Returning from the abyss

Chapter 1417 The Demon Star's Master
Can we resolve the evil spirits of the past?
Lu Ning is now facing this problem. After learning about these ancient events, she has realized that tourists' exploration of the scenes has not met expectations.

She could probably only discuss this with Zhao Yuqiao, because only a sufficiently large organization could conduct a comprehensive analysis of numerous scenes to uncover patterns in the distribution centers. Yuchi Long, having come from a background of traveling alone, didn't have that much information.

According to the Golden Dawn's account, in the case of segmented missions, in about 70% to 75% of cases, the final mission at the gathering point is not based on the players' progress level, but rather on their maximum progress level.

Some insiders believe that the phased tasks at the distribution center may have been pre-planned, but more people believe that the purpose of the distribution center is to put pressure on tourists to complete those tasks, so the tasks would definitely not be set so easy.

Regardless of the reason, Lu Ning felt that she probably wouldn't be able to complete the hunting mission this time. It was clear that the tourists needed to dig into history, and even find some remnants of true immortals, in order to deal with those evil creatures from the past.

But now all the tourists have come to defend the city, and even Qiu Suying, who she had met and seemed most like a researcher, had no interest in studying history. So at least there are no tourists to look forward to in Gouchen.

When Lu Ning told Zhao Yuqiao about this, Zhao Yuqiao's expression said it all.

“I knew that any ancient-style scenario would be difficult to handle.” After listening to Lu Ning’s words, Zhao Yuqiao took out a strange-looking blade of grass from his pocket, put it in his mouth, and chewed on it carefully for a few moments before saying, “You’re right. Ye Longting also has a similar analysis report. But if it’s not a hunt, then it’s fine. The distribution center didn’t force us to complete the mission before we could leave, probably because our laziness just couldn’t satisfy the distribution center.”

“I’m only on my second attempt at the fifth level,” Lu Ning said with a straight face. “I thought you guys would be more experienced.”

“The tourists all have different styles. Lu Ning, I have to admit that I’m the kind of lazy person who just wants to do my medical work well and that others can do everything else for me,” Zhao Yuqiao said. “And as far as I know, of the remaining tourists in this scene, there is probably only one who is likely to explore these things.”

“…Ning Ke?”

Zhao Yuqiao looked like he'd seen a ghost: "Why do you think the prospective temple master of the Trial Temple would do such a thing?"

"Ah... I don't know much about it." Lu Ning wasn't at the point where she could memorize the structure of all the major organizations, and she only knew that the Temple of Headscaping belonged to the Astral Temple.

“It’s… Jiang Yao, that troublesome person.” Zhao Yuqiao pulled out a straw and sighed. “You know the Cave Heaven Scripture, right?”

"The Six Paths of the Primordial Heavenly Dao governs the scriptures, ranking third." Lu Ning wouldn't forget this, after all, it's a large organization on par with the Golden Dawn and the Blazing Blood of Danyang.

“Jiang Yao is a direct disciple of the Dongtian Mingjing sect. Although the number of direct disciples of the Hongmeng Tiandao sect has increased, Jiang Yao is still considered one of the more outstanding ones. In particular, the Dongtian Mingjing sect focuses on upholding truth. If she really intends to understand what's behind this scene, she really will. Don't forget, she is an imperial guard,” Zhao Yuqiao said.

“Jiang Yao isn’t in Gouchen, so we can’t count on her.” Lu Ning shook her head. “Besides, she’s doing research alone… She’s not the kind of tourist who can single-handedly turn things around, right?”

“…There are no tourists like that in this scene.” Zhao Yuqiao smiled wryly.

Perhaps the one most deserving of the title to overturn everything single-handedly is Li Duanyu. However, Zhao Yuqiao also understands this senior. Li Duanyu doesn't act in that way. He has no doubt that Li Duanyu could kill the evil creature of the past with his full strength, but he estimates that this senior can only do so much at most. In the fifth-tier scenario, he never interferes in things like the fate of a nation or its people.

=
Unfortunately, Jiang Yao, on whom Zhao Yuqiao had placed high hopes, was not in good condition.

The first phase of "falling into darkness" is almost complete, and the entire Guanyuan City is in a state of complete mental stability. This undoubtedly improves the efficiency of the execution of various orders, which is a good thing for the city defense battle.

But... once it enters the second stage, it will be difficult for Jiang Yao to continue to control it.

In the distribution center, anything that can be used permanently comes with considerable negative risks, except for some extremely special items, which are rewards that are given only after completing elimination scenarios.

Jiang Yao's current maximum ability to limit cursed items is only at the first stage. During her fifth-tier experience, she entered the second stage twice, after which she began an uncontrollable "decline." The transition from "Pillar of Reverence" to "Hall of God-Making" was extremely brief; the requirement of ten suicides was too low, making it impossible for her to control the number of people. Once she enters the third stage, her ability to interrupt the curse by leaving the area will fail. At this point, she cannot even stop it through slaughter, as that would be seen as the beginning of a holy war.

However, now that they have been fighting against "all things" for so many days, and the laws of humanity have been implemented throughout Guanyuan City, it is a good time to interrupt the curse. Jiang Yao has already submitted an official document to Grand Tutor Qin, explaining the advantages and disadvantages, and proposing to leave the Guanyuan area as soon as possible for a period of time in order to break the curse.

"Ning Ke and Li Duanyu have left the city again. They're really working hard." Jiang Yao held the official document approved by Grand Tutor Qin in her hand, having already decided to leave Guanyuan first thing tomorrow morning. She knew that the city was currently under siege, but she needed to get rid of the curse and couldn't have the cursed Guanyuan residents with her, otherwise it would only make the curse's reach wider and wider.

Based on experience, the curse should completely dissipate in about three days.

She had no interest in knowing what the Holy War Zone was like.

"It seems there won't be a chance to say goodbye."

Jiang Yao didn't take much with her. After all, she had brought mostly documents to help Grand Tutor Qin understand the state of the court. Now that she had handed them over, all that remained were some personal belongings. After packing, she unusually went to bed early to recharge. The next morning, she took Grand Tutor Qin's official documents and left.

She finally had some free time.

“In the past, evil creatures had not yet appeared... but judging from the mission, it is probably not far off. No, they may have already appeared on other battlefields. It is too difficult to investigate this scene. Even the secret scrolls in the palace only record the demons since the founding of the Great Wei Dynasty, and there is very little content related to true immortals.”

Jiang Yao tried to assemble several exploration teams to conduct research on some of the ruins she had found, but the results were not satisfactory. The existence of True Immortals was certain, and they were not some kind of real gods. Judging from the few records available, these so-called True Immortals were mostly people with interstellar-level technology—or, in a broader sense, cosmic civilizations.

There are too many reasons why they would come here, redefine the rules, and then suddenly leave. Based on Jiang Yao's experience, this is not one of the mysteries that this scene must solve.

Encouragement, but not necessity, is the requirement of the gathering place for exploring many of the world's deepest backgrounds. Jiang Yao understands that it is impossible to form a large-scale scientific expedition team in the absence of industrialization and systematic magical scholarship, let alone in the late period of a dynasty.

"Natural disasters, man-made calamities, racial conflicts, external threats, and even the collapse of the rules... the sheer number of problems is staggering, while the means to address them have been reduced to almost nothing..."

Jiang Yao gently pulled the reins, stopping her mount from moving forward.

"Empty spot."

This should be the edge of the "All Things" sphere of influence, but Jiang Yao didn't feel that she had touched the edge. "What's going on? Such a massive ritual shouldn't leave strange empty spots. Oh... According to the battle report, the underlying structure of the sacrificial offerings you set up in the three cities all came from the divination ritual 'All Things' of the Imperial Observatory, so the naming style is also consistent."

Jiang Yao took out a short sword made entirely of white jade from her sleeve, stuffed a book she used to record her observations into the saddlebag on the back of her horse, and gently patted it: "Go back and meet Guan Yuan. The people there will recognize you."

The horse neighed, and Jiang Yao snapped her fingers lightly. The horse took two steps back in fear and then ran away.

"But without a doubt, this is the border. Whether you don't come out or plan to attack the moment I step out, it won't change my judgment."

No enemies came out, but that's normal. If it's not the right time to attack, they won't come out even if they're exposed. Demons are just that kind of rigid creature.

Jiang Yao took out two black and white chess pieces from her bosom, released them, and let them fall straight to the ground.

"Nineteen lines crisscross the universe, the center of heaven is mine."

In an instant, the earth trembled slightly, and neat secant lines extended from Jiang Yao's feet, forming squares between the secant lines. Within the area encompassed by the nineteen lines of latitude and longitude, nothing was outside Jiang Yao's observation range.

“Forty-four, but no Demon King? The Demon King should be on his way.” Jiang Yao lightly tapped her palm with her jade sword, not particularly concerned. “After letting the Law of Humanity go last time, the demon race should have been monitoring everyone who left the city, so it’s abnormal that there was no ambush. Since you’re not going to make a move, I’ll make the first move.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a loud boom was heard, and a new hilltop suddenly appeared on a low hill not far away, with blood slowly seeping out from beneath it.

Killing this demon is pointless; Jiang Yao knows its soul will return to the Laws of Demons. But this preemptive strike might at least bring out the Demon King behind it.

In an instant, the mountain that had crushed the demons cracked open, and as the earth and rocks collapsed, a portion of it was extracted and quickly reassembled to form a human shape.

"You're a chess player, but since you've chosen the center position, you should know that it's the worst place."

Xu Fu stroked his beard, and the surrounding mountains began to sink at his command, and the ravines began to flatten. Except for the crisscrossing marks carved by Jiang Yao, the rest of the area soon turned into a plain, and all the places where the demons hid were revealed.

"I am Xu Fu, the master of the demon star Huang Kui. I wonder if there is anything on you that is troubling us? We hope you will hand it over. If you comply, we will spare your life."

"No one will believe you if you say that during a battle between two armies," Jiang Yao laughed. "Xu Fu? With a name like that, has your dream of immortality come true?"

"Demons have long lifespans, so there's no need to worry about them. And does the young lady truly possess nothing we seek?"

“I’ll just say it straight, no,” Jiang Yao said.

Xu Fu shook his head: "If not, why would you leave Guanyuan in such a hurry? You remain calm here, which shows that you have something to rely on. If you were bait, that wouldn't make sense either. Being alone, you wouldn't be able to act as bait."

"No need to play dumb, Master of the Demon Star. Just say it, what do you want?"

"When the myriad things were activated, although they encountered some resistance, they were still successfully activated. However, Guan Yuan was not affected in any way. Even after the secret treasure that was sent out of the city was studied, the myriad things could not affect the city in the slightest. I thought I had some knowledge of the use of sacrificial rituals. The only thing in the world that can stop sacrificial offerings is sacrificial offerings. However, the four special formations within Guan Yuan do not have this effect. This puzzle has remained unsolved for a long time until today when I saw the girl who left the city."

Xu Fu stroked his beard again and squinted his eyes.

"What is this thing that can stop the sacrifice of 'all things'? You probably still have it with you, young lady."

There is no room for discussion.

Jiang Yao suddenly raised her hand, and a mountain-like chess piece appeared out of thin air. But this time, the demons didn't stay in place; they all dodged the chess piece's attack. The mountain that appeared above Xu Fu's head split open without causing any damage.

"Since we can't use anything on you, we can only use it on ourselves." Xu Fu turned his palm, and several pits appeared on the intersecting lines. Each pit was filled with molten lava, as if it could erupt at any moment.

"The ability to influence psychology..." Jiang Yao was not flustered. Although she knew she was at a disadvantage, she did not slow down her moves at all. Hills and lava pits appeared alternately on the field, just like black and white pieces being placed. Xu Fu's corner was indeed an advantageous position, but this was not a real game of Go. At the center position, Jiang Yao could see the whole game, while everyone else could only see their own territory.

In the blink of an eye, a demon, trying to avoid a suddenly appearing hill, fell into a nearby lava pit and turned to ash without even a scream. Jiang Yao's deliberate creations filled the board with numerous ko threats. Meanwhile, Xu Fu, after failing to capture a piece, realized that the chessboard was not what he initially thought.

"Xu Fu, have you found traces of the immortals? Do you know where the true immortals are? Do you know where they came from?" Jiang Yao asked.

"We haven't found it, nor do we know where it came from or where it's going," Xu Fu said with a smile. "Are you interested in this, young lady?"

"I am indeed interested. If it weren't for the chaotic times, I would have tried to find out what happened back then. What a pity."

"It is indeed a pity. If that is the case, I would be willing to travel with you, young friend, on the path to immortality."

As mountains collapsed and the ground caved in, and the two took turns occupying their respective battlefields, the number of remaining demons dwindled. Jiang Yao did some calculations and chuckled to herself.

“It is all things.”

"You can offset it."

"That won't do. If we continue, the consequences could be worse than my death. Falling into the abyss is no joke."