Chapter 159 I am not a demonic cultivator, I have never fallen into demonic ways. I hope my world prospers...

The sound of the tide was loud on the coast not far away, and the air was becoming increasingly humid.

Ji Mingran teleported along the way, carving a path through countless mutated creatures, and headed towards the coast.

The mutated species followed Yu Tianxing, and the demonic army that was originally close to the Wish River all turned back.

The plan to slay the monsters and lead them away from the River of Wishes went smoothly until an uninvited guest arrived.

Under the bright stars and moon, a cultivator with his ponytail tied high and his robes fluttering, faced off against the two people standing on the plain.

Zhu Huo stood atop his spear, looking down at the two figures who were surrounded by nothing.

"Mingran, who is this?" A gentle breath brushed past his ear as Yu Tianxing whispered close to Ji Mingran's cheek, his voice soft and lingering.

Ji Mingran introduced her to him: "My senior sister, Zhu Huo, the peak master of Dingsheng Sect Yaofeng."

"I see." Yu Tianxing suddenly raised his hand to comb her slightly disheveled hair, and then cast a cleansing spell to wash away the bloodstains from the two of them.

Ji Mingran watched as he straightened his and her robes again, making sure they were neat and tidy, before formally bowing to Zhu Huo.

"Junior Yu Tianxing greets True Lord Zhu."

Zhu Huo squinted, almost wondering if she was seeing things.

If it weren't for the fact that Junior Sister Mingran was in his hands, she wouldn't have had the patience to shoot him long ago.

Zhu Huo's eyebrows twitched, and he raised his palm in refusal: "I cannot accept the courtesy of a Mahayana Venerable."

Ji Mingran was completely bewildered and turned to ask, "What are you doing?"

Yu Tianxing remained expressionless: "Your sect elders have come. Since this is our first meeting, I should make a good impression."

To leave a good impression? Ji Mingran raised his hand and touched Yu Tianxing's forehead.

You don't have a fever, so why are you saying such nonsense?

She cautioned, "You're a notorious villain, how can people possibly have a good impression of you?"

Yu Tianxing smiled faintly: "But you still chose the Great Demon, didn't you? So I want to do my best to make you proud, so that there will be fewer obstacles in our future interactions."

What is this person saying? Ji Mingran was about to ask when he heard Yu Tianxing say sincerely:

"Zhu Zhenjun, I'm so sorry, I won't let her go."

"I don't plan to let her go either."

If Yu Tianxing hadn't spoken with such utmost humility, Ji Mingran would have truly thought he was deliberately trying to provoke Zhu Huo.

These two sentences were enough to make Zhu Huo furious and enraged.

Sure enough, Ji Mingran saw Zhu Huo take a few deep breaths, return the spear to his hand, and point the spearhead directly at Yu Tianxing: "What nonsense are you spouting? You think you can leave me with a good impression with this?"

Yu Tianxing casually waved his hand, and a deafening roar erupted ten miles away. The restless demonic cultivators and demonic creatures were instantly blasted to ashes by the scorching lightning that fell from the sky.

Zhu Huo sneered: "What do you mean?"

Yu Tianxing said calmly, "True Lord Zhu, you may have some misunderstanding about me. What I slaughtered were cultivators controlled by evil beings. Regardless of whether they were righteous or evil, they were devoured by evil beings and were no longer themselves."

Feeling the warmth emanating from the person in his arms, the long-standing chill seemed to dissipate, and Yu Tianxing tightened his embrace around her even more.

The person in his arms seemed to sense his unease, and as he moved, their body naturally pressed against his chest.

Yu Tianxing lowered his head and gazed at the person in his arms, hearing a sound coming from his chest.

Thump, thump, thump, thump...

Each sound was louder than the last, vibrating his eardrums and hammering his very soul.

That was the sound of his heart beating, a sound only he could hear.

His soul had been dormant for many years, and he once thought it would never beat again. But now, it not only beats, but the sound of its beating is stronger than he had expected.

It was telling him that he could come back to life, that he didn't have to be dead.

Yu Tianxing raised his eyelids and looked at Zhu Huo, who was Ji Mingran's elder.

He wanted to be with Mingran.

To be together for a long, long time.

Therefore, he must clear An's name of the crimes against him in order to gain the approval and blessing of her sect.

For the first time in over two hundred years, he spoke out to vindicate himself.

"I am not a demonic cultivator, and I have never fallen into demonic possession."

Every word was clear and firm.

Upon hearing this, Ji Mingran couldn't help but look up at him.

Yu Tianxing spoke calmly, but she vaguely felt that his words seemed to contain other emotions.

This sounds more like a soliloquy.

"Oh?" Zhu Huo remained unmoved, his gaze fixed on Ji Mingran, who was tightly restrained by him. "So you're planning to use this excuse to get the spiritual cultivator to let you go?"

Yu Tianxing calmly said, "The various sects of spiritual cultivation should not have arrested me in the first place."

"So you escaped from the Soul Devouring Array?" Zhu Huo asked, his voice transmission jade tablet suddenly rising up halfway through his sentence.

Zhu Huo listened intently, a slight look of surprise on his face, tossing the communication jade tablet up and down, "Junior Sister Mingran, Chongjue the Black-Hearted Ghost said that you broke their Soul-Devouring Formation."

She raised an eyebrow and swept her cold gaze over Ji Mingran: "So, you're the one who released him?"

Yu Tianxing's face was cold and stern. He took a half step back without making a sound, blocking Zhu Huo's view with his body and being wary of her movements.

"It's alright," the person in my arms said.

Ji Mingran peeked out from his embrace and readily admitted, "I put it there."

"Fine." Zhu Huo glanced at her, a cold smile spreading across his face, the red tassels of his spear bristling. "Yu Tianxing, you have bewitched my sect's disciples. Release her, and I will kill you."

“Senior sister, first of all, according to your warning method, the person who took me hostage will not release me.” Ji Mingran raised his hand to indicate: “Secondly, he did not entice me, I released him myself. Moreover, he did not tell me where he was, I found him by chance.”

"Junior Sister Mingran, do you know what you're saying?" Zhu Huo's spear flew out, and with each direction the spearhead pointed, deafening bangs rang out, blasting the demons that rushed into the three miles away to pieces.

“You’re like a little girl whose mind is only filled with love and who’s only concerned with protecting her own husband.” Zhu Huo’s eyes flashed with fire. “Although I haven’t met you many times, as far as I know, you’re not that kind of person. At least, Xiao Yi would never take someone like that as her disciple.”

“Therefore, I have reason to believe that you have definitely bewitched her.” Zhu Huo looked coldly at Yu Tianxing. “Whether it’s using your appearance or other soul-controlling methods, release her.”

Yu Tianxing opened his lips to answer, but his figure disappeared with the sudden light. As his figure dissipated, a long-haired, black-haired, demonic beast with bared fangs roared and bit down.

The monster, having swallowed a mouthful of air, roared in frustration, shaking its head to search for its vanished target. As it turned its head, a short blade pierced its left eye with a soft thud, then emerged from the back of its head like a knife cutting through tofu.

The blood-stained blade hovered above the monster, suddenly grew larger, and slashed down, cutting the monster in half vertically.

Before the monster's corpse even fell, more than a dozen beams of light appeared in succession, instantly slicing the monster's corpse into more than a dozen pieces.

The suspended blade shrank simultaneously, then spun rapidly. One hand reached out, grasping the hilt of the spinning sword and hanging it at the waist.

Ji Mingran hung up his dagger and cane, while Yu Tianxing's Hidden Life Sword had already cleared away the demons within a ten-mile radius.

Having acquired the Hidden Life Sword, Yu Tianxing conjured a handkerchief and used it to wipe away the bloodstains from Ji Mingran's bleeding cane at his waist.

"Hold on tight to me," Ji Mingran instructed Yu Tianxing, "so that I don't accidentally leave you behind during the teleportation."

Yu Tianxing paused in wiping away the blood, then dispersed the congealed handkerchief and pulled Ji Mingran back into his arms.

After eliminating the interference from the earlier intrusion and clearing out another wave of monsters, they assumed their fighting stances. Ji Mingran and Yu Tianxing executed their actions in one fluid motion, while Zhu Huo stood motionless in mid-air, coldly observing everything.

After a long pause, she said, "You acted swiftly and calculated clearly. Your teamwork was seamless, and you knew each other. Is this what you wanted to tell me? That you weren't being controlled."

The cultivator, his sharp features and brows furrowed as he raised his spear, lowered his eyelashes and curled his red lips: "So, you deliberately released him? Why? Give me a reasonable explanation."

"Senior Sister Zhu, I know exactly what I need to do." Ji Mingran looked up at Zhu Huo and smiled, "Look, I've reached the Golden Core stage, so I can deal with these demons. I'm breaking the formation to absorb the power of the Soul Devouring Formation. Whether he's in the formation or not, I'll break it anyway. I need to become stronger, and absorbing and digesting the power of the Soul Devouring Formation is the fastest and most efficient way."

"Is that so?" Zhu Huo's stern face softened, and his spear, which had been hovering high in the air, suddenly dropped dozens of meters.

Zhu Huo smiled sincerely at her: "The Devouring Array transforms spiritual power to improve one's cultivation level. Interesting, Junior Sister Mingran. You know I always admire strength. I can accept your explanation. If you are not bound by love and can come up with and implement this method to improve your cultivation level, then you are truly a person of great wisdom."

“But,” she glanced disapprovingly at Yu Tianxing, “you need to think carefully, there’s another one.”

A section of the cleaved demonic beast corpse was immediately teleported to the spear. Ji Mingran continued, "Senior Sister Zhu, you saw it just now too. It was those demons chasing and attacking him, not him bringing them here. As for the reason, it's because these demons have mutated, and mutated demons can devour the souls of others and control their bodies. Yu Tianxing was the first to discover this. The cultivators he killed back then were those who had been devoured by demons."

“Besides these, I also discovered other mutated demonic beasts in the Spiritual Cultivation Competition. They are different from these, but they are also mutated.” Ji Mingran stated the facts he had discovered in one breath.

The monster carcass, flesh, bones, and blood presented to Zhu Huo writhed and thrashed like maggots. Zhu Huo stared at it for a moment, then looked up at her, her smile fading, and she remained silent.

Ji Mingran looked back at the fire.

She didn't expect Zhu Huo to believe her. There were hundreds of twisted and grotesque magical beasts, and Zhu Huo would likely think they were just a rare type of magical beast. Unless a parasitic mutant suddenly appeared on the spot and automatically admitted to it, she would have difficulty proving the existence of the parasitic mutant.

Since it is difficult to prove, its use as a rebuttal to Yu Tianxing's bloody massacre of the five continents is even more weak and feeble.

"So what do you plan to do, Junior Sister Mingran?" Zhu Huo said softly, raising her right hand and unleashing another attack on the demon three miles away.

Summoning the Vajra Formation to block the splattering blood, Ji Mingran said, "Senior Sister, I want to kill them all. This isn't just for Yu Tianxing. I've finally managed to have some peace and quiet, and I don't want to go back to the past."

Her clear eyes did not hesitate: "I hope my world is prosperous and peaceful."

She was given the opportunity to come to a world different from her previous one, but fate told her that the monsters that had ravaged her original world had also arrived.

She couldn't accept it.

She must wipe out these monsters before they cause any harm.

“First of all, you shouldn’t have told him to his face that everything you did wasn’t for him,” Zhu Huo said slowly. “Sometimes, it’s not so bad to lie to a man.”

“Secondly,” she said, slashing her spear with her backhand to annihilate the approaching monster, “what can one person accomplish in a one-on-one fight? Junior Sister Mingran, since you have the sect’s backing, you are not alone behind the scenes.”

Ji Mingran was taken aback: "Senior sister, you believe this?"

Zhu Huo raised an eyebrow: "Why not? Do you think our Dingsheng Sect would hesitate like other sects?" She sighed and said, "I was there when Dingsheng Sect was wiped out."

She said slowly, "I saw with my own eyes that the sky was opened up and something disgusting fell down. It happened suddenly, and the Dingsheng Sect was too busy to care about anything else. After that, the spiritual cultivation world was relatively peaceful. If you hadn't told me, who would have thought that what fell down back then was just a different way of harming spiritual cultivators?"

The falling spear pierced the monster's corpse. Zhu Huo examined it closely. "This is a serious matter. If what you say is true, this isn't just between you and him. It concerns the entire spiritual cultivation world. I will go back and tell the Ten Cultivators of the Dao Sect to investigate thoroughly. But if, as you say, this demon can easily possess another's body, then it becomes difficult. How can we know that the people standing beside us aren't corrupted by these demons?"

"His sword." Ji Mingran grasped Yu Tianxing's hand holding the sword and raised it: "It can identify these mutated demons and strangle them."

“No wonder these things are chasing after you to kill you,” Zhu Huo said knowingly.

As soon as the words fell, a blazing flame fell from the sky in the distance, burning towards them at an astonishing speed. The demonic cultivators and beasts who tried to get close to the flames were burned with a crackling sound, and their corpses were scattered by the water and wind that sprang from the flames.

The flames approached rapidly, almost touching him, but Zhu Huo didn't even lift his eyelids.

Approaching the raging flames was Guan Wangzhen's booming voice: "Grandma, we've come up with a plan! Let's light a fire so they won't dare come near, that way they won't be able to plunder our bodies. Aren't we three clever?"

When they were a foot away from the fire, the flames suddenly stopped, the high-flying fire suddenly went out, revealing three figures hidden within.

Shen Qingluo was the first to sheathe her sword and leap down, bowing to Zhu Huo: "Master."

"Grandma Zhu!" Guan Wangzhen exclaimed in disbelief, "What are you doing here?"

Zhu Huo turned his head and said coolly, "So, the three of you already knew all along."

Guan Wangzhen scratched the back of his head. "I was a little earlier than you."

Zhu Shibai bowed respectfully to Zhu Huo, saying, "Uncle-Master Zhu, this matter is too shocking. We originally intended to find complete evidence before explaining it to the sect, and we did not intend to hide it from you."

Shen Qingluo lowered her head and said, "Yes, Master."

Zhu Huo leaned against his spear with one hand, "Since you concealed this, Yao Feng is in charge of the Punishment Hall, so you'll be punished by dealing with the monsters here."

Master has chosen to believe them. Shen Qingluo looked up in surprise and smiled, saying, "Thank you, Master."

As if knowing what she was thinking, Zhu Huo said, "This matter is not as simple as you think. All that is said now is just one side of the story."

“Only your sword can identify demonic objects.” Zhu Huo glanced at Yu Tianxing. “That makes one even more suspicious.”

"Oh, right, right." Guan Wangzhen hastily cupped his hands to Zhu Huo as a greeting, then hurriedly shouted to Ji Mingran, "I told you to install the projection stone, why are you still so impulsive? Now look what's happened, they really think of you as a demonic cultivator."

Zhu Shibai said, "Wang Zhen, Grandma wasn't acting impulsively. She just didn't care."

"Don't care? How can we not care? That old man Chongjue will bring his men to beat you up later!" Guan Wangzhen glared. "You two, are you really going to be some kind of doomed couple?"

"Think of a way," Zhu Huo said. "Imprison the evil spirit that can possess another body in one body, so that it can't run around. I'll take it back, and a powerful expert specializing in this will be able to give us an explanation."

“I have a method,” Ji Mingran said. “I came here this time to test it out.”

She said to Yu Tianxing, "Catch one over here."

Yu Tianxing: "Okay."

Before the words were even finished, a dark figure rushed over. The demonic cultivator, whose collar was being pulled by the Hidden Life Sword, was still unaware of what was happening and was screaming, "Let me go! Let me go!"

Sensing something was wrong, the demonic cultivator looked up and found himself surrounded by a group of cultivators. His eyes widened instantly, his pupils dilating in shock.

The next second, he froze.

The thin, arc-shaped membrane that enveloped him was revealed, trembling slightly.

"A soul-binding formation," Ji Mingran said. "It can restrain the primordial soul. I guess it can also immobilize it."

The sword's tip pointed at the membrane, trembling incessantly.

“It’s inside,” Yu Tianxing confirmed.

“Okay.” Zhu Huo leaned closer to examine it. “I’ll take it with me.”

"Senior Sister Zhu," Ji Mingran said, "I used the Soul-Binding Array to temporarily trap it. From my observation, this thing is most adept at seducing people's hearts. If one's state of mind is unstable, it is very easy to be controlled by it. I don't know how long I can trap it with the Soul-Binding Array. If it escapes, are you confident in fighting it?"

With a flick of his spear, he pierced through the demonic cultivator's shoulder and lifted him up. Zhu Huo laughed easily, "Junior sister, if that's its only fatal flaw, then it really made a mistake in meeting me."

“I just asked you why you broke the Soul Devouring Formation. If it was for him, I will not accept that reason, and I will abandon you as well.”

"But you swallowed the Soul Devouring Array to become stronger, so I'd love for you to swallow a hundred arrays. If I could, I would too."

"I am just like you."

"Becoming stronger is the only path I seek."

"To find out what this thing is, we need to be careful to avoid cultivators who have already been corrupted. It will probably take some effort. Instead of worrying about me, we should think about how to deal with Chongjue's accusations before the ten cultivators of the Dao Sect find out what this thing is. He will never let this opportunity pass."