Fairy, return my flying sword to me

Chapter 214 What Humanity Demands

Chunxue suddenly spoke up from the side, "What makes you so sure that all these celestial demons are incarnations of ancient immortals?"

“Because of the ancient texts…” The Supreme Elder’s eyes were unfocused, as if he were reminiscing about the past. “Of course you two children don’t know those ancient secrets, but in fact, some of the ancient texts that record the deeds of those ancient immortals have been passed down.”

"Although those ancient texts are vague about many secrets of the era of the ancient immortals, after collecting many fragments, we have deduced a very likely possibility—"

"In the era of the ancient immortals, there were no extraterrestrial demons! These demons appeared in our world at the same time the ancient immortals disappeared!"

"One is born, the other is destroyed. It's hard not to doubt the relationship between the two."

Lin Jian frowned. "But is it too arbitrary to conclude that the extraterrestrial demons are transformed from ancient immortals based solely on this?"

This is the most important foundation that supports the transformation of humans into demons.

If the goal of transforming into a Heavenly Demon lacks the most basic factual basis and experience to draw upon, then everything the Demon Worship Sect is currently pursuing is nothing more than wishful thinking.

“Of course we have other evidence!” The Supreme Elder stared into the forest. “Since you have contacted our fellow Daoists of the Human Dao Alliance several times, and even made a trip to the Heavenly Abyss Demon Rift, you should have learned some information about the extraterrestrial demons in private.”

Lin Jian glanced at Chunxue casually, nodded, and replied, "Some."

All his information came from Chunxue, the sword immortal of the Upper Nine Realms, whose knowledge was probably more direct than that of most cultivators in the Lower Nine Realms.

"Do you know their four greatest demon lords?"

Lin Jian paused, recalling, "Are they the four great demons: the Lord of the Fiery Hell, the Mother Goddess of the Netherworld, the Formless Fiend, and the Burial Soil Nether Corpse?"

"That's right!" The Supreme Elder's expression was solemn. "It is indeed these four Demon Lords. They each control the four great laws of earth, water, wind, and fire, which are the ultimate of the Four Symbols Path and the absolute controllers of the Heavenly Abyss. Coincidentally... among the ancient immortals, there were also four Golden Immortals who also controlled the ultimate of these four laws. Although the other three Demon Lords have not yet shown themselves, the frequently active Flame Prison Demon Lord has another universally acknowledged title: 'The Rebel of the Fire God.' Among the four ancient Golden Immortals, one was revered as the 'Fire God'!"

Lin Jian pondered while carefully observing Chunxue's expression.

Seeing that she had no expression on her face, he could only speculate, "Perhaps this is how the methods of cultivation in the world are. When they reach their end, they are nothing more than repeating the cycle of earth, water, wind, and fire. It is quite possible that the two forces will eventually converge. In my humble opinion, such a coincidence cannot be used as factual evidence."

"Yes!" The Supreme Elder did not deny it. "That is why the Immortal Slaughtering Sect still exists; and that is also why our Demon Worshiping Sect has been lying low until now."

“Our fellow Daoists have been looking for various opportunities to verify how much of it is true.”

As he spoke, the Supreme Elder raised the jade slip in his hand, "Yu Hu is neither the first nor the last. It's just that his discovery has once again verified part of the truth!"

"The Jade Slip from Jade Lake says that he entered the Abyss with you. You each encountered a Heavenly Demon that took shape before your eyes. Is this true?"

Lin Jian nodded. "Yes."

“According to Yu Hu’s observation, those two Heavenly Demons are actually replicas of the two of you. From the moment they appeared, they established a special connection with the two of you. Yu Hu has sensed this, and I presume you are not unaware of it as well.”

Lin Jian squinted, thought for a moment, and nodded. "Indeed."

"This is how the laws of the Heavenly Abyss affect our human race, including the ancient immortals. If you two are devoured by them, they will replace your thoughts, change your identities, and become another form of existence for you within the Heavenly Abyss."

"But in that form of existence, are we still ourselves?"

"Therefore, this is not what our Humanity Alliance seeks." The Supreme Elder raised his head slightly. "Since we want to find a way out for all of humanity, this extremely risky transformation method is definitely not what we seek. Including Yu Hu, our fellow Daoists have always been seeking the most suitable transformation method for all of humanity."

Alternatively, humans could replace the Heavenly Demons and gain their approval, no longer being seen as their mortal enemies.

Alternatively, it could mean ensuring that humans have the opportunity to pass on their memories and wisdom, without losing themselves due to being devoured by the demons.

"Yuhu is still exploring. If there is an opportunity, he will send back more information about Tianyuan and Tianmo."

"But up to now, our fellow Daoists in the Humanity Alliance have at least verified one thing: the Heavenly Demons can be influenced by our human wisdom."

"Even if our plan ultimately fails, it might allow the Heavenly Demons to inherit enough wisdom from our human race, thus learning to live in peace with us."

"This is the best outcome of all our prayers, and it is also the core reason why the Immortal Slaughtering Sect tacitly approves of our faction's existence."

Otherwise, given the drastically different stances of the two factions, how could they possibly exist within the same power group?
One side is willing to slaughter their own kind of geniuses in order to ensure the survival of the human race, just to weaken the power of the Heavenly Demons. In essence, they are still enemies of the Heavenly Demons.

One side, however, was willing to bear the name of the Demon Worship Sect in order to find a way out from the Heavenly Demons for the sake of the eternal survival of the human race.

The two sides are irreconcilable.

The reason they are able to come together now is because the things that the Demon Worship Sect has been doing are still being explored.

If we actually get them to complete the most ideal step in the plan, then it can be considered a roundabout way to save lives, albeit through different paths.

But regardless of which faction within the Humanitarian Alliance, their foundation has always been the salvation of humanity.

This also explains why every member of the Demon Worship Sect I encountered in the forest before faced death with such righteous indignation.

They all felt that they were fighting for the future of all humanity, and naturally they were willing to die for their cause.

After the Supreme Elder finished speaking, he remained silent for a long time.

He gave the forest ample time to process this information.

...and then make a decision.

"There's one last question." Lin Jian wasn't lost in the other's grand ambition. "Elder, you say that all the Heavenly Demons of today were transformed from ancient immortals. But judging from all the Heavenly Demons I've encountered so far, even the ancient immortals couldn't influence these extraterrestrial Heavenly Demons with their own will. Otherwise, why would they be so frantically hostile to our human race? If the ancient immortals were helpless, how do you think our current human race can do the same?"

The Supreme Elder pursed his lips, and after a long while, he replied, "This... is the more core secret of our Humanity Alliance. Only after you truly join our Humanity Alliance and reach a certain status will you receive personal guidance from the immortals of the Nine Realms. You only need to know one thing—it's all up to human effort! The ancient immortals were indeed brilliant for millennia, but the human race is also producing many talented individuals today! What they couldn't do before, we may be able to do as well!"

"I understand." Lin Jian nodded solemnly.

Without giving the other party any time to react, she turned around, grabbed Chunxue, and ran.

My curiosity has been satisfied, so when else should I run?

"You son of a bitch!" The Supreme Elder cursed in exasperation.

Everyone spoke to him politely for a long time, and the young man seemed sincere and concerned about the world.

I originally thought that after explaining the whole story, we could add another powerful general to the Humanity Alliance, but I didn't expect that this kid was a complete ingrate.

You want to run away after hearing the secret? There's no such thing as a free lunch!
Enraged, the Supreme Elder raised his hand and unleashed a burst of energy.

However, a delicate little pagoda radiating brilliant golden light appeared to be hanging leisurely overhead in the forest.

The golden light, like a ribbon, formed a thick waterfall, completely enveloping the figure within it. The Supreme Elder, a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, casually flicked his energy at it, but the waterfall only trembled slightly before returning to its original state.

"A gilded exquisite pagoda?" The Supreme Elder's eyes narrowed. "They actually gave this kid such a treasure. It seems a lot has happened in the sect since I left?"

That makes sense, though. According to the news he heard from the Humanity Alliance members after their actions, this kid achieved first place in disrupting the Humanity Alliance's plans.

With such talent and ability, as long as the people of Zhengyang Sect aren't fools, they will never overlook the significance of such a genius to the sect.

But even the gilded exquisite pagoda, a fifth-grade magic artifact, could not withstand the attack of a true Nascent Soul stage expert.

Ritual implements are merely inanimate objects, while human power is limitless!
"Break for me!" The Supreme Elder formed a hand seal, and his internal energy began to circulate through a special circuit.

In the blink of an eye, a cone-shaped stream of highly refined true energy shot out.

It had just slipped from the fingertip when it was already piercing the back of the tree in the next moment.

Even the radiant light emanating from the seemingly indestructible gilded pagoda seemed less reliable in the face of this extremely refined and ruthless attack.

Just then, a cold snort rang out from nowhere.

"Humph! It's too much!"

The sound was incredibly sharp and carried immense power.

Upon hearing this voice, the Supreme Elder felt a sharp pain in his head and his consciousness became chaotic.

When the spiritual consciousness is out of control, the control over external attacks naturally disappears.

Without the spiritual sense locking onto the energy, the cone-shaped technique that was originally locked onto the target could only futilely stab straight ahead in the direction of flight, like an artificial idiot following the preset command... It was undoubtedly a wasted effort.

"It hurts... it hurts..."

The Supreme Elder clutched his head, his expression one of intense pain.

How long has it been since he last felt such overwhelming power since advancing to the Nascent Soul stage?
Transformation period?
Do not!
Even a Nascent Soul cultivator would find it difficult to defeat a Nascent Soul cultivator at the third level instantly.

Refining the void?

Or Mahayana?

Unbelievable, unthinkable!
Once the throbbing pain in his mind subsided, the Supreme Elder shook his head and cleared his head from the chaos in his mind, only to find that his target had already disappeared.

"A protector?" Having regained his senses, he didn't pursue the matter further, but simply sat there muttering to himself.

Do not!
Not like.

Even a prodigy like Lu Linglong, the Holy Maiden of Tianyi Holy Land, might not have a powerful figure of this caliber protecting her.

Such a powerful figure could not possibly become the protector of a mere Foundation Establishment stage junior.

This is something that the Lower Nine Realms could never have done!

...The Upper Nine Realms are also unlikely.

The geniuses of the Upper Nine Realms spend very little time in the Foundation Establishment stage. Once they leave the mountain, it is impossible for them to only have the cultivation level of the Foundation Establishment stage.

So, was it a coincidence?
Passing by?

Can't stand seeing others bully the weak?
"Damn it!" the Supreme Elder cursed under his breath.

Is this the worst luck imaginable?
He never did anything wrong in his life, but he did it just once, and he was caught red-handed.

Fortunately, the powerful figure seemed unwilling to bother with a mere Nascent Soul stage junior like him, and simply stopped him before leaving.

"Never mind... let him be." The Supreme Elder sighed softly and stopped pursuing the matter.

Just thinking about that kid who escaped fills me with a sense of awe.

The boy's cultivation level had changed significantly during his two visits.

When I last came, I was only at the second level of the Foundation Establishment stage, and could be destroyed in the blink of an eye.

And this time? He has already reached the fourth level of Foundation Establishment, and has even refined the Gilded Exquisite Pagoda, a top-tier magic weapon even among fifth-grade magic weapons.

Being able to withstand a blow from someone at the third level of the Nascent Soul stage, even without using his full strength and even with the help of a magical artifact, is still something to boast about for a long time.

Perhaps it was precisely because of this talent that the powerful figure who happened to pass by in the shadows took a liking to him and saved his life...

"what?"

Just as the Supreme Elder was pondering and summarizing, a voice came from outside the courtyard.

"Have guests been here before?"

The man in black robes spoke as he entered, his body radiating sword energy.

The protective barrier outside the courtyard flickered slightly, but it was as if it were useless to him, unable to hinder him in the slightest.

The Supreme Elder's expression changed slightly, and he instantly stood up from the recliner. "I was unaware of your arrival, Your Excellency. I have failed to greet you properly!"

"A warm welcome?" The newcomer sneered, removing his hood to reveal an aged face. "I think it's because you didn't manage to escape in time, isn't it?"

"Why do you say this, Your Excellency?"

The newcomer waved his hand dismissively, "You know perfectly well what's going on, so why pretend to be innocent in front of me? Let me ask you, whose idea was behind all these changes in the demonic rifts?"

"This……"

"Even if you don't say it, I can roughly guess which one it is. The most fanatical ones in your faction are nothing more than those two, but before you acted, did you not consider how much impact this action would have on the entire Lower Nine Realms?"

The newcomer's face was grim, and his voice was filled with anger. "He dares to give the order, and you dare to actually carry it out? You should know that our Lower Nine Realms are already like eggs in a collapsed nest, and there is always the possibility of destruction! If our Lower Nine Realms are really completely destroyed, where will your faction's plans continue to explore? Do you really have no regard for the common people of this world in your actions?"

"Your Excellency!" The Supreme Elder looked up, his eyes meeting the other's with solemnity. "If destroying a Seventh Realm can bring opportunities to the entire Xuanhuang Realm, we... are willing to be the unjust ones!"

(End of this chapter)