the ground, forming demons like whales breaking the surface of the sea, swallowing bird demons flying above the cracks.
As the demons returned to this realm, there would inevitably be territorial disputes among them. Roars and shrieks echoed from all directions, sending shivers down one's spine.
Crane Senior Brother, in such a demon-filled realm, was so scared that its feathers never lay flat. As a celestial crane and a spiritual cultivator, Yu Yi and Crane Senior Brother were too conspicuous here.
Every three zhang, they encountered attacks from thorny vines shooting up from the ground, and every ten zhang, they were surrounded by a pack of fierce bird demons. Some unknown creatures also approached them menacingly. Yu Yi, having just gone through the heavenly tribulation, had not yet fully recovered her spiritual energy, and she and Crane Senior Brother were forced to flee.
During their flight, Yu Yi suddenly remembered she had a demon lord's carriage. She pulled out the wooden ball from her storage bag and tapped it threateningly with the hilt of her Qingzhu Sword.
The wooden ball immediately flew out of her hand, expanding rapidly. The panels of the Diwu carriage scattered and quickly assembled into a carriage. The Nine-Headed Bird totem on the carriage came to life, spreading its wings that covered the sky. The nine bird heads simultaneously screeched, scaring away the demons that had been pestering them.
Yu Yi and Crane Senior Brother sat inside the carriage, finally finding some peace.
Crane Senior Brother's feathers gradually calmed down. This place was truly terrifying, and in comparison, even the Nine-Headed Bird seemed much more friendly.
The Nine-Headed Bird circled in the sky for a while before flying toward a distant range of mountains. Yu Yi pushed open the carriage window and looked out, seeing faint wisps of air flowing toward the center of the mountains.
Although the mountains were visible, it still took the Diwu carriage five full days to reach them, showing just how vast the Demon Realm was.
During these five days, the demons had probably found their respective territories. Some claimed mountains as their own, while others made their homes in the depths of the earth. The turbulent demonic energy of the Demon Realm gradually calmed down, and the fierce winds in the sky also softened.
The closer they got to the mountains, the fewer demons they saw. However, those who managed to claim a spot in this area were all powerful demons.
Yu Yi counted ten mountains through the carriage window. The Ten Ring Mountains surrounded a valley.
According to the Nine-Headed Bird's cries, these ten mountains were the lairs of the ten great demons, though it was unclear if they had returned.
Yu Yi wondered, "Isn't the turbid qi usually found in the valley?"
The nine bird heads chirped noisily. Yu Yi, having gotten used to their chatter, picked out the key points. "Got it. It usually stays deep in the mountains, so flying over its territory shouldn't get us attacked."
The Nine-Headed Bird nodded continuously. It looked fierce, but it was actually quite timid. It circled outside the Ten Ring Mountains, found the territory of the turbid air, and only then dared to fly in.
Wisps of air from all directions converged in the valley, creating a misty atmosphere. The scene was hazy, and even the strong winds under the Nine-Headed Bird's wings couldn't disperse the mist.
A wisp of air clung to the Nine-Headed Bird's feathers, causing its wings to suddenly scatter. It transformed back into the carvings on the carriage, and the Diwu carriage shuddered, splitting apart and reverting to a wooden ball.
Yu Yi fell from the sky, landing in a damp swamp.
As soon as Crane Senior Brother left the Diwu carriage, its feathers puffed up again. It hurried to Yu Yi's side, trying to bury its head in her pouch. Yu Yi quickly grabbed its long neck. "Crane Senior Brother, wait, let me shrink you first. You'll tear the pouch."
The red-crowned crane wouldn't listen. It just kept trying to shove its head in, feeling safe as long as it couldn't see.
Yu Yi sighed helplessly and pulled out a talisman, sticking it onto the crane. Crane Senior Brother's human-sized body suddenly transformed into a flash of white light, disappearing into her pouch.
In reality, this valley was eerily silent, devoid of any demonic noises, only the occasional wisps of air flowing through. Yu Yi followed the direction of these air currents, eventually coming across a large, perfectly round water sphere at the edge of a marsh.
The water sphere shimmered like a mirror, reflecting its surroundings as if it were invisible, only revealing its form when the air currents brushed against it, causing ripples to spread out.
"A realm?" There was an independent realm within this place. Yu Yi hesitated for a moment, then pushed her spiritual senses to their limit.
She sensed a familiar aura from the water sphere and, without hesitation, reached out and gently touched it. The sphere rippled, and the waves of water flowed upward from her fingertips, wrapping around her arm and pulling her into the realm.
As soon as Yu Yi entered the realm, she stepped onto a thick tree branch, with lush greenery filling her vision. Through the gaps in the leaves, she could see the vast expanse of the sea.
The wisps of air continued to flow into this realm, constantly generating more branches and leaves for this massive tree, as well as the small wooden houses built on its branches.
Xue Chenjing had actually created a place similar to the Three Spirit Island within this realm. Yu Yi watched as the tree island continued to grow and, using the vines hanging from the branches, she swung herself upward toward the wooden tower at the tree's crown.
Just as she landed on the balcony outside the tower, she heard the sound of the system breaking down from within, "Master, my little ancestor, you can't bite that!"
Yu Yi, puzzled, stepped into the wooden tower. Amidst the thumping sounds inside, she quickly made her way to the stairs leading to the second floor.
As soon as her foot touched the wooden stairs, a shadow flashed on the second floor, and then a plump, round blob rolled down and plopped into her arms.
Yu Yi instinctively caught it, but when she looked down, she almost dropped it right back out. The blob in her arms was about the size of a baby, with a body and limbs, but no head. Where the head should have been, there was only a swirling, murky fog.
Yu Yi: "..." What kind of horror story is this?!
Before she could muster the courage to throw it away, the system's voice emerged from the blob again, sobbing, "Thank goodness, finally someone to take care of you!"
As soon as its voice appeared, the blob in her arms became restless, reaching into the fog to scratch, as if trying to drive it out of its mind.
During the chaos at the Demon Suppression Tower, with all the demonic howls everywhere, the system hadn't been able to tell whether it was the master or the female lead who had asked about its affection levels.
Now that the master was in such a state that he couldn't even speak, the system dared not risk calling out to the female lead and wisely kept silent.
Only when the system's voice disappeared did the fog around the blob's neck settle, condensing into a head that looked up at her.
Yu Yi met his big, round eyes and felt a mix of emotions, unsure of what to say. If it weren't for this exact replica of the tree island, if it weren't for the system's voice, she would never have connected the little brat in her arms to Xue Chenjing.
Could it be that she had to take care of a child now??
Yu Yi tentatively poked his chubby cheek and asked, "A Jiu? Do you remember me?"
The child in her arms opened his mouth, baring his gums with no teeth yet, and bit down fiercely on her finger.
Yu Yi: "..." Alright, looks like he doesn't remember.
