Chapter 365: Bao Yan Speaks His Mind Regarding the Primordial Spirit

A faint light flashed, and Lingxiang instantly perked up.

She had intended to stay put and behave, but she hadn't expected to encounter something strange—the Demon Lord's hall was pitch black, so where could light be coming from?

Moreover, that light did not look like ordinary light.

Lingxiang searched for a while, but could not find the source of the light. Do not think the Demon Lord's hall was small from the outside; inside, one could not see one's own fingers, and it appeared incomparably vast. Lingxiang searched for a long time, yet found nothing.

Just as she was hesitating whether it had been an illusion, she heard a humming sound, like a sharp sword being drawn from its scabbard.

A sharp sword?

Lingxiang shrank her neck.

Could it be that she had been discovered by the Demon Lord for running around blindly?

That wasn't right! When had the Demon Lord ever used a sword?

With a sudden thought, Lingxiang figured it out; it must be that object in the shadows, so she began to search carefully again.

If it were some good treasure, it would be great to sneak it away while the Demon Lord was not around!

Having made up her mind, Lingxiang searched around even more diligently.

In the darkness, Lingxiang was not careful; she stumbled, nearly falling to the ground, and it was precisely at this moment that she saw something she had not seen for a long time...

"The Dust-Peering Mirror!"

The Dust-Peering Mirror had actually been in the Demon Lord's hall the whole time, yet Lingxiang had come so many times and never noticed it!

Amidst her surprise, Lingxiang curled her lip: "It never sees the light of day; it would be strange if I could see it."

Lingxiang leaned in, wanting to see why the Dust-Peering Mirror was suddenly emitting an unusual light, but just as she caught a glimpse of a figure, the Demon Lord's voice suddenly came from behind her.

"You've come."

There was not a ripple of emotion to be heard, yet Lingxiang's spine tightened; she dared neither to turn back nor to move a single inch.

A cat has nine lives, fleeting as a shadow; why could she never learn her lesson!

In just this short moment, Lingxiang regretted it so much her guts turned green. Bao Yan was a man of unpredictable moods; who knew how he would go crazy next!

Lingxiang's eyeballs rolled around, thinking of some excuse to brush it off, but the more nervous a person is, the harder it is to think of a way.

In her panic, she heard the Demon Lord sigh.

"Last time, I was impulsive. You are grown now, and there are some things you should be told."

Hah! He really thinks of himself as a father!

Lingxiang rolled her eyes, but she still turned around, putting on a look of feigned confusion.

There's a secret? That's worth listening to!

Besides, this was the Demon Lord speaking of his own accord, not her sneaking around to find out; if she rejected the Demon Lord's face, wouldn't that be ungrateful?

After all, she was living under someone else's roof; she had to be obedient, right?

Having made up her mind, Lingxiang lamented her own nosiness while waiting for the Demon Lord to speak with an innocent expression.

The Demon Lord did not look at Lingxiang, only furrowing his brows as if thinking about where to begin; in the darkness, his wrinkled face appeared particularly gloomy.

"You saw the situation that day. I have pondered it, and there are some things that it is time for you to know."

At that time, Bao Yan took advantage of Lingxiao's weakness, led a group of Demon Soldiers to invade Yuanqing, and seized his physical body.

Having just performed the Possession, his body was still very weak, and within his sea of consciousness, he still had to contend with Lingxiao, so for a time, he did not notice Tumi Xianzi's departure.

Not until Bao Yan was about to defeat Lingxiao did a strand of Spirit Silk suddenly appear, protecting Lingxiao's fragmented consciousness, and in the blink of an eye, it vanished into the sea of consciousness.

In this way, Bao Yan could be considered to have mastered Lingxiao's physical body, and he also possessed a portion of Lingxiao's memories.

But in the end, he had not devoured all of Lingxiao's consciousness, so his power was like pulling silk, becoming increasingly uncontrollable.

Bao Yan knew it must have been Tumi who did something, but that was not important. He now had Lingxiao's body; he had become Lingxiao, and in this way, he could obtain Tumi's love.

At this moment, Bao Yan's heart was incomparably excited; he could not wait to see Tumi Xianzi!

But when he rushed to Hufeng Hall, what he saw was Tumi performing the Suspended Thread Technique!

Bao Yan had spent a long time with Tumi, and he knew a thing or two about her affairs, especially what Pill she had developed or what Witchcraft she had created.

For Tumi to be performing the Suspended Thread Technique, there could be no other thought than the Huitian Pill.

Bao Yan wailed with a heart-rending cry, begging Tumi to stop, but Tumi paid him no heed at all.

Watching the life force drain from Tumi's body, Bao Yan was in utter despair, but he was helpless, and not until the Dharma Array suffered a Collapse did he rush toward Tumi regardless of everything.

At that time, Tumi still had a trace of life force, so Bao Yan wanted to take her to the Netherworld and use the secret arts of the Demon Realm to stop Tumi's time. But before he could leave Yuanqing, Tumi was left with only a shell.

Bao Yan naturally knew that this was Tumi's Primordial Spirit leaving her body at the moment of her death. He had wanted to find Tumi's Primordial Spirit, but it was at this very moment that his body began to show abnormalities, and he had no choice but to let Bai Wuchang take him away.

"So, as long as we find your mother's Primordial Spirit, she will still have a glimmer of life." The Demon Lord looked outside the hall, his eyes dark and unclear, "And the reason I went to such lengths to forcibly seize the Dust-Peering Mirror was also to find her Primordial Spirit."

But...

But even the Dust-Peering Mirror could not find it!

A glimmer of life?

Lingxiang lowered her eyes and said nothing, but in her heart, she was clear as a mirror.

This was likely just the Demon Lord's wishful thinking; since Tumi had already performed the Suspended Thread Technique, there was absolutely no possibility of survival.

However...

Primordial Spirit leaving the body?

Hah!

Lingxiang's eyes were languid; she turned her head to reveal a look of disdain.

Did he even need to say that? She had guessed it long ago; otherwise, why would she have gone to such trouble to set up traps on Qingwei Peak, if not to guard against Bao Yan?

That's right, the painting spirit in that painting was Tumi Xianzi's Primordial Spirit.

Lingxiang did not know why Tumi Xianzi had deceived her before, but after weighing all the possibilities, she guessed a thing or two.

Although at first she only thought it was Tumi Xianzi's soul, she had not thought in the direction of a Primordial Spirit.

After all, Lingxiang had known from the start that the grave on Qingwei Peak was merely an empty tomb for Tumi Xianzi's clothes and accessories; the Elders of the Yuanqing Sect had never intended to hide that from her.

Back when she was in Yunluo Village, Lingxiang had felt something was strange because of a nonsensical remark from Bai Wuchang. Later, after seeing that hanging scroll in Fuyin Zhenren's private treasury, Lingxiang began to grow suspicious. Following that, the omen from the Dust-Peering Mirror confirmed it for her.

Lingxiang wondered if Tumi Xianzi had chosen to have her Primordial Spirit leave her body in the end because she surely had her own plans. Moreover, based on Lingxiang's deductions, Tumi Xianzi must have known about everything happening now long ago.

With Tumi Xianzi's level of cultivation, how could she not know?

However, Lingxiang still could not fathom the exact reason; perhaps she would only know once the mechanisms on Qingwei Peak were broken.

Lingxiang's expression remained unchanged, merely feigning a look of astonishment.

"There is such a thing? Even you have no way to deal with it?"

The implication was that if even the great Demon Lord had no solution, then she, a mere minor Daoist, would have even less of a way; what was the use of telling her?

"Perhaps..." the Demon Lord looked at Lingxiang, his gaze seemingly piercing right through her, "you might have a way."