Chapter 80

After Guan Luowei emerged from her inheritance, she prepared to head straight out to find Ling Chenyan.

Just as she took a single step, the communication device in her robes rang. After opening it, Tong Di’s large face appeared before her eyes.

Simultaneously, the sound of chaotic noise drifted from his side.

Tong Di’s red hair was blown back by the wind, and beads of sweat seeped from his forehead as he shouted while running for his life: “Highness, things are bad!”

Guan Luowei focused her gaze and asked: “What happened?”

Grimacing, Tong Di tilted the device backward, and Guan Luowei saw a group of demons behind him also fleeing, while people were chasing and attacking them—they were from the Demon-Beast clan and the Lingxiao Immortal Sect.

“Highness, the matter is like this…”

Tong Di panted heavily as he ran, dodging attacks from behind while giving Guan Luowei a summarized version of the events.

After listening, a thoughtful look flashed in Guan Luowei’s eyes. A moment later, she said: “Find a place to hide with the clansmen first. Leave this matter to me to resolve.”

Tong Di huffed and puffed, saying: “Highness, you must be quick! Ow!!”

Guan Luowei saw the screen flicker, and Tong Di’s scream was accompanied by high-pitched cursing: “Damn it, which shameless person is hitting me right in the butt?!”

Then, the screen blurred, and the connection on Tong Di’s end was cut.

Guan Luowei shook her head helplessly at the device. Just as she was about to leave, her gaze turned sharp as she looked toward a certain point in the sky. With a flash of spiritual light, something in the air seemed to break, and that faint feeling of being watched vanished instantly.

Guan Luowei retracted her gaze, and the communication device rang again.

It was Ling Tian.

Guan Luowei’s eyes moved slightly as she answered the call.

As she expected, Ling Tian had encountered the same situation as Tong Di; currently, he was being chased and was in the wrong, not even daring to fight back. Ling Tian felt incredibly stifled, even starting to say: “If I find out which bastard in our clan did this, I’ll definitely blow his head off.”

Guan Luowei glanced at him and only told him what she had told Tong Di before hanging up.

As she hurried toward Ling Chenyan’s direction, she pondered secretly in her heart.

Although there were indeed many demon inheritances in this secret realm, why did it sound from their descriptions as if demon inheritances were everywhere? Moreover, as soon as their strength improved, deaths began to occur among the beasts and cultivators.

This was far too coincidental.

Guan Luowei remembered that extremely hidden sense of being watched from the sky earlier. That presence wasn’t the person themselves being there, but rather using some array or treasure to reflect the situation here—a technique even more sophisticated than Wenxin’s concealment arts.

If her own realm hadn’t also improved, she wouldn’t have noticed it at all.

This matter was certainly being orchestrated by someone behind the scenes, and furthermore, bailiantales.comit was targeted at her.

—

In a certain space, Xuan Ye looked at the shattered image and showed a hint of surprise, then narrowed his eyes and said: “Hmm? Half-step to Ascension? No wonder she’s so sharp.”

After saying that, he looked at Mu Yunze and said: “This woman is a bit troublesome. The reward you gave is likely not enough; the price needs to go up.”

Mu Yunze’s face stiffened. The two of them were originally trading deed for deed; moreover, it was clearly the task *he* had to do that was more difficult. Why should *he* pay more?

But he didn’t dare say this aloud, only cursing silently in his heart as he asked with a dark face: “What do you want?”

Xuan Ye smiled nonchalantly: “I haven’t decided. I’ll tell you once I think of it.”

Mu Yunze: “…”

—

Ling Chenyan saw Guan Luowei’s figure from a great distance and ran toward her, smiling: “Highness!”

The expression on Guan Luowei’s face also softened unconsciously.

Wenxin, the over-aged single youth, followed gloomily behind: “What’s there to be happy about seeing an ice-face?”

He thought he was just speaking in a low voice, but as soon as he finished, Guan Luowei’s attack came straight at him. Having no time to dodge, he could only take it head-on. Wenxin was sent flying bailiantales.coma long way by the strike and landed on the ground, spitting out dust as he cursed: “You woman…”

“Wait a minute!” Wenxin suddenly widened his eyes and scrambled up from the ground: “You—you’ve broken through?!”

Guan Luowei didn’t even spare him a glance, only listening with a smile as her girl showed off the new things she had obtained.

Her gaze moved slightly downward to the silver scabbard in the girl’s palm. The scabbard was ancient yet extremely pleasant to look at, with only simple patterns; the center featured a flowing water design that looked as if real water were babbling when the sun hit it.

Guan Luowei took an extra look and smiled: “A good scabbard (qiao).”

Ling Chenyan blinked and touched her own face, saying shyly: “I know, Highness. I know I’m very pretty (qiao), but don’t say it in front of outsiders.”

The “outsider” Wenxin: “…”

Guan Luowei couldn’t help but laugh, knowing the girl was doing it on purpose. She just patted her head and said: “Mm, good. We’ll talk more when we get back.”

Wenxin lost his patience: “Are you two finished yet?! Is it enough? Can we go now?”

Ling Chenyan giggled and stopped teasing Wenxin, turning her eyes to Guan Luowei: “Highness, shall we leave?”

Guan Luowei’s gaze paused for a moment, then she said: “Let’s go.”

On the way, Guan Luowei told them what had happened to the demons. Ling Chenyan looked strange after hearing it and couldn’t help but say: “This shouldn’t be done by demons, right?”

Guan Luowei shook her head: “It can’t be confirmed yet.”

“If it isn’t a problem within the demon clan itself…” Wenxin’s expression turned dark: “Then only Xuan Ye could pull off such a supernatural imitation trick.”

Guan Luowei didn’t speak, obviously having already guessed this.

Ling Chenyan also had this suspicion: “It seems what Wenxin said was right; this Xuan Ye really is willful enough.”

Wenxin looked up at the sky, curled his lips slightly, and said: “Let’s hope he’s truly just being willful.”

And not intentionally targeting someone.

—

The group left the ruins. Guided by a secret demon technique, Guan Luowei led the two toward where Tong Di was located.

When they arrived, Tong Di—a man over 180cm tall—was leading a group of demons, hiding stifled in a mountain cave within a forest. The entrance was covered by layer upon layer of concealment arrays.

Having finally seen his Princess, before Tong Di could even voice his grievances, he keenly discovered that his Princess’s strength seemed to have improved again.

Tong Di’s face turned grey as he shook his head and sighed: “I originally thought I could get a bit closer to Her Highness’s cultivation this time, but I didn’t expect to be left far behind again.”

Guan Luowei nodded and asked him: “How are the clansmen?”

Speaking of this, Tong Di became quite excited, saying proudly: read the original at bailiantales.com“Naturally, they are fine. Not only that, everyone’s strength has improved by a margin. But then again, I didn’t expect there to be so many demon inheritances in this secret realm.”

Guan Luowei nodded slightly. Just as she was about to ask something else, a voice suddenly came from behind.

“So you were hiding here! I’ve finally found you!”

Guan Luowei glanced sideways and saw the furious Zhenling Daoren and Sen Hao in the air, flicking his snake tongue while holding a trident. The one who had just spoken was Zhenling Daoren.

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Guan Luowei turning her head, and the fire in his heart burned even hotter: “Young Highness of the Demons! You are here too. Good, good, good—let’s settle the score!”

Guan Luowei raised her brows and turned around. Her full cultivation was revealed without reserve; the powerful pressure startled both Zhenling Daoren and Sen Hao.

With this level of strength, wiping them out was something she could do with a mere flick of her hand.

Sen Hao’s eyes immediately turned cold, and he sneered: “Are you finally going to show your true face?”

Zhenling Daoren also narrowed his eyes and took a step back, while secretly preparing a communication device. If something went wrong, he would broadcast the situation here to the others in the Lingxiao Immortal Sect.

Guan Luowei looked calmly at the two, retracted the cultivation pressure weighing on them, and said: “This matter was not done by my Demon Clan.”

Sen Hao said: “If it wasn’t your Demon Clan, who else could it be? Do you take us all for fools?”

Guan Luowei glanced at him and didn’t explain further, only looking toward Zhenling Daoren.

Zhenling Daoren, after all, had lived for most of a lifetime; in this situation, he was much more rational than Sen bailiantales.comHao. Guan Luowei’s show of strength just now wasn’t just to give them a warning; it was to send a message.

She was very strong. If she were to act, not a single one of them would live. The reason she didn’t act wasn’t out of fear, but because she wanted to talk to them calmly.

Zhenling Daoren narrowed his eyes and began to weigh the pros and cons, saying after a moment: “You say it wasn’t your Demon Clan, but do you have evidence?”

Guan Luowei looked at the silent pair, her eyes as calm as an ancient well as she looked at them and the people behind them, saying nonchalantly: “The evidence is that I didn’t kill you all the first second we met.”

If the demons truly wanted to deal with the other two races in the secret realm, she would have acted the moment they met; why would she have said so much to them?

Tong Di and Ling Chenyan looked at each other from behind, both seeing the same emotion in each other’s eyes.

The Princess is so domineering!

Guan Luowei spoke lightly, but Zhenling Daoren and Sen Hao’s faces were unsightly. Guan Luowei was truly looking down on them; how could such words be used as evidence?!

Yet, ironically, what she said did indeed have some truth to it.

At this moment, a voice came from somewhere, saying: “Perhaps your Demon Clan just doesn’t want a bad reputation, so you say it wasn’t you on the surface while secretly doing these things!”

As soon as these words were out, Zhenling Daoren looked up sharply toward Guan Luowei.

Sen Hao’s eyes flickered, and before Zhenling Daoren could speak, he said: “Fool, do you think the demons value reputation as much as you so-called ‘righteous’ cultivators? Or rather, is the bad reputation they carry not already enough?”

That was true. In the cultivation world, whenever a murder occurred—even if only a dog died—someone would frame the demons. They were never present for good deeds, yet they were blamed for every bad one.

Zhenling Daoren was slightly stunned, then rubbed his nose a bit sheepishly, coughing twice: “But the demonic energy on the bodies of my sect’s dead disciples is indeed real.”

“This matter can perhaps only be understood once everyone is gathered together.” Wenxin, who had been silent, finally spoke.

Both Sen Hao and Zhenling Daoren recognized him, so they didn’t argue for the moment.

Thus, the three formerly hostile groups settled into a strange peace, gathering together to search for the remaining people in the secret realm. However, though they were together, one could faintly tell that the beast-kin and human cultivators were still wary of the demons.

The demons didn’t care about this; they huddled together, cursing.

“Which grandson is slandering us, making me get chased for so long and unable to fight back out of frustration?”

“It’s really despicable. When I find out who it is, I’ll definitely skin them alive.”

“Exactly, exactly.”

“…”

All along the way, the demons were cursing, which led the beast and human cultivators to start doubting if the demons had indeed been framed.

—

Ling Chenyan connected to Hua Niang’s communication device from the front.

Unsurprisingly, similar things had happened on Hua Niang’s side. They had met Zong Xian and other demons; however, because Medusa was there, the beasts and human cultivators hadn’t attacked them.

“When my clansmen died earlier, I sensed the attacker; they did indeed carry demonic energy.” Medusa’s golden pupils looked even colder as she said: “They escaped my attack, but that person was not Guan Luowei, nor could it be anyone else from the Demon Clan.”

The implication was: the person did have demonic energy and escaped from me, but except for Guan Luowei, none of the rest of you demons should even think about escaping from my hands.

After hearing this, Ling Chenyan didn’t know whether to be grateful for her trust in the demons or to marvel at her confidence in her own strength.

Medusa’s words were like a grounding pillar, putting at ease all the previously suspicious cultivators and beasts.

Among those in the realm, the strongest were Guan Luowei, Medusa, and Zhenling Daoren. There was no way Medusa would speak for someone who killed her clansmen, nor would she collude with the demons to stage such a plot against the human cultivators.

After all, given the temperaments of the beast and demon clans, it was a miracle they weren’t at each other’s throats already; they disdained using such underhanded schemes.

As things stood, the three races should reunite as soon as possible to find the person behind the scenes.

The leaders on both ends of the device quickly finalized the next plan and prepared to head toward each other using secret methods. Just as everything was arranged and they were about to set off, golden light suddenly began to flutter down from the sky.

A frivolous, mocking voice rang out: “This is truly beyond my expectations. Tsk tsk tsk, being able to trust each other so quickly is truly surprising.”

The moment this voice appeared, everyone heightened their guard, looking toward the handsome man in the air wearing black robes with a feminine face.

“Xuan Ye,” Wenxin spoke slowly.

“Hmm?” Xuan Ye glanced at him, waving a folding fan in greeting: “So it’s Wenxin. Tsk, what a coincidence.”

Just as he spoke, another flash of golden light appeared, and Jinjin appeared before Ling Chenyan, staring directly at Xuan Ye in the air.

Xuan Ye keenly sensed the aura of a kindred spirit from him, narrowed his eyes, and smiled: “Tsk, I didn’t expect the Deceptive God to be here too.”

Ling Chenyan was very surprised by Jinjin’s sudden appearance; usually, Jinjin never appeared of his own accord.

Jinjin sensed Ling Chenyan’s surprise; he kept his eyes on Xuan Ye but explained in a low voice: “I hate him.”

Ling Chenyan’s eyes flickered; it was natural to hate him. After all, the previous spirit of the Deceptive God Zither was killed by Xuan Ye.

Hearing his words, Xuan Ye raised his eyebrows nonchalantly, his gaze falling on Guan Luowei below.

He closed his fan and propped it under his chin, his smile chilling: “Such a beauty. If it weren’t for someone asking me to kill you, I really wouldn’t want to do it.”

Ling Chenyan had just finished her last sentence to Hua Niang—”Come over quickly”—when she heard Xuan Ye’s words. Without thinking, she mocked: “Small man, big talk.”

Xuan Ye was indeed not very tall. After hearing Ling Chenyan’s words, his face darkened. A flash of spiritual light flew from his fan as he scolded coldly: “What right do you have to speak when I’m talking to your master?”

Wenxin and Guan Luowei acted almost simultaneously to neutralize Xuan Ye’s move.

Wenxin’s chest heaved as he shouted: “Are you crazy?!”

Xuan Ye’s eyes also turned cold, and then he said with a fake smile: “Wenxin, when did you become so concerned about others?”

“Open your eyes and look clearly, Xuan Ye,” Wenxin said. “Look clearly at who left the seal in her mind.”

Xuan Ye was slightly stunned. He actually took a look through Wenxin’s perspective, and immediately after, his whole body seemed to freeze as he stared fixedly at Ling Chenyan.

Ling Chenyan thought this guy was definitely a pervert, so she said with a scowl: “What are you looking at? Looking at me won’t make you grow any taller.”

Wenxin gave her a somewhat speechless look, then looked at Xuan Ye: “You’d better think carefully. She is the only path through which you can see ‘that person’.”

Xuan Ye stood straight in the air, his black hair flying and his robes fluttering like birds in the wind. After a long while, he gave a bizarre smile and said: “You’re right. She is indeed the only path.”

After saying that, he looked at Ling Chenyan, who was still whispering complaints about him to the person on the device, and chuckled: “Don’t waste your energy. They aren’t coming.”

Ling Chenyan looked up in shock: “What do you mean?!”

“It means,” Xuan Ye snapped his fan open with a “bang,” “that they can’t come.”

“Rumble.”

As Xuan Ye’s voice fell, the ground around them suddenly began to tremble. Ling Chenyan heard the demons and beasts behind her cry out in alarm.

“It’s an attack array!”

The array rumbled into life, and almost everyone’s face changed drastically at that moment. In this instant, they all felt a long-lost heart-palpitation; such a disturbance wouldn’t be this massive unless it was an ancient array.

Ling Chenyan took the opportunity to glance at the communication device and found that the other side was just like them—an array had clearly been activated there as well.

Just as everyone’s fear began to escalate, the array suddenly made a muffled sound, and then the ground slowly stopped trembling.

The expected array did not fully form.

The smile on Xuan Ye’s face slowly froze: “How is this possible?”

His eyes darted around and suddenly landed on the spatial pouch at Ling Chenyan’s waist. He frowned and said: “You actually took the eye of my array?”

Ling Chenyan looked at his breakdown in utter confusion, then looked at the spatial pouch at her waist. Under everyone’s gaze, she covered it a bit sheepishly and said: “What ‘your array eye’? I don’t know.”

After a moment of being stunned, Wenxin slowly understood. He looked at Ling Chenyan with a complex expression, his mouth twitching.

As everyone knew, the more powerful an array was, the more precious the item used for its eye would be. So, likely during Ling Chenyan’s treasure-hunting process, she had taken a fancy to that expensive array eye and taken it away.

Wenxin was the first to see the reason. Afterward, Zhenling Daoren and the victimized members of the Lingxiao Immortal Sect also understood; the sect members even told the beast clan about this through gritted teeth.

Thus, under the strange gazes of the crowd, Ling Chenyan stayed as quiet as a mouse and remained silent.

She pretended to check the communication device to try and blend in, only to see that the array on the other end had also failed. Simultaneously, ​bailiantales.com​she heard Medusa’s somewhat strange voice: “It should be that he accidentally took the array eye.”

Then, Hua Niang’s voice drifted over slowly: “Little Yanyan, guess who the one who took that array eye was?”

Ling Chenyan was actually a bit curious, but after Hua Niang’s teasing voice fell, she deeply regretted her cursed curiosity.

“It’s your little brother, Guyue,” Hua Niang said meaningfully. “He truly inherited your legacy.”

“…”