Chapter 244 - 237: Person from the Upper Realm

Chapter 244: Chapter 237: Person from the Upper Realm

The Demon Race.

A deep, secluded valley.

The valley emanated an incredibly dense Spiritual Qi, and within it lay a deep pool.

Wisps of tangible Spiritual Qi-mist drifted gently over the pool’s surface.

Despite being such a Spiritual Land, there wasn’t a single Demon Beast in sight.

Only deep beneath the pool’s surface, a massive, jet-black Jiao Dragon was cultivating in silence.

The black Jiao Dragon’s body was covered in a layer of sturdy, metallic-looking scales.

This Jiao Dragon was the strongest Demon Venerable of the Demon Race, the Nine Nether Demon Venerable.

Because his strength far surpassed that of ordinary Demon Venerables, many in the Demon Race believed he would inevitably unite their people and had begun to call him the Demon Emperor.

The Nine Nether Demon Venerable’s tightly shut eyes suddenly twitched.

He swam to the surface of the pool and transformed into a young, demonic-looking man covered in Black Scale Armor, then walked toward the side of the valley.

A moment later, the Nine Nether Demon Venerable arrived before a colossal, altar-like Array.

Inside the Array, Bai Ling was circulating her energy to recuperate.

Despite her extensive preparations, traversing the void to return had still been a considerable burden for her.

After a long moment, Bai Ling finally opened her eyes.

"Emissary Bai, did you find the Dao Talisman, or the Child of Destiny you were looking for?"

The Nine Nether Demon Venerable asked slowly.

As the strongest of the current Demon Race, the fact that he addressed Bai Ling—a Demoness whose strength was merely equivalent to the human Three Flowers Realm—as "Emissary" was naturally because her identity was far from simple.

Just as his title for her implied, Bai Ling was from the Upper Realm!

Not long ago, Bai Ling had been just a third-tier White Wolf.

Then, in a short period, she had advanced to the fourth tier and mastered the Transformation Technique without needing to cultivate it.

She had then come before him, claiming to be from the Upper Realm, her soul having possessed the White Wolf.

At first, the Nine Nether Demon Venerable did not believe her.

Every five hundred years, a batch of Cultivators and Demon Venerables would ascend to the Upper Realm.

But he had never heard of anyone being able to return from the Upper Realm.

However, after Bai Ling demonstrated a series of abilities, the Nine Nether Demon Venerable had no choice but to believe.

Though she was just a Demoness who had newly entered the fourth tier, Bai Ling’s Divine Sense was not only astonishingly powerful but also possessed special protections.

Bai Ling opened her Sea of Consciousness, yet even with the Nine Nether Demon Venerable’s Divine Sense, he was unable to breach its defenses to probe deeper.

Afterward, Bai Ling showed him her astounding skill in Talismans, and that her Divine Sense could even store objects.

The Nine Nether Demon Venerable personally witnessed Bai Ling retrieve numerous Talismans he had never seen before from her Sea of Consciousness.

Especially some of the space-traversing Talismans, which were simply beyond the reach of an ordinary member of the Demon Race.

After Bai Ling had shown him these abilities, the Nine Nether Demon Venerable couldn’t disbelieve even if he wanted to.

As a Demon Race Venerable destined to ascend sooner or later, the Nine Nether Demon Venerable was naturally curious about the Upper Realm.

But Bai Ling had simply told him "no comment," stating that she could not speak of anything related to the Upper Realm while in the Lower Realm.

Not only that, but Bai Ling also wanted the Nine Nether Demon Venerable to help her find a human Cultivator.

This human Cultivator was said to possess world-shaking talent and was the Child of Destiny.

In return, Bai Ling would help the Nine Nether Demon Venerable unite the Demon Race, and when he ascended to the Upper Realm in the future, the faction behind her could also provide him with significant help.

The Nine Nether Demon Venerable’s word was law in the Demon Race; no one dared to defy his command.

Bai Ling refused to reveal information about the Upper Realm and even wanted him to do her bidding.

The Nine Nether Demon Venerable immediately had the urge to kill her.

However, after Bai Ling showed him the restriction within her Sea of Consciousness, explaining that she would explode and die on the spot if she spoke of the Upper Realm, the Nine Nether Demon Venerable abandoned the idea.

After all, he did indeed have the ambition to unite the Demon Race before ascending to the Upper Realm.

This was no easy task, but with Bai Ling’s help, things would be much simpler.

At Bai Ling’s suggestion, the Nine Nether Demon Venerable quickly decided to start subjugating the other Demon Venerables and to officially start a war between the two Races during the Black Tortoise Dao Sect’s promotion ceremony.

But he never expected his highly anticipated plan to end so laughably.

Nine Demon Venerables declared war on the human Race in his name, but three ended up dead and four were severely injured.

Not only did the war between the two Races fail to start, but he had also become a laughingstock for both sides.

This time, for the Daoist Talisman Holy Land, Bai Ling had consumed a vast amount of his resources to construct a massive Array. She planned to enter the Daoist Talisman Holy Land to retrieve the legendary "Dao Talisman" and, while she was at it, search for the "Child of Destiny."

If she could find the Dao Talisman, the Nine Nether Demon Venerable would gain another trump card.

Failing that, finding the Child of Destiny wasn’t a bad alternative.

The Nine Nether Demon Venerable was curious to see just how incredible this human Child of Destiny was, to make people from the Upper Realm perform a Descent Realm to find him, rather than just waiting for him to ascend.

"I didn’t find the Dao Talisman, but I do have a lead on the Child of Destiny."

Bai Ling shook her head, not intending to deceive the Nine Nether Demon Venerable.

The Nine Nether Demon Venerable’s eyes narrowed at her words.

’So, after all that effort, it was all for nothing again?’

’And I even lost several of my best subordinates?’

Since Bai Ling appeared by his side, she hadn’t accomplished a single other thing besides helping him find a few human spies, and what’s more, she had caused him to suffer heavy losses.

’What’s the point of keeping someone like this around?’

The Nine Nether Demon Venerable’s murderous intent began to stir once more.

"Nine Nether Demon Venerable, things didn’t go smoothly because my Cultivation is too low."

"Starting today, I will enter seclusion to raise my Cultivation. With my aptitude, my breakthrough speed will be very fast."

"By then, it should be just in time for you to truly begin the war between the two Races. With my help, you’ll save a lot of effort."

"Besides, killing me will bring you no benefits."

"I won’t truly die; I will simply return to the Upper Realm."

"But if you do make a move, you will be making an enemy of the faction behind me."

"They paid a great price to allow me to perform the Descent Realm."

"When you ascend to the Upper Realm, you will surely face their retaliation."

Sensing the Nine Nether Demon Venerable’s killing intent, Bai Ling spoke patiently.

"Are you threatening me?"

The Nine Nether Demon Venerable’s eyes narrowed, his killing intent becoming incredibly intense.

The slightest misstep in Bai Ling’s reply, and she would die on the spot.

"It’s not a threat. I’m just telling you the facts."

"Whoever kills me will face the same treatment, as long as they ascend to the Upper Realm. Unless they never ascend at all."

"I just don’t want you to inadvertently make a powerful enemy for yourself."

"Being able to ascend to the Upper Realm is impressive, but compared to the powerful beings there, the gap in Cultivation is immense."

"If you don’t wish to cooperate with me, you can just let me leave. There’s no need to bring this trouble upon yourself."

Bai Ling shook her head and spoke calmly.

The Nine Nether Demon Venerable’s gaze flickered.

After a long moment, the killing intent radiating from him gradually faded.

He was, of course, not some reckless brute who only knew how to kill. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have failed to unite the Demon Race by now.

To act on a moment of anger for no benefit, only to bring a great deal of trouble upon oneself for no reason—that was foolish.

"You’ve convinced me. However, my patience is limited. You should break through as soon as possible. I don’t want you to still be at this level when I truly begin to make my move."

The Nine Nether Demon Venerable said faintly.

After saying this, he turned and left.

’Hmph! The Demon Race is truly a troublesome Race.’

’But, having possessed the body of a Demon Beast, there’s no better partner for me to cooperate with than him.’

’Whatever. I won’t hold it against him. I should focus on cultivating and breaking through first.’

Bai Ling grumbled about the Nine Nether Demon Venerable for a bit, then returned to her wooden cabin in the valley.

She had clashed with Jiang Zuo several times, never once gaining an advantage.

Bai Ling knew very well that if her Cultivation didn’t improve rapidly, the next time she saw Jiang Zuo, she might not even be able to escape.

「At the same time.」

The Cultivation Realm.

After being sent out of the Daoist Talisman Holy Land Secret Realm by Jiang Zuo, the hundred-plus surviving Cultivators woke up one by one, regaining consciousness.

Realizing they hadn’t died and had left the Secret Realm alive, many of the Cultivators wept with joy.

Then, news of what happened in the Daoist Talisman Holy Land Secret Realm spread.

For a time, the entire Cultivation Realm was stunned by the matter.

Over a thousand Cultivators had entered the Secret Realm, but only a little over a hundred returned alive.

For the Cultivation Realm, this was undoubtedly another devastating loss.

This loss was even greater than the one caused by the Celestial Eye Black Pupil.

After all, those who died this time were almost all Cultivators of the Three Flowers Realm, and young geniuses with considerable talent for Talismans at that.

However, it wasn’t all bad news.

The Cultivators who returned alive had made great strides in their mastery of the Dao of Talismans.

In just a few short years, they had gained nearly two hundred years’ worth of skill in Talismans.

Given time, these Cultivators all had the potential to become masters in the Dao of Talismans.

Among the survivors, the sects with the most returning disciples, aside from the Celestial Sound Sect, were surprisingly the Black Tortoise Dao Sect and the Spirit Seal Sect, two relatively small sects.

This was especially true of Zhou Yong, a disciple from the Black Tortoise Dao Sect, who had also gone to the Daoist Talisman Holy Land.

Moreover, it was said that the survival of the hundred-plus Cultivators was largely thanks to him.

Although no one had seen his skill with Talismans, many said that his mastery couldn’t be poor.

After all, it seemed he had used some unknown method to kill multiple fourth-tier Talismanic Dao Beasts and obtain a fifth-tier Talisman. This supposedly allowed him to turn the tables on a hunting party of Cultivators, not only killing them but also obtaining their Talisman legacies.

However, another rumor soon began to circulate.

Among the Cultivators who returned to the Black Tortoise Dao Sect, Zhou Yong was not present.

It was highly likely that he had died in the Daoist Talisman Holy Land in the end.

"Master, will Junior Brother be alright?"

Third Senior Brother asked Luo Taidong, his face etched with worry.

After hearing from Zhao Chengjun that Jiang Zuo was still alive, they had been overjoyed for quite a while.

But then Zhao Chengjun mentioned a speculation that made both of their hearts sink to the bottom of a valley.

Zhao Chengjun knew the extent of Jiang Zuo’s skill with Talismans, so he wasn’t fooled by Jiang Zuo’s cover story.

From what the Spirit of the Secret Realm had said, Zhao Chengjun naturally concluded that Jiang Zuo was the person it was looking for, and that he had been kept behind.

If that were the case, Jiang Zuo’s chances of survival were slim.

After all, the Spirit of the Secret Realm didn’t seem like a benevolent entity, no matter how you looked at it.

Their survival was likely the result of a deal Jiang Zuo had made.

"Sigh... your junior brother is just too much of a genius. That’s why his fate is so fraught with peril!"

Luo Taidong said with a bitter expression.