Chapter 146

When everyone was captivated by Tang Miao’s transformation, Yu Yi quietly shifted her gaze and looked in another direction.

She had been by Song Pianxian’s side all along, but her divine sense had been paying attention to the team from Shijue Academy from beginning to end—the same team that the little cat had been observing before entering the maze.

Sure enough, after entering the maze, more than just Tang Miao revealed their true forms.

Among them, the ordinary and unremarkable stranger standing at the end of the team, under the encirclement of the maze, underwent a drastic change.

As if prepared long ago, he quickly took out a gray cloak-like artifact and draped it over himself. He hunched over, and the oversized cloak wrapped him tightly. With everyone’s attention drawn to Tang Miao, no one noticed his actions for a while.

He quickly concealed himself. With some distance between them, and the mist obstructing Yu Yi’s divine sense, in a brief glance, Yu Yi didn’t recognize the other party at first. She just felt inexplicably familiar, but the other party’s anxious and fortunate appearance was like a thread piercing her thoughts, instantly bringing Yu Yi back to her previous life.

Her pupils contracted—

Han Lin.

It was Han Lin, she couldn’t be mistaken.

The timid and fearful expression on his simple face was exactly the same as when he triggered the violent sea that exploded during the ancient times.

The memory she least wanted to recall was fully excavated by this face. Memories and boundless hatred surged forth, stirring up a monstrous wave in Yu Yi’s heart.

Back then, she followed her parents to lead Lingyun Sect to the Yunzhou Secret Realm. The Yunzhou Secret Realm was mysterious and rich, but also extremely dangerous. Therefore, Lingyun Sect had Yu Qing and the then-not-yet-sect master Qu Hang lead the team. Everything was going smoothly, but when they encountered an ancient cave, for reasons unknown, the cave suddenly collapsed, triggering a violent eruption of spiritual power throughout the secret realm, forming a violent sea.

There are not many existences in this world that can make high-level cultivators change color upon hearing about them, and the violent sea is the most dangerous one. In the violent sea, spiritual power is restless and beyond the control of cultivators. Not only are their spells ineffective, but they also have to suppress the power that is stirring in their Dantian to prevent them from bursting and dying.

Moreover, the collapsed cave also needed Yu Qing and the others to support it together. Qiong Ling took out the Tianjie artifact Sui Zhou and let Yu Yi control it to send the disciples out of the Yunzhou Secret Realm one by one.

Sui Zhou could only accommodate three people at a time, and the last person Yu Yi sent out was Qu Hang and Han Lin.

Seeing that all the Lingyun Sect disciples were safe, she finally breathed a sigh of relief. She was just a Golden Core cultivator, relying on the bloodline power to use Qiong Ling’s Sui Zhou. Her meridians were almost dry, and she had lost a lot of blood, but she didn’t dare to delay for a moment. Without even having time to use medicine pills, she immediately returned to pick up Yu Qing and Qiong Ling.

Yu Qing and Qiong Ling were waiting for Yu Yi in the violent sea. When Yu Yi arrived, she took them on board Sui Zhou, and Qiong Ling immediately asked her daughter to take the medicine pill and rest, while she took control of Sui Zhou.

Under Qiong Ling’s control, Sui Zhou was extremely fast, like a shooting star piercing through the violent sea, heading straight for the exit of the secret realm.

In the blink of an eye, Yu Yi already saw the exit. This trip was safe and sound. Just as she was relieved, she saw Han Lin appear at the exit.

He was like his current appearance back then, with a simple and honest face showing a timid and fearful expression, but it was a bit different—his mouth curled up strangely, his eyes shining unusually as he looked at Yu Yi and her parents.

Han Lin revealed the hand hidden in his sleeve, holding a seemingly ordinary spiritual fire in his palm, his intentions obvious.

Yu Qing, who was usually quiet and gentle, roared in anger:

“You unfilial son! How dare you!”

Qiong Ling immediately protected Yu Yi behind her.

Yu Yi saw it clearly from behind Qiong Ling. Before Yu Qing’s voice even fell, Han Lin shook his hand and lightly threw the spiritual fire, which was enough to ignite the violent sea.

The spiritual rain poured down, and that faint blue spiritual fire was like a blooming lotus, drifting down like falling flowers, plunging into the raging waves—

At the moment when the flowers fell into the water, the world froze.

In that moment, Yu Yi couldn’t hear her own breathing. She instinctively looked at Qiong Ling, whose face was fragmented into terrifying pieces by the frozen spiritual rain.

Qiong Ling’s mouth moved, but Yu Yi couldn’t hear any sound.

Yu Yi didn’t see Qiong Ling’s final expression clearly, and she didn’t hear Qiong Ling’s last words.

She didn’t remember anything afterward, only knowing that her body suddenly felt lighter, like a bedraggled yet lucky solitary bird, sent out of the secret realm by her parents’ last effort, narrowly preserving her life.

Boom—

Behind her, the violent sea roared.

Silence fell.

…

A faint whimper came from her arms, like the cry of a young beast, mixed with a hint of dependence and coquetry.

At the same time:

“Yu Yi, come behind me.”

Yu Yi came to her senses, looking up at the speaker. In fact, there weren’t many people who would say such things to her, and now there was only one left.

Only Song Pianxian.

Song Pianxian, seeing that she didn’t move, had already blocked her behind her. Yu Yi looked past her silhouette and saw that a demon who had revealed his true form was causing trouble in the neighboring team.

At some point, Manzhi had come out of the mustard seed ring and said at her leg, “What were you just thinking? Why are you pinching your demon beast?”

Yu Yi was startled, only then realizing that she was squeezing the paw of her demon beast with great force.

She released the paw and looked down, meeting the pitiful yet obedient eyes of the little cat.

Yu Yi patted her head.

She looked at Han Lin.

In her previous life, when she woke up, she also asked about Han Lin’s whereabouts. What did Qu Hang say at that time? He only said that this person was causing trouble and had been dealt with by him. Everyone in Lingyun Sect could testify that Han Lin was already dead, and Qu Xirong said so.

Once the demonic energy was activated, there was nowhere to hide. She couldn’t act yet. Yu Yi suppressed the ferocity and desire for destruction in the depths of her eyes, learning to handle things calmly like Song Pianxian.

Not in a hurry, Yu Yi told herself, her eyes becoming even more profound, concealing her true intentions.

Now it’s him who should be afraid.

She quietly placed a tracking mark on Han Lin, like a hunter marking the prey they intend to catch.

Manzhi was by her side, observing a series of subtle changes in her. It was the first time she had seen Yu Yi like this, and she couldn’t help but let out a soft hiss, feeling a little chilly in her heart. But upon further thought, this meant that Yu Yi must be someone from the demonic path, which made her somewhat happy to have found a suitable successor.

Apart from their team, which was like the Xi Shi story in the world of cultivation, other teams had encountered more or less demonic cultivators. Some teams had one group, while others had as many as three or four teams consisting entirely of demonic cultivators, like drawing lots, all depending on luck.

To the east of their team was the team led by Chu Feng, with mixed luck, encountering two teams of demonic cultivators.

To the west, Elder Qin from Shijue Academy was a bit unlucky. He drew out as many as four teams of demonic cultivators, totaling more than twenty people, who launched a fierce attack on him. On the field, Song Pianxian was the most idle. She glanced at Yu Yi, who was like a virtuous wife, understanding and sensible:

“You should go, I’ll be fine.”

With that, she took out a celestial-ranked long knife called the Seven Star Twin Phoenix Blade from her storage bracelet and tossed it over:

“Here, try if it suits you.”

Song Pianxian caught the Seven Star Twin Phoenix Blade, swept her eyes over it, and smiled:

“Thank you, Yu Yi.”

After Song Pianxian left with the knife, Manzhi tilted her head and asked:

“Encountered an enemy?”

“Sort of.” Yu Yi drooped her eyelids, her tone cold, “The enemy who killed my father and mother.”

“Wow!”

“I must kill him! Who is it? Big Sister will help you.”

“Thanks, no need.”

Yu Yi’s mind turned, and she remembered the incident of Qu Xirong’s injury. She understood why Manzhi was so confident. It was likely that the so-called Demon Queen was not just a hollow title. Manzhi must have some ability to command demonic cultivators. With just one command, she could make demonic cultivators rush over and tear Han Lin into pieces.

But she didn’t need that.

“I’ll handle it myself,” Yu Yi said, “And if I need to use someone else’s hand, Pianxian will help me.”

“Fine, fine, I got it. Your mistress can do anything.”

Yu Yi curved her lips and looked in the direction Song Pianxian had gone. It was originally the most miserable and miserable place, but after Song Pianxian passed by, there was a blaze of red robes and a sudden sound of the long knife. Wherever the blade flashed, demonic cultivators’ limbs mixed with black and red blood fell to the vast earth, accompanied by screams.

Yu Yi then said, “Are you just going to watch the demonic cultivators being killed?”

Manzhi was just standing up, looking eastward without turning her head, and casually said, “Ah, what else can I do?”

“Don’t you care?”

“Whether they live or die, does it matter?”

Manzhi turned her head back, her coquettish fox face looking innocent. Her voice formed a line and entered Yu Yi’s ears, “When I was the Demon Queen, I led the demonic cultivators. But it’s been a thousand years, and the demonic cultivators nowadays have never served me. Why should I care about them?”

Yu Yi reminded her, “You used them in Tianfeng City.”

Manzhi blinked, her beautiful eyes turning, “Those demonic cultivators are already dead in Tianfeng City.”

“…” Indeed, the current demonic cultivators were not the same batch as before. Yu Yi couldn’t argue, perhaps this was the game rule of demonic cultivators. “Indeed.”

“Of course, you don’t have to worry. You are different from other demonic cultivators, I won’t ignore you.” Manzhi smiled, her eyes very solemn.

Yu Yi keenly sensed something unusual, “How are we different?”

Manzhi hesitated for a moment, about to say something, but at this moment, a thunderous roar came from the east, resounding through the sky.

Yu Yi and Manzhi both shook, no longer in the mood to continue chatting, and looked into the distance together.

“The demonic cultivator self-destructed!”

“Everyone be careful, the self-destruction of this demonic cultivator is extremely powerful!”

“He’s willing to self-destruct to harm others.” Tang Miao, now wearing a robe and with green hair, gripped the sword handle, her gaze resolute. “I’ll go to protect my Master.”

“Eh eh eh?” Qian Duoduo nervously stopped her, “No, you can’t go.”

Tang Miao looked puzzled, “Why not?”

“Because…” Qian Duoduo hesitated for a moment, her eyes lighting up, “Your cultivation level is not enough.”

Tang Miao, with the enthusiasm of a young man and the innocence of a protagonist in fantasy novels, didn’t mind the challenge of surpassing levels. She said, “Master is not afraid of these demonic cultivators. I’m just afraid they’ll all rush up and self-destruct together. I’ll go and hold them back for Master, it’s fine.”

She pointed at the wind and thunder leopard and silver fox rushing over to help: “You see, even Senior Sister Yu Yi sent beasts forward to help. As a disciple, how can I stand by?”

Qian Duoduo looked and felt deeply distressed. It was okay for the sleek and beautiful silver fox, but the little leopard was still a cub with short legs. Could Yu Yi bear to send it out to face the demonic cultivators’ attacks?

Even the young ones at home were going to battle. It seemed like Tang Miao really couldn’t be kept from going.

Qian Duoduo looked at the pretty and fairy-like Tang Miao again. No, she couldn’t bear it.

Tang Miao was eager to fight. If it weren’t for the fact that there was a girl in front of her, she would have rushed over already. She patiently said to Qian Duoduo, “Didn’t I handle things by myself before? Don’t worry, I can do it.”

Of course, in the past, Qian Duoduo had treated Tang Miao as her boyfriend unilaterally. As a Nascent Soul cultivator, she dealt with high-level demons herself and pretended to be weak in front of Tang Miao when facing low-level demons Tang Miao could handle. She watched Tang Miao wield her sword, feeling like a shy girl being protected.

That was in the past! Who would let delicate Tang Miao fight now?

Qian Duoduo snatched Tang Miao’s sword, tossed her head, and said proudly, “I’ll go kill them all. You wait here for me, don’t move.”

Tang Miao: “???”

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Translator: Glariosa
Editor: Ruu

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