Chapter 188: The Arrival of the Demon Cultivators

Ruan Xing was just thinking about going out for a trip these days, to Xizhou to find Qintai He to ask for advice on fish farming, and to think of ways to obtain the Spirit Severing cultivation method for the Tongxuan Scripture.

Suddenly, the air around her appeared like ripples.

Sword Lai walked out.

In these three years, he had stayed in the Righteousness Manor within the Xumi Realm together with the Demon Cultivator disciples, cultivating by borrowing the dense Yin Qi, and had also raised his own cultivation to the Nascent Soul stage.

That is the benefit of being a Puppet; there is no need to undergo a tribulation, there are no bottlenecks, and once there is enough Yin Qi, everything falls into place.

However, a Puppet also has no way to borrow a heavenly tribulation to condense a Golden Core, nor can it reshape its physical body.

Otherwise, Sword Lai would be able to get rid of the constraint in his throat and speak right now.

But after reaching the Nascent Soul stage, the strength of Sword Lai's Puppet Body had improved quite a bit, and he would no longer break an arm or leg at the slightest movement like before.

If there were an opportunity, perhaps she could study it and modify the Runes on Sword Lai; maybe Sword Lai would become even more powerful.

The Runes on his body were still drawn by Hongtou Daoren; how deep could a mortal like Hongtou Daoren's understanding of a Heaven-grade technique be? It was nothing more than copying a gourd to draw a dipper, and now these Runes had long been unable to keep up with Sword Lai's Puppet essence; when repairing Sword Lai's body two days ago, she still had to add a few strokes.

It was just that she had no ideas yet on how to completely redraw them.

"What is it, Sword Lai?" Ruan Xing reached out to touch Sword Lai's face.

His skin was as smooth and cool as jade, as if she were fondling a piece of high-quality mutton-fat white jade.

Sword Lai rubbed against her affectionately, and then told Ruan Xing his intention.

"Master... at the foot of the mountain... someone is looking for you..."

If it were simply someone looking for her, such as matters regarding Yunyang City or Huayang City, Sword Lai would not return to the Xumi Realm to find her; Hu San would have the disciples guarding the mountain gate stop them and make them wait.

Ruan Xing narrowed her eyes; it seemed the person she had been waiting for had finally arrived.

She spoke softly, "Is it a Demon Cultivator?"

Sword Lai nodded.

Upon hearing this, the Fairy had some anger in her brows, "How bold of these Demon Cultivators to dare to run to the territory of an Immortal Sect to look for trouble? I will go meet them."

Just now, when Ruan Xing and Sun Xian were discussing finances, the Fairy could not get a word in and was completely ignorant of the subject, so she could only listen silently.

But now that she heard there might be a fight, a sense of mission welled up within her.

Under Ruan Xing's constraints, the Demon Cultivator disciples of the Fengling Yueying Sect had so far only relied on the Righteousness Manor cemetery to cultivate and had absolutely no opportunity to commit crimes.

But Demon Cultivators from the outside world were different; among the Demon Cultivators who could cultivate to become high-level Cultivators, which one was not a cold-blooded, ruthless demon?

Based on stereotypes from thousands of years ago, the Fairy had a deep hatred for those evil Demon Cultivators.

Ruan Xing held her forehead; she had not expected that the Fairy, who looked cold and aloof, was actually a militant.

Also, why did your way of speaking have a flavor of the underworld? Do not learn strange terminology from the disciples in the gangs under your command! "It shouldn't be; if a fight were truly about to break out, Sword Lai would not have run over to tell me, but would have told me directly through our mental connection," Ruan Xing said.

Sword Lai had no way to speak, so even if he ran in front of Ruan Xing, he would still use their mental connection; he came over only because Ruan Xing would habitually stroke him when she spoke.

It was just like a cute puppy acting spoiled toward its master.

"If it is truly necessary, I will call you through our mental link, don't worry; at the very worst, there is still the Demon Lord," Ruan Xing comforted the Fairy, then rose and left the Xumi Realm.

Although Ruan Xing had not given the Demon Lord the Nether Ghost Record technique, the Demon Lord was inherently extremely intelligent and had self-taught the Devouring Method to convert into Yin Qi.

Before, it was converting magic power, later it was converting Divine Soul power, and now it had become converting Yin Qi.

It was conceivable that the Demon Lord had studied his own technique very thoroughly, which allowed him to control the transformation as he pleased.

Unfortunately, he could not appear in the outside world, and Ruan Xing would not allow him to enter the underground water bubble of the Xumi Realm, so he could only eat some soil dug out from the Underground Palace that was stained with the aura of the Boundary Tree, and some useless scraps left over from when Ruan Xing refined tools, and after a great deal of effort, he had only barely reached the strength of the Golden Core Late Stage.

This also made the Demon Lord so stifled that his resentment was deep.

If it were not for the fact that Ruan Xing was now at the Nascent Soul Late Stage, suppressing him by a whole major realm, and he did not know the secret of controlling the Puppet, he would have long since rebelled and stepped on Ruan Xing's head.

After returning to the Fengling Yueying Sect, Hu San was already waiting ahead, and upon seeing Ruan Xing, he followed her.

"Where are the people?" Ruan Xing asked.

"Two people came, a man and a woman, their cultivation is about the same as mine, and they did not use any Magic Art to conceal or cover themselves; anyone who takes a look can tell they are Demon Cultivators. They said they could wait in front of the mountain gate, but I was afraid of being seen by others, so I let them come in and wait in front of the plaza. Hall Master Cui has the method of concealment, so I let her hide on the side to watch over the two."

Hu San said in a low voice.

Ruan Xing praised him, "Well done."

Indeed, they could not let the two be seen by others in front of the mountain gate.

If the Fengling Yueying Sect were labeled as colluding with Demon Cultivators, that would be terrible.

She did not yet have the strength to go against the entire world of Cultivation.

It was just that she did not know what purpose these two had in seeing her.

Looking at the pitifully few points in the Simulator, she sighed, recharged the last remaining twelve thousand Spirit Stones in her Storage Bag, and then opened the Real-scene Simulation.

【Simulating】

Ruan Xing walked to the front of the plaza, waved her hand to have Hu San retreat to the side, and saw the two Demon Cultivators in front of the plaza looking around in boredom.

The disciples had all been cleared away to other places by Hu San; the plaza was empty, with only the few of them plus Cui Yurong, who was hiding somewhere.

The man had an ordinary appearance, the corners of his eyes slightly upturned, looking to have a sinister temperament; the woman's hair was coiled high into a slanted bun, with a few strands of brown-stone-colored tassels hanging down, and her dazzling red lips curled up slightly, "Sect Master has quite the airs."

Ruan Xing did not take the bait, but instead tried to pull the rhythm of the conversation back to herself, "Coming here so openly, are you really not afraid of death at all?"

From the Northern Territory to Nanzhou, how many Sects and towns must one pass along the way.

She did not know if they had been discovered by anyone.

The female Cultivator chuckled, "Who wouldn't be afraid of death? Sect Master doesn't need to know how we came, but Sect Master must know that not concealing or covering is our sincerity; this time we came only for negotiation, nothing else."

"Are you so sure I will see you, rather than notifying other Sects at the mountain gate to kill or capture you together? Demon Cultivators nowadays can barely move an inch on the Xianyuan Continent once they leave the Northern Territory."

Nowadays?

Ruan Xing had used this word on purpose. The female Cultivator indeed noticed it; a flash of light passed through her eyes, and her smile deepened a little more, "If the Sect Master wanted to summon and notify other Sects, she should have notified them when she occupied the Six Suns Study and discovered the Xumi Realm; she would never have waited until now."

Ruan Xing sighed, "You are here for the Xumi Realm."

"Isn't the Sect Master as well? Otherwise, a mere small?"

Ruan Xing's eyes flickered.

This female cultivator seems to believe that she is from some power that has hidden its name to occupy the Xumi Realm.

After all, the matter of the Xumi Realm is indeed not very pleasant to speak of, and it affects the reputation of the Sect.

Ruan Xing then took advantage of the situation to put on the identity the female cultivator had draped over her, gave a light cough, and said, "No need for nonsense, state your purpose."

The two Demon Cultivators looked at each other, and the male cultivator said, "We must see the Sumeru Tree first."

They were originally here under the orders of the Saint Demon Lord to inspect the Sumeru Tree; regardless of whether today's talks were successful or not, they had to see the Sumeru Tree at least once.

"No."

And it was impossible for Ruan Xing to agree.

What a joke; the initiative was currently in her own hands, so why should she make any concessions?

Besides, the Boundary Tree was already dead, with not even a handful of ash left, and the little seed was only the size of a nose, so it couldn't be passed off as one either.

The Demon Cultivators also knew that the Fengling Yueying Sect was not the Six Suns Study; they had no cooperation with them, so it was impossible for them to easily agree to let them see the Sumeru Tree.

It was just that what they didn't know was which power had released this Fengling Yueying Sect to pick the peaches, and how much this Sect Master knew about the Sumeru Tree.

Silence reigned for a long while.

The male cultivator said again, "Does the Sect Master know the origin of the Sumeru Tree?"

Ruan Xing gave a cold laugh, turned around with her hands behind her back, and a gust of strong wind swept across the plaza, instantly sweeping the male cultivator into mid-air; caught off guard, he could only adjust his posture in mid-air, attempting to use his magic power to stabilize his form, but he was interrupted by the Breaking Source Technique and could only fall heavily, a trace of fresh blood spilling from his tightly pressed lips.

"So it turns out that the Northern Territory is no longer a place where the strong are respected," Ruan Xing said with her back turned. "It is I who am asking you, not you asking me, understand?"

This show of force made both Demon Cultivators somewhat astonished, but also more cautious.

Both of them were only at the Golden Core Stage, so how could they speak with such an attitude in front of a Nascent Soul Stage expert?

The female cultivator lowered her head slightly, a flash of imperceptible resentment crossing her eyes, yet she said respectfully, "Sect Master, please do not take offense; we are used to being lax in the Northern Territory, it is our lack of manners."

Seeing that Ruan Xing had no expression, she continued, "We are here under the orders of the Saint Demon Lord to inspect the progress of the Sumeru Tree at the Six Suns Study. After entering Nanzhou, we only then learned the news of the change in ownership. Since returning now would mean this trip was in vain, and we would have to wait another thirty-plus years to enter Nanzhou, we could only act on our own initiative to meet with you, Sect Master."

She was very certain that if the Fengling Yueying Sect had not exposed the Xumi Realm, they would definitely meet them, which is why she had boldly revealed her identity as a Demon Cultivator before the mountain gate.

"Indeed bold," Ruan Xing smiled. "Who is your current Saint Demon Lord?"

A look of pride appeared on the female cultivator's face. "It is the Red Radiance Demon Lord, Xie Yao."

Red Radiance Demon Lord? Xie Yao? Who was that? Ruan Xing felt a trace of bewilderment.

But she did not show it, instead naturally changing the subject. "Besides seeing the Sumeru Tree, what else was your original mission?"

"This..." The female cultivator was somewhat hesitant, but still said it. "If the Sumeru Tree still only grows roots and does not sprout new buds, we are to have the Six Suns Study hand over the Sumeru Tree so that we in the Northern Territory can find a way."

"Oh?" Ruan Xing raised an eyebrow. "And if they refuse to hand it over?"

The female cultivator said sternly, "Our Saint Demon Lord is a great expert at the Return to Ruins Stage. The tiny Six Suns Study does not even have the strength to withstand a single blow. Even in the current world of Cultivation, how many Return to Ruins Stage immortals can one find? If the Six Suns Study refuses to return the Sumeru Tree, then within ten years, the Saint Demon Lord will surely flatten Nanzhou!"

"What a big mouth; I won't return it, you go tell her to come and flatten Nanzhou!" Ruan Xing laughed, then prepared to drive the two of them out of the Fengling Yueying Sect.

Seeing Ruan Xing so confident, the female cultivator's eyes were somewhat uncertain.

That shouldn't be right? She had inquired with definite news that there were no living Return to Ruins Stage experts in the current world of Cultivation.

The closest one in time was still Guangyou Xianjun of the Xuanbing Sect, but news of his ascension had spread decades ago, and there had been no word of him since.

Ascension? Who would believe that; it must have been a Return to Void.

But the young Sect Master before her was so stubborn that she became somewhat unconfident. Could it be that there really were hidden Return to Ruins Stage experts in the world of Cultivation?

If there were, they must come from the Hidden Sect; only regarding the Hidden Sect did they have no source of information.

Or perhaps, this Sect Master of the Fengling Yueying Sect was a person from the Hidden Sect! In that case, she might not only avoid punishment this time but also potentially perform a meritorious service, because she had found a way to contact the Hidden Sect! The female cultivator suppressed her wild joy and spoke eagerly: "It was my slip of the tongue, Sect Master; what I just said was about the Six Suns Study, definitely not aimed at you! Even if the owner has changed, our transaction can still continue. The Six Suns Study hasn't been able to make the Sumeru Tree sprout new buds for thousands of years, which shows they have no ability. If the Sect Master has a way, our Saint Demon Lord will naturally give her full support!"

"How will you support it?"

The female cultivator organized her thoughts and said slowly, "The Six Suns Study has many times requested Spirit Stones from the Northern Territory, claiming they were for the Sumeru Tree. In order for the Sumeru Tree to sprout, the Saint Demon Lord has already invested too much and will never allow the possibility of failure. Whatever you need, you can tell me one by one, and I will report it to the Saint Demon Lord when I return."

"Tsk, too much trouble." Ruan Xing shook her head.

Although this female cultivator only had a cultivation at the Golden Core Stage, among the two, she appeared to be the one in charge.

Since she was only a small Golden Core, her age should not be particularly great, yet she knew so many secret things, and could recount things from thousands of years ago one by one.

Was it because this matter was not a secret in the Northern Territory? Or was she actually a relative or kin of the Saint Demon Lord?

However, the culture of clans in the Northern Territory shouldn't be particularly prevalent, right? Looking at Xie Feng's attitude and Xie Huai's experience, they didn't seem to value their relatives, descendants, or offspring very much.

It's fine if they live, and it doesn't matter if they die.

A very beautiful state of mind.

By the way, she could ask who the Demon Lord Xie Yao was! Ruan Xing fell into deep thought after saying only one sentence; the female cultivator waited somewhat anxiously for the result of Ruan Xing's thinking, while the male cultivator had already wiped the blood from his mouth and silently climbed up to stand beside the female cultivator.

After thinking for a few seconds, Ruan Xing said, "You wait a moment, I'll let you see someone."

Having said that, she summoned the Demon Lord over via their mental link.

The Demon Lord was just idling about playing with a snake, and upon hearing this, he came over immediately. The demon snake beneath him carried him in a half-dead state, its pair of vertical pupils devoid of any light.

Full of the hardships of life.

God damn it, this is too much bullying of a snake! The Demon Lord had just arrived at the plaza when his eyes lit up, somewhat pleasantly surprised, "Is it time to eat?"

Thanks to book friend 140824173901400 for the monthly ticket~