Chapter 101: Return to the Sect

[Character Died]
[Simulation Ended]

With the scene before him blurring into cold, gray nothingness, Lin Ze snapped his eyes open.

The White Fox looked at him in confusion as he suddenly gasped for breath beneath the tree. "What's wrong with you?" she asked.

Beside him, Yu Huan's hands instinctively dropped to the hilts of her blades as she swept a wary glance across their surroundings.

Lin Ze suppressed the pounding in his chest and waved a hand. "Nothing."

But the fear in his eyes was impossible to hide.

Only by following Qin Hongxiu's battle from a first-person perspective could one truly understand the power concealed within that seemingly frail body.

Fierce and overbearing, sword cries piercing the heavens!

The heavy black sword in her hand turned into a bolt of lightning, as if it could tear a rift through the very sky itself. Her Nine Tribulations Sword Body, cultivated to its pinnacle, could withstand the claws of countless great demons. Sword aura surged from her like rolling waves, and with a mere turn of her palm, she could rip open the chest of a demonic beast.

And yet, for all that she was a god of slaughter—even after casually cutting down two great demons that blocked her path just to vent her frustration—she was utterly helpless before that twin-headed crimson hound.

Even the speed she prided herself most on barely outpaced the Sky Dog by a hair. A dozen or more great demons locked the area tight around her, paying with their lives to close that negligible gap.

In the final moment before the scene went fully gray, Qin Hongxiu's tally stood at four great demons slain, and then she was scorched to a charred husk by the black flames rolling in from the horizon.

The image still burning in his mind, Lin Ze was silent for a long moment, then looked up. "If you rode the clouds from here to Imprisoned Dragon Mountain, how long would it take?"

Legend had it that a demonic dragon had once terrorized the world, until a reclusive grand master suppressed it beneath the mountain with a breath of pure energy, leaving half the mountain barren of all life. Hence the name, Imprisoned Dragon Mountain.

"Ride the clouds?" Yu Huan widened her eyes in shock. Even she knew that was an ultimate art only those above the Golden Core stage could master.

She turned and saw the fox demoness—the seductive older sister who'd been fighting her over candy just earlier—biting her finger in thought. After a moment, she answered, "If I went alone, a few hours would be plenty. Bringing her with me would take around three."

The White Fox hadn't counted Lin Ze himself. As far as she was concerned, a dignified Nascent Soul sword immortal like him would obviously know such a trivial trick as cloud-riding.

"A few hours..." Lin Ze calculated the time, then gestured for the White Fox to lean in and whispered something to her.

The expression on the White Fox's face gradually shifted from calm to astonishment.

Her voice suddenly turned cold. "The Sky Dog?"

Lin Ze nodded. But she suppressed her surprise and looked at him with doubt. "How do you know this... and why send me to deliver the message... You'd be faster yourself... And I'm a demon, after all. You trust me that much?"

"..."

Trust her? Not a damn bit. I just have no other choice, Lin Ze thought, though he showed no trace of it.

The side peaks were set to depart half a day later than the inner sect, since they were only going to intercept the lesser demons below the Golden Core stage. Those beasts couldn't ride clouds anyway, so their advance was far slower—it would be a full two days before they even surged out of the demon mountain.

And that was the root of his current predicament. If Lin Ze used a lightness technique to hurry and warn Qin Hongxiu himself, by the time he struggled to get there, all that would be left in the spot would be a charred corpse.

Choosing to tell the White Fox was the best he could do under the circumstances.

The thought made his expression look even more relaxed. "I spared your life last time; I ought to collect some payment. If you try any tricks, next time it won't be as simple as falling into a well."

With that, he stood and stretched his body, saying lazily, "As for why I'm not going myself..."

His clear eyes rested calmly on the White Fox. "Besides the Sky Dog, there are nine little whelps that haven't been behaving themselves. They need a knock or two occasionally."

Seeing the faint smile on his face, the White Fox felt a chill run down her spine.

Nine little whelps... That was clearly a reference to the Ten Great Demon Kings.

To speak of disciplining those terrifying old monsters so casually... and then recalling the overwhelming aura that had frozen her in place last time, unable to move... What kind of fearsome existence was truly housed inside that youthful-looking shell?

She had been on Green Mountain the whole time recently. She could be certain that Lin Ze had barely set foot off the mountain at all. Yet he could inexplicably expose the Heavenly Demon Sect's plans. Could he be using an avatar, a detached spirit roaming the heavens, to keep watch over the sect this entire time?

The more she thought about it, the more frightened she grew. The White Fox swallowed. "I understand, but she may not believe me."

"All you have to do is deliver the message. The rest is none of your concern."

Lin Ze stood with his hands behind his back, gazing into the night sky, as if watching some distant place across countless miles.

But inside, he felt a hint of helplessness. Setting aside the White Fox, even if he went there personally, Qin Hongxiu might not believe him. "The words of the lowly carry no weight" wasn't just an empty saying.

Who could have guessed that a habit maintained between the two sects for many years would suddenly be broken? The Heavenly Demon Sect was no longer focused on dealing with Dongyue—they intended to cross over the mountain range entirely and march straight toward Taiyang Province.

This might even be a scheme they'd laid down three hundred years ago. Sacrificing tens of thousands of lesser demons to finally let these sword-wielding cultivators relax their guard just a fraction.

If they hadn't decided to try to take out the outstanding young disciples of Dongyue Sect on their way out, and if he hadn't happened to witness it in the simulation... by the time they reached Taiyang Province, the inner sect might still have been completely in the dark.

Watching the White Fox's cloud-borne form disappear into the distance, Lin Ze rubbed his taut face and sighed. All he could do was give that nominal young Martial Aunt a heads-up; the rest was beyond his control.

"Are we heading to the lower reaches of the Yellow Sand River, or..."

Yu Huan could only grasp a small part of their conversation.

She knew only that something major seemed to have happened—something so serious that even the Golden Core demon cultivator sister didn't dare get involved. Thinking about it, the hand gripping her sword hilt began to tremble faintly.

Fortunately, the other party seemed to have already thought of a plan, and looked perfectly relaxed about it.

"To hell with the river." Lin Ze rolled his eyes and turned around without hesitation. "Back to the sect."

Indeed, sometimes you just had to follow your heart.

The version of himself in the simulation had been remarkably farsighted—staying put on Green Mountain and practicing his techniques was the right call.

Under these circumstances, even Lesser Green Mountain couldn't give Lin Ze a sense of safety. Not only did he need to go back, he needed to secure a strong ally in advance. The Moon Immortal of Double Moon Cave was a good option, for instance.

Hearing this, Yu Huan was momentarily taken aback, but she said nothing and quietly followed.

The two walked through the woods, one behind the other.

After a long silence.

She looked at his back, her gaze settling on his hand tightly clutching the corner of his robe. She raised her head and said softly, "Is something on your mind?"

Before Lin Ze could answer, Yu Huan looked away again. "When I'm hesitating, I want to grab hold of something too."

Lin Ze's footsteps faltered.

A flash of embarrassed irritation crossed his face.

He turned back with a cold glare. "Say one more word, and I'll leave you right here."

Yu Huan shrugged, popped a candy bean into her mouth. "That's what I'd say too, after someone caught me out."

"..."

Lin Ze shot her a look of annoyance, then stood rooted in place, refusing to move an inch.