Volume 1, Chapter 230 – To Leave or Stay

After briefly mentioning a few key points to keep in mind on the battlefield, Bai Weiyang dismissed the others, but kept Shi Lan behind alone.

Shi Lan lowered her head slightly and looked at the ground. Just as she was wondering why Bai Weiyang had kept her behind, layer upon layer of spatial ripples suddenly spread through the surroundings.

Four men and two women stepped out of the void.

Shi Lan instinctively stirred a trace of the spiritual awareness from Heaven’s Eye Qi-Sight. As she sensed the auras on those six people, her heart moved slightly.

In her perception, the auras of those six were terrifying, like blazing suns hanging one after another in the sky, frightening beyond measure, far surpassing transformed Demon Kings.

Clearly, not one of the six was below the Nascent Soul Realm.

The martial path began with the Body Tempering Realm, then the Innate Realm, where one shed the mortal body.

In the Earth Fiend Realm and Heavenly Astral Realm, one opened all one hundred and eight life-and-death acupoints, developing the fleshly body to its utmost limit. From there, divine sense was born. Stepping into the Myriad Phenomena Realm meant touching the laws of space. When divine sense condensed further and the soul could leave the body and walk beneath the blazing sun, only then did one gain the chance to condense a Nascent Soul.

Once the Nascent Soul was born, the possibilities became endless. So long as the source of the Nascent Soul did not disperse, one could remain in the world forever. And with a certain grasp of the laws of space, one could open up an independent small space outside the world itself.

If one took another step forward and entered the Heaven-Man Realm, one could then form a small world.

Experts at the Nascent Soul Realm level, even in a second-grade force such as the Sacred Martial Immortal Sect, belonged to the upper ranks of elderhood, figures of immense status.

And now, six of them had come at once.

Though the six were strong, Shi Lan did not feel much tension. Ever since the war had erupted one after another, every glance she cast had fallen on great powers above the Heaven-Man Realm. She had long since been tempered by it.

Even setting that aside, having inherited part of a Sovereign’s legacy, it was impossible for her to feel ill at ease merely because of a few Nascent Soul Realm experts. She was only puzzled.

Shi Lan looked at Bai Weiyang, who sat steadily behind the desk, and waited for him to speak.

Of the six, they seemed faintly led by a broad-built middle-aged man.

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A trace of delight hung on the man’s face as he looked at the calm Bai Weiyang and said happily,

“Weiyang, you suddenly sent word to summon us. Have you finally thought it through?”

“If you have, then we should set out at once. The demon race is pressing closer step by step. If we delay any longer, I fear many variables may arise.”

One of the women picked up the thread, sounding somewhat anxious.

“It would be safer to return to the Central Heaven Domain as quickly as possible.”

The others beside her also nodded.

From beginning to end, all of their attention had been fixed on Bai Weiyang. Not one of them gave Shi Lan so much as a sidelong glance.

“Shi Lan…”

After a long silence, Bai Weiyang looked at Shi Lan and slowly asked,

“Would you be willing to enter my Bai family?”

At Bai Weiyang’s words, all six immediately shifted their gazes onto Shi Lan.

Shi Lan seemed not to notice their stares at all. Hearing Bai Weiyang ask a question that felt oddly familiar, she said in confusion,

“What do you mean, General?”

“They are all members of my Bai family. They may all be counted as my elders.”

Bai Weiyang glanced at the six, then continued,

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“If you are willing to enter my Bai family, you may go with them to the Central Heaven Domain and avoid this demon calamity. Your relatives and close associates may go as well.”

Shi Lan froze, her eyes widening slightly, unable to recover her senses for a moment.

This was… telling her to flee?

Just as she stood there in a daze, Bai Weiyang’s voice transmission entered her ear.

“For now, just agree to it. Once you reach the Central Heaven Domain, if you feel the Bai family is not a place worth staying in, you can choose another place.”

Shi Lan came to her senses. Bai Weiyang’s words were clearly telling her that agreeing to enter the Bai family was merely a reason for those six to take her and her relatives away from this place.

Fluctuations of divine sense interwove in the air. Clearly, the six were also speaking with Bai Weiyang.

After a while, the middle-aged man at the head let out a soft sigh. After nodding helplessly, he looked at Shi Lan.

“Your talent is peerless, and you are still young. The road of Martial Dao before you is still very long. For you to die here before your time would be far too great a pity. The heavens of the Central Heaven Domain are far broader than those of Chengtian Domain, and my Bai family has enough foundation to raise you to the very top among the younger generation of the Central Heaven Domain.”

After saying that, the middle-aged man closed his eyes and said no more.

“But the military laws of the Demon-Suppressing Army…”

Shi Lan had only spoken halfway before Bai Weiyang interrupted her.

“To desert before battle is a capital crime in the Demon-Suppressing Army. But I can make an exception for you and open a loophole. I can expel you from the Demon-Suppressing Army. Do you still have anything to say?”

Bai Weiyang’s voice was very gentle. Even his usually cold eyes and brows seemed to soften, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

Leave the Demon-Suppressing Army. Take her family and kin. Travel far away and soar into a broader world.

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Before Shi Lan’s eyes, Bai Weiyang had spread out a dazzling golden road. No matter how one looked at it, Shi Lan had no reason to refuse.

But…

“Thank you for your kindness, General, but I am unwilling.”

After thinking for a long time, Shi Lan shook her head and directly refused the path Bai Weiyang had laid out for her.

In this world, the hardest thing to repay was a favor.

If she agreed today and entered the Bai family, then for the rest of her life, she would never be able to hold her head high before them.

Even if she achieved great things later on, there would certainly be people who would erase all her merits and faults with a single sentence:

“Without the Bai family, there would be no you today.”

Apart from that, if she went with those people to the Central Heaven Domain and entered the Bai family, would she really still be able to leave whenever she wished?

At present, she was only in the Earth Fiend Realm. Within a former Human Emperor clan, she would not be able to stir up even the slightest ripple, even with the Samsara system as her backing.

Shi Lan was unwilling to owe such a favor, and even more unwilling to bear such enormous risk.

“Good.”

Bai Weiyang did not ask Shi Lan for her reasons. He merely nodded slightly, yet the smile on his face became a little more obvious.

…

…

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Shi Lan strolled across the parade grounds, her thoughts in disarray for a time.

Bai Weiyang did not mention the Bai family again. Instead, he directly gave her nearly half a month of leave and told her to go back and rest.

As she left the command tent, Shi Lan noticed that among the six Nascent Soul Realm experts, several of them seemed somewhat displeased, perhaps thinking she did not know what was good for her, but that had nothing to do with her.

In the end, it still came down to one thing: strength.

After walking along the parade grounds for quite a while, Shi Lan pulled up the system panel, which she had not seen for some time. Looking at line after line of information, she fell into thought.

[Host: Shi Lan] [Cultivation: late Earth Fiend Realm] [Root Bone: 9 (Innate spiritual body, one in a thousand years.)] [Techniques: Yuqing Creation Art (second layer), Vajra Divine Fist (major accomplishment), Jade Tempering Art (perfect mastery), Heaven Extremity Seal (beginner), Spirit-Burning Art (incomplete)] [Divine Abilities: Heaven’s Eye Qi-Sight (three stars), Black Domain (seven stars)] [Strength Evaluation: modestly accomplished] [Reputation: 318750 (well-known in one region)]

Shi Lan glanced at the character panel, then opened the quest section.

[Main Quest: Enter the Heavenly Astral Realm within two years.] [Remaining Time: one year.] [Reward for Completion: two intermediate lottery chances, high-grade body-refining method True Martial Undying Body] [Failure: host will be erased, system will enter self-destruction sequence.]

She was already at the late Earth Fiend Realm. She only lacked the opening of a few more acupoints before reaching the great perfection of the Earth Fiend Realm. One year should presumably be enough for her to step into the Heavenly Astral Realm.

Closing the system panel, Shi Lan lifted her head and looked at the sky. A layer of light-screen still covered the heavens above, operating at all times.

The Sacred Martial Immortal Sect’s mountain-protecting grand formation, the Xianwu Yin-Yang Formation, was a combined formation that gathered a killing formation, trapping formation, defensive formation, illusion formation, and many other arrays into one.

From the very founding of the Sacred Martial Immortal Sect, this formation had been laid down here. After many years of evolution and alteration, it was already nothing like it had originally been. Even if a Human Emperor personally arrived, without spending at least several months, it would still be difficult to escape from it.

And yet it still could not stop the demon race…