Bearing the blue sky

Chapter 305 The Storm Is Brewing

All of Jianjian's demonic beasts remained near the carriage where Zhuge had attained enlightenment to defend against them.

This greatly reduced her strength.

However, this does not prevent her from overwhelming the other three realms.

Although her strength cannot compare to that of the human race's prodigies, Liu Jianjian's cultivation technique is unique, making her a natural enemy to many demon races of the same level.

It should be noted that Liu Jianjian was able to hunt and refine third-realm monsters when she was only at the second realm.

Now that she has reached the third realm, Liu Jianjian is not afraid of anyone at the same realm.

In a sense, although she may not be as outstanding as a prodigy, she is still considered a genius.

When she takes action, everything is swift and decisive!

One after another, the three realm monsters that had been entrenched in various parts of Qin territory were subdued.

She didn't even spare second-realm and first-realm demonic beasts.

They continued to encounter and capture them along the way, and in less than ten days, the demons within a radius of ten thousand miles felt that the wind was howling and the grass and trees were filled with soldiers.

On the eleventh day, Liu Jianjian rushed back to the carriage.

However, at this time, there were more people here.

"This aura—"

Liu Jianjian looked at a small hill nearby.

At the mountaintop, it seemed as if someone stood tall.

We passed by another field, where only one farmer was working.

Looking further into the distance, one can vaguely see some military camps set up.

"This is----"

Liu Jianjian sensed something extraordinary, but Hua Liusha in her mind was only at the second realm, so she didn't know what was going on.

So Liu Jianjian found the Annihilation True Lord resting against a second-realm giant tortoise.

"True Lord, what exactly is this?" Liu Jianjian looked at the unsettling presences in the distance.

"Oh? Those are Mingxing and Yuan Shentong." The eyes of the Annihilation True Monarch were half-open, as if he were still in a daze, not fully awake. "Don't go over there, they're making a scene!"

"Making a scene?" Liu Jianjian was even more puzzled.

"Hmm?" The Annihilation True Monarch nodded: "It's those old fogies trying to take advantage of your master, and Lin Zhi and the others are here to support your master!"

Liu Jianjian stood beside the shell of the second-realm giant tortoise, following the gaze of the Annihilation True Monarch into the distance.

The hill was indeed not high, but the figure on its summit was particularly striking in the twilight.

The man was dressed in a simple blue robe, the hem of which fluttered slightly in the mountain breeze. He held no weapon in his hands, but stood with his hands behind his back, as if gazing at the distant clouds.

The farmers in the fields were still bending over and working, their movements unhurried and unhurried, as if they were completely unaware of the noise around them.

The military camps were set up neatly and orderly, with figures moving between the tents, but no one made a fuss or approached the carriage.

"Celebrity, Yuan Shentong—" Liu Jianjian repeated the two names: "Are they here to help Master?"

"I suppose so." The Annihilation True Monarch changed his position, making himself more comfortable lying on the giant tortoise's shell.

"So they came to stop those people?" Liu Jianjian asked.

"Stop them?" The Annihilation True Monarch smiled. "They don't need to be stopped. As long as they stand there, no one will dare to make a move."

""

Liu Jianjian was silent for a moment, as if processing the question: "Then why didn't they just come directly?"

"What are you doing here?" asked the True Lord of Annihilation. "Come here to have tea with your master? Just standing there is already helping. Some people don't need to lift a finger; just letting others know they're here is enough."

Liu Jianjian nodded as if she understood, then looked at the figures on the small hill: "How much longer are they going to stand there?"

"Stand until someone makes the first move," the Annihilation True Lord laughed. "Or stand until your master wakes up."

Liu Jianjian didn't ask any more questions. She turned around and walked to the vicinity of the carriage. She sat down on a rock under a locust tree, bent her legs slightly, and looked at the small hill in front of her, and at the figure standing with his hands behind his back in the twilight.

She recalled something Zhu Ge had said to her when they were in Yunjiang: "Some people just stand there, and that's an attitude in itself."

At the time, she didn't quite understand, but now, looking at the figure on that small hill, she has a vague feeling about it.

As night deepened, the figure on the distant hill remained.

The farmers sat down on the edge of the field, like people who had worked all day and were taking a break.

A few lights also came on over the military camp, swaying slightly in the night breeze, like a few points of light nailed to the distance, neither getting closer nor farther away.

Liu Jianjian watched for a while, and finally stopped staring at that spot.

She leaned against the trunk of the locust tree, slowly closed her eyes, and her breathing calmed down.

The figure on the distant mountain peak remained motionless, while the farmer in the field sat leaning against a crooked tree, seemingly asleep or waiting for someone.

The lights in the military camp were still on, quietly shining, and had not been extinguished.

The morning fog was a bit lighter than yesterday.

When Liu Jianjian woke up, she found that there was another figure on the small hill.

Two figures stood side by side, one wearing a blue robe and the other a dark gray short jacket. The latter was a bit thicker than the former and looked like he had just arrived that morning.

The farmers in the fields have already begun their work again. He walks slowly between the ridges, his movements unhurried, casting a long, thin shadow in the morning light.

Liu Jianjian watched for a while, then looked away and walked to the carriage to observe the layer of red mist.

The fog was thinner than last night, as if a rain was about to stop, leaving a thin layer of moisture that slowly evaporated in the morning light.

Liu Jianjian didn't know what to do, so she could only wait.

But as I gaze at these scenes, all sorts of images flash through my mind like flowing water.

Then she closed her eyes.

"what?"

The Annihilation True Monarch looked at Liu Jianjian with slight surprise: "This girl also had an epiphany?"

The moment Liu Jianjian closed her eyes, the wind around her seemed to pause for a moment.

She leaned against the locust tree, her slightly bent legs slowly relaxing.

The fingers that had been resting on his knees loosened, as if he had finally let go of something he had been holding for a long time.

Her breathing became very light, yet unusually steady, as if something was slowly settling down inside her.

The True Lord of Annihilation sat up straighter on the shell of the second-realm giant tortoise.

He squinted at her for a while, making sure he wasn't mistaken, before turning to Cao Zhi beside him and saying, "You saw it, didn't you?"

Cao Zhigang turned his gaze away from the distance and followed his gaze: "I saw it."

"She's only been with Zhu Ge for a short time, yet she's already achieved enlightenment?" The tone of the True Lord of Oblivion carried a hint of emotion. "Your Master Zhu is indeed quite skilled at mentoring people."

"She was originally a promising talent," Cao Zhi said. "It's just that her potential only began to emerge after she spent a long time with Master Zhu."

The True Lord of Annihilation did not refute, but leaned back on the tortoise's back and looked at the distant mountains: "Let's see what she can comprehend."

Liu Jianjian's consciousness seemed to be slowly sinking in a very deep body of water, with a slow and clear sense of flow, as if she was being enveloped by layers of warmth, slowly descending to the bottom of the water.

That body of water had no boundaries and no light; there was only a quiet, continuous feeling of falling, as if something had gently caught me and stopped me from falling any further.

She didn't try to resist; she just let herself sink there.

She didn't know how much time had passed when she saw some images.

She saw herself running along the terraced fields of Jianshan Village, with Hua Liusha calling her from behind. She turned around to look, but the images quickly merged into a blurry shadow.

Then she saw herself curled up in a hollow under an old locust tree, her ear pressed against the ground as she listened to the distant footsteps approaching and then receding.

Then she saw herself squatting beside a rock in the twilight, holding a few freshly pulled weeds in her hand, their roots still covered in wet mud. She looked down as if counting how many roots there were.

Then, she saw herself standing beside the carriage, surrounded by demonic beasts, with some figures whose faces she couldn't make out in the distance—

They didn't move; they just stood there, as if waiting for someone, or as if confirming something.

She stood there, motionless, simply watching them.

Her body began to change.

After those images faded, she felt like a seed hatching from its shell.

A crack appeared in the shell, and light seeped in through the gap, warm and slow, gently penetrating along the texture of the shell, making the originally closed space slightly loose.

The feeling was quiet and not intense; it was more like a slow process of old things being replaced by new things. The old parts were fading away, and the new parts were filling in. It didn't require effort or struggle.

The demonic energy that had been slowly circulating within Liu Jianjian's body began to flow in a different direction at this moment.

The demonic power that had originally been circulating along her meridians began to extend outwards, like tiny roots, touching the demonic beast marks within her body.

Those marks were left in her body by the demonic beasts she had subdued over the years.

Each demon beast, after being refined, leaves a mark inside her body, like a drop of water leaving a trace of moisture on a stone surface. As time dries up, the mark remains but does not completely disappear.

At this moment, those marks seemed to be reawakened, trembling slightly and emitting a very faint light.

The first to respond was the mark belonging to the snow wolf.

A wisp of demonic energy slowly flowed out from the mark, merging into her dantian along her meridians, like flowing into a river that was widening.

Then came the Great King Monkey's, then the Hedgehog's, then the Crimson Python's, one after another, like streams converging and slowly flowing into the spreading waters within her body.

Liu Jianjian didn't deliberately guide it; she simply felt the demonic energy flowing out of the mark, flowing into her dantian, and then merging into her own demonic energy.

The feeling wasn't intense; it was like a stream flowing into a river, where the current increased but remained steady.

On the distant mountaintop, the two figures also sensed something.

The star turned his head and glanced at the carriage. Yuan Shentong merely raised his gaze slightly, as if sensing the subtle fluctuations in the air, or perhaps simply glancing over there because he caught something different out of the corner of his eye.

The farmer in the field straightened up, leaned on his hoe, and looked in this direction for a while, as if observing or confirming something. After a moment, he bent down again and continued his work.

There were no obvious changes at the military camp, but the few lights in front of the tents flickered slightly in the morning breeze.

Cao Zhi did not intervene, but stood a few steps away and watched.

The Annihilation True Lord leaned back on the tortoise's back, his gaze sweeping over the aura that was receding from Liu Jianjian's body before shifting his gaze away, as if he had finished looking and was now thinking about something else.

When Liu Jianjian opened her eyes, it was already bright outside.

Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the tree canopy, like scattered gold leaf on the grass in front of her knees.

She looked down at her hands, then slowly raised her palms, feeling the flow of demonic energy within her body. It was much smoother and heavier than before, like a river channel that had been widened, so the water was no longer crowded when it flowed through.

"Ah, this feels so good!"

She stood up, stretched her shoulders, and then turned to look at Zhu Ge's carriage, which was still silent.

She looked at the small hill in the distance again. The two figures were still there, neither approaching nor leaving.

The farmers in the fields had already walked to the other side of the field ridge, their backs to them, as if their work for the day was almost finished.

She took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, and walked to the side of the True Lord of Annihilation: "True Lord, I just had an epiphany."

"You little rascal, you've had your epiphany for three days now!" The Annihilation True Lord laughed and scolded, "How does it feel? Pretty good, huh?"

"It feels like—" Liu Jianjian thought for a moment, "It feels like the clothes I used to wear were too tight, and I changed into something a little bigger."

"Yes, as long as it's enjoyable." The Annihilation True Monarch didn't ask any more questions, but simply nodded.

Liu Jianjian sat down on a nearby rock and didn't say anything more. She just quietly looked at the mountains in front of her, as if she was waiting for something.

The mountain wind blew through the trees, scattering dappled light through her hair.

The two figures on the distant mountain peak remained standing, neither leaving nor approaching.

A few lights were still burning in the morning light over the military camp, as if they had not yet been extinguished.

The farmers in the fields have walked further and further away, their figures growing smaller and smaller, becoming like part of this early morning scene.

Liu Jianjian sat on a rock under the locust tree and turned her head to look.

Besides the military camp in Linzhi, the stars on the mountaintop, and the Yuan Shentong in the farmland, many more people were vaguely appearing nearby.

Some of them seemed to be young people from the "List of the State," each with their own distinct aura, but their proud temperament was undeniable.

Or rather, it's the "sense of presence" that comes from the arrogance of being a contemporary prodigy.

Besides these young people, there were also many people with different expressions.

These people subtly protected Liu Jianjian's demon beast circle inside, while the demon beast circle in turn protected the carriage in the center.

However, this only applies to the situation under the sky.

Liu Jianjian looked up. Although there were no clouds in the sky, she still felt a sense of impending storm.

Needless to say, she knew that there were definitely some powerful beings and fusion entities watching from the sky.

In this space, the carriage is the absolute center.

However, the one who started it all, Liu Jianjian's owner, had already had an epiphany for over ten days.

The weather is getting hotter and hotter, and heavy rain is on its way.

It's going to rain soon.

Liu Jianjian glanced at the sky and felt that a bolt from the blue was about to strike.

Just then, a melodious voice rang out from afar: "Han Xueguan, you have fallen."

>