Chapter 691

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Protagonist:

Shen Yao

Greatly surprised?!

This was clearly a heart-throbbing signal exclusive to Lin Xingzhi!

Lin Xingzhi had lived for over twenty years and never knew his preferences could be so obvious, especially when Shen Yao floated into the air, her body rising, and with a casual wave of her hand, she unleashed several dazzling spells that flashed through the air, easily suppressing the opposing forces.

Lin Xingzhi stood not far to the side, covered layer upon layer with dense protective spells, which made him stand out especially in the eyes of the other humans and demons around him.

The humans were fine; their goal from beginning to end was that Five-Colored Stone, and now seeing the two sides fighting fiercely overhead, they only subconsciously guarded against and resisted, completely neglecting the extra Lin Xingzhi.

It was those idle demons instead; these little things had wildly imaginative heads, looking here one moment, there the next, and then unable to bear the loneliness, turning to fight with other demons they didn't like.

In their eyes, Lin Xingzhi was like an oversized and especially bright light bulb, hard not to pay attention to.

"Who is that? Human Race? Different from the others."

"Yes, smells fragrant, really want to go up and lick a bite."

"Human Race Human Race, such a fragrant Human Race, truly fragrant."

"Hmph! Close your mouth close your mouth, be careful of being caught by those cunning Humans, don't talk too much!"

"Don't care don't care, just say just say, I want to say."

"……"

Unlike humans with clear goals, the demons were not all here for the Five-Colored Stone; they mostly liked to join the fun, and besides, most demons knew their own limits—how could such a rare treasure be coveted by little demons like them who could barely manage to transform?

"But that Human can be coveted a bit; there's no one by his side."

No one meant no danger, and also meant they could do as they pleased.

Their eyes nakedly and full of various greed surveyed Lin Xingzhi from head to toe, drop after drop of crystal clear suspicious saliva fell from the corners of the demons' mouths.

Lin Xingzhi: ……

Lin Xingzhi was not only not afraid of this, but felt somewhat helpless, thinking that although he was of the Human Race, these demons couldn't be so unscrupulous as to say everything out loud; since he could come here, he wasn't really a good-for-nothing, after all, a good-for-nothing wouldn't come to deliver himself to death.

The demons didn't care about these, thinking they were speaking softly (actually very loudly) discussing how to cook this human who looked delicious and would surely taste delicious.

Frying, stir-frying, sautéing, stewing, boiling—every one seemed very suitable for this human.

Unfortunately, before they could reach any result on their side, Shen Yao's side had already decided the winner; without any accident, Shen Yao with absolute strength directly crushed that self-important sparrow all the way to the bottom.

"Sir spare my life, Sir spare my life, Sir spare my life."

The sparrow, beaten into having to restore its demon form, knelt on the ground crying with teary eyes, pitiful beyond measure; from its current bearing, not a trace of its previous arrogance could be seen, showing that before a huge gap in strength, demons could still recognize the cruel reality.

Shen Yao smiled and raised her hand, the spell at her fingertip ready to trigger at a touch, indicating whether to spare its life depended on its next performance.

Sparrow: …

The sparrow knew very well what performance meant; it immediately stopped caring about continuing to cry, but turned around and took out the Five-Colored Stone it carried with it.

"Sir spare my life"

While handing it over, it still didn't forget to open its mouth to beg for mercy, and knelt neatly on the ground at the same time.

Shen Yao: …

However, the Five-Colored Stone, about palm-sized, oval-shaped, and emitting a unique light all over, was teleported into Shen Yao's hand out of thin air.

Mm

Not to mention anything else, just looking at this color and appearance, it was undoubtedly a Five-Colored Stone for Mending the Heavens.

However, "Where did you get this Five-Colored Stone?"

True or false was still easy to distinguish, especially since the energy contained in a Five-Colored Stone was terrifying; this exquisite and perfect fake stone before her eyes possessed none of the abilities of a Five-Colored Stone.

"Little demon passing by, stone fell from the sky," the sparrow said, and fearing Shen Yao wouldn't believe it, hurriedly explained that what it said was true, it had suddenly appeared before its eyes, otherwise it wouldn't be so arrogant and domineering, making a mess of directions, and wasn't it because it felt its various performances showed the qualifications of a Great Demon, that it had gotten a bit carried away just now.

Shen Yao, seeing the situation, didn't say much more, but lightly raised her palm and tossed the Five-Colored Stone in her hand up and down.

Swish swish swish—

The gazes of the other humans and demons around unconsciously shifted toward Shen Yao's direction.

To be precise, those gazes were following the Five-Colored Stone that kept going up and down back and forth.

Although Shen Yao had already spoken to explain that this stone was just a fake Five-Colored Stone, no one could guarantee she wasn't lying; after all, besides Shen Yao and the sparrow, the other humans and demons present had never touched it with their own hands.

So no matter what, this Five-Colored Stone remained the focus of their struggle.

Shen Yao: …

"You want to make a move?"

Seeing the gazes on her body not only not decrease but increase, Shen Yao smiled and raised her eyebrows, unable to help but lift her eyes to look around.

The night at Yunlu was still a bit cool; the wind blew the corners of everyone's clothes and took away the warmth on their bodies.

"This Fellow Cultivator, I don't know if we can personally verify the authenticity of this Five-Colored Stone? Just listening to Fellow Cultivator's word, I'm afraid it's hard to convince the crowd."

"Yes, we all came for this legendary Five-Colored Stone that can mend the heavens; not personally verifying it, we truly can't rest easy."

"I don't know Fellow Cultivator's opinion? Are you willing to give up your love?"

"……"

The human who spoke first looked courteous in speech and orderly in conduct, but the implication of those words was very obvious: asking Shen Yao to hand over the Five-Colored Stone.

Shen Yao tilted her head to look at this group of people, gathered together yet guarding against each other; indeed, compared to the straightforward demons, humans were more complex and hard to understand.

"If I don't hand it over, what will you do? Do you really want to make a move against me?"

It wasn't that Shen Yao insisted on provoking these people; she was just too curious. After all, that one-sided duel just now had fallen into everyone's eyes, and despite that, they still wanted money but not their lives?

"We advise Fellow Cultivator to think twice before speaking, and not make light judgments."

They would certainly fight this person, for this was a Five-Colored Stone capable of mending the heavens; consider it—if even the sky could be mended, what in this world could the Five-Colored Stone not mend?

Even if this person truly possessed profound arts and a composed demeanor, that did not mean they had no way to deal with him; at worst, they could all rush him together.

But these words were spoken without much conviction, at least the notion of all rushing him together rang quite hollow, because they did not know each other; the very same kind who were guarding against one another the previous second would now have to work together to resist, tsk tsk tsk, if they could avoid infighting by then, that would count as victory.

"You people sure have interesting things to say, telling me not to think too much; I might as well just hand over the Five-Colored Stone in my hand to you all."

Truly, ugly in appearance but beautiful in thought, daring to say and do anything.

The Wedding Guests swept by Shen Yao's gaze:...

Lin Xingzhi saw his wife had barely rested for a moment before her body rose into the air, her fingertips forming hand seals that changed in an instant; in the blink of an eye, arts rained down upon the ground, blasting out craters of varying depths.

Those standing at the very front were the first to suffer misfortune, crying out with their mouths as their bodies shot toward the distance like arrows loosed from a bowstring.

Boom!

The sound of a heavy object striking the ground differed from that of a person; a person sounded more dull and muffled.

Lin Xingzhi looked at the people who had fallen within a few meters of him and silently changed his position.

The demons who had originally been discussing how to deal with Lin Xingzhi scattered in all directions; they understood far more clearly than humans that they could not defeat Shen Yao at all, and staying behind was meaningless.

"Demon woman!"

"Attacking and harming your own kind without leaving face, this is disadvantageous to cultivation; how dare you act thus?"

Shen Yao's actions gave these people who overestimated themselves a harsh lesson; they simply could not believe it, and their gazes toward Shen Yao held not only fear but also puzzlement.

Shen Yao beat all these people before her into submission in one breath before stopping and landing; she lightly turned her fingertip, and that beautiful Five-Colored Stone floated above it.

"What am I supposed to say to you all?" Full of confidence before the fight, refusing to believe in evil, yet after being beaten they were hard-headed and timid, knowing they were wrong yet still stiffening their necks to find fault with her.

Suddenly, Shen Yao smiled, and before everyone's eyes spoke a fact that made their livers and gallbladders tremble: "I am not human; whether or not to follow the rules of the Human Race depends entirely on your performance from here on."

A huge, pure-white rabbit with no杂色 whatsoever appeared before everyone's eyes.

"Come, show me; know that the opportunity comes only this once—miss it, and it is missed."

Everyone:...?!!!

The bird's performance was to present the Five-Colored Stone with both hands; these people had no Five-Colored Stone, but they had other treasures, and now, for the sake of survival, they could only reluctantly take them out.

"This, this, this."

"Think it over carefully; after all, whether it has value or not is for you yourselves to decide."

Everyone:... What he's saying—is it that if we give too little we'll be disliked as worthless?

Shen Yao merely smiled and said nothing in response; anyway, with her current strength she had no use for these things, but the three children and Lin Xingzhi were another matter.

It wouldn't do to constantly trouble Master Yuan Kong and Daoren Changsheng over such matters.

The proverb says murder and arson bring a golden waistband; indeed, robbing by force is still the fastest.

Looking at the jade pendant, wooden plaque, waist sword, bagua mirror... presented before her, Shen Yao could be said to have witnessed the various methods and capabilities of cultivators; truly, they were rich in worth, and she ought to take a share as her contribution.

"Alright, you may go."

Shen Yao had just waved her hand to let them leave when she opened her mouth again to call them back.

Everyone:...

Everyone's expressions stiffened, their lips pressed tight, thinking inwardly that this wouldn't be a change of heart, wanting their lives, would it?

Shen Yao was not so low as to do such a tasteless thing; she called these people back only because she had thought of the Five-Colored Stone, and used arts to send it before them: "Close your eyes and feel it carefully, so that when you go out you won't spout nonsense and bring me other trouble."

Shen Yao smiled sweetly, but in everyone's eyes it was utterly terrifying; those who had originally planned to shift the disaster eastward after leaving immediately abandoned that thought.

Hiss.

Demons are not human; they do not weigh pros and cons, but act solely on intent.

If they carelessly offended the other party, could their own lives still be guaranteed? Though they had not seen each other again since this meeting, who knew what strange abilities demons might have, and what if they truly could find them?

"No, no need, right?"

"We communicate as Fellow Cultivators, no, we trust Sir's judgment; this Five-Colored Stone is fake, so it must be fake," truly it is also fake.

Shen Yao:...

Shen Yao thought their discernment was truly something; she waved her hand speechlessly: "Less nonsense, attack."

Everyone:...

Passing the Five-Colored Stone along quickly in a line, after all the inside of this stone was empty; no need to think to know it absolutely was not real.

Indeed, this demon was right.

Lin Xingzhi walked up to Shen Yao, not expecting a warm and smooth jade pendant to appear before him.

Hmm?

"The jade pendant contains several formations for nourishing the body; wearing it long-term is beneficial to the body."

When that person produced it earlier, he was still reluctant to part with it, but whatever fell into Shen Yao's hands could not be returned; she simply dealt with it offhand.

Lin Xingzhi made an "oh" sound; this jade pendant appeared at his waist in less than a moment, and even its color had changed considerably.

Continuing to rummage through and inspect the various things he had obtained, he left them (including the two children; Lin Chengjing's side would have to wait until returning to the capital) all the magic artifacts currently usable, while everything else was stuffed by Shen Yao in one go into her space.

"Now, we're leaving?" There was no one (demon) left here.

Shen Yao shook her head and pointed to the dense forest behind her, which looked especially terrifying due to the dim surrounding light: "The Five-Colored Stone has not been found yet;" their purpose for this trip had not been achieved, and even if they returned, they would have to come out again.

Lin Xingzhi, hearing this, grabbed Shen Yao's wrist in one pull, saying as they walked that time waited for no one; they could just take down the Five-Colored Stone in one go.

Taking down the Five-Colored Stone was not so easy, because this stone would play tricks with Shen Yao.

It knew it was being eyed by a Great Demon; even this Great Demon was elusive, and no matter how many true or false messages it put out, it could always accurately find its own location.

Five-Colored Stone:...

The chubby little doll pinched its own round, fair cheeks with a worried and bitter face; sigh, how on earth was it supposed to do this? It was just a small stone that had gained spiritual wisdom.

"Why not just go find that person and talk?" It could neither eat nor drink, and was hard to the touch, pinching it hurt the fingers; besides mending the heavens, it had no use at all.

"Who says so? You're useful — for instance, when crafting Magic Artifacts, or when attacking other people's Magic Artifacts, and then there's..."

"Stop! Don't say any more!"

The little White Radish glared at Shen Yao, angry and upset, thinking to itself that it was truly stupid, to have walked right into a trap.

"Don't keep scolding yourself in your heart; you're just a stone, after all," a stone has no heart, so being unable to defeat other people is completely normal.

Five-Colored Stone:...

Since the Five-Colored Stone delivered itself to her door, Shen Yao had even less intention of letting it go.

Whether cajoling or painting a big pie, anyway, in this world, the Five-Colored Stone couldn't escape from Shen Yao's palm.