"Five tolls! What kind of demon could withstand five tolls under the Demon Suppressing Bell?"
"The demon-slaying inscriptions are still glowing - the demon inside hasn't died yet."
"In recent years, I haven't heard of any high-level demons or fiends causing havoc in the mortal realm."
Outside the Demon Suppressing Bell, the members of the Carefree Sect were discussing the demon inside.
Before these words faded, the Demon Suppressing Bell rang for the sixth time. The lingering toll carried vast demon-slaying power sweeping out from the solitary peak. This toll neither startled birds nor harmed insects and beasts. For cultivators, it had the effect of calming the mind and spirit, specifically targeting demons and fiends.
In the past, even the most powerful demons who were executed could only make the Demon Suppressing Bell toll five times. It hadn't rung a sixth time in several hundred years.
Any demon capable of causing six tolls must be incredibly powerful, dominating their territory. Capturing such a being would normally require several major immortal sects working together. How could one be quietly placed under the Demon Suppressing Bell without any commotion?
Lady Lotus held high status and authority in the Carefree Sect. She was an elder who had helped establish the sect alongside its founding master. Even the sect leader had to show her junior's respect. The crowd didn't dare question her directly, instead turning their inquiring gazes toward Elder Yi Heng.
Yi Heng showed difficulty on his face, unsure how to explain. Lady Lotus took the initiative to speak: "The demon under the bell is the fiend who once brought destruction to my entire Yi Family. I am using the Demon Suppressing Bell for personal revenge, violating sect rules. I will accept punishment according to sect regulations afterward."
With Lady Lotus speaking thus, the Carefree Sect members naturally had nothing more to say. But from her words alone, many speculations arose in their minds.
A thousand years ago, the Yi Family had been an extremely powerful cultivation clan. The era of the Ji Clan of Immortals' dominance had passed, and the cultivation world was controlled by the three great families - Jiang, Yao, and Yun. It was during this period that the Yi Family gradually accumulated power and rose to prominence.
At their peak, the Yi Family had produced three Tribulation Realm ancestors, and there were even rumors that one had successfully ascended to immortality. Perhaps they had become too conspicuous then, drawing joint suppression from the three great families. The remaining two Tribulation Realm ancestors perished in succession, and the Yi Family declined from that point on.
Even in decline, the Yi Family's strength still ran deeper than other clans and sects. Until a demon emerged from the Yi Family, committing countless crimes, and the family was implicated. The three great families seized this opportunity to pass judgment and punishment.
But hadn't that demon already been executed? Could the one under the Demon Suppressing Bell be a demon who had once followed him? That would explain such immense power.
Dong—
The seventh toll rang out from the Demon Suppressing Bell, adding another layer of demon-slaying inscriptions, which still hadn't faded.
"Seven tolls," Xue Chenjing murmured, blood flowing from the corner of his mouth in a long line, forming a pool before him. His sister truly meant to destroy him under the bell.
Seven layers of demon-slaying seals pressed down from above like Mount Tai. Each time the inscriptions flashed, the light turned to blades that carved away his flesh and crushed his bones.
Even with this body's powerful regenerative abilities, he was now completely disfigured.
He must look hideously terrifying now - fortunately, Yu Yi wasn't here to see.
The system frantically spun about, remembering there was still a fake death pill in the newcomer's gift package. It hurriedly said, "Master, there's still a fake death pill in the newcomer's package. Our products are guaranteed quality - it will definitely fool the Demon Suppressing Bell. Take it first, and when they open the bell after you appear dead, you can escape!"
Xue Chenjing snorted coldly, having lost all trust in the system. He even suspected that the bottle of passionate love wine from before had been the system's deliberate sabotage.
"I know what you're planning. Once I fake death, you can let Xue Mingyuan take control of the body again. Shameless thing, don't even think about it," he spat blood while speaking harshly. "You like him that much? Sooner or later, I'll dig you out and stuff you into Xue Mingyuan's mouth, burning you both to ashes together, fulfilling your devoted heart."
The host certainly had creative ways of threatening its death.
The system protested, "I'm not, I didn't!"
It was an innocent system! Everything it did was to complete the mission!
The system felt somewhat guilty. It had indeed harbored a slight hope before that Xue Mingyuan would take more control of the body, but not anymore!
This time, it had witnessed with its own eyes how the female lead withdrew her hand and chose to go to Xue Chenjing when she heard his call. Whoever the female lead favored, it would firmly stand by their side!
It had misjudged before, wuwu.
Though Xue Chenjing rejected the system's suggestion, he wouldn't docilely wait for death either.
He sat slumped in the pool of blood, waiting for the ninth toll. After nine tolls, all the demon-slaying inscriptions inside the bell would activate - that would be his moment to break the formation.
But this waiting process was unbearably long and painful.
Xue Chenjing shook his head, struggling to stay conscious. He hadn't received Yu Yi's answer yet - how could he die under such a worthless thing?
As dawn broke on the horizon, the Demon Suppressing Bell rang out another deep toll. The giant bronze bell now had nine layers of circular demon-slaying inscriptions stacked upon it.
Nine layers - all demon-slaying inscriptions were now activated.
The bones inside Xue Chenjing's body crackled as they regenerated, rebuilding his collapsed spine. He stood up, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and looked up with a smile.
His black pupils reflected the dense golden inscriptions above, seeming to flash with their own golden light, startlingly bright.
The pool of blood at his feet suddenly began to boil, revealing a magic formation. Demon shadows burst forth from the blood formation, crashing into the inscriptions above.
These demon shadows seemed endless - when one was destroyed by the demon-slaying inscriptions, another would take its place.
The demon shadows and golden light intertwined beneath the Demon Suppressing Bell, but upon closer inspection, one would notice the shadows weren't charging randomly. They were controlled by Xue Chenjing's will, each impact targeting nine specific inscriptions.
The demon-slaying inscriptions rotated and shifted position constantly, appearing and disappearing in a dizzying display. Almost no one could decipher them except the bell's original creator, yet Xue Chenjing somehow precisely locked onto those nine inscriptions every time, controlling the demon shadows to crash into them.
The nine layers of seals above had been extremely stable at first, their demon-slaying power pressing down on Xue Chenjing, breaking him again and again. Each time he would stand back up, his eyes fixed unwaveringly on the flashing inscriptions, not blinking even when blood flowed into them.
A single blink would miss the inscriptions' movements.
After sacrificing nearly half the demon power in his spiritual sea, cracks finally appeared in those nine inscriptions. The oppressive demon-slaying force suddenly lightened, and Xue Chenjing laughed wildly: "Some Demon Suppressing Bell this is - nothing special at all."
The Demon Suppressing Bell suddenly shook violently, its demon-slaying inscriptions abruptly dimming. A hairline crack appeared in the wall-thick bronze bell with a "crack."
This sound startled all the Carefree Sect elders on the solitary peak. Even Lady Lotus's expression changed dramatically in her pavilion.
But the sound continued. Crack, crack, crack - in just moments, multiple fissures appeared in the Demon Suppressing Bell.
These cracks originated from the bell's peak, spreading outward like lightning. The demon-slaying inscriptions completely collapsed, scattering into falling golden light. Their contained demon-slaying power transformed into a whirlwind that swept in all directions.
The shattered bronze bell fragments became like arrows in the wind, shooting outward.
The Carefree Sect members were shocked and had to dodge, summoning magical treasures for protection.
Lady Lotus's layered palace robes billowed in the fierce wind. She narrowed her eyes toward the ruins of the Demon Suppressing Bell, advancing rather than retreating. Gripping a lotus flower magical weapon, she nimbly avoided the flying bronze fragments and entered beneath the bell.
Xue Chenjing turned his head to see her and flashed her a sweet smile, calling out, "Sister."
Lady Lotus's ice-cold expression shattered at this word, her beautiful eyes nearly bursting with hatred as she scolded, "Silence! You demon, you're not worthy to call me sister!"
The lotus in her hand split apart, each petal containing different Five Elements energy. Once the Five Elements formation closed, it could instantly create an independent battle formation, while the sixth lotus petal could freeze time.
Xue Chenjing was extremely wary of her lotus and didn't want to get entangled with her for long. Especially since in his previous life, when he seized the body during their exchange, Xue Mingyuan had used a trick, establishing a blood contract that prevented him from harming the Yi Family members.
Continuing the entanglement would only disadvantage him.
A pair of demonic shadow wings sprouted from Xue Chenjing's back. Under the pursuit of the lotus flowers, he transformed into a fleeting shadow and fled, crossing several mountain peaks in the blink of an eye. Yet the lotus flowers remained in relentless pursuit.
He called out with a laugh, "Sister, over these thousands of years, countless evil spirits and demons have perished under the Demon Suppressing Bell. Having drunk my blood, they should be awakening now."
Lady Lotus was startled and whirled around. Sure enough, she saw demonic energy surging into the sky from the solitary peak, with such an overwhelming number of demons that the elders of the Carefree Sect could barely handle them.
She gnashed her teeth in fury but ultimately recalled her lotus flowers with a wave of her sleeve. The petals shot back to the solitary peak like streams of light, forming a battle formation.
Lady Lotus turned back, allowing him to escape.
Not long after Xue Chenjing fled from the Carefree Sect, the black wings on his back vanished. Unable to maintain his demonic energy any longer, he plummeted from mid-air and crashed into the dense forest.
He remained dazed for quite a while until the system called out in his mind, "Master, wake up! We're not safe yet, you can't pass out! Wake up!"
Xue Chenjing struggled back to consciousness. There wasn't a trace of blood left in his body; it had all been licked clean by the demons. His face was deathly pale, as white as porcelain without a hint of color. He spoke weakly, "Dream on, I won't faint."
He couldn't pass out again, would never pass out again.
System: "...Dear host, if I say I genuinely care about you, would you believe me?"
Xue Chenjing pulled out a talisman carpet from his storage pouch and climbed onto it. The carpet lifted him gently into the air. He let out a cold laugh, sneering, "I will definitely kill you."
System: "..."
The system thought that if its master were smart enough, he should quickly escape from the Carefree Sect's territory. However, Xue Chenjing clearly had other plans. He rode the talisman carpet to the sea outside Liang Province, to that rocky beach.
When Xue Chenjing was imprisoned in his parents' mental cage, he could still sense what Xue Mingyuan did and heard. When Xue Mingyuan returned to the Carefree Sect, he only knew that Yu Yi had gone to some Ascension Platform.
The thunderstorms around Liang Province had ended, though the weather remained gloomy, with dark clouds looming overhead.
Xue Chenjing searched along the shore for a long time before finally finding what seemed to be that reef island.
Unfortunately, Yu Yi was no longer there. He sat on the rocky island, watching the darkening sky as the sun set, wondering where she might have gone.
Without leaving a mark on her, he had no way of knowing her whereabouts.
At the same moment, Yu Yi was leaving Liang Province city with Senior Crane following beside her, his belly full from eating. The meal hadn't been wasted; Yu Yi had gathered much useful information from those cultivators.
They said that demons had invaded the Emotion Flower Valley secret realm of Zhaohua Palace, and the Palace Master had been gravely wounded while trying to eliminate them. Of the seven layers in the secret realm, the three central ones had collapsed, destabilizing the entire realm.
Zhaohua Palace had no choice but to hastily end the Emotion Flower Valley trials and expel all cultivators from the secret realm, causing much discontent.
Many didn't accept Zhaohua Palace's explanation. Everyone suspected that someone had broken through the outer layers and entered the inner core, possibly obtaining some treasure that Zhaohua Palace was reluctant to part with, and that's why they made up an excuse to end the trials abruptly.
A few days later, Zhaohua Palace and the Lishan Sword Sect jointly issued an arrest warrant for a demon cultivator. They blamed everything—the Lishan Sword-Sealing Stone incident, the Unmasked Tower affair, and the Emotion Flower Valley secret realm catastrophe—on this demon cultivator.
During the meal, Ling Rou and the Carefree Sect cultivator simultaneously scoffed, saying, "What demon cultivator could be so capable? I think it's just an excuse they made up."
"Those major sects like Lishan and Zhaohua Palace have always been tyrannical. Once, someone stole a Seven Emotions Flower from Zhaohua Palace and they issued a death warrant. This demon cultivator committed so many heinous crimes, yet they only issue an arrest warrant instead of a death warrant? That's too strange."
The Unmasked Tower and Carefree Sect had always disapproved of those sects. The two exchanged glances and clasped hands in agreement, both feeling the other made perfect sense.
Yu Yi listened to their conversation while silently thinking that these incidents were indeed caused by that notorious demon.
Fortunately, the arrest warrant hadn't implicated her.
After finishing the meal with the cultivators, having found them like-minded and enjoying their company, they exchanged contact information and agreed to notify each other about lightning occurrences in the future. As lightning spirit root cultivators, they could face the strikes together.
After the meal, Yu Yi searched the city for a long time before finally finding an immortal post station to send the Dark-Sinking Wood she obtained from the Sinking Flower Sea to Zhang Zai of the Immortal Alliance.
Though she wasn't sure if they still needed this formation-anchoring material, since she had obtained it, she would deliver it according to their agreement, fulfilling her master's contract with the Immortal Alliance.
She hoped it wasn't too late.
Yu Yi recalled what the system had said about triggering the Wild Beast Demon Path storyline, and wondered if Xue Chenjing might be planning to breach the Wild Beast seal.
While pondering this, she led Senior Crane toward the inn outside the city.
Earlier, when Liang Province's city gates were closed, she had to find an inn outside the city to accommodate Senior Crane. She planned to spend the night there and search for a place rich in spiritual energy tomorrow to enter seclusion and establish her sword realm.
The inns inside the city were much more expensive, and her purse wasn't very full anymore.
As Yu Yi walked, she suddenly stopped and turned toward the sea. For a moment, she seemed to sense something—a feeling so fleeting and faint it might have been just an illusion.
But even if it was an illusion, after a moment's hesitation, she still called Senior Crane and mounted his back, flying toward the seaside.
Night had fallen, and the waves were stronger. The weather was poor tonight, with no stars or moon visible. The darkness at sea was even deeper, with only white waves visible.
Through the crashing waves around the reef island, Yu Yi caught a glimpse of a figure.
Senior Crane let out a long cry and dove down through the wind and waves.
Xue Chenjing heard the crane's cry and suddenly opened his eyes, staring wide-eyed at the crane-riding figure descending from above. She wore a misty red dress, her long hair and clothes dancing in the wind, like a streak of sunset glow that illuminated the dark sky.
The sunset glow was falling toward him.
