Chapter 45: “Master Having Me Is Enough!” p1
As the man stared at her in surprise, Li Yu felt a wave of confusion and a twinge of awkwardness at not recognizing him.
Clearly, Mu Tao remembered him, and he recognized them.
But she couldn’t place his face.
As Li Yu struggled to recall, the man approached their table and bowed respectfully.
“Immortal!” he said, his face full of disbelief. “Didn’t you return to the immortal mountain? Why are you here?”
The confusion in his eyes turned into delight. “Have you returned because you sensed something amiss in the City of the Undying and have come to help us?”
Li Yu suddenly understood.
The man looked to be in his thirties, wearing the light green robes of an imperial cultivator, indicating a rank of Sixth-rank or higher.
The cultivators Zhao Xianchen brought with him were of this level.
Although she couldn’t remember his face, it wasn’t difficult to guess that he was one of Zhao Xianchen’s subordinates.
Feeling slightly guilty, Li Yu gave a noncommittal “mm.”
Sensing something amiss in the human realm was true, but coming to save them…not necessarily.
After all, the Upper Spirit Lamp, containing the Heavenly Demon Soul Seed, had been stolen. No matter what happened in the City of the Undying, preventing the Heavenly Demon’s revival took priority.
She was just here to check on the situation; whether she had the time and energy to help remained to be seen.
Seeing her confirmation, the cultivator was overjoyed. “Thank goodness you’re here! We didn’t know what to do! The City of the Undying is…”
Li Yu: “Sit down and tell me everything.”
The cultivator quickly sat down at the nearest table.
Mu Tao, seeing him sit down, asked curiously, “So what happened in the City of the Undying? Everything was fine when we left.”
“Yes, everything was fine when you left, but soon after, things went wrong!” The cultivator’s eyes were filled with confusion. “Just a few days after Lord Zhao returned to Yanyang, the City of the Undying suddenly…”
He said that no one knew what had happened, only that the seal outside the city suddenly broke, and the accumulated resentment surged outwards.
It tainted plants, corrupted spirits, and almost overnight, consumed over a dozen surrounding towns and villages.
Upon hearing the news, Zhao Xianchen immediately sent someone to Lan City to inform the immortals, but it was too late.
More accurately, it wasn’t just “too late”; it was far too late.
The news traveled slowly, and the journey from Yanyang to Lan City was long.
Despite the messenger’s best efforts, by the time he arrived, the immortals had already been at sea for six days, impossible to catch.
Mu Tao: “Where’s Lord Zhao now?”
This casual question made the cultivator’s expression darken.
He lowered his gaze, a complex emotion flickering in his eyes.
Li Yu had a bad feeling.
He sighed and continued.
After the incident, Zhao Xianchen brought everyone to the City of the Undying, rescuing as many survivors as possible and trying to contain the spread of resentment.
Later, to investigate the cause of the seal’s breaking, he entered the city with a few others.
The cultivator gripped his sword tightly. “But three days later, only two escaped, severely injured…”
He said that with the formation within the City of the Undying destroyed, even with the heavy resentment, as long as they were prepared, Zhao Xianchen, with his cultivation, shouldn’t have been in any real danger.
But according to the survivors, Zhao Xianchen was killed by a strange power.
A power they had never seen before, emanating from the altar where the summoning formation had been. Zhao Xianchen didn’t even have time to react, instantly consumed.
After that, the imperial court sent another official to take charge.
For months, they had been stationed here, unable to return home, fighting against the resentment-corrupted beings and desperately trying to contain the spread of resentment.
But no matter their efforts, no matter how many sacrificed themselves, they couldn’t stop it.
There wasn’t much sadness in the cultivator’s voice, only exhaustion.
Regardless of who had died, it had been months, and they were still struggling with this unresolved crisis, their own lives uncertain. There was no time for grief.
Li Yu frowned, a mix of emotions swirling within her.
She wasn’t close to Zhao Xianchen, but they had traveled together.
Although she had thought she might never see him again, she never imagined hearing about his death in the City of the Undying.
She wondered if she should tell Qin Yuan.
Even though Qin Yuan had seemingly abandoned her mortal life upon joining Mount Chao Yao, hearing about the death of someone she knew, especially such an unnatural death, would still be difficult.
No, this wasn’t the time for that; she had to understand what had happened in the City of the Undying.
Li Yu asked, “What kind of power was it?”
“The survivors said…they saw a starry sky…” The cultivator’s voice was uncertain. “Not in the heavens, but on the altar.”
“That black-robed figure again!” Mu Tao frowned.
“Black-robed figure?”
“Three hundred years ago, that black-robed figure appeared in the City of the Undying. I can’t believe he’s still there!” Mu Tao looked at Li Yu. “Master, that power wasn’t there when we left. He must have done something after we left!”
“…Mm.”
Indeed, if that power had been there all along, they would have noticed.
The black-robed figure wasn’t just a part of the past; he must have been hiding, waiting for them to leave before unleashing his power on the altar.
It was this power that broke the seal.
She had been curious about his motives.
With the incredibly rare Heavenly Soul Yang Spirit right before him, he had simply instructed a wicked cultivator to use it for a formation.
And when the core component disappeared, he didn’t seem to care, just used a different method, manipulating another desperate soul to become the new core.
Even when they arrived and broke the formation, freeing the trapped souls, he didn’t interfere, only acting after they left.
It seemed all he wanted was resentment.
He wanted a lot of it, enough to fill the human realm.
And when it did, he used the demons to steal the Upper Spirit Lamp from Mount Chao Yao.
This guy must be trying to revive the Heavenly Demon.
Was this in the original story?
She had read the latter half; the Heavenly Demon never appeared.
According to the setting, the Heavenly Demon was the most powerful demon in the world of Demon Bone. If it was revived, how could the little protagonist possibly unite the Three Realms with her demonic army?
Had she stumbled upon a hidden storyline?
Or did this character simply die in the part of the story she had completely forgotten?
If it was the latter, then it wasn’t a problem.
But if it was the former, the subsequent plot would deviate drastically from what she knew.
Regardless of the black-robed figure’s situation, one thing was certain.
To revive the Heavenly Demon, he needed a lot of resentment.
The power he left behind in the City of the Undying might be even more potent than the original formation.
If left unchecked, the resentment in the human realm would continue to grow, and even if she retrieved the Upper Spirit Lamp, with Mount Chao Yao’s weakened state, they might not be able to contain the Heavenly Demon Soul Seed.
Li Yu frowned and took a bite of food, lost in thought.
She had initially planned to just assess the situation and deal with it after retrieving the Lamp.
But now, seeing the growing impact on the human realm, delaying action might come at a greater cost.
Ultimately, the resentment of the City of the Undying and the theft of the Upper Spirit Lamp both pointed to the revival of the Heavenly Demon.
If she couldn’t even handle the power the black-robed figure left behind, how could she possibly retrieve the Lamp from him?
She had to enter the City of the Undying.
The cultivator was still speaking, his words filled with hope for the immortals’ help.
Li Yu listened absently, then sighed and replied, “I will enter the city and investigate.”
“Do you need any assistance, Immortal?” The cultivator was overjoyed. “I can report this to my superior immediately!”
He took out a signal flare, about to light it.
“No need!” Li Yu quickly stopped him. “This…isn’t necessary, don’t alert anyone…”
“Don’t alert anyone!” Mu Tao repeated seriously, like a parrot.
The cultivator froze, then sat back down and asked softly, “You don’t need any help, Immortal?”
Who would refuse help if they could offer it?
But this was clearly beyond the capabilities of human cultivators.
Not to mention the restriction on using divine power in front of mortals, even if these human cultivators weren’t considered mortals by the heavens, their cultivation wasn’t enough to handle the power the black-robed figure left behind.
Zhao Xianchen, a powerful cultivator in the human realm, hadn’t stood a chance.
In that eerie place, she couldn’t guarantee the safety of anyone besides Mu Tao.
The reason she was confident in protecting Mu Tao was because she was the protagonist, with the Demon Bone protecting her. The worst-case scenario was the seal on her Demon Bone breaking, but it wouldn’t be life-threatening.
Li Yu: “I’ll go alone.”
Seeing Mu Tao’s eyes widen in surprise, she quickly added, “My disciple…will be with me. That’s enough.”
Mu Tao sat up straight and nodded at the cultivator. “Master having me is enough!”
The cultivator opened his mouth but couldn’t say anything.
Seeing him awkwardly sitting there, Li Yu told him to find another table and eat his meal.
The man obediently moved, ate silently, and didn’t attempt to call for reinforcements, showing his absolute trust in the “immortal.”
Li Yu sighed inwardly.
She, as this “immortal,” was probably unreliable, but she would try her best.
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