Fairy, return my flying sword to me

Chapter 213 Join if you can’t beat him
Lin Jian left the mountain gate carrying spring snow...

Heading straight for Niushou Mountain.

"Elder!"

Upon arriving outside the barrier, which he had visited twice before, Lin Jian called for the door as before.

"Young friend, you've come again." A distant and kind voice came from within the barrier, and a faint light flashed before one's eyes in the forest.

The reclusive elder of the Zhengyang Sect, Zeng Taishang, lifted the restrictions on outsiders, allowing them to enter the forest.

The Supreme Elder, whom I had met once before, sat in his small courtyard filled with flowers and plants, smiling as he watched the woodsman enter.

"Judging by the time, the one-month period has come to an end. It seems that you have successfully emerged alive from a place like the Heavenly Abyss Demon Rift."

Lin Jian respectfully clasped his hands in greeting, "Thanks to the guidance given by the elder, I came to visit the elder as soon as I returned to the sect."

“I’ve already told you not to call me elder anymore… Now that I’ve left the Zheng Yang Sect, you disciples no longer need to treat me as an elder. Besides, I don’t see all disciples. You’re a good kid, that’s why I’m willing to have a word with you.”

"So this time I came on the behalf of an elder to bring you something."

"Oh?" The elder raised his eyes and asked with a smile, "Which kid from the sect is it? Why didn't you come yourself but sent your kid to bring things over?"

"The elders will know once they see it," Lin Jian said, presenting a palm-sized jade stone.

That is, the jade slip that was inscribed by the Jade Lake Immortal using his spiritual sense.

The moment the Supreme Elder saw the jade slip, his eyes narrowed and his expression froze.

Lin Jian remained expressionless, gently pushing the jade slip towards the other party with his inner energy.

"Please take a look, Elder."

The Supreme Elder caught the jade slip that was slowly flying towards him and glanced at Lin Jian with a complicated expression.

Before he even got his hands on the jade slip, his spiritual sense had already scanned it completely.

As for the contents recorded in the jade slip, including the restrictions attached to it, they were naturally nothing to him.

The Supreme Elder, who was holding the jade slip in his hand, remained silent for a long time, seemingly digesting the message that True Person Yuhu had conveyed to him through the jade slip.

After a long while, the Supreme Elder's eyes finally came to their senses. He looked up at the forest, and the smile on his face had disappeared without him noticing. "Have you read the surface content of this jade slip?"

Lin Jian bowed respectfully and said, "Reporting to Elder, I have seen it. It was through the guidance of Jade Lake Immortal that I knew I needed to come and find you."

The Supreme Elder tightened his grip slightly, causing the armrest of his seat to creak groan. "Now that you know my identity, you still dare to come alone?"

Chunxue tilted her head: "?"

Am I not human? Am I even human? Am I even human?!

"I believe that Master Yuhu would not harm me."

"Hmph~" The Supreme Elder sneered, his dark eyes fixed on the forest. "A demon from the Demon Worshiping Sect who orchestrated the destruction of the Zhou Tian Star Array in the Heavenly Abyss Demon Rift, you say you believe him?"

"The reason why the Heavenly Abyss Demon Rift that we are guarding did not fall as early as other places is because Master Yuhu realized the situation in time and stopped your Demon Worship Sect's subsequent actions. Without him, we might not have been able to hold out until the one-month rotation period. So... I believe in him."

Upon hearing this, the Supreme Elder slowly leaned back in his chair, looking up at the sky. "It's a joke that there are cultivators outside the Demon Worship Sect who actually believe in the Demon Worship Sect... Alright, now that the letter has been delivered, you can leave."

“Master Yuhu said you will explain to me.”

He said he'd be showing mercy by not killing you if you went to explain yourself. Go quickly before I change my mind.

Lin Jian glanced cautiously at Chunxue and suddenly felt a surge of courage.

In the past, it didn't matter whether I brought Chunxue or not when I went somewhere, but this time is different.

Since he specifically emphasized this to Chunxue before leaving, he was hoping that Chunxue-sama could save his life at a crucial moment.

After all, the place where the Heavenly Abyss Demon Rift is located is sparsely populated, and it would be impossible for a real mortal to reach it.

Since Chunxue was able to appear in that place silently, she might have already recovered a great deal of her strength.

Or rather... Lin Jian even suspected that Chunxue had never lost her cultivation at all until now.

Not to mention that what cultivators pursue is always a hexagonal war god. As a sword immortal with accomplished cultivation, Lin Jian does not believe that this sword immortal's physical qualities alone are that bad.

Even if you just stand there and let others cut you, they might not be able to cut you even if they break your flying sword.

Since Chunxue readily agreed to his earnest invitation, she must have understood his feelings and was willing to help him.

In this situation, bringing Chunxue is like having a trump card that can guarantee a minimum return.

So what if he's a Nascent Soul stage elder?

If you're a dragon, coil up for me; if you're a tiger, lie down for me!

Just listen to what my mom is saying, understand?
"I want to hear it!" Lin Jian said, hands on his hips, with a righteous air.

The Supreme Elder looked at him with surprise.

How can someone be so ordinary yet so confident?
Now that they know your forbidden identity, aren't you afraid of killing them yourself?

His face darkened further. "Wanting to hear secrets comes at a price!"

"Oh? What's the price?"

"No one has ever been able to leave alive after learning the secrets of our Humanitarian Alliance. If you really want to hear them, then you have no choice but to join our Humanitarian Alliance..."

Lin Jian interrupted impatiently, "I know the benefits, but what about the price?"

Supreme Elder: "?"

Lin Jian: “?”

Isn't this great? I have connections in both the legitimate and criminal worlds. When the time comes, I can steal information from the Demon Worship Sect and ruthlessly sabotage their operations. Wouldn't that be incredibly profitable?
The Supreme Elder stared intently. "Are you really willing to join our Humanity Alliance?"

"Tell me about it first..."

"Once you hear that, there's no turning back!"

Lin Jian looked incredulous. "With so many people in your Humanitarian Alliance, are you sure they all joined by coercion?"

"This..." The Supreme Elder choked on his words, "Of course not."

"That's settled then." Lin Jian clapped his hands and said, "You tell me first, if it's suitable for me, I'll join; if it's not, I'll leave. How about that? Neither of us loses out."

'Of course you're not losing out!'

The Supreme Elder rolled his eyes fiercely.

Of course, the Humanitarian Alliance couldn't recruit everyone through such coercion. Recruiting people in this way makes it difficult to guarantee their loyalty.

Even if they have some methods, it's hard to guarantee that these forced participants won't be willing to fight to the death rather than be used by them.

Therefore, when actually looking for candidates, it is often necessary for a specialist to conduct preliminary investigations of the target for several months or even several years or decades.

Only after continuous investigation and design will the true cards be laid.

A showdown signifies victory, not a charge.

But right now...

The Supreme Elder tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest beneath him, pondering to himself.

'He's just a Foundation Establishment stage kid. Even if he regrets it and doesn't want to join after finding out, I have plenty of ways to make him submit.'

'Furthermore, since Yuhu sent him to deliver the message, she must have done some assessment of him, and he might have some background knowledge.'

Thinking this to himself, the Supreme Elder slowly nodded, "Very well, since you really want to know, then I will tell you..."

"Our Humanitarian Alliance originated in the Upper Realm."

"Every thought and action is for the benefit of hundreds of millions of people of my human race!"

“I know your name is Lin Jian. You were the one who stirred up trouble in the previous four major competitions, the Tongda Chamber of Commerce, and Mingguang Temple, which caused our Humanitarian Alliance’s actions in the area to fail.”

Having witnessed our actions firsthand on several occasions, I know you must have some doubts—

"Why? Why does our Humanity Alliance keep saying it's for the future of humanity, yet we keep summoning demons to the mortal realm?"

"That's because... the Heavenly Demons are the future of our human race!"

"As an ordinary disciple of the Zhengyang Sect, you may not be aware of the legends of the ancient immortals..."

Lin Jian interjected at the opportune moment, "I know."

"..." The Supreme Elder glared at him and continued, "Listen to me even if you know! What great enemy do you think our cultivation world has that caused the immortals of ancient times, whose cultivation was so profound that they almost all disappeared in the same era, so that we can no longer see any true immortals now?"

Lin Jian tentatively asked, "Heavenly Demon?"

“He is a celestial demon…” the Supreme Elder sighed, “but he is also a celestial being.”

Lin Jian paused slightly, subconsciously turning his head to look at Chun Xue, muttering, "Heavenly Demon, is that the same as a Heavenly Immortal?"

The Supreme Elder shook his head and sighed softly, "As an outsider, you may not know that our Humanity Alliance is actually divided into two factions."

"One faction is the Immortal Slaughtering Faction, which only thinks about preventing all geniuses with the potential to become immortals from achieving the status of immortals; the other faction is the Demon Worshipping Faction in the eyes of ordinary people."

"Most of the things the Immortal Slaughtering Sect does are in the Upper Nine Realms. Although they also have arrangements in the Lower Nine Realms, they are mostly just for collecting intelligence and occasionally cooperating with operations. The Humanity Alliance actually started from the Immortal Slaughtering Sect."

“Every human who achieves the status of an immortal will become a so-called extraterrestrial demon due to some special law.”

"The past is past. Knowing the secret, they did their utmost to hunt down any human geniuses who might have the potential to become immortals, to prevent the influx of fresh blood into the Heavenly Demons."

Lin Jian frowned slightly. "If it's for the good of humanity, why not make this news public?"

"Hmph!" The Supreme Elder sneered, "Then let me ask you, what is your purpose in cultivating? What is the purpose of cultivation for everyone in the world?"

Lin Jian paused for a moment, then replied, "For immortality..."

"Yes! For immortality!" The Supreme Elder's eyes were cold. "But only those who become immortals can achieve true immortality! Let's not even talk about whether all the cultivators in the world will believe it after we release this information. Even if they do believe it, will they really give up the temptation of immortality? Young friend in the forest, do you think... we haven't released this information before?"

"But the price is... we will henceforth be called the Demonic Sect by mainstream cultivators, bearing the name 'Demon Worship Sect,' and becoming enemies of the world!"

Who is closest to an immortal?

Do you believe a cultivator who has cultivated to the point of being one step away from becoming an immortal if he says he has no intention of becoming one?

What are the chances of someone like that going to their death?

Unfortunately, these cultivators who were able to achieve such strength generally had extremely deep foundations. Over time, the mainstream forces that produced these top cultivators directly classified the Human Alliance, which wanted to take their lives, as an evil demonic sect that was in cahoots with the Heavenly Demon.

Lin Jian's mind raced as he frowned in thought, "If that's the case, why did the once-prosperous Immortal Slaughtering Sect give rise to the current Demon Worshiping Sect?"

"Young friend in the forest, have you ever heard the saying, 'A thief can only be caught for a hundred days, not guarded against for a hundred?' The world's talents are as numerous as carp crossing a river. Even if the Immortal Slaughtering Sect keeps a close watch, how many can they possibly suppress?"

"Not to mention that the Immortal Slaughtering Sect may not have great talents in every generation. If they allow ordinary cultivators to reach a level that is only one step away from becoming immortals, can the Immortal Slaughtering Sect really stop them from taking that final step?"

"Over time, the standards for banning have had to be gradually lowered. This has made everyone feel insecure, and the conflict between the two sides has escalated further."

"The threat of the Heavenly Demon to the human race has always been there. We humans need to guard against external enemies, and we also need to guard against the emergence of true immortals within our own ranks who will constantly kill geniuses and even all cultivators with extraordinary cultivation."

"Based on this, do you think the Immortal Slaughtering Sect will ultimately succeed?"

On the one hand, we need to cultivate high-end combat capabilities to fight against foreign enemies, and on the other hand, we need to kill high-end combat capabilities to prevent them from contributing to the enemy's strength.

The two are contradictory, beset by internal and external troubles, so how can there be any talk of success?
Lin Jian shook his head. "No."

"That's right! Since the original Immortal Slaughtering Sect could not lead our human race to the future, when we are in dire need, we must think of change. That's why our Demon Worshiping Sect came into being."

"Since all the immortals of the past have transformed into celestial demons, why can't we, the human race, also join the celestial demons' side?"

Lin Jian leaned back, his eyes filled with awe.

Join if you can't.

What profound wisdom!

The Supreme Elder clenched his fists tightly, his expression invigorated. "Our human race is so corrupt, it's hard to change. Since that's the case, why not find another way? The ancient immortals were able to transform into Heavenly Demons, so now we can also join the Heavenly Demons."

"Therefore, the true purpose of our Humanity Alliance is to transform the entire human race into Heavenly Demons to survive! In any case, only by living can we have a future!"

Lin Jian felt something was amiss, "But the Heavenly Demons don't possess intelligence?"

If one can preserve their sanity, then it doesn't seem so hard to accept that all humans live in the name of humanity, or that they all change their identities and live in the name of the Heavenly Demons.

But... so far, the so-called demons are not as quick-witted as humans.

Low-level monsters have absolutely no intelligence, while high-level monsters do possess some, but not much.

Not to mention recreating the appearance of an ancient immortal...

I don't know how the Humanity Alliance could connect the Heavenly Demons with the ancient immortals.

“Yes!” The Supreme Elder nodded. “This is exactly what we need to verify now. As long as we can ensure that each member of our human race can retain their own will after transforming into a Heavenly Demon, it’s just a matter of changing their identity and living a different life. And this is what we have been researching all along.”

As he spoke, he picked up the jade slip in his hand, his face solemn, "The reason why Jade Lake entrusted me with this matter is precisely because of this!"

(End of this chapter)