Volume 1, Chapter 128 – An Accident

When the Daoist finished speaking, the others suddenly understood. They had been stuck in a dead end before. There was no need to kill anyone.

“Besides…” The smile faded from the Daoist’s face and he spoke more heavily. “Have any of you heard about the demon race invasion?”

“I’ve heard of it. It’s nothing serious. The Imperial Court will suppress it soon enough. Over two hundred years ago, didn’t something similar happen? It was settled in less than a year.”

The tight-clothed man beside him spoke casually as his willow-leaf saber blossomed into a fan of blade light. The green-robed saberman glanced at the saber in his hand, his brows tightening almost imperceptibly.

“This time will likely not be so simple. I only just returned from my travels a few days ago. The vast beast tides of the demon vanguard are now less than forty thousand li from here.”

As soon as the Daoist said this, the faces of the other four all darkened. Forty thousand li sounded far, but for Heavenly Astral Realm martial artists like them, traveling at full speed, it was only half a day’s journey at most, practically at their doorstep.

What was worse, this area was already the heartland of the Chengtian Domain. If the demon race reached this place, would that not mean nearly half the Chengtian Domain had already fallen?

“What about the Demon-Suppressing Army? And the Imperial Court?” The burly man instinctively ran his hand along the edge of the table.

“That, I do not know. But from what I have seen along the way, the Demon-Suppressing Army seems to be retreating as well.” The Daoist gave a slight shake of his head.

“The point of what I am saying is simply this. The Demon-Suppressing Army can barely look after itself right now. As long as we do not take any lives and conceal our faces, once we get the item and leave, there should be no trouble.”

“We’ve talked this long, but we still have no idea what Shi Lan actually took. And there’s only one item. If someone gets it, who does it belong to?” The woman’s eyes flickered as she swept a look over the other four.

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“I want to go verify the situation first and see how far this demon invasion has really developed. If any of you cannot hold back, act as you see fit.” The green-robed saberman stood and, after speaking, turned to leave.

“Brother Ye, no need to rush. I’ll go with you,” the burly man said as he rose. “A trip there and back is only a day. There is no need to hurry.”

“Wait, you two. I’ll come as well. With something this big, if I don’t see it with my own eyes, it’s hard to believe.” The woman stood as well.

The tight-clothed man remained seated as still as stone. The Daoist lifted his cup of tea and took a sip, saying nothing.

A few breaths later, three streaks of escape light shot into the sky, breaking the sound barrier and leaving three white trails behind them as they surged toward the western horizon.

Listening to the muffled thunder-like booms in his ears, the Daoist smiled faintly and looked at the tight-clothed man. “Brother Li, you’re not going to verify it?”

The man raised his teacup and drained it in one go. “Verify what? Do you think I don’t trust Daoist Chisong’s words? I need to make some arrangements and get ready. I’ll take my leave.” With that, his body turned into a rainbow and streaked off toward the east.

In the time it took to drink a cup of tea, four of the five had left.

The Daoist put down his cup, flipped his hand, took out three jade tokens, and tossed them onto the table. Narrowing his eyes, he pinched his fingers to calculate. Suddenly his expression changed and he blurted out in shock, “The Hexagram of Severance?!”

He gathered up the three jade tokens and cast another divination. After a long while, his brows were tightly knitted. He glanced once toward the City Lord’s Manor, then swept the jade tokens into his sleeve and muttered, “A place of great calamity. I cannot stay long.”

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A gust of cold wind swept through. The Daoist’s figure was already gone, leaving only three cups of untouched tea on the table, their drifting warmth whisked away by the wind as they gradually cooled.

……

After thinking for a long time, Shi Lan still could not come up with a good solution. The enemy was hidden while they stood in the open. For now, they could only passively receive whatever came. When the boat reached the bridge it would naturally straighten; when soldiers came, she would block them, and when water rose, she would dam it.

Gu Qingcang was still asleep. Gu Deyuan had watched over him all night without blinking.

After letting Gu Rentong know, Shi Lan took forty crystal plates and returned to the stone chamber. Borrowing Samsara’s hand, she transformed those forty plates into two open-topped crystal boxes, filled them with Huang blood, and stored both in the Qiankun Bracelet.

When that was done, Shi Lan once again unfolded the Black Domain and reached toward the Huang blood in the pool. Nourished by the Enlightening Jade Dew earlier,

her body had long since recovered to its peak state. The now-familiar searing energy swept through her body once again. Shi Lan shut down the Black Domain, closed her eyes, and began refining it smoothly and skillfully.

Judging by the Empress-raising System’s past pattern, once she stepped into the ninth stage of the Innate Realm, a main quest to raise her cultivation would follow.

Shi Lan no longer felt anxious about these main quests. She even looked forward to them a little. After all, she only had one intermediate lottery draw left, which she was reluctant to use.

As her cultivation arts circulated, the barrier of the ninth stage of the Innate Realm trembled under the pounding of ever-thicker true qi and quickly became unstable. After about half an hour, it collapsed with a roar.

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Shi Lan felt all the previous sense of oppression vanish. Her true qi surged like a mighty river, coursing through her entire body with each cycle. Right on cue, the system’s voice sounded.

【Main quest issued: Step into the Heavenly Astral Realm within two years. Quest completion reward: two intermediate lottery draws, high-grade body-forging art True Martial Undying Body. Quest failure: host will be erased, system will initiate self-destruction.】

Hearing the contents of the main quest, the corners of Shi Lan’s lips, which had just begun to lift, froze at once. Where had the Earth Fiend Realm between the Innate Realm and the Heavenly Astral Realm gone?

【Host has stepped into the ninth stage of the Innate Realm. Yuqing Creation Art Earth Fiend Realm circulation route unlocked.】

【Main quest issued: Within one year, slay one thousand demon beasts at the early Earth Fiend Realm or above. Quest completion reward: one portion of Enlightenment Ancient Tea. Quest failure penalty: deduct fifty thousand reputation points.】

After she finished digesting this flood of information, a dull ache throbbed in Shi Lan’s forehead.

Setting aside the task of reaching the Heavenly Astral Realm in two years, just the thousand Earth Fiend Realm demon beasts within a year— even if she did not rest at all, that averaged out to three a day. Where was she supposed to find so many demon beasts?

The penalty was even more outrageous. Deduct fifty thousand reputation points, when her reputation was currently only…

Shi Lan opened the system panel and glanced at the reputation column, then froze.

Host: Shi Lan

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Cultivation: ninth stage of the Innate Realm

Aptitude: 9 (Innate spiritual body, rarely seen in a thousand years)

Cultivation Arts: Yuqing Creation Art (first layer), Vajra Divine Fist (mastered), Jade Tempering Art (sixth layer)

Divine Abilities: Heaven’s Eye Qi-Sight (three-star), Black Domain (seven-star)

Strength Evaluation: Some small achievements

Reputation: 31,490 (name beginning to spread)

In just one night, her reputation had soared by nearly twenty thousand, and it was still rapidly climbing.

“How can this be…”

Just as Shi Lan was completely puzzled, a small stream of information flowed into her mind. It was the Earth Fiend Realm circulation route for the Yuqing Creation Art, along with a rather complex method of opening acupoints with true qi.