Chapter 218: Meeting an Old Acquaintance

They really have come up in the world; Demon Cultivators who practice the Ghost Dao and the Devouring Dao are clearly the two types least welcomed, yet precisely because of their immense power, the last two generations of Saint Demon Lords have both come from these paths.

Xie Feng's mind was filled with a thousand thoughts, yet his face remained impassive.

He followed Ruan Xing to Wuxu City with a cheerful demeanor.

Inside Wuxu City, it was cold, quiet, and desolate—even more so than the scene witnessed in the previous simulation.

Ruan Xing's heart suddenly stirred, and she asked curiously, "Xie Feng, would you devour these Demon Cultivators who have already suffered Qi deviation, lost their wits, and gone half-mad?"

A question mark slowly appeared on Xie Feng's face.

"When you first met me, I hadn't even left the stone table and stools in my Cave Abode behind; do you think I'm a picky eater?" Xie Feng said with a strange tone, feeling that Ruan Xing bringing this up was meant to make him recall the bitterness of the past to cherish his current life.

"However, before I went to Xian Tai, I actually didn't think much of this sort of trash," Xie Feng said with some regret. "It's not just the effort; it takes time to remove the impurities to avoid affecting my Divine Soul. Unless I had no other choice, I wouldn't eat them. Of course, now... I feel it doesn't matter anymore, so, can we start the meal?"

He looked eager to give it a try.

But he was politely refused by Ruan Xing raising her hand.

She hadn't brought him here so he could have a better environment to devour others and strengthen himself.

After she clicked on the Real-scene Simulation, she changed her appearance and masked her cultivation to the Transformation Initial Stage. To prevent Xie Huai from recognizing her again through minor details, she learned from her past mistakes and wore a long red dress she would never normally wear, then walked toward the direction of the Underground Palace in her memory.

This time, she was actually able to sense it.

The Underground Palace passageway was not empty; there were many auras, all dissolved into the shadows of the crevices.

Although their cultivation did not appear high, only around the Golden Core stage, their Magic Art was quite good—it was actually able to deceive the Ruan Xing of the Nascent Soul Stage from before.

On the walls of the passageway, glowing green vines snaked across the entire surface, looking eerie and chilling.

When she approached, a Demon Cultivator stepped out from the shadows and looked at her in silence.

Ruan Xing took the initiative to speak: "We are disciples under the Fengling Yueying Sect of Nanzhou, here by the order of our Sect Master to pay respects to the Saint Demon Lord."

The Demon Cultivator's gaze flicked toward the vines behind him, then he retreated back into the shadows, clearing the path.

As expected, she had suspected last time that these vines were not just for illumination or decoration, but were also Xie Yao's eyes and ears.

She just didn't know what kind of Magic Art this was.

The three of them walked into the passageway.

Shen Lingyun kept her head down, looking somewhat uncomfortable, while Xie Feng put away his frivolous manner and stood behind her like a silent, loyal guard.

Ruan Xing took in this situation, thinking that next time she could just put Shen Lingyun into a Storage Bag before coming; in any case, this trip to the Northern Territory didn't require her to exert any effort, and having Xie Feng was enough.

But why had Xie Feng changed so much? She had only asked him about Xie Yao once in the simulation and never brought it up again after returning to reality; surely he couldn't be afraid of seeing an old acquaintance?

When they were halfway there, a female Demon Cultivator named Shui Linglong reached out her hand in front of the passageway, blocking their path forward, and said haughtily, "The Saint Demon Lord has decreed: only one person is permitted to pay respects."

Ruan Xing was speechless.

She hadn't heard of this rule when she came before?

Every other time, there had been a crowd of people in the room.

This time, only one person was allowed to enter; it was clearly an attempt to make things difficult for her and give her a show of force.

But it didn't matter; after all, this was someone else's territory.

Ruan Xing smiled good-naturedly and turned back to say, "The two of you wait here for me."

Following behind Shui Linglong, the two passed through the green curtain and entered Xie Yao's room; Shui Linglong bowed and then withdrew.

Ruan Xing sensed the room and found that only Xie Yao and she were left.

Through the translucent thin gauze, Ruan Xing saw Xie Yao's hazy figure, lazily half-lying on it.

She couldn't help but complain in her heart, mixed with a bit of envy: why was she always lying down every time they met? She also wanted to lie down and enjoy life every day.

Unfortunately, she could never stay idle.

Sighing, Ruan Xing lowered her head and said, "Xing Ruanruan, a disciple under the Fengling Yueying Sect, pays respects to the Saint Demon Lord."

Xie Yao asked, "What does the Fengling Yueying Sect want by sending you here?"

"Last time, our Sect Master had your people convey a message to you regarding the need for those two places at the Xian Tai Ruins above the Central Province."

A trace of impatience stained Xie Yao's brow. "Urging me? What's the rush? After all, it is the Central Province Xuanbing Sect, one of the three great sects; does this seat not need time to prepare?"

Ruan Xing coughed lightly. "Of course we aren't urging you, it's just that our Sect Master has had new research breakthroughs, and we need one more thing."

"New progress... she is indeed much more useful than that piece of trash from before; she has already made quite a bit of headway after taking over for only a few years." Xie Yao's expression softened slightly. "Speak, what else is needed?"

Ruan Xing said sincerely, "Hongmeng Purple Qi, which is to say, destiny. The difference is that the reason for the previous failures was the use of artificially cultivated destiny; after all, it was tainted by human distracting thoughts and interfered with by cultivators, so the destiny was not pure enough. Hongmeng Purple Qi, however, is the destiny that naturally grows in Small Worlds that are about to take shape; it is far more essential than the former, and naturally, its efficacy is much better."

"This time, it shouldn't fail again, right?" Xie Yao propped up her head, the exhaustion in her beautiful eyes undisguised.

She had waited for so long, failed so many times, and even her opponents and partners had all been outlived by her.

There was no more time to wait for another chance; she could only pin her hopes on Ruan Xing.

But could she really succeed?

Xie Yao herself was not certain.

Never mind, regardless of whether she could succeed or not, this Xianmo War had to be fought.

"The Sect Master says there is a ninety percent chance of success," Ruan Xing said with a confident face.

Whether it would work or not, she didn't know—she would just trick her into it first.

She was much more composed than Xie Yao; if she failed this time, she still had over five thousand years of lifespan to find another opportunity, but Xie Yao couldn't—she didn't have many years left.

"Good." Xie Yao changed her posture, lowered her eyes, and pondered, "You said Hongmeng Purple Qi needs to be found in Small Worlds that are about to take shape; where are such Small Worlds?"

"That is exactly what requires the Saint Demon Lord to do," Ruan Xing said with a look of shame, then told Xie Yao the theory about Small Worlds that the little seed had mentioned.

Xie Yao thought for a while and then said, "Very well, I will send people to look for this; just wait for my news. Is there anything else?"

Ruan Xing had come this time specifically for this matter.

To disperse Xie Yao's strength. In the simulation, she knew that the overall strength of the Demon Cultivators was higher than that of the Immortal Cultivators, having almost occupied half of the Xianyuan Continent and forcing the Immortal Cultivators' Conquer North Alliance into a corner. If it weren't for the fact that Xizhou had not been invaded on a large scale by Demon Cultivators due to some mysterious reason, the fall of Xizhou would have been a matter of a day or two.

If she could use the search for Small Worlds to have Xie Yao send people to explore these Small Worlds and take away the Hongmeng Purple Qi, wouldn't that be killing many birds with one stone?

She needed to make Xie Yao attack the Central Province and obtain the two islands of the Xian Tai Ruins.

However, she cannot be allowed to occupy a large area of the Immortal Sect's territory, leaving the Immortal Cultivators to survive in the cracks.

Otherwise, the Xianyuan Continent will be plunged into misery.

Although most Immortal Cultivators are not truly single-minded about Cultivation without distractions, at least they are willing to superficially elevate themselves and pretend to be sanctimonious.

"There is no more," Ruan Xing said.

"Since the official business is finished, we should discuss private matters," Xie Yao curled her lips slightly, "I sent two people, but only one returned. How should this account be settled?"

Ruan Xing had long been prepared for this; as a Saint Demon Lord who had ruled the Northern Territory for thousands of years and whose word was law, Xie Yao would naturally feel displeased that Ruan Xing had killed one of her lackeys and slighted her, but since her final hope, the Xian Tai Tree, was still in Ruan Xing's hands, she had not shown it before.

And this time, since Ruan Xing had delivered herself to her, she would naturally want to settle this account properly.

Ruan Xing looked up and smiled: "Therefore, the Sect Master has prepared a gift for the Saint Demon Lord as an apology. If you are feeling unhappy, you may simply kill those two attendants of mine."

Stretching out her palm and grabbing slightly forward, the figure of Xie Feng appeared before her.

She had brought Xie Feng over using a Divine Ability.

Even through the thin gauze, one could sense Xie Yao's shock; she sat up abruptly.

It was not only because Ruan Xing had used a Magic Art she did not understand in front of her, but also because the person she had grabbed had a face that was both familiar and strange to her.

After Xie Feng entered the Underground Palace, he had kept his head down and stayed silently behind Shen Lingyun, appearing to be in a protective posture to solidify his identity as an attendant and guard, but in reality, he was using Shen Lingyun's figure to conceal himself and lower his presence.

He did not expect to be suddenly pulled out into the open by Ruan Xing.

He did not even struggle; his body simply stiffened instantly.

Ruan Xing held Xie Feng's shoulder with one hand, looking apologetic, and said: "Saint Demon Lord, please look. Are you satisfied with this apology gift?"

Xie Feng kept his head down and said nothing.

He had never imagined that when he met an old acquaintance again, he would be in such a disheveled state.

Even thousands of years ago, his friendship with Xie Yao had not been that deep.

A sense of embarrassment still rose in his heart.

Xie Yao watched them quietly, and after calming her heartbeat and breathing, she replied: "Very good. Leave the gift and you may go."

"No, no, no," Ruan Xing shook her head repeatedly, "Saint Demon Lord, you have misunderstood. The gift the Sect Master gives you is his life, not his person. If you are willing to accept it, his corpse will not dirty your place afterward; I will take it back to Nanzhou. Tell me, will you do it yourself, or shall I do it for you?"

At this moment, Xie Yao saw the humble smile on Ruan Xing's sweet and quiet face, and it was so glaring.

And Ruan Xing finally confirmed that the two of them indeed knew each other and might have even had an unusual relationship.

Now it just depended on whether Xie Yao was willing to kill Xie Feng.

Although Xie Feng felt it was extremely awkward to be seen in such a disheveled state by an old acquaintance, how could one know if Xie Yao didn't feel the same?

Five or six thousand years ago, Xie Feng was a Demon Lord at the Transformation Stage, while Xie Yao was just an ant who had just broken through to the Golden Core; they were fellow disciples, but Xie Yao did not enjoy the protection and benefits brought by their master, as the master had been killed by Xie Feng, leaving her to wander and struggle for survival among the Demon Cultivators.

Looking at Xie Feng's current personality, one could probably guess what he was like in the past, and he would not have had any pity for his junior sister.

The humble and lowly appearance of Xie Yao at that time also existed in Xie Feng's memories.

Would Xie Yao mind?

However, to Ruan Xing, it did not matter whether she killed him or not, because due to the Illusion Technique, as long as Xie Feng did not actively reveal his Yin energy, Xie Yao would not be able to tell he was not a living person, and since her mind was in chaos now, she probably could not figure out how Xie Feng had lived until now without reaching the Return to Ruins Stage.

If she killed him, it would be a perfect way to punish Xie Feng; in any case, the essence of the Puppet remained, and she could just give him a new body later, and he would suffer every bit of the pain, and as for the consumption of his Yin energy and Divine Soul power after changing bodies, which would lower his Puppet realm strength, that was exactly what Ruan Xing wanted.

If she did not kill him, it would be even more interesting; Ruan Xing could think of more ways to manipulate this Saint Demon Lord.

Xie Yao was silent for a while, turned her head slightly to avoid looking at the two, and lay back down, "Ruan Xing, Sect Master Ruan... I have noted it. Thank her for her sincerity on my behalf. However, there are many things to attend to right now, and it is a time when people are needed. You just said that the Fengling Yueying Sect has few people, so I will not add trouble to Sect Master Ruan. Let this matter be."

"Many thanks for the Saint Demon Lord's generosity," Ruan Xing said with a joyful face, bowing her head in thanks.

Yet she saw that behind the gauze, on the couch where Xie Yao lay, in addition to the gray-white of the Monster Beast fur and the light green of the couch itself, there was an extra winding streak of red.

She quietly noted it in her heart and took her leave without revealing anything.

Xie Yao seemed very tired; she did not even turn her head or open her eyes to look at them, merely waving her hand through the air.

Ruan Xing dragged Xie Feng by his collar, passing through the light green curtains; the curtains, which had been quiet when they entered, suddenly changed into strings of beads, slowly beginning to squirm, and the lower ends of the curtains curled up slightly, revealing snake heads with flickering tongues, staring at them with cold, yellow vertical pupils.

Shui Linglong, who was waiting outside the door, signaled for her to follow, and she sighed in disbelief, "To provoke the Saint Demon Lord's mood to fluctuate so much and still be able to walk out alive, you people of the Fengling Yueying Sect really have some skills."

"If we didn't have skills, how would we dare to come and pay respects to the Saint Demon Lord?" Ruan Xing smiled.

It seems that most of the Demon Cultivators in the Underground Palace knew that the changes in the green vines were related to the Saint Demon Lord.

She turned her head to look at the corner of another passage, where a piece of white clothing was revealed and then hurriedly hidden.

Only Xie Huai did not know.

Shui Linglong did not notice and was still describing the greatness of the Saint Demon Lord in a proud tone.

It was just that Xie Huai's aura among the many Demon Cultivators in the shadows was like a lamp lit in the dark night.

It was too conspicuous.

Ruan Xing found his hiding place all at once.

However...

She looked at herself and saw no signs representing the two characters 'Ruan Xing'.

Why would Xie Huai appear before her again? And so sneakily.

The only thing that surprised Ruan Xing a little was that it had been less than a year since Mo Cijun came to the Northern Territory, and Xie Huai had already reached the Nascent Soul stage.

By the way, where is Mo Cijun? Ruan Xing suddenly thought of him; is he still alive? Thanks to Man Rao Jin Tan for the tip~ Thanks to Yi Nian Wu Chang for the monthly ticket~